Expense of the Administration of Justice. 3 stained from getting in their crops or digging their potatoes, from an apprehension they would be seized for still-fines; and the Board of Excise, dreading a famine, as the effect of their rapacity, were compelled to issue a proclamation" declaring that the collection of fines was suspended for a month, and that after that period, they would not be levied from corn or potatoes." This promise, we believe, was not kept; but to what a horrible state for a brave people to be reduced, merely to support a profligate and execrable system of government! Ought not every effort be made to destroy such an infamous system, which, wherever its influence extends, spreads nothing but famine, wretchedness, and crime. The way in which informations are tried, too, seems a little singular, and equals in despatch the mode of administering justice at Algiers, Sir John Stewart, in his evidence before the House of Commons, relates, that at the assize held at Lifford, there were 593 informations for still-fines to be tried. The judge tried them at the rate of one a minute. The words of a juryman were, "He knocked them off at the rate of one in a minute;" and the judge dashed on at this rate till he was told that the gaol would hold no more. There is great difficulty, says Mr. Chichester, in taking defence against information for a still-fine. The purse of the nation pays the expenses of informers, but the poor Irish have no public purse on which they can draw. When they succeed in defeating the information, they are not enabled to recover their costs of the opposite party. The various expenses which they incur by de ending themselves amount at least to seven pounds, which being far beyond the ability of many of these wretched people, they are com pelled to let judgment go against them by default. In some cases com passionate landlords are induced to pay the fines for their tenants, rather than witness the plunder of so many innocent people. One gentleman, Mr. Young, became responsible for £2000, as the only means of sparing himself the distress of seeing the destruction of his tenants. His benevolence, however, was of little avail; for the excisemen soon demanded new contributions on new pretences; and he found that if his soil was of gold dust it would be, unequal to satisfy these endless requisitions. Owing to a very natural resistance from the people, the fines can only be levied with the aid of of the military; and this is done with so much severity and violence, that were they not legalized, would be punishable with death. extracts from Mr. Chichester's Letters, will give some idea of the scenes transacting in Ireland in the execution of a barbarous system of revenue law: Expense of the Administration of Justice. In September 1815, John Doherty, a very poor man, resident in Innishowen, was visited by the collector of still-fines, who was attended by a strong military force. They commenced by depriving the unhappy man of his cattle and household furniture; they next carried off his grain, which he had just shorn, and took from him even the smallest implements of industry belonging to his little farm. After this they seized the wearing apparel of his family, not excepting their shoes and stockings, and finished that act of the tragedy by robbing his little children of their clothes. After they had thus got possession of all the cottage contained, they tore its doors away, and burned them in presence of his weeping family, in order that they might cook their dinner, consisting of provisions forcibly obtained at their cottage. Some poultry, however, still remained, which had not been observed at first, and these the soldiers killed and put in their knapsacks, that they might feast upon them when they arrived at their quarters.” -Letter on the Oppressions of Irish Revenue Officers, p. 46. Here follow some further details of the distressing scenes resulting from the military execution of the Excise Laws. "When cattle were seized for still-fines, they were usually driven by the Excisemen to a pound at the village of Cardonagh, in Innishowen: in that place they were stowed for some time, previous to their removal to Londonderry, a distance of twenty miles. While they were kept at Cardonagh, the owners frequently attended at the pound, in hopes of being permitted to feed them; and, on such occasions, many distressing scenes frequently took place. Mothers, with their perishing children in their arms, supplicating the sentinels to give them a little milk from their own cows: the infants also bewailing their unmerited sufferings, and importuning their distracted parents for sustenance, which it was impossible to give them. The military employed in this dreadful duty frequently appeared affected, and sometimes gave a part of their daily pay to mitigate the bitter sorrows which they witnessed. But such humanity was vain; for devastations extended over too wide a range to admit of individual assistance."—p. 6. › 1 is an Such are the workings of the Borough System in Ireland. Wherever this system is pursued, it exhibits the same unvarying picture of misery, rapine, crime, and extortion. Government, instead of being a system of law, outrage on all law, a violation of every moral principle, social tie, and feeling of humanity. When we reflect on our horrid Revenue Laws, we always feel amazed they do not wake the unceasing animadversions of our professed philanthropists, moralists, and religionists. We allude to such men as. Mr. Brougham and Wilberforce, and half a dozen more puritans, who indulge in " Expense of the Administration of Justice. endless lamentations on the progress of infidelity, and the circulation of what they term " blasphemous and immoral publications." What are all the evils resulting from this source; what, indeed, are all the evils of female prostitution, of intemperance, of sabbath-breakings, or any other evil, which excites such horror in the minds of these gentlemen, compared with the perjuries, crimes, devastations, and unutterable wretchedness, resulting from Revenue rapacity. This, however, excites in them little or no emotion; they contemplate these fiscal plunderings, and the misery they diffuse, with the same complacency with which men bow to the dispensations of Providence. If any thing more were needful to convince the people that these sanctified politicians could do no good, that they are little better than a set of maudling hypocrites, with whom is identified no principle of humanity, liberty, or happiness, it would be their tame acquiescence in the atrocities of the Borough System. We do not say they are wholly silent, but their occasional lamentations [tend rather to encourage than restrain the fury of our oppressors; and they are invariably opposed to every radical measure likely to root out the sources of national misery. It is necessary we should now think of drawing our observations on the Administration of Justice to a close. This article has extended to an unusual length, and for which the importance of the subject must be our apology. England is not less a law-ridden than a priest-ridden country. We have purposely abstained from saying any thing on the ferocity and absurdity of our Criminal Code; considering that subject, from recent discussions, to be pretty well understood. To us it appears that the abuses in our legal system, are tolerated and upheld solely from neither the reason nor the interests of the community being represented in the Legislature. In the few concluding observations we are going to offer, we shall mention those changes in our civil and criminal jurisprudence, which, we think, would immediately follow a radical change in the constitution of the House of Commons. The celebrated JEREMY BENTHAM has truly remarked, that lawyers oppose improvement from the same motives that workmen oppose the introduction of machinery: they are apprehensive it would lessen their cmployment. Mr. Roscoe, in his Life of Leo X. relates an anecdote of that pontiff, which, we think, may be very well applied both to the law and Expense of the Administration of Justice. priestcraft of this country. Cardinal Bembo (vide vol. 4. p. 479,) having on one occasion quoted a passage from the Evangelists, he was interrupted by his Holiness, who said, "It is well known to all ages how profitable this fable of Christ has been to us."-Yes, most holy father, we thank you for your honest declaration, the Fable of Christ, as you term it, has doubtless been very profitable to you, but very unprofitable to the people. Our lawyers may say the same: the cart-load of legendary rubbish they profess to expound, is doubtless very profitable to them, but a serious loss and inconve nience to their clients. It does by no means follow that because there are laws there should also be lawyers. There is nothing in the nature of laws that ought to render er them difficult and above the comprehension of ordinary men. If they are difficult to comprehend, the blame attaches rather to the lawmaker than the law. The causes that render English laws so unintelligible and difficult are obvious, and which we have explained. It arises from their multiplicity, their contradiction, and the uncouth and nonsensical jargon in which they are expressed. Now, it is obvious, that these causes might be removed, that they are all susceptible of a remedy. It may be asked then why is it not done? Why is not the Statute-Book revised; its contradictions reconciled; its language rendered more simple and intelligible; and the immense number of local acts consolidated into more general laws? The answer is plain-it would destroy the emoluments of the profession; their "occupation would be gone;" there would be no need of a class of men to explain that which any one might understand. Is it surprising, then, that judges, counsel, attorneys, and the whole fraternity, are opposed to Reform? Reform indeed would be ruin for them! They know that well. They'll stick to the "venerable pile" as to a freehold estate. Truly reform would do them no good. A government in which the intellect, the common sense, and interests of the community were represented, would not long suffer the people to be pillaged by fraudulent attorneys and rapacious lawyers. We should have the Statute-Book compressed into a pocket octavo, and so plain that a school-boy would understand it. Then away go their wigs and gowns, and all their learned lore would be as much out of date as the cocked-hat and ruffles of the last generation. Sad calamities these for gentlemen of the bar! They may well rail against and calumniate the people. They have a great stake-not in the country, but the law; and we may always expect to have them for our opponents; though it is rather too much, that they should accuse the Reform Expense of the Administration of Justice. ers of being irrational and visionary, while their own mountebank profession is the reverse of both reason and common sense. It is impossible that Courts of Justice can be looked on with reverence while the laws remain in their present state. The pleadings of lawyers resemble the unprofitable wranglings of the ancient sophists, whose object was to bide rather than discover the truth; and the emptying the pockets of suitors appear more the motive than the administration of justice. We shall now pass on to the attorneys, who also appear to have many good and substantial reasons for opposing reform. It was the opinion of Lord Stanhope, that the employment of this branch of the profession might be very much lessened by the use of printed forms in many cases of legal proceedings. His lordship's views on this part of the subject will be best explained by an extract from his speech on the 1st of May, 1816. After remarking on the great interest the profession had in the “ glorious uncertainty of the law," his lordship said, "He did not mean to cast any general reflection on any department of the legal profession: there were no persons more useful when they chose, and none had more the power of being useful; but there were exceptions of which we heard almost every day in the instances of pettyfogging attorneys. He happened to be in company with a man the other day very eminent in the profession, and asked him whether forms of leases might not be attached by the way of schedule to acts of parliament, such as leases of land, leases of houses, leases of lands and houses together, and leases of coal mines, &c.? To which he answered, he saw no objection to it, and he thought there would be much utility in adding forms of the most common conveyances. The advantage of this would be that parties themselves might copy these forms, inserting the proper names, descriptions, and sums; and in nine cases out of ten the assistance of attorneys and conveyancers would be unnecessary. He knew that the family of a noble Duke (the Duke of Bedford) kept printed forms and gave them to the tenant; and while the assistance of attorneys and conveyancers were thus rendered unnecessary, the tenant might see at a glance what were the conditions of his lease. The same thing might be done with respect to pleading, and printed forms might be scheduled of declarations in the most common actions, with the proper counts, and thus render the aid of the special pleader in a great measure unnecessary. A person in his neighbourhood having a dispute, he happened to see the declaration, and he found there was not one of the counts in which a verdict could be taken so as to |