[dealer has delivered the horse to the groom,or a silversmith has delivered plate to the butler for his master; I should have thought that there was no real difference between these cases; that inasmuch as the servant in each case was acting for the master in the discharge of a duty towards him, and under an agreement to execute his orders, the master would come into possession of the horse or the plate as soon as his servant received it from the dealer or the silversmith, just as he remains in possession of the horse or the plate when he gives the custody of it to his groom or his butler. I should also have thought that the servant who appropriated his master's property to his own use, after receiving it from another on his master's account, was for all purposes in precisely the same position as the servant who did the same thing after receiving it from his master. The Courts, however, decided otherwise. They have held on many occasions that, though the master's possession continues when he gives the custody of a thing to his servant, it does not begin when the servant receives anything on account of his master; on the contrary, the servant has the possession, as distinguished from the custody, until he does some act which vests the possession in his master, though it may leave the custody in himself. If during that interval he appropriates the thing, he commits embezzlement. If afterwards, theft. The most pointed illustration of this sing.ar doctrine which can be given occurs in the case of R. v. Reed (Dear. 257). B. sent A. his servant, with a cart to fetch coals. A. put the coals into the cart, and on the way home sold some of them and kept the money. A. was convicted of larceny, and the question was whether he ought to have been convicted of embezzlement. It was held that the conviction was right, because though A. had the custody of the cart all along, yet the possession of it and its contents was in B., and though A. had the possession of the coals whilst he was carrying them to the cart, that possession was reduced to a mere custody when they were deposited in the cart, so that A.'s offence was larceny, and not embezzlement, which it would have been if he had misappropriated the coals before they were put into the cart. These explanations will, I hope, render the article in the Digest intelligible. In order to justify it legally, it is necessary to state the manner in which I arrived at it. I examined a large number of cases, of which I have put eleven in the form of illustrations to the article. In some of these cases it was decided that the offence was theft; in others that the offence was embezzlement. I have assumed (as I was entitled to do, as appears from the explanations given above) that whenever an offence was held to be theft the property stolen was in the possession of the owner or master, although it might be in the custody of a guest or servant; and that whenever the offence was held to be embezzlement the property embezzled was in the possession, as distinguished from the custody, of the servant. I might easily have enlarged the number of illustrations to any conceivable extent; but if those given are not enough to make the matter plain, I despair of making it plain or understanding it, [and I do not wish to make it darker than it is. It is, perhaps, just worth while to add once more, that I am in this work merely stating, and not attempting to justify, the law. The technicalities on this subject appear to me to be altogether superfluous, and I think they might be easily dispensed with by re-defining the offence of theft, or even by removing the distinction between theft, embezzlement, and false pretences.] INDEX. A. ABANDONED ARTICLES, larceny of, 288 ABANDONING CHILDREN, 261 ABDUCTION, 256-259: See PERSON (Abduction). threatening to accuse of, 314 what is, in such case, 315: See SODOMY. ABETTING SUICIDE, 224 ABORTION, procuring, 251: See PERSON (Abortion). ABSENCE, of wife or husband for seven years, second marriage not bigamy, 254 ACCESSORY, none in treason, 60 incitement a misdemeanor, 51 conspiracy to commit a crime, 51 principals in first degree, 42 crime partly in one place, partly in another, 42 principals in second degree, 43 mere presence not sufficient, 43 in bigamy, 255 aiders and abettors, 43 common purpose, 44 crime foreign to, 44 before the fact, 45 definition, 45 in misdemeanors, 45 mere knowledge of act not sufficient, 45 in manslaughter, 224 instigation, commission of a different crime, 47 crime committed in a different way, 46 ACCESSORY-continued. after the fact, 48 married woman, 48 allowing prisoner to escape, 141 in murder, 227 trial and punishment of, 49 treated as principal, 48 where principal has been convicted but not attainted, 49. in manslaughter, 224 in misdemeanors 50 in offences punishable on summary conviction, 50 ACCIDENT, death caused by, 201, 215: See PERSON (Culpable Negligence; ACCOMPLICE: See ACCESSORY. ACCOUNTS, falsifying 359 ACTUAL BODILY HARM, 243 ADMIRALTY: See PUBLIC ORDER (Piracy). ADULTERATION OF FOOD, 496 definition, 496 selling adulterated food or drug, 499. skimmed milk, 499 possession of adulterated liquor, 500 adulterating milk, butter and cheese, 501 ADULTERY, 162, 168 of wife provocation by, 220 ADVERTISEMENT, for recovery of stolen property, 151 in form of bank notes, 415 of counterfeit money, 447 AFFRAY, 68: See PUBLIC ORDER (Internal by Force). frauds by, 372, 375: See FRAUDS. innocent, crime by, 42: See ACCESSORY. AGGRAVATED ASSAULTS, 245: See PERSON (Assault). not to prosecute, 149 to commit fornication, 167 AGGRESSION, foreign, 56, 56 ALCOHOL, adulterating of, 498 possession of adulterated, 500 |