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

or protected. He wished to consider with himself in

what position these courts stood, and whether he ought
in any way to interfere with them by attempted legisla-
tion. He would not weary their lordships by going
back into what the state of these courts was in bygone
times. He would only remind them that a very general
feeling existed a few years since that the mode of admi-
nistering justice in the common law courts was more than
faulty by reason of its technicalities, fictions, and other
impediments. With the view of remedying these evils,
Lord Cottenham, only a few weeks before he resigned the
great seal, issued a commission to inquire into the practice
and pleading of the courts of common law, the number of
suits, the practice in judges' chambers, &c. That com-
mission was directed to several very eminent lawyers,
Mr. Baron Martin,the then Attorney-General, and others
of high standing in their profession ; and was impossi-
ble to do justice to the labours those gentlemen had
undertaken and undergone. They had looked through
the whole proceedings, beginning at the beginning of
the suit, tracing it from the first plaint of the party ag-
grieved, and carrying it through to the final termination
of the suit, and the mode of enforcing judgment, where
it was obtained, against the defendant. They made
their report on the 30th of June, 1851 ; but it was close
to the end of the session, so that nothing could then be
done. His noble friend then on the woolsack, with a
persevering zeal which all who knew him were very
well aware of as one of his characteristics, devoted him-
self during the long vacation to the consideration and
the framing itnhge
omm
orfeeabileda
l,ntn
applyingios the information and
adopting of
f the commissioners.
That bill was introduced in 1852, and shortly afterwards
occurred a change in the Government, which, however,
he was glad to say, bad in no way affected that bill.
Lord Lyndhurst, the Lord Chief Justice, he (the Lord
Chancellor), and several others, went through it clause
by clause, in order to make it as complete and as cor-
rect as they possibly could. Ultimately it passed their
lordships house, passed the other house, and on the 30th
of June last received the royal assent. That, then, was
the state in which he found the common law. A bill
introduced in the mode and under the circumstances he
had mentioned received the royal assent and became
the leading principle in those courts, on and from the
first day of last Michaelmas term. It had been often
supposed that practitioners and judges had a prejudice
against any change or innovation in the law. lie would
not stop to consider whether that notion had or had not
any reasonable foundation, but he would have it remem-
bered, and all the more by those who held this opinion,
that there was in the present case. the most ample testi-
mony existing to the merits of thi.s. measure, not only
own
to do any-
from judges, but from those practising before them, and
that, having conversed with both, he foundht bhnituetemienoidnnaedtorseast
uni-
versal expression of satisfaction at the change which had
taken place. It was on all hands admitted to be most
so
brgee c impropero
mighti n t hhfeoa rsvhehai; e of reform.
the opinion he
any-
thing beneficial,sifnyghaimsthaty aetn diint thatwtho
aubtleddi
posi-
tionßu no
rt in
yo thattonerplldoetnrhe
ir
lordships h e
generalities, i g
ahtnt.hdentgohrtaotul let
ed his;rounds
oigf
had formed, he had been with some of the commissioners
through several matters of detail illustrative of the actual
working of the present law. He referred to the aboli-
tion of judges' orders, which, though their. expense was
trifling, yet involved the
.attorneys ob. taming the rule,
"Do your best and your worst,"
serving it, or proceeding upon. it ; and to the
decrease of actions for debt in which the de-
fendant had, in fact, no defence, but used under the
ando ld
to
party who. was abroad ; there was no
syalsltoewin say,
then to sue bun, obtain judg-
ment, and get his money as he could. Under the old
law, also, there had been very great difficulty in pro-
ceeding
coun-
try. Since the act had been in operation—since Novem-
ber—there had been 114 writs issued
.against parties
abroad. That was another way in which it might be
shown to work very satisfactorily. And there was still
another. When he reminded their lordships that on the
mode of against serving
introduction of every new law there must be unforeseen
questions arising, he might state 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
front the 25th of October to the 25th of January,
1852-3, to upwards of 23,000, which was an increase of
rather more than 20 per cent. That then, he had to tell
their lordships, was the state of things he found, and if
nothing else could have deterred him from attempted
legislation in this particular direction at present, he
thought that the fear of too soon interfering with a new
system so universally approved might have done so.
However, he was still more fortified in his feelings and
opinion on this point by the consideration that the com-
missioners had still to make further suggestions and to
recommend further most important proceedings. He
had, indeed, been informed that their report would have
been ready before this time; such did not appear to be
the case, but he expected it now almost daily, and in it
they would find those questions dealt with. Their lord-
ships had heard, also, a great deal on the subject of
fusion of law and equity. When the proper time ar-
rived, he should be prepared to express his opinion on
that point. Meanwhile, he might say 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, bad been eminently successful
in the county courts. He believed it had been very suc-
cessful there, and a question had been raised whether
the same system might not be usefully tried in the su-
perior courts. Unquestionably, if injustice were done
by the present system, no consideration collateral to
that ought to be allowed to interfere with its immediate
abolition. (Hear.) But in considering such questions
as these, he thought their lordships ought not to keep
out of sight the fact that, in altering arrangements of
this sort, they would be taking a step towards disabling
persons from assisting in the administration of justice
who nevertheless were called upon by the constitution to
send members to the other house of Parliament, as well
as to perform municipal functions, and act as guardians
of the poor, and he must confess he thought it might be
dangerous to withdraw these persons from any participa-
tion in the administration of justice. He did not say
that he had conclusively made up his mind on the
subject, but he considered it was a question of very
great delicacy and doubt. His noble and learned friend
opposite (Lord Campbell), who had seen so much of
juries in assize towns, would, he was sure, bear him
out in saying that he had never known a jury leave an
assize town who were not a much more intelligent set
of men than they were when they entered it. He had a
very high opinion of the advantages derived from me-
chanics' institutions, but he doubted if there was any
school which taught such lessons of practical wisdom,
and enlarged the mind so much as the act of assisting as
a juror in the administration of justice. He had now
stated the views which he took with regard to what
ought to be done with respect to the common law courts,
and for the reasons which be had explained at length he
thought he should not be justified in making any altera-
tions there. He would now take a similar course with
respect to the Court of Chancery. There also a commis-
sion was issued. In 1859 a commission issued to inquire
into the process, I)ractice, and pleading of the Court of
Chancery, and the manner of conducting suits therein,
and so forth. The commissioners, when originally ap-
pointed, were exclusively professional men, but in the
course of the next session two hon. members of the other
house of Parliament, not connected with the profession
of the law, were added to that commission, in orler that
the report might not assume too professional a character.
The commissioners made their report on the 7th of January
last year. Upon that a bill was introduced by the then Soli-
citor-General, before any change in the Government, for
the purpose of carrying into execution a portion of the re-
commendations of the commissioners, and when a change
of Government took place, his noble and learned friend,
his (the Lord Chancellor's) immediate predecessors,
framed out of that report two bills, one of which was the
Masters in Chancery Abolition Bill, and the other the
Equity Improvement Bill. Now he (the Lord Chancel-
lor) could not but feel that, as far as the policy of these
changes went, the merit of them was attributable to his
noble and learned friend whom he saw opposite (Lord
Truro). His noble and learned friend issued that com-
mission, and then his noble and learned friend near him
(Lord St. Leonards), with a zeal and vigour which,
though he said so in his presence, he must say that no
one else could have displayed, took up and carried into
effect the recommendations which that commission made.
The bills which his noble and learned friend (Lord St.
Leonards) introduced were necessarily prepared in
more of a hurry than was the case with the bill prepared
to carry out the recommendations of the common

law commissioners ; but, nevertheless, he was not
aware that any material errors had crept in. With re-
gard to the working of the alterations in the Court of
Chancery, it must not be expected that the good result-
ing from these changes could be so apparent at once
as it was in the courts of common law, because
the proceedings of those courts were more rapid
in their nature, and might be begun, continued, and
ended in two or three months. But with respect to
most of the causes which came before a court of equity
the case was very different, and some time must elapse
before the beneficial effect of the late alterations could be
generally felt and acknowledged. So far, however, as he
could collect from his own observation, and from what
had reached his ears, these changes were now working
admirabiy well. He had stated to their lordships the
difference in costs under the old system and the modern
system in proceedings at common law, and in order to
show how the late changes had operated in the equity
courts, he would take the case of an uncontested suit,
where, a person having died, and a legatee under his will
being desirous of receiving his legacy, the executor as-
sented to make the payment if he could be assured by an
order of the court that no one else was entitled to it.
Under these circumstances an order was made 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 an-

eery, and with the knowledge that he possessed that
the commissioners were proceeding to make further re-
ports, he thought it would unpardonable in him if he
were to propose any further legislation on the subject at
present, even if he had time to mature any measures,
which was not the case. Their lordships would recol-
lect that he had held the seals not quite seven weeks,
during four weeks of which time he had been sitting in
court every day till four or five o'clock. He might
here mention that, with regard to the measure passed
for appointing Lords Justices of Appeal, the result had
been that there had been no arrears for some time ; and
therefore the general result had been most satisfactory.
Upon the whole, therefore, he had come to the conclu-
sion that any attempt which he might make in the way
of law reform ought not to interfere with the pre-
sent course of proceedings in the courts of law and
equity. He had received, indeed, numerous letters,
calling upon him to introduce some comprehensive mea-
sure for the fusion, as it was called, of law and equity, but
he must say if such a measure were introduced, it must
be introduced by some one who had held the great
seal for more than seven weeks, and who had enjoyed
better opportunities of forming an opinion on such a
subject than he (the Lord Chancellor) could pretend to
in the course of his short experience of office. In the
report of the Chancery commissioners they had alluded
to a state of things which he, concurring with his noble
and learned friend, who had been his immediate prede-
cessor, thought very discreditable to this country, and
that was, the state of its testamentary jurisdiction. The
commissioners made no suggestion on the subject in
their report, but it was plain that they did not differ
from the views expressed on this subject by the report
of the ecclesiastical commission in 1832. That commis-
sion was issued by Lord Lyndhurst, and it was directed
to very high functionaries, and to some of the most
learned persons of the day. The commission included
Archbishop Howley, the present Bishop of London, the
Bishop of Durham, Dr. Van Mildert, and three other
bishops, Lord Tenterden, Lord Wynford, Sir John
Nicholl, Sir Christopher Robinson, Sir H. Jenner Fust,
Dr. Lushington, and others—names which, so far as
names could carry weight with them, were perfectly
overwhelming. Now, what were the conclusions at
which the Ecclesiastical commissioners arrived ? They
expressed their opinion that the same solemnities
should be required to render valid the disposition
of personal as of real estate, and this portion of their
recommendations had since been carried into ef-
fect. Further than that, they recommend that
the validity of every description of will should be
tried in one and the same court, and that probate
of the will, when once granted, should be final and con-
clusive evidence in all courts of its authenticity. They
recommended also, that the validity of a will should be
tried in all cases by viva voce evidence. Substantially,
therefore, they recommended that all wills of real and
personal estate should be subjected to the same rule of
authentication, and that one court of probate should
decide on the validity of the instrument propounded as
the will of a deceased person. To that recommendation
he entirely assented, and though he would not pledge
himself that he would have introduced a measure to
carry it out at once if he had been prepared with one,
he yet would say that he would have done his best to
have such a measure prepared as would not shock the
interests of many very meritorious persons to whom vast
injury might otherwise be done. His opinion was that
in making a change of this kind they must not do injus-
. tice to a very large class of persons who had devoted all
their lives to this subject. But there was another rea-
son which, even if he had been prepared with a mea-
• sure, would have prevented his introducing it now. His
• noble and learned friend had issued a new commission to
the Chancery commissioners, directing them to inquire
into this very subject. In November last, a very short
time before his noble and learned friend quitted office,
he issued a commission to inquire into the constitution
of the Ecclesiastical courts. He had no doubt that his
noble and learned friend had done that thinking that it
would contribute to the object which they all had in
, view. It would hardly fit, therefore, that lie (the Lord

Chancellor) should come forward with a measure on the
subject while it was under inquiry. He wished, how-
ever, to guard himself against the supposition that if the
commission lately appointed should recommend some-
thing different, and should not go so far as the commis-
sion of 1832, he should feel bound to comply with their
recommendations. There was one other reason why he
did not propose immediate legislation on this subject.
Three or four years ago a commission was issued to in-
quire into the state of the law relative to marriage, and
another commission was appointed last year to inquire
into the law of divorce. Now, on the subject of divorce
he must confess he had an opinion so distinctly
formed that no report could shake him from it.
Every divorce a vinculo matrimonii was called pri-
vilegium—a private law ; and yet the state of the
law in this country was such, that if certain facts
were once established a man was entitled to a divorce
and if so, surely there ought to exist the most perfect
machinery to deal with cases of this kind that any tri-
bunal could invent. Could anything be more discredit.
able than that parties should be obliged to come to Parlia-
ment and ask for that redress which ought to be given
judicially. (Hear, hear.) Having now stated at length
to their lordships what he was not going to do, it might
perhaps be thought that he was not acting a very worthy
part if he had risen merely to say that he was not going
to do anything. He would not, however, have flinched
from saying so if he really had nothing to propose, for
he would have incurred the risk of that observation if he
could not in his conscience have safely and honestly pro-
posed any measure. (Hear, hear.) But he found what
he thought a most beneficial measure ready made to his
hands. Of all the subjects, next to the reform of the
courts, on which he had communications addressed to
him since he had held the Great Seal, none had been so
much insisted upon as the necessity of facilitating the
transfer of land, and he had been called upon to see what
could be done in order to carry into effect the views of
these parties. Most of these views were founded upon
an entire misunderstanding and misapprehension of the
subject. It was supposed that the transfer of land might
be made just as easy as the transfer of stock. One objec-
tion to this theory lay upon the surface. One sum ofl,ooo/.
stock was just like another 1,0001. stock ; but every acre
was different from another acre, and therefore there must
exist the means of identification. That was one diffi-
culty. Another difficulty was presented by the social
and political condition of the country. He found that
when people who talked about simplifying the transfer
of land were pressed very hard, they meant that there
should be no ownership of land except in fee simple. In
the state of New York land could only be held in fee for
life or on lease for twelve years. In this country the
difficulty of making a transfer of land consisted, not in
the conveyance, but in the title of the party who wanted
to transfer. Once admit a complication of interests, such
as mortgages, settlements, jointures, 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 believed was the
root of all the difficulties with respect to the transfer of
land. As it was no legal reform, therefore, but social and
political reform that was wanted by these gentlemen, he
must deal with the law as he found it. There were two
modes by which the transfer of land might be mate less
expensive than at present. One source ofexpense arose from
the length and complication of aconveyance, anotherfrom
the difficulty of investigating titles. With respect to
the conveyance there was no difficulty. It might be
made on a slip of parchment no larger than the palm of
a man's hand ; and the reason why a deed was so long
was, that the parties wished to have an explanation of
the transaction. If that were so, the question arose,
whether any mode 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 no
immediate benefit. He had seen a very elaborate and
ingenuous scheme prepared by Mr. Wilson ; but if Mr,
Wilson would yield him one little point, he would make
his (the Lord Chancellor's) plan just as easy as the plan
proposed by that gentleman. He began by saying that
in 10 years all rights but those of possession should be
barred, and having thus obtained a perfect title to the
land, he proposed that there should be a certificate of
ownership given ; but it was essential to his plan that
there should be a very large plan of the property. Well,
John Jones,having obtained a certificate of absolute own-
ership, wished afterwards it might be supposed to mortgage
the land, and when he came to the registrar his certificate
of absolute ownership was cancelled, and two certifi-
cates of qualified ownership were given, one to John
Jones, the mortgagor, and the other to the mortgagee.
Then, when John Jones paid off the mortgage, the two
certificates were to be again cancelled, and a certificate
of absolute ownership was again issued. Now it seemed
to him to a very unimportant matter, when there was
once a perfect title made out, and a complete system of
registration established, whether there should be a sys-
tem of certificates or a search with the registrar. The
absolute ownership once established, nothing could affect
the title but subsequent incumbrances, and these must
be registered to be valid. What he (the Lord Chan-
cellor) proposed was, that nothing should affect the title
except that which appeared in the original entry. If
that was not allowed, the whole benefit of registration
would be lost. He should not go further into the sub-
ject now, but defer entering into all the details un-
til the bill was in their lordships' hands. The bill would
be printed in a day or two, and he should then name an
early day for the second reading. There bad been one other
subject under his consideration, at which he should only
glance, because lie confessed it was not in such a state
that he could, satisfactorily to himself, give the actual de-
tails of the precise provisions of the measure—he al-
luded to a bill for the better regulation of charities. A bill
for that purpose was introduced by his noble and learned
friend, and, like the Registration Bill, passed that 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 had, by recent legis-
lation, been abolished. He had been in communication
with his noble friend the Secretary of State for Foreign
Affairs and he had in 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 the present moment
be prepared with any more mature measures for legis-
lation. But though he was not prepared, with any mea-
sure, properly speaking of legislation, he had in some
degree, though in a slight degree, 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-
written and written. To suppose that they ry
knew anything like all these statutes was absurd.
eall
No human mind could master themw;as and what
was the consequence ? Knowledge
impossi-
ble, and ignorance, therefore, ceased to be a disgrace.
(hear.) Nothing could more forciblypoint the necessity
of dealing with this subject. Projects
for the purpose
had prevailed from the earliest times. He would not
weary their lordships by the question what was done in
the reigns of Edward VI., o f Elizabeth, of James 1., and
during the Commonwealth. It formed. a subject of con-
sideration at all those periods, and and occupied the attention
of men such as Sir Nicholaßacon, Lord Bacon, and
Whitelock. 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
„ay, the best method of rendering the style of our fu-
ture statutes more correct, concise, and uniform in
their forms of expression, and at the same time
more perspicuous in the arrangement of their enact-
ments and provisions, with a statement of such
practical rules as appear to be most effectual for
this purpose." Ten years elapsed, and in 1816
their lordships came to a resolution declaring the
expediency in their opinion of arranging the enactments
in the Statute Book under separate and distinct heads,
and that a person learned in the law should be appointed
for this purpose, with a number of clerks under him, not
exceeding 20, which, being communicated to the House
of Commons, the following resolution was adopted by
that house :—"That this house doth agree with the
Lords in the said resolution so amended ; and that, from
the present state of the statute law of this realm, it
expedient that effectual measures shall be taken to
arrange
the matters contained in the statutes of the
"hilted Xingdont of Great Britain and yelaud, and U

the statutes passed in the separate Parliaments of Eng-
land, Scotland, and Ireland respectively, under distinct
and proper heads." An address was thereupon made to
the Crown, and the Prince Regent gave answer to give
directions accordingly. Like all previous schemes, frons
Edward VI. down to 1816, this was never carried into
effect. On certain subjects consolidation did take place,
such as with regard to the slave trade, the excise,
the customs, and some criminal law statutes.
Some little approach was made to the desire of
Parliament on the 23d July, 1833. Lord Brougham, who
was then Lord Chancellor, issued a commission, which
had now resulted in the criminal law reports. The
Commons were directed to inquire into the best mode of
completing a digest of the statutes relative to crime, and
how far it was expedient to consolidate other parts of the
statute law. In 1835 they presented their report as to
the one consolidation of the statute law, but the criminal
law being the primary object, their recommendations on.
that head did not receive that respect or attention which
he was disposed to think they deserved. They made
many useful suggestions. They said there were three
courses by which consolidation of the statutes might be
effected ; the first was of limited application, being a
mere reduction of the existing statutes by expurgation,
or striking out those which were no longer binding ; the
secosd, by classification and consolidation : and the third,
which was still more extensive, by such alteration as
would make the apparent import of the statutes, when
classified and consolidated, correspond with their legal
effect. Nothing was, however, done in that report.
He believed the next year there was a committee of the
House of Commons on the subject, but that led to no
result. Their lordships directed, in 1845, an index of
the statutes, from the time of the Union with Ireland to
be made, under the direction of the Library Committee
of the House of Lords, and that index was made. That
was the state in which the subject now stood. That it
was a state of things in which it was eminently desirable
to make the change no one disputed. But the real ques-
tion was, how far was it within the range of possibility
—how far could it be done ? He confessed that he at
one time thought it was an impossibility, and that they
must go on in the old course and make the best of it.
Within two or three days of receiving the great seal, on.
conversing with the Solicitor-General, that gentleman
suggested that it was not quite so impossible as at the
first blush might appear. After a little conversation,
the Solicitor-General pointed out this fact : there woe
a book published by Mr. Chitty, containing all the ,
most useful statutes, and to be found in four moderate-
sized octavo volumes—his (the Lord Chancellor's) copy
was bound up in two thick volumes. This was a work
which the judges took with them all over the circuit.
He did not say it never failed, but nineteen times out of
twenty all they wanted to read was matter of selection
in those volumes. The book was not made to help judges
on circuit, but to help generally all interested in the subs
ject of the law. This led him (the Lord Chancellor) to
reflect, perhaps with somewhat too great zeal, on the
subject, and he was convinced that not only was it not
impossible, but that the difficulties were infinitely less
than on the first blush they seemed to be. Their lordships
would very properly distrust him, but he would state
shortly the reasons which led him to that conclusion.
They would recollect that from the time of Edward I. to
the end of the reign of Queen Anne the number of sta-
tutes was 3,256. The commissioners appointed by Lord
Brougham required to know the exact quantity of statutes
passed, and how many remained in force, because, in con-
solidating the statute law, they would practically only have
to deal with those which were in operation. On that sub-
ject the report of 1835 was very elaborate. The commis-
sioners stated that of those 3,256 statutes passed in the
period between the Ist Edward I. and the end of the reign
of Queen Anne, 1,814 were repealed, expired, or obsolete,
and 524 were local, personal, and private, leaving 918,
and of that number 216 were partially repealed. Taking
those partially repealed as if half were wholly repealed,
there would be practically only about 800 statutes to
deal with, or one quarter of 3,256. Therefore if he
could be sure that all the remaining statutes stood in the
same position, it would at once reduce the 20,000 to
5,000. But he thought it not a fair nor an honest way
to assume that without good reason ; and with a view to
see how far the reduction applied to modern statutes he
took the 33d Geo. 111., 41st Geo. 111., and the 56th
Geo. 111., and he went through each statute one by one
to ascertain if it would have to be dealt with in consoli-
dating the statute law. He divided them into these
classes :—First of all, those absolutely repealed, and,
secondly, those which, though not repealed, would form
no subject of a statute book, as, for example, an act to
enable her Majesty to raise 2,800,0001. on Exchequer
Bills, the annual Indemnity and Mutiny Acts, and such
temporary acts as those for building a new street or
other purposes. On looking through the three years he
had mentioned in that way, he found of the 109 statutes
passed in the 41st Geo. 111., 77 had either expired or
become inoperative, and 18 were revenue statutes,
which must be dealt with entirely by themselves,
so that 109 lapsed to 20-89 were gone. In the
33d Geo. 111. the number was 127, of which 13 were
repealed, 21 were of a temporary character, 65 were
local and personal, and 14 were revenue acts—making
113 disposed of, and only leaving 14 to be dealt with.
In the 56th Geo. 111., 108 acts were passed, and only
24 remained to be dealt with. The result was that in
three years there were 378 statutes passed, and only 68
remained of permanent importance—really not one-fifth.
The conclusion that he wished their lordships to arrive
at was this, that if, from Edward 111. to Queen Anne
the number of statutes was reduced three-fourths, and
for the three years he had taken four-fifths, he was rather
over than understating the case when he said one-fourth
the gross number of statutes remained for the purpose of
consolidation. So that it was not a difficulty which they
ought to consider insuperable. .Dzycultatis patrocinia
pralexiinum segnitico. He believed if they applied in-
dustry to the subject it might be done. They would
naturally ask, how might it be done ? Nothing had re-
sulted from commissions of inquiry, or requests in for-
mer times that some learned person should do it. What
he proposed was, to take a very simple course. He
thought he should be able to induce Mr. Bellenden
Ker, one of the commissioners appointed in 1833, to
enter into it, and with his assistance and under his im-
immediate supervision he would retain two or three
gentlemen well schooled in the subject to devote their
whole time to it. There would be no inquiry how it
was best to be done. The course he should take was
this :—first, to complete that which was done up to the
end of the reign of Queen Anne, and to mark every
statute which was in force, so as to know exactly of
what the statute law did consist, distinguishing those of
a local or temporary nature. Then he proposed to direct
them,'not to grapple with the greatest difficulty, which
would be when they came to deal with existing subjects
of party warfare, but to classify all the law on different
subjects into a single statute for each subject, not
adopting the order or the language in which they found
those statutes, unless particularity of' language had led
to particularity of construction, when they should re-
port that to him, and he would endeavour to change the
language, so that any one might come to the same under-
standing of the statutes as was put on them by the courts.
If he were asked to state more details, he answered
with perfect frankness—the progress of the work
itself was likely to suggest innumerable modes of
carrying the plan into execution, much better than any
commission or any learned man could suggest. Th
whole thing had been done in the State of New York,
and anybody must see how very much easier it would
be to read the law expressed in short and intelligent lan-
guage, instead of with that lengthy verbosity which
characterised our present mode of legislation. He did
not merely mean that he should consolidate the law.
He believed incalculable advantages would spring from
a classification of it, so that, in future legislation, when
a statute was passed, instead of being designated, as,
say, the 114th chapter of such a year, it might
be
subject
under its proper head. For instance, take the
enactedalida
any
yn
onethat
referring subject
wouof ml
ad
ribnee
placed under
Anytha law
that
head,
there would see how the law stood before the act, and
what additions were made to it. This course was not
altogether without precedent in our own legislation,
because, about fifty or sixty years ago, it was directed
that local and personal acts should form separate
volumes. Why should not the principle be carried to
a greater extent ? He believed if the statutes were
classed under different heads—under class A and class
B, and so on—much of the statutes in force would become
unnecessary and mere waste paper. He could not but
think the incidental advantages would confer great bene-
fit on the country. With his mind steadily directed to
these gentlemen's work, he should from time to time
show how far he was in earnest, by reporting to their
lordships' house the progress they had made, and he ven-
tured to hope the time would come when the statutes
would assume a more intelligible form than that in which
they were now passed. He had now stated the course
he proposed with respect to legal reform. If their lord-
ships thought them was any shortcoming, or that he had
not been as vigilant and active as he ought, he could
only say he had done his best. It would be a most
scandalous thing to accept the splendour of the office he
had the honour of filling, if he felt incompetent to the
discharge of its duties. He certainly did feel every re-
spect for his noble and learned predecessor, who had
been a friend to him for more than thirty years, and as
to the mode in which his noble and learned friend
discharged the duties of the office he now held, he was
as ready as any one, to express his utmost approba-
tion---(hear, hear)—but, having said that, he was
sure their lordships would feel that he could do no
more—(hear, hear)—he would devote himself with all
his energy to a discharge of those duties, and
he hoped 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 he ashamed
b
hereafter. • (Hear.) Perhaps he magnified
thebehveed
conse-
quences of that which he undertook, he
That
that to be a wise fault. No great objectut
andw was ever
ac-
complished without something of romance
enthusi-
asm in the minds of those who engaged in it.
word "romance" might seem a little inapplicable
whichicabl h
etoa
digest of the statutes, but the consequencese
encouraged in the determination
peaThlede mweereuldbenotadvance
he could
anticipated would be of in?alculabtlee aeadvrraynteaugtetbHis He was
by the reflection that
enu-
meration of the
step without conferringtut esso ma
actually ua l benefit.ly r
and if it were possible to sim-
'something ; the consolidationsta of some of the statutes
would be advantageous,
plity and arrange themea,sgreneawthbyenthefiist would
might result. He
be, Hine
r
owned he saw no
some future time—distant, perhaps,—the foundation of
that which he had always looked upon as most desirable,
though he confessed he had always thought it an un-
attainable object. He did not see why at some future
day the Code Victoria might not put U 8 on the same
footing with a neighbouring country having that great
work which would immortalise its author long after his
defeats and successes had sunk into forgetfulness. He
trusted, sooner or later, all the good ho predicted might
be accomplished. " Quod si non contingat altius ta.mers
ibtla qul and otimma iutvutur quani qui prouropt4 do!