-- With a parliament, therefore,
dependent upon the crown, devoted to the prince, and supported by
a standing army, garbled and modelled for the purpose, any king
of England may, and probably some ambitious sovereign will,
totally overthrow all the bulwarks of the constitution; for it is
not to be supposed that a prince of high spirit will tamely
submit to be thwarted in all his measures, abused and insulted by
a populace of unbridled ferocity, when he has it in his power to
crush all opposition under his feet with the concurrence of the
legislature. He said, he should always consider the liberty of
the press as a national evil, while it enabled the vilest reptile
to soil the lustre of the most shining merit, and furnished the
most infamous incendiary with the means of disturbing the peace
and destroying the good order of the community. He owned,
however, that under due restrictions, it would be a valuable
privilege; but affirmed, that at present there was no law in
England sufficient to restrain it within proper bounds.
With respect to juries, he expressed himself to this effect: --
juries are generally composed of illiterate plebeians, apt to be
mistaken, easily misled, and open to sinister influence; for if
either of the parties to be tried, can gain over one of the
twelve jurors, he has secured the verdict in his favour; the
juryman thus brought over will, in despight of all evidence and
conviction, generally hold out till his fellows are fatigued, and
harassed, and starved into concurrence; in which case the verdict
is unjust, and the jurors are all perjured: but cases will often
occur, when the jurors are really divided in opinion, and each
side is convinced in opposition to the other; but no verdict will
be received, unless they are unanimous, and they are all bound,
not only in conscience, but by oath, to judge and declare
according to their conviction.
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