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Law (Term variously defined)

a term variously defined, according to its application. The laws of nature, as expounded by men of science, are general propositions as to the order in which physical events have occurred, and will probably recur; the moral law, or the law of God, is a body of truth thrown into the form of rules for the guidance of human conduct. But when we speak of law we usually mean to indicate the law which is set and enforced by civilized states. Law, in this sense, derives its sanction, or binding force, from the penalties by which men are constrained to obey it or punished for breaking it. The earliest source of law is custom; the customary rules of a primitive community formed the basis of the civil law at Rome, as they form the basis of the common law in England and the United States. Customary law is rigid and formal; in a progressive society it is relaxed and improved by the and ideas; even England, while refusing to borrow directly from the Corpus Juris Civilis (body of the civil law), has derived no small part of her law from that source. Scotch law has largely drawn its principles and nomenclature from Roman law.

It is usual to distinguish public law (constitutional and criminal) from private law (which applies to personal status, family relations, property, and contract). Constitutional law is of espe cial importance in the United States, Canon law is not received, as an entire system, by any modern state; but its rules are followed in defining the powers and functions of ecclesiastical persons.

The law of nations, or international law. is also divided into public and private.