★ Keep up to date with the latest news - subscribe to the Transcribe Bentham newsletter; Find a new page to transcribe in our list of Untranscribed Manuscripts
4
LIBEL
Hitherto we have been considering the effects result of the Law rather generally in what is commonly called
a civil view — let us consider them for a moment more particularly in a political. It is strongly
contended by all in opposition many, and I find it disputed by none do not find it disputed by any one in power that the Liberty of the
Press is essentially necessary to a free constitution government. That is the Liberty of saying
sometimes what a Minister does not like to have said of him, as well as what he
does — in short to write, as we say, against [him] a Minister.
But it is very plain from this State of the Law upon the State of the Law as above represented, that
Minister has a right to have any man that writes against him punished for asking:
if in violent & outrageous expressions, severely punished: but in whatever expressions,
punished. How whatis is meant by the Liberty of the Press, unless it be
the Liberty of writing that against a Minister which he does not like, would not have written against him if would I must
profess myself utterly unable to comprehend.
That that Liberty has ever been maintained not by it, but against it.
I am forced then to conclude that by the Law there is no liberty of the Press. it is by
the constant violation of the Law that our liberties of every kind this great Liberty is exerted & every other of our Liberties are secured.
It will here be said, that whatever might be the case formerly, yet in these more
experienced & moderate times, the Judges would depart a little from the of
former determinations, & moderate the mitigate it's severity [of the Law.] would they so indic?
I hope not. Who gave them Authority so to do? to mitigate the severity have its severity mitigated of the
Law it must be alter'd — the old Law on this behalf must be unmade, and a new Law made
in it's room. Be it in plain English the authority of all former decisions must be rejected
be it so — but still they will not reject them all in a heap without more ado.
they will not say we will pay no regard hear no more of them, because we don't like the The decision it was decision of Mr Mathew Hale's who which I have for that reason selected as an example; and if goodness here means integrity by whom shall we find by what process of the imagination shall we form to ourselves a better Judge than Sr Matthew Hale? The shades of that vague kind if censure which has been uniformly deemed libellous are from the lightest to the darkest so infinite in number and so indistinguishable in quality, that if any body can find a method of drawing a line of separation between any two contiguous ones, so as to be able to say that all that is on this side, is illegal all that is on that, illegal, he will accomplish what I am unable even to conceive.
English judges in all cases much more in popular cases always give their reasons: these things are not transacted in a
some reason must be given — now what shall be that reason? these decisions
were made in bad times by bad Judges I am of opinion that this paper is no libel and nothing more is not an opinion for an English Judge "I am of opinion that the censure in this case is not so gross as in the cases that have been cited" is no better. & therefore are not to be followed — but that alone will not do
for granting we may have yet the goodness of a Judge expert in Pounds Ounces & pennyweights decisions on all sorts of subjects have been made in bad times, & if we were
not to follow them, we should often have more to follow. follow none. without wandering into these foreign considerations
some reasons must be given derived from the nature of each case. "the Scandal in
this [& in this & in this case] was not gross enough" — now we come a little to the
|
Identifier: | JB/070/177/002 "JB/" can not be assigned to a declared number type with value 70.
|
|||
|---|---|---|---|
|
070 |
of laws in general |
||
|
177 |
libel |
||
|
002 |
|||
|
text sheet |
2 |
||
|
recto |
c4 / |
||
|
jeremy bentham |
[[watermarks::[gr motif] [britannia with crown motif]]] |
||
|
23292 |
|||