t B, and in pursuance
thereof endeavoring to kill him, is answerable for all the
consequences of which he was the original cause. It is not
reasonable for any man that is dangerously assaulted, and when he
perceives his life in danger from his adversary, but to have liberty
for the security of his own life, to pursue him that maliciously
assaulted him; for he that has manifested that he has malice against
another is not at to be trusted with a dangerous weapon in his
hand. And so resolved by all the judges when they met at Seargeant's
Inn, in preparation for my Lord Morley's trial."

In the case here we will take Montgomery, if you please, when he was
attacked by the stout man with a stick, who aimed it at his head,
with a number of people round him crying out, "Kill them, kill
them." Had he not a right to kill the man? If all the party were
guilty of the assault made by the stout man, and all of them had
discovered malice in their hearts, had not Montgomery a right,
according to Lord Chief-Justice Holt, to put it out of their power
to wreak their malice upon him? I will not at present look for any
more authorities in the point of self-defense; you will be able to
judge from these how far the law goes in justifying or excusing any
person in defense of himself, or taking away the life of another who
threatens him in life or limb. The next point is this: that in case
of an unlawful assembly, all and every one of the assembly is guilty
of all and every unlawful act committed by any one of that assembly
in prosecution of the unlawful design set out upon.

Rules of law should be universally known, whatever effect they may
have on politics; they are rules of common law, the law of the land;
and it is certainly true, that wherever there is an unlawful
assembly, let it consist of many persons or of a few, every man in
it is guilty of every unlawful act committed by any one of the whole
party, be they more or be they less, in pursuance of their unlawful
design. This is the policy of the law; to discourage and prevent
riots, insurrections, turbulence, and tumults.

In the continual vicissitudes of human things, amidst the shocks of
fortune and the whirls of passion that take place at certain
critical seasons, even in the mildest government, the people are
liable to run into riots and tumults. There are Church-quakes and
State-quakes in the moral and political world, as well as
earthquakes, storms, and tempests in the