It appears, that these reports are not easily procured, and that Mr. Rush was indebted for them to Mr. Jeremy Bentham, whose writings have thrown so much light on the subject of criminal legislation, and who, in a note addressed to Mr. Rush, on our undertaking, has made a suggestion which he will find has not been disregarded.

I certainly lost some time in waiting for answers to my letters, but I cannot, in candor, state this, (even with the necessary attention to my professional business) to have been the only cause why the task I have undertaken is not yet fully performed.

I never so far over-rated my own powers, as to suppose that the whole plan would be executed in. the short interval between the two sessions, but I did think, that parts of it might be prepared, and submitted for the sanction of the present legislature, leaving the others to be acted upon at a future period. A closer view of the subject, however, convinced me of my error. In establishing the principles on which the work was to be framed, and tracing the plan of its different divisions, I found that its parts were so closely connected, and that continued references from the one to the other, were so unavoidable, as to render it difficult fairly to judge of, or decide on any part without examining the whole. I therefore determined to report to the general assembly, the progress I had made, to develope the plan on which I proposed to execute the work, to

give them some of the detached parts as specimens of the execution, and then to take their direction whether it should be completed or not.

The introductory notice herewith submitted, gives the different divisions of the code, into books, chapters and sections; the whole is subdivided into articles, numbered progressively through each book, so that citations may be made by referring to the article and book only. A continued numeration of the articles, through the whole work, has been found, in other instances, inconvenient, and carrying the numbers through each chapter or section only, encreases the difficulty of reference. In the same notice, will be found some general provisions, made to obviate the necessity of those repetitions, which encreased the barbarism of our legal language; but the omission of which has sometimes counteracted the intent of the legislature. The instance of two statutes, which were made in England, to punish, the one the stealing of horses, and the other the stealing of a horse, is familiar to lawyers; and indeed it has been doubted by some, whether a third statute were not necessary, to include the female part of the species.

One other article in this notice, points to a method, which will also, it is supposed, tend to render the code both explicit and concise. Technical terms are never used in the work, where common expressions could be found to give the same idea. The employment of them, however, is, in many instances, unavoid

able. In all such cases, and whenever a word, or a phrase, is either ambiguous, or employed in any other sense than that which is given to it in common parlance, it becomes necessary to explain the precise meaning which is attached to it in the code. To this end, whenever any such expressions occur in the course of the work, they are to be printed in a particular character, which will serve as a notice, that they are defined and explained. These definitions and explanations form the first book.

The

This, though necessarily the first in numerical order, it is obvious, must be the last executed. words requiring explanation are noted, and the definitions written, as the work progresses; when complete, it will be submitted to men unversed in the language of the law, and every word not fully understood by them, will be marked for explanation. The foregoing parts of the plan are believed to be new, and therefore require the stricter attention to the propriety of their enactment: they suggested themselves to me, as the means of making the work, at once concise, and easily comprehended by those who are most interested in understanding it.

The second book begins with a preamble, which states the reasons that called for the enactment of a criminal code, and which sanctions, by a solemn legislative declaration, the principles on which its several provisions are founded. These principles once studied, and after proper discussion adopted, will serve

as a standard to measure the propriety of every other part of the code: with these rules constantly before us, and duly impressed on our minds, we can proceed with confidence and comparative ease, to the task of penal legislation; and we may see at a glance, or determine by a single thought, whether any proposed provision is consonant to those maxims which we have adopted as the dictates of truth. The incongruities which have pervaded our system will disappear; every new enactment will be impressed with the character of the original body of laws; and our penal legislation will no longer be a piece of fretwork exhibiting the passions of its several authors, their fears, their caprices, or the carelessness and inattention, with which legislators in all ages and in every country, have at times, endangered the lives, the liberties, and fortunes of the people, by inconsistent provisions, cruel or disproportioned punishments, and a legislation, weak and wavering, because guided by no principle, or by one that was continually changing, and therefore could seldom be right. This division of the code, is deemed to be of the highest importance, all the other parts will derive their character from this; it is the foundation of the whole work, and if well laid, the superstructure raised in conformity to it, cannot be essentially faulty. It is the result of much reflection, guided by an anxiety to discover the truth, and to express it with precision.

The remainder of the second book is devoted to

the establishment of general dispositions, applicable to the exercise of legislative power in penal jurisprudence; to prosecutions and trials; to a designation of the persons who are amenable to the provisions of this code; to a statement of the circumstances under which, acts, that would otherwise be offences, may be justified or excused; to the repetition of offences; to the situation of different persons. participating in the same offence, as principals, accomplices, or accessaries.

The enunciation of these general provisions, it is supposed, will greatly tend, not only to elucidate, but abridge the work; by throwing them into a single chapter, memory is assisted, order is better preserved, and repetition very much avoided. Among those which relate to the exercise of legislative power, are some that ought particularly to fix the attention of the general assembly; such is one for the exclusion of that class of offences, which figures in the English, and most other penal codes, under the vague description of offences against the laws of morality, of nature, and of religion. The will of the legislature is established as the only rule; and the crude and varying opinions of judges, as to the extent of this uncertain code of good morals, is no longer to usurp the authority of law. Connected with this, is the provision which prohibits the punishment of any act not expressly forbidden by the letter of the law, under the pretence, that it comes within its spirit.