the origin of a condition of things which looks to us like
a startling anomaly, but which was in fact much more congenial than
our own system to the spirit of ancient societies, tending, as they
always did, to split into distinct orders which, however exclusive
themselves, tolerated no professional hierarchy above them.

It is remarkable that this system did not produce certain effects
which might on the whole have been expected from it. It did not, for
example, _popularise_ the Roman law--it did not, as in some of the
Greek republics, lessen the effort of intellect required for the
mastery of the science, although its diffusion and authoritative
exposition were opposed by no artificial barriers. On the contrary, if
it had not been for the operation of a separate set of causes, there
were strong probabilities that the Roman jurisprudence would have
become as minute, technical, and difficult as any system which has
since prevailed. Again, a consequence which might still more naturally
have been looked for, does not appear at any time to have exhibited
itself. The jurisconsults, until the liberties of Rome were
overthrown, formed a class which was quite undefined and must have
fluctuated greatly in numbers; nevertheless, there does not seem to
have existed a doubt as to the particular individuals whose opinion,
in their generation, was conclusive on the cases submitted to them.
The vivid pictures of a leading jurisconsult's daily practice which
abound in Latin literature--the clients from the country flocking to
his antechamber in the early morning, and the students standing round
with their note-books to record the great lawyer's replies--are seldom
or never identified at any given period with more than one or two
conspicuous names. Owing too to the direct contact of the client and
the advocate, the Roman people itself seems to have been always alive
to the rise and fall of professional reputation, and there is
abundance of proof, more particularly in the well-known oration of
Cicero, _Pro Muraena_, that the reverence of the commons for forensic
success was apt to be excessive rather than deficient.

We cannot doubt that the peculiarities which have been noted in the
instrumentality by which the development of the Roman law was first
effected, were the source of its characteristic excellence, its early
wealth in principles. The growth and exuberance of principle was
fostered, in part, by the competition among the expos