George Sharswood (1810 - 1883) was a Pennsylvania jurist and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. In 1850 he reorganized the University of Pennsylvania Law School where he was professor of law until 1867. This essay was originally entitled "A Compend of Lectures on the Aims and Duties of the Profession of the Law, delivered before the Law Class of the University of Pennsylvania." Sharswood begins by defining jurisprudence as the "science of what the law is or means, and its practical application to cases as they arise." He goes on to discuss the role of the legislator in making just laws that reflect the good of society.