10 April 1805

Evidence

Securities

Ch. Procedure Technical

''.3. Objects ulterior

5. It is the interest of the man of law that the arrangements made to the people at large in the character of actual or potential suitors considered as capable of becoming suitors the arrangements made in the way of law - the arrangements whereby their properties, liberties, personal[?] reputations, and conditions in life are disposed of, should be as little known as possible: accordingly the study of men of law on every occasion, and on the occasion of the construction of the technical system of procedure in particular, the study of the man of law has been to keep these arrangements as much /generally and compleately/ unknown as possible.

By this appropriate ignorance the profit /interest/ of the man of law is encreased /advanced/ in various /a variety of/ different ways. 1. Not knowing what sorts of acts are prohibited he commits, and thence comes the profit extractable from prosecution and defence /prosecutor /demandant/ and defendant/ in a penal cause. 2. Not knowing what are and what are not his rights /in what any right and obligations are /stand/ distributed/, he claims some right which is not his /does not be/ due: and thence comes ill grounded demands, and the profit extractable from demandant and defendant in a non-penal cause, or he refuses to comply with the demand made of some service which he has under the obligation of rendering to some other person to whom in virtue of a corresponding right such service is due: and thence come ill-grounded defences, and the profit extractable in this way again from a non-penal cause.

3. On each occasion on which he is called upon to act, the occasion allowing time for consultation, not knowing what /whether/ any arrangements have already been taken by the law in relation to that occasion, nor if any what they are, of ir none what will on such occasion be the arrangements taken by the judicial authority in the event of his acting so and so or not acting, he thus finds himself driven to the necessity, if he has wherewithal to defray the expence of consulting the man of law in the shape of one to /by/ whom on each occasion the arrangements taken by the legislator or in his default likely to be taken by the Judge, are satisfied to be known and understood. [...?] of technical procedure /system/. Rendering the laws as incapable of being known as possible difficulty of knowing what laws do exist, & which do not exist as great as possible. /the knowledge of the tenor of the laws as difficult as possible./