The daily Madisonian. [volume] (Washington City [i.e. Washington, D.C.]) 1841-1845, 1844-05-23
A CIRCULAR TO STUDENTS OF LAW
IN THE UNITED STATES.

timofe Law School, under the denoniinatio" oil "s
MARYLAND Law Institute. This establishment CONT
nued in successful operation nearly eleven years nav
ing received students from eterea OF the otaies ano
from two foreign countries. Owing 10 Tue pressure
of ex ensise practice simultaneously wan the uu-
Ties which the Institution involsed, resolved In the
year 1886 To abandon not ly the practee OF my ever
and long cherished profession but also the La" insii-
ute and for health and ease, sought the more genial
climates Ut Europe Finding at this time, my hsaih
perfectly restored, and with abatement whatever
Of my zeal and devotion 10 that great scenee, wl~ch
in this county of all others, needs To be mehoSteay
and carefully studed-and seeking, moreover indus
-ious and continued occupation, essential 10 haPi-
ia land that knows idles, resol' ed TO ree.a-
blIsh the Law lnstiuiion-and have selected i'hiia
delphia he place of lis location In soing have
thought that city in the u non ailofds such various
and ample Inducements for all the purps's oil The
Law Sunderland that In none can more worthy
economy be preserved, and yet with every requisite
comfort.
The frequent app cations made 10 me from dis
lance the former OCCASION in regard to The parite
ua,s of my enterprise. induce TO anticipate similar
inquiries now-and, To meet all such in advance,
address this Circular, all that l can offer IN
explanation, and probably, as all that may be requ-
site.
The Inslituton, dedicated alone to law studies
and their cognate and auxiliary topics, Is spacious
and beautiful bu lding, n III South Fifth street
suit ble for tho accommodation Of about sixty stu
dents. The rooms all suitably fun shed supplied
with an extensive law and miscellaneous library
,ci Precedens Of practice in every conceivable and APP
proved firm. S,ud,ns are admitted at any time
throughout The year--courses OF study and the re-
quisite books are supplied, exactly TO rect the
wants and views of The student according he may
design To practice his profession euher in the country
in Of the maritime cities The laws of every
State in the Union in some degree dwelt up,n-
practice is constantly blended with thecry--but the
deep and radical error OF pareas, well of students
is carefully AVOIDED aiiude the too erroneous
lion tiatlaw students are to be made mere mechanical
mtisds-mere attorneys, leaning practice by roe, and
jealous OF book knowledge, being too tbeof ecai -
Thus mischevous error must inevitably degrade the
science and profession, and is eross mistake since
no practising attorney god and astirg ne
who was not also de-, ply vefsed in the and
| theory Of the law. | therefore cannot acquiesce in,
and never will yield to- the vulgar Of putting
practice before and above iheory-i, is unnatural
inrersion Of the established order of nalurean igno
rant and sloveny way of urging young men 10 at
| temp's far beyond the powers OF the human II ind
for, If The grounds and reasons Of the science be not
well known, the practice cannot be we'll known.
But the error, TO which | So earnestly allude, Is
fou ded upo' another, which is equally false and
row. viz-tha students learn the practice only in
practising lawyers office! On The conir,ry, a gen
era rule, II Is he very last place in which he ever
does, learn the praclice-and this be made
extremely manifest. What is practice distinguish
| ed from heory7 Take a single exampe-and er uio
disco on,nes. The theory law point says TO the
iuden If A lends Il his watch and sells it,
fuses to return it, A may bring what is called
ton Of Irover and Conversion. Now froper means
finding, and conrersioA means appropratilg II to his
| own use and here again, the student learns two
other theoretical la Nv points-viz that the find g
now mere verbal fiction not at all material to be
prored-and secondly, that the conversion by the de-
ftndant TO his consists in The mere WITHHOLD
ing the properly from the plaintiff although it should
be ever clearly proved tia, be in way the
property for himself OF for any purpose whatever but
to withhold 1t from the plaintiff
Now all this theory must be learnt and a good
deal more before the practice comesand that practice
on the plaintiff par CON lists OF thorough know ledge
of he forms precdes-and, the defendants part
of the like knowledge 10 the formula of The pleas
reionders, &c. There are therefore books Of preee-
dent, these books unfold every practical proceeding
whatever, in every action known to the law-pro
gressiVely, from the importation of the criito the final
return upon The erecution These jor,atii0 of wrts
returns 10 wriis-appeara -bai!-mpsIances
contnuances-impdnneing of Jures -trial-eI-
| cep,ions-verdict-j dgment-exccuon-return OF
execuon-oT, on The other hand, new trial--or ap-
peal, &c &c.-are all set forth IN The ipreced 80
that, he who knows most Of precedeak, knows most
of practice but sui, these precedens them
selves be Understood, without previous theoretical
know ledge The question, then reso se into this
Cannot law student be well grounded in all tie
pfecedents, laio sensu, who never 4 practising
lawyers office 7 Aud Why not On the contrary
cannot be learn far more OF practice by the jude
cous and careful study Of all the formula hicb he
does in practising lawyers Office Than BY
Wfiung OF Talhef copying lhOre simple and OCCASION
al dec sratons pleas &C. which he master If office
assigns to the sudcnt1 IL it uniformly the case
that all really difficult and responsible business OF this
sort Is done by the master himself without reach
ing the eye Of the sudent-or If 1t does only to me
| chanically copy II Again: Who can dit nauish he.
tween real su ia court, and Tedious one In which
| one student prepares the nnt-another the return
another he declaration some other the pea, &c
until all the praeiieai proceedings gone through
And hat prevents these students mak ing record OF
the whole, and then comparing all with a C, rlied re-
cord Fl ON court Of justce in a like action All
this surely may be done a Law Insluution-and far
uer-more quiet, and with more time than in bu--
Offices where many precious hours are often lus IT,
useless messages-long ~alks-lianscr bing letters
oopying mot derising) decla atoms pleas replica.
tons &c. generally the sole workmanship o the
master of The office, and very seldom that Of the
student confess n al all this H. 10 my mind ertreme-
y plain, and has Ling sfed me Of lha popular and
serious which has placed young nen IN Offices
where e either oitbcory or Of prscucc learnt This
surely - not always the case but II is too often
as'many derondirg students have found and as uthers
| have been compelled confess, that they never
learned much Theory or Of practice until after teu
came 10 tks bar but which tine It " ~ found y.ry
up- hi, aud eiduous work, and sometimes no, accom-
pl,shcd even thl, ugh whole life of toll Doubtless
there arc macy noble exceptions he correctness of
these remarks but still aver a fact that my
| experience has never made acquainted Nth any
Young la,cycr, who, 10 candid Conversation was not
wiling % coniess that his legal education had been |
very haphnzard-ano thal praooti 10 any really val
liable and abiding extent, - the last thing a student |
can hope for IN practising lawyers tfice.
After an extensive practice Of seven and twenty |
years In all of the courts add devotion 10 the infe
rests Of iau students, dunDg much Of that period may
be much to 10y that practice be lusi
light ofn this Institute and that nothing but mechan
cal Of legal education, unworthy e an en-
lilhtened lawyer could ever pafonise even the ini.
nation that such lnsti utian was only adopted for
the incubation ofihe science and not Of the art Of our
pTofe,son-sn intmatioD confined, doubtless, 10 a |
very few bot which, still is fatal TO the int
rests of law students, and captivating 10 unin-