Terence, the patron saint of the poet's native Pesaro, ends with a sweet strain of devotion and regret. But the poem most deserving of the notice, which our limits forbid us to bestow as amply as we could wish, is the hymn to the primitive church. There he strikes a chord which awakens reminiscences of

pure traditions of the faith, of the pompous abuses of Italy, and of those preceding bards who ventured to exclaim in the palmy days of Rome

"Di' oggimai che la Chiesa di Roma

Per confondere in sè duo reggimenti
Cade nel fango."—Purg. xvi.

Possessing much of the energy and religious philosophy of Dante, M. Mamiani may live to see his name permanently enrolled among the poets of modern Italy. In conclusion, we give entire, an ode at the tomb of his great master, scarcely equalled in modern composition for terse elegance, and exalted and generous feeling.

"Pace (io dal cor gridava) o Ghibellina!
Ombra sdegnosa, già qual debbe onora
Te la tua patria, anzi qual dio t' adora,
E le reliquie tue devota inchina."
"Pace (udii che rispose) alla meschina
All' abietta dirò che bacia e infiora
Le sue catene, e in turpe atto dimora,
D'ultima ancilla, ove sedea regina.
Ahi! sì fatta è Firenze? e ugual lignaggio
Ugual cielo sortir meco i suoi figli,
Questi codardi che non fur mai vivi?
Questi varii da me d' opre e consigli,

Lenti, oziosi, timidi, lascivi?

Oh! possanza di tempo e di servaggio!"

"Peace, haughty spirit of the Ghibelline!

(Burst from my heart) to whom thy country gives
Such fitting honour as a God receives,
And bends devoutly o'er thy hallow'd shrine."
"Peace to the base! (it answer'd) to the mean

Shall I say peace, who fondly wreathes her chains
With flowers, and in the servile act remains
Of lowest menial, where she sat a queen?
Alas! is Florence thus? and have with me
Her sons an equal lineage? Is the sky,

Which gave me life, to lifeless cowards assign'd,
From me so changed in deed and purpose high,

Timid, voluptuous, slow, to ease resign'd?
O fatal power of time and slavery."

603

ARTICLE VIII.

Rules for the Examination of Attorneys. Hilary Term, 6. Wm. IV. 1836. Read in all the Courts of Common Law on Monday, the 1st day of February, 1836.

The Legal Observer; or, Journal of Jurisprudence, from Saturday, Feb. 6, 1836, inclusive; London: 1836.

THE nature of the interests, which are entrusted to the care of the attorney, opens to him peculiar facilities for the commission of fraud. In mercantile affairs, or those of private life, if one party deviates from the path of integrity, the alarm and precaution of the other are immediately excited. But the course of business of an attorney's office is quite beyond the province of the common sense and discernment, which serve to regulate the proceedings of trade, or more private concerns. The fraud practised upon clients, necessarily ignorant of legal forms and phraseology, is rarely discovered until success renders it apparent. Every act of an attorney can without difficulty, or fear of immediate detection, be represented to his passive employers, as suggested by good faith, and the exigencies of their respective cases. It is the same to a very great degree with the professional ignorance, or negligence, of the attorney, neither of which is betrayed, until forced upon the client's observation, by the inextricable difficulties in which it has involved him.

In the pursuits of trade, want of skill or neglect of duty manifests itself from the first; and in private life, the competency or diligence of an individual is easily discoverable. This difference of liability to detection, by the observation and judgment of the parties interested, between the practice of the law and the pursuit of other avocations, requiring industry, knowledge, and integrity, arises from the agency of the attorney being exercised in the forms and technical terms of a system highly artificial, having no analogy, or natural relation, on the subjects to which they are applied. In commercial, or private affairs, the proceedings are, comparatively speaking, simple; and, the language in which they are transacted being that in ordinary use possesses an obvious

affinity to the matters it refers to. In the former case, every thing is unintelligible without the possession of previous technical information; in the latter, the understanding requires only the aid of fair sense and discrimination.

It is delusive to suppose that the study of attorney's practice can ever be prosecuted by any but actual practitioners, so as to counteract the effects of their ignorance, dishonesty, or neglect. The mischiefs, therefore, arising from those causes, are clearly not within the control of the sagacity, or information of clients. Nor are they, as will subsequently appear, sufficiently guarded against by the ordinary remedies, yielded by the law to employers or principals for the breaches of duty, or want of probity on the part of agents. The cure, therefore, lies in the application of some extrinsic remedy peculiarly adapted to the exigence of the case.

Acting upon these conclusions, the legislature and courts of law have from time to time, during the last four hundred years, made various regulations to prevent abuses of the unrestricted powers necessarily lodged in the hands of the attorney. The immediate object of some of these provisions, is to subject him to a peculiar and summary jurisdiction in certain cases of mal-practice, or breach of duty; whilst the intention of others is to exclude from the profession incapable or dishonest individuals. Regulations of the latter description have been extremely numerous, and, according to their mode of operation, may be divided into two classes. First, those adapted to stimulate the attention of the clerk, and to multiply his opportunities for obtaining a knowledge of his business, by strictly enforcing a long apprenticeship, and other formalities before admission, which are all calculated to bring him in constant contact with the transactions of an attorney's office. There are also regulations intended to fortify the integrity of the clerk, and promote habits of industry and regularity, by making the master, to a certain degree, the censor of his conduct. Most of these provisions still continue to be punctually adhered to, more, however, on account of the penalties attached to their infringement, than the benefits resulting from them. The guarantees they furnish for the integrity and professional qualifications of the clerk,

are extremely weak and inadequate; since the formalities enjoined may be observed to the letter, without securing any of the effects contemplated in their injunction*.

An exception, perhaps, may be made in favour of the rule requiring the clerk to give public notice of his intention, previously to applying for admission. This affords an opportunity for objections being urged against his admission, which, in practice however, are nearly always limited to cases of flagrant misconduct.

Of the second class are those regulations, which are framed with a view to render the admission of the attorney dependent on his possessing a competent degree of professional knowledge, and a character free from reproach+.

Such are the formalities of a five years' servitude, and a total abstinence on the part of the clerk, during that period, from the pursuit of any other profession, or trade. At the time of admission, the clerk swears that he has well and truly served his master, in the business of an attorney, for five years, and the master signs a certificate to the same effect. The meaning of the word service being left to their private-and therefore, frequently collusive-interpretation.

They are briefly alluded to in the introductory clause to the new rules, as follows:-" Whereas, by the statute 4, H. IV. c. 18, it was enacted, That all the attorneys shall be examined by the Justices, and, by their discretions, their names put on the roll; and they that be good and virtuous, and of good fame, shall be received and sworn well and truly to serve in their offices:' And whereas, by the statute 3, Jas. I. c. 7, s. 2, it was enacted, That none shall, from henceforth, be admitted attorneys in any of the King's Courts of Record, but such as have been brought up in the same Courts, or otherwise well practised in soliciting of causes, and have been found by their dealings to be skilful and of honest disposition; and that none be suffered to solicit any cause or causes in any of the Courts aforesaid, but only such as are known to be men of sufficient and honest disposition:' And whereas, by a rule made in Michaelmas Term, 1654, in the Courts of King's Bench and Common Pleas, it was ordered, 'That the Courts should once, in every year in Michaelmas Term, nominate twelve or more able and credible practisers, to continue for the ensuing year, to examine such persons as should desire to be admitted attorneys, and appoint convenient times and places for the examination; and the persons desiring to be admitted were first to attend with their proofs of service; then to repair to the persons appointed to examine, and, being approved, to be presented to the Court and sworn;' And whereas, by the statute 2, G. 11. c. 23, s. 2, it was enacted, "That the Judges, or any one or more of them, should, and they were thereby authorised and required, before they should admit such person to take the oath, to examine and inquire, by such ways and means as they should think proper, touching his fitness and capacity to act as an attorney; and if such Judge or Judges respectively should be thereby satisfied that such person is duly qualified to be admitted to act as an attorney, then, and not otherwise, the said Judge or Judges VOL. II. N° II.

SS

These provisions apparently supply the defect common to all those we have just mentioned, but have for many years past fallen into total disuse. In last Hilary Term, however, the Judges of Westminster Hall, published the rules of which the title stands at the head of this paper, by which it is expressly declared, that for the future, no person shall be admitted, except on production of a certificate signed by the Examiners therein mentioned, testifying his fitness, and capacity to act as an attorney :

"1. IT IS ORDERED, that the several Masters and Prothonotaries for the time being, of the Courts of Kings Bench, Common Pleas, or Exchequer, respectively, together with twelve Attorneys or Solicitors, be appointed by a Rule of Court in Easter Term in every year, to be Examiners for one year; any five of whom, one whereof to be one of the said Masters or Prothonotaries, shall be competent to conduct the examination; and that from and after the last day of next Easter Term, subject to such appeal as hereafter mentioned, no person shall be admitted to be sworn an attorney of any of the Courts, except on production of a certificate signed by the major part of such Examiners, actually present at and conducting his Examination, testifying his fitness and capacity to act as an attorney.

"2. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED, that the Examiners so to be appointed, shall conduct the said examinations, under regulations to be first submitted to and approved of by the Judges.

"3. AND IT IS FURTHER ORDERED, that in case any person shall be dissatisfied with the refusal of the Examiners to grant such certificate, he shall be at liberty to apply for admission by petition in writing to the Judges,......which application shall be heard in Serjeants' Inn Hall by not less than three of the Judges."

The object of these rules is clearly the same as that of the class of regulations under immediate notice; viz. to make the admission contingent on certain professional, and moral qualifications.

We intend to devote the following pages to the consideration of the adequacy of an examination, like the one proposed, to ascertain the attainments and character of the applicant for admission; and also incidentally to suggest some improvements, that might be made in the discipline to which attorneys are subject. It is no part of our plan, however, to enter into any exposition of the frequency, or variety of the

of the said Courts respectively should, and they were thereby authorised to administer to such persons the oath thereinafter directed to be taken by attorneys, and after such oath taken, to cause him to be admitted an attorney of such Court respectively.”