2 lowing regulations. I. That no person should be admitted a member of the faculty of advocates, who had not attended an univerfity for seven years. II. That no perfon fhould be admitted to trials after twenty-feven years of age, from the dan ger of his having contracted improper habits of life in other profeffions. III. That a committee of seven shall be appointed, without whofe authority no perfon fhall be admitted to trials. Thefe regulations received the approbation of the faculty, and were prefented to the court of feffion to receive their fanction; but the judges, with a becoming attention to the dignity of the court, and the rights of the fubject, delayed the confideration of them till next feffion. There is fomething very extraordinary in this mode of proceeding. The reputation of the faculty of advocates, for learning, abilities, and polished manners, was never higher than at prefent. They boast, and with justice, in their report, that in former periods, as well as at prefent, they have been diftinguished by members, not only eminent for their knowledge in law, but whofe general literature and knowledge did honour both to their own profeffion, and the times in which they lived. And yet, at this very moment, when their character ftands the higheft, they wish to alter the mode of admittance, and shut that very door by which they themselves entered to their preferment and honours! The new reftrictions propofed by the committee, and adopted by the faculty, feem chiefly intended to prevent the writers, or clerks to the fignet, becoming members of the faculty of advocates. Yet, according to the prefent law, the bench of judges may be supplied from the clerks to the fignet. The 19th article of the treaty of union provides, "That here. after none shall be named to be ordinary lords of feffion, but fuch who have ferved in the college of juftices as advocates or principal clerks of feffion for the space of five years, or as writers to the fignet for the space of ten years; with this provifion, that no writer to the fignet be capable to be admitted a lord of feffion, unless he undergo a private and public trial on the civil law, before the faculty of advocates, and be found by them qualified for the faid office, two years before he be named to be a lord of the feffion; yet so as the qualifi cations made, or to be made, for capacitating perfons to be named or. dinary lords of feffion, may be altered by the parliament of GreatBritain." Independent of the application of thefe new regulations for admiffion into the faculty of advocates, to an order of men from which the bench of judges may be fupplied, from a confideration of the general point thefe reftrictions are unconstitutional and abfurd. By the law and conftitution of this country, every fubject of the kingdom may betake himself to any any profeffion he pleases, at any period of his life. This is a propofition, the truth of which is univerfally established. The propofed regulation therefore appears to be a direct violation of the liberty and common right which we enjoy by the law of the land. It is a reftraint which nothing lefs than the omnipotence of the legislature can introduce, as being a very ftrong limitation of the conftitutional rights of the fubject. The court of sesfion, to which the faculty of advocates applied for confirmation of their new regulations, is invefted with judicative powers, but not legiflative. The force of ftatute was even deemed requifite to confer on them the right of establishing and regulating the forms of their own judicial proceedings. The act 1540 c. 93, which ratifies the inftitution of the college of juftice, contains the following claufe: " AND AT TOUR * gives and grants to the prefident, vice-precident and fenators, power to make ficke acts, ftatutes and ordinances, as they fhall think expedient, for ordouring of process and hafty expedition of justice”. The inexpediency of introducing a rule by which every man, who is twenty-feven years of age, fhall be excluded from the bar, as a profeffion, is obvious at firft view. It excites our aftonishment, that in so learned a society as the faculty of advocates, and near a century after the revolution, the principles of defpotifm fhould be found to prevail over the liberal fpirit and generous fentiments of liberty. From the monopolizing fpirit of a petty corporation, fuch illiberal reftrictions might have been expected; but the very idea of them, from a fociety of learned men, throws an indelible reproach on their fame, and confirms the opinion of their fouthern neighbours, that the genius of Scotland is hoftile to freedom. To limit and deprefs the powers of the mind, by rendering the condition of men ftationary; to fupprefs the exertions of capacity and talents, by confining honour and emolument, to perfons of a particular defcription, is the very genius of defpotic government. An attempt to narrow the fcene of merit in fo confpicuous a manner as is propofed in these regulations, and to circumfcribe the powers of the mind in the very bloom of life, is inconfiftent with the principles of free government; and contary to what is to be found in the annals of any civilifed nation. Were the records of biography to be traced, it would be found, that a great part of the moft illuftrious cha racters, in all ages and countries, were men who came late into thofe profeffions, in which their talents were brought forth to the world. Men of indolent difpofitions, and ordinary talents, continue in the condition where accident or parental choice had placed them. From the afcendency of fortune in * Moreover. all all human affairs, men are frequently arranged in stations inferior to their merit, or unfuitable to their genius; and if their ambition was to be extinguished by illiberal regulations, talents would remain in obfcurity, which might be exercised for the benefit of mankind, and the honour of their country. Some of the most eminent prelates, and even primates of the church of England, were not originally deftined to the church. Tillotfon and Secker were educated among the diffenters. The brother of the prefent Dean of Faculty at Edinburgh, and other English counsellors who figure at the bar, had attempted other profeffions before they found out the threatre which was adapted to their talents. The fame obfervation applies to Scotland. Phyficians, who are at the head of the medical line in the Univerfity of Edinburgh, were once furgeons in country villages or provincial towns. The bar, and the bench too, have received fome of their brightest ornaments from the army, the univerfity, and the fignet. The celebrated Viscount of Stair, univerfally acknowledged to be the pureft as well as, deepest fountain of Scottish law, was a captain of horse, and had reached his fortieth year when he came to the bar, Lord Tinwald held a profeffor's chair in Edinburgh, before he dif played his eloquence at the bar, or his wifdom on the bench, Lord Prefident Cragie, and Lord Kaims, were bred clerks to the fignet. To fix the æra when the human faculties begin to unfold, is beyond the power of man. Scit genius natale, comes, qui temperat aftrum. Natura Deus humana, and he alone, the period when the powers of the mind begin to open and to fhine. And to check er circumfcribe their vigour, or their luftre, is contrary to the order of nature and the interefts of society. We hope that a felfish and tyrannical project, the offspring of little jealoufy, and the monopolizing fpirit, intended to thwart the powers of genius, and limit the fphere of merit, will find no encouragement in an age, in which fcience and humanity have gained victories and erected trophies. Liber fum: nihil quod ad libertatem pertinet â me alienum puto. The memorial which hath given rife to these reflections is fenfible and fpirited, in a very high degree. It is to be regretted, however, that it is not upon fale at the fhops of the booksellers. As it regards a very public matter, it ought furely to be circulated in the fulleft form. To check the fpirit of domination in public focieties, is a virtue in a ftate, which has freedom for the object of its inftitution. It is from infidious attacks like the prefent, that the liberty of this country has much to fear. Many fmall encroachments must be made, : : made, before any grand affault can take place upon the fabric of our government. It is always of use to give battle to the adorers of tyranny; it defeats a prefent danger; it calls repeatedly the virtuous citizen to the recollection of patriotism, and it teaches the flave to frown, to despair and to tremble. The author, accordingly, of the performance before us, is intitled' to the beft thanks of the friends of freedom; and, while we muft applaud the candid libérality of his mind, we must acknowledge that he can not only think with clearness and precifion, but exprefs himself with purity and elegance. ART. XIII. The Heirefs; a Comedy, in Five Acts. By Lieutenant IT T has long been a reproach to the English among foreign nations, and deeply felt by perfons of taste and refinement at home, that our comic theatre is polluted with indecency, obfcenity and farce. The freedom of the English government, the independence and opulence of its fubjects, give rife to a greater variety of character, than is to be met with in other countries comic humour is, in a particular manner, the characteristic of the people: comic reprefentations too are their favourite entertainment; yet how few comedies are there in our language, which a man of taste would chufe to fee reprefented before virtuous women, or to read in the closet to his wife, his daughter, his fifter, or his miftrefs, in the modeft fenfe of the word? The comedies of Congreve, Vanbrugh, and Farquhar are diftinguished by wit, humour, and character, but they are disfigured by vice and falfe ridicule; and the licentiousness is fo interwoven with the texture of the fable, that all attempts to ftrip them of their meretricious allurements, and adapt them to the chafte taste of a refined audience, have failed of fuccefs. Of late years comic representations have been improved with regard to the morality of the performance; but while they were innocent, most of them were infipid; the annuals of the feafon, which appear, perish and are forgotten. The regulated drama which, uniting the excellencies of the French and English theatres, blends energy, fpirit, force of character, and the vis comica, with art, elegance, delicacy, touches of fentiment, and the expreffion of polished manners, hath been often wifhed for, but feldom found. In this view "The Heiress" is in a high degree intitled to the approbation of the public; and, as a genteel comedy, ranks in the firft line. It abounds with a variety of incidents; but there is an unity of intereft preferved through the whole; and the theatre is never perplexed and entangled with a multiplicity of bufinefs. It contains happy and comic fituations, without those stage-tricks, which are contrived to draw the applaufe of the galleries. The characters are natural, well difcriminated and supported. The dialogue is written with spirit and elegance, though there is sometimes a want of eafe. It is difficult to form a judgment of a play from independent paffages, but the following extract will, we believe, convey a favourable idea of this performance. Lady Emily. But here comes the Alfcrip and her friend: lud! lud! lud! how fhall I recover my spirits! I must attempt it; and if I lose my present thoughts in a trial of extravagance, be it of their's or my own, it will be a happy expedient. Enter Mifs Alfcrip and Mrs. Blandish. Mifs Alferip runs up to Lady Emily and kiffes her forehead. Lady Emily. I ask your pardon, Madam, for being fo aukward, but I confess I did not expect fo elevated a falute. Mifs Alfcrip. Dear Lady Emily, I had no notion of its not being univerfal. In France, the touch of the lips juft between the eyebrows has been adopted for years. Lady Emily. I perfectly acknowledge the propriety of the cuftom. It is almoft the only fpot of the face where the touch would not risk a confufion of complexions. Mifs Alfcrip. He! he! he! what a pretty thought! Mrs. Blandifb. How I have long'd for this day!-Come, let me put an end to ceremony, and join the hands of the sweetest pair that ever nature and fortune marked for connection. (Joins their hands,) Mifs Alfcrip. Thank you, my good Blandish, tho' I was determined to break the ice, Lady Emily, in the firft place I met you. But you were not at Lady Doricourt's last night. Lady Emily (affectedly). No, I went home directly from the Opera; projected the revival of a cap; read a page in the trials of temper went to bed, and dream'd I was Belinda in the Rape of the Lock. Mrs. Blandifh. Elegant creature. Mifs Afcrip (afide). I must have that air, if I die for it. (Imitating) I too came home early; fupped with my old gentleman; made him explain my marriage articles, dower, and heirs entail; read a page in a trial of divorce, and dreamed of a rofe-colour equipage, with emblems of cupids iffuing out of coroness ! Mrs. Blandifh. Oh, you sweet twins of perfection! what equality in every thing! I have thought of a name for you-The inseperable inimitables. Mifs Afcrip. I declare I fhall like it exceedingly-one fees fo few uncopied originals-the thing I cannot bear Lady Emily. Is vulgar imitation-I must catch the words from your mouth to shew you how we agree. Mifs Afcrip. Exactly. Not that one wishes to be without affectation. Lady Emily. Oh ! mercy forbid ! Mifs Alfcrip. But to catch a manner, and weave it, as I may fay, into one's own originality. Mrs. Blandifh. Pretty! Pretty! Lady |
