PREFAC E.

THE object of the following pages is to present in a popular form an historical sketch of the office and functions of an Advocate. It occurred to me that the subject afforded materials for a work which would not be devoid of interest, and perhaps instruction, if, without going into minute and tedious detail, some of the more salient points were selected in the history of that profession. I therefore devoted to the task the unemployed hours of the legal vacation, confining my attention principally to the countries of Greece and Rome, France and England, where oratory, with which advocacy is so closely allied that in the Latin language they are almost synonymous terms, has been cultivated with the greatest reputation and success. The name of Hortensius was chosen as the title of the volume, because of all the Advocates of antiquity he seems to have given himself up most exclusively to that profession, and the Roman Forum could boast of only one more brilliant name. "Ardebat autem," says Cicero of him, "cupiditate sic, ut in nullo unquam flagrantius studium viderim: nullum enim patiebatur esse diem, quin aut in foro diceret, aut meditaretur extra forum." I have sought to give a value to the book which it would not other

wise possess, by adding at the end two of the beautiful discourses of D'Aguesseau, one of the greatest of French magistrates and most eloquent of French writers. They will be found richly to deserve and repay perusal.

occur.

In the course of the work translations, both in prose and verse, of passages from the classic authors frequently These are in every case my own, and the critical scholar may object that some of the terms have not been rendered with strict and technical accuracy. But this has been done advisedly. I have endeavoured to express the meaning of the ancient writers, and to reflect the spirit rather than the mere letter of their works. In order to effect this, it is, I think, necessary to employ such terms as will, though not precisely equivalent, most readily convey the sense of the original. For instance, it would be easy to point out the difference between an Athenian and an English juryman; but, in many respects, their functions were analogous, and a modern reader will have a more lively idea of the scene presented in a Court of Justice at Athens, if we render à avopes Sikaσтal, "Gentlemen of the Jury!" than if, ἄνδρες δικασταὶ, with pedantic propriety, we style them "O Dicasts!" We are too apt to clothe the ancients in buckram, and view them, as it were, through a magnifying glass, so that they loom before us in the dim distance in almost colossal proportions. But we forget that they were men very much like ourselves, and accustomed to talk and act like ordinary mortals. Pascal says, with as much truth as wit, "On ne s'imagine d'ordinaire Platon et Aristote qu'avec de grandes robes, et comme des personnages toujours graves et sérieux. C'étaient

d'honnêtes gens, qui riaient comme les autres avec leurs amis; et quand ils ont fait leurs lois et leurs traités de politique, c'a été en se jouant et pour se divertir.” I know few things which serve more forcibly to link the past with the present, and prove the sameness of the great human family, than the sight of the dolls and toys in the British Museum which were the playthings of Egyptian children some three or four thousand years ago. Of course there are limits to the kind of license that may be used, and I fear we cannot applaud the taste of the Dutch commentator who always translated the word consul by "burgomaster." Sometimes, however, an opposite evil may arise, and false notions of institutions and manners may result, from too literal an adherence to the words of the original, where technical terms have been adopted into our language, but their meaning and force have been modified, or altogether changed, to suit the exigencies of modern times. Bishop Thirlwall, in his History of Greece, when speaking of the democratic form of government as treated of by Aristotle, says, "We shall not confine ourselves to the technical language of his system, but will endeavour to define the notion of democracy, as the word was commonly understood by the Greeks, so as to separate the essence of the theory from the various accidents, which have sometimes been confounded with it by writers, who have treated Greek history as a vehicle for conveying their views on questions of modern politics, which never arose in the Greek republics."

In quoting Niebuhr's " History of Rome," which I do frequently, deeply impressed as I am with the con

viction that he was the greatest genius that ever explored the dark recesses of antiquity and illumined the page of history, I have made use of the translation of his immortal work by Bishop Thirlwall and Archdeacon Hare. But the citations from his lectures are taken from the edition of Dr. Schmitz.

I must express my acknowledgments to my friend, Mr. David Pugh, for his kindness in assisting me to correct the proof sheets while they were passing through the press. To his critical taste and scholarship I am indebted for some valuable suggestions.

In conclusion I may observe, that the chief difficulty with which I have had to contend has been that of compression as the materials for a much longer treatise on the subject are abundant. But I was deterred by a fear lest, to use an expression of King James, I should be thought, especially in a first experiment, to "bestow my tediosity" upon upon the public. I believe the idea of such a work as the present is new; for although in France several essays, relative to the calling of advocates, have been written by Camus, Berryer, Dupin, and others, they are confined almost exclusively to the exercise of the profession in that country; and the works by Boucher d'Argis and Fournel are devoted to the history of the French order of advocates. If the success of the present essay is at all commensurate with that of such publications in France I shall be amply satisfied.

Inner Temple, Feb. 1. 1849.