The Sun.
London, England, 1854-10-27 00:00:00

THE gr'N_, LONDONt FR

we think, unwarrantable attack upon Mr.
Sergeant ADAMS. He spoke of the Arch-
bishop of CALCTERBTJTCY, as the President
of the society, which was supported by several
other bishops and by gentlemen of high character
and position. So much the worse, if it be so.
No persons, however exalted their positions, or
unblemished their reputation, can venture to act
in direct opposition to the law of the land, which
expressly prohibits all such transactions. They
may combine together for the purpose of
, "improving " the law, but, in attempting to " en-
force " it, they arrogate to themselves the func-
tions of their Sovereign, and are guilty of a grave
offence which may be severely punished. Besides,
experience tells us that men like " the Arch-
, bishop of CANTERBURY and other bishops," or
even " the gentlemen of high character and posi-
tions," do not interfere with the management,
or personally investigte the cases of which they
undertake the prosecution. All these things
are left to the solicitor and secretary, and
possibly some stirring member of the
board ; and when the funds are ample, and
the rule is to pay the costs under any circum-
stances, whether allowed by the Court or not, we
can easily perceive how great is the temptation,
even to the most respectable solicitor, to under-
take business which must in any event be profitable
to himself—more particularly when a display of
activity is necessary to " bring grist to the mill,"
and maintain the funds of an association from, the
working whereof lie derives a considerable income.
We would remind the members of this associa-
tion that there are stringent laws against,
"barretry" and " maintenance" the former
whereof is described as " the frequent stirring-up
of suits and quarrels among the people;" the latter
is ejusdem generis, and is defined to be " an offici-
ous intermeddling in a gtutrre/ or suit that no ways
belongs to one, by assisting either party, with money
or otherwise, to prosecute or defend it." Now,
what is the proceeding of the society but main-
tenance, and that of the worst description ? Not
satisfied with merely advancing money to prose-
cute a suit, they cause it to bo instituted and
carried on without any authority whatsoever from
the aggrieved party. The interested zeal of the
solicitor, who gets his costs in any event, and
probably without being subjected to the scrutiny
of the Taxing Master, can set the machinery of
the law in motion, and, as we have seen, cause
an innocent man, the victim of an unjust accusa-
tion, to be subjected to the most serious detri-
ment. If this could be justified under the
alleged purity of the motives of the subscribers,
there would be nothingto prevent any enterprising
solicitor and briefless barrister from running in
couples, and obtaining funds under very specious
pretexts, which they might transfer to their own
pockets in due form -of law, as solicitor
and standing counsel to the new society. We do
not apply these terms, or attribute improper mo-
tives, to the solicitor or counsel in the present case,
but simply show to what evil results the precedent
they have established may be extended.

D