written copy." There can be no transcript of that which never had a prior existence. How, under that statute, can a matter resting purely in the memory of an ex-justice, and by him reduced to writing for the first time after the writ is served upon him, have any standing in court as a return to a writ of certiorari? But, more, the very definition and office of the common. law writ preclude its running to any one who has not possession of the record to be reviewed. In Bac. Abr. it is thus defined: “A certiorari is an original writ, issuing out of chancery or the king's bench, directed to the judges or officers of inferior courts, commanding them to return the records of a cause depending before them, to the end that the party may have the more sure and speedy justice before him or such other justices as he shall assign to hear the cause." The substance of this definition has never been departed from except where the statute has broadened the scope of the writ: "In Donahue v. Will Co., 100 Ill 94, it is said: "It [the writ of certiorari] requires no return of the evidence or certificate of facts outside the record, and the trial must be had upon the record alone." Again, from the same court: " The common law writ of certiorari simply brings before the court for inspection the record of the inferior tribunal or body, and its judgment affects the validity of the record alone-that is, determines that it is valid or invalid." Hyslop v. French, 99 Ill. 171. If only the record can be returned or considered, then only the custodian of the record can make return. In Iron Co. v. Schubel, 29 Wis. 444, it is held that the party who has the custody of the record, and he alone, can make return to the writ. Wood, Mand. p. 173, thus states the rule: "It [the writ of certiorari] is addressed to all the persons whose return is necessarily to enable the court to determine the regularity or validity of the proceedings of the officer or tribunal sought to be reviewed, and the fact that the person is out of office is no objection if he has the custody of the record." In addition, on this point, see State v. City of Fond du Lac, 42 Wis. 287; Crawford v. Township Board, 22 Mich. 405; People v. Supervisors, 1 Hill, 195; People v. Commissioners, 30 N. Y. 72; State v. Noonan, 24 Minn. 125; Wadsworth v. Sibley, 38 Wis. 486; Roberts v. Com-
