JB/109/081/001

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2nd.

It is not barren of example of the existence of the best laws and the most
abandoned administration of them. Whishing always to take the
wisdom of Mr Fox as my guide, and it will always be so, I shall call your
attention to a passage in his admirable and philosophical historical
work on the reign of James 2nd. The imperfect and unfinished state of which
gives me another cause of regret for his death. That you may fully
feel the force of his sentiments, I wish to give them to you in the very
words of the author, and therefore I have extracted them. He tells
us that –

"The reign of Charles the Second forms one of the most singular, as well as
"of the most important periods of history. It is the era of good laws and
bad government. The abolition of the Court of Wards, the Repeal of the
Writ de Heretico Comburendo, the Triennial Parliament Bill, the
establishment of the Rights of the House of Commons in regard to impeachment,
the expiration License Act, and above all the glorious state of
Habeas Corpus, have therefore induced a modern writer of great eminence
to fill the year 1679 as the period at which our constitution had arrived
at its greatest theoretical perfection; but he owns, in a short note
upon the passage alluded to, that the times immediately following were
times of practical oppression.

The writer to whom he alludes is Justice Blacstone, and while he
might make the admission which he had made in this note, we
may reflect upon the fact, that the corruption of the Judge formed
a part of the oppression observed upon, and the trial by jury was
no protection to the lives of Englishmen. It was then that Russell and Sidney were sacrified by forms of law, against all law and
Justice, and on the very day the former was executed, the famous
decree proceeded from one of the Universities, condemning formally
as impious and heretical every principle on which a free Constitution
can be founded. Charters were forfeited, lives taken against law,
Convictions contrary to evidence, enormous fines and arbitrary
imprisonments, form the Black catalogue which the writer deplores;
And these he denominates great practical oppression.

Identifier: | JB/109/081/001 "JB/" can not be assigned to a declared number type with value 109.
Date_1		Marginal Summary Numbering	04-May
Box	109	Main Headings	Parliamentary Reform
Folio number	081	Info in main headings field
Image	001	Titles	2nd
Category	Collectanea	Number of Pages	1
Recto/Verso	recto	Page Numbering
Penner		Watermarks	[[watermarks::I&M [Prince of Wales feathers] 1818]]
Marginals	Jeremy Bentham	Paper Producer	Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington
Corrections		Paper Produced in Year	1818
Notes public		ID Number	35736
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