The Statesman.
London, England, 1820-02-04 00:00:00

7.teL4,•

.•7

'S

SG, FEBRUARY 4, 1820.

" The Cootie for which HAMPDEN the F eld..ad SYDNEY died on /he &geld !"

CIANDLtS on an ..___
A... 1 DAVIES, 4lb Mx. Merett's-massr, oppoeite New
Slaughter's Coffee-nonse. sole Maaelhidewer of 6e imperial
Wooed' Witk Mould Candles, width otaltalversally dioded
Istro equal to Wax, deems it nemormry to canton die
Nobility and families against the base attempts of persons
WI) adverthiag, as none are genuine but those had at his
Warehouse as above. or 'No. let Pleetmtrgat.--sPine
/Sperm Candies, de. 4d. per lb.; Pelmet Lights and
long Wax Pieces, 14. &I. per lb.; imperial Waxed Wick
Mould Candies, I Is. &I. per dozen best Store Candles,
lUs. per dozen; Mottled Soap, from ilk. to !Ms. per cwt. ;
'ideo Soap, Pea. to Ms. per ewt.; doe Curd Soap. 103 s.
per vol.; Windeor and Palm Soap, Is. ad. to Its. per lb.;
Brows Windsor Is. to *le. dd. per lb.; Pane) Soaps, 9s.
per dozen riesallig Wax, 3s. U.I. to 7s. per lb.: tine Sperm
Oil. is. W. per gallon : Common 011. 4s. per gallon.—
N. B. Orders forwardml to all parts of town, and carefully
peeked for the 'moor).

rileges possessed
-r tunes, re
for other
. they were
Aiming peenii-
that, were they
another soil, where

forum of go.
on of justice,
be es
with tri:e-
the chime-
become m-
outhing but op-
press (rum the
ly and straggly
suessgres adopt-
served to
a ihNeraii-

REFLECTIO.VS ox rar LIESITY OP ram PRESS.

(FROM THE PAMPHLETEER.)

The Liberty of the Press is a theme on which nillish
newspapers and political journals often comment, tied t
which the higher .lass of periodical works also some-
times advert; but it is. lung niece any treatise of im-
portance, on this subje:t, has been published in Eng'
land. In its practical relations the question is decided,
and its consideration, with respect to theory, appears to
be deemed superfluous.

. grown progressively general, dis been formed
both by authors and readers, to regard freedom of the
press nod police legislation as things perfeclly
clleabloi and accordingly this conclusion has been gra-
duall/ a‘opted, that by liberty of the press nothing
less is to be understood than the right of addressing
the public, without being subject to any previous inspec-
tion or contronl.

In treating of tbe freedom of the press, it is necessary,
in order to be intelligible to one's self and to others, to
pay particular

This construction, which is now generally adopted,
we shall not i eeeeee ediately ,contest ; though we are far
hem believing it capable of withstanding a rigid eta-
; we may, however, ob that, as oft.. as
lie freedom of the press is delined in this wanner, either
',public documents, or in the writings of inclividnals,
the defieition is generally accempanied by the restrict-
lug clans*:—" It being well understood that this free-
dom cannot be used in contradiction to the laws." Now
a right, for the exercise of which the possessor is re-
sphaeible to existiNg Livesk and these laws, as in this in-
11011Thrf, penal, certainly is not unlimited. It follows
therefore that the present definition of the liberty of the
press merely excipdes a particular class of restrictions,,
with the express or tacit reservation of others perhaps
not Isss oppressive; and if it led to so farther errors, if
every one precisely knew what is meant by the freedom
of the press in his own country, and on what conditions
he enjoys it, we might overlook the generally indefinite
lase tithe Srrm. But when it is proposed to take a more en-
Urged 011/4 and enter into a thorough investigation of
't is necessary to reject such conventionalised
= definitions. The liberty of the prise then bo-
absolutely relltive idea, the measure and moo
pass of which is determined by the boundary line which ,
'brides the authorised nuant;torised employment of
the - quer a country is better
.
the all

affixed to the

gunge of the
seated by
Bible, or

A•

'lien, wherein every individual would have the right of
ditinsing, by means of the art of printing, his thought",
opinions, and judgments, on all persons and things,
without being, before pnidiention, restricted by any
law, or becoming afterwards responsible loamy law, for
that act. Those trim assume th;it certain rights existed
previously to the lonisation of civil society, and inde-
pendently of it, o► who set It.; a claim to pretended ma-
ture rights, cannot have a definition of what they call
the natural right of the liberty of the press more fa-
vonsable to their views.

It is, however, self-evident, that without the union of
men in society, there could he no regular 11111 l 11111C3•
t. of ideas, our any demand for writing, presses, or
books. Hut were even all these things not artuilly in-
debted to society for their origin, still would they be
not the lees bound by its regulations. The motorist that
social order is estafilished, there can no longer be any
question as to littoral rights. Whether such rights pre-
viously existed is a metaphysical proposition which every
one may, according to his system, affirm or deny, or
leave unresolved. Every rigid, from whatever source it
may take its rise, is, or &mouses, a social right.
A social right, unAccompaniell by restriction, is in-
deed a thing scarcely conceivable, for the mere idea of
any such right most necessarily 6:derived from recipro-
cal limitations of freedom. The right of circulating our
thoughts, through the medium of the press, has, there-
fore, like every other right, its boundaries. In the so-
cial or only admissible sense of the phrase, the unlimited
freedom of the press is consequently a nonentity.

tempt is matte, . . may venture to assert the
nature of the subject is not understood at . ,or that it
is apprehended there are some persons, whose prejudices
it would be desirable to spare, or whose opinions it may
be licinktary. to Satter, who &misunderstand it. Regu-
lations, which have the liberty of the press for their
object, must be solely directed against its abuse, and
consmieently always become ;terrace and restrictive.
Under this point of view must the controversy, which at
present oecoptis so mane winds and pens, he considered.
the disco Very to be made•is not, how the freedom of the
press may I • es•ablishert, for it is self-founded ; but, as
at cannot si bob without restrictions, how it may be
limited hi the west injurious and most convenient man-
ner P_LSince then our choice is confined to only two
principal modes, it will be proper to propose the apses-
tion in the following form :—Does the system, which
prevents the abuse of the press by police legislatioo, or
that which punishes its abuse, when committed, by penal
laws, deserve to be preferred F.
Were such a question to be decided by a blind predi-
lectieu for one or the other system, by dogmatical coos—
mon places, or by arguments in which that, which should
first be proved, is constautly taken for granted, it would
wittiest doubt, according to the present disposition of,
of men's minds, soon he dismissed. Many would re-
geed it as unworthy of being proposed, others would
consider the dignity of the literary character, the hoaaur
of an enlightened age, and the must sacred rights of
cititens oltentled by an impiiry, in their eves, so com-
Pletely unnecessary. That the system.. of preventive
aws, even independently of the numerous faults be
which its exeention is almost every where aceuuspanie
and almost every where brought into discredit, should
neither be satisfactory nor popular, is a circumstance
'sufficiently intelligible. The uperatimas of this system
are so simple, that they mar be easily observed, and,
without much effort,. judged. By their generality they
reads author, it Out in the same way, at least in
so far that he cannot, without responsibility, elude them.
They are besides, even under the most faentirable rir-
cusustarwrs, exposed to a strong suspicion of 'wing alto
gather arbitrary or discretional. Finally, and this is
the most serious consideration of all, they touch a class
of persons who unite to a certain portion of real merit
a large onus of false pretensions, and touch them too in
the tenderest point ; they wound their self-love, olist rod
the spontaneous carrent of their witticisms, eseir
titres, their fiction*, their follies, and their passions, and
oppose to the opinion, which each individual entertain*
of himself and his works, the weight of* higher autho-
rity, anti what is still far more intolerable, a real or at
least legally presumed superior judgment.
(in the other hand, notwithstanding the general dis-
like of penal laws, nothing is wore natural than the
favour which the system of responsibility after the fact
has obtained. With most persons, that system needs no
other recommendation than that of superseding the au-
tbority of the police. in this, as in a thousand similar
ems, few give themselves the trouble to inquire, how
that law will be framed which must necessarily supply
the place of an ordinance so offensive to them. Any regu-
lation appears moredesirable than the existing restraints,
though the change may be to measures infinitely more
oppressive. When the nature of the judicial proceed-
ings, against the abuse of the press, are not known by
anpmence, only the bright side of the subject is 'eau,
awl every thing is supposed to be gained if the controls!

Thus far are nearly agreed. at least in th-ory„ all
who might wish to c to one opinion on a subject of
this kind. It must be confessed, however, that the....
exists in human nature an aspir.stion after freedom be-
yond these legitimate bounds. Limitation., of the ne-
cessity of which we have never entertained a doubt,
often heemite odious to 0., when they present obstacles
to our pursnits ; and, when aitionsted by a great interest,
or an imp. taut justification, what author may not, for
a moment, lave wished every extraneous tie and obli-
gation removed, is order that he might he at liberty to
obey the dictates of his own immediate feelings, witliont-
considering whether his internal impulse would carry
him to a good or a had result E. But, when fundamental
maxims and the Fahlic profession of principles are at
stake, em man, who posse.sm seltiespect, will manifest
tech a disposition; and the liberty of the press, in the
unlimited sense of the tern., though it should have
souse secret friends, still would not easily find au open
defender.
The main difference of opinion, however, at once
arises on propounding 'he que.tion—what kind of legal
restrictions on the employment of the press may be best
rakulated to protect the interests of the community
without infringing individual libertyy The contest to
which this question ha. given birth ha. hail for its eon-
sequences, that freedom of the press has sometimes re-
ceived a very narrow, sometimes a large, and at other
times an entirely arbitrary construction; and that those
who would consent to legal limitations of that freedom,
under one form only, finally condemn every other mo-
dification as mental tyranny, oppression and servitude.
It is well known that there are two different methods
hy which the abuse of the liberty of communicating
ideas may be goaded against; namely, either by re-
lations, formed for the prevention of that abuse, or
measures which render it, after the fact, the object
legal punishment. The former belong to the class of
eot.tra LAWX, and in the present case may be depend-
sated causation. ORDINANCIO. The latter meat be
penal laws, as no action can regularly be 'nought be-
fore a nib teal which has not, on some ground or other,
bees made punishable by :. previously existing taw.
I. all leJropran States, Entiatul alone excepted, the
Mee log until very retreatly, been evistantly rego-

6 It •Is tree that In the 17th and illth centuries there pre-
'veiled In Honied, wise parts of Switzerland, and la terri-
tories ore few ieetsairiderable princes of the (lemma Respire,
and fees Imperial (.'hies, • silently authorised liberty of the
press. of which the laws took no nailer. and which was ally
occasionally thoekod, when serious complaints were wade
against it. These ezateples. which had their origin either
Is the rerbilese sPirit, o► smallness of the respective state*,
or in their political relations, can no 100 be
eoasitiorados. is the altered slats of the

of the censor o.
iystem has long
ately suffer by Its
nature, oppression,
case general anent-
dons, provisional r
of a judicial trial,
—then all is .
.literery_freedoui
and a to
the basest tyranni
soon passes aw-
most conscious o. avin
who may have dared all the veugeance of the
hopes, as far as regards himself, to be able to weeds.
the store'; and, as the thooderholt falls but on feu
heads, and seldom on the most criminal, the hope is
wholly unfounded. Even in the most extreme case the
progress of the trial presents many ch sof deliver-
ance. Time defendant may rely on the ability of bib
counsel, on his own talents and eloquence, or on She
preponderance of the popular feeling In his favour. litany
see, in a trial of this kind, only the means o;l:miriag
celebrity, and regard even the threatened sent
(especially before its effects are felt) as a mew claim to
the approbation and sympathy of all who mitestain
similar sendments, or as an hooourable martrydow.

THIRTY PER CENT. UNDER ANY HAT lORJEII. Dated by measures of police! The privileges
BOURN IN IHIGLAND. by the English writers were not, is former
CJACKSON, Mat blianhcturer, iiii,ll.oo2* larded as *objects of cerium or reproach
• Roar the City Rimailterv, has osirstaetly on a governments. it was readily perceived that I
meet extensive assortment of every desert rof Meta a intitualely interwoven with all the remain!Bouvet Marmots ; shod a peat va my al id Dolour *rides of the British Constitatioa, and that,
Tarbans.—Likewise Boys Cloth llowsaalwa pa of seamen titilacbni from it, or removed to another si
sloth. only ie.—Leather Hats and Caps from W.—The Pet file* vittanki be in contradiction with the for
Ile still end a great mein b) purchasing as alsova--Jaci.
some ►Nes Interned treble covered bast saparlaw Ma* . vernmeat, the legislation, the administration
tad .the 'Rational manners, dial coubl not be
Hats at only vus.--diey are decidedly the ebeviF and ' . 40 Ostia& Met at tbr llamas Wad.. along wit
elegant Hula ever offered to Me miblliea.e;nle
Patent W Hut. 1111 k add entv I torkl.#votiessioto of a higher cultivation, and tl
r ,
Ilde bat will *rue Shim u long a, ;tiekhaitatiore weirtz4on of more extended faculties has bi
now selling from Ida. to Ids. and to wards, be i ' eVery suet to see in ancient regulations nothit
Hauer: many of them mall TIES . , 11448=4,:,tthee wiltetohemes abo,conipasteetttheeeiressene
Trade supplied as usual. • i ;, h
M. 11. Old IllaSisaovaged willed*, nog IN& Mind to no oripreetd throughout all Europe. The mum
lOs. dd.
ed in Preece and the Netherlands have also
2....... z.„.
- 0 ' ---
.. adminieter fresh food to this desire ;so that
NDLKS on an harbOVllD PRINCIPLIC.—K. r. nation, grown progressively general, has het

"- "" a —"" "`-`"`"" v..'" I"' " "' ".`"'"'''' :livides Ole authorised and utiau7;torised ein'ployment of
er to be intelligible to one's self and to others, to tbe . The questioe, whether a country is better
'Flintier attention to the extent of the siguification with et without the liberty of the press thus loses all
Ito the term, by the prevailing usage of the lan- i as in one sense it exists every where, and in
of the age, and to consider how far the ideas pre. 11112rWallit' llNIe ao where. 1
The dyklarfa 0 iclait-1, *IP* 014 k 1"*". beta,
Iby dull lillulfat-alill'l• may"`Timil "1 4. a'hoi•-"-tree ',loch ,or asiy not be performed, it
or capable of practical application.
• 1 • ,erhamingt. it shall be
uidlleited frseilme of the press winTelstr a AA.' . The therty of t e press can sever she
pa:
wherein every individual would have the right of Settle tiled by positive ordinances
ng, by means of the art of printing, his thoughts, tempt is made, we. may venture.toa.sse7rtili7in eachthrr t.
that thea
nature of the subject is not understimil at all, or that it

be restored. Eves Is
lo soilittreiailitt
se prevailed'. those tali'
rks operation, boob him • .....Lvite
Nabs, and perils. If Is '
attention be esclted,—bv judall7.7
lonal arrests, sad all the ittitimit
vial, having perhaps tit testa
asritatioo. sad the (tasted truSrbefes
oat is en reel side columslated m a irebie
a treacherous snare, add as Judi-time* of
'ninny. The momentary terror, howai
twee. Every author, even the WI
us of haring overstepped all bounds,. sad
• •