new body of law, to which he gave the name
of the Code Frederique, which is comprised in one volume of no great
bulk, and must, therefore, unavoidably contain general positions to be
accommodated to particular cases by the wisdom and integrity of the
courts. To embarrass justice by multiplicity of laws, or to hazard it
by confidence in judges, seem to be the opposite rocks on which all
civil institutions have been wrecked, and between which legislative
wisdom has never yet found an open passage.

Of this new system of laws, contracted as it is, a full account cannot
be expected in these memoirs; but, that curiosity may not be dismissed
without some gratification, it has been thought proper to epitomise
the king's plan for the reformation of his courts.

"The differences which arise between members of the same society, may
be terminated by a voluntary agreement between the parties, by
arbitration, or by a judicial process.

"The two first methods produce, more frequently, a temporary
suspension of disputes than a final termination. Courts of justice
are, therefore, necessary, with a settled method of procedure, of
which the most simple is to cite the parties, to hear their pleas, and
dismiss them with immediate decision.

"This, however, is, in many cases, impracticable, and in others is so
seldom practised, that it is frequent rather to incur loss than to
seek for legal reparation, by entering a labyrinth of which there is
no end.

"This tediousness of suits keeps the parties in disquiet and
perturbation, rouses and perpetuates animosities, exhausts the
litigants by expense, retards the progress of their fortune, and
discourages strangers from settling.

"These inconveniencies, with which the best-regulated polities of
Europe are embarrassed, must be removed, not by the total prohibition
of suits, which is impossible, but by contraction of processes; by
opening an easy way for the appearance of truth, and removing all
obstructions by which it is concealed.

"The ordonnance of 1667, by which Lewis the fourteenth established an
uniformity of procedure through all his courts, has been considered as
one of the greatest benefits of his reign.

"The king of Prussia, observing that each of his provinces had a
different method of judicial procedure, proposed to reduce them all to
one form; which being tried with success in Pomerania, a province
remarkable for contention, he afterwards extended to all his
dominions, o