The Sun.
London, England, 1868-03-12 00:00:00

LORD WESTBURY ON THE LAW.

Lord Westbury presided at a recent meeting of the
Juridical Society, held for the election of officers and the
transaction of other business. On Mr. Justice Hannen's
name being added to the list of vice-presidents, his lordship
expressed his great pleasure at the selection of that gen-
tleman to be one of her Majesty's judges. A more appro-
priate- or more excellent appointment could not have been
made.

In accordance with a proposition made by the chairman
in 1857, to the effect that the Lord Chancellor for the
time being should be the president of the society, Lord
Westbury was requested, to offer that office to Lord
Cairns.: Lord Westbury observed that the present Lord
Chancellor was a most accomplished lawyer, a, most zealous
legal reformer, and a legal scholar, if he Might say so,
desirous of promoting the study of jurisprudence, which
was the object for which the society was established. The
formal business having been disposed of,
The CHAIRMAN delivered an address to the meeting, in
.v.e course of which he observed that he thought it would
be beneficial ;to the society if power were given to the
secretary to convene regularly every fortnight a meeting of
the society, and that if a paper were not ready for the pur-
pose, it should be in the power of the chairman for the
time being to call the attention of the society to any sub-
ject connected with jurisprudence, and which was of
General interest and importance at the time. Eighty
members of the bar, at great expense of time and
labour, had prepared many of them most elaborate
papers merely for the purpose of proving their compe-
tency to enter upon the work of forming a digest of law.
He had charged himself with the duty of examining thirty-
six of those papers, and he had been greatly delighted,
and at the same time surprised, at the amount of ability,
care, and labour exhibited by many of those papers.
He had had great difficulty in determining, in many
cases, which of the papers exhibited the most ability,
and that he regarded as a most satisfactory proof of
a meritorious disposition on the part of the younger
banisters to enter upon the great work of digesting
the law, and it was at the same time a most gratifying
proof of the ability, skill, industry, and the extent of
learning which they had acquired for that purpose. It
was well worthy of the members of the society to consider
the question whether the enormously increasing law busi-
ness or this Country did not call for the establishment of
local courts of the first magnitude, similar to these in other
countries. Through the want of such local courts the busi-
ness of the courts of appeal were greatly in arrear, because
the common law judges had to occupy a considerable portion
of their time on circuit. The present constitution of our
highest court of appeal was most unsatisfactory. The
attendance of the law lords in that tribunal was hap-
hazard, and those who did hear a case did not feel that
responsibility which weighed upon the judges of the ordi-
nary courts. The constitution of the Judicial Committee
of the Privy Council was still less satisfactory. A more im-
portant tribunal could not be conceived. We had a colo-
nial empire greater than ever existed in the world.
It far exceeded the great Orbis Itomanus. From that
colonial empire appeals were made to the Judicial Com-
mittee of the Privy Council. You could not tell whether
the Lord Chancellor, the Lords Justices, or an emeritus
judge, or two emeriti judices would hear an appeal, and
perhaps some of those who did hear it had to get up for
the nonce information on the question discussed. That
was not becoming to our position, nor was it ordinary
justice to our colonial empire. He suggested that the
society, instead of discussing abstract questions of law,
should have discussions upon reports, Acts of Parliament,
matters connected with international law, and the ordinary
topics that came before the world day by day. He de -
plored the present unsatisfactory state of the law of debtor
and creditor, and hoped that efforts would be made to
improve it.
After thanks were voted to the chairman and to the
officers of the society, the meeting adjourned.

A contemporary hears on respectable authority
that the Earl of Mayo, the Chief secretary for Ireland,
will succeed the present Governor-General of India, whose
term of office has nearly expired.
One of the provisions of the Irish Reform Bill
will be that eight boroughs having constituencies respect
tively of under 200 electors are to be disfranchised,
and their seats distributed with reference to population.
These are Cashel, Downpatrick, Dungannon, Ennis, Kin-
sale, Mallow, New Ross, and Portarlington.
A conference, under the auspices of the Reform
Union, has been held at Manchester, for the purpose of
discussing the ratepaying clauses of the Reform Act. A
good deal of information from various parts of the country,
spewing the hardships attending the operation of the
clauses, was submitted to the meeti . A petition to Par-
liament in favour of the repeal of the objectionable clauses
was adopted.

The two men confined with the Orange Grand-
master in Down Gaol have taken the advice given to them
and amended their memorial to the Lord-Lieutenant. They
now confess that they broke the law, express contrition,
promise not to repeat the offence, and pray for a remission
of pul!ishment. There is now a l robability, therefore,
that Al:Whinny and Keating will be liberated. Mr.
Johnston remains refractory.

THE IRISH REFORM LEAGUE. —At a meeting of
the council of the Reform League, Mr. Beaks in the chair,
a letter was read from Mr. Meehan, of the Irish Reform
League, stating that the members of that body had re-
commenced their labours on behalf of manhood suffrage
and the ballot, as well as to obtain the total abolition
of the Church Establishment. The writer stated that
the members of the League were -induced to do this by a
statement made in the House of Commons, on the 2nd
instant, by the Earl of Mayo, Chief Secretary for Ireland,
to the effect that free and public debate upon political
questions would not be interfered with. The letter
further announced that the Irish Reform League intended
holding a public demonstration in Dublin upon St.
Patrick's Day, and requested the attendance of one or two
members of the English Retorm League.
HORT-I'MB :BARBARITY. NEAR An
inquest has been held at the Crown Inn, Aspull, near
Wigan, touching the death of William Barron, a child 13
months old, the son of a boatman plying on the Leeds and
Liverpool Canal. The deceased, it was alleged, met with
his death owing to the inhuman conduct of the father in
pouring a kettle of boiling water over the baby and its
mother as they were lying in bed in a cabin of the boat at
Aberdeen, close to Blackrod, on the 19th of last month.
The mother was fearfully injured about the face and
breasts, and the deceased was scalded so severely upon the
head and stomach that death resulted last Sunday morn-
ing. Mr. Fisher, of Wigan, expressed his belief that the
scalding had caused the congestion of the lungs which re-
sulted in death, but as he had found that there had existed
disease of the lungs of some months' standing, he was
unable to swear positively. In consequence of this, and
the ruling of the coroner, who also pointed out that the
husband would not escape a conviction for inflicting
griey9u§ bodily harm, the jury Ictuyuld open verdict.

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HER MAJESTY.

WINDSOR CASTLE, March 11.
Tce Queen, accompanied by Princess Beatrice,
drove to Cliveden yesterday afternoon; attended
by Viscountess Clifden, and visited the Dowager
Duchess of Sutherland.

The Queen walked in the grounds this morning,
and drove, accompanied by her Royal Highness
Princess Christian.

Princess Beatrice rode in the Home Park.

Her Royal Highness the Princess of Wales
drove out, attended by the Marchioness of Car-
marthen.

ROYAL NATIONAL LIFEBOAT INSTI-
-1 Li TION.

On Tuesday the annual general meeting of this
institution was held at the London Tavern, Bishops-
gate-street, under the presidency of the Hight Hon.
H. T. L. Corry, M.P., First Lord of the Admiralty.
Among those present were Sir Francis Crossley,
M.P., Mr. Thomas Baring, 111. P., Mr. S. R. Graves,
M.P., Admiral Sir W. H. Hale, K.C.8., Sir Ed-
ward Perrott, Captain the Hon. F. Maude, R.N.,
Captain G. H. Richards, R.N., F.R.S., Hydro-
grapher to the Admiralty, Sir James Tyler, Admi-
ral George Davies, Captain M'Gregor, Captain
Fleming, R.N., Captain Arrow, Deputy Master
of the Trinity House, Vice-Admiral Sir Thomas
Hastings, Captain Littlehales, R.N., Mr. Thomas
Chapman, F.R.S., Vice-Admiral Smart, Admiral
Evans, the surveyor-general of the Board of Trade,
Captain Symons, R.N., Major-General Moore,
Colonel Fitzroy Clayton, Admiral Gordon, Captain
W. 11. Phipps,
.R.N., Admiral M'Hardy, Admiral
Evans, Cand Captain Tribe, R.N. Some formal
business having been transacted, the Chairman said
he esteemed it a great honour to preside over the
annual meeting of an institution which was as na-
tional in its character as it was beneficent in the
praiseworthy objects it so successfully accom-
plished. The importance of such an institution
could not be overrated in a commercial nation like
England. During the past year alone 783 lives
and 35 ships had been saved by the lifeboats of the
institution, and the number of lives saved during
the 44 years which had elapsed from the esta-
blishment of the society in 1824 to the end of
1867, either by the lifeboats of the institution or
by special exertions, for which it had granted
rewards, amounted to nearly 17,000. He could,
from official knowledge, tell those he had the honour
to address that that number was equal to that of
the bona fide seamen now in her Majesty's navy.
He was greatly gratified to hear of the graceful re-
cognition of the society's services which had been
afforded during the French Exhibition, and of which
they would obtain a detailed account in the report
which would be read that day—a recognition which
was equally honourable to its donors and its reci-
pients. The chairman continued to say that the
society appealed strongly to individual feelings, for
he found that some large donations had been
contributed by particular persons, and he thought
it was noticeable that some of those donations
bad been given, not for the praise of the world,
for they had been forwarded anonymously. It
was also gratifying:to find that large additions had
been made to the society's funds by the gentler
sex. The scope of the society's operations was in-
creasing, and there were now 200 lifeboats under
its direction. He could not refrain from offering
the highest tribute of praise to the brave men who
manned the lifeboats. Providence had during the
past year extended its shield over them, as not one
of their lives had been lost in their hazardous pur-
suits ; but the public should not on that account
withhold any portion of the admiration, they
had so worthily deserved. The secretary then read
the annual report, the main features of which were
stated in the chairman's speech. A vote of thanks
having been accorded to the First Lord of the Ad-
miralty for his dignified conduct in the chair, and
for the kind interest he took in the National Life-
boat Institution, the proceedings terminated.

ELECTION INTELLIGENCE.

H UDDERSFIELD.

As Mr. Somerset Beaumont declines to oppose
Mr. E. A. Leatham as a candidate for the represen-
tation of the borough of Huddersfield, in the place
of Mr. T. P. Crosland, deceased, the more mode-
rate politicians, both Liberals and Conservatives,
are trying to induce Mr. Wright Mellor, a Liberal
and a long resident in the borough, to come forward.
It is doubtful, however, whether he will consent to
stand a contest at present, and therefore the pro-
babilities are in favour of Mr. Leatham, who for-
merly represented the borough, being elected. Mr.
Leatham is of the advanced Liberal school.