Note 29 — SIR JAMES MACKINTOSH. IN BEHALF OF FREE SPEECH, ON THE TRIAL OF JEAN PELTIER, ACCUSED OF LIBELLING NAPOLEON BONAPARTE; COURT OF KING’S BENCH, FEBRUARY 21, 1803.

Note 29, p. 253.—The following portion of Mackintosh’s argument has been universally admired. It was the common impression in England that if the prosecution of Peltier was not energetically carried on by the government, Napoleon would make the fact a pretext for declaring war. The advocate probably supposed that the jury shared that belief. He did not deem it wise to allude to it directly, but he proceeds with great ingenuity and force to dwell on the advantages of peace, and then having established a coincidence of feeling between himself and the jury, he leads them to see that peace can in no way be so effectually promoted as by sustaining the cause of justice throughout Europe, and that in no way can justice be so surely maintained as by substantial freedom of the press.