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ACCUSATION, compounded of ad, to; and cmifuri, 

 to fliad, in ttio C't-uil I.n:i; the charging any pcrlon with a 

 criminal aftign, either in one's own name, or on behalf of 

 the public. 



By tiis Roman law, there was no public accufer for public 

 crimes ; every private perfon, whether mterelled in the 

 crime or not, might nccnfe, and pmfccute the accufed to 

 punifhment, or abfoUition. Cato, who was elleemed the 

 moll innocent per''on of his age, had bi-en accufed forty-two 

 times, and ablolved as often. But tiie accufation of private 

 crimes was never received unlefs from the mouths of thofe 

 who were immediately intcrelled in them. Thus, none but 

 the hu(b.ind could aecufc his wife of adultery. Indeed, it 

 was not properly an accufation, except in public crimes ; in 

 private ones, it was called fimply action, or intenting an 

 action, inl miere aaionnn, or littrn. When the accufed ac- 

 cuftis t'le accufer, it is called recrimination, wliich is not ad- 

 mitted till the pccufed has been fnlt purged. 



The ancient Roman lawyers didinguiihcd between pojlu- 

 *iiUo, Jelalio and accufalio : for, firft, leave was defired to 

 bring a charge againft any one, which was called pojlulare ; 

 then he, againft whom the eharge was laid, was brought 

 before the judge, which was called deferre, or dcminls dela- 

 tio : laftly, the charge was drawn up, and prefented, which 

 was properly the accufalio. Voff. Etym. Lat. The accu- 

 fation propel ly commenced, according to Paedianus, when 

 the reus, or party charged, being interrogated, denied he 

 was guilty of the crime, and fiibfcribcd his name to the 

 delatlo made by his opponent. Calv. Lex. Jur. p. 17. 



The accufers, or aciors, as they are called, were, by the 

 laws of Pompey, A. U. C. 702, allowed two hours for 

 pleading their caufe, and the party charged three hours for 

 a reply. Dion. Caff. hb. xl. 52. torn. i. p. 255, Ed. Rei- 

 mari. They had a recompencc afligned them, part of the 

 property of thofe who were condemned, and they were 

 frequently honoured with the fuperior offices of the ftate. 

 lb. torn. i. p. 100. 485. 867. 887, &c. 



By the cruel laws of the Inquisition, the accufed is 

 forced to accufe himfelf of the crime objeftcd to him. There 

 are three ways of entering an information in the tribunal of 

 the inquifition. The firft, by way of inquifition^ whei a 

 prlx-ate perfon, applying to the inquifitor, declares he ,vill 

 neither be denunciator, nor accufer, but that common fame 

 gives out, that fuch and fuch a perfon is a heretic : the 

 l«cond, by way of accufation, when the informer takes on 

 him the office of accuf r, which rarely happens, becaufe in 

 this cafe, the accufer is obliged to prove, and expofes him- 

 felf to the lex ralionis, if his infor.nation (liould prove falfe. 

 The laft, and moll ufual way, is by denunciation, that is 

 by namin T thofe who know the faft. 



It ha: formerly been the cuftom in fome parts of Europe, 

 where the accufation was very heavy, cither to decide it by 

 combat, or at leaft to make the accufed purge himfelf by 

 oath ; which, however, was not admitted, unlefs a certain 

 number of his neighbours and acquaintance fwore together 

 with him. 



In the French law, none but the procureur general, or 

 his deputies, can form an accufation, except for high trea- 

 fon, and coining, where accufation \i open to every body. 

 Jn other cafes, private perfons can only aft the part of de- 

 nouncers, and demand reparation for the offence, with 

 damages. 



In Britain, by Magna Charta, no man fhall be imprifoned 

 or condemned on any accufation, without trial by his peers, 

 or the law : none f lall be vex;d with any accufation, but ac- 

 cording to the law of the land ; and no man may be molefted 

 by petition to the king, &c. unlefs it be by indictment or pre- 

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fcutment of lawful men, or by procefs at common law. 

 Promoters of fuggellions are to find fecurity to purfue 

 them ; and if they do not make them good, (hall pay da- 

 mages to the party accufed, and alfo a fine to the king. No 

 perfon is obliged to anfwer upon oath to a quellion whereby 

 he may accufe himfelf of any crime. 



Writers on politics treat of the benefits and inconveni- 

 ences of public accufers. Various arguments are alleged, 

 both for the encouragement and difcouragemcnt of accufa- 

 tions againft great men. Nothing, according to Machlavel, 

 tends more to the prefervation of a ftate, than frequent ac- 

 cufations of perfons trufted with the adminillration of public 

 affairs. This, accordingly, was ftriftly obferved by the 

 Romans, in the inftance of Camillus, accufed of coiTuption 

 by Manlius Capitolinus, &c. Accufations, however, in the 

 judgment of the fame author, are not more beneficial than 

 calumnies are pernicious, which is alfo confirmed by the 

 praftice of the Romans. Manlius, not being able to make 

 good his charge agiinft Camillus, was call into prifon. 

 Mach. de Repub. 1. i. c. 7. p. 35. Solon facilitated public 

 accufations, becaufe they are more neceffary in a democracy 

 than under any other form of government. Without this 

 formidable check, the general liberty would be perpetually 

 endangered by the liberty of each individual. At Athens, 

 if an accufer had not the fifth part of the votes on his fide, 

 he was obliged to pay a fine of a thoufand drachmas, 

 ^fchines, who accufed Ctefiphon, was condemned to pay 

 this fine. At Rome, a falfe accufer was, by the Roman 

 law, branded with infamy, by marking the letter K on his 

 forehead. Guards were alfo appointed to watch the accu- 

 fer, in order to prevent his coiTupting either the judges or 

 the witneffes. See Montefq. Spirit of Laws, vol. i. p. 283. 



ACCUSATIVE, in Grammar, the fourth cafe of 

 nouns that are declined. Its ufe may be conceived from 

 this, that all verbs wliich exprefs aftions that pafs from the 

 agent, as, to beat, &c. muft have fubjefts to receive thole 

 aftions, or imply effefts that are produced by thein ; fo 

 that fuch verbs evidently require after them a noun, or 

 name, to be the objedt of the aftion expreffed. Hence, 

 in all languages which have cafes, the nours have a termina- 

 tion, which they call accufative ; as, " Achtlhs •vtdmrav'tt 

 " Nefforcm :" " Achilles wounded Heftor:" here the ac- 

 cufative denotes the fubjeft. " Lyftppus fecit Jla.'u.is :^^ 

 " Lyfippus made ftatues :" here the accufative denotes the 

 effeft. In whatever other manner, fays Mr. Hairis, 

 (Hermes, p. 283.) whether figuratively, or with prepofi- 

 tions, this cafe may have been ufed, its firft deftinatiou 

 feems to have been that here mentioned, and hence he fonns 

 its charafter and defcription. Accordingly, the accufative 

 is that cafe, which to an efficient nominative and a verb of 

 action, fubjoins either the effeft: or the paflive fubjeft. But 

 it has been alleged, that this defcription does not give us 

 an appropnate and difcriminating charafter of the accufa- 

 tive, and futlicientlv diftinguifhit from the Dative. E. G. 

 " Anton'ms lisjit Cicfroncm," and ' " Anlonius nocuit Ci- 

 " ceront," are expreffions of the fame import ; and in each 

 the aftion of hurting is conceived as proceeding from An- 

 tony to Cicero. It has, therefore, been reafonably af- 

 firmed, that the only thing efTential to thefe two cafes is 

 the appoiition or junftion of one objeft with another; and 

 they denote this much in the fame manner, although from-- 

 the cuftom of language they may not be indifferently fub- 

 joined to the fame verb. See Case. 



In Englifli, we have nothing to diftinguifh this cafe from 

 the nominative ; but as we ordinarily place words in their 

 natural order, it is eafily difcovered : the nominative con- 

 ftantly preceding, and the accufative following the verb.— ■ 



Thus, 



