The Sun.
London, England, 1851-09-05 00:00:00

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h for the important judicial posts they are to fill,
and the responsible duties they will have to per-
form, no one can entertain a doubt. And it is more
than probable that the two sitting together will con-
stitute a far better tribunal than either of them did
when sitting alone. Able as both of them are, they
possess in many respects very opposite charac-
teristics of mind and temper. As Vice-Chancellor,
Sir James Knight Bruce, to a singular acuteness,
which gave his knowledge of the points in cases
when being argued before him almost the appearance
of intuition, united an energy of purpose and an in-
domitable determination to do justice in each case,
which in the great majority of instances worked sub-
stantial justice to the parties in the readiest mode
the nature of the subject-matter permitted. He never
willingly allowed the forms of the court to be used
oppressively, and he often exercised a bold and vigo-
rous discretion to prevent parties using such forms
/Ma enforcing their e:rict rights in a manner calcu-
lated to operate injuriously on their opponents, which
no ju !ge sitting in equity had ever previously ven-
tured upon. This was mainly accomplished by en-
forcing consents and concessions from the parties, as
the price of some order which it was discretionary
with tha court to withhold or to postpone. In this
way a long and intricate litigation was often
nipped in the bud, and many suitors saved
from all the miseries and expenses of a pro-
tracted Chancery suit. Take for instance
the following : a man in trade died owing some debts
in the way of his business, and possessed of consider-
able landed and house properties, on some of which
there were mortgages ; in short, though his estate was
much more than solvent, it was entangled, and re-
quired a little time and some forbearance on the part of
the few trade creditors to be made the most of. His
executors, desirous of preserving the trade, which was
a valuable one, and of keeping the other property to-
gether, delayed fora short time to prove the will until
cited by a creditor to do so, and then they proposed to
the two principal and only trade creditors to deposit in
their hands ample freehold securities for the amount of
their debts until money to pay them off could be realised
without needless sacrifices. This was refused by the
creditors' solicitor, and a claim to administer the estate
was filed on behalf of one creditor. Under such proceed-
ing a decree to administer the estate would have been
quite of course, and all the real property of the testator
would have been sold, and his complex affairs wound
up in the Master's office, and the plaintiff's (the credi-
tor's) solicitor would have had the carriage of the decree,
and, as a consequence, the lion's share of the costs in-
curred. Anxious to avert such a destructive litiga-
tion, the executors applied to the Court to stay pro-
ceedings on the claim, upon their giving security to
pay the plaintiff's debt and costs then incurred
within a short time. Vice-Chancellor Knight Bruce
thought the executors had not been quite so prompt
as they might have been in proving the will, and
refused to stay proceedings, except on the terms of
immediate payment of debt and costs, and he al-
lowed the matter to stand over for a few hours,
that the counsel of the executors might confer with
their solicitor. When the matter was again men-
tioned the money was brought in,
and in open
court, by the Vice-Chancellor's direction, handed over
to the plaintiff's solicitor. In the meantime, however,
a second claim by the other trade creditor had been
prepared, through the same counsel and solicitor, and
when the matter was mentioned application was made
to file a second claim for administration. This could not
be dealt with in the same way, the amount of the debt
was larger, and there was an open account between the
creditor and the testator. The executors could only re-
present to the court that they had offered security,
that they were about to raise money on the testator's
real estate for payment of his debts, and that such
arrangements would probably be defeated should
there be a suit pending for the administration of his
estate. In ordinary cases, the Court could scarcely
enter into such considerations; and leave to file a claim
would be given to a creditor almost as of course. But
the Vice-Chancellor said, " I see there is a desire and
intention on the part of these executors to pay the
debts, and I must, so far as I can, protect this testa-
tor's estate from destruction," and he accordingly di-
rected the application of the creditor to stand over for
two months, on the executors entering into their
personal undertaking to pay the debt, or consent to an
administration decree at the end of that time. Before
that time had expired, the necessary funds were raised
and the debt paid. Here, by the exercise
of a firm discretion, the Vice-Chancellor
saved the property of a family from anni-
hilation. It is true he spoiled a " very pretty
(legal) quarrel," and prevented the creditor's solici-
torfrom getting a very pretty bill of costs out of the
entangled estate, but the suitors and the public will
probably deem his Honour worthy of high praise for
such interference. And so in a multitude of other
cases, familiar to practitioners in his court, the Vice-
Chancellor Knight Bruce has rendered his a court of
reconcilement, to the manifest benefit of all parties.
As a drawback, it must also be fairly stated suitors
and their counsel have not seldom complained. The
court has decided without giving them a full and sa-
tisfactory hearing; and though even in such cases the
Vice-Chancellor was very apt to be right, he is not
more than other men infallible. it is unquestionable
that many appeals have been made from his decisions.
mainly because ail the pints in the cases were not
fully argued before him. Lord Cran worth, on the other
hand, has earned the character of being somewhat slow
in his decisions, and of permitting argument to be per-
sisted in after it has become perfectly plain to thejudge
that such argument was untenable; consequently less
business was got through in his court than was ex-
pected. The soundness and completeness of his
judgments, however, when given are undoubted, and
they are very generaly acquiesced in by suitors. As
a Vice •Chancellor, the long absence of Lord Cran
worth from the Court of Chancery, whilst sitting as
a common law judge, was felt to have been a disad-
vantage, for during that period changes of practice
and new general orders had been made, which ma-
terially affected the business of the court ; with these
the Vice-Chancellor could not have that complete
familiarity which constant and daily practice in the
court can alone give, and which is so essential to the
dispatch of a large part of the judicial duties of the
Court of Chancery. When sitting as an appeal judge
these points of deficiency will be of DO importance,
for there are few appeal cases in which, for some
reason or other, a full argument is not necessary,
and that minute acquaintance with details of practice
is not so much required on the part of an appeal
judge as in a judge of tha first instance. The mode
in which the vacant Vice-Chancellorships have been
filled will also, we believe, afford equal sa'isfaction
with the appointments to the appeal court. Sir Wil-
liam Page Wood, the late Solicitor-General, is a clear-
headed man and a good lawyer, with an eminently
judicial mind ; and while he is an acute practitioner,
and well versed in the principles and practice of the
court, he has no predilections or prejudices which can
interfere with any changes necessary to adapt the
Court of Chancery to the ideas and exigencies of mo-
dern times. Mr. James Parker also is a man of great
legal acumen and sound knowledge. His practice in
the court has been vast and various, and his opinion
on knotty questions of equity law has long been
deemed one of the safest, if not the safest, upon
which intending litigants could act. That
he will make an excellent judge may be cer-
tainly predicted. It is creditable to the Govern-
ment and to the Lord Chancellor as their first
legal functionary, that, in completing thej udicial force
of the Court of Chancery, party politics have been
thrown overboard, in order to select the best men for
the judgment-seat; for the Vice-Chancellor Knight
Bruce and Vice-Chancellor Turner, and now
Vice-
Chancellor Parker, all belong to parties politically
opposed to the Government. The question now na-
turally asked, is—" Who is to be the new_S_olicitor-
General ?" That he ought to be selected from the
equity bar nobody can doubt, for there is work to be
done in the way of Chancery reform which none but
an equity lawyer can properly peirofh anorm. d Now,
ptuhbelriec
is one man to whom the profession
seem by common consent to point—namely, Mr.
Bethel', who, to his pre-eminence as an advocate, adds
an earnestness and throughness in his views of law
reform which are at this moment required to satisfy
the demands of the public, and to effect such complete
changes as will set at rest certain wild notions Which
have been broached on this subject.

[ADVERTISEMENT.] A Remarkable Cure of
Dropsyof the Chest by Holloway's Pills.—Extract of a letter
from Alr. Munday, a farmer, Kennington, near Oxford, dated
Dec. 2, 1848 :—To Professor Holloway ; Sir,—Having on a
former occasion apprised you of an extraordinary cure upon
myself by your invaluable medicine, it gives me great pleasure
to testify again to its efficacy in a case of dropsy of the chest
with which my shepherd was afflicted, to whom, the moment I
was informed of the nature of his complaint, I recommended a
trial of your Pills, which advice was adopted with complete sane:
cess, for by taking a few boxes only he was
or
is now in sound health.—Sold by all Druggists, and at Pro
Holloway's Establishment, 244, Strand, London
—Yes"
BART.:LT GREAT CATTLE AND HORSE FAIL;_.,,t
consi_
perfectly cureelfe,,,as a
terday (Thursday) this great fair commenced.r4jy'o'f cattle
dered one of the largest stock markets. ' '
iniVurse of farmers
was unusually large, and a very g
and cattle graziers was brought to the Here-
goadand
7 " IV"he and the
ford and Devon breed made frol3nni
ode to 124 ahead,i,ch
were
g— er tebt: .Ce° Ish eo
fs to c k was in
were in gloat demand. Lincowlnas
51. to 71. each,h la
I ow''s was the
of price of good Scots_The collection
of the finest ever witness
d made prices ranging from 16
bought for stalling 111)-
cc! at acpublicfmmart, publicf mmi cart, being of the
to 19 guineas,al f inclusive,
smallmills edealers.
London
choicest Yorkshire breed. an
up by
business, at good prices• re eagerly bought
andg Welshwe cattle, which
Ani.ennrse, there was alively
In the horse market trade was
adapted to London purposes, sold
art colts' 45 guineas; and among the
•od and, 'ung- c from 3° t° fund of
go 'varying
at prices
occupied almost exclusiN
i h forest coltsWe.s and daring
extraordinarylel, rushed there. win which
among t
not le to the purchaser..
by, the mar
changed hands yesterday was
left the fair, and much remains to be sold to-clay (Friday).