INTRODUCTION.

THERE seems to be some diversity of opinion as to when Justices of Peace were first appointed. Polidore Virgil says that they had their beginning in the reign of William the Conqueror: Sir Edward Coke was of opinion that it was not until the sixth year of Edward 1st: Mr. Prynne affirms, that in the reign of Henry 3d, after the agreement between that king and his barons, Guardians ad Pacem Conservandam were constituted: and Sir Henry Spelman differs from ail, being of opinion, that there were no Justices until the beginning of the reign of Edward 3d. Tom. 322. To this latter opinion, Lambard, Dalton, Nelson, Bacon and Burns, incline. Yet before the time of Edward 3d, and long before the conquest, at common law there were certain Conservators of the Peace, which were of two sorts; first, those who, in respect of their offices, had power to keep the peace, but were not called by the name of Conservators of the Peace, but by the name of such offices; second, those who were constituted for this purpose only, and were called Conservators or Wardens of the Peace. Of the first sort were, the Lord Chancellor, etc., the Justices of the King's Bench, the Master of the Rolls, Justices of Gaol-Delivery, the Sheriff, Coroner, also every high and petty Constable, and to these latter offices the duty of keeping the peace is still incident. Lam. book 1st, c. 3. The second class, or Conservators of the Peace, simply so called, were either ordinary or extraordinary. The ordinary were either by tenure, to wit, such as held their lands by this service; or by prescription, viz., such as claimed such power by immemorial usage in themselves and their ancestors, or those whose estate they had; or, by election, viz., such as were chosen by the freeholders of a county in pursuance of the king's writ for this purpose; but the power of those Conservators of the Peace seems to have been no greater than that of the Constables of this day. Lam. book 1, cap. 3. The extraordinary, as he was endowed with high power, so he was appointed in times of great trouble only; and he had charge to defend

the coast and country from foreign and inward enemies, and might command the sheriff and all the shire to assist him; as appears by a patent remaining of record in the tower, made in An. 49, H. 3d, in the name of that king, by Simon, Earl of Leicester, whose prisoner he then was. Lam. book 1, c. 3.

Such were the Conservators of the Peace, until the time of Edward 3d, in whose reign Justices of the Peace were first appointed, and their power greatly enlarged. Of the occasion in which the first change was made, Lambard gives the following account, viz.: “After such time as Queen Isabel, contending with her husband, King Edward the second, was returned over the seas into England, accompanied with her son prince Edward, afterwards Edward 3d, and with Sir Roger Mortimer, and such others of the English nobilitie, as had for the indignation of the King fled over the seas unto her: she soon after got into her hands the person of the old king, partly by the assistance of the Henalders that she brought with her, and partly by the aid of such other of her friends as she found ready here, and she immediately compelled him by force to surrender his crown to the young prince. And then forasmuch as it was, not without cause, feared that some attempt would be made to rescue the imprisoned king; order was taken that he should be conveyed securely and by night watches from house to house and from castle to castle, to the end that his favourers should be ignorant what was become of him. Yea and then withal it was ordained by Parliament in the life-time of the deposed king and in the very first entry of his son's reign, (1 E. 13, c. 15,) that in every shire of the realm, good men and lawful, which were no maintainers of evil nor barretors in the country, should be assigned to keep the peace; which was as much as to say, that in every shire, the king himself should place special eyes and watches over the common people, that should be both willing and wise to foresee, and be enabled with meet authority to repress all intentions of uproar and force, even in the first seed thereof; so that for this cause, the election of the simple Conservators of the Peace was first taken from the people and transferred to the assignment of the king." Lam. book 1,

c. 4.

Whether a forced construction was put upon the above recited statute, or whether the commissions, issued by the king, according to its authority, extended the authority of the Wardens of the Peace, doth not appear, but Lambard records that soon after, viz: In the third year of Edward 3., an indictment for murder was found before one Warden of the Peace. And the Statute 4, Edward 3., c. 2, recog

nizes the authority of the said Wardens to indict, and takes order that persons indicted before them should not be bailed by the Sheriff or other Ministers, unless bailable by law. Ibid. Nor was their authority in this respect, long left in doubt, but rather greatly extended, by the Statutes, 18 Edw. 3, c. 2, and 34 Edw 3, c. 1. By the former of which, it is enacted, that two or three of the best reputation in the counties should be assigned keepers of the peace by the king's commission, and at what time need shall be, the same with other wise and learned in the law, shall be assigned by the king's commission to hear and determine felonies and trespasses done in the said counties, and to inflict punishment reasonably, according to the law and reason and the manner of the deed.

By the latter Statute, it is enacted, that in every county in England, shall be assigned for the keeping of the peace, one lord, and with him three or four of the most worthy in the county, with some learned in the law, and they shall have power to restrain offenders, rioters, and all other barretors, and to pursue, arrest, take and chastise them, according to their trespass or offence, and to cause them to be imprisoned and duly punished according to the law and customs of the realm, and according to that which to them shall seem best to do by their discretion and good advisement, and also to inform them and to inquire of all those that have been pillars and robbers beyond the sea; and be now come again and go wandering, and will not labor as they were wont in times past, and to take and arrest all those that they may find by indictment or by suspicion, and put them in prison, and to take of all them that be not of good fame where they shall be found, sufficient surety and mainprize of their good behavior towards the king and his people, and the other duly to punish, to the intent that the people be not by such rioters or rebels troubled or endamaged, nor the peace blemished, nor merchants nor others passing by the highway of the realms, disturbed or put in the peril, which may happen of such offenders, and also to hear at the king's suit all manner of felonies and trespasses done in the same county, according to the laws and custom aforesaid.

The king's commissions, issued by authority of the above recited Statutes, created two orders of Justices. The first having authority to keep the peace, and to enforce and punish offences against the Statutes, made for the quiet and good government of the realm; also, to act with the others in trying and punishing the higher offences mentioned in the Statutes, and were called simply Justices of the Peace. 2 Haw. P. C., 50.

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The second was of those described in the said Statutes, as persons learned in the law," and had the same authority and duties as the first, with the additional proviso, that the presence of one of this number was always necessary to the trial and punishment of all offences other than mere breaches of the peace. They were called Justices of the Quorum, from that word being first in the clause, of the commission, which assigned to them special duties. Ibid, and Lam. 48.

By the same commission, the Justices Court of Sessions was first instituted, for it commanded the said justices to make inquiries touching the said premises, and to hear and determine the same at certain days and places as might be appointed by them, or any two or more of them, to which days and places the Sheriff was commanded to return before them so many lawful men of his bailewick, by whom the truth of the premises might be made known and inquired. 2 Haw. 51. Afterwards, by Statute 2 Hen. 5, c. 4, they were required to hold their sessions four times in the year, at certain periods fixed by said Statutes, and hence their sittings were called quarter sessions. book 4; c. 19.

Lam.

The form of the commission was frequently changed in the reign of Edward 3, and of almost every succeeding Prince, till the 30th Eliz., when by the number of Statutes, particularly given in charge therein to the justices, many of which had been repealed, and much error and corruption having crept into it, partly by the error of clerks, and partly by the untoward huddling of things together, it was become so blemished and defective, that it required much to be adjusted.

These imperfections being known to Sir Christopher Wrey, then Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench, he had a conference with the other judges and barons, and the commission was carefully refined in Michaelmas term, 1590, and being there presented to the Lord Chancellor, it obtained his approbation, and he commanded it to be used, and is as follows: Lam. c. 9.

To A. B. C. D., &c., greeting.

"Know ye that we have assigned you, jointly and severally, and every one of you our justices, to keep our peace in our county of S. And to keep and cause to be kept all ordinances and statutes for the good of the peace, and for preservation of the same, and for the quiet rule and government of our people made, in all and singular their articles in our said county (as well within liberties as without) according to the force, form, and effect of the same; and to chastise and punish all persons that offend against the form of those ordinances or statutes, or any one of them, in the aforesaid county, as it ought to be done according to the form of those ordinances and statutes; and to cause

to come before you, or any of you, all those who to any one or more of our people concerning their bodies or the firing of their houses, have used threats, to find sufficient security for the peace, or their good behaviour, towards us and our people; and if they shall refuse to find such security, then them in our prisons, until they shall find such security, to cause to be safely kept.

"We have also assigned you, and every two or more of you (of whom any one of you the aforesaid A. B. C. D., &c., we will shall be one) our justices to inquire the truth more fully, by the oath of good and lawful men of the aforesaid county, by whom the truth of the matter shall be the better known, of all and all manner of felonies, poisonings, enchantments, sorceries, arts, magic, trespasses, forestall. ings, regratings, ingrossings, and extortions whatsoever; and of all and singular other crimes and offences, of which the justices of our peace may or ought lawfully to inquire, by whomsoever and after what manner soever, in the said county done or perpetrated, or which shall happen to be there done or attempted; and also of al! those who in the aforesaid county in companies against our peace, in disturbance of our people, with armed force have gone or rode, or hereafter shall presume to go or ride; and also of all those who have there lain in wait, or hereafter shall presume to lie in wait, to maim or cut or kill our people; and also of all victuallers, and all and singular other persons, who in the abuse of weights or measures, or in selling victuals, against the form of the ordinances and statutes, or any one of them the efore made, for the common benefit of England, and our people thereof, have offended or attempted, or hereafter shall presume in the said county to offend or attempt; and also of all sheriffs, bailiffs, stewards, constables, keepers of gaols, or other officers; who in the execution of their offices about the premises, or any of them, have unduly behaved themselves, or hereafter shall presume to behave themselves unduly, or have been, or shall happen hereafter to be careless, remiss, or neg. ligent in our aforesaid county; and of all and singular articles and circumstances, and all other things whatsoever, that concern the premises, or any of them, by whomsoever, and after what manner. soever, in our aforesaid county done or perpetrated, or which hereafter shall there happen to be done or attempted in what manner soever; and to inspect all indictments whatsoever so before you or any of you taken or to be taken, or before others late our justices of the peace in the aforesaid county made or taken, and not yet determined; and to make and continue processes thereupon, against all and singular the persons so indicted, or who before you hereafter shall happen to be indicted; until they can be taken, surrender themselves, or be outlawed and to hear and determine all and singular the felonies, poisonings, inchantments, sorceries, arts, magic, trespasses, forestallings, regratings, ingrossings, extortions, unlawful assemblies, indictments aforesaid, and all and singular other the premises, according to the laws and statutes of England, as in the like case it has been accustomed, or ought to be done; and the same offenders, and every of them for their offences, by fines, ransoms, amerciaments, forfei tures, and other means as according to the law and custom of England,