the said J. H. and then and there being in the said dwelling house, and in and upon the said J. H. then and there being in the [*840] peace of God and our said lord the now king, in the same dwelling house, with force and arms, to wit, with guns, swords, pistols, bayonets, and other dangerous and offensive weapons, did make an assault, and him the said J. H. did then and there beat, bruise, kick, and wound, and evilly treat, so that his life was thereby greatly despaired of, and him the said J. H. with loss of life, member, and other bodily harm, did then and there vehemently threaten and menace, and did then and there unlawfully, injuriously, and against the will of the said J. H. and without any legal warrant or authority in that behalf, seize, take, and drag, and forcibly carry the said J. H. from and out of his dwelling house in the parish aforesaid, in the county aforesaid, and him the said J. H. to a certain place called the castle of E. in the county aforesaid, and him the said J. H. to the castle of E. aforesaid, in a certain dark and loathsome place and dungeon there did unlawfully and injuriously put, cast, throw, and imprison, and kept and detained him so imprisoned for a long space of time, to wit, for the space of twenty four hours next following, and other injuries to the said J. H. then and there did, to the damage of the said J. H. and against the peace, &c. [Second count for assault and imprisonment as ante 835*. Third count for a common assault, &c. as ante 821.*] an assault ment That T. S. late of, &c. yeoman, on, &c. at, &c. within the pa- Indict. lace of our lord the now king, at W. aforesaid, in the said coun- ment for ty of M. (our said lord the king then being actually resident, and false and abiding in his royal person in his said palace) with force imprisonand arms, to wit, with swords, clubs, and other offensive wea- within the pons, in and upon one E. P. esquire, then and there being in the palace.(m) peace of God, and of our said lord the king, made an assault, and then and there beat, wounded, and ill treated him, so that his life was greatly despaired of, and then and there imprisoned him, and kept and detained him in prison for a long space of time, to wit, for the space of twenty-four hours, and then and there did other wrongs to the said E. P. to the great damage of (m) This was the indictment against Stubbs, 29 Geo. III. from Mr. J. Ashurst's paper books, 21 vol. 1. Second count. the said E. P. to the great annoyance and disturbance of our said lord the king, in manifest contempt, &c. to the evil and pernicious example, &c. and against the peace, &c. And the jurors, &c. do further present, that the said T. S. afterwards, to wit, on the said, &c. at, &c. aforesaid, within the palace of our said lord the now king, at W. aforesaid, with force and arms, to wit, with swords and other offensive weapons, made another assault upon the said E. P. then and there being in the peace of God and of our said lord the king, and then and there again beat, wounded [*841] and ill-treated him, so that his life was greatly despaired of, and then and there imprisoned him, and kept and detained him in prison for a long space of time, to wit, for the space of twenty hours, and then and there did other wrongs to the said E. P. to the great annoyance, &c. [as before.] And the jurors, &c. that the said T. S. afterwards, to wit, on the said, &c. at, &c. aforesaid, within the limits of the palace of our said lord the now king, at W. aforesaid, in the county of M. with force and arms, to wit, with swords and other offensive weapons, made another assault upon the said E. P. then and there being in the peace of God and of our said lord the king, and then and there again beat and wounded and ill-treated him, so that his life was greatly despaired of, and then and there imprisoned him, and kept and detained him in prison for a long space of time, to wit, for the space of twenty hours, to the great annoyance, &c. [as before.] Third count. INDICTMENTS FOR THREATS—AT COMMON LAW. money un prosecu That W. W. late of, &c. being a person of an evil and disho- For exnest mind, and wickedly and maliciously intending and contri- torting ving by wicked, unlawful, and unjust means to obtain the mo- der prenies of divers true and honest subjects of our said lord the king, tence of for the maintenance and support of his evil course of living, ting for an and wickedly, "unjustly, and unlawfully contriving and intending unnatural crime. (n) to extort and procure a large sum of money from one S. M. en, &c. with force and arms, at, &c. aforesaid, unlawfully and - unjustly, and with a most wicked design and intent to extort, acquire, and obtain money from the said S. M. did falsely and wickedly charge and accuse one J. M. the son of him the said S. M. then and there being a good, true, faithful, and honest [*842] (1) From Mr. J. Ashurst's paper books 19 vol. 34. If the note given in this case was writen on the paper, &c. of the prrty injured, and was given immediately, there can be no doubt that the crime amounted to robbery. See ante post as to promissory notes, &c. being subjects of larceny. And even if time intervened, so that the prosecutor was not under the influence of fear, there is no doubt the attempt would be indictable as a misdemeanour at common law. But to make the attempt indictable as to constitute the of fence robbery, the threat must be of such a nature as to overawe a firm and prudent man. Of this kind is clearly the threat laid in the above precedent, as will be seen by analogy to the cases of robbery. But to threaten to institute a prosecution to recover penalties under a penal sta tute is not of this description, and For obtaining money by subject of our said lord the king, with the most horrid and detestable crime of attempting to commit sodomy on him the said W. W. and did then and there unlawfully and wickedly menace and threaten the said S. M. that he the said W. W. would prosecute the said J. M. for such pretended offence, unless he the said S. M. would then and there give and deliver his promissory note in writing to him the said W. W. for the payment of 2107. for his forbearance to prosecute the said J. M. for the said supposed offence. And the jurors, &c. do further say, that afterwards, to wit, on the said, &c. at, &c, aforesaid, in prosecution of his said malicious and wicked intent, and by means of his said wicked menaces and threats, he the said W. W. did then and there extort, obtain, and procure from the said S. M. a certain note in writing, subscribed with his own hand, whereby the said S. M. did promise to pay to the said W. W. the sum of 2107. in the proportions following, that is to say, the sum of 1057. part thereof on the fifth of April next after the making of the said note, and the remaining 1057. at Martinmas then following. Whereas in truth and in fact, he the said J. M. the son of the said S. M. never was guilty of the said pretended offence, or any other offence of the like nature, to the great damage of the said S. M. to the evil example, &c. and against the peace, &c. That M. W., J. S. and W. J. unlawfully and fraudulently contriving and intending to cheat and defraud one P. S. of his money, threaten on, &c. having the same P. S. in their custody imprisoned and ing to detained by the color and pretence of a certain warrant by the have the said M. J. and W. J. then and there deputed by R. L. sheriff party imprisoned assigned to keep the peace in the county of M. against the same and pilloried for P. S., unlawfully and unjustly laid such and so great threats upon perjury. him concerning the procuring him to be committed to the gaol of (0) the queen of Newgate, and to be imprisoned in the same, and to stand in and on a pillory for perjury, mentioned in the warrant, unless he the said P. S. should pay to M. W. the sum of twenty shillings, and should give his writing for the payment of the sum of fifty shillings, to the said M. W. within fourteen days then (0) This was the indictment against Woodward and others, translated from 6 East, 133. in notes. See note to the last precedent. * next following, and also should give a general release to the same [*843] M. W. so that the same P. S. by the threats aforesaid, laid upon him as aforesaid, and for the obtaining of his liberty then and there was forced and obliged to, and then and there did give and pay to the said M. W. the sum of twenty shillings of lawful money, &c. and did then and there sign his certain writing for the payment of the sum of fifty shillings to the same M. W. within fourteen days then next following, and did then and there deliver the same to the said M. W. and did also then and there deliver a certain writing of general release of him the said P. S. to the said M. W. and other wrongs to the said P. S. then and there did, to the great damage of the said P. S. in contempt, &c. to the evil example, &c. and against the peace, &c. INDICTMENT FOR THREATENING LETTERS. That A. B. late of, &c. on, &c. at, &c. knowingly, unlawful- On 9 Geo. (p) See other precedents, Cro. C. C. 84. Starkie 565. See a precedent under this act for forcibly rescuing a person from a constable charged with this offence ante 200. The offence is founded on 9 Geo. I. c. 22. usually called the Black Act, which provides that if any person shall knowingly send any letter without any name subscribed thereto, or signed with a fictitious name, demanding money, venison, or other valuable thing, or shall forcibly rescue any person in custody of any officer or other person, for this or other offence prohibited in the act, or shall by gift or promise of money or other reward, procure any of his majesty's subjects to join him in such unlawful act, he shall be guilty of felony without benefit of clergy. This provision was extended by 27 Geo. II. c. 15. which VOL. II: I. c. 22. for sending a threatening letter enacts, that if any person shall |