We recorded last week the conviction of the Rev. John
Selby Watson for the murder of his wife at Stockwell, and the recom- mendation to mercy by the jury, in consideration of his age and till then blameless life. We may add that Mr. Justice Byles, in passing judgment, said that no one would regard Mr. Watson's ease "otherwise than with the deepest compassion," and that his duty was simply to pronounce the judgment of the law, to which he did not add any caution against hope. During the whole week there has been a very lively discussion as to Mr. Watson's claim for a commutation of sentence, a brother clergyman, the Rev. G. S. Drew, having written to the Times a very high panegyric on his friend's former character, describing him as "precise and old- faahigned in his manners," but "always gentle and considerate, espe. :ally to the poor and the dependent." Mr. Drew describes his wife as "always fretful, and sometimes violent in temper." "Some years ago he came to town in the middle of his summer vacation to ask for my advice and sympathy on this account, as he said her then frequent paroxysms of rage made it almost impossible to live with her. Knowing how severely he was thus tried, I never, in my frequent after-visits, left the house without marvelling at the remarkable self-control and gentleness which he invariably manifested in his demeanour towards her. She always sat with bins in his study while he was at work ; he hardly ever walked out without her," &c.,—from which Mr. Drew concludes that in a melancholy and depressed state of mind he must have given way at last to a really " ungovernable rage." We fear that the evidence that he had governed his rage so long, tends to show his complete power of self-control, and also the clear notice he had of his own danger. The evidence adduced of his weakness of mind was utterly insufficient. There is plenty of room for compassion, but very little, we fear, for pardon, or even mitigation of sentence.
