Britton fol. 18. whereof the Prisoner dieth this is Felony in the Goaler by the Common Law And this is the Cause That if a Prisoner dye in Prison the Coroner ought to sit upon him See also the said Cook Flet. lib. 1. c. 26 Fol. 34. cap. Petty-Treason how Prisoners are to be used wherein is also an account of an Indictment of a Coaler for evil usage of his Prisoner fol. 35. in Trin. 7. E. 3. cor Rege rot 44 -That whereas one R. B. of T. was taken and detained in the Prison of Lincoln Castle 1 E. 3. cap. 7. for a certain Debt of Statute-Merchant in the Custody of T. B. Constable of the Castle L. aforesaid That the said T. B. put the said R. into the Common Goal amongst Thieves in a filthy Prison contrary to the form of the Statute c. and there detained him till he had paid him a Fine of 40 s. Whereupon Cook makes this Observation So as hereby it appeareth where the Law requireth that a Prisoner should be kept in safe and sure Custody yet that must be without any Pain or Torment to the Prisoner So Co. 3. Inst 52. saith If a Prisoner by Duress that is hard usage of the Goaler cometh to untimely Death this is Murther in the Goaler and in the Law implieth Malice in respect of the Cruelty Horn in the Mirror of Justice p. 288. saith That it is an Abusion of the Law that Prisoners are put into Irons or other Pain before they are Attainted See also Cook 3. Inst 34.35 And Horn also p. 34 35. reckons the starving of Prisoners by Famine to be among the Crimes of Homicide in a Goaler Vox plebis part 1. f. 55 56. Which also Cook in his 3. Inst chap. 29. Tit. Felony in Goalers by Duress of Imprisonment c. by Statute and by the Common Law Fol. 91. And next let us see what the Law saith for the Fees due to Goalers The Mirror of Justice pag. 288. tells us That it is an Abusion of the Law that Prisoners or others for them pay any thing for their Entries into the Goal or for their Going out This is the Common Law there is no Fee due to them by the Common Law See what the Statutes say The Statute of Westin 1. cap. 26. saith That no Sheriff or other Minister of the King shall take Reward for doing their Offices but what they take of the King if they do they shall Suffer double to the Party aggrieved and be Punished at the Will of the King Under this Word Minister of the King are included all Escheators Coroners Goalers c. as Cook 2. Inst fol. 209. affirms And agreeable is Stampf pl. Coron 49. Nay by the Statute of 4. E. 3. cap. 10. Goalers are to receive Thieves and Fellons taking nothing by way of Fees for the Receipt of them So odious is this Extortion of Goalers that very Thieves Felons are exempt from payment of Fees And we find in our Law-Books That no Fees are due to any Officer Goaler or Minister of Justice but only those which are given by Act of Parliament for if a Goaler will prescribe for any Fees the Prescription is void because against this Act of Parliament made 3 E. 1. being an Act made within time of Memory and takes away all manner of pretended Fees before and we are sure none can be raised by colour of Prescription since And therefore we find by the Books of 8. E. 4. fol. 18. That a Marshal or Goaler cannot detain any Prisoner after his discharge from the Court but only for the Fees of the Court the Court being not barred by this Statute of Westm 1. aforementioned and if he do he may be Indicted for Extortion And agreeable to this is the Book of 21 F. 7. Fol. 16. where amongst other things it 's held for Law That if a Goaler or Guardian of a Prison takes his Prisoner's proper Garment Cloak or Money from him it is a Trespass and the Goaler shall be answerable for it So that we may undeniably conclude That there is no Fee at all due to any Goaler or Guardian of a Prison from the Prisoner but what is due unto him by special Act of Parliament And if a Goaler or Guardian of a Prison shall take any thing as a Fee of his Prisoner he may and ought to be Indicted of Extortion and upon Conviction to be removed from his Office and if his Prisoner by Constraint Menace or Duress be enforced to give him Money he may recover that Money against the Goaler again in an Action of the Case at Common Law Item Stat. 23. H. 6. Chap. 10. The King considering the great Perjury Extortion and Oppression which be and have been in this Realm by his Sheriffs Under-Sheriffs and their Clerks Stat. 4. H. 4.5 Bailiffs and Keepers of Prisons c. hath Ordained by Authority aforesaid in eschewing all such Extortion Rast Predict fol. 318. Perjury and Oppression That no Sheriff shall let to Farm in any manner his County nor any of his Bayliwicks Nor that any of the said Officers and Ministers Cook Predict 365. by occasion or under colour of their Office 21 H. 7. fol. 16. shall take any other thing by them nor by any other person to their use profit or avail of any person by them or any of them to be Arrested or Attached for the omitting of any Arrest or Attachment to be made by their Body or of any person by them or any of them by force or colour of their Office Arrested or Attached for Fine Fee Suit of Prison Main-prize letting to Bail or shewing any Ease or Favour to any such Person Arrested or to be Attached for their Reward or Profit but such as follow That is to say For the Sheriff 20 d. The Officer which maketh the Arrest or Attachment 4 d. And the Goaler of the Prison if he be committed to Ward 4 d. And that all Sheriffs Rast predict fol. 371 Bailiffs Goalers or any other Officer or Ministers which do contrary to this Ordinance in any point of the same shall lose to the Party in this behalf indammaged or grieved Stat. 21 Ed. 3. his treble Damages and shall forfeit the Sum of 40 l. for every such Offence the one Moiety to the King the other to the Prosecutor to be recovered at Common Law in either of the Courts of King's Bench or Common-Pleas at Westminster This is a perfect Account of the Goalers Fees in all Cases where Persons are laid in Prison upon Civil Matters and Causes which Fee of 4 d. is more then any other Statute or Law allows them to take from their Prisoners But in such Cases where the King is Party it s Established that the Prisoners in all the King's Prisons should be maintain'd at the King's Charge and out of the Kings Revenues according to the Old Law of the Land Much less to have Money extorted from
so we may reasonably presume they could Rightfully Demand nothing for them BY what pretension then does the Chair Demand it now We know of no Donation or Concession granted by Law to Entitle them to such a Sale And without such a Donation 't is all but Encroachment Iniquity Injustice and Usurpation where there was no Original or Fundamental Claim to Warrant and Introduce their Pretensions Nay it is expresly against the Commands of GOD and the Laws of the Land as is here made Appear NOW for the Effects of this Corruption How often have the suffering Prisoners Remonstrated against all this Cruelty and petition'd the Magistracy for a Redress of their Grievances and a Retrenchment of the Exorbitant Demands of a Goal But all their Prayers have either never been heard or never minded For the Magistracy is Deaf to such a Work of Reformation by reason his own Interest is concerned in the matter and therefore the Abuses and Oppressions of the Goaler who not only repays himself but acquires oft-times a great Estate to boot are still Connived at HAVING been thus more particular in the Goalers and Serjeants Case we shall leave the Reader himself to judge what no less hard Measures we daily Groan under without Relief from Councellors Attorneys and Clerks c. in their Sphere of Law when about 1500 l. is paid for a City-Council or Attorneys place and divers other Officers which by the same fore-mentioned Proportion of Annual Advantage must raise near 500 l. per Annum to ballance the excessive Price they pay for them And tho' they live at very extravagant Rates yet if they enjoy their Places any considerable time they leave great Estates behind them 'T IS by this means that purchas'd Cruelty grows bold and plumes it self in its Extortion being not only Countenanced but Justifyed by the Magistrate who raises the Value of an unlawful Sale because he finds a numerous sort of People thriving and doing well by living and doing ill 'T is Example that corrupts us all For how commonly do the Under Officers Goalers c. excuse their Barbarity and unreasonable Exactions in alledging that they have no other way to make up the interest of their Purchase-Money So that they are hereby forced to lay the whole design of their Advantage upon the Calamities of the Miserable which inhumanity is too frequently conniv'd at by the Magistrate suffering Justice to be over-ruled by the perswasion of many Golden Temptations A Degenerate and Unworthy Practice quite contrary to the Office of a Good Magistrate whose Duty and Glory consists in curbing the growth of Oppression retrenching Exorbitances and in Searing away the proud Flesh of Rapine and Violence and not in Selling Impunity to the Evil-Doer 'T IS this alone that Steels and Case-hardens a Goaler's Conscience against all Pity and Remorse giving him the Confidence to demand Extortionary Fees and rackt-Chamber-Rent from his Prisoners or else crowding them into Holes Dungeons and Common-sides designedly made more Nasty to Terrify the Prisoner who for preservation of his Life is thereby forced to part with his Money or there to be Devoured by Famine and Diseases THIS makes him let his Tap-Houses at such prodigious Rates that where poor People ought to have the Best and Cheapest they have the worst in Quality and Smallest in Quantity at excessive Prices Also Farming his Beds to meer Harpies and his great Key to such pieces of Imperious Cruelty as are the worst of Mankind to the eternal Reproach of the City's Honour and Scandal of the Christian Religion while the bloated Patron himself all the while maintains his Family in Pride and an Imperious Wife or perhaps Impudent Mistriss in Excess and Luxury with what he has Unconscionably drained from the Ruin of the Unfortunate But see I pray whither will not these Lewd and Infamous Precedents at last lead us when even the common Hang-man encourag'd no doubt by these Examples will scarcely give a Malefactor a cast of his Office without a Bribe very Formally forsooth demanding his Fees and Higgling too as nicely with him as if he was going to do him some mighty Favour I will appeal now to the Tribunal of Justice it self by what Law or what Authority not claiming under the bad Title of illegal Custom any Sheriff who is the immediate Goaler himself and ought as we shall hereafter prove by reciting the Law to receive the Prisoner Gratis into Custody can so Unjustly presume to Sell the Deputation of any man's Liberty and Life to the controul of Sordid and Imperious Avarice I would fain know by what Surmise of Common Sense and it wou'd be very hard if Common Law and Common Sense should not agree a Keeper of a Prison can Demand a Recompence or Fee of a Prisoner for detaining him in Prison THERE is an Admission-Fee he Cries As if any person can deserve a Reward for opening the Door of Misery and Destruction to his Neighbour and common Friend For being so Civil as to admit him into the horrid Grave and Abyss of Imprisonment THERE is a Dismission-Fee too As if it were reasonable to Demand Money for letting him go whom the Law has set free ABUNDANCE of such Absurdities must of necessity follow to which no Law of GOD or Man nor no Sense or Reason can afford the least shadow or pretext of Countenance nay they all forbid and condemn it besides that unanswerable one before-mentioned viz. That the Officers buy their Places and therefore 't is Reasonable in them they should make the best of ' em BUT let that be once Remedied and the whole Babel Superstructure erected upon so abominable a Foundation will soon tumble down to the unspeakable Joy of all good Men the infinite Honour of the City-Magistrates the comfortable Relief of the Poor and to the long desir'd Triumph and Restoration of banisht Justice and Charity NOW for a due Redress of all those crying Mischiefs chiefs what could be more easily Reformed FOR Instance If the Council Attorney Clerk Serjeant Goaler c. had their places Gratis the very Retrenchments of their exorbitant Fees would be a Favour rather than Grievance for whilst the one keeps his Hundreds in his Pockets and the other his Thousands he is neither under the Temptation nor want of Extortion This establisht Fee would not only be enough for his Maintenance but be infinitely more to his Ease and Satisfaction For in this case he would lye under no Care or Necessity to fetch up the large Sums given for his Place which till Recover'd are reckon'd as so much Bread taken out of his Childrens Mouths BESIDES a moderate Perquisite in an Office that comes free from a kind Patron 's Gift is gratefully received whilst on the contrary there 's no Thanks owing for a Purchase tho' with never so large Profits But above all every Man would be then naturally carefull of a Legal Discharge of his Trust because he holds by the Tenure of a Quam diu
Assurance to receive or have any Money Fee Reward or other Profit directy or indirectly for any Office or Offices or for the Deputation of any Office or Offices or any part of them or to the intent that any Person should have exercise or enjoy any Office or Offices or the Deputation of any Office or Offices or any part of any of them which Office or Offices or any part or parcel of them shall in any wise touch or concern the Administration or Execution of Justice or the Receipt Comptrolment or Payment of any of the Kings Highness Treasure Money Rent Revenue Account Aulneage Auditorship or Surveying of any of the Kings Majesties Honors Castles Mannors Lands Tenements Woods or Hereditaments or any the Kings Majesties Customs or any Administration or necessary Attendance to be had done or executed in any of the Kings Majesties Custom-House or Houses the keeping of any of the Kings Majesties Towns Castles or Fortresses being used occupied or appointed for a Place of Strength or Defence or which shall concern or touch any Clerkship to be occupied in any manner of Court of Record wherein Justice is to be Ministred That then all and every such Person and Persons that shall so Bargain or Sell any of the said Office or Offices Deputation or Deputations or that shall take any Money Fee Reward or Profit for any of the said Office or Offices Deputation or Deputations of any of the said Offices or any part of any of them or that shall take any Promise Covenant Bond or Assurance for any Money Reward or Profit to be given for any of the said Offices Deputation or Deputations of any of the said Office or Offices or any part of any of them shall not only lose and forfeit all his and their Right Interest and Estate which such Person or Persons shall then have of in or to any of the said Office or Offices Deputation or Deputations or any part of any of them or of in or to the Gift or Nomination of any of the said Office or Offices Deputation or Deputations for the which Office or Offices or for the Deputation or Deputations of which Office or Offices or for any part of any of them any such Person or Persons shall so make any Bargain or Sale or take or receive any Sum of Money Fee Reward or Profit or any promise or Covenant or Assurance to have or receive any Fee Reward Money or Profit But also that all and every such Persons that shall give or pay any Sum of Money Reward or Fee or shall make any Promise Agreement Bond or Assurance for any of the said Offices or for the Deputation or Deputations of any of the said Office or Offices or any part of any of them shall immediately by and upon the same Fee Money or Reward given or paid or upon any such Promise Govenant Bond or Agreement had or made for any Fee Sum of Money or Reward to be paid as is aforesaid be adjudged a disabled Person in the Law to all intents and purposes to have occupy or enjoy the said Office or Offices Deputation or Deputations or any part of any of them Cook lib. 12.78 for the which such Person or Persons shall so give or pay any Sum of Money Fee or Reward or make any Promise Covenant Bond or other Assurance to give or pay any Sum of Money Fee or Reward And be it also Enacted by the Authority aforesaid That all and every such Bargains Sales Promises Bonds Agreements Covenants and Assurances as before Specified shall be void to and against Him and Them by whom any such Bargain Sale Bond Promise Covenant and Assurance shall be had or made Cook Rep. Lib. 12.78 Hill 8. Jac. IN this very Term the Case of Dr. Trevor who was Chancellour of a Bishop in Wales it was resolved that the Office of a Chancellour and Register c. in the Ecclesiastical Courts are within the Statute 5 Edw. 6. Cap. 16. The Words of which Statute are Any Office c. which shall in any wise touch or concern the Administration or Execution of Justice and the Words are strongly Pen'd against Corruption of Officers for they are Which shall in any wise touch or concern the Administration c. And the Preamble And for avoiding of Corruption which may hereafter happen to be in the Officers and Ministers of those Courts Places and Rooms wherein there is requisite to be had the true Administration of Justice in Service of Trust And to the Intent that Persons worthy and meet to be advanced to the Places where Justice is to be Ministred in any Service of Trust to be Executed shall be prefered to the same and none other Which Act being made for avoiding of Corruption in Officers c. and for the Advancement of Persons more Worthy and sufficient for to Execute the said Offices by which Justice and Right shall be also advanced shall be Expounded most benificially to suppress Corruption And in as much as the Law allows Ecclesiastical Courts to proceed in Case of Blasphemy Heresie Schism Incontinence c. And the Loyalties of Matrimonies of Divorce of the Right of Tithes Probate of Wills granting of Administrations c. And that from these proceedings depend not only the Salvation of Souls but also the Legitimation of Issues c. And that no Debt or Duty can be recovered by Executors or Administrators without Probate of Testaments or Letters of Administrations and other things of great consequence It is most reason that Officers which concern the Administration and Execution of Justice in these Points which concern the Salvation of Souls and the other matters aforesaid shall be within this Statute than Officers which concern the Administration or Execution of Justice in Temporal matters for this that Coruption of Offices in the said Spiritual and Ecclesiastical Causes is more dangerous than the Officers in Temporal Causes for the Temporal Judge commits the Party Convict to the Coaler but the Spiritual Judge commits the Person Excommunicate to the Devil Also those Officers do not only touch and concern the Administration of Justice c. But also are Services of great Trust for this that the Principal End of their proceedings is Pro Salute Animarum c. And there is no Exceptors or Proviso in the Statute for them It was resolved that such Offices were within the Purview of the said Statute Here follows the Duty of a Goaler to his Prisoners with his and other Officers Fees due by Law BY the Common Law we find as Bracton Lib 3. fol. 105. Goalers are ordained to hold Prisoners not to punish them For Imprisonment by the Law is neither ought to be no more than a bare restraint of Liberty without those illegal and unjust Distinctions of close and open Prison as is usual See Stamf. Pla. Cor. fol. 70. Therefore Cook in his 3 Inst 91. saith That if the Goaler keep the Prisoners more streightly then he ought of Right