ELEMENTARY LAW. CHAPTER I. LAWS IN GENERAL. § 1. Necessity for law.-Laws, in their most general signification, are the necessary relations of things. In this sense all beings have their laws, the Deity has his laws, the material world has its laws, the beasts have their laws, man has his laws. Or as Plutarch expresses it, law is queen of gods and men. Human laws are the conditions under which men, naturally independent, unite themselves in society. The suspension of law in the material universe would result in chaos; to suspend the operations of law in society would result in anarchy. The ancient Persians, to impress upon the people the necessity for laws, suspended all laws for a period of five days after the death of a sovereign. Of all men the lawyer should be foremost in maintaining respect for existing laws. § 2. Human laws-We have to deal here alone with the laws which men impose upon themselves. Discarding old theories, such as the divine right of kings, civilized peoples recognize the fact that sovereignty, ultimately and of right, rests in the governed. Each individual in society sacrifices part of his lib |