tinction is taken between a crime committed when the party is in a state of actual intoxication, and a crime committed when he is insane, and his insanity is remotely caused by an indulgence in habits of drunkenness. In the former case, he is deemed culpable, in the latter, not. The principle that there are degrees in crime, is not always sufficiently attended to, and codes of penal law often assign very disproportionate punishments to offences. The criminal code of England has been justly stigmatized as sanguinary, as it punishes capitally crimes of very different magnitudes. It seems to have been regulated, in a great measure, by the principle of terror, and not of reform. In the U. States, punishments are comparatively mild. There are very few crimes punished with death. No state punishes capitally more than 10 or 12 offences. The other punishments are generally fine, imprisonment, confinement in a house of correction, hard labor, &c., in penitentiaries for a term of years or for life; and the punishments are proportioned, both in length of time and degree, to the offence. In many of the American states, the punishment by the pillory is abolished; and in all, the tendency is to avoid disgraceful punishments which are cruel. The constitution of the U. States has expressly declared, that excessive fines shall not be imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted. The common law provides that every offence, which is not punishable by law in any other manner, shall be punished by fine or imprisonment, or both, at the discretion of the court before which the conviction is had, according to the aggravation of the offence.] (For more information on this subject, see Criminal Law.)

Crime, the Statistics of. This forms a very interesting subject, which has not been as yet sufficiently investigated to enable us to give as accurate an account as we could wish of the comparative amount of crime in different countries, and of the numerical proportion of the different kinds of crime. In deducing inferences from such views, we should keep in mind the general condition of different countries, and not argue, for instance, against the moral state of a rich and populous country, because many crimes against property are committed therein, nor against that of a poor and thinly peopled region, because it affords comparatively numerous instances of personal violence. For the study of the statistics of crime in France, we would recommend

the Compte générale de l'Administration de la Justice criminelle en France, which has been published annually, since 1825, by the keeper of the seals. It gives an excellent view of all the criminal processes in France. For England, we have the returns to parliament, of which an abstract has appeared, for two years past, in the Companion to the British Almanac, published under the direction of the society for the diffusion of useful knowledge (London). For America, we do not know of any more complete statement, than that given in the Annual Reports of the Prison Discipline Society (Boston), though it has not yet been in the power of this praiseworthy institution to give a complete view of the nature of crimes in all the states. Respecting Germany and many other parts of the European continent, much information is to be found in the Jahrbücher der Straf- und BesserungsAnstalten (Annals of Establishments for Punishment and Correction), by Nicholas Henry Julius (Berlin), published in monthly numbers-a very excellent work, embracing a wide extent of information. The same writer has collected, in a highly judicious manner, a great number of statements respecting crimes, prisons, houses of correction, common schools, &c., both in Europe and America, in his Vorlesungen über Gefängniss-Kunde, &c. (Lectures on the Subject of Prisons), by doctor N. H. Julius, Berlin, 1828. The last report of the keeper of the seals in France, for 1828, contains the following information. The courts of assize decided within the year 6396 cases. The number of individuals accused was 7396, being an increase of 467 above those of 1827. The proportion of the persons accused to the whole population, was, in 1827, as 1 to 4593, and in 1828, as 1 to 4307. Among the 7396 persons brought to the bar of the courts of assize, 5970 were men, and 1426 women, being in the proportion of 100 to 24. Among these, 4166 could neither read nor write; 1858 could write and read but imperfectly; 780 were well instructed in the first elements of knowledge; and 118 had received an education in colleges, or otherwise superior to that supplied by primary schools. Of the 7396 prisoners, 2845 were acquitted, and 4551 convicted. Of the latter, 114 were condemned to death, 268 to hard labor for life, 1142 to hard labor for different terms, 1228 to solitary imprisonment, and the rest to different kinds of correctional penalties. The proportion of acquittals to convictions is as 39

For 15 years, 10.

5.

From 1 to 5 years,

6 months to 1 year, Less than 6 months, .

59

175

857

512

68

104

In France, the number of accused were in the proportion of 1 in 4195 of the population; of the accused tried, 1 in 4557. In England, the proportion would be greatly superior. But it is difficult to draw any parallel in this respect. The offences tried before the correctional tribunals in

France are of a graver character than those which are punished in England out of the courts of assize and quarter session. For instance, in France, under the head of crimes punished by the correctional tribunals, there appear, under the title vols (thefts), 10,796, of which 4364 were punished by imprisonment for a year or more. Distinguishing crimes against the person, and those against property, the number under the former head is, in France, of accused, 1907; under the latter, 6988: leaving out Corsica, the former number would be reduced to 1821, the latter to 6939. In England, including the same class of crimes, the numbers are, Against the person, Against property, But adding to the 6939, 10,796, the numbers would be

.. 531 15,616

ufactures tend to increase depredations on property, and to diminish acts of violence against the person.-In Prussia, 9646 crimes were committed in 1817. The proportion of crimes to the population was greatest in Berlin, in which it was as 1 to 297. In the Rhenish provinces, the proportion was 1 to 400; in Silesia and Prussia Proper, 1 to 2000. This differcondition and state of civilization of the ence is owing to the difference in the provinces. From 1818 to 1827, 210 persons were sentenced to death in Prussia, but only 87 executed, giving one execution to 135,414 inhabitants. For a full account of the statistics of crime in Prus

sia, see the above-mentioned Gefängnisslands, in 1825, when the inhabitants were Kunde, by doctor Julius.-In the Nether6,157,286, there were 4400 criminals in the prisons, 2400 in houses of correction, and 1150 military prisoners. See Verslag van de Handelingen der tweede algemeene Vergadering van het Nederlandisch Genootschap tot Zedelyke verbetering der Gevangenen, gehouden binnen, Amsterdam, den 27 April, second general Meeting of the Netherland 1825 (Account of the Transactions of the ish Society for the Improvement of the Condition of Prisoners, held in Amsterdam &c.).-Russia presents, from 1823 to 1827 both inclusive,

853 thefts and robberies,
5,817 murders,
5,263 suicides,

95 cases of exposed children,
whole number of criminals,

14,087 { including deserters.

reports, in which, however, no information is contained respecting the state of crime in Arragon, Valencia and the Balearic islands, the number of criminals amounted to 12,937, which, if the population is 11,447,629, would give one crime for 885 persons.

...

18

15

17 16

18

Forgery,

11 8 7

9

4 2 1 1

1

4

3

5

7

7

1

1

6

Adultery, &c.,...

Attempt to murder,.