9 Geo. 4, c. 31, s. 24, it is enacted, "that if any person shall assault and strike, or wound any magistrate, officer, or other person whatsoever, lawfully authorized, on account of the exercise of his duty in or concerning the preservation of any vessel in distress, or of any vessel, goods, or effects wrecked, stranded, or cast on shore, or lying under water; every such offender, being convicted thereof, shall be liable to be transported beyond the seas for the term of seven years, or to be imprisoned, with or without hard labour, in the common gaol or house of correction, for such term as the court shall award."

*Assaults on officers employed to prevent smuggling.] By the 3 & 4 Wm. [*298] 4, c. 53, (U. K.), s. 61, it is enacted, "that if any person shall by force or violence assault, resist, oppose, molest, hinder, or obstruct, any officer of the army, navy, or marines, being duly employed for the prevention of smuggling, and on full pay, or any officer of customs or excise, or other person acting in his or their aid or assistance, or duly employed for the prevention of smuggling, in the due execution of his or their office or duty, such persons being thereof convicted, shall be transported for seven years, or sentenced to be imprisoned in any house of correction or common gaol, and kept to hard labour, for any term not exceeding three years, at the discretion of the court before whom the offender shall be tried and convicted as aforesaid."

Assault with intent to spoil clothes.] By the 6 Geo. 1, c. 23, s. 11, if any person or persons shall wilfully and maliciously assault any person or persons in the public streets or highways, with an intent to tear, spoil, cut, burn, or deface, and shall tear, spoil, cut, burn, or deface, the garment or clothes of such person or persons, then all and every person and persons so offending, and being thereof lawfully convicted, shall be, and be adjudged to be, guilty of felony; and every such felon and felons shall be subject and liable to the like pains and penalties as in case of felony. This statute is now repealed, but it is mentioned here for the purpose of introducing the following case, in which much discussion took place with regard to the proof of intention, a question of great importance in cases of this nature.

The prisoner had frequently accosted Miss A. Porter and her sister, Miss Sarah Porter, using very indecent language. Meeting them in St. James's Street, he came behind Miss Sarah Porter, muttered some gross language, and upon her making an exclamation of alarm, struck her a blow on the head. The Miss Porters then ran towards the door of their own house, and while Miss S. Porter was ringing the bell, the prisoner, who had followed them, stooped down, and struck Miss A. Porter with great violence on the hip. The blow was given with some sharp instrument, which tore and cut quite through her clothes, and gave a very severe wound. Buller, J., told the jury, that in order to constitute an offence within the statute, it was necessary, first, that the assault should be made in the public street or highway; 2dly, that it should be made wilfully and maliciously; 3dly, that it should be made with an intent to tear, spoil, cut, &c., the garments or clothes of some person; and 4thly, that the garments or clothes of such person should be actually torn, spoiled, cut, &c. Upon the third point he stated, that if the intent of the prisoner was to cut both the clothes and the person, and in carrying such intent into execution, the clothes alone were cut, it would clearly be within the meaning of the act; or if the intention were to injure the person only, and not to cut the clothes, yet, if in carrying such intention into execution, the assault was made with such an instrument, or under such circumstances, as plainly showed that the execution of the intention to injure the person must unavidably tear, cut, spoil,

&c., the clothes, they might consider whether a person who intends the end, does not also intend the means by which it is to be attained. The jury found the [*299] prisoner guilty, but upon a case reserved, a majority of the judges were of opinion that the conviction was wrong. They thought, that in order to bring a case within the statute, the primary intention ought to be the tearing, spoiling, cutting, &c., of the clothes; whereas in this case, the primary intention of the prisoner appeared to have been the wounding of the person of the prosecutrix. Williams's case, 1 Leach, 533; 1 East, P. C. 424. It may be doubted whether the opinion of Buller, J., in this case was not better founded than that of the judges. It appears to be supported by Cox's case, Russ. & Ry. 362, and Gillow's case, 1 Moody, C. C. 85,' stated post. The decision of the judges, indeed, in Williams's case, proceeded principally on another point.

Assault by workmen.] By the 6 Geo. 4, c. 129, (E.) s. 3, "if any person shall, by violence to the person or property, or by threats or intimidation, or by molesting or in any way obstructing another, force, or endeavour to force, any journeyman, manufacturer, workman, or other person, hired or employed in any manufacture, trade, or business, to depart from his hiring, employment or work, or to return his work before the same shall be finished, or prevent, or endeavour to prevent any journeyman, manufacturer, workman, or other person, not being hired or employed, from hiring himself to, or accepting work or employment from, any person or persons; or if any person or persons shall use or employ violence to the person or property of another, or threats or intimidation, or shall molest or in any way obstruct another, for the purpose of forcing or inducing such person to belong to any club or association, or to contribute to any common fund, or to pay any fine or penalty on account of not belonging to any club or association, or not having contributed, or refused to contribute to any common fund, or to pay any fine or penalty; or on account of not having complied, or refused to comply, with any rules, orders, or regulations, made to obtain an advance or reduce the rate of wages, or to lessen or alter the hours of working, or to decrease or alter the quantity of work, or regulate the mode of carrying on any manufacture, trade, or business, or the management thereof; or if any person shall, by violence to the person or property of another, or by threats or intimidation, or by molesting, or in any way obstructing another, force, or endeavour to force, any manufacturer or person carrying on trade or business, to make any alteration in his mode of carrying on or conducting such manufacture, trade, or business, or to limit the number of his apprentices, or the number or description of his journeymen, workmen, or servants; every one so offending, or aiding, abetting, or assisting therein, shall be imprisoned only, or imprisoned and kept to hard labour, for any period not exceeding three calendar months."

The Irish statute law corresponding with the 9 Geo. 4, c. 31, ss. 25, 24, and the 6 Geo. 4, c. 129, s. 3, is the 10 Geo. 4, c. 34, ss. 31, 30, 28. The Irish statute moreover enacts, in s. 29, that whoever shall unlawfully and maliciously assault, beat, or wound, any person, so as to endanger the life of, or thereby inflict any grievous bodily harm, upon such person, shall be liable to be transported for seven years, or to be imprisoned, with or without hard labour, for any term not exceeding three years, and if a male, to be once, twice, or thrice publicly or privately whipped. 1 Eng. C. C. 862.

b2 Id. 85.

By the 5 Geo. 3, c. 30, the concealing or embezzling of his effects, to the value of 207. by a bankrupt, was made a capital felony; but the punishment was changed to transportation for life by the 1 Geo. 4, c. 115, s. 1. By the 6 Geo. 4, c. 16, the sum was reduced to 107.; and now by the 32d sec. of the 5 and 6 Vict. c. 122, (E.) (which in its 2d section enacts, "that all laws, statutes, and usages, shall be, and the same are, hereby repealed in so far as they may be inconsistent or at variance with the provisions of this act, provided always that the same shall continue in force in all other respects whatsoever"); "if any person, adjudged bankrupt, after the commencement of this act, shall not, upon the day limited for the surrender of such bankrupt, and before three of the clock of such day, or at the hour and upon the day allowed him for finishing his examination, after notice thereof in writing, to be left at the usual or last known place of abode or of business of such person, or personal notice, in case such person be then in prison, and notice given in the London Gazette of the issuing of the fiat, and of the sittings of the court authorized to act in the prosecution of the fiat against him, surrender himself to such court, and sign or subscribe such surrender, and submit to be examined before such court from time to time upon oath; or if any such bankrupt, &c., upon such examination, shall not discover all his real and personal estate, and how, and to whom, upon what consideration, and when he disposed of, assigned, or transferred any of such estate, and all books, papers, and writing relating thereunto (except such part as shall have been really and bona fide before sold and disposed of in the way of his trade, or laid out in the ordinary expense of his family;) or if any such bankrupt shall not upon such examination deliver up to the said court all such part of such estate, and all books, papers, and writings relating thereunto, as shall be in his possession, custody, or power (except the necessary wearing apparel of himself, his wife, and children); or if any such bankrupt shall remove, conceal, or embezzle any part of such estate, to the value of *ten pounds [ *301] or upwards, or any books of accounts, papers, or writings, relating thereunto; with intent to defraud his creditors; every such bankrupt shall be deemed guilty of felony, and be liable to be transported for life, or for such term not less than seven years, as the court before which he shall be convicted shall adjudge, or shall be liable to be imprisoned, with or without hard labour, in any common

gaol, penitentiary house, or house of correction, for any term not exceeding seven years."

It has been held by Coleridge, J., that the words "with intent to defraud his creditors" override the whole section, and that an indictment against a bankrupt for not surrendering upon the day limited, which did not aver that it was "with intent to defraud his creditors," was bad. R. v. Hall, Newc. Spr. Ass. 1846, MS. The Irish statute law upon this subject is the 11 & 12 Geo. 3, c. 8, s. 24, the punishment being altered by the 1 & 2 Geo. 4, c. 40, s. 2.

of

By the 5 & 6 Vict. c. 122, s. 33, "the court authorized to act in the prosecution any fiat in bankruptcy shall have power, as often as such court shall think fit, from time to time, to enlarge the time for the bankrupt named in such fiat surrendering himself for such time as such court shall think fit, so as every such order be made six days at least before the day on which such bankrupt is to surrender himself."

By s. 34, "if any bankrupt shall, after an act of bankruptcy committed, or in contemplation of bankruptcy, or with intent to defeat this or any other statute relating to bankruptcy, and after the commencement of this act, have destroyed, altered, mutilated, or falsified any of his books, papers, writings, or securities, or made or been privy to the making of any false or fraudulent entry in any book of account or other document, with intent to defraud his creditors, every such bankrupt shall be deemed to be guilty of a misdemeanor, and being convicted thereof, shall be liable to be imprisoned in any common gaol or house of correction for any term not exceeding three years, with or without hard labour."

By s. 35, "if any bankrupt shall, within three months next preceding his bankruptcy, and after the commencement of this act, under the false colour and pretence of carrying on business, and dealing in the ordinary course of trade, have obtained on credit from any other person, any goods or chattels, with intent to defraud the owner thereof, or if any bankrupt shall within the time aforesaid, with such intent, have removed, concealed, or disposed of any goods or chattels so obtained, knowing them to have been so obtained, every such person so offending shall be deemed to be guilty of a misdemeanor, and being convicted thereof, shall be liable to imprisonment for any term not exceeding two years, with or without hard labour."

The 13th sec. of the 7 & 8 Vict. (E.), c. 11, (an act for facilitating the winding up the affairs of joint-stock companies unable to meet their pecuniary engagements,) makes the persons (directors or members) ordered to prepare the balance sheet and accounts of bankrupt joint-stock companies, liable to the 32d sec. of the 5 & 6 Vict. c. 122.

By the 7 & 8 Vict. (E.), c. 111, s. 30, "if an person being a member of any such (joint-stock) company, or body which shall be adjudged bankrupt, shall after and with knowledge of an act of bankruptcy, within the meaning of this [*302] act, committed by such *company or body, or in contemplation of the bankruptcy of such company or body, have destroyed, altered, mutilated, or falsified any of the books, papers, writings, or securities of such company or body, or made or been privy to the making of any false or fraudulent entry in any book of account or other document, with intent to defraud the creditors of any such company or body, or to defeat the object of this or any other statute relating to bankrupts, every such person shall be deemed to be guilty of a misdemeanor, and being convicted thereof, shall be liable to be imprisoned in any common gaol or house of correction for any term not exceeding three years, with or without hard labour."

By the 5 & 6 Vict. c. 122, s. 25, "in the event of the death of any witness deposing to the petitioning creditor's debt, trading or act of bankruptcy, under any fat of bankruptcy already issued or hereafter to be issued, the deposition of any such deceased witness, purporting to be sealed with the seal of the court of bankruptcy, or a copy thereof, purporting to be so sealed, shall in all cases be receivable in evidence of the matters therein respectively contained."

There are four different offences, all felonies, created by the 5 & 6 Vict. c. 122, s. 32: 1, the bankrupt, not surrendering and submitting to be examined; 2, the not discovering all his real and personal estate, and all his books, papers, and writings relating thereto; 3, the not delivering up to the commissioners all such part of such estate, and all books, &c., as shall be in his possession, &c.; 4, the removing, concealing, or embezzling part of such estate, to the value of 107. and upwards, or any of his books, papers, and writings.

The offences made misdemeanors by the same statute are, 1, the bankrupt destroying or falsifying his books, "with intent to defraud his creditors;" see post, p. 307; 2, his obtaining goods on credit, or dispensing of them, within three months previous to his bankruptcy, with intent to defraud the owner thereof.

The indictment under 6 Geo. 4, c. 16, s. 112, must have shown that the party had become bankrupt, and consequently have stated the trading, petitioning creditor's debt, and an act of bankruptcy; Jones's case, 4 B. & Ad. 345;a and must have concluded against the form of the statute, otherwise it would be bad. Ratcliffe's case, 2 Lew. C. C. 57.

To support a prosecution against a bankrupt under the former statute, for concealment of his effects, the prosecutor was required to prove-1, the trading; 2, the petitioning creditor's debt; 3, the act of bankruptcy; 4, the commission, or fiat; 5, the oath of the commissioners; 6, the adjudication; 7, the notice to the bankrupt; 8, the notice in the gazette; 9, the bankrupt's examination; 10, the not disclosing and discovering; 11, the value of the property concealed; and lastly, the intent of the bankrupt to defraud his creditors.

It would seem, however, from the wording of the 5 & 6 Vict. c. 122, s. 32, that instead of these first six requisites, proof of the adjudication simply will now be sufficient. See R. v. Hall, post, 304.

Proof of the trading.] Under the former statute, the prosecutor must have given strict evidence of all the requisites of bankruptcy. While the commission subsists, its validity may be assumed for certain civil purposes; but where a criminal case occurs, unless the party *was a bankrupt, all falls to the [*303 ] ground. Per Lord Ellenborough, R. v. Punshan, 3 Camp. 97. The trading must therefore have been proved in the same manner as in a civil action, by the assignees where strict evidence of their title is required. See Rosc. Dig. Ev. N. P. 551, 5th ed.

The prisoner may prove that the trading, in respect of which he has been declared a bankrupt, was a trading by him under age; which will be an answer to the indictment, as no commission can be sustained upon such a trading. Belton v. Hodges, 9 Bingh. 365.

Proof of the petitioning creditor's debt.] Formerly the petitioning creditor's debt must have been proved in the same manner as where strict evidence of it is given in a civil action. It was sufficient, however, to prove an admission of the debt by the prisoner himself. But where in an indictment under the 5 Geo. 2, Eng. Com. Law Reps. vol. xxiv. 71.

a

Id. xxiii. 309.