taxes for ex of their office. (c) and there used by him the said J. S. were not horses for which such note or certificate as in the said mentioned act specified, was required, nor was any such note or certificate necessary to be taken for the same, to the evil example, &c. and against the peace, &c. Against two That on, &c. J. A. late of L. in the borough aforesaid, linencollectors of draper, and W. B. late of L. aforesaid, in the borough aforesaid, torting money grocer, there being collectors of several sums assessed upon the under colour inhabitants of a certain liberty called L. upper division within the borough aforesaid, mentioned and expressed in a certain assessment made and confirmed in pursuance of a certain act of parliament made in the first year of the reign of our said lady the now queen of England, &c. entituled, “An act for granting an aid to her majesty by divers subsidies and a land-tax;" the said J. A. and W. B. on, &c. at, &c. aforesaid, in the borough aforesaid, by colour of the office aforesaid, unlawfully, extorsively and deceitfully and of their own wrong exacted, received and had of one T. C. then of L. aforesaid, in the borough aforesaid, (being not assessed at all by virtue of the act of parliament aforesaid) the sum of four shillings, under colour and pretence that he the said T. C. had been assessed under the said act, and was then and there liable by virtue of such assessment to pay to them the said sum, and that the said J. A. and W. B. the same sum of four shillings so as aforesaid, of the said T. C. unlawfully, extorsively and deceitfully exacted, received and had and to the proper use of them the said J. A. and W. B. then and there unlawfully, injuriously and deceitfully converted, whereas in truth and in fact the said T. C. had not been assessed under the said act, nor was liable to pay any sum of money whatsoever to them the said J. A. and W. B. as such collectors as aforesaid, or otherwise howsoever, to the great damage, &c. to the evil example, &c. and against the peace, &c. Against a coroner for a That W. N. late of, &c. (the said parish of S. being the usual misdemeanour place of abode of him the said W. N.) on, &c. then being one of in extortion. the coroners of our said lord the king, for the county of G. at, &c. (d) (c) See form, Cro. C. C. 8th Ed. 195. 3 Ld. Raym. 61. ante 293. note (p). (d) See precedents, Cro. C. C. 7th Ed. 353. 2 Starkie, 587. ante 293. n. (p). and as to the law Impey office Coroner, 438. last Ed. The statute 3 Edw. I. c. 10. prohibits coroners from taking any thing to do their office upon pain of great forfeiture to the king. By 3 Hen. VII. c. 1. they are allowed 13s. 4d. and on the taking an inquisition on the body of a party murdered from the goods of the murderer, and if he has nothing, from the 'amercements of the township for the escape of the felon. But by 1 Hen. VIII. c. 7. s. 1. they are forbidden to take any thing where the death occurred from accident. Their fees have been finally settled by 25 Geo. II. c. 29. which gives them twenty shillings for every inquisition, and allows them ninepence for every mile they are aforesaid, by colour of his said office unlawfully and unjustly did demand, extort, receive and take of and from one R. S. the sum of fifty shillings of lawful money of Great Britain, for and as his fee for executing and doing of his office aforesaid, to wit, upon the view of the body of one J. C. late of Stow in the Wold, in the said county of Gloucester, glazier, who at, &c. aforesaid, on the day and year above-mentioned, was slain by misadventure, and there lay dead; in contempt, &c. to the great damage of the said R. S., against the form of the statutes in such case made and provided, and against the peace, &c. obliged to travel from their usual places of abode, to be paid out of the county rates, s. 1. And by s. 4. of the same statute it is enacted, that no coroner shall, by colour of his office or upon any pretext whatsoever, take for his office doing, in case of the death of any person, any fee or reward other than the said fee of 13s. 4d. limited as is aforesaid, by the said act made in the third year of the reign of king Henry the seventh, and other than the recompense limited and appointed by this statute, upon pain of being guilty of extortion. And by s. 6. a coroner convicted of extortion or wilful neglect of his duty, or misdemeanour in office, may be removed from office by judgment of the court in which he is convicted, unless such office be annual or annexed to some other office. 1 CHAPTER IX. OF INDICTMENTS FOR PERJURY AT COMMON PRELIMINARY NOTES AS TO THE OFFENCE, PROCESS, Offence of perjury at I. AT COMMON LAW. a As to the offence. Perjury at common law is defined to be “ common law. wilful false oath by one who being lawfully required to depose the truth in any judicial proceeding, swears absolutely in a matter material to the point in question, whether he be believed or not," Hawk. b. 1. c. 69. s. 1. In order, therefore, to constitute the legal guilt of perjury the oath must be false, the intention wilful, the pro (a) As to this offence in general, see 3 Inst. 163 to 168. Hawk. b. 1. c. 69. Com. Dig. Justices of Peace, B. 102 to 106. Bac. Abr. Perjury, 4. Bla. Com. 137 to 139. Burn, J. Perjury. Williams, J. Perjury. Dick. J. Perjury. This is one of the greatest and most immediate offences against public justice. On account of the length of the notes and number of precedents, it has been considered better to print this matter in a distinct chapter. ceedings judicial, the party lawfully sworn, the assertion absolute, and the falsehood material to the matter in question. 1st. The oath must be false. By this it is intended that the party must believe that what he is swearing is fictitious; for if, intending to deceive, he asserts that which may happen to be true, without any knowledge of the fact, he is equally criminal, and the accidental truth of his evidence will not excuse him, 3 Inst. 166. Hawk. b. 1. c, 69. s. 6. 2dly. The intention must be wilful. The oath must be taken and the falsehood asserted with deliberation and a consciousness of the nature of the statement made; for if it seems rather to have been occasioned by inadvertency or surprise, or a mistake in the import of the question, the party will not be subjected to those penalties which a corrupt motive alone can deserve, Hawk. b. 1. c. 69. 6. 2. 3rdly. The proceedings must be judicial. It is, however, agreed that all oaths which are taken before those who are, in any way, entrusted with the administration of justice, in respect of any matter regularly before them are perjuries, Hawk. b. 1. c. 69. s. 3. And therefore it is indictable not only to swear falsely in a court of record, but also in any court of equity, 1 Leach, 50. 1 Sid. 418. any ecclesiastical court, Cro. Eliz. 609. and any other lawful court, whether it be of record or otherwise, Hawk. b. 1. c. 69. s. 3. So a false oath subjects the offender to all the penalties of perjury though it be taken in a stage of the proceedings when it does not influence the final judgment, but only affects some intermediate step to be taken; thus if a man offering to bail another swears his property to be greater than it is in order to be received as a surety, Cro. Car. 146. or if he swears falsely before a magistrate to induce him to compel another to find sureties for the peace, Hawk, b. 1. c. 69. s. 3. 1 Campb. 404. or where a person forswears himself before commissioners appointed by the king to enquire of forfeitures of estates, &c. whereby he renders them liable to be seized by exchequer process, Noy. 100. or before persons appointed by the king to enquire of defective titles in order to remedy them by his patent, he is guilty of an indictable offence, though, in the latter case, rather as a misdemeanour abusing the purposes of the crown than as a regular and legal perjury, Hob. 62. It is also perjury to swear falsely before a sheriff on a writ of enquiry for assessment of damages, Hawk. b. 1. c. 69. s. 3. in an affidavit to hold to bail, Peake, N. P. 112. in obtaining a marriage licence at Doctors Commons, 1 Leach, 63. in obtaining administration to a seaman, 1 Leach, 327. in taking the oath as a voter at an election, 6 East, 323. 2 Campb. 135. 2 Smith, 526. and before a com mittee of the house of commons, who are invested with the power of administering oaths to the witnesses before them by 10 Geo. III. c. 16. s. 18. But no oath made in a mere private concern, however malicious or wilful, as in entering into a contract, is an indictable offence, but can only be redressed in an action for the individual injury; nor can any criminal proceeding be maintained for the violation of an oath taken, however solemnly, to perform any duties in future, though the offence will be highly aggravated by the breach of an obligation so sacred, 3 Inst. 166. Neither can any prosecution be supported for perjury in a voluntary affidavit taken extrajudicially before a magistrate, 4 Bla. Com. 137. and even where an oath is required by act of parliament in an extra-judicial proceeding, the breach of that obligation does not seem to amount to perjury, unless the statute contain an express provision to that effect, 4 Bla. Com. 137. Christian's Ed. note (5). and it has been doubted whether an indictment lies for perjury on a deposition taken de bene esse, 1 P. W. 568. 4thly. The party must be lawfully sworn. The person by whom the oath is administered must have competent authority to receive it. And, therefore, ǹo false swearing before individuals acting merely in a private capacity, or before officers who have no legal jurisdiction to administer the particular oath in question will amount to the offence of perjury, 3 Inst. 166. Cro. C. C. 7 Ed. 626. It seems indeed that he who administers an oath without warrant of law, is punishable though he may happen to be a magistrate, see 4 Bla. Com. 137. Wood's Inst. 435. And though the officer stands colourably in the situation which confers a power of receiving an oath on such an occasion, if in fact he is not duly appointed, the proceedings will be of no avail, id. ibid. 3 Campb. 432. Wood's Inst. 435. for though it is sufficient primâ facie to show the ostensible capacity in which he acted when the oath was taken, the presumption may be rebutted by other evidence, and the defendant, if he succeed, will be entitled to an acquittal, 3 Campb. 432. But a false oath taken before persons, who being originally commissioned to examine witnesses, happen to proceed after the demise of the king from whom their commission proceeded and before they had notice of that fact, may, it is said, be indicted for perjury, Cro. Car. 97, 8, 9. sed quære. To make false swearing perjury it is not necessary that the oath should have been taken as a witness for another, but may be upon an affidavit or in answer to questions in a court of law or equity, or respecting some collateral matter in some way affecting a judicial proceeding, 1 Leach, 50. Hawk. b. 1. c. 69. s. 5. 5thly. The assertion must be absolute. It was formerly laid |