statutes are within the scope of this work, my answer is, that I have fully abridged above 1200 English and imperial statutes, and about 500 Irish statutes, exclusive of those which are but partially stated; and that by reference to the titles of the several chapters, or the index to the contents, or to the chronological tables, it may be seen what acts this work professes to embrace. But if by some I may be thought to have omitted statutes which I should have introduced, I may be arraigned by others for having abridged several of an obsolete description: Certainly the statutes respecting the proceedings in real actions, and others of this nature, and many also respecting the criminal law, are antiquated or out of use, but they are not repealed; and as they compose a part of the general statute law, and are the foundations upon which the modern structure of our law is built, I have therefore given them a place in this digest: And it may also answer this useful purpose, of bringing them before the view of parliament, to the end that such as do not sort with the condition of the times," may be either repealed or modified. In rejecting or retaining acts, I have, however, exercised the best judgment of which I was capable.

xix

Distinctions

Another part of the mechanism of this work consists in the mode of exhibiting the distinc- between Engtions between the English and Irish statutes.

1

lish and Irish statutes, how

For this purpose, in abridging the English statutes, pointed out. where I found any Irish acts in pari materia, then if the variations were not too numerous, or of too great length, they are in general pointed out in side or bottom notes, or by way of observation in the text or body of the work; or otherwise the Irish statutes are also abridged, and brought into juxtaposition with the English statutes upon the same subject, so that the comparison between them may

be

f

be easily made, and the distinctions be quickly discovered.* Where the Irish statutes are transcripts of any English acts, or precisely corresponding, they are referred to as such.

Addenda & I have thus explained the plan and object of Corrigenda. this work; I cannot flatter myself that it is altogether free from errors; but I am conscious that

Errata.

It was scarce

I have used every diligence, and made every ex-
ertion in my power to avoid them.
to be expected that a work of this nature should
be struck off in a perfect form at the first heat:
but I have in the Addenda subjoined to the work,
corrected every material error, and supplied every
omission, which, upon an attentive review, I was
able to discover. This appendix or supplement
contains also the statutes of the three last sessions,
which were published since this work was put to
press.

Notwithstanding the great attention I paid to the correction of the press, I find that some typographical errors, and grammatical inaccuracies, had either escaped me, or the compositors who should have corrected them: but these also I have pointed out in the Errata.

From this exposition of the plan of this work, it is hoped that it will appear to be not only useful as a comparative view of the English and Irish statutes, for which purpose it was primarily designed, but also as a digest and review of the statutes themselves, or of such as were most important to be brought before the view, and within the reach of the parliament and the public. A general revision of the statute law has been often recommended from the throne, and has been petitioned for by both houses of parliament in England. It has en

gaged

The English statutes are distinguished by the letters Eng. the Irish by Ir. and those common to England and Ireland by the letters E, & I,

gaged the labours of successive committees, and has occupied the attention of some of the most distinguished and learned men in England.* In 1650 a committee was named to revise all former statutes and ordinances then in force, and consider as well which were fit to be continued, altered, or repealed, as how the same might be reduced into a compendious way, and exact method, for the more easy and clear understanding of the people. And in 1666 a committee was also appointed to confer with such of the lords, judges, and other persons of the long robe, who had already taken pains and made progress in perusing the statute laws, and to consider of repealing such former statute laws as they should find necessary to be repealed, and of expedients for reducing all statutes of one nature under such a method and head, as might conduce to the more ready understanding and better execution of such laws. But this great national work was never carried forward to any degree of maturity. If in the reign of Elizabeth, James I. or at the period of the usurpation or restoration, the undertaking was found too arduous to be accomplished, it will be admitted that it required some courage to encounter, and some fortitude to persevere in a task of a similar nature, at a time when the statutes have so multiplied, and when the accumulated weight of the Irish statutes was also superadded. I have not the vanity to think that these volumes contain such a revision as these great men had contemplated; but I have some hope that they will furnish materials useful for such a review, and that I have at least smoothened the path, and diminished the labours of those who shall follow me in this course. But the difficulty of this undertaking consisted not only

C

Lord Bacon, Lord Hale, Lord Hobart, &c. &c.

See the speech of

James I. to

ment.

only in the great mass of statutes to be digested, but also in the number of cross and cuffing statutes" which are to be found upon various the parlia- topics of the law, so that it is often difficult to say how far one may not have been superseded by another; and even when they were not inconsistent, yet to incorporate the amendments, which I have in many instances done, was a task which required minute and laborious attention. To separate those acts which were in force from those which were expired, or were superseded or repealed, was attended also with considerable trouble; and I have, in many instances, lost much time in tracing an act through several continuing statutes to the one which had finally perpetuated it. And here I beg leave to submit it, whether it would not be more adviseable, in cases where the policy or expediency of any acts are doubtful, to leave their duration undefined, (which will not preclude their being repealed when it shall so seem proper,) than to be continuing them from time to time, which requires the constant vigilance of parliament, and produces considerable embarassment, from the multitude of acts and clauses continuing and reviving others. I beg leave also to observe, that sufficient attention has not been paid to the framing the titles to acts of parliament; as instances might be produced of clauses of a general nature being contained in acts purporting to be merely local, and provisions of permanent force and authority in statutes which profess by their titles to be merely temporary. The titles are frequently defective also, in not embracing or leading to the variety of subjects about which they are conversant : but here I should submit that there ought to be a distinctness and an unity in every act of parliament, to avoid the confusion arising from a mixture of discordant n.atter, which has frequently occurred.

The

The 22 Geo. 2. c. 46. Eng. was called a " Hodgepodge Act," from the number of unconnected subjects to which it related, but there are many such to be found amongst the English and Irish statutes. Some perplexity has also arisen from the want of attention to a just arrangement of the several clauses of statutes: This has in many instances, I believe, arisen from the alterations that bills undergo in their progress through parliament, but in many also from a defect in their original formation. I have given to the statutes, and to their several clauses, that arrangement which appeared to me to be most proper: A few alterations have, however, since suggested themselves to me, which I should be glad to have made. With respect to the imperial statutes in particular, I have, in several instances, been at a loss to know to what parts of the united kingdom they were meant to extend, or be confined. I should submit, therefore, that either the title or preamble of each act should be so framed as to remove all uncertainty of this kind; or else that a distinct proviso should be introduced for the purpose. Such were the difficulties I had to encounter, and the perplexities which embarrassed me in my progress.

In framing this digest I availed myself of the compilations of other authors, not as directions for the mode of abridging the statutes, but as leading me to the statutes themselves. From Mr. Williams's digest in particular I derived some assistance, but to Mr. Ball's index my acknowledgments are more especially due. I was otherwise unassisted in the execution of this work: If, therefore, any merit it possesses, it is entirely my own, and I am alone responsible for its errors. It is now above three years since I announced this work as nearly ready for the press I felt it to be my duty at that time to submit to the judges and bar of Ireland a prospectus or outline of the plan: The sanction which I then re

ceived