‘Lecture on the System of Terror and Persecution Adopted by the Present Ministry; with Animadversions on the Treatment of Joseph Gerrald’

This chapter presents the lecture on the system of terror and persecution adopted by the present ministry; with animadversions on the treatment of Joseph Gerrald. Benevolence and wisdom would stretch forth the hand of government to help it forward. But self-interest and rapacity stimulate too often those who happen to be vested with power, to a directly opposite conduct. An inclination to tyrannize, a disposition to monopolize the advantages of corruption, too frequently leads the statesman, instead of enlarging the boundaries of freedom in proportion to the improved intellect of man, to resist that improvement by contracting them within narrower spaces. The chapter also includes the lecture ‘On Prosecutions for Pretended Treason.’.