The Sun.
London, England, 1826-08-24 00:00:00

Otreel4lledis.play but little knowledge of the law, but
4 great deal of ignorance, and show at once, that how-
ever well founded may be their author's notions in
theory, they have but little sympathy in the practice.
Some Wild hallucination seems to have possessed him,
that 'his deep and penetrating understanding could
a,
niumme our systein by theoretical principles alone,
and put him instinctively in possession of what others
are obliged, to attain by dint of hard study and unfail-
ing attention. We shall not pretend to impugn this
wonderful mental power of the author of these Bills ;
we will, coi,tent ourselves with believing that it exists,
but whilst, following at a distance (a humble and re-
spectful distance) in the wake of this Legislative Star,
we will kindly now and then endeavour to remind him
of a fact or two, which, in the impetuosity of his
courser
.and the'galaxy of glory that attends him, he
might perhaps overlook. To make a beginning, then,
in this good and kind work, we tell this author that
the last of his three Bills is useless, inasmuch as the
law has been,- for all useful purposes, consolidated;
and-if this genius ever condescends to read to obtain
knowledge, he-may find the Act we allude to, form-
ing the 33d chapter of the Statutes passed in the
third year of the reign of the present King. In any
other, person but a natural genius (vulgarly called
" nay-tral genus"), we should say this was a piece of
ignorance that entirely unfitted a person for the occu-
pation of consolidating our statute law ; but far be it
from us to offend the majesty of this nay-tral genus
by such an accusation ; in him it was only an over-
sight, perfectly excusable, and of very little moment.
But let that pass.
We don't know how it is, but your nay-teal ge-
nusses seem to suppose all the world besides to be
'nay.-tral fools, and the one we are now referring to, in
compassion to our infirmities, and duly considering
the imbecility of the understanding of our Judges, is
so good as to add to his proposed law, " Rules for
the interpretation of this Act ;" a kindness, we are
convinced, the Bar and the Bench will duly appreciate
and-reward accordingly. What a pity it is this man
is not-a Judge, or at any rate a Justice of the Peace
and Chairinan of Sessions; - what extremely edifying
judgments. we should have I
As rules for the interpretation of Acts of Parlia-
tient are at all times desirable, we cannot, in mercy to
ow readers, refuse to insert one of them, and here
it is:—
" Andin order to remove doubts as to the meaning of certain
words in this Act, be it enacted, that the word person, and the
word party, and the word owner, and the word complainant,
shill each be deemed to include any number of person", parties,
illenere, or complainants, and of either sex ; and that the mean-
ing of the said several words shall not be restricted, though the
*Lune may be subsequently referred to in the singular number, or
"zueuline gender only ; and that whereon the subject matter on
or With respect to which any offence shall he committed, is PX,
Pressed or referred to, whether for value, or for any other pur-
l** whatsoever, in the singular number, it shall be deemed to
include any runtober of the same matters."
This last extract is past all comment ; we shall there•
fore abandon 'it to its fate, for it would be useless to
single out follies from that which is altogether ab-
surd. We cannot, however, but protest against these
insidious libels on the statutes of the realm ; which,
by vainly and foolishly. endeavouring to render that
perfect which cannot, in its very nature, be so, only makes
its. faults the more glaring, and its defects the more
. .
apparent. How mien is it to be repeated, that lan-
guage is necessarily uncertain ; that it is obviously im-
possible to legislate with precision, until human inge-
nuity can discover every possible case that can arise,
and'wordsbeiound adequate to express it, but not more
or less than adequate. How often must it be repeated,
that every attempt, to particularize necessarily weakens
the force of general provisions, andaffords food for quib-
bling, whilst it engendersdoubt.. Yet until this is under-
stood, our
,41Leta of Parliament continue' to' be
abused as unintelligible, and to be so with justice,
whenever they are framed without a full conviction
that these points are undoubted axioms in legislation ;
and the same kept constantly before the mind of
the framer of a statute. We are sorry to add that our
Acts but too often betray the absence of these ruling
axioms, but at, after years of practice, and volumes
written on the subject of road-making, the public now,
for the most part, understand, that to go round a hill,
is as short as to go over a hill, we are not without
expeetations they may, one of these days, arrive at the
conviction, that general words alone in Acts of Par-.
are freer from doubt and quibbling, than
when particularising clauses are joined, intended to
explain their force and meaning.

' Letters from St. Milo of the 10th of July, state that Napoli di
Itanlania was crowded with upwards of 30,000 people, chiefly
"fugees, and that the typhus fever had broken out among them.