d writer must say that it was wise and meritorious to do all the things that I have mentioned. This is the only way of clearing himself from the inference mentioned under the second head of your doctrine: to state the facts, and not to praise the parties, is to leave the facts to produce their natural effect; to produce the contempt inseparable from R the statement; and the intention being, according to you, deducible from the words themselves, nothing short of posiei tive praise of the actors can save the devoted victim, who, blind-folded, has run into the ingenious whig trap of you and Mr. BROUGHAM.

e

Now for another view of the matter; now for another danger; now for another of the numerous hooks by which you may catch us, you being, apparently, a tremendous angler, catching by the mouth, the gills, the fins, or the tail. If it be libellous to print and publish any thing having a tendency to bring the Government and Parliament into contempt, amongst what burning ploughshares walk the men who print and publish parliamentary debates! Of all the publications in the world, those are the best calculated to bring the Government and Parliament into contempt, not only by implication, but positively. Let us, before we quit this view of the One member accuses the Ministry of matter, take the case of GOULBOURN, folly, of stupidity, of waste of the pubwhom I always call the sensible; lic resources; of all sorts of imbecility though, perhaps, that will not save me. and all sorts of profligacy. Another When the Scotch Small-note Bill was accuses the House of neglecting its before the House of Commons, GoUL- duty; of sanctioning a waste of the BOURN stated distinctly that the aboli- people's money; of, in short, passing tion of the small notes would not have foolish and unjust laws. Now, is not a tendency to lessen the circulating the publisher of these speeches fairly medium; because, said he, the bankers, caught upon your hooks? The words having got rid of the ones, will be have a manifest tendency to bring the MORE LIBERAL IN ISSUING Parliament into contempt; no man can THEIR FIVES! This was enough to deny that; and, according to your docimmortalize any man. I told GOUL- trine, the publisher of the report is liaBOURN, in a few days afterwards, that ble to punishment. The law makes no the ones were the legs that the fives exception in favour of reports of dewalked upon that the bankers would bates: they stand upon exactly the discount no more after the ones were same ground with other publications; gone, except upon a very limited scale, and, to maintain any distinction here, and for some special purposes; and that you must deem the debates a sort of the fives never could circulate to more farce, and contend that a thing so farcithan a distance of ten miles from home; cal is incapable of tending to excite that the quantity of circulating medium contempt. would be prodigiously reduced; and that, unless a large part of the taxes were taken off, terrible must be the sufferings throughout the whole country.

To come closer home, suppose I were to say that the Six Acts, and particularly one of them, relative to the press, was opposed by LAWYER SCARLETT, The suffering is come, and GOUL- when he sat on the Whig side of the BOURN's opinion is laughed at even by House; and that, he having been made boys: and, when all this mischief has Attorney General, and removed to the arisen out of this staring blunder, which other side of the House, and a motion was exposed at the time upon the spot; having been made to repeal that very and after the Government and the Par- act, he opposed that repeal, and was liament have persevered in producing joined in that opposition by his present the mischief, am I to hold my tongue? coadjutor, Mr. BROUGHAM, who also Am I not even to state the facts, the had opposed the act with all his might, bare facts, because the statement has a when it was passed; and suppose I were tendency to bring the sensible GoUL-to cap the climax by observing, that BOURN into contempt? your prosecutions against Mr. ALEXAN

DER and Mr. BELL have been carried on upon the new principles of the law contained in that very act.

publishing it, and thus would the door be eternally closed against all petitions; because, to petition is to pray that the Parliament will do something; to pray

Suppose I were to say all this, and that all this were true, as it is true, amit to do something, is to intend to acI, therefore, to be prosecuted, harassed, cuse it either of having done something torn to pieces, broken up in my affairs, wrong, or of neglecting to do something crammed into a jail amongst felons, right; is to accuse it of a fault either treated like a malefactor, merely for of commission or of omission; and to stating the facts? Better at once have accuse it of a fault, is to have a tendency a licenser; ten thousand times better to bring it into contempt. Then, as the have a licenser, than carry on a system Parliamentary printer prints and publike this, and call it liberty of the press. lishes all the petitions, and all the votes, And, who is to petition, I want to and all the resolutions of the House, he know, without being caught upon one is the greatest libeller of us all, and of your hooks? How many hundreds ought to be caught by the belly with of petitions have stated that the people one of your tremendously sharp hooks. suffered from the acts of the Govern- If your law be law, and if it be acted ment and the Parliament; how many upon; if juries adopt your doctrine, and have complained, in the bitterest terms, if the bench, by its sentences, sanction of the corruption and bribery by which that doctrine, the words "liberty of the the seats are filled! Yet, it has not press" are expressive of the most miseoccurred to any Attorney General hi-rable mockery that ever disgraced law therto to prosecute the parties petition- or language; and you will have iming. The Houses both require that proved upon every severity that ever the Petitions should be " respectfully was yet heard of in England with reworded"; and they are said to be re-gard to the press. If your doctrine be spectfully worded, and they are, in fact, adopted, who is to dare to propose any respectfully worded, though they com- changes in the measures of the Governplain of the doings of the Parliament, ment? Who, above all things, is to and though the facts they contain, and speak of the unfitness of a Ministry? the assertions they make, cannot do Who, unless he has got an assurance of otherwise than have a tendency to bring his life from Providence itself, is to dare the Parliament into contempt. I peti- to question the moderation, the mildness, tioned the House of Commons last year, the humanity, of an attorney-general or in which I represented that the officers a judge? Who is to dare to state any of the Government, and the pensioners fact, however notorious, that has a and sinecurists sitting in Parliament, tendency to bring parties like these into had, in fact, doubled the amount of contempt? To remonstrate with these their own places, pensions, and sine-parties; to discuss their conduct; barely cures, by Acts of their own passing, to state facts, and to leave the public to and by which same Acts the people decide, comes within your capacious purhave been reduced to misery. The ten- view; and, with juries to act upon the dency of this statement was so mani- doctrine, the destruction of the victim fest, that nobody could miss seeing it. is certain. So long as twenty-five years There was not a juryman in England ago, I printed and published, even in the who would not say that it had a ten- time of little sharp PERCIVAL, that the dency to bring the Parliament into con- PITT sinking fund was a "SPLENDID tempt. But, my county member, Mr. HUMBUG." The scribes of the GoDENNISON, hesitated not one moment vernment abused me; SHERIDAN (a about presenting the petition, and the Whig) suggested, that I ought to be House hesitated not a moment in caus- dealt with by the law; but all men of ing it to be printed. According to your sense; all men who had any regard for doctrine, I was punishable for writing the liberty of the press; all men who the petition, and Mr. DENNISON for had not liberty upon their lips and ty

that reduction? I have maintained the only by venality and corruption. Serwisdom of returning to the currency of vants of this description ought to be our fathers; I have called upon my driven away from the Throne: but how hearers (all the rich, and all the deeply- can this be done, or how can Ministers interested men) to stand by the Duke be made responsible, unless their Miin carrying through the present law;nisterial acts can be laid as open as the and I have every where found them re-light of the sun at noon-day? Juries, solved to stand by him, if he flinch not, who have the law of libel in their own and if he make that reduction in the hands, should laugh at the idea of Gotaxes which this new state of things vernment being degraded, or its intewill demand. Good night.

I am your faithful friend,

and most obedient servant,
WM. COBBETT.

N. B. I wish I had had Huskisson here to defend himself upon these boards this evening, or to attempt such defence.

STATE PROSECUTIONS.

(From the Scotsman.)

rests affected, except for good, by the truth and the whole truth, being told of the official acts of all or any of those who are concerned in the administration.

They are called upon, by all the great principles of the Constitution and Government of their country, to protect every one in the exercise of this right, in the performance of this duty, of free and full examination.

We regret deeply, therefore, that Sir James Scarlett should have mixed up these prosecutions for personal calumny, for imputing dishonourable and criminal acts falsely, with charges of degradA GOOD Government cannot be de-ing the Government and bringing it into graded or brought into contempt. Go- contempt. It might be necessary to do vernment is impersonal. It consists of this in the writ of information, in cominstitutions, rules, and principles. A pliance with the requisitions of form, in Government is not free if these cannot order to obviate objections of a technical be subjected to the test of reason; and nature which a special pleading brother it would be insulting to common sense of the law might otherwise have started to maintain that freedom can exist with- against his proceedings; but it was not out the privilege of proclaiming, exa- necessary to resort to such topies in armining, and characterising, all the offi-gument. His case ought to have been cial and public acts of all the functiona- rested entirely on the falsehood and ries engaged in administering the Go- malice of the libels. It is lamentable, vernment. We confine our position ex- certainly, that some minds cannot disclusively to public and official acts. The tinguish betwixt the discussion of prin→ private life of such functionaries is sacred. ciples, or the examination of publie It is not public property. Their official measures and personal abuse. It is still proceedings, however, belong to the worse when the discussion of public public; and of these, truth cannot be a measures is only sought as a pretext for libel; and such truths, instead of de- assailing individuals by personal cagrading or tending to degrade the Go- lumny, invading the sanctuaries of privernment, must always tend to purify vate life, or artfully mixing up what is and protect it. If the public measures false with what is true. And we do not of public men be bad, the publication know a graver offence against the body of what is true respecting them may ex-politic than that of attempting to gratify pose, degrade, and bring into hatred the nmlice against individuals under cover administering officials, but it is for the of maintaining the liberty of the press. interest of Government as well as of the The injury done is not confined to the public, that this should be so. No Go-reproach which is thus brought upon vernment can be secure when it is mal- the press itself; to the suspicion which administered; when it is surrounded is cast over it; but if those in power

happen to be its enemies, as they often facts relating to public or official are, a door is thus opened to them for proceedings. The jurors, in each case, taking measures against the press gene- are both legislators and judges; they rally, or, at the least, for establishing at once declare and apply the law; precedents that may be wrested to the and supposing that juries are chosen in disadvantage of all connected with it. discriminately, and in such a way that A more effectual method could not be power can neither exclude nor admit devised of playing the game of those individual jurors, we do not see how, in who meditate the establishment of ab- relation to questions of a political na solute authority. The press is discre- ture, betwixt the Crown and the peodited, men of character are driven from ple, the law could possibly be placed on it, and if it fall into the hands of des- a better footing. Under such a state of peradoes only, the law may then, prac- things, foolish verdicts will no doubt be tically, do what it pleases with the pronounced, injustice will occasionally de done; but it is a state which (throw

press.

It is amusing to find writers of this ing the rules of evidence and the forms desperate and unprincipled character, of procedure out of view) can be imcomplaining that there is no law with proved only by increasing the intelliregard to libel. The less that exists, gence and strengthening the virtues of either of law or justice, the better it is the people. It would be better, cerfor them; and if we cease to have either, tainly, if juries could, at present, he noit will be chiefly through ther miscon- minated so as to consist only of the duct. The state of the law, as a whole, wisest, best, and most independent memis, no doubt, utterly indefensible. As hers of society; but as the office of disit has often been laid down by the criminating would go to the side of bench, as we find it advocated in law power, and might be turned against books and from the lips of lawyers, it is the people, it is safer to adhere inflexibly adverse to reason, and irreconcilable to to the principle of impartial rotation. all justice. It is fettered and impeded Educate the people; confer knowledge by many of the existing rules for the upon all in the middle ranks of society; admission, or rather non-admission of implant integrity, increase the influence evidence. It is thus uncertain in its of moral feelings, and the law of libel result, and always oppressively expen- will cease to be an evil. Judges, even sive. But, thanks to Mr. Fox, the ad-in political cases, would be impartial, ministration of this law of libel is because juries would be firm and indeplaced in hands by which every fair and honourable writer may be protected. Libel is nowhere defined; we have no codification on the subject. But still we have law. And the law declares that it is the province of the jury to say, in each particular case, whether the writing charged as such be or be not libel. This is the true and only pal- connexion with the press. ladium of British liberty. Let the judge state his opinion, and let that opinion be what it may, the jury may disregard the charge; it is binding

pendent; and for the same reason, from the discrimination and wisdom of juries, the press would attain its true elevation. Bad men would no longer derive profit or acquire importance from trading in abuse, while the enlightened and gifted, the wise and good, would feel themselves honoured in avowing their

(From the Kent Herald.)

The present law of libel is a foul neither on their understandings nor con-blot upon our boasted free institutions. sciences. They are entitled to think Public opinion is not directed, purified, and act for themselves; and it is our and existing healthily by it, but exists opinion, that if they acted rightly, they in spite of it. The public mind is fed would refuse to establish guilt wherever and enlightened; the whole framework evidence was excluded, and acquit all of political knowledge is sustained, by who merely related and commented on writers, speakers, and publishers, at the