shall be listened to at an after stage of the trial. Errors in the record of Court should be allowed to be corrected, when the error at least is palpable, and the correction can be made immediately. Where an innocent irregularity in the assize takes place, through no fault of the prosecutor, and by which the prisoner has suffered no prejudice, the verdict and sentence should stand. If the proof shall disclose that the prisoner committed the crime on a different day, or at a different place, or in a manner slightly different from the time, place and mode libelled, why should he escape with a verdict of not guilty? It would be but the barest justice to the public to have, at least, the cause of acquittal stated in the verdict. It may be said that the verdict of not guilty in such cases is strictly logical, inasmuch as the proof has not established the commission of the crime in the precise terms libelled. It may be logical, but it is not reasonable; and, if the cases are to be taken on purely logical grounds, then suppose that there was an error in any essential particular in the libel, the prisoner has not, strictly or logically speaking, undergone a trial, or been placed in peril for the precise crime committed by him; and why, therefore, should he be allowed to escape without punishment? A trifling accidental error in the libel should not have that effect if his guilt be manifest. A new and correct libel, if the old one cannot be amended, should be competent; and if the accused be convicted under it, there will be no sin against logic, and the delay in bringing him to justice may be considered in awarding his punishment. Perhaps a better remedy for this class of objections is to be found in the Summary Procedure Act of 1864, by which (sect. 5) it is enacted that no objection shall be allowed to any complaint for any alleged defect in substance or in form, or for any variance between the complaint and the evidence adduced, not changing the character of the offence: Provided, however, that if the accused has apparently been misled or deceived by such variance, the Court may direct the complaint to be amended, and adjourn the trial, if necessary, to a future day. This reasonable provision, while putting the accused to no disadvantage, is nothing more than equitable, and would, if we interpret it correctly, effectually cure all errors or discrepancies in regard to time, place, modus, etc. Let this new born principle of the equitable rights of the prosecutor, as representing the public interest, be extended to the higher Courts of criminal procedure, and made of universal application, and a fruitful source of fatal objections will be wholly swept away. Lastly, as to errors in point of form in Inferior Court procedure, especially in Police and Justice of Peace Courts, these have produced a most rank crop and unprofessional magistrates are unjustly held, and nothing more than a courteous consideration would be rendered to these gentlemen who gratuitously devote their time to the discharge of judicial duties. With regard to the future, there are many desirable changes, besides the improvement of the Registers and the amendment of the Law of Trusts, both of which are sure to be again introduced next session. Some of the changes referred to I have had occasion to notice before, but they will bear repetition. To take the largest first: : 1st. We need the Statute Law, affecting Scotland, weeded of all enactments which have ceased to be in INIVERSITY OF GLASGOW-CONVEYANCING force, or which have become unnecessary, and we have CHAIR. PAST AND PROJECTED CHANGES. ROFESSOR ANDERSON KIRKWOOD delivered the inoductory lecture to his class, for the ensuing session, the 7th ultimo. After giving various definitions of nveyancing-defining its province and considering e preliminary qualifications of a student of conveyeing the learned professor referred to recent anges and concluded an able and interesting lecture enumerating desirable changes for the future. As ese are very clearly and ably set forth, we have easure in laying them before our readers, with the ad permission of the learned Professor. As to recent changes (confining ourselves to the past Carning from statutes to decisions, there are a few 1 an example of this process of revision in an Act passed for England in 1861. By this Act, no fewer than 1300 obsolete statutes have been, in whole or in part, repealed, extending over a period of 450 years, during the reigns Charles II. And this is but the first instalment of the of twenty successive sovereigns, from Henry the III. to weeding process. We trust that when England is overtaken the Statute Law of Scotland will be subjected to the same healthy pruning knife. 2d. It would be well also that we had an authoritative statutory digest of our numerous decisions similar to what was desiderated for England in Sir James Wilde's opening address at the Social Congress of 1864. Its benefits are thus described by him:-"To the student and the general public the vast area covered by the law would present a district set out in order, in place of a tangled thicket. The true bearing of each abstract proposition would stand out plainly, because side by side with others of a similar nature. Here, too, another great advantage would be reaped. As the decisions which have radiated from some central case come to be classed together, and their common principles, with its qualifications and limitations extracted, all those of a questionable soundness would come to be suppressed. That our books abound with such cannot be denied, and their expurgation by authority is an end of great importance; for,once entangled in them, the courts are either led astray, or only escape to the doing of justice by some refined distinction, which in its turn becomes a snare for the future." 3d. It would be a vast improvement, too, if we had a reviser of public statutes-one whose duty should be to take care that their provisions are intelligible, consistent, and complete, after they receive their final amendments, and before they become law. The importance of such a revision is apparent, and is matter of every day observation. Take any Act as an example. Take, for instance, the Intestacy Act of 1855-the most valuable of our recent statutes. After being introduced into Parliament it seems to have become the subject of crude alterations; and, from want of final revision, several of its clauses were left in a state of vague uncertainty, which has already led to some litigation, and which is likely to lead to more. When referring to this important Act it is impossible not to regret that it did not provide for representation in Legitim. Can anything be more monstrous than to find provision made for representation in other cases, and no provision made for representation in this case? Why, Legitim is the indefeasable birth-right, the portion natural, the bairn's-part of a child; and yet, if the child predeceases its father, the Legitim does not descend to the child's issue; in other words, there is no representation in Legitim. Such an anomaly and injustice cannot long continue, and it is hoped that Mr Dunlop will soon follow up his valuable Intestacy Act by extending representation to Legitim. I believe it was not his fault that it did not form part of the Act. 4th. Descending from these larger measures, which belong as properly to Scots law as to conveyancing, I may now note desirable improvements applicable more particularly to conveyancing. One, for example, is that These appear to be a few of the more noticeable all deeds should be held good, whether executed accordcisions of the year that is past, in so far as conveyancing to the law of England or of Scotland; for it seems a g is concerned. strange anomaly that, in the same kingdom, any mere formality of execution should determine whether or not a deed is to receive effect. This suggestion is no rash innovation. It has been successfully tried in the case of deeds of transfer of shares in incorporated companies. For, by the Companies' Clauses Act of 1845, it is enacted that such transfers "shall be valid and effectual if executed according to the usual mode of executing such instruments, either in England or Scotland, or partly according to the one and partly according to the other." And in 1861 the privilege was accorded to wills of personal estates. There seems no good reason why the same benefit should not be extended to all other instruments. 5th. Another change, which I cannot help desiderating, is a simple form of testing upon Scotch heritage. Any words expressive of a testator's intention, signed even on death-bed, are sufficient to carry millions in amount of personal estate; but, in order to make an effectual bequest of heritable property, however insignificant in value, the testator must not only execute his settlement while in liege poustic, but he must also employ peculiar technical language. And if he happens to be at the time beyond the reach of professional advice, he cannot, for want of that language, rely upon his will receiving effect in this country. This is not a state of matters that should be continued. As to our Scotch law of death-bed regarding heritage, it is utterly indefensible, and is already doomed. 6th. A further improvement, which deserves consideration, is the extending to deeds of all or some kinds the Act of 1836 relating to erasures in instruments of sasine. Of course every precaution would need to be taken against the possibility of fraud; but, assuming this can be done, there seems no reason for annulling a deed, as was done by the Court of Session in 1862, because three words in it, which were deemed essential, were innocently written upon an erasure. 7th. Where, in the case of heirs by destination, the mode of completing a title is rendered difficult, owing to the presence of conditional institutions and substitutions, it would be a great public benefit, particularly in the case of small heritable properties, if a simple statutory form were devised of completing the heir's title. This would save the confusion, uncertainty, and expense occasioned by the present unsettled and unsatisfactory state of the law applicable to this branch of conveyancing. 8th. We should import from England and Ireland the means of obtaining the great boon of a cheap indefeasible title to land. This boon first arose out of the necessities and miseries of Ireland. For nine years it was limited to the case of encumbered estates in that country, but it was found of such immense value that in 1858 it was extended to all estates. Following in the wake of Ireland came the English Landed Estates Act of 1862, by which, after certain notices so as to protect any existing interests, a proprietor, who, for the time being, shall stand registered as such in the statutory record of title, shall, for the purposes of "sale, mortgage or contract for valuable consideration, be, and be deemed to be, as, from the date of registering such record by the registrar, or from such time as shall be fixed by him therein, absolutely and indefeasibly possessed of, and entitled to, such estates, rights, powers, and interests as shall be defined and expressed in such record, against all persons, and free from all rights, interests, claims, and demands whatsoever, including any estate, claim or interest of Her Majesty, her heirs, and successors." A writer in the Edinburgh Review thus speaks of this beneficial statute:"The Act facilitating the registration of titles and the transfer of land has only been in force since October, 1862; yet in March (1864) property to the value of £2,000,000 had already been registered under its provisions. This result, considering the nature of the Act, must be viewed with satisfaction. It is only a permissive measure, the utility, nay, the very existence, of which have yet to become generally known. It has to encounter and overcome the prejudices and interesta of the father-confessors of this lawyer-ridden people, the attornies" (not very complimentary to our English brethren). "As an instance of its beneficial character, the Lord Chancellor, in April (1864) exhibited to the House of Lords a certificate of title of an estate, the result of an abstract of 150 folios, contained in a single sheet of paper, and explained that the purchaser might readily ascertain for himself that the entry in the estab lished register corresponded with the certificate, and at a cost of 5s acquire an indefeasible title." This absolute title is not quite unknown to us. It resembles what is obtained by a purchaser in our process of ranking and sale. But our action of ranking and sale is competent only to creditors in the case of estates hopelessly encunbered, and it is, besides, a very tedious and expensive process. It does not, therefore, at all supply the desideratum of the Irish and English Acts. That desideratum is to make a property at all times market. able, by removing any defects, real or supposed, which may have crept into its progress of writings, and s giving it an indefeasible title. The only way of acco plishing this is to follow the example of Ireland av England, and to obtain for Scotland a similar Landel Estates Act. 9th. But the greatest improvement which can be effected in our system of conveyancing is the aboliti of entries with superiors, and the consequent simplifica tion of titles. Nearly five years ago, the late Profess Ross of Edinburgh, in his edition of "Bell's Law Dictionary," advocated this change. His words were "The change suggested is a very simple but, at the same time, a very important one. It is simply this, that in future there should be no recurrence to the superior fr an entry by a vassal's heir or disponee, but that the decree of service in favour of the former should be pronounced, and that the conveyance in favour of the latter should be granted, under burden of all the superior's rights contained in the original charter of the lands, or in any subsequent charter by progress recorded in the books of Council and Session, or in the Register Sasines, and subject also to those rights which are the legal incidents of a right of superiority. By this means all the substantial rights of superiors would remain intact. I ventured, in my inaugural lecture three years ago, to broach the same sentiments as Professor Ross, but the I did so with diffidence. I have since recurred, and now again recur, to the subject with more confidence, as I able to adduce Lord Curriehill, one of the best and mod cautious conveyancers, as an authority on the same side His Lordship presided in the Jurisprudence Department of the Social Science Congress held in Edinburgh in 184 and in his opening address, he thus deals with the superior's feudal rights. He says:-"There are adher ing to the feudal tenure in Scotland some things which might perhaps be advantageously and safely dealt as prejudicially affecting land as a marketable subje I shall mention two of them: one is the interposition the superior, which is at present required in order complete a purchaser's title, by either granting a warrant to infeft him, or by confirming his infeftment afte it is taken. This appears to be now unnecessary. Pr lication in a register of the transfer from the seller the purchaser is the appropriate and the only solem which is necessary for that purpose. This is not now 1 matter of speculative opinion, for it has been proved experience. Since the year 1845, nothing more has ber required for that purpose than such publication in the Register of Sasines, and such registration has been foes: to be quite sufficient, insomuch that the solemnity of in feftment has now been almost universally abandoned in practice. And this being the case, why should the interposition of the superior still be required? It serv Lo good purpose; it is worse than useless; it adds to the xpense of the title. The other amendment which sugests itself to me upon this tenure is, that the composiSon of a year's rent, which is payable by law independent of contract to the superior on the entry of a purchaser, ught to be commuted. The right of the superior to ach a payment is extremely precarious, as sales may ever take place, or may often occur. And, as to the uar, the effect of this casualty is pernicious, because when he expends his money or labour in improving the bject, the superior gets the benefit of such expendiure, the year's rent being estimated according to the nual value of the subject, not as it was when the rant was made by the superior, but as it is with all improvements, however costly these may have been the date of entry. The hardship of this is well ustrated by the cases where houses or other edifices e erected at a great expense. On a sale of these edifices, e year's rent, which is exigible from the purchaser, ould often exceed what was the value of the fee-simple the sites at the time these were feued; and so a year's turn for the capital and labour of the feuar goes into e pocket of the superior. When the contracting parties ake express stipulation in the contract as to such comsition, as is now generally the case, of course effect uld be given to their bargain. But when the casualty ises from the law itself, why should it not be dealt with the legal casualties which arose under the feudal tenure re by the Act abolishing ward-holding, viz.:-by coming the value of the casualty into an addition to the aual feu-duty, under judicial superintendence?" The ws thus expressed by Lord Curriehill at the Social Science ngress were not disputed in the subsequent discussions; i we may hope, therefore, that the time will soon come en all parties will consent to the abolition of entries th superiors, as well as to the commutation of the al casualty of composition. Some of the changes advocated in this lecture may seem trench upon the patrimonial rights of conveyancers. I not believe that permanently they will have such an et; but whether this be the case or not, it is surely duty to promote the public benefit. The wave of e and of progress should be allowed and encouraged sweep away the sand-banks of prejudice and selferest, and we should cordially lend a helping hand to al reform in all its departments. THE CATTLE PLAGUE COMMISSION. E Commissioners appointed to inquire into, and rt upon, the cattle plague, have issued the foling "Recommendations" to the Government, : . They recommend that Government should have the wer to suspend for a limited time the movement of tle from one place in Great Britain to another; that y should extend or shorten such period; and renew prohibition as often as circumstances may render ssary.—1A. The commissioners suggest certain reguons as to cattle traffic, should recommendation 1 not adopted. These they believe are the only means to elicate the disease, and that the end fully justifies the ins suggested:-First, for a period to be fixed, and eh might, if necessary, be extended, no lean or store ck should be permitted to be sold at any fair or rket; and sale of such stock by auction or advertiseat, or in any other manner whatever, should be proSecond-Cattle might be moved for immediate nghter to a market, or to a slaughter house licensed ruse, but only under a licence for transit granted by ited. the magistrates in petty sessions. The licence for transit should certify to the healthiness of the district from which the cattle came. With this exception, the transit of cattle over any public road should be prohibited. Third Precautions should be taken that every animal sold for butchers' meat be slaughtered within a short and fixed period. For the convenience of this purpose, no slaughter house should be used without a licence from the local authorities, and no such licence given except on the butcher undertaking to have all cattle which may be sold or consigned to him driven direct to the slaughter house, or premises attached to it, from whence they are not to be removed alive. Cattle sold at a fair or market should not be allowed to leave the precincts of the borough, or other place where the fair or market is held, alive. To insure this object it might be required that cattle entering a fair or market should be branded on entrance, and cattle sold elsewhere to a butcher similarly marked at the time of sale, and that it should be penal for any one but a butcher to have a marked animal in his possession. In every place where a public market is held, lairs should be provided, in which unsold animals could remain from one market day to another. Fourth-It would be desirable to draw some distinct line between infected and uninfected districts, so that whenever a case of infection is discovered, the district should be "proclaimed" as infected in the Gazette and the country papers. The egress of cattle from a proclaimed district should be strictly prohibited, but cattle slaughtered within it, and certified by the inspector to be fit for food, might be sent out of it under proper safeguards for disinfection. Provision should be made for enabling districts which had been proclaimed to be publicly set free, on proof being furnished that all risk froin infection was at an end. 2. The commissioners are of opinion that the power to seize and slaughter vested in inspectors by the Consolidated Order may properly be withdrawn; or that, if retained, it should be exercised only in cases where the inspector's directions as to the separation of sound from diseased stock, &c., or any general preventive or sanitary regulations issued by the Government are not complied with. This power is right and useful when the disease has appeared only at isolated spots, and attacked a few animals; the public benefit is then very great, and the private sacrifice very small; but in proportion as it extends, the hope of thus arresting its march diminishes, the inevitable waste increases, and the sense of hardship tends to become insupportable. In principle, a system of compulsory slaughter should be complemented by a system of compensation, but the objections to promising compensation to individuals out of the public treasury on an extensive scale appear insurmountable. 3. As regards foreign cattle, the commissioners state that, should their first recommendation be entertained, and an absolute embargo placed on all traffic in cattle within Great Britain, they think that imported cattle should be slaughtered at the ports of landing. They are further of opinion that cattle should be allowed to land at certain ports only, where proper facilities can be afforded for inspection and transport. In the other alternative, it will be sufficient to say that foreign cattle, if passed by the Customs' inspectors, and not coming from an infected district, may be sent by railway to any market in Great Britain, but shall be then subject to the same regulations as British cattle. 4. During the period of prohibition, whether absolute or limited, the commissioners suggest that no cattle should be allowed to be turned on common or uninclosed land. 5. The commissioners suggest that steps should be taken for obtaining periodical returns of the horned cattle an 1 sheep within the area of every parish of Great Britain, and of their sanitary condition, with special reference to the present disease. 6. The commissioners deem it their duty to make some reference to the peculiar circumstances of Ireland. The disease, they state, has not as yet broken out in that country, therefore there is no necessity for the measures which have been recommended by Great Britain. It is still possible, by the adoption of suitable precautions, to avert the calamity from Ireland altogether. The importation of cattle into that country has already been prohibited for some weeks past. Considering, however, the destructive character of the disease, it will not be judicious to rely upon that precaution alone for escaping it. The evidence which has been laid before them leaves little doubt that it can be conveyed by persons who have been in contact with infected animals, as well as by the animals themselves. In case it should by any accident be carried over, the Government should be in readiness to eradicate it from any spot in which it may appear; and unless preparations are made for doing so before the plague shows itself, the authorities will hardly be in a condition to act with the necessary speed and vigour when the emergency arises. In Prussia, upon whose eastern frontier the disease frequently appears, a system of precaution has been adopted for stopping its further progress, which has hitherto met with invariable success. It would probably not be difficult to make provision for the application of similar measures to Irelan 1, and so to secure to it a permanent immunity from the calamity under which Great Britain is at present suffering. But the extreme rapidity with which the disease spreads makes it important that all arrangements for stamping it out, in case of its possible appearance, should be made without delay. After carefully considering the above "Recommendations" we are not astonished to learn that they have not been received with much satisfaction by the general public-it being generally believed that the remedies proposed would be almost as great a grievance as the disease itself; indeed, certain of the Commissioners themselves seem to admit this, and have issued a separate report, stating that while they believe that the "Recommendations" would be more effectual than any other plan in extirpating "the disease," they consider them to be impracticable, as they "would involve an interference with the course of trade at variance with our national habits, "and would demand sacrifices from large numbers of "people who are removed from the presence of the "disease, and who will, therefore, not sce the "necessity for so stringent a measure. The sudden "transformation of the enormous cattle trade by "which the large towns are supplied into a dead "meat trade, would involve difficulties and dangers "of the most formidable kind; and the foreign trade, "which at this moment furnishes a considerable pro"portion of the meat consumed in the large towns, "would also be seriously interfered with." Private sales of lean stock would be stopped; all the stock markets would be closed; and, in fact, there would be no cattle trade. There might to an extent be a dead meat trade, and numbers who live by the cattle trade would be thrown out of employment; and we believe that the price of meat would be such as to put it utterly beyond the power of thousands who can at present get it, to procure it. Since the publication of the above Recommendations, the Privy Council has published the following consolidated order, which is to be in force till the 1st day of March next, unless continued by some further order, and which in some respect modifies certain of the foregoing "Recommendations":— 1. This order shall extend to all parts of Great Britain. 2. The said orders dated respectively the 24th of July, the 11th, 18th, and 26th of August, the 22d of September, and the 31st of October, 1865, are revoked, with the exception of so much of the said order of the 24th of July, 1865, as empowers the Clerk of her Majesty's Privy Council to appoint inspectors within the limits of the metropolitan police district, provided that such revocation shall not affect any appointment made, or any notice given, or any act done, or penalty recoverable, under any order hereby revoked. 3. In this order the word "animal" shall mean any cow, heifer, bull, bullock, ox, calf, sheep, lamb, goat, or swine; and the word "inspector" shall include any inspector appointed or to be appointed as aforesaid by the said Clerk of her Majesty's Privy Council, or ap pointed under this order, or under any of the said revoked orders. 4. Whenever the local authority, as hereinafter definel, shall be satisfied of the existence of the said disorder in or have reason to apprehend its approach to, the district over which his or their jurisdiction extends, it shall be lawful for such local authority, if he or they shall think fit, from time to time to appoint one or more veterinary surgeon or surgeons, or other duly qualified person or persons, to be an inspector or inspectors, for the purpose this order, within the district for which he or they shall of carrying into effect the rules and regulations made by have been appointed. And the same authority may from time to time revoke such appointment. of her Majesty's Privy Council, the local authority within 5. Subject to the powers herein reserved to the Clerk the City of London, and the liberties thereof, shall be the Lord Mayor; in any municipal borough in England in England or Wales (exclusive, so far as relates to the or Wales, the mayor; in any petty sessional division jurisdiction of the inspector, of so much of the said divi sion as lies within the limits of a municipal borough for which an inspector has been appointed), the justices acting in and for such petty sessional division. The local authority in any burgh or town in Scotland which subject to the jurisdiction of a provost or other principal magistrate, shall be the provost or such principal magistrate; and in any other places in Scotland not within the jurisdiction of such provost or other principal magistrate, the justices of the county in sessions assembled. the local authority by which he is appointed, the steps 6. Every inspector shall from time to time report to taken by him for carrying into effect the regulations prescribed by this order; and the local authority shall certify, in such manner as may be directed by one of her days that such inspector has actually been engaged in Majesty's Principal Secretaries of State, the number of the performance of his duty, and the number of miles travelled by him while so engaged. Council with such information in regard to the said dis 7. Every inspector shall furnish the Lords of the order as their Lordships may from time to time require 8. Every person having in his possession, or under his shall forthwith give notice thereof to the inspector of the custody, any animal labouring under the said disorder, district within which such animal may be, or if no inspector shall have been appointed for such district, then where such animal may be:-that is to say, within the to the officers hereinafter named, according to the place metropolitan police district, to the said Clerk of the Privy |