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

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
eeSnhitaeeldts wihhas a
steamer,receivd
e
River, and sailed—Hecla, for Melbourne ; Dometia, Cape
odre
faGaogoedteHhoupue.andThbeewPsepnrietlotpreemof
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, has put in, having 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. 14.—The Lady of the Lake, of Inverness,
is on shore near North Berwick, much damaged ; 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, until it has flown 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 Attorney-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 characteristics, devoted him-
self during the long vacation to the consideration and
the a bill, applying the information and
adopting of the commissioners.
That bill was introduced in 1852, and shortly afterwards
framingthe 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 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 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 to the
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
another. When he reminded their lordships 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 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, .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 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
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 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 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. (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 objet-
tion to this theory lay upon the surface. One sum 0f1,0001.,
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 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 themw;aa andh
was the consequence ? Knowledge
(hear.) Nothing could more forciblyro. point
impossi-
ble, and ignorance, therefore, ceased tobethao
necessity
He would
pa 1.13
notose
of dealing with this subject.li P
had prevailed from the ear
Elizabeth, of James I. and
t ilimeeetss. forH
weary their lordships by theof esquestion what was done in
the reigns of Edward Ve It., .
periods, and occupied the attention
during the Collmthoonswo al h It formed a subject of
Nsoifdemrationnaot
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
way, 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
arrange the matters contained in thetaken to
ITAited liiogdom of Groat 33ritain and Ireland, a
statutesb.
aouf 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 passed, and only
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.designatehde
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
stinonot
a
ec7onursleegi
what
eathdedritiwonitshwouetre pmrteedentitin oTuhris
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 carried to
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
asdischargedready
y the duties of 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
edf
conse-
quences of that which he undertook, but he beevherevae.
enthusi-
asm to be a wise fault. No great object eras
ac-
complished pil i se h
theed without
minds
of
thosesomething
wh
eo f
engagedrom3e
word "romance" might seem a littleinapplicable di
te.
to a
anticipated would be of inFalcuelah 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
esomeoeu beneofitt. Th
enu-
meration of the statutes actually repealed would be
something
would be a vtalineonsohdation of some of the statutes
tar eous, and if it were possible to sim-
plify and arrange them, great benefit would result. He
owned he saw no reason why this might not be, in
some future time—distant,
d alwaysmte—distan t
lookedper, h auppsec - -at
sh 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 cll4 ad Nurama intentur quazu qui prenumptti de.

speratione quo velint evadendi protinus circa ima, sub-
-stiterint." (Hear, hear.) The noble lord moved they
first reading of the bill.
Lord ST. LEONARDS spoke so indistinctly at first that
n o perfect sentence reached the gallery. The noble lord
was indistinctly heard throughout. He was understood
to aay there had been no time, since the noble and learned
lord (the Lord Chancellor) had held the seals,
to prepare
any further measures of law reform. His noble and learned
friend had stated the reasons why he had not thought
necessary to propose any reform in the courts of common
law or Chancery. He took it for granted he would come
.to that conclusion, because it was obviously altogether un-
wise to attempt to touch those courts until they saw what
had been and would be the operation of the great and
extensive measures of reform which Parliament had
recently passed. (Hear.) His noble and learned friend
had touched on a question very difficult and not very
advantageous to touch upon—a question on reports not
yet made. He would excuse hint for saying it might im-
whose report was not made, with
press the commissioners,
the opinions expressed in their lordship's house, although
he knew his noble friend had no such object. Referring
to one question before one commission with regard to the
fusion of law and equity-z-which he (Lord St. Leonards)
-would rather call the confusion of law and equity-Lhis
noble and learned friend seemed to have misconceived the
difference of proceedings upon contracts in courts of law
and equity. A common law court had no jurisdiction in
what was called specific performance. The matter lay
in a small compass. In law, if you entered into a
contract, it mattered not whether for goods or real
estate, you .were bound to perform it, and if you did not
an action might be maintained against you, and damages
would be given according to the extent of the loss incurred
by the non-performance of the contract. The law gave in
cases of real and personal estate precisely the same relief.
The contract was treated in a court of common law as
broken, if refusal or neglect to perform it was proved to
have been made, and damages were awarded in proportion
to the injury sustained. In a court of equity the contract
was treated as subsisting. The court regarded the person
contracting to purchase an estate as the actual owner from
the moment of the bargain, and if the answer was that
time had not been given to make out the title, the court
granted time for the purpose, but had power to enforce
specific performance. That power wasnot possessed by a court
of common law, and hence the difference of the two reme-
dies upon any contract, whether for the sale of land or goods.
It would be necessary, for this purpose, to give the court of
law the same machinery and the same officers as the Court
of Chancery ; whereas the Court of Chancery had the ma-
chinery and the officers already, so that to multiply them
would produce no other result than a clashing and imper-
fect jurisdiction. In the bill he had himseif lately intro-
duced with reference to the Court of Chancery, he at-
tempted to introduce a clause to enable courts of law, in cases
• -where the man was entitled to the equitable estate, but not
to the legal estate, to prevent the necessity of nonsniting,
or giving a verdict against him, merely because he hap-
pened not to have the legal estate. This he proposed to do
by enabling the courts of law to send the case to a court
of equity, to know whether the party was really entitled
to the beneficial interest. But, so far from this being adopted
as a first step towards improvement, it was struck out of the
bill altogether. It did not seem, therefore, as if there was
any great dispositions on the part of the legislature to adopt
what was popularly called the fusion of law and equity—a
fusion which he was perfectly satisfied could never be ac-
complished. With regard to the subject of divorces, he had
great satisfaction in congratulating his noble and learned
friend in having brought this important subject under the
consideration of Parliament. (Hear, hear.) The next
subject to which he should refer, related to the question of
testaments. The late Government had had this subject
under their consideration. They had issued a renewed
commission, under which they added other learned persons
to those who were already directing tfieir attention to this
question, and he regretted to hear that his noble and
arned friend found fault with the terms of the reference.
He himself thought the terms perfectly sufficient to enable
and to authorise the commissioners to state, not merely the
mischiefs which they found to exist, but the remedies for
them ; however, if his noble and learned friend meant to

say that there was the slightest difficulty in the commis-
sioners arriving at a proper conclusion on these points or
any of them, he had only to give them further instruc-
tions. With the law of testaments there must also come
under full consideration the question of the ecclesiastical
courts. (Hear.) But, whilst sweeping away that which
had long existed, care must be taken not to destroy with-
out consideration that which was the foundation of the
livelihoods of many persons. (Hear.) As far as he under-
stood his noble and learned friend's " bill of fare," if he
might be permitted to use such a phrase without offence,
there was to be a registry, a revival of the charity com-
missions, and a consolidation of the statute law, He was
not opposed to legislation on those subjects, as far as it
could be properly resorted to. With respect to the regis-
tration of titles, the bill of 1851 for that purpose would
have saved enormous expense, and in respect to real estate,
it would have proved a great boon ; and having this opi-
' nion, he was entitled to say that he was friendly to reg.'s- ,
tration as far as it had gone. But the great object of
those who now desired legislation upon this subject, was
one incapable of being carried into execution under exist-
ing circumstances, as his noble and learned friend had justly
said. They wanted to make land transferable precisely as
railway shares or Government stock. But there was more
than this. In the first place these persons mean to strike
at the whole law of property, by which owners had now
full disposing power over it. It was the law of England at
present that was no property, small or great, which
could be kept extra-commercial ; so as to speak ; there was
no portion of property, whether of a large or small estate,
in respect to which a man might not go into the open
market and buy whatever he desired to possess. Such was
the case now. But what many persons wanted by registra-
tion was not so distinctly to reduce the transfer of land ;
they wanted rather to stop all disposition of land for the
pm-poses of family enjoyment and the support of such dig-
nities as their lordships possessed. (Hear, hear.) It was
obvious that this at once introduced into the discussion a
most important social and constitutional question, for it
was ridiculous to speal: of this subject as relating only to
the transfer of land, involving as it did other questions
upon which the happiness and the existence of many per-
sons in the country depended. These were questions
to be dealt with lightly ; and ho was sure his noble and
learned friend would see that they were entitled to the
deepest consideration. On the general question he would
at once assert that no man could prove to their lordships
that a general registry would either shorten conveyances
by a single line, oradd to the relief of the land. The registry
would not add to the deed, nor would it lessen it. If
a man's land was registered, ho must still have an abstract
of his title deeds • and if he wanted to sell, the abstract
would be submitted to a learned counsel just as it was now,
whilst no man could make up his mind as to the title with-
out havins, the deed itself before him. He contended fur-
ther, that' there were serious objections to registration
founded upon the doctrines of notice to mortgagees, and
that under certain circumstances a, court of equity would
support the title of a mortgagee against the purchaser.
There was to be upon the register a title in fee simple ;
but a man would make a settlement of his estate without
the settlement being upon the register, so that one person
might appear upon the register as owner, though he was
not. If their lordships wished to produce confusion in the
law' of England, and misery in families by means of
settlements, let them adopt this proposition. But his noble
and learned friend said that if a person claimed under a
settlement which was kept from the register you could go
to a court of equity and get an injunction. With great
respect to his noble and learned friend, he hardly thought
that this course was seriously recommended. If the indi-
vidual attempted to sell, why should not the settlement be
put upon the register ? This would at once prevent him
from selling, and at the same time give a title to those
upon whom he had settled the estate. Such were a few
of the difficulties which he ventured to suggest ; and he
thought it would be admitted they were not to be dealt
with lightly. It was certain that such a measure as was
proposed by his noble and learned friend would be opposed
in many quarters, and he could not avoid expressing his
regret that it had been brought forward ; for, as he should
be prepared to show at the proper time, the damage it
would do would be greater than its benefits. The expense
of it, too, would be certain, and who was to bear it ? The
landed gentlemen of England. But could their lordships
believe that the landed gentlemen of England were so easy
to be worked upon that they would adopt the measure,
and put themselves at such a vast expense for a very pro-
blematical benefit, at a moment when they felt they were
suffering from the state of the law? (Hear.) With regard
to the subject of charities, to which his noble and learned
friend had next made reference, he had nothing to say.
The last matter to which reference had been made was the
subject of the statute law. At the present moment their
lordships were starting on the experiment of digesting a
portion of the law—namely, the criminal law. That
limited portion had been referred to very learned com-
missioners, who had made sunny reports. Eight blue-
books, he believed, had been the result of their labours,
when, at the suggestion of a noble and learned friend
of his not now present (Lord Brougham), the late Go-
vernment consented again to take up the subject. The
examination of the criminal law alone, before the late
Government took it up, had cost the country upwards
of 40,0001., and there must have been some additional
expense since. Having had his attention directed to the
subject, he apprehended it would be found that this
of itself was a very considerable task. His noble and
learned friend had spoken of the style of our acts of Par-
liament. If he understood him rightly, his noble and
learned friend proposed to simplify the style and to correct
the ianguage of the statute law, so as to make it so plain
that "he who runs may read." His noble and learned
friend was embarkina- upon a measure which alone was
sufficient to occupy a long
lif©;
and if he was proposing to
himself the completion of the work, he (Lord St. Leo-
pards, hoped most sincerely that nothing might occur to
interrupt his labours. The difficulty of the work might
be estimated by taking some particular statue. The lan-
guage of it might be exceedingly tautologicel, and it might
not bc grammatical ; but it nnght have received a parti-
cular construction from having been th
esubject of discus-
sion in courts of law, though -a
i-
-ere might be a different
opinion in the profession as to its actual meaning. The
moment you attempted to simplify the style and correct
the language you opened the doors to the courts of 1a w in
order to ascertain what meaning
tha
new
Ph
llrar welaw'asto have. So it would be with other acts.
there-
foro of opinion that no living man was competent to the
work which the speech of his noble and learned friend
seemed to him to imply. No living man was, he repeated,
in his opinion, competent to digest the statute law of this
country in such a manner as not to lead to a great deal of
litigation. As to acts of an annual or a temporary nature

if y-ou did not disturb them they would not disturb yen.
At the same time it was quite possible for improvements
to be made. In the present state of our legislation, for
instance, no measure was ever brought forward on any
special subject without the whole of the preceding acts
upon the same subject being recited, and sometimes re-
enacted in a consolidated form. This was a beneficial
practice, which he hoped would be continued ; and as re-
garded the work of digesting the statutes, he conceived
that it would be only practicable to do what had been
done in respect to consolidation, for the moment you
altered a statute, from that moment you made a new law,
with all its contingencies. The expense, too, was a matter
well worthy of consideration. If it had cost 40,0001. to
produce tie reports of the commissioners for consolidating
the criminal law, he left the house to consider what was
likely to be the expense of a digest of the whole statute
law._ No doubt, as his noble and learned friend had inti-
„,
.t d competent persons might be found to execute
by min -rent work partament but. after that it would have to be clone
for he ventured to think that neither
their lordshipsaganoT'the other house would take it quite
-upon trust. When the digest was prepared his noble and
learned frien haveouldto assist in carrying it out. In
respect to the crimival law he had himself
certainlygiven

way, but he desired to see how the change worked before
he consented to proceed further, and so he took the liberty
of recommending their lordships. With these observations
he should conclude. He had been taken somewhat by
surprise by some of his noble and learned friend's observa-
tions, but when the measures he proposed had been printed
he should be prepared to give them full and candid consid-
eration. (Hear, hear.)
Lord CAMPBELL had listened with great satisfaction
to the able and lucid statement of his noble and learned
friend upon the woolsack ; and he must say that he highly
approved of the course he had taken, both as to what he
had abstained from entering upon, and what he proposed.
Yet he thought his noble and learned friend would have
acted a little more judiciously if he had not alluded to
what was called the " fusion of law and equity"—to the
desire that there should be universal jurisdiction over all
causes, enjoyed by all courts, and by every judge in
every court. Such a course could only lead to confu-
sion. If this were a small state, where one court could
administer justice to all the subjects or citizens in the
state, it might be proper that that court should have
universal jurisdiction ; but in any state where two courts
were required, the subdivision of labour ought to prevail.
In ancient times, when this country was under the Norman
system, we had the aula regis, which had jurisdiction over
every subject. But the court found the disadvantage of
it, and they subdivided themselves into the Court of
Chancery, the Court of Queen's Bench, the Court of Ex-
chequer, and the Court of Common Pleas. Yet now it was
proposed that we should return to the system which pre-
vailed in the barbarous times of William Rufus. He hoped
this would never be the case. At the same time, he felt
most strongly the importance of the principle laid down by
his noble and learned friend upon the woolsack, that one
court ought finally to decide every cause brought before it.
For this purpose, and for this purpose only, there ought to
be what was called a fusion of law and equity. Each tri-
bunal ought to be invested with powers to decide finally
every controversy which came before it ; for to drive mit-
ers first to a court of equity and then to a court of law,
could only tend to delay and to ruinous expense. (Hear.)
The common law judges, he thought, having the great
benefit of the most learned works which his noble and
learned friend opposite (Lord St. Leonards) had given
to the world, and his valuable decisions before them,
could perfectly well decide the question which he had sug-
gested, whether there should be a specific performance of an
agreement to purchase land. He did not see why an action
should not be brought in a superior court of common law or
equity, to compel specific performance, and if that were not
complete, why the complainant should not have damages
for breach of contract. At present a party went into the
equity courts, and it might be he could rot have specific
performance because there was some difficulty ; after in-
finite delay, an action was brought in the Court of Queen's
Bench, and he there tried to recover damages. But one
investigation ought to have settled the whole question,
and then one great step towards justice would have been
done. If the vendor was not entitled he would be liable to
damages ; if he pretended he had a title, and thereby caused
loss to the purchaser, he would be undoubtedly liable to
damages for breach of contract ; and one event ought to
settle the matter. With regard to injunctions, why should
not the courts of common law have the same powers as the
equity courts ? Why not with respect to copyright Why
not as to nuisances ? In all such cases he thought the
equitable jurisdiction, as it was called, of the courts of
common law would be useful. Formerly these courts of
law and equity were entirely distinct, because the Court of
Chancery assumed the power not only of dispensing law,
but of making law. It was the legislature of the country.
The Lord Chancellor decided of his own motion what was
equitable against the common law. But those times were
past, and now the courts of equity were governed by fixed
rules just as were the courts of common law. Here then
was another re-aso-i why the courts of common law should
have the same powers as the courts of equity in all the
cases which were brought before them. His noble and
learned friend would look with great caution upon any pro-
posal for dealing with that topic. ljadoubtedly there were
many cases brought before the common law courts for
which juries were not fitted to decide--such as complicated
matters of account ; and he trusted before long such cases
would be referred at once to some legal functionary who
would go over the papers and decide economically. But in
actions for libel, or defamation by words, or for personal
wrongs, and for commercial questions involving facts as
well as law, trial by jury was the best tribunal that had
ever been invented, and he hoped it would continue. For
his own part, speaking from his experience as a judge, he
thought juries were much more likely to arrive at a just
conclusion upon conflicting evidence than all the 15 judges ;
and he should lament the day when they were deprived of
such assistance. (Hear.) The jury assisted the judge;
and a judge without the assistance of a jury would in a very
unsatisfactory manner dispose of mixed questions of mat-
ters of fact and law. (Hear, hear.) As to the law of
divorce, he need not remind their lordships that a commis-
sion had been appointed some time ago, of which he had
had the honour to be placed at the head. The commis-
sioners had been labouring most assiduously at grappling
with the subject, and they soon came to a conclusion that
the present mode of legislation in such cases was one very
much to be regretted. On this subject they had come to
an unanimous conclusion, and they should soon have the
honour of presenting their report. Their labours had to a
certain extent been interrupted by the Administration of
the noble earl opposite (the Earl of Derby) because he had
taken from the commission one of its most efficient mem-
bers—he meant the late Home Secretary (Mr. Walpole),
who was a most admirable lawyer. (Hear.) That right
hon. gentleman had been of great assistance in the early
part of the labours of the commission. The course of events
having restored him to the commission, he had attended
its meetings, and the commissioners had greatly benefited
by his assistance. (Hear, hear.) As to registration, he
regretted that it met with the opposition of the noble and
learned lord opposite, of whose abilities as a lawyer he
had a most sincere admiration, and whose opinion was
entitled to the greatest weight. His noble friend
had correctly stated that when he (Lord Campbell)
was Solicitor-General, Earl Grey had informed him that,
in the then state of the public mind on the subject,
it would not be expedient to bring forward any mea.
sure for the registration of deeds. Public opinion had
now, however, changed on the subject, and he believed
that the noble and learned lord opposite was the solitary
opponent in that house of such a measure. When the sub-
ject was brought forward by the real property commission-
ers in 1830, it met with very general opposition, and a large
majority of the select committee appointed to consider the
question were decidedly opposed to it • but, after having
sat for about six weeks, an almost perfect unanimity pre-
vailed with reference to the desirableness of such a mea-
sure. He believed, also, that with the solitary exception
of country solicitors, the whole country was favourable to
the plan of registration. The noble earl had referred to
the opinions of the landed interest on the subject. That
interest, he presumed, was well represented in their lord-
ship's house, and a majority of those who constituted the
select committee on "burdens on land" were even Protec-
tionists. (A laugh.) That committee, however, which was
called upon to enter into the whole question of the burdens
on land, reported that it found the most intolerable burden
to be that of the expense of the transfer of real property,
and the committee wisely thought that one mode of remov-
ing this burden would be by a system of registration.
(Hear.) The noble and learned lord was quite correct in
saying that registration would not in the first instance
lessen the expense of the transfer of landed property.
At present, however, every one knew that the greatest
expense connected with the transfer of land arose from the
necessity of ascertaining whether the vendor really
possessed the interest in the estate which he professed to
sell. After a plan of registration had been in operation
for a few years there would be an end to this uncertainty
and consequent expense. Registration of deeds was not
to be considered as a final measure; It was, in fact, only
the beginning of a new and improved system. He trusted
that his noble and learned friend would employ his great
learning, experience, and talent while he bad leisure—he
could not tell how long that opportunity might be afforded
him—(a laugh)—among other matters, to shortening the
length of deeds, simplifying terms and forms of insurance,
improving the forms of lease and re-lease, and many other
things which he might mention, and amalgamate them all
in one short and simple mode, by which land could be
transferred from one person to another without great ex-
pense, and by doing all this he would confer additional
lustre on his name.' (Cheers.) With respect to the work-
ing of a system of registration. he might say that it had
been found to work well in Scotland ; it was employed in
all our colonies ; and there certainly appeared no reason for
supposing that it would not be found to work equally as
well in England. With reference to the proposed digest of
the statute law, the noble and learned lord on the woolsack
had certainly an arduous task before him. No possible ob-
jection could be made to such a work; until, however, the
whole was completed, no part should be allowed to come into
operation ; and when it was entirely completed, and laid
before the house, it would undoubtedly be a noble achieve-
ment. (Hear, hear.) There were great difficulties in the
way.of carrying out the digest; he might allude for in-
stance to the law of treason, from the 25th Edward 111.
down to the late Treason Felony Act. Again; any attempt
to digest the laws relating to the election and confirmation
of bishops would probably set the whole country in a blaze.
(Laughter.) He concluded by wishing his noble and learned
friend ample success in the noble career which he had
marked out for himself. (Cheers.)
The bill was then read a first time;
SIR CHARLES WOOD AND THE FRENCH
EXPIRE.
The Marquis of CLANRICARDE, in accordance with
the notice given by him on a previous occasion, rose to ask
whether her 'Majesty's Government had any objection to
lay upon the table copies of the communications between
the British and French Governments respecting tho estab-
lishment of the French empire. The noble marquis stated
that, had he been aware, when ho gave notice of his inten-
tion to put the question, that a notice of a question on the
same subject had been given in the House of Commons, ho
should have postponed his notice, in the hope that the ex-
planations which might be made in the other house would
have been sufficient. Having taken that course, however, he
felt it incumbent on him to ask for some explanation of the
views of her Majesty's Government regarding the extraordi-
nary proceedings to which he then alluded—the speech lately
made by his right hon. friend the President of the Board of
Control. The question in his mind was, not whether an indi.
vidnal Minister might have committed an indiscretion, or
uttered hastily words or phrases without due reflection,
but whether the Government of this country and the Go-
vernment of France continued to hold the same cordial
amity and friendship which they had recently believed ex-
isted between them, and which friendship and cordiality
he believed, in the present circumstances of the world,
were the surest guarantee of continued peace. (Cheers.)
H nfe
adinyd. not wish
Minister shua to attribute morethatenwas necessary, impor::nay, butthecerto it wa
speechs
utterly impossible to say that a speech of a Cabinet Minis-
ter was at any time without importance ; and, unfortun-
ately, the speech to which he had alluded had been circu-
lated throughout the whole of the kingdom, and had also
been circulated, he regretted to say, abroad, and within
his own knowledge he knew that great attention had been
attracted to the speech in Paris. He thought that, impor-
tance having been given by the public to those expres-
sions, it was most desirable that the house should have
an explanation from the Government of the terms
upon which they wished to continue with the Go-
vernment of France. However unwilling they might i
be to attach undue importance to the words of an in-
dividual,
he could not for one subscribe to the doc-
trine which he had heard and seen advanced, that a
Cabinet Minister, a confidential servant of the Crown, was