the management of the school. These gentlemen, together with Jabez W. Huntington, who became an assistant upon Judge Reeve's retirement, were the only instructors whom the school ever had : and in 1833 it was discontinued, after a life of fifty years. During most of that time the reputation of the school was high. In 1813 it was attended by more than fifty students, and the aggregate membership during its whole existence exceeded
one thousand. It was what might be called a private school; for it was unincorporated, had no power to confer degrees, and was managed by the in structors. The method of instruction at Litchfield in 1831 is thus described in an official publication: "According to the plan pursued by Judge Gould, the law is divided into forty-eight Titles, which embrace all its important branches, of which he treats in systematic detail. These Titles are the result of Thirty years' severe and close application. . . . The lectures, which are delivered every day, and which usually occupy an hour and a half, embrace every principle and rule falling under the several divisions of the different Titles. These principles and rules are supported by numerous authorities, and generally accompanied by familiar illustrations. Whenever the opinions upon any point are contradictory, the authorities in support of either doctrine are cited, and the arguments advanced by either side are presented in a clear and concise manner, together with the Lecturer's own views upon the question. In fact, every ancient and modern opinion, whether overruled, doubted, or in any way qualified, is here systematically digested. These lectures, thus classified, are taken down in full by the students, and after being compared with each other, are generally transcribed in a more neat and legible hand. . . . These notes thus written out, when complete, are comprised in five large volumes," etc. Mr. Huntington held examinations, every Saturday, upon the lectures of the preceding week, consisting " of a thorough investigation of the principles of each rule," with " frequent and familiar illustrations, and not merely of such questions as can be answered from memory without any exercise of the judgment." Mr. Reeve's lectures were accompanied by more of colloquial explanation. A Moot Court was held at least once in each week.
The school at Northampton was founded in 1823 by Judge Samuel Howe, who had once been a pupil at the Litchfield School, and his former law-partner, Elijah H. Mills, a lawyer of extensive practice, and a United States Senator from Massachusetts.
In 1827 Mr. Mills's law-partner, John Hooker Ashmun, was added to the list of instructors The prominence of Judge Howe and of Senator Mills, and the great legal ability of Mr. Ashmun gave the school a high reputation, but this, too, appears to have been in the strictest sense a private school. Its average attendance numbered hardly more than ten; and in 1829, when Mr. Ashmun accepted a professorship at Cambridge, the school was
