[i roto i te reo Māori]

§ 50.

There is one great principle of the Law which must be remembered. The Magistrate cannot hear the plaintiff alone. Neither can he hear the accuser alone. Both plaintiff and defendant, (in Civil matters,) and, both accuser and accused,(in Criminal matters,) must be present together at the investigation in the Courthouse, that each may hear what the other says.

It is not righ t for the Magistrate to listen to sceretstatements. The accused must hear everything that is said against him before he can be convicted. This is most just. There is much truth in what Festus said to the chief priests and the elders of the Jews on the occasion of the accusation of St. Paul. "It is not the manner of the Romans to deliver any man to die, before that "he which is accused have the accusers face to face, and have license to answer for himself "concerning the crime laid against him."—Acts 25 c. 16 v.

What was law to the Romans in those days is law to us now. Everything done in the Courts of Law must be open to all the world.