JOHN BOTCHERBY, Darlington, Durham, coal owner, THOMAS DIX, Liverpool, shoe dealer, March 27 at 12, and MEETINGS. CERTIFICATES. To be allowed, unless Cause be shewn to the contrary on the Thomas Rose, Nursling, Southampton, brick burner, April FIAT ANNUlled. Sam. Makepeace, Mitcham, Surrey, silk printer. SCOTCH SEQUESTRATIONS. Wm. Macdonald, Glasgow, chemist.-James Rankin, Dickson's-park, Jock's-lodge, near Edinburgh, spirit dealer.Wm. Allan, Rutherglen, victualler.-James Graham and Palti Wood, Galashiels, woollen manufacturers.-Andrew Richard, Muirkirk, Ayrshire, merchant.—Jas. Skea, Lochee, near Dundee, merchant. INSOLVENT DEBTORS. The following Prisoners are ordered to be brought up before the Court, in Portugal-st., on Friday, March 28, at 9. Joseph Seager, Marshall-street, London-road, Surrey, general commission-agent.-H. Thompson, Queen's-road, Royalcrescent, Notting-hill, Middlesex, carpenter.-William Hall, house keeper.-Wm. Robert Hodson, Maida-hill West, and Ratcliffe-terrace, Goswell-road, St. Luke's, Middlesex, coffeeOxford-street, Middlesex, eating-house keeper.-John Wm. Bell, Clifford's Inn, London, gentleman.-Peter Richard Paice, Brand-street, Greenwich, out of business. March 29, at the same hour and place. John North, Maps-row, Stepney-green, Middlesex, licensed victualler, March 26 at 11, Court of Bankruptcy, London, ch. ass.-Geo. Haywood, Luton, Bedfordshire, bricklayer, March 28 at half-past 11, Court of Bankruptcy, London, last ex.— Wm. Ebrey, Aldermanbury, London, silk dresser, April 15 at half-past 12, Court of Bankruptcy, London, last ex.James Gibbs, Jermyn-st., Westminster, Middlesex, scrivener, April 9 at half-past 11, Court of Bankruptcy, London, last ex.Wm. Broadbent, Denton, Lancashire, flour dealer, March 27 at 12, District Court of Bankruptcy, Manchester, last ex.John Weightman, Northampton, wharfinger, April 3 at 2, Court of Bankruptcy, London, aud. ac.-Geo. Edw. White, Reading, Berkshire, tailor, April 4 at 1, Court of Bank- Sam. Hodgkinson, jun., Wellington-square, Gray's Innruptcy, London, aud. ac.—Sam. King, Newgate-street, Lon-road, Middlesex, slater.—Sam. Brown, Princes-st., St. Anne, don, warehouseman, April 15 at 11, Court of Bankruptcy, Soho, Westminster, print seller.-Eliz. Evans, Little WindLondon, aud. ac.-Fred. Dudley, Rochford, Essex, builder, mill-street, Haymarket, Middlesex, widow, and lodging-house April 5 at 11, Court of Bankruptcy, London, aud. ac.-Hen. keeper.-Chas. Reed, White Horse-lane, Stepney, Middlesex, M. Waller, Foulsham, Norfolk, merchant, April 11 at half- pig jobber.-Wm. Bernard, Upper North-place, Gray's Innpast 11, Court of Bankruptcy, London, aud. ac.-William road, St. Pancras, Middlesex, assistant to a bread and biscuit Preston, Monmouth-road, Westbourne-grove, Bayswater, baker. - Michael Gandy, Arlington-street, Camden-town, Middlesex, builder, April 11 at 11, Court of Bankruptcy, architect. London, aud. ac.-Thos. Rich. Withers, Rumbridge, Ealing, Southampton, merchant, April 15 at 11, Court of Bankruptcy, London, aud. ac.-Thos. Kearsley and Thos. Watt, Runcorn, Cheshire, bone merchants, April 7 at 12, District Court of Bankruptcy, Manchester, aud. ac. joint and sep. est.-Ann Seed, Liverpool, licensed victualler, April 7 at 11, District Court of Bankruptcy, Liverpool, aud. ac.-William Fairclough, Liverpool, licensed victualler, April 7 at half-past 11, District Court of Bankruptcy, Liverpool, aud. ac.Wm. Fox, Gwersyllt, Gresford, Denbighshire, iron master, April 9 at 12, District Court of Bankruptcy, Liverpool, aud. ac.-John Hoosse Barry, Liverpool, merchant, April 8 at 12, District Court of Bankruptcy, Liverpool, aud. ac.-Henry Oylan, Holywell-street, Shoreditch, Middlesex, victualler, April 4 at half-past 1, Court of Bankruptcy, London, div.- Watkin Rogers, Newport, Monmouthshire, draper, April 7 at 11, District Court of Bankruptcy, Bristol, div.-John Trevitt, Wheaton Aston, Lapley, Staffordshire, butcher, April half-past 12, District Court of Bankruptcy, Birmingham, fin. div. at Adjourned. John Exley, Judd-street, Brunswick-square, Middlesex, corn factor. Court-house, LINCOLN, (County), March 28 at 10. Court-house, Salisbury, Wiltshire, March 28 at 10. facturer. Court-house, CARNARVON, (County), March 31 at 10. blacksmith.-Wm. Roberts, Tynewydd, labourer. — Nath. Wm. Hughes, Colwyn, labourer.-Rich. Williams, Nevin, Roberts, Castell, Llysfaen, lime burner. INSOLVENT DEBTORS' DIVIDENDS. John Fulcher, Marlborough-street, Chelsea, Middlesex, bricklayer: 208. in the pound.-Horatio Steele, Plymouth, Devonshire, superannuated cook in the Royal Navy: 15s. (making 208.) in the pound.-Fred. Rainger, Burlington-arcade, Middlesex, clerk in the General Register Office, Somer cloth boards, set-house : 28. 10}d. in the pound.—John Edwards, Shrews- Just published, in Six very thick octavo Volumes, price 61, 30s. in strong bury, Shropshire, mercer: 54d. in the pound.-H. Prater, Proton-grove, Penton-street, Pentonville, Middlesex, barrister BURN'S JUSTICE of the PEACE and PARISH OFFICER. The Twenty-ninth Edition, corrected and greatly enata: 28. 10d. in the pound.-Wm. Cupit, Sussex-road, larged, containing the Statutes and Cases to 7 & 8 Vict., inclusive, with Old Kent-road, Surrey, gardener: 78. 9d. in the pound.-a New Collection of Precedents. The Title "Poor" by Mr. Commis1. Bryant, Wellington-st., Strand, Middlesex, bookseller: 68. sioner BERE, of the Exeter District Court of Bankruptcy; the rest of d. in the pound.-G. E. Cocksedge, Vine-cottage, Frinds- the Work by THOMAS CHITTY, Esq., of the Inner Temple. bury, near Rochester, Kent, lieutenant in the Royal Navy on half-pay: 2s. 24d. in the pound.-G. Barrett, sen., Charlesst., Hatton-garden, Middlesex, hardwareman: 4s. 0§d. in the pound.-William Pinhorn, Lower Park-street, Greenwich, Kent, lieutenant in the Royal Navy on half-pay: 1s. 104d. in the pound. Apply at the Provisional Assignee's Office, Portugal-street, PATENT PARAGON CAMPHINE LAMPS.-The great fault which was last year found with the Vesta, from its great moke and emission of black smuts, is happily entirely obviated in the Paragon, which surpasses in brilliancy and whiteness of light anything hitherto seen-giving the light of 16 wax candles at the cost of one halfpenny per hour. The largest stock in London to select from at C. WATSON'S Warehouses, 41 and 42, BARBICAN, and 16, NORTON FOLGATE. The Spirit, analysed and recommended by Dr. Ure, is delivered by C. Watson's carts, at 4s. per gallon in screw cans. SILVER SUPERSEDED, and those corrosive and injurious Metals called Nickel and German Silver, supplanted by the introaction of a new and perfectly matchless ALBATA PLATE.-C. WAT SON, 41 and 42, BARBICAN, and 16, NORTON FOLGATE, aided by a Person of Science in the Amalgamation of Metals, has succeeded in bringing to public notice the most beautiful article ever yet offered: posseeing all the richness of Silver in appearance, with all its durability and hardness, with its perfect sweetness in use, (undergoing, as it does, a chemical process, by which all that is nauseous in mixed metals is enrly extracted), resisting all acids, may be cleaned as silver, and is mamfactured into every Article for the Table and Sideboard. Canes begs the Public will understand that this Metal is pecuarly hs on, and that Silver is not more different from Gold, than his Metal is from all others. On its intrinsic merits alone he wishes it to be tested and, from the daily increasing Eulogiums he receives, he is conthat nothing can prevent its becoming an article of universal wear. C. Warson's handsomely ILLUSTRATED CATALOGUE and PRICE CURBEST is just published; and Families who regard Economy and Elegance scald possess themselves of this useful Book, which may be had Gratis, and Post Free from the above Address. METCALFE'S NEW PATTERN TOOTH-BRUSH, and houses. EASE IN WALKING AND FASE in WALKING and COMFORT to the FEET. On introducing a new and greatly improved edition of an old-estalished book, like "Burn's Justice," to the notice of the Members of the Magistracy and the Legal Profession, the Publishers need only point attention to the claims which it has upon two such large and influential bodies, to ensure a success similar to that which has attended all previous editions. Since the year 1837 (the date of the last edition) a considerable number of important Statutes have been passed; by several of those Statutes the executive power of the Magistrate, has been somewhat restricted, and by others extended, while the whole duties of the office have undergone too many changes not to render a New Edition (embodying every Act and decision to the present time) a valuable and necessary addition to the Libraries of Gentlemen engaged in the Local Administration of Justice. The Six Volumes have received a thorough revision; the Forms have been re-modelled, and carefully adapted to the recent changes; several new Titles (created by modern enactments) have been introduced, and great exertions have been made to ensure a correct and full development of the Law as it now stands. The title "Poor,' which occupies the whole of the Fourth Volume, has again been prepared by Mr. Commissioner Bere; and his object has been to furnish the cases at full length, being satisfied that no compendious abstract, however carefully made, would supply a satisfactory Manual for those who attend the Quarter Sessions. The Marginal Notes and the Index are, however, abridgments of the Cases, so that the general principles of the Law may be ascertained without reading the fuller statement. The great utility of the Work as an authority, presenting the cases in detail, and superseding the Reports themselves, is thereby preserved, at the S. Sweet, 1, Chancery-lane; A. Maxwell & Son, 32, Bell-yard; and WORTHINGTON ON WILLS.-FOURTH EDITION. One Volume, price 15s. boards, A GENERAL PRECEDENT for WILLS, with copious Practical HARRISON'S DIGESTED INDEX TO THE COMMON LAW This day is published, in 4 closely printed Volumes, price 61. 16s. 6d., a HARRISON'S ANALYTICAL DIGEST OF ALL THE RE- COLLYER'S LAW OF PARTNERSHIP. A PRACTICAL TREATISE on the LAW of PARTNERSHIP, (including Partnerships in Mines, Joint-Stock Companies, and Ships), with an Appendix of Forms. By JOHN COLLYER, Esq., of Lincoln's Inn, Barrister at Law. PALEY ON SUMMARY CONVICTIONS: In one Vol. 8vo., price 188. boards, The LAW and PRACTICE of SUMMARY CONVICTIONS on PENAL STATUTES by JUSTICES of the PEACE; including Proceedings preliminary and subsequent to Conviction, and on Appeal and Removal. Also, the Responsibility and Indemnity of convicting Magistrates and their Officers. With an Appendix of Practical Forms and Precedents of Convictions. Third Edition. By E. E. DEACON, Esq., Barrister at Law. The Patent India-Rubber Goloshes are light, durable, elastic, and SB-Hall & Co. particularly invite attention to their Elastic Boots, PATENT CANDLES, which burn, without snuffing, like the finest wax, are now retailed throughout the country, at or under 1s. per lb. But care must be taken to prevent any imitations being passed off as the Patent Candles, this attempt being made, and with too frequent success, by some dealers, on account of the greater profit upon the imitations. The Trade may obtain them wholesale from Edward Price & Co., Belmont, Vauxhall; and Palmer & Co., Sutton-street, Clerkenwell. SELWYN'S NISI PRIUS.-ELEVENTH EDITION. Dedicated by permission to his Royal Highness, Prince Albert. This day is published, in 2 vols. royal 8vo., price 21. 10s, boards, AN ABRIDGMENT of the LAW of NISI PRIUS, Eleventh Edition, enlarged and much improved, with the Statutes and Cases brought down to the present time. By WILLIAM SELWYN, Esq., of Lincoln's Inn, one of her Majesty's Counsel, late Recorder of Portsmouth. V. and R. Stevens & G. S. Norton, Law Booksellers and Publishers, (successors to the late J. & W. T. Clarke, of Portugal-street), 26 and 39 Bell-yard, Lincoln's Inn. THE ACTS for the COMMUTATION of TITHES in ENGLAND and WALES, with Notes, Appendix, and Index, being the only complete Edition of the Commutation Acts. By WILLIAM EAGLE, Esq., of the Middle Temple, Barrister at Law, Author of the Treatise on the Law of Tithes. A Benning, Law Bookseller, 43, Fleet-street, and all Booksellers. Just published, in one vol. 8vo., price 15s. boards, SELECTION of LEGAL MAXIMS, classified and illustrated. By HERBERT BROOM, of the Inner Temple, Esq., Barrister at Law. Contents: Chap. 1. Sect. 1. Rules founded on Public Policy. Chap. 2. Sect. 1. The Judicial Office. Tad ar rat Chap. 3. Chap. 6. Chap. 7. Chap. 8. The Interpretation of Deeds and written InstruT ments.. The Law of Contracts. Maxims applicable to the Law of Evidence. "This is a very ingenious and a very useful work, peculiarly adapted to aid the researches of the students, and even the practitioner will often find his memory refreshed, and his knowledge enlarged, by reference to Mr. Broom's pages. It is not, indeed, a mere collection of legal Maxims, for that a dictionary will supply; but its chief value lies in its illustration of those selected. The volume is, in fact, a budget of succinct treatises on curious legal topics; the maxims serving for a text, and the examples and exceptions are brought down to the latest decisions. In the library this work will occupy a place by the side of Smith's Leading cases."-Law Times, Feb. 22, 1845. MARTIN'S CONVEYANCING, BY DAVIDSON. The PRACTICE of CONVEYANCING with PRECEDENTS and FORMS of ASSURANCE, and PRACTICAL NOTES, as originated by the late THOMAS MARTIN, Esq., of Lincoln's Inn, Barrister at Law; and continued and completed by CHARLES DAVIDSON, Esq., of the Middle Temple, Barrister at Law, and Fellow of Christ's College, Cambridge. ༈ The Publishers have the pleasure to announce to the Profession, that the entire work, as designed by the late highly talented Author, is now completed, and that it forms one of the most scientific and practical systems of Conveyancing ever published. And they request that those gentlemen who have already been purchasers, will have the goodness to give early orders to their respective booksellers for the parts of the said work which are wanting to complete their sets. Royal 8vo., 3 vols., price 51, 53. boards. A DIGEST and INDEX, with a Chronological Table of ALL the STATUTES from MAGNA CHARTA to the END of the PRESENT SESSION: to which are added, with great care and exactness, the reported decisions of all the Courts with which each Section is connected. By GEORGE CRABB, Esq., of the Inner Temple, Barrister at Law. Vols. II and III, containing the Digest, with Notes of Cases, are sold separately, price 17. 11. 6d. each, in boards. SANDERS ON USES AND TRUSTS.—New EDITION. * AN ESSAY on USES and TRUSTS, and on the Nature and Operation of Conveyances at Common Law, and of those which derive their effect from the Statute of Uses. By the late FRANCIS WILLIAM SANDERS, Esq. The Fifth Edition, with additional Notes and References, by GEORGE WILLIAM SANDERS, Esq., of Lincoln's Inn, and JOHN WARNER, Esq., of the Inner Temple, Barristers at Law. MACPHERSON ON THE LAW OF INFANTS. Royal 8vo., price 11. 6. boards. A PRACTICAL TREATISE on the LAW relating to INFANTS. By WILLIAM MACPHERSON, Esq., of the Inner Temple, Barrister at Law. "The entire Law of Infancy, in all its branches, has been well digested by Mr. Macpherson in this able and very valuable work, which contains nearly 600 pages, exclusive of Appendix and Index."-Law Magazine, Feb., 1844, p. 119. PRACTICE OF THE HOUSE OF LORDS, &c. A PRACTICAL TREATISE on the APPELLATE JURISDICTION of the HOUSE of LORDS and PRIVY COUNCIL, and on PARLIA MENTARY DIVORCE; with a Selection of Leading Cases. By JOHN PRASER MACQUEEN, Esq., of Lincoln's Inn, Barrister at Law. "The work of Mr. Macqueen supplies the most copious and important information upon the whole of the subject of which it treats; it possesses also a character of authentic accuracy, or rather of judicial authority, to which no book of practice in any other department of the law can make any pretensions, and the want of which in the principal tribunals, both of law and equity, is often productive of delay, perplexity, and expense to the litigating parties as well as the practitioners. It is obvious that a work composed under such circumstances ought to find a place in every law library in the Kingdom."-Times, Sept. 28, 1842. A. Maxwell & Son, 32, Bell-yard, Lincoln's Inn. WATKINS on CONVEYANCING.-NINTH EDITION. PRINCIPLES of CONVEYANCING designed for the Use of Students, with an Introduction on the Study of that branch of Law. By CHARLES WATKINS. Part 1, with Annotations by George Morley and Richard Holmes Coote, Esqrs. Part 2, with Anno tations by Thomas Coventry, Esq. Ninth Edition, revised and considerably enlarged, by HENRY HOPLEY WHITE, Esq., Barrister at Law. Benning & Co., Law Booksellers, 43, Fleet-street. Just published, 12mo., price 5s., THE THEORY and PRACTICE of CONVEYANCING. Precedents, and the recent Act to simplify the Transfer of Property, inContaining also an Analytical Table of Real Property Law, with tended chiefly for the use of Students. By JAMES LORD, of the Inner Temple, Esq., Barrister at Law. A "We have carefully perused it, and we can vouch for it that it will prove useful to the student beginning the avowedly intricate learning of Real Property. We have before taken occasion to recommend a shorter and more concise work for beginners than the Commentaries."Law Student's Mag. Owen Richards, Law Bookseller, &c., 194, Fleet-street. PETERSDORFF'S NEW ABRIDGMENT.-Now COMPLETE. In 5 vols. royal 8vo., price 71. 17s. 6d. boards, PRACTICAL and ELEMENTARY ABRIDGMENT of the COMMON LAW, as altered and established by the Recent Statutes, Rules of Court, and Modern Decisions; comprising a full Abstract of all the Cases argued and determined in the Courts of Common Law and on Appeal, with the Rules of Court from Michaelmas Term. 1824, to Michaelmas Term, 1840, inclusive, and of the Statutes passed during the same period, with connecting and illustrative References to the Earlier Authorities, and Explanatory Notes; designed either as a SUPPLEMENT to the Author's Abridgment, or as a SEPARATE Work. By CHARLES PETERSDORFF, Esq., of the Inner Temple, Barrister at Law. V. and R, Stevens & G. S. Norton, Law Booksellers and Publishers, (Successors to the late J. & W. T. Clarke, of Portugal-street), 26 and 39, Bell-yard, Lincoln's Inn. Of whom may be had, A PRACTICAL TREATISE on the LAW of VENDORS and PURCHASERS of CHATTELS PERSONAL. By T. C. MORTON, Esq., Barrister at Law, 8vo., price 14s. boards. Just published, price 14. 54. boards, A PRACTICAL TREATISE on the LAWS relating to the CHURCH and the CLERGY. By H. W. CRIPPS, Esq., of the Middle Temple, Barrister at Law. S. Sweet, Chancery-lane. Of whom may be had, recently published, A TREATISE on PRESUMPTIONS of LAW and FACT, with the Theory and Rules of Presumptive or Circumstantial Proof in Criminal Cases. By W. M. BEST, Esq., A. M., LL. B., of Gray's Inn, Barrister at Law. In 8vo., price 15. boards. A TREATISE on the LAW of EQUITABLE MORTGAGES, containing a Statement of the Law respecting the Liens of Vendors and Purchasers, of the Rights and Remedies of Equitable Mortgagees by Deposit of Deeds, of the Effect of Notice with regard to Equitable with Observations on the Dictum of Lord Cottenham, and the Judg Mortgages, of the Priority of Judgments over Equitable Mortgages, ment of the Vice-Chancellor Wigram, in WHITWORTHY. GAUGAIN, and on the Course of Proceeding on the Bankruptcy of an Equitable Mortgagor; with an Appendix, containing the Judgment of the ViceChancellor Wigram in WHITWORTH V. GAUGAIN, Forms for Equitable Deposits, &c., and an Index. By SAMUEL MILLER, Esq., Barrister at Law. In 8vo., price 10s. boards. "Mr. Miller has stated every case that bears upon the subject, accompanied by very able and judicious remarks; and his work cannot fail to be highly acceptable to the practitioner."-Legal Observer. A TREATISE on WARRANTS of ATTORNEY, COGNOVITS, and JUDGES' ORDERS for JUDGMENT: with an Appendix of Forms. By HENRY HAWKINS, Esq., of the Middle Temple, Barrister at Law. Price 5s., cloth boards. BYLES ON BILLS OF EXCHANGE.-A Practical Treatise on the Law of Bills of Exchange, Promissory Notes, Bankers' Cash Notes and Cheques. With an Appendix of Statutes and Forms of Pleading. Fourth Edition, much enlarged, 12mo., price 16r. boards, DEEDS for EXECUTION ABROAD.—Messrs. J. & R. M'CRACKEN, Foreign Agents, 7, Old Jewry, beg to inform the Legal Profession that they undertake to forward Deeds for Execution by Parties Abroad, through their Correspondents on the Continent, for the Costs of Transmission and a simple Commission. List of Correspondents, and for further information, apply as above. Messrs. J. & R. M'CRACKEN are also Agents to the ROYAL ACADEMY, and devote their attention to the Receipt of Works of Art. Baggage, &c. sent home by Travellers on the Continent for passing through the Custom-house. They also undertake to ship Goods to all Parts of the World. Orders for THE JURIST given to any Newsman, or letter (postpaid) sent to the Office, No. 3, CHANCERY LANE, or to V. and R. STEVENS & G. S. NORTON, (Successors to J. & W. T. Clarke, late of Portugal Street), 26 and 39, BELL-YARD, will insure its punctual delivery in London, or its being forwarded on the evening of publication, through the medium of the Post Office, to the Country. Printed by WALTER M'DOWALL, PRINTER, residing at No. 4. Pemberton Row, Gough Square, in the Parish of St. Bride, in the City of London, at his Printing Office, situate No. 5, Pemberton Row aforesaid; and Published at No. 3, CHANCERY LANE, in the Parish of St. Dunstan in the West, in the City of London, by HENRY SWEET, LAW BOOKSELLER and PUBLISHER, residing at No. 11, John Street, Bedford Row, in the County of Middlesex. Saturday, March 15, 1845. No. 428-VOL. IX. MARCH 22, 1845. Price 18.-with Supplement 28. The following are the Names of the Gentlemen who favour THE JURIST with Reports of Cases argued and decided in the several Courts of Law and Equity: LONDON, MARCH 22, 1845. bishop of the diocese, for hearing and determining the matter, as a cause between the accused and the promoter of the accusation. We understand that many persons have been led to suppose that the Church Discipline Act, (3 & 4 Vict. c.), the act under which an inquiry is now pending which has excited considerable public attention, was intended to have, and would have, the effect of providings tribunal which should unite to the advantage of affording a cheap, simple, and expeditious means of correction for the misconduct of any person in holy orders having offended against the ecclesiastical law, or contra bonos mores, that of conducting an inquiry into such matters, without the scandal attending a public trial of clergyman. And we understand that much dissatisfaction is felt by many, lay as well as clerical persons, in seeing, in the course of the inquiry to which we have alluded, how that act works. The 3rd section empowers the bishop of a diocese, We can only say, with respect to any anticipa-where any clerk in holy orders shall be charged with tions that the act was in all cases to produce the results any ecclesiastical offence, or where any scandal or evil above mentioned, such anticipations must have been report shall exist against any clerk, as having offounded much more on the imaginations of the persons fended against the laws ecclesiastical, either on the apentertaining them, than on the language of the statute, plication of an accuser, or of his own mere motion, to or on a due consideration of the nature of the subjects issue a commission, composed of five persons, for the Eikely to be brought before the species of court whose purpose of making inquiry as to the grounds of such proceedings it regulates, or on even a moderate consi- charge or report. The 4th prescribes the mode in deration of the nature of things; for such anticipations which the inquiry shall be conducted, and is in these stribute to an act of Parliament little less than a mi- words:-" Be it enacted, that it shall be lawful for the raculous effect. said commissioners, or any three of them, to examine upon oath, or upon solemn affirmation in cases where an affirmation or declaration is allowed by law instead of an oath, which oath, or affirmation, or declaration, respectively, shall be administered by them to all witnesses who shall be tendered to them for examination, as well by any party alleging the truth of the charge or report, as by the party accused, and to all witnesses whom they may deem it necessary to summon for the purpose of fully prosecuting the inquiry, and ascertain The first mode of proceeding is provided for by the 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th sections of the act, and it is impossible to read those sections without seeing, that, though the intention of the act is to substitute in some cases, and in certain stages of a charge, in lieu of the regular course of proceeding in the ecclesiastical court, proceedings of a character less artificial, and capable of greater dispatch, yet it is also the obvious intention of the act, that the proceedings directed by it shall not be, as a matter of course, in the nature of a mere private inquiry and admonition, conducted without any of the forms or rules which are generally incident to every legal inquiry. The object of this statute is twofold:-It provides, firstly, a court of preliminary inquiry, to examine into any charges brought against a clerk in holy orders, and to report whether such a primâ facie case is made against him as will justify the institution of further and more formal and final proceedings; and, secondly, it provides, in the event of a report being made in favour of the primâ facie sufficiency of the case against the accused, for certain proceedings before the ing whether there be sufficient primâ facie ground for instituting further proceedings; and notice of the time when, and place where, every such meeting of the commissioners shall be holden shall be given in writing, under the hand of one of the said commissioners, to the party accused seven days at least before the meeting; and it shall be lawful for the party accused, or his agent, to attend the proceedings of the commission, and to examine any of the witnesses; and all such preliminary proceedings shall be public, unless, on the special application of the party accused, the commissioners shall direct the same or any part thereof shall be private; and when such preliminary proceedings, whether public or private, shall have been closed, one of the said commissioners shall, after due consideration of the depositions taken before them, openly and publicly declare the opinion of the majority of the commissioners present at such inquiry, whether there be or not sufficient primâ facie grounds for instituting further proceedings." This section, it will be observed, most carefully provides for the regular reception of evidence, and for the privilege of the accused to sift, by cross-examination, the proofs tendered against him. easy, as well as for an important and difficult inquiry This difficulty the jurisdiction created by the 3 & 4 Vict. c. 86 avoids. But it cannot and does not affect to change the nature of things, and to deal hastily and informally with an investigation, if the circumstances involved in it are of such a character as to require the strictness of legal procedure to arrive at the truth. So far, therefore, from considering the similarity which the proceeding now taking place before the com missioners of the Bishop of London bears to a regula trial, as an evidence of the miscarriage of the statute, it appears to us to afford very strong evidence of its beneficial operation. Since it shews, that, in a case in which the character and station of an accused person are at stake, and in which the evidence in support of the charges against him is complicated as well as voluminous, he may have the benefit of a most rigid and searching inquiry, on the result of which final judgment does not necessarily depend; and when the inquiry is closed, he may determine whether he will take judgment upon it as it stands, or whether he will demand a further and more formal trial. Court Papers. EQUITY SITTINGS, EASTER TERM, 1845. If the report of the commissioners is, that there is no primâ facie case against the accused, of course there is an end of the matter. If they report that there is a primâ facie case, then a formal trial is directed to take place Before the Right Hon. the MASTER OF THE ROLLS, at before the bishop, assisted therein by three assessors, one of whom at least must be a person of legal learning; unless the parties elect to take the immediate judgment of the bishop upon the report of his commissioners, and in such case the bishop may forthwith pronounce a sentence founded upon such report. The peculiarity of the inquisitorial jurisdiction created by the stat. 3 & 4 Vict. c. 86 seems to be this: that it is flexible. The preliminary inquiries into a charge brought against a clergyman may be of the most private, expeditious, and economical character, if the parties desire it, and the commissioners think fit. They may be made, if the nature of the case is such as to allow it, without the assistance of any professional persons whatever. The parties may attend with their witnesses, and the witnesses may be examined and crossexamined by the commissioners and the parties; and if the charge be either of a trivial character, or, being of a grave character, embraces only a few facts, the preliminary inquiries may be disposed of both cheaply and expeditiously. If, on the other hand, the charge be one involving matter of grave scandal, and depending upon a mass of complicated and conflicting evidence, then the act permits, and the court may require, a more formal mode of procedure. The inquiry may be public; it may be conducted on both sides with the advantage of professional assistance, and may, in fact, be assimilated as closely as possible, in regard to the qualities of regularity, stringency, and precision, to an inquiry conducted in one of the superior courts. April 7 8 Petitions.-The unopposed first. the Rolls. Motions. 9 10 11 ... 12 Pleas, Demurrers, Causes, Further Di rections, and Exceptions. 14 15 Monday. At Westminster. Motions. 16 Petitions.-The unopposed first. 171 18Pleas, Demurrers, Causes, Further Di19 rections, and Exceptions. 21 22 Petitions. The unopposed first 23 .... The difficulty attending the regular and formal proceeding in a court of the ordinary structure is, that its process is invariable. Whether the matter be grave or MASTERS IN CHANCERY.-The Lord Chancellor has slight, whether there be or be not any rational ground appointed the following gentlemen Masters Extraordifor calling in aid its jurisdiction, the forms of its plead-nary in the High Court of Chancery:-Francis Hamp ings, the rules of its practice, the expenses and delays of Birkenhead, Cheshire; Joseph Yates Ashton, of of its procedure, must all be submitted to for a slight and Liverpool; Robert Williams the younger, of Carnarvon. |