18 June 1805

Evidence

Introd

Ch. Regular [...?]

Diverse classes of professional hands whose work /functions/ are useless in toto to the purposes of justice.

In a Court of Summonary Procedure, neither of those instruments of the Daemon of Chicanery the Special Pleader and the Equity Draftsman have /can ever find/ any place.

Whatever is done by either of them belongs in toto to the account of made business more /completely unnecessary, much more/ than useless business.

In the Circle called Court of Common Law, the Special Pleader that is a pair of Special Pleaders on on each side, bring out allegation upon allegation, altogether without one, without any search for veracity on either side, and under the constant incitement of an interest more or less [...?] in permitting mendacity, on whichever party is in the wrong; and though neither party should have any impulse /temptation/ /interest/ or desire to inflict needless vexation expense and delay upon his adversary, then their aptitude are sure in every cause /can not in any cause fail/ to have an interest in keeping these affections of the highest possible degree of morality[?] upon both.

In the courts called Courts of Equity the /under the system of/ Draftsmen, with their Bills and Cross-Bills their Answers and Cross Answers, the check upon mendacity is not, as in the other case, altogether wanting as in the other case, but the mass of vexation expense and delay is in an enormous degree even[?] /a great degree still more/ oppressive.

Special Pleading consists in reciprocal allegation without enquiry or the possibility of enquiry on either side. Equity Drawing consists in enquiry but in enquiry in the form of which neither truth nor despatch, but vexation expense and delay, for the sake of professional profit, have been the manifest object in view: and much is the delay, that after a series of enquiries still longer than the entire duration of a suit at Common Law, whatever truth on both sides requires on this mode of proceeding two suits, each longer than a [...?] [...?] Common Law: and at the end of this double enquiry it is only from those two individuals, the parties, that whatever truth is there extracted is obtained: this remnant the remuneration if extraneous[?] witnesses which in Equity if performed at all is performed in a different, and by far less mistakes made.