only condition upon which he can justly hold his land, is so to use it as to promote the well-being of its inhabitants, is morally bound to attend to its proper cultivation himself, or to give reasonable leases, so as to induce others to do so. Instead also of allowing vast tracts of reclaimable land to lie waste, or converted into preserves for wild animals, he is morally bound to attend to their culture himself, or to give the inhabitants located thereon, a reasonable right of occupancy, so as to stimulate them to do so; instead of pulling down their cottage homes, and sweeping them from the land of their fathers.

In like manner, all public companies and individuals, have their moral, as well as legal duties to perform; and these are to study the safety, the health, convenience and general welfare of the public; duties paramount to any mere selfish, or pecuniary consideration.

DUTIES AS CITIZENS OF THE STATE.

RESPECTING THE LAWS OF THE LAND.

By Laws are meant rules or regulations, laid down by the Legislature of a country, for the guidance of human conduct; commanding individuals what they must do, and informing them what they must refrain from doing, in order to secure the well-being of society; while at the same time they warn them of the penalties they will incur if they violate such public commands and injunctions.

The necessity for laws, is occasioned by individuals not possessing sufficient wisdom, and moral principle, to guide their conduct, and perform their duties to their fellow men; and therefore, wanting these inward principles to guide them, they must, for the welfare of society, be controled by an outward power, that of the law.

The laws therefore should be so framed as to be instructional to the people; and for that end should be clear, brief, and specific, so as to be readily understood; and uniform, just, and humane, so as to make their impression on the moral feelings.

As the laws are also intended for the security of society, rather than the punishment of offenders; and as the violators of them, are for the most part, the ignorant and demoralized, they should be constructed with the view of securing society against a recurrence of offences, and to amend the conduct of offenders, by detention, enlightenment and moral and industrial discipline; and, should they prove hopelessly incorrigible, to restrain them from the doing of further wrong.

As equity should be the foundation of law; and as there can be no equality of punishment by means of pecuniary fines, equally exacted from each; such penalties should either be done away with, or awarded on some graduated scale, according to the wealth or station of the offender.

As the multiplicity of local laws, privileges and customs, gives rise to litigation and contention, on account of the clashing of particular and general interests, and places obstacles in the path of improvement; the laws should be general in all matters pertaining to the general welfare. All laws therefore relating to the public health, convenience, or education of the people, should be general in their character; however necessary it may be to empower and cause the inhabitants of any locality to carry them into effect; the executive at the same time maintaining the power of enforcing them.

As the laws relating to landed possessions are at present rendered extremely voluminous and intricate, owing to descents, settlements, entails and incumbrances; these should be subjected to such just arrangements and alterations as to render the laws respecting them, few and simple.

So far however from the laws of this country, being in accordance with those principles of justice, they are bulky beyond all possibility of their ever being known by the people; are lengthy, technical, and obscure, beyond the possibility of any but lawyers to understand them; and are so opposed and contradictory to one another, that it is in the power of any judge to cite good law in favour of any side of a question. In fact the law, as a celebrated statesman has informed us, may be regarded as "a sealed book, the patrimony of the rich, a two-edged sword of craft and oppression.

* Lord Brougham on the state of the law.

The laws of this country, are of two kinds, the common law, and the statute law.

The COMMON LAW, sometimes called the unwritten law, is founded on custom, precedent, and decisions in courts of justice, from the earliest times. It may be said to be made up of the traditions, customs, and decisions that prevailed in courts of justice, among the various races that from time to time have settled in this country; comprising Britons, Romans, Picts, Saxons, Danes and Normans; to which has been added the canon, or ecclesiastical law, made up of the decrees of councils, popes, kings and emperors. The whole of which has been turned, twisted and amplified by lawyers and judges, ancient and modern, until the common law now fills upwards of 1060 folio, quarto, and octavo volumes; to the elucidation of which there have been published, during the present century, 2680 digests, abridgments, commentaries, epitomes, treatises, &c. &c.

The STATUTE LAW consists of various acts and edicts that have been made, from time to time, by kings, queens, lords, and commons; the oldest in our statute books being Magna Charta reluctantly granted by King John. They are said to amount to upwards of thirteen thousand different acts; and to fill 50 quarto volumes.

This mass of law, with all its technicalities, repetitions, and obscurity, renders it impossible for the people generally to know what the law is on any subject. Indeed we have the authority of an eminent judge * for believing that they are far too numerous and complicated for even legal professors themselves ever to be acquainted with them. But, whenever lawyers have any particular case to attend to they read up for it; that is they search among this incongruous mass for any statutes, cases, or precedents bearing on the subject.

* Lord Thurlow.

I

Amid this complication of law, there can be no security for obtaining justice; no certainty of receiving punishment or crime. In addition to which skilful lawyers, and dexterous advocates, by perplexing and mystifying men of plain common sense, often frustrate the ends of justice, and enable deeply-dyed criminals to escape the punishment they justly merit.

To remedy this state of things, Mr. Jeremy Bentham proposed many years ago the substitution of a comprehensive body of law, founded upon what he called, "the greatest happiness principle." That is he proposed that whatever is good and valuable in law should be reduced and classified under three general heads, to be entitled the constitutional, the civil, and penal codes. That they should be written in plain common language, and be as clear and brief as possible; and that every clause or division of the law, should contain a reason for its enactment, so as to be instructional to the citizen, and a guide to the judge.

For such a codification of the laws, he proposed that competitors among the people, be invited to send in sample draughts, or specimens, of a portion of such general code, for the consideration in the first place of a legislative committee. That this committee, having approved of any one specimen should instruct the author to prepare a complete draught of the general code; which, with the different specimens given in, should be finally laid before the legislalature for their consideration.

This proposal for making the laws intelligible to the people was, as might be expected, ridiculed, condemned, and opposed by the legal profession; many of whom regard the laws in their present state as "the perfection of human reason," to alter which is to spoil. It is however some gratification to find that the seed sown by the good old philosopher, even in stony places, has not all perished; for