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 AREOPAGITICA; 
 
 WITH 
 
 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 BY 
 
 T. HOLT WHITE, ESQ. 
 
AREOPAGITICA: 
 
 A 
 
 SPEECH 
 
 TO 
 
 THE PARLIAMENT OF ENGLAND, 
 
 fOR THE 
 
 LIBERTY OF UNLICENSED PRINTING, 
 
 BY 
 
 JOHN MILTON; 
 
 fvltji prefatory remarks, copious notes, and excursive 
 Illustrations, 
 
 BY 
 
 T. HOLT WHITE, ES^. 
 
 To which is subjoined, 
 
 A TRACT 
 
 SUR LA LIBERTE DE LA PRESSE, 
 
 IMITE' 
 
 DE L'ANGLOIS DE MILTON, 
 
 PAR 
 
 LE COMTE DE MIRABEAU. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 PRINTED FOR R. HUNTER, 
 
 SUCCESSOR TO MR. JOHNSON, NO. 72, ST. PAUl's CHURCHYARD, 
 
 AND 
 RICHARD STEEVENS, BELL YARD^ TEMPLE BAR. 
 
 I8I9. 
 
CHARLES WOOD, Printer, 
 Poppin's Court, Fleet Street, London. 
 
^3? 
 
 ' OJUU 
 
 CONTENTS- 
 
 Page 
 
 Prefatory Remarks, hy the Present Editor i 
 
 Thomson's Preface Ixv 
 
 Cursory Observations , hy the Present 
 
 Editor, on the Invention of Printing . Ixxxiii 
 
 Preface to the Edition in 1772 xcvii 
 
 A List of the Editions of the Areopa- 
 GiTiCA, known to the Editor, which 
 have been published separately from 
 Milton's Prose Works cxxi 
 
 Commendatory Testimonies cxxiii 
 
 Glossarial Index cxxxv 
 
 Argument 0/ Milton's Apeopagitica . . . cxxxix 
 
 M 
 
 1^581501 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Page 
 
 Areopagitica, a Speech of Mr. John 
 
 Milton, 8^c 1 
 
 Excursive Illustrations 205 
 
 Sur la Liberty de la Presse, imitd de 
 VAnglois de Milton, par le Comte de 
 MiRABEAU 2Q^ 
 
PREFATORY REMARKS. 
 
 Milton begins a letter to a learned Athe- 
 nian with informing him, that from boyhood 
 he had been devoutly attached to the study 
 of every circumstance connected with Greece, 
 and above all with Athens*. That this was 
 not a cold nor barren admiration of Grecian 
 laws and usages is proved by the eagerness 
 which he manifested to transplant them into 
 his native country. Warmed with this fair 
 idea, and as a step toward realizing it, he 
 availed himself of an opportunity to sub- 
 mit to the ruling authorities, whether they 
 should not refine our own " high tides and 
 "solemn festivals,'' so as to render them 
 instrumental to purposes of general im- 
 provement, and one mean for conveying 
 instruction to the public. This refinement 
 was to have for its model the Panathensea, 
 and other stated celebrations among the 
 
 * " Cum sim a piieriti^ totius Graeci nominis, tuartimque 
 in primis Athenarum cultor," &c. Leonardo PhUarce, . 
 
 b 
 
11 - PREFATORY REMARKS BY 
 
 Greeks. He had learnt the memorablcr 
 efficacy with which Fanegyiies, or festal 
 conventions of the citizens, had co-operated 
 with their popular form of Government on 
 the ingenious and illuminated inhabitants of 
 Attica in the formation of the Athenian 
 character ; he therefore allowed to his fancy 
 somewhat more than an imaginary range, 
 when he intimated a wish to occupy by 
 festive observances of a similar description 
 the anniversary intervals our ancestors gave 
 up to pleasurable relaxation, and thus to 
 turn their festivities and diversions to moral 
 advantage. It was in the exordial Section, 
 to the second Book on Church Government, 
 that he pointed out to those who then 
 guided the public councels this course for 
 the improvement of the occasion which 
 offered itself. 
 
 Since all his Biographers have either over- 
 looked or disregarded this intellectual fea- 
 ture, I will extract the entire passage. We 
 gain from it an insight of the curious plans 
 for national amelioration to which he at one 
 time resigned his imagination : " Because 
 " the Spirit of Man cannot demean itself 
 " lively in this body without some recreating 
 
*•• 
 
 tut: PRESENt EDITOR. Ill 
 
 ** intermission of labour, and serious things^ 
 " it were happy for the commonwealth, if 
 *' our Magistrates, as in those famous Govern^ 
 *' ments of okU would take into their care, 
 " not only the deciding of our contentious 
 " Law-cases and brawls, but the managing 
 " of our public sports, and festival pastimes, 
 " that they might be, not such as were 
 *' authorized awhile since, the provocations 
 " of Drunkenness and Lust, but such as may 
 " inure and harden our Bodies by martial 
 " exercises to all warlike skill and perform- 
 *' ance ; and may civilize, adorn, and 
 •' make discreet our Minds by the learned 
 " and affable meeting of frequent Academies^ 
 " and the procurement of wise and artful 
 " recitations, sweetened with eloquent and 
 " graceful inticements to the love and prac- 
 " tice of Justice, Temperance, and Forti- 
 •' tude, instructing and bettering the Nation 
 " at all opportunities, that the call of Wisdom 
 ** and Virtue may be heard every where, as 
 " Solomon saith. She crieth without, she 
 " uttereth her voice in the streets, in the 
 •^ top of high places, in the chief concourse, 
 *' and in the openings of the gates. Whe- 
 *^ ther this may be not only in Pulpits, but 
 
 b2 
 
IV PREFATORY REMARKS BY 
 
 " after another persuasive method, at set and 
 " solemn Panegi/rieSy in Theatres^ Porches^ or 
 " what other place or way, may win most 
 " upon the People to receive at once both 
 " Recreation, and Instruction ; let them in 
 *' Authority consult/' Such were the ele- 
 vated prospects that opened to Milton^s 
 view. In his expansion of heart, now the 
 fortune of war inclined to the side of the 
 Parhament, and his hopes were fresh, it 
 should appear that he looked forward not 
 without a fond anticipation of succeeding in 
 these high aims. The publication of his 
 Areopagitica, when more than twelve 
 months had elapsed after this energetic 
 aspiration for the glories of Solo7is Republic, 
 evince it to have been no loose nor transient 
 thought, springing up for a moment and 
 then dying away. On the contrary, to 
 assimilate our customs and estabUshments 
 as nearly as the different dispositions, and 
 the diversity in the forms of society and 
 manners would permit, to those in the free 
 States of Greece during the effulgence of 
 their meridian splendour, was a consum- 
 mation that had taken a rooted possession 
 of his mind, and which he encouraged 
 
THE PRESENT EDITOR. V 
 
 the pleasing expectation might be accom- 
 plished. 
 
 Many, it is to be presumed, will pause 
 before they assent to the opinion, that if 
 these speculations had ripened into act, they 
 would have been found congenial to the 
 more staid temperament of the English, and 
 in consequence that they would have failed 
 in producing the beneficial results which 
 from the example of the Grecian Common- 
 wealths he had promised to himself from 
 their adoption. However that be, thus 
 much is certainly to be regretted, that the 
 indifference with which this suggestion was 
 received has deprived the world of letters 
 of some emanations from Milton's Muse, 
 which doubtless would not for sublimity of 
 conception have suffered by a comparison 
 with the Lyre of Greece in its severer and 
 didactic moods. For he further disclosed, in 
 the introductory Chapter I have just cited, 
 that he had revolved in his thoughts poetical 
 compositions in the very spirit of those 
 which bore away the prize at the Olympic 
 Games and at the periodical celebrations 
 at Delphi. Had events induced him to 
 have bestowed a positive shape and being 
 
Jl PRJiFATORY REMARKS BY 
 
 on these musings, it was in his contem- 
 plation to have impressed them, Hke his 
 Areopagitica, with the stamp and seal of 
 Attic genius. 
 
 He balanced in these meditations between 
 the dithyrambic boldness of Pindaric song, 
 and Tragedy, " full of wise saws,'' as she 
 spoke in Greece : " whether those dramatic 
 *^ constitutions, wherein Sophocles and Euripides 
 *' reign, shall be found more doctrinal and 
 *' exemplary to a Nation,'' — ^' Or, if occasion 
 ^' shall lead, to imitate those magnific Odes 
 and Hymns wherein Pindarus and Callima- 
 chus are in most things worthy." — ^' These 
 abilities (he presently afterward proceeds), 
 " wheresoever they b^ found, are the in- 
 *' spired gift of God rarely bestowed, but 
 " yet to some (though most abuse) in every 
 " Nation : and are of power, beside the 
 *' office of a Pulpit, to inbreed and cherish 
 ^' in a great People the seeds of Virtue, and 
 ^' public Civility, to allay the perturbations 
 ^' of the Mind, and set the affections in right 
 •' tune."' In these passages we perceive the 
 fine touches of an ardent imagination bent 
 on improving the moral condition of Society 
 by every means withiu the compass of bis 
 
THE PRESENT EDITOR. Vll 
 
 ^ability. But the spirit of the times did not 
 answer to the spirit of the Bard. The season 
 was gloomy, and unpropitious to the culti- 
 vation of the ornaments and elegancies of a 
 polished nation. Few, very few, of that 
 party who gained the lead at this juncture, 
 had minds enlarged enough to comprehend 
 how festival assemblages of the People could 
 be made subservient to public instruction. 
 Beside, Poetry had no charms for them : 
 " museless and unbookish," they decried it, 
 and discountenanced heathen Learning; while 
 Stage-Poetry and all representations of a 
 theatrical nature were doubly offensive to 
 their bigotry. Of these men, much the 
 greater part was notoriously deficient in the 
 attainments likely to dispose them to assist 
 his elated expectations. AVhen urging these 
 topics on their consideration, he might have 
 addressed them not unaptly in the very 
 words of the Sibyl to jE?ieas : 
 
 " Via prima salutis, 
 " Quod mini me r^ris, Graia pandetur ab urbe." 
 
 Their beau ideal of the best form of Govern- 
 ment would have been drawn from quite a 
 different quarter ; I mean from the Hebrew 
 Theocracy. 
 
Vlll PREFATORY REMARKS BY 
 
 The popular Preachers, the demagogues 
 of these stormy times, teemed with zeal, 
 and the memories of Richard Baxter^ 
 and of Edmimd Calamy^ and of many more, 
 ought to be always held in reverence 
 for their dauntless, invincible, and exem- 
 plary constancy under sufferings, brought 
 on them by their resistance to the civil 
 and religious tyranny of the Stuarts. They 
 were at the same time (the exceptions 
 are rare) of a low size as to scholar- 
 ship, and in general devoid of knowlege out 
 of their peculiar and narrow track, with 
 minds absorbed in designs to advance the 
 exclusive aggrandizement of their own Sect. 
 Too many among them, when for a while 
 they had the ascendancy, panted to rear on 
 the ruins of Laud's a priestly superstructure 
 of their own, as heavily oppressive to the laity 
 as the overweening hierarchy of which this 
 Primate flattered himself he should have 
 become the founder, when he expressed a 
 hope to see the day that no Jack Gentleman in 
 England woidd stand before a Clergyman zdth 
 his hat on. 
 
 To put down absolutely and completely 
 all public pastimes and recreations was with 
 a number of the non-conforming enthusiasts 
 
THE PRESENT EDITOR. IX 
 
 a point of Conscience, grounded on prepos- 
 terous and, I believe, very pernicious no- 
 tions. A fast day with Pulpit Lectures 
 voluminous as Mantons^ would, in the con- 
 ception of Philip Aye and Obadiah Sedge- 
 wick, and their brethren, contribute more to 
 the edification of the People, than holydays 
 for sports and games with choral Odes and 
 Hymns full of the purest Morality in strains 
 the most sublime. It was our Poet's com- 
 plaint, that in his day Sermons were vended 
 in such numbers as well nigh to thrust all 
 other Books out of circulation. His endea- 
 vour to impart to the Puritans his own 
 liberal and juster conviction of the impor- 
 tant benefits to be extracted from the Drama 
 was of course not listened to, or listened to 
 with coldness and disapprobation. They 
 heard with averted ears his tribute of praise 
 on the lofty grave Tragedians who inculcate 
 the duties of Ufa 
 
 " In Chorus or Iambic ; Teachers best 
 " Of moral Prudence, with delight received 
 *• In brief sententious precepts." 
 
 Par. Reg, 
 
 Not all the exhortations to the practice of 
 
/ 
 
 X PREFATORY REMARKS BY 
 
 Virtue, so thickly strown over the tragic 
 scenes of Euripides, partly perhaps by the 
 hand of Socrates, would in the opinion of 
 Prt/nne atone for the original sin of a stage- 
 play. To talk of the ethics of the Stage to 
 him or to his followers was lost labour. In 
 fact, two Ordinances were passed in 1647 
 for the total suppression of Plays and Inter- 
 ludes. 
 
 Notwithstanding Milton's various and 
 strong claims on the veneration of his 
 country, it can have been the fate of few, 
 perhaps of no man, who, thrown upon a 
 period of civil discord, has acted in a con- 
 spicuous station, to have been mahgned by 
 posthumous detraction in the same degree. 
 Not easily, nor soon, were his labours in the 
 parliamentary cause forgotten or forgiven 
 by those who held contrary opinions. This 
 hostility to his memory continued virulent 
 beyond the common measure of political 
 virulence. So late as the middle of the last 
 century, if we may place implicit reUance 
 on Baron, " many high-church Priests and 
 " Doctors laid out considerable sums to 
 " destroy the Prose-works of Milton ; and 
 
 purchased copies of his particular writings 
 
 a 
 
THE PRESENT EDITOR. XI 
 
 *^ for the infernal pleasure of consuming 
 ^' them*/' It is of daily occurrence, that the 
 conspiracy of an adverse party against 
 living merit, while the passions are agitated 
 by the struggle, seldom fails to be commen- 
 surate to acts performed or apprehended to 
 its disservice. But these bigots must have 
 persisted to " hate with a most operative 
 " hatred,'' from a conscious dread that his 
 mighty spirit survived him and still spoke in 
 his writings. Or, could their enmity originate 
 in chagrin that so great a Name was to be 
 counted among their opponents ? I am 
 at a loss to devise any other ascribable mo- 
 lives for the merciless rancour which would 
 not allow him to rest in peace for years after 
 he had been laid asleep in the grave ; a 
 rancour which time has yet been hardly able 
 to subdue. With how sensitive a prudery in 
 politics, nearly all the eulogists of his poetry, 
 from Fenton downward, have been anxious 
 to redeem their praise by entering circum- 
 spect protests against his tenets in civil and 
 religious affairs, it is not a Uttle amusing to 
 observe. But the candour which accom-* 
 
 * Preface to 'EaovoxAao-'ny;, 4to. 1756^ 
 
XU PREFATORY REMARKS BY 
 
 panied T, Warton throughout his critical 
 labours on different writers, would, without 
 considering the fiHal gratitude which he 
 owed to his poetical forefather, forbid the 
 unworthy suspicion, that he wilfully discre- 
 dited Milton by any reflection that he 
 deemed to be unfounded, though their utter 
 contrariety of opinion as to the most eligible 
 forms of ecclesiastical and temporal policy oc- 
 casionally incited him to splenetic ebullitions, 
 which would have been better repressed. 
 It was in a moody moment, and under this 
 influence, that this ingenious Critic breaks out 
 — " No man was ever so disqualified to turn 
 " Puritan as Milton/' We meet with an 
 ample refutation of all such reproach in his 
 recorded endeavour to establish festival en- 
 tertainments for the People, and other public 
 institutions, imagined on the same princi- 
 ples which the Grecian legislators had expe- 
 rienced to have been a very effective auxi- 
 liary in raising Greece to her unexampled 
 height of greatness. If further confirmation 
 were wanted, more facts of the same ten- 
 dency are at hand. In the Tract which gives 
 occasion to these notices, it again appears 
 how far. he was before those persons with 
 
THE PRESENT EDITOR. XUl 
 
 whom he is here injuriously ranked. He 
 there states, that he dared he known to think 
 Spenser a better teacher than Scotus or Aquinas. 
 When therefore Mr. Warton charged him in 
 addition with the adoption of " itnpoetical 
 principles'' the accusation was equally- 
 groundless. The current of general opinion, 
 I admit, then drove in this direction; we 
 have seen that Milton set himself indivi- 
 dually to stem it. 
 
 He can no more be said to have de- 
 serted Poetry than Locke can be said to 
 have deserted Philosophy, because this great 
 Writer for a season dedicated himself to 
 assert the right of private judgment in reli- 
 gious concerns, and to justify the People's 
 expulsion of James from the throne. In 
 the stead of such light and air-built sur- 
 mises, we must require unobjectionable 
 testimony before it will enter our belief, that 
 he, who published to the world the inte- 
 resting anecdote in the history of his own 
 mind which now follows, would ever have 
 harboured a thought incompatible with a 
 love for Poetry. He introduced this digres- 
 sive narration to show, that if he had 
 sought for praise by the ostentation of 
 Talents and Learninjy, he would, never have 
 
 / 
 
XlV PREFATORY REMAKRS ^Y 
 
 written, till, in pursuance of the plan which 
 he had marked out for himself, he had 
 completed to his satisfaction the full 
 circle of his private studies*. To demon- 
 strate this, he appeals to the character of 
 the work by which he first appeared as an 
 authour — a disquisition on Ecclesiastical 
 Government. Left to his free choice, he 
 tells the reader, that he should have selected 
 a subject purposely; some subject which 
 would have admitted " time enough to 
 *' pencil it over with all the curious touches 
 " of art ; even to the perfection of a fault- 
 ** less picture.'^ After enforcing these argu- 
 ments to prove, that he was impelled into 
 the service of the Anti-prelatical Party by 
 the mandate of Conscience, and did not 
 enlist in it to gratify any personal conside- 
 I'ations, nor without repugnance, he pro- 
 
 * He repeats much the same in his Defemio Secunda : 
 •f Equidem tacere diu, et posse non scribere, quod nunquam 
 <'potuit Salmasius, didiceram; eaque in sinu gestabam 
 ** tacitus, quae si tum proferre libuisset, seque ac nunc, in- 
 " claruisse jamdudum poteram : sed cunctantis famse avidus 
 *^ non eram, ne hsec quidem, nisi idone^ datA occasione 
 *' unquam prolaturus ; nihil laborans etsi alii me quaecunque 
 «* n6ssem scire nesciebant; non enim famam sed opportu- 
 " nitatem cujusque rei prsestolabar." — Vr, TV, II. 330, edit, 
 1738. 
 
tHE PRESENT EDITOR. XV 
 
 ceeds, " Lastly, I should not choose this 
 " manner of writing wherein knowing myself 
 " inferior to myself, led by the genial power 
 "of Nature to another task*, I have the 
 *' use, as I may account it, but of my left 
 *' hand. And though I shall be fooUsh in 
 '* saying more to this purpose, yet since it 
 *' will be such a folly, as wisest men going 
 *' about to commit, have only confest and so 
 " committed, I may trust with more reason^ 
 *' because with more follj?", to have courteous 
 ** pardon. For although a Poet, soaring in 
 *' the high region of his fancies, with his 
 *' garland and singing robes about him, 
 might without apology speak more of him- 
 
 «( 
 
 * Compare what he wrote to Oldenhirg in 1654 : " Ad 
 •* alia ut me parem, nescio sane an nobiliora aut utih'ora 
 ^ (quid enim in rebus humanis asserend^ Libertate nobiliuJ 
 ** aut utilius esse possit ?) siquidem per valetudinem et banc 
 " luminum orbitatem, omni senectute graviorem, si denique 
 " per hujusmodi Rabularum clamores licuerit, facile induci 
 ** potero : neque enim iners otium unquam mihi placuit, et 
 " hoc cum Libertatis adversariis inopinatum certamen, di- 
 ** versis longe, et amoenioribus omnino me studiis intentura, 
 " ad se rapuit invitum ; ita tamen ut rei gestae quando id 
 *' necesse erat, nequaquam poenlteat: nam in vanis operam 
 •' consumpsisse me, quod innuere videris, longe abest, ut 
 " putem." Epist, Fam, 
 
XVI PREFATOllY REMARKS BY 
 
 ' self than I mean to do ; yet for me sitting 
 ' here below in the cool element of Prose, 
 ' a mortal thing among many readers of no 
 ' empyreal conceit, to venture and divulge 
 ' unusual things of myself, I shall petition to 
 ' the gentler sort, it may not be envy to me. 
 ' I must say therefore, that after I had from 
 ' my first years, by the ceaseless diligence 
 ^ and care of my Father^', whom God 
 ' recompence,been exercised to the Tongues, 
 ' and some Sciences, as my age would 
 ' suffer, by sundry Masters and Teachers 
 ' both at home and at the schools, it was 
 ' found, that whether aught was imposed 
 ' me by them that had the overlooking, or 
 ' betaken to of mine own choice in English, 
 
 * or other tongue, prosing or versing, but 
 ' chiefly this latter, the style, by certain 
 ' vital signs it had, was likely to live. But 
 
 * much latelier in the private Academies 
 ' of Italy, whither I was favoured to resort, 
 
 * Again, in the Defensio Secunda^ he says, " ?~*er me 
 .^* puerulum humaniorum literarwrn studiis destinwii; «)uas 
 ** ita avide anripui, ut ab anno setatis duodecimo vix unquam 
 "ante mediam noctem a lucubrationibus cubitum disce- 
 "derem; quae prima oculorum pernicies fuit:" &c. 
 Pr.^. II. 33 Let/. 173S. 
 
THE PRESENT EDITOR. XVU 
 
 * perceiving that some trifles which I had in 
 ' memory, composed at under twenty or 
 ' thereabout (for the manner is, that every 
 
 * one must give some proof of his Wit and 
 ' and Reading there) met with acceptance 
 ' above what was looked for, and other 
 ' things which I had shifted in scarcity of 
 
 * Books and conveniences to patch up 
 ' among them, were received with written 
 ' encomiums, which the Itahan is not for- 
 ' ward to bestow on Men of this side the 
 ' Alps, I began thus far to assent both to 
 ' them and divers of my friends here at 
 
 * home ; and not less to an inward prompt- 
 ' ing which now grew daily upon me, that 
 ' by labour and intent Study, (which I take 
 
 ' to be my portion in this Life) joined with ; 
 ' the strong propensity of Nature, I might 
 ' perhaps leave something so written to after- | 
 ^ times, as they should not willingly let it { 
 ' die*." 
 
 Sufficient has been said in these preceding 
 remarks to satisfy all who read them, that 
 in taking on him for the Speech before us 
 
 * Prefatory Section to the second Book on " the Reason 
 " of Church Government urged against Prelaty." 
 
 C 
 
XVlll PREFATORY REMARKS BY 
 
 the office of an Athenian Rhetor, he was 
 acting consistently. Not contented to rest 
 in speculation, he was experimentally illus- 
 trating his recommendation, " to call Anti- 
 " quity from the old schools of Greece/' In 
 this way making manifest his own readiness 
 to contribute a full contingent toward intro- 
 ducing into his native land customs and in- 
 stitutions, which might contest the superiority 
 with those of Athens in her golden age of 
 liberal Arts and Science, of Philosophy, Elo- 
 cution, and Poetry. For those whom he de- 
 scribes in the work under review, " as the 
 *' Men who professed the study of Wisdom 
 *' and Eloquence" in that city, the 'Frjropeg, 
 seem to have been of two orders. The 
 larger number, as Pericles and Demosthenes^ 
 with his enlightened Co-rival, mixed per- 
 sonally in the Debates of the assembled Ci- 
 tizens : others, declining any share in the 
 administration of the Commonwealth, neither 
 filled any employment of public trust, nor 
 spoke in the pubhc Meetings. Like Iso- 
 crates and Anstides the Sophist, and others, 
 instead of being practically eloquent, they 
 discussed the interests of the State in writing, 
 and so offered their advice to their fellow- 
 
THE PRESENT EDITOR. XIX 
 
 citizens on measures of importance, and 
 sometimes by the same means counselled 
 foreign Potentates and foreign Nations. It 
 was to designate Dio Chrysostom as belong- 
 ing to the class of Politicians who abstracted 
 themselves from active business and from of- 
 ficial eminence, or state-dignities, that in 
 this Speech our Authour styles him " a 
 ^'private Oratour.^^ His mind was tenacious 
 of this youthful attachment to Greece : it 
 betrays itself continually. With all his fond- 
 ness for Grecian Philosophy and Literature, 
 Cicero has nowhere given a more emphatic 
 testimony of grateful acknowlegement to- 
 ward Athens, as the preceptress in civiliza^. 
 tion, than Milton's commendation, that it 
 was she who had humanized the western 
 world : ''to her polite Wisdom and Letters 
 " we owe that we are not yet Goths and 
 " Jutlanders,'' is his forcible phrase. It can- 
 not, indeed, but be evident to the most in- 
 attentive observer, how constantly he che- 
 rished the memory of her departed oeco- 
 nomy while drawing out a prospectus for the 
 right Education of ingenuous youth. This 
 would have been clear, though we did not 
 know that he had told his Athenian Friend 
 
 c 2 
 
XX PREFATORY REMAKRS BY 
 
 Philaras, that his acquisitions in classic Learn- 
 ing, such as they were, he ascribed chiefly 
 to a sedulous cultivation of the Greek Writers 
 in the early part of life*. He even sighed 
 for the expulsion of the Turks, and the in- 
 dependence of Greece, with the re-establish- 
 ment of Grecian Liberty ; wherefore in the 
 same Letter he breathes this earnest wish— 
 *' Quod si mihi tanta vis dicendi accepta ab 
 " illis et quasi transfusa inesset, ut exercitus 
 " nostros et classes ad Uberandam ah Ottornannico 
 " tyranno Grceciam^ EloquenticB patriam^ excitare 
 " possem^ ad quod facinus egregium nostras 
 " opes pene implorare videris, facerem pro- 
 •' fecto id quo nihil mihi antiquius aut in vo- 
 " tis prius esset. Quid enim vel fortissimi 
 " olim Viri, vel eloquentissimi gloriosius aut 
 " se dignius esse duxerunt, quam vel sua- 
 " dendo vel fortiter faciendo IxsuSepoup xou au- 
 To vojoou^ TToisia-Qai robg ^'Ex^Tji^a^ ? Verum et 
 
 (C 
 
 * " Qua ex urbe cum tot Viri disertissimi prodierint, eorum 
 " potissimum scriptis ab adolescentlA pervolvendis, didicisse 
 " me libons fateor quicquid ego in Literis profeci." — And of 
 the praise this Correspondent had given to his first Defensio, 
 he says, " et ipsa Grfecia, ipsse Aihenae Atticije, quasi jam 
 « redivivcB, nobilissimi alumni sui Pliilarae voce, applau- 
 "sere."— Pn fT. II. 341, ed. 1738. 
 
THE PRESENT EDITOR. XXI 
 
 " aliud quiddam praeterea tentandum est, 
 " mea quidem sententia longe maximum, ut 
 " quis antiquam in animis Graecorum virtu- 
 " tern, industriam, laborum tolerantiam, an- 
 " tiqua ilia studia dicendo, suscitare atque 
 " accendere possit/' — {Epist, Fam.) In 
 Iconoclastes, he glanced at this desired re- 
 suscitation of the Greeks once more. Charles^ 
 he complains, had demanded and the Par- 
 liament had granted him a larger sum of mo- 
 ney than would have " bought the Turk out 
 " of Morea, and set free all the Greeks/' 
 {Sect. 10) — Without any doubt, both Letters 
 and Poetry sustained no slight loss by the 
 sudden termination to his travels before he 
 had visited Greece and Sicily. 
 
 The primordial seeds of Paradise Lost are 
 still in existence as the elements of a Tra- 
 gedy, which he once projected to have 
 wrought up with the machinery of the Athe- 
 nian Stage. In the same rude and indi- 
 gested mass, " Moses wpoT^oyi^si.'' From an- 
 other of these disjecti membra Poetce^ we find 
 that he purposed to introduce the Christian 
 Virtues, Faith, Hope, and Charity, for su- 
 pernatural agents ; on the authority, as I 
 suppose, of JEschylusj who impersonated 
 
XXll PREFATORY REMARKS BY 
 
 Force and Strength in his scene. The part 
 of the Chorus was to have been suppUed by 
 Angels. Recollections of antient Greece 
 seem to have been rarely absent from his 
 thoughts. In the long list he left behind him 
 of incidents gathered from our early Anna- 
 lists, singular and eventful enough to furnish 
 arguments for dramatic story, there is the 
 subsequent memorandum for a close parallel 
 with Homers Hero in the Odyssey : " A He- 
 " roicall Poem may be founded somewhere in 
 " Alfred's reigne, especially at his issuing out 
 *^ of Edilingsey on the Danes, whose actions 
 ^' are well like those of Ulysses,'' The same im- 
 pulse gave birth in after life to Samson Ago- 
 mstes. This production of his riper years he 
 moulded professedly and punctiliously to 
 Grecian proportions : whence any Man un- 
 acquainted with the language of his originals, 
 may, as it has been remarked by one well 
 qualified to judge*, form to himself a much 
 juster idea of the beauties and perfections pf 
 the Greek Tragedians than from Transla^ 
 tion. 
 
 We ought to regard him in this rhetorical 
 exercise as scarely less studious of these f;^- 
 * Gilbert TFest, 
 
THE PRESENT EDITOR. XXlll 
 
 vourite standards of excellence. In a copy 
 which he presented of this together with se- 
 veral of his minor pieces in prose and verse 
 to the Bodleian Library, where the volume 
 still remains, he with his own hand entitled 
 it " Areopagitica, sive de Liber tate Typo- 
 " graphicB Oratio/* He revived this title for 
 his written Speech, that it might carry on its 
 exteriour a conspicuous token of its lineage. 
 It was to announce technically the specific 
 style of Athenian Oratoury which he now imi- 
 tated, or rather emulated ; and who will con- 
 trovert his success in this deUberative species 
 j)f Elocution, as distinguished from those ha- 
 rangues which were entirely for popular ef- 
 fect? or who will deny, that he has borne 
 himself with the mien of a Pleader before the 
 Judges of Areopagus ? 
 
 " Sic oculos, sic ille manus, sic ora gerebat." 
 
 Few, I conceive, will refuse this performance 
 the praise of a strong adumbration of the 
 senatorial diction at Athens. If my situation 
 as its Editor have not warped my judgment, 
 this composition is by no means inferior to 
 its immediate copy, in force and perspicuity ; 
 neither can I perceive in Isocrates the same 
 
XXIV PREFATORY REMARKS BY 
 
 warmth and vigour of Thought, which per- 
 vades and animates the EngUsh Oration. 
 ^* Cela ne s'apelle pas imiter, c'est jouter 
 " contre son Original* ;'' as Gray in the Bard, 
 and Campbell in LochieVs Warnings with Ho- 
 races Prophecy of Nereiis. To say nothing 
 of the important matter it contains, we shall 
 unquestionably risk little chance of contra- 
 diction if we aver, that he has transfused into 
 his native idiom the dignified forms and 
 phraseology of Attic Oratoury, and has given 
 us the most authentic and happy exemplar of 
 its grave energy that our own or any modern 
 language has to boast. 
 
 These strictures will serve to place in a 
 primary and unobserved point of view one 
 among his inducements for ^vriting this Iso- 
 cratic " Discourse.'' When enumerating the 
 labours for which he intermitted more con- 
 genial and pleasing studies ; labours to which 
 he had tasked himself in the service of Truth 
 and Liberty ; he states, that he had it in con- 
 templation to exhibit in an Enghsh dress a 
 true specimen of the Areopagitic style. 
 " Postrem6 de Typographic liberanda, ne 
 *' veri et falsi arbitrium, quid edendum, 
 * Boileau, 
 
THE PRESENT EDITOR. XXV 
 
 " quid premendum,penfes paucosesset, eosque 
 ** ferh mdoctos, et vulgaris judicii homines^ 
 " librorum inspectioni praepositos, per quos 
 " nemini ferfe quicquam quod supra vulgus 
 *' sapiat, in lucem emittere, aut licet aut 
 " libet, adjiistce orationis modum Areopagiticam 
 " scripsir (Pr. TV. II. 353, ed. 1738.) — For 
 purposes not dissimilar, the admirable Sir 
 William Jones sketched after one of Plato's 
 Dialogues the outline for his own celebrated 
 and prosecuted Dialogue, an analysis of the 
 eternal principles of free Government, ac- 
 commodated to unlettered minds by simple 
 and familiar illustrations. 
 
 It might perhaps be received as a funda- 
 mental axiom in this science, that no well- 
 policied State can tolerate the confusion of 
 the legislative with the judicial or executive 
 functions. With our illustrious Hne of coun- 
 trj^men, to whose Wisdom, Firmness, and 
 Virtue we are indebted for the Liberties of 
 England, the praise lies of being the first 
 who held out to other Nations the pattern of 
 a poUtical organization, which for the most 
 part kept these authorities asunder, and 
 which they distributed and adjusted so hap- 
 pily in a Constitution of three Estates, as to 
 
XXVI PREFATORY REMARKS BY 
 
 render them wholesome restraints to mode- 
 rate or over-rule the exorbitancies of each 
 other. The accumulation of various and dis- 
 cordant Powers in the same Body, as well as 
 the right of the Citizens to exercise a legis- 
 lative voice personally in public assemblies, 
 instead of delegating their power to a selected 
 part in a full and free Representative, pro- 
 perly so called, were among the capital er- 
 rors which destroyed the Republics of ancient 
 times. 
 
 In this respect, the policy of the great 
 Athenian Law-giver was radically vitious, 
 when he re-estabUsbed, if he did not erect, 
 the national Council of Areopagus. For, 
 while in its ordinary course of procedure par- 
 taking more, I apprehend, of a judicial 
 than of any other denomination of magistracy, 
 the AreopagitcB seem to have been also the 
 depositaries of a transcendental jurisdiction 
 over the highest departments of State. There 
 appears to have been lodged with them a 
 plenitude of authority extending so far that 
 it must have bordered on absolute Power, if 
 it had not been liable to be instantly coun- 
 tervailed by the Decrees of the Citizens; 
 but whose active and direct interposition in 
 
THE PRESENT EDITOR. XXVll 
 
 their aggregate capacity was uncertain in the 
 issue, and sometimes hazardous. In ad- 
 dition to the management of the pubUc Trea- 
 sure, to the charge of the estabhshed Re- 
 ligion, to their juridical and censorial Du- 
 ties, and to their Prerogative of pardoning 
 Offences, and dispensing Honours and Re- 
 wards, it should seem as if the Council of 
 Areopagus had been entrusted with a Do- 
 minium eminens over the integral parts which 
 constituted Solon s Polity. The antient Ex- 
 positor whom H. Stephens cites is expressly of 
 this opinion in the extract I have given from 
 one of his Diatribes on Isocratesy in a pre- 
 liminary Note on the meaning which Mil- 
 ton annexed to Areopagitica. But the 
 effort of this Rhetor to " persuade the Par- 
 " lament of Athens to change the form of) 
 " Democratie" is in itself convincing evi-* 
 dence, that an eminent dominion, a sort of 
 visitorial power, in this particular was com- 
 mitted to their care. We need not look 
 further. An Athenian Citizen, we may be 
 reasonably assured, would have directed his 
 " Discourse'' on the expediency of a re- 
 novated order of things in their Common- 
 wealth to the Men of Athens^ and not to these 
 
XXVlll PREFATORY REMARKS BY 
 
 Aixaa-TOii, had it not been within their ac- 
 knowleged, if not exclusive province, to 
 take cognizance of and to rectify the dis- 
 orders which time and abuses might conspire 
 to introduce into the subsisting Government. 
 Yet I do not recollect to have seen that 
 these elevated Functionaries were to act as 
 a Senate of Revision for the amendment of 
 the forms which composed their constitu- 
 tional compact adverted to by any of the 
 Writers on the Republican Legislatures of 
 Greece. Neither does Meursius^ who has an 
 express and elaborate work De Senatu Areo- 
 pagitico, take notice that any authority of 
 this kind was vested in them*. He barely 
 
 * While writing these Remarks, I have been unable to 
 procure Sigonius or PosteL Tlie late Sir William Young, 
 and the learned Sir William Drumi)io)id, are silent on this 
 head, in their Treatises. 
 
 In the Recherches sur UAreopage, par M. TAbbe de 
 Canaye, it is said, " L'Areopage, humilie par Dracon, reprit 
 " sous Solon toute son ancienne splendeur; il luy rendit le 
 " premier rang, et pour le venger, ce semble do Tinjustice 
 ** de Dracon, il luy coiifia V inspection g4nirale des Loix : 
 
 " dit Pollux ; et selon Plutarque, rr^v avou /3ouAijv sirKncoTtov 
 ** leavrwy kou (pvXaxa, rwv yo/^wv iTiA^io'iv,** -^ jy[emoires de 
 Litterature-, VII. ISO. 
 
THE PRESENT EDITOR. XXIX 
 
 and casually intimates their extensive 
 powers, but I cannot find that he vouches 
 any precedent of such an exercise of 
 them. 
 
 The main scope of Isocrates Areopagitic 
 Speech was to demonstrate the wisdom of re- 
 storing his fellow Citizens to their proper 
 Rights by superseding the tyrannical Oligar- 
 chy who then exercised an usurped dominion 
 over Attica, in order to reinstate the more 
 democratical system which Solon instituted, 
 and Clisthenes restored, after the expulsion of 
 the Pisistratidse, and at the same time gave 
 by various regulations additional weight to 
 the collective body of Citizens. 
 
 Strenuous on the one hand, that these 
 grievances should be redressed, the Patriot 
 Sage was watchful on the other, lest the 
 constitutional Democracy should degenerate 
 into the misrule of a licentious Populace. 
 He proceeds therefore to recommend an en- 
 largement of the functions of these supreme 
 Guardians of the State, whom he conjures 
 to exert their tutelary inspection as the ap- 
 pointed Custodes Morum of the whole Com- 
 munity. Above all things, he urges, that the 
 irisin|; generation should be habitually trained 
 
XXX PREFATORY REMARKS BY 
 
 up to Virtue, and exhorted to a generous de- 
 votion to the common weal. Accordingly, 
 the venerable Reformer entreats this con- 
 sistory of Censors, the Fathers of the Coun* 
 try, to exert their vigilance in correcting the 
 depravity then but too prevalent among the 
 Youth of Athens, through the neglect into 
 which the antient and severer discipline had 
 fallen. 
 
 Well we know, that Milton was neither 
 insensible to the melodious flow of the Greek 
 Rhetorician, nor regardless of the polished 
 perfection of his style. What however, we 
 may safely conclude, most endeared to him 
 the Writings of "the old Man eloquent'' (so 
 he is called in the Poet's Xth Sonnet) were 
 /the sentiments he advanced in support of 
 U free, equal, and popular Government, based 
 on the broad and only stable foundation, a 
 general integrity of Morals :) truths which are 
 carefully inculcated in this encomium on 
 Athenian manners during earlier and better 
 days of the Republic. This was enough to 
 give it a high value in the estimation of one 
 through whose breast the ardours of Liberty 
 glowed with no common fervency. 
 
 It bears so strongly on the present subject. 
 
THE PRESENT EDITOR. XXXI 
 
 that it would be a culpable omission to pass 
 over entirely in silence the well judged choice 
 which Milton manifested in his discrimi- 
 nated use of " the Attic Masters of moral 
 " Wisdom and Eloquence/' to take an ex- 
 pression from his own pen. Ever true to 
 the principles which actuated the ParHament 
 in their opposition to the King's violations 
 of the Law and the Constitution, he indus- 
 triously avoided all such matters as might ap- 
 pear derogatory to their signal deserts, or 
 which might loosen the hold that they pos- 
 sessed on the public affections : therefore 
 %vhile he deemed this particular measure 
 highly exceptionable, by agreeing to it they 
 did not forfeit his confidence. Still less 
 would he induce others to regard them with 
 alienated or distrustful looks. Consistently 
 with this disposition toward them, it was his 
 endeavour to win the favour of the two 
 Houses of Parliament to the Press ; — to ex- 
 postulate with them amicably, not to offend 
 them by any sullen remonstrance, while he 
 was deprecating the mischievous effects 
 which must ensue to Learning and to Free- 
 dom, if they did not revoke the Ordinance 
 
XXXll PREFATORY REMARKS BY 
 
 which they had improvidently issued*. To 
 this end he proposed to himself to colour his 
 work after a finished piece of the rhetorical 
 art by a celebrated " Master ;'' whose proper 
 praise is refined Elocution and dispassionate 
 Discussion. In consequence, an urbanity, 
 
 * All his counsels to them are in the same conciliatory 
 tone of respect. Of this, the conclusion of the Address to 
 the Parliament and the Assembly of Divines, which he pre- 
 fixed to his first work concerning Divorce, is another ex- 
 ample : " I seek not Xo seduce the simple and illiterate ; my 
 *' errand is to find out the choicest and the learnedest, who 
 <« have this high gift of Wisdom to answer solidly, or to be 
 " convinced. I crave it from the Piety, the Learning, and 
 *« the Prudence which is housed in this place. It might per- 
 " haps more fitly have been written in another tongue ; and 
 *^ I had done so, but that the esteem I have of my Countries 
 " judgment, and the love I bear to my native language to 
 «' serve it first with what I endeavour, made me speak it thus, 
 " ere I assay the verdict of outlandish Readers. And perhaps 
 " also here I might have ended nameless, but that the address 
 " of these lines chiefly to the Parlament of England might 
 " have seem'd ingrateful not to acknowledge by whose re^ 
 « ligious Care, unwearied Watchfulness, couragious and 
 ** heroick Resolutions, I enjoy the peace and studious leisure 
 " to remain, 
 
 " The Honourer and Attendant of 
 
 ** their noble Worth and Virtues, 
 
 " John Milton." 
 
THE PRESENT EDITOR. XXXIU 
 
 both in thought and expression, graces his 
 Areopagitica. There is _m it nothing 
 
 ^imperative, nothing criminatory ; not a page .^ 
 is disfigured by asperity of sentiment, or 
 even harshness of diction. Where his argu- 
 ment exacted from him animadversion in the 
 exposure of their inconsistency, and of the 
 
 ^intriguing practices to which the enemies to 
 an open Press had recourse to afford some 
 ostensible pretence for this parhamentary 
 
 ^revival of the Star-chamber's Imprimatur, 
 he introduced it obhquely. The Uttle is 
 equally indirect, that there is of reproof or 
 reproach of personal assailants ; some of 
 whom, after he had been their soHcited and 
 very valuable assistant against mitred Epis- 
 copacy, were recently transformed into his 
 persecutors. 
 
 Isocrates, said Philip of Macedon, in a well 
 chosen and significant metaphor, fences with 
 a foil — Demosthenes fights with a sword. To 
 Demosthenes, therefore, the Antagonist of 
 Salmasius and his coadjutors recurred for aid, 
 when their exacerbations had sharpened the 
 edge of debate to a keen encounter, and, 
 heated with emotion at the outrages which 
 he and the popular Party had endured, he 
 
 d 
 
XXXIV PREFATORY REMARKS BY 
 
 gave free vent to his ebullitions of resent- 
 ment. It may be too freely, though he was 
 repelling clamorous and foul invective 
 against himself and his Compatriots. Yet it 
 is not for us who contemplate with Epicurean 
 calmness the tempestuous commotion of pas- 
 sions and interests, public and private, in 
 which the part Milton bore among the 
 "Master-spirits of the age was of no ordinary 
 kind ; it is not^ I say, for us to be forward 
 to exclaim, would that he had given these 
 Calumniators their rebuke in terms of less 
 vehemence ! True it is, that had he done so, 
 he would better have consulted his own dig- 
 nity, as well as that of the Cause which he 
 maintained ; but in reality it is matter for 
 regret rather than for surprise, that such 
 scurrilous upbraidings, such envenomed 
 maledictions, should have chafed him, and 
 that he at times talked the imbittered lan- 
 guage which anger dictates*. 
 
 Toland relates of him, that he " studied 
 " Plaittus the better to rail at Salmasius." 
 
 * Take the following by way of specimen of the gross 
 •scandals heaped on him. It is by P. du Moulin, who made 
 his court by it, and was afterward appointed one of the 
 
THE PRESENT EDITOR. XXXV 
 
 {Vifidicius Liberius, &c. p. 8.) The correctness 
 of this assertion is greatly to be questioned, 
 if we were to understand by it any thing 
 further than that he looked over the collo- 
 quies of altercation in that Comedian as a 
 nomenclature, whence he could cull out a 
 competent stock of opprobious epithets in 
 
 Chaplains to Charles II., and Prebendary of Canterbury. 
 In impurissimum Nehulonem Johannem Miltonum Par- 
 ricidarum et Parricidii Advocatum. 
 
 ' " Talem modo pati6re Salmasi manum, 
 
 " Corripere nl te foetidum et totum luem 
 
 " Abominetur ; turn levitate nubild 
 
 " Fortasse validum nebulo fallas impetum. 
 
 *' Quid faciat ingens te vacuo Sahnasius 
 
 " Tenebrione, tam minuta, tam nihil, 
 
 " Quern prensat incassum ultio, nuspiam invenit. 
 
 " Ten* sterquilinium, ten' cucurbitae caput, 
 
 " Ausum Monarchas rodere, ten' Salmasios f 
 
 " Nunc mus elephantum, rana pardum verberet, 
 
 " Opicus leonis vellicet sorex jubas, 
 
 " Insultet urso simia, musca milvio, 
 
 " Sacrum scarabsei concacent avem Jovi, 
 
 *' Ipsumque merdis inquinent albis Jovem." &c. &c. 
 
 Regii Sanguinis Clamor ad Cceliim, ad- 
 
 versus Parricidas Anglicanos ; p, 17^» 
 
 HagcB Comitum, I2mo. 1652. 
 
 What wonder, that in the fulness of his indignation he shoHld 
 
 have lashed the demerits of his adversaries with an unsparing 
 
 hand ? 
 
 d2 
 
XXXVl PREFATORY REMARKS BY 
 
 legitimate Latinity. That he furnished him- 
 self with his most formidable weapons of 
 offence from a very different armoury could 
 be put beyond controversy. 
 
 No man (as Dryden has also observed) has 
 more copiously translated Homers Grecisms 
 than the Authour of Paradise Lost, and of a 
 like critical attention to his metrical modes 
 a modern Writer has remarked, that none 
 conversant with both Poets can read either 
 without being reminded of the other. The 
 breaks and pauses, which thus decided 
 Cowper^ to pronounce the varied versifica- 
 tion of Milton's " rhyme-unfettered'" verse 
 to be Homeric collocations, are not, I think, 
 more apparent than that when about to vin- 
 dicate the Commonwealth's-men he shaped 
 his course and regulated his method after the 
 great Prototj^pes of Eloquence ; the first in 
 rank as the first in order of time. To write 
 as they would have spoken or composed in 
 corresponding situations was his anxious am- 
 
 * And see a remarkable instance confirmatory of this 
 opinion in Auditor Benson's Letters concerning Poetical 
 Translations and VirgiVs and Milton's Arts of Verse, jo. 47. 
 8i?o, 1739. — Bentley said that Milton had Homer by heart. 
 
THE PRESENT EDITOR. XXXvii 
 
 bition. Sir Philip Sydney^ had declared his 
 dislike to the literal copyists of phrases and 
 figures from Demosthenes and Tidly^ suggest- 
 ing that a free and liberal plan of Imitation 
 which would preserve their characteristics 
 and complexion should be attempted : that 
 which he had in idea and in wish, Mil- 
 ton Avas the earliest among us to reduce 
 into practice. For, while engaged on the 
 Areopagitica and the Defensioiies, he set 
 before him the eloquenceof classic erudition, 
 and reflected its image as in a faithful mirrour. 
 Not quite so avowedly in the latter instances 
 as in the first ; neither, as in Samson Ago- 
 nistesy taking the entire design; and in no 
 piece following the turns of thought, or of 
 phrase, or the structure of sentence, with a 
 servile or pedantic adherence. Without 
 treading often in the footsteps of his guides, 
 he pressed forward after them in the same 
 track; 
 
 ** And when he would like them appear 
 
 " Their garb but not their cloaths did wear." 
 
 The fashion and texture the same, though of 
 a different material. Imitative counterparts 
 
 * Defence of Poesie. 
 
XXXVm PREPATOIIY REMARKS pY 
 
 on a general principle, such as these, are 
 not unlike Drydens emulous trial of skill, in 
 the angry parley and reconciliation of Dora.v 
 and Sebastian ; in which he ventured to mea- 
 sure his strength with Shakspeare^ and has ac- 
 quitted himself so ably, that we could hardly 
 hesitate to assign them an equal portion of 
 praise had the wordy contest between Brutus 
 and Cassius not the further merit of priority 
 of production : for if Dryden, I venture to 
 add, must here give way, he gives way only 
 because he was the junior to Shakspeare by 
 birth. 
 
 The justification of the People of England 
 was to MiLTOisr a spirit-stirring theme ; while 
 with the diffusive means of mental inter- 
 course afforded by the art (I had almost said 
 the divine art) of Printing he figured to him- 
 self Europe for his auditory. The exordium 
 of his reply to Mores^ or speaking more cor- 
 rectly, to du Moulin^ the Son's, bitter attack 
 of his first Defensio gives no obscure intima- 
 tion of the cast of his Elocution when a 
 political Controvertist writing in a clas- 
 sical tongue. He there yields the place 
 t^ the primitive Fathers of Rhetoric ; but 
 challenges a high precedency over their sub- 
 
THE PRESENT EDITOR. XXXIX 
 
 jects of Discussion for the cause of the Par- 
 liament. Let him speak for himself in his own 
 lofty tone*. " Devoted from an early age to 
 " the study of polite Learning, and conscious 
 " that I was always less remarkable for strength 
 " of Constitution than for vigour of Intellect, 
 *' I left to others the fatigues of a Camp, in 
 " which the robust frame of a private Soldier 
 " would enable him easily to excel me, and 
 " entered on pursuits in which I might ex- 
 " ert myself with a fairer promise of success ; 
 " that instead of offering the weakest part of 
 *^ my nature to the disposal of my Country, 
 *^ and the promotion of this excellent Cause, 
 " I might bring to them all the weight in my 
 '' power by the exercise of what in me is 
 '' best, and, so that I used it wisely, most 
 ^' avaihng. This then was the conclusion I 
 *' formed; if God have been pleased to en- 
 " trust to some the achievement of such no- 
 
 * "Namcumabadolescentulohumanloribus essem studiis, 
 ut qui maxime deditus, et ingenio semper quam corpora 
 validior, posthabit^ castrensi operd, qu^ me gregarius quilibet 
 robustior facile super^sset, ad ea me contull, quibus plus 
 potui ; ut parte met meliore ac potiore, si saperem, non de- 
 teriore, ad rationes patriae, causamque banc praestantissimam, 
 quantum maxime possem momentum accederem. Sic itaque 
 ' exist! mabam, si illos Deus res gerere tam praeclaras voluit. 
 
Xl PREFATORY REMARKS BY 
 
 " ble actions, it must likewise have been his 
 " will that others should record them in lan- 
 " guage which might become their dignity, 
 *' and that Reason (our only just and natural 
 " safeguard) should be summoned to the de- 
 " fence of that Truth which had been first 
 " defended by arms. Whence it arises, that 
 " I could look with admiration upon the 
 " Men who have stood invincible in battle, 
 " and yet utter no complaint that a different 
 " province has been assigned to me : nay, I 
 *' feel proud of the distinction, and, more- 
 " over, offer up repeated thanks to the Di- 
 " vine Disposer of bounties, that I sustain 
 " a part in these events which is more likely 
 " to raise the envy of others than to occasion 
 " in me the slightest repining. Unwilling to 
 " boast of myself, I would not indeed hazard 
 " a comparison with the least distinguished 
 
 esse itidem alios a quibus gestas dici pro dignitate atque or- 
 nari, et defensam armis veritatem, ratione etiam, (quod 
 unicum est praesidium vere ac proprie humanum) defendi 
 voluerit. Unde est, ut dum illos invictos acie viros admiror, 
 de me^ interim provinci^ non querar; immo mihi gratuler, 
 et gratias insuper largitori munerum ccelesti iterum summas 
 agam obtigisse talcm, ut aliis invidenda multo magis, quam 
 ixiihi ullo modo pcenitenda videatur. Et me quidem nemini 
 vel infimo libens confero j nee verbura de me ullum insolent 
 
THE PRESENT EDITOR. 
 
 xli 
 
 ii 
 
 " among them. Yet as often as I recollect 
 " that I am the advocate of a Cause in itself 
 " the most noble, as well as universal in its 
 interest ; and at the same time that I have 
 " been called by the voice and judgment of 
 " the People to the highly honourable task 
 " of defendins: those who have vindicated 
 " themselves, I cannot but feel an irresistible 
 " impulse to a bolder and more elevated 
 " language than the opening of a question 
 *' may justify, and aspire to an Eloquence 
 " worthy the grandeur of the occasion. For 
 " in proportion, that I am unquestionably in- 
 ^* feriour to the illustrious Oratours of An- 
 " tiquity, not in the energies of speech 
 ^' alone, but in the very powers of expression 
 " (having to complain of the unavoidable 
 " disadvantage of employing a foreign 
 ^^ tongue) in the same proportion do I sur- 
 
 tius facio: ad causam ver5 omnium nobilissimam, ac cele- 
 berrimam, et hoc simul defensores ipsos defendendi munus 
 ornatissimum ipsorum mihi sufFragiis attributum atque ju- 
 diciis quoties animum refero, fateor me mihi vix temperare, 
 quin ahius atque audentiiis quam pro exordii ratione insur- 
 gam; et grandius quiddam, quod eloqui possim, quseram : 
 quandoquidem oratores illos antiques et insignes, quantum 
 ego ab illis non dicendi solum sed et loquendi facultate, (in 
 extranet prsesertim, qu^ utor necessario, lingu^, et persaepe 
 
XlU PREFATORY REMARKS BY 
 
 " pass every Writer of every age in the pe- 
 '' culiar dignity of the subject. Such indeed 
 " has been the expectation it has raised, and 
 " so far has its fame travelled, that I feel 
 " myself at this instant, not in the Rostrum 
 " or in the Forum, at Rome or at Athens, 
 " surrounded merely by one People, but as it 
 *' were in the presence of nearly all Europe, 
 " seated in attentive judgement before me, 
 *' again addressing this like my former De- 
 " fence to every public Assembly where the 
 *' wisest Men meet together to deliberate 
 " on the affairs of Cities and of Nations. 
 " Methinks I seem to journey over tracts 
 " of continent and wide-extended regions, 
 " beholding numberless and unknown faces 
 *' that bear the impression of sympathy and 
 
 mihi nequaquam satisfacio) baud dubie vincor, tantum omnes 
 omnium aetatum, materiae nobilitate et argumento vincara. 
 Quod et rei tantum expectationem ac celebritatem adjecit, 
 ut jam ipse me sentiam non in foro aut rostris, uno duntaxat 
 populo, vel Romano, vel Atheniensi circumfusum; sed at- 
 tent^, et confidente quasi tota pene Europfi, et judicium 
 ferente, ad universes quacunque gravissimorum hominum, 
 urbium, gentium, consessus atque conventus, et priore 
 defensione, dixisse, et hac rursus dicturum. Jam vi- 
 deor mihi, ingressus iter, transmarinos tractus et porrectas 
 late regiones, sublimis perlustrare; vultus innumeros atque 
 
THE PRESENT EDITOR, xUu 
 
 " favour ; on one hand, the hardy strength 
 " of the German, who detests slavery, on 
 ** the other, the hvely and ingenuous Frank, 
 ^* open in disposition as in name ; here, the 
 ^' stedfast valour of the Spaniard ; there, the 
 " firm and discreet magnanimity of the 
 ^' ItaHan — pass in review before me. 
 " Wherever, in fine, free, generous, and 
 " high-minded spirits prudently conceal or 
 " openly avow themselves, there I look for 
 " the silent approbation of some, and the 
 " undisguised welcome of others ; there 
 " some will meet me with easierness and 
 " applause, while others, subdued by Truth, 
 " surrender themselves at length to its 
 " power. Surrounded by such a force, 
 " collected from the extremity of Spain to 
 ^' the remotest confines of India, I seem to 
 
 ignotos, animi sensus mecum conjuctissimos. Hinc Ger- 
 manorum virile et infestum servituti robur,.inde Francoruni 
 yividi dignique nomine liberales impetus, hinc Hispanorum 
 consulta virtus, Italorum inde sedata suique compos magna- 
 nimitas ob oculos versatur. Quicquid uspiam liberorum 
 pectorum quicquid ingenui, quicquid magnanimi aut pru- 
 dens latet aut se palam profitetur, alii tacite favere, alii aperte 
 suffragari, accurrere alii et plausu accipere, alii tandem vero 
 victij dedititios se tradcre. Videor jam mihi, tantis circum- 
 geptus copiis, ab Herculeis usque columnis ad extremes Li- 
 
xliv 
 
 PREFATORY REMARKS BY 
 
 " lead back, as if from a vast distance, Li- 
 " berty, long a fugitive and an exile, to her 
 " home among the Nations/' 
 
 With Milton's facilities of access to the 
 originals of Greece, it was natural for him to 
 profit of the bold and cogent style by which 
 they communicated to popular Meetings the 
 persuasion of their minds*. To assist him 
 in conveying a forceful meaning at this im- 
 portant crisis, Athens would have had strong 
 attractions for him, if his early bias had not 
 drawn him, as usual, to his favourite resorts. 
 Whither could he have gone for assistance 
 better suited to the nature and end of these 
 labours ? 
 
 It may still be allowed, that it is possible 
 he might have run his eye over Plautus 
 in quest of such angry and scornful appel- 
 lations as Curculioy Balatro perditissimus, and 
 
 beri Patris terminos, Libertatem diu pulsam atque exulem, 
 longo intervallo domum ubique gentium reducere." 
 
 Defensio Secunda, 
 
 * " I cannot say, that I am utterly untrained in those 
 " rules which best Rhetoricians have given, or unacquainted 
 *' with those examples which the prime Authours of Elo- 
 " quence have written in any learned tongue/* 
 
 Apology for SmectymnuuSy Sect, 11. 
 
THE PRESENT EDITOR. xlv 
 
 too many beside, to hurl back on his ad- 
 versary, whom he accuses of having gleaned 
 from the self-same Play-writer the choicest 
 morsels of scurrility in the Hegii Sanguinis 
 Clamor: " Hie Salmasii carnifex quasi sit, 
 " Syri Damae filius, Lorarios invocat et 
 " Cadmum ; veratro deinde ebrius, totam, 
 " quicquid, ubique est, Servulorum et Bal- 
 " lionum sentinam, ex Lidice Plant ino evo- 
 « mit '/' &c. {Pr, W. II. S^6. ed. 1738.) Hence 
 a fair presumption arises, that Toland misre- 
 membered this passage, and was inaccurate 
 as to its import. At any rate, I take this to 
 be the extent of our Authour's obligation to 
 the Roman Comedian. I cannot discern a 
 solitary sentence in the Defences of the 
 English People which should incline any 
 one to assent to more. 
 
 Without this explanation the depreciating- 
 tendency of this relation must work a pre- 
 judice in the public estimation against these 
 controversial productions much to their dis- 
 favour, as if they contained nothing beyond 
 verbal argumentation, and the contradictory 
 asseverations, the vituperative declamation, 
 and the endless recriminations of political 
 contention. Such misrepresentation by 
 lowering them in general apprehension to 
 
xlvi PREFATORY REMARKS BY 
 
 a mere tissue of polemic, disgustful, and re- 
 pulsive acrimony, must have contributed to 
 deter very many from opening them. There 
 can be little hesitation, but that this was 
 through carelessness of expression. An able 
 Scholar, he himself the Writer of a Latin 
 Philippic, and a zealous friend to the Liber- 
 ties of England, Toland would not have ac- 
 quiesced in the injurious impression which 
 his incautious statement must create while 
 unexplained. Hobbes was devoted to ab- 
 solute Government, and held alike in aver- 
 sion the religious tenets of Salmasius and 
 Milton ; yet he possessed too much Learn- 
 ing himself to deny their respective writings 
 the praise of superiour compositions. They 
 are, he took occasion to observe, very good 
 Latin both, and hardly to be judged which 
 is the better*. 
 
 I forbear to substantiate the fact by bring- 
 ing parallelisms immediately under view» as 
 they would swell this part of these prelimi- 
 nary strictures to a disproportionate size. 
 At the same time, it is proper to state that, 
 were this the fit place for such comparisons, 
 they would afford lucid proof that his orato- 
 rical compositions in Latin are no tame nor 
 
 * In his Behemoth, 
 
THE PRESENT EDITOR. xlvii 
 
 doubtful representations of the Eloquence 
 which " shook the arsenal and fulmin'd over 
 " Greece/' They display the same fervid 
 imagination invigorated by an internal sen- 
 timent of sincere conviction, that Justice 
 w^as on the side which he had taken in the 
 national quarrel. 
 
 The Conqueror of JEsch'mes in their far- 
 famed contest concerning the golden Crown 
 decreed to him by the Senate, on the pro- 
 posal of Ctesipho, has scarcely thrown the 
 tomahawk of indignant invective with more 
 desperate skill. Perhaps it is not too much 
 to say, that they might be considered as a 
 medium through which a Reader whose 
 acquirements in the antient Languages have 
 not extended beyond the Latin, might gain 
 no very inadequate idea of the pointed in- 
 terrogation, the impetuous sallies, the vollied 
 sarcasms, by which Demosthenes struck down 
 and crushed his Competitor for Popularity 
 and the palm of Eloquence. Sure I am 
 that a recent perusal of them brought out 
 vividly in my mind passages in the Greek 
 whose vestiges had nearly faded away. Yet 
 how many who have hung with admiration 
 over the volumes of the " Oratours renown'd 
 
xlviii PREFATORY REMARKS BY 
 
 " in Athens and free Rome'' would refuse 
 to look at Milton's politico-classical pages ! 
 But to the Areopagitica. 
 
 In August 1644, his " Doctrine and Dis- 
 cipline of Divorce," then newly published, 
 had been inveighed against from the Pulpit 
 by a fanatical Preacher before the Parlia- 
 ment, who exhorted the two Houses to vote 
 their reprobation of it ; and the Assembly, 
 or Convocation of non-conforming Divines, 
 procured the Authour to be summoned be- 
 fore the House of Lords : that House dis- 
 missed him however without its suppression. 
 Attacks on the Freedom of Discussion like 
 these, and in his own case, must have been 
 additional incentives for him to comply with 
 alacrity when importuned to stand forward 
 the Champion of intellectual Liberty. The 
 Tract before us appeared in the November 
 following ; and certain passages should be 
 regarded as levelled at these petulant adver- 
 saries. But throughout this address to the 
 Lords and Commons, he is evidently anxious 
 to be understood to controvert this Ordi- 
 nance under an entire confidence, that they 
 would hearken to the voice of Truth, and 
 had been surprised into this ill-advised pro- 
 
THE PRESENT EDITOR* xllX 
 
 cedure, thus adroitly showing that he had no 
 desire to impute to them motives which 
 might shake the pubHc confidence reposed 
 in their integrity and good intentions, 
 
 Dryden impeached the Defence of the 
 Enghsh People as having been in part pur- 
 loined from Buchanans Dialogue dc Jure 
 Regni apud Scotos. Whether this accusation 
 be well grounded, or whether Dryden was 
 willing to mistake for plagiarism the natural, 
 and, it is most likely, unavoidable coincidence 
 of sentiment between two masterly Writers, 
 discussing the grounds and reasons of free 
 Government under predilections similar, and 
 equally strong, it would be foreign to my 
 undertaking to collate their respective works 
 for the purpose of ascertaining. Here it will 
 be sufficient to remark, that no such charge 
 can be preferred against our Authour for the 
 ensuing pages. / In proclaiming the doctrine 
 that no Writing ought to be subjected to cen- 
 "sure previous to publication, Milton ap- 
 pears, at least so far as my enquiries have 
 reached, to have the merit of being the ear- 
 liest in any country who formally asserted 
 the Rights of the Press against the usurpa- 
 tion of a Licenser : a proud, an illustrious 
 
1 PREFATORY REMARKS BY 
 
 distinction which the breath of Calumnjr can 
 ne\rer tarnish. 
 
 Not adverting to this circumstance, a late 
 Poet Laureate hastily imputed that as a fault 
 in this Oration which such a situation pre- 
 scribed. He therefore qualified the liberal 
 praise he bestowed on it by excepting some 
 " tedious historical digressions.'' I have 
 never met with an Editor, who, for throwing 
 his mind back to the Authour's time, and 
 reading a work in the full spirit in which it 
 was written, can be set in competition with 
 Mr. TVarton, Consequently, it is an occur- 
 rence extremely rare to discover in the very 
 miscellaneous matter of his Annotations a 
 confused or imperfect perception of the pas- 
 sage which he is considering, through in- 
 attention to the existing circumstances of 
 the Writer's day. These " historical di- 
 gressions" are, I agree with him, dilated : 
 that they would be superfluous in a Publica- 
 tion in the decline of the eighteenth century 
 is Hkewise allowed. " The date is out of such 
 prolixity." But the tasteful Critic happened 
 to overlook, that the informed class of 
 the community was at that time much less 
 numerous than it is at present ; and that the 
 
THE PRESENT EDITOR. U 
 
 Liberty of the Press was to Milton and to 
 his contemporaries a topic of discussion al- 
 together new. It followed, that it was in- 
 cumbent on him to open it considerably 
 more in detail than would at this time be 
 requisite. Then how was he to develope 
 the reasoning satisfactorily without some pre- 
 lusive strictures of historical investigation ? 
 In regard to their political Education, the 
 Public, we should remember, were still in 
 their infancy, and it was indispensable to 
 initiate them in the rudiments. Without 
 something of this nature they could not have 
 understood, or would not have acknowleged, 
 the principle. It is somewhere remarked by 
 Lord Bacon of Luthei\ that finding " his own 
 " solitude,'' and in no ways aided by con- 
 temporary opinion, the Father of religious 
 Reformation was forced to awaken all Anti- 
 quity, that he might call it to his succour and 
 '' make a party against his own time/' For 
 a like reason, Milton began with showing, 
 that " no Nation or well-instituted State, if 
 " they valued Books at all, did ever use this 
 *' way of Licensing." 
 
 The darkness then prevalent, that is compa- 
 ratively with the brighter days, and the wider 
 
 e 2 
 
lii PIlErATORY RIIMARKS BY 
 
 spread of intellectual light which we en- 
 joy, induced Writers of every description 
 to be full and circumstantial, and to exercise 
 little discrimination in selecting. Our Poets 
 were slow in learning the art to blot; and 
 not unfrequently lost themselves in expansion. 
 Few Prose-writers had any fear, that they 
 could oppress their subject, or weary their 
 Readers. Most of them heaped together 
 all they could amass; like Burton and 
 HahenilL Of this rambUng manner and of 
 the protracted digressions of the age. Water- 
 housy in his Commentary on Fortescue de Lau- 
 dibus Legum Anglice affords many a tedious 
 specimen, and TVhitelock's " Notes uppon 
 " theKing's Writt for choosing Members of 
 " Parlement,'' are full as desultory and try- 
 ing to the patience. Not only so, parallels 
 drawn from the Greek and Roman Writers 
 then passed for precedents, from which ar- 
 guments of great force might be deduced. 
 Now the case is greatly altered. They would 
 inevitably disparage any modern production, 
 as an idle and ambitious vanity to display 
 that sort of reading, of which it would at this 
 day be an affront to suppose any man above 
 the common level, ignorant. Even the 
 
THE PRESENT EDITOR. lui 
 
 Courts of Law did not reject them. Sir Ed- 
 %vard Coke had as Uttle suspicion that he was 
 wandering from his object while illuminating, 
 as he fancied, the pages of his Institutes with 
 loose quotations from Virgil^ Tacitus, and 
 Tulli/, as he had in the extraneous paragraph 
 to show the existence of Parliaments among 
 the Israelites, in his Chapter which treats on 
 our high Court of Pariiament. 
 
 A similar inadvertency to the ruliog per- 
 suasion would have raised a smile in this 
 perspicacious Commentator, where Milton 
 vouches seriously the quotations of St. Paul 
 from the Heathen Poets to justify himself 
 for his studies in Pagan Learning. But with 
 a fanaticism equivalent to that of the Ma- 
 hometans, who believe their Koran to be 
 also ordained as a complete moral and civil 
 code for the regulation of human affairs, 
 our Scripture was at that time taken by mul- 
 titudes for the direction of conduct, and for 
 the government of life in all its various re- 
 lations, as well secular as religious. The 
 motive for this appeal is therefore easy to be 
 understood. The appeal was powerful when 
 every doubtful case was to be resolved by 
 the application of a text from holy writ. 
 
liv 
 
 PREFATORY REMARKS BY 
 
 Men in those days were so familiarized to 
 walk by this sacred rule, that Waller, the 
 Poet, in objection to the Bill to enforce the 
 burial of the Dead in woollen shrouds, cited 
 to the House of Commons the Evangelist 
 who has recorded that Christ was buried in 
 linen. 
 
 Since the Areopagitica was written off 
 on the spur of a present occasion, and, as 
 well as unpremeditated, was on a topic 
 where none had gone before him, it is clearly 
 certain, that Milton could only have drawn 
 from the stores of Knowlege he had already 
 accumulated. Felix tanto argumento ingeniiim^ 
 feliv tanto ingenio argumentum. Accidentally 
 called forth, he was more fortunate in his 
 subject than Somers, Locke, and Hoadley 
 were in their refutations of the claim arro- 
 gated by our Scottish Dynasty to uncon- 
 ditional submission on the part of the Peo- 
 ple, and to their own immunity from human 
 jurisdiction. 
 
 To hinder our Forefathers from embracing 
 the "bowstring maxim'' of Passive Obedi- 
 ence, these powerful Vindicators of revo- 
 lutionary principles entered the lists against 
 Filmer and his disciples, and we must never 
 
THE PRESENT EDITOR. Iv 
 
 refuse them the honour eminently their due 
 for having overthrown and brought into 
 lasting contempt the favourite doctrine of 
 James that " Prayers and Tears'' were all that 
 God permitted Subjects to interpose to the 
 will and pleasure of any one whose brow was 
 encircled with an hereditary Crown. Now 
 that the question of a divine Right of Suc- 
 cession to the Throne is, by the recognition 
 of the Compact between our King and the 
 People, no longer a problem with us, the 
 writings for and against the patriarchal hy- 
 pothesis have outlived their importance, and 
 remain on the shelf with their dust undis- 
 turbed, but by him, who in an abundance of 
 leisure is curious to learn what pleas could 
 have been set up on behalf of this enormous 
 folly. Milton's defence of unrestricted 
 Publication may confidently lay claim to a 
 duration of practical utility far more ex- 
 tended. It can never cease to have its value 
 on political considerations, till this natural 
 and constitutional* Right ceases to be an 
 
 * I say natural and constitutional after Bishop Hayter, 
 who reasons thus ; " the Liberty of the Press is connected 
 ** with natural Liberty. 
 
 " The Liberty of the Subject being now generally ad- 
 
Ivi PREFATORY REMARKS BY 
 
 object of jealousy or hatred with those who 
 may bear rule over us. A political millenium, 
 the signs and prognostics of the times in 
 which we live forbid us to believe fast ap- 
 proaching. 
 
 ** mitted to be founded in the Reservations made in that 
 *' Compact, which originally cemented Society, supposeth 
 *' the use of Speech. 
 
 " The Men who first gave up their natural Rights for the 
 " benefits of Society, must have stickled hard for the faculty, 
 " which promoted and facilitated the conjunction ; and most 
 " certainly, they never entered into a compact, that, if at 
 " any time the gift of Speech should be grossly abused by 
 " any number of Men, a whole Nation would submit to be 
 ** deprived of the use of it. 
 
 " Wliatever they cannot be supposed to have given up re- 
 ** mains a natural Right, and is a part of those Rights, which 
 " constitute the Liberty of the Subject. 
 
 ** British Liberty consists in the power of assening, by Re- 
 ** presentatives, those natural Rights which were reserved as 
 " the Liberty of the Subject, at the first insthution of So- 
 " ciety. It would be an act of sedition, as well as an ab- 
 " surdity, to insinuate that this power is ever likely to be 
 " perverted, to the destruction of any natural Right thus re- 
 " served : so close is the alliance between the Liberty of the 
 " Press and the Liberty of a British Subject. 
 
 " We may judge, from this view of the case, how greatly 
 " those learned Men are mistaken, who deny the constitu- 
 " tional existence of the Liberty of the Press, because the 
 " Press is not co-eval with Magna Charta. The Use and 
 ** Liberty of Speech were antecedent to that great Charter of 
 
THE PRESENT EDITOR. Ivii 
 
 Succeeding advocates for the Freedom of 
 Printing have copied not unfrequently as 
 well as largely from this Oration. Among 
 others, Mathew Tindal writing in 1698 
 against Mr. Fulteimjs Bill to provide, with 
 other restrictions on the Press, that no un- 
 licenced Newspaper should be in circula- 
 tion*, transcribed from it without scruple, 
 with little alteration and without acknow- 
 legement. It is not unlikely he was appre- 
 hensive, that the name of Milton would 
 have been detrimental to the cause for which 
 he was ably and anxiously contending ! for 
 the first Edition of the Prose-works in a col- 
 lected form, which came out in the same 
 year, bears in the title-page that it was 
 printed at Amsterdam. It was, we must infer 
 from this air of concealment, a Re-pubhca- 
 tion too obnoxious for a London Bookseller 
 
 " British Liberties ; and Printing is only a more extensive 
 " and improved kind of Speech/' 
 
 An Essay on the Liberty of the Press, chiefly as it 
 respects personal Slander ; p. (». 1754. 
 
 Hayter was, I believe, one of the present King's Preceptors, 
 and was translated from Norwich to London in 1761 . 
 
 * TindaVs Continuation of Bapin: I. 350. — Ralph: 
 11.717. 
 
Iviii PREFATORY REMARKS BV 
 
 to avow. The same reason constrained 
 Mr. Trenchard about the same time to resort 
 to this precaution in printing his excellent 
 Hhtovjj of Standing Armies : as did the Print- 
 ers of Montesquieu s works in France till the 
 Constituent Assembly met in 1789- Just as 
 the late Mr. Wilkes^ when early in this reign 
 he presented the PubUc from his private 
 Printing Press with a translation oiBoulangers 
 Theologico-political Research into the Origin 
 and Progress of Despotism, deemed it pru- 
 dent to screen himself behind the same sub- 
 terfuge. 
 
 So dark was the cloud of prejudice which 
 eclipsed the lustre of Milton's name; and 
 that too after the Revolution of 16'88. Hap- 
 pily it has passed away. We begin to make 
 some retribution for slight and neglect : 
 his Prose has at length forced itself so far 
 into notice that it is read, and sometimes 
 quoted. 
 
 Siium cuique decus Posteritas rependet. The 
 gradually accumulating suffrages of suc- 
 ceeding ages are an unerring indication of 
 transcendent merit : as a monument reared 
 by the public voice after the lapse of a cen- 
 tury would be a surer testimony of departed 
 
THE PRESENT EDITOR. lix 
 
 excellence than any erection to commemo- 
 rate the eminent dead immediately following 
 upon their decease. But there have been 
 few, very few, who after their names had 
 been decried hke Milton's ; nay, few 
 whose names had only been in abeyance, as 
 it were, for so long a term of probation who 
 could establish by general consent a claim to 
 posthumous honours. 
 
 It is gratifying to find that amid the ob- 
 loquy and^ detraction, in which through the 
 turn of times Milton spent his declining 
 years, he consoled himself with a sure and 
 certain hope of ultimate renown. For rea- 
 sons sufficiently obvious. Bacon when looking 
 forward to " a Hfe beyond life'' in the minds 
 of future generations, bequeathed his fame 
 to foreign nations. Milton had only to ap- 
 peal from the temper of the day : 
 
 " At ultimi nepotes, 
 
 " Et cordatior setas, 
 
 " Judicia rebus aequiora forsitan 
 
 " Adhibebit, integro sinu. 
 
 " Turn, livore sepulto, 
 
 " Si quid meremur sana posteritas sclet." 
 
 A prophetic anticipation'^. Perhaps his 
 
 * " Such honourable visions bring, 
 " As sooth'd great Milton's injur'd age,- 
 
Ix PREFATORY REMARKS BY 
 
 fortitude drew additional vigour from the 
 depression he then experienced. He could 
 not but know, that a hasty reputation, 
 springing from contemporaneous praise was 
 often a forced and sickly product : in not a 
 few instances, little better than an artificial 
 flower, and of as short and fleeting a date. 
 While he must have been equally sensible 
 that Fame when of tardier growth and well- 
 ripened reserves itself in store for a late 
 posterity. 
 
 " Our monarch Oak, the patriarch of Trees, 
 " Shoots rising up and spreads by slow degrees : " 
 
 whereas tropical vegetation, under the rays 
 of a vertical sun, is as transitory as it is 
 rapid. 
 
 The inclination which has started up, and 
 is visibly gaining ground among us, to cul- 
 tivate a general acquaintance with the elder 
 Authours of our own Nation is highly credit- 
 able to the reigning pursuits in Literature. 
 AVe should vainly search the Continent in 
 quest of Writings more deserving a dihgent 
 
 " Wlien in prophetic dreams he saw 
 " The race unborn with pious awe 
 ** Imbibe each Virtue from his heavenly page." 
 
 Akenside, 
 
THE PRESENT EDITOR. Ixi 
 
 perusal than some we have to boast as dig- 
 nifying our Island toward the close of the 
 sixteenth and through the next century. 
 
 In confirmation of this opinion, I might 
 exhibit a long scroll of no vulgar names : I 
 will enumerate no more than Raleigh, Bacon, 
 Selden, and Milton. Where can we receive 
 fuller lessons on the grand examples and 
 lights which History holds forth for the con- 
 duct of Nations than are to be found in 
 the volume of Raleigh and his learned As- 
 sistants ? And Bacon, who deposed the 
 Stagyrite after his prescriptive sway over the 
 Schools, now has his eminent services to- 
 ward the advancement of true Philosophy 
 acknowleged at home and abroad by the 
 warmest votaries to the Writers of classical 
 Antiquity. While Selden, for scholarship 
 only not universal, and for his indefatigable 
 researches into the original constitutions of 
 the State, must be consulted and venerated 
 as a Sage, to whom Learning and the Li- 
 berties of England are alike and largely in- 
 debted. Neither will Milton, in scope and 
 reach of Thought, nor in wide extent of 
 Knowlege, and least of all in a devoted at- 
 tachment to the supreme interests of the 
 
Ixli PREFATORY REMARKS BY 
 
 human race, be found second to any who 
 could be named, though he be estimated 
 without regard to the deathless offspring of 
 his Muse. Beside that several of his pieces 
 are on the cardinal principles of our na- 
 tional policy in Church and State, and 
 "written at an epocha the most momentous of 
 any in the annals of Britain, the energies of 
 his unwearied intellect, his vast and various 
 acquisitions, his disinterested and fearless 
 search after Truth; — all combine with his 
 elevation of sentiment, and uniform recti- 
 tude of intention, to give a deep and live- 
 ly interest to every disquisition to which 
 he applied himself. So that it is inexcusa- 
 ble in an English Gentleman, who feels it to 
 be due to his station to attain a competent 
 proficiency in the History and in the Lite- 
 rature of his native Country, to allow any 
 portion of so great a Writer's works to be 
 unknown to him : " Quce etiam si Orator non 
 " 5Z5, et sis ingenuus Civis Komanus^ tamen ne- 
 " cessaria est/' 
 
 No circumstance can contribute to make 
 this path to liberal and useful information 
 more attractive and consequently more fre- 
 quented than to clear away those obstrug- 
 
THE PRESENT EDITOR. Ixiil 
 
 tions to a Reader^s easy progress which have 
 grown up in a series of years and overspread 
 many places once sufficiently obvious. To 
 remove, for so much, these discouragements 
 is the Editor's hope in the present Repub- 
 lication. Occasional explanation of uncom- 
 mon words and phrases, and of allusions to 
 particular circumstances which through the 
 intermediate distance of time are become 
 obscure, and will seldom be understood 
 without a key ; as well as notices on per? 
 sonal touches, which have lost their point 
 from age, must be always convenient. 
 
 Perhaps there is no English Authour of 
 the same standing who demands glossarial 
 and explanatory comment more frequently 
 than Milton. He was of " amplitude of 
 "mind to greatest deeds:'' while with him 
 Genius and Industry, by a rare felicity, 
 walked hand in hand. Blessed with this 
 character of mind he was never remiss 
 when he beheved, that it might be con- 
 ducive to the general welfare to exercise 
 his thoughts and his pen on temporary 
 topics; and if, as in this defence of an 
 unlicensed Press, the theme were of per- 
 manent and vital importance, he was a spec- 
 
Ixiv PREFATORY REMARKS. 
 
 tator of the striking and extraordinary scenes 
 continually passing before him, of a com- 
 plexion much too ardent for his thoughts to 
 escape all tinge from them, which now 
 darkening his sense renders elucidation ac- 
 ceptable. Exclusive, moreover, of phraseo- 
 logy which the mutations of language have 
 made obsolete, he dehghted in recondite 
 meanings and in far-sought illustration. 
 Sometimes, it may be, in ostentation of the 
 intellectual wealth he possessed ; 
 
 " His was the treasure of two thousand years :" 
 
 sometimes possibly forgetting how few have 
 arisen so intimately conversant with Letters, 
 sacred and profane, as himself, or to whom 
 the whole range of human Science was 
 equally familiar. 
 
 " He knew each lane, and every alley green, 
 " Dingle or bushy dell of this wide wood, 
 " And every bosky bourne from side to side, 
 " His daily walks, and ancient neighbourhood." 
 
THOMSON^S PREFACE. 
 
 There is no need of a Preface to recommend this 
 admirable Defence of the best of human Rights, to 
 any one who has ever heard of the divine Mil- 
 ton; and it is impossible to produce better Argu- 
 ments, or to set them in a more convincing, 
 awakening Light. 
 
 Is it possible that any free-bom Briton, who is 
 capable of thinking, can ever lose all sense of 
 Religion and Virtue, and of the dignity of human 
 Nature to such a degree, as to wish for that uni- 
 versal Ignorance, Darkness, and Barbarity, against 
 which the absolute Freedom of the Press is the 
 only preservative ? For what else spreads Light, 
 or diffuses Knowlege through the World ? But it 
 seems, as a sense of the value of Health is some- 
 times lost in the midst of its full enjoyment ; so 
 Men, through a habit of Liberty, may become in- 
 sensible of its inestimable worth : otherwise would not 
 
 f 
 
Ixvi Thomson's preface. 
 
 every one awake, rouse himself, and say, when the 
 most dear and valuable of all the Privileges, that 
 Government is designed to protect, is menaced, 
 that he will sooner part with Life itself, than 
 with that Liberty, without which Life is not 
 worth the having: that he will sooner suffer his 
 eyes to be put out, than his Understanding to be 
 extinguished. We are told in History, of a^ Peo- 
 ple, that after they had been inured to Slavery, 
 were in a panicle fear, when their Liberty was 
 offered to them. And this terrible effect of Slavery 
 ought to make every Lover of Mankind tremble at 
 the Thoughts of any steps or approaches toward 
 the diminution of Liberty. " For without it," as 
 Homer has told us, " Men soon cease to be Men : 
 *' they soon cease to be rational Creatures*/* 
 
 * We are told in History of a People, ^c] The Cappadocians ; 
 see Strabo; p. S\5.fol. Amstel. 1707. 
 
 * For without it, as Homer has told us, Men soon cease to he 
 Men: they soon cease to be rational creatures."] Thomson, we 
 must conjecture, intended a paraphrase on the following 
 couplet, 
 
 *HjW,/(ru ydp r* dp£TTJ$ dtooclvvrai evpvoTrci Zsug 
 
 Odyss. XVII. S22, 
 At kast he approaches nearer to this than to any other passage 
 
Thomson's preface. Ixvii 
 
 Now without the absolute unbounded Freedom! 
 of Writing and Publishing, there is no Liberty; no^ 
 shadow of it : it is an empty sound. For what 
 can Liberty mean, if it does not mean, the Liberty 
 of exercising, improving and informing our Under- 
 standings ? "A People have Liberty," said a truly 
 good King of England, " when they are free as 
 " Thought is free^" " What is it that makes a City, 
 
 which my mind recurs to in Homer ; who, contrary to the prac- 
 tice of the dramatic Poets of Greece, scattered his yvw^a.i, or 
 sententious thoughts, with a sparing hand. 
 
 This generous distich, for the important truth it inculcates, 
 has been cited by a succession of Writers from Plato to Frank" 
 lin ; so often that, compressed into a single line, it has almost 
 become a proverbial adage. 
 
 * A Peopk have Liberty, said a truly good King of England, 
 when they are free as thought is free.] A lofty sentiment, 
 which resembles so strongly the style of a popular Oratour in 
 our own day, that we should never expect to meet with it ia 
 the Will of an Anglo-Saxon King. To Alfred, it has, however, 
 been ascribed by most of his Biographers, and has passed on 
 Tyrrelf Hume, and others of our national Historians as authentic. 
 I find it to originate in the misconception, or perhaps in the 
 license, of the Translator of this curious record into Latin ; see 
 App. II. of Wise*s Edition of Sir J. Spelman*s Latin Life of 
 Alfred: or Asserts Life of Alfred: " Et mecum tota nobilitas 
 " West Saxonicse gentis pro recto jure consentiunt ; quod me 
 " oportet dimiltere eos ita liberos, sicut in homine cogitatio ipsius 
 " consistit," p, 80. 8vo. 1722. Oxon. 
 
 According to Tyrrell {Hist, of England; L 310. fol. 1698.) 
 this Translation was made by Asser Menevensis. Whoever was 
 
 f2 
 
Ixviii Thomson's preface. 
 
 " (said the good Jlcaus^, a Poet, whose Muse 
 " was always sacred and faithful to the best of 
 
 the Translator, the original text affords no colour for this flash 
 of eloquence. In an edition of this antient document printed 
 at the Clarendon Press, under the care of Sir Herbert Croft, the 
 passage stands thus: 3 ic bibbe on jobej- naman. 3 on hii* 
 habgpa. f mmjia maja nan. ne ypjrepeajiba ne gefpence nan. 
 nsenig cypelijr J>apa \>e ic ppejealb. 3 me pep-j^eaxena ])itan to 
 jiihte gepehcon jjaet ic hi moc laetan j-pa ppeo j-pa ])eope j-pa^ep ic 
 pille. ac 10 pp gobej- lujran. ^ pop minjie paple Jjeappe. pylle ^ by 
 fyn heopa pjieolpep pyp^e. 3 bypa cypep. 3 ic on gobep lipenbep 
 naman beobe j)aet hy nan man ne bpocie. ne mib peop manunje. 
 ne mib naenijum j^msum. f by ne motan ceopan ppylcne mann 
 ppylce by pyllan: (/>. 24. 4to. 1788.) Manning rendered this 
 closely as follows : " And I beseech, in God's nanae, and in his 
 *' Saints', that of my Relations none, nor of my Heirs none do 
 " obstruct, none of the freedom of those that I have redeemed. 
 " And for me the West Saxon Nobles as lawful have pro- 
 " nounced that I them may leave either free or bond whether 
 " I will. But I, for GoD*s love, and for my Soul's advantage, 
 *' will that they be of their freedom masters, and of their will, 
 *' and I, in God the living's name intreat that them no Man do 
 *' not disturb, neither by money-exactions, nor by no manner 
 " of means, that they may not choose such Man as they will." 
 
 I have collated this extract with the original MS. in Saxon, 
 which belonged to the late Mr. Astle, and I found it to be cor- 
 rect. We therefore ought to construe this humane direction in 
 the Will of our venerated Lawgiver to mean that he had ob- 
 tained a license from the Nobles for the manumission of his 
 Bondmen; without which it could not by the Laws of the 
 Saxons have been valid. The reason of which, as it is assigned 
 by Bishop Squire, was, that *' though their Lords, without 
 " doubt, might give up their private claim to them, as their 
 
Thomson's preface. Ixix 
 
 " causes) it is not walls and buildings ; no, it is 
 " being inhabited by Men : by Men, who know 
 
 *' Slaves ; yet none but the public, i. e. the voice of the whole 
 " nation, could admit them to the privileges of the native 
 " Freemen." An Enquiry into the Foundation of the English 
 Constitution; Sec. p. 120. (n.) edit. 1753. 
 
 By a Law of William the Conqueror a Villein was to be 
 emancipated with much ceremony in full County Court : " Et 
 " prohibemus ut nullus vendat hominem extra patriam : Si qui 
 " vero velit servum suum liberum facere, tradat eum Vicecomiti 
 " per manum dextram in pleno comitatu, quietum ilium cla- 
 " mare debet a jugo servitutis suae per manumissionem, et os- 
 ** tendat ei liberas vias, et portas, et tradat illi libera arma, 
 '' scilicet, lanceam, et gladium deinde liber homo efficitur." 
 Leges Anglo-Saxonica: ; by Wilkins ; p. 229. ^ol. 1721. Neither 
 under the feudal system could the manumission of his 
 immediate Owner set a Villein completely free : it was required 
 to be ratified by the superiour Lord. 
 
 It is well worthy of remark, that our Patriot King and Presi- 
 dent Washington were embarrassed alike by legal difficulties in 
 the testamentary enfranchizement of their Slaves. Ten centu- 
 ries divided them. Tendimus in Latium. Yet how tardy in 
 some respects has been the advance of human institutions to- 
 ward Liberty and Justice. 
 
 " Alas ! how faint, 
 " How slow, the dawn of Beauty and of Truth 
 ** Breaks the reluctant shades of Gothic night 
 " Which yet involve the Nations ! " 
 
 * Said the good Alcaeus, &c.] This fragment of the Lesbian 
 Bard has come down to us in an Oration by Aristides : see v, 2. 
 /). 207. o{Jebh*s edit. 4to. 1722. 
 
 It is also preserved, as a literary Friend pointed out to me* 
 
Ixx Thomson's preface. 
 
 '* themselves to be Men, and have suitable notions 
 " of the dignity of human nature : by Men, who 
 " know what it is alone that exalts them above the 
 *' Brutes." Can we be either virtuous or religious, 
 without the free use of our Reason ; without the 
 means of Knowlege ? And can we have Know- 
 lege, if Men dare not freely study, and as freely 
 communicate the fruits of their studies ? What is 
 it that distinguishes human Society from a brutish 
 herd, but the flourishing of the Arts and Sciences ; 
 the free Exercise of Wit and Reason ? What can \ 
 Government mean, intend, or produce, that is \ 
 worthy of Man, or beneficial to him, as he is a 
 rational creature, besides Wisdom, Knowlege, 
 Virtue and Science ? Is it merely indeed that we 
 may eat, drink, sleep, sing and dance with secu- 
 
 by a Scholiast on Sophocles; CEdip. Tj/rann, v» 56. This 
 swelling sentiment appears indeed to have been a favourite 
 topic for Oratours when addressing the Athenian Citizens : see 
 Thuci/dides; p. 462. Hudson's edit.: TJiemistocles* hortatory 
 Speech when Xerxes invaded Attica ; CotTi, Nep. Vit, Themist : 
 and see likewise Plutarch ; Rualdi Edit. I. 52. 
 
 A talent for Poetry was, I think, not one of the most emi- 
 nent endowments of the late Sir William Joness gifted and 
 admirably-cultivated mind ; yet elevated by a congenial spirit 
 he has happily caught " Alcceus' manly rage'* in a paraphrastic 
 imitation of the foregoing relic; over which the public eye 
 could never tire ; and, had the limits of the page allowed me 
 room, I should gladly have inserted it. 
 
THOMSON^S PREFACE. IxXl 
 
 r\iy that we choose Governours, subject our selves 
 to their administration, and pay taxes ? Take 
 away the Arts, ReHgion, Knowlege, Virtue, (all | 
 of which must flourish, or sink together) and in 
 the Name of Goodness, what is left to us that is \\ 
 worth enjoying or protecting ? Yet take away the 
 Liberty of the Press, and we are all at once stript 
 of the use of our noblest Faculties : our Souls them- 
 selves are imprisoned in a dark dungeon : we may 
 breathe, but we cannot be said to live. 
 
 If the end of Governours and Government is not 
 to diffuse with a liberal unsparing equal hand, true 
 rational happiness; but to make the bulk of Man- 
 kind beasts of burden, that a few may wallow in 
 brutish pleasures ; then it is consistent PoHticks, 
 to root out the desire and love of Light and Know- 
 lege. Certain Scythian Slaves, that they might 
 work the harder, had only their eyes destroyed. 
 But to extinguish human Understanding, and esta- 
 blish a kingdom of darkness, is just so far more 
 barbarous than even that monstrous cruelty, as the 
 Mind excels the Body ; or as Understanding and 
 Reason are superior to Sense. Cardinal Richlieu 
 says^ in his Political Testament, " That Subjects 
 
 * Cardinal 'KxchW^w says f &c.] This is, I suppose, a very loose 
 translation, probably from memory, of the beginning of this State*- 
 
Ixxii Thomson's preface. 
 
 " with Knowlege, Sense and Reason, are as mon- 
 " strous as a Beast with hundreds of eyes would 
 " be ; and that such a Beast will never bear its 
 " burden peaceably. Whence he infers, it is im- 
 ** possible to promote despotic Power, while Learn- 
 " ing is encouraged and extended. The People 
 ** must be hood- winked, or rather blinded, if one 
 
 man's Section du Peuple. " Tous les Politiques sont d'accord que 
 " si les Peuples etoient trop a leur aise, il seroit impossible de 
 " les contenir dans les Regies de leur Devoir ; leur Fondement 
 " est qu'ayant moins de connoissance que les autres ordres de 
 " TEtat beaucoup plus cultivez, ou plus instruits, s'ils n'etoient 
 " retenus par quelque necessite, difficilement demeuroient-ils dans 
 " les Regies qui leur sont prescrites par laRaisonetpar lesLoix. 
 
 " La Raison ne permet pas de les exempter de loutes 
 " Charges, parce qu'en perdant en tel cas la marque de leur 
 *' Sujetion, ils perdroient aussi la memoire de leur Condition, et 
 " que s'ils etoient libres de Tributs, ils penseroient I'etre de 
 *' rObeissance. // lesfaut comparer aux Mulcts qui etant accoU' 
 " tumez a la Charge, se gdtent par un long repos plus que par le 
 " travail; mais ainsi que ce travail doit etre modere, et qu*il 
 ** faut que la charge de ces Animaux soit proportionnee a leurs 
 *' forces:" &c. Toin. 1. p. 185. 8vo. 1740. 
 
 Certainly, the Cardinal may claim the merit of speaking out 
 as to the rule of action with all arbitrary Governments. — The 
 authenticity of this Testament has been a subject of contro- 
 versy between Voltaire and other French writers; a ques- 
 tion of little moment. We may be assured that Richlieu, in 
 common with other Ministers of despotic Kings, acted on these 
 principles, whether he had the honesty or the effrontery to 
 avow them. 
 
Thomson's preface. Ixxiii 
 
 " would have them tame and patient drudges. In 
 ** short, you must treat them every way like Pack- 
 " horses or Mules, not excepting the bells about 
 ** their necks, which by their perpetual jingling, 
 " may be of use to drown their cares.'* Now this 
 is plain dealing, and consistent Politicks. But to 
 talk of Liberty and free Government, publick Good 
 and rational Happiness, as requiring limitations on 
 the Press, and Licensers of Books, is as absurd, as 
 to speak of Liberty in a dungeon, with chains on 
 every limb. Hohhes too was consistent with him- 
 self, and advises those, who aim at absolute domi- 
 nion, to destroy all the antient Greek and Latin 
 Authours^; because if those are read, principles of 
 
 * Hobbes too was consistent with himself, ond advises those who 
 aim at absolute dominion, to destroy all the antient Greek and 
 Latin Authors ; ^c."] Subtle as this Metaphysician was he may 
 on this head be " confronted with self comparisons." Both the 
 Authour of Oceana and Diyden have preserved his well-founded 
 apophthegm, that " a Man was always against Reason, if 
 '* Reason was against him" And when Hobbes (p. 140. 
 Works; fol. 1651.) doubts not " but if it had been a thing con- 
 *' trary to any Man^s right of Dominion, or to the interest of 
 '* men that have Dominion, that the three Angles of a Triangle 
 " should be equal to two Angles of a Square; that Doctrine 
 '' should have been, if not disputed, j'et by the burning of all 
 " books of Geometry, suppressed, as far as he whom it concerned 
 ''was able:" — he incautiously discloses why he breathed a 
 
Ixxiv Thomson's preface. 
 
 Liberty, and just sentiments of the Dignity and 
 Rights of Mankind must be imbibed. But can 
 there be more glaring bare-faced nonsense than to 
 
 wish for the extermination of antient Learning. Prcepandere 
 lumina Mentis is a Motto which never could be borne by the 
 Writer of the Leviathan. 
 
 Had Milton not deviated from the established opinions i» 
 Church and State, should we not ere now have seen the hue 
 and lineaments of his character drawn in contrast with those of 
 his celebrated Contemporary ? The fervent Piety which dis- 
 tinguished by far the most sublime of Christian Poets^ was 
 directly opposite to the skepticism of Hohhes. Their contra- 
 riety in many other features was not less striking : in their 
 lives and in their opinions they were as unlike as Boyle to 
 l^Glinghroke. 
 
 When the rising troubles at home prognosticated the approach 
 of civil War, Milton then travelling over classic ground, and 
 bending his course toward Greece with all her strong attractions 
 for a Scholar and a Poet, abruptly hastened back to England, 
 thinking no sacrifice too great for the suppjort of his Country's 
 Liberty : " In Siciliam quoque et Grceciam trajicere volentem 
 "me, tristis ex Anglia belli civilis nuntius revocavit : Turpe 
 " enim existimabam, dum mei cives domi de Libertate dimica- 
 *' rent, me animi causa otiose peregrinari.*' Pr, W. H. 332. 
 €d» 1738. And he laid out the better part of his Life in vin- 
 dicating it. 
 
 The Philosopher of Malmesbury deserted his country and 
 fled to Paris that he might live in safety. " His whole Life 
 " (as his Biographer relates) was governed by his fears ; " of 
 the Clergy more especially, whom the latitude of his specula-, 
 tions had raised up against him. Milton's manly spirit 
 
Thomson's i»reface. Ixxv 
 
 say, " That the very support of a free Constitution 
 " requires the extinction of the Press;" that is, the 
 extinction of the only means of knowing what we 
 
 set him above all such apprehensions. Having given offence 
 while at Rome by his open profession of the Protestant Faith, 
 though warned that the English Jesuits were plotting against 
 him in case he should return to that City, yet not at all 
 daunted, he went thither the second time with a determina- 
 tion not to begin any discourse about Religion ; at the same 
 time, when attacked he defended his own at the Papal See 
 as freely as before. *' I never (says he) shrunk from the 
 " avowal of my tenets." ibid, p. 332. Hobhes must have 
 laughed at such inflexible Probity ; for he inculcated that every 
 one should profess the religion of the Magistrate. Not so 
 Milton : who refused to enter into the Church because 
 it was his belief that " he who took Orders must subscribe 
 •* Slave." ibid. I. 62. 
 
 Again; Milton in office under Cromwell gave him open 
 and uncourtly counsel, and after the Protector had engrossed 
 the powers of the State, he exhorted him never to desert the 
 principles which he had professed, laying before him the ag- 
 gravated enormity of his crime, if he should become a Tyrant, 
 and betray the cause he had defended in Parliament and in the 
 field ; (see the close of the 2nd Def.). But Hohbcs, like 
 Spinoza, as if there was no distinction between Force and Jus- 
 tice, accounted Right to be the consequence of Power, and j 
 held that whatever a man can do, it is lawful for him to do. ! 
 Hobbes at Paris therefore wrote in support of CromiveWs 
 usurpation. 
 
 This hardened advocate for despotism and Pensioner of 
 Charles H, strove to degrade Mankind in their very nature to a 
 
Ixxvi Thomson's preface. 
 
 are as Men and Christians : what our Natures are 
 capable of: what is our just happiness, and how 
 we ought to be treated by our Governours : that is, 
 by those whom we have entrusted with the manage- 
 ment of our interests and concerns. 
 
 I hope it will never be this Nation's misfortune 
 to fall into the hands of an Administration, that do 
 not from their Souls abhor any thing that has but 
 the remotest tendency toward the erection of a 
 new and arbitrary jurisdiction over the Press: or 
 
 level with the beasts of the field : for no other reason (said 
 Clarendon truly) than that they might be fit to wear the chains 
 he had provided for them. How repugnant this to Milton's 
 Doctrine j who makes the Angel Raphael say authoritatively 
 to Adain> 
 
 " Accuse not Nature, she hath done her part ; 
 " Do thou but thine, and be not diffident 
 *' Of Wisdom, she deserts thee not, if thou 
 " Dismiss not her. 
 
 P. L. VIII. 561. 
 
 And who after the Restoration, filled with indignant sorrow, 
 lamented, that " when God hath decreed Servitude on a sinful 
 " Nation, fitted by their own vices for no condition but ser- 
 *' vile, all estates of Government are alike unable to avoid 
 <* it." {Hist, of Britain, b. v. c. I.) 
 
 In a word, Milton's name was a horrour at the Court of 
 Charles II. and the portrait oi Hobbes was in his cabinet. 
 
Thomson's preface. Ixxvii 
 
 can otherwise look upon any attempt that way, 
 than as the greatest impiety, the cruellest, the 
 wickedest, the most irreligious thing that can he 
 imagined. Would it not be sacrilegiously robbing 
 God of the only worship he delights in, the wor- 
 ship of the Heart and Understanding ? Can there 
 be Religion or Virtue without Reason, Thought, 
 and Choice r Or can Reason, Thinking, Know- 
 lege and Choice, subsist without the only con- 
 ceivable means of making Men wise and under- 
 standing, rational, and virtuous ? What is the 
 Kingdom of Christ? Doth not our Saviour de- 
 light in calling it Light, and a Kingdom of Light? 
 And what did he come to destroy but the King- 
 dom of Darkness ? And can there be a Kingdom 
 of Light, without the Liberty, the unconstrained 
 Liberty of diffusing Light and Knowlege ? What 
 is the Reformation, or what does it mean but the 
 Liberty, the absolute and perfect Liberty, of cor- 
 recting and refuting errors, and of undeceiving 
 Mankind ? What is it that we call Protest- 
 antism, but a resolution stedfastly and undaunt- 
 edly to oppose all encroachments upon rational 
 Liberty, the Liberty of the Judgment and Under- 
 standing; and to maintain it as our most valuable 
 
Ixxviii Thomson's preface. 
 
 treasure, our greatest and noblest Privilege, in 
 comparison of which, all other Rights are mean 
 ^nd trifling, and hardly deserve the name of bles- 
 sings and advantages ? A free Protestant Country, 
 without the Liberty of the Press, is a contradiction 
 in terms ; it is free Slavery, or inchained Liberty. 
 Light and Darkness are not mcye opposite than 
 Liberty and the deprivation of the means of being 
 rational. 
 
 Who, that loves Mankind, is not sorry, that any 
 thing is ever published tending to confound Men's 
 Understanding, mislead their Judgments, or de- 
 prave their Morals ? But is there any more likely 
 method for Sense to prevail against absurdities, 
 than leaving her at full liberty to paint them 
 in their native colours ? Can Truth be better 
 armed against Error than with the mighty blade of 
 uncontrouled Reason ? Or Virtue more surely 
 triumph over Immorality, than by the vigorous 
 execution of the truly wholesome Laws purposely 
 framed for her support ? 
 
 I hate all Calumny and Defamation, as I hate 
 the corruption of heart, from which alone it can 
 proceed ; and do with the utmost zeal detest those 
 profaners of Liberty, who pretending to be friends 
 
THOMSON^S PREFACE. IxXlX 
 
 to it, have recourse to such black diabolical me- 
 thods. But I take the Laws already in force 
 awiong us, to be a more than sufficient preservative 
 (at least as far as human Prudence is able to pro- 
 vide) against all the abusive overt-acts, I am now 
 expressing my abhorrence of: And as such we 
 liave reason to esteem them very valuable securi- 
 ties of our Liberties and Reputations. But be- 
 <:ause wicked things are published, must there be 
 no publishing ? I know it is objected that there 
 is a medium between an absolute Liberty of the 
 Press, and an absolute suppression of it. Which 
 I admit; but yet aver the medium (by which 
 either Licensing, or nothing at all is meant) is far 
 worse on all accounts, than either extreme. For 
 though we are indeed told, that Licensers would 
 serve us with wholesome goods, feed us with food 
 convenient for us, and only prevent the distribu- 
 tion of poison ; sure such cant was never meant 
 to impose on any, but those who are asleep, and 
 cannot see one inch before them. Let no true 
 Briton therefore be deceived by such fallacious 
 speeches, but consider the necessary consequences 
 which must follow, and he will soon find that it is 
 as the flattering language of the strange Woman 
 
Ixxx 
 
 THOMSON S PREFACE. 
 
 [in the Book of Proverbs] who with her fair 
 smooth tongue, beguileth the simple, and leadeth 
 them as an ox to the slaughter. That plausible 
 and deceitful language leadeth indeed into the 
 chambers of Darkness and Death. But this subject 
 is fully handled in the excellent Treatise subjoin'd. 
 I will only propose to the consideration of all 
 Lovers of Religion, Virtue, Science, and Mankind, 
 the few following Queries ; and every one ought 
 methinks to propose them to himself every day 
 of his Life, as making a fundamental Cate- 
 chism. For if the Truths, which these con- 
 tain, are not fundamental, Man is not a 
 Man, but a beast; Religion and Virtue are 
 empty names. 
 
 1. What is our most valuable part, or what is 
 it that maketh us capable of Religion, Virtue, and 
 rational Happiness ? Is it not our Reason or Un- 
 derstanding ? 
 
 2. What then is the noblest Privilege that be- 
 longs to Man ? Is it not the free exercise of his 
 Understanding, the full use of all the means of 
 advancing in Virtue, and Knowlege ? 
 
Thomson's preface. Ixxxi 
 
 3. What is it then that is, and must be, the 
 chief end of Government to encourage and pro- 
 mote ? Is it not Knowlege, Virtue, and Religion ? 
 
 4. And can Knowlege, Virtue, or Religion be 
 promoted, if the only means of promoting them are 
 taken away ? For what are the means of pro- 
 moting them, but the Liberty of Writing and Pub- 
 lishing, without running any risque but that of 
 being refuted or ridiculed, where any thing ad- 
 vanced chances to labour under the just imputation 
 of Falshood or Absurdity ? 
 
 THOMSON. 
 
CURSORY OBSERVATIONS, 
 
 BV 
 
 THE PRESENT EDITOR, 
 
 ON 
 
 THE INVENTION OF THE ART OF PRINTING. 
 
 In the meagre Life of Thomson prefixed by 
 Murdoch to his Edition of this Poet's Works, 
 it is unnoticed that Thomson was an Editor 
 of the Areopagitica. A fact we may con- 
 clude from their silence to have been equally 
 unknown to the Earl of Buchan^ and to his 
 other Biographers; who appear to have been 
 also ignorant, that the Translation into En- 
 glish of " the Commentaries of the Emperor 
 " Marcus Antoninus^ by James Tho7nson, 
 " Gent/' 8vo. 1747, was by the hand of the 
 Poet; as my Informant was told by Mi- 
 Floyer Sydenham. 
 
 In 1738, a translation of CromweWs Mani- 
 festo against the Spaniards, which was drawn 
 
 g2 
 
Ixxxiv ON THE INVENTION OF PRINTING, 
 
 up in Latin by Milton, and first printed in 
 1655, was published by Millar, who was 
 Thomsons PubHsher. To this Pamphlet, his 
 Britannia was appended. As I conjecture, 
 he rendered this State-Paper into English, 
 and republished this poetical invective with 
 a hope to assist, like Glover, in exciting a na-^ 
 tional clamour for a Spanish War : then a 
 leading object of the Parliamentary Party in 
 opposition with whom he had associated him- 
 self. 
 
 Thomsons reprint of this Speech for the 
 Liberty of unlicensed Printing came out not 
 long after the Act had passed requiring all 
 dramatic Writings to be licensed by the 
 Chamberlain of the King's Household, prior 
 to their representation in a Theatre : without 
 any doubt it was this Statute which suggested 
 the propriety of this republication at that 
 juncture. 
 
 The importance of the subject will always 
 stamp a value on this spirited Preface, while, 
 as an original composition in prose by the 
 Poet of the Seasons it is matter for literarj^ 
 curiosity. 
 
 Is it not singular that Thomson should no 
 where have touched on the Art of Printing 
 
BY THE PRESENT EDITOR, IXXXV 
 
 in the expanded poem which he entitled Li- 
 berty ? This fell within the scope of that 
 work much more aptly than the episode on 
 Pythagoras and his Philosophy, or than the 
 geographical outline of the Roman Empire. 
 The natural, the necessary, the close alliance 
 between Knowlege and Freedom would have 
 fully justified its introduction. A fair occa- 
 sion offered, which it is surprising an Editor 
 of Milton's Vindication of an open Press 
 should overlook, when after deploring the 
 prostration of the human mind in the dark 
 ages, he sings in animated strains the return 
 of the presiding Goddess of his Poem bring- 
 ing Science and the Arts in her train. This 
 groupe has in some sort reheved the general 
 languor of that piece ; to which a well- 
 fancied transition descriptive of the manifold 
 benefits accruing to Mankind from the un- 
 obstructed enjoyment of this invention 
 might have still further conduced. 
 
 The expression of Thought by the Voice 
 is in its nature a very limited faculty, and of 
 transient effect ; while oral Narration is so 
 vague that Facts disfigured by colloquial 
 Tradition soon grow obscure, as well as 
 more doubtful in authority at every repeti- 
 
kxxvi ON THE INVENTION OP PRINTING^ 
 
 tion, and should they not degenerate into 
 Fable^ are if once forgotten irretrievably 
 lost. Accordingly, to embody the concep- 
 tions of Mind, and thus to confer on them 
 a material existence with an extension be- 
 yond the power of Speech, is among the first 
 endeavours of Man, as soon as he has 
 raised himself above animal Life. The abori- 
 ginal inhabitants of the northern Continent 
 of America, who are not yet arrived at the 
 pastoral stage in the progress of ameliora- 
 tion, preserve their simple annals by Hie- 
 roglyphics, natural and symbolical, graven 
 on tablets of birch-bark among some tribes; 
 in others, they obtain a short-Uved memory 
 for their transactions by the varied arrange^ 
 ment of beads. The imperfections and the 
 inadequacy of all such rude, yet elaborate, 
 attempts to give the operations of Intellect a 
 tangible habitation and to delineate articu*- 
 lated breath, could not but have been pain- 
 fully felt in the earliest dawnings of the so- 
 cial state. If it had not been for the ex- 
 ception of the Chinese, we should have 
 rashly pronounced, that while ignorant of the 
 secret of Letters, Mankind could never ap- 
 proach the pale of Civilization ; and that an 
 
BY THE PRESENT EDITOE. IxXXVU 
 
 expedient so apt as a literal character to 
 render Thought and Sound visible and per- 
 manent must speedily and inevitably have 
 brought all arbitrary and occult signs into 
 disuse. 
 
 The ability of describing the images of 
 Sense, and of conveying to the mind of 
 others through the eye, the abstractions of 
 the Understanding by written words, is in- 
 deed a wonderful acquirement* How forci- 
 bly the Polytheists of Egypt and of Greece 
 were struck with the incalculable benefits of 
 alphabetic writing, they showed by venerat- 
 ing the inventor as a Divinity : in acknow- 
 legement, under the names of Thoth and of 
 Hermes^ to that individual who had contri- 
 buted in a larger measure than any other to 
 the well-being of his fellow-creatures- As, 
 through a similar impulse of gratitude for 
 the good received, divine honours were paid 
 in Greece and Italy to the inventress of the 
 Loom and of the Plow, and to those who 
 first taught the use of Grain and the culture 
 of the Vine and Olive*. 
 
 * It IS rather extraordinary, that they who have thought, 
 that the construction of an Alphabet was above human in- 
 genuity, and that it must have sprung immediately from a 
 
IxXXviii ON THE INVENTION OF PRINTING, 
 
 After the near advances made toward 
 Printing both by the Greeks and Romans, 
 when they stamped Inscriptions on their 
 Coins, branded Letters on Malefactors, and 
 impressed marks on their Cattle, it seems 
 surprising that whole revolutions of ages 
 should have passed away before any similar 
 method was thought of to multiply copies of 
 a Manuscript. The transition from these 
 practices was easy to the compendious pro- 
 cess by which Books are printed, and, now 
 at least, it appears to be very obvious. At 
 
 divine communication, should not liave adverted to the sin- 
 gle signs which we have taken from the Arabian Scuvans for 
 the purposes of calculation. 
 
 These numerical ciphers, as simple in their power as 
 boundless in their operation, approach to a universid charac- 
 ter. The Chinese with the Swan Pan are the only excep- 
 tion to their use among civilized Nations. — How did the 
 Commissariate of a Roman Army keep their accounts with 
 Ijetters for numerals ? 
 
 I once mentioned to the late Mr. Gilbert Tf^akefieldy whom 
 I had the honour to call my friend, and who had published 
 an ingenious Essay in support of the opinion, that we owe 
 verbal Writing to a direct Revelation from the Deity, whe- 
 ther these numerical figures did not militate against his per- 
 suasion ? He put my objection by in the way we all do an ar- 
 gument, which we are unprepared to confute, when started 
 against a favourite hypothesis. 
 
BY THE PRESENT EDITOR. Ixxxix 
 
 last, in an auspicious hour, this want was 
 suppUed by the aid of moveable Types, and 
 the mechanism of a Press ; a contrivance 
 which has encreased the opportunities of 
 Knowlege many thousand fold. — In Christen- 
 dom we shall neither erect Temples, nor 
 raise Altars to the inventor of Typography. 
 But his merit will not be over -rated, if we 
 place him among the foremost in the file of 
 benefactors to the human race. 
 
 Not long after the revival of Letters, 
 Francis I. having one day called on the 
 Printer, Robert Stephens, as a mean of pro- 
 claiming his fostering care of Literature, 
 would not permit his presence to delay the 
 correction of a Proof Sheet from the Press. 
 The memory of this royal Patron of Scholars 
 deserves to be held in as much estimation to 
 the full for this courteous attention to the 
 interests of Learning, as his Rival Charles V. 
 for the homage he did to the fine Arts in 
 stooping for the Pencil which Titian had let 
 fall. 
 
 The contrariety of emotion which would 
 have agitated the projectors of the Alembic 
 and of the Printing Press, at the instant their 
 sagacity was rewarded with success, would 
 
XC ON THE INVENTION OP PRINTING, 
 
 present not an incurious contemplation, bad 
 it been possible for them to have foreseen 
 the wide-spread and opposite effects of their 
 respective discoveries. This was eagerly 
 perverted into a perennial spring of liquid 
 fire, which year by year shortens with linger- 
 ing anguish the existence of thousands and 
 of tens of thousands, ill-atoning for this un- 
 ceasing destruction of human Life by the me- 
 dicinal properties it may possess. That \m% 
 proved itself to be the primary organ in pro- 
 moting our nearest interests and most ele- 
 vated pursuits. It undeniably makes one 
 exception, I trust there are many more, to 
 the reflection which sprang from the morbid 
 melancholy of our great Moralist, that human 
 advantages are more susceptible of evil than of 
 good, through the wayward propensities of 
 our nature to misuse them. 
 
 Of the innumerable illustrations which 
 croud into the recollection, none would mark 
 the kindly influences of the Press more 
 strongly than the uniformity of manners and 
 of customs continued down from the highest 
 antiquity in the eastern quarter of the globe. 
 Strangers to this inestimable acquisition, or 
 where it is known in part an alphabetic cha- 
 
BY THE PRESENT EDITOR. XCl 
 
 racier not being in use, the Asiatics have re- 
 mained nearly stationary from the time our 
 Forefathers ran naked in the woods with 
 painted skins, fed on acorns, and offered 
 human sacrifices to idols. Neither is it, that 
 the Printing Press has so largely contributed 
 to the preeminence of the Nations of the 
 West which alone renders Coster, or Faust, or 
 Guttemberg, or whoever originally suggested 
 the idea, or facilitated the design, an object 
 of lasting gratitude. The Printing House 
 ought supremely to be regarded with rere- 
 Fence as the Officina Libertatis, the laboratory 
 of human Liberty ; the operative means by 
 wfeich Mankind are at length, and now, let 
 Us hope, rapidly gaining a just sense of their 
 Qwn Rights, and of the Duties of their Ru- 
 lers. 
 
 To enlarge on the indissoluble connexion 
 between Knowlege widely diffiused, and po- 
 litical Freedom, and on their reciprocal de- 
 pendence, would be mis-spending time. Vo- 
 lumes written out by the hand, would of 
 necessity continue so rare and so costly that 
 the wealthy alone could procure them. The 
 Style and the Pen therefore too often failed 
 to preserve the multitudinous appHcations of 
 
XCU ON THE INVENTION OF PRINTING, 
 
 the intellectual principle, and never could 
 generally disseminate them. But this super- 
 lative art brought Books within the reach of 
 almost all the classes in Society, and excited 
 a spirit of ardent enquiry among them. The 
 extended circulation of Knowlege communi- 
 cated a new and vigorous impulse to the 
 public mind. It now felt powers which had 
 hitherto lain dormant ; in exercising them, it 
 gradually shook off the load of rubbish which 
 had overwhelmed it during the co-existing do- 
 mination of Monkery and Feudality. From 
 this epocha, the tide of improvement in hu- 
 man affairs set in with a steady and accele- 
 rated course. So steady as to have now 
 nearly worn away the most formidable ob- 
 structions ; and latterly so accelerated as to 
 induce some who perceive distinctly the ca- 
 pacity for many and great improvements in 
 social Man to aspire after his Perfectability : 
 the hope of a visionary but praiseworthy 
 enthusiasm. But while shut out by the la- 
 bour and expence of transcription from the 
 means of Instruction, a vast proportion of 
 every community must have lived their days 
 in the darkest ignorance. In this benighted 
 state, without the services of Typography 
 
BY THE PRESENT EDITOR. XCIU 
 
 feudal Tyranny might still have attached the 
 mass of the European population to the 
 glebe*, and Superstition still have propa- 
 gated by the fagot the adoration of conse- 
 crated baubles and holy wafers -j^. If there 
 had been only Copyists, Buchanan would 
 have maintained to little purpose, that the 
 ruling passion of Cato Uticensis was the sole 
 foundation of all legitimate Magistracy from 
 the King to the most subordinate Peace- 
 officer:;!:. Locke, unless he could have set the 
 Compositor to work in the stead of Amanuen- 
 
 * " Non potuit ire allubi." 
 
 Domesday Book ; Hantesdre ; passim, 
 
 t *^ Nam, simul ac Ratio . . coepit vociferari 
 ^......... 
 
 " DifFugiunt Animi terrores; moenia mundi 
 
 " Discedunt 
 
 " Nee Tellus obstat, quin omnia despiciantur, 
 
 *^ Sub pedibus quaequomque infra per inane geruntur/' 
 
 X " Non sibi, sed toti, genitum se credere, mundo." 
 
 Pharsalia : 11. 383. 
 If it can ask no higher praise, it is always amusive to trace the 
 tradition of a thought from one mind to another, and to ob- 
 serve the various applications in its progress. Cicero caught 
 this moral sentiment from the Founder of the Academy : 
 " ut ad Archytam scripsit Plato, non sibi se soli natum 
 " [Homo] meminerit, sed Patriae, sed suis, ut perexigua pars 
 
XCIV ON THE INVENTION OF PRINTING, 
 
 ses, would never have become the Preceptor 
 of Nations in the two hemispheres. To small 
 avail comparatively would this Sage have in- 
 culcated the Duty of Toleration to the doc- 
 trines of every religious Communion, or have 
 promulgated the leading axioms in the science 
 of civil Government, as founded on popu- 
 lar Right. That Liberty of Conscience is a 
 natural Right; that the Religion of every Man 
 ought to be left to God and himself: that 
 all Men are born free and with equal Rights : 
 that Society is founded in the consent of the 
 Majority : that the Liberty of Man in Soci- 
 ety is to be under no legislative Power, other 
 than what is established by Consent : that 
 the legislative, being only a fiduciary Power 
 there remains in the People a supreme Power 
 
 « ipsi relinquatur.— -2 ; \4.de Finib, — And there is a simi- 
 lar thought in Plutarch ; in Vit. Lycurg, 
 
 This, we see, Lucan afterward took up m drawing the 
 character of his Hero ; then to convey a just idea of the 
 rightful tenure by which all Magistracy is holdeu, Buchanan 
 paraphrased the verse above by—" Reges non sibi sed Populo 
 *' creatos." De Jure Regni apud Scotos; p, 8. Op, Omn, 
 I. 4to. Ruddiman. edit. 
 
 Is there not in this natural application of a maxim in Mo- 
 rality to the principles of Government an eminent illustration 
 that political science is no more than a branch of Ethics ? A 
 truth of inestimable importance. 
 
BY THE PRESENT EDITOR. XCV 
 
 to remove or alter the legislative when thej 
 act contrary to the Trust reposed in them: — 
 These and other principles scarcely less in- 
 valuable might have amused the leisure and 
 warmed the philanthropy of the Speculatist, 
 unassisted by the Printer, they could never 
 have worked their way into the general belief, 
 so as to have become motives of action to 
 numbers any-wise competent to effective 
 purposes. Neither, when oppressions past 
 endurance had driven a Nation to arms, and 
 they were victorious in this appeal to Heaven 
 in a Trial by Battel, did there exist, before 
 the era of Printing, a safe and sure means of 
 registering for public inspection any instru- 
 ment of covenanted Liberties ; nor of trans- 
 mitting such evidence of common Right for 
 a late posterity to have in their remem- 
 brance. A transcript of the Charter from 
 Henry I. to the People of England was repo- 
 sited, as a precaution against the danger of 
 spoliation, among the muniments of the prin- 
 cipal Monasteries of the realm. Yet at the 
 re-affirmance and enlargement of our consti- 
 tutional Freedom by the national Convention 
 at Runningmede, Cardinal Langton thought 
 himself fortunate to have recovered a solitary 
 
XCVl ON THE INVENTION ON PRINTING. 
 
 copy of this venerable roll. Very little more 
 than a century had elapsed when all the other 
 records of these stipulated Rights had dis- 
 appeared. Who can doubt that these docu- 
 ments had been wilfully destroyed? The 
 numerous and well- stored Libraries of later 
 times form safer archives. From these con- 
 servatories of Knowlege the memorials of 
 History are, with the seeds of every Science, 
 dispersed over an immeasurable tract, and 
 put beyond the power of human extirpation. 
 Their diffusion can only be compared to the 
 infinite progression of high numbers ; a dif- 
 fusion which ensures their endless duration : 
 by the same means that we may observe in 
 the order of Nature, whose economy it is to 
 regard the increase and multiplication of the 
 species for its preservation rather than to 
 attend to the fate of the individuals who 
 compose it. 
 
PREFACE 
 
 TO 
 
 EDITION IN 1772*. 
 
 There is a period in the progress of human de- 
 signs, which, as it is regarded with negligence or 
 with policy, will ensure their destruction or their 
 success^ The Lion is endued by Nature with 
 
 * This Edition with the Dedication and the Preface I have 
 heard ascribed to Archdeacon Blackburne ; but I have not been 
 able to learn that there is any authority for this opinion. If he 
 were the Editor, his Family are ignorant of the circumstance. — 
 Was it the Rev. Richard Baron, who reprinted Milton's en- 
 larged Edition of the 'EocovoHAaa-rTj^, and who assisted in the 
 4to. Edition of the Prose Works ? It is far from unlikely that 
 Baron, if then living, was the Editor; or that if it were not he, 
 some one else was employed by Mr. Hollis for this purpose; as 
 I find the Areopagitica enumerated in a list of Books for the 
 use of the Swedes published in this year, 1772, by this Gentle- 
 dan on occasion of the royal Revolution which had recently 
 taken place in that Country {Mem. of T. Hollis, p. 659); who 
 says (p. 656), " let the brave worthy Swedes read the Areopa- 
 " ciTiCA, and get franker." 
 
 h 
 
XCVlll PREFACti TO THE 
 
 the means of mischief — weapons of dreadful execa- 
 tion ; but deprive him, while he is yet young, of 
 his teeth and his nails — disarm him while he is 
 within your reach — and he will never rise to 
 be the terror of the forest, or the tyrant of the 
 field. 
 
 Impressed with a conscious sense of this pro- 
 position, I now take up the pen in the cause of 
 my Country. The season of danger ought to be 
 the season of alarm ; and when a secret blow i& 
 aimed at the State by the cunning or the ambi- 
 tious, no honest individual, who is aware of it, 
 will be idle. On the present occasion, therefore, 
 be it my business, as it is my duty, to unveil the 
 foes of Public Freedom, and drag them to the pub- 
 lie altar. 
 
 It is apprehended, and with good reason, that a 
 design is now ripening to restrain the Liberty of 
 the Press, The character of our present Ministry- 
 makes the existence of such a design probable, but 
 their conduct carries it almost beyond a doubt. 
 So daring an fattempt is indeed worthy of that en- 
 terprising spirit which has already controverted 
 Elections, and ridiculed the complaints of twelve 
 millions of Subjects. It is well known that this 
 
^.Ditioi^ IN 1773* xcix 
 
 scheme has been long adopted, but adopted only 
 in prospect ; the execution of it was reserved for 
 this season and this P — — t : accordingly hints 
 have been given, inuendoes thrown out, and whis- 
 pers circulated, that the Press is grown luxuriant 
 and wanton, and requires cropping. 
 
 This laudable business has been ushered into the 
 world by a Publication, which may be considered 
 as the prologue to the tragedy which is intended 
 to follow. On Thursday the 30th day of January 
 last (as if Freedom was doomed to bleed on th6 
 same day with Virtue*) a Pamphlet was published, 
 entitled, " Reasons against the intended Bill for 
 •• lading some restraint upon the Liberty of the Press ^ 
 ** wherein all the arguments yet advanced by the 
 " promoters of it are unanswerably answered J^ The 
 tendency of this Pamphlet is obvious to the most 
 superficial observer. It is written in a strain of 
 continued irony; and, while it y^^m^ to be the keen 
 foe of the errours of Administration, it is in truth 
 their warmest advocate. It is replete with that 
 oblique and uncouth raillery which is always aim- 
 ing at humour, but never reaches it ; and though 
 
 ^ The day on which the Royal Martyr suffered. 
 
 h 2 
 
e PREFACE TO THB 
 
 it is neither satirical nor witty, it well serves to 
 show that Dullness can sometimes be as malicious 
 as Wit. 
 
 Such is its tendency, and such its character. 
 However, the powers of this masked battery are 
 too circumscribed and feeble to annoy the palla- 
 dium of Freedom, by playing against it : if it pos- 
 sesses any importance, it is acquired only by its 
 being in disguise. The keenness of its ridicule or 
 the force of its reasoning could never give it con- 
 sequence sufficient to merit a reply, were it not 
 shielded under very powerful protection ; for from 
 very good authority I inform the Public, That it 
 was published under the immediate patronage of 
 
 C, J w, Esq. Tliis Gentleman — the flower 
 
 of the Cabinet, and the epitome of the Treasury- 
 Bench — ever able, ever willing to lend a good hand 
 to a bad purpose ^ — this Gentleman (I say) kindly 
 gave his parental bosom to foster, nourish, and 
 warm this bantling into life. 
 
 A destructive measure cannot be too early 
 crushed — a task worthy of the Areopagitica of 
 Milton. This exalted Genius, when an ill-advised 
 Parliament, in times of political rage and civil dis- 
 sention, had imposed an illicit restraint upon the 
 
EDITION IN 1772. Ci 
 
 Press, drew forth his Eloquence and his Pen in the 
 cause of Freedom — and conquered. The im- 
 portance of this triumph was the best panegyric 
 on the powers which effected it; but when Liberty 
 is the prize, what will not Genius encounter and 
 surmount? 
 
 I will not promise myself such a signaK victory 
 in our days. Parliaments, which in former times 
 were but novices in the mystery of political in- 
 trigue, are now become familiar with the tricks of 
 State, and can laugh at Justice as unconcernedly 
 as the Lawyers in Westminster- Hall. Corruption 
 is a thriving weed ; and has often found the warm- 
 est hotbed in a Senator's heart. 
 
 However, the Areopacitica is an admired per- 
 formance, and has been always esteemed by learned 
 men a master-piece of argument as well as of com- 
 position. It is indeed connected with that close 
 argumentation which chains the attention always 
 to the subject, and is diversified with sbch agree- 
 able and happy observations on Men and Books as 
 Genius and Taste only could produce. The suc- 
 cess of this piece was admirable. The men who 
 were wounded by its doctrines became converts to 
 its truth. There is a remarkable instance of this. 
 
Cll PREFACE TO THE 
 
 Soon after the first publication of the Areopagitica, 
 one Mabbot, a Licenser of the Press, was so sen- 
 sibly struck by the force of its arguments, that he 
 applied to the Council of State to move the House 
 of Commons that he might be discharged from his 
 office. He gave the following reasons : 
 
 I. " Because many thousand of scandalous and 
 " malignant Pamphlets have been published with 
 " his name thereunto, as if he had licensed the 
 *' same (though he never saw them) on purpose (as 
 " he conceives) to prejudice him in his reputation 
 " among the honest party of this nation. 
 
 II. " Because that employment (as he con- 
 " ceives) is unjust and illegall, as to the ends of its 
 " first institution, viz. to stop the Presse for pub- 
 " lishing any thing that might discover the cor- 
 *« ruption of Church and State in the time of 
 " Poprry, Episcopacy, and Tyranny; the better 
 " to keep the People in ignorance, and carry on 
 " their popish, factious, and tyrannical designs, for 
 " the enslaving and destruction both of the Bodies 
 " and Souls of all the free People of this nation. 
 
 III. " Because Licensing is as great a mo- 
 " nopoly as ever was in this nation, in that all 
 " men's judgments, reasons, &c. are to be bound 
 
kta 
 
 EDITION IN 1772. cm 
 
 ** up in the Licenser's (as to Licensing) : for if the 
 " Author of any Sheete, Booke, or Treatise, writ 
 " not to please the fancy and come within the 
 *' compass of the Licenser's judgment, then he is 
 " not to receive any stamp of authority for pub- 
 *' lishing thereof." 
 
 A Committee of the Council of State being sa- 
 tisfied with these and other reasons of M. Mabbot, 
 concerning Licensing, the Council of State reports 
 to the House ; upon which the House ordered, 
 " That the said M. Mabbot should be discharged 
 " of licensing Books for the future*.** 
 
 But though the Areopagitica breathes through- 
 out that noble spirit of free Enquiry and civil 
 Liberty which is entirely worthy of the mighty 
 mind of Milton, I am aware that a change of 
 time, of politics, and even of manners, may make 
 some part of it not appear so applicable to this as 
 it was to the last century. We know that the 
 aspect of the times is always varying; and that re- 
 volving ages carry along with them fashions in 
 Literature as well as in dress : 
 
 Manners with fortunes, humours turn with climes. 
 Tenets with Books, and principles with times. 
 
 * Parliamentaiy Register, 164<9. 
 
CIV PREFACE TO THE 
 
 The quaint and formal Literature of Elizabeth! s days 
 has been known to be despised by the graver and 
 more uncouth scholastic Learning of the first 
 Charles's reign ; which again, in its turn, has been 
 treated with the utmost contempt by the airy and 
 classical wits of Charles the Second*s Court. But 
 though part of Milton's reasoning may appear 
 obsolete, and part unnecessary, still enough will 
 remain behind to convince the unprejudiced and 
 impartial Reader. However, as some new reasons 
 have been offered by the advocates of the Impri- 
 matur in favour of it, and lest even a cranny 
 should be left for a Minister to escape through, I 
 beg the Reader's attention for a few moments 
 longer, whilst I cursorily examine the reasons they 
 have urged in defence of so despotic a measure. 
 
 " First (say they), this unrestrained Liberty of 
 " the Press is dangerous to Religion." Indeed ! 
 my Lords of the Treasury ! — But this conscientious 
 obstacle comes with a double grace from the op- 
 posers of the Clerical Petition. Are ye at last be- 
 come the gracious guardians of those principles 
 which in your hearts ye despise ? or has the Spirit 
 at length beamed in light upon Souls where light 
 never shone before ? ■■ For shame! my Lords j 
 
EDITION IN 1772. CV 
 
 Avill ye never forsake inconsistence ? Daemons 
 have trembled, and Jews have been converted ; 
 but when the cause of Religion is echoed from the 
 Treasury-Bench, Perfidy is at hand, and we ought 
 
 to look about us. But, seriously, wherein is 
 
 the danger to Religion ? Freedom of Speech and 
 Freedom of Conscience have always gone hand in 
 hand; and while these tw© blessings remain free 
 and unrestrained. Religion will never withdraw 
 her beams, or diminish in her lustre. We have 
 heard indeed — our ancestors felt it, and one half 
 of Europe still feels it — We have heard, that in 
 countries where every new Book must be stamped 
 with an Imprhnatury the severest despotism and 
 the darkest ignorance unite to involve the wretched 
 inhabitants in slavery and error ; but it is a doc- 
 trine equally strange as new, that liberal sentiment 
 and free enquiry should check Devotion, or ex- 
 tinguish the flame of Religion and Virtue. This 
 argument is important and extensive enough to fill 
 many pages with a discussion of it ; but as Mil- 
 ton has treated of it with the true spirit of histo- 
 rical disquisition, I refer the Reader to his obser- 
 vations, which he will find in their proper place. 
 '* Secondly, it is dangerous to Government." — 
 
^Vl PRBFACE TQ THE 
 
 There is a nakedness in this assertion which detects 
 Itself. It is not dangerous to Government. On 
 the contrary, an unlicensed Press is the guardian 
 of Freedom and of the Constitution. I appeal to 
 the opinions of Legislators, to the page of History, 
 to the experience of ages. It will not avail them 
 to adduce the continual dissatisfaction of the 
 People with the servants of Government, as a 
 proof of the evil tendency of unlicensed Printing: 
 this, indeed, is the only security of the State. The 
 British Government, established with wonderful 
 judgment on the basis of two opposing systems, 
 the Republican and the Monarchical, must always 
 derive the security of its existence from an equal 
 exertion of these powers for the good of the whole. 
 There is an equality, a precision, a watchfulness, 
 which must be preserved between them, on which 
 the public safety entirely depends. They must be 
 always jealous of each other, or they are undone. 
 Hence it is, that they live in continual opposition ; 
 hence, that civil dissention is the faithful guardian 
 of civil Liberty ; hence, that the Constitution of 
 Britain, like the boisterous element that surrounds 
 the Isle, must live in tempest, or not live at all. 
 But the kingly branch of the State, having all the 
 
EDITION IN 1772. evil 
 
 executive power in their own hands, have the most 
 frequent, the most easy opportunities of encroaching 
 on the Republican ; which they in their turn must 
 check. Now, how is this to be done ? The former, 
 commodiously seated within the circumference of a 
 single room, whether in Council or in Cabinet, can 
 consult in a firm and undivided body how to extend 
 the interests of Tyranny, or to do the business of 
 Corruption : but the case is otherwise with the 
 People. — Dispersed over all the kingdom, as their 
 property or their interest leads them ; and separated 
 from consulting each other by unsurmountable ob- 
 stacles, when a blow is aimed at their Laws, or an 
 insult at their Liberties, what means of information 
 or redress have they ? None, but the Press. 
 This, and this only, is the bright star of the People. 
 This is the great national trumpet, which rouzes 
 the kingdom from end to end, from side to side. 
 This is the mighty thunderbolt of the People,* i 
 which hurls its fury on a Minister's head, or can 
 make a guilty throne tremble to the centre. —But 
 I am imprudent in my zeal. While I am writing 
 the panegyric of the Free Press, I am in fact re- 
 citing those advantages which make it obnoxious 
 to its enemies. 
 
 When the public interest is bet/'ayed by crafty 
 
CVUl PREFACE TO THE 
 
 or wicked men, the Press can and ought to sound 
 the alarm, and point out to the People their 
 danger : but this Liberty can never operate against 
 1 Government, so as to produce any violent efFects, 
 without very violent causes. A great and admired 
 Philosopher, whose opinion is always respectable 
 when he does not treat of Religion, speaks here to 
 the purpose. " This Liberty of the Press," says 
 he, " is attended with so few inconveniencies, that 
 " it may be claimed as the common Right of Man- 
 " kind, and ought to be indulged them in almost 
 " every Government. We need not dread from 
 " this Liberty any such ill consequences as fol- 
 " lowed from the harangues of the popular Dema- 
 " gogues of Athens and Tribunes of Rome. A 
 " man reads a Book or Pamphlet alone and coolly. 
 " There is none present from whom he can catch 
 " the passion by contagion. He is not hurried 
 *.' away by the force and energy of action; and 
 " should he be wrought up to ever so seditious 
 " a humour, there is no violent resolution pre- 
 " sented to him by which he can immediatly vent 
 " his passion. The Liberty of the Press, therefore, 
 'f however abused, can scarce ever excite popular 
 " tumults or rebellion. And as to those murmurs 
 " or secret discontents it may occasion, it is better 
 
EDITION IN 1772. Cix 
 
 " they should get vent in words, that they may 
 " come to the knowledge of the Magistrate before 
 " it be too late, in order to his providing a remedy 
 *' against them. Mankind, it is true, have always 
 " a greater propension to believe what is said to 
 " the disadvantage of their Governors, than the 
 ^' contrary : but this inclination is inseparable from 
 *' them, whether they have Liberty or not. A 
 ** whisper may fly as quick, and be as pernicious 
 " as a Pamphlet : nay it will be more pernicious, 
 " where men are not accustomed to think freely, 
 " or distinguish between Truth and Falshood*." 
 
 But, thirdly, the great hinge on which these 
 Reformers of the Press turn their favourite scheme 
 is, " the publication of Scandal." If by the sup- 
 pression of Scandal they mean the suppression of 
 Satire, whether pointed at private or public vices, 
 they are aiming at a point which they never will, 
 never can effect. If there are culprits in morality, 
 there will be correctors too : and while Wit can 
 brandish his pen, or Satire her lash, let Folly ex- 
 pect no quarter. 
 
 But here the point they aim at is impracticable. 
 Supposing^ that they lock up the babbling tongue 
 * Hume's Essays, Vol. I. p, 13, 8vo. edit. 
 
tX t>REFACt to THE 
 
 of the Press, can they lock up the tongues of in- 
 dividuals ? Satire, confined in the narrow chan* 
 nel of private ridicule, cuts through every thing in 
 its course ; and, like the pestilential air pent up in 
 close recesses, will rage with collected force, and 
 burst with a louder explosion. How ineffectual 
 the most rigorous Licensing, in the most despotic 
 States, is to stop the tongue of Scandal, let Pas^ 
 quin and Marforio witness at Rome ; and let the 
 lampoons of Versailles, and the epigrams of Paris, 
 bear testimony in France. How much less equal 
 then to this task would be the boasted reformation 
 in Britain, where Freedom of Speech is deemed 
 the brightest jewel in the Constitution ; and where 
 every man is accustomed to speak what he thinks, 
 and to think what he pleases! — Ridiculous policy 1 
 "When Folly plays her anticks in a grave masque, 
 the scene is doubly laughable. 
 
 I do not indeed deny, that Defamation is often, 
 very often, ill-directed, and then always becomes a 
 real grievance. I am no advocate for the satire 
 that wounds the virtuous, the helpless, or the in- 
 nocent. I know, too, with how much tenderness, 
 respect, and even veneration, characters of exalted 
 trust both in Church and State ought to be treated : 
 
:fiDitioN IN 1772. cxi 
 
 these are obligations which ought always to be 
 binding on Society : but an infringement of all 
 these obligations at once will not be sufficient to 
 justify a restraint on the Freedom of the Press. 
 These abuses have their ample remedies. If in- 
 dividuals are injured by the Press, the Courts of 
 Law are open to their complaints, and willing to 
 redress them. The Laws in force against Libel- 
 ling and Defamation are replete with all the rigour 
 which Justice or Severity could exact, and are 
 within every one's reach. Why then should the 
 Press be restricted to obviate abuses which the 
 Law is already amply authorized to remedy ? — , 
 I repeat it, I have a respect for private reputation, 
 and I hold public characters sacred : but if any 
 false reverences for Power and Authority should 
 exempt the conduct of those intrusted with them 
 from being canvassed by the Public, or scrutinized 
 by any member of the community, adieu to 
 that boasted Constitution which has existed, for 
 ages, the envy and admiration of the whole 
 world. 
 
 " Fourthly (say our Licensers), in Elizabeth's 
 *' time the Press was not so wanton of its power, 
 ** nor so liberal of its abuse, and yet the Govern- 
 
CXU I>REFACE TO THE 
 
 " ment was both happy and flourishing, nor did 
 " the People murmur : Why might it not be so 
 " now?" — For very obvious reasons, my Lords — 
 Cecil is not at the Treasury-board, Coke is not 
 in the Court of King's Bench, nor is Elizabeth 
 on the throne. In truth, this argument could 
 furnish a very extensive field for disputation j 
 and the discussion of it would be a keen 
 and continued satire on modern Ministers and 
 modern Legislation. In these days, my Lords, 
 in these happy days, the Queen of England was 
 at once the sovereign of her People, and the 
 guardian of their Laws. The public money was 
 expended solely in public uses, and the offices 
 of State were not set up to sale. Parliaments 
 were sincere, and Elections were held sacred: 
 There was but one instance of Bribery in the 
 whole reign, when a candidate gave Four Pounds 
 to be returned to Parliament*, for which he was 
 
 * This was taken from Sir Edward Coke. His words are re- 
 markable : " Thomas Long gave the Maior of Westbury four 
 *' pound to be elected Burgesse, who thereupon was elected. 
 " This matter was examined and aHjudged in the House of Com- 
 ** mons, secundum legem et consueiudinem Parliamenii, and the 
 *' Maior fined and imprisoned, and Long removed : for this cor- 
 *' rupt dealing was to poyson the very fountain itself." 4 InsU 23. 
 
EDITION IN 1772. Cxiii 
 
 fined, expelled, and doomed to eternal shame. 
 Honesty was the best recommendation to abilities, 
 and abilities to office j places of trust were not 
 held in reversion, and the public honour was not 
 converted into a public jest. Her subjects gave 
 her their hearts, and she freely gave her's in 
 return. Hence she soon made them happy at 
 home, and dreadful abroad. She never patched 
 up a Convention, and she always presided at 
 public treaties. In these blessed times, what 
 cause had the Press to complain ? If the Queen 
 ever played the tyrant, it always terminated in thd 
 good of her subjects. She treated them as at 
 Parent does her Children, and chastised them 
 only to make them more happy. Ye see then, 
 to have murmured against this reign would be 
 to have murmured against Happiness. To have 
 complained when there was no cause of com- 
 plaint, would have argued a weakness and a 
 wantonness for which Englishmen are not remark^ 
 able. — Let our Reformers now step home, and 
 compare the picture of the sixteenth century 
 with our own time : the contrast is rather striking, 
 and may soften even the unfeeling heart of a 
 Minister. 
 
CXIV PREFACE TO THE 
 
 These are the chief of their arguments — But 
 lest these should be found insufficient to carry 
 their favourite Imprimatur into a Law, they have 
 prudently provided a corps de reserve, which, if 
 necessary, may be played upon the enemy as an 
 after-game. It is the interest of tyrannic men to 
 be cunning too, and they are in the right : but it 
 shall not avail them in the present instance. 
 *' Nb man (say they) ought to write what he 
 "would be ashamed to own; therefore no man 
 "ought to write what he would be ashamed 
 "to subscribe. If ye will make us no other 
 " concessions, let every Author put his name 
 " to his Book, Pamphlet, or Paper, and we are 
 " satisfied." 
 
 There is an air of candour in this argument 
 which renders it deceitful, and the plausibility 
 with which it bespeaks the attention^ makes it 
 the more dangerous. Whether we view it re- 
 specting the effect it would necessarily have on 
 polite or on political Learning, it is despotic 
 and dangerous, and subversive of Truth and 
 Ingenuity, of Enquiry and Freedom. Will the 
 timid and youthful Genius, whose modesty is 
 yet unwou»ded> and whose fears are usually 
 
EDITION IN 1772* CXV 
 
 numerous in proportion as his abilities are 
 great, venture his name, his reputation, his 
 pride, in a fickle and unfriendly world, whose 
 mercy he has never felt, and whose good 
 nature he has never experienced ? Will he 
 lean his fond expectations on that faithless 
 prop, which has often proved deceitful to 
 Genius unsheltered and unpatronized ? Un- 
 doubtedly he will not. He will rather retreat 
 from that world which he dreads, and languish 
 away his life in obscurity and silence. It 
 is thus that NczotoUy the father of new Sys- 
 tems and Worlds, would have pined away in 
 obscurity, and left the world in darkness; and 
 had not one of his friends, more bold than 
 himself, given his discoveries to the world, he 
 would never have set his name to that divine 
 Philosophy, which has since done honour to 
 human nature, and crowned himself with im- 
 mortality. 
 
 But in politics, the mischief of such a man- 
 date would be unbounded. It would be at 
 once gagging the mouth of Truth and fair 
 investigation. Books, Pamphlets, Letters, Essays 
 
CXVl I>REFACE TO THE 
 
 — all must come forth curbed, bound, and* 
 fettered, and guarded with all the caution and 
 quaintness of a lease or a deed of settlement. 
 If an obnoxious truth is to be told to the 
 Public concerning a Minister, and the Authour 
 is obliged to subscribe it, will not this Minis- 
 ter, assuming all the surly port and pride of 
 power, point his thunder at the unprotected 
 Authour, let slip his dogs of war, and hunt 
 him down through all the quirks and laby- 
 rinths of court-law, and state intrigue ? What 
 is it, in fact, but showing the Minister where 
 to aim his fury, and giving him a lash where- 
 with to scourge the obnoxious and the inno- 
 cent? Will a man for his own sake; or, if 
 he has friends, family, and endearing connec- 
 tions in life, still more for their sake ; venture 
 to expose his interest, his property, and per- 
 haps his life, to the mercy of a powerful and 
 revengeful Minister, who probably has all the 
 treasure and laws of the nation in his own gripe ? 
 He will not, if he is prudent. Mercy indeed, 
 we are told, is sometimes seen at Court; but 
 she never extends her hand to any but culprits 
 
EDITION IN 1772. CXvii 
 
 of consummate guilt, the felons, the robbers, and 
 murderers, of Newgate. 
 
 But what more is necessary to be said ? 
 Milton will finish what I have begun. I en- 
 treat the Reader's candour for detaining him 
 so long from the arguments of so enlarged a 
 jnind ; and it is my excuse, while it is my 
 pride, that I only fight under the shield of so 
 great a name. 
 
 Let us hear no more, then, of these illiberal 
 innovations, which would disgrace the ignorance 
 and barbarous rage of the middle ages. If our 
 Ministers have not resolved to reduce us once 
 ^more to a level with the savages of the North, or 
 with the slaves of the South of Europe, let them 
 never attempt to establish Laws which would 
 shackle every generous power of the Soul, and give 
 the last blow to Learning and Freedom. Shall 
 Britons, nurtured in the soil of Liberty, bred 
 under her wings, our bosoms glowing with all the 
 brilliant principles of her unshackled nature, pre- 
 pared alike to deeds of Virtue or of Danger; shall 
 we stoop to truckle at a Licenser's levee, and be 
 tamely robbed of those immunities which elevate 
 us above the other nations of the world ? — Forbid 
 
CXVlll i^REFACE TO THE 
 
 it Freedom, Virtue, public Spirit ! and if such 
 an attempt is made, I warn the heedless abettors 
 of it to beware of the consequences. A similar 
 measure was proposed to Parliament in the reign 
 of king William^ but they wisely rejected it. 
 Should it be revived in the present reign, if our 
 Parliament bear any respect to free- speaking, 
 free-writing, to themselves — they will reject it 
 too. 
 
 " It is a very comfortable reflection to the 
 " lovers of Liberty, that this peculiar privilege 
 *^ of Britain is of a kind that cannot easily 
 " be wrested from us, but must last as long 
 " as our Government remains, in any degree, 
 " free and independent. It is seldom, that 
 " Liberty of any kind is lost all at once. 
 ** Slavery has so frightful an aspect to men 
 *' accustomed to Freedom, that it must steal 
 " upon them by degrees, and must disguise it- 
 " self in a thousand shapes, in order to be re- 
 " ceived. But, if the Liberty of the Press ever 
 ** be lost, it must be lost at once. The general 
 " Laws against Sedition and Libelling are at pre- 
 ** sent as strong as they possibly can be made. 
 " Nothing can impose a farther restraint, but 
 
EDITION IN 1772. CXIX 
 
 ** either the clapping an Imprimatur upon the 
 ** Press, or the giving to the Court very large 
 *' discretionary powers to punish whatever dis- 
 " pleases them. But these concessions would be 
 *' such a hare- faced violation of Liberty, that they 
 " will probably be the last efforts of a despotic 
 " Government. We may conclude, that the 
 ** Liberty of Britain is gone for ever when these 
 " attempts shall succeed*." 
 
 * Hunb's Etsays, Vol. I. p. H. 8vo. edit. 
 
LIST OF THE EDITIONS 
 
 OF 
 
 THE AREOPAGITICA, 
 
 KNOWN TO THE EDITOR, 
 
 totit^ fiSL\it teen yutlid^^^lr sepatatels 
 
 FROM 
 
 MILTON'S PROSE-WORKS. 
 
 Small duarto, Lo?id. 1644; original Edition. 
 
 Octavo, Lo?id. 1738; Thomson's Edition. 
 
 Octavo, Lojid. 1772; with a smart ironical De- 
 dication to C. JenkinsoUy Esqr. the late Earl of Li- 
 verpool. 
 
 Octavo, Lond. 179^. This was edited by 
 James Losh, Esqr. 
 
 A sort of an abridgement of the Areopagitica 
 was published in 1693, small 4to, under the title 
 of " Reasons humbly offered for the Liberty of 
 " Unlicensed Printing. To which is subjoined, the 
 
CXXii A LIST OP THE EDITIONS, &C. 
 
 "just and true Character of Edmund Bohun, the 
 " Licenser of the Press. In a Letter from a Gen- 
 " tleman in the Country, to a Member of Parlia- 
 " ment." No other notice is taken of Milton than 
 by subscribing the initials I. M. It was also re- 
 printed with the *• Tractat of Education," at the 
 end of Archdeacon Blackbiirne's Remarks on John- 
 son's Life of Milton; 12mo, 1780; at the ex- 
 pense of the late Mr. Brand Hollis s and again in 
 a Volume of Tracts, edited by Mr. Maseres, in 
 1809. 
 
 And the celebrated Miraheau published a Tract, 
 sur la LiberU de la Presse, imitd de V AngloiSy de 
 Milton. It is for the most part a translation from 
 the Areopagitica ; and I have reprinted it at the 
 end of the present Publication. It may be con- 
 ducive to the honour of our Country, by leading 
 Foreigners to a better acquaintance with all the 
 works of the finest character England has pro- 
 duced. I do not say it's noblest Poet : but the 
 truth is, that between him and Shakspeare, it is a 
 question rather of preference than of comparison. 
 
COMMENDATORY TESTIMONIES. 
 
 This Discourse [Areopagitica] was written at 
 the time when the Parliament was passing an 
 Ordonance, that no Book, Pamphlet, or Paper, 
 should be printed, unless the same was first ap- 
 proved and licens*d by such as should be thereto 
 appointed. Upon which Milton argues with his 
 usual strength and boldness; &c. — The Thoughts 
 of a Tory Author concerning the Press -y p, 8, Svo. 
 1712*. 
 
 ^ I have a strong persuasion, that this anonymous piece was 
 by Addison. The vein of easy irony which runs through it 
 strikes me as much in his manner ; though it carries palpable 
 marks of a hasty performance, to ansvrer a sudden call. Com- 
 pare likewise what is said, in p. 2, with one of the arguments 
 which he at the same time urged in the Spectator (No. 4!)1) 
 against the restrictions on the Press then recently moved in 
 Parliament: added to which A.Baldwin, the Publisher of the 
 Spectator, also published the Pamphlet in question. It was so 
 very unusual for the Spectator to venture a stricture on the po- 
 litical occurrences of the passing day, that having deviated 
 in this instance from his regular course is of itself a circum- 
 
CXXIV COMMENDATORY 
 
 Our divine Authour speaks like himself in his 
 Areopagitica. I shall with pleasure transcribe 
 two or three passages. Richardson ; Life of 
 Milton. 
 
 His [Milton's] Apology for the Liberty of the 
 Press is in all respects a Master-piece. Warbur- 
 TON s in a Letter to Birch s M.S. Brit. Mus. 
 
 In 1644, he [Milton] published his Areopa- 
 gitica, or Speech for the Liberty of unlicensed 
 Printing to the Parliament of England. It was 
 written at the desire of several learned Men, and 
 is, perhaps, the best vindication, that has been 
 published at any time or in any language, of that 
 Liberty which is the basis and support of all other 
 Liberties, the Liberty of the Press. Bishop New- 
 ton; in the Life prefixed to his Editions of Mil- 
 ton's Poetical Works. 
 
 This piece, as well as that upon Education, is 
 written with greater purity and less affectation of 
 style, than his first works in Prose, and it is the 
 
 stance sufficient to indicate that Addison was not slow to op- 
 pose every infringement on the Freedom of the Press. 
 
TESTIMONIES. CXXV 
 
 strongest vindication, that ever appeared in [any] 
 age or language, of the Liberty of the Press, which 
 is the basis of all other. Birch; in Ins revised 
 Life ^Milton, prejixed to the 2tiarto Edition of the 
 Prose- Works. 
 
 This matchless Speech composed of noblest 
 Learning, Wit, and Argument, was republished 
 in 1738, with an excellent Preface by Thomson j 
 Authour of Liberty, a Poem, and other Works. 
 Thomas Hollis ; M. S. Note to the Areopa- 
 
 GITICA. 
 
 All Governments have an aversion to Libels. 
 This Parliament, therefore, did by Ordinance 
 restore the Star-Chamber practice ; they recalled 
 the Licensers, and sent forth again the Messenger. 
 It was against the Ordinance, that Milton wrote 
 that famous Pamphlet called Areopagitica. Lord 
 Camden ; in giving Judgement in Entick v, Car^ 
 rington. 
 
 In November 1644, Milton published his fa- 
 mous Speech, for the Liberty of unlicensed Print- 
 ing, against this Ordinance: And among the 
 
CXXVl COMMENDATORY 
 
 glosses, which he says were used to colour this 
 Ordinance, and make it pass, he mentions " the 
 "just retaining of each Man his several Copy; 
 " which God forbid should be gain-said." Mr. JuS" 
 ike WiLLES 5 in delivering his Opinion in Millar v. 
 Taybr, 
 
 Milton addressed his noble Tract, intitled 
 Areopagitica, to an antimonarchical Parliament, 
 from which he expected the reformation of all the 
 errors and encroachments of the late kingly and 
 prelatical Government. He was above the little 
 dirty prejudices or pretences, that they might be 
 trusted with power, only because he approved of 
 the Men, or depended upon their favour to him- 
 self. He had his eye only on the Cause, and 
 when the Presbyterians deserted that, he deserted 
 them, not out of humour, as this rancorous Bio- 
 grapher [Samuel Johnson'] would insinuate ; but 
 because they fainted in the progress of that work 
 to the completion of which, their first avowed 
 principles would have led them. Would Dr. John- 
 son have chosen to have submitted his works to the 
 Licensers appointed by such a Parliament? or 
 would he venture to expostulate with the powers 
 
TESTIMONIES. CXXVU 
 
 in being on any point of literary privilege, wherein 
 he should think them essentially wrong, with that 
 generous and honest Freedom, that Milton ex- 
 hibits in this incomparable Tract ? No, he sneaks 
 away from the question, and leaves it as he found 
 it. Archdeacon Blackburne ; in his Remarks on 
 Johnson's Life ^Milton. 
 
 The Areopagitica some tedious historical 
 
 digressions, and some little sophistry excepted, is 
 the most close, conclusive, comprehensive, and 
 decisive vindication of the Liberty of the Press that 
 has yet appeared, on a subject on which it is dif- 
 ficult to decide, between the licentiousness of 
 Skepticism and Sedition, and the arbitrary exer- 
 tions of Authority. Laureate Warton ; in his 
 Edition q/* Milton's Poems on several Occasions, 
 
 Had the Authour of the Paradise Lost left us no 
 composition but his Areopagitica, he would be 
 still entitled to the affectionate veneration of every 
 Englishman, who exults in that intellectual light, 
 which is the noblest characteristic of his country, 
 and for which England is chiefly indebted to the 
 Liberty of the Press. Our constant advocate for 
 
CXXVIU COMMENDATORY 
 
 Freedom, in every department of life, vindicated 
 this most important Privilege with a mind fully 
 sensible of its value ; he poured all his heart into 
 this vindication, and, to speak of his work in his 
 own energetic language, we may justly call it, 
 what he has defined a good Book to be, " the 
 " precious life-blood of a master-spirit, embalmed 
 '* and treasured up on purpose to a life beyond 
 " life/' 
 
 His late Biographer, instead of praising Milton- 
 for a service so honourably rendered to Literature, 
 seems rather desirous of annihilating its merit, by 
 directing his sarcastic animosity against the Li- 
 berty of the Press. It seems not more reasoable, 
 says Johnsoiiy to leave the Right of Printing unre- 
 strained, because Writers may be afterward cen- 
 sured, than it would be to sleep with doors un- 
 bolted, because by our Laws we can hang a 
 thief. 
 
 This is servile sophistry ; the Authour*s illustra- 
 tion of a thief may be turned against himself. To 
 suffer no Book to be published without a License 
 is tyranny as absurd as it would be to suffer no 
 traveller to pass along the highway without pro?i 
 ducing a certificate that he is not a robber. Even 
 
TESTIMONIES. CXXIX 
 
 bad Books may have their use, as Milton observes. 
 Hayley ; in his Life of Milton. 
 
 Milton, in his most eloquent address to 
 the Parliament, puts the Liberty of the Press 
 on its true and most honourable foundation. 
 Lord Erskine ; in his Defence of Thomas Paine, 
 
 The Liberty of the Press was about this tim6 
 [1738] thought to be in danger; and Milton's 
 noble and nervous Discourse on this subject, 
 entitled Areopagitica, was reprinted in an 
 Octavo Pamphlet, with a Preface written by 
 Thomson, the Poet. Dr. Warton ; in his Edition 
 of Pope's Works, 
 
 Against the apostate Patriots, who betrayed their 
 Cause with the sanctity of prophaned Religion, 
 Milton advanced as the Champion of free Dis- 
 cussion ; and the effect of his zeal, in this instance, 
 for the interests of genuine Liberty, has received 
 the unanimous acclamation of the world. A strong 
 cause was never more powerfully defended, and 
 Truth in the Areopagitica is armed by Reason 
 and by Fancy, with weapons which are effective 
 
 k 
 
CXXX COMMENDATORY 
 
 with their weight and edge, while they dazzle us 
 with their brightness. 
 
 This masterly and eloquent composition is 
 opened with the most conciliatory address; and 
 its arguments, which are individually strong, derive 
 so much force from their mutual support, in a 
 close and advantageous array, as to be absolutely 
 irresistible, and imperiously to compel our con- 
 viction. Charles Symmons, D. D, ; in his Life of 
 Milton. 
 
 Among these the Reader will find the excellent 
 Tract of the celebrated John Milton, on the Li- 
 berty of the Press, entitled Areopagitica. Cur- 
 sitor Baron Maseres ; in the Preface to a Volume 
 of miscellaneous Essays and Tracts which he re- 
 edited. 
 
 Areopagitica: A Tract the most weighty in 
 matter, and the most flowing in style of all Mil- 
 ton's prose compositions. John Pearson, Esqr, ; 
 in his Review of Lord Selkirk's Objections to a Re- 
 form in the Representation of the People, 
 
 The subject had been discussed with singular 
 
TESTIMONIES. CXXXl 
 
 energy and eloquence by Milton, in his Areopa- 
 6ITICA, written against the Presbyterians, who had 
 contended for the Freedom of the Press, when it 
 was under the control of the episcopal Church; 
 but rising afterward into power, they turned apos- 
 tates to their own priciples, and abusing their as- 
 cendency in Parliament, procured an Order to be 
 published, June 13, 1643, for restraining the Press, 
 and placing " this formidable engine under the 
 *^ same control, of which they had lately indignantly 
 "complained*/* But, notwithstanding the ex- 
 cellence and authority of Milton's work, the sub- 
 sequent restraints on the Press, the great object of 
 the Revolution, namely, the security and extension 
 of Liberty, and the particular tenor of the Act of 
 Toleration, rendered the publication of the other 
 Tracts now reviewed seasonable and pointed. 
 And though Licensers and Imprimaturs have been, 
 since that period, confined to Oxford; yet re- 
 peated attempts made to restrain it, and frequent 
 prosecutions of Authours and Publishers, in sub- 
 sequent and recent times, evince the propriety 
 
 * J)r, Symtnom^s Life of Milton, p. 213, edit. 1806. 
 
 k2 
 
CXXXU COMMENDATORY 
 
 and even necessity of often recalling the public 
 attention to the equity, policy, and wisdom of 
 watching the insidious designs, or resisting the 
 more open attacks of Ministers of State against 
 the Liberty of the Press. It should be also con- 
 sidered, whether the arguments which apply 
 against preventing, do not hold good against 
 punishing, the publications of Opinions, that, 
 with or without reason, may be thought per- 
 nicious ? 
 
 Dr. Johnson^ speaking of MiLtON's Areopa- 
 GITICA, says, *' the danger of such unbounded 
 " Liberty (of unlicensed Printing), and the danger 
 " of bounding it, have produced a problem in the 
 " science of Government, which human under- 
 *' standi?ig seems unable to solve." Let us then 
 have recourse, replies a judicious Writer, to a 
 divine understanding for the solution of it : " Let 
 " both the tares and the wheat grow together till 
 " the harvest, lest while ye gather up the tares, 
 " ye root up also the wheat with them *." 
 Joshua TouLMiN, Z). Z). in an Historical View of 
 
 * Memoirs of Thomas Hollis, £sqr. vol. II. p, 551, 
 
TESTIMONIES. CXXXIU 
 
 the State of the Protestant Dissenters in England^ 
 from the Revolution to the Accession of Queen 
 Anne. 
 
 In the latter of these years, he also issued from 
 the Press his Areopagitica, or Speech for the 
 Liberty of unlicensed Printing, the most splendid 
 of his Prose- Works in English. William Godwin j 
 Lives of Edward and John Philipps, 
 
GLOSSARIAL INDEX. 
 
 A. 
 
 Allowance 82 
 
 Anough 190 
 
 Antiphonies 41 
 
 Afpointed 60, 186 
 
 Atlantic 85 
 
 Authentic 192 
 
 AUTORITY 75, 126 
 
 B. 
 
 Ballatry 83 
 
 Barbarick » 9 
 
 Bid 87 
 
 C. 
 
 Cabin 7 
 
 Canoniz'd 1S7 
 
 Cautelous 7.) 
 
 Chetiv 67 
 
 7b Chop 122 
 
 Cities .11, 75 
 
 ClYlLL,, 8, 150 
 
 Coil 163 
 
 Combust 145 
 
 CONDISCfiND 93 
 
 Conduct » 170 
 
 Consented 98 
 
 Cote 170 
 
 Covenants 121 
 
 D. 
 
 Danegelt 170 
 
 Demean'd 152 
 
 DlVIOUALL 129 
 
 Ditulg'd 112 
 
 Doctor 102 
 
 DORICK ^.... 81 
 
 Ducking 40 
 
 E. 
 
 Economicall 147 
 
 Elenchs 196 
 
 Enchiridion 115 
 
 Envy 159 
 
 Exactest 169 
 
 Excrementall 65 
 
 Extirpat , 183 
 
 F. 
 Faction..,. ......M....... 30 
 
CXXXVl 
 
 GLOSSARIAL INDEX. 
 
 Feature.... 144 
 
 FiNENES 124 
 
 Fool 159 
 
 Formality 182 
 
 G. 
 
 Gentiles 32 
 
 Gentle 8 
 
 Ghittarrs 82 
 
 Glasse {mortal) 142 
 
 Glosing 195 
 
 Grammercy 87 
 
 H. 
 
 He 88 
 
 Hears ill 84 
 
 Heretick 127 
 
 Homily 15 
 
 Humanity , 9 
 
 I. 
 
 Ideas 155 
 
 Impal'd 138 
 
 Imposition 95 
 
 Individual 129 
 
 K. 
 Keri«..., 67 
 
 L. 
 
 Laick 114 
 
 ]uIMBO,, , 46 
 
 M. 
 
 Maners 184 
 
 Melancholy ,.,„ 102 
 
 Minorites 47 
 
 Motions 88 
 
 Municipal 84 
 
 Mystery 141 
 
 Mysticall ., 120 
 
 N. 
 
 Neither 113 
 
 Noise 166 
 
 Notions... 155 
 
 O. 
 Officials 92 
 
 P. 
 
 Parlament 188 
 
 Passion 3 
 
 Patriarchal 103 
 
 Patron 172 
 
 Pertest 162 
 
 PlATZA 40 
 
 Plates 154 
 
 Prevented 75 
 
 Professors 128 
 
 Protestations 121 
 
 Prudence 194 
 
 Publicans 131 
 
 PuNiE 100 
 
GLOSSARIAL INDEX, 
 
 CXXXVU 
 
 R. 
 
 Rebbeck... 83 
 
 Rectors 84- 
 
 Responsories 41 
 
 Ribald 69 
 
 EOMANZE 56 
 
 Roundels 26 
 
 S. 
 
 To See to 185 
 
 Seeking 144 
 
 Shape 143 
 
 SiNIORIES 11 
 
 Sol fa 135 
 
 States 1 
 
 Statutes Ill 
 
 Stedfast 110 
 
 Syntagma }iS 
 
 T. 
 
 Terrible 34 
 
 That 69 
 
 Them 108 
 
 Tickets Ill 
 
 Topic 135 
 
 Tradition 156 
 
 Trophey , 4 
 
 U, V. 
 Unscaling «. 166 
 
 Visitors , 83 
 
 Vote 172 
 
 W. 
 Whenas 10^ 
 
ARGUMENT 
 
 OP 
 
 MILTON^S AREOPAGITICA, 
 
 Exordium. — The Ordinance of Parliament against 
 printing unlicensed Books. The plan and order 
 otthis Discourse. The great influence of Books 
 on all public affairs. The ill consequences of 
 suppressing good ones^ Ar-view of the methods 
 taken by ancient Common- Wealths, to restraiu 
 the publication of pernicious Books: in Athens j 
 in Lacedaemon 5 in Rome. How far, and in what 
 manner, the publication of dangerous Books was 
 restrained, under the Roman Emperors, after they 
 were become Christians. The Popes began to 
 prohibit the reading of Books that they disliked, 
 abe«t 4he year 800. At last, about the time of 
 the Council of Trent, they ordained that no new 
 Book should be printed till it had been approved 
 
cxl 
 
 ARGUMENT OF 
 
 by a Licenser. The Bishops, in imitation of the 
 Popes, introduced this custom of Licensing into 
 England. Of the effect of reading all sorts of 
 ^ Books, and whether it does most good or harm. 
 The Liberty of choosing what Books to read, as 
 well as that of choosing what meats to feed on, 
 ought to be left to every Man's own discretion. 
 An examination of what Plato says upon this sub- 
 ject in his Book de Repiiblicd, The Ordinance 
 agginst printing Books without a License is not 
 sufficient to prevent the printing of seditious Books, 
 [thougTTthat was the principal reason for making it. 
 To make it effectual, it must be formed completely 
 upon the model of the Licensing Ordinances of the 
 Inquisition. These restraints upon the Liberty of 
 the Press will neither prevent the growth of Sects 
 and Schisms, nor contribute to the amendment of the 
 manners of the People. It is almost impossible to 
 find persons properly qualified to be Licensers, 
 ithat will undertake the Office. The Ordinance 
 'against printing Books without a License is a great 
 discouragement to Learning and learned Men. This 
 restraint is an indignity offered to the whole People 
 oT^ngland, by supposing them to be so ignorant, 
 weak, and unsteady, as to be in danger of being 
 
Milton's areopagitica. cxli 
 
 led astray, by every new Book that is published. 
 Klsnalso^'dTSgrace to the M4oia^s--by.^^ 
 them not to have so instructed their flocks as to 
 make them proof against the influence of bad 
 Books. The learned Men of Italy lamented the 
 restraints upon the Liberty of the Press which 
 they laboured under, and considered it as the cause 
 of the low state of Learning among them. That 
 the like complaint is now generally made by the 
 learned Men of England. This restraint upon 
 Printing is a species of Tyranny similar to that 
 which the People suffered under the late Bishops. 
 It is owing to the pride and persecuting spirit of 
 some of the Presbyterian Clergy. The^preyenting 
 the Publication of new Opinions is a hindrance^o 
 the knowlege of the Truth, and of the grounds 
 on which it is built. A description of a luxurious 
 rich Man indolently resigning himself in matters of 
 Religion to the direction of a Clergyman. A ge- 
 neral outward conformity, arising from Ignorance 
 and lndo[ence^^jiji}d.jaJ^^ 
 in matters of Reljgion^willJ:),^ th^ 
 this restraint upon the Liberty of the P^^^^ 
 the Laity. And the Clergy will grow ignorant of 
 the true grounds" oTR'eKgKTnTw ought never to 
 
Cxlii ARGUMENT OF 
 
 desist from our inquiries after Truth, from a vain 
 opinion that we have completely attained to it- 
 The English Nation was always remarkable for-- 
 their love of Knowlege, and their diligence in the 
 pursuit of Truth. A description of the zeal and 
 eagerness with which the vast number of people 
 then in London were studying and examining the 
 Doctrines of Religion. Diversity of opinions will 
 arise hence, but ought not to be esteemed an evill 
 The great tranquillity of the People in London, 
 though in a time of war and danger, and their 
 earnest application to the business of Reform^ation7 
 are proofs of their confidence in their Leaders, the 
 two Houses of Parliament, and a strong presage of 
 a final victory. A fine and just compliment to the 
 Parliament. The late worthy Lord Brook was of 
 opinion that different Sects of Religion ought to be 
 "tolerated. ' It is more particularly fit at this time, 
 while the Beformatioa of Religion is yet in agita- 
 tion and incomplete, to permit Men to publish 
 their Thoughts without restraint. Many Things 
 are in their nature indifferent, and a difference in 
 opinion concerning them ought to be permitted. 
 
 (Truth is to be discovered, but by slow degrees, by 
 the free communication of the Thoughts of learned 
 -^ nj;>«w ai»MW^BaNaiB«««*»'«***"M«W«»«**>WW»WWrPWii|| |iM > UII W will I WHH > M i i ■ ■.[ ■r n ■■ i i i—i p iii i r>- 
 
MILTON^S AREOPAGITICA. Cxliu 
 
 and industrious Men to the Public. Several of 
 (the Presbyterian Ministers themselves, did eminent 
 service to the Public, at the beginning of this 
 Parliament, by publishing bold, but useful Books, 
 without Licenses, in contempt of the Laws con- 
 cerning Licensing then in being. The Order of 
 Parliament, next before the present one, was the 
 properest Regulation that could be made concern- 
 ing the Liberty of the Press. 
 
 M A S E R E S. 
 
AREOPAGITICA* 
 
* This distinctive epithet he adopted from Isocrates, who in- 
 scribed APEIOIIAriTIKOi: Aoyos on one of his Orations. The 
 concluding member of the passage relative to the present work 
 which I have, in the Prefatory Remarks, quoted from Milton's 
 second De/enre — *' ad just£B Orationis moduin Areopagiticam 
 " scripsi" — appears to be decisive of the sense he affixed to 
 Areopagiticaj that he applied it to the level and unvarnished 
 diction which the Pleaders before that high Council were re- 
 stricted to by a standing rule. At the same time it ought not 
 to be dissembled, that this construction differs widely from the 
 interpretation of the latest Editor of Isocrates. M.-/4m^«* de- 
 termines roundly, that it was so called — *' ob nihil aliud quam 
 «' quod ibi multa mentio fit Areopagitici Senatus." Op, Om, 
 II. 88. Parisiis; 1782. 
 
 The Abbe's intimate acquaintance with this branch of classical 
 Knowlege is, I believe, admitted by Scholars without hesitation. 
 Still, I greatly question whether we have in this the correct ac- 
 ceptation, and suspect that it is but little worthy of attention. 
 In the first place, it is easy for the Reader to ascertain for him- 
 self, that we meet with no such frequent mention of Areopagus 
 in the Greek text as will authorize Auger's assertion, that it 
 thence acquired the title. The name occurs, I think, but twice 
 throughout the Oration. Next, it is contradictory to the explana- 
 tions that gained the sanction of H.Stephens in his third Diatribe 
 on this Writer, which are all far more plausible : " Areopa- 
 ** GiTicA oratio aliud nomen (quod sciam) non habet : sed tan- 
 ** turn apsiOTfayiliTios-^^oyos 2L Grxcis itidem vocatur. Interpres 
 " senatoriam sive censoriara, aut de corrigenda et ordinanda re- 
 " publica, dici posse existimat. Scopus enim ejus, et summa 
 
 12 
 
cxlviii 
 
 " est, ofi ^at tr^v 6x>^0Hparlocv xal dmpxio^v dnXovfOLs f/.tta," 
 " Xoifji^toiysiv SyjiJiOHparlav, Existimatur autem vocata fuisse 
 " Areopagitica haec Oratio, quod ab Isocrate in ipso Areopago 
 " habita fuerit : sed fieri etiam potest (meo quidem judicio) ut 
 " a dignitate et prcBstantia nomen hac consequuta sit : tanquam 
 " digna qucB vel in medio Areopago haberetur. Sic de Oratione 
 " quae Archidamus inscribitur, creditum est a quibusdam, sic 
 *' esse dictara quod Archidamo conveniens esset, ac digna quae 
 " ab eo apud Lacedaemonios haberetur," Fol. 1393. 
 
 The precise purport of Isocrates' designation seems to be in- 
 volved in a perplexity which it will not be required of an 
 Editor of the English Areopagitica to disentangle : his option 
 is not hard to make. The last exposition of H. Stephens comes 
 the nearest to that which Milton recognizes; who by the 
 Areopagitic mode must have intended to characterize the 
 chastened and argumentative declamation he chose upon this 
 occasion^ because the most decorous modification of style in 
 which to address the " States and Governours of the Common- 
 " wealth;*' especially when he was contending against an 
 Order which they had recently promulgated, and which he was 
 urging them to rescind. 
 
 That skilful Critic believed the Rhetor to have devised this 
 superscription to apprize the Athenian Public, that his exerci- 
 tation merited for its tenour and its importance to have been 
 delivered before their supreme Tribunal. This seems pre- 
 ferable to the interpretation of Wolfius, which is, that it was 
 thus denominated because read to them ; since it contains no 
 internal proof, and there has not been transmitted down to us 
 any extrinsic evidence that this Oration was actually recited in 
 th^ Senate House. For all that we can infer from the suc- 
 ceeding words of Plutarch, or whoever it was that wrote the Life 
 of Isocratcs, is, that these political prolusions were repealed, 
 some by himself and some by others, in the Atarpi^r^, or gra- 
 
cxlix 
 
 tuitous School for Students in Philosophy and Rhetoric, which 
 he had opened at Athens. Aiarpity^v Ss trvryjo'aiJiEvos, sin ro 
 ^i\o<ro(p£iv Koci ypx(pBiv a Jjavoijfleiij, srpatfefo' km y§a(pwv rov 
 rs ircivrjyvpiKOy Xoyov, xai rivets aXXas Twv cv^towKevriKUDv, fovg 
 l^sv oLDtos ayeyivou<nisv, tov$ ds srepoi^ itoLpsa-Ksvoc^ev ^jyoy/x-svo;, 
 ovtus eifi to tcL Siovrx 0poyny fovg EXATjvaj irporpE^aa-Qai, It 
 is, moreover, a construction less forced, than the learned Abbe's 
 novel and arbitrary assumption. 
 
 The lively sympathies which agitated the aggregate As- 
 semblies of the Athenians, and at times rose to turbulence and 
 tumult, were remarkably opposite to the austerity thrown over 
 the proceedings of this Tribunal, as well as to the imposing 
 ceremonials it observed. Of this, the singular and in all pro- 
 bability salutary regulation, which I have had occasion to men- 
 tion in another place, is an example ; that in the pleadings foe- 
 fore this venerable judicature, all the amplifications of Eloquence 
 and even the embellishments of figurative Language were re- 
 pressed, because of the liability of rhetorical aggravation by in- 
 fluencing the Imagination to operate disadvantageously to the 
 dispensation of Justice. From the sedate deportment which the 
 Areopagites affected in every circumstance and situation of 
 life, the more effectually to inspire reverential submission to 
 their decrees and adjudications, Ap£0'n'ocyn'Yi$ grew to be pro- 
 verbially taken for any Person noted for a grave demeanour, 
 whether he were a member of this Body, or nothing more than 
 a private Citizen. It would slide by an easy association into 
 this sense ; the transition of meaning to any oratorical com- 
 position which was written conformably to the rule imposed on 
 all who spoke before the Areopagitm was to the full as obvious 
 and as pertinent. 
 
AUEOPAGITICA: 
 
 A 
 
 SPEECH 
 
 OF 
 
 MR. JOHN MILTON 
 
 FOR 
 
 THE LIBERTY OF VNLICENCD PRINTING, 
 
 TO 
 
 THE PARLAMENT OF ENGLAND. 
 
 Xprir^v TI $ii\iv/x il: fiirov ^ipitv, iym, 
 
 S/yaT, t/ thtwv Iriv Iffahipov WX«<j 
 
 EURIPID. HiCETID. 
 
 This is true Liberty when free bom men 
 Having to advise the'public may speak free, 
 Which he who can, and will, deserv's high praise, 
 Who neither can nor will, may hold his peace ; 
 What can be juster in a State then this ? 
 
 EURIPID. HiCETID. 
 
 LONDON, 
 PRINTED IN THE YEARE, l644. 
 
FOR 
 
 THE LIBERTY 
 
 OP 
 
 UNLICENC'D PRINTING. 
 
 THEY who lo States and Governours of the Com- 
 monwealth^ direct their Speech, High Court of 
 Parlament ! or wanting such accesse in a private 
 condition, write that which they foresee may ad- 
 vance the publick good -, I suppose them as at the 
 beginning of no meane endeavour, not a little 
 
 * Thei/ who to States and Governours of the Commonwealth — ] 
 Again, in his Translation of Psalm Ixxxii. 
 
 " God in the great assembly stands 
 " Of Kings and lordly States.*' 
 
 One sense of this word then was, a Personage of rank and 
 power, a Ruler: " I can do nothing without all the States of 
 ''Arcadia; what they will determine I know not." — Sidney's 
 Arcadia; p. 426, fol. 1655. And Ben Jonson, satirically: 
 " There's a letter sent me from one o' th' States, and to that 
 " purpose; he cannot write bis Name, but that's his Mark." — 
 Volpone; A, \y,S, 1. 
 
 B 
 
2 MILTON S 
 
 alter'd and movM inwardly in their mindes*: some 
 with doubt of what will be the successe, others 
 with feare of what will be the censure ; some with 
 hope, others with confidence of what they have 
 to speake. And me perhaps each of these dispo- 
 sitions, as the subject was whereon I enter'd, may 
 have at other times variously affected ; and likely 
 might in these formost expressions now also disclose 
 which of them sway'd most, but that the very at- 
 tempt of this addresse thus made, and the thought 
 of whom it hath recourse to, hath got the power 
 
 ^ Not a little alter*d and mov'd inwardly in their mindes :] 
 He means that such men write under the impulse of a high 
 mental excitement. What he intended more expressly appears 
 where Adam contrasts his evenness of mind previously to the 
 creation of Eve, with his rapturous emotions on beholding her 
 transcendant beauty. 
 
 " Thus have I told thee all my state, and brought 
 
 " My story to the sum of earthly bliss, 
 
 '* Which I enjoy; and must confess to find 
 
 ** In all things else delight indeed, but such 
 
 " As, us'd or not, works in the mind no change, 
 
 '* Nor yehement desire; these delicacies 
 
 *' I mean of taste, sight, smell, herbs, fruits, and flowers, 
 
 " Walks, and the melody of birds: but here 
 
 ** Far otherwise, transported I behold, 
 
 *' Transported touch ; here passion first I felt, 
 
 " Commotion strange ! in all enjoyments else 
 
 " Superiour and tmmov'd; here only weak 
 
 " Against the charm of Beauty's powerful glance." 
 
 Par. Lost, VIII, 521. 
 
 What Poet has surpassed Milton in descriptions of female 
 Beauty, and its power ? I know of none. 
 
AREOPAGITICA. 3 
 
 within me to a passion, farre more welcome then 
 incidentall to a Prefaced Which though I stay 
 
 ^ The thought of whom it hath recourse to, hath got the power 
 within me to a passion, farre more welcome then incidentall to a 
 Preface."] He repeated this thought in the opening to the 
 Defensio Secunda : " quoties animum refero, fateor me mihi 
 " vix temperare, quin altiiis atque audentius qudm pro exordii 
 " ratione insurgam." 
 
 It is observable, that on every occasion Milton bent the 
 utmost force of his mind to the object before him. Writing 
 familiarly to his early friend Diodati, he describes very forcibly 
 the impetuosity with which his ardour in composition urged 
 him forward to the completion of any work he took in hand. 
 " Meum sic est ingenium, nulla ut mora, nulla quies, nulla 
 " ferme illius rei cura, aut cogitatio distineat, quoad pervadam 
 " quo feror, et grandem aliquam studiorum meorum quasi pe- 
 " riodum conficiam."— Pr. W. 11,567, ed, 1738. 
 
 Yet while his thoughts were full of life and his fancy warm, 
 on some points enthusiastic, his spirit was indefatigable ; nei- 
 ther did his rectitude of judgment often desert him. 
 
 The use of the word passion to denote any mental perturba- 
 tion had not yet become antiquated. At the commencement 
 of Milton's Tract, Of Reformation, &c. he says, " I do not 
 " know of any thing more worthy to take up the who\e passion 
 *' of Pity on the one side, and Joy on the other,'* &c. — ubi 
 sup. I. 1. 
 
 Marlow's beautiful Ballad is entitled '* The passionate Shep- 
 " herd to his Love;'' in the same sense Shakspeare has, 
 
 *' 'Twas Ariadne, passioning 
 " For Theseus* perjury, and unjust flight." 
 
 III. 21 I.Johns. ^ Steev. ed. 1793. 
 
 A judicious Critic, commenting on "High actions and high 
 "passions best describing," (a verse in Par. Reg.) conceives that 
 ** High actions refer to Fate and Chance, the arguments and 
 '* incidents of Tragedy ; high passions to the peripetia, or change 
 " of Fortune, which included the ta^os, or affecting part.'' See 
 
 B 2 
 
4 Milton's 
 
 not to confesse ere any aske, I shall be blamelesse, 
 if it be no other, then the joy and gratulatio» 
 which it brings to all who wish and promote their 
 Countries Liberty ; whereof this whole Discourse 
 proposed will be a certaine testimony, if not a 
 trophey*. For this is not the Liberty which wee 
 
 Mr. Dunster's Nate in his Edit, of Par. Reg, p. 223^ 4<o. 179'5. 
 Is not this an overstrained interpretation ? Need we dive so 
 deep for the meaning ? I apprehend it floats on the surface, anJ 
 that our text concurs with the authorities I have produced to 
 prove, that by " high passions'* the Poet intended generally the 
 impassioned emotions of the mind. Neither should we, I think, 
 ascribe to " high actions" any larger extent of signification than 
 heroic deeds^ 
 
 * This whole Discourse proposed will he a certuine testimony; if 
 not a trophey.] Did our Authour by Trophey anticipate a 
 triumph of his work over the Parliament's Order? Or, are we 
 to seek for a covert sense ? Thus to use words is no very unfre- 
 quent practice with him. If so; he intended only to say, that 
 this Speech would prove a memorial. The latter construc- 
 tion coincides with the following passage in his Tract, Of 
 Reformation, &c. " This is the Trophey of their Antiquity, and 
 •* boasted Succession through so many ages." {p. 76. 4^o. 164- 1.) 
 And probably also with the epilogistic verses to his Book of 
 Elegies, when declaring that he had weaned himself from ama- 
 tory sing-song, and the lighter parts of poetry, with which in 
 maturer life he thought that he bad squandered the vacant hours. 
 of his earlier days : 
 
 " Haec ego, mente olim laeva, studioque supine, 
 '* Nequitiae posui vana TrophcBa meae." 
 
 His meaning, then, is that this Oration would be — **an unde- 
 ** niable testimony to the Liberty enjoyed under the Parliament, 
 " though he would not assume so far as to call it a work durable 
 
AREOPAGITICA. 5 
 
 can hope, that no grievance ever should arise in the 
 Commonwealth, that let no man in this world ex- 
 pect; but when complaints are freely heard, deeply 
 considered, and speedily reformed, then is the ut- 
 most bound of civill Liberty attained, that wise men 
 looke for. To which if I now manifest by the very 
 sound of this which I shall utter, that wee are 
 already in good part arrived, and yet from such a 
 steepe disadvantage of tyranny and superstition 
 grounded into our principles as was beyond the 
 manhood of a Roman recovery, it will bee attri- 
 buted first, as is most due, to the strong assistance of 
 God our deliverer, next, to your faithful! guidance 
 and undaunted wisdome. Lords and Commons of 
 England! Neither is it in G0D*S esteeme the dimi- 
 nution of his glory, when honourable things are 
 spoken of good men and worthy Magistrates; 
 which if I now first should begin to doe, after so 
 fair a progresse of your laudable deeds, and such a 
 long obligement upon the whole Realme to your 
 indefatigable vertues, I might be justly reckn'd 
 among the tardiest, and the unwillingest of them 
 that praise yee. Neverthelesse there being three 
 principall things, without which all praising is but 
 
 *' enough for a monument by which it should be perpetuated to 
 f' after-times." 
 
 There is the same thought in his Defensio Secunda pro Populo 
 '* Anglicano: " Ego quae eximia, quae excelsa, quae omni laude 
 " prope majora fuere, iis testimonium, prope dixerim monumen- 
 " turn, perhibui, baud cito interiturum/' pj\ W, II. 349, edit. 
 " 1738. 
 
O MILTON S 
 
 courtship and flattery, First, when that only is 
 praised which is solidly worth praise: next, when 
 greatest likehhoods are brought that such things 
 are truly and really in those persons to whom they 
 are ascrib*d ; the other, when he who praises, by 
 shewing that such his actuall perswasion is of whom 
 he writes, can demonstrate that he flatters not; the 
 former two of these I have heretofore endeavoured, 
 rescuing the employment from him^ who went 
 about to impaire your merits with a trivial! and 
 malignant Encomium; the latter as belonging 
 chiefly to mine owne acquittall, that whom I so 
 extoH'd I did not flatter, hath been reserv'd oppor- 
 tunely to this occasion. For he who freely mag- 
 nifies what hath been nobly done, and fears not to 
 declare as freely what might be done better, gives 
 ye the best Covenant of his fidelity ; and that his 
 loyalest affection and his hope waits on your pro- 
 
 * Rescuing the employment from him, &c.] i. e. from Hall, 
 Bishop of Norwich. In the controversy with the Non-conform- 
 ing Divines, who under the anagrammatic signature of Smec- 
 iymnuus wrote conjointly against our hierarchical establishment, 
 the Bishop had spoken of the proceedings of the Parliament 
 with cold and faint approbation, such as left scarcely room 
 for a doubt of his secret and sinister bent. This faultering and 
 penurious praise accorded so little with Milton's earnest per- 
 suasion of their merits as to call forth, on his part, a glowing 
 panegyric. See Pr. W. I. 121. ed. 1738. 
 
 To this recorded testimony of his fidelity to the Parliamentary 
 cause, he is appealing with a just confidence, as vindicating him 
 from all suspicion that he was a Malignant, because now contro- 
 verting the propriety of one of their " Orders/' 
 
AREOPAGITICA. J 
 
 ceedings. His highest praising is not flattery, and 
 his plainest advice is a kinde of praising : for though 
 I should affirme and hold by argument, that it 
 would fare better with Truth, with Learning, and the 
 Commonwealth, if one of your publisht Orders 
 which I should name, were call'd in ; yet at the 
 same time it could not but much redound to the 
 lustre of your milde and equall Government, when 
 as private persons are hereby animated to thinke ye 
 better pleas'd with publick advice, then other 
 Statists have been delighted heretofore with publicke 
 flattery. And men will then see what difference 
 there is between the magnanimity of a trienniall 
 Parlament^ and that jealous hautinesse of Prelates 
 and cabin Counsellours"^ that usurpt of late, when as 
 
 * See Illustration A. 
 
 '' Cabin counselloars — ] That is, chamber-councellors, or 
 councellors who are assembled by the King in a private cham- 
 ber as it were in the cahin of a ship, to give him advice in 
 matters of state. Maseres. 
 
 This was said unadvisedly. The context — " Prelates and 
 " cabin Counsellours i\\2Xusurpt of late*' — determines that Mil- 
 ton pointed sarcastically at Laud and at Strafford and the 
 other Individuals associated with them, who composed the 
 Committee of Council, to whose care Charles, previously to the 
 meeting of the Long Parliament, committed the principal ma- 
 nagement of public affairs, or to speak in the language of to-dhy, 
 they were the King's Cabinet Ministers ; of whom Clarendon 
 says, " these persons made up the Committee of State, which 
 ** was reproachfully after called the Junto, and enviously then 
 " in the Court, the Cabinet Council. — Hist, of the Rebellion, I. 
 233, 2>vo. 
 
 Milton appears to have shunned French terms j therefore it 
 
8 MILTON S 
 
 they shall observe yee in the midd'st of your victories 
 and successes more gently brooking written excep- 
 tions against a voted Order, then other Courts, which 
 had produc't nothing worth memory but the weake 
 ostentation of wealth", would have endur'd the 
 least signifi'd dislike at any sudden Proclamation. 
 If I should thus farre presume upon the meek de- 
 meanour of your civill and gentle greatnesse. Lords 
 and Commons^! as what your pubhsht Order hath 
 
 was that he wrote cabin for cabinet here, as in EtKOvoxXaV'rtj;': 
 •' They would not stay perhaps the Spanish demurring, and 
 " putting off such wholesome acts and counsels, as the Po- 
 " litic Cabinet Whitehall had no mind io" p, 30, 8uo. 1690. 
 
 • Other Courts which had produc't nothing worth memory but 
 the weake ostentation of wealth,~\ This I take to be an allusion 
 to the imposing pomp which the Court of Star-Chamber dis- 
 played on particular days. In *' A Discourse concerning the 
 ** High Court of Star-Chamber," printed in Rushworth, it is 
 observed that, " It was a glorious sight upon a Star-day, when 
 «' the Knights of the Garter appear with the Stars on their Gar- 
 " ments, and the Judges in their Scarlet.*' — Hist. Collect. II. 473. 
 
 ^ The meek demeanour of your civill and gentle greatnesse. 
 Lords and Conmions /] Civil retains here its Latin idiom : " cum 
 " sic hominis natura generata sit, ut habeat quiddam innatum 
 " quasi civile atque populare, quod Graeci iroXiriycov vocant." 
 
 Cicero; de Fin. Bon. if Mai: lib. 5, sect, 23. 
 
 And gentle then meant well-bom, or of no vulgar rank : 
 
 " Be he ne*er so vile 
 '^ This day shall gentle his condition.** 
 
 Shakspeare; Hen, V. A. 4. S. 3. 
 
 Again ; " There is every dayes experience of Gentlemen 
 
AREOPAGITICA. Q 
 
 directly said, that to gainsay, I might defend my 
 selfe with ease, if any should accuse me of being 
 new or insolent, did they but know how much 
 better I find ye esteem it to imitate the old and 
 elegant humanity of Greece, then the barbarick 
 pride ^ oi 2LHunnish and Nonoegian statelines. And 
 
 " born, that are sordid and mean in nature, and of Plebeianf 
 " by birth that are (renteerd in disposition/' — A Commentary on 
 Fortcscue De Laudibm Legum Anglia; bt/ E. Waterhous, Esq, 
 p. 529. fol. 1663. 
 
 * The old and elegant humanity of Greece, then the barbarick 
 pride, ^c] By humanity we are to understand courtesy, polite^ 
 ness, a Latin sense; the same as in the acknowlegments he ad- 
 dressed in Cromwell's name to the Count of Oldenburgh for a set 
 of German Horses which that Prince had presented to the Pro- 
 tector: — "cum quod essent ipsge singulari erga me humanitate 
 ac benevolentia refertae." — Pr. W. II. 434-. ed. 1738. 
 
 Humane was to convey a similar sense in Far, Lost, II. 109. 
 
 " Belial, in act more graceful and humane,** 
 
 But the Commentators, from P. Hume downward, have passed 
 it over, as if they considered it to stand there in the acceptation 
 now received among us. 
 
 The Athenians, with a vanity common to every People pre- 
 eminent ill the arts of cultivated life, regarded all nations but the 
 Greeks as strangers to civilization. With them he who was not 
 a Greek was comprehended under the general appellation of 
 barbarian. 
 
 In this large sense it was that Cato, the Censor, while vehe- 
 ment in his opposition to the introduction of Grecian Literature 
 at Rome, warned his Son, " c|uandocumque ista gens suas litteras 
 f* dabit, omnia corrurapet. Turn etiam magis, si medicos suos 
 " hue mittet. Jurarunt inter se, fettr6aro*necareomnes medicini. 
 f Pt hoc ipsum mercede faciunt, ut fides lis sit, et facile disper- 
 
10 Milton's 
 
 out of those ages, to whose polite wisdom and 
 letters we ow that we are not yet Gothes and JuU 
 landers, I could name him who from his private 
 house wrote that Discourse to the Parlament of 
 Athens, that perswades them to change the forme 
 of Democraty which was then establisht^ Such 
 
 ■* dant. Nos quoque dictitant barbaros, et spurcius nos, qnam 
 ** alios opicos, adpellalione foedant." — Plin. Hist. Nat. lib. 39; 
 cap. 7. 
 
 Milton, then, sets "the elegant humanity of Greece** in oppo- 
 sition to *' barbarick pride" with exact propriety. Of this pro- 
 priety, Warburton, who thought highly of the Areopagitica, 
 and imitated it, seems to have been unaware ; for when copying 
 this passage, he gave these phrases a different construction. 
 This was in his " Enquiry into the Causes of Prodigies and 
 *' Miracles, as related by Historians;" where he remarks, '* We 
 •'justly pride ourselves in imitating the free Manners and elegant 
 •' Humanity of Greece and Rome; rather than the barbarous In- 
 •* quisitorial Spirit of a Spanish or Italic Hierarchy/' — Tracts by 
 Warburton and a Warburtonian ; p. 96, 8vo. 1789. 
 
 * I could name him whofro7n his privat house wrote that Dw- 
 course to the Parlament of Athens, that perswades them to change 
 the forme of Democraty which was then establishi.'\ 
 
 He took this immediately from Dionysius Halicarnasseus; 
 who had said of Isocrates, "R rig ax av ^av^j^dasie rr^v sV/S'oAijy ra 
 
 ju-craOeo-Oa/ |u,fv trjv tors xa^sruJcrccv SriyyOKpocriocv, wg {j^syoiXsi 
 
 Xiysir — De Antiquis Oratoribus Commentarii ; p. 83. 1781. 
 Mores^s edit. At the same time he might have also remembered 
 Cicero. " Exstitit igitur jam senibus illis, quos paulo ante 
 '* diximus, Isocrates, cujus domus cunctse Grseciae quasi ludus 
 '* quidam patuit, atque officina dicendi, magnus orator, & per- 
 '* fectus magister, quamquam forensi luce caruit, intraque pa- 
 
AREOPAGITICA. 1 1 
 
 honour was done in those dayes to men who profest 
 the study of wisdome and eloquence not only in 
 their own Country, but in other lands, that Cities 
 and Siniories heard them gladly, and with great 
 respect^ if they had ought in publick to admonish 
 
 *' rietes aluit earn gloriam, quam nemo quidem, meo judicio est 
 " poeta consecutus/* — De Clar. Oral. s. 32. Milton forbore to 
 *' name him," lest he should afford opportunity for the invidious 
 remark, that he had made a proud comparison in placing him- 
 self by the side of a Professor of Rhetoric the most consummate 
 that Athens ever saw. 
 
 We learn from the Oration wherein Isocrates urged Philip to 
 mediate a general peace among the Grecian States, and in con- 
 federacy with them to turn their united arms against the Persian 
 Monarch ; and the same again from one of those he is thought 
 to have composed for recital at a Panathenaic commemoration, 
 that organic impediments, and a stridulous voice, disqualified 
 him for a public speaker: from this cause, instead of assisting 
 personally at their deliberative Assemblies, this renowned 
 Teacher of Eloquence, like some others, gave his counsel to the 
 Athenians in the same mode by which Milton now *' admo- 
 nishes" the Parliament — in the form of a Speech, supposed to 
 have been spoken. 
 
 ' Cities and Siniories heard them gladly, and with great respect.] 
 What Dionysius of Halicarnassus, and after him Hieronymus 
 Woljius, relate concerning the celebrity of Isocrates and his po- 
 litical writings seems to have afforded the hint for this statement. 
 ^Ey(uiv Jg TtoKKss dvrs Ha< a\X8S Sis^^svai Xoyou^, itpo; itoXeig rs 
 KoCi Su>a,<n'a,$ x.a,) Uiuiras y§a,(p£vTocs, &c- — De Antiquis Oratoribus 
 Commentarii; p. 89. Mores s edit. 1781. And Wolfius: '* Et 
 " ipse apud Graeciae principes ac reges, — Celebris et gratiosus 
 " fuit : & plerasque orationes vel ad maximas Greecise civitates, 
 " vel ad reges & principes scripsit.^' — De Vita hoc. 
 
 We must not forget that Cities is here used by Milton in the 
 Latin signification, for an independent community living under 
 
1^ Milton's 
 
 the State. Thus did Dion Prusaus^ a stranger and 
 a privat Orator*, counsell the Rhodians against a 
 
 free Government. Siniories, in one of its senses, was, we may 
 suppose, an honorary appellation equivalent to States, as al- 
 ready explained in a note on the first sentence of this Oration. 
 Or perhaps it would be more accurate to say that Signiory was 
 the style and title of honour for the supreme magistracy in the 
 Italian Republics. Agreeably to which, Harrington proposed 
 for his imaginary Commonwealth — " that the Duke with six 
 " Counsellors be the signiory." Works; p. 529. fol. 1747. And 
 Howell entitled the first Section of his Survey of Venice, " Of the 
 Republic or Signiory of Venice." 
 
 In Shakspeare, this meaning of Signiory has not hitherto 
 been explained. 
 
 — — " to him put 
 " The manage of my State ; as, at that time, 
 " Through all the Signiories it was the first, 
 ** And Prospero the prime Duke" 
 
 Tempest, A. i. S. 2. 
 
 Prospero is speaking of the Republics, into which so consi- 
 derable a portion of Italy was in the middle ages parcelled ouU 
 Thus when Othello says, 
 
 " My services which I have done the Signiory,** 
 
 he makes precisely the same boast, as when he afterward ob- 
 serves that he had ** done the State some service ;" and this line 
 determines the word to mean the same as in my text, and in the 
 quotation from the Tempest. 
 
 * Dion Prusaeus, a stranger and a privat Orator — ] Dio or 
 J)ion was a Rhetorician, and a Heathen Philosopher; he was 
 called Prusccus from Prusa, a town in Bithynia, his birth- 
 place. For his eminence in Literature, he was favoured by 
 Nerva, and Trajan bestowed marks of peculiar grace on him. 
 Fabric. Bibliot. Grcec. III. 305. Hainhurg. 1717. The splendid 
 elegance of his Orations obtained for him the high-sounding 
 surname of Chrysostom. From this appellation he has by some 
 
AREOPAGITICA. . 13 
 
 former Edict : and I abound with other like exam- 
 ples, which to set heer would be superfluous. But 
 if from the industry of a life wholly dedicated to 
 studious labours, and those naturall endowments 
 haply not the worst for two and fifty degrees of 
 northern latitude % so much must be derogated, as 
 
 Writers been confounded with John Chrysostom, the eloquent 
 Preacher; to whom our Authour hereafter gives the epithet of 
 holj/ to discriminate them. — Why Milton denominated him 
 ** Si privat Orator," I have explained in the Prefatory Remarks. 
 
 * Those naturall endowments haply not the worst, for two and. 
 fifty degrees of northern latitude.] It stands '* wors^'* in all the. 
 Editions, that have been in my hands, but the context makes it, 
 I think, manifest, that Milton wrote " haply not the worse." 
 
 The apprehension that the ungenial Climate of his native 
 country might be detrimental to his poetical talent, is not un- 
 frequently expressed in our Aulhour*s writings : yet if he seri- 
 ously entertained the fancy, that the scale of Genius is graduated 
 by degrees of Latitude, his lavish encomium hereafter in this 
 Tract on the proud pre-eminence of the English in mental 
 qualifications is much at variance with that opinion. It is where 
 he beseeches the Parliament to beware of what they do by plac- 
 ing the Press under an Imprimatur — ** Lords and Commons of 
 *' England ! consider what Nation it is whereof ye are and 
 ** whereof ye are the Governors : a Nation not slow and dull, 
 *' but of a quick, ingenious, and piercing spirit; acute to in- 
 " vent, subtle and sinewy to discourse ; not beneath the reach 
 " of any point the highest that human capacity can soar to.'' 
 
 Montesquieu has dedicated more than one Book of his work 
 on Laws to the effects of Climate upon the character of Nations. 
 But may we not with more truth attribute their diversity to the 
 predominancy of moral rather than of physical causes ? And 
 think that Gray went on surer grounds in ascribing a superiour 
 efficacy to the wise institutions resulting from free Governments 
 fcbaa to the influence of Soil and the temperature of the Air ? 
 
14 Milton's 
 
 to count me not equall to any of those who had 
 this priviledge, I would obtain to be thought not 
 so inferior, as your selves are superior to the most 
 of them who received their counsell : and how farre 
 you excell them, be assured. Lords and Commons! 
 there can no greater testimony appear, then when 
 your prudent spirit acknowledges and obeyes the 
 voice of reason, from what quarter soever it be 
 heard speaking; and renders ye as wilHng to repeal 
 any Act of your own setting forth, as any set forth 
 by your Predecessors. 
 
 Jf ye be thus resolv'd, as it were injury to thinke 
 ye were not, I know not what should withhold me 
 from presenting ye with a fit instance wherein to 
 shew both that love of Truth which ye eminently 
 professe, and that uprightnesse of your judgement 
 
 See the sketch of his Ethical Poem, in which he projected to 
 show, that a full development of Intellect may under due cul- 
 ture be the growth of every Country. 
 
 ** How rude soe'er the exteriour form we find, 
 
 " Howe'er Opinion tinge the varied Mind, 
 
 " Alike, to all the kind, impartial Heav'n 
 
 ** The sparks of Truth and Happiness has giv'n." 
 
 Works; by Mason: p, 195, Aio, 
 
 By the way, it is singular enough, that Gray^s first Editor, 
 himself a Poet, should not have perceived that his Authour, in 
 the proemial lines tu the exquisite fragment he left of this 
 philosophical work, was emulating the majestic march of Dryden, 
 In his own disposition of the Similies in this exordium, a dis- 
 position which Mason would disturb, he is pacing in the very 
 footsteps of his great predecessor. 
 
AREOPAGITICA. 15 
 
 which is not wont to be partiall to your selves ; by 
 judging over again that Order which ye have or- 
 dained to regulate Pjinti?ig : That no Booky Pam- 
 phlet, or Paper shall he henceforth printed, unlesse tJie 
 same bejirst appjw'd and licenc't by such, or at least 
 one of such as shall be thereto appointed. For 
 that part which preserves justly every mans Copy 
 to himselfe^ or provides for the Poor, I touch not, 
 only wish they be not made pretenses to abuse and 
 persecute honest and painfull men, who offend not 
 in either of these particulars. But that other 
 clause of Licencing Books, which we thought had 
 dy'd with his hxoihev quadragesimal dindi matrimotiial 
 when the Prelats expir'd, I shall now attend with 
 such a Homily % as shall lay before ye, first the 
 
 ® For that part which preserves justly every Mans Copy to hijn^ 
 selfe, &c.] See this Order in Rushworth's Hist. Collect. V. 335. 
 
 Lord Mansfield, in the Case of Literary Property, laid con- 
 siderable stress on this passage, as an authority of weight for the 
 Judgement he was pronouncing in favour of Copyrights: 
 
 *' The single opinion of such a Man as Milton, speaking after 
 «' much consideration upon the very point, is stronger than any 
 *' inferences from gathering acorns, and seizing a vacant piece of 
 " ground; when the Writers, so far from thinking of the very 
 " point, speak of an imaginary state of Nature before the inven- 
 " tion of heii^xs"— Holiday's Life of Lord Mansfield; p. 232. 
 
 Our Authour could not have ventured to expect that his Tract 
 would be cited from the Bench in such terms of praise by a 
 Chief Justice of England. 
 
 ' That other clause of Licensing Books, which we thought had 
 dy^d with his brother quadragesimal and matrimonial, when the 
 Prelats expired, I shall now attend with such a Homily,] S«a<f- 
 
l6 Milton's 
 
 inventors of it to bee those whom ye will be loath 
 to own ; next, what is to be thought in generall of 
 reading, what ever sort the Books be ; and that this 
 
 ragesimal: — however quaintly the word now sounds, we must not 
 impute this Latin synonyme for the English Adjective lenten to 
 Milton as a pedantic intrusion of his own on our language. I 
 find it in The Ordinary, one of Cartwright's Comedies: 
 
 " But Suadragessimall wits and fancies leane 
 •* As ember weeks.*' 
 
 p, 49, \2mo, 1651. 
 
 Suadragesimal Licenses, I conclude to have been the permis- 
 sions which, even subsequently lo the Reformation, were granted 
 for eating white Meats in Lent, on Ember Days, and on others, 
 which were appointed by Act of Parliament for Fish-Days. 
 ** Queen Elizabeth used to say that she would never eat Flesh in 
 Lent without obtaining License from her little black Husband,'* 
 {Walton's Life of Hooker: p, 209. ed. 1807) as she called Arch- 
 Bishop Whitgift, 
 
 During the inter-regnum. Marriages were by an Ordinance of 
 Parliament solemnized before a civil Magistrate, and without a 
 license. I copy the form of a Certificate on the occasion from 
 the original, now before me. " Sussex. — These are to certifie 
 *• those whom it may concerne that Thomas Hoh of Petersfield 
 •' in the County of Southton Clerk, and Charity Shirley of Kird- 
 " ford in the County of Sussex, Spinster, were marryed at Plai- 
 ** stow in the Parish of Kirdford on the one and twentieth of 
 " May by Richd. Knowles Esqr. one of the Commissionerg 
 " for the Peace in the said County of Sussex. 
 
 (L. S.) Rich. Knowles. 
 
 " In the presence of 
 
 " WiLLM. Millwood, 
 
 " John Beaton." 
 
 Milton's allusion must have been to this practice. 
 
 Homily is here in its original signification — a Discourse, or 
 VisQUSiim; 'Oy.i>dx: see "OMIAOS, in 5/^5^. Thes. Grac, 
 
AREOPAGITICA. 17 
 
 Order avails nothing to the suppressing of scandal- 
 ous, seditious, and libellous Books, which were 
 tnainly intended to be supprest. Last, that it will 
 be primely to the discouragement of all Learning, - 
 and the stop of Truth, not only by disexercising ^— ^ 
 and blunting our abilities in what we know already, 
 but by hindering and cropping the discovery that 
 might bee yet further made both in religious and 
 civill Wisdome. 
 
 I deny not, but that it is of greatest concern- 
 ment in the Church and Commonwealth, to have a 
 vigilant eye how Bookes demeane themselves as 
 well as Men i and thereafter to confine, imprison, 
 and do sharpest justice on them as malefactors: 
 For Books are not absolutely dead things, but doe 
 contain a potencie of Life in them to be as active 
 as that Soule was whose progeny they are ; nay, 
 they do preserve as in a violl the purest efficacie 
 and extraction of that living intellect that bred 
 them. I know they are as lively, and as vigorously 
 productive, as those fabulous Dragons teeth ; and 
 being sown up and down, may chance to spring up 
 armed men. And yet on. the other hand unlesse 
 warinesse be us'd, as good almost kill a Man as; E\ 
 kill a good Book ; who kills a Man kills a reason- y^ 
 able creature, GoDS Image ; but hee who destroyes \ 
 a good Booke, kills Reason it selfe, kills the Image \ 
 of God, as it were in the eye. Many a Man lives 
 a burden to the Earth ; but a good Booke is the 
 
 C 
 
18 Milton's 
 
 pretious life-blood of a master spirit, imbalmM and 
 treasur'd up on purpose to a Life beyond Life. 'Tis 
 true, no age can restore a Life, whereof perhaps 
 there is no great losse -, and revolutions of ages doe 
 not oft recover the losse of a rejected Truth, for the 
 want of which whole Nations fare the worse. We 
 should be wary therefore what persecution we raise 
 against the living labours of publick men, how we 
 spill that seasoned Life of Man preserved and stored 
 up in Books; since we see a kinde of homicide 
 may be thus committed, sometimes a martyrdome; 
 and if it extend to the whole impression, a kinde of 
 massacre, whereof the execution ends not in the 
 slaying of an elementall Life, but strikes at that 
 ethereall and fift essence, the breath of Reason it 
 selfe, slaies an Immortality rather then a Life^ But 
 
 ® — if it extend to the whole impression, a kinde of massacre 
 whereof the execution ends not in the slaying of an elementall life, 
 but strikes at that ethereall and fift essence, the breath of Reason 
 itself e; slaies an Immortality rather then a Life.} 
 
 It is far from unlikely, that this passage tloated on Lord 
 Shaftesbury's mind, while remarking that Hobbes *' acted in the 
 •' spirit of Massacre" by recommending *' the very extinguish- 
 " ing of Letters," and the extirpation of Greek and Roman 
 Literature {Characteristics; I. 50. \2mo.). The noble Authour 
 well subjoins, '* by this reasoning it should follow, that there 
 ** can never be any tumults or deposing of Sovereigns at Con- 
 ♦' stantinople or in Mogul." But the Writer of the Leviathan 
 had witnessed the instructive lessons taught by antient Learning 
 to Neville and Harrington, to Sydney and Milton. This it was 
 that made him desirous of its extermination. 
 
 As now, so in Par, Lost, our Authour availed himself of 
 
AREOPAGITICA. 19 
 
 lest I should be condemn'd of introducing licence^ 
 while I oppose licencing^ I refuse not the paines 
 
 Aristotle*s hypothesis, then very generally received, of four 
 Elements which composed the material World, with a Jifth Es- 
 sence, peculiar to God and to the Soul of Man : 
 
 " Swift to their several quarters hasted then 
 " The cumbrous Elements, Earth, Flood, Air, Fire, 
 " And this ethereal Quintessence of Heaven 
 " Flew upward,*' — 
 
 III. 714. 
 
 The conceit of *' slaying an Immortality rather then a Life^* is 
 quite in the metaphysical style of that day ; and will be eluci- 
 dated by the succeeding extract from Bacon's Advancement 
 of Learning; whence it is highly probable that he derived it. 
 " Some of the Philosophers which were least divine, and most 
 " immersed in the senses, and denied generally the Immortality 
 " of the Soul ; yet came to this point, that whatsoever motions 
 ** the spirit of Man could act and perform without the organs of 
 ** the body, they thought, might remain after Death, which were 
 " only those of the Understanding, and not of the affections, so 
 ** immortal and incorruptible a thing did Knowledge seem unto them 
 " to be.'* Works; I. 35. 4/o. 1765. 
 
 Donne and Cowley are under obligations to the same rich mine 
 of raetaphoric and philosophical imagery, which, however unfit, 
 as was not unfrequently the case, they pressed into the service of 
 Poetry. 
 
 ' Lest I should be condemn*d of introducing licence, while t 
 oppose Licencing — ] '* Condemn'd of* was once common. 
 Thus Lylie; " That thou shouldest condemne me of rigor." 
 Euphues: The Anatomie of Wit. Signat D. 2. sm. ^to. 1636. And 
 it was still the language of the time. May writes, " The King 
 •' was not satisfied in conscience to condemne him of High-Trea- 
 •' son." — Hist, of the Parliament, p. 63. 4/o. Of was heretofore 
 used with much laxity; as equivalent to from, an, for, by, with, 
 at, concerning, and among. Sometimes it seems to have been 
 merely expletoryj as hereafter in this Tract — "What some 
 
 C 2 
 
20 milton's 
 
 to be so much historicall, as will serve to shew 
 what hath been done by ancient and famous Com- 
 monwealths, against this disorder, till the very time 
 that this project of licencing crept out of the In- 
 quisition^ was catch t up by our Prelates, and hath 
 caught some of our Presbyters. 
 
 " lament of" — Hurd thought " QuenchM of hope" to be a 
 Grecism. — Works; I. 81-. Svo. This might have been safely 
 predicated if it had been found in Milton. We may be assured 
 that Shakspeare, whose phraseology it is, only availed himself 
 of the licence of his day. 
 
 . Scholars agree that the idioms of the Greek coalesce more 
 aptly with our Language than with the Latin. 
 
 In Sonnet XII, Milton says, of some Adversaries, 
 
 ** That bawl for Freedom in their senseless mood, 
 " And still revolt when Truth would set them free. 
 " Licence they mean when tha/ cry Liberty ; 
 " For who loves that, must first be wise and good." 
 
 He was fond of this sentiment, and repeats it again and again 
 through his writings. There is a shining sentence of the same 
 tenour in his Treatise Of Reformatio?!, &c. " Well knows every 
 " wise nation that their Liberty consists in manly and honest 
 " labours, in sobriety and rigourous honour to the Marriage 
 " Bed, which in both sexes should be bred up from chast hopes 
 " to loyall Enjoyments; and when the People slacken, and fait 
 " to loosenes and riot, then doe they as much as if they laid 
 " downe their necks for some wily Tyrant to get up and ride." 
 p. 60. ^to. 164-1. 
 
 And he protests much the same very early in the Defensio 
 secunda — " Quos non legum contemptus aut violatio in efFre- 
 " natam licentiam effudit; non virtutis et glorias falsa species, 
 " aut stulta veterum aemulatio inani nomine Libertatis incendit, 
 •* sed innocentia vitae, morumque sanctitas rectum atque solum 
 *' iter, ad Libertatem veram docuit, legum et religionis justis- 
 *' sima defensio necessario armavit.^' 
 
AREOPAGITICA. 21 
 
 In Athens, where Books and Wits were ever busier 
 then in any other part of Greece^, I finde but only 
 two sorts of writings which the Magistrate car'd to 
 take notice of; those either blasphemous and athe- 
 isticall, or libellous. Thus the Books of Prota- 
 goras were by the Judges oi Areopagus commanded 
 to be burnt, and himselfe banish*t the territory for 
 a Discourse begun with his confessing not to know 
 whether there were Gods, or whether not f And against 
 defaming, it was decreed that none sjiould be tra- 
 duc'd by name, as was the manner of Vetus Co- 
 masdia^y whereby we may guesse how they censur'd 
 
 , * In Athens, where Books and Wits were ever busier then in any 
 other part of Greece — ] He might remember the testimony of 
 Velleius Paterculus to the pre-eminent distinction of Athens : 
 " Una urbs Attica pluribus annis eloquentia, quam universa 
 " Grecia, uberiusque floruit; adeo ut corpora gentis illius sepa- 
 *' rata sint in alias civitates, ingenia vero solis Atheniensium 
 ** muris clausa existimes." — Hist. Rom. lib, I. in fine. 
 
 Athens might not unaptly be described as the punctum saliens 
 in vitello orbis. — Pindar is remarked by the same Historian to 
 have been the only Greek writer of eminence who was not a 
 native of Attica. 
 
 Of all the Grecian Republics, Athens was the most popular in 
 its forms and in its administration. Such was Florence among 
 the free States of Italy, and the liberal Arts and the Muses 
 adorned that City as their favourite residence, in preference to 
 Venice under an austere and jealous Aristocracy. 
 
 * The Books of Protagoras were by the Judges of Areopagus 
 cojnmanded to be burnt, and himselfe banisht the territory for a 
 Discourse begun with his confessing not to know, lohetha^ there were 
 Gods, or whether not ? And against defaming it was decreed that 
 
22 Milton's 
 
 Libelling: And this course was quick enough, as 
 Cicero writes, to quell both the desperate wits of 
 other Atheists, and the open way of defaming, as 
 the event shew'd. Of other sects and opinions 
 though tending to voluptuousnesse, and the deny- 
 ing of divine Providence they tooke no heede. 
 Therefore we do not read that either EpicuruSy or 
 that libertine school of Cyrene, or what the Cynick 
 
 none should be traduced by name, as was the manner of Vetus 
 Comoedia, &c.] The first part of this passage is a translation 
 from Cicero: " Protagoras — ciim in principio libri sic posuisset, 
 " de Divis neque utsint, neque ut non sint, habeo dicere, Athe- 
 " niensiura jussu urbe atque agro est exterminatus, librique ejus 
 " in concione combusti.'^ &c. De Nat. Deorum: 1. 1. s. 23. 
 
 " The Judges of Areopagus;'* i. e. of Mars's Hill. Here is 
 one among numberless instances of Milton's scrupulous atten- 
 tion to propriety of phrase : " the Judges of the Areopagus," 
 would have been as solecistical as " the Judges of the Westmin- 
 " ster Hall/' Yet he defended an errour similar to this in the 
 writers of Smectymnuus ; for which he was smartly attacked in a 
 Tract intitled, " A modest Confutation of a slanderous and scur- 
 " rilous Libell/' &c. which was written in reply to one of his 
 vindications of these anti-prelatical Ministers; where his Oppo- 
 nent says, ** As you have censured the Remonstrants Poesie, so 
 *' in like manner you have justified a slip in the Smectymnuans 
 '* Philology ; I mean, so weakly, not so malitiously, they mis- 
 " took a Bench for a Judge; or rather the place for the men : 
 " Areopagi for Areopagitte ; and you make it good :" &c. p. \\, 
 ^to. 1642. 
 
 By Vetus Comasdia, I conclude him to allude to these lines in 
 Horace : 
 
 " Successit vetus his Comadia, non sine multa 
 
 " Laude: sed in vitium libertas excidit, et vim 
 
 " Pignam lege regi." Epist, ad Pisones : f. 281. 
 
AREOPAGITICA. 23 
 
 impudence utter'cl^ was ever question'd by the 
 Laws. Neither is it recorded that the writings of 
 those old Comedians were supprest, though the 
 acting of them were forbid; and that Plato com- 
 mended the reading of Aristophanes '^y the loosest of 
 
 ' That libertine school of Cyrene, or what the Cynick impu- 
 dence utt€r*d.'\ The " Cyrenaicrout," as he somewhere styles 
 them, were the followers of Aristippus, who placed the supreme 
 good in sensual pleasure. — Cynic impudence is from Diogenes 
 Laertius: *' olXXw; ^ev svtovog irpbs (piXoa'0(^ixv, alJ-jjjU-wy SI wg 
 " irpos ryjv KTNIKHN 'ANAISXTNTIAN." p. 164./o/. 1664.. 
 
 * Tfiat Plato commended the reading of Aristophanes, &c.] 
 This might be taken from Petit, de Vita Sf Scriptis Aristophanis ; 
 who says, " Quod autem magis mirandum, Plato, tantus Socratis 
 " propugnator, Dionysio regi Syracusano, statum reip. Athe- 
 " niensis, ^ linguam ex Optimo autore perdiscere cupienti, AriS' 
 " tophanes Comasdias misit, ut ex iis linguam et ingenium Athe* 
 " niensium simul cognosceret: quibus ille, licet Siculus, tantum 
 " profecit, ut Olympiadis 103 anno primo (qui illi ullimus vitae 
 *' fuit) Tragcediam docuerit Athenis ; qua & victor evasit. Cluin 
 " & Antiochenus ille Johannes, ab oris ubertate Chrysostomus 
 *' cognominatus,Constantinopoleo8 patri^rchz, fertur bonam partem 
 " suce facundice, turn vehementice in corripiendis vitiis, maxime 
 " muliercularum, ex Aristophanis psene quotidiana lectione 
 '* hausisse ; cum ut Alexander olim Homeri poema, sic sanctus 
 " hie vir Aristophanis Comcedias pulvillosubdere solitus fuerit." 
 
 Milton seems to guard us against considering this anecdota 
 of •' holy Chrysostom' s" fondness for the Plays of Aristophanes 
 to rest on any solid foundation ; and Menage expresses doubts 
 slill stronger. While vindicating himself for having been a 
 reader of Rabelais, he remarks, in the Avis au Ledeur, prefixed 
 to the second part of his Observations sur la Langue Fran^oise, 
 that, " Clement Alexandrin cite a toute heure Anstophane. 
 '* S. Jan Chrysostome le lisoit continuelleiuent, & le mettoit la 
 '' nuit sous son cbevet, si on en croit Aide Manuce dans la Dedi- 
 
24 Milton's 
 
 them all, to his royall scholler Dionysius, is com- 
 monly known, and may be excus'd, if holy Chry- 
 soslome, as is reported, nightly studied so much the 
 same Author and had the art to cleanse a scurrilous 
 vehemence into the stile of a rousing Sermon. That 
 other leading City of Greece, Lacedamo?iy consi- 
 dering that Lycurgus their Law-giver was so ad- 
 dicted to elegant Learning, as to have been the first 
 that brought out of Ionia the scattered workes of 
 HomeVy and sent the Poet Thales from Creet to 
 prepare and moUifie the Spartan surlinesse with his 
 smooth songs and odes^ the better to plant among 
 
 " cace des Oeuvres de ce Comique : car je ne say point d'auteur 
 " plus ancien qui ait fait mention de cette amitie de S. Jan Chry- 
 ♦* sostome pour les Comedies d'Aristophane." Path, 1676. 
 
 We may indeed well suspect this often-repeated story to 
 be but a paraphrase of what Diogenes Laertius relates of 
 Plato using the Mimes of Sophron for a pillow (In Vit. Plat. 
 Segm, 18) with a fresh application to this Father of the Church. 
 To be sure it is whimsical, that such Plays should become the 
 favourite volume of a Saint. But in 1498, the date of the Al- 
 dine Edition of the Greek Comedian, such a circumstance would 
 be regarded as no slight recommendation of the Authour, and 
 was, we may readily conceive, the inducement to its introduc- 
 tion into a dedicatory Epistle* of the Editio princeps of Amto- 
 phanes, 
 
 * Lycurgus — was so addicted to elegant Learning, as to have 
 been the first that brought out of Ionia the scatter d workes of Honier, 
 and sent the Poet Thales from Creet to prepare and mollifie the 
 Spartan surlinesse with his smooth songs and odes, &c.] This 
 anecdote, so far as it regards Lycurgus and the Poems of Homer, 
 is to be found mMlian; Var. Hist. I. 13. c. 14. But since that 
 Authour is silent as to this mission of the Cretan Poet to Sparta, 
 
AREOPAGITICA. 25 
 
 them law and civility , it is to be wonder'd how 
 muselesse and unbookish they were, minding 
 
 we may conclude it to be clear, that it was Plutarch^s Life of 
 the Lacedaemonian Law-giver, that Milton had now in his recol- 
 lection ; the Biographer having related both these facts. 'Eva 
 
 $£ tujy yOjU-i^o/xEvw/ sy-si coOcdv x,at ifoXitiycouy, yoipi'fi koci <piXix 
 Ttsla-xs, aitsa-rEiKsy £l$ rr^v 'Lirdprrjv, QaXyjTa, Ttoirjrr^v |uo£v SoKOUvrx 
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 XoyCii yap ^(ra,y cd cvSaC itphg evTrsi^^siocy kol) omyoiccy aiydKXrjnKol 
 iioi [ji^eXotJy ajota kx\ pv^pi^uJy, itoKv ro 7i6a'[^rjy s^oyrujy y.ou 
 xara,<rra,riKOy' ujy oiy.pou}[j^Byoi xxrsTtpcx.uyoyro Kehrfioruis foL ^flij, 
 xa< (TuvwxfioiJyro row ^ijAw rwv ycaXujv sk ty/S sTri^copia^oua'y}; tots 
 ifpog d\k-^\ov$ xaM^vi^iocg' ws-Ts Tpi^toy Tivd Tcu AvTcovpycv i^po- 
 SoTtoistv Trjy Ttou^Bvo'iy dvTUjy tuBiyoy. dito Se Ti/js Kpr^TYis 6 Acy.oupyog 
 sTfi K<rioLv eithsvcrtv, ^ovKof^syos (wV y^sysTdi) Tai; KprjTiacxAs Sia,' 
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 xa^ Twy TioKiTEiwy . ekei ^s kol^ tois Ojjvrjpov 'n'oiY/^ao'iv evtv- 
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 dKpa<rla,y SiacTpi^^s rd itoXiTiKOv "kolC ttxi^evtikov ovk sXaT' 
 Tovog d^ioy citov^g a.yd^e^iyi;.Evoy, iypd^ccTo Ttpo^vi^wg, Koct 
 cvyYjy(X,yEv wg Ssvpo ycofj^iujy. -^v ydp Ti$ ^8yj So^a, Touy cifouv 
 d[f4a,vpd liOLpd Tolg EXXyj(ny' gxgxrijvro St ou itoWoi' (jiep-r) Tivd 
 <nropd^Yjv Tijs itOiYja-E'jjg cug £TV')(e SiCKpspoiJ^syrjg' yvoupti^i/jv Se avTYjV 
 y.ar iJ^dXia-TCL ttp^Tog iTtoirjTE AuKOvpyos. Op. Omn. 1. 41, 
 Rualdi Edit.fol 1624. 
 
 I have extracted this passage because some have confounded 
 " the Poet Thales" with the Milesian Sage of the same name. 
 Among others, the learned Hofmann, who in his Lexicon Univer' 
 sale states, that Solon sent the Lyric Poet of Crete to soften and 
 refine the Spartans, whom (he says) the discipline of Lycurgics 
 had rendered too rugged in their manners: see the article 
 Thales. Plutarch, it is true, represents that a conference took 
 place between the Athenian conditor Legum and the Sage before- 
 
26 Milton's 
 
 nought but the feats of Warre. There needed no 
 licencing of Books among them for they dishk'd 
 all, but their owne Laconick Apothegms , and took a 
 slight occasion to chase Archilochus out of their 
 City, perhaps for composing in a higher straine 
 then their owne souldierly ballats and roundels 
 could reach to^: Or if it were for his broad verses, 
 
 mentioned, Tliaies of Miletus. But he has not recorded any 
 further connection between them ; and of the Poet Tbales he 
 makes no mention in the Life of Solon. 
 
 It is of importance to rectify any errour in HofnianrCs vast 
 store-house of Learning ; the merit of which is not so generally 
 known as it deserves, unless more writers than I apprehend 
 consult him, and unhandsomely conceal their obligations. 
 
 « — took a slight occasion to chase Archilochus out of their 
 City, perhaps for composirifr in a hif^her straine then their owne 
 souldierly ballats and roundels could reach to.'] The Lacedae- 
 monians, some writers of antiquity say, banished Archilochus 
 for an unpatriotic sentiment in a poem, wherein he had ventured 
 to tell the Citizens of Sparta that it was better for a man to 
 throw away his arms than to lose his life : but others assert it 
 to have been for the indecent licentiousness of his verses that he 
 was expelled the Republic. See Commentatio de Vita ^ Scriptis 
 Archilochi, prefixed by Liebel to his Edition of this Poet's re- 
 mains ; Sect. 6& n.Lipsice; 1812. 
 
 Strictly, a roundel was a species of Sonnet which returned at 
 the close to the same words with which it began. Rondeau: Fr. 
 In the text by Roundels he meant Songs; as in Chaucer's Legend 
 of good Women : 
 
 ** And many an Himpne, for your holy dales, 
 " That highten balades, rondels, virelaies." 
 
 p. 337, Speght's edit. 1687. 
 
 By " souldierly ballats and roundels" did he intend merely 
 camp-ballads, or such national war-songs as the verses of Tyv 
 
 t(EUS ? 
 
AREOPAGITICA. 2% 
 
 they were not therein so cautious, but they were as 
 dissolute in their promiscuous conversing ; whence 
 Euripides affirms in Andromache, that their women 
 were all unchaste ''. Thus much may give us light 
 after what sort Bookes were prohibited among the 
 Greeks. The Romans also for many ages train'd 
 up only to a military roughnes, resembling most the 
 Lacedemonian guise, knew of Learning little but 
 what their twelve Tables, and the Pontijick College 
 with their Augurs and Flamins taught them in 
 Religion and Law, so unacquainted with other 
 Learning, that when Carneades and Critolaus, with 
 the Stoick Diogenes comming Embassadors to Rome, 
 tooke thereby occasion to give the City a tast of 
 their philosophy, they were suspected for seducers 
 by no lesse a man then Cato the Censor % who 
 
 '' Euripides affirms in Andromache, that their women were all 
 uiKhaste.'\ The following is the passage to which be has refe^ 
 rence : 
 
 •* Ouf oiv El pOVXOlT'O Tl$, 
 
 ** ^w<ppu3v ykvoito ^iraprianSouv xipi^/' v. 595. 
 
 But we must not forget that this depreciating representation of 
 the female character at Sparta, was to be recited before an 
 Athenian audience; nor the keen rivalry that subsisted between 
 the two States : each striving to outstrip the other in the race of 
 glory, and to obtain a paramount influence in Greece. 
 
 In the succeeding sentence. Birch and Maseres read inaccu- 
 rately, and to the injury of the sense, " after what sort of 
 JBookes." 
 
 * When Carneades and Critolaus, with the Stoick Diogenes 
 comming Embassadors to Rome, tooke thereby occasion to give thd 
 City a tast of their philosophy, tJiey were suspected for seducers by 
 
28 Milton's 
 
 mov'd it in the Senat to dismisse them speedily, and 
 to banish all such Attick bablers out of Italy, But 
 Scipio and others of the noblest Senators withstood 
 him and his old Sabin austerity ; honoured and ad- 
 mired the men ; and the Censor himself at last in 
 his old age fell to the study of that whereof before 
 bee was so scrupulous^ And yet at the same time, 
 Naviiis and Plautus, the first Latine Comedians, had 
 fiird the City with all the borrowed Scenes of 
 Menander and Philemon. Then began to be con- 
 sidered there also what was to be don to libellous 
 Books and Authors ; for Navius was quickly cast 
 into prison for his unbridl'd pen, and released by 
 the Tribunes upon his recantation : We read also 
 that libels were burnt, and the makers punisht by 
 Augustus^. The like severity no doubt was us*d if 
 
 no lesse a man then Cato the Censor, &c.] This relation of Cato's 
 dislike to the Athenian Embassadors was taken from Plutarch's 
 Life of the Censor, see v. i. p. 349, Edit. Rualdi, fol. 1624. 
 
 Milton, with bis usual exactness, gives the discriminative 
 epithet of Stoic to this Diogenes, lest incurious readers should 
 mistake him for the founder of the Cynics, before whom he 
 flourished many years. 
 
 ^ The Censor himself at last in his old age fell to the study of 
 that whereqf before he was so scrupulous.'] He took this from 
 Cicero, de Senectute, who makes Cato say of himself — *' ut ego 
 " feci qui Graecas litteras senex didici." c. 8. But the correct- 
 ness of this statement has been questioned. See Baj/le, art, 
 PoRcius (Marcus), note I. Dcs Maizeaux^s Edit. 1737. 
 
 * Libels were burnt and the makers punisht by Augustus.] There 
 is in Bayle, a disquisition on this topic, under Cassius Sevebus, 
 note H. 
 
AREOPAGITICA. ^ 
 
 ought were impiously writt*n against their esteemed 
 Gods. Except in these two points, how the world 
 went in Books, the Magistral kept no reckning. 
 And therefore Lucretius without impeachment ver- 
 sifies his Epicurism to Memmius^ and had the ho- 
 nour to be set forth the second time by Cicero^ so 
 
 • Lucretius — had the honour to he set jorth the second time by 
 Cicero.'\ The knowledge of this circumstance is derived from th« 
 following passage in the Chronicon of Eusebius: " in suis versi- 
 " bus, duris quidem, sed valde Latinis, & Tullii lim^dignissimis." 
 Some writers have contended and perhaps more plausibly, that 
 iS*. Jerome meant no more than that this poem for the purity 
 of its language was deserving of Tulles revisal and correction : 
 see Bat/le, art. Lucretius, note D. 
 
 Jerome's tale of his flagellation by the '* tutoring apparition,*' 
 for his over-fond attention to Cicero, sufficiently indicates this 
 Saint's enthusiastic admiration of the Roman Oratour ; therefore 
 it is not without a semblance of probability that this story rests 
 on no better ground than an interpolation commendatory of 
 Tully, in the free translation which Jerome made of the second 
 book of this Chronology; of which Cave says that " not much 
 ** of the work itself, and less of the original Greek, arriving to 
 " us, and most of what remains so altered and interpolated by St. 
 " Jerome, that it is hard to say which is his, and which Eusebius's. 
 — In Vit. Euseb. p, 329 ; as quoted in Hewlett's Vindication of the 
 Parian Chronicle, p. 86. (n.) 
 
 It was a shrewd remark by Voltaire, that the atheism of Lucre- 
 tius was printed ad usu?n Delphini, and he might have added that 
 Lucan was the only Poet of any celebrity omitted in that body 
 of Roman Classics. Hence perhaps the inducement to Rowe to 
 give a new version of the Pharsalia. May, Lucan's earlier 
 translator and continuator, probably entered with willingness on 
 the office of Historiographer to our Commonwealth. Certainly 
 no one could hope to earn the thanks of Louis XIV. by dis- 
 seminating the republican principles of the Poet of Corduba. 
 On the contrary, in an edition of Suetonius' s Lives of the Caesars, 
 
30 Milton's 
 
 great a Father of the Commonwealth ; although 
 himselfe disputes against that opinion in his own 
 writings. Nor was the satyricall sharpnesse, or 
 naked plainnes of Lucilius, or Catullus, or Flaccus, 
 by any order prohibited. And for matters of State, 
 the Story of Titus Livius, though it extoll'd that 
 part which Pompey held, was not therefore supprest 
 by Octav'ius Casar of the other faction ^ But that 
 
 Parisiis, \2mo, \Q^\, e typographid regid, the vignettes represent 
 infant forms in the act of stabbing with daggers the Roman 
 emblem of Liberty. 
 
 ^ The story of Titus Livius, though it extolVd that part which 
 Pompey held, was not therefore supprest by Octavius Caesar of the 
 other faction.] The Decades in which this portion of Roman 
 History was narrated, not having reached modern times, it must, 
 I conclude, have been the argument which Tacitus put into the 
 speech of Cremutius Cordus to the Senate when arraigned for 
 having praised Brutus, and styled Cassius the last of the Romans, 
 that Milton derived his knowledge of the moderation shown 
 by Augustus toward Livy and his work. ** Titus Livius, elo- 
 " quentise ac fidei praeclarus imprimis, Cn. Pompeium tantis 
 ** laudibus tulit, utPom/^ewwMweum Augustus appellaret: neque 
 •* id amicitiae eorum oflecit/* Annal. iv. 34. 
 
 Milton latinized continually, both in his English poetry and 
 English prose ; so that it may well bear a doubt, whether he an- 
 nexed here to Faction the deteriorating idea we now represent by 
 this word ? or, whether he did not rather employ it in the favour- 
 able import of Fac^to, — to signify a Party ? like Bacon : " The Fac- 
 " tion between Lucullus, and the rest of the Nobles of the Senate, 
 " which they called Optimates, held out awhile against the Fac- 
 " tion of Pompey and Caesar : but when the Senate's authority 
 *' was pulled down, Caesar and Pompey soone after brake. The 
 " Faction or Party of Antonius and Octavianus Caesar, against 
 *' Brutus and Cassius, held out likewise for a time." Works, I. 
 $16, 4/0. 1765. 
 
AREOPAGITICA. 31 
 
 Naso was by him banisht in his old age, for the 
 wanton Poems of his youth, was but a meer covert 
 of State over some secret cause : and besides, the 
 Books were neither banisht nor caird in. From 
 hence we shall meet with little else but tyranny in 
 the Roman Empire, that we may not marvell, if 
 
 And in his nephew John Philipps's defence of him against an 
 anonymous Opponent, a work written under Milton's eye, it is 
 said, ** Neque te quicquara ex verbis ejus lucratum esse cen- 
 *' sisses, quamvis quod dixisse eum falso accusas, /ac/zonew rem- 
 ** publ. dixisset; f actionem enim tarn in bonam quam in mala?n 
 "partem olim dici vel pueris notum est.'' Pr, fF. II. 396, ed, 
 1738. 
 
 I lean to the more laudable meaning. The stronger Milton's 
 aversion to the usurpation of the Caesars, the less probability- 
 is there that he had it in his thoughts to stigmatize Pompey, 
 As little as that Raleigh meant to bring any odium on himself 
 by saying, when under the hands of the executioner, *' I was 
 *' one of the contrary Faction;^' in his denial of any taunt to 
 Essex, as that nobleman was leading to the scaffold. Thus, too, 
 Ben. Jonson : 
 
 " With such a deal of monstrous and forc'd action, 
 " As might make Beth'lem a Faction. 
 
 Prologue to Volpone, 
 
 i. e. " make Bedlam a party ;" and Shakspeare, Henry VL 
 part 5, A. 5, S. 3: 
 
 *' Her friction will be full as strong as ours." 
 
 Evidently, it is in close connection with this sense, that we 
 are to understand it in Par, Lost, II. 900. 
 
 " They around the flag 
 " Of each his Faction," 
 
 A use unobserved by the Commentators on either of these 
 Poets. 
 
32 Milton's 
 
 not so often bad, as good Books were silenc't. I 
 shall therefore deem to have bin large anough in 
 producing what among the Ancients was punishable 
 to write, save only which, all other arguments were 
 free to treat on. 
 
 By this time the Emperors were become Chris- 
 tians, whose discipline in this point I doe not finde 
 to have bin more severe then what was formerly in 
 practice. The Books of those whom they took to 
 be grand Hereticks were examin'd, refuted, and 
 condemned in the generall Councels ; and not till 
 then were prohibited, or burnt by autority of the 
 Emperor. As for the writings of heathen Authors, 
 unlesse they were plaine invectives against Christi- 
 anity, as those of Porphyrins and Prodiis, they 
 met with no interdict that can be cited, till about 
 the year 400, in a Carthaginian Councel, wherein 
 Bishops themselves were forbid to read the Books 
 of Gentiles*, but Heresies they might read : while 
 others long before them on the contrary scrupl'd 
 
 * Gentiles.] Sc/rfen'* explanation of this word is curious: " In 
 ** the beginning of Christianity, the Fathers writ contra Gentes, 
 ** and contra Gentiles, they were all one : but after all were 
 " Christians, the better sort of people still retained the name of 
 " Gentiles, throughout the four provinces of the Roman Empire; 
 " as Gentil-homme in French, Gentil-homo in Italian, Gentil- 
 ** huombre in Spanish, and Gentil-7nan in English : and they, no 
 " question, being Persons of Quality, kept up those Feasts which 
 •' we borrow from the Gentils; as Christmas, Candlemas, May- 
 " day, &c. continuing what was not directly against Chris- 
 '* tianity, which the common people would never have en- 
 •' dured." Table Talk; p. 44, l2mo. 1716. 
 
AREOPAGITICA. 33 
 
 more the Books of Hereticks, then of Gentiles. 
 And that the primitive Councels and Bishops were 
 wont only to declare what Books were not commend- 
 able, passing no furder, but leaving it to each ones 
 conscience to read or to lay by, till after the year 
 800, is observed already by Padre Paolo, the great 
 unmasker of the Trent'ine CounceP. After which 
 
 * Padre Paolo, the great unmasker of the Trentine CounceW] 
 Father Paul was the name assumed by Pietro Sarpi on profess- 
 ing himself of the religious Order dei S&rvi. 
 
 Following this rule of designating foreigners by the literal 
 appellations of their native country, Milton retained the Latin 
 form in Titus Liviv^, Flaccus, &c. Unaware, it should seem, of the 
 authority of so great a scholar, two eminentWriters of our own time 
 have revived the practice, and vindicated its propriety : (Gibbon, 
 pref. to the concluding vols, of his History; and Roscoe, pref. to 
 Hist, o^ Leo X.) And surely in the instances where this mode can 
 be pursued without incurring the imputation of singularity, it is 
 to be preferred to forcibly detorting proper names to the genius 
 of another language. In this practice, the French have egregi- 
 ously erred against propriety : I believe beyond any nation of 
 Europe; ex.gr. Dionysius, Denys; Stephanus, Etienne; Forum Ju- 
 liense, Frejus; Rotamagus, Rouen; Acquas sextice, Aix ; and other 
 misnomers without number. The Greeks in transubstantiating 
 Uormuz into Oromazes; Kosroes into Cyrus; and Shir shah into 
 Xerxes; and perhaps Chemmis into Cheops, did not disguise these 
 names more affectedly. 
 
 It is pleasant to observe our Authour in the heat of polemical 
 disputation stiffly defending an example, by the association of 
 Anti-prelaiical Ministers who wrote under the anagram ofSmec- 
 tymnuus, contrary to his own practice. He thus combats the 
 criticism on them ; *' If in dealing with an outlandish naroe« 
 " they thought it best not to screw the English mouth to a harsh 
 *' foreign termination, so they kept the radical word, they did 
 " no more than the elegantest Authors among the Greeks^ 
 
 D 
 
34 Milton's 
 
 time the Popes of Rome engrossing what they 
 pleas'd of politicall rule into their owne hands, ex- 
 tended their dominion over mens eyes, as they had 
 before over their judgments, burning and prohibit- 
 ing to be read what they fansied not; yet sparing 
 in their censures, and the Books not many which 
 they so dealt with : till Martin the 5, by his Bull 
 not only prohibited, but was the first that excom- 
 municated the reading* of hereticall Books; for 
 about that time Wicklefsind Husse growing terrible, 
 were they who first drove the Papal I Court to a 
 stricter policy of prohibiting. Which cours Leo 
 the 10, and his successors followed'' untill the 
 
 " Romans, and at this day the Italians, in scorn of sach a ser- 
 " vility use to do."— Pr. W. I. 77. fol. 1738. 
 
 Concilii Tridentini eviscerator was the inscription Sir Henry 
 Wotton set under a portrait of Father Paul, of which he pro- 
 cured the painting during his diplomatic residence at Venice, 
 and presented it in 1637 to Dr. Samuel Collins, Provost and Pro- 
 fessour Regius of Divinity in Cambridge. This character of the 
 determined opposer of the super-eminent dominion which the 
 Pope arrogated to himself over the Potentates and States of his 
 communion approaches so nearly to Milton's praise, that the 
 resemblance may be more than accidental. 
 
 * reading — ] Maseres Qxyes, with the appearance of much 
 plausibility, *' readers." 
 
 '"' Wicklef and Husse growing terrible, were they who first drove 
 tlie Papall Court to a stricter polio/ of prohibiting. Which 
 cours Leo the 10, and his successors followM] Terrible had 
 then a shade of meaning it has since lost; i. g. formidable: as 
 again ; 
 
 " Virgin majesty with mild 
 
 " And sweet allay'd, yet terrible to approach.*' 
 
 Par. Reg. II 159, 
 
AREOPAGITICA, 35 
 
 Councell of Trent, and the Spanish Inquisition en- 
 gendring together brought forth, or perfeted those 
 Catalogues, and expurging Indexes that rake 
 through the entrails of many an old good Author, 
 
 And Lord Herbert of Cherbury ; " Now their army seem'd 
 " terrible ; both as it was reinforced by sorae Regiments of 
 *• Suisse, and as the Inhabitants of Naples favourM them." 
 Life and Reign of Henry VIII. ;>. 241 . fol. 
 
 So too Sir Edward Walker: *' The gaining this place made 
 " the King and his Army terrible." Historical Discourses; p, 
 128, fol. 
 
 To Sixtus IV. posterity are indebted, Mr. Roscoe informs us, 
 for the institution of Inquisitors of the Press, without whose 
 License no work was suffered to be printed. (Life of Lorenzo 
 de Medici; IL 22, 8vo.) On which this Gentleman has justly- 
 observed, ** In this indeed, he gave an instance of his prudence; 
 " it being extremely consistent, that those who are conscious of 
 ** their own misconduct should endeavour to stifle the voice 
 *' that publishes and perpetuates it.*' 
 
 When writing of the patronage afforded by the Popes to the 
 restoration of letters. Lord Bolingbroke remarked, that they 
 *• proved worse politicians than the Muftis : that the Magicians 
 " themselves broke the charm by which they had bound man- 
 ** kind for so many ages." (Letter VI. on the Study of His- 
 *' tory.J This is pointed and brilliant without exaggeration ; and 
 he might have pursued his metaphor to add, but no sooner did the 
 Roman Pontiffs take the alarm that the power of the Papal See 
 would be endangered by the emancipation of the human mind 
 from ignorance, than they sought by the black art of the Li- 
 censer to raise again the charm which they had heedlessly lent 
 their aid to dissolve. 
 
 The Monks of Paris, as if prescient that general information 
 would bring ruin on their craft, when the first specimens of 
 printed books were exhibited in that Metropolis, pronounced 
 them to be the handywork of the Devil, and caused the Venders 
 to be sent to prison. 
 
 D 2 
 
36 
 
 MILTON S 
 
 with a violation wors then any could be offer'd to 
 his tomb. Nor did they stay in matters hereticall, 
 but any subject that was not to their palat, they 
 either condemn'd in a prohibition, or had it strait 
 into the new Purgatory of an Index. To fill up 
 the measure of encroachment, their last invention 
 was to ordain that no Book, Pamphlet, or Paper 
 should be printed (as if S. Fete?- had bequeathed 
 them the keys of the Presse also, out of Paradise) % 
 
 * The keys of the Presse also out of Paradise.l^ Out is the 
 genuine reading. In Toland*s edition as well as is substituted; 
 and the successive Editors have continued this alteration impli- 
 citly. I do not see the necessity for any change : beside, also 
 as well as borders closely on tautology. True it is, that there is 
 now some obscurity from the meaning having been expressed too 
 concisely in this parenthesis. But our Authour intended that 
 the Church of Rome took on it to act, as if Peter had " out of 
 ** Paradise" bequeathed to the Popes the keys of the Press; trust- 
 ing to the Reader, from the conjunction " also*' to supply the 
 Power of the keys claimed by the Papal See, then a topic fami- 
 liar to all. In the Doctrine and I>iscipline of Divorce, he ex- 
 presses himself on this mystic symbol of power in the same 
 brief phrase : " Let whoso will now listen, I want neither pall 
 " nor mitre, I stay neither for ordination [n]or induction, but in 
 " the firm faith of a knowing Christian, which is the best and truest 
 •' endowment of the keyes, I pronounce/' &c. (p. 32, 4/o. 164'4). 
 
 Disputes on the intention of Jesus in this gift of the Keys to 
 St. Peter helped to fill many a volume of the great controversy 
 which agitated Christendom during the conflict between the 
 Popish and Protestant Communions, 
 
 It is remarkable that any one ver«ed as Toland was in 
 theological enquiries should have failed to discern the sense; if 
 indeed it was he who vitiated the text. 
 
 In this S' ntence too, gluttonow* has been printed (or glutton; 
 taking *' glutton Friars," 1 suppose, for an omission at the Press ; 
 
AREOPAGITICA. 37 
 
 unlesse it were approved and licenc't under the 
 hands of 2 or 3 glutton Friers. For example : 
 
 Let the Chancellor Cinl be pleas'd to see if in 
 this present work be contain'd ought that may 
 withstand the Printing, 
 
 Vincent Rahatta, Vicar of Florence, 
 
 I have seen this present work, and finde nothing 
 athwart the Catholic Faith and good manners : 
 In witnesse whereof I have given, &c. 
 
 Nicolb Ciniy Chancellor of Florence, 
 
 Attending the precedent relation, it is allowed 
 that this present work of Davanzati, may be 
 Printed, 
 
 Vincent Rabatta, &c. 
 
 It may be printed, July 15. 
 
 Friar Simon Mompel d' Amelia Chancellor of 
 the holy Office in Florence, 
 
 but erroneously, as the succeeding authority is sufficient to 
 show : 
 
 " In pleasure some ihoir glutton souls would steep." 
 
 Dry den; R<1: Laid, 
 
 Whenever such silent and unauthorized departures from the 
 original text occur, they should be pointed out and reprehended. 
 They often mar the real sense ; and at best, it is their direct 
 and unavoidable tendency, by blending the modes and idioms of 
 different ages, to render it more difficult to trace the historical 
 progress of a Language. Of this I will give an illustration. 
 
 The quarto edition of Lord Bacon's Works, in 1765, reads — 
 " must be accommodate^/ and palliatec? by diets and medicines." 
 I. 68. Whereas it is printed — " must be accommodate and 
 
/ 
 
 38 Milton's 
 
 Sure they have a conceit, if He of the bottomlesse 
 pit^ had not long since broke prison, that this 
 
 *' palliate, &c." — in the Edition o^ the Advancement of Learning , 
 published at Oxford, in 1633, sjn. Ato. see p. 174; as no doubt 
 the Authour wrote it. Ed had not uniformly become the parti- 
 cipial termination in Bacon's time. 
 
 ^ He of the bottomlesse pit — ] While the fashion continued 
 among the English Literati of assimilating their *' Mother dia- 
 lect" to Greek and Latin constructions. He had often the em- 
 phatic sense given it of avros and ipse. The dogmatic ATT02 
 f ^a of Pj/thagoras*s disciples is enough known : I need not 
 quote authorities. The succeeding example will establish the 
 peculiar force of ipse : " Alius filio, fratre alius, aut propinquo, 
 " aut amico interfectis, agere grates deis, ornare lauru domum, 
 " genua ipsius advolvi, et dextram osculis fatigare. — Tacit An, 
 '* XV. 71." On which a Commentator observes, (Ernest, edit. 
 L 857.) " Genua ipsius — ] i. e.Neronis: quod non noiassem, nisi 
 " Pichenam ad Deos retulisse viderem. Et est exquisitior ratio 
 " hujus pronominis pro nomine usurpandi cum ex oppositione 
 " intelligi ad quod referatur, potest opponuntur Dii et ipse. Sic 
 " saepe Graece Auctor Homerus Iliad, et init, ^v^as — avrs^, ipsos 
 " i. e. corpora." 
 
 I will add from VirgiVs Moeris, 
 
 " Carmina turn melius, cum venerit ipse, canemus;" 
 
 to which the celebrated Oratour Dr. King gave its full intonation 
 before the University of Oxford, in his Jacobitical application 
 of Ipse. 
 
 This idiom was early transplanted into the English tongue. 
 Sir T. Smith, with no other intimation that it is St. Paul whom 
 he is quoting, has, " and (as he sayth) what reason hath the Pot 
 «* to say to the Potter, why madest thou me thus?*' — De Repub- 
 lica Anglorum. Tlie maner of Gouemement or Policie of the 
 Bealme of England, p. 11, A^to. 1583. And in Par. Reg. IV. 
 
 299. 
 
 " In corporal pleasure He, and careless ease :" 
 
 meaning Epicurus, It is of very common recurrence in the 
 
AREOPAGITICA. 39 
 
 quadruple exorcism would barre him down. I feare 
 their next designe will be to get into their custody 
 the Licencing of that which they say Claudius^ in- 
 tended, but went not through with. Voutsafe to 
 see another of their forms, the Roman stamp : 
 Imprimatur y If it seem good to the reverend 
 Master of the holy Palace, 
 
 Belcastro, Vicegerent. 
 
 Imprimatur 
 Friar Nicolb Rodolp/ii, Master of the holy Palace. 
 
 Sometimes 5 Imprimaturs are seen together dia- 
 logue-wise in the Piatza of one Title page, comple- 
 menting and ducking each to other with their 
 
 Anatomy of Melancholy. For instance : " They themsclues haue 
 *' all the dainties the world can aftord, ly on downe beds with a 
 " Curtisan in their armes; lieu quantum patimur pro Cfiristo, as 
 " he said/' — p. 698. ed. 1632, where Burton adverts to a profane 
 jest of Pope Leo X.'s— Thus Milton again (Par. Lost, VI. 760), 
 by way of eminence, without any further designation of the 
 Messiah : 
 
 " Hee ia celestial Panoplie all arm'd," &c. 
 
 />. 168, o/cd 1674. 
 So too {ib. IX. 130) 
 
 " And him destroyed, 
 " Or won to what may work his utter loss, 
 " For whom all this was made." 
 
 i.e. Man ; y.a.'r' s^o^yjv. 
 
 It was a strange oversight for Beniley to take exception to a 
 classical use of this Pronoun, and offer here an obtrusion on the 
 text. 
 
 * Claudius — ] Quo veaiam daret flatum crepitumque ventris 
 in convivio emittendi. — Sueton, in Claudia, — Note in the original 
 Edition, 
 
40 Milton's 
 
 shav'n reverences ^ whether the Author, who stands 
 by in perplexity at the foot of his Epistle, shall to 
 the Presse or to the spunge. These are the prety Re- 
 
 ' Sometimes five Imprimaturs are seen together dialojyue-wise 
 in the Piatza of one Title-page, complementing and ducking each 
 to other with their shav*n reverences.] According to Blackwell, in 
 his Enquiry into the Life and Writings of Homer, •' A Book in 
 " Spain must pass through six Courts, before it is publihed. I. 
 " It is examined by the Examinador Synodal of the Arch- 
 " bishoprick, commissioned by the Vicario. II. It goes to the 
 '* Recorder of the Kingdom, where it is to be published, Chro- 
 " nista de Costilla, Arragon, Valencia, &c. III. If approved 
 " by them, it is licensed by the Vicario himself, attested by a 
 *' Notario. IV. The Privilege must be had from his Ma/w^y; 
 " and a Secretary countersigns. V. After it is printed, it goes 
 " to the Corrector-General por fu Magestad, who compares it 
 " with the licenced Copy, lest any thing be inserted or altered. 
 " And VI. The Lords of the Council tax it at so much a sheet. 
 " In Portugal, a Book has seven Reviews to pass before publica- 
 '* tion. I have smiled at some of their Title-Pages, bearing for 
 " the greater Security of the Buyer, Com todas aslicengas neces- 
 " sarias/' p. 63, second edit. 1736. 
 
 Piatza, here signifies an open space; agreeably to its Italian 
 and proper idiom. Harrington has it too in this strict accepta- 
 tion for any area, or broad extent of ground surrounded with 
 buildings. (Works; p. 227. feL 1747.) So has H(ywell-~" the 
 '* Piatza of Saint Mark is the fairest and most spacious markett 
 #' place of all the Townes of Italic, and bears the form of a 
 " Greek T" A Survey of the Signiorie of Venice: p. 36, fol, 
 1651. And Davenant : "The scene wholly changing, there 
 " appears a square Piazza, resembling that of Venice, and *tis 
 " composed of Pallaces, and lesser Fabricks." Works ; p, 399- fol. 
 1673. But now with us it has long since lost its native signifi- 
 cation; so long, that Johnson, in his Dictionary, only explained 
 Piazza by " a Walk under a roof supported by pillars." Pro- 
 bably the arcades or " arched walks" in Covent Garden 
 having obtained this name, i/vhicb would properly apply to th^ 
 
AREOPAGITICA. 4X 
 
 sponsories, these are the deare Anti phonies that so 
 bewitcht of late our Prelats and their Chaplaines 
 with the goodly Eccho they made^ ; and besotted 
 
 compass of ground on which the market is kept, has contributed 
 to give currency to this impropriety. 
 
 Ducking is tnaking affected obeisance: see T. Wartori's note 
 on 
 
 " Here be without duck or nod.*' 
 
 Comut; V. 960. 
 
 And Noy, in his speech against Prynne : " Who he means by 
 *' his modern innovators in ihe Church, and by cringing and 
 *' ducking to altars, a fit term to bestow upon the Church ; he 
 " learned it of the Canters, being used among them. — State 
 Trials; I. co/. 420. Margrave's edit. 
 
 We may well imagine to ourselves Milton at Rome, eyeing 
 t\\e\x shavn reverences, with a bent brow and a look full of scorn, 
 while they were exchanging salutes with each other, in the 
 places of public resort. 
 
 ^ TJiese are the prety Responsories, these are the deare Antipho* 
 nies that so bewitcht of late our Prelats and their Chaplaines with 
 the goodly Eccho they made,'] The parts in the Liturgy of the 
 Church of England, which are recited in reciprocal succession 
 by the Minister and the Congregation, such as the alternations 
 of the Psalms, were called the Responsories. He enlarges on 
 his dislike to them in the Apology for Smecfymnuus; (Pr, W. !• 
 128. ed. 1738.) The '* goodly eccho** now grated on his ear. I. 
 Philipps, or rather he himself under his Nephew's name, makes 
 again an allusion to them in the Responsio ad Apologiam Anonymi 
 cujusdam Tenebrionis : " Siquid nos Carolum peccasse dicimus; tu 
 •5* verbis totidem, velut amcebcsa canens lyturgica, paria com- 
 " misisse Parlamentum accusas." — Cap, 12. 
 
 The Antiphonies were the Anthems sung or chaunted by two 
 responsive choirs, as in our Cathedrals : Du Fresne ; Gloss, ad 
 scriptores media ^ infimce GrcRcitatis in v. ANTI*I2NA ; and- 
 Lyndwood's Constitutiones Provinciules, &c. p. 251. note z. fol. 
 
42 Milton's 
 
 us to the gay imitation of a lordly Imprimatur, one 
 from Lambeth House, another from the west end 
 of Pauls'*', so apishly Romanizing, that the word 
 
 1679. — The more rigid of the Protestant Reformers were stren- 
 uously opposed to the continuation of any choral service. By 
 Milton, ** the pealing organ" and the •' full-voic*d duire/' 
 were in earlier life heard with strong emotions of delight. Now, 
 with Church-Musick the recollection rose in his mind of the 
 recent and grievous persecutions by the established Hierarchy of 
 those among their seceding Brethren who withdrew further 
 from the Romish Church than they believed it right to go. 
 
 * The gay imitation of a lordly Imprimatur, one from Lambeth 
 House, anothtr from the west end of Pauls ;] Pursuant to the 
 Decree of the Star-Chamber in 1637, concerning the Press, all 
 Books of Divinity, Physic, Philosophy, and Poetry, were to be 
 licensed either by the Archbishop of Canterbury, or the Bishop 
 of London, or by substitutes of their appointment. This docu- 
 ment is in Rushworth ; Hist. Coll. HI. 306. Appendix; and is re- 
 printed in the Memoirs of Thomas Hollis; p. 641. 
 • Before this Decree, according to Rushworth, *' the licensing 
 '* of all new Books was in the power of the Archbishop of Can- 
 •* terbury, and his Substitutes and Dependants, who used that 
 ** strictness, that nothing could pass the Press, without his or 
 ** their approbation, but the Authors, Printers, and Stationers 
 " must run a hazard of ruin.'* He adds, that this Decree was 
 made in the Star-Chamber lest Printers should reprint old Books 
 of Divinity formerly licensed ; and that Fox's Book of Martyrs, 
 the Practice of Piety, with other works hitherto published by 
 authority, were denied new Licences. Hist. Coll. H. 450. 
 
 And Sir Edwzrd Deej-ing complained to the Parliament in 
 1640, that *' the most learned labours of our ancient and best 
 •♦ Divines must be now corrected and defaced with a Deleatur, 
 «' by the supercilious Pen of my Lord's young Chaplain, fit 
 •' (perhaps) for the technical arts, but unfit to hold the Chair of 
 " Divinity." ib. Hist. Coll. IV. 55. 
 
 It should appear however to have been the course for works 
 
AftEOPAGITICA. 45 
 
 of command still was set downe in Latine ; as if 
 the learned Grammatical! pen that wrote it, would 
 cast no ink without Latine: or perhaps, as they 
 thought, because no vulgar tongue was worthy to 
 expresse the pure conceit of an Imprimatur ; but 
 rather, as I hope, for that our English, the lan- 
 guage of men ever famous, and formost in the 
 atchievements of Liberty, will not easily finde servile 
 letters anow to spell such a dictatorie presumption 
 
 of an historical nature to be submitted to the Secretary of State 
 for his written sanction, previously to their being sent to the 
 Printer. I find the following authoritative approbation prefixed, 
 as the instrument of Licence, to May's Poem, the victorious 
 Reigneof King Edward the third: " 1 have perused this Booke, 
 " and conceive it very worthy to be published. 
 
 " lo. Coke, Knight, Principall Secretary of State, Whitehall 
 " 17. of November, 1634.'' 
 
 Whereas Aleyns metrical Hixtorie of that wise and fortunate 
 Prince, Henrie of tltat name the seventh; {%vo. 1638.) the MS of 
 which work, in compliance with this decree of the Star-Cham- 
 ber, was laid before the Bishop of London's Chaplain, has the 
 word of command set down in Latin. '* Perlegi historicum hoc 
 " poema, dignumque judico quod Typis mandetur. — Tho. 
 ** Wykes R. P. Episc. Lond. Chapell. domest." 
 
 Under the Licensing Act of the 13th and 14th of Charles IL 
 ch. 33, all Novels, Romances, and Fairy Tales, and all Books 
 on Philosophy, Mathematics, Physic, Divinity, or Love, were 
 to be licenced by the Archbishop of Canterbury, or by the 
 Bishop of London. " The Framers.of this curious Act of Parlia- 
 " ment, (observed the late Earl Stanhope not unhappily) no doubt, 
 ** supposed that these Right Reverend Prelates were, of all tho 
 " Men in the kingdom, the most conversant with all those sub- 
 '' jects."— TAe Rights of Juries defended; p. 65. Svo. 1792. 
 
44 Milton's 
 
 Englisht^ And thus ye have the Inventors and 
 the originall of Book-licencing ript up, and drawn 
 as lineally as any pedigree. We have it not, that 
 can be heard of, from any ancient State, or Politie, 
 
 * Will not easily Jinde servile letters anotv to spell such a dictato- 
 rie presumption Englisht.] In his Tractat, Of Education, Milton 
 speaks of ** the ill habit which poor striplings get of wretched 
 " barbarizing against the Latin and Greek idiom, with their on- 
 " tutor'd Anglicisms, odious to be read/' He was therefore 
 ambitious of accommodating his English style to the construc- 
 tions of the learned Languages. The adaptation of the Latin 
 inversion which the text exhibits is however a form too succinct 
 for a tongue where Articles are prefixed, as in ours, to supply 
 the want of diversified terminations in the Cases of the Nouns. 
 To say the best, it is unidiomatical and repugnant to the copious 
 fluency of uratorial diction. We tolerate this classical dialect 
 more easily in the scientific structure of blank verse ; yet even 
 there it often causes harshness and obscurity; as in the succeed- 
 ing description : 
 
 " And now, their mightiest queird, the battle swerv'd, 
 " With many an inroad gor'd; deformed Rout 
 •' Entered, and foul Disorder; all the ground 
 " With shiverM armour strown ;" — 
 
 P. L. VI. 386. 
 
 To comprehend this passage rightly, we should bear in mind, 
 that Battle stands here in a sense now disused — for the mnin 
 body of the Satanic Host. 
 
 Milton* j> spirited remark that the English Language would 
 afford no word to denote the Licenser's passport for the admit- 
 tance of a manuscript to the Printing Office may be extended 
 to Sedition and Libel; neither of which are terms of indigenous 
 growth, and have both been grafted on the native stock of our 
 Law. 
 
AREOPAGITICA. 45 
 
 or Church, nor by any Statute^ left us by our 
 Ancestors elder or later; nor from the moderne 
 custom of any reformed Citty, or Church abroad ; 
 but from the most Antichristian Councel, and the 
 most tyrannous Inquisition that ever inquired. Till 
 then Books were ever as freely admitted into the 
 World as any other birth ; the issue of the brain** 
 was no more stifl'd then the issue of the womb: no 
 envious Juno sate cros-leg'd over the nativity of 
 any mans intellectual! ofF-spring; but if it proved a 
 Monster, who denies, but that it was justly burnt, 
 or sunk into the Sea. But that a Book in wors 
 condition then a peccant soul, should be to stand 
 before a Jury ere it be borne to the World, and 
 undergo yet in darknesse the judgement of Rada- 
 manlJi^ and his CoUegues, ere it can passe the ferry 
 
 • Nor by any Statute — ] SeUen had said, in the Parliament 
 which Charles called in 1628, " there is no Law to prevent the 
 '* printing of any Books in England, only a Decree in Star- 
 " chamber." The Proceeding and Debates of the House of Com- 
 mons; taken by Sir Thomas Crew, j). 71. l2mo. 1707, Or, 
 Rushworth; Hist, Collect, I. 055. 
 
 ** The issue of the brain, &c.] No doubt this passage was 
 known to Harrington, and it might suggest to him the whim- 
 sical device by which he prevailed on the Lady Cleypoole to 
 intercede with her Father to restore to him the manuscript of 
 his Oceana which Cromouell had seized while under the Press. 
 
 — '' Radamanth — ] An observation from SirThomas5»i/M will 
 account for the omission here of the A in Rhadatnanth: " Quidam 
 ** nimium gra^cissantes, h, e literarum tanquam senatu raoverunt, 
 "alii relegerunt, nostra nihil interest: Graeci semper in initio 
 *' & aate yocales solas, habebaot| nisi in p, cui semper fer^ sua 
 
46 
 
 MILTON S 
 
 backward into light, was never heard before, till 
 that mysterious iniquity provokt and troubl'd at the 
 first entrance of Reformation, sought out new 
 Limbo's and new Hells wherein they might include 
 our Books also within the number of their damned*. 
 And this was the rare morsell so officiously snatcht 
 
 " densum adiungebant spiritum, & rectc quidera in hac parte 
 " graccissant nostri Walli :'* &c. — De recta t^ emendata Lingua 
 Anglicct Scriptione Dialogus ; p. 25. hutetice. 1665. 
 
 As it is uniformly rime in Milton's prefatory Advertisement 
 to Par, Lost, while it is printed with an A through the Poem, 
 there has been a difterence of opinion among the Annotators, 
 whether he did not by this diversity intend to vary the meaning? 
 But I, for one, entirely agree with Mr. Todd, that this word 
 was there in the same sense spelt both ways. And the omission 
 of this letter in my text, coupled with what Sir T. Smith ob- 
 serves, will show that this Orthography was in adherence to the 
 practice of the Greeks. Hence obviously it was, that Bentley, 
 in his Edition of Par. Lost, dropped the h in rhyme. 
 
 ^ Sought out new Limbo's and new Hells wherein they might in^ 
 elude our Books also within the number of their da7nned.] The 
 Papists gave the name of Limbo to Purgatory, and to the repo- 
 sitory assigned in their Faith for the Souls of the Just, who lived 
 before the advent of Christ, and to those of Infants who die un- 
 baptized. This receptacle or conservatory for these departed 
 Spirits was located in the centre of the Earth, and on the out- 
 ward confines of Purgatory : in this subterranean region they 
 were to await the day of doom. The reader may learn further 
 particulars, under Limbus, in Du Fresne; Gloss, ad. Script. 3Ied. 
 £f Infiin. Latinitatis, 
 
 Phaer, in his Torsion of the " fourth Booke of Aeneidos/* 
 renders " Stygioque caput damnaverat Oreo" — by — 
 
 " Diana damned had her head to lake of Limbo-jpit.*' 
 Signat. G, 4. sm. 4to. 1620. 
 
AREOPAGITICA. 4J: 
 
 up, and so ilfavourdly imitated by our inquisiturient 
 Bishops, and the attendant Minorites their Chap- 
 lains ^ That ye like not now these most certain 
 Authors of this licencing Order, and that all sinister 
 intention was farre distant from your thoughts, 
 when ye were importun'd the passing it, all men 
 who know the integrity of your actions, and how 
 ye honour Truth, will clear yee readily \ 
 
 ' Our inquisiturient Bishops and the attendant Minorites their 
 Chaplains.'] That is, " our inquisitorial Bishops and their Friar- 
 ** like Chaplains." The Franciscans were called Friar'tninors or 
 Minorites, because it was one of the rules of their Order, says 
 Du Fresne, 
 
 " Nullus vocetur Prior, sed generaliter omnes vocentur Fra- 
 tres minorea,** — Gloss, torn. 4. col. 792. Benedictine Edit. 
 
 ' How ye honour Truth, will clear yee readily.'] When I cast 
 my eye over the first Edition of this Oration, with a view to the 
 present Republication, I thought that I discerned an intentional 
 difference between our Authour's use o^ ye and yee; that he 
 doubled the e where he gave this word an emphatical pronun- 
 ciation ; indifferently, whether it were the nominative or aa 
 oblique Case. But on confronting the respective passages, the dis- 
 tinction did not appear to me to be sufficiently preserved to justify 
 particular notice. I am now disposed to believe this to have 
 arisen from the Printer not having adhered with fidelity to the 
 orthography of the Manuscript: having since found that the 
 elder Richardson had drawn a like conclusion, from the same di- 
 versity through Milton's own Editions of Paradise Lost, in the 
 spelling of this and the other pronouns, " He, We, Me, Ye, 
 *' which are (he adds) with a double or a single e, as the Em- 
 " phasis lies upon them, or does not." Life of Milton prefixed 
 to Notes and Remarks on Paradise Lout; p. CXXXI. BfO. 1734. 
 
 This will appear palpably in the following passage; 
 
 *' He with his whole posteritie must dye, 
 ** Dye hee or Justice must." 
 
 Par. Lost. p. dl. Svo.ed, IQ7^ 
 
48 Milton's 
 
 But some will say. What though the Inventors 
 were bad, the thing for all that may be good ? It may 
 so; yet if that thing be no such deep invention, 
 but obvious, and easie for any man to light on, and 
 yet best and wisest Commonwealths through all 
 ages, and occasions have forborne to use it, and 
 falsest seducers, and oppressors of men were the 
 first who tooke it up, and to no other purpose but 
 to obstruct and hinder the first approach of Re- 
 formation ; I am of those who beleeve, it will be a 
 harder alchymy then Lulliiis ever knew^, to subli- 
 
 And what will decisively ascertain, thai these variations were 
 not without a meaning, the same Biographer points out in the 
 table of Errata to the first impression of this poem, a correctioQ 
 of the Press expressly to that effect. *' Lib. 2. v. 414, for uc r. 
 ** wee,'* I have not in ray recollection any specimen which 
 would exemplify more clearly the Poet's scheme, to mark em- 
 phasis by varied spelling, than the close of Eve's pathetic sup- 
 plication to Adam to pardon her transgression, and not forsake 
 her, as we find it printed in the only copies of authority : see 
 "B, IX. V, 927. of the original Quartos; and p, 278 of the 8vo. 
 1674. 
 
 •' On me exercise not 
 " Thy hatred for this miserie befall'n, 
 " On me alreadie lost, mee then thy self 
 " More miserable ; both have sin'd, but thou 
 " Against God onely, I against God and thee, 
 •' And to the place of judgment will return, 
 " There with my cries importune Heav'n, that all 
 " The sentence from thy head removed may light 
 ** On me, sole cause to thee of all this woe, 
 ** Mee, mee onely just object of his ire." — 
 
 • A harder alchymy then Lullius ever knew,"] i. e, Raymond 
 Lully, who was an Hermetic Philosopher of high fame in his 
 day, and a great adept in the occult sciences. 
 
AREOPAGITICA. 49 
 
 mat any good use out of such an invention. Yet 
 this only is what I request to gain from this reason, 
 that it may be held a dangerous and suspicious 
 fruit, as certainly it deserves, for the tree that bore 
 it, untill I can dissect one by one the properties it 
 has. But I have first to finish, as was propounded, 
 what is to be thought in generall of reading Books, 
 what ever sort they be, and whether be more the 
 benefit, or the harm that thence proceeds? 
 
 Not to insist upon the examples o( Moses, Daniel 
 and Paul, who were skilfuil in all the Learning of 
 the Egyptians, Caldeans, and Greeks, which could 
 not probably be without reading their Books of all 
 sorts 5 in Paul especially, who thought it no de- 
 filement^ to insert into holy Scripture the sentences 
 of three Greek Poets, and one of them a Tragedian ; 
 the question was, notwithstanding sometimes con- 
 troverted among the primitive Doctors, but with 
 great odds on that side which affirmed it both law- 
 full and profitable, as was then evidently perceived, 
 when Julian the Apostat*, and suttlest enemy to 
 
 * Paul thought it no defilement, &c.] See Illustration, B. 
 
 * When Julian the Apostat, &c.] See Juliani Opera, p, 192, 
 &c. part 2. 4/0. Paris, 1630. 
 
 Whether this Imperial edict prohibited to the Christians the 
 study of Pagan Learning altogether? or whether it went no 
 further than to interdict the teaching of it in their seminaries ? 
 were questions which had exercised the pens of Men of Parts 
 in England and in other Countries. There were difficulties on 
 each side of the controversy. Gibbon reconciled the seeming 
 contradictions. " The Christians (he observed) were directly 
 
 £ 
 
50 Milton's 
 
 our faith, made a decree forbidding Christians the 
 study of heathen Learning : for, said he, they 
 wound us with our own weapons, and with our owne 
 arts and sciences they overcome us. And indeed 
 the Christians were put so to their shifts by this 
 crafty means, and so much in danger to decline 
 into all ignorance, that the two Apollinarii were 
 fain, as a man may say, to coin all the seven liberall 
 Sciences out of the Bible, reducing it into divers 
 forms of Orations, Poems, Dialogues ^ ev'n to the 
 
 " forbid to teacb^ they were indirectly forbid to learn ; since 
 " they would not frequent the Schools of th*? Pagans." (Hist. 
 ch.23 n. 89.) But the remark originally belonged to Warhurton : 
 see his Discourse of Julian's attempt to rebuild the Ternple ofJerU' 
 sale?n;p, 26. (n.) 8vo, 1750. 
 
 * The two Apollinarii were fain, as a man may say, to coin all 
 the seven liberall Sciences out of the Bible, reducing it into divers 
 forms of Orations, Poems, Dialogues, &c.] 
 
 To qualify himself for the defence of the anti-prelatical Party, 
 Milton had been not long before reading the ecclesiastical His- 
 torian Socrates, who furnished him with this anecdote, and he 
 now remembered the following passage : 
 
 Sfji.vrji/.Qysva'OLiJi.sv, (pays^cvrspov; aitahi^sy uj$ yocp a/A^w ^r^jv 
 iitiq-tr^l^ov&s Kayujv, o jX£v itcirrfp ypoci/^fjiOLtixxv, (TOOmx-uiv h o 
 vio$, ;)^e<w^e/f savrois irpos rov iroipoyra. xoli^ov rois XF^ria.vQi$ 
 aifshiwvov fji^sv yap svSvs ypapt^piOiriKOs ars, rijv rsy.vr^v 
 ypa[^IJi.a,Tt%y/ p^^ir^avixw rvitw <rvvsta,rls' rare (j^cvvo-eajg ^i^Xia, 
 tia, ta yjpoj'kti XsyoiJi^svov [ji^stpa y.&re'SxXs, xa; oca xara rrjy 
 TtoLKoLiOLv hoL^-fifiv £v is'opio^s TJituii ffvyyay^oLTtroii' tlcu rato [/.ev 
 rw ^oLY.tvKfH.uj /xsr^'W ffuvBtarlr faro Se vion rca rri$ ■tpayaj^ias 
 rvifutj ^poLiuoLTiKw; e^eipyaXsro* nat TTavrt iLtrpuj pv^iUKvu exp^"^^* 
 tiiwi OLV l^ri$sis rpQtos Ttj; sX'ArjVty.yjg yXuTlrjs rois XP^fiCL-ms 
 
AREOPAGITICA. 51 
 
 calculating of a new Christian Grammar. But 
 saith the Historian Socrates, the providence of 
 God provided better then the industry of Apollina- 
 rius and his Son, by taking away that illiterat law 
 with the life of him who devis'd it. So great an 
 injury they then held it to be deprived of Hellenick 
 Learning; and thought it a persecution more under- 
 mining, and secretly decaying the Church, then 
 the open cruelty of Decius or Diocksian^. And 
 
 av-fpLOO^ ■*!* h vEouTEpog aifoXkivapios yjv ifpos to Xsysiv itapsff.' 
 KsvaariiEvos, roc svayyeXioc, xoci rex, ocitQS'oXixa, hyiLOLrcc, ev rvitou 
 SiaXoyujv s^e^ero, xaOa kocl irXcirujy mcLp £XXr)(riv' sroo (j^ev sv ruj 
 yj>i5'^0Lvi<r^M ^piujhis (pccvsvrESt rs ^ol^tiXews ro <ro<pi(ri^a. Six 
 rwv oiKEiujy itovouv EviKrjtrav' aXX* y) irpovoia, rs flea KpEitra-iov 
 syEvsro, xa; rr^s rsrouv (ritsSrjs, xai rr^g tb tx(riXEuj$ opi^rj$. — 
 Socrat. Hist. Ecclesiast. Lib. III. cap. 16. Parisiis. 1668. 
 One sense of calculate then was to model or frame. 
 
 • So great an injury they then held it to be deprived of Hellc' 
 nick Learning; and thought it a persecution more undermining, and 
 secretly decaying the Church, then the open cruelty of Decius or 
 Dioclesian.] The same observation had been made by Lord 
 Bacon. ** Many of the antient Bishops and Fathers of the 
 *' Church were excellently read and studied in all the Learning 
 " of the Heathen, insomuch, that the Edict of the emperor Jm- 
 '* lianus whereby it was interdicted unto Christians to be ad- 
 " mitted in Schools, Lectures, or exercises of Learning, was 
 " esteemed and accounted a more pernicious engine and machi- 
 ** nation against the Christian faith, than were all the san- 
 *' guinary prosecutions of his predecessors." Works; L 24. 
 Uo. 176.5. 
 
 We can scarcely doubt that Bacon's Treatise of the Advance- 
 ment of Learning was well known to Milton. These passages, 
 like some other which I have brought together under view frora 
 the two Writers, bear an obyious similitude. 
 
 E 2 
 
52 milton's 
 
 perhaps it was the same politick drift that the DIvell 
 whipt St. Jerom'^ in a lenten dream, for reading 
 Cicero; or else it was a fantasm bred by the feaver 
 which had then seis'd him. For had an Angel bin 
 his discipliner, unlesse it were for dwelling too 
 much upon Ciceronianisms, and had chastiz'd the 
 reading, not the vanity, it had bin plainly partiall; 
 first, to correct him for grave Cicero^ and not for 
 scurrill Plautus* whom he confesses to have bin 
 
 ' TJie Divell whipt St. Jerom, &c.] See Illustration, C. 
 
 • Scurrill Plautus — ] Our Authour is not accustomed to curtail 
 scurrilous. In the present instance there is a local propriety 
 for it : scurribuj Plautu5 would have been a monotonous termi- 
 nation of these final and consecutive syllables. A curious 
 example this to show the attention he paid to niceties of compo- 
 sition in this piece ; — that he preserved the rhythmus of his 
 sentences with the anxiety of an Athenian Rhetor. 
 
 When vindicating blank Verse against the jingling sound of 
 like endings, he remarks, that this was " a fault avoided by the 
 *' learned Antients both in Poetry, and all good Oratoury." 
 
 To escape from the same close recurrence of corresponding 
 rounds in Horace; Epist. I. 2, 17. 
 
 " Rursu*, quid VirtMj, & quid Sapientia possit;** 
 
 Bentley boldly advanced rursum into bis text, which lection he 
 would defend by observing — 
 
 '* Suavius hie sonat rursum, et evitatur homoeteleuton rursu;, 
 virtM5." 
 
 Our Authour launched a sarcasm at Hall, the Satirist, for an 
 offensive negligence of this kind. " The Remonstrant when he 
 " was as young as I, (says Milton) could 
 
 " Teach each hollow grove to sound his love, 
 " Wearying Echo with one changeless word. 
 
AREOPAGITICA. 53 
 
 reading not long before ; next, to correct him only, 
 and let so many more antient Fathers wax old in 
 those pleasant and florid studies without the lash of 
 
 *' And so he well might, and all his auditory beside, with his 
 " teach each/'—Pr. »^. I. 191. ed. Toland. 
 
 We learn from himself that he possessed an ear cultivated 
 to fastidiousness. His words well merit transcription. " This 
 ** good hap I had from a careful Education to be inur'd and sea- 
 " sonM betimes with the best and elegantest Authours of the 
 '* learned Tongues, and thereto brought an Eare that could 
 " measure a just cadence and scan without articulating; rather 
 " nice and humourous in what was tolerable than patient to read 
 '* every drawling Versifier." ubi sup. I. 186. 
 
 A Scholar of high qualifications has confirmed the Poet's repre- 
 sentation of himself. '* There is no kind or degree of Harmony 
 '* of which our Language is capable (observes Dr. Foster), which 
 " may not be found in numberless instances thro* Milton's 
 "writings; the excellency of whose Ear seems to have been 
 " equal to that of his Imagination and Learning." Essai/ on 
 the different Nature of Accents and Quantity ; p. 67. sec. Edit, 
 
 Strange ! that any one so alive to musical and poetical num- 
 bers should have chosen to enumerate the preeminent accomplish- 
 ments of Eve in a line to which it would not be easy to find a 
 parallel for harshness throughout the ample range of English 
 Poetry : — 
 
 *' what she wills to do or say, 
 
 " Seems wisest, virtuousest, discreetest, best.** 
 
 P. L. VHL 549. 
 
 To this verse I could never reconcile myself. Surely the 
 subject called for the most mellifluous modulation. It was not 
 so that Homer described Penelope. To represent her resplendent 
 Beauty, he combined the sweetest and most flowing sounds 
 {Odyss. XVII. 36.), as a Critic of Antiquity has remarked. 
 We are less offended with a succession of these Superlatives, 
 when he is recounting the propensities of an evil Spirit : — 
 
54 Milton's 
 
 such a tutoring apparition ; insomuch that Basil 
 teaches how some good use may be made of Mar- 
 gites a sportfull Poem, not now extant, writ by 
 Homers and why not then o^ Moj'ganfe an Italian 
 Romanze much to the same purpose^? But if it 
 
 " Belial^ the dissolutest Spirit that fell, 
 *' The sensuallest, and, after Asmodai, 
 " The fleshliest Incubus, — 
 
 Par. Reg. II. 150. 
 
 Did he think that by this he gave superiour effect through Em- 
 phasis ? It is observed by some one, I think it is Hurd, that when 
 Donne or Ben Jonson had anything better than ordinary to say, 
 they were sure to use their roughest and hardest versification. 
 
 How he could have admitted these, and other harsh com- 
 binations is stranger still to all who recollect his recorded 
 fondness for the Italian Poets (Epist, Fam. Benedicto Bon- 
 matihcso Florentino.), and his intimate knowlege of the soft- 
 ness and delicate fluency which reigns through the most har- 
 monious of the living Languages in Europe. An attainment 
 we should expect to have necessarily induced disgust at the dis- 
 sonance we sometimes meet with in his Poetry. I am inclined 
 to believe that he must in such instances have formed for himself 
 some scheme of metrical modulation of which we are unaware ; 
 a peculiar system, but on what principle he constructed it, it is 
 difficult to discover. If Dryden had not professed that in the 
 Religio Laid he was imitating the looser and unpolished versifi- 
 cation which Horace, numerosus Horatius, affected in his Epis- 
 tles, we should have been at a loss to account for the flatness 
 there so perceptible in many lines of a Poet, who retuned 
 Chancer in heroic Couplets of the finest tone that the English 
 Language can boast. 
 
 ^ Margites a sportfull Poem, not now extant, vinihyVioTnev; 
 and why not then of Morgante an Italian Romanze much to the 
 tame purpose ? ] 
 
 In this opinion as to the Writer of the Margites, Milton fol« 
 
AREOPAGITICA. 6fit 
 
 be agreed we shall be try*d by visions, there is a 
 vision recorded by Eusebius far ancienter then this 
 
 lowed the Antients; but we ought (it seems) to look on it as a 
 supposititious piece. A single word in the minute fragments 
 which remain detects the error; as I learn from Mr. Payne 
 Knight's Analytical Essay on the Greek Alphabet. " With confi- 
 " dence we may (says this Gentleman) pronounce the Margites 
 " to have been a forgery, though there are only four lines of it 
 *' extant, and three of those are quoted by Plato and Aristotle : 
 " but in these we have a compound verb with the augment on 
 " the preposition (ojir^raTo) which Homer's Grammar did not 
 " admit." p. 30. Mo. 1791. 
 
 // Morgante Maggiore a burlesque and satirical poem by 
 Luigi Pulci is the work our Authour here intends. Voltaire 
 professed to have doubts of what was PulcVs purpose, when pa- 
 raphrasing passages from Holy Writ, — whether they were a pro- 
 fane travest}'^? or whether his parodies, though they now appear 
 ludicrous, were not with innocent intentions? see his Catalogue 
 raisonne des Esprits Forts depuis le Cure Rabelais, jus-qu*au 
 Cure Jean Meslier. 
 
 Had Milton suspected any irreligion to have lurked in this 
 Poem, we may be assured he never would have spoken of it 
 with complacency. The probability is, that this lively French 
 Writer hazarded his remark d tdtons. It is incontestible that he 
 had not seen Petrarch's Ode to the Fountain of Vaucluse in the 
 original; of the first stanza of which he has nevertheless exhi- 
 bited a poetical paraphrase. (Essai sur les Mxurs ei VEsprit des 
 Nations: ch. 82.) Baretti, who taxed him with not having read 
 the Morgante, which he had criticized, would have been delighted 
 with this anecdote : " Vous dites quelque part dans vos Melanges 
 " de Litterature, que le Poeme de TArioste est une Continuation du 
 " Poeme de Bojardo. Celui qui vous a donne cette information ne 
 " vous a point trompe: mais il vous a trompe quand il vousa dit, 
 '* que Bojardo ne fit que continuer le Poeme bizarrement intitule, 
 " // Morgante Maggiore de Luigi Pulci. Cela n'est pas vrai. 
 *' Quoi qu'on trouve plusieurs Heros de memenomdans les deux 
 ** Ouvrages> Pun n'est pas plus une Continuation de Tautre^ que 
 
56 Milton's 
 
 tale of Jerom to the Nun Eustochium, and besides 
 has nothing of a feavor in it. Dionysius Alexan- 
 drinus ^ was about the year 240, a person of great 
 
 " votre Henriade est une Continuation de votre Candide : Vous 
 " sauriez cela, si vous aviez lu ces Poeraes, cornme vous pre- 
 *' tendez avoir fait." — Discours sur Shakespeare, et sur Monsieur de 
 Voltaire; p. 146. 8vo. 1777. 
 
 Non nostrum munus tantas componere lites. But I must not 
 pass it over that Milton called Pulci's work a " Romanze" 
 to distinguish that it was a poetical composition. The name 
 dates its origin from the hybridous dialect in use, of which 
 a large proportion was a corrupted Latin, when the first rude 
 essays at Poetry after the overthrow of the Roman Empire 
 were written. It was the primary signification of Romance 
 through all the Countries where the Latin overpowered the ver- 
 nacular Language. " The Spaniards (Verstegan remarks) call 
 " to this day such verses as they make in their Language, by 
 " the name of Romances: and so did the French also, as may 
 " appear by the title of the Poesie written in French by John 
 " Clopinell alias Meung, by him intituled, Le Romant de la Rose, 
 *' and afterward translated into English by Geff cry Chaucer, with 
 " the title of the " Romant of the Rose.'* A Restitution of decayed 
 Intelligence; /). 200. Mo. 1628. 
 
 Milton is not singular in the use of Romance in the sense of 
 a narrative Poem. It occurs more than once in Puttenham* s Arte 
 of Poesie; but being then quite new to the Language, he always 
 adds an explanatory phrase ; " Romances or historical rimes." 
 Our Authour, to apprize the Reader that he assigns it the same 
 import as the Italians, retains their z. When he employed this 
 word to denote the chivalrous tales in prose of the dark ages, he 
 wrote it in the way then and still in use among us for this se- 
 condary and adventitious meaning. 
 
 * Dionysius Alexandrinus, &c.] What is contained in the 
 following Note by Meursius, to his Edition of Helladii Besan" 
 tinoi Chrestomathia, relates, I apprehend, to this Dionysius AleX' 
 andrinus: " Diora/sius Alexandrinus, Christianus: qui scripsit, 
 «* 'Tiroi^vfji^a, ei; rrjv IxxATjciao-r^v ^oKoy^wyra. Suidas, de eo. 
 
AREOPAGITICA. 6/ 
 
 name in the Church for Piety and Lerning, who had 
 wont to avail himself much against Hereticks hy 
 being conversant in their Books 5 untill a certain 
 Presbyter laid it scrupulously to his conscience, 
 how he durst venture himselfe among those defiling 
 volumes. The worthy man loath to give offence 
 fell into a new debate with himselfe, what was to be 
 thought; when suddenly a vision sent from GoD, it is 
 his own Epistle that so avers it, confirmed him in 
 these words: Read any Books whatever come to thy 
 hands, for thou art sufficient both to judge aright, 
 and to examine each matter. To this revelation 
 he assented the sooner, as he confesses, because it 
 was answerable to that of the Apostle to the Thes- 
 salonians; Prove all things*, hold fast that which 
 
 *' Aiovvo'ids* £0 AXs^ay^pelas' ov svpov VTfoix,vrj[/.a, sis '^f{^ iyotXyi' 
 *' o'loca'T'^v ^oXoiLujvrcL, Xiav ev(ppaS£S. Hujus quoque esse puto 
 " Ennnrrationem in Epistolam Pauli ad Romanos, quae exstat in 
 " Bibliotheca Augustana. Forte etiam hie ipse, qui Episcopus 
 " posted factus : de quo, atque scriptis ejus, vide Eusebium* 
 " Hist. Eccles. lib. VI. cap. XLIV. XLV. XLVI. & Librum 
 " VII. totum. Item Nicephorum, Hist, item Eccles. lib. VI. 
 " cap. VI."— p. 33. Ultrajecti. 1686. Mo, 
 
 * Prcwe all things, &c.] " Try all things, hold fast that which 
 " is good, is a divine rule, coming from the Father of Light and 
 " Truth ; and it is hard to know what other way men can come 
 ** at Truth, to lay hold of it, if they do not dig and search for 
 " it as for gold and hid treasure." Locke ; Conduct of the Un^ 
 der standing : S. 3. 
 
 The Reasons why the Commons could not agree to the Clause 
 which revived the old Printing Act, delivered at a conference 
 with the Lords, 1695; and printed in the Craftsman, No. 281. 
 (VIII. 213) are there said to have been drawn up by Locke. 
 
58 Milton's 
 
 is good. And he might have added another re- 
 markable saying of the same Author ; To the pure 
 all things are pure^ not only meats and drinks, but 
 all kinde of Knowledge whether of good or evill ; 
 the Knowledge cannot defile, nor consequently the 
 Books, if the will and conscience be not defiFd. 
 For Books are as meats and viands are ; some of 
 good, some of evill substance; and yet GoD in that 
 unapocryphall vision, said without exception ; Rise 
 PeteVy kill and eat, leaving the choice to each 
 man's discretion. Wholesome meats to a vitiated 
 stomack. differ little or nothing from unwholesome; 
 and best Books to a naughty mind are not unap- 
 pliable to occasions of Evill. Bad meats will scarce 
 breed good nourishment in the healthiest concoc- 
 tion; but herein the difference is of bad Books, 
 that they to a discreet and judicious Reader serve 
 ID many respects to discover, to confute, to fore- 
 warn, and to illustrate. Whereof what better 
 witnes can ye expect I should produce, then one 
 of your own now sitting in Parlament, the chief of 
 learned Men reputed in this land, Mr. Selden, 
 whose volume of naturall and national Laws proves*, 
 
 * To the pure all things are pure, &c.] Epistle to Titus ; ch. I, 
 •. 15. — There is a similar thought in Par, Lost. V. 117. 
 
 *' Evil into the mind of God or Man 
 
 •* May come and go, so unapproved, and leave 
 
 " No spot or blame behind.'* 
 
 * TTte chief of learned Men reputed in this Land, Mr. Selden. 
 
AREOPAGITICA. 5^ 
 
 not only by great autorities brought together, but 
 by exquisite reasons and theorems almost mathe- 
 matically demonstrative, that all opinions, yea 
 errors, known, read, and collated, are of main service 
 and assistance toward the speedy attainment of what 
 is truest. I conceive therefore, that when GoD did 
 enlarge the universall diet of man's body, saving 
 ever the rules of Temperance, he then also, as be- 
 fore, left arbitrary the dyeting and repasting of our 
 minds; as wherein every mature man might have 
 to exercise his owne leading capacity ^ How great 
 a vertue is Temperance, how much of moment 
 through the whole life of man? yet GoD committs 
 the managing so great a trust, without particular 
 
 whose volume of naturall and national Laws proves, &c.] The work 
 referred to was entitled, " De Jure Natural! & Gentium, juxta 
 " disciplinam Hebraeorura. fol. Lond. 1640." He speaks of it 
 again in the 22nd ch. of the Doctrine and Discipline of Divorce 
 with very high praise. " Exquisite reasons'* — this is a Cicero- 
 nian phrase : " Philosophoruin vero exquisita qusedam argU" 
 " menta.'* De Divinat. lib. 1.3. 
 
 ^ When God did enlarge the universall diet of man's body, 
 taving ever the rules of Temperance, he then also, as before, left 
 arbitrary the dyeting and repasting of our minds; as wherein 
 every mature man might have to exercise his owne leading ca- 
 pacity.] 
 
 " But Knowlege is as food, and needs no lest 
 *' Her Temperance over appetite, to know 
 '* In measure what the mind may well contain ; 
 " Oppresses else with surfeit, and soon turns 
 *' Wisdom to folly, as nourishment to wind." 
 
 Par, Lost. VH. 126. 
 
6o 
 
 MILTON S 
 
 law or prescription, wholly to the demeanour of 
 every grown man. And therefore when he himself 
 tabrd the Jews from Heaven, that Omer which 
 was every man's daily portion of Manna, is com- 
 puted to have bin more then might have well suf- 
 ficed the heartiest feeder thrice as many meals. 
 For those actions which enter into a man, rather 
 then issue out of him, and therefore defile not, 
 God uses not to captivat under a perpetuall child- 
 hood of prescription, but trusts him with the gift of 
 Reason to be his own chooser ; there were but little 
 work left for preaching, if law and compulsion 
 should grow so fast upon those things which hereto- 
 fore were governed only by exhortation. Salomon 
 informs us, that much reading is a weariness to the 
 flesh; but neither he, nor other inspired Author tells 
 us that such, or such reading is unlawfull : yet cer- 
 tainly had God thought good to limit us herein, it 
 had bin much more expedient to have told us what 
 was unlawfull, then what was wearisome. As for 
 the burning of those Ephesian Books by St. Pauls 
 converts, 'tis reply'd the Books were magick, the 
 Syriack so renders them. It was a privat act, a 
 voluntary act, and leaves us to a voluntary imitation: 
 the men in remorse burnt those Books which were 
 their own ; the Magistrat by this example is not 
 appointed^: these men practiz'd the Books, another 
 
 • Tlie Magistrat bytJds example is not appointed.] That is, di- 
 rected. An uncommon sense. It was, however, in use by con- 
 temporary writers. Thus Clarendon : *' He made no haste to 
 
AREOPAGITICA. 6l 
 
 might perhaps have read them in some sort usefully. 
 Good and Evill we know in the field of this world 
 grow up together almost inseparably ''j and the 
 knowledge of Good is so involved and interwoven 
 with the knowledge of Evill, and in so many cun- 
 ning resemblances hardly to be discern'd, that those 
 
 ** return upon the summons of the House, but sent to the King 
 " to know his pleasure ; who, not thinking matters yet ripe 
 " enough to make any such declaration, appointed him to come 
 «' away.—*' Hist: of the Rebellion; I. 605. 8ro. 1807. 
 
 And in the Memoirs qf CoL Hutchinson : " He had appointed 
 " his wife, when she went away, to send him the Dutch Anno- 
 " tations on the Bible."— p. 435. 4<o. 1806. 
 
 '^ Good and Evill we know in the field of this world grow up 
 together almost inseparably ."^ He had, it is not improbable, 
 Plutarch in his thoughts: — 
 
 xclT EvpnrlSrjy, 
 
 OvK otv yivoiro x^fi^ sc^Xa, yea) KocKot, 
 'AXA' Eo-ri ris e-vyKpaccris, uj$ ex^'v xocXcv^. 
 
 De hide ^ Osiride Liber; p. 114. Cantab. 1744. 
 
 •* The harmony of the World, like that of a harp (to use 
 " the expression of HeraclitusJ, is made up of discords, and 
 " consists in a mixture of good and evil, or, as Euripides has it, 
 " good and evil cannot be separated from each other, though 
 " they are so tempered as that Beauty and Order be the result.'* 
 Squire's Trans. 
 
 Milton might also bear Homer in mind : 
 
 Aoio* yxp re lal^oi xataKeiacTat iv Aib$ hht 
 Aupwy, oJa. SlSoutri, kockuv Irspog $s, sdoov 
 
 Iliad; XXIV. 527. 
 
 It is evident by the phrase presently afterward in Plutarch — ov 
 ATEIN nieaN SIS Tajxta;, &c. that this writer adverted to him. 
 
63 Milton's 
 
 confused seeds which were imposed on Psyche as an 
 incessant labour to cull out, and sort asunder, were 
 not more intermixt. It was from out the rinde of 
 one apple tasted, that the knowledge of Good and 
 Evill as two twins cleaving together leapt forth into 
 the world ^ And perhaps this is that doom which 
 
 ' Those confused seeds which were imposed on Psyche as an in" 
 eessant labour to cull out, and sort asunder, were not more inters 
 mixt. It was from out the rinde of one apple tasted, that the 
 knowledge of Good and Evill as two twins cleaving together leapt 
 forth into the world.'\ The story of Psyche's task is to be found in 
 Apuleius : I add the curious description. *' His editis, involat 
 *' eani, vestemque plurifariam diloricat : capilloque discisso^ et 
 ** capite conquassalo, graviter affligit, et, accepto frumento et 
 " hordeo et milio et papavere & cicere et lente et faba, commix- 
 " tisque acervatim confusisque in unum grumulum, sic ad illam : 
 ** Videris enim mihi tarn deformis ancilla nullo alio, sed tantum 
 *• sedulo ministtrio amatores tuos promereri : jam ergo et ipsa 
 " frugem tuam periclitabor. Discerne seminum istorum pas- 
 *' sivam congeriem : singulisque granis rite dispositis, atque 
 *' sejugatis, ante istatn vesperam opus expeditum approbato mihi. 
 «' Sic assignato tantorum seminum cumulo, ipsa csenae nupiiali 
 " concessit." Apuleii Metamorph : p. 39S. Ed. Oudendorp. Lug, 
 Batav. 1786. 
 
 The allusion, which closes the latter sentence in the text, is to 
 iome monstrous birth recorded by the Father of Physic. Our 
 Aulhour has in EixoyoxAari?^ pointed out its origin. " Were 
 •' they all born twins of Hippocrates, with him and his fortune, 
 "one birth, one burial? Sect. 21. There is the same con- 
 cealed allusion in the Archangel's address to Adam : 
 
 " Since thy original lapse, true Liberty 
 
 " Is lost, which always with right Reason dwell* 
 
 ** Twinn'd, and from her hath no dividual being." 
 
 Par. Lost. XIL 83. 
 
 In the last line some Editors have printed twin'd, but this 
 
ARE6PAGITICA. 63 
 
 jidam fell into of knowing Good and Evill, that is 
 to say of knowing Good by Evill ^. As therefore the 
 
 passage in his Areopagitica authenticates the original Reading. 
 And Shakspeare might have been brought in its confirmation :— 
 
 " Twinned brothers of one womb, 
 " Whose procreation, residence, and birth, 
 " Scarce is dividant** 
 
 Timon of Ath.; A, 4.. S. S. 
 
 Two Twins — Dryden and Pope with other admired Writers 
 have fallen into this palpable redundancy : and Spaiser yet 
 more solecistically. Of the Graces: 
 
 " And ye three twins to light by Venus brought.** 
 
 Works; p, 149. /o/. 1675, 
 
 It is to be wished, that the Editors of English Books of ac- 
 knowleged reputation for style would mark the inadvertencies 
 and hallucinations in their Authour's diction, after the manner of 
 the philological notices which Hurd has subjoined to the pages of 
 Addison. This would assist to rectify and refine our Language: 
 nothing would^ I think, mure efiectually advance the cultivation 
 of propriety. By these means. Phraseology and Idioms which 
 ought to be avoided must strike many an eye which would 
 never look for them in grammatical disquisitions; or which 
 might pass for unobjectionable because franked by an accredited 
 name. 
 
 » Perhaps this is that doom which Adam fell into of knowing 
 Good and Evill, that is to saj/ of knowing Good by Evill.] Thus, 
 in Par, Lost, IV. 221. 
 
 " Our death, the tree of Knowlege, grew fast by, 
 ** Knowlege of good bought dear by knowing ill." 
 
 Lord Bacon declares that '* a Knowlege of the impostures 
 *' and evills of every profession is incident to a Knowlege re- 
 •^ specting the duties and professions." Essay; of Public Good, 
 
64 
 
 MILTONS 
 
 State of man now is ; what wisdome can there be to 
 choose, what continence to forbeare without the 
 knowledge of Evill ? He that can apprehend and 
 consider Vice with all her baits and seeming plea- 
 sures, and yet abstain, and yet distinguish, and yet 
 prefer that which is truly better, he is the true way- 
 faring Christian. I cannot praise a fugitive and 
 cloistered Vertue, unexercised and unbreath'd, that 
 never sallies out and sees her adversary, but slinks 
 out of the race, where that immortall garland is to 
 be run for, not without dust and heat\ Assuredly 
 
 * He that can apprehend and consider Vice with all her baits 
 •nd seeming pleasures, and yet abstain, and yet distingmsh, and 
 yet prefer that which is truly better, he is the true wayfaring Chris- 
 tian, I cannot praise a fugitive and cloistered Vertue, unexercis'd 
 and unbreath*d, that never sallies out and sees her adversary, but 
 slinks out of the race, where that immortall garland is to be run for, 
 not without dust and heat."] 
 
 The quintuple iteration of and might be to maintain the style 
 of Isocrates, who is remarkable for a profusion of Copulatives; of 
 which an example occurs in the flattery he addresses, in his 
 Areopagitic Oration, to the national vanity of the Athenians, 
 
 Eiriorrocf^ai yap sv [uev rois aKKoig roirois, (pvcsis syhvof/^evois 
 xapTfuv KAI SsvSpujv KAI ^wwv i^sa^ ev Exarois, KAI iroAa 
 rujy aWujv Sia<p£p8cras' Tijv S* yjfjisrepAy 'xyipa.v avSpag KAI 
 rpe(pEiv KAI (pspsiv $vvay,£vrjv, 6v /xovov itpos ra$ rs^va$ KAI 
 ras itpoL^si^ Ev<pv6s-a.r8s, a'AXa, KAI tt^os aySpiav KAI irpos 
 apsTfjv $ia,(pEpovras' Op. omn. II. 1 46. Edit. Auger. 
 
 Baron, who saw the quarto Edition of the prose Works through 
 the Press, unwarrantably changed *' waj/faring," in the text into 
 " warfaring." There was no need of emendation. " Wayfaring** 
 is in opposition to " cloistered,*' It is beside more conso- 
 nant to Scripture, and therefore more likely to have come from 
 
AREOPAGITICA. 65 
 
 we bring not innocence into the world, we bring 
 impurity much rather: tkat which purifies us is 
 triall, and triall is by what is contrary. That 
 Vertue therefore which is but a youngling in the 
 contemplation of evill, and knows not the utmost 
 that Vice promises to her followers, and rejects it, is 
 but a blank Vertue, not a pure j her whitenesse is but 
 an excrementall whitenesse ^j which was the rea- 
 son why our sage and serious Poet Spencer y whom 
 I dare be known to think a better teacher then 
 
 Milton: — "the vmyfaring men, though fools shall not err 
 •* therein." Isaiah, ch. 35. v. 8. 
 Horace was also in his recollection : 
 
 " Paulum sepultse distat inertias 
 " Celata Virtus:* Od. IV. 9. 30. 
 
 And Mpist. I. 1. 50. 
 
 " Magna coronari contemnat Olympia, cul spef, 
 '* Cui sit conditio dulcis sine pulvere palmse.'* 
 
 he had at the same time regard to one of St. Paul's allusions 
 to these gymnastic exercises. " Know ye not that they which 
 *' run in a race, run all, &c. now, they do it to obtain a cor- 
 " ruptible crown; but we an incorruptible" I Cor, ch, 9. v, 24 
 and 25. 
 
 ' But an excrementall whitenesse."] i. e. art adventitious or ex* 
 trinsic whiteness; not consubstantial. The Physiology of former 
 times denominated those adjuncts of the human Body excremen- 
 titious which were extraneous and superinduced; as the Hair, and 
 the Nails. To imply that it was an adscititious appendage, when 
 Shakspeare's Autoli/cus takes off the false Beard he had worn to 
 disguise him, he says, " let me pocket up my pedler's excre* 
 *' ment." 
 
 F 
 
66 Milton's 
 
 Scottis or Aquinas'^y describing true Temperance un« 
 der the person of Guion, brings him in with his 
 Palmer through the cave of Mammon, and the 
 Bowr of earthly Blisse that he might see and know, 
 and yet abstain. Since therefore the knowledge 
 and survay of Vice is in this world so necessary to 
 the constituting of human Vertue, and the scanning 
 of error to the confirmation of Truth, how can we 
 more safely, and with lesse danger scout into the 
 regions of sin and falsity then by reading all man- 
 ner of tractats, and hearing all manner of reason ? 
 And this is the benefit which may be had of Books 
 promiscuously read. But of the harm that may 
 result hence three kinds are usually reckn'd. First, 
 
 ^ Our sage and serious Poet Spencer, whom I dare be known 
 to think a better teacher then Scotus or Aquinas, &c.] His say- 
 ing — I dare be known to think — as it is evidence of the preponde- 
 rance of the puritanical prejudices against Poetry, is deserving 
 of notice. Spenser was more of a Piatonist than his Commen- 
 tators have shown, whence, I conclude, these epithets sage and 
 serious, and this favourable comparison of the Fairy Queen for 
 its moral tendencies over the School Learning of the Subtile and 
 Angelic Doctors. 
 
 Of the invitations to pleasure in Comus, his biographical 
 Critic observes, as " what may recommend Milton's Morals, 
 " as well as his Poetry, they are so general that they excite no 
 " distinct images of corrupt enjoyment, and take no dangerous 
 " hold on the fancy." This rare excellence might probably be 
 traced to his fondness for the doctrines of Plato, 
 
 Had all Johnson's strictures on him been as just as this! 
 
 The *' Cave of Mammon," and the " Bower of earthly Bliss," 
 are described in the second Book of the Fairy Queen, Cantos 7, 
 and 12. 
 
areopagitica: 6/ 
 
 is fear'd the infection that may spread ; but then 
 all human Learning and controversie in religious 
 points must remove out of the world, yea the Bible 
 it selfe ; for that oftimes relates blasphemy not nicely, 
 it describes the carnall sense of wicked men not 
 unelegantly*, it brings in holiest men passionately 
 murmuring against Providence through all the ar- 
 guments of Epicurus: in other great disputes it 
 answers dubiously and darkly to the common 
 reader: and ask a Talmudist what ails the modesty 
 of his marginall Keri, that Moses and all the Pro- 
 phets cannot perswade him to pronounce the textu- 
 all Chetiv^ For these causes we all know the 
 
 * The Bible — describes the carnall sense of wicked men not un* 
 elegantli/.'] An allusion, I apprehend, to the Hebrew Epithala- 
 mium, called Solomon's Song. 
 
 * Ask a Talmudist what ails the modesty of his marginall Keri, 
 that Moses and all the Prophets cannot perswade him to pronounce 
 the textuall Chetiv.] To the same purpose in his second Defensio 
 he replies to his antagonist, " Non Prophetarum scripta tuam 
 '* turpiculi immo nonnunquam plane obscaeni censuram efFuge- 
 " rint, quoties Masoi ethis et Rabinis, pro eo quod diserle scrip- 
 " turn est, suum libet Keri adscribere. Ad me quod attinet, 
 " fateor malle me cum sacris scriptoribus £CQvppYi[J''Ova, quam cum 
 " futilibus Rabinis eucr^Tj/xova esse." Pr. W: II. SQQ. ed. 173S. 
 
 Keri — Chetiv — these were terms often employed by the Ma- 
 noretic expounders of the Hebrew Scripture. Godwin, in his 
 ** Civil and Ecclesiastical Rites used by the Antient Hebrews/' 
 has explained their meaning : " in the Hebrew text many words 
 *' are written with more, many with fewer letters, than they 
 " are pronounced ; many words written in the text which are 
 ** not pronounced, &c. In the margin the difference isexpress- 
 " ed : whence the difference in the Text they term iMD Chetib, 
 *' Saiptionem, the Writing; the difference in the margin they 
 
 F2 
 
68 Milton's 
 
 Bible it selfe put by the Papist into the first rank of 
 prohibited Books. The ancientest Fathers must be 
 next removed, as Clement of Alexandridy and that 
 Eusebian book of Evangelick preparation, trans- 
 mitting our ears through a hoard of heathenish ob- 
 scenities to receive the Gospel. Who finds not 
 that IrenceuSy EpiphaniuSy Jeroniy and others discover 
 more Heresies then they well confute, and that oft 
 for Heresie which is the truer opinion. Nor boots 
 it to say for these, and all the heathen Writers of 
 greatest infection, if it must be thought so, with 
 whom is bound up the life of human Learning^ 
 
 *' term ^'p Keri, Lecfionem, the Reading: because they do read 
 ** according to that in the margin/* Civil and Ecclesiastical 
 Rites of the Hebrews; p. 252. ^to. 1678. But an Authour oftea 
 best explains himself, and an extract from the ** Apology for 
 ** Smectymnuus*' will furnish an apposite comment on the whole 
 sentence in the Areopagitica: " God, who is the Authour both 
 " of Purity and Eloquence, chose this phrase as fittest in that 
 *' vehement character wherein he spake. Otherwise that plain 
 *' word might have easily been forborne : which the Masoreths 
 " and Rabbinical Scholiasts not well attending, have often used 
 " to blur the margent with Keri instead of Ketiv, and gave us 
 ** this insulse rule out of their Talmud, that all words which 
 *' in the Law are writ obscenely, must be changed to more civil 
 «' words."— Pr. W. I. 1 15. ed. 1733. 
 
 I am informed, that Milton in spelling this word " Chetir,'* 
 instead of Chetit, conformably to its Etymon, followed the 
 pronunciation of the German Jews; who pronounce one b 
 like a v, and give to a double b, the proper sound of b. 
 
 * With whom is bound up the life of human Learning.'} Bound 
 up signified involved, or wrapped up; as in Clarendon: " The al- 
 " most inevitable hazards of the Prince's Person, with whom his 
 '' Life is bound up.*' Hist, of the Rebellion: I. 22. 8vo. 1807. 
 
AREOPAOITICA. 69 
 
 that they writ in an unknown tongue, so long as 
 we are sure those languages are known as well to 
 the worst of men, who are both most able, and 
 most diligent to instill the poison they suck, first 
 into the Courts of Princes, acquainting them with 
 the choisest delights, and criticisms of sin. As 
 perhaps did that Petronius whom Nero call'd his 
 Arbiter^ the Master of his revels; and that notori- 
 ous ribald of Arezzo\ dreaded, and yet dear to the 
 Italian Courtiers. I name not him for posterities 
 sake, whom Harry the 8. named in merriment his 
 Vicar of Hell®. By which compendious way all 
 
 '' As perhaps d/ff that Petronius whom Nero calVd his Arbiter — 
 and that notorious ribald of Arezzo — ] *' A^ perhaps did*' — this 
 expression discovers that Milton followed Justus Lipsius in 
 thinking it questionable, whether Nero's elegantia Arbiter, and 
 the Authour of the Satyricon were the same Person. Lipsii 
 ad Ann, Com. Tacit. Liber Commentarius', p. 241, Antv.XQOO. 
 fol. 
 
 That, as applied to Petronius and to Pietro Aretino, is em- 
 phatically contemptuous; to denote his abhorrence of their 
 grossly licentious productions. We want in English a distinct 
 word to express with adequate force, the iste of the Roman 
 Oratours, 
 
 The sort of opprobrium with which our Authour would stig- 
 matize Aretine by calling him, " that ribald** may be learnt 
 by a reference to Ribaud in Richelefs Dictionaire de la Langue 
 Frangoise, ancienne Sf moderne ; a work of much merit : or to a 
 curious article by Du Fresne ^ inv* Ribaldi. 
 
 ^ I name not him for posterities sake, whom Harry the 8 
 nam'd in merriment his ^Vicar of Hell.] In the first years of 
 our Reformation, while the virulence of the controversy 
 was at its height, it was natural for those with whom it 
 was an article of Faith, that the Pope was the Anti-Christ of 
 
70 Milton's 
 
 the contagion that foreine Books can infuse, will 
 finde a passage to the People farre easier and 
 shorter then an Indian voyage, though it could be 
 sail'd either by the North of Cataio Eastward, or 
 oi Canada Westward^, while our Spanish Licencing 
 
 the Apocalypse, to pervert into Vicar of Hell his arrogated style 
 of ** Christ's Vicar" upon Earth : — even if it had not been the 
 obvious policy of the Protestant Reformers to weaken with the 
 Tulgar-minded of all ranks, the veneration for the Papal See 
 which such a title was calculated to impress. Henry VIII/s 
 contemporary. Bishop Bale, in " A Brefe Chronycle concemynge 
 ** the Examynaci/on and Death of SyrJohan Oldecastell" calls his 
 Holiness *' the DevyVs owne Vycar;" (pr^. p. 3. 8270. 1729.) and 
 the Court Poet Cleavland, in a ludicrous parody on the Litany, 
 is equally irreverent to the Successor of St. Peter : 
 
 " From Colonel P[r?Je?], and the Vicar of Hell. 
 ** Libera nos/* &c. 
 
 Poems, p, 90. l2mo. ed. 1661. 
 
 But who was the minister to these courtly pleasures to whom 
 Milton alludes? lam unaware of any evidence for believing 
 that either Skelton, or Scogan, or Andrew Borde, was the Per- 
 son pointed at. Apparently it was some Man of inferiour note; 
 since there need not have been any scruple to have named him 
 " for posterities sake," had he been a well known character. 
 Was it one Gray ? what good *' estimation (says Puttenham) did 
 '* he grow vnto with the same King Henry [VIII], and after- 
 " ward with the Duke of Somerset, Protectour, for making 
 " certaine merry Ballades, whereof one chiefly was. The hunte 
 " is vp, the hunte is vp/* The Arte of English Poesie, p. 12, 
 edit. IS 11. 4/0. 
 
 ^ An Indian voyage, though it could be saiVd either by the North 
 ef Cataio Eastward, or of Canada Westward, &c.] Cataio or 
 Cathay was the antient name for the grand division of the Chi- 
 
AREOPAGITICA. ft 
 
 gags the English Presse never so severely. But on 
 the other side that infection which is from books of 
 
 uese Empire to the northward. " The search of Cathay, after 
 " China had been found, excited and misled our Navigators of 
 " the 1 6th Century, in their attempts to discover the north-east 
 passage." (Gibbon; Hist. ch. 64. n. 22.) 
 
 In Par. Lost there is a latent and unobserved allusion to the 
 fruitless result of these exploratory Voyages: X. 291. 
 
 '* Mountains of ice, that stop the imagined way 
 *' Beyond Petsora eastward to the rich 
 " Cathaian coast." 
 
 The choice of Cataio, as better sounding than Cathay, might 
 be brought for one instance of our Authour's solicitous attention 
 to select euphonous words for this Oration : just as he preferred 
 in his Poetry, Danaw to Danube; &c. 
 
 To support the diction in his Epic, he continually wrested 
 our vernacular idiom full as far from all prescriptive forms of 
 expression as its genius will admit, both in respect to phraseo- 
 logy and transposition. Another fretjuent part of his manage- 
 ment was to elevate the tone of his blank verse by swelling 
 words. He must have searched the maps with a curious eye in 
 quest of sonorous and well-vowelled appellatives like Petsora. 
 
 This artifice should have been more sparingly practised. His 
 geographical digressions obtrude themselves too prominently, and 
 disfigure the contexture of his Poem : while they are for the 
 most part, extrinsic to the subject, and break the continuity of 
 thought, like many of his illustrations from mythological Fable, 
 and in consequence take from the spirit of the Poetry, by re- 
 tarding the progress of the action. 
 
 We could have dispensed with the prolix and laboured specifi- 
 cation of Cities, and Countries when the Angel Gabriel reveals 
 the habitable world in a vision of Futurity to the view of the 
 Father of Mankind. But probably our Poet would have alleged 
 Homer as his authority for this muster-roll of proper names. 
 He expatiates with far greater propriety in his enumeration of 
 the Kingdoms of the Earth, which in the Wilderness ihH 
 Tempter set in prospect before Jesus, 
 
73 Milton's 
 
 controversie in Religion, is more doubtfull and 
 
 dangerous to the learned, then to the ignorant; 
 
 and yet those Books must be permitted untoucht 
 
 by the Licencer. It will be hard to instance where 
 
 any ignorant man hath bin ever seduc't by a papis- 
 
 ticall Book* in English, unlesse it were commended 
 
 and expounded to him by some of that Clergy : 
 
 and indeed all such tractats whether false or true are 
 
 as the Prophesie of Isaiah was to the Eunuch, not 
 
 to be understood without a guide. But of our 
 
 Priests and Doctors how many have bin corrupted 
 
 by studying the comments of Jesuits and Sorbonists^ 
 
 and how fast they could transfuse that corruption 
 
 into the People, our experience is both late and 
 
 sad. It is not forgot, since the acute and distinct 
 
 Arminius was perverted meerly by the perusing of 
 
 a namelesse discours written at Delft , which at first 
 
 he took in hand to confuted Seeing therefore that 
 
 * Seduc't by a PapisHcall hook, &c.] To supply the omission 
 of a word dropped at the Press in the original Edition, Toland, 
 Thomson, Birch, Baron, and Maseres, give any ; but the particle 
 a has at lieast equal propriety. 
 
 * The acute and distinct Arminius was perverted meerly by the 
 perusing of a namelesse discours written at Delft, which at first 
 he took in hand to confute.'^ Bayle relates the same circumstance : 
 " Martin Lydius, Professor of Divinity at Franeker, judged him a 
 " proper Person to answer a Writing, in which the Doctrine of 
 '* Theodore Beza, concerning Predestination, was opposed by 
 '* some Ministers of Delft. Arminius, in compliance with his 
 " request, undertook to refute this Work; but, during the exarni- 
 " nation, and while he was ballancing the Reasons on both sides, 
 " he went over to the Opinion he was to refute, and even carried 
 «* it farther than the Minister? of Delft/' — Under Arminius. 
 
AREOPAGITICA. J3 
 
 those books, and those in great abundance which 
 are likeliest to taint both life and doctrine, cannot 
 be supprest without the fall of Learning, and of all 
 ability in disputation, and that these Books of either 
 sort are most and soonest catching to the learned, 
 from whom to the common people what ever is 
 hereticall or dissolute may quickly be convey'd, 
 and that evill manners are as perfectly learnt with- 
 out Books a thousand other ways which cannot be 
 stopt, and evill doctrine not with Books can pro- 
 pagate, except a teacher guide, which he might 
 also doe without writing, and so beyond prohibit- 
 ing, I am not able to unfold, how this cautelous* 
 enterprise of Licencing can be exempted from the 
 number of vain and impossible attempts. And he 
 who were pleasantly disposed, could not well avoid 
 to lik'n it to the exploit of that gallant man who 
 thought to pound up the crows by shutting his Park* 
 gate. Besides another inconvenience, if learned 
 men be the first receivers out of Books, and dispred- 
 dersboth of Vice and Error, how shall the Licencers 
 themselves be confided in, unlesse we can conferr 
 upon them, or they assume to themselves above all 
 others in the land, the grace of infallibility, and 
 unconuptednesse? And again, if it be true, that a 
 wise man like a good refiner can gather gold out of 
 
 f Cautelous — ] too circumspect, over suspicious. 
 
 " Swear priests and cowards, and men cautelous.** 
 4 Shakspeare ; JuU Cast, 
 
fA Milton's 
 
 the drossiest volume, and that a fool will be a fool 
 ivith the best Book, yea or without Book, there is 
 no reason that we should deprive a wise man of 
 any advantage to his wisdome, while we seek to 
 restrain from a fool, that which being restrain*d 
 will be no hindrance to his folly. For if there 
 should be so much exactnesse always us*d to keep 
 that from him which is unfit for his reading, we 
 should in the judgement of Aristotle not only, but 
 of Salomon, and of our Saviour, not voutsafe him 
 good precepts, and by consequence not willingly 
 admit him to good Books ; as being certain that a 
 wise man will make better use of an idle pamphlet, 
 then a fool will do of sacred Scripture. 'Tis next 
 alleg'd, we must not expose our selves to tempta- 
 tions without necessity, and next to that, not im- 
 ploy our time in vain things. To both these 
 objections one answer will serve, out of the grounds 
 already laid, that to all men such Books are not 
 temptations, nor vanities; but usefull drugs and 
 materialls wherewith to temper and compose ef- 
 fective and strong med*cins, which mans life cannot 
 want. The rest, as children and childish men, who 
 have not the art to qualifie and prepare these 
 working mineralls, well may be exhorted to forbear, 
 but hindered forcibly they cannot be by all the 
 Licencing that Sainted Inquisition could ever yet 
 contrive; which is what I promised to deliver next. 
 That this Order of Licencing conduces nothing to 
 the end for which it was fram'd 3 and hath almost 
 
AKEOPAGITICA. 7^ 
 
 prevented me* by being clear already while thus 
 much hath bin explaining. See the ingenuity of 
 Truth, who when she gets a free and willing hand, 
 opens her self faster, then the pace of method and 
 discours can overtake her. It was the task which I 
 began with, to shew that no Nation, or well in- 
 stituted State, if they valu'd Books at all, did ever 
 use this way of Licencing; and it might be aii- 
 swer'd, that this is a piece of prudence lately dis- 
 covered. To which I return, that as it was a 
 thing slight and obvious to think on, so if it had 
 bin difficult to finde out, there wanted not among 
 them long since, who suggested such a cours; 
 which they not following, leave us a pattern o 
 their judgement, that it was not the not knowing,*. 
 but the not approving, which was the cause of 
 their not using it. Plato, a man of high autority 
 indeed, but least of all for his Commonwealth, in 
 the Book of his Laws, which no City ever yet re- 
 ceiv*d, fed his fancie with making many edicts to 
 his ayrie Burgomasters^ which they who otherwise 
 
 * Hath almost prevented me, &c.] See Illustration, D. 
 
 ^ Plato, a man of high autority indeed, hut least of all for his 
 Commonwealth, in the Book of his Laws, which no City ever 
 yet receiv'd, fed his fancie with making edicts to his ayrie Bur- 
 gomasters, &c.] " Of high autority,^' i. e. Reputation ; a Latin 
 sense ; so likewise City here, like Civitas with the Romans, in- 
 volves the idea of a civil Constitution. 
 
 Dr. Taylor quotes the succeeding passage from Athenaus to 
 show that Plato's code of Laws was held in no estimation by the 
 Greeks. This Milton probably had read and remembered. 
 
76 Milton's 
 
 admire him, wish had bin rather buried and ex- 
 cused in the genial cups of an Academick night*, 
 sitting. By which laws he seems to tolerat no 
 kind of Learning, but by unalterable decree, con- 
 sisting most of practicall traditions, to the attain- 
 ment whereof a Library of smaller bulk then his 
 own Dialogues would be abundant. And there 
 also enacts that no Poet should so much as read to 
 any privat man, what he had writt'n, untill 
 the Judges and Law -keepers had seen it, and al- 
 
 Ka/ Toi y& tSei, xoL^ditep rov AvMvpyov tov$ Afl^xeJajjxoviO'jj, xa» 
 rov ^oXwva, rovg Adryvatouj, xa< rov ZoiXevKOv rovs &ovpiovs, koX 
 avroy [IlXarcyva], sl'ffsp -^a-ay XP^^^M^> ^s~<^«* tLvds t^ EX- 
 
 Aijvcyy avtolg ^pi^a-aa-^oii 6 ^e UXdtujy xadSs ivx, dtoitou 
 
 rpiwv A^yjv ociujv yEvop^evcuv vojouoflfirctfy, rdSv ys $-^ yyu)pi^6iJi,^vcav, 
 ApoLKOvhsy xa< avrov rov Hkcirwvos, xa* Jl6\ujvos, rwv y.\v ro7g 
 vofjiois sfLfj^Eveiy rov; 'ssoxiras, rwv B& rov IlXcirujvos xa< mpooT' 
 xoclaysXdv ; ** {Athen. I. XI. Jin.) Nam oportuit, quemadmo- 
 •* dum Lycurgus Lacedaemonios, Solo Athenienses, et Zaleucus 
 " Thurios, ita et eum quoque [Platonem] si utiles fuissent, 
 •' quibusdam Graecorum persuasisse, ut iis uterenter. Ineptum 
 " Platonem inde fuisse constat, quod, cum illustres apud Atheni- 
 •' enses tres Legislatores fuerint, Draco, Solo, et ipse Plato, 
 ** illorum leges Gives observarint, Platonis vero nihil fecerint 
 " atque irriserint." — Elements of the Civil Law ; p. 67, ^to, 3rd 
 edit. 
 
 Stanley says otherwise, and he particularizes the countries who 
 took him for their Law-giver. — The Hist, of Philosophy; p, no. 
 fol. 1700. 
 
 " Fed hisfancie" — is VirgiVs " animum pictura pascit inani.*' 
 — By the " genial cups of an Academick night-sitting," he al- 
 ludes to the Syraposiac nocturnal meetings, the festive Conversa^ 
 zioni, of Wits and Philosophers, the Deipnosophists, w^ho 
 resorted to Plato*s Banquets at his retired residence among the 
 olive shades of Academus. 
 
AREOPAGITICA. 77 
 
 low'd it®; But that Plato meant this Law pe- 
 culiarly to that Commonwealth which he had 
 imagined, and to no other, is evident. Why was 
 
 * And there also enacts that no Poet should so much as read to 
 ttuy privat man what he had written, untill the Judges and Law- 
 keepers had seen it, and allowM it.'\ The words of Plato are 
 MijJi riva roX|U,av a^siv dSoKii/^ov f^ovtraVf ju,^ Kpivclvtcvv rcSi^ 
 NOMO^TAAKHN, /xr^' av rj^iwv ^ rujv Qay^vpov re koli 'Optpsiooy 
 vfji^vouv, " Nemo igitur audeat Musam, horum judicio non pro- 
 ** batam canere, etiamsi Thamyrae Orpheique sit suavior." 
 Platonis Philosophi 2u(S exstant ; VIII. 399. 800. 1785. Bipon^ 
 tine Edition. *' Scene and allowed** stands as the License for 
 Printiag in the title-page to the first English Edition of Sic 
 Thomas Smj/th*s valuable Tract, *' De Republica Anglorum. The 
 " maner of Gouernment or policie of the Realme of England.*' 
 s?n. 4to. Lond. 1583. — Allowed meant approved: "Use such 
 " speech as the Meanest should well understand, and the Wisest 
 ^ ** best a//oty." Ascham; The Schoolmaster: p, 201. Upton** 
 edit, — After all that has been written upon Style, perhaps the 
 roundest advice is comprised in this sentence.—Agaio iu 
 Fairefux, 
 
 "he mustred all his Crew, 
 " ReprouM the Cowards, and allow* d the Bould.*' 
 
 Godfrey of Bulloigne; b. 9. st. 13. fol. 1600. 
 
 It may, by the way, be observed, that this version of TassQ 
 often reads with all the ease and spirit of an original. Some- 
 times, it must be confessed, at the expence of fidelity. May it not 
 be said of Fairefax, that he is a solitary example of any one gain- 
 ing high and permanent reputation as a Poet, by metrical Trans- 
 lation alone ? At least, I can call no other instance to my mind. 
 
 I adduce the preceding quotations of allowed in this signifi- 
 cation, because Johnson has not admitted that sense into his 
 Dictionary: on the contrary, he has quoted from the Bible, 
 " the Lord alloweth the righteous,** as an authority for its meaa- 
 iog— " io justify, to maintain as right.'* 
 
7^ Milton's 
 
 he not else a Law-giver to himself, but a trans- 
 gressor, and to be expell'd by his own Magistrats ; 
 both for the wanton Epigrams and Dialogues which 
 he made, and his perpetual] reading of Sophron 
 > MimuSy and Ar is fophanes, hooks o^ grossest infamy'', 
 
 '^ Why was he not else a Law-giver to himself, hut a transgressor, 
 and to he expelVd hy his own Magistrats, hothfor the wanton Epi^ 
 grams and Dialogues which he made, and his perpetuall reading of 
 Sophron Mimus, and Aristophanes, hooks of grossest infamy. "^ 
 Before in his verses de Idea Platonica quanadmodum Aristoteles 
 mtellexit, he had apostrophized Plato for this inconsistency: 
 
 " At tu, perenne ruris Academi decus, 
 
 ** (Haec monstra si tu primus induxti schoHs) 
 
 " Jam jam poetas, urbis exules tujB, 
 
 " Revocabis, ipse fabulator maximus; 
 
 '* Aut institutor ipse migvabis foras." 
 
 But any total interdiction of Poetry by Plato has been 
 contested. See Histoire de VAcademie des Inscriptions (torn. II. 
 /). 169.)» ^^^^ ^hc founder of the Academy was not, as is com- 
 monly thought, an enemy to all Poetry without distinction; 
 that he expressed no more than that every poetical work should 
 be submitted to the examination of the Magistrate; so that it 
 might not happen in his State, as daily happens with us (says 
 the Abbe Fraguier after Plato J for the Laws to speak one lan- 
 guage while Poetry speaks another. This learned Frenchman 
 supported his opinion by a deduction of passages from this philo- 
 sophical Law-giver, chiefly taken from the Dialogues de Republica 
 and de Legibus; and his conclusion is — " c[ue Plat on n*excluoit 
 '*' pas plus de sa Republique toute poesie ni toute eloquence, 
 " qu'un prince exclueroit tout or et tout argent de ses estats, parce 
 " qu'il n'y recevroit que de Targent et de Tor tres-epurez." 
 
 The original Edition of this Speech gives — " Sophron Mi- 
 mus, and Aristophanes," and all the subsequent Editions coo- 
 form to this reading. Should it be printed Sophron* s 3Iimes ? 
 
AREOPAGITICA. 79 
 
 and also for commending the latter of them, though 
 he were the malicious Libeller of his chief friends, 
 
 as the succeeding passage from his Apology for Smectymnuus 
 might seem to imply :" Nor yet doth he tell us what a Mime is, 
 " whereof we have no pattern from ancient writers, except 
 *' some fragments, which containe many acute and wise sentences. 
 *' And this we know in Laertius, that the Mifnes of Sophron 
 ** were of such reckoning with Plato, as to take them nightly to 
 " read on, and after make them his Pillow."— Pr. W. I. 107. 
 Edit. 1738. 
 
 There was no such Greek Writer as Mimus. At the same 
 time the emendation I have just oflfered is not absolutely re- 
 quired. This may be a descriptive addition, i. e. a Writer of 
 Mimes; lest Readers might mistake him for a comic Poet of 
 this name. See Fabric. Biblioth. Grac, I. 788. Hamh. 1718; and 
 Hqfmanni Lexicon Universale; in v. Sophron. — I should men- 
 tion that the words alluded to in Laertius are — roL ^ou(ppOYOs rou 
 
 Where there are two persons of the same name, it is customary 
 with Milton to designate that which he intended by some discri- 
 minative epithet. Publius Sj/rus for his moral sentences obtained 
 the same appellative. Still, to have identified Sophron, the 
 writer of the Mimes, by the Adjective Syracusan on this occasion 
 would have been preferable to Mimus, which stands aukwardly 
 in the way it is introduced — '' Sophron Mimm, and Aristopha- 
 " nes." And a considerable perplexity will yet remain to be 
 unravelled. How are we to reconcile Milton with himself? 
 What (we have just seen) he had before called the *' acute and 
 *' wise sentences of the Mimes of Sophron/^ in this Oration he 
 classes with the Comedies of Aristophanes, and proceeds to stig- 
 matize them alike " as Books of grossest infamy.'' I would 
 have it considered, whether in the Areopagitica he meant to 
 refer to the Comic Writer before-mentioned, and through inad- 
 vertency wrote Mi?nus? Yet this solution of the difficulty will 
 hardly be thought admissible; since in both of these passages 
 he specifies Plato's predilection for the works o( Sophron. There 
 must be some confusion of the two Sophrons. Or^ did the same 
 
80 MILTON*S 
 
 to be read by the Tyrant Dionysius, who had little 
 
 Sophron compose Mimes of both descriptions? I confess my in- 
 ability to unriddle the enigma by the Books within my reach. — 
 Fabricius observes that Suidas has badly described them. 
 
 It is, however, extremely probable, that nothing satisfactory 
 concerning these points is to be collected from any extant writ- 
 ings of the Antients : for Mr. Twining informs us, that " of 
 ** the Mimes of Sophron we can acquire but a very imperfect 
 " idea, either from what is said of them in antient Authors, or 
 ** from the fragments that are preserved in Athenaeus, Demetrius^ 
 •' and others. It has even been long disputed among the learned, 
 " whether they were prose or verse ; and, at last, it seems to be 
 •' settled, that they were neither ; a kind of compromise com- 
 •* f«r table enough to the disputants on both sides; for if the 
 *' fragments are something between verse and prose, they, who 
 " assert them to be either, are something between right and 
 " wrong." See his Translation of Aristotle* s Treatise on Poetry i 
 p. 161. \to, 1789. And in an additional remark of the same 
 learned and clear-sighted Critic we have perhaps the cause as- 
 signed for Milton's contradiclion of himself; — where he ob- 
 serves, •* that, supposing what is related, of the fondness of 
 «* Plato for the Mimes of Sophron, and of their having been his 
 ** model in the pjctijci^ itpotrontwt of his own Dialogues, to be true, 
 " it may reasonably be inferred, that we ought by no means to 
 '* confound them with the Roman Mimes, or to apply to them, as is 
 *' too often done, all that is said of the latter by Diomedes, and other 
 " writers of that age. Such licentious and obscene trash would 
 '* not, surely, have been found under the pillow of the moral 
 " and reforming Plato ; and that, qXom sifi yrjpao^ ovSou, and, as 
 " some assert, even in the hour of death. In saying this, how- 
 •* ever, I do not forget, that delicacy is not to be sought for even 
 «* in the strictest morality of antient times." ib. p. 162. 
 
 So that Milton might have here fallen into the same error of 
 confounding for indecency Sophron*s Mimes with those of the 
 Boman Stage. 
 
 Tyrwhitt, in his Note on Aristotle's mention of the Mimes of 
 Sophron and Xenarchtis, has not entered upon this topic. 
 
AllEOPAGITICA. 81 
 
 need of such trash ^ to spend his time on? But that 
 he knew this Licencins: of Poems had reference 
 and dependance to many other proviso's there set 
 down in his fancied Republic, which in this world 
 could have no place : and so neither he himself, 
 nor any Magistral or City ever imitated that cours, 
 which tak'n apart from those other collaterall in- 
 junctions must needs be vain and fruitlesse. For if 
 they fell upon one kind of strictnesse, unlesse their 
 care were equall to regulat all other things of like 
 aptnes to corrupt the mind, that single endeavour 
 they knew would be but a fond labour; to shut and 
 fortifie one gate against corruption, and be neces- 
 sitated to leave others round about wide open. If 
 we think to regulat Printing, thereby to rectifie 
 manners, we must regulat all recreations and pas- 
 times, all that is delightfull to Man. No musick 
 must be heard, no song be set or sung, but what is 
 grave and Dorick^, There must be licencing 
 
 * Dionysius — had little need of such trash, Bfc."] See Illustra- 
 tion, E. 
 
 * No song be set or sung, but what is grave and Dorick.] i. e 
 solemn. Milton remembered that Plato in his ideal Republic 
 interdicted the Ionic and Lydian Music, as effeminate, and per- 
 mitted the Doric and Phrygian : " AAXa Kiv^vvevei <rot, AI2PI2TI 
 Xeiifsa-^oci y,a,i(ppuyi(m." De Repub. I. 195. Massey's Edit. — Ln/ci^ 
 das {v. 189.) warbles a " Doric lay;'* more probably, I think, in 
 the sense of sad or mournful than, as Mr. JVarton suggests, " be- 
 " cause Theocritus and Moschus had respectively written a 
 " Bucolic on the Deaths of Daphuis and Bion." 
 
 G 
 
82 MILTON*S 
 
 dancers, that no gesture, motion, or deportment be 
 taught our youth but what by their allowance shall 
 be thought honest*; for such Plato was provided of: 
 It will ask more then the work of twenty Licencers to 
 examin all the Lutes, the Violins, and theGhittarrs 
 in every housed they must not be suffered to prattle 
 as they doe, but must be licenc'd what they may 
 say. And who shall silence all the airs and madri- 
 galls that whisper softnes in chambers? The Win- 
 dows also and the Balconc*s must be thought on ; 
 there are shrewd books with dangerous Frontis- 
 pices set to sale ; who shall prohibit them, shall 
 twenty Licencers ? The villages also must have their 
 Visitors to enquire what Lectures the bagpipe and 
 
 ' What by their allowance shall be thought honest.] i. e. by 
 their estimation ; for such I take to be its sense in this place> 
 rather than approbation ; which stands in the Variorum Edition 
 of Shakspeare as the gloss on this word in Hamlet's lecture to the 
 Players : " the censure of which one, must, in your allowance, 
 "* o*er-weigh a whole theatre of others." XV. 175. ed. 179*. 
 
 And again in Coriolanus, 
 
 " Bastards, and syllables 
 " Of DO allowance** 
 
 ib. XII. 138. 
 
 Where I cannot but think thdii Johnson, Steevens, and Malone, 
 rove wide of the Poet's meaning. While to explain allowance 
 by estimation will solve the difficulty of construction in each of 
 these instances. 
 
 * To examin all the Lutes, the Violins, and Ghittarrs in every 
 house—] Compare Plato, de Repub, 1. 197. Massey's edit, — Ghit* 
 iar, Ghitarra» Ital, 
 
AREOPAGITICA, 83 
 
 the rebbeck reads ev'n to the ballatry, and the 
 gammuth of every municipal fidler, for these are 
 the Countrymans Arcadia's and his Monte Mayors^, 
 Next, what more nationall corruption, for which 
 
 ' The villages also must have their Visitors to enquire what Lec« 
 tures the bagpipe and the rebbeck reads ev*n to the ballatry, and 
 the gammuth of every mun'icipz] Jidler, for these are the Countrymans 
 Arcadia's and Aw Monte Mayors.] A Visitor was a presiding 
 inspector. 
 
 Thus Ben Jonson : 
 
 — " the superintendent 
 " To all the quainter Traffickers in Town, 
 " He is their Visitor^ and does appoint, 
 " Who lies with whom." 
 
 The Alchemist; A, 2. 5. S. 
 
 But Milton employs it here with a contemporaneous allusioa 
 which was not then lost on his readers. According to Sir Ed- 
 ward Walker^ *' some of the Bishops were faulty in permitting 
 " to the bane of all Government, Lectures and weekly Sermons 
 *' in populous Cities and Towns, where the Lecturers to please 
 " the silly Women, and to lead them after them, laden with 
 " divers Lusts, introduced new Forms, or rather no Forms, of 
 "Worship and Doctrine. Historical Discourses; p. 326, fol, 
 1705. 
 
 Laud, on the other hand, had annual Visitations to examine 
 narrowly how these Preachers carried themselves in the pulpit. 
 See Htylyn's Life of Laud ; p, 270, 27 1, and 345. fol. 167 1. 
 
 It is to this circumstance that also bears relation— «^' the villages 
 " also must have their Visitors to enquire what Lectures, &c." 
 but this is too elleiptical for posterity, though sufficiently inteU 
 ligible when it was written. 
 
 Balladry occurs several times in Marston: see the Metamor- 
 phosis of Pigmalions Image and certain Satyres; p, 198, 199, 
 and 22B. Bowles*s edit, 1764. Bvo, and in ail these places it 
 
 G 2 
 
84 Milton's 
 
 England hears ill abroad, then household gluttony; 
 who shall be the rectors of our daily rioting*? and 
 what shall be done to inhibit the multitudes that 
 
 denotes Voetry of the lighter kind; as it likewise does, I recollect, 
 somewhere in Ben Jonson, 
 
 " To tax me with their senseless Balladry" 
 
 But the peculiar spelling " Balladry," may lead us to another 
 interpretation. Unless it was in conformity to the scheme of 
 regulating Orthography by the Pronunciation, I will not say, that 
 Milton, as his manner sometimes is to give words a capricious 
 sense, did not by *' Ballatry" intend dancing: from the Italian, 
 ballare to dance, ballato and hallata ; whence our word BalL So 
 he wrote 
 
 " midnight ball 
 
 " Or Serenade"— 
 
 {Par. Lost, IV. 767.) 
 
 after Serenata, not Serenac?e, like the French. Bacon mentions 
 — " Tumblers, Funambuloes, Baladynes" &c. — in the Ad- 
 vancanent of Learning: p. 20S. A:to ed. 1633. 
 
 This construction accords aptly with the context, which is 
 then descriptive of the same rustic revelry as in U Allegro : 
 
 " When the merry Bells ring round, 
 " And the jocund Rebecks sound 
 " To many a youth and many a maid, 
 " Dancing in the chequer'd shade.'^ 
 
 V. 93. 
 
 The Rebeck seems (as Warton there remarked) to have been 
 almost a common name for a fiddle; and municipal meant town. 
 For additional remarks on this passage, on the Arcadia, and on 
 the Diana of George of Montemayor, see Illustration, F. 
 
 * What more nationall corruption, for which England hears ill 
 abroad, then household gluttony ; who shall be the rectors of our 
 daily rioting .'] Hears ill, meaning as in this place, to be ill 
 
AREOPAGITICA. 85 
 
 frequent those houses where drunk' nes is sold and 
 harbour'd ? Our garments also should be referred 
 to the Licencing of some more sober work-masters, 
 to see them cut into a lesse wanton garb. Who 
 shall regulat all the mixt conversation of our youth, 
 male and female together, as is the fashion of this 
 country? who shall still appoint what shall be dis- 
 coursed, what presumed, and no furder? Lastly, 
 who shall forbid and separat all idle resort, all evill 
 company ? These things will be, and must be; 
 but how they shall be lest hurtfull, how lest en- 
 ticing, herein consists the grave and governing wis- 
 dom of a State. To sequester out of the world into 
 Atlantick and Eiitopian Polities^ which never can 
 
 spoken of, is an idiom drawn from a classical source, and once 
 in use among us, as I have shown in a Review of Johnson's Cri- 
 ticism on the Stifle o/* Milton*:* English Prose, p. 33. (n.) Where 
 I have remarked the same of Rector in this Latin sense. — See 
 some historical notices in corroboration of the charge brought 
 here against our Ancestors for " household gluttony " in Illus« 
 
 TRATION, G. 
 
 ^ To sequester out of the world into Atlantick and Eutopian 
 Polities, &c.] By '' Atlantick Polities'' he refers to a work left 
 incomplete by Lord Bacon, entitled the nexv Atlantis, after the 
 name of the sunken Continent of which Plato's continuation of 
 Solon's unfinished story has preserved the memory. Milton 
 now treats such imaginary Commonwealths as little better than 
 romances. He spoke both of this, and of Plato's political insti- 
 tute, as well as of Sir T. More*s, with greater respect in an Apo- 
 logy for Smectynmuus : " That grave and noble invention which 
 " the greatest and sublimest wits in sundry ages, Plato in Cri- 
 " tias, and our two famous countrymen, the one in his Vtopia, 
 " the other in his new Atlantis chose, 1 may not say as a field, 
 " but as a mighty Continent wherein to display the largenesse 
 
sis MILTON*S 
 
 be drawn into use, will not mend our condition ; 
 but to ordain wisely as in this world of Evill, in the 
 midd'st whereof GoD hath placet us unavoidably. 
 Nor is it Plato's Licencing of Books will doe this, 
 which necessarily pulls along with it so many other 
 kinds of Licencing, as will make us all both ridicu- 
 lous and weary, and yet frustrate but those un- 
 writt'n, or at least unconstraining laws of vertuous 
 Education, religious and civill nurture*, which Plato 
 there mentions, as the bonds and ligaments of the 
 Commonwealth, the pillars and the sustainers of 
 every written Statute; these they be which will 
 bear chief sway in such matters as these, when all 
 Licencing will be easily eluded. Impunity and re- 
 xnissenes for certain are the bane of a Common- 
 
 •' of their spirits by teaching this our wotld better and exacter 
 •' things, then were yet known, or us*d." p. 10. Ato. 1642. 
 
 Why in the text there should be a deviation from the ordinary 
 mode of spelling L^topia, 1 know not. The pronunciation is the 
 same. Would he by this signify that he favoured the compo* 
 sition of this factitious Name from £u and roiro; rather than from 
 •V r^ftos ^ — It is perhaps to be regretted, that Bacon had not given 
 to the world his idea of a perfect model of Government. But he 
 shrunk, it may be suspected, from that part of his undertaking, 
 for fear he might by giving offence at Court throw any obstacle 
 in the way of his professional advancement. That he did not 
 fulfil his intention, I>r. Raw I ej/, the Editor of this and others of 
 his posthumous pieces, attributes to his foreseeing that it would 
 prove a long work, and that his desire of collecting ** the natu- 
 " ral History" diverted him from pursuing it. Yet I cannot 
 but think Bacon was aware that this was tender ground, on 
 which he did not like to venture. 
 
 • Nurture.} Sec Illustration, H. 
 
AREOPAGITICA. 9if, 
 
 wealth ; but here the great art lyes, to discern ia 
 what the Law is to bid restraint*^ and punishment, 
 and in what things perswasion only is to work. If 
 every action which is good or evill in man at ripe 
 years, were to be under pittance, and prescription, 
 and compulsion, what were Vertue but a name% 
 what praise could be then due to well-doing, what 
 grammercy to be sober % just or continent? many 
 there be that complain of divin Providence for suf- 
 
 "^ In tvhat the Law is to bid restraint, &c.] This latinized use 
 of bid is become obsolete : " Tullum — regem populus jussit." 
 Liv. I. 22. A contemporary has this word in the same sense : 
 " Unto him it did belong to hid holy-days, and to provide all 
 " things necessary for publick sacrifices/' — Godwyn*s Roman 
 Antiquities ; p. 53. Ato. 1680. 
 
 • ffhat iuere Vertue but a name, — ] " Aut Virtus nomen 
 *' inane est."--Jfor. L. 1. Ep. 17. v. 41. 
 
 The thought was formed from the dying ejaculation of the se- 
 cond Brutus: 
 
 'Xi tXr^fj^ov 'Aper-ij, Xoyog dp tJo-Q*, iyui Se cs 
 "its spyov ijo-xoyy* cO 5* dp siouXsua'a,^ /Sia. 
 
 See Dion Cassius ; xhi'u A9» 
 
 • What grammercy to be sober, &c.] Johnson passes this term 
 over in his Dictionary as nothing more than " an obsolete ex- 
 «• pression of surprise, contracted from grant me mercy." Here 
 it carries a different sense, and obviously signifies great thanks; 
 literally from the French grand merci. *' This childe is a good 
 " boie, gramercic rodde" — The Rule of Reason, containing the 
 Arte of Logike: by Thomas Wilson. Fol. 36. s?n. 4to. 1567. 
 Again : *' Syr I have thank for the shew that lonys made you 
 *' and daily ^raw^cy, and ye thaire prayer." — Paston Letters ; 
 II. 23S. But their Editor adopted Johnson's erroneous expla* 
 nation. 
 
88 Milton's 
 
 fering Adam to transgresse: foolish tongues ! when 
 God gave him Reason, he gave him freedom to 
 choose, for Reason is but choosing ; he had bin 
 else a meer artificiall Adam, such an Adam as he is 
 in the Motions^ We our selves esteem not of that 
 obedience, or love, or gift, which is of force : GoD 
 therefore left him free, set before him a provoking 
 object ever almost in his eyes; herein consisted his 
 merit, herein the right of his reward, the praise of 
 his abstinence. Wherefore did he creat passions 
 
 * When God gave him Reason, he gave him freedom to 
 choose, for Reason is but choosing ; he had bin else a meer arti^ 
 jiciall Adam, such an Adam as he is in the Motions.] He trans- 
 ferred this thought into Par. Lost, where he dilates the argu-r 
 n^ent : 
 
 " Freely they stood who stood, and fell who fell. 
 
 '* Not free, what proof could they have given sincere 
 
 " Of true allegiance, constant faith or love, 
 
 " Where only what they needs must do appeared, 
 
 ** Not what they would ? What praise could they receiyc? 
 
 " What pleasure I from such obedience paid, 
 
 " When Will and Reason (Reason also is Choice) 
 
 " Useless and vain, of Freedom both despoiled, 
 
 " Made passive both, had servM Necessity, 
 
 " Not me V* 
 
 III. 102. 
 
 And he again made Liberty coexistent with Reason : 
 
 " But God left free the will j for what obeys 
 '* Reason, is free." 
 
 /^. IX. 351. 
 
 A Puppet-play was formerly called a Motion: "He com- 
 " passed a Motion of the Prodigal Son,'* says Shakspeare in the 
 Winter's Tale, describing the vagrant life oi Autolycus, 
 
AREOPAGITICA. 89 
 
 within us, pleasures round about us, but that these 
 rightly tempered are the very ingredients of Vertu? 
 They are not skilfull considerers of human things, 
 who imagin to remove Sin by removing the matter 
 of Sin ; for, besides that it is a huge heap increasing 
 under the very act of diminishing, though some 
 part of it may for a time be withdrawn from some 
 persons, it cannot from all, in such a universall 
 thing as Books are ; and when this is done, yet the 
 Sin remains entire. Though ye take from a covet- 
 ous man all his treasure, he has yet onfe jewell left, 
 ye cannot bereave him of his covetousnesse. Banish 
 all objects of lust, shut up all youth into the se- 
 verest discipline that can be exercised in any her- 
 mitage, ye cannot make them chaste, that came 
 not thither so : such great care and wisdom is re- 
 quired to the right managing of this point. Sup- 
 pose we could expell Sin by this means; look how 
 much we thus expell of Sin, so much we expell of 
 Vertue : for the matter of them both is the same ; 
 remove that, and ye remove them both alike. This 
 justifies the high Providence of GoD^ who though 
 he command us Temperance, Justice, Continence, 
 yet powrs out before us ev'n to a profusenes all de- 
 sirable things, and gives us minds that can wander 
 beyond all limit and satiety. Why should we then 
 
 ^ Tliis justifies the high Providence of God.] A pious awe 
 toward the ineffable Being who pervades and sustains the Uni- 
 verse, as well as submissive resignation to his Dispensations 
 were feelings deeply-seated in Milton's mind. They led him 
 
go MILTON*S 
 
 affect a rigor contrary to the manner of GoD and 
 of Nature, by abridging or scanting those means, 
 which Books freely permitted are, both to the triall 
 of Vertue, and the exercise of Truth ? It would be 
 better done to learn that the law must needs be fri- 
 volous which goes to restrain things, uncertainly 
 and yet equally working to Good, and to Evill. And 
 were I the chooser, a dram of well-doing should be 
 preferr'd before many times as much the forcible 
 hindrance of evill-doing^ For GoD sure esteems 
 
 into this theme whenever the occasion offered. He makes the 
 Chorus reiuinri Sams&n under the misery that had befaliea him, 
 
 '• Just are the ways of God 
 
 " And justifiable to Men." 
 
 V. 293. 
 And in the invocation with which he opens Par, Lost he im* 
 plores the aid of the Divine Spirit, 
 
 *' That to the hight of this great argument 
 " He may assert Eternal Providence, 
 " And justify the ways of God to Men," 
 
 ' A dram of well- doing should be pr^err*d h^ore many times as 
 much the forcible hindrance of evill ■doing.'] This sentiment agrees 
 nvith that whix:h is expressed by Horace, in the two following 
 Verses : 
 
 *' Oderonl peccare boni virtutis amore ; 
 
 " Tu nihil admittes in te formidine poenae." 
 
 Maseres. 
 
 It better agrees, I think, with the succeeding passage in Cicero: 
 ^<Qu6d ver6 viros bonos jure civili fieri putas, quia legibus & 
 ** pra-mia proposita sint virtutibus, et supplicia vitiis; equidem 
 ** putabam virtutem hominibus (si modo tradi ratione possit) in* 
 ^' stituendo &, persuadendo, non minis et vi ac metu tradi : 
 
AREOPAGItICA, $% 
 
 the growth and compleating of one vertuous person, 
 more then the restraint of ten vitious. And albeit, 
 what ever thing we hear or see, sitting, walking, 
 travelling, or conversing may be fitly call'd our 
 Book*, and is of the same effect that writings are; 
 yet grant the thing to be prohibited were only 
 Books, it appears that this Order hitherto is far in* 
 sufficient to the end which it intends. Do we not 
 see, not once or oftner, but weekly, that continued 
 Court-iibell against the Parlament and City% 
 printed, as the wet sheets can witnes, and dispers't 
 among us, for all that Licencing can doe ? yet this 
 is the prime service a man would think, whereia 
 this Order should give proof of it self. If it were 
 executed, you*i say. But certain, if execution be 
 
 f' ipsum quidem iilud^ etiam^ine cognitione juris, qndm sit belt 
 ** lum cavere malum, scire possumus." — De Orat. Lib. I. 58. 
 
 * What ever thing we hear or see — may he fitly called our Book.] 
 One of Sidney's English Hexameters cootains tlie same thought; 
 
 ^* Thus both trees and each thing els, bee the books of afancie." 
 The Countess of Pembroke's Arcadia; p. 82. fol, 1655. 
 
 • Do we not see, not once or oftner, but weekly, that continued 
 Court-libell against the Parlament and City.'] No doubt he in- 
 tended the ** Mercurius Aulicus** written by Sir John Birken^ 
 head, which *♦ was printed weekly in one sheet, and sometime! 
 " more, in quarto ; and was chiefly calculated to raise the repu- 
 " tation of the King's friends and commanders, and run down 
 •' and ridicule those who sided with the Parliament. They came 
 *' out regularly, from the beginning of 1642 to the latter end of 
 " 164-5, and afterwards occasionally," Art. BiIRKEnheao, in 
 Biog. Brit. Note A. Kippis*s Edit, 
 
93 MILTON*S 
 
 remisse or blindfold now, and in this particular, 
 what will it be hereafter, and in other Books ? If 
 then the Order shall not be vain and frustrat, behold 
 a new labour, Lords and Commons ! ye must re- 
 peal and proscribe ail scandalous and unlicenc't 
 Books already printed and divulg'd ; after ye have 
 drawn them up into a list, that all may know which 
 are condemn'd, and which not; and ordain that no 
 forrein Books be deliver'd out of custody, till they 
 have bin read over. This office will require the 
 whole time of not a few overseers, and those no 
 vulgar men. There be also Books which are partly 
 useful! and excellent, partly culpable and perni- 
 cious ; this work will ask as many more Officials, 
 to make expurgations, and expunctions, that the 
 Commonwealth of Learning be not damnify 'd^ In 
 fine, when the multitude of Books encrease upon 
 
 ^ This work will ask as many moi-e Officials, /o make expurgations 
 and expunctions, that the Commonwealth of Learning be not 
 damnify 'd.] An Official was the name of the Officer in the Eccle- 
 siastical Courts to whom the Bishops deputed the cognizance 
 of spiritual offences. Laud had let them loose over the coun- 
 try. But the function of a Bishop was not, our Authour contends, 
 \n\i\sTv2iQt Of Refonnation, &c. " To goe about circl'd with a 
 " band of rooking Officials, with cloke bagges full of Citations, 
 «' and Processes to be serv'd by a corporally of griffon-like Pro- 
 " mooters, and Apparitors." p. 18. 4^o. 1641. 
 
 He therefore could not have chosen a term more especially 
 hateful to the public ear. Soon after the Long Parliament met. 
 Sir Edward Deering presented a " Bill for the utter eradication 
 " of Bishops, Deans, and Chapters ; with all Chancellors, Of- 
 **ficials and all Officers, and other Persons belonging to either 
 
AREOPAGITlCA. 93 
 
 their hands, ye must be fain to catalogue all those 
 Printers who are found frequently offending, and 
 forbidd the importation of their whole suspected 
 typography. In a word, that this your Order may 
 be exact, and not deficient, ye must reform it per- 
 fectly^ according to the model of Trent and Sevily 
 which I know ye abhorre to doe. Yet though ye 
 should condiscend to this^ which GoD forbid, the 
 
 " oi i\\%m."— Clarendon; Hist, qfRehellion; I. 368. 8vo. 1807. 
 And in the Ordinary, a Comedy by W. Cartwright, {p, 79. 
 8vo. 1651.) 
 
 " He answers me 
 
 " In the small dolfull tune of a Country Wench 
 
 " ExaminM by th' Officially* &c. 
 
 In the latter part of the sentence from the text, Milton para- 
 phrases the formula of the Decree of the Roman Senate in times 
 of urgent danger : — " Darent operam Consules ne quid Res- 
 " publica detrimenti caperet.*' 
 
 7 Ye must reform it perfectly, &c.] See Illustration, I. 
 
 • Though ye should condiscend to this — ] " Agree to this." 
 In like manner Sir Walter Ralegh ; " Hee easily allured them to 
 *' condiscend f that Rivers and Grey, the King's maternal! Uncle 
 " and halfe brother, should bee severed from him." Pre/, to 
 the Hist, of the World. And Lord Herbert of Cherbury ; — " con- 
 ** straining the People of those parts to condescend to a Treaty." 
 ^-The Life and Reign of Henry VIII. p. 5S7.fol. 1682. But per- 
 haps in the above examples this word retains somewhat of its 
 etymological import, to climb, or mount, scando. As seems 
 likewise to be the case in the following : — " This he not dreaming 
 " of their evil intention had condescended to.*' — Mem. of Col. 
 *' Hutchinson, p. 229. 4/o. Again : ** They agreed to surrender 
 " the City, i^pon this condition only, that their Governor and 
 " his Officers should march to Bristol which was condescended 
 V untQ,*'—Whitelock's Mem. p. 164, fol. 1732. 
 
94 Milton's 
 
 Order still would be but fruitlesse and defective to 
 that end whereto ye meant it. If to prevent sects 
 and schisms^ who is so unread or so uncatechis'd 
 in story, that hath not heard of many sects refusing 
 Books as a hindrance, and preserving their doctrine 
 unmixt for many ages, only by unwritt'n traditions ? 
 The Christian faith, (for that was once a schism) is 
 not unknown to have spread all over Asia, ere any 
 Gospel or Epistle was seen in writing. If the 
 amendment of manners be aym'd at, look into Italy 
 and Spain, whether those places be one scruple the 
 better, the honester, the wiser, the chaster, since all 
 the inquisitionall rigor that hath bin executed upon 
 Books. 
 
 Another reason, whereby to make it plain that 
 this order will misse the end it seeks, consider by 
 the quality which ought to be in every Licencer. It 
 cannot be deny'd but that he who is made judge to 
 sit upon the birth, or death of Books, whether they 
 may be wafted into this world, or not, had need to 
 be a man above the common measure, both stu- 
 dious, learned, and judicious; there may be else no 
 mean mistakes in the censure of what is passable or 
 not ; which is also no mean injury. If he be of 
 such worth as behoovs him, there cannot be a 
 more tedious and unpleasing journey-work, a 
 greater losse of time levied upon his head, then to 
 be made the perpetuall reader of unchosen Books 
 and Pamphlets, oftimes huge volumes. There is no 
 Book that is acceptable unlesse at certain seasons ; 
 
AREOPAGITICA. 94 
 
 but to be enjoyn'd the reading of that at all times, 
 and in a hand scars legible, whereof three pages 
 would not down at any time in the fairest Print, is 
 an imposition^ which I cannot beleeve how he that 
 values time, and his own studies, or is but of a sen- 
 sible nostrilP, should be able to endure. In this 
 one thing I crave leave of the present Licencers to 
 be pardon'd for so thinking : who doubtlesse took 
 this office up, looking on it through their obedience 
 to the Parlament, whose command perhaps made 
 all things seem easie and unlaborious to them ; but 
 that this short triall hath wearied them out already, 
 their own expressions and excuses to them who 
 make so many journeys to sollicit their Licence, are 
 testimony anough. Seeing therefore those who now 
 possesse the imployment, by all evident signs wish 
 
 • An imposition.] *' A task.** This term is still in use at Ox- 
 ford for the literary exercise prescribed as a punishment for in- 
 fringen^ents on the discipline of the University. 
 
 I 0/ a sensible nostrill — ] In imitation of 
 
 " minus aptus acutis 
 " Naribus." 
 
 Hor, Sat. I. 3. 29. 
 
 Glyd White. 
 
 Such Anglo-Latian adulterations of our Language were once' 
 much in vogue. Unquestionably these classical affectations were 
 Titious attempts to latinize our Teutonic tongue. But the apo- 
 logetical observations I had to offer in reply to the accusation 
 of Latinism in his English Prose, as brought against our Authour 
 by Dr. Johnson, I expanded, and have already laid before the 
 Public in a detached form. 
 
96 milton'is 
 
 themselves well ridd of it^, and that no man of 
 worth, none that is not a plain unthrift of his own 
 hours is ever likely to succeed them, except he 
 mean to put himself to the salary of a Presse- cor- 
 rector, we may easily foresee what kind of Licencers 
 we are to expect hereafter, either ignorant, impe- 
 rious, and remisse, or basely pecuniary. This is 
 
 * Seeing therefore those who now possesse the imployment, hy all 
 evident signs wish themselves well ridd of it — ] Toland represents, 
 that " such was the effect of our Author's Areopagitica, that 
 ** the following year Mabhot, a Licenser, offer'd Reasons against 
 "Licensing; and, at his own request, was discharged that 
 " office/' — The Biographer was inaccurate as to the date. 
 Mahbot continued in the office till 1649 ; and was then at his 
 own desire discharged the employment: see Note to this quo- 
 tation in Hollis's Edit, of Toland's Life of Milton ; p. 56. 8vo. 
 1761; Where too 3Iabbot*s Reasons are given at length. A^ 
 they contain some practical answers against a revival of an Im- 
 primatur, and sustain Toland* s account of the cogency of Mil- 
 ton's vindication of an open Press, I will reprint them. — See 
 Illustration, K. 
 
 We may regret, that Toland's Biographical Memoir should 
 not have been fuller, and written with more attention. Had he 
 bestowed the time, it appears to have been within his power to 
 have communicated considerably more information than he has 
 given us: for he writes in a Letter to a Person of Quality in 
 Holland that he was *' conversant with many of Milton's inti- 
 *' mate Friends, and acquaintance ; who, beside other informa- 
 " tions, readily presented me with what Manuscripts of his, or 
 " any way relating to him, they had in their hands/' A Collec" 
 tion of several Pieces of Mr. John Toland; I. 352. 8vo. 1726. 
 by Des Maizeaux. 
 
 At the same time, every friend to Literature and to Liberty 
 must willingly render his acknowlegements to Toland's memory, 
 for collecting and editing the political writings of Harrington, 
 Sydnei/f and Milton. These labours call for unqualified praise. 
 
AREOPAGITICA. 97 
 
 what I had to shew wherein this Order cannot con- 
 duce to that end, whereof it bears the intention. 
 
 I lastly proceed from the no good it can do, to 
 the manifest hurt it causes, in being first the greatest 
 discouragement and affront, that can be offered to 
 Learning and to learned men. It was the com- 
 plaint' and lamentation of Prelats, upon every least 
 breath of a motion to remove Pluralities, and distri- 
 bute more equally Church revennu's, that then all 
 Learning would be for ever dasht and discouraged. 
 But as for that opinion, I never found cause to think 
 that the tenth part of Learning stood or fell with the 
 Clergy : nor could I ever but hold it for a sordid 
 and unworthy speech of any Churchman who had 
 a competency left him*. If therefore ye be loath 
 to dishearten utterly and discontent, not the mer- 
 
 ' It was the cotnplaint, &c.] See Illustration, L. 
 
 * Nor could lever but hold it for a sordid and unworthy speech 
 of any Churchman who had a competency left hifu.] Ludlow re- 
 lates an argumentative conversation on this question wherein he 
 delivered with characteristic frankness an opinion similar to 
 Milton's : *' Dr. Earl accused the Parliament of endeavour- 
 " ing the destruction of Learning, which I desiring him to make 
 " appear, he told me that by abolishing Episcopacy we took 
 " away all encouragement to it; for that men would not send 
 " their sons to the university had ihey not some hopes that they 
 " might attain to that preferment. To this I replied. That it 
 " would be much more honest for such men to train up their 
 " children at the plow, whereby they might be certainly pro- 
 " vided with a livelihood than to spend their time and money to 
 '* advance them to an office pretended to be spiritual and insti- 
 *' tuted for spiritual ends upon such a sordid principle and con- 
 " sideration. Sir Francis [Doddington], as I conceive, ashamed 
 
 H 
 
98 Milton's 
 
 cenary crew of false pretenders to Learning, but the 
 free and ingenuous sort of such as evidently were 
 born to study, and love Lerning for it self, not for 
 lucre^ or any other end, but the service of GoD 
 and of Truth, and perhaps that lasting fame and 
 
 ' perpetuity of praise which GOD and good Men have 
 consented^ shall be the reward of those whose pub- 
 
 \ lisht labours advance the good of Mankind : then 
 know, that so far to distrust the judgement and the 
 honesty of one who hath but a common repute in 
 
 " of the Doctor's discourse put an end to the conversation." — 
 Memoirs; p. 40. fol. 1751. 
 
 * Such as evidently were horn to study, and love Learning for 
 it self, not for /woe.] On the contrary, the Poet Waller, in his 
 Speech on behalf of Episcopacy as established, argued thus : 
 " If these great innovations proceed, I shall expect a flat and 
 ** level in Learning too, as well as in Church-preferments : JTo 
 " nos alit Aries. And though it be true, that grave and pious 
 ** men do study for learning-sake, and embrace Virtue for itself; 
 '' yet it is true, that Youth, which is the season when Learning 
 " is gotten, is not without ambition ; nor will ever take pains 
 " to excel in any thing, when there is not some hope of excell- 
 *' ing others in reward and dignity.*' I give this as reprinted in 
 Johnsoji's Biographical Preface to Waller, 
 
 * God and good Men have consented — ] that is, agreed. As 
 in Spenser ; 
 
 " Such musick is wise words with time consented." 
 
 F. Q. B. 4. Cant. 2. St, 2. 
 
 And Ben Jonson; 
 
 Dan. — " How their Excuses meet ! 
 
 Cle, — " What a consent there is i' the Handles." 
 
 Epicane; A, 4. 5.6. 
 
AREOPAGITICA. 99 
 
 Learning, and never yet offended, as not to count 
 him fit to print his mind without a tutor and exa- 
 miner, lest he should drop a schism, 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 scapt the 
 ferular, to come under the fescu of an Imprimatur f 
 if serious and elaborat writings, as if. they were no 
 more then the theam of a grammar Lad under his 
 Pedagogue, must not be utter'd without the cursory 
 eyes of a temporizing and extemporizing Licencer''. 
 He who is not trusted with his own actions, his 
 drift not being known to be evill, and standing to 
 the hazard of law and penalty, has no great argu- 
 ment to think himself reputed in the Common- 
 wealth wherein he was born, for other then a fool 
 or a foreiner. When a man writes to the world, 
 he summons up all his reason and deliberation to 
 assist him; he searches, meditats, is industrious, 
 and likely consults and conferrs with his judicious 
 friends ; after all which done he takes himself to be 
 
 '' Must not he uttered without the cursory eyes of a temporizing 
 and extemporizing Licencer.'] So afterward in this Speech, 
 — *' differences or rather indifferences** — Such playing on words 
 was much in vogue in our Authour's day ; and if it had been 
 observed to him that it was beneath the dignity of Oratory, he 
 would probably have replied, that Cicero did not reject it; and 
 would have vouched from him %Mch jeux de mots as, " iideraque 
 " bustum in foro facerent, qui illara insepultam sepuUuram refe- 
 " cerant."— PA?72p. prim, sect, 2. 
 
 H 2 
 
100 Milton's 
 
 informed in what he writes, as well as any that writ 
 before him; if in this the most consummat act of 
 his fidelity and ripenesse, no years, no industry, no 
 former proof of his abilities can bring him to that 
 state of maturity, as not to be still mistrusted and 
 suspected, unlesse he carry all his considerat dili- 
 gence, all his midnight watchings, and expence of 
 Palladian oyl, to the hast}'- view of an unleasur*d 
 Licenser^ perhaps much his younger, perhaps far 
 his inferiour in judgement, perhaps one who never 
 knew the labour of book-writing, and if he be not 
 repulst, or slighted, must appear in print like a 
 Punie with his Guardian^ and his censors hand on 
 
 ' Unlesse he carry all his considerat diligence, all his midnight 
 watchings, and expence of Palladian oyl, to the hasty view of 
 an unleasurd Licenser.'] He has in il Penseroto a parallel 
 image: 
 
 " Or let my Lamp at midnight hour, 
 " Be seen in some high lonely Tow*r, 
 «• Where I may oft out-watch the Bear." 
 
 V. 85. 
 
 — ** expence of Palladian oyl" — is an expression drawn from the 
 
 Classics: " Non deflebimus, ne Sf opera, d^ oleum philologiae 
 " nostrae perierit : sed conferemus tranquillo animo." — Cic. ad 
 Atticum, Lib. 2. Epist. 17. 
 
 I should, when it occurred in p. 40. have noticed, that when he 
 says — " to the Press, or to the Spunge — '* he is also speaking ia 
 classical diction: ''Nam tragaediam magno impetu exorsus, non 
 " succedente stylo, abolevit: quaerentibusque amicis quidnam 
 " Ajax ageret ? respondit, Ajacem suum in spongiam in- 
 cubuisse." Sueton. August. Lib. 2. 85. 
 
 ^ Like a ^iin\e with his Guardian — ] i.e. "like 2i Minor:** 
 ** This is ^complained our Autbour] the master-piece of a 
 
AREOPAGITICA. 101 
 
 the back of his title to be his bayl and surety, 
 that he is no idiot, or seducer, it cannot be but a 
 dishonor and derogation to the Author, to the Book, 
 to the priviledge and dignity of Learning. And 
 what if the Author shall be one so copious of fan- 
 cie, as to have many things well worth the adding, 
 come into his mind after Licencing, while the Book 
 is yet under the Presse, which not seldom happ'ns 
 to the best and diligentest writers ; and that per- 
 haps a dozen times in one Book. The Printer 
 dares not go beyond his licenc*t copy; so often 
 then must the Author trudge to his leav- giver, that 
 those his new insertions may be viewd ; and many 
 a jaunt will be made, ere that Licencer, for it must 
 
 *' modern politician, how to qualifie, and mould the sufferance 
 ** and subjection of the People to the length of that foot that is 
 " to tread on their necks, how rapine may serve it seife with the 
 " faire, and honourable pretences of publick good, how the puny 
 '* Law may be brought under the wardship and controul of lust 
 " [pleasure], and will." — Of Reformation, &c. p. 43. 4<o. 1641, 
 
 This word affords one proof, and others occur, of our Lexi- 
 cographer, having occasionally inverted the right order, and 
 shaped his explanation to make it square with the example he 
 furnished to his valued Dictionary. The sole sense Johnson 
 gives under Puny, as a Substantive, is quite inferential, and 
 widely stretched from its primary and literal signification; for 
 it is ** A young unexperienced unseasoned wretch,** which is a 
 constructive explication of the passage he adduces from South's 
 Sermons: "Tenderness of heart makes a Man but a Puny m 
 " this Sin ; it spoils the growth, and cramps the crowning 
 *' exploits of this vice." — A puny once signified 2i youngster. 
 
 Thus Ben Jonson in a copy of verses addressed to Donne : 
 " Those that for claps doe write, 
 ** Let punees, porters, players praise delight." 
 
102 Milton's 
 
 be the same man, can either be found, or found at 
 leisure; mean while either the Presse must stand 
 still, which is no small damage, or the Author 
 loose his accuratest thoughts, and send the Book 
 forth wors then he had made it, which to a diligent 
 writer is the greatest melancholy and vexation that 
 can befalP. And how can a man teach with auto- 
 rity, which is the life of teaching ; how can he be 
 a Doctor in his Book as he ought to be, or else had 
 better be silent, whenas all he teaches^ all he 
 
 * The greatest melancholy and vexation that can b^alL] By 
 Melancholy he meant mortification, not depression of spirits : so 
 Hall, in his Chronicle, of Stanleys disgust and discontent after 
 having so largely contributed toward raising Henry VII to the 
 throne : " Thys poynte argueth and proveth him at that tyme, 
 *' beynge moved with melancholy to beare no great good-will to 
 *' kynge Henry." 
 
 Again; Burnet; Hist, of Reformation ; I. 131. fol. 1715. 
 " Kearne on his way met the Bishop of Paris, coming back with 
 " his melancholick account of his unprosperous negotiation. 
 " When the King understood that he was used with so much 
 " scorn and contempt at Rome, being also the more vexed, &c." 
 So likewise, in the Memoirs of Col. Hutchinson; " At the read- 
 " inej of his Commission Col. Thornhagh shewed much discon- 
 " tent and was melancholy after it.'' p, 171. Mo. 
 
 Something like this must be the sense of this word in the suc- 
 ceeding verse of Hoccleve : 
 
 *' Malencolie engendryth werre and stryf.*' 
 
 Poems; p. 48. Mo. 1796. 
 
 Notwithstanding his Editor, the late Mr. G. Mason, inter- 
 preted it to bear the modern meaning ; see his Glossary to this 
 Publication. 
 
 ^ How can he he a Doctor in his Book as he ought to be, or else 
 had better be silent, whenas all he teaches, &c.] *' A Doctor," 
 
AREOPAGITICA. 103 
 
 delivers, is but under the tuition, under the correc- 
 tion of his patriarchal Licencer^ to blot or alter 
 
 i. e. a Teacher : ** For the ancient Doctors, he shewed, that in 
 " the fourth Century, St. Ambrose, Jerome, and St. Austin, the 
 " three great Doctors of that age, did not believe it." Burnet; 
 Hist, of the Reform. I. 155. fol, 1715. 
 
 Whenas — we have dropped the as, which though heretofore a 
 common suffix was merely an expletive. Where and There had 
 the same adjunct, and this redundancy is by many still retained 
 in as yet, and as how. 
 
 ^ Under the correction of his patriarchal Licencer.] Lord 
 Herbert of Cherbury in the Life and Reign qf Henry VIII records 
 {p. 386. fol. 1682,) that the King sent the Duke of Norfolk to 
 Francis " offering aid for a war in Piedmont, if he would suffer 
 *' no more monies to go out of his Realm to Rome, and instead 
 " of the Pope to erect a Patriarch, which it seems was one of the 
 " private Articles treated betwixt them at the interview," that 
 had previously taken place between the two Monarchs. Baf- 
 fled in his aim at the papal Tiara, tliat IVolsey should resolve by 
 artful policy to effectuate a grand and rival separation from the 
 supremacy of the Roman Pontifl', of which independent Com- 
 munion he might set himself at the head, comports well with 
 his aspiring character and habitudes of intrigue. To this end, 
 he might project to institute among the western Christians the 
 title and office of the Patriarchs in the eastern Church. Laud, 
 if fortune had proved so propitious that his restless ambition 
 could have mounted to its topmost pitch, was accused of having^ 
 speculated like the Cardinal-Minister, and, instead of remaining 
 the Primate of all England, to have sighed for the dignity of 
 Patriarch of our national Church. We therefore find it, in " a 
 ** true Delineation, or rather Parallel, between Cardinal Wolset/, 
 " Arch-bishop of York, and Wm. Laud, Arch-bishop of Canter- 
 *'bury,'' first printed in 16il, to be alleged that "They both 
 " favored the See of Rome and respected his holinesse in it: 
 '* the Cardinal did professe it publickly, the Arch-bishop did 
 " professe it privately. The Cardinal's ambition was to be 
 " Pope : the Arch-bishop strove to be Patriarch : they both bid 
 
104 MILTON's 
 
 what precisely accords not with the hidebound 
 humor which he calls his judgement ? When 
 every acute Reader upon the first sight of a pedan- 
 tick Licence, will be ready with these like words to 
 ding the Book a coits distance from him, I hate a 
 
 '* fairly for it ; yet lost their aime : and far easier is it for Men 
 ** to descend than to ascend." Someis's Tracts; IV. 434. Scott*s 
 edit. Again ; in the title-page to a copy of satirical Verses called 
 Lambeth Faire written in 1641 : 
 
 " These tricks and whimseys have been long conceard, 
 
 " But now the pack's laid open, al's reveaPd, 
 
 " The little Patriarcke frets and fumes to heare 
 
 " How cheap his knacks are sold in Lambeth Faire." 
 
 Our Authour has more allusions to Laud*s design. Among 
 others, in his Tract, Of Reformation, &c. " whenever the Pope 
 " shall fall, if his Ruine bee not like the sudden down-come of a 
 " Towre, the Bishops, when they see him tottering, will leave 
 *' him, and fall to scrambling, catch who may, hee a Patriarch- 
 ** dome, and another what comes next hand ; as the Frejich 
 ** Cardinal [Richlieu] of late, and the See of Canterbury, hath 
 "plainly affected,'' p. 9. 4^o. 1641. 
 
 The Archbishop, moreover, was by far the most effective 
 member of the Star-chamber when the Decree of that Court 
 was issued to subject all Publications to an Imprimatur, and 
 the Chaplains at Lambeth- House, with those at the west end 
 of PauVs, were nominated among the Licensers. 
 
 Without the aid of the above historical illustration the text 
 roust be ^' dark and silent," and the sense lost to many Readers. 
 While some might erroneously conjecture, that in the epithet 
 patriarchal there was involved a latent reference to Patriarchal 
 Government, as our Authour*s antagonist Sir Robt. Filmer, or 
 more correctly Sir .Robt. Holborne under Filmer's name, deno- 
 minated the divine Right to the Crown, which these zealots for 
 uncontrolled Prerogative contended, by analogy to the natural 
 privileges of paternal authority, to belong indefeasibly to the 
 reigning Family. 
 
AREOPAGITICA. 105 
 
 pupil teacher, I endure not an instructor that 
 comes to me under the wardship of an overseeing 
 fist. I know nothing of the Licencer, but that I 
 have his own hand here for his arrogance; who 
 shall warrant me his judgement? The State Sir, 
 rephes the Stationer ; but has a quick return, the 
 State shall be my Governours, but not my Criticks ; 
 they may be mistaken in the choice of a Licencer, 
 as easily as this Licencer may be mistak'n in an 
 Author : this is some common stuffe ; and he 
 might adde from Sir Francis BacoJi, That such au- 
 thoriz'd Books are but the language of the times \ 
 
 * He might add from Sir Francis Bacon, that such authorized 
 Books are but the language of the times.'] Where is it that Bacon 
 has said this? or that which our Authour presently cites from 
 him ? I am not unread in Bacon s Writings : I have also re- 
 quested some literary Friends to bear these two quotations in 
 mind, but neither of them has come within our observation. If 
 they should not be in bis collected Works^ as I am much in- 
 clined to believe is the case, they perhaps are to be found in a 
 Tract on Libels by Lord Bacon, mentioned in the Memoirs of 
 T. Hollis {p. 169.) My enquiries after this posthumous Publica- 
 tion have likewise been fruitless; and if any Gentleman having it 
 in his possession would favour me with a sight of it, I should 
 esteem the loan a peculiar obligation. 
 
 In an Apology for Sinectymnuus he again says, ** the testimony 
 *' of Sir Francis Bticon was not misalledged, complaining that 
 " Lii)elsonthe Bishop's part were uttered openly.'* p. 27.4/0. jJr^/ 
 edit. And the very able and argumentative Writer of " another 
 *' Letter to Mr. Almon in matter of Libel,'* quotes in his second 
 Postscript {p. 12. 85?o. 1770.) to that Pamphlet, the following pas- 
 sage from Lord jBacow'5 Letters in opposition to Coke's doctrine: 
 '' the position that it is not material whether the Libel be true 
 
io6 
 
 MILTONS 
 
 For though a Licencer should happ'n to be judi- 
 cious more then ordnary, which will be a great 
 jeopardy of the next succession, yet his very office, 
 and his commission enjoyns him to let passe no- 
 thing but what is vulgarly received already. Nay, 
 which is more lamentable, if the work of any de- 
 ceased Author, though never so famous in his life 
 j time, and even to this day, come to their hands for 
 licence to be printed, or reprinted, if there be 
 -j- found in his Book one sentence of a ventrous edge, 
 utter'd in the height of zeal, (and who knows whe- 
 ther it might not be the dictat of a divine Spirit?) 
 yet not suiting with every low decrepit humor of 
 / their own, though it were Knox himself, the Re- 
 former of a Kingdom, that spake it, they will not 
 / pardon him their dash : the sense of that great man 
 shall to all posterity be lost, for the fearfulnesse, or 
 the presumptuous rashnesse of a perfunctory 
 Licencer. And to what an Author this violence 
 hath bin lately done, and in what Book of greatest 
 consequence to be faithfully publisht, I could now 
 instance^ but shall forbear till a more convenient 
 
 *' or false, or whether the person that made it be of good or ill 
 " fame, is a proscription of Truth, and the provision of a sanc- 
 ** tuary for weak and wicked men, who may be employed as 
 " Ministers or Judges." 
 
 * Though it were Knox himself, the Reformer of a Kiiigdoin 
 that spake it, they will not pardon him their dash: &c : — And to 
 what an Author this violence hath bin lately done, and in what 
 Book of greatest consequence to he faithfully publisht, I could now 
 instance.l The latter part of this extract appears lo be very 
 
AREOPAGITICA. 10? 
 
 season. Yet if these things be not resented se- 
 
 applicable to the posthumous volumes of Coke's Institutes, and 
 I am unacquainted with any work beside, the circumstances of 
 which will tally with the whole. Parts II. III. and IV. were 
 first printed in 1641, pursuant to an Order of the Commons* 
 House of Parliament, made on the 12th of May in that Year. 
 Sir Edward Coke died in 1634-. The Oracle of our Law was now 
 therefore " a deceased Authour, famous in his life-time," and 
 who will deny, that his writings on the fundamental constitutions 
 of English Polity and Jurisprudence were ** of greatest conse- 
 '* quenceto be faithfully publisht?*' 
 
 I have a distinct recollection to have seen it charged on the 
 Parliamentary Party, that they tampered with Coke's Papers be- 
 fore they sent them to the Press. This assertion was made in 
 some Debate in Parliament not very long after the Restoration; 
 unfortunately I am unable to recover the place. Prynne, in the 
 title-page to his Animadversions on the fourth part of the Insti- 
 tutes, corroborates this accusation in a degree : for he states 
 these Volumes of Coke to have been " reprinted {with some dis- 
 ** advantage) since his death.*' And what Nicolson observes 
 on these harsh strictures by Prj/nne favours the same opinion. 
 ** The learned Authour (says the Bishop) is more severely re- 
 " fleeted on than he ought to have been for a posthumous Work, 
 " wherein we know not what injustice might he done him hy the 
 " Publishers of his orphan- labours." Eng. Hist, Library ; p. 199, 
 fol, 1714-. It is observable that Milton refrains from entering 
 into any particulars. Now, he would scarcely have had the 
 forbearance to glance thus slightly had he aimed at the parti- 
 zans of Charles. These facts taken in combination seem strong 
 to identify the work alluded to. 
 
 It is material to notice further, that he tells us this was ** lately 
 " don," lest it might be objected, that the three last Books of 
 Hooker's Ecclesiastical Polity were intended ; which were a 
 posthumous Publication, and also lie under the suspicion of 
 having been garbled by the Non-conformists while in manu- 
 script. As they, however, first appeared in print in 1848, the 
 date destroys the supposition. — After all, I must add, that in a 
 
108 Milton's 
 
 riously and timely by them who have^ the remedy 
 in their power, but that such iron moulds as these 
 shall have autority to knaw out the choicest periods 
 of exquisitest Books, and to commit such a trea- 
 cherous fraud against the orphan remainders of 
 worthiest men after death'', the more sorrow will 
 
 recent Biography of the Reformer of Scotland it is proved satis- 
 factorily, that this first sentence from the text admits of a par- 
 ticular application to a mutilated republication at Loudon of 
 Knox's Historif in this very year. This circumstance perhaps 
 renders it uncertain, whether the whole drift of this passage should 
 not be confined to the same fact ? The reader will judge. " la 
 ** 1644, David Buchanan published his edition of Knox's History 
 •' at London, in Folio, which was reprinted the same year at 
 " Edinburgh in Quarto. The editor prefixed a Preface concern- 
 " ing the antiquity of the Scots, and a Life of Knox, both of 
 " which were written by himself. He modernized the language 
 •• of the History ; but not satisfied with this, he also altered the 
 " narrative, by excluding some parts of it, and by making nume" 
 *' rous interpolations.^* &c. — Life of John Knox; by Thos. M'Crie, 
 D. D. H. 356. sec. edit. 
 
 MiLTON*s serio comic Sonnet on the ill reception of his 7b- 
 trachordon shows, that he held in disesteem the Scottish Ministers 
 then in London. 
 
 * By them 'ivho have."] So, in ElHoyoxXao-rijf : " the question 
 *' hath bin all this while between them two.'' p. 6l./r5/ edit. 
 This heretofore was not considered as ungrammatical : " That 
 " either of them two." — Lord Herbert's Life of Henry VHL />. 
 159. /o/. 1682. We still write he hiinseJf, instead of he his 
 self; and they Mcmselves, not their selves. 
 
 '' To knaw out the choicest periods of exquisitest Books, and to 
 commit such a treacherous fraud against the orphan remainders of 
 worthiest men after death."] Toland informs us, that the Licenser 
 of Paradise Lost " would needs suppress the whole poensi for 
 " imaginary treason in the following lines : 
 
AREOPAGITICA. 10^ 
 
 belong to that haples race of men, whose misfor- 
 tune it is to have understanding. Henceforth let 
 
 " As when the Sun new ris'n 
 
 " Looks through the horizontal misty air 
 
 " Shorn of his beams, or from behind the Moon 
 
 *' In dim eclipse, disastrous twilight sheds 
 
 '* On half the nations, and with fear of change / 
 
 " Perplexes monarchs." 
 
 L//c o/ Milton, p. 121. Hollis*s edit. 
 
 We should felicitate ourselves, that for England's glory, thi« 
 now our eternal possession was not lost to mankind. How ill the 
 immortal Bard could brook any regulator of his text, we may 
 easily conceive. He must have put some restraint on his native 
 independence of spirit, not to have given way to the impulse he 
 could not but have felt to " ding*' the Printer's Copy a " coit's 
 " distance from him" into the flames, when returned to him 
 scored with objections, and a whole Simile excepted to by an 
 Archbishop's Chaplain. 
 
 The apprehension of a like indignity must have deterred 
 numbers from all commerce with the Press. Through the 
 morbid sensibility so common among Authours, we have all 
 witnessed with what hesitation and reluctance many bring them* 
 selves to submit their thoughts even to critical censure. The 
 fear that his Manuscripts might be garbled, perhaps interpo- 
 lated, in a posthumous publication, prompted Sir Matthew Hale 
 to the resolve that " none of his Writings should be at the 
 mercy of Licensers." Burnet's Life of Hale ; p. 111. \2mo. 
 
 Let me add a striking instance of the suppression of a choice 
 period in an exquisite Book. Xenophon had put into the mouth 
 of Cj/rus, when making a hortatory speech to his Grecian auxi- 
 liaries, that they should be assured he would prefer Libertj/ before 
 all things he possessed, with the addition of many others. Eu 
 yccp ifrrs on rijv sXsv^spioLv eXoiiJ^fjv av ocvri wv sy^oj irxvfujv >ca.t 
 aX\u)v ifoWairXaoriujy. Where Spelman observes, " whether 
 '* D'Ablancourt found any difficulty in this sentence, or whe- 
 *' ther he was afraid of offending the tender ears of his Monarch 
 " with the harshness of it, I know not; but so it is, that he has 
 
110 Milton's 
 
 no man care to learn, or care to be more then 
 worldly wise ; for certainly in higher matters to be 
 ignorant and slothfull, to be a common stedfast 
 dunce* will be the only pleasant life, and only in 
 request. 
 
 " left out every syllable of this period." — See Spelmans Trans- 
 lation of the Anabasis, I. 75. 8j7o. This was under Louis XIV. 
 We may be fully confident that he would never have harangued 
 his Swiss Mercenaries in the same strain, that the Historian re- 
 cords this eastern Despot to have addressed the Ten Thousand ; 
 and perhaps a testimony so favourable to popular Governments 
 would have been objected to by the Syndic; so that D'Ablan- 
 court's version could not have appeared avec Approbation et Pri' 
 velege du Roi, without this mutilation. But where is the ex- 
 tenuation for the respectable Biographer of Sir William Jones, 
 who took on him to strike the following paragraph out of a 
 Letter written by that excellent Man to Dr. Price? 
 
 " Chriskna-nagur, Sep. l^, 1790. 
 
 " When I think of the late glorious Revolution in France, I 
 " cannot help applying to my poor infatuated Country, the 
 ** words which Tully formerly applied to Gaul, ex omnibus ter- 
 " ris Britannia sola communi non ardet incendio." — See Me- 
 moirs of Sir William Jones ; bj/ Lord Teignmouth ; p, Sl-l. Aito, 
 that this sentence is there omitted. 
 
 ® A common stedfast dunce-l i. e. *' a fixed or confirmed 
 ** Dunce." We meet with this Adjective in the same significa- 
 tion in Spenser: F. 2. b,2. c. 2. st. 8. 
 
 ** Transformed her to a stone from stedfast Virgin's state/' 
 Again in the same book. c. 7. st, 1, a fixed star is called " a 
 *' stedfast star." It bears a kindred sense in il Penseroso; v. 31. 
 ** Come, pensive Nun, devout and pure, 
 " Sober, stedfast, and demure.'* 
 And it may be added, that our Poet might have caught these 
 rhymes and this peculiar combination from an antient Ballad 
 quoted by Sir J. Hawkins {Hist, of Music: III. 29.) : 
 
 " She is proper and pure 
 
 " Full stedfast, stabill and demurs'* 
 
AREOPAGITICA. , 111 
 
 And as it is a particular disesteem of every 
 knowing person alive, and most injurious to the 
 writt'n labours and monuments of the dead, so to 
 me it seems an undervaluing and vilifying of the 
 whole Nation. I cannot set so light by all the in- 
 vention, the art, the wit, the grave and solid judge- 
 ment which is in England, as that it can be com- 
 prehended in any twenty capacities how good so- 
 ever ; much lesse that it should not passe except 
 their superintendence be over it, except it be sifted 
 and strain'd with their strainers, that it should be 
 uncurrant without their manuall stamp. Truth 
 and Understanding are not such wares as to be mo- 
 nopoliz'd and traded in by Tickets, and Statutes, and 
 Standards^ AVe must not think to make a st:\ple 
 
 ^ Truth and Understanding are not such wares as to be mono- 
 polized and traded in by Tickets, Statutes, and Standards.] This 
 allusion to the grants of Monopolies by the Crown to favoured 
 individuals under colour of Prerogative is not unlike Cowley's 
 contemporary mention of the same heavy Grievance, in his 
 verses to the Lord Falkland: 
 
 " How could he answer 't, should the State think fit, 
 " To question a Monopoly of Wit ?" 
 
 Whoever will look in the Tract intitled Leycester's Common^ 
 wealth {p. Q5. ed. 1641.) at the enumeration of Patents of this 
 nature granted by Elizabeth to that Favourite will be at no loss 
 to conceive the public odium they must have brought on this 
 arbitrary assumption of the Crown. 
 
 Acknowlegements for goods obtained on credit were then called 
 Tickets, " The Law (says Waterhous in his Commentary upon 
 ** Fortescue) provides that Inns shall have present pay, and men 
 " not run in arrears or take from them on Ticket,'* p. 453. foL 
 1663. See too Memoirs of Ludlow; p. 325. fol, 1751. And 
 
112 Milton's 
 
 commodity of all the knowledge in the land, to 
 mark and licence it like our broad cloatb, and our 
 wool! packs. What is it but a servitude like that 
 impos'd by the Philistins, not to be allow'd the 
 sharpning of our own axes and coulters, but we 
 must repair from all quarters to twenty licencing 
 forges? Had anyone writt'n and divulged ^ erro- 
 neous things and scandalous to honest life, mis- 
 using and forfeiting the esteem had of his reason 
 among men, if after conviction this only censure 
 were adjudged him, that he should never hence- 
 forth write, but what were first examined by an 
 appointed officer, whose hand should be annext to 
 
 JTeylin, speaking of the preparations made in 1638, by the Scot- 
 tish Nation to claim their Rights at the point of the sword, re- 
 lates that, they took " up arms and ammunition from the States 
 •' United, with whom they went on ticket, and long days of 
 *' payment, for want of ready money/' — Hist, of the Presby^ 
 terians; p. 4^20.fol. 1672. 
 
 This explanation clears away an obscurity in Beaumont and 
 Fletcher* s Scornful Lady: " I am but new come over, direct me 
 *' with your ticket to your Taylor, and then I shall be fine." — 
 p. 70. Works; fol, 1679. These passages, indeed, throw reci- 
 procal light on each other; and Qon^tm Johnson* s conjectural 
 etymology of Tick, 
 
 Statutes are Securities given for debts contracted by the pur- 
 chase of Merchandize, *' The reason of which name is (as 
 *' Blount explains the word) because those Bonds are made ac- 
 " cording to the forms of certain Statutes** — Glossographia ; p, 
 605. 8vo. A^thedit, 
 
 * writt'n and divulgM — ] i. e. published, in the technical 
 sense : '* This — was printed and carefully divulged over the 
 kingdom." Clarendon; Hist, qf the Rebellion; I. 1022. Svo. 
 1S07. 
 
AKEOPAGITICA. 113 
 
 passe his credit for him, that now he might be 
 safely read, it could not be apprehended lesse then 
 a disgracefull punishment. Whence to include 
 the whole Nation, and those that never yet thus 
 offended, under such a diffident and suspectfull 
 prohibition, may plainly be understood what a dis- 
 paragement it is. So much the more, when as 
 dettors and delinquents may walk abroad without a 
 keeper, but unoffensive Books must not stirre forth 
 without a visible jaylor in thir title. Nor is it to 
 the common people lesse then a reproach ; for if 
 we be so jealous over them, as that we dare not 
 trust them with an English Pamphlet, what doe we 
 but censure them for a giddy, vitious, and un- 
 grounded People ; in such a sick and weak estate 
 of Faith and discretion, as to be able to take no- 
 thing down but through the pipe of a Licencer. 
 That this is care or love of them, we cannot pre- 
 tend, whenas in those Popish places where the 
 Laity are most hated and dispis*d the same strict- 
 nes is us*d over them. Wisdom we cannot call it, 
 because it stops but one breach of licence, nor that 
 neither^ J whenas those corruptions which it seeks 
 
 • Nor that neither — ] There are sufficient authorities for this 
 Anglicism, though not strictly correct. Malone took excep- 
 tion to a similar use of neither; see his Edition of Drydcn*i 
 Prose Works, III. 260. But the above intensive sense of this 
 word is a relic of the Anglo-Saxon idiom; in which two Nega- 
 tives do not make an Affirmative. Fortescue- Aland, in his 
 Notes to Sir John Fortescuc^s curious Treatise on " the Difler- 
 " ence between an absolute and limited Monarchy; as it more 
 " particularly regards the English Constitution," remarks that, 
 
 I 
 
114 milton's 
 
 to prevent, break in faster at other dores which 
 cannot be shut. 
 
 And in conclusion, it reflects to the disrepute of 
 our Ministers also, of whose labours we should hopfi 
 better, and of the proficiencie which thir flock 
 reaps by them, then that after all this light of the 
 Gospel which is, and is to be, and all this conti- 
 nuall preaching, they should be still frequented 
 with such an unprincipFd, unedify*d, and laick 
 y rabble^ as that the whifle of every new Pamphlet 
 
 it was a *' mode of the Saxons, as among the Greeks, to have 
 *' two Negatives in their negative proposition as, Ne eom ic na 
 Epijr, / am not the Christ. — Maresc. Evang. Joh. 1. 20. 
 
 ** In imitation of which Chaucer, has Ine said none ilL Some- 
 " times you will find the Saxons deny by three Negatives, as, 
 " among the Laws of King ^thelstan, nan j-cylb pyphta na lecje 
 " nan jxieapcf felle on j*cylb ; Let no maker of Shields, lay any 
 *' Sheep Skin on my Shield. — Inter Leg. ^thelstan. 15. 
 
 " Nay, sometimes they have used four Negatives to deny 
 *' more strongly, as, Ne nan ne bojij-t ojr J;am baeje hjne nan 
 " J)m5 mape axijean ; Neither durst any Man from that day 
 ** ask him any more questions, speaking of our Saviour. — Maresc. 
 " Evang. Matth. 32.46. Hickes, Thcs. SS.^'—p. 15. 3d edit. 1724. 
 
 ^ Laick rabble — ] is precisely the profanum vulgus of Ho- 
 race; the illiterate or " swainish multitude;** our Authour's 
 phrase in another work. In the Latinity of the lower ages, 
 *' Laica Lingua** signified the vulgar tongue. {DuFresne; Gloss, 
 med. Sf infim. Lat. in v. Laica.) ** We have learnt (says Mil- 
 ** TON in another Tract) the scornfull terme of Laick, the con- 
 " secrating of Temples, carpets, and table-clothes, the railing 
 " in of a repugnant and contradictive Mount Sinai in the Gos- 
 ** pell, as if the touch of a lay Christian who is never the lesse 
 ** Gods living Temple, could profane dead Judaisms." Tiic 
 Reason of Church Government; p. 5^. Uo. 1641. 
 
 The " lay gents" is the term with the old Reporters of ad- 
 judged Cases, for the uninitiated in the mysteries of our Law. 
 
AREOPAGITICA. 115 
 
 should stagger them out of thir catechism, and 
 Christian walking. This may have much reason 
 to discourage the Ministers when such a low con-» 
 oeit is had of all their exhortations, and the bene- 
 fiting of their hearers, as that they are not thought 
 fit to be turn'd loose to three sheets of paper with- 
 out a Licencer, that all the Sermons, all the Lec- 
 tures preacht, printed, vented in such numbers, 
 and such volumes, as have now well-nigh made all 
 other Books unsalable, should not be armor anough 
 against one single enchiridion^ without the Castle 
 St. Angela of an Imprimatur^ 
 
 * Not he armor anough against one single enchiridion, withoui 
 the Castle St. Angeio of an Imprimatur.'] Milton must from 
 local knowlege have been well acquainted with the situation of 
 the Castle St. Angeio ; and no doubt he surveyed the Pope's 
 State Prison with emotions that left no momentary impression 
 on his mind. But it is extraordinary, that he should not have 
 bestowed a thought on how few of his Readers would know that 
 this Citadel, whose site was the mole o^ Hadrian, (see Plates 51 
 and 52 in the Roma Mterna of Schenkius) commanded the main 
 access to Rome. The Historian tells us in his concluding Chap- 
 ter, that " could the Romans have wrested from the Popes the 
 «' Castle of St. Angeio, they had resolved by a public decree to 
 " annihilate that monument of servitude." Decline and Fall of 
 the Roman Empire, 
 
 Yet without some such knowlege this far-fetched metaphor 
 presents no determinate idea: to preserve the integrity of which 
 we must moreover carry in mind that there is a double power 
 couched under Enchiridion. Milton delighted in enigmatical 
 meanings. We are to understand it to signify both a Manual 
 and a Dagger; which latter sense it appears by E. Philippss 
 English Dictionary, {The New World of Words, fol. 1706.3 to have 
 
 I 2 
 
Il6 Milton's 
 
 And lest som should perswade ye. Lords and 
 Commons ! that these arguments of lerned mens 
 discouragement at this your Order, are meer flou- 
 rishes, and not real), I could recount what I have 
 seen and heard in other Countries, where this kind 
 of inquisition tyrannizes ; when I have sat among 
 their lerned men^ for that honor I had, and bin 
 counted happy to be born in such a place of Philo- 
 sophic Freedom, as they supposed England was, 
 while themselvs did nothing but bemoan the ser- 
 vil condition into which Lerning amongst them was 
 brought; that this was it which had dampt the 
 glory of Italian wits; that nothing had bin there 
 writt'n now these many years but flattery and 
 fustian. There it was that I found and visited the 
 famous Galiko grown old, a prisner to the Inquisi- 
 tion^ for thinking in Astronomy otherwise then the 
 
 still retained from the Greek. — Erasmus sports with this word in 
 the same way : alluding to his work, intilled " Enchiridion Mi- 
 " litis Christiani," he writes — " Dedi Enchiridion— \\\q contra 
 " dedit gladiolum, quo non magis ad hue sum usus quam ille 
 *« libro." Life by Jortin. I. 358. (n.) 8ro. 
 
 ^ / have sat among their lerned men, &c.] See Illustra- 
 tion, M. 
 
 ^ Tliere it was that I found and visited the famous Galilee 
 grown old, a prisner to the Inquisition — ] Mr. Hayley, from 
 the interest Grotius appears to have taken in the fate of Galileo, 
 ingeniously conjectures, that Grotius might have warmly re- 
 commended Milton on his departure from Paris for Italy to do 
 every kind office in his power to the illustrious Precursor of Sir 
 Isaac Newton, then suffering under Inquisitorial persecution. In 
 the proportion that we scrutinize Milton's Writings with cri- 
 
AREOPAGITICA. 117 
 
 Franciscan and Dominican Licencers thought. 
 And though I knew that England then was groan- 
 ing loudest under the Prelaticall yoak, neverthe- 
 lesse I took it as a pledge of future happines, that 
 other Nations were so perswaded of her Liberty. 
 Yet was it beyond my hope that those Worthies 
 were then breathing in her air, who should be her 
 leaders to such a deliverance, as shall never be for- 
 gott'n by any revolution of time that this world 
 hath to finish. When that was once begun, it was 
 as little in my fear, that what words of complaint 
 I heard among lerned men of other parts utter*d 
 against the Inquisition, the same I shou'd hear by 
 as lerned men at home utterd in time of Parlament 
 against an Order of Licencing ; and that so gene- 
 rally, that when I had disclosed my self a compa- 
 nion of their discontent, I might say, if without 
 envy, that He whom an honest Quastorship had in- 
 
 tical minuteness, the higher we shall set his punctual accuracy. 
 It is the prevalent though an unfounded notion, that this As- 
 tronomer was immured in a dungeon of the Holy Office for im- 
 parting to mankind his discoveries relative to the diurnal revo- 
 lution of our own planetary orh on its axis. To admonish us 
 therefore how vain to its possessor is the superiority of intellec- 
 tual qualiiications, " Galileos end" has been paralleled in mis- 
 fortune with the life of an eminent Scholar who oppressed by 
 want passed many of his days in a prison. Our Authour is 
 strictly accurate. The " Tuscan Artist'* was, it is true, put 
 into circufnscription and confine for his heretical Philosophy ; 
 that is, he was " a prisoner to the Inquisition;" but not actually 
 imprisoned. See Mr. Todd's " Account of the Life and Writ- 
 '* ings of Muton;" p. 31. sec. edit. 
 
118 Milton's 
 
 dear'd to the Siciliansy was not more by them im- 
 portuned against Verres, then the favourable opi- 
 nion which I had among many who honour ye, 
 and are known and respected by ye, loaded me 
 with entreaties and perswasions'^, that I would not 
 despair to lay together that which just reason 
 should bring into my mind, toward the removal of 
 an undeserved thraldom upon Lerning. That this 
 is not therefore the disburdning of a particular 
 fancie, but the common grievance of all those who 
 had prepared their minds and studies above the 
 vulgar pitch to advance Truth in others, and from 
 
 ' I might say, if without envy, that He whofti an honest QuaS' 
 torship had indear*d to the Sicilians, was not more by them impor- 
 tuned against Verres, then the favourable opinion which I had 
 among many who honour ye, and are known and respected by ye, 
 loaded me with entreaties and perswasions, Sfc."] If without envy 
 — after the Latin formulary — ♦' absit invidia verbo." — Recourse 
 was before had to Milton, when the faculties of an energetic 
 and well- in formed advocate were wanting to sustain the Anti- 
 prelatical Party on points of Learning against the defenders of 
 our Hierarchy. Neither would the Commonweallhsraen, had 
 he not stood high among the Writers of his time, have soli- 
 cited the exertions of his pen to counteract the impression made 
 on the public mind by the Icon Basilike; as they would also 
 have sought some other vindicator of the trial and execution of 
 Charles. These repeated applications to Milton for assistance 
 on emergent occasions are unequivocal demonstrations of the 
 powers of his Prose-writings, and that they were not on their 
 first appearance neglected, as Mr. JVarton was far from reluc- 
 tant 10 suggest. Men do not voluntarily trust their cause in 
 hands which are regarded as feeble or inefficient. Tracts, 
 moreover, were ascribed to him which unquestionably were not 
 of his production. This was unlikely to have happened if his 
 name as an Authour had been slighted. 
 
AREOPAGITICA, ll^ 
 
 others to entertain it, thus much nnay satisfie. And 
 in their name I shall for neither friend nor foe con- 
 ceal what the generall murmur is ; that if it come 
 to inquisitioning again, and Licencing, and that we 
 are so timorous of our seivs, and so suspicious of all 
 men^ as to fear each Book, and the shaking of 
 every leaf, before we know what the contents are j 
 if some who but of late were little better then si- 
 lenc*t from preaching, shall come now to silence 
 us from reading, except what they please, it can- 
 not be guest what is intended by som but a second 
 tyranny over Learning: and will soon put it out of 
 controversie that Bishops and Presbyters are the 
 same to us both name and thing ^ That those 
 
 ® Put it out of controversie that Bishops and Presbyters are the 
 same to us both name and thing.] He had through his Trea- 
 tise " of Prelatical Episcopacy,** maintained it to be " clear in 
 " Scripture, that a Bishop and Presbyter is all one both in Name 
 " and Office.'* Pr. W. I. 37. ed. 1738. And now, while repre- 
 hending the arbitrary tendency of the proceedings of the ruling 
 Faction, he seizes the opportunity of touching with allusive 
 pleasantry on the same doctrine. 
 
 Milton was never incited to write merely by a desire of de- 
 pressing one set of men or of exalting another. He put himself 
 early and earnestly into the work of ecclesiastical Reformation : 
 no sooner did he find that *' new Presbyter was but old Priest 
 " writ large,*' than he broke off all further commerce with his co- 
 adjutors in the subversion of " Prelaty," and resolutely withstood 
 their encroachments. He concurred with Ludlow's opinion, who 
 complained that *' there was a sort of Men, who were contented 
 *' to sacrifice all civil Liberties to the ambition of the Presbyte- 
 " rian Clergy, and to vest them with a power as great or greater 
 "than that which had been declared intolerable in the Bishops 
 "before." Memoirs', p. 73. fol. 17^51. For the same reason. 
 
120 Milton's 
 
 evills of Prelaty which before from five or six and 
 twenty Sees were distributivly charg'd upon the 
 whole People, will now light wholly upon Learning, 
 is not obscure to us : whenas now the Pastor of a 
 small unlearned Parish, on the sudden shall be 
 exalted Archbishop over a large Dioces of Books, 
 and yet not remove, but keep his other cure too, 
 a mysticall Pluralist^ He who but of late cry*d 
 down the sole ordination of every novice Batchelor 
 
 Selden and Whitelock opposed their application to Parliament for 
 the power of Excommunication and of Suspension from the Sa- 
 crament. Both these eminent Laymen, though they favoured 
 this Connection, knew too well the danger of power in a Priest- 
 hood, to lend their support on this occasion. 
 
 Milton's end was always one and the same. He carried him- 
 self very far above any idle or selfish attachment to the interest 
 of this Sect or of that Party : dedicating his Life to the investi- 
 gation of Truth, he was anxious only for the advancement of 
 the general welfare. 
 
 The detriment to the People's Cause which ensued greatly 
 through the confined views of the Presbyterian Clergy, when 
 their Party had gained the predominancy, is much to be de- 
 plored. Their conduct estranged the popular Leaders from each 
 other, or set them at variance, to the manifest advantage of their 
 common enemy. These unhappy feuds were the prelude to the 
 unconditional Restoration. 
 
 The Memoirs of Colonel Hutchinson exhibit a genuine and 
 lively picture of the crosses and bickerings which the assertors 
 of the Liberties of England, who did not belong to the prevail- 
 ing Sect had to encounter. — How many while fighting by the 
 side of the Roundheads, must have sighed to have lived in the 
 quarters of the Cavaliers. 
 
 • A mysticall Pluralist.'] " A covert pluralist." So Claren- 
 don; ** The Earl wrote a Letter,- in which he mystically ex- 
 
AREOPAGITICA. 121 
 
 of Art, and deny'd sole jurisdiction over the sim- 
 plest Parishioner, shall now at home in his privat 
 chair assume both these over worthiest and excel- 
 lentest Books, and ablest Authors that write them. 
 This is not, Yee Covnants and Protestations that 
 we have made, this is not to put down Prelaty ; 
 this is but to chop an Episcopacy* ; this is but to 
 
 " pressed some new design to have been set on foot for corrupt- 
 " ing the Army." Hist, of the Rebellion; I. 424. 8vo. 
 
 And in EiXOvoxXao-rjj;; " He chooses therefore a more mysti' 
 «' cal way, a newer method of Antichristian fraud." p. 155. 
 jirst edit, 
 
 * This is not, yee Covnants and Protestations that we have 
 made, this is not to put down Prelaty ; this is but to chop an 
 Episcopacy;] If this be an exclamatory adjuration, is it not 
 introduced aukwardly ? It may be (I do not throw it out with 
 much confidence) that yee is an errour of the Press. Possibly, 
 ^c was written in Milton's manuscript for the; and from this 
 abbreviation, now obsolete, the Compositor's mistake in the 
 original Edition, if there be one, might have arisen. 
 
 Covenants were the engagements which the Commons* House 
 had drawn up for signature the year before, and ordered to be 
 subscribed by the Members of both Houses of Parliament, and 
 by the People. Beside this national test or pledge of fidelity 
 enjoined by the Parliament, there were voluntary Covenants; 
 by which the individuals of particular bodies mutually bound 
 themselves to sustain " the good old Cause," and to be faithful 
 to each other. {Mem. of Col. Hutchinson ; p. 1 4^3. 4^o.) A 
 parochial instrument of this nature may be seen in Lysons's 
 *' Environs of London," extracted from the Parish Register of 
 Wanstead in Essex. 
 
 To protest was formerly synonymous with to declare: *' I will 
 ** just beg leave io protest my Faith : I am not able to dispute," 
 said Latimer to the Prolocutor at the disputation at Oxford pre* 
 viously to his suffering. A Pro^w^a^fon or Declaration was in 
 
122 Milton's 
 
 translate the Palace Metropolitan from one kind of 
 dominion into another, this is but an old canonical! 
 
 1641 agreed to by the Lords and Commons on behalf of them- 
 selves and the Public; "whereby they obliged themselves to de- 
 •* fend and maintain the Power and Privileges of Parliament, the 
 ** Rights and Liberties of the People, to use their utmost endea- 
 •* vour to bring to condign Punishment all those who should by 
 •' force or otherwise do any thing to the contrary, and to stand 
 •' by and justify all such as should do any thing in prosecution 
 •» of the said Protestation,'* Ludlow's Memoirs ; p. 6. foL 
 
 To this engagement M ilton refers, with his usual spirit and zeal 
 for the public interest, while vindicating the temperance and re- 
 gularity of his own habits : My *' morning haunts (he rejoins upon 
 ** a slanderous Adversary) are where they should be, at home* 
 " not sleeping, or concocting the surfeits of an irregular feast, 
 ** but up and stirring, in winter often ere the sound of any bell 
 ** awake men to labour, or to devotion; in summer as oft with 
 «* the bird that first rouses, or not much tardier, to read good 
 ** Authors, or cause them to be read, till the attention be weary, 
 •' or memory have its full fraught : then with useful and gene- 
 •* rous labours preserving the Body's health and hardiness; to 
 *' render lightsome, clear, and not lumpish obedience to the 
 *' Mind, to the cause of Religion and our Country's Liberty, 
 ** when it shall require firm hearts in sound Bodies to stand and 
 *' cover their stations, rather than to see the ruin of our Pro- 
 ** testation, and the inforcement of a slavish life." Pr, W. L 
 109. ed. 1738. 
 
 To chop was to change; so again in Tetrachordon; " you are 
 ** to limit it to that age, when it was in fashion to chop matrimo- 
 •* nies." p. 67. Jirst edit. Sailors still talk of the wind chopping 
 when it veers tu a new point. 
 
 I have never seen it observed, that Milton throughout his 
 writings against the established Hierarchy drew a perspicuous 
 line of demarcation between Prelates and Bishops. Episco- 
 pacy, in part spiritual, and in part political, such as obtains 
 with us, he held to be indefensible; and he was disinclined to 
 much of the Ritual^ as well as to much of our Church-Goyern- 
 
AREOPAGITICA. 12^ 
 
 slight of commuting our penance. To startle thus 
 betimes at a meer unlicenc't Pamphlet will after a 
 while be afraid of every conventicle, and a while 
 after will make a conventicle of every Christian 
 meeting. But I am certain that a State govern'd 
 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. While 
 things are yet not constituted in Religion, that 
 Freedom of Writing should be restrained by a disci- 
 pline imitated from the Prelats, and learnt by them 
 from the Inquisition, to shut us up all again into 
 the brest of a Licencer, must needs give cause of 
 doubt and discouragement to all learned and reli- 
 gious men. Who cannot but discern the finenes 
 
 ment. At the same time he does not, I think, appear to have been 
 an enemy to Bishops, as a higher order of the Christian Priest- 
 hood. If however he approved of an institution of this character 
 with a superiority of jurisdiction for the maintenance of cleri- 
 cal discipline, he fulminates the heaviest censures against " Prc" 
 " lat Lords" Bishops with *' Baronies and stately Preferments ;" 
 in other words, who were invested with secular authority. This 
 distinction may be presumed to have accorded with the disposi* 
 tion then prevalent : for even the Army, the bulk of whom aspired 
 to the establishment of a Commonwealth, expressed their desire to 
 retain an episcopal Government in the Church. They petitioned 
 the Parliament not to abolish the office of Bishop altogether 
 but to take away the " co-ercive power and civil penalties.*' 
 Rushworih; Hist. Col VII. 4. And after the proscriptions of 
 Laud, and the grievous tyranny of the " Prelatical Commis- 
 " sion," he who does not join in their detestation of these mitred 
 Judges must indeed be enamoured of Cruelty in its most dis- 
 gustful shape — cloathed in the mantle of Religion, and indulg- 
 ing its propensities under the much-abused name of Justice, 
 
124 Milton's 
 
 of this politic drift^ and who are the contrivers? 
 
 * Who cannot but discern the finenes of this politic drift — ] 
 Tliomsons reprint of the Areopagitica ^ives fnesse. In Ben 
 Jonsons The Devil is an Ass, Ever-ill says, " You'll mar all by 
 ** your fineness/* On which Whalley makes the following ob- 
 servation : *' Mr. Sympson imagines it should be finesse; but 
 *' that word, I believe, came into use since our Authour's days. 
 ** Fineness is the same with shyness or coyness ; and that sense is 
 ♦* not incongruous to the rest of the passage.'* Works; IV. 61. 
 Bvo. 1756. 
 
 But this word formerly signified crafty ingenuity, politic inveti" 
 tion; as now in this Oration ; and is so applied by Sir W. Ralegh: 
 " This politician studied bow to remove the other two from their 
 " places, and put some creatures of bis own in their rooms. 
 " Against Alexander he went to work the ordinary way, by ca- 
 *• lumniation and privy detraction. But for the supplanting of 
 •' Taurion he used more fineness ; loading him with daily com- 
 " mendations, as a notable man of war, &c. By such art he 
 *' thought to have removed him, as we say out of God's bless- 
 ** ing into a warm sun.'' Hist, of the World; p. 776. fol. 1677. 
 A meaning this which better agrees than coyness or shyness with 
 the name and character of Meercrqft, the Projector, to whom the 
 quotation from Jonson's Play is addressed. 
 
 Neither is the present the only place where Milton's text 
 has been vitiated to make this identical change : *' This is the 
 ** artificialest peece of jinencM to perswade Men to be Slaves, 
 ^* that the wit of Court could have invented." EkoyoxXaarij; ; 
 p. 35- 4^0. first edit. 1649. It is likewise printed correctly in 
 the 8vo. edit, p. 31. Amsterdam. 1690. and in Toland's Edit, of 
 the Pr. W. II. 458. But in Birch*s edit. I. 316. fol. 1738. it was 
 altered to finesse, and subsequent Editions conform to this cor- 
 ruption. It is but seldom that an Editor is found too tenacious 
 of his Authour's text. Finesse, it is highly probable, had not 
 yet stolen into our Language; or if it had been then naturalized, 
 still Milton would have rejected it. He did not himself de- 
 cline to borrow words occasionally from the Greek, the Latin, 
 and the Italian : very rarely (if ever) did he condescend to draw 
 on the French. 
 
AREOPAGITICA. 125 
 
 that while Bishops were to be baited down, then all 
 Presses might be open ; it was the Peoples birth- 
 right and priviledge in time of Parlament, it was 
 the breaking forth of light. But now the Bishops 
 abrogated and voided out of the Church, as if our 
 Reformation sought no more, but to make room 
 for others into their seats under another name ; the 
 Episcopall arts begin to bud again ; the cruse of 
 Truth must run no more oyle; Liberty of Printing 
 must be enthralled again under a Prelaticall Com- 
 mission of twenty ^ j the privilege of the People nul- 
 
 ^ Liberty of Printinrr must be enthralVd again under a Prelatical 
 Commission of twenty.'\ The following extract from the address 
 to the Reader which Rich. Baiter prefixed to a Treatise on the 
 Nature of Covenants and Faith, it is not unlikely might have 
 been intended for a direct reply to Milton. If not so, it is stili 
 curious to see the sort of reasoning by which the Presbyteriaa 
 Party defended an Imprimatur. At the same time, it stands a 
 lamentable example how far a man eminent for Talents and 
 Probity, he himself a Nonconformist, and an unsubdued con- 
 fessor for conscience-sake, when misled by a factious spirit 
 could desert a principle it was his bounden duty to uphold. 
 
 Among the impediments to the progress of Know lege, JBax/er 
 states, and without a blush, as the first, that *• Every ignorant, 
 *' empty braine (which usually has the highest esteem of itselfe) 
 '* hath the Liberty of the Presse whereby (through the common itch 
 *' that pride exciteth in men, to seeme somebody in the world) the 
 " number of Bookes is grown so great, that they begin with 
 •* many to grow contemptible ; and a man may bestow a great 
 " many yeares to find out the Authour*s weaknesse, and that 
 '* his Books have nothing in them but common ; and so many 
 " must be tossed over before we find out those few that are 
 ♦' cleare and solid, that much of our lives are spent in the di«- 
 " covery : and yet he is thought to scape well that only loseth 
 
126 Milton's 
 
 lify'd; and which is wors, the Freedom of Learning 
 must groan again, and to her old fetters : all this 
 the Parlament yet sitting. Although their own 
 late arguments and defences against the Prelats 
 might remember them*, that this obstructing vio- 
 lence meets for the most part with an event utterly 
 opposite to the end which it drives at : instead of 
 suppressing sects and schisms, it raises them and 
 invests them with a reputation : The punishing of 
 wits enhaimces their autority, saith the Vicount St. 
 Albans^ ; and a forbidden writing is thought to he a 
 certain spark of Truth that flies up in the faces of them 
 who seeke to tread it out. This Order therefore may 
 
 " his time and labour and gets no more hurt by them. Some 
 ** think the Truth mil not thrive among us, till every man have 
 " leave to speak both in Presse and Pulpit that please: God for' 
 *' bid that we should ever see that day ! If ten men's voyces be 
 " louder than one, then would the noyse of Errour drown the 
 " voyce of Truth : Ignorance is usually clamorous and loud, but 
 •' Truth is modest, though zealous : One orthodox faithfull 
 "Teacher, would scarce be seen or finde room for the crowd of 
 ** seducers: For the godly, compared with the ungodly, are 
 •' not near so few as the men of clear understanding, in corapa- 
 " rison of the ignorant: And they are most forward to speake, 
 '* that know least.*' Caret Tit. l2mo. 1648. 
 
 * The Prelats might remember them, &c.] See Illustra- 
 tion, N. 
 
 ^ The punishing of wits enhaunces their autority, sazM the Vi^ 
 count St. Albans."] " Autority" may be in the Latin sense for Re- 
 puiation. — Lord JBacow translated this apophthegm from Tacitus: 
 '* Quo magis socordiam eorum inridere libet, qui praesenti po- 
 *' tentia credunt exstingui posse etiam sequentis aevi raemoriam. 
 *' Nam contra, punitis ingeniis gliscit auctoritas^-^AnnaL /. 
 IV. 35. 
 
AREOPAGITICA. 12/^ 
 
 prove a nursing mother to sects, but I shall easily 
 shew how it will be a step-dame to Truth : and first 
 by disinabling us to the maintenance of what is 
 known already. 
 
 Well knows he who uses to consider, that our 
 Faith and Knowledge thrives by exercise, as well as 
 our limbs and complexion. Truth is compared in 
 Scripture to a streaming fountain ; if her waters 
 flow not in a perpetuall progression, they sick'n 
 into a muddy pool of conformity and tradition. A 
 man may be a Heretick in the Truth ; and if he be- 
 leeve things only because his Pastor sayes so, or 
 the Assembly so determins, without knowing other 
 reason, though his belief be true, yet the very 
 Truth he holds, becomes his Heresies There is not 
 
 • A man may be a Heretick in the Truth ; and if he heleeoc 
 things only because his Pastor sayes so, or the Assembly so deter- 
 mins without knowing other reason, though his belief be true, yet 
 the very Truth he holds, becomes his Heresie.] 
 
 Before theological Disputants gave it a technical appropriation 
 to what each deemed the pravities of Heterodoxy in his oppo- 
 nent, 'Aipscrig implied the opinion an individual had taken up on 
 any subject; it bore no reference to its Truth nor to its False- 
 hood ; and as little to peculiar, or to perverted notions of reli- 
 gious belief. " In ista ipsa alpe(rsi metuo ne plus nervorum 
 "sit," &c. writes Cicero; Epist. ad Div. I. 15. ep. 16. 
 
 Our Authour now reverts to this original and absolute im- 
 port; as Ben Jonson had previously: — " are you in that good 
 '* Heresie? I mean opinion** The Sad Shepherd; A.\. S. 5. 
 
 The drift of this seemingly paradoxical reasoning is in simpler 
 terms — *' Though any man's religious opinions happen to be or- 
 " thodox, still are they heretical when adopted without his own 
 " examination of their proper evidence" Consult further his 
 Treatise "of Civil Power in ecclesiastical Causes/' where Milton 
 
128 Milton's 
 
 any burden that som would gladlier post off to ano- 
 ther, then the charge and care of their Rehgion. 
 There be, who knows not that there be ? of Protes- 
 tants and Professors'^ who live and dye in as arrant 
 an implicit faith, as any lay Papist of Loretto, A 
 wealthy man addicted to his pleasure and to his 
 
 draws this distinction a second time, and opens his meaning 
 more dearly : Pr. W. I. 549. ed. 1738. 
 
 But is not this recurrence to the original acceptation, when it 
 has been superseded by an accidental application, injudicious 
 and faulty ? It looks too much like an ambitious display of 
 Learning. Thus to give a word a twofold signification ; to set 
 it in opposition with itself; now to be understood in its radical, 
 and now in an acquired sense, savours more of conceit than 
 of argument. Surely we should avoid every practice which 
 adds to the instability or to the uncertainty of Language ; and 
 such fluctuations, since they render the meaning of words pre- 
 carious and indefinite, must needs lead to ambiguity. 
 
 '^ Protestants and Professors.] They who affected a sancti- 
 monious observance of religious duties were then called Pro- 
 fcssors. This the examples following abundantly ascertain : 
 
 *' A Diocese in which there were as many strict Professors of 
 " Religion {commonly called Puritans) as in any part of Eng- 
 ♦' land." May ; Hist, of the Pari p. 55. ^to. And Fr. Quarks: 
 
 " There's many Libertines, for one Professour, 
 
 *' Nor doe Professors all professe aright 
 
 «' *Mong whom there often lurks a Hypocrite." 
 
 Divine Poems; p. G7. \2mo, 1630. 
 
 Again ; it is related in the Memoirs of Col. Hutchinson, that 
 his Father left him " at bord in a very religious house, where 
 " new superstitions and pharisaical holiness, straining at gnatts 
 " and swallowing camels, gave him a little disgust, and wa» 
 " awhile a stumbling block in his way of purer /)rq/e55/on, when 
 " he saw ^mon^ prof essors such unsuitable miscarriages." p. 32. 
 4to. 1806. 
 
AREOPAGITICA. 129 
 
 profits, finds Religion to be a traffick so entangFcl, 
 and of so many piddling accounts, that of all mys- 
 teries he cannot skill to keep a stock going upon 
 that trade. What should he doe ? fain he would 
 have the name to be religious, fain he would bear 
 up with his neighbours in that. What does he 
 therefore, but resolvs to give over toyling, and to 
 find himself out som factor, to whose care and 
 credit he may commit the whole managing of his 
 religious affairs; som Divine of note and estima- 
 tion that must be. To him he adheres, resigns the 
 whole ware-house of his Religion, with all the locks 
 and keyes into his custody ; and indeed makes the 
 very person of that man his Religion -, esteems his 
 associating with him a sufficient evidence and com- 
 mendatory of his own piety. So that a man may 
 say his Religion is now no more within himself, but 
 is becom a dividuall movable, and goes and comes 
 neer him% according as that good man frequents 
 
 ® His Religion is now no more within himself, but is becom a 
 dividuall movable, and goes and comes neer him.] Dividual is 
 divisible : 
 
 ** Twinn'd, and from her hath no dividual being." 
 
 Par. L. XII. 85. 
 Again, in Beaumont and Fletcher, X. 24. edit. 1778, 
 — " true love 'tween maid and maid may be 
 " More than in sex dividual.** 
 Here Seward, thinking dividual destroyed the sense, gave indi* 
 vidual; and so made the text spe«k just the reverse of what the 
 dramatic Poets intended. Individual is inseparable, indivisible, 
 as in Tetrachordon : ** His Tautology also of indissoluble and 
 *' individual, is not to be imitated." p. 20. 4/o. 1045. 
 
 K 
 
130 Milton's 
 
 the house. He entertains Iiim, gives him gifts* 
 feasts him, lodges him ; his Religion comes home 
 at night, praies, is liberally supt, and sumptuously 
 laid to sleep, rises, is saluted, and after the Malm- 
 sey, or some well spic*t bruage, and better break- 
 fasted^ then He whose morning appetite would have 
 gladly fed on green figs between Bethany and Jeru- 
 salem ; his Religion walks abroad at eight, and 
 leaves his kind entertainer in the shop trading all 
 day without his Religion. 
 
 ^ After the Malmsey, or some well-spic't bruage, and better 
 breakfasted.'] Ben Jonson had characleriz'd the Puritan Minis- 
 ter, Zealot of the Land Bus/s sumptuous fare at his Patroness's 
 by much the same sort of description : — " fast by the teeth i' 
 '* the cold Turkye-pye i' the Cupboard, with a great white Loaf 
 •* on his left hand, and a Glass of Malmsey on his right." 
 Bartholomew Fair. A. I. S. 6. 
 
 From Milton's representation of the usual morning repast in 
 a family of staid and sanctimonious manners, w;e may gather 
 the improved habits of life as to Temperance which have taken 
 place since his days. Such beverage if now set at all on the 
 Breakfast Table is only for the Fox-hunter before he goes out to 
 the chase. 
 
 Spiced Liquors for a long space of time were among the luxu- 
 ries of our Anceslours. Froissart, as I recollect, mentions, that 
 the Black Prince after the Battle of Poitiers, among other 
 courtesies presented his prisoner, the King of France, with a 
 cup of Wine and Spices. And a Poet, our Authour's contem- 
 porary, asks, 
 
 " What though some have a fraught 
 '* Of Cloves and Nutmegs, and in Cinnamon sail ? 
 " If thou hast wherewithall to spice a draught, 
 " When griefs prevail." 
 
 Herbert; the Temple, p. 13L \2mo. 1641. 
 
AREOPAGITICA. 131 
 
 Another sort there be, who when they hear, that 
 all things shall be ordered, all things regulated and 
 settPd ; nothing written but what passes through 
 the custom-house of certain Publicans that have 
 the tunaging and the poundaging of all free spok'n 
 Truth*; will strait give themselvsup into your hands, 
 mak'em and cul'em out what Religion ye please: 
 there be delights, there be recreations and jolly- 
 pastimes, that will fetch the day about from sun to 
 sun, and rock the tedious year as in a delightfull 
 dream ^. What need they torture their heads with 
 
 * Through the custom house of certain Publicans that have the 
 tunaging and the poundaging of all free spok'n Tmth.] Johnson 
 explains a Publican to be a toll-gatherer. If he had said a col- 
 lector of Taxes, he would have been more correct : " In all 
 " places Men that are grieved with payments to the Public, 
 *' discharge their anger npon the Publicans ; that is to say, Far-^ 
 *' mers, Collectors, and other OJicers of the Public Revenue.**-^ 
 Hobbes; Works; p. 140. fol. 1651. 
 
 The levying of Tunnage and Poundage on merchandize by 
 royal authority alone was a Grievance which had been con- 
 demned at the moment of their Dissolution by a tumultuary 
 Vote of the House of Commons who sale for a short time in 
 1629. 
 
 ' There be delights, there be recreations and jolly pastimes, that 
 will fetch the day about from sun to sun, and rock the tedious year 
 as in a delightfull dreajn."] After the industry with which po- 
 litical enmity has widely propagated that Milton felt no sym- 
 pathy in the affections of social life, it behoves his admirers to 
 remove this aspersion on his memory. The more so, since 
 Johnson has given currency to the persuasion that he was of 
 unamiable manners and a recluse; *' an acrimonious and surly 
 Republican," who was destitute of, the milder virtues. San* 
 
 K 2 
 
132 Milton's 
 
 that which others have tak*n so strictly, and so 
 unalterably into their own pourveying ? These are 
 
 guine, not to say enthusiastic, in his complexional tempera- 
 ment, it is not reasonable to believe that Milton was of an 
 austere or repulsive demeanour; and he possessed by far too 
 much native dignity, to be Pharisaical. With all his eager 
 appetite for Knowlege, and habitudes of severe Study, he did 
 not keep entirely aloof from the festal board. This was no 
 part of his doctrine; neither was it his practice to seques- 
 ter himself altogether from the world. Far otherwise : He 
 taught, 
 
 " For other things mild Heav'n a time ordains, 
 *' And disapproves that Care, tho' wise in show, 
 " That with superfluous burden loads the day, 
 ** And when God sends a chearful hour refrains." 
 
 So he says in the Sonnet on his own loss of sight; and this is 
 not the tone of a man who regarded the intercourses of society 
 with sourness or disdain ; nor the language of one who held 
 back from it as incompatible with the close application of a de- 
 voted Scholar. 
 
 None of his Vindicators have dwelt on this traite of character, 
 which Edward Philipps attests very quaintly : " Once in three 
 " weeks or a month, he would drop into the society of some 
 " young Sparks of his acquaintance, the chief whereof were 
 " Mr. Alphry, and Mr. Miller, two Gentlemen of Grays Inn, 
 ** the Beau's of those times, but nothing near so bad as those 
 ** now-a-days; with these Gentlemen he would so far make bold 
 *' with his Body, as now and then to keep a Gaudy-day." 
 Life prefixed to the Transl. of Letters of State ; p. 20, 1694. 
 
 By this transient glimpse which his Nephew and Pupil, his. 
 only Biographer who had a personal knowlege of him, affords 
 us of the immortal Bard in his hours of convivial indulgence, we 
 view him in a new and pleasing light; while it makes clear, that 
 the forcible and eloquent language in the text was a sponta- 
 neous and unexaggerated sally, not a feigned effusion to suit the 
 
AREOPAGITICA. 133 
 
 the fruits which a dull ease and cessation of our 
 knowledge will bring forth among the People. 
 How goodly, and how to be wisht were such an 
 obedient unanimity as this ? what a fine conformity 
 would it starch us all into ? doubtles a stanch and 
 
 occasion of the argument. — Who among the Lyric Poets has 
 given a warmer colouring to festive delights? 
 
 At the same time, this passage helps to show that the late T. 
 Warton imputed " a natural severity of mind" to Milton un- 
 justly, if he made use of this phrase in a sense distinct from 
 that of the elder Richardson, who had before observed that the 
 Poet " had a gravity in his temper, not melancholy, or not till 
 «' the latter part of his Life, not sour, morose, or ill-natur*d ; 
 " hut A certain severity of Mind, a Mind not condescending to 
 " little things." Life prefixed to Notes and Remarks on Par, 
 Lost, p. 15. Svo. 1734. — Still I should have preferred in both 
 these instances, because it would have been unequivocal, to 
 have characterized the Authour of Paradise Lost as endowed 
 with an elevation of Thought which could but ill stoop to 
 levities. Milton's self-control and temperate habits enhance 
 his merit in a high degree; as they were the result of a reso- 
 lution, formed soon after he arrived at manhood, to " spend 
 " his years in the search of civil and religious knowlege." — Pr. 
 W. L 135. ed, 1738. 
 
 '« all his study bent 
 
 '* To worship God aright, and know his works 
 
 *' Not hid, nor those things last, which might preserve 
 
 *' Freedom and Peace to Men." 
 
 P. Z. XI. 577. 
 
 Let me add, that he probably shadowed his own regulated 
 forbearance in the closing couplet of another poetical address. 
 He is inviting a Friend to appoint a place where they might 
 sometimes meet and pass a winter's day together in colloquial 
 enjoyment, and elegant festivity, when he concludes, 
 
 ** He, who of those delights can judge, and spare 
 " To interpose them oft, is not unwise." 
 
134 Milton's 
 
 solid peece of frame- work, as any January could 
 freeze together^. 
 
 Nor much better will be the consequence ev*n 
 
 ' Hoiv goodly, and how to be xvish*t were such an obedient una- 
 nimity as this, what a fine conformity would it starch us all into ? 
 doubtless a stanch and solid peece of frame-work, as any January 
 could freeze together. '^ I wish we could read frost work. It i» 
 ijot easy to explicaie a satisfactory meaning out of ** frame 
 work/' as it stands here. 
 
 There is in his Tract against '* Prelaty,'* a splendid ampli- 
 ficaion of this reasoning from the dead repose of a forced Con- 
 formity. For nervous imagery and the masculine elegance of 
 its style, it has not often been surpassed. '* Do they [the Pre- 
 *' lates] kerp away Schism ? if to bring a mimb and chill stupidity 
 ** of Soul, an unactive blindness of Mind upon the People by 
 " their leaden Doctrine, or no Doctrine at all ; if to persecute 
 " all knowing and zt-alous Christians by the violence of their 
 " Courts, be to keep away Schism, they keep away Schism 
 " indeed : and by this kind of Discipline all Italy and Spain is 
 " as purely and politically kept from Schism as England hath 
 " been by them. With as good a plea might the dead palsy 
 " boast to a man, 'tis 1 that free you from stitches and pains, 
 " and the troublesome feeling of cold and heat, of wounds and 
 "strokes; if I were gone, all these would molest you. The 
 '• winter might as well vaunt itself against the Spring, I destroy 
 " all noisome and rank weeds, I keep down all pestilent va- 
 '* pours; yes, and all wholesome herbs, and all fresh dews, by 
 " your violent and hide-bound frost : but when the gentle west 
 " winds shall open the fruitful bosom of the Earth, thus over- 
 •' girded by your imprisonment, then the flowers put forth and 
 *' spring* and then the Sun shall scatter the mists, and the 
 " manuring hand of the tiller shall root up all that burdens the 
 " soil without thank to your bondage. But far worse than any 
 ** frozen captivity is the bondage of Prelates ; for that other, if 
 *' it kept down any thing which is good within the Earth, sodotlj 
 " it likewise that which is ill ; but these let out freely the ill, 
 *' and keep down the good, or else keep down the lesser ill, and 
 " let out the greatest." B. I. ck. 6, 
 
AREOPAGITICA. 135 
 
 among the Clergy themselvs : it is no new thing 
 never heard of before, for a parochiall Minister, 
 who has his reward, and is at his Hercules pillars 
 in a warm benefice, to be easily inclinable, if he 
 have nothing else that may rouse up his studies, to 
 finish his circuit in an English Concordance and a 
 topic fuliOy the gatherings and savings of a sober 
 graduatship*, a Harmony and a Catena, treading 
 the constant round of certain common doctrinal! 
 heads, attended with their uses, motives, marks 
 and means j out of which, as out of an alphabet or 
 sol fa^ by forming and transforming, joyning and 
 
 * To finish his circuit in an English Concordance and a topic 
 folio, the gatherings and savings of a sober graduatship, &c.] A 
 topic folio comprehended more than we now express by a folio 
 Common-place. In his Artis LogiccB plenior institutio, &c. our 
 Authour explains the phrase: " Argumentorum itaque inventio 
 " Topica Graece nominatur; quia roitsg continet, i. e. locos unde 
 " argumenta sumuntur, vidinque docet et rationem argumenta 
 "bene inveniendi, suo nimirura ordine collocata; unde vel ad 
 " genesia expromantur, vel in analyst explorentur, invento- 
 " rumque simul vim atque usum exponit." — Cap. 2. 
 
 While resident at the University, when only not a boy, he 
 vented a complaint similar to that he is stating above : " Sane 
 " apud nos, quod sciam, vix unus atque alter est, qui non Phi- 
 " lologiae, pariter & Philosophise, prope rudis et profanus, ad 
 " Theologiam devolet implumis; earn quoque leviter admoduna 
 " altingere contentus, quantum forte sufficiat conciunculae quo- 
 ** quo modo conglulinandae, & tanquam tritis aliunde pannis 
 *' consuendaB : adeo ut verendum sit ne sensira ingruat in Clerum 
 " nostrum sacerdotalis ilia superioris saeculi Ignorantia." — Epist. 
 Earn. III. 
 
 * Sol fa — ] The name of two Notes in the Gammut, which 
 lwas given them by Guido Aretino, the inventor of this musical 
 notation j from the initial Syllables of two verses in a Latin 
 Hymn. Woods. ' 
 
y 
 
 136 Milton's 
 
 dis joyning variously a little book-craft, and two 
 hours meditation might furnish him unspeakably to 
 the performance of more than a weekly charge of 
 sermoning : not to reckon up the infmit helps ^ of 
 
 * Not to reck'n up the infinit helps.] Milton's Orthography 
 gave Pr nuriciaiion the preference over Etymology. He, ac- 
 cordingly, put the apostrophed mark, or wholly sunk the o, 
 where it is inarticulately pronounced, as above in reckon and 
 elsewhere in prisner, &c. And the same with other Vowels, 
 where there is the same failure of an express enunciation; e. gr. 
 medcirit ordnary covenant. A slovenly mode of utterance but 
 too common among us, and which confounds all our Vowels in 
 the same indistinct sound. 
 
 The spelling of injinit without the supplemental e exemplifies 
 hi'' general scheme; as it also explains why in some instances he 
 added this as a servile Letter to the end of a word. In this 
 Oration injinit is printed like opposit, ohdurat, Senat, Prelat, and 
 many more, as it is spoken. This was the rule likewise pre- 
 scribed to the Printers of his own Editions of Par. Lost, except 
 when in accommodation to the measure the last Syllable is to 
 be produced, then to denote it to be long an e was appended. 
 As, 
 
 " Be infinitly good, and of his good 
 " As liberal and free as infinite." 
 
 p. 97. of 8j70. edit, 1674. 
 That these variations were not fortuitous is clear : 
 
 " Through the infinite Host, nor less for that.** 
 
 ib,p,\\y 
 
 " For which to the infinitly Good we owe." 
 
 ih. p. 175. 
 
 In these instances, where he placed the accent on the middle 
 Syllable, he subjoined the e. So we find on system an adsciti- 
 tious e to the closing word of the Verse, to show that there 
 ought to be a rest on the last Syllable, that it might, I suppose. 
 
AREOPAGITICA. 137 
 
 interlinearies, breviaries, synopses ^ and other loiter- 
 ing gear. But as for the multitude of Sermons 
 
 answer to the final Spondee of Latin Hexameters. Thus, 
 
 " The bond of Nature drew me to my owne, 
 " My ovm in thee, for what thou art is mine." 
 
 ib. jp. 242. 
 Again ; 
 
 " When in orbes 
 " Of circuit inexpressible they stood 
 *' Orb within orbt the Father infinite." 
 
 ib, p, 13*. 
 
 The omission of this e was further to " perform the effect" of 
 accentual notation ; and therefore it is that these Editions ex- 
 hibit '* Proserpin" (P. L. IV. 269.), " Nectarin," {ib. 332.) and 
 " Maritim," {ib. XI. 398.), because contrary to the authority 
 of custom, the metre constrains the ictus in these words to be 
 thrown back to the middle Syllable. 
 
 It is extraordinary, that none of Bentkys antagonists should 
 have urged this laboured exactitude of Spelling in refutation of 
 his hypothesis that there was an Editor of the original Edition 
 of Par. Lost, who beside typographical faults, had foisted in 
 several of his own verses. The phantom must have instantly 
 faded before this objection. 
 
 Where the e was not subsidiary to the written representation 
 of the vocal breathing, but was entirely surd, he discarded it : 
 for example; judg, fescu, revenu, shon, wors. In such cases 
 to have retained the superfluous Letter might have misled as to 
 the use to which it was applied in other places. 
 
 S, as interpolated in Island, and the intercalary^ mforeigrtt 
 were retrenched by others as well as by Milton. We see that 
 Chaucer spelt to the sound ; and this seems to have been the 
 rule most attended to by our Forefathers; though it was the 
 opinion of Gz7>&07z, that Languages gradually lose sight of Ety- 
 mology and come to be regulated by Pronunciation. 
 
 As written words are but the signs of sound. Letters wholly 
 mute should be regarded as a defect. The motive therefore 
 
138 Milton's 
 
 ready printed and pil'd up, on every text that is 
 not difficult, our London trading St. Thomas in his 
 vestry, and adde to boot St. Martin, and St. Hugh'^, 
 have not within their hallow'd hmits more vendible 
 ware of all sorts ready made : so that penury he 
 never need fear of Pulpit provision, having where 
 so plenteously to refresh his magazin. But if his 
 rear and flanks be not impal'd^ if his back dore be 
 not secured by the rigid Licencer, but that a bold 
 Book may now and then issue forth, and give the 
 assault to some of his old collections in their 
 trenches, it will concern him then to keep waking, 
 to stand in watch, to set good guards and sentinells 
 
 with our Authour might have been the benefit of Foreigners ; as 
 ■with the mode of pronouncing Latin and Greek which he wished 
 to have introduced, — The French have so many quiescent Let- 
 ters as to make too much of their Language merely Language 
 to the eye. 
 
 7 Our London trading Si. T/iomaa in his vestry, and adde to 
 boot St. Martin, and St. Hugh, &c.] This appears to convey a 
 reflection on some Preachers who had converted the Vestry- 
 room into a warehouse and place of sale for their Sermons. But 
 I am unable to designate the individuals by name. 
 
 * If his rear and flanks be not impalM — ] He has this last 
 word in Par. Lost. VL 553. 
 
 " impaVd 
 " On every side with shadowing squadrons deep." 
 i. e. defended or surrounded. But from what follows presently 
 afterward in my Text, I am inclined to think it is there in a 
 different acceptation, and that he would now have the Reader 
 understand him as meaning, guarded with the valli, the stakes 
 or palisadoes, which the Romans made use of to strengthen their 
 entrenchments. 
 
AREOPAGITICA. 139 
 
 about his receiv'd opinions, to walk the round and 
 counter-round with his lellow inspectors, fearing 
 lest any of his flock be seduc't, who also then 
 would be better instructed, better exercis'd and dis- 
 ciphn*d. And GoD send that the fear of this dih- 
 gence which must then be us*d, doe not make us 
 affect the lazines of a hcencing Church ! 
 
 For if we be sure we are in the right, and doe 
 not hold the Truth guiltily, which becomes not% if 
 
 ' If we he sure ue are in the right, and doe not hold the Truth 
 guiltily, which becomes not."] We have a development of 
 what is meant by the expression *' holding the Truth guiltily y^ 
 in the succeeding extract from his latest Publication : 
 " With good and religious Reason, therefore all Protestant 
 "Churches with one consent, and particularly the Church of 
 " England, in her thirty nine Articles (Artie. 6ih, J 9th, 20tb, 
 "21st, and elsewhere), maintain these two points, as the main 
 ** Principles of true Religion ; that the Rule of true Religion i^ 
 *' the word of God only; and that their Faith ought not to he an 
 "implicit Faith, that is, to helieve, though as the Church hc" 
 " lieves, against or without express authority of Scripturei 
 "And if all Protestants as universally as they hold these two 
 " Principles, so attentively and religiously would observe them, 
 "they would avoid and cut off many Debates and Contentions,' 
 "Schisms and Persecutions, which too oft have been among 
 " them, and more firmly unite against the common adversary. 
 '* For hence it directly follows, that no true Protestant can per- 
 " secute or not tolerate his fellow Protestant, though dissenting 
 *' from him in some opinions ; but he must flatly deny and re- 
 " nounce these two his own main Principles, whereon true Re- 
 " ligion is founded; while he compels his Brother from that 
 ** which he believes as the manifest word of God, to an implicit 
 " Faith (which he himself condemns) to the endangering of his 
 ^* Brother's Soul. Whether hy rash belief, or outward confer' 
 *' mity : for whatsoever is noi of Faith, is Sin," Of true Re^ 
 
140 Milton's 
 
 we our selves condemn not our own weak and fri- 
 volous teaching, and the People for an untaught 
 and irreligious gadding rout ; what can be more 
 fair, then when a man judicious, learned, and of a 
 conscience, for ought we know, as good as theirs 
 that taught us what we know, shall not privily 
 from house to house, which is more dangerous, but 
 openly by writing publish to the world what his 
 opinion is, what his reasons, and wherefore that 
 which is now thought cannot be sound. Christ 
 urg'd it as wherewith to justifie himself, that he 
 preacht in publick; yet writing is more publick 
 then preaching; and more easie to refutation, if 
 need be, there being so many whose businesse and 
 profession meerly it is, to be the champions of 
 Truth ; which if they neglect, what can be im- 
 puted but their sloth, or unability ? 
 
 Thus much we are hinder'd and dis-inur'd by 
 this cours of Licencing toward the true knowledge 
 of what we seem to know. For how much it hurts 
 and hinders the Licencers themselves in the calling 
 of their Ministry, more then any secular employ- 
 ment, if they will discharge that office as they 
 ought, so that of necessity they must neglect either 
 the one duty or the other, I insist not, because it 
 is a particular, but leave it to their own conscience, 
 how they will decide it there. 
 
 ligion, Hceresie, Schism, Toleration, and what best 7neans may 
 he us* d against the growth of Popery; p. 4. 4to, 1673. 
 
AREOPAGITICA. 141 
 
 There is yet behind of what I piirpos'd to lay 
 open, the incredible losse and detriment that this 
 plot of Licencing puts us to, more then if som 
 enemy at sea should stop up all our hav'ns and 
 ports, and creeks ; it hinders and retards the im- 
 portation of our richest marchandize. Truth : nay, 
 it was first establisht and put in practice by Anti- 
 christian malice and mystery^ on set purpose to 
 extinguish, if it were possible, the light of Refor- 
 mation, and to settle falshood ; little differing from 
 that policie wherewith the Turk upholds his Al- 
 coran, by the prohibition of Printing. 'Tis not de- 
 ny*d, but gladly confest, we are to send our thanks 
 and vows to Heav'n, louder then most of Nations, 
 for that great measure of Truth which we enjoy, 
 especially in those main points between us and the 
 Pope, with his appertinences thePrelats: but he 
 
 * Put in practice by Antichristian malice and mystery — ] 
 Mystery first denoted the associated fraternity of any trade, or 
 handicraft occupation. Afterward, this term shared the fate of 
 the cognate terms, Crqft, and Art, degenerating into an ill 
 sense. It seems now to have expressed wily contrivance, trick- 
 ing management. This may be exemplified from Clarendon : 
 " They found it much easier to transact any thing contrived and 
 •* framed by such a Committee, than originally offered and de- 
 " bated in either House, before the mystery was understood.*' 
 Hist, of the Rebellion; I. 604-. Svo. 1807. 
 
 Again, in Par, Reg. 
 
 — " so apt, in regal arts, 
 
 *' And regal mysteries." 
 
 III. 248. 
 
 By which he glanced, we may infer, at the artes 8f instrumenta 
 regni, which James I. facetiously phrased King-craft, 
 
1 42 Milton's 
 
 who thinks we are to pitch our tent here, and have 
 attain'd the utmost prospect of Reformation, that 
 the mortall glasse wherein we contemplate, can 
 shew us^ till we come to beatific vision, that man 
 
 ^ The utmost prospect of Reforination, that the mortall glasse 
 wherein we contemplate, can shew us."] Our Authour had not in 
 mind merely St. Paul to the Corinthians {\ Ep. 13. 12.) " For 
 '*' now we see through 2i glass darkly." He thought also of the 
 magical Mirrours which are of not unfrequent recurrence in the 
 fictions of the Romance-writers. Lord Bacon has the same al- 
 lusion : " I do find therefore in this inchanted glass four idols, 
 ** or false appearances of several and distinct sorts.'* Works; 
 I. 388. 4to. 1765. In II Penseroso {v. 113.) he particularizes 
 " the virtuous Ring and Glass" presented to Canace, among the 
 wonders related by Chaucer in the story of Canibuscan : 
 
 " This Mirrour eke, that I have in min hond, 
 " Hath swiche a might, that Men may in it see, 
 " Whan ther shal falle ony adversitee 
 " Unto your regne, or to yourself also, 
 "And openly, who is your frend or fo. 
 " And over all this, if any lady bright 
 " Hath set hire herte on any maner wight, 
 " If he be false, she shal his treson see, 
 " His newe love, and all his subtiltee 
 "So openly, that ther shal nothing hide." 
 
 Canterbury Tales; Tyrwhitt's edit. I. 424. Oxford. 1798. 
 
 That famous adept in the occult arts, Cornelius Agrippa, was 
 a practiser of these fantastic illusions. In a Glass of the same 
 deceptive kind, he set before the Earl of Surrey, while travelling 
 on the Continent, the fair Geraldine, then in England, ill, re- 
 clining on a couch, and reading one of the Sonnets this Noble- 
 man had addressed to her. See Drayton* s England* s Heroicall 
 Epistle^: Poems, p. 226. fol. 1613. 
 
 More concerning these representations, which vie with the 
 •exliibitions of the German lUuminati, mifjht be gleaned with 
 little pains from our old Poetry, and old Plays. The instances 
 
areopagitica; 143 
 
 by this very opinion declares, that he is yet farre 
 short of Truth. 
 
 Truth indeed came once into the world with 
 her divine Master, and was a perfect shape most 
 glorious to look on ^ : but when He ascended, and 
 his Apostles after him were laid asleep, then strait 
 arose a wicked race of deceivers, who as that story 
 goes of the JEgijptian Typhon with his conspirators, 
 how they dealt with the good Osiris, took the vir- 
 gin Truth, hewd her lovely form into a thousand 
 peeces, and scatter'd them to the four winds*. 
 
 I have brought will amply suffice to elucidate the obscurity of 
 Milton's phrase. 
 
 ^ Truth— was a perfect shape most glorious to look on — ] He 
 is alluding to the Beauty of Virtue. Shape was then synoni- 
 mous to Form. " The Shapes make as though they would re- 
 ** sist, but are all driven in/' was one of the original Stage- 
 directions in Comus. In the text he seems to have had Cicero 
 in his thoughts : ** Habes undique expletam et perfectam, Tor- 
 equate, /ormam Honestatis :" De Fin. Bon. et Mai. II. 15. 
 And he adverts again a little further on to Plato^s ET^JwAov, of 
 which the Roman Philosopher writes to his Son, that it was a 
 Form so lovely, that if it were visible it would be sure to excite 
 affectioh: " Formam quidem ipsam, Marce fill, et tanquam fa- 
 " ciem honesti vides: quae si oculis cerneretur, mirabiles amoret 
 *' (ut ait Plato) excitaret sapientiaj.'* — De Off. I. 5. 
 
 * As that story goes of the Egyptian Typhon with his conspi- 
 rators, how they dealt with the good Osiris, took the Virgin Truth, 
 hew'd her lovely form into a thousand peeces, and scattered them to 
 the four winds.] See Plutarch's very curious Treatise on Isis Sf 
 Osiris. 
 
 Milton appears to have caught his. application of this apo- 
 logue from the mystical meaning that Writer elicited out of this 
 fable : 'E\KyjVMOv yap >} l(ng sa-ri, y.%i q Tu^o/y itoXsiwii rij ^ewf. 
 
144 milton's 
 
 From that time ever since, the sad friends of Truth, 
 such as durst appear, imitating the carefull search 
 that Isis made for the mangFd body of Osiris ^ 
 went up and down gathering up limb by limb still 
 as they could find them. We have not yet found 
 them all. Lords and Commons ! nor ever shall doe, 
 till her Masters second comming; he shall bring 
 together every joynt and member, and shall mould 
 them into an immortall feature of lovelines and per- 
 fection^ Suffer not these licencing prohibitions 
 to stand at every place of opportunity forbidding 
 and disturbing them that continue seeking ^ that 
 
 y.OLi Sixyvotocv xa,i atocrriV T£rv(puji;.zvog, xai hoLo-itujv xai a(pa,vi^u}f 
 'fov ispov ><oyoy, ov ij Qeo; crvvaysi xat (Tuvri^r^ci, koli TtoccahSwa 
 fois Ts\ov[x,£voi$ beiiDceujg. — Plutarchi de Iside et Oairide Liber: 
 p. 4. Cantab. 1744. This Bishop Squire rendered as follows : 
 *' For Isis, according to the Greek interpretation of the word, 
 " signifies Knowlege ; as does the name of her professed ad- 
 *• versary Typho, Insolence and Pride, a name therefore ex- 
 " tremely well adapted to one, who, full of ignorance and error, 
 *' tears in pieces and conceals that holy doctrine, which the 
 " Goddess collects, compiles and delivers to those, who aspire 
 ** after the most perfect participation of the divine nature." 
 
 It is, I see, unnoticed that Stanza XXIV of the Hymn on 
 Christ*s Nativity is also formed from this Egyptian Tale. 
 
 * An immortall feature of lovelines and perfection.'] See Illus- 
 tration, O. 
 
 * Disturbing them that continue seeking, — ] The true force 
 and propriety of seeking is not perceived by those who are 
 unaware that there then existed a class of Religionists, not 
 inconsiderable in numbers, whose imaoinations, bewildered in 
 the maze of theological controversy, were unable to settle in any 
 existing mode of belief, and assumed, oddly enough^ for a Chris^ 
 
AREOPAGITICA. 145^ 
 
 continue to do our obsequies to the torn body of 
 our martyr'd Saint. We boast our light ; but if 
 we look not wisely on the Sun it self, it smites us 
 into darknes. Who can discern those planets that 
 are oft Combust'^, and those stars of brightest mag- 
 
 tian congregation, a distinctive appellation of the sceptical 
 School of Grecian Philosophers, ZijrryT<xo<, Seekers. 
 
 Bishop Burnet remarks on the founder of this Sect, the 
 younger Sir Henry Vaney that, '* he set up a form of Religion 
 *' in a way of his own, yet it consisted rather in a withdrawing 
 " from all other forms, than in any new or particular opinions 
 '* or forms; from which he and his Party were called Seekers, 
 " and seemed to wait for some new and clearer manifesta- 
 " t'lons"— Hist, of his Own Time; I. 164. fol, 1724. 
 
 The Sonnet which Milton addressed to Vane, indicates that 
 they were on terms of Friendship. Can he by — " continue to 
 " do our obsequies** — be thought to profess himself of this per- 
 suasion ? 
 
 ' The Sun it self, it smites us into darknes. Who can discern 
 those Planets that are oft Combust, — ] This peculiar phenome- 
 non, the darkness occasioned by the too vivid impression of 
 light OD the organs of sight, again afforded our epic Poet an 
 image highly poetical ; while with a grandeur truly Miltonic 
 he hymns the glory in which the Deity was insphered. 
 
 " Thee Author of all Being, 
 " Fountain of Light, thyself invisible 
 *• Amid the glorious brightness where thou sit'st 
 *' Thron*d inaccessible, but when thou shad*st 
 " The full blaze of thy beams, and, through a Cloud 
 ** Drawn round about thee like a radiant Shrine, 
 " Bark with excessive bright thy skirts appear, 
 " Yet dazzle Heav*n, that brightest Seraphim 
 " Approach not, but with both wings veil their eyes." 
 
 P. L. III. 374. 
 
 Gray transplanted the thought into his Progress of Poesy, but 
 
 L 
 
146 
 
 MILTONS 
 
 nitude that rise and set with the Sun, untill the 
 opposite motion of their orbs bring them to such 
 a place in the firmament, where they may be seen 
 evning or morning? The light which we have 
 gained, was giv'n us, not to be ever staring on, but 
 by it to discover onward things more remote from 
 our knowledge^. It is not the unfrocking of a 
 
 for one I cannot coincide with Dr. Johnson, that it was happily 
 imagined : to my apprehension this application of it, to the im- 
 mortal Bard's blindness appears more worthy an imitator of. 
 Cowley. 
 
 It was the ad?ice of Sir Henry Wotton, " by no means t«t 
 *' build too near a great neighbour; which were, in truth, to be 
 ** as unfortunately seated on the Earth, as Mercury is in the 
 ** Heavens, for the most part e?er in combustion or obscurity^ 
 " under brighter beams than his own." Reliquice Wottoniana* 
 
 • JBy it to discover onward things more remote from our knoW' 
 ledge^l Thus, in the noble Sonnet on his own blindness, ad- 
 dressed to his Pupil, Cyriac Skinner, 
 
 " still bear up and steer 
 
 " Right onward" 
 
 The general tenour of the text reminds me of an energetic 
 exhortation in his Reason of Church Government: *' If God come 
 «' to trie our constancy we ought not to shrink, or stand the 
 " lesse firmly for that, but passe on with more steadfast resolu- 
 •* tion to establish the Truth though it were through a lane of 
 *' sects and heresies on each side. Other things men do to tho 
 *' glory of God : but sects and errors it seems God suffers to b© 
 •* for the glory of good men, that the world may know and re- 
 •* verence their true Fortitude and undaunted Constancy in tho 
 " Truth. Let us not therefore make these things an incumbrance* 
 *' or an excuse of our delay in reforming, which God sends us 
 *' as an incitement to proceed with more honour and alacrity. 
 *' For if there were no opposition where were the triall of an 
 ** unfaigned goodnesse and magnanimity ? Vertue that warers 
 
AREOPAGITICA. 14/ 
 
 Priest, the unmitring of a Bishop, and the re- 
 moving him from oiF the Presbyterian shoulders that 
 will make us a happy Nation, no, if other things 
 as great in the Church, and in the rule of life both 
 economicall and politicall be not lookt into and re- 
 form'd^ we have lookt so long upon the blaze that 
 %uinglius and Calvin hath beacon'd up* to us, that 
 
 *' is not Vertue, but Vice revolted from it self, and after a while 
 " returning.**—/). 28. Mo, 
 
 ^ The rule of Life both economicall and politicall he not looH 
 into and reform d."] Milton was at this time strenuously occu- 
 pied with endeavours to prepare the public mind for a Law on 
 the Liberty of Divorce, It was an object near to his heart, and 
 he now glances at it by the word economical^ i. e. domestic. In 
 the Address prefixed to his Doctrine and Discipline of Divorce, 
 he calls a Marriage between persons ill-assorted to each other, 
 " an econo/nzca/Z misfortune.*' With a similar sense, 2uarles : 
 " The economical part (the object whereof is private Society) 
 " teacheth first the carriage of the Wife to her Husband.** — Di- 
 vine Poems; p. 86. l2mo. 1630. 
 
 * Zuinglius and Calvin hath beaconed up — ] So before, " the 
 " bag-pipe and the rebbeck read*" — &c. And, Par, L. II. 495. 
 
 *' Attest their joy, that hill and valley ring*." 
 This idiom, a Verb in the singular Number with more than one 
 nominative Case, is peculiar but classical ; 
 
 " Exoritur clamorque virura clangorque tubarum.** 
 
 Mn, IL 313. 
 " Mater sseva Cupidinum, 
 " Thebanaeque jM^ef me Semelee Puer. 
 
 Horat. Carm. I. XIX. L 
 *' Quo bruta tellus, et vaga fluraina, 
 ** Quo Styx, et invisi horrida Taenari 
 •' Sedes, Atlanteusque finis 
 
 " Cancutitur," lb. XXXIV. 9. 
 
 This mode, if it were undoubtedly correct, it would, I thinks* 
 
 L 2 
 
■jr\ 
 
 148 Milton's 
 
 we are stark blind. There be who perpetually 
 complain of schisms and sects, and make it such a 
 calamity that any man dissents from their maxims. 
 'Tis their own pride and ignorance which causes 
 the disturbing, who neither will hear with meek- 
 nes, nor can convince, yet all must be supprest 
 which is not found in their Syntagma^. They are 
 the troublers, they are the dividers of unity, who 
 neglect and permit not others to unite those disse- 
 vered peeces which are yet wanting to the body of 
 Truth. To be still searching what we know not, 
 by what we know, still closing up Truth to Truth as 
 we find it (for all her body is homogeneal, and pro- 
 portionall) this is the golden rule in Theology as 
 well as in Arithmetick, and makes up the best 
 harmony in a Churchy not the forc't and out- 
 
 be better not to follow, since the practice must increase the let- 
 ter s, which is unfortunately so multitudinous in our Language 
 as to make it by far too sibilant. 
 
 * All must be supprest which is not found in their Syntagma.] 
 Though now gone out of use, this word was inserted in the Eng- 
 lish Dictionaries of the time; and is to be found in Marvell ; 
 who speaking, in his celebrated Tract the Rehearsal transprosed, 
 of the invention of moveable Types, says ironically — " a bulky 
 " Dutchman, — contriving those innumerable syntagmes of alpha- 
 " bets, hath pestered the world ever since," &c. Works ; II. 7. 
 4/0. Milton, I apprehend, adheres to the Greek idiom, of 
 which Isocrates' Areopagitic Oration affords an apt example : 
 ** To jxev ovY STNTATMA rij; TroXifsia^ totovrov TjV auroig." — 
 (Op. I. 324. erf. Batt. 1749.) " Such was their System of Po- 
 lity.'* 
 
AREOPAGITICA. 149 
 
 / ward union of cold, and neutrall, and inwardly di- 
 
 ) vided minds. 
 
 Lords and Commons of England ! consider what 
 Nation it is wherof ye are, and wherof ye are the 
 governours : a Nation not slow and dull, but of a 
 quick, ingenious, and piercing spirit, acute to in- 
 vent, suttle and sinewy to discours, not beneath the 
 reach of any point the highest that human capacity 
 can soar to^ Therefore the studies of Learning in 
 her deepest Sciences have bin so ancient, and so 
 eminent among us, that Writers of good antiquity, 
 and ablest judgement have bin perswaded that ev'n 
 the school of Pythagoras^ and the Persian wisdom 
 took beginning from the old Philosophy of this 
 Hand*. And that wise and civill Roman, Julius 
 
 ' A Nation not slow and dull, but of a quick, ingenious, and 
 piercing spirit; acute to invent, suttle and sineivy to discours, 
 not beneath the reach oj any point the highest that human capacity 
 can soar to."] This lofty panegyric bears no slight resem- 
 blance to what Voltaire wrote in praise of the mental qualifica- 
 tions and intellectual activity of the English Nation: " Les Ita- 
 " liens ces peuples ingenieux out craint de penser, les Fran9ais 
 *' n*ont ose penser qu'a deraie, et les Anglais qui ont vole jus» 
 " qu*au del, puree qu*on ne leur a point coupe les ailes sont de- 
 " venus les precepteurs de nations. Nous leur devons tout de- 
 ** puis les loix primitives de la gravitation, depuis le calcul de 
 " I'infini et la connaissance precise de la luraiere si vainement 
 " combattues, jusqu'a la nouvelle charue, et a Tinsertion de la 
 " petite verole, combattues encore." — Ode sur la Mort de Ma- 
 dame de Bareith, avec une Lettre, par Mons. de Voltaire, 
 
 * Writers of good antiquity, and ablest judgement, have bin 
 perswaded that ev'n the school of Pythagoras, and th^ fersij^n 
 
150 Milton's 
 
 Agricola, who govern'd once here for Casar, pre- 
 ferred the naturall wits of Britain, before the la- 
 bour'd studies of the French ^ Nor is it for nothing 
 
 Wisdom took beginning from the old Philosophy of this Hand.] 
 Was the elder Pliny his authority for this statement relative to 
 the origin of '* the Persian wisdom }*' " Britannia hodieque earn 
 " attonite celebrat tantis caerimoniis, vt dedisse Persis videri 
 ** possit. Adeo ista toto mundo consensere quanquam discordi, 
 "et sibi \gnoio.''— Nat. Hist, I. 30. c. 4. 
 
 But this Writer's reflection in the latter sentence, on the 
 agreement of customs among nations not known to each other is 
 unfounded, as to this particular application : for the similarity 
 between numbers of radical words in the Persian Language and 
 the Teutonic Dialects, affords the surest and convincing evidence 
 of considerable intercourse having subsisted at some remote pe- 
 riod, perhaps in their primaeval history, between the inhabitants 
 of that country and the hordes who peopled northern Europe. 
 
 *' The old Philosophy of this Hand" was that taught by the 
 Druids. Of which an ingenious but fanciful Philologist, Mr. 
 ^Cleland, does not hesitate to avow it as his opinion that " a just 
 " examination would, in all probability, restore to the British 
 " Druids the honor of the sublimest and usefullest discoveries 
 ** issuing from the gloomy depths of their groves, and of their 
 ** simple but awful cells of instruction, most likely, ages before 
 " the real or fabulous siege of Troy. So that, without even 
 " straining facts or words, what Cicero alledged to have been 
 *' only matter of opinion, as to Athens, was literally true as to 
 " Britain : * Unde humanitas, doctrina, religio, fruges, jura, 
 " 'leges ortae, atque in omnes terras distributae putantur.'" — The 
 Way to Things by IVords, and to Words by Things; p. 68. Svo. 1 766. 
 
 Lipsius, however, doubted, according to Selden, whether Py- 
 thagoras received the doctrine of the Transmigration of Souls 
 " from the Druids, or they from him? because in his travels he 
 '* converst as well with Gaulish as Indian Philosophers." — Notes 
 on the first Song of Drayton's Poly-olbion ; p. l^. foL 
 
 * That wise and civill Roman, Julius Agricola, who govem*d 
 once here for Casar, prefen'd the naturall wits of Britain, before 
 
AREOPAGITICA, 151 
 
 that the grave and frugal Transilvanian sends out 
 yearly from as farre as the mountanous borders of 
 Russia, and beyond the Hercynian wildernes, not 
 their youth, but their stay'd men, to learn our lan- 
 guage, and our theologic arts. Yet that which is 
 above all this, the favour and the love of Heav'n, we 
 have great argument to think in a peculiar manner 
 propitious and propending towards us. Why else 
 was this Nation chos*n before any other, that out 
 of her as out of Sion should be proclaimed and 
 sounded forth the first tidings and trumpet of Re- 
 formation to all Europ P And had it not bin the 
 obstinat perversnes of our Prelats against the divine 
 and admirable spirit of Wicklef, to suppresse him 
 
 the laboured studies of the French. — The grave and frugal Trail' 
 tihanian sends out yearly, Sfc.'] '* Sequens hiems saluberrimis 
 " consiliis absumpta namque, ut homines dispersi ac rudes, eoque 
 " bello facileSj quieti et otio per voluptates assuescerent : hor- 
 * tari privatim, adiuvare publice, ut templa, fora, domus ex- 
 *' truerent, laudando promptos, et castigando segnes. ita ho- 
 «' noris aemulatio pro necessitate erat. Jam vero principuqi 
 " filios liberalibus artibus erudire, et ingenia Britannorum studiia 
 ** Gallorum anteferre, ut qui modo linguam Romanam abnue- 
 " bant, eloquentiam concupiscerent. inde etiam habitus nostri 
 " honor, et frequens toga, paullatimque discessuai ad delini- 
 '* menta viiiorum, porticus, et balnea, et conviviorum elegan- 
 ** tiam. idque apud imperitos humanitas vocabatur, cum pars 
 " servitutis esset.*' Tacitus; 11.491. edit. Ernesti. 1752. 
 
 This description of the successful results arising from Agri- 
 cola's conc'iViSitory administration of Britain fully warrants the ap- 
 plication to him of the epithets " wise and civil,** that is, politic, 
 
 I have not a sufficient acquaintance with our ecclesiastical 
 History to give an explanation of the annual mission from 
 Transylvania to this Country, mentioned above. 
 
152 MILTON*S 
 
 as a schismatic and innovatory perhaps, neither the 
 Bohemian Husse and Jerom, no, nor the name of 
 Luther y or of Calvin had bin ever known : the glory 
 of reforming all our neighbours had bin compleatly 
 ours. But now, as our obdurat Clergy have with 
 violence demean'd the matte^^ we are become 
 hitherto the latest and the backwardest Schollers, 
 of whom God offered to have made us the teachers. 
 Now once again by all concurrence of signs, and 
 by the generall instinct of holy and devout men, 
 as they daily and solemnly expresse their thoughts, 
 God is decreeing to begin some new and great pe- 
 riod in his Church, ev'n to the reforming of Refor- 
 mation it self: what does he then but reveal Him- 
 self to his servants, and, as his manner is, first to his 
 English- men''? I say as his manner is, first to us, 
 
 * With violence demeanM the matter. "] \. e, managed it. So 
 in the Paston Letters; *' Ye charge of ye Reule demesm/ng and 
 " governance and also of nourture of ye Kings persone.^* III. 4. 
 
 '' What does he then but reveal Himself to his servants , and, as 
 his manner is, first to his English-men?] That the English 
 People stood eminently high in the divine favour was deeply im- 
 pressed on Milton's belief. This was a tenet congenial alike 
 to his Piety and to his Patriotism. Almost at the commence- 
 ment of his earliest prose-work he advances, that "England had 
 *' this Grace and Honour from God to be the first that should 
 " set up a Standard for the recovery of lost Truth, and blow the 
 *' first Evangelick Trumpet to the Nations," &c. Of Reformation 
 touching Church- Discipline in England: p. 6. 4^o. 1641. He 
 falls again into the same track of Thought in the dedicatory Ad- 
 dress of his Doct. and Disc, of Divorce to the Parliament and 
 the Assembly of Divines; where he pursues it through a deduc- 
 tion of historical examples : — " It would not be the first, or se- 
 
AREOPAGITICA. 153 
 
 though we mark not the method of his counsels, 
 and are unworthy. Behold now this vast City ; a 
 City of refuge, the mansion house of Liberty^, en- 
 
 " cond time, since our ancient Druides, by whom this Islatui 
 " was the Caihedrall of Philosophy to France, left otF their Pa- 
 ** gan Rites, that England halh had this Honour vouchsaft from 
 *' Heav'n to give out Reformation to the world. Who was it 
 " but our English Constantine that baptizM the Roman £m- 
 " pire ? Who but the Northumbrian Willibrode, and Wini- 
 " fride of Devon with their followers, were the first Apostles of 
 •' Germany ? Who but Alcuin and Wicklef our Countrymea 
 " openM the eyes of Europe, the one in Arts, the other in Reli- 
 " gion ? Let not England, forget her precedence of teaching 
 *' Nations how to live.** — 2nd Ed. 16 H. 
 
 One of his Contemporaries treats such a supposition as chi- 
 merical, in a remarkable passage, the phraseology of which 
 leaves cause to conjecture that he hinted at Milton. '* If I 
 " (said Algernon Sydney) should be so much an Englishman, as 
 " to think the will of God to have been more particular fy revealed 
 " to our Ancestors, than to any other Nation, and that all of them 
 " ought to learn from us, yet it would be difficult to decide many 
 " questions that may arise.** — Disc, concerning Government, ch, 
 3. sect, 18. 
 
 We should regret to think that either of these inlightened, 
 stedfast and hardy Assertors of their Country's Liberty had at 
 any time regarded the other with an unfriendly eye. — Miltojt 
 acknowleges with distinguishing praise the services which 
 Sydney, among other " Patrons of the People,** had rendered to 
 the common Cause : — ** Huitlochium, Picheringum, Striclan- 
 ** dium, Sidnamum, atque Sidneium (quod ego illustre nomen 
 ** nostris semper adhasisse partibus Icetor) Montacutium, Lau- 
 " rentium, summo ingenio ambos, optimisque artibus expolitos; 
 *' aliosque permultos eximiis meritis cives, partim senatorio jam- 
 " pridem munere, partim railitari opera insignes." — Pr. W, II. 
 346. ed. 1738. 
 
 ^ A City of T^uge, the mansion-house of Liberty.] Cicero. 
 ^as in his recollection : — *' quae una in omnibus terris domus 
 
154 IHILTOn's 
 
 compast and surrounded with his protection j the 
 shop of warre hath not there more anvils and ham- 
 mers waking, to fashion out the plates and instru- 
 ments of armed Justice in defence of beleaguer'd 
 Truth ^, then there be pens and heads there, sitting 
 
 "est virtutis, imperii, dignitatis." — De Orat. L 1. *. 4-5. He 
 styles Germany, JUhertatis fere do?niciliujn, in his Defensio se^ 
 cunda. 
 
 ^ The shop of toarre hath not there more anvils and hammers 
 waking, to fashion out the plates and instruments of armed Justice 
 in defence of beleaguer' d Truth."] Thus Chaucer; Cant. Tales; 
 r. 2121. 
 
 " Som wol ben armed in an habergeon, 
 " And in a brest-plate, and in a gipon ; 
 " And some wol haue a pair of plates large." 
 On which Tt/rwhitt observed, by a pair of plates " armour for 
 •* the breast and back'* was intended. There is not, however, 
 gufficient precision in this explanation to insure a clear concep- 
 tion of the Poet's meaning. It might be equally applied to the 
 chain-armour or coat of mail worn in battle by our Forefathers. 
 Modern Writers confound them. A passage in Samson Ago* 
 nistes marks the difference : — 
 
 " the hammered cuirass, 
 *' Chalybean tempered steel, and frock of mail.*' 
 
 V. 133. 
 
 The Military had not yet thrown off Armour altogether. 
 CroviwelVs own Regiment of Horse were Cuirassiers : of whom 
 Whitelock says — " being well arm'd within, by the satisfaction 
 " of their own Consciences, and without, by good iron arms, 
 " they would as one Man, stand firmly, and charge desperately." 
 Memorials; p. 12. ed. 1732. 
 
 These Cuirassiers bore a principal part in winning the victory 
 at Marston Moor; yet they with the other parliamentary forces. 
 Men who possessed too much self-respect to allow themselves to 
 be called common Soldiers, as if they were mere mercenaries, 
 and in consequence were styled Privates, as Ludlow informs us, 
 afterward fell so far from principle that they overturned the 
 authority of the Parliament, engrossed the powers of Govera- 
 
AREOPAGITICA. 155 
 
 by their studious lamps, musing, searching, revolv- j 
 ing new notions and idea's^ wherewith to present, 
 as with their homage and their fealty, the approach- 
 ing Reformation : others as fast reading, trying all 
 things, assenting to the force of Reason and con- 
 vincement. What could a man require more from 
 a Nation so pliant and so prone to seek after Know- 
 ledge. What wants there to such a towardly and 
 pregnant soile, but wise and faithfuU labourers, to 
 make a knowing People, a Nation of Prophets, of 
 Sages, and of Worthies. We reckon more then 
 five months yet to harvest ; there need not be five 
 weeks, had we but eyes to lift up, the fields are 
 
 ment and became the oppressors of their Country. A memo- 
 rable lesson ! 
 
 '' Impius haec tarn culta novalia miles habebit? 
 
 " Barbarus has segetes ?" 
 
 * Revolving new notions and ideas.] These two words Baling' 
 broke observes are commonly used as if they were synonymous. 
 He adds that Locke and even Bishop Berkeley has used them so ; 
 and then goes into some elaborate reasoning to show, how we 
 may avoid this confusion of Language, if we conceived ideas to 
 be particular in their nature, and general only in their applica- 
 tion, and notions to be general in their nature, and particular 
 only by their application; Philosophical Works; I. 116. Bvo. 
 Mallet's edit. 
 
 Milton, ever scrupulous in verbal accuracy, distinguishes 
 them as having definite meanings. Idea which ought only to 
 signify something of which we can form an image in the mind, 
 has by colloquial use now nearly lost its correct sense. For a 
 detailed history of this word consult the Bishop of Worcester's 
 {Stillingfleet' s) Answer to Locke's Letter; p, 31. 8vo. 1697. To 
 which I add, that it is said Petrarch first introduced this word 
 from Aristotle into a modern Language. 
 
156 Milton's 
 
 white already. Where there is much desire to 
 learn, there of necessity will be much arguing, 
 much writing, many opinions -, for Opinion in good 
 men is but Knowledge in the making. Under 
 these fantastic terrors of sect and schism, we wrong 
 the earnest and zealous thirst after knowledge and 
 understanding which GoD hath stirr'd up in this 
 City. What some lament of, we rather should re- 
 joy ce at, should rather praise this pious forwardnes 
 among men, to reassume the ill deputed care of 
 their Religion into their own hands again. A little 
 generous prudence, a little forbearance of one ano- 
 ther, and som grain of charity might win all these 
 diligences to joyn, and unite into one generall and 
 brotherly search after Truth ; could we but forgoe 
 this Prelaticall tradition^ of crowding free Con- 
 sciences and Christian Liberties into canons and 
 precepts of men. I doubt not, if some great and 
 
 * This Prelaticall tradition — ] Tradition as well 2iS prelatica I 
 is used opprobriously. As in an Apology for Smectymnuus : 
 " The invincible warriour Zeale shaking loosely the slack reins 
 " drives over the heads of Scarlet Preiats, and such as are inso- 
 " lent to maintaine traditions, brusing their stifFe necks under 
 " his flaming wheels.'*— ;>. 23. 4/o. 164.2. After the Council 
 of Trent had decreed that Traditions were of equal authority 
 with the Scripture, this word acquired an ill sound among Pro- 
 testants. Hence it was that Ben Jonscn made Ananias, a zealous 
 Minister, say, 
 
 " Ana. I hate Traditions : 
 
 " I do not trust them — Tri. Peace. 
 " Ana» They are Popish, all." 
 
 The Alchemist; A. 3. 5.2. 
 
AREOPAGITICA. 15/ 
 
 worthy stranger should come among us, wise to 
 discern the mould and temper of a People, and 
 how to govern it, observing the high hopes and 
 aims, the diligent alacrity of our extended thoughts 
 and reasonings in the pursuance of Truth and Free- 
 dom, but that he would cry out as Pirrhus did, 
 admiring the Roman docility and courage, if such 
 were my Epirots^, I would not despair the greatest 
 design that could be attempted to make a Church 
 or Kingdom happy. Yet these are the men cry*d 
 out against for schismaticks and sectaries ; as if, 
 while the Temple of the Lord was building*, some 
 
 ^ He would cry out as Pirrhus did, adyniring the Roman doci' 
 lity and courage, if such wei'e my Epirots, &c.] " Sed beilo et 
 •* pace, foris et domi, omneni in partem Roinana virtus turn se 
 '* approbavit : nee alia magis quam Tarentina victoria ostendit 
 " populi Romani fortitudinem, senalus sapientiam, ducum nnag- 
 " nanimitatem. Quinara illi fuerunt viri, quos ab elephantis 
 " primo proelio obtritos accepimus? omnium vulnera in pec- 
 •' tore : quidam hostibus suis immortui : omnium in manibus 
 " enses: et relictae in vultibus minae : et in ipsa morte ira vive- 
 " bat Quod adeo Pyrrhus miratus est, ut diceret, qudm fa" 
 " cile erat orbis imperium occupare, aut mihi Romartis militibus, 
 *' aut me rege Romanis!'* — Lucius Annaus Florus; I. 1. c. 18. 
 
 ^ While the Temple of the Lord was building, &c.] We meet 
 with the same liberal sentiment inculcated by the same scrip- 
 tural metaphor in Sir William Wallers Vindication. " Some 
 "may be intitled Episcopians, some Presbyterians, and some 
 "Independents; and yet all be Israelites indeed, belonging to 
 " the same election of Grace, and (as it is written of the Nova- 
 " tian faction and the orthodoxe Christians of that time) they 
 " may all jointly contribute materials to the building up of our 
 " Temple."— />. 228. 
 
 There is a marginal reference to Socrat. Hist. I. 2. c. 30. I 
 
158 milton's 
 
 cutting, some squaring the marble, others hewing 
 the cedars, there should be a sort of irrationall men 
 who could not consider there must be many schisms 
 and many dissections made in the quarry and in 
 the timber, ere the house of GoD can be built. 
 And when every stone is laid artfully together, it 
 cannot be united into a continuity, it can but be 
 contiguous in this world 5 neither can every peece 
 of the building be of one form ; nay, rather the per- 
 fection consists in this, that out of many moderat 
 varieties and brotherly dissimilitudes^ that are not 
 vastly disproportionall arises the goodly and the 
 gracefuU symmetry that commends the whole pile 
 and structure. Let us therefore be more consi- 
 derat builders, more wise in spirituall architecture, 
 when great reformation is expected. For now the 
 time seems come, wherein Moses the great Prophet 
 may sit in Heav'n rejoycing to see that memorable 
 and glorious wish of his fulfiird, when not only our 
 sev'nty Elders, but all the Lords People are become 
 Prophets. No marvell then though some men, 
 and some good men too perhaps, but young in 
 
 do not find the place alluded to in that Chapter. Milton, how- 
 ever, is very likely to have availed himself of some such passage 
 in the Ecclesiastical Historian, a part of whose narrative he has 
 before in this Oration used argumentatively. 
 
 * Brotherly dissimilitudes — ] i. c. " a sort of family-like- 
 " ness." A parody of Ovid's conceit : 
 
 — " Facies non omnibus una, 
 ** Nee diversa tamen : qualem decet esse sororum." 
 
 Met, II. 14. 
 
AIIEOPAGITICA. 1 59 
 
 goodnesse, as Joshua then was, envy them^ They 
 fret, and out of their own weaknes are in agony, 
 lest these divisions and subdivisions will undoe us. 
 The Adversarie again applauds, and waits the hour, 
 when they have brancht themselves out, saith he, 
 small anough into parties and partitions, then will 
 be our time. Fool ! he sees not'' the firm root, 
 out of which we all grow, though into branches: 
 nor will beware untill he see our small divided ma- 
 niples cutting through at every angle of his ill 
 united and unweildy brigade. And that we are to 
 hope better of all these supposed sects and schisms, 
 and that we shall not need that solicitude, honest 
 perhaps, though over timorous, of them that vex in 
 
 ^ Some good Men — envy them.'] Here envy means simply — 
 hear ill will: So Bacon; " The King having lasted of the envy 
 *' of the People for bis imprisonment of Edward Plantagenet." 
 Works; III. 20. 4to. 1765. And Burnet; "He had the Legate» 
 *' between him and the Envy or odium of it." — Hist, of Reforma- 
 ium; I,5^.foL 1715. 
 
 "^ The Adversarie again applauds, and waits the hour, when they 
 have brancht themselves out, saith he, small anough into parties 
 and partitions, then will be our time. Fool ! he sees not, &c.] 
 This Adversary was the Church of Rome; which placed its 
 main reliance on the numerous and discordant Sects into which 
 the Protestants were split. It is remarked by Burnet, " that the 
 "Papists insulted, upon this division among the Protestants; 
 " and said, it was impossible it should be otherwise, till all 
 •* returned, to come under one absolute obedience." — Hist, of 
 the Reformation; part 3. p. 306. fol. 1715. 
 
 Fool! was then a word of emphasis; but a less odious and 
 unseemly appellation than it has since become. It was an ex- 
 clamatory expression, and imitated from the Nijir/o; of the 
 Greeks. 
 
l60 MILTON*S 
 
 this behalf, but shall laugh in the end, at those 
 malicious applauders of our differences, I have 
 these reasons to perswade me. 
 
 First, when a City shall be as it were besieged 
 and blockt about, her navigable river infested, in- 
 rodes and incursions round, defiance and battell 
 oft rumor'd to be marching up ev'n to her walls 
 and suburb trenches^j that then the People, or the 
 
 ' When a City shall be as it were besieged and block' t about, her 
 navigable river infested, inroads and incursions round, defiance 
 and battell oft rumored to be marching up e»'n to her walls and 
 suburb trenches ;] By *' suburb trenches** he refers to the line of 
 communication which the Parliament had recently caused to be 
 made round London and its Suburbs. The recollection that 
 this passage is descriptive of the agitation in London two years 
 before; at the time Charles drew his army from Oxford to pos- 
 sess himself of the Capital and was foiled at Brentford ; heightens 
 its spirit. It was well understood, while the consternation this 
 hostile movement must have occasioned was fresh in every one's 
 memory. The Poet's fine Sonnet " when the Assault was in- 
 " tended to the City," was composed under this imminent ex- 
 pectation of the royal forces sacking London. The Parliament's 
 Historiographer has recorded with much animation, the en- 
 thusiasm of the Inhabitants in throwing up these works of cir- 
 cumvallation in the summer following for the future safe-guard 
 of the Metropolis : *' London was then altogether unfortified, no 
 " Works were raised; nor could they, if their Enemies (who 
 " were then Masters of the field) had come upon them, have op- 
 *' posed any Walls, but such as old Sparta used for their Guard, 
 «' the hearts of courageous Citizens. But at that time London 
 " began her large intrenchments ; which encompassed not onely 
 " the City but the whole Suburbs on every side, containing 
 " about twelve miles in circuit. That great work was by many 
 *' hands compleated in a short time, it being then a custome 
 «' every day to go out by thousands to digge, all Professions, 
 
AREOPAGITICA. l6l 
 
 greater part, more then at other times, wholly 
 tak'n up with the study of highest and most impor- 
 tant matters to be reformed, should be disputing, 
 reasoning, reading, inventing, discoursing, ev*n to 
 a rarity, and admiration, things not before discourst 
 or written of, argues first a singular good will, con- 
 tentednesse and confidence in your prudent fore- 
 
 ** Trades, and Occupations, taking their turnes ; and not onely 
 " inferiour Tradesmen, but Gentlemen of tiie best quality, 
 '* Knights, and Ladies themselves, for the encouragement of 
 *' others, resorted daily to the Workes, not as Spectators but 
 " assisters in it ; carrying themselves. Spades, Mattoks, and 
 " other instruments of digging, so that it became a pleasing 
 '* sight at London, to see them going out in such order and 
 " numbers, with Drums beating before them; and put life into 
 *' the drooping people (being taken for an happy Omen) that, 
 " in so lov^ a condition, they seemed not to despaire.'' — T/ie 
 History of the Parliament of England ; p. 214. edit. 1812. 
 
 What Milton proceeds to observe of the reasoning, reading, 
 inventing, discoursing, things not before discourst or written of, 
 I apprehend to have been a complimentary allusion to the regu- 
 lar conferences just set on foot of Persons attached to the pursuit 
 of experimental, or, as it was then called, the new Philosophy. 
 " We did (says Dr. Wallis) by agreement, divers of us, meet. 
 " weekly in London, on a certain day, to treat and discourse of 
 
 "such affairs Our business was, precluding matters of 
 
 " Theology and State- aff.iirs, to discourse and consider of Phi- 
 *Mosophical inquiries, and such as related thereunto; as Phy- 
 " sick. Anatomy, Geometry, Astronomy, Navigation, Staticks, 
 ** Magneticks, Chymicks, Mechanicks, and natural Experi- 
 ** roents." See Dr. Wallis's account of some Passages of his own 
 hife, in the Publisher's Appendix to his !*reface to Peter Lung- 
 toft' s Chronicle ; CLXI. &c. Works of T, Hearne : IIJ. 1810. 
 
 This association for the promotion of physiological and scien- 
 tific enquiries was the germ whence the Royal Society sprang. 
 
 M 
 
l62 Milton's 
 
 sight, and safe government. Lords and Commons ! 
 and from thence derives it self to a gallant bravery 
 and well grounded contempt of their enemies, as if 
 there were no small number of as great spirits 
 among us, as his was, who when Rome was nigh 
 besieged by Hanibal, being in the City, bought that 
 peece of ground at no cheap rate, whereon HanU 
 hal himself encampt his own regiment^ Next, it is 
 a lively and cherfull presage of our happy successe 
 and victory. For as in a Body, when the blood is 
 fresh, the spirits pure and vigorous, not only to 
 vital, but to rationall faculties, and those in the 
 acutest, and the pertest operations of wit and sut- 
 tlety^ it argues in what good plight and constitu- 
 tion the Body is ; so when the cherfulnesse of the 
 People is so sprightly up, as that it has, not only 
 wherewith to guard well its own freedom and 
 
 ^ Who ivhen Rome was nigh besieg'd bi/ Hanibal, being in the 
 City, bought that peece of ground at no cheap rate, whereon Hani' 
 hal himself encampt his own regiment.'} " Minuere etiani spem 
 ** ejus et aliae, parva magnaque, res : magna ilia, quod, quum 
 «* ipse ad mcenia urbis Romae armatus sederet, milites sub rexil- 
 " lis in supplementum Hispaniae profectos audivit : pa7va autem, 
 ** quod per eos dies eum forte agrum, in quo ipse castra haberet, 
 " venisse, nihil ob id deniinuto pretio, cognitum ex quodam cap- 
 '* tivo est. Id vero adeo superbum atque indignum visum, ejus 
 '* soli, quod ipse bello captutn possideret, haberetque, invenlum 
 " Romae emptorem ; ut, extemplo vocato praecone, tabernas ar- 
 " gentarias, quae circa forum Romanum tunc essent, jusserik 
 " venire/'--L2V. Hist, XXVI. 1 1. 
 
 * Pertest operations of wit and suttlety.l i. e. " liveliest ope- 
 '* rations, &c. :" 
 
 *' Trip theper^ Fairies and the dapper Elves."— Coww. 
 
AREOPAGITICA. XGS 
 
 safety, but to spare, and to bestow upon the so- 
 lidest and sublimest points of controversie, and new 
 invention, it betok'ns us not degenerated, nor 
 drooping to a fatall decay, but casting off the old 
 and wrincrd skin of Corruption to outlive these 
 pangs, and wax young again^ entringthe glorious 
 
 * Casting off the old and wrincVd skin of Corruption to outlive 
 these pangs, and wax young again."] A classical metaphor: 
 
 " Anguibus exuitur tenui cum pelle vetustas/* 
 
 is a line I have read in some Roman Poet. Milton probably 
 drew the thought from some Writer who has explained, why 
 among the Antients a Serpent was symbolical of the medical 
 Science ; which had, we may conjecture, its origin from the 
 ▼ulgar error, that the annual process of changing their slough 
 endued these animals with renovated vigour. He might xe- 
 m^mhtx Macrohius: " Ideo ergo simulacris eorum junguntur 
 " figurae draconum ; quia prsBstant ut huraana corpora velut in- 
 '* firmitatis pelle deposita, ad pristinum revirescunt vigorem, ut 
 " virescunt dracones per annos singulos pelle senectutis exula, 
 ** propterea et ad ipsura solem species draconis refertur/* 5a- 
 tum. I. 20. Though he was hardly unmindful of Virgil's com- 
 parison of Pyrrhus and his newly burnished armour to a Snake 
 fresh in his vernal rejuvenescence. {Mn. II. 4-71. &c.) 
 
 It must be left to opinion, since I am not prepared with an 
 example of the word, in the sense I suggest, to confirm my per- 
 suasion, that where Hamlet in his Soliloquy says, *' When we 
 •* have shuffled off this mortal coil/* i. e. envelope, wrapper, the 
 dramatic Bard had in his mind a metaphor nearly allied to Mil- 
 ton's ; a turn of thought of the same tenour as another in the 
 Merchant of Venice — 
 
 " while this muddy vesture of decay 
 " Doth grossly close it in." 
 
 A. 5. S. 1. 
 What is the meaning of coil, if my suggestion be not allowed? 
 Let those who dislike this interpretation supply one more appo- 
 
 M 2 
 
l64 
 
 MILTON S 
 
 waies of Truth and prosperous Vertue destin'd to 
 become great and honourable in these latter ages. 
 Methinks I see in my mind a noble and puissant 
 Nation rousing herself like a strong man after sleep, 
 and shaking her invincible locks : Methinks I see 
 her as an Eagle muing her mighty youth, and 
 kindling her undazl'd eyes^ at the full midday 
 beam ; purging and unsealing her long abused 
 
 site before they dissent from it. None but a perfunctory Reader 
 will subscribe to WarburtorCs gloss — ** turmoil, bustle.'* 
 
 Since writing this the succeeding passage has fallen in roy 
 way : " the body of Prince Arthur is said to have been well 
 " coiled and well cered, and conveniently dressed with spices/' 
 —See Miscellaneous Pieces at the end of Leland*s Collectanea, 
 ». 5. p. 37 i. 2d edit, as quoted in Archaeologia ; III. 401. 
 
 This is all but decisive that my conjecture is well-grounded. 
 
 * Methinks I see her as an Eagle muing her 7nightt/ youth, 
 and kindling her undazVd eyes, &c.] Warhurton did not 
 refuse sometimes to weave into his own pieces a splen- 
 did patch, which he had silently taken from the looms of 
 others. A conspicuous instance occurs in his " Inquiry into the 
 " Causes of Prodigies, &c." when passing, in the concluding pa- 
 ragraph of that Tract, an eulogium on the University of Oxford. 
 ** Methinks (says he) 1 see her, like the mighty Eagle, renew- 
 " ing her immortal youth, and purging her opening sight, at 
 " the unobstructed beams of our benign meridian sun; which 
 " some pretend to say had been dazzled and abused by an in- 
 *' glorious pestilential meteor ; while the ill-affected birds of 
 " night would, with their envious hootings, prognosticate a 
 " length of darkness and decay.*' — Tracts by Warburton, Sfc» p, 
 140. Svo. 17S9. 
 
 The first glance convinces us that this passage was fashioned 
 upon the text above. 
 
 In the fierce dispute between Bishop Lowth, and the Authour 
 of the Divine Legation of Moses demonstrated, which, to con- 
 fess the plain truth, must have been carried on more to the 
 
AREOPAGITICA, l65 
 
 sight at the fountain it self of heavenly radiance 5 
 
 amusement than to the edification of the by-standers, Lowth 
 fastened on this flourish of his Antagonist's pen, and treats it as 
 nothing short of bombast. He thus roughly addresses him : — 
 " You no sooner touched upon the subject, than you took fire 
 *' at the bright idea : rapt in the spirit of prophetic enthusiasm, 
 " your Musa pedestris immediately got on horseback, and 
 " mounted on her Pegasus away she went in this high prancing 
 "style: 
 
 " Majorque videri 
 " Nee mortale sonans." 
 Letter to the R. R. Author of the Divine Legation oj 
 Moses; p. 66. Svo. 1766. 3d edit, 
 
 Lowth then proceeds to cite the quotation I have made from 
 fVarburton, and in order to exhibit it with a burlesque air he has 
 disingenuously printed it, so as to give the appearance of his 
 opponent affecting the inflation of blank verse: 
 
 *' Tant de fiel entre-t-il dans Tame des Devots ?" 
 
 The Bishop of Gloucester might have indulged in one of hi 
 biting sarcasms by informing the Writer of the celebrated Pre- 
 lections on Hebrew Poesy that the Authour of Paradise Lost 
 was his pattern, who was himself indebted to Pindar for the 
 original of this impressive imagery. Akenside has likewise inii- 
 taled the self-same passage in his fine Ode on Lyric Poetry. 
 
 On this trickery in the letter-press, Warburton must have 
 preserved a discreet silence, since he had himself employed the 
 same typographical perversion to excite a smile at the elevated 
 and measured diction in whiqh the Characteristics were com- 
 posed. See Note on v. 488. B. IV. of the Dunciad. Pope's 
 Editor however could not have laid claim to originality 
 in this detractive device. That merit or demerit belongs to 
 Bishop Berkeley^ who had made use of this identical disguise 
 ■with the same design of depreciating Shaftesbury's high and rhe- 
 torical strain of expression : seeAlciphron; \. 315. Svo. 1732. 
 
 The artifice was unworthy o these eminent men; but alas! 
 how few embroiled in Controversy can preserve temper or fair-, 
 dealing ! 
 
l66 Milton's 
 
 while the whole noise of timorous and flocking 
 birds, with those also that love the twilight, flutter 
 about, amazM at what she means, and in their 
 envious gabble would prognosticat a year of sects 
 and schisms*. 
 
 * Purging and unsealing her long abused sight at tJie fountain 
 itself of heavnly radiance ; while the whole noise of timorous 
 and flocking birds, with those also that love the twilight, flutter 
 about, amazed at what she means, and in their envious gabble 
 would prognosticat a year of sects and schisms."] In the narrative 
 of St. PauVs Conversion, it is recorded, that ** there fell from 
 " his eyes as it had been scales, and he received sight forth- 
 " with." Acts\ ch.9, r. 18. — It has been thought that the 
 touches of Milton's band are visible in the Preface to E. Phi- 
 lipps's Theatrum Poetarum, ]2mo. 1675; the following passage is 
 perhaps some confirmation of this opinion : ** the scales and 
 " dross of his barbarity purging ofF by degrees,'* p. 11. 
 
 Emendatory Criiicism is always perilous. Had not unsealing 
 been authorized, and perhaps suggested, by this scriptural use> 
 would it not have looked like a specious conjecture, that it was 
 a misprint for unsealing? a word current in a similar sense 
 among the writers of that age. And with the greater semblance 
 of probability, since muing, another term in Falconry, imme- 
 diately precedes it. To this reading the quotations that follow 
 would have given a considerable degree of plausibility. 
 
 " Are your Eyes yet unseaVd ?" 
 
 Ben Jonson; Works; p. 240. fol. 1692. 
 
 that is, unclosed. And Shakespeare; Ant. and Cleop. A,S,S.\i, 
 
 " But when we in our viciousness grow hard, 
 " (O misery on't !) the wise Gods seal our eyes,** 
 
 •' A noise of Musicians anciently signified a concert or company 
 '* of them.*'— {See the Variorum Shakspeare; IX. 74. ed. 1793.) 
 Our Authour employs the phrase whole noise with much the- 
 same import as Horace* s 
 
 ** Scriptorum chorus omnis amat nemus." 
 
AREOPAGITICA. l6f 
 
 What should ye doe then ? should ye suppresse 
 all this flowry crop of Knowledge and new ligat 
 sprung up and yet springing daily in this City? 
 should ye set an Oligarchy of twenty ingrossers over 
 it, to hring a famin upon our minds again, when 
 we shall know nothing but what is measur'd to us 
 by their busheP? Beleeve it. Lords and Com* 
 
 I must not forget, that in this flight of Eloquence, Milton 
 kept in view a Simile in Pindar^s second Olympiad: 
 
 — <ro(po$ TtoK' Sapiens est qui multa no- 
 
 Xa ei^w; <pva.' vit naturae solertia. Qui au- 
 
 ^ocMe^ Ss Xatpoi tern disciplina usi sunt vehe- 
 
 nArrAHSSIA KOPAKES XIS mentes garrulitate, velut 
 AKPANTA TAPNEON corvi, irrita clamant adver- 
 
 AIOS nPOS OPNIXA 0EION- sus avem Divinam. 
 
 p. 60. ed. Benedict. 1620. 
 The Scholiast interprets the Grecian Bard to have characterized 
 his Detractor Bachylides under this similitude. 
 
 * When we shall knoio nothing hut what is measurd to us by their 
 hushel."] There is a strenuous passage to the same purport in 
 his address to Cromwell. " Tum si libere philosophari volenti- 
 ** bus permiseris, quae habent, sine magistelli cujuspiam privato 
 •* examine, sue periculo in lucem proferre : ita enim maximS 
 *' Veritas eflfloruerit ; nee semidoctorum semper sive censura, 
 *' sive invidia, sive tenuitas animi, sive superstitio aliorum in- 
 " venta, omnemque scientiam sua modulo metietur, suoque arbitrio 
 " nobis impertiverit. Postremo si ipse neque verum neque fal- 
 *' sum, quicquid id est, audire raetueris : eos autem mininie om- 
 ** nium audieris, qui sese liberos esse non credunt, nisi aliis esse 
 ** liberis, per ipsos non liceat; nee studiosius aut violentius quic- 
 •' quam agunt, quam ut fratrum non corporibus mod 6 sed con- 
 *' scientiis quoque vincula injiciant ; pessimamque omnium ty- 
 ** rannidem, vel pravarum consuetudinum vel opinionum suarum 
 " & in rempublicam & in ecclesiam inducant, tu ab eorum 
 
l6s Milton's 
 
 mons I they who counsell ye to such a suppressing, 
 doe as good as bid ye suppresse your selves ; and I 
 will soon shew how. If it be desir'd to know the 
 immediat cause of all this free writing and free 
 speaking, there cannot be assigned a truer then 
 your own mild, and free, and human government ; 
 it is the Liberty, Lords and Commons 1 which your 
 own valorous and happy counsels have purchast us; 
 Liberty which is the nurse of all great wits^; this is 
 that which hath rarifvM and enlightn'd our spirits 
 like the influence of Heav'n ; this is that which hath 
 enfranchis'd, enlarged and lifted up our apprehen- 
 sions degrees above themselves. Ye cannot make 
 us now lesse capable, lesse knowing, lesse eagarly 
 
 " parte semper steteris, qui non suam tantiimmodo sectam aut 
 '* factionem, sed omnes aeque cives, aequali jure liberos esse in 
 " civitate arbilrantur oportere. Haec sicut satis Libertas non 
 *' est, quae quidem a raagistratibus exhiberi potest, is mihi am- 
 *' bitionis aique turbarum, quam Libertatis ingenuae studiosior 
 '*videtur; praesertim cum agitatus tot factionibus populus, ut 
 *' post lempe>tatem, cum fluctus nonduni resederunt, statum il- 
 " lum rerum op'abilem atque perfectum, ipse non admittat." — 
 Pr. W. II. 347. ed. 1738. 
 
 The whole strain of this address is excellent, as well for its 
 matter as its style, and of itself decisive that he never bent a 
 courtier's knee to the Protector, as Johnson more than insi- 
 nuated. 
 
 * Liberty which is the nurse of all great wits ; &C.3 Literally 
 from Longinus: ** ©PE^AI re yapt (pr^a-iy, lycavrj roc (ppovr^^ocrx 
 «• rwv MErAAO^PONUN ri EAET0EPIA, v.CLi sitEAirKrai kou 
 *' aaa ^tuj^eiv ro itpo^v^ov 7'7)s itpog aXXijAou^ spih^ kou rijf 
 ** irspi roc TfpLcreioc (piXoninocs" — Hspi T*0T2 ; p. 1 44. 4/o. 
 1722. Pearce, 
 
AREOPAGITICA. I69 
 
 pursuing of the Truth, unlesse ye first make your 
 selves, that made us so, lesse the lovers, lesse the 
 founders of our true Liberty. We can grow igno- 
 rant again, brutish, formal), and slavish, as ye 
 found US; but you then must first become that 
 which ye cannot be, oppressive, arbitrary, and ty- 
 rannous, as they were from whom ye have free'd 
 us. Tiiat our hearts are now more capacious, our 
 thoughts more erected to the search and expecta- 
 tion of greatest and exactest things'^, is the issue of 
 your owne Vertu propagated in us ; ye cannot sup- 
 presse that, unlesse ye reinforce an abrogated and 
 mercilesse law, that Fathers may dispatch at will 
 their own Children. And who shall then stick 
 closest to ye, and excite others ? not he who takes 
 
 ' Our thoughts more erected to the search and expectation of 
 greatest and exactest ihings."] Erected is elevated, animated, 
 elated. '* Tali oratione graviora metuentes composuit, erexzVque.'' 
 ^Tacit. Hist. IV. 74. 
 
 So in the Memoirs of Sir John Berkley, " what with the encou- 
 *' raging messages which his Majesty had from the Presbyterian 
 " Party and the City of London, his Majesty seemed very much 
 " erected." — Maseres*s select Tracts relating to the Civil Wars, 
 Sfc. p. 368. 1815. Did it require support, these examples of 
 erected might be brought in aid of Mr. Home Tooke*s happy 
 derivation of a/eri from erigere. The gradations of which cor- 
 ruption are most ingeniously and undeniably traced out in the 
 Diversions of Pur ley. II. 24-. To arrive at this Etymology was 
 a process in which there are few Philologers who would not 
 have despaired of success. 
 
 Exact is also after the Latin, and signifies-pe)/<?c^ We have 
 had before in this Speech — " that your Order may be exact and 
 " not deficient." It is in this sense thsii Phi lipps in the Theatrum 
 Poeiarum called his Uncle, " the exactest of Heroic Poets." 
 
I7c> biilton's 
 
 «p armes for Cote and Conduct, and his four nobles 
 of Danegelt^ Although I dispraise not the defence 
 
 ^ Not he who takes up armes for Cote and Conduct, and his four 
 nobles o/Danegelt.] The raising of pecuniary aids by County 
 assessments under the pretext of clothing new levies of Men, 
 and for conducting and subsisting them on the march till they 
 bad joined the Corps to which they were attached, was one of 
 the dormant exactions which Charles revived a short time after 
 ^is accession ; as he did Ship-money and commutations for 
 Knighthood; and as he issued Privy Seals for extortions under 
 the name of Benevolences. We learn from Clarendon, that Peti- 
 tions were presented to the Long Parliament, soon after it met 
 " against Lords Lieutenants of Counties, and their Deputy- 
 ** Lieutenants, for having levied money upon the country, for 
 *' conducting and clothing of soldiers/' — Hist, of the Rebellion; 
 L 279. 8rf>. 
 
 And that Conduct imports what I have just suggested, the 
 (succeeding extract from the Northumberland Household Book 
 clearly establishes : " Here begyn the ordure how the per- 
 ** sones shall be ordured and raj/ted for tlieir condeth money, 
 " which shall goe forwardes with my Lord to the warre at any 
 •' tyme that the Kynge co'mandeth his Lordship from the places 
 " they come froo to the place where my Lord shall abide/* 
 See the Antiquarian Repertory; IV. 351. 1809. 
 
 We learn from Puttenham, that Conduct came early into our. 
 language: "Ye have also this worde Conduict, a French word, 
 •* but well allowed of vs, and long since vsuall, it soundes 
 •' somewhat more than this word (leading) for it is applied onely 
 " to the leading of a Captaine, and not as a little boy shouldc 
 ** leade a blinde man, therefore more proper to the case when 
 *' he saide, conduict of whole armies." — The Arte of English 
 Poesie; p. 122. edit. 1811. 
 
 The military adventurers, like Sir J ohn Hawkewond {Movant's 
 *' Hist, and Antiq. of Essex;" IL 288), who in the 15th and 
 16th centuries hired out their bands of followers to the different 
 States of Italy, must, I imagine, have derived their name of 
 Condottieri, from the same root. 
 
 Mat. Bacon affords all the further information that is requisite 
 
AREOPAGITICA. 171 
 
 of just immunities, yet love my peace better, if 
 that were all. Give me the Liberty to know, to 
 utter, and to argue freely according to Conscience, 
 above all Liberties. 
 
 for duly comprehending the allusion to this antiquated and un- 
 constitutional mode of Taxation : " All plunder or spoil com- 
 " mitted by the Soldiers in the Conduct was to be satisfied by the 
 *' Conductor or Commander that received their Pay, or Charges 
 «« for their Conduct, And although the Charges for Conduct had 
 *' formerly de facto been defrayed sometimes by the County by 
 *' virtue of Commissions that issued forth, both for the raising 
 •* and conducting of them ; yet this was no rule, nor did Ed- 
 •' ward the Third claim any such duty, but disclaimed it; and 
 «' ordained by Act of Parliament, That both the Pay and Con- 
 " ductmonei/ should be disbursed by the King, from the time of 
 •' their departure from their several Counties/' — Discourse of the 
 Laws and Government of England; part 2. p. 59. foL Bohun*s 
 edit. 
 
 Danegelt was a Tax assessed on every Hide or Plow-land 
 throughout England, to equip and maintain a naval force, able 
 to keep the British Seas and Isles secure from the Danes. Too 
 lucrative to expire with the occasion, the irregular practice af- 
 terward in early periods of issuing Writs to levy Ship-Money 
 by colour of the regal Prerogative grew out of this ancient im- 
 position. When Charles attempted to raise money under these 
 Writs, the Counsel on the part of the Crown in Hampden*s 
 Case relied on it as a precedent: the Solicitor General {Littleton) 
 sagely and seriously arguing, that " after the Conquest, Dane- 
 ** gelt is supposed to be released by the Conqueror, because he 
 ** dreamed he saw the Devil dancing upon the Danegelt ; but the 
 •• Black Book saith it was paid in the Conquerors time." — State 
 Trials; III. 931. ^vo. edit. 
 
 Would that the Tax-masters of modern times were as easily 
 conscience-struck as the Norman Invader ! 
 
 It was therefore to the recent opposition to the payment of 
 Ship-Money that Milton adverted by the mention of this obso- 
 lete but analogous burden on the Land- Owners — Danegelt, 
 
172 Milton's 
 
 What would be best advis'd then, if it be found 
 so hurtfull and so unequall to suppresse opinions 
 for the newnes, or the unsutablenes to a customary- 
 acceptance, will not be my task to say; I only 
 shall repeat what I have learnt from one of your 
 own honourable number, a right noble and pious 
 Lord, who had he not sacrificed liis life and for- 
 tunes to the Church and Commonwealth, we had 
 not now mist and bewayTd a worthy and un- 
 doubted patron of this argument^ Ye know him, 
 I am sure ; yet I for honours sake, and may it be 
 eternall to him, shall name him, the Lord Brook, 
 He, writing of Episcopacy, and by the way treat- 
 ing of sects and schisms, left ye his vote, or rather 
 now the last words of his dying charge ^ which I 
 
 ^ Patron ofthiis argument.'] An Advocate, in the signification of 
 Paironvs; as in ttie opening paragraph of the Dialogue on Ora- 
 tours which is ascribed to Tacitus : " horum autem temporum 
 '* diserti, caussidici, et advocati, et patroni, et quidvis potuit, 
 " quam oratores vocantur." And accordingly our Authour; 
 *' turn quidem in illo viro, vel facundiam vel constantiam nemo 
 " desideret, non patronum, non anaicura, vel idoneum, magis et 
 " intrepidum, vel diseriionem alium quisquam sibi optet/' I 
 quote these sentences because Mr. Hayley in translating the last 
 of them erroneously rendered patronum, 2i Patron; conceiving, 
 I conclude, that it ought to be interpreted in the acceptation 
 that woid now bears among us, and not an Advocate or Plea^ 
 of Causes in Courts of Justice, which was liradshawe's profession, 
 whom Milton is commending. See Pr. W. II. 337. ed. 1738. 
 It is far from unfrequent in this Latin import with our Writers 
 of that age. 
 
 ^ His vote, or rather now the last words of his dying charge."] 
 " His fervent wish, or aspiration ;" " Nee Vespasiano adversui 
 
AREOPAGITICA. 173 
 
 know will ever be of dear and honour'd regard with 
 ye, so full of meeknes and breathing charity, that 
 next to his last testament, who bequeathed love 
 and peace to his Disciples, I cannot call to mind 
 where I have read or heard words more mild and 
 peacefull. He there exhorts us to hear with pa- 
 tience and humility those, however they be mis- 
 caird, that desire to live purely, in such a use of 
 Gods Ordinances, as the best guidance of their 
 Conscience gives them, and to tolerat them, though 
 in some disconformity to our selves. The Book it 
 self will tell us more at large ^ being publisht to the 
 
 " G&\h^m votum, aut animus." — Tacit. Hist. I. \. s. 10. James 
 Howell intitled an adulatory copy of Verses, " The Vote, or a 
 ** Poem Royal, presented to his Majesty for a New- year's Gift ; 
 " by way of Discourse, 'twixt the Poet and his Muse : 164-1." 
 And the word occurs with this acceptation in Ben Jonson, and 
 in Beaumont and Fletcher, 
 
 * The Book it self will tell us more at large — ] This work was 
 intitled " a Discourse opening the nature of that Episcopacie, 
 " which is exercised in England. By the Right Honourable 
 " Robert Lord Brooke: ^to. 16 H. Lond." 
 
 Milton was happy to commemorate in his pages the virtues 
 of a Nobleman who had lain down his life for the public Cause; 
 and who was (says the Historian of the Civil War) " a Man as 
 " much lamented by the Parliament as any that ever fell on 
 " that side, and as much honoured for his Piety, Valour, and 
 ^Fidelity." — May; Hist, of the Parliament: p. 210. 4to. 
 
 The sentiments favourable to religious Liberty which gave 
 particular occasion for this high-wrought panegyric are to be 
 found in the second Section, Chapters six and seven. In 1661, 
 another Edition of Lord Brooke's tract was published in duo- 
 decimo, without the name of the Authour, and the Dedication 
 to the Parliament omitted. — Horace Walpole, who I suspect not 
 
174 Milton's 
 
 world, and dedicated to the Parlament by him who 
 both for his life and for his death deserves, that 
 what advice he left be not laid by without perusall. 
 And now the time in speciall is, by priviledge 
 to write and speak what may help to the furder 
 discussing of matters in agitation. The Temple of 
 Janus, with his two controversal faces, might now 
 not unsignificantly be set open^ And though all 
 
 to have seen either Edition, remarks of these animadversions on 
 Episcopacy, that *' Antony Wood says his Lordship was assisted 
 *' therein by some Puritanical Ministers. Milton, a better 
 " judge, commends it for breathing the spirit of Toleration — 
 " which was not the spirit of the Puritans." — Lord Orford's 
 Works. L 358. If by Puritans Mr. Walpole meant the Presby- 
 terian Persuasion, he was correct. Croinwell and the Inde* 
 pendents allowed a perfect freedom as to religious opinions. 
 
 There is an original Portrait of Lord Brooke, in Warwick 
 Castle. 
 
 ^ And now the time in speciall, is by priviledge to write and 
 speak what may help to the furder discussing of matters in agitation. 
 The Temple of Janus, with his two controversal faces, might 
 now not unsignificantly be set open."] Heylyn, speaking of th© 
 censure passed by the House of Commons on Mountague^s work, 
 for its leaning toward Popery, says that " this gave great ani- 
 " raation to the opposite Party ;" who would " not lose the op- 
 *' portunity of a Parliament- time (when the Press is open to all 
 " comers) for publishing their Books against him." — Life of 
 jMud; p. U8. /o/. 1671. 
 
 " His two controversal faces ;" Jani hifrontis imago. But 
 Milton by controversal, I am afraid, at the same time in- 
 dulged in one of his conceits. — It is worthy of remark, that Gih- 
 bon has raised a serious doubt, whether there ever was in fact a 
 ** Temple of Janus" at Rome. The accomplished Historian sup- 
 poses the Porta triumphalis to have been what, through the ob- 
 scurity of the iatervening distance of time. Scholars have mis- 
 
AREOPAGITICA. IfS 
 
 the windes of doctrin were let, loose to play upoa 
 the earth, so Truth be in the field, we do injuri- 
 ously by Licencing and prohibiting to misdoubt her 
 strength. Let her and Falshood grapple ; who 
 ever knew Truth put to the wors, in a free and 
 open encounter? Her confuting is the best and 
 surest suppressing. He who hears what praying 
 there is for light and clearer Knowledge to be sent 
 down among us, would think of other matters to 
 be constituted beyond the discipline of GeJieva^ 
 fram*d and fabric* t already to our hands. Yet 
 when the new light which we beg for shines in 
 upon us, there be who envy, and oppose, if it come 
 not first in at their casements. What a collusion 
 is this, whenas we are exhorted by the wise Man to 
 
 taken for a Temple. The reasons which he assigns to show that 
 this is a vulgar error, carry, it must be allowed, a considerable 
 degree of weight. After a luminous statement of objections to 
 the received opinion, he proceeds, ** Je connois trop le danger 
 •' des propositions exclusives, pour assurer que Texpression, 
 *' Temple de Janus, n'est point en usage parmi les ecrivains des 
 '* bons slides; mais Je vois que Tite Live, Horace, Suetone et 
 *' Pline, le designent toujours par la denomination simple et 
 " propre de Janus Geminus, ou de Janus Quirini, ou QuirinuSi 
 " Virgile, qui decrit tous les anciens usages avec le feu d'un 
 *' poete, et la precision d'un antiquaire, a introduit parmi ses 
 " Latins cette ancienne institution. II n'y employe jamais le 
 ** mot temple, dans le tems qu'il decrit ces portes de la guerre. 
 ♦' (iEneid, VIL 60S.y'—Mcscell. Works. II. 392. 4io. The solu- 
 tion this Aulhour gives to the meaning of Numa's institution 
 — that the gates of Janus were to be kept open during War, 
 and to be closed in time of Peace, is, if not absolutely con- 
 vincing, at least ingenious and extremely plausible. ib.lL^QQ, 
 
176 Milton's 
 
 use diligence, to seek for Wisdom as for hidd'n trca^ 
 sures early and late, that another Order shall enjoyn 
 us to know nothing but by statute? When a man 
 hath bin labouring the hardest labour in the deep 
 mines of Knowledge, hath furnisht out his findings 
 in all their equipage, drawn forth his reasons as it 
 were a battell raung'd, scattered and defeated all 
 objections in his way, calls out his adversary into 
 the plain, offers him the advantage of wind and sun, 
 if he please, only that he may try the matter by 
 dint of argument; for his opponents then to sculk, 
 to lay ambushments, to keep a narrow bridge of 
 Licencing where the challenger should passe*, 
 though it be valour anough in souldiership, is but 
 weaknes and cowardise in the wars of Truth. For 
 who Knows not that Truth is strong next to the 
 
 * The advantage of wind and sun — narrow bridge of Licensing 
 where the challenger should passe^ &c.] On the morning of the 
 Battle of Lulzen, Gustavus Adolphus thanked God that he had 
 both Wind and Sun to favour him. But Milton owed this train 
 of imagery to the lasting impression made on his warm fancy 
 by his youthful reading in the Romances of Knight Errantry. 
 Thus, in the Chronicle of the Cid: " The judges placed them 
 ** fairly, each in his place, so that neither should have the sun in 
 " his eyes." {p. 11. 4to. 1808.) Where a Note by Mr. Southey, 
 on Partieronles el sol, informs us, that " The phrai»e is remark- 
 *' able, and may best be rendered by explaining it. Many 
 ** battles, in what the Spaniards call the da\ s of the Suield and 
 ** Lance have been lost because the conquer'd army had their 
 " faces toward the Sun. Equally without favour distributed 
 ** to them the Sun, is the way which Antony Munday expresses 
 *' this." 
 Ariosio notes particularly the narrowness of the Bridge buill 
 
AREOPAGITICA. 177 
 
 Almighty? she needs no policies, nor stratagems, 
 nor licencings to make her victorious, those are the 
 shifts and the defences that Error uses against her 
 power : give her but room, and do not bind her 
 when she sleeps, for then she speaks not true, as the 
 old Proteus did, who spake Oracles only when he 
 was caught and bound ^ but then rather she turns 
 
 by Rodomonte; his description of which I will give mHarring- 
 tmCs version. 
 
 " But makes a Bridge where Men to row are wont, 
 
 " And though the same were strong, and of great length, 
 
 *' Yet might two horses hardly meet a front, 
 
 " Nor had the sides a raile or any strength, 
 
 " Who comes this way he meanes shall bide a bront, 
 
 " Except he have both corage good and strength, 
 
 " For with the armes of all that this way come, 
 
 " He means to bewtifie faire Isbel's toome." 
 
 Orl. Fur. b. 29. st. 37. foL 1607. 
 
 * Proteus — spake Oracles only when he was caught and hound, 
 &c.] We now know from himself, that in the desultory and 
 multifarious studies of his early years, Warhurton was a diligent 
 reader of the publications which appeared during the period of 
 the civil War. His curiosity led him in course to an eager pe- 
 rusal of MiLTON*s prose Writings; and this passage in my text 
 evidently hung on his mind when later in life he said of Aris- 
 totle, — " By his Categories, he not only conquered Nature, but 
 *' kept her in tenfold chains: Not, as Dulness kept the Muses 
 " in the Dunciad, to silence them ; but as Aristaeus held Pr6- 
 " tens in Virgil, to deliver Oracles." See his Note on v. Q5^, of 
 Popes Essay on Criticism. The Bishop's strong expression 
 '* the Hall-mark of Orthodoxy" was but a concentration of a 
 former sentence in this Speech: ** we must not think to make 
 ** a staple commodity of all the Knowlege in the land, to mark 
 *' and licence it like our broad cloth and wool packs." And it is 
 an apposite example of the definition he has himself given of 
 
 N 
 
178 Milton's 
 
 herself into all shapes, except her own, and per- 
 haps tunes her voice according to the time, as Mi- 
 
 Wit, which he thought " to consist in using strong metaphoric 
 '* images in uncommon yet apt allusions." Divine Legation of 
 Moses: B. 4. S. 4. — Perhaps this comes nearer to the truth 
 than either Drydens, or Addison*s, or Pope*s Definition. 
 
 In his ** Enquiry into the Causes of Prodigies and Mira- 
 cles/' beside other palpable imitations I have pointed out> 
 he embraced our Authour's opinion of the influences of 
 Climate on Genius; and in the Preface to his Edition of 
 Shakspeare, we can readily track impressions which the piece 
 in our hand had left on his recollection. But Warburton caught 
 from it something still better than particular turns of thought, or 
 its nervous and masterly strain of expression. He who re- 
 members his manly Dedication of the Divine Legation of Moses 
 to the Free-thinkers, will readily agree that it was impreg- 
 nated by Milton's spirit ; and that in its complexion it 
 bears an indisputable resemblance to the principles of the 
 Areopagitica. For the Bishop of Gloucester's attestations to 
 the justice and importance of allowing the widest scope to Dis- 
 cussion are of a description the most enlarged and liberal. 
 With a full and just confidence in his own qualifications and in 
 the competency of Truth to maintain itself, he there exclaims in 
 a passage well worthy of transcription, " but let me not be 
 " misunderstood ; here are no insinuations intended against 
 " Liberty : for surely, whatever be the cause of this epidemic 
 " folly, it would be unjust to ascribe it to the Freedom of the 
 *' Press, which wise men have ever held one of the most pre- 
 «« cious branches of national Liberty. What, though it mid- 
 »*.wifes, as it were, these brain-sick births ; yet, at the same 
 <' time that it facilitates the delivery, it lends a forming hand to 
 ♦* the mishapen issue: for, as in natural bodies, become dis- 
 «* torted by suffering in the conception, or by too strait impri- 
 '» sonment in the womb, a free unrestrained exposition of the 
 *f parts may, in time, reduce them nearer to their natural recti- 
 " tude ; so crude and rickety notions, enfeebled by restraint, 
 •* when permitted to be drawn out and examined, may, by the 
 
AREOPAGinCA. l79 
 
 caiah did before Ahahy untill she be adjur'd into her 
 own likenes. Yet is it not impossible that she may 
 have more shapes then one. What else is all that 
 rank of things indifferent, wherein Truth may be 
 on this side, or on the other, without being unlike 
 her self? What but a vain shadow else is the abo- 
 lition of those ordinances, that hand writing nay I'd to 
 the crosse^} what great purchase is this Christian 
 
 " reform of their obliquities, and the correction of their viru- 
 " lency, at length acquire iiealth and proportion. Nor less 
 " friendly is this Liberty to the generous advocate of Religion : 
 *• for how could such a one, when in earnest convinced by the 
 " evidence of his cause, desire an adversary whom the Laws 
 " had before disarmed ; or value a victory, where the Magis- 
 ** trate must triumph with him ? Even I, the meanest in this 
 " controversy, should have been ashamed of projecting the de- 
 *' fence of the great Jewish Lawgiver, did not I know that the 
 " same Liberty of Thinking was impartially indulged to all."— 
 To see Warburton with his athletic powers of Mind step out of 
 his proper sphere of action, the dusty fields of theological Con- 
 troversy, to arrange Popes exquisite Versification anew, calls 
 up to one's Fancy the image of a hard-handed Chairman adjust- 
 ing the folds of an elegant Woman's drapery. 
 
 With the same elevated and consistent sentiments, Miltoi* 
 entreated the States of Holland to rescind their prohibition of 
 Saltnasius's Defensio Regia : " Idque ego ab Illustrissimis Hol- 
 *' landiae Ordinibus peterem, ut eam e fisco protinus dimissam, 
 " (neque enim Thesaurus est,) pervagari, quo velit, sinant." 
 Def. pro Populo Anglicano; Prof. Erasmus was not gifted with 
 such equanimity. He hesitated a wish for a Law to restrain the 
 Press: see his Life by Jortin; L 286. 8ro. 
 
 ^ The abolition of those ordinances, that hand-writing nayTd 
 to the Crosse.] " Blotting out the hand-writing of ordinances 
 *' that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it 
 ** out of the way, nailing it to his cross,*' — Paul to the Colossians; 
 ch. 2. V, 14, 
 
 N2 
 
180 Milton's 
 
 Liberty which Paul so often boasts of? His doctrine 
 is, that he who eats or eats not, regards a day, or 
 regards it not, may doe either to the Lord. How 
 many other things might be tolerated in peace, and 
 left to Conscience, had we but charity, and were it 
 not the chief strong hold of our hypocrisie to be 
 ever judging one another ? I fear yet this iron yoke 
 of outward conformity hath left a slavish print upon 
 our necks; the ghost of a linnen decency yet 
 haunts us''. We stumble and are impatient at the 
 least dividing of one visible congregation from ano- 
 
 ■^ Hie ghost of a linnen decency j/c^ haunts us."] In his work 
 of Reformation touching Church Discipline he writes of our hie- 
 rarchical establishment — " they bedeckt it, not in robes of pure 
 " innocency, but of pure Linnen/' &c. p. 3. 164-1. ^to. and 
 presently afterward — "terming the py-bald frippery and osten- 
 *' tation of Ceremony's decency/' 
 
 This quaint expression was therefore to imply that the Pres- 
 byterian Party, now they were become powerful and prevailing, 
 carried themselves as inconsistently as if they should desire to 
 adopt the Surplice and Clerical vestments retained at the Refor- 
 mation by the Episcopal Church ; not without pertinacious op- 
 position from that as well as from many other of the reformed 
 Persuasions ; whose zeal could not endure that a remnant of 
 the paraphernalia of Popery should be employed in the service 
 of Christian Worship. 
 
 Burton has described this antipathy to papistical habiliments, 
 by a whimsical figure : " No, not so much as degrees some of 
 " them will tollerate, or Vniuersities, all humane learning, 
 " hoods, habits, cap, and surplesse, such as are things indiffe- 
 *' rent in themselves, and wholy for ornament, decency, or dis- 
 •« tinction sake, they abhorre, hate, and snuffe at, as a stone- 
 " horse when he meets a Beare." — The An,atojny of Melancholy ; 
 jp. 677. cd, 1632. 
 
AREOPAGITICA. 181 
 
 ther, though it be not in fundamentalls ; and 
 through our forwardnes to suppresse, and our back- 
 wardnes to recover any enthrall'd peece of Truth 
 out of the gripe of Custom ^ we care not to keep 
 
 ® Our hackwardnes to recover any enthrall'd peece of Truth out 
 ofthegripeofCusto7H.'] He opens his Doctrine and Discipline 
 of Divorce, which he addressed to the Parliament and the As- 
 sembly of Divines, with a well-written and animated expansion 
 of this thought : •* If it were seriously ask*d, and it would be 
 *' no untimely Question, renowned Parlament, select Assem- 
 " bly, who of ail Teachers and Masters that have ever taught, 
 ** hath drawn the most Disciples after him, both in Religion and 
 " in Manners? it might be not untruly answered. Custom. 
 *' Though Vertue be commended for the most perswasive in her 
 " Theory, and Conscience in the plain demonstration of the 
 " Spirit finds most evincing ; yet whether it be the secret of 
 " Divine Will, or the original Blindness we are born in, so it 
 " happens for the most part, that Custom still is silently received 
 " for the best instructor. Except it be, because the method is 
 " so glib and easy, in some manner like to that Vision of Eze- 
 •' kiel, rowling up her sudden book of implicite Knowledge, for 
 " him that will, to take and swallow down at pleasure; which 
 '* proving but of bad nourishment in the concoction, as it was 
 *' heedless in the devouring, puffs up unhealthily a certain big 
 ** face of pretended Learning, mistaken among credulous Men 
 " for the wholesome habit of soundness and good constitution, 
 " but is indeed no other than that swoln visage of counterfeit 
 •' Knowledge and Literature, which not only in private mars 
 *' our Education, but also in public is the common climber into 
 " every Chair, where either Religion is preach'd, or Law re- 
 ** ported, filling each estate of Life and Profession with abject 
 ** and servile principles, depressing the high and heav'n-born 
 " spirit of Man, far beneath the condition wherein either God 
 " created him, or Sin hath sunk him. To pursue the Allegory, 
 " Custom being but a meer face, as Echo is a meer voice, rests 
 " not in her unaccomplishment, until by secret inclination she 
 " accorporate herself with Error, who being a blind and ser- 
 
182 Milton's 
 
 Truth separated from Truth, which is the fiercest 
 rent and disunion of all. We doe not see that while 
 we still aifect by all means a rigid externall for- 
 mality^, we may as soon fall again into a grosse 
 conforming stupidity, a stark and dead congeal- 
 ment of wood and hay and stubble forc't and frozen 
 together, which is more to the sudden degenerating 
 6f a Church then many sub dichotomies of petty 
 schisms. Not that I can think well of every light 
 separation ; or that all in a Church is to be ex- 
 pected gold and silver and pretious stones : it is not 
 possible for man to sever the wheat from the tares, 
 the good fish from the other frie ; that must be the 
 
 " pentlne body without a head, willingly accepts what he wants, 
 " and supplies what her incompleatness went seeking. Hence 
 *' it is, that Error supports Custom, Custom countenances Error: 
 " and these two between them would persecute and chase away 
 " all Truth and solid Wisdom out of human Life, were it not 
 " that God, rather than Man once in many ages, calls together 
 " the prudent and religious Counsels of Men, deputed to re- 
 '* press the incroachments, and to work off the inveterate blots 
 *' and obscurities wrought upon our minds by the subtle insinu- 
 *' ating of Error and Custom; who with the numerous and vul- 
 " gar train of their Followers, make it their chief design to 
 *' envy and cry down the industry of free Reasoning, under the 
 " terms of Humour and Innovation ; as if the womb of teeming 
 " Truth were to be closM up, if she presume to bring forth 
 " aught that sorts not with their unchew'd notions and supposi- 
 « tions." 
 
 ^ A rigid externall formality.] " An outward pharisaical at- 
 " tention to ceremonies.^' He has rightly warned the Parlia- 
 ment just before that the People will *' grow ignorant, brutish, 
 " 2ind formal" — addicted to forms, if they become *' oppressive, 
 " arbitrary, and tyrannous.'* 
 
AREOPAGITICA. 183 
 
 Angels Ministery at the end of mortall things. 
 Yet if all cannot be of one mind, as who looks they 
 should be ? this doubtles is more wholsome, more 
 prudent, and more Christian that many be tole- 
 rated, rather then all compelFd. I mean not tole- 
 rated Popery, and open superstition, which as it 
 extirpats all religions and civill supremacies, so it 
 self should be extirpat*, provided first that all cha- 
 
 * So itself should be extirpat — ] i. e. *' extirpatec?.** An ab- 
 scission strong to confirm Milton's curious observance of 
 Euphony in this Oration, in order to preserve its Isocratic cha- 
 racter. £xtirpat£^ followed by provid^^^ would have been a 
 chiming iteration that must hurt a nicely critical ear ; he there- 
 fore dropped the regular termination of this Participle. In like 
 manner, to avoid a displeasing sameness of sound in the final 
 Syllables, he wrote " scurril (not scurriloMs) Plautw*'* as I have 
 before noted. He worked up this piece with the miniature 
 touches of a poetical composition. For the same reason, he has 
 cut off the last syllable of adorn d, 
 
 " Made so adorn for thy delight the more." 
 
 P. L, VIII. 576. 
 And in B. II, a similar retrenchment occurs, for the conve- 
 nience of the measure : 
 
 " In thoughts more elevate, and reasoned high." 
 
 V. 558. 
 So too he has in Par, Reg. instruct and suspect, for instructed and 
 suspected. 
 
 We ought not however with some of the Annotators to treat 
 these amputations as his own arbitrary licence. Such abbre- 
 viations of the Participle passive once were by no means unfre- 
 quent; alike in Poets and Prose- Writers : 
 
 " Hath so exasperate the King, that he." 
 
 Macbeth; A. 3. S. 6. 
 And, 
 
 *' Than now the English bottoms have waft p*er.'* 
 
 King John; A. 11. S. I. 
 But the use of such truncated Participles was now gradually 
 
184 Milton's 
 
 ritable and compassionat means be us'd to win and 
 regain the weak and the misled : that also which is 
 impious or evil absolutely either against Faith or 
 Maners^ no law can possibly permit, that intends 
 not to unlaw it self: but those neighboring differ- 
 ences, or rather indifferences, are what I speak^ of, 
 whether in some point of doctrine or of discipline, 
 which though they may be many, yet need not in- 
 terrupt the unity of Spirit, if we could but find 
 
 wearing away. I can recollect but a single instance in Waller, 
 It is in one of his earlier Poems, and for the sake of a rhyme : 
 
 ** So fresh the wound is, and the grief so vast, 
 " That all our art and power of speech is wast." 
 
 Poems, &c. ; p. Ill, l2mo. 1645. 
 
 In regarding our Authour's use of extirpate, elevate, instruct, &c. 
 as a detraction of the termination of our Participle in ed, I have 
 deferred to the opinion of Cowper and Dunster ; at the same 
 time, it would, I think, be more accurate to consider him as ad- 
 hering to the antient mode of speech, before the Verb, to dis- 
 tinguish its Participle, had acquired this additional syllable. 
 He adhered to it in this instance for the sake of Euphony ; just 
 as I have elsewhere shown the more probable motive for Mil- 
 ton's revival in his Poetry of antiquated words to have been for 
 metrical accommodation. 
 
 ^ Faith or Maners — ] Through this Speech he uniformly 
 employs il/«/mer6' where at this day we should say Morals, So in 
 the scriptural translation of the Grecian Apophthegm quoted by 
 St. Paul; *' Evil communications corrupt good manners:" (^9r^}. 
 1 Cor. 15. 33. 
 
 William of Wi/keham's motto, " Manners makyth Man/' is 
 not understood by all who repeat it. 
 
 3 Those neighboring diffei-ences, or rather indifferences, are 
 what J speak of.'\ See Illustration, P. 
 
AREOPAGITrCA. 185 
 
 among us the bond of peace. In the mean while, if 
 any one would write, and bring his helpfull hand to 
 the slow-moving Reformation which we labour 
 under, if Truth have spok'n to him* before others, 
 or but seem'd at least to speak, who hath so be- 
 jesuited us that we should trouble that man with 
 asking licence to doe so worthy a deed? and not 
 consider this, that if it come^ to prohibiting, there 
 is not ought more likely to be prohibited then Truth 
 it self; whose first appearance to our eyes, blear'd 
 and dimm*d with prejudice and custom, is more 
 unsightly and unplausible then many errors ; ev'n 
 as the person is of many a great man slight and 
 contemptible to see to^ And what doe they tell 
 us vainly of new opinions, when this very opinion 
 of theirs, that none must be heard, but whom they 
 like, is the worst and newest opinion of all others ; 
 and is the chief cause why sects and schisms doe so 
 much abound, and true Knowledge is kept at dis- 
 
 * If Truth have spoken to him.'\ " The Scribes- that were of 
 *' the Pharisees part arose and strove, saying, we find no evil 
 *' in this man : but if a Spirit or an Angel hath spoken to him, 
 " let us not fight against God." — The Acts; ch, 23. v. 9. 
 
 * If it come — ] See Illustration, Q, 
 
 ^ To see <o.] A phrase formerly in use for to regard; so in 
 the Arte of Rhetorike, hy T. Wilson : ** As in speaking of one that 
 *' is well knowen to bee nought, to saie eraong all men that are 
 
 *' seen too, there is one that lacketh his rewarde Whiche 
 
 *' of you al dare saie or can saie that ever you sawe him dronken, 
 " if then these be true, ought not suche to be sene to: and re-* 
 ** warded accordingly." — Caret, Tit, FoLld. 1560, 
 
185 Milton's 
 
 tance from us ; besides yet a greater danger which 
 is in it. For when GoD shakes a Kingdome with 
 strong and healthfull commotions to a generall re- 
 forming, *tis not untrue that many sectaries and 
 false teachers are then busiest in seducing : but yet 
 more true it is, that GOD then raises to his own 
 work men of rare abilities, and more then common 
 industry, not only to look back and revise what hath 
 bin taught heretofore, but to gain furder and goe 
 on, some new enlightened steps in the discovery of 
 Truth. For such is the order of GoDS enlightning 
 his Church, to dispense and deal out by degrees his 
 beam, so as our earthly eyes may best sustain it. 
 Neither is GoD appointed and confined ^, where 
 and out of what place these his chosen shall be first 
 heard to speak; for he sees not as man sees, chooses 
 not as man chooses, lest we should devote our selves 
 again to set places, and Assemblies, and outward 
 callings of men ; planting our faith one while ia 
 
 ' Neither is God appointed and confined, &c.] In a preceding 
 annotation (p. 60.) I have shown that to appoint was to direct. 
 It now expresses the same ; as it does in Whitelock : " some of 
 <* the Scots commissioners themselves, encouraged, if not op- 
 *.' pointed, the printing of this Book." — Memorials; p. 201. edit. 
 1732. And in Samson Agonistes; v. 313, 
 
 *' Appoint not heav'nly disposition. Father; 
 " Nothing of all these evils hath befall'n me 
 "But justly.'' 
 
 Though Warhurton's explanation in this latter instance is ta 
 (jLrraign, summon to answer. Bat he was unprepared with any 
 example to justify this assertion. He probably minuted thij 
 gloss down on the margin without much consideration. 
 
AREOPAGITICA. 187 
 
 the old Convocation House, and another while in 
 the Chappell at Westminster ; when all the Faith 
 and Religion that shall be there canonized ^ is not 
 sufficient without plain convincement, and the cha- 
 rity of patient instruction, to supple the least bruise 
 of Conscience, to edifie the meanest Christian, who 
 desires to walk in the Spirit, and not in the letter 
 of human trust, for all the number of voices that 
 can be there made ; no, though Harry the 7. him- 
 self there, with all his leige tombs about him, 
 should lend them voices from the dead, to swell 
 
 ® Planting our Faith one while in the old Convocation-House, 
 and another while in the Chappell at Westminster ; when all the 
 Faith and Religion that shall be there canonized, &c.] The Asi- 
 sembly of Divines nominated by the Members of the Parliar 
 meat for the settlement of a new scheme of Church-worship, 
 was holden in the Chapter-House belonging to Westminster 
 Abbey. They were now met. Some Laymen sate with them : 
 among others, Charles's Nephew, the Count Palatine, and Sel' 
 den, Maynard, and Whitelock. Our Authour, in one of his 
 Tracts, mentions his having attended their discussions. In an 
 age like this, teeming with disputative Theology and Fana- 
 ticism, their deliberations attracted no small share of the public 
 attention, and were, I doubt not, deemed by numbers of an im- 
 portance not at all subordinate to the Debates in the neighbour- 
 ing Houses of Parliament. After some of the Presbyteriari 
 Preachers had been loud in their censures of his first work oi| 
 Divorce, Milton to his next on that vexatious difficulty in 
 Legislation prefixed an appeal to this Assembly conjointly with 
 the Parliament, in a strain of energetic eloquence. 
 
 By canonized, he meant decreed as sound "Doctrine ; from the 
 barbaro - Greek Verb KANONIZEIN, " Sancire, Canones vel 
 " Leges Ecclesiasticas edere.'* Du Fresne ; Gloss, ad Script, 
 med. 2f infim. Grace, fol, Lugd. 1688. in v. 
 
18S Milton's 
 
 their number. And if the men be erroneous who 
 appear to be the leading schismaticks, what with- 
 olds us but our sloth, our self-will, and distrust in 
 the right cause, that we doe not give them gentle 
 meetings and gentle dismissions, that we debate 
 not and examin the matter throughly with liberall 
 and frequent audience ; if not for their sakes, yet 
 for our own? seeing no man who hath tasted Learn- 
 ing,' but will confesse the many waies of profiting 
 by those who not contented with stale receits are 
 able to manage, and set forth new positions to the 
 world. And were they but as the dust and cinders 
 of our feet, so long as in that notion they may yet 
 serve to polish and brighten the armoury of Truth, 
 even for that respect they were not utterly to be cast 
 away. But if they be of those whom God hath 
 fitted for the speciall use of these times with emi- 
 nent and ample gifts, and those perhaps neither 
 among the Priests, nor among the Pharisees, and 
 we in the hast of a precipitant zeal shall make no 
 distinction, but resolve to stop their mouths, be- 
 cause we fear they come with new and dangerous 
 opinions, as we commonly forejudge them ere we 
 understand them ; no lesse then woe to us, while 
 thinking thus to defend the Gospel, we are found 
 the persecutors I 
 
 There have bin not a few since the beginning 
 of this Parlament^, both of the Presbytery and 
 
 * Parhment — ] Then so spelt by many Writers ; either as 
 more consonant to the Pronunciation^ generally the rule with 
 
AREOPAGITICA. 189 
 
 Others, who by their unhceuc't Books to the con- 
 tempt of an Imprimatur first broke that triple ice 
 
 our Authour and with others of that day, or in conformity to 
 the derivation, to which Sir Edward Coke gave his sanction, 
 " because every Member of that Court should sincerely and 
 *' discreetly /7ar/er /a men/." 1 Inst. 110. a. — It is seldom that 
 Coke*s Etymologies are rational. Chief Baron Atkins however 
 applied himself to show that he had not erred in this particular 
 instance; Parliamentary and Political Tracts; p: 33. 8vo. 1734^ 
 I must add to little purpose. Perhaps the best excuse for 0)ke 
 on this occasion would be what we may suppose to have been 
 his covert motive ; — that he favoured it with an intent to fortify 
 the Freedom of Speech in Parliament. A Privilege to which 
 James I. bore such hostility, that in Council he tore with his 
 own hand from the Journals of the Commons* House their Pro- 
 testation which Coke conjointly with Noy, Selden, and Glanville 
 had drawn up in assertion of this rightful claim. 
 
 Without question Etymology is often the safest guide to the 
 true signification of a word. But Coke, Whitelock and others 
 among the earlier writers on the Laws of England etymologized, 
 like some of the Greek Philosophers, to bring a term to the 
 sense they wanted it to bear, rather than to trace out its real 
 root. A late very acute Philologer gave into an opposite per- 
 version, and pushed it to an extreme which led me, and others, 
 to suspect that he sometimes was practising on the credulity of 
 his hearers. The Authour of the Diversions of Purley, after a 
 signification had been fixed by consent and custom, would 
 wrench it in construction from its received and actual accepta- 
 tion back to its strict and etymological meaning: yet surely the 
 jus et norma loquendi ought always to govern. Mr. Home Tooke 
 would have done well to have borne in mind the observation of 
 an Authour whom he always praised highly : " Words having 
 *• naturally none of their own, carry that signification to the 
 " bearer that he is used to put upon them ; whatever be the 
 •' sense of him that uses them." — -Locke ; the Conduct of the Un- 
 der standing. Sect, 35. 
 
190 MlLTON*S 
 
 clung about our hearts*, and taught the People to 
 see day : I hope that none of those were the per* 
 swaders to renew upon us this bondage which they 
 themselves have wrought so much good by con- 
 temning. But if neither the check that Moses gave 
 to young Joshua, nor the countermand which our 
 Saviour gave to young John, who was so ready to 
 prohibit those whom he thought unlicenc*t, be not 
 anough^ to admonish our Elders how unacceptable 
 to God their testy mood of prohibiting is; if neither 
 their own remembrance what evill hath abounded 
 in the Church by this lett of Licencing, and what 
 good they themselves have begun by transgressing 
 it, be not anough, but that they will perswade, and 
 execute the most Dominican part of the Inquisition 
 over us, and are already with one foot in the stirrup 
 so active at suppressing, it would be no unequall 
 distribution in the first place to suppresse the sup- 
 pressors themselves 5 whom the change of their con- 
 dition hath puft up, more then their late experience 
 of harder times liath made wise. 
 
 * Broke that triple ice citing about our hearts.] Horace die* 
 tated this in part — 
 
 " Illi robur, & t£s triplex 
 «* Circa pectus erat/' — 
 
 Carm. I. 3. 9. 
 Milton has, I think, more frequent recollections of that Poet 
 than of Virgil. Doubtless he felt the charm of VirgiVs numbers, 
 but he was not content to take Homer at second hand ', to copy 
 a copier; to be the shadow of a shade. 
 ' Anough-^] See Illustration, R* 
 
AREOPAGItICA; I9I 
 
 And as for regulating the Presse^ let no maii 
 think to have the honour of advising ye better then 
 your selves have done in that Order publisht next 
 before this, that no Book be printed, unlesse the 
 Printers and the Authors name, or at least the 
 Printers be registered ^ Those which otherwise 
 
 * That Order publisht next before this, that no Book be printed, 
 unlesse the Printers and the Authors name, — be register* d.] The 
 original Edition of this Speech carries manifest marks of typo- 
 graphical inaccuracy, through haste or negligence. Therti 
 seems to be just ground for believing, that it passed thro* the 
 Press to the Public without having been submitted to the in* 
 spection of a Licenser. No Imprimatur is prefixed to any of the 
 various copies that have fallen under my observation ; neither 
 the Printer's, nor the Publisher's Name is given. Yet the first 
 Edition of his smaller Poems, which appeared about the same 
 time, has the Printer's name, and it is stated in the title-page> 
 as in the earliest genuine Edition of Waller s Poems of the same 
 year, to have been ** printed and published according to Order.'' 
 If the Areopagitica came out clandestinely, it no doubt issued 
 from some obscure printing House, which circumstance would 
 account for incorrectness in the letter-press. The same omis- 
 sion of an Imprimatur is observable in the different Tracts our 
 Authour wrote on the Liberty of Divorce. A doctrine against 
 which the Men who now took the lead in public affairs were 
 very vociferous in their hostility. Here was "fruit for thos6 
 " holy Parrots to peck at." They made it their business to 
 impede even discussion upon this topic, and his having pro- 
 fessed and diffused opinions on it adverse to theirs, exposed 
 him to detraction. Of this detraction Clement Walker af- 
 fords a pertinent specimen : " There is lately come forth jt 
 " Booke of John Meltons (a Libertine that thinketh his 
 ** Wife a Manacle, and his very Garters to be Shackles 
 " and Fetters to him : one that {after the Independent fa- 
 *' shon) will be tied by no obligation to God or Mani 
 *' wherein he undertaketh to prove," &c. — Anarchia An- 
 
192 Milton's 
 
 come forth, if they be found mischievous and libel- 
 lous, the fire and the executioner will be the time- 
 liest and the most effectuall remedy, that mans 
 prevention can use. For this authentic Spanish po- 
 licy* of licencing Books, if I have said ought, will 
 
 glicana : or the History of Independency. By TJieodorus Verax. 
 p. 196. 4/0. 1649. These malevolent aspersions were to usher 
 in some pungent strictures upon Milton's treatise on *' the 
 " Tenure of Kings and Magistrates." Walker and his Associates 
 had not very long before undergone the mortification of having 
 the reins of Power snatched from their grasp by the Indepen- 
 dents, the Sect whom Milton fayoured. 
 
 This and the bitterness of these remarks corroborate the sus- 
 picion that this Writer was eager to stigmatize his publications 
 on tl^ subject of Divorce, in invidiam; not from having formed 
 any well considered opinions on the question itself. A question 
 perhaps the most problematical of any in the science of Legis- 
 lation. The object we may conclude to have been rather to 
 raise public scandal, against Milton, because, after their dere- 
 liction of principle, he would no longer hold converse with 
 the Ministers of the Presbyterian Connection. His just and open 
 reclamations against their political ambition, their inconsistency 
 in respect to Pluralities, and their intolerant temper, in course 
 exposed him to much of their ill-will, and to many calumnies. 
 
 * Authentic Spanish policy."] Authentic— proper to, peculiarly 
 belonging to : as in Par. Lost. IV. 719. 
 
 — " him who had stole Jove's authentick fire." 
 
 Again, by Danyel, 
 
 " Let others sing of Knights and Palladines, 
 '* In aged accents, and vntimely words : 
 " Paint shadowes in imaginary lines, 
 <* Which well the reach of their high wits records) 
 " But I must sing of thee and those faire eyes, 
 ' Autentique shall my verse in time to come, 
 
AREOPAGITICA. I93 
 
 prove the most unlicenc't Book it self within a short 
 while; and was the immediat image of a Star- 
 chamber Decree to that purpose made in those very- 
 times when that Court did the rest of those her 
 pious works, for which she is now fall'n from the 
 Starres with Lucifer^. Whereby ye may guesse 
 
 " When yet th* vnborn shall say, loe where she lyes, 
 '* Whose beadlie made him speake that els was dombe. 
 
 *' These are the Arkes, the Tropheis I erect, 
 " That fortifie thv name against old age, 
 "And these thy sacred vertues must protect, 
 " Against the Darke and times consuming rage. 
 " Though th* error of my youth they shall discouer, 
 ** Suffice they shew I liuM and was thy louer." 
 
 Delia: Contaj/ninge certayne Sonnets: with the complaint 
 of Rosamond ; Signat. G. 3. sm. 4to. 1592. 
 The poetical Reader will thank me for inserting the whole. 
 How superior on the comparison with Shakspeare's are the 
 Sonnets of this Poet. 
 
 * Those very times when that Court did the rest of those her pious 
 works, for which she is nowfaWn from the starres with Lucifer.'] 
 Lord Somers, speaking of the Star-Chamber, said that "it was set 
 " up in the third of Henry VH in very soft words. To punish 
 " great Riots, to restrain offenders too big for ordinary Justice, 
 *' or, in the modern phrase to preserve the public Peace; but 
 " in a little time it made this Nation tremble, England would 
 " never agree with those Courts, that are mixed of State and 
 " Justice; Policy soon gets the better of Justice.*' — Minutes of 
 Lord Somers*s Speech in the House of Lords on the Bill for abo- 
 lishing the Privy Council of Scotland. — Hardwicke State Papers ; 
 as quoted in Hardy^s Life of Lord Charlemont; p. 404-. 4/o. 
 
 The opprobrious Sentences of the Star-Chamber in the cases 
 of Prynne, Leighton, and Bastwick, are notorious. But after 
 there had been strong manifestations of popular indignation the 
 records of its judgements were purposely destroyed : it is not 
 therefore so generally known that the punishments on other oc- 
 
 O 
 
194 Milton's 
 
 what kinde of State Prudence ^ what love of the 
 People, what care of Religion, or good Manners 
 there was at the contriving; although with singular 
 
 casions were equally merciless. The terror they had struck 
 through the country is shown in an anecdote of himself related 
 by Ben Jonson during his visit to Drummond of Hawthornden. 
 " He was accused by Sir James Murray to the King, for writing 
 " something against the Scots in a Play called Eastward Hoc, 
 " and voluntarily imprisoned himself with Chapman and 3far5- 
 " ton» who had written it among them : it was reported, that 
 " they should have their Ears and Noses cut. After their Deli- 
 ** very he entertained all his Friends, there were present Cam- 
 " den, Selden, and others. In the middle of the Feast his old 
 " Mother drank to him, and shewed him a Paper, which she 
 " designed (if the Sentence had past) to have mixed among his 
 
 i" drink, and it was strong and lusty Poison, and, that she was 
 ** no Churl, she told she designed first to have drunk it herself." 
 '—Works of Drutnmond; p. 224. fol. 1711. 
 This tribunal was in 1641 suppressed by the Parliament in a 
 single day. But its heinous barbarities, especially after Laud 
 gained the ascendancy, had sown the seeds of bitterness ; and ul- 
 timately turned Cathedrals into Stables. If we overcharge we 
 ought to expect a recoil. However, it redounds highly to the 
 credit of the national character that the reaction for such flagi- 
 tious cruelties did not extend further than to Laud and Strafford, 
 
 Milton in the latter part of this passage is an echo to Isaiah ; 
 ch. 14. V. 12. " How art thou fallen from Heaven, O Lucifer, 
 "son of the Morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, 
 *' which didst weaken the Nations!" 
 
 ^ State Prudence — ] means as before (p. 75.) policy or po- 
 litical science ; after the Latin. Harrington has a Chapter on 
 " antient and modern Prudence,'* in which he apprizes the 
 Reader, that " by antient Prudence he understands the po- 
 " licy of a Commonwealth, and by modern Prudence that of 
 " King, Lords and Commons."— p. 237. fol. Toland's edit. 
 And Waller, complimenting Charles II. on his improvements in 
 
AREOPAGITICA. igS 
 
 hypocrisie it pretended to bind Books to their good 
 behaviour. And how it got the upper hand of 
 your precedent Order so well constituted before, if 
 we may beleeve those men whose profession gives 
 them cause to enquire most, it may be doubted 
 there was in it the fraud of some old Patentees and 
 Monopolizers in the trade of book-selling ; who 
 under pretence of the Poor in their Company not to 
 be defrauded, and the just retaining of each man 
 his severall copy, (which GoD forbid should be 
 gainsaid), brought divers glosing'^ colours to the 
 
 St. James's Park, with a courtly allusion, as I suppose, to the 
 States of Holland : 
 
 " Of antient Prudence here he niminates, 
 " Of rising Kingdoms, and of falling States." 
 
 Works; p, 212. Mo» 
 
 Compare too in the Dialogue in Marvell between Britannia and 
 Raldghf 
 
 ** With her the Prudence of the Antients read." 
 
 Works; III. 320. Thompson's edit, 
 
 ' Closing — ] Thomson and Baron misunderstood this word, 
 and printed "glossing;" but " glosing," or " glozing" is, 
 with an exuberance of authority, proved to have signified de- 
 ceitful, in T. Warton's Note on — "words ofglozing courtesy".^ 
 Comus ; v. 161. 
 
 Some of Homer's Commentators have complained, that his 
 sense has suffered by a vitiated Orthography. We in like man- 
 ner have to state, that the accentual combinations of our own 
 Epic Bard have been injured by the modernized Spelling# To 
 comprehend fully the rhythmus of his blank Verse, the Reader 
 should have it restored to its primitive integrity. Beside, the 
 original Orthography is at times a guide to the correct accepta- 
 tion of his meaning. A reprint therefore of Milton's revised 
 
 O 2 
 
igS TmLTON's 
 
 House, which were indeed but colours, and serving 
 to no end except it be to exercise a superiority over 
 their neighbours : men who doe not therefore la- 
 bour in an honest profession to which Learning is 
 indetted, that they should be made other mens 
 vassalls. Another end is thought was aym*d at by 
 some of them in procuring by petition this Order', 
 that having power in their hands, malignant Books 
 might the easier scape abroad, as the event shews. 
 But of these Sophisms and Elenchs^ of marchandize 
 
 Edition of Paradise Lost, which should exhibit his Text unimpaired 
 by orthographical variations is a desirable publication. To 
 exemplify this, I will show the eftectof one failure in the literal 
 observance of the authentic copies : 
 
 — " the sport and prey 
 " Of racking whirlwinds." 
 
 II. 182. 
 Thus it is given in the original Quartos, and in his last Edition; 
 p. 33. Bvo. 1674. So Shakspeare has, " the racking clouds;" 
 which Steevem rightly interprets by " the clouds in rapid tumul- 
 " tuary motion" X. 251. edit. 1793. But in the recent Editions 
 of Par. Lost it is printed t:;racking, and this interpolation of the 
 mute Letter w conveys another idea to the mind ; and so mate- 
 rially changed as to have misled Johnson to explain the word by 
 ** to rock, to shake ;** and to cite this corruption as an authority 
 in his Dictionary, under " to wuack.*' 
 
 For this and other philological notices as minute I may se- 
 curely take shelter under Mr. Parson's remark, who once ob- 
 served to me, that the objectors to verbal Criticism were men 
 content to think, that they could understand a sentence without 
 knowing the sense of %Ji the words in it. 
 
 • Procuring bj/ petition this Order.'^ See Illustration, S. 
 9 These Sophisms and Elenchs — ] Johnson has not given a 
 correct explanation of this latter word. Aji Elench \eXsyx^) 
 
AREOPAGITICA. 197 
 
 I skill not : This I know, that errors in a good Go- 
 vernment and in a bad are equally almost incident; 
 for what Magistrate may not be mis-inform'd, and 
 much the sooner, if Liberty of Printing be reduc't 
 into the power of a few ? but to redresse willingly 
 and speedily what hath bin err'd, and in highest 
 autority to esteem a plain advertisement more then 
 others have done a sumptuous bribe, is a vertue 
 (honoured Lords and Commons !) answerable to 
 your highest actions, and whereof none can parti- 
 cipat but greatest and wisest men, 
 
 signified in the Schools, a fallacious answer to a sophistical posi' 
 tion. It was previously in our language. " The more subtle 
 " forms of Sophisms and Illaqueations, with their Redarguations, 
 ", which is that which is termed Elenchs.'* — Bacon; Of the Ad- 
 vancement of Learning, p. 200. Ho. 1633. 
 
 From some passages in the early part 
 of this Oration, incurious Readers might be 
 led to conclude hastily, that there were 
 topics on which Milton conceived Discus- 
 sion ought not to take an unrestrained 
 course. It is incumbent on us therefore 
 to bear in our recollection, that in this series 
 of persuasive argument to convince the 
 
198 
 
 Parliament, that they should not have re- 
 duced the intellect of the Public to the 
 standard of an individual's judgment, he ex- 
 hibits the skill of an Advocate by no means 
 indisposed to avail himself of the privi- 
 leges annexed to that situation. We are also 
 to recollect, that he was the first who wrote 
 in behalf of unlicensed Printing ; a circum- 
 stance which will plainly account for all 
 such admissions. He anticipated what would 
 be objected to him, if he were to contend 
 for a scope more extended : he yielded a 
 Pawn to gain a Queen. To contest the 
 prevention of all publication of Opinions not 
 allowed by a Licenser was his meritorious 
 task : living in the nineteenth century, it 
 should be ours to consider, whether it 
 be in any case advisable to punish Opi- 
 nions ? 
 
 The opposers of all judicial inquisition on 
 the productions of Mind may now employ 
 at London or Philadelphia arguments, which 
 would effectually injure any efforts to un- 
 shackle the Presses of Madrid or Moscow. 
 For the narrations of History too often warn 
 the practical friends to the enlargement of 
 Liberty, that premature struggles to elevate 
 
199 
 
 a nation above the pitch for which it is 
 prepared endangers the portion of pubUc 
 good which might otherwise be obtained. 
 " Nos autem, quoniam leges damns hberis 
 
 *^ populis ; accomodabimus hoc tem^ 
 
 " pore leges ad ilium, quern probamus, civi- 
 tatis statum/' (Cicero,) It would have been, 
 therefore, highly injudicious in his day to 
 have done full justice to the principle. In 
 a more enlightened aera he would have lain 
 claim to a larger measure of Freedom. But 
 he viewed Man as he then was in Society, 
 and would not pursue objects^ which were in 
 his time unattainable. 
 
 JMiLTON accounted Reason the noblest 
 gift of God to Man, and was far, far in- 
 deed, from a slavish Thinker ; nor on any 
 subject did he ever seek the suppression of 
 Truth. His own speculations were as hardy 
 as his range of research was extensive. 
 This unreserved utterance of sentiment he 
 practised fearlessly as the occasion called 
 him out, on political, religious, and do- 
 mestic questions alike ; neither need it be 
 doubted, that the Authour of the Areopa- 
 GiTiCA would have lent a willing hand to- 
 
200 
 
 ward removing every impediment which 
 retarded the march of Knowlege, and have 
 been well satisfied, that this right should be 
 guaranteed to all in its amplest extent. 
 '* Pessimfc enim vel Natura vel Legibus 
 '* comparatum foret, si arguta Servitus, 
 Libertas muta esset ; et haberent Tyranni 
 ' qui pro se dicerent, non haberent qui Ty- 
 •' rannos debellare possunt. Miserum esset, 
 '•' si haec ipsa Ratio, quo utimur Dei mu- 
 ■' nere, non multo plura ad homines conser- 
 '' vandos, liberandos, et, quantum Natura 
 '' fert, inter se aequandos, quam ad oppri- 
 '' mendos et sub unius imperio malfe per- 
 '' dendos argumenta suppeditaret/' De- 
 f €71810 pro Populo Anglicano. 
 I Not only so, but acknowleging the 
 liability of Truth to support itself, he con- 
 sistently contended, that Opinion ought Xo 
 be left at large. *' Though all the winds of 
 " doctrine (he exclaims with sincere and 
 " fervid Eloquence) were let loose to play 
 " upon the earth, so Truth be in the field, 
 " we do injuriously by licensing and prohi- 
 " biting to misdoubt her strength. Let her 
 ^^ and Falsehood grapple; whoever, knew 
 
201 
 
 ** Truth put to the worse in a free and open 
 "encounter? Her confuting is the best 
 " and surest suppressing/' He then surely 
 saw, that though Opinions may be pemi«- 
 cious, the Discussion of them can never be 
 mischievous to the community; and there- 
 fore, that Actions alone ought to be under 
 the direction and control of the Magistrate. 
 
 While he draws, as we have just seen, to 
 his conclusion with a vindication of free 
 Inquiry on every circumstance of reforma- 
 tion in the acts of the constituted autho- 
 rities ; because he knew well that to keep 
 the body-politic in a healthful and vigorous 
 state, there must be an unobstructed circu- 
 lation of Thought ; — ^the life-blood to all social 
 existence. 
 
 So much was requisite to set Milton above 
 all suspicion, that he would have cramped the 
 stretch of the human brain, or have had the 
 exertions of Reason circumscribed. In truth, 
 he rather deserves our praise and admiration 
 for mental powers, which could perceive 
 and develop principles highly liberal for 
 those times, and so far before the prevailing 
 temper of the age. A Writer of the same 
 date with himself, certainly no timid Rea- 
 
202 
 
 soner, and living in a Republic, did not 
 contend for a wider latitude*. 
 . It was once my purpose to have carried 
 on these observations to show, that for a 
 Press to hefree^ it is not sufficient that it be 
 open; as Blackstone and others after him 
 have stated. My various notices on this 
 Defence of unrestricted Publication having 
 however, after all my expunctions, accu- 
 mulated to a number that threatens it with 
 the fate of the Vestal Virgin, whom the 
 Gauls overlaid by the presents which they 
 heaped on her, I shall now only add, that 
 the surest criterion of the nature and cha^ 
 jracter of a Government will always be found 
 in the degree of Freedom in Discussion 
 tolerated under it. They who claim obedi- 
 ence by no other obligation than fear can 
 never be favourable to the Press. But a 
 well-constituted and therefore a well-admi- 
 ministered Government invites a rigorous 
 scrutiny into its conduct; a bad Govern- 
 
 * Spinoza; see his Tractatus Theologico-politicus ; or 
 Theological and Political Discourses, to prove that the 
 Liberty of Philosophizing may be allowed without any pre- 
 judice to Piety, or to the Peace of the Commonwealth j 
 particularly cA, 20. 
 
203 
 
 ment invariably represses or eludes inves- 
 tigation. It was not without a meaning, 
 that the most judicious of Poets, after dis- 
 playing with the illuminations of his Genius, 
 the heroic deeds of this world, and the bliss 
 and splendour of Heaven, before he un- 
 folded the horrours of the infernal Shades, 
 soHcits an Imprimatur from the Powers of 
 Darkness : 
 
 '* Dt, quibus imperium est animarum, Umbraeque silentes, 
 *^ Et Chaos, et Phlegethon, loca nocte taceutia late, 
 '* Sit mihi fas audita loqui." 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 ILLUSTRATION, A. 
 
 (Eefered to in p. 7.) 
 
 The magnanimity of a trienniall ParlamentJ] 
 Triennial — not in the modern appropriation to a 
 Parliament's duration ; but with a reference to the 
 Act passed in 1641, to enforce the sitting of a 
 Parliament at the least once in every three years. 
 The declaratory Statutes of Edward III. for hold- 
 ing Parliaments annually, or oftener, if need were, 
 had fallen into desuetude, or rather had by Court- 
 Lawyers been explained away in early times from 
 the palpable enactment, in order to leave their 
 meeting wholly in the breast of the King. By 
 these means, Charles did not for twelve years toge- 
 ther suffer a Parliament to assemble, and when, 
 through his illegal exactions, his arbitrary impress- 
 ments and commitments by the Council, with other 
 tyrannical practices, the general voice rose high 
 against the Dissolution of the Parliament which 
 met in the fourth year of his reign, he issued a 
 Proclamation, denouncing it as criminal for any 
 person so much as to speak of calling another. 
 
206 IJLLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 No empty threat, while the enormous censures 
 of the Star-Chamber subsisted in full activity. 
 
 Such extravagant stretches of the regal Prero- 
 gative of course incited the Parliamentary Leaders 
 of the People's Party in England to insist on a 
 legislative provision that their meetings in future 
 might not be precarious, nor so un frequent. In 
 1640 a young nobleman, the Lord Dighy^ intro- 
 duced and carried a Bill that a Parliament should 
 never again be intermitted above three years at 
 furthest, after the example of the Scottish Patriots, 
 who according to Mr. Laing (see his valuable 
 Hist of Scotland; I, 173, 8vo. 1800.) had recently 
 wrung from Charles his assent to a Law to pre- 
 vent the discontinuance of their Parliaments for a 
 longer term. Yet Clarendon is express to the con- 
 trary. His words are : " the King at his last 
 " being in Scotland had, according to the precedent 
 " he had made here, granted an Act for triennial 
 " Parliaments in that kingdom." Hist, of the Rebel- 
 lion, (I omitted to note down the Volume and Page.) 
 Public business did not yet require a regular 
 Session annually. — As one measure to reconcile 
 the country to his usurpation, Cromwell promised a 
 convocation of Parliament once every three years. 
 
 ILLUSTRATION, B. 
 
 {Referred to in p, 49.) 
 
 Paul — thought it no defilement to insert into fioly 
 Scripture the sentences of three Greek Poets y and one 
 of them a Tragedian,'] The Apostle cited the 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS. 207 
 
 Cretan EpimenideSy in his Epistle to Titus ^ 1, 12: 
 an hemistic from Aratus in ActSy 17, 28 : and in 
 1 Cor. 15, 3S, an apophthegm to be found in the 
 fragments of Euripides; the passage referred to 
 more particularly in the text : from which Writer, 
 by the word " Tragedian'* it is to be inferred that 
 our Authour believed it to have been taken. But 
 surely evil communications corrupt good manners is a 
 proverbial sentiment likely to float in popular con- 
 versation. Grotius, and the best Commentators, 
 however, think that Saint Paid borrowed it from 
 Menander, as Newton has observed in a Note on 
 Milton's prelusive strictures to apologize to his 
 contemporaries for having thrown the story of 
 Samson into a dramatic form. There, after 
 pleading nearly in the words above of my text, the 
 example of this Saint's quoting from a dramatic 
 Poet, he presently proceeds, " This is mentioned 
 " to vindicate Tragedy from the small esteem, or 
 ** rather infamy, which in the account of many it 
 •* undergoes at this day, with other common Inter- 
 " iudes." So indiscriminate was the horrour of 
 the Puritans at the sinfulness of Stage-Plays, how- 
 ever moralized ! they were not (we see) to be 
 tolerated in any shape. Our poetical Antiquaries 
 in addition accuse them of having, through their 
 fanatic contempt for profane Learning, destroyed 
 whatever fell into their hands of the early Poetry 
 of their native tongue. It is not unlikely. Zealots 
 of every persuasion are much the same at all times. 
 
208 ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 and in all places. Laud was guilty of similar 
 spoliation. This keen Curator of the Press is known 
 to have consigned to the flames, whole impressions 
 of English Poems. The M.S.S. of the Poets of 
 ancient Greece found as little favour with the Greek 
 Priests at Constantinople. Possessed with the 
 same preposterous detestation of polite Letters, these 
 " holy Vandals'* were eager to burn all they could 
 procure. We have to thank this bigotry for the 
 destruction of the inestimable remains oi Philemon^ 
 Sappho, Bion, Alcaus, with others, and above all of 
 Menander, 
 
 This I learn from the succeeding extract — ex 
 Petri Alcyonii libro priore de Exiiw ; which I give 
 as Baxter exhibits it among the Prolegomena to 
 his Edition of Anacreon, " Audiebam etiam puer 
 " exDemetrio Chalcocondyla, Graecarum rerum pe- 
 I" ritissimo, sacerdotes Graecos tanta floruisse aucto- 
 •** ritate apud Caesares Byzantanos (ut integr^ 
 ** eorum gratia) complura de veteribus Graecis 
 " Poemata combusserint, imprimisq; ea ubi 
 " Amores, turpes Lusus et Nequitiae Amantum 
 " continebantur ; atque ita Menandri, Diphili, 
 *' ApoUodori, Philemonis, Alexis fabellas, et Sap- 
 " ph^s, Erinnae, Anacreontis, Mimnermi, Bionis, 
 " Alcmanis, Alcaei carmina intercidisse : tum pro 
 " his substituta Nazianzeni nostri Poemata, quae 
 " etsl excitant animos nostrorum hominum ad 
 " flagrantiorem Religionis cultum, non tamen 
 ,«« verborum Atticorum Proprietatem et Graecae 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS. 209 
 
 ** Linguae Elegantiam edocent : Turpiter quidem 
 " Sacerdotes isti in veteres Graecos malevoli fue- 
 " runt, sed Integritatis, Probitatis, et Religionis 
 *' maximum dedere testimonium." — And see too 
 Fabric, Bibl. Grac. I. 679. Hamb, 1718. 
 
 We must indignantly regret this irreparable 
 injury to classical Learning ; and may suspect 
 that the motive to such havoc might not have 
 been purely spiritual. Perhaps the vanity of 
 Authourship co-operated in instigating to this irre- 
 trievable loss. Gregory Nazianzen might be desi- 
 rous that no evidence should survive to future times 
 that his Christianized Anacreontics vi^ere imme- 
 diately from the Grecian Lyrics. It is remarkable, 
 that Alcionio himself, having obtained possession of 
 the sole extant copy of Cicero's Treatise de Gloria, 
 should have been taxed w^ith having destroyed the 
 M. S. to conceal his plagiarism, after having trans- 
 cribed largely from it into his. work above quoted 
 concerning Exile. {Bailies au Mot, Alcyonius.) 
 — Aristotle has been suspected of the same fraudu- 
 lent practice, after availing himself of the writings 
 of his predecessors. 
 
 And the ensuing extract from the very in- 
 genious M. Baynouard's EUments de la Gram- 
 maire de la Langue Bomane avant Van 1000, 
 will show the narrow escape of Livy's mutilated 
 History from perishing totally through Monkish 
 superstition. " Get illustre pontife \Grdgoire I"] 
 ** apprenant que Didier, eveque de Vienne, don- 
 
 P 
 
210 ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 " nait des le9ons de Tart connu alors sous le nom 
 *^ de grammaire, lui en fit de vifs reproches: 
 
 " Nous ne pouvons, ^crivait-il, rappeler sans 
 *' honte que votre fraternite explique la grammaire 
 " a quelques personnes ; c'est ce que nous avons 
 " appris avec chagrin, et fortement blam6 .... 
 ** Nous en avons g^mi. Non, la meme bouche 
 *^ ne peut exprimer les louanges de Jupiter et celles 
 " du Christ. Considerez combien, pour un pretre, 
 " il est horrible et criminel d'expliquer en public 
 " des livres dont un laique pieux ne devrait pas se 
 ^^ permettre la lecture. Ne vous appliquez done 
 " plus aux passe-temps et aux lettres du si^cle. 
 
 ** Le dedain pour la litt^rature latine, qu'exaltait 
 " encore la haine pour le paganisme, porta Gr6- 
 ^' goire-le- Grand a faire bruler tons les exemplaires 
 " de Tite-Live qu'il put d^couvrir. Saint Antonin 
 " raconte cette action comrae honorable a la m6- 
 " moire du pontife romain. 
 
 " Ce zele, trop ardent sans doute, Tentraina dans 
 " une erreur que j'appellerai celle de son siecle ; 
 " mais quel nom donner au vobu du professeur de 
 " Louvain, Jean Hessels, qui s'ecrie k ce sujet: 
 HeureuXy si Dieu envoy ait beaucoup de Gr^goires !'* 
 p. 14. 8vo. Paris 1816. 
 
 ILLUSTRATION, C. 
 
 {Referred to inp, 52.) 
 
 The Divell whipt St. Jerom in a lenten dream. 
 
TLLUSTKATIONS. 211 
 
 for reading Cicero ; or else it was a fantasm bred 
 by the feaver which had then seis'd him.'] It was to 
 deter the high descended Eiistochiiim from reading 
 the writers of pagan Rome, as a sinful occupation, 
 that St. Jerome related to his favourite Disciple this 
 dream of his sick bed. After asking her, *' Quid 
 " facit cum Psalterio Horatius ? cum Evangeliis 
 *' Maro ? cum Apostolo Cicero ? " he proceeds, 
 " Referam tibi meae infelicitatis historiam. Quum 
 ** ante annos plurimos domo, parentibus, sorore, 
 " cognatis, et quod his difficilius est, consuetu- 
 " dine lautioris cibi, propter coelorum me regna 
 " castrassem, et Jerosolymam militaturus pergerem, 
 ** Bibliotheca, qiiam mihi Romae summo studio ac 
 " labore confeceram, carere non poteram. Itaque 
 " miser ego lecturus Tuliium, jejunabam. Post 
 " noctium crebras vigilias, post lachrymas, quas 
 ** mihi praeteritorum recordatio peccatorum ex 
 " imis visceribus eruebat, Plautus sumebatur in 
 " manus. Si quando in memet reversus, Prophetas 
 " legere ccepissem, sermo horrebat incultus. Et 
 " quia lumen csecis oculis non videbam, non 
 " oculorum putabam culpam esse, sed solis. Dum 
 " ita me antiquus serpens illuderet, in media ferme 
 " quadragesima medullis infusa febris, corpus in- 
 " vasit exhaustum : et sine ulla requie (quod dictu 
 " quoque incredibile sit) sic infelicia membra 
 " depasta est, ut ossibus vix hfererem. Interim 
 ** parantur exequiae, et vitalis animae calor, toto 
 *^ frigescente jam corpore, in solo tantum tepente 
 
 P 2 
 
212 ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 ** pectusculo palpitabat : quum subito raptus in 
 " spiritu, ad tribunal judicis pertrahor; ubi tantum 
 " luminis, et tantum erat ex circumstantium clari- 
 " tate fulgoris, ut projectus in terram, sursum 
 *' aspicere non auderem. Interrogatus de condi- 
 " tione, Christianum me esse respond!. Et ille qui 
 " prsesidebat : Mentiris, ait, Ciceronianus es, non 
 " Christianus. Ubi enim thesaurus tuus, ibi et 
 " cor tuum. Illico obmutui, et inter verbera (nam 
 " caedi me jusserat) conscientiae magis igne tor- 
 " quebar, ilium mecum versiculum reputans : In in- 
 " ferno autem quis confitebitur tibi ? Clamare autem 
 " coepietejulansdieere: Miserere mei,Domine,mi- 
 " serere mei. Hsec vox inter flagella resonabat. Tan- 
 " demad prsesidentis genua provoluti qui astiterant, 
 " precabantur ut veniam tribueret adolescentiae, et 
 " errori locum poenitentise commodaret; exacturus 
 ** deinde cruciatum, si Gentilium litterarum libros 
 " aliquando legissem. Ego qui in tanto constrictus 
 " articulo, vellem etiam majora promittere, deje- 
 " rare coepi, et nomen ejus, obtestans, dicere : 
 " Domine, si umquam habuero codices sseculares, 
 ** si legero, te negavi. In haec sacramenti verba 
 " dimissus, revertor ad superos ; et mirantibus 
 " cunctis, oculos aperio, tanto lachrymarum imbre 
 " perfusos, ut etiam incredulis fidem facerem ex 
 " dolore. Nee vero sopor ille fuerat, aut vana 
 *^ somnia, quibus ssepe deludimur. Testis est 
 " tribunal illud, ante quod jacui j testis judicium 
 *' triste, quod timui : ita mihi numquam contingat 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS. 213 
 
 " in talem incidere qugestionem, liventes habuisse 
 ** scapulas, plagas sensisse post somnum, et tanto 
 " dehinc studio divina legisse, quanto non ante 
 " mortal ia lei^eram." Hieron. Op, torn. 4. sec. 
 Pars. p. 42. Benedictine Edit. 
 
 Erasmus has treated this legend with characte- 
 ristic pleasantry, and his comment on it when con- 
 cluding bears a resemblance to what Milton after- 
 ward remarks: " Postremo si crimen est habere 
 " libros seculares, et si Christum negavit quisquis 
 " hos legit, cur solus vapulavit Hieronymusf cur 
 " hodie in theologorum scholis celebrior est Aris- 
 ** toteles, quam Paulus aut Petrus ? Verum de re 
 " puerili ac ridicula jam pluribus quam sat est. 
 " Ego certe, ut finiam, malim cum Hieronimo 
 " vapulare, quam melle perungi cum istis, quos 
 " adeo scilicet terret Hieronymianum somnium, ut 
 " ab omnibus bonis literis sanctissime temperent : 
 " at non temperantes interim a vitiis eorum, 
 " quorum libros religionis causa non audent attin- 
 " gere.** Appendix to Jor tin's Life of Eras- 
 mus ; N-LX. 
 
 In his curious Dialogue on our Language, Sir 
 Thomas Smith has explained why Phantasm was 
 formerly written with an F, as now in Milton's 
 text. " QiY. Satis est : ergo <pi Grsecu non putas 
 '* esse sonandn vt/, sed vt Wallip/«*, sicut si pe- hi 
 " dicereraus expuncto e. Sm. Rect^ coniectas, 
 " et rect^ Itali, qui ciim nunc sonet PhilosophuSy 
 
214 ILX-USTRATIONS. 
 
 *^ philosophia, physicusy secundum illiteratum et 
 *' corruptutn hodiernorum Graecorum morem, prop- 
 " terea etiam exarant penna, JilqsofuSy filosqfia, 
 ^^fysicus: scribunt enim ingenue vt pronuntiant. 
 " Credoque veteres Latinos si $* Graeca non alium 
 " habuisset sonum quam/ Latina, non dubitaturos 
 " fuisse, philosopliiam, physicum, pharetram. Phi- 
 " lippuniy non per phi, sed per / reddere, vt ^filoso- 
 ^^fiarriy fysicurriy faretram, Filippumy De recta et 
 emendata Lingua Anglica Scriptione ; fo. 34. b, Lu- 
 tetia, 1568. — And Dr. Foster, in his Essay on 
 Accent, supports him; observing that " tho* we 
 *^ sound the initial o{ forum and philosophia alike, 
 " the Romans did not, phi having a strong aspira- 
 *^tion, ajid/(? scarce any." — p. \25, edit. 1763. — 
 Our ancestors, it is most probable, transferred from 
 the Italians this vitious substitute for PH in words 
 derived from the Greek. 
 
 It has been -truly remarked, by the learned 
 Dr. Taylor^ if I remember rightly, that the Eng- 
 lish Language, from our trade with the Italian 
 ports before the discovery of the passage to the 
 East round the Cape of Good Hope, is more in- 
 debted to the Italians than is commonly imagined. 
 
 -In an historical Essay on English Orthography 
 many curious notices might be brought together on 
 this branch of Philology. 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS. 215 
 
 ILLUSTRATION, D. 
 
 {Referred to in p. 75.) 
 
 Hath almost prevented 7ne by being clear al- 
 ready — ] In modern English, it would be — 
 " hath almost anticipated me, &c." Unprevented 
 should bear a similar acceptation in Par, Lost^ 
 111,231. 0{ Grace: 
 
 " Comes unpreventedt unimplor*d, unsought." 
 
 i. e. comes unanticipated, or unlooked for, like 
 Pope's boast as to Fame. The pages of Shakspeare, 
 Waller, and Dry den, could supply an exuberance of 
 authorities for the word in the same Latin sense ; 
 and our Liturgy retains it -, " Lord, we pray thee 
 ** that thy grace may always prevent and follow 
 " us." Collect for the Hth Sunday after Trinity, 
 
 We may admire, that Bentley at any rate did 
 not recollect this example ; if he had, he would 
 never have offered to alter the word in the above- 
 quoted line to uninvited', neither could he have 
 written " How unprevented can stand here, does 
 " not appear -, unless in this meaning, comes unim- 
 '* plor'd, if not prevented. But that would diminish 
 " the gracious favour, set forth here. I believe 
 ** (adds the Critic) he gave it, 
 
 " Comes unpcrccived, unimplor*d, unsought." 
 Much the larger part of this Editor^s castiga- 
 
216 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS, 
 
 tions are hazarded ; not a few are wildly licentious. 
 But applying himself to Par. Lost, as he evidently 
 did, with a mind intent on opportunities to substi* 
 tute his own capricious readings, it surprised me 
 that it should have escaped him, in the Poet's de- 
 scription of the verge which enclosed Eden, to 
 propose mound for mould : 
 
 " God had thrown 
 *' That mountain as his garden-moM/ci high raised 
 " Upon the rapid current/' IV. 225. 
 
 This is then that same " verdurous wall of Para- 
 " disc" which he had previously described in this 
 Book : 
 
 " So on he fares, and to the border comes 
 
 " Of Eden, where delicious Paradise, 
 
 " Now nearer, crowns with her enclosure green, 
 
 " As with a rural mound, the champain head 
 
 ♦' Of a steep wilderness." IV. 131. 
 
 Years ago, I had minuted this emendation on the 
 margin, and now on consulting different Editions 
 to see if this correction had not, from the exigency 
 of the sentence, presented itself to any one before 
 me, I find that Fenton silently printed mound 
 (p. 96. Buod'' 1725. Tonson.) in the text of his 
 Edition ; on no further authority than his own 
 persuasion of its propriety. But this reading how- 
 ever specious only affords another instance of the 
 hazard inseparable from conjectural emendation ; 
 as will perhaps appear by the succeeding extract 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS. 217 
 
 from Harrison's Description of England, prefixed 
 to Holingshed's Chronicle, Of Windsor : " After 
 " him [Edward III] diverse of his successours 
 " have bestowed exceeding charges upon the same, 
 " which notwithstanding are farre surmounted by 
 " the Queenes majestie now living, who hath ap- 
 " pointed large summes of monie to be emploied 
 ** upon the ornature and alteration of the mouldy 
 ** according to the forme of building used in our 
 " daies/' I. 196. 
 
 ^y garden-mouldy therefore, may we not conclude 
 the Poet meant a sort of Terrace-walk, or much 
 the same as Whitelock called mount-walks ? who on 
 dismantling the Fort at Phillis Court says, he 
 " threw in the breast works on two sides, and 
 *' made two even mount walks, the one on the side 
 " next to the Thames, the other on the North 
 " side.'* Memorials-, p. 220. ed, 1732. 
 
 In alleviation of Bentleys failure, it ought to be 
 remarked that the task was imposed on this pre- 
 eminent Scholar in his declining years, from a 
 quarter where to request is to command. He 
 made this with justice his exculpation in his con- 
 cluding comment: " If I might presume, says an 
 *' ingenious and celebrated writer [Addison'], to 
 " offer at the smallest alteration in this divine 
 *' work ; if to make one small alteration appeared 
 ** to be so presumptuous j what censure must I 
 ^* e}^pect to incur, who have presumed to make so 
 
218 ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 " many ? But Jacta est alea ; et non injussa 
 " cecini.** 
 
 " or xi fis rii/.rjfrovo'r (j.aXia-T'a $s jurffieTOC Zsv$'" 
 
 His alJusion is, I apprehend, not understood by a 
 great majority of Readers. The non injussa ceciniy 
 and this application to himself of Agamemnon*s 
 boast, corroborates the late Dr. Lorfs anecdote, 
 that it was at the instance of Queen Caroline that 
 Bentley took on him the office of Commentator on 
 Paradise Lost. 
 
 ILLUSTRATION, E. 
 
 {Referred to in p. 81.) 
 
 Dionysius — had little need of such trash to spend 
 his time on,'] This Sicilian Sovereign made the 
 Attic the Dialect of his Court, and corresponded 
 with the Sages of Greece, or drew them round 
 him, with much the same sort of predilection 
 that Frederic of Prussia indulged toward the Es- 
 prits forts of Paris, and the French Language. 
 Plato's reception by the Tyrant of Syracuse, and 
 his bickerings with him and his successour, form a 
 counterpart to the heartless and hollow intimacy 
 between the Prussian Monarch and Voltaire. 
 
 Our Authour reprehends the Grecian Philoso- 
 pher sharply for recommending the writings of 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS. 219 
 
 Aristophanes, I am apt to attribute this to a 
 momentary forgetfulness ; since the estimation 
 they had obtained could not have altogether es- 
 caped his fond attentions to the History and Lite- 
 rature of the Greeks. The encomiastic Epigram 
 which is attributed to Plato, furnishes a clue to 
 the cause of his own extreme fondness for these 
 Comedies : 
 
 Zn^tovaraci, ^v^rjv ev§ov 'Apia-ro(pd.vovs' 
 
 " The Graces, in quest of an imperishable shrine 
 " for themselves, found the Mind of Arista- 
 ^^ phanes'' 
 
 And the place at the Banquet assigned to the 
 Dramatic Poet, as one of the superiour Guests, 
 by the favoured Disciple of Socrates, decisively 
 indicates the high rank in letters which he had 
 attained among his countrymen. One motive 
 then with the Teacher of the Academy to make 
 him desirous that his royal Scholar should read 
 these Dramas, was to give him a knowlege of 
 the master-pieces of Attic composition. Milton 
 must have overlooked their classical popularity. 
 Why else before in this Tract should he have 
 asserted that a " scurrilous vehemence** was all 
 that St. Chrysostom could learn by having these 
 Plays nightly in hand ? or, why have we here a 
 repetition of his censure? in a tone too which 
 shows he considered them merely as buffoonery ; 
 
220 ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 ** trash^^ unworthy " to spend time on,** Widely 
 different was the judgment of Dionysius Halicar- 
 nassensis. He thought them deserving the regard 
 of the Statesman and of the Philosopher. 'H U 
 
 ys Hcy^wJ/a on iroXitsv srcci iv ro7$ S^dfj^acri, >ta< <pi\o(ro<ps7, ij 
 rujy itBpi toy tKpocllyov, v.a,i 'Apicro^dvYiV, xa,t EuTToXiv, r* Se7 
 
 xai Xsysiv ; " What need is there also to mention, 
 " that Comedy, such as that of Cratinus, Aristo- 
 " phanes, and Eupolis, gives us lessons on Govern- 
 " ment, and philosophizes in its Plays?*' '^^x^v 
 Vrifopi>c7j; p, 157. Lipsia, 1804. Neither is our 
 Authour's condemnatory opinion less at variance 
 with the delight Cicero took in a successful imita- 
 tion of the Aristophanic manner 5 who writes to 
 his Brother Quintus, *^ Dedit mihi epistolam 
 " legendam tuam, quam paulo ante acceperat, 
 " Arislophaneo modo, valde mehercule et suavem, 
 " et gravem : qua sum admodum delectatus." Ad 
 Frat.lib, 3. Epist, 1. Again; in his Treatise cfe 
 Officiis^ he tells his Son Marcus^ " Duplex omnino 
 " est jocandi genus : unum illiberale, petulans, 
 " flagitiosum, obscoenum ; alterum elegans, urba- 
 " num, ingeniosum, facetum. duo genere non 
 " modo Plautus noster, et Atticorum antiqua, 
 " Comoedia, sed etiam philosophorum Socraticorum 
 " libri ref^rti sunt.'* L. I.e. 29. Milton was, 
 I apprehend, incited to this hasty and undistin- 
 guishing reprobation of these plays alike by their 
 libertinism, and by the scandals cast in the 
 Ng^sXai on the Grecian Oracle of moral Wisdom. 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS. 221 
 
 The approbation of 2,umtilian more than over- 
 balances these derogatory strictures, and at the 
 same time ratifies the general admiration of Anti- 
 quity for the elder Writers of the Attic Stage. 
 This Critic declared that the elegancies of Atticism 
 are to be found almost exclusively in the antient 
 Comedy ; that after Homer he knew of none so 
 profitable for the study of every Oratour as Aristo- 
 phanesy Eiipolis, and Cratinus : '' Antiqua Comoe- 
 " dia cum sinceram illam sermonis Attici gratiam 
 " prope sola retinet, turn facundissimae libertatis, 
 " etsi est in insectandis vitiis prsecipua, plurimum 
 " tamen virium etiam in ceteris partibus habet. 
 " Nam et grandis, et elegans, et venusta, et nescio 
 " an uUa, post Homerum tamen, quem, ut 
 " Achillem, semper excipi par est, aut similior sit 
 " oratoribus, aut ad oratores faciendos aptior. 
 " Plures ejus auctores : Aristophanes tamen, et 
 " Eupolis Cratinusque prascipui." Inst. Orator. 
 Lib. X. Cap. 1. To this let me subjoin what Sir 
 W. Jones has observed to the praise of Aristo- 
 phanes' remains : " Aristophanis, quoe supersunt, 
 ** Comoediae sunt sane omnium elegantiarum plenae, 
 " et Grsecarum literarum studiosis apprime utiles." 
 Works s II. 640. 4to. What our Authour called 
 a scurrilous vehemence, these Critics would probably 
 have denominated masculine and vigorous Atti- 
 cism. — After such a concurrence of testimony to 
 their merit on a literary consideration, and more of 
 no small weight, if it were needful, might be 
 
222 ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 offered, can we hesitate whether it were not one 
 ground for Plato's choice, that ihey were the 
 best calculated of any works he could select, to 
 bring a Foreigner acquainted with the style culti- 
 vated at Athens? ExXaSo^ ExXa^ A^r^vai. In 
 this he did nothing more than the Italian Ecclesi- 
 astic who sets the licentious Boccacio before a 
 pupil to initiate him in the most approved Tuscan ; 
 or, than the University of Oxford, when they not 
 long ago reprinted Chaucer's Canterbury Tales; 
 commendably disregarding the ribaldry which de- 
 faces too many of his pages, for the sake of the 
 numerous beauties in the Father of English 
 Poetry. 
 
 " The Prince but studies his companions, 
 
 '* Like a strange tongue : wherein, to gain the language, 
 
 " 'Tis needful, that the most immodest word 
 
 ** Be look'd upon, and learned ; which once attained, 
 
 " Your Highness knows, comes to no further use, 
 
 " But to be known, and hated." 
 
 The Tale of a Tub is unhappily debased with 
 impiety as well as stained with flagrant indecency; 
 yet does it stand so high in reputation that any 
 Englishman who engaged to transmit to a Foreigner 
 a selection of our national works most worthy 
 attention might be justly reproached with not 
 fulfilling his office, if he were to leave out Swift's 
 fine specimen of genuine English, and of politico- 
 religious Satire, 
 The Athenians were not revolted at the " gross 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS. 223 
 
 "infamy" in the old Comedy. It must degrade 
 in our eyes the Audience who could endure it. 
 But while Women were excluded the Theatre, it 
 were idle to expect, that the Stage would not 
 exhibit Scenes vile in Taste and vitious in 
 Morals. 
 
 Perhaps the superlative excellence of the Attic 
 style, would of itself have been a sufficient induce- 
 ment; there was, I must further remark, an additional 
 propriety in sending these contemporary Comedies 
 to the King of a neighbouring Country. By their 
 means he placed before his view a picture of the 
 living manners in the Capital of the most eminent 
 among the Grecian Republics ; the acknowleged 
 seat of Grecian Letters and Philosophy. How- 
 ever the rust of time has obscured many places 
 beyond the industry of the Scholiasts of later ages 
 to restore them to their pristine brightness; still, 
 enough is ascertained for us to discern that they 
 are replete with allusions, personal and political, 
 and without any doubt much of the personal cha- 
 racter of individuals was to be gathered from the 
 abusive reflections which abound in these dramatic 
 satires. The OqviQss is interpreted to have been a 
 latent attack on the mal-administrations of the 
 State, while the mimic Cleon in the 'iTrwsTg is known 
 to represent that turbulent Demagogue, and is 
 drawn, we may readily believe, if not truer to the 
 life, not with more aggravated features than the 
 
224 lLLUSTRATIOK$. 
 
 coarse caricature of Lord Shaftesbiay with which 
 Otway disparaged his noble Tragedy. 
 
 In commenting on the oversight in my text, I 
 have run into some length. The deference which 
 every thing demands that comes from Milton's 
 pen, rendered it unavoidable. He who enters the 
 lists to maintain a point of scholarship against him 
 ought to bring conclusive evidence, if he be 
 solicitous to shield himself against the charge of 
 presumption. 
 
 ILLUSTRATION, F. 
 
 {Referred to in p. 84-.) 
 
 After all, the last division of the sentence— 
 *' these are the countryman's Arcadias and his 
 " Monte-mayors" — leaves it in doubt, whether 
 our Authour did not through the whole speak of 
 the same strolling minstrelsy which Puttenham 
 describes as " blind harpers or such like Tauerne 
 " minstrels that give a fit of mirth for a groat, and 
 " their matters being for the most part stories of 
 " old time, as the tale of Sir Topas, the reports of 
 " Beuis of Southampton, Guy of Warwicke, Adam 
 " Bell, and Clymme of the Clough, and such other 
 ** old Romances or historicall Rhymes, made pur- 
 *' posely for recreation of the common people at 
 " Christmasse diners and brideals, and in tauernes 
 " and ale-houses and such other places of base 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS. 225 
 
 " resort." The Arte of English Poesie ; p. 69* 
 ed.-\S\\, 
 
 The Diana of George of Monte-mayor was ren- 
 dered into English from the Spanish, by Bartho- 
 lomew Yang; \59'S foL : one of the minor Poets 
 of Elizabeth's time. Some of the copies of Verses 
 in it had been translated by Sydney and inserted in 
 the Arcadia. 
 
 Now the fashion of these pastoral Romances has 
 passed away, we are apt to be astonished at the 
 determined perseverance of Readers who could 
 toil out their way through such wearisome stories ; 
 for which they were repaid by little more than 
 affected sentiments and turgid language ; the mode^ 
 of a feudal Court given to the inmates of a Sheep- 
 cote. Such feigned narratives of chivalrous rusti- 
 city, while they are too far removed from real life 
 to please by any picture of natural manners, are 
 destitute of the marvellous exploits, the perils and 
 enchantments which once excited a high interest 
 in the adventures of the heroes and agents who 
 people the regions of preternatural fiction ; won- 
 ders which have not yet lost all attraction for the 
 imagination. — If elegiac Pastoral deserve the re- 
 probation a great Critic has bestowed on it, be- 
 cause " no just imitation of things really existing," 
 these pastoral stories in gorgeous prose cannot but 
 be thought still more unnatural and reprehensible 
 than Monodies founded, like Lycidas, on bucolic 
 imagery. 
 
 Q 
 
226 ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 Whether the Diana obtained an extensive re* 
 gard from our Forefathers, as Mr. Warton alleged* 
 I have not ascertained. Shakspeare, it is asserted, 
 has in part traced from it the outline of the plot 
 for his Two Gentleme^i of Verona, In Spain it was 
 a favourite Volume. When Cervantes supposes it 
 to have been found in the Knight of La Mancha's 
 Library he makes the Curate pronounce this to be 
 the best of its kind, and interpose to rescue it from 
 the general conflagration. Yong's Translation of 
 this work was printed a few years after the Arcadia 
 appeared. The fame of Sir Philip Sydney and the 
 applause then given to this whimsical species of 
 romantic fabling were probably the inducements to 
 this publication ; and might lend it a temporary 
 popularity. Not to insist, that till the splendour 
 of the Spanish Monarchy was far gone in its wane, 
 the Writers of that Country were more studied 
 here than those in any other living language, the 
 Italian only excepted : therefore Milton remarks 
 while defending his determination to blank Verse 
 for his epic Poem, that ** some both Italian and 
 " Spanish Poets of prime note have rejected 
 " rime.*' 
 
 It was, I think, the illusive brilliancy of 
 Louis XIVth*s reign which first drew the attention 
 of Europe to French Literature. And is not the 
 Anglomanie as to English Authours which prevailed in 
 France after our victorious War against the aggres- 
 sions of the Family Compact, attributable to the 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS. 227 
 
 same source ? In short, before the Writers of any 
 Nation gain a name among Foreigners must it not 
 be great in military achievements ? 
 
 ILLUSTRATION, G. 
 
 {Referred to in p, 65.) 
 
 The accusation against our Forefathers that 
 they were too much addicted to sumptuous living 
 was far from groundless. Chancer made the luxu- 
 ries of the table quite the occupation of the Frank- 
 tin, or affluent Land-owner residing on his own 
 estate. 
 
 " An housholder and that a grete was be ; 
 " Seint Julian he was in his contree. 
 " His brede, his ale, was alway after on ; 
 •* A better envyned man was no wher non. 
 " Withouten bake mete never was his hous, 
 " Of fish and flesh, and that so plenteous, 
 *' It snewed in his hous of mete and drinke, 
 •* Of aile deintees that men coud of thinke, 
 ** After the sondry sesons of the yere, 
 " So changed he his mete and his soupere. 
 *' Ful many a fat partrich hadde he in roewe, 
 •* And many a breme, and many a luce in stewe. 
 " Wo was his coke, but if his sauce were 
 '* Poinant and sharpe, and redy all his gere. 
 " His table dormant in his halle alway 
 " Stode redy covered alle the Ipnge day." 
 
 Canterbury Tales; 1, 15. 4to. Oxford, 1798. 
 
 It plainly appears too from Sir Thomas Elyot's 
 remonstrance, that excess in this gratification pre- 
 
 q2 
 
228 ILI.USTRATIONS. 
 
 vailed to a great extent in his tinne. He was 
 a Physician to Henry VIIL and laments it in 
 forcible language : " It may seeme to al me that 
 *' have reaso what abuse is here in this Realme 
 " in the cotinuall gourmandise and dayly feeding^ 
 " on sondry meates at one meale. the spirit of 
 " gluttony triumphing among vs in his glorious 
 " chariot called welfare, dryuing vs afore hym, as 
 " his prisoners, into his dungeon of surfet, 
 " where we are tormented wyth catarres, feuers, 
 " goutes, pleuryses, frettynge of the guttes and 
 " many other sicknesses, and finally cruelly put 
 " to death by them, oftentimes in youth or in the 
 *^ most pleasaunte tyme of our lyfe whan we would 
 " most gladly live. For the remedye whereof how 
 " many tymes have there bene deuised ordinaunces 
 " and actes of counsayle." The Castell of Helth ; 
 &ic, fo. 45. 12mo, 1576. 
 
 These notices on this national opprobrium, 
 which, we find, lowered the English character 
 among Foreigners, concur to show that something 
 more appropriate was intended by Sliakspeare, in 
 MacbetJis taunt on the " English Epicures,'^ than 
 " a natural invective uttered by an inhabitant 
 " of a barren country against those who have more 
 " opportunitities of luxury,'* as Johnson threw 
 out. 
 
 May corroborates that feasts and banqueting 
 were still a reigning vice : " Luxury in diet, and 
 «• excesse both in meat and drinke, was crept into 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS. 229 
 
 ^* the kingdome in an high degree, not only in 
 " the quantity, hut in the wanton curiosity." 
 Hist, of the Pari, of England; p, 13. edit, 1812. 
 And Clarendon confirms that this reproach of 
 Epicurism was just. 
 
 ILLUSTRATION, H. 
 
 {Referred to in p, 86.) 
 
 Unconslrauwig Laws of vertuous Education, reli- 
 gious and civill nurture — ] Nurture " is learnings 
 " knoioledge, art, or order** p, 88. of " The 
 " CabiJiet Council: Containing the Chief Arts of 
 "Empire, and Mysteries of State; discabineted 
 *' in Pohiical and Polemical Aphorisms, grounded 
 "on Authority, and Experience: &c. ^y the 
 " Ever-renowned Knight, Sir Walter Raleigh, pub- 
 " lished by John Milton Esq." sm, 8vo. 1658. 
 There has been much confusion about this publi- 
 cation (see Memoirs of T, Mollis s p, 519,), I will 
 therefore add these notices relative to it, 
 
 The second Edition, according to Oldys, was 
 titled, " The Arts of Empire, and Mysteries of 
 " State discabineted," &c. 8vo. Lond. 1692. (See 
 his Life of Ralegh; p. 395. [n.) 8vo. 1740.) I 
 have a copy entitled, " The Secrets of Govern- 
 " ment, and Misteries of State, plainly laid open, 
 " in all the severt^l Forms of Government in the 
 " Christian world. Published by John Mii roN, 
 
230 ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 " Esq.'* 1697. Probably, the same republication 
 only with a new title page, to drop Ralegh's 
 name. — Toland, confounding Sir Walter's Prince 
 with the Cabinet Council, states erroneously, that 
 Milton printed both these Tracts. — Milton has 
 taken from Horace for a Motto to this latter 
 work, 
 
 " Quis mortem tunici tectum adamantina 
 Dign^ scripserit ? " 
 
 perhaps to apologize for not entering into the 
 Authour's character. The following is his address 
 to the Reader as Editor : " Having had the Manu- 
 " script of this Treatise, written by Sir Walter 
 " Ralegh, many years in my hands, and finding 
 ^' it lately by chance among other Books and 
 ** Papers, upon reading thereof, I thought it a 
 " kinde of injury to withhold longer the work of so 
 " eminent an Author from the publick ; it being 
 *^ both answerable in Stile to other Works of his 
 " already extant, as far as the subject would per- 
 " mit, and given me for a true Copy by a learned 
 " Man at his Death, who had collected several 
 *^ such pieces." 
 
 Algernon Sydney, however, in the succeeding 
 paragraph, strove to invalidate the authority of this 
 and of others of Ralegh's posthumous pieces. He 
 is contending, against Filmer, that the Parliament 
 and the People have the power of making Kings, 
 and he argues that, " This being built upon the 
 '^ steady foundation of Law, History, and Reason, 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS. 231 
 
 " is not to be removed by any man's opinion ; 
 " especially by one, accompanied with such cir- 
 ** cumstances as Sir Walter Ralegh was in, during 
 ** the last years of his life : and there is something 
 " of baseness, as well as prevarication, in turning 
 " the words of an eminent person, reduced to great 
 ** difficulties, to a sense no way agreeing with his 
 " former actions or writings, and no less tending to 
 " impair his reputation than to deceive others. 
 ** Our author is highly guilty of both, in citing 
 " Sir Walter Ralegh to invalidate the great Charter 
 ** of our Liberties, as begun by usurpation, and 
 " showed to the world by rebellion : whereas no 
 " such thing, nor any thing like it in word or prin- 
 " ciple, can be found in the works that deserve to 
 ** go under his name. The Dialogue in question, 
 " with some other small pieces published after his 
 " death, deserves to be esteemed spurious : or if, 
 ** from a desire of life, when he knew his head lay 
 " under the ax, he was brought to say things no 
 *' way agreeing with what he had formerly pro- 
 " fessed, they ought rather to be buried in oblivion 
 " than produced to blemish his memory. But, 
 " that the public cause may not suffer by his 
 " fault, it is convenient the world should be in- 
 " formed, that though he was a well qualified gen- 
 " tleman, yet his morals were no way exact, as 
 *^ appears by his dealings with the brave Earl of 
 " Essex. And he was so well assisted in his His- 
 f^ tory of the World, that an ordinary man, with 
 
232 ILL rSTRATIONS. 
 
 " the same helps, might have performed the same 
 " things. Neither ought it to be accounted 
 *' strange, if that which he wrote by himself 
 " had the tincture of another spirit, when he 
 " was deprived of that assistance, though his 
 ** life had not depended upon the will of the 
 <^ prince, and he had never said, that ' the bonds 
 " of subjects to their kings should always be 
 " wrought out of iron, the bonds of kings unto 
 <* subjects but with cobwebs.' ** Discourses con- 
 cerning Government ; p. 440. 4to. edit, 1772. 
 
 Of the Cabijiet Council^ Sir William Jones writes 
 to John Macpherson, Esq. — " the other day, I laid 
 " my hand on the annexed little book ascribed to 
 <^ Sir Walter Ralegh ; it is, like most posthumous 
 *^ works, incorrect, but contains with some rubbish, 
 " a number of wise aphorisms and pertinent exam- 
 *' pies ; it' is rather the common-place book of 
 " some statesman, than a well digested treatise, 
 *' but it has amused me on a second reading." 
 Memoirs of Sir fV, Jones ; by Lord Teignmouth : 
 p. 263. 4to. 
 
 ILLUSTRATION, L 
 
 {Referedto in p. 93.) 
 
 Ye must reform it perfectly according to the model 
 of Trent and Sevil, which J know ye abhorre to doe,"] 
 More than once in this Oration, our Authour 
 throws on an Imprimatur the odium of a Popish 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS. 233 
 
 invention, because this was an imputation most 
 likely to startle the Parliament and to prevail on 
 them to rescind their Ordinance. 
 
 It is with the same view of working on their 
 antipathy and on their fears, he reiterated that the 
 Licensing of Books was a Spanish practice; for that 
 Monarchy was yet apprehended to be the deadly 
 and formidable enemy of Protestant Europe. 
 Wherefore the Speaker of the House of Commons, 
 at the opening of the first Parliament that Charles 
 called, ** made an harangue suitable to the times," 
 says IVhittbck, and among other topics, " inveigh- 
 ^* ing against Popery and the King of Spain" 
 (Memorials, p. 3. fol. 1732.) Again; in his Trea- 
 tise " Of Reformation,'' &c. Milton opprobriously 
 called our Prelates " Spaniolized Bishops," and 
 from the Manifesto against Spain in l6.f>5, which 
 he penned as Latin Secretary to Cromwell, we may 
 distinctly discern, by his appeal therein to this 
 national sensation, that the animosity against the 
 Spanish Government for its attempt to conquer this 
 Island by the Armada was yet far from subsided: 
 ** Quod quidem in Anglorum animis necesse est 
 *' adhuc alt^ residere, neque inde posse facile 
 " evelh.*' Fr. W, II. 609. ed. 1738. So deep 
 had the terror struck of the " dangerous Heptarchy 
 " of Spain,** to borrow Sir Fulk Greville's phrase, 
 that the War waged by Philip and Mary against 
 Henry II. of France to advance the aim of the Em- 
 peror Charles, who panted to become the founder 
 
234 ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 of a fifth Monarchy or Empire of the West, is the 
 only instance, I can recollect, in English History 
 of a French War which at its commencement was 
 disapproved by the Country at large. 
 
 CromweWs confederacy with France for the pur- 
 pose of depressing the power of Spain was, I 
 think, the most exceptionable of his foreign mea- 
 sures. It is not always that we can fathom the 
 depths of his policy. Perhaps a grateful sense of 
 the countenance shown to the Parliamentary 
 Cause by Richelieu; or, still more probably, the 
 personal court paid to the Protector by Mazarine 
 might co-operate. Be this as it may ; unless we 
 allow him to have inherited so much of this tradi- 
 tional jealousy of Spanish greatness as to give a 
 bias to his political views, after the reason for it 
 had, in great part, ceased, it will not be easy to 
 assign adequate motives for so sharp-sighted a 
 Statesman having fallen into the error of fostering 
 the growing ambition of the House of Bourbon. 
 
 This aid to the aggrandizement of the French 
 Monarchy was in the sequel a false step for Eng- 
 land ; inasmuch as it conduced to the subsequent 
 preponderance of France in Europe -, and followed, 
 as it was, by Cimrles II. and James selling to 
 houis XIV. their acquiescence in his rising ascen- 
 dancy, may be justly considered to be the pri- 
 mary cause of the series of our continental warfare 
 to retrieve the Balance of Power after our Revo* 
 lution in 1688. 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS. 235 
 
 ILLUSTRATION, K. 
 
 {Referred to in p. 96.) 
 
 When I made the reference for this Illustra- 
 tion, it did not occur to my recollection, that 
 Mabbott's Reasons for resigning the office of 
 Licenser were inserted in the Preface to the Edi- 
 tion of the Areopagitica pubhshed in 1772, and 
 which I have reprinted among the Prolegomena 
 to this Edition. 
 
 ILLUSTRATION, L. 
 
 {Referred to in p. 97.) 
 
 It was the complaint and lamentation of PrelatSy 
 upon every least breath of a motion to remove 
 Pluralities^ and distribute more equally Church 
 revenus, that then all Lerning would be for ever 
 dasKt and discouraged.] The disproportionate 
 distribution of Preferments in our Church was the 
 natural result of a Reformation carried on, like 
 ours, as occasion offered, without any settled views, 
 and as the humour or prejudices of the reigning 
 Sovereign prompted. 
 
 Bent ley resorts to the same kind of topic for an 
 argument against their equalization. {Rem. on 
 Collins's Disc, of Free Thinking, p. 151. 8vo. 1743.) 
 For one, I side with Milton. 
 
 Our Authour had in another work poured forth 
 
236 ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 a torrent of vituperative declamation against those 
 
 vi^ho made use of this excusatory reasoning for the 
 
 existing inequalities. " Yea (he exclaims), thej 
 
 •* and their Seminaries shame not to profess, to 
 
 *' petition, and never lin pealing our ears, that 
 
 " unless we fat them like Boars, and cram them 
 
 " as they hst with Wealth, with Deaneries, and 
 
 " Plurahties, with Baronies and stately Prefer- 
 
 " ments, all Learning and Religion, will go under 
 
 " foot. Which is such a shameless, such a bestial 
 
 " plea, and of that odious impudence in Church- 
 
 ** men, who should be to us a pattern of tempe- 
 
 " ranee and frugal mediocrity, who should teach 
 
 " us to contemn this world, and the gaudy things 
 
 " thereof, according to the promise which they 
 
 " themselves require from us in Baptism, that 
 
 " should the Scripture stand by and be mute, there 
 
 ** is not that sect of Philosophers among the 
 
 " Heathen so dissolute, no not Epicurus, nor 
 
 " Aristippus with all his Cyrenaic rout, but would 
 
 " shut his school-doors against such greasy Sophis- 
 
 "ters; not any College of Mountebanks, but 
 
 " would think scorn to discover in themselves 
 
 " with such a brazen forehead the outrageous 
 
 " desire of filthy Lucre." Pr, W. I. 74. edit. 
 
 17^8. That this is written with an asj^erity we 
 
 must wi?h away who shall deny ? At the same 
 
 time, be it remembered, and the remark, if applied 
 
 generally to his controversial Writings, holds equaHy 
 
 true, that the reciprocal bitterness between the 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS. 237 
 
 contending persuasions in these religious feuds was 
 in a degree which, happily for us, it is now difficult 
 to conceive. At this day, we think it hiughable to 
 see the recommendation of an Vnder-groom to 
 Prince Rupert certifying, in addition to a " good 
 character,'* that he had a " great value for the 
 '« Common Prayer'' [Life and Errors of John 
 Dunton : p. 333.) But does not this anecdote 
 perspicuously mark the height to which the hostile 
 odium between the disciples of the High Church 
 and of the Low had arisen ? We need not require 
 any further evidence, that the animosity which 
 actuated them against each other was in the ex- 
 treme. Let us remember too, the long and close 
 Imprisonments with destructive Fines on those 
 who reflected on our ecclesiastical establishment, 
 and that the wounds from the grievous Mutilations, 
 the Stigmatizings, and other Tortures inflicted by 
 Laud and his Assessours on their victims were still 
 green and smarting. 
 
 So rigorous was the Persecution of the Non- con- 
 formists that Lord Brooke states the Refugees who 
 were driven from their native country, principally 
 to America, then a desolate wilderness, at so large 
 a number as " ten thousand!' [A Discourse opening 
 the Nature of Episcopacy ; p. 97. 4to. 164L) With 
 these sufferings Milton, and all who had a lively 
 and just sense of such execrable enormities, could 
 not but warmly sympathize. — The honoured In- 
 structor of his youth. Youngs was among those who 
 were constrained to expatriate themselves. 
 
238 ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 ILLUSTRATION, M. 
 
 {Referred to in p. 116.) 
 
 / have sat among thir lerned men, for that 
 honor I had, and bin counted happy to be born in 
 such a place of Philosophic Freedom, as they 
 supposed England was, white themselves did nothing 
 but bemoan the servil condition into which Lerning 
 among t/iem was brought : that this was it which had 
 dampt tlie glory of Italian wits ; that nothing had 
 bin there written now these many years but flattery 
 and fustian.'] " At the resurrection o( Literature, 
 ** Italy was the first to cast away the shroud," 
 says the Historian most eloquently. Within these 
 few years we have had some new and brilliant 
 lights thrown upon this epocha in the annals of 
 human Knowlege; an epocha full of interest to 
 every intelligent mind. But I am not aware of 
 any single circumstance more striking to show how 
 greatly this love of polite Learning prevailed among 
 the Italians, than the high consideration Milton 
 received at Rome from Cardinal Fr. Barberini 
 (Pr, W. II. 511, ed. 1738), and the attentions paid to 
 him at Naples by the noble Patron and Biographer 
 of Torquato Tasso, as well as by many other meu 
 of eminence in that Country; ib. II. 332, ubi sup, 
 A Tramontane; of no pretensions from high birth, 
 or a splendid fortune, or conspicuous name ; more 
 than all, an English Heretic — one who within the 
 verge of the Vatican would not keep secret his 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS. 239 
 
 deep-rooted aversion to Popery : with such impe- 
 diments to a distinguished reception, his most ser- 
 viceable letters of recommendation came from his 
 own pen. What his memory could supply, in addition 
 to the extemporaneous productions of his cultivated 
 Genius, were his credentials to the best classes of 
 Society ; as he relates somewhat more at large, and 
 with a pardonable self-complacency in the Reason 
 of Church Government, During the Nation's 
 lengthened contest with the Stuarts, the English 
 character appears to have been rated high in the 
 estimation of enlightened Foreigners. Beside what 
 we may collect to this purport in the text, Alger- 
 non Sydney writes in 1678-9, " We particularly 
 ^* hope that England will keep up its reputation of 
 *' being, as the Cardinal Pallavacini says, the mo^ 
 ** ther and Nurse of the best Wits in the world." 
 (Letters to H. Saville, p, 4. prefixed to his Works ; 
 4to. Robertson* s edit.) 
 
 Milton might have extended to a wider 
 circuit his remark on the baneful influence of 
 arbitrary Government in debasing the public mind 
 in Italy. A Country for a length of ages fer- 
 tile in eminent intellect. He should have intro- 
 duced and contrasted the diversity in the style of 
 addressing the Great, between the Roman Poets 
 before the fall of the Republic and after the eleva- 
 tion of Octavius Casar to the Purple. Independent 
 and erect, Lucretius accosts Memmius, a Patron of 
 Patrician rank, and of highly descended ancestry. 
 
240 ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 with the language of an honest freedom; depre- 
 cating his pubHc avocations for diverting him from 
 the calm pursuits of Philosophy : that Poet wrote 
 in consular Rome. He is said to have died on the 
 same day that Virgil took the manly Gown ; yet 
 so rapid had the degeneracy been, that this fa- 
 vourite of the Muse stooped without a blush to 
 burn incense to Augustus, as to a tutelar Deity. 
 Fulsome praise of the Emperour was to be expected 
 from Horace. For some time the dissolute follower 
 oi Epicurus, with broken fortunes and ruined hopes, 
 his apology would have been, that his happiness 
 was centered in the pleasures with which Rome 
 abounded ; luxuries he could procure only by the 
 wages of adulation. This he had no reserve in 
 acknowleging. (II. EpL 2. 51.) 
 
 VirgiVs bent of mind run in an opposite direc- 
 tion. His bashful spirit shrunk into the shade of 
 rural life ; and that from his retreats in Campania 
 and Sicily he should have subscribed to his own 
 degradation in " ignominious strains and lying 
 " verse'* affords lamentable proof how widely, as 
 well as quickly, the contagion of servility had 
 spread after the successour to the Triumvirate had 
 drawn to himself all the functions of the State. 
 — How could Gibbon think, that the minds of the 
 Romans were ^till republican ? The change must 
 have begun betoie a Potrt could venture to an- 
 nounce to the Roman Public as a disiinciion, that 
 he sung by command. It was not long ere a ty- 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS. 241 
 
 rannous Government poisoned the source of ge* 
 nerous sentiment and paralyzed all the nobler fa- 
 culties. "Free Rome'* became worse than ^'mute*' 
 or inglorious. Nothing but flattery and fustian 
 was to be heard. After Seneca and Lucan had 
 been put to death, well might the Romans sigh 
 out, like the relegated Satirist, that the arts of 
 courtly blandishment were only in request : 
 
 *' Et spes et ratio studiorum in Cesare tantum." 
 
 Trajan and several of his successours, took under 
 their protection and advanced men of literary en- 
 dowments. Certain it is, with no memorable suc- 
 cess : either the national Mind was gone, or their 
 exertions were misdirected, to unworthy objects* 
 The countenance of Greatness we know cannot 
 reasonably be expected to create Genius ; but it 
 was not unreasonable to hope that the beams of 
 royal favour should have had sufficient influence to 
 call it forth. Yet Martial was confessedly the 
 Virgil of his Imperial Patron ; and whoever reads 
 the licentious Poems o{ Ausoniiis must feel surprise, 
 that he could have recommended himself to the 
 office of Preceptor to the Son of Valentinian, It 
 is a compliment far from merited, as has been re- 
 marked by some one, I forget by whom, to call 
 the age of Livy, Horace, and Virgil, the Augustan 
 Age. What though they flourished while Augustus 
 reigned ; they were equally with Cicero aud Sal- 
 lusty Terence, Catullus, Tibullus, and Ovid, born and 
 
 R 
 
242 ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 educated under the discipline of the Republic. If 
 the pretensions of Rome to lettered fame were to 
 rest solely on Writers who were bred up under the 
 Imperial Institutions, slender must be the portion 
 we could allot them. 
 
 The general decay of superiour Talent, as well 
 as the falling off in justness of Taste, becomes very 
 discernible on the usurpation of the Cesars: the 
 deterioration in manners is not more perceptible. 
 At the commencement of his History, Tacitus con- 
 fesses, " Postquam bellatum apud Actium, atque 
 " omnem potentiam ad unum conferri pacis inter- 
 " fuit, magna ilia ingenia cessere.** He, however, 
 touches^ very slightly on the cause. The conclud- 
 ing chapter of Longimis* Treatise compensates for 
 this caution ; and in all ages and in all countries 
 will it be found that the benumbing power of 
 Despotism is a fatal check to the exertions of 
 Genius. A fettered hand can never give the Lyre 
 its fullest tones. 
 
 ILLUSTRATION, N. 
 
 {Referred to in p, 126.) 
 
 The Prelats might remember themy that this 
 obstructing violence meets for the most part with an 
 event utterly opposite to the end ivhich it drives at.'\ 
 To remember was formerly to remind: 
 
 '* And yet I must remember you, my Lord, 
 
 *' We were the first and dearest of your Friends." 
 
 Shakspeare; Hen, IV. ^m Part, A,$, 5. f. 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS. 243 
 
 Clarendon testifies what Milton here insinuates 
 to have been the effect in the public mind of the 
 hateful and barbarous sentences on Prynne, BasU 
 wick, and Leighton. 
 
 " There were three persons most notorious for 
 their declared malice against the government of 
 the Church by Bishops, in their several Books 
 and Writings, which they had published to cor- 
 rupt the People, with circumstances very scan- 
 dalous, and in language very scurrilous, and im- 
 pudent; which all Men thought deserved very 
 exemplary punishment : they were of the three 
 several Professions which had the most influence 
 upon the People, a Divine, a common Lawyer, 
 and a Doctor of Physic; none of them of in- 
 terest, or any esteem with the worthy part of 
 their several Professions, having been formerly 
 all looked upon under characters of reproach : 
 yet when they were all sentenced, and for the 
 execution of that ov.^ntence brought out to be 
 punished as common and signal rogues, exposed 
 upon scaffolds to have their ears cut off, and 
 their faces and foreheads branded with hot irons 
 (as the poorest and most mechanic malefactors 
 used to be, when they were not able to redeem 
 themselves by any fine for their trespasses, or 
 to satisfy any damages for the scandals they had 
 raised against the good name and reputation of 
 others). Men begun no more to consider their 
 manners, but the Men ; and each Profession, 
 
 r2 
 
244 ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 •* with anger and indignation enough, thought 
 " their education, and degrees, and quality^, would 
 " have secured them from such infamous judg- 
 '* ments, and treasured up wrath for the time to 
 " come." Hist, of the Rebellion y I. 146. 8vo. 
 1807. 
 
 A memorable and impressive warning to rulers : 
 yet it was thrown away on Charles II. and on 
 James, They, far from profiting by this expe- 
 rience, flew at still larger quarry. I am inclined 
 to think that their bringing Sydney and Russell to 
 the block was a natural effect of their residence 
 within the purlieus of Louis XIV*s Court. There 
 they must have witnessed the abject submission to 
 the Crown into which the French Noblesse fell 
 after Richelieu had put the Duke de Montmorenci 
 to death. This tempted them to hope that by 
 like means of intimidation they should overawe 
 their own Nobility and break the heart of all op- 
 position to their plans of arbitrary power. Happily 
 for this Country the ancient Peerage of England 
 was composed of " sterner stuff.'* The sympathy 
 of the Great with the high-born sufferers, and their 
 detestation of this tyrannical conduct, must have 
 been no slight incitement to those among them 
 who stood forth as champions in arms of the Peo- 
 ple's Rights at the Revolution which was the sequel 
 to the remorseless practices of the royal Brothers ; 
 it would have been no slight incitement, though 
 they had not been well-aware of the systematic 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS. 245 
 
 depression and debasement of their own order 
 which inevitably takes place under an absolute 
 Monarch, 
 
 ILLUSTRATION, O. 
 
 {Referred to in p, 144.) 
 
 He shall bring together every joynt and member j 
 and shall mould them into an immortall feature of 
 lovelines and perfection.] By Feature, Milton ^ 
 intended form. When he impersonated Death, 
 he denominated him the " grim Feature.'* Par, 
 Lost, X. 279. 
 
 Feature is from Factura ; Lat. ; in Italian, 
 Fattura. Thus Lord Bacon; " Aristotle hath 
 " very ingeniously and diligently handled the . 
 ^^factures of the body, but not the gestures of the 
 "body." IVorks; L 65. 4to. So that "in 
 *\fact of arms/* and ^^ fiats of arms /* P. Z. II. 
 124, and 537, may have the same construction. 
 
 This sense was not yet fallen into disuse. A 
 contemporary, one Severne, in some commenda- 
 tory Verses prefixed to Cartwrighfs Poems (8vo 
 1651) has it with the same opposition as in the 
 text: 
 
 '* As when an handsome Feature nigh, 
 
 " Each Member*s Draught 
 
 " Agrees in nought 
 
 " But this, that each a part does take the Eye," 
 
 Commentators point out in Terence a similar 
 
246 ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 idiom for the whole configuration of the huoian 
 frame in ^' O faciem pulchram." I. Q.S5. Hag, 
 4to. 1726, ed. Westerhov. And see too Cruquius*s 
 Note on 
 
 " quali 
 
 ^' Sit facie, sura, quali pede, dente capillo." 
 
 Horat L. I. Sat. 6. v. 32. 
 
 With the foregoing authorities in Milton for 
 this extended signification of Feature in our own 
 language, it is surprising thai the Annotators on 
 S/iakspeare should have so frequently missed its 
 meaning. In As you like it. Touchstone asks 
 Audrey — '* Doth my s\m^\e feature \^forrn\ con- 
 " tent you ?'* To which she replies with a quibble 
 — '' Your features f Lord warrant us! what^a- 
 " tures?'' Variorum Shakspeare, VI. 10i\ ed, 
 1793. This passage perplexed Farmer, who ven- 
 tures on a conjectural emendation ; and doubts not 
 this should be " your feature ! Lord warrant us! 
 ^^ whafs feature?'' While Steevens, by offering 
 different and discordant explanations, appears to 
 have been dissatisfied with this correction, yet not 
 to have put confidence in either of his own sug- 
 gestions. He thought ^^feat and feature^ perhaps, 
 *' had anciently the same meaning. The Clown 
 " asks, if the features of his face content her, she 
 " takes the word in another sense, i. e, feats, deeds, 
 " and in her reply seems to mean, what feats, i. e, 
 " what have we done yet ? The courtship of Au- 
 " drey and her gallant had not proceeded further. 
 
ILL rSTR ATIONS. 247 
 
 ** as Sir Wilful Witwood says, than a little mouth- 
 •*glue; but she supposes him to be talking of 
 " something which as yet he had not performed. 
 " Or the jest may turn only on the Clown's pro- 
 " nunciation. In some parts, features might be 
 " pronounced, faitors, which signify rascals, low 
 " wretches.*' Malone contributed some examples 
 of this word gathered from Writers in the reign of 
 Elizabethy and asserts that ^'feature formerly 
 " signified the whole countenance." 
 
 Not to multiply proofs beyond necessity, I 
 will only refer to them with this observation, that 
 feature in a wider acceptation, as synonymous 
 with shape ov form, better agrees with the context 
 of all the passages collected by this Gentleman. 
 While it unquestionably imports much the same in 
 Lear ; when Albany reproaching Goneril exclaims, 
 
 " Proper deformity seems not in the fiend 
 *' So horrid, as in woman. 
 
 *' Be-monster not thy /eaiMrc. . . 
 t* , 
 
 " Howe'er thou art a fiend, 
 
 " A woman s shape doth shield thee." 
 
 On which occasion Malone repeats that " Feature 
 *' in Shakspeare's age meant the general cast of 
 " countenance, and often beauty ; " for which he 
 cites Bullokar's Expositor; iibi sup. XIV. 211. 
 With these expositions Steevens coincides, when 
 Cleopatra gives orders for the messenger to " report 
 " the feature of Octaviaj'' ubi sup. XII. 502. 
 
248 ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 But when this latter Editor added that Spenser 
 uses feature for the whole turn of the body, and 
 brings two apposite quotations from the Fairy 
 Queen in support of this interpretation, he went 
 near to anticipate my explanation ; yet he failed 
 to apply this construction to any of the places in 
 which the word occurs through Shahspeare. That 
 the Poet, however, by no means restricted its 
 meaning to heauty^ or to countenance^ is evident 
 in Cymheline ; where he certainly intended the 
 symmetry of the whole figure ; where too it is con- 
 tra-distinguished from beauty: 
 
 " For beauty that made barren the swellM boast 
 " Of him that best could speak ; for feature laming 
 '^ The Shrine of Venus, or straight-pight Minerva/' 
 
 ubi sup, XIII. 220. 
 
 I remark the same distinction to be preserved by 
 Stoive s of Henry VIITs aversion to Anne of Cleve: 
 " his hatred encreased more and more against her, 
 " not only for her want of beauty and feature^ 
 " whereof at first he took exceptions.'* Annates ; 
 p. 578. foL 1631. 
 
 This verbal criticism has been drawn out to a 
 considerable length ; but a word which Shahspeare s 
 best Commentators have misexplained repeatedly, 
 required a minute explication : it could only have 
 its doubtful meaning fixed by a deduction of par- 
 ticular examples; which at the same time ascer- 
 tains its sense in Paradise Lost, where it has. 
 hitherto been passed without notice. 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS . 249 
 
 ILLUSTRATION, P. 
 
 {Referred to in p. 184.) 
 
 Those neighbouring differences^ or rather indiffer- 
 encesy are what I speak o/^] Burnet's account of 
 the Controversy about " things indifferent'' will be 
 found illustrative of the general tenour of Milton's 
 reasoning in this part of his Oration. " There 
 " was a great variety of sentiments among our 
 " Reformers on this point ; Whether it was fit, to 
 " retain an External Face of Things, near to 
 *^ what had been practised in the Times of Popery, 
 " or not ? The doing that, made the People come 
 " easily in, to the more real changes that were 
 '* made in the Doctrines, when they saw the out- 
 " ward appearances so little altered : so this Me- 
 ** thod seemed the safer, and the readier way to 
 *' wean the People, from the Fondness they had 
 " for a splendid Face of things, by that which 
 " was still kept up. But on the other hand, it was 
 " said. That this kept up still the Inclination in 
 " the People to the former Practices -, they were 
 " by these made to think, that the Reformed State 
 ** of the Church did not differ much from them; 
 ** and that they imitated them. And they appre- 
 " bended, that this outward resemblance made the 
 " old Root of Popery to live still in their Thoughts; 
 " so that if it made them conform at present more 
 ** easily to the Change that was now made, it 
 
250 ILI USTRATIONS. 
 
 " would make it still much the easier for them to 
 " fall back to Popery : so, for this very Reason, 
 " they stood upon it ; and thought it better, to put 
 " matters in as great an opposition to the Practices 
 " of Popery, as was possible, or convenient. 
 
 " The Queen had, in her first Injunctions or- 
 ^* dered the Clergy to wear seemly Garments, and 
 *^ square Caps ; adding, that this was only for 
 ** Decency, and not to ascribe any Worthiness to 
 " the Garments. But when the Act of Uniformity 
 " was settled, whereas in the Liturgy passed in the 
 *• second year of King Edward, Copes and other 
 " Garments were ordered to be used; but in the 
 *^ second Book, passed in the sixth year of that 
 ** King, all was laid aside except the Surphce : yet 
 " the Queen, who loved Magnificence in every 
 <^ thing, returned back to the Rules in King Ed- 
 ^' ward's First Book, till other order should be 
 ^^ taken therein by the Queen. There was like- 
 ^' wise a Clause put in the Act of Uniformity im- 
 *^ powering the Queen to Ordain and Publish such 
 " further Ceremonies and Rites, as might be for 
 ^* the Advancement of God's Glory, the Edifying 
 <' of his Church, and the due Reverence of Christ's 
 ^^ Holy Mysteries and Sacraments. 
 
 " The Matter being thus settled, there followed 
 <^ a great Diversity in practice : Many conform- 
 <^ ing themselves in all Points to the Law; while 
 '' others did not use either the Surplice or the 
 •* square Caps and Hoods, according to their De- 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS. 251 
 
 " gree. This visible Difference began to give 
 " great offence, and to state two Parties in the 
 " Church. The People observed it, and run into 
 ** Parties upon it. Many forsook their Churches, 
 ** of both sides : some, because those Habits were 
 " used ; and some, because they were not used." 
 Hist, of the Reformation ; Part III. p, 305. fol, 
 1715. 
 
 ILLUSTRATION Q. 
 
 {Referred to in p. 185.) 
 
 If it come.] Like R. Ascham, Ben Jonson, 
 King James's Revisors of the authorized Transla- 
 tion of the Bible, HohheSy and other Scholars 
 among our earlier Writers in their native tongue, 
 Milton preserved the grammatical distinction be- 
 tween the indicative and conditional Moods. Be- 
 side the present example, " though he command — " 
 ** if he please — " with others that occur in the pages 
 before us, attest his care in this point. He was as 
 particular in his Poetry : 
 
 " Lett, by some fair-appearing good surprizM, 
 " She dictate false ; and misinform the will." 
 
 P. L. IX. 354. 
 
 This conformity to our regular modes of inflec- 
 tion must have escaped the accomplished Editor of 
 
252 ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 his occasional Poems, otherwise he could never 
 have been perplexed at, 
 
 " O, if thou have 
 
 " Hid them in some flow'ry cave." 
 
 See T. War tons note on Comics, r^. 238. 
 
 Neither could he have been at all disposed to 
 think it " a seeming inaccuracy for the sake of the 
 rhyme.*' Nor would modern Editors have mis- 
 printed " could'^^" in this passage in Samson Ago- 
 nistes : 
 
 " If in my flower of youth and strength, when all men 
 " Lov'd, honoured, fear'd me, thou alone could hate me.*' 
 
 V. 938. 
 
 I remember another instance of our Authour's 
 curious diligence, which has given rise to much 
 erroneous comment. " Wise men wander in a 
 ** tittle.*' What I advert to is his writing embryon 
 rather than embryo ; 
 
 — — ." and to battle bring 
 " Their embryon atoms.** 
 
 P. L. n. 899. 
 
 This deviation from the mode customary in his 
 own day, made Addison class it among the words 
 of Milton's coinage ; Spectator, No, 285. How- 
 ever Mr. Todd has established that embryon was 
 very common both as a Substantive, and as an 
 Adjective in the Poetry of that age. 
 
 Bentley's first thoughts were to exert his con- 
 jectural talent ; and he proposed to read " legiorCd 
 " atoms;** he observes, that " sitMpuov is the singu- 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS. 253 
 
 " lar; the plural is eixSpua: and that therefore c/n- 
 " Inyon joined here to atoms is a violation of 
 " Grammar.'* In contradiction to this learned 
 Critic's remark, that this was an ungrammatical 
 combination, Pearce contended that our Authour 
 " uses emhryon here as an Adjective ; as he does 
 " again in VII. 277. In Milton (he proceeds), 
 " the Substantive is embryo; and the plural em- 
 " bryo^, as in III. 474.'* [Review of the Text of 
 Paradise Lost, p, 73. Svo. 1733.) Whatever em- 
 bryon may be in the quotation from B. II. the 
 passage he himself refers to in the Vllth Book de- 
 monstrates the Bishop's mistake in asserting that it 
 is there used adjectively : 
 
 " The Earth was form'd, but in the Womb as yet 
 
 " Of Waters, Emhryon immature involved, 
 
 « Appeared not." 
 
 V. 276. 
 
 But Pearce was misled by Bentleys faulty punc- 
 tuation. 
 
 If we must look to the Greeks to learn Milton's 
 reason for retaining the final w, I should prefer to 
 surmise that he had their paragogic u in his 
 thoughts. It 19, however, little question with me 
 that the Poet availed himself of this antiquated 
 spelling because in these two instances from Para- 
 dise Lost, the words immediately succeeding begin 
 with a vowel ; so we interpose the same Letter 
 when our indefinite Article is in the same position. 
 Here it would have been doing violence to a pri- 
 
254 ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 mary canon in the art of Versification to have let 
 
 such vowel sounds meet where he did not intend 
 
 an elision in the scansion of the verse. He 
 
 dropped the n in the only remaining example of 
 
 this word in his Poetry. 
 
 " Embryo*, and Idiots, Eremites, and Friars." 
 
 P. L. in. 474. 
 
 In the Plural this was no longer wanted to pre- 
 vent the open Vowels; he therefore discarded it. 
 
 The Euphony of our Language is somewhat di- 
 minished by the discontinuing to write mine and 
 ihiney instead of my ^nd thy when these Pronouns 
 were not followed by a Consonant ; as well as by 
 the disuse of none for no, if it precede a vowel : of 
 which rule Puttenham was so observant that he 
 has, in his work on the " Arte of English Poesie," 
 none impeachment, none answer, with similar com- 
 binations as unknown to modern ears. 
 
 Dr. Watts thought (see preface to his Hor^ 
 Lyrica)y that Milton affected archaisms and ex- 
 oticisms; and *' the oddness (he adds) of an antique 
 " sound gives but a false pleasure to the ear." But 
 neither this Critic, nor Addison [Travels, under 
 Venice\ seem to have paid regard to the frequent 
 advantage this license afforded him on metrical con- 
 siderations. It was not, I suspect, so much to 
 give the cast of Antiquity to his Poetry, that he 
 preferred Eremites to Hermits^ and surcease rather 
 than cease, or marish instead of marsh, &c. In 
 the first instance a trisyllable was called for, and in 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS. 25S 
 
 the latter places dissyllables were wanted. Thus 
 too, for the convenience of his verse, he, like others 
 who preceded him, wrote 'sdeind (P. L. IV. 50), 
 not, as Hume suggested, in imitation of the Italian, 
 for he oftener has disdained, but because a mono- 
 syllable was commodious; as he follows the Greek 
 in Briareo* where the line required a quadrisyllable 
 to complete it ; and revived, as a metrical aug- 
 mentation the obsolete prefix y in "i/- pointed,*' 
 and " 3/-clept." The vitious Comparative " worser'* 
 will hardly be found in his Prose. 
 
 The " labour of Book writing" was to Milton 
 a labour of love ; and diligence is always minute. 
 Neither was his Knowlegeless exact than extensive. 
 What Augustus said of Horace is to the full as 
 applicable to our own Poet: he also is emendatis^ 
 simus Auctor, So critically scrupulous was he 
 that he commences this Oration with " Thei/ who i* 
 a refinement little attended to by the most puncti- 
 lious of the present age. " Those who*' for the 
 Nominative has obtained all the authority which 
 custom can confer on any departure from gram- 
 matical strictness. In certain expressions not even 
 Addison or Swift, however deserving praise for 
 idiomatical English, were so studiously correct in 
 the grammatical part of their language as some of 
 our Writers of a period much anterior. 
 
 Since Milton castigavif ad unguem, and held 
 no care unworthy his Genius, who should disre- 
 gard these nicer particularities ? 
 
256 ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 The above are among a thousand scattered 
 proofs of the errour in supposing that he who un- 
 dertook to vindicate the ways of God to Man, 
 would not deign to bestow thought on such shght 
 points of Criticism as Syllables and Sounds. {The 
 Rambler; No, 95.) The Moralist must have 
 forgotten, that not to be apprehensive of abasement, 
 by paying attention to inferiour circumstances, is a 
 privilege of consqious greatness. 
 
 ILLUSTRATION, R. 
 
 {Rtferred to in p, 190.) 
 
 Anough,'] Mr. Todd thinks enough instead of 
 enough ** literally an imitation of tl^e Doric 
 ** Dialect;" and P^cA: says idly, that it is "very 
 *^ pastor el" (Mem, of the Life and poetical Works 
 (2/* Milton; &c. /?. 153. 4to. 1740). And also re- 
 marks of ComiiSy that, ** being of the pastoral sort, 
 " our Authour had many pastoral words in it." 
 ib.p. 136. To prop this conceit, he particularized, 
 among other instances, ivoome for womby hearbs for 
 herbSy and infers the same from the duplication of 
 the o in the first syllable of bosom (p, 142), as well 
 as from this Letter being prefixed to 7igly (p. 150), 
 yet these modes of spelling were not confined to 
 Comns\ neither did Milton propose to throw an 
 air of rusticity over a Masque to be performed 
 before a sort of vice-regal Court ; on the contrary, 
 this dramatic piece is written throughout in a sus- 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS. 2Sj 
 
 tained style. The fact is, that these with 
 many other words are printed in the Edition 
 of his minor Poems in 1645, as they were 
 then sounded. 
 
 This pronunciation of enough continues in 
 genera] use ; and so does hearb and boc^som 
 to this day among the uneducated in the 
 West of England : as ouglj/ si ill is in the 
 northern part of the Island and in CornwalL 
 Mr. Warton took this to be only the old 
 way of writing ugly; and the rule of Ortho- 
 graphy which our Authour adopted has been 
 variously misconceived. Johnson decides it (Pre/, 
 to his Diet.) to have been " in zeal for ana- 
 " logy," that he dropped the e in height ; while 
 Mr. Capell Lofft fancied sovran for sovereign to be 
 a Poet's licence. But that supposition falls to 
 the ground when we find it equally in the prose- 
 writings. He was as ill understood by Richardson ; 
 who tells the Reader that Milton ejected the 
 c from seent^ because it was not in the French 
 sentir; nor in the Italian sentire ; whence we bor- 
 rowed it. Of this suggestion Bishop Pearce in 
 his Review of Bentleys emendations of Par. Lost 
 declared his approbation. 
 
 Milton's scheme of Orthography was not how- 
 ever governed by the derivation. He concurred 
 with those, and the practice was then by no means 
 singular, who would make the written represen- 
 
 s 
 
258 ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 tation of Thought correspond with oral Speech : 
 e. gr. hairjous, lantskip, mountanous, Divell, det- 
 ters, scholler. To the same end, he suppressed 
 the silent Letters in hau^Aty, apoj^Athegm, learn- 
 ing, viscount, si^niory, &c., as well as wrote 
 Chetiy, not Clieti6; and Piazza, in conformity to 
 the Italian utterance of the double z; as Burton 
 did Novi/za, and, if I remember rightly, Harrington 
 Pu/zudi. 
 
 In the instances apparently in opposition to this 
 observation, where he departs from the customary 
 mode as in frontispfce*, exta^y, rarify, accedence, 
 sceptical, G/2ittar, a^ry, glutinous, &c. ; — though 
 these Orthographies be more etymological, his aim 
 was, we may now discern, a nearer approximation 
 to vocal Language ; to bring the alphabetic cha- 
 racters of Thought in closer affinity to the " arti- 
 culated air** of which these combinations of Let- 
 ters are the visible signs. 
 
 In pursuance of this principle ** grassy sordy^ 
 2. e. sryard, is the genuine reading in Par. Lost. 
 (XL 433.) This peculiarity, which Johnson calls 
 a corruption, prompted Fenton to give erroneously 
 sod in the Edition of which he superintended the 
 Publication. The Lexicographer again misap- 
 prehended Milton's object when disposed to think 
 that he intended to preserve the Saxon gpunb, by 
 exhibiting grunsel, {Par, Lost, I. 460.) But I 
 am unaware of any reason to suppose, that the 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS. 259 
 
 Anglo-Saxon had ever engaged Milton's notice, 
 and he is by no means accustomed to hide his 
 acquirements behind a veil. He was, I believe, 
 scarcely a stranger in any other walk of Learning 
 than the northern. But the time was not come 
 for these studies. He and other literary Men yet 
 occupied their minds with the writers of Rome and 
 Athens, and of modern Italy. 
 
 The Anglo-Saxon tongue had once, and I think, 
 but once, since the Conquest, obtained the regards 
 of our Forefathers. This was at the aera of the 
 Reformation, for the purpose, as it should seem, ot 
 putting beyond the power of controversy, what' 
 were the heterodox novelties which the Romish 
 Priesthood had subsequently engrafted on the 
 Christianity planted in Britain by its primitive 
 propagators. 
 
 ILLUSTRATION, S. 
 
 {Referred to in p. 196.) 
 
 Tfi procuring by petition this Order,'] Mr. Haf"' 
 grave printed the succeeding document in, " an 
 " Argument in Defence of Literary Property,'* 
 from a M. S. in the possession of the Stationers*' 
 Company ; and it will show who were the first to^ 
 promote the revival of Licensers to the Press/ 
 " The following declaration was signed near two* 
 " years before the ordinance of 1643, by some of 
 
 S2 
 
260 IJLLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 " the most favourite Divines of the then prevailing 
 " party in Parliament. 
 
 " We whose names are subscribed at the re- 
 " quest of certain stationers or printers, do hereby 
 " inform those whom it may concern, that to 
 " the knowlege of divers of us (and as all of 
 " us do believe) that the said stationers or prin- 
 " ters have paid very considerable sums of money 
 " to many authours for the copies of such useful 
 " books as have been imprinted. In regard 
 " whereof we conceive it to be both just and 
 *' very necessary that they should enjoy a pro- 
 " priety for the sole imprinting of their copies. 
 ** And we further declare, that unless they do so 
 " enjoy a propriety, all scholars will utterly be 
 •* deprived of any recompence from the stationers 
 ** or printers for their studies and labours in 
 *' writing or preparing books for the Press. Be- 
 ** sides, if the books that are printed in Eng- 
 *' land be suffered to be imported from beyond 
 " the seas, or any other way reimprinted to the 
 " prejudice of those who bear the charges of 
 " the impressions, the authours and the buyers 
 ** will be abused by vicious impressions, to the 
 " great discouragement of learned men, and 
 " extream damage to all kinds of good learning. 
 *' The plaintures {and other good reasons which 
 " might be named) being considered, we certify 
 " our opinions and desires that fitting and suf- 
 " ficient caution be provided in this behalf- 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 261 
 
 *' Wherein we humbly submit to grave wisdoms 
 *' of those to whom it doth appertain. 
 
 " CALEBAT DOWNING, LLD. JOHN DOWNINE. 
 
 "C. OSSPRING. 
 
 " RICH. COLE. 
 
 "WILLIAM JEMAT. 
 
 " HEN. TOWNLEY. 
 
 "JAM. NORRIS. 
 
 " JOHN PAYNE. 
 
 " DANIEL FEATLEY, D.D. 
 
 "WILL. GOUGE, S.T.P. 
 
 C. BURGES. 
 GEORGE WALKER. 
 RICHAKD BARNARD. 
 ADONIRAN BYFIELD. 
 EDM. CALAMY. 
 LA. SEAMAN. 
 SAM. ROGERS. 
 N. PRIME." 
 
MIRABEAU'S IMITATION 
 
 OP 
 
 MI LTON'S 
 
 AREOPAGITICA. 
 
SUR 
 
 LA LIBER TE 
 
 DS 
 
 LA PRESS E, 
 
 IMITE 
 
 DE L'ANGLOIS, DE MILTON*. 
 
 PAR 
 
 Le Comte DE MIRABEAU, 
 
 Who kills a Man kills a reasonable creature .... but, he who de- 
 stroys a good Book, kills Reason it self. 
 
 Tuer un Hommey c*est ditruire unc Creature raisonnable ; mais itouffer 
 un bon Livre, cest tuer la Raison elk-mcme. 
 
 A LONDRES. 
 
 MDCCLXXXVIII. 
 
 * Le titre de ce morceau tr^s singulier, oh j'ai suivi de heaucoyp 
 plus prfes men Auteur que ne voudront le croire ceux qui ne consul- 
 teront pas TOriginal, et ou j'ai plutot retranch6 qu'ajout^; ce titre 
 est; Areopagitica : A Speech for the Liberty of imlicens'd Printing ; 
 To the Parliament of' England. 
 
SUR 
 
 LA LIBERTE DE LA PRESSE* 
 
 C*EST au moment ou le Roi invite tons les Francois 
 a r^clairer sur la mani^re la plus juste et la plus 
 sage de convoquer la Nation : c'est au moment ou 
 il augmente son Conseil de cent quarante-trois 
 Notables appellds de toutes les Classes, de toutes 
 les Parties du Royaume, pour mieux connoitre le 
 
 • Miraheau published in 1789, the Theorie dc la Royaute, 
 d'apres la Doctrine dc Milton, to which he prefixed an Essay 
 on him and his works ; aud he concludes by a just reprehen- 
 sion of Voltaire, for his peremptory and perfunctory decision 
 against Milton as a Writer of Prose ; " Maintenant on peut 
 ** apprecier, a leur juste valeur, les assertions que Fo//aire s*est 
 ** permis sur le compte de Milton. S'il faut Ten croire, 
 " Milton, que les Anglois rcgardent aujourd'hui comme un poetc 
 " divin etoit un tres-mauvais ccrivain en prose. II restapauvre et 
 ** sans gloire. 
 
 '* Un poete, bel esprit et gentilhomme de la chambre, devoit 
 '* etre peu propre sans doute a juger par lui-m^me les ecrits 
 " politiques du republicain — Mais comment ce prodigieux 
 ** Fo/mire. toujours pr^t a expedier un brevet d^immortalite au 
 •' premier avorton du Parnasse qui lui adressoit quelques rimes 
 " adulatrices, a-t-il ete si souverainement injuste envers la plu- 
 '* part des grands hommes, dont il devoit si bien connoitre le 
 i/ secret et defendre Theritage ? '* 
 
268 MIRABEAU'S IMITATION OF 
 
 voeu et Topinion publique : c'est au moment ou la 
 necessiie des affaires, la in^fiance de tous les Corps, 
 de tous les Ordres, de toutes les Provinces ; la 
 diversity des principes, des avis, des pretentions, 
 provoque imp^rieiisement le concours des lumieres 
 et le controle universel ; c'est dans ce moment 
 que, [)ar la plus scandaleuse des inconsequences, 
 on poursuit, au nom du Monarque, la liberie de la 
 Presse, plus severement, avec une inquisition plus 
 active, plus cauleleuse, que ne Ta jamais os^ le 
 despotisme Minist^riel le plus effr^n^. 
 
 Le Roi demande des recherches et des ^clair- 
 cissemenssur la constitution des Etats-Generaux, et 
 sur le mode de leur convocation, aux Assemblies 
 Provinciales, aux Villes, aux Communauies, aux 
 Corps, aux Savans, aux Gens de Leltres : et ses 
 Ministres arretent Touvrage posthume d*un des 
 Publicistes les plus reputes de la Nation ! Et sou- 
 dain la Police, convaincue de sa propre impuis- 
 sance pour empecher la circulation d*un Livre, 
 effray^e des reclamations qu'un coup d'autorite si 
 extravagant pent exciter; la Police, qui n'influe 
 jamais que par Taction et la reaction de la corrup- 
 tion, paie les exemplaires saisis, vend le droit de 
 contrefaire, de publier ce qu'elle vient de pro- 
 scrire, et ne voit dans ce honteux trafic de tyrannic 
 et de tolerance, que le lucre du privilege exclusif 
 d'un jour! 
 
 Le Roi a donne des Assembiees a la plupart de 
 ses Provinces, et le precis des proces-verbaux de 
 
THE AREOPAGITICA 
 
 269 
 
 ces Assemblies, ouvrage indispensable, pour en 
 saisir Tensemble, et pour en niettre ies r^sultats k 
 la port^e de tous Ies Citoyens, ce precis, d'abord 
 permis, puis suspendu, puis arrei^*, ne peut 
 franchir Ies barrieres dont la Police, k Tenvi de 
 la Fiscalit^, h^risse chaque Province du Roy- 
 aume, ou Ton semble vouloir mettre en qua- 
 rantaine tous ies Livres pour Ies purifier de 
 la v6r\i6. 
 
 Le Roi, par cela «ieme qu'il a consult^ tout 
 le monde, a implicitement accords la liberty de 
 la Presse : et Ton redouble toutes Ies genes de la 
 Presse 1 
 
 Le Roi veut connoitre le vceu de son Peuple : et 
 Ton ^touffe, avec la plus apre vigilance, Ies Ecrits 
 qui peuvent le manifester 1 
 
 Le Roi veut r^unir Ies esprits et Ies coeurs : et la 
 plusodieusedes tyrannies, celle qui pretend asservir 
 la pens^e, aigrit tous Ies esprits, indigne tous Ies 
 ccBurs 1 
 
 Le Roi veut appeller Ies Francois k dlire libre- 
 ment des R^pr^sentans, pour connoitre ave€ lui 
 
 * C'est M. Levraut, Imprimeur de Strasbourg, qui eproare 
 ien ce moment cette iniquite. Cet Artiste, recommandable par 
 ses talens^ et surtout par sa probite delicate, a, independamment 
 de ses principes, trop a perdre pour rien hasarder dans son etat. 
 II n'a done imprime ce tr^s-innocent Recueil, qu'apres avoir 
 rempli toutes Ies formalites qui lui sont prescrites ; et il n'en 
 souflTre pas moins une prohibition absolue, et une perte consi- 
 derable. 
 
270 MlRABEAU^S IMITATION OF 
 
 I'^tat de la Nation, et statuer les remedies qu*il 
 iK^cessite: et ses Ministres font tout ce qui est en 
 eux pour que les Fran9ois ne s'entendent pas, pour 
 que les mille divisions dont la nation inconstitu^e 
 est vici^e depuis pl^usieurs si^cles, viennent se 
 heurter sans point de ralliement, sans moyen 
 d'union et de concours ; pour qu'en nn mot TAs- 
 semblde Nationale soit une malhenreuse aogr^ga^- 
 tion de parties ennemies, dont les operations in- 
 coh^rentes, fausses et desastreuses, nous rejettent, 
 par la haine de I'anarchie, sous la verge du des- 
 potisme; et non un Corps de freres, dirig^s par un 
 int^r^t commun, animus de principes semblables, 
 p^n^tr^s du meme voeu, qui fasse naitre un 
 esprit public, fond^ sur Tamour et le respect de? 
 Loixl 
 
 Certes, ils commettent un grand attentat, ceux 
 qui, dans la situation oil la France se trouve 
 plong^e, arretent Texpensign des lumieres. Ils 
 ^loignent, ils reculent, ils font avorter autant qu*il 
 est en eux le bien public, Tesprit public, la Con- 
 corde publique. Ils n'essaient d'aveugler que 
 parce qu'ils ne peuvent convaincre ; ils ne s*hu- 
 manisent k s^duire que parce qu*ils ne peuvent 
 pas corrompre ; ils ne songent a corrompre 
 que parce qu'ils ne sauroient plus intimideri 
 ils voudroient paralyser, mettre aux fers, ^gor- 
 ger tout ce qu*ils ne pouroient intimider, cor- 
 rompre ni s^duire; ils craignent Toeil du Peu- 
 
THE AREOPAGITICA. * 271 
 
 pie, ils veulent tromper le Prince : ce sont 
 les ennemis du Prince, ce sont les enneoiis du 
 Peuple*. 
 
 Mais les ennemis du Prince et ceux du Peuple 
 n'osent oucdir leurs machinations, et tramer leurs 
 complots, que parce qu'il existe des pr4Jug<5s qui 
 leur donnent des auxiliaires parmi ceux-lii meme 
 qui ne sont pas leurs complices. Tel est le plus 
 fatal inconvenient de la gene de la Presse, de ren- 
 dre, par I'ignorance ou par Terreur, des coeurs purs, 
 des hommes timor^s, les satellites du despotisme en 
 m^me temps qu'ils en sont les victimes. 
 
 Et, par exemple, une foule 'd*honnetes gens, 
 oubliant que le sort des hommes est d'avoir k 
 choisir entre les inconv^niens, seroient sinc^rement 
 allarm^s de la liberty de la Presse 5 graces k la 
 prevention qu'on a su leur donner contre les Ecri- 
 vains qui ont paru les apotres int^ress^s de cette 
 liberie, parce que quelquefois ils en ont abuse. 
 • . • . La liberie de la Presse enfante de mauvais 
 Livres: done il faut la restreindre. Ceux qu'on 
 appelle philosophes invoquent la liberie de la 
 Presse, et souvent ils Tout portee jusqu'a la 
 licence : done il faut se garder de leur doc- 
 trine .... Tel est I'argument favori de ceux qu'on 
 appelle les honnites gens, et dont en-efet la 
 
 * Get d liTicd est presque litteralement dans les Sluestions d 
 examiner avcmt VAsscmhlee des Etats-Generaux, par M. le 
 Marquis des Casaux, penseur profond, et excellent Citoyen 
 du Monde. 
 
272 MIRABEAU's IMITATION OF 
 
 morale priv^e, la probity de detail est tres- esti- 
 mable ; mais qui, faute de g6n6raliser leurs id6es, 
 et de saisir Tensemble du systeme social, sont 
 vraiment de dangereux citoyens, et les plus 
 funestes ennemis peut-^tre de l*am6lioration des 
 choses humaines. 
 
 G'est done k eux surtout qu'il importe de 
 s'adresser: et, comme je leursuposede la bonne foi, 
 meme avec leurs adversaires, j*ai cru qu*il seroit 
 utile de mettre sous leurs yeux une refutation de 
 leur argument, poursuivi dans toutes ses conse- 
 quences morales, par un homme, au-moins dans 
 cette matiere, tres-imbu de leurs principes. II 
 ecrivoit il y a 150 ans, dans un si^cle tout reli- 
 gieux, oh, bien que Ton commen9at a discuter les 
 grands inl^r^ts de cette vie, en concurrence avec 
 ceux de Tautre, les raisons th^ologiques etoient de 
 beaucoup les plus efticaces. On n*a point accus^ 
 cet homme d'etre un philosophe: et, si dans 
 quelques uns de sesEcrits Milton s'est montr^ r^pu- 
 blicain violent*, il n*est dansceluici, ou il s*adresse 
 a la l^y^islature de la Grande- Bretagne, qu'un 
 paisible argumentateur. 
 
 Je ne pretends pas, milords et messieurs, que 
 l'6glise et le gouvernement n'aient interet k sur- 
 veiller les livresaussi bien que les hommes, afin,s'ils 
 sont coupables, d*exercer sur eux la nieme justice 
 
 * II appelle, par exemple, Ctiarles premier, Nerone ncronior. 
 
THE AREOPAGITICA. 273 
 
 que sur des malfaiteurs ; car un livre n*est point 
 une chose absolument inanimee. II est dou^ d'une 
 vie active comme Tame qui le produit ; il con- 
 serve meme cette prerogative de rintelligence vi- 
 vante qui lui a donn^ le jour. Je regarde done les 
 livres, comme des etres aussi vivans et aussi fi^conds 
 que les dents du serpent de la fable; et j'avouerai 
 que, sem^s dans le monde, le hasard pent faire 
 qu*ils y produisent des hommes arm^s. Mais je 
 soutiens que Texistence d*un bon livre ne doit pas 
 plus etre compromise que celle d*un bon citoyen j 
 Tune est aussi respectable que TaUtre ; et Ton doit 
 ^galement craindre d*y attenter. Tuer un homme, 
 c*est d^truire une creature raisonnable ; mais ^touf- 
 fer un bon livre, c*est tuer la raison elle-meme, 
 Quantity dMiommes n*ont qu'une vie purement v^- 
 g^tative, et pesent inutilement sur la terre ; mais 
 un livre est I'essence pure et pr^cieuse d*un esprit 
 sup^rieur; c*est une sorte de preparation que le 
 genie donne a son ame, afin qu*elle puisse lui sur- 
 vivre. La perte de la vie, quoiqu'irr^parable, peat 
 quelquefois n'etre pas un grand mal ; mais il est 
 possible qu*une verity qu*on aura rejet^e, ne se re- 
 pr^sente plus dans la suite des temps, et que sa 
 perte entraine le malheur des nations. 
 
 Soyons done circonspects dans nos persecutions 
 contre les travaux des hommes publics. Exami- 
 nons si nous avons le droit d*attenter a leur vie in- 
 tellectuelle dans les livres qui en sont les deposl- 
 tairesj car c*est une espece d'homicide, quelque- 
 
 T 
 
274 MIRABEAU^S IMITATION OF 
 
 fois un martyre, et toujours un vrai massacre, si la 
 proscription s*^tend sur la liberty de la presse en 
 general. 
 
 Mais afin qu'on ne m*accuse pas d*introduire 
 line licence pernicieuse en m'opposant k la censure 
 des livres, jVntrerai dans quelques details histo- 
 riques pour montrer quelle fut, a cet ^gard, la con- 
 duite des gouvernemens les plus c^lebres, jusqu'au 
 moment ou l'in€iuisition imagina ce beau projet 
 de censure que nos pr^lats et nos pretres adopt^- 
 rent avec tant d'avidit^. 
 
 A Ath^nes, ou Ton s'occupoit de livres plus que 
 dans aucune autre partie de la Gr^ce, je ne trouve 
 que deux sortes d'ouvrages qui aient fix^ Tatten- 
 tion des magistrats: les libelles et les Merits blas- 
 pb^matoires. Ainsi les juges de Tar^opage con* 
 damn^rent les livres de Protagoras k ^tre bruMs, et 
 le bannirent lui-m^me, parce qu'k la tete d*un de 
 ses ouvrages, il d^claroit qu'il ne savoit point s*il 
 y avoit des dieuXy ou s'il n'y en avoit pas. Quant 
 aux libelles, il fut arrets qu'on ne nommeroit plus 
 personne sur le th^citre, comme on le faisoit dans 
 Vancienne cornddicy ce qui nous donne une id^e de 
 leur discipline k cet ^gard. Cic^ron pretend que 
 ces mesures suffirent pour empecher la diffamation^ 
 et pour imposer silence aux ath^es. On ne re- 
 cbercha point les autres opinions, ni les autres 
 sectes, quoiqu'elles tendissent k la volupt^, et k la 
 den^gation de la divine providence ; aussi ne vo- 
 yons-nous point qu'on ait jamais cit^ devant les 
 
THE AREOPAGITICA* 273 
 
 magistrats Epicure, ni T^cole licentieuse de Cy- 
 rcne, ni rimpudence cynique. Nous ne lisons pas 
 non plus qu*on ait imprim^ les anciennes pieces de 
 theatre, quoiqu'il ait ^t^ d^fendu de les jouer. On 
 yoit qu'Aristophane, le plus satyrique de tous les 
 poetes cotniques, faisoit les delices de Platon, et 
 qu'il en recommandoit la lecture k Denis, son royal 
 disciple ; ce qui ne doit pas paroitre extraordinaire, 
 puisque S. Chrysostome passoit les nuits a lire cet 
 auteur, et savoit mettre a profit, dans des sermons, 
 le sel de ses sarcasmes et de sa piquante ironie. 
 
 Quant a la rivale d*Ath^nes, Lac^d^mone, le 
 gout de I'instruction de put jamais s'y naturaliser : 
 et certes on doit en etre surpris; car elle eut Ly- 
 curgue pour legislateur, et Lycurgue n'dtoit point 
 un barbare : il avoit cuUiv^ les bqlles-lettres; il fut 
 le premier a recueiller dans TYonie les oeuvres 
 ^parses d'Homere ; et meme avant I'^poque ou il 
 donna des loix aux Spartiates, il eat la precau- 
 tion de leur envoyer le poete Thales, afin que par la 
 douceur de ses chants^ il amoilit la fdrocit^ de leurs 
 niQBurs, et les disposat a recevoir les bienfaits de la 
 l^islatioD. Cependant ils negligerent toujours le 
 commerce des Muses pour les jeux sanglans de 
 Mars. Les censeurs de livres ^toient inutiles chez 
 eux, puihqu'ils ne lisoient que leurs apophtegmes 
 laconiqui^s, et que sous le plus l^ger pr^texte, ils 
 chass^rent de leur ville le poete Archiloque, dont 
 tout le crime ^toit peut-etre de s*etre ^lev^ un peu 
 au-dessus de leurs^ chansons guerri^res ; ou si Tob* 
 
 T 2 
 
276 MIRABEAU^S IMITATION OF 
 
 scenite de ses vers fut le pr^texte de ce mauvais 
 traitement, on ne doit pas en faire honneur a la 
 continence des Spartiates ; car ils ^toient tr^s-dis- 
 solus dans leur vie priv^e, au point qu*Euripide 
 assure dans son Andromaque que toutes les femmes 
 y 6toient impudiques. VoWk ce que nous savons 
 de la prohibition des livres chez les Grecs. 
 
 Les Romains pendant long-temps march^rent 
 sur les traces des Spartiates. C'^toit un peuple ab- 
 solument guerrier. Leurs connoissances politiques 
 et religieuses se r^duisoient a la loi des douze tables 
 et aux instructions de leurs pretres, de leurs au- 
 gures, de leurs flamines. lis ^toient si Strangers 
 aux autres sciences, qu*alors que Carneade, Crito- 
 laus, et Diog^ne le stoicien, vinrent en ambassade 
 a Rome et voulurent profiler de cette circonstance 
 pour essayer d'introduire leur philosophie dans 
 cette ville, ils furent regardes com me des subor- 
 neurs ; Caton n'h^sita point a les d^noncer au s6- 
 nat, et a demander qu'on purgeat Tltalie de ces 
 babillards attiques. Mais Scipion et quelques 
 autres s^nateurs s*opposerent k cette proscription ; 
 ils s'empresserent de rendre hommage aux philo- 
 sophes ath^niens ; et Caton lui-meme changea si 
 bien de sentiment par la suite, qu'il se livra tout 
 entier, dans sa vieillesse, k T^tude de ces connois- 
 sances qui d'abord avoient excite son indignation. 
 
 Cependant vers le meme temps Naevius et 
 Plaute, les premiers comiques romains, offrirent sur 
 le theatre des scenes empruntees de Menandre et de 
 
THE AREOPAGITICA. 277 
 
 Philemon. Ici, s*ouvre le beau siecle de la litt^- 
 rature latine, ^poque k laquelle les Remains surent 
 enfin allien la gloire des lettres a celle des armes. 
 Etouff(6es par la tyrannic, ces deux moissons re- 
 naisseni sous I'influence de la liberty r^publicaine. 
 Lucrece chanterathdisme ; il le r^duit en systeme, 
 et cherche a rembeliir des charmes de la po^sie; 
 tout le monde applaudit a ses beaux vers : il les 
 d^die a son ami Memmius, sans que personne lui 
 en fasse un crime : on ne persecuta ni I'auteur, ni 
 Touvrage, parce qu'on sait que la liberty publique 
 repose sur la liberty de la pensde : C^sar meme 
 respecta les annales de Tite-Live, quoiqu'on y c^» 
 l^brat le parti de Pomp^e. 
 
 Oui, malgr^ les proscriptions, le luxe corrupteur 
 et toutes les causes qui se reunirent pour miner le 
 vaste ^(litice de la grandeur romaine j si Rome etit 
 conserve I'iiid^pendance de la pensee, elle ne seroit 
 jamais devenue I'opprobre des nations : jamais 
 elle n'auroit subi le joug des monstres qui Tenchai- 
 n^rent et Tavilirent, si la servitude intellectuelle 
 n'e^t prepare la servitude politique. Aussi lisons- 
 nous que sous Auguste les libelles furent brules, et 
 leurs auteurs pun is, Et cet attentat dtoit si nou- 
 veau, que le magistrat ne s'enqueroit point encore 
 de quelle mani^re un livre arrivoit dans le monde. 
 On n'inquieta pas meme la muse satyrique de Ca- 
 tulle et d 'Horace. Pent etre dira-t-on qu'Ovide, 
 dans un age avanc^, fut exil6 pour, les poesies li- 
 centieuses de sa jeunesse. Mais on sait qu*une^ 
 
278 MIUABEAU'S IMITATI017 OF 
 
 cause secrete fut le motif de son exil, et ses livre« 
 ne furent ni bannis ni supprim^s. 
 
 ILnfin, nous arrivons aux si^cles de tyrannic, ou 
 Ton ne doit pas ^tre surpris qu*on ^touffat les bons 
 livres plus souvent que les mauvais. Que dis-je ? 
 il n'^toit plus permis de parler ni d'^crire. Ledes- 
 potisme eut voulu donner des fers h la pens^e 
 meme. Tacite peint en un trait ces temps d^plora- 
 bles : nous eussions perdu, dit-il, la m^moire aveo 
 la voix, s'il ^toit aussi bien au pouvoir de Thomme 
 d'oublier que de se taire*. 
 
 Quand les Empereurs eurent embrassd le christi- 
 anisme, nous ne trouvons pas qu'ils aient mis de 
 s6\6n\.6 dans leur discipline a regard des produc* 
 tions de Tesprit. Les livres de ceux que Ton re-- 
 gardoit comme de grands h6r^tiques ^toient exa- 
 mines, r^rut^s et condamn6s dans un concile g^n^ral. 
 Jusque 1^ ils n'^toient ni proscrits, ni br^l^s par 
 ordre de Tenipereur. Quant aux livres des paiens« 
 on ne trouve pas d*exemple d*un seul onvrage qui 
 ait 6i6 prohib6 jusque vers Pan 400 au concile de 
 Carthage, ou Ton defend it aux 6veques meme la 
 lecture des livres des gentils ; mais on leur laissa la 
 liberty de consulter ceux des h^r^tiques, tandis que 
 leurs pr^d^cesseurs, long-temps auparavant, se fai- 
 soient moins de scrupule de lire les livres des pa'iens 
 que ceux des hdresiarques. 
 
 * Memoriam quoque ipsam cum voce perdidissemus si tam 
 \n nostra potestate esse! oblivi'sci quam taccre. 
 
THE AREOPAGITICA. 279 
 
 Le p^re Paolo, le grand ddmasqueur du concile 
 de Trente, a d^j^ observe que jusqu'apr^s Tan 800, 
 les premiers conciles et les ^veques 6toient dans 
 Tusage de declarer seulement les livres dont on de- 
 voit ^viter la lecture, laissant n^anmoins ^ chacun, 
 la liberie de faire selon sa conscience, ainsi qu'il 
 le jugeroit a propos. Mais les papes, aitirant k 
 eux toute la liberty politique, exerc^rent sur les 
 yeux des hommes le m^me despotisme qu*ils avoi- 
 ent exerc^ sur leurs jugemens; ils br^ll^rent et pro- 
 hib^rent au gre de leur caprice; cependant ils 
 furent d'abord ^conomes de leurs censures, et Ton 
 ne trouve pas beaucoup de livres auxquels ils aient 
 fait cet hooneur jusqu'^ Martin V qui, le premier 
 par sa bulle, non^seulement prohiba les livres des 
 h<^r^tiques, mais encore excommunia tons ceux 
 qui s'aviseroient de les lire. C*est h peu pr^s dans 
 ce temps que les Wicklef et les Huss se rendirent 
 redoubtables, ce qui d^termina la cour papale k 
 renforcer la police des prohibitions. Leon X et 
 ses successeurs suivirent cet exemple. 
 
 Enfin le concile de Trente et Tinquisition 
 espagnole s'accouplant ensemble, produisirent ou 
 perfectionnerent ces catalogues, ces index expur- 
 gatoires qui, fouillant jusque dans les entrailles des 
 bons auteurs anciens, les outragerent bien plus in- 
 dignement qu'aucune profanation qu*on eut pu se 
 permettre sur leurs tombeaux. Et non-seulement 
 cette operation se faisoit sur les livres des h^rd- 
 tiques^ mais, dans quelque matiere que ce fat. 
 
280 MIRABEAU's IMITATION OF 
 
 tout ce qui n*agrdoit point k ces r^v^rences ^toit 
 impitoyablement prohib^. En un nnot (comme si 
 Saint Pierre, en leur confiant les clefs du paradis, 
 leur avoit aussi remis celles de Timprimerie!) pour 
 combler la oiesure des prohibitions, leur derni^re 
 invention fut d'ordonner qu*aucun livre, brochure 
 ou papier, ne pourroient etre imprimis sans Tap- 
 probation de deux ou trois fr^res inquisiteurs. Par 
 exennple : 
 
 " Que le chancelier Cini ait la complaisance 
 d*examiner si le present manuscrit ne contient rien 
 qui puisse en empecher rimpression." 
 
 " Vincent Rabbata^ vicaire de Florence.^* 
 
 " J*ai lu le present manuscrit, et je n'y ai rien 
 trouv^ contre la foi catholique, ni centre les bonnes 
 mceurs: en temoignage de quoi j*ai donn^, &c." 
 
 " Nicolas Ciniy chancelier de Florence** 
 
 " D'apres le compte rendu ci-dessus, permis 
 d'imprimer le present manuscrit.** 
 
 " Vincent Rabbata, &c/' 
 
 " Permis d*imprimer le 15 juillet." 
 
 « ^f^re Simon Mompei d* Amelia ^ 
 chancelier du saint-office a Florence^* 
 
 lis ^toient s^rement persuades que si depuis 
 long-temps le malin esprit n'eut pas bris^ sa. prison. 
 
THE areopagitica' 281 
 
 ce quadruple exorcisme eut ^i6 capable de Vy re- 
 tenir. Veut-on voir une autre formule ? 
 
 i " Imprimatur, s'il plait au r^v6rend maitre du 
 saint palais." 
 
 ** BelcastrOy vice-g6rent." 
 
 " Imprimatury fr^re Nicolo Rodolphe, maitre du 
 saint palais/' 
 
 Quelquefois k la premiere page du livre, on voit 
 cinq de ces imprimatur qui s'appellent Tun Tautre, 
 se complimentent et ferment entr'eux un dialogue ; 
 tandis que le pauvre auteur, au bas de son ^pitre, 
 attend respectueusement leur decision, et ne sait 
 s'il obtiendra les lionneurs de la presse ou de 
 r^ponge. 
 
 Telle est Torigine de la coutume d'approuver 
 les livres. Nous ne la trouvons ^tablie par aucun 
 gouvernement ancien,. ni par aucun statut de nos 
 anc^tres : elle est le fruit du concile le plus 
 anti-chr^tien et de Tinquisition la plus tyrannique. 
 Jusqu*a cette ^poque, les livres arrivoient libre- 
 ment dans le monde, comme toutes les autres pro- 
 ductions de la nature. On ne faisoit pas plus 
 avorter I'esprit que les entrailles. Imposer k un 
 livre une condition pire que celle d*une ame peche- 
 resse, et l*obliger, avant d*avoir vu le jour, a pa- 
 roitre devant Radamante et ses collegues, pour 
 subir son jugement dans les t^nebres, c*est une 
 
282 MIRABEAU^S IMITATION OF 
 
 tyrannic dont on n*avoit pas d'exemple, jusqu'a 
 cette mystdrieuse iniquite qui, troubl^e aux ap» 
 proches de la r^forme, imagina de nouvelles 
 limbes et de nouveaux enfers, pour y renfermer nos 
 livres et leur faire subir le sort des r^prouv^s: 
 sage precaution qui fut admirablement pr6n6e 
 et imit6e par nos ^veques inquisiteurs, aussi 
 bien que par les derniers supports de leur clerge ! 
 
 Dira-t-on que la chose en elle-meme peut etre 
 bonne, quoique provenant d'une source impure ? 
 Mais si elle est directement contraire aux progres 
 des lumieres, si les gouvernemens les plus sages 
 dans aucun temps ni dans aucun pays, ne I'ont 
 mise en pratique, si elle n*a 6i6 imagin^e que par 
 des charlatans et des oppresseurs, on aura beau la 
 mettre au creuset, il n*en resultera jamais le moin-> 
 dre bien : la connoissance de Tarbre ne peut 
 qu'inspiier de la m6fiance pour le fruit. Cepen- 
 dant, voyons si la liberty illimit^e de la presse, ne 
 produit pas plus de bien que^de mal. 
 
 Je n*insisterai point sur les exeroples de Moise, 
 de Daniel et de Paul, qui se montr^rent si habiles 
 dans les connoissances des Egyptiens, des Chal- 
 deens et des Grecs, ce qu'ils n'auroient pas fait 
 sans doute, s*ils n'avoient pu lire indistinctement 
 les livres de ces diffi^rentes nations ; Paul, sur-tout, 
 qui ne crut pas souiller I'^criture sainte en y insu- 
 rant quelques passages des poetes grecs. Cepen- 
 dant, cette question fut agit^e parmi les docteurs 
 de la primitive eglise^ mais Tavantage resta dii 
 
THE AREOPAGITICA. 283 
 
 cot6 de ceux qui soutenoient que la chose ^toit a 
 la fois utile et legitime. On en eut une preuve 
 bien ^vidente, lorsque Tempereur Julien d^fendit 
 aux Chretiens de lire les Uvres des idoiatres, paroe 
 qu'il vouloit plonger ces meme Chretiens dans 
 Tignorance; et en effet, il y seroit parvenu, car les 
 deux Apolinaires furent obliges de chercher dans 
 la bible la connoissance des sept arts lib^raux, et 
 de cr^er une nouvelle grammaire chr^tienne. La 
 Providence, dit Thistorien Socrate, fit plus que 
 toute la sagacity d'Apolinaire et de son fils; elle 
 au6antit cette loi barbare en otant la vie a celui 
 qui Tavoit promulgu^e. Cette defense de s*ins- 
 truire de la litterature des Grecs, parut plus outra* 
 geante et plus pernicieuse k I'^glise que les 
 persecutions les plus cruelles des Di^cius et des 
 Diocl^tien. 
 
 Mais laissant-lii I'^rudition, les autorit^s, les ex- 
 emples, et remontant k la nature des choses, je 
 dirai : lorsque Dieu permit h Thomme d'user 
 moddr^ment de toutes les productions de la nature, 
 il voulut aussi que Tesprit jouit du meme privilege; 
 et quoique la temperance soit une des plus grandes 
 vertus, Dieu la recommanda simplement aux 
 hommes, sans rien prescrire de particulier a cet 
 egard, afin que chaque individu put la pratiquer 
 a sa mani^re. 
 
 Le bien et le mal ne croissent point s^parement 
 dans le champ f^cond de la vie; ils germent Tuu 
 k c6i6 de Tautre, et entrelassent leurs branches 
 
284 MIRABEAU'S IMITATION OF 
 
 d'une mani^re inextricable. La connoissance de 
 Tun est done necessairement li^e a celle de Tautre. 
 Renferm^s sous Tenveloppe de la pomme dans 
 laquelle mordit notre premier p^re, ils s*en echap- 
 perent au meme instant; et tels que deux jumeaux, 
 ils entr^rent k la fois dans le nfionde. Peut-etre 
 meme dans r^tat oil nous sommes, ne pouvons-nous 
 parvenir au bien que par la connoissance du mal; 
 car, comment choisira t-on la sagesse ? comment 
 rinnocence pourra-t-elle se preserver des atteintes 
 du vice, si elle n'en a pas quelqu'id^e ? et puisqu*il 
 faut absolument observer la marche des vicieux 
 pour se conduire sagement dans le monde; puis- 
 qu*il faut aussi d^meler Perreur pour arriver a la 
 v^rit^, est il une m^tliode moins dangereuse de 
 parvenir k ce but, que celle d'^couter et de lire 
 toute sorte de traites et de raisonnemens? avantage 
 qu*on ne pent se procurer qu'en lisant indistincte- 
 ment touies sortes de livres. 
 
 Craindra-t-on qu'avec cette liberty ind^fmie 
 Tesprit ne soit bientot infect^ du venin de Ter- 
 reur ? 
 
 II faudroit, par la meme consideration an^antir 
 toutes les connoissances humaines, ne plus disputer 
 sur aucune doctrine, sur aucun point de religion, 
 et supprimer m^me les livres sacres ; car souvent 
 on y trouve des blasphemes ; les plaisirs cbarnels 
 des medians y sont decrits sans beaucoup de me- 
 nagemens; les hommes les plus saints y murmu- 
 ent quelquefois contre la Providence, a la maniere 
 
THE AREOPAGITICA. 285 
 
 d'Epicure; il s'y rencontre une foule de passages 
 ambigus et susceptibles d'etre mal interpr^t^s par 
 des lecteurs vulgaires. Personne n'ignore que 
 c'est k cause de toutes ces raisons que les papistes 
 ont mis la bible au premier rang des livres 
 prohib^s. 
 
 Nous serions ^galement obliges de d^fendre la 
 lecture des anciens p^res de I'^glise, tels que Cle- 
 ment d*Alexandrie et Eus^be, qui, dans son livre, 
 nous transmet une foule d'obscdnit^s paiennes, 
 pour nous preparer k recevoir T^vangile. Jdrome, 
 &c. d^voilent encore plus d'her^sies qu*i!s n'en r^- 
 futent; que souvent ils confondent Th^resie avec 
 Topinion orthodoxe ? Et qu'on ne dise pas qu*il 
 faut faire grace aux auteurs de Tantiquit^, parce 
 qu'ils ont ^crit dans un langage qu'on ne parle 
 plus ; puisqu'ils sont journellement lus et m^dit^s 
 par des gens qui peuvent en r^pandre le venin dans 
 les soci^t^s, et meme k la cour des princes dont ils 
 font les d^lices; des gens pent- etre, tels que P^- 
 trone, que Neron appelloit son ar'bilre, et qui avoit 
 rintendance des plaisirs nocturnes de cet empe- 
 reur; ou tel que TAr^tin, ce fameux impudique 
 qu*on redoutoit, et qui cependant etoit cher k tous 
 les courtisans de I'ltalie , je ne nommerai point, 
 par respect pour sa post^rit^, celui que Henri VIII 
 appelloit, en plaisantant, son vicahe de Venfer*. 
 
 Si done il est demontr^ que les livres qui pa- 
 
 * Cromwel, un des ancetres du protecteur par les femnies. 
 
^86 MIRABEAU'S IMITATION OF 
 
 roissent influer le plus siir nos moeurs et sur nos 
 opinions, ne peuvent etre supprim^s sans entrainer 
 la chute des connoissances humaines, et que lors 
 m§me qu'on parviendroit a les soustraire tous, les 
 moBurs ne laisseroient pas de se corrompre par una 
 infinity d'autres voies- qu'il est impossible de 
 termer ; enfin si, malgr^ les livres, il faut encore 
 Tenseignement pour propager les mauvaises doc- 
 trines; ce qui pourroit avoir tout aussi bien lieUj 
 quoiqu'ils fussent probib^s, on sera forc^ de con- 
 clure qu'envisag^ sous ce point de vue, le systeme 
 insidieux des approbations est du moins parfaite- 
 ment inutile ; et ceux qui le mettent en pra- 
 tique dans un sincere espoir d*elever une barri^re 
 contre le mal, on pourroit les comparer k ce bori 
 homme qui croyoit retenir des corneilles en fermant 
 la porte de son pare. 
 
 D'ailleurs, comment confier ces livres, dont les 
 hommes instruits tirent eux-memes quelquefois le 
 vice et Terreur pour les r^paudre ensuite chez les 
 autres; comment confier ces livres k des censeurs, 
 H moins qu*on ne leur confi^re, ou qu'ils ne puis- 
 sent se donner a eux-memes le privilege de i'incor- 
 ruption et de Tinfaillibilit^* ? encore, s*il est vrai, 
 qne semblable au bon chymiste, Thomrae sa^e 
 
 * En France, un censeur qui s'avise de faire la moindre bro- 
 chure, est oblige de la faire approuver par an de ses confreres; 
 mais si le gouverneraent se mefic d'un censeur au point de ne 
 pas lui permettre de publier ses propres ouvrages sans appro* 
 bation, comment peut-il lui confier le droit d'approuver ou de 
 desapprouYer ceux des autres ? 
 
THE AREOPAGITICA. 287 
 
 peut extraire de Tor d*nn volume rempli d'ordures, 
 tandis que le meilleur livre n'avise point un fou, 
 quelle est done la raison qui feroit priver Thomme 
 «age des avantages de sa sagesse, sans qu'il en 
 r^sulte le moindre bien pour les fous, puisqu*avec 
 des livres ou sans livres, 41s n'en extravagueront 
 pas moins ? 
 
 Mais pourquoi nous exposer aux tentations sans 
 n^cessit^? pourquoi consacrer notre temps k des 
 choses vaines et inutiles ? 
 
 Futiles objections ! les livres ne sont pas des ob- 
 jets inutiles ni tentateurs pour tous les homines. 
 Quant aux enfans et aux hommes enfans qui ne 
 savent pas les mettre k profit, on peut leur recom- 
 mander de s*€n abstenir; mais jamais les y forcer, 
 quelque moyen que puisse imaginer la sainte inqui* 
 sition ; et si Ton parvient i\ ddmontrer cette asser- 
 tion, il faudra convenir que le projet de censurer 
 les livres ne sauroit remplir son but. 
 
 On a d^ja vu qu*aucune nation polic^e n*avoit 
 fait usage de cette m^thode, et que c'^toit une in- 
 vention de la politique moderne* Si les anciens ne 
 Font point imagin^e, ce n'est pas sans doute qu'elle 
 fut bien difficile k d^couvrir (rien n*est plus ais6 
 que de d^fendre*), mais parce qu'ils ne I'ont point 
 
 * Les peines et les prohibition* soiA a la portee des esprtts 
 les plus bornes ; on peut les regarder corame le pont aux dnes des 
 politiques. lis les considerent comme une maniere expeditive 
 de remedier a tout. Cependant une longue experience devroit 
 bien leur aroir appri^ qu'elles ne remedient a rien. 
 
288 MIRABEAU'S IMITATION OF 
 
 approuvde. Platon semble bannir les livres de sa 
 repuhlique ; mais on voit bien que ses loix ^toient 
 faites pour iine republique imaginaire, puisque le 1^- 
 gislateur ^toit le premier k les transgresser, et que ses 
 propres magistrats auroient eu le droit de le chasser 
 pour ses dialogues et ses ^pigrammes graveleuses, 
 pour ses lectures journali^res de Sophron, de Mimus 
 et d'Aristophane, livres remplis d'infamies, le dernier 
 sur-tout, et dont cependant Platon recommandoit 
 la lecture k Denys, qui pouvoit employer son 
 temps k tout autre chose. Aussi, ni Platon lui- 
 meme, ni les magistras d'aucun pays, ne s*avis^- 
 rent jamais de faire observer les loix qu*il a tracdes 
 pour sa rdpublique imaginaire. 
 
 Si nous voulons subordonner la presse a des 
 r^glemens avantageux pour les moeurs, il faudr^t 
 soumettre a la meme inspection les plaisirs et les 
 divert issemens: il faudra des censeurs pour le 
 chant, qui ne permettront que des sons graves et 
 doriqnes; car la musique est encore une source 
 de corruption : il en faudra pour la danse, afin 
 qu'on n*enseigne aucun geste indecent k notre 
 jeunesse, chose k laquelle Platon n*a pas manqu6 
 de faire attention : vingt censeurs auront assez 
 d*occupation dans chaque maison pour inspecter 
 les guilares, les violons et les clavecins; il ne 
 faudra pas qu'ils permettent qu'on jase comme 
 on fait aujourd'hui, mais qu'ils r^gleni tous les dis- 
 cours qu*on devra tenir. Et comment emp^cher 
 la contrebande des soupirs, des declarations et des 
 
THii ARtOPAGlTlCA. 289 
 
 madrigaux qui s'^chapperont k voix basse dans les 
 appartemens ? ne seront-ce pas autant de marrons * 
 qui circuleront sous les yeux meme du censeur ? 
 ne faudra-t-il pas ^galement surveiller les fen^tres 
 et les balcons? ne sont-ils pas garnis de livres dont 
 les dangereux frontispices appellent I'acheteur? 
 ou trouver assez de censeurs pour empecher ce 
 commerce ? 
 
 Cette inquisition ne doit pas se borner k la ville; 
 il faudra d^partir des commissaires dans les cam- 
 pagnes pour inspecter les livres des magistrals et 
 des m^n^triers ; car ils sont les philosophes et les 
 romanciers du village. Et puis, quelle plus grande 
 source de corruption que notre gloutonnerie domes- 
 tique ? ou trouver assez de censeurs pour r^gler nos 
 tables et pour empecher que la multitude ne 
 s'enivre dans les tavernes ? on ne doit pas non plus 
 laisser a chacun la liberty de s*habiller comme il 
 lui plait -y la d^cence veut qu*il y ait des censeurs qui 
 president k la coupe des habits. Enfin, qui pourra 
 prohiber les visites oisives et les mauvaises societ^s ? 
 
 Tons ces inconv^niens existent, et ils doi- 
 ventexister. Un sage gouvernement ne cherche 
 
 * On sail que ce mot marron est le terme d'argot en librairie, 
 pour exprimer un livre defendu ou public en contravention aux 
 reglemens, tant il est d'instinct universel chez nous, que les 
 livres et leurs auteurs sont les negres des censeurs. Ces sobri- 
 quets populaires sont en general des indices assez surs de Tetat 
 de situation d'un peuple. En France, on appelle le peuple, 
 c'est-d-dire la plus grande partie de la nation, la canaille. En 
 Angleterre on Tappelle, John Bull, le taureau. 
 
 U 
 
290 MIRABEAU'S IMITATION OF 
 
 pas k les detriiire ; il n'en a ni le droit, ni le 
 pouvoir; mais a combiner leur action avec le 
 bien g^n^ral de la soci^td. Pour ameliorer notre 
 condition, il ne s'agit point de r^aliser les systemes 
 impraticables de I'Atlantide et de TUtopie, mais 
 de r^gler sagement le monde dans lequel I'Etre 
 supreme nous a places, sans oublier que le mal 
 entre dans ses parties constitutives. Ce n'est point 
 en otant la liberty de la presse, que Ton pourra se 
 flatter de parvenir k cette fin, puisque les moindres 
 objets exigeroient la mdme censure ; et qu*ainsi, 
 par cette m^thode, nous ne ferions que nous donner 
 des entraves ridicules et inutiles. C'est par les loix 
 non ^crites, ou du moins non Torches, d'une bonne 
 Education, que Platon regarde comme le lien des 
 corps politiques, et la base fondamentale des loix 
 positives; c'est sur cette base, dis-je, qu'il faut 
 Clever T^difice des mcsurs, et non sur Tappui deri- 
 soire d*une censure qu'il est si facile d'eluder, et 
 dont les inconv^niens ne sont jamais compens^s par 
 le moindre avantage. 
 
 La negligence et Timpunit^ ne peuvent qu'etre 
 funestes k tons les gouvernemens : le grand art 
 consiste k savoir les choses que Ton doit prohiber, 
 celles qu'on doit punir,et celles ou il ne faut employer 
 que la persuasion. Si toutes les actions, bonnes 
 ou mauvaises, qui ap'partiennent a Tage mur, pou- 
 voient etre taill^es, prescrites et contraintes, la 
 vertu ne seroit plus qu'un nom. Comment pour- 
 roit-on louer un homme de sa bonne conduite, de 
 
THE AREOPAGITICA* 291 
 
 sa probite, de sa justice ou de sa temperance ? 
 Q,u*ils sont fous, ceux qui osent blamer la divine 
 Providence, d*avoir souffert que le premier homme 
 tombat dans le crime ! Lorsque Dieu lui donna la 
 raison, il lui donna la liberty de clioisir, car c'est 
 cette faculty qui constitue la raison : autrement, 
 Thomme n*eut ^te qu'une machine. Nous-memes, 
 nous n'estimons I'amour, les bienfaits, la reconnois- 
 sance, qu'autant qu'ils sont volontaires. Di^u 
 done cr^a le premier homme libre j c'^toit le seul 
 moyen de rendre son abstinence m^ritoire ; et 
 pourquoi I'Etre snpreme a-t-il mis le si^ge des pas- 
 sions en nous, et la foule des plaisirs autour de 
 nous, si ce n'est afin que, moderns par nous, ils de* 
 vinssent I'assaisonnement de la vertu ? 
 
 Ils sont done bien peu versus dans la connois* 
 sance des choses humaines, ceux qui s'imaginent 
 qu'^carter les objets, c'est ^carter le mal 5 car, 
 outre qu'ils se reproduisent toujours, quand on 
 viendroit k bout d*en d^rober passag^rement una 
 partie k quelques personnes, cette precaution ne 
 pourra jamais s'^tendre k runiversalite, sur-tout 
 dans une chose aussi g^n^rale que les livres; et 
 quand on y parviendroit, le mal n'en existeroit pas 
 moins. Vous pouvez enlever son or a un avare, 
 mais il lui reste toujours un bijou, dont il n'est pas 
 en votre pouvoir de le priver , c'est-^-dire son ava- 
 rice. Bannissez tons les objets de convoitise, en- 
 fermez la jeunesse sous des verrous, par cette 
 methode, vous ne rendrez chastes que ceux qui 
 
 u 2 
 
292 MlRABEAU's IMITATION OF 
 
 r^toient avant d'etre soumis k votre discipline; 
 tant il faut de soin et de sagesse, pour bien diriger 
 les hommes. 
 
 Supposons que, par ces moyens, vous puissiez 
 ecarter le mal : autant vous ^cartez de maux, 
 autant vous 6loignez de vertus; car le fonds en est 
 le meme ; ils ont une source commune ; leur 
 existence est proprement relative, et se rapporte k 
 des combinaisons ^trang^res au principe qui les 
 produit. Nous naviguons diversement sur le vaste 
 oc^an de la vie*: la raison en est la boussole, 
 mais la passion en est le vent. Ce n'est pas dans 
 le calme seul que Ton trouve la divinite: Dieu 
 marche sur les flots, et monte sur les vents. Les 
 passions, ainsi que les elemens, quoique nees pour 
 combattre, cependant melees et adoucies, s'unissent 
 dans Touvrage de Dieu ; il n'a point renvers^ les 
 passions ; il n'a fait que les mod^rer, et il les a 
 employees. Que les gouvernemens soient dociles 
 a la nature et a Dieu : il nous recommande U 
 
 * Nous naviguons diversement sur le vaste ocean de la vie, 
 &c.] Miraheau has deviated but little from his original ; here, 
 however, he has introduced a passage from Pope*s Essay on 
 Man ; but not with any particular aptness of appropriation : 
 
 " On life's vast ocean diversely we sail, 
 
 " Reason the card, but Passion is the gale ; 
 
 " Nor God alone in the still calm we find, 
 
 " He mounts the storm, and walks upon the wind. 
 
 " Passions, like Elements, tho* born to fight, 
 '* Yet, mixM and soften'd, in his work unite : 
 ** These 'tis enough to temper and employ." 
 
 Ep. II. 
 
THE AREOPAGITIGA. 293 
 
 temperance, la justice, la continence, et cependant 
 il verse autour de nous les biens avec profusion, et 
 il nous donne des desirs illimit^s. Pourquoi les 
 l^gislateurs des humains, suivroient-ils une marche 
 contraire, Iorsqu*il s*agit de Tinstruclion hunaaine, 
 puisque les livres permis indistinctemeut, peuvent 
 a la fois ^purer les vertus, et contribuer a la d^cou- 
 verte de la v^rit^ ? peut-^tre vaudroit-il mieux ap- 
 prendre que la loi qui prohibe est essentiellement 
 vaine, incertaine, et qu'elle repose sur le bien 
 comme sur le mal. Si j'avois a choisir, la moindre 
 somme de bien me paroitroit preferable k la suite 
 forc^e de la plus grande quantity de mal, car le 
 libre d^veloppement d*un etre vertueux, est sans 
 doute plus agr^able h TEtre supreme que la con- 
 trainte de dix etres-vicieux. 
 
 Puisque tout ce que nous voyons, ou que nous 
 entendons, soit assis, soit dans les promenades, soit 
 dans les conversations ou dans les voyages, pent 
 s'appeller proprement notre livre, et produit sur 
 nous le meme efFet que les ecrits ; il est Evident 
 que, si Ton ne pent supprimer que les livres, cette 
 prohibition ne parviendra jamais aux fins qu*elle 
 se propose ; si Ton n'envisage que Tint^ret des 
 moeurs, qu'on jette les yeux sur Tltalie et sur 
 TEspagne, ces nations se sont-elles am^lior^es de- 
 puis que Tinquisition a pris a tache d*y proscrire 
 les livres. 
 
 Et si vous voulez une preuve irrevocable de Tim- 
 possibilite que cette institution puisse jamais r^m- 
 plir son but, consid^rez les qualites qu'exige la 
 
294 MIRABEAU'S IMITATION OF 
 
 place de censeur, Celui qui s*^tablit juge de la 
 naissance ou de la mort d'un livre, qui peut k son 
 gri le faire entrer dans le monde, ou le replonger 
 dans le n^ant, doit, sans doute, Temporter infi- 
 himent sur les autres hommes, par ses lumi^res ou 
 son dquit^: autrement il feroit des injustices ou 
 des m^prises, ce qui ne seroit pas un moindre mal. 
 S'il a le m^rite n6cessaire pour de si importantes 
 fonctions, c*est lui imposer une tache ennuyeuse et 
 fatiguante, c'est vouloir qu*il se consume a lire 
 perp^tuellement le premier manuscrit qui se pre- 
 ' sentera. En v^rit^, pour peu qu'un homme ap- 
 pr^cie son temps et ses Etudes, il ne sauroit se 
 charger d'une pareille tache, mais si Ton ne peut 
 esp^rer que les hommes de merite se Timposent, 
 qui ne pr^voit en quelles mains doit tomber la dig- 
 nit^ de censeur ? 
 
 Voyons cependant si sous quelque autre rapport 
 il peut r^sulter du bien de la censure. C'est d'abord 
 •un affront et un grand motif de d^couragement pour 
 les lettres et pour ceux qui les cultivent. Sur le 
 moindre bruit d*une motion pour empecher la plu^ 
 ralite des b6n6rices, et distribuer plus Equitable- 
 ment les revenus de T^glise, les prdlats se sont 
 r^cri^s que ce seroit d^courager et eteindre toute 
 espece d'erudition. Mais je n'ai jamais trouv^ de 
 raison de croire que Texistence de connoissances 
 humaines tint a Texistence du clerg6; et j'ai tou- 
 jours regard^ ce propos sordide comme indigne de 
 tout homme d'^glise auquel on laissoit Tabsolu 
 n^cessaire. Si done vous etes destines, milords et 
 
THE AREOPAGITICA. 295 
 
 messieurs, a d^courager enti^rement, non la troupe 
 mercenaire des faux savans, mais ceux que leur 
 vocation appelle k cultiver les lettres, sans autre 
 motif que de servir Dieu et la v^rit^, peut-etre 
 aussi dans Tattente de cette renomm^e future et 
 des 6loges de la post^rit^, que le eiel et les 
 hommes assignent pour recompense k ceux dont 
 les ouvrages contribuent au bonheur de Thumanit^j 
 s'il faut, dis-je, que vous les d^couragiez absolu- 
 ment, sachez que vous ne pouvez pas leur faire un 
 plus grand outrage que celui de vous m^fier de 
 leur jugement et de leur honnetet^, au point de les 
 soumettre k un tuteur sous lequel ils ne puissent 
 jamais donner I'essor a leur pens^e. 
 
 Et quelle diff(6rence y aura-t-il entre Thomme de 
 lettres et I'enfant qu*on envoie k Tecole, si, d^livr^ 
 de la ferule, il faut qu'il tombe sous la touche du 
 censeur ? si, semblables aux themes d'un ^colier, 
 des ouvrages travailles avec soin, ne peuvent voir 
 le jour sans la revision prompte ou tardive d'un 
 approbateur? Celui qui, dans sa patrie, se voit 
 priv^ de la liberty de ses actions, n*a-t-il pas lieu 
 de croire qu'on Vy regarde comme un Stranger, ou 
 comme un fou ? 
 
 Un homme qui ecrit apelle toute sa raison a 
 son secours. Apres avoir pris tous les renseigne- 
 mens possibles sur le sujet qu*il traite, il ne se con- 
 tente pas de ses recherches et de ses meditations -, 
 il consuite encore des amis. Si toutes ces precau- 
 tions dans Tacte le moins Equivoque de la matu- 
 rity de son esprit, si les annees entieres qu'il y em- 
 
296 MIBABEAU'S IMITATION OF 
 
 ploie et les preuves anterieures de son habilet^, ne 
 peuvent jamais rassurer sur son compte, a moins 
 que le fruit de ses veilles ne passe sous les yeux 
 d*un censeur, quelquefois plus jeune, moins judi- 
 cieux, et peut-etre ignorant absolument ce que 
 c'est que d'6crire ; en un mot, si Tauteur, ^chap- 
 pant h la proscription, ne peut, apres plusieurs 
 d^lais, se presenter a Timpression que comme un 
 inineur accompagne de celui qui le tient sous 
 sa tut^le ; s*il faut enfin, que la signature du cen- 
 seur lui serve de caution et garantisse au public 
 qu'il n'est ni corrupteur, ni imb^cille, c'est 
 avilir, c'est degrader a la fois I'auteur et le 
 livre, et fl^trir en quelque sorte la dignite des 
 lettres. 
 
 Comment un ^crivain qui craint de voir mutiler 
 ses meilleures pens^es, et d'etre forc^ de publier 
 un ouvrage imparfait, ce qui sans doute est la plus 
 cruelle vexation, comment cet ^crivain osera-t-il 
 donner Tessor ^ son g^nie ? oil trouvera-t-il cette 
 noble assurance qui convient k celui qui enseigne 
 des v^rit^s nouvelles et sans laquelle vaudroit autant 
 qu'il se tut 5 s'il sait que toutes ses phrases seront 
 soumises k Tinspection et k la correction d'un 
 censeur qui peut, au gr^ de son caprice, effacer 
 ou alt^rer ce qui ne s'accordera point avec son 
 humeur r^primante qu'il appelle son jugement? 
 s'il sait qu'a la vue de la p^dantesque approbation, 
 le lecteur malin jettera le volume, en se moquant 
 du docteur qu'on m^ne par les lisieres? 
 
 Clu'on examine les livres munis d 'approbation. 
 
THE AREOPAGITICA. 297 
 
 on verra qu'ils ne contiennent que les id^es les 
 plus communes, et par cela meme souvent les 
 plus fausses. En effet, d*apres sa mission, le cen- 
 seur ne pent laisser circuler que les v^rit^s triviales, 
 pour lesquelles ce n'etoit pas la peine d'^crire, ou 
 les erreurs favoris^es. Par un abus encore plus 
 deplorable, quand il s*agit d*imprimer ou de r^im- 
 primer les oeuvres d*un ^crivain mort depuis long- 
 temps, et dont la reputation est consacr^e, s'y 
 trouve-t-il une pensee feconde, ^chappde au zk\e 
 de Tenthousiasme ? il faudra quVlle pdrisse sous le 
 scalpel de la censure. Ainsi, par la timiditd, la 
 prdsomption ou Tincapacit^ d*un censeur, Topinion 
 d*un grand homme sera perdue pour la post^rit^. 
 ^ . . Si ceux qui en ont le pouvoir ne s*empressent 
 pas de rem^dier a cet abus, s'ils permettent qu'on 
 traite aussi indignement les productions orphelines 
 des grands hommes, quelle sera done la condition 
 de ces etres privil^gi^s, qui auront le malheur 
 d'avoir du g^nie ? ne faudra-t-il pas qu*ils 
 cessent d'instruire ou qu'ils apportent le plus 
 grand soin a cacher leurs connoissances, puisque 
 I'ignorance, la paresse, la sotlise, deviendront les 
 qualitds les plus desirables et les seules qui 
 pourront assurer le bonheur et la tranquillity de 
 la vie ? 
 
 Et comme c'est un m^pris particulier pour 
 chaque auteur vivant, et une indignity plus outra- 
 geante encore pour les morts, n'est-ce pas aussi 
 d^grader et avilir toute la nation ? II m'est im- 
 possible de comprendre par quelle adresse on pour- 
 
298 MIRABEAU'S IMITATION OF 
 
 roit renfermer dans vingt tetes, quelques bonnes 
 qu*on les suppose, le jugement de savoir, Tesprit 
 et r^rudition de tout uii people. Encore moins 
 concevrai-je la n^cessite qu*elles en aient la surin- 
 tendance, quetoutes les id^es passent k leur couloir, 
 et que cette monnoie ne puisse avoir de cours si 
 elle n*est pas frapp^e a leur coin. LMntelligence 
 et la verity ne sont pas des denr^es propres au 
 monopole, ni dont on doive soumettre le commerce 
 k des r^glemens particuliers. Eh quoi 1 pretend- 
 on les emmagasiner et les marquer comme nos 
 draps et nos laines ! Quelle honteuse servitude, s'il 
 faut que vingt censeurs taillent toutes les plumes 
 dont nous voudrons nous servir ! 
 
 Si Ton vouloit punir un auteur qui, contre sa 
 raison et sa conscience, se seroit permis des 
 ouvrages scandaleux et attentatoires a Thonnetet^ 
 publique, quelle plus grande fl^trissure pourroit-on 
 lui infliger, que d'ordonner qu'a Tavenir toutes ses 
 autres productions seroient r^vis^es et ne paroitroient 
 qu'avec Tattache d'un censeur. E,t c'est toute une 
 nation ! c*est Tuniversalit^ des gens de lettres 
 qu*on reduit a cette condition humiliante ! On 
 laisse des d^biteurs, des coupables meme aller sur 
 leur parole ; et un livre inoffensif ne pourra se pre- 
 senter dans le monde sans qu*on voie son geolier 
 sur le frontispice ? N'est-ce done pas la un affront 
 pour le peuple ? n'est-ce pas supposer toute la 
 classe des lecteurs dans un ^tat d'ineptie ou de 
 perversity qui demande qu'on dirige leurs lectures ? 
 Croit-on que si Ton n'avoit pas cette charity pour 
 
THE AREOPAGITICA. 299 
 
 eux, lis n'auroient jamais I'esprit de prendre Ja 
 bonne nourriture et de laisser le poison ? 
 
 En un mot, on ne pent pas regarder la censure 
 des livres comme une methode dictee par la sagesse; 
 car, si c'^toit un moyen sage, il faudroit Tappliquer 
 a tout ; il n'y auroit pas de raison pour qu'on s*en 
 servit pour les livres, plutot que pour toute autre 
 chose J c'est-la sans doute une invincible demons- 
 tration que ce moyen n'est bon k rien. 
 
 Et de peur, messieurs, qu*on ne vous dise que 
 ce decouragement des gens de lettres sous la ferule 
 des censeurs, n*est qu'une crainte chim^rique, 
 souffrez que je vous rapporte ce que j*ai vu et ce 
 que j*ai entendu dans les pays ou r^gne cette esp^ce 
 de tyrannie. Lorsque je me suis trouv^ parmi les 
 gens de lettres de ces nations, car j*ai eu quelque* 
 fois cet honneur, ils n'ont cess^ de me feliciter 
 d'etre n^ dans un pays qu'ils supposoient libre; 
 tandis qu*eux-memes, ils ne faisoient autre chose 
 que dt^plorer la servile condition k laquelle les gens 
 instruits se trouvoient reduits parmi eux. lis pr^- 
 tendoient qu'ainsi s'^toit perdue la gloire des lettres 
 en Italic, et que depuis plusieurs annees on n*y 
 i^crivoit plus que de plates adulations, de coupables 
 mensonges^ ou d'insipides niaiseries. C*est-la que 
 j'ai visite le c^lebre Galilee, blanchi dans les fers de 
 rinquisition, pour avoir eu sur Tastronomie des 
 opinions differentes de celles des approbateurs 
 franciscaiiis et dominicains. Quoique je fusse fort 
 bien que TAngleterre gemissoit sous le joug de la 
 prelature, je recevois neanmoins comme un gage 
 
300 MIRABEAU'S IMITATION OF 
 
 de son bonheur k venir, la certitude actuelle de 
 sa liberty que je trouvois si bien ^tablie entre 
 toutes les nations. J*ignorois cependant que ma 
 patrie renfermoit alors dans son sein les dignes 
 auteurs de sa d^livrance, qui ne sera jamais oubli^e, 
 quelque revolution que le monde doive subir. 
 Mais, lorsque j*entendois les gens de lettres des 
 autres contr^es g^mir sur Tinquisition qui les asser- 
 vissoit ; je ne croyois pas qu'un projet de censure 
 dikt forcer ceux de mon pays k former de pareilles 
 plaintes contre le parlement. Elles dtoient gen^- 
 rales quand je me suis permis de m*y joindre -, ce 
 n'est point ma cause particuli^re dont j'ai entrepris 
 la defense ; c'est la cause commune de tous ceux 
 qui cultivent les lettres et consacrent leurs veilles a 
 6clairer les hommes. 
 
 Que ferez-vous done, messieurs ? Supprimerez- 
 vous cette brillante moisson de lumieres qui, de 
 jour en jour, nous promet une r^colte si heureuse ? 
 la soumettrez-vous k Toligarchie de vingt monopo- 
 leurs pour qu'ils ramenent les temps de dissette et 
 affament entierement nos esprits ? Croyez que 
 ceux qui donnent un semblable conseil ne sont pas 
 moins ennemis de T^tat, que s*ils conseilloient de 
 vous supprimer vous-memes. 
 
 En efFet, si Ton cherche la cause immediate 
 de la liberty de penser et d'^crire, on ne la trouvera 
 que dans la liberty douce et humaine de votre 
 gouvernement. Cette liberty que nous devons 
 k votre valeur et a votre sagesse fut toujours 
 la m^re du g^nie. C'est elle qui, pareille k I'influ- 
 
THE AREOPAGITICA. 301 
 
 ence des cieux, est venue tout-k-coup Clever et 
 vivifier nos esprits. Vous ne pouvez maintenant 
 nous rendre nioins ^clair^s, moins avides de la 
 v^rit^, k moins que vous ne connmenciez par le 
 devenir vous-memes ; k moins que vous ne ddtrui- 
 siez votre ouvrage, en renversant de vos propres 
 mains T^difice de la liberty. 
 
 Nous pouvons encore rentrer dans I'ignorance, 
 dans Tabrutissement, dans la servitude. Mais 
 auparavant, ce qui n*est pas possible, il faut que 
 vous deveniez oppresseurs, despotes, tyrans, comme 
 Tetoient ceux dont vous nous avez affranchis. Et 
 si nous sommes plus intelligens, si nos pens^es 
 ont pris un nouvel essor; enfin, si nous sommes 
 devenus capables de grandes choses, n'est-ce pas 
 une suite de vos propres vertus qui se sont iden- 
 tifi^es en nous ? pouvez- vous les y etouffer sans 
 renouveller et ren forcer cette loi barbare, qui 
 donnoit aux p^res le droit d'^gorger leurs enfans ? 
 Et qui pourra se charger alors de conduire un 
 troupeau d*aveugles ? Otez-moi toutes les autres 
 liberies ; mais laissez-moi celle de parler et d*^crire 
 selon ma conscience. 
 
 Et quel temps fut jamais plus favorable a la 
 liberty de la presse } le temple de Janus est ferm^; 
 c'est-^-dire, on ne se bat plus pour des mots; ce 
 seroit faire injure k la v6nt6, que de croire qu'elle 
 put etre arrachee par le vent des doctrines con- 
 traires : qu*elles en viennent aux mains, et vous 
 verrez de quel c6i6 restera la victoire. La v6rit^ 
 eut-elle jamais le dessous quand elle fut attaqu^e 
 
302 MIRABEAU^S IMITATION OF 
 
 a decouvert, et qu*on lui laissa la liberty de se 
 d^fendre? Refuter librement I'erreur est le plu» 
 sxiiT moyen de la <]^truire. Quelle contradiction ne 
 seroit-ce pas, si, tandis que riiomme sage nous 
 exhorteroit a fouiller avidement par-tout pour 
 d^couvrir le tr^sor cach^ de la v^rit^, le gouverne- 
 ment venoit arreter nos recherches et sournettre nos 
 iconnoissances k des loix prohibitives ? 
 
 Lorsqu'un homme a creuse la profonde mine des 
 connoissances humaines, lorsqu'il en a extrait les 
 d^couvertes qu'il veut mettre au grand jour, il arme 
 ses raisonnemens pour leur defense ; il ^claircit et 
 discute les objections. Ensuite, il appelle son 
 adversaire dans la plaine, et lui olFre Tavantage du 
 lieu, du vent et du soleil. Car se cacher, tendre 
 des embuches, s'etablir sur le pont ^troit de la 
 censure, ou I'agresseur soit n^cessairement oblig^ 
 de passer; quoique toutes ces precautions puissent 
 s'accorder avec la valeur militaire, c'est toujours 
 un signe de foiblesse et de couardise dans la guerre 
 de la v^rite. Qui peut douter de sa force ^ternelle 
 et invincible ? qu*a-t-elle besoin pour triompher 
 de police ni de prohibition ? ne sont-ce pas la les 
 arnies favourites de Terreur ? accordez a la verity 
 un plus libre developpement sous quelque forme 
 qu*elle se pr^sente; et ne vous avisez pas de I'en- 
 chainer tandis qu*elle dort, car elle cesseroit de 
 parler son langage. Le vieux Protee ne rendit 
 des oracles que lorsqu'il ^toit garrot6. Mais la 
 v6rite dans cet 6tat prend toute sorte de figures, 
 excepts la sienne ; peut-etre menae conforme-t- 
 
THE aheopagitica. 303 
 
 elle sa voix aux temps et aux circonstances, 
 jusqu*^ ce qu*on la somme de redevenir elle^ 
 m^me. 
 
 Eh ! si nous n'avions que la charity pour guide, 
 de combien de choses ne nous reposerions-nous pas 
 sur la conscience des autres ! 
 
 La moindre division dans les corps nous trouble 
 et nous alarme, et nous ne prenons, aucun soin de 
 rassembier les membres epars de la verit<$, qui Tor- 
 ment cependant la flots, i^re de toutes les scissions 
 la plus funeste detoutes les ruptures. Est-il quelque 
 chose qui d*abord ressemble plus a Terreur qu'une 
 v^rit^ qui lutte contre des pr^jug^s que le temps a 
 consacr^s ? On peut done affirmer que la censure 
 empechera moins d'erreurs qu*elle ne proscrira 
 de v^rites. Pourquoi nous parler continuellement 
 du danger des nouvelles opinions, puisque Topinion 
 la plus dangereuse est celle des personnes qui veu- 
 lent qu*on ne pense et qu*on ne parle que par leur 
 ordre ou par leur permission ? d*ailleurs, il ne faut 
 pas croire que les erreurs et les fausses doctrines ne 
 soient point n^cessaires k I'^conomie morale du. 
 monde. Si tout-k-coup la v^rit^ se pr^sentoit a 
 nous dans tout son ^clat, elle accableroit notre 
 foiblesse, et nos yeux ne pourroient en soutenir le 
 spectacle. L*erreur est le nuage qui s*interpose 
 entr'elie et nous, et qui, ne se dissipant que par 
 degr^s, nous prepare a recevoir le jour de la 
 v^rit^. 
 
 Enfin, les erreurs sont presque aussi communes 
 dans les bons gouyernemens que dans les ma«- 
 
304 BIIRABEAU'S IMITATION OF 
 
 vais. Car, quel est le magistrat dont la religion ne 
 puisse ^tre surprise, sur-tout si Ton met des entraves 
 a la liberty de la presse ? mais redresser prompte- 
 ment et volontairement les erreurs dans lesquelles 
 on est tomb^, et pr^f^rer au triste plaisir d*enchainer 
 les hommes, celui de les ^clairer ; c*est une vertu 
 qui r^pond a la grandeur de vos actions, et k la- 
 quelle seule peuvent pretendre les mortels les plus 
 dignes et les plus sages. 
 
 Tels sont les raissonemens victorieux auxquels 
 TAngleterre doit peut-etre le bienfait de la liberty 
 de la presse. Voulez-vous savoir k quel point Tex- 
 p^rience y a confirm^ la th^orie, et combien il est 
 vrai que cette inappreciable liberty est nonseule- 
 ment le palladium de toutes les liberies, mais le 
 phare du gouvernement ; ecoutez ces paroles 
 pleines de sens et de sagesse d'un penseur profond, 
 qui a 6tudie ce pays toute sa vie, et donnd en peu 
 de lignes le resultat le plus lumineux que je con- 
 noisse sur les veritables causes de la prospdrit^ 
 britannique. II faut le remettre sous les yeux du 
 lecteur ce fragment vraiment pr^cieux; car son 
 auteur a trop pr6sum6 de nous en croyant qu'il 
 seroit assez remarqu^ au milieu d'une mdta- 
 physique tres-subtile et des calculs n^cessaire- 
 ment un peu arides, par lesquels il a voulu 
 Tappliquer, 
 
 Ce n'est point Thabilet^, dit M, de Casaux, ce 
 
THE AREOPAGITICA. 305 
 
 n'est point Tint^grit^ des ministres anglois qui font 
 et qui assurent k jamais la prosp^rit6 de TAngle- 
 terre, puisque TAngleterre eut, comme tous les au- 
 tres pays, beaucoup de ministres fort ordinaires et 
 tr^s-peu d'immacules. 
 
 Ce n'est point Texistence perp^tuelle d'une op- 
 position d^cid^e, ouverte, sans crainte, int^.ressde k 
 tout disputer aux ministres, puisqu'il est possible 
 que le minist^re et Topposition trouvent un plus 
 grand int^ret a se r^unir, puisque le fait a plus 
 d'une fois constats cette possibility*, et puisqu'il 
 r^sulteroit finalement de cette coalition Toppression 
 du peuple et resclavage du prince, qui suit tou- 
 jours de bien pr^s Toppression du peuple. 
 
 Ce n*est point la liberty des voix dans les 
 Elections; puisque la tr^s-grande majorit6 des 
 electeurs, sans talens et sans lumi^res, ne connois- 
 sent et ne peuvent connoitre ni le caract^re ni la 
 capacity des candidats; puisquMl est absurde de 
 supposer une vraie liberty avec ce d^faut de con- 
 noissance ; et qu*ainsi, a parler strictement, il n'y 
 a dans les Elections en Angleterre ni voix, 
 ni liberty. 
 
 Ce n'est point la liberty des suffrages dans les 
 deux chambres, qui cependant r^unissent tant de 
 lumi^res, et qui pourroient cons^quemment r^unir 
 tant de voix ; puisque la tres-grande majority dans 
 une chambre comme dans Tautre, est toujours 
 .pour le ministere, jusqu'k Tinstant qui pr^c^de 
 
 * Cette etrange amalgame s*y designe par le mot coalition. 
 
 X 
 
306 MIRABEAU's IMITATION OF 
 
 celui oil le minist^re va changer, et qu'il est 
 contre nature que le ministre ne se trompe jamais. 
 
 Ce n'est point la distinction et Tind^pendance 
 respective des communes, des pairs et du roi jointes 
 k la n^cessit^ de leur accord pour former une loi 
 quelconque : on le prouve par trois raisons ddcisives. 
 
 Premi^rement, dans un Etat ou Ton ne trouve- 
 rolt ni nobles, ni roi, une assemblee unique y seroit 
 n^cessairement compos^e d*hommes egaux, et 
 cependant il suffiroit pour y r^unir tous les avan- 
 tages de la legislation angloise, que cette assemblee 
 d'homraes ^gaux se partageat en trois comit^s, 
 dont le second ne s'occuperoit d'une proposition, 
 qu'apr^s qu*elle auroit ^t^ d^battue et agr^^ dans 
 le premier, et dont le troisieme ne pourroit s'en 
 saisir qu*apr^s qu'elle auroit 6i6 agr^^ par les deux 
 autres, ni lui donner force de loi qu*apres que les 
 deux premiers auroient agr66 les changemens qu*ils 
 jugeroient k propos d'y faire, ou bien qu'ils 
 auroient d^clar^, apres ddibdratioiiy adherer k 
 Tarr^te de deux autres tel qu'ils I'auroient re^u. 
 Maintenant, si chacun des trois comit^s devenoit st 
 son tour le troisieme, si chacun d'eux devenoit k 
 son tour le premier, quel avantage auroit sur cette 
 organisation simple, Torganisation mixte si vant^e 
 de TAngleterre, dont TAm^rique voulut trop, peut- 
 6tre, se rapprocher. 
 
 Secondement, en supposant la monarchic la 
 plus absolue, et le ministre le plus d^cid^ a 
 paroitre prononcer sur touty il suffiroit k ce ministre, 
 pour r^unir tous les avantages de la legislation 
 
THE AREOPAGITICA. 307 
 
 angloise, de r^.unir, n'importante par quel moyen, 
 avant de prononcer sur quoi que ce soii, toutes les 
 connoissances qui existeroient dans 7 a 800 tetes 
 pareilles a celles qui composent le corps I^gislatif 
 de cette fi^re nation. 
 
 Enfin, on a vu plus d*une fois en Angleterre, le 
 roi, la majority des pairs, et celle des communes se 
 r^unir sur des mesures qui eussent pen k peu et 
 sourdement etabli dans ce pays de la liberie, une 
 aristocratie terrible, finalement aussi funeste au 
 prince qu'elle paroitroit servir, qu'au peuple qui en 
 seroit la premiere victime*. 
 
 Non, ce n*est point k ces moyens si vant^s que 
 TAngleterre doit cette prosp^ritd qui ^tonne, cette 
 richesse qu*on envie, cette puissance encore capable 
 de tout maintenir, quoiqu'elle eut mal-adroitement 
 tent^ de tout subjuguer. C'est k cette 4p^e de 
 Damocles, par-tout en Angleterre suspendue sur la 
 lete de quiconque m^diteroit dans le secret de son 
 coBur, quelque projet funeste au prince et au 
 peuple; I'^p^e tombe au premier pas qu*il fait 
 pour Tex^cuter. C'est k ce principe inculqu^ dans 
 toutes les tetes angloises, que celle d'un seul 
 homme ne renferme pas toutes les iddes; que le 
 meilleur avis ne pent etre que celui qui resulte de 
 la combinaison de tons 3 qu'il n'a besoin que d*etre 
 
 * Voyez Taffaire des Wilks,voyez celle de rAmerique, voyez 
 celle de plasieurs bills relatifs a Tlnde, et n'oubliez pas le der- 
 nier acte qui explique, dit-on, ce qui n'avoit jamais ete dit, et 
 declare comme interpretation, le contraire de ce que tout le 
 monde avoit pens^, tout le monde, excepie le ministre qui s'etoit 
 bien garde de le dire. 
 
308 MIRABEAU'S IMITATION OF 
 
 ddclar^ pour etre senti, et devenir aussi-tot une 
 propri^t^ gen^rale qui constate un droit ^gal k 
 toutes les consequences qui end^rivent; que celui 
 qui craint de soumettre ses id^es k la discussion de 
 ceux dont elles doivent former la propri^t^, si elles 
 sont utiles, est un ennemi public que cliacun doit se 
 hater de d^noncer, et que b^ni doit etre Tinconnu 
 meme qui le dtgnonce par la voie publique de Tim- 
 pression. 
 
 Enlevez a TAngleterre Tunique moyen de con- 
 server ce principe dans toute son Anergic; enlevez- 
 lui la liberty de la presse; liberty que chaque 
 ministre, en Angleterre comme ailleurs, voudroit 
 an^antir pendant son ministere, et remplacer par 
 un drdre absolu de se prosterner devant toutes ses 
 b^vues; enlevez, dis-je, ^ TAngleterre la liberty de 
 la presse, et malgr^ toutes les ressources de son 
 admirable constitution, les b^vues ministerielles, si 
 rares en Angleterre, s*y succ^deront aussi rapide- 
 ment qa'ailleurs : et meme on y dormira plus 
 tranquillement qu'ailleurs ; d*abord sur les b^vues 
 ministerielles, et ensuite sur tons les attentats des 
 ministres, parce qu*on y sera plus rassurd par 
 Tombre d*une opposition qui ne tardera pas a r^- 
 clamer secretement et obtenir de la meme maniere 
 le part age des ddpoiiilles et du prince et du peuple ; 
 et bientot la Nation la plus florissante ne sera qu*un 
 objet de piti^ pour tons ceux dont elle excita Tenvie 
 et m^rita Tadmiration. Transportez, au contraire, 
 peu a pen la liberty de la presse en Turquiej in- 
 ventez, car il n'existe pas, inventez un moyen d*en 
 
THE AREOPAGITICA. 309 
 
 fkire parvenir les fruits jusqu'au grand-seigneur par 
 d'autres mains que celles d'un visir, qui pement si 
 aisiment tout corrompre, et bientot nul visir n'osera 
 tromper son maitre ; tout visir consultera la voix 
 du peuple avant de faire tonner la sienne ; et 
 bientot la Turquie, riche de toutes les facult^s de 
 son territoire et de son immense population, sera 
 plus puissante, et non moins respect^e que cette 
 Angleterre si puissante et si respect^e aujourd*hui. . . 
 Combien nous en sommes loin, avec tant de droits 
 d'y pretendre, tant de moyens d'y parvenir ! 
 
 O vous, qui bient6t repr^senterez les Fran9ois ; 
 vous, qu*on n*e4t jamais assembles, si dans la main 
 des hommes le malheur de semer le d^sordre et la 
 ruine, et de rester sans pouvoir, ne suivoit pas in^- 
 vitablement le funeste pouvoir de tout faire -, vous, 
 qu'on assemble pour tout reg^n^rer, parce que s'il 
 reste encore quelque chose a detruire, il ne 
 reste plus d'hommes cr^dules k tromper; vous, qui 
 repondrez, non pas a la France seule, mais k Thu- 
 manit^ enti^re de tout le bien que vous n'aurez 
 
 pas procure k votre patrie ! Tremblez, si 
 
 semblables aux rois, ou plutot k leurs ministres, 
 vous croyez tout savoir ou pouvoir tout ignorer 
 sans honte, parce que vous pourrez tout com- 
 mander avec impunity. Obliges de tout savoir 
 pour decider sur tout, quand TEurope vous ^coute, 
 comment saurezvous tout, si tons ne sont pas 
 ^coutes ? comment saurez-vous tout, si un seul 
 homme ^clair^, le plus 6clair^ peut-etre, mais le 
 plus timide, croit se compromettre s*il ose parler ? . 
 
310 MIRABEAU^S IMITATION OF 
 
 .... que la premiere de vos loix .... la pre- 
 miere ! sans elle la meilleure (si la meilleure 
 
 pouvoit exister sans elle) seroit bienlot ^lud^e ou 
 violee, et tot ou tard, elle seule assureroit la pros- 
 p^rit^ de Tern pi re rran9ois .... Que la premiere de 
 vos loix consacre k jamais la liberty de la presse, 
 ]a liberty la plus inviolable, la plus illimit^e : qu'elle 
 imprime le sceau du mepris public sur le front de 
 rignorant qui craindra les abus de cette liberty ; 
 qu*elle d^voue k Tex^cration universelle le sc^l^rat 
 qui feindra de les craindre . . . . le miserable ! il 
 veut encore tout opprimerj il en regrette les 
 moyens ; il rugit dans son cceur de les voir 
 ^chapper ! 
 
 4 Decembre 1738. 
 P. S. On imprimoit cette feuille lorsque Tarrete 
 du parlement de Paris, du 5 de ce mois, a paru : 
 et certes, cVst aujourd'hui que les bons citoyens 
 doivent lui rendre grace; car si ce corps judiciaire 
 et non politique est sorli du cercle de sa jurisdic- 
 tion, c*est du moins cette fois au profit de la nation, 
 et la profession de foi qu*il public, veritable pro- 
 gramme de la declaration des droits sur laquelle 
 doit etre fondee la liberty particuliere et publique, 
 est exempte enfin de toute ambiguite. 
 
 Attachement aux anciennes formes sagement 
 limits. 
 
 Representation Equitable clairement indiquee. 
 Doctrine des subsides invariablement pos^e. 
 
THE AREOPAGITICA. 311 
 
 Responsabilit^ des ministres, seule basedeTinvio- 
 lable respect de Tautorit^ royale, nettement ^tablie. 
 
 Libert^ individuelle des citoyens imperieusement 
 r^clam^e, 
 
 Pouvoir legislatif reconnu k la nation pr^sid^e 
 par son roi. 
 
 Liberte' de la presse, garant unique, garant 
 sacr^ de ces beaux droits ; liberte' de la presse, 
 seute ressource prompte et certaine des gens dc Men 
 contre les medians, liberie de la presse <^nergique- 
 ment invoqu^e 
 
 Voil^, voil^ sans doute un grand bienfait; voil^ 
 le drapeau de ralliement pour la nation ; voil^ 
 le rameau de paix qui doit dissiper toutes les 
 m^fiances et reunir tons les voeux .... qu'ils 
 s'abreuvent de leur propre venin, ceux qui espe- 
 roient, ou int^resser les corps a repousser Tassembl^e 
 Rationale, ou diviser les ordres et incendier les 
 provinces assez pour la rendre impossible: nous 
 aurons une constitution, puisque Tesprit public a 
 fait de tels progr^s, de telles conquetes ; nous 
 aurons une constitution, peut-etre meme sans de 
 grands troubles civils, qui, apr^s tout, valent mieux 
 qu'un mauvais ordre legal ; nous aurons une con- 
 stitution, et la France atteindra enfin au d^veloppe- 
 ment de ses hautes destinies. 
 
 THE END. 
 
 CHARLES WOOD, Printer, 
 Poppin's Court, Fleet Street, London. 
 
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