general act of pardon or by virtue of a special pardon under the great seal. In order to render it valid, it must express with sufficient accuracy the crime it is intended to forgive. A general pardon of all felonies would be bad. An act of grace by parliament need not specify any particular instance of crime. A pardon may be extended to the subject on any condition her Majesty pleases to annex, whether precedent or subsequent, on the performance of which the validity of the pardon depends; and, in general, a pardon to felons is granted on the condition of transportation, and this is allowed by the Habeas Corpus Act and subsequent statutes.

The effect of a pardon is to give the prisoner new capacity, credit, and character; so much so, that he may sustain an action for being called a felon as though he had never been convicted.

CHAPTER XXIII.

OF CRIMINAL INFORMATIONS.

We shall now proceed, in this chapter, to say something of criminal informations. They are of two kinds, one in the name of the Queen, the other at the suit of an informer; we shall speak, in the first place, of the former.

A criminal information is filed in the name of the Queen, for the punishment of offences affecting

the interests of the public. The difference between a criminal information and an indictment is, that the former is tried upon the mere allegation of the officer by whom it is preferred, while the latter is founded upon the finding of a grand jury. Moreover, unlike an indictment, an information may be altered in substance and amended at any time before trial; and though the defendant should be acquitted, no action will lie for a malicious prosecution, as the leave of the court in which it is filed must first be obtained. Indeed, wherever a court of competent jurisdiction has once sanctioned a prosecution, this establishes that there was probable cause for instituting it, and no action lies, though the prosecution fail.

The filing of criminal informations existed at Common Law. Mr. Justice Blackstone observes, speaking of informations, in the fourth volume of his Commentaries, as follows: "As the king was bound to prosecute, or, at least, to lend the sanction of his name to a prosecutor, whenever a grand jury informed him, upon their oaths, that there was a sufficient ground for instituting a criminal suit; so when his immediate officers were otherwise sufficiently assured that a man had committed a gross misdemeanor, either personally against the king or his government, or against the public peace or good order, they were at liberty, without waiting for any farther intelligence, to convey that information to the Court of King's Bench by a suggestion on the record, and to carry on the prosecution in his Majesty's name."

For offences affecting the Queen, her ministers, or the state, informations are filed ex officio by the attorney-general. The 4 & 5 W. & M. c. 18, greatly abridged the powers of coroners with regard to informations in which a private individual was virtually the prosecutor; but this statute does not affect informations filed ex officio. Informations lie for misdemeanors only, for no person where life is in question, or indeed in any case of treason or felony, can be called upon to answer until the charge has been sanctioned by the oaths of a grand jury.

Informations ex officio are filed by the attorneygeneral alone, though, if there be a vacancy in that office, it may be done by the solicitorgeneral. They may be filed for any offence, below the degree of felony, which tends to disturb the government, or to interfere with the interests of the public or the safety of the crown, such as libels on the government or crown officers, obstruction of revenue officers, or the bribing of public officers. The attorney-general is the sole judge of what public misdemeanors he will proseThe following is the commencement of an

cute.

information ex officio:

"Be it remembered, that A. B., attorney-general of our sovereign lady the now Queen, who for our said lady the Queen prosecutes in this behalf, in his proper person comes here into the court of our said lady the Queen, before the Queen herself at Westminster, in the county of Middlesex, on, &c., and for our said lady the Queen giveth the court here to understand, and be informed that, &c."

The substance of the charge then follows with the same accuracy and precision as in an indictment, after which it concludes thus: "Whereupon the said attorney-general of our said lady the Queen, who for our said lady the Queen in this behalf prosecutes, prays the consideration of the court here in the premises, and that due process of law may be awarded against the said C. D., the defendant in this behalf, to make him answer to our said lady the Queen touching and concerning the premises aforesaid." The whole is then signed by the attorney-general, and filed in the Crown Office.

The attorney-general having filed his information, it is brought on for trial at such time as is convenient to that officer. In case of unnecessary delay, the defendant may apply to the court to fix a time for the trial. The case is generally tried at the Nisi Prius side of the Queen's Bench. The attorney-general is entitled to a trial at bar, if he prefers it. If the defendant be acquitted, if a nolle prosequi be entered, he has to defray his own expenses, as the crown neither receives nor pays costs. Judgment is not pronounced until moved for by the attorney-general. The defendant then, either personally or through his counsel, addresses the court in mitigation of punishment.

We shall now consider informations filed in the name of the master of the Crown Office. The master of the Crown Office stands in the same relation to the public as the attorney-general in relation to the crown. These latter informations may be divided into two classes: namely, those

against magistrates for misconduct in their office, and those filed against private individuals. The jurisdiction over informations is virtually vested in the Queen's Bench, as the 4 & 5 W. & M. c. 18, prohibits the master of the Crown Office from filing informations without the leave of the court. The court will grant leave to file a criminal information for offences below the degree of felony, which, though they do not affect the government, still materially concern the public welfare. Thus it would be allowed for offences against God, religion, or morality, as for blasphemy or obscene writings, for an imposture, and for conspiring to defraud, attempting to prejudice the minds of a jury by distributing hand-bills for that purpose, for libelling or obstructing magistrates in the discharge of their duty.

It is necessary now, since the 4 & 5 W. & M. c. 18, to disclose to the court upon affidavits the grounds upon which it is exhibited. The affidavits being prepared, the prosecutor, by his counsel, moves the Court of Queen's Bench for a rule, calling upon the defendant to show cause why leave should not be granted to file an information. If a rule is obtained at the proper time, cause is shown; if the rule is made absolute, the party is then bound to enter into a recognizance to prosecute; the information is then filed. An information may be amended at any time before the trial: after it is filed, the defendant either pleads or demurs, after which issue is joined; and notice of trial being given, the matter is then brought before the court. Either