CHAPTER I. ON THE CHOICE OF THE LEGAL PROFESSION. STUDENT, throbbing with the honourable desire of distinction! have you REFLECTED upon the step you are taking, in entering into the brilliant struggles of the Bar? Have you endeavoured to form anything like a distinct idea of the kind of life that awaits you, of the "long, the rough, the weary road" that must be traversed, before you can stand beside yon bright figures that, glittering in the distance, have so dazzled your young eye? Have you consideredhave you heard, of their mighty labours? Bear with him who thus begs of you to pause for a moment, and ponder your prospects: who seeks, in all faithfulness, not to discourage you-not to damp your glowing energies, but to guide them; to sober and strengthen you, while "plodding your way through the heavy road, to the high places of the profession." One of the earliest lessons learnt by the young common lawyer, in chambers, is, the great importance of choosing a proper form of action, as it is called: for if, through ignorance or inadvertence, he pitch upon the wrong one, however impregnable may be the merits of his case, however great the expense incurred, or the interests that are at stake; however late the stage of litigation that has been reached, and perilous the consequences of delay or interruption, the mischief is irreparable. The whole tissue of the proceedings must be unravelled, and the naked shivering suitor flung back, in all the anxiety and agitation of defeat, to the point from which he set out, to risk beggary, perhaps, by a second effort, or abandon for ever the prosecution of his just rights. Surely, now, the choice of a profession is of incomparably more importance and difficulty than the choice of an action; and of all professions, that of the law, especially in its higher departments, demands the gravest deliberation and inquiry before adopting it. Listen to the advice given by a quaint and sagacious old lawyer, so long ago as 1675. Despite its straightlaced pedantic form, it is worth giving at length *. The sight of the Latin quotations with which the following passage is so plentifully seasoned, reminds one of Sir Thomas Browne's remark [almost equally applicable, by the way, to his own writings]," and, indeed, if elegancie still proceedeth, and English pens maintain that stream we have of late observed to flow from many, we shall, within few years [he was writing in 1646] be fain to learn Latin to understand English, and a work will prove of equal facility in either." Pseud. Epidem.-Epist. to the Reader. "Many, applying themselves to the study of the Law, without due and serious consideration of the qualifications such a student ought to be furnished withal, have missed of that content and delight which is treasured therein; and instead thereof, have met with trouble and vexation of spirit, judging it to be studii, non sui morbum, an inseparable incident to this study: thinking it unattainable and full of difficulty, because they are not qualified for the same; according to that of Seneca, Multis rebus in est magnitudo, non ex naturâ sûa, sed ex debilitate nostrâ. And certainly it can be no otherwise, where any undertake a profession invitâ Minervá (as we say), when both their genius and qualifications check them in their choice. For those things delight every man, and those only which are Oikeia Ti pure, as the philosopher speaks, suitably fitted and accommodated to their genius and frame of nature. "That our student therefore may find the pleasure thereof answerable to his expectation, this study must be his choice upon mature deliberation; following Seneca's advice herein, Considerandum est utrum natura tua agendis rebus, an otioso studio contemplationique aptior sit. And this choice is matter of great difficulty, wherein a man carrieth himself diversely, and wherein he shall find himself hindered by several considerations; which draw him into divers parts, and many times hurt and hinder one another. Some herein are happier than others: who, by the goodness and felicity of nature, have known both speedily and easily how to choose; and by a certain good hap (or rather Providence), without any great deliberation, are as it were wholly carried into that course of life which does best befit them. Others not so fortunate, who failing ipso limine, in the very entrance, and wanting the spirit or industry to know themselves, and in a good hour to be re-advised how they might cunningly withdraw their stake in the beginning of the game, are in such sort engaged, that they cannot without shame recal themselves from that which they have as wilfully as inconsiderately undertaken; but endure much trouble in persisting therein, and so are constrained to lead a tedious and wearisome life, full of discontent and repentance; and, which is worst of all, lose both time and labour, and spend their goods and beat their brains, without any either profit or delight; and after a long time spent therein, know not how to give a reason why they are rather for this or any other calling, except because their ancestor professed the same, or that they were unawares carried into it, which made Seneca say, Pauci sunt qui consilio se suaque disponunt, cæteri eorum more qui fluminibus innatant, non eunt, sed feruntur. Whereas every science requires a special and particular wit and habilities, according to which every man ought to steer his course. Hippocrates saith, that man's wit holdeth the like proportion with sciences, as the earth doth with seed; which though of herself she be fruitful and fat, yet it behoves to use advisement to what sort of seed her natural disposition inclineth; for every sort of earth cannot without distinction produce every sort of seed: answerable to that of the poet, Nec tellus eadem parit omnia, vitibus illa This choice being so difficult, that our student may not herein miscarry, nec quicquam sequi quod assequi nequeat, he must make a strict enquiry into these two things-his nature, and the nature of the study. That his nature, (that is, his capacity,) temperature, aud whatsoever he excelleth in, be answerable to the study. Id quemque decet quod est suum maxime sic faciendum est, ut contra naturam universum nil contendamus, eá servatâ, propriam sequamur *.' A mischoice of the legal profession, of which every Term, it is to be feared, affords but too many instances, is attended with peculiarly serious and mortifying circumstances. The keen competition-the too frequently unfriendly rivalry † to be encountered,-the publicity of the struggle,-the obstacles impeding the * Studii Legalis Ratio. By W. P., pp. 1–5, [1675.] † A painful remark, this, to make; but Mr. Raithby expresses himself much more pointedly: "The student," he says, [p. 61, 2], "will have to contend with men, who, so far from having any motive to spare him, will, perhaps, consider it as perfectly justifiable to expose his ignorance, or deride his imbecility." If the present author may venture to express an opinion, he would say, that he thinks this insinuation equally unkind and unjust, at least as far as his own personal observation has gone. |