A prosecution is an expensive affair, so they don't care to prosecute unless they are fairly sure of a conviction.

The prosecution of Wilkes was not the only act of Mr. Grenville's administration which excited both the Parliament and the people.

His prosecution and that of some of his principal adherents was the next important event.

It was a great opening for him in what we may call his profession: his former connection with the government of Sicily gave him a personal interest in the cause of the province; and, above all, the prosecution of a state offender of such importance was a lift at once into the foremost ranks of political life.

The prosecutions of Richard Carlile and his wife and sister for publications hostile to Christianity were then exciting much attention, and nowhere more than among the people I frequented.