§ 2 Jurisprudence as the Science of Civil Law
In a second and narrower sense, jurisprudence, instead of including all three of the foregoing divisions, is limited to one only, namely, that which we have distinguished as civil. It is the science of civil law. A similar specific application belongs to the term law also, for when we speak of law without any qualifying epithet, we commonly mean that particular form which is administered in the tribunals of the state. So when we speak of jurisprudence without more, we usually intend the science of this special kind of law and this alone.2
Civil jurisprudence is divisible into three branches, which may be distinguished as Systematic, Historical, and Critical. The first deals with the present; its purpose is the exposition of the legal system as it now is. The second deals with the past; it is concerned with the legal system in the process of its historical development. The third deals with the ideal future; it expounds the law not as it is or has been, but as it ought to be. Systematic jurisprudence is legal exposition; historical jurisprudence is legal history; while critical jurisprudence is commonly known as the science of legislation.