The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1910-09-19
when Lincoln Was Admitted to the
liar.

!
Professor WILLIAM PArTEF. dean 81
/ the Law school Of the University 81 Min
neSota, doubts If ABRAHAM LINCOLN
could be admittcl to any bar in the
country to-day with only tho knowleige
he had az the time 81 his admit,ancr
We don't know what the requirements
are for admission 20 the bar IN Nevada
and Arkansas, whether the cNamina-
ton papers II any, are hard. and wh"'her
qualifying does not 60 by favor but
Mr. LINCOLN when permitt"l Ia practlsr'
IN Sangamon county. Illinois. was not
deeply read in the law and there il no
doubt that he would have funniest m
such an examination a. a CandIdat" for
admission must pass in New York.
Boston or in any II the great cities of
the country TODAY. How strict or how
kind the arbiters Of the novice's fate in
country districts are We have no means
Of knowing.
LINCOLN was some fine preparing
himself 60 practise law He borrowed
elementary books from his friend and
patron Major STUART, and read Black
stone and Chitty in the shade OF an oak
outside tho store in New Salem. and
prolonged his studies into tho night
porting over the page by a tallow dip
He read law by fits and starts while
acting as postmaster at New Salem for
three years. He was still at il when
elected 10 the Legislature in 1884 and
oh he IL 10 ct
jeans Az the time he was supporting
himself chiefly by surveying I, was
during his second term in tho TagiSla-
ture that he began TO think seriously Of
the law as profession. Major STUART.
comrade In the Black Hawk war.
offered him partnership. In that
voluminous work Abraham Lincoln.
History by John q NICoIAY and
joins HAY, II is said:
i.TNcorS tii not gain any immediate erninerce
81 the bar His preliminary studies hai been
cursory and slEhL and STUAEr was then t"o
much engrrssef IN politics 90 ray 'h- unrerl't'ng
A',en tim 90 the law which that Jealous mistress
requires ~ Was .cvrra years later that
irNcoIS found with Judge Loo'S The comran-
ionshi2 which ne rrluiTed ans Begsn - Be a real
lawyer
In his early wears at Springfield LIN
COILS was a popular talker and story
teller. and he had no standing rs a
lawyer Hs hogrsphers say ~ him
that he relied more upon his influence
with a jury than upon his knowledge
~ law in the few cases he Conductcd
in court. hS acquaintance with human
nature being far more extensive than
his legal lore
Since LINCOLN rractised law in HE
prime a vast number ~ text books and
literally thousands of volumes II re-
ported casss have been published, while
tho statute law 81 the Stur-- 81 the
Union has grown formidaby IA bulk. .
Tho countryis crowded with law schools .
and tho majority ~ thor students are
graduates % universities and colleges
and Chtty. which formed .
: he basis ~ LINcoLN's legal education /
are still read and thumbed. but the .
young lawyer could not 60 very far with
them to-day. His studies are organ
lied on a liberal and comprehensive
scale, ana " VnhllN nUlA"lI lor MINUS
sion 20 the bar in most ~ the States hc
must he prepared IN answer dlTCult
questions in cverv branch Of the law.
The standard ~ proficiency Is neceSsar-
liz high. Professor PATrFF was speaking
With great moderation when be- doubted
ARRAH'M LINCOLN could be-
admitted % any bar in tho country to-
day with only the knowledge he Ind NJ
The time Of his rdmittanCe