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The benefit of this statute is extended to sheriffs and other officers, who were formerly exposed to the hazard and expense of actions by assignees of bankrupts and others making claims to chattels taken in execution under the authority of the courts, and not being parties to the process. Any such claim now being made, the court from which the execution issued is authorized to call before them the party making the claim, and to exercise, for its adjustment and the relief and protection of the sheriff or other officer, any of the beforementioned powers, and to make such rules and decisions as shall appear to be just; and all such rules and orders may be entered of record and made evidence. effectually relieves the sheriff and his officers.

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The powers and authorities given by this statute are also extended to all applications under the statute 1 Will. IV. c. 21, "An Act to improve the proceedings on prohibition, and on writs of mandamus," by which a writ of prohibition may be now had by affidavit only. There is no longer a necessity for a suggestion as heretofore, and so much of the act of 2 & 3 Edw. VI. c. 13, intitled "An Act for the payment of tithes," as relates to prohibition, is repealed; and the provisions in the statute of 9 Anne, c. 20, for proceedings on writs of mandamus and informations in the nature of a quo warranto, granted for trying the rights of offices and franchises in corporations and boroughs, are extended to all other writs of mandamus, and the proceedings thereon (10).

(10) See the following decisions upon this statute:-Parker v. Booth, 8 Bing. 85: Ford v. Baynton, 1 Dowl. P. C. 357: Anderson v. Calloway, 1 Cromp. & M. 182: Bowdler v. Smith, 1 Dowl. P. C.

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Much difficulty and delay were formerly sustained, and sometimes a failure of justice took place, in actions by reason of the want of a competent power in the courts to order and enforce the examination of witnesses. This is now remedied by the statute 1 Will. IV. c. 22, by which the powers of the statute 13 Geo. III. c. 63, intituled “An Act for the establishing certain regulations for the better management of the affairs of the East India Company, as well in India as in Europe," that made provisions for the examination of witnesses in India, are extended to the colonies, and to all actions in the courts of Westminster, in what country soever the cause of action may have arisen, without reference to jurisdiction, and the judges are empowered to enforce the attendance of witnesses.

This statute, however, does not apply to indictments (8).

SECTION III.

The Subject continued.

It becomes necessary now to shew what limit there is to personal actions, and to actions on simple contract.

By the statute 21 Jas. I. c. 16, called the Statute of Limitations, all such actions are required to be commenced within six years after the cause of action arose; but a loose verbal promise to pay within that period was

417: and Bryant v. Ikey, Id. 428: also Barker v. Dynes, Id. 169: and Field v. Cope, 2 Tyrr. 458; and 2 Crompt. & J. 480.

(8) Rex v. Briscoe, 1 Dowl. P. C. 520.

held sufficient to take any case out of the statute: this gave rise to many questions, and was an encouragement, in fact, to perjury. The late able chief justice of the King's Bench, Lord Tenterden, saw the inconvenience, and provided a remedy, by the statute 9 Geo. IV. c. 14, by which, in all such actions, no verbal promise is to be received as evidence of a new or continuing contract to take any case out of the statute; but such promise must be made in writing (1). This provision does not take away the effect of any payment made of principal or interest (2).

The limitation to actions on specialties, and upon prescriptive claims, is shewn in the Appendix.

These are the principal features of the new Legal Constitution, under which justice is administered to individuals in the superior courts of common law (3).

France has not been backward in reforming her jurisprudence, and reducing her code to a compact and definite form. It is not necessary to study law in a never-ending accumulation of decisions. Nothing could be more irregular than the administration of justice in France before the Revolution. The first stage of a process took place before judges appointed, not by the king, but by the seigneur or lord of the district. These judges had power to impose a fine, to decree a short imprisonment or other correctional punishment, and to

(1) See Dickinson v. Hatfield, 5 Carr. & P. 46.

(2) See Beasley v. Greenslade, 2 Tyr. Rep. 121: Wyatt v. Hodson, 1 Maule & Selw. 442.

(3) An able summary of the practice of the courts, as assimilated and established by the rules made by the judges, will be found in Petersdorff's "Alphabetical Summary."

give in a civil suit a decision subject to appeal. The seneschals and baillis ranked a degree higher, and were entitled to give a verdict in cases of importance, subject, however, to an appeal to one or other of the parliaments, of which there were in all thirteen, all composed of judges and public officers of rank. The whole of this system was reduced by the National Assembly, in 1791; the seignoral judges were replaced by justices of the peace, and every arrondissement (or district) was allowed its court or tribunal de première instance. The higher courts were not established till afterwards, but the judges of every description were elected by the people of the province until the time of Napoleon; still much was wanted to be done, and from such an assembly little could be expected that would work well for the good of the people; and what was done was only done to strengthen the arms of those who had usurped the power of the state. Each province had its peculiar code, some founded on the Roman law, others on tradition and local custom, but the whole were replete with ambiguity and discrepancy. It was left for the Emperor Napoleon to complete this great work: he established a code of laws at the beginning of the present century for the benefit of the country at large, which superseded the provincial codes. This was the labour of many years, and of many very eminent lawyers; and gave to the jurisprudence and judicial constitution of France nearly the form which they at present bear. This body of laws consists of five codes :-1, Civil code; 2, Code de procédure civile; 3, Code de commerce; 4, Code d' instruction criminelle; 5, Code pénal; and the whole is comprised in one volume, and so arranged as to be intelligible to every person without the aid of a lawyer. This code has had

the test, not only of considerable experience, but has been subject to a change of dynasty, and remains nearly unchanged. It has been found to protect both the government and the governed.

The great changes recently made in the law of England, as here shewn, have not yet had the experience of time to prove their worth; all defects or blemishes in the law should be removed by a cautious hand, and a philosophical spirit, disciplined by the closest studies. Rapid changes, made with little consideration or soundness of principle, generally produce mischief. Savigny, in the preface to his History of the Roman Law in the Middle Ages, observes, "Of the genius, perseverance, wisdom, and skill of the ancients, as legislators and lawyers, the splendid remains of the Roman law, the institutes, the code, and the digest, are magnificent and lasting monuments; a convincing proof, if proof were wanting, of the degree of excellence to which the law, as a science, may be carried by the efforts of human reason.”

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