ses pending, who dare not
boldly ask that a law should be made for their particular case, but who
do not hesitate to impose upon the legislature by plausible arguments
the adoption of some general rule, which by a retrospective
construction, will have the same operation. It is a most monstrous
practice, which lawyers are bound by the true spirit of their oath of
office, and by a comprehensive view of their duty to the Constitution
and laws, which they bear so large a part as well in making as
administering, to discountenance and prevent. It is to be feared, that
sometimes it is the counsel of the party who recommends and carefully
frames the bill, which, when enacted into a law, is legislatively to
decide the cause. It is time that a resort to such a measure should be
regarded in public estimation as a flagrant case of professional
infidelity and misconduct.

This brief sketch of the true province of legislation is enough to
evince its vast importance. How great is the influence of the lawyers
as a class upon legislation! Let any man look upon all that has been
done in this department, and trace it to its sources. He will
acknowledge that legislation, good or bad, springs from the Bar. There
is in this country no class of lawyers confined to the mere business of
the profession--no mere attorneys--no mere special pleaders--no mere
solicitors in Chancery--no mere conveyancers. However more accurate and
profound may be the learning of men, whose studies are thus limited to
one particular branch, it is not to be regretted either on account of
its influence on the science or the profession. The American lawyer,
considering the compass of his varied duties, and the probable call
which will be made on him especially to enter the halls of legislation,
must be a Jurist. From the ranks of the Bar, more frequently than from
any other profession, are men called to fill the highest public stations
in the service of the country, at home and abroad. The American lawyer
must thus extend his researches into all parts of the science, which has
for its object human government and law: he must study it in its grand
outlines as well as in the filling up of details. He is as frequently
called upon to inquire what the law ought to be as what it is. While a
broad and marked line separates, and always ought to separate the
departments of Legislation and Jurisprudence, it is a benefit to both
that the same class of men should be engaged in both.