Law School as described in an 1826 guidebook to Washington

From GWUEncyc

Article

THE LAW DEPARTMENT of the Columbian College – William Cranch and William Thomas Carroll, professors of law, have issued a prospectus, for giving a course of LAW LECTURES, in this city, of which the following extract, will give an idea of the plan:

The lectures are intended to be continued daily, until the course (which will consist of nearly 400 lectures), shall be finished; with the exception, however, of one day, perhaps, in each week, and of the Terms of the Circuit Court of the United States, for the county of Washington, D. C. Each lecture will occupy from one to two hours; and the whole course will probably require eighteen months or two years.

In addition to the course upon the usual heads of municipal law, strictly so called (which will be treated as fully and minutely as may be necessary to qualify the student for actual practice, and thereby remove the many obstacles he has to encounter in his private researches), it is intended to lecture upon the Constitution and Laws of the United States, the Admiralty Jurisdiction and practice of the courts of the United States, and upon the Law of Nations.

An examination of the students will take place on every Saturday, upon the subjects which shall have been lectured upon during the preceding week.

A Moot-Court will be holden once a week, for arguing a question of law previously propounded for discussion, and for trying fictitious causes. In these courts it is intended that the proceedings shall be regular and formal, as well in making up the record, as in the process and pleadings – so that the student will, at the same time, acquire a knowledge of the practice, as well of the theory, of the law.

The students, until a law library for the school shall be otherwise provided, will have the use of the libraries of the professors.

The following presents an extract from the laws adopted by the Board of Trustees, for the regulation of the Law Department: -

Be it ordained, by the Columbian College, in the District of Columbia:

1st. That there shall be a full course of law lectured delivered in the City of Washington, by the professors of law, once in every period of twelve months, or such other period as the professors shall determine upon, not exceeding two years. Which course shall embrace so much of the Common and Statute Law of England, as may be considered applicable to this country, the Constitution and laws of the United States, the laws in force in the District of Columbia, and the constitutions and laws of such of the several States, as the professors may find it convenient to lecture upon. The first course to commence at such time as the professors shall appoint, and of which they shall give thirty days’ public notice.

2d. Each student, before he can receive a ticket of the professors, for admission to the law lectures, shall pay ten dollars to the treasurer of the College, for the purpose of defraying the expenses of, and increasing, the law library, to be expended under the direction of the professors of law, for the sole use of the school; shall have his name entered on the College books, and receive a ticket of matriculation, as evidence that he has placed himself under the government of the Trustees of the College and the law professors. He shall also pay to the said professors of law, or secure to their satisfaction, the sum of one hundred dollars, for each course of lectures he shall attend. But all who shall have attended two full courses of lectures in this school, may attend any future course, gratis.

3d. The students may be admitted at any time; and if any one enter during the progress of a course of lectures he shall pay only in proportion to the lectures of that course, then remaining to be delivered.

4th. Each student shall be subject to the rules of discipline which may, from time to time, be ordained by the Trustees, and administered by the professors of law.

5th. All the students of law shall have the privilege of attending, gratuitously, the lectures in the classical department of the College, on Natural Philosophy, Astronomy, Botany, Natural History, &c. by presenting a recommendation from the professors of law, to the President of the College.

7th. No student shall be admitted to examination as a candidate for the degree of Bachelor or Doctor of Laws, until –

1. He shall have attended two full courses of Lectures.

2. He shall have read law three years at least, under the direction of a respectable counsellor of law, or judge.

3. He shall have attained the age of twenty-one years.

4. He shall have satisfied the professors of law of his classical attainments, if he be not a graduate in the arts; and, also, of his moral character.

5. He shall have entered his name with the professors of law, as a candidate for graduation, and delivered to them an inaugural dissertation on some head or question of law, thirty days at least before his final examination. Candidates for graduation may be examined by professors of law, at any time they may appoint. If they shall be satisfied, upon such examination, that the candidate has obtained a sufficient knowledge of the law to entitle him to the degree which he solicits, they shall so certify to the President of the College, and recommend him as a candidate for the public examination; which examination, for the reading and defence of his dissertation, shall be holden at the College (on a day to be appointed by the President), in the presence of the Board of Trustees, the Faculty of the College, and such others as may be invited to attend. When the candidate shall have passed the public examination, the President and professors of law, shall certify the same, and recommend him to the Board of Trustees, as an approved candidate for the degree. If the Board of Trustees shall approve of the same, they shall signify their approbation and consent, by mandamus to the Faculty of the College, who shall proceed to grant said degree, accordingly, at such time and place as shall be signified in such mandamus.”

Document Information

Images: 0
Photographic Credit: n/a
Author or Source: The Washington Guide, 1826
Document Location: University Archives
Date Added to Encyclopedia: December 21, 2006
Prepared by: Lyle Slovick, Assistant University Archivist

For more information about GW history

Contact:

Special Collections Research Center [1]
The Melvin Gelman Library [2]
The George Washington University [3]
2130 H Street, NW Suite 704
Washington, DC 20052
202-994-7549
mailto:archives@gwu.edu
Please send us your questions and comments about the encyclopedia.
This site is maintained by the Special Collections Research Center and the Web Development Group.