The Practice of Law

AuthorArthur Rizer
ProfessionDirector of Justice Policy and a senior fellow at the R Street Institute
Pages12-27
12 JEFFER SON’S PEN: THE ART OF PE RSUASION
EDUCATING A BRILLIANT MIND
Because of the Jeerson family’s status as part of the gentry, omas Jeerson
received a quality education. Jeerson summarized his early education in his
autobiography, published in 1821. His father, he wrote, “placed me at the
English school at 5 years of age and at the Latin at 9 where I continued until
his death.”8 Jeerson studied Latin, Greek, and French with the Reverend
William Douglas, and the classics under the Reverend James Maury, whom
Jeerson credited as a “correct classical scholar.”9 Jeerson contrasted his own
formal education with that of his father, saying that, though his father’s
formal education “had been quite neglected,” Peter Jeerson was of strong
mind, sound judgment, and was “eager after information,” reading much to
better himself.10 omas Jeerson acquired this characteristic from his father,
reading and collecting books over the course of his life such that he is known
as one of the great bibliophiles of his time—his personal library was, in fact,
the foundation for the Library of Congress.
In the spring of 1760, at 17, Jeerson entered the College of William and
Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. At William and Mary, Jeerson studied
under a Scotsman named Dr. William Small. Of that experience, Jeerson
wrote,
“It was my great good fortune, and what probably xed the destinies of
my life that Dr. Wm. Small of Scotland was then professor of Mathe-
matics, a man profound in most useful branches of science, with a
happy talent of communication correct and gentlemanly manners, & an
enlarged & liberal mind. He, most happily for me, became soon at-
tached to me & made me his daily companion when not engaged in
school, and from his conversation I got my rst views of the expansion
of science & of the system in which we are placed.”11
Jeerson obviously appreciated the value of his own education, and especially
of his relationship with a mentor he respected so well. It is also interesting to
note Jeerson’s acknowledgment of Dr. Small’s abilities across the branches of
science and his liberal mind. omas Jeerson is often acknowledged as a
polymath or Renaissance man, well versed across disciplines as varied as phi-
losophy and diplomacy to architecture and horticulture.
THE PRAC TICE OFLAW 13
It is important to note how one went about “going to college” in Jeerson’s
day. Jeerson never earned a degree at William and Mary as might be granted
today. e gentry class of Virginia observed the English tradition of seeking
a “gentleman’s education,” where the emphasis was on a well-rounded educa-
tion in art and science, rather than in pursuit of a degree.12 “Law school” was
even less formalized. In colonial America, there were no established formal
law schools, but some wealthy colonists would go to London to study at the
Inns of Court. Most aspiring attorneys in colonial America, however, simply
spent time serving as quasi-apprentices or clerks to reputable attorneys.
Before Dr. Small returned to Europe in 1762, he arranged for Jeerson to
“read law” under the direction of George Wythe.13 Wythe was a distinguished
lawyer in Virginia, who was known to have liberal views on religion, slavery,
and republican forms of government.14
In looking at history’s greatest individuals, a commonality appears. Most
of these greats had someone in their life who acted as a mentor, teaching
them the ner points of a given eld, inuencing their perspectives, often
changing the very trajectory of their lives. Alexander the Great had Aristotle;
David oreau had Ralph Waldo Emerson; Jeerson had Wythe. Wythe was
not the only mentor in Jeerson’s life, but he was an individual who had pro-
found inuence on the then 19-year-old Jeerson.
e point is that most great persuaders have a mentor or carefully observe a
master persuader. Generally, the most eective way to get better in any disci-
pline is to learn from someone you respect and trust, this can be a formal mentor
or just someone who has a skill you admire—for Jeerson it started with Wythe.
Wythe’s pedagogical approach was to let his students read the law on their
own.15 He saw little reward in the drudgery of formalized legal training and
preferred to have his students read law reports and foundational English legal
writings.16 Jeerson was expected to soak in the “black-letter” law from books
borrowed from Wythe or purchased for his ever-growing library. After Wythe’s

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