The Code Final, or the laws that define crimes and punishments, was completed in January, 1810. Its discussion occupied forty-one sittings of the Council of State. Of these sittings Napoleon attended only one (21st January, 1809). Cambaceres presided at all the rest. " Napoleon was therefore a stranger to its discussions ; ha only expressed an opinion that the laws ought to be concise, and leave much lati tude to the judges and the government in the application of the penalty, ' because,' said he, `men had feelings of compassion unknown to the law.' He insisted upon the penalty of confiscation being retained in certain cases, because most nations had sanctioned it in cases of conspiracy, rebel lion, and false coining. But the defini tion of crimes and offences, the nature of the penalties, and the mode of their appli cation, were the work of criminal jurists, who were generally inclined to severity, and were well acquainted with the ideas of Napoleon, who was persuaded that criminal legislation ought to be very rigorous in order to maintain order and support the authority of the government." (Thibaudeau, vol. viii. p. 3.) Hence the penalty of death was fixed in numerous cases, and those of perpetual imprison ment, hard work, or transportation for life, in a still greater number. The pillory is also one of the punishments.
If we look at book iii. ch. 1, which treats of the crimes and offences against the safety of the State (a term susceptible of indefinite and arbitrary application), we find that the penalties of death and confiscation are fixed very generally. Confiscation, however, has been abolished by a law passed under Louis XVIII. By the head " Des critiques, censures, ou pro vocations contre l'autorite publique dans un discours pastoral," any clergyman found guilty of having, in a pastoral charge, sermon, or other public address, spoken or printed, criticised or censured any act of the government authorities, is subject to banishment, transportation, and even death, according to the consequences which have resulted from his act. The following head," Resistance, desobeissance, et autres manquemens envers l'autorite' publique," is equally severe. The article " Delfts commis par la voie d'ecrits, images ou gravures, distribm;s sans nom de l'au tear," &c., concerns the press, which was under a strict censorship in Napoleon's time. Since the Restoration the censor ship has been abolished, and several laws have been enacted to repress abuses of the press, especially in April and October, 1831. The last law on this subject was promulgated in September, 1835, and con sists of five heads : 1. Crimes, delits, et contraventions. 2. Du grant (editor) des journaux on derits pdriodiques. 3. Des desseins, gravures, lithographies, et embldmes. 4. Des theatres, et pieces de theatre. 5. De la poursuite et du juge ment. By the section of the Penal Code entitled " Des Associations ou Reunions illicites," which continues in force to this day, every association of more than twenty persons for the purpose of meeting on fixed days to discuss either political, reli gions, literary, or other subjects, is de clared illegal, unless the approbation of the government is obtained, which can prescribe conditions and fix regulations at its pleasure. The chiefs or directors of any such illegal association are punished by fine. If at the meetings of such assem blies there has been any provocation to crimes or delfts, as defined in the other articles of the Penal Code, the chiefs or directors and administrators are liable to imprisonment from three months to two years, besides fine, although they them selves may not have been guilty of the offence. No individual can lend his house or apartments for the meeting even of an authorized association, unless with the permission of the municipal authorities. By a law which passed the Chambers in April, 1834, the above regulations have been made even more strict. Every mem
ber of an illegal association is liable to a fine of 1000 francs, and to imprisonment from two months to one year. Under the heads " Vagabondage" and " Mendicitd," vagrants are defined to be all those who have no fixed domicile nor means of sub sistence, and who do not follow habitually any trade or profession. On the legal evidence of being such, they are con demned to an imprisonment of from three to six months, after which they are under the surveillance of the police for periods varying from six months to ten years. With regard to mendicants or beggars, any person found begging in a place where there is a workhouse or dep6t for the poor is subject to from three to six months' imprisonment. In places and cantons where there is no depot for the poor (which is the case in most rural dis tricts of France), able-bodied beggars may be imprisoned for a period of from one to three months ; and if arrested out of the canton where they reside, they are impri soned for a term of from six months to two years. By Art. 402, fraudulent bank rupts may be punished by imprisonment with hard labour, and bankrupts not fraudulent are liable to imprisonment from one month to two years. Fraudulent brokers are condemned to hard work for a time. The law of France makes a wide distinction between native and foreign in solvents. Foreigners not domiciled in France, having no commercial establish ment or real property there, are liable to double the period of imprisonment that a Frenchman is, but it must not exceed two years for a debt less than 500 francs ; four years for a higher sum under 1000 francs ; six under 3000 ; eight for less than 5000; and ten years for 5000 and upwards. (Okey, Concise Digest of the Law, Usage, and Custom affecting the Commercial and Civil Intercourse of the Subjects of Great Britain and France. There is also a useful epitome of the French law as it affects British subjects in Galignani's Paris Guide.) By the head " tions des rdglemens relatifs aux manu factures, au commerce, et aux arts," any coalition between masters to lower wages is punished by a fine of from 200 to 3000 francs, besides imprisonment not exceed ing a month. Coalition among workmen, followed by an attempt to stop the works of a manufactory, is punished by impri sonment of from one to three months ; the leaders or originators of the coalition or attempt are subject to imprisonment from two to five years. By Art. 417, any one who, with the view of injuring French industry, has removed to a foreign country the workmen or clerks of a manu factory, may be imprisoned from six months to two years, besides paying a fine of from 50 to 300 francs. Art. 418: Auy director, clerk, agent, or workman, of a manufactory, who communicates to foreigners or to Frenchmen residing abroad any secret of the fabric in which he is employed, is punished by a fine of from 500 to 20,000 francs, besides impri sonment at the discretion of the court. Art. 421: All wagers or bets upon the rise or fall of the public funds are punish able by imprisonment from one month to one year, besides a fine of from 500 to 10,000 francs. The offenders may after the expiration of their imprisonment be placed by sentence of the court under the surveillance of the police from two to five years. This sentence, "placed under the surveillance of the high or govern ment police," which is added at the end of numerous penalties, means that the person so placed is to give security for his good conduct ; in default of which he is " at the disposal of government," who may fix a particular place for his residence. All individuals who have undergone the punishment of imprisonment and hard labour for a time, or that of banishment or transportation, or those who have suffered a penalty for political crimes, are placed under the surveillance of the high police for the rest of their lives.