being married to John of Gaunt, the King's son, the franchise was greatly enlarged and confirmed in Parliament, to honour John of Gaunt himself, whom, on the death of his father-in-law, the King had also created Duke of Lancaster.

The distribution into counties or shires is at present materially connected with the administration of justice; for trials both civil and criminal are periodically heard before the justices of the assizes which are held in each county twice a year, or oftener if necessary. In the Parliamentary representation of the people, each county sends county members, called knights of the shire; and where the county is divided, each portion forms a separate county, and each sends its separate representative. Each county is subject to a particular rate for the relief of the poor and purposes connected with prisons and criminal offenders.*

Counties Palatine are so called a palatio; because the owners thereof, the Earl of Chester, the Bishop of Durham, and the Duke of Lancaster, had in those counties jura regalia, as fully as the King had in his palace. They appointed all judges and justices of the peace, and might pardon all treasons, felonies, and even murders. The proceedings and practice of the Courts of Durham and of Lancaster are now in general assimilated to those of the Courts of Westminster.

The Isle of Ely is not a county palatine, but only a royal franchise, whereby the bishop exercised a jurisdiction over all causes, criminal as well as civil. By 6 & 7 Wm. IV., c. 87, the jurisdiction has been entirely taken from the bishop, and is now vested in the Crown.

There are also Counties Corporate, which are certain cities and towns to which, out of special grace, the Kings of England granted the privilege to be counties in themselves, governed by their own sheriffs and other magistrates, so that no officers of the county at large have any power to intermeddle therein. Such were London, York, Bristol, Norwich, Coventry, and many others; but the regulation of these places is now provided for by the Municipal Corporation Act, 5 & 6 Wm. IV., c. 76; 2 & 3 Vict., c. 72; 24 & 25 Vict., c. 75; and 32 & 33 Vict., c. 55.

* See 4 & 5 Wm. IV., c. 36; and 19 & 20 Vict., c. 16.

THE RIGHTS OF PERSONS.

In order to consider with perspicuity the numerous and diverse laws of England, it will be necessary to lay down a suitable arrangement of the subject, to distribute it methodically under proper and distinct heads, and to avoid as much as possible divisions too large and comprehensive on the one hand, and too trifling and minute on the other. Having seen that Municipal Law is "a rule of civil conduct, commanding what is right and prohibiting what is wrong," let us first, then, consider the rights that are commanded, and the wrongs that are forbidden by the Laws of England.

Explain the "Rights" that are "commanded" and the "Wrongs" that are "forbidden" by the laws of England.

RIGHTS are, first, those which concern and are annexed to the persons of men, and are then called jura personarum, or the rights of persons; or they are, secondly, such as a man may acquire over external objects or things unconnected with his person, and are designated jura rerum, or the rights of things.

WRONGS also are divisible into, first, private wrongs, which, being an infringement of particular rights concerning individuals, are called civil injuries; and, secondly, public wrongs, which being a breach of general and public rights, affect the whole community, and are called crimes and misdemeanors. Thus the objects of the laws of England fall into this fourfold division:

1. The RIGHTS OF PERSONS, with the means whereby such rights may be either acquired or lost.

2. The RIGHTS OF THINGS, with the means also of acquiring and losing them.

3. PRIVATE WRONGS, or civil injuries, with the means of redressing them by law.

4. PUBLIC WRONGS, or crimes and misdemeanors, with the means of prevention and punishment.

First, then, as to the rights of persons, with the means of acquiring and losing them.

The rights of persons that are commanded to be observed by the municipal law are of two sorts; first, such as are due from every citizen, which are usually called civil duties; and, secondly, such as belong to him, which is the more popular acceptation of rights or jura. Both may, indeed, be comprised in this latter division, for as all social duties are of a relative nature, at the same time they are due from one man or set of men, they must also be due to another. Thus, for instance, allegiance is considered the duty of the people, and protection as the duty of the magistrate; and yet they are reciprocally the rights as well as the duties of each other.

Persons also are divided by the law into either natural or artificial persons. Natural persons are such as God has formed us; artificial are such as are created and devised by human laws for the purposes of society and government, which are called corporations, or bodies politic.

The rights of persons, considered in their natural capacities, are also of two sorts, absolute and relative. Absolute, which are such rights as appertain and belong to particular men merely as individuals or single persons; relative, which are incident to them as members of society, and standing in various relations to each other.

Absolute rights of individuals are those which are so in their primary and strictest sense, such as would belong to their persons merely in a state of nature, and which every man is entitled to enjoy whether out of society or in it; but with absolute duties which man is bound to perform, considered as a mere individual, it is not to be expected that any human municipal law should at all explain or enforce them, for the end and intent of such laws being only to regulate the behaviour of mankind as they are

members of society and stand in various relations to each other, they have consequently no concern with any other but social or relative duties. Let a man therefore be ever so abandoned in his principles or vicious in his practice, provided he keeps his wickedness to himself and does not offend against the rules of public decency, he is out of the reach of human laws; but if he makes his vices public, though they be such as seem principally to affect himself, they then become, by the bad example they set, offensive to society, and therefore it is thus the business of human laws to correct them. Here the circumstance of publicity alters the nature of the case. Public sobriety is a relative duty, and therefore enjoined by our laws; private sobriety is an absolute duty, which, whether it be performed or not, human tribunals can never know. But with respect to rights the case is different; for human laws define and enforce as well those rights which belong to a man considered as an individual, as those which belong to him considered as related to others. The principal aim of society is to protect individuals in the enjoyment of those absolute rights which are the first and primary end of human laws; but which could not be preserved in peace without that mutual assistance and intercourse which are gained by the institution of friendly and social communities. Hence it follows, that the first and primary end of human laws is to maintain and regulate these absolute rights of individuals.

These absolute rights of every Englishman (usually called liberties), as they are founded on nature and reason, so they are coeval with our form of government. Subject at times to fluctuations and change, their establishment being human, they have been depressed by overbearing and tyrannical princes; but the vigour of our free Constitution has ultimately delivered the nation from these embarrassments, and as soon as the convulsions consequent on the struggle have been over, the balance of our rights and liberties has settled to its proper level, and their fundamental articles have been asserted in Parliament whenever these rights were thought to be in danger.

Explain the Rights of the People.

The rights of the people of England may be reduced to three principal or primary articles :

1. THE RIGHT OF PERSONAL SECURITY. 2. THE RIGHT OF PERSONAL LIBERTY.

3. THE RIGHT OF PRIVATE PROPERTY.

I. The right of personal security consists in a person's legal and uninterrupted enjoyment of his life, his limbs, his body, his health, and his reputation.

Life is the immediate gift of God, a right inherent by nature in every individual, and it begins in contemplation of law as soon as an infant is able to stir in the mother's womb; so if a woman is quick with child, and by a potion or otherwise designedly kills it in her womb; or, if anyone else gives it to her, or beats her with a like design, whereby the child dies in her body, and she is delivered of a dead child, it is treated in law as if actually born.

An infant in ventre sa mère (in the mother's womb) is supposed in law to be born for many purposes. It takes land by descent. It may have a guardian assigned to it; and it is enabled to have an estate limited to its use, and to take afterwards by such limitation, as if it were then actually born.

A man's limbs are also the gift of the Creator, to enable him to protect himself from external injuries in a state of nature; and a man's life and limbs are held of such value by our law, that it pardons even homicide if committed se defendendo, or in order to preserve them; for whatever is done by a man to save either life or member, is looked upon as done upon the highest necessity and compulsion. If a man, through fear of death or mayhem, is prevailed upon to execute a deed, or do any other legal act, this may afterwards be avoided, if forced upon him by a well-grounded apprehension of losing his life, or even his limbs, in case of his non-compliance.

The law not only regards life and member, and protects every man in the enjoyment of them, but also furnishes him with everything necessary for their support; for there is no man so indigent or wretched but he may demand a supply sufficient for all the necessities of life from the more opulent part of the community, by means of the several statutes enacted for the relief of the poor.*

Besides limbs and members that may be necessary to a man in order to defend himself or annoy his enemy, a man is entitled

* See Overseers of the Poor, p. 81.