Book IV. fonment. For any forgery relating to a term of years, or annuity, bond, obligation, acquittance, release, or discharge of debt or demand of any personal chattels, the fame forfeiture is given to the party grieved; and on the offender is inflicted the pillory, lofs of one of his ears, and half a year's imprisonment: the fecond offence in both cafes being felony without benefit of clergy.

any

BESIDES this general act, a multitude of others, fince the revolution, (when paper credit was first established) have inflicted capital punishment on the forging or altering of bank bills or notes, or other fecurities; of bills of credit iffued from the exchequer"; of fouth fea bonds, &c; of lottery orders; of army or navy debentures; of Eaft India bonds; of writings under feal of the London, or royal exchange, affurance; of a letter of attor ney or other power to receive or transfer stock or annuities, or for the perfonating a proprietor thereof, to receive or transfer such annuities, stock, or dividends": to which may be added, though not strictly reducible to this head, the counterfeiting of mediterranean paffes, under the hands of the lords of the admiralty, to protect one from the piratical states of Barbary; the forging or imitating any stamps to defraud the ftamp office *; and the forging any marriage register or licence': all which are by distinct acts of parliament made felonies without benefit of clergy. And by ftatute 31 Geo. II. c. 32. forging or counterfeiting any stamp or mark to denote the standard of gold and filver plate, and certain other offences of the like tendency, are made felony, but not without benefit of clergy.

THERE are also two other general laws, with regard to forgery; the one 2 Geo. II. c. 35. whereby the first offence in forging or publishing any forged deed, will, writing obligatory, bill of exchange, promiffory note, indorsement or affignment thereof, or any acquittance or receipt for money or goods, with intention to defraud any person, is made felony without benefit of clergy. And by ftatute 7 Geo. II. c. 22. it is equally penal to forge or utter a counterfeit acceptance of a bill of exchange, or the number of any accountable receipt for any note, bill, or any other fecurity for money; or any warrant or order for the payment of money, or delivery of goods. So that, I believe, through the number of these general and special provifions, there is now hardly a cafe poffible to be conceived, wherein forgery, that tends to defraud, whether in the name of a real or fictitious perfon", is not made a capital crime.

THESE are the principal infringements of the rights of property; which were the laft fpecies of offences against individuals or private fubjects, which the method of our distribution has led us to confider. We have before examined the nature of all offences against the public, or commonwealth; against the king or fupreme magiftrate, the father and protector of that community; against the univerfal law of all civilized nations ; together with some of the more atrocious offences, of publicly pernicious consequence, against God and his holy religion. And thefe feveral heads comprehend the whole circle of crimes and mifdemefnors, with the punishment annexed to each, that are cognizable by the laws of England..

Foft. 116, &c. .

CHAPTER

THE EIGHTEENTH.

OF THE MEANS OF PREVENTING OFFENCES.

E are now arrived at the fifth general branch or head, under which I proposed to confider the subject of this book of our commentaries; viz. the means of preventing the commiffion of crimes and mifdemefnors. And really it is an honour, and almost a fingular one, to our English laws, that they furnish a title of this fort: fince preventive justice is upon every principle, of reason, of humanity, and of found policy, preferable in all refpects to punishing justice; the execution of which, though neceffary, and in it's confequences a fpecies of mercy to the commonwealth, is always attended with many harsh and disagreeable circumstances.

THIS preventive justice confifts in obliging those perfons, whom there is probable ground to fufpect of future misbehaviour, to ftipulate with and to give full affurance to the public, that fuch offence as is apprehended fhall not happen; by finding pledges or fecurities for keeping the peace, or for their good behaviour. This requifition of fureties has been several times mentioned before, as part of the penalty inflicted upon fuch as have been guilty of certain grofs misdemefnors: but there also it must be understood rather as a caution against the repetition of the offence, than any immediate pain or punishment. And

a Beccar. ch, 41.

indeed,

indeed, if we confider all human punishments in a large and extended view, we shall find them all rather calculated to prevent future crimes, than to expiate the paft: fince, as was observed in a former chapter, all punishments inflicted by temporal laws may be claffed under three heads; fuch as tend to the amendment of the offender himself, or to deprive him of any power to do future mischief, or to deter others by his example: all of which conduce to one and the fame end, of preventing future crimes, whether that be effected by amendment, disability, or example. But the caution, which we speak of at prefent, is such as is intended merely for prevention, without any crime actually committed by the party, but arifing only from a probable suspicion, that some crime is intended or likely to happen; and confequently it is not meant as any degree of punishment, unless perhaps for a man's imprudence in giving just ground of apprehenfion.

By the Saxon constitution these fureties were always at hand, by means of king Alfred's wife inftitution of decennaries or frankpledges; wherein, as has more than once been observed", the whole neighbourhood or tithing of freemen were mutually pledges for each others good behaviour. But, this great and general security being now fallen into disuse and neglected, there hath fucceeded to it the method of making suspected perfons find particular and special securities for their future conduct of which we find mention in the laws of king Edward the confefford; "tradat fidejuffores de pace et legalitate tuenda." Let us therefore confider, firft, what this fecurity is; next, who may take or demand it; and, lastly, how it may be discharged.

1. THIS fecurity confifts in being bound, with one or more fureties, in a recognizance or obligation to the king, entered on record, and taken in fome court or by fome judicial officer; whereby the parties acknowlege themselves to be indebted to the crown in the fum required; (for inftance 100 %.) with condition

fhall appear in court

to be void and of none effect, if the party fhall on fuch a day, and in the mean time fhall keep the peace: either. generally, towards the king, and all his liege people; or particularly also, with regard to the person who craves the fecurity.. Or, if it be for the good behaviour, then on condition that he shall demean and behave himself well, (or be of good behaviour) either generally or specially, for the time therein limited, as for one or more years, or for life. This recognizance, if taken by a justice of the peace, must be certified to the next feffions, in pursuance of the statute 3 Hen. VII. c. i. and if the condition of fuch recognizance be broken, by any breach of the peace in the one cafe, or any misbehaviour in the other, the recognizance becomes forfeited or abfolute; and, being eftreated or extracted (taken out from among the other records) and fent up to the exchequer, the party and his fureties, having now become the king's abfolute debtors, are fued for the feveral fums in which they are respectively bound.

2. ANY juftices of the peace, by virtue of their commiffion, or those who are ex officio confervators of the peace, as was mentioned in a former volume, may demand such security according to their own difcretion: or it may be granted at the request of any fubject, upon due caufe fhewn, provided fuch demandant be under the king's protection; for which reason it hath been formerly doubted, whether Jews, Pagans, or perfons convicted of a praemunire, were intitled thereto f. Or, if the juftice is averfe to act, it may be granted by a mandatory writ, called a fupplicavit, iffuing out; of the court of king's bench or chancery; which will compel the juftice to act, as a minifterial and not as a judicial officer: and he must make a return to fuch writ, specifying his compliance, under his hand and feal. But this writ is feldom ufed: for, when application is made to the superior courts, they usually take the recognizances there, under the directions of the ftatute 21 Jac. I. c. 8. And indeed a peer or

• See Vol. I. pag. 350.

f

1 Hawk. P. C. 126.

g F. N. B. So. 2 P. Wms. 202.

peerefs