The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1853-03-08 00:00:00

REGISTRATION OF ASSURANCES.

THE Bill introduced by the LORD CHANCELLOR,
for the general registration of the title deeds of real
property, was read a second time in the House of
Lords on Thursday, after a lengthened and ani-
mated discussion. The object of this measure is to
establish a general registration for the whole of
England, on a plan almost similar to that which
has prevailed some time in the Counties of York
and Middlesex, and which has also been practised
in Scotland, Ireland, and the Colonies. The Bill
was opposed by Lord ST. LEONARD'S, on the
grounds chiefly of its inefficiency and alleged great
expense; but as Lord CAMPBELL, who entered
warmly into its defence, asserted that all the ob-
jections to it might be obviated in Committee, it
was allowed to pass the second reading. We are
aware that the opinions of so able a lawyer as Lord
ST. LEONARD'S, especially on the subject of real
property, are entitled to great weight ; but, on the
other hand, the difficulties attending the transfer of
land, arising from the great expense in the investi-
gation of titles, are so formidable, that there is a
natural anxiety to surmount them, if possible. It
is one of the most serious imposts upon the landed
property of this country that the coots of con-
veyance operate in many instances as a complete
bar to its transfer, where the value is small ; and
though the proposed registration may not operate
to render a defective title good, it will have that
effect in course of time, by securing existing titles
from accumulation of defects. By the registration
of every future transfer, the process will be con-
siderably simplified ; and though there are neces-
sarily defects in every system of human institution,
if the proposed registration does but help to remove
some of them, it will be an improvement on the
present system. The opposition of the late LORD
CHANCELLOR was backed by a petition from the
Committee of the Provincial Law Association,—a
course by no means to be wondered at, if the effect
of the measure will be to diminish the cost of con-
veyances. The public have here, however, an
antagonist interest, and it is to be hoped that the
Bill will receive such modifications in Committee as
will remove most of the serious objections which
have been raised to its passing.

THE ECCLESIASTICAL COURTS.
THE meagre list of paltry measures which has been
made to serve as the programme of Ministerial
policy has had the effect which we anticipated, and
the time of the Commons of England is nightly
wasted in profitless and wordy discussions on the
crotchets of obscure members. This was the case
on Tuesday, when Mr. COLLIER, a barrister of
humble reputation, and of no pretensions to occupy
the place of a Legislator, indulged in a long
harangue on a subject on which he had no expe-
rience; and, having retailed all the 'popular errors
in that direction, moved for a Select Committee to
pave the way for the abolition of the Ecclesiastical
Courts. The Crown lawyers—of whom the SoLI-
TOR•GErERAL, at least, has some pretensions to
legal experience—had not the morel courage to de-
nounce the motion as a mere vulgar clap-trap, but
urged its withdrawal upon an indefinite promise to
do something at some future time; and it was left
•to Dr. PHILLIMORE—tO whom an Election Com-
mittee had just given -a-seat for Tavistock—to ex-
:pose the worthlessness of the attack. We do not
•express any opinion as to the merits of the Courts
-of Ecclesiastical Judicature, nor the necessity of
-their reform, which may be much needed, but
-whatever may be their present --state, and however
-strong the necessity for their reform, it can only be
effected by such able hands as have already im-
proved the Courts of Chancery -and the Criminal
-Courts. To entrust so important a work to a
tenth-rate junior barrister, whose only experience
his been gained in Assize Courts and Petty Ses-
sions, would be to make the remedy worse than the
disease, and to throw discredit on that gradual
amelioration of judicial proceedings which has been
so prudently commenced, and so successfully per-
severed in. Fortunately for the cause of justice,
the motion was a failure, and we may therefore anti-
cipate that in due time the abuses complained of
will receive proper-attention from those whose posi-
tion and experience-qualify them for the important
task. The curse -of modern legislation is that
system of tinkering which is the distinguishing
characteristic of Liberalism, and every discourage-
ment should be given to its continuance. It was
-the resort of a weak Administration, which, having
-no principle nor unity of design, made every impor-
tant measure an open question, and, however it
may suit the views of the Coalition Cabinet to
pursue the same unworthy course, it is the duty of
'the Conservative Opposition to interpose a firm
,:resistance.

THE NEW EPISCOPAL APPOINTMENT
STATE 01 THE CHURCH.

THE nomination of the Rev. JOHN JACKSON,
Rector of St. James's,\.Westminster, tactile Bishop-
Tic of Lincoln, rendered vacant by the death of Dr.
KkAvE, appears to have given general satisfaction.
The selection of Mn. JACKSON is the more gratify-
iv, as his clerical life has been devoted to the
rastoral duties of an important and populous metro-
politan parish, and he is favou.rably known to the
public by the publication: of several sermons of a
purely:practical character,. altogether free from con-
troversial discussion, or that dogmatic assertion on

disputed points which has tended to wake parties
in the (31-lurcb. We are not aware to which member
of the Cabinet is owirg the selection, but it is far
more creditable and likely to-prove beneficial to the
true interests of the Church-than the conduct,pur-
sued bytLord JOHN. RUSSE•:,L when Dr. HAMP-
DEN was .tyrannically thrust into a Bishopric,
despite the protests of those who gravely objected
to his orthodoxy. We do not assert for an instant
that there •was z_ny ground for the objections which
were raised ; but considering the nature of them, the

formal manner in which they were put, and the
position of those who made them,-they were at the
least entitled to .enquiry and refutation. Whereas
the conduct of the PREMIER on that occasion was
the assertion of the right on his part to appoint to
so responsible an office without the slightest re-
ference to the qualification of the individual selected.
It was a bad precedent; and for the Additional
reason that his nominee was believed to entertain
extreme views on theological questions—a quality
by no means desirable in a Bishop ; the more so, as
it is well known that extreme views in any direction
tend to destroy that peace and unity which it
should be the anxious endeavour of every member
of the Church to maintain in its fullest efficiency.
In the present exercise of episcopal patronage the
Ministry appear to have steered clear of this error;
and so long as the new Prelate is known only as
the zealous promoter of every good work, and the
faithful head of that portion of the Christian
Church
entrusted to his superintendence, his
appointment will be considered a set-off to the many
m
short-co ngs of that Cabinet who have so well
performed
this part of their duty.
The Present
with reference position of the Church of England,
t
appears to be divided, the twovided, great
kasoatoirmarlityiesexin which
eiteam ushcke
serious apprehena •
ion in the
n
n d keeperminds
ofo of
Holyt; s W
e who
view
and theheo
rasthewitness
especial instrument of the evangelisation of
mankind. It is a subject on which we feel
loath to
comment in the columns of a newspaper ; but in
recent times it has been brought so prominently
under public discussion, as literally to force itself
upon our attention. We cannot conceal from
ourselve4 the lamentable fact that, while the Chgch