The daily Madisonian. [volume] (Washington City [i.e. Washington, D.C.]) 1841-1845, 1844-02-09
A CIRCULAR TO STUDENTS OF LAW
IN THE UNITED STATES.

L "
TN tho year ie2t under the auspices otthe on,.c,
i sny Of Maryland established 10 the Guy OF Ds'
ljmore Law School, under the denominsoo" o' '"o
Maryland Law Institute. THIS establishments CONT
nued ia successful operation nearly eleven years hss
ing reces. students from eiepen OF the States nno
| from Two foreign countries Owing 70 'ns p,e''u'
of an en- enrve practice, simultaneously Win 'e 90
ties whch the Institution involved iero"eu' !" tue
year 1886 abandon not y the pract,ee OF my e'"
and long cherished profession, but also the La" '"s'
tute; and Cor health and ease soogh, the more Rs'a'
climates OF Europe. Finding al this uDie, my nsa''n
perfectly restored and with II no abatement "ns.o'sr
of nv zeal and devotion that great science which
In this country OF all others, needs To pe me"o@eay
and carefully Sunderland seeking, narrower ,ndus
t,ous and continued oecul aitni so essehai 10 haPP
ness in land that knows oilers reso ed 10 fe-csta-
biish the Law lnsttu,ion-ond have selected iA''a'
asIDa as he place Of It's location In so do;g nave
thought that no city la the Union affords such various
and an ole Inducements for all the purpos's OF Tue
| Law Studeni-and that in none can more worthy
economy be preserved, and yet wh every requisite
comfort. .
The frequent app ications made to me non dis-
lance the former occasion, IN regard TO the pa'c-
uIas Of my enterprise, induce me To anticipate similar
! injuries now--aDd 10 meet all such in advance,
now address this Circular all that offer in
e1planaton and, probably, as all that may be rqui-
site.
The Institution, dedicated alone 10 law studies,
and their cogDale and auxiliary TOPICS Ia spacious
suiti BILE for the accommodation of about sixty stu
dents The rooms all suitably furn she'd supplied
| with extensive law and miscellaneous library
io precedents Of practice in every conceivable and APP
proved fran. Stud,n admitted al any time
throughout the yeaI--coursos Of study, and the
quisite books supplied, exactly 6eet the
wants and views Of the student, according he may
design to practice his profession elthel in the country,
or IN some Of the maritime cities The laws of every
State in the Union IN some degree dwelt UPON
practice 10 constantly blended with Meory--but the
deep and radical of parents, well of Students
is carefully avoided allude TO the 20 erroneous no
ton that law students are 10 be made mechanical
ariisansmere attorneys leaning practice by rote and
jealous of book klo,ciedge being too theoretical
| This mischevous error must inevitably degrade the
science and profession, aud Is a gross mistake since
no practising attorney was ever G Oh and astpg ne,
| who was not also derIl yersed in the and
| theory of the law. ] therefore cannot acquiesee in,
and never will yield to- the vulgar Of putting
practice before and above theory--i is unnatural
inrersion Of the established order of naiurean gno
rant and sIoveny way of urging young men on TO at
| tempis far beyond the powers of the human II ind
for # the grounds and of the science be
well known, the practices innot be well known.
But the error, TO which | earneoily allude is
| uu ded upoh another, which is equally false and
row, yzihat students learn The practice only in
practising Lncyer's office On the c1nlr ~, as gen
era rule, II is he very last place in which he
does or can learn the praclice-and this be made
| extremely manifest w hat is practice distinguish
| ed from theory? Take single example--and er ,r,o
disco onnes. The theory OF a law punt says to the
| student, If lends b his watch, ADD sells it, or
fuses to return it, A may bring what is called
| ton of Trover and Conversion. Now iroper
hnding, and conversion means appropriatug to his
own use; and here again, the student leans two
other theoretical law poinisviz. that the find ng Is
now mere verbal fiction not at all material, 10 be
prorsd-and secondly, that the conversion by the de-
fendant TO his oicn consists IN the WITHHOLD
ing the properly from the plaintiff although il shoulj
be ever clea'ly proved that be in way the
property for himself OF for any purpose Whatever but
| 10 Withhold II from the plaintiff.
| Now all this theory must be learn, and a good
deal more before thrWactiee comes-and that practice
on the plaintiffs con lists Of a thorough know ledge
Of he forms or preetdens-1nd, the defendants part
ofthe like knowledge TO the formula of the pi,
rejonders, a.. There are therefore, books Of prece
dents these books unfold every practical proceeding
whatever, in every action known to the law-pro
gressiveiy from The importation of the ioTttp the final
return upn The ertemion. These forHuiR of wrils
returns 10 wrlis-appearar Observation-Disclosures
-conunuances-impdnne Of JuIles -irial-,x-
cepiions-vcidict- dgment-cx, cu.ion-return of
| execuIon-or, on The other hand, new trsl--or APP
peal &c, &r.are all st forth ia the 'preoed MS so
| that he who knows most of prectde Is Knows mos
of practice bot stat, these prWedens cannot them
selves be understood, without previous theoretical
know ledge The question, then resolves ltse nio h
Cannot law student be well gToundtd ia all the
prcceden,s af0 sensu, who never saw a pr actsina
4 ".
canno, he learn far more of practice by the JUDI
cous and careful study of all the formula (Which he
| never does 10 practising lawyer. Office than 10y
writing, OF rather copying hoe simple and occasion
al dec arat ons pleas &c which he master # n flee
assigns to the STUDENT l. il not unifornl, the sc
that all really difficult and responsible business of hs
or il done by the master himself without ever reach
ing he eye Of the student-or # il does only To me-
chanically copy II Again; Who diet guish be.
tween real suit in court, and fictitious one in whch
one student prepares the AMI her the return
/ another he declaration some other the ca &c
until all the practical proceedings are gone though
And hat prevents these students making record of
the whole and then comparing all with c, rfed re-
cord Fl ON some court Of ustice in like action An
| this surely moy be done a Law Insiilutiou-and far
b uer-more quietl land with more time than in bus
ness offices where many precious hours often lost in
| useless mcssages-'ong waiks-,ianscr bling huers-
oop,fng (not derising) declarations plcas rcplica.
| lions &c, 80 generally the sole workmanship % the
master Of the office, and very seldom that Of the
student confess that all this j. 10 my mind extreme
y plain and has l'ng sGed me of he popular and
serious error which has placed young men 10 Offices
where nlle either oftheory is learnt This
surrl, y not always the case hot it is too often such
a-,msny responding students have found and as ,bers
i have been compelled 10 confess, that they never
learned much oftheory Of practice until after hes
came o. The bar bot at which time II found vsry
| up. hill aud arduous work, and sometimes not accom-
| nj shed even thu ugh whole life Of toll Doubtcss
there arc many noble exceptions TO The correctness of
these remarks bot sun aver n ~ fact, that my
experience has never made me acquainted with any
young io,cyer, who IN candid ennversation was not
wiling % confess that hs legal education had been
vcry hsp-hszard-and that practice TO any really val
liable and abiding extent, - the last thing student
can ever bopc tor N practising lawyers ,ffce
Af,er an extensive practice Of seven and twenty
wears in all the courts and devotion Ia the inf
rests Of iar students during much Of that period tmay
hot be too much To cay that practice never be lsi
irh ofn this Institute and that nothing but mechani-
cal narroones Of legal education unworthy e IN en-
II ihtrncd lawyer could ever patrobise the int.
nation that such az Institution only adopted for
the inculcon the seiene and not Of the art of our
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