and as I go up for my examination in January next, it
gives me less than twelve months in which to prepare
myself. On reference to the books I find they contain
the books for the present year.
2650 pages, being far more than the number of pages in
LAW STUDENT.

[At present students presenting themselves for the
intermediate examination in 1880 are to be examined in
the entire work (the four volumes), 7th edition.
There is certainly force in your remark.-ED. STUD.'s
DEPT.]

EXAMINATIONS.-I shall be articled in July; when
can I go in for the Interinediate Examination, and
when for the final? What are the subjects for the final
honour examination?
S. B. A. (Oxford).

[It is impossible to answer such a question, as you do
not say whether you will be articled for three, four, or
five years. As to honours examinations, the subjects
are at present the same as for the pass examination.
Next year some new regulations in regard to examira-
tions for honours are to be issued.-ED. STUD.'S DEPT.]

MAGISTRATES' LAW.

BOROUGH

When holden.

Friday, June 27.
Wednesday, June 25
Friday, June 27..
Wednesday, June 25
Tuesday, July 1......
Monday, June 30
Monday, July 7..
Monday, June 30
Monday, June 30.
Monday, July 7.
Monday, June 30
Monday, June 30
Monday, July 7.
Monday, July 21
Monday, June 30

QUARTER

Recorder.

SESSIONS.

John Thomas Abdy, Esq....
J. S. Dugdale, Esq..
Gainsford Bruce, Esq.

14 days
14 days

T. K. Kingdon, Esq., Q.C...
J. J. Johnson, Esq., Q.C....
G. E. Dering, Esq.
J. B. Maule, Esq., Q.C.
A. M. Skinner, Esq.
W. H. Cooke, Esq., Q.C.
J. O. Griffits, Esq., Q.C.
Francis Barrow, Esq.....
W. F. F. Boughey, Esq.
Thomas Gunner, Esq.
Joseph Catterall, Esq.
E. R. Price, Esq., Q.C.......

......

14 days

Clerk of the Peace.

Mark Whyley.
T. R. T. Hodgson.
Alex. Neill.
F. F. Cartwright.
Edward Titchener.
F. F. Giraud.
Charles Bulmer.
H. Darvill.
R. S. Hawkins.
J. O. Whatley.
W. W. Hayward.
H. C. Clarke.
Edward Coxwell.
Thomas Heald.
J. Wilkinson.

NOTES OF NEW DECISIONS. management to be constituted for the said disSUNDAY OBSERVANCE-ACTION FOR PENAL-trict," and in the execution of their duties as such TIES COVIN AND COLLUSION.-A judgment remanagers, the defendant, under the authority of covered in an action by arrangement between the the said Act of 1867, and with the sanction and parties in order to protect the offenders against by direction of the Poor Law Board, purchased in toni fide actions for the penalties is covinous and 1868 a plot of land at Hampstead for hospital purcollusive. The plaintiff sued the defendants to poses, in the north-western district, and thereon recover a penalty under 21 Geo. 3, c. 49, s. 1, for by the like direction erected, on a sudden outburst keeping open the Brighton Aquarium on Sunday, of smallpox in the metropolis, temporary build15th Aug. Subsequently to the issuing of the writings which they opened and used as a smallpox in the plaintiff's action, the solicitor of the de-hospital from Dec. 1870 to July 1872. In 1874, fendants obtained permission from one R. to who had been substituted for the Poor Law by direction of the Local Government Board, instruct a solicitor to bring an action in R.'s name Board, the defendants erected on the site of the for penalties incurred for keeping the Aquarium open on the 15th Aug. and the several Sundays intervening between that date and the 7th Oct.; it being understood that R. should not issue execution or claim the penalties, but that the company might do what they pleased with the judgment so to be obtained in R.'s name. At the time of

making this arrangement neither R. nor the solicitor to the company were aware of the plaintiff's action. The object of the arrangement with R. was to protect the company against any action which might be brought for any of the several penalties, and also to obtain as early as possible a remission of the penalties by the Home Secretary under 38 & 39 Vict. c. 80. R. had nothing more to do with the action brought in his name. Judg ment was signed by default on 28th Oct. This judgment the defendants pleaded in bar of the plaintiff's action, and the plaintiff replied that the judgment was obtained by covin and collusion. Held, that the judgment obtained under R.'s name was no bar to plaintiff's action, because it was in reality no judgment, as R. was only a nominal plaintiff, and the plaintiff and defendants were in substance identical. And per Cotton and Thesiger, L.JJ., that, inasmuch as the result of the proceedings in R.'s action was to defraud and prejudice a third party, the judgment could not be a bar to plaintiff's action, being covinous and collusive: (Girdlestone v. The Brighton Aquarium Company, 40 L. T. Rep. N.S. 473.)

impliedly, though not in express words, authorised by the statute, and the plaintiff's were therefore entitled to have the verdict entered for them with costs, and also to an injunction restraining the defendants from carrying on the hospital so as to be a nuisance to the plaintiffs or any of them; but, following the course adopted in The AttorneyGeneral v. Colney Hatch Asylum, the issue of the injunction would be suspended for three months, with liberty to either side to apply Held, also, that an authority amounting to a discretion was vested in the managers of the asylum district, and the Legislature could not have intended to make them mere irresponsible instruments to carry out the orders and directions of the Poor Law and Local Government Boards; which orders and directions must be taken with reference to the statutory powers conferred upon those bodies respectively, and cannot be so dealt with as to vary the provisions of the statute. or to enlarge or cut down the responsibility arising out of anything done by the board or the managers: (Hawley v. Steele, 37 L. T. Rep. N. S. 625; L. Rep. 6 Ch. Div. 521; 46 L. J. 782, Ch.) distinguished: (Hill v. The Managers of the Metropolitan Asylum District, 40 L. T. Rep. 491. Ex.)

NOTES OF NEW DECISIONS. SHIPMENT "PER VESSEL OR VESSELS". - Plaintiffs DIVISIBLE CONTRACT-RESCISSION. contracted to sell to defendants about 25 tons (more or less) Penang black pepper, Oct. and Nov. shipment, from Penang to London, per sailing vessel or vessels the name of the vessel or vessels, marks, &c., to be declared to the buyer in writing within sixty days from date of bill of lading.' Plaintiffs within the contract time declared 25 tons of pepper shipped in one vessel, of which 20 tons were properly shipped and declared, but 5 tons were shipped in Dec., and defendants in consequence refused to accept the whole quantity. Subsequently plaintiffs declared 5 tons of Nov. shipment in substitution for the 5 tons shipped in Dec., but this declaration was made more than sixty days after date of bill of lading, and defendants refused to accept it. On the vessel arriving in England, plaintiffs, as a performance of their contract, tendered the 20 tons properly shipped and declared, and the 5 tons properly shipped but declared after the contract time had elapsed. Defendants refused to accept any of the pepper so tendered, and plaintiffs claimed damages for such refusal. Held, per Cotton and Thesiger, L.JJ. (Brett, L.J. dissenting), that the contract that the contract was not divisible; and that time for declaration was an essential condition; defendants therefore were entitled to reject the whole 25 tons. Brandt v. Lawrence discussed and distinguished. Per Brett, L.J.: The defendants were bound to take delivery of the 20 tons, as the contract was divisible, and the incurable failure of plaintiffs to deliver the 5 tons according to the contract was a breach as to part only of the damages: (Reuter and Co. v. Sala and Co., 40 consideration, which could be compensated in L. T. Rep. N. S. 476.)

said temporary buildings, and in lieu thereof, permanent and substantial buildings specially designed and fitted up by them for the reception of patients suffering from contagious or infectious diseases, and in March 1876, opened the same as a hospital for smallpox patients, from which time to from smallpox had been brought from all parts of the present large numbers of persons suffering the metropolis to, and been received and detained and many still were at, the said hospital, with the consent and by the authority of the defendants. houses and lands adjoining the hospital, brought The plaintiffs, severally owners and occupiers of an action against the defendants in which they claimed damages in respect of injuries sustained by them from the erection and maintenance of the hospital, which the plaintiffs alleged was a nuisance to the neighbourhood in general, and to the plaintiff's in particular, owing to the probable spread of disease by infection, to the effect of the dead-house, and to the bringing to and from the visiting of the patients by their relatives; and hospital of the patients in ambulances, and to the they claimed also an injunction to restrain the excavation, and then covered it over with an arch defendants from using their said lands and build- and girders, and replaced the soil. Held, that they had no power to grant building rights over, ings as a hospital for smallpox or any other inor building leases upon, the crown of the tunnel fectious or contagious disease; the defendants, on the other hand, denying that the hospital was so formed. The meaning of "land" defined as that, if it were, they were justified and protected 1845: (Re the Metropolitan District Railway Coma nuisance or a source of danger, and contending used in the Lands Clauses Consolidation Act, from liability in what they had done by having|pany and Cosh, 40 L. T. Rep. N. S. 482. Fry, J.) NUISANCE-METROPOLITAN ASYLUM DIS- acted bonâ fide in the execution of duties imposed TRICT ERECTION OF SMALLPOX HOSPITAL-upon them by the Legislature and in obedience to INJURY TO ADJOINING PROPERTY-LIABILITY the orders of the Local Government Board. The OF MANAGERS. The defendants were a body jury having found that the hospital was a nuiduly constituted and incorporated by the name of sance occasioning damage to the plaintiffs per The Managers of the Metropolitan District' under and by virtue of the Metropolitan Poor Act 1867 (30 & 31 Vict. c. 6), pursuant to an order of the Poor Law Board, dated the 15th May 1867, whereby certain unions and parishes within the metropolis, as defined by the Metropolis Local Management Act 1855 (18 & 19 Vict. c. 120), including the parish of Hampstead, were "combined into a district termed the Metropolitan Asylum District,' for the reception and relief of the poor in the said district infected with or suffering from... smallpox . . . to be under a board of

-

se,

and also by reason of the patients coming to and going from the hospital; and secondly, that, assuming the defendants were legally entitled to erect and carry on the hospital, they had not done so with all proper care and skill with reference to the rights of the plaintiffs, it was, after argument on further consideration, Held, by Pollock, B., that on the above findings of the jury, and it not having been shown or found that the intention of the Legislature could not have been carried ont without necessarily creating a nuisance, it could not be taken that the creation of a nuisance was

REAL PROPERTY AND
CONVEYANCING.

NOTES OF NEW DECISIONS. CHARITY-LEASE BY-VOID OR VOIDABLESTATUTE OF LIMITATIONS.-The appellants were the governors of a charitable hospital founded in 1758, and incorporated by Act of Parliament in 1768. In 1783 the then governors of the hospital granted a lease of certain lands of the hospital to the respondents' predecessors in_title for ninety-nine years at a peppercorn rent. In an action to recover possession of the demised premises: Held, that the appellants being a “hos

pital" within the meaning of the stat. 13 Eliz. c. 15, as explained by 64 Eliz. c. 14, the lease was void ab initio by virtue of sect. 3 of the former Act, and that the Statute of Limitations ran from the execution of the lease, and that the action could not be maintained. Judgment of the Court of Appeal affirmed, for different reasons: (Governors of Magdalen Hospital v. Knotts, 40 L. T. Rep. N.S. 467. H. of L.)

BANKRUPTCY LAW.

DIGEST OF BANKRUPTCY DECISIONS
DURING 1878.
COMPANIES.

(Continued from page 86.)
WHERE a creditor of a company in liquidation
brings an action against it his action will be
stayed on the application of the official liquidator,
although it appears that the assets of the com-
pany are only sufficient to defray the liquidator's
charges (Rose v. Garrden Lodge, &c., Company,
38 L. T. Rep. N. S. 101.)

The minute book of a company contained a resolution that "the 608 shares applied for be allotted:" the number of shares on the register was 603, which included fifty shares to H. H. was a director, and attended directors' meetings, but alleged that he never applied for shares, and had received no notice of allotment; he took no steps, however, to have his name removed until the presentation of the petition. Held, that the attendance of H. at directors' meetings, as one of the directors was not sufficient to fix him with knowledge of the allotment and state of the register, and that he could not be made a contributory in respect of the fifty shares: (Re Winchan Shipbuilding Company, 38 L. T. Rep. N. S. 660).

G. being possessed of the equity of redemption of freehold property, contracted in Jan. 1872 to sell it to parties purporting to act on behalf of a company for £5500 in shares, and £3500 in cash. The company was registered shortly afterwards, and in the following December it adopted the contract, and subsequently took a conveyance. In Nov. 1872 P. and B., mortgagees of the property for £3000, agreed with G. to release their charge on payment of £2000 in cash, and £1000 in shares of the company. This agreement was carried out and shares described in the certificates as fully paid up were allotted to them by the company. These shares were, as appeared from the evidence, to the knowledge of P. and B., part of the vendor's shares, and were issued as fully paid up to them by nominees of G. The company having gone into liquidation the liquidator applied for an order to enforce payment of a call upon these shares in the winding-up on the ground that the contract of Jan. 1872 had never been registered. Held, that P. and B. must be treated as holders of unpaid shares, the contract not having been registered under the provisions of the Companies Act 1867, s. 25. The shares were within sect. 25, and the holders having taken them with knowledge that they were liable to be paid for in cash Nicoll's case did not apply: (Re Potter and Brown's case, 38 L. T. Rep. N. S. 757.)

Per Jessel, M. R.: This section, which was intended to prevent fraud, has been made the instrument of fraud. That is, it has allowed companies to make people pay for shares which they were under the honest belief were fully paid up. The Crown has priority over the general creditors of a liquidating company in respect of property tax due from the company on the winding-up where no distress or entry in respect thereof has been made (Re Henley and Company, 33 L. T. Rep. N. S. 742; 39 ib. 53.) Per Malins, V.C., with regard to the Crown debts, the general law on the subject does not admit of much doubt. There has never been any doubt that with regard to certain debts the Crown has priority over general creditors; as to other debts the Crown has not that priority. The Act of Parliament having prescribed the mode in which the debt shall be recovered and the nature of that debt, the question is whether when a company is wound up, the Act of Parliament has reserved or whether it necessarily implies, that the Crown has priority over the general creditors. The bankruptcy laws are of much older date than the Winding-up Acts. The object of the former is two-fold; first of all to distribute the assets of a debtor or bankrupt equally among his creditors; and, secondly, to relieve the debtor from the amount of his debts in order to make him a free man again. The primary object of the winding-up Acts has been to insure the equal distribution of a company's assets among its creditors. The proposition seems to be wholly unsustainable, the law having provided that all the liabilities are to be paid pari passu, and their being no reservation of the rights of the Crown whatever, that it was intended to reserve the

right of the Crown to any extent whatsoever (Ib.)

A petition for winding-up a company had not been served at the registered office of the company, but service had been accepted by a solicitor on its behalf, and he had been instructed to take proceedings with reference to it, at a meeting attended by all the directors. Held, that as the solicitor had been duly authorised to act for the company, his acceptance of service rendered it unnecessary to serve the petition at the registered office: (Re the Regents United Service Stores Association, 38 L. T. Rep. N. S. 84.)

A waterworks company incorporated by Act of Parliament cannot be wound on the petition of holders of debentures or mortgages created under the powers of the Act. Such holders have no remedy except that of the appointment of a receiver given them by the Act: Re Herne Bay Waterworks Company, 38 L. T. Rep. N. S. 324.) After the completion of the voluntary winding up of a company, under the Company's Act of 1862, and the expiration of the three months mentioned in sect. 143, from the date of the registration of the return made by the liquidators to the Registrar of Joint Stock Companies, of the holding of the final meeting under the liquidation, at the expiration of which period of three months, sect. 143 provides that the company shall be deemed to be dissolved, a creditor, whose debt has not been paid, presented a petition for a compulsory winding-up order. Held, that the petitioner had assented to what had been done in the voluntary winding up, and therefore it was not necessary in this particular case to decide whether the court had any jurisdiction to make a compulsory windingup order; but held that after the expiration of three months, the court had, in the absence of fraud, no jurisdiction to make a winding-up order: (Re Pinto Silver Mining Company, 38 L. T. Rep. N. S. 336.)

Per James, L.J.: A voluntary winding-up has a statutory force equally with a winding-up by the court. Ample protection is given to all creditors by the provisions of sects. 132, 136, 137, and 142 of the Companies Act 1862, and the greatest inconvenience would result if it were held that the proceedings in a voluntary winding-up could be re-opened after a lapse of years: (Ib.)

Per Thesiger, L.J.: This court has no jurisdiction to order the winding-up of a company, which has been de facto wound-up under the Companies Act. If proceedings are to be taken at all, they must be taken before the expiration of the three months: (Ib.)

Sect. 10 of the Judicature Act 1875, by which, in the administration of the estates of deceased persons, and in the winding-up of a company, the same rules are made to apply, as to the rights of secured and unsecured creditors, and as to debts and liabilities provable, and as to the valuation of annuities, and future and contingent liabilities, as may be in force for the time being under the law of bankruptcy, does not assimilate the administration of such insolvent estates and the winding-up of companies in all respects to the administrators of bankrupt estates, but only in respect of the debts and liabilities provable; consequently the priority of payment secured by the Bankruptcy Act, 1869, in favour of local rates, &c., does not extend to the winding-up of a company, or of the administration of the estates of insolvent deceased persons: (Re Albion Steel and Wire Company, 38 L. T. Rep. N. S. 207.)

Where on the winding up of a company the official liquidator remains in possession of the premises for the convenience of the winding up, and with a view to the realisation of the property to better advantage, distraint for rent accrued due subsequently to the date of the winding-up order, will be allowed: (Ex parte Richardson, 38 L. T. Rep. N. S. 143.)

Per Hall, V.C.: It is now clearly settled that the
court, notwithstanding sect. 163 of the Com-
panies' Act 1862, may, under sect. 87 of the Act,
give leave to distrain. The question is in what
cases that leave should be given. Leave will not
be given to distrain for rent which has accrued
due before the winding-up: (Ib.)

Execution creditors issued a writ to recover an
amount exceeding £50 against a company, and
lodged it with the sheriff. Three days afterwards
a winding-up petition was presented by other
creditors, and a winding-up order made thereon.
Held, that the 10th section of the Judicature
Act 1875, by which, in the winding-up of com-
panies, the rules of bankruptcy are to apply, made
the 87th section of the Bankruptcy Act 1869 appli-
cable, by which, in an execution, the sheriff is to
retain the proceeds of sale for fourteen days, and
is to pay them over to the trustees in bankruptcy
if within that period the debtor is made a bank-
rupt. The execution creditors, therefore, lost
their security, and were only entitled to come in
with the other creditors under the petition. The
term "secured creditors" embraces one whose
security is obtained by legal process, as well as
one whose security is by contract: (Re Printing
&c. Company, 33 L. T. Rep. N. S. 676.)
An insurance company, having passed a resolu-
tion for a voluntary winding-up, the policyholders

presented a petition for a compulsory order, alleging the fact of the voluntary winding-up that they and others had been induced to insure their under these circumstances the company was adlives by fraudulent misrepresentations, and that mittedly dishonest: held, that the resolution to wind-up voluntarily was an admission of insolvency which made a preliminary inquiry under the Life Assurance Companies' Act 1870 unnecessary. That the petition alleged sufficiently acts to make a case for a compulsory order, and was not demurrable: (Re British Alliance Company, 38 L. T. Rep. N. S. 600.)

Per Malins, V.C.: It is said that there is no debt of £50, but it is not necessary under the Companies' Act, where it is proved that the company cannot pay its debts, to prove a demand under sect. 80. The court is only to be satisfied that the company is insolvent, and that the company has admitted by the resolution to wind-up voluntarily. There is therefore no necessity for a preliminary inquiry: (Ib.)

Arnold, for the defendant, submitted that the action could not be maintained and cited the case of Noble v. The Governor and Company of the Bank of England (33 L. J. 81, Ex.), where a similar point had arisen with regard to the sheriff's court.

Glyn, for the plaintiff, contended that, under the 87th section of the Common Law Procedure Act 1854 (17 & 18 Vict. c. 125), a County Court has the to order that the loss of such an instrupower ment should not be set up, provided an indemnity to the defendant was given to the satisfaction of the court against the claim of any other person."

His HONOUR said, that the section in question had not been extended by Order in Council to County Courts, as the previous sections with respect to attachment of debts and equitable defences had been, and held that the defence must prevail; and directed a nonsuit with costs, but with liberty to the plaintiff to bring another action. Nonsuit accordingly.

WAKEFIELD COUNTY COURT.
Tuesday, May 20.
(Before Mr. Serjt. TINDAL ATKINSON, Judge.)
HOULDSWORTH AND ANOTHER v. SEAL AND

ANOTHER.

Public Health Act 1875-Bond to secure costs of
Preliminary meeting to pass a resolution to
adopt-Resolution passed, but Act not carried
into effect.

His HONOUR said:-This is an action brought
by the plaintiffs to recover from the defendants
the sum of £12 2s. for expenses incurred by the
plaintiffs in convening a meeting under the pro-
visions of the Public Health Act 1875. The
defendants, with other inhabitants in the township
of Sandal Magna, were desirous, in the early part
of 1878, to have the township constituted a local
government district, and entered into a bond,
binding themselves, in the event of a resolution to
carry this intention into effect not being passed
at a duly convened public meeting, to pay the ex-
penses incurred by the plaintiffs in calling such
meeting. At the meeting the following resolution
was submitted to it and carried, namely:-"That
it is expedient that the township of Sandal Magna.
in the parish of Sandal Magna, in the West
Riding of the county of York, should be con-
stituted a local government district within
the meaning of the Public Health Act 1875.
A poll was demanded, and the voting being in
favour of the motion, the plaintiff, Mr. Walker, who
acted as the chairman and returning officer, on
the 9th April 1878, declared the resolution duly
passed. The usual application was upon this
made to the Local Government Board for their
consent to constitute the township into a local
government district, and an inspector, Mr. Harri-
son, was sent down from London to make a local
inquiry and report thereon. The result of this
inquiry was that on the 8th July the board, in a

Several applications for relief from the casual
fund were considered and adjudicated upon. Two
members were placed upon the superannuation
fund. Three members who had lost their wives
by death received the sum allowed under the
rules, viz. £25 each. The meeting having dis-
posed of its routine business, adjourned till Mon-
day, the 16th inst.

LEGAL NEWS.

as judge in this court in Hilary Term (Jan.) 1862, so that the learned judge had been seventeen years and a half on the Bench. He sat in Parliament for Nottingham, and was a leader of the Midland Circuit, so that his appointment, which occurred under Lord Palmerston's Government, the great seal being held by Lord Westbury, though it may have been partly ascribed to Parliamentary interest, was considered a perfectly fair one, and certainly was justified in the result. Mr. Justice Mellor tried cases very fairly and patiently, and there was no judge who tried them more pleasantly. He had, in an eminent degree, as Fitzroy Kelly so happily observed of his predecessor Coleridge, qualities quite as valuable as profound learning in the exercise of the judicial functions, and especially those valuable though homely qualities, good sense and good temper. He was extremely urbane in his manner, and his demeanour on the Bench was habitually marked by strong good sense and thorough good humour. He was eminently judicious; no one had a clearer sense of what was the rational view of a question, and it was probably from a similar quality of mind that he derived a quick perception of the ludicrous and a very strong sense of humour. It may safely be said of him, as was said of Wightman, Patteson, and Coleridge, that he never on the Bench said a word that could be deemed ill-natured or unkind. His temperament was far too genial and good-natured. He will be longest remembered as one of the three judges who tried "the Claimant." He shared with the Lord Chief Justice and Mr. Justice Lush the tedium of that intolerable trial, in which Mr. Justice Lush declared that his patience had been more severely tried than ever it had been before in the whole course of his

letter to the plaintiff, Mr. Walker, expressly de-shott (solicitors' clerks), were unanimously elected. | ceeded Mr. Justice Hill in Dec. 1861, and first sat clined to comply with the application, and the objects of the meeting as embodied in the resolution fell to the ground. The plaintiffs, who have incurred the expenses caused by this abortive step originated by the defendants, now seek to recover them on the ground that, although the condition of the bond is that the defendants are only to pay the costs incurred by the plaintiffs in the event of the resolution not being passed, yet, that looking to the whole operation of the statute, the words "the resolution being duly passed," must be extended to mean such resolution being carried into effect by the district being constituted, and that extrinsic evidence is admissible to annex incidents RETIREMENT OF MR. JUSTICE MELLOR. to the written instrument, when such incidents are consistent with the reasonable intention IT being understood that Mr. Justice Mellor was of the writing. That the only fund out of on Wednesday to take his farewell of the court which these expenses could have been paid on the occasion of his retirement from the Bench, had the district been formed would have there was a very full attendance of the Bar, and been a first charge upon the rates, and the also of the judges of the court, to witness his retireapplication having failed it would be inequitable ment and respond to his farewell. Such an occasion, and a great hardship to make the plaintiffs, who, says the Times, is always one of great interest to the as public officers, have no interest in the matter, Profession, especially in the case of a judge who pay the costs of these fruitless proceedings out of has sat for many years, as Mr. Justice Mellor has their own pockets. On the part of the defen- done, in Westminster-hall; and, indeed, it can dants it is contended that the words of the bond hardly occur in any other case, as a judge, unless carry their liability further than the non-passing removed by death or illness, usually, as in this of the resolution by the meeting, and the resolu- instance, sits for a great many years, and, theretion having been declared duly passed by the fore, such occasions are of very rare occurrence, plaintiffs, the bond is satisfied. The defendants and when they do occur they are of great interest. have, in fact, done that for which, if they had not And it has been usual for the Attorney-General of succeeded, they alone would have become liable, the day, as the head of the Bar, to signalize the and there being no funds out of which these ex- occasion by delivering to the retiring judge a penses can be met, is a casus omissus in the short address on their behalf embodying those statute with which the defendants have no concern. feelings of respect and regard with which the I am of opinion that in this case the well-known judge has inspired them. It is remarkable, rule of the common law must apply, namely, that indeed, how very rarely these occasions occur; evidence cannot be admitted to add to, subtract and it is almost startling to find that in life. It is not to be wondered from, or alter or vary any description of written this court there have only been three instances at that after a service of seventeen years contract. The terms of the contract in this case within forty years-indeed, it might probably be and a half, having almost attained the age of are express. The defendants say, "If you, the said fifty years. Certainly there had been only seventy, he should have become desirous of repose. plaintiffs, who are churchwardens, will convene a three instances in this court within the last forty It was well known that he contemplated retirepublic meeting, and the resolution which we will years, and the last was twenty-one years ago. It ment a year or two ago, but he was dissuaded submit to it is not passed, we will hold you harm- is nearly forty years ago since, in 1841, Mr. Justice from it by his brethren on the Bench, by whom, less as to the expenses not exceeding £50." No Littledale took his farewell of the court, the as before mentioned, he was very much esteemed. mention is made of any subsequent proceedings valedictory address being delivered by Sir John He desired, however, to retire, as his illustrious beyond the passing of the resolution, nor is there Campbell, the then Attorney-General. It is more predecessor, Sir John Coleridge, had done, before any provision made in the event of the resolu- than a quarter of a century ago since Mr. Justice his natural force and vigour were abated so as to lution so passed not being carried into effect. Patteson took his farewell, the address on behalf interfere with his discharge of his judicial duties; All that the defendants have contracted for of the Bar being delivered by Sir Alexander Cock- and he has done so. He has retired in full vigour is that the resolution shall pass, and in the burn, who then occupied the office of Attorney- and in full possession of his faculties, though event of failure they will, within the limit of £50, General. On that occasion, Sir Alexander made after a period of service more than two years pay the costs incurred of convening the meeting. use of a felicitous expression, afterwards happily longer than that which is usually deemed to warrant To make them liable on the failure in carrying applied by Sir Joseph Arnould in his poetic eulogy retirement. Except the Lord Chief Justice and out the objects of the promoters of the meeting to on Lord Denman-that the qualities and character Lord Justice Bramwell, there is no judge upon the pay the costs of the preliminary stages, costs ex- of the retiring judge were such, so happily blending Bench whose length of service exceeds, or, indeed, pressly limited by the statute to passing a resolu- great learning with amiable personal qualities, as to approaches, his own. Mr. Justice Mellor had always tion, would be to introduce a new liability which leave the Bar in doubt whether they most admired been a popular judge; he had become endeared to the was not within the contemplation of either party him as a judge or loved him as a man. It is twenty- Bar in the course of a long judicial career, by his to the bond at the time it was made. It is no one years ago since Sir John Coleridge took his fare- uniform urbanity of manner, his genial disposition, doubt a case of great hardship upon the plaintiffs, well of the Court, the address on that occasion being and his habitual good temper; and of all the memwho, as public officers, have no choice in the delivered by Sir Fitzroy Kelly, then Attorney-bers of the Bar who crowded into court to witness matter, but must, when security is given, incur General; and he, in happy terms of eulogy, his retirement there were very few who were not costs in which they have no personal interest and expressed the admiration entertained not only of on terms of personal acquaintance with him, cerfor the repayment of which, by a casus omissus in the "profound and varied learning" which distin- tainly there was not one who was not prepared to the statute, there is no fund, under the circum-guished the retiring judge, but also of those respond with warm sympathy to his farewell. As stances of such cases as the present, out of which qualities ("hardly less valuable," observed Sir the hour approached when the farewell would be they can be repaid; but it would be equally hard Fitzroy), of courtesy, urbanity, and patience taken, the court became extremely crowded, and upon the defendants, who have done all they con- which had always characterised him. That was the full attendance expressively indicated how tracted to do, and all that the statute called upon the last occasion of the kind which had occurred popular the retiring judge was with the Bar. The them to do, namely, to become liable only in the in this court previous to the present. Mr. front row was filled with the leaders of all the event of the ratepayers negativing a resolution Justice Hill, who followed Mr. Justice Coleridge, circuits, especially the judge's old circuit-the that the township in question should be constituted was forced to retire by illness which had pre- Midland. Every seat available for the Bar was a local government district, within the Public viously disabled him; and this had previously occupied, and every corner of the court was filled Health Act 1875. Holding this view free from been the case with Lord Denman, to whom, there- by those who could not obtain seats. any doubt, there must be a verdict for the de- fore, the valedictory addresses which were de- galleries also were filled with the private friends of fendants. livered (including a very touching one from the the retiring judge. Lord Gordon came in and puisne judges of his court) were transmitted in writ- sat by the side of the learned judge upon ing. This had happened, long before, in somewhat the bench; Lord Blackburn also came in and similar circumstances, to his illustrious prede- sat upon the bench, as did the other colleagues cessor, Lord Mansfield, who retired in the vaca- of the learned judge in this court-Mr. Justice tion on account of his age, and it is remarkable, Manisty and Mr. Justice Field, Lord Coleridge, and shows how rarely those occasions occur, that Lord Justice Bramwell, Lord Justice Brett, Lord there has been no instance in modern times (if Justice Cotton, Sir James Hannen, Baron Hudany) of the Lord Chief Justice of the Court taking dleston, Mr. Justice Grove, Mr. Justice Lopes, Mr. his farewell in court. Lord Mansfield's successors, Justice Lindley, Mr. Justice Denman, Mr. Justice Kenyon and Ellenborough, were removed by Hawkins, Baron Pollock, Mr. Justice Stephen; in den, was also removed by death, and his successor, crowded, and some of the judges had to stand. death; Lord Denman's predecessor, Lord Tenter-short, all the judges were present, the bench was Lord Campbell, was elevated to the woolsack. At about a quarter to four the Attorney-General, Mr. Justice Hill, who followed Mr. Justice Cole- the Solicitor-General, and Sir Henry James ridge was, as already stated, disabled by illness entered the court and took their places, and after

Wainwright, who appeared for the defendants, asked for costs, which were granted. Mr. Walker, on behalf of himself and co-plaintiff, applied for leave to appeal, and his Honour consented.

LAW SOCIETIES.

SOLICITORS' BENEVOLENT ASSOCIATION. The usual monthly meeting of the board of directors of this association, was held at the Law Institution, Chancery Lane, London, on Wednesday, 11th June, the following gentlemen being present: Mr. Sydney Smith (in the chair), Messrs. Brook, Mellersh (of Godalming), Paterson, Price, Rickman, Styan, Woolbert and Eiffe (secretary). A sum of £150 was distributed in grants of relief; four gentlemen were admitted members of the association, and other ordinary business

transacted.

UNITED LAW CLERKS' SOCIETY.
THE usual monthly committee meeting took place
at 3, Serjeant's-inn, Chancery-lane, on Monday, the
Sth inst., Mr. Wildey in the chair. Present:
Messrs. Allberry, Baily, Cripps, Freeman, Hall,
Jepson, Lewis, Spray, and Stewart. A ballot took
place for new members, when Messrs. F. Freeman,
W. Steadman, F. W. Watson, and W. G. Oak-

elevated to the House of Lords; Mr. Justice
before his retirement; Mr. Justice Blackburn was
Hannan was translated to the Probate Court;
Mr. Justice Wightman, Mr. Justice Shee, Mr.
Justice Hayes, Mr. Justice Quain, and Mr.
Justice Archibald were all removed by death;
and since the retirement of Mr. Justice Coleridge
twenty-one years ago there had been no instance
previous to the present of a judge of this court
taking his farewell of the court. There have been
since then only three instances in Westminster-hall
those of Baron Martin in the Exchequer, and Mr.
Justice Keating and Chief Justice Erle in the
Common Pleas; but since the retirement of Mr.
Justice Coleridge in 1858 there had been no such
instance in this court. Mr. Justice Mellor suc-

a pause of a few moments.

The

Bench in these terms: My Lord, before the Court The Attorney-General rose and addressed the rises for the day I desire to ask permission to address, on behalf of the Bar, a few words to Mr. Justice Mellor. The learned Attorney-General then-the whole of the Bar rising as a token of respect-addressed the learned judge in these terms: Mr. Justice Mellor, the Bar having learnt with much regret that you have come to the determination to retire from the Judicial Bench, and that after to-day you will not resume the seat in this court which you have for so long adorned, I desire, as the representative of the Bar of Englane, to avail myself of this, the only opportunity which can be well afforded to me, of addressing a

ew observations to you before we are compelled
-speaking to you as a judge-to bid you farewell.
My Lord, the Bar, though greatly grieved to lose
vou, are not surprised to find that you should
have made up your mind to retire. The life of a
judge, especially of a judge devoting himself to the
discharge of the onerous duties devolving upon him
with the zeal and earnestness which you have
shown, must be an arduous one, and it is most
natural that, after the severe labours you have
undergone on the Bench, succeeding as they did a
very successful and therefore necessarily laborious
career at the Bar, you should desire to enter upon
the enjoyment of a period of dignified repose.
My Lord, it is now more than seventeen years
since you were promoted to the Bench. How
swiftly those years have sped! To me it seems
but yesterday since I had the honour to appear
before you as one of the counsel for the prisoner
in, I believe, the first criminal case which came
before you after you were appointed. Your
Lordship will remember that trial. It was held
at the spring assizes of 1862, in the picturesque
old town of Appleby. My Lord, on that occa-
sion my client was on his trial before your Lord-
ship and a jury of his countrymen, and your
Lordship was also upon your trial before a jury
composed of the Bar of the Northern Circuit-
a jury of critics not disposed to be unduly
biased towards you, for before you were promoted
you had not been a member of their ranks. The
verdict, however, which those critics were con-
strained to return was on all points in your favour.
It was admitted that the appointment to the
judicial bench which had just been made was in
every respect an excellent one. My Lord, the
history of your judicial life since that trial of
seventeen years ago, or rather, I should say, since
your appointment, has fully demonstrated that the
opinion which was then formed of you was a just one.
Ever since that date all must admit that you have
been unceasing in your efforts worthily to dis-
charge the great functions of your office, and that
your efforts have been crowned with complete
success. My Lord, in the judgment of those for
whom I speak you have set a pattern to the judges
who have been your contemporaries, and to judges
who will sit in our courts after you have gone
from them, of the manner in which justice ought
to be administered. In dealing with legal ques-
tions you have shown that you have sought
the sources of the law, and have mastered
the great principles upon which our laws
are founded, and you have ever been anxious to
base your decisions upon such principles, disre-
garding technicalities and ingenious refinements
whenever they seemed calculated to lead your
mind astray from the broad track of common
sense; while in the investigation of questions of
fact you have displayed the acumen of a vigorous
intelligence, combined with the most admirable
and praiseworthy patience. My Lord, in the per-
formance of your duties as a judge not only have
you exhibited learning, industry, and ability, not
only have you shown yourself perfectly impartial
and fearlessly independent, but you have in a
marked and extraordinary degree proved yourself
the possessor of other qualities, without which
no man, however vast may be his talents, however
powerful his intellect, can ever be pronounced
a perfect judge. I allude, my lord, to your
kindliness of heart and to the thorough gene-
THE degree of Doctor of Laws (honoris causâ)
was conferred on the Right Hon. Sir W. R.
rosity of your disposition. My Lord, during the long Grove, one of Her Majesty's judges of the High
period of your judicial career you have invariably Court of Justice, at a Congregation of the Uni-
treated the Bar, not with courtesy merely, for cour-versity of Cambridge, held last Tuesday, and in
tesy we have a right to expect, but with a generous
kindness and a delicate consideration which was

more than our due, and which at times might perhaps, without injustice, have been withheld. My Lord, the members of the Bar have always felt it a delight to practise before you, and they will ever remember with feelings of gratitude the manner in which you have treated them. And now I must cease to trouble you. I have no doubt that while you are in the enjoyment of the leisure you have so fully earned and so richly deserved, many reflections will occur which will afford you satisfaction. I hope that not the least pleasurable will will be consciousness that during your judicial life you have won for yourself the esteem, the admiration, and the affection of the Bar of England.

should not be fully and efficently discharged by me. vital error is common to the reasoning of both:
The kindness I have received from my colleagues, Durnonovaria" says that "it appears that the
the assistance I have invariably received from majority of your correspondents think that educa-
the Bar, soon dissipated my anxieties in that tion is the only effectual panacea for what they
respect; and I may now say, in the presence of consider the present deplorable state of the Legal
the Bar and of all my dear friends who are around Profession." This is a mistake; no sensible person
me, that the kindness I have received from every can entertain such an opinion. What many do be.
member of the judicial bench-in whatever court lieve is, that education is a most important ele-
has been to me the greatest happiness, and the ment in attaining that standard which they, as
most pleasant assurance to me that I was not well as "Durnonovaria," are desirous of seeing
unacceptable to them. Our intercourse was not reached neither do they think the present posi-
the mere formal intercourse which must take tion of the Profession so deplorable as is suggested.
place between men in such a position, but it was This idea was started by Sedens in Antro," a
kindly, friendly, uninterrupted by a single day correspondent who, as long as he remains in his
and at the present moment I have only to express hermit-like retirement, may be safely passed with-
to my brother judges the outpouring of a grateful out much notice; what is feared is, that by an in-
heart for their constant kindness to me. (The difference to passing events, such as the increase
learned judge were here deeply affected and spoke of the educational standards of the country, and
with much emotion.) In such circumstances I what is worse, as regards the Profession, the orders
cannot but feel deep regret in being obliged to dispensing with the preliminary examination, the
retire from association with them; but circum- Profession may soon find itself comprising a large
stances have compelled me to the conclusion that proportion of men who are not equal to the re-
I am following the dictates of prudence as quirements of modern society. "Another Coro-
well as serving the interests of the public in ner" says," I recognise culture as one of the es-
making way for another man. Mr. Attorney-sential characteristics of a gentleman;" and for
General, I shall ever look back on this day his idea of culture he refers us to the letter of
with pleasure, and its memory will always be a "Durnonovaria." This gentleman quotes a defi-
well-spring of delight and satisfaction. I thank nition of education," a proper excitement and just
you for the assurances you have given me on the control of our various faculties and organs." This
part of the Bar, and I shall look to the future of is a very feeble definition; for what is a "proper
the Bar with the deepest interest, assured as I am excitement, and what is a "just" control? It
that so long as the functions of the Bar are begs the question, and we contend that the greater
honourably performed they will afford the best the facilities and incentives to education-schc
security for the liberties of the people. I thank lastic, technical and social-the greater are the
you most sincerely for the kind assurances you chances of reaching a higher average of conduct.
have given me; I only fear that they were too Education in its fullest sense is the cultivation and
flattering; but if I have discharged the duties discipline of the various powers of the mind. For
which have fallen upon me in the manner and in a man to have to grope his way and find all his
the spirit you have described, it has been very knowledge by actual experience would be a great
much owing to the manner in which I have always waste of energy: whereas the importance of edu
been treated by the Bar. I must again assure cation properly directed cannot be over-estimated.
you, Mr. Attorney-General that I feel most grate- "Durnonovaria proceeds to say "he is to be
ful to you for your kind expressions. I remember educated not merely because he is to be, say, a
your distinguished career, which has passed under lawyer, but because he is to be a man.'
"Who denies
my judicial notice. The Northern Circuit was the it? But I say that he who learns most about men
first I went; it was, indeed, my trial, and I felt will himself be the most manly. Cicero remarks
that it was so; and when I sat upon that Bench that "not to know what has been transacted in
on which the great judges of former times had former times, is to continue always a child; if no
sat I confess I felt a kind of awe, and it was to use is made of the labours of past ages, the world
me a great delight to feel the agreeable conscious- must remain in the infancy of knowledge." That
ness that I had secured the confidence and favour is to say, the more knowledge, the greater progress.
of the great Bar of the Northern Circuit. It is, "Durnonovaria" admits that there is now
therefore, Mr. Attorney-General, with peculiar greater desire on the part of the humbler classes
pleasure that I receive from you the observations to improve the condition of their children by
you have so kindly addressed to me. I have now making them, as the phrase goes, gentlemen' than
no more to say than that painful yet inevitable there was formerly; and this by education.
word, "Farewell." I say it wishing heartily pro- "Durnonovaria" approves of this honest ambi
sperity to the Bar of England, whose progress I tion; then why disapprove of it in other spheres,
shall watch with the greatest possible interest, if it is equally honest? The ambition amongst
hoping that it may attain even to a higher estima- lawyers to raise the Profession is not to obtain a
tion than it at present possesses.
false position in society, but to retain an honour-
able one. They do not wish to make them-
selves gentlemen, but to continue to be
gentlemen. And nothing can be worse than
that a solicitor unqualified educationally for
his office should pride himself that the dignity
of his Profession is sufficient in itself.
"Dur-
nonovaria" says, "The good old notion that an
'attorney is a gentleman," his descendants of to-
day should never forget." I say that, unless he
is a gentleman in his mind, character, and con-
duct, let him forget that he is a gentleman by
profession as quickly as he can. The sham
gentlemen of the day are common enough. Dr.
We have a number of ginger-
bread young gentry thrown upon the world who
remind one of the abandoned hulks sometimes
picked up at sea with only a monkey on board."
Perhaps, after all, there is not much difference
of opinion as to what is desired, but only how to
get it. This is the recipe of "Durnonovaria:"
The only way to elevate the tone of the Profes-
sion is to elevate the nature of those belonging to
it," &c. How true! but how much like the fa
lacy of begging the question. To improve the
quality of the flour, you must improve the quality
of the corn! Quite so; but how? Elevate the
nature first, that is, by example, by teaching, by
education, and something solid will be possessed
which may be then used-sometimes, alas, for evil,
but generally for good. Upon such a basis should
the future dignity of the Profession be established
-a dignity for the loss of which the world would
OF THE suffer. For where is there greater scope for the
exercise of all those noble qualities which are the
glory of mankind than in a profession which,
freed from the disease of formalism and techni-
calities, enables its ministers to take their fellow-
man by the hand at every great practical step in
life, and, by insisting on the principles of equity,
bringing down (so to speak) the justice of heaven,
and making it familiar in the market place?

The judges present then took their leave of the retiring judge, who then, with his colleagues, left the court.

THE LORD CHANCELLOR.-The Lord Chancellor returned to his residence in Cromwellhouses on Monday from spending the Whitsun recess with the Countess Cairns and family at Lindisfarne-lodge, Bournemouth.

presenting his Lordship to the Vice-Chancellor,
the Public Orator referred to the learned recipient
of the distinction as excelling both in science and
jurisprudence.

THE Hon. Philip Anstie Smith, chief justice of
the Gold Coast, who died at Accra, Gold Coast.
on the 1st May, at the age of fifty-five, was
called to the Bar at the Inner Temple on the
31st Jan. 1851. In July 1876 he was appointed
Chief Justice of the Bahamas. Mrs. Anstie
from the Gold Coast.
Smith died on the 21st May on the voyage home

JOHN SKELBOCK WOOD, a barrister, has been
committed for trial from the Marlborough Police-
court on charges of fraud.

PROFESSION.

Mr. Justice MELLOR, who had been deeply affected and whose voice was sometimes broken CORRESPONDENCE with emotion, then replied in these terms.-Mr. Attorney-General, if during the seventeen years and a half of my judicial life I have earned the respect and confidence of the Bar, it is the most appropriate reward that a retiring judge could receive. When I was first appointed a member of this court it was associated with all its great traditions. It was presided over by the present Lord Chief Justice, whose brilliant abilities have only been rendered more conspicuous by time. My colleagues were Mr. Justice Wightman, Mr. Justice Blackburn, and Mr. Justice Crompton; and I need hardly say that when I was appointed to sit with such a distinguished body of judges I felt no small apprehension lest the office of judge

LEGAL EDUCATION AND THE STATUS OF SOLICITORS.-The similarity of the sentiments of your two correspondents Durnonovaria and "Another Coroner " on these subjects very well illustrates that conservative spirit which finds favour with a certain number of those who have expressed their opinions in these columns. In the letter of the former we have a neatly expressed statement of certain opinions, which, though they are somewhat vague and general and thickly interspersed with truistic remarks, are indorsed with approval by the latter gentleman. But one

66

Smiles says:

S.

a

THE STUDY OF THE LAW.-In this age of flimsied study, of "abridgments" and "guides," it is refreshing to read a terse, vigorous, and ample work like that of the late learned Mr. William Hayes, entitled "An Introduction to Conveyancing," &c.