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applicable to the occafion, and by the received rules of evidence which ftatutes do not define, univerfally to require thofe proofs which the law and established usage render neceffary to conviction, In every inftance let him give sentence not merely with upright intentions, but according to the ftrict fenfe of the exifting law. This limitation is fubjoined as a caution against that propensity which is fometimes difcernible in Magiftrates; and arifes on fome occafions perhaps from careleffness, and a defire to avoid the trouble of confulting books and collating ftatutes, but frequently from benevolent views improperly indulged; to adjudge the cause before them partly or entirely by their own unauthorised ideas of equity. Let the Juftice always remember, that his province is not to make or alter the laws of the land, but to pronounce what they have previously enacted; and that in no inftance whatever is he to extend his difcretion beyond the limits prescribed to it by the Legiflature. Within those bounds let him accommodate his decision, as far as may be practicable, to the peculiar features and merits of the business at iffue; and give to his benevo

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lence the largeft poffible fcope which is confiftent with the public welfare.

Benevolence ought to be in fact fo powerful a motive of his conduct, as to be fubordinate only to ftrict and impartial uprightness. If it was the caufe of his entering upon his office, it will appear, unless his views and dispositions fhall have undergone a change much to be deplored, in the whole courfe of his practice as a Magistrate. It will manifest itself in various fhapes and forms, fuited to the feveral circumstances in which he has opportunities of exerting it. It will dissuade him, on the one hand, from preferring his personal ease to the interest and convenience of the parties who apply to him for redress; and from sending them back on flender grounds until another day, or keeping them for a long time lingering at his door before he grants them a hearing, And on the other, it will prompt him, when he is fully occupied already, to make known his fituation at once to any fresh applicants who may arrive, and not to fuffer them to be detained in fruitless expectation. It will teach him. uniform compofure and mildness of manners; and incline him ftudioufly to practise every degree

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degree of affability and condefcenfion which is confiftent with the due fupport of his authority. It will render him friendly to the perfon of the criminal, while fevere against the crime; a diftinction which the accused eafily perceive, and often remember with gratitude. It will make him tender towards vagrants, who are frequently treated with undifcriminating harshness. It will dispose him rather to prevent, than to punifh, breaches of the law; and on that principle will be the very motive which leads him not uncommonly to chaflife early tranfgreffors, and perfons convicted of fmall offences, with confiderable rigour, that he may deter them at once from the paths of guilt. It will restrain him, while in all cafes, and especially in fuch as are flagrant, he is duly attentive to the refponfibility of the bail produced, from exacting in any cafe fecurities difproportioned to the circumstances of the party against whom the complaint is made; from proceeding to a legal enquiry while reasonable hopes remain that the aggreffor might be induced, by the reiterated application of the perfon injured, to make fatisfaction; and from iffuing an expenfive

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five warrant, when a fixpenny fummons will answer the purpose. It will determine him in adopting measures of prevention or of punishment in the cafe of offences threatened or committed, to exercise those difcretionary powers, which in most instances are confided to him by the law, with lenity and moderation; and to be guided as to the kind and the degree of the restraint or chastisement which he felects, by a regard to the welfare of the offender himself, as far as it may be compa tible with the good of the neighbourhood and of the community. And finally it will on all occafions fuggeft to him, that among the various ways in which his office enables him to promote the happiness of mankind, he is then employed in a manner not only the most fatisfactory to himfelf, but perhaps the most useful to others, when he acts as a peace-maker; when he removes fecret animofities; puts an end to open quarrels ; prevents embryo lawsuits by a reference to private (a) arbitration; and unites the jarring

members

(a) Thefe expreffions are not to be understood as in the flightest degree exculpating a Magiftrate, who permits profecutions

members of the fame family in an oblivion' of past misunderstandings, and a renewal of concord and harmony.

A confiderable fhare of firmnefs of mind (and firmness of mind is by no means inconfiftent with that active benevolence which has been inculcated) is abfolutely neceffary to carry a Magistrate through the duties of his ftation. It will be requifite in order to ensure to him that steadiness of demeanour, without which he will find it impoffible to preserve order and decorum in his juftice-room; to restrain loquacity, petulance, impertinence, and rudeness; to curb the bold, and overawe the hardened. It will teach him to proceed with perfeverance in the path of rectitude, neither daunted by menaces, public or anonymous, nor by the profpect of giving offence to the wealthy and powerful. But let him not forget that the fortitude which he is to cultivate is the offspring of religion; not the obftinacy which originates from pride. Let

profecutions to be compounded, when either the law of the land or the public good requires that the offence fhould be openly punished.

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