A Century of English Judicature. tervals which sequentfrom ' by yearsthe 1847 hadgreat onwards, been followed bodyunder of atlegislation the fitful guidin-
'
31
are ingWhen accomplished.1 abilityLord by which Blackburn alone(1876-87) such revolutions was ap-
I.ORD DAVEY. ance of Cranworth, Westbury and' Cairns, had eradicated most of the perversities of the old procedure. But the most radical and comprehensive legal reform of the cen tury was accomplished by Selborne in the passage of the Judicature Acts. He com bined the patient diplomacy and command-
pointed one of the first Lords of Appeal in Ordinary under the Judicature Act it afforded satisfactorv evidence to the profes sion that a new era in the court of final appeal had in reality begun. Blackburn hail 1 Some of Selborne's more important opinions are : Maddison v. Alderson, 8 A. C. 467 (statute of fraud-); liebenham t. Mellon. 6 A. C. 24 (wife's necessariesJ;
