FIRST DAY: WEDNESDAY, MAY 28, 1794
My Lords,--This business, which has so long employed the public councils
of this kingdom, so long employed the greatest and most august of its
tribunals, now approaches to a close. The wreck and fragments of our
cause (which has been dashed to pieces upon rules by which your
Lordships have thought fit to regulate its progress) await your final
determination. Enough, however, of the matter is left to call for the
most exemplary punishment that any tribunal ever inflicted upon any
criminal. And yet, my Lords, the prisoner, by the plan of his defence,
demands not only an escape, but a triumph. It is not enough for him to
be acquitted: the Commons of Great Britain must be condemned; and your
Lordships must be the instruments of his glory and of our disgrace. This
is the issue upon which he has put this cause, and the issue upon which
we are obliged to take it now, and to provide for it hereafter.
My Lords, I confess that at this critical moment I feel myself oppressed
with an anxiety that no words can adequately express. The effect of all
our labors, the result of all our inquiries, is now to be ascertained.
You, my Lords, are now to determine, not only whether all these labors
have been vain and fruitless, but whether we have abused so long the
public patience of our country, and so long oppressed merit, instead of
avenging crime.
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