is not a sufficient remedy; the danger to justice, under such circumstances, is not in a few cases, nor in any proportion of cases, but in every case. In all, the magistrate is prosecutor, constable, and judge. If the appeal be necessary to secure justice in any case, it must be so in all; and if, as will follow, all sentences by a magistrate should properly be revised by another authority, it would manifestly be for the public benefit that the appellate tribunal should decide all cases in the first instance."

If the Indian Government had it in contemplation to administer the law of England to Englishmen in their Courts, there would not be reason for so much surprise. Our opposition, however, to this scheme would be equally great; for their Judges are not adapted by education or circumstances to dispense justice in criminal cases to British-born subjects. Their knowledge of English law must be limited; for the greater part of their time is dedicated to the study of the Mahomedan code. If the Government urge the necessity of their civil servants acquiring a knowledge of the English law, the native law must be in some measure neglected. Now, we hold that these officers, on an average, by no means display such intimate acquaintance with the Mahomedan law, as to justify the belief that they could master the intricacies of our own system. There are many deficiencies in the system of training; no systematic instruction and no

premium on legal skill. They must sacrifice their acquisitions in one branch of law to the other. In short, the effect will be, that they will become bad English and bad native lawyers. What a contrast would these men present to the experienced Justices of the Supreme Court! That these hybrid Company's Judges,-half English, half native lawyers,—would not be competent to place in a clear light before a Jury the legal bearings of a case, and to sift the evidence with acuteness, must be manifest to all. How qualified would they be to expose the fallacious arguments and flimsy pretences of the lawyers! What faith would a Jury place in the summing up of such men ! The English magistrate, of ordinary abilities, who has sat upon the bench three years, possesses a better acquaintance with the spirit and maxims of English law, than the majority of these men do. Yet has the English Constitution delegated to such magistrates power to sentence Englishmen to transportation for life?

Then, again, look at the servile dependence of these Judges on the Indian Government! They may be removed from office, and disgraced at the pleasure of their superiors. Thus, a fellow-countryman, charged with any political offence, with any offence connected in the remotest degree with opposition to the powers that be, would be precluded from the chance of a fair trial. As the Jury has no absolute controlling power, and but little independence, these Judges may obtain a

D

verdict of guilty, and transport the prisoner for life, with the greatest facility. If they did not promote the wishes of the Government, they would injure their temporal interests. And it is well known that, under such trying circumstances, the conscience and heart of a Jeffreys would not be necessary to make a Judge unjust. These Judges will suffer no qualms of conscience in thus disposing of the enemies of the Government; for self-preservation is the first law of nature.

Amongst the many points of difference between the spirit of English legislation and that of the Indian, nothing is more striking than the diversity of the judicial character. A judge should not possess any previous knowledge of the prisoner placed before him, for it is not easy to divest ourselves of prior impressions. In England, in addition to the protection afforded by a jury, the prisoner is secured against any such contingencies. The Justices travel the various circuits in turn, and thus seldom fall in with prisoners, of whom they have had any previous knowledge.

Now, look at the nature of the Company's Judges: they are stationary in a district for years. Indeed, it is not of unfrequent occurrence to see them presiding over the same district for ten years. There are but few Englishmen in India scattered over the country. Some are engaged in salt and indigo speculations; some retired pensioners of the Government. The Judge, together with his subordinate, must be brought into frequent contact with those

living in his district. He knows them for good or for bad. He conceives a liking or aversion for them. Well, picture to yourself the indigo planter, known to be obnoxious to the Judge, or hated by his native neighbours, brought up on a false accusation and placed before that Judge in the felon's dock. Two native witnesses give false evidence against him. The Judge finds him guilty (we use this phrase advisedly), and sends him across the seas. But has not this unfortunate man any chance of redress? An appeal lies to the Company's senior Court, but not to the Supreme Court. Thus, Englishmen may be shipped off without any hope of protection from the law of England. It is a notorious fact that the Sudder or chief native Court confirms the decisions of the inferior Courts, as a mere matter of form, without minute inquiries. The work committed to it is so arduous, and the indolence induced by the climate so great, that it can take but a cursory glance of the innumerable records placed before it. That this Court would confirm a sentence against an Englishman with the same indifference that it sentences a native to work on the road for life, we well know. How un-English some men become in their feelings after a sojourn of any length in India, is incredible.

It may be expedient that we should trace the career of these men, who find themselves by appointment compelled to interpret the difficulties of English law, and to give judicial decisions affect

ing even the liberty and property of their countrymen. They go through a certain course of reading at Haylebury College, when their attention is directed to the acquisition of the native languages, Arabic, Persian, Oordoo, Bengalee, Sanscrit, and should-be afraid to say what other languages. They are shipped off to Calcutta, where they qualify themselves for the public service at the College there, by passing a prescribed examination in the native tongues; they are then distributed to the different stations. Some are appointed to the revenue departments, others are placed in the judicial one. The former, as assistants, have little or no power, mix much with the natives, and acquire vast experience before they are called on to exercise any important function The unbearded goslings, who are launched into the judicial arena, are hastily initiated in the forms and usages of the Courts, are desired to make themselves acquainted with the principles of the native laws, and with scarcely any novitiate are set to preside in the inferior courts. It often happens that the Judge obtains leave of absence for some months. One of these inexperienced fledglings fills his place. That he must have recourse to some one for assistance is obvious. He listens to the interested suggestions of a sheristadar,* and becomes the indirect means of the most disgraceful perversion of justice, the abettor of the most barefaced corruptions.

But it is not only the young officers who, through

*Sheristadar is the head native officer of a Court.