The late lamented Sir SAM...
The Times, 1824-02-14T00:00:00

IThelate lamented SirS.MUEL RoaSILLY said, andhas left notes behind him to thl same effect, that the CHAiJCELOt always dccided petitions of bankruptcy and lunacy cases with sufficient promptitude: in these he exercised himself with unwearied energy, frequently sitting at night, as well as in the morning. It wvas only in other matters that his in- decision took place, and that delay supervened upOII delay. Now the attending to bankrupts petitions makes no neces- sary part of the official duty of the LoaD CHAN;CELJQR of England: he need only attach the Great Seal to the instru- ment of bankruptcy, as he does to many other acts of which he has no personal cognizance. But%the bankriuptcy and lunacy cases are those which are productive of fees; they do not come within the provision of the salary; they arC not- covered by a fixed sum; the gains resulting from them are additional, and proportioned to the quantity of business despatched. The duties of the Speaker are those for wvhich a most liberal and noble salary is granted. A great proportion of these duties are now transferredl to other shoulders. - A fresh Speaker, a fresh hearer of appeals, is appointed; but he is paid, in the first instance, by other thai pecu- niary means. Efe is not to share the stipend as he divides the labours of the Speakership. The old CHANCJSLLOIt retains for bimself the full salary of that office, of which another is to perform half the functiots without any salary; neither has the latter any subsidiary revenie derived from I by-sources: vwhereas that time which is tbus saved fo the CHAS'CELLOR in the House of Peers, at aniother's cost, is dedicated to his own personal advantage-to the accumu- lation of fees by hearing bankruptcy and lunacy cases. Surely all our itlecs of justice and fairness are shocked by this proceedirg; and how artificMa1, how unnatural, the ar- rangement. It is impossible it should endure; nor, indeed, is it meant to endure long: it is a temporary expedient, devised to satisfy that love of gain which must soon have an end. Such is the person whose Court ani( conduct are to form the subject of an approaching motioni ia Parliament; and even in the midst of that cold assurance which confidence in numbers imparts, he cannot but be impressed in his con- science with the universal feeling, that the system wvhicll it is determined to prop up during his few remaining days, is and has been a grievous evil to the country. Would he could read the hearts of those who are obliged to tender their votes in his favour! We lInow that out of the house, there are none of tlitm *who do not wish that the a'ouses of his monstrous Court may be unsparingly treated in the ensuing debate. Bat to what use to treat it as it merits, if the resultbe not a thorougl reform? The hope is, that everv attack serves to prepare the *way for that necessary reform. But in the mean timne let it be observed, tliatthe expedlients used even to give the limited prolongation pro- posed to the grievance, are of the most injurious and portenitous nature. The constitution of one of the bouses of Parliameit, as a court of appeal, has been materially changed for that paitry end;, and few people can estimate accurately what will be the effect of this new organization on the interests and properties of future suitors to the Court, or appellants to the higher authority. There is another change, also, which has beei -silentlv brought about in the condition of an once honourable pro- fession, by the personal arts and policy of the chief of that profession, in order to preserve his owvn influence undimi- nished-his state, dignity, and profits unimpaired. The professors of the law, in a body, or, in other words; the Bar, as it is called, stood in a very different degree of esti- mation in the public snintl five-and-twenty years ago, from that in which it stands at present. Wec do not say bu- that during the same period the pre-eminence of the lawyers would have been greatly diminished by the gradual diffusion of knowledge and the consequent approach -of others towards then, even, had they been stationary. But they have been sinking, whilst all the rest of the world has been rising, till really at this moment the general feeling is, that the profession of the law is not a profession for honourable anibition to em- bark in. The country has seen all the honours hi it either distributed to men of no talent, or, if casually given to men of some little reputation for abilities, given to them. and bargained for by themn, as a reward tbr the basest de- sertion of their principles and party. There is a general subserviency of the professien to one man. Formerly there were frequently (liscords and jealousies between the Bench and the Bar; but there was always a generosity in the.fer. mer which induced it, however it might be sometimes galled by it, to pay respect to talknt; and there was an energy and buoyanqcy in the latter, that would not be kept dowri : but now the whole profession is really the fee-sim- ple of one lawyer, anid he calls the mean inen about him on account of their meatiness, anid the corrupt by those tno- tives which iifluence corrupt minds, and thus he is predo- minant-he is all in alL So let him be in that professioni, for any thing we care. Slaves generally deserve to be en- slsrved. But the mischief out of Lhe profession-the injury to the country-is that which we deplore. It is acknow- ledged that the most im-nportant changcs inust take place after his death; but important changes are taking plag~e during his life. interests are creating which it will be difficult to invalidate or set aside, when the period, which can not now long be delayed, shall arrive. The machinery erected to prop the nodiding ruin may remain and ineusn- ber the ground, after the burdensome structnre itself has sunk into it.