The Sun.
London, England, 1863-12-22 00:00:00

well, that no suitor should come into court with-
out " clean hands," or, in other words, that no
relief would be granted to one who was himself or
hersel guilty of the same offence which formed
the ground of application against another. How
much the business of the court was lightened by
this single decision is known to those only who
were behind the scenes, who had thus the op-
portunity of knowing not only what cases did
actually come to a hearing, but also what
twould, under any other circumstances, infallibly
Lave done so. Even as it is, the time of the judge
and t the public is liable to be monopolised by
such ievia,lin suits as Fitzgerald and Fitzge:sld,
which, after last.'ng
for a week, and scandalising the
whole town, ends by
tneoving that the mountain has
been in labour only to
gice birth to the most dimi-
nutive of mice. In this party instance there is
as been ieflicted
no doubt that serious hardship it:
ie-
upon one, if not upon two individual.; of whoseun-
nocence the jury were convinced. But
this, i,
no
fortunately, is a contingency against whi:ll
re
judge, however able, and no system of proced-e'
n-
however perfect, can entirely guard. All that eetil
be done in this respect has, we fear, been already'
anon: nlished, and the only consolation is that, were
it nut leer the stringent regulations now enforced,
such cases wound be multiplied ad infinitum. We
can only hope that those who have hounded on Mrs,
Fitzgerald to blacken the character not only of her
husband, but of a purely imaginary rival in his
affections, may receive a partial recompense of their
deserts in the shape of a handsome bill of costs, for
which all Mr. Chambers's eloquent denunciations on
the opposite side will be but a poor consolation. In
spite, however, of the obstruction which has been
unavoidably created by this cause célèbre " stoPßinig
the way," we must congratulate Sir James Will°
upon the energy and success with which he hi°
grappled with the mass of arrears bequeathed ta
him in consequence of the premature death of hie
predecessor. Not only would the mantle a Sir
Cresswell Cresswell seem to have descended ell'°ll
him, but, fortified by sound precedents, and with a'
bar which has been gradually trained and disci
lined to a somewhat repulsive task, he has even ill"
proved upon the expedition of the late judge in the
despatch of business. When Sir James Wilds took
hie seat, at the commencement of Michaelmas
Term, a printed list of no less than one hundred
and nine divorce cases, not to speak of the bug"
nese in the Court of Probate, ominously stared
him in the face. Of the will causes, we believe
that not one which was ready for hearing now re'
mains undisposed of. Of divorce cases, the Courtt
has decided, during the continuance of the presen
sittings, no less than seventy-one, including all that
were ready for hearing among those which bad been
set down for trial without a jury. In eleven more
instances proceedings have been stayed by consent
for various reasons, and these cases '
have been
struck out of the paper accordingly. Twenty-sevell,
only stand over for hearing until next term, an
even of these several have been respited upon the
application of the parties concerned. Among theta
are probably some of an important character; 059
while seven only of the number are set down for
trial without a jury, twelve are common jury 06°4a
and in eight notice has been given to impannel
special jury. In all human probability, bowel'
by the end of next Hilary Term Sir James Wilu°
will exhibit the enviable spectacle of a judge pit
siding in a court with no arrears at all, and one
which suitors may obtain a relief as immediate A°
can be granted with a due regard to those forto
which are requisite to ensure the proper ado:till's,:
tration of justice under any circumstances. 0,7,
consummation is the more satisfactory, because,
the first place, it is the direct reverse of what Vie
were told to expect when the Court was originally
e
established; and in the second, there is no Court ":"
which the subject-matter of the suits stands OWe
need of a prompt and early iavestigation. °-
remember the ill-omened vaticinations of the Pro;
phets who dinned in our ears that those who toucheu•
pitch could not ba otherwise than defiled thenteelvel
and that the morals of society would be underminer
were that relief which was always open to ie
then'
vouchsafed to men of more moderate means. rlls"
many foul scandals have been brought to light, we
of course cannot deny ; but that any real evil he°
been done to society by setting free a certain nura"
her of innocent individuals from their 010' Pare
tiers for life we are fully persuaded. Upon ti
second head there can be no manner of doubt. 11
some of the most difficult and delicate relations
e:
of.
n nc
life are to be inquired into and criticised, ad ev
regulated by judicial authority, it is of the esse
of justice that the necessary inquiry should follow
as closely as possible upon the commission ot the
specific offences which form the subject of complaint'
There are few things more painful to the feelings
of all concerned than the opening afresh of a wound
which the gentle influence of lime has begun to
heal, or the raking up of a controversy with regard
to speeches and actions which are either remembered
imperfectly, or which has e gradually lost their first
and most painful impressions upon the mind of the
witness. There ere certain kinds of proof, as there
are certain classes of offences, with respect to which
the fresnness of the testimony adduced is half the
bottle. As we must have a Dieoree Court, it should
be one in which justice, if sharp, should be also
short and speeeye Sir James Wilde deserves all
the credit of an attempt to make it so. The Woos
of this, his first effort, may, we think, be regarded
as an augury of his future fitness for the difficult
and disagreeable task which has been assigned to