Mr. Watson has been respited, and his sentence changed to
penal servitude for life, on the recommendation of the judge who tried him (Mr. Justice Byles) and of the Lord Chief Justice (Sir A. Cockburn). No one can help feeling a certain amount of pity for Mr. Watson, or relief that he is not to be put to the ignomini- ous death of the gallows; but we have a nervous feeling that a very different measure of justice has been dealt out to him and to certain criminals of a lower class whose reprieve has been stead- fastly, we do not say unjustly, refused ; and we have the greatest possible fear of a suspicion of class•justice gaining ground with the English people. We do not see any substantial ground for- the mitigation of Mr. Watson's sentence. The attempt to show insanity is admitted to have failed. And the mere existence of provocation,—of the extent of which in this case we have no real evidence,—has never been regarded as giving a title to mercy_ We cannot regret the special result, but we do fear its conse- quences.
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