The measures now proposed, my lords, are, therefore, to be rejected,
because it is evident that they will establish a precedent, by which
virtue may at any time be oppressed, but which can be very seldom
necessary for the detection of wickedness; since there is no probability
that it will often happen, that a man really guilty of enormous crimes
can secure himself from discovery, or connect others with him in such a
manner, that they cannot impeach him without betraying themselves.
But, my lords, whenever virtue is to be persecuted, whenever false
accusations are to be promoted, this method is incontestably useful; for
no reward can so efficaciously prevail upon men who languish in daily
fear of publick justice, as a grant of impunity.
It may be urged, my lords, I own, that all inquiries into futurity are
idle speculations; that the expedient proposed is proper on the present
occasion, and that no methods of justice are to be allowed, if the
possibility of applying them to bad purposes, is a sufficient reason for
rejecting them.
But to this, my lords, it may be answered with equal reason, that every
process of law is likewise, in some degree, defective; that the
complications of circumstances are variable without end, and, therefore,
cannot be comprised in any certain rule; and that we must have no
established method of justice, if we cannot be content with such as may
possibly be sometimes eluded.
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