have the same matriculation examination administered by a joint board. This examination embraces English language and literature, English history, mathematics, and a choice of three, one of which must be a language, from the following list: (1) Greek, (2) Latin, (3) German, (4) French, (5) mechanics or physics, (6) chemistry, (7) geography, natural history.

The entrance or matriculation examinations of the other English and Welsh universities correspond closely to those given by the joint board just considered.

SCOTTISH UNIVERSITIES.

Candidates for the degree of LL. B. and B. L. in Scotland are required to possess much more preliminary training than obtains in England and Wales. Candidates for the LL. B. degree in Glasgow and Edinburgh must hold an arts degree from a recognized university. Candidates for the B. L. degree must pass the preliminary examination for admission to the course for the arts degree, Latin being required.

CONCLUSIONS AS TO THE PRELIMINARY EDUCATION.

It will be noted from the above detailed statement that in the English schools, including the schools of the law society and the inns of court, examinations are required in the English language and literature, mathematics, Latin, except in the schools having a joint matriculation examination, where, however, a foreign language is required. In Scotland a degree in arts is required if the applicant is a candidate for a degree of LL. B.

INTERMEDIATE EXAMINATIONS.

Examinations by the law society and council of legal education for enrollment as solicitors and call to the bar are given in two parts, called the intermediate and final examination. The intermediate examination of the law society is given four times a year. Articled clerks are eligible to take it after 12 months. Exemptions are allowed for all candidates who have taken examinations for the LL. B. degree at the universities of Great Britain or honors examinations at Oxford and Cambridge. The examination is based upon readings from some general text, such as Stephens' Commentaries on the Law of England, and thus constitutes a general elementary survey of the whole field of the law. The nonlegal examination, from which there are no exemptions, covers the subjects of trust accounts and bookkeeping, quite elementary in character. At the examination in 1913, 62 per cent of the applicants passed in the legal examination and 66 per cent in the nonlegal. The general scope of the examination is similar to the examinations in elementary law in American universities usually given as a nonprofessional course.

COUNCIL OF LEGAL EDUCATION.

The intermediate examinations of the council of legal education, which may be taken at any time after admission to the inns, are also held four times each year, papers being set in the following subjects: Roman law, constitutional law and legal history, criminal law and practice, real property or Hindu and Mohammedan law or RomanDutch law.

The only exemption from this examination is in the case of degree holders where Roman law was required, or those who have passed an examination in Roman law at a recognized school. The examination itself is very general in character. In content it is not as broad as that of the law society, except that Roman law is required, but a very elementary knowledge of Roman law is sufficient to pass the examination. The choice between real property and either RomanDutch law or Hindu-Mohammedan law is significant of the varied character of the British Empire and the many systems of law that come under its sway, and also of the fact that many British subjects, Hindus mostly, are students of the inns, who, after their call to the bar, practice in various parts of the Empire.

INTERMEDIATE EXAMINATIONS AT THE UNIVERSITIES.

The intermediate examination prevails in all the universities of England and Wales under various names. In the Scottish universities the intermediate and final system does not prevail, though the student is advised to pursue the subjects first that are indicated for the intermediate examinations in the English universities. Roman law is a subject in the intermediate examinations of all the universities; jurisprudence in four; law and customs of the constitution in seven; constitutional history in three; elementary law in one; international law in one. No intermediate examination includes real property or criminal law except that of the inns of court. In the United States all of the first-named subjects would be regarded as nonprofessional subjects, to be taught in the arts department rather than in the professional schools. The course in constitutional law is essentially an historical course, the frame of government of Great Britain excluding such subjects as constitutional limitations, which is an important topic in American law and legal instruction. The intermediate examination is taken after the period of one year in residence, and embraces at Cambridge and Oxford a large number of nonlegal subjects in addition to those already indicated. Thus at Oxford, where the A. B. degree is granted, the student must pass in translations from Latin prose authors, logic, or Bacon's Novum Organum. At the other English universities where the degree of LL. D. is granted, the intermediate usually includes some nonlegal topics, as philosophy or economics, logic or political economy or ancient history (Leeds, Manchester, Liverpool, London).

FINAL EXAMINATIONS.

The final examinations which precede the call to the bar or the degree, are usually taken at the end of the third year of residence, although the period may be extended to four or five years at the option of the student. It is possible for a good student to prepare for all the examinations in a year and a half of study in the case of the examinations of the professional societies, and two years at Oxford or Cambridge, possibly less at the other universities, although it is not possible to be called to the bar, to be enrolled as a solicitor, or to secure a degree in less than three years of registration. Thus at the inns of court the final examination may be taken after keeping 6 terms, or 14 years, but a call to the bar requires 12 terms.

The legal subjects offered in the schools of the professional societies and the universities correspond in the main to the subjects found in the curricula of the law schools of the United States. Topics are not so minutely divided for purposes of instruction as in America, equity embracing not only topics that are taught under that name, but the principles of trusts and quasi-contracts as well. Frequently the general title "mercantile law" will embrace bills and notes, sales and contracts. The equitable doctrines peculiar to contracts and torts are usually given as part of those subjects, while in America the opposite practice prevails. An examination of the papers set in legal subjects in England and Scotland gives the impression that the courses in law are much less intensive and thorough than in the best American schools. The lack of division in the topics and the relative shortness of the courses suggest the same conclusion. Such a conclusion, however, can not be based on the latter circumstance alone, owing to the methods of instruction, the formal lecture playing a relatively small part in the law student's education, supplemented as it is by private tuition and individual study. The general character of the final examinations is, however, an accurate index of the preparation expected.

The finals in the honor school of jurisprudence at Oxford and the law tripos at Cambridge are of a high order. It seems to be admitted that the standard of honor examinations in these two universities, from which come the bulk of university men who go to the bar in England, is much higher than that of the professional societies, and an effort has been made by the universities to secure exemption from the societies' examination for their students who have passed the honors examination in the particular subject. Two royal commissions on university education in London, the Gresham commission of 1895, and the commission headed by Lord Haldane, the present Lord Chancellor, reporting in 1913, have indorsed such a plan, but so far it has not met the approval of the professional societies concerned.

The exemption would secure a twofold purpose in the opinion of its advocates, a diminishing of the great number of examinations, and an increase of candidates for the bar who have pursued a university

course.

DEGREES.

The usual baccalaureate degree in law is LL. B. At Cambridge this degree is given to those who successfully pass the law tripos or honors examination in addition to A. B. Those who fail to take honors, but pass the special and general examinations, receive the degree of A. B. merely. Oxford does not grant the LL. B. degree, but graduates in the honors school in jurisprudence receive the A. B. degree.

The first postgraduate degree at Oxford is B. C. L., requiring a year's study beyond the A. B. degree; the reading for this degree comprises a comprehensive course of legal study, recognition for which was asked of the professional societies previously referred to.

D. C. L. is conferred after five years' further study, on the basis of a thesis and examination. Cambridge and Liverpool confer as a second postgraduate degree LL. M. Candidates must be LL. B. of at least one year's standing. London, Manchester, Sheffield, Leeds, and Cambridge confer the degree of LL. D. The recipient must be a graduate of five years' standing, and the degree is awarded upon the basis of a thesis and examination. The thesis is the essential thing and must indicate distinguished attainment in some branch of legal learning. No course of study is provided for this degree, and it is not strictly a degree in course. The University of Durham, although it does not maintain courses in law, examines for and confers B. C. L. and D. C. L.

The law schools of the professional societies do not confer degrees, although the school of the law society maintains a course preparing students for the LL. B. examination of the University of London. A number of other English universities also maintain courses for the London LL. B.

HONORS.

An extensive system of prizes has been developed by the universities, notably Oxford and Cambridge, for the purpose of encouraging scholarship. The honors school of jurisprudence at Oxford and the law tripos at Cambridge are based upon special attainments, beyond the ordinary pass degree, both in the standard and scope of the examination. In addition there are numerous scholarships and special awards. Both professional societies offer prizes and scholarships. Honor examinations, open to men who have attained a certain standard, are held by the law society after each final. The subjects covered are the same as in the final, though of a more searching

character. Of the 635 students in 1913 taking the finals, 312, or 49 per cent, took the honors examination, and 55 of these, or 17 per cent, passed, indicating a relatively high standard. The awarding of most of the prizes and scholarships offered by the society depends on the result of the honors examinations. The council on legal education likewise holds honors examinations after each final, and on these much depends in the way of prizes and professional arrangements.

CALLS TO THE BAR.

Having completed the requisite number of terms in his inn and passed the final examinations, the student is called to the bar by the inn of which he is a member. This is an occasion of some ceremony. The names of those called are entered on the records of the High Court and the barrister is then authorized to act as an advocate. The solicitor student, having served the requisite period under articles, passed his final examinations, and filed a statement of his service by the solicitor to whom he was articled, is given a certificate of admission, which when signed by the master of the rolls entitles him to enrollment as a solicitor. The total fees exclusive of the fees paid to the solicitor amount to $650.

In Scotland the bar is also divided into two divisions, comprising the society of law agents, or writers to the signet, comparable in the duties and privileges to the solicitors in England, and the faculty of advocates, similar to the barrister. No schools are maintained by these societies and admission is obtained by apprenticeship and examination.

In the case of law agents an apprenticeship of five years is required, except for those holding an arts or law degree from any university in Great Britain and Ireland, when the period of apprenticeship is three years. Holders of the LL. B. or B. L. degree of any Scottish university, who have served a three years' apprenticeship, are admitted without examination except as to forms of process subject to the qualification. If Scots law or conveyancing is omitted from the subjects covered by the degree, the law examination in the omitted subjects must be passed. The applicant for admission to the faculty of advocates must attain a degree of scholarship as represented by the attainments of the holder of an A. M. degree of a Scottish university or the holders of bachelor of arts degrees from certain other universities recognized by the dean of the faculty of advocates. If the applicant has not so graduated, he must pass an examination in Latin, Greek, or (in his option) French, German, or Italian; mathematics or natural philosophy or chemistry; metaphysics and logic or moral philosophy and logic; and the history of the United Kingdom.