Yale University Law School - Yale Law Reporter Yearbook (New Haven, CT)

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THE YALE Sl'IlNUl.1'l. SI dog, to say nothing of the necessaries for ourselves, consequently we often pictured ourselves clad in ebb- tidc trousers, a green frock coat cut high in the waist, a battered high hat and, covering all, a perennial Hood's Sarsaparilla expression. Nevertheless we still plodded on, bound to win if we could. Professor Baldwin instructed us in Contracts, and introduced us to the elementaryprinciples of Agency and Partnership, using as a text book Mr. Theophilus Parson's great work, where the author so adroitly tal-:es back what he has just laid down as law. Pro- fessor Baldwin cleared away the mists and steered us forth into clear waters. We also studied Contracts under Professor Beers, and learned the great danger which any young man incurs in calling too often upon any young lady of his acquaintance, and mentally resolved that in the future, we would carefully write out our conversations in advance, commit them to memory, and thereby avoid the possibility of a suit for breach of promise Our class also was the first to receive instruction from Judge Perry, in the elements of Evidence, which course, although it seemed very difhcult to us at the time, was of great value to us. We were also distinguished in being the last class which Judge Loomis taught in the school. We desire to express our deep appreciation of the interest which he showed in us, and will ever remember with pride our course under a man who so distinguished himself on the bench and in public life, by his high qualities of mind and character. We all have the highest respect for Mr. Pepper as a gentleman and a lawyer, but we decided that his

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50 THE VALIC SIIINGLE. course, in that it has formed the ground work upon which we are building our legal education. Professor Watrous commenced his course on Torts, illustrating it with many valuable cases, and instruct- ing us in the practical working of Courts of Justice. We XVCYC warned of the extreme danger of jostling any passer-by on the street and also shown the great benefit to be derived to our pocketbooks by keeping our mouths discreetly closed when we feel inclined to call our friends hard names. Our class was fortunate enough to be the first to recite to the new instructor, Mr. Buckland, and we all feel that we owe very much to him, for his kind interest in our work, and the clear and concise man- ner in which he stated the various points of law to us. We are especially grateful for the excellent review which he gave us before our Hnal examina- tions, sacrihcing much of his valuable time for our good, ingratiating himself thereby in our esteem and respect. Those of our number who were still infants immediately rushed off to their tailors to order new suits of clothes under the fond hope that they might plead infancy as a defense in any action brought by the hard-hearted merchant. Many were the schemes plotted in greatest secrecy whereby the most pressing creditors might be put off or outwitted and loud were the praises of Mr. Buckland for helping the poor hard-working students to thwart the bloated bond holders who were so eagerly striving to pounce upon them. We were told by Professor Robinson that in all probability we would not make enough money out of our profession to provide a bone for our

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52 Tllli YALE SIIINGIJC. book on Pleading was a bit too deep for us at that stage of our studies. We wrestled with those miser- able Hilary Rules until we were black in the face, and twisted our tongues out of shape in trying to pronounce the Norman French names for the intri- cate processes. We were strongly advised to read Blackstone in connection with our Elementary Law, as this worthy gentleman was responsible for much of our trou- ble in wrestling with the intricacies of seizin. We learned also that the jaw bone of every whale and the left hind foot of every pig were perquisites of the Queen, while the King had to satisfy himself with a measure of every gallon of beer brewed in the kingdom to quench his thirst and a certain proportion of all the ham sandwiches to satisfy his hunger. On account .of the illness of Professor Townsend, we were unfortunate in having only a few recitations under that well known Judge, but the little we saw of him in our Junior year, made us look forward to the chance of meeting him again later on in our course. As in previous years, the genial Mr. Mallory, who foolishly furnished a gun to Johnny Riley, impressed us with the responsibility which we would later incur, as fathers of families, in restraining our infant sons from squandering our patrimony on things not neces- saries. Mr. Buckland referred frequently to Mr. Iladley, who made the mistake of furnishing machinery to the unreliable Baxendale, thus bringing on a law suit, which caused us much trouble, in mas- tering the principles of stipulated damages. We