a proftitution of the one, fuch a degradation of the other. How much more worthily might the former be exerted in the cause of Virtue; how much more becomingly might the latter be exercifed, in duly difcharging its amiable, its natural functions !— Let not, then, a Chriftian Divine, the fervant of the Prince of Peace, in direct oppofition to the meek and beneficent deportment of his Mafter, become a fower of Sedition, a promoter of Discord! nor miftakily imagine that, in fo doing, he is fulfilling the Scripture which faith, "I came not to fend peace, "but a fword."

Dear Ch! in the fpirit of fincere regard, in the fpirit of that honest friendship which means better toward you, than' all the injurious applause of those who may flatter even your indifcretions, confider, ere it be too late, ere the tide of popularity turn against you,-confider what you have written, what you may now be writing; and dedicate your future labours to thofe more laudable purpofes, for which wife men will praife, good men love, and even bad men refpec you! but what is of infinitely greater confequence, in your cooler moments, you will even respect yourself.

Poffibly this well-meant exhortation may, at prefent, only excite in you emotions of refentment; but we doubt not they will foon fubfide, and a jufter sense of our friendly intention take place. We truft the feed will not be fown in an ungrateful foil-we hope to fee it one day fpring up, and produce fuch an harveft, as both you and we may rejoice in the reaping. In the pleafing expectation, therefore,(hereafter of Reviewing the productions of your BETTER pen, we bid you cordially farewell; concluding with the words of Tully, addreffed to his fon, with whom we must suppose he dealt as fincerely as we have here dealt with you:

Hac ferifi non otii abundantia, fed amoris erga te.

G

The Statutes at Large, from Magna Charta, to the End of the Reign of King Henry the Sixth. To which is prefixed, a Table. of the Titles of all the publick and private Statutes, during that time. By Owen Ruffhead, Efq; 4to. 12s. 6d. in Sheets. Becket, &c.

TH

HIS is the firft volume of a compleat edition of the Statutes at Large, from Magna Charta to the end of the laft parliament, 1761, intended to be comprifed in eight volumes, and now publishing feparately for the conveniency of

the

en/

the public: a work which our readers must be fenfible, comes no farther under the cognizance of a literary journal, than as it affords fomething new or remarkable on the part of the Editor. A very fenfible and learned preface accordingly diftinguifhes this edition, and affords at once an explanatory introduction to the work, as well as an eminent proof of the Editor's abilities for the undertaking in which he hath engaged.

He fets out with obferving the rude and defective state of our laws, in the early periods of English hiftory; the ancient ftatutes of this kingdom, being, moft of them, drawn up without order or precifion, without any fettled precedent; and feeming, in particular inftances, rather to be provifions extorted by fome predominant influence, than laws inftituted by the concurring affent of a regular legiflature. "Some degree of order, fays he, beamed forth under the Reign of Edward I. many laws of that time being penned with a brevity and perfpicuity, which might do honour to more enlightened days. But ftill the greater part of the ftatutes even of that reign, and of thofe immediately fucceeding, are not only vague and unfettled in point of form, but are fometimes defective in point of substance. In many, there are no words expreffing by what authority they were promulgated; and in thofe, wherein the enacting autho-' rity is declared, it is varioufiy defcribed. In fome inftances, the laws feem to iffue from the king alone; feveral acts running) in the form of charters and patents. In others, they feem to proceed from the king and Lords jointly, without the concurring affent of the commons."

He enumerates other defects and inconveniencies, as well attending the formation, as the exccution of the statute laws; whereby the courts of juftice were fometimes entrusted with a dangerous difcretionary power, and at others left open to be corrupted by temptations, or expofed to be overawed by me

naces.

Thefe inftances of diforder and irregularity, having, among other circumftances, given rife to objections against the validity of feveral early acts, our learned Editor undertakes to obviate thofe objections, and establish the authority of fuch acts. In doing this, he gives a brief explanation of the method in which our ancient acts of parliament were paffed; and difplays the refpective influence of the feveral orders of the ftate at different times; the whole forming a fatisfactory and inftructive difquifition, at once fo pertinent and concife, as to evince the writer. moft perfectly acquainted with the progrefs of the laws and hiftory of the conftitution. To this we may alfo add, as a more refpectable characteristic, that he fhews himfelf on every occa

fion a friend to the liberties of mankind, and an enemy to tyranny and oppreffion.

He proceeds next to take notice of a complaint, frequently made concerning the vaft multiplicity of our ftatute laws, which has been deemed the occafion of such confufion and perplexity, that propofals to reduce their bulk, have been long fince recommended to the parliament from the throne itfelf. He is, by no means, however, for having the laws which have been altered or repealed by fubfequent acts, left out of our ftatute books; as by fuch means, he conceives pofterity might be greatly at a lofs to account for several inftitutions, which are only to be explained by reference to thofe venerable relicks of antiquity. He thinks, it may be a queftion, therefore, whether an attempt to contract the bulk of our ftatute code by fuch expedients, might not prove an innovation more dangerous than useful; there being many repeated and obfolete ačts, t which, though they do not govern, are yet very proper to guide; as they frequently contain matter of curious learning, and may often ferve the purpose of hiftorical proof and illuftration.

Knowing full well the paffion we are fometimes apt to contract for the most infignificant appendages to the favourite objects of our attention, we do not wonder our learned Editor is fo loth to part with his antiquated ftatutes; nay, we are well fatisfied of their utility, in the method he hath reprefented. With due deference, however, to the learned in the law, we really think a code is not the moft proper repofitory for mere matter of curious learning; but that thefe venerable relicks of antiquity might be preserved in fome other form, equally to the emolument of the learned, and to the lefs perplexity of the ignorant. Indeed our Editor himself feems ingenuously to acquiefce in the juftice of the objection; tho' as a lawyer, he may poffibly think acts of parliament articles of profit, and be therefore unwilling to fee his ftock in trade diminished. Raillery, however, apart, we cannot fufficiently admire his liberal fense of freedom, and that strict regard which he displays for the principles of natural juftice; qualifications for which the gentlemen of his profeffion have not been always the moft remarkable.

"It is indeed to be lamented, fays he, that our penal laws are fo numerous; but perhaps this is an inconvenience unavoidably refulting from the wide and extenfive concerns of a commercial kingdom. Though a ftate confined within a narrow fphere of action, may be very vicious, yet the modes of vice will not there be greatly diveifified: offences will multiply, as

3

the

they

the pursuits and occupations of mankind grow more various and
diffufive and in a kingdom so jealous of its liberty, as to leave
as little as poffible to difcretionary power, every offence must be
precisely defcribed; therefore it is well obferved by Montefquieu,
that the multiplicity of our laws is a price we pay for our
freedom." To this, however, it may be anfwered, in the'
terms of the proverb, that even pearls may be bought too dear.
The beaft who falls a prey to the Lion, dies a lefs lingering
and painful death, than that which is left to be worried by
dogs. It is but small comfort to a poor man, who is hunted
by a rich and powerful plaintiff through the courts, till he is
ruined by the expence and chicanery of law, that he lives in a
free country, where he cannot be ruined all at once by a de-
fpotic prince or an infolent Baron.

The liberty and fecurity of a people, which do not affect
every individual, however may serve for a public boaft, is are
hardly worth seriously contending for. If the perplexity of our
laws, and thence the mal-administration of justice fhould ever
make the liberty and property of individuals as precarious and
infecure, as they were in times of defpotifm, the nature and
minifters of their oppreffion only are changed; the degree of it
will be the fame. And, let us tell our ingenious Editor, that
this is a matter of more serious concern, and of much greater
importance, than the prefervation of any matter of curious
learning, that may be contained in thofe venerable relicks, his
old acts of parliament.

In fpeaking of our penal laws, this learned writer drops a hint or two, which we fhould be glad to fee perfued much farther. "It may not be improper to obferve, fays he, that our ftatute laws with refpect to criminal offences, feem to breathe too much the spirit of Draco's; all degrees of offence being confounded, and all proportion of punishment destroyed : whence many delinquents are, with cruel precipitancy, hurried out of the world for flight tranfgreffions, who, by prudent and adequate correction, might be made ufeful to themfelves and to, fociety. Men, bewildered in the maze of ftoic fophiftry, may revolt against the obvious principles of nature, and contend for the neceflity of commutative juftice: but reafon evidently declares, that punishments should, as nearly as poffible, bear proportion to the offences committed: and, though this rule cannot, in fome cafes, be ftrictly adhered to, yet it ought, in ge neral, to be the guiding principle.

-Adfit

Regula, peccatis quæ pœnas irroget æquas :
Nec feutica dignum, horribili fectere flagellos

« Experience fufficiently evinces, that extraordinary feverity! has never produced any lafting effect. It has indeed been fometimes found to check the evil for a time, but then, as Mon-' tefquieu obferves, it has returned with the fame violence as before. To render the intended effect permanent, the laws fhould be adapted to the genius of the people, and the nature of the conftitution: And it would be a taik well worthy the wifdom of the legislature, fo to model them that they may better answer the true ends of government, which are to prevent, rather than to punish crimes." Nay, he fcruples not to infinuate, that the prefent unequal fyftem of our criminal laws, is not calculated even to answer the end of deterring offenders. He conceives, alfo, that many other amendments might likewife be made by legislative authority: and many irregularities in the frame of our statutes corrected without any hazard of inconvenience. That feveral laws enlarged, explained, continued or revived by subsequent ftatutes, might be reduced into one act: and where various matters, in no wife relative to each other, are comprised in the fame ftatute, they might be digested and claffed under proper heads.

"In the prefent edition, fays the Editor, fome attempts have been made, which may, perhaps, in no fmall degree, obviate the abovementioned inconveniencies, refulting from the confused and irregular state of our statute law. With a view to this end, great care hath been taken to correct the errors, and fupply the defects in former collections, by rectifying many miftaken and imperfect references, and by fpecifying the operation of the acts referred to; that is by diftinguishing whether they repeal, enforce, explain, continue or revive the act under confideration. Moreover, where the ftatute referred to, contains matter relative to fubjects of different natures, the reader is directed to the very fection which regards the object of his inquiry and for the fake of greater accuracy, particular attention hath been paid to place the act referred to, where it hath been found practicable, directly oppofite to the clause affected by the reference. Many thousand new references likewife are added in this edition, which are brought down to the prefent time, in a progreffive chain; and alfo traced upwards in chronological order, by which means the reader will have the ftatute law relative to the subject of his purfuit, under his immediate infpection."

The reader will readily fee that the connected view, thus planned out by the Editor, is very judiciously calculated to obviate the fatigue and difficulty of tedious and intricate fearches ; as by this method of comparing fubfequent ftatutes with those KEV. Jan. 1763.

pre