Constitutional Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1824-1832, 1832-04-17

without seeming to reflect hdt in order that the
Law school shoutd flourish, it is necessary that ~
&C here we have the ambitious vulgarism, 81
n"dgi"e, Tor 81 suppose" Meaning to convey
the idea, that high station is no certain proof of
o =; wisdom-h he says, should not 'udge of
the pisiforS, Visters, because some of them have
held distinguished Offices"
The whole essay i'm which these bIundcrs appcar
does not I'LL a column in the Wing. When it is
remembered, that the Grecian Aristotle refined SUI,
prone over the department of language, and criti-
cish tindced OF universal science) in the antient
"orio' every mind must be struck with the felicity
OF approPriating his name to genius, who, in SO
shor' an essay, commits dozen more infrac-
tons OF grammar and rhetoric. A boy just breech-
Gu amecting to brandish the club of Icrcules-
ION Thumb, III the seven league boots of the OIL
ant-the Donkey, in the lions skn-or this younp
gentleman himself, playing the Monitor to the vi
siters OF the Univcrsity-can alone and but family
yPny the ineffiblc congruity of such intellect
WIN such name. If wit as rightly defined to be-
the bringing of remote ideas une xpcctedlv togeth
CO., verify, III uniting his cffuson with that name
the sot dtsdnt Aristotle has slewn himself the wit
lcs OF men: Tor no two ideas could he wider apart
lie calls himself friend to the University; and
though he disapprovcs of young mems warinr
newspaper controversies he 'riolates that OPT
nion," out of pure regard for lis welfare Now he
may be assured that the emanation of such pro-
duction his from its walls is likely to BRING that
Institution more into dsrepute, than would the in
capacity of the Law-Professor, though thrice as
great even as ''Aristote" thinks it. So that if he
is really the friend he Processes to be- let him date
hereafter from some other place. If he persist in
claiming domcil there, Dulners may still, as in
the Dunciad, vindicatc her title to her child and
boast him all her own, unnfected by the contagion
OF wisdom or knowledge:
wv hat tho we let some better sort of $500
lhro every science, run thro' every school,
Never by tumblcr thro' the hoops was shcwn
Such skill i'll passing all, and touching noncn
Yet, after ALL Inc has justification tor calling
himself AnisrorLE. The famous Mrs. Malaprop
was SAID TO be absolute Queen of the Dictionary; be-
cause no word could refuse to at her bidding
though one would have thought it so far off, & so
perhaps the name of the ''Mighty Stayirite" Justly
belongs to writer, who shows himself despotc
over all the laws of grammar. If he is content
with this plea, be it And now, let him mind his
aruo' and his TlTlO; or rather (wlrat better suits
lin, his Walkers Dictionary, and Murrays English
Grammar; and not ''violate his opinion" about
newspaper essays any more.
Jcs-ing apart have somewhat to say on the
appointment in question: not to rcfiltc Longinus
ana Aristote--tor their names too much for my
gravity, and said was done iesting-but in an
swcr to objections that | have heard from some
men OF respectable understandings, in the country
The Professors youhuness-hs want of celebrity
and OF ability-the ease with which a superior man
might have been obtaned-are the current object
ions. L think them all totally erroneous.
10 excel i'll any pursuit, its votary must COM
mence 1t early; before his faculties acquire power
age, and habit, rigdity which hners their adapt
dtiol 10 tHclr destined exercises. 1hS more true
OF no art, than OF the art of instruction. n one
more depends upon peculiar turn, or kRack, which
II not acquired while the mind is young and fiex-
bic, Is hardly to he attained at all. Besides Teach
or should begin y"ung, las some author-I think
Ilcherand, Observes bee then his own diff
culties i'll study the eXpcdcnts by which he over
came them and the mental processes by which he
advanced III knowledge, fresh III his memory;
and by having recently traverscd the road he can
better shcw it to others. Nor must it be supposed
lp Law no
feHchtng It, They arc totally different callings de-
handing qualifications alE.ost unlike as those of
the Lawyer and Physician. The Lawyer must be
familiar with positive rules, and commonly rests
content with knowing that Such is the La,r: and
when he has traced them through all the books
from Coke to Randolph, he enquiries no farther
But the Professor must hibituate himself TO probe
those rules, to their deepest foundations, and try
them by the standard of the most enlarged Justice
and reason. The Lawyers powers are tasked, to
warp admitted principles right to-day, left to-mor-
row, as the clients interest gives the cue; and in
dong so, to bewder the minds, whose just percep-
IONS would defeat his cause: the Professors task is,
iucldly to explain general principles and with them
as lucdly to connect particular doctrines-with the
single aim no: to mislead but to inform. The one
contends for victory: the other for truth Gullivers
picture of the Legal Profcsson-'a set of men
whose business 1T is to prove, by words multiplied
tor the purpose, that black is white, and white is
black, according they are paid" is in
deed caricature but it bears carica-
lures resemblance to the original. A Law
ycrs first effort in cause, is convince himself
OF Its justice; his second, to connive others The
Professor, on the contrary must strive to convey,
In the fewest words, the most correct IDEAS: he
must cultivate talent for simpifcation, which il
used by Lawyer, would but expose lis sophistres
to detection and overthrow. Surely in two STA
tions involving duties so different, the habits o
thought, the trains of mental action must differ as
widely. How difficult, and generally how unavail
ing' would 1t be, to teach Il trotting horse PIT
| ces at 10 years old 1t would be no less preposte
rous, to convert n LAWYER of 80 into Law Profcs
sor. He would find hinscIfcv and anon runnint
into tedious details, and into the technical quib
| blcS with which he wont TO battle an adverse
ry or hoodwink a jury instead of presenting those
enlarged views of Jurisprudence that might trail
| his yet unsophisiicatcd pupils into PHILOSOPHERS
| Lawyers. Yet the Professor ought to have been {
| practising Lawyer. He ought to have witnessed
in Courts the application Of legal rules to actua
facts: he ought to have and felt the laws mo
| duS OperGRdi-he ought TO have imbbcd from prac
tice, that thorough insight which practice alone
can give, into the duties moral and intellectual, of
the profession into which Inc is to usher the youth
ful geDuscs of the land. But lie ought to have de-
rived these fruits from the practice without having
| become hackniCd i'll it's ways. He should have adj
vanced far the threshold ofthe shrine as to
comprehend It's parts and structure, without being
infected with the diseases that exist thcre.-Prc
ciscly at this point had the gentleman in question
/ arrived, when nc placed in the Law Chair
He was about 39-perhaps year older, or Younger
lie had practiscd law or 10 years (about in Al
bemare) after having laid good previous fouuda
ton the more liberal studies, at school and col
| lego. So mature was his mind, that years before
his appointment, heard speech of his commend
ed by most shrcwd Judge, of the best Inc
had ever heard in that Court. have myself hcirt
him deliver ono, which for force, ingenuity anC
elegance, would hive done honor to a Lawyer OF
| twice his age. His practice was not very great
but it was respectfully so: and Inc was NOS elcsslv
but Pcrccptbly and steadily winning his way to-