The Sun.
London, England, 1851-08-21 00:00:00

Association should be met by the immediate c.wgitni-
zation of a Protestant airnee Society.

The question whether the two branches of tho lei ;al
profession are to remain separate and distinct bodies,
or whether the ancient boundaries that divided their
respective provinces are to be annihilated, and each to
be permitted at pleasure to trespass on the domains
of the other, must speedily be decided. It is one of
vast importance, not only to the parties more imme-
diately concerned, but to all classes in society through-
out the length and breadth of the land. We say to
" all classes," from the highest to the lowest, because
the result will materially affect the due administration
of justice in all its departments. An enlarged and
comprehensive view should therefore be taken of the
subject. It should be considered, in all its aspects,
with that care and attention which it so eminently,
deserves. A crude or hasty judgment should be es-
pecially deprecated, for if an error be committed it
may not be easy to retrace our footsteps, or to regisin
the position we have abandoned.
And, first, it is desirable that we should know the
nature of the alterations which are in progress, and
which must inevitably be carried out. When the
county courts system was introduced, it was intended
merely to give additional facilities for the recovery of
demands not exceeding 201. sterling. It was, how-
ever, speedily discovered that the machinery prepared
for that purpose might be advantageously applied to
other objects. The judges were, accordingly, em-
powered to hear and adjudicate on cases of insolvency
occurring within their respective districts. After some
time, the provisions of the 9th and 10th Victoria, cap.
95, were extended to debts, damages, and demands
not exceeding 501. In the early part of last session
a further extension Bill was introduced, by which it
was proposed to confer powers analogous to that of
Masters in Chancery, but the Chancellor, Master of
the Rolls, or any of the Vice-Cbancellors might re-
fer inquiries to be taken before the county court
judge, who was also to be enabled to take pleas 'and
answers in matters pending in Chancery, and to ad-
minister oaths, &c. Although, as we have re-
cently stated, this measure did not become law, it
was merely because it was so long detained in the
House of Commons that there was not sufficient time
before the prorogation to enable their Lordships to
consider the various alterations and changes that had
been made during its progress through the Lower
House. There can be no doubt, however, that, in
addition to his other functions, the county court
judge will be constituted an officer of the Court of
Chancery, and that he will be compelled to under-
stand the principles and practice of equity.
He will thus have nut only a common law and
-quitable jurisdiction, but one also in cases of bank-
ruptcy and insolvency, and we should be by no means
aszoniehed if a criminal juri,diction in certain Cia.3ats
of cases were added to the list. Nor will it stop
there. The question may be pertinently asked,

Why, if a person is competent to decide maven
amounting to 501., should he not be equally
competent to adjudicate on matters of double,
quadruple, or even tenfold that amount f" The
legal difficulty will be as great in. one
case as the other. The judgment must be founded
on the same legal principles, and the result may he
us important to the parties litigants, for 501. may bear
as large a proportion to the entire fortune of one
suitor as 5001. may to another. It is impossible
to say where matters will stop. Many persons, we
believe, anticipate the period, and that at no very
distant day, when all civil cases will be originated
before the local tribunals, and the superior courts only
resorted to for hearing appeals on legal points—all
questions of fact being concluded by the report of the
judge or verdict of the jury. Whether this will
occur or not, it is sufficient for the purposes of our
argument to say that it is by no means impossible.
How great then must be the qualifications of the
judges to whose hands such extensive powers are to
be entrusted! How varied must be his attainments,
how profound his learning, how vast his experience !
His judgments cannot possibly receive the same
publicity accorded to the proceedings in the superior
courts. One great check will thus be removed which
has hitherto prevented the formation of crude or
hasty judgments ; and the other would be the presence
of a highly educated and well-informed bar, who would
speedily detect any deficiency on the part of the pre-
siding judge. It must also be borne in mind that the
vast increase of duties, and those of such totally dif-
ferent descriptions, imposed on the judge, will pre-
vent the possibility of his practising as a barrister, or
having his intellect kept bright by frequent collision
with his forensic brethren at Westminster Hall.
He must devote himself altogether to his judicial
duties, and it is by no means improbable
that he may in many instances require the
assistance which competent advocates on either side
are enabled to afford to the bench ; or, that if there
are none to detect his failures, that he may lapse into
habits of sloth and negligence, that would prove
Dighly prejudicial to the administration of justice.
But if the Bar is to be annihilated, as it must be if
attorneys may hold briefs from other attorneys, or even
persons who are neither barristers or attorneys may
be heard when they are not personally concerned,
where are persons to be found with the necessary
qualifications to constitute a sound and able judge ?
Whence are the vacancies o❑ the bench of justice,
either of the superior or inferior tribunals, to be sup-
plied ? For a few years this difficulty may not ari-e,
hut it mu-t c..me in tirre. The present generation
will pass away, no new comers will recruit the reeks
of the Bar. None will be mad enough to devote their
time, attention, and money to so hopeless a pursuit.
Not only will there be no check whatsoever on the
presiding judge, but he will necessarily be of an in-
ferior grade, and not competent to the discharge of
his multifarious and arduous duties—not competent,
we say, because however strong his natural intellect,
be cannot. have acquired the "judicial mind," which
can only be attained by a tedious and laborious
process.

Before then it be decided that either branch of the
legal profession may be dispensed with, before the
functions of barristers and attorneys, which have
hitherto been kept totally distinct and separate, be
assimilated, let us ask, can we spare the Bar ? or
is it desirable that we should do su ? Most decidedly
not. There is no person who has considered the sub-

ject, and who is qualified to come to a correct conclu •
sion, who will not join in the opinion, that it is a
matter of the moat vital importance to retain an in-
telligent, a learned, a high-minded, a fearless body,
who have ever constituted one of the strongest guaran-

tees for the liberty of the subject, and that any abridge-
ment of the independence of the Bar, or diminution of
that high sense of honour for which it has ever been
distinguished, would prove a national misfortune of
no ordinary magnitude.