The Sun.
London, England, 1863-06-13 00:00:00

THE STATUTE LAWS.

The LORD CHANCELLOR, rose to call the atten-
tion of the house to the present state of the statute law in the
courts of law and equity, and for the 2urposo of introduc-
ing a bill for the revision of the statute law. The noble
and learned lord said ho proposed to do little if anything
more than revise the proposition of that great man, Lord
Bacon, which appeared in a production of his entitled "The
amendment of the laws of England," the wisdom and excel-
lency of which, although it had been admitted from age
to age, yet, from that singular inertia which characterized
English legislature nothing had been done. The object of
the measure would be to insure a greater certainty in legal
decisions that a case might be recorded according to the
statute rather than4by precedent. The noble lord, in assert-
ing the necessity for such a measure, quoted statements
made by Lord Eldon, Lord Ellenborough, and other learned
lords, in various cases that had come before them. Until
they could say that they had but one law and one rule of
procedure, they would not be in a condition to: approach
the formation of a code. The formation of the statute law
to regular form had been first proposed in the reign of Ed-
ward VI. Again the proposition was made in the reign of
Elizabeth. And in 1816 their lordships came to a resolu-
tion to arrange the statutes under distinct and proper heads,
but the resolution had fallen to the ground. The bill which
he held in his hand was the work of many years. It had been
prepared with :very limited means, which the Government
had thought fit to place at the disposal of the law officers of
the Crown. Two gentlemen only were allowed to assist the
law officers, and their salaries were so inadquate that they
were obliged to follow their profossion at the bar besides.
As to the revision of the reports, he hoped that a commis-
sion would be appointed for that important task, and that
the commissioners would compare and revise the decisions
as he had suggested. Ile had confidence in inaugurating
the measure which he now brought forward. Their lord-
ships had time for the great work, and he hoped they would
not allow it to fall, as they hal allowed their resolution of
of 1816 to remain as a reproach to them. His lordship con-
cluded by moving the first reading of the bill, and resumed
his seat amidst loud cries of (" Hear, hear.")
Lord BROUGHAM thought that their lordships were
deeply indebted to his noble and learned friend for the

place with reference to procuring a remission or mitiga-
tion of the sentence passed upon the Protestant prisoners,
Matamoros, Alhama, and Trigo, lately condemned in Spain
for reading the Bible. The hon. gentleman sai ttt at depu-
tations from this and other countries had gone to Madrid to
present memorials to the Queen of Spain, preying for a
commutation of the sentence passed up tl e prisoners ;
and the result, he was happy to announc was that the
sentence of imprisonment had been commuted to banish-
ment for the same period—it was generally supposed by the
deputation—as the original sentence of imprisonment, viz.,
seven years.
INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION BUILDING.
Lord R. CECIL asked the First Lord of the Treasury
whether he had been rightly understood to say that no plan
was in existence of the architectural alterations which it
was proposed to make in the International Exhibition
building ; and, if so, on what data the estimate of the cost
of those alterations had been framed.
Viscount PALMERSTON said that no plan had been
framed with regard to the conversion of the building ; but
it was intended to complete the front of the building, as it
now stood with stucco. (Laughter.) It was also intended
to convert the glass domes into brick domes. (Laughter.)
The plan was the building, and all that was proposed to be
done was to make such changes as would produce con-
formity between it and other buildings, by covering it ex-
ternally with stucco. (Laughter.)
CONVENTION WITH PARAGUAY.
In reply to Mr. OSBORNE,
Mr. LAYARD stated that there was no positive con-
vention, but an agreement had been signed by the repre-
sentative of the French Government and the Republic of
Paraguay, which was also endorsed en behalf of this coun-
try ; and there would be no objection to produce the papers,
THE OFFER TO MESSRS. KELK AND LUCAS.
In reply to Mr, CnAuFunD,
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said that
the offer of £BO,OOO to Messrs. Kelk and Lucas for the re-
movable portions of the Exhibition building was notin
writing, but was made in conversation by himself on the part
of the Government to the hon. baronet the member for Fins-
bury. The estimate referred to was made by Mr. Hunt, the
surveyor to the Office of Works, with great care; but, as
hon. members would readily understand, any such estimate
could only
be an approximation to the actual value of re-
movable materials which were liable to great fluctation. The
estimate of the contractors showed that £BO,OOO did not re-
present the value of the removable materials.
Mr, GREGORY asked whether it was not a fact that
the paper prepared by Mr. Hunt represented the value of
the removable materials at £30,000.
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQER said he was
not aware of that; but he thought that calculations and de-
tails of this kind would in no way assist the house in com-
ing to a decision. (Hear.)
MEDICAL DEPARTMENT OF THE INDIAN
ARMY.

In reply to Mr. M'EvoY,
Sir C. WOOD said he was not aware whether the amal-
gamation had been yet settled, and whether there would be
any objection on the part of the War-office to produce the
terms of the arrangement.
JESSIE MAC LACHLAN.
Mr. MURE asked the Secretary for the Home Depart-
ment whether he would have any objection to lay upon the
table a copy of the presiding judge's notes of the evidence at
the trial of Jessie Maclachlan.
Sir G. GREY replied that no judge's notes were ever
produced. The copy of the official report of the trial did
not contain the judge's notes, but the observations which
had been made.