1820. Octr. 12 Spanish liberticide measures. 15 §. 2. I. Press violation

Reasons against libel laws

1. If such things were allowed of, no government could stand. Persuasive or no,

till the government of the Anglo-American United States had risen, and stood a

certain length of time this argument was impregnable. For, as till then, no

government in which such things were allowed of had ever been in existence, the

prophecy had been constantly and universally made, and had never been

disfulfilled. But now, such things having for so many years been allowed of, and

all the time a government standing and that such a government – a government in

comparison of which the least bad of all other governments is a compound

/mixture/ of tyranny and anarchy, the prophecy stands disfulfilled. But the

being disfulfilled is no hindrance to the pretence of a belief in it on the part

of those who see their interest in such a pretence.

2. By Such an allowance order would be disturbed /would be contrary to order/.

In point of fact this argument may be true enough: but in so far as it is true

it is nothing to the purpose. The order established by tyranny is order: and in

proportion to the extent given to such allowance would be the disturbance or at

any rate the risk of disturbance to the order established by tyranny.

3. By Such an allowance good order would be disturbed. In a certain sense this

is /There are certain means by which this may be rendered/ unquestionably true.

Good order is the order which it is our pleasure to maintain, whatsoever it be.

Let there on the one part be asserted or assumed, and on the other assented to,

the proposition is demonstrated. It passes for such among all such as under the

name of good order are occupied in the support of any system of misrule.