The daily Madisonian. [volume] (Washington City [i.e. Washington, D.C.]) 1841-1845, 1844-01-22
A CIRCULAR TO STUDENTS OF LAW
IN THE UNITED STATES.


nurd in successful operation nearly eleven years nav
ing received students from eferen OF 'he o'a'as, a
from foreign countries Owing 10 'oe pressure
of an extensive practice, simultaneously WIN 'ne uu
lie. which the Institution involved resolved IN the
wear 1886 to abandon ally the practice OF my ever
and long cherished profession bu, also the La" i"s'
lute and for health and ease sought the more sena'
climates Of Europe. Finding, at this Tine my htai'h
perfectly restored and with Il no abatement Whatever
of my zeal and devotion to that great .eenee which
10 this county, OF all others, needs TO De "'eoea"g
and carefully studed-and seeking, moreover, indus
trious and continued occupation SO essential 10 haPP
ness in land that knows aiers resolved To e-esia-
b,.h the Law lnsti.ulion-and have selected iDha'
dsphio as The place of lis location. In SO DONG nave
thought that city ia the Union Affords such various
and ample inducements for all the purPos's OF the
Law Sutherland that in none can more worthy
economy be preserved and yet with every requisite
comfort. .
The frequent app icalons made 10 me from dis
tance the former OCCASION IN regard 10 the pase-
,ars of my enterprise, induce me TO anticipate similar
inquiries Dow-and, to meet all such IN advance,
now address this Circular, as all that can offer IN
explanation, and probably, as all that may be requi-
site,
The Institution, dedicated alone to law studies,
and their cog nate and auxiliary topics, spacious
and beautiful building, NJ. III South Fifth street,
suitable for the accommodation of about sixty stu
dents. The all suitably turn she'd supplied
with extensive law and miscellaneous library
rin preceden Of practice IN every conceivable and APP
proved tDrm. students admitted at any time
throughout The year-courses Of study and the re-
quise books are supplied, exactly To meet the
wants and views of the student according as he may
design 10 practice his profession either IN the country
or in come of the maritime cities The laws of every
State in the Union in some degree dwet upon
practice is constantly blended with MeCry--but the
deep and radical error OF parents, well of students
10 carefully AVOIDED aude the too erroneous no
ton that law students TO be made mechanical
Dtisans-mere attorneys learning practice by role and
clIOus of hook hnOlrfedps tnn
This mschievous error must inevitably degrade the
science and profession and Is gross mistake since
no practising attorney was ever good ADD lasting one
who was not also deeply veIsed in the reasons and
theory of the law. | therefore cannot acquesce in,
and never will yield to, the vulgar error Of putting
practice before and above theory--it is an unnatural
Inversion OF the established order of naurean igno
| rant and soveny way of urging young men TO at
temp's far beyond the powers of the human mind-
Tor II he grounds and reasons of the science be
well known, the practice cannot be well known.
But the error, to which 80 earnestly aiIude, is
founded upoh another, which is equally false and
row, vlz--tha students learn the practice only in
practising lawyers office On he conlre ~ as gen
eral rule, 1t Is The very last place in which he ever
does, or can learn the pracce-and this be made
extremely manifest. What is practice disng uish-
| ed from theory? Take a single exampe-and er uno
disco on''les The theory or a law point says TO the
student if A lends his watch and sells it, or re-
fuses to return it, may bring what is called an ac-
ton of Trover and Conversion. Now iroper means
finding, and conversion means approprating it to his
own use and here, again, the student learns two
other theoretical law points-viz. that the finding is
now verbal fiction not at all material or To be
prorsd-and secondly, that the conversion by the de-
PENDANT TO his otcn use consists in the WITHHOLD
ing the properly from the plaintiff although it should
be ever so clearly proved that he in way the
property for himself for any pur pose whatever but
| to withhold II from the plaintiff
Now all this theory must be learnt aud good
deal more before ,hepraciice comesand that practice
on the plaintiff part consists of a thorough knowledge
OF the forms or prectdenfsand, the defendant pau
THE like knowledge as to the Jormlde of the pleas
reJonders, &c. There are therefore books Of prece-
dents these books unfold every practical preceding
whatever, IN every action known TO the iaw--pro
gressIyely, from the importation of the ,rri the final
return upon the ereeiaion. These formula of wriis
| returns 10 -appearsnces-hal--in aIlances
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS of juries --lrial--ex-
| ceplions-veIdict- jud gment-execu,ion-reiurn of
| execuon-or, on the other hand new tral--or np-
peal, &c, &c-are all set forth in the Fpreced MS so
that, he who knows most of preeedents, knows most
of practice but suI, these precedens cannot them
selves be understood, without a previous theoretical
knowledge The question, then resove itse into his
| Cannot law student be well grounded in all the
piecedents iaio @nsu who never saw pr actsing
| lawyers offce} Aud why not : On the contrary
cannot he learn far more OF practice by the iud
cious and careful study of all The orH,a w hch he
never docs IN practising lawyers ofhce) than by
wntng, OF rather copying those simple and occ aston
al pleas &C. which the master d off
assigns to the STUDENT Is it uniformly the c Sc
that all really difficult and responsible business of this
done by the master himself without ever reach
ing the eye of the sludent-or, # it does only to me-
| cbaDcay copy II Again; w no can di { nguish be.
tween a real suit in court and o fictitious one In which
one student prepares the writ-anuther the return
another The declnraii)n- some other the pea &c
until all the practical proceedings are gone through
And " hat prevents these students making record of
the whole and then comparing all with C, rfed re-
.,,b fam S,tue of sftfs,p 10. N
this surely may be done IN Law Insutution-and far
| b uef-more qulet ,-and with more time than in busi
offices where many precious hours often lost 10
useless message'-'ong walk anscr bng l,tters-
oopung (uot derising) declal atoms pleas replica
tons &c so generally the sole workmanship OF the
master of the Office, and very seldom tina, of the
student confess that all this is to my mind extreme
ly plain and has long isfed me of the popular and
serious error which has placed young men IN offices
where little either Of theory or OF is learnt This
surely ~ not always the case but it is too often such
asmany deponding students have found and as ohers
have been compelled 10 confess, that they never
learned much Theory or of practice until after thew
oane 10 the bar but at which time il vny found very
uphill and aiduous work, and sometimes not accom-
pi,shed even through whole life Of toll Doubtless
there arc many noble exceptions to the correctness of
these remarks but still | aver 1t a fact that ms
experience has never made me acquainted With apy
| young iaryer, who, ia candid Conversation was NOT
willing 20 confess that his legal education had been
very hap-bszard-snd that practice TO any really val
liable and abiding extent the last thing a student
can ever hope for IN practising lawyers ufiice
| After IN extensive practice of seven and twenty
years all of the courts, and devotion To the inie-
rests Of io students, during much of that period may
not be too much say that practice can never be lost
light ofn this Insun and that nothing but pechani-
cal naro,cness Of legal education unworthy e an en-
lilhtened lawyer could ever paironse the init
nation that such lnstl utinn only adopted for
the incubation ofhc science and not Of the art of our
profe, son--an ntmaton confined doubtless to a |
very few but which, stll is fatal to the in,e-
rests of law students and captivating 10 unip. |
formed parents and guardians aud 70 the arden
student who liable TO be too anxious 10 practice
k.C,,o a., nod A., he foiIe of I,,,.,,,