I have for several years entertained the opinion that the forms of procedure in the Admiralty Courts should be entirely remodelled, so as to assimilate them as far as practicable to the modern practice in the Courts of Common Law. I strongly urged, when I had a seat in the House of Commons, in 1857, the expediency of making extensive alterations in Admiralty procedure, and Sir Richard Bethell - than whom a more eminent and thoroughly practical law reformer never existed - intimated that an opportunity would be afforded me to propose my amendments probably in the next.