528 



CRIME CRIMINAL LAW. 



don and Middlesex lias been computed to have in- 

 creased 19 percent; therefore, of the convictions, 36 

 per cent remains to be nccoiuited for by other causes 

 Uian the increase of population. That large increase, 

 afflicting as it is, may be attributed to the large in- 

 crease of petty offences, of stealing from the house, or 

 the person, ' goods which are easily transported, and 

 may be quickly converted into money,' and to the 

 urciUT \ i glance of the police, which renders prose- 

 cutions more certain. Moreover, the number of those 

 sentenced to death has increased only 4 per cent ; but, 

 the population having increased 19 per cent, there 

 is thus a positive diminution of 15 per cent upon the 

 higher oflences, subject to the penalty or death 

 generally. For the higher crimes against the person, 

 such as murder, manslaughter, shooting, stabbing and 

 poisoning the number of convictions followed by sen- 

 tence of death lias decreased 50 per cent. For some 

 of the most atrocious offences against property, such 

 as arson and maiming of cattle, the number of convic- 

 tions followed by sentence of death lias decreased 50 

 per cent. For the offences of coining and forgery, 

 uttering base coin, &c., the number of convictions 

 has decreased 22 per cent, and the number of those 

 sentenced to death has decreased 43 per cent. This 

 particular decrease is principally to be attributed to 

 the withdrawal of small notes of the bank of England 

 from circulation. The great increase of convictions has, 

 therefore, been in the class of frauds, and larcenies of 

 all descriptions. This result for London and Middle- 

 sex is also true, as will be seen from the following ta- 

 ble, with reference to all England and Wales: 



Much of the large increase of convictions not for lar- 

 ceny, in 1827, may be distinctly referred to the pas- 

 sing of the act for paying prosecutors their expenses 

 in cases of misdemeanor. The increase, in 1824, 

 1825, and 1826, is also to be referred to changes in 

 legislation and temporary causes. Offences against 

 tlie game laws have greatly multiplied the number of 

 commitments. From 1820 to 1826, 12,000 persons 

 were committed to the county prisons on the charge 

 ot poaching. From the returns for England and 

 Wales, of which we have thus given the results, it, 

 appears that, since 1821, the convictions for larceny 

 (that is, for robbery and theft of all descriptions) have 

 increased 50 per cent, while the population has in- 

 creased, by computation, about 16 per cent. We 

 have thus 34 per cent of this increase of crimes 

 against property unaccounted for by the increase of 

 population. Some of this increase is real, and some 

 only more apparent. 



With reference to the real and apparent increase 

 of the smaller crimes against property, the greater 

 multiplication of property, in a highly civilized state 

 of society, offers a ready solution why such a grow- 

 ing tendency to theft may exist, notwithstanding the 

 progress of education. The number of thieves in- 

 creases from the constant addition to the number of 

 the objects of temptation, from the greater luxuries 

 with which every individual is surrounded, from the 

 increased rapidity with which goods may be trans- 

 ported to distant parts of the country, and from the 

 more easy communication with the continent. Add 

 all these causes, and many others, to a more vigilant 

 administration of justice, which produces committals 

 for the most trifling offences against property, and we 

 sliall easily understand how the return of committals 



may be increased, while the great bulk of the people 

 is becoming more intelligent and more prudent. 



M. Lucas, an advocate in the royal court at Paris, 

 lias collected, with much accuracy, a body of facts 

 relating to France, Great Britain, the cantons of Ge- 

 neva and Vaud, and the United States, all of which 

 tend to confirm the principles we liave endeavoured 

 to establish that the higher crimes are lessened as 

 men become more civilized and enlightened ; and that, 

 though offences against property may increase, crimes 

 against the person are invariably diminished. With 

 regard to France, tliis fact has been clearly proved 

 by the calculations of M. Charles Dupin. In the 

 northern departments of tliat country, where the in- 

 habitants are the best instructed, the higher crimes 

 against the person are rare ; in the southern, where 

 the people are very ignorant, the most frightful 

 crimes are twice as numerous. But, again, it is re- 

 markable, that, in the north the richest and most 

 enlightened portion of France the crimes against 

 property exceeded, in 1826 and 1827, those in the 

 -mil 1 1 by 917. Of 'those crimes, however, the south 

 exhibits the greatest number of atrocious examples, 

 having 207 highway robberies, while the north had 

 only 82. In the canton of Vaud, from 1803 to 1826. 

 the total number of offences was 1914. Of these, 

 there were only 52 of the highest crimes against the 

 person. Of the offences against property, only 75 

 were of the gravest character of crime, such as bur- 

 glary and highway robbery. In the canton of*Gene- 

 va, from 1815 to 1826, there were 212 criminal pro- 

 cesses, of which 27 only were for crimes against the 

 person. The number of offences against property 

 was 185, of wlu'ch 145 were simple larcenies. In 

 the state of Pennsylvania, from 1787 to 1825, the to- 

 tal number of convictions was 7397, of which 628 

 were for offences against the person. Of the remain- 

 ing 6769 oflences against property, 5338 were lam> 

 nies. In Spain, the catalogue of crimes against the 

 person for one year amounts to 3436, amongst whic 

 are the following : 



Homicides, 1233 



Infanticides, , . . 13 



Poisonings, 5 



Anthropophagy, 



Cutting and maiming, 1773 * 



We thus see that, in Spain, the greater quantity of 

 crime is precisely of an opposite character to that 

 which exists in France, Great Britain, Switzerland, 

 and Pennsylvania. On the other hand, the crimes 

 against property amount only to 2379. From these 

 data, we may conclude that the greater proportion of 

 offences amongst an ignorant people are those which 

 proceed from the licentious and revengeful pas ions, 

 unsubdued by the cultivation of the understanding, 

 and the subjection of the will to true morality and 

 pure religion. The greater portion of offences among 

 a rich and highly cultivated people, are of that sort 

 which proceed from the temptations of property, the 

 accumulation of which is the result of capital and in- 

 tellectual energy. For further information, see Prison, 

 and School. 



CRIMINAL LAW. In no department of legal science 

 do so many different views prevail among juriscon- 

 sults, and in none have these views exercised so 

 great an influence upon the theory and practice, as 

 in this. The doctrine of the criminal law is, tliat the 

 individual committing an unlawful act must not only 

 make amends to the party Injured, but also be pun- 

 ished by the supreme authority of the state. The 

 first question is, whether and how fur the state is au- 

 thorized to inflict punishment. This question cannot 



* This comparative statement of offences in France, Swit. 

 zerland, the United States, and Spain, rests upon the autho- 

 rity of an article in the Bulletin Universel. The precis* 

 year taken for Spain is not mentioned. 



