Events of the Quarter.

WE regret to announce the decease of Lord Langdale. He is succeeded by Sir John Romilly in the Rolls Court.

Sir Alexander Cockburn has been promoted to the office of Attorney-General, in place of Sir John Romilly, and is succeeded as Solicitor-General by Mr. Page Wood.

Lord Moncrieff is dead, and the Queen has been pleased to grant the vacant place of one of the Lords of Session in Scotland to Andrew Rutherfurd, Esq., Advocate for Scotland, in the room of Sir James Wellwood Moncrieff, Bart., deceased; and the office of Advocate for Scotland to James Moncrieff, Esq., her Majesty's SolicitorGeneral for Scotland, in the room of Andrew Rutherford, Esq., appointed a Lord of Session.

The Bill providing for the appointment of a third Vice-Chancellor, which has passed the House of Lords, has been printed by order of the House of Commons. It contains five clauses; and after reciting that the state of business in the Court of Chancery requires a successor to Sir James Wigram, empowers her Majesty to appoint a fit person, being a barrister of fifteen years' standing, to the office. The Vice-Chancellor to be appointed having the same power, privileges and rank as Sir James Wigram had, except that both the present Vice-Chancellors shall have precedence of him. The salary and retiring allowance of himself and his secretary, usher, &c., to be the same as those of Sir J. Wigram. The bill enacts that nothing therein contained shall authorise the appointment of a successor to the new Vice-Chancellor. The office has been conferred on Mr. Turner of the Chancery Bar.

Serjeant Ludlow died on the 14th March, and the Queen has been pleased to appoint Matthew Davenport Hill, of Lincoln's Inn, in the county of Middlesex, Esq., to be one of the Commissioners of the Court of Bankruptcy, to act in the prosecution of fiats in bankruptcy, in the country, in the room of Serjeant Ludlow.

Mr. G. K. Rickards, of the Oxford Circuit, has been appointed to succeed Mr. Booth, as counsel to the Speaker.

CALLS TO THE BAR-INNER TEMPLE, January 31st.Eben Russell, Esq.; Henry James Holthouse, Esq.; John Hibberd Brewer, Esq.; William Christopher Daniel Deighton, Fellow of Queen's College, Cambridge, M.A.; William Trevor Parkins, of Merton College, Oxford, S.C.L.; Philip Anstie Smith, of Trinity

College, Cambridge; Granville Robert Henry Somerset, of All Souls College, Oxford, B.A.; John Sydney Smith, Esq.; John Mac Gregor, of Trinity College, Cambridge, M.A.; Robert William Harding, of Balliol College, Oxford, B.A.; Parry William Corbett Jones, of Worcester College, Oxford, B.A.; and William Marshiter, Esq.

MIDDLE TEMPLE, January 30th.-Tompson Chitty, Esq.; James Grant, Esq.; Walter Copland Perry, Esq.; William Hammet Beadon, Esq.; William Mackenzie, Esq.; Edmund Jackson, Esq.; Charles Watkins Merrifield, Esq.; Leonard Worsley, Esq.; William Francis Segar, Esq.; Walker Marshall, Esq.; James William Bowen, Esq.; William Crawford, Esq.; John Pugh Bridgwater, Esq.; and William Courthorpe, Esq.

LINCOLN'S INN, January 30th.-Danby P. Fry, Esq.; St. George Mivart, Esq.; Hilton T. Jenkins, Esq.; Thomas A. Corlett, jun. Esq.; Alexander H. Jenkins, M.A.; James T. Hopwood, Esq.; Robert W. Gilbert, M.A.; and William Freeman, Esq.

GRAY'S INN, January 29th.-Mr. Alexander Cheyne, B.A.

We shall defer any detailed notice of the new County Court Bill, now passing from the Lords to the Commons, until it has become law. We may, however, express our belief that, as at present modified, it will tend materially to assist the administration of justice in the country. Ten additional judges will be appointed, it is announced.

TESTIMONIAL TO THE LORD CHANCELLOR.—An address of the most flattering character has been addressed to Lord Truro by upwards 400 of the solicitors of the first firms in the kingdom, congratulating him on his well-merited elevation. Though much pressed for room, we cannot refrain from extracting the following passage from this eloquent address.

"Some of us can personally remember the earlier stages of this brilliant and remarkable career; many of us have been enabled by personal experience to appreciate the value to our clients of your lordship's zealous and indefatigable services as an advocate; and all have witnessed the powerful ability, the unwearied industry, and the energy, rarely equalled and never surpassed, which were devoted by your lordship to every cause intrusted to your lordship's advocacy to the cause of the poorest and humblest equally with that of the most wealthy and powerful.

"Nor can we forget the unvarying courtesy and consideration in every stage of your progress which the members of our branch of the profession have experienced at your lordship's hands, while engaged in the discharge of our anxious and responsible duties.

"We cannot but feel that honours thus earned reflect a portion of their lustre on every member of our body, and we see in your lordship a conspicuous example of greatness achieved by persevering energy and unremitting diligence, directed by a vigorous understanding to the pursuit of a noble object, and at the same time a signal proof that under our happy constitution the exercise of such qualifications, united with an undeviating adherence to the principles of honour and integrity, may bring the highest dignities of the State within the reach of the humblest member of our profession.'

E

We have to record the death of a noble member of the profession, a queen's counsel and bencher of Lincoln's Inn, who however, attained his eminent position from political services, and those of a peculiar nature, rather than from professional success. Most lawyers who arrive at the dignity of the House of Peers have pursued the long and painful path of pleadings, sessions, circuits and Westmin. ster Hall, and with success. If they fail at the commencement, in their first trials, it may seem impossible that they should attain that which is the goal of successful ambition. Lord BEXLEY formed an exception. Born in 1766, a younger son of a respectable and rising, but not opulent family, Nicholas Vansittart left Christchurch for Lincoln's Inn to study for the profession of the Bar, not exactly as a means of subsistence, but as a liberal profession which was not ungenerous to her worthier followers. But he had mistaken his vocation, or he was unappreciated by attornies; for it soon became evident that by continuing at the Bar he could never gain the ermine; and, indeed, a practice at the Bar could never have been congenial to his turn of mind, which appeared more fitted for the Church than any other profession; but he very soon allowed himself to enter the troubled waters of pamphleteering on political questions, and in politics he finally fixed his career. He entered Parliament in 1796 for Hastings, and commenced his official career by embarking on a mission to Copenhagen in 1801. In this mission, however, he was not very successful-perhaps success by simple negotiation was impossible; at any rate, Sir Hyde Parker and Lord Nelson were the immediate followers upon the scene on the retirement of Mr. Vansittart. However, he retained the confidence of his ministerial. patron, and shortly after his return from Denmark was appointed joint Secretary to the Treasury, an office which he continued to hold till the breaking up of Lord Sidmouth's ministry in 1807, except a few months in 1805, when he was Chief Secretary for Ireland. In 1812 he was appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer, in which office he continued until the ministerial crisis in 1822-3, when he resignedwith rich inducements, however, or rewards, viz.: a peerage, a continuance in the Cabinet, and the Chancellorship of the Duchy of Lancaster. This latter office he held until 1828, when the Duke of Wellington being called to construct a cabinet, omitted Lord Bexley. Since that time his Lordship retired almost entirely from politics. But in the patronage and support which he afforded to philanthropic societies and to the educational movement, and particularly to King's College, London, his Lordship's efforts were perhaps of greater utility than in the arena where he had so long taken a prominent part.

Mr. Vansittart married in 1806 the Hon. Catherine Eden, second daughter of Lord Auckland. This lady died in 1810 without issue, and he never entered into a second marriage. The title, therefore, became extinct upon his decease.

Upon his elevation to the Chancellorship of the Exchequer in 1812, the Society of Lincoln's Inn elected Mr. Vansittart a Bencher of that Society-a distinction which of course was purely honorary.

The writings of Mr. Vansittart are few-chiefly pamphlets published during the commencement of his political career; and his principal parliamentary efforts were on the report of the Bullion Committee in 1810. Indeed it appears singular how few monuments have been left by a man who during six administrations, and for near a quarter of a century, occupied distinguished positions. It would have been thought that an able man could scarcely have avoided leaving prominent traits behind, or that a man wanting in ability could never have been advanced so high. His views in politics and politicoeconomical questions were not of the "advanced" order; and in his financial statements he seems to have possessed the art of mystifying himself and his hearers, and convincing both himself and others that his views were unanswerable, and therefore correct. In private life his admirable temper, his beautiful simplicity and suavity of manner, and the amiability of his disposition, ensured him the friendship and affection of all with whom he was brought in contact; and it was, perhaps, to these qualities, as much as to any qualities of the head, that he owed his success. He died on the 10th February, 1851, in

the 85th year of his age.

List of New Publications.

Baker-A Practical Compendium of the Recent Statutes, Cases and Decisions affecting the Office of Coroner; with Precedents of Inquisitions and Practical Forms. By W. Baker, Esq., one of the Coroners for Middlesex. 12mo. 14s. cloth.

Bowyer-Observations on the Arguments of Dr. Twiss respecting the New Roman Catholic Hierarchy. By G. Bowyer, Esq., D.C.L., Barrister. 8vo. 1s. sewed.

Bowyer-Readings in the Middle Temple, 1850. By G. Bowyer, Esq., D.C.L., Barrister. 8vo. 8s. cloth.

Brady-Plain Instructions to Executors and Administrators, shewing their Duties and Responsibilities. By J. H. Brady. Thirteenth Edition. 8vo. 8s. cloth.

Byles A Treatise on the Law of Bills of Exchange, Promissory Notes, Bank Notes, Bankers' Cash Notes and Cheques. By J. Barnard Byles, Serjeant at Law. Sixth Edition. 8vo. 21s. cloth.

Columbine-The Hand Book of the County Courts, in which the various Proceedings to be adopted are explained. By D. E. Columbine, Solicitor. 12mo. 3s. sewed.

Cox and Lloyd-The Law and Practice of the County Courts in England and Wales. By E. W. Cox and Morgan Lloyd, Esqrs. Barristers. Third Edition. 12mo. 21s. cloth.

Daniell-A Supplement to Daniell's Chancery Practice, containing the Statutes, General Orders and Decisions to the Commencement of 1851, with Notes and an Index. By T. E. Headlam, Esq., Barrister. 8vo. 10s. boards.

Dart-A Compendium of the Law and Practice of Vendors and Purchasers of Real Estate. By J. H. Dart, Esq., Barrister. 8vo. 21s. boards.

Domat-Civil Law, by M. Domat. Translated by J. Cushing. 2 vols, royal 8vo. 24. 10s. cloth. (Boston, U. S.)

Foster-A Treatise on the Writ of Scire Facias, with an Appendix of References to Forms. By T. C. Foster, Esq., Barrister. 8vo. 15s. boards.

Hodgson-A Summary of the Law as applied to the Rating of Railways, and other undertakings extending through several Parishes, with Notes of all the Cases decided. By H. J. Hodgson, Esq., Barrister. 12mo. 4s. 6d. boards.

Lees-A Practical Digest of the Mercantile Marine Act, 13 & 14 Vict. c. 93. By J. Lees. 12mo. 1s. sewed.

Levi-Commercial Law: its Principles and Administration; or the Mercantile Law of Great Britain compared. By L. Levi. Vol. I. Part 2. 4to. 31s. 6d. cloth. (Edinburgh.)

May A Practical Treatise on the Law, Parliament. By T. E. May, Esq., Barrister. tions in the manner of passing Private Bills.

Privileges, Proceedings and Usage of Second Edition, with the latest Altera8vo. 21s. cloth.