sufficient skill in the trader; and, therefore, is punished by statute 5 Eliz., c. 4, with the forfeiture of forty shillings by the month.1 11. Lastly, to prevent the destruction of our home manufac- 11. Sedueing artists tures by transporting and seducing our artists to settle abroad, abroad. it is provided by statute 5 Geo. I., c. 27, that such as so entice or seduce them shall be fined £100, and be imprisoned three months; and for the second offense shall be fined at discretion, and be imprisoned a year; and the artificers so going into foreign countries, and not returning within six months after warning given them by the British embassador where they reside, shall be deemed aliens, and forfeit all their lands and goods, and shall be incapable of any legacy or gift. By statute 23 Geo. II., c. 13, the seducers incur, for the first offense, a forfeiture of £500 for each artificer contracted with to be sent abroad, and imprisonment for twelve months; and for the second, £1000, and are liable to two years' imprisonment; and by the same statute, connected with 14 Geo. III., c. 71, if any person exports any tools or utensils used in the silk, linen, cotton, or woolen manufactures (excepting wool-cards to North. Americat), he forfeits the same, and £200, and the captain of the ship (having knowledge thereof) £100; and if any captain of a king's ship, or officer of the customs, knowingly suffers such exportation, he forfeits £100 and his employment, and is forever made incapable of bearing any public office; and every person collecting such tools or utensils, in order to export the same, shall, on conviction at the Assizes, forfeit such tools, and also £200." t Stat. 15 Geo. III., c. 5. (16) These provisions are repealed by the 54 Geo. III., c. 96; and see the 56 Geo. III., c. 67, for enabling soldiers, mariners, &c., to exercise trades.[CHITTY.] (17) All the acts relative to artificers leaving the kingdom are now repealed by the 5 Geo. IV., c. 97.-[CHITTY.] And by the 6 & 7 Vict., c. 84, all preexisting restrictions on the exportation of machinery are also removed. The recent statute, 6 & 7 Vict., c. 40, consolidating all the former acts in force for the prevention of frauds and abuses by persons employed in the woolen, worsted, linen, cotton, flax, mohair, and silk hosiery manufactures, contains pro visions making acts of embezzlement, or As to the offense of stealing silk, wool- 161 FOURTH. CHAPTER XIII. OF OFFENSES AGAINST THE PUBLIC HEALTH, AND THE PUBLIC THE fourth species of offenses more especially affecting the against pub- Commonwealth are such as are against the public health of the nation; a concern of the highest importance, and for the preservation of which there are in many countries special magistrates or curators appointed. lic health. I. Plague, &c. I. The first of these offenses is a felony; but, by the blessing quarantine, of Providence for more than a century past, incapable of being committed in this nation. For by statute 1 Jac. I., c. 31, it is enacted, that if any person infected with the plague, or dwelling in any infected house, be commanded by the mayor or constable, or other head officer of his town or vill, to keep his house, and shall venture to disobey it, he may be enforced, by the watchmen appointed on such melancholy occasions, to obey such necessary command; and if any hurt ensue by such enforcement, the watchmen are thereby indemnified. And further, if such person so commanded to confine himself goes. abroad, and converses in company, if he has no plague sore upon him, he shall be punished as a vagabond by whipping, and be bound to his good behavior; but if he has any infectious sore upon him, uncured, he then shall be guilty of felony. By the statute 26 Geo. II., c. 6 (explained and amended by 29 Geo. II., c. 8), the method of performing quarantine, or forty days' probation, by ships coming from infected countries, is put in a much more regular and effectual order than formerly, and masters of ships coming from infected places and disobeying the directions there given, or having the plague on board and con[162] cealing it, are guilty of felony without benefit of clergy. The same penalty also attends persons escaping from the lazarets, or places wherein quarantine is to be performed; and officers and watchmen neglecting their duty; and persons conveying goods or letters from ships performing quarantine.* (1) This statute, and all acts continuing it, are repealed by the 1 Vict., c. 91, s. 4. (2) By the 6 Geo IV., c. 78, all the prior statutes relative to the quarantine laws are repealed, and other provisions are made, similar in their nature to the former, but making the first-mentioned offense simply felony, and subjecting the others to heavy pecuniary penalties. See the prior statutes and decisions thereon, Burn, Just., tit. Plague; 2 Chit.. Crim. Law, 551; and 2 Chit., Commercial L., 62 to 87. It is a misdemeanor at common law to expose a person laboring under an infectious disorder, as the small-pox, in the 2. A second, but much inferior, species of offense against 2 Selling bad provi. public health is the selling of unwholesome provisions. To sions. prevent which, the statute 51 Hen. III., st. 6, and the ordinance for bakers, c. 7, prohibit the sale of corrupted wine, contagious or unwholesome flesh, or flesh that is bought of a Jew, under pain of amercement for the first offense, pillory for the second, fine and imprisonment for the third, and abjuration of the town for the fourth. And by the statute 12 Car. II., c. 25, § 11, any brewing or adulteration of wine is punished with the forfeiture of £100 if done by the wholesale merchant, and £40 if done by the vintner or retail trader. These are all the offenses which may properly be said to respect the public health. against pub V. The last species of offenses which especially affect the Offenses commonwealth are those against the public police and economy. lic police. By the public police and economy I mean the due regulation and domestic order of the kingdom, whereby the individuals of the state, like the members of a well-governed family, are bound to conform their general behavior to the rules of propriety, good neighborhood, and good manners; and to be decent, industrious, and inoffensive in their respective stations. This head of offenses must, therefore, be very miscellaneous, as it comprises all such crimes as especially affect public society, and are not comprehended under any of the four preceding species. These amount, some of them to felony, and others to misdemeanors only. Among the former are, tine mar 1. The offense of clandestine marriages; for, by the statute 261 ClandesGeo. II., c. 33, 1. To solemnize marriage in any other place be- riages. sides a church, or public chapel wherein bans have been usually published, except by license from the Archbishop of Canter- [163] bury; and, 2. To solemnize marriage in such church or chapel without due publication of bans, or license obtained from a proper authority-do both of them not only render the marriage void, but subject the person solemnizing it to felony, pun streets or other public places. 4 M. & 8., 73, 272. An indictment lies for lodging poor persons in an unhealthy place. Cald., 432.-CHITTY.] See the provisions of the stat. 3 & 4 Vict., c. 29, s. 8, against inoculation for the small-pox. dients, is innoxious, but in the execution (3) It is a misdemeanor at common law to give any person injurious food to eat, whether the offender be excited by male or a desire of gain; nor is it necessary he should be a public contractor, (4) And by the 1 Wm. & M., st. 1, or the injury done to the public service, c. 34, s. 20, any person selling wine, to render him criminally liable. 2 East, corrupting or adulterating it, or selling P. C., 822; 6 East, 133 to 141. If a it so adulterated, shall forfeit £300, half baker direct his servant to make bread to the king, and half to the informer, and containing a specific quantity of alum, shall be imprisoned three months.which, when mixed with the other ingre- [CHITTY.] 2. Bigamy. ished by transportation for fourteen years; as, by three former statutes, he and his assistants were subject to a pecuniary forfeiture of £100. 3. To make a false entry in a marriage register; to alter it when made; to forge or counterfeit such entry, or a marriage license; to cause or procure, or act or assist in such forgery; to utter the same as true, knowing it to be counterfeit; or to destroy or procure the destruction of any register, in order to vacate any marriage, or subject any person to the penalties of this act; all these offenses, knowingly and willfully committed, subject the party to the guilt of felony without benefit of clergy.** 2. Another felonious offense, with regard to this holy estate of matrimony, is what some have corruptly called bigamy, which properly signifies being twice married; but is more justly denominated polygamy, or having a plurality of wives at once. Such second marriage, living the former husband or a 6 & 7 Will. III., c. 6; 7 & 8 Will. III., c. 35; 10 Ann., c. 19, § 176. b 3 Inst., 88. Bigamy, according to the canonists, consisted in marrying two virgins successively, one after the death of the other, or once marrying a widow. Such were esteemed incapable of orders, &c.; and by a canon of the Council of Lyons, A.D. 1274, held under Pope Gregory X., were omni privilegio clericali nudati, et coercioni fori secularis addicti. (6 Decretal, 1, 12.) This canon was adopted and explained in England (5) This act was repealed by the 4 Geo. IV., c. 76; and now, by the stat. 6 & 7 Will. IV., c. 85 (which allows marriages to be solemnized in dissenting places of worship, certified according to law, and registered as therein directed, or before the superintendent registrar of the district, s. 18, 21), it is declared, by s. 39, to be felony (subject to transportation for seven years, or imprisonment not exceeding two years; see 7 & 8 Geo. IV., c. 28, s. 8) knowingly and willfully to solemnize any marriage, except by special license, in any other place than a church or chapel in which marriages may be solemnized, according to the rites of the Church of England, or than the registered building or office specified in the notice and certificate given according to that act (except as to marriages between Quakers and Jews), or knowingly to solemnize any marriage in any such registered building or office, in the absence of a registrar of the district; or to solemnize any marriage, except by license, within twenty-one days after the entry of the notice to the su by statute 4 Edw. I., st. 3, c. 5, and bigamy thereupon became no counter-plea to the claim of the benefit of clergy. (M. 40 Edw. III., 42; M. 11 Hen. IV., 11, 48; M. 13 Hen. IV., 6; Staundf., P. C., 134.) The cognizance of the plea of bigamy was declared by statute 18 Edw. III., st. 3, c. 2, to belong to the court Christian, like that of bastardy. But by stat. 1 Edw. VI., c. 12, § 16, bigamy was declared to be no longer an impediment to the claim of clergy. See Dal., 21; Dyer, 201. perintendent registrar, as required by the act; or, if the marriage is by license, within seven days of such entry, or after three calendar months after such entry. And by the 40th section, any su perintendent registrar unduly issuing a certificate for marriage is also declared guilty of felony. Prosecutions must be commenced within three years. Id., s. 41. By the 1 Will. IV., c. 66, s. 20, it is felony, punishable with transportation for life, or for any term not less than seven years, or with imprisonment for any term not exceeding four years nor less than two years, willfully to insert, or cause to be inserted, in any register of baptisms, marriages, or burials, any false entry of any matter relating to any baptism, marriage, or burial, or to forge or alter any such entry in a register, or knowingly to utter any forged writing as a copy of an entry in a register, or willfully to destroy, deface, or injure, or permit to be destroyed, &c., any register or part thereof, or to forge, or alter, or utter, knowing it to be forged or altered, any * See ante, vol. i., p. 441, n. . wife, is simply void, and a mere nullity, by the ecclesiastical law of England; and yet the legislature has thought it just to make it felony, by reason of its being so great a violation of the public economy and decency of a well-ordered state. For polygamy can never be endured under any rational civil establishment, whatever specious reasons may be urged for it by the eastern nations, the fallaciousness of which has been fully proved by many sensible writers; but in northern countries the [164] very nature of the climate seems to reclaim against it; it never having obtained in this part of the world, even from the time of our German ancestors, who, as Tacitus informs us,c "prope soli barbarorum singulis uxoribus contenti sunt." It is, therefore, punished by the laws both of ancient and modern Sweden with death. And with us, in England, it is enacted by statute 1 Jac. I., c. 11, that if any person, being married, do afterward marry again, the former husband or wife being alive, it is felony, but within the benefit of clergy. The first wife in this case shall not be admitted as a witness against her husband, because she is the true wife; but the second may, for she is. indeed no wife at all;e and so, vice versâ, of a second husband. This act makes an exception to five cases, in which second marriage, though in the three first it is void, is yet no felony.f 1. Where either party hath been continually abroad for seven years, whether the party in England hath notice of the other's being living or no. 2. Where either of the parties hath been absent from the other seven years within this kingdom, and the remaining party hath had no knowledge of the other's being alive within that time. 3. Where there is a divorce (or separation a mensa et thoro) by sentence in the ecclesiastical court. 4. Where the first marriage is declared absolutely void by any such sentence, and the parties loosed a vinculo. Or, 5. Where either of the parties was under the age of consent at the time of the first marriage; for in such cases the first marriage was voidable by the disagreement of either party, which the second marriage very clearly amounts to. But if, at the age of consent, the parties had agreed to the marriage, which completes the contract, and is, indeed, the real marriage, and afterward one of them should marry again, I should apprehend that such De Mor. Germ., 18. f 3 Inst., 89; Kel., 27; 1 Hal., P. C., Stiernh., De Jure Sueon., 1. 3, c. 2. 694. * 1 Hal., P. C., 693. license of marriage; but this is not to apply to corrections made by the minister himself, within a limited period, of errors in the register. Id., s. 21. Like provisions are made by the stats. 6 & 7 Will. IV., c. 86, s. 43, and 3 & 4 Vict., c. 92, s. 8, as to the falsification of the register books or certificates therein mentioned, except that, no specific punishment being enacted by either of these acts, the offense is subject only to the Independently of the statutes, these |