AMERICAN NOTES ON THE ENGLISH JUDGES. (By a Contributor to the American Monthly Law Reporter.)

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume VI, Issue 488, 6 April 1850, Page 3

AMERICAN NOTES ON THE ENGLISH JUDGES. (By a Contributor to the American Monthly Law Reporter.)

My first visit to the English Courts wtf» under the guidance of a valued friend, a member of the bar, whose competent fortune, contented spirit, and sensitive conscience, prevented him from reaching that professional eminence to which his abilities and attainments would otherwise have given him a just claim. On entering the room occupied by the Court of Queen's Bench, my first feeling was that of surprise at the sraallness and meanness of ihe accommodations enjoyed by this pow* erful tribunal. The apartment was not more than one-half as large as that occupied by the Supreme Court in this city. At one end were the seats occupied by the Judges. Below them was a small open place appropriated to clerks, officers, and attornies. The barristers, in I their gowns and wigs, were ranged in most uncomfortable seats, similar to those in the old court house in Boston, in the form of segments of a circle, with wooden partitions or divisions in front, having a fiat top of some six inches in width, on which the luckless re* porters took notes with uneasy fingers. The accommodations for the public were of the most meagre-description. Give to this pic* ture a general air of mouldiness and dinginess, and illumine it, not with the " gladsome light of jurisprudence," but with the dull rays of a London sun making its way through windows that seemed to be long guiltless of soap and water, and you will have the scene as I saw it. The Judges were dressed in robes of scarlet woollen, the cuffs and collars ornamented with stripes of pale drab velvet or plush, which, by a fiction of law, it is to be presumed were to be taken for ermine. Around the neck was a band of white muslin and cambric, like that formerly worn by clergymen in our country, and still retained by those who walk in ths old paths. My attention was naturally drawn to the dignified presence and high toned bearing of Lord Denman, and to the venerable countenance, strongly marked with the lines of thought and study of Mr. Justice Patteson. The barristers when in court wear gowns ; those who hold the rank of Queen's counsel of black silk, the others of stuff. The wig is common to the bench and bar. To the gowns there is no objection, but nothing can be more unbecoming than the wig. It contains the most characteristic and expressive part of the human countenance, and so puts out, so to speak, the face itself, that at a short distance one person can hardly be distinguished from another under this uncouth appendage. At the time of my visit the court were listening to a motion for a new trial argued by the Attorney-General, Sir John Jervis, and Sir Frederick Thesiger. In manner, the latter had rather the advantage, but the point under discussion was not of importance enough to call forth the whole power of either of these distinguished gentlemen. The Court of Common Pleas was in session at the same time in an apartment at no great distance from that occupied by the Queen's Bench, and resembling it in size and appearance. The sergeants-at-law, whose peculiar domain is in this court, wear gowns of dark blue stuff, and the wig has a bald spot on the crown to represent the coif. The Judges were engaged, during the time I was present, in pronouncing judgment upon a motion for a new trial, in a case in which damages had been recovered for breach of promise of marriage. Each of the Judges gave his views orally, and they were unanimous in refusing the application. Mr. Justice Maule's remarks were most extended, and*Vere characterized by the vigour and sarcastic point for which he is remarkable. The Court of Exchequer was also in session, in a room similar to that occupied by the other courts but nothing of any particular interest was before them. The Judges of this Court, and also of the Court of Common Pleas wear a costume like that of their brethren of the Queen's Bench. From the Court of the Exchequer we passed into the room occupied by the Lord Chancellor, which is small in size and unpretending in appearance. The Chancellor, in a capacious wig and gown of black silk, was listening to an argument with becoming attention. Before him, on a table, were the mace and the bag containing the great seal. Upon these significant and historical emblems I gazed with.

due reverence. The countenance of the Lord CbaHceiiof i$ massive, and strongly marked witV'ttfeifail'tll thought. It is well known that'LdVd'fcottenham is one of the greatest equity Judges' that ever sat upon the woolsack and th£t men of all parties acknowledge his profound learning and his eminent judicial ability. He devotes himself mainly to his judicial duties, and takes no further part in politics than his elevated position necessarily requires. The English Judges as a body are remarkable not only for their dignified bearing and intellectual expression, but also for their air of robust health and constitutional vigour. In this latter point they have decidedly the advantage of their judicial brethren in America; and the same observations may be extended to the bar, and indeed to the other learned professions, and to all m«n who make the brain ■an instrument of toil. The Judges of England are not only learned and upright magistrates, but also accomplished gentlemen, mingling in the choicest society which is to be found in London, and taking their fair share in its light as well as grave discussions. Many of them are excellent scholars, crowned in early life with university ■honours, a thing never forgotten in England.