from teaching laws; so that the Inns of Court and of Chancery thus obtained a monopoly of legal tuition. (f)

The younger students were generally placed in the Inns of Chancery, but as by the 25 Hen. VIII. c. 21 it was declared that the people of England were "free from any man's laws, and subject only to such as have been devised, made, and ordained within this realm," or to such others as by the sufferance of the Crown "the people of this realm have taken at their free liberty by their own consent to be used among them," and consequently the validity of the civil and canon law depended on its adoption by statute or long usage into our own common law, the universities gave up the teaching of the civil and canon law, and took to the English common law.

It became, therefore, the custom for those younger students to seek their education in the common law at the universities rather than at the Inns of Chancery, which latter gradually fell into disuse.

The Inns of Court however remained, and still have the exclusive privilege of conferring the degree of "Barrister-atlaw."

There are now four Inns of Court, viz. Lincoln's Inn, Gray's Inn, and the Inner and Middle Temples. In order to take his call to the bar, which he must do to enable him to practise as an advocate, a student must now enter his name at one of these four Inns, and in general must have kept commons for twelve terms (there being four terms in each year). In addition, he must have passed the examinations in the various subjects prescribed by the consolidated regulations.

In early times the serjeants (servientes ad legem) were the highest rank of barristers; they were appointed from the apprentices (apprenticii ad legem) of sixteen years' standing by writ of summons under the Great Seal issued by the King in Council, (g) and the call to the coif (h) was marked by various

(f) See Steph. Comm., i. 16.

(g) See Pulling's Order of the Coif, p. 31.

h) The Coif was the name given to the peculiar head-dress worn by the serjeants, consisting of a white covering of lawn or silk surmounted by a black skull cap of silk or velvet. The modern representation of this headdress is the small black patch surrounded by a white border upon the top of the wig. (See Ib. p. 13 et seq.)

C.L.E.

20

impressive ceremonies. Until the Judicature Act of 1873 came into force, judges were always appointed from amongst the serjeants, who ranked socially but not professionally before the king's counsel, and even the attorney and solicitor-general. The Judicature Act, 1873, provided that any barrister of ten years' standing may be appointed a judge of the High Court of Justice, and any person who before the Act was qualified to be a judge of appeal in Chancery, or any judge of the High Court of not less than one year's standing, may be appointed an ordinary judge of the Court of Appeal; the degree of serjeant-at-law is no longer to be a necessary qualification in either case. (i) Since this provision came into force the degree of serjeant and the order of the coif has fallen into disuse, and the serjeants sold their inn in Chancery Lane (known as Serjeants' Inn) in 1877, their numbers being then very small. The origin of the attorney and solicitor-general is to be found in the attornati regis, appointed as early as 1279, (k) and up to the seventeenth century there were no other king's counsel recognized than the king's serjeants (7) and the attorney and solicitorgeneral. (m)

In 1604 Sir Francis Bacon was appointed king's counsel extraordinary, but merely it seems honoris causâ; and this example was followed in 1668 by Francis North (afterwards Lord Guildford), who obtained a patent as king's counsel without having taken the degree of serjeant. (n) During the reigns of William, Mary, and Anne no king's counsel were appointed, but from the end of the eighteenth century (0) onwards they became recognized as a distinct class or order, and have continued to grow to their present numbers and importance. (p)

(i) 36 & 37 Vict. c. 66, s. 8. By 14 & 15 Vict. c. 83, s. 1, any barrister of fifteen years' standing might be appointed a lord justice of appeal in Chancery.

(k) Pulling's Order of the Coif, p. 184.

(1) The king's serjeants were of higher degree than the ordinary serjeants.

(m) Pulling's Order of the Coif, p. 185.

(n) Ib. 189.

(o) In 1775 there were fourteen king's counsel (Ib. 193).

(p) The numbers given by the Law List 1904, were 273. whilst the only surviving serjeants-at-law given in the list were Lord Lindley and Lord Field.

Originally, as we have seen in criminal cases, the prisoner was not allowed the benefit of counsel to defend him, but gradually in cases of felony it became the custom to allow counsel to conduct the prisoner's case, but not apparently to address the jury for him. In 1836 prisoners accused of felony were statutorily permitted to be fully defended by counsel. (q)

Solicitors. As we have seen by the Statute of Merton, 1236, every free man might be represented at the county, trything, hundred, and manorial courts by attorney. In the reign of Edward I. attorneys had ceased to be lay friends casually assisting in suits, and had become a professional class accepting payment for representing their clients, (†) and various statutes were passed in that and succeeding reigns permitting attorneys to act instead of the parties themselves in a variety of causes and matters. (s) Soon their numbers increased very greatly, and it being found that many of them were ignorant and incompetent men, the 4 Hen. IV. c. 18 enacted that all attorneys should be examined by the justices, and at their discretion their names put on the roll, which is perhaps the origin of the roll of attorneys. In the reign of Henry VI. and later on in the reign of James I. it became necessary to limit the numbers of attorneys, and an Act was passed in 1605 (t). “to reform the multitudes and misdemeanours of attorneys and solicitors at law, and to avoid unnecessary suits and charges in law.”

Here we notice the occurrence of the term solicitor. He appears to have transacted business in the Equity Court, while the attorneys were confined to the common law courts. (u) But, unlike the attorneys, solicitors were at first subject to no

(q) 6 & 7 Will. IV. c. 114. Previously to this, by the 7 & 8 Will. III. c. 3, prisoners accused of treason, or misprision of treason, might be defended by counsel.

(r) Pol. & Mait., i. 192.

(8) As to attorneys acting in writs of assize see statute Westminster I. (1275); as to pleas touching wounds and maims, 6 Ed. I. c. 1; as to attorneys generally, 13 Ed. I. st. 1, c. 10; as to persons unable to travel, 27 Ed. I. st. 2; in novel disseisin, 13 Ed. II. c. 1; persons leaving the realm, 7 Ric. II. c. 14; pauper litigants, 11 Hen. VII. c. 12.

(t) 3 Jas. I. c. 7.

(u) See Christian, Hist. Solicitors, 70 et seq.

rules as to qualification. In 1729 the 2 Geo. II. c. 23 was passed "for the better regulations of attorneys and solicitors."

By this Act none were allowed to practise unless they had been enrolled and taken the oath to act" truly and honestly; " further, he must have been examined by the judges, and have served as a clerk for five years.

Acts continued to be passed regulating the practice and charges of solicitors and attorneys, and especially with regard to their education and examination, and in 1836 the first examination of clerks desiring to be admitted was held.

The old distinction between attorneys and solicitors had gradually disappeared and they are now known generally as solicitors, and their practice, the rules for their education, admission, and enrolment are embodied in a variety of Acts passed in the reign of Victoria, the principal of these being the Solicitors Act, 1843, and the Solicitors' Remuneration Act, 1881, and the rules and orders made thereunder.

It will be sufficient to state here that in order to become qualified to practise a person must in general have served a term of five years (in some cases four) as an articled clerk to a solicitor, and must in addition have passed a preliminary, an intermediate, and a final examination. These examinations are held under the management of the Incorporated Law Society, a body which originated in 1825 to look after the interests of the profession. Having served the necessary term under articles and passed the prescribed examination, the intending solicitor may then, on payment of the necessary fees, be admitted and enrolled, after which he becomes qualified to practise.

CHAPTER IV.

CHANGES UNDER THE JUDICATURE ACTS, 1873 TO 1910, ETC.

Superior Courts before the Judicature Acts.

WE have seen what the judicial institutions of the kingdom were up to the year 1873, the date of the first Judicature Act, (a) which came into force on the 1st of November, 1875, by virtue of the Supreme Court of Judicature (Commencement) Act (b) of that year. It remains to see the changes brought about by that and the succeeding Acts.

Briefly, before the Judicature Acts the superior courts of first instance were as follows:

(1) The King's Bench, presided over by the lord chief justice and puisne judges.

(2) The Common Pleas, presided over by the lord chief

justice of the Common Pleas and puisne judges. (3) The Court of Exchequer, presided over by the lord chief baron and barons of the Exchequer. From these three courts appeal lay to the Exchequer Chamber, and thence to the House of Lords.

(4) The Court of Chancery, presided over by the lord chancellor, with the master of the rolls and three vice-chancellors.

(5) The High Court of Admiralty, presided over by a judge who sat as the lord high admiral's deputy. Appeal lay at first to the Court of Delegates, and later, by 3 & 4 Will. IV. c. 41, to the judicial committee of the Privy Council.

(6) The Court of Bankruptcy, established in 1831, (c)

(a) 36 & 37 Vict. c. 66.

(b) 37 & 38 Vict. c. 83, s. 2; and see 33 & 39 Vict. c. 77, s. 2, and the App. Jur. Act, 1876, s. 24.

(c) 1 & 2 Will. IV. c. 56.