GENERAL HISTORY. 



[61 



tion, in order that he may recom- 

 mend to the several magistrates to 

 act thereupon,, in all cases wheie 

 any person shall be found offend- 

 ing against the law in the manner 

 above-mentionetl. 



1 beg leave to add, that persons 

 vending pamphlets or other pub- 

 lications, in the manner alluded 

 to, should be considered as coming 

 under the provisions of the Hawk- 

 ers ?.nd Pedlars' Act, and be dealt 

 with accordingly, unless they show 

 that they are furnished with a 

 licence as required by the said act. 



I have the honour to be, &c. 



SiD.MODTH. 



To this circular letter was sub- 

 joined a copy of that of the two 

 law officers, tlie attorney and so- 

 licitor-general, signed W. Garrow 

 and S. Shepherd. The substance 

 of it was, that a warrant may be 

 issued to apprehend a party charged 

 on oath for publishing a liliel, 

 either by the secretary of state, a 

 judge, or a justice of the peace. 



On May 12tli the subject was 

 brought before the House of Lords 

 on a motinn from Earl Grey. His 

 lordsiiip stated, as the ])rincip;d 

 topic which he had to discuss, the 

 question whether any justice of 

 the peace may be ca led ujion, by 

 any common informer, to decide 

 at once what is or i? not a libel, 

 and \ipon his sole judgment and 

 authority commit or hold to bail 

 the person accused. 'J'he know- 

 ledge wiiich he displayed on the 

 subject was very consideral.le ; but 

 depending entirely upon the opi- 

 nions gi\cn by different lawyers, 

 and his conunent'^ upon them, it 

 will ni)l allow us to enter into 

 piuticnlars. After he had brought 

 together a degree of cumulative 

 ])roof which, he contended, was 



scarcely to be found in any other 

 instance, against the power as- 

 sumed by justices of the peace of 

 committing or holding to bail for 

 a hbel, his lordship took under 

 his consideration the conduct of 

 the secretary of state, in issuing 

 his circular letter to the lords 

 lieutenants of counties, for the 

 direction of the magistrates in the 

 administration of the law. He 

 held that such a direct'on to the 

 magistrates, not being a general 

 exhortation to vigilance and care, 

 but a specific instruction as to the 

 way in which theyaie to construe 

 the law, would have been, even it" 

 the law had been clear and undis- 

 puted, a high offence against the 

 constitution. The character of 

 this proceeding, therefore, he did 

 not hesitate to call most unconsti- 

 tutional ; and he brought two 

 striking instances to show the 

 danger that might arise from it. 

 In conclusion, Lord Grey moved, 

 " That the case submitted to the 

 law-officers of the crown, &c. be 

 laid before this House." 



Lurd EllcnboroKgh, after com- 

 plimenting the noble earl for his 

 very able ami elaborate speech, 

 which I roved that he had con- 

 sidei'ed this importiint question in 

 all its bearings, said that hev^as 

 by no means convinced from any 

 of the authorities he had cited, 

 that the law was different from 

 what he had always considered it 

 to be, namely, that justices of the 

 peacv- can attest and hold to bail 

 in cases of libel. He then called 

 to his support some of the gravest 

 and most ven rable authorities of 

 the law which spoke expressly and 

 explicitly on the subject; and 

 affirmed that if, from the time of 

 the revolution to the present day, 



the 



