ABSTRACT
IF an attempt were made to demonstrate in Bngland the superiority of the historical method of investigation to the modes of inquiry concerning Jurisprudence which are in fashion among us, no department of Law would better serve as an example than Testaments or Wills. Its capabilities it owes to its great length and great continuity. At the beginning of its history we find ourselves in the very infancy of the social state, surrounded by conceptions which it requires some effort of mind to realise in their ancient form; while here, at the other extremity of its line of progress, we are in the midst of legal notions which are nothing more than those same conceptions disguised by the phraseology and by the habits of thought which belong to modern times, and exhibiting therefore a difficulty of another kind, the difficulty of believing that ideas which form part of our every-day mental stock can really stand in need of analysis and examination. The growth of the Law of
vVillsbetweentheseextremepoints.canbetraced withremarkabledistinctness.Itwasmuchlessinterruptedattheepochofthebirthoffeudalism,than thehistoryofmostotherbranchesoflaw.Itis,indeed,truethatasregardsallprovincesofjurisprudence,thebreakcausedbythedivisionbetween ancientandmodernhistory,orinotherwordsbythe dissolutionoftheRomanEmpire,hasbeenvery greatlyexaggerated.Indolencehasdisinclinedmany writerstobeatthepainsoflookingforthreadsof connexionentangledandobscuredbytheconfusions ofsixtroubledcenturies,whileotherinquirers,not naturallydeficientinpatienceandindustry,have beenmisledbyidleprideinthelegalsystemoftheir country,andbyconsequentunwillingnesstoconfess itsobligationstothejurisprudenceofRome.But tl1eseunfavourableinfluenceshavehadcomparatively littleeffectontheprovinceofTestamentaryLaw. Thebarbarianswereconfessedlystrangerstoany suchconceptionasthatofaWill.Thebest authoritiesagreethatthereisnotraceofitin thosepartsoftheirwrittencodeswhichcomprise thecustomspractisedbythemintheiroriginalseats, andintheirsubsequentsettlementsontheedge oftheRomanEmpire.Butsoonaftertheybecame mixedwiththepopulationoftheRomanprovinces theyappropriatedfro.mtheImperialjurisprudence theconceptionofaWill,atfirstinpart,andafter-
wardsinallitsintegrity.Theinfluenceofthe Churchhadmuchtodowiththisrapidassimilation. Theecclesiasticalpowerhadveryearlysucceededto thoseprivilegesofcustodyandregistrationofTestamentswhichseveraloftheheathentempleshadenjoyed;andeventhusearlyitwasalmostexclusively toprivatebequeststhatthereligiousfoundations owedtheirtemporalpossessions.Henceitisthat thedegreesoftheearliestProvincialCouncilsperpetuallycontainanathemasagainstthosewhodeny thesanctityofWills.Here,inEngland,Churchinfluencewascertainlychiefamongthecauseswhich byuniversalacknowledgmenthavepreventedthat discontinuityinthehistoryofTestamentaryLaw whichissometimesbelievedtoexistinthehistoryof otherprovincesofJurisprudence.Thejurisdiction overoneclassof"WillswasdelegatedtotheEcclesiasticalCourts,whichappliedtothem,thoughnot alwaysintelligently,theprinciplesofRomanjurisprudence;and,thoughneitherthecourtsofCommon LawnortheCourtofChanceryownedanypositive obligationtofollowtheEcclesiasticaltribunals,they couldnotescapethepotentinfluenceofasystemof settledrulesincourseofapplicationbytheirside. TheEnglishlawoftestamentarysuccessiontoper~ sonaltyhasbecomeamodifiedformofthedispensationunderwhichtheinheritancesofRomancitizens wereadministered.
