The expansion and development of the English police form a fascinating subject of study; and it is remarkable that no complete history of the subject has been written Constitutional and legal historians have done much to elucidate the subject; but, after the close of the Midde Ages, their references to it become infrequent, because in a settled and civilised society, the manner in which order is preserved is a matter of less historical moment than in earlier times, when the struggle between the Saxon tradition of local government and the feudal tendency to centralisation was still undecided. The only attempt hitherto made to cover the whole ground is Capt Melville Lee's book, which is very readable and full of interesting matter. As a popular history of our police system it is excellent; but, though based to a consider able extent on original sources, it hardly claims to be an exhaustive or scientific study. In Mr and Mrs Sidney Webb's history of English local government may be found a vast amount of valuable and detailed informa tion about the constable and the administration of the law, especially during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries; and a learned article by Mr H. B. Simpson, entitled 'The Office of Constable,' which appeared in the. 'English Historical Review' of October 1895, contains much material which would be of great use to any future worker in this field. The same remark may be made of the excellent chapter on The Constables' in Gneist's 'Self-government.' Mention should also be made of the late Prof. Maitland's book, in the English Citizen Series, which gives an admirable survey of the position of the police in relation to the administration of justice, and & succinct account of their recent development and modern organisation. Nevertheless there exists no complete history of police in England; and the theme might well be treated by some research student among those who are now being endowed by various colleges at the old universities. As Dr Weidlich remarks, there exist & number of unsystematic handbooks, but no comprehensive works'; and this is a reproach which ought to be removed.

The full meaning of the passage quoted above, and its bearing on the modern relation between police and civil

liberty, may best be explained by a summary sketch of the development of the machinery for preserving the peace in England. From the most primitive times of which we have record, it was the duty of every locality to prevent and suppress crime within its borders. The first of these ends was aimed at by the system of 'borh' and 'tything,' at first voluntary associations of sureties, later made compulsory by a statute of Canute, and finally stereotyped as the view of frank-pledge' soon after the Conquest. The object of this arrangement was to obtain security against crime by making men mutually responsible for each other's offences. As an enactment, probably to be ascribed to William I, puts it, omnis homo qui voluerit se teneri pro libero sit in plegio, ut plegins teneat et habeat illum ad justitiam si quid offenderit; et si quisquam talium evaserit, videant plegii ut simpliciter solvant quod calumniatum est.' Clearly the criminal was likely to be deterred by the knowledge that there were persons pecuniarily interested in bringing him to justice; while the risk of financial loss doubtless made each member of a tything anxious for the moral rectitude of his fellows.

Thus, even in primitive society, the first importance was attached to providing adequate means for the prevention of crime, which is the primary object of all well-directed police systems. The secondary object-the detection of crime when already committed, and the bringing of the perpetrator to justice-was, in the nature of things, less easy to secure in the absence of any professional force. The only organisation for the apprehension of criminals was afforded by the duty incumbent on each hundred to raise the 'hue and cry' at the summons of the hundred-man, and to go forth in pursuit to where God may direct them to go.' This again is a very ancient obligation, and probably existed in some form before Edgar embodied it in an ordinance, and made the Hundred the unit for its execution. There were also other measures taken to suppress and discourage breaches of the law, such as the oath to keep the peace instituted by Edmund, and the fines imposed on vills for undetected murders, originated by William I to protect his followers from the English, but afterwards given a universal application. But the vital features of the Saxon and early English

police system were that it was mainly preventive in its aims and entirely popular in its organisation. It was not, and it never became, the function of the central Government to maintain order directly; but it was the duty of each district to secure tranquillity within it boundaries-a duty resting on the obligation impos on every man by the Common Law to preserve the peace.

It is clear that frank-pledge could only be effective s long as social relations remained simple and static. As soon as they became complicated by the comparatively free movement of individuals from place to place, the enforcement of the responsibility of sureties became in possible. To this difficulty was added the antagonistbetween the two races after the Conquest, which rendere their co-operation as sureties unwilling and therefore unsuccessful. Indeed, it soon became obvious that some special officers were needed, who should be entrusted f with police duties. At first it was doubtful whether these officers should be appointed by the Crown or by the local community. Tradition pointed to the latter mode, but feudal notions favoured centralisation. More over, if the monarchy was to be powerful and effective as the Norman kings intended it to be, justice must be under its immediate control; and justice is always closely allied to police. The actual result was in some measure a compromise; but the victory really rested with the English tradition of local government. For, though Henry II established itinerant judges and definitely coordinated the whole administration of justice under the royal courts, yet the duty of keeping the king's peace was not entrusted only to royal agents. The sheriffs, who, in other circumstances might have attained the position of the Intendants in France and become weapons of arbitrary oppression, lost most of their powers through the alternate jealousy of the Crown and the nobility; and with their decline the way was left open for the logical development of the English conception of police.

With the growth of populous towns in which the inhabitants were no longer able to provide for their own security owing to the claims of business, to their numbers, and to the large area in need of protection, special officers became requisite for police duties; and their

selection naturally fell to the burghers. A number of local officials are mentioned in the documents of Henry III's reign-bailiffs, reeves, constables, and others-whose unctions and mode of appointment are difficult to disinguish, but who were alike concerned with the preservation of the peace. Generally speaking, these officials were probably analogous to the hundred-men of earlier times; that is to say, they were persons of position corresponding to the high constables of later epochs. Under them were placed watchmen, varying in number according to the size of the town, who were on duty from sunset to sunrise during the period between Ascension Day and Michaelmas. This organisation was made statutory by the Statute of Winchester, which sums up the system of Watch and Ward as it had developed since the Norman invasion. The old principle of local responsi bility for crime was reaffirmed, and reinforced by the imposition of fines if the bodies of the offenders were not produced. Chescun pais, ceo est asaver genz el pais demoraunz, respoignent des roberies e felonies fetes en lur pais. The bailiffs, who were officers elected by the borough, were to seek out strangers or suspicious persons Weekly or fortnightly; and the duty of every man to have harness in his house for the keeping of the peace Was reiterated. To make the view of armour,' two Constables were to be chosen in every Hundred and franchise, who should also supervise the watch, the highways, and the response to the hue and cry; and any defaults which they observed were to be presented to the Justices.

In these provisions there is no innovation. Like so many early English statutes, the Statute of Winchester is little more than a restatement in legal form of customs and practices already in existence. It outlines the main features of our police system as it existed until the eve of the nineteenth century, but with one important omission. The parish or petty constable, who became the chief police officer in rural districts, is not mentioned in the statute. It is true that a reference to him has usually been found in the clause already noticed, which connects the constable with the view of armour, and that in a writ of 1252 there is supposed to be an even earlier Vol. 211.-No. 421.

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mention of the office. Nevertheless, a scrutiny of two passages, and a consideration of the duties with are assigned in them to the constable, give strong grow! for thinking that this officer was in no sense a p constable, but corresponded to the capitalis constabular of the Hundred, who may be identified with the hin constable of later times, a man of good standing w supervised the police and fulfilled other important a ministrative functions.

The first unambiguous reference to the parish constable occurs in an Act of 1328, where he appears in company with borough-holders and 'the wardens of the peace within their wards'; but it is not to be assumed that he had not existed before this date. As society had developed during the thirteenth century, and its criminal business became more complicated, the need for a better police system was felt not only in towns, but in country districts also; villages came to require their parish constables, just as the boroughs employed their bailiffs and their watchmen. At the same time there was no uniform or regulated growth of a new and definit organisation. The old machinery was merely extended to meet present needs; and the practice probably differed widely in different parts of the country, so that in some places the officer representing the community would bear the Saxon title of 'borsholder' or 'tything-man' in others the French name of 'constable.'

But, although the old tradition survived that the conservation of the peace was the affair of the locality, yet an important modification began to make its appear ance, as soon as special police-officers were created. They responsibility which had formerly belonged to the whole community now passed in large measure, though not entirely, to the individuals who represented it. This transition may be traced in a statute of 1330, which mentions that constables and townships have been unwilling to take thieves and felons' on account of the exorbitant charges made by the sheriffs for receiving them. Here the township and its delegate are evidently regarded as jointly and severally responsible for the suppression of crime, a fact which throws an important light on the fundamental truth that the powers of the modern policeman are essentially those exercised in