Page:William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England (4th ed, 1770, vol IV).djvu/15

Ch. 1. forming and enforcing it. It hould be founded upon principles that are permanent, uniform, and univeral ; and always conformable to the dictates of truth and jutice, the feelings of humanity, and the indelible rights of mankind : though it ometimes (provided there be no trangreion of thee eternal boundaries) may be modified, narrowed, or enlarged, according to the local or occasional neceities of the tate which it is meant to govern. And yet, either from a want of attention to thee principles in the firt concoction of the laws, and adopting in their tead the impetuous dictates of avarice, ambition, and revenge ; from retaining the dicordant political regulations, which ucceive conquerors or factions have etablihed, in the various revolutions of government ; from giving a lating efficacy to anctions that were intended to be temporary, and made (as lord Bacon exprees it) merely upon the pur of the occaion ; or from, latly, too hatily employing uch means as are greatly diproportionate to their end, in order to check the progres of ome very prevalent offence ; from ome, or from all, of thee caues it hath happened, that the criminal law is in every country of Europe more rude and imperfect than the civil. I hall not here enter into any minute enquiries concerning the local contitutions of other nations ; the inhumanity and mitaken policy of which have been ufficiently pointed out by ingenious writers of their own. But even with us in England, where our crown-law is with jutice uppoed to be more nearly advanced to perfection; where crimes are more accurately defined, and penalties les uncertain and arbitrary ; where all our accuations are public, and our trials in the face of the world, where torture is unknown, and every delinquent is judged by uch of his equals, againt whom he can form no exception nor even a peronal dilike ;—even here we hall occaionally find room to remark ome particulars, that eem to want reviion and amendment. Thee have chiefly arien from too crupulous an adherence to ome rules of the antient common law, when the reaons have ceaed upon which thoe rules were founded ; from not Rh