Illustrations.

(a). A gives Z fifty strokes with a stick. Here, A may have committed the offence of voluntarily causing hurt to Z by the whole beating, and also by each of the blows which make up the whole beating. If A were liable to punishment for every blow, he might be imprisoned for fifty years, one for each blow. But he is liable only to one punishment for the whole beating-that is to say, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year, if the hurt which he has voluntarily caused is not grievous; and for a term not exceeding ten years, nor less that six months, if the hurt which he has voluntarily caused is grievous.

(b). But if, while A is beating Z, Y interposes, and A strikes Y, here, as the blow given to Y is no part of the act whereby A voluntarily causes hurt to Z, A is liable to one punishment for voluntarily causing hurt to Z, and to another for the blow given to Y.

60. In all cases in which judgment is given, in the manner prescribed in the law of procedure, that a person is guilty of an offence, but that it is doubtful under which of certain penal provisions of this Code he is punishable, the offender shall be liable to be punished with whatever punishment is common to the penal provisions between which the doubt lies; and if imprisonment is common to the penal provisions between which the doubt lies, and any one of those provisions admits of simple imprisonment, the offender may be sentenced to simple imprisonment.

Illustrations.

(a). Judgment is given, in the manner prescribed in the law of procedure, that A is guilty either of murdering Z, or of previously abetting by aid the murder of Z. The punishment of murder, and that of previously abetting murder by aid, are the same : A is, therefore, liable to that punishment.

(b). Judgment is given, in the manner prescribed by the law of procedure, that A has committed an offence, but that it is doubtful whether that offence be theft or criminal breach of trust. Theft is punishable with rigorous imprisonment for three years, or fine, or both; criminal breach of trust is punishable with imprisonment of either description for the same term, or fine, or both. A is, therefore, liable to fine, which is common to both the penal provisions, and to rigorous imprisonment for three years, which is common to both the penal provisions; but he may be sentenced to simple imprisonment, because one of the penal provisions admits of simple imprisonment.

(c). Judgment is given in the manner prescribed in the law of procedure that A has committed either theft or criminal misappropriation of property not in possession. Here, as the punishment of fine is common to theft and to criminal misappropriation of property not in possession, A is liable to fine. Theft is punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years; criminal misappropriation of property not in possession is punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years. Imprisonment for two years is, therefore, common to both, and A may be punished with imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years. The imprisonment in both cases may be rigorous: A's imprisonment may, therefore, be rigorous. But the imprisonment for criminal misappropriation of property not in possession may be simple: therefore, A is liable to imprisonment of either description.

(To be continued.)

REVIEW OF EASTERN NEWS.

No. VI.

THE distress prevailing in the interior of the British provinces in Upper India, owing to the late drought and dearth, is still a prominent and painful topic in the latest accounts from Calcutta. The details of the sufferings experienced by the lower classes of the natives are dreadful. When we find the Cawnpoor Relief Society stating (p. 70), as the result of actual observation, that the number of deaths from exposure and starvation throughout that station only, in five months, was upwards of 1,200, and that 1,300 persons were relieved daily with a few pice or cowries (less than a farthing); when we read (p. 70.), that, at Agra, men, women, and children are crushed to death in the struggle to obtain the scanty pittance which the hand of charity extends to them; that the inhabitants of Agra are denying themselves their usual evening ride, because of the intolerable effluvia arising from the dead bodies surrounding the station-and that a nullah, near Cawnpoor, is said to be choaked with the corpses of the multitudes starved to death;" the picture can scarcely be heightened by the powerful imagination of a Dante. It is gratifying to observe, that not only the Government, but individuals (chiefly European, indeed), have humanely endeavoured to lessen the sufferings of the poor; but the distress is on a scale so gigantic, that it surpasses human power to provide a remedy. The suspension of the revenue, the employment of the able-bodied, and a large contribution to funds raised by individual subscriptions, is all that Government can do in this emergency; the cause of the evil being unlooked-for, and not to be provided against. It is some consolation to know that, by the latest accounts, this cause was apparently disappearing: a letter from the Governor-general's camp at Kurnaul, dated March 6th, reports that rain had fallen, and, with a rapidity known only in that climate, was turning the barren land into a fruitful plain.

Lord Auckland, according to the last reports, had left Delhi, after the customary routine of visits, durbars, and entertainments, and was on his way through the delightful valley of the Dhoon to the hills, where his lordship and party will have the benefit of that bracing climate.

Our law intelligence from Calcutta embraces two topics (p. 65) worthy of a passing remark. The Supreme Court has confirmed the judgment of the late Sir Benjamin Malkin, in the Insolvent Court, pronounced in the case of Fergusson and Co., which is justly regarded as of great importance, since it establishes this point: that the circumstance that the house was insolvent at the period when the retiring partner quitted it, is not sufficient to affect the transaction, if otherwise bona fide. "The whole question turns on the existence or non-existence of fraud." Now, when it is considered that the law never presumes fraud; that fraud must be satisfactorily proved by the party seeking to impeach the transaction, and that legal proof is extremely difficult in all cases, and in some absolutely impracticable, though there may be a moral certainty, this decision may be considered to Asiat.Jour.N.S.VOL.26.No.102.

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throw a mantle of impunity around parties deserting an insolvent concern. The rule of common sense seems to be, that where a person quits a firm which was actually insolvent at that time, taking away his capital, that capital so taken away should be liable, in case of failure, to the demands of creditors, on these grounds-that credit was given to the firm, partly on the strength of that part of the capital, and that the retiring partner ought to know, what no creditor can know, the actual state of the concern. However, Diis aliter visum est-the law says otherwise.

The other topic is an action in the Supreme Court on an agreement, one of the conditions of which was, that a party should not marry a second wife in the life-time of the first, whereas he had married two, which fact was assigned as a breach of the agreement; and in aggravation of the case it was stated, that the party aggrieved was subjected to expense for the maintenance of a child which she had bought. The learned judges of the court suggested (we are not told whether seriously or jocosely), whether an agreement not to marry a plurality of wives (that privilege being recognized by Mahomedan law) was not illegal, as being against public policy, and in restraint of marriage in general. These are some of the anomalies of Eastern society, with which the makers and administrators of the laws have to deal in India.

Complaints are made (p. 67) of the delay attending the transmission of the packets of letters and papers, brought by the steam and overland conveyance, across the country, by dak, from Bombay to Calcutta. The weight of the packets (160lbs.) is a sufficient excuse, considering that they are to be carried by the same number of runners who were accustomed to bear about thirty or forty pounds. As this is an evil likely to increase, it is absolutely necessary, until the comprehensive plan of steam-communication be adopted, that a larger supply of dak runners be provided.

Application has been made to Government, by a vast number of native petitioners (p. 68), for the institution of schools, to be devoted exclusively to the study of Sanscrit, as a foundation for the formation of one general language, consolidating or superseding the various dialects of Bengallee which now obtain. This petition shows the sense entertained by the native population of the want of one general language and character, and will, probably, dispose them the more readily to cultivate English.

The superintendent employed in the cultivation of tea at Assam (p. 76) has furnished some samples to the committee, which have been pronounced by that body and the Government to be sufficiently good to constitute a merchantable commodity. The report of Dr. Griffith, who accompanied Dr. Wallich into Assam, to examine the tea plantations there, states (p.79) his opinion, that the soil of Assam is of the same nature as that in those provinces in China in which tea is produced, and that, with adequate care, tea may be produced there fit to become an article of merchandize.

The abominable custom of human sacrifices still prevails in Goomsur, and two officers, Captain Campbell (p. 68) and Captain Millar (p. 81), have been the means of rescuing a vast number of children from this dreadful fate.

A case which came before the magistrate's court at Monghyr (p. 75), shows that the sect of Syud Ahmed, a Musulman heretic, who occasioned some commotion a few years ago, is not extinct, and that extraordinary means are resorted to in order to swell the number of his followers. These are indications of the state of religious feeling in India, which, however trivial in appearance, should be carefully watched by the Government.

The intelligence from the Native states of India is deficient in matters of interest. It is reported at Lucknow, that the king, in consequence of age and infirmity, has come to the determination of abdicating in favour of his son. The establishment of the Oude Auxiliary Force appears to have given but little satisfaction to the parties concerned, in a pecuniary point of view. Capt. Grant, commandant of the Auxiliary Force, has resigned.

The state of affairs in Burmah still remains uncertain; but the prompt measures adopted by the Government of India have evidently operated upon the prudence of the new king. In order to confirm this salutary change, H.M.'s 63d regiment has been ordered to Moulmein from Madras.

The most curious item of intelligence from the last-named presidency is the employment on the Red Hill Railway of a wind-carriage, which, it seems, travels at the rate of from nine to twelve miles an hour.

The opening of the Indus appears to have given already an impulse to the native trade, and promises to offer new markets for British goods in Candahar, Cabul, and Bokhara, as well as Sinde. Some Parsee merchants have succeeded in navigating the Indus up to Loodeanah; and this experiment was followed by another, a boat having reached that place from Bombay, freighted with English manufactures, intended for the Punjaub market. A considerable return trade from the Punjaub to Bombay, in sugar, raw and refined, has also recently sprung up.

At the Mauritius there appears to have been a tumult amongst the Indian coolies; but it was suppressed without mischief.

The news from China is indicative of some speedy crisis. The perseverance of the imperial and local authorities, in requiring the removal of the smuggling ships, in forbidding the access of Europeans to the city, and in throwing every impediment in the way of a satisfactory adjustment of the claims of foreigners on insolvent Chinese merchants, can only arise from a determination to attain its objects, and perhaps to get rid of foreign trade altogether. We recommend to the perusal of our readers an extract from the Canton paper (p. 88), showing, in another instance, how true our anticipations have been in respect to the result of a free trade with China.

The intelligence from the Cape is of some importance, embracing the destruction of some of the emigrant Boers by the Caffers; a mutiny in a Hottentot corps, and the result of the action brought by Captain Stockenstrom against Captain Campbell.

STEAM-COMMUNICATION WITH INDIA,

SIR JAMES CARNAC AND THE COURT OF DIRECTORS.

TO THE EDITOR.

SIR: In the Madras Herald of the 6th December last, I find a letter on the subject of steam-communication with India, dated from London, and signed "JAMES BARBER." With the first four paragraphs I have nothing to do; they contain little deserving of especial notice, their most remarkable characteristic being the Sybiline frenzy with which the author pours forth his sentiments, in " periods of a mile," which put the reader out of breath even to look at them. As far as his meaning can be collected, the correspondent of the Madras Herald is alike angry with the Court of Directors and the President of the Board of Control, whom he accuses of entertaining “shuffling propensities." This charge will, I dare say, give Sir John Hobhouse just as little of concern as among the public it will obtain of belief. It is simply ridiculous. The honourable baronet entertained certain views on the subject of steam-communication with India-views in accordance with those of the letter-writer to Madras, and he avowed those views in the most manly and straightforward manner, publicly and privately, as any one may see who will take the trouble of looking into the evidence before the last Committee of the House of Commons.

But it is in the fifth and last paragraph of his letter that the writer has put forth his strength, such as it is, for the purpose of attacking one of the best and ablest friends of India, and through him the Court of Directors, of which he is a member. It will be necessary to quote the whole of it:

"You may be lulled into security by reading the public prints, for it has been the fashion of late with a party here, to discover a sudden diffusion of liberality in Leadenhall Street, and they would persuade you, that a certain baronet has, by electricity or charm, opened the eyes, hearts, and understanding, of all around him, and by the touch of his magic wand, all dross is to be purged away-grievances redressed— merit rewarded; in short, extensive benevolence, without interruption, is to flow through the services. Put no faith in such sophistry-a portion of merit may be his due. I can see no reason why the "old three-and-twenty" should be sacrificed at his shrine; for amongst them there are men decidedly more brilliant in talent, sounder in judgment, more liberal in principle, and more just in their decision, and whose years of direction will outnumber his weeks; but, say they, "see what he has done for the army!" Bah! see what the army has done for itself!-think what will be done by approximating the governors and the governed! Hasten, then, that happy time, by your zealous and united cry for a full and comprehensive communication by steam via the Red Sea.

The Directors are here set down en masse as persons of incorrigible illiberality; but as mud thrown at random may chance to hit nobody, the writer thought it necessary to pick some one out to receive the greater portion of that which he had determined at all hazards to cast. Lord Coke held that a corporation had no soul, and I recollect having heard Sir Charles Wetherell declare, in Lincoln's-Inn Hall, that it had no body either. Seeing, then, that a corporation has neither soul nor body, and that, consequently, it must be extremely difficult to assail it in any way, it became expedient to select an individual as a scape-goat, and the highest functionary of the Court was naturally chosen. The "certain baronet" referred to in the paragraph just quoted is the late Chairman of the East-India Company; who has now quitted office in the full enjoyment of the approbation and confidence of his colleagues, and