assumed the character of manly freedom for which it is now so eminently distinguished.

Twelve Judges, who hold their offices during good hehaviour, are the oracles of this mystical science. In a monarchy like England, which has no written constitution, but in which all the rights of the sovereign as well as the privileges of the people are to be deduced from the common law, those Judges are an useful check against the encroachments of the monarch or his ministers; hence the common law and the judicial power are in that country almost objects of idolatrous worship. While the United States were colonies, they partook of this national feeling. The grievances which induced them to separate from the mother country were considered as violations of the common law, and at the very moment when independence was declared, the common law was claimed by an unanimous voice as the birth right of American citizens ; for it was then considered as synonymous to the British Constitution, with which their political rights and civil liberties were considered to be identified. In the dissentions that arose between the colonies and Great Britain, the Constitution, or the common law, which was the same thing, was appealed to in favour of the doc

в

ON THE

NATURE AND EXTENT

OF

THE JURISDICTION

OF THE

COURTS OF THE UNITED STATES,

BEING A VALEDICTORY ADDRESS

DELIVERED TO THE STUDENTS OF THE VACAREMY OF PHILADELPHIA, AT THE

CLOSE OF THE ACADEMIC YEAR, ON THE SPRIL, 1824,

BY PETER SIDE PONCENDAAL.D.

CISED IN THE UNITED STATES PRIOR TO THE ADOPTION OF

THE PRESENT FEDERAL CONSTITUTION,

BY THOMAS SERGEANT, Esa. Vice PROVOST.

AND THE AUTHOR'S

DISCOURSE ON LEGAL EDUCATION,

DELIVERED AT THE OPENING OF THE LAW ACADEMY, IN FEBRUARY, 1821.

WITH AN APPENDIX AND NOTES.

The great system of jurisprudepte, like that of the universe, consists of many subordinate systems, all of which are connected by nice links and beautiful dependencies, and each of them, as I have fully persuaded myself, is reducible to à few plain elements.-Jones. Law of Bailments.

PHILADELPHIA:

PUBLISHED BY ABRAHAM SMALL.

1824.

Eastern District of Pennsylvania, to wit:
BE IT REMEMBERED, That on the seventh day of June, in the forty-

eighth year of the indepentlence of the United States of Ame-
[SEAL.] rica, A. D. 1824, Prter Stephen Du Ponceau, of the said Dis-

trict, hath deposited in this office the Title of a book, the right whereof he claims as Author, in the words following, to wit:

“ A Dissertation on the nature and extent of the Jurisdiction of the Courts of the United States, bring a Valedictory Address delivered to the students of the Law Academy of Philadelphia, at the close of the academical year, on the 22d April, 1824, by Peter S. Du Pinceau, LL.D. Provost of the Academy. To which are addent, A brief sketch of the National Judiciary Powers exercised in the United States prior to the adoption of the presert Federal Constitution, by Thomas Sergeant, Esq. Vice Provost. And the author's Discourse on Legal Erlucation, delivered at the opening of the Law Academy in February, 1821. With an Appendix and Notes. The great system of jurisprudence, like that of the universe, corsists of many subordinate systems, all of which are connected by nice links and beautiful dependencies, and each of them, as I have fully persuarled myself, is reducible to a few plain elements. Jones, Law of Bail

Iuents,"

In Conformity to the Act of the Congress of the United States, intituled,
“ An Act for the Encouragement of Learning, by securing the Copies of
Maps, Charts, and Books, to the Authors und Proprietors of such Copies,
during the Times therein mentioned.”--And also to the Act, entitled, “ An
Act supplementary to An Act, entitled, “ An Act for the Encouragement of
Learning, by securing the Copies of Maps, Charts and Books, to the Author's
and Proprietors of such Copies during the Times therein mentioned,” and
extending the Benefits thereof to the Arts of designing, engraving, and
etching historical and other Prints."

D. CALDWELL,
Clerk of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

כל

• July 25, 1824

TO

THE HONOURABLE

WILLIAM TILGHMAN, LL.D.

CHIEF JUSTICE OF THE SUPREME COURT OF THE COM

MONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA,

AND PATRON OF THE

LAW ACADEMY OF PHILADELPHIA.

RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED BY

THE AUTHOR.