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

SPORTING( INTELLIGENCE. TRE SHARE MARKETS. LINES LEASED AT FIXED RENTALS. 4 Leasing Closing Prices Easiness Paid RAILWAYS ' Comps s. this day. this day. SPORTrNG NOTES.—No. CCCLXXVI. BRITISH RAILWAYS. LINCOLN SPRING MEETING. -- — ____ _____.— ---- -- 50 all Bedford and London & le consequende of the severe frost, this meeting is Closing Prices Basness done Postponed until Friday and Saturday next. Of course, Shr. Paid RAILWAYS. this day this day. Bletchley ... N. West. .... ... 304 all Bi rm . & Oxfd.i -if the weather allows it to come off this week, bets will -- — guarantee ... Gt•Westn. 30 —3l 30 29 30 29,1 1 3 ,2 4 , a ll Do.withoutgr Do 291 —3o3xd Sta nd. There has been a great fall of snow in the St. 100 Aberdeen .......... Tieinit y of Lincoln ; and should a thaw take place, the" 4 all Birm.Wolv. & Dudleyguar. Do 3O 31xd x d cour se —,,, 20 fit, Ambg.dr Eastn.No t j t u n n g e ..B . e . s . t .. . 6i. 7 29 30xd x d Will be extremely heavy. But few horses have 14 all Birmng. Wolverh. & 10 104 Do.wthtguar. Do arrived. Bold Davie, Bridesmaid, Ringdove, Baleine 3o all 100a11 Buckghamsh. L. &N.W. 108 110 31 28 Birkenhd. Lanesh. & 50 all Clydesdale Jc. Caledon , f , i r li Y,_ o Bruce, Quickstep, Newport, filly by Liverpool Stour Valley St. 100 E.Lincoln. gr. i ' ll ni r, Abdallah, Monitress, Broughton , l3ll Richard-274 Che sh. & Birk., 6p. cent Gt.Notrhn 149 151 i y all Do.Clieshire Junct.. .. 6i 6id ' I n On ~ Game . Tommy, Ace of Trumps, The General, Hope £5O & £25 Cons.... 22 221 25 all 'Glstr.&Dn.Fr. Gt.Westn. 321 334 3 —24 d 100 all Hrtlpl. Dk. & Yk. New. ,4arasharper, two from Stebbing', with a few others, 22 184 Do. £20.. . ........ ... form the list that are, or will be, there. Railway & Berw.. ... ... St. 100 Caleclonian......._.. 65 651 65 44 51 St. 100 Bristol & Exeter-. ... 108 110 50 all Hull & Selby. Y.&N.Md. 113 • 115 giv ty g final opinion on the Spring Handicap I shall defer 50 all Chester & Holyhead ' 23 234 23 4 Do. 4 Shares. Do 561 571 until Thursday. 50 all Cork and Bandon.... 171 181 25 all 12? all Do. i Shares. Do 27 28 lam reminded that in the list of the whereabouts of 20 (..;e1.eb.121 all Lon.&Greenw S.Eastern l3l - 144 ' • rated stallions I gave last week, I omitted the most all Cork, Black. & Pass. s• —___ -• 454 . 50 45 Dublin&BelfastJunc. 4d 4 p 20 all Do. Preference Do 251 261 iashionable one of the day, the celebrated " Birdcatcher,” 25 all Dundee Perth &Aber- 20 all Lowestoft, gr. who is . in such request, that at 50 guineas each, his sub- deep Junction ....... 8 9 4 per cent... Norfolk Fa y, is full. He is located at Easby Abbey Stud 5 all Do. New 25 all East Anglian (£25 L. 51 all Manch.Bxton. Ln. &N. W r . , near Richmond, Yorkshire, where also stands blood &E.& L. & D.) st 6 and Matlock & Midld. 3 34 3/ cY (10 guineas), who has some of the gamest 18 all Do., (£lB E. & H.) 44 . 4 g 50 all Middlcsbro' & Stckton & uin his veins it is o . ble to find ; and the once 20 all Eastern Counties 134 —13 i 4 Darlingt. ... xd celebrated Mildew is also p he s r s e i . Redcar 25 all Eastern Union, Class 100 all Midld Bradfd Midland... 108 109 burtan Tromp (Barnsley) is informed that, in all robs - A. late E. U. 5h.... 101 114 11 50 all Northern and '' Y, the three horses mentioned by him will never see 25 Do., do.. — .... Easternsp.c. E. Count.. 64 —66 a ShOrt 'nice for the Derb 25 all Do., B. & C y- THE SPIRIT OF THE TURF. St. 100 East Lancashire 77 79 50 all Do.Fixedsp.c Do .... . .. ... ... 50 all Eaat & West Ind. Dk 25 all Prest. &Wyre L. &IS I. W. 60 &Ln&Yk ... ... TATTERSA_LL'S--MoNDAT. & Birming. June 55 St. 100 Edinburgh & Glasgow 76 78 124 14 Do. 4 Shares. Do — pm 10 14 Edinb. and Peebles... id 1p h... The busin ess transacted yesterday, w ith ou t b e i ng St. 100 Roystn.&Hit. Gt.Northn 151 153 '''' l 7, was suffi c i ent l y d ec i ded to reverse th e p os iti ons St . 100 Ed i n b • P rt h . &D u ndee 28 29 28 St. 100 Do.Shepth.St. D o 150 152 of the two favourites for the Liverpool Steeplechase, for St. 160 Glasgow & S.Western 60 62 25 184 Shef. Roth. & Lancash. & which it w ill St 100 Great Northern Stk.. 781 784 79 Goole g. 5. p. c Yorksh .av be seen View Halloo and Duc-an-Durras 12 94 S. Staffordsh.. MrMClean i 1 d e also been brought into prominent notice ; and to St. 100 Do., A. Stock ilh °v? aat St. 100 Do., B. Stock llB - 120 50 all WearValleygr Stockt. & , the 2,ooorongAustralian for feeling in favour of West St. 100 Gt. Sth. &West. (Ire.) 1074 1084 6 per cent ... Darling. ... xd a d pc__ Guineas Stakes and Derby, and Cineas and St. 100 Great'Western 904 91 90t ii i 1 25 all Do Do 3l 32:cd a d _ i a . o )" . wood for the last mentioned event. The move -12 11 Irish South-Easte.m. 64 ------ 7 St. 'lOO Wilts &Somrst Gt•Westn. 103 104 103 1 'malts in otherrespects were unimportant. 50 all Lancaster & Carlisle.. 90 05 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 Musdivite, 20 to 1 agst Half-and-half. 20 to 1 agst Maurice Daley. 20 to 1 agst Crabbs. 25 to 1 agst P o ll. 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. 4 to 1 agst West Australian (taken freely.) all . all all 3 100 100 Eazt & West Ind. Dk. & Birt&ng. June Edinburgh & Glasgow Edinb. and Peebles Edinb.Prth. &Dundee Glasgow & S. Western'! Greet Northern Stk Do., A. Stock Do., B. Stock Gt. Sth.&West.(lre.) Great' Western.. , Irma South-Easters. Lancaster & Carlisle Do., Thirds Lancash. &Yorkshire 'Do., Fifths Do., Wst. Riding Un Leeds Northern Liv. Crsby. & So uthpt. London & Blackwall Lond. Tilb. & Sthend. Loud.Bright.&S.Cst. London & N. Western Do. Fifths 100 all 3 ! 100 Do. ,10/. Sh. ,M&8... C London & S.Western Do., £5O Do., ...... Tindndrry.&Coleraine Lndndrry. & Ennisk. Manch.Shef.&Lincln. Do., Man. &Lin. Un. Midland . Do. Birming.& Derby Midland G. West. (Ir.) Do. 2 Shares Newcastle & Carlisle Newmarket.......:... CHESTER CIIP. 25 to 1 agst Scarecrow. '4O to 1 agst Truth (taken). 1000 to 10 agst Wedding-day filly. 1000 to 10 agst Hannah. Do. Bevy Extension • Newpt.Aberg.driltfd Nevay & Er qi9killes Newry Warrenpoint & Rostra ror N0rf01k...... .... . .. Do., New Northn. Count' es U.] North British ........• North Devon, No.l Do., No. 2..••••• Do., A Deferred Do., B Guaranteed North Staffordshire North Western.. N. & S. Westrn. June. Oxford Worcester & Wolverhampton Scottish Central Scottish Midland Shrewsbury & Birmg Do., L. & N. Westn Guaranteed Stock Shrewsby. & Herefd Shrewsby. & Chester (Nor. W. Min.) Do. Halves, do. Do. Gswestry Shropshire Union South Devon South Eastern South Wales S. Yorksh. River Dun DERBY. 6i 7 90. -- 95 13 14 p 78t -- 791 4* -- 4 d 31 2id 16 -- 9 -- 91 p 104 i -165 i 1201 -1 20 i 3 -- 3tp I*-- it p 914 -92 i 5 4 d 4 -- 3 d 11 -- 12 19 -- 21 30 -- 314 3 -- 3 d 78 -- 79 45 -- 47 10 to 1 agst West Australian (taken freely). 12 to 1 agst Cineas (taken). 15 to 1 agst Pharos. 16 to 1 agst Sittingbourne. 20 to 1 agst Honeywood (taken and afterwards offered). 30 to 1 agst Contentment (taken to 2001.). 40 to 1 agst Pharold (taken). OAKS. 49 -- 51 3-31 d 2 -- 34 8i -- 94 55 -- 57 . 81 -- 8i 2f -- 2B d 36 -- 37 6i -- 61 dl 24 - 4 .--- 2f i 1 d 4d 4 "pl 491 - 50. 98 - 101 63 - 65 67 - 69 100 100 100 100 70 - s to 1. agst Catherine Hayes. Bto 1 agst The Queen (taken). LINCOLN SPRING MEETING. thiaweather permitting, this meeting, originally-fixed for 8 4 ,__, (l aY and to-morrow, will take place on Friday and ""ruaY next. all 100 all 15 116 100 Do. Stockton & Hartlepl Thames Haven Dock and Railway Vale of Neath Waterfd. & Kilkenn Waterford&Limerick West C0rnwa11........ Wmbledon &Croydon W00df0ed....... ....... York Newctl. do Bcrw. Do. Extensions Do. G.N.E. Purchase York & N. Midland.. 18 - 14 - 31 - 20 - 80] - 37 -- 13 - 15 - - Inn 79 81 9,i 16 x.d. 27 - i d 1120 i A i i 20 10 15 8d 28 7 21 60 - 72 7d 20, 61 92114 31 301 78 i i 9 56i 6 i MINES. 1 all Agua Fria 10s. all Anglo Californian 10 2 Australasian l4 —24 p 4 20 5 Australian s— 6 psg 1 all Australian Cordillera par 4 p 14 1 all Australian Freehold. par p 1 1 all Ave Maria 1 all Baden (Gd. Duchy of) par e p 1 1 all British Austria. Gold A p 1i a 20 13.5 British Iron 7 35 244 Brazilianlmp.(issued at £5 pm 34 44 31 41 30 all Do. Cocaes & Cuiada 11 21 20 15 Do. St. John Del Rey 29 —3O 1 4 Carson's Creek. par 4 p 4 a 40 all Cobre Copper . . 40 394 5 1 Colonial Gold 2g -24 p 31 a .• 14 Copiapo . 5 7 Si. all Copper Min. of Eng. 25 all Do. Pref. 74 p. cent. ...p 5 all English and Austin. Copper Smeltg. Co. 2 lid 3 20 all General 144 15/ 2 all Great Nugget Vein.,, 3_ 3 1 p 5 4 3 all Great Polgooth l-4 ll p 1 all Lake Bathurst 1 d * d 1 all Liberty — 4 P 1 all Lond.&Californ. Gold Quartz Crush. Co — d 1 all Mariquita d— 4p 1 10 9 Mexican&S.Americn 4 54 144 B 1 all New Granada 4 I P 1 all Nouveau Monde 1 —. lip 24 5 1 Port Philip l4 14 p 1 all Quartz Rock par 4 p 50 all Rhymme Iron 22 —24 p 15 Do. New — 30 104 Santiago de Cuba 64 —7l 1 all South Australian. par p 10 7 Tin Croft ll 12 284 all United Mexican 6 64 1 all Waller 2 —24 p 1 all West Granada 4 a P 1 all West Mariposa — I p 1 1 1 all Yuba — p JOINT-STOCK BANKS. 40 all Australasia 834 844 844 50 all British N. American 20 2 Chrtd. Bnk. of India, Australia, & China 4 —l4 p 3 100 25 Colonial ••• 100 20 Commercial of Lond — 4 English Scottish and Australian l4 1 4 p 20 74 Lond. Chart. Bk. of - Australia 4 —44 p 50 20 London and County — 50 10 London Joint Stock ... 20 1 100 20 Lond. & Westminster 36 100 35 NationalProv.ofEng. 20 10 Do. New ••• 50 224 National of Ireland — 25 all Oriental Bank of Corporation. ••• 25 5 Do. New • -- ••• 100 25 Provincial of Ireland 484 10 all Do. New •.. 5 1 Royal Australn.Bkg & Gold Imp Co ... 25 all South Australia 45 47 45 25 all Union of Australia.— 72 73 711 21 —. 24 Do. New 74 8 50 10 Union of London 174 40 all Union of Madrid.. MISCELLANEOUS 100 35 Australian Agricult. 230 240 1 236 20 4 Azstralsn.Pcific.Mail 54 10 5 Alistraln. Royal Mail 384 Brit. American Land ... 55 4 100 326 Canada 5 5 Crystal Palace ••• 4 2 Crystal Pal. of France 24 20 1 Eastern Steam — ••• 1 1 Electric Telog. of Ir. 15 14 Gen. Steam Navigat. 100 50 General Screw Steam ... 12 20 24 Irish Beetroot Sugar 1 all Nat. Pat. Steam Fuel 10 2 Netherlands Land — 20 24 Nrth. Of Europe Steam 50 all Peninsular & Oriental ... 50 25 Do. Do. ... ... 51 • 100 60 Royal Mail Steam ._ . . 25 25 South Austral. Land 55 58 55 8 1 ). Submar. Telegraph.. • 5 2 Univeral Emigration and Colonization.... 100 284 Van Diemen's Land 15 17 17 131 x.d. sow 3 7a 13 60W60 106 5} 194 i THE SITN, LONDON, TUESDAY EVENING, FEBRUARY 15, 1853. w z'm , NIENA OF THE EBBING AND FLOWING WELL IN GERMANY. ettriallois.a re markable w e ll i s th e subject of extreme d ay cr i tY through ou t G ermany . At every hour of the Prope r surrounded the well, which is encircled by a nlyst er i oo g li a rd, anxiously waiting the arrival of the its b egin 8 , Phenomenon. Each person tries to detect the 't i n sha fini,g) by fixing his eyes on the empty space in the brim. to-..et,eleven or twelve feet depth . of which, from visible." 0 water, presents nothing but "darkness o r i f P a P aa le is b y ne black surface at the bottom, a gentle perceptible, produced by a few bubbles send ; other respects, all is still as the grave. Pro the ! ce rtain hollow s oun d s reac h th e ear , resembling obo e ae p e of distant artill er y, or d rums , an d the shaft is Port rVed to fill sloWly, by the water ascending like in a thermometer, the surface becoming,. at the 'fie tim e , agitated and noisy. A thick foam covers it, f e d i is only broken in the centre by a rapid succession e XPlosions of gas (almost carbonic acid), during which th e water, where the foam is partially dispersed, assumes green hue of the sea in high latitudes. In the mean- L , l 7e, the. i ) a rd progress of the water, accompanied by — sh e , a at w otion, continues s . teadily, until the great is filled with water, agitated in the most violent of ann ex To those who have looked down from the Stern an ship, hurried along by a gale through . the sea, l as h, have seen the water foaming against, and it "ing the /udder, in perpetual leaps and contortions, h c ,"tu afford some notion of the aspect of the moment 1 „:`,.! i ndicated ; in short, a sailor is reminded of it - •T Phenomenon. Or the well may be compared, in boili reme turbulence, to . a great cauldron of 'water gon a furnace as rapidly as possib . le. When this b i , ll ienCe is at its maximum, the emission of gas which '-eceded the ascent of the water in the well abruptly Th ' eB43 es, and, i n a f ew sec onds, the surface of the water et t he sh a ft becomes perfectly tranquil ; the . water de tj,ecds, and continues to do so, at .first rapidly, and te e a more slowl until it has subsided about nine or li al ee t• Thispoint has but just been reached, when a u of the water first, and then of the ve aB r.,'l again o g bse P rved at the bottom. The shaft fills a I,;',, s it'wly, and the flow of water and gas continues for attaitime progressively to increase, apparently not h e .,,,4 — Lng their maximum until the water is at its full the hich requires from thirty to forty minutes after first return of the stream. In this state of violent ration it remains for about two hours sometimes phe r e, but o ft en much less, when t h e preceding cycle of ee a c , c ulena is:repeat e d. Th e p er iod of intermission varies Rervetderably. In general that peculiarity has been ob haft:4 every thre e h ours , b u t it s recurrence is greatly th e w e nced by the number of pumps at work to extract Peri od er . from the well ; the more pumps, the fewer of intermission. 1 84 7, ,ECCENTRIC BEING.—An eccentric old lady, named a; iiitcthen, who had been for several years a !ten -°l3er da.,„ Of Cowley's Charity, in Lincolnshire, died a few a n 'i ti - .ago at the ripe age of 76. The deceased had long th; cl is Pated her exit from this world : many years ago bar .. 4 4 her shroud and other mournful habiliments pre to;'„, and latterly she had parcelled out the little gifts h er l'oe bearers, trimmed her shroud afresh, and ordered re: 1314 0 ! This palpable preparation for her last daysl - Place had been " delivered ' at her cottage a few 4 b efore she p a id th e "debt o f nature, " h av i ng pa id hand , h e r other d e bt s , even to h er f unera l expenses, before- 20 20 50 20 St. 25 25 S t. St. 16 St. St. „ 4-I tAa' AT THE SPIRIT-RAPPERS. —The than other Process 'we do not pretend, any more . 1; spirit-rapping oonior. I ' l lg, to explain. The modus operandi 1 13,_tlAertiaturalism simply a humbug. The moving n s g ee ‘ r ' e m t ed t i h a ° "ere those whom we had the pleasurenoofer as m g ~,e f them an elderly gentleman, n beholding—one "ea, and apparently his wife, a lady of Cork like a native), and another, a capita a l n” linguist (for he talked rather r. 4 ti s.,gantic proportions, whOse ..,ne, naturally enough, were wit h P a ri p n r e eto l u e r h m us u b n a i n ea d, zuo not having insured, and regr r e h t o t o in ci g i ns h i i m s improvidence, "Le kindly supplying her a live i . e°lll3l e, we should say the trio, retired_ private room, Vhf the lips of the pair still in the flesh e i s n h t° w a ere seen parted 7 in Prayer, whilst a Bible placed before them to rouse the and . Prayer-book 'lPectators who might be susceptiZ ag heard, and some certain preliminary noises having been After a while, invited to join motion of the table being visible, we wer clead. Some I the council and communicate with the hich two "raps e Party did so, asking questions, to w reply. As leonstituted affirmative of : a negative, three an , I °ng as this went on there was nothing but at length the company got tired, Rieje adventurous A lady thought of her husband ; and inspira -.te 'writingt°andthe complainprofes ti " medium" under that husband'shrstian name' b en was to inscribe the deceased's C , or this Purpose he went convulsively to work; .. h? wr E c i v e t i e f and proclaimed Charles. The dead man called Min "Olin When in this world ! But it is unnecess n ar o y . at any length to expose an imposture, which is only_ not tidieulous on account of its possibly serious effects. T il for 11°,1e Mystery of the performance is that "raps" occur _f Iveich one cannot account, and that there is a motion Upono it, furniture of which one cannot see the cause. Otis evidence the jugglers make their appeal, and upon no other. For our part we should be unwilling to deprive there. of their plunder, which those whom they take in call N'erY well spare if a stupid curiosity were the sole cause of their InleCeBB. But the fact is, they have made eltedconverts, or rather fools, of grown and nominally edu men ; and the delusion of adults has had such an ueet upon them that even madness may result in /t111:!Ily cases from the belief in this nonsense with which .v..3' have haunted the minds of their children. „Tendia yirls and boys have been nominated as future ' and, as a consequence, have had their nerves Shaken z.nd their sleep destroyed with perpetual visions e f fr om 8 81 and all sorts of imagined communications i tll o - 1 , BPiri ta• This makes the matter so serious, that Thl ."Ire began in irony we must end in earnest. I.Z, pir.it rappers' pretensions appear, to say the 1,ght..7‘ 8 . Of It, to be a nuisance ; and if a nuisance, they to be " put down." Let there be a judicial, and aul'eocirTred, a scientific investigation of their claims : tora ,w, a 1 of inquiry is but an act of justice to profs Untli,.....4infarlpopor. . . ' irA.RILIIT 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 aerces, 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 hhds, and exported 108 puns 186 hhds; the stock in the same places is 15,420 puns 725 hhds. SALTPETRE—BengaI, 1,148 bags at auction sold at 26s 6d to 27s for mid, 82d per cent. refraction. TALLow—P.Y.C. is 43s 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, 21 15s to 41 4s ; clover ditto, 3115 s to 51 Os ; and straw, .115 s to 11 12s per load. Supply good, and trade rather dull. CUMBERLAND.—Meadow hay, 31 Os to 41 78 ; clover ditto, 3115 s to 41 15s ; and straw, 116 s to 11128 per load. A full average supply, and a steady demand. WHITEbiIA.PEL. — Meadow hay, 21 16s to 414 s ; clover ditto, 3115 s to 51; and straw, 115 s to it us per load. Trade steady, at full prices. LLOYD'S SHIPPING-(THIS DAY.) LONDON, Feb. 34—Wind at Noon, N.E., light breeze, and fine clear frosty weather. DEAL, Feb. 14.—Wind, E.S.E. Arrived from the ee S n hi ta e e ld t s wi h h as a steamer, receivd e River, and sailed — Hecla, for Melbourne ; Dometia, Cape o dre f a G a o g o e d te H h o u p u e. and Th b e ew P s e p n ri e t lo t p r e em of and will proceed to Ramsgate. LIVERPOOL, Feb. 14.—Wind, N.E. Sailed—Marietta, St. Thomas ; Ensign, Africa ; Francis, Ceara ; Tuscarora, Philadelphia ; Sheridan, New 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 Oberdeen, Hartle. pool for Naples , h as 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. DUNBAR, Feb. 1 4 . — The Lady of the Lake, of Inverness, is on shore near North B e r wick, much dama g ed ; crew saved. JERSEY, Feb. 13.—The Frances and Ann (schooner) took fire on tho 11th inst., and received considerable damage. Sailed—Celesta, Honduras. BORDEAUX, Feb. 12.=-Th.h 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 its bonds over the grave, in the belief that it will not fold its wings, nor close its eyes, u n til it h as fl own to the spirit-land 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."---4n dawn Q 1 (llc Stag of Ow EcOrMos. IMPERIAL 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 printed and circulated and sold, and commented on by an Irish newspaper he had 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 in 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 bf 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 expeditiousfas the ingenuity of those who directed their attention to the subject could devise. Carrying back their lordships' attention to the period when he 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 were 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 the 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 the tribunals of this country ; and first to those courts which, after all, are the moat 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 corn miPsion was directed to several very eminent lawyers, Mr. Baron'Martin, the then A ttorney-General, and others of high standing in their profession ; and it 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 df as one of his ch aracteristics, devoted him self during the long vacation to the consideration and the a bill, applyin g the informatio n an d adopting of the commis s i oners . That bill was introduced in 1852, an d shortly afterwards framing the of recommendations occurred a change in the Government, which, however, he was glad to say, had in no way affected that bill. Lord Lyndhurst, the Lord Chief Justice, he (the Lord Chancellor), and several others, went through it clause by clause, in order to make it as compl ete 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 asseat. 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 had a prejudice against any change or innovation in the law. He 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 this measure, not only from judges, but from those practising before them, and that, having conversed with both, he found but one uni versal expression of satisfaction at the change which had taken place. It was on all hands admitted to be most beneficial, and that being so might have sufficed to sa tisfy him that it would be improper for him to do any thing as yet in that direction in the shape of reform. But in order that he ,might not let his own mind rest merely upon generalities, and that he might be in a posi tion to tell their lordships the grounds of the opinion he 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 obtaining the rule, serving it, or proceeding upon it ; and t o th e decrease of actions for debt in which the de fendant had, in fact, no defence, but used under the old system to say, Do your best and your worst," and allow the plaintiff then to sue him, obtain judg ment, and get his money as he could. Under the old law, also, there had been very great difficulty in pro ceeding against a party who was abroad ; there was no mode of serving with a writ any person out of this 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 a nother. When he reminded their lord s hi ps that on the introduction of every new law there must be unforeseen questions arising, he might state his astonishment that, notwithstanding the number of cases tried, 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 from 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, 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 that, whether that object were effected 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, had 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 jurer 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 he 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 1850 a commission issued to inquire into the precess, practice, 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 lie could collect from his own observation, and from what had reached his ears, these changes were now working admirably 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 that 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 to the Court of Chan cery, 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 come to the conclu sion that any attempt whi 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, .f 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 IL Jenner Fust, Dr. Lushington, and others—names which, so far as names eould 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-" elusive 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 be 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 a, therefore, that bi) (the Lord Chancellor) should come forward with a measure on the subject while it was under in qu i ry . H e w i s h e d , 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 f ee l b ound to comply with their recommendation!. 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 appoint e d l ast 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 shak e hi m f rom it.: Every divorce a vinculo ntatrintonii was called pri vilegiunt—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. (H ear , h ear .) B u t h e f oun d w h a t 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 was supposed that the transfer of land might be made just as easy as the transfer of stock. One objet- tion to this theory lay upon the surface. One sum 0f1,0001. , stock was just like another 1,0001. stock ; b u t ever y 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, entails, and shifting estates, and then when a party sold he had to satisfy a purchaser by negative evidence that none of these cir cumstances affected his title. That he believ e d was th e 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 made less' expensive than at present. One source of expense arose from the length and complication of a conveyance, another from 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 could be 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 nd 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 had been one other subject under his consideration, at which he should only glance, because he 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 house, but arrived at the other 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 bad, 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 contemplation a scheme, 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 thepresent 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, commenced, and 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 the reign 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 writtenn and written. To suppose that they reay knew anything like all these statutes was absurd. wat No human mind could master them w ; aa an dh was the consequence ? Knowledge (hear.) Nothing could more forcibly ro. point impossi ble, and ignorance, therefore, ceased tobethao necessity He would pa 1.13 not ose of dealing with this subject. li P had prevailed from the ear Elizabeth, of James I. and t ilimeeetss. forH weary their lordships by the of es question what was done in the reigns of Edward V e I t ., . periods, and occupied the attention during the Collmthoonswo al h It formed a subject of N s o i f de m ration n a o t as Sir Nicholas Bacon, Lord Bacon, and iteenlocsk. To come to modern times. In the year 1806, the Commissioners on Public Records came to a resolution, "That Francis Hargreave, Esq., shall be 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 revising and amending 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 wa y, the best method of rendering the style of our fu ture statutes more correct, concise, and uniform in their forms of expr ess i on, 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 arrange the matters contained in the t ak en to ITAited liiogdom of Groat 33ritain and Ireland, a statutes b . a o u f the 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, from 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 second, 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 Rouse 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 wos 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 jiidges 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 sub 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 gene. In the 33d Geo. 111. the number was 127, of which 13 were repealed, 01 were of a temporary character, 65 wer 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 pa sse d, an d on l y 34 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. Difficultatis pcitrocinia piyeteximus segnitice. 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 froni commissions of inquiry, or requests in for mer times that some learned person should do it. What he proposed was, to take a very sinitple 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 same 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 . designate h d e under its proper head.designated, as, it put say, the 114th chapter of such a year,might For instance, take the subject of marine insurance. Any law enacted on that subject would be placed under w stood beforerhthaLsthead,andany the ae one referring there there would see how was s ti n on ot a e c 7 o n urs l e egi what eathdedritiwonitshwouetre p m rte e dent it in o T u h r is because, o about fifty or sixty years ago, it was directed that local and personal acts should form separate volumes. Why should not the principle be car r i e d t o a greater extent I He believed if the statutes were classed under different heads — under class A and class B, and soon—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 calmest, 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 as dischargedready y the duti es o f the office he now held, he was as any one, to express his utmost approba tion—(hear, hear)—but, having said that, he was sure their lordships,yould 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 he should not be 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 be ashamed hereafter. (Hear.) Perhaps he magnified the ed f conse quences of that which he undertook, but he be ev h er ev ae. enthusi asm to be a wise fault. No great object er as ac complished p i l i s e h theed without minds of thosesomething wh e o f engagedrom3e word "romance" might seem a little i napp li cable di te. to a anticipated would be of inFalcu e lah Ie advantage single digest of the statutes, but th consequences which eh was he encouraged in the determinationld n to carry out this work by the reflection that advancee me a re step without conferring he e som eo e u bene o fi t t. Th enu meration of the statutes ac tually repealed wo u ld b e something would be a vtalineonsohdation of some of th e s t a t utes tar e ous, and if it were possible t o sim plify and arrange them, great benefit would result. H e owned h e saw no reason why this might not b e, in some f u ture time—distant, d alwaysm t e—distan t lookedper, h a u p p s ec - - a t s h foundationperhaps,—the desirable, o f that which he though he confessed he had always thought it an un• attainable object. He did not see why at some future day the Code Victoria might not put us 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. " Qum si non contingat altius tamen but cl l 4 ad Nurama intentur quazu qui prenumptti de. PREFERENCE SHARES Aberdeen . Do., No. 2, 7 p. c Bris. & Ex. 4 p. c. St Do. 4 p. c. Shares Caledonian £lO Chester (Sr Holyhead Guar. 53 per cent Cork&Bandon 5? p.c Dundee Perth&Aber deen Junction,.„.„, EastA ngl ian (£3los) 6 per cent. Do. (V,5) 7 per cent.. Do. (£7l7s) 7 p. ct.. Eastern Counties Ex tension, 5 p. c. No.l Do., No. ............. Do„ New 6 p. c. St.. Eastern Union, Scrip Guar. 6 per cent.... EastLancash. 6 p.cts. Edinb.Prth.&Dundee 5i per cent :. Glasgow & S. Western guar. 5 per cent.... Great Northn. 5 p.c. Do. 5 p. c., Redeem., at 10 p. c. preen Gt. Southn. &Westn. (Ireland) Eighths... Gt. Westn. (Berks dr Hants Ex. 5 p. c.).. G. West. fixed 4i p c. Lan. & York. F. £2O, Do., 6 p. c., Stock... London and Brighton Guaranteed 5 p. c..., Do. Pref., 5 p. c. St. Do. Convertible, sp. c., 1852 . Do. New Guar. 6 p.c. London & S. Western, Con. Thirds Londonderry& Coler. :3 Shares Londy. & Ennis. i Sh I Manch.,Shef., & Lin., Shares, No. 1 Do. Now, £lO Do., a . Marypt.&Carl. 4 p. c. Do. CI per cent Do . Mid. Consol. 6 p• c. St. Do. Consol. Bristol & Birm. 6 per cent Do. Pref. 4? per cent Norfolk Extension Do. Guar. N , per ct Do. Way. Val. 5 p c North British North Staffordshire Oxford Worcester di, Wolverh. 215,6 p. c. all all all 100 all 100 Do Shrews& Birm. N. G Shrewsby. & Chester (Nor.W.Min),B p. c. Do. 5 per cent.. South Devon Do. New 10 all all. S. Eastern (Reading Ann.,) of £1 Os. 6d. S. Yo rksh.4p. c. Guar. Waterfd. &Kilk.6p. c. York Newcastle and Berwick, 4 p. c. Pref Do York& N. Midland H & S. Punch ,06 - 1081 1165 - 10' 19 - 20 3 3 1 1i - 2 1)1 -1) 144 - 15 18 -. 19 3 - 3. ••• ••• 126 - 128 114 9 - 7/xi 106 - 108 lar- 50 - 152 3i - 4 PI 10 - 10. 131 - 13 9 10 11t 111 a B P -I~,n~ 147 -- 149 * P 224 -- 23 5i - Gi 2 -- 21 107 -- 109 25i -- "ii 11 pl 11 - nil 17 17 lip 16 17 par P 26 2 6 19 20 id P 102 - 104 5i - 5i a pi FOR: Antworp&Rotterdain BelgianEastn. Junct. Charleroi & Erquelin. Dijon and Besanon Dutch Rhc•iish East Indian Do. Extension .... Gt. Indian Peninsula Gd. Junct. of Fraace Gt. Western of Canada Shares.. ..... Lucca & Pistoja sp.c, pref 'Luxembourg.. :: Do. (Railway).. Do. (Canal).. Do. 6 p. et. pref , Lyons & Mediterran, Madras. Namur & Liege (w%lll interest) Do. (ex interest) Northern of France Do. 201. 3 p. c. Bds , (any. B. &Ams. Shs.) NorwegianTrunkPref Paris and Lyons Paris and Orleans Paris and Rouen Paris and Strasbourg ParisCaen &Cherbrg. Quebec &Richmond Rouen and Havre Sambre and Meuse Do. 51 p. ct. pref Southern of France Upper Irdia Scrip West Flanders .. Do. 51 per c. Pref.... Western of France... West. of Switzerland, Zea1and........ ••• ••• •••' 15 10 2 3 2 7 4i all 151 501 IGN. 1 -- l2dis 13 i3i par 1 p 21 -14. dis 6 6t; P lf —2 4 p p p A dis— 1 P 6 i -- --71 xin 4 4 11 -- 11 -1, fd 7 -- 9 2 --2 ! p -- 8 84 -- 7 31-3! 14 -1! 8 -- 9 15 -- 14Ip 39 40 39 -- 40 311 -31 i 3i -- 4lp par -- 4 P 19 -19 i 9 -- 91 2 _ _ _ P 4 - 5 - id 8 p 8 d :1• 140 8 xA 4 Y in 41 x in 341 i i 258 i 314 i a a 1691 psi 17/ 18; 10 25 10 1.0.6 20 20 20 20 10 20 10 20 5 6 1 1 7 i i 161 2fi 10/ I x in