courts and persons in England, which, before the passing of this Act, had jurisdiction or authority to grant or revoke probate of wills or letters of administration of the effects of deceased persons, shall in respect of such matters, absolutely cease, and no jurisdiction or authority in relation to any matters or causes testamentary, or to any matter arising out of or connected with the grant or revocation of probate or administration, shall belong to or be exercised by any such court or person. And this jurisdiction is now vested in the Court of Probate, which is a court of record, presided over by one judge, who is assisted by the officers of the court: By section 23, however, of the Act, it is provided that no suits for legacies or suits for the distribution of residues shall be entertained by the court, or by any court or person whose jurisdiction as to matters and causes testamentary is abolished by the Act. As to the mode of proving wills and obtaining grants of letters of administration, and the law relating thereto, the student is referred to Coote's "Probate Court Practice." SECTION VII. MISCELLANEOUS LAWS. There are several other divisions of the law, but as they are not requisite for the examination we shall notice them very briefly, leaving those students who desire information in these branches to seek it in the works pointed out. 66 International Law. Every student should possess some knowledge at least of international law, which teaches the rights of men and states. And it is laid down that different nations ought in time of peace to do each other all the good they can, and in time of war as little harm as possible without prejudicing their real interest.' For a first book, Wheaton's "Elements of International Law is the best; and, should the student be desirous of pursuing the subject further, Story's or Westlake's "Conflict of Laws" may be read. Colonial Law. This is a branch of the law seldom studied by our lawyers at home, which is somewhat to be wondered at, seeing the vast extent of our colonial possessions and their great importance. There is no work that the writer is aware of that treats of colonial law singly, but the best work on the subject is "Clark's Summary;" no edition, however, has been published since 1834. The Roman or Civil Law. Lord Holt says that there can be no doubt that the laws of all nations are based upon the civil law; if so, a knowledge of it would seem indispensable to the lawyer. The student will, however, be unable to study this branch of the law without a moderate knowledge of Latin and Greek. The student may read as a first book Lord Mackenzie's "Studies in Roman Law." E PART II. BOOK-KEEPING. INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. BOOK-KEEPING now being a branch of the articled clerk's education, and one of the subjects at the intermediate examination, a short chapter upon it becomes necessary. Book-keeping is the art of keeping accounts or recording business transactions; and its object is to enable the person who keeps them, at any time, to ascertain the true state of the whole or any part of his affairs with accuracy and expedition. Books may be kept either by single or double entry. The former is chiefly used by small tradesmen or retail dealers; a single entry of the account in the ledger being sufficient for the purpose of a record. It is the most simple and concise method of keeping accounts, but has this radical defect, that as the ledger has no reference to ready money transactions, the tradesman cannot ascertain the true state of his affairs without first taking stock; that is ascertaining the quantity and value of the goods unsold. In double entry this objection is avoided because each account is entered twice, first on the debtor or creditor side of one account, and afterwards on the contrary side of some other account. This method is therefore used by persons engaged in extensive commerce. However, there is no iron rule or system of book-keeping, the fact being that in practice scarcely any two systems are carried out in exactly the same mechanical form, but naturally in a way most suited to the technical nature of the peculiar transactions or the taste of the merchant. We shall only treat of book-keeping by single entry in the following pages, in the most simple way we can. Before, however, we say anything about the books used in keeping accounts we will refer briefly to certain COMMERCIAL FORMS. Bills of Parcels or Invoice. When goods are sold, a note or memorandum of their quantity, quality, and value, called a bill of parcels or invoice, is usually sent to the buyer with the goods, somewhat in the following form :— Mr. SMITH. London, January 1st, 1865. Bought of J. BROWN. d. 10 yards of best West of England Cloth, @ 10s. per yard... ... ... ... ... ... 0000 £11 12 0 The example above given is that of an inland bill of parcels or invoice; but they may be also foreign, the latter frequently being an account of merchandise consigned by a person abroad to an agent here for sale, which will be treated of under the following head of Account Sales. If goods are sent to an agent to sell, they are said to be sent for sale and return. The person who sends the goods is termed the consignor, the goods sent the consignment, and the person or agent to whom they are sent the consignee. The note or account transmitted to the agent with the goods is called, as above stated, the invoice. The account of the sales, usually termed "an account sales," is the agent's return to the consignor of the goods sold, and if any remain unsold, returned, with the rates at which they were sold, deducting charges for freight, insurance, commission, &c. Pro forma invoices and account sales, or fictitious accounts, are sometimes used. For example, a merchant abroad may be desirous of sending here a particular class of goods for sale on speculation, and in order to ascertain whether he is likely to realise a profit thereby, writes to his agent here for a pro formâ account sales of the particular class of goods he wishes so to send. The agent sends the account as required, and the foreign merchant can then judge as to the propriety of the contemplated speculation. The following is the form of an account sales, adapted from Mr. Isbister's work on book-keeping : Dr. SALES 50 bales Cotton per the "Waterloo" from New Orleans, on account of Marshall and Co. Accounts Current. These accounts contain all the transactions of a mercantile house with one of its correspondents during a given time, usually six or twelve months. On the debtor side of the account are placed all payments made and responsibilities incurred for the correspondent; and on the creditor side the various receipts from him or on his account. The interest for the half-year, the commission on receipts and payments, small charges and postages, being added, the account may be closed and the balance carried to the next year. The following is an example of an account current, with the interest calculated thereon and balanced off: (a) MARSHALL and Co. (New Orleans), their Account Current with A. B. from January 1 In keeping accounts it should always be remembered that anything received by you is entered on the debtor side of your account, and anything delivered or paid on the creditor side; or, as the rule is abbreviated, "in Dr., out Cr." Accounts are also divided into personal and impersonal, or real. The former including all those in which persons are concerned, and are those used in single entry. The latter are those opened merely for merchandise or any description of property, as cash, bills, ships, &c., and are only used in double entry, the cash account perhaps excepted. Bills of Exchange. Bills of exchange forming a large portion of mercantile transactions, a few remarks upon them become necessary, which will also enable the (a) This form of account is taken from Isbister's "Elements of Book-keeping," to which work we beg to acknowledge our obligations throughout. student to understand the proper use of the " Bill-Book," to be hereafter explained. Bills of exchange are securities for money, originally invented among merchants in different countries for the more easy remittance of money from one to the other, and have since spread themselves in almost all pecuniary transactions amongst merchants, and to a great extent amongst tradesmen. A bill of exchange is defined to be an unconditional written order from one person (called the drawer) to another (called the drawee) requesting that other to pay a sum of money therein mentioned to a third person (called the payee) or his order. After the drawee has consented to do so, which he does by writing upon the bill, he is termed the acceptor. Inland bills are generally made payable to the drawer's own order, and not to a third person. To illustrate this: Suppose A. resides in Hamburgh and owes B. of London 1007., and C. of London owes A. of Hamburgh 100l. To settle these accounts A. draws a bill of exchange upon C., requesting him to pay to B. or his order the 1007. he owes C. Bills of exchange are either inland or foreign, an inland being one drawn and accepted here, and it must be stamped before it is drawn. Foreign bills are drawn here and accepted abroad, or vice versa, and are usually drawn in sets. They may be stamped after being drawn. It must be remembered that to make a bill of exchange a negotiable instrument it must be made payable to order or bearer, in which case there are generally other parties to the bill, called indorsers. The following is the form of a foreign bill : Hamburgh, 1st Oct. 1864. At two months after date pay, this my first bill of exchange, second and third, of the same tenor and date, not paid, to Mr. B., or order [or bearer], one hundred pounds value received of him, and place the same to account as per advice from J. A. In the form above given there are three sets or copies transmitted by separate ships or conveyances, so that if one or two are lost the third is almost certain to arrive. The following is the form of an inland bill: £100 0 0. London, Oct. 1st, 1864. Three months after date pay to me or my order one hundred pounds, for value received. A. B. To Mr. B. C., London. Accepted payable at the Union Bank. B. C. In the United Kingdom and in most other countries there are three days allowed to pay the bill, after the actual time of payment mentioned on the bill has elapsed. These are called days of grace. BOOKS TO BE USED. We now come to the books to be used, and it is often said that in bookkeeping by single entry only two books are necessary, viz., a day-book and ledger. If this method be adopted the day-book must contain a record of |