all seamen and marines discharged after 21 years' service, for any cause other than misconduct.

N. B. The conditions under which these pensions are granted, and their amounts, are set forth in an order in council, dated 24th of August, 1831, which may be seen in the Navy List.

Pensioners are divided into the two great classes of in and out pensioners of Greenwich Hospital. This magnificent building, formerly a royal palace, was appropriated in the reign of William III. to its present purpose of serving as an asylum for seamen "who, by age, wounds, or other accidents," have become unfit for further service. The building has since been greatly enlarged and improved; and is now the finest, in an architectural point of view, in the neighbourhood of the metropolis. The in-pensioners live in the hospital; the revenues of which are derived from various sources, but principally from the forfeited estates of the Earl of Derwentwater, and from a contribution of 6d. a month deducted from the pay of all seamen employed in her Majesty's service. Merchant seamen were obliged, until lately, to make a similar contribution; but this having been much objected to, has been given up. The number of in-pensioners on the establishment amounted, in 1830, to 2,710, and has not, we believe, materially varied in the interval. The revenue of the hospital being all required for the support of the establishment and of the in-pensioners; the out-pensioners are provided for by an annual parliamentary grant. This amounted in 1835-36 to 245,000l.; and supposing that each pensioner receives, at an average, 117. a year, this would give a total of 22,272.

Health of Seamen.· The most laudable attention is paid in the navy, not to the discipline merely, but also to the health and comfort, of the men. They are liberally supplied with provisions and grog; and are much less exposed to fatigue, privations, and the risk of shipwreck, than the crews of merchant ships. Formerly the crews of all ships bound on long voyages, or which could not be regularly supplied with fresh provisions, were liable to suffer dreadfully from the scurvy. But this disease can no longer be said to exist in the navy. That the use of citric acid or lemon-juice was a specific against the attacks of this disease, had been ascertained so early as 1600; but the experiment made little impression at the time, and was forgotten till public attention was again called to it, in 1757, by the justly celebrated Dr. Lind. At length, after successive experiments had demonstrated its efficacy, it was ordered, in 1795, that no ship should be allowed to sail on a long voyage without an ample supply of lemon juice, an allowance of which is regularly served out to the men. Since this period, scurvy may be said to be almost banished from the list of diseases incident to seafaring men. In proof of the efficacy of this specific, we may mention that during the blockade of Brest by Lord St. Vincent, from the 27th of May to the 26th of December, 1800, only 16 out of the 16,000 men in the fleet under his lordship's command were sent to the hospital during this whole period, though they had only ordinary ships' provisions. (Art. NAVY, Supp. to Ency. Britannica.)

"From the official returns," says Sir John Barrow, "collected by Sir Gilbert Blane, M. Dupin, a French author, well versed in naval

subjects, has drawn out the following table, which exhibits, at one view, the progressive diminution of sickness, death, and desertion, in the British navy, calculated on 100,000 men:—

"Hence it would appear that the diminution of sick and of deaths has been in the proportion of 4 to 1 nearly, between the years 1779 and 1813. The diminution of desertions from the hospital in the same period is not less remarkable; and it affords, at the same time, the strongest proof of the progressive amelioration of the condition of seamen on board British ships of war. Indeed, whether on board ship, or in any of these noble institutions, the naval hospitals, which are established at all the principal ports at home, and in the colonies abroad, the attention that is paid to the sick sailor is above all praise. The seamen are sensible of this, and nothing keeps them back from volunteering their services, and from giving a preference to a king's ship over a merchantman, but the temptation of high wages offered by the latter in time of war, and that love of liberty and free scope for roving which are characteristic of seamen."-(Art. NAVY, Supp. to Ency. Britannica.)

CHAPTER IV. — CRIMES, PUNISHMENTS, AND PRISONS.

I. Crimes and Punishments. Blackstone, in his Commentaries, divides offences against the laws of England into five classes. 1. Those which affect God and religion; 2. Such as violate or transgress the law of nations; 3. Such as more especially affect the sovereign power of the state, or the king and his government; 4. Such as more directly infringe the rights of the public; and, 5. Such as infringe the rights of private individuals.

1. The offences in the first class are now but few. In the progress of civilisation, attempts to enforce systems and rules of faith by penal statutes have been gradually disused, and an almost universal toleration, or rather freedom, exists as to religious matters. Blasphemy, however, or the denying the being or providence of the Almighty, as well as profane scoffing at the Holy Scriptures by exposing them to contempt and ridicule, continue to be offences punishable by fine and imprisonment, as is the reviling the ordinances of the established Church. Simony, or the corrupt presentation of any one to an ecclesiastical benefice for gift or reward, Sabbath-breaking, drunkenness, &c., also rank among offences of this class.

2. Offences against the law of nations, so far as they are recognised by the English law, are, (1.) Violations of safe conducts; (2.) The infringement of the rights of ambassadors; and, (3.) Piracy. The first two offences are of such rare occurrence, that it is unnecessary to notice them. Piracy, if committed by a subject, was held by the

common law to be a species of treason, as being contrary to his natural allegiance; and if committed by an alien, felony; but, by the statute of treason, 25 Ed. III. c. 2., it was made felony in the case of a subject. Formerly this offence was cognisable by the Admiralty Court; but as it proceeds by the rules of the civil law without the intervention of a jury, the trial of piratical offences has been transferred to the ordinary criminal courts.

The offence of piracy by the common law consists in committing those acts of robbery and depredation on the high seas, which, if committed upon land, would amount to felony. By statute, some other offences are made piracy also, as by 11 & 12 Wm. III. c. 7., 8 Geo. I. c. 24., 18 Geo. II. c. 30., any natural-born subject or denizen, who in time of war shall commit hostilities at sea against any of his fellow subjects, or assist any enemy on that element, any commander or other sea-faring person betraying his trust and running away with any ship, ordnance, ammunition, &c., or delivering them to a pirate, or aiding and abetting those who do, or trading with known pirates, or in any wise confederating or corresponding with them, are liable to be classed with and convicted as pirates. The punishments to be inflicted on this description of criminals have been regulated and defined by the stat. 1 Victoria, c. 88.

3. The next species of crimes consists of those which affect the supreme executive power, or the king and his government. These may be distinguished into three kinds. (1.) Treason; (2.) Felonies injurious to the king's prerogative; and, (3.) Other misprisions and contempts not amounting to treason. The offence of treason, as defined by 25 Ed. III. stat. 15., extends not merely to the compassing the death of the king, but also of his queen, or their eldest son and heir; the violating the king's consort, or the king's eldest daughter unmarried, or the consort of the king's eldest son and heir; the levying war against the king in his realm, or being adherent to the king's enemies in his realm, or giving them aid. The act further declares it to be treason for a man to counterfeit the king's great or privy seal, or his money, or to bring false money into the realm, as also to slay the chancellor, or the king's justices, being in their places, or doing their offices. Many other offences have since been made treason by various statutes. These are principally such as are directed against maintaining the Papal jurisdiction in this realm; falsifying the coin, or royal signatures; and such as are created for the security of the Protestant succession in the House of Hanover. The punishment for this offence is capital; and may, by the 54th Geo. III. c. 146., be carried into execution at the option of the Crown, either by hanging or beheading.

The second species of crimes of this class, or felonies injurious to the king's prerogative, comprises offences relating to the coin not amounting to treason; offences against the king's council; the offence of serving a foreign prince; of embezzling or destroying the king's armour, or stores of war; and of deserting from the king's armies in time of war. Felonies originally comprised, as the reader is perhaps aware, all crimes punishable by forfeiture, and were for the most part capital. But felonies are now punishable either by death, or in the particular manner prescribed by the statute relating thereto, the number of capital felonies having, of late years, been much reduced.

The third species of offences, more immediately against the king and government, are entitled misprisons and contempts.

Misprisions (a term derived from the old French, mespris, a neglect or contempt) are, in the acceptation of our law, generally understood to be all such high offences as approach to, but are under, the degree of capital. They are generally divided into two sorts; negative, which consist in the concealment of something which ought to be revealed; and positive, which consist in the commission of something which ought not to be done.

Of the first kind are misprisions of treason or felony; the punishment for the first of which is loss of the profits of lands during life, forfeiture of goods, and imprisonment for life. The punishment of the latter is, in a public officer, imprisonment for a year and a day; in a common person, imprisonment for a less period; and in both, fine and ransom at the king's pleasure.

Misprisions which are positive are generally denominated contempts or high misdemeanors: among these are to be classed all such high state offences as are usually made the subject of impeachment, and of which the punishment falls short of death. Disobeying the king's writs or summons, speaking or writing against the king's person or government, or doing any thing that may lessen him in the esteem of his subjects; the denying his right to the crown, &c., are offences of this class, and punishable by fine and imprisonment. Striking in the king's palace and courts of justice is also a high contempt; and is, in the latter case, punishable by fine and imprisonment, and the loss of the offending limb. This offence also includes injurious treatment to such as are under the protection of a court of justice, which is punishable in the like manner.

4. The next class of offences includes those which infringe the rights of the public. The principal of these are offences against public justice, public peace, public trade, public health, and the public police or economy. Offences against public justice are the embezzling, vacating, or falsifying the records in a court of justice, which are felonies; obstructing executions of process, aiding a prisoner in effecting his escape, receiving stolen goods, stirring up quarrels, compounding informations, conspiracies, perjuries, &c., which in general are punishable by fine and imprisonment, and in some cases by transportation.

Offences against the public peace are principally riots, unlawful assemblies, affrays, riding or going armed to the terror of his majesty's subjects, challenges, libels, &c., which, like the former, are punishable by fine and imprisonment; some offences of this class, indeed, as the riotous assembly of twelve persons or more, and not dispersing upon proclamation, sending threatening letters, demanding money, or threatening to kill any of his majesty's subjects, pulling down or destroying any locks, sluices, or flood-gates, erected by authority of parliament on a navigable river, destroying any turnpikegates, &c., are made felonies by Act of Parliament; and in some cases are capital, but in general are punishable by transportation.

Of offences against public trade, the principal is smuggling, which, unless force be resorted to, is punishable by fine, or in the case of a seafaring person, by compulsory service in the navy; but all forcible

acts of smuggling are punishable by transportation or imprisonment. The other offences of this class are in general misdemeanors only, and punishable as such by fine and imprisonment. The principal are, usury, frauds, &c. The offences, if so we may call them, of forestalling and engrossing, were formerly prohibited by several statutes under severe penalties. These, however, were repealed in 1772. But the offences still continue to be punishable at common law by fine and imprisonment. The last conviction on a charge of this sort took place during the scarcity of 1800; and it is difficult to suppose that any jury would now be found to convict any one accused of such practices. The last class of the offences we are now speaking of, consist of those against the public health, and the public peace or economy. Under this head may be ranked the infringement of the regulations as to quarantine, selling unwholesome provisions, common nuisances, such as obstructing highways, keeping disorderly houses, &c., most of which offences are punishable by fine, and, in some, sureties are required to be given that the offence shall not be repeated.

5. The last class of offences are those which affect the rights of private individuals, being principally directed against their persons, their habitations, and their property. Of the crimes injurious to their persons, the highest is murder, or the unlawfully killing any reasonable creature with malice aforethought. In all civilised countries it is punishable by death. Mayhem*, rape, forcible abduction, and unnatural crimes, are also punished capitally. The inferior offences of this class are manslaughter, homicide, assaults, batteries, woundings, false imprisonments, and kidnapping; these being, for the most part, punishable by fine and imprisonment.

The offences which more immediately affect the habitations of individuals are arson and burglary. The first consists in maliciously setting fire to a dwelling-house, or to any out-houses connected with one, though not parcel thereof, as stables, barns, &c. This crime, we are sorry to say, has increased very much of late years. It has principally prevailed in the agricultural districts, especially in the south of England; and seems to have grown out of a hostile state of feeling between the farmers and labourers, occasioned partly, and principally, perhaps, by the abuses that have originated in the mal-administration of parochial affairs, and of the poor laws. But to whatever causes it may be owing, it is a crime of the most dangerous character, being very difficult to guard against, involving frequently the extensive destruction, not merely of property but of life, and, consequently, affording the greatest scope for the gratification of the malignant propensities. The removal of the causes in which it appears to have originated, and the diffusion of really useful education among the rural population, are the only means, perhaps, to be looked to for the complete eradication of this detestable crime. In the mean time it is properly punished with great severity, on the principle laid down by Cicero, that ea sunt animadvertenda peccata maxime, quæ difficillime

*Mayhem is the violently depriving another of such of his members as may render him the less able in fighting, either to defend himself or to annoy his enemy. — (Blackstone, book iv. cap. 15.)