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L E C T U R E I .
LAW.
I
n
assuming tlie duties of tliis chair, I can dis
course of one subject only—Law. It is, in its
higher aspects, the oldest and grandest of themes,
while the ordinary field occupied hy it is the com
monest and the most hackneyed.
In any view which I may he able to take of it,
no attempt will he made to say anything new;
for although the subject is in no way exhausted,
the labors of this chair will he to familiarize you
with the accepted rules and texts as they are sup
posed to exist, without attempting much in the
way of philosophizing or reflection.
My present purpose is to address to you some
general considerations which, it is to he hoped,
will enable you to get some glimpses of the field
of our future labor as a whole.
I.
Essential law—that which, when applied to
matter, is its property, and which alone can fur-