2 April 1805

Evidence

Securities

Ch. Procedure Technical

Punishment

''. Technical System - No check to Mendacity

Under the technical system the matter is /matters are/ thus arranged.

Thus these are matters arranged. For mendacity, no punishment but where by the previous existence of an oath it has been previously converted into perjury. But, for the conversion /if converted/ of it into perjury, an oath must previously have been administered: but to /had/ a party an oath is not administered. ask why not; no answer is to be found. But in judicature, i.e. in judicature conducted upon this system, perjury is not understood to be the offence of any other person than a witness. Moreover no man ought to be a witness in his own cause: the station of party is one station: the station of witness is another; to a /the station of/ a witness the licence for /granted to/ mendacity does not extend: to the station of party it does extend: to a party, every thing is allowable. what a man says in the character of a witness, is testimony: in testimony mendacity is not allowable: what a man says in the character of a party, is more allegation: in allegation, it not being testimony, mendacity is allowable. Ask Cicero else; the greater teacher of moral duty: - concilium sit oratoribus, aliquid [...?] in [...?].

True it is that in certain instances a party is subjected to examination: and in the case of such examination mendacity is converted into perjury. But this is only in particular instances: and in these instances being considered as a witness, he is treated as such but in all these instances the jus mentiendi[?], the corner stone of the technical system is carefully preserved. In whatever is concluded as non allegation, the privilege of lying is carefully preserved. It is no check to lying, that secured[?] its privilege that on this or that particular occasion it is made punishable so long as there are occasions in which it is not punishable, and the number of those occasions is left to a man's choice.