nish Prussia; in the kingdom of Naples with some few modifications; in the Canton of Geneva in Switzerland; and in Belgium. The commercial code and the registry of mortgages have been adopted all over Italy. abroad any secret of the fabric in which | he is employed, is punished by a fine of from 500 to 20,000 francs, besides imprisonment at the discretion of the court. Art. 421 All wagers or bets upon the rise or fall of the public funds are punishable by imprisonment from one month to For comments and strictures by French one year, besides a fine of from 500 to jurists on the criminal laws of France, 10,000 francs. The offenders may after see Bérenger, De la Justice Criminelle en the expiration of their imprisonment be France, 1818; Dupin, Observations sur placed by sentence of the court under the plusieurs points importans de notre Légissurveillance of the police from two to lation Criminelle; and Bavoux, Leçons five years. This sentence, "placed under | préliminaires sur le Code Pénal, 1821. the surveillance of the high or government police,” which is added at the end of numerous penalties, means that the person so placed is to give security for his good conduct; in default of which he is "at the disposal of government," who may fix a particular place for his residence. All individuals who have undergone the punishment of imprisonment and hard labour for a time, or that of banishment | or transportation, or those who have suffered a penalty for political crimes, are placed under the surveillance of the high police for the rest of their lives. The above extracts are sufficient to show the spirit in which the French criminal code has been framed. It is, in fact, as harsh and illiberal in many of its enactments as that of any absolute government in Europe. In speaking therefore of Napoleon's legislation, it is necessary to discriminate between the civil and the criminal law; and again between the laws themselves and the practice and rules of proceeding in the courts. The adoption of the French criminal code met with great opposition in Italy. At Milan the legislative body attempted to modify and adapt it to the habits and wants of the Italians. Two commissions were appointed by the minister of justice, one for the code of instruction, and the other for the code pénal. Their reports were sent to Paris, but were rejected by Napoleon, and an answer came with peremptory orders to translate literally and enforce the two French codes without any alteration. At Naples similar objections were also made, but with no better effect. (Colletta, Storia del Reame di Napoli, book vi.) The French code is retained in Rhe There are in France more than 3000 judges, including those of the commercial courts, besides 2846 juges de paix. The judges of the Tribunaux de Première Instance have salaries varying from 2000 to 6000 francs; those of the Cours Royales, from 3000 to 8000. The presidents and vice-presidents receive more in proportion. The juges de paix receive about 800 francs, besides certain fees. The various courts, magistrates, greffiers, &c. cost the state about fifteen millions of francs annually. (Goldsmith, Statistics of France, 1832.) For a general view of the judiciary system of France, see Meyer, Esprit des Institutions Judiciaires, last vol.; and Rey, Des Institutions Judiciaires de l'Angleterre comparées avec celles de France et de quelques autres Etats, 1826. CODICIL. [CODE; WILL.] CODIFICATION. [LAW AND LEGISLATION.] COFFEE TRADE (French, Cafe; German, Koffe, Koffebohnen; Dutch, Koffy, Koffebomen; Italian, Caffe; Spanish, Cafe; Turkish, Chaube; Swedish, Koffe; Russian, Kofé). This great branch of commerce has been wholly created since the beginning of the eighteenth century. Nearly all the coffee which now comes to Europe is the produce of trees propagated from a single plant, which, having been raised from seed procured from Mocha in Arabia by Van Hoorn, governor of Batavia, was sent by him to the botanical garden at Amsterdam, and the progeny of which was, in the year 1718, twenty years after its reception from Java, sent to Suri nam. There is a table by Mr. M'Queen in the appendix to the Parliamentary Report on the Produce of India, which purports to show the quantity of coffee produced in the various countries of its growth; but there scarcely exist accurate data for such information, and the table in question is confessedly only an approximative estimate. The total quantity of coffee produced in all countries is stated to be 359,000,000 lbs. (3,205,351 cwts.. or 160,267 tons); but Ceylon, from which in 1844 we received 138,846 cwts., is not given in the table; and the total production of British India, from which in 1841 we imported 15,896,624 lbs., is set down at 6,245,000 lbs. The declining production of coffee in the British West Indies, though favoured by a differential duty, rendered it necessary to admit the coffee of some other region on equally favourable terms, and in 1835 East India coffee was admitted on the same terms as West India. The imports from the East Indies increased from 5,182,856 lbs. in 1835 to 15,896,624 lbs. in 1841; and the coffee of Ceylon increased from 1,870,143 lbs. in 1835 to 15,550,752 lbs. in 1844. From 1831 to 1834 the annual imports of British West India coffee averaged above 21,000,000 lbs. ; and in 1841, 1842, and 1843, they did not reach 10,000,000 lbs. In 1843 they were only 8,530,110 lbs. In 1824 the consumption of coffee in the United Kingdom was 8,262,943 lbs., and the duties were On foreign coffee . 2s. 6d. per lb. East India British West India The consequence was a rapid increase in the consumption, which in 1830 was 22,691,522 lbs. In 1835 there was consumed West India 2,126 lbs. 5,596,791 17,696,129 The consumption having overtaken the supply of those kinds of coffee which duty, had remained almost stationary for were admissable at the lowest rate of several years. At the end of 1835, therefore, the duty on East India coffee was reduced to 6d. per lb.; and subsequently coffee, of whatever growth, if imported from a British possession eastward of the Cape of Good Hope, or from that place, was admitted at a duty of 9d. Practically speaking, the duty on foreign coffee, instead of being 1s. 3d. per lb., became only 9d., to which id. must be added for the cost of additional freight from the Cape of Good Hope, whither it was sent for the purpose of being transhipped for England at a duty of 9d. instead of 1s. 3d, to which it would have been subject if imported direct. The quantity of coffee shipped for the Cape to be re-shipped for this country at the 9d. duty was estimated in 1840 at 7080 tons from Europe, 5060 tons from the foreign West Indies, 5680 tons from Brazil, and 2030 tons from Java; and the additional cost upon this quantity, in one way or other, amounted, according to Mr. Porter's calculation, to 177,000l. a year. He showed also that "the price of all the coffee used in this country was increased to the consumer by 28s. per cwt., the difference of duty, in addition to 13s. 7d. per cwt., the expense of sending coffee from Europe to the Cape and back." This increased price amounted to 533,2277., but the duty of 9d. per lb. was received only on about half the quantity imported, and the additional sum accruing to the Exchequer was only 192,4167. In 1840 the consumption was as follows: The stock of coffee on hand in the fol For the year ending 5th Jan., 1845, lowing places, on the 1st of February, the consumption of coffee in the United 1845, was as under: Holland Antwerp. Hamburg Trieste Havre England. Importations, 1844. cwts. 1,300,000 Stock. cwts. 500,000 3,222,000 The shipments from these ports to one another are estimated at 350,000 cwts., which reduces the total importation to 2,972,000 cwts. This does not include the whole of the supply received in Europe. Sweden, for instance, in 1840 imported 2,519,986 lbs. from Brazil. In 1835, or within a year or two of that date, the imports into Bremen were 4500 cwts.; St. Petersburg, 2000 cwts.; Denmark, 1400 cwts.; Spain (from Cuba only), 1000 cwts.; Naples and Sicily, 640 cwts.; Venice, 320 cwts.; Fiume, 170 cwts.; but in these last-mentioned places the imports were not wholly direct from the countries of production. In the nine months ending June 30, 1843, there were imported into the United States of North America 92,295,660 lbs. of coffee, valued at 6,346,787 dollars: the importation from Brazil was 49,515,666 lbs.; from Cuba, 16,611,987; aud from Hayti, 10,811,288 lbs. The quantity of coffee re-exported during the above period was 6,378,994 lbs. There is no import duty on coffee in the United States. Kingdom was 31,394,225 lbs. (19,564,082 British, and 11,830,143 foreign); the importations were From British possessions 24,110,283 lbs. Foreign 22,410,960, 46,521,243,, Since 1835 we have been gradually enlarging the sources of supply, and the consequence has been increased importation and diminution of price. from the United Kingdom in 1844 was The quantity of coffee re-exported 6,306,000 lbs., all of which, with the exception of 155,703 lbs., was foreign. Of 9,505,634 lbs. exported in 1842, Belgium took 3,709,400 lbs.; Germany, 1,005,206 lbs.; Holland, 986,122 lbs.; Italy, 926,279 lbs.; Turkey, 850,829 lbs.; and the remainder was sent in smaller quantities to thirty-one other countries. The price of coffee in London has been gra ally declining for several years, and has fallen as follows per cwt. : Jamaica, low middling and S. 111 to 116 72 to 90 . Brazil, ordinary to fine 46 53 27 From the above statements it will be seen that coffee is an article of the first commercial importance, and in most countries it is made to yield a considerable revenue. In Holland the duty is 3s. 4d. per 100 lbs., and there is no differential duty in favour of the Dutch cuted by the sheriff, by the agency of his under-sheriff. When the jury have assessed the damages, the sheriff returns the inquisition, which is entered upon the roll in the form of a postea, and the judgment is then complete, the defendant's plea having already confessed the cause of action, and the damages having been assessed by a jury. If the action be for the recovery of a specific amount, as in an action of debt, the judgment entered up upon a plea of cognovit actionem is conclusive against the defendant, as it confesses the entire declaration. On this account it is a common practice for a debtor to strengthen the security of his creditor by executing a warrant of attorney to an attorney named by the creditor, authorising him to confess a judgment by a plea of cognovit in an action of debt to be brought by the creditor against the debtor for the specific sum due to him. But in order to prevent fraud, it is provided by 1 & 2 Vict. c. 110, § 9, 10, that such warrant of attorney or cognovit is of no force unless there be present an attor Chicory and other substitutes for coffee are prohibited in several countries; but in England it is becoming an important article in commerce. In 1840 the quantity of raw chicory retained for home consumption was 3932 cwts.; and in the years ending 5th July, 1843 and 1844, 20,775 and 31,720 cwts. The duty of 208. per cwt. was not altered by the tariff of 1842. The present value of the article is 9s. 6d. per cwt. exclusive of duty. The effect of rendering such a beverage as coffee cheap has been attended with beneficial moral effects. In 1685 Charles II. issued a proclamation for suppressing coffee-houses, in which he speaks of "the multitude of coffee-houses lately set up in this kingdom" as being the re-ney of one of the superior courts, on besort of disaffected persons. The proclamation was soon withdrawn. In 1844 the number of coffee-houses in London was above 600. Thirty years ago there was scarcely one where coffee was supplied at less than 6d. a cup; and there were none to which the humbler classes could resort. There are now many houses (coffee-shops) where from 700 to 800 persons a day are served at the charge of 1d. per cup; some where 1500 or 1600 persons are served at 14d.; and all these houses are supplied with newspapers and periodical publications for the use of the persons who frequent them. A few years ago the working classes had no other place but the public-house to which they could resort for refreshment. half of the party who gives it, expressly Ste COGNOVIT is a plea, in an action at law, whereby the defendant acknowledges or confesses the justice of the plaintiff's demand against him (cognovit actionem). By this plea a trial is avoided and judg-plicated laws upon this subject, passed ment is entered up for the plaintiff. But where the action is for damages, this judgment is not final, as the amount of damages remains to be assessed by a jury, under a writ of inquiry, which is exe from time to time during several centuries, to protect the coin of the realm, were repealed by the 2 Will. IV. c. 34. The operation of this statute is confined to Great Britain and Ireland; and the former are not repealed, so far as they may be in force in any part of the king's dominions out of the United Kingdom. The making or coining of money being one of the prerogatives of the crown, the counterfeiting of the king's coin was in early periods of the history of English law considered to be a usurpation upon the royal authority, and upon that principle constituted the offence of high treason both by the common law and by various statutes. By 2 Will. IV. c. 34, § 3, it is enacted, with respect to gold and silver coin, That any person falsely making or counterfeiting any coin resembling, or apparently intended to resemble or pass for, the king's current gold or silver coin, shall be liable to transportation for life, or any term not less than seven years, or to imprisonment for any term not exceeding four years. The 4th section of the act imposes the same punishment upon the offences of colouring, washing, or casing over any metal or counterfeit coin so as to pass for the genuine gold and silver coin of the realm; and of filing, washing, or otherwise altering silver coin so as to pass for gold, or copper coin so as to pass for silver or gold. By § 5, persons impairing, diminishing, or lightening the king's current gold or silver coin, with intent to make it pass for the king's current gold or silver coin, are made liable to transportation for fourteen years, or imprisoninent for three years. By § 6 of the statute it is enacted, That if any person shall buy, sell, receive, pay or put off, any false or counterfeit coin resembling, or apparently intended to resemble or pass for, any of the king's current gold or silver coin, or offer so to do, at or for a lower rate or value than the same by its denomination imports; or if any person shall import into the United Kingdom, from beyond the seas, any false or counterfeit coin resembling, or apparently intended to resemble or pass for, any of the king's current gold or silver coin, knowing the same to be false or counterfeit, he shall be liable to be transported for life, or for any term not less than seven years, or to be imprisoned for any term not exceeding four years. By § 7 it is enacted, That if any person shall tender, utter, or put off any false or counterfeit coin, resembling, or apparently intended to resemble or pass for, any of the king's current gold or silver coin, knowing the same to be false or counterfeit, he shall be liable to imprisonment for any term not exceeding one year; and if any person shall tender, utter, or put off any false or counterfeit coin resembling, or apparently intended to resemble or pass for, any of the king's current gold or silver coin, knowing the same to be false or counterfeit, and such person shall, at the time of such tendering, uttering, or putting off, have in his possession, besides the false or counterfeit coin so tendered, uttered, or put off, one or more piece or pieces of false or counterfeit coin resembling, or apparently intended to resemble or pass for, any of the king's current gold or silver coin, or shall, either on the day of such tendering, uttering, or putting off, or within the space of ten days then next ensuing, tender, utter, or put off any more or other false or counterfeit coin resembling, or apparently intended to resemble or pass for, any of the king's current gold or silver coin, knowing the same to be false or counterfeit, he shall be liable to imprisonment for any term not exceeding two years. And it is further declared by the same section, that if any person who shall have been convicted of any of the offences therein before mentioned, shall afterwards commit any of such offences, he shall be liable to be transported for life, or for any term not less than seven years, or to be imprisoned for any term not exceeding four years. By § 8 it is enacted, That if any person shall have in his custody or possession three or more pieces of false or counterfeit coin resembling, or apparently intended to resemble or pass for, any of the king's current gold or silver coin, knowing the same to be false or counterfeit, and with intent to utter or put off the same, he shall be liable to be imprisoned for any term not exceeding three years; and if any person so convicted shall afterwards commit the like misdemeanor, or crime and offence, he shall be liable to be transported for life, or for any term not less than seven years, or to be imprisoned for any term not exceeding four years. The above provisions relate to the pro |