Seated in the library of the President, and in his accustomed place--for Cobb came nearly every evening to hear Mr. Craft discourse on the topics of the day, and to narrate, in his turn, the events contemporary with his former existence--he reminded his friend that he had promised to explain the law system of the present day, and to discuss its merits and defects. "And right happy I am, my dear boy," returned the President, "to sit and chat with you on these subjects, which, in many cases and under many phases, may strike you as being worthless, absurd, and detrimental to a just definition of the principles of sound common law." "You will hardly surprise me by any innovation upon the law of my time," said Cobb; "knowing, as I do, that the age is progressing. It could not have taken a retrograde movement in common law--not the law itself, but its definition and interpretation in the courts." "The laws of the land have been greatly modified and simplified. No longer are the bickerings, snarlings, personal abuse and ungentlemanly conduct of the opposing counsel permitted in the courts. Decorum is strictly observed, and justice--pure, plain justice, as far as it is possible for human minds to discern it--is meted out to the culprit at the bar, the defendant or the appellant in the case." "If such is now the condition of your courts and your law, you are worthy of man's sincere praise and thanks. The farce daily enacted in the courts of 1887 was a disgrace to an enlightened and civilized community." "The root of the innovation was the substitution of a plain and simple code of laws for the cumbrous shelves of State and national codes existing during your time. There is now one universal code of laws for the nation, whole or integral. Every crime known to man is laid down fully and plainly, and one, and only one, punishment ordained for the guilty." "But does this not work more harshly against those of otherwise good reputation than against the habitual criminal?"