ADVOCATE, a Pluallcr. In England, pleaders are atyled BarriNters at Law. The qualnicaiion for siod the English bar is eating- a certain number of dinners, at the common table of one or other of the Inns of Court in London. In Scotland, the Fat tiny of Advo cates enjoy the exclusive privilege of pleading before he supreme courts. Candidates lor admission into this body must undergo an e;atuination in the Latin language, as to their knowledge of the Roman law', and :Afterwards, at die distance of a y ear, they undergo a -ccond examination on the law of Scotland. They then go through the form of defending a thesis in Latin. Their numbers amount at present to 278. At the first institution of the College of Justice, in the year 1537 the number was only ten. Till that time it was common for the barons to appear in the causes of their vassals and dependents. Churchmen too w ere frequently em ployed as advocates. In the time of Charles the Second.
a great majority of the Faculty of Advocates were ban ished to the distance of twche miles from Edinburgh, for asserting the right of the subject to appeal to Par liament from the decrees of the Court of Session. The consequence of this tyrannical measure was, an almost total surcease of justice during the year 1674. Besides the exclusive privilege of pleading belore civil and criminal courts in Scotland, advocate, have a right to plead in all other courts sitting in Scotland, civil, ec clesiastical, and martial. They possess also, in common with the English bar, the right of pleading before the two Houses of Parliament, and the king in council. From this body, the judges of the courts of Justiciary, Session, and Exchequer, are named. The sheriffs of counties must be advocates of three years' standing. (a)