just become law, and the original intention was briefly to expound the changes effected by the new legislation. Before, however, much progress had been made, the Author became convinced that the range of the Conveyancing and Law of Property Act, 1881, was so extensive that no useful purpose could be served by a publication which did not aim at giving a concise, yet comprehensive, view of the whole system of conveyancing now in operation. Thus, the design first contemplated developed into the project of presenting in a small compass an account of the principles that govern the Draftsman's Art as it obtains at the present day, together with the annotated text of the recent legislation on the subject, and a selection of precedents framed in accordance therewith. To carry out the project so conceived the work is divided into three Parts, as follows: Part I. deals with the theory and general principles of Conveyancing-concluding with a commentary on the Conveyancing and Law of Property Act, 1881, the Solicitors' Remuneration Act, 1881, and the Conveyancing and Settled Land Bills, 1882. Part II. comprises the text, with notes, of the Conveyancing and Law of Property Act, 1881, the Solicitors' Remuneration Act, 1881, the Vendor and Purchaser Act, 1874, the Settled Estates Act, 1877, the Non-Exclusive Powers Act, 1874, the Thellusson Act, and the Bills of Sale Act, 1878. Part III. furnishes a series of one hundred forms, all of which are framed in accordance with the Conveyancing and Law of Property Act, 1881, whilst several are specially adapted to the Conveyancing, Settled Land, Bills of Sale, and Married Women's Property Acts, 1882. With the exception of the Bills of Sale Act, 1882, which takes effect on 1st November, 1882, none of the last mentioned statutes come into force before 1st January, 1883. They, therefore, as well as the General Order made under the Solicitors' Remuneration Act, 1881, have been purposely relegated to an appendix to distinguish them from the other Conveyancing Statutes with notes, which form the subject matter of Part II., and are already in operation. From the foregoing description it will be seen that the whole conveyancing legislation of the last two years is included in the volume: the immense advantage of such a compilation ought to atone for many of the Author's shortcomings. Of so much of that legislation as consists of the Conveyancing Act, 1881, of the Solicitors' Remuneration Act, 1881, and of the Settled Land Act, 1882, the design cannot be too highly commended; the execution of that design appears to vary very considerably in merit. The draftsmanship of the Conveyancing Acts leaves much to be desired; the Settled Land Act, on the other hand, indicates a master's hand in every clause, and is drawn with a skill which fairly rivals the model penmanship of the Fines and Recoveries Act. No doubt the disparity in execution is to be partly attributed to the fact that the Settled Estates Act afforded a useful example in drafting the Settled Land Act, to which there was no similar aid in the case of the Conveyancing Acts. Upon the immense benefit which these new statutes are destined to confer, no opinion need here be expressed; the manner in which the Profession have received the Conveyancing Acts is the strongest testimony to the value of those measures, and augurs well for the success of the Settled Land Act. As regards the Bills of Sale Act, 1882, it is difficult to speak with patience; the result of prolonged parliamentary discussion has been to evolve a series of provisions through most of which a coach and four may be readily driven. Of all the clauses in the Act, S. 9 is perhaps the most important from a conveyancing point of view; on consideration the Author has come to the conclusion that the proviso in the scheduled form should be inserted verbatim in any bill of sale within the above section. He, therefore, desires that the Precedents at pp. 622, 626, 629, should be read as amended by that addition. So far as settlements are concerned it does not seem probable that the Married Women's Property Act, 1882, will take away much business from the conveyancer's chambers; if it was formerly necessary to secure some provision for the wife, it will in future be as necessary to make some concession to the husband. Under the new enactment the presence of trustees may, in general, be dispensed with where the only parties interested are husband and wife, but as a rule it will be advantageous to have trustees where there are a variety of interests at stake, even where the parties are all sui juris, and, of course, all the more so where any of the parties are under disability. In conclusion the Author begs to state that he has rigidly refrained from seeking light from any of the numerous works that have already appeared on the recent legislation, deeming it a duty to give his own view in the first instance, and promising, should a future opportunity present itself, to compare the conclusions to which he has been led with the results at which others have arrived. C. C. 3, PAPER BUILDINGS, TEMPLE, October, 1882. |