WRITER TO THE SIGNET, abbre viated W. S., is the designation of the members of the most numerous and im portant class of attorneys or procurators in Scotland. The writers to the signet enjoy, in common with the solicitors of supreme courts, and with one or two smaller bodies, the privilege of conduct ing cases before the Court of Session, the Court of Justiciary, and the Commission of Teiuds. Their peculiar privilege, however, is that of preparing the writs which pass the royal signet. The signet was a seal or die under the control of the secretary of state, with which the writs by which the king directed parties to ap pear in court, or ordered them to obey the decrees given against them, and other executive instructions, were stamped for the sake of authentication. In the six teenth century, the persons who were entitled to present the writs which re ceived the impression of the signet are supposed to have been the clerks in the secretary of state's office ; and it is not known how or precisely at what time the persons who transacted this department of official business became converted into a body of private practitioners. Since the union of 1707, the signet has been under the disposal of the Court of Ses sion; but down to about the middle of last century the keeper of the signet was deputed by the secretary of state for the home department. Since that time he has been appointed under the great seal.
and he names a deputy, who is a member of the society of writers to the signet, and by usage presides at their meetings. In the general case the summons by which an ordinary action is brought into the Court of Session requires to be signeted, and to be, as a preliminary, signed by a writer to the signet ; although a member of one of the other privileged bodies may conduct the case. Advocation [Anvo erriow] and some other analogous classes of procedure, required formerly to have the interposition of the signet ; but this step in the procedure was abolished by 1 and 2 Vict. c. 86. In the various forms of execution against person and property, the signet was, until lately, a prominent feature ; but, unless in some special cases, it has been dispensed with by the Act 1 and 2 Vict. c. 114. In these departments
of legal practice the writers to the signet now possess few privileges which are not shared by the other practitioners ,before the supreme courts. They still retain their privileges as to summonses, and they have the exclusive right of presenting signatures in exchequer, or of presenting, through the judges acting in exchequer, the indorsed drafts of the writs passing under the great and other seals in Scot land appended to crown charters, appoint ments to offices, &c. They have thus a monopoly of the business of making up the titles of the crown vassals or free holders in Scotland, and this circumstance, added to their skill and respectability as a body, has put the greater part of the conveyancing of the country in their hands. The society require of their in trants an apprenticeship of five years, with a curriculum of university study, which includes two sessions of attend ance, the one at Latin and the other at some other literary class, and four courses of attendance at law classes. The ex penses connected with apprenticeship amount to about 3801., and additional fees to the extent of 1401. are incurred on entering the society. The writers to the signet possess a library, amounting, it is supposed, to between forty and fifty thou sand bound volumes, distributed in two large halls. The collection was com menced in 1755, by the purchase of some law books, to which works on other sub jects were added in 1778. It is supported by an annual grant by the society, which fluctuates with the state of its funds, and has in some years exceeded 2000/. The eminent men who have successively acted as librarians, have made praiseworthy and successful efforts to obtain the most useful works, and to prevent the funds from being wasted in the purchase of books at random. They have kept in view in many cases the acquisition of those books which are wanting to the advocates' library, and as the two institu tions are within the same range of build ings, and are both liberally laid open to those who wish to consult books for lite rary purposes, the writers to the signet have thus performed an essential service to the literature of Edinburgh.