The Sun.
London, England, 1864-09-24 00:00:00

me that it is not far from the mark. I need hardly
say that by far the largest portion of those who
perish fall victims to disease. Think of the
immensity of this war; of the numberless bodies of
men scattered in unhealthy garrisons over the vast
area of Secessia, and some conception of the waste
of human life (sacrificed to the Moloch of this war
no lees than if cut short by the bullet) may be
formed. As an item I may mention that the
deaths among the Yankee prisoners now held in the
South average 150 per diem. The deaths of Con-
federates held captive in the North must be on
something of the same scale, though possibly rather
less numerous, as the Northern climate is healthier
in summer. Here we have 300 deaths (or there•
abouts) occurring every 24 hours among the prisoners
alone. It is not muoh of a stretch to conceive that
each day's fighting, when there are six large armies
in the field (to wit, Lee's and Grant's, Hood's and
Sherman's, Early's and Sheridan's), not to mention
countless desultory bodies of combatants, adds 700
men to the list of perishing victims. The 'picture
of this fair American continent, which four years
ago any man to whom human happiness and pros.
perity are dear might have delighted to contemplate,
is one from which an Apollyon would at this moment
recoil with shuddering. What pen is there to write,
what eye to witness the unnumbered ghastly deeds
of horror which somewhere or other in the vast and
voiceless solitudes of Dixie the sun daily looks
down upon ? May it be granted to this continent,
now wasted with misery, to learn the lessons which
adversity teaches, both to nations and individuals,
and of which the choicest is humility ? Would that
1 could see indications that this war is teaching
either section the lessons, or is likely to be produc-
tive of the qualities, without which, in the opinion
of all impartial and not unfriendly spectators, it is
impossible for an American community, whether
composed of the Northern or of the Southern States,
or of both together, ever to attain to the dignity of
a great and honoured nation !

National Association for the Promotion of

Social Science.

YORK, FRIDAY.
The Association resumed its proceedings this
morning, with an aggregate attendance of between

900 and 1,000 members. The first business was the
delivery of an address by Sir J. P. Wilde, Judge

of the Probate and Divorce Court, and chairman of
the Jurisprudence Department of the Congress, on

the subject of law reform. This address, though

intended to be introductory to the sittings of the

section on jurisprudence, was delivered at a general
meeting of all the members, held in the Festival
Concert-room. Lord Brougham presided, and was
loudly cheered on entering the hall. On the plat.

form were the Arcl-,biehop of York, Sir J. P. Wilde,
Sir J. Pakington, M.P., Sir S. Northcote, M,P.,

Lord R. Montagu, M.P,, Miss Parkes, Mr A. J
Stephens, Q.C., Mr H. Roberts, F.S.A., Mr. G

IL Palmer, Mr Edwin Chadwick, the Rev. Canon

Melville, Mr Godfrey Sandwith, the Hon. D.
Campbell, Mr R. Baker (inspector of factories),
Robert M. Ferguson, Ph.D., Dr Lankester, F.R.S.,
Dr Waddilove, Sir C. Hastings, the Lord Mayor of
York, &c. Many ladies were also present, and
listened to the diEcourse, dry and uninviting as its

subject might seem to their sex, with much apps•

rent interest.

Mr. JAMES WILDE said—The 7th of February,
1828, was a memorable day in the annals of law

reform. Then it was that ths greatest orator of his

age delivered his celebrated oration in the House
of Commons, and laid open the sweeping changes
which our law required. From that moment an

impulse was given which has not ceased to be fe.

Interest was aroused, indignation excited for the
errors of the past, and a basis laid on which to build
fair hopes of the future. Since that time the pros
gress of law reform has been unceasing, though

gradual—and now, after 36 years, after the destruc

Lion of a host of anomalies and the removal of bar

riers and obstructions, such as set justice at defiance,
we find ourselves still engaged in the same work,
and, singularly enough, under the guidance of the
same hand. No one can rise from the perusal of
that remarkable speech, and a contrast with the
reforms actually since effected, without marvelling
at the success with which the defects and weak
points of our judicial system were hit upon and
exposed. And it is not too much to say that nine-
tenths of the precise evils there indicated have been
successfully met by the precise remedies there pro-
posed. A glance at the subjects dealt with will serve
to show us both the benefits that we have reaped
and the evils from which we have escaped. It will
further serve to stimulate us to successful labour
in the same field. Having glanced rapidly at the
principal changes recently effected, Sir James pro-
ceeded wish to draw attention to the fact that
the whole of these changes have been confined to
the procedure of the courts and the method of ap-
plying the law, not to the body of the law itself.
It is the double function of procedure to precede
and follow legal adjudication, first ascertaining the
facts in dispute, and then carrying into execution
the decrees of the law upon them. It is, therefore,
properly the machinery of the law. Now in 1828
the avenues to justice were so choked with artificial
obstacles that approach was pratically denied. Ex-
pense, delay, uncertainty—these three monster evils
barred the access of the suitor, or terrified
him into submission. The clearing of these
obstacles
• while it has opened the way to
the speedy and certain administration of the
law for the suitor, has brought the law reformer
face to face with the body of the law itself. The
question, then, forces itself upon us—ls the law
itself free from defects of a similar character to those
which have disfigured its procedure ? Can we boast
of a judicature so logical, so free from entanglement
and inconsistency, so clear and uniform, so harmoni-
ous and well balanced, as to be worthy of our social
progress and equal to the mixed and multiplied wants
of our age ? Law means justice administered accord-
ing to method. And in this justice should be para-
mount, and method subordinate. Good laws will
work occasional hardships, for they should be un-
bending ; but if well administered, never injustice.
for their principle should be unerring. Every legal
system must impose some forms upon the business
transactions of life, but they should be as few as
possible, lent from guides and supports they pass
into fetters and trammels. The law should also be
clear ; because simple in its principle though diffuse
in details, and compact in form because well collated,
though compendious in grasp. How far can we
conscientiously say that the common law of this
country fulfils these ends? To what extent can it
lay claim to simplicity, certainty, clearness, and
unerring justice ?,.Above all, what can we say of its
compactness whose principles wander at large
through the pages of 300 volumes, and the leaves of
whose oracles lie as they first fell, scattered and
unsown ? When we reflect on the Watt)! y and growth
of our laws we have no need to be surprised or
ashamed. The marvel is that they contain so much
worthy of admiration and homage. If they do not
meet all our modern wants, to bow many of them
have they been gradually and insensibly adapted ?
Is it to be wondered at if laws which sufficed in the
time of the Plantagenets fall short in the present
age ? Bear in mind that the laws of this country
have suffered no general revision from time imme-
morial. As the middle classes forced their way, as
the wealth of land found itself emulated, if not sur-
passed, by the wealth of trade, as civilisation bore
its universal fruit of complicated relations in life, the
laws regulating these relations ought to have felt
an equal progress. Provision should have been made
by the Legislature for new requirements, and
the obsolete constantly thrust out. But was this over done ?
Did the change of our social condition at any period of our
history carry with it a now system of laws framed by the
Legislature for the now matter with which it had to deal ?
Was a fresh chapter from time to time added to our code to
keep pace with the fresh chapters of history ? Far from it.
With the exception of the Statute of Frauds, the Statute of
Limitations, and a few Acts (-greeted to very limited objects,
the L,gislature has laid no hand on the body of the common
law. What wonder, then, that after the lapse of centuries
legal procedure should have been found incompetent to the
swift movements and varied terms of a community whose
time had become wealth, And, in like manner, who would
reasonably expect that laws which, originally highly artifi-
cial, were adapted to the time when nearly property con-
sisted in land should be unfit to pursue the complications of
personal property and the intricate folds of trade ? The
gradual development which has turned a handful of mili-
tary adventurers and a population of serfs jut° the wealthiest