The Sun.
London, England, 1854-09-27 00:00:00

DEATH OF LORD DENMAN.

Although four years have already elapsed since Lord
Denman was compelled by the increasing infirmities of
age to withdraw from the Court of Queen's Bench and
the office of Lord Chief Justice of England, and although
the closing period of his life has removed him from all
connexion with public affairs, we cannot allow a man so
justly respected in his generation to pass from among us
without recording some traces of his public services and
his well-earned honours. It may be said of Lord Den.
man that he had not the impassioned forensic eloquence
of Erskine, nor the tremendous parliamentary energy of
Brougham ; he could not display the copious and ani•
mated learning of Macintosh, and he did not possess the
subtle advocacy of Scarlett—though he took no undis•
tinguished part with Romily in the reform of the law,
by the removal of its abuses and the mitigation of its
severities, he was not his equal at the bar; and, though
he fought the battle of negro emancipation with a zeal
and steadiness inferior to none, Wilberforce and Clark-
son had a more enthusiastic following in the country, and
Buxton and Lushington had more authority in the House
of Commons. Upon the bench it is impossible to rank the
judicial attainments and legal capacity of Lord Denman
with the eminent qualities of Parke or Tindal, Lywi•
hurst or Campbell.' But if the highest rank be denied
him upon an impartial survey of his character and life,
it is no mean praise that in this oonstellation of talent
he held an undisputed place as a star of the second
magnitude. With these contemporaries, with these
associates, with these competitors in the race of life, he
won, and be deserved to win, a ,fair and honourable
prize. For 18 years he filled the honoured seat of the
Chief Justice of England, and, if any man excelled hires
by the vivacity of their genius or the acuteness of their
intellect, none certainly surpassed, or perhaps equalled
him, in the moral dignity which gave an appropriate
and additional lustre to his office. The personal aspect
and outward bearing of Lord Denman in the administra-
tion of justice were strongly impressed with those moral
qualities which he displayed in all the duties of life, and,
though he occasionally evinced on the bench the passion
of a partisan, we cannot but bear testimony to his nn•
flinching rectitude of purpose, his love of truth, his sin.
verity and simplicity of character. His extreme bene•
volence and humanity were the fittest ornaments of the
chief legal guardian of the publio morals, and these
qualities deserve to confer lasting honour upon his
name.

Lord Denman was born on the 23d of July, 1779, in
the house of his father, Dr. Thomas Denman, who pracs
tised medicine with distinction in the metropolis in the
latter half of the last century. His mother was an aunt
of the present Sir Benjamin Brodie, and it is a curious
instance of the connexion of the Denman family with
the medical profession, that one of the sisters of Dr.
Denman married Sir Richard Croft, and the other Dr.
Baillie, the two leading physicians of their time. In
early childhood Thomas Denman was sent to Palgrave
School, near Diss, in Norfolk, which was then under
the management of Mr. and Mrs. Bai ba.uld, and the
judge was sometimes wont to relate in after life that he
had received from that accomplished lady the rudiments
of instruction, and the first lessons of discipline. We
have no record of young Denman's later school educa-
tion, but we find him towards the close of the last cell•
tury entered at St. John's College, Cambridge, where
he graduated in 1800, without., however, appearing in
the list of wranglers of that year. In 1806 he was
called to the bar at Lincoln's-inn, and engaged in
the active pursuit of the law. He had already married
at an early age,. and a rapidly-increasing family gave a
stimulus to his professional exertions. The moment was
peculiarly unfavourable to the public career, of a young
man entering in life with principles wholly opposed to
the dominant school of high Tory politics, and connected
by education, by taste, and by conscience with the men
and the principles which were doomed to a quarter of a
century of opposition before they obtained a footing in
the Government of this country ; and Mr. Denman had
none of the qualifications which could recommend him to
the Percevals or the Eldons of that day. He entered
Parliament for the borough of Wareham at the general
election of 1818, and at once took his seat with the
Whig Opposition. In the following year he was elected
for Nottingham, for which place he continued to sit, to
the great satisfaction of his constituents, until his pro-
motion to the bench in 1832. His first appearance in
Parliament was in favour of certain reform in the law,
but it was not until 1820 that the extraordinary occa-
sion of the Queen's trial called forth all his energy,
and placed him in a more conspicuous position before
'the country. When Queen Caroline formed the de-
termination of coming to this country upon the accession
of her husband to the throne, Mr. Brougham at once
accepted the office of her Majesty's Attorney-General,
while that of her Solicitor-General was filled by Mr.
Denman. It was impossible to declare war more openly
upon the Government, upon the heads of the legal pro-
fession, and upon the private feelings of the King. We
now look back with amazement on the spirit which
pervaded the country at that time, and on the motives
which induced men of the highest ability and the purest
f:ime voluntarily to lend their advocacy to a client who
had in a thousand ways degraded her position and dis-
graced her sex. But men like Lushington and Denman
saw in the Queen a woman whose innumerable offences
against decency and virtue might, they thought, be
palliated, by the unworthy treatment she had met
with from her husband, and the furious spirit of op.
position which prevailed against George IV. and
his Ministers animated them to the contest, and em-
bellished even the woi thless and repulsive object they
consented to serve. The part taken by Mr. Denman
in that memorable trial gave the public a high idea
of his courage and uprightedness, and contributed in
no slight degree to its successful result. This successr
however, was an offence not to be pardoned by the head
of the law as long as Lord Eldon held the Great Seal,
and accordingly the honours of his profession, to which
Mr. Denman was amply entitled by his talents and his
standing, were studiously withheld from him, as far as
they depended on the will of the Chancellor. Mr. Den-
man was, however, appointed to the office of Common
Serjeant by the orporation of London in 1822, pro-
bably as a mark of their sympathy for the legal de-
feeders of the Queen, in whose affairs Alderman.
Waitliman had taken so active a part. It was not until
1828, when Lord Lyndhurst first held the Great Seal,
that this injustice was repaired, and the King was in-
duced in 1828, not, we believe, without difficulty, to
grant thu patent of precedence to which Mr. Denman
had long been entitled.
In 1830 the scene changed, and upon the formation of
Lord Grey's Government Sir Thomas Denman was
immediately raised to the post of Attorney-General,
which he held during the momentous debates on
the Reform Bill. In 1832, however, upon the death
of Lord Tenterden, he was appointed to the Chief Jug-
ticeship of the Court of Queen's Bench, which he held
till 1850, having been raised to the peerage in 1834. As
a judge, we have already observed, that Lord Denman
cannot be ranked with the highest legal authorities who
have presided over that court, but no man ever took a
loftier view of its duties to society. To quote but one
example, the conduct of the Court in the difficult case of
" Stockdale v. Hansard," when it was directly assailed
by one branch of the Legislature, is a memorable in-
stance of the exercise of that constitutional power which
enables our judges to interpose the authority of the law
against the arbitrary pretensions of the most powerful
body in this realm, and to combat privilege in the name
of justice. " Most willingly would I decline," said Lord
Denman in delivering judgment on that occasion," to enter
upon an inquiry which may lead to my differing from that
great and powerful assembly (the House of Commons). But
when one of my fellow-subjects presents himself before
me in this court demanding justice for an injury, it is
not at my option to grant or to withhold redress. I
am bound to afford it him, if the law declares him en-
titled to it. Parliament is said to be supreme. I most
fully acknowledge its supremacy. It follows, then, that
neither branch of it is supreme when acting by itself."
power In those few words, and in the judicial -of enforc-
ing that truth, lies the supreme guardianship of the
liberties of England.
Lord Denman lived the life of a reformer of abuseir;
and an enemy of all that in his judgment clouded the
honour or impaired the public utility of our institutions;
His hatred of negro slavery in every form rose to a pas.
sion, for he stood armed
against cruelty and injustice,
and in the wretched fate of kidnapped Africans and de-
graded slaves he beheld the united and accumulated
evils and wrongs which have most disgraced humanity
and profaned religion. He powerfully contributed to the
furtherance of those reforms of the criminal law which Sir
Samuel Romilly had commenced, and which Lord Den•
man brought to the test of his own judicial experience.
To the cause of4oleration and freedom within the bouts,
daries of law he at all times gave his hearty support, and
in all the undertakings set on foot in our day for more
extended popular education, for the diffusion of useful.
knowledge,ctf
so ro
ft I
en
en
ligh treformationened
ciloafr
icriminal
aodffiel en dbeorsr,e ahaids
fpoar other
rt.
Thae warmth he had sometimes displayed as a par.
tisan gradually subsided under the higher duties of his
judicial
station and the soothing influence of age. His
closing years, though afflicted by severe illness, were see
renely devoted to that contemplation which is the worthiest
termination of human life—to those acts of kindness
which endear the memory of the departed—and to the
exercises of religion which anticipate the final change.
We rank him not with the greakest, but with the wore
thiest of our contemporaries, andathe life he led affords,
in our judgment, a better example to those who iollove
him than that of more eager and impetuous aspirant*
after power and fame.—Times.

ALDICUSHOT.—We understand that the site for bar.
racks at Aldershot, which was selected by the committee
of officers, has been considered by the medical board
ill selected in a sanitary point of view, and that a plea,
of land which is more eligible in the neighbourhood is to
be purchased for the erection of the barracks. We re"
Bret these delays, but would have more regretted the
building of barracks on an unhealthy pite,—N4v itn4
IliWorm 0ar(440. ,

.RAILWAY INTELLIGENCE.

OPENING OF
THE NOR
WAY. RWEGIAN GRAND
TRUNK R
Some account of this interesting ceremony has al-
ready appeared in the public journals ; but the annexed
particulars will be read with gratification, as indicative
of the development of Norwegian resources under Eng-
lish skill, and through the instrumentality of English
enterprise and capital :
CHRISTIANIA, Sept. 15.—We were very much grati-
fied the other day by the arrival of Mr. Robt. Stephen-
son, M.P., Mr. Samuel M. Peto, M.P., and Mr. Geo.
P. Bidder, with a party of friends, for the purpose of
inaugurating the Norgewian Trunk Railway, which, in
accordance with the contract with the Norwegian Go-
vernment, was to be formally delivered over to the direc-
tors on the Ist inst. This line is 42 miles in its extreme
length, connecting the capital with the Mjosen Lake ;
which again, by means of steamers, at present belonging
to the contractors, has brought the most populous an
favoured districts in connection with the coast, f
driora.
which they have hitherto, in consequence of the
15
culty of internal communication, been in a measure
excluded.
The country through which the line passes is, as
those acquainted with the physical features of Norway
may well suppose,• exceedingly picturesque ; the im-
pression which first strikes the traveller on viewing
the broken and mountainous character of the couu-
try is the impracticability of constructing a rail-
way ; and the utmost skill and ingenuity of the
engineer have been called into requisition in order to
overcome the difficulties which meet him at every ad-
vance, while the curves and gradients they have been
compelled to adopt prove that these were not few. After
leaving the main station at Christiania, and crossing the
Agers river, by means of a wrought-iron girder bridge,
the rise to a distance of 11 mile is 1 in 40, and the des-
cent at Strommeir, the first chief station we arrive at, is
lin 60. Here we cross the Nid river by means of a
similar wrought-iron bridge, and shortly after begin to
rise to the picturesque station under Frognor Church ;
after this the gradients and curves are but slight until
you reach the next station at Dahl, situated in the
sequestered valley of Ris. Between this station and
Christiania the road passes through some extensive rock-
cuttings of granite and primitive slate, and over some of
the most extraordinary timber viaducts ever applied to
railway construction, varying frhru 60 to 70 feet in
height, and from 400 to 800 feet in length ; they look
light and elegant, and exceedingly picturesque, though
of immense strength.
From Dahl to Eidsvold the engineers experienced
unusual difficulties, not only from the nature of the
ground, but the configuration of the surface. The
line, immediately after leaving the Dahl station,
enters a series of narrow-winding valleys, with barely
breadth enough for the streams which traverse their
base to worm their way through ; the curves are
consequently sharp, and within the short distance of
seven English miles no less than 18 bridges have to be
crossed, as likewise through two short tunnels. On
• emerging from the second, the Wormen river (the out-
- let of the Mjosen Lake) is seen, and immediately beyond
is the Eidsvold station, the northern terminus of the
line, which stands on the quay, so that the steamers
lie alongside. There are seven intermediate stations,
all built in the Swiss cottage style—remarkable for the
impression of neatness and comfort they convey. The
opening of the line was to have taken place on the 31st,
but, owing to some preliminary arrangements which
had to be completed with the Government, it was de-
ferred to the day following. All the Ministers and high
officials of the Government, together with the judges,
*-1-- heads of the department, members of the Storthing, &c.,
were invited to be present at the ceremony. About 300
consequently assembled at the station at Christiania,
which is of the old Hanseatic style, and. which had been
decorated for the occasion, to witness the departure of
the train. All the stations had been more or less
adorned, and as the train flew by the company were
greeted by the most enthusiastic cheers. At Eidsvold a
cold collation had been provided, of which the company
partook, and after walking about the beautiful environs
for a couple of hours, they returned at four o'clock to
Christiania, and were again greeted by crowds of specta-
tors. At five o'clock the company assembled at the Free-
masons' Hall, and about 300 sat down to a handsome
dinner, which had been provided by the contractors.
S. M. Peto, Esq., M.P., presided ; supported on his
right by the councillor of state, M. Vogt, the Minister
of Finance ; and on his left by 3L Berg, the President
of the Lagthing. Among the company were the Minis-
°' ter of Marine, Minister of the Interior, Minister of
War, the Commander-in-Chief, Admiral Hesselberg,
ar Robert Stephenson, Esq., M.P., the eminent engineer;
Mr. Bidder ; her Majesty's consul-general ; the mem-
bers of the Storthing, and the chief notabilities of the
town, as well as several English gentlemen, who had
' come over for the occasion. The gallery was crowded
with ladies.
The CHAIRMAN, in proposing the first toast, that of
" His Majesty the King," alluded to the great interest
his Majesty had evinced, and the support he had so
powerfully afforded to this great national undertaking.
The MINISTER of J.-use-ice next proposed " The
Health of her Britannic Majesty Queen Victoria," and
paid the most eulogistic encomiums to England and
the British.
Mr. PETO then gave " The Government of Nor-
way and the Storthing," accompanied on each occasion
with a brief and appropriate speech.
The PRESIDENT of the STORTHING proposed Mr. Ste-
phenson, a gentleman whose fame had extended beyond
Europe ; who had won his laurels—not in a campaign,
where they are generally won, though often with but
little prosperity to mankind—but by using his excellent
knowledge and eminent talents so effectively that distant
places aro brought near to each other, the beneficent
avocations of peace are promoted, national prosperity is
augmented, and a hitherto unknown life in many re-
spects is created. It was Mr. Stephenson whose counsel
and skilful direction had been most instrumental in form-
ing the first railway in that country—an undertaking
with which we may, with good reason, unite the most
certain expectations of an advancement of many mate-
rial interests.

Mr. STEPHENSON responded by proposing " Success
to the Norwegian Trunk Railway." It was quite un-
necessary for him to expatiate on the benefits which such
a great work was calculated to confer upon all classes
of society. The experience which they had already had
from the partial use of the railway for the last few
months must have convinced the most sceptical that it
could not fail to stimulate the enterprise of an already
enterprising people, to extend their commercial inter-
course with other countries, and, above all, to increase
the comforts of the Norwegian people. It was in this
latter respect that the influence of railways was so re-
markable ; the benefits they conferred were not limited
to any particular class of society, for they were benefits
that every one experienced. The future historian in
writing the history of our times will feel himself called
upon to study with as much care the influences of rail-
ways upon the social condition of man as he has hitherto
done the influences of the most extensive war among
nations. He would, however, proceed to a point on
which he knew they were all anxious ; he alluded to an
impression in the minds of many that the railway works
were not in a complete state, and that the terms of the
contract had not been complied with. As umpire be-
tween the English and Norwegian interests, he had
carefully examined and considered the state of the works
throughout, and he now expressed his decided opinion
that the contract had been complied with. There were,
doubtless, many minor works, especially some connected
with the different stations, which could not strictly be
said to be complete, but ho did not consider these at all
necessary for the substantial compliance with the con-
tract. He, therefore, publicly and emphatically declared
his opinion, that the Government ought to have no
hesitation in accepting the railway and works as fit and
safe for public use.
Mr. PETO, in reply to the toast of " The Contractors,
Messrs. Peto, Ricardo, and Brassey," which was pro-
posed by the Minister f Marine, trusted they would for-
give his offering to them his thanks fur its reception,
and for their kindness in accepting the hospitality he had
so much pleasure in offering. He wished to take this
opportunity of saying that he feared from what he
had heard that some misapprehension existed in the pub-
lic mind as to the position and relation of the contrac-
tors to the shareholders, in connection with the event
of the day. He had been told that 501:110 parties felt
strongly that the Government should not have had the
line transferred under Mr. Stephenson's award until
every iota of work was perfect. Now, if this was so,
why did the Government so properly stipulate for five
years to try every work on the line, and to add thereto
from time to time what might be 'required, until the
traffic had reachebdts: certain limit ? He stated that as
Mr. Stephenson declared that the line was in every
respect it for
opening' and equal to any railway that
had ever been openenl'a
safety and utility, still the
contractors felt boundlaasrstgoehonest men, who stood before
the world as fulfilling
engagements in every part
of it, to carry out the contraenolda liberal spirit, and
the Norwegian public and shot ei,siewc.nild find they
had not misplaced their confidence. tchaezornefse,rred to
r duty, fulfilled it in a c
the control commissioners, who on all occasions, while
strictly carrying out thei
OUT-
teous and candid spirit. The traffic hadbeen only
opened to Eidsvold but a month
Pit 19,000 passen-
gers had been conveyed, and a gross return made of
about 3,0001. It was supposed, d
an- very naturally
so, that considerable prejudices would have been en-
countered from a class who for ages had possessed
almost a vested right in the transit power of the district
through which the line traversed. What was the result
Why, that that very class had used the railway more than
any other, and instead of competing with the line, at no
time had the prices been higher, or had merchants experi-
enced greater difficulties in procuring horses as since the
railway had been opened for traffic. These were facts
that strikingly proved the utility of railway communi-
cation, and which made the merchant and the public
independent of those climatic casualties they were so
frequently exposed to. He felt sure that if he lived he
should see Norway soon become an exporting country.
.Its soil was fruitful, and, when cultivated, not only
would each property supply the wants of its possessor,
but leave a surplus for sale to foreign Slates. Though
the winter of Norway was cold, yet that very severity
gave the soil a preparedness unknown to southern
climes, and when its lakes became connected by railways
those products could be shipped with facility and profit.
Look at Canada—equally cold, and yet what products
were brought from it ? Look at Denmark—exporting
annually 1,000,000 quarters of corn and 40,000 head of
cattle. And why not Norway? He had seen since lie
bad been in that country root crops equal to any he had
seen in England, and crops of potatoes more abundant
than any he had ever seen. Then why should not Nor-
way export largely 1 He felt sure she would eventually,
acid when it was calculated that the cost of locomotive
traction did not exceed, for the supplr, bf. power,- more
than 9d, to each train per English mile, they would