The Sun.
London, England, 1852-11-01 00:00:00

speedy, cheap, and final justice. Seeing the evil
which the County Courts must bring upon the Bar,
Lord Penman is urged to lilt up his voice egainst the
propoaal to allow barristers to take briefs in the
County Courts without the interveetion of en attor-
ney. This request Lotd De:ninon negatives ih a letter
clear, dignified, and conclusive, affording full proof
that the .retiremeet of this eminent magistrate wa4
due sotely to physical infirmity, and toot to any decay
of mantel powers. Lord Denman jpstifies the,deci-
sion of Parliement which permits barristers to appear
in the County Courts en two'. euatesiverable ,groueds
—the diripropriety of en inteticrence by the isettisU-
ture with a matter of mere professional etiquette,erid
the absurdity of imposing by Act of Parliament heed-
less expe,nse on the suitors in what are intended to late '
cheap courts. But Lord Denman does not stop here;
having justified the conduct of the Legisletese, he,proe
ceecle to inquire what ought the conduct of the, liar
to be now that it is left to its own devidete orjrather
now, that the Legislateee hesedeclored thatiatat ifule
,tvbich itelattl down ought no longer to exist. Shall
the liar re-impose the old etieuette, shall device •
some new regulution, or aball it abstsin from ,eny_
attempt whatever to regulate the conduct of its mem-
ests ? Lord Denman gives his opinion in favour of
the latter course on grounds equally wiseelitteral;atid'
just :—" All interference of authority," he Sep', " with
the freedom of actions not in themselves wrong is* to
h e avoided as an e::1, and one that most commonly
g,grovates whatever 'evil it was designed to ,cor-
, rect. The Forum doMesticum to which the profesehou
paid , allegiance as a band of brothers will :hardly
tnaainteiti its authority over a,family sa widely,difFtitied
and so indefinitely multiplied. Without tulles the
honourable man will act correctly, and none will
restrain those of opposite character!' The days 'of
' Bat etiquette, of the turisdictiontof circuit messes, and,
such self-constituted. authorities, are gone bye. Tee.
profession has out-grown them, and the rude feetivities
and half-serious punishments agreed aighte rid bar
courts are things of another generetion.. The dionout
of the Bar is; within certain very wide limits, irttrusteci
to the keeping of each of its members, with tic other
guarantee than his individual sense of justice and
propriety. To guard against malpractices, the
standard of feeling in the profession should be raised,
and that must be done, not by the lutes of etiquette,
but by closing its portals to all but scholars and gen-
tlemen. It is to the Benchers, who prostitute the
degree of barrister which they are permitted to, confer
eforitarptreproaetuf filling their halls and letting their
chambers, that we have a right to look for the main-
tenance of the honour of the Bar. So long as they
continue indiscriminately to admit all comersivvho pay
their dues, give no flagrant occasion for scandal, and
lounge through a course of legal lectures, it is to
them, and not to the absence of any etiquette, that the
decline in the estimation of the Bar must be traced,
and the probability of derogatory practices ascribed.
This authoritative denunciation of Bat etiquette
leads immediately to a most valuable consequence.
Wo pointed out a year ago the great injury which
that etiquette inflicted on the public, by depriving
them of the menus of consulting a borritttr
directly, without the intervention of an attorney.
We showed that this rule was most injurious to the
suitor, by forcing upon him an expense which
might in most cases be avoided, and that the em-
ployment of two agents to do that which could be
as well, or better, performed by one was a prohibi-
tion raised up against the Bar by themselves, and
which their own interest and that of the public re-
quired them to break down. The preservation of
such artificial restrictions is against the spirit of the
age. Law is the commodity in which the barrister
deals, and which the public wishes to purchase. It is
the interest of neither to raise up a harrier between
them. It was not so in the days of Thurlow and
of Kenyon, and it ought not to be so now. It is not
by rendering the access to him difficult and expensive
that the barrister can increase his dignity or con-
sideration, but by usefully end energetically perform-
ing the duty which he undertakes. The Legislature
has rescinded the rule which excluded him from con-
tact with his client so far as the County Courts are
coucerned ; it con hardly be consistently argued that
a barrister ought to receive instructions from his
client for the conduct of a case in the County Court,
but that he would be compromised by listening to a
statement from the same person of facts on which his
opinion is requested. The Bar has undoubtedly an
arduous struggle to undergo in these days of law
reform, but that struggle it will never bring to a
successful issue by vain hankerings after the past, or
by teaching the public to consider that the lawyer
must lose whatever the suitor gains. If the Bar of
England means to continue a permanent and honour-
able profession, it must look for its preservation, not
to arbitrary etiquette, nor to antiquated notions of
personal dignity and aristocratic exclusiveness, but
to its devotion to the cause of amendment and pro-
gress, its facility of access, its high character insured
by examination, its learning and industry, and the
identification of its interests with those of the public.
POST.—The great gathering of the self-styled
Friends of Religious Freedom and Equality is at last
an accomplished fact. The Fiery Cross that was
sped through the land, at the bidding of Ireland's
ministers of the Christian religion, to call together all
that was penniless, reckless, aimless, and turbulent
from among the population of that unhappy kingdom,
has completed its mission, and, in our paper of Satur-
day, we were enabled to place this result before our
readers. And what is that result? What is the res
suit of the frantic efforts of months to stir up the
Irish nation to a crusade against the civil and eccle-
siastical constitution of the British empire ? A ga-
thering in a paltry conspiracy of some five-and-
twenty members in Parliament—we say, advisedly,
members in Parliament, because we know that these
men, though members, aro by no means representa-
tives, guided by an attendant tail of obscure priests,
panting to convert themselves into political despots.
What is the value of the attendance, the countenance,
and the co-operation of these members in Ferliaruent
—what, in short, is their moral weight may easily
be calculated after reading over their names. We
will venture to say that, with about two exceptions,
not one has a stable, social, and monetary status in
the country, and without any exception, nut ono has
shown himself capable of conquering an independent
political position. Nay, wo will venture, pa
toagpo)rtieinr-t
the ther, and to say that, notwithstanding;
unanimity and the mutual pledges to stand ohoulder
to shoulder, there is not ono of these men who is not
distrusted by the other, and not one among the
leaders of the movement who has not attendant
upon him a spying and controlling brother, acting
under the special orders of the priesthood, with
directions to report every, suspected tendency to
support `e law and order," or in other words,
every exhibition, direct or indirect, of inclina-
tion to take service with the British Government.
Let Mr. William Keogh snake a reasouable speech,
or meet in a moderate and honest spirit any proposi-
tion emanating from Lord Derby's Cabinet for the
advancement of Ireland's material prosperity ; or let
Mr. Serjeant Shee attempt to carry out his common-
sense policy of accepting what is intrinsically good
though it do come from the other side of the house,
and they will see with what bitter rage and eager spite
they will be ponied by these bull-dogs of Rome, :111r.
Frederick Lucas, Dr. Gray, and .Mr. Duffy- Yet
this is the rope of sand with whioh Jesuitical rro.

perty in the land and its produce could be be at any time
and in any sense a badge of conquest and an evidence
of robbery, it would be in this allocation to the
requirements, just or unjust, of that Papal power
atwhose bidding, for whose behoof, and for whose
extension and advancement, the conquest of Ireland
w originally undertaken, and so cruelly, ruthlessly,
I. Is , impolitically carried out by the monarebe of
E land. The most amusing, however, as well as
th4most characteristic part of the whole exhibition,
mite, as the gist sad essence of a lady's letter is tradi-
t4ally said to lae, in the postscript. Camillo Mapei,
aWahlensian of Piedmont, paraded as a sympathizing
Ptbtestant, veithred, in addressing the Conference as
anti, rdent MO 4 religious freedom and equelity, to
tat that preliiaus experience and historical reeninis-
,
cefieee had induced something of a doubt, in the Pro-
t/tent mind on the-Continent, as to the possibility of
Rime
being sincere in any abjuration of ascendancy;
taio expressed el 'hope that something might be'done,
esaweil as said,' to` remove a prejudice which he had
rdtson to knos had taken deep root. Heavens !
'w sat a storm •1 raised—what a commotion in the
assembly convened for the purpose of establishing
fredom and equality. Nothing could be more de-
cided except 'the virulence with which a an is
assailed wheVieeritions indiscreetly in America negro
e:iiaancipation. Notwithstanding his protestations—
neitWittistainding his stigmatizing the feeling, to which
be bore „witness, as a " prejudice," the sympathizing
Weldensian from Piedmont had no sooner given utter-
mice to, his mild tpoughts, than he was incontinently
choked into silence by the chairman and two alarmed'
heeliehmen in priestly garments. The friends of re-
li.gions freedom and equality permit no doubts, admit
ofcno questioning, and suffer no untrammelled opinions:
God defend poor Ireland from such friends. They
are only,fit to hang round the neck of Mr. Bright;
atilt those intolerant and warlike apostles who would
cram 143 one—their peace, that is—down the throats
•cirriationslwith lite and the sword.
e. , , a 7 .
WEEKLY DISPATCH.— RAILWAY AMALGA..
exietoel.—Nothing daunted by the published mis-
, giyinge of the Chairman of the Great Western Rail-
way, who thought aloud for the benefit of the public,
in his answer to Mr. Glyn, the North-Western Di-
rectors, we observe, have finally agreed with those of
the Midland for an " amalgamation" of the two lines.
The squeamish prudery with which the meeting of
independent shareholders at Manchester disclaimed
the very word was, it would appear, well-acted blar-
ney, and decently got up humbug. Pistol tells us
that the wise cell "stealing" conveying. The share-
holders call amalgamation " traffic arrangement."
But their representatives appear to regard it as either
unnecessary or impracticable any longer to beat about
the bush, or to butter parsnips with soft words. They
must go to Parliament for power to conspire in rob-
bing the public—and they know very well that the
candied phraseology of a public meeting will not
conceal the truth from a Parliamentary Committee.
Throwing off the mask, therefore, the two Boards of
Directors have advertised their mutual assumption of
partnership; and the great neutral public are about to
see an attempt to club two capitals, which united will
exceed 60,000,000/. sterling, or upwards of four times
the property of the Bank of England itself, and an
absolute and exclusive command over upwards of
1,100 miles of the iron roads of England. The
disease appears, too, to be epidemic. Not only has it
been proposed to the Great Western to join its 20
millions and 300 miles to the 60 millions and 1,100
miles, but it is officially announced that terms of
amalgamation hare been agreed on between the
York, Newcastle and Berwick, the Leeds Northern,
and the York and North Midland railways, embracing
a capital of 23,-178;40U By a recent award of arbi-
trators, the North Staffordshire line has just been ab-
sorbed into the North-Western by purchase, and the
Eastern Counties and Eastern Union are about to
undergo a like process of assimilation. On every
hand we bear of combinations among large steam-boat
companies with railway companies, to seize the ex-
clusive carrying trade in their respective districts,
by raising up exclusive mutual advantages, in the
shape of traffic, which they deny to independent ship-
owners and carriers ; and we entertain more clearly
than ever the full persuasion that unless the country
awakens to the magnitude of the danger with which
it is threatened, it will, before the close of tho coming
session, be handed over, bound hand and foot by Act
of Parliament, to the tender mercies of as foul a con-
spiracy of monopolists as ever grew rich upon the
plunder of society. We must not be taunted with
the imputation of vulgar prejudices, or indulgence in
exploded fallacies, in making use of very plain lan-
guage to characterize the conduct we feel bound, as
guardians of the public interests, thus emphatically
to expose and denounce. The morality of railway
management is very little superior to that of the com-
mon swindler ; and not more respectable than that of
classes of impostors, who, in place of being presented
with pieces of plate, are more summarily handed over
to the tread-mill. The " cooking of accounts" is a
very clear case of obtaining money under false pre-
tences ; and what is " making things pleasant" but
the grossest fraud upon that portion of the public who
have been simple enough to regulate their purchases
of shares by a reliance upon the honesty of balance-
sheets ? Who can tell the amount cf scandalous
jobbing, imposition, and downright theft, of which
railway directors and managers have been guilty ?
It is not possible to estimate the commercial
demoralization which has been directly trace-
able to the railway system. Contracts for iron,
coal, maintenance of way, construction, repair,
in the various railways of the kingdom, have made
the fortunes of many flourishing directors, and robbed
the companies of millions. About every acre of land,
and every house required for the various lines, there
was some job—some feeler to an official, and some
dishonest bargain with the proprietor. Shares, at a
premium, were allotted to Members of Parliament at
par, to bribe them to sell the public toetbe directors.
Extravagant prices were given to Peers and reperere-
sentatives for such portions of their propertyrae
on the lines, ostensibly as compensation, buavienusaelwl as
sy
of
hush-money, or a downright bribe. The
legislation and the issues of power.areallinvTeshteerdebiys
these railway proprietors and directors.
nothing the North-Western and
Great Western
would combine to ask of Parliament which they
would not carry; for Parliament itself is made up of
directors and shareholders in the r.espiective u_ nder-f
takings. The trickery
dand downrigha rascahty o
the system has been re uced to a science BO com-
as it were, overlaid itself with its
pletely as to have,
Every company has its spies, white
own cunning.
bonnets, and men of straw
affect
the share fiat of ts rival
—a set of scoundrels who great zeal for the pro-
tection of the proprietors, and great indignation at the
misconduct of the directors, while, all the time, their
real aim is to ruin the interests of the company,
whose advantage they are pretending to promote, and
to accomplish the purposes of the rival with whom
they appear to have no connexion. It has been proved
by Lord Lyndhurst, in Parliament, that the North-
Western Company, great and honourable as it pre-
tends to be, has frequently had recourse to such prac-
tices; and the machinery of fraud and imposture has
reached to such a height, that simple shareholders, at
meetings of their own company, are totally at a loss
to know whether the eloquent gentlemen and the fer-
retting wen of business, Who appear to be so zealously

that road, pray-what chance has the public ? We do
not conjure up mere imaginary evils, or hypothetical
diffiCulties. The iniquitiea of the future are rendered
absolutely-certain by thetfrauds of the past. Rail-
ways have never reduced their fares but to starve out
competitibri, 'Or run rivals'oft the road. Whenever
that end hakbeen-accomplisbed the lyres havp been.
raised. Alreßy,,key have bacorne• steam-bunt pro-
prietors ;t and are now so extensiveryamgeged in the
business of coal merchants, that a, great matsar persons
in that line are compelled to retire frona,the trade.
When ;they have added that monopoly to that of car-
riage, in what state will the 'Albite& ? They will
next undertake 'to be. fishmongers, organizing a quick.
transit for all perishableJood, and, by means of their
proposed steam .systentliWith the North of Europe,
they may monopolize the great shell-fish trade from
Denmark, Ilertvay, &c. 'Without scruple or hesi-
tation they have bought up canals, and become water-
carriers by deliberate misappropriation of the capital,
raised purely for construction of railways ;"end they
are at oece•the creature of Acts of ,Parliament, and
above the law to which they solely: owe their exist-
ence. Wei regret to see that the' mblic ire led
awry from the consideration of theil griveat della=
quencies liy "venal and comparatively trivial laches.
It is quite true that railways are unpunctualond that
their servants are careless, or too few in' number pro •
perly to secure the safety of passengers. It is also
Arne that punctuality and safety are perfectly ptactie-
Hille,4and compatible with the 'best interests of the
praPrietprs: We may recur to that, subject en a fu-
ture occattlen; but we desire to arousef the public to
the fir more imminent peril which' Must follow the
monopoly. of arnalgimation, which at once destroys
e4mr"eudiatbieye,conti
deprivesrpetnioth,e
and,people o of the alternatives of-
'consolidates the vast
power "Of these leviathan companies. 'as to, threaten
to invest them' with authority and social influence too
great to be resisted by even Government or Parlia-
ment. If the London Merchants'', Goods Traffic
Committee is not strong enough to grapple with this
huge abuse, it is high time some great association, on
Aome broader and more popular-basis, were established.
Parliament is,aboutto meet—amialgaufation powers
will at once be applied-for—the public, as such, have
no locus standi, as lawyers term the right to appear
in committee to oppoae the companies—the House of
Commons must be moved, and at once, by public
meetings and petitions, or else the steed will be
stolen• befora the' stable7door can be locked.

THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON AND THE
CITY OF LONDON.

Mr. R. L. Jones, member of the Corporatian of Lon-
don, wrote in 1840 to the Duke of Wellington, to whom
ho had the honour of being known from the time of the
commencement of the operations for the building of
London-bridge, upon the subject of removing the postern
upon Tower-hill, in order to effect a free passage to the
dooks, and supersede the necessity of conveying the
traffic through Fenchurch-street. The following is the
Duke's answer :

" Strathfieldssye, Deo. 19,1840.
"My dear Sir,—l have really Limning to say to, and
do not like to interfere in, the communications of the oity
of London.
" As Constable of the Tower, I am bound to take care
that the defences of the fortress and its works are not
injured or interfered with ; as Lord-Lieutenant of the
Tower Hamlets, I must attend to the oomplaints of thz.se
of the inhabitants of that district who may think that
their interests are likely to be ink:rid by any projected
alteration ; in other respects I have no more right to
give an opinion than any other member of the commu-
nity. If you will be so kind as to state in detail what
the plan of improvement is which you have in contem-
plation in the Tower Hamlets, and the neighbourhood of
the Tower, I will refer the same to the officers of the
Tower, and the acting engineer there, and will apprise
you of the result.
" I have the honour to be, my dear Sir,
" Your most faithful humble servant.
" WELLINGTON.
" To Richard Lambert Jones, Esq., Highbury-park,

London." _
Mr. Jones, having written an explanatory letter to
the Duke, received an e9surance from his Grace that he
could see no objection to the improvement suggested,
and recommended an application to the Commissioners
of Woods and Forests, with whom Mr. Jones accord-
ingly communicated, and from whom ho was favoured
with positive promises from time to time of performance,
which halo, however, never taken place, although the
enormous increase of traffic which has occurred since
the corrotpondence took place has greatly increased the
necessity. •,/.•••.•=/!•

ASSAULT BY A ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST.

A case which excited a good deal of interest in Bris-
tol, was heard on Saturday before oar magistrates at the
Council-house' in which the complainant was a poor
woman of the Roman Catholic persuasion, named Staiga
well, and the defendant, the Rev. Mr. Cullen, the priest
of a Roman Catholic Chapel at Pennywell-road,
mai
Philip and Jacob (out). The charge against thetraelv reverend
tleging
gentleman was one of assault, the cu
that, as she was at prayers that morningP
on knees
aher
Cullen,
in the Pennywell-road Chapel, the priest,
ill
Mr. a
came up to her and tried to push her out,and upon her
resisting he kicked her off her kneesel Mr. Cullen said
nd afterwards
pushed her violently out of the chtoa
he should be ready most fully
their worships. About a
yearo and tp- ago the pia slut
applicant laboured under a monomania of a very exira-
ordinary kind, in consequx half plain the matter to
once of which she was obliged
After being in that establish-
to be placed in an asylli,
received a notice that she had been dis-
charged, and that she
was about to [ay him another visit
Ices to which she had before sub-
and repeat annoyd
visit him for a fortnight, and to
• ted him. She di
jetted
such an extent did ate carry her annoyance that ho was
.
dive her into the custody of the police. She
compelled to g _ .
ma mg use of ambiguous in the habit of
.k expressions
l'te'ashiea of the most distressing character and as they
often indulged in before people he 'did not kuo a
were
what to do. For a long time he bore with her, but a
month or six weeks ago she entered his church, and
went into the part of it appointed for penitents. When
he came down and found her there, where she had no
right to be, he took hold of her and put her out of tho
church. She had no occasion to come there except to
annoy him, for eh° passed three catholic chu:ches on her
way. Yesterday morning she again came to his church,
and having suspicion of what she would do, he turned
her out. Mr. Coates said no doubt the rev. father had,
in law, committed an assault ; but, under the circum-
stances, the magistrates would content themselves by
cautioning him against the repetition ef such conduct in
future. The woman mast also understand that she had
no right to cause annoyance to any one. It was stated
in the court that the woman was under a blasphemous
delusion with respect to herself and Mr. Cullen, although
sane on other points.
____

Two THOUSAND MILES IN Two THOUSAND HALF-
nouns.—Searles still centimes his arduous match in
Liverpool. His knee, which was very bad at the
beginning of the week, is much better, although
it is still bandaged. Several medical gentlemen,
who have seen him think that ho will be able to
accomplish tho task ho has undertaken. Searles him-
self says that he will finish it if he is compelled to
walk on crutchez. Ho complains. of dizziness during the
night, but as tho day advances be seems to revive. no
will complete the task on Monday, about ten o'clock i :
\tha mauling; but, if able, be will continuo to walk until
four or five o'clock in the evening, Several bets havo
been laid that he will not complete his last mile in ten
minutes. lie has lost nearly two stone in welght since
- he commenced his atrapituary feat,