The three qualifications for properly pronouncing the Welsh language; a cold in the head, a knot in the tongue, and a husk of barley in the throat.
The three languages which a man may speak in Wales when he does not know Welsh: that of the Chinese, that of the Cherokees, and that of the Houhnyhms.
The three languages which will carry a man all over Wales without knowing a word of Welsh; that of the arms, that of the eyes, and that of the pocket—Farewell! dear reader, nos-dda-wch!
LIFE AND TIMES OF LORD HARDWICKE.[[20]]
The Law of England forms the most remarkable characteristic of the country. The Law is the spirit of the national liberty, the guardian of the national religion, and the foundation of the national government. Britain has the proud distinction of being almost the only country on earth, where no act of arbitrary power can be suffered—where no man’s person, property, or conscience, can be subjected to insult with impunity—and where every man has rights, and all are alike under the safeguard of Law.
We propose to give a rapid sketch of the history of this great principle in England.
It is singular that the most intellectual nation of the ancient world—Greece—has not left us any system of law. Cicero speaks with professional scorn of all jurisprudence except the Roman. He would not have spoken thus of the Mosaic law, if he had known it. But one of the most extraordinary circumstances of the Hebrew commonwealth, is the general ignorance of its incomparable institutions, which prevailed among the most active inquirers of the northern world. But law existed from the earliest periods in Greece, though its name was often and curiously changed. In the time of Homer, the name of law was Themis, or establishment. In the time of Hesiod, the name was Nomos, or distribution. In after times, it was Dikè, or justice. The cause of the Greek want of system was said to be the number of judges in their courts, which rendered the decision rather matter of popular sentiment than of fixed rule.
The systematic nature of the Roman law arose from there being in general but one judge in each court. The two prætors—the one for the city, and the other for the external jurisdiction—were annually appointed, and were accustomed, on entering on their offices, to state the rules on which they intended to act. Those rules became gradually embodied, and finally formed the groundwork of the Roman law.
In the language of Rome, Law was Lex, from Lego, as the proposal of the rule was read by the magistrate to the assembly of the people. The Anglo-Saxon name was Laga, from Legen, to lay down—from which comes our word Law.
Law in England ascends as high as the time of the Druids, who, however, had no written code. But they seem to have left us the custom of Gavelkind—the division of the property of an intestate between the widow and the children, and the burning of a widow found guilty of her husband’s murder.