H AB 
the grand writ by which the liberty of 
the subject is secured, is that of the ha- 
beas corpus mentioned first, which is justly 
deemed a palladium of British liberty. 
Its efficacy consists in the right that 
every man has to have his cause of com- 
mitment publicly stated and inquired into 
by the lawful judges of the land, accord- 
ing to the ordinary rules of law, and it 
provides not only against the oppression 
and cruelty, but also against the indolence 
and ignorance of a government; for it is 
well observed by Blackstone, that under a 
despotic authority, and when the habeas 
corpus act has been suspended, the unfortu- 
nate persons who have been confined have 
been too often suffered to linger, because 
they were forgotten. One important use 
of the habeas corpus, to which it is now 
daily applied, is in bringing up seamen who 
have been impressed, to ascertain whether 
they are subject to that rigorous authority. 
In times of particular alarm, it has been the 
practice to suspend the operation of the 
habeas corpus act, and it is to be feared 
that ministers have rather sought and made 
than properly found a just, occasion for this 
measure. It is easy to cry that the church 
and state is in danger, and there are enough 
ready to take or to feign an alarm ; the 
habeas corpus act is suspended, and men 
are taken up by warrants from the Secretary 
of State, upon mere charges of libel, or what 
is indefinitely called sedition, to give a co- 
lour to the liarsh usurpation of power. In- 
stances have been known where men so 
confined have been afterwards released 
without trial ; because, in reality, no charge 
could be supported against them. In the 
ordinary course of law these men would be 
entitled to indemnity; but the minister, 
who has the address to procure an indem- 
nity bill, avoids the just compensation 
due to injured innocence, and the man 
who has been ruined by an unjust charge 
is without redress. Surely, when these are 
the possible consequences of a suspension 
of the habeas corpus act, every Briton 
ought to resist it. If crimes are committed 
the law has vigour to punish. The habeas 
corpus is the protection only of the innocent, 
and they should never be deprived of it. 
With respect to removing civil causes 
out of inferior courts by habeas corpus, 
there are some useful restrictions, such as 
that they shall not be removed, if the debt 
or damages be less than 51., &c. 
HABENDUM, in a deed, that formal 
part of it which is to determine what estate 
HiEM 
or interest is granted by it, the certainty 
thereof, for what time, and to what use. 
It is expressed by the words “ to have and 
to hold for such a term,” & c. It sometimes 
qualifies the estate, so that the general ex- 
tent which, by construction of law, passes 
by the words used in the premises, may by 
the habendum be controlled. The haben- 
dum may, therefore, lessen or enlarge the 
estate previously granted, but it cannot to- 
tally contradict or be repugnant to it. As 
if a grant be to one, and the heirs of his body, 
habendum, .to have to him and his heirs for 
ever, here he has an estate tail by the giant ; 
and by the habendum a fee-simple expectant 
thereon. But if it had been in the pre- 
mises to him and bis heirs to have for life, 
the habendum would be utterly void : for 
an estate of inheritance is vested in him be- 
fore the habendum comes, and shall not 
afterwards be taken away, or divested by 
it. The habendum cannot pass any thing 
that is not expressly mentioned, or con- 
tained by implication, in the premises of 
the deed ; because the premises being part 
of the deed by which the thing is granted, 
and consequently that makes the gift ; it 
follows, that the habendum, which only 
limits the certainty and extent of the estate 
in the thing given, cannot increase or mul- 
tiply the gift, because it were absurd to say, 
that the grantee shall hold a thing which 
was never given him. See Deed. 
HABIT, in philosophy, an aptitude or 
disposition either of mind or body, acquired 
by a frequent repetition of the same act. 
HACKLE, an implement used in dress- 
ing flax. 
H/EM ANT HE'S, in botany, a genus of 
the Hexandria Mouogynia class and order. 
Natural order of Spathace*. Narcissi, 
Jussieu, Essential character : involucre 
six-leaved, many- flowered ; corolla six- 
parted, superior ; berry three-celled. There 
are eight species. 
H /E M A TO P U S , the Oyster-catcher, in 
natural history, a genus of birds of the or- 
der Grail®. Generic character : bill com- 
pressed, the tip an equal wedge ; nostrils 
linear; tongue about a third part of the 
length of the bill; toes three; all placed 
forwards, the outer one joined to the mid- 
dle by a strong membrane. This bird is 
sixteen inches in length, and about the sjze 
of a crow ; it is to be met with on almost 
every sea-shore, and is rather common in 
Great Britain, particularly on the Western 
coast. In the winter season, these birds 
are seen in considerable flocks, but in sum- 
