The Register of Pennsylvania : devoted to the preservation of facts and documents and every other kind of useful information respecting the state of Pennsylvania, Vol. XII, Part 83

Author: Hazard, Samuel, 1784-1870
Publication date: 1828
Publisher: Philadelphia : Printed by W.F. Geddes ;
Number of Pages: 438

USA > Pennsylvania > The Register of Pennsylvania : devoted to the preservation of facts and documents and every other kind of useful information respecting the state of Pennsylvania, Vol. XII > Part 83

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We understand that the inclined plane, No. 2, (being the second inclined plane,) of the Danville and Potts- ville Rail Road, will be put in operation for the purpose of experiment, this afternoon; and we announce the fact that those who would like to witness it mav em- brace the opportunity. We also understand that the Omnibus will leave Mount Carbon at half past 2 o'clock. -1b.

Line of Stages between Pottsville and Harrisburg .- We understand that this line of Stages has been pur- chased by our fellow citizen, N. J. Mills, who intends sparing no pains in rendering travelling on this route equal to any in the state. The stages are entirely new, the horses good, and drivers careful and attentive. As this is the nearest and cheapest route between Pottsville and Harrisburg, the proprietor, no doubt, will receive the support of a liberal public .- Ib.

A Reading paper mentions that a flock of wild geese passed over that place last week. During the present week many flocks have passed over our borough. Pi- geons also made their appearance in the early part of the week. During one or two days there was an in- cessant popping of fire arms in the environs of our borough, since which the pigeons have disappeared .- Ib.

LARGE BEET .- A Red Beet measuring twenty-five inches in circumference, fifteen inches in length, weigh- ing fifteen pounds, has been left at this office by our townsman Jacob Seitzinger, Esquire, in whose garden it grew. We challenge the state to produce one of equal size. - Columbia Spy.

WEST CHESTER, Oct. 29.

EARLY WINTER .- There have been already, consid- erable falls of snow, in th northern part of New York, and the Eastern States. Large flocks of wild geese have passed along the course of the Brandywine in this county, on their way to the Chesapeake .- American Republican.

THE REGISTER.

PHILADELPHIA, NOV. 2, 1833.

The report of the Commissioners appointed by Coun- cils to devise a more efficient system of police will be found in, and occupies a considerable space of our pre- sent number. Few subjects are more interesting and important to our citizens than this. It is an able report. The plan appears to us, as far as we are competent to judge, to be excellent; and if adopted, (as we trust it will be)we have nodoubt will be found an efficient substitute, for the present system, which has long been considered very defective.

The Trustees of Allegheny College, now under the charge of the Methodist Conference, have published a long report on the Manual Labor System, which is also inserted this week. It appears they are in want of funds to carry their plans into effect.

On the morning of the 29th ult. there was visible on the roofs of the houses, a severe white frost, and during the day a spitting of snow, being the first this season. And on the 30th, the houses were whitened by snow- and the flakes, large and abundant, fell for some time, but they ceased by 8 or 9 o'clock, A. M .- and the weather became clear and pleasant. In several papers from the interior, we observe notices of considerable falls of snow, and flights of wild geese towards the south, indicative of the approach of winter.

HAZARD'S REGISTER OF PENNSYLVANIA.

DEVOTED TO THE PRESERVATION OF EVERY KIND OF USEFUL INFORMATION RESPECTING THE STATE.

EDITED BY SAMUEL HAZARD.

VOI .. XII .- NO. 19. PHILADELPHIA, NOVEMBER 9, 1833. NO. 306.

HOPKINSON'S ADDRESS BEFORE THE LAW | which he will limit the extent of his knowledge. It ACADEMY.

An Address delivered before The Law Academy of Philadelphia at the opening of the session of 1826-7, by Joseph Hopkinson, LL. D. Vice Provost of the Academy.

Gentlemen of the Law Academy of Philadelphia,

In addressing you, at this opening of your session, it is not my design to carry you through any learned or difficult disquisition. It will be my more humble un- dertaking to present to your consideration some practi- cal lessons, which may be found useful, not only in your preparation for the bar, but in your subsequent pro- gress in your profession.

When a young man enters upon an occupation which is to be the business of his life, it is all important that he should entertain just notions of the profession he has adopted. A mistake of this point may mis direct him in his whole course. If he elevates his aim too high or too low, he will miss his object, and all his ef- forts will but exhaust his strength and embitter his disappointment. To do his duty, it is necessary to know what is required of him; to attain distinction and excellence, he must learn in what they consist.

The student of law, in this country, who commences his labors with sordid and narrow views; who has no other object than the profits of the profession; and will be satisfied if it procures for himself the means of ex- istence, may be respectable and useful, but he will ne- ver reach the high eminences of his calling, nor add any thing to its dignity and importance.

It is a reproach, often visited on the profession, that all its studies are technical; that it confines and cramps the powers of the mind, and extinguishes the ardour of genius in the dull routine of prescribed opinions and operations; that it is inimical to liberal and extended views, and habituates us to consider and decide every question by some arbitrary precedent or artificial rule, rather than by general principles and great results. From a hasty adoption of such opinions, it is passed almost into a maxim, that a lawyer cannot be a states- man. This sentiment is peculiarly acceptable to those who have endeavoured, in vain, to become lawyers, and find it more easy to impose upon themselves, and some- times upon others, the belief that they are great states- men, with intellects too gigantic for a business which puts some restraint upon the imagination, and assumes some guidance of the judgment. The failure of some dis- tinguished advocates in England, when they have tried their strength on the floor of the House of Commons, and mingled in the war of politics with the mightiest of the land, has afforded some ground for this stigma on the profession. It is obvious that the argument drawn from such instances is very unsatisfactory, and the premises by no means broad enough to sustain the whole conclusion. Without discussing the question or the fact, as it may exist in that country, we are altogeth- er confident in denying it in this. The profession of the lawyer in England is much more technical than with us. Its divisions into various branches and jurisdic- tions may produce a higher degree ot perfection in each, but it certainly diminishes the basis on which the student is to erect the fabric of his reputation, and by | impressive eloquence, triumphed over the utmost efforts Vor. XII.

confines the movements of his mind in narrower chan- nels; engages him in exertions less diversified, and di- rects him to fewer objects of excitement and ambition. Not so in the United States: the lawyer here is one day in a Court of Common Law, and another in Chancery. He examines and discusses, with equal learning and fa- cility, questions in every branch of the science; civil, maritime, ecclesiastical. He sometimes addresses a judge without a jury, and sometimes a jury without a judge. There is no department of human knowledge, even to the most ordinary occupations of men, that may not in turn be useful to him ;- there is no variety of the human character that he may not, on some occasion, use to his advantage. Every thing connected with the nature and business of men, may demand his acquaintance and attention. The study of the constitution and political relations of his country, at home and abroad; of the great principles of international law which govern the intercourse of independent states, is indispensable to every American lawyer who hopes to tread the loftier paths of his profession. The actual state of our coun- try, as well as its experience; the possession and dispo- sal of all political power by the people themselves, and the manner in which they have chosen to entrust it, fully confirm my view of the subject. It is so far from being true, in a land of laws, that no lawyer can be a statesman, that we have scarcely had a statesman who was not a lawyer. Where there is no government but by the law, or rather, where the law is the government, the ministers of the law will have influence and respect, will be called to aid in administering the government, and receive the confidence of their fellow citizens in their most honorable service. Where the will of a despot is the only rule of right, or rather the only rule by which right is decided-where a controversy is set- tled by the caprice or venality of a bashaw, who instant- ly executes his own sentence, and cruelly punishes even a murmur of disobedience, it would be ridiculous to look for a profession whose privilege and duty it is to investigate and expound the law to the understanding of the judge. Who can fathom the depths, or influence the motions of absolute power; who can unfold the prin- ciples of its decrees? What is our experience of the political importance of our profession? Of six Presi- dents, five have been lawyers; and the other a being who stands exalted and alone, "unimitated and inimita- ble," who furnishes no example for other men, because none can hope to follow him. Our secr. taries of state have all been lawyers: and, generally, the heads of the other departments, and foreign ministers. In both houses of Congress, the men who take the lead in di- recting the destinies of the nation, and in managing all its concerns, are distinguished lawyers. Nor can these facts be evaded by the calumnious pretence that an American statesman could claim no such rank in Eu- rope; and is deficient in the talents and knowledge re- quired of those who are so esteemed in foreign states. Without going back to the period of our revolution, in which the capacity and wisdom of our statesmen, united with a full and minute acquaintance with the whole sci- ence of government, and all the abstract questions that arose in the controversy, enforced by close reasoning and

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[ NOVEMBER

of those disciplined politicians: let us look at the histo- ry of our country in her foreign and domestic relations for the last thirty years. Our unexampled increase in wealth, power, and population, bears conclusive testi- mony to the competency and wisdom of our interior government. But we rise still higher in contemplating our foreign connexions and difficulties. The French revolution, with its effects and consequences, threw the civilized world into a state of unprecedented convulsion; the intercourse held between its several parts was in- terrupted and changed; new situations and relations were produced; new assertions of right, and complaints of wrong, were constantly arising; every thing became unsettled and dangerous; the great effort of the con- tending parties was to draw every nation into the con- test, and to trample upon all who resolved to avoid it. This state of the world necessarily produced occurren- ces and collisions, in which a people, determined to be neutral, and also to assert and defend their rights, as established and protected by the laws of nature and nations, had a daily call for a perfect knowledge of those rights, even to the most abstruse learning, as well as for great discretion and firmness in maintaining them. This was done by American statesmen to the eventual safety and honor of their own country, and the acknow- ledged admiration of every other. These statesmen were American lawyers.

The voluminous correspondence between our depart- ment of state and the British and French ministers, through these years of violence and trouble, is sufficient to repel the charge of inferiority in our statesmen. It contains a rich body of learned and lucid argument upon very interesting topics of national law, and is wor- thy of a careful and repeated perusal. At a subsequent period, when our war with Great Britain was terminat- ed by the peace of Ghent, the Marquis of Wellesley, speaking in the House of Lords, of the negotiation, declared that he was at a loss to account for the aston- ishing superiority of the American over the British Commissioners, in their correspondence and discus- sions.

How imposing is the majesty of the law! how calm her dignity; how vast her power; how firm and tranquil her reign! It is not by armies and fleets, by devastation and blood, by oppression and terror, she maintains her sway and executes her decrees ;- sustained by Jus- tice, Reason, and the great interests of man, she but speaks and is obeyed. Even those who may not ap- prove, hesitate not to support her; and the individual on whom her judgment falls, knows that submission is not only a duty he must perform, but that the enjoy- ment and security of all that is dear to him depend up- on it. A mind accustomed to acknowledge no power but physical force, no obedience but personal fear, must view with astonishment a feeble individual, sitting with no parade of strength; surrounded by no visible agents of power; issuing his decrees with oracular authority, while the great and the rich, the first and the meanest, await alike to perform h's will. Still more wonderful it is to behold tlie co-ordinate officers of the same govern- ment, yielding their pretensions to his higher influence. The executive, the usual depositary and instrument of power; the legislature, the very representative of the people, give a respectful acquiescence to the judgments of the tribunals of the law, pronounced by the minister and expounder of the law. It is enough for him to say, " It is the opinion of the Court," and the remotest corner of our republic feels and obeys the mandate. What a sublime spectacle !- this is indeed the empire of the law: and safe and happy are those who dwell within it-may it be perpetual.

I have alluded thus briefly to these matters, only for the purpose of giving a proper elevation to the views of the American student of law. He must not consider himself as the mere drudge of a mercenary occupation ;- he must not believe that he does enough for himself or his profession, if he is qualified to conduct an action of

debt or ejectment, in their usual course, through a court of law; but he must fix his eye on higher desti- nies, and more important services. He must believe that to his integrity and knowledge and talents, the best interests of his country may hereafter be committed; and he must prepare himselfto fulfil these dignified du- ties with honour and success. He must lay his foundation commensurate with the noble superstructure that is to be raised upon it. What a stimulus to rouse every action ! what a rich reward is offered to perseverance and ta- lent ! The prize is not to be gained by indolence or vanity. The student who, feeling the quickness of his intellect in its exercise upon lighter subjects, and trust- ing that he is blest with the gifts of genius, neglects the grave and complicated studies of the law, and hopes to find a substitute for knowledge in the agility or brilliancy of his parts, will end his career in the most mortifying failure and disappointment. While he is figuring and flaming round the bar of a Court of Quarter Sessions, and drawing all his business and im- portance from the crimes and vices of aociety ;- while his legal reading will be confined to a few treatises on criminal law; his eloquence to the trite topics of crimi- nal defence, and his professional intercourse to the te- nants of county jails, he will see some more slow and laborious competitor, who started with him in the race, whose capacity he probably held in contempt, passing regularly and surely on to the high honours and em- ployments, which await the lawyer who has given his days and nights to the acquirement of the deep and va- rious knowledge, which brings strength, and fulness, and ornament, to the character and exercise of his pro- fession; and which can be obtained only by long and careful reading, and profound reflection. It is not enough to read ;- the manner of reading should be at- tended to. It will not do to run over, or even peruse attentively, any given number of pages in a day; it is not to heap upon the memory line upon line, and case after case, that will make a lawyer. In the study of the law, as in every other science, there is danger in read- ing too much and thinking too little. The power of the understanding; the faculty of precise and accurate discrimination, a most essential quality in a lawyer, may be overwhelmed or weakened by referring every thing to the memory, by constantly collecting and using the thoughts and opinions others, and never consulting our own. The student should frequently lay down his book, and, by reviewing what he has read, incorporate the subjects with his own mind, and make it his own; he must examine, analyze, and test, by his own reason and understanding, the opinions and principles of his authors: without this, his memory will become an over- loaded magazine of pages and cases, which he will be unable to apply to any use. The memory, however, is not to be neglected. It is capable of much improve- ment by a proper cultivation and judicious exercise. Some men complain of a want of memory, when the real failing is the want of attention; reading with a wan- dering, unsettled mind, instead of fixing it closely and exclusively on the subject. We seldom entirely forget what has been forcibly impressed; we easily remember what has greatly interested us.

It is not my intention to point out any course of stu- dy; tbis would require much more time than this occa- sion would afford, and is not within the limits of my design. But I cannot forbear to recommend, what, I fear, is not sufficiently estimated as a preparatory study of a lawyer; I mean elegant literature; that which is of the first order, and formed by the soundest principles of taste. Without speaking at present of the ancient mo- dels of History, Poetry, and Eloquence, I would call your attention to the distinguished classics and scholars of our own language. In addition to Shakespeare, Milton, and Dryden, an English library will furnish plentiful, and rich materials to strengthen and adorn the mind. The days of Elizabeth and Anne abound with writers of the first eminence for force and skill of

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argument, for neatness and precision of narrative, and | odium of taking any unjust advantage in a bargain al- for all the refinements of genius and taste. The English most wholly at his discretion; or of doing wrong to a man whose confidence has left him no choice but to sub- mit. forum has its orators as worthy of imitation as the Ro- man. All these belong to the accomplished lawyer. 'The grasp of his profession is universal -- there is noth- It is also the part and duty of professional integrity to give the client not only sound, legal council, but that which is just and judicious in the actual circumstances of his case. Much aspersion has been brought upon our profession by unworthy members, who, for a pal- try, personal gain to themselves, plunge their clients into trifling, ruinous, and, sometimes, hopeless litiga- tion; and then strive to carry them through it by the most unjustifiable means. Let every lawyer consider and treat his client, pro hac vice as a friend throwing himself upon his counsel for safety ; and direct him, not always by his strict rights, but for his permanent, sub- stantial interests; by that which, under all the circum- stances, it is most prudent, and reputable, and benefi- cial for him to do. It is often incumbent upon us to advise and urge a client to give up a right, when the pursuit of it will involve him in the loss of time, money, and perhaps character, more valuable than all lie could gain by. success in the prosecution. ing he may not make tributary to it ;- there is no species of information or improvement, which may not be use- ful to him, as his operations extend over all the con- cerns of man in society. The lawyer must not only know what is right, but he must be able to convince others of it. To do this, he must take man as he is; not always a deliberating, reasoning being, but com- pounded of passions, prejudices, and various interests; and he must know how to approach and command them all. If he would unite the powers of persuasion with a knowledge of the law he must cultivate eloquence; lie must acquire the art of managing and controlling the feelings and passions of men by studying the great mas- ters of the human heart. He must enrich him- self with elegant, appropriate, and illustrative imagery; he must learn to touch the chords of feeling with a skil- ful hand. Let him ponder on the pages of Shakespeare and Milton, not as amusing pastime, but for lessons of instruction and utility .- How much of the reputation of Erskine, Curran, and many others, is due to this study, is apparent from their speeches. Besides their acknow- ledged quotations, which are shining spots on their pages, it would be curious to trace some of their most brilliant and renowned conceptions to the volumes of Shakspeare. The student who would become a suc. cessful advocate should exercise himself not only in reading the most finished compositions, but in writing himself. He will thus acquire a wide range and selec- tion of language, with the command of a correct, easy and elegant style. He will be able to regulate the choice of his expressions, the construction and arrange- ment of his sentences, and to make the best disposition of his subject, arguments and illustrations. Extempore speaking is rapid composition; and to compose rapidly, with ease and propriety, will become habitual only by frequent use.

Presuming that the student has qualified himself for the practice of his profession, and has been duly admit- ted to the bar, it is my intention to offer some sugges- tions on the course of conduct he should afterwards pursue. I need scarcely say that the basis of all our dealings with our adversaries as well as our clients, should be a strict and pure integrity; a perfect fidelity in the performance of every act and duty required of us, and a liberal justice in all we ask of others. I speak not of that politic, indispensable honesty, which the penal code exacts; nor of that doubtful balancing integ- rity, which nicely weighs the question of right and wrong and decides in its own favor by the turn of an equivocal argument. I require of the lawyer, most es- pecially in his dealings with his client, a high, delicate, and sensitive principle, which shrinks from the suspi- cion of wrong; which will take nothing by a questiona- ble title; which decides every doubtful case against himself, and will be clearly and indisputably right when he assumes to be so, in a matter in which his interest is concerned. He will carry this principle of integrity even to the point of disinterestedness; and scorn to use to his own advantage, the means which the confidence of his client, and the necessity of the trust reposed in him, may have placed in bis power. He must not im- pose upon ignorance or thoughtless liberality, or treat his profession as a mere mercenary agency, from which he may take as much money as he can extort; but while he may and ought to receive a fair and honorable re- muneration for his services, he should take care to re- gulate his demand by justice and even with generosity; preferring to satisfy, in this respect, the client rather than himself. This is due not only to the dignity of his profession, which overlooks and despises the contrivan- ces and exactions of petty trafficking, but to his own personal character, which must not be polluted by the

It may not be aniss to notice a reproach frequently cast upon the profession of the law, in high favour and currency with the vulgar and ignorant, but which al- though supported by a specious attempt at a syllogism, is without any solid foundation. It is said there is but a right and a wrong in every disputed case, and therefore one lawyer or the other defends what is wrong; and, it is added, what he does or should know to be so. This charge against us is more generally applied to the de- fence of persons accused of atrocious crimes, which have excited the public indignation, not only against the pre-judged offender but against those who are sup- posed to endeavour to screen him from justice. A mo- ment of candid reflection would satisfy the most zeal- ous of these lovers of justice, that the object and effort of the advocate is not to stop the course of justice, but to see that it flows in its proper and prescribed chan- nels; that it is administered according to law, which alone is justice under a government of laws. The vilest and most assured criminal has a right to this protection, even if it should shield him from merited punishment; and if it be denied to him, the innocent cannot depend upon it. The administration of justice, civil and crimi- nal, by courts of law, is a vast and complicated system, spreading over all the concerns of men, and governed by principles of infinite importance to those concerns. The constitution of civil society is, in a great degree, artificial, and so must necessarily be the means by which it is regulated and supported. A long experience, noted and improved by the learning and wisdom of in- dividuals appointed to the duty, has gradually ascertain- ed and established the rules most safe and salutary for the government of the judicial tribunals; and the issue of any particular case is insignificant in comparison with a firm, consistent and uniform maintenance of these rules. Hence a claim prosecuted in a court of law, must be sustained and proved by the sort of evidence pre- scribed for such a case; and no conviction of the judge or of counsel, as to the justice of the claim, can warrant either of them in giving it a legal validity in the absence of such evidence. The first duty of the ministers of the law is to maintain the law, in which not only the individual suiter, but every citizen of the commonwealth has a paramount interest. Such is the duty of the law- yer, who is not called upon to become the judge of his client's case, but to see that that of his adversary is made out according to the law of the land. I would not be understood to mean that a lawyer is bound to lend himself to the bad passions, much less to the dishonest purposes of any man. I speak of the ordinary cases of litigation, in which each party, according to his view, may believe himself right, and both are entitled to a legal examination and determination of their respective pretensions. It is upon the information of the client

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The Register of Pennsylvania : devoted to the preservation of facts and documents and every other kind of useful information respecting the state of Pennsylvania, Vol. XII, Part 83

Author: Hazard, Samuel, 1784-1870 Publication date: 1828 Publisher: Philadelphia : Printed by W.F. Geddes ; Number of Pages: 438

Author: Hazard, Samuel, 1784-1870
Publication date: 1828
Publisher: Philadelphia : Printed by W.F. Geddes ;
Number of Pages: 438