de officio coronatoris; and confifts, first, in inquiring, when any person is flain, or dies fuddenly, or in prifon, concerning the manner of his death. And this must be "fuper vifum "corporis," for, if the body be not found, the coroner cannot fit. He must also fit at the very place where the death happened; and his inquiry is made by a jury from four, five, or fix of the neighbouring towns, over whom he is to prefide. If any be found guilty by this inqueft of murder or other homicide, he is to commit them to prison for farther trial, and is alfo to inquire concerning their lands, goods and chattels, which are forfeited thereby: but, whether it be homicide or not, he muft inquire whether any deodand has accrued to the king, or the lord of the franchise, by this death: and must certify the whole of this inquifition (under his own feal and [349] the feals of the jurors") together with the evidence thereon, to the court of king's bench, or the next affifes. Another branch of his office is to inquire concerning fhipwrecks; and certify whether wreck or not, and who is in possession of the goods. Concerning treasure-trove, he is alfo to inquire who were the finders, and where it is, and whether any one be fufpected of having found and concealed a treasure; " and that may be well perceived, (faith the old ftatute of "Edw. I.) where one liveth riotoufly, haunting taverns, "and hath done fo of long time :" whereupon he might be attached, and held to bail, upon this fufpicion only.

THE minifterial office of the coroner is only as the sheriff's fubftitute. For when juft exception can be taken to the sheriff, for fufpicion of partiality, (as that he is interested in the fuit, or of kindred to either plaintiff or defendant,) the process must then be awarded to the coroner, instead of the heriff, for execution of the king's writs"."

Book I. III. THE next species of fubordinate magistrates, whom 1 am to confider, are justices of the peace; the principal of whom is the cuftos rotulorum, or keeper of the records of the county. The common law hath ever had a fpecial care and regard for the confervation of the peace; for peace is the very end and foundation of civil fociety. And therefore, before the prefent conflitution of justices was invented, there were peculiar officers appointed by the common law for the maintenance of the public peace. Of these fome had, and ftill have, this power annexed to other offices which they hold; others had it merely by itself, and were thence named cuftodes or confervatores pacis. Thofe that were so virtute officii ftill continue; but the latter fort are fuperfeded by the modern juftices.

THE king's majefty w is, by his office and dignity royal, the principal confervator of the peace within all his domi[350] nions; and may give authority to any other to fee the peace kept, and to punish fuch as break it: hence it is ufually called the king's peace. The lord chancellor or keeper, the lord treasurer, the lord high fteward of England, the lord marefchal, the lord high constable of England, (when any fuch officers are in being,) and all the justices of the court of king's bench, (by virtue of their offices,) and the master of the rolls, (by prefcription,) are general confervators of the peace throughout the whole kingdom, and may commit all breakers of it, or bind them in recognizances to keep it *: the other judges are only fo in their own courts. The coroner is also a confervator of the peace within his own coun ty; as is also the sheriff; and both of them may take a recognizance or fecurity for the peace. Conftables, tythingmen, and the like, are alfo confervators of the peace within their own jurifdictions; and may apprehend all breakers of the peace and commit them, till they find fureties for their keeping it a.

w Lambard. Eirenarch. 12.
* Lamb. 12.

Britton. 3.

z F.N. B. 81.

a Lamb. 14.

* 5

THOSE

THOSE that were, without any office, fimply and merely confervators of the peace, either claimed that power by prefcription; or were bound to exercise it by the tenure of their lands; or, laftly, were chofen by the freeholders in full county court before the fheriff; the writ for their election directing them to be chofen " de probioribus et potentiori«bus comitatus fui in cuftodes pacis " But when queen Isabel, the wife of Edward II, had contrived to depofe her husband by a forced refignation of the crown, and had fet up his fon Edward III in his place; this, being a thing then without example in England, it was feared would much alarm the people especially as the old king was living, though hurried about from caftle to caftle; till at last he met with an untimely death. To prevent therefore any rifings, or other disturbance of the peace, the new king fent writs to all the sheriffs in England, the form of which is preferved by [351] Thomas Wallingham, giving a plaufible account of the manner of his obtaining the crown; to wit, that it was done ipfius patris beneplacito: and withal commanding each sheriff that the peace be kept throughout his bailiwick, on pain and peril of difinheritance and lofs of life and limb. And in a few weeks after the date of thefe writs, it was ordained in parliament, that, for the better maintaining and keeping of the peace in every county, good men and lawful, which were no maintainers of evil, or barretors in the country, fhould be affigned to keep the peace. And in this manner, and upon this occafion, was the election of the confervators of the peace taken from the people, and given to the king; this affignment being construed to be by the king's permiffion. But ftill they were only called conservators, wardens, or keepers of the peace, till the ftatute 34 Edward III. c. 1. gave them the power of trying felonies; and then they acquired the more honourable appellation of justices.

b Lamb. 15.

c Ibid. 17.

d Ibid. 16.

e Hift. A. D. 1327.

f Stat. 1 Edw. ill. c. 16.

8 Lamb. 20.

h Stat. 4 Edw. III. c. 2. 18 Edw. III. ft. 2. c. 2.

j Lamb. 23.

THESE

THESE juftices are appointed by the king's fpecial commiffion under the great feal, the form of which was fettled by all the judges, A. D. 15901. This appoints them all*, jointly and severally, to keep the peace, and any two or more of them to inquire of and determine felonies and other mifdemefnors: in which number fome particular juftices, or one of them, are directed to be always included, and no business to be done without their prefence; the words of the commiffion running thus, " quorum aliquem veftrum, A. B. C. D. "&c. unum esse volumus;" whence the persons so named are ufually called juftices of the quorum. And formerly it was customary to appoint only a felect number of justices, eminent for their skill and difcretion, to be of the quorum; but now the practice is to advance almost all of them to that dig nity, naming them all over again in the quorum claufe, except perhaps only fome one inconfiderable perfon for the fake of [ 352 ] propriety: and no exception is now allowable, for not expreffing in the form of warrants, &c. that the justice who iffued them is of the quorum. When any justice intends to act under this commiffion, he fues out a writ of dedimus po teftatem, from the clerk of the crown in chancery, empowering certain perfons therein named to adminifter the usual eaths to him; which done, he is at liberty to act.

TOUCHING the number and qualifications of thefe justices; it was ordained by ftatute 18 Edw. III. c. 2. that two or three, of the best reputation in each county, fhall be affigned to be keepers of the peace. But thefe being found rather too few for that purpose, it was provided by ftatute 34 Edw. III. c. 1. that one lord, and three, or four, of the most-worthy men in the county, with fome learned in the law, fhall be made justices in every county. But afterwards the number of juftices, through the ambition of private perfons, became fo large, that it was thought neceffary by ftatute 12 Ric. II. c. 10. and 14 Ric. II. c. 11. to reftrain them at first to fix, and after

Lamb. 43.

1 Stat. 26 Geo. II. c. 27. See also

* See the form itfelf, Lamb. 35. ftat. 7 Geo. III. c. 21. Burn. tit. Juftices, § 1.

wards

wards to eight only. But this rule is now difregarded, and the caufe feems to be, (as Lambard obferved long ago,) that the growing number of ftatute laws, committed from time to time to the charge of justices of the peace, have occasioned also (and very reasonably) their encreafe to a larger number. And, as to their qualifications, the ftatutes juft cited direct them to be of the best reputation, and most worthy men in the county: and the ftatute 13 Ric. II. c. 7. orders them to be of the moft fufficient knights, efquires, and gentlemen of the law. Alfo by ftatute 2 Hen V. ft. 1. c. 4. and ft. 2. c. 1. they must be resident in their feveral counties. And because, contrary to these statutes, men of small fubftance had crept into the commiffion, whofe poverty made them both covetous and contemptible, it was enacted by ftatute 18 Hen. VI. c. 11. that no justice fhould be put in commiffion, if he had not lands to the value of 20l. per annum. And, the rate of money being greatly altered fince that time, it is now enacted by statute 5 Geo. II. c. 18. that every justice, except [353] as is therein excepted, fhall have 100l. per annum clear of all deductions (12); and, if he acts without fuch qualification, he shall forfeit 100l. This qualification" is almost an equivalent to the 201. per annum required in Henry the fixth's time and of this° the juftice must now make oath. Also it is provided by the act 5 Geo. II. that no practifing attorney,

m Lamb. 34.

n See bishop Fleetwood's calculations

in his chronicon pretiofum.
Stat. 18 Geo. II. c. 20.

(12) The 18 Geo. II. c. 20. is the last statute which prescribes the qualifications of juftices of the peace. This clear estate of 100l. per annum, may confift either in freehold or copyhold, an eftate of inheritance or for life, or even in a term for 21 years. A reverfion or remainder after one or more lives of the value of 300l. per annum is also a qualification. But this does not extend to corporation juftices, or to the eldest fons of peers, and of gen tlemen qualified to be knights of fhires, the officers of the board of green cloth, principal officers of the navy, under fecretaries of ftate, heads of colleges, or to the mayors of Cambridge and Oxford, all of whom may act without any qualification by estate.