The Manawatu Standard PUBLISHED DAILY.) Suivant la verites THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 1883. WOULD-BE LAWYERS.

Manawatu Standard, Volume 3, Issue 76, 22 February 1883, Page 2

Manawatu Standard PUBLISHED DAILY.) Suivant la verites THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 1883. WOULD-BE LAWYERS.

It is just possible thab some of those who contemplate passing an examination m law under the new Act of Jast session, which does not render compulsory an apprenticeship, so to speak, are nut conversant with the subjects n vrbich they will be examined. Ma»y of these ambitious people natter themselves that nothing is oasier than to pass su -h an examination ; and doubt* le*>s there will be iunuinerable cund;— dates from the rank and 'file of the yrmy of professional lailures m every walk of Jlife. There-will be ex -parßons, who have found souUsaving uncongenial or nnremunerative ; ex-medical men, with a penchatt for P. 8 .; exmilitary heroes, desirous of an easy life • and a countless host of brainless, flighty, impecunious ne'er-do-weels, all rushing for the open doors of the legal profession, thinking (.hey have only to knock to have themselves dragged m and bc-vriggeri and be-gowned straight off the reel. But it is as well that these would-be aspirant to the ranks of the lawyers should have bo me remote idea of the kind of subjects with which tbey will have to mentally wrestle, so that as small a per-centage as possible should stand revealed to the world as self declared asses and nincompoops. Imprimis : They are supposed m the first place to answer the qieations on legal practice and procedure to the satisfaction of the examiners. The subj cts are: — •' lioman lan: Stan* dard'a J ustiuian, first two books, with introduction and notes ; Gibbon's Decline nnd Fall (chap. 44 on Roman Jaw) ; international lavr and conflict of law ; real property and conveyancing ; contracts and tarts ; equity ; criminal law; evidence,'; practice and procedure ; and New Zealand statute law. The subjects comprise translations m Greek from the first four books of the Iliad and the second book of Herodotus ; 'm Latin translations from Cicero and the Satires of Horace. Candidates will be also expected to show a competent knowledge of Greek and Latin grammar, and answer such questions m Greek and Roman histoiy as may arise out of the works m which they are examined. A knowledge of the firpt tour books of Euc'id aitd of algebra to quadratic equations is also required ; while the examination m consists of Haliam's Conntitutional His* tory, and his Middle Ages." Sow, ye who posaess that littla learning that i« said to be an clement of danger, will ye nut rather try and earn. an,ho nest living , m bo i c Humble vocitioo,-than be cou-' demiied to be "plucked" uumerci:ully' by the inexorable tribunal of examiners ? And jetj unless the profession is be maie< the asylum and refuge for the scum of all the other professions, and thus degraded by their admission., Lome restric-1 tiohs m the way of test of men ttil capacity; must be enforced, if only by way ofj safeguard to the general public. i