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JUSTICE RAMSAY, D.C.L. ^ Pontrcal : iJAZETTE PRINTING COMPANY. i88c INAUGURAL ADDRESS AT TUB OPBNING OK THtt LAW FACULTY, LENNOXVILLE, 5TiI OcTOliER, l8So, BV MR. JUSTICE RAMSAY, D.C.L. Mr. Chanceixok, Mkmhers of Convoc.uion, Ladie.s and Gentlemen,— It would be out of i)Ia(:e in an inaugural address to treat of any legal subject in a purely technical manner. I shall, therefore, confine myself to some general observations which, though bearing upon legal matters, are not of interest to those alone who are entering on a regular course of legal study. We have met to-day to take part in a very interesting ceremony— the in- auguration of a Law Faculty in connection with the L^niversity of Lennoxvillc. It is only twenty-seven years ago that that great and good man, the late liishop of (Quebec, endowed the Eastern Town- ships with a university framed jn the model of the great schools of England. Small the beginnings were, and perilous all such undertakings are. Their success depends mainly on the worth of those for whose advantage they are erected. It is with the pro- gress of civilization as with the growth of the grain on which we live. The seed may be good, but every grain that is sown will not produce an ear. What falls on barren ground perishes. Rapidity of growth also depends on the fitness of the soil. Shakspere has chronic led the effort of the ilhistrious, though far from perfect Eng- Msh Cardinal, to extend the foundations of learning in England : " iCver witness for him Those twins of learniiiR that iiu raised in ynii, Ipswich .iiicl (Jxfiird ! one of which I'ell with liiiii, Unwilling to uiillive the Kund that did it : The other, though nnfinish'd, yet so famous, So excellent in art, and still su rising, That ChriMendom shall ever speak his virtue," I hope and trust that the foundations laid by Bishop Mountain at Lennoxville will he as imperishable as those of Cardinal Wolsey at Oxford, In opening a Faculty of Law, we are helping towards this consummation ; we are completing the regular course of tuition of the University. In modern times, university education has comprised the four Faculties : Arts, Divinity, Law and Medicine, for they comprise the most obvious classification of applied learn- ing. The Faculty of Arts teaches generally of polite literature and philosophy ; Divinity, of our knowledge of Cod and morality ; Law, of the civil relations of men to each other ; while the Faculty of Medicine teaches the laws which govern the human body. These different branches of learning may be sub-divided to some extent, as the field of observation becomes wider ; it is difficult tosujjpose this classification will ever be entirely superseded. We sometimes hear the utility of special schools called in ques- tion. It is argued, that as lectures are for the most part composed from books, and as books are now within the reach of all, a man may just as well read and make notes for himself Cibbon said that the most wasted years of his life were the two he pas.sed at Oxford, I do not underrate private reading, and I am ready to admit that it would not be an easy task to helj) a Gibbon or a Cujas to learn. The scheme of education is not arranged for men of unusual capabilities, but for ordinary people ; and experience has shown that kjiowledge of every .subject is best acquired by the combination of the three modes of learning — private study, oral teaching, and practice. This appears to be equally true whether $ you arc prci>arlng to manage a suit at law, to cut off a man's leg, or to make a pudding. It is obvious that even to the most dihgent man, profitable read- ing must he very limited if we eompare it with the cjuantity written, and this disproportion is daily on the inerease. Of the enormous number of books published every year there are many one would like to read, but even if we eontlne ourselves rigidly to a special subject it is very diffirult to keep up with the rurrent literature of the day. The elder Stevenson, a man of genius practical and profound, used to say that the book was a very bad one out of which you could not get five shillings* worth. This is a very true saying to guide one as to buying books, but I should be sorry to be led by it in the books I am to read. It may be exceptional, but there are bad books which do not contain five shillings' worth of knowledge, and there are very many indeed that are not worth reading for the five shillings' worth they contain. The direction of a young man's studies is thus ever becoming more difficult, and the necessity of systematic teaching more obvious. The choice of the books to l)e read by a law-student is therefore a matter of great moment, and it is probable that at some i)art of your course a few lectures will be given on legal bibliography. The subject is an entertaining one and readily attracts the attention. In my days of studentship, over thirty years ago, there was no regular teaching. Anything we learned was picked up by the practice we saw in an office and the books we chanced to read. I was dismayed at the endless rows of dingy books, then rarely enlivened by the gay morocco backs of the ftouveaii droit. I had, however, the advan- tage of being the pupil of the present learned Chief Justice of the Superior Court, and to him I applied for advice as to what I should read. He told me of " Pothier's Obligations." From the moment I opened it, the dread of the dryness of law disappeared as by enchantment, and starting from one word rolled forth a perfectly clear explanation of the whole scheme of legal rights and liabilities. The word " obligation " is defined and limited to its legal sense — it is of the vinculum jurh the writer has to treat. I should he deparliri},' from what I promised in rommeminj; were I to enter on the causes of obligations. SiiOux' it to say that legal relation arises by the will of two or more ))arti(.'s, by the will of one, against the will of the (Jthcr, and without the will of cither. The first lesson of law, then, is that the most prudent ol us is constantly incurring obligations, .oftrn with a very indefinite idea of how he will meet them, and sometimes as ignorant of what he is iiK urring as the Jiou>\\^cflis ^enlilliommc was of the fact that he spoke prose. I once read that I'othiei's style was not < onsidcred good. The name of the critic has passed from my memory. It is one of the small vanities of these days to jiraise and condemn the style of writers of [iretentious trash. We often hear that they write wonderfully good Knglish. When one en(|uires what the canon of good style is, we are met with curit)us reticence. I do not undervalue elegance in style — reserve, pregnant with meaning — and, above all, rhythm- ical measure ; but, if called upon to state, in a few words, what are the essentials of good style, my answer would be, ''clearness and simplicity." These are the chief characteristics of the writing of Voltaire and Rousseau, of .Sterne anil Addison, all admitted masters of style. I think these (jualities are to be found in Pothier. It seems to me that his title "Of Obligations" might be read with advantage by every educated person. His other treatises are not of merit eijual to the " Obligations " ; but they are clear expositions of their different subjects. It is said that the great Lord Mansfield, who gave system and certainty to Knglish mercantile law, was a devoted student of Pothier's works. If, passing from the works of this eminent jurist, we come to the preparation which enabled him to write them, Pothier may be regarded as a great teacher by his example. During twelve years he studied the Roman law assiduously. The result of his labours fills three folios. The principal part of this great work consists of a re-arrangement of the digest. Our acrimonious friends the critics don't think this work well done. I regret that I am not in a better 7 position to give a Itroad loiUradiction to the assertion ; l)iit so far as my study <»• it permits me to jii(lj,'e, 1 have arrived at a diller ent opinion, it is not easy lrejudices to be overcome — and, therefore, he thinks it in the interest of truth that men should be ac(|uainted with the rules of the persuasive art. How often do we see, in and out of court, a sharp fellow, with some skill in debate, 8 M making his shallow reasoning toll, while his superior in every other res|)e< t, finds himself a hel|)less <:ham|>ion of the true cause? Were these only occasional instances, one might he incline«l ahnost to a|»|>laii(l the (|ni« k-witted sophist and leave the y glil> falsehood. 'I'he Krench revolution, with all its ahominations, was in great part due to the sjiccessful advoj'acy of two (ompendious. so-called, |>rinciples — namely, that men are horn e(iual, anv t mg for monc If this view of the matter be correct, it is diJticMli to t t»n- ceive any calling more infamous than that of the lawyer. .V^ there is enough of seeming reason in the reproach to havr misled some excellent persons of no mean ability, it is well we should eni|uire whether it be fouiuled or not. The empiiry will not be without its use, even if we fail to convince others, for self respei't is almost essential to virtue. I.el us ask, then, whether the position of the lawyer is that of the hired apologist of wrong. In the fust phue, it should be observed that the fee, or hire, as ii may be t ailed, has really nothing to ilo with the ((uestion. The advocate of w rong, for wrong's sake, is no less vile than he who sells his advocacy Ibr a fee. In the next place, the advocate in a court of law is not in the posi- tion of a counsellor of the court or of his adversary. His duty is to offer the arguments fairly and honestly which may be urged on the part of his client. These argut.ieiits may not convince his own mind, but they may be very sound for all that. We fre(|uently see in practice that men are mistaken as to their rights. In every suit there is at least one party who has fallen into error, and we often see that both are mistaken. But, it is said, this may be true in civil 10 I! IMI W cases, but counsel defend criminals whom ihey know to be guilty by their own confession. As a matter of fact, guilty men very seldom confess to their counsel ; but this would really l)e no answer to the reproach, if founded. But the fact is, that the whole reproach is based on a fallacy. It is a result of experience that the administration of justice must be carried on upon exact princijiles, conse(iuentIy with great technicality. To do this, skilled persons, to represent the parties, are required. The advocate, therefore, becomes a part of the organization for the discovery of truth, and if he were to take upon himself to refuse his assistance to the accused, because he believed him to be guilty, he would be depriv- ing him of the protection the law accords, without authority. For the chance of doing what he thought was substantial justice in a [larticular case, he would aid in the destruction of a useful system. It is not, however, to be supposed that the lawyer is justified in every act that might perchance bfc beneficial to his client. He must not transgress the limits of truth. While he may fairly put on facts proved the interpretation most lavourable to his client, honour forbids him to misstate. One of the most objectionable forms of misstatement, and one into which pleadf-.-., carried away by the imi)ulse of the moment, most readily fall, is slandering witnesses. It should be avoided by young men with the greatest care. It is dishonourable and bad tactics. You have no more right to slander your neighbour when he is in the witness-box than when he is out of it, and the slanderer is the most obnoxious of liars. The merits of this moral (juestion are very well treated in an interesting book, Pearce's " Inns of Court." I have allowed myself to indulge in various digressions, and in doing so I hope I have not lost sight of the main object of these remarks — to encourage those about to enter on thestudy of the law n(jt to lose an instant of the valuable time now at their disposal, but from the first diligently to turn to account the great ad van tages now offered to them. ii : Ity ?ry no jIc he es, IS, re, nd he Iv- or a 11. in ist ;ts 11 r of le s. is it Is K n ;e w I, 1