and support themselves better on their own weight than words disguised by the manner of expression cadence or gesture which corrupt the simplicity of things when also the suddenness of Pronunciation allow not the Audience time sufficient to reflect upon what was said Moreover Books flatter much less and have more universal precepts than Discourse which generally affects Complaisance and gaining the Hearers good will Particularly in Morality where great persons are better instructed and more plainly reprehended for their faults by Books than by Discourses Books being therefore in the main so useful to Humain Society I cannot but herein agree with Mr. Milton and say that unless it be effected with great Caution You had almost as good kill a Man as a good Book for he that kills a Man kills but a Reasonable Creature Gods Image Whereas he that destroys a good Book kills Reason it self which is as it were the very Eye of God Having thus demonstrated how much the World owes to Learning and Books let me not be altogether unmindful of Faust and Guttenburg the promoters of both who by their Ingenuity discovered and made known to the World that Profound Art of Printing which hath made Learning not only Easie but Cheap since now any person may accommodate himself with a good moderate Library at the same Price as heretofore Plato payed for three Books of Philolaus the Pythagorian viz. Three Hundred Pounds This was the Invention wherewith Cardan upbraided the Ancients saying Antiquitas nihil par habet Nay Thuanus goes higher when speaking of the Inventors of this Art he saith Quibus plus debet Christianus orbis quà m cuiquam fortissimorum belli ducum ab propagatos fines patria unquam debuit And truly so we do but still provided that the Inquisition upon it be removed without which this Art design'd at first for the service of the Publick will prove useful to none but the Licenser Therefore in opposition to any such Restraint I shall here demonstrat the unreasonableness of any such License or Imprimatur 1. From the Ancient usage as well of the Greeks as Romans who were both highly Eminent for Learning and whom in this particular we need not be ashamed to imitate We do not find amongst the Greeks that their Vetus Comaedia which was so much censured for Libelling and Traducing men by Name as to be prohibited Acting on the Stage was ever supprest from being read but rather the contrary for that Plato himself recommended the Reading of Aristophanes the loosest of all those old Comaedians to his Royal Scholar Dyonisius Neither do we read any where that either Epicurus or that Libertine School of Cyrene or what the Cynick Impudence utter'd with many other Sects and Opinions which tended to Voluptuousness and the denying of a Providence were ever prohibited or question'd Also amongst the Latines we find Lueretius versifying his Epicurean Tenents to Memnius without any molestation and had the honour to be published a second time by Cicero the great Father of the Commonwealth although he himself disputes against that same Opinion in his own Writings Neither do we read of any Decree against the Satyrical sharpness of Lucilius Catullus or Flaccus Likewise in matters of State the Story of Titus Livins though it extoll'd and magnify'd Pompey's party was not ther suppress'd by Octavins Caesar of the other Faction Nay even in the times of Christianity unless they were plain invectives against Christianity as those of Porphyrius and Proclus they met with no interdict till about the year 400. in a Carthaginian Council wherein Bishops themselves were forbid to read the Books of Gentiles but Heresies they might read Whereas others long before them scrupled more the Books of Hereticks than of Gentiles And that the Primitive Councils and Bishops were used only to declare what Books were not commendable passing no further censure but leaving to each ones Conscience to read or to lay by till after the year 800. is already observed by Father Paul that great unmasker of the Trentine Council After which time the unsatiable Popes engross'd more and more every day till Martin the 5th by his Bull not only prohibited but was the first that Excommunicated the Reading of Haeretical Books For about that time Wicklis and Huss growing formidable were they who first drove the Papal Court to a stricter policy of prohibiting Which Course Leo the 10th and his Successors followed untill the Council of Trent and the Spanish Inquisition engendring together produced these two Monsters an Index Expurgatorius and a Licenser When they enacted that no Book Pamphlet or Paper should be Printed till it were Approved and Licensed under the hands of two or three Gluttenous Fryers So that in fine there was never any such Inquisition upon Learning known in the World till Slavery supplanted Liberty and Interest Religion 2. It is the greatest Affront and Discouragement that can be offer'd to Learning and Learned men For so far to distrust the Judgment and Honesty of one who hath but a common repute in Learning having never yet offended as not to count him fit to Print his mind without a Tutor or Examiner least he should drop a Scism or something of corruption is the greatest displeasure and indignity to a free and knowing spirit that can be put upon him What advantage is it to be a Man over it is to be a Boy at School if we have only ' scap'd the Ferula to come under the Fescu of an Imprimatur When a man Writes to the World he summons up all his Reason and Deliberation to assist him he Searches Meditates is industrious in Consulting and Conferring with his Judicious Friends after all which he takes himself to be inform'd in what he Writes as well as any that writ before if in this the most consummate act of his sidelity and ripeness no years no industry no former proof of his Abilities can bring him to the state of Maturity as not to be still distrusted unless he carry all his considerate diligence all his midnight watchings and expence of Palladian Oyl to the hasty view of an Unleasured Licenser perhaps much his Younger perhaps much his Inferior in Judgment perhaps one who never knew the Labour of Book-writing or perhaps one altogether ignorant of that Art or Science whereof the Author Treats When if he be not repuls'd or slighted must appear in Print like a Puny with his Guardian and his Censors Hand on the back of his Title to be his Bail and Surety that he is no Idiot or Seducer This cannot but be a derogation to the Author and to the Book as well as to the priviledge and dignity of Learning And what if the Author shall be of so Copious a Fancy as to have many things well worth the adding come into his Mind after Licensing while the Book is yet under the Press which frequently happens even to the best of Writers and that perhaps a dozen times in
A Just Vindication OF LEARNING OR An Humble Address to the High Court of PARLIAMENT In behalf of the Liberty of the Press By Philopatris Sub bono Principe sentire licet quae velis quae sentias dicere LONDON 1679. PROEM May it please you my Lords and Gentlemen THis Session of Parliament is of such high Importance to these parts of the World that Heaven seems to have committed the Universal Fate of Christendom to Your disposal from whose Proceedings both France Spain Germany Holland and this part of the Universe must take their Measures Nor will it be a Vanity in me to affirm the same thing of You which heretosore Tacitus did of the Battavi Who in the time of the Romans saith he were able to confer a Victory upon whatever Party they adhered to The Parliaments of England have ever been Formidable to their Neighbours but You above all others seem to have been reserv'd by Providence for those Great and Weighty Affairs which are now in Agitation as well at home as abroad and for which purpose You are here Convened You only are able to cast out that Angel of Darkness with his many I egions who is at this time endeavouring to destroy our best of Kings and Governments You only are able to Center this reeling Kingdom which staggers and groans under the Plurise of Popery and which if not now prevented may in time attaint and corrupt the whole mass of English Bloud You only are able to preserve that so necessary Religion and Sacred Property of our British Isle by continuing as there now is a Protestant Head upon a Protestant Body without which our Prince would be no other than a Father-in-law to his People and they Sons-in-law to him besides the incoherence would be as great and disagreable as to behold a black Indian Head annex'd unto a white Body Neither would such a conjunction be more Unnatural than Inconvenient since He that is arbitrary over the Soul as in Popery hath ever a co-equal power over the Body and the Estate which is evident from the examples of France Spain and other Popish Governments where the Priest rides the Soul and the Prince the Body a Tyranny as disagreable to our Gracious Soveraign's Nature to impose upon us as it would be insupportable for our English Spirits to bear Now the Original of these Popish Villanies as I humbly conceive proceeds not more from their Sacerdotal Malice and Interest than from their Laicks Ignorance and Servitude without which their Clergy would at the best be rendred but like Wolves without Teeth Wherefore to devest their Priests of this power of doing ill nothing would be more conducive than the propagating of Wisdom and Knowledge amongst the populace since as Ignorance renders men obedient and susceptible of the meanest Slavery so doth its contrary put all men upon their Guard Omnes enim nos sumus aut corvi qui lacerant aut cadavera quae lacerantur Now for the more speedy effecting hereof there hath never been discover'd any better expedient amongst men than that of the Liberty of the Press whereby whoever opposes the Publick Interest are exposed and rendred odious to the people as on the contrary they who merit well of their Country are ever recorded with immortal Honour to posterity So that if Fame and Ambition as all generous Souls must acknowledge have so great an influence over the minds of active men what can be more reasonable what can be more serviceable to the World than that which hurries men into a necessity either of acting Virtuously or of forfeiting their so-much-desired Honour for ever and such I take to be the consequence of a Free Press From which consideration since the late Act which laid that severe restraint upon Printing is so near Expiring my humble Address to Your Lordships and to You Gentlemen of the House of Commons is that before You proceed to the Continuation of any thing of that Nature You would condescend so far as to look down upon these ensuing Arguments against any such Inquisition or Embargo upon Science wherein You may happily find some Reasons which though not founded upon private ends like those of our Adversaries may yet prove sufficiently satisfactory to all but that Dead-weight of Interest which opposes us and will not be converted for that it is not for its Interest so to be This My Lords and Gentlemen is all from him who would Sacrifice his Life and Fortune for his King and Country coveting no other Title of Honour whereby to be distinguished than that of Philopatris A Just Uindication OF LEARNING AND THE Liberty of the PRESS ALl civilized People as well Ancient as Modern have ever had that veneration and deference for Learning that almost no Nation dis-engaged from Barbarism wants its publick Donations either of magnificent Structures or plentiful Revenues for the encouragement of Litelature and Learned men Such Patrons and Admirers of Learning were the Heroes of old that they seem to contend about nothing more than to excell in their Liberality to the Muses Thus we see Alexander the Great presented Aristotle with 800 Talents as also Xenocrates the Philosopher with 50 Talents Antiochus likewise presented his Physician Theombroâ—us with 60000 Crowns Homer for his Works receiv'd a thousand pieces of Silver from the Candioâ—s nor did that suffice but Cities must fall together by the ears for the honour of his Birth so liberal were the Ancients to all manner of Science nor have our Modern Benefactors been inferiour to them as our two famous Universities may testifie to Posterity Yet notwithstanding all these Encouragements Learning hath of late years met with an obstruction in many places which suppresses it from flourishing or increasing in spight of all its other helps and that is the Inquisition upon the Press which prohibits any Book from coming forth without an Imprimatur an old Relique of Popery only necessary for the concealing of such defects of Government which of right ought to be discover'd and amended However as our Government is not sick of the same Distemper so need we not the same Cure but rather the contrary for as an ill face cannot be too closly masqued so neither can a good one be too much exposed That Books are of great use to a Government is evident First for that they are the only Records of Time which excite us to imitate the past Glories of our Ancestors 2ly we owe our manner or form of Divine Worship to Books alone 3ly we owe our Philosophy or contemplation of God in his Works to the same cause For mens Natural Abilities like Natural Plants need pruning by Study thus we see that Histories make men wise Poets witty Mathematicks subtle Natural Philosophy deep Moral Philosophy grave Logick and Rhetorick able to dispute all which Excellencies are to be acquired only from Books since no Vocal Learning is so effectual for Instruction as Reading for that written discourses are better digested
one Book The Printer dares not go beyond his Licensed Copy so often then must the Author trudge to his Leave-giver that those his new Insertions may be view'd and many a Journey will he make ' ere that Licenser for it must be the same man can either be found or be found at Leisure in the mean while either the Press must stand still which is no small Damage or the Author lose his most Correct Thoughts and so send forth his Book Imperfect How can any man esteem himself Doctor enough to Teach with Authority in his own Book when he himself and all that he Writes must submit to the jurisdiction and censure of another 3. 'T is a great prejudice even to the Book it self to come out under the partiality and ignorant approbation of a Licenser Every Acute Reader upon the first sight of a Pedantick License will be apt to misinterpret the word Imprimatur and think it signifies no more but that this Book is foolish enough to be Printed when seeing it comes out under the wardship of another he will be apt to say I know nothing of the Licenser but that I have his own hand for his arrogance who shall warrant me his Judgment The State Sir replyes the Stationer But hath a quick return The State shall be my Governours but not my Criticks they may be mistaken in the choice of a Licenser as easily as this Licenser in the choice of an Author Whereunto he might also add from my Lord Bacon That such Authorized Books are but the Language of the Times For though a Licenser should happen to be more then ordinary Judicious which will be a great hazard in the next succession yet his very Office and Commission enjoyns him to let pass nothing but what is Vulgarly received already Nay if the work of any Deceased Author though never so Famous in his Life time come to their hand for License to be Printed or Reprinted if there be found in the Book any one Opinion that thwarts the Licenser's Humour whether it be of a Vacuum Motion Air or never so inconsiderable a Subject the sense of that great man shall for all Posterity be lost out of the presumptuous Rashness of a pedantick Licenser So that if these things be not seriously and timely resented by them who have the remedy in their power but that Licensers are permitted to gnaw out the choicest periods of exquisite Books and to commit such a Treacherous Fraud against the Orphan remainders of the worthiest men after death the more sorrow will belong to that helpless race of men whole misfortune it is to have Understanding Henceforth let no man care to learn or care to be more than worldly wise for certainly in higher matters to be ignorant and slothful to be a common stedfast Dunce will be the only pleasant life and only in request 4 It is not only a reflection upon Books and particular men but it is likewise an undervaluing and vilifying of the whole Nation I cannot set so small value for all the Invention the Art the Wit the grave and solid Judgment which is in England as to imagine that it can be comprehended in any 20 Capacities how good soever much less that it should not pass except their Superintendence be over it except it be sifted and strained with their Strainers and that it should be uncurrant without their Manual Stamp Truth and Understanding are not such Wares as to be Monopolized and Traded in Tickets Statutes and Standards We must not think to make a Staple Commodity of all the knowledge in the Land to Mark and License it like our Broad-cloath and Wool-packs What is it but a servitude like that imposed by the Philistines not to be allow'd the Sharpning of our own Axes but we must repair from all quarters to twenty Licensing Forges Had any one written and divulged Erroneous things and scandalous to an Honest Life mis-using and forfeiting the esteem had of his reason amongst men if after conviction this only censure were adjudged him that he should never henceforth Write but under the Authority of an Examiner this could not be apprehended less then a disgraceful punishment Whence to include the whole Nation and those that never yet thus offended under such diffident and suspectful Prohibition renders it no less then a National disparagement and so much the more seeing Debtors and Delinquents may walk abroad without a Keeper but inoffensive Books must not stir forth without a visible Jaylor in their Title Nor is it a less reproach to the Commonalty since if we be jealous over them as that we dare not trust them with an English Pamphlet What do we but censure them for a giddy vicious unthinking crowd in such a sick estate of discretion as to be able to take nothing down but through the Pipe of a Licenser Now that this proceeds from the care or love of the Commonalty we cannot pretend since in those Popish places where the Laity are most hated and despised the same strictness and severity is used over them 5. It reflects upon our Church and Clergy of whose labours we should hope better and of the proficiency which their Flock reaps by them then after all this Light of the Gospel all this continual Preaching they should be still frequented with such an un-principled un-edify'd and Laick rabble as that the Whiff of every new Pamphlet should stagger them out of their Catechism and Christian walking This may have much reason to stagger and to discourage the Ministers when such a low conceit is had of all their Exhortations and the benefiting of their Hearers as that they are not thought fit to be turned loose to three Sheets of Paper without a License that all the Sermons all the Lectures Preached Printed and Vented in such numbers and such Volumes should not be Armour sufficient against one single Enchyridion Unlicensed I am confident that a Kingdom governed by the rules of Justice and Fortitude or a Church built and founded upon the rock of Faith and true Knowledge cannot be so Pusillanimous That all freedom of Writing should be thus restrained with the proud curb of an Imprimatur must needs administer cause of doubt and discouragement to all Learned and Religious men who may justly suspect the Reason and Power of that cause which durst not stand a Tryal of Skill Every Author Writes either Truth or Falshood If he Writes Truth why should he be oppressed or stifled And if he delivers what is False let him be confuted by Answer whereunto every Author is subject since no cause ever suffered by being answered only by Fire and Faggot That Liberty is the Nursery of Science appears in that there is nothing hath so much clouded and discouraged the Italian Wits as their Inquisition which restraining all manner of Philosophick freedom hath for these many years produced nothing but obsequious flattery In which Country the Famous Galileo was oppressed under the Inquisitions