The laws of nature are eternal and unchangeable principles of action inherent in matter and force, in accordance with which physical changes actually and invariably occur. The law of gravitation is a rule in accordance with which all physical bodies attract each other. The laws of chemical attraction are rules in accordance with which atoms unite to form molecules. Such physical laws have always existed, apart from the human intellect, and have merely been discovered and formulated by scientists. Human laws, however, have their origin in the human intellect and are the rules, conditions and restrictions under which men, naturally independent, unite themselves in society for their mutual welfare. They are an outgrowth of the habits, manners, customs and usages of society and exist in the family, the clan, and the tribe, as well as in the city, state and nation. A few simple and practical rules formulated by a chieftain and perpetuated by oral tradition may constitute the law of a wandering tribe of savages or nomadic shepherds, but as civilization becomes complicated by commerce, agriculture, and the arts, the law must become complex and voluminous. Human laws are the product of evolution, growth and development.

The law of the state is defined by Justinian in the Institutes thus: Law is a sacred sanction commanding what is honest and prohibiting the contrary. Cicero defines it as a legal sanction, implying a penalty for enforcing obedience, rather than a sacred sanction. In modern jurisprudence, the following general definitions have been approved by the courts: Law is a rule of action prescribed by competent authority. Law is a rule of civil conduct prescribed by the supreme power in a state.

In America this supreme power rests in the peo

ple, under a written constitution, formulated by their representatives. Its preamble reads, "We the people of the United States, * * * do ordain and establish this Constitution." It emanates from the people, the depository, and the only one, of all political power; it is therefore the supreme law of the land, the elementary law of the nation; and a thorough study of its provisions, its preamble and its amendments is essential to an understanding of the nature and sources of American law.

§ 2. Law in the abstract sense.-Law in the concrete sense is most frequently used as synonymous with statute. Thus the acts of a state legislature are generally referred to as the law of the state. It is quite common to refer to a federal statute as a law of Congress. Law in the abstract, however, refers to the legal rules and principles observed by the courts. Professor Gray of the Harvard Law School defines the law of the state as that body of rules and principles observed by the courts in the determination of legal rights and duties. In other words, the law is what the court, in the performance of its judicial functions, determines to be the law. Under our legal and governmental system, the courts construe, interpret, and apply the law, and from their determination there is no appeal. It is the rule and construction of the court which the administration must enforce, and to which the public must conform. Under a system of separation of powers between the legislative, executive, and judicial departments of government, in which the powers of legal exposition and interpretation are the exclusive functions of the judiciary, the rules and principles followed by the courts must of necessity be the law. Their construction is the final test and determi

nation of what the law is. This does not mean that the courts are free to lay down rules and principles according to their individual sense of justice, for the state directs them to legal sources from which the great bulk of their rules and principles are evolved, and which the courts are under the most solemn obligations to observe and respect.

In the abstract sense the statutes enacted by the legislature constitute merely one of the sources of the law and not a part of it. If the statutes interpreted and applied themselves, then they would indeed be in fact a portion of the law. But since the statutes do not generally interpret themselves, their meaning must be determined by the courts, and in strictness, it is the meaning so determined and no other that is the law. As above indicated, the courts are bound by solemn obligations to observe the legal sources, which in the case of statutes would mean to give to the statute the meaning intended by its framers, notwithstanding, however, it is the meaning of the statute as finally determined by the court that constitutes a part of the law of the state.

It is important to bear in mind this definition of the law in order that there may be no confusion between legal rules on the one hand and rules of ethics, politics, and philosophy on the other. In times past this confusion has been too common. Many definitions of the law of the state have included the elements of the "good and equitable," the "dictates of reason," the "abstract expression of the general will," or the will of the monarch or ruling body. Obviously all such definitions are incorrect and misleading; they tend to confuse law with ethics and philosophy. If the highest courts declare a certain rule to be the law, it is in fact the law regardless of whether it is "good and equit

able," or the "dictate of reason," or the "abstract expression of the general will," or the wish of the monarch or ruling body.

§3. Legal rights and duties.-The ultimate purpose of the law is the maintenance of order and justice. This is secured by creating legal rights and duties which are enforced or recognized by the state. Rights and duties are correlative. One can not exist without the other. There can be no right in one person without a corresponding duty in one or more other persons to respect that right. A has a right to his life. Then all other persons are under legal duty to respect that right. If A makes a valid contract with B in which he agrees to pay him one hundred dollars for B's spotted cow and the cow is properly delivered, then B has a right to receive one hundred dollars, and it is the duty of A to pay it. The state has the right to have the public peace undisturbed. This means the public are under obligations to do nothing that will disturb the public peace. If one commits murder or engages in a fight he violates this duty and will be punished by the state.

§ 4. Liberties.-In certain cases the term right is used in a broader meaning than the one here discussed, and includes not only the strict legal rights that are correlative to duties, but also liberties and powers. A liberty is the freedom to do a certain thing. It is recognized and allowed by law, but not protected by a corresponding legal duty. Thus the right to destroy my own property is a liberty in that the law will permit it and it is not wrong for others to prevent me, so long as the prevention does not violate some strict legal right. The right of one to

raise flowers on his land is another example of a liberty, for the law will permit it, and yet it will not punish one who prevents it by so constructing a building upon his adjoining land as to cut off the afternoon sun, thus causing the flowers to wither and die. It is not a strict legal right, for there is no legal duty to correspond. In short, liberties are those things which the law permits but does not protect. There are many of these liberties, and some of them receive indirect protection as incidental to the protection of strict legal rights. Thus if one interferes with me in the destruction of my property, which is a liberty, it will be difficult for him to do so without seizing my person, trespassing upon my property or invading some other strict legal right, for the violation of which the law will afford redress.

§ 5. Powers.-A power is the ability or capacity conferred on one by law to determine legal relationships. Examples are the right to make a will, the right to alienate one's property, the right to bring suit in a court of law and the various powers vested in public officers. The right to make a will is not a right in its strict sense, for there is no duty that is correlative. It is merely the capacity to determine the ownership of the property after the owner's death. Powers are either public or private. They are public when they are exercised by persons as agents of the state, and they are private when vested in persons to be used for their own private purposes. In creating liberties the law provides individuals with certain recognized spheres of unrestrained activity, and in creating powers it gives to them authority or capacity to create or alter legal relationships. Thus the relationships between individuals and between in