nistered all small estates, now also administered in the court of Chancery. It has also been suggested, that the judges should have a criminal jurisdiction in their respective districts.

The county courts then at present possess a common law jurisdiction, a jurisdiction in insolvency, and certain powers enabling them in a very small degree, should it be desired, to assist the administration of justice in the Equity courts. These last are so very unimportant that they may be passed over without further reference. The Insolvent Court in London has been in operation now for many years. The details of its proceedings, in the columns of the daily newspapers, have long since given and still afford every information that can be desired, as well as to its jurisdiction as to its procedure.

By far the most important part of the various judicial powers exercised in the county courts, is that within their proper common law jurisdiction. This jurisdiction may be divided into two branches, the original, and the auxiliary. The auxiliary may be again subdivided into two branches. The first is that lately given by the 14 & 15 Vict. c. 52, which is rather, however, be it remarked, a personal power in the judge, than a proceeding in the court. By this statute any county court judge, except those holding courts in Middlesex and Surrey, on the application of the creditor, and on being satisfied on oath that a debtor owing more than 201. is about to abscond, may issue his warrant and cause him to be arrested and imprisoned. The debtor when arrested may be released on finding bail, and the imprisonment can only last for seven days. Within these seven days the creditor must commence a suit in the superior courts, and procure a writ of Capias. This writ authorises the debtor to be indefinitely detained should he fail to give bail, but it is only issued by order of one of the judges of Westminster, and then only on the clearest proof, by affidavit, of a positive existing debt then payable, and of the debtor's intention to fly in order to avoid payment. The second branch of the auxiliary jurisdiction of the county courts is that granted by the 8 & 9 Vict. c. 127, before referred to, which enables a professional judge in inferior courts to commit a debtor, against whom judgment has been obtained, and who having the means perversely refuses or delays, or, when the debt has been incurred improperly, merely delays to make satisfaction to the creditor.

What we have called the original jurisdiction of the county courts, may be divided into three branches. The first is that for the recovery of debts, damages, and demands to the amount of 501., and by the consent of the parties to any amount whatever. But no action of ejectment, or in which the title to real property, or the validity of claims under a will or settlement, come in question, and no action for malicious prosecution, for libel or slander, for criminal conversation, seduction, or breach of promise of marriage, can be tried in the county courts. Causes in which title comes in question, may be tried by consent of the litigants. The first branch of jurisdiction includes the co-relative power vested in the court to determine, by interpleader summons, the right of property

in goods and chattels seized by its officers in satisfaction of its judgments, as well as the power to commit to prison fraudulent or perverse debtors against whom judgment has been given. The second branch is that which the court now possesses in replevin suits; and the third, that by which it awards the possession of property to landlords. We shall treat of these in their regular order.

The procedure for the recovery of debts and demands partakes, to some extent, of the nature of that of the old Saxon tribunal. The first step, that taken by the plaintiff, is to enter a plaint, stating therein his own name, residence, and occupation, the name, residence, and occupation of the defendant, the amount sued for, and the substance of the action-as that it is for goods sold, as for medicine or groceries; for work and labour, as by a carpenter, by a surgeon, or by an attorney; for money lent; for damages sustained by the trespass of the defendant's horses or cattle; for damages sustained by the plaintiff from an assault by the defendant, &c. If either the plaintiff sue, or the defendant be sued, in a representative capacity, as executor, administrator, or assignee of a bankrupt, &c., this ought to be stated; but the omission of such a description of either party, or even the erroneous or unnecessary statement of a representative capacity in the proceedings, may be remedied by the judge at the hearing, on such terms as to costs, &c., as he thinks just.

It is of some importance properly to state the substance of the action, as the plaintiff in proving his case will be confined to evidence proving the cause of action so stated, though the judge has power to amend a merely incorrect statement, when the evidence shows it to be so, and the defendant is in no way injured in his defence thereby.

If the suit be for a sum exceeding 57., the plaintiff must, on entering the plaint, furnish the clerk of the court with two copies of the full particulars of the amount sued for. One of these is

filed of record, and the other served on the defendant along with the summons. Another questionable privilege accorded to suits for sums above 57. is that they may be removed into the superior courts by order of a judge of Westminster, who ought to be satisfied that the cause to be so removed is one proper to be tried in the superior courts.

After entry of the plaint, a summons issues to the defendant, calling upon him to appear at the next or at a subsequent court, not more than two months distant, if difficulty in serving the process be anticipated. He must generally have ten days' notice. This summons is served by the high bailiff, an officer appointed by the judge, and who is charged with and responsible for the proper execution of all the process issuing from the courts. It formed matter of great and just complaint, the mode in which the process of the former inferior courts was executed, or said to be executed, (for frequently there was no service at all, although the fact of service was always sworn to,) and the extortion and fraud which attended the proceedings of the officers. By the appointment of

responsible men to be charged with these duties, liable to summary punishment for any malversation in office, the process of the new county courts, it is to be hoped, will not only be no longer made the means of extortion or oppression, but on the contrary the utmost purity be secured in its execution.

Successive summonses may be issued from time to time to save the Statute of Limitations. To effect this the plaint, on which the first summons issues, must be entered within six years of the debt becoming due, or the cause of action having accrued to the plaintiff.

A defendant is brought within the jurisdiction of the county courts in one of three ways:-1. By virtue of his residence, in which case he must be sued in the district where he resides: 2. By having carried on business within six months of the entry of the plaint in the district where he is sued: 3. By virtue of the cause of action itself having accrued to the plaintiff, in which last case the defendant may be sued in the district where he has so made himself liable to an action.

The service of the summons is effected in various ways. In order to be followed by committal it must be personal, but there are numerous provisions made, regulating what shall be sufficient service, when the defendant either avoids service by keeping out of the way, or is not to be readily got at, as, for instance, if he is a soldier, a sailor, a miner, &c. It is in general enough if the judge be satisfied that the summons has come to the knowledge of the defendant, and that he has had sufficient notice of the action. The service is proved by affidavit, and a return is made regularly by the high bailiff (which is preserved), of the mode, time, &c., in which all process whatever is executed.

The defendant, if he have one of several special defences mentioned in the statute,-viz., that the debt is barred by the Statute of Limitations, that he was an infant when it was contracted, that she was a feme covert, that he is discharged from payment as a bankrupt, or an insolvent, or that he has a set-off,-must, five days before the court day, give notice of his intention to plead such defence to the clerk of court, who gives a similar notice to the plaintiff. All other defences, as a denial generally, or that the alleged debt arises from fraud, are open to him without notice. If, however, he admits the whole debt, he may admit it in the presence of the clerk, who will enter up judgment, and save further costs. The clerk may make terms of payment, agreed upon by the parties, part of the judgment, if they come to an arrangement before trial. If the defendant admits part only, he may either give notice to that effect to the clerk of court, who gives a similar notice to the plaintiff, and in this way save himself the plaintiff's costs of proving that part of the debt at the trial, or he may pay the amount into court. A notice is, in such cases, also given to the plaintiff, who need not prove that amount, but who must either accept that amount and abandon his action, or, if he goes on and is unsuccessful, will probably have to pay the defendant's coststhese being in the discretion of the judge. If the defendant have,

previously to action, tendered the amount, he must pay it into court in order to plead that tender effectually, and recover his costs of suit. The record before the judge at the trial consists of the summons and the notice of a special defence, if any. That summons served, and a notice, if required, given, the plaintiff and defendant must respectively prepare for trial.

In suits not exceeding 57. the judge alone decides both the law and the facts; in suits for sums exceeding that amount, either party may have the case tried by a jury. Ten jurymen on the list of the sheriff of the county are summoned, and the jury consists of five. Those who attend are thereafter privileged from more than one second attendance within a year. If he has attended the assizes a juryman cannot be again summoned till after the lapse of six months.

The party requiring a jury must give notice to the clerk, who thereupon furnishes a list of those to be summoned to the high bailiff. At the hearing, the judge may direct the case to be tried by a jury. Should either party intend to produce documents, he may give notice of his intention to the other party, and call upon him to admit them, so as to save the expense of proving them at the trial. If the other party decline to admit them, and they are so proved, the judge may award the costs of such proof to the party obliged to incur such costs. An admission, however, does not bar the party from offering all legal objections to their reception in evidence, or sufficiency in point of proof. If either party wish the other to produce documents, he may give him a notice calling upon him to do so; and if the other fails or refuses so to do, he may give secondary evidence of their contents, and recover the costs of such proof. If the plaintiff founds his action on a deed or document, the defendant, on notice, is entitled to inspect it. If inspection be refused, the judge may adjourn the hearing till it is granted. This is an important privilege given to a defendant, one which he does not possess in the supreme courts, and which tends to prevent much needless litigation. The terms of all these notices are regulated by the rules of practice, and it is to be observed here, that while forms have been provided and rules laid down, such notices need only be in the spirit, not in the words, of those required, and the judges have a large discretion in deciding, whether the spirit of either the rules or notices have been complied with. In this way technical objections as to points of form, &c., crotchets as to the insufficiency or want of notice, or as to the time and mode of giving such notice, will not be received by the judges. Witnesses will be summoned by the high bailiff on the demand of either party, who ought to apply for such summonses to the clerk at least three, and if the parties reside at a distance, a good many more days before the trial. The fees of these different proceedings must be paid by the party, when he makes application for the process of the court. The fees of the jurymen are to be paid when a jury is demanded by the party applying for it, and conduct-money must be tendered to the witnesses.

The trial is the next and most important step.

In all cases

where a jury has not been demanded, the cause is tried before the judge alone, and the judge is to decide alike the law and the facts. In suits for sums above 201., the decision of the judge on points of law, or upon the admission or rejection of evidence, is subject to an appeal to two of the puisne judges of any one of the three superior courts at Westminster. The appeal is in the form of a case, which is prepared by the suitors, and signed by the judge; and it ought to state concisely the point or points for the determination of the appellant tribunal, which may quash or sustain the appeal, direct a new trial, or order judgment to be entered for either party, as might have been done in the court below.

The determination of this appeal court is final; and this is the only mode by which the judgments of the county courts may be brought under review, the removal, by certiorari, of suits for sums above 57., by order of a judge as before mentioned, having the effect of taking the cause itself before the superior court. The party appellant must give notice of appeal, and become bound, in a bond with two sureties, for such sum as the county court judge may direct-a provision which will prevent frivolous appeals merely for the sake of delay, and secure the costs to the party who is already successful, should the judgment in his favour be right.

The judge or the jury, if a jury be summoned, are the sole judges of matters of fact, and their decision thereupon is conclusive. But the judge may in all cases grant a new trial, and may direct such new trial to be by jury if the cause have been formerly tried by himself. The costs of the former trial are in the judge's discretion. The judge at the trial possesses very ample powers of amending the proceedings; he may adjourn the hearing from time to time, and he may refer the cause to arbitration if the parties desire it. The award of the arbiter in such case is the judgment of the court, but such award may be set aside, and a new reference or trial granted at the discretion of the judge. The power of amending the formal proceedings of suits committed to the judge are perhaps as important for the furtherance of justice, as are the provisions of the county court statutes making the parties and their wives witnesses-a sweeping alteration in our law of evidence, which has been too tardily adopted in the superior courts, where it came into operation only on Nov. 1, 1851. The technical rules of law as to the joinder or non-joinder of parties to suits have been found so obstructive to the proper administration of justice, that the Commissioners lately appointed to report on the practice and pleading of the superior courts have recommended that the law in this respect should be altered. In the county courts the suitors are not exposed to the difficulty and delay, and often denial of justice, which has been hitherto the frequent result of an over strict adherence to these rules. Not more nor less important, we repeat, is the enactment enabling the parties who ought to know best about it to be witnesses in the cause-the very thing that has been for centuries studiously avoided by English lawyers.