The Lord Chief Justice has given his opinion on the
new Judi- -cature Bills in an able and extremely eloquent letter addressed to the Lord Chancellor. It is unfortunate that a slight flavour of -personal pique detracts from the value of such a masterly piece of writing. Sir Alexander Cockburn goes a little out of his way to -complain that the Judicature Bills were sent to the Judges in -blank envelopes, without any express invitation to them to impart -their ideas on the subject. This trivial objection is unworthy of the Lord Chief Justice. With regard to the proposed reforms, Sir A. Cockburn cordially welcomes the fusion of law and equity, .bringing out with all his wonted clearness the abuses of the present :system. He finds fault with the plan of an Appellate Court com- posed partly of judges nominated for a year, and recommends -instead, as we are happy to think we once recommended, that promotion to the Appellate Court should be a reward for distin- guished services in the High Court of Justice. Much, however, -of Sir Alexander Cockburn's letter is taken up with a protest against the sacrifice of the existing attributes of the Court of Queen's Bench, and although we greatly admire the fervour with -which he pleads the cause of his own. Court, we cannot but think -Um-mistaken. It is true the Qeeen's Bench will become part of -s•whole, according to the plan of the Judicature Bills, but the whole will unite all the excellence of every part. To absorb is not -necessarily to extinguish ; it may mean the very opposite.
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