7. returning from transportation; 8. taking a reward to return stolen goods; 7. Another capital offence against public justice is the returning from transportation, or being seen at large in Great Britain, before the expiration of the term for which the offender was ordered to be transported, or had agreed to transport himself. This is made felony without benefit of clergy in all cases, by statutes 4 Geo. I. c. 11; 6 Geo. I. c. 23; 16 Geo. II. c. 15, and 8 Geo. III. c. 15, as is also the assisting them to escape from such as are conveying them to the port of transportation (12) (13). 8. An eighth is that of taking a reward, under pretence of helping the owner to his stolen goods. This was a contrivance carried to a great length of villany in the beginning of the reign of George the first: the confederates of the felons thus disposing of stolen goods, at a cheap rate, to the owners (12) It has been thought that, where a convict has been pardoned upon condition of transporting himself for life or a certain number of years, if he did not comply with that condition, he might be remitted to his original sentence, and in some cases that he was subject to no other punishment; see Leach's Crown Cuses, 197, 303. But the 24 Geo. III. c. 56, seems to include every possible case, by enacting, that if any offender shall be ordered by the court to be transported, or shall agree to transport himself on certain conditions, either for life or any number of years, and shall be afterwards at large before the expiration of the term, without lawful cause, in any part of Great Britain or Ireland, he shall, being lawfully convicted thereof, suffer death without benefit of clergy.—Cн. (13) By 5 Geo. IV. c. 84, § 22, these provisions are re-enacted. By § 23, it shall be sufficient in any indictment for any offence previously mentioned, to allege the order made for the transportation, without alleging any indictment, trial, conviction, judgment or sentence, or any pardon, or intention of mercy, or signification thereof. And by $ 24, the certificate of the clerk of the court where the offender was sentenced, containing the effect and substance only (omitting the formal part) of the indictment and conviction of such offender, and of the order for his transportation, shall be sufficient evidence of such conviction and order for transportation. In Rer v. Sutcliffe, 1 Russell, 402, which was founded on 6 Geo. I. c. 23, § 7, which requires the officer to certify a transscript briefly, and in few words, containing the effect and tenor of the indictment and conviction; and also on 24 Geo. III. c. 56, § 5, which requires a certificate containing the effect and substance only, omitting the formal part of the indictment and conviction; the indictment stated, that the prisoner was convicted of grand larceny within benefit of clergy, and the certificate was in the same form; and they were both held to be insufficient. So in Rex v. Watson, R. & R. C. C. 468, which was founded on 56 Geo. III. c. 27, $8, which requires the certificate to contain the effect and substance only, omitting the formal part of the indictment and conviction, and order for transportation; the indictment and certificate stated only that the prisoner had been convicted of felony, without stating the nature of the felony; and they were both held to be insufficient, and the prisoner was remitted to his former sentence. themselves, and thereby stifling all further inquiry. The famous Jonathan Wild had under him a well-disciplined corps of thieves who brought in all their spoils to him: and he kept a sort of public office for restoring them to the owners at half price. To prevent which audacious practice, to the ruin and in defiance of public justice, it was enacted by statute 4 Geo. I. c. 11, that whoever shall take a reward under the pretence of helping any one to stolen goods, shall suffer as the felon who stole them; unless he causes such principal felon to be apprehended and brought to trial, and also gives evidence against him. Wild, still continuing in his old practice, was upon this statute at last convicted and executed (m) (14). stolen goods: 9. Receiving of stolen goods, knowing them to be stolen, is 9. receiving also a high misdemesnor and affront to public justice. We have seen in a former chapter (n), that this offence, which is only a misdemesnor at common law, by the statutes 3 and 4 W. and M. c. 9, and 5 Ann. c. 31, makes the offender accessary to the theft and felony (15). But because the accessary (m) See stat. 6 Geo. I. c. 23, § 9. (14) In Rex v. Ledbitter, R. & R. C. C. 76, a police officer was indicted under 4 Geo. I. c. 11, § 4, for taking money under the pretence of helping a person to goods stolen from him, and convicted of felony, though the officer had no knowledge of the felon, and though he possessed no power to apprehend the felon, and though the property was never restored, and the officer had no power to restore it. By st. 7 & 8 Geo. IV. c. 29, § 58, it is enacted, "That every person who shall corruptly take any money or reward, directly or indirectly, under pretence, or upon account of helping any person, to any chattel, money, valuable security, or other property whatsoever, which shall by any felony or misdemeanor have been stolen, taken, obtained, or converted as aforesaid, shall (unless he cause the offender to be apprehended and brought to trial for the same,) be guilty of felony, and being convicted thereof, shall be liable, at the discretion of the court, to be trans (n) See p. 38. ported beyond the seas for life, or for By sect. 59, advertising a reward The 4 Geo. I. c. 11, § 4, relating to, and the 1 Geo. IV. c. 115, directing the degree of punishment for this offence, are also repealed by this sta tute. (15) The 3 & 4 W. & M., so far as [*133] cannot in *general be tried, unless with the principal or after the principal is convicted, the receivers by that means frequently eluded justice. To remedy which, it is enacted by statute 1 Ann. c. 9, and 5 Ann. c. 31, that such receivers may still be prosecuted for a misdemesnor, and punished by fine and imprisonment, though the principal felon be not before taken so as to be prosecuted and convicted (16). And, in case of receiving stolen lead, iron, and certain other metals, such offence is, by statute 29 Geo. II. c. 30, punishable by transportation for fourteen years (o) (17). So that now the prosecutor has two methods in his choice: either to punish the receivers for the misdemesnor immediately, before the thief is taken (p); or to wait till the felon is convicted, and then punish them as accessaries to the felony. But it is provided by the same statutes, that he shall only make use of one, and not both, of these methods of punishment. By the same statute also, 29 Geo. II. c. 30, persons having lead, iron, and other metals, in their custody, and not giving a satisfactory account how they came by the same, are guilty of a misdemeanor and punishable by fine or imprisonment. And by statute 10 Geo. III. c. 48, all knowing receivers of stolen plate or jewels, taken by robbery on the highway, or when a burglary accompanies the stealing, may be tried as well before as after the conviction of the principal, and whether he be in or out of custody; and, if convicted, shall be adjudged guilty of felony, and transported for fourteen years (18). (0) See also stat. 2 Geo. III. c. 28, § 12, for the punishment of receivers of goods stolen by bumboats, &c. in the Thames. (p) Foster, 373. regards this subject, is repealed by 7 & (16) 1 Ann. c. 9, except § 3, is re- (17) Repealed by 7 & 8 Geo. IV. c. 27. (18) By 1 & 2 Geo. IV. c. 75, § 1, pilots and others are to deposit anchors, cables, and other ships' materials found by them, in places appointed by the Act; and concealing such articles forfeits all claim to salvage, and renders the offenders liable as receivers of stolen goods. By § 12, persons fraudulently purchasing or receiving such anchors, &c. shall be considered receivers of stolen goods. By § 15, pilots and others conveying such anchors, &c. to foreign parts, and there selling them, shall be guilty of felony, and punishable with seven years' transportation. 10. Of a nature somewhat similar to the two last is the 10. theft-bote, or offence of theft-bote, which is where the party robbed not felony, which And by § 22, offences against the Act shall be tried in the county where the goods are found, or if sold abroad, in the county where the person selling them resides. This Act was made to revive and continue two former temporary Acts of 49 & 53 Geo. III. By 3 Geo. IV. c. 24, entitled "An Act for extending the Laws against Receivers of Stolen Goods, to Receivers of Stolen Bonds, Bank Notes, and other Securities for Money," all persons receiving or buying any exchequer order or tally, or any exchequer bill, bank note, South Sea bond, or any other security for money, knowing the same to have been stolen, are liable to be prosecuted as receivers of stolen goods, and to be punished according to the laws previously in force against offenders receiving stolen goods. The provisions of 2 Geo. II. c. 25, are made to extend to this Act. Parties offending against this Act may be convicted either before or after the conviction of the principal offender. By stat. 7 & 8 Geo. IV. c. 29, § 54, it is enacted, That if any person shall receive any chattel, money, valuable security, or other property whatsoever, the stealing or taking whereof shall amount to a felony, either at common law, or by virtue of this Act, such person knowing the same to have been feloniously stolen or taken, every such receiver shall be guilty of felony, and may be indicted and convicted either as an accessary after the fact, or for a substantive felony; and, in the latter case, whether the principal felon shall or shall not have been previously convicted, or shall or shall not be amenable to justice; and every such receiver, howsoever convicted, shall be liable, at the discretion of the court, to be transported beyond the seas for any term not exceeding fourteen years, nor less than seven years, or to be imprisoned for any term not exceeding three years, and, if a male, to be once, twice, or thrice publicly or privately whipped (if the court shall so think fit,) in addition to such imprisonment: provided always, that no person, however tried for receiving, as aforesaid, shall be liable to be prosecuted a second time for the same offence. By sect. 55, That if any person shall receive any chattel, money, valuable security, or other property whatsoever, the stealing, taking, obtaining, or converting whereof is made an indictable misdemeanor by this Act, such person knowing the same to have been unlawfully stolen, taken, obtained, or converted, every such receiver shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and may be indicted and convicted thereof, whether the person guilty of the principal misdemeanor shall or shall not have been previously convicted thereof, or shall or shall not be amenable to justice; and every such receiver shall, on conviction, be liable, at the discretion of the court, to be transported beyond the seas for the term of seven years, or to be imprisoned for any term not exceeding two years, and, if a male, to be once, twice, or thrice, publicly or privately whipped (if the court shall so think fit,) in addition to such imprison ment. By sect. 56, all receivers, whether charged as accessaries after the fact to the felony, or with a substantive felony, or with a misdemeanor only, may be tried at the same place as the principal, or where the property is found in their possession, or where they actually received such property. And, by sect. 60, where the stealing or taking of any property whatsoever is by this Act punishable on summary conviction, either for every offence or for the first and second only, or for the first offence only, any person who shall receive any such property, knowing the compounding of the party an accessary; formerly made only knows the felon, but also takes his goods again, or other amends, upon agreement not to prosecute (19). This is frequently called compounding of felony, and formerly was held to make a man an accessary; but is now punished only with fine and imprisonment (g). This perversion of justice, in the old Gothic constitutions, was liable to the most severe and [*134] infamous punishment. And the Salic law, "latroni eum *similem habuit, qui furtum celare vellet, et occulte sine judice compositionem ejus admittere (r) (20)." By statute 25 Geo. II. c. 36, even to advertise a reward for the return of things stolen, with no questions asked, or words to the same purport, subjects the advertiser and the printer to a forfeiture of 507. each (21). 11. common barretry, which 11. Common barretry is the offence of frequently excidisqualifies from ting and stirring up suits and quarrels between his majesty's subjects, either at law or otherwise (s) (22). The punish practising in the law; (4) 1 Hawk. P. C. 125. (r) Stiernh. de jure Goth. 1. 3, c. 5. (s) 1 Hawk. P. C. 243. same to be unlawfully come by, shall, An indictment against a receiver, as notes, the property and chattels of A., the word chattels was rejected as surplusage; Morris's case, Leach, 525. The 29 Geo. II. c. 30, and 10 Geo. III. c. 48, respecting receivers, are, by 7 & 8 Geo. IV. c. 27, repealed, and also the 13 Geo. III. c. 31, § 4 & § 5; 21 Geo. III. c. 69; 22 Geo. III. c. 58; 3 Geo. IV. c. 24; and 3 Geo. IV. c. 114. (19) Some particular favour should be shewn to the felon, to make the party amenable, as the mere receiving one's goods again can scarcely be sufficient to constitute the act a misdemeanor; 1 Hawk. c. 59, § 7. (20) Considered as a thief him who attempted to conceal the theft, and to receive secret satisfaction for it, without bringing the offender to justice. (21) The 25 Geo. II. c. 36, § 1, is repealed by 7 & 8 Geo. IV. c. 27; and see, on this subject, 7 & 8 Geo. IV. c. 29, § 59, ante note (14). (22) Disturbing the peace, making false inventions, propagating evil reports and calumnies, and spreading |