COMMON place book, among the learn ed, denotes a register of what things oc cur worthy to be noted in the course of a man's study, so disposed as that, among a number of subjects, any one may be easily found. Several persons have their several methods of ordering them ; but that which is best recommended is Mr. Locke's method, which he has published in a letter' to Mr. Toisnard, determined thereto by the great conveniency and ad vantage he had found from it in twenty years experience. The substance of this method is as follows : The first page of the book, or, for more room, the two first pages fronting each other, are to serve for a kind of index to the whole, and contain references to every place or matter therein ; in the coniniodi °us contrivance of this, so as it may ad mit of a sufficient variety of materials, without conffision, all the secret of the method consists. The manner of it, as Paid down by Mr. Locke, will be conceiv ed from the following specimen, wherein what is to be done in the book for all the letters of the alphabet is here shewn in the first four.
The index of the common place book being thus formed, it is ready for the tak ing down any thing therein.
In order to this, consider to what head the thing you would enter is most na turally referred, and under which one would be led to look for such a thing ; in this head or word regard is to he had to the initial letter, and the first vowel that follows it ; which are the characteris tic letters whereon all the use of the in dex depends.
Suppose, e. g. I would enter down a passage that refers to the head beauty ; B, 1 consider, is the initial letter, and e the first vowel ; then looking upon the index for the partition B, and therein the line e (which is the place for all words whose initial is 11, and the first vowel e; as beauty, beneficence, bread, bleeding, blemishes, &c.) and finding no numbers already wrote to direct me to any page of the book where words of that characteristic have been entered, I turn forward to the first blank page I find, which, in afresh book, as this is sup posed to be, will be page 2, and here write what I have occasion for on the head beauty; beginning the head in the margin, and indenting all the other sub servient lines, that the head may stand out and shew itself; this done, I enter the page where it is wrote, viz. 2, hi the space B e: from which time the class B e be comes wholly in possession of the second and third pages, which are consigned to letters of this characteristic.
Note. If the head be a monosyllable beginning with a vowel, the vowel is at the same time both the initial letter and the characteristic vowel ; thus the word Art is to be wrote in A a. Mr. Locke omits three letters of the alphabet in his index, viz. K, Y, and W, which are sup plied by C, I, and U, equivalent to them : and as for Q, since it is always followed by an u, he puts it in the first place of Z : and so has no Z u, which is a character istic that very rarely occurs. By thus making Q the last of the index, its regu larity is preserved, without diminishing its extent. Others choose to retain the class Z u, and assign a place for Q u be low the index.
If any imagine these hundred classes are not sufficient to comprehend all kinds of subjects without confusion, he may follow the same method, and yet augment the number to 500, by taking in one more characteristic to them.
But the inventor assures us, that in all his collections, for a long series of years, he never found any deficiency in the in dex as above laid down.
Contmos Pleas is one of the King's courts now held constantly in 'Westmin ster Hall, but in former times was movea ble. All civil causes, as well real as per sonal, are, or were formerly, tried in this court, according to the strict law of the land. In personal and mixed actions it has a concurrent jurisdiction with the King's Bench, but has no cognizance of pleas of the crown. The actions belong ing to the Court of Common Pleas come thither by original, as arrests and out lawrics ; or by privilege or attachment for or against privileged persons ; or out of inferior courts, not of record, by pone, recordari, accedas ad curiam, writ of false judgment, &c. The chief judge of this court is called Lord ChiefInstice of the Common Pleas, who is assisted by three other judges : the other officers of the court are, the custos brevitim, who is the chief clerk ; three prothonotaries and their secondaries; the clerk of the warrants, clerk of the essoins, fourteen filazers, four exigcntors, a clerk of the juries, the chirographer, the clerk of the King's silver, clerk of the treasury, clerk of the seal, clerk of the outlawries, clerk nf the inrolment of nes and recoveries, and clerk of the errors.