The daily Madisonian. [volume] (Washington City [i.e. Washington, D.C.]) 1841-1845, 1844-05-25
, CIRCULAR TO STUDENTS OF LAW
IN THE UNITED STATES.

III
! TN the year 1874 under the auspices ofthe Unsef-
i siiy OF Maryland established IN the Guy o' pa'
t,mors Law School, under The denomination OF tns
Maryland Law Institute. IhiS e''so'''hns"' 49,
nued Ia successful operation nearly eleseo yeas nav
inv received students from sieren OF tho States, aho
| from two foreign countries. Owing To the pressure
OF an extensive practice simultaneously WIN 'no au
ties which the Institution involved iesoNeu ia '"o
wear 1886 TO abandon not ally the practice OF my ever
and long cherished profession but also the Law ins'i
tute and for health and ease sought the more GENIAL
climates of Europe. Finding, at this une my hea''h
| perfectly restored and with II no abatement Whatever
of my zeal and devotion TO that great science, which,
in this country of all Others needs be uetodiealy
aud carefully sudied-and seeking, moreover, INDUS
trous and continued occupaiion essential 10 haPPr
ness in land that knows oilers reso, ed 10 Ieesta-
blish the Law Instiuion-and have selected Fhua'
deiphia ,be place of It's location. In 80 eoing have
thought that city in the Union affords such various
| and ample Inducements for all the purposss OF the
| Law Sutherland that in none a more worthy
economy be preserved, and yet with every requisite
| comfort.
| The frequent app ications made TO from dis
lance The former OCCASION in regard to the pariic-
uias Of my enterprise induce me to anticipate similar
inquiries now---aDd, to meet all such in advance, J
now address this Circular, all that can offer in
xpIanaton, and, probably, all that may be requi-
| site.
| The Ibstiiution, dedicated alone to law studies,
and their cognae and auxiliary topics, a spacious
| and beautiful building, NJ. III Souh Fifth street,
suitable for the accommodation OF about sixty stu
DENTS The all suitably fum shed, supplied
| with an extensive law and miscellaneous library
With precedents Of practice in every conceivable and APP
| proved frD. Stud,n s are admitted at any time
throughout the year-courses OF study, and the re-
quisi,e books supplied, so as exactly TO neet the
wants and views of The student, according he may
design practice his profession eher in the country
| or in some Of the maritime cities The laws of every
State in the Union in some degree dwelt upon
1 Hal AZ.
deep and radical of pa,e's, well of students
is carefully avoided aude to the too
ton that law students to be made mechanical
artisansmere attorneys leaning practice by roe, and
jealous of book-knowledge, es being too theoretical -
| This mischievous must inevitably degrade the
science and profession and is gross mistake, since
no practising attorney was ever god and lasting ,ne
who was not also deeply yersed in the and
theory Of the law. therefore cannot scqGiesce in
and never will yield to, the vulgar error Of putting
practice before and above theoryit is an unnatural
Inversion Of the established order Of nature-an igno
ran, and slovenly way of urging young men on 10 at
| tempts far beyond the powers OF the human n ind
for If the grounds and reasons of the science be not
well known the practice cannot be well known.
But the error, to which | 80 earnestly allude, is
fou .ded upoh another which is equally false and
row, v'z.--hat students learn the practice only in
practising ialcyers office On the Contrary gen
eral rule, 1t Is The very last place IN which he ever
does, or can learn the paciice-and this can be made
|
ed from theory? Take a single eIample-and tr
disco omnes. fhe theory or a law point says TO the
student, if A lends his watch and b sells IT, or re-
fuse. 10 return il, A may bring what is called
ton of Irover and Conversion. Nov trorsr means
binding, and conversion means apprOpriating II to his
own use; and here, again, the student learns two
other heoreticai law poinls-viz that the find ne Is
verbal fiction not at all naeri II, or 10 b.
proped-and secondly that the conversion Ivy the de-
irndsnt to his consists in the WITHHOLD
| Ih, fran he MI, At
be ever 80 clearly proved that he IN no way USED the
property for himself or for any purpose whatever, but
TO withhold At from the plaintiff
Now all this theory must be learn, and good
deal more before the practice comesand that practice
the plaintiffs par CON lists Of thorough know ledge
of the forms prectdens-and. the defendants part
ofthe like knowledge TO the torniIia of the pleas
rejoinders &c. There are, therefore books Of preee-
dent, these books unfold every practical proceeding
| whatever, in every action known to the iaw-pro
gressively from the importation of the ,cr TO the final
| return upon the ertcution. These formula of wrus
| returns to wr,is-sppeararces-bsil-nt
| ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS of jures -lria-e1-
| ceplions-,erdct- Observation-Disclosures of
exeeution-cr, on the other hand, new trial-or mp
peal sc &c.-bre all set forth in The 'preeed MS 30
| that he who knows most Of preeede0ts, knows most
OF practice but still, these pTecedens capno, them
selves be undo fstood, without previous theoretical
knowledge. The question, then resolves Itself into this
| Cannot law student be well grounded ia all the
| precedents laio snsu, who never saw a ~ actsng
| lawyers office 7 Aud why not On the contrary,
1 cannot be learn far more OF practice 10y the JUDI
cous and careful study of all the formula (Which he
| never does ia a practising LAWYERS Office than by
wrting rather copying tho,e simple and occasion
al dec arat one pleas &c which he master oi Office
assigns 10 the sudentl IL II not unIfornly the
that all really difficult and responsible business of this
is done by the master himself without ever reach
ing the eye of the student-or, II II does only 10
cha nicaliy copy III Again: Who can distinguish be
| tween real suit in court and fictitious IN which
one student prepares the wrt-another the return
another The declaration some other the ca, &c.
until all the practical proceeding are gone through
And hat prevents these students making record Of
the whole, and then comparing all with a riGed
cord om sone court OF justlce ia like action All
this surely may be done Law lnsutution-and far
tier quiet, and With more time than in bu-
offices where many precious hours often lost ia
useless messages-long saks-iiaascr bing htters-
copying (not d,ris,ns) declaiatons pleas replica.
tons SC. so generally the sole workmanship the
master Of The office, and very seldom that Of the
student confess that all this j. To my mind extreme
ly plain and has long sa is6ed Of the popular snd
serious which has placed young men IN Offices,
where little either otheory or ofpractce IL learnt This
surely i not always the casobu 1t is too often such
asmsny d,yonding students have found and others
have been compelled TO confess, that they never
learned much oftheory or Of Practice until after Bev
came 10 IA. tsr hot, at which time IL war found very
no hill and afduous work and sometimes not accom-
plishcd even through whole life Of toll Doubtless
there are many NOME exc puohs 10 ne correctness OF
these remarks but still, aver Il fact, that my
erparience has never made acquainted with any
Young laaoyer, who "a candid Conversation was not
wiling 20 confess that his legal education had been
very hap-hazard-and that practice TO any really val
liable and abiding extent Is the last thing student
can ever bope Tor IN practising lawyers office.
Afer ar extensive practice Of seven and twenty
yenrs in all Of the courts, and devotion the int
rests Of lc students, dunhg much Of that period may
no, be too much to say that practice be lost
light ofin this ns'itut,n and that nothing but mechan
cal naropneu Of legal education unworthy Il an en-
hghtened lawyer, could ever patronise even the init
nation that such an Institution was only adopted Tor