4

Administration of Justice in the Superior Law Courts.

SEC. 6 appoints the commencement and limits the duration of the terms. This provision begins to operate in Hilary term, 1831.

SFC. 7 limits the time for sittings at Nisi Prius in London and Middlesex, after the alteration of the terma has taken effect, to twenty-four days, exclusive of Sundays, after Hilary, Trinity, and Michaelmas terms; and to six days, exclusive of Sunday, after Easter term, to be reckoned consecutively immediately after the terms. The judges may appoint a day or days for trials at bar, and the time so ap. pointed, if in vacation, shall for the purpose of such trial be deemed part of the preceding term, and a day or days may be specially appointed, not being within the twenty-four days, by consent of the parties, their counsel, or attorneys, for the trial of any cause at Nisi Prius.

SEC.8 provides that writs of error shall be returnable before the judges, or judges and barons of the other two courts, and a transcript only of the record to be annexed to the return; the court of error, at a time appointed by the judges in term, or vacation, may review the proceedings, and give judgment; the proceedings and judgment, as altered or affirmed, to be entered on the original record, and further proceedings awarded by the court in which the original record remains, from which judgment in error, no writ of error shall lie, except to Parliament.

SEC. 9 empowers the judges before whom any person is tried and convicted for felony, or misdemeanour, upon a record of the court of King's Bench, to pass sentence at the assizes, or sittings, and points out the course of proceedings in such

cases.

SEC. 10 enables attorneys of the King's Bench and Common Pleas to be admitted, and allowed to practise in the Court of Exchequer, without employing a clerk in court, in the capacity of an attorney of the court of Exchequer.

SEC. 11. Eight or more of the judges, including all the chiefs, are exclusively to make rules for the future regulation of the practice of the three courts, and the court of error.

SEC. 12. Bail may be justified before a judge in chambers, or other place appointed by him, as well in term as in vacation, and whether the defendant be actually in custody or not.

Src. 13. The king's writ shall be directed and obeyed, and the jurisdiction of the King's Bench, Common Pleas, and Exchequer, shall extend and be exercised over and within the county of Chester, the county of the city of Chester, and the several counties in Wales, in the same manner as the jurisdiction of such courts is now exercised over the counties of England, not being counties palatine; and all original writs to be issued in Chester and Wales, shall be issued by the cursitors for London and Middlesex.

SEC. 14. This section abolishes the jurisdiction of the courts of Chester, and of the chamberlain and vice-chamberlain thereof, and of the judges and courts of Great Sessions in law and equity in Wales, and directs all suits depending in those courts, if in equity, to be transferred to the court of Chancery, or Exchequer; if in law, to the court of Exchequer, to be decided according to the practice of those courts, or of the court whence the same shall be transferred, according to the direction of the court to which the same shall be transferred. SEC. 15. Saving of the rights of the mayor and citizens of the county of the city of Chester; writs of error, or false judgment, hitherto brought before the courts abolished, shall hereafter be returnable in the King's Bench.

SEC. 16. Attorneys of great sessions for Chester or Wales, may, on paying one shilling, have their

names entered upon a roll, to be kept in each of the superior courts at Westminster, and then practise in such courts, in all actions against persons resi ding, at the commencement of the suit, within Chester or Wales. And persons baving served, or now serving, as clerks, under articles, and otherwise entitled to be admitted attorneys of the courts of great sessions, may, on or before six months from the passing of this Act, be admitted attorneys of the courts at Westminster, to practise there in like manner only without payment of any greater duty than that payable on their admission as attorneys of the court of great sessions.

SEC. 17. Attorneys and solicitors now practising at great sessions, may be admitted in the superior courts at Westminster, on paying such sum for duty as shall, together with the sum already paid, amount to the full duty on admission of attorneys or solicitors in the latter courts. Clerks having served, or serving under articles, to attorneys or solicitors of great sessions, may, at the expiration of their clerkship, be admitted attorneys of the courts at Westminster, as if they had served attorneys of those courts.

SEC. 18. Commissioners for taking affidavits, or masters extraordinary in chancery of any of the abolished courts, may, on producing their appointment to the proper officer, and paying one shilling, have their names entered in a list kept for that purpose, and exercise, within the limits of their existing commissions, the same power and authority as if their commission had issued from the courts at West

minster.

SEO. 19. Assizes shall be holden in Chester and Wales under similar commissions to those used in the counties of England, and in a similar manner.

SEC. 20. Till further provision, one of the two judges appointed to hold assizes for Chester and Wales, shall hold such assizes at the several places where the same have heretofore been most usually held within South Wales, and the other judge shall hold such assizes at the several places where the same have been most usually held in North Wales; and both of such judges shall hold the assizes for Chester.

SEC. 21. Defendants arrested on process from the superior courts, may be rendered in discharge of bail, to the prison of the court out of which the process issued, or to the common gaol of the county in which they are arrested, in a certain manner prescribed; and the sheriff, or other person responsible for the custody of debtors in such county gaol, shall, on perfecting such render, be charged with the custody of such defendants, and the bail be exonerated.

SEC 22. Defendants in custody in any county gaol of England or Wales, on process out of the superior courts, may be rendered in discharge of their bail in any other action depending in any of the said courts, in the manner before provided, for a render in discharge of bail; and the sheriff, or other person responsible for the custody of debtors, shall, on such render, be charged with the custody of the defendant, and the bail exonerated.

SEC. 23. Provides that the salaries of the judges of Chester and Wales, shall, when their offices terminate, form part of the consolidated fund, and a similar sum retained in the Exchequer as part of such fund, and no part carried to the account of the civil list.

SEC. 24. Compensation to certain of the Welsh judges, on their offices being abolished, by annuities to continue during their lives, or until appointed to another office, the emoluments of which shall be equal to, or greater than, such annuities in amount;

The Duties and Character of an Attorney and Solicitor.

SEC. 29. Fines and recoveries, levied and suffered after the commencement of the Act, of lands, &c. in Chester or Wales, shall be levied and suf-pearing to confess lease entry or ouster, the judge fered in the same manner; and the same officers employed as in fines and recoveries, levied or suffered of lands, &c. in any county of England, not a county palatine.

6

Biographical Sketch of the late Lord Gifford.

or hearing; it would involve a responsibility, standard of the estimation in which the and require qualifications, which must neces-professors hold themselves, (a)" and, it may sarily excite no inconsiderable solicitude in be added, that it will also become the standard selecting the person by whom that duty should of the estimation in which they deserve to be be performed. He cannot arrive at a know- held. ledge of his client's case, without becoming acquainted with secrets of vital importance to his character, or fortune, or peace of mind. Interests of the greatest magnitude are thus committed to his honour, professional skill, and discretion. As he proceeds, he has to bestow patient and discriminating attention in the collection and arrangement of evidence, and he must bring to the discharge of every part of this duty, sound judgment, and an intimate knowledge of the world, as well as great professional skill.

It is quite impossible that a judicial investigation could be conducted with the order, the despatch, and the accuracy, by which it is at present distinguished, if this service were not previously performed. It must be performed, too, by a branch of the profession distinct from that of the barrister, whose avocations do not allow him the requisite time, and whose habits do not afford him the requisite qualifications for engaging in it.

Important as these services are, there are other duties, of a more serious and responsible nature, which the attorney has to perform. He is consulted by his client on transactions connected with the transfer of family property. Those who reflect on the various occasions which render such a consultation necessary, will perceive that confidential disclosures of the most delicate nature must be made, and thus he may place in the power of the attorney his credit, his property, and interests of even a higher nature. These communications daily and hourly take place, and with such perfect confidence in the integrity of him to whom they are made, that the obligation of secrecy is implied in the fact alone of making them. It is naturally desired by most men, that the number of those to whom they intrust their confidential communications should be as limited as possible. If the attorney confined himself to the conduct of suits in particular courts alone, he would compel the client to resort to another member of the profession when he required advice on a different subject. The education and habits of the attorney are therefore directed to the union of the qualifications which may enable him to be the adviser of his client on every occasion which requires professional assistance.

When it is perceived, that the most honourable conduct in individuals cannot protect the profession from the indiscriminate reproach with which it is collectively assailed, there is too much reason to apprehend that its members may become indifferent to the value of those qualities by which they are, and ought to be, distinguished. The habit of extending to a whole profession, the censures which are merited only by a few of its members, is fatal to that just discrimination of character which it becomes so much the public interest to make. Those who are accustomed to bestow their censures on all, when they are merited only by a few, will incur the risk of bestowing their confidence where it is the least deserved.

it is not necessary to enter into a minute detail of the services which are rendered by this branch of the profession. The experience of every man will suggest to him their nature, variety, and importance, and will lead him to consider that they become, in the present complex state of society, altogether indispensable. It is obvious, therefore, that the public have a direct and immediate interest in the character of the members of this department of the profession. It has been truly said, that "the degree of estimation in which any profession is held, becomes the

The more elevated, indeed, the profession stands in public estimation, the more secure is it against the introduction of unworthy members. The character which a society maintains, operates as much in repelling the bad, as in attracting the good: men judge of the intrinsic worth of a society from the reputation it maintains; if that be high, it is not the sphere of which bad men will make choice. It is with this, and with every other profession, as it is with society at large, public opinion, by the tone and character it gives to the latter, exercises a direct influence in forming its real intrinsic worth. standard of national morals is formed by the degree in which the boundaries of right and wrong are recognized and preserved. is depressed as much by withholding an honourable sanction, where it ought to be given, as by giving it where it ought to be withheld. It is still more depressed when undistinguishing censures become so general as to affect those who deserve commendation and support.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF
THE LATE LORD GIFFORD.

The

It

As example is more influential than precept, so the biography of those who have excelled in any science

or profession is better adapted than didactic treatises, to excite the emulation of the student. While it makes no concealment of difficulties, it discovers the means by which they may be; nay, have been, overcome; and, divesting science of its mystery and abstraction, presents it embodied and realized in the actions of an individual. Discrimination is requisite, on the part of the reader, to mark in what respects, the character brought before him can be imitated, in a manner conducive to his advancement towards that particular end, which his own proper business requires him to keep steadily in view. The assiduity and perseverance of Lord Gifford may be contem plated with profit, by those whose destination does

(a) 5 Burke, (8vo. ed.) page 93.

Biographical Sketch of the late Lord Gitjord.

the management of the office, for which he was already well qualified by his acquirements and his habits. His quickness in unravelling legal difficulties, his sound judgment in giving advice, and his skill in conducting causes, are still in the recollection of his early acquaintances. The late Mr. Baring, the member for Exeter, once called on Mr. Jones to consult him on a case of great importance, and legal perplexed, and turned to his clerk, Gifford, for his opinion; this he gave with a readiness and clearness which perfectly satisfied the client, who immediately after met a friend in the streets of Exeter, to whom he said, "I have just been consulting with a young man who, if he lives long enough, will some day be lord chancellor." In the second year of Mr. Gifford's clerkship, his father died, and his elder brothers succeeding to the business, watched over his interests with fraternal kindness. He had reason to expect that on the expiration of his articles, he should be admitted into partnership with Mr. Jones, but circumstances happened to prevent it; and now, finding himself free from engagements, he determined, with the concurrence of his brothers and the encouragement of his friends, to adopt that walk of the profession, which he had long ardently desired; but which he had prudently refrained from entering upon, while it was opposed to the wishes of his father, and inconsistent with existing obligations.

Robert Gifford was born at Exeter, on the 24th of February, 1779. His father was a man of resnicety: Jones, though a clever man, was somewhat pectability, as an extensive dealer in hops; and, likewise, carried on the trade of a grocer and linendraper: he was twice married, and had, by his second wife, four children, of whom Robert was the youngest. It is said that the house in which the subject of this memoir was born, and in which his father carried on the grocery business, was the very same in which the father of Lord Chancellor King resided, and carried on the same trade; employing his son Peter, as an assistant in the shop till he attained the age of eighteen, when his bright parts recommended him to the attention of his illustrious kinsman, Locke, who used his influence to release him from an occupation to which his talents rendered him superior. Whether or not the parallel between these two distinguished lawyers can be traced with accuracy to such minute particulars, is a matter rather curious than instructive: for the encouragement of the diligent, it is enough to know that both of them, by the force of unwearied application to legal studies, emerged from obscurity, overcame great obstacles, and attained the high honours of their profession, without the aid of wealth, or the advantages of powerful connexions.

Robert Gifford was a boy of quick apprehension, and attentive to all opportunities of acquiring information. His education commenced at a small school kept by a dissenting minister, in Exeter, who appreciated the excellence of his capacity, and pronounced him the cleverest boy he had under his

care.

He repaired to London in 1800, and entered himself of the Middle Temple. He became a pupil of Mr. Robert Bayly, a special pleader, in whose office he applied himself with his habitual industry to the study of that subtle branch of legal knowledge, for the space of two years; and it is believed that he placed himself for some time longer in the office of the late Mr. Godfrey Sykes, the a special pleader, afterwards solicitor to the Stamp office. About 1803 Mr. Gifford took chambers in Essex

The learned Dr. Halioran, better known for the possession of abilities, than for their useful ap-court, Temple, and commenced practice for himself plication, claimed the honour of having had young Gifford for a pupil.

His predilection for the courts of law manifested itself at an early age: even in his boyhood he would contrive to be present at the assizes, held in his native city, and there he attended from day to day, paying the closest attention to the several causes. His fondness for law must have led him into the

courts, and the proceedings which he witnessed there, the exertions of counsel, the dignity of the bench, kindled the latent ambition of his youthful breast, and made him desirous to enter upon the same career as that in which he saw the actors in the court engaged. His inclination for the bar was deemed too expensive to be encouraged, yet his taste for legal pursuits was so far consulted that he was designed for the other branch of the same profession; and was, at the age of sixteen, articled to Mr. Jones, a respectable solicitor, of Exeter.

As a clerk he was distinguished by sedulous application in the study of the science and theory of the law; and it was probably at this period that he laid the foundation of that knowledge of the laws of property, which became so highly useful to him in his after life. His attention to the practical business of the office was equally unremitting; and thus, sparing no exertions to deserve, he did not fail to obtain, the esteem and confidence of his principal; at the same time he enjoyed within the limits of his circumscribed sphere, the agreeable tribute of respect which is cheerfully paid to good character in all the useful stations and degrees of Society. The ill health of Mr. Jones gave young Gifford an opportunity of taking an active part in

as a special pleader; and, though his connexions in London could not have been at first very numerous, he gradually came into an extensive practice.

On the 12th of February, 1808, he was called to the bar: he joined the western circuit, the Exeter and Devon sessions. The high opinion entertained of his abilities in his native city, soon led to his employment in that part of the country; and the success which attended his efforts in the local courts, proved that the interval of his absence from Exeter had not been idly spent: for his good natural abilities were developed by assiduous cultivation; his store of legal learning was solid and extensive; while his attention and his method rendered his acquisitions immediately available on all occasions. A constant preparedness and vigilance seem to have been bis characteristics through life: and these appear to have constituted the secret power which enabled him, without any extraordinary pretensions to greatness of genius, to seize alike every favorable turn in the progress of a cause for the interests of his clients, and every auspicious juncture in the course of events for the advancement of his own fortunes. He soon obtained a considerable share of business both in the country and in London, and he was not long without an occasion for distinguishing himself in the eyes of the profession. He was retained to argue the cause of Mogg v. Mogg, in the King's Bench, a cause which involved many abstruse and important points in the law of real property, with which law he had early in his career, rendered himself familiar: his intimate acquaintance with the subject, and the

8

Biographical Sketch of the late Lord Gifford.

dexterity with which he applied his cases to the points in question, attracted the notice of the late Lord Ellenborough, then chief justice of that court. His lordship shewed him many marks of favor, invited Mr. Gifford to his house, and evinced a disposition to promote his advancement. The next case in which Mr. Gifford particularly excelled, was on a commission of lunacy, to inquire into the state of mind of a Mr. Baker, which commission was executed at the Castle at Exeter. The late Mr Dauncey, with Mr. Abbott, the present lord chief justice, were specially engaged on the occasion, and Mr. Gifford alone was opposed to them. ability of his deceased competitor will not soon be forgotten: the rare acumen of the dignified survivor is the subject of daily observation: the investigation lasted nine days, and produced a mass of various and complicated evidence. In reducing this to order, and placing the facts in a judicious point of view; by the aptitude of his comments, his cogency of argument, and facility of expression, Mr. Gifford excited the admiration of all who heard him, and proved that his powers were equally applicable to the difficulties of facts, and of law. Henceforward

The

he was regarded as an advocate qualified for all the trials of his profession: on the circuit he was trusted to compete with Lens and Pell; and in Westminster hall he enjoyed the favor of the judges, and the friendship of many estimable members of the bar. Among the latter were the late Sergeant Lens, Mr. Horner, and Mr. Mallet, the two last of whom were prematurely cut off before him; too early to realize the high, but just anticipations of their friends.

a

Among the judges, the late Sir James Mansfield, chief justice of the Common Pleas, was zealous patron of Mr. Gifford; Sir Vicary Gibbs, who, it is said, was a relative of his, and at first opposed his going to the bar, at length did justice to his merits, and was heard to affirm that since the death of Dunning, he had not known any man equal as a general lawyer to Gifford. Lord Ellenborough still continued his friend, and at one time expressed a wish that he should be made a king's counsel; but though this was not complied with at the time, the strong recommendation of his lordship is supposed to have had much weight in the subsequent appointment of Mr. Gitford to the office of solicitor general.

This honour was conferred upon him on the 9th of May, 1817; he owed it to his professional celebrity, and to the evidences he had given of being a useful and steady man of business; for he was personally unknown to the ministers. Sir Samuel Romilly, an impartial judge, expressed in the House of Commons, his satisfaction that the appointment had been made on the fair principle of professional merit. Mr. Gifford bestowed too much time on his professional avocations to take a prominent part in politics: his political principles, when he first went to the bar, were not congenial with those of the administration whose officer he now became; but at what time, or on what grounds, his sentiments underwent a change, is an inquiry foreign to these pages. On the 16th of the same month of May, he was made a bencher of the honourable society of the Middle Temple; and soon afterwards, he took his seat in the House of Commons, for the borough of Eye, in Suffolk. In parliament he did not make a conspicuous figure; he lacked the fire of genius, and the general knowledge, which are requisite to give ascendancy in a popular assembly, containing many severe and competent judges of oratory; yet he was clear in elucidating the legal measures of the government; and when a suitable subject

presented itself, he displayed with effect the same talents which he employed with such dexterity and success in forensic discussions.

general, he left the courts of common law, to pracAfter his appointment to the post of solicitor tise at the Chancery bar: a transition which nothing but fatigable perseverance like his, could have rendered a quickness of apprehension, and an indeeasy; seeing the differences in the course of study, ing, which law and equity require according to the in principles and practice, and in the style of speakmode of their respective administration in this counsiderable; and he became the principal leader of try. His practice in his new sphere was soon conappeals in the House of Lords: here he availed himself of every opportunity to make himself acquainted with the laws of Scotland, from whence so the peers. This accession to his stock of legal many causes are brought for the final decision of knowledge proved highly valuable to him at a subgaged on the trial of Watson and others for high sequent period of his life. He was officially entreason in 1817, on which occasion Sir James Mansfield attended in the Court of King's Bench, on purpose to hear the solicitor-general's reply. On ship of Bristol, the corporation of that city chose Sir the resignation by Sir Vicary Gibbs of the recorderRobert Gifford for his successor. This office has been held by men of great legal eminence: Sir tion of the corporation that, as a mark of their esRobert discharged its duties so much to the satisfacteem, they requested him to sit to the late Sir Thomas Lawrence, for a whole-length portrait, to be placed in their Town Hall.

In July 1819, Sir Samuel Shepherd retired from baron of the Exchequer in Scotland; and Sir Robert the station of attorney general, to become chief Gifford was appointed to fill the vacancy, being then only forty years of age. In discharging the not putting the formidable machinery of state pro duties of this office he was moderate and discreet, secutions in motion without necessity, and without The most important duty that devolved upon him, the strongest probability of obtaining a conviction. was to conduct the investigation, which took place in Caroline. His introductory speech on that great the House of Lords in 1820, into the conduct of Queen occasion did not produce a very strong impression; but in his reply, which occupied two days in the delivery, he surpassed all expectations. His energies seem to have been roused by the ability of his adversaries, by the magnitude of the task; perhaps by the recollection of the comparative inefficiency of tion was at stake. He concentrated the multiplicity his opening, and the consciousness that his reputaof facts which were scattered through a voluminous body of evidence, grasped them with great power, the happiest effect. A great impression was proand brought them to hear upon the question with duced upon the noble judges, which some attributed nuity of the advocate. to the strength of the case, and others to the inge

nity; but attended with a weight of care and fatigue The year 1824 brought him a rich harvest of digwhich tended to impair his constitution, and which is sometimes purchased at the expense of tranquillity serves to shew that the honor of high public stations and health. On the 8th of January in that year, he was appointed Chief Justice of the Court of Comunder the title of Baron Gifford, of St. Leonard's, in mon Pleas : he was created a peer of Great Britain, speaker of the House of Lords, for the special purthe county of Devon; and was appointed deputy his knowledge of its laws rendered him fully compepose of determining appeals from Scotland; for which