Province. The whole amount of the different branches of revenue, received by the crown, and not subjected to the contro! of the assembly, may be £9 or 10,000 which is about the same with the grant made by the British Parliament for the civil establishment of the colony, so that as far as regards civil government, this province is not burthensome to Great Britain, who receives with one hand as much as she pays with the other. The military establishment and the naval, are on the contrary heavily expensive being perhaps £150,000 per annum, and not counterbalanced by any revenues. The commercial and territorial advantages arising to the crown are the only benefits to be poised against this heavy expenditure.

Recovery of Crown Debts.

The Prov. act of 1778, 18. G. 3. c. 3.1 P. L. 209, 210, directs" that the Collectors of the public money, in any "case where they are obliged to give credit according to "the laws of the Province, shall take such recognisances "in the name of our sovereign lord the king, to be paid "to our said sovereign lord the king, his heirs and successors, and to his and their use only:" it likewise directs, that a warrant of attorney to confess judgment, should be taken at the same time annexed or endorsed on the recognizance. If the amount be duly paid at the time appointed, the collector may discharge the recognizance, " and the same shall become void."

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Sec. 2. directs that when such recognizances are not paid when due, the collector is to "transmit them to the "treasurer of the Province by the first safe conveyance."

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Sec. 3. Directs "that the treasurer, upon receipt there"of shall cause the same to be prosecuted in H. M. Su'preme Court at Halifax, and the recognizance being duly "filed, and the confession of the debt being acknowledged no imparlance shall be granted, but judgment shall be 16

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"made up thereupon, and execution shall issue to levy the "debt upon the goods, chattels and estate of the debtor." The action "may be entered"-at any time in term, or if in vacation before the chief justice, or in his absence, any other judge of the supreme court, "who shall thereupon "order judgment to be made up as of the last term, and "execution to issue thereon."

Sec. 4, requires the Sheriff to levy or make return within 60 days, after the date of such execution.

Trespasses on Crown Lands.

The Provincial act of 1767, 7, G. 3. c. 1. 1 P. L. 125, imposes a fine of £50, on persons occupying by themselves or others, any crown lands, without licence in writing, first obtained for the purpose from the Governor, to be prosecuted by bill, plaint or information in any court of record, and convicted on the oath of one credible witness.

BOOK I.-CHAPTER V.

SUBORDINATE MAGISTRATES.

MAGISTRATES OF COUNTIES.

1. Sheriffs. In each county of the province, a sheriff is annually appointed whose office is entirely ministerial, although the same officer in England has also judicia functions. By the stat. 8. Eliz. c. 16. each county is to have a distinct sheriff, it having been a practice before that, for one person to be sheriff of two counties in many instances.

As keeper of the peace in the county, he may apprehend and commit to prison, all persons who break the peace, and may compel persons attempting to break the peace to enter into recognizance or security to keep it inviolate. It is his duty to pursue and arrest all criminals, and commit them to gaol for safe custody. He is to defend the county from the public enemy, in case his county be hostilely invaded. In order to furnish him with the means of enforcing his authority, he has power whenever the peace of the county is disturbed, or felons are to be apprehended for crimes of magnitude, to command the attendance and assistance of all or any of the inhabitants of his

county, above the age of fifteen years, who are bound to obey under pain of fine and imprisonment (Stat. 2. Hen. 5. c. 8.) This force is called the posse comitatus, or power of the county. Although it can seldom, if ever, be necessary for a sheriff to command the rising en masse of the people to his aid, yet it is the legal duty of every person to render cordial assistance to the sheriff, in the cases above enumerated, for the preservation of the peace, and in order to give a due weight and respectability to the lawful authorities of the county, and repress disobedient spirits. The sheriff though thus a general conservator the peace in his precinct, is not to act as an ordinary jus tice of the peace, (Stat. 1. Mar. st. 2. c. 8.) as these functions are only given him to add weight and dignity to his station as a chief minister of the laws, and his general care of the county must not divert him from the other and more appropriate duties of his office.

The sheriff's peculiar duty is to execute the orders of the Courts of Justice, and the writs issued out of these courts in the name of the Sovereign. In civil causes he serves the writ on the party defendant he arrests for debt and takes bail for the appearance of the debtor, he attaches the property of absent or absconding debtors. He summons and returns the juries to try all causes in the courts of law; he executes the judgment of the courts, by the detention of parties, the sale of property, the dividing of lands or whatever else may be the decision.

In criminal cases he has charge of all prisoners, and is bound to execute the sentence of the law pronounced by the judges.

He is bound to attend all the courts of a higher order, to preserve the tribunals from annoyance or insult, and for this purpose has a direct authority over the constables appointed to attend. He has also to attend to return all

writs to the courts from whence they are directed to him; he attends the justices of the peace in their Quarter Sessions: we have already described his power and duty in the holding elections of members; besides this he attends at all public meetings of the inhabitants, which it is the English usage for the sheriff to call together when required by a reasonable number of respectable freeholders—not that such a requisition or his presence are legally essential, but they help to ensure order and regularity of proceedings. The sheriff of Halifax, attends the ceremonial of opening and closing the session of the Legislature, with peace officers to keep order. It is the further duty of the sheriff to seize to the king's use all lands devolving to the crown by Escheat or otherwise, to levy all fines and forfeitures, and to seize and keep all Waifs, Wrecks and Estrays.

He is also charged with the care of the gaol, and is made responsible for the safe keeping of prisoners for crime or for debts. He has the appointment of the gaoler. He also may appoint deputies, as his duties are too numerous to execute them all in person. For the conduct of his deputies he is civilly, though not criminally responsible; those deputies are either general or special. The general deputy is authorized to execute any writs or orders that he receives for his principal. The special deputy is nominated for some particular service, and usually is appointed at the request and risk of a private

Some of the counties of the

plaintiff in some civil suit. province are so large that they have been divided into districts. The sheriff acting in the district of his residence and a deputy in each other district exercising all or nearly all his functions.

There are some acts in which the sheriff must be personally present, such as the execution of a writ of partition; but generally his duties can be legally performed by deputation. The escape of a prisoner makes the sheriff