The Sun.
London, England, 1830-06-11 00:00:00

inalte been alb:owed to in4odul.e hit meagure.in the usual

way.

The tering too ibat hie ',rained Friend had applied

Were objectionable ; neither did he i'see.Why he should at-
tempt to turn the thing, to riaicule by applying the nick.
name of Jack Rugby to the prnposed new Judge. Neither
;(lid be .exactly tinclerstand the atgurnent of his Learned
Friend, for he said that it was as notorious -as any thing

could be,. that ther:. was no necessity for ttfourth Judge,
and yet he concluded by moving for a Committee to in-
quire. The next point they had to look at was, the-wit-
noses which his Learned Friend propo4ed to call. Who
were these? In the first place he • quoted the Mister of
she Rolls, or at least a letter from him, which he (the

Solicitor-General) had not seen. But at least he 'Might
observe this—that however excellent their opinion of.that
Learned Ju4gc, night. be—and that he Was competent to
form a.good opinion rio•One could doubt—it might happen
that he had formed hopes respecting the Capabilities of the
present Chancery Judges, which were not well'fotinded.

With respect to' tile-Nice-Chancellor, be meant to say
that,. at the beginning of the present year, his opinion
was, that a fourth Judgeb was necessary.; and he was quite
sure that Lord Lyndhurst had not been made aware by
him that he had changed his Opinion; all the information
that his Lordship had derived on, the subject Wag gained
from another quarter. He did not wish to dwell too
heavily on'the former expreseioni'd the Vice-Chancellor ;
but it was well knoWn • that on a former occasion he bad
said that three angels could not do the business of the
Court of Chancery ; but indeed 'be wag' now far from
being persuaded that the Vice-Chancellor was of opinion
that another Judge was not necessary. With'respect to
anything that lie himself had stated in 1028, he thought
that too touch stress ought, not to be laid on that, because
at that time he was but a young Member, and owing to
the opposition that was shown to• him by the other side,
he had felt so embarrassed, that at one time he had really
felt doubtful whether he - should be able to go on at all.
He was sorry that he should have been understood to have
said that the appointment of a new Judge would tend to
revolutionise the country: perhaps the expression was

unwise; but he had madeuseof it with reference to a new
code .ollaWs, rather tbati to the appointment of a new
Judge. On thit occasion, however, be was bound. to
admit that he was strongly opposed to the appointment of
a new Judge—but not 'time so than he was now—and
nothing but the necessity that. he saw for the thing could
have persuded him to support it. He thought now, as
he had thought then, that the inerea.,e of Judges w,s
great evil; but he knew that it was absolutely recp4lNl
for the due administration of justice, and on that ground
bethought that the.propossd measure ought to be favour-
ably received by the House. This was not an opinion that
he had formed'on the instant, for, last Session, as all the
Bar knew, he was of opinion that such a step was neces-
sary; and he would venture to say, that 99 out of every
100 of that Bar were of the same opinion ; therefore, how

his Learned Friend had come to the conclusion that not
one of that Bar was in favour of the appointment of a new
Judge,: he could not conceive. The next witness that his
Learned Friend had called in behalf hf his motion, was Mr.
Bell. Every one must have a very high opinion of the talents
and attainments of that gentleman, hut, at the same time; it
was to be remembered that he had retired from the Bar for
some time; and; therefore, was not quite: so competent to
judge of its present state. His Learned Friend had next
relied en-what had been stlted by the Hon. Member for
Wootten Basset, but the opinion expressed by. that
Learned Gentleman had decidedly been, that another
Judge was necessary ; and, with respect to the Right Hon.
Secretary, he ,knew that he felt as he (the So.icitor-
General)did—they both looked upon it as a great evil,
but in this case unavoidable, His Learned Friend bad

then gone on to quote the speech of Sir Samuel Romilly,
which no doubt was characterised with all that gentle-
man's talent and knowledge ; but his Learned Friend
seemed to have foriotten that that speech had in fact been
addressed to him—that he had listened to it at the time—
but that it had failed to convince him. Having said thus
much with respect to the arguments that had been adduced
by his Learned Friend, he would now take the liberty of
calling the attention of the Home to what was really the
state of the case with respect to the Court of Chancery.
For about two centuries this Court had been the constant
object of discussion in the House of Commons ; and Bills
had frequently been introduced into that House for the
purpose of getting rid of the delays that had always existed
iu the Court. How was it that they were in these days
recommending the sa.re course nearly that had been le-
commended then ? Was it that the lawyers, in those
days, resisted any alteration ; or was it that those in
power would not acknowledge the faults that existed'
But whatever was the cause, it was indisputable that
the Court was nearly in the same situation as now.
That was a lesson which ought not to he lost on the House,
and if Government could wake out a case to show
that assistance was necessary, he thought that what he
had stated should act on the House, to induce it not
to reject the proposal. Lord Chancellors had always
made a rule to boast of what they would do in the way of
improvement ; but he did not find that much had in that
wa3, been effected. Lord Bacon, as had been alluded to,
had set them examples ; but though he promised, he did
not perform anything. In 1620, the state of this Court
was in such a position, that it could not be said to have
any bearing on the business of the present day; for per-
haps the House would hardly credit that Sir Edward
Coke had stated, that in one year there were 35,000 bills
filed ; and though Sir F. Eine had stated that there were
only 16,000 subpoenas, this might very well be, as the
bills and subpoenas did not in those days necessarily tally.
This arose from the Court of Chancery being used in
those days for a variety of subjects. He had met with
some curious cases in the reign of Henry VI., which
would illustrate this. There was one bill filed by an attor-
ney, praying that the defendant might be restrained by
oath from pursuing the plaintiff with witchcraft. There
was another in which it was prayed, that the defendant
should be restrained from outraging the plaintiff in con-
sequence of the latter not following certain doctrines ; and
a third, which had allusion to violence practised on a
maid servant, and which he need not inure fully particu-
larize. It was a remarkable fact, that in the year 1620 a
Bill was introduced into the House of Commons, for the
appointment of two assistant Judges from the Court of
Chancery ; and during the Commonwealth, it was as-
tually provided that six Judges should assist that Court in
the hearing of appeals ; and one of the ordinances of
Cromwell was to the effect that no man's case should
wait an instant for hearing, when it was ready ; but
the present system of the Court was to hurry a
man on to the hearing, and when he was ready
for that, he found that the Court was so choaked
up with other business, that be was obliged to wait for his
opportunity. The regulations of this Court, however, as
to business, had certainly received some improvement ; for
Whitelock stated, that on those points there was no fixed
law. To Chancellors Nottingham and Hardwicke, the
country was indebted for very beneficial alterations on that
head. One point which at present was very objectionable
was, that there was no time afforded to settle a decree ; he
could speak from personal knowledge on this subject, for
frequently before be could even find time to note down on
his brief what the decision of the Judge was, the next cause
was hastily called on, and he was obliged to attend to that,
the consequence of this was, that the immediate occasion
was lost, and then there was some difficulty to know ex-
actly what the decree of the Court was—besides which
this method entailed fresh expense upon the parties. But
another ground for the appointment of an additional Judge
was, the growing imperaance of the business of the Court.
At the present time there were forty millions sterling wait-
ing to be distributed by the Court—a great portion of which
was subject to litigation : it was no doubt true, that much
of what was there was placed there because parties did not
better know how they might secure themselves, and lie was
acquainted with a gentleman in his own profession who—a
large fortune having been left to his children—thought that
he could not do better than himself filing a bill, by which
he placed the funds to which his children were entitled, in
Chancery, till they should come of age. It was likewise
worthy of remark, that it was impossible to dispose of
causes there with that rapidity which was the case in
courts of law. Some motions might be got rid of quickly—
indeed he had known as many as five-and-forty short
causes disposed of in a day ; but then, nil the other hand,
others took a much longer time : only as lately as last
term there were two causes brought on, one of which
lasted seven days, and the other a still longer period ; and
yet not a moment was unnecessarily wasted : it was the
mass of evidence that was so great ; and he had never
witnessed a closer attention on the part of any Judge. It
was not this Court that created these difficulties, but it
was the Court that had to solve them. Another calve
was that of Fuller and Willis, in which an attempt was
made to set aside what had been done in the Courts of
Jamaica, during the minority of a person. Ira this in-
stance, the proceedings were of such a nature, that the
cause lasted many days, and no one could have shortened
it in the least. But the fact was very plainly this : thdre
never was a period when the Court had sufficient force to
execute its duty; and when he looked at the enormous
increase which had of late years taken place, his only sur-
p,i„ was, that it had been able to execute its business at alt ;
and he could not look upon it AS any thing short of infa-
tuation that the Legislature had so continually refused Ito
afford that assistance which was so absolutely necess+.
Formerly there was no business for the Lord Chancellor,
either from Ireland or from Scotland; but now, the Union
having taken place) there were V9llstAilt appeals tn the

-~~

4 fouie of Lords, and who were to attend to:diem ?—tle
'Lord Chan'ee!,, it ~,,rtr,-,c i and the annoyance was, that'
la, was continually taken fri;tra the Conit of Chancery. for
hat purpase, and oldiged to sit in" the tatse of . Lords
vmetiires for four or five days in the.week, and. for six
lours in- the day. He was permaded that if the House
would loa stt the
,vast increase of pei•sondi property is this
country, and at the nature i:E {.1,): trdsts caused by the
a‘uried-ways'in which men of the present time iiqlled.their
'money, they must perceive-sufficient reason for the accu-
ululation of business in the Court of Chancery ; and he
'need not tell them that there was no Court in which delay
..
was so injurious to the iuil,or ! the increase of expence to
him was one o f the least of its evils: frequently the nature

of the cause was such as to require' a reference for the re-
port .of the Master; and the .consequence of this was, that I
when. the report was returned, the suitor found, 'when he
got back,
,that the Court was so clogged up with other
business, that frequently-a year or two elapsed before he
could again procure an opportunity of being heard.. . The
Hon. and Learned Member then referred to the business
in the House of Lords, to show that the progress there had
been slow at all times.- In 1751, there were eight appeals
lodged and only two determined; in 1753, the number of
appeals 12, and nine determined : In Lord Thurlow's time
in 1775, there were 35 appeals, and 20 determined ;-in
in
1779, there were 50 appeals, and 17 determined. There
was no greater evil than thus to have the Court of Appeal
blocked up, as it made parties who were in the wrong
appeal for the very purpose of delay. One great advantage
of the previous arrangements was, that appeals were heard
in a-much shorter time than formerly. The present Lord
Chancellor was now hearing as appeal cases what had
been tried last Session, or even during the present See-
sion.—(Hear, hear.)—This was a satisfaction -to those
who had a good cause. Formerly they were discouraged
by the probable delay of twenty years from appealing;
but now, when they stood a chance of having an appeal
decided in a few months, they did not hesitate to appeal.
It had been his own lot formerly, in business, very fre-
quently to advise parties not to appeal, on the ground that
there. was no chance of getting a hearing for fifteen or
twenty years. The following he stated as the general view
of the matter

Years.

Appeals. I:lceauls
n ed.
1770 to 1775 272 114
1777 to 1780 344 228
P7BO to 1790 223 123
1791 to 1800 290 152
1800 to 1810 492 130

The Hon. and, Learned Member went on to show, tha

there had been itn all the Courts of Equity a great increase
of business, and Observed, that there were as many Bills
filed in Lord Hardwicke's time as now, but there was not
so much business of another description. The late Lord
Chancellor did a great deal of business on motions—persons
malting a motion before him, from placing great reliance
on his judgment, in •order to get his opinion, instead of
bringing the cause regularly Before him. Front 1808 to
1816 be had heard 57,063 motions. He'did' not appiove
of this mode of doing business; but thet'Judge had been
driven to it from necessity. The Hon, and Learned Gen-
tleman next proceeded to contrast the business of the Court
of the Master of the Rolls, under Sir Joseph Jekyll, and
under,Sir Wm. Grant, and showed that, under sSir Wm.
Grant, the business • had been nearly doubled in 'qUantity,
and lisd increased in importance., He then came to speak
of the Vice-Chancellor's Court, that Judge having been
first appointed in 1813.. The opinions .of all the_ great
men—such as Sir Samtiel Romilly, Lard, Redesdale, and
Mr. Cannings--who had spoken or written on the subjeet
of creating, that new-Judge, bad turned oust erroneously.
Not one of them had at all foreseen what had actually, hap-
pened. They were all wrong; which was, in his view, a
good reason not to place much faith in those now who op-
posed the present Bill on reasons similar to those which
were then urged. :There was one.. error in the Bill for
constituting a Vice-Chancellor; and a similar error was
to be found in the spt'esent Bill, -though he meant to re=
moveit4-that error was, that the Vice-Chancellor was
made a dependent Judge on the Lord Chancellor. There
was a great deal of difference between -a-subordinate and 'à
dependent Judge ; and-though we ought to,have subordi-
nate judges'," we ought not to have the Judges dependent
on one another.. In practice it had not turned- out -an
evil, for, in fact, the Vice-Chancellor was not dependent
onthe Lord Chancelldr. The business 'which the Lord
Chancellor noold net get through, flowed regularly into the
Vice-Chancellor's Court. The Hon. and Learned Gen-
tleman then made several arithmetical statements, to
show the great quantity of business which was done by the
Vice-Chancellor, but he hurried them over so rapidly, that
it was impossible to give them with accuracy. The -con-
clusion, however, which he drew from the quantity of
business performed by' the Vice-Chancellor, was, that if
be bad not done it, the Court of- the Lord Chancellor
would have been entirely blocked up. Out of 5;504
causes which went before the Vice-Chancellor, there were
only 60 appeal., which was a great advantage to the
public. All the causes not appealed- from are clear profit
to the publie from the appointment of that Court. From.
1813 te,1828 there were only 28 appeals from the Rolls'
'Court find from the Vice-Chancellor's Court to the Lord
Chancellor; and this number included the re-hearings by
the LOrd Chancellor. Appeals then; were very seldoM ;
but the power of appeal was 'of benefit. Having shovin
the great quantity of business transacted by the
Chancellor's Court, lie contended that the arguMents
formerly used against creating it were proofs that those
'who oppose the present Bill were not likely to be sensible
of its npesation. If the House would place 'any reliance
on him, he could assure it that another Judge was as
necessary now as it Was when the Vice-Chancellor was
created. He knew that all these details were very dry,
but there was no other means of ascertaining the results,
and he found his apology for trespassing so long on the
House in the fact-that the Legislature multi perform no
more important duty than to provide for the adminietra4
tion of justice. That was the first-and . the chief duty of
the Legislature., When the Courts were bad, the people
were -made discontented, and he did not know a more ready
method to make the people discontented with the Govern.
went than not to provide them with good tribunals,
where justice should be speedily and readily administered.
The Hon. and Learned Member then entered into
further details, to show that the present Lord. Chan-
cellor had heard and decided a great number of ap-
peals in the House of Lords. The House, in con-
, sidering the nature of the measure now before it,
should recollect that this 'was the Bill of last year,
and that it -was the result of the labours of the Com-
mission appointed to inquire into the state of the Courts of
Equity. The Hon. and Learned Gentleman bad declared
that the arrears of the Court were greatly diminished.
Now what was the real state of the case? In the year
when the present Lord Chancellor.. came into office, the
number of causes eat down for hearing, in different stages,
-were 776, and of these the appeals were 113. In the
year 1828, they were reduced to 1784, of which.o were
.appeals. In the year 1829 they had increased to 818, of
which 95 were appeals ; and in the year 183 A, at Hilary
Term, they were 993, of which 84 were appeals, 382
pleas, and 462 causes, in different cases. Se that the
business of the Court had not diminished, but increased ;
and this was further increased by the fact, that at the time
when the Vice-Chancellor was appointed, the arrears
before the Court were only 218. He was convinced,
indeed, that the greater the facilities for the despatch
of the business of the Court were increased, the
greater would be the amount of that business ; and sure
he was, that if the new Judge was appointed, the number
of causes annually brought under the consideration of a
Court of Equity would receive a very considerable addi-
tion. He thought it, indeed, a proposition wholly
void of truth, that beoause the business of the Court
might be slightly decreased, therefore no new Judge
should be appointed. There were many periods in
the history of the Court of Chancery, where not a-single
cause remained for hearing.; but he did not think that
such a despatch of the business of the Court was calcu-
lated either to satisfy the suitor, or raise the character of
the equity jurisdiction. He knew, and had frequently
deplored it, that the observations which every man, and
those which fell from the Members of that House with
respect to the practice of the Court of Chancery, had vet y
much lessened the opinion of the character of its Judges,
and abated the reverence with which their opinions should
be regarded. He had observed this frequently, and it was
with him a cogent reason fer the adoption of a measure
like the present, which would remove some of the causes
of complaint, and allow the Judges to assume their just
and proper station in the opinions of the public. Ht knew
that the greatest exertions had been made by all the Judges
of the Court to get rid of the arrears of business. In bank-
ruptcy, in particular, the Vice-Chancellor had laboured
unceasingly until not one petition, he believed, now re-
mained undisposed of. That most Learned Judge deserved
infinite credit for the manner in which he had got rid of
the tax imposed on him. But how had he done it ?
Why, by devoting that time which, as holidays, were
wisely set apart for obtaining information, and recruiting
the bodily and mental powers, by devoting every hour that
could be thus snatched from the time allotted for health or
recreation to theAespatch of the business in bankruptcy.
He was convinced that great mischief, however, had been
produced in.
Wet branches .of equity, by pushing and
goading 00 I.lAslausiness of,the Courts, and he believed no
greater bles)gnag could be conferred on the suitors of that
Court than the appointment of au additional Judge. Now,

•

-..,
purring to the subject uf the *ash Juristlietion, he might
ay:that the business of the Court.of Equity woad be in-
Teas, dby ahout fifty causes by the new arrangements. It
;was 5a7,,l at fir--t, ;imf, indeed, intended, that the Welsh
flni,i nee,: i;: Eqei,:;. shiAd'he tt ansictefl in the Exchequer;
'hut a Noble Lord (iSgV'e; We In4eve,) having presented a
• • claimingfor the IV '' the rower of
petition, root le
itheiecauses in a Court of Equity, it was determined Mit to
I
deny the privilege which. they desired, although so many
iothers Niro* Anxious to avoid its exercise. It was intended,
therefore, to ailoW the Welsh causes to be determined in
Chancery, and this
_would Maice en accession of fifty to the
general causes of the year. He might say hae that it was
not sufficient for the proper administration of justice that
ca.it.se iliete determined rightly and speedily, they must
:Ilse; bedeterinined to the sai:gfaction, of the contending
parties; 'and it should aiWafi lie' recollected; as Bacon
!Mil wisely laid it down, that nothing inVas More mischie-
vous than for a Judge to draw on his bead rather than to
follow the ordinary rules of law. In the King's Bench,
where the Honourable Member for Knaresborough . (Mr.
Brougham) generally prattiSed, these :rules were generally
understood, and invariably followed and he repeated he
knew no greater eVil than the existence of arty state of
things which should compel the Judges in Equity to follow
a different course. When, howevet, the Bill was brought
into force, if, as he fondly anticipated it would be, it was
intended to divide the Court Of Exchequer, and_ to make
that Court,-with ail its present officers and Machinery, a
grave Court of Common Law--when this was effected;
and a new Judge appointed in Equity, he hoped the accu-
mulation of arrears in either of the branches of law would
be prevented for, ever, and the recommendations of the
Commissioners, of which this Bill was one of the results,
be rendered really beneficial to the country. Altogether
the Lord Chancellor sat 200 days-50 of these were given
to Appeah-50 to the House of Lords-35 to Lunacy and
other matters of that description—and 65 to general busi-
ness. Now the new Judge, if appointed, 'Would also sit
200 days ; but 'allowing deductions for peculiar duties, be
would have 175 days for the despatch of general business.
It was the intention to propose that the new Judge, as
well as the Vice-Chancellor and the Master of the Rolls,
shOuld be an independent Judge ; but he begged distinctly
to express his objection to make the Lerd Chancellor a
Judge solely in Appeal. He considered • it, on the cow;
trary, a great benefit to the suitor that the Judge in Ap-
peal should also be engaged in general business, and after
giving the subject the most mature deliberation, he was
disposed to propose, net only that the Lord Chancellor
should continue a Judge in Appeal as well as in general
business, but that he should also take with bins in appeal
two of the three Judges: the one excluded being the
Judge who originally beard the cause. By thus consti-
tuting a kind of Exchequer Chamber for Appeal, he
hoped to put an end to many vexatious and frivolous ap-
peals brought under the present system, and at the same
time very much to diminish the number of appeals to the
Lords ; for lie would allow the suitor to appeal either to
the• Lord Chancellor and the Judges sitting in this kind of
Exchequer Chamber, or to the 'House of Lords, but not in
any case to both. This was his plan, and he thought it
well worth consideration. After adverting to the state of
appeals in the House of Lords,hand proving that they had
been reduced, including Irish, English, and Scotch Ap-
peals, from 95 to 81, since the appointment of Lord Wyn-
ford to preside there in the absence of the Chancellor, the
Hon. and Learned Gentleman proceeded to answer the
objections taken by the Learned Gentleman (Sir C. We-
therell) to the New Bill, respecting the offices of Registrar
and Masters in Chancery. The Learned Gentleman' had
called; those Bills. unnecessary ; but he begged to tell the
Hon. and Learned Gentleman that unless they cleared
away the impediments . which these Bills were intended
to remove, by &tering the . condition of the officers of
the Court, there would be no use in appointing a new
Judge. Unless the minor parts of the Court were better
adapted for the despatch t f bthiness, all alteration of the
higher would be labour thrown-away. And here he begged
to say, that he was authorised by the 4.ord Chancellor to
declare that he had no desire to increasNiis patronage in

the appointment of Registrars. His, 'Lordship was
.per.
fectly willing to abandon all his claims on that point, and
leave the two new Registrars, whose services were consk
dered absolutely necessary for the despatch of the business
of the Court, to be appointed by the Judges •of their re-
spective Courts. This addition to the number of Regis-
trars, it should he recollected, was also ore of the recom-
mendations of the Law .Commissioners. It had been re-
commended that Barristers should be substituted for Re-
gistrars. . But if the 'House, as he hoped, would allow
the Bill-to go into a Committee, he would there show
why, in; his opinion, that proposition ought not to be
adopted. With respect to Masters, it was intended to get
rid of copy-money, and to substitute fees ; with a view
to the rapid discharge-of business. As an individual, he
thanked the House for the attention with which they had
listened to him, but the subject was. one which, he owned,
.demanded their most serious attention. NOthinz could be
snore important than to increase the facilities for the dis-
pensing of jeistiee. It was his firm belief that the Bills on
the table w.onld greatly facilitate that object, as connected
with the Court or Chancery; and a greater boon could
not be conferred on the country. •
Mr. C. FERGUSSON said, that as it was impossible
at that hour to continue the debate beneficially, he would
move as an amendment to the original motion, that the
further consideration of the question be adjourned to
Tuesday.
After a short conversation, in which Mr. Brougham,
Sir Robert Peel, the Attorney-General, and Mr. Fergusson
participated, the amendment was agreed to.
HYDROPHOBIA.

Mr. Alderman WOOD, having obtained leave to bring
in a Bill to prevent the spreading of canine madness,
brought in the which was read a first time, and or-
dered to be read a second time on Tuesday.
EX-OFFICIO INFORMATIONS.

Sir C. WETHERELL gave notice, " That on the
17th of June he would move for leave to bring in a Bill
to limit the power of the Attorney-General to file Ex-
officio Informations."
The other Orders of the Day were then disposed of, and
at Three o'clock this morning the House adjourned.

THE ARMY.

(From the *limerick Chronicle of Saturday.)

The 6Sth Regiment march in divisions this week from
Fermoy, to replace the 69th, ordered to Dublin from
Athlone.

A detachment of the 68th is ordered, under Lieutenani
Durnford, to Shannonbridge.
• Major Gun has taken the command of the detachment
of the 56tb, at Cashel.

Captain Barton's company of the 36th Regiment have
arrived at Mitehelstown to do duty.

An application is about to be made to the Lord Lieute-
nant to quarter a military force in Listowel. In conse-
quence of the profound peace existing there the soldiery
were lately withdrawn from that town.
J. Crawford, Esq., is appointed Assistant-Surgeon on
the Staff of the Medical Department at Cork, and Dr. J.
Sheils, Hospital Assistant.
Captain Gipps, R. E., is appointed Commanding Officer•
of Engineers at Sheerness, vice Lieut.-Colonel Thompson.
Lieut. Tallow, 41st regiment, is appointed superintend-
ant of the Recruiting Service at Glasgow, vice Lieut.
Dickson, 67th, removed to Edinburgh.
Captain Wetherall, 13th Light Dragoons, is appointed
Deputy Judge Advocate-General to his Majesty's Forces at
the Madras Presidency, vice Lieutenant-Colonel Wetherall,
who resigns.
Major Hartley is appointed Barrack Master of Cape
Town, Cape of Good Hope, vice Henry Hanson, Esq.,
and J. Tudor is appointed to the English Barrack de-
partment.

F. Anquetil, from Hull, is appointed Barrack Master
at Algoa Bay, and C. Lynch, from the Irish department,
Barrack Muter at Sierra Leone..

Lieut. E. Marley is appointed Barrack Master at
Gibraltar, and A. G. Carte, Barrack Master at Hull.
Joseph Farnden, Esq. is appointed surgeon to the Royal
Hibernian School, Dublin,

Captain Sadleir, 47th Regiment ; Lieutenant Henry,
17th Regiment ; and Lieutenant Campbell, Queen's Bays,
are entered students of the Royal Military College, Sand-
hurst.

All the East India Company's pensioners in the Cork
districts are to be paid their half-yearly pensions the 20th
instant, at the Company's Recruiting-office, Douglas-
street, Cork.

BATH, THE RESIDENCE OP ROMAN Em-
PEROICS.—The Romans, characteristically luxurious in
their baths, and choosing their situations with the most
scrupulous care, were not likely to neglect the advan-
tages which such a neighbourhood presented. The mild-
ness of the air, and the lovely amphitheatre of hills which
surrounds this valley of waters, would tend still farther to
delight then with the station—the best counterpart of their
own Italy which the uncultivated land afforded—and we
accordingly learn, from the best accredited accounts, that
it shortly became the favourite residence of the Roman
Governors, and sometimes of the Emperors.—Dr. -Laid •
ner's CaLinet Cyclopadia.

'4';'„a"

141

JiltairT r

1 • ri
SPIRIT OF; THE_ PUBL/Q, jOURNAI,S.9

The .work of Government-eoncesSion in tiSie
Netherlands has advanced more rapidly, and pro-.
ceeded to greater fengthsvtban could have been
lately anticipated. At the opening of the States
General in October last, the Belgic provinces were
in a state of violent ferment, from one end to the
!other. The cause of this alarming agitation wns the.
ileged tyranny and apprehended eneroaehments'a
► Ministry selected from the friends of the King, it
the northern or Dutch provinces, and opposed, from
'religious prejudices, party views, or national anti-
"oatliie,:, to the ecclesiastical establishments and po:

itical interests of the
.south.- . Petitions were pre,
pared in almoit every .parish, complaining.of grit v-
anees, and demanding- redress. It is said that
to these petitions were attached more than a
quarter of a million of signatures. , The chief
topics of . complaint were the unjust distribu-
tion of places and offices, between the in-
habitants of the Dutch and ..Belgic pro-
vinces,—the interference of a Protestant Govern.;
.vent in the direction' of Catholic ischOola and edu-
ation—the severe judgments passed on persons
accused of libel, and the shackles threatened to be
imposed on the freedom of the press—the absence
of a law to make the Ministers responsible for their
acts—the severe and unequal pressure of taxation—
old lest, though not least, the arbitrary imposition
of the Dutch language on those parts of the mo-
narchy where French was generally or exclusively
spoken. The effect of these numerous complaints
and acknowledged grievances nn the popular branch
of the Legislature Was to excite an over-mastering
to the Government, and to cause a tern-7
porary refusal of the supplies. The Belgic De-
puties almost to a' man opposed the, budget, and
converted the.States-General into an arena,
where the representatives of ,the people com-
bated each other, not as ,individuals of dif-
7erent opinions,- but as delegates of rival ni1...,
An unnatural union was. formed -between

ions.

liberals and bigots, between devotees and infidels, to
oppose the King's Dutch servants; and the work of
amalgamation between the different provinces; whiih
the judicious and excellent Monarch of the Nether-
lands had been endeavouring to accomplish for the
last 1.5 years, was' suddenly arrested. It was then
chat his Majesty saw his danger,and that prudent
concession began. The budget, was presented in a
modified shape (with the most: obnoxious taxes com-
muted for imposts less objectionable), and passed
nearly unanimously. A Belgian Minister or two
were brought into the Cabinet, so as to give the in-
terests of the southern provinces • their Atte weight
in the Royal Councils. The project of law on
public instruction, having been found objectionable
in the sections or committees of the States-General,
,was withdrawn, under an engagement to revise it, and
present it again in an improved form. The law on the
press was thrice modified by 'the 'Court, and made at
test to meet theviewe of thegreat majorityof the Cham-
bers. The Philosophical College of Louvain; which
was really intended by the King to elevate the chortle-
, ter of the Catholicclergy, by conferring on thetandi-

fates for the .priestloOd i more libiral education

than they could receive at the episcopal seminaries,
has been abolished as a sacrifice to the prejudices of
the Belgic prelacy; and—what must have cost the
King the greatest pang, thongh, perhaps, the most
necessary of all the concessions which he has made,
even the decree enforcing the general use'of• the
Dutch or Flemish language, has been abrogated or
modified. Though the motive for this attempt it
changing the language of a people is- justifiable
enough, no measure could Create ''greatel incon-
venience, or lead to greater oppression. In the
Statei-General it could not be enforced—in society
it could not be enforced—at Court it was not at-
tempted to be executed. In the courts of law it em-
barrassed every proceeding, and was liable to every
abuse. The indictment was read in Dutch, to a
'Belgian who understood only French ; the deposi-
tions were taken in Dutch, and the•pleadings were
delivered in the same language. The unlucky Belgian
of the south might have the whole proceedings trans-
lated if lie chose, and an interpreter was as necessary
in every tribunal and at every' trial, a's a judge ore
counsel. But the hardship must be gieet to compel
judge, counsel, witness, and party, to use a language
with which they are imperfectly. acquainted, instead
of that to which they are accustomed, and which is
Token by every man, woman; and child beyond the
walls of the court in which the trial is going on I
It would certainly be desirable to make the two 'di-
visions of the kingdom speak the same tongue, and
to detach the Belgians from 'France by renouncing
French; but such an object cannot .be accomplished
in a few years, or by a royal decree. Nothing, it
must be owned, can be more ludicrous in atdelibere-
live assembly like the States-General, than to hear
one orator delivering a 'Dutch harangue, which
his Belgian antagonist cannot understand, while the
latter replies in a French oration, of Which the
former may be equally ignorant. The inter-
preter steps in between them, but the eloquence
.nust evaporate in the transfusion from one language
another. Such a state of things can only be
changed by time and the formation of national at-
tachments. The hareh, and impolitic sentence of
exile against M. de Potter and
,his friends, has been
carried into execution. We mentioned at the time
when it was pronounced, that it would create a pre-
judice against the Government without adding to
its security, for that the exiles had only tops, the
Belgic frontier and to fix their lever in the,soil of
France, to move thi tninds of their 'own country-
men more powerfully than before. Th. Govern-
ment foresaw this evil, and induced the Fietich
Minister to refuse passports.t• The prisoners hive
therefore been deported to Hanover at 'their own
choice, but can they be retained in that kingdom,
where, we presume, the Dutch police cannot follow
them ?—Times.

The diecussions in the Commons last night. were
long, but no result of any consequence followed.—
Some additional papers relative, to the Greek ques-
tion were moved 'for, and readily granted ;_ the only
one refused being, as it appears to us, Withheld 'on
sufficient grounds. The Equity Bill was stre-
nuously, opposed by Sir Quirfrs Wetherell, in one
of his most amusing, and,*.- to use a phrase of his
own " omnigentsun and heteroclite" apaeclies. It
was 'supported by 'the Solicitor-General' in a very
elaborate' and well-digested argument. The debate
was postponed till Tuesday. ABill for abating the
cause' of the frightful calamity of canine_ inidness
was read a first time.—=Time..

•1

Last night. Mr. O'Connell brought before the
Rouse a subject of great importance to Ireland—the
Laws under which Parish Vestries assess Rates for
the rebuilding and enlarging of Churches and
Chapels, for the repairing of the Chancel of Churches,
and for providing things necessary for this celebra-
tion of Divine Service. It is agreed on all hands
that great abuses are committed under these laws,
for even the Chancellor of the Exchequer admitted
that the law required revision, and only contended
that it was once much worse than now. ‘' In
England," said Mr. O'Connell, '4 the mass of the
population being Protestants, were not obliged to
build churches; but in Ireland, when the great
mass were Catholics, they were compelled to build
churches for the Protestants. The object of the
Bill for which he was about to move, would be to
place the people of Ireland on the same footing as
the people of England with respect to the building
and repairing of churches—that is, to place the
people of Ireland under the protection of the Com-
mon Law with respect to that subject, in the same
manner as the people of England now are pro-
tected." The law does not, however, seem to be
on the best possible footing in England. Al-
though new churches in the latter country can only
be built under the Act of Parliament; yet too
much latitude is allowed to churchwardens in
ordering repairs. Ira Scotland the matter is much
simplified by the whole of the expense of building
and repairing of churches being thrown on the Land-
holders, who are allowed to repair or pull down and
rebuild- churches, subject to the controul of the
Presbytery (a Court eenT9ittcl of the Clergy end