The Southern Literary Messenger, Vol. I., No. 2, October, 1834 — John Shaqi
The Southern Literary Messenger, Vol. I., No. 2, October, 1834Various
General
The Southern Literary Messenger, Vol. I., No. 2, October, 1834
Various
American literature -- 19th century -- Periodicals
Much of this advice may well be followed by minds of every description,
but some portion of it seems better fitted for an intellect of the
highest order than for the great mass of those who come to the bar.
Lord _Mansfield_ could be a statesman and a jurist, an orator of
persuasive eloquence and acute reasoning, and a judge "whose opinions
may be studied as models." And Sir _William Jones_ has shown that it
was possible for the same individual to be a most extensive linguist,
an historian of great research, a person of information upon matters
the most varied, an author in poetry as well as prose, and a writer of
equal elegance upon legal and miscellaneous subjects.
But these were men whose extraordinary endowments have caused the world
to admire their strength of understanding and their great attainments.
Mr. Wirt seems to think it best to open a field the whole extent of
which could only be reached by such minds as these, and excite others
to occupy as large a portion of it as practicable, by inculcating the
belief that "to unceasing diligence there is scarcely any thing
impossible."
That much may be effected by labor and perseverance, no one will
controvert. Mr. Butler is an example. He states, in his reminiscences,
that he was enabled to accomplish what he did, by never allowing
himself to be unemployed for a moment; rising early; dividing his time
systematically; and abstaining in a great degree from company and other
amusements. Yet while the student is exhorted thus to persevere, some
caution may be requisite lest his time be lost amid the variety of
subjects that are laid before him in the extensive course which Mr.
Wirt has prescribed.
Generally speaking, the student of law will fail to attain the highest
point in his profession, unless the principal portion of his time be
given to that profession. While travelling the road to professional
distinction, he may, without greatly impeding his course, for the sake
of variety, occasionally wander to the right or to the left, provided
he will speedily return to his proper track. But if he open to himself
a variety of paths, walking alternately in them, and spending in one as
much time as in another, he will find that he can never travel far in
any. In _England_ the lawyer commonly devotes himself with great
constancy to his profession, and suffers his attention to be diverted
from it by nothing else. In our country, and especially in the southern
states, more politicians than lawyers are to be found at the
bar.--Hence the English lawyers are generally, as lawyers, more able
and more learned than those of our country. There, as well as here, the
lawyer who devotes a large portion of his life to politics, will become
less fit for his peculiar vocation.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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