The multitude
immediately take him into their protection, as a martyr to the
cause of defamation, which they have always espoused. They pay his
fine, they contribute to the increase of his stock, his shop is
crowded with customers, and the sale of his paper rises in
proportion to the scandal it contains. All this time the
prosecutor is inveighed against as a tyrant and oppressor, for
having chosen to proceed by the way of information, which is
deemed a grievance; but if he lays an action for damages, he must
prove the damage, and I leave you to judge, whether a gentleman's
character may not be brought into contempt, and all his views in
life blasted by calumny, without his being able to specify the
particulars of the damage he has sustained.
'This spirit of defamation is a kind of heresy, that thrives
under persecution. The liberty of the press is a term of great
efficacy; and like that of the Protestant religion, has often
served the purposes of sedition -- A minister, therefore, must arm
himself with patience, and bear those attacks without repining --
Whatever mischief they may do in other respects, they certainly
contribute, in one particular, to the advantages of government;
for those defamatory articles have multiplied papers in such a
manner, and augmented their sale to such a degree, that the duty
upon stamps and advertisements has made a very considerable
addition to the revenue.
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