Star.
London, England, 1828-02-08 00:00:00

1• •

ial.:

swim .424ei

.I • •

i"

IEBRUARY 8, 1828.

~

-.~. ~ ..

~° It~f"

pressure-which weighed upon the Judges.. The Chief
Justice was to sit at Nisi Pries, while the other three
Judges sat in Banco; but the result of that was, that
atle business of consequence come before the three,
while the pressure was increased upon the one. He
considered that experiment to be fraught with nsischief,
and the sooner it was got rid of the better. The fact
was, that when the Court of King's Bench was sitting.
thitLer the suitors resorted, there the whole Bar was
mustered, and the public was seen watching the course
of proceedings. The business was gravely and deli-
berately done, and (a great blessing) it was open
to the eyes of all. But take another Court with no
audience...the two opposing Counsel and the two
Attornies.why, in such a case one would say, it
was the most unfit and incompetent Court in which
business could be done. - But while the Chief Justice
was sitting in another Court, nothing was more likely
to happen than what he had now stated. Nor was this
a mere matter of accident ; by the Bill he had alluded
to, it must be so; and it was notorious that all that was
important passed before one Judge, while three others
might be said to be sitting in the dark and in a corner..
He could cite many instances to !hew that this was
growing rail, which. ofemeoded speedy and efficient re.
needy% it was said that the Judges•hedunt time to got
through the business; but he denied it. He was corona
that it the four Judges devoted six hours a day to it—
they could well get through all they would have to do.
For instance, bail was now taken by one Judge, and it
so happened that Mr. Just:ce Bayley was occupied the
whole of Monday in that Court. Mr. Justice Holroyd
could not get down to Court until twelve o'clock ; and
thus two bouts were loft by one, and the whole day by
the other, to the very great inconvenience of suitors and
of Counsel. Again, there was another mischief in the
regulation by which one of the Judges now left the
Court every day at three o'clock, to be relieved of what
Was called chamber business, which was formerly at-
tended to in the evenings. Hence delays occuried,and
hence much anaoyanze to all the parties in a cause..—
He was decidedly of opinion that Commissioners would
be competent enough to take bail—say, -Barristers of
five or ten years practice; but he did not think that
Chamber Businesa (as it was called) . could be so
safely entrusted to them. Now, with respect to the
number of the Judges, he by no means subscribed to
the particular value which was attached to that of
Twelve—the Lord Coke extolled it as high as Al
brains did the number three. For his own part, bq
liked fourteen much better. It might- be said not to be.
so equally divisible a number as twelve...neither west
there any fourteen apostles, or other precedents to go
by ; but at all events fourteen was divisible by seven—
(Hear, and a laugh). It was impossible that the twelve
Judges could get through the Term Business, Nisi
Prins, the Bail Court, and the Chamber Budges:. In
1756, there were only 60 cases in the paper on one day,
and looking at the vast increase which had since taken
place, aye, to the amount of hundreds, the same number
could not get through it. The times had altered, and
time was a great' innovator—maxima: rffitM innovator.
Those persons were not the greatest innovators who
asked for the reform of abuses or defects, but these
who baying a four•fold harvest together in, would only
employ the number necessaty one—(Heer, beat).
But there was another great object to be gained by
increasing the number of Judges to fourteen ; he meant,
the opportunity which it would aftod for the improve-
ment of the Welch Circuits—(lleat', hear). But before,
he quitted the Courts of Westminster Hall, he begged
leave to throw out as a suggestion, that the salaries of
,the Judges should be increased by the payment of fees
I—not large or heavy fees—nor fees to increase the
(number of litigants; but certaio limited fees, for sure
he was, that where all hopes of future advancement
were cut off from them, as was the case when they
ascended the Bench, it was almost in hymen nature that
they would be idle; and it is with the stirw to waken
them into a greater degree of activity that he proposed
to give them a moderate increase in the shape of fees.
He was aware that this proposition would be disliked
by some, but others agreed with him, that it
would materially operate to awaken the industry
of the Judges. Another observation as to the
Courts of Itlestminster Hall,
_which he intended to
make, was of a more general nature. It should
be the object of all good Governments to obtain the
most eminent, skilful, and experienced men for the
situation of Judges • but then to do this effectually, they
should have the whole field of the law to select them
from. With the exception of the present Lord Chief
Justice, set o was one of the ablest men that ever sat
upon the Bench, all the others were some of the ablest
Advocates of their time, and it should be the duty of
the Government to select such for their ezperience, skill,
land learning. Nu man, let his party or his other 're-
ljudices be what they might. would ceaselessly refuse
the honourable distinction of an elevation to the Bench ;
but it was now said that no man incs. Id be a Judge,
uuless he was previously knownos the advocate of one
party—that was always to say the pasty in power—and
unless he was tied down to one set of political and reli-
gious opinions. Be this, hiwerrer, as it might. they cer-
tainly reqaired a party man, anti he challenged the
Hon. Gentlemen opposite, to drew him any one outages
for the last hundred years, in which a man opposed to
the reigning Government, in politics, had ever been a
Judge?—(Hear.) He knew that sense who had changed
sides, or left their parry, bad been promoted—(Hear,
hear)—and in the instance of the appointmentof Lords
Cranstoun and Eldia, in Seotiand, the Right Honour-
able Gentleman (Mr. Peel) had shewn great liberality;
for be (Mr. B.) believed that these Learned Lords were
as much party men, in the sense in which it was usually
Understood, as Lord Eldon was known to be in this
wintry, with this single difference, that the latter
Noble Lord bad always belonged to the right party,
alias the party is power. It was -only to go now
so Westminster Hall, and ask what man pundit's
was fit for the highest situation, and they would be an.
Swirled by common acclaim—by the voices of all par-
ties. Should he be named ? No, it was nonecessary...
but be was a party man, and true to his party, but be
was studiously overlooked. But he (Mr. Brougham)
did not blame any man for this..-he blamed the system.
A Whig Judge was now a thing rarely beard of; it
was only once In a quarter of a century that any such
tbiag occurred-.a like angel visits, few and fat be-
tween." Its libel cases and in Crown cases, earl rant
who went into a Court beard the bias of the leaning of
certain iodate land when he talked of the apriatanall
*fa/edge% be begged leave to say, that be mold beit
afford at present to take one—(Hear, and a laugh).

... . .411 W , --
.
.0”la
...... ,
..w., _ . . l • • ..vbv- -"""`
I/I i•••iii
• -', I
• 1 ,
• fib--.\-. A ~ • .;.• ,
. .
• ~..t. -, irjAh•.„
..
4..(' ‘l..•'‘li -- ./,, ,' ,
i ) Ir. • ,
• . 0.; (k. % '.'../1, :
••• .$ ~- ..." ,
•
--,...,..,......„.......
..1, ~./
nI.• , C. ,
• ,
. • 0 ' . . .
. ..... .... ,
1 ~., •. , • k ~, . , 1 :. , •
(
•„- • ,
r A
11 . ,•
.. . N •
. . 4: t• 1 ' 14 40 .i 4 CI. .011 . JO i
~ .' . ' .. ~ . ' •
1 S , Ai. • t 11: I !)5-"Srit Tr; ".1 :V.*" 1 •••• •* ,
r ' 4 al..s •P . I
... , • I ‘
. 1 1
...i An. „. ... : • . ( i 41161,?.0 .:•/:i :••'n4 .11 :. • • • . A... Adoriai.c.
_ ::- . , • -,i ..,
. ~. :.s.ti Y ',I ••41tii$ftitt:Qii• ,?....,:rAi : ' ..'

•

fp ,•

•:t

feared Ins waaakeady tiring the House, bat he begged •
leave to say one word more as to the Welsh Judges. •
He knew not wby the good people- of Wales shoUld ,
be treated differently from those of Enpland. The
Welsh Judges were either retired Barristers, acting
as County Magistrates, or those in practice in the
Courts at Westminster Hall. The farmer must be
inefficient, because thel had not sufficient practical ex-
perience—and the latter were worse, because in dividing
their time, half on the bench aad the other half as an
advocate, they did neither work as well as it should be
done. But the worst of the system was, that they were
Judges of a particular place and not Judges fur Wales.
From this system they became acquainted with leaded
proprietors and respectable merchants—they got ge•
utterly known in the neighbourhood, and as naturally
and as certainly imbibed prejudices from which the
other Judges were entirely exempt. The result was,
that at the last Autum Assizes at one place, out of forty-
wcauses set down for trial, only • metal- -were tried,
ing as remanents twenty six.-That single fact would
speak volumes as to the necessity of-reform. • Let those -
!rho were too old get peados*. and hi. was ire time
of the Principality, even if they paid-dm) Wet
4.4 . • own pockets, would Abialt•theas• shodejeiegmet
*OM they bad ever paid—(Hear).•:.- At stinetalle;be
said, let two Judges be added to tLe le tilvearatlarrejlite
Courts would be relieved from the business at Chaimirom
and the Bail Court ; and they might also divide the :
-Welch Csrcuits amongst them, just as the other Judges
now do the English. Having adverted to that import-
ant subject be should now object to the fesatims of Ras-
ter Term by the ataost. Let the holiday be retained
if they plea ed, though in this Protestant country,
now so particularly so under the Government of the
Commander in
.Chief—he was surprised so much of
Popery should be retained. Again, he said. let then'
retain the holiday, but let the return day be. fixed, fur
the 10th:rif April, or some other convenient day, as
may be thought best. A change, however, was neces-
sary—the interests of the public and the piofession im-
periously demanded it. Let them have the Thief Baran
as Equity Lawyer—and they never cony have Om
better qualified than the present—and haveemt 4,thi
Bprons of the Exchequer a good Common lamer.
And let him preside over the admiuistratiwo ot the
,Commoq Law ; and let matters in Equity go beforethsr
Chief Baron, and they would soon find that business
would flow into the Court of Exchequer, not only re-
lieving the Court of Iting's Bench troth the weight of
business which now pressed intolerably upon it, but also
benefiting the situation of both Ike Judge and the suitor,
and improving in every respect the general dispensation
of junice.to all parties entitled to receive. it from Abe
laws. He now cause to the Courts of Civil Lam* el
which he could not speak from experience further then 1
as having practisestin the Appeal Courts,-the,Court .of
Delegates, and the Cockpit. The first objection which
he formed is the constitution of these Courts was, that
the Judges were inischievirosly underpaid. The first
cell which called lot a reMedy—and one to which he
dared say they would not object—was this impolitic and
iocousiderate insufficiency of remuneration paid to the
Judges of the Civil Coasts. Only let it :,be cobsidered
s that the highest of all these, the Judittif• the Masi-
raky, received no ooze than 2.5001. a year ashis tralasy.
This was all the salary he received, the test of his • re-
muntration being drawn from fees which in time of
war amounted to 7,5001. per annum, iu timi'Ot. peace
to w.thing. How was it possible to conceive a onuses ob-
jectionable or more irrational plan 1 It was unfit that a
Judge should be at all liable to such an alteration of
extravagance and penury in the means,diariiid,from
the performance of his duty. He did not;lsbis to see a
Judge like the first Judge of the Admiraky-iwsuch a
position. He was at alt timesliable. to give*** Croo
such advice upon questiOns of right in ilispnte with
foreign nations its might influence, nay. fix .a decision
.upon peace or war. He would not, then,allow so dreadful
a bias to act upon the mind of a Judge in such a case,
as the consideration that the a reat bulk of his means .
would depart from him upon that decision being made ,
in favour of peace. He had no fear that any considera-
tion of that nature would influence the mind of the
present Judge in the discharge ot his duty; but it was
net decent to leave so high and important en office
open to the possibility of such a suspicion. Another
objection to the constitution of the Civil Courts existed
.in the manner in which its Judges were appointed, for
which, now that Popery no longer ruled over us, he
Could imagine no reason or justification. The Judges
..of all these Courts, excepting the Admit alty—where
tbe appointments were made by the Lord High Ad-
miral—received their appointments from the Archbishop
of Canterbury and the Bishop of London. Now although
those eminent personages might be excellently fitted tor
the discharge of the duties ot the priesthood, he must
be permitted to doubt their qualifications for selecting
the best Judges from the other learned profession.—
Newly other important judicial offices in other parts of
the country were also in the appoiotesent of the Prelates
of the Diocese, from the decisions of which Judges so
appointed, the subject had ao appeal but to the Court
of Delegates, which, without any exception, was the
Worst cautioned Court that ever existed in a civilized
country. The Judges in this Court,whose busisess it was
to confirm or reveres the decisions of a Sir Wm. Scott
in the Admiralty Court, Sir John Nicol in the Consis-
tory Court, and Sir Christopher Robinson in the Prero-
gative Colin, were of necessity selected from the least
capable persons amongst the prectitioaers in those very
Courts, because they must not have been engaged in
the cases. Thus the opinions of these great luminaries
wets to be revised by the worst informed persons in the
profession ; it was jest the same thing as sending a writ
of error from my Lord Chief Justice Tenterdea, Mr.
Justice Bayley, Mr. Justice Holroyd, and Mr. Justice
Littledale, to be.tried by the three posies Banisters in
the Coast of Kiag's Bench. rev; this Ind • a remedy
ought to hie sappked,sad tasappoiataseat of the Judges
should be placed an other beside; He 'bested k to be
clearly understood, that in clotitdag the Competency of
the distinguished Prelates wheat he bad aseaticand for
such a pompom as this, what bs had said was entirely
free from all disrespect to them. There was no man
more ready than himself to pay every respect and to do
every justice to their liberal endowments of mind, or to
aatrititeaLe the
llsPeliuti°l3sam Cdoaribtathirre.fich essicialadentandedkimtbweirledgeat-
nation was the Court of Privy Council, _Were which
cease all the important cases of appeal from Dm Colonial
These Appals came frame all the various
'ye and other Courts retained in the different Indian
tenketier, and were decided before Judges mecca-

sway ignorant of 1 the t
ersoceedngs upon whith the
previous decisio • The emedy he proposed
gas, to bar&alqr exclusively devoted to such business.
"This'arbSt. indeed,- 8 remedy commensurate
with the defect, hat their not brio ebleth do enough-
was no reason.why,they should do nothing; and he
would presently show. that under the existing state of
the Court nothink wet done. The days on which the
Court sat„ or ought to sit, were the SOth of January.l
2d of February, Midsummer Day, and one or two
others in the course of the year. • Upon an average of
12 years, ending in the year 1826, they had sat nine
days in a year, and this was to bear all the appeals
from seventy millions of British subjects of everyoation
and cast in India, and from all the different Courts of
those vast regions, besides Ceylon, the Mauritius, the
Cape, and other Colonial possessions. During that
period of twelve years, the number of appeals lodged
was 467, besides 50 that bad come from India, but had
not been tegulatly entered, making in the whole 517.
Of these 243 only had been disposed of, only 129
of them having been beard, the others having been
settled by the parties for fear of delay, or not
having come on account of no prosecutions. The
rate, therefote; at which business had been dis•
patched by this Coon, was about ten eases in a
year, or one and a ninth for each day of its sitting.
Of these appeals one half had been reversed, which
proved the necessity of an efficient ti ibunal, at which
the distant subjects of the King might seek and receive
justice. The only Judge who was able to attend in this
Court was the Mister of the Rolls, who was of necessity
often prevented by the pressure of other business. But
when there he sat with an elderly Gentleman, who had
been an Ambassador somewhere, and might have been
a very good Ambassador without being very well qua-
lified for a Judge, and a Junior Lord of the Admiralty,
who had neither been a Judge nor an Ambassador,
although he might have been very fit for both if he had
been educated for either—(A laugh). This being the
case, it could hardly be supposed that such a Court, made
up for the fewness of its sittings by the extent of its
learning and the depth of its researches in the laws re•
lating to the cases "which came before it. Not that it
was at all times unready to discharge its duty accord-
leg to its own views, for he remembered seeing one case
reversed In five minutes which had occupied the Courts
in India for nineteen days, and which had been decided
there by the unanimous concurrence of all the Judges.
This at least shelved that the Court of Appeal was
sufficiently peremptory upon occasion.—The Hon. and
Learned Gentleman then insisted upon the importance
of administering justice to the inhabitants of India,
without hindrance and delay, and mentioned a case now
remaining fir decision, in which i disputed claim to
the throne of One of the native districts had left the
kingdom in the hands of the Sheriff's officer for nearly
two years. The necessary correctives ought to be ap-
plied to these evils at once, for it was the worst of all
policy to leave a population, separated from us already
by• language, habits, and distance, dissevered also by
laws which only afforded delay and expence Whenever
they sooght protection and security for their property.
Give them speedy, give them cheap justice, and their
adherence,woold be better secured than by our army
of se s. He thought, too, that it would be well
worth the attention of the Legislature to consider what
imptosement was practicable in the internal judicature
of India. He had yet to learn shy jury trial was to be
so jealously anal scrupul ugly excluded from the law
proceedings of that country. This was not necessary
in the Upper Courts, but iti the Courts of the first in-
stance, those which were purely Coons of enquiry, he
s wno reason against the introduction of Trial by Jury.
He knew that the natives were eminently capable of be-
ing made the instruments of that incomparable tribunal,
and be knew that nothing could win so much of the
affections and attachment of the immense population
of India as to make them share in the administration as
inthe protection of the laws. At present they were
accustomed to see their lives and property in the hands
of young men just horn their teens, sent out as writers
far the purpose of making for tunes—of doing it justly
and to the advantage of the suitor if they could—but of
making fortunes—ignorant of the language, and still
more ignf.faut of the customs of the counts y, and cert.
sequently nothing but tools in the hands of their Pundit,
or the person who acted for them in explaining the
native laws and manners. The hoe' by Jury had been
tried among 'the natives of Ceylon with the greatest
success; and if they mixed up the natives with the ad-
Ministration of the laws these also' that would happen
in Ipdia which had happened in Ceylon. Whenever
rebellion raised its head, the natives would be with us
ready to defend their own interests with ours, and to
cement thermion with their heart's blood. he next
point in this division of his subject was the office of
Justice of the Peace. After disciviming any applies.
Lion of what should fall from him to individuals, the
arnedGentleman proceeded to ask Whether
and'fit that. the Lord Lieutenants of coon-
save the only power of appointing Justices
ilk knew that the Lord Chancellor must
commissions, but the Lord Lieutenant, or
Rotitiorent--for he was generally both, and it
Keeper of tbe Rolls and Muniments of the county
...always pointed out the persons wholn
fit for the appointment, and the Lord
never interfered to say "this person is unfit
better qualified." The power also of
a in the Lord Lieutenant alone, .for it had
dowa, and adopted by Lord Eldon, that
..duct whatsoever should occasion the removal
agistrate until a sentence was produced against
the Court of Records. He objected to this use-
mer.in the person who appointed Magis-
; first instance, and he considered that it was
used in a most improper manner. He
appointment of Clerical Magistrates most
..asle, and that it frequently prevented the proper
rnistration of two excellent offices when separate.
next to a consideration of the potters plated
..ands of pasties so appointed. When be tufted
A modes," what word could he speak which conveyed
more extensive idea of pbwer without sesponsibilitye
the breast of tWo Magistrates tbigrant licences
- sere most unfir,'Or, trytakethem away where
,frtting they shoeld be granted, front- what-
soever , lees, however corrupt and orsjosa;eid tti4
exercise _ arbitrary power was plated beyond -tOcgry
species of Comma. No mandamus from the.Cotirt of
Ling's Bench would Issue, as had been proved by re-
pirated attempts, and the only course of proceeding
Magistrate was by criminal indictment or
meat. No redress could be obtained finis the
theparties Convinced them by the swearing
s' ONO persons that there had been wilful and
Abnlierinfiendlf after that aftyieCiljestica weld
deice gin Justice' Sheilincliaifonly held hit
drAtteftnetil to give any mien at all why he WO,
lattitt the lietteceolothins cool& be dime tgainfe
add not the hardest vice in the law could itvekai.#
of him. The Hen. and Learned Member
a letter from a Magistrate setting forth the

ha
•?

the M istr y into
evils olelse • sing
there ses tht p
sly ce.
was to keep up the mon.,-..., __ __
igiltesae a_nesery um upon the Pe"; -=AUtlie• Rua to weeps. sss....w.sis „,....,,,...„ ,
been made to break down that moteofee; butabejjetoef setend
.Sege he.;woeld brrq 4 unjust defences abo•
sing system always. proved too strong fur, 'km. When PlheAr..-__. whieh ir'ete
.genetilty instit
uted for the par-
ch* Golden-lane Opposition Brewer 1 wee established; poseeet-ifirlay; and veetre..-- m tint,' reepect, highiy
the other brewers immediately made their bier better, et ejudiesi to the due adatioistratioa of justice.oa
and reduced its price one penny per quart, by which the Tit, next phineiple be would propnseasould We that act
public were relieved from *tax- of a million a year. Bus aims Proceeding which was a mete matter of coarse.{
what was the consequence? During the eight years' aid only. brought fees to the Court,- and profits to the{
struggle kept up by the Golden-lane concern, they hever professional persons empleeeelohould be tried sit should'
k hon. be sufficed:et for the party interested is all matters of
coold obtain one license from the Magisteates,whi
d reds were grant ed to the otherbt ewer elle ketest also that course to pay' such fees, if-fees were still insisted upon,
as were declared legal, and
patty and electioneering motives frequently led to the upon so doing, be should
refusal of licenses where they ought to be granted, and obtain his object. That would, propetly speaking, form
still more frequently caused them to be granted where a part of his second proposition. In the third place, it
they ought to be refused. He would now pass from appeared to him that no patty ought to be driven tit
the granting of licenses to Game convictions, to which two Courts respecting one action. when one Civic could
every thing he had said of the licensing system applied with ptopriety administer justice upon the same. In
Stith equal truth. There was no power in the world the fourth place, he should say, that whenever there
Arndt, arbitrary, mote open to abuse, or more unfit for was a fair prestunption clearly ha favour of the plain-
-1 a ciointry possessing free institutions, than the power tiff, it at once should, be thrown anon tee defend
of summary process under the Game Laws. Most of ant, to prove the invalidity of the plaintiff 's claims.
the Gentlemen who exercised the rower were sports- And with respect to 'bat • proposition, the present law
men, and without, as he believed, intending to be COT. of Scotland and its opera :ices gave a satisfactory proof
of its value. The filth principle he
rupt, their preconceived notions abrut the sacredness of should lay down
their property in Game, and the horrors with which was also adduced from the law of Scotland, and a most
wholesome one it appeared to him to be. Its object
they regarded a poacher, tendered them the very last
men in whose hands such a power should be entrusted. was to en ible terry person to become really and fully
ac q
mi uainted with .the merit of his tide to any property
His next objection to the office of Justice of 0 e Peace,
was its general jurisdiction without responsibility.; Its hemight claim and possess as his. He proposed to
the Crutt of King's Bench, where the Judges were:se. adopt prospective suits, and lesthe should not be
lected from the whole body of she ptofe.sion, for their perfectly understood, he would very briefly state the
learning and their integrity of character, there Lord Present law of England and that of Scotland upon
Tenterden or any other Judge was known, and every the subject. In England a person might possess pos-
ed was exposed to all sorts of public scrutiny, and a perry to which others supposed they had a right,
higher tribunal was open for an appeal against their and yet the possessor had not the power of moving
decisions; but with the summary and is responsible acts and bringing the question at once to issue. He could
not stir until some claim was advancer against him!
of Justices of the Peace the case was widely different.
i
g si witnesses
There everything was the act of the Quarter Sessions and that might not be done until Iris strong
or the committing Magistrates, and nothing was fixed were dead, and a variety of occurrences hid happened
which rendered it difficult or perhaps impossible for
upon the individual Magistrates. But then it was said
that their labours were gratuitous, and that the public him to prove that which at the outset he could have
done with facility. Now in Scotland there was a suit
owed them a never-to-be.paid debt of gratitude for their
services. He denied this, and contended that they had known by the name of a Declaratory Suit, which was
money or money's worth in the influence and advantages
to 'this effect : The possessor of any property being de-
which the power carried with it. He mentioned the sireus of preventing any future claim to be made to what
case of a Magistrate's clerk .v ho bad been appointed he considered *ibis, instituted a suit calling upon such
his
of 'Weights and Measures, at a guinea and a persons as he believed likely hereafter to question hi
half a week, and then allowed to appoint a deputy at right, and calling on all others to at once advance their
claims, or to for ever forego them. The costs fell upon
five and sixpence. He thought it. was neither unwar-the party instituting the suit, unless those applying
rentable nor uncharitable to take this as an example
against it derived any considerable advantage from their
of the advantages which the masters themselves de-
coming into Court at his instigation, and then, as was
rived from the r office. Amongst other sources of emo-
but just and equitable, they supported a part of the burs
lumen the fees upon commitments were in some cases
then. In the box th place, he would abolish all obsolete
multiplied to a considerableamount, and these had been
much augmented by theßill of the Right Hon.Gentlernan proceedings, which were only a snare to the unwary,
and operated as a mischievous tool in the hands of des
(Nlr. Peel), which extended the power of the Justice its
signing and dishonest men. For instance, wager of hoe
cemmit for ttifiing offences. All these powers, too,
I were kept from the public eye by the privacy of their was on, of those soPerannusted proceedings to w
operation, and by the impenetrable obscurity which sur. he alluded: it was a wreck of the-feudal system, cf so
aais. The of those wise though cenly rather barbarous cost
as indisia
rounded those who executed it, which our ancestors had adoprecently tried in the Collet
ted. He believed that thee{
Hon. and Learned Gentleman next addressed himself to
was a case of wager by law
the administration of the four branches of Common jahw
of Coleman Pleas, and, however strange it might cap-'
—first remarking upon the great discrepancies arising
that measures should pear, no learned practitioner was at all acquainted with
from local customs, and contending its nature, but they all denied its legality. Nevertheless
be talon for equalisOg and assimilating the laws of pro-
it was law, and it was acted upon. Such proceedings
pertj in all parts of the country. He next said he would
as that then, which were known only through the lois-
undertake to :hew, notwithstanding the panegyric of Sir
chief they did. he would sweep away. Now he begged
It'. Blackstone and the other eulogists of the law, that the
to assure the House, that he was not so dogmatical in
;object did not stand upon equal terms. but at a great
his opi m anions as to assert that they were tight. He knew
disadvantage, with the Crown, in our Courts. cHe read
the passage from Blackstone, in which the Petition of that many of the must appear open to question, and
he onl threw them out with a desire Of effecting some
Right is eulogised, and expressed his regret that it could
y
good, and that too principally by causing the subjects
be proved a fiction.n The Petition of Right was nothing
on which he touched to be fully and deliberately el-
itist so much waste paper without having the fiat of the
amined. And having thus guarded himself, he would
*impel General affixed•to it, and it was within the
say, that he would at once throw away, without
breast of that Officer to indorse it or not; and if he te-
giving a moment of thought to the pain be shovld
fused, however unjustly or unwarrantably, no remedy
by so doing inflict on some Learned Gentlemen—
could be obtained against him save by impeachment. He
without dropping a single tear for the mighty heap
termed to s case in which the Attorney General refused
of deep and useless learning he should sweep away
to sign the Petition, because he thought the parties ought
—be would at once throw sway all those musty re-
to have proceeded by a writ of ejectment, and, although
cords, which contained all obsolete proceedings, and
he believed the case to have been a good one, they
not cast after them one sigh or one regret. And to begin
were obliged to abandon their claim upon property which
in the first place, he a ould abolish Fine and Recovery.
had been given by grant from the Crown while a legal
He should be sorry if in so saying he hurt the feelings
claimant existed. It was a mockery then to say that the
..r pr.ejudices of any Conveyancer, but such was his-
Crowtt and the subject were upon the same terms when
they came into a Court of Law. He then maintained that opimon. Suppose any Gentleman possessed of the fee.
-imple of an estate was desirous of leaving it to any one,
the subject was at no less disadvantage in the Court of
Exchequer, where the Crown was either the prosecutor he could of course do so, and all encumbrances were
Exchequer, for. When an estate was held for life, however,
or defendant. In proof of this he rated a case, in which
the case was very different, and the difficulties were
a witness for the Crown was prosecuted for perjury by
the parties against whom he had falsely informed.— numerous. Then with respect to entail. When a
rived an estate by entail—for instance, if a
Eighteen persons were included in the prosecution for person rec
person died in the long vacation, the person ac-
perjury and conspiracy. The first was convicted upon
uiring - the property might go to the Court of
the deafest evidence ; but the parties being defended 9
by the Attorney and Solicitor General, as the witnesses Common Pleas, and by one means or another get
free of all encumbrances, and all fetters; and why,
for the Crown always were, the Juries had all been
therefote, should it not be done in a straight forward
inade special and a tales was refused in each of the
manner. If a fine was to be paid, let it be paid at once,
Other cases. The consequence was that the prosecu•
tors being poor Yorkshire farmers were unable to meet and all these neysterious and difficult forms now to be
the =pense of proceeding, and not one of the perjurers gone through done away with. The Bankrupt Law fur.
were ever brought to justice. The unhappy man who nished a precedent. A case had arisen in which the
effect of that law
made the victim of this false information had been questioned, and it was re-
had been first
ferred to the Court of King's Bench, when Lord Ellen.
was doomed to lose not only his fortune but his life by
borough said that the Bankrupt Law acted as a statutary
the transaction. Some time afterwards, in the village
conveyance. Now all that he (Mr. Brougham) wished
raided, where the parties the repetition of a song or
fur was, a statutary document of entail. He thought
eome kinctof verses referring to the matter, brought
such a measure would be far mote just, far more bens.'
them into collision, and Law, the prosecutor,was shot
ficial, than the provision in the Bankrupt Law. He woald.
oead by a pistol. This case then was brought to
state, in a general a ay, the consequences of the 'remit
trial. it Occupied two days, and the accused was
law of entail. A man could not 'join.wite. his wife, nor
latquitted of murdev, but found guilt* of manslaughter.
mild a wife join with her husband, except in bat Of her
;This mess from some circumstances which were de-
dower, without undergoing a long and rather curious
jive
ti have,' eytertained a similar ; the bad an imressio
opi uponnion, the
and teem
.she proceeding. The wife Muse appear before a Judge, au&
n
'patty was meteaced to two yeats' imprisonment roe fetter being ushered into the pi ivate room of that learned
the mehdiseifiter. He did not believe that :a case functioaary, had to undergo a long examination. The
ore repulsive to :he principles of strict justice, or
~Judge learned, ihiough the replies she made to his in-
Mote revoltiog Mid cruel injustice,
(m
as demur ee., etorogatosies, whether she was swayed to the per-
pewit one party and another, had crier occur4d in
yaf
fortnance of the act she professed her desire to execute, i
.
.this country or 'in any other. It Was sere eller t,e by fear or by an undue and momentary excess of affece
s to talk of the excellence of our institutions, lion, or any other feeling, which, upon reflection, she
• - . -hoiany respects they were excellent; but if we .would condemns If it appeared that she was not actuated
IMO &anent to do bathing but talk, while other .by use such motive, then the act received the sanction
tattititio who boaited less, were assiduously improving of the Court and was perfected. But how much better
theirlystems, we 'should ultimately find ourselves as would it be—.how much greater would be the security
mime'
in 'view of the rest of the world, as we now 'that justice was performed, if the husband and wife were
pretended to be in advance. if we did not keep pace to OM together with the consent and approval doe
with the intprermtnts which were continually being 'guardian, altogether independent of the particular ine
broteght into practice is othereountries, we should soon terms oPthe hesband—i-er say the next of kin to the wife
lined the cOnntarathe ittethcrencY of our own institutions. .-a-and then let the deeds be at once telly and effectually'
He had laid that a More cruel case of injostice had never- eltettuteril, How mach more efficient would such a plan be,
ippetted, bat what rendered'it the: mote feeteattl sews, :ant hownsuch more istisfactory,asit would at once enable
h
tile reflection, the *haute Allowing', that it might • the *item ettapen tedious and harassing examination,
an&secure justice to the parties-concerned. He would
*eh, again used again, and that, tiro, at any hour, at
ady moment.: Mick:ads most continue to be the case 'say the sante with respect to " Buffering Reeorery:"—
while the Ittesioitd us it rhea did; the erisies •behir The. parties at present founds voucher in the crier of
;tbe one patty tin&theleobjec.t the. other. the Crown' ahoCourtof Common Pleas, and why then shiedd oar
ada themskideVweret plaid in eaxiiet. inat'while that not bwfottactelsetvheee. 'Locke had defined a madman
I
was the case, such occurrences not only might take to be one who reasoned correctly upon wrong premises.
place, but must even be expected. Having cleared Now he did not mean to say, that hisLeatned Btethren,

—.girt before which
Wow - -.re he was not preeeedinyr
as he did from choke, slags segumerits were listened
to with all that decent gravity- for which our Courts
were remarkable. • Now be woeid pit ish 'end to con.
tingent. remOnders. The levitation With said tai have
proceeded frosit some of our miceitoes.,:elto were .Mid
to be Members of that House, and retiring for * sloes
kamed she law as is stood with respect to contingeoe
redeaihdats• But it - to him; however goo&
aid, ingehinus tin.Wf might be, the same end
Might he. ntrival (nt, awls more Sikelik griani.r
let the declaration be e-phskt statement, drawn up.
without the useless phelaedetp now followed. fte
approved highly. of " entail. as laid down by the
old law.of mid what be wanted was to see
is
cleared from all the umbras forms which now caw:lope&
it, and rendered it mysterious and ail/ kilt to execute
and undesitalid.. Far instance, he you'd tar, if a pent
son bad a freehold in county 4., 04 iris desirous to'
leave it to his eldest son, and after hills to his eldest
son. and so od, it 'Mold be salficient-fbrihe case to be
thus simply stated, of course obsettibithe absoliately
necessary uchnkal expleii:Ons but lieaving out alt
these forms which tended to puzzle, nor only the un-
learned, who were perhaps melt frequently called open
to gOthrongh thetn; but alio the learned: AnOtheraher.,
amino that he would make waste de away tlhe tta-
tote of uses," and substitute in.its stead a very simple
form. It had been 1110,t justly i.bserveds that the simple
addition of three words, " the use of," in the conveyance
which now existed Would efeet geed'. Lie would
also greatly curtail the jurisdiction of the Courts of
Equity. He would draw ova, or rash r draw beck,
to tht Courts of Law those cases which had by degrees
been taken from their jurisdiction and assigned to that
.ot the Courts of Equity. He would do so, because the
Courts of Equity were not so well able to decide upon
them as the Courts of Law; for what was the fast?
Why, this, the question to be, decided was a point of
law, and the Equhy Court feeling its own incompe-
tence, directed an issue for trial in the Lower Coot;
and took the decision of that Court for its guidance.
Then, again, with respect to agreements, he was of
opinion that there the law required to be simplified.
He remembered being called upon to defend an eject-
ment against a person in possession. The case was opened
and witnesses called. but the instrument of tenure
not containing the words " present demise," it was an
agreement, and not a lease. He was consequently thrown
out; and although he might go to Chancery, which in
fact be had to du, still he thought it would be much
better if the Court of Law was enabled to deal with the
question the same as if it had been in every respect a
lease. He could see no reason why an agreement should
not be treated precisely as 8 lease. .Hisplan also pro.
posed several alternations with illetet 90 legatees, exe-
cutors. and mortgagees. It bad bees said, and might
be. repeated in answer to the propositions he made
with respect to the change in me prifiiCtiol2 of the
Courts of Equity, that the Courts of Law bad not the
tools necestairy to deal with. It might be said that their
conatituticto4Ba'aot admit of such a change ; but it imp-
Peeredto him that if they did require an increase of
ittengtb, it would be very easy to furnish them with new
and sudficiem power. For, what was the care at present
in the Court of Chancery ? Was all the business executed
by the Lord Chancellor ? Most certainly oat; it was the
labours of the Masters, who, as arbitrators, investigated
the claims of the differeat parties, and furnished a report,
which, in fact, was the substance of the decision. If a
Coast of Arbitration, as connected with-the Law Courts,
was established, what impediment would there be to that
Court dealing effectually with such cases as those to
which he had alluded ? But if that proposition should be
considered as of too striking a nature. let the patent
machinery beat once turned over from the Court of
Chancery to the Law Courts, and that would oust the
Equity jurisdiction. Then the Courts of Equity would
be confined to their proper prow ince,and nut overwhelmed
with business for information, upon RUM of which
they were obliged to apply. to other- places. The Courts
of Equity would be left to deal with these chronic cases,
if be might use the term,,for which they wete peculiar-
ly calculated, as in cases Of Infants, and long and inui•
cut trusts, while the courts of law could only discharge
those duties for which they were also peculiarly fitted,
and to do which they were originally intended. In the
next. place he would not permit a man to institute two
actions upon the same case. Mr. Tenni son's Bill had
been introdutedio supply a remedy, but it did not in
fact do so. The conditions were not compulsory, and
therefore not adopted, because Attorneys found it much
more profitable to be concerned in two actions than
in one. lf. indeed. the act had been imperative, in•
stead of nicely giving a choice of proceeding, be
should have had no reason to wish for any change.
He would then proceed to the nest head of his in•
wiry, which was the following after the law had
decreased the number of suits as far as possible,
bow could those to be tried be brought to.* ter-
mination with the most expedition' and at the least
expense? And that brought him to inquire how it was
that the beautiful advice given in the New Testament—
"Agree with thine adversarywhile yet thou art in the way
with him," was so completely forgotten by our .11w, al-
though quoted by its administrators. He knew very well
that there were iniparlements, but they took place in the
wrong place, and in the wrong stage of the proceedings.
They occurred when the passions were amused, when
the expense had been incurred—indeed, after the loss
was sustained, and at the very moment whets resistance
was likely to be maintained. His plan was of a very
different Ofittlft. Whatever course gave the pasties s
clear view of the weight of their own pretensions, and st
the same time a just notion' of thoseof their opponents,
must be the most beneficial,and,therefore, he Would hare
the parties meet face to face before an arbitrator, and
then give a detMl'of their case. It would, above all,
have this good effect ...it Would bring the case of so
adversary before the plaintiff, and 'regent subsequent
collusion. The particular interests of the parties mien
semetintes be opposed to such a proceeding, but it rat
the interests of justice he wished to forward: at other
times the interests of the parties concerned might in.
duce them to wish for such a plan, but the interests of
their anomie, would oppose their baying recourse to
it; but still he would answer, it is as not his object to
give employment to Counsel and Attorneys, but to
ensure a speedy, and effectual, and cheap distribution
of justice_(Hear).—Then with respect to evidence.
There again he found an esample in the Scotch law
which appeared to him to be worthy of imitation. la
&Scotland no person was permitted to make use of a do.
itunient on ilia' which bad not been previously shewn
to the adverse party; in England that was not the case.
Ile had lately been e mice:nett professionally in a cause
in which an instrument was put into his bands with

mists as would have broughi
finition of a madman i though
--r _

pidgin
_ • _

reauy
cement the unit
point in this dim
Justice of the I
ciao of what at
Hon. and Lear
it was mien sni
ties should ha,l
of the Peace?
issue the COll
Rotator
was as Keeper
that he acted
he considered
Chancellor se'
or this one is
removal was i
been laid dos
no mistonduc
of a Stems
him by the C
sponsible pox
tines in the
frequently u
thought the 3
litldesuable,
sdministratio
He cements
in Abe bands
" Li cenles,"
a more erten
It was 'nth!
wherethey
it was momtl
soever motif
exercise of I
species of to
King's l3eoe
paced sate
against a 11
lompeaehmei
Court until
of two or tb
tAny*llllll
apseethl it
takiii *WI
Isim, sad at
reason oat
then read a

gr,,,
- - ' " r -. I.' •1' . 'F'• .. - - Illisk„
4..- t
alt I- '-
oh andouille' Oat.it,bronght . - :
~ •, .. ,ce laisacAr lace himself, were in the habit of reasoning upon
treck: ketticoulal_apt amongst t - ~,,t: for p r its. Actions, were insane, but certainly to a common
ftrun whom . ' rnore firsli --rit..4* would two .be
.. ii. ' their conduct would appear but little better.
respect. 9 *et the evil m• it , r miry ex i ed eikkt • • had • not long since been called upon on the
oh of thehiewels, and thereby too 'ila a y Cates to enable the wealthy- to set justa &than Circuit, to argue in a great case. and he of
-........ .....4 ••,ftverves tho fromPe4v. • tir knit bent _compribut co m .
- -.— . r nILUPRIUMbIinge
. . • _ .....,... r _- L -IP. .11..._