Star.
London, England, 1823-03-27 00:00:00

Y

that-the prcr.ecu-
H•ved to give ti:: ^9
n the e! cs of the
...it had not been for
ocieties in prosecu-
that family would
ty by which it wit:

evil of those
d Cid aasettied the
!orivertinity tOCIAm'
he truth. The law
er orders from such
4prived of the coat
be wanting in his
pme were due from
Ire oleo t, that it u• at,

His. ght H 4r3.-

not want. •hcr toy
n the doctrines slie-•
'sentence recitsirinz
Orionr impaled t'..c
reared that she re-
•tal security which
I the case (..1

tae Croats might
her its mercy ; bat
to pretend or sup-
!; it was part of a
+ossible, to triumph
;ion for the ,ake of
ht lion. Gentleman
Ind sentences upon
ry Ann Cariile, in
hat the whole was a
littler, that the scu-
't'e a sentence of per-
no Carlile had ie.
id as soon as she had
Iht be deemed cqui.
in the office• he now
ld advise the Crown
principles that go•

rnphesented the At-
mber felt Devon3hire

luity they had dis-
various topics im-

ight have been in-
The object was, by
of justice, to relieve
they sufferings conid
lic justice—Wear,
imprisonment cash'
ympathy, while the

Inters an opportunity

ily contest with the
Englishmen would
matters of religious
as one of gloss and
Ily in all that had
tther for Portariing-
vinced not only of
of all these attempts
lence. No honest
cere believer in the
n criminal I rosecu-
, Right Honourable
that his Gwn
reii-
tr, hear)—that the
It was put to death
RS that which the
ntrable Membev for
hear).—Did he not
'le most absurd and
men honestly de-
-Ist scandalous perse-
.n out by the Right
the contrition that
.cts of rmishment
nquisitor of Spain:
such language
became the lips of
'rom the Attorney-
't he bad heard—au

his profession, and
1. their ease the more
or its deficiency by
of actinic—(Hear).
:ed. that he never
lint by the sentence
when he could not
Justice for half an;
were.perpetually so-
n his Vcmunentaries,
, -and all who iina
of the law, bad en-
Learned Gentlemin.
I own, had aVoided
ie upon which the
lainly rested. 'Five
from a person not
Aid lie pretend that
that ; -or, that to re-
an act of mercy and
? As to centri-
Lviction-of opinion,
a party so injoree.,
should be in a state
lit Hon. Gentleman
Est possible reasons
, be promoted either
He Lad detailed the
)1e family of Carlile,
laced ?—(Neer.)—
heard tkat the obtect
arras—not nn eafe4o,
urged had no sole
the scope of rite
with human senor
all slaveries to COD
ly entertained. tic
.al to telliiins Nebo
define what libel
evil, that nom
bad not, committed
imprisonment aught
:importation ; fix
i
he (Sir F.Ourdee)
!cause he li.id .oncie
a libel. It wassaw•
not imp' i ion sneat44
'could pay .03810
nded upon the pies:
tat could be n2o.':
thin that llbw

should dere'd merely. upon such -a tenure? The
Right Honourable • Gentleman had..stated, that
'Whenever he thought that the crime was sufficiently
erpiated—whenever, according to his cornpufatiein,
five h (mitred pounds' worth of int prisonment had been
takca out of the person of Mary Ann Carlile—as
soon as she had been sufficiently reduced, by a sys-
tem of The most cruel torture (for, what mere cruel
torture seas there than indefinite confinement, wvirk-
ing destruction to the body and distraction to the
rnincl?) then be (Mr. Peel) might graciously advise
the Crown to give the unhappy woman her discharge.
At what period was this mercy to be granted? How
long was the Right lion. Gentleman to continue in
.once? Was he to have a lease of his place, because
the next Minister for the Home Department might
not think that Mary Ann Cathie had suffered_
vnough ? Such a doctrine was most unconstitutional ;
sand without adverting to other topics, he could not
-sit down without saying a word or two on what had
fallen from the lion. Member for Devon, regarding
the Vice Society. He was surprised to bear it said
that it commenced no vexatious prosecutions. He
thought all its prosecutions vexatious. The Attor-
vey-General asked whether they would have him
proceed ex-officio instead, without the intervention of
a Grand Jury ? But there was this important dif.-
ference, that when a number of individuals conspit ed
together like the Vice or Constitutional Societies, they
=lade a common purse ; they were a sort of joint-
stock company, to prosecute all the poor individuals
in the country.. In his (Sir Francis Burdett's) opi-
n;on, it was high time to put an end to such con-
spiracies, which in truth only augmented evils they
professed to prevent—(Hear, hear).
Mr. PEEL explained. He bad not said nor meant
to say that contrition was a sloe pa ion : be expressly
disclaimed any such notion. What alternative did
the Hon. Baronet propose, if prisoners did not pay
their fines? Were they to remain in confinement for
life ?—(Mr. Honnousa and other Members on that
side said across, that Courts ought not to pass such
grievously severe•sentences)—Suppose the party re-
fused to pay, was he as a matter of course to be dis-
charged ? If so, very few fines would be forthcoming
at the end of the period of confinement.
SirfRANCIS BURDETT added, that he under-
stood the Right Hon. Gentleman to say that the House
could not interpose against this monstrous fine, with-
out some expression of contrition.
Mr. WILBERFORCE justified the Society for the
Suppression of Vice, who had succeeded, if not in
suppressing blasphemous publications, at least in ex-
cluding them from general observation. This was
the only free country in which no tribunal had existed
for the defence of religion and morals. At Sparta,
at Athens, at home, as the Honourable Baronet well
knew, tribunals existed for the defence of those prin-
ciples of teligion and morals which were the basis of
all public and private v i rtue--( Hear, hear).--Though
aiffences against public morals were, in their conse-
quences, the greatest of all, yet the particular evil
of each was so small, that no individual would incur
the odium and expense of a prosecution. An indi-
vidual acting for the public might be charged with
gratifying his private spleen. It therefore became
;Idt‘visable that a body should be constituted by whom
the principles of law applicable to the preservation .
public morals should be called into action. He would
frankly declare, that he had no objection to the pub-
lication of Hume, Gibbon, Mirabeau, and all the
other grave defences cf infidelity, appealing to the
sense and reason of mankind. It was the very glory
of Christianity, that it was supported by principles
immortal in their nature, and infinite in their strength
—(Cheers).—Dr. Paley on this subject, said, that
" he deemed it no infringement of religious liberty
to restrain the circulation of ribaldry, invective,
and mockery on religious subjects ; they tended
equally against truth and falsehood ; they only pro-
duced ludicrous images,-where serious ones thould.
have place; they were an appeal not to the reason.
but to the passion of mankind."—(bleat, hear):—
He (Mr. Wilberforce) never wished to prevent free
discussion. From free discussion Christianity would
always come off not only safe but purified from
those stains which it sometimes acquired from the
errors-of its defenders—(Cheers).—When the House
looked at the detestable publications prosecuted by
the Society for the Suppression of Vice, they could
have no doubt about their blasphemous character.
Thirty-two times that Society•had brought offenders
before the courts of law, and never in any instance
bad it failed of success. The same degree of uncer-
tainty might be said to exist as to • obscenity. It
wardilficult to define; yet, could it be doubted that
that offence should be suppressed? The Society for
the Suppression of Vice was founded on the Society
for enfoicing the King's Proclamations: Lord El-
leohorough, Mr. Justice Bayley, Lord Kenyon,
Chief Justice Skinner, had all highly commended the
Society for the peat public benefits it had produced.
The fact that it had thus been vindicated by Juries
and eulogised by Judges was no small circumstance
inks favour. The House would forgive hint if he
felt warmly upon this subject. Christianity was the
common centre of all his hopes, And of all his attach-
Proems. Upon this ground he had opposed, with all
ilit poser, the attacks which had been made upon it.
` And believe me," said the Honourable Meriii)er,
"thin for your coastituents, or for your country, you
caa Never do better than to preserve the relipon of
land sacred and inviolab!e."—(The Honourable
Aiem6er sat down amidst great cheer ins.)
)41•HISNIE, in his reply, censured the. Society for
me 'Suppression of Vice, as having increased the mis-
chief whicli it pretended to remove. No fewer than 32
ve,_iGtOns had been dragged by this Society beiure
'urts of Law, every one of whom it was their boast
they had convicted ; and what was the result?
14. as .fast as the prisons were filled with victims,
41klividuals pressed forward eager to become roartyi s,.
"4 Oppose a system of ir:rsecution by a participa-
tion In the sufferinos inflicted by their oppressors.
blr.Justice 131ackstgite had said, " that all persects-
tiorr for dive, sity of opinions, however ridiculous and
absurd, was contrary to every principle of sound po.
Icy and civil freedom." Such was the doctrine of Ur.
Lardner, and such the opinion of Mr. Justice Black-
stone, But was this the doctrine of the Society for
I.4°'notion of Vice ?—(zi lawrii from the Ministe-
D 0
."1-1 eACILeS • ) The word had fallen from him acci-
Q"ully, but he would give the Honourable Gentle
men opposite all the benefit • of the accident ; for iii
point of fact, with the single exception of their exer-
tions in , •
roani3 down otecene exhibitions, the Society

had rather promoted than checked the mischiefswhict
They pretended- to sitfpvii. • fit should ginsci.b4s kr
-moving, tharthisPeritloti be piinted; aid by4ll4siow
i ing 'the-Right -Hounerable Secretary or tbomei
Department (IVie.•Peel),7sis he see
med to have scale
of-his own for computing how many hours of torture
were equivalent to so many pounds in money, to slave'
publicly, in fairness to his victims, what that scale was.
1 Mr. C. WYNN denied the doctrine that no publi-
' cation of mere matters' of opinion could be libellous.
The doctrine that every man Was at liberty to avosv
and publish, whatever o pinions he might entertaie,
would lead to the dissolution of the whOle ft ame of.
civil society. Was the Hon. Member for Aberdden
(Nr. Hume) prepared to admit that 'every man Was.
at liberty to publish whatever libellous attacks he`
might think fit upon his own character ?—_EMr.
Flust e —`‘ At perfect liberty:l—ff the Hon. Member
was of this opinion, other men might not deem them-
selves equally invulnerable. What would be thetaect
of this doctrine, as applied to Women? Was there any
female-whose reputation could stand against a series
of attacks, if allowed to pass unpunisked, or if obliged'
constantly to come forward and vindicate her cha-
racter in the Newspapers, by proving the falsehood
and malignity of her calumniators?—'lie Petition
was ordered to be printed. -

Engii
Mattel
as Oat
fly in
nber fs
vinced
of all
olence
cere b
.11 crir
e Rigi
t that
car, he
ith wa
ng as I
Dumb
, hear
he me
men
ost scv
wnou
the
.jects
lnqui.
eer,
H bec
'rom
at he
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r thei
or itt
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rdiat
, wh
,IJus
s wen
n his
y, 'RR
of tt
Lear
s oW
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main
frot
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that
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t a
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lit 1
est
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He
ole
mitt
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the
f all
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eat
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bec,
fa
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