The Sun.
London, England, 1857-01-30 00:00:00

form, and not permit any contentious busi-
ness to be decided by these tribunals. If, as

stated by the Chancery Commissioners of 1854,
"a uniformity of practice is of essential impor-
tance in regard to the probate of wills "—if the
necessity for that uniformity constitute an ade-
quate objection to the transfer of the business to
the three Superior Courts, as suggested by Mr.
Comairs, how much more powerfully would it
apply to thel7o Local Courts on which the society
would confer jurisdiction in contentious matters,
where the assets did not exceed 3001., where
every judge would be an Autocrat, acting accord-
ing to his own caprice— sic volo sic jubeo being his
sole rule of action, and where the inestimable
safeguards afforded by the presence of an inde-
pendent bar, and the publicity given by the re-
ports of independent journals are altogether
wanting. Three hundred pounds is as important
to a poor man or to a family in humble circum-
stances as ten or twenty times the sum to their
wealthy neighbours, and there should be no
grounds for casting even suspicion on the ad-
ministration of justice. The expense would be just
as great, inasmuch as competent practitioners
should be highly paid to undertake the special
business in Courts where they do not hat,itually
attend. Besides, the Society would allow an
appeal in matters of law from the country, to the
Metropolitan Court (Resolution 25), and that
appeal would take place in almost every case, so
that the expenses would be enhanced in place of
being abated by conferring authority in con-
tentious suits. Besides, the importance of having
but one tribunal capable of conferring probates
and letters of administration will be universally
recognised. The validity of these documents
would be at once ascertained, and there would
be far less chance of fictitious instruments being
promulgated or acted on. A fertile source of
crime would thus be abrogated.
Having the doom of English wills so clearly
depicted in some of the early numbers of House-
hold JVords before our eyes, we should certainly
not allow original wills to be kept in the County
Courts registries. They should be deposited in
the Metropolitan Courts. It may be desirable to
have attested copies deposited in the district
courts, to which easy access could be obtained,
but that is all that should be tolerated, so far
as the custody of documents by the County Courts

are concerned.
The registrars of the County Courts might very
beneficially, as suggested by the Society, act as
district officers of the Metropolitan Court with
respect to all common or non-contentious busi-
ness. They might entertain applications
for probates or administrations, give directions
respecting the production of documents and
proofs and the preparation of affidavits, see that
these directions were complied with, and transmit
the papers to the Court in London in order that
they may be finally examined by one of the prin-
cipal Registrars. The actual probate or letters of
administration should be granted by the Metro-
politan Court, and the documents, when com-
pleted, transmitted to the Local Registrar, and by
him delivered to the proper parties.
We have in the above been only enabled,
within the brief space of a single article, to pre-
sent the most salient points. There are many
others that may be produced on some future occa-