The Sun.
London, England, 1857-06-10 00:00:00

subject dying abroad must make his will according to the
form of the country in which he is domiciled. There
wa, no part of the British law which gave so much an-
noyanc) and created eo many doubts as vestions con-
nected with the law of domicile. This state of ttie
law was one not generally known to the British pub-
lic, and it rested upon a decision pronounced by the
judge of the Prerogative Court in 1827, in the else
of the disputed will of a Mr. Stanley, an Irish gen
tleman and British subject, who had died and made
his will in Portugal, according to the English form.
Other cases of similar hardship had recent:y occurred,
among others the case of a lady who had made her will in
Paris, and the judicial committee of the Privy Council
ultimately deeederl, on the principle of "lex loci regit ac-
turn, that the will was invalid; Lie des teen had spread
great alarm through the country and among British re-
sidents abroad, and he had received numerous communi-
cations on the subject; but none of them had been able
to suggest any reason why the will of a British subject,
made and attested according to British law, should be
set aside because the te-tator happened t) have resided
for any period, whether long or short, at the time of mak-
ing such will, in Paris, Rome, or any else foreign c ,an-
try. He proposed by this bill to enact, that a'l wills and
codicils made and duly attested by British subjects
abroad competent to make them should be held to be
valid in this country, no matter in what place the testa-
tor may hare resided, or have deers dimiciled. The bill
contained a clause declaring that the act should not have
any retrospective effect upon bills already executed and
attested. The hon. member concluded by moving for
leave to bring in the bill.
Mr. MALINS seconded the motion for the int-oduc-
tion of the bill, consilering the present state of the law
on the subject of wills made abroad by British subjects
was most unsatisfactory, and unjust in its operation.

The ATTORNEY-GENE [.AL said while on the part
of the Government he had no objection to the introduc-
tion of the bill, still that permission to introduce it must
be accorded with some qualification. The origin of the
law was to be found in the universally acknowledged
rule that, with respect to personality, a man always car•
ried with him wherever he went his personal property.
It was important, therefore, that the house should not,
by hastily passing any measure, make the state of the
law is this country different from that which prevailed
lu other parts of Europe.
Mr. SLANEY inquired whether it was intended by
the bill to enact that the property of British subjects in
France should be disposed of under wills so made, because
if so he was afraid conflets between the jurisprudence of
France and England would inevitably arise.
Sir F. KELLY replied that the courts of France
would give effect to the probate obtained in Britishcourts.

Mr. B. HOPE argued that there was nothing which
could so plainly show the animus of domicile as the form
of the testator's will.

Mr. BOW YER supperted the motion, and expressed
a hope that when in committee the bill would be
rendered more complete, by rendering it necessary that a
Lia should look to the laws and practices of the country
where the legal act was executed.

Leave csaithen given to bring in the bill.
INCLOSURE ACTS AMENDMENT.
Mr. G. CLIVE asked leave to bring in a bill to
amend and explain the Inclosure Acts.
Leave was given.
LUNACY IN SCOTLAND.
The LORD ADVOCATE on asking leave to bring
in a bill to alter and amend the laws relttiug to lunatics
in Scotland, referred to the report of the coesmissioners
as proving the necessity of such a measure. That report
was most admirably adapted for the purpose for which it
had been intended, but it was neither intended rex
adapted to be made the ground of a charge against
officials, as had been done, without their having any
opportunity of defending themselves, the other night, by
the hon, member for St. Andreas. His proposal was
merely to carry out the measure which his predecessor,
Lord Rutherford, had endeavoured to a-ry. lie pro
posed there should be appointed for Scotland a commis-
sioner, an inspector, a clerk, and a medical officer, who
should be the lunacy commission for Scotland. He pro-
posed to give the counties in Scotland an appeal from
that commission to the lunacy commission in England.
The commissioner would have the charge of granting,
renewing, and withdrawing licenses. He would gener•
ally have a superintendence of the district wylurna, and
he would be required to visit them twice a yoar. Tne
neral expenses of the act would be thus divided—the
offices and management expenses would be defrayed by
Parliament, and the ether expenses would he tan ne by
the counties, and an assessment would be made on
them for the erection of the asylums. There wool
be diEttict boards for the purpose of making
the assessments. They anticipated that the asylums
would be nearly self supporting, arising out of the fees
for licenses, and from the contributicas of the parishes.
There were miscellaneous provisions in the b 11, such as
the punishment for maltreating lunatics. There was no
doubt that Scotland was behind this country with re-
gard to this subject, but he trusted that the measure he
proposed would be productive of great improvement.
Mr. BAI LLIE contended that the northern counties
of Scotland had never joined in opposition to the reform
of the law, but had always shown themselves anxious fur
an improvement.

Mr. ELLICE reiterated his charges against the board
of supervision and the sheriffs of counties for their neg-
lect of pauper lunatics, and cited several cases from the
report of the .Commissioners, where the Poor-law in-
spectors had grossly neglected their duty. One parish
he cited where the lunatics were in a neglected state,
though the pariah had been inspected by Sir J. APNeill
himselF. With respect to the bill, he thought it woul I
be better to put Scotland under the English Lunacy
Commissioners rather than to create a new Lunacy
Board for Scotland. He hoped the private asylums
would he every a+ere put down.

Mr. DRUIiNIOND. also thought that the Lord Ad-
vocate had byno means succeeded in absolving the board
of supervision and the sheriffs from ail blame in the
matter. The fact was that the Scotch ofßc'als attended
not to the care or comfort of the lunatic., but to the pro-
pel ty of the ratepayers.

Air. COWAN supported the bill, and hoped the Lord
Advocate would not attempt to meddle with tbose public
aQylums that were already in fxistence in Scotland.
_ _ _

CA. CLIFFORD' as an Engl,sh Lunacy Commissioner,
promised the Government all the assistance that com-
mission could gise in carrying out their plans fez Scot-
land.

The LORD ADVOCATE replied, after which leave
was given to bring in the bill.

HIGHWAYS.

Mr. MASSEY rose to move for leave to introduce a
lilt to improve the management of highways throughout
the country. At present in reality the management was
vested in the parochial surveyor. Ile was an unuaLl, and
- therefore, of course, was an inefficient officer. Tile result
was a state of things which ought not to be allowe 1. The
parochial iurveyor assessed the ratepayers —he levied
the rates, and at the end of his year of office he had to
lay his accounts before the special session—there was no
audit of those accounts—they could not be questioned in
any way, and he himself was the sole judge of what
money had been misappropriated, and the highways had
f diet' into great dilapidation. What he proposed was, to
divide the country into districts, and to appoint district
boards, partly elective and partly ex officio, composed of
magditrates and Guardians of the poor.
Mr. WATKIN wished to know what courss was in-
tended to he adopted•with respect to the metropolis roads?
Mr. MASSEY said that they were excepted from the
operation of the bill.
Mr. WATK[N suggested that the measure should be
made still further effectual by dealing with those roads.
Mr. ADAMS complained that a large number of un-
❑ecessary burdens were at present thrown upon the high-
way rates, and he ehould be happy to render every as-
sistance in his power to the passing of the measure.
Mr. SLANEY expressed his approbation of the mea-
sure, and bethought that the house was greatly indebted
to the hon. member for its introduction- Ile was anxi-
ous to impress upon the Government the propriety of
compelling the making of footpaths by the side of high-
ways.
Leave was then given to introduce the bill.
LAW OF MORTMAIN.

Mr. ATHERTON moved for leave to bring in a bill to
amend the law relsting to the conveyance of land for
charitable use?. The bill was similar to that which he bad
introduced upon several previous occasions, but which he
had not been successful in carrying into law.
The motion was agreed to, and leave given acc)rd
ingly.