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i ¬disgrace of their invaders, to the very words which had been misunderstood or overborne. ¬But though the definitions of crimes are as much the province of judicial learning as the rules which govern property, and all civil rights, yet the Armatans were always alive to the clear and vital distinction hetween civil and criminal justice. — What is a crime is a question of law; but whether committed or not must always be a question of fact, which they would never trust to any decision but their own, nor permit any plea or answer to be addressed either in form or substance but to themselves. — They were, from the most ancient times, therefore, an integral part of the courts ; more independent indeed than the highest judges, whose decisions might be reviewed by superior tribunals, but no tri~ bunal could ever touch an acquitting sentence by the equals of the accused. ¬This had been the life's-blood of public freedom through all ages, yet a few years had only passed ¬since ¬
