The daily Madisonian. [volume] (Washington City [i.e. Washington, D.C.]) 1841-1845, 1844-06-18
A CIRCULAR TO STUDENTS OF LAW
IN THE UNITED STATES.

1
TN the year 1924 under the auspices oithe uniss,-
i siiy of Maryland, established IN the city nsi-
| tmore Law School, under The denom'ns''o" Oh ,u'
| MARYLAND Law Institute. This estaoiishi"s"' 'V''
nued ia successful operation nearly eleven years nav
ing receive sludents from stepen oil the STATES anu
| from two foreign countries Owing 10 ihe pressure
of an extensive practice simultaneously WIN 'ne uu-
ties which the Institution involved, resolved !" 'o
wear 1886 to abandon not ly the practice OF my ever
and long cherished profession, but also the La" i"s
tule and for health and ease sought the more geha
climates of Europe. Finding, al this tme my hsa''h
perfectly restored and with II no abatement whatever
of my zeal and devotion 10 that great science, WHICH
in this country of all Others needs 10 be nehod.eay
and carefully studied-and seeking, moreover INDUS
tous and continued occupation so essential To h"Pp-
ness ia land that knows idier reso' ed to iee.a
blish the Law Instution-and have selected i'hita-
deihia as the place of its location. In 80 dong have
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 a dis
lance the former OCCASION ia regard to the parfte-
lars Of my enterprise induce me TO anticipate similar
| inquiries now--and, to meet all such in advance, J
now address this Circular, all that can offer IN
xpanaton and, probably as all that may be requi-
| site.
| The Institution, dedicated alone to law studies,
and their cognae and auxiliary topics, Is spacious
| anu Dtaulllui DulluInp ~ touth ebSe't
| suitable for the accommodation OF about sixty stu
dents. The all suitably furnished, supplied
| with extensive law and miscellaneous library
,o pecents Of practice IN every conceivable and APP
| proved form. students are admitted at any time
throughout the yeaT-courses OF study, and the re-
quisile books are supplied as exactly TO Hect the
wants and of the student, according as he may
design practice his profession either in the country
or in some Of the maritime cities The laws OF every
| State in the Union are in degree dwelt upon
1 IL nj blandpd with Hsny1-but he
deep and radical error OF parens well of students
is carefully AVOIDED allude to the too erroneous
ton that law students to be made mechanical
tisans-mere attorneys, learning practice by roe, and
jealous of book-knooledgs, being too theoretical -
| This mlschievous must inevitably degrade the
science and profession and Is gross mistake, since
no practising attorney was ever good and lasting one
who was not also deeply versed in the and
theory Of the law. therefore cannot acquiesce in,
and never will yield to, the vulgar error Of putting
practice before and above heoryit is an unnatural
Inversion of the established order of nature-an igno-
rant and slovenly way OF urging young men on 10 at
tempis far beyond the powers Of the human nind-
for If The grounds and reasons of the science be not
| well known, the practice cannot be well known.
| But the error to which | so earnestly allude, is
founded upoa another, which is equally false and
row, vz.hat students learn the practice only in
practising lawyers office! On the coniT.ry, gen
eral rule 1t the very'last place in which he
does or can learn the pracce-and this can be made
extremely manifest. What is practice distinguish
ed from theory? Take single exanple-and er
disco The theory or law point says TO the
student, if lends b his watch, and = sells it,
fuses TO return it, A may bring wha, is called
ton of IroveT and Conversion. Now froper means
finding and conversion means apprcprating II to his
| own use and here, again, the student learns two
other theoretical law pons-viz. that the finding is
now mere verbal fiction, not al all material TO be
proped-and secondly that the conversion by the de-
fendant TO his consists in the WITHHOLD
ing the properly from the plaintiff, although 1t should
be ever clearly proved that be in way used the
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
the plaintiffs part consists of thorough knowledge
of the forms prectdens-and the defendants part
ofthe like knowledge TO the formula of the pleas
reolnders &c There are, therefore, books Of preoe-
dents ; these books unfold every practical proceeding
whatever in every action known to the law-pro
gessively from the importation of the icr TO the final
| return upon the ereeuion. These formula of wri,s
returns TO wriis-appearapces-bail-m
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS of junes -irial-e1-
| ,tions-verdct- Observation-Disclosures of
| execution-or, on the other hand, tral-or APP
peal SC, &c.are all set forth In the fpreoed MS so
that, he who knows most Of preoedeab, knows most
of practice but still, these precedens cannot them
selves be undo rsood without a previous theoretical
ledge. The question: then resolves Itself into this
| Cannot law student be well grounded ia all the
| presidents, iato serlsu, who never pr actsing
lawyers office Add why not On the contrary
| cannot be learn far more of practice by the iud-
cious and careful study of all the formula (Which be
never does ia practising lawyers office than by
writing, rather copying tho,e snpis and OCCASION
al declarations, pleas &c, which The of Office
assigns to the studenl L. it not uniformly the
that all really difficult and responsible business Of this
sort done by the master himself without ever reach
ing the eye Of the sudeDt-or, if It does only tn me-
chanically copy ii Again, Who can distinguish be.
tween real suit in court, and fictitious one in which
one student prepares the wnt-another the return
another he declaration some other the pea &c
until all the practical proceedings are gone through
And hat prevents these students making record of
he whole, and then comparing all with certified re-
cord Fl ON court of justice in a like action All
this surely may be done in Law nsiitution-and far
b. tier more quetly-aod with time than in busr
offices where many precious hours often lost 10
useless messages-.ong walks-tianscr. bng letters
copying mot derising) decla atoms pleas replica.
tons, &c. 20 generally the sole workmanship o. the
master of the office, and very seldom that Of the
student confess that all this IL 10 my mind extreme
" plain, and has long sfed Of The popular and
serious error which has placed young IN Offices
where little either oitheory or practice IL learnt This
surely IS not always the case-but u is too often such
asmaDy desponding students have found and as others
have been compelled to confess, that they never
learned much Of tbeory or Of practice until q,ier hey
eapf 10 the bar but at which time it wus found yery
uphill and arduous work, and sometimes not accom-
piishcd Though whole life Of toll Doubtless
there many noble exceptions TO The correctness OF
these remarks but still aver il fact that my
experience has never made me acquainted with any
young Lawyer, who, in candid conversation, was not
Wiling 20 confess that his legal education had been
very haphazard-and that practice, to any really val
liable and abiding extent the last thing student
can ever hope tor IN practising lawyers office
After an extensive practice of seven and twenty
years in all sf the courts and devotion TO the int
rests Of lar students, during much Of that period il may
not be much say that practice never be lost
ight ofn this institution and that nothing but echani-
cal narrooness Of legal education, unworthy e an en-
liuhiened lawyer could pstroose even the init
nation that such an Institution only adopted fir
the incubation Of the science and not Of the arf Of our
nrnfc. AMMAN intlnntnn onnHnnh hnnhflesa 10