The daily Madisonian. [volume] (Washington City [i.e. Washington, D.C.]) 1841-1845, 1844-04-01
A CIRCULAR TO STUDENTS OF LAW
IN THE UNITED STATES.


In the year 1924, under the auspices oflhe uniyer-
city Of Maryland established Ia the CITY OF b At
timofs Law School under the denomination OF The
Maryland Law Institute. This esiablshment CONT
nued ia successful operation nearly eleven years has-
ing reees,d students from eeren OF the States ana
| from Two foreign countries. Owing TO the pressure
OF an extensive practice simultaneously with The du-
ties which the Institution involved resolved IN the
year 1886 10 abandon not y the practice OF my ever
and long cherished profession but also the Law nsii-
iute and for health end case sought the more GENIAL
climates OF Europe. Finding, al this umo my health
perfectly restored, and with II no abatement whatever
Of nay zeal and devotion TO that great science which,
IN this county of all others needs 10 be neihodieay
and carefully Sunderland seeking, moreover, indus
tous and continued palhh essential to happi-
in land that knows tders rcsos cd TO e-esia
| blish the Law Instuiion-and have selected Phia-
deiphia Tho place of It's location. In 80 soing have
thought that city IN the Union affords such various
and ample Inducements Tor all the purposes of the
| Law Sutherland that Ia can more worthy
economy be preserved and yet with every requisite
| comfort.
The frequen, applications made to from dis
lance, the former OCCASION In regard to the patic
uiars Of my enterprise induce to anticipate similar
inquiries now--and, In meet all such in advance,
now address this Circular, as all that | offer
explanation, and probably, as all that may be requ'-
site.
The Institution, dedicated alone to law studies,
and their cognatc and auxiliary topics, spacious
and beautiful building, =. III South Fiflh street,
suitable for the accommodation of about sixty stu
dents. The all suitably ium shed, supplied
with an extensive law and miscellaneous library
rih prtcsdeiS of practice every conceivable and APP
proved iIrn. Sudens are admitted at any time
| throughout The year-courSes Of study, and the
quise books are supplied, so asexaclly to meet the
wants and views of the student according as he may
design To practice his profession eher the country
| OF in of the maritime cities The laws of every
| State in the Union in some degree dwet upon
practice is constantly blended with hecry-but the
deep and radical of parentS well of students
is carefully AVOIDED audc to the t. erroneous
ton that law students to be made mechanical
grsans-mere attorneys learning practice by rote, and
jealous of book ko,cedge, being too Meoreiicaf-
This mschievous error must inevitably degrade the
science and profession and is gross mistake, since
no practising attorney good and lasting ne
| who not also der ply versed in the reasons and
theory of the law. | therefore cannot acquesce in,
and never will yield to, the vulgar of putting
practice before and above theory-it is an unnatural
Inversion Of the established order of naurean igno
rant and slovenly way of urging young to at
tempts far beyond the powers of the human mind
for If he grounds and reasons of the science be not
| well known the practice cannot be well known.
But the error, to which | earnestly allude, is
fou ded upo another, which is equally false and
row, vIz-tbat students learn the practice only in
practising iacyers office, On the cln,r,ry as gen
erai rule, II is the very last place in which he
does, or can learn the pacce-and this can be made
extremely manifest, What practice distinguish
ed from theory? Take a single exampe-and er uno
disco olnnes. The theory a law point says to the
student, if lends b his watch and sells it, or re-
fuses to return it, may bring what is called
| ton of Irover and Conversion. Now froper
finding, and conversion appru prating it to his
| own use; and here, again, the student learns two
other theoretical law poin,s-viz that the finding is
now verbal fiction, not at all material 10 be
propsd-and secondly, that the conversion by the de-
iendan 10 his oicn use consists in the mere WITHHOLD
ing the properly from the plaintiff although it should
be ever clearly proved chat he no way USED the
property for himself, OF for any purpose whatever, but
| to withhold il from the plaintiff
Now all this Meory must be learnt aud good
deal more before the practice comesand that practice
on the plaintiff part Consists of thorough know ledge
of he forms preeedents-and the defendants part
9th like knowledge to the formula of the pleas
reoinders &c. There are, therefore, books Of prece
dents these books unfold every practical proceeding
| whatever, in every action known to the law-pro
gressively from the Importation Of the rr to the final
return upon the erec1aon. These torniui9 of writs
returns 10 earances-bail-mpaIlance
! -coDtinuances-lmpanne of ures -irial-e1-
ceplons-verdIct- Observation-Disclosures of
| execution-or, on the other hand, tral-or APP
peal sc, &c.-are all set forth the ipreced n so
that he who knows most of prtcede7ts, knows mos,
of practice but sull, these presidents cannot them
selves be understood, without previous theoretical
knowledge. The question, then resolves itself into this
Cannot a law student be well grounded in all the
ptecedents, laiO selsu, who a pr actsing
lawyers office 7 And 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 Office than by
writing OF rather copying, those simple and occasion
al deciarato ns pleas &c, which The master offs office
assigns to the sudentl L. il not uniformly the case
that all really difficult and responsible business of this
is done by the master himself without or reach
ing The eye Of the sudent-or, # il does only
| chanically copy il Again: Who can distinguish be
tween real suit in court, and fictitious one 10 VIII ch
| one student prepares the wrt-anuther the return
another he declaratl0n- some other The pea &c.
until all the practical proceedings are gone through
And hat prevents these students making record Of
the whole, and then comparing all with a c. rted re-
cord Fl ON some court of Justice 10 a like action All
this surely may be done Law InsiItution-and far
ter-more quIetli -sDd with more time than in bus
ness offices where many precious hours often lost
useless messages-long ~alks-lianscribi np letters
coping mot depising) declai atoms, pleas replica
tons &c. SO generally the sole workmanship OF the
master Of the office, and very seldom that Of the
student confess that all this is my mind extreme
" plain and has long isied of the popular and
serious error which has placed young men IA Offices
where little either theory practice Is learnt This
surely i not always the case-but il is too often such
as'many depOnding students have found and others
have been compelled 10 confess, that they never
learned much oftheoy Of practice until aaer hey
came 10 the bar but at which time It found very
up- hill and aIduous work, and sometimes not accom-
plished even though whole life Of toll Doubtless
there are many noble exceptions TO be correctness Of
these remarks but still aver it as fact that nv
experience has made acquainted with any
young aicyer, 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 a student
can hope Tor IN practising lawyers ofiice.
After an extensive practice Of seven and twenty
wears IN all OF the courts and devotion 10 the int
rests Of lao students, during much Of tina, period may
not be much to say that practice be hst
light ofn this institution nd that nothing but meohdni-
col narr0cness Of legal education unworthy an en-
lightened lawyer could ever palronse the intl-
nation that such Instr ution only adopted for
the incubation of the science and not Of the art Of our
| ntnfe. son-an intmhton onnfneI. dnnhIless 20 n