10 April 1805

Evidence

Note

Securities

Ch. Procedure Technical

''. Objects ulterior

Note( )?

Be the nature and subject matter of a law /and nature of a portion of law/ what it may, of whatever good /effect/, if any, it may have been intended to produce, the production /quantity produced/ will depend upon the degree /the extent/ in which it is known. In whatever degree or extent it fails of being known, the effects of it either amount to nothing or are pernicious.

Supposing its existence to compleatly unknown, and so be [...?] for ever, such non-notoriety is compleatly tantamount to non-existence. If it produces no good effects, so neither does it any bad ones.

When the non-notoriety of the laws in general, or of any portion of the law in particular is spoken of, and spoken of as a cause of evil /mischief/, the state of things of which it is understood to be designative must always be, a middle state between compleat notoriety on one hand, and compleat un-notoriety on the other: a state in which if the portion[?] of law in /with/ which each man has an interest in being acquainted, one part only /alone/ were known to him, and not another: case unknown to him when he comes to be /for the purpose of his being/ made to suffer by it. unknown /not known/ to him for the purpose of his reaping advantage from the knowledge of it, saving himself from his being made to suffer for want of his knowing of it, saving others from being sufferers for want of his knowing it.