§ THE LORD CHANCELLORYour Lordships are aware that a new edition of the Revised Statutes is in rapid progress, and that Bills of this nature are required in order to enable the expurga- 1620 tion of the Statute be Book to be carried on. If is desirable that this Bill should be passed as soon as possible, as there is a volume waiting to come out as soon as the requisite authority is given by this Bill becoming law. The substance of this Bill has already passed your Lordships' House. It was comprised in a larger Bill which I introduced last Session, but which, to my great regret, was opposed in another place and dropped. Every care is taken to remove Bills of this nature entirely out of the region of controversy; and I would gladly have availed myself of any opportunity to obviate any possible source of objection rather than delay the progress of the work I have referred to, that is the issue of the volumes, which when their publication is begun ought to follow one another as quickly as possible. This Bill contains only so much of last year's Bill as deals with Acts of Parliament down to the end of the reign of William IV. That will cover the extent of the volume which is waiting to come out. I shall introduce, as soon as possible, another Bill to cover the ground of the remaining volumes which are intended to be published this year. I should add that there are some additional verbal repeals made in this Bill by reason of the Interpretation Act of last Session.
§ Bill read 2a (according to order), and committed to a Committee of the whole House on Thursday next.