The Sun.
London, England, 1810-10-11 00:00:00

rßom MR. GOLDSMITH'S WORK.

After having described the restri6tions on the
Press in, France, the author gives the foilving ac-.
count of the state of the Courts for the ad.t;tini.stra-
Lion of justice:—

I now wish to ofK-r a feW rematks' on the ,orga-
,nization of the French courts .of justice: I must
,preface them by obsrrving, that in spite of the
Code. Napoleon, the,Code de Commerce, and the
Code Criminel, and nOtwithstandiog that there,are
ten thousand judges in France, no 'inanean obtain
juice, unless be can pay, or procure alefter from k
person, high in offiCe., to the president of the court
and to the atiotney general. •
HOWever respectable many of the judges/who fill
the Bench, and of the counsel .who attend-the bar,
may hi., they hardly know how, :to decide the
causes that come before them. So-many la WS' lrave
been made, and so often haye they been repealed,
that really they do not know bow to get through a
cause. the following' case, to, my'knowledge, oc-
curred not many mouths since.
According to the laws of France, .no man can be.
arrested for debt, unless it is upon atiaccepted•bill,
`and that too not by mesne proths, but only in exe-
cution, not even for a' promissory note,of hand*,
bills of exchange, therefore, are Itequently drawn
in Paris, but dated from a 'country place, The new
Code de•Commerce, however, positively says, that
bills so drawn shall not be held-good. The cause
in the case to which. I allude was trial upon this.
grin, iple, as the 'defendant could prove 'that the
,drawer was not at the place where the bill was.
drawn and dated from, ,on the day of tte drawing.
Howeter, the Tribunal de Commerce, in spite of
the recent law, said, bills of exchange must be con-
stdered as good, a:,(1 gave it against the. defendant,
.whos, only tibj,eet to avoid an arrest. He then
appealed, and after two days debaiing, the officer,
the clerk of the court, who by the bye is no lawyer,
obsered/that the CoUri of Appeal, according to the
ne‘v Code de Commerce, 'was nut competent .to
judge that atfair,-,as,dlte stn was tinder. 1,000
titles ! ! !--AG uno discnninesl

There are in- France four thousand judges of the
Tribunal de Pretwere Instance, a court where a
cacse must be tried first; then there 'are two thou-
sand judges of the courts of Awcal, which courts
are like the former parliaments of France; about
fifteen hundred juav,es of the criminal courts.; and
about fifteen hundred judg.es for courts where• no-
thing' but commercial causes can be tried. 'Then.
there is a Court of Cassation in Paris only, -which 'is
the curt of ultimate resort from all the courts of
appeal throughout France, and which can annul any.
sentence upon a point. of law, and order .the parties,
to take a new trial in another department than th'ai
v:llere the cause was last tried. If either bf the
parties be dissatisfied -with the decision. of this..se-
cond court of appeal, then there is again an.appeal
to the Court of Caseation, who can revoke the sen-
tence of the inferior court, and order: the parties
again to another department, and so the
.parties may
go on till they have been in all the departments of
France.

' In the criminal courts only there are. Juries. In
'the civil courts, the Judges-decide according tothe
conclusions of the Attorney General, whO alWays
sums up as our Judges at nisi Arius do to the Jury,
There is to every court an attorney general and a
'substitute. 'Witnesses cannot -be exatnin!d in the
civil courts ; therefore, if there are no written do-
cuments, the whole must rest on the allegations of
the parties without proof, and there can be prop
perly no trial. - .

Tlze judges are very badly paid. -In the inferior
courts, that is, the Courts of Premiere Instance,
their salary is 3000 . livres a year (1201. sterling,),
and a president has double ; of the courts of ap-
peal, the judged have..oooo‘livres a year (2401. ster-
ling,) and the president 10,000 livres a year -(4161.)
In the criminal court. the same salary, only.that
the president 'has 1.5,000 livres a year, . (near 7001.)
The judges of the Court of C.issation, have 20,00.0
livres 'a year, (about 8501.) and 'its president 24,000
livres-a year (10001.) The attornies general . are
paid the same as the presidents. The Judges of
the commA-cial are elected every three years, .and
and are generally composed of merchants. There
:salaiy is 4001.,a year, and the president, who is tor
life, about 8061. a year.
It cannot be supposed that Judges who have an.
income a 1261. and no private fortune, can be be-
yond tbe,reach of briberyt.
The litigation of the parties, previous to the plead,
in of the cause in open court, iscarried on by print.'
ed memoirs, and counter memoirs : when the cause
is on the eve Of being heard., itis well known to..
every body who has been in-France, that the parties
must wait- upon their judges in private ; in other
words, present their memoirs to them with a dou-
ceur. They must do the same thing. with the At'-.
torney General of the court, 'or his substitute. If
both parties ate riot), and one can give as•much
money as the other, they try their interest With a
general, or a conseiller d'etat, or. a minister„-who
is 'in great 'favour with Buonaparte. But none of
these men will write a letter to a- judge, recom,

•
* An exception was lately made to exclude fbreigners from
this benefit, because the sui-disafit lustinian had heard that it
was the same in England: Having heard that 1-inserted an
article in the 3`.urnal de Contmer.e, and signed my name to it,
stating that nu•-such distindion existed in the laws of Eng-.
land.

' t How difnrent was•the judiciary, order in France before
the Revolution ; every I udge and PreSident of the Conti of •
,Appeal purchased their situation, and were called "
&nt et GonAillers qre Parlement." They were all men of the
first talents and connexions. Now a judge in France iS'brir
a degree better than the rogue he tries ; a judge who sells
justice, is. in my opinion, the worst of. rogues. They are
none of them rich ; sonic of these turn livein a fourth and
filth story, and have a very. shabby appearance., .
One or the Presidents of the Criminal Court of Paris told
me•that he once went to Melon, a neighbouring town in
another department, at the req.u.st of the president of the •
criminal court of Alelun, and who way sick, to try a notori-
ous offender. The man Was acquitted, and when the chief
justice stepped into the diligence, he there found the acquit-
ted robber. and they travelled together nez is nez all the way
to Paris, the-thief offiling to treat t :.;e: judge on 'the road.! !
These are not justices of the peace, in our sense of the
term, they are mere civil magistrates. The term answering
to our.' justice of peace is Magistrat de Surete.

mending the patt'ics; Unless they are very.ll3od"
sonely paid- for - • •
Nu aciti,in 'IAA stand good against any public
Lunt icinifry for any injury, however atrocious.
'Besides the,Judges, thew. ate upwards ot 30,000
Ages de Pair in 'France, who are ct:mpetent to
decide. causes under one .hundied.livres. 'Thera)"
of' one of these is 42!. per annum.

GRAAD MUSICAL 'PERFORMANCES AT

NO 141, ICH.

The first was on 'Friday evening at: St. Andrew'"
Church, and consisted of a selection from the works
of Kapdel.- l'he. church was. not full, but elegsoi' •
iy attended ; the scaffolding well contrived, and the
arrangements brilliant and pleasant to the eye. T 116„,
first air was "• Pious Orgies," by Miss Booth; a yousS
lady-; daughter to Mr. Booth; bookseller at Not Wiciu
a pupil of Miss. Kirke. Fier voice is weak. but bet_
taste is excellent ; and when her voice is stiongill'
.eired by pL.ictice, will be asvery sweet singer. tel'
best songs Were, ""•He.shall teed his flock; " a r-nd
Lord, what• is mall.;" which she gave much
fedirig, and in good style.
-Mr..Phillipps's (of the Lyceum) songs- were, the,
operung.of ""The. Messiah "—". He was despised and
rejected of Min," w,hich lie tranSil6sed, to torrn a
tenor, antrgave ,wii h great.pat hos and effett ; al?°,
" Let the • bright SeraPhim," which - has been al-
ways appropriated to a soprano voice, was given bY,
hini With fine effeci, and was Very well accompaniegi
on the trumpet by Mr. Quelch-, a young professor-
A Mr. Clouting, a provincial Professor, polsessing a
very good, voice bet weer) tenor and bass, and a coo"•
sidenwie knowledge df music, was 'very tifective to
". Arm, arm, ye brave l"

The choruses were admirably sustained by they
chair-of the Cathedral and the amateur,glee-,inga6
of Norwich, 111031 of whotii are excellent. "11,eY
understand the style of •Handel ; and indeed boll'
band and singers gave the highest-possible etiect,
to " For unto us"—" Halleluiah !"—" Sing uol°
God"—" Hail-stone Chorus"—and " Theilorse aud'
his Rider:" The recitatives and-solos of the last, by
Miss Booth .and Mr"..Phillipps, were given in 01°4
finest. styie.. Wlrdle was under the direction oi
Mr. Fisb, and did him great
.credit.
On Satutday morning there was a grand Mis'
eellareobs Selection -at the Theatre, which was
crowded to' excess.;
_the stage was fitted uP
like Cov,tnt-Garden ri:treatre on such .x.casions
great part- of the pit was ,included, ,an account ox
the number
.ut periblmers, wnicli . exceeded
hundred:

The band was led by Mr. Fish, who poiseses
,great taste and science and .was :cost ably asgive4
by Li!eckl.vick son of the late Door ,'
Miss Cushing, a young _lady who appeared to
no tuoresthan set en or eght years -old, .peribto)°''
`yn the harp with such taste and execution, ibat
it her talents riven with her years, she provc
professor of the first rank. She is a pupil of
.Mr. Card. perforwed with gteat °.ll.
.the and Pettt, we, believe a pupil of Mr':,
cratner's; played. a Concerti) on the piano-lode'.
that was much. admired.

T.ie Concert commenced with the Grand 0"1"
ture Iron " Henry the lVtli." -Miss Booth slll4
With verdure clad," from Haydri-:—.‘ HUsh
'pretty. WaltilitigChoir,"„:troth- Handel—and " Cba
dice," trorn " ll' Famitico -per. la Musica"--wit,sl;
13
much.taste and sweetness. Mr. PhillipPs was 1:
fine voice, and sang several of Mr.' Br.iliain's'beautl''
tul compositions with the happiegt.effed. SI()%4V:
broke the Said aSthile to 'a Var"--3`1,4..
The Death of Ahrcrombie" was encored
with enthusiasm'. His duets s%itli Miss lioc)tili.
"'Farewell, sweet , Maid, farewell"—anq "`Maid, by- every hope of bliss,'' 'by Bishop,.
played all that taste, science, and feeling, tli! a
gentleinan's- singing is. so much admired /co.";
',
l'ileue never was a musical entertainment ilt tha
d
enlightened _an musical city 'gave wore seocr.4l
satistattion:

•
We-have already mentioned the riot which W9g.
occasioned by the misconduct of the Irish.'labotirers,
in Bridge-street, Westminster but we are happPl°
learn, that the_report of Mr. Craig, the SurveYnf
having had his leg broken, is erroneous. P:
sustained no serious injury is
,consequence of Aki
affray.
Only two offdlers, Hamilton and Adkins,' have
started far the Governorship of Coldbath-fie'
Prison, and the Governor.wicl- be named at the er.
suing Midulesex SeSsions.