The daily Madisonian. [volume] (Washington City [i.e. Washington, D.C.]) 1841-1845, 1844-01-26
A CIRCULAR TO STUDENTS OF LAW
In THE UNITED STATES. fa

TN the year is2i under the auspices oi un,,c,-
i sity of Marylsnd established IN the city VI BAL
tmore Law School under The denoaMns"o" VI e"'
MARYLAND Law Institute. This establishment conn
nueJ in successful operation nearly e.s,s" ss, nd
ing received studenis from eIersn Of Tue States ano
| from Two foreign countries Owing TO Inc pressure
OF an extensive practice simultaneously WIN tue az
ties which the Institution involved, iesoNe1i III i'
year 1886 TO abandon not oily the pTaeuee OF my CIV"
and long cherished profession but also the La" i"s"
lue and for health and ease sought the more genia'
climates OF Europe. Finding, al this uhe, my h'a'h
perfectly restored and with IT abatement whatever
of my zeal and devotion that great science WHICH
in this country of all others, needs 10 De hehoeay
and carefully studed--and seeking moreover indus
rious and continued Occupation, so essential 10 h'pp
ness in land that knows oilers resolved TO iee.a-
blish the Law lnstiiuiion-und have selected fhti"
diphia as he place OF its loo alton In dong have
thought that city in the Union affords sueh various
and ample Inducements for all the purposes OF thr
Law SluLeDt-and that in none can more worthy
economy be preserved, and yet with every requisite
| comfort. .
The frequent ppcatons made to me from dis
lance on the former OCCASION regard TO the pafise-
,ars of my enterprise, induce me TO anticipate similar
inquiries now--apd to meet all such IN advance,
| now address this Circular, as all that can ohef 10
explanation and probably, as all iha' may DC f'qu'
| site, =.
The Institution, dedicated alone to law studies,
and their cognate and auxiliary lopcs, Is spacious
and beautiful building, NJ III South Fifth street,
| 3ui
dents The rooms are all suitably fum shed, supplied
| with an extensive law and miscellaneous library
,ciU pTeeedens u practice IN every conceivable ana APP
proved firm. students are admitted at any time
throughout the year-courses OF study and the re-
| uuise books are supplied, exactly to heet the
| wants and views of the student according he may
design practice his profession eheI in the country
or in some OF the maritime cities The laws OF every
State in the Union In some degree dwelt upon
| praciice is constantly blended with Heofy-but the
and liza Ierr proiD as pf
is carefully avoided audc to the too erroneous
ton that law students be made mechanical
astsdnsmere attorneys learning practice by roe, and
jealous of acknowledge, AS being too Meoreieat
This mschievous error must inevitably degrade the
science and profession and is gross mistake, since
practising attorney Cd and lasting enc
who was not also deeply Versed in the reasons and
theory of the law. | therefore cannot acquiesce in
and will yield to, the vulgar error of putting
practice before and above theory--it is unnatural
inrersion Of the established order of naturean igno
rant and soveney way Of urging young men on TO at
temps far beyond the powers Of the human 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 | SO earnestly aliude is
founded upoa another, which is equally false and
row, v'z.--that students learn the practice only in
practising ncyers oticei On The contrary, 5 gen
eral rule, 1T is The very last place in Which he
does, can learn the praciice-and this can be made
extremely manifest. hat practice distinguish
ed from theory? Take a single example-and er tno
disco The theory law point says TO the
student, if lends b his watch, and b sells 1t,
fuses TO return it, A may bring what is called an
| ton of Trover and Conversion. Now frorer means
finding, and conversion appropriatug it TO has
| own use and here, again, the student learns two
other theoretical law poInls-vz. that the find is
now a verbal fiction not at all material, TO be
prOrsdand secondly, that the conversion by the de-
fendan to his consists IN the mere withhold
ing the property from the plaintiff, although it should
be ever so clearly proved that he in no way used the
property for himself Tor any purpose whatever, bot
| 10 Withhold IT from the plaintiff.
Now all this theory must be learnt and good
deal more before the practee comesand that practice
on the plaintiffs part consists of thorough knowledge
of he forms precdensand. the defendants part,
ofthe like knowledge to the formula Of the pleas,
reolnders, &c. There are therefore books Of prsce-
dents these books unfold every practical proceeding
| whatever, in every action known 10 the law-pro
gresslveiy from the importation of the ict to the final
| return upon the ereclaion. These formula of wrls
returns to wrIts-appesrsr ces-hai-inpa ilances
| &C ntinuances-impannel of juries -iral-ex-
ceptons-verdict- judg ment-erscution-rsturn of
eXecution-or, on the other hand new trial--or APP
peal sc &c.-ure all set forth in The Jreced MS so
| that he who knows most of precedeais knows mos,
of practice but stiI, these precedenis them
selves be understood, without previous theoretical
knowledge. The question, then resolves itself into tn
Cannot a law student be well grounded in all the
piecedents, iaio sensu who pr actising
| lawyers office 2 Aud why not On the contrary
| cannot he learn far OF practice by the JUDI
cous and careful study of all the tortio " hcn he
never does in practising lawyers ofiice) than by
writing OF rather copying those simple and ccasion-
al dec arst ons pleas &C. which he Of office
assigns 10 the student Is it not uniformly the c,se
that all really difficult and responsible business of this
is done by the master himself, without reach.
ing the eye Of the sludentor, It II does only me-
chanically copy II Again; Who oat distinguish be.
tween real suit in court and fictitious one In which
one student prepares the Nrit-another the return
another The declaraii1n- some other the q ca, &c
until all the practical proceedings gone through
And vhat prevents these students making record OF
the whole and then comparing all with a certified re-
cord Fl ON court OF justice in a like action All
this surely may be done a Law lnsiuton-and far
b uer-more quiet --and with more time than in bu-i-
ness offices, where many precious hours often lost
useless messages-'ong walks-iranscr bing letters
coyling mot derisng) declarations pleas, replica
lions SC generally the sole workmanship OF the
master of The office and very seldom that Of the
student confess hat all this is my mind
y plain and has long "a isied me of the popular and
s,inus sTrof which has placed Young men IA offices
where little either oftheory Practice is learnt This
surely - not always the case but is too often such
anany desponding students have found and Others
have been compelled 10 conirss that they never
learned much of theory of practice until after thru
came 10 t ba ; but, which tune, II found very
no hill aud arduous work and sometimes not accom-
pished even through whole life OF toll Doubtless
there al many noble exceptions 10 The correctness Of
these remarks bat still aver It fact, that my
e,oeri.nce has never made me acquainted With nny
vo,ng l,oysr who 10 candid conversation, was not
wiling 20 confess that his legal education had been
very hap-hszard-and tbs, practice any really val
liable and abiding extent, rs the last thing student
can ever hope Tor practising lawyers office.
After m extensive practice Of seven and twenty
wears in all Of the courts and dc, oon to the int
rests Of las students, during much Of that period may
not bc too much say that practice be lus
gbt oin this ns,itutl,n and that nothing but peoani-
cal na1rocness Of legal education unworthy &, m en-
Iiehtencd lawyer could ever palfouise the init
nation that such Institution was only adopted for
the incubation fthc science and not Of the Of our
profes sion-an intimatiOn confined, doubtless, To