The Sun.
London, England, 1854-03-02 00:00:00

THEATRE ROYAL DRURY-LANE.---- lowering state of the political horizon, or the im-
Leve> Mr. I. T. St d TTH. —On WEDNESDAY MORN[`(-,
march 8. GRAND NATION(!. DF, 40NSTRATIO , in All) of a pending war to retard the measures of Parlia-
FUND for the support of the WIVES and CIIILD:cEN of th:> aleatory and legal reform which were so impera-
BRITISH SOLDIERS who In.ve been sent as an ex: elf ion try force
on foreign service. The Lessee has paced the Theatre, tree of i•x- tively required, and urgently demanded by the
pence, for a performance of THE CORSI 'AN BROTHERS, in
people.D Notwithstanding the efforts tat have
which Mr. G. V. BROOKE (who on this occaq in gives his services
gratuitously) will appea-, under the immediate patr inage and spe- been made for further procastination, notwith-
dal desire of the Lord Mayor, the S'itriii,. aid civic Authorities, and
standing the devices adopted for the purpose of
the following illustrious patrone,ses, who have signnfled their inten-
tion of attending on this occ-ision:-- inducing Liberal members to join in the cry for
Her Royal Highness the Duche a of Cambrldze.
procrastination, Lord JOHN RUSSELL still per-
Her Royal tai hness the Princess Mary tleainbridge.
The :.My Mayo,:s. ' sists in his measure, which, although not
Her Grace the Ditching of Flamilon.
Her Grace the Du bees of Beauf trt. in every respect what c mlil be desired,
Her Grace the Duchess of Nlontro e. being defective in the all-important matters
Her Grace the Duch •,4 of somerset.
Her Grace the Duches4 or litV•rroesit. of " The B illot," and the "abolition of the
The Most Noble thA NI Arelnim iss of Ayl,gbary.
i
"he Moot Noble the Marehie is- of Lon 'o ',terry. property qualification for members," is yet
The Most Noble the Ma^e,itone sof Wao.iforil. a very decided improvement on the system now
The Right H in. the Cottiite.s of CiNaterthild.
The Right Hon..
the the CCounti unte-s
of ot 1 Klonoit'l. in operition ; and with the additions which will,
T Him si. I il-iiga .
The Right lion. the 0 ulite,:s ot Ito-h ouch. dlubtless, be eff cted by 'Mr. HENRY BERKELEY,
The Rt• ht Hon. the Counte-s iif herby. the champi,ni of secret and conscientious
voting,
The Right Ho •. the Coiltre,s of -he burns.
The Right Him. the countess of Wilton and of AD-. TrTNELL, and their liberal coadjutors
The EL:lit Hon. the Co 11,t034 of I)ei;itin. •
will constitute a very fair ins of justice,
The Right Hon. this Cott ite.s of Don ughmor,-.
The Right Hon. th i Via e:lute. Palmerton. although it cannot be accepted as a final settle-
Theit Right lion. the Vise cutest Ntaiil.itne.
The Right tine. the Vise uutess Newpo t. merit.
Lady So Ilia DeVeaux. but this is not all ; we find that they are also
Lady Colv 1 e.
Lady Raglan. proceeding vigorously with those legal reforms
The Hon. tars. Amon.
Or Disraeli. which the people so greatly require and urgentl

Mrs. J. •tanley, &c.
The Lord Mayor, with his tvittql kiri-'ne=s and generoity, has cnn
sented to act as treasurer, and to wit vrn ,u'i.crintdiiis to iy b 3 se.tt
The entire recelots to he forwar.le Liird Ma:or mid Lady
Patronesses, to form a ob ic tuna f r th our. co e.
open at hal-ptst one, and col-tint:no.; it tw o'clock precisely.
iseription4 received uy the Coot Back .1 Lon ion, Henrietta
street.
The Lessee al'n he,s Payto inf min th n chili y (yid gentry tht
this Theatre will he k, an d at tie di •pls ti of tha La tyPat-„n•s4e,
for a Fancy Fair, or Bizi tr. o Wed e-4.1a,. th ire tav, an 1 Ftid tv,
April It, 13, and 14. nn whi h ace tsion e Pu will IT cove pd
over for their acc..ronto tattoo : and all art:c es kitten 1 •it to i.e. for-
warded as a pres•int ,or th s p,rp %, ht: entered in a
book, with names and add es.es of do :o

y
demand. We have already had the Ewlesiastical
Courts Bill, by which it is proposed to abolish
the testatnmtary jurisdiction of the spiritual
tribunals, and with it the rich source of
emolument, the nutriment, in fact, by which they
.ire sustained and supported. Thus directly
leading to the speedy dksolution of the Courts
theimelves. And, on Monday last, Lord CRAN-
wowru introduced another measure, for the pur-

pose of carrying into practical operation some of
the recommendations of the Common Law Com-
missioners. 'We say " some of the recommen-
dations ;" because, while there are matters on
which the Noble and Learned Lord desires to
proceed more slowly and cautiously than the
eminent barristers by whom the inquiry was con-
ducted, and from whom these recommendations
emanated, there are others from whi"h he altogether
dissents. Some points are, therefore, merely
postponed until there have been sufficient oppor-
tunities for testing the working of the modified
system—while others are, at le ist so far as Lord
CRANWORTH is concerned, completely thrown
overboard.
Ampleopportunity will, however, beafforded for
considering the details of the bill, and more espe-
cially the facts thereof, in which the suggestions
of the Commissioners are modified or totally re-
jected. For this purpose, immediately after the
second reading, which will probably be taken
without any discussion, the only possible difference
will be respecting details. All the Law Lords,
many of whom have achieved such high reputa-
tions as legal reformers, will of course lend their
valuable assistance in committee ; arid we may
anticipate, therefore, that a bill will be carried
during the present session as nearly perfect as
practicable, considering the deep-rooted preju-
dices in favour of some of what we cannot help
considering the grievous abuses that have
sprung up with and disfigured our system of
jurisprudence. Chief among these abuses we con-
..idar what is called the science of " special plead-
izig," and which we would desire to see completely
set aside. It is true that the system was greatly
modified and ameliorated by the Common Law
Procedure Act, and that evils such as those which
elicited the unanimous condemnation of th 3 en-
tire non-professional community are no longer
possible. But causes may still be decided on
p totally uuc mnected with the real merits,
and substantial jastice may still ba. dented to the
suitor, in consequence of some mistake or over-
sight of his professional adviser. We regretted,
therefore, to find that Lord CRANWORTH went out
of his way—for the matter had been disposed of,
'Or the time at least,. by the Common Law Pro-
cedare Act—to express his approbation of a mat-
ter which, to use a technical phrase, was "corccat
twit judice."
Tae L )rd Chancellor differs from the Oorninis-
aioners as to their suggestion of permititag issues
of fact to be decided by the Judges both parties
acquiescing. The Noble and Learned Lord limits
the power of dispensing with s Jury to a particu-
lar class of cases, and also, renders the assent of
lie Judge in every instr%ace indispensable. None
admire the glori:Jils principle of "Trial by
Jhry" more sincerely than ourselves. It is the
leaning principle of the glorious Constitution of
which every '..-e:laglislunan is so justly proud, that
no man can be condemned for any criminal
offence, nor be deprived of his liberty or property,
save on the unanimous verdict of twelve of his
peers. But the suggestion of the Commissioners
did not in any degree affect this principle. It
made the trial by jury the rule, and only allowed
of its being dispensed with on the application of
ell parties concerned ; and, considering the way
in -which the County Courts' system has worked,
end the few cases in which litigants have availed
themselves of the power of calling for a jury, that
the matter might safely be left in their own
hands. There could be no prejudice excited in
r. he mind of the Judge, if the Judge of either
party thought proper to have the decision of a
jury, inasmuch as, unlike the County Courts' re-
gulation, all parties should concur in the applica-
tion for the Judge to take upon himself the
responsibility of determining questions of fact
as well as of law,---and also assessing damages in
cases of breach of contract, B&c., where that
duty now devolves on the jury. A Judge may
be unwilling to undertake the extra responsibility,
hut he ought to do so if the parties assent ; and the
aecassity of obtaining his concurrence will cause
expense of an application in every instance,
wen those of account, and matters where there
iA no dispute as to the facts ; all of which might
save l by permitting the litigants to decide for
liewselves, and the verdict must be given by a
fury in a certain class of cases, although the
:11,rties might c tll for a decision by the Judge,
mad that learned functionary might be willing to
undertake the duty.
But, notwithstanding these drawbacks, the bill
s an excellent, measure, which will be accepted by
;egal reformers as a boon of no ordinary inagiii-
tide ; and, therefze, we return our grateful
thanks to the Ministry, and more especially to
Lord CRANWORTH, for not allowing our foreign
lifficulties to retard the consideration of a subject
of so much domestic interest.

THEATRE ROYAL, D:WitY- LA.N E.
Les-me, Mr. E. T. sMI 11l —Another brit ivy tri m h :tt
this National Establishment of Dumas's clie.-d'ceuvre, the rea'
French drama, in five acts and eitht t tni Aux, ern ti -d VE N-
DET rA, or THE t Y illto hlt wh ch arum es at
7 precisely and concludes at TE V. 'I he wen ul linpers anal.) or
the two characters Louis and Fabian dii Franchi, by Mr G V.
Brooke; the resplendent mice en scene, the startling and thrill ng,
effects, the imposint ta..leaux, and the powerful and impressi.e
acting throughout the entire eL-a ra, ere, del a pert ct turn,. and
gained from a densely ero tdod audi-nce a unanimous verdict of
approval—the same marked ,uccess th it ensured for it the uninter-
rupted run in the United states o mere than thie Hand ed nights.
The eminent trtrzed,ttp, Mr G. V„ BROOKE, as the "'win Brothers,
EVERY EVENING. Chat,sit Renaud, Mr. I. Mead. oconclude
with THE BEGGARS' OPERA. Captain Macheath, Miss
Featherstone.

It was remarked two or three years ago by M.
Gurzor—we remember perfectly well the very
occasion upon which the words were uttered, that
occasion being one of peculiar interest, namely,
the dinner (presided over by Mr. Digt,&EL) in
aid of the funds of the Brompton Hospital for
Consumption—it Vea3 remarked, we say, by M.
GI:TIZOT, that one of the most noteworthy character•
istics of the English population-was unquestionably
its ready and munificent .henevolence. It was
observed by him that nothing more forcibly ar-
rested the attention of the stranger in our streets
than the number and variety of our charitable
establishment's. M. GUIZoT was right. His re-
mark indicated the keenness of his perception.
It amounted to an earnest and graceful panegyric--
a pan egy;:ic, moreover, without the faintest tendency
to exaggeration. It was strictly in accordance
with reality—a reality capable of being verified at
once by observation. Everywhere throughout our
metropolis, in almost every street, at almost every
turning, the fact is manifested in some building
of goodly proportions—some hospital, or asylum,
or refuge, or relieving-house, supported entirely
by voluntary contributions. Scarcely an ill that
flesh is heir to but has its edifice for gratuitous
alleviation. Ophthalmic hospitals and orthopaedic
institutions, structures for the relief of blindness,
and lunacy, and fi.tula, and small-pox, and fevers,
and idiotcy, and all imaginable diseases, both
mental and corporeal, are flourishing at this mo-
ment, and have been flourishing for years, in all
parts of London and Westminster. Nay—more
than this—whenever any temporary claim is
made upon the multitude in these islands with a
view to obtain assistance for any one suffering
from the effects of sudden misfortune, it is at
once heartily acknowledged. No matter whether
the calamity be a conflagration in Hamburg or an
explosion in our collieries a scarcity of
food or some appalling inundation. Hence,
tx??, the divercity cr our humane • and gcaeron3
iafifigtozai.toptizolgial accorded sio less readily',