The daily Madisonian. [volume] (Washington City [i.e. Washington, D.C.]) 1841-1845, 1844-01-08
A CIRCULAR TO STUDENTS OF LAW
IN THE UNITED STATES.

A CIRCULAR TO STUDENTS OF LA"
IN THE UNITED STATES
TN me year 1894 under the auspices the Uniye.-
i siy Of Maryland, established In The CITY OF Bal
tinose Law School, under the denomination OF the
Maryland Law institute. This establishment CONT
nued in successful operation nearly eleven years nav
ing receive students from eisrsu OF ths otaes a"o
from foreign countries. Owing 10 the pressure
OF an extensive practice mutsneoasy with The du-
ties which the Institution involved, resolved IN tue
year 1885, abandon mol ally the practice OF my ever
and long cherished profession, hut also the Law ins-
lute and for health and ease, soagh, the more ge",s
climates VI Europe Fndipg at this time, my hsaI'f
perfectly restored, and with II no abatement whatever
Of my zeal and devotion TO that great science which
in this county, OF all others, needs TO be meihodeay
and carefully studied-and .eking, moreover, indus
t.ious and continued lation essential to haPp-
ness 10 land thai knows no oilers resos ed 10 re-esia-
bsh the Law nstiuiion--apd have selected Phtfa'
deiphia The place Of its location In doing have
thought that city In the Union affords such various
and anpie 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 app icalions made TO me from dis
lance the former OCCASION ia regard 10 the pare-
,las Of my enterprise induce TO anticipate similar
inquiries now--and, TO meet all such in advance,
now address this Circular, all that | offer ia
explanation, and, probably as all that may be requi-
| site.
| ne INSTITUTION, ueuOultu alone 10 law
and their cognae and auxiliary topics, Is spacious
and beautiful bu lding NJ. III South Fifth street,
sutable for the accommodation of about sixty stu.
dents. The all suitably fun shed, supplied
| with extensive law and miscellaneous Library
m preesnis Of practice in every conceivable and APP
proved f,rp. Studen are admitted a, any time
throughout the year-courses Of study, and the Ie-
quisite books supplied, as exactly 10 nect the
wants and views Of the student, according lao may
design practice his profession eher in the country
| nf ,F.r sttlA In lnxOa nfn
| State in the Union in some degree dwct upon
practice 10 constantly blended with theery-bnt the
deep and radical error parens well of students
is carefully AVOIDED aludc TO the to erroneous
,cn that law students be made mere mechanical
artisans attorneys learning practice by roe, and
jealous of book-kno,oledge, as being too theoretical
! This mschievous error must inevitably degrade the
science and profession and is eross mistake, since
practising attorney was Of and lasting me-
| who not also deeply versed in the reasons and
theory Of the law. therefore cannot acquicsce in
and will yield to, the vulgar error Of putting
practice before and above theory-it is an unnatural
Inversion of the established order of naurean igno
rant and slovcnly way of urging young men to at
tempis far beyond the powers OF the human mind-
for, # The grounds aud reasons of the science be not
| we'll known, the practice cannot be we'll known.
But the error, TO which so earnestly aIIude, is
fou ded upoi another, which is equally false and
row, viz-that students learn the practice only in
practising lawyers office! On The contrary, gen
erai rule, it is The very last place in which lie ever
does, or can learn tle pracice-and this be made
extremely manifest. What is practice distinguish
ed from theory? Take single exampIe-and tr uao
disco onlnes. fhe theory a law point says TO the
student, il A lends b his watch and b sells it,
fuses to return il, A may bring what is called an
ton Of Trover and Conversion. Now tropsr means
finding, and conversion means appropriatng il TO his
| own use; and here, again, the student learns two
other theoretical law poin,s-viz. that the find slg 10
now mere verbal fiction net at all material, to be
propedand secondly, that the conversion by the de-
frndan TO his 0icn consists ia the withhold
| ing the properly from the plaintiff although it should
he ever so clearly proved that he in way 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 comesand that practice
on the plaintiff part CON Of thorough know ledge
of he forms prsctdensand. the defendants part
of the like knowledge TO the tor,nuiG Of The p,
reoinders &c. There are therefore, books Of precs-
dents these books unfold every practical proceeding
whatever, IN every action known to the iaw--pro
grcssivcly from tie importation Of the tcr to the final
! return upon The ersctao'. These JorpIe Of wr,s
! returns TO wrIis-appearaI ces--ha-inp aIlances
| ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS of jories --tral-ex-
| cep,ons--yerdict- gmcnt-ex'cuiion-rrtu of
exccution-or, on the other hand, irial--or APP
peal &c, Nc.are all set forth in the prtced MS so
that he who knows most Of preetdeats knows most
| of practice but still, these presidents them
selves he unde lsood, without previous theoretical
knowledge. The question, then resolves Itself into this
| Caufib law siuueni nc Wth gtOunut In all The
pecedents, iaio sensu, who never saw or ac,isinp
| lawyers Office And why not On the coatrary,
cannot he learn lar more OF practice by the JUDI
cious and careful study of all The formula (Which he
never does in practising lawyers oflce) than by
writing rather copying those simple and OCCASION
al dcciarst ons pleas &C. which The master fan Office
assigns to the STUDENT Is il not uniformly the c. Sc
that all really difficult and responsible business of this
is done by the master himself without reach.
ing the eye of the sudent-or IL il does only 10 me-
Lob, MIRA lly a Win dit n bc
| tween real suit in court, and fictitious one ia which
one student prepares the wnt-another the return
| another The decaratiJn- some other the y ca &c
until all the practical proceedings gone through
And " hat prevents these students making a record of
the whole and then comparing all with c, rtifed re-
cord f. ION some court OF justice in like action All
this surely may be done IN Law Insiilution-and far
uef-more quiet, and with more time than in busi-
ness Offices here many precious hours often lost ia
useless messages-'ong ~alks-lianscr bing letters
copying (not derising) declsi aons pleas replica
tons, sc. so generally the sole workmanship the
masbr Of the oflice, and very seldom that Of the
student confess that all this is TO my mind extreme
" plain and has ling is6ed of lhr popular and
serious error which has placed young men IN Offices
VIII. little either oftheory ofprsctice is learnt This
surely Is not always The but IL is too often such
asnany deponding students have found and others
have ben compelled to confess, that they never
learned much of theory Of practice until afler they
came 10 The bar but at which time, it wac found very
up.biI and afduous work, and sometimes no, accom-
plshed even through whole life OF toll Doubtless
there are many noble Exceptions to he correctness of
these remarks but STILL aver it as fact, that my
| experience has never made acquainted with any
voung ia,ryer, who, in candid conversation, was not
wiling 20 confess that his legal education had been
very haphaznrd-apd that practice, TO any really val
liable and abiding extent Is the last hing student
can ever hope Tor IN practising lawyers flee.
After az extensive practice Of seven and twenty
years in all Of the courts, and devotion To the ne
reys of in,o students, during much Of that period may
not be much to say that practice can never be host
ipht OF IN this Insun and that nothing bu, mechan
cal nnro,cnes Of legal education, unworthy e en-
ii lbened lawyer, could ever paironise even The n-