LONDON LEGAL LETTER. London, Jan. 6, 1894. THK close of the Christmas recess has been signalized by a spell of weather extraor dinarily severe. When we left town a fortnight ago for our various country and provincial re treats, wearied professional eyes encountered everywhere a landscape indicative of early spring, and vernal breezes caused one to forget that it was after all the winter season; as we return to the labors of the courts, however, a snowstorm and frost have enveloped the country, and per sons who have devoted their lives to the collec tion of thermometers and the recording of their indications, affirm that such cold has not for many years Britannically prevailed, a conclusion at which'the general public, experiencing extreme ly polar sensations, had independently arrived. Many of the leading men are complaining loudly about the state of business, a form of lamentation that never entirely dies away, but which at the present moment has more justification than usual. 1 believe that legal appointments of subordinate importance are more and more coveted by Queen's Counsel, who only a year or two ago were considered likely aspirants for a law officership of the Crown. Lord Herschell has had a very difficult duty to discharge in selecting, from the crowds of applicants for county court judgships and magistracies, the men best suited for a particular vacancy. I rather fancy that another pen than mine will introduce to your columns a narrative of the greatest murder trial that has agitated the public mind for many a day. The Ardlamont case, although tried in the Scottish Justiciary Court at Edinburgh, was followed by Englishmen with an intensity of interest seldom bestowed on the proceedings of their own crim inal tribunal. This case has raised again the vexed question of the respective merits of the English and Scotch systems of preliminary criminal inquiries. As you know, in England such an investigation commences with a public cor oner's inquest, so that very often most of the available evidence has become public property ere the actual trial takes place, while in Scotland
the equivalent of the inquest is a private inquiry conducted by the Procurator Fiscal, a system which adds much to the excitement of the trial when for the first time the evidence is officially disclosed. This is hardly the place or occasion on which to express an opinion as to which method best serves the ends of justice; the argu ments on either side are very evenly balanced, and I incline to think that as they are both natural growths in their respective countries, no attempt should be made, as has been often pro posed, to ingraft foreign elements in either. Lord Hannen, who retired from active judicial work after the conclusion of the Behring Sea arbitration, has been prostrated by a serious illness which caused for some days great anxiety to his friends; but there is now little doubt of his recovery. The Master of the Rolls too, Lord Esher, has been laid aside and will not be able to sit on the Court of Appeals at the commence ment of next term. Rumor has been busy with announcements of his impending retirement, which would place at the disposal of Mr. Glad stone one of our most conspicuous legal offices. I should not wonder very much if Lord Esher were to take the opportunity of retiring; his powers of mind and body are practically unim paired notwithstanding his advanced age, but he has enjoyed a protracted and eminent judicial career, and he may well long for a respite from the daily routine of the bench. Judicial honor has yet again been conferred upon a distinguished alumnus of Cambridge University. Mr. J. W. Bonser, who was senior classic in 1870, and afterward a fellow of Christ College, has been appointed Chief Justice of Ceylon; he has held important colonial office before, having been successively Attorney-General and Chief Justice of the Straits Settlements. Men who have won academic laurels succeed much more frequently at the bar than is commonly supposed where university fame is vulgarly imagined to be much more an impediment than an aid to forensic success. - - -
