large his views, and accustom his mind to a correct and logical mode of reasoning by analogy and deduction. All works of merit, written on the subjects of morals, reason, and justice, like the sciences, are of a kindred nature, and are inclined to aid each other according to their reciprocal relations; their association is harmonious, and never fails to enlighten and improve the mind in proportion to the purity of their principles, and the nearness of their alliance. On moral philoosophy, the works of Doctor Pailey are entitled to the first merit; his principles are founded on moral expediency, and resolve themselves into moral truths;-these are written in a style of great simplicity, and yet of elegance and ease, and breathe that spirit of happiness, which is calculated to inspire the mind with the pleasing influence of the subject on which they were written and on the civil law, of the merits of Pothier for lucid style, and logical reasoning, perhaps there needs no greater proof than the character given him by Sir William Jones, in his essay on bailment. This very enlightened and distinguished judge, so celebrated in the annals of the East, in speaking on the treatises of Pothier, says—“I seize with pleasure an opportunity of recommending those treatises to the English lawyer, exhorting him to read them again and again; for if his great master Lyttleton has given him, as it is presumed, a taste for luminous method, apposite examples, and a clear and manly style, in which nothing is redundant, nothing is deficient, he will surely be delighted with works, in which all these advantages are combined, and the greatest portion of which is law at Westminster as well as at Orleans; for my own part, I am so charmed with them, that if my undissembled fondness for the study of jurisprudence were never to produce any greater benefit to the public, than barely the introduction of Pothier to the acquaintance of my countrymen, I should think that I had in some measure discharged the debt, which every man, according to Lord Coke, owes to his profession." With these few introductory remarks, submitted to the consideration of the Chancery student, on the subject of his Chancery studies, the compiler will conclude by recommending to him, zealously, the pursuit of them, with due attention, application and system, without which he can have no well grounded hopes of obtaining either reputation or success in the practice or pursuit of a profession, of all others the most laborious, and which in fact requires the study of one's life. Application and study are calculated to conquer all difficulties; of this, almost every age and every country furnishes us with examples of a pre-eminent kind-the history of the arts and sciences, laws and government, religion and morals of all ages, both ancient and modern, are perhaps the best evidence of their wonderful effects and extensive utility; of their effects. in the former age, perhaps there needs no greater proof than the very great labors of the greatest statesmen, orators and civilians of the greatest celebrity-of Tully and Demosthenes, who is said to have conquered nature herself; and, in the latter age, than the voluminous writings of a Bacon, a Hardwicke, a Mansfield, and many others who have bestowed so much light and learning on the profession;-but why go back into antiquity for examples-why seek for them abroad when we have so many at home, the light and ornament of their profession. And, considering the very extended range of the jurisdiction of our courts of justice, the various professional grades which occupy the attention of the individual practitioner, and the duties which appertain to his practice, perhaps there are few countries, where the science of jurisprudence opens a wider field for improvement, study and application, than these United States, and no tribunal of justice which holds out greater encouragement for them, to the honorable part of the profession, than the Court of Chancery of this state. TABLE OF CONTENTS. I. Chancellor, salary, appointment, &c. II. Masters of the court, their appointment and duties, с ib |