The Sun.
London, England, 1857-06-23 00:00:00

Lord DONOITGiIMdRE asked whether the Go-
vernment had not paid the damages awarded against
Mr, Franks, thereby completely exonerating him from
the charge of having acted from personal feeling.
Lord ST. GERMANS was not able to say positively,
no having bad notice of that question, but his im-
pression was that such was the fact.

• The Earl of EGLINTON wished to know out of
what fund the 5001. was paid ?

The Earl ST. GERNIA:NS said he believed it was
paid out of the secret service fund.
The papers were ordered.
CONSOLIDATION OF THE CRIMINAL LAW.
The LORD CHANCELLOR called the attention of
the house to the consolidation of the criminal law, and
said he should conclude by asking their lordships to
agree to the reading of eight short bills which would
have that object in view. The importance of that step
had been pointed out by Lord Bacon, Lord Coke, and
Lord Hale, and in 1816 the House of Lords passed a
resolution that the criminal law should be consolidated,
and it was submitted to the House of Commons, who
cordially supported the plan. But nothing had beed
done in the matter. If that was an evil forty-one years
ago, what must it be now, when upwards of 150 acts
were added to the statute-book. A commission was
some time since appointed to consider the subject, he
(the Lord Chancellor) being a member, and the commis-
sion came to the conclusion that they had better do
something rather than confine themselves to speculation,
but the commissioners found that they bad many diffi-
culties to contend with, and after various discussions it
was decided that the only plan that could be adopted
was to take one particular subject. But this was the
difficulty, that in many statutes not having especial
reference to a particular subject there were points
bearing upon that subject, and the danger, there-
fore, would be, that in carrying out their object
they would omit some portions which they might
not discover. The subject, however, had been
placed in the hands of some members of the bar, who
would mark all the portions of the statutes which bore
upon any particular subject, a process, it would be ad-
mitted, of very considerable labour. At the suggestion
of Mr. Coulson, the statutes had been divided into
classes, arranged according to the extent over which they
had operation, some relating to the whole of the king-
dom and others only to portions, others to revenue, mak-
ing altogether thirteen classes. As they went back in
this operation, many portions would be struck out, but
until they went back from Queen Victoria to the time
of Magna Charta, they would never be certain that there
was not some portion of the statute law relating to some
particular subject which had not remained undiscovered.
The commissioners selected a variety of subjects, one of
the first being the criminal law, in accordance with a
resolution of the house, that it was desirable that the
criminal law should be consolidated. With regard to the
criminal law, it had been gone carefully through by Mr.
Greaves, a member of the commission, and Sir Fitzroy
Kelly, and a bill was brought in with regard to indictable
offences. He (the Lord Chancellor) did not think that
that bill went far enough, and he had now eight bills,
fore hich he asked a first reading. Amongstethem there
was the bill relating to criminal procedure, the considera-
tion of which he thought should be deferred. These
eight bills included oficnees against the person, larceny,
malicious injury to property, forgery, offence.; against the
coin, libel, accessories and abettors. Those were the bills
he proposed now to lay before Parliament. There were
several other bills ready, but be had thought it advisable
that some of them should be Aroduced in the other house
in order that it might be seen to what extent the com-
missioners had proceeded. In the course of their inquiry
they had come to the conclusion that there were many
ancient statutes which could not be consolidated ;
for example it would be the height of pedantry to attempt
to consolidate Magna Charta or Quia Emptores. There
were a vast number of other statutes relating to various
subjects which it would be impossible to consolidate
without actually re-writing them, and then there would
be great danger in altering language which had received
a juicial construction. Again, there were a good many
statutes which could not be repealed, but which it would
be absurd to consolidate—the Willa Act would be a good
illustration of what it meant, and so, again, with regard
to the Tithe Commutation Act. Still, after all, there
remained a vast number of subjects which were matters
of statutory law, and those the commissioners had no
difficulty in consolidating. Several of these were in the
hands of the commissioners, and others in the hands
of the members of the lower house for the purpose of
being introduced to that assembly. It had been said
that the commission had done nothing, but he had no
hesitation in saying that very shortly they would be able
to reduce the forty or fifty volumes at present existing
into the small compass of two or three volumes.
Lord L'ROUGHAM considered that a consolidation
of the statute law, apart front a consolidation of the
common law, was not desirable. At the same time he
quite agreed with the noble lord in his estimate of
the reduction which the labours of the commission would
effect on the bulk of the statutes. The commissioners
had undergone an immense deal of labour, and deserved
the thanks of the country. If he might select some
names from the others, he would especially mention
the noble lord (the Lord Chancellor), NIL Bellenden
Ker, Mr. Walter Coulson, and Sir F. Kelly. (Rear.)
Lord CAMPBELL thought it would be better to
see a consoldation of the statutes as a whole, and he
trusted that his noble and learned friend would be con-
tent with this specimen. He trusted that they would
never attempt to consolidate such statutes as Magna
Charts, for it they were to attempt to touch a word of
them they would set all England in a flame.
The bills were read a first time.
GOVERNMENT SECURITIES OF ROMAN
CATHOLICS.
Lord MANGER moved fora return of all property
held in trust for Roman Catholic uses, his object being