Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1858-02-13
LOCAL INTELLIGENCE.

isu' az 'no nall OF the mon Fire Company, in
'ne First Ward, DIR. Newman occupying the
Guar, ana MI. j. w. Coombs acting as Secre-
tary.
The ball was opened by Henry Hardy, Esq %,
who mounted the stand In opposition to the Code
Although an advocate of Code hp was opnos,d
10 TINS Code, and IL we had to chose between ~
and the present system of government be was in
Iavor OF the latter. He thought that the spirit of
the codiers had been that of an EXCESSIVE Lite,
dlndFianism. The chapter In relation To inndsI
testimony he did not approve of; it was entirely
ana IN every respect not one growing out of the ne
,sr,iop Oh .ne occasion Another question ofob-
Lscuoh was the usury chapter The good old
Hosaic system had taught US that usury was un-
kihd, unjust, and all wrong. 1t was in effect
20 make .ne rich richer and the poor poorer. The
Us evidence OF this was that all the money len
uers were in favor of IL, as IL would tend To in
crease their fortunes fifty per cent II was fea-
ture not required. He also took issue with the
coulners In relation to the divorce law IL mad,
marriage nothing bat a civil contract To anv
person who had the least regard To the sanctity
OF the marriage relation this idea was NOT ONLY
Iidlculous but wicked. The speaker took the
ScilptuTal ground that Maria re was a divine re-
latlon, aud that what God hath Joined toyetber
no man should put asunder. Mr. III read from
nora s'oweil, distinguished English legal au-
.hoIlty TO show that il was a contract according
10 the law of nature antecedent to civilization
ana therefore sanctioned by the Almighty
=, Mr. Hardy was followed on the same side of
'be question by Oh. Lee Jones' ESQ who fool
very decided ground In the matter and gave the
proposed Code a most thorough blowing up gen
elaiiy He found fault with the assertion of the
ners that the proposed Code contained all the
raw that was necessary for the wants of the peo-
Pie, while In its preface IL declared the common
Jaw In full force. He made great fun of the fact
,naI the new Code declared that the military
must dress In uniform; he had heard mechanic
discuss the Code last night. and he thoug ht the
CCtlifers " ~ VIZ
MIR. Jones was followed by Mr. ] nj. Carlisle
in
Code. He began by stating that when the dis
"nsslons first began he had determined not TO
AK, AK part In them at all unless by invitation.
He had been invited to address the citizens pres
emf, and he came TO express in brief his views
upon the subject. He confessed that notwith-
standing the assertions Of the codifiers that the
new Code was so plain that any man not a law
yer could understand it. that after twenty wears
experience as a lawyer, there were portions of II
thdt ne could not understand. He quoted from
report OF speech made in Georgetown by one of
Tue codIhers, who said that the chief opposition
To the new Code came from the =. Buzzard roost
OF Washington" By this, he supposed was
times a wear ~
Tie stated that we were now in a great crisis in
ouT endlrs; we were, on a sudden, called upon to
Abolish all our present laws and adopt another
system to us unknown. What We did now we
o1o Tor future generations. The great question
was whether all the laws now existing should
ne abolished and a new Code instituted. or not
~ had supposed that the Code should have at
icdst contained the law of Congress authorizing
codifcation of the laws of the District Itwds
not there That act did not authorize a new set
oi laws out called upon the codifers to digest
ccdfy, and simplify the present laws 1t also
provided that such laws might be enacted in
we STATE OF Maryland during the codhcation,
were to be inserted in the Code; the itiers had
not done that, but they had undertaken TO coDv
lpm all the laws OF all the several States what
~ struck their fancy. There was no simpliti-
ION p, OF the new laws of Maryland in the Code.
he believed, on his honor as gentleman that if
,hls Code Were TO pass, the emoluments OF the
law profession would be increased ten-fold. He
sala tna,. candidly and fairly: so far his opin-
ION "oulo 80 Tor anything The codifers had
not ADVANCED single step in the object for
winch they had been appointed. So far as they
nsa introduced into the Code laws of the North
efh and w estern States, they had exceeded the
bounds of the act of Congress which had au
thoriLed the codiicatiop
The adoption of the Code by Congress as new
made up, would afford an excellent oppoI tunity
ior abolition agitators to frame an excuse for rails
inS the question Of slavery in this District Had
" been the speakers LOT TO live in any State of
me onioa, and as having in view its perpetual
vnoh down TO the latest posterity, he would de-
Bore most deeply discussion in Congress-
Wnieh would arise, inevitably, from the present
sIIea % the chapter in relation to slaves and
Sfoes, ~ that body. He again reverted to the
=. SSxss!dl'c Ioost spoken of by the Codihers, and
setntfo vigorously TO the fact that before the act
g Ceegrsssgave them salaries to codify the laws,
H1ey 8oe soneir living out of the buzzard's roost
soo1s{ back to the main point-that of the slavery
qN4Nthe speaker insisted that that cha pier
wSatd inevitably give rise in Congress to acri-
ihonlous discussion, and legislation upon slavery
IN the District, of which anti-SlaveTy agitato!s
would be careful TO take every advantage That
point, alone, would prompt him to vote against
the Code.
One great ground which led TO this pro-
posed codlhcation was that the Circuit Court
granted new trials when they ought not to- In
der the present law man to have new trial
must rake his motion within four DAYS after the
verdict The new Code provided that anolica
ton shall not be made until the commencement
OF the second term after that in which the former
decision Was rendered This was a most siupu-
lar coulncd'lon which gave a veIdict;and let the
successful Itigant enjoy his verdict and settle
hInseii down In his victory for two terms, in
PERFECT tranquility, and then in unsuspectins
iIoheul hauI him up for new trial. As whole.
me SPEAKER concluded that the Code was not a
voiuine that by any possibility would diminish
tne necessity for Lawyers, but on the contrary if
edopted, would very much increase their bust
ness, ana oil consequence be additional tax on
the community. As to the law i'm relation to
idnuioid and tenant, it certainly opened the door
TO the preparation of all kinds of fraud As to
the proposed conditions in i'm citation TO divorce
Tue speaker, In all sincerity, thought they Were
disgrace to any Christian community Mr. G.
SPOKE al considerable length and with great
cdndor "
Mr. Guild, in reply. stated that the ..Revised
Ccue was not his production. IL was the wo:
OF ADLER heads and more experienced hand,
Those provisions in IL which were departures
rom the existing law, had been adopted by State
cittt state, aud has been ard over again
explained by judicial Interpretation. Even in
England, under the lead Of Lord Broup ham
very many OF the distinctive features Of the Code
bad been made parts Of the English law With
reference to the law of slavery, Mr.. OuId after
thanking MI. Carlisle for the admission that
there had been no change proposed by the codi-
ners, remarked that it could not produce agita-
uon IN Congress, OF elsewhere, for the very Iea-
son that II proposed no change. The law Of slave
~ ~. this District would be the same whether
j ASs QcJe was adopted not. The codifers
s9ufpeeetJs determined TO pursue this course, and
80 faithfully had they perseveTed in it, that they
soRisA tsS lang uase OF the old Maryland law in
'emSon.U slavery, that being the only case
whfUkhey Lad followed its language
MfzVnid then, with great mil nation defended
y ADob -PfOvisOns OF the slavery law as were re-
,seehned IN the Code. and which had been attacked
by Mr.. Carlisle. Mr.. Ould next offended the
provisions of the Code in relation to testimony
II the infidel WAS put oil the footing of the liar
Od the amount Of credibility To he given to him
W1s len To the lnry-was not that enough ,
g. ouid not any other rule he pun.s hing him for
dis religious opinions or for The want OF them /,
Ii any such rule rs that was adopted, Mr. Oud
with great earnrstness contendrd you had but
ole step farther TO 20 in order TO put man under
eIvil disabilities for the character of his religious