but of one medium and that a false one too for 't is nothing else but a groundless supposition that Men would want due means for the examination of their Religion were the Press any whit restrained I say any whit for we do not plead for a total Restraint but for a just and due Regulation And were the Press so regulated yet would it not be attended with any of these ill Consequences with which this Author is pleased to charge it for since Men have sufficient means for the trial of their Religion if they do it not their fin and folly must be imputed not to the Restraint of the Press but to their own Ignorance or Negligence for as some cannot so others will not But our Author goeth on and so must we SECT VII 5. THis Author's fifth Allegation against the Restraint of the Press takes up more than three Pages but the full Substance of it is this It prevents Acts of Charity to the Souls of Men it invades the natural Rights of mankind and destroys the common Tyes of humanity so he This is Dogmatically and Magisterially delivered and since it is such ◠grievous Charge it had need be very well proved And how doth our Author make it out He tells us That all Men are obliged especially in Matters of Religion to communicate to one another what they think is the Truth and the Reasons by which they endeavour to prove it To which I answer thus That we are indeed concerned not only to profess a Religion but promote it too I think that he who hath one jot thereof will never deny We are bound by several Obligations to instruct and teach our Neighbour in the Principles of that Religion which we own our selves St. Paul commands it Edify one another and so again Teach and admonish one another We are engaged by the frequent Commands of God and that eternal Law of Charity in our Capacities and as occasion is offered to propagate our Religion to plant it where it is not and to water it where it is But then methinks before we do this we should not only think as this Author saith but secure our selves and others too that the Religion which we advance in the World be indeed the Religion of God we must be sure that we plant not Weeds instead of Flowers that we sow not Tares instead of Wheat For to promote a Religion which may possibly be false were a desperate Venture indeed and he that doth it hazards the Honour of God and the Souls of Men. I find that our blessed Saviour and his Apostles taught no Doctrine but what they were sure of We speak that we know saith our Lord and thus St. John We know that we are of the Truth Certainly whosoever undertakes and is obliged to instruct another in matters of Religion had need be very well informed himself For if our Directions should chance to prove wrong What Excuse could we make Suppose we instil into the minds of Men Error and Heresie instead of Truth What were this but to ruin the Souls of Men though we might think to save them It 's true our good Intention and Ignorance may excuse such an ill Act à tanto but though such a mistake may somewhat extenuate the Fault yet can it no way lessen the fatal Consequence that doth attend it Suppose a Physician who really intends to cure his Patient by a mistake of his Remedy should chance to kill him the poor Patient who dieth only by a mistake suffers as great an injury as if his Physician had poysoned him knowingly and with design 'T is indeed an Act of Charity to instruct the Ignorant and lead the Blind but withal the Man who undertakes it must have Eyes in his own Head lest if the blind lead the blind they both fall into and perish in the Ditch Certain it is we are much engaged very strictly to sift the Grounds of that Religion which we are to propagate in the World and teach our Neighbours lest otherwise through our own mistake and his confidence we become guilty of cruel Charity and prove instrumental to damn that Person whom we should endeavour as far as we can to save And as it is a dangerous thing for private Persons to promote any false Religion though they themselves being mistaken do think it true so to permit other Men to publish heretical Doctrins cannot be the Duty of those Persons who have Authority and should have Zeal to prevent it To restrain this unchristian Liberty of the Tongue Pen and Press is not as this Author doth boldly assert To invade the natural Rights of mankind nor to destroy the common Tyes of humanity For if it be a Man's natural Right to persuade his Neighbour either by his Tongue or his Pen to entertain an Opinion really heretical whether he thinks it so or not 't is also his natural Right to draw him into Sin for if he prevail that will be finis operis though not operantis it will be the issue of the Act though it were not the intention of the Agent We cannot doubt but that St. Paul very well understood what natural Right every Man hath to use his Tongue and in what cases he ought to do it and thereby to communicate his Thoughts to his Neighbours but suppose a Man's Thoughts be wild and his Opinions heretical must he be left at Liberty to impart such Thoughts and vent such Opinions even as he pleaseth See what St. Paul saith concerning Hereticks Their mouths must be stopped i. e. they must not be permitted by personal Conferences to communicate their ill Opinions to inform or which is all one to corrupt the Judgments of other Men so thought St. Paul Now he who pleads for an universal Liberty as the natural Right of all Mankind to communicate to other Men whatever they think to be a Truth whether it be so or not must censure St. Paul as a Man either ignorant or else an invader of Men's natural Right since he so positively declares that some Men's Mouths must be stopped And in order to this the same Apostle gave Bishop Titus this Direction A man that is an heretick after the first and second admonition reject i. e. excommunicate him cast him out of the Church and certainly if the Person of an obstinate Heretick must be rejected his Books may not be admitted for as to his Person his Breath is infectious His words eat like a Canker and as to his Writings there is in his Ink more Poysons than one Now since there are so many heretical Pens at work amongst us there is great need now if ever that some spiritual Argus should attend and watch the Press lest more venemous Doctrins should steal from thence to infect and kill the Souls of Men. And this I think is a sufficient Answer to this Author's fifth Allegation SECT VIII 6. THis Author's sixth Allegation against the Restraint of the Press
unhappy as not to apprehend the Mysteries of Religion Doubtless the Reason must needs be this their own Understandings though exercised to their utmost Ability could not inform them better for want of some other and clearer Light And what was their Case would have been ours had not God enlightened and blessed the Christian Church with Divine Revelation But withal this great Blessing of Divine Revelation doth not exclude but require the very utmost Exercise of human Reason for we must employ not only our Eyes or Tongues but our Understandings in reading the Word of God it must be our great Endeavour by the use of all proper means to find out the true Meaning of what we read and when upon good Grounds we are satisfied that the right Sense of such or such a Text is this or that though the Matter therein delivered be above the reach of our Reason yet the same Reason will oblige us to believe it as an undoubted Truth because that God who cannot lie hath so revealed it And this I think is all which humane Reason hath to do in Matters of Faith and Worship unless it be to oblige us to the Practice of what we know and believe To conclude this Subject our Lord saith of himself I am the light of the world the same thing he said to his Apostles too ye are the light of the world so they were not only by their Holy Example but by their Holy Doctrine too Why else doth the Apostle mention the Glorious Light of the Gospel The Light of Reason is but as the Light of a Glow worm the Light of the Law is but as the Light of a Star but the Light of the Gospel is as the Light of the Sun a very glorious Light indeed Now if this be true if Christ himself if the Apostles of Christ if the Gospel of Christ be so many Lights differing in Number had not this Author strangely forgot himself and his Bible when he told the World in his printed Paper that the Reason of Man is the Light nay the only Light which God hath given him to distinguish the true Religion from the false ones and again that God hath given to Men no other Guide but their Reason to bring them to Happiness and yet a third time that the People's common Notions are the Tests and Standards of all Truths If these three Propositions be true or any one of them I do confess that the small Light of my own Reason hath not yet enabled me to discern any difference betwixt the clearest Truths and the grossest Errors And verily the exposing such notorious Falshoods to the view of the World by the help of the Press is a very strong Argument why its Liberty should be restrained But to go on SECT II. THE main Arguments which this Author pleads for an universal Freedom of the Press are drawn from these two Topicks First From the great Usefulness of Printing which hath been so very beneficial to the Christian Church Secondly From several great Inconveniencies which as he saith would follow were the Press once more restrained and limited I. This Author pleads the great Usefulness of Printing as an Argument that the Press should be unlimited To which I answer Two ways 1. By way of Concession we do easily grant that the Invention of Printing hath proved very beneficial to the Christian Church 'T is this which hath diffused the knowledge of useful Arts and Sciences and all sorts of humane Learning 'T is this which hath furnished our Libraries with vast Numbers of excellent Books 'T is this which hath furnished our Churches and our Families with great Store of Bibles and we easily grant what this Author asserts that to this Art of Printing we owe under God the happy and quick Progress of the Reformation But 2. By way of denial we cannot grant that the usefulness of the Press is a good Argument that its Liberty should be unlimited For notwithstanding these great Advantages which both Religon and Learning have reaped from this curious Art of Printing may not it as well as many other things very useful in their own Nature be so abused and perverted as to become Instrumental to the great Detriment of Mankind 'T is an old Rule corruptio optimi pessima the better things are when well used the worse they grow when corrupted The Sword is an excellent Instrument when it defends the guiltless but it proves an unhappy Tool when it murders the Innocent Physick duly administred by a Learned Physician may preserve a Life but being misapplied by an ignorant Mountebank it tends to destroy it 'T is certain that the Art of Printing hath done a great deal of good and we are to bless God for it but withal it is as certain that it hath done and still may do a great deal of Mischief and we are to lament it When the Press tends to promote Religion and Virtue 't is well employed and ought to be encouraged but when the Press tends to promote Vice and Irreligion it ought to be discountenanced and restrained 'T is evident that the Press hath been used to publish a great Numbers of such Papers as tend to debauch the Lives and corrupt the Judgments of Men such are our obscene Poems our profane and wanton Stage-plays where Vice is not only represented but so promoted that we may justly fear that as all their Spectators lose their Time so many of them may lose their Innocence too For since the Hearts of Men are so prone to evil and become so like to tinder apt to take Fire from every little Spark 't is hard to see those Vices which are pleasing to Flesh and Blood represented upon a publick Stage and yet not be infected by them And as these are very like to debauch their Spectator's Morals so are there many other printed Papers as like to corrupt their Reader 's Judgments Such are those many Volumes printed in Defence of Popery and which is worse such are those Books printed in the Defence of Arianism Socinianism and other Heresies justly condemned by the Catholick Church in the first and purest Ages of Christianity 'T is reported that our modern Socinians have already perverted a considerable Number of Men not only by their personal Insinuations but by their printed Papers and 't is very probable that they may yet make many more Proselytes to their dangerous Opinion if the Press be still permitted to publish whatever they think fit to write For their Books contain Arguments so plausible so seemingly strong that they may pass for clear Evidences and Demonstrations amongst the unlearned Multitude who are in no capacity to discover the Fallacies that lie in them Now since the Press may as well do harm as good 't is very reasonable that it should be well regulated to promote that good and prevent that harm 't is very fit that no new Books should be published till they have been first supervised and allowed
But to whom ought the Care of this be committed Doubtless to Men of Integrity Learning and Judgment to Men who are able at first view to distinguish Vice from Vertue and Truth from Error and with such Men is the Church of England stored Men of such Parts and Piety that we cannot without breach of Charity so much as once suspect that they would to gratifie any Party stifle any Book which might tend to the advantage of the Christian Church or the common benefit of Mankind Notwithstanding this our Author thought fit to tell his Friend the Parliament-Man that of all other Persons the Clergy-men of our Church are the most unfit to be trusted with the Regulation of the Press and for that he gives this Reason namely because they would allow no Books to be published save only such as tend to establish their own Opinions that is in plain English they would permit no Books to be printed which tend to subvert the fundamental Articles of the Christian Faith and for that Who can justly blame them That the Articles of the Church of England are Sound and Orthodox hath been proved over and over by such Scripture Arguments as Priests and Jesuits Arians and Socinians or any other Heretick never yet could nor ever can overthrow and if any Books which contradict them be offered to the Press 't is fit they should be stifled in the Birth and if they chance to be brought forth by stealth 't is fit they should immediately be cast into the Flames that being the quickest way to cleanse them from that Dross that is in them But however to prevent as much as may be the further increase of dangerous Books which by good Words fair Speeches and seeming Arguments may do much Mischief amongst the illiterate Vulgar 't is very necessary that all Writings offered to the Press about Matters of Religion should carefully be examined by Conscientious and Judicious Divines and that no general Liberty should be allowed to Men of all Sects to write and to Printers to publish whatever they please There are amongst us in this unhappy Age Hereticks of several denominations of whom St. Paul saith Their mouths must be stopped and for that he gives a very just Reason when he tells us They subvert whole houses teaching things which they ought not Now if there ought to be a Muzzle clapped upon the Hereticks mouth there is far greater Reason that there should be a restraint upon his Pen and Press For 't is impossible that any Heretick should do so much Mischief with his Tongue as he may by his Writings words only spoke and heard are transient but words written and printed are permanent an heretical Tongue can do no harm but by a personal Conference but an heretical Pen may do much Mischief to Men at a distance the wrong that may be done by heretical Discourse alone can reach but the present Age but heretical Books may injure and poyson the Souls of Men in after Ages And since there are too many such Books published amongst us it is the great Concern and should be the great Care of our Governours to see that there be no more lest if their Number increase without controul they may by degrees considering the ignorance instability and credulity of Men subvert the Faith of the Son of God and endanger the Souls of Men. But SECT III. 2. THIS Author argueth for an unlimited Liberty of the Press not only for its own great Usefulness but from the Consideration of several grand Inconveniences which as he saith would follow should the Press chance to be restrained and the first which he names is this First The restraint of the Press tends to make Men blindly submit to the Religion they chance to be educated in and to take it up without any trial To this I answer thus This Argument may hold in Popish Kingdoms where the People for want of means cannot and for fear of their Inquisitors dare not examine the Principles and Practices of the Roman Religion But the same Argument pleaded in and against the Church of England is of no Force for it proceeds upon a false Ground and hath a Fallacy in it for here is non causa pro causa the restraint of the Press is here assigned as the Cause or at least the great Occasion that Men take up their Religion upon Trust though indeed it be not so The matter of this Charge is true and as it cannot be denied so it is much to be lamented that great Numbers of Men even amongst us do indeed take up their Religion barely on Trust Protestants they are but why are they such only because it was the Religion of their Parents that wherein they were trained up from their Childhood 't is the Religion established by our Laws generally professed in our Nation and preached in our Churches These I fear are the only Motives upon which the far greatest Part of Men do by a blind and implicite Faith take up their Religion There is a vast multitude of Men who are constrained thus to take up their Religion upon trust by an invincible Necessity Men who were never blest with a liberal Education never taught to read Men so dull and stupid that they cannot apprehend much less remember the Strength of an Argument and surely Persons under such ill Circumstances are in no Capacity to judge for themselves but must rely upon the Judgment of their Teachers and upon their Credit and Authority take up some Religion or other or else they can take up none at all and this is the great unhappiness of many Thousands I fear even in the Church of England But besides these there is another sort of Men bred up in the Principles of Learning Men of compleat Knowledge and good Ability to judge betwixt Vice and Vertue Truth and Falshood and how frequently how earnestly do we exhort such Men from our Pulpits to prove all things to try the Spirits but alas 't is much to be feared that we lose our Labour that Men will not spare any time nor take any pains to examin their Religion but rather take it up at a venture just as they find it Now if a Man takes up his Religion upon trust when he need not do so he runs himself both into sin and danger a sin it certainly is because a breach of those fore named Commands and a great danger it is because instead of a Juno he may embrace a Cloud instead of a true Religon he may close with a false one But where lieth the Fault Upon whom or what must this sin be charged Sure I am that in this case a restraint upon the Press is innocent and cannot be justly blamed For were not Men obliged to examin the Matters of their Religion long before the Art of Printing was invented And was not the neglect of this Duty a sin in former Ages when there was not so much as one Press in all the
World And if so How could the trial of Religions depend upon the Press in those early days when as yet it had no being And because the true Christian Faith is the same in all the Ages of the Church since the Apostles days we must measure our own Religion by the same Rules by which the Primitive Saints measured theirs and what were they Not the voluminous Writings of Men which the Press hath now brought forth but the sacred Oracles of God This is the Course to which the Prophet directs us To the law and to the Testimony This Course did the Bereans take when to examine the Doctrines even of the Apostles themselves They searched the Scriptures daily whether those things were so and for their doing so they are highly commended And indeed the Scripture is the lapis Lydius the Touchstone the Canon the only Authentick Rule of Manners Faith and religious Worship a Rule so plain and easie in all necessary points that in order to the trial of our Religion we have no absolute need of any Book but Gods though other good Books do well towards the better understanding of some passages in this 'T is the great Privilege of our Church that we have this Rule of Scripture in such great Quantities that every Man who can and will may at an easie rate have it in his custody and thereby examine his Religion when he pleaseth Nor can we justly blame the restraint of the Press so long as it is permitted to Print our Bibles and prohibited to publish no Man's Book but such only as are contrary to Gods Indeed were the Press in England restrained as it is in Popish Kingdoms from printing the Bible in our Vulgar Tongue this Authors Argument would have had much strength in it but since it is otherwise since we have the Scriptures those Tests and Standards of our Religion preached in our Publick Churches and easily to be had and read as oft as we please in our private Families this Author's Argument against the Restraint of the Press is invalid and unconcluding for it doth not prove that for which he pleads it But to proceed SECT IV. II. THE Second Allegation which this Author urgeth as a grand inconvenience against the Restraint of the Press is this Such a Restraint saith he deprives Men of the most proper and best means to discover truth To which I answer thus There is a very close Connexion betwixt this Argument and the former a Connexion as between an Antecedent and a Consequent or between the Premises and the Conclusion In the former Argument he mentions the examination of Religions and in this as the end and consequence of that the discovery of Truth for to what purpose should any Religion be impartially examined were it not to discover whether it be true or false And for this reason the same answer which I have given to the former Argument might serve well enough for this for since the restraint of the Press doth not as I have there proved prevent the due Examination of Religion it cannot prevent the discovery of Truth But that so it doth our Author is very positive yea and he tells us by what means it doth so namely By hindering Men from seeing and examining the different Opinions and the Arguments alledged for them But let this Author tell us how this can be true can a Restraint of the Press for time to come hinder any Man from seeing and examining the different Opinions of Men and their Arguments for them Are there not already great numbers of printed Books exposed to common Sale wherein the different Opinions of Men about matters of Religion are throughly discussed May not every Man that will and can sufficiently inform himself by Books already extant what Arguments have been pleaded by all Sects of Christians in the defence of their respective Professions And since the Press hath already brought forth such a numerous issue of this kind methinks every future birth of the same sort would be but a Superfetation I am persuaded that should all the Presses in the Christian world be absolutely forbidden to print any more New Books of Controversy and Polemick Divinity it would be no injury to the Catholick Church nor to any one Member of it for nihil dici potest quod non dictum est priùs Prints indeed may be new but Arguments either for old Truths or against old Errors can hardly be so But when all is done Religious Truths cannot be discovered by Humane Arguments any further than those Arguments are grounded upon the infallible word of God 'T is a Rule in Mathematicks Rectum est index sui Obliqui He that would discover the Rectitude or Obliquity of a Line must bring it to and compare it with such a Rule as is already found to be exactly streight So in our present Case he who would discover the truth or falshood of any Opinion in matters of Religion must apply them to and judg them by that infallible Rule which St. James very deservedly Styles The word of Truth And this Rule in all Points necessary to Salvation is so plain and easie that every Man who hath not lost the use of common Reason may thereby judg for himself There are indeed in the word of God as the Apostle saith Some things hard to be understood but in what Texts do these difficulties lie St. Austin answers Non quoad ea quae sunt necessaria saluti c. The Scriptures are not difficult in any of those Points which are necessary to Man's Salvation So thought St. Chrysostom who thus demands 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 what Man is there to whom all the necessary Truths of the Gospel are not clear and manifest He saith elsewhere 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Husbandman the Servant the Widow the Boy Persons of very mean Capacities may easily understand what the Scriptures teach about such Points as are Fundamental That this was the Doctrine of the Primitive Church before St. Chrysostom's time is evident from that Testimony of Irenaeus Universae Scripturae Propheticae Evangelicae in aperto sine ambiguitate similiter ab omnibus audiri possunt The whole Scripture the Prophets the Evangelists in such Points as most concern us are so plain express and open that all sorts of Men may equally apprehend them Now if a Man may discover the truth of all those Doctrines which are necessary to Salvation by Scripture Rules if his Faith be grounded on them and his Practice be suitable to them what hazard would that Man run should he never see the different Opinions of Men about them nor weigh their Arguments against them Suppose a Man being well informed by the express word of God do stedfastly believe the Resurrection of the dead what were this Man the worse should he never see nor examine the reasonings of Pagans and Sadducees against this great Article of our Creed Suppose a Man be
Men to peep into Heretical Books cannot be lawful because they do thereby run themselves into a very dangerous Temptation Our Lord hath left us this Caution Beware of false Prophets it seems they are dangerous Men so we are told again and again They creep into houses and there find success for They lead Captive silly women and again They overthrow the faith of some nay They subvert whole houses it seems that Heresie is a contagious Disease apt to over-run whole Families And doubtless this Poyson may be conveyed in a peice of Paper as successfully as any other way this infection may be received as well by the Eye from a Book as by the Ear from a Tongue for when unlearned Men meet with Socinian Arguments drawn either from Humane Reason or abused Scripture since they themselves cannot confute them they are apt to yield up their own Reason and give up those Truths for lost which they are not able to defend And I think that it will be no breach of Charity if I tell my Reader that I am verily persuaded that the great Reason why this Author pleads so many Arguments though no good ones for the unlimited liberty of the Press is this namely that our Socinians may without controul publish their Books full of subtile but fallacious Arguments to Surprize and Captivate the Judgments of illiterate and undiscerning Men. We know that in the late Reign an Universal Liberty of Conscience was pleaded for and granted by a Declaration upon a design to bring in Popery so now an universal Liberty of the Press is contended for by those Men whose design it is to introduce Socinianism the very worst of Heresies for it totally subverts the very Foundation of our Christian Faith and Hope Indeed to my best observation this Author hath not in his whole Letter so much as once named Socinian nor drop'd one plain word in favour of it but yet Latet anguis in herba This was very prudently done to prevent Suspicion but if he be not a Man of that sort why doth he tell us that if the Press must be Regulated it must be done by some Lay-man for which he can have no substantial Reason save only this namely because from a Clergy-man no Socinian Book can ever expect an Imprimatur But this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 only by the way In short the substance of my Answer to this Allegation is this 'T is not lawful for Men of weak Understandings to mind subtile Arguments contained in Heretical Books lest thereby they might be ensnared and for that Reason the Press should not be permitted to publish any such Books unless security could be given that they should never come into Vulgar hands SECT XII 8. THIS Authors Eighth Allegation against the Restraint of the Press is this The Press ought not to be Restrained because the Reformation is wholly owing to it I answer There is no liberty denied to any English Press to publish any Book which tends to help the Devotions to reform the Lives or confirm the Judgments of Men in the true Faith of Christ but as for the Established Religion of our Church in matters of Faith and Worship it is so well refined already from the dregs of Popery and Superstition that we do not need another Luther nor the help of any Press to reform and make it better He that would reform our Religion in any of its substantial Parts must reform the Scriptures too for our Church teacheth no other Doctrines in the great Points of Faith and Worship than Christ and his Apostles taught the World if we may believe those Sacred Writings which they have left us But since I have already under another Head given a sufficient answer to this Allegation I need not here say any more about it SECT XIII 9. THE Ninth Allegation which this Author urgeth against the Restraint of the Press is this Our Divines condemn the Popish Clergy for not suffering their Laity to read Protestant Authors We do so and very justly too but what then The Inference which he intends must be this Our Protestant Clergy must be Condemned for not suffering our Laity to Read Socinian Books and for watching the Press to prevent it To this I answer thus this Inference is a Non Sequitur it is wild and extravagant for there is a great difference in the Case the prohibition of Books may be an Act either to be blamed or commended according as the Books prohibited are either really good or really bad to forbid Men the use of such Books as tend to the benefit of Mankind the advantage of True Religion and the Salvation of Souls is an Act Impious and Tyrannical And this is the known Practice of the Roman Church which forbids Lay-men to Read the Bible and the Writings of such Protestant Authors as teach nothing but what the Scriptures teach and for this do we very justly Condemn them But on the other Hand to forbid injudicious Men the use of such Books as tend to promote Errors and Heresies to distract their Readers Judgment and rather to shake their Faith than to confirm it is an Act laudable Charitable and necessary for the Age we live in for those Predictions of Christ and his Apostles false Prophets shall arise and again false Teachers shall be among you are fulfilled in these times for there are amongst us Romish Priests and Jesuits yea and some far more dangerous than they I mean our Socinians who cannot corrupt so many Souls by their Personal Conferences as they may by their Books And is it not high time to watch the Press lest any thing steal from thence which may Poyson the Heads of unwary Men Or must the Press be permitted freely to spread that destructive Heresie which hath been long since Condemned by the Catholick Church and its Representatives met in General Councils But here this Author to justifie his own Opinion Cites a learned Divine of our own Church and borrows this Passage from him They that have a good Cause will not fright Men from considering what their Adversaries say against them nor forbid them to Read their Books but rather encourage them so to do that they may see the difference between Truth and Error Reason and Sophistry with their own Eyes c. That we may see how little service this Passage doth our Author let us view it again They who have a good Cause but who are they We cannot doubt but this good Man meant the Church of England of which he himself was a very worthy Minister but what saith he of this Church of Ours It will not fright Men from considering c. but what Men This eminent Divine was the Lecturer of Gray's Inn where his Auditory did chiefly consist of such Persons as had been blest with a learned Education and might Charitably be presumed to be well skilled in the Law of God as well as in the Law of Man Now that this
judicious Divine of ours did mean that the Church of England would rather encourage than forbid Persons so qualified to read and Examine the Books of our Adversaries as well as our own to me seems evident from that reason which he subjoyns as the only end of an impartial Examination namely this That they may see the difference between Truth and Error Reason and Sophistry with their own Eyes This Expression doth plainly import the Persons fit to Read Books of Controversie in matters of Religion are only such as have Eyes of their own i. e. clear Heads enlightned Understandings able to discern Truth from Falshood And verily could the Books of our Socinians be confined within the Libraries of learned and judicious Men whether of the Clergy or of the Laity could they be surely kept from purblind Eyes and weak Judgments that unlimited liberty of the Press which this Author doth so earnestly contend for were the more allowable But since this can never be since Heretical Books are and ever will be exposed to common Sale though the Church of Rome doth ill in restraining their Laity from the use of good Books yet the Church of England would do very well in restraining the Press from putting ill ones into the Hands of unskilful Men where they would be more dangerous than edge-Tools in the Hand of a Child who knoweth not how to use them And so much in answer to this Objection SECT XIV 10. THIS Author begins his Tenth Allegation thus I cannot see how they that are for tying Men to that Interpretation of Scripture which a Licenser shall approve and therefore put it in his power to hinder all others from being published can with any Justice condemn the Popish Clergy for not Licensing the Bible it self for the Laity to Read I answer Here are two Suppositions both which are either impertinent to us or false in themselves if the Church of England be not the Persons here charged the Charge is impertinent but if they be it is false For 1. The Church of England doth tie none of her Members to that Interpretation of Scripture which such or such a Licenser of hers shall approve 'T is well known that we have many Interpretations of the Scripture which never were under the Inspection of any English Licenser the Expositions of the Fathers Schoolmen and many other Divines are brought us from beyond the Seas and the free choice and use of them is allowed us by our Church And if such Books chance to be Reprinted here in England the care of the Edition is committed not to the Licenser of Books to judg of their matters but to the Composer and Corrector of the Press to see to their Forms Character and exact truth of Printing Now if this be so as indeed it is if we are allowed to consult various Interpreters of our Bibles if we may take our Choice of such or such Expositors and use what Editions we please why should this undeserved imputation be cast upon the Church of England as if she tied all her Sons to such Interpretations of the Holy Scripture as her own Licensers shall Authorise 2. The Church of England doth not give her Licensers a Despotick Arbitrary and Absolute Power to reject every Book every Interpretation of Scripture which doth not please them 'T is certain that our Licensers do not act by any immediate and independent Power of their own but as Delegates and Substitutes by an Authority derived from their Superiors and if any of them shall either allow any Book which tends to mischief or suppress any Book which tends to common good they do abuse their Power exceed their Commission and must answer for it But is the miscarriage of some few Licensers an Argument that they should all be laid aside Some Kings have proved cruel Tyrants Some Judges have been corrupted and must we therefore have neither King nor Judg Sure I am that in this Age of ours we do sufficiently need a discreet and able Judg of Books and the Test and Censure of such a Judg no Man need fear more than our Socinian Writers for they being no great Friends to the Scripture are very odd Interpreters of it not through Ignorance but design I will not say through Rancor and Malice but I will say through Partiality and Prejudice For because the beginning of St. John's Gospel and several Expressions in St. Paul's Epistles being rightly understood and in the sense of the Catholick Church do totally overthrow their dangerous Hypothesis they fix upon those Texts such Interpretations as are childish absurd and even ridiculous such as none of the Fathers Schoolmen or Criticks so far as I can find did even think of And what an ill Cause do these Men manage who endeavour with handfuls of dirt to stop the Mouths of those Witnesses who being permitted to speak their own sense do so loudly proclaim their united Testimonies against them And methinks this one Consideration were there no more is enough to justifie our Church in appointing some fit Persons to be the Judges of Books and the Interpretations of Scripture offered to the Press and the rather because if any Licenser should out of any by respect or for any sinister end Stifle any Papers which deserve to see the light the injured Authors may appeal from the Licenser to the Vice-Chancellors in either of our Universities or to the Lord Bishop of London or to his Grace the Lord Archbishop of Canterbury so that the fate of Books doth not ultimately depend upon the pleasure or sole Judgment of a Licenser Now Those two forenamed Suppositions upon which this Author bottoms this Tenth Allegation proving false the Superstructure which he builds upon them falls to the Ground and there I leave it SECT XV. 11. THE next Allegation against the Restraint of the Press this Author thrusts into the Mouths of other Men and makes them say what perhaps he himself doth not think namely this 'T is no small presumption that the Clergy themselves are Conscious of the falseness of their Religion How the Clergy what the whole Clergy Are ten thousand of us at once presumed to be Hypocrites Juglers and gross Dissemblers with God and Man We who teach Men that a false Religion leads towards Hell do we know our own to be false and yet embrace it still The Martyrs of England in Queen Mary's days died for the same Religion which we now profess and were they also Conscious that this Religion is false and yet in the defence of it shed their blood Certainly this Presumption is not small but very strange 't is a great breach as well of Charity as of Truth for if the Scriptures be true and who dares suspect them We are abundantly convinced that our Religion cannot be false and why then should any Man presume that we have indeed other thoughts concerning it The Reason here given is this Because the Clergy dare not suffer their Religion to undergo a