The record-union., 1893-05-27

lduu- Ne rights which had been so
hardly won We're suppressed by force,
and were regained only through great
sacrifices. The day of their restoration
can be recalled by many now living, SO
prolonged and desperate was the strug-
gle, and SO recent the full realization of
the freedom of opinion.
Not writer's and printers alone were
tried for libels and seditious utterances;
clergymen, lawyers, mechanics and men
or all classes were watched, their I'M
guarded expressions noted, and upon the
information of neighbors or spies they
were tried, and, as witnesses for the de-
tense were discredited, they were almost
always convicted and punished with the
greatest severity and brutality. one
Judge, as he passed sentence of trans
portatiOn for fourteen years upon a
worthy young man whose crime con-
sisted In having advocated reform in
government, expressed regret that the
court was deprived OF the power OF tor
ture.
And now came additional legislation
which put shachles upon the people and
made intelligence crime. The leader in
all this infamous business was Pitt, be-
fore whom freedom fell. The most merci-
less prosecutions followed the publica-
ton ofanything distasteful to the Govern
ment, or to the representatives OF foreign
Governments, and the eloquence of
Erskine and Fox in defense of the popu-
lar Constitution could command the sup
port OF only a half hundred votes on 4
division in the House of Commons.
one turns from This black record to the
enlightened policy advocated by Fox,
and the great forensic efforts of Erskine,
with a sense of relief. The latter show
how glorious!y great mans lips may be
touched with divine truth when pleading
the cause OF humanity. On an occasion,
early in this struggle with power,
when honest juries were impaneled, he
said:
"Other liberties are held under govern
ments, but the liberty OF opinion keeps
governments themselves in subjection TO
their duties. This has produced the
martyrdom Of truth in every age; and
the world has been only purged from
ignorance with the innocent blood OF
those who have enlightened it,"
The gratitude ana admiration of the
writers of the press was elOquently en-
pressed by one-Samuel Taylor Cole
ridge, whose fame is world-Wide-in 4
sonnet, which, with your indulgence, 1
Will now read:
When British Freedom for happier land
Spread her broad wings, that hutterd with
alright,
Erskine thy voice she heard, and paused her
flight
Sublime of hope! For dreadless thou dds
THY censer glowing with the hallow'd tlame)
An hlreIess Priest before the insulted shrine,
And at her altar poured the stream divine
" unmatched eIuquence. Therefore thy name
her sons shall Vencrate, and cheer thy breast
With blessings heaV breathed. And
when the doom
OF Nature bids thee rise beyond the tomb
Tny light shall shine: sunk beneath the
west
Tho the great summer sun eludes our gaze,
HaaN n nj a
blaze.
The most remarkable journalist of
these years of war, political agitation and
social development was William CobDett,
whose career for over forty years en-
gagged the attention of the people of two
continents. He was the son Of an Eng
Hsh farmer and served in America as a
soldier for eight years. He returned TO
England in 1871, and having obtained his
discharge from the army he recrossed
the Atlantic to Philadelphia in 1892,
where he established Peter Porcup{ne'S )
Gazette, a Federalist paper. While his
admiration for the British Constitution
embarrassed the Federallst leaders, they
were glad to avail themselves OF his ex-
traOrdinary abilities as a political contrO-
Versialist. POrcupiRe'S quilIs were the
terror of all who had the temerity to as
sail either the American or the English
George. His pen portraits filled friends
with delight and enemies with rage
The JehersOnian Republicans waited
for an opportunity to crush the offender,
and it came in the closing years OF the
century. For having criticised with
much severity DR.. kush's practice OF
bleeding yellow fever patients, and for
having spoken disrespectfully of the
King of Spain, he was tried and con-
victed of libels. The JetferSonians had
control of the Pennsylvania courts, and
no mercy was shown TO the offender. The
fines, costs and forfeiture exhausted Cob
belts little fortune. and he returned to
London, where in 1902 he established the
PotittcaL Register, Tory paper. He
rode on the wave of popularity until he
grew tired of Pitt, and then became Il
radical and professed admirer Of Ameri-
can republicanism. In 1904 he published
two letters from an Irish Judge ridicu-
ling certain officers Of Government. He
was convicted OF libel and fined. The
author of the libel was retired from his
judicial office on lie pension-a strik-
ing illustration of the equity then pre-
yailing in England. In 1909 Cobbett
was indicted for libel upon the German
legion, was convicted and sentenced to
two years imprisonmentan and fined 81 600,
which sentence was promptly and rigOr-
ouslv carried into effect. In this case
Cobbett was martyr TO the cause of the
oppressed. Some soldiers in a regiment
OF militia at Ely had been flogged, the
German legion standing guard during the
intiiction OF the punishment. In a burst
of indignation Cobbett committed the
libel:
Five hundred lashes each! Aye, that is
right fog tnem 1log them! They deserve
it, and a great deal more They deserve a
logging at every meal time. Lash them daily!
What! snail the raScals dare to muIiny, and
that, too, wnen the German legion is 50 near
at hand?
While undergoing this punishment
Cobbett addressed a series of letters to the
Prince Regent protesting against British
aggressious on our commerce and war
with America. They are amongst the
best specimens eXtant of fOrcible politi-
cal reasoning, and are remarkable in
force OF plangent statement. Each one is
dated from state Prison, y ewgate," :" and
opens with reference to the cause of his
own punishmentt
l have referred to the excessive taxes
assessed upon the press in order to limit
its circulation, and restrict the enlighten-
ment of the people. Cobbett devised the
plan of publishing cheap newspapers un-
der the title I}CO Pe1lay IFdSh, which es-
capped the stamp tax eXacted of periodi-
Gals. Intelligence was then brought
within the means of artisans and me-
chanics, and they were rapidly educated
in the rights OF freemen. Cobbett's fame
increased. From 1909 to 1872 it was
thought possible to crush the press and
end its relations with the toilers. Writers
were transported, imprisoned and fined,
and five hundred vendors OF the un-
stamped newspapers were imprisoned
within six years. The contest" saws a
contemporary writer, was one of life
and death. Amidst the general din of the
battle, but high above all shouts was
*Rere is the portrait he drew Of one whom
We venerate rs Father of the Constitution. ="
1t is found in 81 Summary of Proceedings of
Congress-" November. 1874: