t  Dp  Legib.  rfp  Uppablfcs*


common  lawyers.  By  degrees,  these  rules  were  modified  by
the  Edict  of  the  Free  tor,  evaded  by  the  interpretations  of  the
jurisconsults,  and  formally  abolished  by  the  Emperors.  It  is
not  necessary  to  read  further  than  the  Institutes  and  the  An-
tiquities of  Heineccius  to  perceive  how  many  salutary  changes
were  introduced,  one  by  one,  by  the  Caesars,  and,  at  length,  in  a
whole  body,  by  Justinian,  of  which  the  object  was  lo  substitute
rational  for  arbitrary  legislation,  and  to  give  to  the  law  a  sim-
plicity, at  once  elegant  in  theory  and  convenient  in  practice—
the  simplicitas  legibtts  arnica,  as  Tribonian  happily  enough
expresses  it.  The  civilians,  as  we  remarked  on  a  former  occa-
sion,' distinguished  carefully  between  the  jus  civilet  or  positive
law  of  a  single  people,  and  the  jus  gentium}  the  law  of  nature*
universally  recognized  by  the  nations.  Thejr  scheme  of  im-
provement was  to  make  the  former  part  of  their  jurisprudence
approximate,  as  nearly  as  might  be,  to  the  latter— to  make  them
coincide,  if  possible,  by  merging  the  one  in  the  other — and,  in
this  scheme,  they  succeeded  far  beyond  all  other  examples.
