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480 Exchequer Sittings.-List of Law Bills in Parliament.-Editor's Letter Box.

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Saturday Monday

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Pleas, Demurrers, Excep

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tions, Causes, and Fur. LIST OF LAW BILLS IN PARLIA

ther Directions.

Short Causes and Unop

MENT, WITH NOTES.

Royal Assent.

3d April.

posed Petitions previous Bolton Small Debts Court.
to general Paper.

Pleas, Demurrers, Exceptions, Causes, and Fur

ther Directions.

Tuesday

Thursday

30

Motions.

Friday

May 1

Saturday

Monday

Tuesday

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Wednesday 6

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7

Motions.
Short Causes and Unop-
posed Petitions previous
to general Paper.

9 Pleas, Demurrers, Excep11]tions, Causes, and Fur

ther Directions.

13 Motions.

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House of Lords.

Copyholds Enfranchisement. Ld. Brougham. [In Select Committee.]

For facilitating the Administration of Justice. [For second reading.] Lord Chancellor. For the commutation of Manorial Rights. [For second reading.] Lord Redesdale. For defining the powers of the Metropolitan Police Justices.

[Passed.]

Marquis of Normanby. For giving Summary Protection to the publication of Parliamentary Papers.

[In Committee.]

Newton Abbott Small Debts Court. [For second reading.]

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AMENDMENTS IN PRINTED PAPERS BILL.

The amendments proposed by Lord Denman are, that the defendant is to bring before the Court or a Judge an affidavit of the parliamentary papers &c. duly authenticated, whereupon the Court or Judge shall stay the proceedings. No costs are to be allowed the plaintiff, but costs to the defendant in the discretion of the Court or Judge. The truth of the libel established in a former action, for any extract or abstract of such paper shall be a good defence.

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"A constant reader" is informed that he must keep twelve terms before he can be called to the Bar. We believe there is no difference in the requisite number of dinners at the several Inns.

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We shall here shortly state the law relating to letters of marque and reprisal.

Letters of marque and reprisal have been grantable by the law of nations whenever the subjects of one state are oppressed and injured by those of another, and justice is denied by that state to which the oppressor belongs. The power of issuing these letters of marque belongs to the Crown as a branch of its prerogative, but the mode in which they shall be issued is regulated by statute.

The first statute relating to the subject is the 4 Hen. 5, c. 7, which enacts that in case of breach of truce by enemies, letters of marque shall be granted to the parties grieved, who may complain to the Keeper of the Privy Seal, who shall make for the complainant (if he so require) letters of request of restitution under his seal in due form; and if restitution be not made accordingly within a reasonable time, the Lord Chancellor of England shall cause to be made out to him letters of marque in due form, and by virtue of these (says Blackstone) he may attack and seize the property of the aggressive nation without hazard of being condemned as a robber or pirate."

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But the modern practice is to empower the Lord High Admiral, or the Commissioner of the Admiralty, to grant commissions to the owners of armed ships or privateers, and the prizes captured are di

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|vided according to a contract entered into between the owners and the captain and crew of the ship. But the owners, before the commission is granted, are obliged to give security to the Admiralty to make compensation for any violation of treaties between those powers with whom the nation is at peace, and they must give security that the ship shall not be employed in smuggling."

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An act is now usually passed on each occasion, reciting either that war has commenced, or that an order in council has been issued ordering general reprisals, and by this act, the shares in the prizes, and the Court for adjudicating them, are particu larly regulated. But these statutes do not affect the royal prerogative in the slightest degree.d

Letters of marque and reprisal granted by the Crown are liberally construed, but may be vacated in three ways; 1st. by express revocation, but this is only allowable in the case of letters patent granted during war; when granted in time of peace and unsatisfied, it is otherwise; though 2dly, even in such case, the cessation of hostilities will defeat the rights granted; 3dly, these letters may be vacated by the misconduct of the grantees, as by cruelty, &c.

The reprisals granted by the law of England, according to a learned writer, are of two sorts, ordinary or extraordinary. The ordinary are within the realm or without, and are always granted when any English merchant, or his goods are spoiled or taken from him in parts beyond the sea

c 1 Blackstone by Stewart. p. 271.
d Chitty on Prerog. 42.
Molloy, Book I. Chap. 2.

482

The Law relating to Letters of Marque and Reprisals.

by merchant strangers: and if he cannot, tion; and that the property obtained is upon suit, or the king's demanding justice for held by them for the benefit of the persons him, obtain the same, he shall have, upon injured. And then, if this is not sufficient, testimony of such prosecution, a writ out of by a further order in Council, general rethe Chancery to arrest the merchants of that prisals will be granted, "so that as well nation, or their goods here in England, the his Majesty's fleet and ships, as also all which is grantable to the subject oppressed of other ships and vessels that should be comcommon right by the Chancellor or Keeper, missioned by letters of marque or general of England, who always in such case hath reprisals, or otherwise, by his Majesty's the approbation of the King or Council, or Commissioners for executing the office of both, for his so doing; the other, which is for | Lord High Admiral of Great Britain, shall satisfaction out of the realm, is always under and may seize all ships, &c." "h and under the Great Seal. The extraordinary re- | this latter order, privateers will be com prisals are by letters of marque for reparation missioned. at sea, or any place out of the realm, grantable by the Secretaries of State, with the like approbation of the King or Council, or both; but they are only during the King's | pleasure, and to weaken the enemy during the time of war, and may at any time be revoked.

The ordinary practice at present, as we conceive is, first, by order in Council to grant general reprisals, by which the King's ships proceed alone against the ships, goods, and subjects of the aggressive na

g Of this nature is the order in council just issued, which is as follows:

"ORDER IN COUNCIL.-At the Court at Buckingham Palace, the 3d day of April, 1840. Present, the Queen's most excellent Majesty in Council.--Her Majesty having taken into consideration the late injurious proceedings of certain officers of the Emperor of China towards officers and subjects of her Majesty; and her Majesty having given orders that satisfaction and reparation for the same shall be demanded from the Chinese government; and it being expedient that, with a view to obtain such satisfaction and reparation, ships and vessels and cargoes, belonging to the Emperor of China and to his subjects, shall be detained and held in custody; and, that if such reparation and satisfaction be refused by the Chinese Government, the ships and vessels and cargoes so detained, and others to be thereafter detained, shall be confiscated and sold, and that the proceeds thereof shall be applied in such manner as her Majesty may be pleased to direct : her Majesty, therefore, is pleased, by and with the advice of her privy council, to order, and it is hereby ordered, that the commanders of her Majesty's ships of war do detain and bring into port, all ships, vessels, and goods belonging to the emperor of China, or his subjects, or other persons inhabiting within any of the countries, territories, or dominions of China; and in the event of such reparation and satisfaction as aforesaid having been refused by the Chinese Government, to bring the same to judgment in any of the Courts of Admiralty within her Majesty's dominions and to that end, her Majesty's

The power which is granted by the letters of marque and reprisal, should be restrained in its operation to the subjects of the of fending state; a clause, therefore, in a charter, giving power to seize the goods of every person, is illegal and void.1 But where a vessel was cruising under letters of marque against one state-as, for instance, against France - Lord Storell held, that she was at liberty, on obtaining notice of hostilities commenced against another | country, as Spain, to capture a Spanish vessel with the same advantage to himself as if the prize had been French.j

Advocate-General with the Advocate of the Admiralty, are forthwith to prepare the draft of a commission, and present the same to her Majesty at this board, authorizing the commissioners for executing the office of Lord High Admiral to will and require the High Court of Admiralty of Great Britain, as also the several Courts of Admiralty within her Majesty's dominions, to take cognizance of and judicially proceed upon all and all manner of captures, seizures, prizes, and reprizals of all ships, vessels, and goods, that are or shall be taken; and to hear and determine the same according to the course of Admiralty, and the laws of nations, to adjudge and condemn all such ships, vessels, and goods, as shall belong to China, or subjects of the Emperor of China, or to any others inhabiting within any of his countries, territories, or dominions: and that such powers and clauses be inserted in_the said commission as have been usual and are according to former precedents; they are, likewise to prepare and lay before her Majesuy at this board, a draft of such instructions Admiralty in her Majesty's foreign governas may be proper to be sent to the Courts of ments and plantations for their guidance herein: and the said commissioners are to give the necessary directions herein accordingly.

C. C. GREVILLE.

h See the preamble of 45 Geo. 3, c. 72.
i Nightingale v. Brydges, 1 Show. 137.
The Sacra Familia, 5 Rob. Ec. R. 360.

Chancery Reform.-Appointment of Examiners.-New Bills in Parliament.

CHANCERY REFORM.

THE MASTERS' RETURNS. CHANCERY REFORM is now, we think, proceeding in the right direction. We recently laid before our readers the returns of the Six Clerks, and we have now before us those of the Masters; and we must say, that they appear to us fully to bear out the assertion in our last number, that the office, as now constituted, is much too indulgent to the weakness of human nature-that the work is unequally divided, and that there is too wide an option given to the Master as to whether he will work or not. This may easily be proved in a very few lines. The returns relate to the years ending Michaelmas Term 1838 and Michaelmas Term 1839. In 1838 Master Dowdeswell attended 166 days, and in 1839, 193 days, and the average number of hours exceeded five, but did not amount to six. Master Farrer attended, in 1838, 191 days, and in 1839, 194 days, and was occupied four and three-quarters of an hour. Sir Giffin Wilson attended, in 1838, 183 days, and in 1839, 194 days, and was occupied four hours and upwards. Lord Henley, in 1838, attended 181 days, and was occupied four hours minus 7 minutes; and in 1839, 190 days, and was occupied three and three-quarters of an hour.

Mr. William. Brougham attended, in 1838, 213 days, and was occupied from five to six hours a-day, and in 1839, 228 days, and was occupied the same time. Mr. Lynch, in 1839, attended 211 days, and was occupied six hours and a quarter a-day. Mr. Senior attended, in 1838, 162 days, and was occupied rather more than four hours, and in 1839, 176 days, and was occupied nearly three hours and three-quarters.

Sir William Horne and Mr. Duckworth's returns, owing to their recent appointment, we may pass over, simply stating that Sir William Horne, since his appointment, has attended from five to six hours, and Mr.

Duckworth six hours.

It is thus quite clear that some of the Masters are occupied just double the number of hours that others are. Let us refer to the year 1839, and we shall see that in that year Lord Henley was occupied in his office about 633 hours, and that Mr. Wm. Brougham was occupied about 1254 hours, or nearly double: that while Mr. Senior contented himself with about 660 hours'

a See ante, p. 437.

483

work in his office, Mr. Lynch gave 1318 hours, or more than double; and that, although the contrast is not so great in the other offices, yet the attendance seems to have been regulated entirely by the inclination of the individual Master. If it be said that the work is done elsewhere, we cannot allow this to be a valid defence, because extra time may have been given as well by those who work most as by those who work least in their offices. The public has a right, as we submit, to the services of the Master in his office for a reasonable time; and we must say that we do not consider even six hours a-day, with about three months vacation in the year, too hard work to require of all the Masters.

There are several other points in this return to which we shall hereafter refer; but, for the present, we shall leave the matter to the consideration of our readers.

NEW ORDER FOR THE APPOINTMENT OF EXAMINERS OF SOLICITORS.

I

Wednesday, the 15th April, 1840.

DO HEREBY ORDER and appoint that Joseph Bicknell, Richard Mills, George Gatty, and John Wainwright, Sworn Clerks in Chancery, together with John Teesdale, Thomas Metcalfe, Thomas Adlington, Robert Riddell Bayley, William Loxham Farrer, George Frere, James William Freshfield, Bryan Holme, William Lowe, Edward Rowland Pickering, William Tooke, and Richard White, Solicitors of the Court of Chancery, be Examiners, until the last day of Easter Term 1841, to examine every person (not having been previously admitted an Attorney of the Courts of Queen's Bench, Common Pleas, and Exchequer, or one of them) who shall apply to be admitted a Solicitor of the said Court of Chancery, touching his fitness and capacity to act as a Solicitor of the said Court: And I do hereby direct that the said Examiners shall conduct the examination of every such applicant as aforesaid, in the manner and to the extent pointed out by the Order of the 27th day of July, 1836, and the Regulations approved by me in reference thereto, and in no other manner and to no further extent, LANGDALE, M, R.

NEW BILLS IN PARLIAMENT.

PAROCHIAL ASSESSMENTS,

This is a bill to explain and amend the act to regulate parochial assessments. It recites

484 New Bills in Parliament.-Attorneys Witnessing Cognovits.- Re-admissions. the 7 W. 4, c. 96, "An Act to regulate paro. | on his behalf. Before this was done, the queschial assesments." The proposed enactments tion was put to him in the presence of the de

are

1. That the justices acting in and for every borough, cinque port, town corporate, liberty and franchise, shall four times at least in every year, hold special sessions for the purpose of hearing and determining any appeals against the poor rates of any parish within the said borough, cinque port, town corporate, liberty or franchise, and for such purposes shall have the same powers as are given in the said recited act to the justices acting in and for every petty sessions division, subject to the same right of appeal from their decision to the general or quarter session of the peace for such borough, town corporate, or other place, as is reserved in and by the said act.

2. That the same remedy by appeal to justices at special sessions which is given by the said first recited act, or by this act, to persons who may consider themselves aggrieved by any rate made and levied for the relief of the poor of any parish, shall be extended to and construed to apply to every rate which shall be made for the repair of the highways of any parish or place, under the provisions of 6 W. 4, intituled, "An Act to consolidate and amend the laws relating to highways in that part of Great Britain called England," or any other act which has been or shall be hereafter passed for the general regulation of the highways.

3. Rate not to be allowed out of sessions, nor altered after allowance, except on appeal. Penalty on overseers, &c. for neglect in making and setting forth the rate.

4. Justices at quarter sessions may appoint inspectors of rates. Inspector authorized to appeal on behalf of the county against the parochial rates.

5. Inspectors' expences to be paid out of

county rate.

6. That the poor law commissioners shall be and they are hereby empowered to issue orders for surveys and valuations of parishes upon such representations as are required by the said first recited act from time to time as often as they shall deem requisite, and to amend, alter, suspend or rescind any order for the making of any survey and valuation which they may have issued or may hereafter issue.

7. Interpretation clause.

fendant, whether he was an attorney of one of the Superior Courts?" He replied, “ that he had been a practising attorney for upwards of forty years, and was then duly qualified."

The defendant made two payments on the cognovit, after which he took out the present summons to shew cause why the cognovit should not be set aside on the ground that his own attorney (the subscribing witnes) had not taken out his certificate for the year 1839, of which circumstance Le (the defendant) was not aware when he required him to attest his signature.

On enquiring, it was found, that this attorney took out his certificate in February, 1838, which expired on the 15th of November in the same year, and that he had not renewed it since.

On the hearing of the summons at Chambers, it was contended on the part of the plaintiff that the cognovit having been executed within the twelve months allowed for the renewal of the attorney's certificate, the attestation was sufficient; also that the defendant ought not to be allowed to take advantage of his own wrong doing, as it was he himself who held out this attorney as being properly quali fied, and the plaintiff could have no means of ascertaining whether he had taken out his certificate or not.

The Chief Justice, certainly with much reluctance, held that the cognovit was not duly executed, and made the order to set it aside on the authority of Verge v. Dodd, E. 11 Geo. 4, K. B., referred to in Tidd's Supplement to the 9th edition of his Practice.

After this decision it will not be prudent to receive a cognovit as execnted, unless the name of the subscribing witness is found in the Law List last published, and even then a period will intervene from the 15th of November until the republication in March, against which I don't know how the plaintiff's attorney is to secure himself, unless indeed he requires the production of the certificate itself.

C.

RE-ADMISSION OF ATTORNEYS. [Last day of Easter Term, 1840.]

8. Act to apply only to England and Wales. Bretherton, James, Gloucester.

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Bossey, John Meggit, Howden, York.
Battiscombe, William Henry, Bristol.
Barton, George, Rugby.

Crampton, John Norman, Rochester.
Hayward, Phillip, 14, Buckingham Street
Strand.

Knight, James, Burton-upon-Trent.
Lamb, William Ellis, Witney and Bdampton,

Oxon.

Leighton, Thomas, 33, Upper King Street,
Bloomsbury.

May, Phillip, 15, Elizabeth Street, Eaton Sq.
Thomas, George, Swansea.
Wright, Thomas Skeeles, 6, Bucklersbury,
and 9, Union Street, Blackfriar's Road.

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