writing, under the hand and seal, or at least under the hand, of the officer committing, and should name the party, if his name be known, and express the cause of commitment; and if this last be omitted, the jailor is not bound to detain the prisioner. (1 Bl. Com. 137; Synops. Crim. Law, 215.)

7. Involuntary Exile.

Sending a subject out of the country, without his own consent, is violative of personal liberty, and prohibited by the great charter, even though under the pretext of an honorable office, as that of ambassador; but it is provided for in certain cases of crime by statute in England. (1 Bl. Com. 137, & n (18); 4 Do. 401.)

34. The Right of Private Property.

1 Bl. Com. 138 & seq.

W. C.

1o. The Origin of Property.

The notion of property is founded in the law of Nature, i. e., of God, but is liable to be qualified and restricted, according to the exigences of society, by human law. (1 Bl. Com. 138; Do. 2 & seq; Grot. De Jur. Bell & Pac. B. II, c. I, § II, 4, 5; Puffend. B. IV, § VI; Mackintosh's Essays, 36.)

2. Protection afforded to the Right of Property by the Great Charter.

No freeman shall be disseised or divested of his freehold, or of his liberties, or free customs, but by the judgment of his peers, or by the law of the land. (1 Bl. Com. 138-'9; 1 Rap. Eng. B. VIII, p. 291.)

3. Private property is not to be taken for public uses without just compensation.

1 Bl. Com. 139, & n (19); U. S. Const. Amendments, Art. V; Va. Const. 1869, Art. V, § 14.)

4. No Taxes are to be imposed, save by consent of the people, or their representatives.

1 Bl. Com. 140; Va. Const. 1869, Art. I, (Bill of Rights,) § 8; Id. Art. X, § 10, 11, 1.

4. The Right of Freedom of Conscience.

The idea of tolerution of diversities of religious belief, but with a marked preference accorded by law to a certain form of faith, had, for a hundred years prior to our revolution, been familiar to the English mind in the mothercountry, and in the colonies. Justly regarding true religion as the most important interest of society, it was long accepted as an axiom that the interposition and protection of government were indispensable to preserve and disseminate it. When the Protestant reformation had for England broken the bonds of Rome, and established the right

of individual judgment in the things which belong to God,
the State was constrained to tolerate differences of opinion;
but the idea still remained unshaken that the direct sup-
port and aid of government was required in order to main-
tain the purity of religious belief, and to propagate the
doctrines of the true faith amongst the people. The total
severance of religion from the State, in the interest of true
religion, and perfect freedom of conscience, as the most
effectual way of promoting sincere piety before God, were
ideas not known to the common law, but solemnly promul-
gated by the Legislature of Virginia, in October, 1785, be-
ing one of the acts of which Mr. Jefferson was the author,
reported by the Commission of Revisal in 1779.
Stats. 84; 1 Jeff. Mem. 36-'7, 40.)

(12 Hen. 3o. The Solemn Declarations, and Guards of Absolute Rights; W. C.

1a. The Solemn Declarations and Guards of Absolute Rights in England; W. C.

1o. Solemn Declarations of Absolute Rights in England.

All of them being parliamentary declarations only, are repealable by parliament. (1 Bl. Com. 127-'8). They include, (1), Magna Charta; (2), Petition of right; (3), Habeas corpus act; (4), Bill of rights; and (5), Act of settlement;

W. C.

1o. Magna Charta, and its various confirmations.

Extorted from John by the Barons, A. D. 1215, at Runnymede, near Windsor. (2 Roger of Wendover's Chron. 309; 1 Rapin's Eng'd, 285, B. VIII.). Confirmed by Henry III, during his minority, particularly by Stat. 9 Hen. III, (A. D. 1225); and afterwards by a great number of other statutes, no fewer, according to Lord Coke, than thirty-two. (1 Bl. Com. 128.)

The following is the famous 29th chapter. (Article xlvi of the Cottonian MS, as printed by Rapin), which is the foundation of English and American liberty:

"Nullus liber capiatur, vel imprisonetur, aut disseisiatur de libero tenemento suo, vel libertatibus, vel liberis consuetu dinibus suis, aut utlagetur, aut exuletur, aut aliquo modo destruatur; nec super eum ibimus, nec super eum mittemus, nisi per legale judicium parium suorum, vel per legem terræ. Nulli vendemus, nulli negabimus, aut differemus, rectum vel justitiam." (1 Rap. Eng. 290, & n (a), Book VIII; 4 Bl. Com. 424, n. (3).)

2. Petition of Right, 3 Car I, c. 1.

2 Rap. Eng. 270, B. XIX; 1 Bl. Com. 128; 1 Hal. Const. Hist. of Eng. 288, 285, & seq.

The petition of right declares that no tax, tallage, aid, gift, benevolence, or such like charge, shall be levied without consent of parliament;

That no person shall be deprived of liberty, property or life, but by the lawful judgment of his peers, or by the law of the land;

That neither the command of the King, nor of the Privy Council, shall be a sufficient warrant for imprisonment, without legal cause shown, nor any answer to the writ of habeas corpus;

That soldiers shall not be billeted upon the people;

That no man shall be adjudged of life or limb by any summary course, as by martial law, or otherwise, nor by virtue of any royal commission, but only according to the laws of the realm;

That no exemption shall be allowed from the punishments denounced against offenders by the laws of the realm.

3. Habeas Corpus Act, 31 Car. II, c. 2.

1 Bl. Com. 128; 3 do. 136; 3 Hal. Const. Hist. Eng.

& seq.

The habeas corpus act requires the Lord Chancellor or any of the twelve (now eighteen) judges in vacation, under heavy penalties, and the court of chancery, and the courts of Westminster in term, to grant the writ of habeas corpus immediately, upon complaint of illegal imprisonment, and to discharge any person confined without due warrant of law, and for lawful cause. (3 Bl. Com. 136-'7; Bac. Abr. Hab. Corp. (B).)

4. Bill of Rights, 1 Wm. & M. stat. 2, c. 2.

The Bill of Rights of England is the declaration delivered by the Lords and Commons to the Prince and Princess of Orange, 13 Feb. 1688, and afterwards enacted in Parliament, when they had become king and queen, setting forth a summary of the most important. popular rights, and claiming them as the "ancient and undoubted rights and liberties" of the people of England. (2 Rap. Eng. 794, B. XXIV; 1 Bl. Com. 128; 3 Hal. Const. Hist. of Eng. 77.)

5. Act of Settlement, 12 & 13 Wm. III, c. 2.

The Act of Settlement limits the crown to the Princess Sophia of Brunswick (granddaughter of James I), "and the heirs of her body, being Protestants," and re-asserts the same "ancient and undoubted rights and liberties," together with some new provisions. (1 Bl. Com. 128; Id. 216; 2 Steph. Com. 489-'90; 3 Hal. Const. Hist.

2". The Guards for the Absolute Rights provided in England.

1 Bl. Com. 141 & seq.; 2 Steph. Com. 490 & seq.; W. C.

1. The constitution, powers and privileges of Parliament. 1 Bl. Com. 141; Id. 146 & seq.; 2 Steph. Com. 490; Id. 347 & seq.

2. The limitation of the King's prerogative, by bounds certain and notorious.

1 Bl. Com. 141; Id. 237 & seq.; 2 Steph. Com. 494 & seq. 3. The free and uncontrolled dispensation of the law in the ordinary courts of justice.

The emphatic words of Magna Charta, spoken in the person of the king, who in judgment of law (says Sir Edw. Coke), is ever present, and repeating them in all his courts, are these: "Nulli vendemus, nulli negabimus, aut differemus rectum vel justitiam." (1 Bl. Com. 141-2; 2 Steph. Com. 490 & seq.)

4. The Right of petitioning the King, or either house of Parliament, for redress.

1 Bl. Com. 143; 2 Steph. Com. 493.

5. The Right of having arms for defence.

1 Bl. Com. 143–24.

24. The solemn Declarations and Guards of Absolute Rights in Virginia;

These declarations and safeguards are not, as in England, merely such as the ordinary legislature provides, and which therefore it may at pleasure dispense with, but they are declarations and safe-guards provided by the constitution, or organic law, which has received the solemn and direct sanction of the people themselves, in their highest sovereign capacity, and which is a law to the legislature, all whose acts transcending it are void. The difference, although it has proved less important than had been fondly hoped, is not to be despised, and is of great value so far as the observance of the constitution is secured by the structure of the government, and the equilibrium of its departments;

W. C.

1. The safe-guards in Virginia, of the Rights of Personal Security, and Personal Liberty.

See Cooley's Const. Lim'ns, 256 & seq., 295 & seq.
W C.

1. Safe-guards against encroachments by the State Government; W. C.

1o. Prohibition of ex post facto laws.

Const. U. S. Art. I, § x, 1; Va. Const. 1869, Art. V, § 14; Fletcher v. Peck, 6 Cr. 87; Cummings

v. Missouri, 4 Wal. 277; Exp. Garland, 4 Wal. 333, 374; 2 Stor. Const. § 1373; Gut's case, 9 Wal. 35. 25. Prohibition of Bills of Attainder.

Const. U. S. Art. I, § x, 1; Va. Const. 1869, Art. V, 14; 2 Stor. Const. § 1344; Id. § 1373; Drehman v. Stifle, 8 Wal. 601.

3. Suspension of Writ of Habeas Corpus prohibited, unless when in cases of invasion or rebellion, the public safety may require it.

Va. Const. 1869, Art. V, § 14.

48. Prohibition of General Warrants, to search unnamed places, or to arrest unnamed persons.

Va. Const. 1869, Art. I, (Bill of Rights), § 12.

58. Prohibition of excessive bail, excessive fines, and of cruel and unusual punishments.

Va. Const. 1869, Art. I, (Bill of Rights), § 11.

68. In Criminal prosecutions, right secured to demand cause and nature of accusation, to be confronted with accusers and witnesses, and to call for evidence in one's favor.

Va. Const. 1868, Art. I, (Bill of Rights), § 10. 78. Trial secured by impartial jury of vicinage, whose unanimous consent is required to convict.

Va. Const. 1869, Art. I, (Bill of Rights), § 10.

8. Self-crimination not to be compelled.

Va. Const. 1869, Art. I, (Bill of Rights), § 10. 98. Slavery and involuntary servitude (except for crime), abolished, and prohibited for ever.

Const. U. S. Amendm't XIII; Va. Const. 1869, Art. I, (Bill of Rights), § 19.

10%. No State to deprive any person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law, nor to deny to any person within its jurisdiction equal protection. Const. U. S. Amendm'ts, Art. XIV. § 1.

2. Safe-guards against encroachments on Rights of Personal Security, and Personal Liberty, by the Federal Government; W. C.

18. Prohibition of expost facto laws.

Const. U. S. Art. I, § ix. 3; Fletcher v. Peck, 6 Cr. 87; Calder v. Bull, 3 Dall, 386; Cummings v. Missouri, 4 Wal. 277; Ex-parte Garland, 4 Wal. 333; 2 Stor. Const. § 1345; Id. § 1373.

25. Prohibition of Bills of Attainder.

Const. U. S. Art. I, § IX, 3; 4 Bl. Com. 259; 2 Stor. Const. § 1344.

38. Suspension of the Writ of Habeas Corpus prohibited, unless when in case of invasion or rebellion, the public safety may require it.