The Sun.
London, England, 1847-06-07 00:00:00

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LAW AMENDMENT SOCIETY.
The:anniversary meeting of the society for promot-
ing the amendment of the law was held on Saturday
at the rooms of the society, 21, Regent-street, and
was numerously attended by the noblemen and gen-
tlemen, members of the society, and by the general
public, all of them seemingly much interested in the
proceedings. Among the rest we observed Lord
Brougham, the Duke of Richmond, the Duke of
Cleveland, the Earl of Devon, the Earl of Radnor,
Lord Ashburton, Lord Ebrington, Mr. Hume, M.P. ;
Mr. Ewart, ; Mr. Sergeant D'Oyly, Mr. Com-
missioner Pane, Mr. Commissioner Ponblanque, Mr.
Commissioner Phillips, Mr. James Stewsrt, Mr.

Vizard, &c.
Lord BROUGHAM, at three o'clock, took the chair,
and expressed the pleasure with which he met the
members on another anniversary of the society, ex-
pecting that it would have the effect produced-by the
last occasion of the kind, of making their association,

and their real object, better known, and of rebutting
a groundless charge which had been made against
them ; for nothing was more without foundation than
this charge upon their proceedings, that the members
of the society were rash and fond of innovation. On
the contrary, their object, the amendment of the laws,
was sought with caution ; and if, upon trial, in any
case, there was a failure, their course was to re-con-
sider the amendment, and safely, at least safely, to
proceed with the amendment of the laws of the coun-
try. The Noble Lord then adverted to two cases
that encouraged them in the course which they
had already pursued. The Act for the simpli-
fication of conveyances in the transfer of real
property, remedied not only the evil of a system bad
in itself, but also the evil of an insecure title. Per-
sons in tha purchase of property might adopt in the
conveyances what formula they pleased ; that was
matter for their own choice • but the Bill offered
them, besides the advantage of a simple formula, the
immense boon, a secure, a good title. Hitherto the
expense attending the transfer of property had been
heavy, unequal, and very unnecessary. For, besides
the ad valorem stamp duty, the deeds were long and
complicated, so that the expense on the purchase of a
small farm came to be almost as great as on a pur-
chase-money of the amount of 50,0001. or 100,000/.
Yet, after all, the intention of the parties might be
defeated by an error of the copyist, and as the proba-
bility of error was always in the ratio of complication
in the proceedings, simplification became an object of
the very, highest importance. The Noble Lord in
detail referred to a case which was heard on appeal
in the House of Lords, where the eldest son, though
evidently the next heir by the intention of the testa-
tor, was deprived of all interest in the property by
the omission of a single line by the mere copyist, and
he and his heirs would have been debarred for ever,
but that the House of Lords affirmed the decision of
the Common Pleas against the Queen's Bench, and de-
cided that he could rank after the sixth and seventh sons
under the words " among the other sons." Error did not
merely attend upon omissions; it often crept in by a
line or a word, sanctioned by no legislative authority,
but merely foisted in by some country schoolmaster
who had been accustomed to draw conveyances for the
village, and his optional additions would occupy the
courts of law for days and weeks together, in the en-
deavour to understand and construe them. The Noble
Lord, for another illustration of the Society's pro-
ceedings referred to the extinction of what was called
" satisfied terms," of the absurdity of which he said
no one not conversant with the operation of this
troublesome fiction could now form any adequate
conception. It used to be attended with great
trouble, great anxiety, and great expense. But an
Act for the extinction of these " satisfied terms" was
brought in and passed ; and he could mention an in-
stance—(The Duke of Cleveland entered the room at
this moment)—he was glad to see the Noble Duke
present to confirm what he was about to state, that
so much as 4,0001. or 5,0001. had been saved to his
Grace by the passing of this Act. And although
that was upon an estate of some value, perhaps
of 60,0001. or 70,000/. annual income, nearly
an equal amount of expense would have
been incurred under the old system on an estate of
very much less value. But while he mentioned these
instances, he had said, and he would say it again,
that the one ground on which they expected the
confidence of the Legislature and the public was
caution. He might point them, for instance, to the
abolition of imprisonment for debt. That was a
great change in the law and the commerce of the
country; it was a hardship to the creditor as it was
formerly to the debtor. Many representations had
been made against the Act. The Noble Lord
(Ashburton) on his right had presented a petition
from the merchants and traders of London praying
the Legislature to revert to arrest, and mesne pro-
cess. Now, what he said was this—he was ready to
reconsider the whole question, and if upon every view
of it they found they were mistaken they were pre-
pared to retrace their steps. But at that moment he
remained after all that had been said of the same
mind that he had been of, convinced that they were
not wrong, and that no change in the present law
was necessary. His Noble Friend (Lord Lynd-
hurst) was at one time an opponent to the change
that had been made; but three sessions ago a single
case occurred while he was Lord Chancellor,
so irresistible in the demonstration which it
opened up of the evil of the old system, that he at
once acceded to the necessity of a change. Twenty-
five people had been confined in a place twenty feet
square for ten days together, without so much as
the comfort of straw to rest themselves upon. The
Act, as it was passed at first, was found to operate
mischief against the small traders. He recollected
that an ironmonger had come to him, and showed
him five thousand and odd debts in his books, and of
of the 5,000 there were 4,900 under 201. Now, he
said to him, no man has more to think of with re-
gard to his tailor and his butcher, than just to see
that his debt do not exceed 19/. 10s., for under 201.
he cannot be reached. This was a great evil, an evil
that was remedied by putting the debtors under 20/.
on the same footing with the debtors above 20/. ; but
it was an evil which would likely have been avoided
if the Act had previously been submitted to the con-
sideration of a society like this. But one grand
object with the society, and one which they had
submitted to Sir Robert Peel and Lord Lyndhurst,
as of vital necessity to the improvement of the
Legislations of this country, was the appointment of
a board of professional and skilful men for the
preparation of Acts of Parliament. Till that was
done forty judges, instead of four sitting in every
Court in Westminster Hall, would not be able to
construe them. As yet the work was too much that
of the scissors, and the consequence was absurdities
of a very ridiculous kind, some clause towards the
close of the Act perhaps referring to something
" aforesaid," which something " aforesaid" did not
appear except in the Act from which the clause had
been transferred. Another primary object which
they advocated was the separation of the private and
local from the public business of Parliament, and the
reference of the private business to a board where the
parties should be heard by counsel, and which should
not exclude, but only assist the Houses. He (Lord
Brougham) had last session given notice of resolutions
to that effect, and it was still his intention to per-
severe with them. He did not mean anything against
the purity of Parliament, but there always would be
a suspicion where five men were appointed to con-
sider a case already existing. They were a Court
appointed fer the case, an evil which led to the abo •
lition of the Court of Delegates. The Noble Lord
concluded his address with advising caution and per-
severance in the pursuits of the society.
The Earl of DEVON then moved, and the Earl of
RADNOR seconded a resolution, to the effect that
great advantages were likely to arise from the un-
prejudiced and dispassionate consideration of the laws
of the country with a view to their amendment.
Lord EBRINGTON moved that as the expense and
insecurity inseparable from the present method of in-
quiring into real property, deeds, and the present
form of conveyancing, greatly diminished the value of
land, the meeting had pleasure in knowing that her
Majesty's Government had appointed a commission,
from which the subject would likely receive a search-
ing investigation, in order to amendment and im-
provement. The Noble Lord complained that not-1
withstanding the Act referred to by the Noble
Chairman, the expenses attending the purchase and
sale of land were such as to be a serious bar to any
such transaction and to diminish its value in the
market. He said, taking the annual value of land
in England at 60,000,0001.; thirty years' purchase
upon that would be 1,800,000,0001.; whereas, in
other countries the purchase was for 45 years,and, there-
fore, the purchase value 2,700,000,0001. So that the
total loss upon the land in England was 900,000,000/
Mr. JAMES STEWART seconded the resolution, which
was agreed to.
Mr. HUME moved, and Mr. EWART seconded, a re-
solution, advising the appointment of a revising
board, for the preparation of Acts of Parliament.
Both the Hon. Members took occasion to speak of the
improvement which bad been effected of late years in
the proceedings of the House of Commons, especially
on private Bills, where the change from public to se-
lect Committees was a beneficial advance upon the old
system.
The Duke of RICHMOND moved a resolution, ap-
proving of the labours of the Committee of the House
of Lords in the criminal law, who had endeavoured

to establish as the principal object of the law the im-
provement and reformation of the criminal.
Lord ASHBURTON moved that the petition of the
merchants and traders of the city of London relating
to the law of debtor and creditor, was deserving cf
attention, and that the society, with the benefit of
their representations, do reconsider the subject of the
bankrupt laws.
Mr. Wm. HawEs, in a speech, urged the import-
ance of the subject, and the evils of the late Act. Ilt.
assured the meeting that the fraudulent abstraction of
rroperty yearly, amounted to something more than
the revenue of the State—to upwards of 50,000,0001.
As this was received with marks of incredulity, lit.
said the amount of dividends paid under cognisance of
the London Court of Bankruptcy last year was
1,245,0001. ; the average per tentage was under 3i.
per pound; and as not one-tenth of the cases of bank-
ruptcy occurring were brought into Court, he thought
he was entitled to say that the amount of property so
abstracted annually was about 60,000,0001. That was a
loss which fell upon the consumers, the gentry and
the poor artisan. Hence the general public interest
in the reconsideration of this Act.

Mr. BETHEL moved to the effect that the misappli-
cation of charities, and especially small charities, was
shielded by the mode of procedure in the Court of
Chancery, and the method of conducting business
before the masters. The Learned Gentleman, in the
course of his speech, gave several instances illustrative
of the resolution occurring under his own notice.

Mr. Commissioner FANI3, in seconding it, said the
resolution might apply as well to cases of bankruptcy.
He knew one case where the bankrupt had entered
the Court of Chancery forty years ago with as much
prospect and no more of a decision now as in the year
1807 ; and another case which had lasted for twenty
years, with the same want of result. The Learned
Commissioner then read an extract the letter of an
eminent solicitor, stating that he had searched, and
had been unable to find one litigated case in partner-
ship account which had gone into the Master's office
and had ever come out again.
The resolutions were severally agreed to, and the
meeting broke up.

MIGRATIONS OF HERRINGS•
The great rendezvous of the herring is within the
arctic circle, and there they spend many months of
the year. In the spring, this mighty army begins to
put itself in motion. We distinguish the united
shoals by that name, because the word herring comes
from the German beer, an army, and expresses their
number. They begin to appear off the Shetland Isles
in April and Slay—these are only the forerunners
of the great shoal which cornea in June ; and their
appearance is marked by the number of birds, gannet,
and other sea-fowl which come to prey upon them.
When the main body appears, its breadth and depth are
such as to alter the appearance of the very ocean. It is
divided into distinct columns of five or six miles in
length, and three or four in breadth, and they drive
the water before them with a kind of rippling, some-

times they sink for the space of ten or fifteen minutes,
and then rise to the surface ' • and in fine weather re-
flect a variety of splendid colours, like a field of the
most precious gems ; in which light this gift of Pro-
vidence ought to be viewed. The first check this army
meets with in its journey south, is from the Shetland
Isles, which divide it into two parts ; one wing takes to
the eastern, the other to the western shores of Great
Britain, and fill every bay and creek with their numbers;
others pass on towards Yarmouth, the great and ancient
mart of herrings ; they then pass through the British
Channel, and after that disappear. The other wing, which
takes a westerly direction, after presenting themselves at
the Hebrides, where the great stationary fishery is,
proceed to the north of Ireland, where they meet
with a second interruption, and are obliged to divide
again; one party takes the west of Ireland and is
soon imperceptible in the immensity of the Atlantic ;
but the shoal passing into the Irish sea, feeds the
inhabitants of its coast. These last are often capri-
cious in their motions, and do not like the grand
body, show an invariable attachment to their old
haunts. The object which induces this yearly migration
is the spawning or depositing of their eggs. Herrings
are found also in vast shoals on the coast of America, as
low down as Carolina. Chesapeake Bay is inundated
with them. We find them also in Kamtschatka, and
they probably visit Japan. The Dutch are passionately
fond of pickled herrings, and the first boat that arrives
is entitled to a prize. The herring dies as soon as it is
taken out of tho water; hence the proverb " as dead as
a herring." The Dutch call a merry-andrew " pickle-
herring," and from this also we borrow some colloquial
expressions.

PROTEST AGAINST THE THIRD
READING OF THE FACTORY BILL.
1. Because any legislative restraints imposed on the
freedom of adult labour is inconsistent with all sound
principle, and with the successful development and ade-
quate reward of industry.
2. Because a limitation by law of the hours of labour
must diminish the profits of capital or the wages of the
workmen ; or may probably lead to both these results:
in one case discouraging the application of capital to the
production of wealth, in another pressing severely on the
comforts of the labouring classes ; and in both cases
tending to check the progress of important national in•
terests. . _ .

3. Because, so far as such interference with industry
raises prices, it must necessarily abridge the command
which the consumer possesses over the comforts and ne-
cessaries of life, whilst at the same time wages suffer
depression, thus subjecting the working classes to the
double evil of lessened receipt and of increased expen-
diture. , _

4. Because this Bill is no less opposed to all sound
principle than to all experience ; the periods during
which fluctuations of trade compel manufacturers to
work short time being invariably periods of depression
and privation to the working classes, and there appear-
ing no practical difference between a legislative reduc-
tion of the hours of labour and that which results from a
reduction of demand, excepting that the one proceeds
from causes which cannot be controlled, whilst the other
is the gratuitous act of the supreme power of the State.
5. Because at a time when so vast a portion of British
industry is dependent on foreign trade, to impose on our
home producers artificial restraint, from which their
rivals abroad are exempt, is to create an overwhelming
and fatal competition against ourselves, placing at risk
our greatest interests, financial as well as commercial.
6. Because if the productiveness of capital invested in
domestic manufactures is lessened by unwise laws, this
change cannot fail to operate as a bounty upon the
transfer of capital to foreign countries—a transfer inju-
rious to the British producer and consumer, to the Bri-
tish labourer and to the employer of labour.
7. Because at all times when deficient harvests or
other causes render an increased supply of food requisite
from abroad, an enhancement of the cost of our manu-
factures must likewise enhance our difficulty in paying
for an imported food, tending to force an export of bul-
lion, deranging our currency, and endangering public
and private credit.
8. Because as the restraints of this Bill apply exclu-
sively to labour in factories, whilst labour infinitely
more severe and injurious to health is left without anala-
gous restriction, the consequence must not be not to
improve, but to deteriorate the physical condition of the
working classes.
9. Because the enactments of this Bill are founded on
the fallacy that it lies within the competency of Parlia-
ment to give a better protection to workmen in their in-
dustry than is derived from their own reason and intel-
ligence, and must also encourage the dangerous delusion
that the interests of the employers and the employed are
necessarily opposed and conflicting ; requiring the pro-
tection of the law for the regulation of hours of work,
the amount, profits, and the rate of wages—matters de-
pending upon principles which no direct legislation can
reach, and with which no Legislature can intermeddle,
consistently either with sound policy or with justice.
10. Because the enactment of the Bill, while appa-
rently limited to the labour of children and young per-
sons, practically restrains the profitable employment of
adult labour.

MONTEAGLE of Brandon,
ASHBURTON,
RADNOR,
FOLEY,
WROTTESLEY.

METROPOLITAN IMPROVEMENTS: NEW OXFORD-
STREET.—On Friday the long-contested dispute between the
leaseholders of New Oxford-street and the Crown Commis-
sioners was brought to a close. It will be remembered that
for a long time past loud complaints have been raised (and
much publicity given to them) on account of the fact that
those who have been indiced to embark their capital in the
purchase of the ground have not, as they have alleged, been
supported in the maintenance of their original agreement,
such agreement being that the whole of the well-known
" Rookery" should be removed " forthwith." This has
clearly not been the case, New Oxford-street having been
commenced as far back as August, 1840, and one of the
worst portions of the Rookery still suffered to remain. The
portion of the old buildings in question has been generally
quoted in Parliament and elsewhere as the most complete
evidences of the want of sanatory improvements, but, up to
the present moment, the poor creatures who inhabited them
are compelled, by the force of circumstances, to remain in
their unhealthy dwellings, rendered still more so by the
new and lofty buildings around them. During the course
of the present week Lord Morpeth has personally inspected
the locality, and to this fact may probably be attributed the
termination of the long-pending dispute. The Commis-
sr ieomn
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ments in this neighbourhood will, without delay, be com-
mneced.

A CURIOUS WEDDING PAYMENT.--A short time
ago an affectionate couple went to be married at a church not
a hundred miles from Penistone. When the ceremony was
closed, and the necessary fee had to be paid, the youth, after
ransacking the whole of his pockets for " the needful," said,
a Ha, Mestur, 'am rather short 't sum, but al tell yo wot, how
toat'Are a varry nice hesh-top kidneys—al let yo her for't dif-
ference, if ye wont onny." Of course the clergyman, smiling,
refused the novel payment.
The Royal Botanic Society's second exhibition of
plants and flowers in the Regent's Park will take place
ou W 0114.1017 119 AL