The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser. — London, England, 1819-12-21 00:00:00

I ciple which fur the future would absolutely prevent a n y man of an independent mind from engaging in so humiliating and degraded a trade. One provi sion he looked on to be of a most alarming nature. that which empowered one Justice of the Peace to make an order for the searching houses for copies of a libel. The dutiesimposed onJustices by these Bills were violent and arbitrary. They were suffi ciently arduous before in consequence of the many modem Acts of Parliament relining to them ; if in addition to these they were now to be called upon to search for arms by day or night, to impose tines, and to enter and look through people's houses for libels. he thought it impossible that persons could :my longer be fecund to till an difficult and re/prin table a situation without a salary ; and limn what became of our boasted unpaid tuagistracy?— ( Near.) Further, it was not possible that any snail Of cies veat ter or respectability, who could support himself i any other way, would'have recourse to such an i , pigment, it a salary even were i ttttt exed ; and erefore he thought it must important, in this new :done, that the present Rill should not sv lass. L-t them pause before they said it was tw t cersary to arm his Majesty's Ministers with such new extraordinary powers. They had already con. ferred on them very great powers with respect to , the holding of public meetings. They had allowed 6 I lit ::1 tO direct a search for arms throughout 17 counties in England, wherever they had informa tion that they were kept for the purposes likely to endanger the public pierce—words so large and indefinite, that it was Mffitult to imagine a case where a Mageenee might not, under cover of them. enter any house. They had gone further in a Bill, which certainly was an improvement on alie law—they had enabled the Law Officers to bring a defendant immediately to trial. Why had (7nritle been put on his trial so late as the year 1819, but because such a poorer did not exist be. fore? But when they had given this right to the Ciovernment, they had, in his opinion, done all that was necessary.—/Hear, hear, hear.)—Theu, as to the acquittal of Hone, could any one over look the obvious distinction that presented itself in the cases of the two individuals ?—(llear.)— But he could appeal to well-known facts to chew the sufficiency of the existing law. Different Juries of Englishmen hail declared it as their solemn con viction and judgment that blasphemy was en of fence. and io so declaring it, had proved that the existing law was adequate to its suppression.— ( Ileer.)—lt had been objected to Flom. Gentle men on his ride of the House that their remarks tended to throw imputations on the character and conduct of the Judges—he denied the Ile 'tertian ; so far was lie from thinking so, that he said, if there was any nue thing above another to which the people of this country could look for encouragement and hope in these appalling time., it was to the administration of the law in the courts of justice.—( /fear, hear.)—But he did toot say t las of the administration of the law by the magi*. trade*. ou different occasions, and particularly at 111 ano hesicr.—(Hear.)-11' lien he looked to the transactions of that day, and their consequences, lie thought it impossible not to conclude, that mat ters had been managed there under the directions and instructions of Government; and without now p ...ois‘g •n opinion on the prudence or imprudence a the steps taken by the Magistrates, he said, that if they had acted in the manlier they had at the desi re of the I tome Department, that alone constituted a sell eirtit ground fur removing them. Could Hey Gentle man, lee asked, point out to him a precedent in the law of England for that clause which required a resew* security ? They had, indeed, been ie• felled to the Excise Laws, to the times of Chatter. 11., and to the Star Chamber. The licens ing privilege had. indeed, been exercised by that Court, and after its suppression in arbitrary times, but from the period of the Revolution there was no attempt to revive any such restrictions on the liberty of the press. The present clause was a prodtct anomaly in the history of England, lead if it were not an imprimatur, it was an imprimut. It made the whole of the important right of ptiblish i ilig periodical pamphlets to depend on the dis. cretion of the Magistracy. Was it not enough in an English House of Commons, in opposition to ally nietistire, to say, that it was perfectly unprece dented ?—(lleur.)—lt was iii vain for any set of I men its imagine they could keep dime the spirit of 11,e press in England.—(llear.j—With respect to newspapers, he thought it right that those small 1 cheap pamphlets should he subject to • stamp duty. But it behoved the Administration to stop in their career and deliberate; they were successful hitherto in gaioir.g the sanction of time House to their coer cive Bil:s, hit they might carry matters too f ar .— • (Pear.)—They might at last offend and turn into 1 the ranks of their opponents those who had believed it necessary to stresigtheu the hands of the Govern meet, and hitherto gone with them.—( Fleur )—lie did n o t speak of the other law further (hats this, that they both seemed to rest upon the ground set turtle an substance in the preamble. that the exist tug laws had been found insufficient for the sup pression of seditious and blasphemous publics. tions—a proposition which lie had scarcely seen an aitetnpt to establish, and whose truth lie did not iiiiinit.—(Hear.)—Examining Cailile's case, had .81ipt the existilig laws beets proved sufficiently powerful against him? Was he not now in Dorchester gaol, which made the repetition of his offence impossible ?—(Hear, hear, hear.) — To taik of banieffineet as a punishment and a preventive against the circulation of libels was per fectly ridiculous. The same penalty had been tiled in France, amid he asked whether the writings of banished authors had not made their way into teat country iii greater numbers oil that very sc. come. and whether the Revolution had not been meetly attributed to their effects upon the people ? —(!tear, hear.)—And suppose that some of the prisons banished under this law, should establish t hrmsr!yes in one of the couetries on the Con tinent. where paper was cheaper, and public*. toms easier them here, 'amid it be supposed that their productions would cot steal into Eng land ? Would not motives of curiosity, rod the interest excited by the writer's fate, cause them to he more eagerly sought after amid examined, and more widely, though secretly circulated, than if they had beets left to depend on their own intrinsic importance ? When they lucid required those cheap publications to go forth with a stamp affixed, they bail done every thing called for by circumstances. Every step beyond that would only sink thew mu o `4 the estimation of the peop!e, and separate theta more widely from those whom it was their duty to prote ct. Mr. DIC.KINSON explaitied. Mr. BAK vs said, that vi the M N E, and Learned Gentleman who had spokato boa bot one (Air. Draining hail called nllnn those Members who had supported the A diniiiiiiratioso in the present con juncture, though not psrticularly imitated to il, to say whether lots Alajestj's Ministers had not been armed with sulteii tit power by the illeAsttrei viou•lv enacted, he (Air. Banks.), for one, dirt say that th e isrevioua measures were essentially neces aary to the peace and tranquillity of the counter.-.-. (Hear.) —But he said. moreover, that if they stripped there, in his the wolf: would hre e been left most inqwrfect— (Hear. hear)—null as far as his opinion Might have any weight, he do dared, that the mischiefs against which they h a ul been before guarding, appeared to him compara tively unionism-ant, but that they were now deal ing with that which was the main-spring of all the evil, and which. if they twalecied to regulate, left • mute which was working gradually atoll sorely, and which would in time blow up bath the Govern mint and the Constitution of the country. They could not stop where they were. It appeared to him that the abuses of the press haul grown up so as to create a monstrous degree of mischief, and such a state of danger and alarm. as to call for the instant interference of the House.—(/)ear.) Thole who spoke of the freedom of the press, as now conducted. as being so necessary to the con terration of the public spirit, .the happiness, and prosperity of this country, seemed to hint to take an erroneous view of the subject. They argued from the effects of the !tress at former periods; but the pieta of former times was not like tile press of the present day.—( Hear, hear.)—Judge Black stone, in his elementary work, had expressed him self very openly, as it became hint, on the advan tages of a fire press; but had it at that time ever been contemplated that newspapers and other pub. lications would have multiplied in such a way as they now had, and as they were now propagated in every town soul village, and in every corner from one end of the kingdom to the other ? The time was not extremely distant when there was not inure than one regular newspaper in London ; and as to the smaller publications, they were then alto gether unkttowto. It was not above half u cella tury since Blackstone published his work ; and let any one reflect, whether what he had said of pubs lications could possibly be meant to apply to the newspapers and pamphlets of the present day ? He said, that the excellence of our constitution conosisted in this, that whenever new mischiefs broke nut, new remedies were discovered also.— (Hear, hear, hear.) —The measures, therefore, ad. 'tatting them to be new, were accordiog to an old principle of the constitution, and never for a too- Tent departed front it ; and if, as the Hon. mod Learned Gentleman asserted, the provisions of the law under ;Aeration were unprecedented, he should not to about laying down a new prin ll i - ciple to meet a new mischief. But it might be worth while to examine how the matter really stood in past dines, with regard to the freedom of the press ; fur in opposition to the argument of the Ilion. and Learned Gentleman, he contended, that the press was never perfectly free iu this country. An ciently it was looked upon, as in other States of Europe, us a matter of State, and was obliged to depend on a hector. Till the time of Chinks I. it was regulated by the Star Chamber; the odious judicature of the Star Chamber was abolialied, together with the indict public grievances, previous to the Commonwealth ; but a very slight alleviation of the rigours which it exercised was allowed the subject, and that was done afterwards which is usually done by usurping Governments—the re publicaus re-established the regulations with regard to the press which they bad put down, and placed it on exactly the same footing on whirl, it hail stood four years before, mod according to the Star Cham ber decree of 1637. Ott the Restoration, it was found necessary to adopt some measures to pre vent the disseininutioo of seditious and irreligious works, to the 'undue • of which such excitement had been given by the recent violent changes in Church and State ; and not long after the return of Charles 11. a statute was passed, founded on the Parliameotary Ordinances, and ultimately the decree of the Star-Chamber before referred to. It was re vived once more, and all this matter which was sup posed to be so fundamental an article iu our rights, without which our liberties cannot exist, and which was said to be the most precious part of our free. dom. How dal it stand at the carrying of the Bill of Rights? After what the House had heard this night, would not they suppose that the liberty of the press was nieutionsuf in the frost of it ? But among all the fundamental rights which it claimed, was there one word said about the libery of the press ? Not mgr.—(How,' hear, hear.)—There was not a single complaint about the press.— He should take the liberty of telling the Hon. and Learned Getalentan how the matter stood: four or five years before the end of the reign of Charier IL it did so happen that this Act expired, and was nut re-enacted.—(Hear./—James 11. found it very necessary fur the support of the power he aimed at establishing— (Hear, hear, front the Opposition,)— and accordingly it was revived for a term of seven years; consequently the Revolution, when it took place, found this Act in existence, and iu • very flourishing riate.--(Hear, hear, hear.) — He prayed the indulgence of the House—(Hear) — be was endeavouriog to point out that at the time of the Revolution a censorship over the press wits a grievance in existence, sad that of the strictest kind, so lust be believed a stricter never WAR estaldisheal even ender the Isiquirition, and it was left in existence. Bus it might be said, that as it was to expire in a fro years, the repent of it then was a matter of nu great concern. However, how stood the fact ? When the period fixed fur its coutinunace elapsed, the Statesmen of that day did not think it s l ake sate to starer it to expire, and accordingly renewed it in be 3.1 anJ 4th and Mary, sad in its full inte grity, fur one full year, and from theme to the eta% or the next Session of Parliament. It ritually expired in the year 1694, and fiuns that time till now the press of Eueland has coniiunaed UtireSt 0(64 Hear, hear, Limy, fiom the Opposiliox.)—But if the Ilisnourahle sod Learnt.' (ieutlemais would look, be would find tint the Crown made three or fuser attempts tore-enact it in °teatime reign. He would are that iii 1098 a Bill for the purpoor was actually limn& down to this House from the lioniarior where it had passed ; that it was read a first time, but a. the motion tor a second reading, negatived without a division. He 'mind to p rove s that, at the ern of the Ilevolotion, an remit ahich bail her o so warty and justly admired, as im. proving a:id raveling ear Cuostitottuu, null which had ~. , been matte tiee of the greatest possible lisartfits to !minify, . the House of Cumulous haul not been so mach alive to the I necessity or prudence of establishing the tit,..,jv of Iwo is,. strunient of literature a n d scirnee—(M Bear," front the Mi. mialcrinl Beerbee;—end that theGu%rrnment did not wi th, lv su ff er it to raw.. at the time it had. Amy w h o were th e .. persons composing ohm Adinsinstratiou ? dune who, he weed, were the mum .1 admi,atton of the Whigs attic pre. sent day—to whom he slippmo•d :to brighter or inure perfect • model of political wird and purity could be exhibited Site r !het of the men who effected the glorious I.llilla —;!fear.)—Now how would Gentlemen opposite re. runtile sorb eunduet with their own maxim, that 111 II Ilei ure or cireamen•tassees could justify the imposing re_ atrictions no the press? Rat what was the stature of the Act which the Whigs at the Revolution Infoosired to n vire ? It prohibited absolutely the pnblicstiosi of heretical said sou. nctLcal doetrioes in religion, of an , thine 11,1 '1101 1 Z ronlelllpt 111111:11 thus abut administe...l she goveroment • of chorch or stair. 11. la' OVlallitla wrrr much stionger than ! Close of the Rill in progress. It et/acted a lirensing power ! by particular prams only. The Homusratile Gentle. titan then examined the remaining provioons 4.f the Act, coulrndiug T h at it, provisions were more strict, and its pe. unities more ii au. e, than thuae of the Bill b. fuse the Hunse. t 111....xpr.gmed his droilit• of the prudence of carrying the ethication of Ilia. loser ruders to the extent to which it was ouw pi oreetoig —(t , Hear," front the Oppnsition.)—lie went wills Miuisters as far as th.y had gum, but lie was ! certainly inclined to gu much further. Mr. A6F:IICROMBY still. he had at first been nt a lons to I know what appitraltuo the Hon. Member's (Mr. Smiles) ! speech hail to the subject before the House, but at the emit of it a little light brute in upon him. He regretted that his speech bad 110 i [wen delivered at a meeting of Radicals—it might r bode to reconcile them to the measures against churn they cried me loudly, and to %hew them that if they i tusked Mick shout a limulred years they might find Bonn thing ill match theita.--;llcar, Atar;.—He could Out admit the necessity of the new measnies till it Lied been sati.fac bottle chew,, to him that the existing laws were insufficient. Alrais era ought to have chew.., which he maintained ; that they had not, by facts produced, and *when tieated by evidence laid on the table, that the tx isting laws were deficient. The case of House's trials haul been offered as an answer. It was au idle waste of time to animadvert on the ar gument deduced front those trials. Then the House had to look about for the reliant:. why More couvictioiss lied nut taken place. Would it lie said that Juries were so imbued with the effects of blasphemy and sedition, that they would toot fulfil the duty they owed to God and their country, even to the most atrocious manifestations of those crimes ? lie could not believe this without the facts being, as they were not, produced. Before such restraints were allowed to he placed on iloe liberty of the press, the House loud a right to de mend proofs of the moat violent libels against:the King, the Parliament, and the religion of . the COOPS. I try having been acquitted by Juries. Without that, no further step should be taken with the Bill. To propose to legislate in so oppressive a measure 1 without that evidence. ought not to be tolerated in I that House. There was evidently no answer which could be given to this practical argument, or the ; Attorney-General would not have cited the case of Hone, which was indeed a very bad answer. But i lie had s 1111 l ething snore to point out. The new I Bills were to give the laws new functions and powers.—(here the Honourable Member repeated some of rite clauses of the Hill which subjects the I author of a second libel to transportatioul—But ! in the mime of wonder why should the House pro ceed to pass a law for the punishment of a second I offence. when it was declared to be utterly hope- ! less to gain a conviction of the first ? It was all I explained, however, if the Hon. Gentleman who i spoke last lied spoken truly, that the present men- r sures were only the beginning of a series, which if it failed of the purpose intended, would more gra- dually lead the way to further restraints, and ems- ; ble the Ministers to raise their superstructure of ; despotism, so that they might quietly enact such laws as would give that Hon. Gentlemen complete satisfaction and security. There was nothing which satisfied loins that the existing laws were foot suffi- cient. Undoubtedly the country had witnessed a great increase of objectionable publicat . . The reason for their appearance might be given in one word—impunity. The publishers had found out that there was no loss of any thing but character, and much pecuniary gain in carsying them on. But if the laws lied been duly enforced, and appeals suede to Juries out the most wicked of those cases, there would have been nothing to complain of. As no such thing had been done, he was compelled to object to the motion. Mr. BENNETT expressed his regret and surprise at the speech of the Hon. Member for Curfe Castle, a speech which had hot been paralleled for the extra. ordinary doctrines it contained withal the walls of that House since the passing of the arbitrary Acts to which the Hon. Member had alluded. The Hon. Member might have carried his series of precedents further back—he might have ascended to the Plan ta,genets ; and such was the misfortune of our his tory, that he would have found a precedent fur any act of tyranny which could be proposed. Au Act had been passed by Henry VIII. for setting aside the power of Parliament. The Hon. Member was nut only the advocate of these severe measures, but had expressed his aversion to educating the poor. He (Mr. Bennett) maintained that without education there would be neither morals nor true religion among the poor. If the Hon. Gentleman had only looked out from Curie Castle, he might have convinced himself that in proportion to the dif fusion of meson' light, so were morale, subjection to the laws, and piety among the poor. He knew, in deed, of unsuccessful attempts to prevent the benefits of education among the poor, hut he never expected to have heard a Member of Parini. meat lamenting the spread of education us the cause of immorality, and proposing ignorance as a remedy. That which the King (he hoped he might be allow. ed to use his revered name on this occasion) had, with a beneficence and understanding the most dewing. expressed as his most fervent wish, that every child in his dominions might be able to read the Bible, was to the Hon. Member a source of dread and aversion. He wished them nut to read their Bibles, and would have them abut out from enjoying that great inlet to the knowledge of their interest here and hereafter. Ile had been drawn aside from the matter and lire of er. gument, which he conceived to be the state of the existing evil, and the remedy proposed fur it. As to the evil, sume blasphemy hail been descend, but it could nut be pretended that it was general. Nome publications had gone forth in London and most of the large towns, which least lung ago called fur the interference of the Attorney-General. Bait it must taut be pretended that there was say purrs' apirit fur supporting, or by any means propagating them. Ile had reason to know the success of Carlile's Republican, by information derived from the midrib of it iu one particu lar distrito—slie seller being gene rally oursoisrions of the contents of the wurk. B. fore his trial, the paper vie. -•-• eulatetl very few. At the lime of his trial, nad for a week or two euireepiently, urarly fifteen hundred hail been sold in the district, which %vs,. accounted for by the curiosity of the people to know the issue and consequences of that trial. But when afierwaids it was discutered that there was no thing bon a tissue of blasphemy nod treason contained to it, the circulation stink by rapid degrees, and was 11011, in that dist. irt, whiny 111111119. AA to the prevalence of Sal h crimes for .an. period hefn,e Oen, soil after Hour's trial, Lord bidnomtli himself had Sala in the ;louse of Lords, isi I Old, that there was a diminution of filet-1111C' only in tin they but its quantity, 41111 that (luring that year there bad heels ma case littri li...seemed by the Crown nt all. How, then, cool.' it he Asalnud by the thin. and Learned Gent nppn site that ids Is had increased in consequence of Mr. Iluue's acquittal, alien they had the declaration of Lord that aide, I:11 lir die time be wit speaki.c.: there had be e n 1111 lilarje of Idol brought forwai .1 by the Crowu ? A. to 110111 6 trials. they gate no lumen m n. so ihe country satisfaction. Ile at proved iu the course of them that so far knot doing any thing w hich h tat eier before been deemed lilasphe ...nue of the giratest Ecclesiastical Ch traders io the coolltry bid done the 11/11111 . and at so time were thi is ter so scan parodies as at a period distinguished for au al most religions mailmais, the period ~laud immediately subse quent to the Wen Himont. He defended those peisons who had supported Mr. Hone is that struggle from any 'mouse lion of sedition it, irreligion. There never was a fouler slaiider, that was th e intention in citing the case, than to assume that llone had been acquitted and supported from any inclio. lion 19 it - air:set klaspbensy. The parties knew that his pio.ecietiois was a circumstance of base hypo crisy. The dory was Immo to the world, so were many of Mr. Relic's after supporters: they were pet-eons of strict pnlilleal COIIIII.II /11 . y. He would solisict to the clause imposing the necessity of • stamp on all pamphlets of a certain size. He regretted thus exceedingly, as it would put down the mum useful part of the press. All the b. st works relating to morals, religion, mid political economy, were now, in eonsequetice of the distress of the labouring classes prohibiting them Ilion the purchase of motive works, circulated in numbers. Those who had tern what kind of works were this circulated, sod of 119 W many of them by this means the poor made themselves master*, would ping nattily regret the suc c e ss of the Bill before the House. There was another objection. Would it prevent the circulati 11l of cheap pamphlets ? Cubbalt's Braider had circulated from four to test tlmusand while be sold it for Is. ; whet, be reduc ed it to 2.1. he did not sell one.sisth part so many. Again, the difficulty of the present circulatiou would be done away, as the cheap papers, when stamped, would be circulated through the post-office. To impose any measure which would prevent the circulation of good works, because they would 111 1 1a111114 11 to bad ones, war la wild, mischievous, and absurd, as to liar the eyes and prevent the occurrence of bright colours and pleasurable objects, out of dread of encountering objects of disgust. lie thought it a severe harils:iip to compel the publishers of books mid pamphlets to find securities for OMB. It had a tendency to create a corporation of rich booksellers, to the disadvantage of all others. But what was worse, it was contra'y io the rights nod lan, which Englishmen had all been used to the enjoyment of, and by which they had been allowed hitherto to publish what they pleased, subject of course to the correction of tlw laws in case it should be proved triftli• nal. A great deal had heti, said about the general excel lence of the plan of the constitution; it was almost always praised most iu that House just iss its effects were about to be suspended. Now it seemed to him that it was not ill the power of that House to change its precepts, or fairly to set aside its provisions. It seemed to him that the Parliament was to the Cemstitinion what churches were to religion ; both were proper places fur the promulgation of their respective doctrines, which doctrines ought iu either case lu be unalter able. Those who praised tlic Constitution, and voted for measures which set it at nought, were worse iu the practice than io their theory; their practice were hostile to their theory. The youngest man in the House would live to lament the day when it should be agreed to impose a bond of Gaol. on a publisher. Ile objected to the motion. Mr. trildnoT objected to the assumption, that these was a design on the part of Ministers to settle a plan of dein,- thin lu the country. He considered the .lerangements oh servable throughout the country, as sufficient to W3lllllll the present measures. He did taut agree with die Member fur Code Ca-Ile as to the point of education. But the people had nut advanced far enough iu their new circum. stances, and the measures were necessary to confine then, in the twilight of their knowledge. He objected to the use which had bee. made of his Honourable Friend's allusion to the Acts of Owlet; 11. Glertainly it was nothing to say in favour of an arbitrary measure that a precedent exists for it. But it was an arguineut as to what•had existed in the constitution tespecting the liberty of the press; and when Gentlemen directed his lion. Friend to go tip to the time of the Plantagenet'', they were bound to shew that any thing like the present liberty of the press had ever existed before that period. He quoted the rase uf a printer who hail, for a very insignificant breach of the privileges of that Howie, been obliged, at the beginning of the pre. sent reign, to kneel down anal beg pardon of the Members. He compared the arguasest on the present measure to that which was adduced at tbe time of paying an Excise duty uo spirituous liquors. It was then urged, a would you toil p t the evil is some degree by rendering it more did; cult for the poor thus to injure themselves?" Thus be said of the stamp us cheap publications. The trash issued from the cheap press tanght the poor a dislike fur the authority of the House; it bribed them, not with gold, but with de. !naive hopes of fntnre beuefit, to forsake their natural pro. teeters and to rebel against the dispensatiwis of Providence. He drew an argument in favour of the stamp from a treatise on popular representation. It denied the right of voting to those who had nu property to lose, as they must be necessarily interested in bringing about a sub version or division of it. As to the clause requiring banishment, it would never take place except in very flagi. 'iota cases; sod what right bad such writers to escape it? The argument as to the liberty was not well cunsidered. That was a subject which had its disadvautagea.—(Here the , Hog. Member quoted some lines from Cowper's poem entitled Takla Talk, relative to this subject ]-11e wished to pre vent this c 00000 it:l, which had been the model of freedom, from becoming a standard of deepotiam. Ho wished timely to prevent the everflowine of those contaminating waters of sedition, which must, if not so checked, destroy the remain isig liberties, of the country. For this reason he would sup port the minium Mr. Alderman WAITHIOAM felt all hie alarmseonfirmed by the declaration of the Member for Corfe Castle, that the measures were only preparative to a succession of Biennia arbitrary nature. He alto repelled the imputation thrown on himself and friends for the support they had given to Mr. Hone during his hypocritical probecutioss, and afterwards. The House had already passed out measure subversive of the right of the Bill of Rights. The right of petition ing was also put under the arbitrary disposal of one per. sou, and, as it regarded the constitution, was almost abrogated. They were now about to subvert the liberty of the press. He would not state it as his conviction that the offences upon which the present measures were defended had hero set tin by the Government; but he had been shewo some writings of a character so flagitious that he was in. duced to believe that his Majesty's Ministers were winking at them. As to the banishment proposed, he could say nothing more descriptive of his own feelings on that subject than what was contained in the petition of the Londou I limiest-Bela, headed by Mr. Butlerwueth. Every bookseller would be subject to that ignominious penalty, and might be sent into ie 'lumen country, the lauguage of which be did net nuderetand, where his Cllll,lllllOlllll eunleh Ire of en use ; to has family. He plated the opinion of Justice Black- stoue, to prove that no one should be called upon to an swer fur the publication of any tiding, need it had been I pronounced criminal by a jury. As to the iscresee of publications, which bad been quoted as a teasun for the proposed ri.straints, so bad the power of the Crown and the influence and property of the Peers increased also. The public, the,, had a right to the benefit of inereasing their puldreatious, and more liberty of Shambled had linnet a essentially tweessary to them. in properties sts they be. came enlightened by such means, as sismild they he left r. ilea fewer restraints, bream* am increase of knowledge bettught its own wittily. The measeres were mot only recalled foe ; but would nut alumni their intended purpose. They left sidition just where it war, madame!) it nest meld be • ••• • • ...p.. defined. 11 was as the pbOosopher had described Me dial- Sinn of night and day, an indescribable time. Mold • peo ple, used to fight the battle of otheas, now submit to Wl qualiCc4l tOeTCII3O He ' thought oat. Hoarser this might 1w hurtle 'lotto fur a time, it would 1w Impossita:e to do it HE et tiall;t. He must oppose the me io every we* and shape in which they should be put. Or. Plitt.t.twunt wonld an itp:ort the measures, OM fly because be would resent thus, rha.g r s ah,rh had broochl against the supporteo• of them. They had 14)1 • the right of fartitton, Our mil or Itt g hH , tin , liberty of the Press. The fit rhos of teas-or., a hi, Is he had supported arose wit .4 a testiposnry to•reuily, sad Wert pooperly hunted in thew dor:ditto by the PX3.ieliC , of i r The arc I WAS footsie.' on .sits 1.1 os ,re Sail ing effect, and u ere, as psoperty, to he permilwrt Amongst thew was the to eseut in lo) the it he. ty of Mr press, only the hoot rii;clsally tr r pi C. Wl** , it. He was fioonilly t., *Lit liberty, Sod also to the apical of ellocesitusi—to the well.bettig of both uf which lie deemed those measure, Ili be nt•avt itadispett.alaly ue ressary. Honuorable aloft-own when ibes loolll.lll.seti of the loss o f r n:h i. a 1 0 .1 sight of those as ecsentia; as any— the right of CONSetVation of the public peace, and morals. The liberty of the press awl the light of petit:on. had been used to levy a tat On the Cousinutiost, which if yielded would have been destructive to it. it was the more necessary to guard against it as the ( - loins was urged outlet cahoot of the constitution. The principles of the coustita.- lion were not defined, had commeured a: Ito release pet:mi. but had grown up with obe population, and arrommodsted themselves to all eircurnsinuces of mosp•t tv and arise. sat . One of its pritiniphs w a , It, rusoftio Lidsplarnly and wed,- lion, ahich was, in fart, to aogniont re - broom liberty and the savorily of Ito , p - itsd loyal. 1n reply to the übwrvation which had Weis snide by the for Dothan', that Mr likg like lotaislatieet vas kuov to the eunstitut • before, the Honourable Member read a clause stating the rondtions 0111111111111 acre ta banished, out of the Great Charier. Hr toured also , fat ao Brarton, Lord Coke, and the statute of Colla of Eitmabe!l-, that banishment not a puttishmebt reeognieed, stud Ce quently itificied by the h-sea of England. He denied that there was ally thing new in the punishmritt hassishmebt, and emulsified by supportiog the present 11,11, a, IleCCl"ity for the maintenance of the peace and happiness uf the com munity. A Member, whose name we could lint learn, inquired bow, iu the event of rosivietion„a scheiton wee to made for mini.lintent a so in a partftersi , p concern; wan it the senior or the junior !miner. or wlorli of the firm was to be selected as the object of ponielinient No answer was returned in sills The Howse then divided, when the numbery were— For going into the C ~,,, inittee Against it Majority for the Cononitiee On nor readmission to the otliery we 6suud the Mott in is Committer, rtoursorpong the elatest fn compelhng per ous so toter 11110 recOtilirts.civ to ■bide the ir•ste of libel. ----•• Mr. MARRVATT eumplaintrl or the hard-hip of cum. pci ta,e persons, in Ih^ first inviance, to • titer olio sureties of 3011/. It was well known that printers commenced bus nese on their own account, in a small any, with whatever credit or rateihg they lout secures! as joutoc!useti.Py were only able at the outset to get a little filo., And it liras utterly impossible for a soon liegisoing the world to obtain such a merely. The effect of such a regulation would be to emmig Is the parties to total ruin. or • Ise to throw a trade. whit+ gave useful employment to a nitriturons china us society, into the bands of a few opulent men. Uesidesolie clause went to establish a new prior iple, loch w av, instead of pliwatlttsseht after guilt, punisbandit in the first instance, by way of pre. edition. It would also materially affect British trade*for by thiowieg the 'lege 'mother wit of employment, It *cold create a niminpoly, and. constituently, lois, the prier in the market. Now, unfortunately, the price W3A at present tuts high, for tiortign rid:limit of English authors ; turd Hyrou'is works, fur csampie, were imported, duty paid on them, and thrown int., Slur market to the detriment of home publi cations. Ile moved, Ilivrefore, as an amendment, that the words " togethir with low ur !lute elficieut sureties" be Mr. Alilrrniso N'AITUMA`J said, that no in his senses would Ire found In enter 31.11/1 studies fur initiator cinder the piorivions of this Rill. Bow would Dr. Vrankhn have made his way against the obstructions which this Bill inter posed Mr. W. SMITH complained of the general terms of thin clause—the words were, " All pit blica• 10114 conl• luting pub. lie news, intellirence, or occnrrences." These words would put an end to the publication of any Analysis of Naturist History, Religion, Missionary Journal, Agrieisltural, or commercial tofornsatiots, or any other useful wink. Mr. WHARTON denied that the clinse hind ihi. construe. tints, for 1101 It of the . I , l'lll Ics alluded so a lf,rkil Church au.l State." The newspapers were still 11p..11 and Uli4frcet.'d it; awl whatever may he termed the general of tb.• press, and political predilection of the iscw.prper4„ mine of them (he of course spoke of the respectable .I.•iiroal..) ever outraged Coe morals of the country, as the ,nn slier poblica. lions, such us The Mach Dwarf awl ushers bad done. Mr. V. Slims repeated hit uhjectinir to t4r clause. It would affect such ti ',slier as that a short lime ago diatri. holed, to impress upon the public the lICVlir digress of the iuhabilanta of the Scilly Wands. The ATTORNEY-(4.llaltAL dedied that the atuee could have any such operalion. Sort, nipera could eluded within ihr fair westoing of the words, b ruht:e s wops, intelligence, or orcurreure." Th• y were not within the purview of the Art, for they terse out pipets t• fir swle;'—... The Right Hun. and Lcaractl Grit!. theta ref.. Icd the opoii.m, that the mode , of prevuotion adopted by Vita Bill oi,l• new iu the history of the law of Hos country, and iblistrated bia •rgitatent by :dating that in rases of Et:riot, and ul berusing public.housem, previous security wa: indispensable. The obj, ct of the Bill was nut to tier the I. to curb the propene of blaspht MIMS and sea:bout pub— lications. Mr. MACDONAI D explained, Mr. JOHN St/ITII Cuntentlett that ILO:1'411114 of useful publications would be affected by the Bull. It would Affe c t and play-tickets—all these must base a CI. stemf • Mr. ANltinsan WtITHIII•SI said, that the xerartty on the came wir • public -huatnr WWI only 10/. awl it ," i f i pro% nlr.l 50 prevent a kauvrta and palpnble uffeuer, tn.l varli 3 th.,:bg . • nu undefined libel. Mr. ATKVIS %VRIGHT thanked the preitut the clause belUre the (' Lord CASTLICIMAtiII controlled, fleet the clause was new cessary to put dowel seditious and blatpheseitm• pohbeationa —a necessity no where admitted more le:comely or enure emphatically than iu the Wiesen., (corn that most re *piet a's:le body, the booksellers The Bill wax in the 'writ of the coustitntiou, and to be effrctual must be passed 1.1 its pre slut (tom. Mr. MIRRTATT quoted the ease of Mr. Hammond, of Dublin, oho published a Shippeug List, lent wide obliged to d.op it, when an iufuroser brought the file a Stamp Act to bear upon it. The SotietTott-GEW•nat replied, that Owes was a clause he except mods pieblications (roue tier commit of it.ws Bei.. He contended, that the principle by institutive. was aet sorrel part of the Cuuttitutioo since the time of Alfred. If a mau imported Kumla he was compelled to Mice a bond to dispose of theta in a particular martier. It was trot tow muck &fie r the evidence which had tsetse. rheerres So adopt mcusure . So prevent that tole of blasphemy which went to sap the morals of the country. Sir Wit. Dc CRESPIONT said, that if t h e Notile Lord op posite (Castlereagh) were by any .ward tarot, cut short in his , be cnald tent base the opportunity ..f crowding his last drug apetch and declaration, without he publiedwel it un a stamp. Mr. Wtcsow thought some limitation was necessary ice Ilse operation of she clause berry the Committee. The Committee then divided, when the naught-ea were-- For Mt. Matt alt's Amendment .... Si Apinat it Majority against it •• • • Oa oar readall»w■ to the Gallery, we &wad Mr. D. W. Hay awl Mr. Joint Santa strongly comptaiaing or lb. 1 ~._