hereafter to prevail with a sway, more extensive even than its present, over all the portions of the globe; for in wealth, good sense, and closeness of structure, no other of the languages at this day spoken deserves to be compared with it-not even our German, which is torn even as we are torn, and must first rid itself of many defects before it can enter boldly into the lists as a competitor with the English.

Surely this is a language which is worth preserving in its purity, which is worth weaving into textures of beauty, and which ought not to be employed in the manufacture of literary slang.

PROGRESS OF LEGAL REFORM1

'Edinburgh Review,' January, 1860.

UPON October 26, 1859, the citizens of Edinburgh received Lord Brougham at a public banquet in the music-hall of this city, where every man most eminent at the present time on the Bench and at the Bar of Scotland-every man most distinguished in science, in literature, or by public services-had spontaneously assembled to pay a mark of respect to one whose long life and varied labours have embraced almost all the objects which other men have, in their several vocations, pursued, and whose glory it has been to surpass the efforts of most of his contemporaries. Two days later the Academic Body of the University of Edinburgh, convened for the first time to exercise its powers under the new statute, displayed its high sense of the importance of this trust, and its sound judgment of the real interests of the University, by conferring upon Lord Brougham, by a large majority, the office and dignity of Chancellor of this learned foundation. Fortunately for Edinburgh, a man was to be found for this post, high in rank and in fame-the rewards of his own genius-who was born in St. Andrew's Square; who had sat on the benches of the High School; who had followed the courses of this very University; who had been admitted, some sixty years ago, an Advocate of the Bar of Scotland; who was one of the founders of the 'Edinburgh Review;' who has been one of the leading contributors to that journal during no inconsiderable portion

1 Lord Brougham's Acts and Bills from 1811 to the present time, now first collected and arranged, with an Analytical Review, shewing their results upon

the Amendment of the Law. By Sir JOHN EARDLEY-WILMOT, Bart. London : 1857.

of its existence; and who still retains in an advanced age, the power and the will to promote those reforms in the higher studies of Scotland, which are of such vital importance to the people of this part of Great Britain. We cannot deny ourselves the pleasure of putting on record these remarkable occurrences, because they are true indications of the veneration and regard of the men of Edinburgh, and the graduates of her University for Lord Brougham. The Edinburgh Review' was commenced by Henry Brougham and his contemporaries, now somewhat more than fifty-seven years ago; it has adhered to its principles with unabated fidelity; and though many of those who were once foremost in the struggle have done their work and are at rest, Lord Brougham has happily lived to witness the general acceptance and ascendancy of those liberal opinions and enlarged views as to Law Reform for which half a century ago it was almost hopeless to contend.

It was observed by an eminent Judge at the Edinburgh banquet, that whatever may be Lord Brougham's other claims to distinction, none will be more lasting than those which he has rendered to his own profession and to the country by his judicial decisions and by his successful exertions for the reform of the law. To that object especially one of his greatest orations was directed, and, unlike many of the brilliant displays of Parliamentary oratory, that speech has fulfilled much of its promise. It has been followed by constant efforts in every branch of the law to effect improvements, to cut away what was antiquated and onerous, and to give greater efficiency, cheapness, and despatch to the administration of justice.

The result of this sleepless activity has been the enactment by the Legislature of a great number of statutes; which together with many Bills proposed by Lord Brougham, but not assented to by Parliament, have been collected in a volume consisting of nearly nine hundred pages, by Sir John EardleyWilmot, and form a noble monument of the unwearied energy and patriotic devotion of one man to the cause of Law Reform. The work before us must have been, as indeed the able analytical review at the beginning shows that it was, a labour of love; for no hope of pecuniary remuneration could have

induced any editor to incur the trouble and expense of preparing and publishing a volume so little likely to attract ordinary readers. And yet we hardly know a more instructive work. There is an old maxim, plurimæ leges pessima respublica, and in these Acts and Bills we shall find the most cogent proof of the existence and nature of the mischiefs deeply imbedded in our legal system, which they were intended to remedy.

But in order to estimate at their true value the results, we must know something of the evils that had to be overcome. It is often difficult to realise a past state of things, even where the change has taken place in our own recollection. When a nest of ugly old houses has been pulled down, and replaced by a stately mansion, or a wide and commodious street, it is not easy to picture to oneself the nuisance as it formerly existed. Few remember the Rookery of St. Giles', the site of which is now occupied by lofty buildings and spacious shops, and yet it stood there, in all its squalidness and filth, only a few years ago. In like manner, we can hardly imagine ourselves living at a time when the Lord Chief Justice of England could rise in his place in the House of Lords, and oppose a Bill for abolishing the punishment of death in cases of stealing above the value of five shillings, in the following words:

My Lords, if we suffer this Bill to pass, we shall not know where to stand, we shall not know whether we are on our heads or our feet. If you repeal the Act, which inflicts the penalty of death for stealing to the value of five shillings in a shop, you will be called upon next year to repeal a law which prescribes the penalty of death for stealing five shillings in a dwelling-house, there being no person therein, a law, your lordships must know, on the severity of which and the application of it, stands the security of every poor cottager who goes out to his daily labour.

And yet this was the language of Lord Ellenborough in 1810. Still less can we bring ourselves to believe, that within the recollection of many persons now alive, a wretched woman, whose children were starving, and who entered a shop in Ludgate Hill, and secreted under her dress a piece of silk, which she dropped on the ground before she reached the door, was tried for the offence and hanged! We have seen one of the greatest statesmen of the present day shed tears when this anecdote was told him. If however we wish to place ourselves in the right point of view for appreciating the labours of such a

pioneer as Lord Brougham, we must transport ourselves in imagination back a few years, and we will take a familiar case to illustrate the state of the law as it then stood.

Suppose an action brought against a man upon a demand which he has satisfied by payment, but of this fact, owing to the loss of the receipt or otherwise, he has no other evidence than the testimony of himself and one other witness. In the first place, the debt being sworn against him, he has to find bail, and being unable to do this, he is thrown into prison upon what is called mesne process. This is not very likely to facilitate his means of defence, but let that pass. Written pleadings are prepared, in which his counsel makes a slip, undiscovered at the time, and the cause comes on for trial. He is not permitted to go into the witness box and state upon his oath that he has discharged the claim by payment. And it happens that his witness has become security for him, and is thus interested in the result of the trial; he therefore cannot be examined. By some miraculous chance, however, the case of the plaintiff breaks down, and the verdict is for the defendant. By this time, however, the slip of the pleader has been discovered, and the plaintiff goes into Court with the modest demand, that the verdict for his opponent shall be set aside, and that he shall be permitted to sign judgment against him non obstante veredicto. To this the Court, after some edifying remarks to the effect that in law technicalities must be upheld, and that hard cases make bad law,' accedes, and the unfortunate debtor is now taken in execution, and remains in prison at the suit of his creditor, until, if the debt exceeds 300%, he either discharges it by payment, or dies.

Or let us suppose the same person charged with a felony and put upon his trial. He employs counsel to defend him, and we will assume that the case is one that requires a skilful analysis of complicated facts, and a careful review of conflicting evidence. But his counsel cannot open his lips except to argue a point of law, and the miserable spectacle is exhibited of a man, who is perhaps innocent, convicted, because he has not ability to grapple with the case for the prosecution; while beside him sits one, who in mockery is called his advocate, and who could demonstrate the insufficiency of the evidence against him, but who cannot address the jury on his behalf