The people referred
to seem to be the well-known 'news-writers' employed by Oriental
sovereigns (_ante_, chapter 33, note 7); a simple explanation missed
by McCrindle (op. cit. p. 43, note). The remark about the
truthfulness of the Indians appears to be Arrian's addition. It is
not in the Fragment of Megasthenes from which Arrian copies, and the
falsity of the remark is proved by the statement (ibid., p. 71) that
'a person convicted of bearing false witness suffers mutilation of
his extremities'. But in Fragment XXVII from Strabo (op. cit., p. 70)
Megasthenes says, 'Truth and virtue they hold alike in esteem'; and
in Fragment XXXIII (ibid., p. 85) he asserts that 'the ablest and
moat trustworthy men' are appointed [Greek text 2].
8. Up to the year 1827 'grand larceny', that is to say, stealing to a
value exceeding twelve pence, was punishable with death. The Act 7
George IV, cap. 28, abolished the distinction of grand and petty
larceny. In 1837, the first year of Queen Victoria's reign, the
punishment of death was abolished in the case of between thirty and
forty offences. Other statutes have further mitigated the ferocity of
the old law.
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