Page:Armatafragment00ersk.djvu/404

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page needs to be proofread.

( 176 )

¬I was the more attentive to those abuses, be- cause London itself is not free from them, and they cannot be removed but by striking at their roots. — The system of licenses to publicans should be totally changed, and the partialities with which they have been granted done away. — Character, most respectably and cautiously certified, ought to be the only qualification ; severe punishment should attend irregularities and disorders, and no established Victual- ler should be deprived of his license upon any pretence whatsoever, xvithout trial by a jury, instead of being, as heretofore, at the will of the justices of the peace; none of whom be- sides should license any houses of their own, nor be seen upon the bench when the titles to them are discussed. — I have a great respect for the magistrates of our country, and for none more than many of them in the metropolis — but no one ought to be placed in a situation which exposes him even to suspicion, nor sit in judg- ment when he has the remotest interest in the decision. ¬The ¬