Inthisking’slastillness，thephysicianswouldnotventuretosayhewasindanger；andsurelytheyactedveryright。[31]
11。OfThoughts。MarsyasdreamedthathehadcutDionysius’sthroat。[32]
Dionysiusputhimtodeath，pretendingthathewouldneverhavedreamedofsuchathingbynightifhehadnotthoughtofitbyday。Thiswasamosttyrannicalaction：forthoughithadbeenthesubjectofhisthoughts，yethehadmadenoattempt[33]towardsit。Thelawsdonottakeuponthemtopunishanyotherthanovertacts。
12。OfindiscreetSpeeches。Nothingrendersthecrimeofhightreasonmorearbitrarythandeclaringpeopleguiltyofitforindiscreetspeeches。Speechissosubjecttointerpretation；thereissogreatadifferencebetweenindiscretionandmalice；andfrequentlysolittleisthereofthelatterinthefreedomofexpression，thatthelawcanhardlysubjectpeopletoacapitalpunishmentforwordsunlessitexpresslydeclareswhatwordstheyare。[34]
Wordsdonotconstituteanovertact；theyremainonlyinidea。Whenconsideredbythemselves，theyhavegenerallynodeterminatesignification；forthisdependsonthetoneinwhichtheyareuttered。