The daily Madisonian. [volume] (Washington City [i.e. Washington, D.C.]) 1841-1845, 1844-04-29
A CIRCULAR TO STUDENTS OF LAW
IN THE UNITED STATES.

III .IfitI..f # ftf - tAht Ht't
TN The y~sr 1894 under the auspices OF the unvss
sly OF Mary land established In the CITY OF Bal
timoss Law School under the denomination of the
Mssylani Law Institute This ss.sbi'sh'le"' soh''
nued IN successful operation nearly eleven wears n"'
ing received students from eistea oi the oeies, ano
from foreign countries. Owing to the pressure
of ensise practice simultaneously with she du-
ties which the Institution involved resolved IN the
year 1886 abandon not lily the practice oi my ever
aud long cherished Profession but also tue La" ins'-
tule and of health and ease, sought The more geha
climates OF Europe. Finding at this time, nay health
perfectly restored, and with II no abatement Whatever
of my zeal and devotion 10 that great science which
in this country OF all others needs To be petiodie@ty
and carefully siudied--and seeking, moreover INDUS
and continued occupation, essential 10 hupp-
in land that knows no tdrs resol, ed to feo,a-
blsh the Law lnsttution-and have selected f'h1a'
delpkia the place of lis location In 9oag have
thought that city In the Union affords such various
and ample Inducements for all the purposes OF The
! Law Siuden--and that ia none a more worthy
economy be preserved, and yet with every requisite
] comfort. ~
| The frequent app icalio6s made TO me from dis
lance the former occasion in regard 10 the parttc
,las Of my enterprise, induce 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 rsqu-
| 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 rooms are all suitably fuIn she'd supplied
with extensive law and miscellaneous library
toh preeedeats Of practice every conceivable and APP
proved fnrn Studens are admitted at any time
throughout The ycar--courses OF study, and the re-
quisite books supplied, exactly To eet the
wants and views of the student, according he may
design 10 practice his profession, ether in the country
or IN OF the maritime cities. The laws OF every
State 10 the Union are in some degree dwelt upon
practice is constantly blended with fheGYy-but the
deep and radical parents well of students
is cal fully AVOIDED alIude the too erroneous
ion that law students 10 be made mechanical
arfisansmere attorneys Learning practice by rote and
jealous of book k.oiuiedge being too theo reeai =
This mlschievous error must inevitably degrade the
science and profession, and Is gross mistake, since
no practising attorney good aud lasting one,
who was not also deeply veTsed in the and
theory Of the law. therefore cannot acquiesce in,
and never will yield TO- the vulgar of putting
practice before and above theory- is an unnatural
Inversion Of the established order of nature-an g
ian, and slovenly way of urging young men 10 at
tempts far hey ond the powers of the human IL ind
for If The grounds and reasons of the science be moi
well known, the practice cannot be well known
But the errcr, TO which 50 earnestly allude is
founded upoh another, which is equally false and
row, vz-that students learn the practice only in
practising lawyers office! On The ~, gen
era rule, Is he very last place in which he ever
does, or can learn the praclice-and his be madr
extremely manifest w hat is practice distinguish
ed from theory? Take a single example-and "a uno
disco oDines. The theory a law point says 10 the
student, if lends his watch, and sells it, or
| fuse. 10 return it, A may bring wha. is called
! ton of Trover and Conversion. Now irorer means
bndiDg, and conversion means pprpriafng To his
| own use; and here again, the student leans two
other theoretical law poln's-yiz. that the find ng
now mere verbal fiction not at all material, to be
propsd-and secondly, that the conversion by the de-
frndant to his orn consists III the mere WITHHOLD
ing the properly from the plaintiff bhoug III il should
be ever clearly proved that he IN way USED the
property for himself for any purpose whatever, but
| 10 Withhold II from the plaintiff
Now all this theory must be learnt aud good
deal more before the practice comesand that practice
on the plaintiff Jar con Isis OF thorough knowledge
of he forms precdenis-and, the defendant part
of the like knowledge TO the formula Of The pleas,
rejonders, &c. There are therefore, books Of prees
dents these books unfold every practical proceeding
whatever, in every action Known to the la~-pro
gressively from The importation of the rrit H. the nal
| return upcn the ereeuon. These Jornruie OF wrs |
returns 10 wriis-appearanc neutrality-suspicious.
conunuanees-lmpanneling of jures -riai--e1-
cepons-verdict- judd ment-eI cuon-re,urn of
eXecution-oI, on The other hand, new trIai-or APP
peal &c, &e.-are all set forth IN the 'preced MS
that, he who knows most of preeedefs, knows most
of practice but still, these peccdents them
selves be understood without previous theoretical
knowl ledge. The question thrn Itself into this
Cannot a law student be well grounded ia all the
precedents, iaio sensu, who never practising
lawyers office AID why not Ga the contrary, /
cous and careful study Of all the formula which he |
never does in practising lawyers Office than by
Writing OF rather copying, thoe simple and OCCASION
al dec araons pleas &c, which The master Of office
assigns 10 the STUDENT IL il unormly the case
that all really difficult and responsible business Of this
,ort is done by the master himself without reach
ing The eye of the suden-or # II does only t. me-
ebanically copy It Again: w ho diet ngush be |
tween real suit in couIi, and fictitious IN VIII oh
one student prepares the ~nt-anrther the return
another the declaration some other The pea, &c |
until all the practical proceedings gone though
And hat prevents ihese students making record of
the whole, and then comparing all with q riited
cord ON court OF justice IN like action All
this surely may be done IN Law lnsuton--and far |
b tter-more quiet, -and with time than in busi
ness Offices here many precious hours often lost il
useless messages-!ong ~alks-tfanscr bing letters
coming mot dtrising) declarations peas, replica
| tons &c generally the sole workmanship the |
master of the office and very seldom that Of the
student | confess that all this is my mind extreme
y plain and has long sa ished me Of he popular and
serious which has placed young men IN offices, |
where little either oftbeory OF practice Is learnt THIS
surely Is always the case-but it is too often such
as,nany de,ondng students have found and others
have been compelled TO confess, that they never |
learned much oftheoy or ofprnclice until after they
came 10 the Bar but at which tine, it found very
% bill and arduous work, and sometimes no, accom-
pished even through whole life Of toll Doubtless |
there are many noble exceptions to The correctness of
these remarks but STILL | aver il az a fact, that my
| experience has never maze me acquainted With any |
young io,ryer, who, in candid conversation, was not
wiling 20 confess that his legal education had been
very hap-hazard-and that practice to any really val
liable and abiding extent, Is the last thing student
can ever hope Tor IN practising lawyers Office.
After an extensive practice Of seven and twenty
wears IN all of the courts and devotion 10 the int
ysas Of lno students during much ofthat period may
not be too much to say that practice be ost
light ofin this Institution and that nothing bu, eohgn
cal narrowues Of legal eduonfiqn unworthy e en-
ithtcnsd lawyer could ever pstropise even the int.
nation that such Institution only adopted Tor
1h linn of The .oienoa and moi OF The mn