Page:England's alarm!.djvu/54

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of the court were to be taken on the criminality of either by demurrer (which would, as things now go, save much time, trouble, and expence, as the rule of law at present stands constructed by the Judges, unestablished on the noble basis of the common law, lex terræ, or statute law) a man has nothing to depend on but their discretion, and the partial use of the jargon of inuendos, averments, and intendments for his acquittal. If these can possibly be warped, as was the case, in a decree, with Mr. Horne, and, no doubt, many others, any paper, the contents whereof arraign the conduct of a Minister, or speak of and concerning the King and his government, may, or may not be deemed criminal, as the Judges please. They have no legal criterion, whereby the innocence or criminality of our discussions is discoverable. Their provocation and tendency to break the peace, are all that constitute their guilt. Now, granting readily that a rebellion actually begun, may produce a revolution, in which it is lost and forgotten, and that consequently it is the duty of the existing go-

vernment