Then, as now, the writ of "habeas corpus" was issued by a superior court in the name of the Sovereign, and commanded the addressee (a lower court, sheriff, or private subject) to produce the prisoner before the royal courts of law. A "habeas corpus" petition could be made by the prisoner him or herself or by a third party on his or her behalf and, as a result of the Habeas Corpus Acts, could be made regardless of whether the court was in session, by presenting the petition to a judge. Since the 18th century the writ has also been used in cases of unlawful detention by private individuals, most famously in "Somersett's Case" (1772), where the black slave, Somersett, was ordered to be freed. During that case, these famous words are said to have been uttered: "... that the air of England was too pure for slavery." (although it was the lawyers in argument who expressly used this phrase – referenced from a much earlier argument heard in The Star Chamber – and not Lord Mansfield himself). During the Seven Years' War and later conflicts, the Writ was used on behalf of soldiers and sailors pressed into military and naval service. The Habeas Corpus Act 1816 introduced some changes and expanded the territoriality of the legislation.