STATUTE LAWS RELATING TO 



this exotic was first introduced into English soil, it 

 has flourished but too luxuriantly; it has spread 

 so rapidly, that if not checked in season, it must 

 infallibly, at one time or other, undermine that 

 privilege in which Englishmen have so much glo- 

 ried, and which has been termed the palladium of 

 their constitution : like other wild and pernicious 

 weeds, it will choke the growth of the more salu- 

 tary ; and legitimate trial for offences must be even- 

 tually lost. Such is its extensive use, that it seems 

 naturalized already. We hear of its increase even 

 without surprise or emotion, when those who first 

 suggested the plan even dreaded to hazard its pro- 

 posal. Such is the effect of habit. It has, never- 

 theless, been severely reprobated by Mr. Justice 

 Blackstone, as sacrificing too much to " conveni- 

 ency." It has enormously increased since his time : 

 " it is still increasing, and ought to be diminished." 

 Let any man consider, in a constitutional point of 

 view, the alarming powers with which the magis- 

 trate is armed by the recent Trespass Act. I do 

 not say they are necessarily abused, but I could 

 quote an instance or two where they have been 

 abused most flagrantly. The practice may be pro- 

 ductive of great good ; as all arbitrary power, well 

 exercised, must be; still the power is unconsti- 

 tutional, the example is dangerous, and its increase 

 is, therefore, to be dreaded. 



I do not mean in this place to give a history of 

 the laws of summary conviction, how they origi- 

 nated, how they are administered, and how they 



