without any negligence on their part; and that, therefore, the defendants should have judgment on the third plea. He agreed with the rest of the Court, that the fourth plea was good, and the second count good; but he construed the tenth plea as not amounting to an allegation of notice, and therefore held it bad. 21. HUNTER v. GIBBONS. 1 H. & N., 459. Statute of Limitations—Fraudulent Concealment of Cause of Action till the Six Years had elapsed-Equitable Replication. The plaintiff sued the defendant in trespass for making excavations under his land, and taking away coal, &c., and also working the defendant's own coal-mines, so as to injure the adjacent land of the plaintiff. The defendant pleaded the statute of limitations, and the plaintiff applied to the Court of Exchequer for leave to reply, that the trespass in question, and the working of the coal-mines, &c., by the defendant, were effected by clandestine means, and that the plaintiff only discovered the fraud within six years. The Court refused to sanction such a replication, the title to equitable relief not being so clear as to justify the Court, under the 85th section of the Common Law Procedure Act, in treating the facts alleged as avoiding the plea on equitable grounds. 22. DUTTON v. GUARDIANS OF CLUTTON UNION. Watercourse-Right to Flow of Water from Spring Head. The plaintiff's mill was situated on a stream partly supplied through a natural channel from "The Red House Spring," rising in a field belonging to Captain Scobell. The defendants, in order to obtain a supply of water for the Union Workhouse, which was about a mile from this field, took from Captain Scobell a grant of the use of the spring, and constructed works in the field so as to cut off the water at its source before it came to the surface, and receive it into a deep tank for supplying the workhouse waterpipes. The stream that served the plaintiff's mill was by this means greatly diminished in force, and the Court of Exchequer unanimously held that this was a wrongful act on the defendants' part, and that the plaintiff was entitled to recover damages. Baron Martin observed, "the owners of lands adjoining a stream have a natural right to the use of the water of it. A river begins at its source-when it comes to the surface; and the owner of the land on which it rises cannot monopolize all the water at the source, so as to prevent it reaching the lands of other proprietors lower down." 183 Short Notes of New Books. [*** All Law Books and works of interest to the Legal Profession, forwarded to the Editor of the LAW MAGAZINE and LAW REVIEW, will be noticed either shortly, or at length-in its pages.] The English Constitution in the Reign of King Charles II. By Andrew Amos, Esq., Downing Professor of Law in the University of Cambridge, and late Member of the Supreme Council of India. London: Stevens and Norton, 1857. We have read this volume with much interest, and strongly recommend it to the student anxious to obtain a clear insight into the state of our law and constitution during the reign of Charles II. We have often wished that a well-considered and epitomised selection of the State Trials was at hand for use and reference. To the student such a work-which might, as we think, be readily brought within reasonable compass-would be invaluable; by the historian, the country gentleman, and the man of letters, it would, we conceive, be constantly in requisition. The State Trials themselves, as exhibited in Mr. Howell's series, are not attractive to the reader-they combine gems it is true of scarcely estimable price; but they also contain a vast amount of dross and drivelling, amidst which the uninitiated must search-sometimes it may be laboriously and vainly— for what they want. Hence we feel grateful to those who, in regard to particular portions of history, go far towards supplying that which we have long deemed to be a desideratum. Mr. Amos has here presented the leading maxims of constitutional law in clear and forcible language to his readers, and illustrated them appositely and well. Vocal Gymnastics; or, a Guide for Stammerers and for Public Speakers. By G. F. Urling. London: Churchill, 1857. THIS is a sensibly written and useful little volume; having examined it with much care, we can confidently recommend it to those whose articulation or pronunciation is defective. Judicial Appointments; a Letter to the Right Hon. Baron Cranworth, Lord High Chancellor. London: Bosworth and Harrison, 1857. THIS pamphlet is put forth in advocacy of the claims of the County Court Judges to some higher preferment, in recompense of their very arduous and useful services, than they have hitherto been thought worthy to obtain. Its author contends that vacancies in the Judicial Bench at Westminster may not inadequately be filled by translation from the local courts. With this view, which we have reason to know is entertained by some of the most eminent and highly-gifted members of the profession, we confess ourselves disposed wholly to concur. Not merely do we conceive that some considerable extension should be given to the jurisdiction of the County Courts, but we also think that, instead of being 'shelved' without hope of progress or advance, as they now are, to County Court Judges should be held forth a fair and reasonable prospect of promotion to offices of greater dignity and emolument. The system of local courts is yet undeniably in its infancy. That it has taken a firm root amongst us is indisputable. That it is favoured by the strong common-sense indigenous to our soil, has been fully proved. That it will ultimately supersede the present too centralized system of administering justice, we believe; and in this faith we can hardly do better than present to our readers the following extracts from the brochure now lying before us : "Of late years, the ranks of the bar have very much increased, superior education and mental culture have raised a greater number to a co-ordinate level, and business is more generally distributed; but so far from it being true that the standard is lower, the converse is the fact, for Westminster Hall never presented a more fertile field for choice than at present." "The risks which have hitherto attended the sudden elevation of an untried man, need no longer be incurred; no difficulty on that score now presents itself; for the County Courts provide a nursery, or training-school, whence an abundant supply of able and experienced men may at all times be obtained." "These Courts have been in operation ten years, and, notwithstanding the undisguised hostility and active competition of Westminster Hall, and the stepdame nurture of successive Governments, they have succeeded beyond the most sanguine anticipations of their warmest supporters. The enormous business disposed of in them has continued to increase; the jurisdiction has been enlarged; and such has been the satisfactory manner in which the Judges have discharged their onerous duties, in despite of all the difficulties and petty jealousies they have encountered, that scarcely a Session has passed in which the Legislature has not imposed additional duties on them; and men of all parties concur in bearing testimony to the efficiency with which they have performed their part in this great social reform. One test alone is conclusive-In 1850, the jurisdiction was extended from £20 to £50, with power of appeal to the Courts of Westminster in all cases above £20. The Parliamentary Returns disclose that the number of cases above £20, actually tried from the date of the extension to the 31st December, 1855, amounted to 32,954; while the total number of appeals was only 142, of which 43 only of the decisions of the County Court Judges were overruled." 66 Among the Judges are those who have attained the highest ranks at the bar, including the Queen's Ancient Serjeant, Serjeants-at-Law with and without patents of precedence, Queen's Counsel, and others who have distinguished themselves in practice and in literature; and the Courts of some of them are spoken of in the profession as second to none in the kingdom. And yer, singular to say, not one has ever been promoted, though the labours of many exceed, in the course of one year, those of all the Fifteen Judges put together! How or why, it has occurred that the lot has not fallen on one out of so many picked and tried men in the course of so many years, I will not stop to inquire; but it is manifest that similar neglect ought not to continue." "Are gentlemen who, from various circumstances, may be tempted to retire from practice with the appointment of a County Court Judgeship, to feel that, if they do so, they will brand themselves as inferior men, and must thenceforth abandon all hope of further distinction? Would not the consequences of such a rule, taken in connection with the late alteration in the salaries, be, that the Bench of the County Courts would no longer prove an attraction to any really desirable men, and that those who now fill it and their successors would thenceforth discharge their daily routine of duties as mere machines, satisfied with doing just enough to secure their quarterly pittance, shirking all labour that could be avoided, shrinking from contact with members of their own profession, and deprived of that wholesome ambition which stimulates all others so long as health and strength enable them to continue in active service, but which, with them, must give place to disappointment, envy, and spleen? Surely such a rule of exclusion, independently of the injustice to the individuals, would be diametrically opposed to sound policy and the just claims of the country. "Let it be once understood that the County Court Judges are not to be esteemed a proscribed class, precluded from practice, shut out from the senate, and indiscriminately shelved for life with salaries wholly disproportioned to their labours, though in the plenary possession of powers and energies worthy a better fate, and not only will fresh vigour be infused throughout the sixty circuits, kindling a laudable desire to prove themselves worthy of the promotion hitherto confined to others whose superiority, in some instances, it would be difficult to define; but the law students and the junior bar of England will recoguise an additional incitement to increased diligence, in the encouragement of progressive rewards in the long and tedious road to the highest honours, while the right of the public to the services of the most able and the best qualified men will, by the same means, be permanently guaranteed.” The New Joint-Stock Company Law. By CHARLES WORDSWORTH, ESQ., Barrister-at-Law. 5th Edition. London: Shaw & Sons, 1856. THIS has in practice been found to be a useful edition of "The JointStock Company's Act, 1856." It contains instructions for the formation of a company, a full commentary upon the Act, and ample references to decided cases. It may be needless, after the success which it has obtained, to recommend it to the profession, but we unfeignedly do so. A Review of the Divorce Bill of 1856, with Propositions for the Amendment of the Laws affecting Married Persons. London: J. W. Parker, 1857. THIS is a very ably written and instructive pamphlet. It will be found well worthy of perusal by the lawyer, as it exhibits in clear and forcible language the actual state of our laws in regard to divorce and the property of married women. We earnestly commend it to the notice of our readers, whose attention has more than once been directed in these pages to portions of the subject to the discussion of which it is devoted. 186 Events of the Quarter. MISCELLANEOUS. WE understand that early in the present (Easter) term the Benchers of the Inner Temple came to a decision upon the question for some time agitated among them-Is it, or is it not, expedient that a compulsory examination prior to admission to the bar should be instituted? and that this question was by them decided in the affirmative. We have been informed that a like decision has been arrived at by the Benchers of the Middle Temple, and we entertain strong hope that the other learned Societies may ere long avow similar opinions. At all events, we regard the formal avowal of opinion just made, after most mature consideration by the Benchers of the Inner Temple, as likely to accelerate materially the final settlement on a right basis of the system of legal education for the Bar. Nor, if the expediency of instituting a compulsory test of efficiency be once admitted, do we apprehend that serious difficulty in the arrangement of details merely will have to be encountered. Being somewhat familiar with the machinery and working of the plan now operative, we venture to affirm that but few and unimportant changes would be needed to adapt it to an enlarged sphere of action and of usefulness. What is really wanting to give weight and significance to the title of " barrister" will not be attained-and we trust will not be sought for-by the application of a severe and stringent test of competency; still less by aught which may necessitate a recourse to " cramming," or an overtaxing of the memory or intellect. It will assuredly be found in any simple, well-devised programme of legal studies, so framed as to invite the studiously inclined, yet not to intimidate those who may be little prone to exercising their mental energies. Whatever be the final issue of the question here alluded to, it is a fact which the opponents (if such there be) of legal education will explain as best they may-that the voluntary attendance of students at the private classes has, during the current, been greater than in any preceding year-that the attendance at the public lectures has latterly been, and still is highly satisfactory-and that the number of candidates from time to time submitting themselves to examination has increased. In our apprehension, such facts indicate a recognition by the students of the Inns of Court of the educational facilities and advantages which those Societies afford them, and a desire more fully to partake of them. |