is a power and charge to a constable or other officer to apprehend a person accused of any crime. It may be issued in extraordinary cases by the privy council, or secretaries of state; but most commonly it is issued by justices of the peace. This they may do in any cases where they have a jurisdiction over the offence, in order to compel the person accused to appear before them; for it would be absurd to give them power to examine an offender, unless they had also power to compel him to attend and submit to such examination. And this extends to all treasons, felonies, and breaches of the peace; and also to all such offences as they have power to punish by statute. Before the granting of the warrant, it is fitting to examine upon oath the party requiring it, as well as to ascertain that there is a felony or other crime actually committed, without which no warrant should be granted; as also to prove the cause and probability of suspecting the party against whom the warrant is prayed.

This warrant ought to be under the hand and seal of the justice; should set forth the time and place of making, and the cause for which it is made; and should be directed to the constable or other peace officer, or it may be to any private person by name. A general warrant to apprehend all persons suspected, without naming or particularly describing any person in special, is illegal and void for its uncertainty; for it is the duty of the magistrate, and ought not to be left to the officer, to judge of the ground of suspicion. Also a warrant to ap- prehend all persons guilty of such a crime, is no legal warrant; for the point upon which its authority rests, is a fact to be decided on a subsequent trial; namely, whether the person apprehended thereupon be guilty or not guilty. When a warrant is received by the officer, he is bound to execute it, so far as the jurisdiction of the magistrate and himself extends. A warrant from any of the justices of the court of king's bench extends over all the kingdom, and is tefted or dated England: but a warrant of a justice of the peace in one county, must be backed, that is, signed, by a justice of another county, before it can be executed there. And a warrant for apprehending an English or a Scotch offender, may be indorfed in the opposite kingdom, and the offender carried back to that part of the united kingdom in which the offence was committed.