32 Mr. Mayne on the Administration of Native Law 



ficient notice of the case which he had to meet, and in 

 exposing both to the chance of being tripped up by 

 the most technical objections. Again, the double sys- 

 tem of Law and Equity, each engaged in obstructing and 

 supplementing the other, was, and still is in England, a very 

 great abuse. The delay and uncertainty of law-proceedings 

 arose very much from the same sources, while the expense of 

 a suit was traceable, not only to the causes just mentioned, 

 but also to the fact, that the client had always to pay two 

 different sets of professional men, each of whom had to be 

 highly remunerated, and neither of whom was competent to 

 conduct the cause by himself. Now as Indian procedure is 

 exclusively governed by statute, none of these evils would 

 arise from the extension of English law to the Mofussil. 



No doubt many substantive principles of English law are 

 objectionable in themselves. For instance, the highly artifi- 

 cial system of real property law and conveyancing ; the dis- 

 tinctions between freeholds and leaseholds, between deeds 

 and simple contracts ; the twofold system of succession to 

 property ; all these portions of our English law originated 

 in causes which have long since ceased to operate even in 

 England. No scheme for grafting English law upon In- 

 dian jurisprudence would be perfect, which did not prune 

 away these excrescences. Such a task would be worthy of a 

 great legislator, and when his work was accomplished, he 

 would probably before long find the fruit of his labours 

 transplanted to British soil. Perhaps India may be destined 

 in some measure to repay England for the lives which have 

 been lost in the East, by setting her the example of bolder 

 and more enlightened legislation than Westminster has as 

 yet attempted. 



No doubt many difficulties might be suggested as to the 

 mode in which English law could be reconciled with Native 

 religion, and as to the hardship resulting to vested rights. 



