the Queen's Counsel. But some of the
very best of the judges never wore "silk"
and were raised direct from the junior
bar.
From what I have said it might reason ably be inferred that the bar is much more difficult of access than the lower branch of the profession, and requires a higher order of learning and attainment. But that is not so, at any rate not necessarily so. It is true that most of the members of the bar are graduates of one or other of the two great Universities, and also that most young men of the Universities who choose the law for their vocation go to the bar, and that the members of the bar are largely drawn from the upper or upper-middle classes, while the lower branch of the profession is more generally of "middle-class" origin (although as to both there are many exceptions); but the lower branch is quite as difficult and indeed more difficult of access than the upper. For the latter there was (and I believe still is) no necessary examination. A young gentleman desiring to go to the bar has only to procure testimonials as to character from two barristers, enter him self as a "student" at one of the Inns of Court, and eat a certain number of dinners each term at the hall of his "Inn" for about three years as evidence of his being in study and attendance at the lectures, and then he is entitled to be "called" to the bar without any examination or test of learning; and many young men did, and yet do so, without any intention to practice, and only for the sake of rank or good fellowship with old college friends, or to acquire some show of fitness for the county magistracy or chairmanship of sessions (both honorary positions), or for aid in diplomatic or parliamentary service. But young men who aspire to the bar as a profession, with intention to practice, study hard, and systematically attend lectures during their three years of studentship, and are ambitious for distinctions in the examinations, which embrace a wide range of subjects, and are real and somewhat severe tests of legal attainment. But no one can become an attorney otherwise than through a costly course of preparation, including two or three examinations. Unless he has graduated at one of the universities, or passed a university examination, he must undergo what is called the "preliminary" examination in general knowledge before he can be "articled" (i. e. bound apprentice) to an attorney, and an attorney may not have more than two such at the same time. This passed, he must be "articled" for five years (reduced to three or four years for university graduates and undergraduates and some others) and he must actually serve and study in the office of the attorney during the term of his articles. In the middle of the term he must pass another examination called the "intermediate," which is in elementary law, and at the end of the term he must pass the "final," which is a tolerably stiff examination in all the principal branches of law and practice, and failure in any of these examinations, or in any one branch of the "final," postpones his right to admission. This course is always a costly one. Each of these examinations involves some expense; but besides this he has to pay a stamp duty of £80 (reduced from £120) on being articled, usually a fee to the attorney of 250 or 300 guineas or more, and during the term of his articles he receives no salary or remuneration for his service. There are occasional opportunities of getting into the profession without all this cost, chiefly by means of prolonged service, or by reason of special qualifications; and special facilities for that purpose have been made by Statute for men who have occupied the position of managing clerk to attorneys for not less than ten years, an exception which, in the opinion of lawyers generally, has not tended to the good
of the profession.
