yeoman is he that hath free land of forty shillings by the year; who was anciently thereby qualified to serve on juries, vote for knights of the shire, and do acts where the law required a probus et legalis homo. And the rest of the commonalty are in law tradesmen, artificers, and labourers.

II. The military state includes the whole of the soldiery, or such persons as are peculiarly appointed for the defence of the realm.

It seems agreed that King Alfred first settled a national militia in this kingdom, and made all the subjects of his dominion soldiers; but we are left in the dark as to the particulars of this his so-celebrated regulation. Upon the Norman Conquest the feudal law was introduced, and all the lands in the kingdom were divided into knights' fees, in number above sixty thousand; and for every knight's fee a knight or soldier, miles, was to attend the king for forty days in a year; in which space of time, before war was reduced to a science, the campaign was generally finished. This personal service in time degenerated into pecuniary commutations or aids, and at last all military tenures were abolished at the Restoration.

In the meantime the assize of arms, 27 Hen. II., and afterwards the statute of Winchester, under Edward I., obliged every man, according to his degree, to provide a determinate quantity of such arms as were then in use, in order to keep the peace. The weapons were changed by 4 & 5 Ph. & M. c. 2, into others of more modern service; before which, however, in the reign of Henry VIII., lieutenants had been introduced, as standing representatives of the crown, to keep the counties in military order.

Thus things stood till the repeal of the statutes of armour, under James I.; after which, when Charles I. issued commissions of lieutenancy, it became a question in the Long Parliament how far the power of the militia did inherently reside in the crown. This question became the cause of the rupture between the king and parliament, the two houses not only denying this prerogative of the crown, but also seizing into their own hands the entire power of the militia. Soon after the Restoration, however, when the military tenures were abolished, the right of the crown was recognised; and the order by which the militia

now stands is principally built upon the statutes which were then passed. The general scheme is to discipline a certain number of the inhabitants of every county, chosen if necessary by ballot; but as the militia force has generally been sufficiently supplied with volunteers, the ballot is annually suspended by parliament. The militia are not compellable to march out of their counties, unless in case of invasion or actual rebellion within the realm, nor in any case compellable to march out of the kingdom. They are to be exercised at stated times: and when in actual service, are subject to the Mutiny Act and articles of war.

When the nation was engaged in war, more veteran troops and more regular discipline were esteemed necessary. And therefore for raising armies, more rigorous methods were put in use; but these are to be looked upon only as temporary excrescences bred out of the distemper of the state, and not as any part of the permanent laws. For martial law, which is entirely arbitrary in its decisions, is in truth no law, but something indulged rather than allowed as a law. The necessity of discipline in an army is the only thing which gives it countenance; and therefore it ought not to be permitted in time of peace, when the courts are open for all persons to receive justice according to law.

It has, however, for many years been judged necessary by the legislature to maintain a standing body of troops, under the command of the crown; who are ipso facto disbanded at the expiration of every year, unless continued by parliament; and to keep this body of troops in order, an annual act passes, which commences with the important recital, "that the raising or

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keeping a standing army in time of peace, unless it be with "the consent of parliament, is against law;" but that it is adjudged necessary that a body of forces should be continued for the safety of the kingdom and the defence of the possessions of the crown. This statute confers power on the crown to make "articles of war for the better government of the forces;" with the limitation that no person shall by such articles be subject to suffer any punishment extending to life or limb, or be kept in penal servitude, except for crimes which are expressly made punishable in this way, by the statute itself. It authorizes the calling together of courts martial; prescribes their procedure;

specifices the offences of which they may take cognizance, and the punishments they may inflict; and makes minute regulations as to the enlistment of recruits, the billeting of troops and the supply of carriages, the enactments of the Petition of Right being suspended in that respect.

Besides the militia and regular army, numerous corps of yeomanry and volunteers were organized during the war with France; several of which still muster for drill. But they are few in number when compared with the rifle and artillery volunteers, which have sprung into existence of late years, and whose organization is also regulated by recent statutes.

From both the militia and the army there are reserve forces.

III. The maritime state is nearly related to the former. The navy has ever been the greatest defence and ornament of the realm; it is its ancient and natural strength; the floating bulwark of the island; an army, from which no danger can be apprehended to liberty and accordingly it has been assiduously cultivated, even from the earliest ages.

The power of impressment by royal commission was long a matter of dispute, and was submitted to only with great reluctance; but it is part of the common law, and its legality cannot be doubted. The voluntary enlistment of seamen is now, however, so effectually encouraged, that the navy is manned without any recourse to the revolting system of kidnapping which was formerly resorted to. There is also a reserve volunteer and artillery force open to seafaring people.

The discipline of the fleet is directed by orders first enacted by parliament soon after the Restoration, and revised a few years ago. In these articles of the navy almost every offence is set down, and the punishment annexed: in which respect the seamen have the advantage over their brethren in the land service; whose articles of war are not enacted by parliament, but framed from time to time at the pleasure of the crown.

The marine forces are subject to the discipline of the navy while on board ship; but are regulated, while on shore, by an annual Marine Mutiny Act, containing a similar recital, and corresponding provisions to those contained in the annual act applicable to the army.

CHAPTER XIII.

OF THE PEOPLE IN THEIR PRIVATE RELATIONS.

I HAVE now to consider the rights and duties of the people in their private relations; which are

1. That of master and servant; 2. That of husband and wife; and 3. That of parent and child. But since parents may be snatched away before they have completed their duty to their children, the law has provided a fourth relation, 4. That of guardian and ward.

I. Of master and servant. Slavery cannot subsist in England. A slave, the instant he lands in England, or puts his foot on the deck of a British man-of-war, becomes a freeman; that is, the law protects his person and his property. But the law also recognises that contract whereby one freeman surrenders to another for a certain time his natural right of free action, by becoming his servant.

1. The first sort of servants are menial servants; so called from being intra mania, or domestics. The contract between them and their masters, if the hiring be general, is for a year. But the contract may be made for any larger or smaller term; and is by custom determinable by a month's notice, or what is an equivalent in the case of the servant, a month's wages.

Another species of servants are apprentices, from apprendre to learn, who are usually bound for a term of years, to serve their masters, and be maintained and instructed by them. This is usually done to persons in trade; and disputes between them may, in certain cases, be settled by the justices.

A third species are workmen, labourers, handicraftsmen, &c., &c., who are hired by the day or the week, and do not live intra mania, concerning whom many statutes have been passed, on principles of legislation which have long been abandoned. The County

Court and the Justices now exercise a summary jurisdiction in enforcing performance of contracts of service.

The labour of children in factories is regulated by statute; the employment of women and girls in mines is prohibited; and that of children in agriculture under eight prohibited, and above that age made conditional, on their having previously received a certain amount of education.

A servant may be dismissed without notice for a reasonable cause, as, in the case of domestics, moral misconduct, and in all cases, wilful disobedience to a lawful order, or neglect of duty. He is not then entitled to any wages from the day he is discharged, except those then due; but if wrongfully discharged, he is entitled to wages up to the end of the current period of his service. If, again, a servant who is paid quarterly, or yearly, or at any other fixed time, improperly leave his service, or is guilty of such misconduct as to justify his dismissal during the currency of the period, he is not entitled to wages for any part thereof, even to the day he quits.

Merchant seamen must be classed as a distinct species of servants, their contracts and conduct being in a great measure regulated by the acts of parliament relating to merchant shipping.

There is yet a fifth species of servants, if they may be so called, being rather in a superior, a ministerial, capacity; such as stewards, factors and bailiffs: whom however the law considers as servants, pro tempore, with regard to such of their acts as affect their master's or employer's property.

By service, all servants become entitled to wages; which must be paid in money, payment in goods or otherwise than in current coin being prohibited by the Truck Act. And the law, in some respects, places this right to wages very high. Thus in the payment of the debts of a testator or intestate they rank before specialty debts; and in a bankruptcy the wages of the clerks or servants, labourers or workmen of the bankrupt, may, up to a certain amount, be paid in full. It remains but to notice one important incident to the relationship of master and servant, viz., that the latter cannot in general recover damages from his