The Sun. — London, England, 1830-04-02 00:00:00

a lid 'ft , AateS)l,lyaniatatlcerttel whtn catne to L! tefore the House of Lords. At last, in 1815, an ,eat ties passed which first introduced he Trial by Jury in cases in Scotland. At that time there existed. 4auch prejudice against the Trial by Jury, and it was necessary tzi proceed with extreme caution. It was therefore determined to introduce the system by serene Of tt separate court, at the head of which was pieced an individual of great knowledge, well acquainted with the practice of the trial by Jury iu England. This separate Jury Court continued 'for some time to try only rspeeial cases sent from the Courts of Law. It was soma, Imwerer, found that Scotebmen were not so averse to the Slew mode of trial as had been apprehended, and it was 'determined to extend its application. In 1819 an Act 'was passed to authorize the Court of Session to send to the 'Jury °Ant other c tses besides special ones to be tried. From the moment when the Trial by Jury, in. its limited lfortit s was tiret introduced, it had, been intended that the 'system should, when the proper moment arrived, be united ‘e6th the ordinary iedirature of the country. That fact aPPearcd upon the face of all the report! made to Podia uneut its teenexion with the subject, and also on the face ` O l . An t Of Parliament themselves. As late as 1825, an -Act-pasted to extend the power of the Jury Court. in a ' , variety-of ways, and the operation of that Act was limited 1 0 the 30th of June, 1830, at which time it was con. .ceived that the union of the Jury system with the ordi nary judicature might be accomplished. A commission .appoint e d to inquire - bat., the subject had also reported that elle • union might take place in 1830. For that purpose Ire was now about to move for leave to introduce a Bill. 'The people of Scotland were perfectly reconciled to the `lyriel by /cry. He would now proceed to state generally tthe protieions of the Bill. It was in the first place pro -1)0mA that the union should take place on the sth of 'October next, which might be considered the close r.'if the legal year, as all the circuits would then be .. Great care had been taken to provide that all the 'easest hitherto by law tryable in the Jury Court should In future be tried by Juries in the Court of Session. 'Care+tod dist , been taken to increase instead of diminish the reambee of these cases. The mode of trying issues 'would be by the direction of the two heads of the first and second division. Upon that point, too, advantage wonlii.be taken elf the services of the Lord Chief Com missioner whit es t he should be able to act. The House was .aware that the venerable Judge was approaching four s" Years of age, anti therefore could not long be pre '"ed tar his country. He likewise was to direct issues `the first three years after the union should take place. 'et was also intended that all the clerks in the present Jury Court should, upon the union taking place, be removed into the Court of Session. Another part of the measure referred to the Court of Admiralty of Scotland. In . caftan. days Scotland had a Lord High Admiral, like -Exasland, who presided over the administration of justice in 'the Admiralty Court. At the period of the union with England, a special clause was introduced into the articles, 'Conveying all the Admiralty jurisdiction, and then fol lowed the words—" The Court of Admiralty of ecatland is to remain in the same manner after the Union as now, 'until the Parliament of Great Britain shall snake such revelations and alterations as shall be judged expedient for tbe whole united kingdorn, so as there be always continued In 'Scotland a Court of Admiralty, such as that in .England, for determination of all maritime cases, re lasing to private rights in Scotland, competent to the jurisdiction of the Admiralty Court, subject nevertheless to such regulatioos and alterations as shall be thought proper to be made by the Parliament of Great Britain." The Ad miralty jurisdiction had continued to the present day as it lad been left by the articles of Union. The measure about to he introduced abolished the Admiralty jurisdiction altogether. This could not be considered an objectionable proceeding. The Admiralty Court had never been a su perior Court, nor had it possessed any of the advantages of local Courts. If a poor sailor at the extremity of Scot land wanted to prefer a claim for the sum of 30s. he was obly;ed at present to proceed to Edinburgh to assert his Mann. It was propos e d that, in future, the Sheriff sabould :decide in eases where the sum sought to be reco vered was under 251. ; and that claims of a higher amount than 251. should be decided by the Judges of the Court of Session in the ordinary way. This, so far as he was able Ito form an opinion from the statements of individuals con. 'versant with these subjects, would be a very useful altera tion ; at it would save both trouble and expense to those `who went seeking justice, and he would maintain that no 'objection:could be offered to the remodelling of this Court, on the ground that it was an innovation of the articles of the Union. It effected nothing of the kind. He read in the articles of the Union, that the people of Scotland should have such a Court to decide on maritime causes ; that they should have justice rendered them without being obliged to have recourse to England- fore. it. Now, his proposition secured that object. He, in fact, gave them a more efficient court than they possessed at present, when he shifted the Admiralty business to the Court of Session, at the same time that lie established a c omp e tent authority to decide the smaller causes. On these grounds it was that be meant to propose to the House to abolish this Court, and to substitute the Court of Session, and the sheriffs to transact the business in its stead. The next jurisdiction to which he had to allude was that of the Con siatorial Court. That Court stood in a very peculiar si tuation, and had a most enlarged jurisdiction. It was not like the Ecclesiastical Courts of this country, with whose decisions the common law could not interfere. The decisions in the Scotch Ecclesiastical Court were always subject to the review of the Court of Session. In all eases of great importance, the general practice had been, first, to proceed before the Ecclesiastical Court, then to carry it into the Court of Session, and finally, into the inner council of the Court of Session ; so that it was de cided three different times. The jurisdiction of this Court might be stated to be two•fold ; first, as related to the ad ministration of wills, by which the executors of deceased persons arrive at a settlement of their estates and effects. This duty was performed during the whole course of th e year, and that part of the jurisdiction would not be altered by this Bill. But, for reasons which he would presently give, it would be necessary to re-model the other part of this jurisdiction. In the Consis , tonal Court, the Judges had a most important class of cases to adjudicate. First, they had to act in the eas e of wills; secondly, to decide questions of legitimacy— to adjudicate in actions, in which persons might be de clared legitimate, or held to be bastards; third, they had to decide with respect to the force of the marriage tie, when it was good, and when it was null and void. They had jurisdiction, not only in cases of divorce a mensa et thoro, but also is cases of complete divorce ; which, in that court, might require four proceedings. Such were the matters in which the Court of Commissaries had jurisdiction, their proceedings being subject to the review of a higher court. Now, lie meant to confer the whole jurisdiction in a!1 that class of eases on the Court of Session. That was the alteration which he wished to propose. He could show the H ouse that an alteration in the system would be bene ficial, and the necessity of it could be defended on good grounds. N ° appeal was allowed in England fro,,the adjudication of the Ecclesiastical Court ; but in Scotland the Court of Session might be applied to; the case was t hus stopped, and a great degree of litigation was the con sequence. The Act of Parliament, passed in the reign of James V., vested this jurisdiction with the power of judg ing in divorce cases, and where the parties were not situ fled with the decision they had an appeal to the Court of Session, and the judges of that court were authorised to determine the same. In all these cases, the Judges, accord ing to the Act of Parliament, bad full jurisdiction given to then,. They p ossesse d t h at power i n di rect l y at presen t, but h e Pioposed that it should be restored to them directly, and he thought, looking to the importance of the cases brought before this Court, its duties ought to be at once confided to the hands of the most learned and able men. The duties of that Court, with respect to marriage and legiti niacY, were of so important a character as called, in his opinion, for an alteration in its construction ; and sure he was, that if some plan were not speedily proposed for that Olect, and a proper course adopted, the Legislature would be obliged to provide a different and more extensive re medy than he contemplated. He said this the more rea dily, because he felt every wish to do ample justice to those now connected with the Court to the constitution of which he objected, lie feared that the system gave rise to much collusion b e t ween p ar ti es w h o w i s hed to be sepa• rated.--(11„ r. )—This he thought might be inferred from a docum ent in his pos sess i on . From that document it ap pared, that, in the three last years, the number of di vorces obtained was 4,8 ; in these cases appearances were entered for only nine of the defendants; so that in 89 cases of divorce the snit was carried on by only one of the parties. These suits for divorce were not solely instituted o n n n the gro un d of adultery; but on other accounts; for f _ G n u :adherence, w h en the parties had not lived together for the _tz,rs as man, and wife. When such was the case, • e would easily see how soon a divorce might be obtained, and the great number of actions that must arise. Nzri,onw,hte,,n l x i v e ,o r lb e dt t: i o n v i.ne d this jurisdiction to the Court of this facility o f a great measure, put an end to be thought that malng divorces. By taking this course y of these cases would be stop ped—that they would not be heard of—and thus the mar riage tie would he placed in a re peated; that he mad e these remark s unore meaningwsecutrheonsttate. H e t o throw a doobt on th e persons whoat present filled that situation, and who, he believed, discharged their duty fairly. b e 'only objection he had heard to the alteration was, that it would put poor people to a heavy expense in , procuring divorce. He ras arreieus that justice should be adminis , tered as strictly and as cheaply as possible ; yet, when 'he came to look at the numerous actions of divorce that came before these commissaries, lie was inclined to think that some benefit might arise from the increase of expense.— And he might be allowed to observe, that where a case was appealed against, and was heard both before the Consistorial Court and the Court of Session, the expense was much greater than it would be under the altered system. He had learned from a gentleman very well known as a writer of the signet, that the expenses, if the . system were altered, would be about 591. 135., and at present it was upwards of 201. if decided in the first instance. If, therefore, relief could be obtained for such a sum as that, he thought there could be no good ground of complaint. It was a question whether cases of this kind ought to be remitted to a jury, from the nature of the facts to be discussed.— He did not mean to exclude the intervention of a juty, but be would leave it to the Judges to decide what cases the)S might think fit to he tried in that mode. Ore of the present commissaries, who were in number four, might be empowered to remit all necessary proofs to the Court of Session. It would thus be seen that this Court would not be entirely removed: Three Judges would be done away, and one would 'remain. He admitted that this was a very dry subject—(Hear, hear)—and he was sorry to be obliged to detain the House so long—(Hear, hear)—but it was matter which excited great interest in that part of the country to which he belonged. It was thus proposed to transfer to the Court of Sessions the busi ness of the Admiralty, and of the Consistorial Courts ; and he had next to state, that it was intended to reduce two of the Judges of the Court of Session. He was under the :necessity of stating why two might be reduced, and also to assign the reason why a greater number could not be spared. It was peculiarly necessary, with respect to Scotland, to advance some reason why that ancient Court, which lied consisted of fifteen members for several hundred years, should now be decreased. That Court was esta blished on its present footing in 1537, in the reign 'of James V. It was enacted, that it should be composed of fifteen Judges, with the Lord Chancellor, making sixteen; with the power to add four others to their number. This was the first foundation of the Court of Session ; and accordingly, at the period of the Union, it consisted of the:fuil number—the Lord Chancellor, the Lord Presi dent and fourteen Judges. They sat at eight in the morning, and rose at eleven. The 19t.1i article of the Union set forth, " That the Court of Session, or GA. lege of Justice, do, after the Union, and notwithstanding thereof, remain in all time coming within Scotland, as it is now constituted by the laws of that kingdom, and with the same authority and privileges as before the Union, sub ject nevertheless to such regulations for the better adminis trader] f justice as shall be made by the Parliament of Great Br:tie." Now, it was under the powers given by this article, that he thought the Legislature was warranted in making the reduction which lie proposed. That the Court should remain " as it is now constituted" did not mean that it should continue to have the same members. This was nut only apparent from the wording of the ar ticle itself, but from what happened after the Union. In 1 723, in the reign of George 1., only 16 years after the Union, it was declared, that whenever the places of four of the Judges of the Court of Session, or one or more of them, became vacant, no presentations should be made by his Msjesty to such vacancy or vacancies. They, there fore, showed that Parliament had a power completely com petent to alter the number.—( Hear, hear.)—.Changes had taken place, and 15 Judges, who previously sat in one Court, presided in two Courts now. By an Act passed in 1813, the Court was formed into two divisions, of five each, and thus it stood until 1825; then, in conse quence of an Act of the Legislature, those divisions be came four in number, and consequently increased a Ses sion. It now appeared to Ministers that that increase of the civil law officers was totally unnecessary, and that two of them might he set aside altogether. This conclusion was come to, because it appeared from papers which lie had moved for in that House, that a greater quantity of business had been done by five Lords formerly than was afterwards got through by seven. For 10 years previously to 1825, the average number of new causes brought into the Court of Session was 2,380, while the average number of the last five years was only 1,964. It thus, appeared that more business had been despatched by the five Lords Ordinary, than had been done by the seven Lords Ordinary. Therefore he thought that two of their number might be spared. - Five seemed to be amply suf ficient to discharge all the dUty, and, under these circum- stances he proposed the reduction of two. He was the more inclined to do this, because seven of them could not sit in differe:Et places. While there was one bar, and that nut a very large one, they would be placed in a very em barrassing situation if the Judges were to sit thus together. If these seven were sitting in two - different chambers, con siderable confusion must be the consequence. To prevent this, the Lords Ordinary only came out two days in a week in turn, a circumstance which gave an unfavourable opinion of the extent of their labours to the public. Well knowing the state of the bar, lie would say that great, able, and learned as it really was, still it was not sufficient fur the business. It might have done very well when country gentlemen were selected to preside, instead of placing indi viduals of legal eminence there. That, however, for the last ten years, since his Right Hon. Friend bad the super intendence of that department, he believed that no such' thing had occurred. Therefore, as time principle now was to select men of the highest legal talents to preside, he conceived that the bar of Scotland should be sufficiently numerous to allow that principle to be fully carried into effect. The bar of every country should be so formed as to give the best pos sible chance of filling the judgment seat efficiently. Two com missions, consisting of four each, had been found adequate to one branch of business. It was admitted by most people that four was the best number of which a court could con sist. If there was a majority, it must be of three to one ; and if the opinions were equally decided, some other course must be adopted for arriving at a decision. This had been the case for four years in Scotland, and it had succeeded extremely well. y Therefore, he would not deduct any member from these Courts, but the reduction should be effected with reference to the other five Judges. One of these held an office of much importance. Questions re lacing to executions against the goods, to executions against the person, and even questions that would here pass into Chancery (for the Court had an equitable jurisdiction) were all taken and tried before that Judge. Gentlemen must, therefore, see that his duties were enough to take up the whole time of any man. Then, of the remaining Lords Ordinary, there were two to each Court, and he would say, that if the number were less than two the bu siness could not be possibly carried on. If one were taken away, it would be out of the power of him who remained to prepare and go on with the causes, so as to keep the business under. Less than two would not be sufficient in these two Courts, nor less than four in the Court of Ses sion of Scotland, unless they meant to make a total altera tion in its constitution, which he was sure the House did not wish to do. He was desirous that the people of Scot land shoal be satisfied, and the subject was thoroughly considered by a Commission appointed for that pur pose. Tile Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, the Chief Baron of the Exchequer, Mr. Littledale, Mr. Courtenay, and Sir Samuel Shepherd, all English lawyers of great eminence, investigated the subject with anxious at tention five years ago, and did not recommend the removal of these Courts, but only an alteration in them. It would be exceedingly impolitic to say that these Courts should all be overturned merely to save the expense of a Judge or two. He thought he had said enough to show why two Judges might be spared in the Court of Session; and he would next proceed to point out the necessity, in consequence of the great additional extent of business which would be thrown on the Court, ,of allowing such a lengthened period of session as would enable the Judges to get through it. lie wished to add one month more to the session ; and he slid not think that he could, with propriety, press the ex tension further. At present the sitting lasted for six months, with a small vacation at Christmas. This was now curtailed by a winter circuit at Glasgow fin the trial of criminal cases, and the trial of these also takes place during the recess; therefore the Court sits for six months. At the close of each session for Trials by Jury, another sit ting of a fortnight took place; and another month of duty was connected with civil business ; for the same minister of justice presided in civil as well as criminal matters. Here he felt it his duty to state, and he slid so with deep regret, that the business of the Criminal Court was daily becom. ing more heavy and weighty. There were papers now on the table of the House that showed to what an extent criminal offences had increased in Scotland lately. It ap peared, from these returns, that the average number of criminal trials in Scotland, for three years from 1810, was as follows :—ln the High Court of Justiciary; Edinburgh, 16 ; on the circuits, 91; the whole, 107. The average for the last three years was—ln the High Court of Justiciary, Edinbnrgh, 93; on the circuits, in stead of 91,327 ; the whole 420 ; making a difference of 313. When there were 93 trials on the average in the .High Court of Justiciary in Edinburgh, the House must perceive a considerable portion of the time of the Judges must be devoted to them ; because the House was aware that trials of this kind in Scotland differ very much from similar trials here. Not only was Counsel allowed in every case, but'uo person could be convicted on the testimony of one witness. When there was not more than one, cir cumstances wore obliged to be proved to. make up the de ; ficiency ; and, therefore, a criminal case lasted for a very considerable tune. He did not, tie reihre, go too fee, usheinhe said that much time was ecetieissi in that ilepert-1, mente and it appeared to him that one fortnight, ar least; in the year, was not too much to be allowed fie i ce minal trials at Edinburgh. Then cline the circuits which, front the number of trials, were of most labotietts description, and would occupy six weeks. He would prophse that they 'should sit four weeks mere for the civil bustnetss—a fortnight for the criminal business, and six weeks for the circuits, being an addition of three months to the six which • they already sat. He could state with perfect confidence, that the time of the Judges in Scotland was very much taken up during the vacation, in preparing for the different trials, anti they had not more time than would enable persons of their age to despatch the business; He now came to a part of the subject which was of considerable iMportancen He wished to call the attention of the House to the office el Lord Justice-General of Scotland. Ile should propose that. the duty of that office should he discharged by the Lord President of the Court of Session. The office was of a high and important character, but the individuals who had filled it bad very rarely performed its duties, and wheinelmete had attempted to discharge them they were not very successful in their efforts. Since the Duke of Mon trose held the office, he Vad not attempted to perform thoe. duties. It was extremely prejudicial that an indi vidual not brought up to the legal profession, and know ing little or nothing of the law, should posses the full powers of Judge of all the criminal Courts in Scotland, and might issue warrants and other legal instruments at his pleasure. This wag a state of things that ought not to be allowed to continue, and he would propose that this office should cease. and its duties be transferred to that of the Lord President of the Court of Session. It was at present a sinecure. Now sinecures were situations wile: e there was no duty and a large salary, but he in tended to uffix considerable duty to this situation, but not to accompany it with any salary. That was the arrange ment with respect to the Lord Justice-General. He thought it would be convenient that the duties of an office established for important and useful purposes should he pro perly fulfilled, and that the plan which he had proposed was calculated to effect that object. He had now only to deal with- one other Court—the Court of Exchequer. This was the - oldest of all the Courts we knew in Scotland, and in deed from its nature must be so in every country—the Ex chequer would he almost coeval with the history of taxa tion. By the articles of Union between the two countries, the establishment of this Court was confirmed, and its jurisdiction in eases connected with the revenue and excise set forth. So anxious were the framers of the Union to preserve the jurisdiction over revenue cases in the Exche quer, that they distinctly recognized its authority, and in the as titles of Union stated the then amount of the cus toms and excise of Sctotland as a reason for the existence of such a power in the Court of Exchequer. The cus toms, at the period in question, amounted to a sum of 30,000/ , and the excise to 36,000/. The customs of Scotland were now 1,376,000/, and the excise amounted to 2,839,0001., snaking together a stun of 4215,000/ e instead of 66,0001, which was the amount at the period of the Union; such was the progress of the revenue of Scotland. If the existence of a Court of Exchequer was necessary at the time of the Union, in order to check and prevent the commission of frauds on the revenue, its ne cessity at present, when the customs and excise had in creased to such an extent, could not be denied. How ever, although a Court of Exchequer was necessary in Scotland, still he was of opinion that the number of Judges might be diminished. Formerly, there Was a Chief Baron and four puisne Barons in the Exchequer. Some years ago the number was reduced to a chief and three puisne ltarons, and it was now proposed to abolish two puisne Judgeships and reduce the Exchequer to a chief and puisne Baron. It appeared to Government that this was the lowest number that could be adopted consistently with the efficiency of the Court of Exchequer, which in addition to its other business hail a variety of duties to perform that could only be effectually discharged by a per 'on versed in the Scotch law. Besides, the important functions of the Court of Exchequer could not be safely trusted in the hands of a single individual. If a Judge were absent through illness, or some other cause, what would he the situation of a judicature which did not pos sess a second Judge to try causes? If the two Judges dif fered upon any important question (a circumstance which he did not think very likely, but against the occurrence of which he wished to provide), a clause would be intro duced into the Bill, empowering them to call to tbeir as sistance one of the Judges of the Court of Session. Some gentlemen would probably say that the Court of Exchequer might be put an end to altogether, but he was prepared to defend its utility and necessity. He had referred to the articles of Union, which declared that the Court should exist, and independently of the utility of the Court, he maintained that Parliament could not fairly take away front Scotland, even if there existed grounds for doing so, a right recognized at the time of the Union between the two countries. He felt confident, even although the duties of the Court might be discharged by the Court of Session, that they could not be executed with equal advantage. In the one Court English law and practice frequently oc curred ; in the other it was Scottish law and practice. He spoke from his own experience, for 11 long years he had attended in one of these Courts upon almost every trial, and his opinion coincided with that of Sir S. Shepherd, the distineuished and enlightened lawyer who had presided over it, as to the inexpediency of attempting to unite the Exchequer with the Court of Session. It was perfectly true that some of the Judges of the Court of Session might be employed in the Exchequer, but then they must have additional remuneration, and he objected to the prin ciple of giving some of the Judges of that Court different duties and emoluments from those of others. In point of expense, little or no advantage would be derived from so doing away with the Court of Exchequer, and in other points of view its abolition would be injurious. In no shape, however, could the Court be so fittingly m a i n t a i ne d as by reducing it to the extent mentioned, and paying the two Judges in that moderate way in which the Judges of that Court were now remunerated. He was happy to say he had now come to the end of his statements. He had endeavoured to point out the different alterations contem 'dated by the Bill which it was his intention to ask per. mission to bring in, and he thought It would be admitted that they were all calculated not only to save expense, but to promote the administration of justice. He was pr e _ pared to defend the changes, one and all, upon the latter score as well as the former. He was aware that a saving of expense would scarcely be sufficient to warrant these alterations, unless they were also calculated to promote the administration of justice. His Bill would put an end to a considerable number of offices, and effect a propor tionable saving in the expenses of the several Courts. In the Jury Court, the saving on account of reduc tions ofJudges and Clerks would be 11,0001. per annum; the saving in time salary of the Judge of the Admiralty Court was SOO/. ; that upon the salaries of the three Judges of the Commissaries' Court, 1,8001. ; the Justice- General, 2,000/. ; the two Judges of the Court of Session, 4,000/. ; the two Judges of the Exchequer, 4,0001. ; making a total saving to the country of 23,6001. a year. In addition to this, lie might allude to the loss of patronage, not eventual and remote, but immediate, which Govern ment must sustain in the abolition of 18 offices all con nected with the bar of Scotland—a body of men the most influential of any in that country, and whose favourable opinion was of the greatest importance to a government. Among the 18 important judicial situations which it was proposed to do away with by this Bill, there were the offices of one Chief Justice, and - of four - Judges of superior courts, and the remainder were.all valuable and important offices. Ile thought such a measure reflected great credit upon the • Givernment that sanctioned it, and that it would be favour ably received by the House. At the same time it would be idle for hint to deny that it might not be received in Scotland with equal favour, particularly at first. The state of the public mind in that country was different from that of this, but nevertheless he trusted to the good sense of Scotland eventually to value the measure in a proper manner. Meanwhile, lie expected that some part of the censure would fall upon himself. There were in' Scotland individuals who reprobated all changes whatever in the judicial institutions of the country, and of course they would blame him for these innovations, but he trusted and believed that no one in Scotland would question the purity of his motives, however individuals might disapprove of the whole or part of the present project. Trusting that the measure might be attended with all the benefits which he had pointed out, and confidently anticipated from its adop tiou, repeating that the alterations reflected great credit upon Government for bringing forward and supporting them, and having thanked the House for the attention with which it had received his statements, he should con clude by moving, in the terms of his notice, " That leave be given to bring in a Bill for uniting time benefits of jury trials in civil causes with time ordinary jurisdiction of the Court of Session, and for making certain other alterations and reductions in the judicial establishments of Scotland." The question having been put from the chair— Sir M. S. STEWART must confess, that he had heard with much satisfaction time details as far as they went, and as he understood them, of the Bill as now proposed to be introduced by his Learned Friend the Lord Advocate, who he must say, had upon all occasions within his experience always shown much candour and readiness in promoting any measure of public improvement that he felt him self, in the exercise of his great official responsibility, justified in consenting to.—(Hear, hear.)—But there was something so new and so liberal in the proposed improve meats and curtailinents in the system and expenditure of the administration of the law in Scotland, that he could not bit mainly attribute them to the enlightened mind of his Right Hon Friend, the Secretary of State for the Honee : depeetnient, in conjunction with the Noble and Leerroot Lord at the head of the administration of justice ii thie • ceuntro ; and, under this conviction, he could not help expressing an anxious hope, that when the multiplied grid important public claims that pressed so heavily upon his Right Hen. Friend would allow him leisure to look more and more into the details of the Courts of Law in Scot land, he would be disposed to feel the incumbent propriety of carrying the effects of his salutary revision eonsiderably beyond the scope of the Bill now before the House—(llear, hear)__ and he could assure him (and he wished to speak with becoming moderation on the subject, and with sincere veneration for the institutions of his own country, and for the able and excellent individuals who preside over them), yet he could assure his Right lion. Friend that he would have for his recompense the gratitude of the people of Scotland, for it was a revision that in some important re- spects was, he believed, much required. Hear.)—With out presuming. to enter at present prematurely. and imper fectly, as he must always, under any circumstances, do, into the details of the Bill, he might be permitted to say that lie thought there could be hut one opinion as to the great advantage of promoting the extension of trial by jury in Scotland ; for although, limited as it had hitherto been to a separate Court, its benefits may have appeared doubtful to some, yet, yet when it becomes co-extensive, and united with the jurisdiction of the Court of Session in all civil causes, as he understood it to he the object of this Bill to make it, its beneficial effects in shortening the length, and thereby diminishing the ex pense, as well as in giving more exactness tied certainty to the proceedings of our Courts of Law, would, he was per suaded, be speedily and gratefully experienced—( Hear) — and he trusted. that these benefits of trial by jury would not be limited to the Court of Session, but that, in confor mity with a very general wish among the people of Scot land, it would be found expedient and just to extend it to every provincial Sheriff Court in that part of the kingdom. As a very effectual means of reducing the great expense of law proceedings in Scotland, not included in the Bill, but to which he would entreat the particular attention of the Right Hon. the Secretary of State, and the Lord Advo cate, viz., a revision of the fees to clerks of Courts, which • were, he believed, a ceaseless source of heavy expense to every litigant in Scotland. These fees were, he was aware, regulated and sanctioned by the Court of Session; and it was for this very reason that he asked his Right Hon. Friend to take them under his own immediate revision ; for he was convinced of his sincere desire, as he forcibly expressed it in his able statement on a former night, in developing the proposed law reforms, to make justice as cheap .and as. expeditious as possible ; and he bad indeed given substan tial and beneficial proofs of the sincerity of that desire, and of his great ability to carry it into effect. Perhaps the House would permit him to read a part of a letter he had received, among others, from a most respectable and experienced professional gentleman in Edinburgh, as it would convey some information on the subject much more concisely than be could relate it:—" The first im • provement in the Court of Session, and the one which would diminish expense most, would be to abolish all fees to clerks of court, and let Government pay the salaries of the necessary clerks as well as of the judges. If this was done, it would net cost above one-fourth for clerks of what it does at present. The six principal clerks and six depute clerks of Session are nearly sinecures, and for them the litigants are charged. with a fee-fund of about 9,000/. a- year. There is a second fee-fund for 15 Lords' clerks, whose fees were introduced by Sir Islay Campbell, and cost the litigants about 6,000/. Then there are closet. keepers, extractors, Sic., all paid by fees on every step of procedure in the Court, so as to cost the litigants upwards of 20,000/. for clerks of Court. If Government was to remodel the clerks, they could get the business better done for about 5,000/. or 6,0001. They might continue as much of the fee-fund as would pay the present clerks till they die out. The expense of litigation is so great, that it soon exceeds the amount of the sum in dispute, if it be of moderate amount; and it becomes often better to ac quiesce in an unjust demand than incur the risk and ex pense of a law suit. There seems no reason why the liti gants should be taxed to pay the clerks of Court more than the judges; and Government have set the example in the Jury Court, where they pay all the clerks. If they were to new model the clerks, and fix moderate salaries for no more than are absolutely necessary, they would confer a great benefit on the country at a very moderate cost to Government."—( Hear, hear, hear.)—He would only beg to add, that whether Government would consent to pay the fees of court or net, he trusted the result of a revision would be, a great reduction of these fees, and a greater re duction of the clerks than was proposed by the Bill before the House.—(Hear.)—There was another point to which he must advert, and not mentioned in the Bill, yet entailing great expense and greater inconvenience on the people of Scotland, and he hoped the Learned Lord would give his immediate consideration to it,—he meant the cumbrous and multifarious forms of deeds and writings at present in use for the transmission of heritable property from one in dividual to another, and for mortgaging the same. He was convinced that the good sense of the country at large, and he believed the majority of the learned profession, was im patient to have these forms superseded by forms drawn in simple and precise terms, and divested of all that technical tautology, which leads from the mere inaccuracy of clerks, in a single word, in copying these complicated -forms, to consequences the most serious and severe.—(Hear.)—He trusted that the Learned Lord would yield to - the general feeling of Scotland, and would bring in a Bill to abolish . altogether infeftments and saisins, and enact that the deeds of transfer of heritable property and heritable securities be publicly registered in their stead, letting the regulated fees of saisins be paid on these deeds, so protecting the vested interests, and he trusted also, thus muffling, if not altoge ther arresting, any Opposition to this great improvement from the principal keeper of saisins and all his subordinates. —(Hear, hear.)—He thought that the practice of intro ducing into many recent Acts of Parliament condensed forms of writing for the purchase of land for railroads, canals, &c., and tier borrowing money on the credit of these, af forded a direct and useful precedent for what he had ven tured to suggest. He believed that bequests left to public bodies and heritable institutions were worded in very con cise terms, which were held to be binding on executors, and to be good in law ; and if he was not mistaken, the largest mercantile transactions were securely completed, simply by an invoice and a bill of exchange.—(Hear, hear.) It seemed, therefore, very hard and absurd to his unprofessional mind, that land should be the only species of property that in its transmission should not enjoy the great benefit of concise and secure forms. But he was persuaded that his Learned Friend must feel the necessity of an altera tion in this respect, and he trusted be would, with his usual liberality, undertake and effect it.—(Hear, hear. ) There was only one other point to which he would beg leave at present to allude, and as it was one of heavy ex pense and much complaint among the people of Scotland, he should feel that he was not doing his duty were he to omit it on this oceasien. He alluded to the high rate of writers' charges.--(Hear, hear.) These charges were a heavy tax en ali the property of Scotland, and he called upon his Hon. Friends, the representatives and gentle men of .Scotland, to refute or confirm what he now stated—(Hear, hear)—and he begged to say that he made this statement with all due respect for . that able and intelligent body of gentlemen the writers of Scotland. He blamed not them, for these fees were, he understood, regulated and sanctioned by the Court of Session, and that being the case, he felt that he ought not, as•a trus tee of the people's money, to consent to any augmenta tion to the salaries of these controlling Judges, until he had received some assurance from the Learned Lord that there would be a revision and reduction of these charges of which he complained in the name of the people of Scotland.—( Hear, hear.)—And abundant reason the peo ple had to seek every possible reduction of legal expense ; for the sum annually consumed by law, in ail its grade.- tions, shapes, and varieties, in Scotland, was something, he believed, truly enortnous.—(Cheers.)—Leaviag to other o pportunities, and to abler and more experienced minds, the more serious duty of going into thodetaile of this Bill, and suggesting such amendments as might be thought practically advisable,—and many such he trusted would be matured and adopted on this most vitaly important mea sure for Scotland,—he would only at present beg leave further to express his unfeigned respect for the very able and distinguished individuals that now presided in the courts of law in Scotland. He believed the bench alto gether never was more ably filled; and the truly efficient J u dges of the Outer House,—all of whom were, he be lieved, appointed by his Right Hon. Friend (and their ap - pointment reflected the highest credit upon him,)—have given great and general satisfaction in the country.—( Hear, h e ar.) —And it is because our Judges are so efficient that l ie r ejoiced to see, by the provisions of this Bill,—although he would have liked it better had the number of Judges eon reduced to twelve,—yet he rejoiced to see that, hence forth, Scotland was likely to derive a fuller and a jester share of benefit from the labours, the learning, and the ta lents of the eminent persons who row administered her l a ws,—(Cheem) Sir G. WARRENDER said, unless the effect of the present measure were to produce a considerable improve ment and reduction in the judical establishments•of Scot , land, he should be the last man to concur in its adoption. But he thought it would be beneficial as far as it went, and felt grateful for it. 11e fully concurred, in what had fallen from- the Hon. Baronet oil the subject of fees : he himseff had -te:eived communications, stating that the initiate elate s in Scotland were.friquently deterred from applying jastive A ,, a.,;eirence of the enormous amount of fees Tire salariomf eae►h s derived from teen amounted to 2,4001 a-year. Another system -with re;7ard to lees should be Adopted, and the clerk, iri,tead of I , eing paid by fees as at pre:ient, should, he remunerated in a different manner There was no point which the people of Scotland were more .desirous- of having altered than this. The Hon. Baronet who had just spoken adverted to the appointment of Judgeships, and. seemed to think they exhausted the bar Of Scotland. But he believed that there were now at that Bar,—and should nut object to make mention of their names privately to the Learned Lord,—ten or twelve gen tlemen fully cornpeteut to the office of Judge. The two ' most able Juslges in one court were gentlemen who never derived ebove right hundred pounds per annum from their practice et the bar, and no Jadges could give greater satisraction than they did—a circumstance which proved the correctness of the principle laid down by the Honourable Member for Knareshorough, not then in his place, that Judges might be taken with advantage from the middle ranks of the bar. For this measure, -as far as it went, be gave Government great credit. Such a measure bad been called for many years, and not having been produced till now, be thought they ought to feel grateful to this Government for it. Another point of the Noble Lord was the advantage of lengthening the sittings of the Court of Session, and of adding new duties to the Judges. Let them, however, consider what the labour of the Court was now. By law the Judges were obliged to rat 114 days in the year. But how many hours on each day did they sit ? That, they had been told, when a re turn was moved for, it was difficult to say, because the Judges had kept no account of the duration of their sit tings. But he would venture to say, that if such a return could have been procured, it would have been found that 300 hours in the year wag the utmost duration of the Court's sittings. When, therefore, the Advocate proposed to extend the sittings of the Court to 138 days in the year, the extension would not be much unless the Court sat for more than two hours and a half or three hours a day, which was the case et present. The Noble Lord, too, had told them that the office of Lord Justice General was to be made an office of business without salary. Now he begged to remind Hen. Gentlemen,, that the House had been given to understand, that in consequence of the re port of a Committee of the House, this office was to be totally abolished at the next vacancy. He put it to the House if this were not the understanding.—(Hear, hear.)—Connected with the Court of Session; there was a very remarkable fact, which the Lord Advocate, in his history of that Court, had totally lost sight of. The fact, however, was well worth recollecting in these times. When James V. in,tituted this Court, he imposed no tax upon the people for the support of it, and he allowed no fees to be taken from the suitors. At that period the Pope happened to be a reformer, and his Holiness set apart certain ecclesiastical dues for the sup port of the court. This fact put him in mind of economy, land of lessening the burgens of the people. He was very grateful for the reductions, as far as they Went, of the Lord Advocate ; but lie confessed that he was not satisfied with them. Since the year 1799, the expense of the judicial establishments of Scotland bail more than doubled. In fact it had increased 130 per cent., as any gentleman might see by moving for returns on. the subject. The whole amount of the expenses of the civil and judicial service of Scotland, from the sth of Jantiary, 1828, to the 6th of January, 1829, was 176,4601. This was an enormous sum, but it was not the whole ; for the amount of the fees paid by the suitors Was to be added to ir. In 1799, the total amount of the salaries of the Judges of the Court of Ses sion was 18,100/. ; in 1829, it was 37,0001., more than double. Me thought that the establishments of Scotland were as fit for reduction as any establishments in this country, and he hoped that the Chancellor of the Exche quer would be of the same opinion. Now it was very clear, and it was therefore not vomit while to conceal the fact, that the present measure was to be followed up by an in crease in the salaries of the Scotch Judges. He thought he should be acting only with common candour if he took his stand on that point now, and saki that he would oppose any proposal for the increase of the salaries of the Scotch Judges, and that he should take the sense of the House upon it whenever such a proposal should be brought forward. If the returns to landed property were compared with the salary of the Judges in Scotland, it would be found that the Judge was now 1,0001. a year better than the land holder, in reference to the amount of the emoluments of the Judge in 1810, and the income from land in the same year. An estate which produced 2,000/. a-year in 1810 produced now only frOm 1,000/. to 1,300/. a-year. With respect to the Court of Exchequer, he admitted that no greater reduction than that proposed by the Lord Advocate could be made. He had only, in conclusion, to beg that the Lord Advocate would seriously consider the fee-fund. No tax could be more heavy than that which produced a denial of justice, and of such a nature was this. Mr. FERGUSSoN said, that unlearned as he was in the law of his own country, he could not pretend to offer an opinion upon many of the topics which the Lord Advocate had brought forward ; but he was capable of forming an opinion of the Lord Advocate, and he begged to say that no one could doubt that the motives of that Learned Lord were as pure and as honourable as his exertions were praiseworthy. He agreed that the extension of Jury Trials would be beneficial to Scotland ; for he could ima gine no possible cese which would not be uselulty4e termined by twelve sworn men. As to the Court of Ad miralty, he concurred in the views of the Lord Advocate; but he differed from the Learned Lord in what he had said with respect to the Consistorial Court. He did not think that the Judges of the ' Court of Session, any more than the Judges of Westminster-hall, could try and de termine Ecclesiastical causes as well as men who had been trained in that particular department He did not think that questions of marriage, divorce, and legitimacy, could be safely transferred to such Judges. Besides, he never could admit, by whatever authority the proposition was supported, that they ought to check litigation by making law proceedings expensive.—(Hear, hear.)—lf the law of Scotland had said that a divorce should be obtained without going to Parliament, the poor ' man ought to have it as well as the rich man, and the re medy of divorce ought not to be exclusively confined to the rich.—(Hear, hear.)—Unfortunately, such was the case in this country, but that was no reason for extending the same measure of injustice to Scotland.—(Hear, hear.)— , The legitimacy of his children was as important to the poor man as it was to the rich man ; and he could see no reason for'distinguishing between poverty and wealth in such a case. He believed that the expellee of a divorce in the Consistorial Court was frown 10/. to 151., while he understood that no case could be carried through the I Court of Session for se little as 20/. The Learned Lord had said that such cases were open to collusion, and no doubt they were, both in this country and in Scotland; but if the tribunal which decided upon such cases did all it could to guard against collusion, what more could be done ? The Learned Lord knew that an oath, denying collusion, was administered in the most solemn manner to parties applying for divorce in Scotland ; and the Learned Lord also knew that if collusion could be itibequently proved, the sentence and all the proceed ings were null and void. There was no such precau tion in this country. He should he inclined to reduce the number of the Judges of the Consistoiial Court to two ; but he was not at present prepared to agree that the Court s'hould be abolished. He was glad to hear that the useless and showy office of (Lord Justice General was to be abolished. As to the reduction of the number of Judges, that would of course depend upon whether the proposed number could transact the business. He was not compe tent to form an opinion on this subject. With respect to the Court of Exchequer, he thought no further reduction than that proposed could be made in it, if the court were to exist at all. As to the Court of Session, he thought that his rigid friend (Sir G. Warrender) had not dealt fairly with that part of the subject. The Judges of that court had to read over very voluminous pleadings—papers which included what we should call declarations, special pleas, replications, and so forth. These documents formed the " record" which came before them, and was very un like what was usually called the "record" in England. The principal occupation of the Judges of the Court of Session, therefore, was out of court ; and if they sat only a few hours a day in court, that d:d net prove that they had little to do. It was idle, then, to make such a charge as the Hon. Baronet (Sir G. Warrender) had made against the Judges of the Court of Session. Mr. H. DRUMMOND hailed the statements and pro posed measures of the Learned Lord with great satisfaction ; not the less so that three of them—namely, the introduc tion of trill by jury into Scotland, the division of the Courts of Justice, and the reduction of the Judges—had been urged 40 years ago, in an able pamphlet, by one well acquainted practically with the subject, and had been re recommended by him last Session. He could not a g ree Lord with the observations of the Hon. Membery objection o who spoke last e 'quer. . He saw n o necess i ty the res propositionspectingtheCo o n f stibsetoLrietr C o urt. His was that u . for reducing the Jud g es of that Court, nor no rea.on why two of the Lord s of the Session shoul d not, after their other business was over, exercise judicial f unct i ons i n t h e Court of Exchequer. The reference of th e L earne d L or d to the articles of union as an ar gument aga i nst a change in the system of the Court of Exchsquet is Scotland ap peared to him very ahat;rd ; for besides ith applying with equal force against his intended change in the Admiralty Court, it was one of tlinee apperato precedent which mug never that he knew of" Made except in bid cases. The . feet was, all that the artic!esof Union contemplated WS.S to prevent the transfer of the Exchequer judicature frota Scotland into England, and not to guarantee the then existing thachinery of that Court. While hetapproved cf the main principles of the Learned Lord's statement, he begged leave to eay that he thought the fees of the Scotrh Courts ought to be revised. Colonel LINDSAY would support the pro?osition for raisinn, the salaries of the Judges in Sew' and, when it should be submitted to the House, because Le thought those sal tries were not sufficiently high to coostirate an in eitv,metit to the supply of ability, learning, and integity, necessary to the judicial character. Mr. iIUME must dissent from the Gallant Member as to the Judges in Scotland not being sufficiently paid, and should endeavour to convince the House, when the propo sition for raising their satary was before it, that those Judges were not only sufficiently remurerated, but were more so than any other officers of the Crown. Though he found much to approve of in the statement of the Learned Lord, he could not but lament the recent ape poietment of a Chief Baron of Scotland (though no man could entertain a higher estimate of the fitness of the in dividual appointed), after it had been officiably declared ie that House that two 'Judges had be , en reduced in that Judge's Court. The appointment was most uncalled for, and considering the circumstances of - the country, 'one most neglectful of economy. He should much :Niels that the Scotch Judges were assimilated in hakit and conduct to their English brethren. At present they attended to extra judicial business much more than to the exercise of their proper functions. The Harems of the Exchequer, fur ex ample, spent more time in =peeing the affairs and patro nage of the Treasury in Scotland, than would euffice fir all the business of that Court. lle wished the Right Hen. Home Secretary would direct his attention to the subject, and lie would find that for one hour those Judges de voted to the business of the Exchequer they spent twenty' ia managing the p itronage and allure of the Treasury. The Right Hon. Gentleman should not take his opinien from the Learned Lord, who was naturally partial to the existing system ; and who, in his seeking protection mole the articles of Union against one alteration, while he made , another in defiance of those articles, furnished the best an swer to his own ()billion. The Scotch Judges should, lie thought, be like the English, isolated, so to speak, from extra-judicial transactions. At present, they were to be found acting as commissioners of gaol*, of inquiring .into the best means of academical education, of charities, made, &c., so as to be diverted from their judicial duties. This should not he the case. He trusted Ministers would direct their attention to this matter, and would pereist in their deeigns of effecting cheap and expeditious justice. Mr. PEEL felt himself called upon to make one or two remarks upon the fastidiously critical censures on the Scotch Judges, of the Hon. Member for Aberdeen. The Hon. Member wished that those learned individuals Should not engage in extra-judicial transactions, and amongst those transactions with interfering in which he feund blame, he specified the circumstance of Route of the Scotch Judges acting as Commissioners of Inquiry into the measures of academical education, and still more their acting ai super intendents of charitable institutions.—(Hear.) —}le Was glad the Hon. Member had no other ground - of blame , against tense learned personages, therather, as he knew that were a vindication of such conduct necessary, he should have no difficulty in finding a precedent in that of the English Judges, whom the Hon. Member professed so much to admire. If he opened the usual book in which informatien was to be found, by the chief guardians and managers of charitable institutions in the metropolis, 110 would find that of the General Lying-in Hospital, York row, Lambeth, for instance, Justices Parke and Gaetilee were vice-presidents.—[Mr. Hume—Honorary viceapresi dents. ]—The principle was the same, and showed that English Judges did not refuse to bestow a portion td their leisure to charitable institutions and other extra judicial matters, which was all lie contended fir against the Hon. Member's sweeping censure against those of Scotland. The Right Hon. Gentleman concluded by saying, that as a fitter opportunity would occur of entering into the details of the subject, he should not notice the other topics which had been touched upon. Mr. HUME explained. Sir C. FORBES thought that the sweeping away of IS public offices in Scotland was a serious Matter. such an extensive reduction was necessary, he thought a proportionate reduction should be made in'this country. He saw no reason why English Judges should have 5,5001. a year, and Scotch Judges only 2,5001. He lamented that there had been an attempt to depress Scot land, and that Scotland was not so well protected in the House as formerly.—(A laugh.)—He eulogised the con duct of the Scotch Judges: having had an opportunity of witnessing their manner of executing their office, he conceived that nothing could he more creditable and ho nourable. Mr. MAXWELL was sorry to find that any parsons in that House supposed there were parties in icothand diss:t tisfied with the measure now introduced by the Right lint?. Gentleman. He could assure them to the contrary. There were, indeed, always sonic persona who imagined tl,,t every species of reform was a dangerous innovation. TiIeSOLICITOR-GBNERAL trusted that in appor tioning the labour of the Scotch Judges, they would have a due share of leisure, and he might say of aniuscirent, for leistire afforded to :Judges was not more beneficial to them than to the public. With respect to what bad heert said of the salaries of the Judges, be did not think that they should be so high as to place them above the 14 at the bar. The salaries should, however, be such as t., attract to the bench the best men at the bar. He buggeited to the Learned Lord, that it was desirable to amcvrtaia the cause of the great influx of appeals from Scotland which poured into the House of Lords. There must be some good reason for this ; and the discovery of the reason would lead to the remedy of the evil. Mr. R.. GORDON thought that his Majesty's Ministers felt a desire to reduce offices ; it was their duty to study reduction. With respect to what had been said by the Hon. Baronet (Sir C. Forbes), that Scotland was re duced low by this abolition of useless offices, he (Mr. Gordon) contended, that the abolition of corrupt in fluaice, instead of lowering Scotland, raised it in the scale of character. The LORD ADVOCATE, in reply, expressed his sa tisfaction that the measure had appeared so generally satis factory. The most important suggestion that had been thrown out was the remark of his Hon. and Learned Friend, the Solicitor• General, respecting appeals. He (the Lord Advocate) should certainly look into the sub ject ; but be could tell him that one main cause of the number of Scotch appeals arose from the advantages which appellants had in carrying a cause from a Court where the Scotch law was known and easily applied, to a tribunal where it was, comparatively speaking, unknown. Leave was then given to bring in the 13111. REDUCTION OF TAXATION. Mr. ROBINSON rose to postpone Lis motion for a re duction of taxation, and for a reduction of expenditure, till after Easter. _ _ _ _ • 1•••• •••••.• ••••••••- • • Mr. HUME gave notice of some motion for the 26th inst., but the noise in the House prevented our hearing it. ALTERATION OF THE LAWS FOR FORGERY. 51r. PEEL rose at a quarter before one o'clock, and after apologising for rising at that late hour to move for leave to being in a Bill to alter and amend the laws which inflict capital punishment for forgery, explained, that un• less he was allowed this opportunity, ha could hardly ex pect to carry his Bill through Parliament in the present Sefraion. Before he stated the precise object he had in view, lie wished to refer shortly to the existing laws relating to the crime of forgery, and the successive steps by which they had, from time to time, gradually arrived at their present extent. The origin of the statute law, which inflicted a penalty upon ,forgery was early in the reign of Elizabeth, all punishments for that offence being previously had only by the common law.— It was not until the sth year of the reign of Queen Eliza bethypeonfalnetyrtfaoinr do cuments was rendered by subjecting the ear that a statute was passed, h i t o u t r e i r o o n f , a g n oV l s os a s n odf the ears. It was not till the reign of King William 111. cactoraimtmueetneot slfaconnected forgery. not p u n Iws punishable bt t h l I t e a r e t ab y ly e year death, the a but ffi oeap:h A r f: t o n y r g g th for a fe d n p h a a rt t y tel t s o , t i h m e p p r i i i s l o o t r i y m , e h n r t an f d or in g that the punishment of death was inflicted for this offence. At that time the Bank of England was established, and in all probability the extreme penalty was attached for the purpose of giving greater security to the species of property in which that corporation was principally to deal. It appeared, therefore, on referring to those statutes, that, from the early part of the reign of Queen Elizabeth down to the year 1728, in the reign of George the Second, the only forgery which Was punishable with.death was that of the notes of the Bank of England. .In 1728 an Act was enacted maki ng th e f orgery o f protniesory notes and bills of exchange a statutable felony. He had little doubt that this capital offence was then provided, in consequence of the detection of some very extensive forgeries during the pz•e ceding year. The account of these was amply given in the state trials. They were forgerietby a person uaine,l Hale, in one case of a bill of 1,6001., and in another of 4,7001., in all, he believed, of thtforgery of prornissoi y notes for a sum of 6,800 L, purporting to I.st those of I - di fr 1 0 ' it". C-7 ifi• y. u 8 he ed - by raj 11, re ed ro aid we, an lin He Cr.