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frie ^ i W | ai ^ c * kmed by ycpr verdict ; for th (^ e dp <^ ri » e 8 , I fearli&jjay f eU y < ou * mast * rf established , inevitably destroy the wjbote liberties of us all . Not that he has ventured to deny the rigij £ of discussion generally upon all subjects , even upon the present ^ or to screen from free inquiry the foundations of the Established Church and the conduct of its ministers as a , body ( which I shall satisfy , you are
not even commented on . in the publication before you ) . Far from iny learned friend is it tp impugn those rights in the abstract ; nor ^ indeed , have I ever yet heard a prosecutor for libel—an Attorney-General , ( and I have Been a good many in my time , ) whether of our Lord the
King or our Lord of Durham , who ; while in the act of crushing every thing lik ; e unfettered discussion , did not preface his address to the Jury , with * God forbid that the fullest inquiry should not be allowed ; ' but then the admission had invariably a condition following close behind , which entirely retracted the con-€
cession—provided always the discussion be carried on harmlessly , temperately , calmly *—that is to say , in such a manner as to leave the subject uutouched , and the reader unmQved ; to satisfy the public prosecutor , and to please the persons attacked .
" My learned friend has asked if the defendant knows that the Church is established by law ? He knows it , and so do I . The Church is established by law , as the civil government—as all the institutions of the country are established by law—as ail the offices under the Crown
are established by law , an < J i | ll whp «* them are by the Jaw protected . It $ 9 « ot more established , nor more protected , than those institutions , ^ fitce rs aj * 4 office - bearers , each of which jjf recogpj ^ ed and favoured by the law JJ | 6 muciji as the Church ; but I I nevef au £ have hjeard , and bearers , each of which jjf recogpj ^ ed and favoured by the law | 6 mu ^ i as the Church ; but never jup £ have heard , and
I trust I never * half f teas * of all do I expect in the , Reason which your verdict this day will re » d # to hear , that those officers and office beawtrs , and all those institutions , sacfod and secular , and the conduct of aU , Wmfther laymen or priests ,
who admiubter . flietn , are not the fair subject * of opei # ilntrammelled , manly , zealous , and evWfehement discussion , as long as this <*§ ptry pretends to liberty , and prides heimm on the possession of a free press . . / '
" [ At this part of the learned counsel ' s address , which was delivered With extra , ordinary force and animation , there was an involuntary burst o ^ applause from the persons in Court , which !* aj crowded to excess . The Judge said fa was ' aboimti able / aud Mr . Brougham , addressing Jfe fs- J arVt said , * I am sure nothing cant ™ more contrary to every feeling that I
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have thau that any human beiog ejlc ^ p mgi yourselves should , directly ^ jJfl ^ jr r $ e # ! jr 9 take part in these proceedings " The interruption having ceased , the Jeiirn ed gentleman resumed . ] , " In the publication before you * the defendant has not attempted to dispute the high character of the Church : on that
establishment or Its members , generally , he has not endeavoured to fix any stigma . Those topics then are foreign to the present inquiry , and I have no interest in discussing them ; yet after , what has fallen from my learned friend , it is fitting
that I should claim for this defendant , and for all others , the right to question , freely to question , not only the conduct of the ministers of the Established Church , but even the foundations of the Church
itself . It is indeed unnecessary for my present purpose , because I shall demonstrate that the paper before you does net touch upon those points ; but unnecesrsary though it be , as my learned friend has defied me , I will follow him to de field and say , that if there is any one of the institutions of the country which .
more emphatically than all the rest , jus * tifies us in arguing strongly , feeling powerfully , and ^ expressing our sentiments with vehemence , it is that branch of the State which , because it is sacred , because it bears connexion with higher principles than any involved in the mere management of worldly concerns , for that very reason ,
entwines Usejf with deeper feelings , and must needs be discussed , if discussed at all , with more warmth and zeal tban any other part of our system is fitted to rouse . But if any hierarchy in all the world is 'bound on every principle of cpnsistency , if any church should be forward
not only to suffer but prova ^^ bcussion , to stand upon that title and ejp 51 * en ge the most unreserved inquiry , it is the Protestant Church of England ; first , because she has nothing to dread from it ; secondly , because she is the very creature of free inquiry—the offspring of repeated revolutions—add the most reformed of the Reformed Churches of Europe . But
surely if there is any one corner of Protestant Europe where men ought not to be rigorously judged in ecclesiastical controversy—where a large allowance should be made for the conflict of irreconcileable opinions—where the harshness of jafring tenets should be patiently bprtie , and strong , or even violent language , be
not too narrowly watched—it ifr this very realm , in which we live under three different ecclesiastical orders ,, an ^ owe allegiance to a Sovereign who , in one Off his kingdoms , is the head of the Ctiirch , acknowledged as such by all men ; while , in another , neither he , nor any earthly being , is allowed to assume that njiiue—
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&miet& ^ T ¥ i 4 ttq /*« Jk A * fVUUanu far a Libel on the Clergy . ^^
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vol . xvii . 4 u
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Nov. 2, 1822, page 697, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2518/page/41/
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