The Sun.
London, England, 1851-06-19 00:00:00

LONDON, THURS

SOCIETY—FOR PROMOTING TILE
AMENDMENT 0? THE LAW.
The annual meeting of the tiends of this society was
held yestereey efternoon, et tie rooms, 21, Eegent-
atret ; Lord Brougham in the chair.
Among the gentlemen present were the Eerl of Har-
rowby' Lord Beaumont, Mr. Hume, M.P., Mr. Evart,
M.P., Mr. tV. Hawes; Mr. 13 ttiell, Mr. James Stuart,
Mr. Commissioner Phillips, 'Mr. Commissioner Faue,
Mr. Lowe, &a.
The Noble CuAiumAri °Piled the .proceedings by
reading the report of tne committee for the past yeat.
The length of the documete prevents !its insertion en-
tire, and we therefore give the following extracts :
" Your council, with a vow of introducing a system
by which cheap and „speedy execution of justice could
be obtained, has not hesitatel to promote the establish-
ment and to endeavour to eetend the jurisdiction of the
county courts.
" Those institutions host. not only been the instru-
ments of good, 'hut they ITO destined' to
work a great
change in the administratiin of the 'lei?. Those courts
have ulreudy established tiemselves iii, the affeetions of
the people by the prompt; cheap, and effective justice
there administered, anti ;h, council have gladly ap-
pointed e committee to co, Verate with, their friends in
both fleuses otyarlietnenti to consider:in what manner
their jurialiction may be ease.
law, ende object ged in equity us well as in
to assist th
fer which they were estab-
lished. Not only will tle;,j be rendered more effective,
but they will he the means by which a 'reform of the su-
perior ceorts will be slovt?y and certeifily established.
" The precedure of the superior courts hay engaged
Lunch of the attention, tie tof the common law com-
mittee, and next of the siecial committee appointed to
inquire whether the principes of law end equity can be
administered in the same spurt and by -the same form of
procedure. It is quite pasiete
,that in
the investigetions of the society the course of
this subject would have
presented itself for investigation,' but the immediate oc- I
casion of the appointment of the committee was the visit
of' Mr. D. D. Field from temerica to this country in
autumn last. It had beelsprevionsly known that in the
State of New York, upon• the recommendation of a com-
mission appointed for that purpose by the Legislature,
the common law and equiti were no longer administered
in district courts, but dat the judges were intrusted
with the remedies of both- courts to enable them to do
justice to the suitors. The reform ofthe law the coun-
cil considered as highly ineresting, and they invited Mr.
Field, who was one of the commissioners, to give the
society an account of it; with which request he readily
complied.
" The information thus given was se` striking and so
important to the oouncil, :hat it demanded their utmost
care and attention. They appointed the special core-
mittee alluded to to coreider the whole subject, and
they also instituted an :inquiry in America as to the
operation of the New Ytrk Code. In this they were
assisted by Mr. Lawrence, the Ambassador from the
United States, who kindly undertook to forward the
questions framed by the epmmittee for the purpose of
eliciting, answers from pellons the best qualified to give
sound and impartial opinions. The Council have con-
tinued to receive from many sources information on this
subject, and a body of the moat valuable evidence
has been collected, the result of which is that' the
council now state their opinion to be that this reform
has been eminently successful. Eleven of the judges
of the superior courts of the State of New York
have expressed these sentiments—one of them personally
at a meeting of the society on the 14th of April; and
although that has not beenconfirmed by the unanimous
opinion of the profession in, that State,, yet the council
believe that the large majority of the.bar of New York,
as well in number as in talent and eminence, have ex-
pressed a clear and unheeiteting ophiion in favour of the
change. To this it should be added That the public have
given their concurrence to it, and no better proof can be
given than its adoption by many of the most intelligent
States of the Union, in which it has been carried by ac-
clamation. The distinction between common law and
equity will not exist much longer in the United States.
But the council would ask, how long will the distinction
exist in this country? In many 'of her colonial depen-
dencies it could not longer endure. .In the most impor-
tant dependency of the Crown the Chief Justice has, in
a private letter to the president of the society, declared
that he should be very glad to adopt the system, which
he thinks simple and practical. This is confirmed in
stronger terms in another' communication to a Member
of the Senate, in which it is stated that this amalgama-
tion is a panacea for most of the defects of equity proce-
dure.' This opinion comes from India. .It is gaining
ground in British North America, and even in England
and Ireland the legislation of the present session has
gone in some way toward it by increasing the jurisdic-
tion of the county courts. In Scotland the distinction
never existed; and the committee have come to the con-
clusion that justice, whether legal or equitable, may be with
advantage administered in the same court, and that all liti-
gation may be subjected to the same' forrabf procedure;
and the committee are prepared to support this opinion
by the outlines of an act of procedure. The council ex-
press their regret that there is no department in the
State charged with the consideration and preparation of
measures so important to the welfare of the suitors. The
committee, as the result of their labours'.and inquiries,
have also come, to the conclusion that they would re-
.
conameed the evidence of the parties to, a suit being
taken in furtherance of justice. With' 'regard to the
subject of the patent laws some progress has been made
towards a proper solution of the question. It was pro-
posed last year to establish law schools, but the council
have been impeded in doing this by,the want of funds;
but they have reason to believe that the schools would
be opened in November next, and they trust that the
public would aid them in the accomplishment of so im-
portant an object."
The conclusion of the report consisted in an acknow-
ledgment by the council of the efficiency of the com-
mittee, and the expression of a hope that their exertions
to cheapen and simplify the administratioh of justice
would be successful.
After the reading of the report,
Lord BROUGHAM said that it was usual far the chair-
man to address the meeting after the report, but he
should wish on this occasion to bo excused, both on ac-
count of ill-health and the fatigue consequent upon
reading the very long document which they had just
heard. In lieu of an address, however,
he proposed to
road two quotations from different documents. The
first, a most important one, was from a letter from his
revered and most learned as well as noble' friend, the
late Lord Chief Justice of England. Lord Denman, which
he had received in the course of a correspondence on
the subject.of the Evidence Bill and the County Court
system. The second potation was from a most popular
work. The extract from Lord Denman's letter was as
follows:—"I take the fact to be clear that the people
must prefer the county courts to the common law courts
The proof of this fact is, that the foruser tribunals
swarm with suitors, while the latter are deserted (com-
paratively). Another fact of a more general nature is
the destitution of the bar, the ruin of many now in busi-
ness, and the disappointment of many more in their just
expectations, and, finally, the annihilation of a most
valuable class of society as it has existed for the advan-
tage of the public. If the interest of the bar comes in
competition with that of the public, there cannot be one
moment's hesitation as to which must be sacrificed.
Neither they nor any other set of men have any vested
right in misgovernment or maladministration; they have
no privilege to defeat, or even to delay for a single hour,
a well concerted improvement.. Could we suppose the
legal system so perfect, so justly appreciated, that all
persons would, spontaneously act right upon all occa-
sions from knowing that otherwise the law would force
them promptly to do so—a blessing ascribed by Horace
to the rule of Augustus, the barrister must then turn
his power to some other account, nor breathe a mur•
mur, nor ask a farthing of compensation* still less de-
mand the restoration of the bed old system. But a
State that should make one of its tribunals cheap and
efficient, while it condemned the other to a dilatory and
expensive course of procedure and trial, would be deemed
doubly impolitic and regardless of the popular welfare—
first, in not placing both upon the most favourable foot-
ing for the attainment of justice, and, eecondly, for
causing any reduction in the learned men who formerly
practised in the court now so fatally eclipsed, and who
formed a body capable of effectual resistance to oppres-
sion and of guarding the rights of an. I might dwell
upon the value of the bar in a collateral respect, in the
service of the public departments, in the various relations
of private society, and as furnishing a constant succes-
sion of gentlemen competent to fulfil the judicial func-
tion through all its range up to. the most arduous _and
elevated seat of justice. The education and habits of the
bar have formed the present judges of our common, law
courts, as well as recorders and other presidents of jus-
tice in our local jurisdictions. The fact of an increasing
favour for the courts of the inferior jurisdiction, at the
expense of thesuperior, is not merely to be traced to
the power of examining parties to their own causes:
there is a still more operative, because a grosser and
more palpable, cause for the same notorious event—the
enormous costs imposed on the suitor in the superior
courts. Can we expect a sane man to resort to a court
which refuses to hear him and his adversary, though
two persons is the
pwoosriltdivwelhyothhhe
they
maowtyhe be two
aonndlywhich makes him pay
an enormous amount for admission into its precincts,
when there is another court, close at hand and always
sitting, in which he may state his own case as he under-
standscall his adversary to declare the
whole
wrihtseroefhte may
adyisputed transaction, and, finally,
recover his own at one twentieth part of the cost? The
evil points out its own remedy; if we are right in our
premises, and suitors keep aloof from courts of unim-
peachableatengcrutsy because they are ex-
inn is obvious. Make
olesiv o
andno wled
'expensive,ge andthe co
i
them open to receive informatiOn from all, cheap enough
to be accePtable to all, and the same amount of business
will be found to flock thither as was seen before this un-
expected and novel rivalry created by the Legislature.
I cannot help feeling sanguine in my own opinion as to
the success of your great measure for receiving theevi-
deuce of parties; for, looking to the names and the
character of the Commissioners for inquiring into the
practice of pleading, I.fully anticipate such a reform of
abuses—such a sweeping abolition of fiction and verbi-
age—those pets of English lawyers—and the establish-
ment of such a natural and intelligible course of proce-
dure in our courts as will be satisfactory to the public
and conducive to the honour and interest of the :pro-
fession." His learned and lamented friend in refer-
ring to the measure as his (Lord Brougham's) had not
done himself justice, as the measure was his own, and
was a corollary upon his Act of 1842. The second 'ex-
tract to which he should refer showed strongly the in-el
jurious effects of an unjust and incomplete judicial sys-
tem. The writer, speaking of France said, " The
people having borne their load so long that it was sup-
posed that they never could form the wish, much less
even possess the power, to shake it off, • all opportunity
of removing their grievances and gaining their good-will
was habitually neglected. What, if given in time, would
have more ttian contented all parties was withheld until
nothing that could be safely ordered could satisfy any;
and the whole eyetctn which, with timely reformation,


"That this society considers it highly desirable that
a school of law and jurisprudence should be formed in
connexion with it."

One Of the great evils in our present legal system was
its division into so many classes, each distinct from the
other. There was civil law, criminal law, the law of
Equity, and ecclesiastical law, and each of these required
tee attention and shill of a distinct class of persona.
Law students at present were rarely instructed in that
liberal knowledge of jurisprudence, and comprehensive
system which formed the basia of all law. Their ideas
were narrowed, and it was even pref./led by attorneysand
solicitors that counsel should have a good practical
knowledge of one branch rather than a general and com-
prehensive understanding of the whole. He thought
that schools and lectures in connexion with the society
were most desirable. They would raise the character'
of the law student, besides conferring a benefit on society
at large.
Mr. LowE seconded this resolution, which was also
agreed to.
The Earl of HARROWBY also addreised the meeting,
as did several other gentlemen, in support of risolutiona
advocating various reforms of the law.
The annual election of officers then took place, and
after the usual compliment_ to the Chairman the meeting
separated.

ROYAL CALEDONIAN ASYLUM.
The thirty-fourth anniversary of this excellent society
was held yesterday, at the Freemasons' Tavern, Great-
Queen-street, where a sumptuous dinner was provided.
In the absence of the Duke of Buccleuch, who had
been announced in the tickets of invitation as the chair-
man, the Right Hon. Lord Kinnaird kindly took the
chair. _ _

Among the company present we observed Colonel Sir
Duncan M.4Dougall, Sir John H. Maxwell, Bart., Lieut.-
Colonel T. Matheson, M.P., Captain H. H. Maxwell,
Captain Charles Forbes, J. G. Lockhart, Esq., M.P.,
George .Bain, Esq., &c. We regretted to find that the
party was not so numerous as on former occasions.
The musical arrangements were under the direction
of Mr. G. F. Taylor, assisted by Miss Wells, Miss J.
Wells,. Mr. Godden, and Mr. Farquharson Smith.
The grace having been sung on the removal of the
cloth, the usual toasts followed.

The CHAIRMAN, in proposing the health of his Royal
Highness Prince Albert, intimated that his Royal High-
ness had consented to become president of the society.
Sir D. MDOI3GALL and Sir J. H. MAXWELL returned
thanks respectively for the Army and Navy.
The Noble CHAIRMAN next proposed " The health of
his Grace the Duke of Buccleuch, their president," in
highly complimentary terms.
The children, whose appearance excited universal ad-
miration, and who were preceded by the Mackay, her
Majesty's piper, were paraded before the company. The
boys numbered 67, and the girls 50.
The CHAIRMAN then proposed the toast of the even-
ing, namely, "Prosperity to the institution,"remarking
that the best appeal he could make in its behalf was by
pointing to the healthy, robust, and happy looks of the
children around them. He, however, felt it necessary to
state a few of the reasons why.the directors now ear-
nestly appealed to the company and the public for
support. He really did think that when it was
remembered that they were bringing up in a
sound moral, religious education so many of the youth
who were connected with their country, at all events no
Scotchman could refuse to contribute to its support;
while when they considered that the institution had been
the means of educating many of those who had fought
the battles of this country, no Englishman who had it
in his power could reasonably object to do the same
thing.—(Cheers.) The institution, he was sorry to say,
was considerably in arrear, which he thought had
arisen, as was very often the case in charities of
this nature, from the circumstance of the managers
having forgotten themselves at a period when
the asylum was in the midst of great pros-
perity. He therefore regretted to say that the in-
stitution was not in so flourishing a condition as he could
desire. The directors, in the height of their prosperity,
had devoted more care and expense to providing house
accommodation for the children than to promoting their
education. In fact, there had been a larger number of
children collected in the asylum than they were fairly
able to support, and he believed much of their difficul-
ties could be directly traced to that cause, because he
was happy to say that the annual income of the institu-
tion had not fallen off, bat remained as large as it was
in former years.—(Hear, hear.) It could not be denied
tbat hitherto they had been keeping up an establish-
ment that was too expensive for their means, but last
year the directors vigorously addressed them to reform-
ing the management, and a most able re-
port was drawn up by certain members, includ-
ing the. Chisholm, which recommended that
greater economy should be exercised in the arrange-
ments of the asylum.—(Hear, hear.) He was rejoiced
to say that the recommendation had been most fully
carried out, and up to the present time there bad been a
saving of somewhere about 7001. a year, which at the
end of the current year they confidently hoped would be
increased to 9001.—(Cheers.) They had been able to
effect that saving without reducing the number of chil-
dren, and he was satisfied that, in the end, it would turn
out that their difficulties had only been of a temporary
character.—(Hear, hear.) They must all put the
shoulder to the wheel again, and strive to attain addi-
tional support, as he had already done in the City.—
(Hear, hear.) They must not confine their energies to
Scotland, but extend them also to this country, and ul-
timately, he felt convinced that the institution would
once more be restored to a state of prosperity.—(Hear,
hear.) With these few remarks, he would give them
" Prosperity to the Caledonian Schools."—(Cheers.)
The toast was drunk with most enthusiastic applause.
Other toasts having been given and responded to, it
was announced that the subscriptions for the evening
amounted to nearly, 5001., including donations from his
Grace the Duke of Buccleuch of 100 guineas, the friends
of Sir J. H. Maxwell of 481., the chairman (Lord kin-
naird) of 10 guineas, and from Mr. Lockhart, Captain
Forbes, and Sir George Clerk, of 10 guineas each.
The Queen's piper and the juvenile band of the society
were in attendance, and at intervals played several
spirit-stirring pibrochs and reels; whilst the two Misses
Wells, Mr. G. F. Taylor, Mr. Godden, and Mr. Far-
quharson Smith, delighted the andience with the pretty
glees, songs, and ballads which they sang in the course of
the evening. The spirited style in which Miss M. Wells
sang" Bonnie Dundee" awoke to enthusiasm the patriot
feelings of the Scottish portion of the audience, and she
was loudly encored. The touching Scottish song of
What's a' the steer, kimmer" was sung with equal
,aste by the two sisters.
The company separated about twelve o'clock.