A letter to a member of Parliament, shewing, that a restraint on the press is inconsistent with the Protestant religion, and dangerous to the liberties of the nation 1698 Approx. 63 KB of XML-encoded text transcribed from 17 1-bit group-IV TIFF page images. Text Creation Partnership, Ann Arbor, MI ; Oxford (UK) : 2005-10 (EEBO-TCP Phase 1). A48197 Wing L1680 ESTC R10914 12387032 ocm 12387032 60863 This keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the Early English Books Online Text Creation Partnership. This Phase I text is available for reuse, according to the terms of Creative Commons 0 1.0 Universal . The text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. Early English books online. (EEBO-TCP ; phase 1, no. A48197) Transcribed from: (Early English Books Online ; image set 60863) Images scanned from microfilm: (Early English books, 1641-1700 ; 766:18) A letter to a member of Parliament, shewing, that a restraint on the press is inconsistent with the Protestant religion, and dangerous to the liberties of the nation Tindal, Matthew, 1653?-1733. Defoe, Daniel, 1661?-1731. 32 p. Printed by J. Darby, and sold by Andr. Bell ..., London : 1698. Advertisement: p. 32. Attributed to Matthew Tindal by. S. Parks; see also "Four discourses on the following subjects ... IV. Of the liberty of the press. London, 1709"; attributed also to Daniel Defoe. Reprinted in: A collection of state tracts, publish'd on occasion of the late revolution in 1688, and during the reign of King William III, 1705-07, v. 2, p. 614-626. Reproduction of original in Huntington Library. Created by converting TCP files to TEI P5 using tcp2tei.xsl, TEI @ Oxford. 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Keying and markup guidelines are available at the Text Creation Partnership web site . eng Freedom of the press -- England. 2003-04 TCP Assigned for keying and markup 2003-05 Apex CoVantage Keyed and coded from ProQuest page images 2005-03 Judith Siefring Sampled and proofread 2005-03 Judith Siefring Text and markup reviewed and edited 2005-04 pfs Batch review (QC) and XML conversion A LETTER TO A Member of Parliament , Shewing , that a RESTRAINT On the PRESS Is inconsistent with the Protestant Religion , and dangerous to the Liberties of the Nation . LONDON ; Printed by J. Darby , and sold by Andr. Bell at the Cross-Keys and Bible in Cornhil . MDCXCVIII . A LETTER TO A Member of Parliament . SIR , ACcording to your Commands , I here present you with those Reasons that oblige me to oppose the Restraining the Press , as inconsistent with the Protestant Religion , and dangerous to the Liberties of the Nation : Both which I undertake to shew . And in order to prove the first , I beg leave to premise , First , That which makes a Man to differ from a Brute , wholly uncapable of forming any Notion of Religion , is his Reason ; which is the only Light God has given him , not only to discover that there is a Religion , but to diftinguish the true from the many false ones . He therefore that employs his Reason to the best of his Ability to find out Religious Truth , in order to practise it , does all that God desires : for God , who will not command Impossibilities , can require no more of him , than that he impartially searches after , and endeavours to discover Religious Truth , by the use of that Reason which was given him for that end . He that does this , may have the satisfaction of doing his Duty as a rational Creature , and may be sure , tho he misses Truth , he shall not miss the Reward that is due to him who obeys his Maker , in following as well as he could , and no more could be his Duty , the only Guide God has given him to judg of Truth and Falshood . On the contrary , he that neglects to do this , is disobedient to his Maker , in misusing his rational Faculties ; and tho he should light on Truth , the luckiness of the Accident will no way excuse his Disobedience : for God will judg us as we are accountable ( that is , rational ) Creatures ; and consequently our Reward from him , whether we hit or miss of Truth , will be in an exact proportion to the use we make of our Reason : And if God has oblig'd us to use it as the only means to distinguish Truth from Falshood , that alone must be the way to find the one , and avoid the other . Now the way that a Man's Reason does this , is by examining those Proofs , Arguments , or Mediums , that either himself or others have found out , and by comparing them with his common and self-evident Notions , by means of which he finds out the agreement or disagreement of any Proposition with those Standards and Tests of Truth . Tho this is the only way to discover Truth , yet if a Man was left wholly to himself , without any to inform his Judgment , he would make but a very small Discovery in Religious , or any other Truths : Therefore it's Mens mutual Duty to inform each other in those Propositions they apprehend to be true , and the Arguments by which they endeavour to prove them ; which cannot be done so well as by Printing them , ten thousand Books , after the Letters are once set , being sooner Printed than one Transcribed : By the Advantage of which , Men , tho at never so great distance , may , with a great deal of Ease and little Charge , be exactly acquainted with each others Sentiments . And it 's wholly owing to Printing , that Knowledg is become , not only much more diffusive , but that a great deal of more useful Knowledg has been discovered in a short time since that Invention , than in many Ages before . And if it has not had as great effect in most places with respect to Religious as to other Knowledg , it can only be because the Liberty of Printing , as to the former , has been more restrained ; for Men have the same way of judging of that as of all other Matters . This being premised , 't is clear that the Press ought not to be restrained : 1. Because it tends to make Men blindly submit to the Religion they chance to be educated in : for if 't is once suppos'd unlawful to publish any Arguments against that Religion , it cannot be denied but that 't is as unlawful to read and examine those Arguments , that being the sole Reason of forbidding the printing them ; which necessarily supposeth they are to take their Religion on trust , without any trial , which is the greatest Fault that can be , next to having no Religion at all : For I cannot see any ground a Man has to hope to go to Heaven , that will not be at the pains to examine what it is that God requires of him in order to his coming thither . 2. Because it deprives Men of the most proper and best means to discover Truth , by hindering them from seeing and examining the different Opinions , and the Arguments alledg'd for them . I can see no Reason why 't is more necessary for him that judges for others , than 't is for him who judges for himself , to see the Arguments on all sides ; this being the only evidence by which any Man is to judg . The suppressing the Evidence in a Cause where Mens eternal Happiness is concerned , is ( I take it ) much more criminal than in a Cause of a temporal Interest . So that a Law to oblige the Judges to hear the Proofs but of one side , is not as bad as to trust the Clergy of any one Sect with the Press ; who , to be sure , will suffer nothing to be printed but of their own side ; and who too , in all probability , will misrepresent their Adversaries , and their Opinions , more than a Pleader will the Party or Cause against which he is engaged . And are not the People ( for instance ) amongst the Papists , where the Press is effectually restrained , as ignorant of what can be alledged against the Popish Doctrines , as a Judg that has heard but one side can be of the Defence the other is to make ? 3. Because it hinders Truth from having any great influence on Mens Minds : which is owing chiefly to Examination , because the more rational That makes an Opinion appear , the greater power it will have on the Affections ; which are not moved without some sensible connexion between the Cause and Effect ; for what does not convince the Understanding , will have but little or no effect on the Will : Which is one reason why Men are obliged to try all things , because when they see the reasonableness of any Opinion , it will oblige them to act according to it more heartily than when they take it on trust : and nothing more endears Truth to us , than that its discovery is the effect of our own Industry and Observation . 4. Because it tends to make us hold the Truth ( should we chance to light on it ) guiltily : for that ( as I have already proved ) will not be accepted , if it be not the Effect of an impartial Examination ; which makes Error it self innocent : for if any thing in that case be a fault , it must be the Examination , because That might have been prevented ; but the Opinion that 's caused by it could not , That being a necessary Consequence of the other . Men when they are left to themselves without any Clergy at all , are more likely not only to judg for themselves , but to make a truer and a more impartial Judgment , than when they are permitted to know the Sentiments of the Clergy but of one Sect , who then may impose on them what ever out of Interest they think fit . 5. One Reason why God hath so formed Mankind , that each alone without the help of others cannot well subsist , is to oblige them to mutual love and kindness , and to contribute to one anothers happiness . And they want each others assistance for things of the Mind as well as of the Body . For a Man would be in a miserable state of Darkness and Ignorance , were it not for the Light that others afford him : and therefore they are obliged to increase as much as they can each others Knowledg , especially in Religion , which they can no otherwise do , than by communicating to one another what they think is the Truth , and the Reason by which they endeavour to prove it . To oblige Men to do this , God has not only implanted in them a strong desire to find out Religious Truth , but as great an inclination to teach others what they apprehend to be so ; and there is no Man who believes a Doctrine to be true , but would be very glad to get it owned by others . Whosoever therefore endeavours to hinder Men from communicating their Thoughts , ( as they notoriously do that are for restraining the Press ) invade the natural Rights of Mankind , and destroy the common Ties of Humanity . If we must , early and late , according to the Wise Man's direction , seek after Wisdom as after a hidden Treasure ; I cannot see how it will become the Wisdom of a Nation to endeavour by a Law to hinder us from knowing more than the scanty Measure a Party-Licencer will afford us . Not only the Light of Nature , but the written Word ( Levit . 19. 17. 1 Thess. 5. 14. Heb. 3. 13. ) obliges every one , Lay as well as Clergy , to exhort , warn , rebuke , and use all means possible to bring his mistaken Brother into the right way ; which he can no otherwise do , than by first judging himself what is right and wrong ; and then by using Arguments to perswade him whom he judges in the wrong , to desist from it . And if , as the Scripture supposeth , no Man can neglect to do this without hating his Brother ; every one has a right to print his Sentiments as the best , if not the only way to exhort , rebuke , reprove Myriads of Brethren at the same time . In short , in all Ages the greater Mens Zeal hath been towards God , and the more inflamed their Love to their Neighbours , the more they have thought it their Duty ( tho with the hazard of their Lives ) to communicate to others what they judged to be the Truth . And all Sects , how different so ever in all other things , do agree in thinking themselves bound thereto , as to the greatest Act of Charity ; and consequently there is no Sect that hinders others from publishing what they believe to be Truth , but sins against the natural and revealed Law , and breaks that golden Rule ( the Foundation of all Morality ) of doing as they would be done unto . For tho they look upon it as impious and tyrannical for any to hinder them from imparting to others those Doctrines they judg to be true , yet they themselves would hinder all others , who have as much right to judg for themselves , and are as much obliged to communicate to others what they judg to be a Religious Truth . What can be more inhumane , as well as ungrateful , than to punish that Person who out of love to Truth , and charity to the Souls of his Brethren , bestows his Time , perhaps to the detriment of his Health and Fortune , in publishing what he judges to be for their eternal Good ? If this be a just Reward for such an Undertaking , I cannot see how the Clergy can deserve such Riches and Honours for doing but the same thing ; that is , for instructing others in that they judg to be true . Nothing can be more unbecoming the Dignity of a rational Nature , than to bar up the way to religious Knowledg and Wisdom , which Men have no way to propagate , but by offering one another Reasons and Arguments : And there can be no Pretence to hinder Men from doing this by restraining the Press , but what will as strongly forbid them doing it any other way . In a word , Men have the same right to communicate their Thoughts , as to think themselves ; and where the one is denied , the other is seldom used , or to little purpose : For , Men as they are more or less hindred from communicating their Thoughts , are more or less stupid and ignorant , and their Religion more or less corrupted : And this is not only true with relation to Mahometans and Pagans , who suffer no Printing at all , except the Chinese ( whose Knowledg above other Eastern Nations seems to be owing to that Art , tho among them wonderfully rude and imperfect ) but with respect to Christians , amongst whom one would think it almost impossible , considering what Light and Knowledg the Gospel brought into the World , that any should be so grosly ignorant and superstitious as the Papists are , or that the Christian Religion should be so much depraved as it is amongst them : and what is this owing to , but the denying the People the Liberty of the Press , and all other ways of freely debating matters of Religion ? And had it not been for this Invention , whereby men had such an easy way of communicating their Thoughts , nothing but a second Revelation could have freed them from that mass of Ignorance and Superstition the Christian World lay under ; and which was every day increasing , and does still remain in a very high degree in those Countries that groan under Restraint , as Portugal , Spain , Italy ; which last , sutably to the Freedom once it enjoyed , abounded with Men eminent in all Learning and Knowledg , as well as Vertue and Bravery : and that it is so much degenerated now ( the Climate and the make of their Bodies being still the same ) is owing to nothing but that Priest-craft which forbids all Freedom ; contrary to the practice of antient Rome , where to think on what one had a mind to , and to speak ones thoughts as freely as to think them , was looked on as one of the chief Blessings of a Free Government . It 's not only in Popish , but in Protestant Countries too , that according to the Restraint Men lay under , Ignorance , Superstition , and Bigotry does more or less abound . Denmark , Sweden , and several other Countries , are undeniable Instances of this ; and it cannot be otherwise , for there is little difference between having no Reason , and not exercising it . And it 's evident that the Clergy themselves are not only more knowing , and reason much better , but are much more sober , careful and exemplary , where liberty of Debating is allowed , than where denied . From what has been urged , I think I may safely conclude , that Men , if they regard the employing their rational Faculties as God requires , and ( the Consequence of it ) the discovery of Truth in Religion , and their being influenced by it as they ought to be , are obliged to allow one another an entire liberty in communicating their Thoughts , which was never forbidden but where Interest supplanted Religion . 6. There 's no medium between Mens judging for themselves , and giving up their Judgments to others . If the first be their Duty , the Press ought not to be restrained , because it debars them from seeing those Allegations by which they are to inform their Judgments . All the Arguments that are or can be urged for the regulating the Press , have no other Foundation than that of People's being liable to mistake , and subject to be imposed on by fallacious Arguments and specious Pretences : which instead of proving what they design , only shows the greater Necessity for the freedom of the Press ; for the more apt Men are to mistake and to be deceiv'd , the less reason there is for their relying on any one Party , but the more to examine with all care and diligence the Reasons on all sides , and consequently for the Press being open to all Parties , one as well as the other . So that those that are for allowing Men the liberty of judging for themselves ( if any such can be for regulating the Press ) are very unhappy in their Arguments , because they all make against themselves , and out of their own Mouths they are condemned . But if Men are to give up their Reason to the Clergy , of whatsoever Denomination , there 's nothing , I confess , more inconsistent with that blind Obedience than the Liberty of the Press , because it gives them an opportunity to see what can be said against that or any other Darling Notion of the Priests ; and then it 's a great odds but that rational Creatures will be governed by their own Reason , and no longer endure the Clergy to be Lords of their Faith. 7. In fine , if it be unlawful to let the Press continue free , lest it furnish Men with the Reasons of one Party as well as the other , it must be as unlawful to examine those Reasons : for if the last be a Duty , the first cannot be unlawful , because it 's only a Means to the last in providing those Reasons which Men are bound to try and examine ; except an implicit Belief be a Duty , which must necessarily bring Men back again to Popery . For if it be now unlawful to examine the Reasons on all sides , for fear of having other Sentiments than those the Clergy approves , it was no less unlawful at the time of the Reformation , which was wholly built upon this freedom of examining the Opinions of the Priests , and rejecting them if they judged them false . This the brave Luther did singly and by himself in defiance of the whole Church , and this any Man now hath the same right to do : So that it 's evident the Freedom or Restraint of the Press depends on this single Question , Whether we ought to be free , or Slaves in our Understandings ? or , in other words , Protestants or Papists ? If the first , there cannot be the least colour for leaving the Conduct of Religion so wholly to a few Priests , that nothing shall be published about it but what they think fit , than which nothing can favour more of a Popish , slavish , and prostitute Compliance . What , Sir , could be more surprizing to that Honourable House , whereof you are a most worthy Member , than a Motion to this purpose ; That because making of Laws is a thing of great Consequence , and Country Gentlemen are subject to mistake , that therefore the House ought to be regulated , by appointing a Licenser to judg what should be spoke in it ? As ridiculous as such a Motion would be , I would willingly know why 't is not as unaccountable to hinder a whole Nation the freedom of debating Matters of Religion , which ( since they are not able , like their Representatives , to assemble in one Room ) cannot well be done but by letting the Press be open to every one to publish his Reasons ; which ought not to be denied , as long as every one in the Nation has as much a right , not only to judg for himself in religious , as any Legislators can have to judg for him in Civil Matters , but is as much obliged to use all possible means to inform his Judgment ; and consequently there is as little reason to deny Liberty of debating in one Case as the other . 8. The Reformation is wholly owing to the Press : For tho there were several able Men who , before Printing was known , most vigorously opposed the growing Errors of the Western Church ; yet all they could do was to little or no purpose , because they had no easy and ready way to communicate their thoughts to any great number : but no sooner was the Invention of Printing made useful , but a poor Monk who discovered at least the grosser Cheats of the Priesthood , was made capable of imparting those Notions , which drew almost a Moiety from the Romish Superstition , which lost ground every where , as the Press was either more or less free . Therefore it was not strange that the Popish Clergy , since they could not confound the Art of Printing , should endeavour to turn it to their own Advantage , not only by hindring any new Book from being printed , but by expunging out of old ones whatever did not serve their turn : and herein they acted consistent with their Principles , which allows no Liberty of examining , and consequently denies all Freedom of the Press , which of all things does engage Men the most to do it . But what Pretence can the Protestants have for restraining it , who as they owe their Religion to its Liberty , so they cannot hinder it without destroying that Religion which has no other Foundation than that of every ones having a Right to examine those Reasons that are for or against any Opinion , in order to make a true and impartial Judgment ? which can never be justified , if it be unlawful to permit the Press to be open for all Men to propose their Reasons to one another in order to their examining them . And it cannot be denied , but that the Protestant Clergy , who are as ambitious for the most part as the Papists themselves to impose on the Consciences of the People , have by Persecution , Restraint of the Press , and other such methods , given the Papists ( who have scarce any thing to plead for themselves but the Practice of their Adversaries ) too just an occasion to insult them , who are ( they say ) no other than a pack of Hypocrites , in doing the very same things they so loudly condemn ; and that it 's little less than a Demonstration , that the Principles by which they pretend to justify their Separation , are very absurd , since they are forced to act contrary to them in every point . And what was it in truth but these shameful Practices , that put a stop to the Reformation , which at first , like a mighty Torrent , overwhelmed all that oppos'd it , but has ever since gone back both in esteem and interest , and at last , if Men do not change their conduct , will be quite lost ? For how can it be otherwise , since that method ( Protestantism and Popery being so opposite ) that preserves the one , must necessarily destroy the other ? The taking a contrary method not only hinder'd the farther spreading of the Reformation , but was the cause that where it did prevail it was no more perfect : for tho the Reformers deserve just Commendation for what they did , yet being bred up in so much Ignorance and Superstition , they could not remove those vast loads of Corruptions which had been so long a gathering . But if those that succeeded them had taken the same liberty in examining theirs as they did their Predecessors Opinions , it 's impossible but that time must have discover'd the Truth , and made them agree at least in all matters of moment . But instead of this , they became as guilty of a blind Obedience as the Papists ; and it was a sufficient proof of any thing amongst the different Sects , if Luther , Calvin , Church of England , said so : nothing more common than that I submit all to Mother Church , and such like Phrases ; which that Men should effectually do , there were Penal Laws enacted to force them , and no Printing or Preaching allow'd to those that durst see farther than the first Reformers ( whose Eyes at the best were but half open , tho they saw very well for those times of Darkness , and in respect of the Papists who may justly be reckon'd to be quite blind ) the consequence of which was , that the Differences between the several Sects were widened , and they all run daily farther and farther into Uncharitableness , Ignorance , Superstition , and Fanaticism . 9. Whosoever observes with what Zeal our Divines condemn the Popish Clergy for not suffering their Laity to read Protestant Authors , would hardly think it possible for them to be so difingenuous as to appoint some spiritual Dragons to watch the Press , lest any thing should steal from thence that 's not for their turn . Let us hear only ( for they all write after the same manner ) the learned Dr. Clegget , who in his Persuasive to an ingenuous Trial , p. 28. tells us , They that have a good Cause will not fright Men from considering what their Adversaries say by denouncing Damnation 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 . This is the effect of a well-grounded confidence in Truth , and there 's this sign of a good Cause apparently discernable in the Application of the Clergy of this Church ( of England ) both to their Friends and Enemies , they desire the one and the other to consider impartially what is said for us as well as against us . And whatsoever Guides of a Party do otherwise , they give just cause to those that follow them to examine their Doctrines so much the more carefully , by how much they are unwilling to have them examined . It 's a bad sign when Men are loth to have their Opinions seen in the day , but love Darkness more than Light. If the Church of England will own this to be a just Character of them , they ought to be so far from endeavouring to obtain a Law to restrain the Press , that they are obliged , did they apprehend any such design , to oppose it to their utmost , and to encourage their Adversaries to print their Sentiments , and the People to read them , that they may see the difference between Truth and Error , Reason and Sophistry , Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy , Dissenting and Conforming , with their own eyes . Taking a contrary method only affords a new Argument for the Liberty of the Press , because they give their Followers a just Cause to examine their Doctrines so much the more carefully , by how much more unwilling they are to have them examined . It 's a bad sign , &c. In a word , did the Protestant Guides act as such , instead of frighting Men from considering what their Adversaries say by denouncing Damnation against them , they would tell their Auditors the great sin of being biass'd by them in the choice of their Opinions , and that the more important any Controversy is , the more Reason there is for the Liberty of the Press , that they may examine with all the diligence imaginable the Tenets of their Adversaries as well as of their Guides ; and that the more they heard the one Party , the more they should read the other ; and that if they should fall into any Error by so doing , they would not be accountable for it . For tho there is not ( as the Papists vainly imagine ) such a Guide as would infallibly lead every Man into every Truth , yet that every ones Reason as a Guide is infallible , because God that designs that all Men ( if it be not their own fault ) should be for ever happy , has given them no other Guide but their Reason to bring them to that Happiness ; and therefore as sure as God himself is infallible , the following that Guide must bring them to that happy state God designed the following it should bring them to . And on the contrary , that God , who is the Rewarder of those only that diligently seek him , would condemn them as unprofitable Servants , who instead of using their Talents to find out his Will , did abandon themselves to the uncertain chance of Education and the Religion in fashion , which varies with every Age and every Country . As thus they ought to preach to the People , so they should as little scruple to tell the Magistrate that by permitting an entire Liberty he did nothing but his Duty ; but by a Restraint of the Press he did not only shew himself guilty of a blind Obedience , but did endeavour to make a whole Nation so , and was to answer not only for all the Errors and other ill Consequences himself caused by a Restraint , but likewise of abetting all other Magistrates that think themselves in the right in doing the like ; and that tho he should chance to be in the right himself , yet he could not know how many he was the cause of being all their Lives in the wrong , who might be so only , because , not having liberty to publish the Reasons they had to embrace such Opinions , they could not meet with any that could give them Satisfaction ; and in truth , writing against any Opinion where Men have not the liberty to shew the Reasons why they hold it , is but writing at random , because Mens Reasons cannot be confuted till they are known . Such Arguments as these a Protestant Clergy , that 's true to their own Principles , ought to use both to the Prince and People , and not prevaricate with God and Man , and talk backward and forward just as it serves their turns . If Baal be God , serve him ; if not , serve the Lord. 10. I can see no reason why they that are for tying Men to that Interpretation of Scripture a Licencer 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 it . For if the Bible is to be translated into the vulgar Tongue , to what end is it , but that the People by reading it may judg what is their Duty in the most obscure and difficult places ? Ought they not then to see the different Translations and Explications ? If they are to be denied this , lest they apprehend it in a Sense different from that of the Licencer and his Party , the same Reason will restrain the People from promiscuously reading the Bible , because they may , and frequently do apprehend it in such a Sense as their Guides do not approve ; and if that be a Crime , all the means that are necessary to hinder it must be a Duty ; and therefore if it cannot be prevented without hindring the Laity from reading the Bible , it 's a Crime to suffer them to read it . 11. This Restraint gives a great handle to those that believe only Natural Religion to argue against the Christian ; for , say they , 't is no small Presumption that the Clergy themselves are conscious of the Falsness of their Religion , because they dare not suffer it to undergo a fair Trial , but do what they can to stifle all the Reasons that can be urged against it . The Clergy , say they , are so learned , and withal so numerous , that amongst them they could not fail to expose and confound any thing that 's writ against them , had they but Truth on their side , which they know is , next to the Almighty , strong , and therefore needs no licensing Tricks , or Stratagems , to make it victorious : These are the mean Shifts that Error is forced to use against its Power . These Men farther add , That if Christ and his Apostles obliged Men to try all things , how can they that pretend to be his Successors ( did they believe the Scriptures ) hinder a fair trial of any thing relating to Religion ? And can there be a fair Trial when all Parties have not the liberty to publish their Reasons , that the People may compare and examine them by their common Notions , those Tests and Standards of all Truths ? Has the Protestant Religion a fair Trial in Italy , where nothing can be heard in its defence ? Thus 't is that some Men expose our Religion on the one hand to the Insults of Unbelievers , and on the other of Papists ; which can never be avoided but by granting to all Sects an entire Liberty of the Press . All other methods equally serve to promote Error as Truth , and consequently can never be the way that God ordained to distinguish the one from the other . 12. It may be objected , That by such a latitude as this People may be seduced into false Religions , or into Heresies and Schisms . None can profess a Religion but either , because upon examination he judges it to be true , or , that some by Interest makes him do so contrary to his Judgment , or else , because he takes it on trust without examining it . As to the first , If two Persons profess different Religions , one the true , the other a false one , yet if they have been equally sincere in their examination , they are equally in the way to Heaven ; because in following their Reason , they both have done what God requires : so two Men that equally act against their Judgment , the one professing the Truth , the other not , are alike guilty : so also are they who equally take their Religion on trust ; and such perverse holding of a Religion , whether true or false , is Heresy , as the other is Hypocrisy : and according as Men are more or less partial in examining , they are more or less heretical . So that 't is not what a Man professeth , but how , that justifies or condemns him before God. And there would be few , either Hereticks or Hypocrites , were there not'Bribes annexed to some , and Awes to other religious Tenets ; for then Men would not be afraid to examine Those for fear of finding them false , nor These lest they should be true , nor to own or disown either , according as they judg them true or false . And an entire Liberty of the Press would by degrees establish religious Truth , because that is supported by better , plainer , and more cogent Proofs than any false Opinions are ; which are either mischievous or burdensome , or at the least useless , whilst the other by its Excellency and Usefulness carries Evidence and Conviction with it . As to Schisms , they are caused by Mens imposing their own Interpretations , instead of the express Words of God , as necessary terms of Communion : which makes Protestant Imposers not only Schismaticks but Hereticks , because having laid down as a Fundamental of their Religion , that every one is to interpret Scripture for himself , they most obstinately and perversly ( not to say knowingly ) act against that Fundamental . 13. The most material Objection against the Liberty of the Press is , That without Licensers , Atheism , Profaneness , and Immorality , as well as Sedition and Treason , may be published . The Commonwealth has the same reason to punish Men for those as for these , because they are all alike pernicious to humane Societies . And 't is all the reason in the world that whoever asserts any such Notions , whether in Discourse , or from the Pulpit or Press , should be severely punished . But this can be no more a reason to appoint Licensers for the one than for the other ; nor would it hinder the printing things contrary to Law , for none will be so mad as to desire an Imprimatur for them : so that such Pamphlets , whether there are or are not Licensers , will come out only by stealth ; and 't is evident there were more of them printed when the Law for regulating the Press was in being , than since . To make the Laws against such things severer , and to oblige either the Printer or Bookseller to set his Name to all Books whatever , will take away all pretence for appointing Licensers , and will be the most effectual way to prevent publishing such Books . But before I leave this Head , I cannot but remark that they are no way guilty of Profaneness who out of Conscience ( to which profane and atheistical Persons have no pretence ) worship God after a mistaken manner , because all the honour Men are capable of giving an Almighty and Alknowing Being , consists in the Intention and Design ; and therefore to punish those , who out of a holy Intention and pious Design worship God after that manner they judg acceptable to his Will , as profane Persons or Blasphemers , is the greatest Crime next to real Blasphemy , because 't is punishing Men for no other reason but for expressing their Zeal for the Honour of God , which they can no otherwise do than by worshipping him as their Reason dictates , which they must either do , or not worship him at all , or else but with a mock Worship . And they that by force are made to break the ties of Conscience , tho never so erroneous , cannot be good Subjects neither to God nor the King : so that Profaneness and Immorality cannot be destroy'd but by all Sects doing as they would be done unto ; which must establish an entire and universal Liberty , since they have all the same right to judg for themselves , and are equally oblig'd to act according to that Judgment , and to communicate to others what they judg to be true : which perhaps was the reason that the House of Commons so unanimously threw out the Bill for restraining the Press immediately before their addressing the King against Profaneness and Immorality . But to return , If it be once thought unlawful to have nothing printed but of the side of the Church in fashion , the same reason will at least as strongly hold against any thing being preached but of that side ; because if any thing is printed against that Church , there are ten thousand Clergy ( whom one would think a sufficient Guard for Truth ) to expose its Folly and Weakness , but 't is not so easy for them to know , and consequently to apply an Antidote to what is preached against them : wherefore they who are not for destroying that just and righteous Law that allows Liberty of Conscience , ought to be very careful of the Freedom of the Press , as the only means to guard and defend the other ; and both being built on the same foundation , cannot ( as has been already proved ) be destroyed but by striking at the foundation of the Protestant Religion . And , Therefore it cannot be suppos'd that the chief Support of it , the Honourable House of Commons , will ever consent to the one or the other , especially considering how much the Popish Interest increaseth , and what Advantage of late it has got in France , Germany , and Savoy . And if the Popish Princes ( as 't is suppos'd ) have enter'd into a Confederacy among themselves to extirpate the Protestant Cause , ought not all Protestants ( and all that are not for a blind Obedience deserve that Name , that being the essential difference between it and Popery ) instead of using restraint on one another , unite against the common Enemy ? Besides , let it be consider'd , 't is not certain we shall be always blest with the Government of a Prince so entirely a Protestant as our Great and Glorious Deliverer . And if the Papists should pervert one , and by that means get the publishing their Doctrines without contradiction , they might by degrees confound the Protestant Religion , so much weakned already by its Professors acting so inconsistently with their own Principles . But were that Scandal removed , by allowing as entire a Liberty as the Protestant Principles require , there could be no danger of the prevailing of the Popish , or any other Superstition . And 't is remarkable , that nothing has been writ in behalf of Popery since the Expiration of the Act for Regulating the Press , so little is Liberty a Friend to that Superstition . 14. But if , after all , there must be some appointed to determine the Fate of Religious Books , the Clergy , of all Men , ought not to be trusted with this Employ , because they ( not content with the Right they have from the Society of exercising the Ecclesiastical Function ) do claim Power and Government distinct and independent of it , which they pretend is founded in Scripture ; and consequently they have no way , as Clergy , of gaining any Dominion , Power , or Riches , more than what the Society will give them , but by wresting the Holy Writ : And if , besides the Pulpits , where they may preach what gainful Doctrines they please , without contradiction , they do so far engross the Press , as to hinder any thing from being printed but what favours their Designs ; What may not such a body of Men , ( well vers'd in all the Arts of Perswasion ) by their frequent Opportunities to display them , impose on the too credulous People , especially when all the ways to disabuse them are stopt up ? And if the Clergy in the more early and primitive times , perhaps ever since they were forbid to lord it over the Heritage of God , have made it their business to pervert Religion to advance their own Power ; what reason is there to imagine that they would not do the same in these later and degenerate Ages ? How , I pray , did the Clergy , who at first subsisted by the Charity of the People , arrive to such immense Grandeur and prodigious Riches , but by a constant Confederacy from time to time , carried on at the Expence of Religion ? which ( as their own Historians shew ) was proportionably corrupted , as they encreased in Power and Riches , the one being made a step to the other ; and 't is as evident where they are now most potent , there Religion is most perverted , and the People most enslaved . The chief way they effected this , was by perswading the People to a blind Obedience , the consequence of which was , that they must take the Clergy's own Word for all the Powers they thought fit to say the Scripture had given them , and to submit to whatever they would determine in their own Cause , and for their own Interest . And there never was a Synod , whether Orthodox or not , but were for imposing on the Laity , not only by Excommunicating , Anathematizing , and Damning , but by making the Magistrate use Violence on all that would not , contrary to their Consciences , comply with their Determinations ; by which means they at last arrived to such an excess of Power over the Magistrate as well as the People , that one was no better than their Hangman , and the other than their Slaves . And have not the Protestant Clergy ( from whom one ought to expect better things ) taken the same method to make People blindly submit to their Determinations ? Nay , have they not outdone the Popish Clergy , in wresting the Holy Writ to destroy the English Constitution , and enslave the Nation , and in preaching up the Doctrine of Absolute Obedience , than which nothing can be more inconsistent with the goodness of God , and the happiness of Humane Societies , as knowing the only way to secure Tyranny in the Church was to get it establish'd in the State ? So that if the Protestant Clergy do not keep the People in as vile a Subjection as the Popish do , 't is not owing to their good will ; and therefore none that have any value for Religion , or any kindness for their Liberties , will trust those that lie under such Temptation to pervert the Scripture , with the sole licensing Books of Religion . As we pray not to be led into Temptation , so we should avoid leading others into it , especially such as in all probability they cannot withstand . 15. The Discovery of Printing seems to have been design'd by Providence to free Men from that Tyranny of the Clergy they then groan'd under . And shall that which was intended by divine Goodness to deliver all from Sacerdotal Slavery , be made the means of bringing it on again ? And if our Ancestors could not defend themselves from more than Egyptian Bondage , which the Pulpits brought on them , without the assistance of the Press , it 's scarce possible that we should be able to secure our Liberties against both , when by the help of the latter the Clergy have got better Abilities , as well as Opportunities , to impose on the Understandings of the People : and when Men are once enslaved in their Understandings ( which of all things ought to be most free ) it 's scarce possible to preserve any other Liberty . The trusting not only the Pulpits but the Press in the hands of the Clergy , is causing the Blind to lead the Blind , because the generality of them are more likely to be guilty of a blind Obedience than the Laity , since they are obliged , as they value their Subsistence , right or wrong , to assert those Religious Tenets they find establish'd by Law ; the truth of which they cannot any more be presum'd to have impartially examin'd , than a mercenary Soldier the Justice of the Cause he is engag'd in ; being sent by their Friends to the Universities not to try the establish'd Religion , whether 't is right or wrong , but to profess it as a Trade they are to earn their bread by : and lest they should examine it , they are , even before they are capable , shackled with early Oaths and Subscriptions . Which is the reason that the Priests are wondrous hot in every Country for the Opinions to which their Preferments are annexed ; in one place fierce Calvinists , in another violent Lutherans , in a third bigotted Papists ; which could not so universally happen , did they in the least examine those Opinions they are engag'd to profess . And therefore there can be no reason to trust the Press in hands of men so biass'd and prejudic'd , who cannot but be highly affronted to see the Laity do , what they durst not , judg for themselves , and not be blindly guided by them , who ( poor men ) are not trusted to guide themselves . Yet for all this extraordinary precaution to keep the Clergy right and tight , and the great disproportion of numbers between the Laity and them , 't is evident that almost all the Errors and wrong Notions in Religion have had their rise and chief Support from them . So that upon the whole , if the Press should be trusted with any , it ought to be with Lay-men , who have no Powers , Prerogatives , or Privileges to gain by perverting of Scripture , since they pretend to none but what they receive from the Society . Tho I cannot but presume that our Legislators , were there no other reason , yet out of respect to the Clergy , would not enact such a Law as supposeth the greatest and most learned of them not fit to be trusted with the printing but a Half-sheet in Religion without consent of a Lay Licenser , who is to have an arbitrary Power over their Works . And there 's no doubt but the Clergy would highly resent such a Law ; tho I cannot see but the appointing Licensers , whether of the Laity or Clergy , equally reflects on their Body , because it equally supposeth they are unfit to be trusted . But if they are content with that Disgrace , it must be because either they cannot defend themselves against-their Adversaries , or that they have a mind to give themselves up to Laziness and Idleness , and not trouble themselves with the laborious work of controversial Divinity . But I shall say no more on this Point , having already sufficiently shewed how destructive the restraining the Press is to Religion , which it cannot be without , being in general prejudicial to Civil Societies , for whose good it was instituted , but especially when it is perverted on purpose to enslave them : and there never was a Nation which lost their religious Rights that could long maintain their civil ones , for Priestcraft and Slavery go hand in hand . Therefore I shall be the shorter on what I have to say on a civil account , especially considering that most of those Reasons that shew how destructive a Restraint of the Press is to Religious , will equally prove it to be so in Civil Affairs . 16. The greatest Enjoyment that rational and sociable Creatures are capable of , is to employ their Thoughts on what Subjects they please , and to communicate them to one another as freely as they think them ; and herein consists the Dignity and Freedom of humane Nature , without which no other Liberty can be secure : for what is it that enables a few Tyrants to keep almost all Mankind in Slavery , but their narrow and wrong Notions about Government ? which is owing to the Discouragement they lie under of mutually communicating , and consequently of employing their Thoughts on political matters ; which did they do , 't is impossible that the bulk of Mankind should have suffered themselves to be enslaved from Generation to Generation . But the Arts of State , in most Countries , being to enslave the People , or to keep them in Slavery , it became a Crime to talk , much more to write about political Matters : and ever since Printing has been invented , there have been , in most places , State-Licensers , to hinder men from freely writing about Government ; for which there can be no other reason , but to prevent the Defects of either the Government , or the Management of it , from being discovered and amended . 17. Fame , Reputation , and Honour , as they are the greatest Incentives to all good and vertuous Actions , so they as much terrify Men from committing base and unworthy ones . And it cannot be reasonably presumed , considering the general Corruption of Mankind , but that the rich and powerful would frequently oppress those beneath them , were they not afraid of losing their Reputation , and exposing themselves either to the Contempt or Hatred of the People : for this Law of Reputation ( if I may so call it ) influences Men more than all other Laws whatever . But if there were a Licenser of the Press , he might be prevailed on not only to hinder the injured from appealing to the People by publishing their Grievances , but to license such Stories only as mercenary Scriblers would write to justify the Oppressors , and to condemn the Opprest : which , as it would be the greatest Encouragement for those Men that are above the ordinary Remedies of Law to crush whom they please , so it would be the highest Injustice to deny the injured the last satisfaction of justifying their innocence to the World , which would be sure to pass a just Censure on the Oppressors ; and this they would the more dread , because if once they lose their Credit with the People , they will be very unfit Instruments for a Court to use . Therefore 't is no wonder if all that make an ill use of their Power , especially those who have cheated the Government as well as abused the People , do endeavour with all their might to have the Press regulated , left their Crimes being exposed in Print , may not only render them odious to the People , but to the Government . In a word , All sorts of Men whose Interest it is not to have their Actions exposed to the Publick ( which I am afraid are no small number ) will be for restraining the Press , and perhaps will add Iniquity to Inquity , by pretending they do it out of Conscience to suppress Immorality and Profaneness . 18. But this is not the worst that may happen , because the Press may be so managed , as to become a most powerful Engine to overturn and subvert the very Constitution : for should a Magistrate arise with Arbitrary Designs in his head , no Papers that plead the Rights and just Privileges of the People would be stamp'd with an Imprimatur : Then the Press would be employed only to extend the Prerogative beyond all bounds , and to extol the Promoters of Arbitrary Power as the chief Patriots of their Country , and to expose and traduce those that were really so ; which would be the greatest Discouragement not only to all brave and vertuous Actions , but would be apt to make the People mistake their Friends , when they had not the Liberty to publish a Vindication of their Principles or Actions , for their Enemies . In a word , if the Pulpits and Westminster-Hall ( as we have lately seen it ) should chime in with an Arbitrary Court , what can warn the People of their Danger , except the Press ? But if that too be wholly against them , they may easily be so blinded as not to see the Chains that are preparing for them , till they are fettered beyond all power of Redemption ; for there can never be wanting a thousand plausible Stories , and seemingly fair Pretences , to amuse and divert them from perceiving their real Danger . And if we look into the History of Europe , we shall find more Nations wheedled than forced out of their Liberties ; tho Force afterward was necessary to maintain what was got at first by Fraud . 19. 'T is so far from being impossible , that a People may be thus imposed on to their utter ruin ; that 't is probable another Generation seeing nothing but the Royal Prerogative highly magnified , may be bred up with the Opinion of being born Slaves . And were we not almost brought to that pass in the late Reigns ? when nothing came out with Allowance but what was to justify such Opinions ; and if some good men ( not to mention the Prince of Orange's third Declaration ) especially about the time of the Revolution , had not had the Courage privately to print some Treatises to undeceive the People , and to make them see the fatal Consequences of those Doctrines which by the restraint of the Press pass'd for divine and sacred Truths ; the Nation had tamely submitted to the yoke . And as it cannot be denyed but that those Papers in a great measure opened our eyes , so it may justly be hoped that none that saw the miserable Condition that the Act for regulating the Press would have brought us into , will be instrumental in reestablishing that Law. No ; those Men sure who so much exclaimed against it in the late Reigns , will take all care imaginable to prevent it now . But if these very men who may justly be said to be written into their places , and owe their Preferments to the freedom of examining those slavish Doctrines of the former Reigns ; if these Men , I say , can so far forget themselves as to be for a Law which till themselves were uppermost they thought tended only to inslave us , there cannot be , I think , a greater Argument for all others to oppose it . We are , God be thanked , blest with the Government of the best of Kings , who as he hazarded every thing to rescue our Liberties when in the extremest Danger , so he places the Glory of his Reign in preserving them entire , and transmitting them so to Posterity . And therefore none that love his Glory can be for restraining the Press , which now as it can serve to no other end than to create Jealousies in the People , who cannot forget what former Reigns design'd by it , so it may hereafter hazard all our Liberties . Under a good King we may justly expect such Laws as will not expose us to , but secure us from the Oppressions of an ill one . The best things when perverted become the very worst ; as Religion it self , when it degenerates into Superstition , so Printing , which in it self is no small Advantage to Mankind , when it is abused , may be of most fatal consequence . Secure but the Liberty of the Press , and that will , in all probability , secure all other Liberty ; but if that once falls into the hands of ill designing Men , nothing that we hold dear or precious is safe . And experience manifests , that wheresoever That of the Press is denied , there no Other is preserved . Most Countries in Europe maintained their Freedom tolerably well till the Invention of Printing ; but when that was suffered to speak nothing but Court-Language , People were by degrees gull'd and cheated of their Liberty . Had not the late King tack'd Popery to Slavery , he might with the greatest ease imaginable have enslav'd us ; and methinks the danger we have so miraculously escaped , should fright us from ever enacting any of those Methods into a Law that so much contributed to that danger . 20. That which alone would engage me , were I a Senator , to oppose the Restraint of the Press , is , that a Parliament is to take cognizance of all sorts of things which some Men of Gentlemen-like Education may not have much considered ; and therefore the perusing what those without doors , who have made such things their business , have writ , may be none of the worst means of informing themselves ; but a Restraint of the Press may in a great measure hinder them from receiving this Satisfaction , because Licensers might be prevailed on to suffer but one side to publish their Sentiments even in Matters of the greatest Consequence . I have met with some Members who have frankly owned that the incomparable Argument against the Standing Army gave them great Insight into that grand Point , which , said they , had not the Press been open , would never have appeared , nor any thing on that side , tho a number of Pamphlets on the other , which , with the noise of self-interested Persons , would in all probability have carried things quite otherwise . And seeing they could not foresee how frequently such things might happen , this alone , said they , was enough to convince them of the necessity of the Liberty of the Press , since they could not be too secure of that inestimable Jewel Liberty , which , if once lost , was scarce ever to be recovered , especially if seized by a domestick Power . 21. I doubt not but there are several well-meaning Men for regulating the Press ; who , did they consider how subject all things are to change , could not but be apprehensive that this Engine of their own contriving might be turned upon themselves , and made to ruin those very Designs they thought to promote by it . For the Press ( as a witty Gentleman observes ) is like a Jackanapes , he who has him in his hands may make him bite whom he pleases , and therefore 't is their safest way to keep their Jackanapes in their own hands . And it cannot but shew a great deal of hardiness to make such a Law as may produce very fatal Consequences even to the Makers themselves , who will then deserve no pity , since they are scourg'd with Rods of their own providing : and 't is the more probable this may happen so hereafter , since even at present such a Law has but an untoward Aspect upon most Parties ; for one Party , tho he is pleased with it in religious , yet dislikes it in civil Matters ; another thinks the contrary to be his Interest ; a third is satisfied with having such or such Sects restrained from Printing , but would be glad that others had that Liberty ; a fourth , who cares not how all the Sectaries are dealt with , is yet afraid , that if the Press be in the hands of moderate Church-men , none will be suffered to write any more Letters to a Convocation-man , or a Manicipium Ecclesiasticum , or such like Books ; a fifth is afraid lest this Power should get into the hands of the rigid ones , for then the others will be run down as Trimmers , Latitudinarians , and what not . The same may be said with respect to other Religious Opinions , about which Men of the same Church are divided , and the like may be as well observed in civil Matters , but I leave every one to make that Remark for himself ; so that if all Parties cast up their accounts , there are very few of them but will find a Restraint of the Press to be against even their present Interest . 22. I might add a great number of other Reasons , because as many things as are worth knowing , so many Arguments there are for the Liberty of the Press ; what can be more useful than History , and the Knowledg of our Ancestors Actions ? A faithful account of which can scarce be expected in a Reign that has a design to disguise Truth , and to keep us in ignorance of those noble and generous Notions our Ancestors had of Liberty , and how they asserted theirs upon all occasions . As for what concerns the present time , I shall only say , that for my own part I should be glad , especially when at a distance from London , ( and I suppose other Country Gentlemen may be of the same mind ) to divert my self with some other News-papers besides the Gazette , which would hardly be permitted if the Press were regulated . As for Books of Philosophy , and of other Arts and Sciences , I can see no reason why there should be any Restraint on them , or why the licensing them should be intrusted with the Clergy , as by the late Act , except it be to hinder such Books from being printed as tend most to inform Mens Judgment , and make them reason clearly , things very dangerous to a blind implicit Obedience . Besides , an excellent Discovery in Nature may be hindred from being publish'd , on pretence that 't is inconsistent with Religion : for the time has been when asserting the Antipodes has been no less than Heresie ; and the Motion of the Earth a Crime worthy the Inquisition , and with as little Reason ( not to mention Dr. Burnet's ingenious Tracts ) has the most useful Book that was ever written in Philosophy , the Essay of humane Understanding , been condemned as inconsistent with the Articles of the Christian Religion . As for Physick , tho the licensing Books therein were wholly trusted with some of the College , the most useful Piece in that Science , either because the Licensers were engaged in another Method of Practice , or because it may take from their Advantage , by prescribing a cheaper and easier way of Cure , or out of Envy , or a thousand other Reasons , might be hindred from seeing the Light , to the no small detriment not only of the present , but future Ages . As to Law , I shall only say , If there are any Abuses crept into it , the likeliest way to have them reformed is not by restraining the Press . 23. Were Licensers unbiast , uncorrupt , and infallible , there might be good Reason to trust them with an Arbitrary Power to pass what Sentences they pleas'd on Books ; but if we are to judg of the future by the past , they are almost as likely to be one as the other . Men of Sense , ( and others ought not to be trusted with it ) without being resolved to make the most of it , will not care to be condemned to the drudgery of reading all the Trash that comes to be printed , nothing but necessity will make such Persons submit to it , and that necessity will make them less able to withstand Temptation . So that the appointing Licensers will be as bad as laying a Tax on Learning , since by delaying to look over Books , especially those that require haste to be printed , and by other tricks ( for there are Mysteries in all Trades ) they may make People pay what they please for their Allowance . 24. But this is not the worst , it will be a great hindrance to the promoting of Knowledg and Truth , by discouraging the ablest Men from writing for such Persons , especially after having once had the liberty of publishing their own Thoughts , will not be content to have their Works lie at the Mercy of an ignorant or at the best of an unleisured Licenser , who upon a cursory view may either condemn the whole to perpetual Darkness , or strike out what he pleaseth , perhaps the most material things . And tho a living Author may subject himself to this , yet none will be content that the Labours of a deceased Friend should be so served ; so that the Works of such a Person , tho never so famous in his Life-time , shall be lost to all Posterity . Besides , is it not intolerable , that every time a Man has a mind to make any Alteration or Addition between the licensing of the Copy , and the printing it off , that he must as often hunt after the same Licenser to obtain his leave , for the Printer could not go beyond his licensed Copy , when in the mean time the Press , to his no small damage , must stand still ? In short , tho there might seem to be some reason to condemn a Person that upon a fair Trial had been found guilty of writing immoral things , or against the Government , to the Punishment of never writing again but under the Authority of an Examiner ; yet what reason can there be that those that never offended , nay that the whole Commonwealth of Learning should be subject to so severe Usage , which too is the way to have none but Fools and Blockheads plague the World with their Impertinence , and make an Imprimatur ( as it did formerly ) signify no more than that such a Book is foolish enough to be printed ? ' This objected , that without Licensers any one may reflect on whom he has a mind to , so as that most People shall be sensible whom he means , tho he mention but two Letters of his Name , or useth some other Description , by which means he is out of the reach of the Law. This may be an Argument for the forbidding all Printing , but none for appointing Licensers ; for 't is much more reasonable for all to have the Liberty to vindicate themselves the same way they chance to be aspersed , than to let the Licenser's Party abuse all others , and the Press not open for them to justify themselves . But if any one reflects upon another after this manner , let him make appear whom it is he means , or else let him be esteemed in Law to intend that Person that takes it to himself . This I think is all that can be objected as to Civil Matters , except what relates to Sedition and Treason , for an Answer to which I refer the Reader to ยง . 13. I have no more to add , but that my greatest Ambition next to serving the Publick , ( which here I have endeavoured to do without so much as once thinking how it may affect me in my own private Concerns ) is to approve my self to be , SIR , Your most faithful and devoted humble Servant . Lately Published , THE Militia Reform'd ; or an easy Scheme of furnishing England with a constant Land-Force , capable to prevent or to subdue any Forein Power ; and to maintain perpetual Quiet at home , without endangering the Publick Liberty . Sold by Andrew Bell in Cornhill .