related to the printer himself, but he must strongly object to his being obliged to find two or three sufficient sureties, because it imposed a condition uponprinters with which many of them would be unable to comply, and with which, unless they did comply, their ruin must be the inevitable consequence, because they would be incapacitated to continue that calling by which they maintained themselves and their families. By far the most numerous class of printers commenced business on a very small scale. They were journeymen, whose savings enabled them to purchase a few types, and set up for themselves. They added to those types from time to time out of the profits of their industry, and at length perhaps succeeded in acquiring a competence. All those who were in the earlier stages of this progress, would be incapable of giving the securities required, for this obvious reason; that though a man might be disposed to become security for another, as far as related to his probity and integrity, yet who would take upon himself the responsibility that a printer should never commit an error in judgment, but constantly exercise a sound discretion, on so ticklish a point as what is and what is not libel, a point upon which gentlemen learned in the law are not always agreed, and on which juries frequently differ,-a London jury having decided a publication to be no libel, and an Exeter jury having afterwards found by their verdict the same publication to be a libel. The effect therefore of this clause would be, to throw all the printing business into the hands of a few opulent men, who were well known to possess the means of paying any fine that might be imposed upon them, and Consequently would have no difficulty in finding the sureties required. Thus the bill would operate most unequally and unjustly; for it would be no hardship whatever on the wealthy class of printers, while it would subject their poorer brethren to ruinous disabilities, incapacitate them from continuing their business, and leave them no alternative, after they had exhausted the money arising from the sale of their press and types, but a gaol or the workhouse. This clause is an infringement of the acknowledged right of every subject in a free state, to employ his industry and talents in such manner as he considers most beneficial to his own interests. It is also inconsistent with the great principle of British legislation, that every man is considered innocent, till he has been proved to be guil y; for by this clause a man who has committed no crime, and who probably never would have committed any crime, is subjected to a most severe as well as unmerited punishment, that of being deprived of his means of livelihood, on the presumption that he may by possibility commit some crime hereafter. The consequence of this measure, as affecting the general interests of literature and the arts, are by no means inconsiderable. It is owing to the competition arising from the number of printers, that the price of printing is kept down to as low a rate as can be possibly afforded. Diminish that competition, and the price will soon be raised.Even now, books are printed in foreign countries, the duty of four guineas per hundred weight paid upon them on importation, and sold here to advantage. Many gen. tlemen know the great number of the Delphin edition of the classics, printed at Paris in Baskerville's types, that were circulated in this country. An English Common Prayer book was printed by Didot at Paris, for the express purpose of being sold here; and lord Byron's works have lately been printed there, and are sold here, cheaper than they can be purchased at the original publishers. If this clause passes, this evil will be aggravated, and the art of printing be transferred from this country to foreigners. Literature also will be discouraged; for booksellers will no longer venture to give that liberal remuneration to writers of talent for the copy-right of their works which they have hitherto done; and men of genius must look to other countries for that remuneration which they will be unable to find herc. Mr. Hume, a writer by no means unfavourable to arbitrary power, commenting upon some despotic proclamations issued, and monopolies granted, in the early part of the reign of queen Elizabeth, observes, that had she continued to pursue the same system, wealth, commerce, and the arts, which have now made this country their favourite abode, would have been as much strangers here, as they are in the dominions of the emperor of Morocco; and if this House legislates in the same spirit of restriction and monopoly, their measures will soon produce the same effects. He concluded by moving as an amendment, that the words "together with two or three sufficient sureties," be left out of the clause. Mr. Alderman Waithman supported the amendment, and said, that nine out of ten of the printers would not have got into business under such restrictions. How, for instance, could Dr. Franklin have got into business? Mr. W. Smith said, that under the bill as it stood, all accounts of proceedings affecting the arts and sciences, agriculture, &c. would be prohibited, except under all the burthens and restrictions it imposed. Mr. R. Wharton said, it had been assumed that the bill was to affect all printers this was not the fact. That it would affect those who with small means, and no character to lose, and no stake in the common-weal, was true. This he deemed to be a good. All public questions would still be discussed, but in a more temperate and decent manner. Mr. W. Smith wished to know whether it was really intended to suppress all publications containing accounts of events? For instance, there was a publication on a sheet or half sheet, containing an account of the distress of the Scilly Isles, widely circulated for the purposes of charity. The Attorney General said, that no publications would be affected that were not exposed for sale; and the words describing papers containing news, intelligence, and occurrences, being borrowed from the newspaper act, all those papers described by the hon. gentleman had in reality been always newspapers. The only additional hardship persons printing such papers were now subjected to was, that they must apply to a printer who had entered into recognizances. It had been said by an hon. member, that it was a new principle of our law to call on persons for securities against crimes with which they had been charged. Now, not only were there in the excise laws many instances similar to the present bill, but persons possessing boats or cutters of a certain description, which were supposed to give facilities for smuggling, were required to find bondsmen that they should not be employed in smuggling transactions. But there was a statute of Edward 6th, which had continued till George 2nd, when it was sanctioned and extended, which required all persons keeping alehouses to give surety for the keeping of order in their houses. The statute of Edward 6th required them to give their recognizances -the statute of Geo. 2nd required them to find two other sureties. He might mention the cases in the revenue laws, but this, which had so long formed a part of The our law, was a stronger instance. amendment would entirely neutralize the clause. It was not too much to say, when so much was trusted to the discretion of a printer, that he should be able to find two or three friends who had some confidence in his prudence. Mr. J. Smith said, that a very large class of publications, entirely innoxious, would be affected by the law. Play-bills contained occurrences, and fell under the bill. Thousands of works, published at a few pence, would be loaded with this 4d. duty. Mr. A. Wright was afraid the bill would affect some works published in the nature of Encyclopædias, in which articles on matters of church and state, merely historical, were inserted in some numbers. Lord Castlereagh asked, whether the apprehension was, that the first or the second part of the bill would apply to these works? If to the second, there could be no difficulty in the printers of such works finding securities as to the penalties applying to them. If the first was supposed to apply, viz. the stamp, the remedy was to bring them out monthly, or in numbers of a price above 6d. When so many modes were open to printers of such works to conform to the law, it was not too much to expect that they should make some effort so to regulate their business, that the law should not be inoperative against that immoral part of the press, against which none had spoken out more plainly than the booksellers themselves. The House was obliged to do something, though perhaps their measure would not be effectual; for instance, a monthly publication might be carried on so blasphemous and treasonable as to be a very serious evil, but yet the government did not wish to cramp the legitimate press too much. As to the notion that in this country of capital, and especially in London, a monopoly could be created by requiring sureties from the printers to the amount of 300l., it was extravagant. It had been shown too, that the enactment was consistent with the very spirit of our laws [a laugh]; he meant in cases where the morals of the country were endangered by any abuses. Mr. Marryat said, he was in hope, when the attorney-general rose, that he would have satisfied the hon. members for Norwich and Oxford, by stating his intentions to introduce certain exemptions into the bill, which would have removed their objections to it. He was the more confident punishing the innocent, in order to impose not consent to superadd the condition re- He in this expectation, having received an assurance to that effect from the solicitorgeneral, to whom he had represented, that the bill, as at present worded, would materially check, if not entirely stop, all the sources of commercial intelligence; for that every price current, every account of the state of the funds, of the course of foreign exchanges, every shipping list, every packet list, in short, every paper not containing two sheets, or printed oftener than once a month, would be sub-sufficient in the case of libel? He could ject to a stamp duty of four-pence. The hon. and learned gentleman, the attorneygeneral, had stated that this bill would tax nothing that was not before taxed; and this assertion made it necessary for him to repeat to the committee, what he had before mentioned to the solicitor-general, that the words of this bill were copied from the act passed three years ago, for regulating the stamp duties in Ireland, and that, under that act, a Mr. Hammerton of the Custom-house at Dublin, who had for some years published a list of vessels that arrived at, and sailed from the different ports of Ireland, was called upon to pay the newspaper stamp duty, and in consequence had been obliged to discontinue the publication altogether. He believed this was not the intention of his majesty's ministers; but tax-gatherers and informers would enforce the law according to its strict letter, and therefore the hon. and learned gentleman, the solicitor-general, had promised him to introduce such a clause of exemption as should prevent the law from being wrested to purposes which were not contemplated by his majesty's ministers.-The hon. member then proceeded to state, that the principal object for which he rose was, to recall the attention of the committee to the amendment he had proposed, and which he regretted to find was to be resisted. He believed that those who framed this bill, had their minds so intent upon the great object of repressing seditious and blasphemous libels, that they had not sufficiently adverted to the operation of their own measure in other respects. He was ready to concur in all just and necessary regulations for putting down those publications, although he thought the evil arising from them had been much exaggerated, and that the great mass of our fellow-subjects were firmly attached to the government under which they were born, and the religion in which they were bred; but he could not go the length of The Solicitor General said, the suggestion of the hon. member respecting the exchange and shipping lists had been attended to, as an amendment was to be introduced to exempt them. The present bill was, however, in that part copied from the newspaper act, and included no papers of that kind which were not before subject to duty. As to the practice of requiring sureties, it was necessary to inquire what was the old law of the country, which had been eulogized by all constitutional writers, from sir E. Coke to sir W. Blackstone, and which had been recognized in Magna Charta, both as granted by king John, and as confirmed by Henry 3rd. No person was allowed to be in this country out of prison, who could not find a certain number of persons to be responsible for his good behaviour. This was a law enacted by a monarch who had never been mentioned but with eulogy-Alfred. This law having been recognized in the charter, and in the confirmation of the charter, had only become obsolete through the change of circumstances in the country. He did not mention it as a law now generally applicable; but he deduced from it this-that when a general law to such an extent had been eulogised by our best constitutional writers-when the principle had been sanctioned in the case of the keepers of ale-houses, though with respect to the people at large the necessity which dictated the general law had ceased -that in a case in which the morals of the country were much more seriously affected than by ale-houses, such an enactment as | name" of the attorney-general, Mr. Denthat now proposed was not hostile to the man, to prevent the abuse of the power principles of the constitution. Again, as thereby given, moved the insertion of the to smuggling, persons gave securities not words," and by the authority." After a because they had been guilty of, but be- short discussion, in which the attorney cause they had facilities for committing and solicitor-general, Mr. Primrose, and breaches of the law. Could any one Mr. V. Blake joined, the amendment was doubt that the evil which the House now negatived without a division. The bill proposed to check, the growth of blas- having been gone through, two new clauses phemy and sedition, was of infinitely were added on the motion of the attorneygreater importance than disturbances in general; the one to enable sureties to ale-houses? Or was it too much that withdraw their recognizances on giving printers should be called upon to give a 20 days notice to the commissioners; the small security when the seditious writers other to provide that nothing in the act were boasting, that by the press, as at should extend to the publication of the present conducted, they could overthrow votes of the House, of state papers, of the laws, religion, and institutions of the books for education, of invoices, &c. The country? House then resumed. Sir W. De Crespigny said, that if this clause stood, and the noble lord should come to any unfortunate termination of his career, this bill would go to exclude the public from the benefit of his last dying speech and confession. Mr. T. Wilson said, that he agreed with much of what had fallen from Mr. Marryat, and that in a future stage, he should move an amendment, for the purpose of exempting the class of publications alluded to by that hon. gentleman. The committee then divided on Mr. Marryat's amendment: Ayes, 82; Noes, 202; Majority, 120. On the motion that the clause itself stand part of the bill, Mr. Denman said, that the case at Manchester, which had been referred to as sufficient reason for this clause, only proved that the magistrates had endeavoured to establish such a right as was now to be given to them, but had failed. Was the House, then, prepared to alter the law of the land merely to meet the view of those magistrates? The term "good behaviour" was extremely vague and indefinite, and the recognizance to that effect was the more unjust because it was unnecessary, as the persons who would be called to give it had already in the first instance given security of a pecuniary nature sufficient to answer all reasonable purposes. Lord A. Hamilton remarked, that the clause was the more cruel, as it required the recognizance, not of a person convicted, but of one charged with a libel, though it might turn out that the charge was malicious or groundless. The committee then divided: Ayes, 129; Noes, 9; Majority, 120. In the clause respecting persons suing, "in the HOUSE OF LORDS. Tuesday, December 21. SEDITIOUS MEETINGS PREVENTION BILL.] The bill was read a third time. On the motion, that it do pass, Lord Erskine said, that although he had long foreseen that ill-advised and imprudent meetings of persons too numerous to be useful for the objects they had in view, however legal, were likely to give occasion to alarms as they had done formerly, so as to be made the foundation of new laws depriving the whole nation of rights which he hoped would never be surrendered by Englishmen; yet he did not expect that a measure so totally unnecessary and so likely to aggravate all the evils complained of, would have been sent up for approbation from the House of Commons-but being here, and looking back to those sent down to them, he despaired altogether of making an impression by any thing he could say; a feeling which disqualified him from speaking as he ought. I have been accustomed, my lords (said lord E.) during the greatest part of my life, to be animated by the hope and expectation that I might not be speaking in vain; a sensation without which there can be no energy in discourse -I have often heard it said, and I believe it to be true, that even the most eloquent man living (how then must I be disabled), and however deeply impressed with his subject, could scarcely find utterance, if he were to be standing up alone, and speaking only against a wall. He meant no offence to the noble lords opposite by the comparison, nor meant to impute to them insensibility or injustice, wisely for their preservation, the Crown had great and salutary powers for the preservation of the peace, and nothing therefore could be so rash as to undervalue those laws which the people had long been familiar to, and to begin to govern them by new ones, which though most offensively restrictive, created no greater security against disorder of any description; but, on the contrary, gave rise to a dangerous spirit of disaffection by the sense that public liberty had been infringed. Against the evils complained how easy was the remedy, by only putting the ancient laws into vigorous execution, quieting at the same time the agitated minds of the multitude, by yielding to his noble friend's advice on the first day of the session, to institute a calm and constitutional inquiry into the abuses and unnecessary violences they complained of. He was glad to see, therefore, even a noble lord who in general acted with ministers proposing some modification of the bill before them, and it gave him pleasure, because he remembered him in his cradle when his father was a companion at the bar. The power given to magistrates was indeed an absolute repeal of all meetings of the people, except when held under a roof, meetings which had been most unqualifiedly admitted by Mr. Pitt in 1795, to be constitutional and legal, so that there was now no right left to hold voluntary assemblies of the people for any. object whatsoever, but at the will of the ministers and magistrates of the Crown. This was but a short sighted view of the principles which could alone produce affectionate and lasting submis. sion to authority. From the moment the bill before them was passed into law, it was in the power of any one man who might be sent to utter some seditious expression, or rather some spy resident on the spot for the very purposes, to put an end in a moment to any meeting however legally assembled or peaceably conducted. He wondered at first why the exclusion of non residents was so tenaciously supported by his majesty's ministers, as even their own spies might have been shut out from attending them; but it had appeared by an attentive examination of the papers before them, and by all information, that they had spies resident in every quarter, and actually engaged in their nefarious and pernicious duty. There might be some kind of excuse for these new and harsh alterations, if the people at large. but their minds were now so thoroughly settled on the question before them, that there was no thoroughfare through their understandings, however liberal they might be-and he should therefore be very short in the performance of what he felt to be a duty too imperious to be passed by. In looking at the bills before them, it appeared as if there had been no provisions against seditious meetings in the common law or in the ancient statutes of the country, and that they were beginning for the first time to legislate on the subject; and from the amendments they had rejected last night, they appeared to be little acquainted with what they were about. The objects they sought to point out from the statement of his noble friend the secretary of state-were meetings dangerous from their numbers-assembled from considerable distances; attended by itinerant orators, with music and seditious symbols to excite disturbance-marching in regular array. He admitted that none of these things were necessary for the great ends of meetings of the people constitutionally assembled to claim and to represent infringements of their rights. But did not the ancient laws sufficiently provide against such abuses-might not meetings, however, legal their objects degenerate into abuse and be attended with danger, and in all such cases not only by the common law but by the Riot act, might not all such excesses be checked; and when there was no other safe remedy, might not such tumultuous assemblies be peaceably dispersed, and even by force, when necessity justified such unfortunate recourse?-Why then, if the people were well satisfied with these restraints upon the irregularities of freedom, why outrage and insult them by putting the exercise of their immemorial and unquestionable privileges under the absolute control of magistrates, whose existences might be terminated in a moment, by a stroke of the pen, by his noble friend on the woolsack, he being himself a magistrate during the pleasure of the Crown. Not that I anticipate from him (said lord E.), any abuse of his authority; but if instead of being an honest man, as I think him, he were an angel sent down to us, and I could see his wings peeping out from under his gown, I would not trust the liberties of England in his hands,-liberties the gift of God himself to a wise and an undaunted people. Consistently with these liberties, and |