SCOTLAND.
The Chair of Ecclesiastical History at Edinburgh, held by the late Dr. Robertson, has been given to Dr. Stevenson, of South Leith.
The Court of Session has just given judgment which will be read with great interest. A brother of the late Admiral Livingstone married the sister of his deceased wife, and had issue one son, Alexander Livingstone. Mrs. Fenton, the sister of the Admiral, disputed the nephew's right of succession to the landed estate of the Admiral on the pound that the marriage was null and void; but the Court of Session decided that, as the law of Eng- land, where the parents were domiciled, forbade a posthumous inquiry into the validity of marriages, the legitimacy of the son could not be questioned. Mrs. Fenton appealed to the House of Lords, and that court reversed the judgment of the Court of Session, pointing out that the rule of law referred to was only binding in England. The case was, therefore, remitted again to the Court of Session, and the Court, Lord Deas dissenting, decided that as the son was the issue of a marriage unlawful in England he could not be recognized as legitimate in Scotland. They also held with unanimity that by the old statute law of Scotland the marriage of a man with his deceased wife's sister was civilly null, and that, therefore, Mr. Livingstone was ille- gitimate, and not entitled to succeed to the estate. It, therefore, falls to Mrs. Fenton.
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