JB/106/195/001

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16 May 1807

On that part of the ground a man may the may see
lying in wait for him, a very perplexing question. The
will of the sovereign has been declared: and in the opinion of
the Judge, it is in a degree adverse to the welfare
of the people. In this case to which of the two standards
shall his decision be conformable?

Be a mans answer what it may On this question whatsoever of the two opposite sides a
man takes he may behold a set of combatants in a
state of fury, ready to fall upon him without mercy.
The will of the sovereign? Oh then he is a vile and
, the ready to a tool at the command of every tyrant
that will vouchsafe deign to make use of him. The welfare of the
people? Oh then he is an insurrectionist, a democrat an anarchist:
or rather under the mast of democracy, a despot.

Difficult and slippery as the question is – it is much
better to face it openly and calmly than to elude avoid it altogether, or to
answer it by a response purposely ambiguous or
obscure. A man who means honestly has no need of subterfuge.
obscure.

Conceivable cases might should Cases I suppose might be put of a law, much more
of a system of laws, so mischievous that on the part of a Judge
it would be neither of merit rather than blame, to
avoid lending his hand to the execution of them: or even to
take active measures for frustrating them as much as
possible of their effect. If any such case can be put, it
must then be admitted with whatsoever reluctance, that under
such a dilemma it may happen that a judge may feel
himself at liberty to use his discretion, and in using it may
take either side the one side or the other without blame.⊞ ⊞ In many instances
such for example must
have been the situation of
many a judge in England,
at the time of the last civil
wars in the middle of
the 17th Century.

Identifier: | JB/106/195/001 "JB/" can not be assigned to a declared number type with value 106.
Date_1	1807-05-18	Marginal Summary Numbering	4-6
Box	106	Main Headings	scotch reform
Folio number	195	Info in main headings field
Image	001	Titles
Category	text sheet	Number of Pages	1
Recto/Verso	recto	Page Numbering	c2
Penner	jeremy bentham	Watermarks	iping 1804
Marginals	jeremy bentham	Paper Producer	bernardino rivadavia
Corrections		Paper Produced in Year	1804
Notes public		ID Number	34783
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