That all persons under articles of clerkship executed after the first day of January, 1861, shall be examined either in the term in which one-half of his time of service shall expire or in one of the two Terms next before, or one of the two Terms next after, one half of his term of service, in such elementary works on the Laws of England as may be appointed by the examiners, and in mercantile book-keeping: and that the names of the books selected for examination in each year may be obtained from the secretary of the examiners in the month of JULY in the previous year.

Such intermediate examination is conducted in each Term by the examiners appointed under the 6 & 7 Vict. c. 73, the Orders of the Master of the Rolls of 13th of January, 1844, and the Rules of the Common Law Courts of Hilary Term, 1853, at the Hall of the Incorporated Law Society.

The applicant for such examination must give to the Registrar of Attorneys one calendar month's notice in writing before the commencement of the Term in which he desires to be examined, and seven clear days before the commencement of such Term leave with him the articles and assignment (if any), duly stamped and registered, under which the applicant is serving his clerkship, with answers to the questions as to his due service and conduct up to that time.(a)

The following may be the form of notice referred to in the above Order :

Notice is hereby given that A. B. of ship to C. D. of

who is now under articles of clerk[or, who has served under articles of clerkship to C. D., and is now serving under an assignment of such articles of clerkship to E. F., or, as the case may be] intends to apply in Term next for intermediate examination, pursuant to the Act 23 & 24 Vict. c. 127, s. 9, and the Orders made thereon. Dated this

day of

187.

A. B.

Upon compliance with such regulations, if the major part of the examiners present at and conducting such examination are satisfied with the answers of the candidate, they, or the major part of them, are to certify the same under their hands to that effect.

If the applicant should fail to pass such intermediate examination to the satisfaction of the examiners, he may attend the examination in the next or any subsequent Term; but if he should not have passed such intermediate examination before the expiration of the second Term next after one-half of his term of service, his examination at the expiration of the term of service under his articles shall be postponed for so many Terms as may intervene between such last-mentioned Term and his passing such intermediate examination, or for such shorter time as the examiners shall in each case direct.

The fee payable on depositing the articles is 5s., and for the examiners' certificate 158.(b)

When the candidate presents himself for examination he will have a number given to him, and will take his seat at the end of the table on which such number is placed.

A paper of questions will be delivered to him, with his name and number upon it, containing questions classed under the several heads of—

(a) About a fortnight or three weeks before the examination the candidate will receive from the secretary to the examiners a notice requiring his attendance, for the purpose of being examined, and the paper of questions referred to in the above Order, which are very similar to those used at the final examination, a copy of which will be found in a subsequent part of this work.

(b) See Orders, 31st January, 1863.

Each candidate is to endeavour to answer every question in each branch. The answers under the above-mentioned heads are to be written on one side only, on separate papers for each head; and the answers to each paper shall be written concisely, in a plain and legible manner, and signed.

The candidates are to finish their papers by four o'clock, but no answers will be received from any candidate before half-past one o'clock.

When the candidate has finished his answers, he will deliver them (tied up), together with his printed copy of the questions, to the secretary, at the examiners' table, and he will exchange the ticket given on his entrance for another ticket which he is to give to the person at the door when he goes away.

After the examination has begun, no candidate is to leave the room (without permission obtained from the examiners) until he shall have delivered in his answers; and any candidate who leaves without permission will not be allowed to return.

No candidate will be allowed to consult any book during his examination, or to communicate with, receive assistance from, or copy from the paper of another; and in case this rule is infringed, the names of both such persons will be immediately struck out of the list of candidates.

There are seven questions asked at this examination from each of the legal text-books required to be read by the candidate; and five questions. on book-keeping. A digest of them with answers from the commencement will be found in a subsequent part of this work.

The examiners ask the candidate to endeavour to answer all the questions, but they will pass a candidate who answers a majority of the questions correctly.

BOOKS TO BE READ.-These are named by the examiners as stated supra.

(a) These are the books for 1872, but of course may be varied for subsequent years.

CHAPTER II.

SECTION I

ON MEMORY, ITS ABUSE AND ITS AIDS.

IT is a general complaint amongst articled clerks that they have bad memories; do what they will, try ever so often, they cannot remember what they read. But let us observe at the outset, that men are no more born with minds naturally dull and indocile than with bodies of monstrous shapes, which, as we all know, is a thing of rare occurrence. Defects of memory then, are no doubt, defects that may be remedied, if not entirely cured: they take various forms; some memories at once seize the matter presented to them, but as quickly lose it; others have the greatest difficulty in laying hold of a subject-have to exercise long and weary attention-when once there, however, it remains fixed. Notwithstanding all this, we again assert that the machine is generally good, but it is not skilfully used and managed. Many memories are weakened by disuse, and may therefore be strengthened by exercise, gradual at first, increasing as the memory strengthens. It must be clear to every one that, as the brain is the organ of the mind, whatever cause tends to strengthen the former must aid and strengthen the latter. Mr. Raithy says, "Not only the inclination to recollect, but the very powers themselves of recollection are impaired and at length lost by disuse."

It is said, that no study tries the memory like the study of the law; therefore the law student should use all proper methods to aid and strengthen his memory, for no system can create one. Too many students pursue a course of reading which tends to weaken, rather than strengthen, the memory. Knowing his memory is weak to begin with, the student leaves all his reading until about two or three months prior to his examination, then plunges headlong into his books without any previous training. He sits down at his desk and reads for three or four consecutive hours, and sometimes even more than this, and in that time his eye passes over a great number of pages containing a large amount of matter almost, if not entirely, new to him. He gets up from his task thinking he has done a good day's work, and never gives the subject any further thought that day, and the next is chagrined and mortified to find his previous day's hard labour so barren; in fact, that he recollects little or nothing of the matter. He again sets to work in the same way as before with the like result, and, in the end, gets disheartened, begins to think he is a fool, and feels inclined to give up his profession. An apt illustration of the course just pointed out is that of filling a bottle with liquid, for if you attempt to pour in the liquid too quickly, half of it is spilt and wasted. Instead of reading in the manner just mentioned, we would advise the student to commence with careful reading for one hour at a time; this done, let him close his book and take a sharp walk and try how much of his reading he

remembers. We say a sharp walk," for it has been truly said, the mind works best when the body is in motion, and both body and mind get refreshed and strengthened by the exercise. Or, if the student prefers, he may test his memory by self-examination from some book of questions containing a corresponding chapter to the one he has been reading. As the memory strengthens the student may increase the number of hours of study, but many writers assert that not more than two consecutive hours can be given to legal study with advantage to the student. We are also strongly of opinion that, even with advanced students, it is by far the most beneficial course to read not more than six hours a day, divided into at least two portions, the remainder of the day being given to thought, examination, and physical exercise. In these remarks we are borne out by writers such as Sir Matthew Hale, Sir Eardley Wilmot, Mr. North, the author of the "Advocate," and others.

66

One of the best methods used for aiding memory is the association of ideas; a simple word or a sight will often call up a whole passage, which otherwise would have remained occult, or lost to recollection. The force of association may be exemplified very strongly in the following anecdote: -A gentleman was in the habit of amusing himself by experimenting upon this power. One day, as he was taking a drive with his servant seated behind him, they had to cross a bridge where the scenery was particularly grand and striking; here he suddenly turned round and exclaimed, "John, do you like eggs? Yes, sir," answered John. The gentleman drove on, and nothing more was said. That day twelve months the gentleman drove out again in the same direction, with the same servant seated behind him; upon arriving at the bridge, he turned round abruptly as before and said, "John, how do you like them?" "Poached, sir," answered John, without a moment's hesitation. Here, we must admit, is a striking instance of the power of association of ideas in recalling a circumstance which otherwise would have been entirely forgotten. No doubt John, on the first occasion of his master's strange inquiry, at a place so wholly unconnected with the subject of it, turned the matter over in his mind and wondered at it; and, on again approaching the spot a year afterwards, the bridge brought back the odd interrogatory, and when the second equally strange question was asked, he at once connected the two and answered accordingly.

Now we will see how this plan may be applied to the study of the law. Let us take the case of an estate tail as an example. The student must fancy his father to be the tenant for life under the settlement; that the estate (which must be one well known to him) is burdened with pin money for his mother during his father's life, and a rent-charge by way of jointure if she survives his father; that subject to these limitations that he (or his elder brother, if one) is the first tenant in tail, &c. Let him remember that his father is the protector of this settlement, and that the entail cannot be effectually barred without his consent, &c.; in fact, keep himself and his own family inseparably connected with the supposed entail, and he will always have a date to fall back upon to aid his memory. The same plan

may be adopted with an estate for life and the powers incidental. Still keeping his father before him and the same estate and supposed entail, he will, after reading, more readily remember that his father, the tenant for life (rather than the mere letter A.), may cut wood for repairs of the mansion house, &c., work existing mines on the estate, &c., but cannot hurt him, the tenant in tail in remainder, by cutting timber or committing waste, &c. The student thus has not only an association of ideas, but a chain of

ideas linked one within the other, which he may carry out to almost any length where the principles of the law are concerned, and even in practice to some extent; as by making himself a supposed plaintiff, and one of his friends a supposed defendant, and so work out the action or suit.

When it becomes necessary to commit rules or maxims to memory, do not attempt to master them all at once; learn one by careful reading and reflection before you attempt another, and if there be an illustration pay attention to that. Great assistance on this point will be found by writing out one of the rules or maxims and putting it in the pocket, and whenever an opportunity occurs pulling it out and reading it. This may be done in those spare and otherwise useless moments when riding on a railway or in an omnibus, or even when walking. This plan is also particularly applicable to learning times of procedure.

"do

As to committing to memory generally. It is a common phrase not parrot." This is good advice in its way, and it would be desirable if we could get the reason for all we read, to apply the maxim "Scire autem proprie est, rem ratione et per causam cognoscere,' but this is often impossible, especially on points of practice. And some students find great difficulty in understanding even the principles of the law: when this is the case, when the comprehension is dull, learning by heart must be resorted to, and the intellect awakened by constant questioning and explanation by some one competent to interrogate and instruct.

Another mode of assisting the memory is to try to forget that which you have been reading. This method has sometimes succeeded when all others have failed.

As to recollecting dates or Acts of Parliament: it is not often necessary to do this, but where it is do not try to learn many at once; and when a few are fixed in your memory, learn others by comparing them with those you already know; thus you know that the Statute of Frauds was passed in the reign of Car. II., and it is easy to recollect that the Statute of Uses was not passed in that reign, but in a prior one, viz., in that of Hen. VIII., and so on. When a given number of actions, pleas, or the like have to be learned, always get the number of events first, and that will assist in recollecting whether those you enumerate are all there, and are correct. Thus interpleader applies to four actions, viz., assumpsit, debt, detinue, and trover. Remark, also, that the two first named are of one and the same class of action, viz., contract, and the two latter of another, viz., tort. Careful attention to these little points is a great aid to the memory. Another mode is, when there is an enumeration to take the capital letters of each word and see what they spell; thus, take the last as an instance, the capital letters make add at. Again, joint tenants require four unities, viz., possession, interest, title, time; the latter has reference to all the preceding unities, and should come last: the capital letters here make pitt. This mode not only helps the memory, but enables you to discover whether you are enumerating in order. The student should guard against burdening his memory with unnecessary matter. For example, the examiners do not expect candidates to be able to cite every statute, much more to give the chapters and sections of Acts of Parliament. It is therefore trying the memory unnecessarily to attempt this. It is quite sufficient for all ordinary purposes to remember the reign in which the most important acts were passed, such as the Statute De donis, the Statute of Quia emptores, the Statute of Uses, the Statute of Frauds, the Wills Amendment Act of 1837, the Procedure Acts, and the like.