of itself appear sufficient to have caused death.' The charge that A. did 'steal, take, and carry away,' omitting 'feloniously,' has several times occurred, and has always been held fatal; and so in bigamy, the accusation that B. feloniously married one C., his former wife D. being then alive, was held altogether insufficient, the proper form being, that B., with force and arms, feloniously married one C., his former wife being still alive,' &c.

But above all, the value of the thing stolen in larceny, and of the instrument which caused the death in homicide, were always required to be stated. In larceny, because if the value amounted to twelve pence, the crime was grand larceny; if under that sum, petty larceny-two crimes which, in olden times, were very differently punished, the former incurring the punishment of death; the latter, of whipping and imprisonment only. In homicide, the value was required in consequence of the existence, until a few years back, of the laws relating to deodands, about which very curious subject we must say a few words.

According to ancient custom, whatever chattel was the immediate occasion of the death of any reasonable creature, became forfeited to holy church, and was applied, before the Reformation, towards obtaining masses for the deceased's soul, just as was the apparel of every stranger found dead, and subsequently was distributed in alms by the king's high almoner.

These forfeited articles were called deodands, from Deo-dandum (to be given to God); and Britton tells us, in his Pleas of the Crown, that the intention of the forfeiture was, that nothing which was the immediate cause of so awful an event as the death of a reasonable creature, should seem to go unpunished; but this assertion of the early lawyer has been much disputed, for the law allowed no deodand upon the death of an infant under years of discretion; thus favouring the idea that the intention of these forfeitures was simply to procure the means of conducting a religious ceremony after the death, and for the benefit of the soul of the deceased; for no mass or other purgation was necessary upon the death of an infant.

The rules relating to deodands are not by any means free from obscurity, either as to their origin or intention. If anything without motion was the cause of death, only that part of it immediately connected with the death was forfeited; but if the body was actually moving, the whole of it became a deodand.

Thus, when a man climbing into a cart at rest, fell off the wheel and was killed, the wheel only was the king's property; but when in another case the cart was moving at the time of the accident, the whole of it, with its load, was forfeited. So, again, where a man fell from the side of a ship going down a river, and was killed, strictly speaking, the whole ship, whatever its size or value, was a deodand; but if while on the deck a bale of goods fell upon and killed him, the bale only was a forfeiture, for he was himself moving in the ship, and so far as his death was concerned, the whole ship might be considered to be at rest.

The golden rule about these forfeitures was, 'whatever moves to the death is a deodand;' and in the quaint old book called Termes de la Ley, it is thus expressed: Whatever moved to kill the dead, Is deodand, and forfeited.

The most curious illustration of this rule is to be found in an ancient case, where a man fell from a mill-wheel into the stream, and was drowned, every part of the machinery actually in motion at the time was declared to be a deodand-that at rest, not.

This forfeiture of valuable articles, often without any blame at all being attachable to their owners, was found to be so oppressive, that, in modern times, a practice was adopted by juries, of finding as a deod and the money value of the thing, instead of the thing

itself; this money value being in many cases merely nominal.

It was not until the year 1699 that any improvement whatever began to be effected in the matter of indictments. An act then passed which made it compulsory on the clerk of the crown, when any indictment was found defective in form, to draw a fresh instrument without any fee, or, in default, to forfeit L.5 and costs. This, although it imposed a salutary check upon the carelessness of officials employed in the drawing up of such documents, did nothing at all towards providing for their amendment of defects discovered in them. In 1731, an important act was passed, which entirely abolished the use of Latin in law proceedings, and provided that all such, indictments included, should for the future be in English. In 1827, a further and a grand improvement was made by the legislature enacting, that merely formal errors in indictments should not invalidate them, but upon exceptions being taken, such should be amendable by the judge on the trial. Still, however, all the long legal phraseology was retained, and regarded with as much jealousy as ever; and it was not until her present majesty had been fourteen years upon the throne, that the coup de grace was given to these fearfully long-winded and complex instruments.

It would be wearying to writer as well as to reader to attempt to set forth, in any regular order, the vast improvements which the last statute introduced into these documents; we cannot better inform the reader's mind upon the subject, and at the same time illustrate how useless forms and unnecessary phraseology may be got rid of, when any one is bold enough to set heartily at work upon the subject of their reformation, than by setting forth the two forms of indictment respectively used before and after the passing of such statute.

We will suppose that a certain John Smith, being angry with a woman, Frances Bolt, throws a candlestick at, and kills her.

Now, the old form of indictment against John Smith would, in its very shortest form, be thus worded:

Middlesex to wit.-The jurors for our lord the king, upon their oaths present, that John Smith, late of Westminster, in the county of Middlesex, labourer, not having the fear of God before his eyes, but being moved and seduced by the instigation of the devil, on the first day of May, in the fourth year of the reign of our sovereign lord George the Third, by the grace of God, King of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, defender of the faith, and so forth, with force and arms at Westminster aforesaid, in the county aforesaid, in and upon one Frances, the wife of one William Bolt, late of Westminster aforesaid, carpenter, in the peace of God and our said lord the king, then and there being, feloniously, wilfully, and of his malice aforethought, did make an assault; and that he, the said John Smith, a certain brass candlestick of the value of one shilling, which he in his right hand then and there had, and held, did then and there, at and against the said Frances, cast and throw; and with such candlestick aforesaid, so cast and thrown by him, the said John Smith as aforesaid, in and upon the head of her, the said Frances, on the right side thereof, near to the temporal muscle, then and there feloniously, wilfully, and of his malice aforethought, did strike and bruise her, the said Frances, giving to her, the said Frances, then and there with the candlestick aforesaid, and by the stroke aforesaid, in manner aforesaid, in and upon the head of her, the said Frances, on the right side thereof, near to the temporal muscle, one mortal wound of the length of two inches, and of the depth of half an inch, of which said mortal wound, she, the said Frances, as well at Westminster aforesaid, in the county aforesaid, at divers other places in the said county, from the said first day of May in the year

aforesaid, until the second day of May in the same year, did languish, and languishing did live, on which second day of May at Westminster aforesaid, in the county aforesaid, she, the said Frances, of the mortal wound aforesaid, did die. And so the jurors aforesaid, upon their oaths aforesaid, do say that the said John Smith, her, the said Frances, in manner and form aforesaid, feloniously, wilfully, and of his malice aforethought, did kill and murder, against the peace of our lord the king, his crown, and dignity.

At the present day, the above lengthy document would be thus curtailed:

Middlesex to wit.-The jurors for our lady the Queen, upon their oaths present, that John Smith, late of Westminster, labourer, on the first day of May, in the year of our Lord 1852, feloniously, wilfully, and of his malice aforethought, did kill and murder Frances, the wife of William Bolt, against the peace of our lady the Queen, her crown, and dignity. By the former of these two instruments, it would be incumbent upon the prosecution to prove the murder of Frances Bolt in the very manner stated, and if it turned out that by some other violence of the prisoner she met with her death, he would be acquitted on the indictment; by the latter, proof that the prisoner murdered the deceased in any way, would be sufficient

to convict him.

It is not improbable that, after perusing the two documents, the reader may ask how it is that other long legal instruments connected with the common law, and especially with conveyancing, cannot also be shortened and simplified? For an answer to this question, we must refer him to those far wiser than ourselves in the theory and practice of the law.

O CEO LA:

A ROMANCE.

CHAPTER IX.-THE BATH.

YELLOW JAKE! the alligator!'

They were all the words I could utter. My mother entreated an explanation; I could not stay to give it. Frantic with apprehension, I tore myself away, leaving her in a state of terror that rivalled my own.

I run towards the hommock-the bath. I wait not to follow the devious route of the walk, but keep straight on, leaping over such obstacles as present themselves. I spring across the paling, and rush through the orangery, causing the branches to crackle and the fruit to fall. My ears are keenly bent to catch every sound.

Behind are sounds enough: I hear my mother's voice uttered in accents of terror. Already have her cries alarmed the house, and are echoed and answered by the domestics, both females and men. Dogs, startled by the sudden excitement, are baying within the enclosure, and fowls and caged birds screech in

'O sister! come out of the bath.' For what reason should I? Our friends come? They are early let them wait, my Georgy. Go you and entertain them. I mean to enjoy myself this most beautiful of mornings; the water's just rightdelightful! Isn't it, Viola? Ho! I shall have a swim round the pond: here goes!'

And then there was a fresh plashing in the water, mingled with a cheerful abandon of laughter in the voices of my sister and her maid.

I shouted at the top of my voice:

'Hear me, Virgine! dear sister! For Heaven's sake, come out! come'

There was a sudden cessation of the merry tones; then came a short sharp ejaculation, followed almost instantaneously by a wild scream. I perceived that neither was a reply to my appeal. I had called out in a tone of entreaty sufficient to have raised apprehension; but the voices that now reached me were uttered in accents of terror. In my sister's voice I heard the words:

'See, Viola! O mercy-the monster! Ha! he is coming this way! O mercy! Help, George, help! Save-save me!'

Well knew I the meaning of the summons; too well could I comprehend the half-coherent words, and the continued screaming that succeeded them. 'Sister, I come, I come!'

Quick as thought, I dashed forward, breaking through the boughs that still intercepted my view. 'Oh, perhaps I shall be too late? She screams in agony; she is already in the grasp of the alligator?' A dozen bounds carried me clear of the grove; and, gliding along the embankment of the turtle crawl, I stood by the edge of the tank. A fearful tableau was before me.

My sister was near the centre of the basin, swimming towards the edge. There stood the quadroonknee-deep-screeching and flinging her arms frantically in the air. Beyond, appeared the gigantic lizard; his whole body, arms, hands, and claws clearly traceable in the pellucid water, above the surface of which rose the scaly serrature of his back and shoulders. His snout and tail projected still higher; and with the latter he was lashing the water into white froth, that already mottled the surface of the pond. He was not ten feet from his intended victim. His gaunt jaws almost touched the green baize skirt that floated train-like behind her. At any moment, he might have darted forward and seized her.

My sister was swimming with all her might. She was a capital swimmer; but what could it avail? Her bathing-dress was impeding her; but what mattered that? The alligator might have seized her at any moment; with a single effort, could have caught her, and yet he had not made it.

I wondered why he had not; I wondered that he still held back. I wonder to this hour, for it is not yet explained. I can account for it only on one supposition: that he felt that his victim was perfectly within his power; and as the cat cajoles with the mouse, so was he indulging in the plenitude of his tyrant strength. These observations were made in a single second of time-while I was cocking my rifle.

I aimed, and fired. There were but two places where the shot could have proved fatal-the eye or behind the forearm. I aimed for the eye. I hit the shoulder; but from that hard corrugated skin, my bullet glinted as from a granite rock. Among the rhomboid protuberances it made a whitish score, and that was all.

The play of the monster was brought to a termination. The shot appeared to have given him pain. At all events, it roused him to more earnest action, and perhaps impelled him to the final spring. He made it the instant after.

Lashing the water with his broad tail-as if to gain impetus-he darted forward; his huge jaw hinged vertically upward, till the red throat shewed wide agape; and the next moment the floating skirt-and oh! the limbs of my sister were in his horrid gripe!

I plunged in, and swam towards them. The gun I still carried in my grasp. It hindered me. I dropped it to the bottom, and swam on.

I caught Virgine in my arms. I was just in time, for the alligator was dragging her below. With all my strength, I held her up: it needed all to keep us above the surface. I had no weapon; and if I had been armed, I could not have spared a hand to strike.

I shouted with all my voice, in the hope of intimidating the assailant, and causing him to let go his hold. It was to no purpose: he still held on.

O Heavens! we shall both be dragged underdrowned-devoured

A plunge, as of one leaping from a high elevation into the pond-a quick, bold swimmer from the shore -a dark-skinned face, with long black hair that floats behind it on the water-a breast gleaming with bright spangles-a body clad in bead-embroidered garments -a man? a boy!

Who is this strange youth that rushes to our rescue?

He is already by our side--by the side of our terrible antagonist. With all the earnest energy of his look, he utters not a word. He rests one hand upon the shoulder of the huge lizard, and with a sudden spring places himself on its back. A rider could not have leaped more adroitly to the saddle.

A knife gleams in his uplifted hand. It descends its blade is buried in the eye of the alligator!

The roar of the saurian betokens its pain. The earth vibrates with the sound; the froth flies up under the lashings of its tail, and a cloud of spray is flung over us. But the monster has now relaxed its gripe, and I am swimming with my sister to the shore.

A glance backward reveals to me a strange sight-I see the alligator diving to the bottom with the bold rider still upon its back! He is lost-he is lost!

With painful thoughts, I swim on. I climb out, and place my fainting sister upon the bank. I again look back.

Joy, joy! the strange youth is once more above the surface, and swimming freely to the shore. Upon the further side of the pond, the hideous form is also above water, struggling by the edge-frantic and furious with the agony of its wounds.

Joy, joy! my sister is unharmed. The floating skirt has saved her: scarcely a scratch shews upon her delicate limbs; and now in tender arms, amidst sweet words and looks of kind sympathy, she is borne away from the scene of her peril.

CHAPTER X.

THE HALF-BLOOD.'

The alligator was soon clubbed to death, and dragged to the shore-a work of delight to the blacks of the plantation.

No one suspected how the reptile had got to the pond-for I had not said a word to any one. The belief was that it had wandered there from the river, or the lagoons-as others had done before; and Yellow Jake, the most active of all in its destruction, was heard several times repeating this hypothesis! Little did the villain suspect that his secret was known. I thought that besides himself I was the only one privy to it; in this, however, I was mistaken.

The domestics had gone back to the house, 'toating' the huge carcass with ropes, and uttering shouts of triumph. I was alone with our gallant preserver. I stayed behind purposely to thank him.

Mother, father, all had given expression to their gratitude; all had signified their admiration of his gallant conduct: even my sister, who had recovered consciousness before being carried away, had thanked him with kind words.

He made no reply, further than to acknowledge the compliments paid him; and this he did either by a smile or a simple inclination of the head. With the years of a boy, he seemed to possess the gravity of a man.

He appeared about my own age and size. His figure was perfectly proportioned, and his face handsome. The complexion was not that of a pure Indian, though the style of his dress was so. His skin was nearer brunette than bronze: he was evidently a 'half-blood."

His nose was slightly aquiline, which gave him that fine eagle-look peculiar to some of the North American tribes; and his eye, though mild in common mood, was easily lighted up. Under excitement, as I had just witnessed, it shone with the brilliancy of fire.

The admixture of Caucasian blood had tamed down the prominence of Indian features to a perfect regularity, without robbing them of their heroic grandeur of expression; and the black hair was finer than that of the pure native, though equally shining and luxuriant. In short, the tout ensemble of this strange youth was that of a noble and handsome boy, that another brace of summers would develop into a splendid-looking man. Even as a boy, there was an individuality about him, that, when once seen, was not to be forgotten.

I have said that his costume was Indian. So was it purely Indian-not made up altogether of the spoils of the chase, for the buckskin has long ceased to be the wear of the aborigines of Florida. His moccasins alone were of dressed deer's hide; his leggings were of scarlet cloth; and his tunic of figured cotton stuff

all three elaborately beaded and embroidered. With these he wore a wampum belt, and a fillet encircled his head, above which rose erect three plumes from the tail of the king vulture-which among Indians is an eagle. Around his neck were strings of party-coloured beads, and upon his breast three demi-lunes of silver, suspended one above the other.

Thus was the youth attired; and, despite the soaking which his garments had received, he presented an aspect at once noble and picturesque.

'You are sure you have received no injury?' I inquired for the second time.

Quite sure-not the slightest injury.'

'But you are wet through and through; let me offer you a change of clothes: mine, I think, would about fit you.'

'Thank you. I should not know how to wear them. The sun is strong: my own will soon be dry again.' 'You will come up to the house, and eat something?' 'I have eaten but a short while ago. I thank you. I am not in need.'

'Some wine?'

'Again I thank you-water is my only drink.'

I scarcely knew what to say to my new acquaintance. He refused all my offers of hospitality, and yet he remained by me. He would not accompany me to the house; and still he shewed no signs of taking his departure.

Was he expecting something else? A reward for his services? Something more substantial than complimentary phrases?

The thought was not unnatural. Handsome as was the youth, he was but an Indian. Of compliments he had had enough. Indians care little for idle words. It might be that he waited for something more: it was but natural for one in his condition to do so, and equally natural for one in mine to think so.

In an instant my purse was out; in the next, it was in his hands-and in the next it was at the bottom of the pond!

In my haste, as before, I did not follow the usual path, which was somewhat circumambient; I made direct through the grove.

I had advanced only a few paces, when I heard a rustling of the leaves near me. I could see no one, but felt sure that the noise was caused by some person skulking among the trees. Perhaps some of the fieldhands, taking advantage of the confusion of the hour, and helping himself to a few oranges?

Compared with my purpose, such slight dereliction was a matter of no importance, and I did not think worth while to stay and hinder it. I only shouted out; but no one made answer, and I kept on.

On arriving at the rear of the house, I found my father in the enclosure by the grand shed-the overseer too. Old Hickman, the alligator-hunter, was there, and one or two other white men, who had casually come upon business.

In the presence of all, I made the disclosure; and, with as much minuteness as the time would permit, described the strange transaction I had witnessed in the morning.

All were thunderstruck. Hickman at once declared the probability of such a manoeuvre, though no one doubted my words. The only doubt was as to the mulatto's intent. Could it have been human lives he designed to sacrifice? It seemed too great a wickedness to be believed. It was too horrible even to be imagined!

At that moment all doubts were set at rest. Another testimony was added to mine, which supplied the link of proof that was wanting. Black Jake had a tale to tell, and told it.

That morning-but half an hour before-he had seen Yellow Jake climb up into a live oak that stood in one corner of the enclosure. The top of this commanded a view of the pond. It was just at the time that white missa' and Viola went to the bath. He was quite sure that about that time they must have been going into the water, and that Yellow Jake must have seen them.

Indignant at his indecorous conduct, the black had shouted to the mulatto to come down from the tree, and threatened to complain upon him. The latter made answer that he was only gathering acorns-the acorns of the live oak are sweet food, and much sought after by the plantation-people. Black Jake, however, was positive that this could not be Yellow Jake's purpose; for the former still continuing to threaten, the latter at length came down, and Black Jake saw no acorns-not one!

"Twan't acorn he war arter, Massa Randoff: daat yaller loafa wan't arter no good-daat he wan't sure sartin.'

So concluded the testimony of the groom.

The tale produced conviction in the minds of all. It was no longer possible to doubt of the mulatto's intention, horrible as it was. He had ascended the tree to be witness of the foul deed; he had seen them enter the basin; he knew the danger that was lurking in its waters; and yet he had made no movement to give the alarm. On the contrary, he was among the last who had hastened towards the pond, when the screaming of the girls was summoning all the household to their assistance. This was shewn by the evidence of others. The case was clear against him.

The tale produced a wild excitement. White men and black men, masters and slaves, were equally indignant at the horrid crime; and the cry went round the yard for 'Yellow Jake!'

Some ran one way, some another, in search of himblack, white, and yellow ran together-all eager in the pursuit-all desirous that such a monster should be brought to punishment.

and over again, with commands, with threats; but no answer came back. Where was he?

The stables were searched, the shed, the kitchen, the cabins-even the corn-crib was ransacked—but to no purpose. Where had he gone?

He had been observed but the moment before-he had assisted in dragging the alligator. The men had brought it into the enclosure, and thrown it to the hogs to be devoured. Yellow Jake had been with them, active as any at the work. It was but the moment before he had gone away; but where? No one could tell!

At this moment, I remembered the rustling among the orange-trees. It might have been he? If so, he may have overheard the conversation between the young Indian and myself-or the last part of it-and if so, he would now be far away.

I led the pursuit through the orangery: its recesses were searched; he was not there.

The hommock thickets were next entered, and beaten from one end to the other; still no signs of the missing mulatto.

It occurred to me to climb up to the rock, my former place of observation. I ascended at once to its summit, and was rewarded for my trouble. At the first glance over the fields, I saw the fugitive. He was down between the rows of the indigo plants, crawling upon hands and knees, evidently making for the maize.

I did not stay to observe further, but springing back to the ground, I ran after him. My father, Hickman, and others followed me.

The chase was not conducted in silence-no stratagem was used, and by our shouts the mulatto soon learned that he was seen and pursued. Concealment was no longer possible; and rising to his feet, he ran forward with all his speed. He soon entered the maize-field, with the hue and cry close upon his heels.

Though still but a boy, I was the fastest runner of the party. I knew that I could run faster than Yellow Jake, and if I could only keep him in sight, I should soon overtake him. His hopes were to get into the swamp, under cover of the palmetto thickets; once there, he might easily escape by hiding—at all events, he might get off for the time.

To prevent this, I ran at my utmost speed, and with success; for just upon the edge of the woods, I came up with the runaway, and caught hold of the loose flap of his jacket.

It was altogether a foolish attempt upon my part. I had not reflected upon anything beyond getting up with him. I had never thought of resistance, though I might have expected it from a desperate man. Accustomed to be obeyed, I was under the hallucination that, as soon as I should come up, the fellow would yield to me; but I was mistaken.

He at once jerked himself free of my hold, and easily enough. My breath was gone, my strength exhausted-I could not have held a cat.

I expected him to run on as before; but instead of doing so, he stopped in his tracks, turned fiercely upon me, and drawing his knife, plunged it through my arm. It was my heart he had aimed at; but by suddenly throwing up my arm, I had warded off the fatal thrust.

A second time his knife was upraised-and I should have had a second stab from it-but, just then, another face shewed itself in the fray; and before the dangerous blade could descend, the strong arms of Black Jake were around my antagonist.

The fiend struggled fiercely to free himself; but the muscular grasp of his old rival never became relaxed until Hickman and others arrived upon the ground; and then a fast binding of thongs rendered him at once