To The Editor Of The Time...
The Times, 1824-11-17T00:00:00

Sir,-1 perceive in your paper of yestcrdlay, n account of the openingof the new Courts ot Law at Guildhall, London * and as those at WesthAinster are very nearly finished, the judges and thc profession in geferal will at]ength beaccomusodated with decent and respectable courts for thc administration of Justice, in lieu of those pitiful and inconvenrient boles in which the Courts now sit. it is a great defect, however, in the construetion Ct the new Courts at Westmninster, that so small a space is reserved for the public. The projectoTs o1 the City Courts have avoitled thisunconstitioii,nal defect, and by the erection of spacious galleries, with clevated benches, have affbrdled accomitiodation for a vast nu.:iber of spec- tators, whe, being thus furnislhed with secats, ivill not, by perpe. tually mnovng about, interrupt thc proceedings. The Courts at cVeauninster .~re, how~eyr, dedicated to tvo very distitct purposes. In Tcrnitine thcy are devoted3 to special arguments and decisionb ot ln.tsi oi law, at which time the C,ourt is coniposedI of thlC fotir Jutiges only, The public bas little interest in, and less abilitv to coionprehen t, these mnatters, anti the Court on these oecasions is fiilcel alm1ost entirely with mcimbers of the profession. In the absence of th e jury and the public, the niorefemall and quiet a court of this descriptin is, the better; but It is impossible to conceive thse great inconvenience whic e ariss fro)ss the Yittilgs at Ni4i Priu,s being held in the same small court. Tie cxcessivc heat arisiag from a place filled to excess with birristers, officers, juryinen, plaintit%, defen- dants, and th ir hosts of witnesses, is too well known by* all who have visitedie CoartS at U cstminster to need lescription. Ilow- gver allajtc for Ieal argstmentst, these small nooks answer very badly the pArposes of OaprtS of Justice. To remedly this inconye- nience, I would propose that the county shoull1 crect spacious civil oiouts or halls of NVisi Pritse. Let thens build,for inistance, a struc- ture for this purpose.as spacious and clegant as that on Clerkenwell. grech, which7 thougli dedicated to the. ptrposes of a petty crimy inal jurisdiction, is the m6st elegatcouirt ef justice in Lon-don. However generally felt Ohis evil may be, thercis anotber, felt onlv by the prof6s&jon: i nean tc isnconvenient size andl filthy state of the law-offices ; whsich, althougis the business and the respectability ot the proitesiort of the - law has of late years niuch increaserd. .%re ti1U heti i n the low, dirty, andl confined chatubers of the Inns of Court. WVhethcr to the Gsverpment, or to the avaTice of the law- officers, this evil nmay be attributed, I asi not aw*re. The crowd and pressure on obtaining rules of tourt is iinineuise. Some solici- tors rteeni it cxpedient to apply personally for these riles others send the mcwlanct of their clerks, and even ticket..oiters, for them: so that thicre is a curious ipiixture of several hundred people of all descripitoins huddled tenethcr in one snuall low roinm. A general scuffle talkes platce for piecedence, and, as usual in these cases; might overcomes rigit-a respectable solicitor-or articled clerk ant unire- ?uently cacaping (after an unequal struggle of several hours with lawsv emlssari,es, who in point 01 garb m ore strongly resemble daist- ;nent or draymen than any thing emalunating from the profession of the law} Wl tbe loss. of a coat tail, or on errotteous process; Itmsy Ice o2.id tbt solicitors: need2send none but persons *sf the ldtter de- scriotioml to lrht these battle, bat it is to be observed, that by the strlct techlsiqZl tleZ sf tlie ~ Ia heie oessep are in tuany itt. fsin2eas to be ob,taine]d and seMa J by a eetlaitn 1icy. albd trerefora a certnin degree of responsibility attaches to the individusl' who ia to obtain them. Bae if these 5cenes of tumult can be excused, what is to be said with regard to dhe Chambers of the Twelve Judges, who Lit indi- vislu311y for several hours ever day in term to hear and decide in. terlocutorymatters, upon argument by the respective solicitors, in the venouls actions brought in eaeh court ? It is a fact, known per- haps to the profcSsion hlone, that it is- hardly possible to stand up- right tin judge Bayley's chambers. An attendance here is oppres- sive and fatiguing in the ex-treme. A tradesman, while vend{ng hi' goods with ense and fluency, and joining in the anathemasdaily thundered forth ag,inst the profession of thelaw, little dreatnsof tbe labour, fatigue, and inconvenience his solicitor endures, to obtain him a tew davs' time to plead, or any other indulgence, which, if refused tbrough the spleen or the ill-nature of his onponent, drives 2im to tbe necessity of attending three days succefsively, and sub- miing to be pent; up in this duplicate of the Blac'k HSce of Cal- cutta, and to vociferate his opponent's name tiU he is hoarse, al- though convinced he will not attend. If, indeel, both parties at. tend, ther mtter is stillworse, for it is often two hours theyarreoblige(. to spend in ehis delectable place withouit obtaining a hearing, if the previous argunients occupy much time. I have seen recogniE2anes ot mail and afedavits sworn by people in tbe courtyard (who could not rnake anL estry), the juxdge-8 clerkadmninistering the oath throug h the window; an I have seen a respectable solicitor, afflicted witht an erysipelas in his leg, compelled to stand iRz one position till readr to drop withpan 1 will only add one other circumstance, to show the great inron. venience arisiny from these places. On Thursday, the bail-boeapt J adge HOlroyd' waS not ready fortbe inspectionof solicitors ti the evenrng, sn consequmce of the vast number of bail entered, and tho lcitohattnledt clerks, ticket-portes &c., attending in agreat bod a tht imetoexcept to such bail (a proceeding necess~arvto compel themn to 3ustify), a general rush took place, and the fioak woul, inaU pobaility, have been torn to atoms with all its entries in onemoment, had not the clerk taken it into another amallhlmin.. ber adjoinin and by admitting a smaUi number of persons ata time, remedied, in some mneasure, the evil; bat this unfortunate little chamber had only one door, and so deuse was the crowd, and so reat the preasure on this door, that the members of the learned pronfession within were atal obliged to retreat through a window, an thence to drscend several feet into a court-vard behind the building, the rain pelting on. them most piteously. No infirm per- sons could hlave accomplishied this feat, although in onuisequenee they had lost their bail. Aghssdeor was sma.hed in this struirgie. I have only to add, that the einolument allowed to the solicitor for all this vexatious ordeal is only 3s. 4d. These facts ar w kio, by the profession to admit of tloibt an Itrut o wil avethecadour to make the public as wel acuaitedwi~ tem hrogh iemedium of your rpaper. It ma tnd o te utimae rm oal f te grievance on die one hand, ant'ontheothr, o aay iththevugar error that a lawyer gets his one to fltiiig. ai, Sr, oaroedient servant, T. L. -1 ---------- TO TIlE BDITOR OF TH.E TIMES.