Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 13.djvu/799

D J U D 765 chancellorship of Lord Selborne, but his predecessor Lord Hatherley had in 1870 introduced a measure of the same character. The objects of the Act are threefold first, to reduce the historically independent courts of common law and equity to one supreme court of judicature, consisting of tvo branches, a High Court of Justice and a Court of Appeal ; secondly, to establish for all divisions of the court a uniform system of pleading and procedure ; and, thirdly, to provide for the enforcement of the same rule of law in those cases where chancery and common law had hitherto recognized different rules. The Act does not fuse common law and equity in the sense in which that phrase has generally been employed. The chancery division still remains distinct from the common law division, having a certain range of legal questions under its exclusive control, and possessing to a certain extent a peculiar machinery of its own for carrying its decrees into execution. But all actions may now be brought in the High Court of Justice, and, subject to such special assignments of business as that alluded to, may be tried in any division thereof ; and all divisions must recognize the same principles. Further, the difficulties occasioned by mere technicalities of procedure have been to a great extent removed by a system of pleading, the inspiring principle of which is that each party should state his case in the simplest possible manner. It is in respect of the last point that the operation of the Judicature Act has been least satis factory, and it is certain that a further simplification of pleading, possibly based on the practice of the Scotch courts, will follow very soon. 1 The appellate part of the judicature has after some hesitation been finally settled thus. The House of Lords remains the last court of appeal, as before the first Judica ture Act. That Act abolished the appellate jurisdiction of the Lords so far as the new court of judicature was con cerned, leaving it still the appeals from Scotland and Ireland. A temporary Act allowed appeals to be brought from the new court, and the Act 39 & 40 Viet. c. 59 made pro visions for the permanent hearing of appeals from all courts to the Lords. The judicial functions of the House of Lords have been virtually transferred to an appeal committee, consisting of the Lord Chancellor and other peers who have held high judicial office, and certain lords of appeal in ordinary created by the Act. No appeal is to be heard unless three of such persons shall be present, and the lords of appeal may sit for the despatch of judicial business during a prorogation of parliament, and even by order of the queen during a dissolution. The lords of appeal in ordinary are an entirely new creation. They hold office on the same conditions as other judges ; they take rank as barons for life ; but they are entitled to a writ of summons to attend and vote in the House only so long as they hold office, and their dignity does not descend to their heirs. Two are appointed in the first instance, but an arrangement is provided for by which the four head judges of the privy council may ultimately be the four lords of appeal in ordinary. When two of the privy council judges die or resign, a third lord of appeal may be appointed, and a fourth when the remaining two judges of the privy council cease to hold office. The judicial committee of the House of Lords and the judicial committee of the privy council will then be the same, and the two jurisdictions will be fused. The Court of Appeal, created by the Judicature Act of 1873, with intention of making it a final court, is now subject to an appeal to the House of Lords. It now consists of six judges, andsits in two divisions, which, roughly speaking, take respectively the chancery and common law 1 Pleading, it should be stated, to prevent a possible confusion, means the written statements of complaint and defence made by the parties before the case comes to trial. business of the divisional courts, but the lords justices of appeal sit in either division according to convenience. This part of the rearrangement of the judicature may be pro nounced entirely successful. A strong and stable court of appeal has been created, instead of the fluctuating tribunal of former times. The same is true generally of the re distribution of judicial strength effected by the Acts, which has led to a marked improvement in the despatch of business. The Irish Judicature Act (40 & 41 Viet. c. 57) follows the same lines as the English Acts. The pre-existing courts are consolidated into a supreme court of judicature, consisting of a High Court of Justice and a Court of Appeal. The Judicature Acts do not affect Scotch judicature, but the Appellate Jurisdiction Act includes the Court of Session among the courts from which an appeal lies to the House of Lords under the new conditions. (E. B.) JUDITH, THE BOOK OF, one of the books of the Old Testament APOCRYPHA (q.v.), takes its name from the heroine Judith ( IovSi 0, Iov8j0, i.e., HH-iny Jewess "), to whom the last nine of its sixteen chapters relate. In the Septuagint and Vulgate it immediately precedes Esther, and along with Tobit comes after Nehemiah ; in the English Apocrypha it is placed between Tobit and the apocryphal additions to Esther. The argument of the book is briefly as follows. In the twelfth year of his reign Nebuchadnezzar, who is described as king of Assyria, having his capital in Nineveh, makes war against Arphaxad (i.e., the district Arrhapachitis), king of Media, and overcomes him in his seventeenth year. He then despatches his chief general Holofernes to take vengeance on the nations of the west who had withheld their assistance. This expedition has already succeeded in its main objects when Holofernes proceeds to attack Judaja. The children of Israel, who are described as having newly returned from captivity, are apprehensive of a desecration of their sanctuary, and resolve on resistance to the uttermost. The inhabitants of Bethulia (Betylua) and Betomestharn in particular (neither place can be identified), directed by Joachim the high priest, guard the mountain passes near Dothaim, and place them selves under God s protection. Holofernes now inquires of the chiefs who are with him about the Israelites, and is answered by Achior the leader of the Ammonites, who enters upon a long historical narrative showing the Israelites to be invincible except when they have offended God. For this Achior is punished by being handed over to the Israelites, who lead him to the governor of Bethulia. Next day the siege begins, and after forty days the famished inhabitants urge the governor Ozias to surrender, which he consents to do unless relieved in five days. Judith, a beautiful and pious widow of the tribe of Simeon, now appears on the scene with a plan of deliverance. Wearing her rich attire, and accompanied by her maid, who carries a bag of provisions, she goes over to the hostile camp, where she is at once conducted to the general, whose suspicions are disarmed by the tales she invents. After four days Holofernes, smitten with her charms, at the close of a sumptuous entertainment invites her to remain within his tent over night. No sooner is he overcome with sleep than Judith, seizing his sword, strikes off his head and gives it to her maid ; both now leave the camp (as they had previously been accustomed to do, ostensibly for prayer) and return to Bethulia, where the trophy is dis played amid great rejoicings and thanksgivings. Achior now publicly professes Judaism, and at the instance of Judith the Israelites make a sudden onslaught on the enemy, who at once give way, leaving immense spoil in the hands of the victors. Judith now sings a song of praise, and all go up to Jerusalem to worship with sacri fice and rejoicing. The book concludes with a brief