ON THE LAWS OF ENGLAND, IN THE ORDER, AND COMPILED FROM THE TEXT OF BLACKSTONE, AND EMBRACING THE NEW STATUTES AND ALTERATIONS BY JOHN BETHUNE BAYLY, OF THE MIDDLE TEMPLE, ESQ. LONDON: SAUNDERS AND BENNING, LAW BOOKSELLERS, 43, FLEET STREET. PREFACE. THE excellence of the Commentaries of Sir William Blackstone as an elementary Treatise on the Laws and Constitution of England, has been so long established, that a knowledge of their contents is usually deemed indispensable as introductory to the study of legal works of a more abstruse kind. But it is not merely as an elementary Work that the Commentaries are so justly esteemed; they are constantly referred to in the Courts of Law, and whilst the general soundness of the legal principles promulgated and expounded in them is acknowledged and valued by the professed Lawyer, the Statesman and the Magistrate look to them as their safest guide and highest authority in all matters of constitutional doctrine and practice. The following pages comprise the substance of the original Text of Blackstone, except such parts as having lost all connection with the present state of the law have become obsolete; but so much of the statement and commentary of the old law as may be considered necessary to a proper comprehension of the new, has been retained, and Notes have been added of the new statutes and alterations to the present time. Some practical experience as an attorney, led me to think that such a Book might be of general utility. In attempting the execution of this task I have not been unconscious of |