cure her own miscarriage, unlawfully administer to herself poison or other noxious thing or use any instrument or other means for that purpose; or to any person whomsoever who, with a similar intent, shall unlawfully administer to a woman (whether she be with child or not), or cause to be taken by her, poison or other noxious thing (p), or who shall use any instrument or other means with intent to procure her miscarriage; and all such practices are declared to be felonies (q). And further, it is provided that whosoever shall supply or procure any such poison, thing or instrument, knowing that the same is intended to be unlawfully used or employed to procure the miscarriage of a woman, whether she be with child or not, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and punishable with penal servitude for five years, or imprisonment, with or without hard labour, not exceeding two years (r). And it is also a misdemeanor punishable with imprisonment as just mentioned, for any person, by secret disposition of the dead body of a child whereof a woman has been delivered, to endeavour to conceal its birth, whether it died before or afterwards (s).

VI. Another offence immediately affecting the personal security of individuals, is that of the abduction of females. One species of this offence, vulgarly called stealing an

(p) See R. v. Cramp, Law Rep., 5 Q. B. D. 307, as to the administration of a drug innocuous in small quantities, but noxious in large.

(4) It is to be observed that if in such a case the woman should die, the offence would be murder. And one Heaps was hanged for it in the year 1875.

(r) 24 & 25 Vict. c. 100, s. 59; 27 & 28 Vict. c. 47.

(s) 24 & 25 Vict. c. 100, s. 60 (see The Queen v. Brown, Law Rep., 1 C. C. R. 244). At one period of the law, if the child would have been a bastard, and its mother endeavoured to conceal her delivery of a child, by putting away the body or the like, it was murder, unless, indeed, she was able to prove by a witness that the child was born dead. See 4 Bl. Com. p. 198; 21 Jac. 1, c. 27; 43 Geo. 3, c. 58.

heiress, viz. forcibly carrying off any woman, "having substance in goods or lands, or being heir apparent to her ancestor (the same being followed by her marriage or defilement), was made a capital felony by the statutes 3 Hen. VII. c. 2, and 39 Eliz. c. 9 (t). But these enactments are repealed; and the existing provision on this subject is contained in 24 & 25 Vict. c. 100; the 53rd section of which enacts, that where a woman of any age shall have any interest, legal or equitable, present or future, absolute, conditional or contingent, in any real or personal estate,—or shall be an heiress presumptive, or co-heiress, or presumptive next of kin to a person having such interest,-it shall be felony in any one who shall, from motives of lucre (u), take away or detain her against her will, with intent to marry or carnally know her; or who shall cause her to be married or carnally known by any other person -or who (with a like intent) shall fraudulently allure, take away or detain a woman in such position if she be under the age of twenty-one, out of the possession and against the will of her father or mother, or other person having her lawful care or charge (x); and the offender (in any of the above cases) is punishable by penal servitude for fourteen years, or not less than five (y), or by imprisonment, with or without hard labour, not exceeding two years: and shall, moreover, be incapable of taking any of her estate, interest or property; which (if marriage has taken place) shall be settled in such manner as shall be appointed in chancery. The same punishments are awarded to whomsoever shall by force take away or detain against her will a woman of any age, with intent to marry or defile her (≈). And unlawfully to take or cause to be taken out of the possession and against the will of her parents or guardian, an unmarried girl under the age of sixteen, is a misde

(t) See also 4 & 5 Ph. & M. c. 8.

(u) See R. v. Barratt, 9 Car. & P. 387.

(x) See R. v. Burrell, 35 L. J.

(M. C.) 54.

(y) See 27 & 28 Vict. c. 47.

(*) 24 & 25 Vict. c. 100, s. 54.

meanor, punishable with imprisonment to the extent of two years, with or without hard labour-and that, though no such intent as above mentioned can be shown (a).

This, by the case the damsel

VII. [Another offence, also against the female part of the subjects of the realm, but attended with greater aggravations even than that of forcible marriage, is the crime of rape, raptus mulierum, that is, the carnal knowledge of a woman forcibly and against her will (b). Jewish law, was punished with death, in was betrothed to another man: and in case she was not betrothed, then the heavy fine of fifty shekels was to be paid to the damsel's father; and she was to be the wife of the ravisher all the days of his life, without his having that power of divorce which was in general permitted by the Mosaic law (c).

The civil law punished the crime of ravishment with death and confiscation of goods; under which term it includes both the offence of forcible abduction or taking away a woman from her friends, of which we last spoke, and also the present offence of forcible dishonouring them; either of which, without the other, is in that law sufficient to constitute a capital crime (d). Also the stealing away a woman from her parents or guardians and debauching her, was made equally penal by the emperor's edict, whether she consent or is forced; "sive volentibus, sive nolentibus mulieribus tale facinus fuerit perpetratum." And this, in order to take away from women every opportunity of to have been of that age. (The Queen v. Prince, Law Rep., 2 C. C. R. 154.)

(a) 24 & 25 Vict. c. 100, s. 55. See R. v. Meadows, 1 Car. & Kir. 399; R. v. Robins, ib. 456; Mankletow's case, 1 Dearsley's C. C. R. 159; Reg. v. Timmins, 9 W. R. (C. C. R.) 56. It may be remarked that, when under the age of sixteen, the girl's consent is immaterial; nor is it a defence that the person charged bonâ fide and reasonably believed her

(b) 4 Bl. Com. 209, 210. See The Queen v. Fletcher, 28 L. J. (M. C.) 85; 1 C. C. R. 39, from which case it appears that "without her consent" would be the more proper definition of this crime. (c) Deut. xxii. 25. (d) Cod. 9, tit. 13.

[offending in this way; whom the Roman law supposes never to go astray, without the seduction and arts of the other sex and therefore by restraining and making so highly penal the solicitations of the men, they meant to secure effectually the honour of the women. "Si enim ipsi raptores metu, vel atrocitate pœnæ, ab hujusmodi facinore se temperaverint, nulli mulieri, sive volenti, sive nolenti, peccandi locus relinquetur; quia hoc ipsum velle mulierum, ab insidiis nequissimi hominis, qui meditatur rapinam, inducitur. Nisi etenim eam solicitaverit, nisi odiosis artibus circumvenerit, non faciet eam velle in tantum dedecus sese prodere." But our English law does not entertain quite such sublime ideas of the honour of either sex, as to lay the blame of a mutual fault upon one of the transgressors only; and therefore makes it a necessary ingredient, in the crime of rape, that it must be against the woman's consent.

Rape was punished by the Saxon laws, (particularly those of king Athelstan,) with death (e); which was also agreeable to the old Gothic or Scandinavian constitution (f). But this was afterwards thought too hard; and in its stead another severe, but not capital punishment, was inflicted by William the Conqueror; viz., castration and loss of eyes (g); and this continued till after Bracton wrote, in the reign of Henry the third. But in order to prevent malicious accusations, it was then the law (h), that the woman should, immediately after, "dum recens fuerit maleficium," go to the next town; and there make discovery to some credible persons of the injury she has suffered; and, afterwards, should acquaint the high constable of the hundred, the coroners, and the sheriff, with the outrage (). This seems to correspond in some degree with the laws of Scotland and Arragon, which required

(e) Bracton, 1. iii. c. 28.

(f) Stiernh. de Jure Sueon. 1. iii.

c. 2.

(g) LL. Guil. Conqu. c. 19.

(h) The law is so laid down by Hale, in respect of appeals of rape in his time. (1 Hale, P. C. 632.) (i) Glanv. 1. xiv. c. 6; Bract. 1. iii. c. 28.

[that complaint must be made within twenty-four hours; though afterwards the time of limitation in England was extended to forty days (). At present there is no time of limitation fixed; for, as it is now punished by indictment at the suit of the Crown, the maxim of law takes place that nullum tempus occurrit regi; but the jury will rarely give credit to a stale complaint. At one period, also, it was held for law, that the woman, by the consent of the judge and her parents, might redeem the offender from the execution of his sentence, by accepting him for her husband,if he also was willing to agree to the exchange, but not otherwise (1).

In the third year of Edward the first, (by the statute Westm. 1, c. 13,) the punishment of rape was much mitigated: the offence itself of ravishing a damsel within age, that is, twelve years old, either with her consent or without, or of any other woman against her will, being reduced to a trespass, unless prosecuted by appeal within forty days; and subjecting the offender only to two years' imprisonment and a fine at the king's will. But this lenity being productive of the most terrible consequences, it was, in the thirteenth year of Edward the first, again found necessary to make the offence of forcible rape, felony (m). And by statute 18 Eliz. c. 7, it was made felony without benefit of clergy.] All these enactments were afterwards repealed by 9 Geo. IV. c. 31; which however still made the offence a capital felony: but, by the provision in force at the present time, every person convicted of rape shall be guilty of felony and be liable to be kept in penal servitude for life, or for any term not less than five years, or to be imprisoned for any term not exceeding two years, with or without hard labour (n).

[An infant under the age of fourteen years, is presumed by law incapable to commit a rape; and therefore cannot

(k) See 3 Edw. 1, c. 13.

(4) Hawk. P. C. b. 1, c. 41, s. 7. (m) Stat. Westm. 2, c. 34.

(n) 24 & 25 Vict. c. 100, s. 48; 27 & 28 Vict. c. 47.