W A R 



WAR 



ftrong wall, and this frame or gate for the flood-tide firmly 

 fixed in the middle part, in order to let in and out the water. 

 They are fometimes conftrufted nearly on the fame princi- 

 ple aa thofe which are ufed at water-mills, and commonly 

 like the gates and fluices in canals for raifing the water to 

 afiill the pafTage of boats on tliem ; in fome cafes, too, fuch 

 gates are placed above the clough in a perpendicular man- 

 ner. The fizes and dimenfions of them are different ac- 

 cording to the differences in the circumilances of the cafes, 

 as well as the colt; of them. Some notion of each of which 

 has been given in fpeaking of the praftice of warping. See 

 Warping of Land. 



Warping, in Rope-Making, is running the yarn off the 

 winches into hauls to be tarred. 



WAV.pisG-Hook, for hanging the yarn on when warping 

 into hauls for tarring, is a large iron hook hung occafionally 

 to the warping-pofts. 



Warping-Po/?, a poll fourteen or fixteen inches diame- 

 ter, fixed in the middle of a rope-ground, for warping the 

 yarns into hauls. 



WAR RAN, in Geography. See Oran. 



WARRANAROU, a fmall illand near the eaft coaft of 



theifland of St. Vincent. N. lat. 13° 22'. W. long. 61" 11'. 



WARRANT, an aft, inftrument, or obligation, by 



which a perfon authorizes another to do fomething, which 



he had not otherwife a right to do. 



Warrant, in Latv, is a precept under the hand and 

 feal of fome officer, to bring any offender before the perfon 

 granting it. 



A warrant may be granted in extraordinary cafes by the 

 privy -council, or fecretaries of ftate ; but ordinarily by juf- 

 tices of the peace. This they may do in any cafes where 

 they have a jurifdiftion over the offence, in order to compel 

 the perfon accufed to appear before them. And this un- 

 doubtedly extends to all treafons, felonies, and breaches of 

 the peace ; and alfo to all fuch offences as they have power 

 to punifh by llatute. 



Sir Edward Coke lays it down, that a juftice of the peace 

 cannot iffue a warrant to apprehend a felon upon mere fuf- 

 picion, nor even till an indiftment be actually found ; but 

 this opinion has been combated by fir Matthew Hale, who 

 maintains that a juftice of peace hath power to iflue a war- 

 rant to apprehend a perfon accufed of felony, though not 

 yet indifted ; and that he may alfo iffue a warrant to appre- 

 hend a perfon fufpefted of felony, though the original fufpi- 

 cion be not in himfelf, but in the party that prays his war- 

 rant. But in both cafes it is proper to examine upon oath 

 the party requiring a wai-rant, as well to afcertain that there 

 is a felony or other crime aftually committed, without 

 which no warrant (hould be granted ; as alfo to prove the 

 caufe and probability of fufpefting the party, againlf whom 

 the warrant is prayed. This warrant ought to be under the 

 fiand and feal of the juftice ; fliould fet forth the time and 

 place of making, and the caufe for which it is made ; and 

 (hould be directed to the conftable, or other peace officer, 

 or it may be to any private perfon by name, requiring 

 him to bring the party either generally before any juftice 

 of the peace for the county, or only before the juftice who 

 granted it : the warranc in the latter cafe being called a 

 fpecial warrant. 



A general warrant to apprehend all perfons fufpefted, 

 without naming particularly, or defcribing any perfon in 

 fpecial, is illegal and void for its uncertainty ; for it is the 

 duty of the inagiftrate, and ought not to be left to the offi- 

 cer, to judge of the ground of fufpicion ; and a warrant to 

 apprehend all perfons guilty of a crime therein fpecified, is 

 no legal warrant ; becaufe the point, upon which its autho- 



6 



rity refts, \i a faft to be decided upon in a fubfeqnent trial ; 

 namely, whether the perfon apprehended upon it be really 

 guilty or not. It is, therefore, in faft, no warrant at all ; 

 for it will not juftify the officer who afts under it ; whereas 

 a warrant, properly penned (even though the magiflrate who 

 iffues it fhould exceed his jurifdiftion) will, by ftatute 

 24 Geo. II. cap. 44. at all events indemnify the officer, who 

 executes the fame minifterially. A praftice, indeed, had 

 obtained in the fecretaries' office, ever fince the Reftoration, 

 grounded on fome claufes in the afts for regulating th^ 

 prefs, of ifTuing general warrants to take up (without 

 naming any perfon in particular) the authors, printers, and 

 publi'hers, of fucli obfcene or feditious libels as were parti- 

 cularly fpecified iu the warrant. When thofe afts expired 

 in 1694. the fame praftice was inadvertently continued in 

 every reign, and under every adminiftration, except the four 

 lall years of queen Anne, down to the year 1763; whea 

 fuch a warrant being iffued, its validity was difputed ; ^nd 

 the warrant was adjudged, by the whole court of king's 

 bench, to be void. After which, the iifuing of fuch gene- 

 ral warrants was declared illegal by a vote of the houfe of 

 commons. Com. Journ. 22 April, 1766. 



When a warrant is received by the officer, he is bound to 

 execute it, fo far as the jurifdiftion of the magiftrate and of 

 himfelf extends. A warrant from the chief or other juf- 

 tice of the court of king's bench, extends all over the king- 

 dom ; and is tefted or dated England, and not any particu- 

 lar county. But the warrant of a juftice of peace in one 

 county mull be backed, that is, figned by a juftice of the 

 peace in another, before it can be executed there. For- 

 merly, regularly fpeaking, there ought to have been a frefh 

 warrant in every frefh county ; but the praftice of backing 

 warrants had lon^^ prevailed without law, and was at lall 

 authorized by ftatutcs 23 Geo. II. cap. 26. and 24 Geo. II. 

 cap. 55. And now, by ftatute 13 Geo. III. cap. 31. any 

 warrant for apprehending an Englifh offender, who may have 

 efcaped into Scotland, and vice verfa, may be indorfcd and 

 executed by the local magiftrates, and the offender be con- 

 veyed back to that part of the united kingdoms in which 

 fuch offence was committed. Blackil. Comm. book iv. 



Warrant 0/' Attumey, is that by which a man appoints 

 another to do fomething in his name, and warrants his 

 aftion. 



It feems to differ from a letter of attorney, which paffes 

 under hand and ieal of him that makes it, before credible 

 witneffes ; whereas warrant of attorney, in perfonal, mixed, 

 and fome real aftions, is put in courfe by the attorneys for 

 the plaintiffs or defendants. Tliough a warrant of attor- 

 ney, to fuffer a common recovery by the tenant, or vouchee, 

 is to be acknowledged before fuch perfons as the commiffiop 

 for the doing of it direfts. 



It is ufual, in order to ftrengthen a bond creditor's fecu- 

 rity, for the debtor to execute a warrant of attorney to 

 any one, empowering him to confefs a judgment by nihil 

 (licit, cognsvit actionem, or non fum Informatus, in an aftion of 

 debt to be brought by the creditor for the fpecific fum due ; 

 which judgment, when confeffed, is abfolutely complete and 

 binding. 



In the court of common pleas, there is a clerk of the ivar- 

 rants, who enters all warrants of attorney for plaintiff and 

 defendant. 



Warrant, Search. See Search. 



Warrant Officers. See Orf-icERS. 



Warrant, in the Manege. A jockey that fells a horfe 

 is, by cuftom, in fome countries, ol)liged to warrant him, 

 that is, to refund the money that was given for him, and 

 re-dcliver the horfe in nine dayS after the lirft deli»ery, in 



Cafe 



