LAW LEACH. 



609 



of all the societies, by which students, in whatever 

 part of the kingdom they may be resident, are re- 

 quired to dine in the common hall, a few days in 

 the course of every term, is founded on just views 

 and attended with beneficial effects. Amongst 

 these may be noticed that of its making known the 

 person of the student and exposing him, if his 

 character be disreputable, to more easy detection 

 by the society before the period of his application 

 to be called to the bar. It also gives an oppor- 

 tunity of attending the courts, and associating 

 with students and other members of the profes- 

 sion." 



The chambers in the Inns of Court, we believe, 

 are let, either from year to year, or for three lives ; 

 and each of the Inns of Court has a very large 

 annual income arising from the rents of its estates 

 and otherwise. The income of the Inns has been 

 estimated, but with what accuracy we know not, 

 at sixty thousand pounds sterling. Many com- 

 plaints have been made recently and since the at- 

 tention of the public has been particularly called 

 to the subject, not only that this income is not so 

 well employed as it is imagined that it might be, 

 but that many of the rules and regulations of these 

 societies relative to the admission and education of 

 students and barristers, are not such as ought to 

 regulate the education and admission to a profes- 

 sion occupying a most prominent and important rank 

 in the civil institutions of the country. 



Some of these are noticed by the common law 

 commissioners as being in their opinion objection- 

 able. And in their report they recommend that 

 'ther by act of parliament, or by authority of his 

 majesty in council, the societies be enjoined to al- 

 low, and the judges of the courts at Westminster 

 to receive, an appeal from any acts of the benchers 

 of any of the Inns of Court rejecting an application 

 for admission into their society; and that it should 

 be established by way of positive regulation that 

 in all cases where an application is rejected, whether 

 it relates to admission as a student, or to the call 

 to the bar, the party applying shall have notice in 

 writing of the cause of rejection, shall be al- 

 lowed to clear himself from any charge of miscon- 

 duct which it may involve, and for that purpose 

 shall be at liberty to make his defence either in per- 

 son or by counsel, and to produce evidence, and 

 that a full report of the whole evidence and other 

 proceedings before the benchers, shall in the event 

 of an appeal, be laid before the judges. They 

 further recommend, that it should be ordained that 

 no general rules, or orders in future, to be made by 

 any of the societies on the subject of admission of 

 students, or call to the bar, shall be of any force 

 until they shall have been laid before all the judges 

 of the superior courts at Westminster, to be as- 

 sembled for this purpose, and approved and sub- 

 scribed by such judges, or eight or more of them, 

 which they remark would be a partial return to the 

 ancient practice. They also express an opinion 

 that the rule requiring special pleaders and convey- 

 ancers to obtain a license from the societies to prac- 

 tice is objectionable. They propose that the cer- 

 tificate of two graduated members of any of the 

 universities, or of two respectable householders, 

 should suffice instead of the recommendation of 

 one bencher or two barristers, when candidates are 

 proposed for admission to the societies ; and that 

 in all the Inns of Courts the power of admitting 

 or rejecting an applicant for call to the bar should 

 in future be vested in the benchers only. With 



respect to the existing rules of the Inns of Court 

 subject to these exceptions, the commissioners re- 

 port that they appear to them to be free from ob- 

 jections. 



Notwithstanding the apparently objectionable 

 features of the rules and regulations of these Inns 

 of Court, so far as they relate merely to the ad- 

 mission of students, or to the calling them to the 

 bar, yet such is the character of the body invested 

 with discretion in this regard, namely, the benchers, 

 who are men at the head of their profession, and 

 most of them far advanced in years, and such of 

 course has been the manner in which this discre- 

 tion lias been exercised, that, from the earliest 

 times, there have been very few cases of complaint, 

 and even in those, from the best accounts we have 

 of them, there is hardly room for a doubt of the 

 correctness of the decision of the benchers. 



LAWRENCE, JOHN, author of a treatise on 

 the Horse, and other practical works, died at Park 

 Place, Peckham, April 17, 1839, aged eighty-six. 

 He was, in early life, one of the first advocates of 

 legislative enactments for the suppression of cruelty 

 to animals ; and his writings were of eminent assis- 

 tance towards obtaining those acts of parliament 

 which were passed for their protection. The fol- 

 lowing is a list of Mr Lawrence's works : "A 

 Philosophical and Practical Treatise on Horses, 

 and on the Moral Duties of Man towards the 

 Brute Creation. Account of former Writers 

 Management and Medicine Shoeing Purchase 

 and Sale," &c. Two vols. 8vo. Three editions. 

 " The New Farmer's Calendar. Practical Hus- 

 bandry the Row Culture Diseases of Vegeta- 

 bles Live Stock Poultry, &c." Five editions. 

 "The Modern Land Steward." Two editions. 

 " A General Treatise on Cattle the Ox, the 

 Sheep, and the Swine Management Breeding, 

 and Medicine." Two editions. " A History of 

 the Horse, and delineation of the Race Horse. 

 The Breeding Stud Breaking Training, &c." 

 4to. plates. " A Treatise on Domestic Poultry, 

 Pheasants, Pigeons, Rabbits, Swine, and Dairy 

 Cows." Five editions. 12mo. Published under the 

 assumed name of " Moubray." " British Field 

 Sports. Game Laws Shooting Hunting 

 Coursing Racing Hawking Cocking Fishing, 

 &c." 8vo. Under the name of W. H. Scott. 

 " The Sportman's Repository. History, descrip- 

 tions, and instructions relative to Horses and Dogs." 

 Also under the name of W. H. Scott. " The 

 descriptions of Alkin's (folio) Sporting Plates, 

 with a French Translation." Two editions. 4to. 

 With additions. " The Horse in all his varieties 

 and uses with rules for his preservation from dis- 

 ease." Small 8vo. 1829. 



LEACH, SIR JOHN, late master of the rolls, 

 was born in the town of Bedford, in 1760, where 

 his father was a tradesman. He was educated at 

 the grammar school there, and placed in the 

 office of Sir Robert Taylor, the eminent architect, 

 to whose business he applied himself with great 

 attention and perseverance. He afterwards, how- 

 ever, commenced the study of the law, and en- 

 tered himself at the Middle Temple on the 26th 

 of January, 1785, and became the pupil of that 

 eminent draftsman and judge, Sir William Alex- 

 ander, then in great practice as a junior equity 

 counsel. In Hilary term, 1790, he was called to 

 the bar by that society, and chose the home circuit 

 and Surrey sessions. He soon obtained considera- 

 ble practice in these courts, and was distinguished 

 2Q 



