The Sun.
London, England, 1819-11-26 00:00:00

PETURsPIELD.

The question respecting the right of a Steward
of a Court Leet, who is the Judge of that Court,
to nominate and select the Jury, came on in the
Court .of King's Bench, on Wednesday morning,
on a motion to make absolute a rule to show cause
why a Quo Watronto information should not be
filed against a Mr. MBERES, the Mayor of Peters-
field, who had• been elected into that office-by
a Jury of the nomination of the Steward of the
Leet there. We regret that the length of our
report of the debate prevented our inserting a full
report of the arguments of the Counsel in this
case, as it is a subject of great and general im-
portance. We believe the custom for the Steward
to nominate the Leet Jury, prevails in many
places, and has enabled many Lords of Manors,
besides the Lord of the Manor of Pt.,terslield, to
appoint Mayors of Boroughs and Returning Of-
ficers at Elections of Members of Parliament, a
privilege of which they will, in all probability
be deprived, if it should ultimately be deter-
mined that their Stewards shall not nominate
the Jury. It appears to us; that the election of
a Mayor of a Borough by a Leet July, must be
considered to be a modified kind =of popular elec-
tion ; for we cannot suppose, however much
credit we may think due to our ancestors for
their patriotism and public spirit, that it is at all
probable, as we heald it argued on the present
occasion, that the custom of choosing the Mayor
of a Borough at a Court Leet arose from a
wish on the part of the Lotd of the Manor to
relieve himself from the burthen of that choice
which hael been imposed on him by the char-
ter of his Sovereign, or from any regard for the
rights and privileges of the inhabitants of the
Borough situated within his manor; for if his
Steward was to be allowed to select the boy who
were to elect the •:Mayor, it is evident that the
Jury would only elect into that office such a man
as would suit the purposes of the Lord of the
Manor ; and that, theretore, it is a mere farce,
pretending that this was the origin of custom,
and that the Lord thereby bestowed a boon upon
the inhabitants of the town, by allowing twelve
or thirteen of his creatures, pointed at by his
Steward, to elect tl►e Mayor of such town.
Our limits will not now permit us to enter into
a discussion of this subject, or to etempt to
trace the origin of the cri•tom for a Leet-Jury
o elect the Mayor of the Borough, or to fix the
period when Stewards of Courts Leet first as-
sumed the power of selecting the Juries, though
it seems probable that this latter custom arose
in places where the retornog officers a elcc•
tious of Members of Parliament were elected
by such Juries, when Parliamentary influence be-
came valuable, and, we believe, it cannot he traced
to an earlier pet intl. What may he the ultimate
determination in the case which has been brought
before the Court of King's Belie, it would be im-
pioper in us to anticipate ; but as it will decide
the practice in many places in a similar situation
to Petersfithi, we cannot retrain hum expressing a
hope, on constitutional and public grounds, that
the system which has unfortunately been allowed
to prevail there in ibis respect, will not receive.
the sanction of decision of a Court of Law in its
favour.—(Morning Post, Nov. 26 )