The Sun.
London, England, 1864-05-14 00:00:00

LONDON, SATURDAY, MAY 14, 1864.

The Conservatives are certainly determined to
lose no opportunity. Wherever a chance presents
itself they are sure to step in and exert every effort
for the furtherance of their cause. A meeting was
held at Maidstone, on Thursday, for the purpose of
selecting a member to represent East Kent, in
place of Sir E, FILMER, Wiio will retire from the
House at the close of this Parliament, The meet-
ing was very numerously attended, and seemed to
furnish the opportunity of making a rallying
ground of the party. In this particular the Libe-
rals might learn an important lesson. How much
wiser it is to preconcert measures, and arrange
matters beforehand than to rush in a hurry at the
approach of an election, and very often to pre-
sent the absurd spectacle of two or more candi-
dates professing the same principles opposed to
each other. This want of unanimity has proved
fatal to many a prospect, and lost the victory
to many a so-called Reformer. Mr. HUSSEY spoke
with great decision and promptitude. He seemed
fully aware of the subterfuges to which the crafty
resort to damage a party, and ho exposed their
fallacies in many particulars. He began by
alluding to the great failure of the " model re-
public" of which we have all heard so much. Mr.
BRIGHT would have been flattered to hear the
analysis which he gave of its course, its decadence,
in popular estimation, and its manifest inade-
quacy. There is a great deal of truth in the
observations of Mr. HUSSEY in this particular, for
it is certain that the recent events in America
have tended to disenchant the minds of many con-
cerning the efficacy of republican institutions.
They did very well so long as things went
smoothly, but when danger and difficulty arose
the edifice crumbled away, and the struc-
ture was shaken to the foundations. In
one respect this is not to be regretted,
for it may be of service in preventing
false estimates and discovering sham professions.
There are many sot disant Liberals at home who
were very much dismayed and disappointed when
the Government of Lord DERBY undertook to pro-
pose
a Reform Bill. They were all right when
there was no chance of converting their opponents;
they could abuse them to their heart's content, and
appeal to the sympathies of the people they wished
to enfranchise. But when the ignorant and mis-
guided individuals took their cry from them it was
a sad event. Like the civil war in America, it
tested the sincerity of their professions, and put
their zeal to the proof. Mr. HUSSEY ably described
the ingenuity which had been formerly displayed
in making it out that the Conservatives were
against all progress. Nothing is more unfair than
to go on in this way, and assert all sorts of damag-
ing reports, without waiting to prove any. It is of
no avail at present, since the Opposition have had
the sense to free themselves by a mighty effort from
much of the cumbrous and worn out gear of old
days of exclusiveness and prejudice. Alore re•
mains to be done in this particular ; but the stric-
tures on their defalcations do not come with a very
good grace from those who gave them no encou-
ragement when they essayed to tread the path of
progress, and who also grew so jealous of any
rivalry in their domains that they put a precipitate
end to the undertaking. Mr. HUSSEY also alluded
to the new dodge that has been invented, namely,
to declare that it is no use to be trying for changes,
because there is "not a pin to choose between one
party or another, or whether you vote for the Govern-
ment of Lord PALMERSTON or of the Earl of DERBY."
The best answer to give to this adroit asseveration
is that the eagerness and excitement of these level-
lers of distinctive barriers to retain office is quite as
fiery as if all the old divisions of party were re-
newed with redoubled power. If there is no dif
ference between the two Governments it might as
well be proved by experience, and it would be only
fair to let both sides have a turn. Mr HART DYKE,
the proposed candidate, made a brief bat an effec-
tive speech. He spoke with great earnestness on
the good chances that awaited the Conservative
party, and of the great services they rendered the
country even in opposition. Earl RUSSELL was
under the influence of his evil star when he raade
his celebrated speech at Blairgowrie. It will be
long before he hears the last of his " rest and be
thankful" policy. In every possible place, at every
available opportunity allusion has been made to it,
and at this Maidstone meeting it was ag An brought
forward. Mr. DYKE described the position of the
Foreign Minister as the " rest, not of the weary,
but of those who dare not proceed." This is true
in a great measure, and certainly it would be a pity
if Ministers who do so little should be wearied.
Mr DYKE also made some smart hits against the
Chancellor of the Exchequer. That right hon.
gentleman has certainly no sinecure in the place
which he fills, for every marksman seems to aim at
him. Perhaps it is from the old idea of dislike to
renegades, and also it may be from the self-suffi-
ciency which is sometimes displayed by the Chan-
cellor of the Exchequer in his explanation of esti-
mates and announcement of plans. In his dealings
with the farmers this session, Mr. DYKE said that
Mr. GLADSTONE had acted as if they asked him
for a sovereign, and he had given them a very bad
half-crown. The brief estimate which the new candi-
date gave of his opinions appeared to afford uni-
versal satisfaction ; and as forewarned is forearmed,
there is no doubt that when the occasion arises he
will be returned to the House, there to put his
professions to the proof, and to convert his theories
' into practice. Lord HOLMESDALE gave some very
good advice to his friends under the guise of a
narrative. He related the story told by Mr.
KINGSLEY of a tribe of Indians, who prayed to
not to
the evil spirit, but the good one ; and the
reason was that the good spirit was too fat and
lazy, while the evil spirit was a brisk little fellow,
always running up and down the world. The
moral that was deduced from this was that the
party in West Kent had been some.
good spirit, rather fat and
it'imCeosn steor: amt iucceh
like
the
lazy, they did not run up and down enough, or take
the means they ought for the purpose of defeating
the Radical party.' Many others besides those to
waom it was addressed may take the lesson to
heart which is afforded by these superstitions tribes.
It is now too much the way of the world to hang
back, and fancy all is secure, until some desperate
strugg'e has all at once to be encountered. " Time
works wonders," is an old saying; and the adege is
certainly -verified so far as the Conservative
triumphs and prospects are concerned. Constitu-
encies that send forth members to swell its ranks
do not now have to fear that they are only adding
to the lists of a dreary Opposition. Very different
is the position now assumed by the pity, and there

is no one so presumptuous as to deny it has every
chance of a summons to power before very long.
At all events it cannot be said that they have
alienated friends by ridiculous rivalry, or been
found wanting in the requisite energy when time
and opportunity gave them a chance of success, or a
prospect of furthering the interests of their party.

We have repeatedly shown in former leading
articles that the reform of legal education for the
bar, as hitherto attempted, has proved a failure.
That there has been something radically vicious in
the present system, the result would appear to
prove. And the present new system, which came
into operation this last Hilary Term, is worse than
the former one in this respect, although better in
another, as we shall presently show, it is worse,
inasmuch as a student can now be called to the bar

by passing a year in a conveyancer's or pleader's
chambers, and so escape the year's attendance at
lectures which has for the last twelve years been
compulsory upon all students whn did not choose to
submit to an examination. As we have on former
occasions pointed out, in Trinity Term, 1852, just
twelve years ago, five Readerships were established,
and these Readers have at stated times delivered
lectures upon the following subjects r-Ist, Legal and
Constitutional History; 2d, Civil Law and Inter-
national Jurisprudence; 3d, Equity; 4th, Convey.
ancing ; sth, Common Law. Attendance upon any
two of these courses, as we have often pointed out,
has always freed the student from all further
vexation and annoyance. He might have
slipt through the periods when he was com-
pelled to appear in the presence of the lecturer.
Ignorant as he went in, ignorant he might have
come out. This, with the old dinner test and the
payment of a very heavy fee, a considerable por-
tion of which is no doubt charged to him for the
stamp, would—since Trinity Term, 1852, up to
Hilary Term, 1864 (when some fresh regulations
were introduced which we are now about to com-
ment upon)—have admitted the so-called student to
the practice of his profession. Arid now, as regards
students entering in after Hilary Term, 1864, they
may even escape the year's attendance at lectures
if they will consent to pass a year in a conveys
ancer's or pleader's chambers. The fact is, that
the little improvement that was made twelve years
ago in the education of students for the Bar was
rather a concession wrung from the elder members
of the profession by public opinion than an evi-
dence of intention upon their own part to take the
subject up in earnest as a result of their own deli-
berate conviction. Many of the elder gentlemen
of the Bench believe that things were batter, as
they had for so long a time existed prior to Trinity
Term, 1852. The common opinion and belief
is that no practitioner will always be able
to retain the confidence of the attorneys
who is destitute of the requisite technical
skill. Success at the bar, it is generally said, is the
best test of competence, and this success no one can
hope to attain who is not versed in the niceties of
legal practice. This being the view of the seniors,
it is but natural that the students should model
their opinions upon the opinions of those whose
practice, and emoluments, and honours they wish
in their turn to obtain. They do not ask what
form of education is needed to make them en-
lightened lawyers, not only competent to deal with
points of practice, but to appreciate the great prin-
ciples upoa which law is founded. For their pur-
pose it is quite unnecessary that any reform should
take place in the law of England, and it is quite
superfluous that they should have a knowledge of
any branch of the law save the one with which they
are more immediately concerned in the daily
routine of their business. What does it signify to
an equity draughtsman or to a conveyancer that
such a system as the civil law ever existed among
mankind, or that constitutional law is synonymous
with the just government of the country. This
vicious view, for vicious it most undoubtedly is, as
we hope to show in a very few words, is fos-
tered and encouraged by the patronage of the
attorneys ; of these gentlemen, however, it
would be most unjust to complain. It is not only
excusable, but it is natural and inevitable, that they
should select for employment just those barristers
who are supposed to be most clever in the practice
of their peculiar departments. If they honestly
and fairly select their counsel upon these grounds,
they have discharged their duty to their clients and
to the public. To be sure, in their own department
of the profession, they subject all candidates for
admission to a most stringent and rigorous exami-
nation, not only prior to admission, but they now
subject all articled clerks to intermediate examina,
tion, and also to a preliminary examination pre-
viously to a young man being articled. The present
system adopted with reference to the Bar is, on the
contrary, a most vicious one, for practically it
amounts to an absolute denial of legal education in
any liberal sense to the members of the superior
branch of the profession. It the Bar would retain
their superiority, which is now rather nominal than
real, it can only be by raising their standard of
qualification. Again, if we would have a race of
more enlightened lawyers than at present, we can
only attain this result by training the students in
higher branches of legal knowledge, and what
is more by taking care that they have attained a
certain degree of proficiency before they are ad-
mitted to practise at all. The more the discourage-
ment of the seniors, the more the patronage of the
attorneys. The more the absorbing interest of after
practice may pull in the other direction, the more
careful should we be to instill a few more liberal
elements into the minds of the students while yet
time and leisure serve to such end. The acorn
sown may grow into an oak, but oak never yet grew
where acorn was not sown. The great ground,
then, upon which the necessity for a liberal legal
education for the bar should be rested, is not that
under the present system we have failed to find
eminent practitioners, but that for the future we
require more exclusive views, a more intimate know
ledge of first principles, a greater familiarity with
other systems of law from the men to whom we
have to entrust the defence of our properties or
lives. Under the present system we may get on
as people 30 or 40 years ego did very well, when it
took a whole day to get to Bath and Bristol, in-
stead of at present only a few hours. But the ques-
tion is whether we don't do better now. Most
undoubtedly we do, and so pare ratione we
may improve the education' of our bar students,
After all, as we have on several previous occasions
remarked, why should tho Bar be an exception to
the ordinary rule of professions. Attorneys are
examined, physicians are examined, so are surgeons,
clergymen are examined, so are the Engineers and
Artillery, and even the youths who present them-
selves as candidates for employment in the public
offices can only be appointed after a most severe
ccompetitivet
heex
sole
oml
ei neaxt
ci oe np
nlB'
to
h should
ay
rule
whichß Barristers
rwi sotue
would
seem to be dictated by the most ordinary inspiration
of common sense. In their case there is also an
especial reason which would seem to necessitate the
establishment of a sufficient examination. No doubt,
in the case of the ordinary Barrister who intends to
follow his profession as a serious calling, if he break
down as a practitioner, there is an end of him. He
has been weighed in the balance and found wanting.
We are, however, probably understating the case

when we say that there is something like 60 per
cent. of nominal Barristers who never intended
from the first to follow the profession as a means
of livelihood, and of these probably 40 per
cent. who are constantly on the watch for
situations which can only be given to
Barristers of a certain standing. How, if these
gentlemen are never examined on admission, and,
if in their case the test of employment and success is
never applied, we should like to know what gua-
rantee we have of their competence at ail. It would
be a great mistake to overdo this, and to frighten
away the candidates for admission to the Bar with
too formidable a programme. We pointed out in a
leading article a few weeks ago that the present exa-
mination, which is merely optional, goes tee tar in
many respects. All we ask for is that degree of
knowledge which any young man of ordinary capa-
city, who had devoted two or three hours a day for
three years of his life to the study of law, with the
might fairly be supposed
question of an examination
properto
h have
e collateral
attained.
The
of a superior character for more ambitious students,
whicchonsidered quite apart from
might be appropriate in
such
thecas
cases,
sr:
swhaordulsd
be
Universities before their eyes,
tt
hh
ee
exampleminimum
oof of
ouknowledge
required of all. With
the heads of our legal profession can scarcely go
wrong upon that point. On all these grounds, then,
we do trust the beads of the legal profession will be
induced to reconsider tb.e present system; and no
time could be more appropriate than the present.
When new rules and regulations have been proposed
relative to the mode of admitting students for the
purpose of keeping terms for the Bar, let the absurd
and idle test of attendance upon a few lectures, or

else a year in a barrister's, conveyancer's,
o
pleader'sassing chambers, be abolished as utterly out of
rp
place, and unworthy of the liberal and enlightened
age in which we live; and, in lieu of it, let every
gentleman who may present himself as a candidate
for the Bar be subjected to a serious examination.

Health of His Holiness the Pope,

(From the Colrespondent of the Times.)
Rohm, May 8.

The Pope has had another attack, and that un-
expectedly,. On Sunday last he administered the
Sacrament of Confirmation to a brother of the ex-
King of Naples, and, while preparing to make
him an address, he was observed gradually to be-
come weaker and weaker, and at last to sink so
far as to rest his head on a table close at hand.
Recovering shortly after, he withdrew, and sent
for his medical attendant, who found that his
Holiness was suffering from a rather strong fever
and an increased irritation of the wound in his leg.
The fever continued for several days. Though the
Pope recovered rapidly from the attack which he
had a month or two since, it must not be forgotten
by those who are preparing for the future that he
is menaced continually by
indisposition, and that
at any moment the chair of St. Peter may be va-
cant. Of late his Holiness has exerted himself
much more than is prudent, consistently with a
due regard to health, and causes enough of agita-
tion exist, Heaven knows, to try the enfeebled
frame of an old man between 70 and 80.

UNIVERSITY INTELLIGENCE,

CAMBRIDGE, MAY 13.1

At a meeting of the senate in the Arts School this day
the scheme of examinations for the ordinary B.A. degree,
which was referred to a syndicate last term and has been
amended by them, was discussed. The amended scheme
provides three examinations, two of theta, chiefly in classics
and mathematics as heretofore, at the end of the first and
second years respectively, and a final examination in the
third year in one of the following subjects at the option of
the candidate—either in certain specified departments of
theology, moral science, law, or natural science, or in
mechanism and practical science.
Mr. LATHAM, in reply to questions from Professor LIVE-
ING, explained that "practical science" was meant to in-
clude applications of steam and kindred subjects, and would
be more psrticular!y defined hereafter, and that candidates
for honours in all the it poses would have to pats the same
previous examination in mathematics.

Mr. BLORE wished the clause exempting students pro-
ceeding to the B.A. degree jure natalitent from the second
examination to be put separately. The propriety of exempt-
ing such persons from the previous examination had been
called in question, and the principle that they required less
education than other classes ought not to be taken for
granted. He should like all classes alike required to reside
nine terms, and pass the same examinations.
Mr. LATHAM replied that the new scheme at any rate
provided that that class were grounded in elementary mathe-
matics, which was not the case with the present regulations.
Mr. J. C. W. ELLIS said that many tutors felt a great
objections to this scheme, because pollmen were allowed to
graduate 6 months sooner than honour men of their own
standing. The scheme proposed was cumbrous, that two
Terms were not enough fur preparing for the last examina-
tion, and that a much greater inducement to industry would
be given to pollmen if they were not separated so distinctly
from honour men. He suggested that a pass class should be
attached to each honour tripos, and if this were done the
chance of obtaining honours would be an encouragement to
reading.
Mr. T. B, WILKINSON ridiculed the examination in thee-
logy in comparison with that required for the Dublin testi-
monizon.

Mr. L. STEPHEN objected to the means adopted by Uai
versity to suppress idleness. The system of worrying
students by a succession of examinations in petty subjects
did not tend to make them industrious, for those who had
sense merely passed in the way that gave them least trouble.
The University already put a premium on going out in the
poll, and the new schema added a further premium by
awarding for a modicum of science learnt in two terms. He
should vote against the scheme as a continuance of the old
system.
Mr. R. BURN supported the view of Mr. Ellis and Mr.
Stephen.
Dr. P. H. LATHAM objected to allowing medical students
to pass the previous examination at an earlier period than
others, and thought it desirable that none but graduates in
arts should proceed to medical degrees.
Dr. DROSIER. replied that medical students could not be
registered until they had passed this examination, and that
if they came up well prepared in classics and mathematics
there was no reason for keeling them back; beside the
clause was only permissive.
Mr HATS approved the scheme on the whole, but thought
those who went in for theology were too heavily weighted,
as they had to pass an extra professorial examination. They
could hardly got a decent knowledge of these subjects in the
time allowed, and he should prefer a return to the old sys-
tem of 10 terms residence.

The Conference
(According to an Epigram in the _Herald).

Pray, what can this great Conference do ?
Why sure, adjourn a day or two,
And can the Conference do no more ?
Oh yes! adjourn three days or four.

SANITARY EFFECTS OF SEWING MACHINES.--
The one great feature that distinguishes the machine
from the oil needle is the exhilaration experienced in
working the former compared with the depressing effect
differenceprodueed isbshown
y toiling
by with tt hh thee
vastly latter,
improved health of thoso
who have substituted the one for the other. In the per-
formance of the ordinary domestic sewing of the household
bthaivsedtioffeeraenracetmbeaiyr
breadnotbe
by soooabesweirovg it is at once apparent.able, but when women
The contracted chest of the old seamstress, the pallid
colour, and the weakened oyes, are all avoided by the use
of the machine, which, while it moderately exercises the
arms and opens and expands the cheat, also exercises the
muscles of the legs in working the treddles—thus restoring
the balance of exercise between the upper and lower exiri-
rallies, which was lost in the old sawing process. For this
reason, we may look upon the sewing machine as instru •
mental in abolishing a vast amount of mortality in a very
large class of workers.--London Review.
is an English
LADIES' WAISTS IN AMERICA.—The unnatural
length and ridiculous SDI all ne::snoalvetlh, their witaisisatns b
description,etap ho metaphorical
expression
nt huastecdo
al d be spanned
it appear to an English-,
Ame-
rican
fact ; and so alarming does
like flowers from the stalk,
clan, that my first sentiment on viewing the phenomenon
was one of pity for the unfortunate being, who might pos-
sibly break off in the middle,
before the evening concluded. Not less extraordinary is
the size of the ladies' arms. I saw many which Rere
scarcely thicker than moderate sized walking sticks. Yet
strange to say, when these ladies pass the age of 40, they
frequently attain an enormous size. The whole economy
of their structure is then reversed, their waists and arms
becoming the thickest parts of their body. Here is a sub-
ject worthy the consideration of the ethnologist.