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The Online Library of Liberty A Project Of Liberty Fund, Inc. James Wilson, Collected Works of James Wilson, vol. 2 [2007] The Online Library Of Liberty This E-Book (PDF format) is published by Liberty Fund, Inc., a private, non-profit, educational foundation established in 1960 to encourage study of the ideal of a society of free and responsible individuals. 2010 was the 50th anniversary year of the founding of Liberty Fund. It is part of the Online Library of Liberty web site http://oll.libertyfund.org, which was established in 2004 in order to further the educational goals of Liberty Fund, Inc. To find out more about the author or title, to use the site's powerful search engine, to see other titles in other formats (HTML, facsimile PDF), or to make use of the hundreds of essays, educational aids, and study guides, please visit the OLL web site. This title is also part of the Portable Library of Liberty DVD which contains over 1,000 books and quotes about liberty and power, and is available free of charge upon request. The cuneiform inscription that appears in the logo and serves as a design element in all Liberty Fund books and web sites is the earliest-known written appearance of the word “freedom” (amagi), or “liberty.” It is taken from a clay document written about 2300 B.C. in the Sumerian city-state of Lagash, in present day Iraq. To find out more about Liberty Fund, Inc., or the Online Library of Liberty Project, please contact the Director at [email protected]. LIBERTY FUND, INC. 8335 Allison Pointe Trail, Suite 300 Indianapolis, Indiana 46250-1684 Online Library of Liberty: Collected Works of James Wilson, vol. 2 Edition Used: Collected Works of James Wilson, edited by Kermit L. Hall and Mark David Hall, with an Introduction by Kermit L. Hall, and a Bibliographical Essay by Mark David Hall, collected by Maynard Garrison (Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, 2007). Vol. 2. Author: James Wilson Editor: Kermit L. Hall Editor: Mark David Hall Collector: Maynard Garrison About This Title: This two-volume set brings together a collection of writings and speeches of James Wilson, one of only six signers of both the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution, and one of the most influential members of the federal Constitutional Convention in 1787. Wilson’s writings and speeches had a significant impact on the deliberations that produced the cornerstone documents of our democracy. Wilson’s signal contribution to the founding of our national government was his advocacy for both a strong national government and an open and democratic political system, a position that set him apart from both Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson. PLL v6.0 (generated September, 2011) 2 http://oll.libertyfund.org/title/2074 Online Library of Liberty: Collected Works of James Wilson, vol. 2 Wilson’s writings form one of the most significant bodies of thought about the relationship between a distinctively American form of democracy and a distinctly American constitutional system. Wilson wrote extensively on the concepts of separation of powers, the authority of the judiciary to review acts of the other branches, and the development of principles of representative government. This collection of Wilson’s writings includes his famous law lectures, a number of noteworthy essays and speeches, some of which are presented together for the first time, and his opinions in several Supreme Court cases. Together, the writings in this volume illustrate that Wilson’s words more nearly foreshadowed the nation’s future than those of his better remembered contemporaries such as Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and Thomas Jefferson. In addition to providing the reader with a historical view of the nature of American democracy, the power of courts and judges, the independence of the executive branch, and the power of law to structure social relations, this book speaks directly to the ongoing debate about the scope and nature of judicial review and the place of law and judicial structures in the conduct of society. PLL v6.0 (generated September, 2011) 3 http://oll.libertyfund.org/title/2074 Online Library of Liberty: Collected Works of James Wilson, vol. 2 About Liberty Fund: Liberty Fund, Inc. is a private, educational foundation established to encourage the study of the ideal of a society of free and responsible individuals. Copyright Information: The Introduction, Collector’s Foreword, Collector’s Acknowledgments, Annotations, Bibliographical Essay are the copyright of Liberty Fund 2007. The Bibliographical Glossary in volume 2 is reprinted by permission of the copyright holders the President and Fellows of Harvard College 1967. Fair Use Statement: This material is put online to further the educational goals of Liberty Fund, Inc. Unless otherwise stated in the Copyright Information section above, this material may be used freely for educational and academic purposes. It may not be used in any way for profit. PLL v6.0 (generated September, 2011) 4 http://oll.libertyfund.org/title/2074 Online Library of Liberty: Collected Works of James Wilson, vol. 2 Table Of Contents Lectures On Law, Part I.: Lectures On Law. Chapter XII.: Of the Common Law. Chapter XIII.: Of the Nature and Philosophy of Evidence. Part 2.: Lectures On Law. Chapter I.: Of the Constitutions of the United States and of Pennsylvania—of the Legislative Department. Chapter II.: Of the Executive Department. Chapter III.: Of the Judicial Department. Chapter IV.: Of the Nature of Courts. Chapter V.: Of the Constituent Parts of Courts.—of the Judges. Chapter VI.: The Subject Continued. of Juries. Chapter VII.: The Subject Continued. of Sheriffs and Coroners. Chapter VIII.: The Subject Continued. of Counsellors and Attornies. Chapter IX.: The Subject Continued. of Constables. Chapter X.: Of Corporations. Chapter XI.: Of Citizens and Aliens. Chapter XII.: Of the Natural Rights of Individuals. Part 3.: Lectures On Law. Chapter I.: Of the Nature of Crimes; and the Necessity and Proportion of Punishments. Chapter II.: Of Crimes Against the Right of Individuals to Their Property. Chapter III.: Of Crimes Against the Right of Individuals to Liberty, and to Reputation. Chapter IV.: Of Crimes Against the Right of Individuals to Personal Safety. Chapter V.: Of Crimes, Immediately Against the Community. Chapter VI.: Of Crimes, Affecting Several of the Natural Rights of Individuals. Chapter VII.: Of Crimes Against the Rights of Individuals Acquired Under Civil Government. Chapter VIII.: Of the Persons Capable of Committing Crimes; and of the Different Degrees of Guilt Incurred In the Commission of the Same Crime. Chapter IX.: Of the Direct Means Used By the Law to Prevent Offences. Chapter X.: Of the Different Steps Prescribed By the Law, For Apprehending, Detaining, Trying, and Punishing Offenders. Bibliographical Glossary * Afterword lf4141_figure_001 james wilson PLL v6.0 (generated September, 2011) 5 http://oll.libertyfund.org/title/2074 Online Library of Liberty: Collected Works of James Wilson, vol. 2 [Back to Table of Contents] LECTURES ON LAW, delivered in the College of Philadelphia, in the years one thousand seven hundred and ninety, and one thousand seven hundred and ninety one. PLL v6.0 (generated September, 2011) 6 http://oll.libertyfund.org/title/2074 Online Library of Liberty: Collected Works of James Wilson, vol. 2 [Back to Table of Contents] PART I. Lectures On Law. CHAPTER XII. Of The Common Law. “Sapientissima res tempus,” says the profound Lord Bacon,a in one of his aphorisms concerning the augmentation of the sciences—Time is the wisest of things. If the qualities of the parent may, in any instance, be expected in the offspring; the common law, one of the noblest births of time, may be pronounced the wisest of laws. This law has, at different times, and for different reasons, been denominated by different appellations. It is sometimes called, by way of eminence, the law of the land, “lex terrae.” At other times, it is called the law of England. At other times again, it is called the law and custom of the kingdom. But its most general and best known appellation is, the common law. Various are the reasons, which have been assigned for this appellation: the best seems to be this—that it is the common municipal law or rule of justice;b the law which is described in the code of king Edward the elder, as expressing the same equal right, law, or justice, due to persons of all degrees.c The term common law is not confined to the law of England: It is not, says Sir Henry Finch,1 a word new and strange, or barbarous, and proper to ourselves, and the law, which we profess, as some unlearnedly would have it: it is the proper term for other laws also. Euripides2 mentions the common laws of Greece; and Plato defines common law in this manner: that which, being taken up by the common consent of a country, is called law. In another place, he names it, the golden and sacred rule of reason, which we call common law. This place, continues the same author, in his discourse of law,d is very notable: it opens the original and first beginning of the common law: it shows the antiquity of the name; it teaches common law to be nothing else but common reason—that refined reason, which is generally received by the consent of all. The antiquity of the common law of England is unquestionably very high. It is worth while to listen to what may be deemed the prejudices—certainly the pardonable ones—of its fond admirers, upon a point so interesting to their partiality. The realm of England, says Lord Chancellor Fortescue,e was first inhabited by the Britons; it was afterwards ruled and civilized under the government of the Romans: then the Britons prevailed again: next it was possessed by the Saxons: afterwards the Danes lorded it over us: the Saxons were successful a second time: at last, the Norman conquest took place.
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