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ticles of clerkship must be entered into and executed, and an affidavit thereof filed in the faculty-office. When the term of service has been completed, the applicant for admission presents his articles of clerkship at the facultyoffice, with a certificate endorsed thereon by his master, certifying to the clerk's faithful service during the seven years. He must also produce a certificate, signed by two notaries, certifying to his skill and probity, and that he is a proper person to become a notary. These conditions being complied with, the applicant is then sworn, admitted, and enrolled, and receives a notarial faculty, or commission authorizing him to exercise the function of a notary. The usual oaths taken on admission are the oath of allegiance, the oath of supremacy, the oath of due service under the articles of clerkship, and an oath for the faithful exercise of the office of notary. The latter, which, Mr. Brooke remarks, is not a short one, but the form of which is not given by him, be says is adapted to times long since gone by, and seems very little suited to the duties which a notary has to perform at the present day. When the applicant for a notarial faculty intends to practise in London, it is necessary that he should become a member, (and take up his freedom,) of the company of scriveners, an ancient company, incorporated in the reign of James the First.' The notarial faculty is signed by the registrar, passed under the seal of the office of faculties, at doctors commons, and registered by the clerk for faculties in chancery. The expenses of admission amount to about fifteen guineas, besides the stamp duty of thirty pounds; and, in addition to these charges, an annual certificate, on a stamp, the duty on which is from

The armorial bearings of this company are thus described in the books of heraldry: "Azure, an eagle with wings expanded or, standing on a book in base lying fessewise gules, close clasped and garnished of the second; holding in his mouth a penner [a case to keep pens in] and inkhorn sable, stringed gules.

four to twelve pounds, must be taken out under a penalty of fifty pounds. The act, which requires the annual certificate, provides that a neglect to take out the same shall render a notary "incapable to do any act, matter, or thing, as a notary public."

Mr. Brooke's treatise being the only one in English, that we are aware of, on the office and duty of the notary public, and not being very likely to be republished in this country, we shall take the liberty of extracting some of those portions of it, which relate peculiarly to notarial practice, and are not to be found in any other work. The extracts will be taken in the order of the chapters. Our readers will understand that the language is the author's.

Presentment-Acceptation- Dishonor-Noting, and Protesting Bills of Exchange.

If the drawee be dead, and if there be a known executor or administrator to his estate, living within a reasonable distance, it should be presented to him; if there be no such known representative, it should be presented at the house where the deceased resided; but if the counting-house or place of business of the deceased be still kept open, and the establishment be continued for the purpose of winding up his affairs, it is usual, and it appears to be generally considered that it is sufficient, to present it there. If the drawee cannot be found, then some inquiries should be made after him, as will be explained afterwards. If the drawee have left the country, and have no place of business, it should be presented at his last place of abode. If he have only removed, the holder must endeavor to find out to what place he has removed, and make the presentment there. If there be no such person as the drawee, or if he have absconded, and have no place of business or dwelling-house, and he cannot be found after inquiry has been made for him, then the bill is to be considered as dishonored. In the case of

the drawee's bankruptcy, there is not any usage rendering it necessary to present a bill for acceptance to the assignees of his estate; in fact, it would be inconsistent to do so, because accepting bills forms no part of their duty, though a bankrupt may (if he be so imprudent) accept bills, and come under fresh liabilities, before obtaining his certificate of conformity.

In order to allow the drawee a reasonable time for deliberation, it is usual to leave the bill on one day, and to call for an answer on the next; the expression sometimes used in the books that the drawee has twenty-four hours for consideration, is not quite accurate, if meant to express that he may require to have it left with him to the full end of that period, for the holder is entitled to a decisive answer within the twenty-four hours. In the case of the bankruptcy, or notorious insolvency of the drawee, it is considered doubtful whether there is any usage rendering it incumbent on the holder to leave the bill until the next day; and in practice it appears not to be the custom to leave it in such cases, at least not unless the drawee's place of business is kept open, and the holder is requested to leave it for deliberation, and some good and sufficient reason is assigned for requesting it to be left, such as a reasonable expectation that it will be honored, or provided for, in some quarter or other.

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In the case of the drawee's being a person little known, or of the holder's not feeling well assured that the bill will be safe with, or taken care of by the drawee, it appears not to be the usage to leave it; and indeed there are well-informed and experienced bankers and merchants who are of opinion, that the whole affair of leaving the bill, in any case, is one of courtesy merely, and that it is not incumbent upon the holder so to leave it. In many cases, such as the

In those cases, as the author is informed, the holder sometimes leaves a copy merely, and does not part with the original bill.

drawee's having absconded, or finally shut up his place of business, or having no known residence, or being dead, without any acting or known personal representatives, it is impossible that the bill can be left; and in those cases the holder proceeds at once to cause it to be noted or protested. Also, if the drawee, on presentment of the bill, or afterwards in the interim, without waiting until the following day, declares his determination not to accept it, or otherwise gives any answer to the effect that it will not be accepted, the holder may, at once, proceed to note or protest it; in fact, the period so allowed for consideration is rather for the convenience of the drawee than of any of the other parties, and may be dispensed with by his giving an answer. A longer time is sometimes allowed by the holder, but he ought not to consent to grant any extension of time, if, by so doing, he would lose a convenient or customary mode of conveyance, or opportunity of sending off advices, to the drawer or indorsers.

In case of the non-acceptance of a foreign bill, in England, the holder must cause it to be protested; a protest is by the law merchant absolutely necessary, and the want of it will be fatal to his claim, and will prevent his recovering upon the bill against any of the parties, and it cannot be supplied by proof of noting for non-acceptance, anda subsequent pro

An instance once occurred in the author's practice, where the drawees, who were laboring under pecuniary embarrassments, appeared to have some motives of their own for endeavoring to delay giving an answer, and thereby to retard the sending out a bill, under protest for non-acceptance, by the next packet, and the door of their counting-house was found to be locked during the usual hours of business, and a paper was put upon it, stating that it would be opened at a particular hour, which elapsed, and more than elapsed, without the counting-house being reopened. Under those circumstances, it was considered as clear a case as if it had been permanently shut up; and the holder at once had the bill protested for non-acceptance, without waiting until the next day, and the protest was sent abroad, and the amount (30007.) was recovered from one of the parties there.

test for nonpayment; and before the protest is made, it is the custom in England to cause the bill to be presented, either by a notary or by his clerk, (in general his clerk presents it,) and acceptance to be demanded; the mode of making the presentment in common cases, and of presenting or attempting to present it in extraordinary cases, has been already explained in this chapter, and it is not considered necessary in this place to do more than to refer to the observations before made on that subject. It is, however, not necessary or proper to leave the bill a second time for further deliberation; the leaving the bill in the first instance being considered as in the exclusive department of the holder, and it is of course to be presumed that (before sending it to a notary's office) he has done whatever may be customary or proper on his part, and when that has been once done, it is then in the province of the drawee to leave. word with his clerks, or the persons in his employ, what answer is to be given on the subject of the non-acceptance, when the bill is again presented.

If there be no such person as the drawee, or if he have absconded, or cannot be found, and have no place of business, or dwelling-house, some inquiries should be made after him, and especially at the post-office; and if a general directory be published at the place, then it is considered by some as a prudent course also to have inquiries made at the publishers, (sometimes, though rarely, it is also presented to any indifferent person on the public exchange,) and after such inquiries have been made, the bill is to be considered as dishonored.

The old practice of taking it to the public exchange no doubt derived its origin in ancient times, when bill transactions were conducted through the intervention of moneychangers, or bankers, frequenting the bourse or exchange; but at present such a ceremony is not generally adopted, and it is not now considered necessary, and the custom of

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