ALTHOUGH the Editor is possessed of several other genuine Speeches of Lord Erskine when at the Bar some of which have been considered by the best judges as equal in interest to those already published, yet as they do not properly range themselves within the title of these Volumes, as being connected with the Liberty of the Press, and against Constructive Treason, he here closes this Collection, reserving the others for a separate, but an early publication. Indeed, the Proceedings against the Earl of Thanet do not come strictly within the scope of this Compilation, but they were, nevertheless, introduced into it, as containing most important observations upon the rules and principles of evidence, which, though equally applicable to every species of trial, are more emphatically important in criminal cases, where life and liberty are dependent upon them. How far they |