Page:William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England (3rd ed, 1768, vol I).djvu/27

§. 1. tions in law arie, and the learned hould not o often and o much perplex their heads to make atonement and peace, by contruction of law, between inenible and diagreeing words, entences, and provioes, as they now do.” And if this inconvenience was o heavily felt in the reign of queen Elizabeth, you may judge how the evil is increaed in later times, when the tatute book is welled to ten times a larger bulk; unles it hould be found, that the penners of our modern tatutes have proportionably better informed themelves in the knowlege of the common law.

is aid of our gentlemen in general, and the propriety of their application to the tudy of the laws of their country, will hold equally trong or till tronger with regard to the nobility of this realm, except only in the article of erving upon juries. But, intead of this, they have everal peculiar provinces of far greater conequence and concern; being not only by birth hereditary counellors of the crown, and judges upon their honour of the lives of their brother-peers, but alo arbiters of the property of all their fellow-ubjects, and that in the lat reort. In this their judicial capacity they are bound to decide the nicet and mot critical points of the law; to examine and correct uch errors as have ecaped the mot experienced ages of the profeion, the lord keeper and the judges of the courts at Wetminter. Their entence is final, deciive, irrevocable: no appeal, no correction, not even a review can be had: and to their determination, whatever it be, the inferior courts of jutice mut conform; otherwie the rule of property would no longer be uniform and teady.

a judge in the mot ubordinate juridiction be deficient in the knowlege of the law, it would reflect infinite contempt upon himelf and digrace upon thoe who employ him. And yet the conequence of his ignorance is comparatively very trifling and mall: his judgment may be examined, and his errors rectified, by other courts. But how much more erious and Rh