The Sun. — London, England, 1817-12-08 00:00:00

at , r f, co° ! cliff 11Il i Wry ft, ON THE MODERN INNOVATIONS IN THE PRAC TICE OF THE 'LAW-1:Y THE EMPLOYMENT OF CERTIFICATED CONVEYANCERS. It is not perhaps sAticiently known ; that in the early part of last Session a petition was presented to the House of Commons, praying for the Le-, gislatire suppression of' a grievance, which, though gradual and almost unobserved in its pro gress, is fraught with the most serious danger. The House has been informed, that many U 14.. • edticated and unqualified persons have taken on themselves the occupation of Conveyancers, to the great detriment of, the regular practitioners, and the still greater injury of the community. As the subject will probably he revived in the ensuing Session, we feel it a duty to make public those considerations which occur to us on a cries tion so peculiarly interesting. It appears very strange, that While no man, without a clerkship office years, and the p.tyment of -Stamp Duties, and Admission Fees of nearly one hundred and fifty pounds, can practice as an Attorney or Solicitor, the .mere entrance into an Inn of Court, which may be - obtained without either time or study for a few pounds, shonld qualify any man for the functions of a Convey ancer ;- and; that individuals of the lowest trades and classes in life, have actually availed themselves of this oversight of the Law—for we can term it mottling else ;—and have set up for privileged a 'Conveyancers, with no other qualifications 'than -• a desk, an iokborn, and a quire of paper. Important as this question is to the Solicitors and Attornies who have qualified themselves for the Public confidence by an expensive education, Iv an' exclusive appropriation of their time, by iso? lei ILO cbg t he xft e at •i -4 to anintermitting study, and by a perfect conversance with tile Laws of Y ROPERTY, we consider it .at ill more important lOTHEPEpPLR, who are continually suffering from insecure titles, fraudulent trans fers, and ruinous litigation :—since, in a country like Great Britian, where industry extends such facilities for the acquirement of wealth, and landed property offers the main security wherein that wealth can be invested, vealth must be precarious it property is insecure, and industry must be hope less if wealth is endangered. Upon our Commer cial State, the effect of this evil is indeed fear ful :—it strikes at the root, of all internal prospe rity, lay removing all internal confidence. And thus mist the grievance * conti n ue, while a mock auctioneer, or an old-clothes-man, may determine upon the investigation of settlements, the descent of inheritances, the validity of leases, the opera tion of contracts, the import of deeds, the con struction of and the thousand other points which are attendant on flue sale and purchase of larrl, shipping, and other property. When a respectablebody 'of Solicitors and At. tarries are interceding with the Legislature to abolish so serious an. evil, they seem actuated by a motive directly adverse to the purposes of profit or monopoly. Did they consider their own ere°- . lumeet merely,, and neither their own credit nor the Public Good, they would still acquiesce in the grievance ; and, leaving our estates and Proper , ties to the management of the trading Convey ' 7ancers, remunerate themselves by that abundant harvest of litigation which ignorance and error are sure to produce. The. Conveyancer cannot remedy his own mistakes; gross as they may be, and palpably blundering, they must be brought into the Solicitot's or Attorney's Office for the reparation of the Law. . If, however,,theie professional emoluments are abridged by the' proposed reformation, their re apectabiliiy will be increased in at least an equal satin. 'That '' glorious uncertainty," which has afforded its fertile source of reproaCh and sarcasm, will henceforward be ascribed to those done c ho create it ;. not to those who ARE Lawyers, but to those who are Nor Lawyers not to the regUlar , Professors, who enter in at the door, but to the Intruders, who slip in at the window.. The flaw is not uncertain ; its rules are founded on princi. • andi s prine,ple on justice ; the uncertainty, which has generated so much complaint and spread so much ruin, is occasioned by the knaves who pervert the law, and by the fools who finis take it. We will not lessen the National Importance of this question, by aey Further reference to the pro fessional jet crests of the Soli( hors and Attoreies , neither will we narrow it, to individual advantage or reputation,- while it can be advocated on the broad ground of -general. utility.' Bur it is essen tial to the Public Safety, that respectable mei, should be induced, by the prospects of emolument and credit, to devote the i mselves to the Public Service ; and Conveyancing, in country practice especially, stands very forward aniong the expen sive studies-of the Solicitor and Attorney, and his lucrative compensations. It is indeed high time that the community should he-rescuee hom this' evil, that property bould no longer be endangered' by every illiterate pretender, who promises cheap work, and sells his ignorance under price, that the regular Solicitor and Attornies should no longer be censured for the mischiefi which they did not create. We trust farther, that the remedy sought by these re spectable individuals will be greatly extended; and that the Legislature will not only prevent the per sons before alluded to from practising as Convey ancers, under cover of an admission into some Inn , of Court, but restrain also . their connecting themselves with any Solicitor and Attorney, and doing business under his name. Until this refor mation shall he accomplished, until the transfer of properly shall be taken • out of the hands of Ad venturers, whose want of knowledge is almost as dangerous as, in many instances, their cant of integrity, the profession of the Law will be de graded, and the Law itself will he discredited ; still worse, litigation will be aggravated and aug mented;and the security of property will be sa .criiced to ignorance, to presumption, and fre quently to dishonesty. -The first Petition presented to the Legislature last sitting, was by Mr. ANDERTON,. of It itubol ton, and in the course of the Session other Peti tions to the same effect were presented by the Soli citors and Attornies az the following places ; and we understand, in consequence of the injury which has been so very generally sustained by the profession at large, an application will be made in the next Session of Parliament, to give rffect to the REAL intention of the Legislature in pass ing the 44 Gen. 111. and to remove the grievance which they now labour under in that respect Taunton, Christchurch, Welliogton, Fordingbri ge, 'W i veli,combe, Ash'ity-de-la-Zouche, M veri 0 , olverliampr North Shields, Essex (County) South Shields, , Dudley, ' _ Want age, Cambridge, Plymouth, Ely, and adjoining Plymmith Dock, places, Stouehoitse, Whitchurchi Barustaple,aud adjoining Drayton, places, Went, Portsmouth, Derby, Portsoa, Beverley, Gosport, 11u11, Warrington, Winchester, Exeter, Birmingham, Ringwood, &c. &c. &c. P 'l' It Y. ODE FOR MUSIC. TOR MERCANTILE FRACAS. TUNE—" The Longitude misB'd on." VECITATIVO. On Tallow and Oil. Arose a sad broil, In London, Itwixt THORNTON and HILBERS— Strange that Oil and that Tallow So soft and so mellow, Should prove of dissection such Builders! • ETORNELLO. That MIXERS bewilders, This THORNTON hronglitaunt on, So Tnoilwros and' 1-111,BE RS, And Hs LEERS and TannNToN, The one it bewilders, And t'ntber brought taunt on. Sing 1-141,BERS Bewilders, And THORNTON, Witb taunt on, Sing THORNTON and I-TUBERS, And HILBERS and THORNTON, The one it bewilders, And Vother brought taunt on. DA CAPO. FOR THE SUN. Mn. EDITOR,—The Morning Chronicle took up very promptly your mistake about the reported resignation Of THE CoMNIANDF.R IN CHIEF• Now as all the nonsense,vented upon that .uhject ori ginated with The Morning Chronicle, Quere whe ther the Letter, with a sham official seal, which imposed upon you, did not come from some agent of The M. C. itself, which, if so, of course, was on the watch to take advantage of its own cheat ? A QUERIST. THE THEATRE. -Thc part of Richard the Third . was again as sumed by Mr. FISHER at Drury-Lane Theatre on Saturday, and he fully justified the favourable opinions which his previous performance of this character ha'd excited. He entered into its spirit,. and vtas full of bustle and vigour. His race is capable of varied expression, and therefore we advise him, when he repeats this character, to-divest himself of a sort of sarcastic smile, which seems to he the effect of 44bit, and which appents sometimes when the passages regnire a differect -expression. His pause on recovering from the ef fects of his,dream was much too long, but his errors were very few and very trifling, and sink to nothing in comparison with his general .met He had evidently some enemies in the house, but 'heir feeble and ill-directed hostility only served to draw forth a liberal and zealous support fro.m t Ire audience in genera-1. • CORN-EXCHANGE, DEC.,..---WC had a middling , apply of lk heat this morning from Essex and Kt-nt,• line samples of which being in demand, Sabi at an advante of from 2s. to 3s. per quarter„ but there is no amendment in ordinary ; 'Fine - Barley is 2s. per quarter dearer ; Fine Malt sup .•orts its price ; Grey Pease have declined 2s. per quarter ; Boiling. Pease and Oats sold on the same terms as this day week ; in other articles there is no alteration. DREADFUL FIRES IN NEWFOUNDLAND. Saturday afternotitt arrived at Portsmouth his Majesty's sloop Pike, Captain BuctiAN, from St. J Newloututland, in eleven days, leaving there the Sir Francis Drake (Vice-Admiral PtcF.- mottE), Captain Bowtuu ; Tamar, Capt. Toxmt ; Egeria, Captain Itowt..Ev ; and the Fly, Captain .IiALD'xIN.---She brings accounts of two most de ructivefires at St John's, which destroyed one half the houses, and the principal part of the pro perty in the town. The consequences to the poorer part of . the population, in the ensuing whiter,. were contemplated with the most painful feelings. Its Excellency-Vice-Admiral PICKMORE issued a Proclamation on the Bth November, stating, that, it had been rept esented to him., that in- conse quence of the extensive destruction caused by. the late disastrous fire, among the principal store houses and depositories of provisions intended for .Jhe winter snpply of tile inhabitants of this town, an alarming scarcity may ensue at a season of the year when - it will he iniposNible to obtain an ade quate relief; he thought fit to impose a temporary embargo upon the export of provisions front the port of St. John's until the extent vi the evil could be ascertained, and such measures adopted as the exigencies of the - case May require.' The following are the particulars from the Royal Ga zette and the Mercantile Journal, which have been received ;;-- (From the Royal Gazette. November 18.) DEsraucTivE FIRE. '' Painful anti :liflit:nit is the t, , sk which de volves upon us of recording the truly distressing fire with - which this ill-fated to,vu was again visited 'on Friday night, the 7th instant. The flames were titst dist*,vered ab,int half-past ten issniugfiorn an uninhabited Ilituse, about forty yard, trout the Royal Gazette Office, in trout of Mr, William B. Thomas's dwelling, and in ten minutes communicated to the 'surrounding build ings ; by this time the inhabitants hail assembled, but the engines, with their milted efforts, scented of little use in checking this all-devouring ele ment, whirl) now began to assume rn appearance that •truck every beholder with terror and dismay. In the centre of the town, between tkVO StleelS not exeeeding 20 feet in width, all exertion was unavailing to stem the current of conflagration ; the flames spread in everysdireetion with the ra piditY of lightning, • until about six o'clock . on Saturday mottling., when the exertions of the more respectable part of the community. aided by the army and navy, sitcceeded in arresting its p ogress at the King's Wharf. To give an ade quate description of the awful, we had almost said terrible grandeur of he scene, ‘se confess our in andity. Th e glaring splent:our of the flames dis sipated the dat knass, of , he•night, and discovered the misery in which' we were placesi. Immense volumes of sun ke majts , irally above the buildings, at once obscured the dazzling blaze of light, and reflected it back 'again ,on the earth. i lVhen the morning dawned such a scene of deso lation presented itself as perhaps very few of the spectators ever before witnessed, and such as we sincerely hope they never tmq behold again ;. a space or' ground extending. nearly 'a quarter of a mile in length, and three hundred yards in breadth, w a s cleared of tkle' honsei - which stood thereon. Ftolll . tS.e Dissenting Meeting- house to the' Chnrch-yard, on the west side ; all the buildings from rie Court-house to the north-east boundary of Crt foal's premises (noth inclusive) on the eact side Duck wortb-sireet ; from the corner of Church Hcii to %rut Findlay's' on, die upper side, and trim J.. and 11. Brine's shop to the King's - Wharf on•the lower side of Wraer-stre'et, hie the stores and wharfs, were reduced to ashes, and wit,' them the greater part of a very large stock of prbvisions with which they were stored. " The pro,2tes.iif the conflagration and its melancholy &fleets were indicuried by the sinoak ing ashes; white chininies, standing like trees bared of their verdure by the fury of the lightning, denoted its power. On the countenances of each sufterer we heield delineated, in the most une quivocal characters, either the violence of iieute feeliog, or the dreadful stitputaction of extreme grief. What rendered it more truly distressing is, that - most of those who suffered so severely in the fire of the 11 th of February, 1816, are Jgain involved in the distress which we now attempt to describe—in that calamity, many respectable in dividuals lost their all, and are again reduced to a similar. situation; without shelter or covering, ar thii advanced season of the year. IVinter, is approaching—a long, dreary,-Newfoundland win ter-,-and the prospects before us ate gloomy in the extreme; but we will not-distress our readers by dwelling longer on this melancholy topic. We do, however, most sincerely hope that efficient measures will be speedily devised; and promptly executed, to save - us from a repetition 'of the scenes of last winter. Amongst the causes of distress, not, one has produced in our minds more powerful'effects, or more unpleasant feelings, than the awful, we may say alarming depravity, mani fested in the extensive depredations committed during the horrors and confusion of the *fit, by wretches totally devoid of all religious feeling— of all sense of moral obligation. We Cannot tin- body our thonghts 'on this subject—such) crimes . bid defiance to expression ; they could only pro ceed from the conjunction of the Most brutal . apathy and diabolical rejoicing in the.misery of °the i rs. We hope the penetrating eye of justice will detect these hardened ; .we are sure that her arm can never inflict more deserving punishment. than is due to such infamous tnis creants. Notting now, under any pretence, can he offered in extenuation; 'since, places are ap pointed for the reception of such goods as may. not he in the possession or under the controui of its lawful owners. " So tar as we have been able to ascertain, 13 mercantile establishments, and among - them the extensive Concerns - ot Hart, Robbinson, and-Co. ; Hunters and Co. ; Teter .Henderson (late Jas Machraire and Cu.); •Bullet's, Job, and Cross; Parker, Cheever, and Co. ; Wm; B. 1 somas ; Att wood and Haynes ; Peter'Le Messurier, and at least 135 dwelling-houses, occupied by no , less than 1100 persons, have been consumed ; and it is calculated that the amount of property .de stroyed cannot be less than from tour to five hun dred thousand pounds. Of th, awful calamity which the 7th of November brought upon us we have given but a fant deFeription—more, how ever, we cannot •at tempt ; our 1-C quite no ap . alney for this—they will readily be lieve.that such are the potiverfid emotions vi,• , ich agitate our minds that we cannot say all that • e would—we are confused whenever we revert to the painful subject, and. feet unable to attain any thing like perspicuity - iu the expression of our thoughts. 'Those who witnessed the awit:l 'sight can never forget it ; most vivid will be the recol lection 'even to their latest day. "To those who were not spectators, we despair of.giving any thing like an - accurate _conception. ‘lre have , not had a fire, Init a conflagraiion dreadful; and, considering our peculiarly distress ing circumstances, we should scarcely be wrong in adding, an miheard-of Conflagration ! In conse quence of a Proclamation issued by his Excellency the Governor, all vessels and boats are prevented from leaving this port till the quantity of provi sions in the town be ascertained ; this, we arcirt hopes, will have the good effect of securing to the community whatever may be yet remaining, _but that itselc, with the additicri of what is expected, will not, we apprehend, be near F tiffiCient - to sup ply onr wants till our navigation opens in th s e spring,rof the year. In addition, owing to the the quantity of fuel consumed, there is a scarci ty of that valuable article: The major part of .our printing materials having been de , troved, the Proprietor of the Mercantile Journal hiss, . with great kindness, offered us the use of his types, &c," (From I,lte Afercantite Jout-nal, Nov. 21.) " ANOTHER CALAMITOUS AND DISTRESSING FIRE. " About half-past three o'clock this morning, just as we were about to put nor paper to press,, we were alarmed by a signal for lire ; and we have now the paintul task to tecord, atter so short a lapse of time, another extensive and distressing conflagration. i" It appears that the fire,was observed in the premises of Messrs Huic, s -lieed, and Co. its Water -street, and soon extended its ravages to the . westward, as far as the house of Mr. Benj. Bow ring, on the upper side, and the store of Mr. Rebt. Nevins, on the lower side, where, by very powerful exertions, it was stopped in its westerly direction, but con! in tied. advancing east weid until half-past 9 o'clock, by ,which time it had burnt the ,premises of Mr. James Chit, where great exer tions were required, and were happily-exerted, to save tile premises of Messrs. Perkins and WitMr, upon which depended the safety of the whole range of [looses on the Church Hills on the upper side, and the stores of Messrs. Trimmingharns and Co. on the lower side, just where the late fire %vas stopped'in its progress westward ; all of which buildings narrowly escaped on the 7alt inst. Tints a great part - of the western half of the town, which we contemplated as a slither for the then, distressed, is lain in ashes, and many families have to lament and feel the, painftd - distress of a second time being burnt out of their dwellings .in the short space of fourteen days—by what means many of them will find . sh,lter the approaching winter, we are at a loss to conjecture, shoularfrey even be fortunate enough . to have the means of purchasing necessaries. " In this hasty account we cannot enter fully into - particulars, nor Can we at, this short notice pretend to 'est mate the aggregate Amount of the damage done : the very extensive stores and dwel hng of Messrs Conninginone, Bell, and Co. and those of Mc-o . s iI ate, it e el: root Co. Ryan and Solis, Mr Robert Nevins, Mr. Janies Chu, Mr. John Burke, ..and several other mercantile esta= bliSiimetos, have talleti a sacrifice to the devour ing flames ; the dwelling-house, shop . . &c Nevins • were preserved. " Ton much praise cannot be bestowed on the navy, military, and an immense nuniber of the re spectable inhalin - ants,' for their united exertions io stopping the fire,, whose effor is were directed, and supported,, by the Civil Authorities ;•i• the - Clergy; partictdarly the Rev. Either Fi zgerld ; and although we could mention intmerous other hig , dy deserving, yet in justice 11 its merit we are cOnstrained.to notice him partien. . '4l Various conjectures are afloat as to the cause of this disaster, but we %rill not at present-hazard an opinion. We have . great cootidenee that the Proclamation of his Excellency the Governor, and the decisive measures' adopted by the Civil Au thorities, relative to depredations committed on . the property of sufferers in the late fire, will have . the effect of preventing, iu a great degree, similar atrocities Gil the present occa•;,;ta " CITY PRISONS.—The .1to•y tor the City of London, previously to . their disc:ll - at ge on Satin.- _ dm , evening, made the followittg presentment in the Court at the Old Bailey : • " They could not, they said, possibly separate without ex pressing their high Sense of the admirable arrangements which exist in Newgwe and the Giltspur-street Compter, for the, security and good order of those pri,ons. They -Wand the inmates in general in a healthy state, and there were no com plaints amongst them except that for an additional simply of coals,- the present allowance being represented as insufficient for cooking the victuals. There was also an al lus io n made by the prisoners as to a slight want of cavyring and Matting ; and the dory regretted to state, t.1% - it in a few instanses they ' noticed persons who were nearly in a state of nakedbess. " The Grand jury had further to lament the delay that had taken place in reporting the,cases of unfortunate persons ca pitally convicted to the proper authority, an evil they trusted would be remedied. ." Finally, they could not but highly approve the "plan which had been adopted if) separating the ionic itonithe fe male prisoners in . Newgate; nor conld they omit the expres sion of their approbation •of the Institution of a S.eciety com posed of women who hropically came forward to re store the morals and avert the ruin of the sex. " The Court having th,dillied the Gran) .Ivry for the zea lous discharge of their several duties, discharged them." nittni At the Grove, Stanrnore, , Po the 4th instant, the Lad y of Charles Poole Esq. of a timlghter. DIED. . On Saturday evening, at his house at Norwood,. Air. James Lawson, of Dove-cOnft, Lombard-street, mci:d 52 He was only taken ill -on ThtirAay of a complaint in the wipeiripe, or gitinsy, and died within 4S hours of the fist attack, ie.tving a. disconsolate widow and eight children. He was a Citittlen.ian. connected with this Journal ; and while in tb discharge ut what may be called the professional, duties eiiich devolved upon him, he ever ,disphyrd the most excitlltlary zeal, indus try, and fidelity; hegained also by his:• private conduct the warmest and most sincere affection of those 01:o hail long; acted with hint. His loss will be deeply felt and long regret ted. His eldest °son will succeed- hint in the management of his various concern , both in town and country, to whom all Correspondents will, as usual,';ipply, and in whom they will find the same activity and attention whith clistiliguished the very estimable pareut.—(Timet)