The epoch of Customary Law, and of its custody by a privileged order, is a very remarkable one.

The most superficial student of Roman history must be struck by the extraordinary degree in which the fortunes of the republic were affected by the presence of foreigners, under different names, on her soil.

The Roman jurisprudence has the longest known history of any set of human institutions.

Law is stable the societies we are speaking of are progressive. The greater or less happiness of a people depends on the degree of promptitude with which the gulf is narrowed.

Our authorities leave us no doubt that the trust lodged with the oligarchy was sometimes abused, but it certainly ought not to be regarded as a mere usurpation or engine of tyranny.

The movement of the progressive societies has hitherto been a movement from Status to Contract.

The ancient codes were doubtless originally suggested by the discovery and diffusion of the art of writing.