ABSTRACT
Public libels. - Injustice of an attempt to prescribe the method in which public questions shall be discussed - Its pusillanimity. - Invitations to tumult. - Private libels. - Reasons in favour of their being subjected to restraint. - Answer. - 1. It is necessary the truth should be told. - Salutary effects of the unrestrained investigation of character. - Objection: Freedom of speech would be productive of calumny, not of justice. Answer. - Future history of libel. - 2. It is necessary men should be taught to be sincere. - Extent of the evil which arises from a command to be insincere. - The mind spontaneously shrinks from the prosecution of a libel. - Conclusion.
