Litchfield enquirer., 1876-01-06
.sEa @@osez. oa CT
WHOLE NO. 25S7.
THE HIGHER LEGAL EDucArloM.


 ming to feallze that government, to be sue icessful must be carried on not only hon. estly, but intelligently and in accordance with scientific principles. The feeling that ignorance and lncompetency are as much out of place in public service as in the conduct of private enterprises is gain ing ground every day, and the people, dis satisfied with the existing state of things, are reaching out for something better. They are looking about them for leaders, and 1t becomes an important question where these are to be found.
 In England the majority acqulesce read fly in the leadership of men taken from certain classes of society; yet even there these do not acquire real power without going through the preparatory career pre- scribed by custom. In Germany there is a special course of study for persons in- tended for public life, and thorough train ing is the rule in all departments of the state. But with us there arc no heredita- " rulers or legislators, nor as yet any class of persons thus fitted by special education for political life. This is in some respects disadvantage.
 There are. however, two professional classes which have heretofore furnished leaders. and will doubtless continue to do so, in every work of political and social reform. From the birth of the republic through thewhole course of our national history the legal profession, has taken a most prominent part in public affairs, and from tune to time there have appeared in it's ranks statesmen of high order; while of late years the power of the press has, in it's, own sphere of action, made itself equally felt, and journalists have held po- sitlons second to none in infuence. FG find out and give expression to the wants of the commnnity:atO mould and fornlu- late public opinion; to point out needed reforms and to rouse men to action, are more especially the work of the press, and no work is more important. We have 'fe- peatedly urged the heed oflsthe: most thorough training for the higher walks of journalism. But the personal leadership of the masses, the practical accomplish ment of reforms in the permanent i'm. provement of political systems, belong 2 class of men trained in political and le- gal science and experienced in affairs, and for some time to come that class will still consist almost entirely of professional lawyers. a tr.ltat.rtr( f.,.. Ca.
 The education of persons who are in- tended for the bar thus becomes matter of great political importance, to say noth- ing of it's vital relation to the proper ad- ministration of justice. The relation of lawyers to society is now and then recog- nized in the addresses made at law,school commencements and on similar occasions, but usually in a way that amounts to little more than the profound advice, "Be vir- tuous and you will be happy" Platitudes one hears in abundance, bnt of what the lawyer should be ln order that he may fit- ly assume political trusts we hear nothing. It is to just this that it is necessary to di- rect attention. For the greater number of persons who devote themselves to the study of the law a course of study such as that for which facilities are now offered by the best of our law schools may prove, with some notifications suggested by ex- perience, as good as can readily be devis- ed. But for the more able, the honorably ambitions, for young men who study law that they may the better serve the state in political career, ampler facilities should be afforded than are now found anywhere in our country. Even in the best of our existing schools there is scarcely any op- portunite for the study of the Roman law, and its offspring. the law of Continental Europe International law is barely touched upon, and we know how innocent our law-school graduates are of any proper knowledge of legal history or the noble science of jurisprudence. We might name other important topics for the study of which our existing schools of law offer no facilities and hold out no inducements whatever.
 We do not attach blame to the self. sac- rifcing men who have the management of of the schools for this state of things. lMl l. I A pose of furnishing young men with the smallest amount of knowledge of certain subjects which would enable them to practice law" as 1t is called, and in so doing to earn their bread and butter. The courses of study are purely elementary and not intended to be anything else. Then, too, very few of the schools have any resources independent of the tuition fees paid by the students, and the students will pay only for what is of immediate practical use; for what they think they can at once turn into dollars and cents. But it is very evident that such schools will not answer all the demands of tho present day, and to show that our young men themselves are aware of this one has only to look at the increasing number of Americans pursuing the study of idrispru- dence at foreign universities.
 There is one great advantage Tn the Continental plan of legal education. In Germany the student is not consigned. to an isolated professional school where nothing Is taught beyond the immediate subjects of his own study. He becomes Q member of the university, to which he comes with the thorough precipitation given by the gymnasium, and then carries on his work side by side with the students of every other branch of learning. He sees what others are doing, and learns the meaning of thorough work and mastery of a subject, whatever that subject may be. He strives to become iurist, not merely an attorney, and if his tastes lead him to choose an academic career or the service of the state he finds every needed facility for preparation. There, too, he may, and commonly does, study cognate subjects, the moral and political sciences, and any others that may be helpful to him. Of the advantage to the professor from his independent position and his connection and association with other men of the first rank in their respective departments of learning it is unnecessary to speak at length. But if we consider the effect of all these things we shall be prepared to find. what is. indeed, the case, that what GVOG AS uOuSf HI OuE OWn COuubEy bO LDhke the study of the law more, truly liberal and liberalizlng study is done at the schools connected with institutions of of learning most nearly approaching the European model. 15e1 Tn sa7Il ,Lf
 It is at such important institutions. as Yale and Harvard Colleges that the effort is made to obtain Q class of students fitted for their special studies by their previous eduCAtiOn It ig in sIclf schools that lectures are now announced upon Roman law and other important topics outside of the usual course Of-study. We rejoice in what has been already done, and hope to see steady advance in the same direc tion. The important point is that all who see how desirable it is to elevate the study of the law, and to provide class of men fitted for the work.of improving and de- veloping our political institutions, should that they can do most to bring it about by giving a cordial support to those educational institutions which are already striving to the same end. Let