The daily Madisonian. [volume] (Washington City [i.e. Washington, D.C.]) 1841-1845, 1844-02-17
A CIRCULAR TO STUDENTS or LAW
IN THE UNITED STATES.

i I
IN THE UNITED STATES,
TN the year 1924 under the auAPsces Of the Vnsei-
si,y Of Maryland estAbl.shed 10 Inc city Of p,E
umore a Law School under the denoninAtoa oil tue
MARYLAND Law institute. This e.tabllshmen' coal"
nued In successful nearly eleven years, hay
ing receive sludea;s from eisren OF The o'a'es an"
from Two foreign countries Owing TO The pressure
OF ensise prariice, simultaneously WIN inc ou-
ties which the institution involved, resolves, !" c
year 1885, abandon not ny the practes Of my eSss
and long cherirhod preissioa but also The Law I"s''
tuAe aud for health and ease sought tbs @Vfe Yrnis
climsiss VI Kusop@ Fading. al thus tine, my erath
periec'ly restored and With Il no abatement whAtsssI
Of my zeal and dptoliop ~ that great scsace, vh'cn,
in this country of ali stbe. needs to w mssAa4tesy
aud carefully sludied-and seeking. moreover INDUS
trious and continued occupsnh so essential To hap
ness land that knows idters resols sd to lee sta
bish the Law lnst,oiion--and have selected i,n1s
depha as he place of itS iocstion In dong have
thought that city IL the Union affords such VARIOUS
nd ample Inducements for all the purposts OF the
Law SiuJenl--snd that in con more worthy
economy be preserved, and yet with every requisite
comfort aHtH. .f4 tnttt g III t
The frequent app ica,ions made 10 me from dis
rance the former OCCASION regard ~ the paritc
uLns of my enterprise induce to anticipate similar
inquiries now--aId 10 meet all such in advance,
now address this Circular, all that can offer ~
CT planation and, probably, as all that maybe uqat
site. e Nid glW 800
The Institution dedicated alone to law studies,
and their cogna,o and auxiliary topics, Is spsc'ous
and beautiful Blu ldng, N,.ll7 South ktith ,hcst
suit bic for the accommodation OF about sixty stu-
dents The rooms are all suitably tum shed, supplied
with extensive law and miscellaneous ibsasy--
,c yreeedents VI practice in every conceivable and APP
proved firm. Studen are admitted at any linie
throug bout the yeaT-courses OF study, and the Ic-
lusile books supplied, exactly to acct the
wants and ,iews-Ot thi student, according he may
design practice his profession, Other in the country,
in of ,he maritime cities. The laws Of every
State IN the Uaon are IN some degree dweit uppn--
practice 10 constantly Beaded with t<oyy---bot the
deep and radical error OF parss, we'll Of sunts,
is cfuy avoidedI ailude the too
ton that law sudens are to be made mere mechanical
a,tisa,mere aio,7aey, learning practice by roie and
jealous of ok-knGvtesg<, being too theoretical -
| This mirchievous error must inevitably degrade the
science and profession, and 10 gross mistake since
practising attorney was ever g Oh and lasting me,
who not also deeply seTsed in the reasons and
heory Of the law. therefore cannot acquicsce in,
and never will yield 10, the vulgar If putting
practice before and above theoryit is unnatural
i,,rersion Of the established order Of nalurean gno
aud sovenly way Of urging young men on 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 cannot be well known Ha
| But the error, to which / 80 earnestly aliude, is
fou ded upoa another, which is equally false and
row, vz-tbat students can learn the practice only 10
practising iacyers office! On the contrary ms gen.
era rub, 10 ,he very last place in whi.h he ever
does learn the prac'ice-and this can be- made
extremely manifest. hat practice listing nish
| cd from theory Take single e1ample--ander uno
disco o'nnes The theory or law point says TO the
student, if lends his watch and B sells it, or re-
fuses to return il, A may bring What is called an ac
ton of Trvver and Conversion. Now frorer means
finding, and Convention means apprupriutng 10 his
own use; and here, again, the student learns two
other heoresicdt law poin's-viz that the find ng 10
now verbal fiction not at all material or TO be
prorsdand secondly, that the conversion by the de-
f,ndant TO his ocn use consists IN the WITHHOLD
ing The properly from the plaintiff sthoush il should
be ever so cieaIy proved that be in way the
property for himself, or for any purpose whatever, bu
to withhold It from the plaintiff
Now all this theory must be learnt and a good
deal more before the practice that prac
on The plaintiff par com lists of thorough know ledge
of he forms preetdens-and. the defendant part
ofihc like knowledge as to the formula Of The pleas
rtoinders &c. There are, therefore books Of prece
denis these bouhs unfold every practical proceeding
whatever, in every action known to the faw--pro
.Tessively from the importation of the prf t. the fna
return upon The erectaon. These tormuiG of wri,s
returns 10 nces-bai-iupaI lances
acknowledgement of jufies --irial--ex-
ceplions-verdct- judgment-ea ion-r.turn of
execuiion-or, on the other hand, tral--or APP
peal &c, &c.-ure all So. forth in the 'precsd MS 30
that, he who knows mos, Of preeedeats, knows most
Of practice but sui, these vrecedens cannot them
selves be understood without previous Theoretical
know ledge. The question: then rcso YES into this
Cannot a law student be well grounded Ia all the
pecedents, Lao se,lsu, who never saw a Or actsnp
lawyers Office 2 Nod why not Oh the contrary
cannot be learn far more OF practice nv the udi-
rious and careful study of all the formula bich he
does in practising lawyers ofiicr) than b,
writing, OF Rather copying, tho-e simple and occasion
al dec art ons, pleas sc, which The - office
assigns to the s,udeutl t. il uufornly the cyse
that all really difficult and responsible bu sness Of this
is done by the master himself wthou, ever reach
ing The eye of the siodentor If il does only To me-
chanically copy III Again; Who can distinguish be.
real suit in court and fictitious one in which
student prepares the ~rit-another the return
another he declaration some other the pea &c
until all the practical proceedings gone through
And What prevents tbsTe studcnis king record Of
the whole, and then comparing all with riIfied
cord ON some court Ut justice In like action All
this surely may he done Law InsIlutou-and far
tte-more quiet And ~th more time than in bus-
ness Offices " here many precious hours oen lost IL
useless messsges--ong walks--tIa hing Iet,ers-
copung mot dersng) dec atoms, pes-, replica
uons &c. tueraliy the sole workmanship OF the
master Of he Office and very seldom that Of the
student confess that allthis is 10 my mind extreme
Nv plain and has lnDg isfcd of he popular and
serious which has placed young IN Offices
where lte either oltheory fpscce is learnt This
surely l. always the bot it too often such
asmany responding students have found and as tbefs
have been compelled to confess, that they never
learned much Of theory of practice until after hey
came 10 the bar but which tine IL was found very
10. hill and ardoous work and sometimes accom-,
pshcd even thu ugh hole life Of toll Doubtless
there are macy noble exceptions TO he correctness OF
these remarks bot still, aver At NJ fact that my
experience has never made noe acquainted With any
young inrver who, 10 candid conversation was not
wiling 20 confess that bis legal education had been
very hap-baza rdapd that practice any really val
liable and obdiug extent Is the last thing student
can ever hope tor N practising lawyers Office.
After an extensive practice of seven and twenty
wears in all Of the courts, and dcso ION to the init
rest Of aic students during much Of tina, period may
not be too much say that practice be lost
ipht ofin ihs institution and that nothing but meohan
cal narrounsss Of legal tdcation unworthy e en-
Ii thtcped lawyer, could ever pstrcbise even the ipI
nation tha, such Ipsti utap only adopted cor |
the incubation ofthe eienee and not Of the Of our