* * * * *

_Necessity of administering Oaths._

I entreat your lordships to pause, and recollect that the foundation of
all justice is truth; and that the mode of discovering truth has always
been to administer an oath, in order that the witness may give his
deposition under a high sanction. I hope your lordships will not adopt
another of those bills which have been before your lordships only a few
days, and which suggest, in truth, nothing more than a way of enabling a
witness, who thinks proper to say he has conscientious scruples, to
escape the solemnity of an oath. I admit that the inconvenience of the
present state of the law falls on the community rather than on the
individuals; but, at the same time, I think that, by every one of those
relaxations, we shake the foundations of justice.

_August 4, 1840._

_Church-rate Martyrs--true state of the Case._

In my opinion, this case is a very simple one, and one on which there
can be no doubt as to the course which should be taken. Here is a man
who has been sued for a sum of money, which, it is understood, was
lawfully due by him. The law renders him liable to pay that sum of
money, and the law supports the proceedings against him for the recovery
of it. This person could have easily avoided these proceedings, by
simply paying the sum of 5s. 6d., which was demanded of him; or he could
have gone into court and had the question fairly tried, whether he was
lawfully bound to pay it or not, according to the laws of the country in
which he resides; for, of course, he must be bound by the laws of his
country, as well as all other British subjects. But he has not chosen to
take either course. He has said, "I will not pay that money;" and, in
consequence of his own conduct, a large amount has been incurred in the
way of costs. These costs are not matters of speculation or amusement,
they are realities; they are sums of money paid for the labour of
certain individuals, for certain services performed in the execution of
their duties, under the legal authority of the ecclesiastical courts,
and in this suit. Now, those costs must be paid. Were we to let the man
off from paying the 5s. 6d. for the rate, that remission would not get
rid of his liability for the costs; these latter must be paid, either by
himself or his friends, or else they must be paid by the other party,
by the lawful suitors, by the lawful plaintiffs, who had a right
originally to re