deſcend to be paid for ſerving their country, and they were by the aforeſaid ſtatute of Weſtm. 1. expreſſly forbidden to take a reward, under pain of great forfeiture to the king; yet for many years paſt they have only deſired to be choſen for the ſake of their perquiſites; being allowed fees for their attendance by the ſtatute 3 Hen. VII. c. 1. which ſir Edward Coke complains of heavily[1]; though ſince his time thoſe fees have been much enlarged[2].
The coroner is choſen for life: but may be removed, either by being made ſheriff, or choſen verderor, which are offices incompatible with the other; or by the king's writ de coronatore exonerando, for a cauſe to be therein aſſigned, as that he is engaged in other buſineſs, is incapacitated by years or ſickneſs, hath not a ſufficient eſtate in the county, or lives in an inconvenient part of it[3]. And by the ſtatute 25 Geo. II. c. 29. extortion, neglect, or miſbehaviour, are alſo made cauſes of removal.
The office and power of a coroner are alſo, like thoſe of a ſheriff, either judicial or miniſterial; but principally judicial. This is in great meaſure aſcertained by ſtatute 4 Edw. I. de officio coronatoris; and conſiſts, firſt, in enquiring, when any perſon is ſlain, or dies ſuddenly, or in priſon, concerning the manner of his death. And this muſt be "ſuper viſum corporis[4];" for, if the body be not found, the coroner cannot fit[5]. He muſt alſo fit at the very place where the death happened; and his enquiry is made by a jury from four, five, or ſix of the neighbouring towns, over whom he is to preſide. If any be found guilty by this inqueſt of murder, he is to commit to priſon for farther trial, and is alſo to enquire concerning their lands, goods and chattels, which are forfeited thereby: but, whether it be mur-
- ↑ 2 Inſt. 210.
- ↑ Stat. 25 Geo. II. c. 29.
- ↑ F. N. B. 163, 164.
- ↑ 4 Inſt. 271.
- ↑ Thus, in the Gothic conſtitution, before any fine was payable by the neighbourhood, for the ſlaughter of a man therein, "de corpore delicti conſtare oportebat; i.e. non tam fuiſſe aliquem in territorio iſto mortuum inventum, quam vulneratum et caeſum. Poteſt enim homo etiam ex alia cauſa ſubito mori." Stiernhook de jure Gothor. l. 3. c. 4.
