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

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LONDON,
FRIDAY EVENING, JANUARY 22, 1436.

A correspondent, who signs himself " Mentor," has
sent us a communication, which will be found in another
part of The Sun, on the subject of Lord BaoucH AM'S
Law Reforms. He very sensibly observes of them,
that their great object has been " to effect the greatest
possible good with the least possible expense, and by
abolishing all impolitic monopolies, to establish a sound
and prudent system for the promotion of our national
welfare. The nature and character of such alterations
must have the greatest tendency to ameliorate our legal
jurisprudence, and thereby conduce to the happiness
of the whole community." There is no man of the
present age—scarcely even of any age—to whom the
" community" is more indebted for the various im-
provements he has introduced into our system of juris-
prudence, than to Lord BROUGHAM. To say that
his Reforms have been all of a practical character, is
to say but half the truth ; for not only are they prac-
tical in the strictest sense of the term, but they are
marked also by a sagacity, a soundness of judgment, a
simplicity, and directness of purpose which BENTIIAM
himself never surpassed, if he have equalled. Had
not these been their broad, unquestionable characteris-
tics, never would they have been able to bear up against,
and weather, the storm of abuse and obloquy which
the maniac rage of party let loose against them. They
would have foundered at the very first stiff blast of
faction that swept over them. But though Lord
BROUGHAM have already done much in the way of
simplifying our judicial system, he has yet much to
accomplish—many abuses, and absurdities without
number, to remove ; and in attempting the removal of
these, he must make up his mind to encouter a fierce
opposition from the prejudiced and the interested—
from those who are purblind, and those who are
blinder than the mole. But his Lordship, in the pro-
secution of a praise-worthy object, is not the man to
permit himself to be daunted by obstacles, no matter
how imposing a form they may assume. He is made
of " stubborn stuff," as all Reformers should be, who
desire to benefit the community. He feels that he has
a great--a sacred—a paramount duty to perform, to
himself and his country ; and this duty, whether in
office or out of office, we are convinced he will most
rigidly fulfil. We shall take an early opportunity of
reverting to the subject of Lord BROUGHAM'S legal
Reforms.

Our readers will find in another part of The Sun
of this day, the copy of a letter from Sir FRANCIS
BURDETT to the Electors of Westminster, on the
subject of his recent " scrimmage" with the great Agi-
tator. Sir FRANCIS'S letter is a very poor affair—
so miserably poor, that it would indicate a want
of self-respect in any Journalist to examine it too
closely. The most charitable, and we believe the
most equitable way in which to regard it is, to look
upon it as the production of a well-meaning man who
has had the misfortune, like the Episcopal patron of
GIL BLAS, to outlive those faculties for the high ex-
ercise of which he was once distinguished. Such
language from any person, save one who in his
day, rendered such services to the cause of the
people, we should at once denounce as senile
twaddle, in which reason, argument, and truth found
no place. Were we seriously bent upon examining the
contents of this letter—upon analysing its state-
ments—upon collecting its meanino:, and comment-
ing upon it (which we are not), we should have
no difficulty in attaching to Sir FRANCIS BUR-

--9kTr.,,,a stigma much_ more reprehensible than
,:t.--..---- ' •
....„,,,tlroy,_,., el attributable to him from the errors of a fac-
-0,-,---tit3in,- '.., ing dotage. Were we so minded, we could
till
t'''''' -pro:te, to the. satisfaction of Sir FRANCIS' in his more
--
sane 2-noirfin' ts,- that DANIEL O'CONNELL has done
'''l--iilbre to-benefit Ireland and her Catholic population,
of all i.s.iknks and classes, than any other one individual
riltt
... -

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