The Sun.
London, England, 1841-10-14 00:00:00

THE LATE SIR JOHN BAYLEY.
This estimable and learned Judge, who was for twenty-
five years the highest ornament of the Bench,
dated his lineage from Isaac Bayley of Chesterton, in the
county of Huntingdon, wlo, in the year 1732, married
into a branch of the famous Bigland family, of Bigland,
in the county of Lancaster. The second son by this mar-
riage was John Bayley of Elton, in Huntingdonshire,
(father of the late Judge), who himself intermarried
with the great Church family of the Kennetts, one of
whom, in 1790, was the Bishop of that diocese.
Sir John Bayley, at the age of twenty-seven, mar-
ried, on the 20th of May, 1790, the youngest daughter
of John Markett, Esq., of Meopham Court Lodge, in
the county of Kent, by whom he has issue—John Ed-
ward George, of Updown House, Kent, who is forty-
seven years of age, and who now comes into his father's
title and estates ; a second sen, Kennett-Champain Bay-
ley, forty-three years of age, who is in holy orders, as
Rector of Aerise, in Kent ; and a third son, Francis
Bayley, barrister• at-law, who is thirty-eight years of
age, and has been employed for some time in editing. his
father's valuable book upon Bills of Exchange. Besides
these he has three accomplished daughters, the eldest of
whom is married to a clergyman ; the other two ladies,
Lucy and Elizabeth-Magdalen, the former of whom is
twenty-one years of age this year, are, we believe,
unmarried.

Mr. Justice Bayley was a man of liberal education and
enlarged notions; his language had no peculiar neatness
or brilliancy, but it was perspicuous, plain, and pointed.
Nature had designed him for a lawyer, and he wisely
pursued her bias: his knowledge of practice and cases
left him without a competitor, and his strong natural ca-
pacity and clearness of intellect fitted him fur the
most heavy labours.
He was elevated to the bench in 1809. One of the
most remarkable of his decisions, which by the profession
is looked on as a high authority, touches upon medical
jurisprudence. It stands singular, because it is opposed
to Baron Hullock's decision in a similar case, which was
supported, too, by nn antecedent opinion of Lord Hale's.
The opinion was one given on a case tried at Lancaster,
March 14, 1829, when a sailor, discharged from the
Liverpool Infirmary as cured, after undergoing saliva-
tion, was recommended by another patient to go
to the .prisoner, an old woman living at Liverpool,
and occasionally dealing in medicines, for an emetic to
get the mercury out of his bones ; she gave him a solu-
tion of white vitriol, or corrosive sublimate, one dose of
which caused his death. Judge Bayley thus delivered
his opinion :—" I take it to be quite clear, that if a
person, not of medical education, in a case where pro-
fessional aid might be obtained, undertakes to administer
medicine which may have a dangerous effect, and thereby
occasions death, such person is guilty of manslaughter.
He may have no evil intention, or may have a good one,
but he has no right to hazard the consequences in alcase
where medical assistance may be obtained. If he does
so, it is at his peril." Lord Hale, as we before observed,
is as fully energetic to a contrary decision, saying,
" God forbid that any mischance of this kind should
make a person guilty of murder or manslaughter !" This
report respecting Judge Bayley is taken from Wilcock's
Laws relating to the medical profession. App. ccxxvii.
Though Mr. Justice Bayley's decisions were always
courted, yet the most memorable case upon which he
sat as Judge, was the action for libel brought in 1819 by
the Attorney-General against Richard Carlisle, for the
republication of Thomas Paine's Age of Reason, and
the other infidel, commonly miscalled " Theological,"
works of that writer, and which, when it came on for
trial before him on the 12th of October, occasioned such
exciting interest. The circumstances connected with this
case are of too fresh occurrence to need our reverting to
them ; it is sufficient to remark that the number of copies
of this book already disseminated over the world, had
amounted, prior to the injunction, to 3,000, sold at
half a guinea a copy : that Mr. Carlisle conducted his
own case himself, and on the third day of the trial actu-
ally desired to be permitted to call the Archbishop of
Canterbury, the High Priest of the Jews, and the leaders
of various sects of Christians, to show the discrepancy of
their religious belief.

Mr. Justice Bayley's speech upon this occasion, in
passing sentence for blasphemy on the libeller, in Nov.
16, 1819, was published in a threepenny form by Chap-
pell, of the Royal Exchange. The address is solemn
and impressive. Carlisle, he said, was convicted of at-
tacking the purity of that which we believe to be true,
and of attempting to undermine that faith upon which
all our hopes of happiness here and hereafter are
founded ; of attacking those bonds and rules which em-
brace together all our moral and social institutions in
this life ; of attacking the faith of the country, and our
high and holy religion, upon which all hopes and ex-
pectations are founded.

Judge Bayley finally sentenced him, according to the
judgment of the Court, to a fine of 1,0001., and imprison-
ment in Dorset gaol for two years, with a minor penalty
for the publication of another blasphemous work.
•Judge Bayley's work, entitled "The Summary of the
Law of Bills of Exchange," which has been a standard
book in the profession for years, and of inestimable ser-
vice to the commercial world, demands some notice.
This work was given to the public when the venerable
subject of this memoir was a barrister-at-law. It col-
lected together almost all the learning upon this branch
of law, which had been scattered to the four winds, and
concentrated into one focus all determinations upon the
law of bills and notes, explaining at the same time the
principles of those determinations in a methodized and
comprehensive form. Mr. Bayley published this work
in 1739, and on the 25th of May, 1797, issued a second
edition, greatly enriched with his own notes and ex-
tracts. On his elevation to the Bench, he had not
.much leisure to prepare a new edition. W. E. Barnes,
Esq., barrister, produced a third edition of it in 1812,
the book being one, as all legal and commercial men must
be aware, in which new cases are continually arising.
The death of Mr. Barnes left the Editorship again
open, and in 1822 Sir John Bayley devoted himself to its
revision and re-editing, which contained, in addition to
new cases, a new chapter upon the Forgery of Bills and
Notes. The last and most valuable edition, however, is
that which appeared is 1830, edited by Francis Bayley,
Esq., his third son, which, in addition to all former en-
richments and additions, carries it down to a very recent
period, and the tenth chapter, particularly, was nearly
re-written. Saunders and Bennmg are, we believe, the
publishers.
In 1831, Mr. Justice Bayley was removed, at his own
request, from the Court of King's Bench, where he bad
sat for 22 years, to the Exchequer.
To a most benevolent heart, this Learned Judge added
the dignified manners of the gentleman, and a degree of
professional erudition that ever placed him in the first
rank of Westminster Hall. His exquisite amenity of
manner was proverbial ; his countenance was remarkable
for its philosophic composure ; his person was tall, while
his unalterable kindliness of disposition rendered him
universally beloved by the whole profession—judges, bar,
and suitors. No Judge ever obtained a highei• or more
deserved character for honour, integrity, and im-
partiality. All party feelings he utterly disre-
garded on occasion of State trials, and this just
and praiseworthy conduct has been alleged as a bar to
his elevation to the office of Chief Justice, which
he was so well qualified to fill. On criminal
trials he was ever the humane and merciful
Judge. In the Court of Queen's Bench he was
senior Judge for many years, and pronounced the deci-
sions of the Court with that mildness and justice for
which his whole life was remarkable. From his exten-
sive acquaintance with the law, his clear intellect, and his
well-established character for impartiality, his opinion
was ever looked up to with great respect by his brother
Judges. In a celebrated sate in which this Journal was
concerned, Mr. Justice Bayley decided the Court
in our favonr, by a well-timed remark, which
will long be remembered in Westminster Hall.
The Attorney General (Sir Charles Wetherell)
was endeavouring to lay it down as an axiom of law,
that a diplomatist was not to be judged by the strict rules
of truth as other men, and might be excused for dating a
despatch on board one of his Majesty's ships in the Ta-
gus, while he actually wrote it in London. " I like
honesty in all places, Mr. Attorney," said the virtuous
Jugge. The Judges consulted for a few minutes, and
Lord Tenteeden announced, with apparent reluctance,
that the: Court did not consider it expedient' to confirm
the rule.-., ,

---- ----I' ni • .
NEW RAILWAY SIGNALS.—At new system
of signals for railroads has been invented by Mr. Hall,
the Managing Director of the Eastern. Counties Rail-
road, intended to supersede the red and white flags now
-carried and exhibited by policemen at teertaiu distances,
and which have been sometimes .founcl4dequate to the
'purpose. The new signal, which ' Air. 'Hall .*calls the
" Panel or fan signal," has, when put in operation, the
appearance of an upright post of about twelvn, feet high,
surrnonnted by a piece of woodwork resembling in shape
that of a closed fan. Where they both join is a strong
iron framework. In the upper woodwork three panels
are encased, which are worked by machinery, and when
brought down to the iron framework before described,
assume the appearance of a crimson quadrant of a span
sufficient to be visible in a straight line for two miles.
When a train is due to start the three panels are lowered.
As soon as it has started and reached the signal, the
man in charge of it sets in motion a piece of machinery,
which gradually works up the three panels in fifteen
minutes, and the signal at the end of that time presents
. its original appearance. By this arrangement engine
drivers will be able accurately to calculate the time
which has elapsed since a train has passed ; one panel
indicating five minutes, two ten, and three a quarter 'of
an hour. The new signal will in a few days be put in
' operation on the Eastern Counties Railway.
HIIIIIWAY ROBBERY . AND MURDEROUS
ATTICK.—On Tuesday list a man of the name of Cleod,
living at
,Rockbeare, formerly a servant with Mr. Bid-
good, but who travels the country selling tea, was sitting
in company with three other men at the Country Hotel,
the half-way house between Exeter and HOniton, two
of whom are thatchers of Whimple. The four left the
house together ; the two thatchers, when a few paces
from the inn, parted company with the others, who pro-
ceeded on their way. Before they had gone many hun-
dred yards the man in company with Cleod took an
opportunity to get behind him, when he knocked him
down, and robbed him of all his money, and left him
lying for dead. The sufferer was afterwards found, in
the road, and taken to Rockbeare, where he now lies, his
life being despaired of. He is dreadfully bruised aboul
the head, his hands being much injured, showing that
•he made considerable resistance. He is about thirty
,years of age. The eonstables went immediately in pur_
suit of the villain, but we have not yet heard that he has
'been taken. He , was dressed as a sailor, with a short
blue jacket, and wore a fur cap. It appears that the un-
fortunate man had incautiously taken out a sovereign,
which he offered to be 'changed at the Country Hotel,
and which probably tempted the wretch to commit the
crime.—Devonshire. Chronicle.
RAMSGATE, OCT. i2.—Arrived the Schiedam, from
Stockton, for Portsmouth, with upper works and bul-
warks damaged, lutilFg,it)ieen 4100144 Qt, With the BOuvriel;
aryised at 4argatf7,lA ,•,.., .. , •

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