The Sun.
London, England, 1853-07-01 00:00:00

ASTLEY'S ROYAL AMPHITHEATRE.
Sole Lessee and Manager, Mr. W. Cooke.

Triumphant success of tho Battle of Waterloo. The most varied
and attractive Entertainments in the Metropolis.
THIS EVENING, JULY 1,

And during the week, the Performances will commence with the
grand national Spectacle of THE BATTLE OF WATERLOO, repro-
duced with all its original dramatic, scenic, equestrian, and military
effects.

To be fnllowed by an entire change of Equestrian Achievements
in the Circle, supported by the popular Artistes of the Establish-
ment, and the World's Wonder, Miss Emily Cooke, in her unparal-
leled Feat of Leaping through 16 balloons, both forwards and back-
ward, which is nightly received with perfect enthusiasm.

To-conclude with the successful Hippo Drama of THE CHASE,
or LIFE ON THE TURF—illustrating a Sporting Man's Career.
By express desire of several Families of distinction, and in accord-
ance with the flattering request, Mr. W. Cooke has made arrange-
menti to give another Grand Juvenile Morning Performance, And
positively the Last, on WEDNESDAY, Jun' 6.
Boa-office open daily from Eleven to Four. Stage Manager, Mr.
W. West.

ROYAL SURREY ZOOLOGICAL GARDENS.
THIS EVENING, Ali, 1,
CHUSAN and the FEAST OF LANTERNS.
Splendid MENAGERIE, containing a vast nimber of Specimens of
Natural History, including an Orang-Outan, the only one exhibiting
In this country.
GODFREY'S tUriFalled MILITARY BAND. Vocal and Instrumental
Concert. At Dusk a most brilliant display of Fireworks.

HIGH WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE.
Tats DAY —Morning 4 min. after 10 Evening 36 min.aft. 10
To-Homow—aorning 5 min. after 11 I Evening 34 min.aft. 11

THE WEATHER.—Styx OFFICE, JULY 1.
THERMOMETER, IN THE SHADE.
7.1—highest since noon yesterday.
53—lowest this morning and during the night.
66—this day at noon.

BA nO3IETEIt, 29.81.
WIND, S.W. by W.—Light breeze, and sunshine, with
occasional showers.

ItU
Tb
/07

LONDON, FRIDAY, JULY 1, 1853.

The adjourned debate on the second reading of
the Government India Bill was brought to a con-

elusion at an early hour this morning, when Lord
STANLEY'S amendment was rejected by an over-
whelming majority of 182. There being only
140 in favour of obtaining further information,
and 322 for immediate legislation. This division,
however, is by no means decisive as to the fate of
the measure. If we look to the various argu-
ments adduced against delay, we find that the
opinions of the opponents of Lord STANLEY'S
amendment—we cannot call them the supporters

_ -
of the bill--are of the most heterogeneous charac-
ter. Every speaker, with the exception of the
Right Hon. Gentleman the Member for Edin-
burgh; and persons holding office under the Joint-
Stock Administration, was strongly opposed to
someportion of its details, which they declared their
intention of voting against in Committee. The
admirers of the existing system, that is to say,
the friends of the Directors, who may have well-
founded expectations of lucrative situations in the
far East for junior members of their families,
loudly condemn the interference with the
patronage and the change in the constitution of
the Leadenhall-street Board. The throwing open
the civil and medical appointments and the
scientific branches of the military department to
public competition, is denounced as a most un-
heard-of and wanton onslaught on the rights (!)
of the Proprietors, and as a system that would
et endanger and ruin the civil service !" The
House was gravely informed that nothing "more
d.!inoralising" could be imagined, and the dan-
gerous results of the emulation thereby excited,
when " every respectable attorney and person in
the middle class of life, who had a promising son,
would rush into the competition with the
idea that Hs son might rise to be Governor-
General, and the result would be that there would
be a vast number of educated men disappointed
in the objects of their ambition." Here is a real
substantial evil--a peril of no ordinary magni-
tude ! The very idea of having a number of
highly educated young men " beyond the wants
of the country " was sufficient to excite the most
serious apprehension. Far better to have re-
spectable dunderheads pitchforked on to the
judicial bench for which they had been selected,
not from any practical experience in the adminis-
tration of the law, or even from theoretical know-
ledge, but because they were the sons or grand-
sons of respectable Directors with handsome esta-
blishments in Portland-place or Tyburnia, and
were free from the stain of a descent from
"attorneys" or "persons of the middle class oflife."
The idea that a man would be better qualified
for the interpretation of the law because he had
obtained literary distinction, or succeeded in the
juvenile contests for scholastic or University hon-
ours, was too ridiculous of course. The Proprie-
tors of India Stock should retain the advantages

solong enjoyed. What was 1012 per cent. '
Interest for their capital if they were not enabled
to Provide for their families out of that excellent
field for jobbery of every kind, Again, the no-
raination
,o.f persons to seats at the Board, and :
the reduction of the number of elected Directors,
were atrocities that should be resisted to the very
utmost, on which repeated divisions will be taken
in Committee.
Indeed, Sir CHARLES WOOD
appears to have a Very fair share of work
cut out for him by the
triends of the Di-
rectors, which will provide ample occupa-
tion for the residue of the gess,-
I'3ll, without
allowing any time to the other suPponers of the
Bill to bring forward the numerous .
°-.pactions
they have stated to its details, or to thus% Isqlo
voted in favour of the amendment, believing ti,at
the House was not in possession of sufficient ma-
terials for permanent legislation, and who will, of
course, endeavour to the best and utmost of their
power to introduce a clause limiting the duration
of the act to two or three years, and in which
they will be supported by many Hon. Gentlemen
who voted with the majority, believing that there
were some improvements in the present system
which they would be unwilling to continue un-
altered for even a single year.
But, supposing that the Bill should escape all
• these impediments and obstructions to its progress
through the representative branch of the Legisla-
ture, will the Lords be willing to endorse a bill
of such magnitude without consideration or
discussion ? The Peers have not been so very.

1 accommodating of late years. Many measures
carried through the Commons by unequivocal ma-
jorities have been rejected in the Upper House,
and we can scarcely conceive that they would sub-
mit to so great a slight as to pass at .i ailroad
speed, and without even the appearance o, delibe-
ration, a measure of such vital importance. They
could scarcely commit an act so suicidal—which
would furnish so strong a practical answer to the
offensive inters olatory, " What is the use of a
House of Peers ?" It is true that their Lordships
might be disposed to strain a point in favour of a
body four-fifths of whose members are so strongly
imbued with Tory principles, that they might
favour a system which would prevent "the promis-
ing sons of respectable attorneys, or persons in
the middle class of life, from entering into
the competition " for situations that should be
reserved for more aristocratic candidates. But still,
notwithstanding even these inducements, we can
scarcely believe that the bill will receive the
Royal assent during the present session, unless
coupled with a clause limiting its duration to a
specified term.
Mr. RICH, Mr. NAPIER, and Mr. DIGBY SEY-
uoun respectively made very able speeches in
favour of postponing legislation. They pointed
out the evils of the existing system in the strong-
est terms, and objected to what, without repair-
ing its defects, would probably lead to its perpe-
tuation, or at le:at its protracted existence. But
the great speech of the evening, indeed of the
entire discussion, was that of Mr. DISRAELI, who
displayed his usual power and brilliancy in deal-
ing with the subject. He closely criticised the
various details of the Government measure, which,
while it abrogated the advantages, retained all the
vices of the existing system, and in strong and energe-
tic language he denounced the admixture of Govern-
ment nominees with elected members of the Court of
Directors, which would thus (if possible) become
a greater sham than it is at present. The Right
Hon. Gentleman, in his argument, attributed
greater weight to that Board than had been
allowed by Mr. COBDEN. He instanced the re-
cal of Lord ELLENBOROUGH—against the express
desire of the Ministry of the day—as a striking
instance of their independence. We believe, how-
ever, that to have been an exceptional case, an
example that would never again be followed. There
was a deep personal feeling entertained against
the Noble Lord, which induced the Directors to
take so bold a course—one that they subse-
quently repented, and for which, had occasion
required, they would as willingly have cried
" peccavimus" as they did in the case of an-
other object of their dislike—a gallant and
distinguished General, whose services they were
compelled to solicit—after inflicting the most un-
warrantable slights. Yes, the Directors had to eat
much dirt, in the case of Sir CHARLES NAPIER, and
they would have exhibited similar subserviency
with regard to Lord ELLENBOROUGH, if required to
do so. It should be borne in mind, also, that the
recal of a Governor-General is the only indepen-
dent act allowed to the Court. In everything
else the Directors must obtain the sanction and
assent of the Board of Control. One important
matter was stated by the Right Hon. Gentleman
in the course of his brilliant and effective oration.
He emphatically denied, on the authority of Lord
DERBY and the other members of the late Ad-
ministration, the statement of Mr. HERRIES that
they had approved of and desired immediate legis-
lation—the fact being, that none of them had ever
i before heard of such a proposition. This is con-
clusive on that point, and completely takes away
the foundation of the arguments based on the
assertion of the Right Hon. Gentlement the Mem-
ber for Stamford, who was manifestly labouring
under a misconception on the point.
We would, then, have the friends of Indian
Reform maintain their spirits. The result of the
division, although discouraging, is not conclusive.
We still believe that nothing beyond a temporary
measure will pass during the present session, and
that, if the present bill should at all be carried, it
will only pass with the addition of a clause limiting
its duration to a short term of years.

Of all descriptions of property, land is the most
important, from its fixity, its extent, and the
personal considerations which necessarily accom-
pany its ownership. In a barbarous age, land is
the only valuable property ; and in an age of refine-
ment and civilisation, notwithstanding the exist-
ence of property of various kinds, the results of
human industry and invention, land still retains
its pre-eminence as the most valuable possession
of all. Indeed, the increase of population, and
the creation of riches of other kinds have a natu-
ral tendency to impart additional value to the soil,
the parent of all other wealth. Hence it follows,
that the evidence of the owner's title to land, and
the facility and safety of the mode of transmitting
that title to others, are subjects of great national
importance.

There are two totally distinct modes of dealing
with the transfer of land, and indeed of all assign-
able property. One is to make the purchaser re-
sponsible for the defects of the title, to impose on
him all the risks of latent deeds and wills, and
defective proof of pedigrees, &c., &c. Another
and totally opposite principle is to consider the
security of the purchaser the primary object, and
to give to every purchaser for a valuable conside-
ration, and without fraud, an absolutely inde-
feasible title, at the smallest attainable expense.
No man of business can hesitate, for a moment,
in deciding which of these principles should be
made applicable to the transfer of land, to in-
vite purchasers, to give value to land, and security
to the buyer of it ; the second is, of course, the
true method to be adopted. Unfortunately for
the public, the first principle is the present legal-
ised system of conveyancing prevailing in this
country.
The practice of conveyancing, as now conducted,
is a myth utterly beyond the reach of the best
understanding not specially trained to the task of
comprehending its mysteries.
Contingent remainders, powers, shifting uses,
&e., &c., are matters from which the highest in-
telligence may turn with despair, since volumes
have been written to expound them, the mastery
of which professional industry alone can
successfully acquire. Many of these com-
plexities arose in a barbarous age from causes
which have long since ceased (although the
subtletiesremain), and some of them, undoubtedly,
have been and are still caused by the caprice
of mankind. 'Whatever may be the complicated
arrangements of various kinds affecting and modi-
fying the ownership of land, as regards the pre-
sent possessor and those who are to succeed him,
and .whether such complexities are necessary or
not, the important practical
questions are—Can
the title to land be easily proved?
Can that title
be cheaply and readily transmitted to another
To both of these questions the answers, in
thepre-
pre-
sent state of the law, are unsatisfactory in the
ex-
treme. The deduction of title is a work of
great difficulty and expense, and the conveyance of
it is a lengthy, and expensive, and almost unin-
telligible document. The first requires an big_
torical deduction of the title for 60 years, called
an abstract. The study of this abstract forms an
important part of the functions of the conveyancer.
He has to undertake the task of feeling his way
through the labyrinthine mazes of past ownership.
The SMITHS, the BROWNS, the JONESES, and the
TtromrsoNs, the former owners of the land to be
dealt with, must pass in review before the labo-
rious investigator of the interesting " abstract."
Their conveyances, settlements, mortgages, and
wills ; their debts, bankruptcies, and insolvencies,
and their births, marriages, and deaths, may re-
`'''ire, in turn, his closest attention. Thus, the
a" of men of a past generation must be
scrll64laed by the searching optics, visual and
mental, the
conveyancer, ever on the watch to
discover the defects of the title. It is impossible
to regard an c,'‘`apation of this kind without re-
gret at its utter 1„,1
tility—at its needless expense,
and the waste of polder
employed on it—the waste
oafndinogfenmuointye,y. of
Uinnd'etrt/' of learning, of time,
simple system of Regis-
tration of Titles, all this sh
'44 be unnecessary.
Even all this waste may preiv
fruitless—some
secret settlement, may escape
the conveyancer, and thus the %ale vigilance of
purcimu,er may be
without remedy (or with a / •
depriyed,
imper-

feet remedy), of all that he has purchased and so
dearly paid for.

If we turn from the deduction of title to the
conveyance, we find a state of things which is far
from being satisfactory. A considerable part of
it is occupied, like the abstract, with a review of
the past, in the form of " recitals." Then the
description of the property—the main object, as
it should seem, of a conveyance—is accomplished
in the most barbarous fashion. " All that piece
or parcel of land situate, lying, and being," &c., &c.,
may be accepted as a specimen of the manner in '
which the purchaser is, legally, informed of the
nature, extent, and situation of his purchase. A
handbill prepared by the most ignorant auc-
tioneer's clerk would give him better information on

that subject, and the veriest daub, in the form
of a plan, made by-a mere tyro in a surveyor's
office, would give him a clearer idea of his newly-
acquired possessions than the legal " descrip-
tion" in the deed will supply.
If the property which is about to change hands

has been purchased from different parties, there 1,
must be a separate deduction of each title. The
tributary streams must be surveyed to their re-
respective sources by the laborious convey-
ancer, although, at present, they have become
combined together. If, on the other hand,
a property is to undergo the contrary process of
being divided and sold in lots to separate parties,
each employs his own legal functionary to inquire
into the title, and, as the title-deeds cannot be
übiquitous, the difficulty as to the custody of
them can only be met by the largest purchaser
being the custodian of them, while small pur-
chasers must be content with copies. These are
some examples of the working of a system which
makes the evidence of ownership dependent on the
possession and contents of deeds in the hands of
private parties. It would be easy to bring proofs
of the enormous expense attending the present
mode of conveying land, and of its frequently
unsatisfactory results.
The evils of the present system demand a
searching cure ; not a half-and-half measure of
reform which will unsettle the present and con-
fuse the future ; but a complete and entire change.
The obvious remedy is Registration. But what
kind of Registration ? Are the deeds to be lodged,
bodily, in some place of public deposit, or are
certain extracts only, to be lodged according to
the present practice of " Memorials" existing in
the Middlesex Registry-office ? Either of these
measures would be a lame and abortive proceed-
ing. They do not touch the real evils of the present
system ; the best proof of which is that existing
registries do not render unnecessary all that inves-

tigation of the past history of titles, which, as we
have seen, the abstract system requires. Indeed,
it would be difficult to point out the precise ad-
vantages gained by existing registries ; they
undoubtedly require more inquiries to be made,
and more expense to be incurred ; and we really
are unable to state that, in return for that increas-
ed trouble and outlay, any compensating benefit is
obtained. Assuming, then, that neither copies
of, nor extracts from, prolix legal documents, in
the form in which they are now prepared, would
satisfy the expectations and intelligence of the age,
what, it will be asked, is the form of registry that
should now be adopted ?
It is now usual to refer to the plan of register-
ing the ownership of title to Government stocks,
railway shares, and the shares in other public
companies, as an example of the mode which
might and ought to be adopted in registering the
title to landed property. The success of this
system, and the general satisfaction which it gives,
afford so strong an argument in favour of its
application to the registration of title to land,,
that the onus of showing (if it can be shown) that
it is unsuited to that purpose is shifted to the
side of the supporters of the system of conveyanc-
ing now in use. Why cannot the same process
be resorted to? What are the objections to
it ? Nothing is more common than to hear
assertions that it cannot be done ; but no
proof of the kind has ever been attempted. The
immense amount of property dealt with, in this
way, and the very rare cases which have occurred
of improper transfers having been made are
enough to satisfy us of its safety. Against such
cases of fraudulent transfer must be set those of
purchasers of land, under the present system,
having been defrauded of their just rights by
secret deeds and other frauds, and by the over-
sight of their legal advisers. We suspect that
the balance of mischief will be very heavy against
the present mode of conveying land. Improper
transfers of a tangible visible property, like land
and houses, may be made much more difficult
than transfers of an ideal property, like money
in the funds ; indeed, such checks might be
adopted as would make fraudulent representations
of ownership impossible, or, at least, in the
highest degree improbable.
The peculiarity of the system of registration
adopted in the case of the funds and shares of
' various kinds, and that which distinguishes it
from our present system of conveyancing, is that
trusts are not recognised. Certain persons are
entered in books as the legal owners (whether
trustees or absolutely entitled), and these persons
alone can transfer the property. The purchaser
from these parties is absolutely free from all ad-
verse claim on the part of persons having equit-
able rights. If such persons have been injured,
they must use their remedy against the trustees
or other persons having the legal interest. They
cannot victimise an innocent purchaser, but they
must exercise their remedies against the persons
whom they themselves have selected and trusted
as their legal representatives.
In the case of conveyances of land, the pur-
chaser is now made the scapegoat of all the vices,
defects, and infirmities of the title. If there are
latent claims affecting the whole or a part of the
property, he must bear the brunt of them ; and
fortunate will it be for him if the parties from
whom he purchases are sufficiently responsible to
indemnify him from the consequences.
So absurd and pernicious a system clearly ought
to be altered ; and the responsibility, wherever it
occurs, of conveying that which parties have no right
to sell, should be transferred to the proper parties.
It is a matter of no slight surprise that so prac-
tical a people as the English should have so long
tolerated the present process of conveyancing,
utterly at variance, as it is, with the wants and
intelligence of the present age.

HER MAJESTY'S VISIT TO THE DUBLIN EXHIBITION.
—lt has now been definitively settled that her Majesty
will stay two days at the Dublin Exhibition. She will
leave London early in the morning, and will travel by
the London and North-Western Railway as far as
Holyhead, where she will sleep the same night and de-
part on the following morning for Dublin. Her Majesty
will be entertained °during her stay by the Lord Lieu-
tenant (Earl of St. Germans). The Countess of St.
Germans and the Hon. Mary Eliot have arrived in
Dublin for the purpose of meeting Lord Eliot, and
making the necessary arrangements.
THEATRE ROYAL, DRURT-LANE.—Signor Puzzi's annual
benefit takes place on TuEsday next, when the favourite
opera of Sonnanibula will be given for this occasion only,
introducing that charming singer, Miss Louisa Pyne,
as —her first effort in Italian opera—judiciously
lliu
supportedla by the favourite Senor Gardoni, in the part
of Elvino ; after which a well-selected concert, the prin
cipal pieces from the admired operas of La Cenerentola,
Nozzi di Figaro, Serniramide' &c., in which Madame
Viardot, Madame Clara Novello, Mr. Bodda, and the
celebrated French romance singer, Jules Le Fort, will
appear. Signors Puzzi, Bazzini, and the eminent pian-
ist, Prudent, will, during the evening, each perform a
solo. The high and deserving esteem which Signor
Puzzi enjoys from the profession, and a large circle of
friends, will, no doubt, bring within the walls of Old
Drury a crowded and fashionable audience.
MARRIAGES IN HIGH LIFE.--Yesterday two mar-
riages in high life were performed at the church of St.
George's, Hanover-square ; the first being that of Hast-
ings Dent, Esq., with the Lady Beaujolois Bury, sister
to the Earl of Charleville. The marriage ceremony was
performed by the Vector, the Rev. Mr. Howorth,
M.A., in the presence of a distinguished circle, in-
cluding the Duke and Duchess of Argyll, the Earl and
Countess of Charleville, Lord and Lady John Manner,
&c. The second marriage was that of Capt. George
Drought Warburton, R.A., with the Hon. Elizabeth
Augusta Bateman Hanbury, sister to Lord Bateman.
The ceremony was performed; by the Veneaablc Arch-
deacon Waring, in the presence of a brilliant circle of
the nobility. Lord Bateman gave his sister away. The
bride and bridegroom subsequently left town for Kirth-
ington Park, the seat of Sir George and Lady Dash-
wood, in Oxfordshire. Capt. Warburton, who has
written some well-known works, is brother to the
lamented Eliot Warburton, who lost his life in the
Amazon, also to the Rev. Mr. Warburton, who lately
married the Hon. Miss Lister, step-daughter to Lord
and Lady John Russell, and sister to Lord Ribblesdale.