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ultimately left the country. The lender, of course, lost his money. These instances will make you cautious, but will not lead you to suspect men of character and reputation. It is advisable to keep your own securities in your own deedbox at home, for the same persons who forged mortgages, forged also transfers of mortgages, and delivered up the deeds

to the new lender; an act which was

compelled by equity to do so; although while the case was before the Court he walked backwards and forwards, calling out to the judge to remember the statute, which he humorously said, I do, I do; and he held the case to be out of the statute on the ground of fraud." ‡

Our lady readers may feel some curiosity to see how the subject of

facilitated by the possession of the mort-pin-money is dealt with by a profound equity lawyer. Possibly, also, husbands may not be disinclined to look in the same direction.

gage deed. The forger, of course, continued to pay interest regularly to the first lender. In one remarkable case the agent acted for two persons, and he actually mortgaged the property of one to the other by a forged instrument, and although he and these two persons frequently dined together, the forgery was not discovered till the guilty party was wholly ruined. The lender did not like to talk about the mortgage, and was not called upon to do so, as the interest was regularly paid by the agent; and the supposed borrower was, of course, silent on the subject.'

Let us now, however, glance at our reader-lady or gentleman-contemplating a more pleasant relation, that of marriage; which, with its incidents and consequences, requires for

its treatment four Letters. The first of them is devoted to SETTLEMENTS --very matter-of-fact personages often standing earnestly talking together at the porch of Hymen's temple. Business, however, is business everywhere, and ought to precede pleasure; so if there be only anything to settle, it must be settled: but how? Ask Lord St Leonards.

Here is a very naughty father and daughter, and a sharp judge:

"Equity will, in some cases, relieve a party on the ground of fraud, although there is not a valid agreement. A man of the name of Halfpenny, upon a treaty for the marriage of his daughter, signed a writing, comprising the terms of the agreement; and afterwards designing to elude the force of it, and get loose from his agreement, ordered his daughter to put on a good humour, and get the intended husband to deliver up the writing, and then to marry him, which she accordingly did; and Halfpenny stood at the corner of a street to see them go by to be married, and afterward refused to perform the agreement. He was, however,

Handy Book, p. 86-7.

"Sometimes a separate provision is made for a wife during her husband's lifetime. This is called pin-money. It is always the first charge on the estate, so that the husband takes subject to it. If, however, a wife permit her husband to receive her pin-money, or, what is the same thing, do not claim it, and he maintains her, she cannot after his death compel payment of more than one year's arrears out of his estate.

"In an important case in the House of Lords, it was asked with reference to

the wife of a noble duke, with a large amount of pin-money-Shall it be said that this lady may dress herself like a

peasant's wife, may lay out £10 by the

year upon her own personal expenses, may give no money, either in charity to the poor, or in largesse to her servants, her attendants, or her maidens-that she may in every respect spare every expense upon her person, and hoard her pin-money, and that she has a right to do so in neglect of the rank, and in spite of the authority of her husband? And an opinion was expressed that pin-money is a fund which she may be made to spend during the coverture, by the intercession and advice, and at the instance of her husband; and an opinion was even expressed that he might hold back her pin-money, if she did not attire herself in a becoming way. But notwithstanding this high authority, I must warn you that the wife's liability thus to expend her pin-money is one which the civilians call a duty of imperfect obligation. She cannot be made to spend it in dress, ornament, gifts, or charity; nor can her husband withhold payment of the pinmoney, though she be a miser and a slattern. Such a power in the husband would destroy the very object of the provision that he should not examine into her disposition of her pin-money, whether for articles of dress, ornaments

Letter XVII.

"These circumstances had not occurred; but the questions were asked with reference to the right to the arrears of the pin-money after the duchess's death.”

of her person, pocket-money, card-money, charities, or any other objects. But her right to demand from her husband what her pin-money ought to supply her with, is a very different question."

The Eleventh Letter expounds carefully the respective joint and separate rights of the married couple in each other's property during their lives, and after the death of either; while the Twelfth is occupied with a subject of infinite interest and importance, and will be read by all classes with deep attention and grateful respect to the distinguished person who has undertaken the labour of explaining popularly "the new law of divorce, as it affects the rights of property.'

The Thirteenth Letter deals with a subject of kindred interest and importance-the powers of fathers and mothers over their children, with regard to the custody of their person, and to their property, education, and religious faith. Every one will like to see Lord St Leonards' observation on the recent case of Amelia Race.+

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"One of the most important subjects on which I have promised you any information," says Lord St Leonards, "is that of WILLS." It is hardly necessary to say, especially to any one who read the article in our last February number, to which we have already referred, that every one having an acre of land, or the most modest amount of personalty, to dispose of by will, stands permanently indebted to the author of the Handy Book himself, in his legislative capacity, for one of the most salutary acts on the StatuteBook, and the provisions of which are briefly but distinctly stated at pp. 135-6, with reference to the execution of wills. The three Letters devoted to wills may be said to be worth their weight in gold to everybody; instructing, as they do, how to make a will that shall effectuate intention, and, by so doing, prevent death being followed by disastrous family dissension, and ruinous litigation. Every line of these three Letters should be carefully conned again and again by testators in all ranks of life. Three passages of the highest practical value we must make room for. + P. 82.

Pp. 113-114.

"Before making your will, there are many questions which you should ask yourself. Is it probable that I shall be much in debt at my decease? Are there charges on my estate which must be provided for on my death? What is the nature of my property? Is any part of it already settled, or agreed to be settled, on my family? Have I charged portions on any part of it for my children? What advancements have I already made for them? Is my wife dowable of any part of it? Am I only tenant in tail of any part of my estate? in which case it would be necessary to bar the entail to give effect to your will, even if the property perly speaking, be tenant in tail, but be leasehold, in which you cannot, proonly a tenant in the nature of a tenant in tail. These are questions which you should resolve before you give instructions for your will." §

These, however, are only a few of the considerations which are brought to the notice of a provident testator.

"I am somewhat unwilling to give you any instructions for making your will, without the assistance of your professional adviser; and I would particularly warn you against the use of printed forms, which have misled many men. They are as dangerous as the country schoolmaster, or the vestry clerk. It is quite shocking to reflect upon the litigation which has been occasioned by men making their own wills, or employing incompetent persons to do so.

To save

a few guineas in their lifetime, men leave behind them a will which it may cost hundreds of pounds to have expounded by the Courts before the various claimants will desist from litigation. Looking at this as a simple money transaction, lawyers might well be in despair if every man's will were prepared by a competent person. To put off making your will, until the hand of death is upon you, evinces either cowardice, or a shameful neglect of your temporal concerns. Lest, however, such a moment should arrive, I must arm you in some measure against it."

What wise counsel, and given in how fine and fatherly a spirit, may be seen in the following passage!

"No hatred is more intense than that which arises in a man's family after his death, where, under his will, the rights of each member of it are not separate and strictly defined. None is more afP. 131. Il P. 133.

§ P. 131.

flicting or degrading to our common nature. We weep over the loss of our relative, and we quarrel over the division of his property! Be careful not to make an unwise or ill-considered dis

position, particularly of your residue, upon which the contest generally arises. As you love your family, pity them throw not the apple of discord amongst them. If you leave to every one separately, what you desire each to have, and give nothing amongst them all which requires division, and therefore selection and choice, peace and good-will will continue to reign amongst them.

"Still further: in disposing of your residue, neither overrate nor underrate its value. It is a duty which you owe to yourself, and to those who are to succeed you, carefully to ascertain the value of your property. I know an instance of a person who succeeded to a great estate, simply by declining a particular legacy, in common with the general legatees the mere gift of the residue would satisfy him he begged the testator would not consider him until every other claim was satisfied! The residue greatly exceeded in value the aggregate amount of all the legacies !"*

Both wills and marriage - settlements naturally suggest the existence of certain functionaries, whose duty it is honestly and prudently to carry them into effect-to wit, TRUSTEES. We advise every trustee in the kingdom, whether old or newly appointed, and every one considering whether he will become one, to lay to heart the two Letters in which Lord St Leonards, with beautiful perspicuity, delineates their civil rights and liabilities, and also those infinitely more serious criminal liabilities, to which delinquent trustees have recently been subjected by the Legislature. They will also be grateful to him for the efforts which he here announces that he has made, and means to continue, for the protection of trustees acting erroneously, but without frau-.

* Pp. 154-5.

dulent intentions.† All success to these efforts!

Thus have we endeavoured imperfectly to introduce to the notice of tant contributions to popular literaour readers one of the most importure, or "literature for the million," in the phrase of the day, that has been or can be made. It " comes home to the business and the bosoms of all. Its author is acknowledged on all hands to be the great master

perhaps the greatest this country has ever seen-of the all-important subject to which this small but precious volume relates-the law of Property. What, indeed, is property, but that which God has ordained as the bond of temporal connection and union between all classes of mankind?. To acquire it, to retain it, to dispose of it, constitute objects dear to, and supply motives potent with, all; and so intimately influence human feelings, thoughts, characters, and actions, that he makes an immense contribution to the peace and welfare of society at large, who gives them plain and sound practical counsel in matters of such vital moment. That contribution has been made by Lord St Leonards in a noble spirit, and it will never be forgotten. As no man living but himself could have written this book, so in no man living but himself would be reposed such implicit, unhesitating, and justifiable confidence by his readers, be their positions and acquirements what they may. If he were never to set pen to paper again, and if he had never done so before, this little Handy Book would, coming from such a man, and at such a period of his life, and of such a distinguished career, carry his name down to posterity as one of the best-hearted and most learned Chancellors that ever held the Great Seal of England.

+ Pp. 175-6.

ZANZIBAR ; AND TWO MONTHS IN EAST AFRICA.

[SOME months ago we received a note, dated Zanzibar, 10th June, from Captain Burton, the accomplished author of The Pilgrimage to Meccah, saying that he had sent us the following journal, which, however, did not reach us until the present month.

In his note Captain Burton said that it was no use to write to him, as he was on the point of again plunging into Africa, and would be non inventus for some time to come.

Our readers will join us in hoping that we may soon receive tidings of the safe return of the gallant and indefatigable traveller.]

"To animate and influence the hearts of all the noble gentlemen who desire to see the world."-La Brocquière.

CHAPTER I.-ZANZIBAR.

"There is probably no part of the world where the British Government has so long had a Resident, where there are always some half-a-dozen merchants and planters, of which we know so little, as of the capital and part of the kingdom of one of the most faithful of our allies, with whom we have for half a century (since 1804) been on terms of intimacy."-Trans. Bombay Geogr. Society, 1856.

Or the gladdest moments, methinks, in human life, is the departing upon a distant journey into unknown lands. Shaking off with one effort the fetters of Habit-the leaden weight of Routine—the cloak of carking Care, and the slavery of Homeman feels once more happy. The blood flows with the fast circulation of youth, excitement gives new vigour to the muscles, and a sense of sudden freedom adds an inch to the stature. Afresh dawns the morn of life, again the bright world is beautiful to the eye, and the glorious face of nature gladdens the soul. A journey, in fact, appeals to Imagination, to Memory, to Hope-the sister Graces of our moral being.

The shrill screaming of the boatswain's whistle, and sundry shouts of "Stand by yer booms !"-"All ready for'ard?" "Now make sail!"sounded in mine ears with a sweet significance. The H.E.I.C.'s sloop of war "Elphinstone," Captain Freyhard, I. N., commanding, swung round in obedience to orders, and as the rosy beams of morning leaped gaily over the green-capped head of Elephanta, we bade a long farewell to Bombay. It was a RedCalendar day-a day to be noted

with white clay, that 2d of December 1856.

We were not fanned across the Indian Ocean by the delicatest airs: a stiff breeze ran us right home without a flaw, and the weather was varied by occasional showers, and a squall or two followed by a high combing sea. The track seemed a desert; not a being of life, except gannets and flying-fish, met our sight. The good old ship-now in her thirty-third year-made an average of 150, and, on one occasion, a run of 200 knots per diem, accomplishing the 2500 miles in eighteen days. On the afternoon of the 18th December, we hove in sight of a strip of land, blue and blurred by distance, then waxing purple, and lastly green. This was Pemba, or Fezirat el Khazra, "the Emerald Isle," as this outlying picket of East Intertropical Africa is called by the inhabitants of tawny Oman.

We had tasted the contrast between the order and cleanliness of a ship-of-war, and the confusion, impurity, and annoyances of a Red-Sea steam-packet. Here were no rattling, heaving throbs, making you tremulous as a jelly in the canicule; nor coal-smoke intrusive as on a

German railway; nor thirsty cockroaches exploring man's mouth for water; nor cabins rank with sulphuretted hydrogen; nor decks whereon pallid and jaundiced passengers shook convulsive shoulders as they rushed to and from the bulwarks and the taffrail. No "larboard and starboard exclusiveness;" no flirting Abigails tending majestic dames, who looked crooked at all beyond the salvation-pale of their own "set;" no peppery civilians rubbing skirts against heedless griffins; nor fair lips ill-treating the letter H; nor "officers" singing lullabies to their etiolated terrible infants, and lacking but one little dispensation of Nature to become the completest of nurses. The "Elphinstone" belonged not to the category Shippe of Helle:" we would willingly have drawn out our cruise with the jovial Captain, and the good fellows in the gun-room, over many and many a path of waves.

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But Fate willed otherwise. On the night of the 18th December we anchored off Tumbatu, one of the long, narrow coralline reefs which fringe these shores. It is scantily inhabited by a race of Makhadim or serviles, who have preserved in El Telam a variety of heathen abominations. They repair for divination to a kind of Trophonius' cave. At funerals they lay out and abuse the corpse after this wise. Fellow," a man will cry, "but yesterday I asked thee for some tobacco, and thou didst refuse, hein? Where now is the use of it?" Or says a woman, "Dost thou remember making fierce love to me on a certain occasion? Much good can thy love do, now that thou goest to feed ugly worms in the grave!" I have heard of a Hindu caste in Madras, who, after filling the corpse's mouth with milk, and rapping its face with a conch-shell, most opprobriously insult its female relatives. The Arrawak Indians of Guiana also, according to travellers, switch the body's opened eyes with thorns, anoint the lips and cheeks with lard, and use alternately sweet and bitter words. The idea underlying the act is probably the same as in the Irish "wake". -a test whether the clay be really inanimate. The

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After a two hours' sail, the first terminus of our voyage declared itself. Most prepossessing was the distant view of this storehouse of Eastern Africa. Earth, sea, and air were all soft and smiling as a poet's conception of Paradise, with a winning feminine beauty; in Arab phrase, a repose unto the eye of the beholder. The central ridges, gently swelling, were streaked with rows of spice-trees resembling from afar the vines of romantic Provence. Contrasting with these prim plantations, the tall palm, a living column, luxuriant and perennial, rose behind and above the bright metallic underwood which separated the land from the snowy foam creaming upon the yellow shore. Intense was the glowing azure of the sky: every object stood out distinct and brilliant, as if viewed through ethereal medium. Under a blaze of sun that touched everything with burnished gold, the sea was a sheet of purest sapphire, save where it showed

"A surface dappled o'er with shadows flung

From brooding clouds ;"

the lucid depths were stained with amethyst; the transparent shoals with lightest chrysoprase; and each ship anchored in the bay hovered

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