26 Jan 1805

Evidence

Securities

Ch. Procedure Technical

'' Cause Lawyers Interests

''. Cause of the deviations of the technical from the natural system - sinister interest of the men of law.

All systems /every system/ of procedure, having lawyers for its authors, has of course in so far as the authors /workmen/ were at liberty to be [...?] by their own /particular/ interest in the construction of the work, had the promotion of that interest for their main object or end in view. If the [...?] administration of justice, that is the fulfilment of the promises made /engagements taken/ by the substantive branch of the body of the law, had any concern in the business the interest of the community in respect to the fulfilment of those engagements, it has been only in the way of practice, and in the character of a collateral and misintended[?] /scarcely intended/ though happily in some /a considerable/ degree an inseparable result.

So far as the paths that led to the public object /interest/ and the sinister path that led to the private and professional object happened to coincide, in so far the public object would in this state of things naturally be pursued: so far as there are[?] any want of coincidence between the two courses /paths/, the public object would be sure to be sacrificed /made a sacrifice/, in so far as the state of the public mind times admitted of such sacrifice.

Whichever of the two rival systems we were to look to, the Roman and the English, we should find the state of the times /public mind/ favourable in the highest /a very high/ degree to all such sacrifices. In both instances, the work has been not least in the way of statute law even[?] [...?], but hammered out and patched together by almost [...?] degrees, during a course /in the course/ of successive ages, and with little or no check from any capacity of superintendence on the part of that public for whose use the article was pretended to be made.