The Sun.
London, England, 1828-04-25 00:00:00

causes altogether, and in the Hilary Terra of this year 14/,
causes, and 81 further directions; thus the Muter of the
Rolls had gone through his business in time incrediblf
short, so rapidly as to have vacant time on his hands foe.:
hearing those causes which might be taken to him from the
Vice-Chancellor's Court. The great evil, delay, now core'
plained of, would, he was persuaded, *eon cease to esiit, '
The Government had been blamed for the stateof the Court
of Chancery, but they did not deserve that censure,for thq
had many months hack proved, by granting a Commits
sion, their wish to afford assistance to the suitors in Chau-
cei y. But there was a great difference between institntitt:
an inquiry into the. complaints, and by adopting the reseru•
tion now before the House. The proposed measure would
shackle Government—on that ground he should eppose-it.
The creation of new Judges would be one of the word
evils that could be inflicted on the country. (Murmurs.) •
He had watched the distribution of Government patio'
nage among the bar in the latter part of Lord Elclou'..

arrear of bni
arising from
known, dm
lee% ; hat 1
Judie, &id,
that Court. I
theft Aid b,
in both Coo
Judge', were
aid wing
w.tee Propm
led of irstnei
hl4 bufficien
cud aid was
he was sure
lit hod mad
11on. Friend
hit attektion
went ihit nn
It d:

time, and though he never got nor sought any of it hint- w lid requiri
self, he should assert that Lord Eldon distributed it fairly 1,!)"11 there
amsng such as had real claims to it. As to the years, said motion
by an Hon. Member opposite, to intervene before a canes ' triala
:11 pond its di
was decided in the Court of Chancery, there was no such' vade• The
delay. The Hon. Member bad only picked out a few es' (~If.is questio
traordinary cases to support his assertion. He note- Irtdneing 1
would consent to sever the bankruptcy business from tbs „tne sUbjei
Court of Chancery ; it would be most unsafe to place the enlher cot
important and intricate business of bankruptcy in ant 4o,tha, tor an
Court but the very higl.est. The shocking cases of falls e niotio
swearing on affidavits, with which bankrupt Caeee p`n
rejhttlque
abounded required the controul of the most powerful tri' n:`,e JAM
hunal. As to transferring that business to the Insolvent „..r'F'istott with
Court, it could not lie, as that Court had no property' ,`-`".01 on w
within its jurisdiction. As to the reproaches cast on tbs Wot
Members of the Bar, he would assert that there did tai Cl'. He
exiat a more honourable or high-minded body of men, or, he
any more friendly to reasonable improvements ; indeed, it the treed w
they hail any fault, it was their too great desire to reform julitY upon
the law. (Loud laughter from the Opposition side.) IS th7es Were
was not the lawyers with would lose by. extravagant it leng ae
change, but the men of landed property in this countiff' „6'novi pt
They are the persons who would suffer by these alteratien,s i „
wool
of the law, that are almost revolutionary. (Laughter.) t;er,veraen
Yes, revolutionary be would call the change of the system ta_vjat to'
of the laws of property, under which property hid Mgr: te744111211.1
rished. He could not object to changes of thelaw for tbe. 't eisdingjto
benefit of the country ; but would never feel hesitation
tbtZthe Hot
oppose those revolutionary schemes, by whomsoever pre' 4,* Ivas ono
posed, as he thought their effect would be •to shake the ht"efenee;
foundation of those laws under which the country had se t,n441.; in col
long flourished.—(Repeated bursts of laughter.) such slot to
Mr. BARING apologised for speaking on a question 0 If thos
full of intricacy and mystery as the subject before the House; 44 (Sir Jar
but as the Learned Member who had just sat down had tQ t() state,
put cases, he would take the liberty of quoting one in an' ,hlt - Itch eve
stye!' to they arned Gentleman's assertion, that the-pro* L. Profess'
posed chan of the Court of Chancery were of a revolts: rY, a
tionary character. He was acquainted with a case whirs' kinshed:g
had been thirty years in the Court of Chancery, nantelf,f kur-nat b
from 1795 to U 25 ; the sum contended for was 150,000" (sir eanzu
Many of the suitors concerned in it were widows, and pet Six
SOLIS in the decline of life, some of them depending on di*" uf ti,7l Were
rity—on the well known benevolence of his Lion. Friend, atal Bon.
the Member for Midhurst (Mr. John Smith). He (Mr•
iadieht
Baring) advised them to take the cause -ous of Chanceril th ,74 BR
and decide it out of Court. The parties -consented, and th "tete .1
referred it to himself and Mr. John Smith, and the result if
was, that himself and his Hon. Friend decided in-two dars to, Usti
that cause in commercial equity, which, involving 150001'thePubl
remained undecided at the end of thirty years' delay in the rit7 Scarf
Court of Chancery, and that to the satisfaction of all par' lapi the very
ties.—(Enthusiastie cheering. from all parts of t
one tavY Upon „
And if they had not decided it, it would have g thirty or:,seen tt
years longer in the Court, to the great delight and profit 01 ho:'iell he
the lawyers, and would probably in the end be decided, aot-lulY had
when all the suitors were dead, on some quibble quite dif' the this
ferent from the point on which the litigation had commits" lisp Court
cod.—(Chess.) In fact, the Court of Chancery, in tiPl.ehanci
taking such a length of time in deciding, Sought an unlit' • .ford it
tainable perfection. So great were the delays, that if A It es Were
man came from China, or dropped down from the moots' so, al, true,
into this most civilized country of ours, he would, Oil altotne ties
seeing the state of our laws on property, pronounce us the airn, v
most barbarous people on earth. There was a case the to tilnilhing
other day in the newspapers, in which, it appeared, that tttio e-Lear
it cost a man 50,0001. in the Court of Chancery, befall, lOW pi
that Court decided that he was sane.—(Laughter are it7Q, With
cheering.) What would a man come from the moon thild':''
its -
of such a Court as that ? As to the Commission appoin.,;'' ipetrehanc
ted to enquire into the state of the Law Courts, he wtOst"'; th4iltnowe
not expect it to do any good if it consisted oflawyers.'"
olb .
tat. Jill
twhflin
were They
T countryprejudice p
wouon
ld gecitosneo rc fr closely
wedded the existiOg
such a, Coar 1,41 under
mission. He trusted the Right Hon. ..Secretary (MOS- T
Peel) would be cautious in admitting lawyers Into that
Commission. of eb.4tion-
d '•
Mr. Secretary PEEL thought himself hound to apolo' that—urtelat
gize for that, being an unprofessional man, he presumed- he( emir
to speak on the important subject of Law Reforms; he h' • B
Oa n.
did not enjoy even the advantage of having any personal 4 0:7 form
experience of the Court of Chancery, and thought it Was, 1.04 e Malt
hard that he should be held responsible for the condition of gun Chan
the Court of Chancery. He would consider himself rr- cou,ktve b
sponsible if he had made no inquiry, or approved no prO.-h, siteh-'1 Pur
lineal for a cautious deliberate measure for improving the Clert !than,
practices of that Court. But, en the contrary, he had in hit Sian
that that very Session given two proofs that he was not disiu ups 011„ re i
dined to investigation of incenveniencies and the applice" t great
tion of wholesome remedies, and would, probably, give 'SU
additional proofs of his opinions on the subject before the 4.
Session would expire. As to the Commission to inquire',
_ER(
into the Common Law, the appointment of the members. Opi,..gell Pri
of it cost him much attention. That Commissionthei
now appointed ; what would be the result he knew not; ta lease
but in selecting the Members he had not acted in the case he Lk., a
of one of them through prejudice or partiality- ; indeed he .04'4 tolil
wis not acquainted with one of them. Tow, how it was feet of
possible to institute such an inquiry, upon faith an impor" (IN 4' not
taut and extensive subject, without the aasistanae of lan's it . 4Seti tvi
yens, ,he could not understand. That Committee Included that, in,
no individual in office or connected with office. Its nun," A1:11,11y by
bet was limited to five, and when his Lion. Friend heard Thii'Dir (11
the names of those five gentlemen who, though engaged Wei Way u
the active practice of their profession, had, from a sense " stat4ootvia
public duty, given their valuable time and attention to this the had
objea, he would feel convinced that the country had the ini rear fs
strongest security in their high characters. The other iihisltia",
lac
Commission was upon the law relative to the transfer of 'NZ; leg,
real property. The first Commission was completed, a°4 tett;,,t,itan
the other would soon be. He only applied general principle' esooLin th
to the consideration of this question ; and he was inclined t° that tai' felt
take an intermediate view of steering between the conflicting sooti,"Otoni
arguments of those who argued on the one side, and those wereuft,
cos
who argued on the other. He could not admit the justice pot loiter
of those terms of unqualified condemnation which an Hon' zinorZen ec
Member had thought fit to apply to the Courts of Justice I it, olatens4
in this country; nor did he think the Hon. Member who lrpipt jut,.
brought forward this motion was at all aided in his object new sap,
by the— virulent he was about to say--attack which another" to „Ssonin
Member had made upon the Court of Chancery and the the ';',,Nl5 fa
Members of the bar; but lie left to the lawyers the vials that' We
cation of their honourable profession. For himself he' fry rat
would say that he had recently had intimate intercourse b'ga4tge I
with many members of the law, particularly with reference . 't° 100
f
to those matters which hid recently engaged much of his "ffeet,et th,
attention, and be felt it his duty to bear testimony to the' Ares, in
disinterested aid he had received from them. He bad never., satiet;ittiosi
seen any 'disposition in favour of delay—he had never 4ql and
seen any thing of those sordid motives which led them te' 1%1;4 i
think only of their own gains ; but he had met with tLo .*neitv ato spic
most determined zeal to co-operate with him in simplifyi* r% tv
these very laws, to the delay and to the intricacy of which !,ek stroll
the Hon. Member argued they were indebted for their ".
;41t
profits. He (Mr. Peel) would not object to any nod i'444,50
altering the system of the Court of Chancery, if tair i?lsttet're
The proposition of his lion. Friend (Mr. M. 117'411)1;e! eti
judicious mode could be devised,, without revolutionizing y shit
the system.
A. Taylor) was of no specific nature—without pointing rilet 0
out what the House was to do, he merely called upon the '!lotatit if ,
House to do sornethin
g. He had stated that in a short t.lit,l4stano
'4
time he should enter more fully upon the subject, and beef Of t
should distinctly state the plans he wished to he adopted, Perfe,tient
and therefore he (Mr. Peel) would prefer waiting until 4'441),
Y pot
he heard what those plans were ;he hoped, cone-. Nstefel
fluently, that his Hon. Friend would now withdraw his ipttfee of
'notion, and not call upon the House to determine in arlY
rtngsy slat
manner upon it, until he had stated exactly what he proposed' Bangui get
Mr. 111. A. TAYLOR, in explanation, had merely stated Arocepd "xi
the outlines of certain plans which he meant, at sonic time those
or other, to propose, unless Government should act so as Plrt ni
remove the necessity, tv veer els fiat
%
Mr. Secretary PEEL continued. That was exactly as t ory thi
he understood his Hon. Friend, and therefore he tltoughS riittllght
ng
the House had better reserve any proposition until it was' tre Co
cope tt
informed as to what those plans were. His Hon. Friend .
had only laid down two, viz. :—the separation of the bail.' i'ttanbe7ntn
rapt business from the jurisdiction of the Lord Chancellor;. ti:ttion.tiihad
and the possibility of additional aid in the Court.of Chan",
Ydi
eery. Now, during the last Session, he had brought tilt (hew
~°1
subject of the former of these before the House and the. soehgt.ta
best legal authorities had expressed their doubts as to the inlitfrot,; ktnt.
propriety of such a measure. The House would . bea
mind the situation of the present Government, with the geNt 1
meeting of Parliament that Giwernment was constitute".. 'ete
His Hon. Friend ought not, therefore, to reflect upon the Get, se royst:rie
Lord Chancellor at its head. It was only a week before dile. arai
pr,e..th
vernment because as yet it had thine nothing upon this subjef, Ile to
He (Mr. Peel) feared there was a great arrear of causes irt.s!'r, 'Lard trim
Court of Chancery. There was, he must observe, also *