The daily Madisonian. [volume] (Washington City [i.e. Washington, D.C.]) 1841-1845, 1844-04-25
A CIRCULAR TO STUDENTS OF LAW
i'm THE UNITED STATES.

L
TN the yenr 1924 under the auspices ofshe Unss,-
/ sisy of Maryland, established !" tno siy u |
tmore a Law School under the denomination Oh inc
Msf,lsad Law institute. THIS establishment conf
nued la successful operation nearly eleven Sra'eI "a
ng receiv students from elstsn OF the o'a'es, ano
from two foreign countries. C"ihg W '"e P,'I
of an ex eusiye practice simultaneously WIN 'ne az
lies which the Institution involved, resolved IN the
wear 1886 abandon not ily the prscuse OF my e'"
and long cherished profession but also tbe La" is''
ue aud for health and ease sough' 'ho more s'",a
climates OF Europe. Finding at this ume, my heann
osrfcily restored and with Il no abatement whatever
of my zeal and devotion to that great science, "hon,
in this county OF all others, needs to be mshoaeay
and carefully studed-and seeking, moreover MUS
trious and continued occupacn so essennai 10 naPp
ness in land that knows oilers resol' cd to 'ee.s-
bish the Law InstI,ution-snd have selected i'hita
depha he place OF It's location. In so dong nave
thought that city 10 the Union affords SUCH various
and an pie Inducements for all the purposes OF tue
Law Sutherland that In none can more worthy
economy be preserved, and yet with every requisite
comfort ..
The frequent app ications made from dis
lance the former occasion, IN regard To the pdre
,ips Of my enterprise, induce to anticipate similar
mo uires now--aDd To meet all such in advance,
no " address this Circular as all that | can otter IN
planatlon and, probably, as all that may be requ
site.
The Institution, dedicated alone to law studies,
and their cognale and auxiliary topics, Is spacious
and beautiful bu ldng, III SSuth Fifth street,
suita bic for the accommodation of about sixty stu
dents. The rooms all suitably furn she'd supplied
| with an extensive law and miscellaneous library
ui preosdenis Of practice every conceivable and APP
proved frn. Sudden s are admitted at any time
through out the yeaf-courses OF study ind the re-
quste books are supplied, 80 as exactly TO ntet the
wants and of ,he student, according as he may
design to practice his profession, either in the country,
in of the maritime cities. The laws Of every
| State in the Union a in some degree dwelt upon
| practice is constantly pleaded with tecry-but the
deep nd radical OF parents, well of students,
is carefully AVOIDED aiiude TO the erroneous
that Law students to be made mere mechanical
afisansmerc attorneys, leaning practice by rote and
Jealous of book knopifdge as being too theoretical -
This mischavous must inevitably degrade the
science and prorssoD, and is gross mistake since
practising attorney was ever gol and lasting ne,
| who not also de, Ily veTstd in the reasons and
theory Of the law. | therefore cannot acquiesce in,
and never will yield to- the vulgar error If putting
practice before and above theory-i is unnatural
inrersion If the established der Of nalurean gno.
and slovenly way of urging ung men on 10 at
| trmpls far beyond the powers Of the human mind
for # he grounds and reasons Of the science be not
well known, the practice cannot be we'll known.
But the error to which | 50 earnestly aude, is
ou ded upo' another which is equally false and mar
row, What student, learn The practice only in
practising iaoyer's office! On The c,nf, ~ as gen
rule II Is The very last place IN which he ever
does can learn the praclice-and this can be mad
| extremely manifest What is practice distinguish
| Ell from HfoTy' axe e1ufnple-anu
disco omnss The theory law point says to the
student, If lends his watch, and b sells it,
| fuses TO reurn it, A may bring what is called an ac
| ton of Trover and Conversion. Now irorer means
| finding and conversion means pprprialug II TO his
own use and here, again, the student leans two
other theoretical law ponls-vz. that the find ng Is
now verbal fiction, not al all material, or TO be
propsd-and secondly that the conversion by the de-
rndant TO his oirn use consists III the mere WITHHOLD
ing the properly from the plaintiff, although It should
haa rla lv lfha hat fha
property for himself, for any purpose whatever, but
| TO Withhold II from the plaintiff.
Now all this theory must be learnt and good
deal more before The practice comes-and that practice
on the plaintiffs pari con lists OF thorough knowledge
of he forms pree,dens-and the defe odans part
of the like knowledge TO the formula Of the a,
rjonders, &c. There are therefore books Of prece-
dents these books unfold every practical proceeding
whatever, IN every action known to the ia~-pro
gressvey from The importation Of the pritto the final
| return upon The ersetaion These formula of wrts
returns 10 wrhs-appearan ces-bai--'npar Iances
| COMMUNICATING anDeiiing of Juiies -iraI-ex
ceptions-verdict- Observation-Disclosures of
| executon-or, on the other hand new trial--or ap
peal, &c &c-are all SIT forth IN the tpreced MS 50
that, he who knows mo.t of precedeais, knows most
of practice but stll these presidents canro them
selves unde rstood, without previous theoretical
knowledge. The question, then, resolves ,tso INTO hs
| Cannot a law student be well ground, in all the
| presidents, iafo @nsu who never saw pr accusing
| LAWYERS offcel AID why not 2 On the contrary,
cannot he learn far more OF practice by the JUDI
cious and careful study OF ali the formula whch he
never does in Practising lawyers Office than by
writing rather copying tho,e simple and
al dec arat ons pleas &c which The e Office
assigns to the students il IL moi uniformly the
that all really difficult and responsible business OF this
sort done by the master himself without reach
ing the eye OF the sludent-or, # II does Only To me-
| cha ncay copy it Again: Who can distinguish be.
tween a real suit in court and fictitious one IN which
| one student prepares the wnt-another the return
| another he declaration some other The ca, sc
until all the practical proceedings are gone through
And u hat prevents these students making record of
| the whole and then comparing all with certified re-
cord ON court OF justice In like action All
this surely may be done IN Law lnslllution-and far
b t,ef-more qu,et, --and with more time than IN busi
ne.s offices many precious hours often los, H.
useless message--onI Walk anscr bng letters
| copyr,g loot depising) declarations, peas replica
| lions SC. so generally the sole workmanship the
| master of the ofice and very seldom that Of the
stuient confess hat sl this Is my mind extreme
~ plain, and has hong isfcd of h. popular and
| serious which has placed young men Offices,
where lt, either oftheury or Of pracce is learnt THIS
surely i not sIwa,s the case-bu IT ia too oleo such.
anony depending students have found, and as othes
have been compelled 10 confess, that thy never
learned much oftheory Of pracIice until after they
cam, TO the bar but at which tine, II found v.ry
M hIlI and ard work and sometimes not accom-
psh,d even thi ugh whole life OF toll Doubtless,
,here are may noble ptions TO he correctness Of
these remarks but still aver II fact, that my
| ,,p. .rnce hes never made acquainted Nth any
| vo,rg larytr, WHO, in candid Conversation, no
wd,np :, cnuess tat his legal education had been
very ha -hsz ud-and that practice TO any iy val
usble and abiding extent the last thing student
can ever bope tor n practising lawyers flee,
After az EXPENSIVE practice of seven and twenty
wears m all of the oouits, and dc,oon III, ini,-
y,as ofla,o students during much Of that period may
not 70. TOO much say that practice never be- lest
ith of n ths nstituli aud hat noh hing but meotan-
III IfJ,I rogtop 4
liz htenrd lawyer, ,oud es,r psIrunise even the init
nation that such a Inst uti only adopted Tor
the stnn Of the sciene and not of the oi of DOR
| prof, sion-sn iutmaiiOn confined, doubtless, to
/ L. Al IL IL III La