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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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> ,: ! Law of IAbeL it y Can that faith propriety be called a law which will not admit of ^ definition , and which leaves so much to uncertainty in the minds of our jurfes , that one shall give a verdict of £ 400 damages , and another , in the same case , only a single farthing ? Or suppose we admit the wretched attempt at definition by our judicial ipse dixits " the greater the truth the greater the
libel , " then comes the unavoidable corollary , " the greater the lie the less the offence ; ' * and the premises and the inference are well worthy of each other ' s support . They are solecisms in language , an insult to common sense , and an outrage upon every moral sentiment and feeling . In short , they are " morally wrong , and therefore cannot be politically right /' If villany is to be screened from responsibility and merited reproach — if we are never to open our mouths to expose the most wanton and
barefaced violation of public justice , then farewell to all distinctions between virtue and vice , for we shall never be able to profit by the one or guard against the other . A church is a church , a cabbage a cabbage , and a scoundrel a scoundrel , and it is not by changing or mincing their names that we can alter their qualities . Suppose my best friend is about to be inveigled into a partnership with one whom I know to be a consummate
villain , am I to stand by a silent spectator because an exposure might tend to injure the rascal ? Insinuations will not do , and I am obliged to mention facts ; and then , according to modern explanation , the more correct I am in my information the greater the crime I commit against the peace and welfare of society ; and if the offender is allowed to riot with impunity , my friend is ruined ; while honour , fidelity , virtue , and religion , upbraid me with my neglect . Or suppose die case of master and servant : every principle of rectitude , and even the law itself , requires , that a faithful and just
character should be given on inquiry , " nothing extenuated nor aught set down in malice ; " but how will this rule apply in the case of libel ? The varlet may have debauched my damsels , bored and drained my barrels , and pilfered my plate pantry ; but he says , " You have no right to injure me , or to make a football of my reputation ; if I have done wrong let the law punish me ; but if you dare to expose me I will sue you for damages on the law of libel . " Or there may be numberless detects in
the character of a female domestic , which the laws would not punish , and which , nevertheless , ought not to be disguised on application for character . She may be dirty , idle , insolent , wasteful , and a liar ; she may have corrupted her fellpw-servants and my children , but it is ^ t my peril that I declare these failings . She defies me to substantiate the chaiges ; I
shall not be allowed tb prove them in a court of justice , and if f attempt it elsewhere so as to injure her character , I shall be made t 6 suffer for my presumption . Such atei a rjart of the vile inconsistencies of this absurd law . What then remains tt > be d 6 nfc in order that it may be consisted to that oblivion or infamy to whfch it is so justly entitled , but that a fqw honest
juries should pr ^ Ve by their verdicts , that as long fcs the public are true to themselves it will ndfc Win tn ! £ tioh ! ver of iritfefestetj , designing ^ o * ignorant judges to enslave them , oV to suffer ^ Ae ^ lam ^ i tales of equity tir justice to be violated to the public injury !
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Aug. 2, 1827, page 577, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1799/page/25/
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