On this page
-
Text (1)
-
Untitled Article
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
-
-
Transcript
-
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
Untitled Article
the ground of the connexion which he is about to form , as colleague , and also as minister , with some of my nearest and dearest relatives . But as I understand that several of our young lay friends who are leaving us , have for their further object the study of the law , I propose to depart from my usual practice , and ( referring those who are about to engage in the ministry
to what I have formerly addressed to their predecessors on so many former occasions , * and particularly in my Letter to a Young Dissenting Minister , f with the books there recommended ) I shall proceed to make the future profession of our other young friends , the qualifications requisite for it , the studies preparatory to it , and its honourable and useful exercise , the subject of a few remarks .
I am aware that , in venturing upon such a subject , I may incur a censure somewhat similar to that which was thrown upon the man who addressed to Hannibal a Treatise on War . But though the rules of an art may be recited by one who is himself no practical proficient in it , it is not my purpose to intrude beyond the threshold , or to presume to give directions as to a course of proper law-reading . This has already been done by Blackstone , in his Introductory Lectures ; or perhaps more fully in "
Simpson's Reflections on the natural and acquired Endowments requisite for the Study of the Law , and in a Treatise on the Study of the Law , including Letters of the Lords Mansfield , Ashburton , and Thurlow , both of which it may be worth your while to procure . J It is rather my object to point out the qualifications which should be possessed by the student of the law , the course he should pursue preparatory to its direct study , and the principles on which both the study and the practice of the law should be conducted .
The profession of the law , in all its branches , is of very great importance in the present complicated state of society ; but it much depends on the character of the person himself who exercises it in any of them , whether it shall be a blessing or a curse . An unprincipled lawyer , from the highest office which he can hold in the state down to the lowest pettifogger , becomes , in proportion to the extent of his influence , one of the most
mischievous pests of society : but an honourable man , who engages in any of its departments under a governing regard to justice , a sincere desire to promote the peace and happiness of his fellows , and a prevailing influential sense of the constant presence and inspection of God the Supreme Judge , is one of its greatest blessings . It is therefore of great importance that the student be well prepared to discharge its offices at once with ability and integrity .
With regard to the necessary intellectual pre-requisites to the successful study of the law , it is evident that a considerable degree of quickness of apprehension roust he of great importance , without which , to a certain extent , memory and judgment can do but little , though they also are of equal necessity ; but all the three must be under the direction , in ordei to any tolerable success , of severe and constant application . It is a frequent but foolish notion of the young and inexperienced , that brilliancy of imagination and depth of judgment are incompatible , and that the former may also dispense with diligence : but not one of the four can be dispensed with :
• As reported in the July numbers of the Repository in each year , t Repository for 1811 , Vol . VL pp . 471- ^ 479 . X There ia also a very useful book , entitled ** Advice on the Study of the Law , addressed to Attornies' Clerks , " printed far Taylor and Hesaey , lblt > .
Untitled Article
Advice on Entering- the Profession of the Law . 6 Di
-
-
Citation
-
Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Sept. 2, 1828, page 591, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2564/page/7/
-