The Sun.
London, England, 1819-05-21 00:00:00

COURT OF CHANCERY.

Me. M. A. TAYLOR rose, pursuant to his notice,
to submit to the house ti ,motion, on a sub•
feet which he must confess wAs not very enter-
taining, namely, the delays experienced hy suitors
in the Court of Chancery. The mischiefs occa-
sioned by these delays had come to soch a height,
that, the interference of Parliament was become
necessary to prevent their extending to such 'a de-
gree as would be absolutely intolerable., ,The
Hon. Gentleman then repeated the statements
which he has at vatious times matte during. the
course of this and previous Sessions, relative to
the aec”nitliation of arrears in the Court of Chan-
cery, contentliog that tne appointment of f•I Vice-
Cloncellor, instead of facilitating the dispatch of
,business, the arrears of causes, and the mit-ober of
appeals, had gradually increased. lie dift out ,
blame Lord Eldon ; no man had ever held the
office of Chancellor with endowinents more emi-
nently tilted for it : nu man tvestioned his
abi-
lity---nor his. itidustry—nor his uprightness ; but
the truth. was,- the duties of the office, iticiudiug
not only the inimeose weight of general' equity
cases, but also those matters of exclusive jutis-
dietion—tuatters of lunacy—infants—bankrupts—
were more than one man could attend to. lie
repeated his opinion, that it was absobnely.ne-
cessary that the jurisdiction in bankruptcy should
be removed from the Lord Chancellor, The
Crown ought to appoint by patent, a new Judge,
for cases of bankruptcy. The information on
which he founded this opinion was derived from
the hest sources—from men of the highest rank-

at the Bar. But it might be asked why some of
the Gentleniereip the Profession, who from their
ability'as well as information and experience were
best fitted for that task, did not bring foriyard this
subject ? The tinth was, that these Gentlemen
found it an ungrateful and disagreeable task to aP.,-
pear in the House to agitate, questions relative to
the conduct of the Court -in which they were daily
exercising their profession. This it was that left
'so important a question in.the hands of so humbie`
an individual as himself. Bit he was tho-
roughly convinced of the necessity of some
measure being adopted • to remedy the great
evil which he now brought Under the consi-
deration of the House ; that it he could not
.on
this occasion persuade them to agree to a motion
for appointing a• Committee, he was resolved to
bring it forward again and again, in every shape
which he could devise. The. great 11010 t OR which
he insisted was the necessity of separating
.the,
Bankrup,tcybosiness from the Great Seal. Many
men of competent learning' and ability could be
found. to preside in a Court wholly devoted to
Baokrootcy business. if this was not done the
present arrears most continue, and they would
probably go on increasing.. An instance of,
the effects produced by the delay in this Court
had • lately come to his know ledge. Two old
ladies had an interest in some leasehold pro-
perty, about which a question arose which re-
quired the decision of the Court Of Chancery.---
A suit was commenced. The ,remainder of the
lease was twelve years. it was thirteen years and
a halt before the cause came on to he heard; and
by that,titne the lease of the property had ex-
pired, and both the ladies, the patties interested,
were dead. Was this the administration of jus-
tice ? Was it not rather. an absolute denial:of, it ?
Another point ao which found it his duty to
call the attention of the House war, that in point
of fact, there was no- appeal from the Court of
Chancery. There was a norninal :appeal to ,the
House of. Lords, but it •was well known that all
appeal was -even there decided by the Lipid Chan-
cellor. The remedy which he propo.,ed was in
the first instance very plain7•-••aiamely, to 'appoint
a Committee to inquire into the facts, and report
their opinion. The inquiry should he instantly
commenced. for it 0,114 produce no possible
jury. With the view of giving full. time for on-
sidering, he only intended to move on the pre-
sent ocrwq.on, that a Committee be Appointed, -o
consider so mu.,11 of the Statute, 13 Eliz..chap.
7,', as relates Us Skil% • the Lord Chaucullor ju-

rivliction in maters of I?..inkroptcy. Ile accord.
;ugly concluded by a motion to that effect.'

MV.,SINtLAIR Said, that he -rose to second the.
motion, not only beeause he believed that it ,vould
be productive of great public benefit, but also he,-
cause he .felt convinced that it, might, indirectly,
prove essentially useful to Scotland, in particular,
by enabling the Lord Chaocelloieto devote a larger
portion of his time and attention to the consi-
deration and. decision 'of appeals from the Coin's
of Session. The delay which now occurred in
respect to these Appeals was considered, from one
end of Scotland to the other, as a most serious
national griclvance—it is-the, source of great loss
to individaals ; of rivatiou and embarrassmeot
to private latniliez.., and of set ions -mischief and
inconvenience to the Community at large. Noe
only do many 'Sessions pass. over, befote these
eases are heat d, hot, even when the pleadings have
taken place, whole years are suffered to intervene
without any decision; so that many cases must
be nearly forgotten • before they are .determined.
He did not mean to east the slightest imputation
upon the Noble.. Lord on the Woolsack, whose
unsallied integrity and unequalled legal knowledge
could not be sod highly panegyriseti ; bat he had
more business to go through than the human
powers are,equal to, and sinless, he, were cotiowed
With supOlvitutal übiquity, and Could mit only
sir in several Courts at' once, bust have a separeie
mind for treasuring up and considering the pro-
ceedings which took place in each, .he could not
possibly do justice caber •to the conntry. or to
himself ; he should therefore give the motion Its,
cordial support. •
The Soucyron-GENEnAt, remarked, that the
great object of the Hon, Gentleman seemed to
he, not to do away with the office of Vice-Chan-
cellor, against which he so much complained, btit
to superadd to the Court of Chancery a new
Court, to have exclusive jurisdiction in matters
of Bankruptcy. His first objection to the motion
now before the House was, that it was founded.
on statements which did not agree with. the
true state of facts. The hearing of Appeal Cases
had been very much expeditel since the appoint•
meet of the Vice-Chancellor. So far was the
Hon. Gen:lemma Mistaken, respecting the arrear
of causes now 'unheard in the Court of Chancery,
that in fact almost the Only causes now set (lowa
for hearing, and not yet heard, were those which
had been set down within the last tenth—(lhat !)
—There were now 206 causes set down Nar hear-
ing, all at which were Set down for hearing itt
Hilary Term last, except about 70 or
(Hear !)—As to bankruptcy,' it was ,an absolute
fact, that there now was no arrear whatever, a
thing which had not happened for many years.—
What then became of the Hon. Gentleman's rea-
sons for erecting a new Court for Bankruptcy ?
He'was astonished to hear it said that bilaktuptcy
casesiwere all strictly legal. The truth was quite
the reverse. For it so happened,. that titer, was
not a single hankrtiptcy case in the Court of Chan.
eery which did -net involve a question stria Iv
equitable, which none but a Court of Eq !y
ii couhl'decide. l3nt'to talk of relievidg the 'Count
of 'Chancery front the pressure of business, by
removing the, bankruptcy business, was •ii:!icu-
' lons ; for the great ptessure of business in coat
Court was not occasioned by lianktnptcy cases,
but by those, of a general nature. The tracts was,
that ever since the appointMent of the office of
Vice-Chancellor, the pre'ssure' of busiiit;s
been diminished ;• and this great advanta.,,e had
acettred, that the Lord Chancellor was able to
devote snore time tit Appeal Cases. Teat Noble
Judge was now enabled in sit in Out! h 1 s of
Lords three days in the week o dispatch Appe
Cases. On the whole, the Hon. Genthqnan snit
not made any sufficient ground for his toOtion.
lie concluded by expressing his sense of the merits
of the present Lord Chancellor, venom he (IC-
I scribed as one of the most consummate Jud,es
whO haul evrr sat on the Bench.

Mr. M. A. TAYLOR made an able reply. kiter
a general review of the Subject, and entorckg his
previous arguments, he_ pledged himself that he
would tot relinquish the tenerv3l of his motion,
should he now lose it, till the Rouse Consented
to a Committee of Leartie! Gentlemti•to inquire
into the merits of the allegatio-s. In case of the
resignation or death of the present Lord Cbao-
'cellor, which no man lesg wished than he did, alt
the causes now in progress must be renewed de
novo. Such renewals' would entail upon the par-
ties an indelible expense. The- Buccieucti and
Roxburgh (or Queensberry) cases, could not be
less than. from 5 to 60001. each, in addition t',
the expellees already incurred. Give him (Mr.
'Taylor) but a Committee, and he would show,
that the Vice-Chancellor transacted all the bu-
Siness of Chancery, and the Lord Chancellor no-
thing. The appointment of the former had its
many instances superseded, and totally altered the
constitution or office of Keeper of the Great Seal.
The Vice- Chancellor's appointment toOk place in
1813, and notwithstanding this great auxiliary to
the Chancellor, the Chancery business was stilt
in great arrears, and the suits delayed, to the pre..
judice of the parties. It was not his (Mr. `l%.'s)
opinion alone, bot,the general language of Gen-
tlemen at the bar. Whatever might be 'the sen-
timents of some Gentlemen, he could easily prove
to the cough)? .that .he was-right, and that he was
\in the Willful diseiarge of his duty when he sub-
mitted his, present motion to the Hotise.
A division then castled, when the numbers
were-
Ake' 49

Nins 77
Majority —2B
DUTI.:T.S ON C(MLS.

Mr flocmo SurlN ti, iir introducing his motion
for s Repeal of the Coal-Daties, so HS to render
them` more equal, acknowledged that if any thir4
could more than another justify taxation, it was
certainly a duty on coals. Rut then he (bought
that it should be, ona.principle of egnalization,
gnd not by the oppre3.sion of one part of the cam-
/nullity at the expellee of another The lion.
Member then went into a detailed historical ac-
count of the rise and progress of.the c;oal Duties,
:acing them to the most remote period on record,
namely, to the reign of Richard the SecOnd, iu
1379, the inhabitants of Newcastle and
Sunderlanil, being threatened with some enor-
mous tax or contribution, petitioned that Mo-
narch for leave to fit'out his then intended arma-
ment, provided be would be 'graciously pleased to