he power of printing and publishing its papers. But what I want to
do is this--to provide that, when it proceeds to the sale of them, the
law should take its course. As to the printing and publishing of papers,
I have no objection, until it comes to the point of sale. The sale ought
not, in my opinion, to be made by the authority of the house; it ought
to be made by individuals, and they should be responsible for what they
sell, as they were previously to the passing of the resolution in 1835;
and, up to that time, it must be admitted that the House of Commons and
the House of Lords had the advantage of all their privileges quite as
much as they have had ever since. My lords, I must confess that I look a
little further into this question than the mere matter of libelling
individuals. I consider all this as it affects the public generally;
and, I say, the public is mainly interested in its being understood that
the House of Commons and the House of Lords are not to be the privileged
sellers of libels against individuals.

_April 6, 1840._

_Libels on foreign Sovereigns ought not to be permitted._

I remember reading with great satisfaction, the history of a great case,
which was pleaded and argued at considerable length, some years ago, in
this country--I mean the case of the "King v. Peltier," in the court of
King's Bench. That was the case of an action brought against an obscure
individual, for a libel which he had published upon the sovereign of a
neighbouring country, with whom we were then in a state of peace and
amity. Now, I ask your lordships whether, supposing, in the course of
the late Polish revolution, the libels, some of which we have seen
printed in this country, and others which we have heard spoken of in the
other, and, I believe, in this house of parliament, reviling, in the
strongest terms, the sovereign of Russia, had been stated in the
petitions, or in the proceedings of the House of Commons, and had been
printed, published, and sold by its authority; I ask your lordships
whether such a proceeding would not have been calculated to disturb the
peace of this country, and of the world at large? In short, I ask your
lordships whether it is desirable that there should be an opportunity of
publishing and selling, on the part of the two houses of parliament,
libels against the sovereigns of all the foreign powers in Europe? My
lords, I am one of those who consider that the greatest political
interest of th