The Sun. — London, England, 1853-02-15 00:00:00

SPORTING INTELLIGENCE. SPORTING NOTES.—No. CCCLXXVI. LINCOLN SPRING MEETING. 111 consequence of the severe frost, this meeting is Postponed until Friday and Saturday next. Of course, if the weather allows it to come off this week, bets will st and. There has been a great fall of snow in the vicinity of Lincoln ; and should a thaw take place, the course will be extremely heavy. But few horses have arrived. Bold Davie, Bridesmaid, Ringdove, Baleine filly, Bruce, Quickstep, Newport, filly by Liverpool Junior, Abdallah, Monitress, Broughton, Billy Richard son, Game Tommy, Ace of Trumps, The General, Hope, Cardsharper, two from Stebbi ng ', w i t h a f ew o th ers , form the list that are, or will be, there. My final opinion on the Spring Handicap I shall defer Living until Thursday. I am reminded that in the list of the whereabouts of celebrated stallions I gave last week, I omitted the most fashionable one of the day, the celebrated " Birdcatcher,” who is in such request, that at 50 guineas each, his sub teription i s f u ll . He is located at Easby Abbey Stud a rm, near Richmond, Yorkshire, where also stands Gameboy (10 guineas), who has some of the gamest blood in his veins it is possible to find ; and the once celebrated Mildew is also here. bil itY, Van Tromp (Barnsley) is informed that, in all proba the three horses mentioned by him will never see a shod price for the Derby. THE SPIRIT OF THE TURF. TATTERSALL'S--MONDAY. The busi ness transacted yester d ay, w ith ou t being heavy, wlts sufficiently decided to reverse the positions of the two favourites for the Liverpool Steeplechase, for Which it will be seen View Halloo and Duc-an-Durras have also been brought into prominent notice ; and to thshow a strong feeling in favour of West Australian for e e 2 , 0 00 Guin eas St a k es an d D er by, an d Ci neas an d neywood for the last mentioned event. The move- Ments in other respects were unimportant. LIVERPOOL STEEPLECHASE. 7to 1 agst Oscar. Bto 1 agst Miss Mowbray. 11 to 1 agst Sir Peter Laurie. 12 to 1 agst Maria (taken). 12 to 1 agst Tickton. 14 to 1 agst View Halloo. 15 to 1 agst Duc-an-Durras. 15 to 1 agst Muscovite, 20 to 1 agst Half-and-half. 20 to 1 agst Maurice Daley. 20 to 1 agst Crabbs. 25 to 1 agst Poll. 25 to 1 agst Betsy Prig. 30 to 1 agst Benedick. NORTHAMPTONSHIRE STAKES. 12 to 1 agst Maria. 12 to 1 agst Lindrick. 15 to 1 agst Muscovite. METROPOLITAN HANDICAP. 7to 1 agst Contentment (taken). 20 to 1 agst Lampedo (taken). 20 to 1 agst Pug Orrock. 25 to 1 agst Wedding-day filly. NEWMARKET HANDICAP. Bto 1 agst Contentment. TWO THOUSAND GUINEAS STAKES. 4to 1 agst West Australian (taken freely.) CHESTER CUP. 25 to 1 agst Scarecrow. 40 to 1 agst Truth (taken). 1600 to 10 agst Wedding-day filly. 1000 to 10 agst Hannah. DERBY. - 10 to 1 agst West Australian (taken freely). 12 to 1 agst Cineas (taken). 15 to 1 agst Pharos. 16 to 1 agst Sittmgbourne. 20 to 1 agst Honeywood (taken and afterwards offered). 30 to 1 agst Contentment (taken to 2001.). 40 to 1 agst Pharold (taken). OAKS. sto 1 agst Catherine Hayes. Bto 1 agst The Queen (taken). „.._ L INCOLN SPRING MEETING. th6waneather permitting' this meeting, originally fixed for a‘ --, u ` l4 3' and y eat. - morrow', will take place on Friday and -rda qIBNOMENA OF THE EBBING AN_D FLOWING WELL IN e ur ir sit r eraarkabl e well is the su bj ec t o f ex t rem e day crow d s Germany. At every hour of the prop er : ..‘.B elirmunded the well, which is encircled by a myste r i ous guard, anxiously waiting the arrival of the its begii Phe t eninenon. Each person tries to detect the shaft, I. ll g' 15 3' ftring his eyes on the empty space in ele ven the brim t ' e or twelve feet depth of which, from t O o n th,e, water, presents nothing but "darkness of p scarcely p le • h e black surface at the bottom, a gentle erceptible, produced by a few bubbles gas ;in other respects, all is still as the grave. Pre- Y certain hollow sounds reach the ear, resembling 0 1 re port of distant artillery, or drums, and the shaft is el r e rved to fill s l ow l y , b y the water ascending like mer earY in a thermometer, the surface becoming, at the Wme time, agitated and noisy. A thick foam covers it, theis only broken in the. centre by a rapid succession xplosions of gas (almost carbonic acid), during which 0, water, where the foam is partially dispersed, assumes t i'e green hue of the sea in high latitudes. In the nea the upward progress of the water, accompanied by sh.„. i t ion continues steadily, until the great '" is filled with water, agitated in the most violent ; I nner. To those who have looked down from the stern 411 Sbi hurried along by a gale through the se a, 1 41 :. have r seen the water foaming against , and if ail s u l eg the rudder ' in perpetual leaps and contorti ons, afford some notion of the aspect of the moment Pe re indi ca t e d ; i n s h ort, a sa il or is reminded of that i r Y Phenomeno n . Or the well may be compared, in It:18 ext oil in r eme turbulence, to a great cauldron of 'water on a f ace a:rapidly as possible. When this urbulence is at its m 'mum, the emission of gas which ll „ l. ,.. ee eded the ascent of the water in the well abruptly and, in a few seconds, trap surface of the water hers haft becomes perfectly quil ; the water de tie"; and continues to do so, at first rapidly, and te e n more slow until it has subsided about nine or „„ 4 . , feet. Thispoint has but just been reached, when a garden swelling n of the water first, and then of the ; a8 ,.',, i8 again observed p at the bottom. The shaft fills a e l Slo wly, and the flow of water and gas continues l for 4 ° l tu ne progressively to increase, apparent . y full liej a l --- ng their maximum until the water is at its t he first which requires from thirty to forty minutes after 44i+54.,rat return of the stream. In this state of violent 7 401 1 it remains for about two hours, sometimes f but often much less, when the preceding cycle o e ni Zeplena is repeated. The period of intermission varies aerwr r ablY. In general that peculiarity has been ob i/An every three hours, but its recurrence is greatly th e -en eed by the number of pumps at work to extract kiwater from the well ; the more pumps, the fewer (48 of intermission. ArT lea ZCCENTRIC BEING. —A n eccentric several lady, years named apeil. .bella Xitchen, who had been for . kon r , er of Cowley's Charity, in Lincolnshire, died a few ea,,, E , The deceased had long ~ ago at the ripe age of 76.. anticipated her exit from this world : many years ago mournful habiliments pre her had her shroud and other u Da n red, and latterly she had parcelled oq, the ts the bearers, trimmed her shroud a t fr e e n sh, f a e n r d her ordered laet r coffin 1 This palpable deBth'g-pla.ce had been " delive P re re d Eara a t t ur i h e er ” co h t a ta vi g n e g a p f a e i w d -4' before she paid the " debt of na _ e , .11 her other debts, even to her funeral eand . ! xpenses, before- The spirit-rapping nr 4 - ItA.P AT THE SPIRIT-RAPPERS. iiOCeSta we do not pretend, -4 ' to explain. The modus operandi is a secret ; the any more than other conjur to e moving "media" „.13trnaturalism simply a humbug. (7,,re those whom we had the pleasure of beholding —one ~;-‘ t hee). an elderly gentleman, announced as - 6 e al and apparently a capital linguist . of r fr h o e m t Am alked e. a lady . 'sl'4 ' l ike a native), and another, his rather gigantic proportions, whose principalwlfe'communica revious husband, tions, naturally enough, were withs. P his improvidence, Who not having insured, and regretting room,The 11 ' 48 kindly supplying her a livelihood in i t n e t a hi p s ri w va a t y e . w ee , ll l 3 le, we should say the trio, retired flesh were seen parted a.finize the lips of the pair still in the 1 "I Prayer, whilst a Bible and Prayer-book of werea.ny 136'aced before' them to rouse the imaginations After a while, Pectators who might be susceptible. cert a i n r * •es having been heard,., aen.d. some join 14 , C 'tiO A. rt e hierntallrYe being n?is visible, we were invited t d to Some of tho council and communicate with the which two "raps" Party did so, asking questions, to As w affirmative reply. leonstituted a negative, three an _ m pl a i n of : (PICI as this went on there was nothing to co d the profes ut at length the company got tired, IZra adventurous. A lady thought of he al ; husband ; and Forwriting " medium" under that husband's in n s a p m ira e. - p l o °ll Was to inscribe the deceased's Christian r this purpose he went convulsively to work he wrote ' I'M proclaimed Charles. The dead man called atellh when in this world ! But it is unnecessary_ himself r,--,iB',llY length to expose an imposture, which is only not I,;4l4culous on account of its possibly serious effects. -- The for "raps" 1 , 11 1 , re, orrery of the performance is that . occur _ the.c,c .cannot account, and that there is a motion of Upon thi n 'llrniture of which one cannot see the cause. °tit: evidence the jugglers make their appeal, and upon no theirer• Por our part we should be unwilling to deprive.n of their plunder, which those whom they take i ea t It v erY well spare cess,f a stupid curiosity were the sole auee of their success. But the fact is, they have made atedconverts, or rather fools, of grown and nominally edu ,l7ctmen ; and the delusion of adults has had such an upon them that even madness may result in tilacY eases from the belief in this nonsense with which I,,YY have haunted the minds of their children. ~ eking burls and boys have been nominated as future Zreiedia, ' and, as a consequence, have had their nerves Wen and their sleep destroyed With perpetual visions oglicats, and all sorts of imagined communications thonli,,bBPirits• This makes the matter so serious, that lea;'thib,'" we began in irony we must end in earnest. ;,14'3Pirit rappers' pretensions appear, to say the ' of it, to be a nuisance • and if a nuisance, they i.e t to h e " put down." Let there be a judicial, and au ° ti red, a scientific investigation of their claims : tore ox.ietarl uth r --- in s q uind ilir Y ( :; vbauit)ear.n act of justice to profes- THE SUN, LONDON, TUESDAY EVENING, FEBRUARY 15, 1853. THE SHARE MARKETS, BRITISH RAILWAYS. Closing Prices Yesterday. RAILWAYS. -_, St. 20 184 100 100 all all all 8 1 all 00 all all in 100 114 all all all Aberdeen .. Anibg. Nottng. Bost. 2 & Eastn. Junct Birmg. Wolverh. & Stour Valley Birkenhd. Lanesh. & Cheshire Janet. Do. Chesh. & Birk., £5O and £25 Cons. Do., £2O Bristol and Exeter Caledonian Chester & Holyhead Cork and Bandon Cork, Blackrock and Passage Dublin&Belfast June Dundee Perth &Aber dean Junction Do. New East Anglian (£25 L and E. & L. & D.) Do. Do. (181. E.& H.) Eastern Counties Eastern Union, Class A. (late E. U. Sh.) Do., do 100 42i Do., B. and C East Lancashire East & West Ind. Dk & Biiming. June !Edinburgh &Glasgow' Edin. and Peebles Edin. Prtb. &Dundee Glasgow & S. Western Great Northern Stk Do., 'A. Stock Do., B. Stock Great Southern and Western (Ireland) Great Western Irish South-Eastern Lancaster & Carlisle Do., Thirds _ _ _ Laneash.& Yorkshire Do., Fifths bo.; Wst. Riding Un, Leeds Northern Liv.Crsby. &Southpt. London & Blackwall bond. Tilb. & Sthend. Lond. Brigt. & S. Cst. London & N. Western Do., Fifths. Do. 410 Sh. M. &B. C London & S. Western ,Do., £5O !Do., £4O Londerry. &Coleraine Lndndrry. & Ennisk. Manch. Shef. &Lincln Do., Man. & Lin. Un Midland Do. Binning. & Derby Midland G. West. (Ir.) Do. Shares Newcastle & Carlisle Newmarket Do. Bury Extension Newp. Aberg. &Hftd Newry & Enniskillen Newry, Warrenpoint, and Restrevor...,,. Norfolk Do., New Northn.Counties Un, North British North Devon, No. 1. Do., No. 2 Do., A Deferred Do., B Guaranteed North Staffordshire North Western N. & S. Westrn. June Oxford, Worcester, & Wolverhampton Scottish Central ScoLish Midland Shrewsbury & Birmg. Do., L. & N. Westn. Guaranteed Stock. Shrewsby.& Hereford Shrewsby. & Chester (Nor. W. Min.) Do. Halves do Do Do. Oswesti y Shropshire Union South Devon South Eastern South Wales S. Yorksh.River Dun Do. Stockton & Hartlepl Thames Haven Dock and Railway' , Vale of Noath . _ Waterfd. & Kilkenny Waterford& Limerick Wes Cornwall Whnbledon&Croydn. Woodford York Newct.l.&Berw. Do. Extensions. j Do. G. N. E. Purchase Vork & N. I'vfidland.. 284 - 294 63 - - 61 10 - 104 6i Gicl 22 - 22 3 2, 1 i (1 108 - 110 641 -64 i 23 -23 A 174 - 1831 par 1p) 8 -- 9 521 - 6 4 1 - 4$ 1:4 - 1341 104 - 114, - 76 - 781 X 55 -- 60 r 76 -- 78 ,A d P 26 -- 28 60 -- 62 78 -- 79 43 -- 45 118 -- 120 1073 -108 A 90 -- 902 6a -- 7 90 -- 95 13 -- 14 p 78 -- 79/ 4 —4 d 3 -- 24 d 16 -- 16; -- 91 7' -- P 104 -- 1 . 05 194 -- 1201 2 -- 3ap la -- 1i p 91 -- 92 51 -- 4d 42 -- 3ad 10 -- 103 19 -- 21 303 -31 a 34 -- 3 781, -- 79 45 -- 47 49 51 2 - 3 1 3 3fd 2-1 83 -- 93 55 -- 57 81_ Bi ' 2i -- 2fl d 36 -- 37 6t -- 64 d 8 48. 3 4p 49i —50 a 98 100 63 65 67 69 70 80 dxd 18 -- 20 9 -- 10 14 -- 15 3/ -- 8 d 20 -- 22 801 -80 i 37 -- 38 13 -- 4 -- 41 15 16 9 9j 27 -- 28 9 -- 96 d ip 71 72 7 d 2. 2d 614 PR Lief: REN CE SHARES. 'Aberdeen . Do., No. 2, 7 p. c , Bris. & Ex. 4 p. c. St, Do. 4 p. c. Shares Caledonian £lO Chester & Holyhead Guar. 54 per cent. Cork&Bandon.s4 p.e. 'Dundee, Perth, and Aberdeen Junction, E. Ang. (705.) 6 p. e. Do. (X 5), 7 per cent. Do. (.E7 17s), 7. p et. Eastern Counties Ex tension, 5 p. e. No.l Do., No. 2 Do., New 6 p. e. St Eastern Union Scrip Guar. 6 per cent East Lancash. 6 p. cts Edinb. PAIL& Dund Glasgow &S. Western Guar. 5 per cent Great Northn. 5 p. e Do. 5 p. a., Redeem at 10 p. c. prem.., Gt.S outhn. & Westn. (Ireland) Eights Gt. Westn. (Berke & Hants Ex. 5 p. e.) Great Western, fixed 41 per cent Lan. & York. F. £2O Do., 6 p. c., Stock London and Brighton Guaranteed 5 p. e Do. Pref. 5 p. c., St Do. Convertible, 5 p c., 1852 Do. New Guar. 6 p. o. London & S. Western, Con. Thirds.... ..... Londonderry & i Shares . Londndry. & Ennisk i Shrres.... ........ Manch.,Shef.,&Lin., Shares, No. 1 Do., New, £lO Do., £6 Marypt. & Ca - 1. 4 p. c Do. 4,i per cent Do . Mid. Consol. 6 p. c. St. Do, Consol. Bristol & Birm. 6 per cent Do. Pref. 4 percent Norfolk Extension Do. Guar. 5i per ct Do. Waveney Valley 5 per cent North British ..... North Staffordshire.. Oxford, Worcester, & Wolverh. X 15,6 p. c. Do. Shrewsbury & Birm. slew Guaranteed... Shiewsby. & Chester Nor.W. (Min), 3 p.e. Do. 5 per cent. South Devon Do. New S. Eastern (Reading Ann.) f£l Os. 6d. S.Yorksh. 4p. a. Guar. Wa 6p. c . York, Newcastle, and Berwick, 4 p. C. Pref. Do 'York & N. Midland, H. & S. Purchase... iiie los 11C4 - 106 19 - 20 par 6 64 - 3,1 3 4 _ 4 p -- 15 18i -- Isi 3 -- 1126 - 128 1112 - 114 81 6/ -- 71x(i 106 - 108 P - P 150 -152 , , . - ... 3h -- 4J, 10 - IW, 13t - 13; 9 - 10 114 - --- p 1) 4 - ii ... -+ ... 147 -149 - 224 - 23 P 5i -- 64 2 - 24 1 107 - 109 25 - 26 - In 11 11 17k 1 7:1 16 —1 7 p par 2 p 26 —26 i 19 20 I d par 102 —lO4 5 i par FOREIGN. Antwrp. &Rotterdftm Belgian Eastn. Janet. Charleroi & Erquelin Dijon and Besancon, Dutch Rhenish, East Indian Do. Extension Gt. Indian Peninsula Gd. Junct. of France Gt. Westn. of Canada Shares,,,,,,, 1 Lucca and Pistoja, 5 per cent. pref ...... 5 Luxembourg„ .0 Do. (Railway) ......... 2 Do. Do. (Canal) Do. 6 p. pre:. Lyons & Mediterran, Madras Maria Antonia Do. New I Namar & Liege (with interest Do. (ex interest) Northern of France Do. 20/. 3 p. c. Bds (fmy . B. &Ams. Shs.] NorwegianT:Ak.Pref Paris and "Tor. Paris and Orleans Paris and Rotten Paris and Strasbourg Paris Caen &Cherbrg. Quebec & Richmond, Rouen and Havre Sambre and Mer se Do. 5,3 par cent. pref Southern of Frarce Upper India Scrip West Flanders Do. 5 per c. Pref... Western of France... West. of Switzerland New Zettlancl... •. - 1 2 d 13 134 pal Irp1 r p 21—lid 6 64 p it 4 p —2?, p dis— p 6 1 —7/zip 4 —Vain 1 1 —Vain 1 1 —l:ixin dis 7 9F 2 ---2 i p .•• .-•-• ... Ti -8/ G. -- 7 33i -- 344 14 -14 t, 8 --9 w 15 -154 p 39 -- 40 39 -- 40 338 - 318 - 4 -- 4i p par— p 18i -- 194 8 t -- 93 2i 3 p P 4i 5 g d —8 p p 1.4 -o dd Business done this day. RAILWAYS Bedford and Blotchley. ... Birm. & Oxfd. guarantee.... Do. withoutgr Birm. Wolv. & Dudley guar. Do.wtht guar. Buekghamsh. Clydesdale Jc. E. Lincoln gr. 6 per cent. ' Glstr.& Dn. Fr Hrtlpl. Dk. & Railway Hull & Selby Do. Shares. Do. 4 Shares. Lon.& Green* Do. Preference Lowestoft gr. 4 per cent. Do. 6 per ct. Manch. Bxtu and Matlock Middlesbro' & Redear • Midld.Bradfd i Northern and Easternsp.c Do. 6 per ct. Do. Fixcds p c' Prest. & Wyre !Do. Shares. Roystn.& Hit. Do. Shepth. S t Shef. Roth.and G-ooleg. 5 P.C. S. Staffordsh. Wear Valleygr 6 per cent Do wilts&Souirsti 30 - 31 29. -30 i 30 - 31 29 - 30 108 - 110 53 - 54 149 - 151 321 - 33., 113 -- 115 561 -- 57 27 -- 28 13/ -- 14! 25A -26 A 19 - 20 23 - 25 3 - 31, - 109 64 - 66 1 - Pm 151 - 153 1150 - 152 i id 31 - 32 :1022j - 1032, Leasing Compaus. !London Sr I N. West. Gt.Westn Do Do Do L. &N. W Caledon. Gt.Nrthn. Gt. Wcstn k. New. Berw. Y. &NMd Do S. Easton] Do Norfolk Do IL& N. W. k Midid. Stek on k • Darliugt. Midland.. E. Count L. & Do at Northn l D 0...... ..I Lancash &' Yorksh. M.MClean Stockt. & Darlingt Do GtWestu. Closing Prices Yesterday, MINES. Agua Fria Anglo Californian Australasian.. Australian Australian Cordillera Australian Freehold Ave Maria IBaclen (Gd. Duchy of) I British Austrin. Gold British Iron Brazilian Imp. (issued at £5 pm.) Do. Cocaes & Cuiaba Do. St. John Del Rey Carson's Creek Cob:e Copper Colonial Gold Copiapo CopperMinersof Eng Do. Preference English and Austin. Copper Smelts . . Co General Great Nugget Vein Great Poigooth Lake Bathurst Liberty Lond. &Californ. Gold Quarts Crush. Co Mariquita Mexican & S. Amelie New Granada 'Nouveau Monde 'Port Philip Quartz Rock Rhymney Iron Do. New Santiago de Cuba South Australian Tin Croft United Mexican Waller West Granada West Mariposa Yuba JOINT-STO I Australasia British N. American Chrtd. Bnk. of India, Australia, & China Colonial Commercial of Lon don English Sottish and Australian Loud. Chart. Bk. 01 1 Australia London ard. County, London Joint Stock Loud. &Westminstc • NationalProv.o Do. New Nat'l onal of Ireland , Oriental Bank o Corporation IDo. New, Provincial of Irelandl Do. New Royal Australn.Bkg, & Gold Imp. Co., South Australia ... Union of Australia , Do. New Union of Loudon.. Union of Madrid... -1 p - i-2 1 V 1) 5 -6 par e p far A p -- d par p 1' 7 —9 p 4 —5 2 -- 29 —3O par a p 42 43 2 - p ... - •• • P 24 14 d 14i 152 3- 34 p 18 1 p d— d P Id i P 4 1 1 p 14 14 p par— I p 22 24 64 - 74 par— P 11 12 6 6A 21 - - BP K BANKS. 83 -- 85 i - 1k x d 1* VO I b. - Business this day. IMPERIA L PARLIAMENT. HOUSE OF LORDS—(YESTERDAY.) The LORD CHANCELLOR took his seat on the woolsack at five o'clock. The Bishop of EXETER gave notice' that to-morrow (this day) he should move for papers respecting the clergy reserves. Lord CLANCARTY complained that on the 14th of February, 1853, the house was still not in possession of the report of the Commissioners on National Education in Ireland for the year 1851. One circumstance made this especially worthy of notice, namely, that though their lordships had not received this report, it had been irinted and circulated and sold, and commented on by an Irish newspaper he bad seen. He trusted that the 'parties, whoever they were, to whom was entrusted the distribu tion of the blue-books, would not allow this to occur , again. The information thus,withheld from them was most important, as the noble lord, coming from the low lands of Scotland, would know the wealth and prosperity of Scotland were owing to education, not to say scrip tural education. If Ireland had had the same advantages she would not have been iu her present demoralised state. The Earl of ABERDEEN said he was ignorant as to the department where the neglect arose, but he would take care the report was immediately distributed. LEGAL REFORM. The LORD CHANCELLOR rose to state to their lordships, and through their lordships to the country, the intentions of her Majesty's Government on the sub ject of legal reform. When first he became connected with the profession of the law, now more than thirty five years ago, that subject was one which certainty, without the walls of Parliament, and certainly to a great extent within the walls of Parliament, excited very little interest, and in fact did not at all arrest public attention. There was, indeed, Jeremy Bentham, who, in his amus ing, epigrammatic, and very often well-reasoned essays, strove to awaken public attention on the question ; and in the other house there was an individual whose name, as connected with that subject, could never be remem bered without respect—l allude to Sir S. Romilly. After him, there was his (the Lord Chancellor's) noble friend who formerly filled the woolsack, but was not now pre sent, Lord Brougham. From that time to the present, this important subject had been under consideration more or less ; but he need not say how markedly different the state of things was at the present day. The subject, so far from being now one which did not arrest public at tention, might fairly be represented—putting more ex citing subjects aside—as one than which no question more engrossed the thoughts of the community. The whole people had come to desire to have the laws upon such a footing that our rights might be clearly and well defined ; the mode of enforcing them as simple, as cheap, and as expeditiouslas the ingenuity of those who directed their attention to the subject could devise. Carrying back their lordships' attention to the period when ho first became connected with the law, he might-say that the distinguished lawyer—than whom there was none more distinguished—who then filled the woolsack—and he might say the same of those who preceded him—that they scarcely seemed to have considered the introducing or maturing of measures of legal reform constituted any very distinct or essential branch of the duties which devolved upon them. He did not mean to say that if they had been asked they would have replied that they had no such duties, but that practically they conducted themselves as if they had not ; that very few measures originated with them, and that they rather made it their duty to watch against the introducing of hasty and ill considered measures on the part of others, than to prepare and to propose proper and well-considered ones on the part of the Government. That state of things also had been very much altered in modern times, and no one filling the office he now had the honour to fill could fail to feel that to him the country looks, if not for the introduction of measures of legal reform, at least for the general supervision of the whole of our legal system—to introduce where the introduction of new measures was necessary, to resist where the measure proposed appeared to be ill-conceived, and, in short, to exercise a general control over the legal condition of the country, in order to keep it in the most satisfactory state which the order of things will allow. With these feelings, immediately after he had the honour to receive the great seal from her Majesty, he thought it his duty, without hesitation and without delay, to direct attention to the existing state of the legal courts, the great courts of this country, and in the first place to see whether they were or were not in a satisfactory state. to consider whether there were any measures that he could safely, or ought to, introduce, or whether it was right and desirable that he should 'pause before taking any step in the matter. He felt that there might now possibly be a danger, the opposite of that into which he thought those who held the great seal half a century ago wore too apt to fall—a danger lest from the great and proper feeling that the law required reforming a dispo sition to mere change should arise, and measures be in troduced for the mere sake of introducing them—a danger lest the holder of the great seal should fall into a course like that sometimes practised by inferior medical practi tioners, who would prescribe physic for the patient when he circumstances were such that to have left him alone would possibly have been best. Under this impression, and with these views, he directed his attention to the state in which he found tho tribunals of this country ; and first to those courts which, after all, are the most important of the great courts, the courts of common law in which the original rights of mankind are enforced or protected. He wished to consider with himself in what position these courts stood, and whether he ought in any way to interfere with them by attempted legisla tion. He would not weary their lordships by going back into what the state of these courts was in bygone times. He would only remind them that a very general feeling existed a few years since that the mode of admi nistering justice in the common law courts was more than faulty by reason of its technicalities, fictions, and other impediments. With the view of remedying these evils, Lord Cottenham, only a few weeks before he resigned the great seal, issued a commission to inquire into the practice and pleading of the courts of common law, the number of suits, the practice in judges' chambers, &c. That com mission was directed to several very eminent lawyers, Mr. Baron Martin,the then A ttorney-General, and others of high standing in their profession ; and was impossi ble to do justice to the labours those gentlemen had undertaken and undergone. They had looked through the whole proceedings, beginning at the beginning of the suit, tracing it from the first plaint of the party ag grieved, and carrying it through to the final termination of the suit, and the mode of enforcing judgment, where it was obtained, against the defendant. They made their report on the 30th of June, 1851 ; but it was close to the end of the session, so that nothing could then be done. His noble friend then on the woolsack, with a persevering zeal which all who knew him were very well aware of as one of his ch aracteristics, devoted him self during the long vacation to th e consideration and the framing itnhge omm o r f ee abil eda l, ntn applyingios the inf orma ti on an d adopting of f the commi ss i oners. That bill was introduced in 1852, and shortly afterwards occurred a change in the Government, which, however, he was glad to say, bad in no way affected that bill. Lord Lyndhurst, the Lord Chief Justice, he (the Lord Chancellor), and several others, went th rough it clause by clause, in order to make it as com plete and as cor rect as they possibly could. Ultimately it passed their lordships house, passed the other house, and on the 30th of June last received the royal assent. That, then, was the state in which he found the common law. A bill introduced in the mode and under the circumstances he had mentioned received the royal assent and became the leading principle in those courts, on and from the first day of last Michaelmas term. It had been often supposed that practitioners and judges h ad a prejudice against any change or innovation in the law. lie would not stop to consider whether that notion had or had not any reasonable foundation, but he would have it remem bered, and all the more by those who held this opinion, that there was in the present case . the most ample testi mony existing to the merits of thi.s. measure, not only own to do any from judges, but from those practising before them, and that, having conversed with both, he foundht bhnituetemienoidnnaedtorseast uni versal expression of satisfaction at the change which had taken place. It was on all hands admitted to be most so b r g e e c impropero mighti n t h hf e oa r s v h eh a i ; e of reform. the opinion he any thing beneficial, sifnyghaimsthaty a et n d iint that wtho au b tl e dd i posi tionßu n o r t in yo that t o ne r pll d o e tn r he ir lordships h e generalities, i g a h tn t .hde n tg o hr t aotu l let ed his;rounds oigf had formed, he had been with some of the commissioners through several matters of detail illustrative of the actual working of the present law. He referred to the aboli tion of judges' orders, which, though their. expense was trifling, yet involved the . attorneys ob . taming the rule, "Do your best and your worst," serving it, or proceeding upon . it ; and to the decrease of actions for debt in which the de fendant had, in fact, no defence, but used under the ando ld to p ar ty who . was abroad ; there was no syalsltoewin say, then to sue bun, obtain judg ment, and get his money as he could. Under the old law, also, there had been very great difficulty in pro ceeding coun try. Since the act had been in operation—since Novem ber—there had been 114 writs issued .against parties abroad. That was another way in which it might be shown to work very satisfactorily. And there was still another. When he reminded their lordships that on the mode of against serving introduction of every new law there must be unforeseen questions arising, he might state h is astonishment that, notwithstanding the number of cas es t r i ed, there had been but twelve such motions, and that of them ten were not on the proceedings which had originated in the new act, but took their orign in the dovetailing of the new proceedings on those which had gone before. And there was this further proof that the boon had been satisfactory to the public, that the comparative amount of litigation in the superior courts showed an increase, the number of writs between the 25th of October and the 25th of Janu ary, 1851-2 amounting to 19,000 odd, the number of those front the 25th of October to the 25th of January, 1852-3, to upwards of 23,000, which was an increase of rather more than 20 per cent. That then, he had to tell their lordships, was the state of things he found, and if nothing else could have deterred him from attempted legislation in this particular direction at present, he thought that the fear of too soon interfering with a new system so universally approved might have done so. However, he was still more fortified in his feelings and opinion on this point by the consideration that the com missioners had still to make further suggestions and to recommend further most important proceedings. He had, indeed, been informed that their report would have been ready before this time; such did not appear to be the case, but he expected it now almost daily, and in it they would find those questions dealt with. Their lord ships had heard, also, a great deal on the subject of fusion of law and equity. When the proper time ar rived, he should be prepared to express his opinion on that point. Meanwhile, he might say th a t, w h e th er that object were effect e d in its integrity or not, every one must feel at any rate that when a suit had been com menced it was to the last degree necessary that it should be finally determined there where it began. There were other subjects of similar importance which, he knew, engaged the attention of the commissioners. Amongst them one of which he must own that, though much might be said in its favour, there was also a great deal to be said against it. It was said that trial by judge, instead of by jury, bad been eminently successful in the county courts. He believed it had been very suc cessful there, and a question had been raised whether the same system might not be usefully tried in the su perior courts. Unquestionably, if injustice were done by the present system, no consideration collateral to that ought to be allowed to interfere with its immediate abolition. (Hear.) But in considering such questions as these, he thought their lordships ought not to keep out of sight the fact that, in altering arrangements of this sort, they would be taking a step towards disabling persons from assisting in the administration of justice who nevertheless were called upon by the constitution to send members to the other house of Parliament, as well as to perform municipal functions, and act as guardians of the poor, and he must confess he thought it might be dangerous to withdraw these persons from any participa tion in the administration of justice. He did not say that he had conclusively made up his mind on the subject, but he considered it was a question of very great delicacy and doubt. His noble and learned friend opposite (Lord Campbell), who had seen so much of juries in assize towns, would, he was sure, bear him out in saying that he had never known a jury leave an assize town who were not a much more intelligent set of men than they were when they entered it. He had a very high opinion of the advantages derived from me chanics' institutions, but he doubted if there was any school which taught such lessons of practical wisdom, and enlarged the mind so much as the act of assisting as a juror in the administration of justice. He had now stated the views which he took with regard to what ought to be done with respect to the common law courts, and for the reasons which be had explained at length he thought he should not be justified in making any altera tions there. He would now take a similar course with respect to the Court of Chancery. There also a commis sion was issued. In 1859 a commission issued to inquire into the process, I)ractice, and pleading of the Court of Chancery, and the manner of conducting suits therein, and so forth. The commissioners, when originally ap pointed, were exclusively professional men, but in the course of the next session two hon. members of the other house of Parliament, not connected with the profession of the law, were added to that commission, in orler that the report might not assume too professional a character. The commissioners made their report on the 7th of January last year. Upon that a bill was introduced by the then Soli citor-General, before any change in the Government, for the purpose of carrying into execution a portion of the re commendations of the commissioners, and when a change of Government took place, his noble and learned friend, his (the Lord Chancellor's) immediate predecessors, framed out of that report two bills, one of which was the Masters in Chancery Abolition Bill, and the other the Equity Improvement Bill. Now he (the Lord Chancel lor) could not but feel that, as far as the policy of these changes went, the merit of them was attributable to his noble and learned friend whom he saw opposite (Lord Truro). His noble and learned friend issued that com mission, and then his noble and learned friend near him (Lord St. Leonards), with a zeal and vigour which, though he said so in his presence, he must say that no one else could have displayed, took up and carried into effect the recommendations which that commission made. The bills which his noble and learned friend (Lord St. Leonards) introduced were necessarily prepared in more of a hurry than was the case with the bill prepared to carry out the recommendations of the common law commissioners ; but, nevertheless, he was not aware that any material errors had crept in. With re gard to the working of the alterations in the Court of Chancery, it must not be expected that the good result ing from these changes could be so apparent at once as it was in the courts of common law, because the proceedings of those courts were more rapid in their nature, and might be begun, continued, and ended in two or three months. But with respect to most of the causes which came before a court of equity the case was very different, and some time must elapse before the beneficial effect of the late alterations could be generally felt and acknowledged. So far, however, as he could collect from his own observation, and from what had reached his ears, these changes were now working admirabiy well. He had stated to their lordships the difference in costs under the old system and the modern system in proceedings at common law, and in order to show how the late changes had operated in the equity courts, he would take the case of an uncontested suit, where, a person having died, and a legatee under his will being desirous of receiving his legacy, the executor as sented to make the payment if he could be assured by an order of the court that no one else was entitled to it. Under these circumstances an order was made th a t an account might be taken of the property which the testa tor had left, and that advertisements should be inserted in the newspapers, calling upon the creditors of the de- ceased, if any, to come in and prove their debts against his estate. Afterwards, if sufficient assets were left, an order was made by the court for the pay ment of the legacy. Now, under the old system by bill and answer, the costs of such a proceeding could not have been less than 581. These costs had been very mate rially reduced by the operation of the orders made by Lord Cottenham, and the costs of proceeding by way of claim were 221. Under the present system, however, the costs had been reduced to 131., and he believed this was by no means a favourable specimen of the reduc tions which had taken place. That being, then, the state of things as far as related t o th e C our t o f an- eery, and with the knowledge that he possessed that the commissioners were proceeding to make further re ports, he thought it would unpardonable in him if he were to propose any further legislation on the subject at present, even if he had time to mature any measures, which was not the case. Their lordships would recol lect that he had held the seals not quite seven weeks, during four weeks of which time he had been sitting in court every day till four or five o'clock. He might here mention that, with regard to the measure passed for appointing Lords Justices of Appeal, the result had been that there had been no arrears for some time ; and therefore the general result had been most satisfactory. Upon the whole, therefore, he had com e t o th e conclu sion that any attempt w hi c h he might make in the way of law reform ought not to interfere with the pre sent course of proceedings in the courts of law and equity. He had received, indeed, numerous letters, calling upon him to introduce some comprehensive mea sure for the fusion, as it was called, of law and equity, but he must say if such a measure were introduced, it must be introduced by some one who had held the great seal for more than seven weeks, and who had enjoyed better opportunities of forming an opinion on such a subject than he (the Lord Chancellor) could pretend to in the course of his short experience of office. In the report of the Chancery commissioners they had alluded to a state of things which he, concurring with his noble and learned friend, who had been his immediate prede cessor, thought very discreditable to this country, and that was, the state of its testamentary jurisdiction. The commissioners made no suggestion on the subject in their report, but it was plain that they did not differ from the views expressed on this subject by the report of the ecclesiastical commission in 1832. That commis sion was issued by Lord Lyndhurst, and it was directed to very high functionaries, and to some of the most learned persons of the day. The commission included Archbishop Howley, the present Bishop of London, the Bishop of Durham, Dr. Van Mildert, and three other bishops, Lord Tenterden, Lord Wynford, Sir John Nicholl, Sir Christopher Robinson, Sir H. Jenner Fust, Dr. Lushington, and others—names which, so far as names could carry weight with them, were perfectly overwhelming. Now, what were the conclusions at which the Ecclesiastical commissioners arrived ? They expressed their opinion that the same solemnities should be required to render valid the disposition of personal as of real estate, and this portion of their recommendations had since been carried into ef fect. Further than that, they recommend that the validity of every description of will should be tried in one and the same court, and that probate of the will, when once granted, should be final and con clusive evidence in all courts of its authenticity. They recommended also, that the validity of a will should be tried in all cases by viva voce evidence. Substantially, therefore, they recommended that all wills of real and personal estate should be subjected to the same rule of authentication, and that one court of probate should decide on the validity of the instrument propounded as the will of a deceased person. To that recommendation he entirely assented, and though he would not pledge himself that he would have introduced a measure to carry it out at once if he had been prepared with one, he yet would say that he would have done his best to have such a measure prepared as would not shock the interests of many very meritorious persons to whom vast injury might otherwise be done. His opinion was that in making a change of this kind they must not do injus . tice to a very large class of persons who had devoted all their lives to this subject. But there was another rea son which, even if he had been prepared with a mea • sure, would have prevented his introducing it now. His • noble and learned friend had issued a new commission to the Chancery commissioners, directing them to inquire into this very subject. In November last, a very short time before his noble and learned friend quitted office, he issued a commission to inquire into the constitution of the Ecclesiastical courts. He had no doubt that his noble and learned friend had done that thinking that it would contribute to the object which they all had in , view. It would hardly fit, therefore, that lie (the Lord Chancellor) should come forward with a measure on the subject while it was under inquiry. He wished, how ever, to guard himself against the supposition that if the commission lately appointed should recommend some thing different, and should not go so far as the commis sion of 1832, he should feel bound to comply with their recommendations. There was one other reason why he did not propose immediate legislation on this subject. Three or four years ago a commission was issued to in quire into the state of the law relative to marriage, and another commission was appointed last year to inquire into the law of divorce. Now, on the subject of divorce he must confess he had an opinion so distinctly formed that no report could shake him from it. Every divorce a vinculo matrimonii was called pri vilegium—a private law ; and yet the state of the law in this country was such, that if certain facts were once established a man was entitled to a divorce and if so, surely there ought to exist the most perfect machinery to deal with cases of this kind that any tri bunal could invent. Could anything be more discredit. able than that parties should be obliged to come to Parlia ment and ask for that redress which ought to be given judicially. (Hear, hear.) Having now stated at length to their lordships what he was not going to do, it might perhaps be thought that he was not acting a very worthy part if he had risen merely to say that he was not going to do anything. He would not, however, have flinched from saying so if he really had nothing to propose, for he would have incurred the risk of that observation if he could not in his conscience have safely and honestly pro posed any measure. (Hear, hear.) But he found what he thought a most beneficial measure ready made to his hands. Of all the subjects, next to the reform of the courts, on which he had communications addressed to him since he had held the Great Seal, none had been so much insisted upon as the necessity of facilitating the transfer of land, and he had been called upon to see what could be done in order to carry into effect the views of these parties. Most of these views were founded upon an entire misunderstanding and misapprehension of the subject. It w as supposed that the transfer of land might be made just as easy as the transfer of stock. One objec tion to this theory lay upon the surface. One sum ofl,ooo/. stock was just like another 1,0001. stock ; but every acre was different from another acre, and therefore there must exist the means of identification. That was one diffi culty. Another difficulty was presented by the social and political condition of the country. He found that when people who talked about simplifying the transfer of land were pressed very hard, they meant that there should be no ownership of land except in fee simple. In the state of New York land could only be held in fee for life or on lease for twelve years. In this country the difficulty of making a transfer of land consisted, not in the conveyance, but in the title of the party who wanted to transfer. Once admit a complication of interests, such as mortgages, settlements, jointures, en t a il s , and shifting estates, and then when a party sold h e h a d to satisfy a purchaser by negative evidence that none of these cir cumstances affected his title. That he believed was the root of all the difficulties with respect to the transfer of land. As it was no legal reform, therefore, but social and political reform that was wanted by these gentlemen, he must deal with the law as he found it. There were two modes by which the transfer of land might be mate less expensive than at present. One source ofexpense arose from the length and complication of aconveyance, anotherfrom the difficulty of investigating titles. With respect to the conveyance there was no difficulty. It might be made on a slip of parchment no larger than the palm of a man's hand ; and the reason why a deed was so long was, that the parties wished to have an explanation of the transaction. If that were so, the question arose, whether any mode co u ld b e devised by which the identi fication of title could be made less difficult than at the present moment. He did not pretend to exaggerate the advantages of registration. It would be of little or no immediate benefit. He had seen a very elaborate and ingenuous scheme prepared by Mr. Wilson ; but if Mr, Wilson would yield him one little point, he would make his (the Lord Chancellor's) plan just as easy as the plan proposed by that gentleman. He began by saying that in 10 years all rights but those of possession should be barred, and having thus obtained a perfect title to the land, he proposed that there should be a certificate of ownership given ; but it was essential to his plan that there should be a very large plan of the property. Well, John Jones,having obtained a certificate of absolute own ership, wished afterwards it might be supposed to mortgage the land, and when he came to the registrar his certificate of absolute ownership was cancelled, and two certifi cates of qualified ownership were given, one to John Jones, the mortgagor, and the other to the mortgagee. Then, when John Jones paid off the mortgage, the two certificates were to be again cancelled, and a certificate of absolute ownership was again issued. Now it seemed to him to a very unimportant matter, when there was once a perfect title made out, and a complete system of registration established, whether there should be a sys tem of certificates or a search with the registrar. The absolute ownership once established, nothing could affect the title but subsequent incumbrances, and these must be registered to be valid. What he (the Lord Chan cellor) proposed was, that nothing should affect the title except that which appeared in the original entry. If that was not allowed, the whole benefit of registration would be lost. He should not go further into the sub ject now, but defer entering into all the details un til the bill was in their lordships' hands. The bill would be printed in a day or two, and he should then name an early day for the second reading. There bad been one other subject under his consideration, at which he should only glance, because lie confessed it was not in such a state that he could, satisfactorily to himself, give the actual de tails of the precise provisions of the measure—he al luded to a bill for the better regulation of charities. A bill for that purpose was introduced by his noble and learned friend, and, like the Registration Bill, passed that h ouse , but arrived at th e oth er house too late in the session to be discussed. That bill could not be adopted in the form in which it was introduced by his noble and learned friend, because the machinery was at an end. The Masters in Chancery played a conspicuous part in its provisions, and the Masters' offices had, by recent legis lation, been abolished. He had been in communication with his noble friend the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and he had in contempl a ti on a sc h eme, to carry out which a bill was in progress. It was not yet ma tured, but he hoped on an early day to lay it on the table of their lordships' house. He avowed at once that its object would be similar to the object of the bill of 1851, with such modifications as the abolition of the office of Master in Chancery had rendered necessary. (Hear, hear.) He had now told their lordships why he did not attempt to legislate on the courts of the coun try, and why he proposed to introduce a bill for the registration of conveyances merely in the form in which it passed their lordships' house in 1851, and he had explained to their lordships, he hoped satisfac torily, why it was he could not at the present moment be prepared with any more mature measures for legis lation. But though he was not prepared, with any mea sure, properly speaking of legislation, he had in some degree, though in a slight degree, com mence d, an d in tended as far as in him lay to proceed in a work which he believed was as much called for, and would be as beneficial to the whole community of this country, as any measure of legislation which the ablest lawyer could devise. If any of their lordships looked at the shelves of their library, they would see ranged there some forty volumes—small- and closely printed octavo volumes— lettered on the back. " The Statutes at large." Within those forty volumes were contained that which was to regulate the judges in the performance of their duties. That was not all ; because many statutes were not found in that collection. He thought he might safely say it was not creditable to any country that the statute law should be in such a condition. (Hear, hear.) He had ascertained that from the first year of Edward I. to the end of the reign of Queen Anne, the number of statutes was 3,256 ; from th e re i gn of Queen Anne to the Act of Union, 5,952 ; and from the 41st Geo. 111. to the end of 1844, about 5,000 more, making an aggregate of 14,308 statutes. That was exclusive of the Irish and Scotch statutes, which he was sure he was within the mark in saying would make it 20,000. The number of itself formed an irresistible argument for collecting such an enormous quantity of statutes in a more compact and more useful form. (Hear, hear.) It was part of the common law of the land that there could not be a single stop in a statute, and though stops were placed in the printed statutes cases might arise when the meaning would turn upon reading the statute with a stop in one place as if the stop were in another, and he could not look at the stop at all. That was hardly a creditable state for the law to be in. (Hear, hear.) Then, again, the style of the statutes, the language in which their meaning was expressed, more particularly of modern statutes, instead of being so clear that every one in the world could read them, was so verbose and confused that it was difficult for the most experienced to comprehend them, That such a state of things was most distressing and discreditable he supposed no one would dispute. (Hear, hear.) He conceived the con sequences to be most deplorable. By a fiction of law the judges were supposed to know all the law, un written and written. To suppose that they ry knew anything like all these statutes was absurd. eall No human mind could master them w ; as and what was the consequence ? Knowledge impossi ble, and ignorance, therefore, ceased to be a disgrace. (hear.) Nothing could more forciblypoint the necessity of dealing with this subject. Projects for the purpose had prevailed from the earliest times. He would not weary their lordships by the question what was done in the reigns of Edward VI., o f Elizabeth, of James 1., and during the Commonwealth. It formed . a subject of con sideration at all those periods , and and occupied the atte n ti on of men such as Si r Nicholaßacon, Lord Baco n , an d Whitelock. To com e to modern times. In the year 1806, the Commissioners on Public Records came to a resolution, "That Francis Hargreave, Esq., sh a ll b e re quested to consider and report to the board as to the best method of reducing the statute law into a smaller compass and more systematic form, and of revi s i ng an d amen ding the same in the whole or in part, repealing what is obsolete, and consolidating what consists of endless repetition, specifying the general heads of the statute law most necessary to be dealt with in either „ a y, the best method of rendering the style of our fu ture statutes more correct, concise, and uniform in their forms of expression, and at the same time more perspicuous in the arrangement of their enact ments and provisions, with a statement of such practical rules as appear to be most effectual for this purpose." Ten years elapsed, and in 1816 their lordships came to a resolution declaring the expediency in their opinion of arranging the enactments in the Statute Book under separate and distinct heads, and that a person learned in the law should be appointed for this purpose, with a number of clerks under him, not exceeding 20, which, being communicated to the House of Commons, the following resolution was adopted by that house :—"That this house doth agree with the Lords in the said resolution so amended ; and that, from the present state of the statute law of this realm, it expedient that effectual measures shall be taken to arrange the matters contained in the statutes of the "hilted Xingdont of Great Britain and yelaud, and U the statutes passed in the separate Parliaments of Eng land, Scotland, and Ireland respectively, under distinct and proper heads." An address was thereupon made to the Crown, and the Prince Regent gave answer to give directions accordingly. Like all previous schemes, frons Edward VI. down to 1816, this was never carried into effect. On certain subjects consolidation did take place, such as with regard to the slave trade, the excise, the customs, and some criminal law statutes. Some little approach was made to the desire of Parliament on the 23d July, 1833. Lord Brougham, who was then Lord Chancellor, issued a commission, which had now resulted in the criminal law reports. The Commons were directed to inquire into the best mode of completing a digest of the statutes relative to crime, and how far it was expedient to consolidate other parts of the statute law. In 1835 they presented their report as to the one consolidation of the statute law, but the criminal law being the primary object, their recommendations on. that head did not receive that respect or attention which he was disposed to think they deserved. They made many useful suggestions. They said there were three courses by which consolidation of the statutes might be effected ; the first was of limited application, being a mere reduction of the existing statutes by expurgation, or striking out those which were no longer binding ; the secosd, by classification and consolidation : and the third, which was still more extensive, by such alteration as would make the apparent import of the statutes, when classified and consolidated, correspond with their legal effect. Nothing was, however, done in that report. He believed the next year there was a committee of the House of Commons on the subject, but that led to no result. Their lordships directed, in 1845, an index of the statutes, from the time of the Union with Ireland to be made, under the direction of the Library Committee of the House of Lords, and that index was made. That was the state in which the subject now stood. That it was a state of things in which it was eminently desirable to make the change no one disputed. But the real ques tion was, how far was it within the range of possibility —how far could it be done ? He confessed that he at one time thought it was an impossibility, and that they must go on in the old course and make the best of it. Within two or three days of receiving the great seal, on. conversing with the Solicitor-General, that gentleman suggested that it was not quite so impossible as at the first blush might appear. After a little conversation, the Solicitor-General pointed out this fact : there woe a book published by Mr. Chitty, containing all the , most useful statutes, and to be found in four moderate sized octavo volumes—his (the Lord Chancellor's) copy was bound up in two thick volumes. This was a work which the judges took with them all over the circuit. He did not say it never failed, but nineteen times out of twenty all they wanted to read was matter of selection in those volumes. The book was not made to help judges on circuit, but to help generally all interested in the subs ject of the law. This led him (the Lord Chancellor) to reflect, perhaps with somewhat too great zeal, on the subject, and he was convinced that not only was it not impossible, but that the difficulties were infinitely less than on the first blush they seemed to be. Their lordships would very properly distrust him, but he would state shortly the reasons which led him to that conclusion. They would recollect that from the time of Edward I. to the end of the reign of Queen Anne the number of sta tutes was 3,256. The commissioners appointed by Lord Brougham required to know the exact quantity of statutes passed, and how many remained in force, because, in con solidating the statute law, they would practically only have to deal with those which were in operation. On that sub ject the report of 1835 was very elaborate. The commis sioners stated that of those 3,256 statutes passed in the period between the Ist Edward I. and the end of the reign of Queen Anne, 1,814 were repealed, expired, or obsolete, and 524 were local, personal, and private, leaving 918, and of that number 216 were partially repealed. Taking those partially repealed as if half were wholly repealed, there would be practically only about 800 statutes to deal with, or one quarter of 3,256. Therefore if he could be sure that all the remaining statutes stood in the same position, it would at once reduce the 20,000 to 5,000. But he thought it not a fair nor an honest way to assume that without good reason ; and with a view to see how far the reduction applied to modern statutes he took the 33d Geo. 111., 41st Geo. 111., and the 56th Geo. 111., and he went through each statute one by one to ascertain if it would have to be dealt with in consoli dating the statute law. He divided them into these classes :—First of all, those absolutely repealed, and, secondly, those which, though not repealed, would form no subject of a statute book, as, for example, an act to enable her Majesty to raise 2,800,0001. on Exchequer Bills, the annual Indemnity and Mutiny Acts, and such temporary acts as those for building a new street or other purposes. On looking through the three years he had mentioned in that way, he found of the 109 statutes passed in the 41st Geo. 111., 77 had either expired or become inoperative, and 18 were revenue statutes, which must be dealt with entirely by themselves, so that 109 lapsed to 20-89 were gone. In the 33d Geo. 111. the number was 127, of which 13 were repealed, 21 were of a temporary character, 65 were local and personal, and 14 were revenue acts—making 113 disposed of, and only leaving 14 to be dealt with. In the 56th Geo. 111., 108 acts were passed, and only 24 remained to be dealt with. The result was that in three years there were 378 statutes passed, and only 68 remained of permanent importance—really not one-fifth. The conclusion that he wished their lordships to arrive at was this, that if, from Edward 111. to Queen Anne the number of statutes was reduced three-fourths, and for the three years he had taken four-fifths, he was rather over than understating the case when he said one-fourth the gross number of statutes remained for the purpose of consolidation. So that it was not a difficulty which they ought to consider insuperable. .Dzycultatis patrocinia pralexiinum segnitico. He believed if they applied in dustry to the subject it might be done. They would naturally ask, how might it be done ? Nothing had re sulted from commissions of inquiry, or requests in for mer times that some learned person should do it. What he proposed was, to take a very simple course. He thought he should be able to induce Mr. Bellenden Ker, one of the commissioners appointed in 1833, to enter into it, and with his assistance and under his im immediate supervision he would retain two or three gentlemen well schooled in the subject to devote their whole time to it. There would be no inquiry how it was best to be done. The course he should take was this :—first, to complete that which was done up to the end of the reign of Queen Anne, and to mark every statute which was in force, so as to know exactly of what the statute law did consist, distinguishing those of a local or temporary nature. Then he proposed to direct them,'not to grapple with the greatest difficulty, which would be when they came to deal with existing subjects of party warfare, but to classify all the law on different subjects into a single statute for each subject, not adopting the order or the language in which they found those statutes, unless particularity of' language had led to particularity of construction, when they should re port that to him, and he would endeavour to change the language, so that any one might come to the same under standing of the statutes as was put on them by the courts. If he were asked to state more details, he answered with perfect frankness—the progress of the work itself was likely to suggest innumerable modes of carrying the plan into execution, much better than any commission or any learned man could suggest. Th whole thing had been done in the State of New York, and anybody must see how very much easier it would be to read the law expressed in short and intelligent lan guage, instead of with that lengthy verbosity which characterised our present mode of legislation. He did not merely mean that he should consolidate the law. He believed incalculable advantages would spring from a classification of it, so that, in future legislation, when a statute was passed, instead of being designated, as, say, the 114th chapter of such a year, it might be subject under its proper head. For instance, take the enactedalida any yn one that referring subject wouof ml a d ribnee placed under Any tha law that head, there would see how the law stood before the act, and what additions were made to it. This course was not altogether without precedent in our own legislation, because, about fifty or sixty years ago, it was directed that local and personal acts should form separate volumes. Why should not the principle be c arr i e d t o a greater extent ? He believed if the statutes were classed under different heads—under class A and class B, and so on—much of the statutes in force would become unnecessary and mere waste paper. He could not but think the incidental advantages would confer great bene fit on the country. With his mind steadily directed to these gentlemen's work, he should from time to time show how far he was in earnest, by reporting to their lordships' house the progress they had made, and he ven tured to hope the time would come when the statutes would assume a more intelligible form than that in which they were now passed. He had now stated the course he proposed with respect to legal reform. If their lord ships thought them was any shortcoming, or that he had not been as vigilant and active as he ought, he could only say he had done his best. It would be a most scandalous thing to accept the splendour of the office he had the honour of filling, if he felt incompetent to the discharge of its duties. He certainly did feel every re spect for his noble and learned predecessor, who had been a friend to him for more than thirty years, and as to the mode in which his noble and learned friend discharged the duties of the office he now held, he was as ready as any one, to express his utmost approba tion---(hear, hear)—but, having said that, he was sure their lordships would feel that he could do no more—(hear, hear)—he would devote himself with all his energy to a discharge of those duties , and he hoped h e should not b e found unworthy of the place he had the honour to hold.. He dis played, perhaps, too much enthusiasm, but the work in which he was ready personally to engage was one of which he should never have occasion to he ashamed b hereafter. • (Hear.) Perhaps he magnified thebehveed conse quences of that which he undertook, h e That that to be a wise fault. No great objectut andw was ever ac complished without something of romance enthusi asm in the minds of those who engaged in it. word "romance" might seem a little inapplicable which icabl h etoa digest of the statutes, but the consequencese encouraged in the determination pea Th led e mweereuldbenotadvance he could anticipated would be of in?alculab t l e e a ea dv rr a y nt e a u g t e tb H is He was by the reflection that enu meration of the step without conferringtut es so m a actually ua l benefit.ly r and if it were possible to sim 'something ; the consolidationsta of some of the statutes would be advantageous, plity and arrange them ea , s gr en ea w t h b y en th efi is t would might result. He be, Hine r o wned he saw n o so me future time—distant, perhaps,—the foundation of that which he had always looked upon as most desirable, though he confessed he had always thought it an un attainable object. He did not see why at some future d a y the Code Victoria might not put U 8 on the same footing with a neighbouring country having that great work which would immortalise its author long after his defeats and successes had sunk into forgetfulness. He trusted, sooner or later, all the good ho predicted might be accomplished. " Quod si non contingat altius ta.mers ibtla qul and otimma iutvutur quani qui prouropt4 do! I nn 501 ii. 49 i 8 65 4i 51 23 1201 92 li 31 30/ 601 i 1 i 44 - 46 71 - 72 7}- 8 MISCELLANEOUS. Australian Agricult Austrlasu.Pcific.Mail Australn. Royal Mail Brit. Amcricn. Laud Canada 230 - 240 Crystal Palace Crystal Pal. of France ) Eastern Steam Electric. Teleg. of Ir. Gen. Ste 1m Navigat.. General Screw Steam. Irish Beetroot Suga;.• Nat. Pat. Steam Fuel Netherlands Land.... N rth . of Europe Steam Peninsular & Oriental Do. Do. Royal Mail Steam.... South Austral. Land Submar. Telegraph... Universal Emigration 10 20 50 50 100 25 24 all -25 60 25 ... - ... 53 - 56 and Colonisation. Tan Diemen's Land. 16 -- 16 55 8 MARKET NEWS-(THIS DAY.) COLONIAL. SUGAR—The market is firm and the public sales are ex pected to go off favourably. The quantity of British Plan tation landed last week at the East and West India Docks was 614 hhds, 13 tierces, 139 barrels ; there was taken for home consumption 1,212 hhds, 71 tierces, 700 barrels. The stock in the same places is 7,676 hhds, 1,111 tierces, 942 barrels. COFFEE There are no public sales, but the private market is good, especially for Native Ceylon. RUM—The quantity landed last week at the East and West India Docks was 270 puns ; there were taken for home consumption 253 puns 15 hbds, and exported 108 puns 186 hhds ; the stock in the same pikes is 15,420 puns 725 hhds. _ _ _ . _ SALTPETRE—BengaI, 1,148 bags at auction sold at 26s 6d to 27s for mid, Bid per cent. refraction. TALLow—P.Y.C. 'is .138 9d to 44s per cwt on the spot,, and town 45s 9d, and firm. TEA—The market is steady, with rather a tendency to advance. HAY MARKETS. SMITHFIELD.—Meadow hay, 2/ 15s to 4/ 4s ; clover ditto, 3/ 15s to 5/ Os ; and straw, 11 5s to 1/ 12s per load. Supply good, and trade rather dull. CUMBERLAND.—Meadow hay, 3/ Os to 4/ 7s ; clover ditto, 3/ 15s to 4/ 15s ; and straw, 1/ Cs to 1/ 12s per load. A full average supply, and a steady demand. WHITEOHAPEL.—Meadow hay, 2/ 16s to 4/ 4s ; clover ditto, 3/ 15s to 51; and straw, 1/ 58 to 11 lls per load. Trade steady, at full prices. LLOYD'S SHIPPING-(THIS DAY.) LONDON, Feb. 15.—Wind at Noon, N.E., light breeze, and fine clear frosty weather. DEAL, Feb. 14.—Wind, E.S.E. Arrived from the River, and sailed—Hecla, for Melbourne ; Dometia, Cape of Good Hope. The Penelope of Shields has received damage to hull and bowsprit from contact wih a steamer, and will proceed to Ramsgate. ' LIVERPOOL, Feb. 14.—Wind, N.E. Sailed—Marietta, St. Thomas ; Ensign, Africa ; Francis, Ceara ; Tuscarora, Philadelphia ; Sheridan, Now York ; Era, do. ; Australia, do. Arrived—Atalanta (to stop a leak), Shields, for Bordeaux. Off Port—Medina. PLYMOUTH, Feb. 14.—Wind, N.N.E. Sailed—Eliza, Bombay ; Vigilant, New York. The Oberd.oen ' Hartle pool for Naples , has p ut in, havin g struck on the Skerries. SOUTHAMPTON, Feb. 14.—Wind, N.W. Sailed—Queen of the North (s), Cape of Good Hope. DARTMOUTH, Feb. 14.—Wind, E. Arrived—jacoba Alida, Surmain, for Amsterdam, with damage. GRIMSBY, Feb. 14.—Wind, E. Arrived—Leo, London for Sunderland, with damage ; Lady Bathurst, Sunder land for London, leaky. CASTLETOWNSEND.—Arrived—FirefIy, Buenos Ayres for Liverpool, leaky, &c. Duruin.R, Feb. 14. — The La d y of the Lake, of Inver ness, is on shore near North Berwick, much damaged ; crew saved. JERSEY, Feb. 13.—The Frances and Ann (schooner) took fire on the 11th inst., and received considerable damage. Sailed—Calesta, Honduras. BORDEAUX, Feb. 12.—Thh Sally, Bayonne to Ireland, is on shore on the coast of the Bay of Biscay, in about lat. 45. CADIZ Feb. 6.—The Frances Nesham, Marseilles to the United Kingdom, has put in with much damage from contact with a steamer off St. Vincent, on the 30th of Jan., and will repair. INDIAN SUPERSTITION.—A beautiful superstition pre vails among the Seneca tribe of Indians. When an In dian maiden dies, they imprison a young bird until it first begins to try its power of song, and then loading it with kisses and caresses, they loose ith bonds over the grave, in the belief that it will not fold its wings, nor close its eyes, until it has flown t o th e sp i r it-l an d and delivered its precious burden of affection to the loved and lost. It is not unfrequent to see 20 or 30 birds let loose over one grave. "As DEAD AS A HERRING."--The herring is a deli cate fish, which is killed by a very small degree of vio lence. Whenever it is taken out of the water, even though it seems to have received no hurt, it gives a squeak, and immediately expires ; and though it be thrown instantly back into the water it never recovers. Hence arises the proverb "as dead as a herring,"—An derson Qn the Oak of the Ileinides. x in 3: in x in x in 45 71i 21 St. 20 St. 15 50 161 St. 20 100 all 3 10 50 St. 16 16 20 20 10 St. 174 all 70 100 St. St. St. St. 100 100 100 100 all all 6i all 100 all 16 lizisi 100 20 100- 100 all 100 5 100 all all all 8 ! 100 100 12 1061 10 20 20 333 10 20 90 4 i 79 si 16 78i i 80i I f 37 19.} i 341 ,i 31 i all all all all all 13.5 244 30 20 1 40 14 all all all all all all all all 50 50 100 103 20 50 all all 100 all 100 2A i 20i 1