NOTE C C. 



irritating creditors by exposure : and to prevent the obtaining possession of the 

 estate after disclosure, by rendering the witness incompetent : and that it had a 

 tendency to produce bribery and perjury ; that, even if a creditor ought to have 

 a reasonable time to gratify his injured feelings, the time ought to be limited ; 

 and he thought that the law, giving this power to an irritated individual, would 

 be perverted by some of the many bad passions, which ought not to interfere in 

 the administration of justice, such as resentment ; love of power the hope of 

 bribery, against which the legislature had vainly attempted to guard ; the hope 

 of concealment ; the hope to prevent the bankrupt s receiving any allowance ; 

 the hope to prevent his being a witness ; or the fear of competition in trade : 

 and he stated this to be the law in Holland, where commercial legislation is well 

 understood. The bill passed the House of Commons : it was rejected in the 

 Lords, upon a proposal by Lord Eldon, (who was then Chancellor,) that the 

 requisite number and value of signatures should be reduced from four-fifths to 

 three-fifths. 



About the same time Sir Samuel proposed that the law by which the stealing 

 to the amount of five shillings privately in a shop was punishable by death, 

 should be altered, as it was founded on an erroneous principle. It was suggested 

 that the punishment ought not to be diminished, but the amount of the goods 

 stolen increased. 



In various of the acts for the relief of insolvent debtors, which passed to 

 mitigate the severe operation of arbitrary imprisonment for debt, the reason 

 assigned in the preamble was, that the gaol was too full. The following is a 

 specimen : 6 Geo. III. c. 70. Whereas, notwithstanding the great prejudice 

 and detriment which occasional acts of insolvency may produce to trade and 

 credit, it may be expedient, in the present condition of the prisons and gaols in 

 this kingdom, that some of the prisoners who are now confined should be set at 

 liberty ; be it, &c. 



In May 1827, it was proposed to parliament to alter the law for arrest on 

 mesne process to the sum of 20/. Our advocate therefore resists such attempts, 

 which, instead of meeting, perpetuate the evil, which 



&quot; Keep the word of promise to our ear, 

 And break it to our hope.&quot; 



6. He assists in the improvement of the law. 



While he dwells in doubt, and is in a strait between the ancient error and 

 infant truth, he endeavours to improve himself, but after patient and successful 

 travail after truth, he diffuses the knowledge which he has obtained. Having 

 in the beginning consulted Argus with his hundred eyes, he now trusts to 

 Briareus with his hundred hands. 



7. He is not deterred from assisting in the improvement of the law by the fear 

 of worldly injury. 



Neither in general conduct nor in particular emergencies, are his plans sub 

 servient to considerations of rewards, estate, or title : these are not to have pre 

 cedence in his thoughts, to govern his actions, but to follow in the train of his 

 duty. In the conclusion of Sir Samuel Romilly s speech in the House of Com 

 mons, on the 26th May, 1810, he says, &quot; It is a common, and may be a 

 convenient mode of proceeding, to prevent the progress of improvement, by 

 endeavouring to excite the odium with which all attempts to reform are attended. 

 Upon such expedients it is scarcely necessary for me to say, that I have calcu 

 lated. If I had consulted only my own immediate interests, my time might 

 have been more profitably employed in the profession in which I am engaged. 

 If I had listened to the dictates of prudence, if I had been alarmed by such 

 prejudices, I could easily have discovered that the hope to amend law is not the 

 disposition most favourable for preferment. I am not unacquainted with the 

 best road to Attorney-Generalships and Chancellorships ; but in that path 

 which my sense of duty dictates to be right, I shall proceed j and from this no 

 misunderstanding, no misrepresentation shall deter me.&quot; 



8. He is not deterred from endeavouring to improve the law by the censure ever 

 attendant upon attempts to reform. 



