562 



ENGLAND. 



est crime known to the laws is Treason, but under this head is included, besides the offence 

 towards the king's life, that of slaying his chancellor, or judge, in the execution of their offices, 

 and that of counterfeiting the king's coin, or of bringing false money into the reahn. The 

 penalty for treason, is, that the ofi'ender be drawn to the gallows, on the ground or pavement, 

 that he be hanged by the neck, and then cut down alive, that his entrails be taken out, and burned 

 while he is yet alive, that his head be cut off, that his body be divided into four parts, and that 

 his head and quarters be at the king's disposal. 



In the Tower burying-ground, it may puzzle some future antiquary to discover so many buried 

 trunks wanting the heads ; for executions for treason have generally taken place near the Tower. 

 It is petty treason for a servant to slay his master, or a wife her husband, and instead of a cart, 

 as in other capital offences, the criminal is drawn on a hurdle. The bodies of robbers are 

 often hung in chains, till they fall to pieces. For adultery, there is no penalty in the criminal 

 code ; but for " Grand Larceny," or the taking goods from another above the value of twelve 

 pence, the punishment is death. Death is, indeed, much honored in the English code. It is 

 punished with death to steal an heiress, to forge deeds, notes, &c., for a bankrupt to refuse lo 

 surrender his eflects, to pick pockets of above the value of one shilling, to steal bonds or bank 

 notes, to steal above 40 shillings on a river, to steal or destroy linen in bleaching grounds, to 

 lay in wait and disfigure or maim any person, to maim or kill any cattle maliciously, to break 

 down the head of a fish pond, whereby fish may be lost, to cut down trees in an avenue or gar- 

 den, to cut hop binds, to return from transportation, to conceal the death of an illegitimate child, 

 to steal from a ship in distress, to stand mute, or to challenge above twenty jurors in capital 

 felonies, to commit perjury under the insolvent acts, to personate bail, or acknowledge fines or 

 judgments in another's name, and to send threatening letters. 



The following enactments are some of them similar to the statutes in New England. Rogues 

 and vagabonds are to be committed to prison, and among these are ranked persons going about 

 soliciting alms, under pretences of loss by fire, fencers, bearwards, strolling players, minstrels, 

 except those licensed by Lord Duiton in Cheshire, gypsies, fortune-tellers, persons threaten- 

 ing to run away and leave their wives and children on the parish, and persons wandering abroad, 

 lodging in ale houses, out houses, or the open air, and not giving a good account of themselves. 

 For many offences, the penalty is transportation to distant colonies. 



The game laws are a peculiar trait in English jurisprudence. Thej' are the relics of a darker 

 age than the present, though the present age has by no means relaxed their severity. The os- 

 tensible reason is the preservation of game, but an incidental one may be the disarming of the 

 great body of the people, as it is unlawful for one not qualified to kill game, or keep a gun, and 

 his house may be searched, on suspicion. Any person is qualified to kill game, who has a 

 freehold of £ 100 a year, or a church benefice of ,.£ 1.50. The sons of esquires, and of persons 

 of higher degree, have the same privilege, and a privileged person may take another with him 

 who is not qualified. Often, therefore, a man cannot kill the partridge that lives upon his own 

 estate, though a stranger may enter his enclosures and do this without trespass. The richest 

 merchant or manufacturer in the kingdom, may also be unqualified to kill game. The penalty 

 for selling game is severe, yet nothing is more openly or extensively sold, and poaching is a 

 regular and a profitable trade. It has been proved, too, that the very " Nimrods of the manor " 

 sell their game in defiance of honor and law. Several of the severest penalties are imposed 

 by what is not miscalled the Black Act. The Bankrupt laws form a considerable code, and 

 they afford relief to the tradesman who has conducted a fair, though not a thriving trade. 

 Some similar system seems to be necessary in every commercial country. 



There is much legislation under the head of poor laws, for the relief of that great body of 

 people who cannot support themselves, and who require parish aid. The tax raised for 



counter, with an intent to steal. Under this act, one Mary 

 Jones was executed. The woman's husband \va.9 pressed, 

 their goods seized for some debts of his, and she, with two 

 small children, turned into the streets a begging. It is a 

 circumstance not to be forgotten, that she was young, 

 under 19, and remarkably handsome. She went to a 

 linen-draper's shop, took some coarse linen off the coun- 

 ter, and slipped it under her cloak. The shopman saw 

 her, and she laid it down ; fnr this she was hanged. Her 

 defence was (I have llie trial in my pocket), ' That she 

 had lived in credit and wanted for nothing, till a press- 

 gang cflme and stole her husband from her ; but since 



then, she had no bed to lie on, nothing to give her chil- 

 dren to eat, and they were almost naked : and perhaps she 

 might have done something wrong, for she hardly knew 

 what she did.' The parish officers testified to the truth 

 of this story, but it seeins there had been a good deal of 

 shop-lifting about Ludgale ; an example was thought ne- 

 cessary, and this wo-iian was hanged for the comfort and 

 satisfaction of some shopkeepers in Ludgate Hill." 



Since the first edition of this work was issued, the crim- 

 inal code of England has been much modified. The num- 

 ber of offences punished by death, is now 13 



