Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1856-07-02

newspaper like the Tribune, which has llbc'ed
me, and has the right 10 send through the post
offices of this Government and have eblded by
the persons employed in The folding-room at
the public expense, into my daughters parior'
that Which would cost him his life if he told 1t
to me? Has it come to this, that Senator
upon this floor can claim such an. extensive priyl-
lege, under the law of Parliament, that he can
send off, by The twenty thousand, speeches 10
England and TO the four corners of the globe,
where am not known, and then claim protcc-
ton upon the ground that he has privilege
Which precluies him from being questioned else
where for words spoken in debate?
Sir, the difference is an obvious one. Per-
baps not more than five hundred or thousand
people heard the Senator on The occasion when
he assailed me; and venture to say that, OF
the number who were present and knew me,
not one believed word Uf what he said. 1t is
a different thing when he has printed package
of twenty thousand Of the documents, tranked
them, and sent them to England, where, | sup.
pose he will be highly praised. He will be fed
with the oil which kindles English fires, to en-
courage him 10 walk in the light of his path. If
were 10 60 to England, they might point at
me and ask, I" is that the man so monomancal
in regard to slavery that he cannot tell the truth =
am not accustomed to make comparisons, but
will say that there is not parent or husband
on this floor who can approve the language OF
that Senator Though may have bitter enc
mics here-no doubt have some, bq: do not
see why have incurred their enmity-l venture
to say that do not think single man on this
floor would, if he were put On his oath, say that
he believed what the Senator said Of me. When
spread abroad in the form Of libel it becomes
Of very different character.
say that this privilege under the Constiu-
ton is the subject Of judicial inquiry The
cou.ts may say where privilege ends, and where
libel begins. He has been guilty Of libel /
know, sir, how sacred is the liberty of speech.
know what has been said by MIR. Erskine on
this subject-his language has often been prais-
ed for its beauLy-in the celebrated trial against
Tom Paine MIR. Erskine quoted language
which he supposed had been used by Lord
Chesterfield. Lord Kenyon said to him.
"Lord Kenyon That very speech which did
Lord Chesterfield so much honor is supposed to
have been written by DIR. Johnson.
Mr. Erskine. Gentlemen. believe it was so,
and am much obliged to his lordsbip for giving me
far higher authority for my doctrine for, though
Lord Chesterfield was man Of great wit, he was
undoubtedly far inferior in learning, and what is
more to the purpose, in monarchicat opinion, to the
ce! ebratcd writer to whom my lord has now deliv-
cred the work by hs authority. Or. Johnson then
says"-
Gentlemen may avail themselves of this, if
they choose, when | come TO another part ol
this matter. Dr.. Johnson says, in the Language
put in the mouth Of Lord ChesteEfield:
"One of the greatest blessings we cnjoy-onc Of
the greatest blessings people, my lords, can enjoy,
is liberty licentious ess is the alloy Of liberty; it
is an ebuition-an excrcscence it is speck upon
the eye Of the political body, but which can never
tou.h but with gentle, with trembling hand, lest
destroy the body-lest injure the eye upon
which it is apt TO appear.
"There is such connection between liccn,ious-
ness and liberty tina: it is not easy to correct the
one without dangerously wounding the other; it is
extremely hard to distinguish the true limit between
them like changcable silk, We can easily see
there are two different coors, but we cannot easily
discover where the one ends, or where the other
begins"
In subsequent part of this celebrated foren-
sic speech, delivered by Lord Erskine, he goes
on to show what is the liberty ofspeech, and what
is its limit. He says, by way of illustration,
what is exactly opposite 10 this case:
81 expect to hear, in answer to what am now
saying, much that will offend me. My learned
friend"-
4 do not call the Senator amy learned friend;''
make this periphrasis on that point
"My learned friend from the difficulties of his
situation, which know from experience how to feel
for very sincerely, may be driven to advance pro-
positions which it may be my duty, with much
freedom, to reply to and the law will sanction that
freedom; but will not the ends Of justice be CON-
petely answered by my exercise Of that right, in
terms that are decent, and calculated to expose its
defects? or will my argument suffer, or will public
| Justice be impeded. because neither private honor
and justice nor public decorum, would endure my
telling my very learned friend, because | differ
from him in opinion, that he is fool, liar, and a
scoundrel, in the face of the Court 2'
If the Senator had said, in respectful Ian
guage "We have been adversaries on this sub
ject; differ from you; think you have been
guilty of great errors which deserve the censure
of u parliamentary speaker; and [ intend to
pronounce censure believing that ain right
and you are wrong will detect you in The fal-
lacies of yonr history will detect you in the
errors of your lazy; will expose those errors
-he would have had right 10 do this, and in
as strong language as he chose; but when re
said almost in SO many words, that my proclivi-
ty 10 error was such that [ devatcd from the
truth in all these particulars, it is a libel in the
very language of NJ. Erskine. If he were in
dcted for libel tomorrow. could he claim his
privilege under the Constitution, and would the
courts be precluded from deciding the question
whether it was a libel or not? There is no one,
perhaps, who has higher ideal admiration for
the liberty Of speech and the liberty of the
press than have.
The liberty Of speech and Of the press is
the great conservative element of n Republic
it is to the political, what fire is TO the material
world, subservient and affluent minister, when
under the control OF prudence and intelligence
but, when unchecked and unregulaled, con-
suming foe, whitening and blasting everything
along its pathway of ruin. Render freedom of
speech tributary TO The propreties, decencies.
and restraints of social life, and you may crown
it with all the ministries and supremacies of in
tellect and liberty, but release it from them, and
it becomes blind and maddened giant of evil,
tearing down the bulwarks of social order, and
desecraling the very sanctuary of republican
liberty. What would you think Of reckless
man who should Sc: fire to his owo house, or
should 60 about claiming the privilege of throw
ing his fire wherever be could among the most
comLustible materials, and say he had the right
to do so. on the ground that he was a freeman
and could do as he pleased. Away with such
liberty! Liberty that is worth anything must
be in the harness of the law.
Liberty of speech and liberty of The press
must have two restraints. The first is the high
est, which will always govern Il class of men
who cannot violate 1.-THE obligations of honor
deccncy and Justice Another reslraint upon