The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1819-05-21 00:00:00

MR. COARIEN NTT :S PETITION

Lord Mt ',Ton moved the °ides- i,f the Day b.r resuming
11-. e adjourned debate upon t!ie tweet:oil 6.f h'311.,4 Mr.
Chat le• Pot, at the hat. la, ',rapport of los Petition lisp at•
tog the Election.
Mr. WY■N raid, that on the rolled conaideratiou h. had
heels able to gist the 'wryer of this ..... he dial loot
thin* the H••use ought to agree to tire Nubl.• I,ord's motion.
Loess if the House were inclined toigepart Cum their ri Cillar
Ltd", 11. dual WA (Link that it VIP such a rase in r lied for
their interference. The Petitioner had, with .ist toy ale.
tingle cause assigned, angered ; day to elrie.e, whin he
might have preserved his opportunity by xti• 84(16%, isli.ch
he hail not 'lout, upon the Cterk rf Eleclloua.
The was then negatived..
Mr WYNN said, that after •liet.had (teem real, he could
not see bow Mr. Pitt's Petition c•ald rentaiii ou the table.
fir therefore moved that it be njecied, which was Leeurding-
ly dome.

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JURISDICTION OF THE COURT OF CH %NCERT.
Mr. M. A. Talreou rose to C.lll the attention of
the House to a subject of much importance to the
community at large—elie enema the injuries which
arose limn delays in the Court of Clo4.:crry. Ile
disclaimed, when he adverted to those
ing to cast the slightest imputation upon the Noble
and Learned Lord who presided in. that Courl.4
what he wished to enforce upon the was, 114
necessity of relieving the Noble and Learned. ocd
from tonne of that bositiesa which snow pressed se
heavily upon him, and which
,rendered it itepessir
ble, hum the variety mid pressure of the business
iu his Court, that any human strength could wade
through the mars of metier which mos pliciel
before him., Parliament ought
.to irlieve the
Noble and Learned Lord fruto suqte of those
heavy duties which were incompat.l,ll Pali the
performance of Otto reasonable di•patch whie4
ought to belong to judicial proceediugs, The wily
way to effect this improvement was, to separate the
jurisdiction of bankrupt burin's, from the Great
Seal. This wiss, in his opinion, the only, step which
could he taken to give actual relief 'ether so the
Lord Chancellor or the suitor. The establishment
of the Vice-Chatieellor's Court, which wits intruded
to relieve the business .of the Lord Chancellor, had
failed to produce the inteuded effect. There were
now 100 appeals waiting fur decision in the Court
of Chancery. The ilicrease of businest in 'het
Court had of late years been euvrtrions. In.lBll,
the 'lumber of original causes upon the Lord Chau-
cellor's paper, pas 114: iu the month of Xlorcit
of the present year, the number was 209. 1.1 Itll t,
in the appeal paper there weer 3i caeca ;
.ii 1819,
there were 101. It was intpossibl'elor tile Lord Co.ano
cellor to get thrumili those appeals in a less permit
than two,years. 3be business of the Noble and
Learned Lord had accumulated to 611 t Is a degree;
that it oat impossible he could get through it
with any thing like the dispatch which the courses
of justice required.
.He had superidded to his ori-
ginal jurisdiction, the care of, tummies. his politicll
ditties in attending Councils, the Chair 01 the
House of Lords, and a variety of other dada,, which
it was impossible fur soy liuAtasi being to diselialge
with any thing like efficacy ,and dispatch. Sssce
the time of Lord Hardwicke, the busiiieis of the
Court of Chancery had more teas doubled—the
Scotch and Irish appeal-, writs of error, etc. made
an 1113111Viltse It became neceesary,
therefore, to consider, whether some coneideratioe
(ought not to be paid in the arilumis situation which
he filled. In this view, he thought the
,derct
course would be to separate the jurisdiction of
bankrupts from the duties of the Great Seal. The
jurisdiction of haiikiupts was in fact more a legal
than an equitable jurisdiction; it Was. compa-
ratively, of modern date in the hands of the Lord
Chancellor. It was on s late occasion reported.
that on the coesideratiou of a particular Petition.
the Lord Chaucellor husk said, thet a great 46187•
Lion seemed to prevail in the public ivied respect..
log the notice of a motion to separate the. benkrupt
business from his jurisdiction, and the Noble and
Learned Lord was then reported to have said, that
be f..listed it was intended to remove it to H Colll.
tribunal before e proper Jiitlge ; of curse
lie (Mr. Taylor) had no othereioticti that: that it
should be removed before a, comnetent tribun
He rue+iit nothiog. else. and lie thou. ht that Por-
Intuit-lit ought to fix that tribunal, and relieve the
Chancellor from an excess of basin.u, which he
repeated it was out of the power of Hoy human be.
He said the information he could lay belie the
pig to perform, so to facilitate the Aids ol 4iistive„
could pledge himself as
Huns out this subject,
to ite accuracy ; lie bad it from traitu of rsinft iu
the profession of the law. When lie spoke cut thui
subject to the late Sir Samtiel Routine, „that la-
peeled State:omit admitted the extent of the eel!,
but lie said it would be ucpleasasit for a lawyer to
bring, on si eubiect oth:cone, the Judge iii .whine
Court he pleaded: Ife was so hopreesed with this
importunce of this subject tbat lie would slot lei it
rest ; lie would bring it foreard tigein mut oohs
ritoilidsiterintehteliiiiitigursliltieiurldorbeeatisetaiLhet thebre.ll:/viue..!
aided, and the number 'that retiaie j sirup let
the 1-louse deciae whether time fir)t hoe brut
re it .4* Sri down too lie.airing—
ty,tast at!, tit: .aril, i t Solicitors
,eisoistl foofr aticireyse. fiumiugAe;rinfir:
00 the paper :tor roe year.
eight, end c. al ten yeses.. A CPUOV. •reTiun ina.Puu
might then remain
Court twit
yigirairstlibe
before
Court Chancery toe.
More;
there will lbs fertile:4oa/ of twos ews, 4t tiltrM}
end if there be an amoral Inuit lime decree.

it Is,

'~

MINIM

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happened, he said, that in met to decide on ques-
tions respecting the beneficial interests of lessee,
that the interest itself expires before the cause is
determined. In one case, depending on the byes
of two old lessees, they both died about twelve years
after the cause was instituted, and before the Corot
had decided. In bankrupt cases there was, he
said, a dray scarcely passed in which some
bankrupt case was not put on the list, and the
'hearing often of a single case took up an
'roue day. Surely, he added, the Lord Chan-
cellor could not, with just regard. to other and
important concerns, attend to these eases—nor was
there any reason or necessity that he should. Was
there uo other man in the country or in the pro-
fession who could art as Chief Commissioner of
Bankrupts but the Lord Chancellor ? Suppose he
died, could no other person be found competent
to discharge those duties? The Honourable Gen-
tleman nest alluded to the subject of appeals
to the House of Lords. He contended, that from
the Court of Chancery the suitors had no appeal
whatever. There was an appeal from Scotland—
there was en appeal from Ireleird—there was an op-
peal from the Courts of Law—but from the Court
of Chancery there was none. The suitor went
from the Judge sitting in Chancery, to the same
Judge sitting in the House of Lords. The busi-
ness of that Court since the year 1752 increased
in a wonderful degree. The money of suitors
lodged its the Bank of England in that year,
was shoat three millions; in this year it amount-
ed to nearly thirty-four millions, it should be re-
eollvrted that one-third of the estatee and properly
of the country was decided in that Court, soul yet
from that Court there was no appeal. A sum of
money lay in the Court from 175•2 to a late period,
di right and, indisputable owner of that money de-
iit:',ded it. het he was informed iu one of the
/fit that the expenses in getting it out of Court
would amount to a sum equal to the money lodged.
He was convinced that there was now locked tip
in the Bank of England a sum of 10 millions.
The flan. Gentleman next alluded to the appoint-
ment of • Speaker to the House of Lords. He
said, that they had two instances of such an ap-
pointment within the last six weeks. Such an ar.
?element would, lie contended, give the Lord
Chancellor lime to attend to the pressing and on.
portent concerns of his Court. lie would ask Gen-
tlemen whether sonic arrangement was not neces-
sary?—lie %mild ask whether the business of the
Court was &tile as it ought to be ? He hesitated
out to say, that some day or other a measure more
enlarged veil more effective than the one he now
proposed steuld be carried. All ha asked wits for
Cianiiiittee. There the subject could be fairly
inve?.tn.;ated. If he am rightly informed, there was
net at petrol less than from 4 to 500 questions of
different sorts standing for judgment. He had this in-
formation from Barristers of high character. He con-
tended that the creatiorsof theoffice of Vice-Chancel-
lor did tint answer all the purposes proposed—it did
not facilitate the decisions of the Court, nor did it
decrease the business of the Lord Chancellor. He
colichided by moving, that the Home should re-
eolse itself Intl a Committee, to take into collet-
droititto so moth of the Statute of the 13th of Elm.
th. 7, which gave jurisdiction to the Lord Chan.
cellor in caws of bankruptcy. If the motion were
agreed to, he would, he said, move that the subject
he taken into consideration on an early day, when
the Livr Officers would have en opportunity of
fully considering the question.
Mr. Sus ct. site ruse to second the motion.
The Sohictvog-GENERAL said, the objection of
his Flunniiral,le and Learned Friend was this, that
the creation of the Vice-Chancellor's Court did not
ditniesi.h, but, on the contrary, increased die busi.
lies* of the Court, and increased delay. To the
mallow he (the Solicitor-General) had two objec-
tions :—Arst, because the arrears of business had
nut isicreesrd ; yet even if they had lie would ob.
jet.' to the jurisdiction proposed by his Honourable
Friend. 1k had gated, that a cause could not be
set down for two or three ears to be heard,
but he must be surprised to hear that all
the causes now set down for hearing have been
sit down only since the last Term. As to cases
of bankruptcy, lie has tweii also mistaken.—
The overage number of bankrupt cases was
about 617 on the pithier; at present, he said, there
were but 170 on the paper. 100 of which had been
net down to be heard during the last Hilary Term.
There were 70 appeal cases from the Vice. Cha-
ncellor end others, which', at the instance of the
partite, were apeciully referred to the Lord Chan-
cellor. lie believed he was correct in saying, that
the number of petitions now remai 111 l ig were
fence than was ever known, and if it had not
bee. fir the late illness of the Lord Chancel-
lor, there would be no arrears As to the num-
ber of causes, there were 406 set down for hear-
ing, and of these 143 or 140 were not set down
till last Hilary Term. He would ask, then, was
it true that the appointment of the Vice-Chane
cellor had not diminished the pressure of the
public business ? Was it not true that that Act
had facilitated and accelerated the disposal of
causes, nut only in the Court of Chancery, but
in appeal cases in the House of Lords ? The
Eord•Chaucellor, since that Act, had given three
slays in the week to the hearing of appeals, though
hetore he could not spare one day. The conse-
quesice naturally was, that more appeal cases have
been now disposed of in a given space of time than
ever before were disposed a. The lion. Gentle-
men had said, that bankrupt cases were not ex-
poly fit to be decided by a Judge in a Court of
Equity. Ile would appeal to every legal Gentle-
man in the House, whether those cases were not
peculiarly lit to be decided by en equity side, and
whether, in fact, a person not conversant with the
practice and rules of a Court of Equity, could de-
cide many of them. Ile next alluded to a late
Actor l'arlieinent respecting Scotland, from which,
lie sled, he lumped a great deal. That Act gave the
Scottish Jury a power to decide on questions of fact,
and must therefore greatly tend to diminish the
number of Scotch appeals. As to what had been
said by die Hon. and Learned Gentleman respect.
log the separaticu of the office of Lord Chancellor
and Speaker of the House of Lords, he would not
at the preeeet mousers( say one word, nor did he
feel himself called on to rise in defence of the cha-
ncier, the conduct, or the ability of the Lord
Chancellor, or the other Judges of that Court; but
he would say, that no Judge ever presided there
pussemed of greater legal kerning, of greater abi-

lines, or iu whom the country have a greater. coo-
fidence.
Mr. M. A. TAYLOR. in reply, said, it was assert-
ed that the Court had done a great deal. Granting
that, if the mode he proposed would still tend to
discharge the great arrears of the public business,
why should he be resisted on this motion ? There
were now standing 141 appeal cases, which could
not be heard in less than three years, every one of
which, in the event of the death of the Chan-
cellor, should he all heard over again, at enormous
loss to many of tlie parties, and to the total ruin
of others. Ile mentioned particularly the Roxburgh
and Buccleuch c , which could not be heard
under an expense of 6,0001. each. He contended
that the appointment of the Vice-Chancellor's Court
was a subversion of the constitution of the Court of
Chancery, and therefore it was that he would wish for
its abolition. When that Court was created, he
(Mr. Taylor) wrote to the Lord Chancellor to say,
that until it had a fair trial he would not move for
its abolition; it has been now established since the
year ISI3, and he could prove that it was a great
evil—he could prove the general opinion of the
Bar—and, if the !louse would go into en inquiry,
lie would make it plain to them that the alteration
be proposed would be attended with the greatest
benefit to suitors, and to the administration of

justice.
The gallery was cleared, and the Howie divided-.-
For the motion
Agaiiist it

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