The Sun.
London, England, 1856-02-08 00:00:00

MR. CURTIP.

Mr. H. BAILLIE asked the First Lord of the Trea-
sury whether he had any objection to lay on the table
of the house the correspondence which had taken place
with the Prussian Government relative to the employ-
ment of agents for the enlistment of troops, and in re-
ference to the arrest of her Majesty's consul at Cologne
upon the charge of being engaged in such proceedings ?
Also, any communications which may have been made
by the authorities of the Hanse.Towns with reference to
the subject of enlistment ?
Lord PALMERSTON had great objection to pro-
duce the correspondence alluded to. The transaction
had been amicsably.settled ; and the correepoudenne. if
it 'were produced, could lead to no good results. With
respect to the second question, the Government had no
correspondence to produce.
COMMUNICATION WITH IRELAND.
Mr. CAIRNS asked the Secretary of the Treasury
whether, in the contemplated postal arrangements with
Ireland, the Treasury had considered the requireventa
of trade in the provinces as well as 'in Dublin ; and
whether any Communications on the subject had been
made to any of the Chambers of Commerce except that
of Dublin, or whether any such communication would
be made before any tender was accepted !
Mr. WILSON said communications with the Cham-
ber of Commerce of Ireland had taken place, and the
best attention would be given to the subject as regarded
the provinces.
Mr. CAIRNS asked the Solicitor-General for Ireland
whether a bill to amend the law of bankruptcy in Ire-
land would be introduced by Government, and when ?
Mr. HORSMAN would nest week lay a bill on the
table relating to that subject. •

ECCLESIASTICAL COURTS.

Mr. COLLIER, in pursuance to his notice, moved
for leave to bring in a bill to transfer the testamentary
jurisdiction of the ecclesiastical courts to the superior
courts of common law and to the county courts. He
said those courts were condemned more than twenty
years since, and which had been confirmed by subse-
quent commissions and committees, and the unanimous
voice of public opinion, and yet they had been allowed
to continue in their present, state. Fifteen bills bad
since then been introduced to transfer the jurisdiction of
these courts, yet they had all failed, and he must confess
he approached the question with some superstitious feel-
ing that these courts were destined to live for ever.
Three years since he called attention to this question,
and was induced to leave it in the bands of the Go-
vernment to remedy the evils complained of. In the
ensuing session a bill was brought in by the Govern-
ment to transfer the jurisdiction of these courts
to Chancery, but some how or other it failed ; in
the following session another bill was introduced, giving
the jurisdiction not exactly in Chancery nor out of
Chancery, but which also failed. In the third session
he proposed to re introduce the original motion he pro-
posed, and which would deal only with a portion of the
jurisdiction of the Ecclesiastical Courts, that of testa-
mentary jurisdiction—letting the jurisdiction of these
courts in matters of divorce and of church discipline
stand over for the present; but he would observe that
the law of divorce was a disgrace to the country, and
ought no longer to exist. It was, in fact, a law for the
rich, and not for the poor. The testamentary jurisdic-
tion of the Ecclesiastical Courts was an usurpation from
the old county courts of the country. The ecclesiasti-
cal courts numbered 372, and were as motley, gro-
tesqte, and disgraceful a lot of courts as could belong to
a civilised country ; and so were their judgments. In
the change he contemplated no new tribunals would be
required, the existing tribunals of the country being suf-
ficient. He would give jurisdiction to County Courts
in matters under 501. In Scotland, 30 years ago, the
Consistory Courts of that country were transferred to
Uhe Sheriff's Court, and he bad not heard of any incon•
venience arising therefrom. In America and India
there were no Ecclesiastical Courts, yet men in each of
of those countries made wills, and their property passed
without any trouble or difficulty. He would have
each County Court a district for registering those
wills, appointing some of the present regis-
trars to the office of registrars, and that a will
should be proved in the district where the tes-
tator died. No attorney nor proctor need be em-
ployed in proving undisputed wills ; any man going
there should be furnished with a form which be
could fill up with the assistance of the registrar,
and all those wills should be deposited in Somerset
House. When the property was under 3001., and any
disputes arose, the county court should have legal and
equitable jurisdiction ; but where the property was
above 3001.,_ jurisdiction might be referred to the
Chancery Courts, Common Law, or a New
Court. He thought there was no necessity for new
tribunals to be established, because the Crown Law
Courts had been relieved of some of their business,
owing to the establishment of the County Courts,
and could well undertake this. If it were
transferred to the Chancery Court a new Vice-
Chancellor would he required, but he thought
that expense need net be gone to. At present, the Com-
mon Pleas had not sufficient business to fully occupy its
time, and he thought this jurisdiction might be given to
that court. He was in favour of the jurisdiction being
removed to the common law courts. These courts should
decide the validity of wills. After some further remarks
on the details of the bill, the hon. gentleman moved for
leave to bring in the bill.
Mr. HADFIELD seconded the motion. He referred
to the scandalous conduct connected with the patronage
of these courts, and also to the oppressive working of
these courts, and the number of proctors, surrogates,
&c., connected with their machinery. He said there
were but 160 proctors in the kingdom whose interests were
so anxiously watched over by the upholders of the present
courts. He regretted the Government bad not brought
forward a similar measure to this, Had they done so