Star.
London, England, 1830-02-12 00:00:00

for the benefit of the estate, which at present could not be duos
without an Act of Parliament. Again, if a person made •
contract, and subsequently became a lunatic, a Court of Equity
could compel the fulfilment of the contract but it could not
give a title. These cues were provided for by other measures
which he proposed to submit. He had then to lay befote the
house a bill intended to remedy many inconveniences attending
the present state of the law regarding arrests for contempt of court.
In introducing this bill he would, as far as possible, avoid techni.
calities ; but he found it necessary to say a few voids as to the
nature of the jurisdiction of courts of equity. A court of equity
I acted ix persona.' and not in rem, and the fern's by which it pro-
ceeded were very complicated and inconvenient. For instance, In
the case of a man thrown into the county gaol for contempt of
court it was necessary to have a habeas corpus, an alias habeas tor-
pas, apiaries habeas corpus an alias pittries habeas carpus, and
an infinity of vexatious processes. There was one point in the
existing law which was certainly highly creditable to the
House of Commons, namely, that against members of that House
there were greater facilities given than against any other subjects.
With respect to imprisonment for contempt, the persons of this
country were greatly indebted to the late Lord Chancellor for the
humane regulations which he adopted, and always observed, in re-
ference to it. No man could be more tender of the liberties of th.

subject than Lord Eldon. He (the Solkltor.General) had nevi?
seen him commit a man without the t deliberation • and
his measures were of the greatest ble benefit and relief to
unhappy prisoners. (Hear, hear.) The time was now come
when it seemed to him that those measures ought to be car..
red still flintier, and he hoped to be able to show the expe-
diency as well as the justice of amending the law on this subject. It
would be recollected that the chancery commissioners had recom-
mended the shortening of the process, and the noble lord at present
,at the head of the court of chancery had, when master of the rolls,
brought a bill into that house. which, however, was not read a
second dine. He (the solicitor-general) had carried still further the
principle adopted in that measure, and founded upon the ream.
mendadme of the commissioners, for shortening the process. In in.
osedgatieg the subject of imprisonment for contempt, he had found
' the law not what it ought to be. It was not right that men should Le
left in duress for their whole life, because they had not the means. et
If the means, perhaps not the information, necessary to answer bills
which might he filed against them. He was anxious to provide a
remedy for such continued and lengthened imprisonment, ter really
the law, as it at present stood, was not to be endured. Against the
poor it acted as a law of unmixed bitterness. A man once int.
prim/led, the doors weer shut against him until he answered 46
bill ; and perhaps he had no one to direct or assist him. He was
happy to say such eases seldom arose ; but what be protested
against was the possibility of such events. When they did occur
they were a real and serious grievance. If a man did not
answer a bill, the party might issue an attachment against
him, and lodge him in the county gaol for his contempt, and then
Ithere was no obligation on the person so lodging him to take any
further notice of him during his exigence. He could gire an instance
of this. There was a poor old man, who had been a tailor, and was
Inwards of 60 years of age, who was confined in Coventry gaol for
mem years under such circumstances. This man's case was made
known to him (the Solicitor. General), and he exerted himself to pro.
cure his release. He was bound to say that,with some few exceptions,
be met with nothing but the strongest anxiety on the part of those
to whom he applied to assist in the task he had undertaken, and
the result was that the poor prisoner was released, and put into
possession of his little property, and he subsequently wrote to hhn
a most gaateful letter, stating that he was in a state of comparative
seance and comfort, to which he could never have looked for.
ward.--(Hear, hear.) Such evils as this he was desirous to remedy,
and the remedy was easy. Much odium was unjustly cast upon
the Court, which ought, in fact, to rest only upon the individual
suing out the attachment, for the Court could not watch its own
process so as effectually to prevent the abuses of it. The remedy
which he would propose was this s—as the object of the process
was merely to get the act done, he would give the means of do.
ing the act without indicting the evil. lie would give the
power to enter an appearance for the party who would nut
enter it for himself (hear, hear) ; and he would then direct the
gaoler to set the prisoner at liberty. If he was a poor man, let
him seek his release as other debtors, under the Insolvent
Act. But he would introduce into the Bill this provision—that,
whets the justice of the case could not be met unless the party
himself did the act, the Court should have the power to in-
Mahe the punishment, by lengthening the Imprisonment. Ilia
object was not to weaken the effect of the law, but only to
introduce lenient measures for the sake of the poor and the
ignorant, who were not possessed of the means or the capa-
city of obeying the law, and not to afford a shelter or
pretext to those who would stand up In defiance of the law. It
was a great consolation to him to have been able to tell those with
whom he bad occasion to communicate (as he could tell them most
fairly and truly) that the law made no distinction between the
rich and the poor. It necessarily operated in s &Went man net
upon them—in the • one cam it acted upon the permit, in the
other. upon the puree but both must yield obedience to the law,
and if they did not the pamessirent equally against thee. When
be mane to the investigatasa of the state of the Fleet • Prison, he
found much requiting anteadenent. It was said that the prisoners con..
fined there ter contempt were victims of the Court of Cheasery..e..
This was not the case. They were the victims of the law, which,
indeed, was in thiinreepect rathera severe one. No time had ever
been so favourable fur an amelioration in that particular as the pre-
sent. Men's minds were now conciliated towards it. But he pro.
tested against any contrast being drawn to the prejudice of ibiwe
who had preceded hint, and who had not had the sous facilities or
the same opeortunities for such improvements. Nothing, in his
opinion, could be more unfair than such comparisons. When le
first went to the Fleet, he found there 35 prisoners, one of whom
had been there for 1:1 years, one for 16, others for 10, 12 years, and
so on. But he found, to his astonishment, that those who were
sent by the Court of Chancery, and were called victims of that court,
were in the lucrative offices there. The cook had been there fie
six years ; although, so far as he could learn, lie need not have
stopped six days. lie understood that the olileZ was a very lucre..
live one. The hotel-keeper had been there nine yeas; and his
place, as he wet infomted, was worth 3001. a-year. There was also
a person who was called tarsier, who was said to he worth from 15411
to 21311 a year He had been there far contempt fist six yews. 1k
found, likewise, a solicitor, who had remised • there 13 years, ale
though lie need not have been 13days ; and it was stated to him that
he canted ou his practice. He found, also, that which would gim
pain to all who heard it; namely. a gentleman of reepecistoility
who had been kept in confinement for 13 years. He was in a buds
of imbecility, and was sustained there in all the condints ul life,
and at a considerable expense, to live and die a reproach to the
court of chancery, although that court had no power to nmove the
prieoner any more than it had to place him, or continue hint there.
He toond another circumstance which must give great pain. lie
found two wretched men who were maidenly out of their mind.
One of them had sense enough to know what was wrong, and to
refuse to do what was right. The other was evidently silly, anti
incapable of giving an answer to a bill, or paleming any other
responsible act necessary to the fulfilment of the law. (Hear, hear.)
He would propose to give to the court of chancery peace P.
afford to lunatics, even though a commission should nit have
issued out, every facility of Counsel, solicitor, and every thing Os,
necessary fur their protection. The House would be happy to leer
that the two poor men to whom he Lad alluded had since been re-
leased, and were new in the bosom of their families. It smith be
a surpriecto the Hesse to team that the gentleman whom he had
described. as an imbecile, and incapable of answering any bill, *es
kept in 'belabor for the convenience of others. Ile (the Soli-
citor-General) felt it Ins Duty to take the matter up. Ile gave
notice to the parties that if they did not remove bin *rum a pnsen.
which was not intended to be used for such purposes, he amid
have a commission taken out, and a guanismiship appointed ter
him. The result was that, in December 1g29, an order we*
produced, dated August, 1827. fur the dischatge of this individeal
so that, in fact, his own friends had kept the order for his releree to
their pockets for that length' of time, and left I • to live and die a
reputed victim to the court of Chancery. One great atilt at of the
reform meditated in the present practice of the court of Chaticery was,
to relieve a class of persons hitherto subject to tippet mien in con.
sequence of their poverty, by enacting that persons in commie.
alleging themrelves to be in a state of pnny, should be
brought before the court of Chencery, and on that allege tii.ll re-
lined for examination as to the truth of such plea to a Tee lea
of masters in Chancery and others, while luau% Wanner! the
tett, should be empowered to n ambit, lid I:be inoredieve discharge,
one perfornmitee of the duly or act enjoined by the Lord Chancellor.
This; lie was aware, was quite a labour of charity in which he was
about tot-rime; but he trusted the house would go along with him
sad assist him in maturing the measure, so tar as respected this
risme Thr house t f tremens could not well occupy its me mot,
to the advantage of society than by lending its aid to this ins.
peewit improvement of the law. The hommrable and learned gen-
tlenten here • exemplified the case of a poor Welshmen, *Ws
long imprisonsuens.under a charge of content peoriginated in itis heel
iparenee of the English language, which had lately been obvi iii
happily by the introduction often interpreter, and the pow man naset
eltevently emit lied with the regulation, of the omen and pureed
hint-elf from the contempt. With this •impievement in view. be
Outwits', quarter of a year the Cluartelltw :dwelt!
*primes lifrtat. in Uesocary and a King's Counsel to investigate
inlocatioof ofhamimilempt, who should be empowered coextend
relief immyse nano- As nopested the refium in the Court of CLam
eery, neetomememehol by the re of the. committee dat
a( on
fa-
sobject he caufilily be was ilopmett to g (yen -
ther than their recommendation. Instead of allowing p rgice
to die in prism •Ise eeetwept,' he hal etiopted and marled
Choir rest minima eitatkihrtbsooltim • they rogoired t fur; if
the party in contempt weir so obstinate as to refute. to do
the act required it was one of the magmata of the sew law that