ability, and where a mark at least can be made with the hands, or in what part of the instrument the signature must appear, and whether the circumstances of the instrument being written, though not strictly signed by the donee, may not be sufficient."

"[906] It is perfectly clear that if a power is to be executed by writing under hand and seal,' the instrument need not be delivered."

This is a bold assertion!

Under the head of "some matters relative to leases for life," we find the following paragraph.

"[2267] It seems never to have been argued, that the lives must be persons who were in existence at the period of the creation of the power." Our author starts this weighty doubt without attempting to solve it.

Mr. Chance seems to think it a point of great importance, that if a man has a power to revoke any of the uses in any part of the premises, he may revoke all or any part of the uses in all or any part of the premises, for we find it repeated three times at least. 2 This is no doubt correct, but the correctness of Mr. Chance's reason may be questioned. He says because any' means every;' now we venture to say, that from Entick to Johnson there is no support for such a notion; and although we know that law and equity are not bound by lexicographers, yet we do not find that there is any occasion for a deviation here. Any,' of course, means one, generally, without limitation or qualification; if then, any of the uses may be revoked, each of the uses separately may be revoked, and so all or a part may be revoked. But if the power was to revoke every of the uses, instead of, any of the uses, it might be doubted whether a part only of the uses could be revoked.

Had Swift meditated upon the doctrines of powers, and such thoughts as the following had entered into his mind, we incline to think he would have allowed them to have died away in his memory.

1

"Powers to be exercised in favour of younger children are very common; they are conceived in various terms, there being found the words younger children,'' daughters and younger sons,' the children other than an eldest son,'' the children not possessing the estate,' &c. Again, the power may relate to land, or to money, or property of that nature; there may be gifts in default of an appointment, or no such gifts; so in some cases there may be provisos of survivorship or accruership under various contingencies; and the estate or interest may be in possession or in expectancy. Again, the eldest child may have a certain provision, and that provision referred to in the instrument creating the power, or it may be otherwise; the donee too may be authorised to fix the periods of vesting or not; so there may be a variety of other circumstances presenting numerous distinctions."

[1287.] "It may here be observed, that though it is impossible in the nature of things that two different persons should have at one and the same time, the beneficial enjoyment of property in severalty, still, if a clear intention be shewn that the donee is to be at liberty to create two different interests, which with reference to computation, are to run on concurrently, there can be no objection to such a power." It is thus that Mr. Chance ushers in that simple truth, that the same person may have at the same time a power to jointure and to charge for portions! Again,

[2037.] "Where power to jointure and to portion are given, it seems, that a donee may, unless prevented by the terms of the powers, select one part of the land for the jointure, and another part for the portions; in many cases the point may be of no importance."

by whom a lease may be most cases be guided very Powers may be given to exercised with the consent

[2082.] "In order to ascertain granted under a power, we must in much by its particular wording. tenants for life; or to trustees to be of tenants for life, or during the minorities of tenants for life or tenants in tail; powers may be limited to trustees to be exercised by the proper authority, or with the consent of the

1 Vol. i. 369. See a similar paragraph [2029].

guardians of the infants, or the powers may be vested in the guardians. Powers too, may be limited in a variety of other modes!"

One more instance of Mr. Chance's trifling particularity, and we have done.

"The ages or times at which the objects can take." [1296] "Questions on these points may arise as to real as well as personal estate. Little in the books appears upon the subject. Much must depend upon the nature of the property and of the provision, and upon the wording of the power, and the context, particularly the limitations in default of an appointment."

1

In every part of Mr. Chance's volumes we are compelled to notice the same determination not to omit any thing. Thus, in his Index, we find titles which we are confident no one would look for there. We extract a few ;

'ASSURANCE, ONE;' BAR, as to powers being barred;' 'BEGGAR, whether a lease can be granted to;' 'BlunderING, BRANCHES,' CAPACITY,' CLAUSE,' CORRUPT,' DEER,' DESERVE'; DOUBT, donee in;' FUTURE ACT;' IN, as to appointee being in under original instrument;' 'LESS, as to a donee doing less than a power authorizes;' 'LIFETIME, meaning of;' 'Loss of appointment;' NAKED POWER, feme covert; NATURE,' NOMINAL,' REASONABLE;' SELF, as to donee appointing to himself;' UNPERFECTED DISPOSITIONS.'

1 We were about to give our author great praise for this useful and ingenious paragraph, till we by Chance discovered that its chief merit, its originality, is due to another. In a volume entitled Instructions for a Polite Gentleman, under the head of invitations, we find the following:

"As to the time at which invitations should be accepted."

Questions on this point may arise as to evening parties as well as dinner invitations. Little appears in Lord Chesterfield's Letters on the subject. Much must depend upon the nature of the entertainment expected, whether a dinner or an evening party, and whether a large or a small party, and upon the wording of the invitation, and particularly if a dance is to follow a dinner. In some cases nice questions may arise."

As Mr. Chance is, we believe, a conveyancer, we cannot conclude without affording our readers some information he gives in a note respecting members of that branch of the profession :

"Considering the evident liberality of Lord Northington's mind, his apparent antipathy towards conveyancers may be thought singular. (1 Eden, 445, in the Earl of Northumberland v. The Earl of Egremont; ib. 522, in Pelham v. Gregory; 2 Eden 58, in Drury v. Drury; and see ib. 29; and 34, in Verney v. Earl Verney). Other judges, certainly no less distinguished, appear to have been disposed to do more justice to that branch of the profession; as Lord Hardwick (2 Eden, 64, in Drury v. Drury), Lord Mansfield (ib. 74), and Lord Eldon (2 Brod. & B. 599, in Smith v. Doe d. Lord Jersey; and see Turn. & Russ. 87, in Howard v. Ducane).--If, indeed, all the inaccurate instruments which are brought before the Courts are to be viewed as the elaborate productions, or even as the productions in any sense, of conveyancers, it must be admitted, that to use Lord Northington's words, they put their hands rather than their heads'. to drafts (1 Eden, 445), their time being more dedicated to perusal than thought' (2 Eden. 59). Perhaps no one who has not given his mind to the subject, can be aware of the difficulty of framing legal instruments; mistakes must occur to all, and even when drafts are prepared originally in the most skilful manner, they frequently undergo such alterations from the hands of the various parties concerned, as to occasion no surprise that serious errors occur. Again, they have their doubts, and great Pyrrhonists they are,' (1 Eden, 522). Perhaps, in fairness, some allowance may be claimed on the part of conveyancers, in common with other branches of the profession, considering the perplexing questions which come before them, and the great responsibility they are under to those who advise with them; for instance an abstract of title, with reference to which thousands may be about to be expended, may involve, as it has been remarked, a succession of intricate cases on nice points of law. It should be further considered that counsel, in giving opinions, besides wanting, it may be, the learning and experience of judges, have not, in coming to a conclusion on any question, the assistance of a learned bar on each side; with such assistance, and with the knowledge besides that in most instances their judgment would be acquiesced in without question, or any ulterior consequences, it is not improbable that their" doubts" would be in most cases dispelled. Had we no other information upon the subject, we might be ready to infer from

Lord Northington's words, that the conveyancers of that day were a sort of copying clerks."

Some years ago, a case involving a point of real property law was submitted to an eminent counsel, who quickly despatched it, with the advice that it should be laid before some d―d conveyancer. The counsel afterwards became Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, and the point before him in the case was decided by him as judge.

W.

ART. VIII. BACON'S ABRIDGMENT.

A New Abridgment of the Law. By MATTHEW BACON, of the Middle Temple, Esquire. The Seventh Edition, corrected, with large additions, including the latest Statutes. and Authorities. Vols. 2, 3, and 4 (except the Addenda,) By Sir HENRY GWILLIM, of the Middle Temple, Knight; late one of the Judges of His Majesty's Supreme Court at Madras. Vols. 1, 5, 6, 7 and 8, and the Addenda to the other volumes, By CHARLES EDWARD DODD, of the Inner Temple, Esquire, Barrister at law. In eight Vols. royal 8vo. London, 1832.

A NOTION extensively prevails that it is a waste of money to buy, and a waste of time to peruse, the old standard works upon law; that a prudent man should confine himself to Reports, or merely skim over those elementary treatises which are absolutely necessary to teach him the A B C of his calling; trusting to Providence and the Law Reform Commissioners to decide on the eventual completion of his library. This seems to us the surest possible mode of making lazy students and incompetent practitioners. It is based, moreover, upon gross error. The immediate changes there is any reason to hope, are a drop in the ocean, a dent in the surface,