The Sun.
London, England, 1853-02-12 00:00:00

the mos t puissant. Once establish to the con-
trary, and the science of diplomacy is a mere
farce. We may then abolish the complicated system
known . as the Foreign Department of the Admi-
nistration—we may at once relieve ourselves of
the c ostly employment of our consuls, attaches,
and a mbassadors.

rarding the subject as we do in our heart,
and is 1 our conscience thus seriously, we are rejoiced
at the: notice given to the House of Commons last
even ing by the Right Hon. the ex-CEAN-cELLoa of
the Ex.CHEQUER. In consequence of the .bold de-
term imation arrived at in this instance by Mr.
Disn ELI, the disgraceful speech delivered the other
day 1 u one of the Cabinet Ministers at Halifax will
not be I permitted to pass by without an opportunity
at lei Ist, of its being expiated by some distinct
Legiilative condemnation. Possibly that oppor-
tunity will not be allowed to come and go on
Monday evening without some reference being
made, in like manner, to the observations, no
less disgraceful in their character, which fell from
the lips of another and a more important Cabinet
Minister, when, some weeks previously, addres-
sing his constituents during the course of a con-
vivial meeting in the city of Carlisle. Until one
or other of those ill-judged and most intemperate
harangues have been brought directly under the
notice of the Legislature, there must remain a
chilling misapprehension, during a period of pro-
found peace, between the Governments respectively
of France and of Great Britain. It is essential,
therefore, that the matter should be decided with
as little delay as possible, and that it should,
therefore, be brought, at the earliest moment,
under the consideration of the popular branch
of the English Parliament. More especially
is such a course desirable, when, from the
peculiar situation of the two countries, there
is, in one of them, at least, a panic as to the
chance of a speedy, if not immediate, collision—
when this panic is such, indeed, as to induce our
Ministers to pay serious attention to the national
defences, and, after judiciously increasing ournavy,
to entertain the project of materially enhancing the
amount of our military armament. An interposi-
tion like that promised for Monday evening, by
the Leader of her MAJESTY'S Opposition, had 'con-
sequently become (all things considered) obviously
and imperatively requisite. It is with peculiar
satisfaction, therefore, that we direct the atten-
tion of the community to the notice made yester-
day, in this particular, by the Right Hon. Gen-
tleman the ex-CHAwcELLoa of the EXCHEQUBR.

We, yesterday, briefly alluded to the important
measures of Legal Reform brought forward by
Lord ST. LEONARDS in the House of Lords on the
preceding evening. But these measures, valuable
as they must be admitted to be, form but a por-
tion of the ameliorations which we are justified in
anticipating from the Legislature during the pre-
sent Session. Not only have we the promised
bills of the LORD CHANCELLOR, which are to be
introduced on Monday, and which, it is believed,
will comprehend the fusion, to a certain extent
at least, of the legal and equitable tribunals—a
general codification of the laws—an improved sys-
tem of legal education, ensuring . a competent
knowledge of the principles and practice of the
law, by parties desirous of admission to any
branch of the legal profession—and, probably, an
improved system of legal legislation, ensuring a
greater degree of accuracy than can at present be
relied on—we should also have anticipated some
proposition for the reform of the Ecclesiastical
Courts, had it not been for the procrastinating
suggestions of Lord Jon RUSSELL, who appeared
to think that the subject ought to be postponed
sine die, or, at least, until the Commission of
Inquiry had presented its report. We much question
whether the Legal Reformers in and out of Parlia-
ment will consent to this delay. It may not, on con-
sideration, be deemed expedient to permit the Hon.
and Learned Gentleman the member for Plymouth to
seize the laurels that might so easily be gained by
the Government. There is no such superabund-
ance of popularity that the Ministry for the time
being can afford to disregard so feasible an oppor-
tunity of attaining public approbation, by abat-
ing this odious nuisance, or rather series
of nuisances, that " stink in the nostrils" of

the people. The views of Lord JOHN RUSSELL
were so very coolly received by the House and
country, that it is by no means impossible that
an attempt may be made to retrace the false steps
already taken, and that Ecclesiastical Courts
Reform may be included in the Ministerial pro-
gramme of measures of Legal Reform in the course
of preparation.
But, independently of Ministers, we have the
admirable series of Bills introduced by the late
Law Officers of the Crown in Ireland. Those for

the improvement of the relations between Land-
lord and Tenant in the sister kingdom, which
have already been referred to a Select Committee,
and Mr. WHITESIDE'S excellent Bill, which
elicited the unanimous commendation of Legal
Reformers of all classes and shades of political'
opinion. The present ATTORNEY-GENERAL vied
with his predecessor in well-merited eulogiums on
the Honourable Gentleman who had proceeded
so very far in advance of all previous "official "
reformers, and in declaring that the same principle
should be applied to the English Common Law.
The Procedure Act of last session was a very im-
portant amelioration of the practice previously in
operation. But it is universally admitted that it

did not go far enough—and, indeed, we can only
wonder at the timidity that prevented the com-
plete carrying out of more enlarged views.
It is true that special pleading was there-
by abolished, but the forms of action were
retained, to which the ex-SOLICITOR-GMTERAL
of Ireland gave the coup de grace. It was im-
possible that so great an improvement, adopted,

,00, in accordance with the recommendations of

the English Common Law Commissioners, could
be limited to the other side of St. George's
Channel, and that there would not be a general
demand for its extension to the whole of the
United Kingdom—an extension which Sir ALEX-
ANDER COCKBURN advocated and Sir FREDERICK
TuRSIGER " was prepared at the proper time to
adopt." The abolition of the declaration and the
substitution of a plaint and summons as one step,
and appearance and defence as another, was also
a great improvement, as well as the ;verification
of the pleadings by the oaths of the parties,
so as to prevent the possibility of specula-
tive litigation where parties relied on the
weakness of their adversaries' case rather
than on the strength of their own—putting forward
the most conflicting and contradictory state-
ments.

Our readers must be familiar with the
American sneer at our system of pleading
where the satirist supposed an action brought for
injuries to a kettle that had been borrowed by the
defendant in a damaged condition, and to which
declaration three distinct pleas were put on the
file :

Ist. That the defendant never borrowed the
kettle.

2d. That the kettle was damaged in manner
and form alleged in the declaration when he bor-
rowed it.

3d. That it was whole and in good condition
when he returned it.

We can assure our readers that matters
fully as ridiculous, and exhibiting as many con-
tradictions in the same pleadings, are of daily
occurrence in our Superior Courts, . the business
of the pleader being to exhibit his ingenuity in
discovering every probable ground of defence, and
raising the necessary issues for the purpose. A
system which greatly enhanced the expenses, and
complicated the proceedings of suits in the Supe-
rior Courts. The new and simple test provided
by the Bill of Mr. WHITESIDE, the abolition of the
necessity for personal service of writs or notices,
the pending chosen in action assignable and en-
abling the Courts of Common Law to give effect
to equitable defences and relief in cases of
]ost documents, and the codification of the
new rules of practice and pleadings, in the
face of the Bill, are all matters of vast impor-
tance, and the benefit whereof cannot be re-
fused to the English suitors. These matters,
then, must be fully and completely carried into
operation. If by the Government--if Ministers
adopt the- measures of their predecessors, well.

If not, we can safely entrust them to Lord ST.
LEONARDS and Messrs. NAPIER and WHITESIDE,
convinced 'that the absence of official duties will
not deprive the country of the inestimable
services of these energetic and efficient
Legal Reformers. There is, indeed, a gene-
ral concurrence of opinion among all classes—
professional and non-professional—of the necessity
of rapid progress in the path of legal amelioration.
The Society for Promoting the Amendment of the
Law has set the example. By its unobtrusive but
useful labours, it has sown the good seed which
has brought forth such abundant fruit. There is
" unrestricted competition" between the dif-
ferent parties in their efforts to bring
forward the most perfect measures until
"legal Free Trade" be attained. There
can be no halting in the path. There may be an
honourable emulation as to which will go the
farthest, but procrastination or postponement on
these matters is no longer practicable.

•
A remarkable document appeared the other
evening in the columns of The Sun, as well as in
those we believe of the majority of our contem-
poraries, purporting to be a Proclamation ad-
dressed by Louis KOSSUTH to the soldiers in
Italy, in the name of the Hungarian nation.
Almost, simultaneously, there appeared another
document of a somewhat similar character,
signed by JOSEPH MAZZINI, and avowedly
summoning his fellow-countrymen throughout the
Roman peninsula to a grand and instant insurrec-
tion. Of the authenticity of the latter appeal we
have no doubt whatever. It breathes throughout
the passionate enthusiasm and almost phrenzied
eloquence of perhaps the most formidable of the
Demagogues of his Age. But of the proclamation
ascribed to KOSSUTH, we must acknowledge our-
selves dubious in regard to the authorship.
Nowhere from first to last can we recognise
the accents of that great patriot—nowhere
from the commencement to the conclusion of the
document can we perceive the fervour of his
tones as an orator, or the impress of his character
as a statesman. One sentence alone is sufficiently
rhetorical in style to persuade us that it can have
emanated from one of the most eloquent of the
great men of this generation. " Hungary is the
right wing, Italy is the left wing, of the army I led."
But even this conveys a sentiment which we may
reasonably hesitate to attribute to the temporary
(and, as we hope and believe, in the end the per-
manent) Liberator of the heroic race of the Hun-
garians. One reflection naturally forces itself
upon us in reference to this remarkable document,
the reflection that it appears somewhat mistaken
and ill-judged to apprise the Northern Powers
beforehand of an intention to " rise" on the part
of Italy, or of Hungary, with a view to vindicate
their rights, and to realise their independence.
To say the least of it, such a course must seem to
the world singularly injudicious. Before, how-
ever, condemning it as such, we should like to feel
assured that the proclamation attributed to Kos-
sum has the stamp of authenticity.

Thanks to the prompt and energetic interfer-
ence of the Noble Lord the Member for the me-
tropolitan borough of Marylebone, there is really
a prospect of our at last witnessing the " begin-
ning of the end" of the odious and most execrable
system
"beginningo f notfr a
the al re aeln
—intermreallellyt,s. becatalle y p
rtalic
tie.ally. Hitherto we have, to all intents
and purposes, only talked of commencing the
suppression of the abomination. Acts of Parlia-
ment, having this object nominally in view, have
been passed--and, not very long after being
framed, have been amended—but all without
any avail whatever. Insomuch has this proved
to be the case, that we have found ourselves com-
pelled again and again to direct the attention of
the community at large to the detestable- con-
dition of our London Graveyards, first in
one direction and then in another—now in
Drury-line, now up at old St. Pancras—
where the ground is rotten with the decay
of the remains of " our dear brothers departed,"
and where, though thus crammed with the dead
to repletion, the earth is still being crowded with
more of our dear brothers and sisters, fathers and
mothers, uncles and aunts, and all the rest of our
kith and kin indiscriminately. Beholding this
monster evil still flourishing in the midst
of the wealthiest capital in the world,
Lord DUDLEY STUART last evening humanely
brought the matter directly and expressly under
the HOME SECRETARY'S consideration. To the
honour of Lord PALMERSTON be it said that he
was neither slow nor measured in his condemna-
tion of the system of intramural interment.
" With respect to the question in general, I can
only repeat what my Noble Friend has stated,
that the graveyards of the metropolis are in a
state which is disgraceful.", As an earnest that this
is his true and sincere conviction as an administra-
tor, the Noble Viscount announced, in answer to the
well-timed inquiry of Lord DUDLEY STUART, that
an Order in Council would be passed as soon as
possible to shut up the churchyard of St. Clement
Danes, in the Strand—one of the most notori-
ously foul and overgorged of all those hideous dens
of abomination. Thank GOD, something practical
is at length being adventured upon by the Govern-
ment for the close of that horrible system which
Mr. WALKER has long taught us to regard as
one of the greatest curses of the population. Let
Orders in Council, like that promised by Viscount
PALMERSTON, be multiplied, and we shall
very
speedily witness the benefit resulting from a course
thus bold and resolute in the diminution of the
o.h the increasing salubrity
mortality effected through
of the metropolis.

"Thank you for nothing," DANIEL O'CorTNELL
used to say, and as we expected there .will be no-
thing to thank our new Government for. No-
thing for ourselves. Canada will touch its hat for
the long-deferred concession of the Clergyßeserves,
the Jews will make their best bow for " long looked
for come at last," and Australia will smile plea-
santly to find itself too strong to be any longer
made the moral sink of the mother country.
Well, so far we are glad to see work done which
must be done, but there is little in it that can be
called noble or generous—little aristocratic sacri-
fice to the rights of the many. Beyond our having
more to pay, we have no specific information at
present. We will try and hope that Light • Dues,
Education, Secondary PuMshments, and facilitat-
ing the Sale of Land, will be as well dealt with
as they would have been by the late Cabinet. We
shall see. But on the Reform Question, the one
which concerns us all—on that Lord JOHN is
quite Lord JoHN again. Lord JoHN in office we
mean, not his Lordship of Perth and of Chesham-
place. The panegyrist of Democracy at Perth is
the cold Whig aristocrat again. ; while endea-
vouring to make the best for him of his declama-
tion there, we could but hint our apprehensions
that it was mere out-of-office cant and palaver.
It seems our fears were but too well founded.
At Chesha,m-place again we were assured
not merely by report, but by sincerely Liberal
Members who were present, that he gave them
distinct encouragement to expect, if they would
only put him on the Treasury Benches again, a
much better Reform Bill than the last. Yet, the
Noble Lord complains that Reformers must have
laboured under a misapprehension I He wonders
how such an erroneous impression could get
abroad as that be ever intended any advance upon
his contemptible propositions of last spring. Now
this is too bad. No such impression could have
got abroad but for Lord JoHN's own office-
biddings at Cheshaxa-place, and his after-dinner
oratory, in accordance with it at Perth. No one
could have imagined any advance towards Repre-
sentative Reform from Lord JOHN. He once
" finality" in words, and
swore allegiance to
although he has for some time been ashamed of
the word, he has been as faithful as possible to
the spirit of his oath. He made by
the Reform
Bill a division, final to his mind, of the propor-
tions of representation. He avowed that he gave
designedly the predominance to the Lan
double the
ded Inte-
rest. He gave them in many cases
_h© gave them agri-
number of County Members
cultural boroughs of two or three hundred
voters by wholesale—he gave them the power
to coerce, to bribe the voters ; and these