4525. LAW, Style of.—
In its [the bill
“proportioning crimes and punishments”, in
the Virginia Revised Code] style I have
aimed at accuracy, brevity, and simplicity,
preserving, however, the very words of the
established law, wherever their meaning had
been sanctioned by judicial decisions, or rendered
technical by usage. The same matter,
if couched in the modern statutory language,
with all its tautologies, redundancies, and
circumlocutions, would have spread itself over
many pages, and been unintelligible to those
whom it most concerns. Indeed, I wished to
exhibit a sample of reformation in the barbarous
style into which modern statutes have
degenerated from their ancient simplicity.—
To George Wythe. Washington ed. i, 146.
Ford ed., ii, 203.
(M.
1778)
See 4531.
