The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1833-07-19 00:00:00

is but a venial offence, a juvenile indiscretion towards
which we ought to be very tolerant. The Wisdom of our
ancestors, however, and to this wisdom we owe all our
present greatness, declared this crime to be second only
to that of murder, so anxious were they to guard the
rights of " person and property" from any violation.
This interference with the course of justice is mis-
chievous in every point of view—first, because it teaches
the people to view with distrust the decisions of our
courts of criminal justice—and secondly, because it robs
the Crown of its brightest jewel, mercy ; for a pardon,
granted after it has been clamoured for, ceases to be an
act of "grace and favour." This system is also fraught
with other evils. If the executive is to be bullied into
granting' a pardon, the same language may be used to
compel the execution of a sentence on any individual who
may chance to offend "the Majesty of the people ;" and
for a confirmation of this opinion we have only to refer
to occurrences of a recent date. Had the policeman, who
was foully murdered in the execution of his duty, re-
covered from his wounds, for aught we knOw, he might
have been brought to the bar of modern justice and exe-
cuted, for daring to obey the orders of his superior officers.
The law has lately been relaxed in favour of the crime
of forgery. This venial offence is not now punishable by
death, and the consequences are, that scarcely a day
passes in which the London police reports do not furnish
us with cases of this kind in abundance, and the greater
part of them of a most atrocious character. With respect
to the three young men in question, we know nothing
more of their case than what we have extracted from the
Herald: We are far, very far, from wishing to see them
made an example of. If mercy can be extended to them,
consistently with public justice, which is the only true
mercy that becomes " the crowned head," no one will
rejoice more sincerely than ourselves. All that we de-
precate is, an improper interference with the duties of
the constitutional authorities of the land.

The following important clause in the Reform Bill has
reference to those persons who claim to vote as free bur.
gesses for any city or town, and not to those who are
entitled to vote as householders. As there are many
freemen in Liverpool who have not yet registered, it is
of the utmost importance that they should know, that un-
less they forward their claim for registration to the parish-
clerk or overseer, who are bound to receive the same
on payment of one shilling, on or before Saturday next,
the 20th instant, they will for ever be precluded from
voting as freemen. It is also indispensable that the
arrears of rates and taxes due in April last should be
paid. At the end of the 33d section of the Act it is pro-
vided—

" That every person shall for ever cease to enjoy the right
of voting for any city or borough (as therein expressed,) if his
name shall have been omitted for two successive years from
the register of such votes for such city or borough," &c.
Upon inquiry, we learn that there are about six hun-
dred burgesses who have not yet registered. Now then is
their time, or never !