Part 2 (1/2)
Gentlemen of the Jury,--I now come to the next point in the argument.
Having, I hope, successfully proved the right of free inquiry and the free publication of opinions, I will proceed to show, by a reference to past events, that it is highly important that this right should be preserved, and handed down to our latest posterity unimpaired.
Gentlemen, it has been a uniform practice, from the earliest records of time, to stigmatize those who introduce new truths, or who attack the existing inst.i.tutions of a country, as infidels, and to fix upon them all sorts of opprobious epithets.
”In all ages _new doctrines_ have been branded as impious; and Christianity itself has offered no exception to this rule. The Greeks and Romans charged Christianity with 'impiety and novelty.' In _Cave's Primitive Christianity_ we are informed 'that the Christians were everywhere accounted a pack of _Atheists_, and their religion _the Atheism._' _They were denominated; 'mountebank impostors,' and 'men of a desperate and unlawful faction.' They were represented as 'destructive and pernicious to human society,' and were accused of 'sacrilege, sedition, and high treason.' The same system of misrepresentation and abuse was practised by the Roman Catholics against the Protestants at the Reformation. Some called their dogs Calvin; and others transformed Calvin into Cain,' In France, 'the old stale calumnies, formerly invented against the first Christians, were again revived by Demochares, a doctor of the Sorbonne, pretending that all the disasters of the state were to be attributed to Protestants alone.'”--*Combe on the Const.i.tution of Man_.
In our own enlightened country, where the importance of truth--and free inquiry as a means of its attainment--is beginning to be appreciated, a different practice should prevail. We ought not to persist in this unmanly course. Recollect, Gentlemen, the Prophets of the Jews were _blasphemers_ against the established religions of their day. Did that deter them from denouncing the idolatry and false religions of the surrounding nations? Elijah is represented as ridiculing the G.o.d of the Moabites in a most offensive manner: ”_And it came to pa.s.s at noon, that Elijah mocked them and said, 'Cry aloud: for he is a G.o.d; either he is talking f or he is pursuing, or he is in a journey, or peradventure he sleepeth and must be awaked._'” 1 Kings xviii. 27. And in Judea, Jesus and his Apostles were charged as blasphemers against Judaism, or the religion established by Moses. We have a remarkable proof of this in the case of Stephen, recorded in the 6th and 7th chapters of the Acts of the Apostles.
”And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spake.
”Then they suborned men, which said, We have heard him speak _blasphemous_ words against Moses, and against G.o.d.
”And they stirred up the people, and the elders, and the scribes, and came upon him, and caught him, and brought him to the council,
”And set up false witnesses, which said, This man ceaseth not to speak blasphemous words against this holy place and the law:
”For we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth shall destroy this place, and shall change the customs which Moses delivered us.”--Acts vi, 10--14.
And Stephen defending himself before the Council, boldly asks them,
”Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? And they have slain them which showed before of the coming of the Just One; _of whom ye have_ BEEN NOW THE BETRAYERS AND MURDERERS.
”When they heard these things they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed at him with their teeth.
”And they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord,
”And cast him out of the city, and stoned him.” Acts vii; 51, 52, 54,57,58.
Now, Gentlemen, is it just or politic that the proclaimers of new truths, and new systems, should be treated in this manner? Would it not be far more rational to hear what a man has to say, and answer him, than to ”gnash at him with the teeth,” to ”stop your ears,” to ”run at him with one accord,” and to ”stone him to death?” Can you, Gentlemen, by your verdict give your sanction to a course of proceeding similar to that which deprived Stephen of life? All persecution is the same in spirit--highly unjust and impolitic--whether it be exercised against the Apostle Stephen, or the humble individual who now addresses you.
Gentlemen, the supporters of the established religion in the days of the Apostles, pursued the same course that the bigots of the present day are pursuing. They applied to the High Priest, or to the Attorney-General of that day, to prosecute Stephen for _blasphemy_, and stirred up the people. In the present case the Bishop of Exeter did not stir up the people, but he stirred up the Government. He sent a packet of papers to Lord Normanby, who handed them to the Attorney-General, and he appears to have considered it to be his duty to inst.i.tute the present prosecution. The learned Attorney-General, as was the case with the priests and rulers of the Jews, would not allow any discussion to take place that was likely to change existing customs. I will do the Government the justice to say, however, that I do not believe they are disposed to put a stop to the full investigation of any subject, if conducted with decency. I readily admit that the pa.s.sage in the eighth number of Mr. Haslam's Letters is highly objectionable in phraseology--it is in very bad taste--but is that a reason for sending a bookseller to prison, because he has sold a book written in bad taste?
It cannot be--all published works must be left to the fiat of public opinion to determine their merit.
Gentlemen, the same spirit was evinced by the wicked and corrupt rulers of the Jews against the founder of Christianity. They sought false witnesses against him; but at length, Jesus having spoken out explicitly, the High Priest rent his clothes, saying, ”_He hath spoken blasphemy; what further need have we of witnesses? Behold, now ye have heard his blasphemy. What think ye? They answered and said_, *HE is guilty to death.*” (Matt. 26; 65.) Will you, Gentlemen--a Christian Jury--considering Christianity part and parcel of the law of the land, by your verdict say, that Jesus was rightly treated by the Jews? Ought the const.i.tuted authorities of that day to have obstructed the glorious truths of Christianity, and have put to death the Messenger of Man's salvation? Unless you deliver a verdict of acquittal, in my case, you in effect sanction and justify all the cruelties exercised against Jesus and his Apostles by the rulers of the Jews?
The learned Counsel for the prosecution will, perhaps, think that there is no a.n.a.logy between the cases cited and my own case--that Jesus and his Apostles introduced truths of the greatest magnitude and importance, while I am indicted for selling a book that denies the truth of the Jewish Scriptures. Why, Gentlemen, Dr. Adam Clarke says, ”There is some reason to fear that they (the Jews) _no longer consider the Old Testament as divinely inspired, but believe that Moses had recourse to pious frauds_.” And, Gentlemen, Jesus and his Apostles denied the _truth_ of the Jewish Scriptures--_as understood by the rulers of the Jews_,--and for denying the orthodox and received sense of the Jewish Scriptures were accused of blasphemy, and received the fate of martyrs!
That cannot be disputed. Was it just, then,--was it politic, I ask, to settle this controversy by force and cruelty? To _scourg or imprison, and destroy_ those glorious men who had important truths to impart to the world? If England has embraced Christianity--and we are not a nation of hypocrites--let us act upon the spirit of his religion. He says plainly and emphatically, that we are not to root up error by force or cruelty.
In the parable of the tares of the field, he sets forth our duty. ”The Kingdom of Heaven,” he says, ”is likened unto a man who sowed good seed in his field; but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, there appeared the tares also. So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst thou not sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares! He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servant said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? But he said, _Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them_. *Let both grow together until the harvest.*” Matt, xiii; 25--30.
When his disciples demanded an explanation of this parable, he said, ”The field is the world: the good seed are the children of the Kingdom: but the tares are the children of the wicked one: the enemy that sowed them in the devil: the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the Angels. The Son of Man shall send forth his Angels, and They shall gather out of his Kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity.” Matt, xiii; 38, 39. 41.
Gentlemen, how unjust and impolitic, then, are these prosecutions. Do they stop the progress of truth? Persecution for matters of opinion is the same in every case--impolitic--for it never yet succeeded in stopping the circulation of a correct opinion or a prohibited book? Why should _Christians_ prosecute men for disbelieving the _Jewish_ Scriptures, when, according to Dr. Adam Clarke, the Jews disbelieve parts of the Old Testament themselves? Why should professed Christians take up and defend that which the Jews themselves reject? Paul, himself, teaches us that the Jewish law has been superseded by a superior system.
He tells us that the Jewish law ”was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ (or Christianity), but after that we are no longer under a schoolmaster.” Gal. iii; 24, 25.
I can a.s.sure the Jury that if Haslam's Letters to the Clergy is an improper book, it cannot be put down by prosecution; it is far better to leave it to coldness and neglect. I could give many proofs of this. I am myself an instance of the inefficacy of prosecution. I have been prosecuted, as I think with great injustice, for the publication of a paper called _The Poor Man's Guardian_. Five hundred men was imprisoned for selling it; I was twice imprisoned, and the circulation of the paper, thus prosecuted, more than paid my losses; but at last, in the Court of Exchequer, before Lord Lyndhurst, the Jury found a verdict in my favour, for I convinced the Jury that the publication was one which was not against the law.
The Attorney-General: The Jury found that it was not a newspaper.
Precisely so: and as soon as it was known that the _Guardian_ was a legal paper, it went down at once. I could not sell copies enough to pay the expenses (a laugh). It has been just the same with these Letters; they have remained unsold till this prosecution, but as soon as it was known that they were prosecuted, the man who published them could not print them fast enough.