APPENDIX.

ADDRESSES DELIVERED

BEFORE

THE ILLINOIS STATE BAR

ASSOCIATION, AT ITS THIRTEENTH ANNUAL MEET

ING, SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS, JANUARY 14TH

AND 15TH, 1890.

ANNUAL ADDRESS

DELIVERED BEFORE THE ILLINOIS STATE BAR ASSOCIATION, AT SPRINGFIELD, JANUARY 14, 1890.

E. CALLAHAN, PRESIDENT.

We are assembled for the purpose of discharging the duties which devolve upon us as officers and members of this Association. The constitution requires of me an address. Before entering upon the discharge of that duty, allow me to return to you my sincere thanks for the honor conferred upon me, in my absence, at your last meeting.

This occasion does not demand of me an argument in favor of civil government among men, or an essay upon those elementary principles of law which form the foundations of the jurisprudence of all civilized nations, whatever the form of their political government. The necessity of civil government is so evident, and has such abundant demonstration in the history of the world, and in the happy condition of the people of the United States, protected by constitutional limitations of power, and secure by law in the enjoyment of all necessary civil and political rights, that whoever questions it, should be taken care of as an incompetent, or punished as a criminal.

The elementary and universal principles of law are the first steps which the lawyer takes in his professional career; they lie at the threshold of his professional life. They are the corner stones upon which he must build, if he builds, either safely or successfully. The books which contain them are the first that he reads as a student. They occupy the field which he first surveys and explores. If these first principles have been neglected by any of us, this is not the time or place to repair the neglect.

Nor am I called upon to delve tediously into the vast mines of ancient and modern literature which exist, and are of unmeasured interest and worth to the student in jurisprudence, for maxims and gems of the law, to be strung and exhibited like the tawdry ornaments of an aboriginal chief. These are paths along which it is presumed that we have passed, before reaching the duties of the present hour.

I wish to discuss, in a practical way, some practical questions which lie within the scope of the objects and purposes of this Association, as set forth in its constitution. This Association ought to be of practical use to the people of the State, in making good laws, and directing wisely the growth of the system of jurisprudence under which the people are to live, and by which the vast and ever-growing interests of this great State are to be controlled, directed, protected and stimulated in its future growth and developement.

The constitution of this Association declares that the objects of its organization are:

First-To cultivate the science of jurisprudence.
Second-To promote reform in the law.

Third-To facilitate the administration of justice.

Fourth-To elevate the standard of integrity, honor and courtesy in the legal profession.

Fifth-To encourage a thorough and liberal legal educacation.

Sixth-To cherish a spirit of brotherhood among the members of the legal profession.

The science of jurisprudence comprehends a knowledge of all the rules of order, or conduct, established by authority of a community or State, for the control and government of its inhabitants, and their application to the affairs and controversies which arise in the transaction of business, and the conduct of the individual citizen. It embraces all the legal relations whish exist between the citizen and the community or State, and between one citizen and each and every other citizen, whether such relations arise out of, or relate to, the personality of the citizen, or the property rights, or things which the citizens of a community own, use and enjoy, either jointly or severally. It embraces all the political rights, duties, privileges and obligations of the citizen, as they have been established by constitutional provisions, fixed by statute, or defined by judicial construction. These rules of human conduct, of which the science of jurisprudence takes cognizance, permeate the entire body of society, and entwine

themselves around the individual citizen in every path he travels, in pursuit of that happiness which all hope sometime and somewhere, to find. These rules are all supposed to originate in reason, and to have some correct principle for a foundation. The science of jurisprudence undertakes to trace them to the fountains of reason, from whence they flow, and to discover the foundations of principle upon which they rest.

The student of this not very exact science has a limitless field for his investigations. The sources of that knowledge which he seeks often lie far away, or deeply concealed. They extend through the entire domain of history, philosophy, political economy and religion; but if he has the spirit of a true lawyer, and is in love with his chosen profession, and takes delight in the philosophy of the law which he seeks to know, the distance or concealment of these fountains of knowledge, and the wide range of his explorations, will only add zest to his search for them. The student who expects any considerable measure of success and satisfaction in this pursuit, will be disappointed in his expectations if he turns aside to drink at fountains of pleasure, or stops to dwell in castles of indolence.

"The world is nothing but a mass of means.
We have but what we make. Every good

Is locked, by nature, in a granite hand,
Sheer labor must unlock.

The forests

Do not fall around us into builded homes,

Without an ax or arm."

A knowledge of the general principles of the science of jurisprudence should not be confined to such citizens as manage causes in the courts. It should be part of that elementary education which the community or State offers to all of its citizens in the public schools. The Legislature of each State should, by law, require that in every public school there shall be taught an outline of such laws as relate to persons and property,-to public and private rights and wrongs, a knowledge of the organization and jurisdiction of the courts by which the laws are administered. Every college should include the science of jurisprudence in its curriculum. Without this general knowledge of the laws, the citizen is not fully prepared to discharge the public duties which he owes to the State, or to understand and maintain his private rights, or to meet the obligations which rest upon him as a member of society. The law conclusively presumes that every citizen has a perfect knowledge of all the laws in force in the jurisdiction in which he resides, and holds him responsible for the same measure of obedience, as if this