Chap. XIV.] AND Religiojj. 221> 



in the nature of the government. If the press had con- 

 tinued free, these sad effects of a waste of the public 

 money never could have taken place ; for, the wasters of 

 that money ■would have been so exposed as to be unable 

 to live under the odium which the exposure would have 

 occasioned; and, if the parliament had not checked 

 the waste and punished t!ie wasters, the public indigna- 

 tion would have destroyed the parliament. But, with 

 a muzzled press, the Masters proceeded with the con- 

 sciousness of impunity. Say to any individual man 

 when he is 20 years of age : " You shall do just what 

 " you please Avith all the money of other people that jou 

 " can, by any means, all your life long, get into your 

 " hands, and no one shall ever be permitted to make you 

 " accountable, or even to -write or speak a Avord against 

 " you for any act of fraud, oppression, or waste." 

 Should you expect such an individual to act honestly 

 and wisely ? Yet, this, in ft^ct, is what a Borough- 

 monger Parliament and the new Law of Libel say to 

 every set of Ministers. 



420. Before 1 quit this subject of Libel, let me 

 observe, however, tliat vo juryman, even as the law 

 now stands in England, is in conscience bound to find 

 any man guilty on a charge of criminal libel, unless 

 the evidence prove that the pretended libeller has been 

 actuated by an evil motive, and unless it be sXm proved 

 by evidence, that his words, spoken or written, were 

 scandalous and malicioux. Unless these things be 

 clearly proved by evidence, the juryman, who finds a 

 man gvilfy, is a base, jierjnred villain ; and ought to 

 be punished as such. 



421. The State of Connecticut, in her new Con- 

 stitution, before mentioned, has put this matter of libel 

 on the true footing ; namely ; " In all prosecutions and 

 " indictments for libel the TRUTH way be given in 

 " evidence, and the Jury shall hare the right to determine 

 " the law and the fads." Thus, then, common sense has, 

 at last, got the better ; and TRUTH can, in this State, 

 at least, in no case, be a legal crime. But, indeed, the 

 press has NOW no restraint in America, other than 

 that imposed by TRUTH. Men publish what they 

 please, so long as they do not publish /a/seAoot/«; and, 

 even in such cases, they are generally punished by the 



