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    difference of opinion subsists respecting the ongin-of our legislative assemblies : the histories of Carte and Brady , with their interpreter and follower

    Hume , are on the regal ; those of Lyttelton , Henry , Millar , and Hallam , on the popular side . Perhaps a young man who would wish to form an impartial opinion should study at least one writer on each side . The time of the Law-Student in the early periods of his course , whether it be spent in a Solicitor ' s , or Conveyancer's , or Special Pleader ' s office , must of necessity be so much engaged in the regular routine-business of the office , and in the perusal of such works on the principles and practice of English law , and of that particular branch of it to which he means to devote

    himself , as the directors of such office may prescribe , ( and concerning which I do not presume to say a word , ) that a considerable portion of the course above recommended can only be pursued during the hours of leisure and recreation . But the study of the French , and , if possible , the German languages should be pursued ; and , as soon as time can be allowed , the ancient dialects of them , the Anglo-Saxon and Norman-French , and the chronicles , &c , written in each , after which will follow the later chronicles , and the memoirs and papers of eminent men ; to the store of which such valuable additions are almost annually given to the public .

    I said I would not venture a word on books of proper English law : but there is one observation or caution respecting such books by the excellent Charles Butler , * which I would strongly recommend to my young friends , that they " never suffer themselves to think or suspect for a moment that

    because they do not themselves at the time see the utility of what they , or the application of the part of it which they , are reading to any practical purpose , it is therefore useless / ' [ May I not be permitted , by the way , to apply the same observation or caution to other branches of knowledgethe Mathematics , for example ? There is no necessity , indeed , for every one to be a thorough-paced mathematician , but every one who would be thought a scholar , in the present advanced state of society , is expected to know something of the science of number and quantity ; and it is impossible for any one to say how soon he may feel the want of it , and feel himself disgraced by his gross ignorance . Is it not , therefore , something like -presumption for any young person to " make up his mind , " and ,

    because he has no particular taste for any study , determine to remain , in total ignorance of it ? But this , as I said , by the way . } If time would have allowed , I should have wished to say something on the advantages and disadvantages of the method of recording the fruit of a student ' s reading by means of commonplace-books . The forms of these

    are various ; the most convenient for the general scholar is probably that of Mr . Locke : others may perhaps be better suited to the student of some particular science . Blackstone , I think , recommends an interleaved copy of some standard work , as Comyns' Digest . But whatever may be the form , something of the kind may be very useful for the entering of the best

    deftnitions of law terms , and the reducing under specihc heads the multitanous dicta of law books ; and if they be had recourse to merely as helps to the memory , their use may be very great ; but if as substitutes for it , they must be very pernicious . The same may be said of short-hand , which I should earnestly recommend to every student as a very useful accomplishment ; by the help of * It is directly applied to Coke upon Littleton : Reminiscences , Vol . I . p . (> 2 .

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    Advice on Entering the Profession of the Law . 593

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Sept. 2, 1828, page 593, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2564/page/9/