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"The sheriff is an officer of very great antiquity in this king

dom.

-The deputy of the earl, or comes-

-The king by his letters patent committing custodium comitatus to the sheriff, and him alone.

-All the judges, together with the other great officers, and privy counsellors meet

-The judges propose three persons to be reported (if approved of) to the king, who afterwards appoints one of them to be sheriff.

-Sheriffs were formerly chosen by the inhabitants of the several counties." I Bl. Com. 339, 340, 341.

THE sheriff in this state, from an early period, was elected by the people of the county, and commissioned by the governor; afterwards, to give the governor some selection, two persons were elected, and returned; one of whom was commissioned. Experience having shown abuses in the office, several successive acts of assembly passed regulating the election, and commissioning of sheriffs.

I have not the old acts of assembly by me to enable me to trace minutely these provisions; nor is it of moment to be particular on this head; as, whether the election, was at first annual, or triennial; or whether on the expiration of his term, the same person was re-eligible. This, however, I recollect from memory, that, at an early period, it was provided that two persons being elected, and returned to the governor, and one commissioned, the other should not act as deputy to him that was commissioned. This, doubtless, to prevent collusion, and, to use a mercantile phrase, joining

stocks in the election.

It was afterwards provided, that no sheriff shall be reeligible, but at an interval of three years from the time he had been sheriff; and farther, by an act before the revolution, that no one who had acted in the capacity of deputy to the sheriff within one year from the expiration of his office, should be eligible to the office of sheriff. This was a most salutary law, as precluding favour to a former sheriff to some extent; salutary-There are always rules to be taken upon sheriffs to return writs, pay money, &c. and attachments

may be necessary to enforce these rules; and attachment to the person may be in the way of serving the attachments ordered by the court.

I do not find this act; I mean to say, that I cannot immediately turn to it, not having what are called the province laws in my office. It would not seem to have been brought forward in Dallas, Smith, or Purdon. Is it possible that it could have been repealed, or considered so? M'Kean acted upon it in 1800, in the case of a deputy elected in Allegheny county. He rejected him who was highestupon the return precisely upon this ground.

Governor

An abuse of the office in another way, had taken place about this time; as will be seen by the following document taken from the docquet of the supreme court, and the papers filed in that office, or in the hands of the counsel; and my own note taken at the time.

Supreme Court, March Term, 1801.

Shoemaker v. Wilson-Judgment of March, 1797, fi. fa. to Septem. Testatum fi. fa. to Allegheny of Decemb. Levied on 289 tracts of land 400 acres each aud 74 warrants 400 acres each. Salc of warrants as personal property for 720 dolls. On the 280 tract inquisition held and land condenmed. Venditioni exponas to March 1798. Land sold for the sum of 4000 dollars 81.200, less than 5 certs an acre.

5 March 1798, On motion of Joseph Thomas, and by consent of Thomas Collins, rule to shew cause why the sale of the 74 warrants under the fi. fa. and the sales under the venditioni exponas should not be set aside. 12 May 1798. Deeds acknowledged in Alegheny and recorded the same day.

Attorney Thomas absconding, nothing heard until March 1830. Duncan in support of the rule. Levy, inquisition, and the words James Sample, Sheriff, not in the hand writing of James Sample, but of Thomas Collins. Warrants and Tracts put up and sold in

bulk several at a time.

No copy of the rule to set aside the sales, served upon the pur chasers prior to making out the deeds. Proof that at the time of consenting to the rule, Thomas Collins expressly stipulated that a copy should be served upon the purchaser.

Alleged that Thomas Collins was hims if the purchaser, and had notice of the rule. Postponed to give time to establish this.

March Term, 1801. J. Ingersol, Tilghman, Duncan in support of the rule. Dallas, and Reed in support of the sales.

Deposition of James Sample that his signature to the return of sales was in the hand writing of Thomas Collins, but that he supposed he had given him authority.

2. Deposition of J. Sample at a subsequent date and in the hand writing of Thomas Collins, that he (Sample) had given him authority to sign his name.

Allegation that Collins was the principal purchaser. And yet having notice of the rule had surreptitiously gone forward, and with a haste which marks that knowledge, procured the deeds to be acknowledged, and to be recorded the same day.

Dallas. It cannot be. That would be a ground not for setting aside the sales only, but the Attorney himself.

Depositions read establishing the fact that Collins was interest ed in the sales originally, and at the time of taking the rule. Sales set aside on the ground of irregularity, the setting up and selling more than one warrant and tract at a time.

Here, it may be seen, was attorney at law, deputy sheriff, and purchaser in the same person. I believe I might say, that at the time of the transaction, 1797-8, there was deputy prothonotary, also.

Hence it will be seen, that if this act of Assembly, of which I speak, should, from some oversight, be found to be repealed, or considered so by some implication, it will be expedient to re-enact it, adding perhaps a section making it penal for an attorney at law to act as deputy sheriff, or deputy prothonotary, or be a concealed purchaser at a sheriff's sale.

It is true, it may be a long time, before such a combination of characters, and combination of functions in one. character, may again exist as did at this time in that western country.

For it is a principle of universal law, that the natural born subject to one prince, cannot, by any act of his own, no, not by swearing allegiance to another, put off or discharge his natural allegiance to the former: for this natural allegiance was intrinsic, and primitive, and antecedent to the other; and cannot be divest

ed without the concurrent act of that prince, to whom it was first due. Indeed, the natural born subject to one prince to whom he owes allegiance, may be entangled by subjecting himself absolutely to another: but it is his own act that brings him into these straits and difficulties, of owing service to two masters; and it is unreasonable that, by such voluntary act of his own, he should be able at pleasure to unloose those bands, by which he is connected to his natural prince." 1 Bl. Com. 369.

I had passed over this dictum or position of Blackstone, seeing the very excellent note of judge Tucker in loco. Nor does it occur to me to add any thing, now, more than the sanction of my opinion, if that should carry with it any weight. I must therefore say that I concur in totis with what this American jurist has said upon the subject. I did not wonder at that great man, the British commentator, laying it down to be the law of England, that the natural born subject, cannot put off his allegiance; but that he should lay it down to be a principle of universal law, is the ground of my astonishment. But more astonishing still, is it, that, even some in this country, the United States, seem to have been led away with something like the same sentiment. I can account for it only, in the case of intelligent men, on the ground of political bias; and this from not having a hand in the administration, or that party in the republic to whom they are attached, not having a hand in it. For I admit that when Jefferson in his inaugural address, said "we are all federalists, all republicans," he spoke the truth, with the exception of a few attached to foreign governments. But had he said, we are all out; all in; would this have been correct? I excuse the minority, on the ground of human passions. But the time, in the nature of our government, cannot be remote when those that are out, will be in, and why suffer for a moment, the messuage to be dilapidated, and a single stone of the building lost. I consider it, the losing a corner stone; the surrendering an essential right, if we admit for a moment the degradation of our honour, the lessening our privilege as an independent people, that we cannot receive all that come to us without questions asked, suve

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so far as we chuse to put them. The law of that island (Britain) is "lex sub graviore lege,"

-Divisos orbe Brittannos;

It is subject to the divine law, the law of nature, and the law of nations. Universal law, is directly the contrary of this lex loci, or feudal law of Britain. For what is that lex loci but an institution of barbarism, introduced by the Norman conquest? to whom is this allegiance due, of which they speak, but, to the person of the sovereign? See Calvin's Case. How is it that the exuere patriam, has got into the place of the exuere ligeantiam? William III. did not dare to confound them; and when he took the duke of Berwick* prisoner in the Low countries, did not venture to

In the sketch of an historical panegyric of the marshal of Berwick, by president Montesquieu, prefixed to the memoirs of the marshal, the question is noticed, whether he had a right to become a Frenchman. This question says the president, Grotius, Puffendorf and all those writers who have influenced the opinions of Europe, have decided; and declared to him, that he was a Frenchman, and subject to the laws of France. In these Memoirs, the marshal mentions the case of a general officer, a Portuguese, while the war was carried on by him (the marshal) at the head of Spanish forces, on the frontier of Portugal, who wrote a note by a countryman, " to acquaint me, that although he was not known to me, yet he had so much respect for his catholic majesty, that he would give me the intelligence of all that passed; and indeed he was very exact in apprising me before hand of all the different movements, the enemy intended to make, which was of great service to me. He sent word that he was very desirous of seeing me; that he could easily contrive it, when it was his turn of duty, under pretence of visiting the out posts; and if I would send an officer to him at a certain spot, he would come there by night and visit me in my own quarters. Accordingly every thing was executed as he had proposed, and I held a conference of two hours with him, with which I was very well satisfied, from the accurate and particular account he gave me of the state of the enemy and their designs. This visionary man had taken it into his head, that he was serving the king his master by this fine contrivance; for, said he, it is against his interest to be at war with Spain; so that it is necessary that his eyes should be opened by

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