Writs

of A istance. In 1754 Parliament, at the petition of Shirley, then Governor of Ma achusetts, pa ed an act providing for a more thorough enforcement of the navigation and revenue laws. General warrants were to be i ued by the courts to revenue officers to continue for an indefinite period, and not returnable into the court, for the seizure and examination of goods imported by illicit traders. These were called writs of a istance. They were legalized by the Town shend Acts of 1767. The colonists vehemently objected to them, because their vague and general terms left the way open to great abuses against the liberty of the subjects, in the search of premises. In February, 1761, arguing against an application for such writs before the Superior Court of Ma achusetts, James Otis declared the navigation laws illegal and denied the claim of Parlisment to legislate for the colonies, Wurttemberg. The abolition of droit d’aubaine and taxes on emigration was agreed to by the Convention of 1844 between the United States and Wiirttemberg. A naturalization and extradition convention was concluded in 1868. 402