§ Lord Grenville said,he rose to give notice on a subject of considerable importance to a great number of his maj.'s subjects, and also to that house, with respect to a part of its proceedings. He alluded to the Administration of Justice in Scotland, with respect to the forms of which, he believed, it was the opinion of the bar in that country, and the general opinion, that an alteration might be made with great advantage to all those who were suitors in the courts. Far was it from him to say that the system of legal proceedings in Scotland was not one wisely established, but, in the lapse of time, it had become, in some of its parts, inferior to the system established in England, which had stood the test of so many ages, and which still retained all its original beauty and purity. Far was it from him to say, that the laws of Scotland were not administered with the greatest purity. There was, however, one consideration of the greatest importance, namely, that justice ought to be speedily administered, otherwise, in many cases, it ceased to be justice. Their lordships had taken upon themselves to be a court of dernier resort for all parts of the united kingdom, to the execution of which important business much of their time had been devoted. Notwithstanding, however, all their diligence and attention, the number of appeals from Scotland now on the table of the house, which were yet undecided, shewed that they had arrived at that point when they must either declare that they could not do justice to the parties appealing to their decision, or take some measure to reduce the number of appeals from that country. It was doubtless of the greatest importance in every case, that the dispatch of business should keep pace with the business which actually arose. He was afraid he could not promise any measure upon this subject in the course of the present session; and, though some might complain of this delay, it was nevertheless of the greatest importance that such a measure should be carefully digested, and receive every advantage which could be derived from the suggestions of those who had a thorough knowledge of the Scottish law. The mode he 808 intended to adopt was to propose certain resolutions, upon which, in the ensuing session, a bill might be founded; but which, in the mean time, might go forth to the public, and receive all that consideration which their importance deserved, and particularly from the Scottish bar, from whose talents many advantageous suggestions might be expected. His lordship concluded by giving notice, that he should bring forward some motion on the subject on Monday se'nnight, although he would not pledge himself as to the particular day, and moved that the lords be summoned for that day.
The Duke of Montroseexpressed in the strongest terms the infinite satisfaction he felt, in finding that a measure of such consequence was taken up by a noble lord for whom he entertained such high esteem, and whose talents were so adequate to the undertaking and success of measures of such size and consequence; and he was confident he might safely venture to assert, that the noble lord would have the sincere and unanimous thanks of the whole country, for whose benefit he had so generously undertaken it.