POLITICAL SUMMARY.

UNITED STATES.

Nineteenth Congress.-Dec. 4.-Hon. J. C. Calhoun, Vice President of the United States, took his seat as President of the Senate, 37 members present. House of Representatives called to order by Hon. John W. Taylor, Speaker,-173 members present. The subjects that are expected to claim the greatest attention, and which involve important interest of the community at large, are the Tariff and Bankrupt Bills, the Bill providing relief for Revolutionary Officers, and some others of almost equal magnitude in their results. The former is intended to obviate the difficulty which has arisen from the operation of the Tariff Bill of 1825. By that enactment the duties were not only increased on foreign manufactures, but also on the raw material,-whereby the object of the petitioners was, in a great measure, frustrated. The consequence has been embarrassment among the manufacturers of New England, to a great degree. There seems to be much doubt with regard to the passage of the bill. The general features of the Bankrapt Bill, reported by the Committee, of which Mr. Webster is Chairman, are similar to those of the English Bankrupt law.

of munitions of war, and therefore a violation of our neutrality; while its supporters contend that in affording such aid to the suffering citi zens, we do not of course, provide for the soldiery, and that thus we avoid any infringement upon the law of nations relative to neutrality. They instance the relief given after the earthquake of 1812, to the inhabitants of Venezuela, with whom Spain was at war.By the report of the Secretary of the Treasury the estimate of appropriations for the year 1827, amounts to $10,283,929-13. There is also a report yet to be acted upon, which pro vides that from and after the 3d day of March, 1833, and after the fifth census shall have been taken, the appointment of the Representatives shall be in the ratio of one Representative to every 60,000 persons in each State. According to the present law, one Representative is chosen for every 40,000.-The expediency of providing for the the removal of the Florida Indians is submitted for the report of a committee. The arguments urged in behalf of the proposed removal, are, that the Indians commit unnumbered depredations and massacres on the white inhabitants of Florida, check the The bill authorizing the importation of Bran- increase of emigration, and agriculture, and dy in casks of fifteen gallons, and permitting are in a situation to afford facilities, in time of the same to be exported without the benefit of war, to enemies upon an exposed frontier.drawback, has passed the H. of R. The ex- The Bill for the relief of the survivors of the isting law prohibits the exportation of foreign Revolutionary Army and Navy is in a fair spirits in casks of less capacity than ninety train for success. Mr. Burges in his speech, gallons, which are too large for the interior expatiates on the nature of the services renSouth American trade-the benefit of which, dered, the incredible sufferings of the soldiery, has thus been lost to our merchants.-The res--the depreciation of the currency in which olution to send certain aid to the distressed they were paid, and the neglect of Congress to Greeks has occasioned some discussion. The fulfil their agreement of giving half pay, for opposers of the motion hold that the furnish- life, to those officers who should serve till the ing of provisions is equivalent to a furnishing close of the war.

STATE LEGISLATURE.

Massachusetts.-The winter sesion of the that the tickets of lotteries in the State of General Court commenced on the 3d instant, Rhode Island, for the last year, amount to and on the same day the message of the Gov- $1, 351,000.-In New York, $1,491,540-net ernor was sent to the Legislature. There is profit to the State, $1,011,865. In Pennsylva much business of importance to he transacted, nia, $1,127,875-net profit to the state, $80,and much that has already created considrable 000.-In Massachusetts the amount of tickets, excitement. On the subject of Lotteries, a me- sold for the last year is $750,000.-The promo. morial has been presented, praying for a law tion of Education has claimed the attention of granting licenses. By this petition it appears the Governor in his message, and a correspon

House to the Senate, and of another to the Council,-can constitutionally be filled. The report of the Committee and the opinion of the Judges were in the affimative, and the former was accepted.-A motion was offered and accepted, that a committee be appointed to consider what duty Massachusetts owes to evince her sensibility of the learning, talents, patriotism and public services of the late JOHN AD. AMS and a like resolution, relative to THOMAS JEFFERSON.-In conformity with the recommendation of the Governor, the House have passed an order directing the com

ding notice has been excited in the Legisla ture by the application of Amherst and William's Colleges, for funds, and of James G. Carter for aid in establishing a Seminary for the instruction of teachers of youth. A bill to incorporate a school at Nantucket by the name of Sir Isaac Coffin's Lancasterian School is also under consideration.-The Bunker Hill Monument Association have petitioned that the sum of $10,000 which amount was granted them in the labour of state convicts, may be paid to them in money.-The subject of revising the Militia Law has also been taken up, and is under cousideration in committee.-mittee on Banks to enquire whether any disThe report of the Treasurer was laid before the House on the 5th. It states the amount of receipts into the Treasury during the year 1826 at $249,585-75; the expenditures at $252,297-16; and the Amount due to the Treasury, including cash on hand, at $123,868-24.-The inquiry which arose last session relative to vacancies in the H. of R. other than those enumerated in the Constitution--Their tax yields a revenue to the State of has been revived by the report of the Commit. tee appointed on the subject. They were instructed to propound questions to the Supreme Judicial Court, whether the vacancies occa. sioned by the election of one member of the

advantages have resulted from the Banking System now in operation. The attention of the Legislature has been called to this subject on account of the expiration, in the year 1831, of all the Bank Charters granted by the commonwealth. There have been 62 banks incorporated under the authority of Massachusetts; the aggregate capital of which is $17,969,870

$105,185-Two of these Banks in Massachusetts Proper, and five in Maine have failed to accomplish the purposes for which they were created.

FOREIGN STATES.

England. Both Houses of Parliament as- tions are constantly springing up in these re. sembled on the 14th of November.

The inhabitants of Leeds have had a meeting to petition Parliament for a revision of the Corn Laws. The subject of the Greek bonds was still alive. The Courier states that the Messrs. Ricardo, have exonerated themselves from the charges against them.-In relation to the distress in the manufacturing districts, the London Morning Chronical says-" The stoutest hearts may well feel dismay, when they look towards the future. Never, perhaps, did a Parliament meet under more disheartening circumstances."-The war in the Burmese territories has terminated.

South America.-Admiral Blanco has been elected President in Chili, in the place of Gen. Freyre. The Constitution proposed by Bolivar is adopted, by which he is created President for life, with power to appoint a successor, This annuls the act which proclaimed Gen. Sucre President of Bolivia, previous to the sanction of the new Constitution. The people of Caraccas have declared Venezuela independ. ent, and are supported by Gen. Paez. Dissen

publics, and there seems to be little prospect for quiet at present. The Buenos Ayreans are said to have defeated the Brazilians near Montevideo.

Russia continues the Persian war with success. In the first great battle, near Elizabethpool, Abbas Mirza, with 15,000 infantry, 20,000 cavalry and irregulars, and 26 field-pieces was routed by Gen. Paske witch.

Greece. The accounts from this country are of the darkest colouring, and the enemy progresses slowly and steadily. Yet the Greeks contend with desperation, and say, "we no longer fear the Egyptians, nor their disciplined troops; but we ask from our Christian brethren, food for our wives, our children and old men."

Commiseration has been excited in Europe, and in this country. A resolution is before our Congress for proffering them aid.— The profits of theatrical exhibitions in Philadelphia and New York have also been contributed to this purpose, and by the papers from the latter city, we find that Captain Symmes is devoting the proceeds of his most popular lecture to the aid of the sufferers.

THE BOSTON LYCEUM.

VOL. I.

FEBRUARY 15, 1827.

No. 2.

THE CIVIL LAW, No. I.

'Divinarum atque humanarum rerum notitia ; justi atque injusti scientia.'

The Civil Law is of the last importance to every student, for its perfect developement of sound,dignified and impartial justice, as well as for the controlling influence it has exerted upon our own, and almost every other judicial system. All are ready to acknowledge that the decisions in which it has been resorted to for the purposes of illustration, are among the most valuable in our Reports, yet few are willing to bestow upon the Roman Code that attention which its intrinsic excellence demands.— This indifference to the legal administration of other countries, and the acquired habit of compromising with that of our own, has certainly some connexion with the prosperity and happiness of the people; for as all are equally subject to the operation of the law, so every member of society has an equal interest to preserve its purity, and to have it considered and studied, not as a mere collection of positive rules and technical forms, but as a moral science. If the legal student has a proper and imposing sense of the importance of his duty; if he feels that labor, and study, and deep thought are all requisite to the attainment of the high object he has in view; if he is aware that the administration of justice is even assisted by the social qualities of the other sciences, and above all, if he is fully sensible that the purity and independence of the bench and the bar give a security and character to our country, then surely he will not limit his regard of the Law as a science, to the mere practice of it as an art but on the contrary, he will consider positive and local knowledge a very inadequate foundation for a perfect Lawyer. The present decline of the English bar has been ascribed to the neglect of the Civil Code, and the rise of our own depends, perhaps, upon a familiar acquaintance with it. Like all things

fashioned by the hand of man, it is not without faults. Its obligatory character is derived from authorities constituted in a manner which all will condemn. It has been marked at one time by popular sedition, and at another, moulded and impressed by imperial power. It is defective in its penal branches, and it might have been comprehended in less extent and arranged in better order yet, as exhibiting a perfect union of wisdom with justice; as furnishing us with guides in the exposition of various questions on which positive authority is silent; as bearing within it the concentrated wisdom of age after age, as it emanated from improved intellect, ripened experience and solid learning, it may well be considered as one of the richest legacies ever bequeathed to man. The moral and intellectual grandeur of Rome, like that of her architectural monuments is passing away yet, even now does the eternal city "reign by her reason, as she once reigned by her authority." The favor of Heaven, so lavishly bestowed upon her soil, is indeed denied to her inhabitants. She is withering amid the sweets of nature, and the ruins of her former glory. Her pictures and her statuary are scattered through the earth. Her palaces and arches crumbling into dust, but the records of her jurisprudence cannot perish. The glory of the ancient, and the wonder of the modern world, they stand, and will remain, a lasting monument of her wisdom and justice. Time will but stamp them with a new value, and their known and permanent principles, aided by the decisions of modern tribunals, will yet bind in a durable peace the civilized world. Of these records, as collected and condensed in the codes of the Civil Law, it is our purpose to give a brief historical sketch.

Seven hundred years before the birth of our Saviour, and about the commencement of the seventh Olympiad, the Romans, in consequence of some superiority of institution or character, became the head of the Latian confederacy. They were a mere band of robbers, distinguished, not by their possessions or numbers, but by their natural and savage predilection for war and rapine. Caring for nothing, but extension of empire, they were governed at first, by usage, or unwritten law, and when this failed, by the edicts of their king. He was their only magistrate : the "viva ac spirans lex," the boundaries of whose power were as yet but indistinctly drawn, but who led in war, ruled in peace, and before whom were borne the axe and the rods as the emblems of his privilege, and the instruments of his justice. To a people, however, who were always eager after liberty, this form

of government was of course displeasing. They demanded laws : and, Tarquin, who attempted to change the constitution, being expelled, they became their own lawgiver. Two Consuls were then elected, uniting in their own persons, all the dignities of Rome, and differing from the king only in name, number and duration of authority. Those edicts of the kings, which still remained in force, were, by their orders, collected and arranged by Caius Papirius, and from him received their name. The Plebeians now found that they had less to dread from the oppressions of an encroaching prince, than from that of their present patrons. They placed themselves at once in a posture to wield all their strength to the best advantage. Laying claim to the legislative power, they elected tribunes, enacted ordinances called Plebiscita, and availing themselves of every circumstance which could make in their favor, arrayed themselves at once against the Senate. A fierce struggle ensued, in which the strength and sagacity of both parties were fully exercised. The nobles possessed great authority and address, but they were opposed by an ardour which delay could not cool, nor defeat discourage, nor the scruples of morality restrain,-and finding that the people were not to be turned from their purpose, they finally sent deputies into Greece to obtain the laws of its states, which were to be accommodated to the institutions of Rome.This happened in the year of Rome three hundred. On the return of the Commissioners, the Senate, having approved their report, agreed in the nomination of the Decemvirs, with the infamous Appius Claudius at their head, and charged them with the duty of reducing to order these Grecian Laws. Assisted by Hermodorus, the celebrated exile, they were enabled within three years, to submit for the acceptance of the people their laws engraved upon ten tables or plates of brass; and, as many useful additions were yet to be made, they obtained a renewal of their powers for another year, at the end of which two more tables were added to the former ten. This supplement, as well as the first body of laws, was received with great enthusiasm, a succession of Jurists applied themselves to their interpretation, and all, who were pursuing the study of the law, were obliged to learn their text. But this admirable combination of all that was wisest in the customs of ancient Rome and the jurisprudence of Greece was destroyed on the irruption of the barbarians, and a few fragments are all that remain to us of the twelve tables.— We can, however, fully appreciate their value. And while we

look

up

to this code, as the source of those lofty springs, which