The Sun.
London, England, 1862-05-08 00:00:00

TILE _HIGH STEWARD OF CAMBRIDGE•

The Duke of Devonshire was yesterday installed
as High Steward of the borough of Cambridge.
The proceedings commenced with a meeting 01
the corporation in the Council-chamber at half-past
one, at which the Mayor presided. The Town-clerk
(Mr. C. H. Cooper) read the patent of the office to
which the Duke was elected in June last. After the
administration of the customary oaths,
The MAYOE said that the office just conferred
would not entail any burdensome or troublesome
duties. It was not now an onerous office, yet it was
one of great antiquity, and had been held by many
distinguished men. He observed that the second
and third High Stewards, Edward Seymour, Duke
of Somerset, and John Dudley, Duke of Northum-
berland, were also, as the Duke is, Chancellor of the
University. Their /earned town clerk informed him
(the Mayor) that both of these noblemen came to
an unfortunate end—an end from which might God
preserve his Grace ! (Laughter.) Since then the
list of High Stewards comprised the names of
Thomas Howard, Duke of Norfolk ; Sir Thomas
Egerton (Lord Keeper), Sir Francis Bacon, Sir
Thomas Coventry (Lord Keeper), Sir John Finch
(Lord Keeper), Oliver Cromwell, and Sir Edward
Hyde, afterwards Earl of Clarendon. All filled the
same office as they had cordially conferred upon his
Grace that day. Descending to the times of the re-
formed corporation, the names comprised those of
Francis, Lord Godolphin, Charles William Earl
Fitzwilliam, Thomas Babington, Lord Macaulay,
and concluded with that of the late Doke of Bed-
ford. The wisdom with which the corporation had
acted in making these appointments was vindicated
by the list of persons they had selected to fill this
honourable office.

The LORD HIGH STEWARD, in reply, said that
he gratefully aceepted the honour conferred upon
him. It afforded him the more pleasure as he had
reason to believe that the suggestion of his name
was due in some measure to his having prosecuted
his studies at the University. (Cheers.) If there
had been reason to believe that his acceptance of
the office would have entailed upon him any duties
inconsistent with the allegiance he owed to his
University they would pardon him for saying that
it would have been difficult for him to accept it.
(Applause.) He rejoiced, however, that the rela-
tions between the University and town were hap-
pily of so amicable a nature that there was reason
for believing that the discharge of the duties of the
high office to which he had been called would en-
tail the taking of any step inconsistent with those
of the other office. He had made it his business
since his acceptance of office to ascertain some-
thing of his predecessors, and was struck to find
such an array of remarkable men. Take, for
instance, the three earliest appointments, Protec-
tor Somerset and the Dukes of Norfolk and North-
umberland, names all identified with the most stir.
ring periods of the country. The Mayor referred
to the unfortunate fate of two of those noblemen,
who were instances of the union of the offices of
High Steward of the borough and Chancellor of the
University, which had not since again occurred
until the present day—facts about which, if he (the
Duke) had been troubled with superstitious feel-
ings, he might naturally have felt some alarm.
(Laughter.) However, the circumstances of the
times were so different that he thought he might
dismiss any fear that the conjunction of those ap-
pointments was likely again to be attended by in-
auspicious results. The Duke then referred to the
great men who had preceded him on the roll of
Stewards. He was proud, he said in conclusion, to
receive from them the office which had been occu-
pied by so many distinguished men, and upon which
high honour was reflected by many interesting
associations. (Loud applause.)
Advantage was taken of the installation of the
Steward to open the new suite of rooms which has
been recently erected for public purposes at an ex-
pense of £lO,OOO, of wnich sum £4,000 were raised
by subscriptions, and £6,000 were contributed by

the corporation.
At the conclusion of the proceedings in the Coun-
cil-chamber the Corporation escorted his Grace to
the new Assembly-room, where a dejeuner had
been laid out for 350 guests, and full that num-
ber were present, at the invitation of the Mayor,
who presided, with the Duke of Devonshire and
the Vice• Chancellor on his right hand, and Lord
Monteagle and the Master of Trinity on his left.

CONCENTRATION OF THE COURTS OF

LAIV.

Yesterday, a deputation from the Law Amend-
ment Society waited upon the Chancellor of the
Exchequer, at his official residence, Downing-
street, to suggest to him a means whereby the
public purse might be protected from any addi-
tional burden in the event of the new law courts,
as proposed to be erected on the site between Bell-
yard, Carey-street, and the Strand, costing more
than the estimated sum. The deputation consisted
of Mr. Field, Mr. Hastings, Mr. Edgar, Sec.
Mr. HASTINGS, in introducing the subject in
which the deputation was interested to the notice of
the right hon. gentleman, took credit to the society
for a portion of the success which had attended the
labours of the great leaders in the cause of law re-
form. A great deal had been done to improve both
the criminal and the mercantile law of the country,
but suitors suffered a great deal of inconvenience,
and put to a great deal of unnecessary expense,
owing to the manner in which the courts of judica-
ture were scattered over the metropolis. That was
an evil which had been for a long time felt by the
profession, but the public at large were to a still
greater extent affected by it. For instance, the
suitor who had engaged the services of an advocate
to plead his cause at Westminster might, when the
cause came on, find that his counsel was engaged in
Lincoln's-inn, or in Guildhall, and thus such a suitor
lost the benefit of the learning or talent of the man
on whom lie most relied. That would not probably
be the case if all the courts were under one roof as
in Dublin and Edinburgh, and thus not only would
the judicial business of the country be discharged
with greater despatch than at present, but in the
trial the suitor would get a better article for his
money. Having drawn the right hon. gentleman's
attention to the several schemes which had been
proposed for the concentration of the courts, he
begged the government would not, for the sake of
preventing the opposition given to the scheme re-
commended by the royal commissioners, sanction
the proposal that the courts of equity should remain
in Lincoln's-inn, but that the common law courts

should be erected in Carey-street, as that wouldput
the country to a vast expense, without the realisa-
tion of any appreciable advantage. On the contrary,
he hoped they would adhere to the scheme pro-
pounded in Mr. Cowper's bill lately rejected by the
House of Commons. The main opposition to that
measure originated with the Hon. Society of
Lincoln's-inn, which would lose the large rents
which it at present received for the premises occu-
pied by the courts of equity; but still a great many
members of the House of Commons had opposed it
through the apprehension that the outlay would
exceed at least by £500,000 the estimated cost of
the proposed structure. As this financial objection
was the only feasible one which could be urged
against the measure, the Law Amendment Society
thought it advisable to confer with him as the finan-
cial minister of the country in order to suggest a
means whereby that objection might be got rid of.
They calculated that the imposition of a tax to the
extent of 3s. 4d. on each writ issued by the common
law courts, and the Courts of Admiralty, Probate,
and Divorce, would be sufficient to raise an annual
revenue equivalent to the interest on half a million
of money, and thus the public purse would be pro-
tected and the wholeburden thrown upon the suitors.
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER, in reply,
Mated that he had
neyer contemplated altogether