ABSTRACT
Among the first to recognize the need for a stipendiary magistracy, Henry Fielding initiated by his example the slow process which led to the implementation of that reform, if inadequately, in the Middlesex Justices Bill of 1792. From the beginning of his magistracy Fielding understood the value of advertising his office, not merely from the mercenary motive of increasing his business, but for public-spirited reasons. Out of curiosity Samuel Johnson attended a Westminster magistrate's court for an entire winter and found there such a “uniform tenor of misfortune, wretchedness and profligacy” he had no desire to repeat the experiment. January 1748/9 was also the month when Fielding's magistracy began to assume that graver aspect for which it is chiefly remembered. The Charge is memorable for the sense it conveys of a great nation in decay and of Fielding's determination to apply his talents, whether as magistrate or author, to repair England's constitution.
