justified in taking a voluntary affidavit in any extra-judicial

matter (1). Subornation of perjury, is the offence of procuring Subornation of another to take such a false oath as constitutes perjury in the perjury. principal. The punishment of perjury and subornation of 3 Inst. 163. perjury, is fine and imprisonment, and never more to be capable of bearing testimony, in which our law seems to have adopted the opinion of Cicero, derived from the law of the twelve tables, perjurii pœna divina, exitium; humana, dedecus (m).

Bribery is when a judge, or other person concerned in the Bribery. administration of justice, takes any undue reward to influence 1 Hawk. P. C. his behaviour in his office. By the laws of Athens, he that 168. offered, as well as he that received a bribe, was prosecuted, and in England this offence is punishable with fine and imprisonment.

Embracery is an attempt to influence a jury corruptly, and Embracery. is punishable by fine and imprisonment (n).

1 Hawk. P. C. 259.

The false verdict of jurors is punishable by fine and impri- False verdict. sonment (n).

Negligence of public officers intrusted with the administra- Negligence of tion of justice, as sheriffs, coroners, constables, and the like, is public officers. punishable by fine and forfeiture of office, if a beneficial one.

The oppression and tyrannical partiality of judges, justices, Oppression by and other magistrates, in the administration and under the magistrates. colour of their office, when prosecuted either by impeachment in parliament, or by information in the court of king's bench, according to the rank of the offenders, is punishable with forfeiture of their offices, either consequential or immediate, or with fine, and imprisonment.

(1) By 5 & 6 Wm. 4, c. 62, s. 13, justices are not to administer oaths, or to receive affidavits, or solemn affirmations, touching matters whereof they have no jurisdiction by statute; but the act does not extend to any oath, affidavit, or solemn affirmation, before any justice in any matter or thing touching the preservation of the peace, or the prosecution, trial, or punishment of offences, or touching proceedings before either of the houses of parliament, or any committee thereof, or any oath, affidavit, or affirmation required by the laws of any foreign country, to give validity to instruments in writing designed to be used in such such foreign countries.

(m) "The divine punishment of perjury is death; the human punishment disgrace." By 2 Geo. 2, c. 25, s. 2, the party convicted of wilful and corrupt perjury, or subornation of perjury, may be imprisoned in some house of correction seven years, or be transported for seven years. By 7 Wm. 4, and 1 Vict. c. 23, the punishment of the pillory is abolished.

(n) By 6 Geo. 4, c. 50, s. 60, the writ of attaint was abolished by s. 61, corrupt jurors are punished by fine and imprisonment.

Extortion.

Extortion by any officer under colour of his office, is punishable with fine and imprisonment, and sometimes forfeiture of the office.

CHAPTER XI.

Offence against the public

peace.

blies.

OF OFFENCES AGAINST THE PUBLIC PEACE.

THESE offences are such as are either an actual breach of the peace, or constructively so, by tending to make others break it. By 1 Geo. 1, c. 5, if any twelve persons are unlawfully Riotous assem- assembled to the disturbance of the peace, and any justice of the peace, sheriff, undersheriff, or mayor of a town, shall command them by proclamation to disperse, and they contemn his orders, and continue together for one hour afterwards, such contempt is felony. If the reading of the proclamation be by force opposed, or the reader be in any manner wilfully hindered from the reading of it, such opposers and hinderers are felons; and all persons to whom such proclamation ought to have been made, and knowing of such hindrance, and not dispersing, are felons. The act indemnifies the peace officers and their assistants if they kill any of the mob in endeavouring to suppress such riot. And if any persons so riotously assembled begin, even before proclamation, to pull down any church, chapel, meeting-house, or outhouses, they are guilty of felony (a).

Appearing armed or hunting in disguise.

To appear armed and disguised in any enclosed forest or place where deer are kept, or in any warren for hares, or in any high road, open heath, common, or down, by day or night, or being so disguised to hunt, wound, kill, or steal any deer; to rob a warren or to steal fish is felony (b). And to send any

(a) By 7 & 8 Geo. 4, c. 30, s. 8, rioters demolishing or destroying, or beginning to demolish or destroy, any church, chapel, house, outhouse, &c., or building, or erection used in carrying on trade or manufacture, or any machinery in any factory or mine, are guilty of felony, and, being convicted, are liable to suffer death as felons.

(b) Repealed by 7 & 8 Geo. 4, c. 27. And by 7 & 8 Geo. 4, c. 29, s. 26, hunting, coursing, or wounding, or attempting the same in the inclosed part of any forest, chase, &c., is felony, and punishable as in the case of simple larceny; and hunting,

letter without a name, or with a fictitious name, demanding money, or threatening to kill any of the king's subjects, or to fire their houses, outhouses, barns, or ricks, is felony (c). Maliciously to pull down or destroy any locks, banks, sluices, floodgates, or other works erected on a navigable river, is felony (d). And by 7 Geo. 3, c. 40, maliciously to pull

Letters threatening to kill persons, or to fire houses, ricks, &c.

Destroying locks and turnpikes.

killing, or wounding deer, or attempting the same in the uninclosed part of any forest, chase, &c., is punished by a fine not exceeding 50l. By s. 27, suspected persons found in possession of venison, &c. are liable to a penalty not exceeding 207., and on failure of conviction, then for the discovery of the party who actually killed or stole such deer, the person from whom the same shall have been first received, or who shall have had possession thereof, shall, if he cannot satisfy the justice that he came lawfully by it, be liable to such penalty. By s. 28, persons setting engines for taking deer, or pulling down park fences, are liable to a penalty of 201.; and by s. 29, deer-keepers, &c. may seize the guns, &c. of offenders. By s. 30, killing hares or conies in the night-time in a warren, whether inclosed or not, is a misdemeanor, and punishable accordingly; and if in the day-time, the party may be fined 5l. By s. 31, stealing dogs, or stealing beasts or birds ordinarily kept in confinement, and not the subject of larceny makes the parties liable, on conviction, to a penalty not exceeding 207., and for a second offence, may be imprisoned, and kept to hard labour; and if such second conviction be before two justices, they may order him to be publicly or privately whipped. By s. 32, persons found in possession of stolen dogs, &c. shall, on conviction, be liable for the first offence to such forfeiture, and for every subsequent offence to such punishment as persons convicted of stealing any dog, beast, or bird, are thereinbefore made liable to, and the property may be seized by virtue of a search warrant, and restored to the owner. By s. 34, taking fish in any water situate in land belonging to a dwelling-house, or in any private fishery elsewhere, is a misdemeanor, and punishable accordingly; and taking fish in any water which shall be private property, or in which there shall be any private right of fishery, makes the offender liable to a penalty of 57. above the value of the fish; but this does not extend to angling in the day-time, which, for the first named offence, makes the offender liable to a penalty of 57.; and for the offence secondly named, 27. And by s. 63, a person in the act of committing any offence may be apprehended without a warrant; and a justice, upon good grounds of suspicion, proved on oath, may grant a search warrant. Any person to whom stolen property is offered may also seize the party offering it.

(c) By 4 Geo. 4, c. 54, s. 3, if any person shall knowingly and wilfully send or deliver any letter or writing, with or without any name or signature, or with a fictitious name or signature, threatening to kill or murder any of his majesty's subjects, or to burn or destroy his or their houses, outhouses, barns, stacks of corn or grain, hay or straw, or shall procure counsel, aid, or abet the commission of the said offence; every person so offending, being thereof lawfully convicted, shall be adjudged guilty of felony, and shall be liable, at the discretion of the court, to be transported beyond the seas for life, or for such term, not less than seven years, as the court shall adjudge, or to be imprisoned only, or to be imprisoned and kept to hard labour in the common gaol or house of correction, for any term not exceeding seven years.

(d) By 7 & 8 Geo. 4, c. 30, s. 12, destroying any sea-bank, &c., or works on any river or canal, is felony, punishable with transportation for life, or for not less than seven years, or imprisonment for any term not exceeding four years; and removing any piles, chalk, or materials fixed in the ground, and used for securing any sea-bank or sea

Affrays.

down or destroy any turnpike gate or fence, toll-house, or weighing-engine thereunto belonging, erected by authority of parliament, is felony (e).

Affrays, from affraier, to terrify, are the fighting of two or more persons in some public place, to the terror of his majesty's subjects. Affrays may be suppressed by any private person present, who is justifiable in endeavouring to part the combatants, whatever consequences may ensue. The constable, or other similar officer, is bound to keep the peace, and to that purpose may break open doors to suppress an affray, or apprehend the affrayers, and may either carry them before a justice or imprison them by his own authority, for a convenient 1 Hawk. P. C. space, till the heat is over. The punishment for common affrays is by fine and imprisonment.

137.

Riots and routs unlawful assemblies.

3 Inst. 176.

An unlawful assembly is when three, or more, assemble themselves together to do an unlawful act, as to pull down enclosures, without doing it, or making any motion towards it. A rout is where three or more meet to do an unlawful act upon a common quarrel, as forcibly breaking down fences, upon a right claimed of common or of way, and make soine advances towards it. A riot is where three or more actually do an unlawful act of violence, either with or without a common cause or quarrel, as if they beat a man, or hunt and kill game in another's park, chase, warren, or liberty; or do any other unlawful act with force and violence; or even do a lawful act, as removing a nuisance, in a violent and tumultuous manner. The punishment of unlawful assemblies, from the number of three to eleven, is by fine and imprisonment. By 13 Hen. 4, c. 7, any two justices, with the sheriff or under-sheriff, may come with the posse comitatus, and suppress any such riot, assembly, or rout, arrest the rioters, and record upon the spot the nature and circumstances of the transaction, which record alone shall be a sufficient conviction of the offenders. And all persons, except women, clergymen, persons decrepit, and infants under fifteen, are bound to attend the justices in suppressing a riot, upon pain of fine and imprisonment. Any

wall, or the bank or wall of any river, canal, or marsh, or opening or drawing up any floodgate, or doing other injury to any navigable river or canal with intent, and so as to obstruct the navigation, is punishable with transportation for seven years, or imprisonment not exceeding two years. The act of 7 & 8 Geo. 4, consolidates all former acts relating to this offence.

(e) By 7 & 8 Geo. 4, c. 30, s. 14, destroying a turnpike-gate, toll-house, &c., is a misdemeanor, and punishable accordingly.

battery, wounding, or killing the rioters, that may happen in 1 Hal. P. C. suppressing the riot, is justifiable.

495.

1 Hawk, P. C.

By 13 Car. 2, st. 1, c. 5, not more than twenty names shall 161. be signed to any petition to the king, or either house of parlia- Tumultuous ment, for any alteration of matters established by law in church petitioning. or state, unless the contents thereof be first approved in the country by three justices, or the majority of the grand jury at the assizes or quarter sessions; and in London by the lord mayor, aldermen, and common council; and no petition shall be delivered by a company of more than ten persons under a penalty of 100%. and three months' imprisonment (ƒ).

and detainer of

Forcible entry, or detainer, is committed by violently taking Forcible entry or keeping possession of lands and tenements, with menaces, lands. force, and arms, and without the authority of law. The entry allowed by law is a peaceable one; that forbidden is a forcible and violent one, and with unusual weapons. By 5 Rich. 2, st. 1, c. 8, all forcible entries are punished with imprisonment; and by 15 Rich. 2, c. 2, 8 Hen. 6, c. 9, 31 Eliz. c. 11, and 21 Jac. 1, c. 15, upon any forcible entry or forcible detainer, after peaceable entry, into any lands, or benefices of the church, one or more justices of the peace, taking sufficient power of the county, may go to the place, and there record the force upon his own view, as in case of riots; and upon such conviction may commit the offender to gaol, till he makes fine and ransom to the king. A jury may be summoned to try the forcibly entry or detainer, and if the same be found, then besides the fine on the offender, the justices shall make restitution by the sheriff of the possession, without inquiring into the merits of the title, the force being only to be tried by them. And the same may be done by indictment at the general sessions; but this provision does not extend to such as endeavour to obtain possession by force, where they, or their ancestors, 31 Eliz. c. 11. have been in the peaceable enjoyment of the lands and tenements, for three years immediately preceding (g).

(f) By the Bill of Rights, or declaration delivered by the lords and commons to the prince and princess of Orange, Feb. 13, 1688, and afterwards enacted in parliament when they became king and queen, the fifth article is, "that it is the right of the subjects to petition the king, and that all commitments and prosecutions for such petitioning are illegal." Sir W. Blackstone says that the right of the subject to petition, as declared by this statute, is under the regulations of 13 Car. 2. But a question may be made, whether the declaration contained in the Bill of Rights was not, in this particular, a repeal of 13 Car. 2. Butler's Co. Litt. 257, b. note 3.

(9) In an action under these statutes, the defendant, if he make himself a title, shall be dismissed without inquiry concerning the force. 1 Hawk. 141; 3 Burr. 1698, 1731; Butler's Co. Litt. 257, a, note 1.