The daily Madisonian. [volume] (Washington City [i.e. Washington, D.C.]) 1841-1845, 1844-02-14
A CIRCULAR TO STUDENTS OF LAW
IN THE UNITED STATES.


TN the year tesl under toe auspices oi.he bn,soi-
i atty OF Maryland established 10 the cry OF BAT
tinoGe a Law School, under The dsnohinauo" OF "'e
MARYLAND Law Institute. This establishment con i
nued Ia successful operation nearly eleven years "a
ns receive siudeals from eittea OF the SsAies ana
from two foreign countries. Owing TO the pressure
Of an ensise practice, simultaneously WIN 'n" "u-
ties which the Institution Involved, iesoNeJ IA 'hs
year 1886 "a abandon not ly the prae'ee OF my ever
and long cheTishe profession bat also the Law iosti-
tule; and Gr health and ease, soagh, the more gensi
climates Of Europe Finding az thir uus, my h'aih
perfectly restored and with At no abatement Whatever
of my zeal and devotion 80 that gfaa, science which
in this country OF al other needs 10 be sfhed'eaay
and carefully studeJ-aud seeking, moreover inaus'
rous and continued occupet n, 80 essential TO hspp
ness IN land that knows no tdrs reso we'd To e-es,a-
hlish the Law Insttuiion-and have selected I-hd
dsiphia The place of It's location la so dois have
thought that mo- city Ia The Union affords such various
and ah pie Inducements Tor oil the purposes oil tbe
Law Sutherland that la none eau more worthy
cconoHy be preserved, and yet with every requisite
comfort.
The frequent app ,ea,ions made to me from dis
lance ON the former occasion, Ia regard 90 the pafie-
,ars af my enterprise iaduee me 10 anticipate similar
inquiries noN--1pd 10 meet all such IN advance,
now address this Cueuiar as all tia, | can offer IN
explanation and, probably, as all that may be nqui-
site,
and their oognate and auxiliary oPics, Is spocvus
aud beautiful bu ldng, N. ~ South F'lth street
suitable for the accommodation OF about sixty stu
dents. The rooms are all suitably iun shed, supplied
with an extensive law and miscellaneous library
,ci prectdais o. practice IN every conceivable and APP
pruvrd f,rn. Stud,n are admitted at any time
throughout the yoar-courses OF study, and the Ie
gusite books are supplied, 50 as exactly TO ntet the
wants and OF the student, according as he may
design Ia practice his Profession cuhci IN the country
or in OF the maritime cities. The laws OF every
Stat, in the Unoa are in some degree dwelt upon
practice Is Constantly b ,ded with heory-but the
deep and radical error OF parents AZ well as OF students
is caIou fully avoided uliude TO the tho erroneous
ion that law students are to be made mere mechanical
atisansmere attorneys Learning practice by rote, and
Jealous of book kno,ciedge being too theor eeai
| This ischrvous must inevitably degrade the
science and profession, and Is gross mistake, since
practising Attorney ever Of and lasting ne,
who not also deeply SeIsed IN the reasons and
MeorH of the law. therefore cannot acquIesce in,
and never will yield TO- the vulgar error of putting
practice before and above theoryit Is unnatural
inreision Of the established der Of naure-on gno-
and slovenly way OF urging young men TO at
temp,s far beyond the powers of the human mind
for he grounds and reasons of the science be not
well known, the practice cIfnot be well known.
But the error 10 which | earnestly alludc il
fUu ded upo', another which is equally false and
row, vz-,hat students can learn the practice only in
practising lawyers office On the cJnlr.ry, gen.
erl rule, II Is ,he very last place IN Win h he ever
does, can learn the praclice-and this be made
| extremely manifest What is praci,ce as distinguish
ed from theory? Take single exampe-and ca uno
disco onlnes. The theory law point says TO the
student If A lends Il his watch and b sells it, or re-
fuses to return it, A may bring hat is called IN ac-
ton of Trover aud Conversion Now frorer means
hDdng, and CONVERSION means Apr priaiing 1t 10 his
own use; and here, again, the student learns two
other theoretical law pons-viz that the find ng Is
now mere verbal fiction, not at ali material, 10 be
prorsd secondly that the conversion by the de-
fendant TO his otcn consists ia the WITHHOLD
ing the properly from the plaintiff although 1t should
be ever cleaily proved tina, be in way the
property for himself for any purpose whatever but
TO withhold Il from the plaintiff.
Now all this theory must be learn, and good
deal more before the practice comes-and that praclice
on the plaintiffs Iari con, lists of thorough know ledge
of he forms precsdens-and on the defendant part
ofihe like knowledge to the torm,tip Of The pleas
rrjonders, &c There ore, therefore books Of prece-
dents these books unfold every practical preceding
whatever, in every action knos t. the law-pro
gressvey from the importation of the crto the final
| return up,n The erecaion These formula of wrts
| returns 10 wrHs-appearar ces-haI-imp aIlanccs
| -continuances-impannelli of jurles -lrisl-ex-
| ceptions-yerdict- judgnent--ex, cuIon-return Of
| execuion-or, on The other band, new tral-Or APP
peal Sc &c.-pre all st forth in the 'preced MS
that, he who knows most of preeedeo Is, knows most
of practice but stl these precedens cannot them
selves be understood, without previous theoretical
knowledge The question: then resolves tscf INTO thus
| Cannot law student be well grounded in all the
I 4
| LAWYERS ufiice A I'D why not Ga the contrary,
| cannot he learn far more OF practice by the jud :
cious and careful study of all the formula " hen he
never docs in practising lawyers office than by
writing, OF rather copying tho simple and occasion
al dec ant pleas &c, which the master If office
assigns 10 the sludentl l. il not unifIrmy the {. Sc
that alt really difficult and responsible business Of this
.ort is done by the master himself without reach
ing he eye of the sludent-or, If il does only 10 me-
| chemically copy II A gain; Who distinguish be
| in .t.A btgt
one student prepares the wrt Their the return
! another the declarsi0n- some other the y ca, &c
until all the practical proceedings are gone through
And hat prevents these students making record OF
the whole, and then comparing all with rlfcd re-
cord flom some court OF justce IN like action All
this surely may be done 10 a Law lnsItution-and Tar
b ttef-moe quiet land with more time than in busi.
ness offices where many precious hours often lost il
| useless messages-long walks-lianscr bIng letters
copying (no derising) declarations, pleas, replica
tons, sc. so generally the sole workmanship o. the
master of the oflice and very seldom that Of the
student confess hat all this is my mind extreme
ly plain and has Ling sied me of The popular and
serious error which has placed young men IN Offices,
where little either oftheory or ofpractcc il learnt This
surely - not always the case-but II Is too often such,
.s,nany despondng students have found, and othefs
| have ben compelled 10 confess, that they never
learned much oftbeory or of practice until after they
came 10 the bar but which tine, It found very
uo.bill aud atduous work, and sometimes not accom-
pshed even thf, ugh whole life o. toll Doubtless
there aie many noble Exceptions TO The correctness of
these remarks but still aver 1t fact, that my
experience has never made me acquainted With any
uoung lacper, 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, - the last thing student
can ever hope Tor N practising lawyers ofiice.
After an extensive practice Of seven and twenty
wears in all Of the courts and devotion Co the int
rests Of lar students during much Of that period may
not be too much say that practice be lost
iph ofn this institution aud that nothing but mechan
cal nnro,oness Of legal education, unworthy e an en-
nation that such Institution only adopted for
the Of the science and not Of the Of our
| ptofe. sion-an intmation confined, doubtless to