The Sun.
London, England, 1836-01-22 00:00:00

LORD BROUGHAM AND LAW

REFORM.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.
SlR,—Burke justly observed that "bad laws are the
worst sort of tyranny, and in such a country as this,
they are of all bad things the worst, since they derive
a particular malignity from the compirative wisdom
and soundness of the rest of our institutions." Hap-
pily for the people who abide in the British Empire,
our legal jurisprudence resembles neither the unalter-
able system of nature, nor the absolute and irresistible
laws of the Medes and Persians. There exist some

great and opposite examples of amendments introduced
into our institutions, which have proved advantageous
to the universal interests of mankind, and especially
to the general welfare of this nation. Besides the
eradication of flagrant juridical abuses by Edward 1.,
and other Sovereigns whose names emblazon our his-
toric annals, Lord Bacon frequently proposed various
amendments, and Sir M. Hale devoted considerable
attention with a view to improve our common and
statute laws.
But Lord Brougham is the illustrious personage
who accomplished all which, and Much more than,
these learned functionaries contemplated, by his ines-
timable law reforms, adapted with great care, prudence,
and circumspection to existing circumstances, and
suited to the spirit of this enlightened age. Such
beneficial alterations for the pure, certain, -and expedi-
tious administration of justice have annihilated many
oppressive abuses by establishing principles accordant
with the general frame of government, and the funda-
mental basis of our legal institutions. Lord Brougham
deserves the public gratitude and national commenda-
tion for these great, useful, and extensive reforms. But
the Legislature must further abolish other long-existent
indefensible abuses, so as to make the monarchy be-
loved, the aristocracy permanent, and the people
happy.
,The laws must be diligently administered on
the Bench and in the House of Lords, as being the
Court of Appeal, in the last instance, from every tribu-
nal in the kingdom, which should be necessarily well
supplied with eminent and learned dispensers of justice.
However, the law reforms already effected by the
authority and interposition of Lord Brougham must
transmit his name and fame to posterity, especially
since the greatest success has attended, and must un-
questionably follow, such extensive and salutary ame-
lif ora.tions.
essional malls ambition,
filling the highest place of a pro-
law
ambition, as well as the highest in the
and national council, his LOrdship strenuously
endeavoured to improve our institutions so as to make
them more'worthy of the country, and more fitted to en-
dure. Lord Brougham selected the most suitable period
for exposing the subtleties and evasions, besides abolish-
ing the quibbles and artifices long existent in practice,
and which were deemed so flagrant a portion of legal
abuses. Have not such amendments diffused the
greatest satisfaction through the kingdom ? Were
they not sanctioned by public opinion, and merely dis-
pleasing to those who valued themselves more on being
Masters of a quirk or quibble, than any substantial
knowledge and learning in the law ?
These reforms have diMinished, if not eradicated,
divers grievances and irregularities introduced by ig-
norance or knavery into our public Courts. Laws,
enacted for dispensing justice between man and man,
Were often perverted to the injury and oppression of
the people by unnecessary charges and ruinous delays.
great change and greater exertions were therefore
requisite to alter this system, and to make the law
equally beloved as it should be respected. For what
'als more sufficiently manifest than the evil conse-
illences of absolutely withholding or even frustrating
the
means of judicial protection and redress ? And,
are not similar effects uniformly produced by what-
ever renders these means more difficult of attainment
than the nature and convenience of the subject indis-
pensably require ? Justitia sing prudentid plurimum
poterit ; sine justitid nihil valebit prudentid.
Every man, Sir, must commend the principal ob-
ject of Lord Brougham's Law Reforms, which has
been to effect the greatest possible good with the least
possible expense, and by abolishing all impolitic mo-
topolies to establish a sound and prudent system for
the promotion of our national welfare. The nature
and character of such alterations must have the great-
est tendency to ameliorate our legal jurisprudence, and
thereby conduce to the happiness of the whole corn-
Munity. In amending the system of judicature, has
tot Lord Brougham constantly observed the general
principle, that those who claim the protection and as-
surance of our laws should have the opportunity of
obtaining and enforcing
in their rights, besides of resist-
g any demand which they may consider unfounded,
vith as little cost and delay as are consistent with the
amore important object of securing, upon due exami-
satton, a decision conformable to the substantial
merits of their case? Has not such a course of pro-
ceeding been always found well calculated to produce
an adjudication upon the disputed ri, er than subjecting it to hazard by any improgvidhtent rather
technical
subjecting
?
Lord Brougham, therefore, deserves the public co-
o
Pe'ation for
ev 0 seizing
Pate 1,„ on many opportunities to extir-
abuses ery just, prudent, and reasonable measure,
ti which long prevailed in our national institu-
ens. Whilst removing and eradicating whatever was
iniuriou
s to the welfare of society, but more especially
.I'l advancing the greatest of all interests—the ad-
iinhleniistr.ation of justice—has he not unsparingly applied
,Knife and the axe to all excrescences that ought
a.(l .be cut down ? Has not his Lordship vigorously
I.,noured to repair our legal system, whilst taking care
the vital principle of improvement should be kept
ti. actual operation with regard to our judicial esta-
Zahments ? Desirous of establishing public security
linn the firmest basis, what can more clearly exem-
thrY so sedulous an anxiety for this purpose, than
-Lioed
s.tatesman,
Brougham's declaration that his " principle as
as a legislator, as a judge, has ever been
more
that the better you could make your laws, the
Ito. re Comfort would there be to the Judge in their ad-
ministration the more safety to the statesman, and the
More honour to the law-giver ?"
Rut,
without further trespassing on your va-
_ e columns, I shall now conclud by intimating my determination to detail some of thee numerous reforms
Which were designed, and subsequently effected, by Lord
Brougham, besides the salutary advantages which have
!been thereby conferred upon various classes of the Bri-
tish people.
I remain, &c.
Chaneery_iane, Jan. 21, 1836.

MENTOR.

ters whom they corm
T----;;;;Te1;----a;enowpaying the vo-
pted. Why are not these knaves
The friends of Colonel
punished—why are not these
Political robbers prosecuted ?
Thomson—backed as they would
be by all the true Reformers of the borough—may,
we hope,
find it both practicable and expedient to bring to justice
the persons who robbed him by their corrupt practices.
SACRlLEGE.—Yesterday information was given at
the various police establishments, that'on Thursday night
the Church of Eye, in Suffolk, was robbed of a quantity of
t, he communion plate. The thieves effected an entrance
int,7 the body of the Church by pulling down part of the
stork `-work of one of the windows. They then broke open
the v€ 'stry-room, from which they succeeded in carrying-off
the foil: Vying articles of massive plate :—Two silver flagons,
Weighing.
.94 ounces ; two silver plates, weighing 321
ounces ; ano: a silver cup, weighing 13 ounces ; besides two
Pewter
Pere i and two surplices. A reward has been of-
d for Ole apprehension of the thieves.

TO THE INDEPENDENT ELECTORS

OF WESTMINSTER.

1 .
Gentlemen—A frost having interrupted the sports of the
field, I take up my pen to perform a work of supererogation
in noticing the last drowsy, feeble, Alexandrian epistle from
Derrynane, in which Mr. Daniel O'Connell, "like a wounded
snake, drags his slow length along," and instead of saying
everything as he promised in one word, says nothing, or no-
thing to the purpose, in a multitude ; exemplifying Dryden's
remark, that "as much fruit is seldom found beneath a
quantity of leaves, so much sense is seldom found beneath a
multitude of words." I could not, however, help laughing
at the new and unexpected character he comes out in, not
that of the fine gentleman, as we were led to expect, all re-
dolent of civet, eau de rose, &c., which might have induced
us to exclaim, " See what a beau my• granny is," but
that of Grand Inquisitor of the nineteenth century,
denouncing blasphemy, and smelling of fire and faggot ;
" it made my lungs to crow like chanticleer at seeing
him so deep contemplative," and throwing away so
much pious zeal and indignation, since the blasphemy
(if blasphemy it be) is none of mine, or, if strong
and apposite illustration, as I think it is, it apper-
tains to Mr. Ralph, the historian, who wrote about 100
years ago, and who lived and died, there being then no
self-installed Grand Inquisitor, without reproach. With
respect to the to quoque Mr. Daniel O'Connell resorts to,
it is in all cases a poor expedient, and in this altogether
inapplicable. As lam fearful of being as tedious as him-
self, I will content myself with a denial of the correctness
of all his statements with regard to me, my words, and
actions. Mr. D. O'Connell is pleased to say much of gra-
titude as due to me for services past, evidently brought for-
ward to envenom the malignity of his after remarks. This
brings to my mind Dean Swift's saying, that everything in
Ireland is different to what it is everywhere else ; be it as
it may, it appears clearly in this instance, that a personal
offence cancels long years of service—" perierunt tempera
longi servitii." N'importe—as the French say—for, as I
never calculated upon gratitude, I never felt disap-
pointed at not meeting with it. " Hee to qucesiveris
extra," is my maxim ; and as it has sustained me through
many trials, distresses, and difficulties, so it will enable
me to bear with equanimity the disapprobation of Mr.
Daniel O'Connell. To complain is weak at all times,
and in this instance would be unjust, seeing Mr. Daniel
O'Connell treats his country in the snme way ; so incapa-
ble is he of conceiving even the idea of acting from public
principle, unalloyed by private motives, that he is ready to
abandon his country in resentment at his expulsion from a
club. Either this is the case, or his charge against me falls
to the ground : but more of this anon. As he has paid
my countrymen the compliment to address them, I will re-
turn it by addressing a few words to his. I would call upon
them coolly to reflect, and ask themselves this question—
" What, after all, has Mr. Daniel O'Connell done for us,
the people of Ireland, that we should be called upon to pay
him tribute ?" I would request of them to call to mind his
own statements to them at different periods, and they will
find that, according to his own showing, he has done no-
thing. Even though they should attribute to him solely
and entirely the whole credit of carrying the Roman
Catholic Relief Bill (which, for the sake of argu-
ment, I admit, though I deny the fact) ; but, grant it,
what then ?—hear him himself. It was only beneficial,
he said, to a few noblemen and gentlemen, by admitting
them into Parliament, but that for the people it did no-
thing ; nor could anything but the repeal of the Union 15e
of any service to them ; thus, then, nothing was got" for
the people ; it served his purpose indeed of agitation, and
thereby producing rent ; but when carried, was of course
thrown aside, as no longer of any use. He next made a
stalking-horse of the Repeal question to continue the tribute,
which question be evaded as long as he could, until it was
forced upon him by the House. His failure in it was con-
spicuous and complete, and it was clearly shown to be
mischievous to all parties, but that the chief mischief
would fall upon Ireland, besides weakening and endanger-
ing the stability of the -empire. He has not, however,
abandoned it—he cannot afford it—he might be left with-
out a grievance to his back. Mr. Daniel O'Connell is no
reasoner ; although he talks much of' demonstration, he
cannot reason or demonstrate ; ho only declaims. He is
a great adept at ringing the changes on a certain number
of popular words, an expressions, and topics well calcu-
lated to excite popular feelings, prejudices, and passions,
and keep up a perpetual state of agitation and delusion,
and thereby increase his tribute ; but as to being contented,
or allowing his poor countrymen to become so, lie never
will. It is only in the foul atmosphere of agitation that
he exists—he lives upon it, " like a toad on tbe.vapour of
a dungeon ;" it gratifies his vanity, and gives him power ;
but could the poor people of Ireland be prevailed upon to
open their eyes and see their own interests, they would ex-
claim, like the frogs in the fable to the boys pelting them,
" this which is sport to you is death to us." In fact, Ire-
land seems to be relapsing into a state of barbarism under
his influence, and, whatever may be the march of mind in
other countries, there it appears to be retrograde ; the
whole state of society is unhinged by it ; it depresses all in-
dustry, drives from the country that which it most stands in
need of—capital ; dries up the sources of employment ; plucks
the heart out of all enterprise, and leaves a miserable su-
perabundant population, without resource, and almost with-
out hope of relief. But to return to the charge brought
against me by this most disinterested patriot, this self-
styled representative of the sufferings of Ireland, and, he
adds, of its ancient faith. He is certainly not a very learned
" Theban," even in the history of his own country, or he
would know that the ancient faith of Ireland was a pure
Christianity, until Popery was introduced from England.
His offerings, according to the Irish Papers, amount to
something between 18,000/. and 20,0001. a year, collected
from a miserable, naked, starving people, made up of lean
morsels torn from starving mouths, and rags from cold
shivering limbs, extorted by turbulent domineering priests,
abusing their influence over the minds of a superstitious, ig-
norant people, they themselves at the same time standing so
much in need of relief. To the introduction of a Poor-law
for that purpose, nevertheless, he has, till very lately, op-
posed himself ; now, however, he has altered his mind upon
that subject, and, to prove his sincerity, will doubtless take
care that in any Poor-law Act that shall be proposed for
Ireland an appropriation clause shall be inserted, apply-
ing the surplus of the tribute to the purposes of the Act,
after remunerating Mr. Daniel O'Connell, according to
his own standard, for all the good he has done. Mr.
Daniel O'Connell proclaims aloud his disinterested and
strong attachment to the present Administration ; they
have his warm, decided, cordial support ; yet thus attached,
thus anxious to uphold them for the sake of Ireland, the
patriot is ready to sacrifice them, should he be expelled
from Brookes's Club. For this worthy cause he is ready,
it seems, to destroy this Ministry, and to .surrender up Ire-
land to those whom he calls its bitterest enemies ; and
thus, to gratify his own selfish spite, dissolve Mr. Sheill's
" indissoluble compact," the existence of which, however,
i\lr. Daniel O'Connell denies, and calls the assertion of it
false, base, and disgraceful. Either Mr. Daniel O'Con-
nell's personal feelings would carry him to this extent—
either he would sacrifice Ireland to his own petty resent-
ment, or my complaining of his conduct as a member of
Brookes's Club could have none of the public consequences
which he deprecates: it is only upon the assumption that
he is a man likely to prefer his personal pique to what he
declared the interest of Ireland that the charge against
me can be maintained ; and if the Club forbear to take
my letter to them into consideration, the world will
be apt to judge that they estimate Mr. Daniel
O'Connell's paid-for patriotism by the same standard.
Those journalists also who have censured my letter, as
tending to effect a breach between Mr. Daniel O'Con-
nell and the Ministry, must think the same ; for ob-
serve, all I said was, and say is, that a man who makes use
of gross, offensive language, and shelters himself from the
consequences, is an unfit and an unsafe member of any
club. This is all I said. It was reserved for Mr. Daniel
O'Connell and his partisans to proclaim that the quality of
his boasted patriotism was such, that if the members of
Brookes's acted on the recognised principles of civilised_
society, he would withdraw his support from a Govern-
ment the first, he says, in English history that did justice
to Ireland. It was on this estimate of Mr. Daniel O'Con-
nell's patriotism that the resolutions were founded, for-
warded to me by Mr. Devear ; whether Mr. Daniel
O'Connell is, or I myself am, most or least fitted for the
society of Brookes's, is a private matter, although Mr.
Daniel O'Connell endeavours to make it a public one by
magnanimously involving in it the fate of the Administration.
There is not, however, the least danger ; he has had a
glimpse of the terrible Orangemen of the North, and he
flies to the skirts of the Whigs for shelter, as the drunken
butler in The Tempest creeps beneath the gabardine of
Caliban to shelter himself from the storm. He is held by
his strongest ties.

I remain, gentlemen,
Your most obedient humble servant,
F. BURDETT.

THE IMPRISONMENT FOR DEBT BILL.—It is
understood to be the intention of Government, at the as-
sembling of Parliament, to renew the Bill now in opera-
tion for the relief of Insolvent Debtors. The present
Act will expire at the termination of the next Sessions ;
and, should a dissolution take place before it is renewed,
there will remain no law for the relief of Insolvent
Debtors—excepting that relating
.to bankrupts, which is
considerably a more expensive jurisdiction. The Act
under which the Insolvent Debtors' Court is constituted
was extended to June, 1835, and from thence until the end
of the next Sessions ; therefore should Ministers meet the
Parliament, and only continue for afew days and dissolve
without a renewal of the Act, it will be the means of the
incarceration of hundreds of persons confined for debt,