The Sun.
London, England, 1836-06-14 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, TUESDAY, JUNE 14, 1836.

tion not to consider the question in a party light, and it was not
to be wondered at'if, notwithstanding that declaration, he after-
wards swerved fron his resolution, when it was recollected
that his Noble and Learned Friend's own propositions, on a
former occasion, were treated merely as a party question.—..
(Hear,. hear.) The returns laid on their Lordships' table
furnished grounds, no doubt, for the most important conside-
ration. The results to be derived from them, he should en-
deavour to treat of somewhat in detail. There was one great
and material point which was, he might say, universally ad-
mitted. The source of the evil did not appear to him (and
in saying this he spoke it with every respect) to be per-
ceived by his Noble and Learned Friend who had last ad-
dressed their Lordships. He could hardly imagine that his
Noble and Learned Friend did not perceive the source of the
evil ; but the fact was, that it did not fall in with his views
to state the peculiar circumstances which created it to their
Lordships. It appeared to him, after great and long consi-
deration of this subject, now continued 'for many years, that
the great evil which had been already dweit upon of their
being unable to consider any thing that related to the Court
of Chancery, unless with the admixture of party zeal and
spirit, arose from this circumstance, that the highest judicial
officer of the Crown was also the highest political officer in
the kingdom. It was only necessary, in consideration of this
question, to look at the nature of the duties imposed on the
Lord Chancellor, to come to the conclusion that it was impos-
sible for any one man satisfactorily to perform them. The du-
ties of Chancellor were twofold—partly judicial and partly po-
litical. The judicial duties were again subdivided into two
branches—namely, his original and appellate jurisdiction. He
was judge of appeals in his own Court, where he decided
cases sent up for his decision from the Master of the Rolls
and the Vice-Chancellor. And as a judge of appeals in that
House, his presence was considered almost necessary, though
there were some occasions in which it bad been dispensed
with. The Chancellor had, besides, as Keeper of the Great
Seal, the most important political functions to.perform—more
important than any other officer of the Crown As Keeper
of the Great Seal, he was the King's principal adviser in
matters of law. He was the person properly charged
with the duty of watching the alterations effected in
the law by the Bills which passed through Parliament. He
was, in fact, the person to whom both Houses of Parliament
had to look for the proper superintendence over those altera-
tions in the law which were submitted from time to time for
the consideration of Parliament. If the duty which he had
last mentioned were properly and efficiently discharged, or ra-
ther, if it were possible fur the Chancellor to fulfil all the du-
ties imposed on him, they would not hear those observations
on the acts of the Legislature to which they were daily and
hourly exposed in all the courts of the country.—(Hear,
hear, from Lord Lyndhurst). The Chancellor was also the
Minister of the Crown, to whom belonged the superintendence
of the different courts of justice. As to a great portion of
his political duties, some were not performed at all, and others
were thrown upon some different public officer. What, then,
was the result of the system by Which so many duties were
imposed upon one man that it was impossible to perform ? It
was this, that all the duties were imperfectly performed.—
( Hear, hear.) These being the results of the present sys-
tem, let us see how they affected the different situations
to which they referred. It was admitted that there. was
a want of judicial power in the Court of Chancery. The
delay of the administration of justice in that. House was also
a subject not to be considered lightly. His Noble and
Learned Friend had said that the House easily managed to
get rid of the business before it. , The paper el the close of
each session furnished the best refutation to. that. assertion.
Now with respect to the political duties of the Chancellor,
and the consequences which resulted from their neglect, their
Lordships would observe that every one must admit, that the
first duty of a Government was to provide for the due admi-
nistration of justice, which was in fact the life blood of a ci-
vilized community.—( Hear, hear.) The administration of
justice was in its popular sense of a wider import ; but in its
practical application it depended upon the law ; and therefore,
when the Government was providing for the due administra-
tion of justice, it did not fully answer that object without tak-
ing care that the law was the best which could be provided.
How clearly was the want of some superintending authority
exemplified in the present state of the law. There bad been
various commissions appointed. There was the common law
commission, there was a commission to inquire into the
ecclesiastical courts, and there was a commission now sitting
on the criminal. law. These commissioners bad paid the
greatest diligence and attention to the subjects submitted to
them, and had made a variety of most useful and valuable sug-
gestions, which, though they produced some fruits to the
country, yet had, to a large extent, lain dormant for the want
of some person who should have the leisure, talent, and autho-
rity to see how far the means taken by various commissioners,
appointed for different purposes, and propounding different
views, might be reconciled and adjusted and carried into ope-
ration.—( Hear, hear.) He had spoken of the ill consequence
which had resulted from delay in conducting the business, of
the Court of Chancery. There was no doubt but delay begat
delay. By delay was caused supplementary facts, the de-
cease of parties, the property changing hands and these being
the consequences of delay, became themselves the causes of
fresh delay and expense, which tended to close altogether the
door of justice. He was perfectly willing to acknowledge that
great delay was caused often by the parties themselves, which
was in no way imputable to the Court ; and often by the na-
ture of the circumstances which it was necessary to investigate.
And he must say that the delay in those cases which were
made the subject of declamation against the Court of Chan-
cery, was not attributable to the Court. These causes were
relied upon, in order to induce a belief that to be swift in the
dispatch of causes, was the main duty of a judge, and was of
itself sufficient to constitute a judge. There could not be a
greater or more dangerous misapprehension. ( Hear,
Hear, hear.) A judge had no right to hurry. There
might be cases, and probably there had been cases, in
which it would be more excusable to put an end
by a rash judgment to the sufferings of a wretched and worn
suitor rather than to prolong his sufferings; but it generally
happened that a decision arrived at with undue celerity was
not only in itself wrong, but calculated to create general dis-
trust throughout the community. They wanted a power of
appeal, but they did not want two courts of appeal. They
did not want an appeal in the shape 'of a re-hearing—that is,
when there is an appeal from the Master of the Rolls to the
Chancellor, and from the Chancellor to the House of Lords.
Lord L YNDHURST said, that is what this Bill does in
effect.

Lord LANGDALE resumed—Yes, and his Noble and
Learned Friend might recollect that was one oF the provisions
of which he had disapproved. Now, wit) regard to the divi-
sion of the political and judicial functions, if there could be
any means by which the warm and eager feelings of the mind
could be subdued, it was essential to provide them with re-
ference to such an officer as the judge .of the Court of
Chancery. Those who had practised in that Court
could not help observing scenes which could little tend
to raise the present system in their estimation.—
( Hear.) They. might have seen a man dissolved in tears,
and thus manifesting the generosity of his nature, while
another was scarcely trying to conceal the excited and angry
feelings by which his mind was agitated. (Lord Lyndhurst
here made an observation to a Noble Peer near him, which
we understood to be, -" I never witnessed that at all events.")
—( Laughter). The Noble Lord having referred to the delay
caused in the decision of the trial of Lady Hewley's charity, in
consequence of the changes of Administration, went on to say
that he thought the change which was requisite was this—that
there ought to be a Lord Chancellor in the Court of Chancery,
appointed by letters patent, without the delivery of the Great
Seal. This exempted the Chancellor at once from all political
duties, and from all the duties which belonged to the office as a
judge of appeal in that House. It appeared to him that the
Chancellor should be precluded from rehearing the decisions of
the Master of the Rolls or the Vice-Chancellor, but that he
should be a judge w holly and entirely of an original jurisdiction.
He thought, notwithstanding the appointment Chancellor, tl.e
Great Seal should be delivered to a Lord Keeper who should be
empowered to attend to the political functions, numerous and
important as they were, which now attached to the office of
Chancellor, and the conceived that due provision should be
made for the constant, regular, and diligent administration
of justice in that House as the Supreme Court of Appeal.
—( Hear, hear.) He bad stated shortly and frankly the
grounds on which he submitted these alterations to their Lord-
ships. It would be readily acknowledged by all who had
studied the past history of the Court of Chancery, and the in-
conveniences attendant upon its present mode of proceeding,
that the subject was one of great intricacy and difficulty.
Various opinions also had been expressed upon the subject,
both Lord Liverpool and Lord Eldon having been opposed to
the notion of separating the judicial from the political func-
tions of the Lord Chancellor. He trusted that he had not
spoken with undue severity of the condUct of past Lord
Chancellors, but had had a fair regard to the peculiar
'circumstances in which they had been successively placed.
No man was bound to do what was impossible. He ad-
mitted that it might have been better if Lord Chancellors
for the time being had from time to time applied them-
selves to remedy the evils of practice which grew up
in their Court. At the same time great excuse was to
be allowed them if they had not done so to the extent
they might have done. The office of Lord Chancellor pos-
sessed a charm for the mind of the aspirant to its honours
which often mislead him from the true course he should
pursue in regard to it. The Woolsack was the object of the
ambition of every student, to whom it would often appear on
act of profanation to do anything which might even threaten
to dim the splendour of that high office. He considered that
if the judicial and political duties of the Lord Chancellor were
to be still united in the same person, that individual could not
under any possibility have sufficient time to consider all the
cases which would come before him, and, if they could not get
a Chancellor who was equal to the exigencies of his office, it
were, perhaps, better to have no such office at all. As their
Lordships were well aware, that House was now the final
Court of Appeal in all cases, and its decision not only bound
the case which had been brought before it, but also served as
a rule by which all inferior Judges were bound to abide in all
cases of a like kind. The Judges of inferior Courts were
always anxious and studious to avoid committing error, and
they had always this consolation, first in being assisted y an
enlightened and experienced Bar, by whom, if they did fall
into error, they would most proliably be set right ; and in the
second place, in the existence of a Court of Appeal, by which
their erroneous judgments might be reversed. But it was not
so with their Lordships' Court, in which an error once committed
could never be remedied. Their Lordships, therefore, when
they came to think of it, would readily admit the immensity of
study and of experience which was requisite to enable them ads
quately to discharge so important and onerous a charge: and they
would agree with him in thinking that if its duties were such as
they could not pc :;form with due efficiency themselves,they should
lose no time in seeking some other proper agent for the pur- .
pose. 'There could not e the least doubt but that the judge 1
in the hest court of ap al should llia midi of the highest
judicial utation, the sou st judgment, and the most dish Site

„

• passionate and unimpeachable integrity and disinterestedness.—
. ( Hear.) The supreme judge of appeals should sit in that
Ho ise having nothing to do with the Administration, nor
any
pars of it, nor any political parties in the State. The division
• he proposed for the present duties of the Lord Chancellor was
this: that the Lord Chancellor should have the Court c.,.
Chancery, without the Great Seal ; that there should be a
Lord-keeper, in whom all the political functions of the Lord
Chancellor should be reposed, together with other duties
which he believed the. Lord Uhancellor, by virtue of his
-office, was expected to attend to, but which he believed no
Lord Chancellor had hitherto performed. With respect to
appeals, he proposed that there should be a Lord Speaker in
judicature, to sit in their Lordship's House, who should hear
all cases of appeals, having nothing to do with politics, and
be assisted in his labours by certain Lords assistants. He was
aware that the Noble and Learned Lord opposite thought it
advisable that the person who beard appeals should also hear
original questions, on the ground that his judgment and.obser-
vation were sharpened by the contests between counsel which
took place in the courts below. In answer to this, however,
it appeared to him that if their Lordships' Judge in appeal
were to hear cases of appeal from the three Chancery Courts,
and from the Court of Exchequer Chamber, he would have
quite enough to occupy his time without attempting to hear
original causes also. The objections which he had to the
union of the political and judicial duties of the Lord Chan-
cellor he had already made known to their Lordships. If they
did not have a permanent Court and a permanent Judge, they
would not adopt the only means that could excite that venera-
tion towards the Court which it was' desirable should be ex-
cited. For that reason lie objected to the plan of his Noble
and Learned Friend. With regard, to the second reading of
the Bill, he begged to observe, that although he did not ap-
prove of the plan of his Noble and Learned Friend as a per-
fect plan, still he could not see that if it were to be adopted,
it would be in itself any obstacle whatever towards doing that
which he thought ought ultimately to be done. It would be
a relief for the present, though not so great a relief as it ought
to be. These reasons, therefore, were, he thought, sufficient
to justify him in voting for the motionof his Noble and Learned
Friend, and in supporting the second reading of the Bill.
Lord ABINGE R. expressed his entire concurrence in the
views of his Noble and Learned Friend ( Lord Lyndhurst),
and declared his intention to support the amendment. He
was somewhat surprised, after the many objections which his
Noble and Learned Friend (Lord Langdale) had made against
the Bill, that he should conclude with stating his intention to
vote for the second reading. It appeared that his Noble and
Learned Friend expected more from human institutions than
they were capable of affording. When he complained that
the progress of justice was interrupted by the prorogations of
Parliament, and that great evils arose from it, he might, in
the same way, have complained of the interruption of justiee
arising from the illness of a' Judge, or even by his death.
Some theorists had gone so far as even to provide against
these occurrences. One of the most eloquent and most pro-
found of theorists had proposed that a Judge should be con-
stantly sitting to administer justice, hot and hot—(Laugh-
ter)—as was required. That ingenious gentleman main-
tained that speedy justice was so essential, that no system of
judicature could be perfect unless there was one Judge
eternally sitting, so that when one was fatigued, another
should take his place.—(Laughter.) That certainly was the
very perfection of theory. But human affairs would not
admit of its application; he therefore must request his Noble
and Learned Friend to mix up with his theory a little more of
his experience in practice. He was not disposed to agree
with the opinion of his Noble and Learned Friend that it
would be desirable to separate the judicial from the political
functions of the Lord Chancellor. On the contrary, lie was
rather inclined to concur in the opinions delivered by almost
all the gentlemen of the profession, that it would be impos-
sible for a person holding the office of Chancellor apart from
the judicial functions, to preserve and give validity to that
authority so essential to the decisions of their Lordships'
House. What was the grouud of apprehension that the judi-
cial decisions of a Chancellor would be influenced by his hav-
ing political duties to discharge ? No case had ever occurred
in which the decision of a Chancellor as judge had been sus-
pected on account of his belonging to a political party in the
State.—( Hear, hear.) He believed that ever since the insti-
tution of the Court of Chancery was known, no such par-
tiality had been suspected.—( Hear, hear.) He begged to
know whether the presence in the Cabinet of the man exer-
cising the highest judicial functions in the State, did not give
to those deliberations a great additional importance and re-
spect? Besides, it was absolutely necessary that his Majesty's
Ministers should possess amongst them a man of high rank
and character, capable of being their legal friend and
adviser in the Cabinet. It would not bosconsidered constitu-
tional, perhaps, for a Minister of the Crown to receive advice
from those who were not connected with his party. The
King had on numerous occasions the need of advice and au-
thority in the law. Now, he must receive that aevice from his
Chancellor, and not from anybody else. Therefore his Ma-
jesty's Ministers were bound to provide for the King a person
in whom he might have confidence, and by whom he knew his
own safety and honour were fairly and well consulted. For
these reasons he should give his cordial support to the amend-
Ment of his Noble and Learned Friend.
Viscount MELBOURNE said that if the Noble and
Learned Lord who had last addressed their Lordships, and
particularly his Noble and Learned Friend ( Lord Langdale)
with such mastery of all the details, and of all these general
and enlarged principles upon which a question like this should
be considered, and who had stated to their Lordships many
opinions, which, although they were not at present called upon
to adopt them, he was sure their Lordships must think they
were worthy of deep and serious consideration—if those two
Noble and Learned Lords thought it necessary to apologize
for addressing the House, how much more did it become
him to do so when speaking of a subject upon which he could
have no practical knowledge whatsoever ? But having been a
party to the bringing forward this Bill, he thought it necessary
to state in a few words his reasons for voting for its second
reading, and for thinking that their Lordships would do well
to send the Bill to a Committee. He bad listened with great
attention to the speech of the Noble and Learned Lord(Lynd-
hurst), in which he stated his objections to the measure pro-
posed. He (Lord Melbourne) shared in the satisfaction felt
by that Noble and Learned Lord, that their Lordships were
entirely agreed upon the basis and foundation of this measure
—that they were entirely agreed that a great evil was to be
corrected, and a great grievance remedied. There was a
great accumulation of business in the Court of Chancery, and
he agreed with the Noble and Learned Lord when he stated
that it was a shame and a disgrace that, in a great coun-
try like this, there should not be a Court to hear a case when
a case was ready for hearing.—(Hear, hear.) But the
Noble and Learned Lord objected to the remedy now pro-
posed to correct that evil. In the first place, he said that
if they separated the political from the judicial functions of
the Chancellor, and took from him the discharge of cite duties
of the latter, the House of Commons would not endow him
with sufficient emolument to induce gentlemen at the bar to
give up their profession and accept the office. Now he (Lord
Melbourne) did not believe there was any authority for such an
opinion. On the contrary, he believed that the House of Com-
mons were too anxious for the adoption of some measure of
this kind upon enlarged and enlightened principles, to hesitate
for one moment on making a suitable grant for this purpose.
The Noble and Learned Lord then stated another objection,
pretty much of the same kind. lie said that the situation
would be of so precarious a nature, and the remuneration so
inadequate, that men of eminence in the profession would not
accept the office. Surely the Noble and Learned Lord re-
membered the circumstances under which Sir Edward Sugden
accepted the Chancellorship of Ireland.—(Hear.) If the
circumstances under which the late Chancellor of Ireland
accepted the Great Seal of Ireland were not sufficient to
deter him from that step, he was sure there was no lowering in
the political horizon that could deter any future lawyer from
doing the same thing on a similar occasion.—(Cheers and
laughter.) He ( Lord Melbourne) would not be responsible
to their Lordships for much, but lie would be responsible
for this, that if it pleased them to constitute this office, there
would be no difficulty in finding men of sufficient eminence at
the bar perfectly ready to take it. He thought it would not be
difficult for any Government whom it might suit, to obtain the
services of the Noble and Learned Lord himself, if their
Lordships thought proper to constitute the offiee.—( Cheers
and laughter.) The Noble and Learned Lord then stated
that there was not business enough in their Lordships'
House to keep a lawyer in wind—(Laughter)—that he would
entirely lose all practice in his profession, and become inferior
to those- judges from whom appeals were made to him.
That might be so ; but the objection was entirely fanciful
and supposititious. It was entirely metaphysical, and altoge-
ther arguing upon the minds of men. He, for his part, did
not believe a single word of it. He did not believe, if a ge-
neral lawyer, eminent in his profession, sat to hear appeals,
not only in equity, not only from Scotland, but from every
part of the empire—he did not believe, if such a man, being
a master of the general principles of jurisprudence, and being
well grounded in his principles, was placed in that situation
that by desuetude he would in any respect be wanting in the
authority requisite to the due discharge of the duties of his
office. The Noble and Learned Lord had quoted a great
many speeches which were delivered in the debate in 1813, on
the establishment of the Vice-Chancellor's Court. But what
was the fact? Now,- he would ask the Noble and Learned
Lord whether all the predictions that had been made to-night
with respect to the manner in which the character of the
Chancellor would be affected by this measure, were not pre-
dicted upon the Vice-Chancellor's Bill?
Lord LYNDHURST—That is not what I stated—what I
stated was—

Viscount MELBOURNE—No, but I say it.
Lord LYNDHURST—The Noble Viscount has asked me
a question, and I will answer it. What I said was, that Lord
Redesdale and Sir Samuel Romilly were at issue upon the
fact. Sir Samuel Romilly said if they passed the Bill they
would make the Chancellor merely an appellate judge in the
House of Lords. Both agreed that such a result would be
pernicious, but they disputed as to the fact. Now the pre-
sent Bill actually adopted that which was admitted by Lord
Redesdale and Sir Samuel Romilly would be pernicious.
Viscount MELBOURNE—Did they not state that that
would be the consequence of that Bill? Yes, they did. The
only prediction made on that occasion which had since been
fulfilled was, that the Chancellor would not hear any more
original causes. But then the Noble and Learned Lord who
spoke last had said that the Chancellor would no longer be
chosen on account of his legal eminence, but on account of
his being an eloquent and successful debater ; as if being
successful in debate had never yet been one of the qualifi-
cations on account of which a man was selected for that high
station. My Lord Eldon was made Solicitor- General because he
was successful in debate, and he of course rose up and becamr
Lord Chancellor. But be need not mention particular instance ;
ut he would say that it was the possession of the qualific -
n of being a good debater which placed men upon t
?sack more than any other circumstance. Instances f
th
..
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c,ta. Most undoubtedly, therefore, it would not be a new
thing, or a new evil. Then the Noble and Learned Lora said
that this proposition had been scouted by every body. He
said that it was opposed by Lord Hardwickc, but he produced
no authority for that statement. The Court in Lord Hard-
vvicke's time was perfectly competent for the discharge of the
business More it. He also said that it was opposed by Mr_
Pitt, and he quoted the authority of Lord Redesdale iu sup-
port of that statement. But Lord Redesdale had 310 right
quote the authority of Mr. Pitt against this Bill. It was
Mere conjecture on the part of Lord Redesdale. In conclu-
sion, he would again remind their Lordships that, as they were
all agreed that a great practical evil required to be remedied
he conceived that if their Lordships were really disposed to
remove that evil, they could not do so more effectually than,
by the adoption of the present Bill. At all events, he hoped
that their Lordships would agree to the second reading, and
allow it to go into Committee.
The Duke of WELLINGTON said the Noble Viscount
had disputed some of the arguments of his Noble and Learned
Friend—that was to say, he had contradicted them ; and first
of all, whether or not this chief justice as he was called, in
the Court of Chancery, would be paid by the House of Com-
socno
Viscount
tulhda
lead
be d
sf
co
ouvnedr
e tod t
hfialtl
tmhoenosin;
office.
d nceexrtt,aisnv hlyetthheer alloblenv peler
there was one person at least who was qualified, who would
accept the office.—(Laughter.) But he (the Noble Duke)
fancied that the Noble Viscount would find himself mistaken
upon that subject as be was upon many others.—( Cheers and
Laughter.) But there was another position Which the Noble
Viscount thought proper to dispute, and that was that so many
persons after having, at different times, considered this scheme,
had thought proper to object to it, and bad laid it aside
altogether. His Noble and Learned Friend never
stated that it was considered in 1813. What he stated
was that the arguments used against the appointment of the
Vice-Chancellor, applied to the prevention of the separation
of the office of Lord Chancellor from the Chief Justice in
Chancery. That the arguments then used and those now
used, rested upon the same principle, and that Sir Samuel
Remaly, Lord Redesdale, and Mr. Pitt had used these argu-
ments all in the same sense. He believed if the office of Lord
Chancellor was separated from the office of Chief Justice in
the Court of Chancery, it would soon become a mere political
office, to the great detriment of the dignity of the first officer
in their Lordship's HOUEC, and, above all, to the detriment of
his Majesty's service.
The LORD CHANCELLOR replied. The object of the
Bill was not, as his Noble and Learned Friend (Lord Lynd-
hurst) had contended, to separate the judicial from the political
functions of the Lord Chancellor, but merely to take away
from that officer those judicial duties which experience proved
he had not time to perform. When his Noble and Learned
Friend stated that the making the Lord Chancellor a judge
only of appeals would be to degrade the officer and to
render it difficult to obtain men of sufficient eminence to fill
it, he (the Lord Chancellor) would only remark, in reply,
that, since the year 1813, the Lord Chancellor had, in fact,
been nothing more nor less than a judge of .appeals, and a
judge of appeals only ; and yet he thought no man would con-
tend that, within that period, the office of Chancellor had not
been filled by men of sufficient eminence. Then his Noble
and Learned Friend contended that to preside in the Privy
Council would he unworthy of the Lord Chancellor. Was it,
indeed, unworthy of the highest legal officer under the Crown
to preside in a Court where final decisions were given in all
appeals from the colonies, and from the Ecclesiastical Courts?
As it was admitted on all hands, even by the Noble and
Learned Lord himself, that it was impossible for the Court of
Chancery to go on in its present state, he thought that the
Noble and Learned Lord ought to allow the Bill to go into
Committee, when he would have the opportunity of making
such alterations as he thought necessary, and of introducing
such provisions as in his opinion would provide a remedy for
a state of things which he admitted ought not to continue.
Lord L YNDHUR ST, in explanation, stated that if he
were to adopt the Noble and Learned Lord's suggestion, and
to make such alterations as he thought expedient in com-
mittee, the Bill would then go down to the other House of
Parliament not as the Government Bill, but as a Bill of his
(Lord Lyndhurst's) own construction ; and in that case it
would be easy to anticipate the result. He preferred, there-
therefore, to give his decided opposition to the measure on
the second reading.
The question was then put, and the House divided__
Contents
Non-contents - 94
Majority against the Bill --63
The House adjourned at half-past eleven o'clock.

POPULAR SABBATH AMUSEMENTS

IN GHENT.

The first excursion I made in the vicinity of Ghent was
towards Deynse, about three leagues distance from that
city, to the south-west, through a delightful country. The
day on which I set out was Sunday ; and it was as fine a
one as I could have wished for a journey. As I passed
by the Stad-Huys, I read a placard on the wall, which
stated that an entertainment long believed to have been
abandoned in civilized communities was to take place that
afternoon ; nothing less than a series of brutal exhibitions
of animal and human strength and ferocity ; including a
bull-bait, in which English dogs were to take a prominent
part ; a bear-bait, by Luxembourg mastiffs ; a dog-fight,
between a Newfoundland dog and a French mastiff from
the South ; a man-fight ; a wrestle between a man and a
bear ; and an attack, or assault by men, after the manner
of the Spanish tnatadores, on a bull. I thought I would
see it, though my nature revolted against the cruelty of the
transaction ; and I did see it accordingly. It was held in
a large yard or open space without the city, on my road,
enclosed by high walls, around which a rude sort of am-
phitheatre was loosely and dangerously constructed. An
imperfect fence divided the spectators from the arena. The
place was crowded ; which led me to the conclusion that
the lapse of ages had done little to soften the fierce charac-
ter of the men of Ghent ; and that though they might
have many of the virtues of the social state, they wanted
refinement, and exhibited a considerable lack of humanity.
The spectators were by no means composed of the lower
classes, though these predominated ; there was, on the
contrary, a large sprinkling of well-dressed—l am glad I
cannot say intelligent-looking men—among them ; and there
were also some women, but they were apparently of the infe-
rior grade of society. The women grouped themselves as
women isolated in crowds generally do ; and thus gave
a sort of character to the otherwise repulsive scene. Covered
for the most part by the black silk scarf thrown over their
heads and shoulders, their large dark eyes glancing in the
gloom of their general head-gear, and their comely counte-
nance exhibiting strong signs of excitement and interest in
the sport, they might occasionally remind a man of the
bull-fights in Spain, or the exhibitions of the Roman circus,
of which these cruel sports are a barbaric remnant. It so
occurred to me once or twice, especially in the last act (if I
may so term it), the assault or rencontre between the bull
and the matadors ; but the illusion was only momentary,
and the romance was soon destroyed by the reality of Flemish
coarseness and the phlegm of Low-Dutch excitement. The
women seemed the most susceptible of emotion of all among
the spectators, including men of every age, boys, and even
children. I need not disgust my readers, lam sure, with
a description of these brutalities ; and I have nothing to say
of them beyond the mere recital of the cruelties practised
towards the inferior animals. I found, however, that the
bull-dog was not English, nor the Newfoundland-dog one
of that noble race of animals ; and I afterwards discovered
that the individuals who fought, and a majority of those
who witnessed the proceedings as spectators, were among
the very scum of the city, morally and physically. This
barbarous entertainment lasted the entire of the Sunday
afternoon ; and was, to their shame be it spoken, enacted
under the surveillance and by the high permission of the
police.—A Saunter in Belgium.

The mock election for Mesopotamia—that far-
famed Island, which, notwithstanding the whirl of events in
these fearful times, actually remains in the parish of Spring-
field, took place yesterday, when the Blue candidate was re-
turned by a majority of two. The chairing was conducted with
the usual magnificence and pomp.—Essex Herald.
SIZE OF THEATRES.—The followinr* sketch of
n
the dimensions of the principal Theatres in England and else-
where, is taken from the Report of the Dramatic Committee :
From the curtain to Greatest breadth o
the centre box. the pit.
Drury-lane 6l feet 5O feet.
Covent-garden-
Haymarket 47
Italian Opera 9O
Dublin 52
Tottenham-street
St. Carlo, Naples
Scala, Milan -. 90
Cirque Olympique B 6
Theatre des Varietes 52
Odeon 7l ..... ......... . 60
Feydcau 64
Theatre Francaise
A woman named Dallas, about 60 years of age,
whose husband is a gardner, residing in Rose-street in this
town, was discovered yesterday evening burned to death in her
own house. The deceased was addicted to drinking, and her
husband bad left her in a state of intoxication, locking the door
upon her. On his return he found her sitting on a chair dead,
her clothes completely burned, and the body scorched and
shrivelled in the roast dreadful manner. It is fortunate that
the house was not destroyed.—lnverness Courier.
EXTRAORDINARY FREAK.—Saturday morning,
about two o'clock, as police constable Thornton, 53 E division,
was going his rounds through Bloomsbury-square, his atten-
tion was arrested by a man of respectable appearance walking
backwards and forwards. On proceeding towards him be per-
ceived two large pistols in his breast, and, on questioning him
he said, in a strange tone of voice, " I am the King of the
City, do not molest me." Thornton was about to secure him,
when he ran away, but was overtaken and conveyed to the
station-house. On searching him several documents were
found on his person, and his relatives, who are merchants in
the city, traced. The pistols were loaded, and on being asked
what object he had in carrying them, he replied that he in-
tended shooting the Duke of Wellington. A messenger was
despatched to his friends, who stated that the prisoner had
lately been left an immense fortune, which had a most sericus
effect upon his intellects, and there was no doubt but the tn.
fortunate gentleman would have done injury to himsel or
others had not Thornton apprehended him. 1.... _ .