An Address Delivered at the Dedication of Dane Law College in Harvard University

Front Cover
E. W. Metcalf, printers to the University, 1832 - Jurisprudence - 27 pages
 

Selected pages

Other editions - View all

Common terms and phrases

Popular passages

Page 13 - And therefore that example of oculists and title lawyers doth come nearer my conceit than the other two; for sciences distinguished have a dependence upon universal knowledge to be augmented and rectified by the superior light thereof; as well as the parts and members of a science have upon the maxims of the same science, and the mutual light and consent which one part receiveth of another.
Page 24 - Republic, namely, the Law of Nature, the Law of Nations, Commercial and Maritime Law, Federal Law, and Federal Equity, in such wide extent as the same branches now are, and from time to time shall be, administered in the Courts of the United States, but in such compressed form as the professor shall deem proper, and so to prepare, deliver, and revise lectures thereon as often as the said Corporation shall think proper.
Page 13 - ... but I mean it directly of that use by way of supply of light and information which the particulars and instances of one science do yield and present for the framing or correcting of the axioms of another science in their very truth and notion.
Page 16 - Upon the present system,' he adds, ' scarcely one in every five has a single chance of attaining that proficiency, which would enable him to keep practice, even should he be so fortunate as to obtain it." What resemblance this state of legal education in Great Britain, bears to that in the offices of practitioners of the law in this country, at the present day, it is not for me to assert. Of the state of things, in this respect nearly half a century ago, some experience and observation enable me...
Page 11 - It will not be necessary to adduce farther evidence upon this point. Enough has been said to place in a strong light the advantages derived by the student of law from the great work of Sir William Blackstone. For the purpose of the present argument, let it be borne in mind, that this work was the first fruits of the connexion between the English law and the English Universities. Now when we recollect that it is an admitted fact, that a great proportion of the boasted wisdom of the English common...
Page 26 - Above all, the opportunity of being examined upon his studies proffers to the faithful and ingenuous student the most precious of all information, — a knowledge of his own intellectual powers and defects ; teaching him what to correct and how to improve ; and thus leading him into the path of true glory, which is ever coincident with the paths of self-knowledge and truth. Thus, under the joint influences of a thorough legal education and of general science, it may confidently be anticipated, that...
Page 9 - Wood, who, in 1722, engaged in the same design, represents it as thought to be wholly ' impracticable,' and states that the prejudice, even among men of parts and learning prevailed, that a knowledge of the English laws was only to be obtained by 'the greatest application and a long attendance on the highest courts of justice, and by a tedious wandering about.' He refers to the law, as ' an art which one is to teach,' and so far from speaking of it as a science, to be sought in its great and general...
Page 15 - ... confusion disappeared. In its stead was seen a well-proportioned, well-cemented fabric, pleasing to the sight, satisfactory to the taste, approved by the judgment, its architectural principles just, its parts orderly and harmonious, in which justice was found consorting with reason, and controversy guided by the spirit of truth and not by the spirit of victory.
Page 11 - Dictionary. Next strike out what lights you can from Bohun's Institutio Legalis, and Jacob's Practising Attorney's Companion, and the like ; helping yourself by indexes. Then read and consider Littleton's Tenures without notes, and abridge it. Then venture upon Coke's Commentaries.
Page 11 - Then read and consider Littleton's Tenures, without notes, and abridge it. Then venture on Coke's Commentaries. After reading it once, read it again; for it will require many readings. Abridge it. Common-place it. Make it your own; applying to it all the faculties of your mind. Then read Serjeant Hawkins to throw light on Lord Coke. Then read Wood again to throw light on Serjeant Hawkins. And then read the statutes at large to throw light on Mr. Wood.

Bibliographic information