The Sun.
London, England, 1827-02-08 00:00:00

EQUITY COUNSEL V. COMMON LAW COUNSEL.

Mr. SOOOEN had to draw the Lord Chancellor's attention to a
subject of considerable importance, and which he considered now
called for the interposition of the head of this Court. Since be
(Mr. S.) had been a barrister, he had understood that a barrister
in one court in Westminster Hall, was a barrister in all the
Courts there, bat this did not seem to be the universal opinion
elsewhere : a case had been signed by two Counsel in this Court,
one of these a King's Counsel, which was sent to the Court of
King's Bench ; upon its going there, the Clerk of the Office there
sent it back, with a statement that-he could not receive it, unless
signed by King's Bench Counsel. The consequence was, that
the suitor had been put to the expense of having had to retain no
less than four King's Bench, and two Equity Counsel, and the
right of Equity Counsel had been denied by the Court of King's
Bench.
The LORD CHANCELLOR had always understood that Barristers
in one Court of Westminster Hall, were Barristers of " each "
Court there, save and except, that they could not practice in the
Court of Common Pleas, as a Sergeant, unless they had a Coif;
and, therefore, there could not but have been a mistake on the
present occasion. He had to meet the Judges in the Exchequer
Chamber, to-morrow,and be would mention it to them, and get their
minute opinion upon it. His Lordship was prepared to admit
the right of the Court of King's Bench Counsel to argue the
cases sent from this Court, but would repeat what he had very
often said before, that 9 out of 10 of the eases sent to that Court
by this Court, and not argued there by Counsel from this Court,
came back witi, very little information indeed to this Court from
the trials.

His Loansure took this opportunity of stating too, that the
passage from the Coffee-house in this building had led into the
middle of the Hall, close to the Court of Common Pleas ; of late
that Court had shut up the doors of that passage, and thereby
occasioned all persons coming from the Coffee-house into
the Hall, to come round by the Court of Chancery, passing
through the very room in which the instruments belonging to the
Great Seal, &c. were deposited, which he considered most objec-
tionable. Under what authority that Coffee-house had ever
come there he did not know ; at any rate he believed,
it was originally intended only for Barristers, but it was
now used by every person who chose to enter it, and this
passage had been made a perfect thoroughfare for the whole
world. His Lordship had sent for Mr. Selwyn, of the Court
of King's Bench, and told him this. Though a great many
of the persons who came through this room belonging to the
Court of Chancery, neither liked suits in equity, nor in law, yet
they had no objection to great coats now and then ; so that the
great seal itself was placed in jeopardy.
Mr. HORNE did not even know where the passage his Lordship
had alluded to was; there were so many of them, that he had
been afraid to trust himself in any part of the building but in the
most open part. This he would say, that he had heard that the
Counsel of the Court of King's Bench had complained of inconve-
nience they suffered, but that with great deference to them, they
were the last persons on earth who could justly complain, for
they had taken great care of themselves, and had got many
conveniences, while this Court was left without one single one.
His LORDSHIP said, they certainly had taken great care of
themselves, and they had been right iu doisig so; but surely this
Court was not to have every sort of inconvenience thrown upon
it, that comforts might be scoured to the others.

VICE-CHANCELLOR'S COURT.
This Court was occupied all the morning in hearing arguments
in " Madiford v. Austhwick, a case possessing no feature of gene-
ral interest.