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What goals did Sir William Blackstone set out for his lectures on the laws of England?
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Sir William Blackstone
William Blackstone, oil painting attributed to Sir Joshua Reynolds; in the National Portrait Gallery, London.
In a notice dated June 23, 1753, Sir William Blackstone outlined four primary goals for his lectures on the laws of England:
- To lay down a general and comprehensive plan of the laws of England.
- To deduce their history.
- To enforce and illustrate their leading rules and fundamental principles.
- To compare them with the laws of nature and the laws of other nations.1
These lectures, which were the first of their kind delivered at a university, were designed to present English law as a uniform, logical system. By doing so, Blackstone aimed to provide a clear and elegant description of the legal landscape, which later formed the foundation of his influential Commentaries on the Laws of England.12