§ MR. HORSFALLsaid, he would beg to ask the Secretary for the Colonies whether, seeing the great inconvenience which arises from the existence of Dutch, Spanish, and French Laws in various of our Colonial Possessions, the time has not arrived when the attempt may be made to assimilate the Laws of our Colonies to those of the Mother Country?
LORD STANLEYsaid, that no doubt there did exist a great diversity between the laws which prevailed in different portions of the British empire; no doubt also that diversity gave rise to considerable practical inconvenience in this country, but possibly also in the Colonies; at the same time, however, he could not hold out to his hon. Friend any hope that the Imperial Government would attempt to remodel the laws in the Colonies, and establish a uniform system of law throughout the British, empire. Any such attempt, if made by the Imperial authority, would create in the Colonies concerned a feeling of great dissatisfaction and great discontent. In most cases, if not in each case, where the Colony formerly belonged to a Foreign Power, and came into the possession of the British Crown, a pledge was given to the inhabitants of the colony that they should continue to enjoy their own institutions and their own laws. Although he did not say that those institutions and laws belonging to a former time were inviolable 423 and for ever binding on this country, yet there were strong arguments against any interference with them by the Imperial authority. There had been some special cases in which it had been thought necessary to interpose by the Imperial authority; but, as a general rule, the matter had been left to the various local Legislatures. The Government of this country had always felt confident that in the lapse of time, and with the increased trade and increased intercourse with the rest of the British empire, English habits and English ideas would be introduced into our Colonies, as they already had been to a considerable extent in Canada and the Cape of Good Hope, and one result of that would be, that ultimately, although not at present, there would be established throughout the British empire a uniform legal system, free from practical difficulties. But in the meantime we were bound to consult the feelings and convenience of the inhabitants of the Colonies as well as our own; for, like ourselves, they were attached to the laws and institutions under which they had been brought up; and whatever might be the advantages—and he did not deny that they would be considerable—of a uniform system of law prevailing throughout the British empire, those advantages would be dearly bought if purchased at the expense of the loyalty and good will of any of the Colonies subject to British rule.