INTRODUCTORY REPORT ΤΟ THE SYSTEM OF PENAL LAW, PREPARED FOR THE STATE OF LOUISIANA. I LAY before the general assembly, with unaffected diffidence, the system which they directed me to prepare. This feeling, however, does not arise from any apprehension that the work has not been framed according to the spirit of the instructions that were given for its execution; they have been constantly before me. Nor have I entertained any doubt of the correctness of the principles on which those instructions were founded; on the contrary, every new view that unfolded itself, as I gave them the form of a practical precept, convinced me of their wisdom and utility. But in strictly following good rules according to the best of my judgment, that judgment must frequently have erred. To apply general principles to the numerous subdivisions of criminal jurisprudence, so that the same spirit might pervade its different branches of sanction, procedure, evidence, and discipline, presented a task which nothing but the highest presumption could hope to perform without falling into many errors. Of my own fallibility no one can be more sensible than I am, and no one could have taken greater precautions to correct it. Not a provision has been made, without the deepest reflection upon its consequences. Not a line has been written, that was not sent to every quarter of the union in search of amendment. Not a suggestion has been offered, that has not been adopted, without pride of opinion, when it brought conviction to my mind; and the long list of corrections, at the end of the printed copies, attest how slight my attachment has been to preconceived ideas, or to the language in which they were expressed, when either my own reflection, or the advice of others, convinced me that they might be amended. The codes, as they are now presented, have been produced by the exercise of my best faculties, faithfully and laboriously employed, under the direction of a religious desire to perform the high duty entrusted to me, so as, in some degree, to realize the great views of those by whom I was appointed. Cheered and encouraged in the very outset of the work by the approbation which the general assembly. bestowed on the plan and the specimens which accompanied it, I proceeded with alacrity in the execution of my task; and in its progress, had the satisfaction to receive testimonials equally calculated to stimulate my exertion. Some of them I have obtained leave to communicate with this report. They all concur in the utility of the projected reform. Some speak in the highest style of encomium on the honour the state has acquired by leading the way in effecting it; and when the high terms, in which the friendship of some, and the politeness of others, have induced them to speak of the execution of the work, are reduced to their just value, most of them contain reflections that will be found of great use in the discussion of the codes. Well aware of the difficulties of my task, but feeling a conviction that they were not insurmountable, I undertook it with so much confidence as was necessary to sustain me in its execution; but with that distrust of my own powers, which made me submit to the test of long reflection and severe scrutiny every principle I laid down and every provision intended to give it effect. I made these my leading rules-to adopt no theory, by whatever specious argument supported, until I should be convinced of its practical utility; diligently to seek for information, but to admit nothing upon the mere authority of high names; to make no unnecessary innovation, but boldly to propose every change I should think practicable and useful. This process unavoidably consumed much time; but, by assiduous labour, in little more than two years after my plan had received the sanction of your predecessors, I had completed the work. Its destruction in the autumn of the year 1824 was communicated to the general assembly, and produced a resolution giving me another year to renew it. to renew it. This was to be done entirely from recollection, for not a written vestige of my former labour remained; and the task of recomposition, always irksome, was interrupted and rendered more difficult by the interference of engagements, which, supposing my undertaking finished, I had made for the ensuing year. These circumstances, while they afford a reason, and perhaps an excuse for delay, will render negligent error more unpardonable. The enunciations of fact as well as of principle, contained in the law under which I have acted, and the resolution approving of the plan which was prepared in conformity with its provisions, might seem to preclude the necessity of saying anything to show that a reform in our criminal jurisprudence was called for, or that the directions contained in the law were proper in order to effect it. But when it is considered, that the general assembly has been twice changed since those acts were passed, and that all the enemies of reformation have been industriously at work during that period in urging arguments against the contemplated change, it may not be deemed, I hope, improper to attempt, in this report, a refutation of arguments and a disproval of allegations calculated to mislead, and to perpetuate the degrading state of subjection to unwritten, and therefore necessarily unknown laws. The law of 1820 recites, "that it is of primary importance in every well regulated state, that the code of criminal law should be founded on one principle—the F |