Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 12.djvu/96

* LEGACY. 84 LEGAL EDTTCATION. legacies to a child of the testator in case of the child's death before the death of the testator, shall go to the child's issue. Legacies may also in elFect lapse by adeiiipliou, i.e. some act of the testator during'his lilctiuie by which he pays or satisfies the legacy in advance of his death. (Sec Ademption.) In general any legal person may be a legatee. Legacies to a married woman, however, upon payment, vest in her husliand at common law, and a legacy to an infant is payable to his guardian for the infant's benefit, in many States there are various statutes lim- iting the power of a testator to make bequests to corporations and to aliens, so that bequests to corporations, and also for charitable uses not authorized by the statute, are void. (See I'sf.s and Trists.) Formerly a bequest to the ■wit- ness of a will rendered the will void. Now, under most statutes of wills the will is valid, but the bequest is void. In some States be- quests to the testator's illegitimate children are void. In general such bequests are valid, but the word children, when used in a will, will be deemed to mean legitimate children, if tlicre are such, to the exclusion of illegitimate. The more important rules as to the construction of clauses giving bequests are discussed under Will. See also Ai>.Mi.isTRATioN. Consult the authorities referred to under Will. LEGAL EDUCATION. On the Continent OF KiRoi'K Hlfokk 10S8. In the time of the Ro- man Kepublic it was customary for a prospective lawyer to begin at the age of sixteen to listen systematically to the advice given to clients by some learned jiirisctmsult, and the student also had to familiarize himself with the Twelve Tables. It was thus that Cicero learned law under the two Sea'volas. In the time of Augustus the study of the Twelve Tables was superseded by the study (■f the Pru'torian Edict. About the same time certain jurisconsults l)egan to devote themselves ]irineipally to giving instruction. Among the earliest and most famous of these teachers were Labeo and Sabinus. to-day best remembered for their connection with the two sects of lawyers, the Proculians and the Sabinians. From about the beginning of the third century there were systematic law schools, especially at Rome and at Constantinople. The course in the law- schools covered four years, and students were sup- posed to complete it at the age of twenty. Be- fore ."i.'iS the texts studied were the Institutes of Ciaius, the same author's treatises on married women's property, guardianship, wills, and legacies, the Pr.Ttorian Edict. Papinian, Paulus, and the Constitutions. By a Constitution of 53.3 the course of study was rearranged, and the old texts gave place to Justinian's Institutes, Digest, and Code. The framing of the Corpris Juris Civilis. indeed, was partly guided by the needs of students and was largely executed by the pro- fessors of Constantinople and Berytus. In the East the study of the Corpiin Juris Civilis was superseded by Greek paraphrases and then by new treatises. In Italy, however, the study of the Corpus Juris Ciritis was never wholly abandoned. It is not known to what ex- tent there was systematic study of law in the Dark Ages, but in the eleventh century Pavia and Ravenna were centres of law teaching, the for- mer being preeminent in Lombard law and the latter in Roman law. On the Continent of EmopE Since 10S8. The year 1088 has become recognized rather ar- bitrarily as the beginning of European university instruction. It is taken as the year of the found- ing of the University of Bologna, because it marks, as nearly as practicable, the commence- ment of the teaching of law by Irnerius. This teacher made Bologna famous as a place for studying the Corpus Juris Virilis and attracted pupils from the whole civilized world. In addi- tion to bringing tliis study into renewed promi- nence, he conferred upon legal education the great benefit of introducing students to the entire Digest, and thus he encouraged thorough work and the jjursuit of a long course. By the middle of the twelfth century the appearance of Gra- tian's Decretuni made possible a systematic study of the canon law. and soon Bologna became a favorite resort for students of the Corpus Juris Canonici. Academic degrees appeared in the thirteenth century. Early in the fifteenth cen- tury the statutes as to degrees indicate that thestudent of the Corpus Juris Civilis became a bachelor in about five years and that two years later he was eligible to become Lcgum Doctor — in other words, to receive a diploma certifying his ability to lecture upon the leges, as the para- graphs of the Digest are called. Fiuir years of .study made a student of the Corpus Juris Ca- nonici a Bachelor, and two years later he might receive the degree of Drcrctorutn Doctor. The student who combined the two kinds of law might become Juris L'Iriusque Doctor in ten years after beginning study. The teaching was by lectures which elucidated the text, developed a systematic view of the subject, and solved hypothetical problems. Soon after the time of Irnerius the study of the civil and the canon law spread to the universities that gradually arose in all parts of Europe. Throughout the Continent of Europe the uni- versities are to-day the only route to the legal profession. The requirement for admission to the course in law is a general education substantial- ly equivalent to that acquired by two or three years of residence as an undergraduate of an American college. The course in law covers not less than three nor more than four years. From country to country, there are some differences in details. In Germany, for example, the degree Juris Vfriusf/ue Doctor does not admit to the bar, and need not be taken by the prospective lawyer; and admission to the bar is secured ex- clusively through a Government examination, for which, however, university work equivalent to the requirements for a degree affords the only jiossible preparation; and the examination must be succeeded by practical work for three years, in which time the candidate passes successively from administrative duties to assisting a judge of one of the lower courts and then to helping a practicing lawyer with the daily tasks of a law office: and for persons hoping to become admin- istrative or judicial officers these three years of practical work are followed by a second Govern- ment examination. In France, on the other hand, the degrees are a baccalaureate in two years, a licentiate in three years, and a doctorate in four years; and the licentiate degree admits to the bar as an nrocnt, whereas two years nf study un- der the law faculty suffice, without a degree either in general knowledge or in law, to admit the candidate to the grade of an avoiie. Finally, in Germany, but not in France, almost all legal ih-