10, 1871) to begin by reading Regulations III. and IV. of 1793, and to
find out that, though most of them had been repealed, little bits of
each remained in force. You would then have to note that, although these
bits applied only to a certain small district, they had been extended in
1795 to certain other specified places, and in 1803 to the district
ceded by the Nawab Nazim. What that district was might be ascertained
from historical records. Continuing such inquiries, you might discover,
after consulting thirteen Acts and Regulations, what was the actual
state of things. People, of course, really learnt such points by
practice and conversation, though their knowledge would probably be in a
nebulous condition. The whole system was put upon a clear footing in an
Act of thirty-eight sections, prepared by Mr. Cockerell, which was
passed on February 10, 1871.

In these cases I imagine that the effect of the legislation was mainly
to clear up the existing order and substitute a definite accessible law
for a vague rule of thumb. Elsewhere more serious problems were
involved. Upon the annexation of the Punjab in 1849 it was necessary to
establish at once a vigorous and cheap system of government. Lord
Lawrence, with his brother Henry and Mr. Mansel, were formed into a
Board of Administration, and entrusted with dictatorial power. They were
instructed to adopt as nearly as possible the system of law which has
existed in the North-Western Provinces. That system, however, was vague
and cumbrous, and it was impracticable to introduce it into the new
province, which required far more rough and ready methods. Lord Lawrence
and his colleagues proceeded therefore to draw up regulations. Though
these were necessarily crude and imperfect in the eyes of a thorough
lawyer, they made it possible to introduce settled order and government,
and were the first approach to codes in India. There remained, however,
serious differences of opinion as to the degree of legal authority to
which they were entitled.

Two of these codes were of great importance. In 1853 Sir Richard Temple
had prepared a handbook, under the direction of Lord Lawrence, which
came to be known as the 'Punjab Civil Code.' It was a lucid statement,
although made by one who was not a specially trained lawyer, of the law
supposed to exist in the Punjab, with expositions of parts of the Hindoo
and Mohammedan law. The question however, had never been finally settled
whether it