The Sun.
London, England, 1830-03-03 00:00:00

~~

was at one time going at a very slow pace—at another in
danger of an overturn ; and that altogether those who had
the management of it were not quite agreed about the road
it was to take. Now, he contended that in our Government
of King, Lords, and Commons, it war possible there might
be a difference of opinion, and that it was perfectly justifi-
able to say so. Mr. Alexander wished to say nothing more,
and yet this was the libel. Now, he denied that it was
illegal to say that one of the three branches of the Legisla-
ture held, suijuris, opinions on any question, delicate or
not delicate, different from those of the other branches. He
denied that it was illegal to discuss such a question, and
the whole of the question, as it affected Mr. Alexander,
rested on the assumption of a right which was perfectly
justifiable and legal. In the case of Mr. Perry, the Editor
of the Minting Chronicle, who was tried for drawing a
comparison between the conduct which it was presumed
the present Sovereign (Geo. IV.) would adopt with ze-
gard to public affairs contrasted with that pursued by the
Ministers of George 111., the House would find, that the
nature of the case presented a strong resemblance to that
which he had just described. It was tried before Lord
Elenborough, one of the ablest and most acute Judges
who ever sat on the Beneh ; and although he would not
troul.le them with any detail of the trial, the House
would see, from the language of that Learned JuJge in
his charge to the Jury, what were the opinions he enter-
tained on such a question. Lord Ellenborough there says,
after animadverting on the language of the libel, "If
it meant that his Majesty, during his reign, or for a length
of time, may have taken an imperfect view—or erroneous

contemplation of the interests of the country, as it
regards either foreign nations or our own, on the system of
our internal policy—if it impute nothing but honest error,
without crime, I am not prepared to say, that that is of
itself libellous"—(1-fear, hear.)—These were no words of
doubtful meaning ; they were the expressions of Lord El-
lenborough, in a cage of almost the same description ; and
who, he would agk, could say, that to tell the world his
Majesty did not entertain opinions of the same nature as
his i•iinisters, or that he di I not entertain opinions held by
a portion of the people, was to be punished as a libel ?
Ile article also declared that the Ministers ought to be
dismissed; and, without expressing any personal opinion
on the subject, he (Sir C. Wetherell) would say that an
individual entertaining opinions such as the Editor of the

Journal hold then, was perfectly justified in giving ut-
terance to such opinion. The wholo tnatt,r was, haw-

ever, presented to a Jury, and they found a ♦erd ic t ; ha'

what did they find ?—(Alaugh.)—lie was not in the House
the other evening when the nature of that raffia was al-
!oda to, but be understood that the Hon. Member for
Westminster (Sir F. Burdett), and the Attorney-General
had exchanged some conversation on the subject.—(Hear,
hear, and a laugh.)—The Attorney-General boasted then
that he got a verdict. He (Sir C. Wetherell) would tell
him what he thought he got. He got a sound rap over
the knuckles.—(Cheers, and laughter.)—He did not mean
to say that the jury were not prepared to follow the Learned
Gentleman in a straight fora and libel ease ; but this case was
too much for than.—(Hear.)—They said to the Learned
Gent.—don't talk to us with all these gallopades-
-(Cheers and laughter.)—we do not wish to go out to
waltz with you.—(Continned laughter. )—This is not a
case fit for a Court of L .w, and they concluded by deliver-
ing the following memorable verdict :—" We find the de-
fendants guilty of a libel on his Majesty, but we do not
find them guilty of a libel on hi■ Majesty's Ministers. - We
also beg to state it as our opinion that the article was
written under feelings of very great excitation, occasioned
by the unprecedented agitation of the time; we there-
-

fore, most earnestly beg to recommend all the defen-
dants to the merciful consideration of the Court."—
Now, if any lawyer would stand up and say that this was
(Maining a verdict, he would say to that man " good luck
to you."—(G rod laughter. )—He did not envy the gainer of
such verdicts.—(hear, hear.)—Mr. Alexander was not
brought up to receive judgment on that verdict, as ordered ;
how could he ? The Jury thought he was to be excused
on account of tie agitation of the times, and well they
might think so ; for he believed no man then living recol-
lected a time when the agitation was so vehement and so
general. There was the Prime Minister of the country on
one side declariog that the Bill for the relief of the Roman
Catholic. was necessary to its salvation. On the other
side up rose the Primate and Metropolitan Bishop, and
declared it would be its destruction. Then the Chancellor
on the Woolsack was to be heard declaring that the country
must stand stock-still if the Bill was not carried ; and
on the other side an Ex-Chancellor followed him, and pre-
dicted the ru'n of the country if it was granted. One
part of the Right Reverend Bench of Bishops prophesied
the overthrow of the Protestant Constitution; another
assured us of the additional stcuritiesto its stsbi:ity, which
_ _

it was about to receive. A Chief Justice of Ireland said
the connection of England with Ireland would be infallibly
shaken if the Catholics were refused x participation in the
rights of the Legislature. An English Chief Justice was
to be found, who assured us that it would tend to the
overthrow of all Protest,int Institutions. Then the Right
Hon. Gent., the Secretary of the Home Department, and
the leader, as he called himself, of the Protestant interest,
who, not more than nine months before, had declared
with great solemnity of tone and manner, that there was
no possibility of formiug a Cabinet unless under the prin-
ciple of a division of opinion on the Catholic Question,
was the first to come down to the House and declare that
that measure would, in his opinion, no longer be resisted ;
while a Noble Viceroy and a Great Commander, whose leg
was chopped off at Waterloo, had the further ill luck to
see the Viceregal stool chopped front under him in Dublin.
—(Laughter, and cheers.)—Ail these things were symp-
tonic of the agitation of the times—all the bonds of society
were loosened—all ancient institutions were overturned—
all friendships were affected. At the Revolution of 1688,
there bad been no such confests of feelings and opinions.
At the settlements after that revolution there were no
such divisions betwteo man and man. At the close of
the American war—at the close of the French revolu-
tionary war—in all times known in the history of the
country, there never had been such a separation of pri-
•.te and public connections—of persona and opiniona.—
Well, indeed, might the Jury say it was a time of un-
precedented agitation when the libel was written. And
was the Editor of the Morning Journal not to be per-
mitted to participate in that feeling ?—(Hear. )—Why
could not the Attorney-General and the prosecutor say
that the purpose was to beat down the party with which
the Journal was connected, rather than those who held
these sentiments? Could they not have done that without
sending Alexander to Newgate ? In a time of the moat
unexampled agitation, when there was a collision of opi-
, nion—a warmth of language—an angry feeling—a sepa-
ration of connection which affected oven those the least
accustomed to take part in political discussions, were
they to demand of the Editor of the Journal that he
was to be silent and divested of feeling? Was he whose
duty it was to recerd the opinions of the public, not to
express the general sentiments? and when all was tumult
and agitation, and discord, was he not to speak a word,
write a paragraph, or record an expression which might
echo the opinions of those around him? and the moment
he did so, and departed from the unnatural apathy
and coldness prescribed to him, and violated the bounds
of decorum which it was his solitary duty to observe,'
than he was visited with this ill-judged, unjust, and
tyrannical ex-officio information of his Majesty's
Attorney-General.—(Cries of Lear, hear, hear.)—He
(Sir Charles Wetherell) was bound in the present case to
say nothing but that which his own unbiassed judgment
dictated, and he really could not avoid closing this part of
the subject by observing, that if he had been in the Pima-

tion of the Editor of the Morning Journal at the time, he
thought he might have been inclined to enunciate senti-
ments precisely the same which he placed in the pages of
that journal. He would take the liberty of reminding the
House that he contended, every man had the power to Bay,
without being guilty of libel, that one part of the Legisla-
ture was of one opinion, and the King or any other part of
that Legislature of another. If it were not so, they might
be said to revive the practice of Tiberius, who made it a
libel to praise A, because it was a reflection on B ; or, in
other words, they were not to exaggerate one man's merits

tiro highly, lest by eulogising him, they dispossessed some
other person of a part of the honour which would be due
to him. Ile &nitd that such was the law of England, and
he repeated, that they had the dictum of Lord Ellenborough
that such was not the practice. He now came to the•, next
trial, and he really approached it with some apprehension.
They had now g4,t an Adininistration—Whig or Tory he
did not know—some people said it was both—and as the
times required it, he should not be surprised to see them
send fOrth a new dictionary, as the guardians of the poli-
tical principles and minor morals of the age. He hoped, if
they did so, that it would contain a copious glossary of
phrases fur the direction of rising politicians ; and that if
any man turned to the words " imperious or ambitious,"
he would find a reference to the trials which took place be-
fore Lord Chief Justice Abbott, in 1/329, where he would
find the meaning of those words fully explained ; and there-
fore, gentle reader, take care of yourself. lie would
row allude to the inauguration of the new system, and the
ceremonies which attended it—ceremonies which bore
more the appearance of a raree show thaw the formalities
of a Court of Law.—(Hear.)—First then came, and seated'
himself on the Bench, to prove the nature of the libel, the
Lord Chief Justice Tindal. He was. followed by the

Master of the Rolls, and after him catne Mr. Baron
Vaughan. Now, in order to counteract this preponde-
'smuts of Torlisui itt a Whig and Tory Administration,

the next person who was summoned to appearwas the
Lord Holland, a high Whig ; and lest the balance should
be rather too much affected by the weight of his Lordship►.
they introduced a; his successor, that rank old Tory Lord
Bexley.—(Loud laughter.)—Now he did not know what
the principles of free trade or the removal of the restric-
tione from the commerce: of India could have had to d°
with the libels; but to add to this most singular mixture
came next the Chairman of the East India Company.
(A laugh)--Then he did not understand what the currency
or the question of an extension of paper and s restriction
cash payments might have to do with it, but there followed
him the Chaitman of the Bank of England ; and, although
he did not cleanly see why, the procession was dosed by
the Veriest; Padiarnentorum.—(licar, hear, and Oca"
firmed laughter.)—This was the kind of theatrical poluP
with which a prosecution was introduced, which in other
and graver times would not have been considered necessary,
or called forth much less of an attempt at effect. Hs
would not make a motion on this subject nor bring in 3
Bill to prevent this gallery of National Worthies.—(Loud
laughter)—from being introduced at such places and on
such occasions; but lie would take leave to express all
opinion that their presence might well have been spared.
This was not a case for a Jury, but one calculated to pre-
(Wee a stage effect. He came now to the third ease; but
before he left a second—(A laugh)—lie would just venture
to say that he was one of those who were induced, hy a
contemplation of all the circumstances, to think that this
most unjustifiable and reprehensible attack upon the Editor
of the Morning Journal was meant and designed—it was
merely a (contrivance to beat down and insult the van-
quished Protestant party in that House.—(Hear, hear.)—
Now, to go on to the thin.' case, and upon the third in-
formation, he would first come to a point which he thought
of great importance. With reference to what he had ob-
served first, he begged the House to pay similar attention
to the administration of justice, which concerned indivi-
duals, whether they were out of that House, or among its
Members. He did not mein to say that the topic on the.
third was more important than that of the first point ; but
the third point would be found to involve matter more ex-
ceedingly interesting to the practice, the privileges, and
to the independence of Parliament. The third ease was
a prosecution for a kind of mixed offence—a kind of law-
yer's offence.—(A laugh.)—He looked upon this to be
most objectionable. The third object of prosecution iu-
volved an attack on the King's Ministers, au attack on
Parliament, and it involved a principle of subverting the
privileges of Parliament. He would first generalize sod
decompose that strange heterogeneous mass which con-
stituted the libel upon the King. Let those who heard
him reflect upon one point--that upon the second prose-
cution, although the publication was foetid to he a libel,
the Jury had said that if they were bound by law to fins .
the defendant guilty, they could not help saying that with
reference to the unprecedented agitation of the times, -awl
the strong feelings that then existed throughout the coun-
try, they could not help recommending the prisoner to
mercy. This ought to have been a lesson to the Attorney.'
General. Such a hint from any quarter to an Attorney-
General exercising the functions of his 'Ace against an in-
dividual ought to have been listened to ; but coming free,
a Jury, it ought to have been imperative upon hint. But
notwithstanding this, the third prosecution was persevered
in. Government must either avow or disavow the proceed-
ings of their Law Officer., and he should therefore treat
this as the prosecution of the Government carried ed
against the King's subjects. The three indictments were ,
at the suit of an officer whom the Government had a right
to command as long as lie was kept by them in office-
The attack upon the King was a repetition of the offence
upon the indictment for which the Jury had thought them-
selves bound to recommend the party to the mercy of the
Court. Wl:at he condemned was, that after the second
Jury had declared that the publication was no libel upon
the Government, and that so far as it was a libel upon
the King it was a fit subjeghtscoautalyvadfsgeo,
erut
bhei racy:one
ulra_el(wdiytn,tso‘ittv)riheent aiy:_t:ohluGd.esee:An
Awfittrit:aiipidairr;t:tte.:eyi:aee,-
aaugil,tielliptowria
is6oectuhrdgoetindihienao
Jeltuilrteaoyn
guilty, but yet we think that uo judgntent ought
t(epiGiaoueriefo:legicielndl3.passed on the individuals, ought not to have been
renewed. But yet the Attorney-General went on to try
the third case, which was substantially the same as the
second. Upon this second case the Jury were absent front
the box three hours. So evident was the impression made
upon all persons by the strong impropriety of the prosecu-
tion, that the Lord Chief Justice, Lord Tenterdeu, said,
" Mr. Attorney, what do you mean to do ?" Now, he
(Sir,C. Wetherell) did not mean to say that this was the
ease—(A langh)—but it was very much like it..-4A
laugh.)—lt was not identical; but what he alluded to
was well known, and it was a kind of locus penetentice---
a Sott of opportunity in which his Majesty's Attorney-
General might turn round—a period in which a luau
might say, " Why this won't do—(Lund laughter)-.-or it
will do." But the next case was called on. What then
was the next case? As far as he knew, it was merely
the repetition of the same matter, upon which cue
experiment of a prosecution had been tried. He
would take the liberty of stating, that when the
Chief Justice said—" What, Mr. Attorney-General,
do you mean to do ?"—the Attorney-General, instead
of proceeding, ought at least to have put his brief
in his bag, and to have said, " I will consider of it
till the Court sits the next morning." But instead of this,
the third information was called on, and the Jury pro-
nounced a verdict. This verdict was not accompanied: by
the recommendation to mercy which had accompanied the
second; but still it was unprecedented, that when an At-
torney-General had got only such a verdict, accompanied
by a recommendation to mercy, he should proceed to try
the same, or similar matter, in a second information.--
This was taking the chance of verdicts; and, if. one
failed, another was to be tried.—(Cheers.)—If this was
not using the law as an instrument of oppression—if this
was not bringing all the power, the resources, and the
purse of Government to bear against an individual—if
this was not going beyond the spirit of the times—if this
was not perverting the equity of office, and violating its
decencies,_ he knew not what was.—(Cheere.)—He had
done all this in breach of that mercy and forbearance and
impartiality which on former occasions had characterised
Attorneys-General.—(Hear, hear.) If he erroneously com-
pleined of the green injustice, of the manifest indecency'
and want of all proper feeling in these proceedings, he was
liable to be attacked by those who differed from him ; but
till lie heard such reprobation—till that was done, he
should continue—and when that was done, he
should still retain his own opinions.—(Laughter.)—lfslr.
Alexander was convicted on the third libel, the Jury having
recommenteed him to mercy, or virtually acquitted him on
the second, was it possible that the man could be sent .to
Newgate ? The man ought nut to have been punished upon
the second information, and the Attorney-General did not
Clare to bring him up for judgment upon it, well knowing
that the recommendation of the Jury mast have been opei
wive on the Court. He had stated in the course of the
discussion, that lie should be able to treat the subject with-
out stating any thing in language disagre:able to the feel-
ings, either political or in a gentlemanly point of view, of
any individual who heard him. This libel was an attack
upon the Right Hon. Secretary, and the Right Hon. Gent.
was a considerable party in that line of politics which the
Journal advocated, lie had said, however, that he would
not allude personally to anybody in the dincussion, and
therefore, instead of the Right Hon. Gent., he would
merely say the Right Hon. Mr. A. He would not say
the Right Hon. Mr. P., for then every person might guess
whom he meant.—(Laughter.)—All that the libel had
said was that this Right lion. Mr. A. had been seen to
smile at the detail of distresses in that House. If this
smiling at petitions or statements of distress in that House
were to be made the subject of libels, he feared that the
Attorney-General would have occasion to file informations
against die Noble Lord who moved the Address, and
against the Noble Lord who seconded, and against the
Worthy Alderman or City Member, at least, who had
thirded it, and against the Right Hon. Minister who had
spoken fourthly ; for they had all treated the statements
of distress not only with miles, but with cheers and
sneers ; and was their smiling and sneering to go to a Jury
as criminally involving a contempt to the sufferings of the
people—the fact having impunity, and the representation
of the fact sending a man to Newgate ? lie did not mean
to say, that if any friend of the Right lion. Mr. A. had
thought fit to come down to Parliament holding the
Journal in his hand, and required Mr. Alexander to be
convened to the Bar, that he would not have a right to do
so, nor that the House might not have taken up the case,
and reprehended Mr. Alexander with that impartiality and
spin it and mercy to which they are acoustonae I ; but this
was totally a different course of proceeding. He wauld
not deliver in that House a syllable of that passage which
constituted the matter of this libel—but this had taken
place on tl.e 16th of June, and the House did not rise
until
been
da
of June.
i Indeed
In this
siHntoeurvsealhoad d
of
awoneee very
k no
business
little business after the Catholic Bill had passed, an yet
in that interval no complaint had been made of the libel
to the House. The Attorney-General had no right to
take the case into his own hands, and out of the power of
the Howie. The Right Hon. Gentleman (Mr. A.) bad
the
hath
been attacked for sneering, and he should like to know
when discussions were carried on in that House so gravely'
as to be without smiles or sneers. The Right Hun. Gen-
tleman might have convened Mr.• ileamileit to the Bar.
No such step had been taken. And then the queatOn.

Was, Lad
file ex-qj
of that 11
to tell
(Cheers
whilst ti
wou
right.
collect t
there uri
thsettetl

culled t
the char

case unti
long disc
that the
headed.
'tient la!
Mons ou
Law_ 0
domestic

had ex-pr
reminded
Pruseeuti
further 4
might ;
they w•ou
This racy
H. nuse

Air. Pitt

Vute(t th
*
custody c
Rothe of
lous of am
to ite'rrie

the BYr;
of nine 21
to the pr
General
upoi
that 11443
(if the H
tireeted t
General 1
Berl /atm'

of that
-Alelnheei
where w;
other?

House, ft
from the
the oppos
(A laugh
Suppose
tress ; xu
Attorney
But Rapp
Suppose
that he al
the Opp,
ask the
would (lei
a ease to
libellous
he must i

Mom ins)
the barof
the inter!
vernment
him to ja
complain
of public
it would
person w
that distr
&r+u'efal
presentati
too warn
Alexaude
of distre
1830, u
every tow

vated fort
Had Mr.
he ought
for three
suffering

d 1R
ureadl tt
b
Ary, the
House.
or itirm

now, and
—(Hear,
Oeratated
advocate ;
disposed
complaint
■red by 3
many Inn:
opened a
had opens
under the
of the wl
damnator

powers of
iiidividia.:
divided ui
his proeet
tiled but i
Were bac
in the Jc
not muc•.h
against by
4ecused
tion and.,
into the li
Alexandet
duty to ii
publisher
from this I
on is the a
foe aga
Member t
against Id
Which wa
then bteu
Tory Ad,
principal's
lett) was

pear Wag the
dance should
his Lordship.
Id Tory Lord
t know what

which eon-
who hoard
and pros&
o a libel,
law to find
; that with
times, and
t the coon-
prironer to
AttOrVeY'
1 Attorney-
*lust an in"

nning frow
him. But
persevere.''
he proceed-
refore treat
carried oil
meats ware
had a right
in office.
the offence
ught thew'
rerey of the
the Hecoud
libel upon
libel upon
Attorney-
;enerad, ice
e, th,A the
A probe"
et find tl.e
neat ought
have been
on to try
inie at the
hsent front
scion made

le prosee4-
rden, raid,

Now, he
Lis wag the
ce
alluded to
ucteutite--

Attorney-
-4.11. a wan
ter)--or it
What then
rei merely
vhieh one
vied. lie
when the
y- General,
Ll, instead

his brief
hider of it
.ad of this,
Jury pro-
pan ied: by
maied the
ma an At-
eornpauied
eed to try

niation.---

nd, if oue
f this was

n—if this
and the
ritual—if
!s—if this
iolating its
—He had
trance and

uracterised
onsly com•

indecency

;a, he was
him ; but
done, he
done, Le
)—lf Mr.
ury having
ed him on
w sent to
(shed upoa
al did not
I knowing
been opc-
rse of the
ject with-
o the feel-
if view, of
an attack

on. Gent.
which the
he would
Miun, and
he would
d not say
ight peas
libel bad
to Ewen to

If thir
hat Howls
i that the
formation,

rest, and
ptinst the
who had
who had
staternaate
leers and
to a Jury
ngs of the
esentation
not mean
r. A. bad
Ming the
Vier to be
gilt to du
the ca .9
tialitv
; but this
lie w.,ula
ige which
had taken
1 not rise

week no
done very
!, an I yet
the libel
) right to
power of
A.) hail
to know
:0 gravely
uu. Gen-
the
Bar.
question&
. „

Wel, had the Attorney-General, or had he not, a right to
file ex-officio infermatione againstelibele on the Members
of that House.) If he had that right, it was not didicult
to tell which side of the House he would defend.—
' (Cheers )—Oise side would always be well protected,
Whilst there would be an impunity in attacking the ether.
Ile would say that the Attorney-General had no such
right. He would refer to a case. Gentlemen wolOri re-
collect that before the impeachment of Lord Melville
there was a Commission of Naval Inquiry, and many
asserted that the Report of the Co:nmissioners at' Na-
tal Inquiry had committed a libel against Lord Mel-
tine. In this discussion the Lditor of a paper,
Celled the Orator, bad reflected libellously upon
the character of that Howse. Lord Grey brought the
case under the consideration of ParHeinen:, and a very
long discussion took place upon it. Mr. Atkins no
that the Editor ought to be called to the bar and repre-
heeded. On that uceasion the first authority in Podia-
mentlml said—Mr. Fox hail sold that the House of Com-
mons ought not to give up its privileges to a Court of
Law—(Heer, hear, hear !)—Tbey ought to keep up its
domestic privileges, its forum tlorn!sticuot. Mr. Fox
had expressed himself in terms he would now read—" He
reminded the Ileuse that when they once committed a
Prosecution to the Law Cout ts, they had no longer any
further continent' in the ease, let the case be what it
might; and if the Howse were inclined to shew lenity,
they would no longer have it in their power to do so."
This race was proposed to lie ended by Lord Grey, by the
sense calling the party to the Her, and reprimanding him.
111 r. Pitt, au the contrary, said, that if the House had
voted the publication a libel, it was necessary, propter
* ditinitatens, that the author ehouhl be committed to the
custody of the Serjeant at Arius. He need not remind the
House of similar eases, in which the House had been jea-
lous of asserting its own dignities, and not delegating them
to neOrrior Courts. Had Mr. Alexander been had up to
the Bar of that House, the else would have been disposed
of nine maths ago. arum the period of the Revolution
to the present time, no case existed in which any Attorney-
General lied assumed a right of prosecuting any man for a
libel upon any person for his conduct within the wells of
that House. Nu such case was to be found on the Journals
of the House. In 1699 the Attorney-General had been
directed to prosecute Mr. Steel ; and in 1702 the Attorney-
General had been directed to prosecute an individual who
had attasked the House. But this was by the directions
of that House; and if the Attorney-General Was to file
informations against Mr. A, B, C, or D, who attacked
.11Iembera who sat on the Government side of the House,
where was the Attorney-Crucial who would defend the
suppose a Member on the other side of the
house, from the North, though it mattered not whether
from the North or South ; but suppose such a Member on
the opposite benches—a troublesome man on an Estimate—
(A laegh)_an awkward man to get rid of.—(A laugh.)
Suppose him calumniated for his want of attention to dis-
tress ; suppose him libelled in the newspapers—ryas the
Attorney-General to aseinre the right of protecting him ?
But eeppeee the Attorney-General did not protect him.
Suppose his protection was all the other way, or even
that he afforded no protection at all, could any Member of
the Opposition side so degrade himself, or the House, as to
ask the Treasury Benches to defend him ? Any man
would degrade himself by so doing ; and be ought in such
a ease to suffer. He would net undertake to say what was
libellous or not, for he should be scarified if wrong; but
he must say that there was nothing in the case of the
-iforniny Journal which might not have been brought to
the barof that Huuse, and he saw nothingin it that required
the interference of the Attorney-Generaa If, when Go-
vernment had got hold of Mr. Alexander, and had sent
him to jail for four months, they could have imprisoned
complaint—if they could have caught hold of the genius
of public distress, and had sent it to jail for three months,
it would have been a capital expedient. But if, when a
person was sent to jail for complaining of public distress,
that distress existed unhappily more than ever, it was dis-
gra,•eftd to pretend that he was sent to jail, not for misre-
presentation, but because he had expressed his feelings
too mainly. It was in vain to pretend that Mr.
Alexander bad suborned, or fallaciously feigned a case
of distress ; for whilst be was in jail in the year
1830, unfortunately distress was stalkine abroad in
every town in England. Distress now existed in an aggra-
vated form in an increased ratio. This was a hard case.
Had Mr. Alexander created a false impression of distress,
lie ought to have bees ituptisoned fur Circ.! years, and not
for three months ; but distress was real, and the matt was
suffering for only saying what every man in that House
sad in the kingdom knew to be true. Was that distress
real or not? Look at the meetings tin oughout the coun-
try, the memorials of juries, the petitions to that
House. Did Mr. Alexander fabricate all these meetings,
or itimulate all the complaints ? The distress existed
now, and yet fur saying so this man was suffering in gaol.
—(Hear, hear.) Had Mr. Alexander overstated or un-
derstated the case? He (Sir C. Wetherell) was not an
advocate for the licentiousness of the Press, nor was he
disposed to cure its scurrility and abuse by prefixing to it
limits. Ile would assert that in all legitimate forms of
complaint, terms quite as strong were employed as those
used by Mr. Alexander, who was sent to Newgate for so
many months. The Chancellor of the Exchequer had
opened a gadget of Finance, and the Attorney-General
had opened a beget of Informations. He felt himself
under the necessity of complaining in the strongest terms
of the whole of these proceedings. It was sufficiently
daninatory of an Attorney-General, if he used the strong
powers of the law and the weight of the Crown against
individuals, even in a manner so equivocal as created a
divided ',pinion throughout the country of the propriety of
his Proceedings. Such informations ought never to be
tiled but in cases of evident necessity, and in which they
in were backed by respectable opinion. If these pas sages
y
.the Journal were to be thus prosecuted, wh
were
not much worse passages against Mr. Canning proceeded
against by the Attorney-General? Mr. Gautnitee had been
accused in a pamphlet of running a course of ritsaffec-
Sion and.apostacy, which latter was a term introduced
into the libel that had occasioned the prosecution of Mr.
Alexander : but the Attorney-General had not felt it his
duty to institute any proceeeings against the authoror
publisher of these libels against Mr. Canning. So far
from this being the case, the whole pamphlet was descanted
its the shape of a speech, and had been uttered waint-hfir,eniat.
I.Once against the Right Hon. Gentleman, Member of that House. Another charge had 'been made
against Mr. Canning for bringing aHill
into that House
Which was an insult to the nation. No prosecution had
then beets instituted, although there then had existed a
Tory Aelnainistterdetion and a Tory Attorney-General. The
principal:ado
untenable, lett) was the Hon. Gentleman (Sir James Sear-
and unjase reware_, unconstitutional, and utterly immoral
spirit, the practices, individuals. It was contrary to the
were onee allowed' elo, and usages of that blouse ; and if it
cute individuuals :at any Attorney-General should prose-
for voting and s out of that House for attacks on Members
House degra I Peeking in that Home, not only was the
•
invaluable rightset), and its privileges violated, but the most
nom held liberty on the sufferance of the Attor-
depended upon whether his tem-
Per, disposition
etiaieee
,n,
_ro 7 or his attention to the times re-
.l-m using those powers which any man
ltiiyinbe called
the to infinitet mischief whenever he pleased. Ha-
atenoon of the House to three points, if
he were asked what hehould intended to do with the fourth, he
I
say that-he had not made up his mind to that point.
erhaps Ministers
at made up their minds that Mr. Alex-
olider should not I
lo ie confined in Newgate, for
a man to be it watt hard
hadietnie e confirmed for attacking the King, on a third
to nt, when a Jury had prev:ously recommended him
diet laterite for the same matter contained in the second in-
mene......arl owing, to which recommendation the At-
-I"theYGeneral dare, not to bring him up upon it. Ile
had endeavoured
ratio
of to adhere as closely as he could tv all the
atten-
tion e
ttthe cares to which he had called the atten-
war:. tnwltliiuse; and he would now conclude in a few
intolerable, of respect to the first prosecution, it 'WM most
mina,
0.0,,0urt unbearable, most tyrannical, thet a eri-
ion should be instituted againrt any man by
a private Suitt,
agitattel r, exposing him to all the hi:card, to all the
reaulting feelings,}rout
to all the apprehension of consequences
lawyer by :II suck a charge; and that then the same
should aud,ient.om the first prosecution was commenced
and should',
as la change the character of the prosecution,
public chats eteAtt, rney-General, file an information in his
trot
oro,t which proceeding itself, if it failed, might
Le borne. wi., This could not be burne, this must not
ueeg reepect to the second iliformation he
y glad r ter to the •
flielently mien • vet, let of the Jury, by which it was
gution,
arisen With respect to the third prose-
but the Attorti hien out of no Resolution of the House;
of the House; ale° General had taken it out of the hands
either the per
opens, if it had been brought before them,
or a
more
lecher
ged might have been declared inno-
theta*, than that silent punishment might have been in-
would
.crow
Prnceeding from a Court of Justice.
ferto;
and
whenee for the documents to which he had re-comes hefor they came as
yam.. e the he trusted they would
to.
ere who had , be Blend(' be ale] if any Hon.
the subject h. P,11" "IY a tenth •of
lan he b part the attentien
Lessened •
suijtl Friend who au paid to it, and if his Hon. and
ece, would
.!grtied with him in opinion upon the
it:tolerable grien.ol7.4l:thn maturing some remedy for the
The Hun. and Learned
cell he had deser:hed.—( flear.)—
laid before the 1.10 eat. then :nue 1 ts T
lute co i e That there be
P ee tee
• the several luformation
8

filed ex-officio by the Attorney-General against Mr. Alex-
ander, the Editor of a Paper called the Morning Journal
—Copies of the several Judgments entered against him
upon the Records of the ahive informations, and Low the
tame were entered—An exact Minute of the words in wliich
each Jury pronounced their Verdict against hint upon eac:i
of the above informs.i,ins—Exact Minute of the Terms in
which any of the Juries expressed a recoinnlendation of
him to mercy."

• The ATTORNEY-GENERAL said, that in rising at so
late an hour as between twelve and one o'clock to address
them upo❑ this impor tent occasion, he trusted that if he
expressed any difficulty, it would not be supposed that it
was a difficulty to answer every topic which his Hon. and
Learned Friend had introduced into his speech ; but that
• it would be tiadetstood to be the difficulty which he should
feel in commending the attention of the house while he
proceeded to investigate the charges which his Hon. and
Learned Friend had brought against him. It was more
especially necessary that he should throw himself upon the
' candour, the indulgence, and the patience of the Hotter.,
because he should abstain front all attempt to introduce
any of that entertaining kind of matter with which his
Hon. and Learned Friend had enlivened his obeervations.
On the contrary, it would be his object to endeavour to
separate from the real question all those extraneous and
unconnected topics—which, however, had formed the
principal part of his Hon. and Learned Friend's speech—
and to confine himself to those few points the consideration
of which was essential in order to enable the House to
come to a soun I decision upon the subject. In the first
place, he could not help thinking that the manner in which
his Hon. and Learned Friend hail treated the question,
showed that he was acting under the influence resulting
from his considering himself as a kind of professional advo-
cate for the person principally concerned. He could not
otherwise account fill' the partial manner in which his
Hon. and Learned Friend had presented the facts of the
case to the view of the House. There was also another
kind of influence by which it was evident that his Hon.
and Learned Friend had been actuated. To his great sur-
prise, his Hon. and Learned Friend had _condescended to
state that Mr. Alexander, the libeller, was the Repre-
sentative of the party in that House and in the country of
which his Hon. and Learned Friend declared. himself to be
a Member. He (the Attorney-General) had certainly never
expected an avowal of that nature. HoweVer right his
Hon. and Learned Friend might be in questioning
the propriety of the prosecutions against Mr. Alexander,
be certainly had never expected that his Honourable
and Learned Friend would have avowed that that in-
dividual was the representative of a party in that House,
and that he would have defended him on that ground.
They had now learned, however, not only that Mr.
Alexander was the avowed representative of a party in
that House ; hut that his Hon. and Learned Friend would
have become his Advocate in a Court of Law had it not
been that the iecollection of foriner connexions had led his
Hon. Friend to entertain an apprehension that he should
have violated decorum by so doing. His Hon. add
Learned Friend hid declared it to be his opinion that the
prosecutions which had been instituted by Itim(theA ttorney-
General), and by his Majesty's Government, against Mr.
Alexander, were attributable to the motive, not of the
wish to restrain the licentiousness of the Press, and to put
down intolerable calumny and slander, but to put down
the party to which his Hon. and Learned Friend thlonged,
by attacking it through Mr. Alexander's side. In discuss-
ing what was a great Constitutional question, he had
hoped that it would have been kept separate and distinct
from all party and political considerations, and that there
would not have been attributed to him motives which he
distinctly and entirely disavowed, although the probability
c•f their existence seemed to have filled his Hon. and
Learned Friend's mind. He would now proceed, trusting,
as he had already said, to the candour and indulgence of
the House, to the investigation of the topics which were
the real objects of their consideration. In the first place,
he was chdrged by his Hon. and Learned Friend with op-
pression ; inasmuch as, having commenced proceedings in
the Court of King's Bench, in a private suit, in the name
of the Lord Chancellor, against Mi. Alexander, and hay..
ing induced the Court to grant a rule to show cause why
a criminal information should not be filed against that
person, he afterwards thought fit to file an ex-officio in-
formation as Attorney-General against the same individual.
This course his Hon. and Learned Friend had called op-
pressive, because his Hon. and Learned Friend had main-
teinedl that if he had tried one prosecution and failed, he
might have proceeded with the other. Now that could not
have been done ; and he was surprised that his Hon. and
Learned Friend, who had himself filled the office of Attor-
ney-General, should have fallen into a mistake, which he
(the Attorney-General) could not have supposed that any
one lawyer in Westminster Hall would have cointnitted.—
[S:r Charles Wetherell slid flint such was not the case.]—
As his Hon. aid Learned Friend seemed to he unaware of
the law in this case, he would tell hint, that if 11.1 r. Alex-
ander had been tried on an ex-officio information and ac-
quitted, he could never have been tried on any other infor-
mation for the same alleged offence. Yet this was one of
the topics on which his Hon. and Learned Friend hail ex-
patiated for half an hour ; au error which he certainly haul
not expected from one so conversant with the law. That
topic was the main ground on which his Hon. and Learned
Friend rested his first charge. That ground was thus
taken from him. But lie (the Attorney-General) would
go further. His Hon. and Learned Friend asserted that
it was not right, when the Court of King's Bench haul
granted a rule to show cause why a criminal information
should not be filed against an individual, on a private suit,
that he (the Attorney-General) should then file au
ex-officio information against the same individual. He
would, by and by, state the reasons which had in-
duced him to make this change in the course of his
proceeding. He would now confine himself to the de-
claration of his Honourable and Learned Friend, that
the Attorney-General, having, as private Counsel for
the Lord Chancellor, obtained a rule from the Court, ought
not to have filed an ex-officio information against the same
individual for the !tame offence. In the first place, all that
he had done, in the first instance, was to obtain permission
from the Court to file the information. Did his Hon. and
Learned Friend mean to say that the information had
been actually filed? If so, his Hon. and Learned Friend
had been misinformed. But it seemed that because that
rule had bee❑ granted, he was wrong in afterwards subeti •
' tutieg for the private action an ex-officio information.
Why ? Was it any objection to the Attorney. General's
filing an ex-officio information against an individual, that
' four Learned Judges of the Court of King's Bench had pre-
viously declared that it was a fit case for filing a criminal in-
formation ? Even if the Court had refused him authority to
file an information in the first instance, would that have de-
prived him of the right of exercising his own judgment as
to filing an ex-officio information ? if his lion. and Learned
Friend maintained that doctrine, what would he say if an
Attorney-General were to file an ex-officio information
against an individual after a Grand Jury bad thrown out a
bill that had been preferred against him ? Yet such had
been the case. A Noble and Learned Lord, of sound judg-
ment and the highest legal attainments, formerly one of the
greatest ornaments of that House, but who now held the
office of Chief Justice of the Common Pleas in Ireland,
when he was Attorney-General for Ireland, had a charge
brought against him for having filed an ex-officio ieforma-
titan, not as in his (the Attorney-General's) case, after he
had had the authority sf a Court of Justice that the case
was one fitted for an information, but after a Grand Jury
had thrown out a bill against the party charged. Huw
did the Noble and Learned Lord defend himself? There
were several cases, both in Ireland and in this country,
which he might have addaced, to show that his course of
proceeding was correct. Bat be wanted no distant prece-
dent. He simply referred to a case in October, 1611, in
which a Bill of three counts having been preferred against
Sir Wm. Strickland, for having written a letter to a Mem-
ber of the Government, solicitting a place, and offering a
bribe for a compliance with his solicitation, the Bill was
ignored by the Grand Jury; upon which the Court of
King's Bench ordered a second bill to be preferred, which
was ignored by the Grand Jury in November; the result
of which was, than an ex-officio information was filed
against the same person by the Noble and Learned
Lord's predecessor, who was never called upon in any
manner to expla:n the reasons of such a proceeding.
He, however pie Attorney-General), was called upon
by his Honourable and Learned Friend to account for
his conduct, became he had tiled an ex-officio informa-
tion, not after a Grand Jury or Grand Juries had thrown
out a bill against the individual, but after he had re-
ceive•] the sanction of the Court of King's Bench fur its
being a fit case for an intimmation. He would state to
the House the form of the proceeding. The Lord Chan-
cellor, as a private person, lied made an affidavit denying
the allegations of the libel. If upon this the defendant had
tunic a clew and distinct admission of the falsehood of the
charge, and had expressed his regret and remorse at having
given it publicity, no further proctied'ng would have been
taken against him. He had hail an opportunity before the
information was filed to have explained and apologized, and
thereby have put an 'end to the matter. Instead of that,
what was the course which this person pursued ? An ex-
cellent and Learned Friend of hie, who defended Mr. Alex-
ander, when be (the Attorney-General) moved in the
Court of King's Bench for a rule to show cause why a cti-
mival
infUrmati n should not be filed a,•ainst him—le
meant Mr. Deivean—stated that the course which was
pursuing by hin► (the Attorney-General) indicated appre-
ha:mime ; that it Was evident he did not dare file au ex-

fficio information at once, and therefore came to seek the
sanction of the Court; that other eminent persons alto
had suffered from the freedom of the Press had trusted
to their character, but that the Lord Chancellor way.
compelled to have recourse to legal proceedings. This
was a tenfold aggravation of the offence. He was far
from imputing to Mr. Denman, who was a personal
friend of the Lord Chancellor, who highly esteemed him,
any intention of seriously imputing such a motive ; but it
was stated by I im in rite cause of his client, and certaltny
had e direct tendency to fix the charge in the libel tnoredeejny.
on Lord Lyndhurst. The next div the proceedings in the
Court were repotted in the Morning Journal, Mr.
Alexander's paper, a copy of which was brought to him
(the Attorney-General) by a Learned Friend. In that
p tper every topic which had been urged by Mr. Denman
in his speech Was repeated with the utmost exae'neratima
The most inflammatory language was used. He (the
Attorney-General) was taunted with want of courage and
spirit for the course of proceeding which he bad adopted ;
and it was distinctly declared—which, however, was pre-
cisely what his Hon. and Learned Friend had that even-
ing denied—that the only true constitutional proceeding
would be the filing of an ex-officio information. Sup-
pose he (the Attorney-General) rested his defence on that
ground alone—what right would any one, especially what
right would Mr. Alexander and his Hon. and Learned
Friend have to complain of him for the course which lie
ultimately pursued ? But provoked as he was by this
conduct, it was not the ground on which he adopted his
ulterior proceeding. The information was, as usual,
drawn up for Lim by a junior barrister, a gentleman
of great ability and learning. When, however, he
(the Attorney-General) was about to sign the iiifor-
=tint), he observed in one of the counts matter
which induced him to change his course of proceed-
ing. It was rather difficult to explain this to the House,
but he would endeavour to de .4 The charge in the
libel, although mainly directed against the Lord Chan-
cellor, did not rest there. It cast an imputation on an
Hon. and Learned Friend of his, the Solicitor-General, for
having obtained the high station which he held by corrupt
means. It also catetan imputation on the whole Government
for conferring a high office, not from considerations of a
public nature, but from considerations of private gain.
It was a general attack on the Government; and when
the information prepared for him was presented to him
with the count in which that was alleged, fully concurring
in its justice, the libel appeared to him to have greater
and more extensive malignity than lie had imagined. He
was, therefore, induced to change his course. - The Court
of King's Bench might otherwise have said to hint,
" When you applied for an information it was for a
libel on the Lord Chancellor. On that ground we
granted your application; but we find that you have in-
troduced into the information a count which has no rela-
tion to that specific point." For those reasons he
(the Attorney-General) had abandoned the course ori-
einally talean, and had filed an ex-officio information.
He had no hesitation whatever in doing so. He hail
the authority of his Learned Friend, Mr. Denman, and of
Mr. Alexander himself for the propriety of the proceed-
ing. It was not, therefore, from fear in the first instance ;
it was nut front provocation in the second instance; but it
was for the reason which he had just stated, and which
rendered the course he had taken the only justifiable course.
That was his firm opinion at the time ; it was still his
firm opinion ; and he should carry it with him to the
grave. His Hon. and Learned Friend, in the first in-
stance, had declared that no man in Westminster Hall
would say that the proceeding which he (the Attorney-
General) had adopted was justifiable, although he after-
wards qualified that declaration by saying that every man
in Westminster Hall considered it to he unprecedented.
Such a care, in all its circumstances, had, he dared to say,
never before happened. But if hie Hon. and Learned
Friend meant to allege that there was no man in Westmin-
ster Hall who did not disapprove of his (the Attorney-
General's) proceedings, all he would then say was, that
his Hon. Friend and himself must move in very different
circles. He denied most distinctly that his conduct hail
met with the disapprobation among legal men, which
his Honourable and Learned Friend seemed- to sup-
pose. He came now to the consideration of the se-
cond information. This was attacked by his Honour-
able and Learned Friend as warmly as the first. He (the
Attorney-General) really believed, however, that it
was the first time since that House bad been a House
of Parliament, that any Attorney-General had been at-
tacked in it for filing an ex-officio information for a libel
upon the King. But his lion. and Learned Friend said
that the publication in question was not such a libel. The
answer was that it had been so considered by the Judge,
and that it had been so considered by the Jury. His Hon.
and Learned Friend had dwelt upon the acquittal of a part
of the charge, and upon the recommendation to mercy.
But, suppose the defendant had been acquitted altogether,
would that have been un unprecedented case? Repeated
instances of such a case had occurred. But it was wholly
without precedent that even in such a case the Attorney-
General had been attacked in that House for filing the in-
formation. His Hon. and Learned Friend had quoted the
late Lord Ellenborough's opinion on the trial of Mr. Perry,
to show that the second information which be (the Attor-
ney-General) had filed was directed against nutter not li-
bellous. Notwithstanding that opinion, however, and
notwithstanding the acquittal of Mr. Perry, the Attorney_
General of that day was not called to account for having
filed an ex-0fft...70 information. His Hon. and Learned
Friend had been very tranquil on that occasion. Now, how-
ever, that he conceived his own party was interested, after
three months' consideration and preparation he came
forward with his charges. He (the Attorney-General) per-
fectly agreed with the verdict which the Jury gave in the
case of Mr. Perry. But what was the passage charged as
libellous ? It was the following:—" What a crowd of
blessings rush upon one's mind, that might be bestowed
upon the country in time event of a total change of system !
Of all Monarchs indeed since the Revolution, the successor
of George the Third will have the finest opportunity of be-
coming nobly popular." Now, without imputing any blame
to Sir Vicary Gibbs, who no doubt did what he conceived
to be the duty of the Attorney-General on that occasion,
he must say that he did not think that passage was suf-
ficiently libellous for prosecution. He should certainly
have nut filed an ex-officio information against it. Lord
Ellenborough inclined to the opinion that it was not a
libel ; and the Jury declared by their verdict that it was
not'so. Sir Vicary Gibbs, however was not attacked in that
House for his conduct. But then he was not a Whig
Attorney-General. [his Hon. and Learned Friend had
in his opinion shown bad taste in bandying about the
terms Whig and Tory ; distinctions which, perhaps, ex-
isted at present only in name. The fact , was, however,
that no Whig Member, no advocate for the Press,
brought Sir Vicary Gibbs before the Howie for having filed
an ex-officio information against Mr. Perry, although Mr.
Perry had been acquitted of the charge preferred ageing
him. It seemed that such a course of conduct was re-
served for a Tory. In stating the offence which had given
rise to this second prosecution, his Hon. and Learned
Friend had been somewhat uncandid. The course which a
Member in his situation ought to take was to state the whole
case—to extenuate nothing which made against his own view
of it—to exaggerate nothing which confirmed that view.
Whereas his Hon. and Learned Friend hail conducted him-
self like a lawyer; lie had exaggerated whatever told in
favour of his d:ent, and had extenueted whatever told
against him.—(A laugh.)---His Hon. and learned Friend
had not even read to the House the terms of the libel ;
but had described it generally as a tepresentation that the
King was unpopular, and therefore did not like to go to
Covent-Garden Theatre. If that were all that it con-
tained, what must be said of the Judge who had allowed
such a ease to go to a Jury? He must be an absolute
ideot. Yet lie was sure his Hon. and Learned Friend
respected and reverenced Lord Teuterden as much as he
did ; and knew as well the candour and impartiality of
his character, as well as the depth and extent of his legal
knowledge. In the course of a long practice, he (the
Attorney-General)
.had never known any Judge wh.om
Lord Tenterden did not equal—he might almost say whom
he did not surptss—in combining the greatest accuracy of
professional knowledge with the mos: perfect fairnees and
impartiality of conduct. Lord Tentertlen said that the
publication was a libel. He (the Attoruey-Gentral) sa;d
that it was a libel. If his Hon. and Learned Friend
hal been on the Jury, his sense of honour would have
compelled him to concur in the verdict that it wag at
libel. It began thus :—" His Majesty, it is said, com-
pleins bitterly that his Ministers have placed him in such
a position, that he cannot enjoy the pleasure of exhi-
biting himself to hie people. George the Fourth was, till
now, a popular Monarch. That he has been rendered
VLre
deeplyolavtiane;ttidtelm,ethoiactcurisretarcireee;
otherwise, is the act of his imperiouS Mitiistere.
tebdutb)p,ublic feeling ie an
ever causes which, al-
though invisible, olten lead to disastrous results. We pity
our aged and revered Sovereign." He (the Attorney.
General) had been brought up in the habit of thinking,
that when the personal character of the Sovereign became
the subject of public discussion, that discussion ought al-
ways to be conducted with reverenne 40 respect. But
what could be more degrading to any Monarch then to de-
clare that he was in a state of thraldom to his Ministers.,
and that though once popular, he was afraid to show him-
self to his people, or partake of their amusement* ? Ile
would now proceed to the third case. His Hon. and
Lws:rterxsa Friendaletlithe ahad
lueasserteda fat
that
thelas the
t.nleibethe in this case Attorne-

General) in!iintained that it wag much stronger. It stated
that the King was kept in subjection to his Ministers;
but combined with that a libel on the Houses of Lords
arid Commons, on the Revolution, and on several hal:-
viduale. His lion. and Learned Friend had 'cointensleti
that, because the Jury had, in the second case, remit,
mended the defendant to mercy, the third trial teleie
not to have been brought on five minutes after the
conclusion of the second; and he maintained, that
the constitutional mode of proceeding against any per-
son who had libelled that House, was to place him
at the bar, and to punish him for conteini:t. Long,
however, before he (the Attorney-General) had had
the honour of a seat in that House, he had heard the usage
on the part of both Houses of Pauli iment, of making them-
selves at once accusers and judges, instead of sending cases
in which they were concerned to he determined by Juries,
made the topic of loud and general complaint. Now, how-
ever, lie learned, and that from an Ex-Tory Attorney-Ge-
neral, that it was oinstitutionel to bring offenders to the
Bir to be punished for a breach of privilege. If, however,
he wanted precedents for his conduct, he had them in abun-
dance. When Lord E lenborough was Attorney-General
he filed several ex-officio information,: against individual.
for libelling both Houses of Parliament, !if: previous Address
to his ikisjesty for that purpose having been agreed to.
When Sir A. M•Doliald held the same office, he filed an
ex-ifficio information against the notorious Paine, for a libel
on all parts of the Constitution ; no Address to the Kin;
having requested that such a proceeding might be insti-
tuted. If, however, people lend made up their minds to
disapprove of his conduct, the whole of his defence, on
whatever grounds it might be founed, would prove of no
Avail. But as to the number of information* for libel on
the House of Commons during the ei•ting of that Houses,
he could show that they were neither Po few nor so unusual
as might be inferred from the at guin. nt of his Hon. and
Learned Friend. When Lord Eldon was Attorney-Gen. there
were three informations thr libel on the House of Commons
during the sitting of Perliament. Of these informations
the second was against Joseph Johnson, and the thin;
against a publication entitled The Scarlett Devil—(Loud
laughter and cheers.) When Garrow was Attorney.-
General there were four informations, and one indictment
for the same offence, and under similar circumstances.
When Shepherd was Attorney-General there were ten
informations and two indictments for libels on the House
of Commons during the sitting of Parliament. When
Gifford was Attorney-General there were ten informa-
tion, and one indictment for libel on the House of Com-
mons, not entirely, but chiefly during the sitting of Par-
liament ; and lastly, in 1820, there were three indictments
for libels on the ?louse of Commons, the Parliament then
sitting. He should hope these were sufficient precedents
to show it was neither improper nor unusual to file crimi-
nal informations for libsls on the House during the time it
was yet sitting. Now, as to the recond did his
Hon. and Learned Friend mean to say that because Mr.
Alexander had been prosecuted for a libel on the King,
and had also, on the same occasion, maligned the Ministry,
the House of Lords and the House of COIIII110:19, that they
.were, therefore, to consider tire libel on his Majesty the
less? Was this what he meant to urge after his three
months study of the ease ? Surely at least 500 instan-
ces might be cited in which some circumstances were
pressed in aggravation ; and nobody had ever objected to
such a course of proceeding except his lion, and Learned
Friend anti Mr. Alexander, from whom, in all probability,
lie would say his Hon. and Learned Friend had borrowed
his objections. Now he would state the grounds on wll:ch
he load proceeded. His Hon. and Learned Friend lad
treated these prosecutions as if Mr. Alexander had been se-
lected for punishment, because he was the organ of a
party ; while the fact was, he was so much mistaken that
his (the Attorney-General's) reason for preseeinting the
man was to prove that he was not the organ of the p:rty
he pretended to represent. He had punished the Editor
of that newspaper, because he thaught it was the best way
of showing he was not supported by a party. During the
discussions preceding the settlement of the Catholic Ques-
tion, considerable excitement had prevailed within the walls
of that House, and an angry feeling had been called up,
which, he was sorry to observe, still seemed to rankle in
the breast of his Hon. and Learned Fs lend. A correspond-
ing degree of agitation existed abroad, and the Pre., on ens
side sought to maintain things in the state they were, II the
use of all possible means. Now Ire had never impeached the
motives or doubted the integrity of the Noblemen and Gen-
tlemen who maintained opinions contrary to his own upon
tins great measure, however he alight have suspected their
good judgment in not consenting to accommodate them-
selves to the circumstances of the times; but he thought
that the means adopted by a certain portion of the Press
to forward the objects of their party were not legiti-
mate. False rumours were daily spread abreast, with the
view of weakening the influence of his Majesty's Mi-
nisters in the House of Commons. London was described
to be inn a saute of the most dreadful agitation. He re-
membered that he happened to go into the country in the
month of March, and he was asked if the Metropolis was
not in all but actual rebelliell ? In short, they expected
to hear each hour that the town had been set on tire !
Well, on the other side, the country papers asserted tire
same things, so that the citizens were kept in perpetual
alarm respecting the state of the country ; while the fact
was, that the Oxford election alone had created some ex-
citement, which rapidly subsided, and then all was for-
gotten. But still, while the discussions were going on no
prosecutions were instituted. It was expected that after
the measure had been pissed all agitation would subside.
Well ! the Bill was passed, as he believed, on the 13th of
April, and the feeling of all the Noble and Hum Persons
wino opposed its progress then was that no exertion should
be spared to restore the public tranquillity, which this
measure was intended to secure. Still, however, this
Paper continued its misrepresentations. The first user
tion was, that the King proposed to dissolve the Parlia-
ment iind withhold tine Reyna consent, and he had no
doubt that many honest men, who took their opinions from
the newspapers, believed it; nevertheless, it was not cor-
rect. Next, it was stated that Iris ilbjesty being dissatis-
fied with his Ministers, and having determined to dismiss
them, the measure was ten be reconsidered and repealed.
Now, he contended, a public officer was bound to pay at-
tention to the effect which any given libel was likely to
produce; and when it was considered that the state of the
country was such at the time that all good subjects and
Honest men wino had even been opposed to the measure
were anxious to allay the popular agitation, he submitted
that he was perfectly justified in showing that Mr. Alex-
ander did not represent the party under the colours of
which he might be received by certain classes of the people
with a degree of credit.—(Hear, hear )-1-Ie remembered
that on the very day he was presented to iris Majesty, a
paragraph cantle out pretending to describe a conference
which took place between the King and the venerable Lord
Eldon, respecting the inability of the Lord Chancellor to
discharge the duties of his office, anel the necessity of seek-
ing out some proper successor to his Lordship. Here,
then, was a conversation reported a; tracing taken place
between the King and a Peer of the Realm, containing
tine most unpleasant allusions to the Lord Chancellor, and
this was done by a man wino pretended to be (but was
not) the organ of a party. What, then, was likely to
be the result of this? Would it not assuredly have
the tendency to lead the multitude to believe that this
man had some mode of acquiring informatien of whet
took place at Windsor, and had an intimate con-
nexion with the leaders of tine party who had opposed
the Catholic Relief Bill ? ife was quite aware that no
Member of that House would believe it---that no man of
education would believe it. All such knew better. They
di 1 not take their opinions from the newspaper; ; but the
great tnass of the populace might, annul perhaps, in a great
degree, did take their opinions from the newspapers; and
were not statements of this nature, therefore, likely to pro-
duce seditious effects among the people? Still lie was
anxious to refrain from any measures of severity, and he
did so until the libel was published on the Lord Chancellor,
,ttributing to him improper motives in the promotion of
iris lion. and Learned Friend, This libel, it should be
ed, ton, was combined with many hints of the
same false and offensive nature. Tines, for instance, allu-
sion had been trade to his Lordship, as if he were in a
state of the utmost pecuniary embarrassment—us if credi-
tors were knocking. at his door, and could riot get their
bills paid. The Lord Chancellor, as was usual inn the .-e
cases, was the last to hear of this misrepresentation, while
it was everywhere whispered that his Lordship was unable
to pay his way, Ile had reason to know that many Hon.
Members of that House lied received intimations to that
effect, which had originated in the falsehoods of the Ml:en-
ing Journal. The laird Cheneellor having declered thet
he had not, fee years past, expended one-third of his in-
onme, his Lordship did then, as it was already stated,
file an affidavit inn the Court of King's Bench. But
to proceed, when he took office Ire tinund thet every
Member of the Adininistretion—his Right Honourable
Friend near hide—the Duke of Weliington—all were
libelled in paragraphs, letters, leaders—in every possible
shape and forma and with a degree of virulence and atro-
cious faleehoed to which no private man would submit.—
Ile found that the paper was still coins; on villifying all
character, Inlblie arid' private, and defying all authority.—
If, then, inn the course he pursued lie had judged wrong,
he was to blame; but he did not think he had judged
wrong. He did not believe he had acted imprep,rly in
endeavouring to restrain that licentiousness which would
make the Press of no value, by rendering it contemptible.
(clear, beer' from
;
the Treasnry 13itneber.)—Thinking,

then, that the misrepresentations daily made in the Morn-
ing Journal were not safe for the country, he selected
mime of the many libels which had been pubeiehed, sort
ie.alsed them for punishment. if he had proceeded upon
all, his Hon. and Leareed Mien.' might well say he had
brought forward a budget of information's, but his (deject
merely was to repress the circulation of those cam-
tations, and prevent the recurrence of these nauseous libels
which were ushered into the world by the Morning
Journal from day to day. He did select the most atro-
cious libels—and he asked the House, if he had not; whst
would have been the consequence ? Might not his Right
Hon. Friend near him have said, "it is ti ue you have pro-
secuted this person for a false and malicious libel on me and
on my Noble Friend ; but why have you not in the firet in-
stance punished him for the libel on the King, in which he
is represented as defied said degraded by his Ministers, and
withheld from a knowledge of these matters with which
no constitutional Sovereign ought to be unacquainted
Wlist reply could he then make if he had been prosecuting
for libels on the King's Ministers, end suffered the libel,
i,g,tilist his Majesty himself to piss unpunished ? He ac-
cordingly mairiteined, that it was his duty t 9 have selected
that libel against the Sovereign when he was instituting a
prosecution for the sake of warning and era! ; and
in favour of this his opine n there were in ny prece-
dents which might be cited, under circumstaeces when
the offence was of a much lees aggravated nature. And
he went on, became he hoped that by filing informations
he should rather show Mr. Alexander the dangers of the
course he was pereuing, and induce him to abandon it,
than be compelled to punish him ; but henceforward he
had no choice left, for Mr. Alexander still continued his
libels. And great as was the deference he entertained for
the opinions of his lion, and Learned Friend, there was
nothing he had done which he would not do again. He
had done nothing wrong—he had nothing to regret. Ile
was aware that some might think otherwise—some who took
the statements of what took place respecting these trials
front the Morning Journal, and other papers belonging to
the same patty. For himself, it so happened that he sel-
dom read the 'steers—he had not time, and consequently
scarcely ever knew anything of their statements, except
when some worthy friend sent him one containing a libel on
hitneell. But he had, since these events had taken place,
found that the reports of what took place after the first day
were not so correct as usual. He was treated as a decided
enemy to the Press. In this, however they were mid-
taken. He would avow his creed upon the subject for the
benefit of all such as might take any interest in the opi-
nions of so humble an individual ; and, fortunately, he
found it embodied in a speech which he had delivered in
the course of the debate touching the blasphemous libels,
as they were called, that were brought before the House
on 21st Dec., 1819. In that speech he had said, that in
his opinion the power of Ming ex-officio informations
ought not to be taken away from the Attorney-General,
because he considered that, if discreetly exercised, it was
a power which 'night be of great benefit to the country.
This was the argument which he then pressed upon the
House, end also when it had been urged by Hon. Mem-
bers on the Ministerial benches that because the prosecu-
tions against Hone and Weider had been ineffectual in
checking the licentiousness of the Press, that therefore it
was necessary for the House of Commons to des ise some
means for strengthening the arm of the law, he had main-
tained a contrary opinion, although lie believed it was even
the general opinion that some measure was necessary.
But what did he say ? That he did not believe there
was any defect in the law because the Attorney-
General had failed in these prosecutions for libel. He
stated, that in most of them he had, before the parties
were brought to trial, made up his mind that they must be
acquitted, and consequently that the fault was not is the
la r but in the. !node of conducting the pecceedinge, and
consequently, that it the Attorney-General had acted with
more judgment, the law would here been found sufficient;
and, therefore, Ministers were not entitled to demand any
additional restrictive laws. These were the ventinients he
had then professed, and which he entert dim! at that nue
ment. He thought honestly ani conscientiously, that it
the Press was to be the polluted vehicle of public and pri-
vats slander—if every gentleman who happened to be a
Minister of the Crown was to be held up to scorn as a
knave, a liar, and a scoundrel—if it was to be considered
as a part of the liberties of Englishmen that the Duke of
Wellington, or his Right Hon. Friend, or any other Mini-
ster, might, because he was a member of the Cabinet, be,
with: impunity, represented as a fool, a traitor, or a coward
—one of two things must happen ; the Press lined fell into
such disrepute that no man would allow it the slightest is-
fluence—or sonic measures must be taken to correct its ex-
cesses. And, accordingly, he thought Unit when there
was a case of ' a factious man, without principle, or
truth, or decency, or the least regard M private feel-
ing or the public good—who in the moat false and
atrocious manner published libels against all that was
good and great and distinguished in the country
—the best thing whieh could be done for the in-
terests of the Press would be to punish such a per-
son, since by so doing they would increase that moral
influence which the Press ought to have. Hon. Members
might hold out for the abuses of liberty of the Press; but,
Ire contended, the Press would lose all its influence if that
liberty were suffered to degenerate into lieentiousnese, since
it must thus infallibly fall into contempt. Where, then,
would be its moral influence? Gone for ever. It would
become like Thersitee, as described by Homer, who might
say that Archillea was a coward and Agamemnon not a
greet King, whi'e the Greeks would only laugh at his
aiendacity and despise his slander.—(Hear, hear.)
Whets, therefore, a Paper was conducted on such princi-
ples as the Morning Journal—on the principle of perpe-
tual slander, falsehood, and misrepresentation, he thought
that it was conferring a benefit on the Press to punish it.
He was nut afraid to say so—and he knew it required
some courage to do it. Now with respect to what had
been attributed to him upon the subject of the publication
of the names of Jurors, he had to state that he had been
misrepresented. He had procured the passage in his
speech as he delivered it; and having first explained the
tone in which it was given forth, he would then proceed to
show how he had been misrepeesented. He would also
ha e occasion to allude to another misrepresentation
which had been very unfortunate fur him. But to
proceed—the day after he had filed the first informa-
tion against Mr. Alexander, he said that if the Jury
gave a verdict against him, be would print their names,
and so expose them to the public censure. He wished
to have it remarked he was not now on the subject
of the indictment, from adverting to which his Hon. and
Learned Friend had abstained. He was, however, ready
to defend it, if necessary. He knew it might be said,
what need the Duke of Wellington care about such a thing ?
—what did it signify to him ? But this was not the ques-
tion. This libel was in the form of a letter, signed by a
clergyman, styling himself Ceaplain to the Duke of Cum-
berland. Every body knew that this was false—bat still
it would he allowed that the effect of the calumny was ma-
terially changed by the patronage which this person as-
sumed for himself. The nave employed made a mighty
difference—as, for instance, if a person altogether eon-
temptible in himself were to say be hail been sent by Sir
Charles Wetherell to tell you you were a coward and a
liar, however disposed you might be to despise anything
he could utter as from himself, yet would you then feel
your self bound to relent it in some tit ay or other. You
could not look to Sir C. Wetherell, for you knew it was
fal:e that he had seat the fellow ; you could, therefore, do
nothing but knock down the men or prosecute him. It was
not, accordingly, enough that the 'Puke of Wellington
should knew privately that this lihslier wee not sanctioned
or proeec:ed by the Duke of Cumberland, but it was
necessary that the whole world should know that
this Clergyman was not patronised by an illustrious
personage so nearly allied to the Sovereign, To
return, however, to the informations, As he bed
before said, he had no time to read the newspapers 'be-
fore he wente,iilittbratheteido;:iteCanvheckltedicet4i,riit,i;iiiinnghtie was accordingly indebted to a
friend fur the knowledge of Mr. Alexander's threat respect-
ing the publication of the Jurors' names, and what be said
upon the subject was partly in answer to the advecate on
the other side. The Hon. and Learne'l qeetleneen then
proceeded to read from a wv4teo paper ~in; pass,qe to
which lie had alltpled. It waa to the that he had
learned of thin threat of Mr. Alexander to the larore, but
that he trasted they would not be swayed by ';t, or take
their lessons of duty from the vele:sites; pramiCe au beau-
tious press, or the, rivoziun, of an anonYmous writer, but
f;'0111 the leWe if the law!, the recommendations of Judges,
and `she priaeiples of their ancestors; and he urged upon
them, that if they were now influenced by the threat ti
the Morning Journal—the more thcy subluitt4 4'aq more
odious would become the power to seleiesh tbs 4 sui•cumbed;
and he added, that if mu bade audacity to publish
their eeteateee mitts a view to intithidate them in the die-
be
w
s
ow mgt)
timi(
ri:riaeltiedtr.sni.Fin,'l3;;Ofciiktitijelih;g)ii theirt
kbibringing that
t Soulluithe
fa ht
I)l.r):ib,,nupetg.r_,2ca.,ent
iuucit
ae
s4e,e ecialatlt,eti
cox
He was ready to typiee's at4vitt;licate those opinions ; atl.l
of
n En"lishnt,rn.
T
the use of the>•c
rfo
s
ishinait or
lt-
big
he h„pc,i; ainiae would be as little influenced as the
aorta:: `Were by the threats of the Press. The
rsteucto,
jut:
prosecutions.laisrepresent i on
Mr. was
Aloil.:n;igt:::riz,ieed)trcv;aasl.4c:iiluoiiitn;:st)tiefnd one of the a
instead of shall—upon which he had the
app
ed that, from this Car-
' 3 1‘14.• 3.1.(1,CT 4dVia.talp,

of this, and aceuded bins of making some illiberal te-
al tuito ni
it.
on
iesortienpticy,,
bowmen, lie nalcitelysesmtaeteprade
la
that
he had a great reapeet for Se/elate!, anti bed on intention
tif making any reflections whatsosver neon it, but, on the
contrary, he had mane valued friends. for whose sake the
country was dear to him. But, notwitdaareline shit the
newnespers persisted in taking Mr. Alreatler'a version of
the affair; and the consequence was, he had tire mimi•fot tune
of giving much effemce. lie had rec, ived many prods 4
this; ammemest the rest one of rativx a ladicrees ima•ora. In
a letter which lie got time other day. he feminil enclosed a
fif a Set, e!i neveeparra ;Odell said. that if the
Earl of Aberdeen or Sir George llerray set re at the
head of the Administratiou, he would not dare to sie tali
of Scotland in the manner be had done, for that lie W.
have been at once turned out of offiec.—(Latmg!.ter.)—
This Was e. sample of the genuine representation I,f things
which was to be expected from a newspaper, when its in-
terests clashed with those of the person it tnisrepresentsd.—
( Hear. )—Therefore wits it, that when hr fulled any sen-
timents which surprised him attributed to any frienti of his
in the public prints, that he at Imec withheld iris ere.
Bence front the report ; and he implored the House not to
judge of his conduct in these trials limn whet had been
detaile Iby the press. Now, with respect to tine motien
of his Hon. and Learned Friend, lie beeged to any he was
most anxious that his request shetild be granted—he was
anxious th tt he should have the papers to rowel a charge
upon them if he thottaht proper, and bring in some use:
sure to to up the hands of the -Attornsy-Genersl He
wished, too, that the motion should be granted ler are.
other and more selfish reason—eantely. that the piipere
might be printed, and the Howie thus enabled mare ev.ily
to come to a deliberate decision respecting his cemeltice—
lie therefore offered no opposition to his lion. and
Learned Friend. In ronchtsion, he had only to say
that no act of his was imentled to restrict the liberty uf
tire press. It was a false view of the :we to supeoe. that
any act of his could have :serif a tendency. Hi. lion.
and Learned Friend was mistaken in me:using 111111 of
tyranny and oppression. He lad no obi. et except to
restrain time exciessee into which Alexander had /wee be-
trayed. In this he p-reaps tnieht fail, if Mr. Alex order
found supporters and apologists in that Houge. lie, how-
ever, had nothing to reproach himself with. Ile retained
the opinion that be had acted as he ought; and, notwith-
standing the observations of his Hon. and Learned Friend,
lie believed that, udder the same eircurristances, Le would
act in the same manner again.—(Cheers.)
Sir FRANCIS I3URDETT said—Sir, I act anti idling
t enter upon the subject before the Howse at this late hour,
but, mindful of early hiendship aril esaseia• ion, I
cannot abstain from offering a low words. Sir, I must
salytim that
Lion. and
Learnedmiatettdin Gentlemangittenl belowtiturlinotts
which topics; in
toe
and the entertainment he afforded the lieuce by those
drolleries, which would, however, in my °pillion, have
been better calculated for any other stage. Notwithstand-
ing those gibes and gambols, and sesquipe sutra rerba,
and apparently interminable sentences which, its Ire said
of my lione and Learned Friend's informatiees, centained
a little of every thing, and something mere. Notwith-
standing all these, hi- spire's was like a grain of wheat in
a bushel of chaff ; for the sum anti subsita,te.e of hi• charge
against my Hon. and Learned Friend amounted t., this—
that li' brought an ex officio information, after lacing first
moved for an information under the orders of the Court. Now
when he states the charge, he saes not state the calls under
which individuals laboured in consequence it those preavedinsse
He speaks of them as unprecedented—he thinks them trot only
dangerous to the Constitution, but such as every lawyer must
deprecate—he says the consequences are such that no lawyer,
could be of opinion that any such subsequent proeeer!ha-i (amid
take place. I was glad to hear trim dwell upon these legal etliast,
of the proceedings, for here them was an end at (Mee of the
charge of cruelty and oppression. I say, :Sir, I have ,leriva,l the
greatest satisfaction from this discussion on this extort/it ; and
there is another satisfasiton, which may trot be conclusive on the
minds of others, but is so on my own—that these proceedings
and this discussion must have shown the utter Unpolicy of can.
ploying those powers which my Learned Friend exercised rrt
this occasion. The Learned Gentleman has shown that a great.
number of things out of the newspapers, wtni2h were • ii coltish
of his remark, were made the subject of prosecution. I yeigre:t
it—for I am of opinion, with the great Chatham, that the Press
is, like the air we breathe, " a char:crest libertitie.,-,(l(rar„
hoar.) If the Press is liceatious, it will cure itstat-epeoele
become inattentive to it, and its attack. will be hiefficrual and
of no avail upon those against whomt they are directed. With
respect to the supposition that these libels erected the reputation
of the Ministers, I don't give credit to It fur a incrinaitt. Will
any body believe, that because the Duke of Wellington .faa called
a coward he would stand a jot lower in the eatimatant of ROY
one? lam free to confess, that if there was anything which
could lower him in me mind, it was these impolitia and ill.
julge I prosecutions.—(hear )—I do trot believe that lie will La
in haste to repeat theta.—(flear.)—Theie arc thihas which are
to me sources of the greatest satisfaction, At the same time I
roust repeat what I stated ou a former night, that 1,, soy deep
regret that he should have thought it worth his whiie to have
recourse to that which 1 must tall an wiconstitutioliel made of
proceeding. It is, arid always has been, au inefeetual mode'of
opposing opinion. Its inefficiency, like itself, Is derived trete
the times of the Star Chamber • and I ant happy I° hear the
Learned Gentleman opposite stigmatising it at a par on,
constitutional in itself, and iticonsistent with the law and
the liberty of the Preas.—(Hear, hear, bear.)—lt aaents imam.
sistent, indeed, with propriety, that the Star chamber -should
have been, as it was, sacrificed on this account, and yet that the
same power should still be allowed to be exercised in the Court
of King's Bench ;. and if it eantissue so, 1. cannot see what-the
country has gained by the abolition of the Star Chamber.—(Hear,
hear.)—The Learned aientleraan has talked of Whigs and
I'orue—distinctions which I had hoped had been buried in the
grave of the Capulets....which arc out of date—but which he has
revived in order to designate eertain parties as Whip, and tier-
tain parties as Tories. NV/let has been a Tory of late years 1144 been a person of contractor, bigotted, and arbitrary dispositiOils
who would sacrifice everything tor power, and who would make
fear his instrument instead of love.--(Hear.)-011 the asetrery,
Whig has been taken to be a person of more rrtiik,ate4, Itiaro
tree and liberal principles—one who would act_ ese gratanda snore
consistent with the institutions of a frve GOverPident.
Learned Gentleman has referred to tlieue hero peaks, and bee
railed toy Learned Friend a Wlllg Attorney-Clencral 1 believo
that ms Learned Friend is lime win,. wishes Well to the Preis, but
w
t
hat I}e ought to
S, iris maser~.
and as far as any Attorney-tienerel Can have it, must ttept.l,!l,
arilion upon
nuhgPa°l Fhlisllyillt°ltYl4l'elegr7ltl 1:1h:ft:al
to
himself, and not on his office, The • eonsequence of theae pra.:
ceedings is, that no men who suffers wrong front any il'atiiicatitin
will attempt to vincticete himself in this manner 1 tor DO, marlwould be the better for it. I have some right .al; of these
things; for I belie. e there is no individual vs keee (m.v4 so much
the butt of strong and malignant libels as ty,yrielf.--(Alear, hrar.)—
I never noticed them ; for I could not perceiee hew a prosecutor
should not be a loser among meal af :tested opinion. I thought it
would be no vindication of conduct"; and can I believe that other
persons want that pretectieri Which an humble individual like
myself did not require?--(Bear.)—Let him be protected by his
own proceedings, and he will not genii the lower for these at.
tacks—let him rely 'On his eharaater, to which, sooner or later, a
discerning public aril pay josticea-,(Flews, hear, hear.)—Aftet,
what has passed this night, 1 tiOpe rely' Learned Friend will do eves
act of justice to the Itressa If he thinks, as lie seems to -think,
that the law, as it fotinCrir stood, was sufficient, let hjes be the
first Attoreeystleuetal to gain a well meritcet fame by re-
moving tire odious statute relating to the Presa, which now
graces the laws of this country.—( Hear, hear.)--Let hi.,;
put the Press on a free footing, on a l'tloting sionsisteW with
public utility. That will be to Vitataelf a sourco of great
honour, and to his country 4 great service, When the
Learned Gentleman tel Ate of my Learned Friend as a
Whig Attorney Griimil,' beg him to refer IP.wiriAt Tory At.
torneya. Generel laavtilieen. If he will to into antiquity, and
cone down here With his recondite labour*, loaded not like beer
with honey, but With musty thclis lit which to put his stores of
,earning, let him not, after swatting throught ancient history,
overlook the modern pep, end forget all the transactions before
the present titre, let hint see the otosecutins that Tory At-
torneye.Generai have institnted, frementber when a Tory At.
torney.General prosecuted tlmlrelitor of the " Courier"—and to
observetl] eli onotihtra
to
hfwas lute hn.t to telempraontnotpioponsittoe lteit,em4iiheaceett.
and in consequenie to the press, by allowing evere limn to al),
point his own ,bury—a prooeeditta, that will reflect Immortal
honour en liim, since he thereby abolished that sysr en of rrisk,
ing that would secure a Jury who would firal Abel guilty 4- the.
murder of Cain, and that lett ne onto aoy hope of escape.. i say
I remember that prosecution of .Is. Perry, fur a libel, in hiii#4-
ing at the mud Emperor Pat;', foipunishirg people for wearing
shoestrings, which at :',3S time 'arts considered a signal of Jaco
hinism.—(ear, hear) IL was found guilty; and what WAS
the senteraio? 'Why, one year's imprisonment and 1000/. fine-
-(Hear, hear.) I can go fartkerback than that and when
the Learned Gentleman taAa of 'fury Attrarneys-G.neetwiesrpaali,vl::
him recollect the tiials.V.4 life of those hottest men 7010%0
cursed treasons, wench ccntsiatesd ;}rut in
I say were endangered by the atie(npin transactions dotte in open} day :,itilli,or,tetii:ittrOdao ii,it.:.:)`:„t,her
of treason than
he
s
(Hear, Itearg fuels
Tlia .erney-G eneral
was more likely [lief
not
le
olta.te. r
time
t hops'a
whe sucateded du his attempt, with the spirit which those times
excellent men would have MAaned them to the save fate. It
tical wtiter Mr. Ctilaaft, for writing agalast that wicked taro-
cious, flagieiotta ayitem of whipping: the t:tiglisit aohliers, in the
presence sae/ by the hands of titerinans....of &feigner-a; aiel
whets tie Was convicted, he teas was +seat to prison: for two
and had a fine-of one thiamand "wands imposed on frina—l-tiraar,
hear, !leer.) Attaa Say, let us look at the taaaidt',Ct
of the Whig Itor4ey,Cieuer,l of tke ',resold sive, say,
that my tetlrried rriend ,felt out the stroageit pigs at his case.
He has shown that no grievances existed ie., e.aavatience of
these. proieetttirma. I confess, that after k bets the oath of
Alexander, that he did email to thr4s,- ray imputation see
the cherecter of the lora Cliancelle,r,-,tettung wou:d have noes
butts (ut,olt):
isx
)41 r:oc:p anylu,e: s:ttriis:p;ir:e:sst,
ia,t:
olLaxt
Nlfyttetae,:rlb,oE,!relt:Avt
eee;s
it,
hear.)
Ito
rot that ak.,;-4!utlt save credit to tbst cliakv ;
er of
I think he ought to I; sees aktna'c,d there, tllKni klettiAl tieing
ig)iiNi
.„..1 ; libels,
cot the
th
the uttaaient, and do believe
t
latataLtsktesuotti.l.tioct:l,:erageoteotri :rue
ticiwithi;e:.:!ruttible,2l.:llscivaa(
‘ll.lf. tsts', sits :
tits 41~etti,tl Cyr lis ,;:tors
ra,
ir yrtnrupt co) rnii; :I;:teßidiv
ean s,
were4f
napri,oument sad It;. 1. and four 1r wsri'.a furcl_l;e: n ist r at. iou s.ank;:d, and for all
:3tr,hourat Ire
fax idlii:l,,i,,,,,bvlLe.:-7trtlt:::.tetet
.e.rreett-Aaii
xi
vetheyie:
4.sattyle:l)-e:tit4l,:t.
jittlgN whether those papers were cA were snot lards. 'But whoa.
,rrrifciclrtarl shay
:hese persons were convicted...4AV.). 03.er 'WO?. Whhl" the Lien
ut
do IlsTtlittlitliddi'o'grierecinosrtatia'r:edi,"lS PIWYCIic-:(joh tlevernment.
have dealt more leniently with pt;kles atesi9 have keen lirede.
cuted. It is a great satisfaction nsied static
so. they have sw
so. It seems that the Sorts eutef; (Alec are nut fu goer', hens_
their seats on this side c 4 egllowe are uliconiterlate,„_(iieer,
and laughter.) 'j ;peer ate like those qu.drupeds
themeetves t,ration's skin, Litt which could iitA eeeseal went
Bich siuthrrit
was thyls and though they made a grelt it was riot
the noiae cif tine limn. The 'Forks canuct, ix! ',use their 111 w sent intiary upon time country for tut, i4t,ll,,s,k.thstt , hear,
laeie
nor can they give any satisfaetere ise t.eitar tc:r I,ew•
bore petrietiaus ill tliis .cps 4 brat

cause of their violence is the Duke of Wellington—the next the
infuria propria; but when the Learned Gentleman, one of these
Tories, comes forward as a patriot, he must forgive me if I look
upon his claim with caution, and if I confess that I am sur-
prised so small a cause as that which actuates him could have oc-
casioned so great a noise, and that so great a noise should have
produced so little effect. I did expect a most griev ells charge
would be brought against my Learned Friend, and sorry I should
have been had my conscience compelled me to vote against him.
But lamin no such unpleasant situation, If the thunder of the
prologue had been equalled by the subsequent parts of the ads
of this drama, it would indeed have appeared by the vote we must
have come to that this House did cast blame upon my Learned
Friend; but I feel the greatest satisfaction in knowing that we
shall be compellel to do no such thing. The motion. indeed, Sir,
appears to me not meant for any other purpose than to purge the
bosom of the Learned Gentleman of the perilous stuff that weighs
upon his breast.—(Hear, and laughtere—it has done that-1
hope he is better for it.--(Leughter.)—l, Sir, who hardly ever op-
pose any motion for inquiry, must almost make up my mind to,
do so here ; for the Learned Gent. has not made up his mind to
any subsequent proceeding, and this motion in itself is without
any definite object. Why he has not done so is clear—he does
not wish for them ; they would be inconvenient to him ;—he had
rather the papers should be denied than that they should be laid
on the table of this House. It is unnecessary now to discuss the ge-
neral subject of the law of libel. It is a law got hold of by one of
those fictions which are the curse of the law of England.—
(Cheerse—A libel is something which depends on the constitu-
tion of the mind of the Attorney-General.—(Hear).—No man can
say whether he is writing a libel or not.—(Hear.)—There is
hardly any man so mad as wilfully to subject himself to the ope-
ration of such a law, or to attract the notice of the Attorney-
!entre'. except the few to whom that notice will be an ad-
vantage. I think that Alexander is one of that number, and I
think he is, as the Learned Gent. called him, an organ of the
party.—He is worthy of the party.—(Hear).—l must say, how-
ever, that I hardly expected from a lawyer an acknowledgment
that he was so; but, nn doubt, as be is, his sufferings for the
party will recommend him to the justice and the generosity of that
party. These prosecutiobs, then, will not restrain hiin : he
enters to eat ' • and that necessity is a more compulsory motive
Ebert goy my Learned Friend can oppose by ex-officio informa-
tions. I am inclined to believe he will benefit from them, and
that, instead of being an example of terror, he will be an object
of emulation ; and I think my Learned Friend will at last believe
that the Press must be left to itself.—Jleare—There is a wide
dis'inction which I wish to take between a public and a private
libel. If any man feels that he must set himself right with the
geuntry, be wants no ex-otficio—that would
.defeat his purposes.
If his object, on the other hand, is not vindication, but punish-
ment, then he has recourse to this unjust, unconstitutional in-
strineurnt, to indict a penalty on the offender. But his character
will not be vindicated. That object he must attain by the course
of an action at common law, which is the only one that admits
truth as an answer or eefence ; but here the attempt is to vindi-
cate character by the use of a brutal instrument of terror which
necessarily excites the compassion of all around.—(Hear).—l do
not know that truth will even be admitted as a defence to an ac-
tion of libel, but it ought, certainly, in all instances, to be al-
lowed in extenuation. But be that as it will, while the law is in
earth a state of confusion as it is at present, no person knows what
is and what is not a libel. The law is vague—but the term libel
cs still more so. In the civil law it only means a book, and in
[Petah,' !Courts an indictment before a tribunal ; but it is alto..
tether vague end unsatisfactory, and its state is such that far
treat aurtaiiing the license of the. Press, it has no power but to
work injustice. ft has been asserted, and it is true, that distress
is abroad ; but the Doke of Wellington and his Colleagues have
no brought it on the country; and when the Learned Gent.
week, of it, he should remember who were the authors of it.
Whetaver may be said of the imperious disposition of the Duke of
Wellington, I never knew any Ministry who bore " their twill,
ties more meekly."--I have not the honour to know him but as a
Public Minister; but I believe, that though he does not think of
the public distress ea:oly as we want him to do, there is not yet
no roan who would more willingly afford relief if he could, and
every one roust be convinced that the charge which was the sub-
ject of the prosecution was utterly uortimuled.
Jr. PEEL said, that at that late hour he should make but a
few observations on the speech of the Hon, and Learned Gentle-
man. tic should throw aside all matters In it that were rather
per•onal then political; at the same time he mutt admit that the
Learned ',Readier had adhered to the outline he had at first laid
down. As to this nameless " Mr. A." he could assure the
Learned Gentlemen tisgt he took no offence whatever at the
mention of that Right Hew Gentleman. After the elaborate
proemium of the Learned Geetlerilan, he was much surprised at
the motion Itself. After three months' gestation, and three
hours of painful delivery, he had been in some anxiety as to
whet the miraculous conception would end in, when lie was
never more surprised than by the Learned Gentleman moving
fo • papest, every one of which he had In his bend. Notwith.
sanding the assent of the Attorney-General given to the motion,
he must say that co Parliamentary ground had been made for
their production ; but as a vote of c'nsure was threatened, he
was not surprised that the Attorney-General had readily ae-
Ouieseed in the motion. if there were still any business depend-
ing on them Leftne the Courts, he should certainly oppose it ; but
that business was concluded, and he withdrew eis opposition. He
must, however, say that this motion was in direct saastrast with
that of the Hon. Member for Antiegli_ in the lest case ii, which
ass Attorneyekeeneral was attacked. That motion svgs apt for the
production of paters with which every one was acquainted, but
to enter a resaliatioe pp the journals, " that prosecutions ea-
officio were contrery to the practice, and not congenial with the
she it of the British Constitetiose end ought not to be drawn into
a precedent hereafter," After We rilAllll way in which his
Learned Friend had met this ;notion, be woidd withdraw his
Parlistrientary objections to it, rind yield his aespot. 'flip Learned
centimes, supposed that there vies tf e, Ole GO-
verionent tei everwhelin an individual, who wits stated to be the
representative of the party with which lie acted, SO fee es he
(fir. Peel) was eontserned, he knew nothing of the coeweracy, for
Le never heard of Om libels until his Learne& Friend had
thougee fit to appeal to Om law and vindicate its authority by
these prosecutions—(Flea(, had
agreed with the Hon.
Baronet, iriwi had said he had teirespif been abused as to the
eourse that ought to be adopted with respeet to these libels. That
lion. Baronet's political career had beets MO gar tho his, but
still he thought li-e.sould play the rival In ail the Iteinoore efeertY
abuse.—(Hear, and lateghter.)—ln Inland, for six years, he lied
been subieeted to abuse ; sod subsequently to the passing of the
Roman Catholic Relief Bill. e leed been as much exposed as any
man to abuse ; but the previous appeepticeship be had served
eei suffering calumnies from the other side weds; Wine:Mous to them
nosy; At the same time he finest say that, unless tee person ma-
king the ellegetionesgainst the Ctietwellor, and unless the lesr:PP
holding the situation Crf Chi3P10.44 to is 'loyal Du -e had been
Y vindicetion ishancter would not
brought forwat -1;
have been affeete4. TgesXlia'Y al-ISW' treAChr apt] oPes-
• el le - but he Could not hef() enkeng That
tact' gave him kttle le- 4
the Learned Gentleinifee aA,Vcie a little Felineeghg
mined( with the libeller iret,se ' AlorningJourna‘," Witlin term-
party. It ieeffled slim
big Alexander the representatiVe- ef,' that
that this must have been a" lapauChelentre."
hat he hat! used these
Sir C. WETHERELL denied not Only-1.
words, but that he had used any to which a ferncould give
such a construction.—s(Crles of No, no.)
Mr. PEEL begged his pardon. Me was willing to give tijg Hon.
and Learned Gentleman the power of making the eeplanatioii het
there could be no doubt that lie bad used the words, althouli they
might have fallen front his mouth unintentionally, and in the heat
of the debate. He had said that the object of these prosecutions
was to beat down that powerful party with which Mr. Alexander
was connected. For three months ignorant persons might give
credit to the calumnies that individuals put Myth ; but what con-
wit-4 him under such eircumstances always wes.e.hat if the party
abuse.; Waited fix that time the abuse would recoil ootne wteerer.omm!
—(Hear car.)—Thats howevee, was what the Atto roey-
probable
G
had to eteasider. He had to etausider what were the
effects of publication ct this kenclem tem minds of a party not
only here but- in Ireland. It was imooseihke to deny the studious
efforts theta made hy the party (though tie did thee! the justice
to believe that :note they would be happy to see thewand
es-hat had once been dpi predictions, completely faismsele inis
settle the we of the Pees: intent people of Ireland and to koep
up excitement by the hope beet there was an influence whit!)
weeeerninent ; and that there
would prevail ever that of the
would be some sn:aoge by which the,reavit measure of
thankemacipa-
ban would be defeated. The ellhet ,Oltep4rasseeelis of ind
upon the public was well known ; fore leSsotiOiceiliers attend-
ing the proceedings sit' Parliament might riot be 441,1,0 he them,
the people of Ireland were in a very different siturdiop f that
was written in the English iewspapers was studiously copied into
the Irish Papers, and whatever appeared under such authority as
that of the Chaplain of the Duke of Cumberland must produce
attention and excitation ia Ireland. His Honourable and
Learitett Friend had been charged .wit O ut,,,,14e severity ; but
some circumstances connected with the late ,cases het( not been
duly considered. It had been left out of view that a peseen of
the name of G.utch had also been prosecuted end Aetna guilty ;
but that on proviig he had no knowledge of the ctfestseve
cation—t hat he was not in London, and that, its fact, ise Was ill
wires it was printed, the Attorney-General had recoesinerstleid
that he should not be brought up for judgment, Ile exercised a
Opals' degree of forbearance towasets Mr. Alexander. in the case
se which the Jury reconunended Awe, to mercy. These facts
;showed that, as the chief Law Officer of the Crown, he had been
oduated by no party or perwingi motives, puss that he com-
menced the proceeding, not at the dietation of beaseeinmet, but
in the due execution of his public dot e winch was semictis
to dleebarge with all possible lenity. t wee the peculiar pro-
vince of the Aeteeney-General to watch the exec -setae of The Press, I
and to eotatroui -aloes excesses proved him the friend et. its ra-
tional liberty. To were to the Press its proper influence oeer
public men, was not to porusie its respectability to be invaded by
those who set decorum et damns:es* , No man felt more than him-
welt (Mr, Peel). the necessity Air tee and power of the Press; but
indiscriminate abuse, and public. And iweeato calumny, lessened
mgt power And destroyed that advents:se. Tfieese,w
W ho used such
weapons ere the worst enemies of the Preas, ere interven-
tion of the hew ,lets necessary for its protection. -1, ice; had
eWeseii
ilfonourable iliseeziects objected to time concession of AC*" iew,ers
&war the Press, unt.ilit4e iStlixt of the existing law had beef] fairly
ewe& Such was the Amsavpr in 1919, when it was said that no
great) eagmetment was newesseueeeowt that appeal ought to be made
to a Juno. of the country. hilt lettorney-General, in this in-
stance, had aegealed to a Jury , awl frpitilt had shown that
the law, as it at present stood, suitce, was eek Correct the ex-
cesses of the Presi. •
Lord ALTHOItP bast sever been persuaded of tae &ewe-
oe'ex.ottieea informative..by all the debates he had 'laud
city
epo„ the ilbject. iffe admitted 4,bet the publication was a libel ;
but he though:. that aseid the exciewiewi of last year, it ought to
pease,:
_over, Rated .neeckleaittie9s of the late pro-
have been
ceetlings was shown by ~,,a40,461,101i Off toe eeetorney-General
eier the iscrelic6 aiftweere they had
that libels were just as rife eleet the
been pronounced. It was a reins. 4.-irAt.km.t-P0
papers selected for prosecution were a.l7laYd time,,QP,PPAi'Licm
to the Government of the day ; but lie nev..7"ee°""'.e_s, LI, a
of so little violence, as far as the press was c 0,,. as l'revi-
tion.. While
ous to the passing of the Bill for Catholic Emend's-.
to 2.,:hw that
he censured what had occurred, he was willing
the Attorney-General had not displayed any unnecessary
The ATTORNEY-GENERAL explained.
Mr. O'CONNELL maintained that the leading feature In the
conduct of the Attorney-General was a desire on his part to
obtain the dictatorship of the Press, aiding himself in this at-
tempt by a total silence as to the true definition of libel. lie
could not think that the chief law officer of the Crown had, by
any means, viral sated himself on the subject of the ex.ctlicio
Information against Mr. Alexander, and in the outset he had
procured a very unfair advantage. He had tiled a criminal in-
formation against that gentleman, in answer to which Mr. Alex-
ander was obliged to disclose his defence; and when the At-
torney-General filed his ex-officio information, a count
was inserted, in order to meet that defence. The hook was
barbed on both sides to catch the fish, and the criminal in-
formation acted as a sort of hill of discovery—(Hear, !scare—
It hadbeen said by the Right Hon. Gentleman (sir. l'eel), that
the prosecutions had been instituted in consequence of the ex-
citation produced by the Catholic Relief Bill • but it was to be
recollected that that measure was passed Oil the "k 1 of April, and
that the libels were not published until some months afterwards.
Surely it would not be pretended that paragraphs in newspapers
were likely to have the effect
place
procuringeean the repeal of that Bill,
ia
of reviving the monopoly of power,
and of renewing
the struggle so long and SO injuriously maintained. According
to the Attorney-General, the Bill produced an effOctneither upon
the country nor upon the metropolis • and
after it was passed, this isle was so yet,from three months
its propriety"
by a few paragraphs, that it was necessary to commence instant
prosecutions, and to bring on two of them agaiost saucethe
on the sane day. In the State 'trials were instances o eeTian
prisoners awake during the night before their trial, that
might not be eteimetent to defend themselves and the only'y
parallel to that extreme of injustice anti cruelty was the prac-
Lice or compelling a min to defend himself against two actions
oes the sense hear.)-111 his speeds to the Jury,
on :lie V4th December, the Attorney-General had said, that
if the .author of the libel had bees: given up, he would not
have prowecuted the newspaper. With refersaece to this asser-
tion, he ( O'Connell) would tiow iak isisn if lie hap-
pened to beef in mind a ease pending Agaieet s gentleman of
the name of elaldwin, and whether he had not Actually in his
pocket a letter from Mr. Stanley Lees ilittied, a barrister, a doc-
tor of laws, 401..011 of a late Sherillef Dublin' in which that
GentlemAn avoWeilthimself the author of the libel, and acquitted
133kiwiii of en participation ? Did not the Atttorrney.Gene-
else know. that a fan' }lays after that letter was se rieteta Mr.