Rule 45 is amended so as to read as follows: "From time to time actions, suits, or proceedings may be stricken from the docket of either division of the court without costs and without prejudice to the rights of any party thereto, in accordance with the provisions of Gen. Laws, c. 236, § 2. Any action, suit, or proceeding so stricken from the docket may, upon application made at any time within a year and for cause shown, be reinstated upon such terms and conditions as the court may think proper to impose.

Relative to Closing of Clerk's Office.

(Adopted October 22, 1900.) The clerks' offices will close hereafter at 12 o'clock m. on Saturdays, or upon the adjournment of their respective divisions after

that time.

Relative to Withdrawal of Attorneys.

(Adopted February 5, 1901.)

No attorney appearing for a defendant in a criminal case shall be allowed to withdraw without the consent of the court; and no attorney of record in a civil case shall be allowed to withdraw therefrom while the case stands assigned for trial without seasonable notice to the party whom he represents of his intention to withdraw therefrom, and the consent of the court.

RULES OF PRACTICE.

The following rules were, on the 1st day of January, A. D. 1901, adopted by the supreme court of the state of Rhode Island 50 A.

and Providence Plantations, in session at Providence, to regulate the practice in actions and proceedings at law and in equity in said court, in its respective divisions, all other rules theretofore existing being re

scinded:

ATTORNEYS AND COUNSELORS.

1. Any person desiring to be admitted to the bar may file his petition in the clerk's office of the appellate division of the supreme court in the county of Providence, setting forth:

First. That he is a citizen of the United States, or has filed his declaration of intention to become a citizen; that he resides in this state; that he is over twenty-one years of age; and that he intends, if admitted, to practice law in this state.

Secondly. Either that he has received a classical education and has studied law two years in the office of an attorney and counselor at law, or two years in some law school in the country and the office of an attorney and counselor, six months of which time of study, at least, shall in all cases have been in the office of an attorney and counselor in this state;

Or, that, not having received a classical education, he has studied law three years in the office of an attorney and counselor at law, or three years in some law school in the country and the office of an attorney and counselor, six months of which time of study, at least, shall have been in the office of an attorney and counselor in this state;

Or, that, having been admitted to the bar in some one of the United States, he has practiced law therein for more than three years and has studied law in the office of an attorney and counselor in this state for the term of six months;

Or, that, having been admitted to the bar

in some one of the United States, he has practiced law for more than ten years.

Such petition shall be indorsed by an attorney and counselor of this court, who shall certify that the petitioner is of good moral character and, in his opinion, a suitable person for admission to the bar. Upon filing such petition the petitioner shall pay to the clerk a fee of ten dollars; provided that in case an applicant is unsuccessful in his first application he shall be required to pay upon the filing of any subsequent petition the sum of five dollars only.

2. Any person hereafter entering the office of an attorney and counselor in this state as a student of law shall file forthwith, with the clerk of the appellate division of the supreme court in the county of Providence, a certificate from such attorney that the student has begun a course of study in his office; and the term of study of such student for the purpose of these rules shall be computed from the time of the filing of such certificate in the clerk's office.

3. Unless otherwise specially ordered, all petitions for admission to the bar shall be referred to a board of bar examiners of five members, appointed by the court. The present board shall hold office, one for the term of one year, one for the term of two years, one for the term of three years, one for the term of four years, and one for the term of five years, from the date of their several appointments; and hereafter one member shall be appointed annually on the third day of March for the term of five years. The court may remove any examiner and fill any vacancy in said board.

titions shall have been referred to said board for action at the coming examination. Said board may make rules for their organization, conduct, and government, subject to the approval of the court.

Such compensation as the court shall determine shall be allowed and paid to the members of the board by the clerk of the court, from the fees received by him under the provisions of rule 1.

6. Every person who is admitted as an attorney and counselor shall take in open court the following engagement:

"I.

do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will demean myself as an attorney and counselor of this court, and of all other courts becounselor, uprightly and according to law, and fore which I may practice as an attorney and that I will support the constitution and laws of this state, and the constitution of the United States."

7. Members of the bar of other states not residing in this state will be permitted on motion to conduct or argue any case on trial in the courts of this state as heretofore, but no nonresident can be recognized as an attorney in any case for the purposes of indorsing writs, filing answers or pleas, or issuing or receiving notices or agreements.

8. Complaints against members of the bar for unprofessional conduct shall be made in writing that shall set forth specifically the facts upon which the charge is based. Such complaints, when filed with the clerk of the appellate division, will be referred to a standing committee of five members of the bar for investigation and report thereon. The court will appoint two members to serve one year, two members to serve two years, and one member to serve three years, and will fill any vacancies at the expiration of such terms of service or whenever arising otherwise.

If the board report that the petitioner is qualified and recommend his admission, then, unless the court otherwise order, he shall be admitted as an attorney and counselor at law of this court, and as such shall be entitled to practice law in all the courts of this state.

5. The board of bar examiners shall determine the time and place of all examinations for admission to the bar, and shall notify the clerk of the appellate division of the supreme court in Providence county of the time and place so fixed at least twenty days before the time for each examination; and said clerk shall publish in some one or more of the daily newspapers printed in the city of Providence, for the space of ten days before the time so fixed, a notice of such time and place and a list of the names and residences of the several applicants whose pe

essary to fulfill engagements previously made to attend meetings of this committee. FILING AND ENTERING ACTIONS, APPEALS, ETC.

9. No declaration in blank, or with such blanks that it does not set forth a cause of action, will be taken to be a declaration, within the meaning of the law requiring declarations to be filed in the clerk's office, and the clerks are required to refuse to receive the same; and, if received by accident or mistake, the court will, upon ascertaining the same, dismiss the action, any agreement of parties, bar rule, or custom to the contrary notwithstanding.

10. Every declaration, appeal, petition, complaint, or other application in writing to the court shall have the name of the attorney presenting the same indorsed thereon; and every paper filed in any case, excepting notes, deeds, or other documentary evidence, shall also have indorsed thereon the name and number of the case and a brief desig

nation of the character of the paper. The only proof of the time of filing any paper shall be the file mark of the clerk.

11. Reasons of appeal in criminal cases shall specify accurately the name of the defendant as it appears in the complaint, the town in which he resides, and in which the offense is alleged to have been committed, and the alleged date of its commission; also the court by which sentence was imposed, the date of sentence, and the date upon which an appeal was claimed. In the absence of any of these particulars the clerk shall decline to receive or docket such reasons of appeal, and the appellate proceedings shall be dismissed.

DOCKETING.

12. All cases shall be docketed and numbered consecutively in the classes to which they respectively belong, except that the court may order a new series of numbers when it is deemed to be desirable. The classes will include the following: In the common pleas division, cases standing to a jury; indictments and informations; complaints; recognizances; scire facias on recognizances; rules. In the appellate division, jury trials waived and agreed statements of facts; petitions for divorce; bills and petitions in equity; demurrers; probate and other appeals; exceptions, including motions in arrest of judgment, petitions for trial and new trial; constitutional questions; rules; insolvency; miscellaneous petitions.

ASSIGNMENT OF CASES.

13. Assignments of cases in the appellate division, for hearing in Providence, may be made by agreement of parties for Monday, Wednesday, and Friday of each week, except when such day falls on a holiday, and except also the Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays of the weeks beginning with the third Monday in September, the second Monday in November, the second Monday in April, and the second Monday in May. Cases will not be assigned in either division for hearing on legal holidays, Good Friday, commencement day at Brown University, and the two days before and the two days

state the name of the witness, if known, the facts which he is expected to prove, the grounds of such expectation, the endeavors which have been used to procure his attendance or deposition, the expectation that the party has of procuring his attendance or deposition at a future time, and a declaration by the party that, without such testimony, he cannot safely proceed to trial. A continuance, when allowed, may be upon payment of costs or such other terms as the court may impose: but no continuance on account of the want of material testimony shall be allowed if the other party will admit,, for the purposes of the trial, that the absent witness will swear to the facts set forth in the affidavit.

16. If the continuance be asked on account of the sickness of a party or witness, it must be accompanied by a certificate of a practicing physician in good standing, of the fact, kind, and necessary degree of sickness to warrant the motion.

17. When an action is continued on the motion of either party at the time when it might otherwise be tried, the party making the motion shall pay to the adverse party all his costs incurred in procuring the attendance of witnesses, unless the continuance is ordered on account of some unfair advantage taken by the adverse party or some other fault or misconduct on his part, or unless the party making the motion shall have given written notice thereof, with a statement of the grounds of such motion, to the adverse party or his attorney in such season before the sitting of the court as might have prevented the attendance of witnesses, or when it shall appear that the ground of the motion was not seasonably known to the party making it. The costs thus paid shall not be included in the bill of costs of the party receiving them if he shall finally prevail in the suit, nor be recovered back by the other party if he shall finally prevail; nor in such case shall such other party be allowed any costs for his travel and attendance at such time.

18. The preceding rule shall not prevent the court from imposing any other additional terms on the party moving for a contin

uance, when the justice of the case shall require it.

ORDER OF TRIAL.

19. If in the same cause there be an issue in fact and an issue in law, the issue in law shall be first tried and determined, unless it be otherwise specially ordered.

20. The party holding the affirmative shall, in all cases except on motions, open and close the question before the court or jury; and on motions the party moving shall open and close.

On appeals from probate of a will, the proponent shall have the opening and close, and shall be required, in putting in his case, only to submit the formal evidence of execution and capacity.