LORDS-JUSTICES v. STEAM-ENGINES.
LORD CAMPBELL'S first appearance in the character of a cham- pion of ancient institutions would have been amusing, if any speech of so grave and elaborate an orator could anteese, even when he is ludicrous. Lord Campbell came forward with a formidable array of precedents to prove that Kim's of England had always been in the practice of appointing Lords-Justices before leaving the kingdom. When told by Lord Lyndhurst that it had not been thought necessary to trouble our young Royal Lady with this ponderous preliminary to setting out on a jaunt of no greater distance than two days' journey, Lord Camp- bell, with the air of a disappointed dialectician who can get none to debate with him, declared that he would no longer argue the question, but that the Chancellor had not cited a single instance in favour of the course Government intended to pursue. It would not be easy to find one : we are yet barely entering an the age of steam, and precedents have not had time to accumu- late. Formerly, when the Sovereign of England went over to Hanover, Lords-Justices were wanted to sign warrants and per. form other routine duties of the Crown : but now steam-boats and locomotives can bring the real Royal signature from Franca; Belgium, or Germany, time enough for all useful purposes. The steam-engine has taken the place of the Lords-Justices ; and Lord Campbell is jealous least steam-engines should supersede judicial dignitaries in their other functions also. We wish they could,
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