The daily Madisonian. [volume] (Washington City [i.e. Washington, D.C.]) 1841-1845, 1844-01-17
A CIRCULAR TO STUDENTS or LAW
IN THE UNITED STATES.

-
timore a Law School, under the denomination oil the
May land Law Institute. This establishment eoh'-
nued in successful operation nearly eleven years nav
| ing received students from ssren OF the o'4es ano
from Two foreign countries. Owing TO The pressure
of an extensive practice, simultaneously WIN inc az
ties which the Institution involved resolved IN the
year 1886, to abandon not ally the practice OF my ever
and long cherished profession, but also the La" insu
tute and for health and ease, sought the more gehis
climates Of Europe. Finding, al this time, my heaith
perfectly restored and with II abatement whatever
Of my zeal and devotion 10 that great science winch
in this county, of all Others needs TO be mefodeaHy
and carefully studied-and seeking, moreover lhuus
trlous and continued occupation, essential to happ-
in land that knows iders resov ed 10 re-esta
bsh the Law lnstlulion-and have selected iDhifa-
depha the place Of It's location. In SO DONG nave
thought that city in the Union affords such various
and ample inducements for all the purposes OF the
Law Sutherland that in none can more worthy
economy be preserved, and yet with every requisite
| comfort.
The frequent applications made TO me from dis
lance the former OCCASION Ia regard To the partc
uius Of my enterprise, induce to anticipate similar
inquiries now--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 requ
| SITE
The institution dedicated alone to law studies,
and their cognale and auxiliary TOPICS Is spacious
and beautiful building, NJ. III South Fifth street
suitable for the accommodation of about sixty stu
dents. The rooms are all suitably fuIn shed, supplied
Win all eAWnsNt law ana MISCELLANEOUS library
,ci precsdents " practice in every conceivable and APP
proved fJrD. Studens admitted at any time
throughout the year--courses Of study, and the re-
qusite books are supplied, exactly to acct the
wants and views of the student, according he may
design to practice his profession either in the country
or in some of the maritime cities. The laws of every
State IN the Union are in some degree dwelt upon
practice Is constantly blended with Me0ry--bnt the
deep and radical of parents well as of students
carefully AVOIDED ailude to the too erroneous no
thatla md. h.. l.
atisdns-mere attorneys learning practice by ro,e and
Jealous OF book-knopiedge as being too theoretical -
This mischevous error must inevitably degrade the
| science and profession, and is gross mistake since
| no practising attorney was good and lasting one
| who was not also deeply versed in the reasons and
theory of the law. therefore cannot acquiesce in
and never will yield to- the vulgar error of putting
practice before and above theory- is an unnatural
Inversion of the established order Of naturean gno.
rant and slovenly way of urging young on at
| tempts far beyond the powers of the human n ind
for # the grounds and reasons of the science be
| well known, the practice cannot be well known
But the error, to which | SO earnestly alIude is
founded upoh another which is equally false and
row, vz-that students can learn the practice only in
practising iaoyer'S office! On The contrary as gen
era rule, it is The very last place in which he ever
does or can learn the praclice-and this be made
extremely manifest What is practice as disting ush-
ed from theory? Take single example-and tr ,n,o
disco onnes. fhe theory or a law point saws To the
student if A lends b his watch, and b sells it, or re-
fuses to return it, may bring what is called an ac
| ton of Irover and Conversion. Now froper means
hnding, and CONVERSION means aPpropriatng to his
own use; and here, again, the student learns two
other theoretical law poinls-vz. that the finding is
now mere verbal fiction, not all material or to be
pTorsd-and secondly, that the conversion by the de-
tendant to his consists in the mere withhold
ing the property from the plaintiff, although should
be ever clearly proved that he in way USED the
property for himself for any purpose whatever but
| TO withhold IL from the plaintiff.
| Now all this theory must be learnt and good
deal MORE before the practice comes-and that pact
on the plaintiffs part cons lists of thorough knowledge
of the forms precautionary. the defendants part
fhe like knowledge TO the formula Of the nj, as
reJonders, &c. There are therefore books Of prece
denis these books unfold every practical proceeding
whate,er, in every action known to the iaw-pro
gressively, from the importation Of the wri to The final
| return upon the ereeaion. These tor,nu9 of writs
returns TO wrlts-appearsr Observation-Disclosures
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS of juries -lrial--ex-
| ceptions-verdict-j Observation-Disclosures of
execuon-or, on the other hand new trial-or APP
peal, SC, &c.-are all set forth in the ,preced MS so
| that, he who knows most of precedeHts knows most
OF practice but still, these presidents them
selves be understood, without previous theoretical
know ledge The question, then resolves itself into thus
| Cannot law student be well grounded in all the
Precedents, iaio sensu who never pr actising
| lawyers object And why not On the contrary
| cannot he learn far more Of practice by the iud
cious and careful study of all the ormuia which he
never docs IN practising lawyers oflce) than by
writing OF rather copying tho'e simple and occasion
al decarat ons pleas &C. which The master ofan Office
assigns to the STUDENT Is 1t uniformly the cgse
that all really difficult and responsible business of this
sor Is done by the master himself without ever reach
ing the eye Of the sludent-or if il does only 10 me-
chemically copy 1t Again: Who can distinguish be-
tween real suit in court and fictitious one Ia which
one student prepares the wrIt-anuther the return
| another the declaration some other the pea &c
until all the practical proceedings gone through
And What prevents these students making record of
the whole and then comparing all with certified re-
cord f ON some court of justice in like action All
this surely may be done Law InstItution-and far
b uer-more quiet, and with more time tina in busi
ness Offices where many precious hours are often los, ia
useless messsges--'ong waks-tanscr bling letters
eop,ing (uot detising) declarations pleas replica.
tons &c so generally the sole workmanship OF the
master Of the Office and very seldom that Of the
student confess that all this to my mind extreme
ly plain and has hong ished me Of the popular and
serious error which has placed young IN Offices
where little either Theory or is learnt This
surely Is not always the case but it is too often such
aemany dspondng students have found and as others
| have been compelled TO confess, that they never
learned much Of theory or Of practice until after htu
came 10 the bar but at which time it was found very
90 hill and aIduous work, and sometimes not accom-
pished even through whole life Of toll Doubtless
there are many noble exceptions The correctness of
these remarks but still ! aver it fact that nv
| experience has never made me acquainted with any
| yo,,sg acyer, who, IN candid conversation was not
wiling 20 confess that his legal education had been
very haphszird-and that practice, to any really val
liable and abiding extent Is the last thing student
can ever hope tor IN practising lawyer's Office.
After an extensive practice Of seven and twenty
wears in all 81 the courts and devotion TO the inie-
rests Of ia'o students, during much that period may
not be too much to say that practice be lost
irht ofn this institution and that nothing but eohani-
cal narroune Of legal education, unworthy e an en-
lithened lawyer could ever patronise even the intl-
nation that such Institution only adopted for
the incubation the science and not Of the ai of our
profes son-an intimauon confined doubtless 10 a |
very few, but which, STILL is fatal the inte-
rests Of law students, and captivating TO unin.
formed parents and guardians and TO the ardent