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or belonging, to the testator or settlor, then ut res magis valeat parol evidence can be given to aid the construction. If the court considers that some person or thing is sufficiently, though not accurately, indicated in the document, it will give effect to it accordingly, and this it will do totally irrespectively of the question whether the subject of the gift is realty or personalty. Unless the ambiguity above referred to exists, the court is as limited in its vision in the case of realty as of personalty, and as a matter of fact, ambiguous discriptions of property will be found to occur quite as often as regards specific gifts of personalty, as in respect to devises, all of which are specific. The case of Jones v. Curry, 1 Swa. 66, cited by Mr. Farwell, only proves that there are cases of legacies and appointments of personality that must be determined without admitting extrinsic evidence to aid the construction of the document in question.

The reason of the law is the life of the law. Now, the reason why evidence of the amount of a testator's personal estate, at the time of making his will, though a mere fact unconnected with the question of the testator's intention, is, in general, inadmissible, is because such testimony is irrelevant. For the will, quoad the personal estate, has always spoken from the death of the testator, and, consequently, the amount of his personalty at the time of his making the will, although it might bias the judgment, could not, in general, form a just ground of inference as to the meaning of the testator's words. Such evidence, however, may, in certain cases, be material, and then it will be admissible. Mr. Farwell has misconceived the ground of distinction-so far as such really exists between realty and personalty in respect to this point, see Bernasconi v. Atkinson, 10 Hare 345. On the whole, however, he has performed an exceedingly laborious task. The authorities on the subject of powers are in many instances confused, and on this account the method of throwing the leading doctrines into the form of axioms is highly useful both to the practitioner and the student. We have dwelt rather on debateable points in his work rather than on its general merits. It has some misprints and inaccuracies of expression, but, as a rule, both for matter and form, it deserves commendation, and will, doubtless, facilitate a knowledge of the difficult subject of which it treats. It must be interesting to the venerable Lord St. Leonards to trace the progress made in this branch of law since he issued the first edition of his work.

LAW EXAMINATIONS.

The Degree of Bachelor of Law (B.L.).—The following are the regulations made by the University Court of the University of Edinburgh for this new degree. The last six of the following sections are those enacted by the University Court, and recently. sanctioned by Her Majesty; but in order to understand these, it is necessary to quote the sections of the ordinance of the Universities Commission of 12th July, 1862, relating to the degree of Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.):

"I. No one shall hereafter be admitted as a candidate for the degree of Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) . . .

unless he be a Graduate in Arts of one of the Universities of Scotland, or of England or Ireland, or a Graduate in Arts of a colonial or foreign University, whose degree may, for this purpose, have been specially recognised by the University Court.

"II. The course of study in Law necessary for the degree of Bachelor of Laws shall extend over three academical years, and shall iuclude attendance on a distinct course in each of the six following departments, viz.:—

1. Civil Law

2. Law of Scotland

3. Conveyancing

4. Public Law

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"III. No one shall hereafter be admitted to examination as a candidate for the degree of Bachelor of Laws until he has completed the course of study above prescribed; and no one shall be admitted as a candidate in any University unless two at least of the three Academical years of his course of study in Law shall have been in such University.

"IV. Candidates for the degree of Bachelor of Laws shall be examined, both in writing and viva voce, on each of the six departments of Law above specified.

"V. Each candidate must satisfy the Examiners that he pos sesses a competent knowledge of Law in each of the said departments; and the Examiners shall further, in judging of the qualifications of candidates, have special regard to their acquirements in the two departments of Public Law and Constitutional Law and history.

"VI. Except as hereinafter provided with regard to the Uni

versity of Edinburgh, the Examiners for degrees in Law in each of the said Universities shall be six in number, and there shall always be one Examiner specially qualified for each one of the six departments above specified; and where the Professors of the Faculty of Law in any University do not furnish the requisite number of Examiners duly qualified, the number shall be made up by the appointment of additional Examiners by the University Court; provided always, that no person shall be appointed an additional Examiner in any University, or shall have attained the degree of Bachelor of Laws, in accordance with the provisions of this ordinance.

"IX. Each candidate for the degree of Bachelor of Laws shall pay a fee of five guineas in respect of his examination for the degree."

"XI. Besides the degrees in Laws above specified, there shall in future be in the University of Edinburgh a second degree in Law granted after examination, namely, the degree of Bachelor of Law (B.L.).

"XII. No one shall be admitted to examination as a candidate for the degree of Bachelor of Law in the University of Edinburgh, unless he be a Graduate in Arts, qualified as prescribed in section 1, or unless he shall have studied in one of the Universities therein mentioned, during at least one academical year, one or more of the subjects included in the course of study in the Faculty of Arts, and shall have passed a satisfactory examination in (1) Latin; (2) Greek, French, or German; and (3) any two of the following subjects, namely, Logic, Moral Philosophy, and Mathematics. The examinations shall be conducted by Examiners in Arts, together with some of the Law Examiners. "XIII. The course of study in Law necessary for the degree of Bachelor of Law in the University of Edinburgh shall extend over at least two academical years, and shall include attendance on a distinct course, as specified in sec. 2, in each of the first three of the departments therein mentioned, and in any one of the other three departments, and no one shall be admitted to examination as a candidate for the said degree, unless two academical years of his course of study in Law shall have been in the University of Edinburgh.

"XIV. The examination for the said degree of Bachelor of Law in the University of Edinburgh shall be conducted at the same time, and in the same manner, as that for the degree of Bachelor of Laws, and the candidates shall be examined in each

of the departments of Law on which they shall have given attendance, as above required.

"XV. The Examiners for degrees in Law in the University of Edinburgh shall be the Professors in the Faculty of Law, together with two additional Examiners appointed by the University Court from among those who have obtained the degree of Bachelor of Laws, in accordance with the provisions of this ordinance. Each of such additional Examiners shall hold office for the term of three years.

"XVI. The fee to be paid by each candidate for the degree of Bachelor of Law in the University of Edinburgh shall be the same, and the remuneration of the additional Examiners shall be fixed in the same manner, as is provided by secs. 9 and 8 with reference to examinations for the degree of Bachelor of Law.''

Similar regulations, but with some variations in detail, have been made by the University Court of the University of Glasgow, and sanctioned by Her Majesty.

OBITUARY.

LORD BENHOLME.-We extract the following from the Journal of Jurisprudence and Scottish Law Magazine :

"Lord Benholme, long and favourably known at the Bar as Hercules Robertson, was born in the year 1795, so that at the time of his death he was verging on his eightieth year. He passed as Advocate in the year 1817, the year after Lord Colonsay was called to the Bar. In 1842 the Conservative Government of that time appointed him Sheriff of Renfrewshire. In 1853 the Liberal Government of that time raised him to the Bench, and on the retirement of Lord Wood, in 1859, he took his place in the Second Division. Twenty-one years of judicial service, fifty-seven years of professional duty, are things which few men can point to at the close of their career. For some years we believe he had been the oldest man who acted as Judge in any Supreme Court in Great Britain."

APPOINTMENTS.

Mr. Patrick M. Leonard has been appointed to succeed Mr. C. J. Gale as County Court Judge of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight; Mr. Horatio Lloyd to succeed Mr. Vaughan Williams as County Court Judge for North Wales; and Mr. R. A Fisher, County Court Judge of Bristol, in the place of Mr. E. J. Lloyd, Q.C.

THE

LAW MAGAZINE AND REVIEW.

No. XII.-VOL. III.-DECEMBER, 1874.

I. THE SWISS JURISTENTAG OF 1873.*

By C. H. E. CARMICHAEL, M.A., F.R.S.L.

SINCE this time last year, when I contributed a brief

account of the proceedings of the First Italian Juridical Congress,t a meeting of Jurists has been held in a remote corner of Switzerland which ought not, I think, to be passed over without notice.

The old City of Coire, interesting to British travellers from the legends connecting it with King Lucius, duly vouched for by the sign-manual of Garter King of Arms on parchments framed and hung in the Crypt of the Cathedral, contains a population of not more than seven thousand, and lies hid in the heart of the Rhætian Alps. Yet, to quote the words of a very competent French authority, M. Paul Gide, Professor of Law in the faculty of Paris, if we measure the importance of a scientific gathering by the value of its labours, we must accord to the little Congress of Coire one of the foremost places among the various Juridical Congresses that have lately been held in Europe.

The subject of the Reports and debates at Coire, on the 6th September, 1873, and following days, was one that

*Read at the recent Social Science Congress at Glasgow.

† See Law Magazine, Part 11, 1873.

Revue de Législation Ancienne et Moderne, No. iii (May and June) 1874.

Fp. 451 et seq.

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