The Sun.
London, England, 1828-02-08 00:00:00

since the time when my late friend, Sir Samuel Romilly,
devoted his talents and experience to it, has been carried
forward by my Hon. and Learned Friend the Member for
Knaresborough (Sir J. Mackintosh), with more or les,
success, until at length, by a narrow majority,. he opened
the inquiry. On a smaller scale, and very limited nature,
it has been followed up by the Right Hon. Gentlemaie
who is now again Secretary of State for the Home Depart-
ment. It is not so much for any thing lie has actuall:,
done, that I feel disposed to thank him, as for the counte-
nance he has given to the subject. lie has power to effect
reforms which others hardly dare propose. His connec-
tions in the Church and State render his services in this
department almost invaluable. They have tended to silence.
the clamours that would otherwise have been raised against
the reform of the law, and probably been fatal to it. If
(which I do not think) lie were disposed to discontinue his
labours in this field, be has for ever given the sanction of
his name and example to the future exertions of others.
Having gained so deservedly the gratitude of his country, I
hope he will not disappoint its expectations, but proceed
with increased zeal to extend his exertions over a wider
space. Another reason why I purpose to avoid this part
of the subject altogether, and to pass over it by wholesale,
is to he found in the nature of this branch of the law.
I do not think it right to unsettle the minds of those nu-
merous and ignorant classes, on whom it principally
operates. It might produce no good effects if they were all
at once to learn, that the Criminal Law in all parts was
undergoing revision.—(Hear, hear.) I intend also to leave
wholly out of my view the commercial law. It lies with-
in a narrow compass, and it is far purer and freer from
defects than any other part of the system. This arises
from its late origin. It has grown up within a few cen-
turies, and been formed by degrees, as the exigency of
affairs required. Lastly, the law of real property forms no
immediate subject for consideration ; not but what I have
to propose may call for some changes in its administration,
but I am flattered with the hope that the Right Honourable
Secretary for the Home Department intends himself, on
this subject, to propose certain measures, by which the
working of the present system will undergo alterations ;
and I cannot help here saying, that whatever the criminal
law ewes to the energy and exertions and labour of the late
Sir Samuel Romilly, I am sure that an equal debt has
been incurred on the part of the law of real property, by
the honest, patient, and luminous discussion which has
been derived from one of the first conveyancers and lawyers
this country has ever been able to boast, my Honour-
able and Learned Friend (the Solicitor-General) opposite,
and those Members of the House who are conversant with
law will easily understand that I am alluding to Mr.
Humphreys.—(Hear, hear.)---With these exceptions,
which I have now laid before the House, as shortly as I
was Ales and for which I shall offer no apology, as it was
absolutely necessary that I should do so, that I might make
my purpose understood, I close this part of my subject;
and I shall now proceed at once to show the purport of the
motion, which I intend to submit to the House ; but
in doing this I shall not enlarge, after the manner of some
disquisitions that I have heard, on the infinite importance
and high interest which belongs to the question, and the at-
tention which it should claim from us, whether considered
as the representatives of the people, or as a part of the
people themselves. This, however, Ido say, that if we
take a view of the whole establishment of the country—
be it civil, as it regards the GoVernment of the country,
or the estates of the inhabitants—or be it military, as it
regards the external position of the State : —Let us turn
our eyes, Sir, t o what part of the system we may—to the
Foreign portion, as it supports the peace of the country
with the rest of the world—to the Domestic, as it makes
the people respectable by its energies—to the Fiscal, as it
provides for the exertions of the kingdom—or to the Mili-
tary, as it prepares the means ofsdefence for the whole ;
and when we shall have surveyed all these, I will not
say that they shrink into nothing when compared with
the justice of the country, but I will say that they all
derive strength and life from that justice, which is sup-
ported by you, as it was' invented by your, ancestors.
The whole system of the State may, without exaggeration,
be said to be mainly and principally dependent ou the
manner in which justice is administered between man and
man ; and he was guilty of no figure of speech, he in-
dulged in no metaphor, who said that the King, the Lords,
and the Commons—the Army and the Navy, and all of
which the State consisted, were made to bring twelve
men into the box to listen to the law, and to decide by
the evidence. This was the end of all Government.
This was the use of all Government. This was
the great purpose which alone could justify the usur-
pation on the liberty of the subject, and which only
justified it, because it was necessary to the well doing of
the great principle. I, therefore, invite every one to look
round at the scene which I am about to present—to enter
with me into the different Courts of Law, that they may
see what the failures are which militate against the true
establishment of justice—that they may see why the system
is in certain parts found to be injured, and how the course
of time has gradually led us, little by little, to depart from
the course as originally planned and adopted. And, first,
let us go into the Courts of Westminster Nall. The House
is aware that (from whatever cause it may have arisen, and
at that, most likely, we cannot get without a research into
the reason of former proceedings) the Courts of Law are in
the habit of receiving exactly the same sort of actions, and
though the jurisdiction of each was originally confined
within very narrow limits, their practice is nosy nearly the
same. The Court of King's Bench was originally confined
to the reception of actions, where violence was committed
—such as trespasses by force and others, and of the pleas
of the Crown ; but now, all actions were admissible
through the medium of a legal fiction which had been
adopted for that purpose, and by which addition, any case
could be entered on the list of that Court ; by this fiction
it is supposed, that every man is in the custody of the
Marshal of the Court, and thus, by degrees, this Court has
drawn over to itself actions, which really belong to, and are
within the jurisdiction of the Court of Common Pleas. The
Court of Common Pleas, however, in their exertions for busi-
ness, was not so fortunate as its rival ; for though it made a
vigorous attempt under Lord Guilford, with that view, it
never was able to succeed in obtaining Crown pleas ; and,
if the House will give me leave here to read to them what
a well-known writer—a writer as well known to my Ho-
nourable and Learned Friend opposite (the Solicitor-Gene-
ral) as to the inure obstruse and knotty points of his pro-
fession—has said on this subject, I will read to it a passage
I find in " Roger North's History of the Life of the Lord
Keeper Guilford." It appears from that, that the Courts
of King's Bench, and of Common Pleas had quarrelled as
to their respective practice; for, he says, " The two Courts
being upon terms of competition, the King's Bench out-
witted the Common Pleas ; and it was by gaining an easy
way of holding to special bail on latitats ;" and then, after
describing the conduct of the Common Pleas, in retaliation,
he says—" But the King's Bench was not so sterile of in-
vention, as to want the means of being even with that de-
vice, and therefore, they added in their writs ac eticon
Billoe ;" and after this, he proceeds to describe the whole
of the artifice, finishing with the Triecum in lege, which
" carried it for the King's Bench ; which Court, as I said,
run away with all the business." And what is the result
of all this contention ? The theory of the law remains the
sarne,while the practice has been subject to a series of altera-
tions. The Exchequer has likewise adopted the same
course ; fur, though it was originally confined to the trial
of Crown cases, it had, by the adoption of another fiction,
the fiction of supposing that every body was a debtor to
the Crown-,opened its doors to every suitor, and so
drawn to itself the right of trying many cases that were
never intended to be placed within its jurisdiction.--
But evliile all these Courts were in competition, one with
the other, for the number of causes that should be entered
on their list, in each there was a reason why there was
a hitch in the entry of actions. In the first place, the
Court of Common Pleas shuts its doors to some of the
practitioners
)'levying from them at the coin-
nthe sum of 12s. 4d., which,
though n
is quite enough to decide a
ieii cem en
t t
a o c ot
very.f
naction
solicitor from going into that Court, as he has to pay it
anthe
large
law,
sum, h
out of his own pocket. But independently of this sum,
which he has to advance, the Court requires that the
whole expences should be advanced at a much earlier stags
in the cause than the other Courts. And who is it that
must advance this money ? Either the attorney himself,
if it be his own cause, must pay the money out of his
own pocket, or, if he is acting as agent for a country prac-
titioner, he must draw upon his employer fur the demand.
In the second place, clients and their attorneys will not
be induced to carry causes into the Common Pleas, by the
strict and rigorous monopoly that takes place among the
legal practitioners of that Court. I have every wish
to speak with all possible respect and reverence of the
Learned Persons who take the lead in that Court, but as, no
doubt, solicitors will have their favourites, and as, uo doubt,

their clients will also have their favourites, it does not
lead to an increase of the business of the Court of Com-
mon Pleas; the fact that the practice is not open to all,
but in a great measure, and so to say, confined to the Seie
grants alone ; and great as the learning of that body is
known to be, well founded as their reputation is and ought
to be, yet, nevertheless, that excellence, joined with the
right they are enabled to exercise, operate pro tanto, to
keep away business from the Court; these are the three
different causes which lessen the practice of the Common
Pleas, and which must one day be remedied, before that.
Court can hope to have an equal share of practice with the
Court of King's Bench. The Exchequer, in like manner,
has its drawbacks, though their system of operation is in
quite another way. One reason why the Exchequer is
not so good, arid does not enjoy a reputation equal to that
possessed by the other two Courts, is because it is
looked upon as a Court of ail sorts of practice ; it em-
braced, in a manner, equity and law—Crown Law awl
Common Pleas; it receives within its jurisdiction the law
between subject and subject, and the law between the sub-
ject and the Crown; all this tends to give the public
a general distaste for the practice of this Court, and
makes its business looked upon with the eye of sus-
picion—the natural--but I do not at all mean to say, the
correct—inference drawn from all this variety of pro-
ceeding is, that what is done in so many ways, cannot be
well done. I beg the House will observe, that Ido not
say that it is so, for it is impossible that any set of men carp
be more distinguished in their profession than the Judges
who preside, or than the gentlemen who practise, in that
Court ; but when I spoke as I have, I was giving what I
understood to be the public opinion, arising out of the
mixed business which is transacted in the Court of Ex-
chequer. But, Sir, there is another and mere obvious
reason why this Court does not engage in so much business
as the others, and this arises from the limited number of
practitioners employed in, and belonging to, the Court.—
If there is any reason to complain, as I have already
observed, of the monopoly among the lawyers attached
to tke Court of Common Pleas, there is much more
cause for a similar complaint in the practice of the
Court of Exchequer. The number belonging to that
Court is confined to four attornies and sixteen clerks ;
and none other are allowed to practise in the Court. if
a country attorney wishes to take his suit into that Court,
the only means by which it can be accomplished is by em-
ploying one of the privileged attornies of the Court, and
by dividing with him the profits of the suit. And what is
the consequence of this ? Wherever little business is trans-
acted, there will of course, be a tendency not to send to
that Court the strongest and most luminous Judges.
Little business requires little skill ; and little talent and ob-
servation will be the less likely to be mischievous : so in
this way it happens that the Court of Exchequer is less re-
garded by those who have to appoint the Judges for it.
Not that I mean to say that this is at all the case at present
—quite the contrary ; but it has had weight in7past times
and no doubt will give a tendency to the future. The
Bench of that Court has not always been so well sustained
as now; and it may be our chance to have Ministers who
will say—" Oh, what does it signify whom we send to the
Exchequer? there is little there for them to do;" and the
more this notion comes to be acted upon, the more will
that little decay, till there be uothiug left to be lessened.
Thus then, Sir, it is : by the general system of suspicion
which appears to pervade the public mind—by the unwise
monopoly of the practice and business of this Court—from
all these causes together, the Court of Exchequer has now
scarcely any thing to engage its attention. The Judge
goes down, and sits there for half an hour ; and if there
should be an entry of six or seven causes to be tried, it is
considered as a very large one : yes, Sir, in the Court of
Exchequer six or eight causes is a large entry, while we
know that Lord Ellenborough has had entered at one sitting
five hundred and eighty-eight causes ; and that the present
Chief Justice, Lord Tenterden, has had entered in his paper
540 odd. I mention these things, Sir, to illustrate my
first point, that the competition of the Courts, and the free
access to them by the public suitor, is merely a thing of
theory, and that in practice it amounts to nothing. ..Expe-
riments have been tried to lighten the business of the Court
of Kings Bench ; but I do not fad that any of them have
answered the purpose for which they were instituted ; the
first of these was introduced in 1821, by which it was ar-
ranged that the Chief Justice should sit in one Court, and
a Puisne Judge in another, at the same time, but never had
any arrangement failed more completely than that. The
Court in which the Puisne Judge sat remained almost idle,
while the other Court was as constantly preferred. A com-
plete action and reaction had been produced by this plan ;
for while it had tended to make the one Court little no-
ticed, it had brought a press of business into the other, so
that it was almost a hopeless matter to leave the choice of
the Courts to the attorneys or their clients. Indeed, there
was nothing to tempt them to take their causes into the
other Court, as the sarnelaw was administered in both. This
system, which was brought into action in 1821, was not,
I believe, tried another season, or, at all events, never went
beyond a season or two, after which it was given up as
useless and of no avail. Another attempt has subsequently
been made to relieve the Court of King's Bench from the
press of Term business, which has always been very heavy
upon it. This system is still going on under the Bill
brought into the House by the Hon. Gentleman opposite ;
and as the thing is required as a matter of course, the
client having no choice, it cannot well fail; but I heartily
wish that it had failed, for it is certainly one of the worst
changes that has ever taken place. It is true that the
great pressure of business requires that something should
be done ; but it is equally true that the right thing has not
yet been adopted ; for where the King's Bench sits, with
the Chief -Justice to preside, there all suitors will necessa-
rily resort, and there every thing will be carried into effect
which it is in the power of the Court to perform—there
the public and the profession will attend, and there the
business will be despatched with that consideration and so-
lemnity so suitable to the Court, and so requisite to
the dignity of its office—there every thing is carried
on openly to all mankind, with the eyes of the world di-
rected to their proceedings. Is not this so? And would
not any one say that this must be the Court where the
most important business was carried on ? And if, on the
contrary, they were to go into the other Court, where the
three Judges were sitting, and were to see that this Court
was carried en in a sort of back room, where no one at-
tended that could possibly help it—where the only persons
present, beside the Judges, were the Counsel and Attorney
employed on either side of the cause that was pending;
would not any one, Sir, say that the business in which it
was engaged must be trifling and inconsiderable? These,
I think, would he but natural conclusiens ; and yet, if the
conclusion had been made exactly the other way, it would
have been nearer the truth. All the really important busi-
ness of the Court is done in that room, and before those
three Judges ; it is done in a corner, and, as I may say,
behind people's backs.--That this is so, there can be no
denying; and I certainly cannot think that it was the in-
tention of the Right lion. Gentleman to produce such an
effect as his Bill really has induced. Thus we see, that while
the most interesting matter by this arrangement is overlooked,
trifling business and points of no importance are brought
with all possible observation before the public ; a non .suit.-
-a notice of motion against casual ejectment, or of leave
to take a report before the Master—all of which are
matters of course, and containing no general interest, and
likewise matters that might be better done by one Judge
than
four—occupy the attention of the Court where the
public is present; while special arguments on the other
hand, of the utmost importance, are heard in the private
andinsufficient way which I have already described—
such as mandamuses, quo warrantos, and motions for
criminal informations or new trials. I therefore cannot
help thinking that I am seriously called upon to attack
this system, which has now become a great and growing
evil. But we are to be told that the Judges have no thne!
I deny this altogether. Let us see how their tine is ern-
pmloayyesda.felyThheey are supposed to come to the Court at ten
o'clock, and to remain there till four. Surely this time
forot
timeth e
transaction
There aor
are
their business. proTnhoeunnwce'hdy have they not
two reasons for this :—the one is, that bail must he taken
layteonoeccoufrtliteeneJ
occurrence,
,dges. Mr. Justice Bayley, no longer ago
than last Monday, was occupied the whole day in the Bait
Court; and to-day
ir,Mtrh.
aJtustthiece
House
eoymd
aayeasseenotthaatblel
to get
ma away
y ytilplrotweeeii
twelve o'clock. I cite these instances of
late
am by no means disposed
on
ondbrreosad m
supida statement,
anhtust. thatln
I am
these examples, then, we see that in one case a whole day
was lost, and in another two hours, merely for the purpose
of attending to trifling business, which might just as well
be transacted by a Commissioner, or even by any Barrister
of ten years' standing. The other reason Noy the Judges'
time was mis-spent, was because they had to attend to the
squabbles of attorneys between thermelmaand,vvbich proper-

ly belonged to chamber practice, as barristers rarely attended;
and this took them away from the Court at three o'clock ;
ly
s'teelatidgaet of
thereal transacting
nosinessresenbtoufs
so that, in fact, while their nominal time is from ten till
contended, ° which,
.thei na
what, Sir, is the ‘e,Vknanosaugrhedueed to three, or at
from
during six ho-e..s,i:ehroebdtv4imo,.aes
four,twel,
e theyth t
harreee obn7
, certainly : for though
int' con-
sequenceosmayfoubor
et hours
t fairlyhs ?
thy
Bail Court could be transacte4 by a Commissioner or Bar-
rister, it may, perhaps, be aoubted whether the chamber
practice does not require a Judge to perform it.
But, me
though this may be a sufficient excuse fc!r the case as it
stands at present, a remedy may still be found. For my
own part, Sir, I frankly confess that I am one of those
who do not see the paramount excellece that some !suppose
to be vested in the number twelve ; although Lord Coke has
spoken of it with a similar degree of rapture which an ab-
stract Algebraist entertains when he dwells upon the magic
of a three or a nine. Twelve appears to have been the
number to which he, in his cranium, attaches everything
vital and of importance; but as I, unfortunately, do not
possess the brilliant lights under which he has been in-
fluenced, 1 cannot help thinking that fourteen is a
much better number than twelve —(a laugh ) —although
it is not so good a number for division, and although I
cannot quote the fourteen Apostle, or the fourteeu tables ;
by the way, though, fourteen will divide by seven, which
is more than twelve will.—( A laugh.) And .1- 2 number
fourteen has the still greater advantage in this case of which
lam speaking, that although it is not so beautiful or ele-
gant a number as twelve, it contains two more. (Laughter.)
But then I shall be told, that the original number of our
Judges is twelve. What then? How is it possible that
twelve Judges, who were sufficient to do the business of
public justice, when the number of causes on their list was
sixty, can be more competent to it now when the causes
have increased to six hundred—nor do I here dread the
hacknied charge of innovation. Here Tam no innovator—
the great innovator is time—time maximus rerun inno-
vator—time, which has multiplied the quantity of business
to be done. We are not innovators who would increase
the number of Judges in proportion to the enlarged amount
of judicial business, but they are innovators who would
have the original number to stand still while the causes
are daily increasing—they who would employ only
the same small number of workmen after the harvest
has accumulated fourfold, sixfold, and more. What I want
is, that a proportion of equality and fitness should be kept
up, adequate to the demand ; and the advantage of this
position will become the more evident, when I come to
consider the system of the Welsh Judges, which I believe
to be the worst ever carried into effect.—(Hear, hear. )_
Why should not those Judges be received among the others,
and divide the two Welsh Circuits with the old ones? not
that I mean that they should always take these circuits, but
each might take them iu his turn, and the Old Bailey
business would also be more satisfactorily gone through.
There are one or two other observations, Sir, which I have
to make relative to the Judges, and which I may as well
mention now that lam upon that subject. I confess, Sir,
that I am one of those who are sorry that the payment of
the Judges now takes place by a fixed salary, and net
through the medium of fees ; for, although, abstractedly
speaking, the former may be the better way, yet,las long
as men are men, and as long as it is a principle in
operation, that when men are placed on the Bench,
the door is shut against them as to all hope of
future preferment, there will be, where there are
no fees, nothing to excite or stimulate them to action ;
on the contrary, all this irksomeness of office will come upon
them, and they will naturally feel inclined to work as little
as possible. That such must be the ease, I feel certain ;
and I therefore think that this extra inducement ought to
be sparingly applied. I think that a moderate ; I say,
Sir, a moderate—a very moderate amount of fees ought to
he granted ; and that, at all events, if such a mode of pay-
ment be granted, it ought not to be made to depend•on the
length of a suit, or on the number of stages through which
it may pass. I know, Sir, that this is a doctrine that will
not meet with encouragement. from the reformers of the
law ; but I nevertheless give it as my candid opinion, founded
on observation. I may mention, that some friends of mine
agree with me in this point, and think that this concession
ought to be made, who are amongst the soundest, most real
and most zealous supporters of the necessity of an altera-
tion and reform in the Courts of Law. The other
observation that I have to make, with respect to the
Judges, is one of a nature entirely different to the
last. The great object of every Government, and of the
Ministers of every Government, its making choice of Judges,
ought to be to obtain the most skilful and learned men in
their profession, and, at the same time, men whose charac-
ter gives security for the pure administration of justice. I
almost feel ashamed, Sir, to have troubled you with such
a truism, but the House will presently see the application
that lam about to make of it. Sorry am I to say, that
our system of election sins in both these particulars. The
office of Judge is one of so important, serious, and respon-
sible a nature, that one would suppose that the Ministers
of Government would naturally require that they should be
at liberty to make their selection from the whole field of
the profession—that no part of that field should be ex-
cluded from having a just claim of being weighed in the
balance—and that the wider that field could be extended,
the more likely would it be that their choice would fall on
those whose talents and character render them deserving of
such elevation. Who would not suppose that a Ministry
would eagerly seek to have all men open to them, that the
most learned and accomplished might be selected? Who
would not suppose that their object would be to select
those men who were accustomed to take large and ex-
tended views of the numerous cases that continually called
for decision? • e best Judges in my time, with the
exception of the present Lord Chief Justice, than
whom no man can discharge his office snore excellently
and more efficiently, have all of them. been previously dis-
tinguished as leading advocates in their,profession, while yet
at the Bar ; but that is no . r.eason why the Ministers
should have any limit in giving all through the Bar
wherever conspicuous talent may lead them, of whatever
nature it may happen to be. But, although it is obvious
and undeniable, and although the extension of the Minis-
ters' search cannot fail to be attended with public advan-
tage, is it the case that any such general search takes
place ? True, no law prevents such a thing ! True, the
doors of Westminster Hall stand open to the Ministers, and
they are at liberty to choose any man, be Isis opinions what
they may, or be his party what it may, and no man would
refuse to obey their call. But did they make such choice ?
Did they ever place their election on a man whose politics
they knew to be opposed to their own? They were at li-
berty to make such a selection, if they thought proper, but
there is no law that compels them to do so, and without
that what Minister will give up what he holds to be one
of his privileges? Men must be on one side of the great
political question to become Judges, and Bo one may
hope to be elected to that dignified office, unless lie belongs
to a party agreeable to Government—his seat on the
Bench must depend on his supporting the one great prin-
ciple of the Administration. But perhaps, Sir, I may be
carrying this distinction too far, and it may be said that
the Ministers do not proceed to such lengths as to expect
that the opinion of a Judge shall exactly coincide with theirs
in political matters ; but if so, at all events, it must be ad-
mitted on the other hand, that if a man belongs to a party op-
posed to Government, he can expect nothing but exclusion,
whatever his talents may be, or however conspicuously he
may shine in all the most Important departments of his
profession. No one, I think, will venture to deny this
or, if they do, I defy them to show me any instance in
the course of the last hundred years of a man opposed to
the principles of Government being elevated to the Bench.
Never have I heard of such a thing in Engand ; never in
England, Sir—though, on the other hand, we have, per-
haps, known instances of men who have changed their
party to come at the Bench.—(Laughter, and hear, 13!t`r;)
Well. I do not• wish to press any thing on this Buhiseuccl;
but, as the Right Hon. Gentleman opposite has doirn the
high honour to himself by his proposed alteratietn
`further
law, I wish that he would carry them some
71:f all foot,
and set the Judges on the most indepenoo-beea
ado
ings. In Scotland a more liberal policy& I i (Lord E Pt:
nt,
ed, and Lord Cranstoun and Mr. Gothsof them even
who there sit on the Bench, are
in
more party men than Lord Eir th this country
•
(a laugh), though, uisfortuosfc Ysd
ei.r party is
now what is called the wr.`!s
A laugh.)
part of the_
For a personal instance of the Injustice of this
system, it is well known that one of the most learned, ta-
lented, experienced, and accomplished advocates at the bar,
whose elevation to the bench would he bailed by men of
all parties as a blessing,
.that the promotion of that able'
and distinguished.lawyer is impeded by the fact of his be-
longing to a political party, and honourably standing faith-
ful to it. A person so
_eminent, so universally known to

Rfeuaaieetldnlf:art 1 n
the tostleld
-as. . ,
political eoverian;nt. My attack, Sir, is net on per
but on the system—on a system that his net been broken
and that mast conti-
through for a lohg series of years,
nually have operated tO the detriment of the public edvan-
tags. By there adhering' to a system of perry peliee,
parrs's,/ and illiberal—you lose all those men who are likely
to make good Judges, and get in their stead a succes-
sion of Tory Judges and politicians. ; Why then, I
say, should the Benah be uniformly composed of per-
sons wholly devoted to the Ministry ?—ir, I right
rather say, why should it be composed of men avowedly
devoted to Teiyism ; fur, of that party, they hes,
always hitherto been t emposed, with the solitary exceptioes
of one or two short intervals ; " few,' I regret to add,
" and far betweete"....-(A laugh.)----Once or twiee, J
believe, in the matter of a sniarter of a ceusury, when the
Whigs have, perhaps, for the space of six months, essetrived
to slip into uffire--(Laughter.)—With these solitary ra,,
ceptions; the Bench has been uniformly filled by men of as
certain class of pelitieel opinion-. And why, 1 ask again,-
should that be so ? The consequences of such a systems
are, I repeat, injurious alike to the profeseion, and to the.
public. You, at the same time, are guilty of the blind
folly of limiting, to a most culpable extent, the number of
those from whom you are to make the seleetinn of your
Judges,
politicians ; and not, as they ought to be. and 4,.; thetY
while you snake the whole Bench part7-rnen trml
might be supposed to be—impartial, uyeieht, am eon
ecientieus Administrators of Justice.—(Hear, rear. p-4-
speak, lam sure, with impartiality. I defy, indeed, any"
man who attends Weetminster Hall, to say it is net the fact,
that whenever any Member of the profession is called upon
to give his opinion in any question where the interests of
ra ist;o
iconcerned,information,
0 nst,'l,.
ocris earn
yi to
ttrwi th
criminal refer evil, cosi
challenea. any lawyer, I say, to deny that
thetsmtoenh
c:
uja.
atCi l
libelorl
usual
yno tt ,
certain n
10,
w
observation in such cases is, "Oh, we are all
'hat is the disposition of the Judges."—
In every consultation, indeed, upon sue, cases, we proceed
The Bar have an opinion, whether well founded or not,
with a knowledge of what will be the leaning of the Judge.
that such is the tendency of the mind of the Judge, and
they act under its influence. Nothing, indeed can be more
natural than the influence of such opinions, The Judges
are raised to their eminent situations because tht.y have
' held such opinions. They know that they were raisej for
those opinions, and they adopt the course most agreeable'
in the eyes of those to whom they owed that elevation.—
What I wish fur, however, is, not a Judge raised to the
Bench on account of his extensive acquaintance with, and
adherence to, a certain system of politics, but aJudge promo-
ted over his compeers from his profound knowledge of, and
extensive acquaintance with, the laws of the country,
and the practice of its Courts—(Hear, hear.)—l say again,
I speak disinterestedly on this subject. —I have no ambi-
tion to become a Puisne Judge myself. 1 could not, in-
deed,afford to be one if I had the abilities for the situation
I speak not for myself. I speak for the sake of the pro-
fession, and speak for the sake of the Law. I speak for
the sake of justice, and in the hope of conferring an impor-
tant benefit upon the country ; when I say that these
things ought to be reformed, and I do hope, not only from
the diffusion of more liberal opinions and the introductioo
of better habits of action, but still more from the prin-
ciples avowed by the Right Hon. Gentleman opposite (Mr.
Peel), and of whose cordial assistance I entertain a confi-
dent expectation that this practice to which I have now allud-
ed, will no longer remain smatter of painful observation to
the public, and of reproach to the Government—( Hear.)—
I am afraid I tire the _House by these uninteresting 'a:tails
(trio of no, no ; and heat, Lear)—but I feel the subject
' so vitally important, that I limit trespass still further upon
its attention. ' I now proceed to say a few words upon the
subject of the Welsh Jurisdiction. Befote, I state toy ob-
jections to that jurisdiction as it is maintained at present, I
may be permitted to observe, that I see no renson why
Wales should have its laws administered in any smeller dif-
ferent from that of England; or why the people of Wales
should have their rights of property, of liberty, aagi of life,
determined otherwise than they are determined it: Eng-,
land. England has its Judges regularly appointecLaud paid,.
and pensioned, and why should not Wales be in an equany
favourable condition?? In Wales many very able men pre-
North somewhere observes of the English Judges, they are
side over the administration of the laws; but, as Roger
not seated upon a cushion. In the first place, the Welsh
Judges have no allowance upon their retirement ; and the
consequence, therefore, is, that they continue earn the
Bench until they become much less fit for the performance
of their duties than those :who have the means of
efelti,,iaolnlyairemperne,lienasnidble.
giving up the fatigues of their profession when 2:fleeted
by age or infirmity. The W.,lsh Judges, in tact, are
generally composed of men placed in two situations,
either content themselves by going the two Creuits, whale
when
appointedar e
ail,
ltio, theof course,Bench rPl'i-e4);
their duty requires, and then shaking for the rtenainder of
their time into the mere country gentleman—a course et
iife which, it is evident, renders them of all others the
least fit to exercise the functions of a Judge ; or they con=
time, after their appointment, to practise at the bar in
their profession. In the latter case I say they do so much
the worse, for they are then but half an Advocate and half
a Judge, and by the practice indiscriminately of their two
very opposite qualities, they become not near so good a
barrister, and not half so good a Judge.—(Hear, tear.)---
In one of these two situations of the retired country gentle-
,nan, or the practising barrister, one and all of the Wrists
Judges are uniformly to he found. They always too, go
ma-
terial objection to their present constitution. One of them
the same circuit, and that is, in my opinion, a most
for instance, goes the Carmarthen Circuit, and another the
Brecon, and a third the Chester, but always the same ; and
what is the necessary, and 1 may say, unavoidable conse-
;pence of this? Why, they get acquainted with all the
Magistrates, all the country gentlemen, all the attor-
neys, all the people of property, aye too, awl with nearly
the greater number even of the witnesses in the very
causes they hive to try in their capacity as Judges. By
this kind of collision and connection, they acquire such
partialities, and take up such prejudices--(Hear, hear.)
as never yet have cast a shade over the conduct of those
twelve distinguished persons who distribute justice upon
the Circuits of England.—(llear, hear.) These Judges
have as I have said, no retiring pensions if they cease to
attempt a performance of their duties, and of comae they
continue to totter along in office, until they become totally
unfitted for the work which they are called upon to per-
form. Now, mark the result of this. On the last
Autumn Circuit in Wales, there were forty-six causes set ,
down for trial. Of these the Honourable Judges got
able to .
through twenty-six, the others went off as remunets to the
Spring Assizes ; and of these remancts a considerable
number stood over from the Assizes hefohre7Larsateehd,de,erAetsutmown.:d,
(Hear, hear, &ear.) That fact, I think, speaks volumes
upon the administration of justice in Wake::
lof e Bencheswilat is
If you ask me how this crying evil is to be reformed, I
lam sure
refer you to the evidence of what liilatserbvecenutidoone in Bimilau
ages.
u P e r Judgessons
the Principality can afford an extravazaueie
y
i f th e C
.o'.larlt:d o,i: 0
uL a
will act
tw_ha
elle.lit;lbi I.): i elsbs:ce. that the will
for such a purpose ; and I am equalliyt
prove it the cheapest pensions which
—(Hear.) At all events I say sgtan'
give two Judger:
at least six
.ei.;keetht6nlthe
aires9doff 'having the busi.
to the twelve whirl, au have
Chamber-practice in succession,
for the despatch of
avail business,
say, the
your-
selves of the labours of
hours a dry iu all
gycosuge
called the sitting at;ie Welch J
whole system sitting
into , Judgeship, by dividing the
whole Principelitri two Circuits ; and let one of these
ness of every Court
0 each
i in
the Sarne ronf cr and under the same regulations as those
ef the Circ:' England. This would be the proper re,
;,.,„iy for the evils which
I have attempted to describe;
dad i osisure that the expence, while it must be
.:fully
~o,oterba anent' by the advantages of such a change, never
wo additional./ '
eould be made a subject of complaint. And here I maybe
permitted to say, that, in common with all professional
inen, I should much desire to see some alteration in the
fixation of the terms by the Moons. Ido not mean to
make any alteration as to the festival of Easter. Let
it be RO understood ; but I do wish
some better regu-
I °lnn as to the times of the Terns, for in the pre_
sent method 't can find nothing but a lack of wit, and
e plentiful stock of most injurious folly. Let the
Term at Easter be dated a certain time after some
east, which is not moveable, and then the gentlemen of
_
;he profession may have some knowledge of their proceed-
ings.i Leave Easter where it is. Let it still be settled
Iby the renewal of the moon,as before. Ido not wish to
i touch it, for I still recollect when an attempt was made
I We think the Hon. Gentleman said by Lord Erskine]--
o bring in a Bill for an alteration of that festival. How
•uccessfully it was opposed, from a consideration of the
~,riessee comfort and satisfaction which all Christians must
',rive from feeling that they are solemnizing the festival of
Faster at the same time.—(Hear, and a laugh.)—Let these
,ersons still continue to have this comfort. I Flo not wish
to deprive them of it, but let the term be no longer dated