A TREATISE ON CRIMINAL LAW. BY FRANCIS WHARTON, LL. D., AUTHOR OF TREATISES ON "EVIDENCE," "CONFLICT OF LAWS," NEGLIGENCE," IN TWO VOLUMES. VOLUME I. EIGHTH EDITION. PHILADELPHIA: KAY AND BROTHER, 17 AND 19 SOUTH SIXTH STREET, Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1846, by JAMES KAY, JR., AND BROTHER, in the Office of the Clerk of the District Court of the United States, in and for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1852, by in the Office of the Clerk of the District Court of the United States, in and for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1855, by in the Office of the Clerk of the District Court of the United States, in and for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1857, by in the Office of the Clerk of the District Court of the United States, in and for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1861, by in the Office of the Clerk of the District Court of the United States, in and for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1868, by in the Office of the Clerk of the District Court of the United States, in and for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1874, by in the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1880, by in the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. RIVERSIDE, CAMBRIDGE: PREFACE TO THE EIGHTH EDITION. THE first edition of my work on Criminal Law was prepared, when I was Prosecuting Attorney in Philadelphia, as a manual for practice. It treated, first, of Pleading, then of Evidence, then of a series of crimes in the concrete, and then of Practice. In six succeeding editions this plan was followed; but its modification now becomes necessary for the following reasons: In the first place, the enormous accumulation of cases renders it impossible, without undue expansion, to recapitulate, in connection with each crime, the adjudications which bear on it in common with other crimes, and makes it desirable, therefore, to discuss these rulings in a preliminary exposition, considering subsequently each crime only in respect to its distinctive characteristics. In the second place, a due regard both to symmetry and to convenience requires that the generic principles belonging to all crimes should be considered at large before the differentia of each crime is detailed. I have, therefore, rearranged the work on the following basis: Two volumes are given, first, to the statement of the principles or philosophy of Criminal Law, as bearing on crimes in general; and, secondly, to the examination of specific crimes, referring in each case for general principles to the preliminary exposition. A third volume is given to Criminal Pleading and Practice, and a fourth to Criminal Evidence. The latter volume may be also regarded as supplementary to my treatise on Evidence in Civil Cases. This rearrangement of the plan of the work has necessitated a rewriting of its contents. In performing this task, I have endeavored to present a systematic exposition of the law, not as it existed at the time of prior editions, but as it exists at the present day. I take this opportunity of expressing my indebtedness to William E. Russell, Esq., of Cambridge, for the aid he has given me in the preparation of the work for the press. F. W. April, 1880. iv |