The liberty of the press is dear to England; the licentiousness of the press is odious to England: the liberty of it can never be so well protected a… - Lloyd Kenyon, 1st Baron Kenyon

A conviction is in the nature of a verdict and judgment, and therefore it must be precise and certain.

It is of infinite importance to the public that the acts of magistrates should not only be substantially good, but also that they should be decorous.

There are cases where examinations are admitted, namely, before the coroner, and before magistrates in cases of felony. That appears to me to go rather in support of the general rule than in destruction of it. Every exception that can be accounted for is so much a confirmation of the rule that it has become a maxim, Exceptio probat regulam.