The Sun.
London, England, 1837-10-16 00:00:00

increasing them. Thus at the opening of the Parlia-
went of 1593 we find Sir Jon` PUCKERING, lord-
keeper, addressing the Commons in the following
strain :—" Her Majesty hath farther willed me to
signify to you that the calling of this Parliament now •
is not for the making of any more new laws and statutes
—for there are already a sufficienr.iitiMbet, both of
ecclesiastical and temporal, and so may there. be, that
rather thatr,to burthenihe subjects With more, to their
grievance, it were fitting an abridgment were made of
those there are already. Wherefore it is her Ma-
jesty's pleasure that the time be not spent therein.
And whereas heretofore it bath been used that may
have delighted themselves -in long orations full of 'ver-
bosity and of vain ostentations more than in speakinng
of things of substance, the time that is precious should
not be therein spent." The same in substance we find
repeated by that consummate lawyer and excellent judge
lord-keeper EGERTON, in opening the Parliament of
1597. " The number of laws already made," ob-
served this great statesman, ", are very great ; some of
them are obsolete and worn out of use, others idle and
vain, serving to no purpose ; some again are too severe
for the offence, others too loose and slack for the faults
they are to punish, and many of them so full of difficul-
ties to be understood that they cause many and costly
c introversies. You arc therefore to enter into due
consideration of the said laws ; and where you find a
superfluity to pare and cut off, where defect to supply,
and where ambiguity to explain, that the laws be not
burthensome but profitable to the Commonwealth."
Unfortunately ELIZABETH has yet had no successor
equally intent on remedying this great grievance of the
British people, and which has increased so enormously
of lafe, that if no stop be put to it, a popular contempt
for the functions of legislation will super.,ede our pre-
sent respect for, and confidence in, the deliberative
wisdom of Parliament.

To remedy the evil here complained of, a Commis-
sion ought to be appointed for the revision of the
Statute Law, in order to exclude from the Statute-
book every Act, or section of an Act, which has either
grown obsolete, or been repealed by subsequent enact-
ments. We do not here mean the appointment of a
Commission for the perpetration of a gross job,, like
the Record Commission ; but the appointment of
some six or ten able, hard-working men, prepared to
devote themselves exclusively to this business. By
the successful termination of the labours of such a
Commission, and the printing of an authorized version
of the Statute Law, the people would he placed in a
position to judge of the ulterior steps to be taken for
the legislative amendment of the laws still in operation.
To prevent the growth of such abuses in future
Parliament ought to abolish the practice of passing
Bills to " amend and explain" laws already in opera-
tion. Where amendment or explanation is judged
cessare, let the rule be adopted of repealino the defte;
tive law altorether, arid embodyiug what is wished to
remain of it in the Act about to be proposed. In
other words—let there be an incorporation of the
amended law anti the necessary amendment. Timis
will do away with a {vorld of expensive litigation, as
it is impossible for any lawyer, whom the labours 01
any .S scion of Parliament has escape!}, to Ith'ec his
ba4.o-: a S'atwe under which he can prosecute with
4 eerta.mv of its having escape" the process of cxpla_
nation and amendment. Now the greatest curse of our
Statute Law is this very uncertainty.
The !age for Parish, County, Corporation,.load,
pile-, Canal, Britl2:e, and Company Legislation,
another great cause of this evil, -upon which some
check should he imposed. Men have got into the
habit of demanding fer'every ridiculous scheme and dis-
eovery Parlit.noent...ry vemtedint,rl. A
• ia,ent 0.4
"

tilt 60...1edge itf;erc,t.f.i iii t

afr.l4, 6. lidl stnugled through the douse to ixa!
the fortune of some avaricious adventurer, or retric

the affairs of some broken-down spendthrifc at the ex•
Dense of the rest of the community. \\lien the inis
chief is done, it is too late to complain, for nohod,
Will he at the expense of doing what everybody has al
equal interest in effee:inr:. Thus laws without num

her are passed, of the object of which the nation ne:'
titer bears nor undcritands a syllable, though too ofte
vitally affected by than. We shall 'cairn to this suh
ject on a future occasion.

Were rirour of understanding and soundness of princi-
ple to be inferred from the power of 'the dig-estive
organ,, the Tories would have a fair chance of ircin,:
considered intelligent men and good politicians. We
know no other way in which they can make out
claim to these attributes. Eating and drinking—
stullin:; and swilling—are now the order of the day
with them. It is one continued guzzle on some pre-
tence or other. We are far from finding fault wizli
them fur this. On the contrary, we arc glad of it ;
far it not often that they ate so harmlessly em-
ployed. Besides, there is some positive gor)drcultini:
from lirAtiable gulositv. vcrilas is a trite
saying, but not inure trite than true ; and as the
Tories observe as little moderation in their festivities a:s
they do in other thine, we are sometimes enabled to
get at those pots of theirs, which their habitual
hypocriy at other times prevents from being! easily
pent!trated. We say nothing of the ridiculous antics
which dome of their leading men play off, to
their no small regret, when the calm forenoon
hour of reflection arrives, or when they are
informed, by some good-natured friend, of those
escapades of which they are themselves totally obli-
vious. We have a pregnant example of this—and
where is the use of heaping up cases of the same dis-
gusting nature ?—in the behaviour of a Mr. JOHN
JuLiNsON, who is considered a tip-top man among the
North Derbyshire Tories, at a feed given last week to
Mr. GEORGE ARK:WRIGHT, the rejected of that
division of the County. It would be impossible to
give our readers a just idea of the speech delivered by
this gentleman on the occasion alluded to, without
affording them the opportunity of reading it—which
we shall probably do to-morrow-hut• that. it must
have been §ennething out of the common way may be
imagined, from the fact that the speaker called next
day at the office of the North Derbiphire Chronicle,
and requested that the editor of that paper would give
an cditio castrata of this oration of which he was
thoroughly ashamed, and for which he pleaded in ex-
tenuation the fact, that he was in too " glorious" a
state to know what he was about. The editor of
that excellent Journal, however, could not in honour
comply with the request, as he had given a pledge,
before he could be admitted to the exhibition,
that he would publish " a fair and impar-
tial report of the proceedings." " Alas !" says
the editor of the Derbyshire Chronicle, " we could
not concede such a favour even to glorious' JOHN
JOHNSON ; and we are therefore constrained to pub-
lish as pretty a specimen of vituperation and black •
guardism as ever graced the pages of the rankest Tory
print in Christendom. A man, whether he be drunk
or sober, should have sonic little command over his
tongue, and not suffer it to speak language in an
assembly composed of magistrates, clergymen, trades-
men, and 301. tenants, suitable only for the cock-pit
and the stews. We hope this unfortunate ebullition
will for the future be a warning even to 'glorious
JoIIN JoliNsoN."

Several other Tory exhibitions, of much the same
character as that at Chesterfield, took place last week.
We notice one at Norwich, where there was a congre-
gation of several hundred people to celebrate the
triumphs of intimidation and corruption in the counties

of Norfolk and SAOlk. There was another at Stroud-
to comfort the heart of Mr. Serjeant A D.Am s,,the con-
temptuously rejected of that borough--a very learned
gentleman, who, to judge from the great quantity of ill-
natureof which he disburdened himself in his speech,
feels peculiarly sore under bis.affhttion, atib must
stand in need of all the consolation. which. his friends

can give him.

, ,

The whole of the Paris journals of Friday and Sa-'
turday have been received. Of domestic intelligence
the most important in the journals is the fact an-
nounced in the following paragraph :
" A Central Committee is appointed in Paris to super-
intend elections. Its cnd is to unite in the action all the
shades of national opp2sition, and to obtain, by the combi-
nation of their efforts, an independent chamber. The Com 7.
mittce consists of Messrs. Dupont de l'Eure, Arago, Mau-
guin, Mathieu, Larabit, Laffitte, Ernest Girander, Clause],
Gamier Pages, Cormenin, Salverto, Thiers, all members of
the Chamber ; of Chatelain, editor of the Courier Fran-
cais ; Cauchois Lemaire, editor of the Minerva; L. Blanc,
editor of the BonSens ; Frederick Lacroii, editor of the
Monde ; Thomas, editor of the National ; Dubose, editor
of the Journal du Peuple ; Goudchou, banker ; Viadot,
Domes, N. Lemercier, Dr. Rostan ; F. Desportes, Marie
and Ledru Rollin, advocates ; Dupont Sarram, and David,
the sculptor." _
According to the Debars, the composition of this
Committee is a convincing evidence of the hypocrisy
of the dynastic• Opposition party . in professing to
have DO connection with the Ultra Republicans.
There is, however, one independent Republican, whom
this Ministerial organ cordially congratulates on his
firmness in standing aloof from a political association
with such pretended Liberals as Marshal CLAUSEL—
nameIy, ()DILLON BARROT. Neither does it believe
that the electors will submit to the dictation of a quasi
Republican Committee: The Journal de Paris is
still more violently opposed to the formation of the
Committee of Opposition, and professes to see only in
its proceedings an avowed hostility to the monarchy of
July, and the existing. institutions of France. The
Courrier Francais, on the contrary, defends the con-
duct of the Opposition, in organizing itself in a way
to make its influence felt by the Government. The
conflicting opinions in the Committee prove only that
Men of nearly every shade of opinion have disapproved
of the policy of past Administrations. Whenerer the
Opposition, in former Chambers, insisted on any ame-
lioration, it was urged tauntingly by Ministers, that
such Opposition knew not what it wanted—that its
intnibers entertained the most conflicting opinions
upon every subject—and' that, before it compla'ned
of the conduct of the Government, it was neces-
sary that it should agree upon some definite
line of conduct. The same Journal adds, that
the ground for such a taunt being removed, and
the fixed opinions. of the Committee of Opposition-1
being generally known, Ministers will not carry tniti=
eiii`etotis and oppressiVe measures "with so high a
; There is a great deal of good sense in the 4 re-
malks, and if the Members of the Committe4 do. not
split among themselves, we have no dotibt but that.
the result of its organization will be favourable to the
conservation of the popular liberties of France.
Thc following official communication from Spain
appears in the Monilcur

" Bayonne, Oct. 12, 7 A.M.
M A PRI D OCl'. 7.—The Ambassador of France to the
Mini,t,:r of Foreign Affairs.—The new Ministers of War
:Ind or Justice, not baring accepted, have been replaced
.by MAjor-General Ramonet and by M. -Matavi,ril, deputy.
Thus the Cabinet is definitely constituted. .There is no
thing new from the theatre of war. Madrid enjoys per-
lei t • tranquillity."
On the evening the 7th hist, General ORA A
in.arched from Saragossa at the head of his division to
attack Cantavieja. Shoull he'succeed, the power of
the Carlists on the Lower Ebro will be completely

Cwirri,r •trancoi.B 'ha.: the following from
fricA

" According to informaticu on which we can rely, the
troops landed at Tripoli from Turkey do not exceed
1.000 or 1,100 men, the major part of whoin are very
young, and belong to corps formed upon the newly
adopted system; but there also 100 or 120 cannoneers
;iom the forts in the Dardanelles. These soldiers were
encamped outside the town, but they may possibly have
been sent off to Constantine. Those known to have gone
before were sent by sea, and landed in some one of the
liates to the south of Tunis, whence they have reached
licfs. As to Tunisian subjects, Achmet Bey has increased
his bands with only a few of the Arabs from the adjoining
mountains, and a few Tnrki whom Mustapha Bey ha7l
not the toad sense to take into his service."
'..-Anncxed are extracts from the journals a—
, " Christino officer, named Gomez, commanded a small
flying column in the province of Lerida, and by his great
activity prevented the Carlists from rallying in that pro-
vince. A canon of Lerida, however, by means of a sum of
money, induced eight deserters to assassinate Gomez.
These wretches enlisted in his column, and some time
afterwaids brought his head to the canon, who had paid for
it beforehand ! It was reported that %urbane. had been
assassinated in the same manner, and that an individual
condemned to death at Estella had consented to redeem his
own life by the murder of the Christino chief, whose reso-
lution and activity had rendered signal service to the con-
stitutional cause. The condemned man enlisted in Zur-
bano's column, and is said to have murdered him on the.,
road to Lodosa, and to have escaped by mounting Zurbano's

horse.
" The Minister of the Interior has appointed a commis-
sion fo • the preservation of national monuments, under the
presidency of the Director of Historical Monuments, com-

. _
posed of the following members :—Baron Taylor, Count
Anatole dc Montesquieu, M. Octet, Counsellor of State,
M. Auguste Le Prevost, M. Caristie, Member of the Conn-
-61 of Civil Buildings, M. Felix Dubai), Architect of the
Ecole des Beaux Arts, and M. Prosper Merimee, Inspeef
tor of Historical Monuments, and Secretary to the Com-
mission.
The Augsburg Gazette gives a letter of the 6th instant.
from Frankfort•on-tbe-Maine, stating that the Senate had
rejected the bills and propositions of the Diet, and pro-
posed to enter a formal protest against the threat of ulti-
mately burdening the city with the expenses necessary for
keeping up the federal garrison. The contract granted by
the Grand Duke of Hesse for the railroad on the right
bank of the Maine had made a great impression on capi-
talists and the public in general. An easy and rapid com-
munication between Mentz and Frankfort on the right bank
of the Maine is expected to produce the happiest results
for the commercial prosperity of both cities, and to attract
crowds of strangers to the Rhine and the Maine during the
summer. It was also thought that the Grand Duke would
grant the contract for the railroad from Hanau to Frankfort

on condition of its being continueOrpra! Henan to ,Fatilda.
" We learn by a letter of the )64014, from Odessa,,that
the Emperor of Russia, with the Hereditary Grenti
the Grand Duke Michael, and ilie4rand Duchess Helena,
arrived in thalloyn in tbq might. of the 37th, baying been
preceded by theiEppress and the-Prand ,Duchess:Meria
Nikolajewna on the 15th. The Archduke John of-Austria,
Princess Albert and Augustus of Prussia, Duke Bernard
of Saxe Weimar and his son Prince William, the Duke de
Lcuctcnberg, Count Nesselrode, the Count de Fiquelmont,
Prince Wolkonski, and many other distinguished person-
ages 'nave also entered Odessa. The Empress and the
Grand Duke Duchess went to the theatre in the evening of
their arrival, and were received with the utmost enthusiasm.
The performance was the opera of Norma, by Bellini. From
the morning of the 16th the town has presunted one com-
plete succession of gaieties, and every evening has been
brilliantly illuminated.

" The people of Glaris held on the Ist inst. a general
/andsgenzeinde, at which a large concourse of citizens be-
longing to the cantons of St. Gall, Zurich, and the Grisons
attended.

" The Catholic clergymen of Glaris alone had thought
proper to abstain from coming forward to take the oath to

the Constitution—not, it would seem, from any objection
on their part to comply with that formality, but because
their Bishop required that in swearing thereto they should
except such articles as referred to religion arid ecclesiastical

laws. The Landamman, M. Schindler, in acquainting the
Assembly with this resolution of the Catholic clergy, pro-
duced letters written by the two Chaplains, Messrs. Stalin
and Tschudi, to the State Committee, in which they de-
clared, that although they considered religion and the rights
of the Catholic Church sufficiently guaranteed by the Con-
stitution, yet that they could not, to their great regret,
take the required oath, bound as they were by their obe-
dience to their superior. M. Schindler inferred 'row this
statement that the opposition of the clergy was the result
of an intrigue, and in noways a ease of conscience, and lie
accordingly proposed to address a new friendly appeal to
the Catholic priests, before any coercive measures should be
resorted to, adding, that should this frcah attempt at con-