after mentioned and in that behalf provided, such justices shall &c., may be and may commit every such offender to the house of correction, committed. or some other prison of the county, riding, division, city, liberty, town or place in which he or she shall have been convicted, there to remain and be kept to hard labour, without bail or mainprize, for any time not exceeding three months, or less than one month, or until he or she pay the said sum so forfeited, together with such costs and charges as aforesaid." titled to part And by sect. 7, after reciting that "it most frequently happens Sect. 7. that no person is present at, or privy to, the giving of the cha- Informer, racter of a servant except the persons by and to whom the same though enis given, it is enacted that the informer, in any of the cases afore- of the pesaid, shall be, and shall be deemed and taken to be, a good and nalty, a comcompetent witness in law, notwithstanding he shall be entitled petent witto a part of the said penalty, where the same shall be levied as aforesaid." ness. discovering indemnified. By sect. 8 it is provided, "That if any servant or servants who Sect. 8. shall have been guilty of any of the offences aforesaid shall, be- Offenders fore any information has been given or lodged against him, her, accomplices or them for such offence, discover and inform against any person before inor persons, concerned with him, her or them in any offence formation, against this act, so as such offender or offenders be convicted of such offence in manner aforesaid, every such servant or servants so discovering and informing shall thereupon be discharged and indemnified of, from and against all penalties and punishments to which at the time of such information given, he, she or they might be liable by this act, for, or by reason of such, his, her or their own offence or offences." By sect. 9, for the more easy and speedy conviction of offenders Sect. 9. against the act, "It is enacted that all justices of the peace be- Form of confore whom any person or persons shall be convicted of any offence viction. against the act, shall and may cause the conviction to be drawn up in the following form of words, or in any other form of words to the same effect, as the case shall happen, viz. : "Be it remembered that on the in the year of our Lord day of : A. B. is convicted before us county of "Given under our hands and seals the day and year aforesaid." appeal to the the matter may be And by sect. 10 it is provided, "That if any person shall think Sect. 10. himself or herself aggrieved by anything done in pursuance of Parties aggrieved may this act, such person may appeal to the justices of the peace at the next general or quarter sessions of the peace to be held for quarter sesthe county or place wherein the cause of complaint shall have sions where arisen, such appellant entering into a recognizance, with two sufficient sureties in the sum of twenty pounds each, conditioned finally deter to try such appeal, and abide the order of, and to pay such mined in a costs as shall be awarded by such justices at such general way, &c. or quarter sessions, upon due proof of such notice being given as aforesaid, and of the entering into such recognizance; which summary said justices shall hear and finally determine the causes and matters of such appeal in a summary way, and award such costs to the parties appealing or appealed against as they the said justices shall think proper, and the determination of such general or quarter sessions shall be binding and conclusive to all intents Proceedings and purposes; and no conviction or order made concerning any matters aforesaid, or any other proceedings to be had touching want of form, the conviction or convictions of any offender or offenders against or removed this act, shall be quashed for want of form, or be removed by certiorari, or any other writ or process whatsoever, into any of his Majesty's courts of record at Westminster." not to be quashed for by certiorari. c. 31, s. 2. FORMERLY, both by the common law and also by the stat. 25 Edw. 3, st. 5, c. 2, it was petit treason for a servant to kill his master or mistress (a). So much of the stat. 25 Edw. 3, how- 9 Geo. 4, ever, as relates to petit treason, was repealed by 9 Geo. 4, c. 31(b), whereby it is enacted (sect. 2) that every offence which before the 1st of July, 1828, would have amounted to petit treason, shall from that day be deemed to be murder only, and no greater offence; and all persons guilty in respect thereof, whether as principals or as accessories, shall be dealt with, indicted, tried and punished as principals and accessories in murder (c). Where a servant put poison into a coffee-pot, and, when her R. v. Harley. mistress came down to breakfast, said she had put the coffeepot there for her, such servant was held indictable under 9 Geo. 4, c. 31, s. 11, for "causing poison to be taken" (d). (a) See 3 Inst. 20; Dalt. Just. ch. 142. Lord Coke, 3 Inst. 48, mentions the case of one Margaret Davy, a young woman who was attainted of high treason for poisoning her mistress (under statute 22 Hen. 8, c. 9), and with some others was boiled to death in hot water in Smithfield. But, he adds, this statute was too severe to live long, and (b) The Irish Act is 10 Geo. 4, (c) See further on this subject, Russ. on Crimes. (d) R. v. Harley, 4 C. & P. 369. 9 Geo. 4, c. 31. Sect. 25. ASSAULTS COMMITTED BY SERVANTS ON The 21st sect. of 5 Eliz. c. 4, which provided a special punishment for assaults committed by servants on masters, was repealed by 9 Geo. 4, c. 31, s. 1, and the offence is now punishable in the same way as assaults committed by other persons (e). By sect. 25 of that act it is enacted, that if any person shall be charged with and convicted of any assault, with intent to with intent commit felony, or of any assault committed in pursuance of any felony, or in conspiracy to raise the rate of wages, the court may sentence pursuance of the offender to be imprisoned, with or without hard labour, in conspiracy to the common gaol or house of correction, for any term not exceeding two years, and may also (if it shall so think fit) fine the offender and require him to find sureties for keeping the peace (ƒ). to commit raise wages. Opening BURGLARY BY A SERVANT IN HIS MASTER'S HOUSE. A servant who lives in his master's house may be guilty of burglary in that house, as well as a stranger, for the opportunity which his situation affords him of committing that crime aggravates rather than extenuates his guilt (g). Where, therefore, one of the servants in the house opened his lady's chamber with design door (which was fastened with a brass bolt) with design to commit a rape, C. J. King ruled it to be burglary, and the defendant was convicted and transported (h). door, &c., to commit felony, R. v. Gray. to let in robber. Cornwall's Case. And where (i) a servant, in the night time, opened the street door and let in a robber, and showed him the sideboard from whence he took the plate, and then again opened the door and let him out, it was held, at a meeting of all the judges, to be burglary in the servant as well as the other, and he was afterR.v.Johnson. wards executed. But where a servant opened the door and let in a robber for the purpose of catching him, having previously communicated with the police, it has been held that the robber could not be convicted of burglary (k). to obtain And in R. v. Mears (1), a case is cited, where a journeyman (e) See 9 Geo. 4, c. 31, ss. 27, 28, 29; the Irish Act is 10 Geo. 4, c. 34, s. 28. As to the costs and expenses of indictment under sect. 29, see 14 & 15 Vict. c. 55, s. 3. Justices, however, have no jurisdiction under 9 Geo. 4, c. 31, s. 27, to convict of an assault, except upon the complaint of the party aggrieved, R. v. Deny, 2 L. M. & P. 230. (f) Justices have a discretion as to admitting to bail persons charged with assault in pursuance of conspiracy to raise wages, 11 & 12 Vict. c. 42, s. 23. See Linford v. Fitzroy, 13 Q. B. 240. (g) See 4 Bl. Com. 227; Bac. Abr. tit. Burglary. As to burglary in general, see 1 Russ. on Crimes, B. 4, ch. 1. (h) R. v. Gray, 1 Str. 481. (i) Cornwall's Case, 2 Str. 881; and see 19 St. Tr. 782, note; 1 Hale, P. C. 553; 2 East, P. C. 486. (k) R. v. Johnson, Carr. & M. 218; see R. v. Eggington, 2 B. & P. 508. (1) 1 Show. 53; 3 B. & P. 108. bezzled. who had embezzled money received for his master, and left in money prehis chamber in his master's house, and being discharged, viously ementered the house in the night and took the money from the chamber, it was held to be no burglary, because the taking the money did not amount to felony, that is, to larceny, the money not having been taken out of the possession of the master. cases where is within servant's In the case of a servant opening a door of his master's house Distinction for a felonious purpose, without any plan or conspiracy with between other persons to commit a robbery, it seems to have been con- opening door sidered that the question, whether such act will amount to a breaking, must depend upon the point whether the door might trust, and have been opened by the servant in the course of his trust and where not. employment. Thus, it is said, that if a servant unlatch a door or turn a key in a door of his master's house, and steal property out of the room, such opening of the door, being within his trust, is not a breaking: but that if a servant break open a door, whether outward or inward (as a closet, study or counting-house), and steal goods, such opening, not being within his trust, will amount to a breaking of the house, either within the statutes relating to the breaking of dwelling-houses in the daytime or within the law of burglary (m). SERVANTS NEGLIGENTLY SETTING FIRE TO carelessness By stat. 14 Geo. 3, c. 78, s. 84, after reciting that fires often 14 Geo. 3, happen by the negligence (n) and carelessness of servants, it is c. 78, s. 84. enacted, "That if any menial or other servant or servants, Servants by through negligence or carelessness, shall fire or caused to be firing a house fired any dwelling-house or outhouse or houses or other build- to forfeit ings, whether within the limits of that act or elsewhere within 100, or be imprisoned the kingdom of Great Britain, such servant or servants being eighteen thereof lawfully convicted by the oath of one or more credible months. witness or witnesses, made before two or more of his Majesty's justices of the peace, shall forfeit and pay the sum of 1007. unto the churchwardens or overseers of such parish where such fire shall happen, to be distributed amongst the sufferers by such fire, in such proportions as to the said churchwardens shall seem just; and in case of default or refusal to pay the same immediately after such conviction, the same being lawfully demanded by the said churchwardens, that then and in such case such servant or servants shall, by warrant under the hands and seals of two or more of his Majesty's justices of the peace, be committed to the common gaol or house of correction, (m) 1 Russ. on Crimes, 794, citing 2 Hale, 354, 355; but the learned editor of the 3rd edit. (Greaves) adds, “sed quære, and see Edmond's Case, Hutt. 20; Kel. 67; 1 Hale, 554, where a servant, who unlatched the stair foot door and went with a hatchet (n) Wilfully setting fire to a |