第13章

Itisinthecensoriallinethatthereisthegreatestroomfordisquisitionsthatapplytothecircumstancesofallnationsalike:andinthislinewhatregardsthesubstanceofthelawsinquestionisassusceptibleofanuniversalapplication，aswhatregardsthewords。Thatthelawsofallnations，orevenofanytwonations，shouldcoincideinallpoints，wouldbeasineligibleasitisimpossible:someleadingpoints，however，thereseemtobe，inrespectofwhichthelawsofallcivilizednationsmight，withoutinconvenience，bethesame。Tomarkoutsomeofthesepointswill，asfarasitgoes，bethebusinessofthebodyofthiswork。 XXV。Inthesecondplace，withregardtothepoliticalqualityofthepersonswhoseconductistheobjectofthelaw。Thesemay，onanygivenoccasion，beconsideredeitherasmembersofthesamestate，orasmembersofdifferentstates:inthefirstease，thelawmaybereferredtotheheadofinternal，inthesecondcase，tothatofinternationaljurisprudence。 Nowastoanytransactionswhichmaytakeplacebetweenindividualswhoaresubjectsofdifferentstates，theseareregulatedbytheinternallaws，anddecideduponbytheinternaltribunals，oftheoneortheotherofthosestates:thecaseisthesamewherethesovereignoftheonehasanyimmediatetransactionswithaprivatememberoftheother:thesovereignreducinghimself，prorenatâ；，totheconditionofaprivateperson，asoftenashesubmitshiscausetoeithertribunal；whetherbyclaimingabenefit，ordefendinghimselfagainstaburthen。Thereremainthenthemutualtransactionsbetweensovereigns，assuch，forthesubjectofthatbranchofjurisprudencewhichmaybeproperlyandexclusivelytermedinternational。 Withwhatdegreeofproprietyrulesfortheconductofpersonsofthisdescriptioncancomeundertheappellationoflaws，isaquestionthatmustresttillthenatureofthethingcalledalawshallhavebeenmoreparticularlyunfolded。 Itisevidentenough，thatinternationaljurisprudencemay，aswellasinternal，becensorialaswellasexpository，unauthoritativeaswellasauthoritative。 XXVI。Internaljurisprudence，again，mayeitherconcernallthemembersofastateindiscriminately，orsuchofthemonlyasareconnectedinthewayofresidence，orotherwise，withaparticulardistrict。Jurisprudenceisaccordinglysometimesdistinguishedintonationalandprovincial。Butastheepithetprovincialishardlyapplicabletodistrictssosmallasmanyofthosewhichhavelawsoftheirownarewonttobe，suchastowns，parishes，andmanors；thetermlocal(whereuniversaljurisprudenceisplainlyoutofthequestion)orthetermparticular，thoughthislatterisnotverycharacteristic，mighteitherofthembemorecommodious。 XXVII。Thirdly，withrespecttotime。Inaworkoftheexpositorykind，thelawsthatareinquestionmayeitherbesuchasarestillinforceatthetimewhenthebookiswriting，orsuchashaveceasedtobeinforce。Inthelattercasethesubjectofitmightbetermedancient；intheformer，presentorlivingjurisprudence: thatis，ifthesubstantivejurisprudence，andnoother，mustatanyratebeemployed，andthatwithanepithetinbothcases。Butthetruthis，thatabookoftheformerkindisratherabookofhistorythanabookofjurisprudence；and，ifthewordjurisprudencebeexpressiveofthesubject，itisonlywithsomesuchwordsashistoryorantiquitiesprefixed。Andasthelawswhichareanywhereinquestionaresupposed，ifnothingappearstothecontrary，tobethosewhichareinforce，nosuchepithetasthatofpresentorlivingcommonlyappears。 Whereabookissocircumstanced，thatthelawswhichformthesubjectofit，thoughinforceatthetimeofitsbeingwritten，areinforcenolonger，thatbookisneitherabookoflivingjurisprudence，norabookonthehistoryofjurisprudence:itisnolongertheformer，anditneverwasthelatter。Itisevidentthat，owingtothechangeswhichfromtimetotimemusttakeplace，inagreaterorlessdegree，ineverybodyoflaws，everybookofjurisprudence，whichisofanexpositorynature，mustinthecourseofafewyears，cometopartakemoreorlessofthiscondition。 Themostcommonandmostusefulobjectofahistoryofjurisprudence，istoexhibitthecircumstancesthathaveattendedtheestablishmentoflawsactuallyinforce。Buttheexpositionofthedeadlawswhichhavebeensuperseded，isinseparablyinterwovenwiththatofthelivingoneswhichhavesupersededthem。 Thegreatuseofboththesebranchesofscience，istofurnishexamplesfortheartoflegislation。 XXVIII。Fourthly，inpointofexpression，thelawsinquestionmaysubsisteitherintheformofstatuteorinthatofcustomarylaw。 Astothedifferencebetweenthesetwobranches(whichrespectsonlythearticleofformorexpression)itcannotproperlybemadeappeartillsomeprogresshasbeenmadeinthedefinitionofalaw。 XXIX。Lastly，Themostintricatedistinctionofall，andthatwhichcomesmostfrequentlyonthecarpet，isthatwhichismadebetweenthecivilbranchofjurisprudenceandthepenal，whichlatteriswont，incertaincircumstances，toreceivethenameofcriminal。 Whatisapenalcodeoflaws？Whatacivilcode？Ofwhatnaturearetheircontents？Isitthattherearetwosortsoflaws，theonepenaltheothercivil，sothatthelawsinapenalcodeareallpenallaws，whilethelawsinacivilcodeareallcivillaws？Orisit，thatineverylawthereissomematterwhichisofapenalnature，andwhichthereforebelongstothepenalcode；andatthesametimeothermatterwhichisofacivilnature，andwhichthereforebelongstothecivilcode？Orisit，thatsomelawsbelongtoonecodeortheotherexclusively，whileothersaredividedbetweenthetwo？Toanswerthesequestionsinanymannerthatshallbetolerablysatisfactory，itwillbenecessarytoascertainwhatalawis；meaningoneentirebutsinglelaw:andwhatarethepartsintowhichalaw，assuch，iscapableofbeingdistinguished: or，inotherwords，toascertainwhatthepropertiesarethataretobefoundineveryobjectwhichcanwithproprietyreceivetheappellationofalaw。Thisthenwillbethebusinessofthethirdandfourthsections:whatconcernstheimportofthewordcriminal，asappliedtolaw，willbediscussedseparatelyinthefifth。