But I must close. We have it on the authority of the Bible, and we read it in the constitution of man, that there is “a time to weep and a time to laugh.” There will also be ample scope for the legitimate action of caustic wit, so long as there are follies to be shown up, pretenders to be unmasked, and conceit and affectation to be taught to know themselves. But, in the serious strifes of the world, the ultimate advantages of this weapon, though wielded on the right side, are more than dubious. “The Spaniards have lamented,” it has been said, “and I believe truly, that Cervantes’ just and inimitable ridicule of knight-errantry rooted up, with that folly, a great deal of their real honor. And it was apparent that Butler’s fine satire on fanaticism contributed not a little, during the licentious times of Charles II., to bring sober piety into disrepute. The reason is evident; there are many lines of resemblance between truth and its counterfeits; and it is the province of wit only to find out the likenesses in things, and not the talent of the common admirers of it to discover the differences.” At any rate we can shun the rock of small wits who think to make up for poverty of invention by a scurrility and grimace, who think to gain from the venom of the shaft what is wanting in the vigor of the bow. We can imitate the example of those among the great masters of wit in all ages, who have ennobled it by purity of expression and a moral aim; so that, in the end, virtue may not have occasion to blush, or humanity to mourn, for anything we have said or done. Take any other course and we are reminded of the confession which experience wrung from the lips of the wise man: “I said in my heart, go to now, I will prove thee with mirth; therefore enjoy pleasure; and behold this also is vanity. I said of laughter, it is mad; and of mirth, what doeth it?” “Even in laughter the heart is sorrowful, and the end of that mirth is heaviness.”
COMMERCIAL LAW.
By EDWARD C. REYNOLDS, Esq.
I.—LAW IN GENERAL.
It perhaps would be well for us to take a glance at the origin of the law which we are about to consider in its practical applications. In all our business relations, and in fact in our general conduct, so far as that term would apply to one as a member of a community and a citizen, we are controlled in our action by absolute, and in some instances possibly, by arbitrary regulations or laws, with which perhaps we may be wholly unfamiliar, but which are none the less binding and positive in their exactions because we have neglected to familiarize ourselves with their requirements.
It is a rule of law, that ignorance of it excuses no one. For this reason ignorance is never pleaded in court as an answer to civil or criminal allegations of any sort. This rule presupposes a knowledge of the law on the part of every citizen. While, strictly speaking, this is impossible and in reality but a fiction, any other provision would be fraught with danger. Although, through the observance of this rule, doubtless, hardships are occasioned—as in fact must result from the enforcement of any law, however wise—it is notwithstanding that, a very necessary and strictly proper presumption. Were it to be otherwise, any attempt to enforce obligations against dishonest parties or to punish crime would prove ineffectual, because recourse would always be had to this defense. Thus all law would be a nullity.