1889-90.] EIGHTH MEETING. 13 



excessive bulk of the reports was codification, which meant the summing 

 up of past law, and gave a new start to case law. Speaking of statutes, 

 he divided them into the ante-reform period, where they constituted 

 isolated interferences by the legislature with the established course 

 of justice. The post-reform period took a much wider range, and 

 developed what is known as the consolidation system, which was 

 applied mainly to company and land law, to crimes and procedure. Mr. 

 Browning criticised the cumbrous form of statutes, their want of defini- 

 tion, redundancies in words, inaptness of division, want of thoroughness 

 and temporary character, but saw in consolidation a step to codification, 

 and in the late Judicature Act, the fullest consolidation we have, almost 

 a realization of it. Especial value was placed on text books, which were 

 ranked in three classes : First, those writers before Coke, who sum up, 

 or are supposed to sum up the early customar}' law of England, but whose 

 authority is now waning, as one of the results of recent investigation. 

 Second, writers from Hale to to-day. These enumerate, analyse and 

 extract general rules from cases and statutes ; but of late years are 

 becoming so unwieldy from mass of matter as almost to defeat their 

 end — an exposition of the law. In the third class are found Mr. Justice 

 Stephen, Sir Frederick Pollock, and others. They give special promin- 

 ence to principles and cite cases, not by way of discussion, but as 

 examples or foundations for principles, in a short, clear, mathematical form. 

 From this stage of legal development to codification the distance is not 

 far ; the very form they use is taken from Macaulay's penal code for 

 India. Mr. Browning then showed the principles on which the Anglo- 

 Indian codifiers proceeded, and illustrated his remarks by extracts from 

 their work. Except English-speaking peoples, all civilized nations have 

 codified their laws and find the system useful. England has used a code 

 of bills, notes, and cheques with acceptance since 1882, which our com- 

 mercial men might find it to their profit to introduce into Canada. 

 Summing up, Mr. Browning claimed for a competent codification the 

 following advantages : — i. The summing up of case and statute law in 

 distinct propositions with due limitations — reducing the law to Jefinite- 

 ness. 2. A consequent gain in intelligibility, an enormous saving in 

 labour and cost to the community. 



