office of Warden, and appointed to the first of the professorships the Hon. John F. Dillon, Circuit Judge of the United States for the Eighth Judicial Circuit, was appointed to the second; George Chase, a graduate of the Law School, was appointed to the third; John W. Burgess, to the fourth; and the Hon. John Ordronaux, M.D., LL.D., to the fifth. Dr. Ordronaux was the author of valuable works on the subject of Medical Jurisprudence. Judge Dillon, having resigned his judge ship and having become a citizen of New York, entered upon the duties of his depart ment with great zeal and interest. He was fond of instruction, and would have been pleased to devote his life to legal study and the preparation of legal works for the use of students and the profession. His great judi cial experience and eminence soon made such demands upon his time as a practitioner as to induce him to devote himself wholly to litigated business. He accordingly retired from the professorship in 1882. Some time later, the professorship was filled by the appointment of Benjamin F. Lee, a graduate of the Law School, residing in the city of New York. Mr. Lec was then in large prac tice, particularly in that branch of the law to which his professorship relates. The legislature in 1876 committed the whole subject of admission to the bar to the charge of the Court of Appeals. The matter was to be regulated by rules of court. Rules were accordingly established by the court affecting students in law schools as well as in lawyers' offices. The Statutes permit the court in framing its rules to dispense with the whole or any part of the period of clerk ship required from clerks in offices in favor of students in the law schools. (Code of Civil Procedure, §§ 57, 58.) The rules made under these provisions in substance require a three years' course of study for admission at one and the same time to the degree of Attorney and Counsellor in all the courts of the State. There may, however, be received in lieu of one year's study a degree of grad uation in a literary college and one year's
study in a law school. Where there is no degree in a literary college, two years' study in a law school is allowed. But in every case there must be at least one year's clerk ship with a practising lawyer in the State. Law-school students now have no privileges whatever in .connection with admission to the bar. They must pass an examination before the court in the same manner as oth er students. The court examinations have much improved of later years, at least in some of the judicial districts. The term of the examiners has been much lengthened, and there is a much greater disposition on their part to ascertain the knowledge of candidates for admission upon points of sub stantive law than there was formerly. The candidates in the Law School for the degree of Bachelor of Laws must sustain an addi tional examination at the close of their course, covering the entire period of study. Not long after the establishment of these rules, the members of the Court of Appeals assented, at the request of the Warden of the Law School, to a personal interchange of views on the subject of admission to the bar. Among other matters, a preliminary exami nation was strongly recommended by the Warden. Such an examination had been al ready established in the Law School, and was then in full operation. The court ac ceded to this view, though not concurring in the recommendation that some knowledge of Latin should be required. In lieu of that a preliminary examination in English branches of study, established by the Board of Re gents of the University (and popularly called "Regents' Examination "), is now required to be passed by all candidates for admission (unless they are college graduates), whether they be students in law schools or not. This regulation is made perfectly effective by the rule that no course of study shall legally commence until the examination is duly passed, though, when passed, the time will relate back for a period not exceeding three months in favor of those who have already commenced their clerkship or sub
