Page:William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England (4th ed, 1770, vol IV).djvu/208

196 they hew a conciounes of doing wrong, and of coure a dicretion, or dicernment, between good and evil. , it happens when a peron of uch found dicretion unlawfully killeth. The unlawfulnes aries from the killing without warrant or excue : and there mut alo be an actual killing to contitute murder; for a bare aault, with intent to kill, is only a great midemefnor, though formerly it was held to be murder. The killing may be by poioning, triking, tarving, drowning, and a thouand other forms of death, by which human nature may be overcome. Of thee the mot detetable of all is poion ; becaue it can of all others be the leat prevented either by manhood or forethought. And therefore by the tatute 22 Hen. VIII. c. 9. it was made treaon, and a more grievous and lingering kind of death was inflicted on it than the common law allowed ; namely, boiling to death : but this act did not live long, being repealed by 1 Edw. VI. c. 12. There was alo, by the antient common law, one pecies of killing held to be murder, which is hardly o at this day, nor has there been an intance wherein it has been held to be murder for many ages pat : I mean by bearing fale witnes againt another, with an expres premeditated deign to take away his life, o as the innocent peron be condemned and executed. The Gothic laws punihed in this cae, both the judge, the witnees, and the proecutor; "peculiari pocna judicem puniunt ; peculiari tetes, quorum fides judicem eduxit; peculiari denique et maxima auctorem, ut homicidam ." And, among the Romans, the lex Cornelia, de icariis, punihed the fale witnes with death, as being guilty of a pecies of aaination. And there is no doubt but