cacy or importance of the facts to which they may relate 1; and, more than this, the rate of payment is fixed so low, that no man of education could afford, for the sake of it, first, to ascertain what sort of instrument the circumstances may require, and then to draw a deed containing the full measure of ideas of which words are capable. The payment to a solicitor for drawing a deed is fixed at one shilling for every seventy-two words, denominated a folio; and the fees of counsel, though paid in guineas, average about the same. The consequence of this false economy on the part of the public has been, that certain well-known and longestablished lengthy forms, full of synonyms and expletives, are current among lawyers as common forms, and by the aid of these, ideas are diluted to the proper remunerating strength: not that a lawyer actually inserts nonsense simply for the sake of increasing his fee; but words, sometimes unnecessary in any case, sometimes only in the particular case in which he is engaged, are suffered to remain, sanctioned by the authority of time and usage. The proper amount of verbiage to a common form is well established and understood, and whilst any attempt to exceed it is looked on as disgraceful, it is never likely to be materially diminished till a change is made in the scale of payment. The case of the medical profession is exactly parallel; for so long as the public think that the medicine supplied is the only thing worth paying for, so long will cures ever be accompanied with the customary abundance of little bottles. In both cases the system is bad; but the fault is not with the profession, who bear the blame, but with the public, who have fixed the scale of payment, and who, by a little more direct liberality, might save themselves a considerable amount of indirect expense. If physicians' prescriptions were paid for by their length, does any one suppose that their present conciseness would long continue?— unless indeed the rate of payment were fixed so high as to leave the average remuneration the same as at present. The student must therefore make up his mind to find in legal instruments a considerable amount of verbiage; and at the same time he should be careful not to confound this with that 1 66 By a recent statute, 6 & 7 Vict. c. 72. s. 37., the charges of a solicitor for business relating entirely to conveyancing are rendered liable to taxation or reduction to the established scale, which is regulated only by length. Previously to this statute, the bill of a solicitor relating to conveyancing was not taxable, unless part of the bill was for business transacted in some Court of Law or Equity. But although conveyancing bills were not strictly taxable, they were always drawn up on the same principle of payment, by length, which pervades the other branches of the law.". Note of Mr. Williams. formal and orderly style, which facilitates the lawyer's perusal of deeds, or with that repetition which is often necessary to exactness, without the dangerous aid of stops." — pp. 146–148. There would be no want of other evidence to prove that the inquiry on this important subject which we have already suggested, is necessary and loudly called for; and if we said this before the stat. 6 & 7 Vict. c. 76. came into operation, how much is the necessity for it increased since that event, when it has gone far to bring on us one of the greatest misfortunes that could happen-an unsettled practice in the common assurances of the land. We venture therefore respectfully to reiterate this demand, and we think we cannot do so in better terms than these employed by the Chancery Commissioners of 1826. "No person can have much experience," they say, "in Courts of Equity without feeling that many suits owe their origin to and many others are greatly protracted by questions arising from the niceties of the law and practice of conveyancing. Any alteration in this system must be made with the greatest caution; but as connected with the object of saving time and expense to suitors in the Court of Chancery, we venture to submit to Your Majesty's consideration whether it might not be proper to entrust to competent persons the task of examining that part of our law with a view to determining if any improvement can safely be made in it, which might lessen the expense and narrow the field of litigation respecting the transfer of property." ART. IX.-A MEMOIR OF THE LATE RIGHT HON. SIR JOHN BAYLEY, BART. AMONGST the zealous and deserving servants of the public, the late Sir J. Bayley must be considered as holding a distinguished place. Having been raised to the Bench at a then unusually early period of life, he continued his useful and honourable labours for upwards of twenty-five years: nor were they at last interrupted by any wish for retirement or love of ease, but by the pressure (not so much of age as) of infirmities, which rendered that retirement inevitable. About the time of his appointment, a most objectionable practice had prevailed of selecting for judges men who ought rather to have been receiving the reward of past services, than entering upon the performance of them. The late Mr. J. Chambre and Mr. B. Wood, though most eminent for their legal attainments and knowledge, were called to the exercise of their most weighty and responsible duties after the age of sixty: Mr. J. Burrough was appointed at a much later period of life, and the Lord Chief Baron Alexander, when seventy years old, and, moreover, after having been removed from practice in any Court for not less than twelve years. In truth, an opinion seemed to have grown up that the proper time for bringing men into the public service, was, when individuals began to entertain suspicions of decline, and, for that cause, to entrust their business to younger hands. The case of Sir J. Bayley, as has been already observed, and will appear, when we come, in order, to notice the precise date of his elevation, was an exception to this absurd and vicious rule: the more obviously absurd, when it is recollected that what Cicero says of an orator is true of a judge — the duties require the possession "laterum et virium." Sir J. Bayley was of a highly respectable family upon the confines of the counties of Huntingdon and NorthamptonBayley of Elton; his mother (a Kennett) being descended, in a direct line, from Kennett, Bishop of Peterborough. John was the second son; and his position, therefore, pointed him out for a life of employment. His original destination was the Church, and he was placed upon the foundation at Eton, in the hope of being drafted off to King's College, Cambridge. In this hope, however, he failed, and the disappointment extended to after life, not merely from his preference for the Church, but from a belief which he entertained, that his advancement would have been greater in the profession of his choice, than in that which he was driven to pursue. Upon his being superannuated (as it is called) at Eton, he was sent at once to the law, and commenced his career by entering, or, as the phrase is, having the run of the office of Mr. Lyon, an attorney, for a year. He then entered at Gray's Inn, and was two years in the office of Mr. Lamb, a special pleader, who went the northern circuit for many years, and was the friend, and nearly the contemporary of Chambre and Wood. He then, according to the prevalent usage, commenced practice on his own account with considerable success. In Easter Term, 1793, he was called to the Bar with such indications of advancement, that, in Trinity Term, 1799, he, together with the late Mr. Serjeant Lens, took the degree of the Coif. His business then consisted chiefly of legal arguments-business which, although not of the most showy, or, as it is called, leading description, is, nevertheless, best calculated to improve the lawyer: and the manner in which he acquitted himself attracted the notice of those whom it concerned; for, in May 1808 (then in his 45th year), he was appointed a Judge of the King's Bench, in which he remained till November, 1830, when he was removed to the Court of Exchequer, and, at the end of Hilary Term, 1834, he resigned having completed the unusually long period of twenty-six years, within three months, of judicial service. Having been created a Privy Councillor and a Baronet, he died in October, 1841, and was succeeded in the title by his eldest son, Sir John Bayley, the present Baronet. The industry which distinguished Sir J. Bayley at the Bar, did not forsake him when he was raised to the Bench. Amidst his various occupations as a Judge, he never failed (as had long been his habit) to abstract and index every reported case. We mention this chiefly as a proof of his labour and pains-taking: It has been said, however, that this "repertory of easy reference" was found of much use,-especially in the latter part of the time of Lord Ellenborough. For himself, although, when composing judgments (in which, it is understood, he had a large share) he might wish to know where every thing was to be found on the subject, it was a common remark that he did best when he trusted most to himself; this was, certainly, most true, when he was sitting at Nisi Prius. With respect to his conduct towards his brethren on the Bench it appeared always of that useful and unpretending kind, which exhibits an anxiety to forward the general business of the Court without any affectation of shining or display. As to his deportment, generally, towards the whole Profession, and the opinion entertained of him, all comment is superfluous when we bear in mind the regret with which his departure from the King's Bench to the Exchequer was attended, and the sincere expression of admiration of his many most valuable qualities then conveyed to him; than which it is impossible to conceive a more authentic and honourable testimonial. In points of practice, a very necessary though not the most attractive part of legal lore and labours, Sir J. Bayley was absolutely unequalled. The clearness and certainty with. which he disposed of questions of this sort, was so great that people were half persuaded to believe that there must be something of system and principle in it. The late Mr. B. Bolland, when at the Bar, used to observe, that no man living ever pretended to venture a guess, when "a trial had been lost," except Bayley. As a Judge presiding at Nisi Prius, Sir J. Bayley had many qualities of great importance and value. His knowledge of all the details of business, belonging to both branches of the Profession (thanks, perhaps, to the first part of his legal education) was remarkably extensive and acHis apprehension of the evidence, as it was given, was very clear, and, until his infirmities began to appear, his notes (rapidly taken) full and satisfactory; though, for curate. |