2. The Quarter Sessions of the Peace; held four times a year at Guildhall, Westminster, by the Justices acting for that City and Liberty--_for the trial of small Offences committed in Westminster only_. 3. The General and Quarter Sessions of the Peace; held eight times a year, at the New Sessions House on Clerkenwell-Green, (commonly called Hicks's Hall) by the Justices only of the County of Middlesex--_for the trial of small Offences committed in Middlesex and Westminster_. 4. The General Quarter Sessions of the Peace; held in the Sessions-House in Well-Close-Square, by the Justices for the Liberty of the Tower of London--_for the trial of small Offences committed within the Royalty_. 5. The Quarter Sessions of the Peace; held by the Justices for the County of Surry, at the New Sessions House at Newington, Surry, in January;--At Reigate, in April;--At Guildhall, in July;--and Kingston-upon-Thames, in October, each year;--_where small Offences committed in Southwark and the Neighbourhood are tried_. These five inferior Courts of Justice take cognizance of _Petty Larcenies, Frauds, Assaults, Misdemeanors, and other offences punishable by fine, imprisonment, whipping, and the pillory_:--and in certain cases, the power of the Justices extends to transportation. The higher and more atrocious offences committed in London and Middlesex, are tried at the Justice-Hall, in the Old Bailey; by a special commission of Oyer and Terminer to the Lord Mayor, and a certain number of the Judges, with the Recorder and Common Serjeant of the City of London. Offences of this latter degree of atrocity, perpetrated in that part of the Metropolis which is situated in the Borough of Southwark and County of Surry, are tried at the assizes, held twice a year at _Kingston-upon-Thames_, _Croydon_, or _Guildford_.[124] [Footnote 124: Considerable inconvenience arises (and, indeed, great hardship, where prisoners are innocent) from the length of time which must elapse, where offences have been committed in Southwark, before they can be brought to trial; either for inferior or more atrocious crimes. In the former case, prisoners must remain till the Quarter Sessions, (there being no intermediate General Sessions of the Peace) and in the latter case till the Assizes, held only twice a year; this occasions a confinement, previous to trial, lengthened out, in some instances, to three, four, five, and even nearly to six months.] Thus it appears, that five inferior and two superior Tribunals of Justice are established for trying the different crimes committed in the Metropolis.