The Statesman. — London, England, 1810-12-11 00:00:00

TUESDAY, Oct. 15. The President opened the debate, With declaring M general terms, his wish fur the Liberty of the Press, but under very• great restrictions and limi tations. Senor Mon ALE* (Dips tado pur la eindail deCtilii) made a long and eloquent speech, in favour of the Press, replete with sussed ailment and opposite ii- I astration. 64 Let us suppose a King (he said) and to prevent misrepresentation or mistake, let ei sup.. pose him tai reign over one of the Sunthern islands, warn, either from youth, infrrmityc or tided prin. ci lees, is incapable, or nit willing •to attend to the just representations bf his people. Let us sup. pose an impious ministry riding that people,, a pee. 1 1,10 so loyal and so relleiuus, as to be hawillieg to tly tb the bead for .tedrevi - s. what hope hat that people for the recovery s oft - heir. rights ? None ex cept the Pee and the Pred. But ehouhl that Peo ple be su unfortunate, as to have 'a censor over this their only hope, add should that comer be one of the very Ministers who oppress them, where then is their hope ? They hate none; and 'misery and TOW must inevitably succeed." Senor PERU! on Casten (sapient° pot Wm... 'inch de Irceadolid) spoke in favour of the Nees. He stated, that it was of the utmost impottanee to a wise gaverunient, on this as well as on eiecy other account; naliely, that by no other 'made could trey be made acquainted with tie: feelings of that people whom they ate appointed to potent. Hew else, ton, can they obtain in their favour, that pub. is opinion,. which is worth Million* of mercenary bayonets ? One great and happy nation, owes the . preservation of that greattless, and of that hegpt. nos, to public opinioe, railed by Liberty, and sap. purled by the Press, which is a buttress against all bppositieut the friend alike of the rich and the poor, It is a holy appeal, made by truth to the Virtue of mankind. Senor EL OLIVEUCIE then rose, and in a most eloquent speech, proved the Liberty of the Press to be compatible With the purest interest of Religion. 46 Let us etansiee (said he) the state of France, and let us see the melancholy effects of a Liberty, which extended to all that was evil,' but which excluded all that was virtuous. The Revolutionists of' that country knew that their hideous designs could not be executed but through the rein of Motility and eirtue. They therefore poured forth a torrent of blasphemy and litimarality, which shook to piecee the Whole fabric of Ciill Society, citation'', shutting the Prod to elitery thing which afforded a chance pf restoring religion and loyalty. France Is Mill over. *helnseil erith the consequence of these principles, but not one work of religion, morality, Civil po. Pity. or rational liberty. his ever issued:either from .tievolutionery, or Imperial Frances It is the contrary of this, that we are seeking to at. taut. We wish to give eacouragomeat to every worthy feeling, and to shut the gates on evil. Had the Liberty of the Press been established, ale!' ',quid hate shunned the acts they have COM:flitted in the impunity of obscurity and oblivion. Bishops '*ould not have dared to preach from the pulpits of their holy religion, the triumphs of despori.m, and of atheism ; nor would they have ventured to assist in the subjugation of their own country, and the destruction of their own faith. England, on the contrary, that generous and free country, which owes all her liberty, • and all her morality, to the Press, although eeeleded from the bosom of our church, has, in opposing the ambition of France, end resisting her strides to universal dominion, bum' the true friend of our religion. She has been the ally of our head (the Pope) pollen persecuted by Butraparte ; she has been the faithful friend of Clain ; audit is on her colossal form, erected. in Li. bisrty, and defended by the tereedont of the Press, that the reetaining independence of Eurape ream* its sickly head. I therefore maintain, that the Li. betty of the Press has been, and is, the best. Sep, port of religion, instead of being incompatible with It, es some of those who hare first spoken have maintained. I have beat anxious to state my ope, nion on this important subject, as it concerns religion, fur its political utility and efficacy, its being the most powerful of all weapons, if well directed, has been stlffieimitly proved by the speeches of its able supporters." Senor MORALES GALLEGO spoke against the abolition of the ' previous censorship; static g the many incohreniences of the Liberty of Oak Press, &c. And then Senor ABGUSLLrS rose, and in a most brilliant speeeh, took a view of the whole question; dis playing a manly enthusiasm, conveyed in a flow uf beautiful oratory, to which it is imeossible to do justice. tie affirin:.l, " that there could be no greater violation of the liberty of man than the de priving him of the enjoyment of that which in itself was innuaet, and the subjectiug his honest exer. tions to the caprice of any man, ur set of men,What aver. Are we to be told in these days of ta , mtai improvement, that 15 milliotm of people are to have the truest safeginied of their freedom, the most laud able source of their industry„ the best hopes of their posterity, subjected to the nod of tensors eo mislay corrupted ? It is the fate of mankind to err ; *e - ought, therefore, to put ourselves beyond the evil we dread, especially where our ricereet interests, are con , called. Bet let us suppose that these censors Would Lave no sinister 'tette. atin they are men; who must all hare their passions, and their particular prejudices, which it is in human nature that they must wish to gratify; and how far men in, the pos. session of power will abstain from suck gratification the history of the world will bear *ha* Yet it. is t o te r se men, with the power of suppression, anal with the law in the . :r hank, that liberty and literate re are to bi.ild I Spain has never yet been blessed with freedo m, rue ,: long series of age; we have been chained, in. hut teal, and degraded by 31111CCCSutref Governments, who have ever been inattentive to the wishes of the people. The bitter fruits of those days we are noW • lasting. Thonorality of the people has suffered, and the dachas: of Spain has kept pace with the di .-; 'minutiae of freedom. How ditforeut , Sir, is the ' • mate of this country ; how different the pasi•printi. ples of our conduct to that of u great, setscrew, and - ' ' indePendent nation—a nation which•poisesses ( what. • over luny be her political corruption) the purest pub. lie murals-4 nation in which -conjugal fetality Mid • the dearest the of society art prk.,:einiiiently die. ,tubed---a untiell .11tialeh, although expend a/ a!! times td biterior and interior dangers, has risen in defiance Of both—a dation which had Inn* been our bitterest enemy, but which, .hailing in a moment the (loin of Spanish liberty, with unparalleled goner°. Olt, has poured high her whale efforts ta maintain it ! I mean to stay s , that we owe scarcely less than uur existetste to England.' As our misfortunes K. creaser!, what has bred the conduct of England ? She has itlvrayi said—" & free, and tee will never forsake you." Her efforts hive increased with our *anti. The t.trength of ber arm has upheld our weakness. The character, the power, the gran deur of that nation hal arisen from her possecsion of those liberties for which we ate now struggling, liberties which must 'be founded or l u st in your vote, for on that depends, whether bar assistance will prove off avail 4 sad whether n - t, arc to regain our rank among the nations of Europe , or fall fur I ever. WEDN MAY, OCTOBER 17. In this day'S debate, Senor Ton RESLO, after a speech from Senor Creus, who declared himself hos tile to the net:dean of' the Press, spoke to swirly the following of et : " Mr. President—l differ from the last Speaker on the line he has taken, but on rising to give my opi nion, I with to recal the Assembly to the fundamental principles on which we have to argue this question,and from which I perceive we have strayed. I conceive this guestimate he divided into two parts; the first is jus tice, the second is necessity. Justice is the vital sethic of eiril sociecy, and the child of Justice is the Liberty of the Press. I wish to prove the fight which . mankind is possessed of to obtain that liberty, and if I succeed, the detentiOn of it will be lejustice, and all injustice is wrong. Let us apply this. vrinciple to the prelcht moment, and let at look tit England for an example. the grind canse of that liatioti l s inde. petsdence, is the power which every man possesses of canvassing the actions of public men, of in specting the conduct of the Representatives of the People in Parliament, and of making known an opinion upon it.. It is impossible to describe the enormous importance of this weapon, and of the power which emanates from the Press. England knows its value : she protects the Press, and in re. turn the Press has protected England. The right of canvassing the actions of the Government is an imprescriptible right, which no nation can re sign without ceasing to be one. But let me recal your attention to the memorable Decree of the 24th of September a 'What did we then do ? We declared the Decrees of Bayonne uplaw fill and null, and fur what reason ? Because the act of enuncia tion was entered into without the consent of .the nation. To Whom has that nation new ti...volied its cause? To ourselves. We arc it.: Kepreien tatives, and by our original constitution could take few stet* without the will of our constituents.- - But when the people placed power its out hands, did they deprive themselves of the important right of Inspecting and canvassing (nu actions ?. Why did we, on the 2.10 of 'September, de cree the responsibility of the Exrecutive Go vernment ? Why .did we assure to ourselves the poieer of reviewing its actions ? Because we were placing ;tower its the hands of met' who might easily abuse it, if there were no bridle to check them, and there is no bridle but the Cortes. But are we infallible ? Are we nut liable to err ? Can the people on our first assembling have such confidence in us as to require no precautions ? Have not the people the same right over us that we have over the Executive Power ? Sup pose me Legislative and the Executive were to unite to restore despotism, have the people no defence, no resource ?--a—Let us nut hero be . perplexed by metaphysics, but let us be guided by facts, reason, and experience. The people have one resource, the Press. But if that he debarred them, what signifies it, whether they be enslaved by one, by five, by twenty, or by a hundred ? What safety fur their rights have the people after ourselves 4 The people of Spain have ever detested civil wars. But there is a pa cific mode of obtaining redress, namely, the bold expression of public opinion. This is the people's safeguard, and we are not yet sufficiently awake to its vast power of forcing Governments to be just. Yet by this, and by this alone, can the nation be saved. But if you deprive the people of the liberty of speak. ing and writing, how is this Opiniou to be declar. ed ? If I were to tell my constituents .in Estre- Madura of a previous censorship of the Press, what would they say to me when they found, that to ex press their opinions, they must send to the Cortes for a-licence ? It is, therefore, one of the rights of mant;ind to have free Liberty of the Press ; system both theory, and confirmed by practice ar.,l experience. England, by enjoying it, has successfully resisted despotism. Whilst the Liberty of the. Press exists, , Parliaments cannot be suppressed : on the contrary, they gather strength to curb the Crown. The high situation in which England now is placed, arises from the Press ; for a free Press, in a free Country, gives thnt powerful arm of pub. li opinion, without which all others are vain.— The second point I have to cull to your notice is its necessity. grounding, as I have done, the li berty et - the subject on a free Press, I next declare, that in no.other way can. Spain be save". I repeat; that if the. limitations with which a c propose to curb the Executive Pewee are necessary, moth more so are those reskalutx on ourselves, which afford our Constituent; t emeans of watehlng ()veg. our con duct. I have spoken of experience. If Spain hail been able tnexproes hca. public opinion, meld ail those infamous keens& of intrigue' have been . permitted in the• Escurial.? Would Godoy have long misdeed a power which has proved so fatal to his country ?. If the Prlnge of Wales in England were placed a prisoner In his , Own palacte„ under the Will of bad Ministers, would the English nation be silent ? Yet we have been . silent ; and this sql:fsciently proves, that' libgcly, without a free Press, although it may be the 1,,i-ood inan's dream, .wl4l still be nothing-hut a dream, I wish to .ergue the question. di s p ass i o nately, and with calm reasoning. ' The dile/care between nsy self and my opponents is, that they conceive - the erils of a free Press, to be ar a million, the good as twenty. I, en tbe contrary, think . the tills are its teen% 'and thp pod 41 a a411,4mi OMEN r -J = have warmly digressed on all its dangers. If I were now to run over all the evils incident to civil society, the curses of ambition, the horters of war, the woes of famine, and the devastetien of pesailence, I could frighten you all. But from the dreadful picture I might draw l would you forget the good of civil society, and conclude to destroy it ? Here we have no Republic of Plato. Here we stand, fallible men, with all the mixture good and evil belonging to our condition, and it is from a ba lance alone of adventage: arid inconvenience that we can form a just decision on any question, A great inquisitot of Spain was desirous of translating the Bible into Spanish. What torrents of abuse were poured on him fur the attempt ! The same language was applied to his efforts as to ours. What was his answer ? " I do not deny its inconveniences, but is itnsgfal or net on the balance . 2 " The same 'is our Case. Had that inquisitor succeeded, the good would have been his own—the evil, that of our onto res. To conclude. I believe the nation to possess a sacred arid inviolable right to the Freedom of the Press, as the only means by which they can assert . their just mitred over the conduct of their repre sentatives. This principle is general ; but at this moment they doubly require it in the alisence of their beloved King. When he returns, he will have the power, in attendiug to the proceedings of the legislature, to assert his own prerogatives. — Until then, the people have not only their own rights, but those of the Monarchy to maintain. If they do not maintain them, who can say that this coml. try will not follow the steps of Revolutionary France, knd the Cortes become aNational Assembly. Let those who dread Republicanism from the Liberty of the Press, look at the reverse of the picture, and tremble. I again repeat it—the only safeguard for the Rights 1 of the People; and the Prerogative of the King, lies in the tribunal of public opinion. Let the Cortes be pre. served pure. If they become corrupt, the people will becomes° too. We must, therefore, strengthen our. selves from the only source of purity—the public opi nion. I have heard much against the Press, but the objections appear to me to have proceeded more from personalinterestithan from a sense of the public wel. fare. I am but asking for juetice. Should the good sihich I augur from the Freedom of the Press be exag. geratcd, end the mischiefs foretold from it be tree,still let us grant it, for before justice eten the powers of darkness 'nest bow. Much has been said or. the score of religion. I can add little to what Senor Oliveto:: expressed yesterday, bat I must recal one eirctenstance to your minds ; that the sacred head of our Religion, the Pope, is now under persecution ; that Bonaparte has even commenc ed a civil suit against him, and that from the degraded state of freedom bi France, no man (tires to lift his voice or to move his pen in defence of that venerable person. These are the fruits of an arbitrary censorship on the Press I But there are some persons who think, that works would be published hostile to religion, It pro bably may often happen, that in prudes censer. sotions will turn on religion, but if one men decries or blasphemes it, twenty erelong defenders spills* forth In its support ; so would it be with the Press. I must, therefore, declare that the Cortes, will be • acting against the nation, if they do not deeree the Liberty of the Press. We shall be betrayers of the People's hopes ; the re-establishers of the despotism we have abolished ; the destroyers of the last chance of Spirt. The censorship of the Press, is the last hold of the tyranny under which we so long have groaned. It is your vuto which meat root it 0114 ur fix it fur ever." THURSDAY, OCTOBER 18. Senor GARCIA DE lIERKEROS on this day ex plained the vote he should give on the first Article of the Report, and which would appear contrary to the opiniod he had apreised on a former day. He was for a free Circulation of opinion, " for" said he, " a free Press does not depend on ante. rior or posterior Censorship, but on the free cir. culation of men's writings." lie agreed perfectly to the first Article', with the admission of the willa 66 politica ;" by which modification religious sub jects would be excepted from discussion, or remain on the same footing as before. Sector Nlexia observed, that by the French code, a Prefect was appointed in every department of France. whose business it was to censare the Press. Was this example to be followed by the ' Cortes ? El Senor LLANZRAS read a discourse against the abolition 'of the previous Censorship, endeavouring to prove that the Liberty of the Pres was not I only consistent with it, but better secured by it. j Senpr Attotiet.Les then-rose, and said he wished ' to bring the matter to a point, for utherwise there would be no end to the discussion. lie approved much of Senor's, Mexia's speech, who had argued from facts. 'rite O. puny from Majorca (the same I , Senor Lianeras) had said, that with honest tri- ' bunals there would be no necessity for a free Press. —lle verfectly agreed with that Doputy, that if all men were in fatitble atta-itscapable..uf .111.Willv there would be no' occasion for any laws vibauo. t ever ; but for his part he had dem known but ohm class of men, namely., parts at they all were, fallible pings, subject to all the imperfections of their com. mon nature. " The Deputy for Majorca," continued SenortArguelles, "has declared that the Inquisition was a proper tribunal for judging what books ought to be permitted. Dues he forget that the library of the Marquis of Villena, with. all his valuable manu scripts, was burnt by a Friar of the Court of John the Second, who was himself a literary character and a poet, noteithstandieg which, the kingdom was ruled by the favourite Dr. Altn°. ilse Luna ? The religious and political zeal against the Liberty of the Press did not abatein the subset:LA*lA reigns ;. nevertheleA upstart /Ilion governed, the nation its the time of Kuricreauarto„ Felipe Teroeria y War t° ;.and utter were so numerous tho regibitiont against the free communication OS our 4101 i. fleet opinions as in the reign of Chyle" the Fourth. —Ewa a prudent tolerance in political matters would have preserved us from the Kama calamity. Had we been possessed of the Liberty of the Press, should we have had its censors, and our very judges themselves, ctanposing the Coact of Gado', that Court where ever' thing . was sold, anal :nicht might kistly be called the marketaplace of all. juslicia. . s tud Liberty ? '.Cllsrc Is not Noti s oo.ku thot. world which hat Rot suffered an age of tiksordert s ,„„, of the Liberty of the Prese, (or one aril v l id, been produced by its messes. There I r est claim, and I challenge the world to deny iesi Senor Colonel GOLF , ' sr said that the Freed a ! the Press was just, useful, and necessary , an d hat thereould not go on one step without it. rs was no other mode of coming at the p u bli c an - 7 tsion. A former speaker had asked what was °l3 done ifahe Press should he directed agains t , Cortes ? He would answer, that the Cortes would derive from it the same advantage which the Panil,l - of England derived from the public newspaper , through which they learned the opinion of the ; on their conduct. lie said, that those who r ) : - , 1 that the Liberty of the Press would be em e r a t r , - ed against the characters of individuals %A t * do well to recollect. that they might eqtasurbi injured by the circulation of libels in mattuscrip . e with this most fatal differene:e namely, that the one case the evil would be mauifest, s l ew, powers of defence would al ways remain ; wh en, in the other, the blow is secret, the danger is m ' known, and the means of defence ate absolog ; , taken away. It was clelr, therefore, that the 1 b aence of a free Press aordial no sec ur it y to ; 04i: Moats for the protection of their characters; n oa ta t c h r e ipt c s: n su tr b a j roy ccls by t he them tea encouraging isifinit d sfa e ygre i e a ! e t r e r i y n col e us ' : lenience.. • On the conclusion of this speed:, Senor Gaut nos moved that the question should be tpu to ti s vote. The Marquis of Vico then rose, and read al ai and laboured argument against the Liberty of tp s Press. On which Senor 'FOWLER° spoke age % nearly as follows :...The last speaker ascribes t, mo that I had said that Englaud stood alum by e s Freedom of the Press. This is not correct. I said that England stands by public opinion, whi r s the Liberty of the Press protects, and fosters, but which is itself rooted in the liberty of tie subject. Ott every debate in Parliament the sale stance of the speeches.. of its Members is imrsedi. ately printed and circulated all ererake country; I se from thenceitarises that the poorest peesant iu themost wretched village in gnglasid .bas the, power, if he has the capacity, of inspecting and judging of ths conduct of every public man in the realm. Mt Member has acknowledged the beneficial effieey of the Press in England, but denies it to Spain, I affirms that the efforts of a fres:Press would bete*, beneficial to Spain, as the basis of our Governors is the same. England has her Parliament-Ms has her Cortes. England has a lintited hit:meal ..-Spain is in the act of limiting hers. Eugisrulla liked division of the three Powers, Legislative Executive, and Judicial—we have just declared the same division. Mat, thee, is there is these two nations, so allied in character, and so similar in the bases of their respective Constitu. tions, that should- teriline.to England the ben& which are admitted to belong to the Press kith country, ehd prevent our seeping some of the s fruits? had we been possessed of the Press in Spat Would some Priests have ventured to assert, the Charles the Fourth was lospieeti bel God "'Pitt Idly Government into the hands of Gotioy ? It we dell had the Press, Goilay mast have fallen : aY W. 110 without it, he has lived to perpetrateour ruie. repeat, that had it not been for the decided pub' opinion of England, estabiislfod .by the effot of the Preps, and acting on a wide and ter' soil of national education, England mast In perished from the convulsions of liar parties. Should the King ever entertain the wish, a possess, through the agency of a stronger F cutive than we now grant him, the nes of destroying the Cortes, what refuge we ? Whither are we to fly ? Whither bat the gond opinion of the People et Spain, pi by our own actions, and disseminated by the PM Had. Gudoy known the feelings of the Sp People, he would have been deterred from coati ing many crimes ; bat, amidst fools and bad rani while statues were erecting to his fame, he rods ceived, and the nation was undone. Had we it sesed the Press, Charles IV. would nut b dared to carry on that e retched system of cern:tient which has reduced us to our present sites don. The power which the Parliaments of liostel hold over their Kangs, arises from the kneeled! which the people possess .taf tee principles of the who compose Parliament, aad from the owl* they give theta." gal With this speech the &bete an the , fi rst concluded, after which a warm discussion took pb with regard to the mode of Tieing, and ehrtil dr should be public or secret. Some ;.embers hAN observed, that in England the g aller y was cleared when the question wa s p ut by the Spo i l! Senor ARGUULL.II9 stated, that by the slaw' orders of the house, . evert the discassion asp' cret, but that the practice was unifoonly t he verse, for England had virtue sasough to OP the opinion of the people. the Sri President having 'teetered that ~.j was closed for that d tv, t h e vetei were net until the next illy, Friday, Q..t. 19.t n1 hs questiun heist; eta o n the first article (Alla the insertion of the V't: 11'. 4 . politics " at mentioned), and the Secretary, writing do's' name of each Member, there apse:-red itt '' ul It 7,Q, against it 32. • A.ll le It ftil, --...—.... We have received' several t it unbets of lhe , Palake, of Saws ge de Ilogatl, to the Sth IP tember, containing a histoty of iho rcrolut i the province of New G.ranab. It seems 10, broken out on the Vitt, of July, opt the Jeta)! the neettrictices which to,ok place (porn d,ky to e', are published in thtse Ci a ..ettes; but t he s,', trifling an interest to ctiviire that they s ll3 "' given at any length. Lt i s w orth o bite, howeter to adrtrt t o go , as s t L euita t he to, this. history, maws of these revolutionary p ruceig hno a t .! b . 0 mean); of a recent orig in. Thu following khe nisthos says on, this sobject : K. The kalousy ht hick, h a% existed' fro"' ti ; t Item4rial, in Asneti,cas between the Kuropcsn' &lard; anti the natives of (hat 4il C""""`! ". 'lll4lll.usX ) akt oat incrtti i.b II ; Its. I Net.n i lit 417: •~ ril STj 1 S 1 tAl o -~ I I. S v A vri fa