JB/028/142/002

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14)

Common Law. Judicial Decisions.

"that they tell us that the Law is the perfection of reason,
"that it always intends to conform thereto, and that what
"is not reason is not law".[a] This latter proposition is
easily made good when one knows the key of the
conundrum. The trick is, when you are satisfied
a thing is not Law, say it is not reason.

"Not", continues our Author, "that the particular reason of

NOTE.

[a] These sage aphorisms stand number'd among the maxims
of the Law: they were wont to be made frequent
use of by technical writers, when the business was to stop the temerity of importunate
enquiry, and hide the absurdity of some legal doctrine
from the eyes of admiring pupils, or possibly
from their own.⊞ ⊞ At this day perhaps there is not a Lawyer of 50 years standing in England, besides our Author whose stomach would not have nauseated such solemn nonsense. Another of the like stamp livery, which
our Author should not have omitted parted from their company passed by is, that reason
is the life of the law. From this added to one of
the forementioned ones results a definition of the
Law, by which we may learn that it is a sort
of a thing which is the perfection of it's own life.

the every rule in the law can at this distance of
time be always precisely assigned; but it is sufficient
that there be nothing in the rule flatly contradictory
to reason, says our Author, and then (by a charitable
and unnecessary presumption) the law (that is a lawyer any chance
who is weak enough to talk so,) will presume it to
be well founded." And Of this more in a few moments

Identifier: | JB/028/142/002 "JB/" can not be assigned to a declared number type with value 28.
Date_1		Marginal Summary Numbering
Box	028	Main Headings	comment on the commentaries
Folio number	142	Info in main headings field	common law judicial decisions
Image	002	Titles	note continued / text resumed / note / note
Category	text sheet	Number of Pages	4
Recto/Verso	recto	Page Numbering	b13 / e14 / b15 / e16
Penner	jeremy bentham	Watermarks	[[watermarks::[monogram] [britannia emblem]]]
Marginals		Paper Producer
Corrections		Paper Produced in Year
Notes public		ID Number	9407
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