The Sun.
London, England, 1819-04-08 00:00:00

FOR 'I HE SUN.

PETERBOIIOI-GTI JusTicc.

MR. EDlTOR—Aboetice from town has given
to my answer a Semblance of delay, whereon

•
Atreus may plume himself as an homage to his
in,:enuity ; though against such an adversary I
La.., little other eff,rr to 'make than the manual

tronhie of ‘criting. Amtcus should 'lmre
put liimstif to the supererogAtion of refuting an
opponent, already—according to him—" refuted"

by \lr. ATKINSON, I really cannot assume to

vonjectore especially, when I stand convicted of
tart knowing all the worth and merits of all the
Clergymen and Lawyers who reside in all the
tonutry towns throughout England.

Unless Arum's shall adduce something ne*er
than repetition, I leave the field to himself. My
battle is with Eagles, not with Cuckoos. But i►
is rather too much, I think, to be questioned for
the assertion—that " the Judges hear anr. deter-
tnine"—and to be told that the Jury ave ab-
sorbed the function with which they are invested
by their commission of Oyer and Terminer. No-
thing, however, is so difficult to answer as igno-
rance ; and Amtcvs has a marvellous talent at

putting difficulties in his antagonist's way.
Must I once more inquire—of what use is the
Sovereign's discretional power of mercy—of what
use comparatively—as to Country Criminals ;
when it has not such opportunities of exercise as
in London ?-4 take the point, however, on
Amtcos's own showing ;—though the personal
prerogatives of the Sovereign ought, I will con-
tend, to be personally exercised--that the Judge.
" unfit to be entrusted with the administration
" of mercy, ought not to be placed in so sublime
a seat of justice." For this sweeping exclu-
sion of the Peterborough Magistrates, who may
execute but cannot pardon, I refer their worships to
the advocate, who knows as little of their cause
as he describes himself to know of their county.
For ate, while contending that no subject ought
to lose iris life by a, judicial act, without the con-
sideration and sanction of the Sovereign, if I
thiiik the discretionary power of life or death too
much for the Judges of Assize, I may well he
permitted to think the non-discretionary power of
death alone too much for the Justices of Session.,
Yet this rail) adversary insists that I make no`
distinction between them !—This rash adversary,
who counts me not only "malignant" and " mis-
chievous," but a " modern reformer." Alas—
bow little loth A mtetis know of me !

I am weary—very weary—of thus arguing in a
circle.—l wish that AMICUS would move a little
forward. Certainly, Bishops sit in Parliament
because they are Bishops ; yet, without the
temporal baronies attached to their sees, the
episcopal function alone would not entitle them
even to the infra-judicial seat which they oc-
cupy in the House of Lords. As cerainly, the
Chairman of Peterborough does not send cow-
stealers to the gallows because he is a Clergyman ;
neither does he Nas their sentence in his band
and surplice. Bat, I repeat, upon the same prin-
ciple, he ought not to pass such a sentence at all.
The words of temporal death and of eternal life
ought not to issue from the same lips. The Am-
bassador of GOD'S mercy ought not to be the
executioner of man's justice. There is in his
piofession—l talk not about his vestments—an
c‘ exclusive sanctity," which should keep him holy
front blood.
.• Yet AMICUS still insists that a Bi-
shop ought not to sit on capital trials in the
House of Peers, because he wears there his lawn
sleeves ; and that a Vicar ought to sit on capital
trials in the •Spke of Peterborough, because he
does not wear there his cassock. If this be not
a " superstitious" veneration of forms and disre-
gard of essentials, I must indeed be chidden back
to "Johnson's Dictionary."
And now, as Amicus was never at Peterbo-
rough, nor .even in Northamptonshire, I will en-
lighten him with a piece of local 'history.
Abont 16 years ago, a. man of .weak intellect—
and, by the bye, en old servant of his friend Mr.
ATElNsoN—waa tried before the Justices of Pe-
terborough for stealing a cow. The proverbial
imbecility of this wretch, whose name was
THOMAS PEIDGEN, had gained him the soubrignet

Of WOODEN TOM. Well, WooDEN TOM WKS tried
at the Sake Sessions, anti convicted : the sen-
te7ice of death was passed upon him—by a Cler-
gyman; and he was HANGED. According to the
custom of Peterborough, the execution of his
sentence was discussed at—Amtcys has not topo-
graphy enough to tell me the sign—and, as no
aptdication was there resolved on to the Sove-
reign, poor WOOOBN Tom was in due time exe-
cured—Rege Inconsulte—the Sovereign knowing
nothing of his fate. If lam wrong, his master,
Mr. ATKlNsoN—who, I believe, was Clerk of the
Peace at the time—will set me right ; and I shall
be very grateful for his relieving, not merely the