Star. — London, England, 1824-02-25 00:00:00

fro m such an imputation ; but he should shew that the rear t hus placedirad gradually increased In 1740 it amou n ted to £119,000 1744 - - 150,000 1700 - - 090,000 1790 - - 7.100,000 illOO - . - vi,soo,ouo -' •• 54;000,000 T h es e were in his mind conclusive proofs of the gra jot progress of t• he business of the Court. When, . t b o efore, an attempt was made by the Honourable And • L e aned Gentleman to excite prejudice against Lord Sidon, and to attribute to him the delays inseparable, (rota the Court, the charge fell harmless from him, and on us astonished how any one mind was competent to Jispatch of so muck business. Let the House look J . t he attendance given by the Noble Lord in the House O f' Lords, and let them, fos' that purpose, take the two smug of the Berkeley and the Roxburgh Peerages, cases, in which the Lord Chancellor attended the Committee of Privileges, and they would find that in the Berkeley case elone, his Lordship sat for thirty-four days, from to until four o'clock ; in the Roxburgh case, for pinety fber days dill his Lordship give. his attendance. And really, while they were on the subject of grievances, he would mention one which appeared to him no slight in action. It rested on the evidence of a Gentleman known to many Members of that House—upon the respectable testimony of Mr. Cowper. In the Roxburgh case, one Counsel alone occupied the attention of the Housed Lords for eighteen minutes. The House would say "No." Well, could it be possible, that one single Counsel could last for eighteen Maus?—(A laugh). Whatwill the Country Gentlemen say, when they hear that 18 days were occupied by this indefatigable advocate? When ' they were complaining of delay, it was mill) , insult, while considering what portion of it was attributable to others as well as the Lord Chancellor. In the course of the last Session of Parliament, the attention of the House of Lords was diawn to the Appellate Jurisdic tion; and they came to the conclusion, that it was ma nifestly impossible for any person to perform the arduous duties attached to the Lord Chancellor's high offiee." With a view of meeting the difficulty thus suggested,' t hat Commindon was formed—their labours have been, brought to a succe.sful termination, and they hale liven great satisfaction. The particular attention of his Noble Friend (the Lord ChancellOr) had been di rected. to that subjects A Commission had passed the Great Seal, diretted to the same points as the nrotion, excepting the proposed inquiry into the political charac ter of the Lord Chancellor, which he would take leave to say, without any distepect to the Rouse, no Corn-, rime of that House was competent to decide. When the question came to be discussed, whether it would be desirable to divest the Lord Chancellor of the political duties of his office? he trusted that so important :t change would not be unaccompanied with the most serious consideration. He could not avoid remai king, that the objection stated by the Honourable and Learned 'Gentleman, had not been always felt, to the sane extent at least, as that Honourable stoci Learned Gentlentsn had represented it to exist in his nine.— M no very remote period it had not operated so strongly ea some of that Honourable and Learned Gentlentes Prieads; as they, acting in conformity a it's the practice of the Constitution, had felt no citifitilltt in plating the same Judge to preside over the adminittration a the criminal law of the land, who sat over the highest of the civil Courts. The fact was derthinly no art- - tun ad homiliein, and he (Mr. Peel)• only quntfed it as-a' proof that when others were in power the objection to the union of the judicial and political functions Of the Lord Chancellor's Office was not held to be so strong as the cheers the Honourable and Leatued.Gentleman bad received that evening - would have seemtd. to kWh: cite —(Cheers). It had been acted by the. Honoutable and Learned Gentleman, why,. as a Committee has been appointed to inquire into the_Se:otohCourts•ofJua tice, a similar Corn mittee should not be . appointed tin itt nine into the Court of Chancery ?* Ite - (1*. Peel) Had no hesitation in admitting,that atrinqpiry into the pro ceedings of the Court of Chancery would be. attended with great benefit, for, without' imputing-any. blame to' the Judge who presided over the-Court,. it 'might easily happen that the forms oflproceeding,instituted in an cient times might not now. be the best adapted to- the interests of the suitors at present —(lfeer;. heat). He admitted, that if it appeared that - of ninetrfolios of the bill read by the Honourable and Learned'dentleman, only six were relevant to the issue, a•reduction-of the-re maining eighty-four folios would:be- not only of great importance to the administration cljustice, but.asu mat ter of economy - to the patties concerned—(Near, hear). Again, when the Honourable and Learned Gentleman asked why the Accountant-General should not publish an account of what was called the dead weightin Chan cery, as the Bank did of the unclaimed dividends,. he (Mr. Peel), without professing to have any i,nforMation off the subject, speaking only as an unlearned man, agreed that the suggestion eppeared to be a very prOper one, and he could not refrain from accedingto st, with only this reservation—unless, more- cogent arguments should, upon further investigation, appear - to the con trary. Before he left the practice of the COnit, he had no difficulty in saying, that to hint it appeared that the 'bole progress of a suit, from its commencement to its close, ought to be' narrowly eramined- prospectively, with a view to ascertain vitiethirarq' unjust and pernii tie% delays were interposed its progress either by' the Solicitors, by, the Counsel, 'or by any other quarter— (Hear,hear).—Witli respect to the removal of the bank ruptcy cases from ilteLord Cho:acetic/1., as it appeared that that part of his jurisdiction_ was not ittherentin the' office, but had been devolved on it by Act of Parha m ent, it w as i mposs ibl e to deny, that that was a fit ob ject of inquiry also. Generally speaking, there could be no doubt of the propriety 'of inquiring what business c_iold be a b stracte d f rom the office sof Lord Chancellorl It was n ot to b e f orgotten, that Sir Sainuentotnilly had doubted Me propriety of withdrawing cases of bank i uptcy from the jurisdiction of. the Chancellor, and such an authority was entitled to the gravest .concidora- 1 tion — (Nenr, hear). But to the-inquiry itself,: hellantnl peel) had no o bj ect i on , prov id e d i t was - condtioted by' ,I 11 tut who w ere most competent to i t . Sucha body, he thought, might be constitutedo andite would assure the nourab:e and Learned Gentleman, that his' opposi 'm to the Motion was founded altogether upon his , niviction that a Commission more competent might be instituted by the Crown than any Committee of that. alinisv—(Hear). SUppose, upon such a Commission, the• Crown called in the aid of the great luminaries of the 44 w, w boiled rented from the Benoh, - and those who. k dh been the highest practitioners in the Court—such '*,as Lord ReJesciAle-- ( ll ear, hear)--arid Sir ga rb r• urant—(He ar , hear) -suppo s e .that these eminent Pe,sns, who had retired frorn the discharge of their du ' a wi t h t • the unieersai-approbation of the. professien and t'r CoUntry could .be induced •to devote some partial, 7 - L , of their time to such an inquiry—suppose they called in. .to their assistance the Judges and first practitioners in the Court of Chancery—could there be a 'doubt that suet) a Commission would be nlcite - donipeteift - terdit cuss a matter of such grave importance than any Com mittee that *the 1 - louse of Commons could appoint?— Such a Commission his Majesty had been advised by the Lord Chancellor himself to issue, and to it this in- quirt' would be devolved. This course promised more advantage than could be expected from any recom mended by the Hon. and Learned Gentleman ; and he (Mr. Peel) Would tell that Hon. 'and Larded *Gentle man, that the appointment of such a Committee as he moved for, -coupled with the proposition of last Session, had a semblance of crimination against the Lord Chan cellor, to which he - (Sir. Peel) for one, Would never, in any shape, accede(Cheers):—lf he stood alone he would divide the House rather than suffer a motion so unjust towards the eminent and respectable individual who presided over the administration of justice in this country to pass unopposed—(Cheers).--He was not speaking of the Chancellor in his political capacity ; he via% treating him solely as a judicial character, as to which he would allow no considerations of personal feeling to bias his judgment but those solely which proceeded from strict justice—(Cheers). He (Mr. Peel) implored the House not to consent to a vote which would have an air of crimination: Ile would ever con tend that, as to the judicial character.of the Lord ChatS cellor, no doubt could exist that he was entitled to the highest praise—(Cheers).—As to the Chancellor's poli tical character, he (Mr. Peel) would bear no testimony, as his evidence would probably be put out of Court; but he would repeat, he believed that no individual a-ho had ever served the Public had been more the object of un met ited obloquy, and attack than the Lord Chancellor —(Cheers). The foblest calumnies had been stated re specting him, not indeed in that House, because the feelings of honour which prevailed among its Mem bers prevented them from lending their countenance to these practices, but attempts to produce obloquy had been directed against the Lord Chancellor from quar ters which it was impossible for him to notice. He had been represented as a.man anxious only to preserve the .enormous emoluments and patronage which he was said to possess, and forward to resist every plan of reform .by which his emoluments or patronage was likely to be reduced. From his (Mr. Peel's) conscience he believed, there never was a charge more unfounded. The profits the office were nearly the same as they had been for a considerable period. They were large, but was there any man in that House of opinion that the office of Lord Chancellor, for the highest possible State reasons, might not to be splendidly endowed ? Its income had, however, been grossly exaggerated. It had not amounted for the last three years -to £12,000, after. every reduction had been taken from it—(Hear, hear) and he was sure that none of those whom he had the thistOrtune to oppose in that House would grudge that so high an officer,shonld receive a fitting. remuneration —(Hear, hear). It was right that the first Man of his• day should not be tempted to remain in his professional pursuits because he could draw larger emoluments from thetin. GOD forbid that he should consider money as the sole object in regulating the conduct of men; but, however it might be disregarded by some individuals, it wasOot to be. oVerlooked by the Public in adopting general• regulations for the wages of office—( Hear). It would he a pitiful and paltry economy that would divest office of its richlyearned emoluments—(Cheers). One' of the Molt Current calumnies against the Lord Chancellor was diat by which he was represented as op posing,eVery'reform that tended to diminish his incorine.• What was the fact ? Whenever it had been proposed to relieve him from, any part of the burden of his duties, thesvish he had always expressed was, that the expense should be defrayed by himself— (Rear, hear, hear). It wits argued, that it was not just to irripOie' the Charge. Upon him if the duties`had increased beyond his physical tb discharge them; yet he had always pressed the point, and - insisted tiptuitaking upon himself the additional expense of .the office created to assist him.—' • . foiv..ofils the salary of the Vice-Chancellor 2,5001. was appropriated froiri that or the Lord C hancellor—(Near): ,Tfirre were'other acts of the Lord' Chancellor, which; when these bide' insinuations were uttered, should be ittade - known ththeliablie; that they might be enabled I tteappreciate them. It was not generally known that iebhd splendidly endowed* offices in his own gift — ( Hear, hear) ! Seven years ago some new' arrangements !were made in the office of the Secretary of Bankrupt's, 'by which much additional labout was imposed upon that officer. At that time the same holidays Were al- Awed asin.the Flank, but the Lord ChaticellOt finding' bow inconveniently these holidays ; opesated upon the dispatch of badness, determined to reform the practice and directed the officer to attend every day. Fot this additional laboursome additional corripensation was, in the opinion uf the Chancellor, due. From what quaY ter did he draw -it? It was never known till that even ing that he endowed it from own pocket—(Cheers). This sacrifice of his emoluments during the seven years had amounted to a sum of thitteen thousand pounds, which he had paid for the benefit of the Public to an in dividual, order to effect a great reform in his office. that instance alone ought to disprove the calumnies circulated against the Lord Chancellor. But it had been said that he gave his attention' particularly to lu liacy and bankruptcycases, because he derived, consi derable emoluments from them in the shape of fees.— He did indeed bestow a vast portion of his time to cases-of lunacy, but he received in no shape a fee of a single sixpeoce from them—(Hear). They were a matter of indifference to him, but in so far as the ne., cessity of an early decision of them brought them under his notice; and from this regard to his duty the odious inference was drawn, that •he-attended to them for the sake of the emolument be derived from them—(year, hear).. Wl f th respect to cases of bankruptcy; the Chan cellor was now occupied, and had been, he (Mt: Peel) knew' not how` many . days—his Learned - Fliend, the Solicitor-General, could perbaps'best inform the House abapplication arising out of a 4 case of bank rupter(eit;parti• Grinittead in' the matter of Howard and Gibbs). The fee on that case payable to the'Lord' Chancellor - was 6d—(Hear, hear). The House could.judge whether that sum was likely to be an in ducement to take a bankruptcy petition oat of the or dinary course of business. These calumnies he knew had not been' mentioned, nor' had they' received any countenance - in. that House; because he knew that 'he had. there' to deal w ith men of honour. There the `qusstion assumed• a different term. Admitting fully the integrity and ability of the Lord Chancellor, it WAS contended that his habits of indecision and delay were proluctive of the greatest mischief. But if the House found a, man, after twenty-two years service onAhe judicial bench; posiesiing unrivalled talents and unspotted integrity—even if he were somewhat in- . -- - " decisive— would not every motive, of sound.policY Per mit, - ngy, in consideration of his splendid abilities and solid virtues, compel them to obliterate the recollection. of some hesitation in the discharge of his duties ?—(Load cheering.) ‘g Because his failings, leaning to Virtue's side," made him unwilling to .pronobnce that judgment by. which he was to raise one family to prosperity, and inflict, perhaps, utter ruin upon another,*he did not de serve condemnation. Even if he was constitutionally to - give judgment, tha House, recollecting the infirmity of human nature, should throw into the other scale his universally-admitted high talents, and as spot less an integrity as was ever before witnessed on the ju dicial bench of any country in the world—(Cheers). — En fact, it had been shewn that the delays arose from the enormous mass of business that had accumulated in that Court. There were instances, it had been alleged, in which the Lord Chancellor hid been called away, riom the consideration of causes which bad i n cbnie quence, it was supposed, been forgotten, and that delay had thus intervened in the progress of the suit. The Honourable and Learned Gentleman had alluded pro bably to the Lord Chancellor's attendance when the, Recorder made his tenor t before the King in Council. It was the duty of the Lord Chancellor to advise the King as to every case. His mind was then to be :di. l l verted fiorn cases of equity, and brought to the consi.l deration of those involving life and death.. It had been 1 1 his (Mr. Peers) lot to send for the Lord Chancellor onl some of those occasions, and ha could assure the House that the performance of that duty consumed no small portion of the Lord Chancellor's time. There were, per. 'haps, forty or fifty cases through which he had to travel. The consequence was, that on retiring from the Court of Chancery, he had to apply himself to the reading of each individual case, and not unfrequently he was in the habit of abstracting notes with his own hand (Hear, hear, hear).—lli more than one instance, the rising sun the next morning had found him still occu pied with the task which the night would not enable him to complete—(cheers).— After having been four- teen hours in the Court of Chancery, he was sometimes for seven or eight hours afterwards engaged in the con sideration of the cases of those unfortunate individoals, whose life or death depended on his advice—Wear, hear, hear).—lf the consequence was unavoidable delay occasionally in some cases, could it be fairly imputed to the indecision of the individual? If, indeed, it was proved that he gave himself no to idleness or indolence, if he did not - fully devote to the public service the time that was due to the public ; if for twenty-two years he had nut denied himself every indulgence and pleasure, and cut himself off from the society of the world, in order,to perform his public duties, could it be fairly urged as a ratter of blame because he was not physi• tally able to perform all the duties that devolved on him?' While he (Mr. Peel) carefully guarded against suffering his personal feelings from interposing in the considera. tion of this important question of public. justice, yetj when he recollected the speeches delivered on thi's sub ject last year, notwithstanding the moderation with which the' iscussion was that evening prefaced by the Honourable and Learned Gentlenian, he was of opinion, the concurrence of the. Hoke Would_ lead - to an ference of the ssnne nature, and, as he, could not consent to any motion for the crimination of the Chancellor, and as he believed the House joined with him in that send ment, he hoped' they would reject the :tuition, and he was satisfied the attntry Wonld cOntirit the decision.--.: The public were not ungenerous or ungrateful., and he. wascatisfied that they did not wish to see that rare and eminent man, who for twenty-two yeafs had adminis tered justice' hi' the. Coutt of Chancery, with that ho noured' name, ..4;hieh, whatever temporary obloquy might . attach to if, would, illustrated.as it was by. the services of Eldon Mid StOviell; let shine'Cohspicuotis in the judicial annali'of the country, sink beneath suctess ;Ad calumny, and suffer hie - tleelininidays to be ernbit tEred with - stigma, or even with the appearance of stigma—(Loud chtering)'— and he' belleVed,.: if the House resolved tb - prevent - sp unholy' a - vsnsiftltiatioti; the people Wad generous enOugh4ostippomtbe LAUse 'in that decision: the Eight Rod. Gent. then sat down, 'arni dst loud airing frem - the. Minister iai benches.' Mt.ABERCROeffff• eurtgratillateOli - Honourable Priedd, - , that' wiiiteirei the intention Ministers might hi, the People of England would ascribe the success of the inquiry, whatever it might be ) .tcrthe undaunted zeal 'of his'iftitiotitabli and 2.eathed'Friettd: As to matters Of lunacy; riti'pait dtthe Chancellor's . 447 occupied so little of his time. The constitution of the Viee-Chan cellor's Court called briefly for inquiry:• No , ciriginal Came came before the Lord Chantellor4 and there - wis nrkreturn - of the business dOnehefOre the MiOr Of . Rolls. Frotit whatever cause it proceeded. there were but few causes, and of small importance,• heard by the Master - of the Rolls: In the "V'ice-ChancellOr's Coutti Most of the causes novY pending would he heat:clig city Term. In bankrupt cases, too, the greater.number 'was heard before the Vice. Chancellor. One of the objet. tions . to the' creation o f the tide=Ctiaittel!or's Court'had_ been, that it would lead to the santecanie being tried twice over. The guard that had been placed against it, viz. that two Counsellors should . be of opinion that there wets grounds for an apTieal" had peen ovet- . 'looked, and 'the LordChan•cellothad.bierksatis fi ed 'with the opinion ota . iiiigle Conniellnr, in order to hear an appeal. The °Ate efilittaChancellor had beencreated' to allow the Chancellor to 'devote niete tiinet6 'We .bu siness of the Hottie of Lords ; btit."MAv` an additional Officer had been appointed to assiFtliiin in that House. 411 the. facts stated by hisflon. Ft iend had been well known to all the practitioners in the Court of . ChAil-, eery, and . still more'to the head of been Court ; yet for - twenty-two years no attempt had been made to ieform those abuses. If the proposed Commission should not be satisfactory to the Public, it would be regarded merely as an expedient to promote a temporary pur pose —( Hear). LOCKi Mr. _ JHART'said, there was a danger that by the new system there might beintodYeniences incurred, still greater than' thaelneidentattoithe old • he hoped the Poininiision about to he appdioted would lay on the 'table of the Hopse from time to time its reports, SQ at to enable the house to act if neces s ary on those details,. On these grounds,' as Ministers has agreed to institute{ a complete inquiry, be for one should rest satisfied, and' vote against the appointment of • a Committei: • Mr: BROUGHAM said; thielthe:tlintik ! it• that in agreeinfrukthe present mbtioh 'he' - ,•tteia . to ield up ei tnnquiiitOrfil power of the'lleirce,- he. would divide 5, House on the question of the tipticiintruent of the mmittee. .He - felt; , hotteter;wiih ' the' HO.. and tithed Mttilber'arbti'lisfaddresse,diliegiliat:nO'such 'Coneession Wis . Mick by . agreeing;ess;sle proposition 'of the Right Hon.- Gentleman; Ip/ivies'. piroisesition, 'hosv ever, he could trot bar attrilidti entirely:to theeflt4t* Of die veil "able' 'attrit4dlttoiii' 'speqli' . 6l hit' ".Hsi i ii; ' and Leirbed FrienTor last year tin the mind of the Lord Chancellor, coupled with the reeeerestatelies Op* the same motion this Session of Parliament / tie had .proposed, with reference to the Scotch appeals, an at tention to the composition of the Commission, a similar cautious line of conduct, so that parties should not be constituted judges in their own case; In a Commission like this he agreed that the composition was everything; but what would the world say when this Chancellor, who hesitated on every other subject, should be found , at once to have made up his mind as to the prooriety of recommending who should be his judges? Upon his own conduct this was indeed one of the must extraordi nary anomalies ever heard o[—(dear, hear). In the case of the Scotch Commission he verily believed it would have been altogether futile,and they never would have had any report on the subject, if it had not been infused into some Members from this country, although they were not conversant with the forms of proceedings in Scotch Courts of Law. If this Cointrission were only to be of persons in the Court alluded to, it would turn out to be the merest mockery the Public ever had been insulted with; for here would be an introduction or mixing up of the party implicated in partaking - of the advantages or profits of the abuses complained of amongst the Judges who were to decide on the culpa bility of their own_conduct. Give him leave to name two inquisitors who were to shelter inquiry, and two otheri who were really disposed to inquire; these • two pair, not having the same views, would, he would un dertake to say, produce reports directly opposite. Before much good could be fairly expected from the Commis• sion, they must first know how it was to be constituted. This was a matter of much more importance than any instructions with which the Commission might be fur nished. He must takeehat opportunity of observing, that the objections did not lie against Courts of Equity alone. There were delay and heavy expenses in other Courts also; the consequence of which was, Witt per- . sons frequently submitted to an unjust demand sooner than oppose it at a considerable expense; even though confident that they' must be successful. He trusted therefore, that the other Courts would be made the sub ject of a similar inquiry. _There existed sufficieet abuses to warrant it; and in his opinion it would he better to institute such a Commission without further delay, and give the country at once some prospect of lessening the existing evils. The Equity side of the Court of • Ex chequer ought to he included in such an inquiry; in deed both sides of that Court would naturally come under the inspection claire two Commissioners. There were considerable delays ie the Courts of Law ; though ; compared with, those in Courts of Eqaity they were trifling. Stich delays might be avoided. There was an instance of a veil important case tried lately in the Court of,King'S Bench. The trial sea: entered, had, and a verdict obtained by the 20th December last, thOugt the case was not in existence befut e the 20th of November preceding. He could not conclUde without expressing the gratitude he felt towards his (Jon. and Learned Friend (Mr. Williams) for his exertions upon • this most important subject; exertions. from which, if the inquiry should,be properly conducted, the country could not fail to derive the most important advantages. f On the whole he would not object to the measure pro posed; anti t he would recommend it to Lis Hon. and Learned Friend not to press the matter to a division.— 'As 'a controuling power existed in that House, it must ' be their business to attend wish :vliiety to tht whole of the proceedings. They could not others ise secure the advantage inquiry was calculated to produce. Mr. Secretar': CANNING said, that in the present state of the disCus:ien, and after the recommendation of the Honourable and Learned Gentleman who spoke last, it would not, be necessary for him to trespass at •atis length on the time of the House. However, as the speeches of the Honourable Gentlemen 'opposite curried mostly on objections, not so much to the course pro-: nosed by his Right Honourable Fr lend (Mr. Secretary Peel), - as to the object the Commission would have Vs ptirstie,*and the mode id,which it was to be app-ioted,'*. it might be satisfactory to hearfroin another Minister of the Crown that it was the determination lot only of the Noble Lord (Eldon); but of the Government, that the inquiry should be- sincere, serious, and effectnal— (Hear). Even' if it could'be.supposed that there ex ! isted on the part pf the Noble-Lord (Eldon), or of the Government, a disposition to trifle with so iur sit taut a subject—with the eyes of the House and of the. Public upon them, could it be supposed that such a Comniri• sion would be instituted with any other view but that of beneficialarrangeMent ? The first object the Commis sion would have to examine would be the time taken up In the determination of causes ; second, the expense ; and thirdly, that most important object, whether any part of those weighty duties now di char4ed by the • Chancellor might not be beneficially detached. from that high office and transferred in such a way as to effect:a more speedy dispatch of business. He begged to be • understood as not giving any decided opinion upowthe subject. Hi did not mean to say'that the result of'the inquiry would be affirmative of the attainment of such objects, but at least . the inquiry .was to be entered upon with 'sincerity—(Hear.) As to the composition of the Commission, the House must see that there would be 4t eat -difficulty in stating the names of individuals. Some Gentlemen to whom the prolutsition had been made might have hesitated to enter into an investiga tion of so much labour and importance; but he Contd• assure the House that there Existed , the most sincere dis position to bring together the elements most likely in their combination to produce the be.t results, and to ap point a set of, men most likely to I erform their duty without fear or favour. The Honourable and Learned Gentleman Brougham) ex; re.sed- a wish that the Commission should also embrace in their inquiry the - delays and expenses of Courts of Law. The House must see that if such a proposition came from his (Mr. C:inning's) side of the House, it would be liable to the imputation of a wish to encumber the inquiry by ex tending it. Not precluding examination into any other part of the system of the administration of justice that might be encumbered with-di ffi culty, it would be better to confine themselves now to the single object proposed. It was observed that this idea was not taken up first by the Noble Lord (Eldon) or by the Government; that. had it not been pressed on the House in the present and the preceding Sessions, no attempt would have been made to remedy the evils complained of. He did not take upon himself to say that the Commission would have been proposed had no - discussion taken place ; who , could take upon hiMself to say, among the vast variety ot - causes to which human actions- might -be traced,. to.' r what particular Motives any event like. this was to be. it(tribtited ? But this he would say, that it was not oc• easioned by the notice of the motion now - brought for. 4 sv . ard by the Honourable and Learned Geutlentan(sl4. 'Williams). It last Session. at s e l s e s a io st n. as Qid ' rds' made Friend (Mr. Peel) had been ever since occupied with the aißtihghtit-eirortnetlftlitrlt: such an imputation ; but he si f r t ft h us.placedirad gradually in ra -- - In 1740 it amounted to Li 1744 - 1700 - - 1790 - - 7A 1300 - . - 17,0 tsso - • - T h es e were in his mind conclusive j ea l progress of .the business of before:, ail attempt was made by L e arned Gentleman to excite prej Sidon, and to attribute to him thi (runs the Court, the charge fell hare left us astonished how any one min e l e Dispatch of so muck business. 41 the attendance given by the Nob) j Lords, and let them, foe that pi of the Berkeley and the Roxb in which the Lord Chancellor artet of Privileges, and they would find ease ak?ne, his Lordship sat for thi ew until `four o'clock ; in the Rotbt Iber days did his Lordship give. h really, while they were on the subj would mention one which appeare fiction. It rested on the evidence of _ to many Members of that House— t estimony of Mr. Cowper. In the Counsel alone occupied the attenti Lords for eighteen minutes. Th "No." Well, could it be possible, th could last for eighteen buttes?—(A Country Gentlemen say, when th were occupied by this indefatigabli they were complaining of delay, while considering what portion of to others as well as the Lord Chaff' of the last Session of P arliament, House of Lords was dawn to the tion; and they came to the conclu nifestly impossible for any person to duties attached to the Lord Cha With a view of meeting the di& that Corniciiision was formed—the brought to a successful terminal -given great satisfaction. The pat his Noble Friend (the Lard Chan , lewd• to that subject. A Commi Great Seal, diretted to the same pi excepting the proposed inquiry mull ter of the Lord Chancellor, which to say, without any distepect to t inittee of that House was compete the question came to be discussed, desirable to divest the Lord Chan, duties of his office? h& trusted change would not be unaccompt serious consideration. He could r that the objection stated by t Learned 'Gentleman, had not bee same extent at least, as that Hone Gentlentan had represented it to At no very remote period it had' no on some of 'that Honourable and Prieads; as they, acting in conforn of the Constitution, had' felt no di same Judge to preside over the criminal law of the laud, who of the civil Courts, The fact was tun ad hostiltetn, and lie (Mr. Pee proof that when others were in pi the union of the judicial and poll Lord Chancellor's Office was not as the cheers the Honourable ant bad received that evening - would' cue —( Cheers). It had been ado and Learned Gentleman, why,. been appointed to inquire into the lice, a similar Committeeshould quire into the Court of Chancery nu hesitation in admitting, that , all ceedings of the Court of Chaucer: with great benefit, for, without; ii the Judge who presided over the- happen that the forms of Iprozei tient times might not now• be th • interests of the suitors at presen admitted, that if it appeared that' bill read by the Honourable anc only six were relevant to the issue mahling eighty-four folios woul& importance to the administration •c ter of economy - to the patties coni Again, when the Honourable' ani asked why the Accountant-Genes an account of what was called the eery. as the Bank did of the uni (Mr. Peel), without professing to on the subject, speaking only agreed that the suggestion appeal one, and he could not refrain froi only this reseryation—unless, tea should, upon further investigatic trary. Before he left the ptactic no difficulty in saying, that to hi whole progress of a suit, from it: close, ought to be' narrowly et with a , view to ascertain wttethii • tiolts delays were interposed iA' it Solicitors, by, the Counsel, 'or 1 (Hear,hear).—With respect to t ruptcy cases trims the Lord .Cha that that part of his jurisdiction. office, but had been devolved o- ent, it was impossible to deny jest of inquiry also. Generally be nu doubt of the propriety 'of i (•sild be abstracted from the off It was not to be forgotten, that f. doubted the propriety of withdr niptcy from the jurisdiction c such an authority was entitled ti tion—(Near, hear). But to the Peel) had no objection, provide • ho were most competent thought, might be constituted.; lionourab:e and Learned Gentle tioa to the Motion was fount tn itviction that a C o urmi ss ion m instituted by the Crown than trA iln l a se—(Hear). SUppose, up 1 1 Z, theiCrown called in the aid of I w boiled retired from tl ;; had been the highest praclitia Tr ", .as Lord ReJesdale--(//ei iia ra • Grant—(Hear, hea r ) whb had retired from tl ' with the universak-approbati Countr7, could ibeinduced • - it tdr. .