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
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
convinced as well he may be by such Texts of Scripture as cannot with any tolerable Sense be otherwise interpeted that our Blessed Saviour is truly God and truly Man What need such a Person to see the Opinions and weigh the Arguments of Arians and Socinians against this fundamental Point of our Christian Faith To him whose Belief is already grounded upon the infallible Word of God being rightly understood the sight of different Opinions and the Arguments for them signifieth nothing such a Man doth not need the confutation of heretical Cavils to confirm that Faith of his which is already bottomed upon a Rock which is immoveable And as the sight of different Opinions and the examination of Arguments pleaded for them is not needful to confirm a strong and well grounded Faith so it is dangerous and tends to impair and shake a weak one For well meaning Christians bred up in the true Religion being of too easie Belief of slender Judgments and not well acquainted with the Word of God may probably be perverted by heretical Books as being unable to discern the Fallacies contained in them and to cite such Texts as might confute them But here it may be demanded Who must judge whether such or such an Opinion be justified or condemned by such or such a Text I answer where Texts are plain and obvious every discreet and intelligent Person may judge for himself but when Texts are somewhat abstruse and difficult when knotty Questions and Controversies are raised about them then the Judge must be no single Person no nor any small Party of Men who are byassed prejudiced and wedded to their own Opinion but the Judge must be the Catholick Church I mean its Representative in the four first general Councils which consisted of Men not over-aw'd by Authority nor tempted by Interest but Men as Religious as they were Learned as well Versed in Holy Writ as able Interpreters of Scripture as any sort of Men born since those early days And this I think to be the greatest human Authority to warrant the Sense of such and such Texts and prove the Doctrins grounded on them Now Since we of the Church of England are blest with the free use of our Bibles and favoured with the judgment of the best Expositors about the sense of those Texts which tend most to determine those Disputes which have arose betwixt Protestants and Papists betwixt Trinitarians and Anti-Trinitarians we can have no need of any search for Truth to consult the printed Papers of this Age many of which do tend to promote Error much rather than discover Truth And verily when the Licenser of Books doth reject and suppress Heretical Papers he doth good service both to God and Men and if such Papers chance to Steal the Press they ought to be treated like other Thieves who to prevent their doing any future mischiefs are Apprehended Condemned and Executed And so I quit this Argument and proceed to the next SECT V. 3. THIS Authors third Allegation against the restraint of the Press runs thus The Restraint of the Press hinders Truth from having any great influence on the minds of Men which is owing chiefly to examination because that which doth not convince the Understanding will have but little or no effect upon the Will I answer thus What this Author doth here assert in relation to the influence of the Understanding upon the Will and Affections is true in general nor can it be justly denied that a strict examination of Religion is the proper means to convince the Understanding of its Truth But although the subject matter of this Allegation be true in the general yet here it is misapplied and very impertinent to the Case now in hand For this Argument as the former did doth proceed upon a false Hypothesis for it supposeth that if the Press should chance to be restrained for time to come Men would be deprived of all sufficient means for the due examination of their Religion 'T is St. Paul's Command Prove all things 'T is St. John's Command Try the Spirits whether they are of God These Commands must needs suppose that in those days there was a certain Rule by which Religions might be tried and the same Rule in its full force and vertue is standing still Tell me then are our Bibles out of Print or taken from us Have we no Catechisms no Systems of Divinity left amongst us Nay are there not Books of Controversies exposed to Sale in our Cities greater Towns and both our Universities Nay more are there not Popish and Socinian Catechisms to be had in England Do not these Books already Extant contain the strongest Arguments which the most learned Men of all Parties were able to urge in favour of their respective Opinions And may not Men by weighing these Reasons which are already made publick give a judgment which Religion is true and which is false as well as by any new Papers yet to be printed But although there be a great variety of Books which may help to guide us in our searching after Truth yet I must still mind my Reader that the Scripture is the only Adequate and Authentick Rule whereby the Truth or falshood of any Religion must be determined And certain it is that those Convictions of Man's Understanding which arise from the Immediate word of God are like to have a more powerful influence upon the Will and Affections than any other Convictions arising from any such Arguments as are no more than the Dictates and Collections of humane Reason which is fallible and may deceive us whereas the word of God well understood cannot do so And this I think is a sufficient answer to this Authors third Allegation SECT VI. 4. THE Fourth is this The Restraint of the Press is that which tends to make Men hold the Truth if they chance to light on any Guilty and the Reason which he gives is this Because that will not be accepted if it be not the effect of an impartial Examination To which I answer thus I cannot pass by this without observing that this Author hath hitherto much harped upon the same thing and hath hitherto bottomed all his Arguments upon the same Ground and a very slippery one too he hath proposed his Allegations as distinct in their Number but in their Proof there is little or no difference to be found For he tells First That the Restraint of the Press tends to make Men blindly submit to the Religion they chance to be educated in Secondly That it deprives Men of the most proper and best means to discover Truth Thirdly That it hinders Truth from having any great influence upon the minds of Men. Fourthly That it tends to make Men hold the Truth if they chance to light on any guiltily These indeed are very considerable Objections against the Restraint of the Press were they true But how doth our Author prove them so to be To prove them all he hath yet made use