their attendance by the ftatute 3 Hen. VII. c. 1. which Sir Edward Coke complains of heavily s; though, fince his time, thofe fees have been much enlarged The coroner is chofen for life: But may be removed, either by being made sheriff, or chofen verderor, which are offices incompatible with the other; or by the king's writ de coronatore exonerando, for a caule to be therein affigned, as that he is engaged in other business, is incapacitated by years or ficknefs, hath not a fufficient eftate in the county, or lives in an inconvenient part of it. And, by the ftatute 25 Geo. II. c. 29. extortion, neglect, or misbehaviour, are alfo made causes of removal. The office and power of a coroner are also, like thofe of the sheriff, either judicial or ministerial; but principally judicial. This is in great measure afcertained by ftatute 4 Edw. I. de officio coronatoris; and confifts, first, in inquiring, when any perfon 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 muft alfo 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 inquest of murder or other homicide, he is to commit them to prifon for farther trial, and is also 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 muft certify the whole of this inquifition (under his own feal and the feals of the jurorsu) together with the evidence thereon, to the q 2 Inft. 210. r Stat. 25 Geo. II. c. 29. court s F. N. B. 163, 164. t Thus, in the Gothick conftitution, before any fine was payable by the neighbourhood, for the flaughter of a man therein, " de carpore deliti conftare oportebat; i. e. non tam fuiffe aliquem in terri"torio ifto mortuum inventum, quam vulneratum et caefum Poteft enim “bomo etiam ex alia caufa fubito mori." Stiernhook de jure Ġothor. 1. 3. c. 4. u Stat. 33 Henry VIII. c. 12. 1 & 2 P. & M. c. 13. 2 West. Symbol. 310. Crompt. 264. Tremain, P, C. 621. Another court of king's bench, or the next affizes. branch of his office is to inquire concerning fhipwrecks; and certify whether wreck or not, and who is in poffeffion of the goods. Concerning treasuretrove, he is also to inquire who were the finders, and where it is, and whether any one be suspected of having found and concealed a treasure; " and that may be well perceived (faith the old ftatute of Edw. I.) where one liveth. "riotously, 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 fheriff's fubftitute. For when just exception can be taken to the fheriff, for fufpicion of partiality, (as that He is interested in the fuit, or of kindred to either plaintiff or defendant) the procefs must then be awarded to. the coroner, inftead of the fheriff, for execution of the king's writs v.. III. The next fpecies of fubordinate magiftrates, whom I am to confider, are juftices of the peace; the principal of whom is the cuftos rotulorum, or keeper of the records of the county. The cominon law hath ever had a special care and regard for the conservation of the peace; for peace is the very end and foundation of civil fociety. And therefore, before the prefent conftitution of juftices was invented, there were peculiar officers appointed by the common law for the maintenance of the publick peace. Of these fome had, and still 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 offii 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 dominions; 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: * 4 Inft. 271. w Lambard. Eirenarch. 12 chancellor or keeper, the lord treasurer, the lord high steward of England, the lord marefchal, the lord high conftable of England, (when any fuch officers are in being) and all the juftices 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 conservator of the peace within his own county; as is also the sheriff 2; and both of them may take a recognizance or fecurity for the peace. Conftables, tithing men, and the like, are alfo confervators of the peace within their own jurisdictions; and may apprehend all breakers of the peace, and commit them, till they find fureties for their keeping it a Those that were, without any office, fimply and merely confervators of the peace, either claimed that power by prescription ; or were bound to exercise it by the tenure of their lands; or, lastly, were chosen by the freeholders in full county court before the sheriff; the writ for their election directing them to be chosen de probioribus et potentioribus comitatus fui in cuftodes " pacis.d." But when Queen Ifabel, the wife of Ed ward 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: Efpecially as the old king was living, though hurried about from caftle to caftle; till at laft he met with an untimely death. To prevent, therefore, any rifings, or other difturbance of the peace, the new king fent writs to all the fheriffs in England, the form of which is preferved by Thomas Wal fingham, giving a plaufible account of the mariner of his obtaining the crown; to wit, that it was done . ipfius x Lamb. 12, a Lamb, 14. b. Ibid. 15. d Ibid. 16. e Hift. A. D. 1325 351 ipfus patris beneplacito: And withal commanding each fheriff 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 these writs, it was ordained in parliament f, 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, fhall 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 conftrued to be by the king's commiffion h. But ftill they were only called confervators, wardens, or keepers of the peace, till the ftatute 34 Edw. III. c. 1. gave them the power of trying felonies; and then they acquired the more honourable appellation of justices i. 66 These justices are appointed by the king's fpecial commiffion under the great seal, the form of which was fettled by all the judges, A. D. 1590 i. This appoints them all k, jointly and feverally, to keep the peace, and any two or more of them to inquire of and determine felonies and other misdemeínors: In which number fome particular justices, 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 effe volumus" whence the perfons fo ramed are usually called juftices of the quorum. And formerly it was cuf tomary to appoint only a felect number of justices, eminent for their skill and discretion, to be of the quorum s but now the practice is to advance almost all of them to that dignity, naming them all over again in the quorum claufe, except perhaps only fome one inconfiderable perfon for the fake of propriety: And no exception is now allowable, for not expreffing in the form of warrants, &c. that f Stat. Edw. HI: c. 16. g. Lamb. 20. h Stat. 4 Edw. III. c. 2. 28 Edw, III. ft. 2. c. 2. j Lamb. 23 i Ibid. 43. k See the form itself, Lamb. 35. Bura. tit. Juftices, §. 1. that the justice who iffued them is of the quorum !. When any juftice intends to act under this commiffion, he fues out a writ of dedimus poteftatem, from the clerk of the crown in chancery, empowering certain perfons therein named, to adminifter the usual oaths to him; which done, he is at liberty to act. Touching the number and qualifications of these jul tices; it was ordained by statute 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 juftices in every county. But afterwards the number of juftices, through the ambition of private perfons, became fo large,. that it was thought necessary by ftatute 12 Ric. II. c. 10.. and 14 Ric. II. c. 11. to reftrain them at first to fix, and afterwards to eight only. But this rule is now difregarded, and the cause seems to be (as Lambard obferved long ago) that the growing number of ftatute laws, committed from time to time to the charge of jus tices of the peace, have occafined alfo (and very rea. fonably) their increafe to a larger number. And, as to their qualifications, the ftatutes juft cited direct them to be of the best reputation, and moft worthy men in the county: And the ftatute 13 Ric. II. c. 7. orders them to be of the most fufficient knights, cfquires, and gentlemen of the law. Alfo by ftatute 2 Hen. V. ft. 1. c. 4. and ft. 2. c. 1. they must be refident in their feveral counties. And because, contrary to these stat utes, men of small substance had crept into the commiffion, whose poverty made them both covetous and contemptible, it was enacted by ftatute 18 Hen. VI. c. 11. that no juftice 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 ftatute 5 Geo. II. c. 11. that every juftice, except as is therein excepted, fhall have 100%. per annum clear of all deductions; and, if he acts with 1 Stat. 26 Geo. II. c. 27. See also ftat. 7 Geo. IIL. c. 21.. m Lamb. 34. out! |