The Sun.
London, England, 1850-10-03 00:00:00

4,_417;:....:
, . .
..' "
• - _ „4...„...„.....,...---,9--- ~e_.._....._,,,
~,..,,.
~..
~---- \---,,,--
.
___,7 ~, ...,...., .„ /4_,,,.. ~..:
~,,-,:_,_:\
1 •,'
...-
• .
,a,. ,
I
'Pea Wit
, ~
4,,6; 1' Wi V., .. _ ~, ...,
4/' , • t'‘ 4
,; I , , , %.4't , \*r,:—',.: (ei- et k -,, cg , ,
.w.v4,),1 r,;f, -4.. ~. .., -, *"----.. \. . .4.4, i '''. itt,t 1,4 !", ~.,‘ ',,,,..
~ '
rk, ,
.14
---, i";i4l
dt. 4" ''. i':
ktlll .' , 1 a'Ai • Y '\..;:i."': 1 ,\ '4741.6, ' ~. ,-,-,' - --'7
1 in.
' .
i 9.;i ~I Z:t5".4 tit ~ . ,liA- --/•4,, ' .
~,',.. ~44114.t0. ;; i
.::',' ,
t,:,,,: .--,1.:
~.....y.'
1
- i'l , t•,, i
.'‘.l,/ , . . , •*_....,. ~...- ,
r•-..,,Z -., ab, It.. .'3',"'L
,- -..;- ...... -----.. ,
...---
_,,.•_-..;ri,-c.4,2,tr.,;:.7:14:40., - N___
~...,,,-.,
~, ~,,4.---
', . +
, tu . lits. 1.......• .' ~,, r -,....'..---, ''''
'''''
bR. Ir. 4. fie .

the public as judges, are, generally sj
men who have had such a great amount pera"---eaJeeeees
as to induce them to refuse a puisne judges.bigameaes:
they might do very well as judges; but if the others ill
refused, I say it wound be a misfortune. You might
have very good judges who never had bad great prac-
tice at the bar; but a man who had great practice at
the bar would remain at the bar, and never go upon
the seat of justice.
But so long as the appointments to the judgeships
were advantageously filled, the public could have no
interest in any particular advocate going to the
bench; therefore it cannot be necessary for the pub-
lic service that you should pay a higher sum to a
judge than is necessary for the office, in order to in-
duce somebody else, who is an extraordinary advo-
cate, to become a judge; is nut that the proper way
of viewing it ?—lt is a question of opinion upon
which I do not agree in the view expressed in the
question ; I think it is worth while for the public to
pay something more, in order to have a choice for the
higher situations of the men who have great prectice
at the bar, some of whom, as we know—for example,
Lord Mansfield and Lord Ellenborough, were great
men at the bar and great men on the bench.
Nr. Ellice—Have not those great judicial officers
generally, in the first place, filled the situations of
Attorney and Solicitor-General in this country ?—I
believe most of them have.
And have devoted themselves, so far, to political
life in the House of Commons with the object
of attaining to those high offices ?—Yes, very com-
monly.
Mr. Bright—Does the pursuit of a political life in
the House of Commons give a man any greater power
or ability to fulfil the office of judge to the satisfac-
tion of the country, that you should, upon that
ground, because he has pursued a political career,.
offer him a higher prize ?—No ; but if he is a very
great advocate at the same time, and has a very high
reputation at the bar, as well as being Attorney-Ge-
neral, it is a reason for offering it to him.
When we are considering the case of the judges, is
not the first object to get the best men as judges at
such fair remuneration as the public can be called
upon to pay, without any reference to the political
career of any gentleman ?—Yes, but those men who
have been eminent at the bar, knowing very well the
practice to be, as has been stated, that the law officers
of the Crown have risen to high situations on the
bench, have very frequently come into Parliament,
and, being in Parliament, have been promoted to
the bench.
Is it not a misfortune to the administration of jus-
tice that a political career should be the avenue to
the highest seats upon the bench; speaking without
reference to particular cases, might it not fairly be
concluded so ?—That question is very much con-
nected with the whole Parliamentary constitution of
this country. You do not find the only evil which
one should expect if one did not know the history of
this country, might follow from it, namely, that a
man who had been a strong party man in the House
of Commons, who had always been defending one
side, would have some traces of his political partiality
when he came upon. the bench. Now, notoriously
that has not been the case. Men of different parties
who have been Chief Justices of the Queen's Bench
have not shown any party bias ; one may have been
more for prerogative, and another more for the
liberty of the subject ; but I do not think you can
trace any party bias, speaking generally of the legal
history of this country, in the Chief Justices of the
country.
If you can always have any number of candidates
for the office of 1' irst Lord of the Treasury, with a
salary of 5,0001. a year, and, generally speaking, the
First Lord of the Treasury rarely shows any anxiety
to leave his office, can it be necessary to give a higher
sum to any functionary of the State ; is there any
office of higher dignity or responsibility than that of
First Lord of the Treasury ?—A man becomes First
Lord of the Treasury having taken a great part in
politics, and, generally, having no profession ;
he may either have a large amount of private
fortune, or he may have no private fortune ; but he
is not pursuing a profession which brings him in a
large income • and he, by taking the office
of First Lord of the Treasury, rises to a great political
distinction. It would not be for the benefit of the
country, but I have no doubt that if you took away
the whole salary from the First Lord of the Treasury,
you would find men of ambition who would be ready
to spend their fortunes in doing the duties of the
office, because it is a very great thing to be at the
head of the administration, and to direct the resources
of the country : tilts office of the Chief Justice of the
Court of Queen's Bench, I think, is totally different,
because you must take a man who is making some
income from his profession, and if he is making a very
large income, you will not induce him to leave the bar
for the bench.
Chairman—With regard to the Court of Chancery,
during the time that you have been Prime Minister,
has any representation been made to you with re-
spect to the amount of business in the different Courts
of Chancery under the Lord Chancellor and the Vice-
Chancellors ? —The representation that I have had
from the Lord Chancellor upon that subject is, that
since the appointment of the two Vice-Chancellors,
which took place, I think, in 1841 or 1842, there had
not been any considerable arrear, but at the same
time there has been a great deal of business in each
of the courts.
Supposing that Parliament should decide hereafter
to separate the judicial from the political duties of the
Lord Chancellor ; do you think it would be necessary
to keep up so many Vice-Chancellors, if the Lord
Chancellor were able to dovote the whole of his time
to the Court of Chancery ?—No, I do not see that it
would ; but by the Act. as it at present stands, by
which the two last Vice-Chancellors were appointed,
the first vacancy is not to be filled up ; it is only the
second vacancy that will be filled up ; therefore one
of the Vice-Chancellors will cease upon a vacancy : I
do not think it would be necessary to alter the Act in
that respect.
Does the appointment of Masters in Chancery de-
volve upon the Prime Minister ?—Yes, it is given
specially by an Act passed when Lord Brougham was
Chancellor.

[PRICE SD.

Is it in contemplation, in the reform of the Court
of Chancery at this time, either to abolish prmateri-
ally' to 'alter the-duties' of the Mastersthink that
tse-daties•of the.office• of Master require +ery-Consi-
derable alteration, and the Lord Chancellor has 'beeil
for some time turning his attention to the subject.
They have a way in the Masters' offices of giving an
hour to a particular business, and then, perhaps, that
particular business when the hour is over is not heard
again for weeks. That is a mode of doing business
which seems to me extremely inconvenient, and there
are certain powers that they ought to have which
they have not got, and the want of which, I believe,
produces great delay in those offices. I should think
there might be very considerable reforms made in
those offices, and with regard to the patronage, I
should think it was better vested in the Lord Chan-
cellor than in the First Lord of the Treasury.
With regard to the fees taken in the Court of
Chancery, and the payments out of the Suitors' Fund, •
has your attention ever been called to that subject
with the view of applying them more economically in
the payment of salaries than to objects to which
they are now applied P—Yes, that has been a great
object with the Lord Chancellor, upon which be has
communicated with me very frequently ; I rather
think there is a Bill before Parliament. I know that
his object has been to diminish the fees in the Court
of Chancery, and to remunerate by salary those officers
who now are remunerated by fees.
The Masters in Chancery are no longer paid by
fees, they are paid a fixed salary ?—Most of the
officers are paid by a fixed salary ; but the whole views
of the Lord Chancellor upon this subject,with respect
to the fees at least, have been explained by the Soli-
citor-General to a Committee of this House, which is
now sitting upon that subject.

ENCLOSURE OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM.—I take leave
to call your attention 'to the fence about being erected in front
of the British Museum. You doubtless know the plan of the
architect was a dwarf wall and iron palisades extending the
whole length of the buildings, which, from its lightness, and
the relief it would have given the edifice, was highly approved
by the public, and its completion has been long anxiously
looked for. Unfortunately the gentlemen residing in the
wings have objected to the publicity which an iron railing
would give to their dwellings, and they have succeeded in
getting the plan altered, so that a stone wall twelve feet high
is to be erected at each end, extending some yards beyond the
residences: thus one-half the space, or nearly so, will have
the aspect of a prison, and the wall will doubtless in a few
weeks be embellished with a succession of temporary " con-
veniencees" to the annoyance and disgust of the neighbour-
hood. The news of the alteration of the plan was at first
received with incredulity, but now that the ground is marked
out showing how far the high wall is to extend, sorrow (I
will not say indignation) is fast taking the place of disbelief.
—Correspondent of the Builder.

•
A new work from the pen of Mrs. Crowe, the au-
thor of " The Night Side of Nature," " Lilly Dawson," &c.,
has just made its appearance. Any book by this popular
writer is sure to interest and amuse, but her present produc•
tion appears calculated to excite, in a high degree, the lovers
of the marvellous, for the belief in the supernatural is evidently.
still strong amongst a large class, as is proved by the popu-
larity of the author's "Night Side of Nature." The title of
her new production is " Light and Darkness ; or, Mysteries
of Life." The scenes which may be expected to fall 111 the
scope of such a work seem the peculiar province of this ori-
rigneiernearlleiswfetr.iistetrh,obufatcwt hthaattwthilleyparroobaabillystagtreedattoly
bhoeidrghatweno their
interest

/
DIABOLICAL CONDUCT.—On
.S.unday morning, the
22d ult., the up•mail train, on arriving within two. miles of
caused the engine to jump, and made fire fly from the wheels.
Penshurst, encountered an obstruction on the line, which
placed across the line. Two men, hoppers,
Happily the train was not thrown off the rails. On exa-
mination the remains of a large gate were found, which had
plcaocnedfinetdhe
heraVienngtlybeebneenseen
themgate
OseaptahraetheLye,,
eachthey
, the constable of Leigh,
by: Caudal]
wandering about half tipsy about. that time, he took them
charging the other with being the chief offender.
bothinto custody,coa ess confessed
d having having.
were committed for trial at the quarter session. id They
885610118.—/t/a_stone
✓ournal