4.Now，of these various kinds of law，the only one which we shall talk about is the thirdthe kind of law which it is the duty of a judge and jury，a court，to enforce.When we speak of the laws of a country，of lawmakers，of lawyers ，we refer to law of this kind.
5.Who Make the Laws？Every country has a set of laws of its own.Some of these explain what acts are forbidden，and how such acts are to be prevented，or，if done，how they shall be punished.Acts which the law forbids are called crimes ，and laws which relate to them are called criminal lawsjust as people who disobey these laws are called criminals .Then，there are other laws which regulate business affairs，providing ways for collecting debts，for making a record of the sale of land，and the like.And still other laws determine what public officers，like policemen and judges，there shall be，and what shall be their powers and duties.
6.Now，all these laws have to be made by somebody，and it is very important that we should understand just who it is that has the right to make rules which everybody is bound to obey.The rules of a school are made by the teacher.But they are intended only for the boys and girls in the school.The laws of the United States should be obeyed by every man，woman，and child in the land.
7.In Russia the laws are made by the tsar.To be sure，as we said before，he has a body of men to advise him what laws to make.But he is not bound to take their advice，and，in any case，what they suggest is not law unless the tsar makes it so.He is the lawmaker.This is putting a vast responsibility on a single man a responsibility which he is very apt to lessen by usually taking the advice of his courtiers，But the government of Russia is an absolute monarchy.
8.There are some countries in which all the grown men come together in a mass meeting to decide what the laws shall be.This is done in a few of the cantons of the Swiss republic.It is done in the towns of some of our States，the town meeting，of course，not making all the laws，but merely their own local town laws.This sort of lawmaking is just the opposite of an absolute monarchy，and is called a pure democracy.It works very well where there are not many people，and where the country is not too large.
9.In a republic the laws are usually made by a body of men selected for that purpose by the people.This body of men is called a legislature .Its members are generally elected for a few years only，so that if they do not please the people others can be chosen in their place.In a large country it is not convenient for all the people to come together to make laws.So the next best thing is for the people to choose a small number of men who shall carry out the popular will.
10.In a country which is a monarchy，but in which the monarch has not the absolute power，as he has in Russia，the legislature commonly consists partly of men elected by the people，partly of the aristocrats，and partly of the monarch himself.But as the monarch and the aristocrats hold their place without regard to the popular will，it is clear that in such a country the people cannot always get such laws made as they want.However，on the other hand，the monarch and the aristocrats cannot make such laws as they want unless the representatives of the people consent.