1750, notwithstanding their number and excellence, have been confined to very few stars. The present catalogue contains a sufficient number for any practical purpose whatever; and it is to be desired that observers, instead of aiming at its extension, would exert their efforts to render its accuracy complete. In giving 'this catalogue to the world,' says Mr Herschel, we invite 'their examination to its errors, (for such it must contain,) and 'call on them to lend their aid to its perfection, by determining, with all the exactness their resources afford, the mean places of the stars it comprises. For this, its arrangement affords every facility, and those who observe, have no excuse for neglecting to reduce. Let us hope that, instead of lavishing their 'strength in fruitless attempts to give superhuman precision to 'fifty or a hundred select objects, the formation of a standard 'catalogue of nearly 3000 stars will be deemed of sufficient im'portance to fix the attention of astronomers; and that not only 'those to whom the direction of great national observatories is 'confided, but even private individuals, if such there be who 'feel themselves in possession of the means required, may take a share in this glorious, but, at the same time, arduous underta'king.'

Our limits will not permit us to allude more particularly to the other papers contained in the Memoirs. In a collection of this nature, some will always be found of little value, or of only ephemeral interest, and many others not susceptible of extract or abridgement. In fact, a considerable number in the volumes now before us are merely devoted to the description of phenomena, such as eclipses, occultations, new comets, &c., or to the detail of observations for the determination of latitudes or longitudes, or the errors of instruments, or to practical matters uninteresting to any but the observer. There are, however, two classes of productions, which, although they cannot be said to aim at the advancement of the science, occupy by far too conspicuous a place in the Memoirs to be passed over without notice. These are the Annual Reports made to the Society by its Council, and the Addresses of the President on delivering the prizemedals. The former are productions of very considerable merit. They give a copious account of the labours of the members, or of the general progress of astronomy in the course of the year; and the good taste of those who draw them up, is conspicuous in the absence of all meretricious ornament, or oratorical pretension-the usual bane of such productions. With regard to the Addresses, whatever merit they may claim as literary compositions, we hold their publication to be of somewhat morethan doubtful propriety. We feel little sympathy with grave men of science alternately pronouncing formal panegyrics on one

another; nor can we bring ourselves to think, that if the renown of scientific discovery is not deemed a sufficient compensation for the toils of study or observation, any benefit is likely to accrue from the distribution of prizes and gold medals.

ART. V.-A Letter to the Representatives of Scotland in Parliament, respecting the state of our Law, and the jurisdiction and duties of the Court of Session. By A SCOTTISH BARRISTER. Svo. Edinburgh. 1830.

IT

T is now above twenty-three years since we directed the attention of our readers to the judicial reforms which were then beginning, and have since been carried to such an extent, in Scotland. We remember that the necessity of these reforms used to be held out by some people as showing conclusively that our whole system was vicious; while the stability of every thing legal in the sister kingdom was referred to as a proof that there every thing was right. It seems, however, that the experiment had only been tried at first, according to the rule, on the vile body; for now that Scotland is beginning to recover, England's course of physic, and that of Wales, seems to be commencing. Having stated our views when the changes contemplated in this part of the Island opened, it is right that we should do so, when they are about, as we trust, to close.

*

The defects in the constitution, and in the procedure, of the Civil Scottish Courts, were so obvious, that it almost appears as if any body might have pointed out the nature, and the succession, of the remedies that were required. The evils were, 1st, That the Supreme Court, called the Court of Session, mustered fifteen strong. It not only consisted of fifteen judges, but the whole fifteen judged as one Court. 2d, That its forms for the preparation and disposal of causes, though in their principles excellent, had got encumbered by a variety of abuses, which, besides other bad results, had the worst one that any scheme of procedure can have, that of diminishing the responsibility of judgments, by enabling judge or party to connect them, at the pleasure of each, with indefinite masses of obscure, irrelevant, or unnecessary, matter. 3d, That, in the extrication of facts, no civil judge could be aided by that curious engine called a jury. The first, and most indispensable, remedial

* Edinburgh Review for January 1807.

measure, was to diminish the Court, which was done, by dividing it into two Chambers in 1808. The second was to introduce Juries in civil causes. This was accomplished in 1815, -the greatest step in our judicial history. The third, which perhaps would have been impossible without the preparation of the other two, was to correct some of the Procedure. For this purpose, a Commission, including four eminent English lawyers, was appointed in 1823, which led to the existing, and greatly improved, forms.

It

Each of these innovations was vehemently opposed in its day; and always by those who profess to be haters of innovations. Each of them was maintained by government, and there is now scarcely one of the haters who does not acknowledge that the change has been an improvement. There may be a few who remember the wisdom of our ancestors with a sigh; but they see that the return of the good old times is impossible, and they have got into the way of sighing in secret. took a longer time, and a more resolute firmness, on the part of government, to subdue or disregard the prejudices against trial by jury, than those against any of the other alterations. These also have died, or are fast dying, away; and, on the whole, there has been a disposition to promote the success of each reform, after it was introduced, most honourable to men educated in a different school, and many of whom had, to a great extent, committed themselves by prophesying their failure.

Still there was another era, which has been long predicted, and has now arrived. The judicial establishment of Scotland was planned, or rather had been kept up, with reference to circumstances totally different from those that exist now. The maintenance of a Civil, a Criminal, a Revenue, an Admiralty, and Consistorial Court, was not unsuited to the wants of the people, when they formed an independent kingdom; and those who had to manage, or to thwart, the Union, had enough to do, without meddling with unnecessary matters; and after this, these institutions were too convenient a source of patronage, not to be defended as essential to our existence. But the current of the times left some of them stranded,-high and dry; and a revision of the whole establishment, though it might be delayed, has been long acknowledged as certainly to take place one day or other. Whether the event, though not casually accelerated, would have occurred at this moment or not, is a problem which cannot be positively solved. It is not unlikely that it would; because this happens to be an economical, and, in legal matters, a reforming age. But the euthanasia was hastened by one of those minor incidents which often produce unexpected results. The judges wished for an increase of salary. Government was

not perhaps averse to give it; but, knowing the opposition which the proposal would certainly meet with, and probably weary of Scotch law, it resolved that nothing should be done, till the whole should be done together and finally. Accordingly, a new Commission was appointed in 1826, which may be considered to have been chiefly a piece of form. The English members, whose presence, as mere strangers, was so valuable, independently of their skill, were left out of it; and very little investigation was gone into, except by consulting official persons. This Commission made a Report; and the bill that is now before Parliament, is partly founded on that Report, and partly on other changes adopted by government itself.

The details of its provisions are of little interest to the public; but their leading objects are very important, and can be easily explained.

1. About eighteen judicial offices-including the Lord JusticeGeneral, two Barons, two Judges in the Court of Session, the Jury Court, three Consistorial Judges, and the Judge-Admiral, -are to be abolished. The money professed to be saved by this, is about L.23,000 a-year. But this is not exactly the fact; for some of it must be replaced in a new form, when the projected changes are effected. The mere pecuniary saving, however, even though it amounted to that sum, is unworthy of a moment's notice. There are some, who, in these times, will look to nothing else; and certainly proper economy ought never to be lost sight of. But nothing can be more mischievous or paltry, than to allow the idea of saving such a sum to affect the consideration of what is proper with a view to the permanent establishment or reformation of the supreme judicial institutions of the country.

Viewed on its own proper merits, we have not the slightest doubt that this fell swoop' is quite right. Some fear has been entertained as to the reduction of the number of judges in the Court of Session,-founded on a doubt, whether the duties of the junior judges, among whom the reduction will take place, can be performed by fewer than seven. But the conclusive answer to this is, that five performed these duties, when they were heavier than they are now. The propriety of the other reductions, has been scarcely even doubted.

Although the business of the Court of Exchequer, both judicial and fiscal, has greatly diminished, we conceive a Revenue Court, sitting in Scotland, to be indispensable. Nothing could be a more complete denial of justice, than to tell a person who had a revenue case to try with Government, that he had only to send his witnesses from Orkney to London. Besides, what is called the Treasury business of the Barons, is considerable, and,

which is of more consequence, it is often very important, and requires to be done in a responsible manner. There neither is any thing, nor, except by something which in effect would be a Court of Exchequer, do we know how any thing could be formed, in Scotland, calculated at once to perform those functions of a local Treasury which Government must have performed here, and to afford protection, in their revenue questions, to the people. Subordinate boards, respectable clerks, or itinerant commissioners, would be very inadequate substitutes. Though two out of the four existing Barons, therefore, may certainly be spared, the Court itself ought not only to be kept up, but kept up as a supreme court. As to the Consistorial and Admiralty Courts, they have been abolished, in the public opinion, for at least forty years. There is not a word to be said in behalf of them. They are mere avenues to the Court of Session, without the recommendations of the old avenue, which consisted in its being short, and leading through shelter directly to the object sought. It seems to have been said in Parliament, that the Consistorial Court had been rash in granting divorces; a statement which appears to have rested solely on the fact, that, in above a third of the cases, the guilty party had made no appearance. But every part of this is an error. Nobody, acquainted with the Court, can be ignorant that the failure to appear arises solely from its being obvious that the evidence is so complete as to make resistance useless; and that absence, instead of aiding collusion, defeats it. It increases suspicion, and only causes the appointment of a judicial officer, whose interest it is to detect trick. Nevertheless, both the Consistorial and the Admiralty Courts have subsisted for a very long while, merely as purgatories, which people, with certain causes, never saw the use of, but through which they thought that there was something in destiny that forced them to pass. After they are exploded, it will be found, as in other instances, that the intermediate state was an useless invention.

There are doubtless some, perhaps many, who, in contemplating those melancholy improvements, inwardly groan for the loss of the good places, in the hope of which they were born. The honest way of expressing this, is to say, that they feel an interest in the patronage. The circumlocutory way is, to profess perfect personal disinterestedness, but to lament for the dignity of Scotland, which has been amerced, by degrees, of all the symbols of its ancient independence, till at last it can scarcely boast of one place of which the respectability is attested by its being well paid, and utterly useless. We have all due sympathy with these feelings, and cherish a kindly recollection of the many worthy characters who, after a proper course of political service, have