Cass. As it was, he was severely reprimanded by the Lord Chancellor.
It is only just to say that many of the Metropolitan magistrates are able and painstaking men, among whom, without drawing invidious comparisons, we may mention Mr. Mead, late junior counsel to the Treasury. They are, however, too often selected, not on account of any personal capacity, but through possessing family influence in high quarters. It is most essential that only men who have had experience in criminal work should be appointed; but as it is, in order to qualify, they have only to be barristers of seven years' standing. The choice lies with the Home Secretary, and the salaries are £1,500 a year, except in the case of the chief magistrate, at Bow-street, who receives £1,800.
Mr. Newton.
The Bow-street Court is the chief police-court in London, and has exclusive jurisdiction in extradition and in all political offences against the Crown. One of the ablest and most respected magistrates who ever sat at Bow-street was Sir James Ingham, who died a few years ago at a very advanced age.
A story is told of Sir James having once had before him a case of a man charging another with stealing his watch. It, however, transpired that the prosecutor had not worn his watch on the day in question, but had, in fact, left it at home, where it was safely found. He was overwhelmed with regret at having made a false charge, and Sir James, in order to smooth matters, said: "We are all liable to make mistakes. I was under the impression that I had put my watch in my pocket this morning; but on arriving at this Court I found that I had left it at home by mistake." When the magistrate arrived home in the evening, his daughter said: "I hope you got your watch all right, papa. I gave it to the man from Bow-street who called for it."
Mr. Albert, the interpreter, translating evidence.
Too late, Sir James recognised his indiscretion in having stated in open court that he had left his watch at home. The "gentleman from Bow-street" who had taken advantage of the information was never discovered.
In the country, and also in many of the boroughs, justice is administered by unpaid magistrates. There are borough justices, composed of the Mayor of the town ex officio, and such merchants and well-to-do tradesmen as the Lord Chancellor, in the exercise of his political discretion, may think fit to appoint. The country justices in agricultural districts are almost exclusively drawn from the ranks of the landed gentry. In industrial districts, such as Durham and Lancashire, from which country gentlemen have been driven away by the increase of factories, the country justice usually belongs to a lower social class, big brewers and manufacturers being the only available. The country justice has by this time obtained a well-established reputation as a laughing-stock. Shakespeare, Fielding, and Dickens have successively held him up to ridicule, and the modern Press has frequent opportunities of making merry over his absurdities. But all to no purpose, for the simple reason that though many reformers would gladly see the great unpaid abolished, no one has yet been able to suggest a means of replacing them. It is obvious that a paid
