The Sun.
London, England, 1855-11-02 00:00:00

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northern shore. The navigation, however, is per-
plexed and difficult ; and aland advance to Kherson
would lead the Allied troops over a gr,eaterex-
. ex-
panse of country than au advance upon Nicolaieff.
Kherson is not naturally so strong as Nicolaieff;
still it is placed in a hollow, surrounded on three
sides by abrupt eminences which are crowned with
forts and batteries. The mouth of the Bong, Thco•
laieff, and Kherson are at three angles of a triangle
of which the side extending from the mouth of the
Bong to Nicolaieff is twenty-four miles long ; that
extending from the mouth of the Bong to Kherson
thirty-six miles ; and that from Kherson to Nico-
laieff also thirty-six. These scantydetails will suf-
fice to show that the reduction of either or both of
these two places is likely to be attended with con-
siderable difficulties ; and there remains little more
than a month for the accomplishment of the enter-
prise, as the Liman of the Dnieper is frozen over
from December till February. It is impossible to
reflect on these circumstances without regretting
that precious weeks were wasted before the expedi-
tion started from Sebastopol, and also that instead
of steering direct for the Liman of the Dnieper, it
anchored off Odessa, where six more days were lost.
It is true that the mere presence of the Allied fleets
in the waters between Odessa and the mouth of the
Dnieper, and their success in the only action that
has taken place between them and the Russians,
cannot fail to make an impression on the minds of
the natives. The description given by our Corres-
pondent of the appearance of the shores along
which the squadrons sailed from Cape Fontana
(the point west of Odessa at which they first
neared the land) to Kiubourn, is the picture of a
country flourishing under the auspices of a long
peace. The presence of a hostile and apparently
resistless Armada can scarcely fail to suggest to
the minds of the inhabitants that it is their own
Government's lust of conquest that has drawn
this visitation. upon them. The wealthy and influ-
ential classes in Odessa—whose mercantile enter-
prise is the.source of the prosperity of the whole
surrounding district—can hardly be called Russians.
They are principally foreigners, attracted by the
resources of that emporium from distant shores.
Their sense of allegiance to the Czar—of identifica-
tion
with the Muscovites—is extremely feeble.
Except in one direction Odessa is only accessible
from the heart of the empire across wide and road-
less steppes, utterly impracticable during a part of
the year. The events now in progress around
Odessa cannot but prepare the minds of the inha-
bitants for a wish to be severed from a State which
by its conduct exposes them to hostile attacks from
which it cannot effectively defend them. But such
a result is a mere contingency; it belongs to a re-
mote future. What is wanted is some immediate
decisive blow that will be felt to the core of the
Muscovite empire ; and when all circumstances are
taken into consideration, it appears extremely pro.
blematical whether such a blow will be struck dur-
ing the course of the present year.

( From the iforninq Post of this day. )
Towards the close of the last Session of Parlia-
ment two very important discussions took place, in
both branches of the Legislature, on the subject of
the appellate jurisdiction exercise) by the House of
Lords. We now revert to the subject (at the com-
mencement of the legal year), because we believe
that it is no less the wish of the profession than
the interest of the public that some immediate
steps should be taken to improve the constitution
of the House of Lords as the tribunal of last resort.
In the outset we must disclaim all participation in
the opinion expressed by Bentham, in his tract "On
the Oreanisation of Judicial Establishments," that
" the House of Lords is the worst-constituted of all
judicatures." No Englishman can speak slightingly,
or with disrespect of the great and venerable magis-
trates who have adorned, and still adorn it, by their
learning and virtues. It is the union of judicial with
legislative functions which confers upon the higher
branchof the Legislature that eminentdignity which
the House of Commons has not always maintained
in the estimation of the public ; and any measure
which would tend to substitute another tribunal of

appeal would inflict a calatrotousblow not only on "an
ancient and venerable estate of the realm," but on
the administration of public justice in this country.
We are not of the opinion of those who would make
the Lord Chancellor merely a chief appellate judge,
holding office irrespective of political changes. The
individual charged with the superintendence of our
legal institutions, and whose duty it is to effect
those reforms and amendments in our laws which
the progress of time renders necessary, could not
adequately discharge his important and multifari-
ous functions in any position less responsible and
influential than that of a Cabinet Minister.
But, in spite of the theoretical perfection of the
House of Lords as the ultimate tribunal of appeal,
it cannot be denied that it has not recently given
that satisfaction which the suitors have a right to
expect. We do not presume to question any
decision which their lordships have pronounced,
neither do we advance any opinion which is
not supported by high authority. The point to
which we wish to direct attention is, that the num-
ber of law lords who attend the appellate business
of the House is so small that most important
and difficult questions of law have been sometimes
decided by only two judges. The honourable and
learned member for Wallingford (Mr. Malins), in
August last, stated "that there were the most
grave objections to this appellate system, and he
hoped that her Majesty's Government would
speedily take some steps to remove them. The
system was slow, expensive, and unsatisfactory.
No law lord, besides the Lord Chancellor, was
hound to attend the hearing of appeals in the
House of Lords. In five instances this session,
only two law lords attended the hearing of appeals.
An appeal to the House of Lords was very high
sounding, but what did it mean ? There was a
rule by which the lay lords were prevented from
interfering iu judgments on appeal to the House
of Lords, .90 that an appeal to the House of Lords
frequently meant only an appeal to the Lord
Chancellor and another peer. Why should not a
judicial court of the House of Lords be appointed
for the hearing of appeals, or a number of judges,
say three at least, to he appointed who would be
bound to attend ?" The hon. and learned gentle-
man might have added that, on several occasions,
in consequence of the disagreement of the two law
lords, the judgment of the Court below was affirmed:
and thus all the trouble and expense of an appeal
to the House of Lords had gone for absolutely
nothing. The noble and learned lords who
are supposed to be available for the appeal business
are, Lord Lvndhurst, Lord Brougham, Lord Camp-
bell, Lord Truro, Lord St. Leonards, and the Lord
Chancellor. these, Lord Lyndhurst and Lord
Truro, the one from great age, and the other from
ill health, can scarcely be expected to attend. Lord
Campbell is sometimes compelled to be away in the
discharge of his duties as Lord Chief Justice, and,
therefore, there only remain three law lords, Lord
Brougham, Lord St. Lionards, and the Lord Chan-
cellor, the absence of one of whom may, at any
time, bring about the evil of which Mr. Malins
complains. All that is wanted as a rem, dy is an in-
crease in the judicial strength of the house ; for this
purpose it has been suggested that the jurisdiction
exercised by the Judicial Committee of the Privy
Council should be trwisferred to the House of Lords,
that the number of law lords should be increased,
and that the house should sit as a court at least
five days iu the week during the entire legal yetahri;
Such an arrangement would do away withrts_
anomaly of having two superior appellate coioi
real
the first deciding and one way a question s_ t
estate arising under a will ; and the l
estateseco
decid-
ing the same question as to persoina
arising
under the identical will precise.lye!aibeieother way. ft
portion of the
must he recollected that a considerable
judicial business of the Hosuseeen Lords consists of
suggested that a
Scotch appeals, and it ha
judge from the Scotch Benchfrnashould be selected to
tters connected with
take part in the decision o
course w ere adepte,.tl
Scotch law. If this
be-
lieve that the decisions of the
.House of Lords would
dditionahan yl
carry with them more weight Scotland
do at present, d the services of an
acid
for the general appellate
judge would be
business of
the three kingdoms. If English lawyers
can, almost by intuition, master the niceties
.n,
of Scotch law, there can
be no reason why an en-
liediteued Scotch judge should not usefully take
part in the decision of questions of English law.
The peerage which would accompany the selection
would not only be a recognition of the distinguished
merits of the individual, but would be a compliment
which the bench and bar of Scotland would duly
appreciate. If the Government were also to confer
a peerage on Mr. Pemberton Leigh, the Chancellor
of the Prince of Wales, a most accomplished and
learned lawyer, and on one of the lords justices, or
one of the common law judges, the constitution of
the House of Lords, as an appellate tribunal, would
he free from the objection which marred its utility
during the last session of P

THE MUSEUM OF ORNAMENTAL ART AT MARLBOROUGH
HOUSE.—The numbers attending, &c., during the month
..1 Oetob,r wern as follows :-8,640 on the public day,
and admitted free ; 460 persons on the students' days,
and admitted as students on the payment of 6d. each,;
besides the registered students of the classes and schools.