Star.
London, England, 1823-07-11 00:00:00

the Court of Chancery did exist ; for even Lord Eldon
had acknowledged so, when he recommended that a
Vice-Chancellor should be appointed ; but here Lord
Eldon did not act exactly in coincidence with the opi-
nions of some other individuals well acquainted with
the Court of Chancery, amongst whom was the late
Sir Samuel Romilly; who said, we do not want a
Vice-Chanc,elior, but a new Lord Chancellor. In
this instance, however, as well as some others, Lord
Eldon and Sir Samuel Romilly thought differently.
Sir Samuel Romilly, however, only objected to Lord
Eldon for a Chancellor because he joined political
dirties with legal duties. He had to attend debates
in the House, debates in the Cabinet, and audiences
in the Closet; and what with Parliament, the Cabinet,
and the Closet, the Noble Lord had not time to attend
to the Court of Chancery. Bur, in addition to all.
these duties, the Noble and Learned Lord had now
taken uponhimself the office of Prime Minister—(4
laugh). It really was so. "As to Lord Liverpool
being Prime Minister," continued the Hon. Gentle:
man, " he is no -more Prime Minister than I am—
(Hear, hear; and laughter). I reckon Lord Liverpool
a sort of Member of Opposition ; and after what has
recently passed; if rwere required, I should desig-
nate him as a Noble Lord in another place, with
whom I have the honour to act'—(Muck laughter).—
Lord Liverpool may have collateral influence, but
Lord Eldon has all the direct influence of the Prime.
Minister: he is Prime Minister to all intents and por-'
poses, and he stands alone in the full hxaccise of all
theinfluence of that high situation. Loid Liverpool
has carried measures against the Lord Chancellor—
so have I : therefore I say that we act together. If
Lord Liverpool carried the Marriage Act, I carried
the Education Bill ; and if Lord Liverpool succeeded
against Lord Eldon in some points on the Queen's
trial, I say that I totally defeated him on that odious
Bill of pains and penalties—(Henr.) I might just as
well call myself Prime Minister as Lord Liverpool ;
hehas no mare claim to the distinction than I have:
he acts with me, and I with him, and I call him my
coadjutor, and I trust we shall enjoy a long course
of co-operation—(Laughter). I am sincerely glad of
it, and long as I have sat and fought on this side of
the House, I never welcomed a recruit to our body
with greater satisfaction than my Lord Liverpool:
Lord Westmorland's accession might have given me
more surprise, but I am certain not more pleasure.
With such powerful assistance, and especially with
the distinguished and highly classical eloquence of
Lord Westmorland, I should not much wonder it we
were to make head against our opponents, and in
time turn out Prime Minister Eldon. The Right
Hon. Gentleman opposite appears to intimate the
contrary; he entertains some doubt upon the point;
and truly, I must myself admit that Lord Eldon
seems to possess a grant of the place, not for the time
being, but for the term of his natural life"—(fiear).
The Hum Gentleman proceeded to express his strong
disapprobation of the change lately made in the
House of Lords in the administration of justice in
the last resort. A private es-parte proceeding had
been got up on this subject in the other House, t egard-
ing which not a word had been said, or even whis-
pered to whom? To no more nor less dial the Com-
mons House of Parliament. It was a measure, not a
Bill—a series of resolutions adopted at the extreme,
end of the Session, on a matter affecting the interests
of all classes of the community ; and yet one branch
of the Legislature had not been allowed the slightest
participation. Was this or was it not treating the
House, or the people it represented, as they ought to
be treated ? He did not deny that the Peers had the
power of taking this course—it might be abundantly
legal, and at the same time extremely unconstitutional.
The House of Lords ou jht to have pursued the old
plain straightforward course, of sending down a 11111,1
and the times had been, when the Commons, if they
had not carried an address would have voted resole-1
tions expressing their indignation that this mode of
proceeding had been abandoned. Lord Eldon, ilk
1813, had sent down a Bill : he then tried to do the
job in that way ; but he did not like it, and he now
prevailed upon the Peers to pass resolutions behind
the backs of the Commons. In 1813, he had said,
" I want a journeyman Chancellor, that I may get
to the House of Lords ;" and in 1823, he declared,
" 1 want a journeyman Speaker, that I may get to
the Court of Chancery." If this last demand were
acquiesced in, Lord Eldon might indeed attend in
Chancery, or in the House of Lords, at his pleasure ;
but he would be relieved effectually from all the
burdens of his office, and the result might be that the
practice would terminate of appointing a great and
enlightened lawyer to the dignity of Lord Chan-
cellor. Once sever his judicial and political capa-
cities, by giving him only the last, and a second'
Lord Shaftesbury thight be made Chancellor ;
such a man as Charles 11. made his friend for turning
into ridicule that illustrious statesman, LordCla tendon
Lord Shaftesbury—the virtuous and pure Lord
Shaftesbury—had, indeed, turned out a more honest
Chancellor than he was a politician, and an instauce
of the same kind in our own times was not wanting.
If such were the case, a creature, a favourite, might in
future be appointed Chancellor, and the Monarch
himself might make a bargain for a part of the pa-
tronage belonging to the office. Such was the con-
sequence that Sir S. Romilly had predicted—his fears
had been in great part realized. He had said it was
possible that an a short time it might cease to be
the practice to appoint a great lawyer to the office of
Chancellor. To this it was answered that there
would, nevertheless, be still a great lawyer in the
House of Lords; but even that was to be done awaj
with. Some fine gentleman taken from the Court,
such as Roger North spoke of as going down to the
House of Lords in a silk dress upon a gaily capari-
soned horse, might be chosen to preside in the Peers,
who thought merely of the Court of our LOrd the
King at St. James's, and never troubled himself with
the Court of our Lord the King at Westminster Hall.
Another objection to the resolutions was, that the
House of Lords would be able to pay this new
Speaker, without coming to the House of Coinages:
'at all :.for, by a sort of trick sad chicane, and for the-
purpose, aco doubt, of beightening,the station and
premiering its dignity, he was to be Inclusied among
acdoer-keepers and attendants of the Bass. Thu
was not using the House of Cowen: well, sad the
plan. used the pip* el Scotland at leastatitty
un-
eareesatieusly they, were completely
the decisions of Lord Eldon urns their tip
and smut be dissetisfied with any new treassement;
Tilt,/ were even satisfied with mrLord Eldon's deei-