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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 15 March 2011
The influence of English law upon Indian history and politics has been considerable and merits further examination. One approach to this lies through a study of the nineteenth century Law Members, of the Viceroy's Council, who held a distinctive position among the high officials of Indian government. They were not normally professional administrators or Indian residents; coming out from England, they brought to bear upon Indian affairs a point of view which-reflected current English conditions far more closely than that of their colleagues. Among the eminent men who held the office were T. B. Macaulay, H. S. Maine, and C. P. Ilbert. Another important figure whose work as Legal Member deserves reassessment is J. F. Stephen, whose short tenure (1869–72) marks an important stage in the completion of the Indian codes. When he was appointed in 1869 he was a man of forty. After Eton and Trinity College, Cambridge, he had become a moderately successful barrister, who had written on the history and principles of the criminal law. He had also made a considerable reputation as a journalist, and had been a leading light, both of the Saturday Review and of the Pall MallGazette. His stay in India was cut short by financial worries and family responsibilities, but, after he went home, he maintained a great interest in Indian affairs. He wrote on them in newspapers and periodicals, and his attack on English Liberalism, Liberty, Equality, Fraternity (1873), was primarily inspired by his Indian experiences. He was the friend and confidential correspondent of Lord Lytton (Viceroy, 1876–80).
page 1 note 1 Leslie Stephen, Life of Sir James Fitzjames Stephen (2nd. ed.).
page 1 note 2 Nicolson, H., Curzon: The Last Phase, 12Google Scholar. (I owe this reference to Mr. J. P. T. Bury.)
page 2 note 1 J. F. Stephen, The Indian Evidence Act (I of 1872). With an Introduction on the Principles of Judicial Evidence.
page 2 note 2 See pp. 6, 8–10.
page 2 note 3 Stephen to Emily Cunningham, 25th April, 1872 (Cambridge University Library); C. E. Trevelyan, On the Education of the People of India.
page 3 note 1 Stephen to G. S. Venables, 4th July, 1870 (Camb. Univ. Lib.).
page 3 note 2 Stephen, J. F., History of the Criminal Law of England, iii, 299Google Scholar; SirIlbert, Courtenay, Legislative Methods and Forms, 126, 129–30Google Scholar.
page 3 note 3 “Indian Legislation under Lord Mayo,” in Hunter, W. W., Life of the Earl of Mayo, ii, 185 (cited as Hunter, Mayo).Google Scholar
page 3 note 4 Hunter, , Mayo, ii, 200, 225Google Scholar; Ilbert, , Legislative Methods and Forms, 130–1Google Scholar.
page 3 note 5 Village Communities in the East and West (3rd. ed.), 300.
page 4 note 1 SirDuff, M. E. Grant, Sir Henry Maine, a brief Memoir … with some of his Indian Speeches and Minutes, 233, 234, 246Google Scholar.
page 4 note 2 Hunter, , Mayo, ii, 165–7Google Scholar.
page 4 note 3 Minutes 1869–1872 (Government of India, Legislative Department), no. 1, 90—1 (cited as Minutes).
page 4 note 4 Hunter, , Mayo, ii, 154–5Google Scholar.
page 4 note 5 Minutes, 80–1; Speeches on Panjab Regulations Bill, 27th June, 5th September, 1871 (Abstract of the Proceedings of the Council of the Governor-General of India assembled for the purpose of making laws and regulations, 1871, 563, 637) and on Criminal Tribes Bill, 12th October, 1871 (ibid. 655) (cited as Abstract).
page 4 note 6 Stephen to Duke of Argyll, 18th January, 1871 (Argyll papers, Inveraray); Duke of Argyll to Stephen, 17th February, 28th November, 1870 (Camb. Univ. Lib.); Ilbert, , Legislative Methods and Forms, 133–4Google Scholar.
page 4 note 7 Minutes, no. 5, 107–11.
page 4 note 8 J. F. Stephen to Leslie Stephen, 17th April, 1870 (Camb. Univ. Lib.); Minutes, 148; Ilbert, op. cit. 134–5.
page 5 note 1 Hunter, , Mayo, ii, 177Google Scholar.
page 5 note 2 Minutes, no. 4, 97–107.
page 5 note 3 Hunter, , Mayo, ii, 186Google Scholar; see also speeches on Obsolete Enactments Bill, 25th February, 18th March, 1870 (Abstract, 1870, 105–112, 143–5): on Pleaders, Mukhtars, and Revenue Agents Bill, 6th January, 1871, and on Coroners Bill, 27th January, 1871 (Abstract, 1871, 1–4, 41–6).
page 5 note 4 Speeches on Land Revenue Procedure (Panjab) Bill, 5th September, 30th October, 1871 (Abstract, 1871, 613–29, 721–33).
page 5 note 6 Speeches on the Panjab Regulations Bill, 27th June, 5th September, 1871 (Abstract, 1871, 561–6, 633–7) and on the Panjab Laws Bill, 26th March, 1872 (Abstract, 1872, 213–9).
page 6 note 1 Stephen to his wife, 19th January, 1872 (Camb. Univ. Lib.). J. F. D. Inglis was a Bengal civilian and member of the Legislative Council.
page 6 note 2 Speeches on the Native Marriage Bill, 16th January, 19th March, 1872 (Abstract, 1872, 15–53, 183–9).
page 6 note 3 Hunter, , Mayo, ii, 201–2Google Scholar.
page 6 note 4 Minutes, no. 1, especially p. 94.
page 6 note 5 Stephen to Lord Lytton, 25th September, 1878, 25th May, 22nd July, 1879 (Camb. Univ. Lib.); Minutes, no. 37 “Codification in India”.
page 7 note 1 Stephen to Lord Lytton, 2nd August, 1878 (Camb. Univ. Lib.).
page 7 note 2 Hunter, , Mayo, ii, 150–2Google Scholar.
page 7 note 3 Stephen, , History of the Criminal Law of England, iii, 346Google Scholar.
page 7 note 4 Hunter, , Mayo, ii, 201, 202Google Scholar.
page 7 note 5 Stephen, , History of Criminal Law, iii, 344–5Google Scholar.
page 8 note 1 “Codification in India and England,” Fortnightly Review, xii (new series), pp. 659–60.
page 8 note 2 Sir Henry Maine, 60–1.
page 8 note 3 British India and its Rulers, 204.
page 8 note 4 India, its Administration and Progress (4th. ed.), 114.
page 8 note 5 In The Reign of Queen Victoria (ed. Ward, T. H.), i, 503Google Scholar.
page 8 note 6 The India of the Queen and other essays, 19.
page 8 note 7 “Sir James Stephen as a Legislator,” Law Quarterly Review, x, pp. 223, 224, 226; “Lord Hobhouse,” Speaker, xi, p. 286.
page 9 note 1 Studies in History and Jurisprudence, i, 127–31.
page 9 note 2 “Sir James Fitzjames Stephen,” National Review, xxv, pp. 820–1; SirPollock, F. and SirMulla, D. F., Indian Contract and Specific Relief Acts (6th. ed.), viiGoogle Scholar.
page 9 note 3 The Punjab in Peace and War, 245.
page 9 note 4 Discontent and Danger in India, 12.
page 9 note 5 Speaker, xi, p. 286.
page 10 note 1 Minutes, 115; see also Speech on the Broach Taluqdars Relief Bill, 17th February, 1871 (Abstract, 1871, 71).
page 10 note 2 See his amendments to the Indian Contract Bill, 9th April, 1872 (Abstract, 1872, 346–52) and his Memoirs of my Indian Career, ii, 269–70.
page 10 note 3 Musalmans and Moneylenders in the Punjab, 118–9; The Punjab in Peace and War, 249.
page 10 note 4 Mallet, Bernard, Thomas George Earl of Northbrook, 65Google Scholar.
page 10 note 5 Speech on the Indian Contract Bill, 9th April, 1872 (Abstract, 1872, 330).
page 10 note 6 Speech on the Sessions Courts Bill, 12th May, 1871 (Abstract, 1871, 537).
page 10 note 7 Campbell's speech on the Indian Evidence Bill, 12th March, 1872 (Abstract, 1872, 140).
page 11 note 1 Campbell's speech on the Panjab Laws Bill, 26th March, 1872 (Abstract, 1872, 221–2).
page 11 note 2 Speech on the Coroners’ Bill, 27th January, 1871 (Abstract, 1871, 45–6).
page 11 note 3 The Pioneer, 14th October, 1886.
page 11 note 4 Carstairs, R., British Work in India, 191, 193, 202–3, 212, 213–4Google Scholar.
page 11 note 5 Elsmie, G. R., Thirty Five Years in the Punjab, 165Google Scholar.
page 11 note 6 Hobhouse, L. T. and Hammond, J. L., Lord Hobhouse, a Memoir, 61Google Scholar.
page 11 note 7 Papers relating to the expediency of having a distinct judicial branch of the Indian Civil Service. Selections from the Records of the Government of India, Home Department, cxxxvi (1877)Google Scholar.
page 12 note 1 Ibid. 341–2.
page 12 note 2 Ibid. 198.
page 12 note 3 Stephen to Lady Grant Duff, 13th July, 1882 (Camb. Univ. Lib.).
page 12 note 4 Stephen to his wife, 13th February, 1870 (Camb. Univ. Lib.).
page 12 note 5 Stephen to Emily Cunningham, 6th March, 1877 (Camb. Univ. Lib.).
page 12 note 6 Hunter, , Mayo, ii, 172Google Scholar.
page 12 note 7 Stephen to his wife, 26th December, 1860, and another undated letter, of the same month; Stephen to Annie Thackeray, 16th June, 1870 (Camb. Univ. Lib.).
page 13 note 1 Stephen to Lady Grant Duff, 13th September, 1883 (Camb. Univ. Lib.).
page 13 note 2 The Times, 31st May, 2nd June, 1877; 13th October, 1877; 16th, 22nd, 28th October, 12th, 15th, 20th November, 1878.
page 13 note 3 The Times, 4th January, 1878.
page 13 note 4 1st, 2nd March, 1883. Two letters of 2nd and 9th November, 1883, were reprinted as Letters on the Ilbert Bill.
page 14 note 1 “Foundations of the Government of India,” Nineteenth Century, xiv, p. 542, taken, with trifling differences, from Stephen's, letter to The Times, 1st 03, 1883Google Scholar.
page 15 note 1 Trevelyan, G. O., The Competition Wallah (2nd. ed.), letter ixGoogle Scholar; SirCotton, Henry, Indian and Home Memories, 65–6Google Scholar; SirChirol, Valentine, India Old and New, 101Google Scholar.
page 15 note 2 SirDuff, M. E. Grant, Sir Henry Maine, 16Google Scholar.
page 15 note 3 Maine, H. S., Village Communities in the East and West, 22Google Scholar.
page 15 note 4 Maine, H. S., Effects of Observation of India on Modern European Thought, 10–11Google Scholar.
page 15 note 5 Stephen to his wife, 26th November, 1871 (Camb. Univ. Lib.).
page 15 note 6 Hunter, , Mayo, ii, 169Google Scholar.
page 16 note 1 Maine, H. S., Effects of Observation of India …, 36Google Scholar.
page 16 note 2 The Friend of India, xvi (overland ed.), pp. 90, 426; The Pioneer, 12th October, 1886; SirTemple, Richard, Men and Events of my Time in India, 383, and The Story of my Life, i, 215–16Google Scholar.
page 16 note 3 SirDurand, H. M., Life of Sir A. C. Lyall, 157Google Scholar.