478 JURISPRUDENCE 



VI. Individual Rights 



The most striking characteristic of the progress of jurisprudence 

 in the first half of the century was its increasing recognition of in- 

 dividual rights and protection of individuals. Humanity was the 

 watchword of legislation; liberty was its fetich. Slavery was abol- 

 ished, married women were emancipated from the control of their 

 husbands, the head of the family was deprived of many of his arbi- 

 trary powers, and the rights of dependent individuals were carefully 

 guarded. In the administration of criminal law this is seen notably. 

 At the begnining of the century torture prevailed in every country 

 outside of the jurisdiction of the common law and the French codes, 

 but torture was abolished in every civilized state during this period. 

 Many crimes at the beginning of the century were punishable with 

 death. Few remained so punishable at the end of fifty years. The 

 accused acquired in reality the rights of an innocent person until he 

 was found guilty. He could testify, he could employ counsel, and 

 could be informed of the charge against him in language that he was 

 able to understand; and, even after conviction, his punishment was 

 inflicted in accordance with the dictates of humanity. Imprison- 

 ment for debt was abolished. Bankruptcy was treated as a mis- 

 fortune, not a crime. 



As with the emancipation of individuals, so it was with the emanci- 

 pation of states. The spirit of the times favored the freedom of 

 oppressed nations as well as of individual slaves. The whole civil- 

 ized world helped the Greeks gain their independence. The Ameri- 

 can people hailed with touching unanimity the struggles of Poland 

 and of Hungary for freedom, and even the black republics of the 

 West Indies were loved for their name, though they had no other 

 admirable qualities. 



While there has been little actual reaction in the last half-century 

 against this earlier development of the law in the direction of liberty, 

 there have been few further steps in that direction. The zeal for 

 emancipation has in fact spent its force, because freedom, quite as 

 great as is consistent with the present state of civilization, has already 

 been obtained. So far as there has been any change of sentiment and 

 of law in the last generation it has been in the direction of disregard- 

 ing or of limiting rights newly acquired in the earlier period. France, 

 which secured the freedom of Italy, threatens the independence of 

 Siam ; England, which was foremost in the emancipation of the slaves, 

 introduces coolie labor into the mines of South Africa; America, 

 which clamored for an immediate recognition of the independence 

 of Hungary, finds objections to recognizing the independence of 

 Panama and refuses independence to the Philippines. In the crimi- 

 nal law there has been no reform, though there has been much im- 



