Fine Arts.

balanced and pourtrayed . Joseph , too , a splendid specimen of man , is standing close by . He is listening respectfully to the prophet , and bears in his hand the offering for the purification , as commanded by the Israelitish laAV . Ana , the prophetess , an old ivoman of fourscore years , is at the bottom of the stejis in the foreground ; and here , again , Mr . DoAvling ' s ready pencil has given creation to a pure and

holy face : beautiful in her age . There is a Greek youth , Avith all the supercilliousnoss of his race—an epicurean , doubting all but his OAVII philosophy , and looking immeasurably superior to the Avords of the prophet . A splendid Nubian is also amongst the group , on the left , AAdiich is completed by a lame beggar and a Avoman with a bottle of Avator . To tho right of the picture arc tAvo females , Avhose

envious glances betray their discontent at the honour AA'hich Mary is receiving in hearing her child pronounced to be the long expected Messiah , AA 4 U 1 O behind the principal group are the heads of a Pharisee and Saducce , AA-hose faces arc fine studies of scepticism and A-oluptuousness . In this painting there is ease and nature in the groups . The draAving is perfect ; the colour brilliant , but harmoniously

subdued . EA cry countenance has a distinguishing characteristic , and the principal figures are of rare beauty , but not too handsome to be real . Tho drapery is something maiwcllous ; its texture , fabric , and folds , are perfect . We Inave seen many modern scriptural pieces in our time , but none that equals this production ; and Ave arc constrained to admit that an artist , almost unknown to the world , has succeeded in painting a picture which Aviil rank as one of the most remarkable productions of the early portion of the nineteenth century .

Literature.

Literature .

EEVIEWS . The Statute Booh for England . Collection of PuMlc Statutes relating to tho General Jiaw of England passed hy the Seventeeth Parliament of the United Kingdom , ( 20 §• 21 Vict ., Sess . 1 , 1859 ) , as amended to close of Sess . 2 , 1859 ; ' with Explanatory Preface , fye . Edited by JAAIES BIGG . London : Simpkin and Marshall ; Watcrlow and Sons : P . S . King . 1859 .

It is the 23 ridc and boast of an Englishman that he lives in a land governed by laAvs which defend the freeman ' s rights and protects his property more perfectly than any other system Avhich tho world has over seen . It is also a source of gratification to him to reflect upon the respect in Avhich the law is held by all classes , the impartiality of its provisions , and the admirable way in Avhich it is

administered . Nolumus leges Aiiglim mutari is a sentiment Avhich ive have all admired : and yet there comes upon us at times an uneasy consciousness that the sentiment lvill not altogether bear dissection at tho present day . Is it not possible to have " too much of a good thing P " is a A-ery natural reflection in the mind of any one A \ ho has had occasion to pass an hour or two in tho Avell-furnished library

of one of our legal pundits , with leisure to examine it ' s contents . And , if ho consults tho man of laAV himself , it is beyond doubt that the adept in the mysteries of Themis Avill inform him that the statutes " at large" ( most appropriatel y so ^ termed ) _ are perhaps tho most striking illustration in existence ofthe trite remark " a great book is a "Teat evil . " The princiles lvhich the law of land Is founded

pupon Eng are , doubtless , the noblest and Avisost that the intelligence of man has yet conceived ; but the machinery for briiifin ™ those principles into operation has become so ponderous and so complicated , that it is evident to tho minds of all Avho have given any serious thought to the subject that the period has at length arrived Avhen " Reform it altogether " must be an edict no longer Avitheld

. Many changes have been made during tho present century , both in ciA-il and criminal procedure—originated by such master-minds as Eomilly , Brougham , and other ornaments of their country and their profession—AAdiich have swept away numerous statutes repulsive to the growing philanthropy of the age . The advance in civilisation ,

manufactures , and commerce , however , at the present day appear to necessitate new provisions with almost every fresh riarliaineiit , the enactments of one year frequently repealing or modifying those of its almost immediate predecessors . The consequence appears to bo that wo » 2 'e increasing tho body of our general laAV to such an extent , and at such a rapid rate that it is almost impossible for the most able

practitioners to keep pace with it . As for any ordinary citizen , who has not devoted a lifetime to the pursuit , becoming acquainted Avith the code Avhich governs bis liberty and his property , that is , of course , impossible ; yet this is not so in other countries , and it is a disgrace to Britain that such should bo the case here . Let us hopo that many years may not elapse before this reju'oach is removed .

The various ministers of the present century haA T e long felt tho necessity of doing something to remedy this monstrous evil ; and for tAventy-three years ( from 1835 to 1857 ) several commissions have been appointed to devise some means of reducing to a digest the mass of our statute law . The labours of the commissioners Avere most handsomely remunerated ; and there is no doubt that the investigation Avas

laborious and minute . Yet , for some reason , though consolidative statutes have , from time to time , been jiroposed by the commissions , none haA-e yet been adopted by Parliament . The last Statute Laiv Commission ceased to exist in 1857 , and the impression left upon the public mind was clearly that the difficulties in their Avay Avere so great as to be insurmountable , or that there AVUS a lamentable Avant of

efficiency in some of the members . That the former of these hypotheses is incorrect . Mr . James Bigg , the editor of the valuable compilation before us , has endeavoured to SIIOAV . Indeed , if tho plan laid doAvn by him be carried out , Ave may hope to see that Avhich commissions have failed in successfully effected by one energetic aud laborious editor assisted ba iment of AvoU-selectcd assistant clerks . Mr .

y reg Bigg ' s plan is to subject the acts of each session to a strict examination , and to classify them under tivelve heads . Of some classes he reprints the statutes hi full , but of the rest gives the more titles , accompanied by a brief summary of their contents . Should any section which has been printed

m full among the acts of one year be repealed hy some enactment of a subsequent year , then , on the occasion of any reprint of the " Statute Book for England " for that year , the repealed section Avill be printed in italics , Avith a marginal reference to the latter repealing clause . To prevent the elder volumes of the series becoming diminished in their utility to the original purchasers , a sii ] mlementary

part will be annually published Avith each new volume , containing tho corrected pages of the statute printed in tho former A-olumcs which hai-e undergone alteration by later enactments . The OAvner Avill , therefore , tear out the leaves of Avhich tho contents haA r c been altered by a later course of legislature , and set in tho placo of them those furnished in the supplementthus obviating correction correction :

, upon "An act to amend an act , & c . " Tho present issue commences only Avith 1857 ; but let us not despair . Mr . Bigg giA'es us hopes that in eight years it Avould be possible to complete the " Statute Book of England , " and that be could extend the Avork so as to embrace all the existing statutes passed by tho Parliaments of England and Great Britain in about three more .

years Mr . Bigg ' s proposals , Ave believe , ore still before Government . He boldly assorts that ho can , to a great extent , remedy the evil Avhich has been left almost untouched by tho Statute Law Commissioners ; and AVO trust that the IUAV officers of the Crown Avill give his plans their most serious consideration .

Mr . Bigg , m , his preface , informs us that ho has been unjustly opposed , because , in tho first placo , he is not a barrister : and , again , because his plan Avould interfere Avith the monopoly of the Queen ' s printers . The former objection he disposes of by the opinions he has received in his favour from no less important members of the bar of England than Lord CampbellLord Chief Justice CockburnLord Chief

, , Baron Pollock , and Sir Richard Bothell . The patent of Messrs . Eyre and SpottisAvoodo ( Avho , by the Avay , arc no more barristers than himself ) is , he maintains , contrary to the Law of this country . Every subject ofthe realm is bound to knoAv the Avhole contents of the statute book ; and Mr .