frequently, if not generally, opposite in their determinations:
Nor is this the least part of the evil; for evidence is on record
of persons having been bribed, or controlled, by one or more of
the members of the court then sitting in judgment, to accuse
their industrious neighbour, upon oath, of crimes which he had
never committed, in order to lay a ground for the ruin of the
unfortunate individual, merely because his industry and
prosperity in trade were objects of envy. If such a system is not
suppressed, it is not possible for the human mind to calculate
upon the termination of the mischiefs which may ensue from it; it
is not possible for humanity to look upon the probable
consequences, without emotions of horror and dismay. To prevent,
therefore, the recurrence of any circumstance so flagrant and
unjust, it is absolutely necessary to take some measures to
render the criminal and civil courts free from every kind of
prejudice; for what argument can justify the committal of the
existence or the fortunes of individuals, to the mercy or the
caprice of men who are blinded by prejudice.--Prejudice and party
must be fatal to the progress of justice; and as the preceding
remarks are nothing more than the details of facts which are
notorious to every individual who has lived long in the colony,
there is no occasion for my saying much in addition, to prove
that a necessity does exist for some change in the judicial code
of the settlement; and it is much to be wished and desired, that
by that change the power may be vested in honest and
incorruptible hands, which may be held out equally to punish the
guilty, and to protect the oppressed; to curb the insolence of
pride, and foster humble merit; and, finally, to render New South
Wales an exact copy from that fine picture of freedom and justice
which is represented in the mother country.