Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.]) 1852-1859, 1858-08-28


TIE STUDY OF THE LAw.-Extract from an
address delivered before the Law Academy of
Philadelphia, in. 1849, by Hon. William A.
Porter:
a common obstacle to the prosecution of in-
tellectual pursuits is their remote bearing on
the practical affairs of life. l do not advert to
It's effect on the general diffusion of knowledge,
but on the mind of the student himself. The
question is constantly recurring, what good?
Who the better of all this? How, when, where,
and to what, these inquiries have no place
Every principle which the student is required
toscomprehend, has sprung from case which
has actually occurred, and which has been con-
tested and decided. That it has occurred is
sufficient reason that it may occur again. When
the case does arise, it effects not an abstract
question about which men may differ in opinion,
whether or not it possesses any practical value,
but palpable and absolute interests, which all
men acknowledg personal security, property
and reputation. In the acquisition of such
principles, time and labor are not misspent.
The tendency of our professional pursuits to
invogorate the mind is on all sides confessed
1t is difficult to conceive of an educated person
without ability to furnish plausible answer to
an argument susceptible of answer, if the time
and circumstances are committed to his choice.
To state at a moments warning and with self
possession nice distinctions, on which large
amounts of property Depend present objec-
tions which shall bear the scrutiny of a court,
and year afterwards, of an appellate tribunal,
and to state all the objections, Ito answer inge-
NOUS argument in fftieth of the time which it
has taken to construct it and to answer it COR
rectly5; demand a training which it may be safe
iy affirmed, no other profession is capable of
imparting. Its effects have been witnessed in
other professions, which legal talent has gone
to adorn. The splendor it has diffused in DELHI
aP0t
ration. How inferior that toll which, while it
brings the largest immediate fruits, imparts no
necessary increase of power and no capacity for
higher effort.
I The study ofthe law opens to the student q
vast expanse of literature, almost untraversed
by others. Some degree of proficiency in intel
lectnal philosophy is Justly considered a part of
finished education We are conducted to the
Investigation of moral and theological sciences,
by the imperative personal claims which they.
have upon Us The excellence of our legal litera-
ture is known only to the student oflaw. Any
well-read lawyer might confidently challenge
the production, from any other department of
literature, of performances which should excel
in all the qualities of vigorous, perspicuous
and elegant expression ofthought those which
the records of our judicial proceedings contain
Why should not the man perform it well who
writes or speaks to be read through all time
and wherever law shall be administered; to fur
Inish the guide for important contracts; to defy
elaborate critical review before his own eyes,
and before court, whose right it is to differ
from him, to- lay the foundation of future de-
cision; to illume the pageof philosophic disqui-
sition? What would the scholar have? Would
he have profound learning There are Coke
and Eldon. The highest accomplishments, de-
coratIng the extreme of professional skill2-
There arc Erskine and Romily. Clear, polish
ed, and attractive exposition9 There are
Blackstone and Kent. The chief glory of a
country is its literature. The highest intcllec-
tual attainment is made in the pursuits of liter
ature. The most effective and permanent pow
er is the power of the pen. Where are now
the contemporaries of Coke, who assisted to
bring that great intellect TO its perfection? Yet
doth his genius blaze, through the gloom of
centuries, with undiminished lustre. hehigh-
est boast of the law is its literature Let us
study it, gentlemen. tits large repository of
human wisdom. 1t lisa profound commentary
on human nature. IL is q true history of hu-
man progress. To ourselves it opens the only
road to usefulness. to our clients it gives the
only assurance of safety; to our profession it
supplies the only hope of elevation.
EXPLOSION EXTRA RD1NARY.-O town was
the scene during the week of terrible explo-
sion, not of a powder mill, spirit lamp, nor
even mercantile firm, but of a niger show
On Tuesday morning shabby, looking set of
Migrants to the number of 10 or 90, reached
town and put up at the Virginia House, having
with them large canvass, the remains of de-
funct Indian show, and set.up in the afternoon
for show, but owing, to failure of an audience,
they postponed the performance until the even
ing. About shutdown, the band paraded the