Worcester.
I observe that the substance of M. W. B.'s Note has been reprinted in a
mutilated form in several newspapers; his preliminary remark, and
concluding Query, being omitted! The effect of this is to circulate as a
_fact_ what your correspondent himself questions. My object however in
this communication, is not so much to draw attention to the injurious
effects of partial quotation, as to point out what, in my opinion,
renders the occurrence of an execution under the circumstances detailed
a manifest impossibility. I believe I am correct in stating that there
never was, nor is there now (out of London), such a thing as a _warrant_
for the _execution of a criminal_. At the close of each Assize, a fair
copy of the _Calendar_, with the sentences in the margin, is signed by
the Judges, and left with the sheriff; this is the _only authority_ he
has given him; and in the event of a sentence of death, he has no
alternative but carrying it into effect; unless he receives from the
Crown a pardon, a reprieve, or a warrant commuting the sentence.
_Blackstone_ observes upon this:
"It may afford matter of speculation, that in civil causes there
should be such a variety of writs of execution to recover a
trifling debt, issued in the king's name, and under the seal of
the court, without which the sheriff cannot legally stir one step;
and yet that the _execution of a man_, the most important and
terrible task of any, _should depend upon a marginal note_."