23 March 1808

Letter V

Ends of Justice

Proceeding upon this plan, I observed at the first step five distinguishable incidents in the character of immediate causes of failure of justice, as above delineated /determined/ and consequently of the three more particular evils which that general denomination may be /has been/ seen to comprehend: viz. Misdecision (on the part of the Judge to the prejudice of the plaintiff's side. 2. Non-decision [...?] in the same quarter. 3. Non-demand, on the plaintiff's side, that is on the part of him who should have been plaintiff, and who would have been but for some defect /evil/ somewhere, the effect of which is thus to deter him of his right: 4. Desistment, viz. from demand, the effect of which when taking place as it must be understood to do, before decision pronounced, in the sense as that of non-demand, in respect of the depriving the party of the benefit in question, and for want of the failure of justice to his prejudice takes /has taken/ place: 5. Non-justiciability on the part of the defendant: the condition he is being such, as to enable him to elude the power of justice.

/Carrying the eye of scrutiny/ Applying the scrutiny in like manner to the discovery of the causes of that mass of injustice the pressure of which is confined as above to the defendant's side, I found in the first instance /at the first step/, misdecision, as before, and then non-defence, and lastly desistment from defence as a cause of evil matching with non-demand on the plaintiff's side: on this last side non-decision, and non-justiciability of the party on the opposite, not finding any thing to match them on the defendant's side.