It must
be observed, however, that the reasons against the article alleged in
the protest were by no means solely bottomed in the practice of the
courts below, as if the main reliance of the protesters was upon that
usage. The protesting minority maintained that it was not agreeable to
_several precedents in Parliament_; of which they cited many in favor
of their opinion. It appears by the Journals, that the clerks were
ordered to search for precedents, and a committee of peers was appointed
to inspect the said precedents, and to report upon them,--and that they
did inspect and report accordingly. But the report is not entered on the
Journals. It is, however, to be presumed that the greater number and the
better precedents supported the judgment. Allowing, however, their
utmost force to the precedents there cited, they could serve only to
prove, that, in the case of _words_, (to which alone, and not the case
of a _written_ libel, the precedents extended,) such a special averment,
according to the tenor of the words, had been used; but not that it was
necessary, or that ever any plea had been rejected upon such an
objection. As to the course of Parliament, resorted to for authority in
this part of the protest, the argument seems rather to affirm than to
deny the general proposition, that its own course, and not that of the
inferior courts, had been the rule and law of Parliament.
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