The daily Madisonian. [volume] (Washington City [i.e. Washington, D.C.]) 1841-1845, 1844-05-10
A CIRCULAR TO STUDENTS OF Law
IN THE UNITED STATES.

TN lho year 1874 under the auspices Of the Uniset
i siiy Of Maryland established ia the city OF u a.
| urnore a Law School, under The Denomination oil inc
Maryland Law Institute. This establishment CONT
nued ia successful operation nearly eleven years paw
ing received students from sisuen of the States, and
| fom Two foreign countries. Owing TO the pressure
OF an eK iesiye practice simultaneously with the du-
ties which the institution involved resolved, IN the
year 1886 10 abandon not ly the practice Of my ever
and long cherished profession but also the Law lns-
lute and for health and ease sought the more genial
climates OF Europe. Finding al this time, my health
perfectly restored and ~ilh no abatement whatever
Of my zeal and devotion TO that great science, which
in this country of all others, needs to be nethodieaiy
and carefully studed-and seeking, moreover indus
trous and continued occupation essential To happi-
ness IN land that knows dies resol ed TO nee sta
bllsh the Law Instiuiion-and have selected Phtla
dehia as he place OF lis location In 50 sosg have
thought that city in the Union affords such various
and ample Inducements for all the purposes OF The
| Law Student--and that in can more worthy
economy be preserved and yet with every requisite
| comfort.
| The frequent app icalons made to me from dis
lance the former OCCASION in regard to the pa'to
uiars OF my enterprise induce To anticipate similar
| inquiries Dow-and, 10 meet all such IN advance,
now address this Circular, as all that | can offer IN
explanation, and, probably, as all that may be Tequi-
| site.
| The Institution, dedicated alone to law studies
aud their cognale and auxiliary topics, is spacious
| and beautiful bu ldiDg, N. III South Fifth street,
suitable for the accommodation OF about sixty stu.
dents. The all suitably fun she'd supplied
| with extensive law and miscellaneous library
,c preedents If practice in every conceivable and ap
| proved Grn. students are admitted at any time
! throughout The yeaf--courses Of study and the e-
guisile books are supplied, as exactly 10 acct the
wants and views of the student according ns he may
design 10 practice his profession ehei IN the country
or in some of the maritime cities The laws of every
| State in the Union in some degree dwclt upon
practice is constantly blooded with hecry-but the
deep and radical error OF parents as well Of students
is fully avoided aude TO the tho erroneous
ton that law students be made mere mechanical
artisdnsInere attorneys leaning practice by roe, and
jealous Of bookka0,ciedge, being too theoretical -
This mischievous error must inevitably degrade the
science and profession aud is gToes mistake, since
no practising attorney was good and lasting one
who was not also deeply veIsed in the reasons md
theory Of the law. | therefore cannot acquiesce in
and never will yield 10, the vulgar Of putting
practice before and above ,heoryii is an unnatural
inrerson Of the established order Of nature--an igno
| rant and slovenly way of urging young to at
! tempts far beyond the powers of the human IL ind
for # The grounds and of the science be
well known, the practice cannot be well known.
| But the error to which so earnestly alIude, is
iuu Hded upoi another which is equally false and
row, vz.that students learn the practice only in
practising lawyers office On The conlr. ~, as gen.
eral rule, 1t liz the very last place IN which he
does or can learn the pracice-and this can be made
extremely manifest What is practice as distinguish
ed from theory? Take single enampIe-and er
disco onines The theory or law point says to the
uJent, if lends his watch and sells IT, or re-
fuses to 'e,urn it, A may bring what is called
ton of Trover and Conversion. Nov irorer means
hndipg, and conversion means appropriating II TO his
own use and here, again, the student learns two
other htoreticai law pon's-viz. that the find ng is
now mere verbal fiction, not at all material to be
prorsd-and secondly, that the conversion by he de-
PENDANT TO his oun consists in the WITHHOLD
ing the property from the plaintiff although should
| ,I., 10,
property for himself for any purpose whatever but
| To Withhold IT from the plaintiff.
Now all this theory must be learnt and good
deal more before tho practice comesand that practice
on the plaintiffs pori con lists Of Thorough know ledge
of The forms prectdenis-and, the defendant part
oithe like knowledge TO the formula Of the pleas
reJonders, &c. There are therefore books Of prece-
dents these books unfold every practical proceeding
whatever, In every action known to the aw-pro
gressvey FROM The importation of the rif IL Tho nal
return upon the erectaion These Jornisie OF wrns
returns 10 es-baIl-impaI lances
| acknowledgement of juTies -lrial-eI-
cepions-verdict-Ju dgment--eI' cullon-return of
| eXecuon-or, on the other hand, new tris-or ap-
peal, &c, &c-are all set forth in the fprtc.d MS so
that, he who knows most of preoedt u.s. Knows most
of practice but STILL these precedenls cannot lhrm-
selves be nderstood, without a previous theoretical
know ledge The question, then, resolves tsel into this
Cannot law student be well grounded in all the
piecedents laf0 sensu, who never a pT actising
lawyer OinCt hiiu why not on the contrary,
cannot be learn far more Of practice by the JUDI
cous and careful study of all The formula which he
never does IN practising lawyers oflice) than by
writing, OF rather copying those simple and occasion
al decatatons, pleas &C. which he of Office
assigns To the STUDENT Is IL uniformly the case
that all really difficult and responsible business of this
is done by the master himself without ever reach
ing the eye of the siudent-or # il does only TO me
| chanically copy II Again: Who istngush be.
tween real suit in court and fictitious one 10 which
or stu,ent res the ~ mt a.,
| another he decaration- some other the pea, &c
until oil the practical proceedings gone through
And v hat prevents these students making record OF
the whole, and then comparing all with certified re-
cord Fl ON court of justice Ia like action All
this surely may be done M Law Insutution-and far
b ter-more quietly and with more time than in busi
ness Offices where many precious hours often lost ia
| useless messages-long waks--lianscr bling letters
copying mot derising) declarations pleas replica
tons, SC. generally the sole workmanship OF the
master of the office, and very seldom that Of the
student | confess that all this is 81 my mind extreme
" palm and has long ished me of he popular md
serious which has placed young men IN Offices
where little either Theory or OF practice Is learnt This
surely 10 not always The case bot ia too often such
asmany depending students have found and others
have been compelled TO confess, that they never
learned much VI theory or of practice until qler they
cam, 10 fhs bar but at which time 1t was found very
up hill and atduous work, and sometimes not accom-
nj shed even Though whole life OF toll Doubtless
there are many noble exceptions 10 he correctness Of
these remarks but still, aver Il fact, that my
experience has never made me acquainted With any
| young Lawyer, who, in candid consersaion, was not
willing 10 confess that his legal education had been
very hap-hazsrd-and that practice, TO any really val
liable and abiding extent the last thing student
can ever hope Tor N a practising lawyers ofice.
After an extensive practice of seven and twenty
wears IN all Of the coN, and dc,olion 10 the inie-
rest Of Tao students, during much OF that period may
not be much tn Say that practice be lost
ipht ofn this Institution aud that nothing but neoiani-
cal naToirness Of legal education, unworthy e IN en-
lilhtcned lawyer could patrouise the init
nation that such Instr utian only adopted for
,b of he soepce and nut of tho a,f f an,