The Sun.
London, England, 1801-09-01 00:00:00

REPORTS

PROW THE SELEtT •CONIIITTEE OF THE HOUSE

OF COl's:ll\lo77S 4PPOINTED TO INQUIRE INTO

THE STATE- .OF E PUBLIC ItECORr)S OF THE

KINGDOM.

(Co:rtinued from our Paper of Saturday.) ',?

SCOTLAND.

The policy of the Laws of Scotland,. at. a very
early period of its history, caused the establishtnent
o a. general Registry.for preserving the Memorials
and Evidences of all the Public and Private Rights
of the Constitution and Government of -that. Conn:.
try, and of those:who dwelt under, its proteCtion.'
The Institution planned for. this .purpoSe, has been
gradually bro-tight to a:state of perfection, which is
singularly beneficial. to the. Inhabitants of that part
of the.unitedKingdclin;'and leaves-very- little room
for improvement. Some •few points,' nevertheless,
have beensuggested-.by persons whost official-con:
neCtion, with that EiLibli*lnent, .and whose, proles-
sional rank and .knoWledge, leirrning :and, experi-
ence, in The Municipal Jurispitidence of Scotland,
entitle them to the highest confidence: Your Com-
rnittee will proceed, herefore, to stare them, briefly
tinder the heads of:Registration, Buildings, Cata-
log- nes, Transfers; Fees_of.Office, and the SeleClion of
Original Records, which-'may deserve publication
hiparliAmentary.auttority..
• isr.-Registra --- tion.Duplicates of all Deeds which
pass the Great Seal of Scotland, 'should be made and
authenticated by the ,Lord Keeper's Deputy, with an
• Index thereto, and defioSited annually in the Gene-
. ral RepoSitory, -at the General Register House, at
Edinburgh.. •- , •
. A Record of the Proceedings in the Circuit Court
of Justiciarv, should be mnde in the Same manner as
the Wooks of Adjournal of the High Cont..; ofJusti-
riary at Edinburgh; and deposited in the General
Repository annually, if possible, or 'within such
.other period as the Eligh-Courtiof Justiciary may
di`reet.

. .
A Record of all .Decreets in the ,Sheriff's Court,
ought; according to the re,gulations enjoined by the
Court of Session, '.to be. made• regularly and corp-
pleatly. Of the utility of. executing this strictly,
some doubts have been ' etuertained. But there is
no doubt of its being expedient,to require that an
Annual Report, signed by the Sheriff. Clerk, and
attested by ',the Sheriff, of the State of the Re_
cords. in the Sheriff's Court, should be made to the
Court of Session, and there recorded in the Books
of Sederunt. •
The Record of Deeds, in' the Sheriff's Court,
'should be entered in books,j given Oct and marked
by the Lord Clerk Register, or his Deputies,. as
the Record of Hornings and Inhibitions now is ;
and no tlew Books should be given our until the old

are returned with the Deeds recorded in them.

All Deeds regarding the heritable property
- within a Royal Burgh, should be recorded. the
Town Court Books of the particular Burgh, and
Deed, regarding nutters of personal concern' within
the Burgh should be recorded in the Town Court
,looks, or in the Sheriff Courts Books.

No Deeds whatever should' be recorded in the
Commissary Courts ; and zithough this praEtice has
very generally ,obtained, it is irregular, -and ought
to be prevented in all cases for the-time to-come.
•zdly, Buildings.—An'Apartment in the General
Register "House should be allotted to' the Great Seal
Office. The Building now occupied by the Court of
Exchequer is represented to be neither very cennmo.
dious nor very secure, as a Repoiitery for many ofthe
Records-wliich.are kept.there ; and attention should
be given to the removal of these inconveniencies.—
Upon inqUiry into the Record'Orfices of the Sheriff's,
it appears; that about one-fourth of the nunthcr are
placed in buildings which are public.property; but
the rest are .in private houses; where , tl,erße.,cords
are exposed, in many instances, to certain though
gradual desttue.lion, and are in 'all cases, liable to
loss, and dispersion. , All of them should certainly
be lrxiged in Public,Bnildirtgs, sccurdd from clamp
and fire ; and it may be produaiVe of: great cc,
commoLtion to individuals, if the' Records •of each
County 'were lodged colledively
,at one pla'ce.
,Catalogues. At the General Registei House
in t.:tlinburgh, it will be proper to make a Gene-
ral R
.Repertory of its whole contents ; it will also
be.expedient. ,tin' make 'an Index to the RecOrds f
t4-Grat Seal, and another Inventory or Repertory
to the detadhed Charters- and Proclamations.

In the Exchequer an Index should be made to the
Books of I)eereets and Orders "in the Office of the
King's Rernetnbrancer, 'for-the purpose id supply-
ing theloss Of one renioved from thence,in 1767.
A,,a an Index is also wanting to the Records of
the i Fgh Court of Justiciary ; and, another in the
A inuralty; of such Proceedings in that court .as
gre carried on to.final .entente.

•
Transfers.7-By an Aa of the Parliament of
Scotland, in. the year 1635, it is ordained ".‘ That
all Clerks within the Kingdom, who :kee;:• such
Registers as are or have been in use to be dt:iivered
into the Lord Clerk Register, to be preserved in
His Majesty's General Register House, shad keep
only ten year Records in their own hands, for the
use.of the Lieges."

The great increase of busines§, and the consequent
increase of Records which has, arisen since the time
of passing this Akti,
.renders it proper now to pro-
vide that they should be brought in annually for
every fit th..year prece iing;.unless otherwise direct-
ed in special Cases. All the Warrants of the
Great Seal, together with_the Duplicates and Index
Above recommended, should also be carried annually
to the general Repository.
The Records 'of- the PriVy Council, and 411 the
ReCords;of the Court of justiciary, should i:ho be
transferred, thither. ;The Records of Teind.s znd of
TaiWes, and Inventories, in like manner, should
be carried in annually if pos,:ible, or within Nell
period as the Court ofsession may direifl.---And it
is obviously proper that the Proceedings upon Spe-
cial Commissions for the, trial of High Treason in
Seotla4; Sand all either itecordsk now lodged in
His Majes,ty's Offices of Record in England, which"
*hbive4, regard the internal Poiicy and. Laws Dk

that part of the 'United Kingdom, should be trans-
ferred. to.the General Register Hone, at Edinburgh:
gthly.—Many representations have been made to
yOur. .COmmit tee, respeaingthe nature, amount, and
inailectiracy of the Fs and Emoluments assigned .to
the'OfficerS employed in the Record Offices of 'Scot-
land, and particularly in the Courts of Justiciary
and Admiralty, and in, the Sheriff's .Court: But
these, and other considerations, respeaing tote
mode of making Extra is of Decreets in the Court
of Session; appearing to involve.many questions of
material impOrtanCe to His Majesty's subjeas in.
Scotl a nd.- your:Commit tee.forbear to offer any deeid-
edopinion upon this'subjea, especially_as they have.
the satisfaction to be inforrfied, that it ?has engaged
the attention of thos-epersons whose stations at the
head. of the Courts :of there, Will enable
them to'form the most correct judgment Upon all
its parts, and that they have it in contemplation to
submit some measures to Parliament in the ensuing
Session, for amending Mut they may find to re.
quire redress.
6thly.-H-The Records of the Parliament of Scot-
land, which commence in the Thirteenth Century,
and. are complete: to the time of the Union, appear to
deserve publication: The present Lord Clerk Re.
gjster, has had. this great work in view for many
years, and some of the 'earliest Volumes have been
by. his order prepared for the Press. Together with
these, it might also be expedient to print the ear-
liest of the Royal Charters.

THE SUN.

SOLIM QUIS .DICZ&L 11, LSUM. AUDZAT