to appear or practise in any respect as attorneys or solicitors in any suit at law or in equity, and subjected the attorneys to be struck off the roll, and the unqualified persons to be imprisoned; and by the 35th sec. of that act any unqualified person suing out any writ or process, or taking any proceedings in any court of law or equity, was liable to be prosecuted for a contempt of court. These restrictions, however, were confined to the courts of law and equity. But by the 26th sec. of the new act every person who acts as an attorney or solicitor contrary to the 2nd sec. of the 6 & 7 Vic. c. 73, or who acts as a proctor without being duly qualified, shall be deemed guilty of a contempt of court, and shall be liable to a penalty of £50, to be recovered, under the sanction of the Attorney-General, by the Incorporated Law Society, such penalty to be applied in like manner as fines imposed for practising without a stamped certificate. These penalties, therefore, will be paid through the Crown Office to her Majesty's Treasury. The costs of these prosecutions will have to be paid out of the fund raised by the registration fee, unless deducted from the penalties recovered; but generally the offenders will not be able to pay the penalties, and will be subject to imprisonment. The prohibition against unqualified practice will thus be made sufficiently extensive; for the 2nd section of the 6 & 7 Vic. c. 73, applies not only to all courts of law and equity, but to every court, whether of civil or criminal jurisdiction, including the Palatine Courts, Insolvent Debtors and County Courts, General or Quarter Sessions, and to proceedings before any justice of the peace or before revenue commissioners.

INTEREST ON COSTS AND LIEN ON PROPERTY-LUNACY COSTS.

The Act of 1843, sec. 43, directed that in case of a reference to tax an attorney's bill of costs in any court of common law, the court or a judge might order judgment to be entered up for the amount so taxed with costs. Such judgment under the 1 & 2 Vic. c. 110, carried interest at 4 per cent., but no provision was made for costs in Chancery. Now, by the 27th sec. of the new Act, whenever a decree or order is made by the Court of Chancery, in which the payment of costs is ordered, the court or judge may direct interest thereon to be paid at 4 per cent. from the date of the certificate of taxation, to be payable out of the same fund or in the same manner as the costs.

There are also two clauses giving a lien on property recovered for the payment of the attorney's costs. The 28th sec. provides that in every case in which an attorney or solicitor shall be employed to prosecute or defend any suit before any court of justice, the court or judge may declare the attorney entitled to a charge on the property recovered or preserved for his taxed costs of and in reference to such suit, and the court may direct the amount to be raised out of the property; and all acts done to defeat such charge shall be void,

except against a bona fide purchaser without notice. Such notice, however, can seldom fail to have been given by the pendency of the suit, and the attorney may be able to adopt other means to secure sufficient notice. No such lien, however, can be declared where the right to costs is barred by the Statute of Limitations.

It has been decided-what, indeed, the language of the statute declares that an attorney can only have a charge upon property recovered or preserved for his client in respect of the costs in the particular matter or suit, and not for his general costs; the words of the statute being "a charge upon and against, and a right to payment out of the property which shall have been recovered or preserved through the instrumentality of any such attorney," &c. (Re Thompson, 3 L. T., N.S, 317).

In cases in which an attorney has been employed to prosecute or oppose a commission of lunacy, it is provided by the 29th sec. that where the costs have not been paid in the lifetime of the lunatic the Lord Chancellor or Lords Justices may make such orders and exercise the like powers for raising and payment of the costs after the death of the lunatic as if made in his lifetime. But such orders can only be made within six years after the right to such costs accrued.

REGISTRY OF COMMISSIONS TO ADMINISTER OATHS AND TAKE

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS.

The 80th sec. of the act directs that every authority granted after the passing of the Act to administer oaths and take declarations and affirmations, and the acknowledgments of married women, shall, before being acted upon, be brought to the registrar of attorneys to be entered in books for that purpose, which shall be open for inspection during office hours. The registrar, by the 31st sec., in order to form a complete register of these commissions, is to procure from the several officers having the care thereof, lists of the authorities and appointments now in force, with the names of the persons authorised and their places of business, and enter the same in books to be kept for that purpose. These official lists of previous commissions will be paid out of the fee of 1s. on future commissions.

CERTIFICATED CONVEYANCERS.

It appears to have been always requisite that members of the inns of Court in order to practise under the bar as special pleaders, equity draftsmen, or conveyancers, should obtain an annual licence from the benchers of their several societies, and in Hilary Term, 1852, stringent regulations were made regarding the members of all the Inns of Court, defining their qualifications, stating the several classes of persons who were not eligible to become members; and especially requiring that the bencher's licence to practise under

the bar should be granted for one year only. The 34th sec. of the act provides for carrying this regulation as to certificated conveyancers into effect, after the 31st October next, but exempts those who at the time of the passing of the Act should be lawfully practising as certificated conveyancers.

The 33d clause reserves the rights of persons who, under the previous statutes, were qualified to act, though not on the roll of attorneys, namely, barristers being solicitors of Government boards, under the 9 Geo. 4., c. 25; clerks to boards of guardians, under the 7 & 8 Vic. c. 101, s. 68, who are authorised to act at petty sessions; revenue officers, under 16 & 17 Vic. c. 107, s. 323 ; and other persons by leave of the judge under the County Courts Amendment Act, 15 & 16 Vic. c. 54, s. 10.

THE RESULTS OF THE EXAMINATIONS.

MICHAELMAS TERM, 1860.

Ar the examination held in last Michaelmas Term there were 146 candidates who went in for the ordeal, and of these 130 were successful, leaving 16 as the number of the rejected, or, to speak in more courtly phrase, of the postponed. When the questions are looked at, this result is somewhat astonishing, for in the divisions of common law and conveyancing the questions are more than ordinarily simple and elementary, and this is also in part the case with the questions in equity. It is true that the result was not so disastrous as on many other occasions; but still there ought not to have been so many rejected. What, then, is the cause of failure? Too many are willing to have it believed that the fault is not in them, but in the examiners, asserting that these latter will have victims, and that fate has willed that they, the rejected, should be the scapegoats. We do not, however, believe in this theory, prevalent as it is, seeing that it involves a gross charge of injustice against men who may justly claim to be considered as above the suspicion of being actuated by a motive so base as is implied in the charge. We believe that the result is due to negligence in preparing for the examination, either from putting off the preparation to too late a period or inefficiently preparing. An articled clerk ought, immediately on being installed in a solicitor's office, to commence his studies, keeping in view the examinations sufficiently to give a direction to such studies; but it is well known that too many delay this until the near approach of the examination, and then they think to make up for lost time by being "crammed" or "coached" by persons who profess to be able to get articled clerks through by some royal process known only to themselves. Nothing can be more

fallacious than such promises, as too many clerks have learnt to their cost. We have heard, and have little doubt it is true, that the larger portion of the "rejected" consist of the clerks who have availed themselves of the "services" of professed crammers. Our subscribers will do far better to apply themselves in the manner which will be pointed out in these pages, and, in particular, to give attention to our "STUDIES UPON THE EXAMINATIONS," with a view to familiarising themselves with the questions and the proper answers thereto. Hereafter we shall notice the above matters more in detail; but we could not refrain, on this occasion, giving some advice and warning.

We may now add that at the above examination the examiners recommended the following gentlemen, under the age of 26, as being entitled to honorary distinction :

HAWKINS, FREDERICK JAMES, aged 25, who served his clerkship to Messrs. Forshaw and Goodman, of Liverpool.

FINCH, RICHARD, aged 21, who served his clerkship to Mr. John Mayhew, of Wigan; and Messrs. Sharpe, Jackson, and Parker, of London.

JACKSON, ARTHUR, aged 21, who served his clerkship to Mr. Edward Jackson, of London and Wisbeach.

TOMKINSON, FREDERICK WILLIAM, aged 22, who served his clerkship to Mr. Richard Heaton, of Burslem.

The Council of the Incorporated Law Society have accordingly awarded the following prizes of books :

To Mr. HAWKINS, the prize of the Honourable Society of Clifford's-inn.

To Mr. FINCH, one of the prizes of the Incorporated Law Society. To Mr. JACKSON, one of the prizes of the Incorporated Law Society.

To Mr. TOMKINSON, one of the prizes of the Incorporated Law Society.

The examiners also certified that the following candidates, whose names are placed in alphabetical order, passed examinations which entitle them to commendation :—

BAKER, THOMAS MATTHIAS, aged 21, who served his clerkship to Mr. John Baker, of Great Yarmouth, and Mr. Charles Francis Fisher, of Ventnor, Isle of Wight.

DALRYMPLE, WILLIAM CHARLES, aged 25, who served his clerkship to Mr. Charles Frederick Robinson, of London.

HELLARD, JOSEPH AUGUSTUS, aged 22, who served his clerkship to Messrs. Hellard, of Portsmouth, and Messrs. Williamson, Hill, and Co., of London.

LINDO, GABRIEL, aged 22, who served his clerkship to Messrs. Cooper and Hodgson, of London, and Mr. Nethaneel Lindo, of London.

ROGERS, WILLIAM, aged 23, who served his clerkship to Mr. James Johnston, of London.

STEEDMAN, HENRY, aged 23, who served his clerkship to Mr. Lindsey Wm. Winterbotham, of Stroud, and Messrs. Lewis, Wood, and Street, of London.

The council have accordingly awarded them certificates of merit. The examiners further announced to the following candidates that their answers to the questions at the examination were highly satisfactory, and would have entitled them to prizes or certificates of merit, if they had been under the age of 26

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FIELD, BASIL, B. A., aged 26, who served his clerkship to Messrs. Field and Roscoe, of London.

HALSE, RICHARD WILLIAM DAVIS CLARENCE, aged 32, who served his clerkship to Messrs. Head and Venn, of Exeter.

HART, ROBERT, aged 26, who served his clerkship to Messrs. Chilton and Burton, of London.

KEMPSON, EDWARD FLEETWOOD, aged 26, who served his clerkship to Mr. Wm. Blackman Young, of Hastings; Messrs. Sharpe, Field, and Jackson, of London; and Messrs. Lawrance, Plews, and Boyer, of London.

MILLER, THOMAS DALTON, aged 30, who served his clerkship to Messrs Chilton and Burton, of London.

STOCKTON, JAMES, aged 33, who served his clerkship to Mr. Wm. Munton, of Banbury.

WIGGLESWORTH, WILLIAM, aged 31, who served his clerkship to Messrs. Bagshaw and Son, of Manchester.

CORRESPONDENCE ON MOOT POINTS.

As will have been seen by our prospectus, we do not intend to publish answers to the Moot Points, but we are prepared to insert short statements of the result of correspondence thereon, if any correspondents will favour us therewith, which will be more useful to them and those who have not entered into correspondence. Indeed, by this means, we hope to do what, it must be admitted, is a very difficult matter, and what, we fear, we have not heretofore done, viz., satisfy all parties. We trust our correspondents will give these remarks their consideration, and be guided by them for the future, particularly wish them to understand that we do not discourage correspondence, but that it is our sincere desire to see it carried out more fully and more efficiently that has induced us to express the above views, and we feel satisfied that, by strictly acting on them, we shall be doing an essential service to those who will follow them out with perseverance and zeal.

and we

The following is a revised list of correspondents so far as we have