day, communicate to the public the several measures taken by the government, as well as the different causes of any importance, whether civil or criminal, that occur in the courts of justice, and sketches from the speeches either of the advocates, or the judges, concerned in the management and decision of them. During the time the parliament continue sitting, the votes, or resolutions of the house of commons, are daily published by authority; and the most interesting speeches in both houses are taken down in shorthand, and communicated to the public in print.

Lastly, the private anecdotes in the metropolis, and the country, concur also towards filling the collection; and as the several public papers circulate, or are transcribed into others, in the different country towns, and even find their way into the villages, where every man, down to the labourer, peruses them with a sort of eagerness, every individual thus becomes acquainted with the state of the nation, from one end to the other; and by these means the general intercourse is such, that the three kingdoms seem as if they were one single town.

And it is this public notoriety of all things that constitutes the supplemental power, or check, which, we have above said, is so useful to remedy the unavoidable insufficiency of the laws, and keep within their respective bounds all those persons who enjoy any share of public authority.

As they are thereby made sensible that all their actions are exposed to public view, they dare not venture upon those acts of partiality, those secret connivances at the iniquities of particular persons, or those vexatious practices which the man in office is but too apt to be guilty of, when, exercising his office at a distance from the public eye, and, as it were, in a corner, he is satisfied that, provided he be cautious, he may dispense with being just. Whatever may be the kind of abuse in which persons in power may, in such a state of things, be tempted to indulge themselves, they are convinced that their irregularities will be immediately divulged. The juryman, for example, knows that his verdict-the judge, that his direction to the jury-will presently be laid before the public: and there is no man in office, but who thus finds himself compelled, in almost every instance, to choose between his duty, and the surrender of all his former reputation.

It will, I am aware, be thought that I speak in too highterms of the effects produced by the public newspapers. I indeed confess that all the pieces contained in them are not patterns of good reasoning, or of the truest Attic wit; but, on the other hand, it scarcely ever happens that a subject, in which the laws, or, in general, the public welfare, are really concerned, fails to call forth some able writer, who, under some form or other, communicates to the public his observations and complaints. I shall add here, that, though an upright man, labouring for a while under a strong popular prejudice, may, supported by the consciousness of his innocence, endure with patience the severest imputations, the guilty man, hearing nothing in the reproaches of the public but what he knows to be true, and already upbraids himself with, is very far from enjoying any such comfort; and that, when a man's own conscience takes part against him, the most despicable weapon is sufficient to wound him to the quick..

Even those persons whose greatness seems most to set them above the reach of public censure, are not those who least feel its effects. They have need of the suffrages of that vulgar whom they affect to despise, and who are, after all, the dispensers of that glory, which is the real object of their ambitious cares. Though all have not so much sincerity as Alexander, they have equal reason to exclaim, O people! what toils do we not undergo, in order to gain your applause!

I confess, that in a state where the people dare not speak their sentiments, but with a view to please the ears of their rulers, it is possible that either the prince, or those to whom he has trusted his authority, may sometimes mistake the nature of the public sentiments; or that, for want of that. affection of which they are denied all possible marks, they may rest contented with inspiring terror, and make them

I shall take this occasion to observe, that the liberty of the press is far from being injurious to the reputation of individuals (as some persons have complained), that it is, on the contrary, its surest guard. When there exist no means of communication with the public, every one is exposed, without defence, to the secret shafts of malignity and envy. The man in office loses his reputation, the merchaut his credit, the private individual his character, without so much as knowing either who are his enemies, or which way they carry on their attacks. But when there exists a free press, an innocent man immediately brings the matter into open day, and crushes his adversaries at once, by a public challenge to lay before the pubiic the grounds of their several imputations."

selves amends in beholding the overawed multitude smother complaints.

But when the laws give a full scope to the people for the expression of their sentiments, those who govern cannot conceal from themselves the disagreeable truths which resound from all sides. They are obliged to put up even with ridicule; and the coarsest jests are not always those which give them the least uneasiness. Like the lion in the fable, they must bear the blows of those enemies whom they despise the most; and they are at length stopped short in their career, and compelled to give up those unjust pur suits which they find draw upon them, instead of that ad miration which is the proposed end and reward of their labours, nothing but mortification and disgust.

In short, whoever considers what it is that constitutes the moving principle of what we call great affairs, and the invincible sensibility of man to the opinion of his fellow creatures, will not hesitate to affirm, that, if it were possible for the liberty of the press to exist in a despotic govern. ment, and (what is not less difficult) for it to exist without changing the constitution, this liberty would alone form a counterpoise to the power of the prince. If, for example, in an empire of the East, a place could be found which, rendered respectable by the ancient religion of the people, might ensure safety to those who should bring thither their observations of any kind, and from this sanctuary printed papers should issue, which, under a certain seal, might be equally respected, and which, in their daily appearance, should examine and freely discuss the conduct of the ca dis, the pashas, the vizir, the divan, and the sultan him self-that would immediately introduce some degree of liberty.

CHAP. XIII.

The subject continued.

ANOTHER effect, and a very considerable one, of the liberty of the press, is, that it enables the people effectually to exert those means which the constitution has bestowed on them, of influencing the motions of the government.

It has been observed in a former place, how it came to be a matter of impossibility for any large number of men,

when obliged to act in a body, and upon the spot, to take any well-weighed resolution. But this inconvenience, which is the inevitable consequence of their situation, does in nowise argue a personal inferiority in them, with respect to the few who, from some accidental advantages, are enabled to influence their determinations. It is not fortune, it is nature, that has made the essential differences between men ; and whatever appellation a small number of persons, who speak without sufficient reflection, may affix to the general body of their fellow-creatures, the whole difference between the statesman, and many a man from among what they call the dregs of the people, often lies in the rough outside of the latter-a disguise which may fall off on the first opportunity: and more than once has it happened, that from the middle of a multitude, in appearance contemptible, a Viriatus has been suddenly seen to rise, or a Spartacus to burst forth.

Time, and a more favourable situation, are therefore the only things wanting to the people; and the freedom of the press affords the remedy to these disadvantages. Through its assistance, every individual may, at his leisure, and in retirement, inform himself of every thing that relates to the questions on which he is to take a resolution. Through its assistance a whole nation, as it were, holds a council and deliberates-slowly, indeed (for a nation cannot be in. formed like an assembly of judges), but after a regular manner, and with certainty. Through its assistance all matters of fact are at length made clear; and, through the conflict of the different answers and replies, nothing at last remains but the sound part of the arguments.

* This right of publicly discussing political subjects is alone a great advantage to a people who enjoy it; and if the citizens of Geneva préserved their liberty better than the people were able to do in the other commonwealths of Switzerland, it was, I think, owing to the extensive right they possessed of making public remonstrances to their magistrates. To these remonstrances the magistrates (for instance, the council of twenty-five, to which they were usually made) were obliged to give an answer. If this answer did not satisfy the remonstrating citizens, they took time, perhaps two or three weeks, to make a reply to it, which must also be answered; and the number of citizens who went up with each new remonstrance increased, according as they were thought to have reason on their side. Thus the remonstrances I which were made on account of the sentence against Rousseau, and were delivered at first by only forty citizens, were afterward often ac companied by about nine hundred. This circumstance, together with the ceremony with which those remonstrances or representations were delivered, rendered them a great check on the conduct of the ma

Hence, though all good men may not think themselves obliged to concur implicitly in the tumultuary resolutions of a people whom their orators take pains to agitate, yet, on the other hand, when this same people, left to itself, perseveres in opinions which have for a long time been discussed in public writings, and from which (it is essential to add) all errors concerning facts have been removed, such perseverance is certainly a very respectable decision; and then it is, though only then, that we may with safety say-The voice of the people is the voice of God.'

How, therefore, can the people of England act, when, having formed opinions which may really be called their own, they think they have just cause to complain of the administration? It is, as has been said above, by means of the right they have of electing their representatives; and the same method of general intercourse that has informed them with regard to the objects of their complaints, will likewise enable them to apply the remedy to them.

Through this medium they are acquainted with the nature of the subjects that have been deliberated upon in the assembly of the representatives;-they are informed by whom the different motions were made-by whom they were supported;-and the manner in which the suffrages are delivered is such, that they always can know the names of those who have voted constantly for the advancement of pernicious measures.

And the people not only know the particular dispositions of every member of the house of commons, but, from the general notoriety of affairs, have also a knowledge of the political sentiments of a great number of those whom their situation in life renders fit to fill a place in that house. And availing themselves of the several vacancies that hap pen, and still more of the opportunity of a general election, they purify, either successively or at once, the legis lative assembly; and thus, without any commotion or danger to the state, they effect a material reformation in the views of the government.

I am aware that some persons will doubt these patriotic and systematic views which I am here attributing to the gistrates: they were even still more useful to the citizens of Geneva as preventives than as remedies; and nothing was more likely to deter the magistrates from taking a step of any kind than the thought tha it might give rise to a representation.