French code, without adopting the rigid principle of the old Roman law in its full extent, gives to a father the right of imprisoning his son during his minority for a term not exceeding six months, by a petition to that effect, addressed to the president of the local court, who, after consulting with the king's attorney, may give the order of arrest without any other judicial forms being required. The remaining heads treat of minority and emancipation; majority, which is fixed, for both sexes, at 21 years complete; of interdiction, and of trustees who are appointed in certain cases to administer the property of a man who is incapable of doing it himself. Book II. treats of property. The 1st head draws the distinction between meubles and immeubles, or personal and real property; though these two words do not exactly express, to an English lawyer, the distinction between meubles and immeubles. The 2nd defines the different rights of ownership. The 3rd treats of usufruct, use, and habitation. The 4th concerns rural servitudes, the prædiorum servitutes of the Roman law: all former personal servitudes were abolished at the Revolution. Book III. treats of the various modes by which property is legally acquired, such as inheritance, donation inter vivos, and wills or testaments. A father can dispose by testament of one-half of his property if he has only one legitimate child, of one-third only if he has two, and of one-fourth if he has three or more. The law then proceeds to treat of contracts, and specifies the modes of proving them by written documents, official or private, or by witnesses, or lastly by presumption. The 5th head treats of marriage, and the respective rights of husband and wife according to the terms of the marriage contract. Next come the heads of sales, exchanges, leases, partnerships, loans, deposits, and sequestration. The 12th head concerns the contracts called aléatoires, which depend in a great measure upon chance, such as insurance, annuities, &c. The law treats next of power of attorney, of bail and security, and of amicable compromise. The 18th head concerns privileged creditors and mortgages. This subject is very elaborately treated, and has been much

extolled as a very valuable part of the Civil Code, on account of the security which it gives to property by means of the public offices for registering mortgages, of which there is one in every district. The registration of mortgages has been adopted in most of the Italian states, and other countries besides France; but even this system is not considered perfect, because there is no obligation to register every sale or transmission of property, nor the servitudes affecting property; and because the French code admits of sales by private contract, and of mortgages in favour of minors or wives, even without registration. In this particular the Austrian code is considered superior, because it enforces the registration of every transmission of property, and of every burthen or servitude, in the book of census, or cadasto, for each district. (Grenier, Traité des Hypothèques, 1824: Introduction.) The nineteenth head of the French civil code treats of expropriation or seizing, or selling off by execution; and the twentieth, or last, of prescription.

Much has been written on the merits and defects of this celebrated code. In order to judge of its value, we ought to read the reports of the discussions in the council of state by the most distinguished jurists of France. (Locré, Esprit du Code Napoléon tire de la Discussion, 6 vols. 8vo., 1805; and Malleville, Analysis raisonnée de la Discussion du Code Civil au Conseil d'Etat, 4 vols., 8vo., 1807.) On the other side, several distinguished German jurists have pointed out its imperfections. (Savigny, On the Aptitude of our Age for Legislation, translated from the German by a barrister of Lincoln's Inn; Rehberg, Ueber den Code Napoleon, Hanover, 1814; Thibaut, Schmidt, &c.) With regard to the part which Bonaparte took in its discussion, not as a professional man, but as a quicksighted observer and critic, a lively account is given in Thibaudeau's Mémoires sur le Consulat, in which his own original expressions are preserved.

Code de Procedure Civile.-The Code de Procédure is divided into two parts. The first part treats of the various courts: 1st. Of the justices of peace and their

jurisdiction. There are about 2840 of these magistrates in France, whose powers are very similar to those of magistrates in England in matters of police; but they also decide petty cases not exceeding 200 francs, and in certain cases not exceeding 100 francs their decision is without appeal. They also act as conciliators between parties at variance, who are not allowed to take proceedings in a court without having first appeared before the juge de paix. 2nd. Of the process before the tribunaux de première instance, which try civil cases without jury. There is one of these courts in every arrondissement. 3rd. Of appeals to the Cours Royales, of which there are 27 established in the larger towns, each having several departments under its jurisdiction: these courts try cases by jury. 4th. of various modes of judgment. 5th. Of the execution of judgments. The second part treats of the various processes for the recovery of property, separation between husband and wife, interdiction and cession of property by an insolvent debtor. Foreigners are excluded from the benefit of the cessio bonorum. The code then passes to the subject of inheritance, the affixing of seals, taking inventories, &c. The last book treats of arbitration.

The Code de Procédure was in great measure founded on the ordonnance promulgated in 1667 by Louis XIV., but with considerable ameliorations. It was framed by a commission appointed in 1800, then discussed in the council of state and the tribunate, and lastly passed by the legislative body. It was put in force in January, 1807. The expenses, duties, fees, &c. attending civil process are now regulated by the Code des Frais. The principal reproach made against the Code de Procédure is the multiplicity of formalities, written acts, registrations, stamps, &c. Another objection is, that in actions in which the state is concerned, it has advantages over private parties. But the publicity of the discussions, the security to all civil proceedings by means of registration, the well-defined authority of the various courts, the independence of the judges, and the establishment of local courts all over the country, and above all the institution of the supreme Court of

Cassation—these are essential and lasting advantages.

The Code de Commerce was promulgated in January, 1808. It was founded in some measure upon the ordonnances of 1673-81 of Louis XIV. On account of the many modifications which the Code of 1805 had undergone, a new text of the Code was promulgated in January, 1841. The Code de Commerce is considered the best part of French legislation. The institution of the commercial tribunals has been of great advantage to France, and has been adopted in other countries. These courts, of which there are 213, consist of a president and two or more judges, all chosen by the merchants among themselves, and for a limited time; they are not paid, but the greffier or registrar receives a salary. The Code de Commerce consists of four books: the first treats of commerce in general, of the various descriptions of commercial men, of the keeping of books, of companies and partnerships, of brokers, commissioners, carriers, &c.; the second treats of maritime commerce, shipping, insurances, bankruptcy, &c.; the third concerns bankruptcies; and the fourth treats of the commercial tribunals, their jurisdiction and proceedings. By a law of April, 1838, appeals in matters above 1500 francs (formerly 1000 francs) lie to the Cour Royale of the district.

Code d'Instruction Criminelle.-The criminal laws of France under the monarchy were defective, confused, and arbitrary. There was no penal code, but there were various ordonnances for the punishment of particular offences. The ordonnance of Louis XIV. for regulating proceedings in criminal cases introduced something like uniformity, but it maintained torture and secret trial. Torture was abolished by Louis XVI. The first National Assembly in 1791 recast the criminal legislation, introduced the trial by jury, and remodelled the criminal courts after those of England. Bonaparte, when First Consul, appointed a commission, consisting of Viellard, Target, Oudard, Treilhard, and Blondel, to frame a criminal code. The fundamental laws were drawn up in 1801, and were then discussed in the council of state. Bonaparte took a lively part in these first discussions,

especially on the institution of the jury, which he strongly opposed on the ground of the probable incapacity or party spirit of jurors: he looked upon the question in a political rather than a judicial light. Portalis, Simeon, Bigot de Préameneu, and Ségur sided with Bonaparte. Treilhard, Berlier, Defermon, Crétet, Bérenger, Merlin, and Louis Bonaparte defended the jury. There is an interesting account of this discussion in Thibaudeau (vol. vii. pp. 88, &c.). The question being put to the vote, the majority was in favour of the jury. The matter, however, was finally settled by suppressing the jury d'accusation, or grand jury, and retaining the jury de jugement. The jurors are taken from the electors who are qualified to vote for a member of the legislature, graduates in law, medicine, and other sciences, notaries, members of the Institute, and of other learned bodies recognised by the State, officers on half-pay who have been domiciled for five years in the department, and whose pay amounts to 1200 francs a-year, &c. A list of persons so qualified is made out by the prefect of the department, from which the President of the Cour Royale, or of the Cour d'Assise, selects the number required to serve. The proceedings in criminal trials are partly written and partly oral. The accused is first brought before the procureur du roi (king's attorney), who examines him, and simply reports the case to the juge d'instruction, without giving any opinion upon it. At the same time, if the accused is charged with a crime punishable with personal and degrading penalties, he orders his detention. For mere délits or misdemeanors, bail is allowed. The juge d'instruction summons and examines the witnesses, and then sends back the report to the procureur du roi, who makes his remarks on the case, which is then laid before the chambre de conseil, consisting of three judges of the tribunal de première instance. These judges investigate the case minutely, and decide if there is ground for further proceedings. In such case the report is laid before the chambre d'accusation, composed of five judges of the Cour Royale, who ultimately decide for commitment or acquittal. If committed for a crime punish

| able by peines afflictives or infamantes, the prisoner takes his trial before the next cour d'assise of the department. If for mere délit or misdemeanor, he is sent before the correctional tribunal. The courts of assize consist of two of the judges of the Court of First Instance of the town, and the president is a member of the Cour Royale of the department. Their sessions are held every three months in the chef lieu of each department. The jury vote by ballot, and decide by a majority on the fact of the charge; eight constitute a majority. The mode of voting was regulated by a new law, May, 1836. The court then awards the sentence, having a discretion between a maximum and a minimum penalty. By a law passed in 1831 the court was prohibited from setting aside the verdict of the jury and referring the case to a new trial; but by the law of September, 1835, the judges can order the case to be tried at the next assizes by a new jury, when they must pronounce sentence according to the verdict, although it may not differ from that of the first jury. The prisoner may challenge twelve jurors. One or two juges d'instruction are attached to each court of assize for criminal cases; they are generally taken from among the juges de première instance, and for a definite time only. The Code d'Instruction Criminelle consists of the following books: 1. Of the judiciary police and the various officers whose duty it is to inquire after offences, collect the evidence, and deliver the prisoners to the proper courts. These officers are very numerous, including the maires and their assistants, the commissaries of police, the rural guards and forest-keepers, the justices of the peace, the king's attorneys and their substitutes, the juges d'instruction, &c. It also treats of the manner of proceeding by the king's attorney, as already stated; and of the juge d'instruction and his functions. Book 2 treats of the various courts; tribunaux de simple police, which take cognizance of petty offences, and can inflict imprisonment of not more than five days, and a fine not exceeding fifteen francs; tribunaux en matière correctionelle, which are composed of at least three judges of the tribunaux de première instance, and take cognizance of délits or misdemeanors,