The Sun.
London, England, 1836-10-25 00:00:00

DUBLIN-FRIDAY.

" Qu;,l tam difficile quam in plurimorum controversiis diju-
dicandi ab omnibus

It has been frequently said and written, that the pure
and impartial administration of justice is the firmest bond to
secure the willing submission of the people, and to engage
their affections to Government. This is peculiarly the case
in Ireland, whose inhabitants, notwithstanding many ha- i
bitual and some natural foibles, are proverbially and unde-
niably a " justice-loving people." Everything, therefore,
in the remotest degree connected with the execution of the
laws, is here a subject of deep interest amongst all classes :
and accordingly the filling up of the vacancy in the Court
of Exchequer is looked forward to with intense anxiety.
Immediately on the announcement of Sir William Smith's
death, it was generally believed in Dublin, and throughout
the country, that the Attorney-General (O'Loghlen) would
be his successor. It was thought that the honour of being
the first Catholic Judge in regenerated Ireland, not less
than the "negotiton sine periculo," would have induced
him to accept the office. Mr. O'Loghlen, however, is too
well aware of the position which he holds in the estimation
of all good and discerning minds, to surrender his claims to
the first rank of judicial appointments. It is not usual for
an Attorney-General, placed at the head of his profession
by personal merit and universal approbation, and who has
also distinguished himself in the Senate even beyond the
expectation of his friends, to retire from the active duties
of public and political life. without, more distinction than
belongs to the situation of a puisne Baron of the Exche-
quer. Hence those who wish that the first Catholic Judge
should be one, for whose propriety of conduct and firmness
of purpose on the Bench his professional and public fife
Jile
is the very best guarantee, are glad to find Mr. 6,'Le,' Siitl,
unwilling to compromise his own, or the
,4'.es:;:•,: -,:'.1;,:.. - o-
sition at this moment. And, though liiS'4.:-.4 is. t ie office
may—under present circumstances—e4arrass Lord Mul-
grave's Government a little, it is to be hoped that
-he will persevere in. his resiolution. But here begins
the difficulty, as regards the filling up of the vacancy on
the bench. The next claimant, as well by merits as by
virtue of his office, is the Solicitor-General (Mr. Richards).
He, it is said, finding that the Attorney-General will not
vacate the situation of the first law-officer of the Crown,
is willing to accept the place of puisne Judge ; but if he
be made a Judge, hia,euccesser must be a Liberal lawyer
of character—Sergeant.Woulfe, Mr. Homes, Mr. Ball, 01-.1
Mr. Pigott ; there is no other Reform Member of the Irish
bar sufficiently qualified for the office. Sergeant Woulfe
stands first on this list, and Government is inclined to ap-
point him Judge or Solicitor-General, provided they can
do so without offending Mr; Richards, or public prejudice.
If they make Sergeant Woulfe, who is a Catholic Judge,
without Mr. Richards' approbation, they will be acting
unjustly towards this gentleman, who is a most Liberal Pro-
testant, and at the top of his profession in the Court of Chan-
cery, where he practises. And if Mr. Richards insist on
his right to the vacant seat on the Bench, Government will
be obliged to appoint Mr. Woulfe to the Solicitor-General-
ship, who, being a Catholic as well as O'Loghleti, the At-
torney-General may alarm all the old ladies of both coun-
tries who fear for the stability of the Protestant interest.
Mr. Homes, a Protestant, will not accept of any place ;
and the other two gentlemen mentioned above aro Catho-
lics. Government, therefore, are in a dilemma, unless
Mr. Richards consent to remain as he is till the next va-
vancy in the Attorney-Generalship, or on the Bench. It
is rumoured that he is ready to meet the wishes of Govern,
ment and the country, and to abide by an agreement to
that effect, on his accepting of his present office. For this
his country, as well as the;Government, owe him a debt of
gratitude ; more particularly if, it shall appearrthat lie is
the only person who waives (*sacrifices a right on this oc-
casion. Is it not, in the meantime, affording a proef of the
power of prejudice over the Government, to shrink from
the most straightforward course in this arrangement, merely
because that course would appoint two Catholics c'.iief law
officers of the Crown ?
We have in Ireland some few learned and excellent men
as judges—men who, as between man and man, where po-
litics do not come in question, can exercise an unbiassed
judgment, and "jus dicere," explain the law as they find
it ; but if politics intervene, they are warped and blinded
by those prepossessions-1 shall not call them principles—
to which, for, the most part, they owe their advancement,
and are ready " jus dare," to intrepret the laws by the
rule of inclination, rather than of reason or sound judg-
ment. There are palpable examples, of this in some de-
citions, and " dicta" arising out of the Irish Refoim Act.
That Act declares that every man having " a clear bent.-
fi'cial interest of the yearly value of not less than 101. over
and above all rent and charges, shall be entitled to the
franchise : and that if his claim to register a vote be refused
by the Revising Barrister on account of va/us, he may appeal
to a judge of Assize, who is required to inquire by the ver-
dict of a jury, whether." such property be of the annual
value, within the meaning of this (Reform) Oct, at which
the claimant seeks to register such vote," But there are
in this country judges and barristers who hold that the
proper mode of ascertaining the value, is not according to
the beneficial interest which the owner may have in, but
according to the additional rent which a stranger would pay
for the tenement sought to be registered. And the:quibble by
which they attempt to sustain this view of the law is, a
form of oath to be found in an old Act o
SuggestsP arl
to suchiamentfor
the jurors on appeal to take, and which
jurors trying undo'.' that act ,'.li§ view of the matter, thereby
rejecting altogether the benefit and meaning of thes: P wPrli
...,.. t .i.t
of the Reform Actabove fiqqt9(l,
A. e,ahl the 3,6,q Seetion 4r the said Act authorises any
chairman to adjourn his session, " in case any exigency shall
render it necessary," " oa in case he shall be sa directed
by the Ileselsiiientenant," Yet the chqlrman of the county
of Dublin expresses his douht whether the (I:rectiori of the
Lord Lieutenant is an authority to him for adjourning the
Session. It is unnecessary to *say, that it ie the CoNserva-
live party only that are allowed the L.np.c.fit of a doubt on
, the obvious meaning of these sections itt the Reform Act.
These are among the many reasons which make the
people of Ireland; feel such an interest as to the character

and political principles of those individuals who are pro-
moted to judicial appointments. It is but justice to the
present Government to say, that if their selections in this
respect have not been in every instance the very best that
could be made, they were at all events persons capable
of understanding that " lex est dictamen rationis," and that
however defective some of our laws may be, they ar9 not
so inconsistent with common sense as some Tory func-
tionaries would render them.