ites of it thus:

"In order to appreciate the importance of the Penal Code, it must be
borne in mind what crime in India is. Here, in England, order is so
thoroughly well established that the crime of the country is hardly more
than an annoyance. In India, if crime is allowed to let to a head, it
is capable of destroying the peace and prosperity of whole tracts
of country. The mass of the people in their common moods are gentle,
submissive, and disposed to be innocent; but, for that very reason, bold
and successful criminals are dangerous in the extreme. In old days, when
they joined in gangs or organised bodies, they soon acquired political
importance. Now, in many parts of India, crime is quite as uncommon
as in the least criminal parts of England; and the old high-handed
systematised crime has almost entirely disappeared. This great
revolution (for it is nothing less) in the state of society of a whole
continent has been brought about by the regular administration of a
rational body of criminal law.

"The administration of criminal justice is entrusted to a very
small number of English magistrates, organised according to a
carefully-devised system of appeal and supervision which represents the
experience of a century. This system is not unattended by evils; but it
is absolutely necessary to enable a few hundred civilians to govern a
continent. Persons in such a position must be provided with the plainest
instructions as to the nature of their duties. These instructions, in
so far as the administration of criminal justice is concerned, are
contained in the Indian Penal Code and the Code of Criminal Procedure.
The Code of Criminal Procedure contains 541 sections, and forms a
pamphlet of 210 widely printed octavo pages. The Penal Code consists of
510 sections. Pocket editions of these Codes are published, which may be
carried about as easily as a pocket Bible; and I doubt whether, even
in Scotland, you would find many people who know their Bibles as Indian
civilians know their Codes."

After describing the confusion and complication of the criminal law of
our Indian Empire before it was taken in hand by the Commission of 1834,
Mr. Stephen proceeds to say:

"Lord Macaulay's great work was far too daring and original to be
accepted at once. It was a draft when he left India in 1838. His
successors made remarks on it for twenty-two years. Those years were
filled with wars and rumours of wars. The Afghan disasters and t