354 



ANNUAL REGISTER, 1810. 



therefore, form my opinion alto- 

 gether upon cases which have 

 arisen upon the execution of writs 

 or warrants issuing from other 

 courts, and which seem to fall 

 within the same principle. 



"I finditlaiddownin Semayne's 

 case, 5 Co. 91, that where the King 

 is a party, the sheriff may break 

 open the defendant's house, either 

 to arrest him or to do otherexecu- 

 tion of the king's process ; if other- 

 wise he cannot enter. So if the 

 defendant be in the house of an- 

 other man, the sheriff may do the 

 same ; but he cannot break into 

 the house of the defendant in the 

 execution of any process at the suit 

 of an individual. This distinction 

 proceeds, as 1 apprehend, upon the 

 greater importance of enforcing 

 the process of the crown for the 

 public benefit, than that of indivi- 

 duals for the support of their pri- 

 vate rights. Reasoning from hence, 

 I should think that the Speaker's 

 warrant, which had issued to ap- 

 prehend a man under sentence of 

 commitment for a breach of the 

 privileges of the House of Com- 

 mons, might be executed in the 

 same manner witli criminal process 

 in the name of the king, inasmuch 

 as those privileges were given to 

 the House of Commons for the be- 

 nefit of the public only ; and the 

 public are interested in the due 

 support of them. If the act had 

 been done, and I liad been asked 

 vvliether it could be defended, I 

 should say that it could; butwhere 

 it is previously known that the exe- 

 cution of the warrant will be re- 

 sisted by force, and if death should 

 ensue in such conflict, the officer 

 who executes the warrant would 

 stand justified, o not, as thebreak- 

 ^ng of the house may be held law- 



ful or unlawful ; I feel myself 

 obliged to bring this under his no- 

 tice, leaving him to judge for 

 himself whether he will venture 

 to act upon my opinion, which 

 has no direct authority in point 

 to support it, but rests upon rea- 

 soning from other cases, which 

 appear to me to fall within the 

 same principle. — Should the offi- 

 cer resolve to break into the house 

 if it be found necessary, he must 

 be careful, first to signify the 

 cause of his coming, and make re- 

 quest to open the doors, and not 

 use any force until it appears that 

 those within will not comply ; and 

 he should be assured that the par- 

 ty whom he seeks to apprehend 

 is within the house. For the pur- 

 pose of executing the warrant, he 

 may take with him a sufficient 

 force of such description as the 

 nature of the case renders neces- 

 sary. If he has reason to appre- 

 hend a degree of resistance which 

 can only be expelled by a military 

 force, he may take such force 

 with him; but in this case it will 

 be prudent to take with Iiim also 

 a civil magistrate. 



" I do not think it advisable to 

 execute the w-arrant in the night. 

 The officer should understand, 

 that when Sir Francis Burdett has 

 once been arrested, if lie after- 

 wards efil'Cts his escape or is res- 

 cued, his own house, or the house 

 of any other person into which he 

 retreats, may be broken for the 

 purpose of retaking him. 



"V. GiBRS." 



" Lincoln s Inn, April 8." 



Letter from the Electors of West- 

 minster to Sir Francis Buriletf. i 

 " Sir, — We nominated you to 



be our representative,withoutyour 



