The Sun.
London, England, 1832-11-07 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF TIT ITBLIC JOURNALS

The appointment of Sir Thomas Denman to
the exalted station of Chief Justice of the
King's Bench is one that cannot fail to be ac-
ceptable to the Bar, and give general satisfac-
tion to the country. High office in the profession
of the law has been but too often the reward of
dereliction of principle and subserviency to
power. It had become so much so at one time,
that the independence of the Bar was regarded
by the public as a legal fiction. There have
been periods when the faithful and fearless dis-
charge of the duties of an advocate to his client
was considered a crime, which could only be
expiated by such acts of political abasement as
argued a sincere repentance of the practice of so
inconvenient a virtue. Sir Thomas Denman has
risen in despite of the obstacles which an adherence
to principle and a manly consistency of character
oppose to the advancement of.those who seek the
rewards of an honourable ambition. His
elevation to the head of the common law is there-
fore not only a great public benefit, but an in-
structive professional example. The late Chief
Justice made his way to eminence and power
by labouring as a legal pioneer for the law
officers of his day. His talents justified the
choice which gave him the chief seat on the
Bench, but that choice would not have fallen
upon him if he had relied upon his talents and
learning alone. At the Bar he was remarkable
for that meekness of deportment which never
disturbs the repose of authority or encounters
the, frowns of power. On the Bench he
atoned for his long career of submissiveness by
assuming a tone of authority more vehement
than dignified, and by endeavouring to reduce
the independence of the Bar to the level from
which he rose. A greater defect was his habit
of invariably leaning to power in questions af-
fecting the rights and liberties of the subject,
although there could not be an abler or fairer
Judge for the decision of questions between pri-
vate individuals. The Press he would, if possible,
have bound in chains of iron. He had a sincere
and unqualified abhorrence to that freedom of
opinion which constitutes the real usefulness of
the Press as a political and moral agent. His adroit
management in gaining over the acquiescence
of a Jury in his View's, without seeming to con-
trol their verdict, has been adduced as a proof
of his judicial dexterity. Seeing what his po-
litical sentiments were—how strong his bias in
favour of any thing clothed in the garb of autho-
rity—and how faithful his attachment to the ve-
nerable prejudices of his profession—it seems a
dexterity snore to be wondered at than imitated;
and sure we are that Sir Thomas Denman will
no more adopt this mode of managing Juries
than he will emulate Lord Tenterden in his
illiberal sentiments, and his hostility to all poli-
tical and all legal improvement. The last effort
of the present Chief Justice, as a Member of
the House of Commons, was one which will as-
sociate his name with the progress of beneficent
reform in_ the laws ofhis country. His bringing
in a Bill, which passed the Commons in the last
Session, to abolish the punishment of death in
all cases of forgery, was a noble redemption of
the pledge which he had previously given ;
and, although the judicious simplcity of that
measure was marred in the Upper House by two
sanguinary exceptions, he is equally entitled to the
public gratitude for-having given the Lordi the
opportunity of atoning for the error which they
committed when Lord Lyndhurst occupied the
woolsack, and the enlightened decision of the
representatives_ of the people with -regard to the
exterminating Bill of Sir Robert Peel was re-
versed. That, with an habitual suavity of man-
ners, Sir Thomas Denman has firmness enough
to support the dignity of station against all en-
croachment, has been sufficiently proved, not
only by his intrepid energy as an advricate, but
by his decision of manner in the City Court,
where he so long presided. And here let us pay
that tribute of applause to which the Corpora-,
lion of London is so justly entitled for having,
with such disinterested patriotism, exercised its
power in conferring an important office upon au
advocate whose honest and fearless discharge of
his duty to his client drew upon him the perse-.
cution of power. It must be gratifying to that
Corporation to observe that the man whoce me-
rits they had appreciated and rewarded, in what
the world looked upon as the adversity of his
fortunes, is now chosen by his Sovereign to ad-
minister the laws of England, and uphold the
purity of justice, in the first Court of common-
law judicature in the real m.—Morning Herald.

Our readers will see from our Court Circular,
that Sir Thomas Denman kissed hands yester-
day, on being appointed Lord Chief Justice of
the Court of King's Bench, in room of the
_late Lord Tenterden. This at once puts an end
to the absurd rumom-s fespecting the pledge given
. by his Majesty to Lord Lyndhurst. His Majesty,
we are sure, was too well acquainted with the
functions of a King in a constitutional govern-
ment to attempt to be both King and Minister. The
success of his neighbour, Louis Philip (who
seems to have taken Machiavel's maxim an pied
de lettre, that a King who trusts the manage-
ment of his affairs to another, will not long be
King), is not calculated to inspire his Majesty
with any wish to become his own Prime Minis-
ter.
The character of Sir Thomas Denman has
always stood high ; and, independently of the
impossibility of departing from the rule which
assigns the Chief Justiceship, when it falls in,
to the Attorney-General for the time, it would
be difficult to point out in the profession any
individual who on the whole has better claims
.to the elevation. No one questions the talents of
Lord Lyndhurst as a Nisi Prius Judge; but some-
thing more than mere talents are required in the per-
son who fills the situation of Chief Justice of Eng-:,
land undera Liberal Government. We do not wish.
to press hard on his Lordship ; and, indeed,
some chapters in his life are too fresh in the re-
collection of the public to render it necessary
that we should dwell on them. All that we can
say is, that it is fortunate for his Lordship that
he had previously secured the situation he now
fills. We have always been willing to do justice
to the .merits of the distinguished Judge to
whom Sir Thomas Denman has succeeded. As
a Judge between private individuals, he as up-
right and dispassionate. But that a C of Jus-
tice, chosen during the Chancellorshi f Eldon,
li
should so administer the law, as to d justice to
the people in any question between them and the
oligarchy, and the bodies subservient to their
sway, was not to have been expected. Lord
Tenterden would not, with his will, have suffered
ooe stone in the edifice of corruption to be
loosened. He was thorougnly consistent. He
protected all Corporations in their freaks and
frauds , he threw his shield over all in autho-

city. The object for which all authority is
given, or is supposed to be given—the good
the community—was not the object which his
Lordship had at heart. The end at which he
aimtd was the maintenance of the oligarchical