large gangrenous spots in different parts, which he has no hesitation in declaring, to the best of his opinion, was the cause of his death, and also is of opinion, that these appearances have been produced by a white powder, several particles of which were found in the stomach, and to all appearances resembled the white calx of arsenic, but which could not be collected in sufficient quantity to be more clearly ascertained.

(Signed) JOHN ROGERS, Assist.-Surgeon.. Taken before me, the day and year above written. (Signed) JOSEPH DOUGLAS,

Coroner.

A young Parsee was also convicted on his own confession, of stealing a quantity of wine from the residence of his Majesty's navy captains.

At the last sessions for this place, Mahomed Aga, an Arab, Nocquedah of the ship General Baird, was indicted on Stat. 9 and 10, W. 3, c. 4 I. for having a quantity of cordage, marked with the king's mark, found in his possession, he not being a person employed by the commissioners of the navy to make the sume for the king's use.

After the jury had been charged, the advocate-general was proceeding to state the case on the part of the prosecution, when he was stopped by the counsel for the defendant, who stated that, as n ither the fact of possession could be disputed, nor any certificate, under the bands of any of the king's officers, of the occasion of such stores coming to the possessien of the defendant could be produced, they proposed that that a verdiet of guilty should be taken.

But as the defendant was not a regular inhabitant of Bombay, but a foreigner and a stranger, and, therefore, not likely to be acquainted with the provisions of the act in question, which made the bare fact of possession without the required certificate conclusive against him, they trusted, that Mr. advocate-general would not think it necessary, in this case, to press a rigorous adherence to the maxim of law, that ignorantia legis neminem excusat, but would admit the reasonableness of their application, that the defendant should be discharged without receiving any panishment. In making this application, however, the counsel for the defendant wished it to be understood, that, in addition to the strong presumption of ignorance, arising from the circumstance of his being a stranger, the instructions they had received would enable them, if necessary, to make out a strong case to shew, that no fraud or misbehaviour in acquiring possession of the cordage was imputable to the defendant.

The advocate-general observed, that from the enquiries he had made he was led to believe, that the plea of ignorance was more than a pretence on this occasion. The prisoner was certainly a stranger, and might not be aware that the mere possession of the stores in question was sufficient to subject him to conviction and punishment. It was but reasonable that some allowance should be made in a place like this, the resort of foreigners of all descriptions, to whom, on many occasions it would be far from equitable to apply the principle, that ignorance of the law excuses no man. This, however, was the second warning

on

on the subject which had been given, and he begged it to be noticed, that he should not feel himself at liberty to be equally lenient in any future instance of the same offence.

The honourable the recorder approved entirely of Mr. advocategeneral's assent to the application, which had been made in behalf of the prisoner, which acquiescence, however, he had very properly intimated would not again be so readily obtained. The law on the subject, though severe, was extremely necessary, and after due notice had been given of the intention to carry it into effect, it was not to be expected that excuses would be listened to.--On the present occasion, the clerk of the crown would record what had taken place, and discharge the prisoner on his own recogni

zance.

Mahomed Aga was then called to the bar, and discharged accordingly.

The stores, of which the concealment, or the bare possession, unless by persons properly autho rized to make them for the king's use, will subject the party to conviction, are as follow:

Any cordage of three inches and upwards wrought with the white thread laid the contrary way.

Any smaller cordage, viz. from three inches downwards, with a line in lieu of a white thread laid the contrary way.

Any canvas wrought or unwrought, with a blue streak in the middle, or with a blue streak in a serpentine form.

Any bewper, otherwise called buntin, wrought with one or more streaks of raised tape.

Any other stores, with the broad arrow, by stamp, brand, or otherwise.

August 2.-The Recorder delivered the judgment of the court, in the interesting cause of Mulhar Row, vers. Hormusjee Bomanjee, in terms nearly as follow:

This is an issue directed by this court, as a court of equity, to try the question, whether the soil and freehold of a spot of ground called Baboolnauth Hill, be in the defendant, or in the Hindoo community, for the purposes of their religious worship. This spot is admitted on both sides, to have been, in the year 1774, the property of one Pandoo Sewjee; and the question of fact, on which the issue depends, is, whether, in April 1800, it was in Pandoo, or in the Hindoo com

munity. If it were then the property of Pandoo, it must now be that of the defendant. If it were then vested in the Hindoo community, it must still continue so to be vested. All Pandoo's property in the neighbourhood was then purchased at a sheriff's sale by the defendant. If this spot had before been fully and lawfully conveyed to the Hindoo community, it could not have been acted upon by a judgment against Pandoo if it were not, it was certainly purchased from the sheriff under an execution against Pandoo's property, and is now the freehold of the defendant.

As a question of fact and law, it is short

short and not difficult.---But it is of great importance, as it affects the religious opinions and usages of the Hindoos and Parsees, the one of whom claim the ground as the site of a temple dedicated to their worship, while the other seek to deliver themselves from this temple as an intrusion upon that solitude, which they desire to spread round the mansions of their dead. I trust that both parties will acknowledge, that we have investigated, with the utmost patience, labour, and respect, their rites of sepulture, and of worship, all of which are repugnant to our manners, and some to our moral principle. In this respect, indeed, we have only done our duty. We do not affect to tolerate the religions of our subjects as if they were matters of sufferance and indulgence. We protect them equally and rigorously, and we take care that they shall be no more treated with insult or levity in this court, than they would be by judges who deemed the rites to be sacred.

In the present case we have to consider the usages of the most ancient nations, and religions of the world. The Hindoos have strong claims on our attention from the mere circumstance that they form, the vast majority of our subjects in India; and as one of the earliest of civilized nations, they will not be contemplated by liberal and generous minds, without some portion of compassionate respect. The Parsees are a small remnant of one of the mightiest nations of the ancient world, who, flying from persecution into India, were for many ages lost in obscurity and poverty, till, at length, they met a just government, under which they speedily rose to be one of the most opulent mercantile bodies in Asia,

In this point of view, I consider their prosperity with some national pride. I view their wealth as a monument of our justice; and, I think, we may honestly boast, that the richest inhabitants of this settlement are not of the governing nation. This little tribe is, on other accounts, interesting. They have preserved the activity of their minds, and the vigour of their bodies, during a residence of a thousand years in India. This is a sufficient refutation of those dastardly and degrading theories, which represent courage and understanding as incompatible with a vertical sun, and which ascribe to climate, that degeneracy which ought to be considered as one of the effects of superstition and tyranny.

What fancied Zone can circumscribe

the soul,

Who, conscious of the source from which she springs,

By reason's light on resolution's wings, Spite of her trail companion doubtless goes,

Through Lybia's deserts, and o'er Zembla's snows?

They are said to be " purseproud." Even this unamiable quality is a mark of some progress. Wealth must be secure, before men can be purse-proud. Under a rapacious tyranny the purse inspires more fear than pride. There is a sort of moral interregnum, after nations have thrown off their ancient prejudices, before they have substituted nobler principles in their stead. The appearances exhibited by men in this state of mind, have, sometimes, on a large scale, been the most dreadful in the history of the world. On the smallest scale they are not agree able.

The Parsee merchants are intelligent enough to know and feel the difference of their present from

r

their former condition. They know that, as long as they lived under tribunals, which could be influenced by favour, they were poor and miserable; and that they have become rich and flourishing since they were subject to courts, where favour and partiality would be considered as a greater abomination, than those sacrilegious pollutions, which they hold in the greatest abhorrence. If they were again to fall under courts that could be influenced, their wealth would speedily vanish. They will not be such suicides, as, for the sake of avoiding some disagreeable judgments, to wish that the principle were weakened, on which their safety and their wealth depend.

Something has been said of policy ---The only policy that can be considered in this place is justice, which, as a great man has well said, "is itself the standing policy of civil society." But I am persuaded, that there never was any disaffection among the Hindoos, and that a submissive and gentle nation, which has yielded passive obedience to so long a succession of tyrants and persecutors, feel nothing but gratitude towards those who protect their property and their religion. No grounds for such a disaffection were most certainly ever furnished by those persons, respectable for their blameless lives, entitled to the veneration of all men for their disinterested purpose, who have sacrificed all the ordinary pleasures and advantages of life, well, ' or ill-founded, of spreading Christianity in the East, who would spurn with horror the aid of coercion, if it were offered, who disclaim even the favour and countenance of authority, and who desire only that toleration, cr rather ●bscurity, which a Christian go

vernment most justly affords to its Hindoo and Mahometan subjects.

But to return :---The question is, whether, before the sale by the sheriff, in 1800, Pandoo Sewjee had not devoted this spot to the public use of the Hindoo community, by building and consecrating a Pagoda upon it.

The question depends upon considerations of fact and law. 1st. The case of fact for the plaintiff consists of two parts.

The original consecration of the Pagoda, and the solemn renunciation of the property, is proved, by two eye-witnesses, the Bramins, who say, that they took part in the ceremonies. That the Hindoo code admits considerable laxity on the subject of religious perjuries, seems beyond all doubt, though it is not easy to determine how far this relaxation extends; and it is the less necessary, because it seems to be faintly denied, if not absolutely admitted for the defendant, that some sort of consecration, regular or irregular, for private or public uses, did then take place. It is of no great importance also, because I shall treat the testimony of the Bramins, according to the principle of Indian law, quoted by the counsel for the defendant, from my friend's, Major Wilks's, excellent Report on Mysore, "that a witness is not to be believed, unless his testimony be supported by other cir cumstances."

The plaintiffs has accordingly en. deavoured to support their testimony by several circumstances, the most important of which is the notoriety of the subsequent public use and enjoyment of the Pagoda, by the whole Hindoo community, for a period of twenty-five years.

This is proved by four Bramins, one of whom was the officiating

priest of this Pagoda for thirteen years, and another assisted at a religious ceremony performed in it with twelve other Bramins.

It is proved by five considerable Hindoo inhabitants of different casts, unconnected with Pandoo Sewjee, and residing at some distance from the spot, who have occasionally offered their devotions in this temple, and who must be considered not as single witnesses, but as representatives of the classes to which they belong. They seem to include the whole community. They were distinguished from the rest by no circumstance of neighbourhood or connection. Their admission seems, therefore, evidence of indiscriminate enjoy

ment.

Two inhabitans of the village of Ghirgon prove, that this spot, before the erection of the Pagoda, was the object of reverence to that village, that they visited the spot in their religious processions, and that, since the pagoda has been built, they repair thither with the same veneration as to the most renowned temples of the island. Now, what is open to a whole village must be considered as public.

The use of the Pagoda, indeed, by the village, is proved by the defendant's principal witness, Pillagee, who also proves the fact of some sort of consecration, whether regular or irregular. The conse cration is rendered probable by the deceit which Pandoo practised on the Punchaset of the Parsees, manifesting his serious intention, and eager desire to consecrate; and by the previous sacredness of the place and tradition, that it had been the seat of an ancient temple, proved by many witnesses, and particularly by the respectable testimony of Mr. Burrows.

This circumstance of subsequent public use is of such nature, that if it had been false, it could easily have been disproved; and it is so important as to be almost decisive, for it never can be supposed that, without some previous consecration, such an use could have arisen or continued. Nothing, therefore, turns upon the credit of Bramins, or of other Hindoos, in a cause where their religious zeal is engaged. The whole depends on circumstances which cannot lie.--Some sort of consecration is proved even by the defendant's principal witnesses; and the subsequent public use is not attempted to be disproved.

It is, however, said for the defendant, that the subsequent conduct of Pandoo proves his consciousness, that he had not dedicated this spot to religion and the public; that he received the profits of the field, and permitted pollutions in the Pagoda, which never could have happened if he had not known there was no consecration.

But as he maintained the priest, he might think himself entitled to the surplus revenue; and as to the profanations, whatever their legal effect, which is matter for future consideration, it is obvious that, for the present purpose, they prove too much; for it never can be doubted that he meant to establish at least a private Pagoda; and it cannot be contended that these profanations would not as much affect a private as a public Pagoda.

But it is said that this was only a private Pagoda; it is, however, said gratuitously. It has no support from the evidence, which is universally in support of indiscriminate admission. If the evidence is altogether to be rejected, there

was