The Sun.
London, England, 1858-01-28 00:00:00

Channel, being the indulgence of the

most suppressive of all powers in regard
to the evil part of the Press, namely, the contempt
of the rational and respectable part of the com-

munity.

As to British pride in, and love for, the Free-
dom of the Press, Lord CANNING seems never
even to have heard of it. Yet, as far back as ,
1810, what were the memorable words uttered
upon this very subject by Mr. SHERIDAN, in one
of the most remarkable speeches ever de-
livered by that remarkable man in the
House of Commons ? " Give thee," said he, "a
corrupt House of Lords ; give them a venal House
of Commons ; give them a tyrannical Prince ; '
give them a truckling Court—and let me but
have an unfettered press : I will defy them to
encroach a hair's-breadth upon the liberties •f
England." Lord CANNING thinks differently. And
thinking differently, he gags the press of Hindos-
tan. What said Jurrivs in regard to the freedom of
the press ? He said in the Dedication of his
famous Letters to the English nation—" Let it be
impressed upon your minds, let it be instilled into
your children, that the liberty of the press is the
palladium of all the civil, political, and religious
rights of an Englishman.' Lord CANNING thinks
differently—and thinking differently, his lordship
gags the press in Hindostan. What, again, was
the estimate formed of the liberty of the press
by Monsieur DE LOL➢[D ? Why, M. DI LOLME
thus writes in his essay upon the Eng-

lish Constitution—" Whoever considers what
it is that constitutes the moving principle of what
we call great affairs, and the invincible sensibility
of man to the opinion of his fellow-creatures, will
not hesitate to affirm, that if it were possible for
the liberty of the press to exist in a despotic go-
vernment, and (what is not less difficult) for it to
exist without changing the constitution, this
liberty of the press would alone form a coun-
terpoise to the power of the prince." Thus
thought and wrote the great French Philosopher.
But my Lord CANNING thinks differently—and
so the Liberty of the Press in British India is for
an indefinite period abolished I What, in fine, is
the opinion pronounced upon the freedom of
printing by the most renowned and popular of ,
our English jurisconsults, no more recon-
dite an authority than Sir WILLIAM BLACK-
STONE ? Has he not said decisively in
his Commentaries, " The Liberty of the
Press is indeed essential to the nature of
a Free State ;'' and further—" To subject the
Press to the restrictive power of a licenser, as
was formerly done both before and since the Re-
volution, is to subject all freedom of sentiment to
the prejudices of one man, and make him the
arbitrary and infallible judge of all controverted
, points in learning, religion, and government." My
Lord CANNING has wiser and wholesomer ♦iews
than these in regard to the freedom of the Press--
• and so the freedom of the Press is forfeited for a time
(we don't know for how long a time) to Hindo•
stan. His Lordship's decision upon this matter
we are not disposed to regard as a subject of
trivial importance ; on the contrary, we conceive
it to be a matter of such vital import, and involv-
ing within itself the possibility of such extraordi-
nary consequences, that we would earnestly com-
mend it to the instant consideration of the Legis-
lature.