COMMITMENT ON CONYICTION AS A DISORDERLY PERSOn State of New York, City and County of New York, ss : By Michael Connolly, Esquire, one of the police justices for preserving the peace in the city of New York, to the con- stables and policemen of the said city, and every of them ; and to the keeper of the city prison of the city of New York: These are in the name of the People of the State of New York, to command you, the said constables and policemen, to convey to the said city prison the body [L.

S] of John McCormack, who was charged before me with being a disorderly person, viz : a person who had abandoned his wife, Bridget McCormack, in the city and county of New York, aforesaid, without adequate support, and who refused and neglected to provide for her and his two children according to his means: and upon examination of said matter, in the presence of said John McCormack, it ap- pearing to me, by competent testimony, and from the facts and circumstances of the case, that his conduct amounted to such desertion and neglect to provide for his wife and children, I did adjudge and determine that he was such a disorderly per- son ; whereupon, he was ordered to find surety in tjie sum of five hundred dollars, for his goocj behavior for tfre term of one year, and having neglected to find such surety, and I hav- ing made up, signed and filed in the county clerk's office a record of the conviction of the said John McCormack as a disorderly person, according to the statute, you, the said keeper, are hereby commanded to receive into your custody the body of the said John McCormack, and him safely keep in the said prison, until he shall find such surety as aforesaid, or be thence delivered by due course of law.

Given under my hand and seal, at the first district police police court, in the said city, this 14th day of February, 1857 The answer of John McCormack to the return to the an- nexed writ of habeas corpus shows, that this defendant denies that the magistrate had any authority to issue a warrant for the arrest of this defendant, or that there was any competent evidence before him showing that this defendant had been guilty of any criminal oifence, to authorize or justify the issuing of said warrant of commitmenT The petition of Martha Jane McCormack shows that John McCormack is now detained and imprigoned in the city prison, in the city of New York, and that he is not committed or detained by virtue of any process issued by any court of the United States, or by any judge thereof; nor is he committed or detained by virtue of the final judgment or decree of any competent tribunal of civil or criminal jurisdiction, or by virtue of any execution issued upon such judgment or decree; that the cause or pretence of such imprisonment, according to the best of the knowledge ancl belief of your petitioner is, that he has been, on the 14th day of February, 1857, arrested, on a warrant issued by Michael Connolly, Esq, police justice for this city, on a charge of abandoning one Bridget Moore, who alleges herself to be his wife ; that on an examination before said Michael Connolly, and on the testimony of the said Bridget, uncorroborated, as your petitioner is informed and believes, the said Michael Connolly, Esq, decided the said John McCormack was legally married to said Bridget, and his marriage to deponent was void, notwithstanding your petitioner produced a certificate of marriage between herself and said McCormack, duly authenticated, and remanded said McCor- mack to prison until he will give security to support said Bridget, wherefore your petitioner prays that a writ of certiorari issue, directed to Michael Connolly, Esq, commanding him to certify before this honorable court, the day and cause of his imprisonment, and the affidavits on which he, the said McCor- mack, is detained We command you that you certify fully and at large to Charles a Peabody, Esq, Justice of the Supreme Court, at the Chambers thereof, in the City Hall, on [L.

S] the 16th day of February, 1857, at 10 o'clock, a M, the day and cause of the imprisonment of John McCormack, by you detained, as is said, by whatso- To the said writ of certiorari, the said Michael Connolly, police justice, did certify and return that he had committed the said John McCormack, in default of finding sureties to be of good behavior to the People of the State of New York for one year, as recited in the foregoing commitment, and that the depositions and testimony taken before him, upon which said warrant of commitment was founded, were as follows upon which it appeared to him, the said police justice, that the conduct of said John McCormack amounted to such abandon- ment and refusal to provide for his wife and child in the city of New York, as mentioned in the statute in such case made and provided [Here followed the testimony of Bridget McCormack, the complainant, stating that she was married to John McCormack in Ireland, in 1848, that she had lived with him since, both in Ire- land and this country, several years, and that since the 9th of December last he had neglected to support heR There was also the testimony of several witnesses, showing that the par- ties had lived together several ^ears as husband and wife, and the examination of the defendanT] MR Justice Peabody concluded his return as follows : That upon due consideration of the matter aforesaid, I did decide and adjudge that the warrant of commitment issued by the magistrate was regular and sufficient upon its face, and that nothing appeared to show that the magistrate acted with- out his jurisdiction ; and thereupon I did remand the said John McCormack, as provided by law.

Ifobert Johnstone, for the defendant, cited 'The People v Cai* anagh, 2 Park Or R, 650 ; ex parte Taylor, 5 Cowen R, 39 ; 2 Kent Com, 28, 29 ; People v Tompkins, 1 Park R, 233, 237 ; People v Martin, Ib, 188; 1 Phil Ev, 79;Gilb Law of Ev, 257 ; 3 Russ on Or, 206 ; 1 Phil Ev, 79 ; Dames' N Y City Laws, 746, 7 ; King v Ckviger, 2 T R, 263 ; Bishop on Di- vorce, 324 George If.