death, WHEREUPON, all and singular the premises being seen, and by the said Judgment of justices here fully understood, IT IS CONSIDERED by the court here, that the said Peter Hunt be taken to the gaol of the said lord the king of the said county of Warwick from whence he came, and from thence to the place of execution on Monday now next ensuing, being the ninth day of this instant and dissection. August, and there be hanged by the neck until he be dead; and that afterwards his body be dissected and anatomized. SECT. 2. CONVICTION OF MANSLAUGHTER. guilty of man upon their oath say, that the said Peter Hunt is not guilty of Verdict: not the murder aforesaid, above charged upon him; but that the said Peter guilty of murder; Hunt is guilty of the felonious slaying of the aforesaid Samuel Collins; and slaughter. that he had not nor hath any goods or chattels, lands or tenements, at the time of the felony and manslaughter aforesaid, or ever afterwards to this time, to the knowledge of the said jurors.' And immediately it is demanded of the said Peter Hunt if he hath or knoweth any thing to say wherefore the said justices here ought not upon the premises and verdict aforesaid to proceed to judgment and execution against him: WHO saith that Clergy prayed. he is a clerk, and prayeth the benefit of clergy to be allowed him in this behalf. WHEREUPON, all and singular the premises being seen, and by the Judgment to be said justices here fully understood, IT IS CONSIDERED by the court here that hand, and dethe said Peter Hunt be burned in his left hand and delivered. And im- livered. mediately he is burned in his left hand, and is delivered, according to the form of the statute.3 burned in the robbery. in bar of exe cution. SECT. 3. ENTRY OF A TRIAL INSTANTER IN THE COURT OF KING'S BENCH, UPON A COLLATERAL ISSUE; AND RULE OF COURT FOR EXECUTION THEREON. Michaelmas Term, in the Sixth Year of the Reign of King George the Third. Kent; The King THE PRISONER at the bar being brought into this court against in custody of the sheriff of the county of Sussex, by Thomas Rogers. virtue of his majesty's writ of habeas corpus, IT IS ORDERED Habeas corpus. that the said writ and the return thereto be filed. AND it appearing by a Record of attain certain record of attainder, which hath been removed into this court by his der read, majesty's writ of certiorari, that the prisoner at the bar stands attainted, by the name of Thomas Rogers, of felony for a robbery on the highway, and for felony and the said prisoner at the bar having heard the record of the said attainder Prisoner asked now read to him, is now asked by the court here what he hath to say for what he can say himself why the court here should not proceed to award execution against him upon the said attainder. HE for plea saith that he is not the same Plea: not the Thomas Rogers in the said record of attainder named, and against whom same person. judgment was pronounced; and this he is ready to verify and prove, &c. To which said plea the honourable Charles Yorke, esquire, attorney-general Replication, of our present sovereign lord the king, who for our said lord the king in this behalf prosecuteth, being now present here in court, and having heard what the said prisoner at the bar hath now alleged, for our said lord the king by way of reply saith, that the said prisoner now here at the bar is the averring that he same Thomas Rogers in the said record of attainder named, and against whom judgment was pronounced as aforesaid; and this he prayeth may be inquired into by the country; and the said prisoner at the bar doth the like: Issue joined. THEREFORE let a jury in this behalf immediately come here into court, by whom the truth of the matter will be the better known, and who have no Venire awarded affinity to the said prisoner, to try upon their oath whether the said prisoner at the bar be the same Thomas Rogers in the said record of attainder named, and against whom judgment was so pronounced as aforesaid, or not: because as well the said Charles Yorke, esquire, attorney-general of our said lord the king, who for our said lord the king in this behalf prosecutes, as the said prisoner at the bar, have put themselves in this behalf upon the said jury. AND immediately thereupon the said jury come here into court; and, being Jury sworn. elected, tried, and sworn to speak the truth touching and concerning the premises aforesaid, and having heard the said record read to them, do say upon their oath that the said prisoner at the bar is the same Thomas Rogers Verdict: that he in the said record of attainder named, and against whom judgment was so pronounced as aforesaid, in manner and form as the said attorney-general 2 See preceding note. Benefit of clergy and burning in the hand being now abolished, (see 6 Geo. IV. c. 25. 7 & 8 Geo. IV. c. 28,) this form will require alteration accordingly. is. instanter. is the same. Award of execution. hath by his said replication to the said plea of the said prisoner now here at the bar alleged. AND HEREUPON the said attorney-general on behalf of our said lord the king now prayeth, that the court here would proceed to award execution against him the said Thomas Rogers upon the said attainder. WHEREUPON, all and singular the premises being now seen and fully understood by the court here, IT IS ORDERED by the court here that execution be done upon the said prisoner at the bar for the said felony in pursuance of the said judgment, according to due form of law: AND it is lastly ordered that he the said Thomas Rogers, the prisoner at the bar, be now committed to the custody of the sheriff of the county of Kent (now also present here in court) for the purpose aforesaid; and that the said sheriff of Kent do execution upon the said defendant the prisoner at the bar for the said felony, in pursuance of the said judgment, according to due form of law. On the motion of Mr. Attorney-General. By the Court. SECT. 4. WARRANT OF EXECUTION ON JUDGMENT OF DEATH, AT THE GENERAL London Middlesex. To the sheriffs of the city of London; and to the sheriff of the county of Middlesex; and to the keeper of his majesty's gaol of Newgate. WHEREAS at the session of gaol-delivery of Newgate, for the city of London and county of Middlesex, holden at Justice Hall in the Old Bailey, on the nineteenth day of October last, Patrick Mahony, Roger Jones, Charles King, and Mary Smith, received sentence of death for the respective offences in their several indictments mentioned: Now IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that execution of the said sentence be made and done upon them the said Patrick Mahony and Roger Jones, on Wednesday the ninth day of this instant month of November, at the usual place of execution. AND it is his majesty's command that execution of the said sentence upon them the said Charles King and Mary Smith be respited, until his majesty's pleasure touching them be further known. GIVEN under my hand and seal this fourth day of November, one thousand seven hundred and sixty-eight. JAMES EYRE, Recorder, (L.S.) SECT. 5. WRIT OF EXECUTION UPON A JUDGMENT OF MURDER, BEFORE THE KING GEORGE the Second, by the grace of God, of Great Britain, France, and AN ANALYSIS OF BLACKSTONE'S COMMENTARIES ON The Laws of England. BY BARRON FIELD, ESQ. The figures at the end of each Question refer to the pages of Blackstone (and those of all the editions are alike) where its Answer may be found. INTRODUCTION. SECTION II-Of the Nature of Laws in General. SEC. III. Of the Laws of England. 1. INTO what two kinds may the municipal law 1. WHAT is law, in its most general and com- of England be divided? 63. prehensive sense? 38. 2. What is law, in its more confined sense, and that in which it is the present commentator's business to consider it? 39. 3. What is the law of nature? 39. 4. To what one precept may the law of nature be reduced? 41. 5. Has God revealed any portions of this law to us? 42. 6. Upon what two foundations depend all human laws? 42. 7. As the whole race of mankind form separate states, is there not a third kind of law? 43. 8. What is that law called by which particular nations are governed? 44. 9. How does the commentator define that law? 44. 10. What three forms of government are there? 49. 11. What peculiar quality does each of these forms of government possess; and what effect have these several qualities upon the laws of their respective governments? 49, 50. 12. What is the nature of the British form of government? 50, 51. 13. With whom lies the right to make laws in every government? 52. 14. Of what four parts may every law be said to consist? 53, 54. 15. Wherein consists the difference between those things prohibited by the law which are mala in se, and those which are mala prohibita? 54, 55, 57, 58. 16. What five helps are there to the interpretation of laws? 59. 17. How is equity defined by Grotius? 62. 2. What does the first of these kinds of law include? 63. 3. Where is it to be found? 63, 64. 4. Of what degree of antiquity must its marims and customs be, to entitle them to validity? 67. 67. 5. Into what three kinds is it distinguishable? 6. How are its customs or maxims to be known; and by whom is their validity to be determined? 69. 7. What is the doctrine of the law as to following precedents? 70. 8. What three things do the rules relating to particular customs regard? 75. 9. Wherein do the customs of London differ from all others in point of trial? 76. 10. What are the seven necessary requisites to make a custom good? 77, 78. 11. To what, however, must all special customs submit? 79. 12. What are understood by those peculiar laws which, by custom, are adopted and used only in certain peculiar courts and jurisdictions? 79. 13. What is understood by each of these laws, absolutely taken? 80, 82. 14. What are the four species of courts in which these laws are permitted to be used? 83. 15. Under what superintendency are all these courts? 84. 16. To whom does an appeal from them lie, in the last resort? 84. 17. Of what does the second kind of municipal law consist? 85. 18. Into what four kinds is it distinguishable? 85, 86. 19. What two connections has it with the first kind of municipal law? 86. 20. What are the ten principal rules to be observed with regard to the construction of the second kind of municipal law? 87-91. 21. For what purpose are our courts of equity established; and in what matters only are they conversant? 92. of the American plantations, by statute 6 Geo. III. c. 12? 108, 109. 11. But what was the king empowered to do by statute 22 Geo. III. c. 46; and what does he acknowledge by the first article of the definitive treaty of peace and friendship between his Britannic Majesty and the United States of America? 109. 12. How are any foreign dominions which may belong to the king by hereditary descent, by pur SEC. IV. Of the Courts subject to the Laws of chase, or other acquisition, governed? 109, 110. England. 1. WHAT does the kingdom of England, by the common law, include? 93. 2. How is Wales governed; and in what particulars does it differ from the kingdom of England? 93-95. 3. How is Scotland governed; and what four observations are to be made upon the articles and act of union between England and Scotland? 95-98. 4. How is the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed governed; what writs run there; and by whom may all local matters arising there be tried? 99. 5. How is Ireland governed? 100-104. 6. How are the Isles of Wight, Portland, Tha-. net, &c. governed? 105. 7. How is the Isle of Man governed?, 105, 106. 8. How are the Isles of Jersey, Guernsey, Sark, Alderney, and their appendages governed? 106. 9. How are our Plantations abroad governed? 107, 108. 10. Of what three sorts are our Colonies, with respect to their internal polity; what is the form of government in most of them; and what is declared, as to the laws of plantations, by statute 7 & 8 W. III. c. 22, and as to the subordination 13. What part of the sea is subject to the common law, and what part to the jurisdiction of our courts of admiralty? 110. 14. To what two divisions is the territory of England liable? 110. 15. How is the first division subdivided? 111. 16. What is a parish; how were the boundaries of parishes originally ascertained; how is the frequent intermixture of parishes one with another to be accounted for; how are some lands extra-parochial; to whom are their tithes payable; yet what does the statute 17 Geo. II. c. 37 enact as to extra-parochial waste and marsh lands, when improved and drained? 111-113. 17. How is the second division subdivided? 114. 18. What was a tithing? 114. 19. What is a town now, what a city, and what a borough? 114, 115. 20. What is a hundred, what a wapentake, what a county or shire, what a lathe, what a rdpe, and what a trithing? 115, 116. 21. What is a county-palatine; what three counties are now of this nature; whence is the origin of their privileges; how were the powers of their owners abridged in 27 Hen. VIII.; and who are those owners now? 116-119. 22. What is the Isle of Ely? 119. BOOK I.-OF THE RIGHTS OF PERSONS. CHAPTER I.-Of the Absolute Rights of Indi viduals. 1. WHAT are the two primary and principal objects of the laws of England? 122. 2. How is the first of these objects subdivided? 122. 3. How is the second of these objects subdivided? 122. 4. Of what two sorts are those rights of persons which are commanded to be observed by the municipal law? 123. 5. How are persons divided by the law? 123. 6. Of what two sorts are the rights of persons, considered in their first or natural capacity? 123. 7. What does the law say as to the absolute duties of man? 124. 8. What is political or civil liberty? 125. 9. How is political or civil liberty distinguished from natural liberty? 125. 10. How have the absolute rights of Englishmen been asserted in parliament? 127, 128. 11. To what three principal or primary articles may these rights be reduced? 129. 12. In what does the first consist? 129. 13. How is an infant, in ventre sa mere, considered by the law? 130. 14. What does the law mean by duress per minas? 131. 15. What is the distinction between a civil and a natural death? 132. 16. What does magna carta say as to the personal security of a "liber homo;" and what is enacted to the same effect by statutes 5 Edw. III. c. 9, and 28 Edw. III. c. 3? 183, 134. 17. In what does the second absolute right of Englishmen consist? 134. 18. What is a writ of habeas corpus, and when may it be sued out? 135. 19. What does the law mean by duress of imprisonment? 136. 20. What is necessary to make an imprisonment lawful; and when is the gaoler not bound to detain the prisoner? 137. 21. Can an Englishman be restrained from leaving the kingdom? 137. 22. Can he be compelled to leave it? 137. 23. In what does the third absolute right of Englishmen consist? 138. 24. In case it would be beneficial to the public that a new road should be made through the grounds of a private person, how will the legislature compel that person to acquiesce in its being made? 139. 25. What taxes only can a subject of England be constrained to pay? 140. 26. What are the five secondary and subordinate absolute rights of Englishmen ? 141-143. 27. What does magna carta say as to the right of every Englishman to apply to the courts of justice for redress of injuries; and what is enacted to the same effect by statutes 2 Edw. III. c. 8, and 11 Ric. II. c. 10; and what is declared by statutes 1 W. and M. st. 2, c. 2, and 16 Car. I. c. 10 (upon the dissolution of the starchamber )? 141, 142. 28. To prevent any riot or tumult, under the pretence of petitioning for the redress of grievances, what is provided by statute 13 Car. II. st. 1, c. 5; but, under these regulations, what is declared by the same statute 1 W. and M.? 143. 29. What is declared by the same statute as to the right of every subject to have arms for his defence? 144. CHAP. II. Of the Parliament. gard to elections, both of knights of the shire and of members for cities and boroughs? 177, 178, | 180. 25. What measures are taken at erections to prevent all undue influence upon the electors; and what if any revenue officer intermeddle in elections? 178, 179. 26. What is enacted to prevent bribery and corruption at elections? 179. 27. What if the returning officer do not return such members only as are duly elected? 180. 28. What is the method of making laws? 181185. 29. In what two ways may the royal assent to a bill be given? 184, 185. 30. Whom hath an act of parliament power to bind; how only can it be altered, amended, dispensed with, suspended, or repealed; and what is declared by the statute 1 W. and M. st. 2, c. 2 as to regal authority over laws? 185, 186. 31. What is an adjournment of the houses of parliament? 186. 32. What is a prorogation of the houses of par 1. WHAT are the two classes of relations of liament? 187. persons? 146. 2. What is the most universal public relation by which men are connected together? 146. 3. What are the two classes of magistrates? 146. 4. Into what two branches is the supreme power ivided? 147. 5. Of what antiquity are parliaments? 147 149. 11. Of whom do the temporal lords consist? 157. 12. Do the lords spiritual and the lords temporal form two distinct estates? 156. 13. Of whom do the commons consist? 158. 14. Of what authority is the power and jurisdiction of parliament ? 160–162. 15. What are the disqualifications of a member of parliament? 162. 16. From what one maxim has the whole of the law and custom of parliament its original? 163. 17. Of what extent are the privileges of parliament ? 164. 18. What are some of the more notorious privileges of either house of parliament? 164167. 19. What are the peculiar privileges of the house of lords ?V16, 168. 33. What is a dissolution of the houses of parliament? 187. effected? 187-189. 34. In what three ways may this dissolution be 35. But, the calling a new parliament immediately on the inauguration of a successor to the crown being found inconvenient, and dangers being apprehended from having no parliament in being in cases of a disputed succession, what was enacted by statutes 7 & 8 W. III. c. 15, and 6 Anne, c. 7? 183. 36. What is the extent of time that the same parliament is allowed to sit by the statute 1 Geo. I. st. 2, c. 38? 189. CHAP: III.—Of the King and his Title. 1. In whom is the supreme executive power of this kingdom lodged? 190. 2. Under what six distinct views may the royal person be considered? 190. 3. What is the grand fundamental maxim upon which the jus coronæ, or right of succession to the throne of these kingdoms depends? 191. 4. Does the descent of the crown correspond with the feodal path of descents chalked out by the common law in the succession to landed estates? 193, 194. 5. Does the doctrine of hereditary right imply an indefeasible right to the throne? 195. 6. The crown being capable of being limited or transferred, does it not lose its descendible quality? 196. 7. What kings have been successively constituted the common stocks or ancestors of the English descent? 197-217. 8. What did the convention of estates, or repre sentative body the nation, declare at the revo-. 20. What are the peculiar privileges of the house of commons? 169, 170. are the qualificat. knights of the shire? 172, 173. 22. What are the qualifications of electors of citizens and burgesses? 174, 175. s of electors of lution 211. 9. And how did they settle the succession to the throne? 214. 10. On the impending failure of the Protest23. What are the qualifications of persons to ant line of Charles I., (whereby the throne might be elected members of the house of commons? 175-again have become vacant,) to whom did the king and parliament extend the settlement of 176. 24. What is the method of proceeding in re- the crown? 216. |