Alexandria gazette & daily advertiser. [volume] (Alexandria [Va.]) 1817-1822, 1817-09-12

ulSiNy ohu 'htuS' WI
Judges, and our lawyers, will find. Their
account in impressing every syllable Of
it upon their hearts.
alt is truth cseval with human ma
ture, that power, in the hands OF man,
cM sometimes be abused, and therefore
ought always to be subject to check and
restraint but restriction bv no means i'm.
plies blame: we all know how many pre-.
cautions have been taken at various times
to render judges and jurors impartial,
and to place them above dependence yet
none of US conceive ourselves disgraced
by such precautions. The MOTIVES TO
DETAIN A CREATURE LIKE MAN IN THE
PArx or DUTY, CANNOT BE TOO POWER
Full OR TOO NUMEROUS.
The object of the present court Of ju-
dcature, in few words, is this. that 10
every age the British subjects esident in
India, shall be protected, yet governed
By British laws and that the natives of
these provinces shall be INDUCED in their
own customs or prejudices, civil as we'll
as religious, without molestatisn and al
though so much has been said by those
who are Of different opinion, l see no
reason why these ends may not be attain
ed without injury to the regular collec-
ton OF The revenue, or the political fabric
OF the executive government.
"It is of consequence that the true cha
racter and Office of judge appoi' ted to
administer the laws should be clear ly and
correctly understood such an explana-
lion may appear unnecessary. but the fact
is, it is often misccneeived, and requires
the experience Of profess ional practice to
understand it fully,
g TIE use OF iaw, as a sc,>ace, is to
prevent mere discretionary power, under
the color ct equity; and it is the duty Of
"a judge, to pronounce his decisions, not
simply according to hi. ow~ opinion Of
Justice and right but according to pre-
scrited rules : il is to be hoped that his
own reason will generally approve these
rules; but it is the judgment of the law,
not his own, which he delivers.
Were judges to decide by their bare
opinions Of right and wrong, these must
occasionally be warped by prejudice, in
terest or caprice, and an English court of
justice, which, as it is now establ shed, is
the most useful and salutary of all insti.
buttons, would degenerate into the intole.
rable slavery Of an arbitrary tribunal.
" For it was observed BY the late ex-
cellent Lord Camden" The discretion
OF judge is the law of tyrants /; it is
always unknown it is different in diffe-
rent men it is casual. land depends up.
on constitution, temper and passion in
the best of US, it is oftentimes caprice, in
the worst, vice and folly"
"Let US be satisfied, gentlemen, with
law, which all who choose, may under
stand, and not call for equity in its popu-
lar sense, which is uncertain.
"The end Of criminal law, most i'm
portant branch Of the great jurid;cal sys.
TEN, is to prevent crimes by punishment,
Sc that the pain Of It, as a fine writer ex-
presses himself, may be inflicted on few,
but the dread OF it extended to all.
In the administration Of penal JUS
tice, a severe burthen is removed from
our minds. by the assistance of juries !;
and it is my ardent wish that the court
had the same relief in ci,r, especially
commercial causes, for the decision of
which there cannot be a nobIer tribunal
than jury of experienced men, assisted
by the learning Of judge.
These are my sentiments and ez-
press them, not because they may be po.
pular, but because l sincerely aud unre-
serVedly entertain them ; for aspire to
no pupuIarity-I seek no pra;se hut u,f