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JOHN HODGES. 176

an apprehension, by no means unreasonable, for the quiet and
safety of the affrighted women and helpless children of the
neighborhood, and for the security of the persons and prop-
erty of the whole district. The treason of adherence cannot
be committed by one whose heart ia warm with all the honor-
able feelings of the man and the patriot. “Overt acta un-
doudtedly do discover the man’s intentions; but I conceive
they are not to be considered merely as evidence, but as the
means made use of to effect the purposes of the heart.’”” Fos-
ter, 203,

This is the master key which leta you into the whole secret
of this title of the criminal law. Sir Walter Tyrrel, who, in
shooting at a deer, killed the king, could not be convicted of
treason. The killing was per infortunium. So, where a per-
son non compos slays another designedly ; still he is innocent,
because there is no malignity in his heart. So in every homi-
cide, it is felonious, justifiable or excusable, according to the
purpose with which the act was perpetrated. It is murder
where it is done through malice—manslaughter, if without
malice, Where it is done through misfortune, or in self-de-
fense, it is excusable, and it is justifiable when done in ad-
vancement of public justice, in obedience to the lawa. If the
heart be uncontaminated by corrupt intentions the man is in-
nocent, for it is motive that qualifies actions. As it will be
with God, so it is with man. The latent intention of the heart
amust be searched. .

Look at the locus in quo—the ecene where the plot of this
treason is laid. A hostile force, but the day before, had
traversed the country in all the pride of victory. The jus belli
was lord of the ascendant. The army, if such a foree may de-
serve the name, which had ‘been relied upon for the defense of
the capitol, had been broken up and dissipated to every quar-
ter of the compass, The country was menaced by an enemy,
with whom, to adopt the language of Caesar, it was easier to
@o than to say. If I were addressing the jury I might appeal
to their love of country, I might remind them that they are
administering law for posterity as well as for us. But I am

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