nment of the
province where he was born; and to prohibit the governor or his son from
contracting marriage with a native, or an inhabitant; or from purchasing
slaves, lands, or houses, within the extent of his jurisdiction.
Notwithstanding these rigorous precautions, the emperor Constantine,
after a reign of twenty-five years, still deplores the venal and
oppressive administration of justice, and expresses the warmest
indignation that the audience of the judge, his despatch of business,
his seasonable delays, and his final sentence, were publicly sold,
either by himself or by the officers of his court. The continuance, and
perhaps the impunity, of these crimes, is attested by the repetition of
impotent laws and ineffectual menaces.

All the civil magistrates were drawn from the profession of the law.
The celebrated Institutes of Justinian are addressed to the youth of
his dominions, who had devoted themselves to the study of Roman
jurisprudence; and the sovereign condescends to animate their diligence,
by the assurance that their skill and ability would in time be rewarded
by an adequate share in the government of the republic. The rudiments of
this lucrative science were taught in all the considerable cities of the
east and west; but the most famous school was that of Berytus, on the
coast of Phnicia; which flourished above three centuries from the
time of Alexander Severus, the author perhaps of an institution so
advantageous to his native country. After a regular course of education,
which lasted five years, the students dispersed themselves through
the provinces, in search of fortune and honors; nor could they want an
inexhaustible supply of business great empire, already corrupted by the
multiplicity of laws, of arts, and of vices. The court of the Praetorian
praefect of the east could alone furnish employment for one hundred
and fifty advocates, sixty-four of whom were distinguished by peculiar
privileges, and two were annually chosen, with a salary of sixty pounds
of gold, to defend the causes of the treasury. The first experiment was
made of their judicial talents, by appointing them to act occasionally
as assessors to the magistrates; from thence they were often raised to
preside in the tribunals before which they had pleaded. They obtained
the government of a province; and, by the aid of merit, of reputation,
or of favor, they ascended, by successive steps, to the illustrious
dignities of the state. In the pra