be obtained, is probably the guilty party, and is
a document under the hand and seal of the justice, directed generally
to the constable or other peace-officer, requiring him to bring the
accused, either generally before _any_ justice of the county, or only
before the justice who granted it. This is the practice in ordinary
cases; but in extraordinary cases, the warrant may issue from the Lord
Chief Justice, or the Privy Council, the Secretaries of State, or from
any justice of the Court of Queen's Bench. These latter warrants are,
we believe, all tested, or dated England, and extend over the whole
kingdom. So far the proceedings have been all _ex parte_, one side
only has been heard, one party only has appeared, and all that has
been done, is to procure or compel the appearance of the other. The
warrant is delivered to the officer, who is bound to obey the command
which it contains. It would seem, however, that, as was done in a
recent case in Ireland, it is sufficient if the appearance of the
accused be virtually secured, even without the intervention of an
actual arrest.

When the delinquent appears, in consequence of this process, before
the authorities, they are bound immediately to examine into the
circumstances of the alleged crime; and they are to take down in
writing the examinations of the witnesses offered in support of the
charge. If the evidence is defective, and grave suspicion should
attach to the prisoner, he may be remanded, in order that fresh
evidence may be procured; or the magistrate, if the case be surrounded
with doubt and difficulty, may adjourn it for a reasonable time, in
order to consider his final decision. The accused must also be
examined, but not upon oath; and his examination also must be taken
down in writing, and may be given in evidence against him at the
trial; for although the maxim of the common law is "_nemo tenebitur
prodere seipsum_," the legislature, as long ago as the year 1555,
directed that, in cases of felony, the examination of the prisoner
should be taken; which provision has recently been extended to
misdemeanours also. Care must be taken that his examination should not
even _appear_ to have been taken on oath; for in a very recent case,
in which _all_ the examinations were contained upon one sheet of
paper, and under one general heading--from which they all purported to
have been taken upon oath, the prisoner's admission of his guilt
contained in that examination, was e