The Sun.
London, England, 1834-08-30 00:00:00

VENTING THE ABUSE THEREOF.

" For the more effectually securing the liberty of the press,
which bath been the chief safeguard of the constitution of
these realms, and for the better prevention of abuses in exer-
cising the said liberty, and in using the privilege of public dis-
cussion, which of undoubted right belongeth to the subject.
" Be it enacted by the King's Most Excellent Majesty, by
and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and.
Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assem-
bled, and by the authority of the same, that from and after
the - day of , in the year 1816, it shall not be
lawful for his Majesty's Attorney or Solicitor-General, or any
other person or persons whatsoever, to exhibit or file any cri-
minal information in his Majesty's Court of King's Bench,
against the maker or publisher of any libel, or against the
speaker of any seditious or defamatory words, unless the said
Court shall first have given leave to exhibit or file such infor-
mation, upon application being made for that purpose in open
Court, according to the proiisions of an Act, made in the 4th
and sth year of the reign of King William and Queen Mary,
entitled An Act to prevent malicious informations in the
Coutt of King's Bench, and for the more easy reversal of out-
lawries in the same Court.'

" And be it further enacted, by the authority aforesaid, that
from and after the day and year aforesaid, at the trial of any
indictment or information against the maker or publisher of
any libel, or against the person uttering any seditious words,
or against the person uttering any defamatory words, of and
concerning any person or persons, it shall not be lawful for his
Majesty's Attorney-General or other counsel acting on behalf
of his Majesty, or for the party prosecuting in the King's
name, or his counsel, to be heard in reply, after the defendant
or defendants, or his or their counsel, shall have been heard,
unless the said defendant or defendants shall have produced
witnesses or otherwise given in evidence in his or their defence ;
any law, custom, or usage, to the contrary hereof in anywise
notwithstanding. _ _ _

" And be it further enacted, by the authority aforesaid,
that from and after the day and year aforesaid, in all cases
wherein issue shall be joined between the King and the de-
fendant or defendants, in any indictment or information for
making or publishing any libel, or for uttering any seditious
or defamatory words, in case the same shall come on to be
tried before any justices of assize or nisi Arius, in any county
of England, or before the justices of any county palatine, or
by the great sessions of Wales, the same panel shall be an-
nexed and returned by the sheriff to the jury process, as the
sheriff returns to try the other issues joined at those assizes or
sessions, and the said issue shall be tried by a jury taken from
such panel ; but in case the same shall come on to be tried at
the bar of the Court of King's Bench, then, that the sheriff
of the county or place out of which the jury is directed to
come shall return such persons only as are qualified to serve,
and for the time being do severally and actually serve upon
common juries for such county or place : provided always, that
any party or parties moving the Court out of which the record
comes for leave to have the issue tried by a special jury, the
said Court shall have power and authority to order and direct
the same to be tried by a special jury, upon the consent of the
other party or parties, signified either by counsel in open Court,
or by the signature of such parties, their counsel, or agents.
" And be it further enacted, by the authority aforesaid, that
from and after the - day of --, in the year 1816, if
any person or persons shall maliciously speak of and concern-
ing any other person or persons any defamatory word or words,
injurious to the reputation of such person or persons, the per-
son or persons so speaking the same shall be deemed and
taken to have been guilty of a misdemeanour, and may be
prosecuted for the same by indictment or information, and
upon conviction may be punished for the same by fine and im-
prisonment, at the discretion of the Court before whom, he,
she, or they may be tried.
" And be it further enacted, by the authority aforesaid, that
in all cases of prosecution by indictment or information, against
the maker or publisher of any libel, or against the person ut-
tering any seditious words, or against the person uttering any
defamatory words of and concerning any other person or per-
sons, in which-cases issue shall be joined between the king
and the defendant, it shall and may be lawful for the defendant
to give a notice to his Majesty's Attorney-General, or other
counsel acting on behalf of his Majesty, or the party prose-
cuting in the King's name, or his attorney or agent,
free days before the day upon which the trial of the said issue
or issues is to come on, that he means to give evidence of the
truth of the matters contained in the said libel, or of the mat-
ters expressed by the said seditious words, or by the said
de-
famatory words, and thereupon, and upon proving.
to
the satis-
faction of the Court before whom the said issue or issues shall