New-York daily tribune., 1844-06-04
Besuties Of Lnvv.

iy0Yd bkoUCHAN, III moving iDe scN'isS 80
Of his bill for the consolidation Of the cnrmna
laws, stated the object he had IN view, which i
70 digest and condense the enormous mass oil ou
criminal statute law, reducing 1t To w!itten pm
ciples and distinct code, easily accessible, inte!
Iigibie, and capable of being carried INTO e1eco
ton with facility. His Iordsbip thfn commente'
ON the universal concurrence IN opinion as ID tn
des;rableuess Of this among philosophers, lawyers
and the most enlightened judges and statesmen
and then gave an amusing account OF the vo
luminous records In which English law is pre-
served.
nMy Lords" he said, "I have spoken Of digest
ing the whole Of the Criminal Law, or the Whme
the Statute Law, Civil we'll as Criminal, ano w.
merely the Statute, but the Common Law. -, -,
statemen, Of the manner in which the Cou'inop "a" "
is locked up, or dused or scattered in Ihe BOOKS n
WHICH alone il il to be found is a sufficient arg
roenr, were there none Other for not exeiuons w
Common Law from the inquiry. But ~heo ! '"n Coine
70 The Crminal Law Of the land the case pecol'''
much stronger, and will presently show your lo'u,
ships WHY. Can any thing equsi 'ne aD'u'o'y ~
continuing your code OF criminal law 10 you. s'a'u
tory or written Law, and leaving OUT ai 'na' 70
,a;ned in your common law-when you reject ior
ons moment what must be the language which the
lavoiyer holds upon this subject 10 those ne cali
mn, IN obey under the seyerest penalues ne
tell, them, 'Disobey at your peril; here IS the Iae
wr,,en 90 plain that he who runs may read But,
ask, the subject is ;his all the law Very isr
from il replies the legislator; IL s not above one
fourth or one.ith OF the law you have 10 obey Du'
whcro ,ou arc to fud the rest is more than con
,eIl, 'rbis is the language which the lawgiver
holds Obey me at your poril, but cannot tel
YOU what is the law; disobey me at your peril
bur cannot tell you what you are 10 obey
The written law you have, but for the remainne
part YOU must find it ou, for yourself IN The bes'
way YOU are able, but cannot tell you where II j.
10 be found. IL is TO be found IN the 81 quar'o
volumes of statute law, in the 10000 closcl, :
printed pages Of reports. and II you want an W.
dex il is contained in 5000 pages, but more /
am bound not 10 tell you. Nevertheless disobey
me at YOUR peril. Among the various
advantages which the reduction OF the written and
unwritieu law 10 digest produces, VIII remno
your lo,dships of the main one-that II enables the
subject TO know what he has 10 obey, az well as the
practitioner 10 know how he rs to counsel MS client
and the Judge 10 know how he s 10 decide on M
cause. [ rnay be allowed TO give your lordships a
lew examples oi The stale Of confusion and uncer-
tuin,y IN which our law now stands, written or un
written: and there he such uncertainty IN It's wri
ten parts il may safely he assumed that there IL u.
much in the unwrien. A. 10 the written, the learn
ed sioners have collected less Than thn
teen definitions Of the crime oi theta crime, be II
remembered fer which about L. 600 persons are trtd
yearly FIVE ef which d.init,ons totally diverse
and they are by judges well as text writers. a.
TO the general state Of the lsw, there now l,54
statutes in force, $50 OF which repealed sup
posed TO he repealed directly by parliament; lag ar
repealed or supposed 10 be- rtp-sled BY Implication
23i are, hut most insccurately, called obsolete, be-
cause in England there is such thing as an obsd-
lcs statute. IL has been lald down beyond contra
dcfion thar a statute cannot be obsolete. statute
La nnnljrnbts IN fhe
of TIC day, applied 10 vieins, for H.
stance, class who no longer exist; but many oi
these acts are quite applicable 10 the circumstances
OF the dAv, and they might he enforced II aDybody
chose TO put them in force or 376 which ARE re-
peaed, or supposed 10 he repealed by implication,
or said TO be obsolete, that is acted upou ho"
man, do your lord-hips think II is quite doubtful
whether h-y are repealed or in force Very nearly
one-half, lac How are YOU 10 tell whether these
ore or are not the existing law OF the land But
besides. there are Two three OF statutes sup
posed 10 I've repealed directy--not obsolete, not hy
implication about which il is perfectly impossible
to know whether they are repealed or not. Will
take as an example the 3rd aud 4th Henry vi, TO-
which makes il most grave offence, severely pun
ishabe for any pcrron u have in his possession the
images taken out OF u church; but then there is
merciful proviso, except those of Dobeman, or
other persons who arc not reputed saints 50 that If
were 10 luke an image out of charch, i! il oi
a rcputed .aiut, should be liable to the severest
penalties but II IL were OF body who was not
repued-of any OF my noble friends me, for il-
stance should escape penalty entirely. Laugh.
ter) Suppose it were my noble and learned friend
on the woolsack, might without fear take hiu.
daughter
Lord CAMPBELL: No, no; he is a saint without
being rcputcd. "a laugh
"Lord BnouGHAM: Well, npate is required. This
act waa subsequently repealed, but King James /.
repealed the repeating act; and therefore there is
the creates, doub, whether the original act o. Par
halnent Ia not revived Again: there is the SD OF
Henry Vlil.-ihe law OF mainlenance-uo one can
tell an to that Then there is the 23d Henry VIII.
for the atraint OF Juries finding false veniics Some
say il is repealed; | do not know whether il is oh.
solets or not; but know that Lord Ellenborough
being very much dissatisfied with several verdicts
which went against his opinion, threatened the Jury
IN his place with the 23d Henry Will which, he
said, was a great mistake TO think Was repealed.
Lord CAMPssLL: That was repealed by Sir
Samuel Shepherd.
LORD BRoueHAa: That was brought under the
attention OF the learned Commissioners, and the,
sound was exceedingly doubtful whether the act OF
sita'nt was repealed, and have pu, il as query. |
Know Mis the opinion Q. some that Sir Samuel Shep-
herd did npeali,.
Lofv SANpBslL: know IL was intended
Lotu nRoeoaAN: Well, there is Lord Ellen
borough oPimen that II was no, done. There is
another act, which, ior the second offence. nre
scnbes the penalty OF imprisonment, for M; ~ amy
person who by fond, fantastic prophecies sbsl, ~;
Tempt the stirring up OF faction, have hs,rj ,sT,,
noble persons IN this House dealing in ,h;s TT
with sufficient frequency, and prodiysI os ,h..;,
prophecies too, without any though, Of pun;sbn,s,
being inflicted 4 iaugh.l Then ,hers is H. Se,S
Of Henry VII. aud the 9Th and 9th OF Henr, VI w
10 which no man can tell whether they are icr.saS
OF not, which make it capital for any person 10 cal
the Sovereign pr,n,, nr6del, or schismatic. So
that Il any person li0 years ago had happened 10
tell the truth respecting King William, OF glorious
memory, and say that hS was a Presbyterian, or Il
schismatic, he would have been guilty OF High
Treason; and no man can tell whether this is So
now OF not. There is another act of Henry'Ylll
cruel and brutal, Ike man, others OF that ,yran,-
Tor SO he vas, and schismatc a, least ii not an
inhde-hut the arst Defender ot the Faith passed al
&C, OF the mos, atroc,ous Kind, that ii any person
after committing treason, became luustic, hs
should De pan,sned capttslly, notwithstanding he
could no, plead 10 The indic,ment. Now, no n,su
can Tell whether that act Is repealed or mol Then
there the act against ioresiallins The act nm,
hibiling The imrortanon Of orvign cards for c.rnt
wool and the 18th OF Eizabe h, fnyhiddips Corn 10
he exported when Wheat was At 6s. Sd a cus,,sr
The I'd Richsn III. which allows no shoe.mas.,
under severe penalties, 10 be tanner ror any tan
uar 10 he a shoe-nSssr, ~ well a. the Sd and I,F
Edward VI. t1rolddiug any servant. laborer @,
arti6cer to ~ hrsd oy the asy, or Tor less perio
ehan wear; . law which, Is soar Lordships Know
Is violated every day. The i,h pf Geary Vii hS,
~ CART, k,yisl ,>,,