The Sun.
London, England, 1849-07-24 00:00:00

THE VACANT JUDGESHIP.

On considering the claims of the various leading
counsel at the Common Law Bar to fill the seat on the
bench vacant by the death of Mr. Justice Coltman, it is
impossible not to be struck with the fact, that there are
some half-dozen who stand pretty nearly on the same line
in point of professional pretensions. It is no doubt the
duty of a Minister to bestow high judicial posts which
involve no political functions, and cannot in any way in-
fluence the future prospects of his party, on pre-eminent
merit, even if such merit should exist alone in the ranks
of his political opponents. But as the case stands just
now between the Whig Government and the leading
counsel at the Common Law Bar, there exists no diffi-
culty of this kind. From amongst the lawyers who have
adhered throughout the course of their career to the
Conservative party, and those who have remained
staunch to the cause of progression, it would be easy to
name three or four on either side who might be
appointed to the vacant judgeship with perfect
propriety. Ceteris paribus, then, we may pre-
sume that the choice will fall on a barrister
who has through life belonged to the party
of the Ministry actually in power. Now, of the gentle-
men who fall under this category there is no one whose
appointment would give greater satisfaction to the
country, or meet with a readier acquiescence in West-
minster-hall, than that of Mr. Sergeant Talfourd. The
first point, no doubt, for consideration in such a case as
this, is that of professional qualification. We feel per-
fectly justified in the assertion that Mr. sergeant Tal-
fourd is to the full as sound and careful a lawyer as any
one of the other gentlemen who are talked of for the
post. He has been in the practice of his profession for
very many years in the presence of the public and
the bar, and the best test that can be given of his
legal ability is, that he has during that time had a
good share of business in Westminster-hall, and has
invariably transacted it with signal success. As a
Crown lawyer his knowledge and qualifications are in-
disputable, and the records of the Common Pleas will
show how frequently and how well he has borne his
part in civil cases, and that before the judgment-seat of
so pre.eminent a magistrate as the late lamented Chief
Justice Tindal, and in the presence of so sound a lawyer
as Mr. Justice Maule, and of one so acute as Mr. Justice
Cresswell. Of Sergeant Talfourd's legal qualifications
there can be no question. They have been too long and
too shrewdly tested to admit of hesitation or doubt.
If we turn to other scenes, we shall find Mr. Sergeant
Talfourd to have come before the public in a manner
that removes Min from the category of " mere lawyers."
In the Senate and on the stage his name is as well known
as in Westminster-hall. We, cannot see why the mental
qualifications which have enabled a man to attain
honourable distinction as an orator and a poet should
stand in the way of any other claims he may derive from
a long, laborious, and successful professional career. It
may be, on the other hand, that these distinctions afford
something like a guarantee that a man will bring to the
bench the inspirations of an enlarged and cultivated
mind. Even a legal judgment is none the worse for
being derived from such a source. We do not say that
as a lawyer Mr. Sergeant Talfourd has any pretension
to stand en the same line with the great Lord Mansfield;
but we cannot forget that this first of English judges was
distinguished for his exquisite taste and great attain-
ments in literature as for that splendid series of judg-
ments which has inspired the lawyers who have suc-
ceeded him in Westminster-hall with an almost super-
stitious reverence for his name. In a word, we feel it
will be a great disgrace to the country if the author of
lon stands in the way of Mr. Sergeant Talfourd. Tho
appointment of this learned gentleman to the vacant
judgeship would be felt as the well-deserved reward of a
successful professional career, and as an honour suitably
bestowed upon a very distinguished man.—Tirnes.
[We most cordially agree in every word of the above
well-merited, and not more merited than just, tribute to a
good man, as well as a sound and constitutional lawyer.
—ED. Sun.]

COURT CIRCULAR.
OSBORNE, MONDAY.
The Queen and Prince were prevented by tho rain
from enjoying their usual early walk this morning.
Their Royal Highnesses the Duke and Duchess of
Nemours took leave of her Majesty and his Royal High-
ness, and left Osborne at twelve o'clock, on their return
to St. Leonard's.

There was no addition to the Royal dinner party yes-
terday.
Lord and Lady Bloomfield and the Baroness de Speth
are expected at Osborne this afternoon, on a visit to the
Queen and Prince.

Ills Royal Highness the Duke of Cambridge visited
her Royal Highness the Duchess of Gloucester yester-
day, at Glouester House.
Mr. John Lee had the honour of submitting to his
Royal Highness the Duke of Cambridge yesterday, at
Cambridge House, his new patent improved carriage
wheels, of double action, to run efficiently without the
axle trees.

Their Royal Highnesses the Duke and Duchess of
Cambridge, the Hereditary Grand Duke and Grand
Duchess of Mecklenburg Strelitz, and the Princess
Mary, left town yesterday for Kew.
Mr. Cobbold, M.P., and Mr. Beresford, M.P., had an
interview with the Commissioners of Railways yester-
day, at their Office in the Board of Trade, respecting the
Esstern Union Railway Company.
Dispatches from the Governors of the West India
Colonies were received yesterday at the Colonial office.
Dispatches were also received yesterday at the Colonial-
office from the Governor of New Zealand.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer and Lady Mary
Wood returned to town yesterday from a visit to Mr.
Jones Loyd, at Wickham Park, Kent.

THE TEA TRADE, JULY 23.—The deliveries of
tea last week from the London warehouses were larger
than for some time;past, amounting to 618,4231 b. The
consumption of the article is good.
EXTRAORDINARY CASE OF CIIOLERA.—One of the
most extraordinary cases of cholera that has been heard
of in the metropolis occurred at No. 1, Smith's-place,
Devonshire•street, Kennington-lane. On Friday after- I
noon, at 4 o'clock, Mr. Morse, surgeon, of Kennington-
lane, was sent for to attend a woman of the name of
Roberts, the wife of a bricklayer. He found the woman
surrounded by her family, suffering from Asiatic cholera
inits worst form. The usual remedies were prescribed,
but she cent:uued to get worse, and about 1 o'clock the
next morning Mr. Morse received a message to attend
again immediately, Ls Mrs. Roberts was supposed to be
dying. Having some other patients to attend he did
not reach the house till half an hour after the messenger
arrived. He was then told by the mother of the woman
that he had arrived too late, as her daughter was dead,
and had been laid out 25 minutes. Knowing that he
would have to give a certificate before the funeral could
take place, Mr. Morse informed the mother that ha
would see the body at once. He was conducted to one
of the rooms where the woman was laid out and covered
with a sheet. Upon drawing away the sheet and feeling
the body, he found it quite cold, pulse imperceptible,
the fingers blue and so contracted that it was impossible
fur him to open the hand. Tho surgeon next applied
his ear to the chest, and found that the heart had not
fernotmirehlyis
pceoacsked et,
opened
beat.
pene dtheMyr. einMionrtshee darrmew,
frholms
wl a
hn
icceht
three or four ounces of blood flowed freely, when to
the astonishment of all present, the woman cried out
" What are you doing to me?" Other remedies having
beeen applied, the poor woman so far recovered as to be
able to eat a meat dinner yesterday (Sunday).