in Lancaster; and this very excellent choice speaks well for Lord Carliste.

Two very painful episodes have, nevertheless, occurred in this series of gratifying events: one is the approaching retirement of one of the very ablest, most patient, learned, and amiable judges who ever adorned the bench. Whilst in the fullest enjoyment of his acute and masterly intellect, Mr. Justice Patteson is taken from the bench by the growing infirmity which has been stealing on him for years past. Deeply as we deplore the calamity of such a loss, it is impossible to deprecate the decision taken. The deafness of the truly excellent judge rendered it difficult to himself to do justice to the cases he tried. We have seldom had more reason to lament the shortcomings of medical and surgical art in the removal of infirmities which would seem to be little else than mechanical derangements susceptible of simple remedies. Mr. M. D. Hill and Mr. Watson are named as probable successors, and it is not by any means impossible that vacancies for both these appointments may shortly occur, another of the learned judges being in a state of health which gives cause to apprehend his speedy retirement from judicial

labour.

The County Court judge's conduct at Liverpool forms the second subject of lamentation; but inasmuch as it is sub judice, we refrain from further comment on it. It were unjust however to Mr. Ramshay to condemn his defects of courtesy and dignity of demeanour and language, without lamenting a pernicious example set, though certainly no excuse afforded to him, in a still higher sphere. In our humble judgment, next to a sense of justice, there is no qualification more essential to a judge than that of being a gentleman. It is an attribute of far more constant use and power than even that of legal attainment, and commands far more general and unfailing deference. A clear head and a kind heart are alike indispensable: and the immense powers now wielded by the new order of judges, as well as by their superiors, render it more than ever essential that they should be thus recommended to public favour; especially in a country like this, where few things which are unpopular are ever beneficial, and where neither bluster, abuse, or pomposity are often mistaken for dignity, even by the lowest classes of the people.

ART. IX.—THE PROSPECTS OF THE BAR.

THE business in the superior courts is gradually but steadily sinking. The body of men whose education has had the pursuit of advocacy in these courts as its object, and the emoluments of practice in them as the incentive and reward of their efforts, suddenly find the foundations of their prospects undermined, and their just hopes and ambition in great measure, if not wholly, jeopardised.

The most far-sighted of the organs of public intelligence thus expresses the views which this state of things presents to the mind of the impartial observer :

"The change now going on in all the relations of the legal profession is becoming every day more manifest—is marked by circumstances of increasing significance, and must at length attract the attention of society at large, which for the most part does not consider itself personally interested in the great social revolution which is at the present moment almost accomplished. There are few of us, however, who are not in some way almost immediately concerned in the fortunes and condition of the acute, educated, and powerful class by which the law is administered, and by which it is in a great degree framed and enacted. That this class should be made subject to ennobling rather than degrading influences, that the morality it adopts for its guidance should be wise and honourable, and that the inmediate rules in obedience to which professional conduct is to be directed may be such as intelligent gentlemen can cheerfully follow, are matters in which every class of the community has a deep, continued, and ever pressing interest. If the persons by whom the law is administered are generally disesteemed, the law itself will soon come into disrepute. If the lower forms of the legal profession are not bound by strict principles of honour, the high places in the law will soon be found occupied by men not deserving, and certainly not receiving, the respect and regard of society. The unhesitating submission to judicial decisions which has for ages been among the most striking and beneficial distinctions of the English people will soon cease to be felt or evinced, influence and solicitation will be employed to sway the tribunals of the land, and the many miseries which attend upon a corrupt judicature will inevitably follow.

"In thus deducing vast consequences from apparently insignificant sources, let us not be accused of dealing with imaginary evils, and of exaggerating the effects that may attend upon the social changes which even the least attentive among us must perceive to be at this moment in progress. These changes we sincerely believe may be made the occasion of great benefit to the commonwealth. They may also, we fear, if not wisely managed, lead to unspeakable mischief. The good and the evil are in the hands of society itself. By it the character of the change must be in effect determined."

These extremely well put remarks form a very apt text for the suggestions which we are about to make as to the provisions of the County Court Extension Bill, which was not passed last session, but which it is intended to reintroduce in the approaching one.

The Bar is being rapidly stranded; and, deprived of the business which used to flow into the accustomed channels, is now sedulously excluded from the new oues. The determination of the attorneys to exclude the Bar from the County Courts is at present likely to prove but too successful.

The older practitioners among the attorneys do not receive the new class of business which the County Courts have engendered. It falls, on the contrary, into the hands of a body of younger men, who study the art of advocacy, with all the improved means and opportunities of cultivating it with effect, which the increased appliances of education and civilisation open to them. Being of the status of an attorney they can take the low fees which the nature of the cases and the spirit of the County Courts suggest and require, and which the conventional etiquette at the Bar forbids the barrister to accept. These men are generally competent for the work they undertake, and in many cases are even more so than the barristers they exclude. They are rendered fit by the practice they obtain, and, in default of which, those whom they supplant never can become fitter.

Thus most true is it, as Lord Denman has said, in his letter to Lord Brougham of June 1st:-"The present state of things threatens the annihilation of the Bar as a class in society; for I think we cannot doubt that the public mind is decidedly in favour of the change; and I hear from all quarters that the most eminent men of the profession for the most part sit idle in court, and that the juniors are losing all hopes of succeeding in the world as barristers. Nothing, surely, can be more preposterous than the state of Westminster Hall contrasted with the County Courts-that some of the best judicial talent the country ever enjoyed should be unemployed, while business flows with a redundant stream to men comparatively unknown."

Such are the County Courts compared with the courts at Westminster; and so they will continue to be so long as the attainment of justice, which is prompt and inexpensive in the former, is tedious and costly in the latter. Lord Denman's suggestion of the remedy is founded on the fate of Mahomet, who was forced to go to the mountain, inasmuch as the mountain would not come to him.

The courts of the superior judges must be assimilated to those

of the counties. There should, Lord Denman thinks, be "such a reform of abuse, such a sweeping abolition of fiction and verbiage-those pets of English lawyers-the establishment of such an intelligible course of procedure in our courts, as will be satisfactory to the public and conducive both to the honour and interest of our profession."

With great deference to the noble and learned lord, this can only be achieved by making the superior courts almost on a footing with the County Courts. That is the only standard of what is "satisfactory to the public."

The first step towards doing this is to multiply the circuits to at least six times a year; to reduce the fees to the same or nearly the same amount as the County Courts; to give them exclusive jurisdiction in all suits where more than 50%. is claimed; and in all those actions which they now have an exclusive right to try, such as ejectment, libel, &c. The pleadings, moreover, would require to be reduced to the same level as in the County Court suits. The superior courts, or a single judge in either of them, should also hear all appeals from the inferior courts. Exclusive audience should be of course reserved to barristers in the superior courts. One judge would suffice for each circuit.

If such measures be adopted, the profession of the Bar may be preserved with benefit instead of injury to the public. Any other mode of doing so will only degrade the profession and deteriorate the character of public justice, by making the interests of the nation subserve those of an isolated class.

We confess that we are and have been prone to cling with great partiality to our old and revered forms of law; perhaps too much so; and to hope, even against hope, that a system, the parent of so pure a jurisprudence as ours, might well-with moderate adaptations to the progress and requirements of the times-continue and endure with the empire it has strengthened and adorned. This seems to be no longer possible; and alterations of a character far beyond administrative changes and mere improvements must be inevitable, when they are recommended by a mind so masterly, and a judgment so matured, as those of Lord Denman.

It is indeed no vain fear which the learned Lord expresses, that the present system may end by extinguishing the very class of men from whom the judges of both courts can be supplied. We confess that we see no other means of keeping the Bar in existence, than such an one as we have ventured to trace.

The project recently entertained, of allowing clients to instruct counsel, is so derogatory to their position, and would prove so

subversive of their respectability, that we trust it will not be renewed. It might, however, be advantageously provided, that in all cases tried, even in the County Courts, where the damages are above 201., counsel should have exclusive audience whereever three barristers were present. This would make a very material difference, and secure them some amount of business in these courts; the attorneys, in such cases, being also secured their fee as at present. The entire addition to the suitor would be the 11. 3s. 6d. payable to counsel, and this would surely be no serious drawback from the economy of an extension of cheap justice-so great, that from 20l. to 801. are saved in the great majority of causes over the old mode of trying them.

The abandonment of the old system of Pleading seems to be the sore point with a large portion of the profession. Now the object of pleading is simply to advertise the parties respectively of the cause of action and the kind of defence, by means of which a triable issue is joined. This is done every day in the County Courts when the suit is about to be heard. The great objection arising from this is, that, although the judge may easily take care that the issue is properly raised, it may so happen that it is one which either of the parties may not have anticipated, and the proceeding with the trial would under such circumstances be an obvious injustice. The remedy is to give the judge full power to adjourn the hearing, on such terms as he may think fair. This is done in the County Courts, and it certainly is attended by very little if any inconvenience.

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The Times" thus comments on the prospect opened to the profession by the County Courts :

"But if, as we believe, the chief legal business will hereafter be transferred to the County Courts, the character, the rules of conduct, and the established morality of those who practise in those courts assume an importance equal to that hitherto attaching to the rules of Westminster Hall. The immense body of persons who have hitherto been accustomed, in the various characters of attorneys, barristers, and judicial functionaries, to contribute to the administration of the law in the metropolis, will, in fact, soon be scattered in separate groups over the country. The great mass of business will be done in the county courts. The law will be kept uniform by means of a central court of appeal, for which a very restricted bar will be found sufficient. If this great change is effected rapidly, as everything induces us to believe it will be, the practical question is immediately suggested-will it be wise to continue the distinction heretofore existing between the two branches of the profession, and thus enable a provincial bar to arise round each county court, with all the rules which have been hitherto adopted, or shall we entirely break down the distinction between barristers and attorneys, and trust to chance