“The law of England is a law of liberty”

—  Edward Law, 1st Baron Ellenborough

R. v. Cobbett (1804), 29 How. St. Tr. 49.
Context: The law of England is a law of liberty, and, consistently with this liberty, we have not what is called an imprimatur (let it be printed); there is no such preliminary licence necessary. But if a man publish a paper, he is exposed to the penal consequences, as he is in every other act, if it be illegal.

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Edward Law, 1st Baron Ellenborough photo
Edward Law, 1st Baron Ellenborough 21
Lord Chief Justice of England 1750–1818

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