land;  another  Magna  Charta;  a  statute  which,  if  properly  en-
forced, is  likewise  to  be  considered  a  saf^uard  of  the  public  peace
and  tranquillity.  It  is  a  statute,  gentlemen,  that  is  neither  to  be
strained,  nor  is  it  to  be  evaded  and  frittered  away.  There  had  been
in  the  reign  of  Edward  III.,  complaints  that  the  law  of  treason  was
vague  and  unknown ;  and  to  rescue  the  country  from  that  miser-
able servitude,  this  statute  was  passed.  It  is  intituled,  ''A  declara*
tion  which  offences  shall  be  adjudged  treason,*'  and  it  thus  begins  :
"  Item,  Whereas  divers  opinions  have  been  before  this  time  in  what
case  treason  shall  be  laid  and  in  what  not ;  the  King,  at  the  re-
quest  of  the  Lords  and  of  the  Commons,  hath  made  a  declaration  in
the  manner  as  hereafter  folio weth,  that  is  to  say" — now  these
things  that  follow  are  declared  to  be  treason ;  "  when  a  man  doth
compass  or  imagine  the  death  of  our  Lord  the  King,  or  if  a  man  do
levy  war  against  our  Lord  the  King  in  his  realm,  or  be  adherent  to
the  King's  enemies  in  his  realm,  giving  to  them  aid  and  comfort  in
the  reahn  or  elsewhere,  and  thereof  be  probably  attainted  of  open
deed  by  the  people  of  their  condition."  It  is,  therefore,  hereby
declared  to  be  a  substantive  treason  to  levy  war  against  the  King  in
his  realm.  That  is  to  be  proved  by  acts  that  are  done,  and  it
must  be  proved. clearly  and  satisfactorily.
But  then,  gentlemen,  it  is  not  every  breach  of  the  public  peace,
even  with  an  armed  force,  that  amounts  to  the  crime  of  treason.
