usually denominated" County Justices." They do not extend to persons acting for smaller jurisdictions and liberties, or to certain persons whose qualifications for the magistracy may be inferred from the rank which they possess, or from the offices which they fill. Thus, they do not extend to any city, town, cinque-port, or liberty, having justices of peace within their limits (a); nor to any boroughs within the new municipal corporations act (b); nor to any peer or lord of parliament, or to the lords of the privy council, justices of either bench, barons of the exchequer, attorney or solicitor-general, the justices of the great sessions of Chester and Wales, or to the eldest son, or heir apparent of any peer or lord of parliament, or of any person qualified to serve as a knight of a shire (c); nor to the officers of the board of greencloth, or the commissioners and principal officers of the navy, or the two under secretaries of state, or the secretary of Chelsea College, where they usually have been justices (d); nor to the heads of colleges, or halls, or the vice-chancellors, or to the mayors of Oxford and Cambridge, who may respectively be justices in the counties of Oxford, Berks, and Cambridge, and the cities and towns within them (e); nor to magistrates of the police courts, or offices established in Middlesex, Westminster, and Surrey, whether appointed before or after 24th August, 1839 (f).

"Dedimus Potestatem" in order to take Oath of Office.]-Any person named in the commission, who intends to act as a justice, must sue out a writ from the court of chancery, called, from the first words of it, a writ of Dedimus potestatem, to enable him to take "the oath of office," before some other acting justice or justices, to be certified into the court from which it issues, within a time specified by the clerk of the peace. The form of this oath is as follows:

Ye shall swear that as justice of the peace in the county of in all articles in the queen's commission to you directed, you shall do equal right to the poor and to the rich, after your cunning, wit and power, and after the laws and customs of the realm, and statutes thereof made: And ye shall not be of counsel of any quarrel hanging before you: And that ye hold your sessions after the form of the statutes thereof made: And the issues, fines, and amerciaments that shall happen to be made, and all forfeitures that shall fall before you, ye shall cause to be entered without any concealment (or embezzling) and truly send them to the Queen's exchequer. Ye shall not let for gift or other cause, but well and truly ye shall do your office of justice of the peace in that behalf: And that you take nothing for your office of justice of the peace to be done, but of the Queen, and fees accustomed, and costs

(a) 18 G. II. c. 20, s. 12; and see 5 & 6 W. IV. c. 76, s. 101. 104.

(b) 5 & 6 W. IV. c. 76, s. 101. 103. 18 G. II. c. 20, s. 13.

(d) Id. s. 14.
(e) Id. s. 15.

(f) 2 & 3 V. c. 71, s. 3, passed 24th August, 1839.

limited by the statute. And ye shall not direct, nor cause to be directed, any warrant (by you to be made) to the parties, but you shall direct them to the bailiff of the said county, or other the Queen's officers or ministers, or other indifferent persons, to do execution thereof. So help you God.

Oaths of Allegiance, &c.]—It was until lately further required of "every justice that he shall, within six calendar months, take the oaths of allegiance, and supremacy, and abjuration, and make and subscribe a declaration against transubstantiation in one of the courts of Westminster, or at the general or quarter session of the peace for the county where he shall be or reside, as other persons qualifying for offices (g). But by 10 G. IV. c. 7, passed for the relief of Roman catholic subjects, the declaration against transubstantiation was wholly abolished; all persons, whatever their religious profession, being discharged from the burden of making it. And by the same act, persons professing the Roman catholic religion are permitted to enjoy all civil and military offices (with some few exceptions) on taking the oath prescribed by that statute, instead of the oaths of supremacy, allegiance, and abjuration. The following are the forms of the several oaths, of which the three first are to be taken by justices professing the Protestant faith, and the last to be taken, instead of them, by Roman catholic magistrates :

The Oath of Allegiance, pursuant to 1 G. I. st. 2, c. 13.

I, A. B. do sincerely promise and swear, that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to her Majesty, Queen Victoria. So help me God.

The Oath of Supremacy, pursuant to 1 G. I. st. 2, c. 13.

I, A. B. do swear, that I do from my heart abhor, detest, and abjure, as impious and heretical, that damnable doctrine and position, that princes excommunicated, or deprived by the authority of the see of Rome, may be deposed or murdered by their subjects, or any other whatsoever. And I do declare that no foreign prince, person, prelate, state, or potentate, hath, or ought to have, any jurisdiction, power, superiority, pre-eminence, or authority, ecclesiastical or spiritual, within this realm. So help me God.

The Oath of Abjuration, pursuant to 6 G. III. c. 53.

I, A. B. do truly and sincerely acknowledge, profess, testify, and declare, in my

(g) 25 Car. II. c. 2; 1 G. I. st. 2, c.13; 2 G. II. c. 31; 9 G. II. c. 26; 6 G. III. c. 53.

The oath of Allegiance is common to all governments, and varies but little in any of them, being merely an obligation to defend the existing state. In England, anciently, every male above twelve years of age was obliged to take this oath in the torn or leet, and it was a high con

tempt to refuse it. The oath of Supremacy was consequent on the abolition of the papal authority at the reformation. The oath of Abjuration was imposed at the Revolution, in order to exclude the Stuart family from pretending to the throne. It has received several alterations, (Stra. 1114,) but stands fixed as above by 6 G. III. c. 53.

conscience before God and the world, that our Sovereign Lady, Queen Victoria, is lawful and rightful Queen of this realm, and all other her Majesty's dominions, thereto belonging. And I do solemnly and sincerely declare, that I do believe in my conscience, that not any of the descendants of the person who pretended to be Prince of Wales, during the life of the late King James the Second, and since his decease pretended to be, and took upon himself the style and title of, King of England, by the name of James the Third, or of Scotland, by the name of James the Eighth, or the style and title of King of Great Britain, hath any right or title whatsoever to the crown of this realm, or any other the dominions thereunto belonging. And I do renounce, refuse, and abjure any allegiance or obedience to any of them. And I do swear that I will bear faith and true allegiance to her Majesty, Queen Victoria, and her will defend to the utmost of my power against all traitorous conspiracies and attempts whatsoever, which shall be made against her person, crown, or dignity. And I will do my utmost endeavours to disclose and make known to her Majesty and her successors, all treasons and traitorous conspiracies which I shall know to be against her, or any of them.

And I do faithfully promise, to the utmost of my power, to support, maintain, and defend, the succession of the crown against the descendants of the said James, and against all other persons whatsoever, which succession, by an act entitled, “An act for the further limitation of the crown, and better securing the rights and liberties of the subject," is, and stands limited, to the Princess Sophia, Electress and Duchess Dowager of Hanover, and the heirs of her body being protestants. And all things I do plainly and sincerely acknowledge and swear, according to the express words by me spoken, and according to the plain and common sense and understanding of the same words, without any equivocation, mental evasion, or secret reservation whatever.

Roman Catholic Magistrates' Oath.]-The oath to be taken by Roman catholic magistrates according to 10 G. IV. c. 7, is as follows:

I, A. B. do sincerely promise and swear, that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to her Majesty, Queen Victoria, and will defend her to the utmost of my power against all conspiracies and attempts whatever, which shall be made against her person, crown, or dignity; and I will do my utmost endeavour to disclose and make known to her Majesty, her heirs, and successors, all treasons and traitorous conspiracies which may be formed against her or them; and I do faithfully promise to maintain, support, and defend, to the utmost of my power, the succession of the crown, which succession, by an act intituled "An act for the further limitation of the crown, and better securing the rights and liberties of the subject," is and stands limited to the Princess Sophia, Electress of Hanover, and the heirs of her body, being protestants; hereby utterly renouncing and abjuring any obedience or allegiance unto any other person claiming or pretending a right to the crown of this realm: And I do further declare that it is not an article of my faith, and that I do renounce, reject, and abjure the opinion, that princes excommunicated or deprived by the pope, or any other authority of the see of Rome, may be deposed or murdered by their subjects, or by any person whatsoever; and I do declare that I do not believe that the pope of Rome, or any other foreign prince, prelate, person, state, or potentate, hath or ought to have any temporal or civil jurisdiction, power, superiority, or pre-emi

:

nence, directly or indirectly, within this realm. I do swear, that I will defend to the utmost of my power the settlement of property within this realm as established by the laws and I do hereby disclaim, disavow, and solemnly abjure any intention to subvert the present Church Establishment as settled by law within this realm: And I do solemnly swear that I never will exercise any privilege to which I am or may become entitled, to disturb or weaken the protestant religion or protestant government in the United Kingdom: And I do solemnly, in the presence of God, profess, testify, and declare, that I do make this declaration, and every part thereof, in the plain and ordinary sense of the words of this oath, without any evasion, equivocation, or mental reservation whatsoever. So help me God.

It is not necessary for justices to take these oaths more than once in a reign (h); but when their commission is renewed upon the accession of a new sovereign, they must renew their obligations.

Declaration in lieu of Sacramental Test.]-In addition to the oaths above prescribed, justices were required, within six months after admittance to office, to receive the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, according to the usage of the Church of England, in some public church, upon some Lord's day, immediately after divine service and sermon; and to produce, on taking the oaths, a certificate, under the hands of the minister and churchwardens, that they had, in such manner and form, received the sacrament, besides proving the same fact on the oath of two witnesses. But so much of all former acts as imposed the necessity of receiving the sacrament as a qualification for offices, was repealed in 1829 (i); and instead of producing such certificate and proof, the justice, within six months after his admission to office, is required to make and subscribe the following declaration:

I, A. B. do solemnly and sincerely, in the presence of God, profess, testify, and declare, on the true faith of a Christian (ii), that I will never exercise any power, authority, or influence, which I may possess by virtue of the office of justice of the peace, to injure or weaken the Protestant church, as it is by law established in England, or to disturb the said church, or the bishops and clergy of the said church, in the possession of any rights or privileges to which such church, or the said bishops or clergy, are or may be entitled.

This declaration may be made and subscribed in the court of queen's bench, or at the quarter sessions for the county where the magistrate resides; and is to be preserved among the records of the court in which it is made (j). The omission to subscribe it does not

(h) 7 G. III. c. 9.

(i) 9 G. IV. c. 17. See 1 V. c. 5, and Ch. XV. Also Humphrey v. The Queen, 2 P. & D. 691, case of a Jew.

(ii) By 10 G. I. c. 10, s. 18, these

words were omitted from the abjuration oath for the Jews. Strange, 1114, R. v.

Bosworth.

(j) 9 G. IV. c. 17, s. 6.

subject the party acting as a magistrate to any penalty; it only renders his appointment void (k). While he continues to appear in the execution of the office, his acts are not void or voidable as to the rights of any party not privy to the omission, and can subject no such party to any indictment or action (1). And in the general construction of the act 18 G. II. c. 20, relating to the qualification of justices, and containing no such express proviso as above, it has been holden, that the acts of justices, who may have omitted any of the forms of their inauguration which the law requires, but who have been commissioned, and are acting as justices, are not, therefore, invalid, although the justices may be liable either to indictment, or to penalties for the omission (m).

Persons disqualified from acting as Justices.]-Certain persons are disqualified by their office or profession from acting as justices in counties not corporate, and in liberties. Thus the sheriff cannot act as a justice during the continuance of his shrievalty (n). Nor, according to the better opinions, can the coroner, although there is no statute to forbid him, on the principle that no one ought to be a judge in a court of which he is an officer (o). Nor can any attorney, solicitor, or proctor, be a justice of the peace for any county, while he practises (p); but this restriction does not apply to cities and towns being counties of themselves (q), nor to justices by charter in places not being boroughs named in the new municipal corporation act (r).

How Justices discharged.]—A justice may be discharged from the commission by writ under the great seal. At common law, the demise or abdication of the crown determined the authority of all the justices named in the then existing commission; but, by special enactments, they are enabled to act for six months after, unless prohibited by the successor (s), which is done by a new commission; for every new commission supersedes the old (t). Formerly it was thought that if a man named in any commission of the peace received new dignity conferred by the crown, his office of justice was determined, as he no longer answered to the description given in the commission (u); but it was long ago enacted that "although any justice of the peace be

(*) 9 G. IV. c. 17, s. 5. (1) Sect. 9.

(m) The Margate Pier Company v. Hannam, 3 B. & Ald. 266.

(n) 1 Mar. Sess. 2, c. 18, s. 2.

(0) Dalt. c. 3.

p) 5 G. II. c. 18, s. 2.
(q) Id. s. 3.

(r) 5 & 6 W. IV. c. 76, s. 107.
(s) 1 A. st. 1, c. 8.

(t) 1 Bla. Com. 353.

(u) Id. ibid.