The daily Madisonian. [volume] (Washington City [i.e. Washington, D.C.]) 1841-1845, 1844-03-15
A CIRCULAR TO STUDENTS OF Law
in THE UNITED STATES.

III
i sily of Maryland established IN the oily oil pat
tmors Law School, under the denomination OF me
Maryland Law Institute. This establishment con'i-
nued in successful operation nearly eleven years nav
inc reeeiy, students from eeuen OF the States, and
from foreign countries. Owing to the pressure
of an extensive practice simultaneously WIN the du-
ties which the Institution involved resolved IN Tue
wear 1886 abandon not !y the practice oil my ever
and long cherished profession but also the Law inst-
tute and for health and ease, sought the more ge"'a
climates OF Europe. Finding, at this time, my heai'h
perfectly restored, and with II no abatement whatever
of my zeal and devotion 10 that great science winch
in this county of all Others needs to be mstodealiy
aud carefully studed-and seeking, moreover, indus
trious and continued occupatoD essential 10 happ
ness n land that knows no dier reso, ed to -esta-
bsh the Law lDstliuiion--and have selected ihtia'
oepha as The place of lis location. In SO doiag have
thought that city 10 the MON affords such various
and ample inducements for all the purposes OF The
Law Sutherland that In none can more worthy |
economy be preserved and yet with every requisite
comfort
| The frequent applications made TO me from dis
lance the former occasion, in regard TO the paro
ulas of my enterprise, induce me TO anticipate similar
inquiries now--and to meet all such IN advance,
| now address this Circular all that offer in
explanation and, probably, as all that may be requi-
| site.
| The Institution, dedicated alone to law studies,
and their cognate and auxiliary topics, spacious
and beautiful building, N. III South Fifth street
suitable for the accommodation of about sixty stu
dents. The all suitably furn she'd supplied
with extensive law and miscellaneous library
ruth pecedents Of practice IN every conceivable and APP
| proved Drm. S,uden,s admitted at any time
throughout the year-coursos OF study and the re-
quisite books are supplied, exactly to meet the
wants and views of the student, according as he may
design practice his profession eilhe the country
OF in some of the maritime cities. The laws Of every
State in the Union in some degree dwelt upon
practice is constantly Blended with heCry-but the
deep and radical error of parents well of students
is carefully AVOIDED aludc to the Too
IInnt atm A.
aysdns-merc attorneys, learning practice by roe and
Jealous of book-hrociedge being too iheor eicat-
| This mschievous error must inevitably degrade the
science and profession, and is gross mistake, since
no practising Attorney good and lasting one
who was not also deeply versed in the reasons and
theory of the law. therefore cannot acquiesce in
and never will yield 10, the vulgar error Of putting
practice before and above iheory-- is unnatural
inrerSion Of the established order of naturean igno
rant and slovenly way of urging young 10 at
temps far beyond the powers of the human ind
for, If the grounds and of the science be not
well known, the practice cannot be well known.
But the error, to which | earnestly allude, is
founded upoh another, which is equally false and
row, v'Z.-hat students learn the practice only in
practising lawyers office, On the Contrary os gen
eral rule, II is the very last place in which he
does, or can learn the practice-and this be made
| extremely manifest. What is practice distinguish
| cd from theory? Take single examp!e-and er uno
disco omnss. The theory law point says TO the
student, if A lends b his watch, and b sells it,
fuses To return ~ may DfIDg wnat Is called an &C
1 ton of Irover and Conversion. Now frorer means
hnding, and conversion means appropriang to his
| own use and here, again, the student leans two
| other theoretical law pons-viz. that the find ng Is
| now verbal fiction, not at all material, TO be
propsd-and secondly that the conversion by the de-
fendant to his consists in the WITHHOLD
ing the properly from the plaintiff, although il should
be clearly proved lhat he in no way USED the
property for himself for any purpose whatever, bu,
| TO withhold II from the plaintiff.
| lie ,a
deal more, before the practice comes-and that practice
the plaintiffs part consists of thorough know ledge
of he forms preetdenis-and the DEFENDANT part
ofthe like knowledge TO the torrnttle of the pleas
| reolndeTs &c There are, therefore books Of prece
dents these books unfold every practical proceeding
whatever in every action known to the Iaw-pro
gressivey from the importation of the ,ritto he final
| return upon the eIeeution These formula of wrlls
returns 10 Observation-Disclosures
acknowledgement of juries -trial-ex-
cepions-verdct-ju Observation-Disclosures of
| execulion-or, on the other hand trial--or APP
peal &c, &c.-are all set forth in the rpeced, nts so
that he who knows most of precedeAtS, knows most
of practice but STILL these yrecedents cannot them
selves be understood, without previous theoretical
know ledge. The question: then itse into this
Canno, law student be well grounded in all ths
precedents, ido Serlsu, who pr actising
| lawyers office Add why not 2 On the contrary
| cannot he learn far more OF practice by the iud-
cious and careful study of all the forD,io (Which he
never docs IN practising lawyers ofice) than by
| OCCASION
al ons, pleas &c, which the of office
assigns TO the studentl IL 1t uniformly the case
that all really difficult and responsible business of this
is done by the master himself without reach
ing the eye Of the sIudent-or If II does only 10 me
chanically copy III Again Who can dlstng uish be.
tween real suit in court and fictitious one IN which
one student prepares the wrlt-anuther the return
another The declaration some other the pea, &c
until all the practical proceedings are gone through
And what prevents these students making record Of
the whole, and then comparing all with C, rtifed re-
cord fiom some court of justice IN like action All
this surely may be done Law Inslitution-aod far
| tter-more quietl ,--and with more time thar IN bus.
mess offices where many precious hours often lost 10
| useless messages-ong walks-iianscr bling letters
copying mot depsing) declsIa atoms, pleas, replica
tons, &c. so generally the sole workmanship OF the
| master of the office and very seldom that of the
student confess that all this is to my mind extreme
ly plain and has long isfed me of the popular and
serious which has placed young men In Offices
where little either oftheOry or OF practice is learnt This
surely is always the case bot it is too often such
asnany despOning students have found and others
have been compelled TO confess, that they never
learned much OF theory of practice until after they
came the bar but, at which time, 1t found very
uphill and arduous work, and sometimes not accom-
! pshed even through a whole life of toll Doubtless
there are many noble exceptions TO The correctness of
these remarks but still | aver 1t a fact that my
experience has never made me acquainted with any
uoung io,oyer, who IN candid conversation was not
willing 20 confess that his legal education had been
very hsp-hazad-aDd hat practice To any really val
liable and ob,diHg extent Is the last thing student
can ever hope for IN practising lawyers ofice.
After an extensive practice Of seven and twenty |
years in all of the courts and devotion TO the int
rests Of ie students, during much of that period may
not be too much to say that practice be lost
light ofn this institution and that nothing but pechan
cal narro,cneu Of legal education unworthy e an en-
hgh,ened lawyer, could ever patronise the init
nation that such Institution only adopted for
the incubation ofhe science and not of the Of our
profes son-an iutlmation confined, doubtless to
very few but vhch, STILL is fatal the inte-
rests Of law students and captivating TO unin-
.,I ri, Al, 4,