§ On the order of the day for the third reading of this bill,
1569§ Sir R. Wilsoncould not suffer this opportunity to pass without once more entering his protest against the measure. He thought it was one which was calculated to enslave the country. Whether ministers would abuse the power which, it gave them, he would not say; but whether they did so or not, he objected to the bill as a measure, which, under the pretence of putting down seditious libels, went to cramp every thing like free discussion upon political subjects. In the name therefore of the free people of England—not the people without the government of King, Lords, and Commons, but the people with the sovereign at their head—he protested against this measure, as one which would alter their excellent constitution. He condemned it the more as being part of a series of severe enactments against public liberty, without being accompanied with even an attempt to inquire into the condition of the people, or the cause of their distresses.
§ Sir H. Parnellbegged to remind the noble lord of the situation in which the bill would place Ireland. It would, in her situation, be much more severely felt than in England, for she had already restrictions on the press which were not known here. He alluded to the power which was exercised of withholding stamps from the proprietor of a newspaper after his conviction for a libel a second time. There were also several regulations with respect to stamp duties on the smallest papers, even hand-bills, which were not known here. He trusted, therefore, the noble lord would take this matter into consideration, and introduce some measure upon the subject.
§ The bill was then passed.