The Sun.
London, England, 1829-11-05 00:00:00

SOUTHALL MARKEL—Nov. 4.

-
In our market of to-day, which exhibited a good time
of year supply, and was but moderately attended by buyers,
each kind of meat met with a very languid sale, at the
following prices per stone of Ellb. to sink the offals:—
Beef 2s. 6d. to 3s. 10d Veal 3s. Od. to 4s. Si.
I
Mutton - 3 0 4 2 Pork 3 6 410
Prime Beef and Mutton 2d., prime small Pork 4d. per stone
higher than on this day se'unight ; prises of Veal, with those
of middling and inferior Beef, Mutton, and Pork, stationary. A
considerable number of Sheep and Beasts were driven away
unsold.

STEYNING MAIIKET.—Noir. 3.
Beef 3s. 2d. to 2s. Stl. Os. Oki. to Os. Od.
I Mutton -- 3 6 4-1 Polk— 4 0 4 4
A moderate supply. and a very dull trade.

LEWES M A RKET.—Nov. 3.
White Wheat (yer quarter) £2 16 0 to £3 0 0
Red ditto 2 13 0 2 18 0
•
Barley 1 12 0 0 0 0
Oats, New 1 1 0 1 4 0
Beans 1 14 0 0 0 0
Oil Cake, New l2 0 0 per thousand.

Him Majesty's Palace at Brighton has, within
the last few days, been preparing for his reception. Up.
holsterers have been employed iq uncovering and prepar•
ing the furniture. Fires have been constantly kept dur•
ing the last two or three weeks in the different rooms.

THE BENCHERS of the INN-7, TEMPLE

TO THE RIGHT LION. BARON LORI) LYNDHURST,

LORD HIGH CHANCELLOR, &C &C.

" The Schools and the Universities, of England at least,
teach no law, no physic, no public econo►ny, no divinity,
in the strict sense of the word teaching,—whatevrr rn.ty he
the nature of their prufessorships or estahlishments. They
actually qualify no tnan fur the practice of a profession."—
Edinburgh Review, No. 93, Art. Military Education•

MY LORD,—The truth of the Reviewer's re-
mark, at the head of this Letter, is in no case
more strongly illustrated than in our Law
Schools, the Inns of Court, where

Ingenii largiter venter,
diligently to eat a certain number of dinners, in
a certain place, on certain days, quk.lifles a stu-
dent for a call to the Bar. It appears, how-
ever, that something like instruction was for-
merly given or attempted, since, in the Inner
Temple, students now compound for " exer-
cises" by a money payment of 51. !!

I do not, however, advert to this lack of in-
struction or the levying of fines as matter of com-
plaint—on the contrary, it is in evidence that
the system has worked well for the honour of
the profession and the public benefit ; the
Benchers have regularly and peaceably per-
formed their part, providing dinners and col-
lecting fees; the students have been left to edu-
cate themselves, and this road to wealth and
honour has hitherto been left free and open to all
competitors.

Addison said, when describing the Benchers
of his day, " these men live peaceably in their
habitations, eating once a day, and dancing once
a year, for the honour of their respective socie-
ties." But the modern Benchers, to shew they
keep pace with the modern " march of intellect,"
have resolved to regenerate perfection in law-
yers, by regulations touching the admission of
students for the Bar, novel alike in principle and
practice, and to which I now respectfully crave
the attention of your Lordship.
The first regulation to which I allude is that
of a money qualification of 4001. per annum
being required of a student when he enters him-
self at the Inner Temple. The second is that
of a student who applies for admission being
compelled to submit to an examination in a dead
language, by an Examiner set up by the
Benchers, on the result of which examination his
admission as a student is made to depend.
The first " Regulation," known only as an
unseemly abortion, though intended to display
" the perfection of reason and " the magic of
wealth," would not be worthy of remark, %%ere it
not to point out the merits it possessed, to which
the second has no pretension. The first, then,
was straightforward, clear, and express,—there
was no chicane, no delusion—it did not profess
one object covertly to attain another, but boldly
shewed itself in all its native deformity, shrunk
from the public gaze, and, it is hoped, for the
credit of the Benchers of the Inner Temple, has
been consigned for ever to " the tomb of all the
Capulets."
_ _

The second " Regulation," your Lordship
will observe, is NOT that an examination shall
take place before a call to the Bar, to ascertain
that the student has qualified himself for the vo-
cation on which he is about to enter—but that
each student shall be examined by some person
appointed by the Benchers, previous to admis-
sion in—what ? Greek ! ! !—a language in
which no pleadings were ever carried on, or books
written, connected with English Law or Eng-
lish Jurisprudence. Of this " regulation "it
may be truly said, in the language of Tacitus,

Nornina honesta prwtenduntur vitiis ;
and I aver, without fear of refutation, that an
examination in Hindostanee or Chinese would
equally have answered the intended purpose.
Specious in pretext, in spirit, this regulation
is better suited to the atmosphere of a slave
colony than the genius of English law, or the
rights of the English people, and (were it pos-
sible to consider any such ever darkened the
portals of the Inner Temple) I should imagine,
had originated with some legal martinet, possess-
ing, perhaps, that tact and shrewdness which
sometimes gives a certain place at the Bar, al-
though their possessor may be incapable of en-
tertaining any enlarged or comprehensive view
of the great principles of law, or the immutable
principles of justice,—one of that class of lawyers

Iras et vertu locant,
that Junius had in his eve when he said, " the
indiscriminate defence of right and wrong con-
tracts the understanding while it corrupts the
heart."

Law learning, my Lord, appears never to have
had any great affinity with the Classics ; an ar-
ticle in the Edinburgh Review on the Drama,
shows that the classical learning of lawyers was
formerly in very poor repute ;* and in another
article in the same Review, it is truly stated,—
" No Latin, in reality, (how much more truly
may it be said of Greek,) is generally- brought
from any school, public or private, or what there
might have been, is forgotten, as it is hated, as
soon as the restraint under which it is taught is
removed."

There may, however, be exceptions. Mr.
French, the barrister, (who lately prosecuted the
sons of Cobbett at the Middlesex Sessions,) I
believe is a person of high classical attainments,
and one of the first Greek scholars in
Europe ; Mr. Scarlett, and some junior gra-
duates, may be indebted for their forensic
fame, to their profound acquaintance with the
Greek ; while the Solicitor-General is usually
considered to have devoted his hours to reading
,of another description, and to have attained his
present station (nobly triumphing over all impe-
diments) with very little aid from this new found
modern auxiliary.
Much ingenuity has been exercised in at-
tempts to excuse, but I have yet heard nothing
in justification of the new ,‘ Regulation," though
the Benchers stand absolved from any sinister
motive in adopting it. The favourite argu-
ment in palliation is, that the increasing number
of persons desirous of being admitted to the
Bar, required some fresh restriction on admis-
sion,—but with an increasing population the
same evil, if it be evil, must be equally felt in all
professions,—it certainly presents no new fea-
ture as to the Bar, since we read in the Specta-
tor that the Bar (above a century since) was

• Edio. Rev., Art. Drama, No. 98, fol. M.

-ncumbel :npeifluous members, and like

Virgil's ;trim, ,rowthll, that " many of them
had not room to use Own weapotas," though it
no where appears that the Benchers, therefore,
resorted to the mummery of Greek examinations'
Another expla!lation has been attempted by
insinuating that the Benchers entertain a strong
prejudice against, and jealousy of Attornies, and
that the real object of the new Regulations is to
exclude them hereafter from .the Bar. Such jea-
lousy, if it existed, would be no mean compli-
ment to the talent and character of the body that
excited it ; but I cannot believe this insinuation
against the Benchers, and shall therefore, as
their humble but zealous advocate, endeavour to
refute the calumny.
To whose good opinion were the Benchers
first indebted for their professional fame ?—the
Attornies. Through whose hands have they re-
ceived the fees that constitute their fortunes ?
the Attornies. Of the numerous members of
the Bar, how few at any period have risen to
that station from the office of an Attorney ? Of
that few, how many by dint of industry, integrity,
and talent have attained the most distinguished
stations in the State ? Who was Lord Somers ?
—Who Lord Hardwicke ? —Who Lord Ken-
yon ?—ls it any blot on their family escutcheons
that they once sat in an Attorney's office ?—or
do the coronets they so nobly earned, therefore,
sit less gracefully on the brows of their de-
scendents ? Had the Benchers of their day been
afflicted with the same jealousies, as are (I con-
tend, untruly) ascribed to the present, would the
profession have enjoyed the benefit of their great
example, or the public the more solid benefit of
their splendid services ? To come however to
times with which we are more immediately con-
nected, I will enquire, but most respectfully en-
quire, in what branch, Mr. Justice Bayley, first
entered the profession ?—than whom a more
able, or a more upright Judge never graced the
seat ofJustice. I will make a like enquiry as to
Sir Wm. Grant, Mr. Justice Richardson, Mr.
Justice Gaselee,—names that whenever men-
tioned must inspire respect. That excellent Judge,
the Lord Chief Justice Tindal, I believe is guilty
of being the son of an Attorney ; and as a first
step to the Bench, to which he is now so bright an
ornament, Mr. Justice J. Parke took his seat in
an Attorney'ioffice. If I refrain from apologizing
to these Learned Personages, for thus naming
them, it is, because the greater their early disad-
vantages, the greater is their honour-in having by
their own merits attained those exalted stations
they have so ably and so honourably filled.
There are however still other reasons which
would forbid the Benchers indulging in such
unworthy jealousies,—as lawyers, and men
of business, they well know the importance
to society, that persons employed in ma-
naging the affairs of others,—often under circum•
stances the most delicate, confidential, and im-
portant, should be men of strict probity and
honour,—they well know (none so well) that an
honest ambition to rise in professional rank, is
at once a stimulus to exertion, and a security for
honourable conduct ;—they know too, that the
first step to dishonour, is moral degradation,—
the Benchers therefore would be the last persons
to close the door of professional advancement
against Attornies, which they well know few
can enter, though all would be degraded by
the ungenerous exclusion.

-If we turn, however, from the motives that
may have influenced, to the consequences that,
may result from the new " Regulation," a new
and extensive field is opened for serious observa-
tion ; for although no abuse of authority,
derived from their predecessors, or assumed
by themselves, can be apprehended from the pre-
sent Benchers, the public have no security that
their successors shah always be endued with the
same temper, integrity, and judgment. Should
future Benchers prove of an opposite character,
the very machinery of the new regulation, would
present at once the means, and a temptation, to
reduce the profession of the law to the condi-
tion of a rotten Borough. With the aid of a
pliant examiner to pluck or pass all who offer
for examination, agreeably to their previous dic-
tates, future Benchers may shortly be enabled to
dole out licences to plead, as trading Justices
dole out licences to deal in beer, till at length
emboldened by practice, and fortified by prece-
dent, they and their dependants unblushingly
stand forth the Newcastles and Sadlers of the
Bar.

The colouring of this picture may be
strong, but the apprehension expressed cannot
be considered groundless, when your Lordship
recollects that the Benchers are not amenable to
any ordinary jurisdiction,—that in England the
King reigns by,—the Benchers paramount the
law,--►-that the Judges of the land, bound by
precedent, have determined (I bow with un-
feigned deference to their decisions) that the
Benchers are not within the jurisdiction of our
Courts of Justice, but merely subject to the
controul of the Judges as—Visitors ! ! !—that is
in their individual character, stripped of their
judicial authority, something between a Judge of
the land and a private gentleman ; a doubtful and
therefore painful character, in which I respectfully
submit, for the dignity of the Bench, a Judge
ought never to be called on to officiate. It re-
mains, however, still to be observed that even
this nondescript controul is limited to cases
where persons, having been admitted members of
an Inn of Court, have thereby obtained what has
been termed an " inchoate right ;" but that in
all cases touching the primary admission or ex-
clusion of Students, the Benchers are not sub-
ject to any controul whatever ! !
The office of Bencher, my Lord, I submit is
a sacred trust, nearly affecting the administration
of public justice, and held for the benefit of the
public. The evil to which I have adverted en-
grosses no small share of public attention, and
will shortly be brought before the Legislature,
when, I trust, some remedial law will be framed
under the immediate auspices and sanction of your
Lordship, who have so deservedly been called to
the proud station of Chief of a profession, which,
with all its failings (and without the aid of Greek
examinations) stands unrivalled in learning, wis-
dom, integrity, and independence.
I have the honour to be, my Lord,
With the greatest respect,
Your very obedient servant,
Nov. 5, 1829. PUBLICOLA.

ESCAPE OF TWELVE CONVICTS UNDER
SENTENCE OF TRANSPORTATION.:

Yesterday morning, at one o'clock, whilst one of
the Chester coaches was travelling to London,
freighted With twelve convicts, under sentence of
transportation, preparatory td their removal td the
hulks, in the custody of two kceper§, the guard, in
the vicinity of Coventry, observed some stir amongst
the prisoners, which induced him to propose to the
coachman to change places. The prisoners, who
kept an equally sharp 100k-out, immediately took the
alarm at this, assaulted and overpowered the gvard
and coachrn an, dnd tied thern to their own relief,
whilst part of them attacked and seCured the two
keepers, who rode outside, took the keys or the.
handcuffs from them, liberated themselves and their
companions, and, turning the tables completely,
handcuffed their late gaolers for the sake of safe cus-
tody. Just as this singular change had been effected
a coach was heard rattling towards them, which af-
terwards proved to be the Alliance, one of the
Liverpool stages; but, not deeming it expedient to
await its driving alongside, our emancipated travel,
leastlie future colonists of New South Wales---
lost no dine in effecting a precipitate ittreat across
the fields, favoured by the darkness of the night,
and have not been heard of since. The travellers
in the Alliance would readily have 100 ened the now
handcuffed keepers, but, the convicts having had
the precaution to take the keys away with them,
they could only untie the guard and coachman; but
one of the turnkeys, or gaol-keeper's assistants, was
actually obliged to proceed in this awkward predis
cament, handcuffed as he was, to Coventry. This
escape is the more remarkable, as it was effected by
the cunning and energy of the prisoners themselves,
without arty rescue, or other external assistance.
Gaol-keepers, we understand, are liable to a pe-
nalty of .500/. for every prisoner escaping out of their
custody.

FURTHER PARTICULARS FROM OUR CORRESPONDENT.)

BIRMINGHAM, WEDNESDAY NIGHT.

The following are a'few particulars (as much as is known
yet) of the extraordinary escape of twelve convicts, on
their way from Chester (through this town) to London ;
as well as the accident to the branch coach from Chester
meeting the London one from here.
There were twelve convicts, three officers, and, I be-
lieve, a guard as well as coachman on the Chester.

When about two miles from Walsall, the horses took
fright, and the coachman lost all command over them ;
they ran into the town in contact with a chariot, near the
George Hotel (where they change horses), and, I believe
upset the coach ; however, the coachman and one of the
officers who sat with him were seriously hurt ; indeed I
have heard for certain that the officer has had a leg am-
putated, and the other broken ; the coachman, I believe,
broke his arm; not one of the convicts were hurt. This
accident delayed the arrival of the coach in Birmingham
two hours; instead of leaving it for London at half•past
,even (the last coach out of Birmingham), it was half-
past nine. On the coach, four were seated behind the
coachman, five at the back part of it with one officer, and
three inside with another ; the guard rode with the
coachman.

When about a mile from Dunchurch (about twelve
o'clock), a cry of murder was heard from inside the coach,
and in a moment the four in front seized the coachman
and guard, and the five behind seized the officer, the former
threatening:the coachman that unless:he pulled up they would
strangle him. Those inside then rifled the pockets of the
keeper of the keys of the handcuffs, got their hands free,
and while two secured him the other got out, and by
means of files, punches, and a hammer, with which, it is
supposed, they must have been supplied in Birmingham,
unrivetted the irons on his legs, the iron slipper of the
coach being used as an anvil. In the same manner every
one freed himself; they then in some manner fastened
officers, coachman, and guard, securely to the coach, set
the coach on the right side of the road, and let the horses
loose ; they rifled the pockets of all, and then decamped.
All this was done without any coach passing, as there
could be none from Birmingham to London, and it n-as
too early for the mail from town. I have not yet heard of
any being caught.
Had the coach left at its usual time, it is very probable
but that it would have been near (along the road) to the
" Emerald," which leaves at the same time ; but the
accident was favourable to them.

THE CURRENCY.

To the EDITOR of the MORNING ADVERTISER

Sllt,-The praise that has recently been lavished on you
by the independent part of the press, in regard to the ac-
tive opposition you have always shown to the Small Note
Suppression Bill, will be awarded as your due by every
man practically acquainted with the subject.
The country, from one end to the other, is smarting
from the ill effects of that Bill. lam not myself an ad-
vocate for any species of paper currency that is not by
law convertible into the coin of the realm, although I
have doubts whether we ought ever to have broken in upon
the Bank Restriction Bill, without an adjustment of ail
money obligations, according to the alteration then made
in the value of money—and especially we ought to have
reduced the public burthens to an amount corresponding
to what they were in 1797, previous to the Bank Restric-
tion. But whatever doubts I have upon this branch of
the question, I have no doubt at all that Parliament has,
in interfering with the small convertible paper currency
of the country bankers, inflicted a blow upon the internal
trade of the country, which it can ill atone for. Without
going inta the details of this most important subject, 1
will take my stand upon these propositions, which I defy
the political economists to upset, viz. :—That a Govern-
ment having once agreed upon a standard of value, it has
no right to dictate to its subjects under what denomina-
tion they shall lend their credit—That people have as
much right to lend their credit in one pound notes as in
five pound notes, or bills of exchange, or Colombian
bonds, or in any way that others consent to take it ; al-
ways provided that the public may take their credit, or
not, just as they please, that these credits are all con-
vertible by law, at their appointed time, into the coin of
the realm—And, that also the said Government possesses
laws to punish and stigmatise insolvency.
Let the philosophers deny these propositions, and assert
that it is right to pass prohibitory laws against persons
who contract debts, then fail, and scatter misery around
them—then, I beg to ask, why legislate against country
bankers ?—do they scatter more misery around them when
they fail than London hankers, London merchants, Greek
loan contractors, &c. &c. ? The fact is notoriously other-
wise, for amongst the seventy failures that took place
amongst the country bankers in 1825, sixty of them have
paid 20s. in the pound, and this too in the face of sacri-
fices without a parallel in the history of banking. There-
fore, if it be right to legislate, snaking the quantum of
suffering the rule of interference, the country bankers are
the last persons upon whom Parliament should lay its
hands; for it seems, notwithstanding the hue and cry that
has been raised against them—notwithstanding Lord
Goderich's elegant expression of "filthy rags," of paper
based sepon nothing—notwithstanding all this rantipole
nonsense, they have almost all paid 20s. in the pound.
But, say the philosophers, "are the poor to he mulcted
out of their hard earnings by taking one pound notes,
which afterwards prove to be bad ?"
Now I acknowledge and lament the fact : but my re-
medy is, let those whose duty it is to advise the poor,
warn them against parting with their labour, either for a
piece of paper, an old hat, or an old shoe, without being
first satisfied that the paper, the hat, or the shoe, is equi-
valent to what they part with. If this will not do, let Go-
vernment stick up proclamations warning the humbler
classes against "Ephemeral Country Bankers." By these
means only, men of real capital and probity will be able
to maintain their ground. But of all things, avoid legis-
lation. Having, as I said before, fixed upon a standard,
let individuals lend their credit in any way it suits others
to take it, and far the rest, laissez faire.
These opinions, Sir, thus hastily put to paper, have
been better expressed by Mr. Horace Herbert, in a pam-
phlet entitled "Legislation gone Astray," and to which
ray attention was first called by a review of it, which
appeartsl in your Paper. Mr. Hers ert maintains, in spite
of our professions, that all our currency legislation will
end in one way, viz., the exclusive issue of one-pund
notes by the Bank of England, and then (that is the mo-
ment we plunge into war) a Bank Restriction Bill--from
which, afterwards, we shall never be able to disengage
ourselves. A very short time may decide the soundness
of his opinions.—l am, Sir, your obedient servant,

MERCATOR.

Yesterday a Court of Directors was held at
the East India House, when the following Captains were
sworn into the command of their respective ships, viz :
Captain JOHN PETER WILSON, Dunira, Bengal and
China; and Capt. JOHN INNES, Abercrombie Robinson,
Bombay and China.