553 
JUSTICE. 
able to get a livelihood; and, overwhelmed with wretched¬ 
ness, fat down on the day of a proceflion at the door of 
tlie cathedral of Seville at the moment the proceflion pair¬ 
ed by. Amongft the other canons he perceived the mur¬ 
derer of his father. At the fight of this man, filial affec¬ 
tion, rage, and defpair, fo far got the better of his reafon, 
that he fell furioufly upon the pried, and dabbed him to 
the heart. The young man was Seized, convicted of the 
crime, and immediately condemned to be quartered alive, 
Peter, commonly called the Cruel, but whom the Spani¬ 
ards call the Lover of Juftice, was then at Seville. The af¬ 
fair came to his knowledge ; and, after learning the par¬ 
ticulars, he determined to be himfelf the judge of the 
young fhoemaker. .When he proceeded to give judgment, 
he fird annulled the Sentence juft pronounced by the cl.er- 
gy: and, after afking the young man what profeftion lie 
was, “ I forbid you (Slid he) to make fhoes for one year 
to come.” 
ii. During a recent cruize off the coaft of France, cap¬ 
tain Moore, of the Engliffi frigate Syren, fell in with Some 
Small fifhing-velfels, the owners of which, on his approach, 
abandoned their nets, and efcaped to fhore. Being in 
want of frefli provifions, he ordered out his boats, and 
drew the nets, by which means he obtained a confiderable 
quantity of filh. With due confideration, however, to 
the wretched poilfards, whom he had thus deprived of the 
hire of their labour, he ascertained the value of the fidi, 
which proved, on the teftimony of the pilot, to be fix 
guineas; and this Sum, together with an appropriate let¬ 
ter, he put into a bladder, and SuSpended it to the nets, 
which he again threw into the water, and Set Sail. The 
frighted filliermen from the Ihore witnefied the early part 
of the tranfaftion, and on the departure of the frigate re¬ 
turned to their ftation for the purpofe of Saving the rem¬ 
nant of their nets, which, according to common ufage, 
they expefted to have found hacked to pieces. How 
great muft have been their gratitude and delight, w’hen, 
on drawing in their nets, they not only difeovered them 
whole, but the treafure attached to them ! It is thus we 
fliould ever acl. We war not againft individuals, whom, 
in all the relative duties of life, we Ihould confider as 
friends and brethren. 
Thefe examples, to which many more might be added, 
are highly pleafing to a Sagacious and virtuous mind ; 
but the SenSual and brutal part of mankind, who regard 
only the prefent moment, who See no objeffts but thoSe 
which fall under the cognizance of the corporeal eye, and 
eftimate the merit of every adlion by the gain which it 
produces, have always considered juftice and utility as in¬ 
dependent of each other. They put utility in the balance 
againft honefty every day ; and never fail to incline the 
beam in favour of the former, if the fuppofed advantage 
is thought to be confiderable. They have no regard to 
juftice but as they reckon to gain by it, or at lealt not to 
lofe ; and are always ready to defert it when it expofes 
them to any danger or threatens them with any lofs. From 
this difpofition of mind proceeds that avidity of wealth 
and that habitual fraud which perpetually embroil civil 
fociety ; from this fatal Source arii'es that deluge of ini¬ 
quity which has overflowed the world ; from this prefer¬ 
ence of intereft to honefty proceed every unjuft litigation 
and every a£t of violence. And yet nothing is more cer¬ 
tain than that “ Whatever is unjuft muft, upon the whole, 
be difadvantageous which might be proved thus : 
Nothing is advantageous or ufeful but that which has a 
tendency to render us happy ; the higheft advantage, or 
abfolufe utility, is complete happinefs ; and to this hap- 
pinefs, whatever is advantageous or ufeful is relative as to 
an ultimate end; and nothing that is not thus relative to 
happinefs can properly be Said to be advantageous or ufe¬ 
ful. Now whatever is unjuft is So far from tending to 
promote, that it deftroys, our happinefs ; for whatever is 
unjuft is contrary to the Divine will ; and it is net poifi- 
ble that we Ihould become happy by refilling that will, 
becaufe of this will our happinefs is the immediate object. 
God is not a tyrant, proud of uncontroulable power, who 
impofes capricious laws only as tefts of our obedience, 
and to make us feel the weight of his yoke ; all his pre¬ 
cepts are lefions which teach us how to be happy. But 
it is’the will of God that we fhould be juft; from whence 
it follow's, that no true happinefs can be acquired by 
thofe who are unjuft. An aStion, therefore, which is 
contrary to the will of God, muft be inconfiftent with our 
true intereft ; and confequently, fo far from being ufeful 
or expedient, it muft inevitably produce ruin and mifery. 
Injultice fometimes meets with the punilhment it deferves 
in this world ; but, if it fhould efcape here, it does not 
follow that it will forever efcape. It proves, on the con¬ 
trary, that there is another world in which the fates of 
mankind will be impartially decided. 
JUSTICE, [jujiiciaris, Lat.j An officer deputed by the 
king to adminiller juftice, and do right by way of judg¬ 
ment. They are called Juftices becaufe in ancient time 
the Latin word for a judge was juftitia, and for that he hath 
his authority by deputation, and not jure magiftratus. See 
Judge. Of thefe Juftices there are various forts, with va¬ 
rious powers and duties; fome of which have been ex-, 
plained under the articles Courts, Chancellor, Chan¬ 
cery, Exchequer, and Judge ; fee alfo Common Pleas, 
Forest, and King’s Bench. 
Justices of Assise, JuJliciarii ad capiendas ajftfas. Such 
as were wont by fpecial commiflion to be lent (as occa- 
fion was offered) into this or that county, to take affiles 
for the eafe of the fubjeiits; for, as thefe actions pafs al¬ 
ways by jury, many men could not, without damage and 
charge, be brought to London ; therefore juftices for this 
purpofe, by commiflion particularly authorized, were fent 
to them. For it feems, that the Juftices of the Common 
Pleas had no power to take affifes till the ftat. of 8 R. II. 
c. 2, by which they were enabled to do it, and to deliver 
gaols. And the Juftices of the King’s Bench have by that 
ltatute fuch power affirmed unto them, as they had one 
hundred years before. Thefe commifficns ad capiendas 
affifas, have of late years been fettled and executed only 
in Lent and the long vacation, (called now the Lent and 
Summer Affifes,) when the juftices and other learned 
lawyers might be at leifure to attend thofe controverfies ; 
whereupon it alfo falls out, that the matters that were 
wont to be heard by more general commiffions of Juftices 
in Eyre, are heard all at one time with thefe affifes ; which 
was not fo of old, as appears by Braclon, lib. 3. And by 
this means the juftices of both benches, being worthily ac¬ 
counted the fitteft of all others, and their affiftants, were 
employed in thefe affairs. That Juftices of Affife and Juf¬ 
tices in Eyre did anciently differ, appeareth by ftat. 27 
Edw. III. c. 5. And that Juftices of Affife and Juftices 
of Gaol-delivery were different, is evident by ftat. 4 Edw. 
III. c. 3. The oath taken by the Juftices of Affile is all 
one with that taken by the Juftices of the King’s Bench. 
To what is faid under Assise, may be added, that the 
courts of Affife and Nifi Prius are compofed of two or more 
commiffioners, who are fent twice in every year, by the king’s 
fpecial commiflion, all round the kingdom, (except Lon¬ 
don and Middlefex, where courts of Nifi’Prius are holders 
in and after every term, before the chief or other judge of 
the feveral fuperior courts; and, except the four northern 
counties, where the affifes are only holden twice a-year,) 
to try by a jury of the refpedlive counties the truth of 
fuch matters of facl as are then under difpnte in Weft- 
minfter-liall. Thefe Judges of Affife came into ufe in 
the room of Juftices in Eyre, who were regularly efta- 
bliffied, if not firft appointed, by the parliament of Nor¬ 
thampton, A. D. 1176, 22 Hen. II. with a delegated power 
from the king’s great court, or aula regia , being looked 
upon as members thereof; and they afterwards made their 
circuit round the kingdom once in feven years for the 
purpofe of trying caujes. Co. Lit. 293. They were after¬ 
wards direfted by Magna Charta, c. 12, to be fent into 
every county twice a-year, to take (or receive the verditt 
of the jurors, or recognitors, in certain actions then cal 1- 
1 L ed) 
