The Statesman.
London, England, 1823-06-06 00:00:00

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.ad that they were pledged' by their previous measures
uter into this inquiry.. The nieeaure which -the
House had applied to the evil bad failed to setae a OM'
dy • the arrears of business existed to an unparalleled 11•`.
teS ; the House was hound to go on until they had moo
pimply. art right that state of 'hinge which miauttaostely;
• notoriously, and proverbially prevailed in the Coktiesof
Chancery, The important object was to find out- Abe
vat* of the exit. Was it to be found its dealt/laminas,.
Orin—tte system ? If the former, .other tuafteru "Might
• room ander the consideration of the.Herias ;
• Isbeir. Then they ebonla probe and examine the matter to?
•titt-*9lWin. 141 titp Hunse amity recollect the siittrnsousl
quantity of property/Dew standing in the Dame of tit*
"urgel:dant Coma- No lem. a sum than three end
• toi[ty millions t Few. perhaps of those gentlemen who,
pow Imard hint but were in some way connecters
wash the Court of Chancery, either .as trustee, reprirl
,sentallire guardian, Bsc; Perhaps there might be sense.
one or two more nearly implicated; .some one whose
property was hang or some nine. or ten years, has
.ing a decision in his favour, but without bee.;
hair: able to mach a penny of his property in comm.'
artence of the system which prevailed in that Court. •
• There was not a family in the country whose affairs were
involved in that Conn that was not compelled to be in
'almost airily communicatioe with it,. and not one of
which the elder braneli at the day of Ills death would. not
leave some poribin of his relations with some claims still
pending. This. t! erefore, he would say, was the cause
ti..t only of those whose present interests were before the
Court, but of their children and posterity. It was the
cause of oery. part of (wow family whom affairs were
put Armlet the jurisdictions of the Court, and who were
entitle* to have sottre'reason assigned why they had been
kept out of their rights. His Honouruble Priend•tvas
taunted last valeta that lie had drawn the eases which',
he exposed tome Howie from a single office. Sorely it
it would not he said that the cases before the Court wee*
tr. ated differently as cooling from different offices. And
nfolp,•s sorb au unjust reflection could be cast with truth
on the conduct of the Learned Judge, be thought that'
the cases of opprrssioin end injustice drawn from a partk
, color office in a given time might betaken iv. a few ape-
• omen of the general state d the badness before the
•. .court. And referring to those rases as they *ere de-
Lst night, be tree stare that it toast strike every oue
lilt* beard or read them with asionislimeet how such.
• tac's could occur is a civilised country like Reclined,--
• •was said that notice ought to base beets given that
loch cases OW la have beta laid before the House. This
a'
sort of „complaint was unheard of. As to the case of '
Ware and Horweat, it was surely out of the question that
the gentlemen opposite could have been taken unawares. '
'The case ntust have been fully in the mind of the House.
The statement was take* from an affidavit on the plea of
the Conct since the year lel. therefore it was idle to
ta'lr of being taken by Purim bvis statement of this case..
liefere lie went farther he should beg to call the 'attention
pf the Hoes. again to this extraordinary case of Ware
rand Norwood. The case, -it speared was nine or ten
tears 'in Comet under argument, when it was fixed fog,
marmot. The 'case, however, waited seven years,
dor judgment, having been two years and shall at the
bead of the paper. It was, however. Constantly
I "postponed until at length. the solicitor in the cause
felts° strongly the injery dope to his clienti, that
he-,that infeelor officer of the Court, ventured to write a
'letter to the Lord Chancellor. That be should venture
to rake such a step, was indeed a great • impropriety.
130.00 this private letter should be stuttered privately;
'An a still more serious impropriety. It was wrong as
an example, and dangerous tone pure admioistration of
justice. This, however, was rot an anonymous letter
seat was sent to that Noble Lord. Here he could not avoid
paying that lie knew not how to characterise the baseness
of ;a Judge who would venture to take notice on the beach
• . Arita anonymous letter sent to him. Such n departure from
..1-11sgipriety was only equalled by the Impudence of the perion
vim dared thus s!landessinely to tamper with the fountain of
justice. The letter, however, was not of that class—but
pperiy and candidly add 'by the solicitor to the head
of the Court. The document was weil worthy the attention
of the !loose. It was as follows
" Iffx LORD fly client 4 have reason to complain of the
tajufy they stutter by their emus not keeping their situatimi
•at the heed of your Lordship's paper."
• 4. The answer should have been at once on the part of the
Lord Chancellor—" Is this so or not—if it is so, let the al-
, thepeicted out to me who has disarranges' my paper."—
' Inn be Liter proceeded thus :
• • Nose causes hate been seven years • waiting for judg-
• ' meet; they were et the top of your Lordship's paper two
yore mil a half ago ; and 1 wish they could remain there
until 'tbey are decided r 10,0001. is locked up, my Lord, in
tenetuntil these causes are settled. It is painful to me to
add, that I have learned that the infant for whose benefit the
originel suit in these causes was instituted twenty years
a 0; leas died of a broken heart in consequence of the
*stressed corsoition of his affairs ; and I have to -con-
tam in all delays now, against the bitter feelings of his
teletoas:-
This in'ent, like the infant in the play, who bad, contrary
tool' the laws of unity, arrived at maturity before. the bib
Act, had time to change his character before the close of the
cataptrophe. What was the consequence? The Lord than-
eager went for this solicitor, and after repeated private in-
sereiesea. he takes the minutes of a decree, wittiest the pri-
‘l4 of the adverseNAcitor. Ile was far from imputing
gorruption to the. Noble and Learned perso u. The thought
'4llll-not enter his mias'. No nee could think of the situation
. In which a great body of sailors In that Coort wu placed
without feeling the strongest emotions orsympathy for their
priestions. Who as there that passed the approaches to
ibat Court, and beheld the waste spectral forms of those,
who, with aching eyes, still vainly expected that decision
Obign was to put diem at last la possession of their long
,kgspended rights; who was there that sew these scenes that
lig.notimtaediately call to mind the forcible lines of the
put Speqcer—
Fell little knowest thou that bast not tried,
Whet boll it is, in sumg long to 'bide;
•
To speed to day—to lewpatlvack to-morrow.
To feed on hope, to OK will; bar and sorrow.
To have thy asking, yet wilt ninny years,
To fret thy soul with crease' inn with cares,
To eel thy heemthrougb coeffertless despairs.
Tolson, to crouch,•to wait, to ride, to ran,
Tospend, to give, to want,' to be undone.
Spch was the common mass for the pew suitor to
••
pass through, until finally he was.” nndone. He would
now :Overt to a case which was pat into his hands that
yin slisy. It was the case of Collis and Nott. A bill
mast 81 by creditors—a question
.arose in the Master's•
'sdfice, whether or Hot the debt was a speciality debt or a
contract. The Master reported that it was &sins-
:re contract debt. Exceptiou,s were taken seainet the
.• terse:, aril argued by the late Sir S. Romilly. and the
-que,tien 3.0t1.1 for decision.' Last Hilary Terns the Court
was pressed for judgment, when it turned ont that the
-Lord Chancellor forgot the merits and arguments, 'and
it breams :v neer.lre to rehear the famc ats the expense.
nf,the suitors.—(Naar, hear) Judgment bad not vet
teen giver. (Hear.) 'lle forgot ta state. that the /Sill
wee filed in 1752 bear.) Were not 'these cases
that Called On the ilanse• to make an inquiry ? Much
of what he would. call quitshling h..d been usgal to sh,t-w
'that *but apileored to be arrears were not so in reality.
Ale did 'twit atiritie for titles; he only knew that there
was an extraordinary mass of business before the Court
of toast standing. It was argued that there was a great
iocreese •of business is) consequence of the increase
of poiitilattort. In the Courts in'which he (Mr. -1.):41-
man) had the bo.ooor of practising, DO inch direct had
been observed. in these .Courts they had cansase4pers,
the rolnnr aJ the grannd SOMPI/111.4.—What 01111 try
be in the Court of Chancery ? Compared with them,

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led two
„avail atazettildt, alutost
t
7O'indthei came.' ,and
also° *came
tide- lile koowlellgo. • 4 Petition 'came Wore the
'Coed from creditors. 'The Lora Chancellor took the
• • of tvro of, the ,Merced Judges of Westminster t
they were io favour of
.the creditors. No decree, how-
ever, fell Owed, but the u oney was ordered to be paid
.ialalkebaada of certain bankers. The beakers fikled,
end the creditors (the petidorteta). proved their debt.
!.1 the dividendi were ordered to be paid into the handsi
oiler bankers. In the mean time the Letil Chen.;
eollor thought it advisable, upon a subservient applies.
lion. to MIN the opinion of two other Judges, and they
also decided for the creditors.--The doubts still Along
netted the forthcoming decree. But durieg the so.s
'Dense the other hankers f rifed.---(Alaugh.) Aml thus
eras the shadow of the shade of tli's preperty ccui-
pletely goer..--(Hear, hear.) Ile would again protest-
against this being considered as a personal attatk upon the
head 01 the Court of Chuneary. Still more 'lrene), Vronld
he protest against the motion bring treated as an impute-
tion against all the Judges of all the Courts. Owns insintr-
ated that charges of this nature were got lap without much
dillienitv, in consequence of die iscility of °batting coat-.
manicatians. On the eontrary, in this instance,the fact wit
the other way. All those solicitors, Counsel,and suitors.
who were in a situation to give information, were very na-
turally Indisposed to disobiklmi the head of tbeCodrt. Hut,
In fact. he was not at *ll certain that the hat grimed fee
this motion would not be the notoriety of the abuse*. Ile
could not answer (or the course of conduct whim those whO
had it in their power to make the exposers world pursue.
He could only state that he oever talked with any of his nu-
merous friends practising'it the Chancery bar. that they did
net complain of the great strew of business. Petitions were
pat forward—what were they ? A stroke of a pen was
sufficient to dispose of one. A veiy short time enabled
the Judge to go through a large number of those
peti-
done. Again the large dubber of lunatic petitions dis-
posed of was pompously put forward as a display of in.
dustry and attention on the, part of the Lord Chancel! yr.
However, he himself was acquainted with ose Specimen
of the way in which some lunatic petitions were disposed
of, which be thought onghtlo be sufficient to satisfy any
person that there was a great deal of ground-fir censure
in the conduct of business of this nature. Ile was deli-
berately of opinion, that full eight years tnight have
been saved in thb Portsmouth case, wills which they werei
all aequinted. As fat back as eight years a cam teals
substantiated before: the Lord Chancellor, which he wod4
usulertake to say, no niou ought to have hesitated about
granting the writ de lunatic° inquirendu. Fads to con-
clusive es those upon which a Jury so justly decided
were placed before the Lord Chancellor. Enough WAS
stated to call upon him, in his official situation. to
protect the unhappy man from the widens to
which he was so exposed—and had that protection
beep afforded to the 'flofortunaue man, he might have
been *saved from that outrageous marriage into
which be was so Shamefully trepanned. There wig no
man but mast be filled with astonishment that the poor
being should be permitted so long to lie under a prseru-
lion that never should have been bezno, and that the
(Ague sbonld have been risked of his leaving behind
Alia a little Earl Portsmouth, to which lie had go more
right than the distant stranger who never saw any rue of
the parties. • The consequences of this false step it the
Court of Chancery were most deeply deplored. 'l'le ex •
posure of degradation and crime which circlateil
threughoitt the country might have beta spared by pre-
venting the possibility of their occurring when the op-
pOrtulnity was open. Ilk retrospect of eight tears
tilled his mind with horror. He did not wonder thtt.so
patty and such deep crimps had been perpetrated : he
ooly wondered that they had not been more numerous
aeit aggravated. lint even when the poor noliappy sun
lifter his return from Edinburgh in Aneast lest had mole
out such a statement as he did. why was there * teoment's
hesitation ? Who after thin could say that they. Were
sere that their fast and legal rights would be protected—
slim the motion came on for hearing, the discussions it
seemed took twenty-six hones. He believed that his
learned Friend (Mr. Wetherell) had not been speaking
for so many minutes when he noanswerably establ;lral
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the proprietry of issuing the writ. It was said that they
must hear the affidavits on the other side; as if it were
improbable for a moment that perjury would'have been
committed without limit. He would now return to
the question more immediately before the House. he
wotild *:gain disclaim the purpote of casting any reflec-
tions upon the personal character of those of whose pro-
ceedings in their public capacity it became necessary to
remark on. Surely it was no imputation on the personal
worth of a Judge, to say that he was advanced in years;
labouring under the infirmities natural to that stage of
life, and therefore unfit for the duties of the office which
be still occupied. His Hon. Friend, the Member for
Lincoln, had stated that the Chief Baron was iodis
ported, and Air. Baron Unthaws, the st nior Baron, was
called on to act in hie place. His Hon. Friend naturally
Inferred, therefore, that he was unable to attend to the
duties of his situation. There was as want of respect,
no want of tenderness, in these remarke. if he (Mr.
D. supposed that-they would be considered in the least
offensive to that Learned Judge, he would be tile last to
approve of them. He knew the character of the Chief
Baron intimately; be respected his talents and his learn-
lig, and esteemed the simplicity and kindness of his dis-
position. He owed the Chief Baron much gratitude for
personal attention. He had seen him cinder trying cir-
cumstances, and marked with satisfaction the manner in
which he discharged his difficult duties. Unstained in
his life, the kindest of men, he was sure of the love, ad-
miration, and respect, of all who had the happiness of',
knowing him. Could it be with any other than a feeling
of regret that he should allude to that event in such a
man's life, the approach of which rendered him unsuited
to the continuance of his former labours.
The general favorite, and the general friend,
Who would not grieve that life so soon should end?
Daring the illness of the preseot Master of the Rolls, he
was sect to the Rolls. Court as his deputy, and lie be-
lieved the, business etas never more satisfactorily gone
through than. by the Learned Judge; yet, notoidistand-
log, the fatigue of his duty at his great age, he was im-
mediately after sent on Circuit. This was a statement
which would give some idea of tile general state of things,
which so loudly called* iremedy. Ile would nut now
enter into the vulgar observations wade upon the delay*•
and doubts remarkable io all the decisions of the Learn-
ed Personage who, now presided io the Court of Chan-
cery, but be must observe that this evil was not to be
found id ell cases. His ,first r-'ggestion was always
right, and his enlarged awl powerful mind gem:rally
came to the same' onclusion, though in most eas-s. often
much doubting ; still There were cases to be found in
equity in which his Lordship derided promptly aid with-
out hesitation. ' tin the question which, was dehated in
that Hoes., and wilich was so ably discussed by the Rt.
Hon. tient, opposite, the alember for shined—the right
lie King in Council to expunge the Queen's name
,from the Liturgy, the Chancellor showed no disposition
to doubt. lie was at once resolved, and considering hie
laserdship's propensity to doubt on that ocrasion—"jai
ono yugds dabitat, kin d eisitet, et qui temper dukitat, hie
non dubilacit." Notnitlnnandiug that many individuals
of great legal knowledge were ofia contrary opinion with
his Lordship on this subject, yet he sai I at once. and
Without hesitation, that the right existed. In inanyialier
cases too, Isis Lordship showed n» idelination to dotilit.
He did not hesitate to declare, tliat that lilustri.ori lady
Was nuilutitleit to list of witiiesses—a rig hat poss. seed
by thelOwest subject, even in eases of high treaseu.—
Ilis Lrobiliip was equally prompt olio instsocrs.—
'lle did not hesitate to reject her Majerty's applieation for
a spezificati:u of the attack mads upon her. lie at once

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tefiniod to allow her any p irticulare 41 the claalee-
ed.* auw•nifiee being searched, which would assist her
in the vindiratlon of her innocence, an I denied her a f
sir
opportunity of repelling the fool and nnjost charge mad-
against leer. No time, titt Waste wee assigned. She was
cast upon the sea of accusation, oast tossed about by
tit
storms Of calamity. She was unhesitatingly, refosolct
all
means of safely steering through that atro lons and tin-
founded charge. Then out the questions retains; tolite-
rary property, the Chancellor, -saw thet.• was na protec-
tion'for such property unto, byinjnnetion, that the s'a-
tote was nugatory, a& at . Common Law there was no
redress; that prevention was the only secarity. Well
Mr. •Liwrence, a nautical gentleman, whosielivered seine
lectures on the physiology of titan, found that Gin, were
printed and psiblished by some bookseller. NOW it was
dear that if Mr. Lawrence was guilty of ,!.Leering. the
lectures, the bookseller was doubly gadts in publishing
them ; hut did the Chancellor say so? No, no, he (bolo-
od--snd because a Jnry might lir;sl in so ne hole or cor-
net of the book somathing libellosta, be said he. worth!
'refuse the injunction, nn the ground that he doubted it
there were not antic libel in the book. This circumstance
he stated just as he haul heard it, aid if.he were not cor-
rect, he would be set right lay Else lion. tientleui en opp.e.
site. Again, in the case of Lord Byron's; Caia—thac too
was decidedly a doibt --ta doubt whether it was 14.esplic-
mous. it was clear that the whole object of the party ap-
plying gwas defeated by this doubting, because the boolock
ap-
plying continued in the Mean time tusking hie profits. This
was quite a newdoe'rine, and be knew of no Chancellor
before who • eter refused to grant an injunction in cases
Where literary. property was concerned. Nothing totta
be snore thisahtelsoas than this doubting, and lie could:
not help saying that it was nnfortanate that hits Lordship
should posses! A swaty so foreign (nits the character of
the human mind, and which so much impeded the dies
patch necessary for properly fullillibg the duties of his
1001 station. 'lt etas rather Angular that this doubtink
was frequently in cases on which others bail no doubts
at all. Ile did not mean to ntalse any charge upon hi)
Lordship, but he could not help saying that these frequent
doubts gave room' for some suspicion of bias in his
Lordship's decisions, pat tieularly in those cases of lite-
rary property which affected the liberty of the Press.
It appeared to hint that a case was maae out which it
was impossible for the House to resist. The primal
facie case ma le oat by hi! lion. and Learned Friend
coatd not be got over. He could not help observing,
that it was a strange argument to lie told that we should
take our suggestions front the House of Lords, and not
decide for ourselves. It Was true we dill so in 1313, and
what was the result?:—That a measure was acceded to,
which experience has proved not to answer the impose
for which it was intended Ile slid not deny that the
Chancellor eras in some degree relieved by it, hut this
w.es chiefly owing to the extraordinary diligence and dis-
patch of the %Iced:bowline, to whom the Public were
now much indebted, but who, if be too were gifted with
the evraorclinary quality of doubting. would bring
down nun upon the unfortunate suitor. Such a case for
' inquiry was made not, That It- could not conceive upon
what grows.' it conld be resisted. Not only were the
interests of every Member% that House involved in this
question, hut it also deeply affected the interests of their
constituents (almost all of whom were at one time or the
other concerned in eqoity suite) and of posterity. He
most cordially expressed his intention to vote fur a
Committee of. Inquiry, which wits even neeteseary to
clear the Cheneellor from else impression of the elo-
quent and luminous statement of his lion. and Learned
•
Mr. W. COCIITENA I said that he felt tome embar-
rassment in replying to the arguments which had been
used against the constitution of the CpurtsOf fi'qnity, as
he was himself one of the officer., belonging to a depart-
ment which came under that class. Tice Hon. Member
who spoke on the other side had, iu his opinion, travelled
into matter extraneous front the subject properly under
the consideration of the !louse. The question now was,
simply whether a case haul been made oat which would
justify inquiry. The Hon. and. Learfied Gentleman who
lead just sat down said that this question was not a. all
personal to the t.ord Chancellor, but he must sip, that'
whatever opinion was enteetaineci of the farmer debate
npon that point, there could be n., doubt that what bad
fallen from the lion. and. Learned Gentleman was an at-
tack, not noon the Lord Chancellor's dilatoriness, Of the
want of judgment and knowledge displayed by him—but
the Hon. and Learned Gentleman seems to dissent; but
what did he mean when he said that no one but the Chan-
cellor would doubt upon the Portsmouth case, or the cases
of literary property to which the Mon. and Learned Gen-
tletsean alluded ? if this then be the charge, how could a
Committee of Inquiry correct the evil? It was also said
that no intosiation npou his Lordship was made by tier
Hen. and Learned Mover, ant that this construction was
put upon Isis statement only by the ingenuity of his Hon.
and Learned Friend the Attorney-tieneral ; but what, be
would ask, was meant by the lion. and Learned tient.'s
&Hamlett to a decree hinted to leave been surreptitiously
obtained? If this fact were true, it would be a subject
fur impeachment, and not for a Committee of Inquiry.
If a Committee were now conceded, its real object would
be, not to investigate the cause of delay io the Court of
Chancery, but the conduct of the Chancellor. That this
was the view with which a Committee was called for,
could not, he thought, be doubted from the statement of
tlae'llon. and Learned Gentleman. If a case were merle
out, chewing that there were arrears of business, and that
this was imputable to the delay of the Chancellor, he fully
agreed with his Hon. and Learned Friend, the Attorney-
General, that blame would autach to him; butt he hoped
to be able to show that there were no arrears of business.
'Phis required some explanation to make it intelligible to
those Members who were not acquainted with the pro-
ceedings in there Courts. A distinction was to lie wady
between the arrears of business and the number of causes
entered for hearing. The nitmber of cases and exceptions
remaining for hearing, up to June 1823, which as stated
by the Hun. and Learned Mover was (though nniotess..,
tionally, he had no doubt) incorrect, was altogether 360.
Now, the way to estimate whether these ware arrears or
not, wai by comparing them with the causes which. were
entering for hearing at any given time, and if they were
not the same, they could not be called arrears. The same
occurred in Guildhall. There were generally a numberof causes.enterctl for hearing, but they were not the same
with those that had been entered the Terms preceding.
The !mother of bills filed in 1820, were 2071, in 1821.
2,220. in 1822, 2,4739; and tie 1623, 1,033. Then since
Jan. 1322, in shout one year and a half, there were 3;1;211
bills tiled in the Court of Chancery. This he stated, in
order to chow that the number. of causes entered for
iteajing did not determine the arrears, because, besides
that they were not. the same causes, there may be a con-
siderable increase of business. If a number of causes
were :act down for hearing in 1321, which did not come
on to he heard till 1823, he would admit that they were
arrears, but if_ the same number of different causes re•
Intetted for hearing et that time', to speak technically,
he would 'say, t4at they only remaia Id to be disposed of.
Of the 3:id twist% which now remained for hearing, al-
-t all were attelown since last Michaelmas Term, and
he world then say, that if the number did not exceed the
noother ordinerily set down for hearing every Term, it
could wit be called arrrar. And hire it Was necessary to
state, that a cause w is hot herd in the Tenn in which'
it Was set down, that ail the parties might have du- notice
of it. Such copses appeared to be arrears when they
really were MO. The 11 wilier of exceptions to be slispoatel
'tit now was 125, but must, of these would be got rid of
1,4 we Jantia-y next. The hest and fairest criterion ot
.li;worerOlt the amount of arrears, was by seeing how
t touch businest remained undone inruediately before the

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