§ The following protest against the passing of the bill was entered on the Journals:
§ "Dissentient,
§ "1. Because, by the stamps imposed by this bill, and by its further directing recognizances to be entered into by the printers and publishers of the pamphlets and papers therein mentioned, and in sums so large and disproportionate to the probable credit of such persons, or the profits of such small publications, it is 1592 manifest (and has, indeed, been not very indistinctly admitted), that a discouragement, amounting to almost a prohibition, is thus suddenly aimed at a very large and often useful branch of trade.
§ "2. Because this tacit interdict has not been justified, nor even attempted to be supported, in such a manner as the House of Lords, invested with the only certain means of arriving at truth, was, in my opinion, imperiously bound to have resorted to, before it consented to a law abridging, in any manner whatsoever, the freedom of the press.
§ "3. Because the great mass of British subjects have no surer means of being informed of what passes in parliament, and in the courts of justice, or of the general transactions of the world, than through cheap publications, within their means of purchase; and I desire to express my dissent from that principle and opinion, that the safety of the state, and the happiness of the multitude in the laborious conditions of life, may be best secured by their being kept in ignorance of political controversies and opinions; as I hold, on the contrary, that the government of this country can only continue to be secure whilst it conducts itself with fidelity and justice, and as all its acts shall, as heretofore, be thoroughly known and understood by all classes of the people.
§ "4. Because this obstruction to the sale and circulation of small periodical publications is not confined to those of a political character, but most unaccountably extends to all such as shall contain any public news, intelligence or occurrence, or any remark or observation thereon; a description which most obviously comprehends and involves all the transactions of human life upon which reasonable beings, (putting national freedom wholly out of the question) can seek or desire to communicate with one another.
§ "5. Because it might be admitted, in perfect consistency with these objections to this bill, that considerable numbers of the publications in question may have been mischievous; but no evidence, which I can accept as satisfactory, has been laid before the House of the extent of such abuses, nor that the laws had been duly put in force to suppress them, had been found to be ineffectual or insufficient, but on the contrary, that not one information; or indictment had been filed by the attorney-general throughout the whole of the year 1818, against any printer or pub- 1593 lisher of a libel of any description whatsoever, and that in the present year following it, no person, except Richard Carlile, has been brought to trial and convicted.
§ "6. Because, most earnestly as I desire to see the government of this country in all its branches, looked up to with reverence and affection, and all libellers, who maliciously asperse it, brought to speedy constitutional punishments, I am compelled, by long experience in the courts of justice, to question the expediency of any other remedies for such abuses, but a vigorous execution of the ordinary laws; since before the passing of the Libel act, when the province of juries over libels had been annihilated by judicial usurpation, the licentiousness of the press increased beyond the example of former times, until libellers lost their popularity and safety when the people were restored to the privilege of judging them, and of protecting those who were innocent.
§ "7. Lastly, Because I am of opinion that the remedies enacted by this bill to repress the publications in question, will be found to be as inefficacious as they are inconsistent with the principles of the constitution; since, when the smaller printers and publishers are on a sudden thrown out of bread, by the impossibility of finding sureties for such large sums, to be levied by the alarming process of extent, and not upon any facts which such sureties can anticipate, but upon uncertain opinions regarding undefined offences, their principals may have recourse to methods of delivering themselves from the operation of the law. They may enter into larger partnerships or combinations for continuing their periodical works, by small advancements of price and changes in the periods of publication, which will probably be more eagerly sought for after the disappointed interdict, and parliament, if it pursues its object, may be driven to carry on a most unpopular siege against the press, increasing at every step the difficulties to be encountered, and conferring popularity upon a few mischievous writers, who would otherwise sink into obscurity or contempt.
§ (Signed) ERSKINE."
§ Both Houses adjourned to Tuesday the 15th of February.