The Sun.
London, England, 1823-03-27 00:00:00

was he as a matter of course to be discharged ? If so, very few
fines would be forthcoming at the end of the period of confine.

ment.
Sir F. 'BURDETT adied, that he up&rstood the Right
lion. Gentleman to say that Ihe house could not interpose
against this monstrous fine, -without some expres.sion of con-

trition.
Mr. WILBERNRCV4 thoiligit that as far' as the labours)
of the Society for the Suppression or vice ti!ul prevented the
circulation of these odious doctrines, the country might con:
gmtulate itself upon its labours. It ought not to be forgotten
that this was the only free country"in the world where religion
and morals were without some special tribunal for their pro-
tection. In Athens, Sparta, and Home, it was well known that
they were taken under the especial safeguard of the-State, as
,the foundation of domestic happiness, and of social and public
virtue. In ordinary cases of crime, the property or-the persons
.otindividuals were concerned, and the individual aggrieved ap-
pealed to the laws of the land ; but in offences against public
--morals and religion—the largest in amount and:the most .iiatal
in consequences--no injury -was done to any particular party,
and no one man liked to encounter the risk and odium.of being
a public, prosecutor. lo•this :country, therefore, societies ,for
such a purpose ought to be especially called into action, :and to
deny- their necessity -wear todeny the wisdom of all -Abe-institu-
tions of antiquity. As itii .nature of the worke luthlished,
the productions of ilume•or of -Mirabeau might be tole-
rated, because they might be considered just reasoning and fair
argument, portending no danger to religion; for it was the
very glory of the Christian rfaith : that it appealed to realion
and common sense—to all the great principles of truth and tec-
titude, immortal in their nature, and infinite in their extent.
The' Society for the Suppression of Vice ' had prosecuted
ribaldry, obscenity, indecency, -and abominations of various
kinds ; because, as Dr... Paley had said, " it was no infraction
of religious libaty Nto •restrain the circulation or ridicule' upon
: ridicule upon religious subjects:" the effect of it was to make
the lowewerders treat it with levity or contempt. Honor the so-
ciety. objected to fair discussion ' • and when the 1311 l impugning
the 'Trinity was proposed, ho had not resisted it, because he
thought that such was its object.. The very ground of the dissent
of Protestants from Catholicism was, that reason ought to be
-allowed fair play, and it would come out of the struggle free
from all impurity. To define the nature of blasphemy was,
perhaps, no easy utak ; but whenever men went to the very
verge of the law—whenever they.attempted only just to keep
with the utmost-hounds, and thus to avoid punishment, he was
never very sorry,to see them render .themselves subject to the
penalties of the law. The Hon. (lent., llustrated this point by ,
reference to a case occurring just after-the passing of Mr. Fox a
Libel Hill. With regard to the merits of thesociety, other oc-
•casionts %would arise for discussing them, but at.present he would
observe that it had instituted .32 prosecutions Against flagitious
and detestable offenders, and had not failed -in a single instance.
The Non. Member continued to defend the:conduct of the So-
ciety for the Suppressionvf.Viceoand the principles upon which
it acted. Juries had supported, J udges had eulogized at— llen..
borough, Kenyon, Bayley, and Skinner : these were uot.light
names, and every one of these authorities had testified in its fa-
your. /t was not surprising that men,who attacked the criminal
laws of England—those lews which were the admiration-of the
- world—it was not strange that the utenwho attackesl those laws
should attack the-conduct of the society :.but, es.it appeared to
bins (Mr. Wilberforce), upon those principles whielt thellon.
.and Learned Gentlemen on the other side bad advocated, every
thing that -was valuable -in •society depended. The particular
instance' before the House was one of ,almost utiparalleled ob-
stinacy. The family to which -the petitioner belonged" had
avowed their iletermmation to defy the 'law, and their eon.
.viction that -it was too weak AO overpower them. 'What be..
came of . the duty of public Akers, if such audacity was to
be tolerated.? He would not ,waste the time of the House by
expatiating upon the motives of ,persons in.the situation of the
petitioner. They talked of opinions and feelings—of braving
the-stake and the gibbet : they well knew that they were ex.
posed to none of these perils—they knew the mercy of the laws
which they violated, and proceeded delliberately upon a calcu.
dation of events, the risk which, they were to sun, and the
.quantity of money which they-ware to put in their pockets. The
Hun. Gentlemen coneludodby solemnly coujuring the House
tole,cilutious in -their measures upon the present occasion.—
(They could perform no grouter service to their constituents or
to their country, than by. keeping the religion of the land, as
' well us its . laws, safe andinviolate.—(The Honourable Mem-
ber sat down amidst great cheering.)
Mr. HUME, in moving that the /petition shall' he printed,
said, that he believed that if all the -prisons in England were
'tilled, there were persons ready to come forwad in defence of
that which they-conscientiously considered honest opinion. 'lie
would mention to' him, since he had. quoted one Divine, the
opinion of bardner, who add that '° vengeance belonged not to
onto." So Mr. Justice Blackstone thought. Ile wished to
refer to the charge of the Bishop. of London in 1115 ht, anti from
that charge it-was evident that his Lordship dissented from-the
opinion that such societies were useful. The Bishop said, he
was persuaded that infidelity -was.a mean of promoting virtue,
by exciting discussion and -awakening energies which -would
Otherwise havellumbered. . lie moved that the petitionAbould
'be printed.
Mr. W. WY NN said, that it•was not- for entertaining,' but
for the indecent publication-of opinions, that these persomowere
prosecuted. - Suppose a man. said, " 1 deny all religion---I hold,
'therefore, that the promiscuous intercourse of the sex is per-
fectly innocent--I recommend regicides, and think that: every
.noun who kill* a King does an act of public service." Fl
a publicationtibellous or not ? Or suppose, as occurred no long
time since, "it. man proclaimed that all property was an usurpa-
tion upon the natural rights (,roan ;:' -was the publication of
such an opinion to be enduretlq ahis,watua subject upon width
he-wished to--say much ; -het thnapeech of the Hon. Member
far Bramber made further 4)lbesitation quiteunnecessary,
Mr. lIIIAIE explained—Me: petition was then-ordered to
be printed.