practice hitherto prevailing in the Divorce Court in respect to this matter. I am clearly of opinion that there is no rule that a counsel in the Divorce Court appearing on behalf of a person suing in forma pauperis must give his services without fees, and that, if he undertakes such a case, no fees are to be paid. It is in every such case a matter of arrangement, and it is, in my judgment, the duty of the client instructing the counsel to make it clear to him that, if he conducts the case, no fees will be payable. Upon the particular facts of the case in question you will be best able to judge whether or not sufficient notice was given to Mr. X. that he was expected to conduct the case without payment -I am faithfully yours, RICHARD E. WEBSTER. 'Messrs. Wade & Lyall, '4 St. Helen's Place, E.C.' '4 St. Helen's Place, London, E.C.: 'Dear Sir, We have to thank you for your letter of yesterday's date respecting the practice prevailing in the Divorce Court in respect of the payment of counsel's fees in pauper cases. We are to-day sending to Mr. X. a cheque for his fees, and as the practice in question does not seem to be well known in our branch of the profession, we propose, with your permission, to communicate the contents of your letter to one of the law papers, taking care, however, that Mr. X.'s name does not transpire in any way. 'We are, dear Sir, accompanied by office copies of the affidavits in support of the application, and also by a minute, on a separate sheet of paper, signed by counsel, of the order he may consider the applicant entitled to, and an envelope capable of receiving the papers, and addressed as follows: Chancery Official Letter: To the Registrar in Vacation, Chancery Registrars' Chambers, Royal Courts of Justice, London, W.C.' On applications for injunctions, in addition to the above, copy of the writ, and a certificate of writ issued, must also be sent. a The papers sent to the judge will be returned to the registrar. The chambers of Mr. Justice Stirling (A to F Division) will be open for vacation business only from eleven to two on Wednesday, December 24; Tuesday, December 30; Wednesday, December 31; Thursday, January 1; Friday, January 2; and Tuesday, January 6. Chancery Registrars' Chambers, Royal Courts of Justice: Dec. 10, 1890. NOTICES FOR THE WEEK. ROTA OF REGISTRARS. MONDAY, December 15.-Court of Appeal No. 2: Mr. Tuesday, December 16.-Court of Appeal No. 2: Mr. Mr. Wednesday, December 17.-Court of Appeal No. 2: Mr. Thursday, December 18.-Court of Appeal No. 2: Mr. Friday, December 19.-Court of Appeal No. 2: Mr. Jackson. Mr. Justice Kay: Mr. Pugh. Mr. Justice Chitty: Mr. Lavie. Mr. Justice North: Mr. Rolt. Mr. Justice Stirling: Mr. Ward. Mr. Justice Kekewich: Mr. Godfrey. Saturday, December 20.-Court of Appeal No. 2: Mr. Clowes. Mr. Justice Kay: Mr. Beal. Mr. Justice Chitty: Mr. Carrington. Mr. Justice North: Mr. Farmer. Mr. Justice Stirling: Mr. Pemberton. Mr. Justice Kekewich: Mr. Leach. Baron Pollock will act as vacation judge from Monday, December 22, to Tuesday, December 30, both days inclu- HER MAJESTY has been pleased to approve of the name sive. His lordship will sit in Queen's Bench Judges' of Mr. Robert Samuel Wright to be one of the justices of Chambers on Wednesday, December 24, and Tuesday, December 30. On other days, within the above period, applications in urgent Chancery matters may be made to his lordship, The Croft, Putney. Mr. Justice Lawrance will act as vacation judge from Wednesday, December 31, to Saturday, January 10, both days inclusive. His lordship will sit in Queen's Bench Chambers on Friday, January 2, and Wednesday, January 7. On other days, within the above period, applications in Chancery matters may be made to his lordship at 3 Paper Buildings, Temple. In any case of great urgency the brief of counsel may be sent to the judge by book-post, or parcel prepaid, the High Court in the place of Mr. Baron Huddleston, deceased. Mr. Robert Samuel Wright, M.A., B.C.L., was educated at Balliol College, Oxford, where he had a distinguished career. He took a first class in classical moderations in 1859, and in Literæ Humaniores in 1860. In 1859-62 he gained three university prizes, the Latin verse prize, the English essay, and the Arnold essay; he was elected to a Fellowship at Oriel, of which he is now an honorary Fellow, and he gained the Craven scholarship in 1861. He was called to the bar at the Inner Temple in June, 1865, and joined the Northern Circuit. He has held the office of common law junior counsel to the Treasury for several years. Court of Appeal Register. APPEAL COURT I. Before the MASTER OF THE ROLLS, LOPES, L.J., and THURSDAY, DECEMBER 4. Edwards v. Marston (appeal of defendant from judgment of Charles, J., dated July 3, at trial without a jury in Middlesex).--Dismissed. Bolton v. Buckenham (appeal of plaintiff from judgment of Day, J., dated July 7, at trial without a jury in Middlesex).-Dismissed. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 5. In re Rugeroni, ex parte Trustee (application of Trustee In re Griffin, ex parte Board of Trade (appeal of Board SATURDAY, DECEMBER 6. Grogan v. Smith (appeal of defendant from judgment of MONDAY, DECEMBER 8. Greenwich Bristol WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 10. Harris v. Watson (application of defendants, The Borax Company, for new trial or judgment on appeal from verdict and judgment at trial before Cave, J., with special jury, in Middlesex. Same action (application of The Borax Company for judgment dismissing from action). Same action (application of plaintiff for new trial or judgment as against defendant Watson).— Settled. Miller v. Dell (application of plaintiff for judgment or new trial on appeal from verdict and judgment at trial before Charles, J., with common jury, in Middlesex).— Allowed. Brown v. Golden Valley Railway Company and others (application of defendant company for judgment on appeal from verdict and judgment at second trial before Day, J, with special jury, in Middlesex).—Settled. Scheyer v. Wontner and another (application of plaintiff in person for new trial on appeal from verdict at trial before Denman, J., in Middlesex).-Cur. adv. vult. APPEAL COURT II. In re Garside, dec. Petition of J. E. Garside and Wooler v. Peas & Partners (Lim.) (appeal of R. & W. A. Wooler from order of the Chancellor, dated July 21, on further consideration after Registrar's report).--Dismissed. Wooler v. Peas & Partners (Lim) (appeal of defendants from same order).--Allowed. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 5. mar, dec. Moody v. Penfold (construction) (appeal of defendant from order of Kekewich, J., for Kay, J., dated March 27, 1890).-Cur. adv. vult. Baker v. Freshwater, Yarmouth, and Newport Railway In re P. M. Lashmar, dec. In re C. P. M. LashCompany (appeal of defendant company from judg ment of Day, J., dated June 27, at trial without a jury in Middlesex; cur, adv. vult. December 3).-Dismissed. De Pass (Judgment Creditor) v. Capital and Industries Corporation (Lim.) (Judgment Debtor); F. J. Vinall, Garnishee (appeal of judgment debtor from order of Day, J., and Lawrance, J., dated October 31, discharging garnishee order).-Allowed. In re An Arbitration between W. A. Sa dys and P. J. TUESDAY, DECEMBER 9. Ginner and others v. King (appeal of defendants for new trial on appeal from verdict and findings at trial before Smith, J., with common jury, in Middlesex).-Refused. In re Contract for Sale of Real Estate between J. J. Saffery and another and the Hon. W. Lee Poer Trench and Vendor and Purchaser Act, 1874 (appeal of Col. Trench from order of North, J., dated July 31, setting aside objection to title).-Dismissed. SATURDAY, DECEMBER 6. In re Britannia Fire Association & Co.'s Acts (voluntary liquidation) (appeal of executors of Millis Coventry, dec., from order of Kay, J., dated August 7, placing on list of contributories).--Allowed. In re Contract, dated May 16, made between H. H. Langham and the Langham Hotel Company (Lim.) and Vendor and Purchaser Act, 1874 (appeal of the com BOOKS RECEIVED FOR REVIEW. BARKER'S Facts and Figures, 1891. Frederick Warne & Co. Crewe's Law of Arbitration. Wm. Clowes & Sons (Lim.). Garrett's Law of Nuisances. Wm. Clowes & Sons (Lim.). Higgins's Digest of the Law of Patents. Second Edition. Wm. Clowes & Sons (Lim.). Law Magazine and Review for November (The). Stevens & Haynes. Law of the Stock Exchange (The). Third Edition. Sweet & Maxwell (Lim.). M'Arthur's Contract of Marine Assurance. Second Edition. Stevens & Sons (Lim.). HONOURS AND APPOINTMENTS. THE Attorney-General has appointed Mr. Henry Sutton, of the North-Eastern Circuit, Junior Common Law Counsel to the Treasury, in succession to Mr. Wright, who has just been elevated to the bench. Mr. Sutton, who is the second son of Mr. James Sutton, J.P., of Shardlow Hall, Derby, was born in 1845. He was educated at Christ's College, Cambridge, and was called to the bar at Lincoln's Inn in 1870. The Queen has approved of the appointment by the Home Secretary of Mr. John Rose, of the Oxford Circuit, to the Recordership of Hanley, in succession to the late Mr. J. B. Brindley. Mr. Rose was called to the bar at Gray's Inn in 1868. Mr. Frederick Kedge (of the firm of Laundy, Son & Kedge), of Argyll Chambers, 86 and 87 Strand, W.C., has been appointed a Commissioner to administer Oaths in the Supreme Court of Judicature. Mr. Kedge was ad mitted in 1883. Mr. George Huggins, Corporation Street, Birmingham, has been appointed a Commissioner to administer Oaths. Mr. Huggins was admitted in 1882. Mr. George Charles Kent, Longton, Staffordshire, has been appointed Town Clerk of Longton. Mr. Kent was admitted in 1875. Mr. Richard Incledon Bencraft (of the firm of Bencraft & Son), of Barnstaple, has been appointed Coroner for Barnstaple and Clerk to the Borough Magistrates. Mr. Bencraft was admitted in 1841. LEGAL CHANGES.-There is now positively nothing old in our existing legal system. The Lord Chancellor is not really what he used to be, the principal judge of appeal from the Court of Chancery, who, sitting alone or with the Lords Justices, affirmed or reversed the decisions of Public Health Acts Amendment Act (The). By Bovill vice-chancellors. Sir James Bacon, the last of the famous Smith, Barrister. Stevens & Sons (Lim.). THE USE OF GRAND JURIES.-A circular has been issued by the Canadian Minister of Justice asking the opinion of all the judges and all the attorneys-general of provinces on the expediency or otherwise of abolishing grand juries in Criminal Court administration. ་ PENMANSHIP. Observer' writes to the editor of the Manchester Guardian on December 5: Sir, I observed in the Guardian a few days since a complaint from one of the judges that the writing of the clerks in Court was so illegible that he could scarcely read it. Unfortunately this does not apply to the Courts alone, but is of too general occurrence. It would seem as if illegible bad writing were fashionable, as it is practised by those who have been well educated. I am now in my eightieth year, and should feel ashamed of the bad writing I often see. I imagine that good penmanship in most of our schools is seldom taught.' ANCIENT INSTITUTIONS. Of our legal institutionsusing the term in a wide sense-our contemporary, the LAW JOURNAL REPORTS, are actually now the most ancient. Started in 1822, they have reported the decisions of Lord Eldon, Lord Lyndhurst, Brougham, Cottenham, Longdale, Cockburn, and the long line of judges of nearly seventy years. In fulness and accuracy they are not behind the Law Reports,' whose staff' is almost invariably recruited from the LAW JOURNAL, and they have the advantage also of being cheaper. It is an interesting circumstance that these valuable reports have throughout belonged to members of the same family, connected with each other either by actual descent or collaterally. Indian Jurist. roll of vice-chancellors, who is two years older than the century, still enjoys life and his joke; but the title has Ivanished. The title of Master of the Rolls survives, but the character of the office is not what it used to be; and the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council will ere long be a thing of the past, and give way to the Law Lords under the Appellate Jurisdiction Act. The picturesqueness and variety of the old order has given way to a dead uniformity; and yet there is a ceaseless cry for further modifications of our system, so that it would seem that we are still far from having attained perfection in legal matters. THE LATE SIR BARNES PEACOCK.-The funeral of the late Sir Barnes Peacock took place on Saturday at Highgate Cemetery. The ceremony was of the simplest character, and was attended only by the immediate relatives of the deceased and a few intimate friends. The chief mourners were Mr. F. B. Peacock, Mr. D. Peacock, Mr. A. Peacock, Mr. W. Peacock, Mr. H. Peacock, and Mr. E. Peacock; Major Shawres, Sir Julius Glyn, Major Fanning, and Mr. Burton. The procession also included Lord Bramwell, Sir Charles Turner, the Hon. Ashley Ponsonby, Mr. Claude Ponsonby, Mr. G. A. Lowndes, Mr. Dunlop, and Mr. Bullingham (the servant of the deceased). On the coffin, which bore the inscription, The Right Hon. Sir Barnes Peacock, born January 7, 1805, died December 3, 1890, aged 85,' were many beautiful floral emblems. Among those by whom wreaths and crosses were contributed were Lady Peacock, the sons and other relatives of the deceased, Lady Glyn, the Rev. Edward and Mrs. Sturges, Mr. and Mrs. C. J. T. Dunlop, the Hon. A. Ponsonby, Mrs. Crowther, Mrs. Robertson, Sir Charles Turner, and the servants of the deceased. The funeral service was read by the Hon. and R. W. V. Byron. SOLICITORS' BENEVOLENT ASSOCIATION.-The usual outrage the goddess was completely routed. Indeed, she monthly meeting of the board of directors of this associa- would never have been heard of again, but that her tion was held at the Law Institution, Chancery Lane, devotees were inconsolable, and set the penal code in London, on Wednesday, the 10th inst., Mr. Thomas Henry operation against her oppressors, so that five of the Stephens (Cardiff) in the chair. The other directors Mohammedans were sentenced to imprisonment for 'outpresent were Messrs. H. Morten Cotton, Edwin Hedger, raging religious susceptibilities,' as impartial British law Grinham Keen, Richard Pennington, R. Pidcock (Wool- puts it. From the Hindoo point of view, all this is as it wich), Henry Roscoe, Sidney Smith, R. W. Tweedie, should be; but to the Mohammedans it will appear that the Frederic T. Woolbert, and J. T. Scott (secretary). A Government has taken the part of the hobgoblin when sum of 2351. was distributed in grants of relief, three they were defending themselves against its unprovoked new members were admitted to the association, and other and malicious hostility. general business was transacted. AN IMPORTANT LICENSING APPEAL.-The important licensing appeal of Sharp v. Wakefield, which affects very materially the interests of publicans, will come on for hearing before the House of Lords very shortly. The case was heard some time ago at the Kendal Quarter Sessions, when an appeal by the keeper of a fully-licensed public-house for the renewal of his license was heard before a considerable number of the justices. The objections submitted against the renewal were: (1) That the house had not been properly conducted; and (2) that the house itself was unnecessary. Upon the first point the justices found that there was not sufficient evidence to justify a refusal; but, after hearing evidence on the second point, decided not to renew the license, and dismissed the appeal, subject to a case for the Queen's Bench Division on the question of jurisdiction. The case was in due course heard before Field, J, and Wills, J., in April, 1888, when those judges found that the Court of Quarter Sessions had jurisdiction, and their decision was afterwards upheld in the Court of Appeal, consisting of the Master of the Rolls, and Fry, LJ., and Lopes, L.J. The counsel for the appellant in the House of Lords will be Mr. Henn Collins, QC, Mr. Candy, QC, and Mr. Lancelot Sanderson; and the respondents will be represented by Mr. Addison, Q.C., M.P., Mr. Poland, Q.C., and Mr. James Paterson. RIVAL SUPERSTITIONS.-The Calcutta Englishman, describing a case which recently came before the High Court of Calcutta, says that it exhibits in a striking manner the difference between Hindoo and Mohammedan superstitions. Hindooism holds that every supernatural being is a god-that is, an incarnation or manifestation of the Supreme Being-and entitled, therefore, to homage and propitiatory offerings. This idea is an abomination to the followers of the Prophet, the first article of whose terse creed is that there is but one God. Islam, however, permits of the belief in an unlimited number of ghosts and goblins, who are all to be treated as enemies, to be anathematised and repulsed, but on no account to be compounded with or conciliated. The case in question was this: There was a desirable piece of land lying waste, because it was reputed to be haunted by a goddess who resented interference with her domain. The Hindoos did all they could to propitiate her, setting apart a tree for her abode, under which they erected an idol in her honour, to which they made offerings of fruit and flowers. Still, the goddess continued implacable, and on one man venturing to cultivate some of the land she caused him and his children to be carried off by death. Eventually some Mohammedan neighbours, laughing to scorn the Hindoo superstition, undertook to reclaim the land, but the god dess presented herself before one of them as a frightful ogre, and, although he religiously set her down as a hobgoblin, that only increased his terror. But another Mohammedan argued that a Hindoo goddess ought to have no chance in fair fight with the followers of the Prophet. So the Mohammedans, under his leadership, proceeded with a cow to the goddess's tree, and killed it there, placing parts of the carcase among its branches, and even smearing the idol with its blood. As the result of this defiant THE LAW REPORTS.'-The restless spirit of change is as rampant as ever in legal matters, and the Incorporated Council of Law Reporting for England and Wales seem to be morbidly anxious that neither the rust of antiquity nor even the dignity of a venerable old age shall attach to what are sometimes, but, as Lord Esher once observed, inaccurately termed 'the Authorised Law Reports.' It was only in 1865 that the familiar names of Bevan, Best, and Smith, &c., gave way to the new system The first series of the latter terminated after the Judicature Act came into operation and a new series began. Now it is proposed to add a third series next January. What the object can be, except it is to confuse and bewilder judges and council in the citation of cases, it is impossible to imagine. The reason put forward for this change is simply childish-that numbers of the profession find it expensive to take up the series from the beginning. In that case they ought to have a new series, say, every census year, and then the different series will have to be referred to as 1st, 2nd, 3rd,' and so on, or series 1891, series 1901, and so forth. Another plan would be to drop the numbering of the volumes altogether and cite' Chancery Division, 1895, Part I.,' or Part III.,' as the case might be. On Dec. 9, at St. Mary's Church, Glasgow, Andrew Oswald Acworth, Barrister-at-Law, Calcutta, to Ellinor Mary, daughter of the late Charles Henry Haldane Wilsone, of Endrick Bank, Stirlingshire, N.B. On Dec. 9, at Holy Trinity, South Shore, Blackpool, Charles Frederick Brown, M. A., Solicitor, Birmingham, and son of John Nurthall Brown, of Luglesey House, Handsworth, to Adeline, eldest daughter of the late Robert Kershaw Gardiner, of Manchester. On Dec. 9, at the Abbey, Bath, Rev. Maurice Swabey, Vicar of St. Thomas, Exeter, and Incumbent of Oldridge, son of the late Captain Swabey, R.H.A., of Wavendon House, Bucks, to Laura Elizabeth, only daughter of the late C. Godfrey Price, M.A., of the Inner Temple, Barrister-at-Law, and of Erbistock, Denbighshire. DEATHS. On Oct. 28, at Brisbane, Queensland, Mary Constance, twin daughter of Thomas Neufville Crosse, solicitor, and Jane Georgiana Crosse, of London, aged 28. On Dec. 3, at 9 Albert Terrace, Blackpool, Thomas Ainsworth, of Blackburn, Solicitor, aged 83. On Dec. 6, at the residence of his true and valued friend Thomas Acton, Esq., D.L., Kilmacurrah, Rathdrum, Ireland, William Haughton, Barrister. of 9 New Square, Lincoln's inn, and 81 Holland Road, Kensington, W. On Dec. 7, at 63 Inverness Terrace, Kensington Gardens, W., George Montagu Jull, Solicitor, aged 66. On Dec. 7, at Plymouth, Frederick William Batchelor, B.A.. Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, Barrister-at-Law, eldest son of the Rev. F. S. Batchelor, Rector of Jacobstow, Cornwall, aged 34. £ s. d. 040 0 0 6 330 600 Public Companies' Announcements, &s. per inch in Column, or 71. 48. per Page. Auction Sales, 7d. per Line. ADVERTISEMENTS RECEIVED UP TO NOON ON THURSDAYS. CONTENTS. "OBITER DICTA':-Mr. Justice Denman; The PAGE 743 746 748 749 . 751 752 . 753 . 753 . 754 The Law Journal. SATURDAY, DECEMBER 20, 1890. 'OBITER DICTA.' We are glad to be able to state that Mr. Justice Denman, who has recently been on the sick list, is now convalescent, and it is hoped that he will be able to resume his judicial duties at the commencement of Hillary sittings. IN charging the grand jury at Warwick last week Lord Coleridge stated that his experience showed him that, with a largely increasing population, there was a largely decreasing number of criminals. Whether this was to be attributed to the spread of education, to the better system of police, or to other causes, he did not know, but it was a matter for great congratulation. There is no doubt of the fact of the diminution of MR. SECRETARY MATTHEWS has directed an inquiry under the Criminal Lunatics Act, 1884, into the state of mind of the convict Pearcy, now lying under sentence of death. Subsection 4 of section 2 of the Act of 1884 provides that in the case of a prisoner under sentence of death, if it appears to a Secretary of State either by means of a certificate signed by two members of the visiting committee of the prison in which such prisoner is confined, or by any other means, that there is reason to believe such prisoner to be insane, the Secretary of State shall appoint' two or more medical practitioners, who shall forthwith examine such prisoner and inquire as to his insanity,' and 'make a report in writing to the Secretary of State as to the sanity of the prisoner, and they, or the majority of them, may certify in writing that the prisoner is insane;' while by subsection 1, where a prisoner is certified in manner provided by the section to be insane, a Secretary of State may, if he thinks fit,' direct the prisoner to be treated as a 'criminal lunatic.' All this is a re-enactment of part of 27 & 28 Vict. c. 29, commonly called the Victor Townley Act, which was passed after the respite of Victor Townley (who afterwards committed suicide in prison), in order to require some more regular proof of the insanity of prisoners after sentence than that which is required by the common law, which no doubt is sufficiently merciful to prevent the execution of insane prisoners (see Stephen's Commentary, Book VI., chap. 5), but is completely obscure as to the amount of exactness of proof of insanity required. By section 4 of the Act of 1884, any 'criminal lunatic' not having been found insane at trial by the jury (see Trial of Lunatics Act, 1883), may, if afterwards certified to be sane, be remitted to prison 'to be dealt with according to law.' In a letter to the editor of the Daily Graphic appearing on the 18th inst., the Printing and Allied Trades' Association, through the medium of their chairman and vice-chairman, point out that the American Copyright Bill, though ostensibly a boon and concession to British authors, will, if it passes the Senate in its present form, and unless counteracted by some retaliatory measure on our side, inflict a very severe blow upon thousands of operatives engaged in the various departments of the printing trade in this country. The bill provides, in effect, that no foreign book shall obtain copyright in the United States unless printed in America. The result of this will be that a British author desirous of obtaining double copyright will insist upon his work being first printed in the States, where also the English edition will be struck off, unless plates or stereotypes are taken and transferred to this country for impression. In either case the handiwork of the English compositor will be rendered unnecessary. This is manifestly a very serious matter, deserving the earnest consideration of the Legislature. |