CHAP. VII. behalf, I do hereby promise to ratify, allow and confirm. In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal, this

PRACTICE IN ECCLESIASTICAL COURTS.

day of

A. D.

Signed, sealed, and delivered

in the presence of us,

C. D. (L.S.)

JOHN THOMAS.

Form of proxy appointing a proctor to con

test the validity of a will. (c)

THOMAS THOMAS.

N.

Whereas A. B., late of, in the county of ——, departed this life some time since, having first made and executed a pretended last will and testament, bearing date the day of -, and did therein name C. D. executor: and whereas the undersigned E. F. is the natural and lawful brother and one of the next of kin of the said deceased :

Now know all men by these presents, that I, the abovenamed E. F., for divers good causes and considerations me thereunto especially moving, do hereby nominate, constitute, and appoint L. M. notary public, of Doctors' Commons, London, one of the procurators exercent in the Arches Court of Canterbury, or in his absence any other proctor of the said Court, to be my true and lawful proctor, for me and in my name and on my behalf to appear before the Right Honourable Sir Herbert Jenner, Knight, Doctor of Laws, Master, Keeper or Commissary of the Prerogative Court of Canterbury, lawfully constituted, his Surrogate, or some other competent judge, in this behalf, to exhibit this my proxy, and pray and procure the same to be admitted; and in virtue thereof to pray an answer to my interest as being the natural and lawful brother, and one of the next of kin of the said deceased; and to declare I oppose the pretended will of the said deceased, bearing date as aforesaid as pretended, to receive an allegation or allegations propounding the same, see witnesses produced thereon, administer interrogatories to them, and publications of their sayings and depositions had and decreed; and if need be or occasion require to give an allegation or allegations on my behalf, see witnesses produced, sworn and examined thereon, publication of their sayings and depositions had and decreed, and generally and otherwise to do and perform all such other acts, matters, and things as may be needful and necessary in and about the premises, as my said proctor or proctors, his or their substitute or substitutes, may consider necessary towards

(c) As to entering caveat to contest validity of a will, see ante, Part IV. 502, 505.

PRACTICE IN

COURTS.

procuring a definitive sentence or final decree to be made and CHAP. VII. interposed herein; and I hereby give full power and authority ECCLESIASTICAL for my said proctor to appoint one or more substitute or substitutes at pleasure, to revoke the same and appoint anew; hereby promising to ratify, allow and confirm all and whatsoever my said proctor, his substitute or substitutes, shall do herein. In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal, this day of Signed, sealed, and delivered

A. D.

by the said E. F., in the

presence of us,

E. F. (L.S.)

JAMES THOMSON.

HENRY THOMSON.

CHAP. VII.

PRACTICE IN ECCLESIASTICAL COURTS.

OF ALLEGATIONS AND LIBELS, AND PLEAS AND THEIR
REQUISITES.

In allegations, and in fact in all pleas given in the Ecclesiastical Court, it is required to be as concise and pertinent as the facts and circumstances to be pleaded will allow; otherwise a great deal of irrelevant statement and evidence might be introduced into a cause, without the least benefit to either party, and which would also tend to add considerably to the expense, the mode of examination adopted and pursued in these Courts being by written depositions; it is therefore evident, for the sake of justice, as also to avoid increasing the expense, that great care should be taken in preparing allegations, libels, and other pleas. It would be but of little utility to set forth any distinct or definite precedent, nor could any regular form be established as a precedent, seeing that every case may, and possibly does, present some new feature, that requires to be pleaded or stated different to former cases, yet the formal parts of pleading that is observable in allegations, libels, and pleas in these Court, are generally adhered to. Allegations, libels, and other pleas, after having been drawn and prepared by the proctor in the cause, are (with two or three exceptions) submitted to and settled by the advocates practising in the Ecclesiastical Courts, and the original plea is signed by the advocate so settling the same prior to its being brought into Court by Technical plead the proctor in the cause. The technical terms applied to the ings: 1. Libel; forms of pleading in the Ecclesiastical Courts may be stated Allegations; 4. generally to consist of three, namely, the libel, articles, or Act on petition. allegation. (There is also a fourth, namely, by act on petition.) The plaintiff's or defendant's proctor, on bringing his plea into Court, delivers a copy thereof to the adverse party's proctor, and the original is thereupon deposited and remains upon record in the registry, and is accessible to the practitioners in the cause, and also to the examiner of the Court for the purpose of his taking the depositions of the witnesses to the facts and circumstances therein pleaded.

2. Articles; 3.

Answers.

Interrogatories.

The answers on oath of the plaintiff or defendant (as the case may be) to the pleas are also brought in and deposited in the registry of the Court in which the suit is pending, and an office copy thereof almost invariably is obtained by the adverse party.

The interrogatories, by way of cross-examining the witnesses, are likewise deposited in the registry by the examiner, to whom, in the first instance, they are delivered, and an office copy of

PRACTICE IN

them also can be obtained at the conclusion of the cause; but CHAP. VII. in general a private copy of such interrogatories is furnished ECCLESIASTICAL by the proctor after publication of the evidence taken in the cause has been decreed.

The following forms annexed hereto consist of, First. A common condidit or allegation, propounding a will on behalf of an executor.

Second. An allegation on behalf of the next of kin contesting the will, denying the capacity of the deceased, or that he was of soundness of mind.

Third. A responsive allegation thereto on behalf of the executors, pleading capacity and rational acts, &c. performed by the deceased.

Fourth. An allegation in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury, pleading the interest of a party to share in distribution of an intestate's effects.

Fifth. An allegation in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury, objecting to an inventory and act, delivered in on oath by the executors of a will.

Sixth. A libel in the Arches Court of Canterbury on behalf of a legatee against an executor for payment of legacy.

Seventh. A libel in the Arches Court of Canterbury on behalf of a wife against her husband, for a divorce on the ground of adultery.

Eighth. Article in the Arches Court of Canterbury, for nullity of marriage by reason of incest.

Ninth. Article in the Arches Court of Canterbury, to deprive a clergyman of his benefice, by reason of immorality, incontinence, &c.

Tenth. A libel in the Consistory Court of London, for perturbation of a seat or pew.

Eleventh. A libel in the Consistory Court of London, at the suit of churchwardens, against a parishioner, for church rate.

In the Prerogative Court of Canterbury.

On the caveat day after Trinity Term, (to wit) the
day of, one thousand eight hundred and

C. Q.

against

M. W.

A business of proving, in solemn form of law, by good
and sufficient witnesses, the last will and testament of
W. G., late of B. P., in the county of
deceased;

COURTS.

Analysis of

eleven forms.

1. Form of coní.
mon condidit
or allegation,
pleading the
execution of a
will by a de-
ceased person.

CHAP. VII.

PRACTICE IN ECCLESIASTICAL COURTS.

promoted and brought by M. W., the executrix therein named, against C. Q., the natural and lawful sister and only next of kin of the said deceased.

On which day Y. Z., in the name and as the lawful proctor of the said M. W., party in this cause, exhibited the true and original last will and testament of the said W. G., deceased, now remaining in the registry of this Court, annexed to an affidavit of his said parties as to scripts, and marked with the letter A., the said will beginning thus, " ending thus,

and me

and by all better and more effectual ways and means,
thods, and to all intents and purposes in the law whatsoever,
which may be most beneficial and effectual for his said parties
said, alleged, and in law articulately propounded, as follows,
(to wit).

First. That the said W. G., the party in this cause deceased,
having a mind and intention to make and execute his last will
and testament in writing, and thereby to settle and dispose of
his estate and effects, did give directions and instructions for
the making and drawing thereof; and pursuant and agreeably
to such directions and instructions, the very will pleaded and
propounded in this cause on the part and behalf of the said
M. W., and marked with the letter A., beginning, ending, and
subscribed as aforesaid, was drawn up and reduced into writ-
ing; and after it was so drawn up and reduced into writing,
the same was all read over audibly and distinctly to or by the
said deceased, who well knew and understood the contents
thereof, and liked and approved of the same; and in testimony
of such his good liking and approbation, he the said deceased
did, on or about the
day of
one thousand eight
hundred and, being the day of the date of the said will,
set and subscribe his name and affix his seal thereto, in man-
ner and form as now appears thereon; and did publish and
declare the same as and for his last will and testament, in the
presence and hearing of divers credible witnesses, who, or at
least three of whom, did in his presence, at his request, and in
the presence of each other, severally set and subscribe their
names as witnesses to the due execution thereof, in manner
and form as now appears thereon; and he the said deceased
did in and of his said will nominate and appoint the said M.
W. sole executrix; and did give, will, bequeath, devise, dis-
pose, and do in all things as in the said will is contained, and
was at and during all and singular the premises of perfect,
sound and disposing mind, memory and understanding, and