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 LORDS LYNDHURST, BROUGHAM, 
 
 AND 
 
 LOCAL COURTS. 
 
 Reprinted from Blackwood's Magazine, with Correction; 
 and Additions. 
 
 [Price One Shilling.']
 
 LORDS LVNDHURST, BROUGHAM, 
 
 LOCAL COURTS. 
 
 " The greatest danger imaginable in this is, that it may give a handle to the 
 erecting of county judicatures — to the counter- jiininq of the kincdoji. And 
 I must confess, were this to be the effect of it, I think it were the most pernicious 
 thing imaginable. If men will indeed be giddy and unsteadi/, and if we should 
 suppose Parliaments not to be wisely sensible of their own and the public concern, 
 men may suppose that 51. may in time rise to be 50/. — and so the courts of 
 Westminster be destroyed. He that supposeth this, may suppose things yet 
 MORE DREADFUL." — Sir Maltlicw Hale. 
 
 REPRINTED FROM BLACKWOOD'S MAGAZINE, WITH 
 CORRECTIONS AND ADDITIONS. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 PRINTED FOR T. CADELL, STRAND. 
 
 1834.
 
 LONBON : 
 
 Printed by A. Svottiswoode, 
 New- Street- Square. 
 
 
 UiUC '
 
 NOTICE TO THE READER. 
 
 This article from Blackwood's Magazine has 
 been published in its present form, in accord- 
 ance with very numerous and urgent appli- 
 cations from various parts of the kingdom ; 
 and at a price which will bring it within the 
 reach of every one who desires information on 
 the very interesting and momentous question 
 which it discusses. 
 
 Inner Temple, Mai/ 10. 1834-.
 
 LORDS LYNDHURST, BROUGHAM, 
 
 i 
 
 AND 
 
 LOCAL COURTS. 
 
 It is amusing- to see the consequences of any attempt to 
 set Lord Brougham rig-ht witli tlie pubhc, by dispersing- 
 the mists of popularity which confuse and exaggerate 
 his dimensions — by pointing out his true position, and 
 exposing his plan of action. His numerous, active, and dis- 
 interested emissaries forthwith commence persuading * the 
 people ' that he is atrociously misrepresented and per- 
 secuted — and that by those only who batten on abuses 
 which his Lordship is wisely and patriotically bent upon 
 extirpating. Lord Brougham — why should not * a man 
 be first in his own cause'? — blows a sharp blast of 
 egotism in Parliament, modestly likening himself, for 
 instance, to ' the great Lord Somers ; ' — and his friends 
 forthwith tell the people that as Lord Somers was opposed 
 in his great reforms by ' certain selfishly interested folk,' 
 so Lord Brougham, &c. &c. &c. ! — hoping that, like 
 bullies in an election crowd, they can thus deprive the 
 unpopular candidate of a hearing ; that they can prepossess 
 the intelligent middling and lower orders against even 
 listening to the statement of an honest and fearless en- 
 quirer, and supply them with catch-words and slang with 
 which to hoot him out of the field. All these poor tricks, 
 however, we see through ami despise. We come, there- 
 fore, confidently before the non -professional public, and 
 bring to them an array of facts already well known to 
 Imvi/ers — and request, nay demand, a foir hearing : for 
 the occasion of our doing so, the introduction of Local 
 Courts, is one fraught with the uttermost consequence to 
 the country. 
 
 B
 
 2 
 
 Lord Brougham has contrived to make himself, per- 
 haps, the most popular person in the kingdom. It has, 
 indeed, been the sole herculean labour of his life to 
 become so. He has manifested throughout his career 
 a singleness of purpose in pursuing this object, backed 
 by prodigious physical and great mental energies, which 
 could scarcely fail of conducting him to success. See 
 then the dizzy elevation he has attained — the Chancellor- 
 ship of England ; a position of paramount sway in the 
 Government ; the object of fervent flattery, philosophical, 
 oratorical, and literary ; the idol of the people. We 
 doubt whether any single individual, in ancient or modern 
 times, ever aimed at levying contributions from so many 
 and such apparently incompatible sources. And, in order 
 to do so, it cannot be fairly said that Lord Brougham has 
 been *' every thing by turns, and nothing long ; " for he 
 has, throughout his varied and brilliant career, subordi- 
 nated every thing — every occupation — every accom- 
 plishment — every failure — every triumph — to the one 
 object we have mentioned — popularity ; and that, con- 
 summate and permanent. He has striven, with perse- 
 vering cunning, to entwine himself with every fibre of 
 the people's heart ; he would not have you touch one 
 without the other ; they must stand or fall together. 
 That his conduct has not at times exhibited features of 
 singular weakness and imprudence, we do not mean to 
 assert ; there have indeed been instances of such ; but 
 they have been lost — consumed in the blaze of his suc- 
 cessful ambition. Truly it is difficult, on many accounts, 
 to speak soberly and accurately of Lord Brougham's pre- 
 tensions ; for the eye that would have scanned all, is apt, 
 on a nearer approach, to settle exclusively on his more 
 prominent qualities. 
 
 There ascended, many years ago, amidst the shouts 
 of a vast concourse of spectators, a magnificent balloon. 
 All eyes were charmed with its majestic figure, and 
 dazzled with the variety of its hues, which the sun irra- 
 diated with tenfold splendour. Onward, upward it 
 moved with graceful security, as in its appropriate ele- 
 ment — gently oscillating high over-head, when it sud- 
 denly collapsed, and fell. Alas, the eyes that delighted
 
 3 
 
 in its glorious figure, could not ascertain the strength of 
 its contexture, or detect the fatal flimsiness of its seams ! 
 Suppose, now, a by-stander, while this balloon was in- 
 flating, had ventured to scrutinize the expanding volumes 
 of rustling silk, and even at length express a hint of their 
 insecurity — with what supercilious incredulity would he 
 have been listened to ! Verily — Lord Brougham is the 
 balloon ! and such the state of feeling with which we sit 
 down to examine and expose his character and pre- 
 tensions. Not that we distrust our own spirit to enter 
 into and prosecute the enquiry, or the sources of our 
 information — we are confident of both ; but we do ap- 
 prehend that his Lordship's admirers are so numerous 
 and bigoted, and he so self-satisfied, that all we say will 
 be but " as the idle wind, which he and they regard 
 not ! '* Be that, however, as it may, we shall proceed 
 at once to examine certain features of Lord Brougham's 
 official character ; and, in point of intellectual and ora- 
 torical qualifications, institute a comparison between him 
 and his predecessor on the Woolsack ; and by the time 
 we have done so, the public will doubtless allow us to 
 place the laurel on the stately brow of Lord Lyndhurst. 
 
 From the first moment of Mr. Brougham's ap})earing 
 in public, he commenced ingratiating himself with the 
 people. He came out on the popular interest — and he 
 has since distanced and obscured all his brilliant com- 
 petitors in the pursuit. He fought for *' the people" in 
 the Edinburgh Review ; became foremost in vehemence 
 among their champions in Parliament ; his professional 
 efforts were judiciously exerted in their cause ; he even 
 went among them in his individual capacity, and ha- 
 rangued them on precisely those topics most likely to fasci- 
 nate them — Education and the Slave Trade. No one ever 
 timed his appearances with such tact as Mr. Brougham. 
 He never struck till the iron was hot — and then lie 
 struck, indeed, with cyclopean force, till the country rung- 
 with the blow. His pursuit of popular applause deserved 
 the name of a science. He has profoundly studied the 
 anatomy of the people's heart, the exact mode of reach- 
 ing, and producing an impression upon it. His object 
 
 B 2
 
 has been to endear liimself to it. With vast tact, versa- 
 tile ability, inexliaustible euerg y, and daring- courag-e, he 
 ever took Iiis place at the head of their ranks ; he ran- 
 sacked history, ancient and modern, for inflammatory and 
 flattering topics ; in their behalf, he by turns wheedled 
 and threatened " their enemies ; " he became " all things 
 to all men" for " the people ; '* he thoroughly identified 
 his interests with theirs — and laboured to persuade them, 
 that, if they triumphed, it must be throuyli him. And 
 marvellously did op])ortunities favour him. Think of 
 the Queen's trial ! What a godsend for Mr. Brough- 
 am ! Mark the judgment with which he wielded the 
 popularity it gave him ! He began his enquiries into the 
 administration of Charities ! — Why need we dwell upon 
 his arduous and persevering- exertions in this enquiry — in 
 the abolition of the Slave Trade — "Popular Education" 
 — the Liberty of the Press — the "Reform" of the Law — 
 the " Reform " of the Representation ? In short, by first 
 artfully selecting no topics but such as were popular and 
 palatable, he at length gained an ascendency which enabled 
 him to make any question he chose to advocate palatable 
 and popular. As his power increased, so increased his 
 disposition to exercise it. He had only to select his ob- 
 ject, and the people ensured him success. Then he began 
 to meditate changes on a mighty scale, in every depart- 
 ment of the country ; whether for better or for Morse, 
 change he would have — and that, " for the benefit " of 
 " the people." That this is a correct account of his 
 motives and designs, may be distinctly seen in the un- 
 guarded frankness with which he expressed himself in a 
 moment of delirious ecstasy — on the occasion of his 
 return for Yorkshire. See his own sense of the import- 
 ance, whether for good or for evil, he had at length 
 acquired : — 
 
 " It will arm me with an extraordinary, and vast, and 
 important accession of power to serve — the people of 
 Eiu/Iand.^^ And he subsequently expressed himself in a 
 similar strain of triumphant enthusiasm, characterising 
 his return for Yorkshire as 
 
 " The highest honour of his life, the pride and exult- 
 ation of which could never be eradicated from his nund
 
 but by death, nor in the least degree allayed by the lapse 
 of time — the most sj)lendi(l distinction which any subjects 
 could confer upon a fellow-citizen." 
 
 He solemnly and publicly devoted himself afresh on 
 this occasion, in terms of vehement asseveration, to the 
 service of the peojjle ; j)rotesting that no offer of place, 
 however eminent, should alienate him from their ranks — 
 should displace him from the position to which they had 
 elevated him. A distinguished gentleman, at once a 
 Yorkshire client and constituent, asked him who was 
 likely to succeed Lord Lyndhurst ? Mr. Brougham 
 mentioned Sir John Leach. " It is supposed," said his 
 companion, with a significant smile, " that a certain 
 member for Yorkshire is most likely to be the new Chan- 
 cellor." "God forbid! God forbid! God forbid! 
 
 It is impossible," replied Mr. Brougham, with vehement 
 emphasivS. Alas, however, what is man ? The gorgeous 
 vision of the seals presently glittered before his eyes, and 
 in three days' time they v>^ere deposited before the gaunt 
 figure of Lord Brougham and Vaux, sitting upon the 
 Woolsack ! He took an early opportunity of assuring 
 the Yorkshiremen, that his acceptance of office — " far 
 from disabling him to discharge his duty to his country — 
 far from rendering his services less efficient, had but en- 
 larged the sphere of his utility, and held out the gratifying 
 prospect, that, in serving his king, he should at the same 
 time be better able to serve his country." His Lordship 
 will forgive us, however, if we say it is one of the objects 
 of this paper to prove, that, in making this desperate 
 bound, his 
 
 " Vaulting ambition did o'erleap itself, 
 And fall on t'othei- side." 
 
 Consider for a moment the position Mr. Brougliam oc- 
 cupied before his elevation. He was leader of the House of 
 Commons ; })aramount within, idolized out of doors — 
 and was besides, perhaps, one of the first men at the Bar, 
 in point of practice and emolument. Look at the exten- 
 sive machinery his sole hand had set working ; — a Com- 
 mission, extending the whole body of the conmion law 
 upon the rack of investigation ; another ransacking the 
 
 B 3
 
 6 
 
 records of every charitable institution in the country ; 
 an extraordinary ori^anisation for '•' educating " the people, 
 i. 8., disseminating his ovvn principles throughout the lower 
 classes of society ; he had called forth a storm of fury on 
 the subject of slavery, which no earthly force could prevent 
 from devastating the Colonies — and chiefly stimulated 
 the lower orders into their clamour for Parliamentary 
 Reform ! Before proceeding, however, to show how he 
 has " served his King and his country," as Lord Chan- 
 cellor, we shall advert to one most characteristic feature of 
 his crafty policy — that by which he has striven, and yet 
 strives most effectually, to elevate himself upon the shoul- 
 ders of the people — we mean — and grave is the charge 
 as true — his uniform, artful depreciation of the aris- 
 tocracy. Finding that he could not safely rise and retain 
 his eminence, but at their expense, he has taken pro- 
 (hgious pains to point them out as " the enemies of the 
 people " — the legitimate objects of their distrust and 
 hatred ; possessing no real claims to superiority — ever 
 grasping at rights and privileges inconsistent with the 
 welfare of *' the people." He has based much powerful 
 declamation, many successful reasonings, on the assump- 
 tion, that, if the people obtain their rights in any matter, it 
 must be in spite of the aristocracy ; he has paid them, 
 from time to time, when likely to be most effective, the 
 bitterest ironical compliments ; and constantly insinuated 
 that their order is of trifling value, though heavy cost, to 
 the State. Examine his various speeches and \\Titings, 
 and see if what we state be not true. We shall select a 
 few instances. Mark the tone of his peroration on the 
 Queen's trial : — 
 
 *' My Lords, I pray your Lordships to pause. You 
 are standing on the brink of a precipice." — " My Lords, 
 from the horror of this catastrophe — save the country — 
 save yourselves from this situation. Rescue that country 
 of which you are the ornaments^ but in which you could 
 flourish no longer when severed from the people, than the 
 blossom when cut off from the root and stem of the tree 
 — save that country, that you may continue to adorn it.** 
 — " The Aristocracy which is shaken," &c. " But 1 do 
 here pour forth my supplications at the Throne of Mercy,
 
 that that mercy may be poured down upon the people of 
 this country in a larger measure them the merits of its 
 rulers may deserve^ and that your hearts may be turned 
 to justice." 
 
 Observe how artfully Mr. Brougham points the finger 
 of public odium and disappointment at the Lords ; how 
 slightly he speaks of their station and uses ; and prays 
 that their hearts may be *' turned " to justice ! Mark him 
 again (July 8. 1825), in a speech to the Mechanics'' In- 
 stitutCy sneeringly representing the Aristocracy as " our 
 self-nominated superiors ! " 
 
 See the threatening tone he assumes — most unneces- 
 sarily — in his speech on the Local Courts Bill (Dec. 2. 
 1830) :— 
 
 " / counsel you to let no means unbefitting your 
 high station — to let no pride of place prevent your ear- 
 nestly attempting this great work. And let neither your 
 station nor pride be offended, when I tell you that a feel- 
 ing has gone abroad of disrespect towards both Houses of 
 Parliament," &c. — *' if unhappily one party should be 
 temporarily alienated." — " I would say — maintain your 
 own riyhtsy preserve your own dignity ^ but take care and 
 do your duty to yourselves and the alienated party ^ by 
 improving their condition, and removing all just grounds 
 of complaint. Trust me, my Lords, the road to duty — 
 the door of reconcilement — is open to you ; and it will be 
 exclusively your own faults if again the language of dis- 
 respect is addressed to you from any portion of the King's 
 subjects." 
 
 Here he assumes that the Aristocracy and the people 
 are estranged, and implores the former not to let their 
 "station" and "pride" prevent a "reconciliation." 
 
 Mark, again, the air of insolent menace with which, in an 
 hour of perilous excitement, he seizes the opportunity of 
 holding up this obnoxious order (in the person of one of 
 its most amiable and accomplished members) to the dis- 
 like, contempt, and ridicule of " the people." 
 
 " My noble friend (!) [Earl of Dudley,] too, who 
 lives near Birmingham, and may therefore be supposed to 
 know his own neighbours better than we can, sneers at 
 
 B 4-
 
 8 
 
 the statesmen of Birmingham, and at the philosophers of 
 Manchester. He will live — I tell him — he will live 
 to learn a lesson of practical wisdom from the states- 
 men of Birmingham, and of forbearance from the phi- 
 losophers of Manchester. My noble friend was ill-advised 
 when he thought of displaying his talent for sarcasm upon 
 120,000 people in the one place, and 180,000 in the 
 other. He did little by such exhibitions towards gaining 
 a stock of credit from the order he belongs to — little 
 towards conciliating for the order he adorns, by point- 
 ing his little epigrams against such mighty masses of 
 the people. He has thought it becoming and discreet 
 to draw himself up in the pride of hexameter and pen- 
 tameter verse — skill in classic authors — the knack of 
 turning fine sentences, and to look down ivith derision on 
 the knowledge of his unrepresented fellow countrymen, in 
 the weightier matters of practical legislation. I have no 
 desire ever to hear them read a Latin line, or hit off in 
 the mother tongue any epigram. In these qualities, they 
 ««c? /freely yield the palm to others. I, ^5 their repre- 
 sentative, yield it." ' ' yl^ain, representing them here, — 
 for them I bow" [suiting the action to the word] " to my 
 noble friend's immeasurable superiority in all things clas- 
 sical or critical. In book lore, in purity of diction, in 
 correct prosody, even in elegance of personal demeanour, 
 / and they hide our diminished heads. But to say that I 
 will take my noble friend's judgment on any grave prac- 
 tical subject^ — on any thing touching the great interests 
 of our commercial country, or any of those manly ques- 
 tions which engage the statesman, the philosopher, in 
 practice, — to say that I could ever dream of putting the 
 noble Earl's opinions, ay, or his knowledge, in any com- 
 parison tcith the bold, rational, judicious, reflecting, 
 7iatural, and, because natural, the trustworthy opinions 
 of those honest men, who always give their strong natural 
 sense a fair play, having no affectations to ivarp their 
 judgment — to dream of any such comparison as this, 
 would be on my part a flattery," &c. — *' I speak now of 
 the middle classes, of those hundreds of thousands of 
 respectable persons, the most numerous, and by far the 
 most wealthy, order in the community ; for if all your
 
 Lordships^ castles, mcmoi's, rights of ivarren, and rixflits 
 of chase, with all your broad acres, were brought to the 
 hammer, and sold at fifty years' purchase, the price would 
 fly up and kick the beam, when counterpoised by the vast 
 and solid riches of those middle classes, who are also the 
 GENUINE DEPOSITARIES of sohcr, rational, intelligent, 
 and honest English feeling. Unable though they may be 
 to round a period, or point an epigram, tjiey are solid 
 right-judging men ; and, above all, not given to change. 
 They will neither be led astray by false reasoning, nor 
 deluded by impudent flattery (!) ; but so neither will they 
 be scared by classical quotations, or brow-beaten by fine 
 sentences ; and as for an epigram, they care as little for it 
 as they do for a cannon ball T^ 
 
 This, to be sure, was said ostensibly of Lord Dudley 
 only — of Lord Brougham's " friend," — and very kindly 
 said of him, too — but he must be blind, indeed, who does 
 not see that — it was really said and meant of the whole 
 '* order " to which he belonged I Ponder well, then, this 
 passage I The Lord Chancellor, knowing that the 
 country was very near the verge of rebellion — that 
 armed organised bodies of " hundreds of thousands" 
 were talking of marching up to London, inflamed by the 
 insidious misrepresentations of Lord Brougham's govern- 
 ment — mark this Lord Chancellor rising from the Wool- 
 sack, to conciliate the people, to calm the smothered 
 indignation of the Peers, by avowing himself the Re- 
 presentative of these People ! The Lord Chancellor 
 their Representative ! The self-dubbed representative of 
 these insurgent *' myriads " was then standing by the 
 Woolsack — taunting the doomed aristocracy as the con- 
 temptible but designing enemies of *' the people" — hold- 
 ing them up as dift'ering from " the people" only in 
 frivolous and insignificant accomplishments, and yet resist- 
 ing their claims to the death ! We believe that on this 
 memorable occasion *' more was meant than met the ear;" 
 that Lord Brougham, true to the principles of liis whole 
 life, distinctly calculated tlie force of his words — that 
 they v/ere timed with a tremendous precision, and that 
 Providence alone averted the result. 
 
 One other instance — out of very many that could be se-
 
 10 
 
 lected — and we shall proceed. It was on the last debate 
 upon the Local Courts Bill. In the midst of much arro- 
 gant egotism, some of the Peers — finding the Chancellor 
 at his tricks again, harping on his old string — smiled. 
 See the malice of the cunning * Chancellor ! — 
 
 " I shall endeavour to discharge my duty, thankful 
 even for half an inch of concession in favour of the 
 people!*^ — *' It matters little your dashing the cup of 
 promise from my lips ; but it does matter your damping 
 the hopes and dashing the cup of promise from the lips of 
 the people of England.! [A smile.] I expected that 
 smile, counselled as you have been that it would be de- 
 grading to you not to disregard such consequences. [No ! 
 no !] I say yes ; you were told to disregard the feelings 
 of the people ! [No ! no !] TFell — then I am to 
 understand you do regard the feelings of the poor suitor!" 
 [Cheers.] 
 
 We were present at the debate, and never can forget 
 the indignation excited by this despicable manoeuvre I 
 The sarcasm about the " smile," however, is not original. 
 Lord Brougham has borrowed it from that distinguished 
 little gentleman, Mr. Roebuck, the member for Bath, who, 
 in the course of his maiden speech in reply to Mr. Stan- 
 ley, on the Address, observed, — "He knew the cause of 
 that sneer from the honourable member ; and if any 
 thing was more distinctive than another of true aristocratic 
 feeling, it was, that when any appeal was made to the 
 kindlier and more honest feelings, they were sure to meet 
 it with a laugh!" This leaf to be plucked by the Lord 
 Chancellor out of the green chaplet of the little member 
 for Bath — and that without scruple or acknowledgment, 
 — is somewhat hard upon rising parliamentary talent ! 
 
 * " We take cunning for a sinister or crooked wisdom ; and 
 certainly there is a great difference between a cunning and a wise 
 man — not only in point of honesty but ability. There he that can 
 pack the cards, and yet cannot play well. So there are some that 
 are good in canvasses and factions, that are otherwise weak men." 
 — Bacon'* Essays. 
 
 •j- Lord Brougham — or his secretary — wrote a letter to Birming- 
 ham; urging them to get up petitions in favour of the Bill ! — stating 
 that he was twitted in the House with the absence of. petitions ! !
 
 11 
 
 We cite these instances more in sorrow than in anger ; 
 and, while we are on this part of Lord Brougham's cha- 
 racter, cannot avoid noticing another manoeuvre of his 
 Lordship, practised about the time of debating the Reform 
 Bill — when there was a slight manifestation of resistance 
 to the payment of taxes. He caught up the idea — bla- 
 zoned the intelligence from the Woolsack, magnified the 
 mischief, by, in fact, suggesting its perpetration, — and 
 then in lukewarm terms cautioned "the people" against 
 doing any thing so improper, even so unconstitutional ! 
 Was his Lordship acting on a hint in the writings of Lord 
 Bacon, when he speaks of " teaching dangers to come on., 
 hg over-earlg buckling toivards them I"' 
 
 Since Lord Brougham's elevation to the Woolsack, he 
 has developed certain qualities for which neither his friends 
 nor enemies gave him credit — and it is easy to account 
 for them ! His abuse, as " Mr." Brougham, of Lord 
 Eldon, will never be forgotten. Night after night did he 
 vent in the House of Commons the most virulent calum- 
 nies against that most gifted and amiable nobleman — who 
 repaid it, as became his superior qualities, but with an in- 
 crease of personal courtesy, whenever he had the oppor- 
 tunity of manifesting it. But how did Lord Brougham 
 act when, on the Woolsack, he fancied himself aggrieved ? 
 We must explain a little, and that little will give a key to 
 much of his Lordship's conduct. Did you ever chance to 
 hear, reader of a certain Sir Edward Sugden ? Do you 
 know that he is the most consummate real-property lawyer 
 that lives — perhaps that ever lived — in this country ? 
 That he is admitted on all hands to be the first practitioner 
 in the Court of Chancery ? This is the man over whose 
 head, to the indignation of the profession. Lord Brougham 
 scrambled into the Chancellor's chair; this formidable indi- 
 vidual was henceforth to apjiear before Lord Brougham (!) 
 as a counsel, and that in the profoundest discussions upon 
 the most subtle and complicated of sciences. He was not 
 to be cajoled by the new Chancellor into acquiescence in 
 his various innovations ; for no sooner was his Lordship 
 seated, than, like a madman *' scattering firebrands, 
 arrows, and death," he began to suggest alterations by 
 wholesale in a system with which he was about as familiar
 
 12 
 
 as his coachman or mace-bearer. Sir Edward, in his place 
 in Parliament, sngoested an enquiry into certain man- 
 oeuvres of his Lordship. As soon as this came to the 
 ears of the courteous and philosophic Chancellor, did he 
 temperately and dignifiedly vindicate himself ? He called 
 Sir Edward Sugden a biuj ! Hear his very words, lest 
 you should doubt the truth of our statement : — 
 
 ** Yes, my Lords, we have all read that it is this 
 heaven-born thirst for information, and its invariable con- 
 comitants — a self-disregarding- and candid mind, that 
 most distinguishes man from the lower animals — from 
 the crawling reptile^ from the ivasp that stincfs, and from 
 the wasp that fain ivould but cannot sting : — distin- 
 guishes iiSy my Lords^ not only from the insect that 
 crawls and stinys, but from that more powerful^ because 
 more offensive, creature — the bug — ivhich, poicerful 
 and offensive as it is, after all is but vermin. Yes, I 
 say, it is this laudable propensity, upon which humanity 
 justly prides itself, which, I have no doubt, solely in- 
 fluenced the learned gentleman to whom I allude, to seek 
 for information which it would be cruel to stingily 
 gratify." — " The cavil of little minds," &c. * 
 
 Gentle but much shocked reader, this was uttered by 
 the Lord High Chancellor, from his place in the House of 
 Lords ! Wlien we read it, after our indignation had some- 
 what subsided, it brought to our recollection a felicitous 
 passage in the speech of a Mr. Henry Brougham when 
 defending a certain convicted. libeller of the clergy: it 
 shews both the premeditation of the abominable outrage 
 on Sir Edward Sugden, and that, when Lord Brougham 
 considers he has once uttered a good thing, he does not 
 scruple to borrow even from himself ! — 
 
 " Not that they — * the clergy,' — wound deeply or 
 injure much ; but that is no fault of theirs ; without 
 hurting, they give trouble and annoyance. The insect 
 brouyht into life by corruption, and nestled in flth, 
 [faugh!] I mean the dirt fly, though its fliyht be lowly 
 and its stiny puny, can swarm, and buzz, and irritate the 
 skin, and offend the nostril — [faugh ! faugh !] — and 
 
 * Parliamentary Debates, July 26tli, 1832.
 
 13 
 
 altogether give nearly as much annoyance as the ivasp, 
 whose nohler nature it aspires to emulate." * 
 
 Alas, is it not shocking that the Woolsack should he 
 polluted by such filthiness and abuse ? To see Lord 
 Brougham — cetatis suce 55 — diving into the forgotten 
 depths of Mr. Henry Brougham's scurrilities, in search 
 of the dirtiest drop he could find, to spurt it upon a gentle- 
 man before whose superior learning he trembled daily ? 
 Indeed, ever since he has occupied the seat of the Chief 
 Equity Judge, he has displayed a petty spite — a paltry, 
 peevish, irritable humour — towards Sir Edward Sugden, 
 which nothing can explain, but his galling sense of 
 inferiority. Well may the latter exclaim — 
 
 " Let the galled jade wince — our withers are unwrung." 
 
 Indeed, Lord Brougham is not the man he was. Emu- 
 lating the absurd ambition of Lord Erskine, he has leaped 
 into a situation for which he is exquisitely unfitted, and is 
 day after day mortified by a consciousness of the ridicu- 
 lous position he occupies in the profession. Does he 
 believe himself competent to comprehend — to correct! — 
 the reasonings of the veriest tyro in Equity that trembles 
 before him ? — He anxiously gives out that he is hated and 
 persecuted by the lawyers. Can he affect to wonder at 
 their ridiculing his pretensions ? Does he imagine them 
 such preposterous dolts as not to see that his mismanage- 
 ment of the Court of Chancery is obvious even to the non- 
 professional public ? Why, they are perpetually shocked 
 by instances of his ignorance — and it is to this alone 
 they attribute those helter-skelter blundering movements 
 which his Lordship dignifies and popularises by the name 
 of Reforms ! We regret to say, that Lord Brougham 
 has displayed an incredible degree of ignorance, not only 
 of the practice of his Court, but of the very elementary 
 
 * Selections from Mr.B.'s Speeches, pp.98, 99. (1832.) It 
 would seem that his Lordship adds to his many acquirements the 
 science of entomologi/, from the use he makes of the terms " in- 
 sects," " vermin," " bugs," " gnats," &c. &c. They supply him 
 with his choicest allusions in matter of sarcasm, or rather abuse ; 
 and nearly earned him a summary chastisement from a Yorkshire 
 gentleman — Mr. Martin Stapleton — whom he ventured to term 
 on the hustings " a paltry insect ! "
 
 14 
 
 principles of the law. The ensuing instance may be 
 vouched for. During- a certain late case, " Aniphlett v. 
 Parke," the following colloquy occurred between his 
 Lordship and Counsel : — 
 
 Lord Chancellor (interrupting Counsel) — What ! 
 do you mean to say that if I were to devise an estate to 
 trustees, on trust to sell, with a direction that out of the 
 produce of that estate my trustees were to purchase 
 another — ichich latter estate I thereby devised to B — 
 why — do you mean to contend that such a devise would 
 be good? 
 
 Counsel. — I apprehend, my Lord, perfectly so ! 
 
 Lord Chancellor. — What ! an estate purchased after 
 the date of the will ? 
 
 Counsel. — Most certainly, my Lord ! 
 
 His Lordship drew back in his seat, confounded at the 
 pertinacity of Counsel, simply through his ignorance of 
 the hackneyed, the notorious, and very fundamental prin- 
 ciple of equity, that *' it considers that to be done, which 
 is directed to be done ! " * 
 
 We wish, for the credit of the country, that this were 
 a solitary instance ! It is painful thus to have cause for 
 exposing Lord Brougham's ignorance of that system 
 which he has so rashly undertaken to administer, so pre- 
 sumptuously to overturn — but we think it our duty to do 
 so. We belong ourselves to the English bar ; and, in 
 common with our brethren, feel indignant at the spirit of 
 ungenerous, virulent depreciation towards us — of mean 
 sycophancy towards " the people" — which his Lordship 
 has manifested in his recent attacks upon our honour and 
 independence. Lord Brougham, as he was always — and 
 is — ready to snatch at any opportunity of pointing out 
 the Aristocracy to the hatred and contempt of the people, 
 so groans in spirit to render the same kindly offices to the 
 
 * See also the case of Monckton v. Attorney-General (2 Russell 
 and Mylne's Rep. 157.), in which Lord Brougham utters, deli- 
 berately, the following : — "It is not more true that things that 
 are equal to the same thnig are equal to one another, than that 
 persons related by blood to the same individual, are more or less 
 related by blood to each other ! " There is a mathematical Chan- 
 cellor for you I — Vide quoque Drax t*. Grosvenor, &c. &c. &c.
 
 15 
 
 Bar — or render it subservient to his own purposes. 
 Verily, he that hates " those damned attorniesy" may 
 yet be anxious to bribe the Bar ! Lord Brougham and his 
 friends have one ready answer to every exposure of his 
 ignorance and quackery, — that " the profession" are 
 " interested" in opposing him. Interested ! What would 
 his Lordship think of a gaping ploughman finding his 
 way into the midst of complicated steam machinery, and 
 forthwith finding fault with it, and directing alterations in 
 every part of it ? If the engineers were to protest against 
 his interference, and represent to him his incompetence, he 
 Avould, with Lord Brougham, find a ready answer — 
 " Oh, I daresay I know nothing about it ! Very likely ! 
 But can you get my partisans to believe you — you, who 
 are so deeply interested in continuing the abuses I am 
 correcting?" — ^^ Deeply interested!" quoth the indig- 
 nant engineers — "of course we are! We know the 
 machinery, its working, and uses — but do you? " — We 
 affirm boldly that Lord Brougham is utterly unfit for his 
 office — none knows it better than he ; and hence his 
 anxiety to " shuffle off the mortal coil" of business — to 
 sever the political and legal functions of the Lord Chan- 
 cellor. These latter, the newspapers inform us, his Lord- 
 ship coolly offered to — Sir Edward Sugden — an 
 amende, perhaps, to the victim of his former insult. Sir 
 Edward will not be the man we take him for, if he 
 accepts tliem. 
 
 One of the grounds on which Lord Brougham founds 
 his frequent appeals to popular conmiiseration, is " the 
 falsehoods which are vented touching his disposal of the 
 patronage of office." Without ripping up every appoint- 
 ment he has made — and we are tempted to do so — we 
 shall glance at one or two instances of his disposal of 
 patronage, glaringly at variance with his deliberately 
 formed, at least deliberately expressed, opinions on that 
 subject, as " Mr." Brougham. Tlius fairly and ably he 
 spoke on the 7th February, 1828, in the House of Com- 
 mons : — 
 
 " The great object of every government, in selecting 
 the Judges of the land, should be to select the most 
 skilful and learned men in their profession." — " There
 
 16 
 
 ought not to be, in choosing Judges from the bar, any ex- 
 clusion or restriction. He alone ought to be selected in 
 whom talent, integrity, and experience most abound, and 
 are best united. The office of a Judge is of so important 
 and responsible a nature, that one should suppose the 
 members of government would naturally require that they 
 should be at liberty to make their selection from the 
 whole field of the profession — that they would themselves 
 claim to have the whole field open to their choice. Who 
 would not believe that a ministry would not eagerly seek 
 to have all men before them, when their object must be 
 to choose the most able and accomplished ? * * * But 
 is this the case ? Is all the field really open ? Are there 
 no portions of the domain excluded from the selector's 
 authority ? True, and no law prevents it — * * * but a 
 custom, * more honoured in the breach than in the observ- 
 ance,' that party ^ as well as merit, must be studied in 
 these appointments ! * * * It must be admitted, that if a 
 man belongs to a party opposed to the views of govern- 
 ment, if — ivhich the best and ablest of meiiy and the 
 Jiftest for the Bench, may ivell be — he is known for 
 opinions hostile to the ministry, he can expect no jyromo- 
 tion — rather let m,e say, the country has no chance of 
 his elevation to the Bench, ivhatever be his talents, or 
 hoiv conspicuously soever he may shine in all the most 
 important departments of the profession. In Scotland, 
 it is true, a more liberal policy has been pursued, and the 
 Right Honourable Gentleman opposite (Sir Robert Peel) 
 has done himself great honour by recommending Mr. 
 Gillies, and Mr. Cranstoun, and Mr. Clerk — all as ivdl 
 known for party men there as Lord Eldon is here — 
 though, unfortunately their party has been what is now 
 once more termed the wrong side ; but all men of the 
 very highest eminence among the professors of the law. * * 
 But, sir, what is our system ? If, at the present moment, 
 the whole of Westminster Hall were to be called on, hi 
 the event of any vacancy unfortunately occurring among 
 the Chief Justices, to name the man best suited to fill 
 it — to point out the individual whose talents and in- 
 tegrity best deserve the situation, whose judicial exertions 
 were most likely to shed blessings on his country — can
 
 17 
 
 any one doubt for a moment whose name would he 
 echoed on every side ? JVo, there coidd he no question as 
 to the individual to whom would point the common con- 
 sent of those most competent to judge. JBut then he is 
 known as a party-man — and all his merits, were they 
 even greater than they are, would be in vain extolled by 
 his profession, and in vain desiderated by his country. I 
 
 REPROBATE THIS MISCHIEVOUS SYSTEM, by wMch the 
 
 Empire loses the services of some of the ablest, the most 
 learned, and the most honest men ivithin its bounds"* 
 
 It is to be presumed that the frank and upright speaker 
 did not wish to point the attention of the House to him- 
 self, as the person possessing such eminent qualifications 
 for the Bench — though this would seem questionable — 
 since he finds it necessary to say, shortly after, " /can- 
 not take the situation of a Judge — I cannot afford it." 
 Oh, no, the eye of this disinterested and philosophical 
 reformer was, it seems, all the while, fixed on the glisten- 
 ing summit of the profession. 
 
 " No sparrow's hop from twig to twig was his — 
 Whose powerful pinions seek the higher air ! " 
 
 The House — the whole profession — assumed, and 
 correctly, that Sir James Scarlett was the individual 
 alluded to. This consummate lawyer has long occupied 
 the proudest station at the Bar — and none knew his 
 admirable qualities more thoroughly than his sincere and 
 eloquent panegyrist. Well ! — Since the delivery of this 
 speech, the two Chief Justiceships have fallen vacant, and 
 been filled up by two different Administrations. Under 
 that of the Duke of Wellington, the Chief Justiceship of 
 the Common Pleas, by the direction of Lord Lyndhurst, 
 was adorned by the elevation of Sir Nicholas Tindal — 
 of whose character, as a lawyer, both practical and con- 
 stitutional, and qualities as a man, it is needless to speak, 
 seeing they speak for themselves. Since the accession 
 of Lord Grey to power, the death of that most distin- 
 
 * Speech on the Administration of the Law, pp. 17, 18, 19. 
 
 C
 
 18 
 
 giiished jn(lg"f , Lord Tonterden, j)laced the Chief Justice- 
 ship of the King's Bench at the disposal of Ministers. 
 Now — said the profession — now, said the pubHc — for 
 Sir James Scarlett ! But no ; not a breath — not a whis- 
 per of him ! 
 
 " Oh, no, vve never mention him, 
 His name is never heard " 
 
 Lord Brougham's 
 
 " Lips are now forbid to speak 
 That once familiar word " 
 
 in the ears of Lord Grey ! Why ? Because Littledale, 
 Parke, Patteson, Taunton — the eminent puisne Judges 
 — were, one of them, entitled to the preference ? No, 
 but Sir James had perpetrated a certain enormity — had 
 committed the " sin never to be forgiven" by the present 
 Ministry — he had presumed to oppose the Reform Bill, 
 skilfully but temperately. Did that impugn his legal 
 knowledge ? blot out his thirty years' experience ? warp 
 his discretion and independence, and so render it not only 
 impolitic, but unsafe, to invest him with the judicial 
 ermine ? Did that change the opinions " echoed on 
 every side of Westminster Hall," as to his legal fitness 
 for the office ? Did that afford ground for " depriving 
 the country of the chance of his elevation ? " Oh no ! 
 Was he, then, becoming childish, — were his faculties 
 ** falling into the sere and yellow leaf ? " Oh no ! Wit- 
 ness him at this moment, the most active, brilliant, and 
 ])owerful advocate at the bar ! No, Lord Brougham be- 
 thought himself of Sir Thomas Denman * — his coadjutor 
 
 * On the Queen's trial, in answer to the suggestion of the 
 King's Solicitor-General (now Lord Lyndhurst), that " Bergami 
 should be called to the bar, to state that the whole charge was a 
 fiction," [Trial, vol. iii. p. 288.] the present Chief Justice of the 
 King's Bench deliberately asserted, that " from the beginning of 
 the world no instance could be found of an individual charged with 
 adultery, being called to disprove it," — the precise case having 
 occurred on the occasion of a Divorce Bill in the House of Lords, 
 in 1792 ! But fourteen years' experience has, no doubt, im- 
 proved the law of Sir Thomas. — It is an error, by the way, to 
 suppose that etiquette requires this office to be offered to the Attor- 
 ney-General. Lord Tenterden was a puisne Judge when he was 
 promoted.
 
 19 
 
 in the Queen's trial — tlie King's Attorney-General I He 
 was the lucky ^yinner in the Government lottery of law 
 prizes ; and he sacrificed his prodigious practice at the 
 bar to take the premier seat on the Bench, in order to 
 " guide, control, correct" those young and inexperienced 
 lawyers, Littledale, Parke, Patteson, and Taunton ! God 
 forbid that we should say aught to impeach Lord Den- 
 man, one of the most courteous, amiable, and dignified 
 gentlemen that ever graced the seat of justice, — one 
 whose personal qualities have long endeared him to every 
 member of the profession, as his eloquence and elegant 
 acquirements have won him apj)lause from the public ; 
 but surely the blooming bouquet of such accomplishments 
 was but ill suited to flourish upon the bleak barren emi- 
 nence of the Cliief Justiceship — in an atmosphere of 
 law " chill and ungenial ! " Though we sincerely love 
 " his Lordship " we shall not flatter him, and therefore give 
 utterance here to the indignant astonishment of the pro- 
 fession that he should have been selected, in preference 
 to Sir James Scarlett — to ten, or even twenty others! 
 Suppose the Duke of Wellington — suppose Lord Lynd- 
 hurst — had "done this deed," — what blighting dia- 
 tribes should we presently have heard from Mr. Henry 
 Brougham in the House of Commons ! — how the press 
 would have rung with execrations of such outrageous 
 partiality and favouritism ! 
 
 But, perhaps, a subsequent occasion would enable Lord 
 Brougham to vindicate his character as an impartial 
 dispenser of judicial preferment, — to look into his own 
 speech, and act upon the principles it developes. Let us 
 see. Mr. Baron Bayley — chwum et venerahile nomeii 
 
 — retires from the Exchequer, and and Mr. 
 
 John Williams, K. C, is ])opped into his place ! Think 
 of that ; meditate upon it ; append a memorandum of 
 the appointment, as an illustrative note to some future 
 edition of the speech from which we have been quoting 
 
 — which ive are illustrating ! Let it serve as a memento 
 of Lord Brougham's sincerity, consistency, impartiality, 
 wisdom ! 'Tis true that this eminent individual. Baron 
 Williams, has edited an edition of Blackstone, and 
 
 c 2
 
 20 
 
 compiled a little treatise on the study of the law * — 
 works which he will now have time to look into on his own 
 account ; that he also was employed for Queen Caroline ; 
 that he has long heen an able writer in the Edinburgh 
 Review ; that he has relinquished a practice of at least 
 10,000/. a year at the Bar ; that he has been engaged 
 in almost all the heaviest commercial and other cases that 
 have happened in his time ; that the Law Reports are 
 studded with innumerable masterly arguments of his ; 
 that a many years* close intimacy with his illustrious 
 friend Lord Broug-ham has had the effect of communicat- 
 ing to him much of that personage's minute, various, and 
 profound knowledge of the principles and practice of the 
 common law, — and will now attract into the Court of 
 Exchequer more business even than in the time of his 
 predecessor ; that he is proverbial for patience, tact, and 
 temper; that — above all — he contrived to withdraw 
 the brave Mr. Brougham from the fury of Mr. Stapylton 
 whom he had grossly insulted, and so saved his valuable life 
 to the community — But — 
 
 What say you to all this, my Lord Chancellor? Oh 
 — if your own heart do not condemn you, *' neither do 
 we. Go in peace, and sin no more ! " t 
 
 But "rumours are abroad — whispers fill the air — 
 every species of tale is afloat t," my Lord, about one Sir 
 William Home ! It is hinted that he has been atrociously 
 jockeyed ; that he has been perfidiously manoeuvred, not 
 only out of the Baronship of the Exchequer, but his At- 
 torney-Generalship, and flung back with contemptuous 
 unkindness upon the surges of precarious private prac- 
 tice, amidst the sympathy — the amazement of his bre- 
 thren. How is this ? Had your Lordship any thing to 
 do with it ? Did you consider him competent for the 
 office of Attorney-General, but unfit to continue such, 
 
 * Judge Williams's friends assert, with indignation, that he never 
 had any thing to do with these two publications : perhaps they will 
 go on to deny the truth of all the other compliments we have paid 
 him ! 
 
 f See the extraordinary use made of this quotation in the 
 peroration of Mr. Dennian's speech for the Queen. 
 
 \ Lord Brougham's reply on the Local Courts' Bill. — 9th July, 
 1833.
 
 21 
 
 or receive the ordinary compliment of elevation? Can 
 it be true that your Lordship inveigled him into a resigna- 
 tion of his Attorney-Generalship by an explicit promise, 
 which you knew it would be impossible to keep, but easy 
 to back out of ? Was there any proposition hinted at by 
 your Lordship, which was at once rejected by Sir William 
 as nncomtifufiofia/, but which you spoke of as furnishing 
 matter for only a '* nine days* wonder f " Is Sir Wil- 
 liam to be looked upon as a dupe ? a victim ? JVJiose 
 dupe ? whose victim ? 
 
 We further congratulate your Lordship on your deli- 
 cacy and discretion in filling" up certain vacancies occa- 
 sioned by the 7'etirement of Sir William Home. Mr. 
 John Williams and Mr. Pepys being, whilom, her pre- 
 sent Majesty's law officers, thought fit rudely to resign 
 with Lord Grey ; and her Majesty — Heaven bless her, 
 as the country loves her ! — lost no time in supplying 
 herself with better men — Serjeants Taddy and Mere- 
 wether, who now retain their offices. Your Lordship 
 gracefully selects your Royal Mistress's two discarded 
 servants, the one to be Baron of the Exchequer, and the 
 other Kinr/s Solicitor-General ! There is a piece of 
 practical sarcasm for you ! Sic itur ad astra ! O rare 
 Lord Brougham ! 
 
 Again, let us reverently request your Lordship — 
 ** passing swiftly over " * the uproar and confusion you 
 have created in your own Court — rule issuing against 
 rule, and order countermanding order — to cast your 
 eyes upon a certain Bankruptcy Court — What ! do you 
 start ? do you shudder to look at your hideous handiwork ? 
 Well, we shall not detain you long. We wish merely 
 to remind you of a passage already quoted from your 
 speeches, and ask a single question. ** The great object 
 of every government, in selecting the Judges of the land, 
 should be to select the most skilful and learned men in 
 their profession." Did this " truism, with which you 
 were ashamed to trouble the House," escape your Lord- 
 
 * See his Lordship's advice to Lord Wynford in the last Local 
 Courts' Debate. 
 
 c 3
 
 rs iir— rriiw b jvmr hastv fis^t frm the Bv to 
 ^'WMfexk? la ■■■■imiliiy the J»j^ «f d^ Govt 
 
 «^ 'R«rM^ ^^Hv ^ ji W ^^9# «^Jv M^^ -ari^ ^mI^p^^J -^t^mk 
 VB XBCVJCWg JBW^ Was M U^^ t^HT I^^T V^B SCaBClBH ^ThV 
 
 fcii mi jiiiirli lUiii 1 ii^i ilTllii li I III III iilwiwi liiiii 
 — Sv'Gesv^Bose — airifeBaieto«9i^lfe jaiv 
 
 of fobwage; Wt who ca 
 
 keiasairead^ Hade, and nefitalcsBaldB^ to dot stock? 
 W%; kii " riiiaaiii ill * are uaali^ ■< TenBia'- 
 Hbe if jva v3, afl ofvr &e eoaalij, ■■iiiiiili il. to 
 
 aai ggggc ap— fldk aWjeiM Aey caa iad k, ^ 
 k vfeie Acre k asae — at least 90 Mr. Br 
 
 flfk! TWree»Wa!»aoabt&^^GbM. 
 ^s toocBoat aaxietf-B to create lacralire eaifbyaMaf, 
 
 die Bar. Hoar BBaaf are ikere dbat look lisr a IvdAaoi 
 to Irgili a mr aad keaoaraUe cdrto ia dbor 
 k seeaM Lnd Broa^aai's poficj to 
 bj ialxadadb^ cka^es vUck sdke Aat 
 ficarre vwdi f i Mvmwg; — bat to Ae Leid 
 ! Hot aoaj aov are eaieri^ Ae 
 mMf «a Ae alreag;di of d^ seaa-psfidcal 
 «fica creatodbrLofd Broa^baa! Laked, he is sti&- 
 M^Woa^dair k Ae M tf u Aa re af dbcBg! Wkk 
 '<'Mr.'' ITnii^fcM rt"!' ■ M i»AriBirir iliir fni rtii lii 
 ktweea prsfenioas sad jaacdre! — lor ** to 
 OB ^est daa^i, it alaa^'s aeeawd 
 r, &e. tioD to e^of all dot office ondd 
 [T] — office, of alack dK pa^m^e voald be » 
 C !] -da. «aotaaeat. -perfaoas 
 to oae caateat, vidb die rest of Us iadaalrioas Ceftov- 
 ddzas, dbatUsamkaadsaaaislertolBsavts.''^!!::!^ 
 Tkt^Mnma^'*mMvkmmKimamAnmee!'' bdeed, be 
 to aadce k ao! He has g^arioady ia-
 
 
 
 ^::« it Ijtri BJakvix's essiv 
 
 - vladk #r afaraaMl Sbf «Mn^ mad «rr 
 
 ^e&:«ff«$Mi ^ |nUk Jii£r Wdk «f "^Mr.* anil ^L«i«4* 
 
 v« — lib Locjo. CocKT^ ESIL Hfe 
 - -v> ^N«^ daft 9ft lnag[ l l i W w t:»fan ttl 
 
 o 4
 
 24 
 
 ing the popular feeling in his favour — forth comes " THE 
 POOR man's bill" — introduced by *' his represent- 
 ative " in the house of *' his enemies " — his " self- 
 nominated SUPERIORS." Here was a splendid oppor- 
 tunity for Lord Brougham to consummate his union with 
 ** the people," by " spreading a table for them in the 
 presence of their enemies ; " by taking his old fond place 
 at their head, partaking at their repast, and joining in 
 their gibes and threats towards their discomfited enemies, 
 who looked on ! Now had arrived " the very nick of 
 time " for Lord Brougham to bind the Aristocracy and 
 the Bar into one bundle, and burn them together ! To 
 point them out to *' the people," as joint objects of sus- 
 picion, contempt, dislike ! To strike a blow that should 
 crush both ! Here was an opportunity for scattering filth 
 — not on one individual only, but upon the whole legal 
 profession ; for threatening the Peers — for flattering the 
 People ! — lo triumphe ! — The Poor Man^s Bill — in 
 the hands of the Poor Man^s Friend — in the house of 
 the Poor 3Ian*s Enemy ! There is a grand climax ! — 
 Here, however, there shall be introduced upon our canvass 
 a calm and noble figure — a legislator — one in every 
 respect the contrast and superior of him whose doings 
 we have been debating ; one who showed Lord Brougham 
 that he was not to have it all quite his own way — that 
 he was reckoning without his host ; one who hesitated 
 not to step forth into the van of battle, and become — as 
 Lord Brougham expressed it, in terms, and in a tone, of 
 querulous alarm — "the chosen champion of the pro- 
 fession," — Lord LjTidhurst : the one calling the Local 
 Courts Bill "a monster of legislation," — the other, **the 
 Poor Man*s Bill! " — the one *' a very slight change (!) 
 in the existing institutions in the country;" the other, 
 *' a total dislocation of the framework of the laws." Let us 
 see, now, what manner of men are these two, and which 
 
 is to be believed by the country. One can scarcely 
 
 mention the name of Lord Lyndhurst without adopting 
 terms that may savour of exaggeration. He is a very 
 dangerous man for the Chancellor to have ever confronting 
 him in the highest quarters — ever coldly and keenly
 
 25 
 
 scrutinising- and exposing his sayings and doings — and 
 therefore it has somehow or another become the business 
 of the Poor Man's Press, being in the interest of the Poor 
 Man's Friend, either to pass over in silence Lord Lynd- 
 hurst's most splendid exertions, or to vomit upon them 
 the blackest bile that can be engendered in an organ of 
 " envy, hatred, malice, and all uncharitableness." All, 
 however, will not do : and there standeth the Poor Man's 
 Friend, quailing- before, and sadly shaken by, " this 
 Champion of the Bar!" 
 
 Lord Lyndhurst's transcendent talents were early de- 
 veloped ; and the moment an adequate opportunity occurred 
 for displaying them, his rise was rapid. At Cambridge, 
 with but little effort, he obtained the distinction of second 
 wrangler, second Smith's prizeman, and Fellow of Trinity 
 College. No candid person, ^\^th the opportunity of 
 judging, would then, or will now, hesitate to award him 
 the superiority over all his competitors, in point of natural 
 capacity. His mind is, indeed, a diamond of the first 
 water. It has a solidity, a comprehensiveness, a subtlety, 
 an acuteness, which master with amazing ease and rapidity 
 every thing to which its energies can be directed. With 
 reference to many of his more eager and turbulent rivals, 
 it may indeed be said, that " his soul was like a star, and 
 dwelt apart." Lord Brougham's powerful mind is pre- 
 eminently distinguished by its energetic activity ; his thirst 
 for information of every kind is insatiable ; the herculean 
 robustness of his physical constitution has enabled him 
 to do more perhaps than any three of his contenqioraries 
 put together ; and his eager ambition has ever exercised 
 and sharpened his powers. Whatever be his qualities, 
 natural or acquired, it has always been his pride — his 
 business, and no doubt a laudable one, too — to display 
 them on all occasions to the utmost advantage. His 
 *' darling joy" is to exhibit himself before the j)ublic in 
 all imaginable attitudes ; to spread before their dazzled 
 eyes all the stores of his multifarious ac({uisitions. Hence 
 the grateful spectators have not been backward in l)aying 
 for the show ; and they have constituted Lord Brougham 
 the GREAT OVER-PRAISED, as Lord Lyndhurst has always 
 been the great under-praised. Now, in this activity
 
 26 
 
 this thirstiness after applause, tliis restless ostentation, 
 consists the p^reat secret of Lord Brougham's success and 
 popularity, the distinction between himself and Lord Lynd- 
 hurst. The latter has always seemed indifferent, haughtily 
 indifferent, to the pieans he could have at any time called 
 forth, owing to a certain stateliness of pride, a reserve, 
 an indolence he could rarc^ly overcome. Mr. Canning's 
 beautiful remark with reference to the British men-of-war 
 off' Plymouth, may be aptly applied to Lord Lyndhurst, 
 — " he silently concentrates the force to be put forth on 
 an adequate occasion." Whenever that occasion arose. 
 Lord Lyndhurst wag" always triumphant — sometimes 
 amazing". Be the difliculty never so dark, so hopelessly 
 vast and intricate, he can gather up and concentrate his 
 powers till they illuminate it as a sun ; and when that is 
 withdrawn, most other minds, able and strong withal, 
 grope after him, as if by torchlight. Whatever Lord 
 Lyndhurst does, cannot be better done. We wish our 
 limits would allow us to quote, entire, three of his leading 
 speeches in Parliament — or even one only — that on 
 bringing into the House of Lords* the Bill for abolishing 
 the Local Judicatures of Wales. We consider it a 
 master-piece. There is a graceful ease and simplicity of 
 statement, a hicidness of method, a terseness and force of 
 expression and argument, that ensures to the hearer, or 
 reader, a delighted sense of conviction. It is simplex 
 munditiis; a charming chasteness and elegance pervade 
 every part of it : no labouring after effect — no lunging 
 sarcasm — no petty sneers or insinuations — no gaudy 
 ornament, are to be found anywhere defiling it. His 
 speeches on Reform, and on one or two other leading 
 questions, are distinguished by great power and eloquence. 
 He always produces a dee]) impression. You can liear a 
 pin fall while he is addressing the House ; you may 
 imagine yourself listening to — looking at — Cicero. His 
 person, gesture, countenance, and voice, are alike dignified, 
 forcible, and persuasive. No speaker of the present day 
 has such a commanding' use of the rig-ht hand and arm as 
 lie. With his long, Mhite, extended fore-finger, he seems, 
 
 * Mirror of Parliament, 1830, Sess. I. pp. 2872-3-4-.
 
 27 
 
 as it were, to finisli off his sentences with a visible point. 
 He stands steadily, however vehement and impassioned in 
 what he is delivering, never suffering* himself " to over- 
 step the modesty of nature," to be betrayed into ungainly 
 gesticulations. Tliere cannot be a greater contrast than 
 that exhibited by the present and the ex-Chancellor in 
 these respects — except their judicial qualifications ! His 
 acquirements are extensive and solid : he has a close and 
 useful acquaintance with the mechanical sciences ; and 
 when at the Bar, exceeded all his brethren in conduct- 
 ing cases involving such knowledge. Did you ever, 
 reader, hear him sum up to a jury ? if not, lose no time 
 in doing so, for you will perhaps never have an oppor- 
 tunity of hearing any thing" approaching it. His judg- 
 ments are all first rate. That in Small v. Attwood was 
 acknowledged to be a prodigy. Then, again, there is a 
 tact, a precision, a wariness about his movements, a, 
 long-headedness, a self-j)ossession which has often borne 
 him off triumphant from the most arduous debate. His 
 aim is unerring. If you see him meditate a blow, depend 
 upon it he will hit ! His conduct on the bench is admir- 
 able. He listens to a long and complicated discussion, 
 tangled with detail, wire-spun in argument, with the most 
 patient courtesy ; and at its close he will briefly and easily 
 marshal every thing into its proper j)lace, bring together 
 every material discrepancy, detect the subtlest fallacies, 
 and dart to the remotest consequences witli the rapidity of 
 lightning. Nothing seems capable of confusing or mysti- 
 fying him. When the expertest counsel are wading into 
 deep water before him, all but out of their own depth, 
 they look up at his cold keen eye, and a faint smile, per- 
 haps, on his fine features, satisfies them of the hopeless- 
 ness of misleading him. We never see him but the 
 picture sketched by Lord Bacon is brought before us : — 
 " Judges ought to be more learned than witty, more 
 reverend than plausible, and more advised than confident. 
 Patience and gravity of bearing are an essential j^art of 
 justice ; and an overspeaking judge is no well-tuned 
 cymbal. * * * It is no grace to a Judge^nsf to find that 
 which he miyht have heard in due time from the Bar, or
 
 28 
 
 to show quickness of conceit in cutting off evidence or 
 counsel too shorty or to ])revent information by questions, 
 though pertinent." * Would it not seem, reader, as if the 
 old philosopher had " revisited the glimpses " of the 
 Court of Chancery — to read a grave and solemn rebuke 
 to its present Lord ? Go you there — and see the fidgeti- 
 ness — the irritability — the petulance — the not unfre- 
 quently absurd interferences and interpolations of the Lord 
 Chancellor — his tart interruptions of counsel, — and re- 
 solve them, if you can, into any thing else than a miserable 
 sense of unfitness and inferiority ! Go, then, to the Equity, 
 or the Common Law side of the Court of Exchequer, and 
 see Lord Lyndhurst despatching the most intricate and 
 profound matters, as though they were mere child's play 
 — as far as ease is concerned ; full of cheerful urbanity 
 and graceful forbearance ; — but comparisons, they say, are 
 odious, and we pause ! 
 
 Thus far had we written, when the Times Newspaper 
 (of Thursday, March 6.) came under our notice, reporting 
 certain sentiments uttered by Lord Brougham, the day 
 before, in the Court of Chancery, which we could scarcely 
 credit our eyes in reading. It is an additional evidence of 
 Lord Brougham's foolish inconsistency and rashness ; of 
 the lamentable extent to which he is the sport of impulse 
 and caprice ; of the little faith that is to be placed in any 
 of his declarations. Who knows not how he has boasted 
 in Parliament, in his Court, and in private — how his 
 friends have blazoned abroad in public — the extraordi- 
 nary rapidity with which he had despatched his " Ap- 
 peals?" On this, he and they have rested his claims to 
 applause as a working Chancellor. We, on the contrary, 
 always reflected on a certain passage in the writings of 
 Lord Brougham's greatest predecessor : — 
 
 '* Affected despatch is one of the most dangerous things 
 to business that can be. It is like that which the phy- 
 sicians call pre-digestion, or hasty digestion, rvhicli is sure 
 to fill the body full of crudities and secret seeds of diseases ; 
 therefore, measure not despatch by the time of sitting (!) 
 
 * Bacon's Essays. — Of Judicature.
 
 29 
 
 but by the advancement of the business. * * * It is the 
 care of some only to come off speedily for the time, or to 
 contrive some false periods of business, because they may 
 seem men of despatch ; but it is one thing to abbreviate 
 by contracting, another by cutting off; and business so 
 handled at several sittings or meetings, goeth commonly 
 backward and forward in an unsteady manner" * 
 
 Tliis morning, however, Mr. Rolfe asks the Lord 
 Chancellor about the Unitarian appeal case — telling him 
 that it is fifty-nine off, (^the Lord Chancellor denies that 
 there are so many ; we have examined, hoAvcver, and find 
 that there are !] — When the Chancellor said — 
 
 *' He had long thought that it teas hy no means expe- 
 dient to clear the paper of appeals ! ! nor even to reduce 
 them to a very small number ! ! ! Parties very often ^ in 
 the first moments of their disappointment at finding the 
 decision of the Court below against them, resolved on ap- 
 pealing ; but upon cooler reflection j and better advice 
 than their own passions suggested, changed their resolu- 
 tion," &c. &c. — thus at once knocking down the trum- 
 pery pedestal of popularity he had himself erected I And 
 after this, his Lordship perseveres in his bill for Local 
 Courts, or, rather, his " Bill for enabling the poorer 
 classes to rush into law ivithout cool reflection, and ivith 
 no better advice than their own passions suggest /" 
 O rare Lord Brougham ! And now for that Bill ! 
 
 We were present during the last debate upon it.t We 
 went to the House of Lords, expecting to see — in the 
 the language of pugilistic eloquence — "a fair stand-up 
 fight between two big 'uns " — and were not disappointed. 
 We knew that each had every incentive to exert himself 
 to the uttermost on that occasion. It was the present and 
 the ex-Chancellor fairly ])itted against one another. Lord 
 Lyndhurst stood forth as the advocate of the Bar — of the 
 Common Law — both menaced with extermination at the 
 hands of their ungrateful head — of the middling- and 
 lower orders of the peojde, about to experience " the perils 
 of false brethren" — of a false friend. Lord Brougham 
 
 * Bacon's Essays. — Of Despatch, p. 8i. 
 t July 9th, 1833.
 
 so 
 
 was wedded by many personal considerations to the success 
 of his Bill. It would at once extend and consolidate his' 
 power, and enable him, he thoug-ht, to inflict utter ruin on 
 those contumacious members of the profession, who had 
 refused to *' bow the knee to Baal." The cup of venge- 
 ance was now, however, to be dashed from his lips by 
 him whom he had so rashly succeeded on the Woolsack ; 
 by him, this pet measure was threatened with utter defeat I 
 We therefore expected a field-day, and were not disap- 
 pointed. The House was soon filled, and the s})aces at 
 the bar and throne crowded with members of the House of 
 Commons. Precisely at five o'clock, the slim, spare, 
 pinched-up figure of Lord Brougham was discovered sit- 
 ting on the Woolsack — his features full of feverish 
 anxiety, and his gestures of impatience — beckoning hur- 
 riedly now to this one, then to the other friend, as he ob- 
 served the Opposition Peers flowing into the House. 
 
 Lord Lyndhurst was one of the last that entered. Ac- 
 customed as we are to see his noble figure in the flowing 
 costume of the Bench, we hardly recognised him in plain 
 dress. His black surtout, elegant waistcoat, brown curly 
 wig, and tonnish hat and gloves, give you the idea rather 
 of a colonel of a cavalry regiment, than a grave law lord ! 
 Without an atom of foppery, there is a certain fashionable 
 air about him which surprises one familiar only with the 
 stateliness of the full-bottomed wig, bands, and ermine 
 robe. A few papers peeping out of the breast-pocket of 
 his surtout, together with a certain flush on his features, 
 assured one that he had come prepared for battle ! After 
 one or two minor matters had been disposed of — in which 
 the venerable Lord Eldon took part — LordBrougham some- 
 what briskly stej)ped from the Woolsack, and, holding the 
 Local Courts Bill in his hands, stated simply, that he rose 
 to move the third reading — and should reserve himself for 
 reply to what might be urged against it during the evening. 
 He had hardly regained the Woolsack, when he found 
 Lord Wbarncliii'e on his legs — apparently nmch to Lord 
 Brougham's sur])rise — moving the ordinary suias/ier on 
 such occasions, tliat the bill be read a third time t/taf day six 
 months. His speech was short and able. He urged the lead-
 
 31 
 
 inac objections to the bill in a business-like, straightforward 
 style, and exposed the gross trick by which it had been in- 
 troduced. " Their Lordships were told by certain influ- 
 ential authorities to take care how they acted. They were 
 charged with refusing to give the poorer classes that which 
 was their due. They were finally told they must pass 
 this bill, for they had no power to resist it. The bill 
 made false pretences. It purported to be a bill for the 
 recovery of small debts ; but it ivent in reality to effect a 
 total change in the legal institutions of the country ; it in- 
 troduced a totally new and extremely dangerous principle." 
 Lord Brougham, in his reply, unwittingly enhanced the 
 weight of this testimony, by admitting, in terms almost 
 amounting to sycophancy, " the great experience," the 
 *' vnisullied example " of Lord Wharncliffe ; whose opinion, 
 at the same time is good for nothing, only when he avails 
 himself of this " e.vperience" to condemn the Local 
 Courts Bill ! *' I am exceedingly mortified," said poor 
 Lord Brougham, " at the opposition I have received from 
 the noble Baron ; for his authority is most important." 
 After Lords Rosse and Wicklow had shortly addressed 
 the House, Lord Lyndhurst rose. Almost every Peer 
 present turned instantly towards him in an attitude of 
 profound attention — of anxious interest — and continued 
 so till he had concluded : as well they might, while 
 listening to one of the most masterly speeches ever 
 delivered in Parliament. There was a manly fervour, a 
 serious energy, in his tone and manner — a severe 
 simplicity of style — a beauty and comprehensiveness of 
 detail — a graceful, good-humoured, but most caustic 
 sarcasm — a convincing strength of argument, which 
 elicited repeated cheering from the House — followed, at 
 its close, by several minutes' ap})lause ; but received from 
 the candid unenvious Chancellor one short allusion, and 
 that characterising it as a piece of " carpinr/ declamatory 
 sneeriny/'^ No! Not a syllable of kindness — scarce 
 of frigid courtesy — escaped his lips, while replying to a 
 speech from his splendid rival, destitute of even a tinge 
 of acrimony or personality ! He was obviously mortified 
 and alarmed at the powerful impression produced on all
 
 32 
 
 sides of the House by their ex-Chancellor. Lord Plun- 
 kett, on the contrary, commenced his reply, such as it 
 was, with an admission *' that he feared the House would 
 consider him presumptuous in offering himself to their 
 Lordships after the transcendent and masterly speech to 
 which they had been listening- ; that he did not come 
 forward in the hope of answering it." JVe considered 
 him indeed presumptuous ; and we vouch so also did Lords 
 Grey and Brougham, who could not conceal their vexation 
 at the tame, stammering, hesitating tone in which Lord 
 Plunkett spoke, who had been hastily summoned from 
 L'eland for that purpose. Even his acknowledged and 
 practised powers were signally at fault that night ; either 
 through a consciousness of the weak cause he was 
 advocating, or the overwhelming superiority of the speaker 
 he was following. We challenge any Peer or Commoner 
 then present to impeach the accuracy of our statement. 
 
 When Lord Brougham rose to reply, vengeance 
 gleamed in his eye — but not towards the spot occupied 
 by Lord Lyndhurst ; his siiiothered fury at length burst 
 — not upon Lord Lyndhurst, but {pace tanti viri /) upon 
 one he considered a less formidable antagonist — Lord 
 Wynford. * Him Lord Brougham assailed with a 
 
 * Lord Brougham is always abusing Lord Wynford — and 
 knows we could supply the public, if so disposed, with his motives 
 in doing so. We shall here give a specimen of the manly straight- 
 forward course he is in the habit of adopting towards those whom 
 he secretly dislikes. Nothing like facts I — 
 
 Oct. 10th, 1831. — The Lord Chancellor: [presenting a Bill to 
 enable the Lords, &c- to re-hear ttvo causes therein mentioned] : 
 " I beg leave to call your Lordships' attention to a reversal, by your 
 Lordships, of a judgment of the Court of Session, in the seques- 
 tration case of Macgavin v. Stewart. The case was remitted to 
 the Courts below, tvith directions ichich the Judges have found it im- 
 possible to carry into effect. English law phrases were used, of 
 which the Judges below knew nothing, — such as, " a special jury 
 
 OF MERCHANTS," &C. 
 
 Oct. 11th, 1831. — Lord Wynford : " My Lords, I have in my 
 hand the judgment I pronounced, — and it contains no such words 
 as " special jury of merchants [! I] : the words are, " special 
 jury." 
 
 Oct. 13th, 1831. — On this day the Lord Chancellor proposed 
 that the Bill should stand over till next Session, " as no material
 
 38 
 
 savag-eness of personal enmity which dis<Tusted the House 
 and disgraced the speaker — and that with the Throne of 
 Majesty inniiediately hehind, the supreme seat of justice 
 beside him ! Flectere si neqiieo superos, Acheronta 
 movebo ! Afraid of apjn'oaching- Lord Lyndhurst, he 
 fixed his teeth the more vehemently in Lord Wynford, 
 whom he worried with ivif, said his friends — with 
 insult, thought the House. We wish, good reader, you 
 had been present that memorable evening. You would 
 have seen a Lord High Chancellor, clad in the solemn 
 costume of office, at times grinning and leering" — twist- 
 ing and writhing about — full of violent ungainly gesticu- 
 lations — whiskiup'to and fro the lono- sleeves of his robe 
 
 — raving, ranting, tearing away — but hush ! Sweet 
 *' People"" — that was " the PooV Man's Friend !" He 
 was advocating " the Poor Man's Bill !" — he was brow- 
 beating the *' Poor Man's enemies ! " 
 
 " The Poor Man's Bill ! " — Yes, this shocking 
 twaddle was passionately adopted by Lord Brougham — 
 repeated and harped upon, till at length he succeeded in 
 eliciting the languid cheers of — His Majesty's Ministers 
 
 — despite the masterly and cutting exposure of Lord 
 Lyndhurst ! Hear him : — 
 
 " It has been said that this is the Poor Man's Bill. 
 Why, there is not a morning on which 1 do not find the 
 same doctrine instilled into me in one of those documents, 
 to which it is unnecessary more particularly to allude. 
 It is said, ' You must have some underhand motive for 
 opposing such a measure.' The statement is not true. 
 Never was there a Bill less a poor man's Bill than this. 
 It is a Bill to enable a man of property to obtain judg- 
 ment, to sue out execution, and to seize the property of 
 the poor man, to assign it to the Registrar, to sell it ; to 
 turn him and his family into the streets in six weeks I 
 
 loss could arise to either of the parties." It was never revived — 
 at least we have searched the Index of the Mirror of ParHunient 
 with no small care, and do not find any mention of it. Well 
 might Lord Wynford " complain of a bill brought in to correct a 
 judgment, by those who have not taken the trouble to read it " I
 
 SI 
 
 It is emphatically, my Lords, a bill to oppress the poor. 
 It is a bill to satisfy the creditor, by compelling the poor 
 debtor to render him more speedy payment than could be 
 obtained from the wealthy debtor — it is a bill to give the 
 wealthy every possible facility of oppressing the man in 
 the humble walks of life. The operation of the bill will 
 be this — tradesmen^ shopkeepers, and others, icill allow 
 the poor man to run into debt to the extent of his 
 property, and if he fails to make instant payment, they 
 will destroy him without mercy. Let me refer your 
 Lordships to the evidence of Sir John Cross, who was 
 examined by the Commissioners. He was asked — 
 * Have you found any inconvenience from the facility 
 with which small debts are recovered in the Court you 
 have mentioned ? ' He answered — ' I had frequent 
 occasion to observe that the facilitating the recovery of 
 small debts tended much to facilitate the contracting of 
 them by the poor and improvident, and to the consequent 
 increase of litigation and poverty. It is a frequent prac- 
 tice for publicans to allow drink to their customers upon 
 credit to an extent which I think they would not have 
 done, if there had not been a court in which they could 
 recover the amount so contracted ; and I observed, in a 
 great many instances, that small shopkeepers Avho dealt 
 in provisions, dealt largely in credit to the poor. The 
 wives, and even the children of workmen, who were from 
 home engaged in their occupations, could go to one of 
 those shops and obtain what they wanted, which was 
 charged as a debt to the absent master of the family ; 
 and the account would run on in this way, as long as the 
 shopkeeper thought it safe to risk his property upon such 
 credit. He would go on with a great many customers of 
 that description at the same time, and at a convenient 
 season he would sue out in one day summonses against 
 twenty or thirty such customers, and carry his accounts 
 into the Court of Requests against them all.* — Tliat is 
 the testimony of a gentleman who had presided for several 
 years over one of these small tribunals, in the town of 
 Manchester, which is one of the best administered small- 
 debt courts in the kingdom. On his judgment implicit
 
 35 
 
 reliance may be placed ; and after hearing- that, it may be 
 asked, whether this is to be considered — the Poor 
 Man's Bill ! I wish to direct your Lordships* attention 
 to the nature of the evidence on which this bill has been 
 founded. It is called the Poor Man's Bill. Were the 
 poot'y then, the witnesses who have been examined ? No ; 
 the witnesses were — wholesale tradesmen, shopkeepers, 
 and sometimes bankers ! Well — and what do the?/ say ? 
 One, that there is nothing" so abominable as the law of 
 debtor and creditor in this country ; that there oug^ht to 
 be a power for the creditor to imprison the debtor, and 
 compel him to work till he had discharged the debt, or a 
 per centage upon it. Another says that there is no such 
 abominable system in the world, as that of the Insolvent 
 Debtors' Court. Another, that these courts should be 
 without attornies, and without professional men altogether; 
 and, in short, if your Lordships wall read the evidence, 
 you will find that the chief object of those who ivere 
 examined^ seems to have been to procure a laiv ivhich 
 would enable the creditor to oppress^ to (/rind, to destroy, 
 with the utmost facility, his poor debtor. Let not then 
 this bdl, my Lords, be called the Poor Man's Bill ; for, 
 of all* other acts, it is the most oppressive towards the 
 poor man. * * * Then it is said the defendant may 
 remove the case to the superior court — but on what 
 terms ? Why, that he shall yive security for the damages 
 and costs which may be awarded in the action. The 
 wealthy man will be able to do so. The bill in this, as 
 in other respects, is in favour of tlie rich man — but the 
 poor man can get no such security. What, then, is his 
 situation ? Why, that if the circumstances attending the 
 trial are such as to preclude the hoj)e of its impartiality in 
 the Local Courts, he must suffer all the inconveniences of 
 such a result. And are your Lordships considered so 
 destitute of all understanding, as to be told, jifter this, 
 that the provisions of this bill are in favour of the poor ? 
 * * Throughout this bill, the poor man is bound and 
 fettered — he must take such law as they please to give 
 him ; but the rich man can evade the law ^^ith ease. * * 
 There is no provision in this ' Poor Man's Bill' in his 
 
 D 2
 
 36 
 
 favour against a partial judge ; and suffering, as he is 
 now said to suffer, under the scourge of dear and un- 
 certain law, this bill will only add to his misfortunes, by 
 making his oppression — certain." * 
 
 So much for the clear masculine sense of Lord Lynd- 
 hurst. Now hear the declamation of the Poor Man*s 
 Friend in reply : — 
 
 ** My learned friend has been jocose \jvhere /]] in 
 reference to bestoAving on the present measure the title 
 of ' The Poor Man's Bill.' I adopt the name — it is 
 an honourable one — the Bill is the Poor Man's Bill ! 
 I call that a Poor ^Nlan's Bill which removes those obstruc- 
 tions which at present lie in the way of cheap and speedy 
 justice, which enables the poor suitor, no less than the rich, 
 to obtain a readv redress of his wrongs. I call that a 
 Poor Plan's Bill, which enables the poor suitor to obtain 
 redress for his wrongs, or the pa\nnent of a debt, in the 
 very next street to the cottage where he lives, without any 
 of the expense, and delay, and vexation, and uncertainty, 
 of coming some hundred miles to London to look for 
 costlij Justice, I call that a Poor ^Lan's Bill which, with- 
 out taking away the poor suitor from his daily avocations, 
 from his family, or from the employment by wliich he 
 earned subsistence, enables him to go at once into court, 
 and, face to face to his adversary, obtain cheap and ready 
 justice. My learned friend has impugned the title, on the 
 ground that it is absurd to call a bill friendly to the poor 
 suitor which affords speedy execution against him ; but it 
 must be recollected, that if the bill in view can provide 
 speedy execution against the poor defendant, it, on the 
 other hand, ensures him speedy execution against the rich 
 defendant, when (I) the poor man is plaintiff. He will 
 therefore have no right to complain, ])articularly as, in the 
 majority of insta)ices, he will be plaintiff\\) It has been 
 said, that as the poor man will not be able to afford security 
 of costs, so as to enable him to remove the trial, in case of 
 a wrong decision, the Bill cannot be considered as favour- 
 able to his interests. Now, this clause, for the removal of 
 
 * Hans. Parliamentary Debates, July 9th, 1833; cols. 322— 5. 
 vol. 19.
 
 .37 
 
 a trial, by certiorari^ was introduced at the instance of a 
 learned Lord, and very contrary to my own feelinos on 
 the subject. I yielded, however, to the sense of the House, 
 and guarded against the abuse of the privilege by the rich 
 man, by com])e]ling him, in these instances, to give secu- 
 rity, not only for the taxed costs, but for the full costs of 
 the action ; so that the poor man will, in })oint of fact, 
 receive just as cheap, though not so speedy justice. Such 
 is the Bill I call upon your Lordships to sanction."* 
 
 Positively, dear reader, we have given you the whole 
 of the Rej)ly of the Poor Man's Friend, and that verbatim 
 et literatun I 
 
 Well, then. People of England — Lawyers and Lay- 
 men ! Come ye hither ! " Look on this picture — and 
 on that ;" — look steadily, judge fairly : and if you have 
 an ace of understanding — if you see but an inch through 
 the blinding mists of delusive prejudice and bigotry — lay 
 your hands upon your hearts, and say which of these 
 two IS " The Poor Man's Friend" — which of them has 
 eatahlished his claim to that proud distinction ! If any 
 of you hesitate, let us analyse the arguments of each. 
 
 This is not the Poor Man's, but the Rich Man's Bill, 
 says Lord Lyndhurst, because — 
 
 \stly. The rapid jjroceeding to execution induces cre- 
 ditors to trust to the value of their debtor's property \ 
 and, therefore, the facility of recovering the debt, tends 
 to increase the facility of contracting it. 
 
 9,dly^ This Bill avowedly gives such rapidity of remedy 
 as will in a trice strip the debtor (generally the poor 
 man) of his all, and turn his family out of doors — 
 beggars. 
 
 'dxlly. The contradictory opinions of the great body 
 of creditors, examined vvitli referenc(> to the principle of 
 this Bill, raises the fair inference that their real object 
 is to oppress the poorer classes, whenever they get them 
 into their debt. 
 
 ^thly. The security for costs and contingent damages, 
 being easily obtained by the rich man, but with great 
 
 * Hans. Parliamentary Debates, col. 370. 
 D S
 
 38 
 
 difficulty by the poor man, inevitably tends to confine the 
 rig-ht of a])peal to the rich man : Ergo — it is the Rich 
 Man's Bill. 
 
 Now — blowing- away the froth and smoke — let us 
 look closely into the Answer of the Poor Man's Friend. 
 
 This IS the Poor Man's Bill, quoth he, because — 
 
 Istli/, It enables him to get " Justice'* cheaply — 
 quickly — and without losing time in running after it. 
 
 *2(//y, -^4/1?/ speedy execution of judgment for him, is 
 in his favour ; and if he gets it instant er, he cannot 
 complain if his creditor gets the same against him. 
 
 Sdlij, If the rich man wishes for an appeal, he can 
 obtain it only by risking all the costs ! Now, we will 
 ask, not which is the poor man's true friend, and which 
 the poor man's false friend, but merely which is the poor 
 man's discreet friend, and which his foolish friend ? Line 
 upon line — we will distil off the essence of these two 
 *' high arguments" — thus : 
 
 LORD LYNDHURST, EX-C. 
 
 The rich man is generally the 
 creditor ; facility ot" recovering 
 begets facility of contracting 
 debts ; this bill avowedly in- 
 creases the facility of recovering 
 them ; and it is proved that cre- 
 ditors are really anxious only to 
 oppress their debtors ; the poor 
 man cannot, the rich man can, 
 obtain security for an appeal. 
 
 .•. This is the rich man's bill. 
 
 [Aliter.] 
 This bill puts the poor more 
 than ever into the power of the 
 rich : er<jo, it is the rich man's — 
 
 LORD BROUGHA^r AND VAUX, C. 
 
 Admitting that the poor man is 
 generally the debtor [for there is 
 nothing but an assertion against 
 it], and that facility of recover- 
 ing begets facility of contracting 
 debts, the poor man must not 
 complain, if, obtaining justice 
 quickly, he so suffers it, at the 
 hands of the rich man, who will 
 not appeal in the former case, 
 because [loith the poor mail) he 
 risks costs. .' . This is the poor 
 man's bill. 
 
 [Aliter.] 
 
 This bill puts the poor more 
 than ever into the power of the 
 rich : ergo, it is the poor man's 
 bill! 
 
 Is it not, now, a sight " gude for sair een," to behold the 
 long powerful })incers with which Lord Lpidhurst firmly 
 takes up this Poor Man's Friend, holds him at arm's 
 lenoth, all tlic while s<piec/ing closer and closer the 
 WTithing, struggling insect (nobler in name than bug,
 
 39 
 
 wasp, or dirt-fly), and then lays him down in the dirt, 
 where, after the manner of a lialf-crushed wasp, a point- 
 less sting is thrust forth with incessant but unavailing 
 fury ? 
 
 Shout ye then — |Hurra for the Poor Man's Friend ! 
 Hurra for the Poor Man's Bill ! Here yoi4 see the Lord 
 Chancellor fairly gravelled. Mr. Attorney-General, come 
 forward, playing Sancho to Quixote, and extricate your mas- 
 ter from the mire! Here is work for you, — that is, if you 
 can ever creep into Parliament again ! Who does not see 
 that Lord Brougham's answer to Lord Lyndhurst is really 
 none at all — mere stupid iteration of clap-trap, clap-trap ? 
 *' Cheap justice ! Got in the next street ! Got at once! 
 Face to face," &c. ! If there is a grain of argument in it, it 
 surely belongs to the scale of Lord Lyndhurst ! As for as- 
 sertion, there is a notable one ; — that the " Poor man is 
 generally the creditor!" Pray, my Lord, which of the two 
 is oftenest the other's landlord ? What is a more fertile 
 source of oppression than rent in arrear ? Who is it that 
 sells, and who is it that must buy, at sudden exigencies, the 
 necessaries of life, relatively speaking, the rich man 
 or poor ? Who is it that sells, and who that purchases, 
 the commonest materials of trade ? Who is it that is 
 apt, at all hazards, to come short of paying- his debts — 
 the poor or the rich debtor ? And yet, in all these cases, 
 
 — oh, folly, cruelty, or stupidity prodigious ! — you quicken 
 and sharpen the remedies of the rich man in an Act of 
 Parliament you nevertheless call " the Poor Man's Bill!" 
 
 — Oh, my Lord, your plumes may be gaudy — your note 
 attractive — but you are a very mocking-bird ! 
 
 We can scarely treat such follies gravely : but as it is 
 the Lord Chancellor who propounds them, we will try to 
 meet them respectfully. We will preach from these words, 
 to be found in the speech of one Mr. Henry Brougham, 
 on the Administration of the Law, in February, 1828. 
 
 " Cheaj) justice, sir, is a very good thing — but costly 
 justice is better than cheap injustice." * 
 
 Now, \vhat sort of " justice " is likely to be t)btained 
 
 * Speech, page K). 
 D 4
 
 40 
 
 by " the Poor Man's Bill ? " Let us see, first of all, 
 what sort of character the dispenser of these " healing' 
 streams" — the Local Judge — is likely to prove. Weigh 
 well the following valuable evidence of a very competent 
 witness : — 
 
 " A second and greater objection is, that the [Local] 
 Jiid</es never chan(/e their circuits. One of them, for 
 instance, goes the Carmarthen circuit ; another, the Bre- 
 con circuit ; and a third, the Chester circuit — but always 
 the same circuit. And what is the inevitable consequence? 
 Why, they become acquainted with the gentry, the magis- 
 trates, almost with the tradesmen of each district — the 
 very witnesses ?rho come before them — and intimately 
 with the practitioners, wliether counsel or attornies. The 
 names — the faces — the characters — the histories of all 
 these persons, are familiar to them. u4nd out of this too 
 yreat knowledye yroic likinys and prejudices, which never 
 can, by any possibility, cast a shadoiv across the open, 
 broad, and pure paths of the Judyes of IVestminster 
 Hall ! Then, again, they have no retiriny pensions; and 
 the consequence is, they retain their salaries long" after 
 they have ceased to discharge properly the functions for 
 which they receive them." 
 
 Now, does not the truth and force of this reasoning 
 *' come hoine to the business and bosom " of the Poor 
 Man ? ^^erily it ought — for 'tis the language of His 
 Friend — of Lord Brougham ! * Witness his speech in 
 the character of Mr. Biougham — his matured sentiments, 
 uttered when his head was clearer than at present, — 
 when his feelings were not warped either by the vagaries 
 of and)ition, or the desire of revenge ! — So much, then, 
 for Mr. Brougham in 1828. Now listen to Lord Lynd- 
 liurst in 1833 : — 
 
 "Nothing- can be more pernicious than this — the 
 establishment of Local Judges. They must necessarily 
 be confined within a very narrow district, become familiar 
 with every litigant, with every witness ; and must like- 
 wise have their enmities and their afiections, and be liable 
 
 * Speech on the Administration of the Law, pp. 21, 22. *
 
 41 
 
 to be constantly influenced by such feelings. They will, 
 in fact, be always liable to the suspicion of acting with 
 partiality. Lord Hale gives a description of the local 
 courts which formerly existed in this country, as being 
 always liable to the charge of partiality ; and states, that 
 it was in consequence of this, that it was found necessary 
 to establish the present system in its room : and, for my 
 own part, I cannot help thinking it would be great folly to 
 revert to the system which our ancestors found it necessary 
 to abandon. So strong was the prejudice on this subject, 
 that acts of parliament were passed to prohibit judges 
 from administering justice in the places in which they were 
 born, or in which they had, for any length of time, re- 
 sided. * * * The judges under this Bill will be 
 removed from all collision with the courts at Westminster 
 Hall ; and being without any excitement, and without the 
 stimulus of competition, they will soon become utterly in- 
 competent for the exercise of their duties." [Debates, 
 July 9th.] 
 
 Turn then to Lord Brougham in the same year, answer- 
 ing both himself in 1828 and Lord Lyndhurst in 1833. 
 
 " He was aware that some very specious (!) objections 
 might be urged against the measure ; and he did not 
 underrate that ivhich rested on the local prejudices of the 
 judges" [" Passing swiftly"] over the intervening para- 
 graph, we find this Model of consistency declaring, " that 
 he looked on all fears arising from the local prejudices of 
 the judges, as utterly vain and cJiinierical ! " This may 
 warrant us in passing over the remainder of this section 
 of his speech, as " utterly " unworthy of consideration or 
 quotation. The sum of it, however, is this : — That his 
 " local judges " should be created, because we have 
 already Justices of the Peace who well discharge similar 
 functions ; that we have sufficient guarantee for their 
 good behaviour in their character, and the surveillance of 
 the press. * 
 
 * The mention of this word gave the Chancellor an opportunity 
 for doing his dirty work again — " However their Lordships might 
 sneer at the mention of a newspaper, as they always did," Sec, 
 &c. ! ! ! — Ecce iteruni Crispinns !
 
 43 
 
 So, Avhen desperately driven, when made to gulp his 
 own words, tliis poor man's friend, this great over- 
 praised finds it necessary to resort to the great unpaid, 
 as examples of immaculate local distributors of justice ! 
 They — it is all of a sudden discovered — are such 
 models of judges! Hear Lord Brougham's former opi- 
 nion of this abused order, and say whether it is worth 
 having on either side : — 
 
 " There is the over-activity of the magistrate in an 
 excessive degree. Over-activity is, usually, a very high 
 magisterial crime ; yet almost all the magistrates distin- 
 guished for over-activity, are clergymen, joined to the 
 local hatinqs and Ukim/s" &c. &c. " This letter, which 
 I entirely and implicitly believe, further declares, that 
 many magistrates are actually in the commission only to 
 support particular jobs ; that they are known by the nick- 
 names of ' brewers' hacks, justices of the pewter ! ' I 
 knew an instance where a licence was taken away from a 
 house, because a magistrate, travelling in a cold night, 
 was kept waiting for some time at the door of it ! " 
 [" The impartiality of these local magistrates has never 
 been impeached I ! ! What man in either House of Par- 
 liament would dream of throwing out even a suspicion, 
 that the magistrates of England were not competent and 
 disinterested, but the most competent, and the most disin- 
 terested that could be appointed ! ! ! " Lord Brouyham, 
 July 9thi 1833. 3 " The same fault, and the same spirit, 
 run pretty nearly through all the business that country 
 magistrates do ! ! ! " [Mr. Brouyham^ February '^thy 
 1828.] 
 
 We subscribe not to Lord Brougham's abuse of the 
 justices, but his laudation, disinterested and consistent as 
 it is. But who are these justices ? Men generally above 
 all suspicion of improper motives ; great noblemen, clergy- 
 men, scholars, men of a certain ascertained amount of 
 landed property in the country * ; men to whom it is 
 
 * " Because men of small substance had crept into the Commis- 
 sion, whose poverty made them both covetous and contemptible.'' 
 — Blackstone's Commentaries, 353.
 
 43 
 
 essential to retain a high and unimpeachable character ; 
 who have no tryino- temptations to diverge from the paths 
 of uprightness. Besides, two at least must sit together to 
 hear and determine cases *, mutually guiding and check- 
 ing one another ; they are liable to summary dismissal in 
 case of misconduct ; and there is a speedy appeal to the 
 Sessions.! 
 
 But consider a barrister — and such barristers as will 
 be got to fill these situations — located in a county — as- 
 sociating, either with the great men, and so liable to taint 
 from sycophancy, or with the lower classes, encouraging, 
 perhaps, litigation — fomenting bad feeling between them 
 and the higher orders : possibly, fierce political partisans, 
 to boot ! He cannot, besides, be removed, but by address 
 to the two Houses of Parliament ; nor can even his re- 
 gistrar ! — who is thus secured in his privileges to an 
 extent that poor Baron Smith of Ireland lately knew the 
 want of ! This, however, will be a dernier ressort — a 
 process that none would venture to resort to, but in cases 
 of the grossest misconduct. After all, however, the insti- 
 tution of Justices of the Peace is liable — as none knows 
 better than Lord Brougham and his friends — to divers 
 inconveniences. But, surely, the very fact of their exist- 
 ence — especially with such a character as he has last 
 thought fit to give them — is of itself an answer to the 
 alleged necessity of introducing Local Courts. Then the 
 surveillance — the control of newspapers. And will they 
 attend to all these courts ? and if they do, how easy will 
 it be for a judge, so minded, to commit gross injustice in 
 such a manner as ^o elude their detection ! All the Argus- 
 eyed inquisition of the poor man's press might fail to ob- 
 serve the dexterous inclination of the scales of justice but 
 a hair the wrong way ; and yet that hair's inclination 
 shall have the effect of grievously — irretrievably oppress- 
 ing the poor suitor — who is thus, in all his small matters 
 — small possibly in the estimation of the public, but 
 serious to himself — entirely at the mercy of an incom- 
 petent or corrupt local judge. It may suit Lord Brougham 
 
 * Stat. 3 Geo. IV. c. 23. § 2. 
 f Burn's Justice, " Appeal."
 
 44 
 
 to exhibit flourishing pictures of the possible excellences of 
 Justices of the Peace — to ])ass over all the minor disturb- 
 ing forces. Will every local Judge be a Lord Wharncliffe, 
 in known responsibility, talent, and learning ? As for the 
 legal fitness of the local Judge — Lord Lyndhurst tri- 
 umphantly established, both by argument and authorities, 
 the inevitable tendency of a local Judge to become indo- 
 lent, and consequently ignorant of the principles of law. 
 So much, then, for the Judge. Then for — " cheap jus- 
 tice.** These two are Lord Brougham*s magic words. 
 They are eternally on his lips; his crack slang; the phylac- 
 tery which he binds upon his brow — but we do not think he 
 has any definite meaning attached to them. Let him there- 
 fore learn a lesson on this subject from the wise and 
 amiable Chief Justice of the Common Pleas — a Judge 
 ** ripe with the fairest uses of experience." 
 
 *' Lideed, law may be had too cheap," says Sir 
 Nicholas, " and then it becomes an unmitigated evil." 
 (]He then supposes the revenue to become capable of 
 affording justice (/ratiiitousJi/r\ *' Then every man's 
 hand would be raised against his neighbour ; no fancied 
 grievance would be allowed to sink into oblivion ; no 
 paltry assault, no petty trespass would be either forgiven 
 or forgotten, and the courts would be occupied with the 
 endless quarrels of the peevish and the discontented. 
 It therefore operates as a wholesome check on the 
 spirit of litigation, that there should be in law a dearness 
 commensurate with the exigency which requires an appeal 
 to it — a dearness which, while it does not check indi- 
 viduals in the pursuit of a real right, or impede them in 
 gaining satisfaction for an injury inflicted, is much more 
 beneficial to society, than a cheapness which places 
 it within the reach of every vindictive and malicious 
 spirit ! " * 
 
 But Lord Brougham will perchance say, that this is 
 mere twaddle — theory — &c. Well — let us see whether 
 there is any appeal to facts in support of it. Perhaps it 
 
 * Hans. Pari. Deb. N. S. 18tli vol. p. H5I.; and Mirror of Par- 
 liament, vol. i. p. 436.
 
 45 
 
 will be found that they manage this *' cheap law" better 
 abroad ! Hear, then, what our American friends have 
 made of it ! 
 
 " The principle of bringing' justice home to every 
 man's door, and of making the administration of it cheap, 
 has had a full experience in America ; and (freafer prac- 
 tical curses, I will venture lo say, were never inflicted on 
 any country T * * * Xhe Pennsylvanians have done 
 away with nearly all the technicalities of the law ; there 
 are no stamps, no special pleadings, and scarcely any 
 one is so poor that he cannot go to law. The conse- 
 quence is — a scene of litigation from morning to night. 
 Lawyers of course abound every-where, as no village 
 containing about 200 or 300 inhabitants is without one 
 or more of them. No person, be his situation or conduct 
 in life what it may, is free from the never-ending pest of 
 lawsuits. Servants, labourers, every one, in short, flies 
 off on the first occasion to the neighbouring lawyer to 
 commence an action. No compromise or accommodation is 
 ever dreamt of ; the law must decide every thing". The 
 lawyer's fees are fixed at a low rate ; but the passion for 
 litigating a point increases with indulgence to such a 
 degree, that these victims of cheap justice, or cheap law, 
 seldom stop while they have a dollar left." * 
 
 Hear another witness to the same point : — 
 
 " Litigation frequently arises here from the imaginary 
 in(]ej)endence which each man has over others ; to show 
 which, on the least slip, a suit is the certain result. It is 
 bad for the people that law is cheap, as it keeps them 
 constantly in strife icith their neif/hhonrs, and annihilates 
 that socialit?/ of feeliui/ ivhich so strongly characterises 
 the Enylishr t 
 
 Yet, with all these facts and arguments, these " wise 
 saws and modern instances" hea])ed up before him — for 
 his attention was specially called to them by Lord 
 Lyndhurst, in a most forcible strain of eloquence — this 
 Poor Man's Friend [" the Lord defend me from my 
 
 * Captain Basil Hall. 
 
 f Faux's Memorable Days in America.
 
 46 
 
 friends ! "~] persists in his preposterous plan ! He avoids 
 the rock of reasoning — for he leaves the strongest points 
 in Lord Lyndliurst's speech totally unanswered — and 
 " gambols/' grampus-like, along a foaming sea of 
 declamation, about " cheap justice " — " denial of it to 
 the poor man" — " got in the next street" — *' bringing 
 it home to the poor man's door " — aye, believe «*, poor 
 man, that it will " stand a very devil at thy door," who 
 will not leave at thy bidding I Believe us, you ask for a 
 fish, and your friend flings a scorpion among you — for 
 a stinging scorpion ever was this " cheap justice " found, 
 and will be ! Think a little for yourselves, in a matter 
 that so momentously concerns you. Suppose a man is in a 
 sudden fit of fury towards another, would you rejoice that 
 there lay a sharp knife within his reach ? Now this sharp 
 knife is the " cheap law" — which your kind friend is 
 cruelly sharpening against such time as your passions 
 may be up to do desperate things ! Or call this cheap 
 law a firebrand, with which a great moral incendiary is 
 lurking about your quiet homes, to consume your domes- 
 tic peace ! To set fire to all the bad spirit that may be 
 among you I Yes — translate all the pompous designing 
 fallacies of your " friend " — thus : — 
 
 " Poor people ! My sweet friends I 1 am your sin- 
 cere, your strong, your only true Friend, and therefore 
 wish to give to all of you the ready means of lawing and 
 being lawed I If any poor brother of you is the other's 
 creditor, don't pause to reflect, but hurry into the next 
 street after your rights ! Cast him instantly into prison, 
 till he has paid you the uttermost farthing ! Do not let your 
 firmness be shaken by the shocking spectacle of his 
 ruined, houseless wife and children ! Have your rights, 
 though your brother perish ; and what does it matter, 
 though you must be prepared, if ever you should happen 
 to become a debtor, to give in like manner his rights to 
 your rich creditor ? For you must remember, dear friends, 
 that the law, which is sharp, is sharp as a two-edyed 
 sword — sharp for you, and sharp for Him I If you can 
 by any means tease, harass, and aflront this your richer 
 neighbour, by ' having the law of him,' do so, do so !
 
 47 
 
 Rely upon it, he will like your spirit ! He will g-ive you 
 time to pay your rent ! You will never hear of a distress- 
 warrant ! He will supply you with goods on longer 
 credit ! If trouble comes upon you, sickness or want, see 
 if he do not fly to your assistance ! Therefore, help me to 
 get this cheap law for you, by sending- petitions on 
 petitions into parliament, or I can never succeed, for 
 your Enemies are strong ! " 
 
 Ah, you False Friend ! Verily, *' you are guilty concern- 
 ing this your poor brother ! " You are selling him bound 
 hand and foot to the Eg-yptians ! Nay, you are betraying 
 both your rich and poor brothers ! You are deceiving 
 each about the other, and making them hate one another ; 
 you set the rich against the poor, and then leave the poor 
 totally at their mercy ; hoping, perhaps, that out of all 
 this family hubbub and dissension, you may run off with 
 the mess of pottage ! 
 
 This is no declamation or misrepresentation. We have 
 one fact, pregnant with sad significance, yet to mention 
 which clenches all we have been charging, of motive and 
 design, upon our " Poor Man's Friend." As soon as 
 he was defeated last session in the House of Lords*, a 
 member of the House of Commons rose in his place the 
 very same evening, to give notice of his intention to in- 
 troduce there the Poor Man's Bill ! Now, who was this 
 member? — Daniel O' Connell — the Irish Poor Man's 
 Friend ! coming- to the assistance of the English Poor 
 Man's Friend ! He who has done so much for " the 
 finest peasantry under the sun," or rather made them do 
 so much for lihn; he who is so apt a scholar at devising 
 means for beggaring and demoralising his own country- 
 men, sees instinctively in an instant the scope of the Local 
 Courts Bill, as perfectly capable of producing" those dis- 
 astrous effects on the peasantry of this country ! Of all 
 members of the House of Connnons, the Big Beggarman 
 of Ireland shouts his acquiescence and support into the 
 delighted ear of the English Poor Man's Friend ! Sir 
 Robert Inglis, we recollect, once said, that the mere fact 
 
 * Despite the despicable trick about the Division.
 
 48 
 
 of O'Connell's supporting' any measure, was a reason for 
 his opposing it ! Does not the fact of this man's ad- 
 vocacy of the Local Courts Bill startle you ! Can you 
 believe that there is a good wish in his heart — if heart 
 he has — towards you ? * Here are two disastrous stars 
 in conjunction ! Mr. O'Connell and Lord Brougham are 
 at issue about every thing except this one question — this 
 giving you " cheap justice!" Here they run in a leash 
 together ! 
 
 " Sure such a pair were never seen — 
 So justly form'd to meet by nature ! " 
 
 So much for the false pretensions of this bill, as being 
 one for benefiting- the Poor Man ; a title which we are 
 ready in charity to believe that Lord Brougham will not 
 any longer contend for in the House of Lords, or attempt 
 to find any one audacious and silly enough to introduce 
 into the House of Commons. If this latter should come 
 to pass, it will be met with a universal shout of laughter ! 
 We shall wait and see who steps forward to claim there, 
 in advocacy of this bill, the title of the " Poor Man's 
 Friend ; " and let him not think we shall forget him ! 
 
 AVe deeply regret being unable to follow this bill — 
 this quintessence of quackery — into all its miserable de- 
 tails, and expose their grossness before an intelligent pub- 
 lic, but our allotted space is already exceeded. Its other 
 main object is palpably to destroy the certainty of the law, 
 and the very existence of its professors. He is blind and 
 besotted indeed who cannot see the inestimable blessings 
 of settled certainty in the law. Let him read the beau- 
 
 * If it be possible to attach a grain of importance to any thing 
 said by this person, only look at his evidence on the subject before a 
 Committee of the House of Commons: " My own abstract opinion 
 is, that the evil of serving process for the recovery of small debts, 
 and the necessary increase of oaths, is much greater than any that 
 would occur, if they were irrecoverable. I believe few small debts 
 would be unpaid, if there were no legal process; for no one would 
 get credit but the man who had a character for punctuality. The 
 practice of the Civil Bill Court has introduced a most frightful 
 extent of perjury, and tends extremely to demoralise the Irish 
 people " ! ! !
 
 49 
 
 tiful and convincing' observations of Lord Lyndhurst on 
 this point, in each of the two last debates on this question, 
 and his obstinacy must yield to the force of demonstration, 
 that this bill, if carried, instantly destroys it. Only ima- 
 gine the effects of some sixty independent judges laying 
 down their own notions of law ! Are there to be reports 
 of all their decisions ? If so, " even the world itself could 
 not contain the books that should be w^ritten " — no pri- 
 vate purse can purchase them — no head, however clear 
 and experienced, be able to reconcile their conflicting 
 contents ; and if bad local law is to be corrected in every 
 instance by the courts above — and if it is not, the conse- 
 quences will be fearful — then all the new and costly ma- 
 chinery will have little other effect than to aggravate 
 thousandfold all the evils it pretends to remedy — to fling 
 us back into the former state so well described by Sir 
 Matthew Hale. 
 
 '* This" [County Courts, &c.], '* doubtless, bred 
 great inconveniences ; uncertainty, and variety in the law ; 
 first, by the ignorance of the judges, who, in process of 
 time, neglected the study of the English law. Another 
 was — that it also bred great variety of laws, especially 
 in the several counties. For the decisions being made by 
 divers Courts, and several independent judges and judi- 
 catories, who had no common interest among them in 
 their several judicatories, thereby, in process of time, 
 every several county would have several laws, customs, 
 rules, and forms of proceedings — ivhich is always the 
 effect of several independent judicatories, administered by 
 several judges." * 
 
 And into the modern state of confusion so sadly de- 
 picted by M. Royer Collard as existing in France — 
 
 " Such is the deplorable system the Empire has be- 
 queathed to the Restoration. The necessarily resulting 
 evils have developed themselves — and never, perhaps, 
 has France possessed a more inefficient and less respected 
 magistracy. It is now easy to understand the weakness 
 
 * And see Sullivan's Lectures on the Laws of England, 
 pp. 296-8. ; Reeves's History of the English Law, vol. i. pp. 52, 
 53. ; 3 Blackst. Com. 356.
 
 50 
 
 of the Bar. The Courts have Httle taste for questions of 
 hivv ; their whole art consists in avoiding- cassation. The 
 consequence is, that the advocate studies only to present 
 his case in such a manner as to conciliate the judg-es, and 
 desj3ises a science which would be rather prejudicial than 
 useful to him. I repeat, learning is almost as rare at the 
 Bar, as on the Bench." 
 
 Alas ! are all the arguments of great and learned men 
 
 — are all the fruits of experience, in ancient and in mo- 
 dern times, both at home and abroad — to be utterly dis- 
 regarded, at the bidding of so presumptuous and headstrong 
 an innovator as Lord Brougham and Vaux ? Is the science 
 of the law to melt away before his glance ? Is the Bar 
 to be broken up into fragments, and its members flung at 
 random over the country at his bidding ? Is the kingdom 
 to be deprived of its grand security in these its natural 
 bulwarks, because Lord Brougham hates them ? Where, 
 hereafter, — if this bill be carried — will the young law- 
 yer be trained, in the school of independence and learning, 
 to fight the battles of the poor and oppressed, nobly daring 
 all the frowns and menaces of unconstitutional powers ? 
 What countervailing advantage is to supply the place of 
 the present extensive body of eminent, experienced, and 
 honourable solicitors — men above all taint or suspicion 
 
 — the secret, incorruptible, and almost universal deposit- 
 aries of confidence and property between man and man ? 
 Is a worse than the plague of lice to be brought upon us 
 at the breathing of Lord Brougham in the shape of the 
 scoundrel pettifogger — a reptile that now dare hardly 
 creep into the light of day, but then would overrun the 
 whole country in noisome and pestilential swarms ? All 
 these are to the country matters of grave importance ; to 
 Lord Brougham, possibly — of contempt and derision ! 
 
 " My Lord, we will conceal nothing from you. We 
 will speak out frankly to you. We did not [take up 
 our pen] to flatter you. We will neither give, nor take 
 flattery. We will be neither its victims nor its dis- 
 pensers. We will give utterance to the plain truth, even 
 though it be unpalatable*," and tell you in downright 
 
 * See the conclusion of his- reply on the Local Courts Bill.
 
 51 
 
 terms, that you are a dangerous man — dangerous to 
 the Bar Avhich you dread, the Attornies whom you 
 hate, tlie Law you do not understand ; that we believe 
 you are actuated, in bringing in, and obstinately ad- 
 hering to this stupid Bill, by most unworthy motives, 
 and we should not do our duty to ourselves, or to our 
 country, did we not thus roughly handle, thus fearlessly 
 expose you. Do not accuse us of personal rancour — 
 for, at the utmost, \ve do but borrow our weapons out of 
 the cleanliest that are to be found in your own extensive 
 armoury ! 
 
 Yes — we have succeeded, we hope, in developing the 
 secret spring of certain leading motives and purposes of 
 Lord Brougham. We have shown how long he has 
 striven after populariti/^ by what means he has obtained 
 it, to what ends he is turning it. We have exposed his 
 sedulous, systematic, most mean and disgraceful depreci- 
 ation of the Aristocracy ; and his reasons for breaking 
 down the English Bar — destroying the science of the 
 law itself, and converting' its faithful ministers into mere 
 mercenaries, dependirig for their all upon himself. We 
 have exposed the paltry manoeuvres by which he has pressed 
 into his services the suffrages of the lower orders — at once 
 inflaming and inveterating their prejudices against "their 
 self-nominated superiors" — and destroying the bond of 
 union and happiness amongst themselves. We have 
 })ointed out the distinguished individual who has so sig- 
 nally — yet, so unassumingly withal — vanquished Lord 
 Brougham, — vindicated the liberties of the subject, the in- 
 depeiulence of the Bar, the majesty of the law, and, — last 
 not least, afforded a timely specimen of dignified senatorial 
 and judicial eloquence and wisdom in the House of Lords 
 — a needful service, ever since the introduction there of 
 certain gross buffooneries and vulgar personalities. We 
 call upon Lord Lyndhurst to be " to himself true ;" in 
 the name of all that is English, and of all that is iude- 
 pendent, of all that is constitutional, to awake and bestir 
 himself in these " ticklish times;" to become as a light 
 set upon a hill ; and as an orator — a legislator — to 
 preserve his high fame, till it be as widely appreciated as 
 are his splendid qualifications as a Judge.
 
 52 
 
 As for the Local Courts Bill itself — we have now 
 beaten down that g-rand stalking-horse. Yes, we have 
 torn to pieces this "monster of legislation;" and here, 
 reader, you may see as in a picture, its bleeding disfigured 
 carcass — its disjecta membra — with the mountebank 
 proprietor standing lackadaisically beside it, mournfully 
 pondering the probabilities of resuscitation. ** Alas," you 
 may now say, " for the poor showman, who supported 
 himself by leading it about the streets, gathering ' cop- 
 per' opinions from all poor passers-by ! His bear being 
 slain, 'his occupation's gone' — till he return with mi- 
 other, — or, peradventure, with a monkey riding on a dog, 
 making moving appeals— 
 
 < To all the common folk that walk about, 
 And stare i'the streets, at shows ' " ! 
 
 Note I. 
 
 The following memorable passage we have thought fit rather to 
 place thus conspicuously at the close of these remarks, than intro- 
 duce into the body of the text : — 
 
 " But, as I said before, the business of Inferior Courts grew gra- 
 dually less and less, and consequently their profits and business of 
 any moment came to the great courts ; ivhere they ivere de- 
 spatched loith greater justice and equality. Besides, the Greater 
 Courts, observing what partiality and brocage was used in the 
 Inferior Courts, gave a pretty quick ear to writs of false judgment ; 
 which was the appeal the law allowed from erroneous judgments 
 in the County Courts : and this, by degrees, wasted the credit 
 and business of those Inferior Courts." — Sir jNIatthew Hale, 
 History of the Common Law, p. 14-6. 
 
 Note II. 
 
 The system of trying issues in actions under twenty pounds, in 
 the Sheriffs' Courts (stat. 3 and 4 W. 4. c. 42. § 17.), now in active 
 working, and the prodigious lowering of the costs, &c., by the recent 
 orders of the Judges, so that twenty pounds may now be recovered 
 at an expense of" five pounds, warrants the observation, that the 
 project of noxo establishing ' Local Courts ' is equally absurd and 
 iniquitous. 
 
 London : 
 
 Printed by A. Spottiswoode, 
 
 New- Street- Square.
 
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