The Sun.
London, England, 1853-04-11 00:00:00

Parliament would ratify the provisional contract

thus recklessly entered into. An alam was ex-
cited because "it was thought there was danger
of an improvident bargain for the country in fa-

your of the Fundholder." There was no such im-
provement as would otherwise have been. Just
as a usurer doubts the solvency of an acceptor
that offers 201. per cent. discount, when he might
otherwise have obtained the amount he required
at 5 per cent., the Fundholder hesitated as to re-
ceiving 21 per cent., irredeemable for forty
years, with a certain increase of 10 per cent. in
the amount of the capital. It was more than
he had any right to expect ; and the credit of the
nation that would, without any pressing neces-
sity, indeed as a matter of mere playfulness,
add 50,000,0001. to the amount of its obli-
gations, and could even contemplate rendering
a liability, however trifling, irredeemable, must
naturally be deteriorated. The unexpectedly high
offer led to very different results from what had
been anticipates. The second branch of the
alternative—that for the increase of the nominal
capital of the debt—was received with unequivo-
cal
nc carried r:hi ee d
pe
tui
et n a
tc
nc o
er
vd ienr
yg
Ft ou
nt hd e_
orin us;
notice,an dg
iivfi
holder 1101. of the New 2i per Cent. Stock,
would have proved fatal to the entire project.
The limitation of the amount, which on
Saturday we pointed out, might be nearly
44,000,0001., and not merely 30,000,0001.,
as generally supposed, however, in some degree
allayed the apprehensions. It was felt that the
wonderfulnatural resources of the United Kingdom
could bear the sacrifice of 30,000,0001. or
40,000,0001. ; and every one hoped that he might
be successful in the " scramble" that must ensue
for the favourite Stock. It was felt the addition
wc
enet .a
nodn
impoliticsoo,o 0,;010t Oc
a/.
nS t o c
onlyk t
hweonu lbde
bole mloostpuenr
acceptable to those who hope to participateinthe
booty, to obtain a share of the plunder, snatched
from the community in general.
If bad for the entire amount, it . . must
be bad for the part indicated ; and three or
four millions of pounds sterling is not such
a trifling or unimportant amount as to
be recklessly flung away upon an experiment.
The other branches of the alternative are less ob-
jectionable, but still they are open to many grave
and serious questions before they, or either of them,
can be accepted by the country. The. Exchequer
Bonds, if made for only twenty years, and at 2i
per cent., might be a fair and judicious security,
mutually beneficial to all parties. The proposed
Three-and-a-Half per Cent. Stock—if the period
were shortened to twenty, or even thirty years—
might be worthy of consideration ; but as it
stands we can only bestow unequivocal con-
demnation on the new project, in which the in-
terest of the nation is so decidedly sacrificed to
that of the Fundholders.

When Mr.HITAIE and Mr. WALPOLE both unite
to commend a measure of the Whig SOLICITOR--
GENERAL, we may reasonably hope that it is in a
smooth course towards becoming an Act of Parlia-
ment. And such was the good fortune of Mr.
BETHELL when, in remarks called forth by Mr.
HADFLELD'S Bill, he announced the intentions of
the present Government in regard to the Testa-
mentary Jurisdiction of the Ecclesiastical Courts.
His proposals had solely respect to that particular
department ;, but, as Mr. WALPOLE observed, the
Judges and practitioners of these Courts depended
for remuneration so very largely upon their testa-
mentary practice that, when deprived of it, they
could no longer be sustained in efficient operation.
He, therefore, thought the Government must bring
in a much larger measure. To us it appears,
however, that all the remaining work of the
Ecclesiastical Courts may be easily disposed of.
It is nearly all of it just that work which has made
them stink in the nostrils of the country, and
which has brought unmerited odium upon the
really efficient Testamentary and Admiralty Courts
in Doctors' Commons. Cases of tithe and defa-
mation, and. especially of Church-rates and
brawling, ruinous and interminable suits
for trifling amounts, a Churchman enacting
both judge and jury against some re-
cusant or scrupulous Dissenter, a worthy
man made to do penance, to gratify some
malevolent neighbour or parson—all this the re-
spectable part of the practitioners at the Court in
Doctors' Commons are more than prepared to
discard. They dislike it as the bla%k spot of
their profession. Indeed, merely ecclesiastical
matters have sunk to the lowest ebb in these
Courts, while their practice has increased to a
great extent in matters connected with the laws
of marriage, testacy, and intestacy. There is,

we hope, little doubt that the chief recommend&

tions of the Commissioners will be acceded to,
and that a distinct court will be instituted for the

trial of all matrimonial cases. Church-rate cases
will, we trust, come to an end by a very short
and easy process, which, in common with Mr.
BETHELL, we have already recommended, and shall
do again ; tithes, defamation, brawling, and
scandal are surely proper subjects for the secular
Courts only ; there remains only " the Correction
of Clerks," and as the Bishops appear to feel
great interest in that subject, and were all once
simple Clerks themselves, we are sure Mr. BETHELL
and •Mr. WALPOLE may leave that subject in
such apostolic hands. The lay public will care
but little how the Reverends and Right Reve-
rends adjust this matter, provided they keep
the Courts for their own correction, and do not
make them scourges of scorpions for the laity.
The grand feature of Mr. BETHELL'S plan is to
establish one Court of Probate, to take effect
throughout the whole of England and Wales upon
all subjects of contentious jurisdiction, and that
that Court should be the Court of Chancery,
or perhaps we may term it a branch of it. The
" Courts Peculiar," with all their abominations,
are, it appears, sustained at present only by an
annual Indemnity Act, and that Act is to be re-
fused this year, leaving them to the sentence of
annihilation passed on them by 6th and 7th
WILL. IV., chap. 77. The Diocesan Courts are
retained, and are to be permitted to prove wills
"in common form"—that is, when they are un-
contested—and no examination of witnesses is
required to the amount of 1,200/. They will be
required, however, to provide legally-trained offi-
cers, and to transmit all the wills to the Metro-
politan Court, only retaining official copies for
themselves. All contentious jurisdiction is to be
transferred to the Metropolitan Court, and all
questions about wills in common form to be re-

ferred thither too, if needful. A certain extent
of jurisdiction is to be granted also to County
Courts in administering and controlling the estates
of intestates ; and most of our unprofessional
readers will doubtless think that the more that
can be entrusted to these Courts the better ; and
we think with them. We do not see why a ma-
chinery for registration could not be connected
with them, and all put into their hands
which it is proposed to continue in those
of the Diocesan Courts. The latter lie at most
inconvenient distances about the country. Lon-
don itself is more accessible to the greater part of
a province than its Cathedral city. The COunty
Courts are at hand everywhere.
Sometime ago there was a just objection to the
Court of Chancery becoming the Court of Wills
and Testaments. Sir NICHOLAS TINDAL and Mr.
FRESHFIELD gave evidence against it ; but the
late reforms in that Court have done away most
of what was objectionable, and its great reformer
has promised us that it shall be ultimately as re-
markable for economy and dispatch as it once
was for cost and delay. It is a gratifying con-
sequence of the proposed change, that the Testa-
mentary Court will now be in name, as well as in
f
the laitQhticeeennt'usrCyc:
nurt ; athough somewhat singular
c
that its presiding Jud,,e, up to the early part of
wasworking of c commonly
mh whole—"only cAeseinasevtieci.
To sum up the
.i
a person having a fixed place of residence should
die testate within the limits of an isting
Diocesan Court, provided the estate ysh existing
Diocesan Court, provided the estate should not
b
exceed a certain amount, the
will
proved in the Diocesan Court
ofilithatmigh diot c eese.
But if any question should arise touching
h
proof of, or any litigation, affecting the will, the tdee-
cision of that question and of the litigation would
be removed to the Court of Probate--the Court
of Chancery—ilz Loudon;' ix, that court J