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(BY RECOMMENDATION OF THE COURT,)

In One Volume Royal Octavo, Price One Guinea,

AN ABRIDGEMENT

OF THE

ACTS OF THE PARLIAMENTS OF SCOTLAND,

FROM THE REIGN OF JAMES THE FIRST IN 1424,

TO THE UNION WITH ENGLAND IN 1707;

INCLUDING VERBATIM

ALL THE ACTS NOW IN FORCE AND USE.

WITH

NOTES AND REFERENCES,

AND AN APPENDIX, CONTAINING A CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE OF THE TITLES

OF THE WHOLE ACTS AND STATUTES, PUBLIC AND PRIVATE,

PASSED BY THE SCOTTISH PARLIAMENTS.

BY

WILLIAM ALEXANDER,

WRITER TO HER MAJESTY'S SIGNET; FELLOW OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF EDINBURGH; FELLOW OF THE SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF SCOTLAND; AUTHOR OF AN ABRIDGEMENT OF THE ACTS

OF SEDERUNT OF THE LORDS OF COUNCIL AND SESSION, AND OF A

DIGEST OF THE BANKRUPT ACT FOR SCOTLAND.

EDINBURGH:

ADAM AND CHARLES BLACK;

LONGMAN, ORME, BROWN, GREEN AND LONGMANS, LONDON.

The principal Editions of the ACTS OF THE PARLIAMENTS OF SCOTLAND, heretofore published, are the following:

1ST, The Public Acts of the first five Jameses, and of part of those of Queen Mary, which were published by her command in 1566; and being printed in the black or Saxon character, that impression got the name of the Black Acts.

2D, The Public Acts of the first five Jameses, of Queen Mary, and part of those of James VI., published in 1597 by Sir John Skene, the Clerk-Register to that Prince.

3D, The Public Acts of the first five Jameses, Queen Mary, James VI., Charles I., and part of those of Charles II., published in 1681, by Sir Thomas Murray of Glendook, Clerk to his Majesty's Council, Register, and Rolls, by his special warrant.

4TH, Another Edition of Glendook's Collection, published in 1682 and 1683, in two small volumes, to which a third was added by the King's Printers after the Union, containing the Public Acts between 1681 and 1707.

5TH, AND LASTLY, The whole Public and Private Acts and Statutes of the Parliament of Scotland, from the Reign of James I. in 1424, till the Union in 1707, published during the present century in ten large folio volumes, under the superintendence of Thomas Thomson, Esq., Deputy Clerk-Register, by command of his Majesty King George III., in pursuance of an address of the House of Commons of Great Britain.

The value and importance of these publications, particularly of the splendid work of Mr Thomson, must be fully acknowledged; but the plan on which they are edited creates much difficulty in consulting or referring to them in the ordinary course of business; because, 1st, The successive editors published the whole Public Statutes known to them to have been at any time passed by the Legislature, including many of a temporary nature, or afterwards expressly repealed; 2d, No annotations were given to shew

what Acts published had been repealed or altered, either by subsequent Scots Acts, or by British Statutes; and, 3d, No Index materiarum was supplied in Mr.Thomson's edition, or in any other of a later date than that of 1681.

The plan of the present publication, on the other hand, is, 1st, To lay before the reader such public Acts only as are or may be considered in force; 2d, To supply such notes and references as will point out when any one act is affected by, or connected with, other Acts, and the legal authorities where the subject of many of the Acts will be found noticed; and, 3d, To give a complete index of the points and subjects contained in these Acts and Notes.

It has also been thought advisable to append to the work the Chronological Table contained in Mr Thomson's edition, exhibiting the titles of the whole Acts and Statutes, public and private, passed by the Parliaments of Scotland, without excluding any on account of their being repealed or temporary; thus furnishing the reader with the means of knowing in regard to what matters, places, and persons, Acts of the Parliament of Scotland were from time to time passed.

As may readily be supposed, the Editor met with many Acts respecting which it was difficult to decide whether they were in force or in desuetude, and also several Acts which, although not perhaps strictly in force, were still material, as illustrating the progress and history of the law. Both these descriptions of statutes have, for the sake of greater security and utility, been inserted in the present Abridgement, generally without any annotation, and with a due regard to exclude superfluous matter.

The great aim, however, of the Editor has been to put the legal profession and the public in possession of a work, in a convenient form, containing the whole Acts passed by the Parliaments of Scotland which remain in force and use, in whole or in part, at the present period; and from the time and attention bestowed on the subject, and from the various checks that have been adopted to guard against inaccuracy, considerable confidence is entertained that his object may have been accomplished.

Just Published, Price Six Shillings,

CHART

OF THE

PROCEEDINGS IN A SEQUESTRATION,

UNDER THE ACT 2D AND 3D VICTORIA, CAP. 41;

WITH SUPPLEMENT,

CONTAINING FORMS OF AFFIDAVITS BY CREDITORS, MINUTES OF MEETINGS, THE ACT ITSELF, AND A COPIOUS INDEX.

BY

WILLIAM ALEXANDER, W.S.

ADAM AND CHARLES BLACK, EDINBURGH; DAVID ROBERTSON, GLASGOW ; ALEX. BROWN, & CO., ABERDEEN.

AND SOLD BY ALL BOOKSELLERS.

N.B.-The Chart may be had separately, Cased 4s., or in Sheet, 2s. 6d.

ADVERTISEMENT.—The object of the Chart is to exhibit, in the most distinct manner, the proceedings requisite or competent in a Sequestration, and to mark their chronological order, combined with an Epitome of the Powers, Rights, and Duties of the Interim Factor, Trustee, and Commissioners.

It is expected to prove useful, particularly to mercantile persons, by shewing at a glance the statutory periods for holding Meetings of the Creditors and Commissioners, with the business that may be done thereat; the times for lodging claims, auditing the Trustee's accounts, notifying and making dividends, &c.; the procedure for carrying through a composition and discharge of the Bankrupt and Trustee without composition, and also the majorities of votes required on different occasions.

To my Professional Brethren, I am hopeful that the Chart may be of some practical utility, as a conenient remembrancer of the periods assigned by the Statute for the performance of the responsible duies belonging to them, and especially to the Law-Agent in the Sequestration.

CHAMBERS, 52 W. REGISTER STREET, S. ST ANDREW'S STREET,

Edinburgh, 17th April 1844.

W. ALEXANDER.

(WITH THE SPECIAL APPROBATION OF THE COURT, AND OF THE DEAN OF FACULTY,) In One Volume Royal Octavo, Price Eighteen Shillings,

AN ABRIDGEMENT

OF

THE ACTS OF SEDERUNT

OF THE

LORDS OF COUNCIL AND SESSION,

FROM THE

INSTITUTION OF THE COLLEGE OF JUSTICE IN MAY 1532 TO 12TH JULY 1837;

INCLUDING VERBATIM

THE WHOLE ACTS THEN IN FORCE AND USE.

WITH

NOTES AND REFERENCES,

BY

WILLIAM ALEXANDER, WRITER TO THE SIGNET.

ADAM AND CHARLES BLACK, NORTH BRIDGE, EDINBURGH.

It is a remarkable fact in the History of Scottish Jurisprudence, that although the Acts of Sederunt made by the Court of Session, from its institution in 1532, were almost as authoritative and important as Acts of Parliament, no complete publication of them was attempted till 1790, when Mr William Tait, Advocate, by authority of the Court, made an indiscriminate publication of the Acts of Sederunt up to that time, so far as then known to have been preserved. Additional records having been discovered, the Lord President, Sir Islay Campbell, made a Supplementary publication in 1811. The Faculty of Advocates have made four successive publications of the Acts of Sederunt, from 1790 to 1831, and the Acts since passed have been from time to time printed and published separately by a Clerk of Court. The collection of Acts of Sederunt so placed in the hands of the legal profession, extended to about 1300 folio pages of print, and included not only such Acts as were in force and use at the date of the successive publications, but also those Acts which had been superseded, or became obsolete, and no Notes or Indices were given to assist the reader in making a distinction between those Acts that were in force in whole or in part, and those that were not. Much time and labour were thus required before the Acts could be thoroughly consulted on any particular point, and the difficulty was much increased by the same Act of Sederunt being frequently made to apply to various and dissimilar subjects, and by it not having been the practice of the Court to insert in a new Act any express repeal of the former Acts, which were thereby intended to be altered in whole or in part.

From the cumbrous and inaccessible form in which the Acts of Sederunt have been hitherto in the hands of the profession, it is not to be denied that comparatively few legal practitioners have thoroughly studied, or even read them; yet an intimate knowledge of the provisions of these Acts is very essential to every man of business, and one of the most powerful weapons that can be wielded in the conduct of litigation.

In 1808 the House of Lords required the Lords of Session to prepare and transmit copies of all Acts of Sederunt then in force. The Court finally declined making such return, as incompatible with the execution of their important duties as Judges; but in June 1837, they were pleased cordially to approve of Mr Alexander's proposal, to publish an Abridgment or Selection of those Acts of Sederunt that seemed to him to be in force and use, along with Notes and References, where such were required.

In performing this work, the utmost pains have been taken to retain every part of the text likely to be considered in operation, and rather to err upon the safe side, by inserting what may be unimportant, or even in desuetude, than to run the risk of omissions. It may be proper to add, that the present Volume, although an Abridgement of former collections of the Acts of Sederunt, contains verbatim, and at length, the whole Acts, or parts of Acts selected as being in force and use, and may be as safely quoted from as any of the above mentioned general publications.

(WITH THE SPECIAL APPROBATION OF THe court, and OF THE DEAN OF FACULTY,)
In One Volume, Royal Octavo, Price 7s. 6d.,

SUPPLEMENT

то

ABRIDGEMENT OF THE ACTS OF SEDERUNT

OF THE

LORDS OF COUNCIL AND SESSION,

CONTAINING

THE ACTS FROM 12TH JULY 1837, WHEN THE ABRIDGEMENT ENDS, TO 24TH
DECEMBER 1842.

WITH NOTES AND REFERENCES,

BY

WILLIAM ALEXANDER, W.S.

"The Court approve entirely of the proposed Work, not doubting it will be prepared with the same
care and accuracy as formerly."-Lord President's Clerk's Letter.

ADAM AND CHARLES BLACK, NORTH BRIDGE, EDINBURGH.

Lately Published,

In One Volume, Royal Octavo, Price 18s.,

The Second Edition, Greatly Enlarged and Improved, of

A DIGEST

OF THE

BANKRUPT ACT FOR SCOTLAND,

2D AND 3D VICTORIA, CAP. XLI., INTITULED,

"AN ACT FOR REGULATING THE SEQUESTRATION OF THE ESTATES OF
BANKRUPTS IN SCOTLAND."

WITH

AN APPENDIX,

CONTAINING THE ACT ITSELF, PRACTICAL FORMS, &c.

BY

WILLIAM ALEXANDER, W.S.

ADAM AND CHARLES BLACK, NORTH BRIDGE, EDINBURGH.

OF

HERITABLE SECURITIES ACT

AND

INFEFTMENT ACT.

WITH

AN APPENDIX,

CONTAINING THE ACTS AND PRACTICAL FORMS OF THE WRITS AND
INSTRUMENTS THEREBY INTRODUCED.

BY

WILLIAM ALEXANDER,

WRITER TO THE SIGNET; AUTHOR OF ABRIDGEMENTS OF THE ACTS OF THE PARLIAMENTS
OF SCOTLAND, and of thE ACTS OF SEDERUNT OF THE LORDS OF COUNCIL AND
SESSION; A DIGEST OF THE BANKRUPT act for SCOTLAND, &c.

EDINBURGH :

ADAM AND CHARLES BLACK.

LONGMAN, BROWN, GREEN, AND LONGMANS, LONDON.

MDCCCXLV.

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