Mercy is not mere grace. Show what Mercy is. Mercy is a disposition to pardon crime. Its exercise consists in the arresting and setting aside the execution of law, when its penalty has been incurred by disobedience. It is in reference to crime the exact opposite of justice.
Justice executes the penalty, and mercy pardons or set aside the execution.
When it can be exercised. It can be exercised only where there is guilt. An innocent being cannot possibly be the subject of mercy. To what extent Mercy can be exercised. It can be exercised no farther than desert of punishment goes.