majority of cases which came before them, they were invested with all the powers of the Lord High Chancellor of Ireland, were unable to enforce that degree of regularity and decorum with which the proceedings ought to have been conducted. The most important business of the country was transacted in the masters' offices, and will now be transferred to the Vice-Chancellor and his staff. We therefore expect that, from the first, there will be proper accommodation for the regular and decent discharge of business, and that first impressions will be favourable, and augur well for the success of the new system of things. courteous, and painstaking, and we entertain no THE GAZETTES. Professional Partnerships Dissolbed. Gazette, Aug. 23. EDGE, JAMES BROUGHTON, and MARKS, FRANCIS WALTER, THE LEGAL APPOINTMENTS.-The late Attorney- neys and solicitors, New Broad-st. Aug. 9. Debts by Eley MADDOCK, THOMAS FINCHETT, and HORDEN, ALEXANDER RADCLIFFE, attorneys and solicitors, Chester. Aug. 19 Bankrupts. Gazette, Aug. 27. To surrender at the Bankrupts' Court, Basinghall-street. BALL, GEORGE YEATHERD, commission agent, Spencer-st, Gos- BLYTHE, FREDERICK EDMUND, commission agent, Greenwich. pointed Vice-Chancellor of Ireland, under the recent of a new system. We shall be much surprised if he does not make an able and efficient judge, and prove a valuable acquisition to the already brilliant Chancery Bench of Ireland. MR. WARREN.-The rapid promotion of Mr. Warren and his appointment to the first place at the Irish Bar, has given universal satisfaction. So great was the confidence placed in his ability and learning, that on his appointment as SolicitorGeneral, although the sphere to which he was transferred was comparatively new to him, the public felt that he was fully competent efficiently to discharge the very arduous duties which at that critical period were certain to devolve upon him. Not only have those anticipations been fully realised, but his brief tenure of office has given an earnest f that there is no one at the bar more competent satisfactorily to discharge the duties of his new appoint1 ment. In a few days the distinguished honour of representing the University in Parliament will open to Mr. Warren career in which we CANTONI, JOSEPH, billiard maker, Caversham-st, Chelsea. Pet. DALLISON, JAMES, builder, Westmoreland-pl, City-rd. Pet. DODGE, JOHN, coach trimmer, Little Portland-st, Marylebone. ELLIOTT, WILLIAM JOHN, builder, Union-rd, Battersea. Pet. FERRIS, RICHARD, plumber, Abbey-rd, St. John's-wood. Pet. HARRIS, SIDNEY SAUL, auctioneer, Chancery-la, and Upper-st, HEYHOE, JAMES, plumber, East Croydon. Pet. Aug. 24. Reg. Roche. O. A. Parkyns. Sol. Ricketts, Frederick-st, Gray's-inn- HUBBARD, HORATIO, baker, Harp-alley, Farringdon-st. Pet. Aug. 19. Reg. Roche. O. A. Parkyns. Sur. Sept. 12 Hackney-rd. Pet. Aug. 19. Reg. Roche. O. A. Parkyns. Sur. JOYCE, JULIUS, carpenter, Clinger-st. Pet. Aug. 19. Reg. Roche. LEA, GEORGE HEATHCOTE, late provision merchant, Cheapside. Roche. O. A. Parkyns. Sur. Sept. 12 MYERS, WILLIAM, lighterman, Fore-st, Limehouse. Pet. Aug. 19. NASH, MARY ANN, spinster, housekeeper, Oxford-market, Oxford- NEWMAN, THOMAS, tailor, Finchley. Pet. Aug. 19. Reg. Roche. NORTH, JOSEPH, grocer, Neville-ter, Hornsey rd. Pet. Aug. 24. Reg. Roche. O. A. Parkyns. Sols. Mathews, Carter, and Bell, Roche. O. A. Parkyns. Sur. Sept. 12 SEED, RICHARD, jun., master builder, Tottenham-st, Tottenham ct-rd. Reg. Roche. Pet. Aug. 19. 0.A. Parkyns. Sur. Sept. 12 believe the qualities of his mind are eminently SMITH, CHARLES, tavern keeper, Blue Anchor-rd, Bermondsey. calculated to insure success. Although Mr. Warren I had always entertained and strongly expressed a disinclination to enter Parliament; and although many of the electors of Trinity College declared that the interests of the University required that the system of electing the first law officer of the Crown as her representative should be discontinued, and that they would no longer be content with a "fleeting member," yet Mr. Warren's qualifications were felt to be sufficient to overcome all objections, and a requisition was presented to him, calling upon him to allow himself to be put in nomination, so influentially signed as to induce Mr. Warren to yield. We believe the University has acted wisely in this, and that she could not have placed her interests in abler or more faithful hands. THE NEW SOLICITOR-GENERAL-The office of Solicitor-General for Ireland, rendered vacant by the promotion of Mr. Warren, has been conferred on Mr. Michael Harrison, Q C., of the North-East Circuit. Mr. Harrison has for some years held a deservedly high position in his profession, and is much esteemed by his brethren. He was called to the Bar in Trinity Term 1840, after a distinguished collegiate career in our national University. He very quickly got into large practice, and was soon looked upon as a "rising man. In Feb. 1863 he was mado a Queen's Counsel. From that time he has been one of the leaders on his circuit, and has also enjoyed extensive business in our courts in Dublin. In the matter of the Queen's University and the Supplemental Charter Mr. Harrison was retained by the graduates, and argued the case on their behalf with great ability. He is a sound lawyer, Pet. July 26. Reg. Pepys. Ó. A. Graham. Sols. Messrs. Miller, STEELE, JOHN, retailer of beer, High-st, Poplar. Pet. Aug. 22. WILLARD, STEPHEN HOWLAND, ironmonger, St. Leonard's. Pet. Aug. 21. Reg. Roche. O. A. Parkyns. Sur. Sept. 12 WOODLAND, JAMES, cheesemonger, New Church-st, Edgware-rd. YELL, MARY, widow, board and lodging-house keeper, Elgin- To surrender in the Country. BAGULEY, THOMAS, metal and machine maker, Manchester. Simpson, Leeds. Sur. Sept. 12 BARRETT, BARNABAS, sculptor, Norwich and Ipswich. Pet. COOPER, SANDFORD ALBION, ironmonger, Stafford. Pet. Aug. 22. DAVIES, CHARLES, innkeeper, Congleton. Pct. Aug. 21. Reg. & O. A. Latham. Sol. Washington, Congleton. Sur. Sept. 4 EDDS, GEORGE, commission agent, Liverpool. Pot. Aug. 14, O. A. Turner. Sur. Sept. 6 ENOCH, DAVID JOHN, contractor, South Stockton. Pet. Aug. 17. LOVE, JAMES, blacksmith, Burghfield. Pet. Aug. 24. Reg. & MAWDSLEY, WILLIAM, loom jobber, Sudden-brow, near Rochdale. MORGANS, JOHN, carpenter, Worcester. Pet. Aug. 24. Reg. Hill. PAINE, WILLIAM, and PAINE, MICHAEL, newsagents, Stratford- Pet. Aug. 22. Gibson. O. A. Laidman. Sols. Harle and Co., Newcastle. Sur, Reg. PERRY, JAMES, pawnbroker, Brierley-hill. Pet. Aug. 2 TORBETT, JAMES WILLIAM, clerk in War-office, York. Pet. TURNER, JOHN, agricultural implement manufacturer, Alnwick, WILSON, WILLIAM, bootmaker, Gaitsgill. Pet. Aug. 17. Reg. & Gazette, Aug. 30. To surrender at the Bankrupts' Court, Basinghall-street. AMOS, RICHARD, chandlers' shop keeper, Stratford-new-town. CHRISTMAS, CHARLES, beerseller, Carlton-rd, Asylum-rd, Peck- COLE, JOHN FREDERICK, livery-stable keeper, Richmond. Pet. GOWING, ELLEN, widow, and WONNACOTT, MARY, spinsters, con- KELLY, THOMAS CHARLES, manager to a tobacconist, Albert-ter, LAKE, JOHN, jun., mason, Trafalgar-rd, Camberwell. Pet Aug. 28. MICHAELIS, MATTHIAS, tailor, Grace's-alley, Wellclose-sq, and NEWMAN, JOHN, ironmonger, Reading. Pet. Aug. 17. Reg. Murray. SPRAGG, MARY ANN, spinster, of no business, Trevor-ter, Knights- TAYLOR, JAMES WILLIAM, grocer, St. Mary's Cray. Pet. Aug. 28. WARE, EDWARD, builder, Nursling. Pet. Aug. 21. Reg. Roche. WATTS, WILLIAM, out of business, Barnes. Pet. Aug. 28. Reg. WHITLING, ROBERT CHARLES STORRS, gentleman, Crooksbury WIMBLE, EDWARD, chemist, Tonbridge Wells. Pet. Aug. 6. Reg. WORCESTER, JOHN RANDON, shipowner, Cannon-st. Pet. Aug. 3. WYATT, WILLIAM TOMPSON, victualler, Blackfriars-rd. Pet. To surrender in the Country. ABBS, ISAAC, publican, Shottisham All Saints. Pet. Aug. 26. Reg BARLOW, JAMES HENRY, commission agent, Manchester. Pet. BLIGHT, HENRY, builder, Plymouth. Pet. Aug. 19. O. A. Car. BOWLES, BENJAMIN ROBERT, dealer in hay, Norwich. Pet. Pet CANNON, JOHN, clothes dealer, Manchester. Pet. Aug. 16. Reg. CARR, JAMES, common brewer, Monkwearmonth Shore. Reg. GAMBLE, WILLIAM, joiner, Middlesbrough. Pet. Aug. 26. Reg. &O. A. Crosby. Sol. Dobson, Middlesbrough. Sur. Sept. 11 GRIFFITHS, DAVID, Saddler, Walsall. Pet. Aug. 24. O. A. Clarke. Sols. Barnett, Marlow, and Barnett, Walsall. Sur. Sept. 28 HAILES, GEORGE, engineer, Birmingham. Pet. Aug. 23. Hill. O. A. Kinnear. Sols. Messrs. Hodgson, and Beale, Marigold, and Beale, Birmingham. Sur. Sept. 13 HALLIWELL, ANN, late beerseller, Southport. Pet. Aug. 21. Reg. & O. A. Welsby. Sur. Sept. 10 HANSELL, JOHN JAMES, furniture broker, Stockton-on-Tees. Pet. Aug. 26. Reg.&O. A. Crosby. Sol. Dobson, Middlesbrough. Sur. Sept. 11 HARVEY, ROBERT BROWN, butcher, Exeter. Pet. Aug. 26. Reg. LEWARN, JONATHAN, victwiller, Brixham. Pet. Aug. 28. Reg. & NORTON, JOHN WILLIAM SHEPHERD, auctioneer, Brighton. Pet. O'DOHERTY, CHARLES, tailor, Liverpool. Pet. Aug. 26. O. A. Turner. Sol. Williams, Liverpool. Sur. Sept. 12 OUSEY, JOHN, tallow chandler, Ashton-under-Lyne. Pet. Aug. 27. PARKINSON, DAVID, butcher, Withernsea. Pet. Aug. 22. Reg. & Reg. & SHAW, JONATHAN, jun., cottonbroker, Rock Ferry. Pet. Aug. 27. 0. A. Turner. Sols. Messrs. Norris, Liverpool. Sur. Sept. 13 SMITH, HANNAH, victualler, Huddersfield. Pet. Aug. 14. O. A. Young. Sur. Sept. 12 STONE, THOMAS ATTWOOD, banker's clerk, Westbury-on-Trym. Pet. Aug. 27. Reg. Wilde. O. A. Acraman. Sol. Nash, Bristol. Sur. Sept. 10 Reg. & TANNER, EDWIN, furniture broker, Bath. Pet. Aug. 24. NEIL, ROBERT, law student, Hamilton-ter, St. John's-wood. Gazette, Aug. 30. CHAFFIN, MATTHEW HENRY, upholsterer, Hart-st, Bloomsbury. June 26, 1867 RUSSEL, JOHN HOWARD, commission agent, Sutton-at-Hone. March 22, 1837 Dividends. BANKRUPTS' ESTATES. The Official Assignees are given, to whom apply for the Dividends. Bong, W. grocer, first, 3r. 2jd. Morgan, Manchester.-Brett, D. miller, first, 2. d. Parkyns, London.-Duby, R. plumber, first, 5. Button, County Court, Newmarket. Dyson, N. L. grocer, first, 18. 44. Morgan, Manchester.-Freemon, S. R. engineer, first, 98. Id. Morgan, Manchester.-Jackas, G. cottonspinner, first, 5s, 134. Morgan, Manchester.--Morland, S. oil refiner, first on new proofs, 2. and second, 5.) Morgan, Manchester. Putens, A. commission agent, first, 18. 1. Parkyns, London. Robinson and Barton, merchants, first, 28. 124. Morvan, Manchester. Seirell, J. iron merchant, first, 11. Parkyns, London. Templer and Periles, merchants, first on new proofs, 56, 57, second, 18, ygd.) Morgen, Manchester. Trampler, C. H. E. merchant, on new proofs, 20. Morgan, Manchester. Assignment, Composition, Inspectorship, and Trust Deeds. Gazette, Aug. 27. BACHURST, GEORGE, shoemaker, Manchester. Aug. 1. Trusts J. Speakman, draper, and J. Hulme, leather merchant, both Manchester BANNERMAN, JAMES, and WATTS, WILLIAM COURTNEY, of Liverpool, WATTS, HARRISON, New Orleans, CRANE, ISAAC ARNETT, New York, BROWN, WILLIAM. Evansville, Indina, GIVEN, DICKSON AUGUSTUS, New Orleans, and WATTS, DAVID, New York, merchants. Aug. 22. Inspectorship to cellect and cispose of their estate under inspection. Inspectors, K. W. Banner, accountant, and C. L. Campbell, breker, both Liverpool BARKER, HENRY, batcher, Sheffield. Aug. 1. 1s. on Feb. 1 next. Trust. S. R. Smith, grocer, Sheffield BARTLETT, JOHN DOMETT, timber merchant. York-rd, and Waterloo-rd. Aug. 14. S. nd release 2s. Cl, 1 mo, after registration and s. 67. on Nov. 21 BEARDSELL, JAMES, and BEARDSELL, ALFRED, Holme, near Huddersfield, and BEARDSELL, WILLIAM HENRY, Cartworth, near Huddersfield, mufacturers. Aug. 2. Trust. H. Wilde, necountant, Huddersfield BOND, GEORCZ HICKMAN, mining engineer, Briton Ferry. July 30. BROWN, JOSEгH, and BROWN, GEORGE, worsted pinners, Bradford. July 30. Trusts. I. Wright, wool merchant, T. Ambler, worstedspinner. II. Brown, benk manager, and W. Collins, wool merchant, all of Bradford CAMPBELL, THOMAS, hatter, Leeds. Aug. 16. 3s, on execution of decd CHESTER, ROBERT, liet-eci, on retired list of Indian army, Bath. Aug. 12. 5. Lytseve instalments-, on Nov. 15, and , on 15th of every rd mo following, unt'l comp. is paidsecure 1 COFFEY, JOHN AMBROSE, engineer, South-grove east, Mildmay. COX, HENRY JOHN, patent coffin manufacturer, Birmingham. DENCE, JOHN, engineer, Gracechurch-st, Bermondsey, and New- DUNN, SAMUEL, silk merchant, Winchester-house, Old Broad-st. July 29. Trusts. C. J. Durant, silk broker, Copthall-ct, and E. Harding, accountant, Basinghiall-st ELLIS, EDWARD GEORGE, carpenter, Henrietta-st, Manchestersq. Aug. 2. 15. by six equal instalments in 6, 12, 18, 24, 30, and 36 mos EASTHAN, THOMAS, innkeeper, Lytham. Aug. 3. Trusts. J. Brown, brewer, Preston, R. Langley, spirit merchant, Liverpool, and R. Beardsworth, teadenler, Preston FOX, JOHN, livery-stable keeper, Manchester-mews north, Manchester-sq. July 27. 2. 67, in 12 mos GORMAN, ELIZABETH ANN O., milliner, Southport. Aug. 8. Trusts. W. Dodd, bank manager, Southport, and T. F. Palmer, merchant, Manchester GOUGH, WILLIAM, clothier and outfitter, Slough. Aug. 22. 58. by two equal instalments-first on execution of deed and other in 4 mos, after execution. Trust. T. Gough, grocer, Little Knightrider-st, Doctors'-commons GRISDALE, SIMEON, draper, Slough. Aug. 12. 2s. in 1 mo. from date of deed GROOM, JOSIAH, photographer, Shrewsbury. Aug. 23. 58. by equal instalments-first immediately after registration and the other on Nov, 2 HABGOOD, WILLIAM JAMES, Dagenham. Aug. 1. 10. in 1 mo HENDERSON, ANDREW, nautical engineer, Great Winchester-st. July 25. 1. in 1 mo HILL, JAMES, commercial traveller and commission agent, Gateshead. Aug. 20. Trust. J. Buckham, cabinet-maker, North Shields HOGG, GEORGE, cartwright, Newcastle. Aug. 1. 6. 87, by three instalments of 28. Gd., 2k, tel., and 1s. 8d., in 3, 6, and 9 mos.- secured. Trusts. I. Pattinson, auctioneer, and W. B. Elsdon, attorney's clerk, both Newcastle HYDER, WILLIAM, and HYDER, JONATHAN, builders, Crouch and Plaxtol. Aug. 1. Trusts. C. Peppercorn, ironmonger, Maidstone, and J. Jull, miller, Wrotham HUGHES, ELIJAH, earthenware manufacturer, Burslem. July 30, Trusts. G. Baker, wine merchant, Longport, G. W. Gurlick, bank manager, and G. Alcock, china manufacturer, both Burslem IVEY, JOHN, beer retailer, Portsea. Aug. 15. Trust. T. Sparks, engineer, Portsea JONES, ROBERT LEWIS, and JONES, WALTER, engineers, Wolverhampton. Aug. 1. 10s, by four equal instaliments at 4, 8, 12, and 16 mos, from date of deed-secured. Trusts. D. North, ironmaster, J. C. Major, manufacturing chemist, and G. L. Underhill, iron merchant, all Wolverhampton JORDAN, JOHN ISRAEL, baker, Chrisp-st, Poplar. Aug. 23. 38. Gd in 3 days after execution LAMBERT, WILLIAM, foreign warehouseman, Argyle-st, Regentst. Aug. 6. 6s, in 21 days after registration. Trust. J. Matthews, newsagent, King-st, Regent-st MARSHALL, THOMAS, draper, Merchant-st, Bow. July 31. Trusts. W. Parren, Cannon-st, and J. Ellerton, St. Paul's-churchyard, warehousemen MASSEY, ROBERT, auctioneer, Birmingham. Aug. 23. 58, by four equal yearly instalments on March 23, 1868, March 25, 1839, March 25, 1870, and March 25, 1871 MOODY, THOMAS HUGGANS, grocer, Freshwater, Isle of Wight. Aug. 17. Trusts. E. J. Upward, provision merchant, Newport, and M. Dear, provision merchant, West Cowes, both Isle of Wight NEWBY, WILLIAM, linendraper and grocer, Snaith. Aug. 5. Trusts. A. Denby, merchant, and J. Lomas, woollen merchant, both Leeds OCHILTREE, EDWARD, grocer, Sunderland. Aug. 19. 78. in cash on registration ONIONS, SAMUEL, grocer and provision dealer, Wednesbury. Aug. 1. 2s, on 15th Sept PERKINS, JOHN WILLIAM, professor of chemistry, Harris-rd, Herne-hill. Aug. 6. 4s. by two equal instalments on Feb. 6 and on Aug. 6, 1868 PHILLIPS, BARNET LAWRENCE, merchant, New London-st. Aug. 21. 48, by four equal instalments on Sept. 1 next, Feb. 1, Aug. 1, 188, and Feb. 1, 1809. Trust. J. Spyer, gentleman, Winchester-house, Old Broad-st PELLOW, RICHARD BALL, shawl manufacturer, Manchester. Aug. 6. 8, 67, by three instalments-3s. in 3 mos., 3s. in 6 mos., and 2s. 6d. in 12 mos. from registration secured. Trusts. J. Powell, cashier, Manchester, R. Cochran and R. Cochran, jun., shawl manufacturers, Paisley POOLE, JOHN, bill broker, King's Arms-yd. Aug. 21. Gd, at 9 mos. Aug. 15. Trust. J. G. Fenwick, tanner, Newcastle SABEL, EPHRAIM, merchant, Moorgate-st. July 29. Inspectors, C. Oppenheim, merchant, Old Broad-st, and L. Floersheim, merchant, Moorgate-st SAUNDERS, WALTER JOHN BULL, butcher and cornfactor, Ryde, Isle of Wight. July 31. 5s. by two equal instalments on Aug. 27 and Jan. 10 SCHOREY, WILLIAM HENRY, victualler, Newcastle. Aug. 8. Trusts. V. C. V. Surtees and H. G. Surtees, wine and spirit merchants, Newcastle SHEFFIELD, CHARLES HENRY, Teddington, clerk in Admiralty, Somerset house. July 23. To pay debts in full, 301. in every year by two equal payments. Trusts. C. Clayton and E. Clayton, gentleinen, Rutland-st, Pimlico SKINN, WILLIAM, butcher, Beverley. Aug. 23. 8, by three instalments first of 3. immediately, second of 28. G. at 6 mos. from registration of deed, and third of 2s. 6d, at 12 mos SMEDLEY, HERBERT, insurance agent, Coleman-st, and Bartholo mew-rd, Kentish-town. Aug. 20. 1x THOMAS, JOB, marble mason, Newport. July 30. 10s. by four equal instalments at 3, 6, 9, and 12 mos.--secured. Trusts. E. Morgan, farmer, Christchurch, and R. Townsend, merchant, Clearwell, near Coleford TOVEY, DANIEL, undertaker, Newport. Aug. 2. 12. by two equal instalments at 3 and 6 mos. Trust. R. Graham, gentleman, Newport TUCKER, ALFPED, victualler, Teignmouth, and St. Thomas-theApostle. Aug. 19. 28. 6. on Sept. 20. Trust. H. Blanchford, accountant, Teignmouth URWIN, EDWARD, jet ornament manufacturer, Whitby. July 30. Trusts. E. Kirby, accountant, and C. Walker, jet merchant, both Whitby WALTERS, DANIEL, coaldealer, Westleigh. Aug. 19. 58. in 1 week from registration. Trust. T. Walters, shipbuilder, Bideford WESLEY, WILLIAM, bookseller, Fleet-st. July 27. S. in 4 mos WEST, GEORGE, Carver and gilder, Manchester. July 31. 3. in 2 and 6 mos WHITE, HENRY, draper, Hull. Aug. 18. 6. by two equal instal ments at 3 and 6 mos. from Aug. is secured Gazette, Aug. 30. ASHLEY, Hon. ANTHONY LIONEL GEORGE, Grosvenor-sq. Aug. 1. Trust. R. P. Harding, accountant, Old Jewry BAKER, ROBERT CHARLES, sculptor, Pleasant-cottage, Camberwell. Aug. 17. 2. on Feb. 17. Trust. H. K. Hughes, Norfolkter, Dalston BANKS, HENRY, iron merchant, Wednesbury. Aug. 26. Trust. C. Bloomer, iron merchant, West Bromwich BARRATT, FREDERICK REEVES, teacher of music, Peterborough, ¦ and Oxford. Aug. 1. Trust. J. Hopkinson, Regent-st BATCHELOR, JAMES, dealer in british wines, Hull. July 31. Trust. BURT, EDWIN JOHN, gentleman, Christie-rd, South Hackney. COTTON, WILLIAM, nafldealer and shopkeeper, Bromsgrove. Aug. 17. Trusts. W. Llewellin, grocer, and W. T. Baylis, baker both Bromsgrove DADSON, WILLIAM SMITH, and DADSON, ALBERT WILLIAM, merchants, East India-avenue, Leadenhall-st. Aug. 29. It spectorship to wind-up estates. Inspectors, J. Malcolm, merchant, Mark-la, N. J. Fenner, wharfinger, Millwall, and J. A. Noble, russia and fibre broker, George yd, Lombard-st DAVIES, WILLIAM HENRY, baker, Cardiff. Aug. 8. 10%, secured by promissory notes dated Aug. 12, cuch for 3s. 4. at 3, 6, and 9 mos GIBBON, JOSEPH, builder, West Hartlepool. Aug. 5. 15s, by three equal instalments at 2, 6, and 9 mos. Trust. J. Greener, accountant, West Hartlepool GOLDEN, WILLIAM LEONARD, gasfitter, Brighton. July 27.42. on Dec. 4 and 2, on April 4. Trust. C. Brown, accountant, Basinghall-st GRAHAM, JAMES, draper, Southampton. Aug. 9. Trosts. A. McGaw, warehousemen, Angel-ct, Friday-st, and A. Crete, draper, Devizes-rd, near Salisbury HENDERSON, DAVID, draper. Bradford. Aug. 2 Trusts, G. Sharow, stuff merchant, and T. G. Boyce, draper, both ErudiÇMİ HINTON, ARCHIBALD, victualler, Annerly, July 3 3-kon execution of deed, and Is, on Aug. and Sept. 20 HOLMES, WILLIAM, carpenter, Portland-rd, Notting-hill. Aug. 24. 28. 6d. on Feb. 24 JONES, ALFRED CHARLES, schoolmaster, Tollington-rd, HolowaT, Aug. 24. 20. by sixteen instalments on Feb. 20, May 3, Aug. 31, and Nov. 20 in next and 3 succeeding years. Trusts. C. Bear, wholesale stationer, New North-rd, Hoxton, and C. Curtis, Linen draper, High-st, Kensington LEEMING, ROBERT, grocer, Harrogate. Aug. 16. Trust. W. Myers cornmiller, Killinghall LLOYD, JOHN, grocer, Middlesborough. Aug. 8. 4. Gd, on Sept. 3. Trust. J. P. Reed, grocer, Stockton MACDOUGALL, WILLIAM, travelling draper, Penzance. Aug. 7. Inspectors, E. A. Pearn, warehouseman, Exeter, and J. 0. Mayne, auctioneer, Truro MADDOCK, JAMES, stock and share broker, Liverpool. Aug. 16 2. Gd, in 6 mos MATTHEWS, ROBERT, stationer, Sheffield. Aug. 3 Trusta, E. PARRY, Rev. EDWARD, dissenting minister, Kidderminster. POOLE, JOHN, billbroker, King's Arms-vd. Aug. 21. 6, in SUTTON, JESSE, jun., blacksmith, Houghton. Aug. 2. Trast. W. SWAEBE, DANIEL BENMOYA, tobacconist, Oxford-st. Aug. 12. 2. 64, on execution of deed TATLEY, LAMBERT, railway wagon builder, Chorley. Aug. 6 Trust. R. Bridgford, accountant, Manchester THOMSON, BENJAMIN LUMSDEN, commission agent, Ange-pack, TOFIELD, JAMES, iron merchant, Masborough, near Rotherham, LAMBERT. On the 2nd inst., at No. 38, Sandringham-road, Hackney, the wife of Mr. T. H. Lambert, solicitor, fa son. MYATT. On the 2nd inst., at Muswell-hill, the wife of Wir Myatt, of Muswell-hill, and Basinghall-street, London, seuc tał, of a daughter. NALDER. On the 1st inst., the wife of Fielding Nalder, Esq, of Lincoln's-inn, of a daughter. ROBERTS-On the 2th ult., at 12, Warwick-crescent, Upper Westbourne-ternice, the wife of E. Russell Roberts, Esq, rister-at-law, of a daughter. MARRIAGES. HAINES RICE.-On the 21st ult, at Holy Trinity Church, Kburn, Edward Walter Haines, Esq., solicitor, youngest 8 adi Edward Walter Haines, Esq., of Kilburn, and 16, Great Marborough-street, solicitor, to Catherine, only child of the late S. F. Rice, Esq., of Priory-read, Kilburn. LONGDEN GAINE. On the 29th ult., at St. Stephen's, AveL JE road, Regent's-park, George Roger Longden. Esq., of Doc commons, to Caroline Frances, daughter of the late Jha Edward Gaine, Esq., of Bridgnorth, Slop. PHILBRICK JONES. On the 28th ult, at Ipswich, Horace F brick, of 31, Lincoln's-in-felds, Londen, solicitor, third soc Fred. B. Philbrick, Esq., solicitor, Colchester, to Chanotte Anne, daughter of the Rev. Eliezer Jones, of Ipswich. POOLE VIDAL-On the 2th ult., at Abbotsham Church, Deve Arthur Ruscombe Poole, Esq., of the Inner Temple, barriste at law, to Margaret Sealy, second daughter of Edward Urch Vidal, Esq., of Cornborough, Devon. TAYNTON TOOLEY. On the 29th ult., at St. Mark's Church, Gloucester, Thoras Taynton, of Ashmeade house, Glouceste, solicitor, to Catherine, second diughter of the late George Tooley, of Westgate-strect, Gloucester. YOUNG-YOUNG--On the 28th it, at St. Saviour's, Paddingt Rev. F. W. Young, M.A., of Etonhurst. Great Malvern, toð re C. eldest daughter of Mr. R. Young, solicitor, Delamere-tericks Hyde-park. DEATHS. BORE. On the 3rd inst., at Buntingford, aged 67, Mr. Johr Post son Bore, solicitor. BULLAR. On the 23rd ult., at Basset-wood, near Southampton, ayed 00, John Buller, Esq., barrister-at-law, one of the Bereters of the Hon. Society of Gray's-inn. SEABLE. On the 3rd inst., at East-street, Brighton, aged 73 Hannah Searle, relict of the late Mr. Searle, sclicitor. SHORTER On the 24th ult, at Hastings, aged 25, Mary Theodora wife of John P. Shorter, solicitor. YOUNG-On the ith ult., at 11. Delamere-terrace, Upper West bourne-terrace, aged 50, Robert Young, Esq., soliciter, Late Battle, Sussex. To Readers and Correspondents. SCRIVEN'S COPYHOLD.-A correspondent informs us that the extract from this work which we gave last week is almost verbatim as it appeared in the last edition. Act, or only that then existing. It is now declared that it shall include the East India Stock created after Aug. 13, 1859, as well as the East India Stock which existed on that day. WM. FEW.-The good little Bill is passed, and will be pub-empowering a trustee to invest "in any secuTo this a generally permissive clause is added, rities the interest of which is or shall be guaranteed by Parliament," if not expressly forbidden by the instrument creating the trust. lished by us in due course. All anonymous communications are invariably rejected. All communications must be authenticated by the name and address of the writer, not necessarily for publication but as a guarantee of good faith. ASSIGNMENT OF POLICIES OF ASSURANCE. A SHORT but very useful Act of the last session (30 & 31 Vict. c. 144) is designed to remove a difficulty that frequently caused most inconve CHARGES FOR ADVERTISEMENTS. Four lines or thirty words........................................................ 38. 6d. Every additional ten words..................... Os. 6d. Advertisements specially ordered for the first page are cearged one-fourth more than the above scale. Advertisements must reach the office not later than fivenient delay, and always was attended with more o'clock on Thursday afternoon. or less of needless cost. It is entitled "The Policies of Assurance Act 1867," and its object is to enable the assignees of policies of life assurance to sue thereon in their own names. It enacts that any person becoming entitled by assignment or other derivative title to a lifeassurance policy, and possessing, at the time of action brought, the right in equity to receive and give an effectual discharge for the money thereby secured, may sue at law or in equity in his own name. To such an action a defence or reply on equitable grounds may be pleaded. But no assignment is to confer such right until a written notice of the date and purport of the assignment shall have been given to the assurance company, and any payment made by the company before the service of such notice shall be valid as against the assignee giving the notice. After Sept. 30, every policy of assurance must specify upon it the place or places of business at which notices of assignment may be given. An assignment may be made either by indorsement on the policy, or by a separate instrument in the form or to the effect set forth in the schedule. The assurance company shall, upon request, deliver to the party giving the notice, for a fee not to exceed 55., an acknowledgment in writing of the receipt of such notice, which is to be evidence of the notice so given. MR. EDWIN JAMES. THE great THWAYTES Will Case is going to the Ir has been recently rumoured that Mr. EDWIN House of Lords. DESPATCH OF CHANCERY BUSINESS. THE new Act (30 & 31 Vict. c. 87), for providing further facilities for the transaction of the business of the Court of Chancery, empowers the Lord Chancellor, with the consent of the Master of the Rolls and Vice-Chancellors, or any three of them, to order additional chief clerks and junior clerks to be attached to the courts of the Master of the Rolls and Vice-Chancellors, by whom they are to be appointed, and all the provisions of the existing law are to be applied to them as respects both duties and salaries. The appointments of chief clerks already made are confirmed and made permanent. The appointments of assistant clerks and their salaries are confirmed; but these latter are only to hold office during pleasure, and by the directions of the Judge. The Lord Chancellor is empowered to transfer any clerk from one Judge to another. He is also empowered to appoint additional registrars who are to be the seniors of the clerks to the registrar of the court for the time being, with a salary of 1250l. per annum, and 1001. for the expenses of writing and copying the minutes of the decrees and orders of the courts. The Lord Chancellor, with the consent of the Treasury, and the Master of the Rolls in his own court, may alter the salaries of officers not fixed by Act of Parliament, and also change the styles and titles by which officers are designated, and especially of the ushers. Cheques drawn by the Accountant-General are to be countersigned by one of his clerks instead of by the registrars; and all the penal provisions of the 24 & 25 Vict. c. 28, are to apply to this Act. It is also enacted that the jurisdiction in lunacy may be exercised by the Lords Justices sitting separately. INVESTMENTS BY TRUSTEES. THE Legislature has quieted a doubt which had arisen on the construction of the Trustee Relief Act (22 & 23 Vict. c. 35), which authorised trustees to invest trust-funds in East India Stock, and upon which a question was raised whether it included stock created after the passing of that VOL, XLIII.-No. 1276. JAMES, who some years since quitted England, and was admitted a member of the New York Bar, had become a waiter in a coffee-house. We have no special authority to contradict this rumour, but we think that for the honour of the Bar throughout the world we should state that there is every reason to suppose that Mr. JAMES has continued a member, and by no means an idle member, of the New York Bar from the time of his election. We found our belief upon an advertisement which regularly appears in the New York papers, bearing the conspicuous heading, "Edwin James on the Bankrupt Law." The advertisement before us refers to a new edition of this work, and Mr. JAMES is mentioned as "EDWIN JAMES of the New York Bar, and one of the framers of the recent English Bankruptcy Amendment Act." There are many both in the Profession and among the public who will be glad to hear that the brilliant but frail advocate, whose star suddenly set in dishonour and disgrace, is not so miserably degraded as rumour represented. THE CASE OF AUGUSTA MITCHELL. and would now be meetly dealt with by a few days of prison and subsequent obscurity. It is curious to reflect that the definition of crime is an action punished by the law. This is a parti9 & 10 Vict. c. 24, abolishing minimum punishcularly good definition since the passing of the ments. The result of that Act is, that a Judge can give in almost any case as little punishment as he pleases. The blame, therefore, rests entirely with the Judge if he is behind his age, and does not avail himself of the powers conferred upon him by mitigating punishment under particular circumstances. The great evil is, however, that Judges are not all alike. One will mitigate, another will not. Inconsistency is inevitable where it should never appear. A certain definite punishment should be the result of a certain crime, and if there are extenuating circumstances there should be a reasonable reduction. It is highly to be deplored that criminals should live in uncertainty as to the measure which will be meted out to them. It is equally to be regretted that Judges should differ so conspicuously in their ideas of what are and what are not extenuating circumstances. We may add that in our opinion immorality should taint a prosecution for a crime as much as it taints and annuls a contract. Practically MITCHELL took the money of her husband. In the eye of the law she robbed one bound to her only by an immoral compact. But a man who takes into his house a concubine encourages vice. MITCHELL was convicted upon the evidence of a man who joined her in violating moral laws. The difficulty is that in all cases the prosecutor is merely the instrument in the hand of public justice, and, though the instrument be unclean, the work must be done. Yet, where the instrument and the victim of justice are so closely associated, it is peculiarly the province of a judge to exercise his discretion in the infliction of punishment. On the general abstract question we must all be agreed that the time has arrived when lighter punishments should be adjudged to small thefts, and heavier punishments to assaults upon the person. In this respect the criminal law ought to be amended without loss of time. RAILWAY ACCIDENTS AND A VERY great deal may be said upon both sides of the question which so nearly affects railway companies in a pecuniary point of view-the question of compensation for accidents. In the first place, undoubtedly there must be some guarantee to the public that railway companies shall not be negligent with impunity. It would never do to establish a system whereby railway companies could calculate exactly, according to the law of probabilities, what the maximum average loss from accidents would be in the course of the year, and whereby an extra fare might be charged in proportion to the risk incurred. Yet the proposition has been soberly started, and the public is asked to elect whether it would prefer to be compulsorily burdened with railway insurance in the shape of increased fares, or be left to themselves with the alternative that if they do not insure they get no compensation in any event. We certainly would oppose with all our might any scheme by which one atom even of the present responsibilities of railway companies may be taken away. But we are disposed to AUGUSTA ANN MITCHELL was sentenced by Mr. advocate the establishment by, say the Board of PAYNE at the Middlesex Sessions to eight months' Trade, of a fixed scale of compensation. The imprisonment for appropriating to her own use great plea which the companies urge is that it 57. belonging to a man with whom she cohabited. is anomalous that they should be called upon to The severity of this sentence, which appears the meet enormous damages in some special case, more severe when compared with many others when the damages awarded in a similar accident adjudged recently, has excited the strongest for similar injuries to a person paying a like fare of this particular case-a course which we have replication to such a plea. It is grossly anomaremonstrances. Without going into the merits are comparatively nominal. There is no possible found it advisable at all times to avoid-we con- lous. Take the case of the carriage of goods as ceive that the time is arrived when we should get being analogous. If goods above a certain value rid of the lingering results of that ancient state are entrusted to a carrier without notice, he will venial whilst theft was a capital crime. of things when personal violence was regarded as not be liable if the goods are lost. Now take the PAYNE told MITCHELL that not so very long carry passengers of all sorts, and whose lives are Mr. case of passengers. A company is bound to ago she would have been hanged for taking of very different values, at one uniform rate. It the 5 But for the very same reason that she is not open to them to inquire whether an incould not be hanged now, the punishment in- tending passenger is a man with a wife and flicted ought to be light. There was a time eleven children and a business which cannot when people would have been hanged for a on without him, and to whom a jury would give personal insult to the Sovereign, yet that is no seven or eight thousand pounds if he were perreason why we should inflict only a slightly manently incapacitated. Nor can it inquire mitigated punishment for an offence which, by whether he is a gentleman of fine tastes and the course of time, has lost all its heinousness, accustomed to live in a style, the loss of which will add to the pain of his bodily suffering. Yet he may travel in a first-class carriage the same distance for the same fare as Mr. Winkle, to whom a jury would probably think themselves not justified in giving more than a single thousand. Of course the great difficulty lies in amending this state of things in a practical manner. The same questions cannot be put to a passenger by express which are put every day to insurers in an ordinary insurance office. He cannot be compelled to estimate the value of his life as he would estimate his income. Therefore, the only plan which the companies can adopt, and which we believe they are adopting, is so to raise the fares that a premium shall be compulsorily levied upon every passenger. Then, if this be done, the poor relation who travels first class as a rare luxury will help to pay the damages awarded perchance to a haughty and inexorable cousin for whom a Nisi Prius leader has obtained a "thumping" verdict. The only practical suggestion which we can make has been made already in another form. Let there be a maximum above which damages must not be estimated. The sum named is 5000l.; then, if persons desire to protect themselves to a greater extent, this must be done by special insurance. THE PATENT OFFICE. WHEN the LORD CHANCELLOR, the MASTER of the ROLLS, and the Crown law officers of England, Scotland, and Ireland, with other persons to be appointed by the Crown, were constituted by the Act of 1852 (15 & 16 Vict. c. 83) Commissioners of Patents for Inventions, they were required to cause a report to be laid annually before Parliament of all the proceedings under the Act. On the 5th Aug. they performed that duty for the year 1866. The applications for letters patent were 3453; the number passed thereon, 2124; the number of specifications filed in pursuance thereof, 2100; the number of applications lapsed, from the applicants having neglected to proceed within the six months of protection, 1329; the number void from neglect of the patentees to file specifications, 24. The duties of 50%. and 100%. payable respectively at the expiration of three and seven years from the date of the patent have a very reducing effect. In the six years and a quarter between Oct. 1852 and Dec. 1858, after the Act came into operation, the 50%. stamp reduced a total of 13,101 patents granted to 3692 at the end of three years, and these 3692 again to 1274 at the end of seven years, which number alone therefore had the benefit of the remaining seven years during which the patents might have run. All the provisional, complete, and final specifications are published with lithographic outline copies of the drawings. The specifications under the old law, 13,561 in number, dating from 1711, have been printed, and copies are sold in the office at cost price. Also, abstracts, in classes chronologically arranged, of all specifications from the earliest time are being prepared and published. It should be made known that, by a recent rule of the office, all applicants for letters patent are to deliver with the provisional or complete specification, as the case may be, an abridgment of it; which abridgments will be printed and published in quarterly volumes. The unsuitableness of the present office is much complained of by the commissioners. From the commencement of the year 1853 to the end of 1864, numerous memorials, signed by legal, scientific, and literary men, have been sent to them pointing out this defect, and urging that a suitable building to accommodate the office, library, and museum on the same site should be erected out of the surplus funds arising from the fees paid by patentees. The Act of 1852, in fact, provides that the Treasury shall provide a proper office. Accordingly, the commissioners have, by way of report, remonstrated with the Treasury in 1858 and again in 1862, but without effect. They propose a site at Whitehall between the Horse Guards and the embankment. These representations have now been backed by the report of the Select Committee of the House of Commons, of the 19th July 1864, appointed on the Patent Office Library and Museum. The committee recommend that suitable apartments for the commissioners, law officers, and clerks, with a record office and rooms for inspecting provisional specifications, drawings, and scientific publications, should be at once provided. Something, however, is being done with the present office. New rooms have been built for a library on the second floor, and the printed specifications, indexes, and scientific works have been removed into it. The commissioners' own publications now extend to 2200 volumes. The building is filled, and there is a continual increase, for which provision must be made in some manner. The establishment is large. Besides the clerk of the commissioners, there are eleven clerks in the patent division, and twenty-one clerks and a messenger in the specification division; and there are, in addition, in the Patent-office museum, a curator, secretary, and assistant to the curator. Their salaries were altogether 76417. in the year 1866. The fees paid to the law officers and their clerks amounted to 10,2847. In compensations 44541. was paid. The current and incidental expenses were 48077. The total expenses therefore approached 30,000l. a-year. But the fees received in stamps amounted to 114,4617., giving an ample surplus for a building fund. The report is signed by CHELMSFORD, C., ROMILLY, M. R., and the present ATTORNEYGENERAL and SOLICITOR-GENERAL. LANDOWNERS AND RAILWAY Ir a railway company fails to complete its railway, the landowners along the line must submit to the hardship of having been obliged to part with their land without gaining the advantages which Parliament intended they should enjoy. Under the existing law a company is subject to no penalty or process at the suit of persons thus injured, or any adjacent owners whose property is depreciated in itself, and has not the counterbalancing advantage of increased means of communication. Even the parliamentary deposit is not within their reach. Such a state of things at the hands of a Legislature not usually regardless of territorial interests has caused much complaint, and is about to be remedied in the next session. Select committees were appointed by the Lords and Commons in the session of this year, to join in considering the present state of the law of Parliamentary deposits, and the completion of railways within a prescribed time. They have agreed on the expediency of inserting certain clauses in Railway Bills. For this purpose they divide railways into two classes. The first class is where the company is possessed of a railway already opened, and has paid dividends during the past year on its ordinary share capital, and the capital proposed to be raised is not greater than its existing capital; so that there is no parliamentary deposit necessary. Then, if such a company is authorised to construct a new line or its time for constructing an authorised line is extended, a clause is to be inserted making the company liable to a penalty of 50%. for every day that it fails to complete and open the line, or until the sum received on the penalty amounts to 5 per cent. on the estimated cost of the works. The penalty is to be recoverable by any landowner or person claiming to be compensated, in the same manner as provided by the Traffic Act 1853, and the money recovered is to be paid into the Court of Chancery; but no penalty is to accrue if a certificate be obtained from the Board of Trade that the company was prevented from completing or opening the line by unforeseen accident or circumstances beyond their control; want of sufficient funds, however, is not to be held as such a circumstance. The other class is, where the company is not possessed of a railway already opened, or has not, during the past year, paid dividends on its ordinary share capital, or the capital to be raised under the Bill is greater than the existing authorised capital, or the promoters are not already incorporated. In that case a clause is to provide that the deposit paid in under the 9 & 10 Vict. c. 20, is not to be paid out unless the company shall, previously to the time limited for completion of its railway, either open the railway or prove to the satisfaction of the Board of Trade that the company has paid up one-half of the amount of the capital authorised to be raised by means of shares, and has expended for the purposes of its Act a sum equal to such onehalf. If the time expires before the company opens its line or gives such proof, the deposit is to be applied as provided by the next clause. The penalty or deposit, as the case may be, is to be applied towards compensating any landowners or other persons whose property may have been interfered with, or otherwise rendered less valuable by the commencement, construction, or abandonment of the railway, or any portion of it, or who may have been subjected to injury or loss in consequence of the compulsory powers of taking property conferred on the company, and for which injury or loss no compensation or inadequate compensation has been paid, and is to be distributed in satisfaction of compensation as the Court of Chancery may think fit; subject to which purposes the deposit is to be paid out according to warrants under the 9 & 10 Vict. c. 20, and the penalty, or any surplus of it, to the company from which it was recovered. A further clause is to provide that if the railway is not completed within the period limited by the Act (such period not to exceed five years in the case of a new line, and three years in the case of an extension of time), then, on the expiration of the period, the company's powers for making and completing the railway, or in relation thereto, are to cease, 'except as to so much of the line as shall be then completed. Under the existing law the compulsory powers only for the purchase or taking of land cease. So that at present, if a company once gets possession of the land, it may delay the works indefinitely, subject to the provision made by the 127th section of the Lands Clauses Act, that if the company does not within ten years after the expiration of the limited time sell its superfluous land, such land becomes the property of the owners of the adjoining property. But any bond fide use, or almost any kind of use, of land by the company will prevent its being superfluous. REPORT ON THE MIDDLESEX REGISTRY. THE practical result of the Middlesex Registry agitation, which first saw the light publicly in these columns, was that in June last the HOME SECRETARY appointed Mr. GREENWOOD, the Treasury solicitor, to investigate the matter. He was to inquire into the office, the nature of the duties of the registrars and their deputy, the fees charged, their amount, and the application of them, the amount of work annually done, and any other matters relating to the constitution, the working and the usefulness of the office, which might suggest themselves, and to state what measures ought to be taken for the public advantage, and any further views which might occur as tending to increase the economy and efficiency of the office. Mr. GREENWOOD has accordingly seen and conversed with the three registrars, and their solicitors have furnished him with a written argument on their behalf; but at present we will confine ourselves to the report itself. First, it appears that, although the Lord Chancellor and the three Chief Justices were empowered by the Act of ANNE to make rules and orders for the management and government of the office, no rules or orders have ever been made. As regards the registrars, at the first institution of the office, though the appointment of a deputy or deputies was clearly contemplated by the Act, Mr. GREENWOOD, from a review of its provisions, thinks it can hardly be said that mere sinecure places were created, still less very lucrative sinecures; for the transfers of land in Middlesex, incumbrances, &c., were incomparably more rare in those days than now. In 1709 there were only 639 memorials; but in 1866, 28,233. Mr. WIL LIAMSON, the deputy and chief clerk, thinks that originally the registrars would not have received more than 50%. a-year each; now, we may add, they receive sinecure incomes of above 2000. ayear each. It is probable, Mr. GREENWOOD thinks, that the registrars, who always held certain other offices, and had duties to attend to elsewhere, at first transacted business in turns at the registry. For even in much later times the deputy appears to have been paid different amounts by the several registrars. In 1756 two of the four registrars received about 1201. a-piece, another, who was the most constant attendant, about 1701., and the remaining one, who appears never to have attended, about 751. In more modern times the business has been done wholly by deputy. The business seems to Mr. GREENWOOD to be so entirely the work of a superior clerk or a stationer, that (setting aside any question of those who pay according to the custom of their For searches, the alphabetical calendar of man's guilt or innocence depends is difficult and obscure. It is in truth the fault of no one, but the common misfortune of all who are interested in the advance of science. fees) it is not easy to see what business could be better transacted by the principals than by the deputies. The only business transacted personally, of late years, by any of the registrars has been the auditing (as it is called) of the "Let me put a parallel case. To murder a office accounts, the drawing of cheques for the man by poison is a capital crime. A. B. dies, salaries of the deputy, the clerks, and other and there is no doubt that C. D. did administer expenses of the office, and the division of the arsenic to him; but when the poison was adnet proceeds between the three registrars and ministered A. B. suffered under a disease which the Queen's Remembrancer's account, which now is at times mortal and which may have caused his represents the share of the fourth registrar. Expedition fees (not contemplated by the Act) death. Would not the judge in such a case be The Act prescribes a uniform rate of fees, 1s. are also taken. Ordinarily a person calls for his right in telling the jury that the question for for a memorial of 200 words, and 6d. for every memorial in eight or nine days; but if he pays them to determine was whether A. B. died of 100 beyond that; but the fees have not been 2s. 6d. he has his deed on the following day. The arsenic or of the other disease, and that if they uniform, nor is the charge uniform at the pre-expedition is not effected by any additional ex- thought he died of arsenic they must convict C. sent day. At least a hundred years ago, a pense incurred at the office. Therefore, either D. of murder, and not otherwise? The difficulty system appears to have grown up something the ordinary interval seems to Mr. GREENWOOD of the question does not dispense the proper trilike the arbitrary charges of the present day. too much, or it is rendered necessary by the pre-bunal from stating and dealing with it. I think On memorials not exceeding 200 words the ference given to parties who pay expedition fees. the critics of the administration of justice on charge, instead of 1s., is 7s. ; in one of 648 words About 2701. a-year is received in these fees, for these matters continually forget the fact that it (9 folios) the charge is also 7s., when it should above 2000 memorials. is not in reference to cases of madness only that be 3s. 6d.; and so in other cases. On what With respect to the measures to be taken for juries have to inquire into the state of men's ground is the apparent excess of charge to be the public advantage, it only occurs to Mr. minds. The inquiry constantly arises. For rested? Mr. WILLIAMSON observed on the dif- GREENWOOD to observe that, if the office should instance, the question of murder or no murder ference in the value of money. But he gave a be reconstituted, it ought to be under the frequently turns upon the intention with which more precise explanation; thus, as to the 648 management and control of a single officer of an act was done. The validity of a will would words, 1s. for the oath (administered by himself), some position, at a liberal salary, with a principal be destroyed by undue influence. A deed would 1s. for the certificate, and 5s. for the nine folios. assistant, and under regulations insuring per- be void if executed under duress; and it is at But even this is 1s. 6d. in excess of what is sonal attendance; and that all fees should be least as difficult to say what amounts to undue authorised by the Act. "The excess, therefore, paid in stamps. Whether the office should exist influence or duress as to say whether a given appears without explanation or excuse, except is a question for the Legislature. Mr. GREENWOOD lunatic knew the nature and quality of an act that a similar charge has been made for a very notices the doubts of Sir WILLIAM BLACKSTONE and could help doing it. The fact is, that the long time; or that, at all events, it was the as to its utility, and argues that the strongest administration of justice in particular cases freresult of some unrecorded traditional arrange-standing testimony against the supposed advan- quently involves extremely difficult questions, ment between the office and the profession about tage of the system is, that after a trial of 160 and when this is the case we must just do as the year 1768. Upon closer inquiry it seems years it has not been adopted universally, or at well as we can, but it is foolish and unmanly to clear that neither of these explanations can be all events in other suburban counties besides cry out for new tools whenever there is hard -sustained." This Mr. GREENWOOD Concludes Middlesex. work to be done. If medical men were able to from an examination of books in the office. give a perfectly correct and exhaustive account There is no trace of the supposed arrangement, of the physical theory of madness, and to meaexcept in a return to Parliament, which has been sure the extent to which it disturbs the mental echoed in later returns. Mr. GREENWOOD says: functions in particular cases, there would be no "First, it is almost capable of proof that difficulty in applying the law to them, and, I there was, in fact, no such agreement; and if think, no question as to its justice; but the there had been it surely afforded no authority difficulty of making the application does not for charging the public with fees in excess of affect the wisdom or justice of the law." what the statute prescribed. Secondly, it will be found that this new explanation, dividing the 7s. into three parts, viz., 5s. for the memorial, 1s. for oath, 18. for certificate, is inconsistent with the facts, and can only be regarded as a plausible mode of accounting for the amount of fees taken in apparent excess of what the Act allows." the As to the oath; the Act enjoins it as part of process of entering and registering a memorial. The Act allows the oaths to be adminis"tered either by the registrars or by any master in Chancery; and it appears that abundance of the memorials have been sworn out of the office, yet the same charge has been made. As regards the certificate, according to the Act, one is to be indorsed on the memorial to certify the oath, and is kept in the office; also a memorandum of registry is indorsed on the deed, and given back to the party bringing it. By the Act the registrars are to be allowed the like fees on "a certificate, or copy given out of the office," as on a memorial, and on the strength of these words the registrars claim the 1s. But in the first place the certificate indorsed on the memorial is not given out, but remains in the office; and, in the next, an indorsement of about thirty words cannot have been intended where the payment is to be measured by the number of 100 words contained in it. "The result seems to be that from 1756 (and how long before there are no means of ascertaining), the fees charged in the office have been in excess of what are limited by the Act; that in later days (but how far back there are no means of ascertaining) the excess has been still greater." Besides the memorials of deeds, conveyances, and wills, there are registered what are called discharges, such as certificates of satisfaction, signed by mortgagees. The usual length would entitle the registrar to a statutory fee of 1s. 6d.; the actual charge is 7s. Many persons coming to the office resist the ordinary charge, and demand to pay parliamentary fees, which demand is always acceded to; there are 500 or 600 of these payments in the year. Some, because their fathers and grandfathers or their house have paid 5s., insist on paying, and do pay, only the same. So that there are actually three scales of payment on a memorial of the same length, namely, one by persons who pay what is asked, another by persons who pay parliamentary fees, a third by To this plain tale it is unnecessary to add anything, either for the purpose of strengthening it, or inducing the Government to take action. In due course, after the recess, instructions will doubtless be given to Mr. THRING, the Government draftsman, to prepare execution, by an adequate Bill, on one of the greatest official abuses in the law which have grown up in modern times. LUNATICS AND THE LAW. We are THE juridical puzzle of the age is how justly to "What is required is a greater amount of "The fact is, that a certain disease, of the nature of which we know very little, 'does in some, though not in all cases, deprive men either of the knowledge of the nature of such acts or of the power to abstain from them. "The practical questions in a specific case are, whether A. B. had full knowledge of the nature of a given act, and full power to do it or abstain from it. "The evidence that he had is the general presumption that all men have such knowledge and such power. "The evidence that he had not is the fact that he suffered under a disease which in some cases destroys, and in some cases leaves unaffected, his knowledge and his power. "The ultimate question, therefore, is whether in this particular case the knowledge or the power were in fact destroyed by the cause which does sometimes, but not always, destroy both or either. "Surely there is nothing in this state of the law which can reasonably be made the subject of complaint. It is not the fault of the Legislature or of the Judges that the state of medical science is such that the question upon which a This, we think, is perfectly conclusive and unanswerable. THE NEW LAW AND PRACTICE OF ACT 1867; COMPRISING HINTS TO AGENTS FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF PAYMENT OF RATES. THE next condition of the borough franchise is that the householder shall have "on or before the 20th day of July in the same year bonâ fide paid an equal amount in the pound to that payable by other ordinary occupiers in respect of all poor-rates that have become payable by him in respect of the said premises up to the preceding 5th day of January." This provision has been spoken of in Parliament, and termed by writers in the newspapers, and by platform orators, who had not taken the trouble to look into the law itself to learn what its language is, as being a provision for personal payment of rates. We believe we shall be tion can be put upon it, and that there is no such provision in the Act. We must ask the reader to follow with close attention the argument by which we hope to show that personal payment of rates, that is, payment directly by the rated householder, is not more required by the new law than by the old law, and that indeed it is not a necessary part of the qualification for the new enabled to demonstrate that no such construc franchise. If we are right in this construction of the law, the consequences are most important, for the compound householder may in such case be restored practically without disfranchising a single householder. an Mark the words. Except the phrase equal amount in the pound to that payable by other ordinary occupiers in respect of " (which in no way affects the question), the operative words, namely, "bona fide paid all poor-rates that have become payable by him in respect of the said premises," are the words that define the payment of rates which the Reform Act imposed as a condition of the occupation franchise in boroughs. Now, those words in the Reform Act have received a distinct interpretation by the Court (a) By Edward W. Cox, Recorder of Helston, Author of "The Law and Practice of Elections," &c. |