The Sun.
London, England, 1832-11-06 00:00:00

There does not appear to be anything like a
speedy prospect of the nation's acquiring better
Lord-Lieutenants and better Magistrates. We
may thuse prepare ourselves for years to see the
people arrayed on one side, and all who possess
power and authority arrayed on the other. The
feeling of bitterness of the Tories
.at this time
is inconceivable.—Morning Chronicle.

There requires no argument to prove the
necessity of filling with a man of superior legal
abilities', and purity of character, the vacancy
which the death of Lord Tenterden has occa-
sioned-in the first judicial situation of the de-
partment of common law ; but though all per-
sons will agree, or affect to agree, in the abstract
principle, deter digniori, yet it appears there
is some difference of opinion, or rather opposition
of feeling, as to who is the more worthy of the
candidates for this high and responsible appoint-
ment. When it is known, as the public already
know, that the present Attorney-General and
Chief Baron are the only individuals whose
claims have been put in competition for the
Chief Justiceship of the King's Bench, there
cannot, we should think, be any real or rea-
sonable doubt as to the superiority of the claims
preferred upon the part of the former. We leave
out of the question the custom or etiquette,
which establishes a sort of equitable pre-
scription, if we may so call it, to such
an office in favour of the Attorney-Gene.
ral for the time being. We are aware
that custom has, sometimes, been broken in upon,
and we think it ought to be whenever a de-
parture from it insures the appointment of a
more respectable and efficient Chief Justice than
a rigid adherence to official routine could sup-
ply. In the present instance, however, the
claims which the Attorney-General has by virtue
of his office are greatly strengthened by those
personal merits which constitute his best recom-
mendation to a station of such serious trust and
exalted dignity. In this question the adjust-
ment of the conflicting claims of individuals is of
little moment compared with the great considera-
tion which involves the impartial, fearless, and
honest administration of justice, and thereby
affects the interests of the whole nation. If the
fountain of justice be impure, how can the
streams that issue from it be expected to flow in
that clear and stainless current which reflects the
pure image of the law ? Of Lord Lyndhurst
the country knows a great deal. Far more dis-
tinguished as a politician than either a lawyer or
a Judge, his name is connected with some in-
stances of unhappy celebrity. He may be pure
on the judgment seat ; we neither say nor insi-
nuate aught to the contrary ;—but certainly his
political character does not bear that stamp of
principle and consistency which is calculated to
inspire the public with confidence ; and where
there is not confidence, the highest talent—the
greatest legal attainments —fail to make upon
the public mind the impression which is favour-
able to the moral authority of the judicial
office. If Lord Lyndhurst held the scales of
justice with the exact severity of a modern Aris-
tides, it would still be recollected that in am-
bition he was a Proteus, and that his path to
power was through the wreck of all political con-
sistency. Sir Thomas Denman has also united
the character of the politician, in some degree,
with that of the lawyer; but how different a
picture does his political life present ! Having
adopted certain principles which his judgment
approved, he has stood by them, through evil
and good report, with a steadiness which forms
a striking contrast to the facility with which his
Learned rival has put off the doctrine of one day
to suit the purposes of another. We have oc-
casionally differed from opinions laid down by
Sir Thomas Denman since he came into office ;
but when we thought him in error we have
regretted it rather as an instance of the fallibility
of human judgment than as any proof of a
conscious deviation from admitted principle. He
never argued in favour of one set of opinions or
measures only to prove his versatility in re:uting
his own reasons, and falsifying his own prediction,.
Long did his professional fortunes seem to
wither beneath the chilling shade of Court neg-
lect ; yet no impatience of party persecution
caused him to fling off the badge of disqualify-
ing fidelity, and purchase speedy promotion at
the expense of honourable fame. As a Judge,
at least in a Court of criminal jurisdiction, the
present Attorney-General made a high and de-
served reputation. His conduct on the Bench
of the City Court, when he presided as Corn-
mon-Serjeant, was distinguished by the exercise
of those qualities which give the laws a moral
influence, and preserve the passionless dignity
of justice. With all his talents and various
legal. acquirements, the late Lord Tenterden
wanted one essential attribute for the judgment-
seat—amenity of manners. His disposition was
more over-bearing than one expects to find in a
man of superior understanding; and his temper,
at times, was exceedingly harsh and morose.
In this respect Sir Thomas Denman is not
likely to imitate the bad example which his dis-
tinguished predecessor gave to men in judi-
cial authority. The courtesy of his deport-
ment and the kindness of his manners seem
part of his nature, and not dependent upon
circumstances or situation. His administra-
tion of his high duty may, therefore, be expected
to be as dispassionate as it will be impartial ; for
his long-proved integrity is the best guarantee
that he will not venerate the pretensions of rank,
or riches, or power, more than the claims of
justice—or, by any dmixture of political feel-
ing with the opinions of the Judge, pervert the
law, and " sully the spotless purity of the er-
mine." It is not unimportant, also, to recollect
that in the King's Bench are tried those great
cases of political libel in which it is particularly
requisite that the presiding Judge should not
be one who stands in that situation with the
public in which he thinks ,the freedom of opi-
nion a very dangerous privilege, and one which
ought to be cut down with an unsparing hand.
There is a trial for libel against the Press on
record, of which we will not say more at present
than that it was conducted in a most unprece-
dented manner. 'We are quite sure that such a
proceeding could not be sanctioned under the
judicial authority of Sir Thomas Denman, who
will greatly disappoint us if he does not always
recollect that the glory and the usefulness of
justice perishes when " legal redress" becomes
the pretext for political persecution.—Morning
Herald.

AN OVERSEER IN TROUBLE.—An overseer
in the northern division of Leicestershire is likely to have
to pay the penalty of 5001 for contravening one of the
provisions of the Reform Act, by striking out the naive of
a voter from his list without giving him no7ice thereof, as
required by law. Tile elector, having accifentally learnt
the circumstance, went before the barristers on Thursd
and was ordered by them t i attend at Melton on Tuesday,
when the affair will be further inquired into, and it will
be seen whether ov,rseers are or are not to contravene the
provisions of the Reform Act with impunity, to suit the
c iprice or ill-will of some overbearing neighbour.
Northampton Free Press.