results of the Act will be to bring country solicitors into closer connection with the Bar. Exceedingly few agents out of Edinburgh have hitherto availed themselves of their undoubted right to obtain opinions from counsel without the intervention of a W.S. or an S.S.C., partly because there has been a curious uncertainty as to the propriety of doing so, partly from ignorance as to the right counsel to consult, and in some cases from an erroneous idea that the leading seniors whose opinions are wanted will be more advantageously approached through a known metropolitan practitioner. Apart from the Act altogether, a more accurate knowledge of the bar and its rules and personnel has been growing up in the country, the growth of which will be greatly promoted by this Act. Agents will get into the habit of protecting themselves and their clients far more frequently, not merely by the brief and therefore unsatisfactory opinions of the three or four too busy men whose names are in the mouths of every one, but by the reasoned opinions of a less conspicuous but not less competent class of lawyers, who are not too much engaged to be able to study the memorials laid before them and to explain the grounds on which their advice proceeds. The fancied barrier that fenced round the bar has now been broken, and we believe that the value of a class of consulting lawyers will now be more appreciated. The general practitioner has so great a variety of business, that even when he is an excellent lawyer he has rarely the opportunity of carefully canvassing the more difficult points that arise in his practice; and, if he is a man of sense enough to understand what division of labour implies, he will perceive the advantage of referring them to those who are constantly engaged in considering points of law. There is no intrinsic superiority in the opinion of counsel above that of a Glasgow agent, except that which arises from its being his more exclusive business to deal with the application of principles of law to doubtful cases, and his being in regular communication on the boards of the Parliament House with men engaged in the same pursuit. The Glasgow agent believes in his own superiority in practical ability, and in some in range of legal experience; but while we think he is apt to underrate the merits of counsel in that respect, that is not a reason for rejecting their aid, but rather of combining their ponderous wisdom with the more brilliant originality and practised sagacity of the Western pro curator.. The pitiful fate of a poor pleader. - "Simply to burn one's own store is not unlawful, and the words, 'he burnt his own store,' or 'there is no doubt in my mind that he burnt his own store; he would not have got his goods insured if he had not meant to burn it; or a general allegation that the defendant charged the plaintiff with having wilfully and maliciously burnt his own store, will not sustain an action for slander without a colloquium or averment setting forth such circumstances as would render such burning unlawful, and that the words were spoken of and concerning such circumstances; and the want of such colloquium or averment will not be cured by an innuendo." The above is the syllabus of the case of Bloss v. Tobey, 2 Pick. 320, decided in 1824. The report states that the defendant's counsel were Mills, Whiting and Dwight. After careful and extended inquiries among men from Berkshire county, we have learned that these were very distinguished men in their day, and we have no doubt that posterity, or at least that portion of it which shall peruse the said report, will hold them in due reverence. The report goes on to state that the distinguished gentlemen above mentioned, at the September term, 1823, moved in arrest of the judgment obtained by the plaintiff, and that "Bryant, for the plaintiff, furnished the court in vacation with a written argument," etc. Now, what we wish to emphasize is, that this Bryant, we fear, had not a legal mind, and, instead of trying to supply his natural deficiencies by studying the gra grand principles of common-law pleading, he was much addicted to poetry. Even when in college, at the age of eighteen, he had written and uttered some verses which he called Thanatopsis, of which some of our readers may have heard. And even after he had been some time in the profession he allowed himself to be instigated by this unhallowed passion for poetry, to write: "Though forced to drudge for the dregs of men, The consequence of all this was, that his said client Bloss lost his case through his attorney's incapacity to draw a common-law declaration, and that attorney was condemned to hear from the wise and mild Chief Justice Parker such words as these: "It is with great regret, and not without much labour and research to avoid this result, that we are obliged to arrest the judgment in this case for want of a sufficient count to support the verdict. If the plaintiff has sustained a serious injury, another action may give him indemnity. In a matter of technical law, the rule is of more consequence than the reason of it; and however we may lament the lost labour and expense of the suit, we find ourselves wholly unable to prevent it." No wonder the attorney was ashamed to face the court with an oral argument, but sent it in that underhand manner "in vacation" and in writing. How that unfortunate young man must have felt! and how he must feel now, at the age of seventy-six, when he reflects, as he must inevitably reflect, that, instead of occupying the proud eminence of a man who knew how to draw a common-law declaration, of such men as Mills, Whiting and-(what's-his-name?) - Dwight, he must go down to posterity as William Cullen Bryant-nothing but the greatest of American poets, and tenant of the highest niche in American general letters. -Albany Law Journal. Selections. In a western State there was occasion, in a suit before a justice, to require security from two persons in behalf of plaintiff for the costs of prosecuting the action, inasmuch as plaintiff lived out of the county. As there was no one else to sign, and plaintiff, who was absent, was abundantly able to pay, it was agreed by plaintiff's two counsel that they should both sign themselves. The senior did so, and turning to his junior, whose reputation through the country was that of a jolly, clever, impecunious fellow who never paid anybody anything, remarked: "Now, D, it is your turn." D looked at the paper, and then in a quizzical way shook his head and remarked: "No, on the whole I guess I won't dilute the security.” An Irish counsel being asked by the court for whom he was concerned, answered, without the least hesitation: "I am concerned, my Lord, for the plaintiff, but I'm retained by the defendant." An attorney not celebrated for his probity, was robbed one night on his way from Wicklow to Dublin. His father meeting Baron O'Grady next day, said, "My Lord, have you heard of my son's robbery ?" "No, indeed," replied the Baron with a good degree of surprise; "whom did he rob?" Obituary. WILLIAM BLAIR, Esq. of Avontoun, advocate (1820), formerly member of the Supreme Council of Justice of the Ionian Islands, died at Avontoun, Linlithgowshire, Sept. 3, aged 74. Notes of English, American, and Colonial Cases. GUNPOWDER Aст, 1860-Duty to erect lightning conductors-Penalties. By 23 & 24 Vict. c. 139, s. 2. par. 9, "Every maker of gunpowder shall cause to be erected good and sufficient lightning conductors in connection with every store magazine where gunpowder is kept by him." By s. 4, "All gunpowder made in any place where under this Act it is not lawful to make gunpowder, and all gunpowder in any mill, press-house, corning-house, drying-house, or other place exceeding the quantity which for the time being may lawfully be therein, shall be forfeited: and every person making or causing to be made any gunpowder contrary to this Act, or keeping or causing to be kept in any such mill or place any gunpowder contrary to the provisions hereinbefore contained, shall for so doing, in addition to such forfeiture as aforesaid, forfeit for every such offence any sum not exceeding 2s. for every pound of gunpowder SO forfeited:"-Held, that the forfeitures and penalties imposed by s. 4 do not apply to the offence of keeping gunpowder in a store magazine without providing lightning conductors. - Eliott v. Majendie, 41 L. J. Mag. Ca., 147. BILL OF EXCHANGE-Relation of Drawee to Payee.-H. consigned twelve bales of cotton to deft., commission merchant, and drew a draft on them, which contained a memorandum at the foot thereof that it was drawn "against twelve bales of cotton," procured plt. to discount it, and notified deft. of the consignment and draft. Deft. refused to accept the draft, and informed H. by letter that he did so because he had not received the bill of lading of the cotton, but that he would aceept the draft on receipt of the bill. Two days later he received the bill, and afterwards plt., who had seen his letter to H., presented the bill for acceptance, which was again refused. Upon a subsequent receipt of the cotton, deft. sold it and credited its proceeds to H., who was his debtor to a large amount. Held, that plt. could not maintain an action against deft., either upon his promise to accept the draft, or for the proceeds of the cotton.-Exchange Bank of St. Louis v. Rice, 107 Mass. 37. MARINE INSURANCE-Construction of Policy. - A policy of marine insurance on champagne provided that the insurer should not be liable for leakage, unless occasioned by stranding or collision. Held, that the insurers were exempt from liability for all leakage, ordinary or extraordinary, and from whatever cause, whether gradual or violent in its operation, except those specified. In a policy of marine insurance on champagne valued by the case, it was provided that the insurers should not be liable "for damage or injury to goods by dampness, rust, change of flavour, or by being spotted, discoloured, must or mouldy, unless the same be caused by actual contact of sea water with the articles damaged, occasioned by sea peril." Held, that so far as the sea water came into actual contact with any case or package, the insurers were liable for any injury occasioned, either by such direct contact, or by any heat or dampness thereby generated, but not for any injury by dampness, or change of flavour to other packages, no part of which came into actual contact with the sea water. The burden of proving a loss from a cause, and to an amount for which insurers are liable, is upon the assured. In computing a partial loss, return duties received by the insured from the custom-house are not to be deducted from the amount to which the insurers are to contribute. Under the suing and labouring clause in a policy of marine insurance, the underwriters are liable for a proportion of any reasonable expenses incurred in preserving the property from the operation of the perils insured against, but not for expenses of ascertaining the amount of the loss, nor for expenses of refitting the property for market. -Cory v. Boylston Fire and Mar. Ins. Co. 107 Mass. 107. SUCCESSION DUTY. -Testator domiciled abroad-Funds invested in this country. -A testator domiciled abroad directed his residuary personal estate to be invested in English Government Securities, and a party thereof to be set apart to answer a life annuity on the determination of which it was to fall back into the residue for the benefit of the residuary legatees, and the fund was appropriated and invested in consols accordingly. Held rev. dec. of M. of Rolls, that the increase of benefit accruing to the residuary legatees on the death of the annuitant was a succession within sec. 5 of the Succession Duty Act, 16 & 17 Vict. c. 51. [See Badart's Trs. 39 L. J. Ch. 645, L. R. 10 Eq. 288.] Attorney-Gen. v. Campbell, 41 L. J. Ch. 611. CONTRACT-Acceptance of offer by letter-Variation of terms ContributoryDelegation of power by directors. - Where an offer is made by letter sent through the post, and is accepted by letter, also sent through the post, the contract is made at the moment that the letter of acceptance is put into the post. A letter allotting shares stated that the allotment money must be paid on the 21st of March, and punctual payment was requisite, and that the bankers were instructed not to receive payment after that day without interest at 10 per cent. : Held, that this addition relative to interest was not an introduction of a new term. The provisions of articles of association under which directors were at liberty to delegate their authority to a committee considered. In re Imperial Land Co. of Marseilles-Harris's Case, 41 L. J. Ch. 621. CHARTER-PARTY-Limitation of liability by charterer-Delay in loading cargo -Declaration on a charter-party, by which it was agreed that deft. should load plt.'s ship in regular turn, and that the ship when loaded should proceed to her port of destination, and there deliver the same to freighter or his assigns, on being paid freight, and that the charter-party being concluded by deft. on behalf of another party resident abroad, all liability by deft. should cease as soon as he had shipped the cargo." Breach, that the ship was not loaded in regular turn. Plea, that deft., before action, shipped the agreed cargo under the charterparty, whereby his liability ceased:-Held, on demurrer, that the plea was bad, as upon the true construction of the charter-party deft., although not liable for anything that occurred after he had shipped the cargo, remained liable for any delay or default before it was so shipped. - Christoffersen v. Hansen, 41 L. J. Q. B. 217. CONTRACT OF SALE. - Risk-Fire Insurance-Interest of buyer in seller's insurance.--Plts. were sugar refiners in the city of London, and were in the habit of making sales by sample, each sale consisting of one or more fillings or batches of boiled sugar. Upon a sale being effected, a sale-note was delivered to the purchaser, which contained the price of the filling percwt., and the following words "Prompt one month. Stored goods at sellers' risk for two months." Each filling comprised a number of specified "titlers," or loaves, of sugar of varying weight, and it was the custom to pay for the sugar on the Saturday (called "the prompt") after the expiration of one calendar month from the day of sale, but the whole or portion of the sugar often remained in plt.'s warehouse after the time for payment when it suited the convenience of the customer to delay delivery, the customer paying on the prompt an approximate sum to the price, which was only finally ascertained and settled when the sugar was weighed on delivery. Deft., a sugar broker, purchased four fillings or batches of sugar from plts., in the manner above stated, and paid an approximate sum to the value. Part of the sugar was removed by deft.; but after the expiration of two months from the sale a fire occurred on plts.' premises, destroying the remainder, which had never been weighed. Plts., without any agreement with the buyers, had effected floating policies upon all stock in their warehouse, making no distinetion between goods and goods unsold; but the amount which they received from the insurance office was not sufficient to cover the loss which they actually sustained, exclusive of defts.' goods :-Held, (1) that the loss by the destruction of the undelivered sugar must fall on deft.; by Cockburn, C.J., on the ground that the property had passed to deft.; by Blackburn, J., Lush, J., and Quain, J., on the ground that whether this were the case or not, the sugar after the lapse of two months, was, by the terms of the contract of sale, at the risk of deft. (2) That in an action for the price of the sugar, deft. was not entitled to the benefit (by way of set off or otherwise) of any part of the insurance money recovered by plts. - Martineau v. Kitching, 41 L. J. Q. B. 227. COMPANY-Transfer of business Grantee of annuity-Payments by transferee company-Novation. - The I. Life Insurance Company had by its deed of settlement a power to dissolve itself and transfer its business and liabilities to another approved company, but "without prejudice to the rights of the parties then assured." The I. Company, in 1860, under this provision, transferred its business to the European Society. D., the grantee of an annuity in the I. Company, objected to the transfer, and refused a policy in the European Society, but he took no proceedings in the matter and went to the office of the European Society and received his annuity regularly from that society until 1871, when the European Society was wound up insolvent: -Held, that there was no novation of contract as between D. and the European Society, and that D. was entitled to recur to the I. Company for payment, and to have that company wound up for the purpose of going against the uncalled-up share capital of the company. -In re India and London Life Assurance Company-Dyke's case, 41 L. J. Ch. 601. RAILWAY COMPANY-Covenant to stop passenger trains at refreshment rooms.In a lease by a railway company of their refreshment rooms at S., the company covenanted with the lessee that all trains carrying passengers, not being goods trains or trains to be sent express or for special purposes, and except trains not under the control of the company, which should pass the S. station either up or down, should, save in case of emergency or unusual delay arising from accidents, stop there for refreshment of passengers for a reasonable period of about ten minutes, and that as far as the company could influence the same, trains not under their control should be induced to stop for the like purpose. The Postmaster-General, having in the exercise of his power required that trains carrying mails should not stop at S. more than five minutes :-Held, first, that those trains were not as regards stopping under the control of the company; and secondly, reversing the decision of one of the Vice-Chancellors, that the company were not by their covenant prohibited from carrying passengers by such trains.-Philips v. G. W. R. Co. 41 L. J. Ch. 614. VOLUNTARY SETTLEMENT-Parent and child-Undue influence-Delay-Reforming a voluntary deed. - A person seeking to set aside a voluntary deed on the ground of undue parental influence must not be guilty of unreasonable delay. In 1855 J. T. T., who had recently attained the age of twenty-one years, and was entitled under the will of his grandfather to a present income of £1,200, which would be increased to £2,200 on marriage, and to about £6,000 on his attaining twenty-five, and being also entitled under his father's and mother's marriage settlement to trust funds of about the value of £30,000, part of which was brought into settlement by the father and part by the mother, was induced by his father, who had married and had a daughter by a second wife, to execute a deed whereby, subject to the father's life interest, successive life interests in the trust funds subject to the settlement, were given to the wife and daughter by the second marriage, and power was given to the father in the event of his |