"As mathematical and absolute certainty is seldom to be attained in human affairs, reason and public utility require that judges and all mankind in forming their opinions of the truth of facts should be regulated by the superior number of the probabilities on the one side or the other whether the amount of these probabilities be expressed in words and arguments or by figures and numbers."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Members of the Parliament of Great BritainUniversity of Oxford alumniPoliticians from ScotlandJudges from Scotland
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Reported in Andrew Stuart, Letters to the Right Honorable Lord Mansfield (1773), p. 29.
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/William_Murray%2C_1st_Earl_of_Mansfield
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
William Murray, 1st Earl of Mansfield
William Murray, 1st Earl of Mansfield, SL, PC (2 March 1705 – 20 March 1793), better known as Lord Mansfield, was a British barrister, politician and judge noted for his reform of English law. He served as a Member of Parliament for Boroughbridge, where he was noted for his "great powers of eloquence" and described as "beyond comparison the best speaker" in the House of Commons. He thereafter became Attorney General, and then Lord Chief Justice of England.
11 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by William Murray, 1st Earl of Mansfield →
Related Quotes
"As a subject sues by attorney, so does the King; with a little variation of form, from decency: instead of saying, "T…"
"Compassing the death of the King is a legal conclusion from facts. So it is, almost, as to every other offence."
"The last end that can happen to any man, never comes too soon, if he falls in support of the law and liberty of his c…"
"Whatever is contrary, bonos mores est decorum, the principles of our law prohibit, and the King's Court, as the gener…"
"A man wants no protection when his conduct is strictly right."
"An estimated value is a precarious measure of justice, compared with the specific thing."
"I see through your whole life, one uniform plan to enlarge the power of the crown, at the expense of the liberty of t…"
""The great Lord Mansfield"...is more worthy of honour and reverence than most of those who are his neighbours among t…"
"Tut, man, decide promptly, but never give any reasons for your decisions. Your decisions may be right, but your reaso…"
"Anciently, the Courts of justice did sit on Sundays."