Excerpt from Commentaries on the Laws of England, Vol. 1: In Four Books; Together With Such Notes of Enduring Value as Have Been Published in the Several English Editions; Including Books I and II The Commentaries of Mr. Justice Blackstone have now for more than a century been the wonder and delight of persons whose curiosity or interest have led them to investigate the constitution and laws of Great Britain, the condition of things from which they grew, and the reasons upon which they rest. Lapse of time does not seem to diminish the attractions, or to lessen materially the practical value of these Commentaries. Large as is the proportion of the rules and usages here defined and described which have been modified by statute, or have become obsolete in the changes and habits and modes of thought among the people, the best book in which to take a comprehensive view of the rudiments of English and American law is still the work now before us of this eminent jurist. It IS true that of late many short and easy highways to a knowledge of the law have been planned by different writers, along which the student might saunter with little hard labor and less hard thought, arriving at his goal at last with a vague impression of having surveyed a vast field of curious and irreconcilable contradictions, where confusion was the leading principle, and chance the arbiter of controversy; but the thoughtful student, the earnest seeker after knowledge, ambitious to fit himself for the practical duties of life, and for the stations to which the partiality or discern ment of his fellows might summon him, has shunned these deceptive ways, and by the aid of vigorous thinkers, like the author before us, has delighted to trace the plain law running through the apparent confusion, and to discover and contemplate the sound reasons out of which rules apparently arbitrary have sprung. Such minds soon perceive that the field of legal knowledge is too vast and diversified to be understood from a superficial survey of its principal objects and features, and that it must be carefully explored through all its mazes and intricacies, and with the aid of the men who, having studied the law with an intimate knowledge of the habits and customs of the people over whom it was established, were prepared to say why this rule was prescribed, and how and under what circumstances that custom sprung up. And so it happens, that while year by year hundreds of superficial workers are preparing themselves to glean in the fields of legal controversy, the true laborers in that field, the'men who are to reap its substantial harvests, and to bear away its tempting prizes, do not spare themselves the labor of an intimate acquaintance with the work of this great jurist, nor fail to explore the abundant stores of legal learning to which he gives us such agreeable introduction. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.