An ESSAY, &c.

ALL Men pretend the Licentiouſneſs of the Preſs to be a publick Grievance, but it is much eaſier to ſay it is ſo, than to prove it, or preſcribe a proper Remedy; nor is it the eaſieſt Grievance to Cure.

To put a general ſtop to publick Printing, would be a check to Learning, a Prohibition of Knowledge, and make Inſtruction Contraband: And as Printing has been own'd to be the moſt uſeful Invention ever found out, in order to poliſh the Learned World, make men Polite, and encreaſe the Knowledge of Letters, and thereby all uſeful Arts and Sciences; ſo the high Perfection of Human Knowledge muſt be at a ſtand, Improvements ſtop, and the Knowledge of Letters de⯑cay in the Kingdom, if a general Interruption ſhould be put to the Preſs.

To Reſtrain the Licentious Extravagance of Au⯑thors therefore, and bring the Preſs under Regulati⯑ons, is the Caſe before us, and this is for that Reaſon call'd, An Eſſay on the Regulation of the Preſs.

'Twould be endleſs to examine the Liberty taken by the Men of Wit in the World, the looſe they give themſelves in Print, at Religion, at Government, at Scandal; the prodigious looſeneſs of the Pen, in broaching new Opinions in Religion, as well as in Politicks, are real Scandals to the Nation, and well de⯑ſerve a Regulation.

[4] No Nation in the Chriſtian World, but ours, would have ſuffered ſuch Books as Aſgill upon Death; Coward againſt the Immortality of the Soul; — on Poli⯑gamy; — againſt the Trinity; B—t's Theo⯑ry; and abundance more tending to Atheiſm, Here⯑ſie, and Irreligion, without a publick Cenſure, nor ſhould the Authors have gone without Cenſure and Puniſhment, in any place in Europe, but here.

On theſe accounts, I cannot but agree that a Regu⯑lation, or due Reſtraint of the Preſs, is a good work. But the next and moſt material Enquiry is, how ſhall it be obtain'd?

By a Licenſe Office, ſays a Meſſenger of the Preſs, that I may be employ'd to make work in the Town, as has been done in the days of yore.

That this is the hopes of a forward Party upon that head, is very plain to make out, but I ſhall avoid charging any Body, and only proceed to examine what are the proper Conſequences of a Licenſe to the Preſs.

Firſt, It makes the Preſs a ſlave to a Party; let it be which Party it will, I meddle not with that; but whatever Party of Men obtain the Reins of Ma⯑nagement, and have power to name the Perſon who ſhall Licenſe the Preſs, that Party of Men have the whole power of keeping the World in Ignorance, in all matters relating to Religion or Policy, ſince the Writers of that Party ſhall have full liberty to impoſe their Notions upon the World, and if any Man offers to reply, the Licenſer ſhall refuſe the Copy.

This has been accounted Arbitrary, and not the leaſt Grievance in former Reigns; for indeed an ab⯑ſolute ſubmitting the Preſs to the will of a Licenſer, is bringing the whole Trade of Books, and the whole Body of Learning, under the Arbitrary Power of Mer⯑cenary Men.

[5] The Labours of the moſt capable Scholar, the Ela⯑borate Works of the moſt exquiſite Artiſt, the moſt Practical Diſcourſe on the Divineſt Subject, Diſſerta⯑tions and Tranſactions in all Sciences ſhall fall to the Ground, and the Student loſe his Years of Labour, and the World the Advantage of his Learning and Parts, unleſs a ſum of Mony can be rais'd to bribe a Merce⯑nary Licenſer, and a Hackney Meſſenger.

'Twould be endleſs to reckon up the many Volumes on all needful Subjects, which were abſolutely rejected in the days of the Preſs's Reſtriction, when the moſt Orthodox Divinity was ſuppreſs'd, becauſe the Man was not approv'd that wrote it, and a Book was Damn'd for the Author, not the Author for the Book.

This was a branch of Arbitrary Power in the Go⯑vernment; for in Rightful Power in they do not Tyrannize themſelves, but if the Officers are allow'd to impoſe upon them, Under-Spur-leathers are always the Tyrants; a Government regulated by Laws, and Govern'd according to ſuch Regulations, never wil⯑lingly put it into the power of any Inferiour Officer to Tyrannize over his fellow Subjects.

I obſerve there are ſorts of people who are willing to promote a general Licenſe, and very ſtudious to defend it; but 'tis plain they are ſuch as promote Prin⯑ciples in Argument, which they can but very ſorrily defend; and flattering themſelves, from what Grounds I believe they themſelves hardly know; that they may obtain a Licenſer to their Advantage, they ſup⯑poſe from thence a liberty to obtrude their prepoſte⯑rous Notions upon the World, and by favour of a Law and an Arbitrary Licenſer, partial to their own Factions, ſuppreſs the poſſibility of a reply.

Theſe people are in the right to deſire ſuch a thing, as a Licenſer; for falſe and deſigning Reaſoning, re⯑quires [6] the ſupport of Power to defend it from the invincible force of Truth and Demonſtration.

But methinks they ſhould be able to ſee that the preſent Government is not ſo ſuited to thoſe Principles, as that they ſhould expect ſo Arbitrary and unjuſtifia⯑ble an Office ſhould be erected, after ſo many Years being laid ſide.

The People of England do not believe the Parlia⯑ment will make a Law to abridge them of that Liberty they ſhould protect, for tho' it were more true than it is, that the Exorbitances of the Preſs ought to be reſtrain'd, yet I cannot ſee how the ſuperviſing, and paſſing all the Works of the Learned part of the World by one or a few Men, and giving them an abſolute Negative on the Preſs, can poſſibly be reconcil'd to the liberty of the Engliſh Nation.

Laws are often made againſt Facts not in themſelves unlawful, but as Convenience and Reaſon of State re⯑quires, and Circumſtances may make a thing unfit to be allow'd in a Country, which would otherwiſe be no Crime; but in theſe Caſes ſuch Laws are enforc'd by a Penalty, and he that will ſuffer the Penalty, is always at Liberty to commit the Crime.

But in this caſe a Man is abridg'd of his Liberty; and muſt not do this or that, whether it Tranſgreſ⯑ſes the Law or no. For Example, a perſon having Writ a Book, brings it to one or other Licenſer, the Law is not expreſs that ſuch a Book ſhall not appear in the World, there is no Crime committed, but the Book ſhall be Damn'd in its Womb, not becauſe any thing in it is offenſive to the Government, Irreligious, Blaſphemous, or any other way Criminal, not be⯑cauſe 'tis a Book unfit to appear, but becauſe Mr. Li⯑cenſer does not pleaſe to like it.

I know no Nation in the World, whoſe Govern⯑ment [7] is not perfectly Deſpotick, that ever makes pre⯑ventive Laws, 'tis enough to make Laws to puniſh Crimes when they are committed, and not to put it in the power of any ſingle Man, on pretence of pre⯑venting Offences to commit worſe.

Even the Laws againſt Theft and Murther, do not ſay they ſhall not commit the Crime, but if they do, they ſhall be ſo and ſo puniſh'd. 'Tis for the Com⯑mands of God to ſay, Thou ſhalt not do this or that; Kill, Steal, commit Adultery, and the like; but Man can only ſay, if any Man ſhall wilfully do this, or that, commit this or that Crime, he ſhall ſuffer ſuch or ſuch Pains, and Penalties; and ſome are of opini⯑on, all men have a Native right, as to Human Liberty, to commit any Fact, if they ſubmit to the penalty which the Law inflicts; for as to its being a ſin a⯑gainſt God, the Laws have nothing to ſay to that, and as to a ſin againſt Civil Government, there can be no ſuch thing as a Crime till the Fact is committed, and therefore to anticipate the Man by Laws, before the Crime, is to abridge him of his Liberty without a Crime, and ſo make a Puniſhment without a Tranſ⯑greſſion, which is illegal in its own Nature, and Ar⯑bitrary in the moſt intenſe degree.

It might not be improper here to Examine what particular Inconveniences attend ſuch a Law in our preſent Caſe, and upon what juſt Grounds I except againſt.

1. I object againſt it as the firſt ſtep to reſtore Ar⯑bitrary Power in this Nation, and the worſt way of reſtoring it, viz. by a Law. For to go back again to that which we once complain'd of as Arbitrary, is a tacit acknowledging the former Complaint to be groundleſs, and giving us cauſe to think that there's more ſteps of that Nature to be introduc'd.

'Tis ill making Precedents in caſes ſo dangerous, where [8] the Liberty of a Nation is concern'd; and I cannot doubt but our wiſe Legiſlators will conſider what the Con⯑ſequences of yielding in the leaſt point of the Subjects Priviledges are, and we have always found them very tender of the leaſt punctilio's of that great Fundamen⯑tal, the Peoples Liberty. 'Tis needleſs to quote Caſes, the general practice of the Houſe of Commons, ever ſince the liberty of the Subject, was to ſecure the En⯑gliſh freedom, and carefully to watch againſt all En⯑croachments of any ſort, either from without or from any Parties among themſelves.

2. 'Tis a Foundation of Frauds, Briberies, and all the ill practices poſſible; the abſolute conduct of ſo conſiderable an Article, being committed to the Breaſt of a few Men, every part of their proceedings are Arbitrary and Unreaſonable: Nay, even when he paſ⯑ſes a Book that ought to be paſs'd, yet 'tis Arbitrary in him, becauſe he paſſes it not becauſe it ought ſo to be paſs'd, but becauſe he has receiv'd ſome Perquiſite, Gra⯑tuity, or other Argument to prevail upon him to do it.

Take this Licenſer without a Fee, and fancy an Au⯑thor brings a Copy to him, ſuppoſe of Divinity, and where is the Book againſt which he can find no excuſe, tho' Penn'd with never ſo much caution? here it reflects upon the Church, there upon the Government; this ſeems to look aſquint on ſuch an Article of the Church of England, that at too much a Ceremony in the Liturgy and Rubrick, and he cannot allow it to be Publiſh'd; but ſend him the next morning two or three Gunieas, and you have the Imprimatur at firſt word. Suppoſe it be a Book of Politicks, then this Sentence is a reflecti⯑on on this great Man, that on another, this may ſig⯑nifie the Parliament, that the King or Queen, but ſtill the Guineas ſets it all to right again, the Gold makes the Book Orthodox and Loyal, and private Conſtru⯑ctive Objections vaniſh in the Miſt raiſed before his Eyes by the Mony.

[7] Then ſuppoſe this or that Licenſer, a Party-Man, that is, One put in, and upheld by a Party; ſuppoſe him of any Party, which you pleaſe, and a Man of the oppoſite Kidney, brings him a Book, he views the Character of the Man, O, ſays he, I know the Author, he is a damn'd Whig, or a rank Jacobite, I'll Licenſe none of his Writings; here is Bribery on one Hand, partiality to Parties on the other; but get a Man of his own Kidney to own the very ſame Book, and as he refus'd it without opening be⯑fore, he is as eaſie to paſs it now, not for the Good or Ill in the Book, but on both Hands for the Character of the Author.

There is another Engine of Fraud comes in to make up this Complication of Frauds, and ill Practices, and that is the Meſſenger of the Preſs, and this ſerves for the Receiver, while the t'other is the Th—f, and he takes the Fees, and the Licenſer does the Work, and ſo caſting up together they bring all to an Account of Profit and Loſs. This is the Broker of the Preſs, the Stock-Jobber of the Licenſe-Office; he Talks with you, and Treats with any Body to get a Book Licenſed, and Rates his Fees as he finds the Perſon more or leſs Obnoxious to his Ma⯑ſter, or his Party.

This is a New Mouſe-Trap, and he that will come into the Preſs muſt expect to be catch'd in it, and then in a little Time all the force of the Law, ſo far as deſign'd againſt the Exorbitance of the Pen is Evaded and Eluded, all revolves in the Bribery and Villainy of Officers and Li⯑cenſers, the Law looks like a Phantome of the Brain, made for one Man in an Age to raiſe a Fortune by, he muſt turn Round to perform it.

[8] Theſe Things have often been conſider'd in Parliament, and have been the true Reaſons why our Wiſe Repreſen⯑ters, tho' willing enough to Reſtrain any undue Liberty, yet have always avoided this Pernitious Remedy, as a thing of much worſe Conſequence to the Conſtitution and Privileges of Engliſhmen, than the Licentiouſneſs of the Preſs can be to the Government.

To Cure the ill Uſe of Liberty, with a Deprivation of Liberty, is like cutting off the Leg to cure the Gout in the Toe, like expelling Poiſon with too Rank a Poiſon, where both may ſtruggle which Poiſon ſhall prevail, but which ſoever prevails, the Patient ſuffers.

If the Exorbitance of ſome few People in Printing Se⯑ditious and Dangerous Books, muſt Abridge all the Men of Learning in the Nation of their Liberty in Printing, what after exceeding toil and unwearied Pains they are willing to Communicate to Poſterity, then who will Stu⯑dy, who will breed up their Children to Letters, when all the Fruits of their Labours are liable to the Blaſt of the Arbitrary Breath of Mercenary Men.

By ſuch a Law, a Fellow of no Letters, of Knowledge too little to fit him for a Ballad-Singer, ſhall be Capable of Tyrannizing over the whole World of Learning, and no Book can ſee the Light without his leave, when after a Man has wrote enough to have all the World acknowledge him, and ſuch a Work, which in ſome Countries he would have ſufficient Gratification for, here he ſhall not beſtow it on the World, without putting himſelf to the Charge of Bribing the Licenſer, and ſo cannot give them his Labour, but he muſt give them his Money too.

[9] In this very thing the King of France out does all the Princes of Europe, where ſuch Encouragement is given to Learning, that all uſeful Books in the World now ſpeak French, and a Man may be an Univerſal Schollar, read Virgil, Horace, Ovid, and all the Antient Poets; Cicero, Plato, Epictetus, Ariſtotle, and all the Antient Philoſo⯑phers; St. Athanaſius, St. Auguſtine, and all the Primitive Fathers; Plutarch, Livy, and all the Antient Hiſtorians, and yet neither underſtand a Word of Greek or Latin, and pray let us Examine if ever the Preſs has been Re⯑ſtrain'd to the Abſolute Power of a Licenſer or Reviſer, on the contrary all the Liberty and Encouragement ima⯑ginable has been given to the Preſs, all the Abbies, and publick Libraries in the Kingdom are oblig'd to take One, and when any Author has publiſh'd an Extraordinary Piece, the King himſelf has thought fit to reward him with a Magnifience, peculiar to the Pride and State of the French Court.

But this Liberty has been the Life of Learning, and ever ſince Cardinal Richlieu Erected the Royal Academy, no Nation in the World ever flouriſh'd in Learning like them.

The Engliſh Nation has always carried a figure equal to their Neighbours, as to all ſorts of Learning, and in ſome very much ſuperior, and tho' without all thoſe Encourage⯑ments, have not yet ſunk their Character that way. But we cannot ſay that Learning is grown to ſuch a height that it needs a Check, that it wants a Tyrant of the Preſs to govern it: Knowledge is much Improv'd, 'tis confeſs'd, but the World is not ſo over-run with Letters, that it ſhould be Tax'd as a Vice, and Laws made to Suppreſs the little Degrees of it, that are attain'd to.

[10] What thoſe Gentlemen propoſe to themſelves who are ſo forward to procure, or at leaſt ſo eagerly plead for this Padlock to the Preſs, I cannot imagine, unleſs it be that they have ſome grounds to hope they ſhall keep the Key.

And what can the deſign of that Power be? If it be that they would have the Advantage to Print what they pleaſe, and that the adverſe Party ſhould not have the liberty of the Preſs to Reply, is a ſign the Cauſe they Embark in is not to be Defended, and will not bear an Anſwer, and if it be that that they would have no Writing at all, but ſuch points as they are doubtful in, 'tis an Unqueſtionable Ar⯑gument that their Cauſe won't bear Canvaſing, and that the leſs 'tis Examined into, the better for them.

Some People have an Arrogance peculiar to themſelves, and can venture things into the World upon the Reputati⯑on of a bold Expreſſion, preſuming, no Man will venture Examination after the poſitive Aſſertion of their Pen. If theſe Gentlemen are ſo full of Aſſurance, Anglicè, Impu⯑dence, as to affirm things without Ground, when other Men as well Read as themſelves, are at Elbows to Confute them, to Examine their Authorities and reprove them when they Act without Authority; what work would ſuch Men as theſe make in the World with their Cauſe, if this Padlock of the Preſs was ſet on by the Laws, and they were to keep the Key, that is, in ſhort, if they had a full Licenſe to vent their Notions, and the Law ſhould place a Sentinel of their own at the Door of the Preſs, that no Man but he that had the Word ſhould come there.

We ſhould have more Wiſe Nations quoted upon us for things no Nation ever did, and Precedents brought in by [11] Wholeſale, without any other Authority than the Impri⯑matur of the Party.

New and Old Aſſociation Men might then cry out of Rebellion in Scotland, from the Presbyterian, and make the World believe the Cameronians were up in Arms there to reſtore Epiſcopacy. Boys may beat Men if their Hands were Ty'd; if the Hands of a Party are ever Ty'd up by a Law of Licenſing, 'tis not then who talks Senſe, or Matter of Fact, nor who has the beſt of the Argument, nor who can ſay moſt to the purpoſe, but who ſhall be Licenſed to ſpeak what he has to ſay, and who not, who ſhall Talk, and who ſhall hold his Tongue.

This I take to be the true ſtate of the Caſe, and if it be ſo, I leave it to any body to judge, whether a Licenſe of the Preſs can be conſiſtent either with the Encouragement due to Learning, the Liberty of this Nation, the Reaſon of the thing, or the Reputation of any Party who deſire it.

It remains to Enquire,

Firſt, Is it then fit the Licentiouſneſs of the Preſs ſhould be Unreſtrain'd? And Secondly, How ſhall it be done?

To the Firſt I reply. Licentiouſneſs of all ſorts ought to be Reſtrain'd, whether of the Tongue, the Pen, the Preſs, or any thing elſe, and it were well if all ſorts of Licentiouſneſs were as eaſy to Govern as this; but to Re⯑gulate this Evil by an Evil ten times more pernicious, is doing us no ſervice at all.

[12] 'Tis apparent the Injury done to the whole Nation, by ſeverely Puniſhing ſmall things, and letting more ſub⯑ſtantial Grievances alone, is what there has been Cauſe to Complain of.

There are Parties in all our Juſtice and Crimes have, or have not been Puniſh'd, as Parties and Sides have Go⯑vern'd. But I am not going to write a Satyr on Govern⯑ment, ſeveral has paid Dear enough for that; to give me Notice what is to be expected from ſuch a Liberty; as 'tis in all the World ſo it has too much been here, where there are Powers and Parties always ſtruggling, there muſt be a Byaſs of Juſtice as this or that Side prevails.

But 'tis pitty the Preſs ſhould come into a Party-ſtrife: This is like two Parties going to War, and one depriving the other of all their Powder and Shot. Ammunition ſtands always Neuter, or rather, Jack a both Sides, every body has it, and then they get the Victory who have moſt Courage to uſe it, and Conduct to manage it.

And thus 'tis in the Preſs, with ſubmiſſion to Powers, this I think is a juſt Conſequence from Reaſon, that ſince this Nation is unhappily Divided into Parties, every Side ought to have an equal Advantage in the uſe of the Preſs, and this can never be in Caſe of Licenſing; for whatſoe⯑ver Party aſſumes the Power of placing this Paper Magi⯑ſtrate, will, in effect, have an Excluſive Power over the Preſs, to give their Friends a full liberty of Affirming, and to refuſe the other Side the liberty of Replying.

Now, as our Legiſlation cannot be ſaid to be of any Party, becauſe they are Whole; ſo they cannot make a [13] Law which can be equal to the Whole, while it gives the Power to any one Party,

It cannot be prov'd, that any one Party has more Right, as a Party, to Publiſh any thing than another, and there⯑fore cannot in Juſtice have more liberty given them to do it: For no Man can juſtly Demand an Excluſive Power, where he had no precedent Right.

Beſides, 'tis a Scandal both to the Merit of a Cauſe, and the Wit of the Managers, that any Party ſhou'd fly to the Law to ſuppreſs his Adverſary's Pen. If two Men fall Out, and one having ſtruck the other, the Perſon who receiv'd the Blow inſtead of Fighting him goes to Law with him for the Aſſault. 'Tis a natural Conſequence for all Men to believe ſuch a Man was afraid to Fight; either he was a Coward in his Nature, or he thought himſelf over-matcht, and his Enemy would be too hard for him.

So where a Party flies to the Engine of the Law to pre⯑vent their Opponent's appearing in Print, it looks like a Confeſſion that they would have the Advantage, if the Li⯑berty was not Reſtrain'd by the Law.

But then to have a Law which ſhould be ſo Circum⯑ſtanc'd, as that one Party ſhall Write and Print, and the o⯑ther ſhall not, this has a further Scandal in it, it not only Confeſſes ſuperiority in the Enemy Suppreſſor, but ſeems to have ſomething baſe in the Party, like getting two Men to hold a Man while I Beat him.

The Grand Queſtion then ſeems thus,

You own the Liberty of the Preſs ought to be re⯑ſtrain'd, but you are of the Opinion a Licence is Arbitra⯑ry [14] and Unequal. How then would you have the end An⯑ſwer'd?

'Tis not for me to direct the Legiſlative Authority, nor do theſe Sheets pretend to it, but to me the propereſt Me⯑thods ſeem to be ſuch as follow.

• 1. To make an Act that no Man ſhall, by Writing or by Printing, Argue, Diſpute, Reflect upon, or pretend to Vin⯑dicate ſuch and ſuch Points, Perſons, Bodies, Members, &c. of the State of the Church, or of any other Matter or Thing as the Law ſhall mention, and they will be ſuch as the Law-makers ſee proper to inſert.
• 2. That if any ſhall preſume [...] do ſo, they ſhall be puniſh'd in ſuch or ſuch a Manner.

By the firſt, all Men will know when they Trangreſs, which at preſent, they do not; for as the Caſe now ſtands, 'tis in the Breaſt of the Courts of Juſtice to make any Book a Scandalous and Seditious Libel, and nothing is more ridiculous than the Letter of an Indictment in ſuch Caſes, and the Jury being accounted only Judges of Evi⯑dence, Judges of Fact, and not of the Nature of it, the Judges are thereby Unlimited.

In the Caſe of Mr. Delaun, who was Indicted at the Old Baily, for Writing a Book, call'd, A Plea for the Noncon⯑formiſts, ſays the Indictment, and the ſaid Delaun did then, and there by Force and Arms write the aforeſaid Scandalous and Seditious Book, againſt the Peace of our Severeign Lord the King, his Crown and Dignity, which are the actual Words in moſt Indictments of that nature.

All theſe Evils would be Obviated, and Men might know when they Tranſgreſs, and when they do not.

[15] Laws in their Original Deſign are not made to draw Men into Crimes, but to prevent Crimes; Laws are Buoys ſet upon dangerous Places under Water, to warn Mankind, that ſuch Sands or Rocks are there, and the Language of them is, Come here at your Peril.

The Crime of an Author is not known; and I think verily no Book can be wrote ſo warily, but that if the Author be brought on his Tryal, it ſhall be eaſy for a cunning Lawyer, ay for a Lawyer of no great Cun⯑ning, to put an Innuendo upon his Meaning, and make ſome Part of it Criminal. Thus it was in the Caſe of Baxter's Comment upon the New Teſtament; Algernoon Sidney's Anſwer to Sir Robert Filmer; De Laun's Plea for the Nonconformists; Anderton's two Books; and ſo it may be with this Book, or the beſt in the World.

Now ſince there are Dangers thus conceal'd in the Law, and no Man can tell when he offends, 'twould be a wholſome Piece of Juſtice to all the Nation, to place a Buoy on the Rock, and whoever ſplits on it afterwards would deſerve no pity.

Such a Law would be a ſufficient Reſtraint to the Exorbitance of the Preſs, for then the Crime would be plain, and Men would be afraid of committing it. Whereas the preſent uncertainty of the Crime ſeems to be the greateſt Occaſion of the Crime, for Men are apt to be bold in a Thing which they cannot find ex⯑preſsly Condemn'd by the Letter of the Law.

Secondly, As the Crime may be ſtated, ſo may the Puniſhment, and then no Man can be at the Mercy of arbitrary Men; no Sidneys will be found to have Sentence revers'd, and Attainders taken off; no De Launs die in Priſon under Exorbitant Fines; no poſt Factum's, no Complaint can be made by the Perſon offending, be⯑cauſe they know what they were to truſt to.

[16] And aboveall, the End of reſtraining the Preſs would be obtain'd by it; for when Men know both the Crime and the Puniſhment, they would be much more wary of the one for fear of the other.

I humbly conceive, the uncertainty of both at preſent, is the real, if not the only Ground of the Licentiouſneſs of the Preſs. When I am told the preſent Liberty of the Preſs is a Grievance, I muſt ſay, the reaſon is plain, 'tis becauſe there is a Liberty, and no Law to aſcertain the Fact. But let the Law adjuſt the Crime, and tie it to the Penalty, that Authors may know what to truſt to; there needs no Licenſer to pick Men's Pockets, permit Crimes when he is paid for them, and refuſe uſeful and valuable Books if he is not fee'd.

But here remains a Queſtion unanſwer'd, that in o⯑ther Caſes is not uſual. There are many ways to com⯑mit this Crime, and lie conceal'd; the Crime may be committed, and the Malefactor hard to be found, and therefore the Licenſing the Preſs was thought neceſſary to prevent the Fact, becauſe when committed, the Offender is not eaſily brought to Juſtice.

This is eaſily anſwered, and the Parliament has thought fit, in two Caſes, to make a Precedent that ex⯑actly reaches the Caſe, and they are, firſt, in the Caſe of buying ſtolen Goods; and the other is, in putting off, or exchanging counterfeit Money; both which, tho' Ac⯑ceſſaries to the Crime, are now made equally Criminal with the Principal, if knowingly done.

If in the Caſe of the Preſs, a Law be made to make the laſt Seller the Author, unleſs the Name of Author, Printer, or Bookſeller, be affix'd to the Book, then no Book can be publiſhed, but there will be ſome body found to anſwer for it. Whoever puts a falſe Name, to forfeit..... &c.

[17] Nor can this be thought hard upon the Seller of the Book, becauſe as he knows the Conſequence, no Book⯑ſeller will be ſo fooliſh as to ſell any Book that has not the Name of ſome Printer, Bookſeller, or Author affix'd to the Title; and ſo this Law will anſwer two Ends to⯑gether; be a means to prevent the Crime, and fix the Offender if it be committed.

If the Name of the Author, or of the Printer, or of the Bookſeller, for whom it is printed, be affix'd, eve⯑ry Man is ſafe that ſells a Book; but if not, then no Man will ſell it, but he that hath ſome private Reaſon for propagating what the Book treats of, and ſuch a Man has ſome Title to paſs for the Author.

I place the Excellency of a Law very much, as before, in the Power and Efficacy it has to prevent the Crime; and the Juſtice of that Law can never be plainer, than when the Fact is aſcertain'd, the Penalty ſettled, and the Criminal deſcrib'd: No Man can then be Guilty, but he that is wilfully and knowingly ſo, and who⯑ever is ſo, let him ſuffer, no Man will be concern'd for him.

All the Excuſe that ever I could meet with for a Li⯑cenſer, was built upon the Difficulty of diſcovering the true Author of a Book, and the Difficulty being ſuch, that no Laws could eaſily be made effectual, to fix the Writer of any thing, they found room for the Strata⯑gem of a Licenſer. I call it an Excuſe for it, becauſe 'tis plain, the Licenſer was not found out as a Remedy for the Evil: But the Deſign of a Licenſer being firſt reſolv'd on, the pretended Difficulty was made a Handle to introduce the new Engine into the World, and place this Monarch of the Preſs, as a Tyrant to exerciſe his abſolute Authority over the World of Letters, and ſo ſuppreſs one Miſchief by another,

But leaving the Preſs in the full Enjoyment of all its juſt Liberties, and anſwer all theſe Ends, while 'tis yet fenc'd [18] about with due Reſtriction of Laws, every Man may have a full Freedom of promoting the Extent of Learn⯑ing, exerciſing his Parts, defending his Arguments, and anſwering his Adverſary, and yet at the ſame time will know how far he may go with ſafety, and when he tranſgreſſes: If any Man then gives offence, he knows it, and what he muſt expect; if any Man does thus of⯑fend, the Law knows the Offender, and how to puniſh him: All things would run in the open free Courſe of Laws. Criminals and Laws. Offences and Puniſhment are due Oppoſites, and ought always to ſtand in view of one another. If the Puniſhment or the Law is conceal'd from the Offender, he is trapann'd into the Crime to his Deſtruction, when he knows nothing of the Matter, and the Law is made a Gin or Snare to hook him into Puniſhment, which is contrary to the Nature of Laws, and the Practice of all juſt Governments.

A Law therefore to ſettle what an Author may or may not do, to bring the Offences of the Pen to a Regu⯑lation, and then to annex the Puniſhment to the Crime, would bring all this Matter to a Square.

Authors would be known as ſoon as the Book, becauſe this Law would oblige the Printer or Bookſeller to place the Author's Name in the Title, or himſelf.

Nor is it the ſmall Advantage of this Law, to have the Puniſhment of Authors adjuſted; for I know no⯑thing in which our Laws have been executed with a greater Irregularity, no Crime has been puniſh'd with ſuch improper Puniſhments, ſuch arbitrary Latitude, or ſuch inconſiſtent Variety. In other Caſes we have Crimes and Puniſhments link'd together; if a Man robs a Houſe, counterfeits the Coin, or kills a Man, he knows what he has to truſt to, but Authors have never known their Puniſhment: We have had the very ſame Crime puniſh'd with trifling Fines of Twenty Shillings, and [19] exorbitant Fines of a Thouſand Marks, and yet the Twenty-Shilling-Man hath the greateſt Guilt: writing of a Book has been puniſh'd with Fines, Whippings, Pil⯑lories, Impriſonment for Life, Halters and Axes: How 'tis poſſible the Guilt of the Pen can extend to merit all theſe ſeveral Penalties, is a thing I never met with a Lawyer yet that could reſolve.

There muſt be ſomething elſe than Law in the Caſe; when I ſhall commit an Offence, and be fin'd 20 Mark, or perhaps leſs; another, for the ſame Crime, ſhall not be proſecuted at all; another hang'd or beheaded.

All the World cannot ſhew me a Crime puniſhed by ſuch unequal Variety, where the Crime is the ſame in Kind, and can only differ in Circumſtances; nor is it poſſible thoſe Circumſtances can have ſo much Variety, ſuch unuſual Diſtance in their Nature, as there has been in the Puniſhments; but all this comes from the Law having left the Puniſhment unſettled, and plac'd it in the unlimited Judgments of Men.

This Law would alſo put a Stop to a certain ſort of Thieving which is now in full practice in England, and which no Law extends to puniſh, viz. ſome Printers and Bookſellers printing Copies none of their own.

This is really a moſt injurious piece of Violence, and a Grievance to all Mankind; for it not only robs their Neighbour of their juſt Right, but it robs Men of the due Reward of Induſtry, the Prize of Learning, and the Benefit of their Studies; in the next Place, [...] robs the Reader, by printing Copies of other Men uncorrect and imperfect, making ſurreptitious and ſpurious Col⯑lections, and innumerable Errors, by which the Deſign of the Author is often inverted, conceal'd, or deſtroy'd, and the Information the World would reap by a curi⯑ous and well ſtudied Diſcourſe, is dwindled into Con⯑fuſion and Nonſenſe.

[20] 'Twere endleſs to inſtance in the Miſchiefs which have been done of this kind. An Author prints a Book, whether on a Civil or Religious Subject, Philoſophy, Hiſtory, or any Subject, if it be a large Volume, it ſhall be immediately abridg'd by ſome mercenary Book⯑ſeller, employing a Hackney-writer, who ſhall give ſuch a contrary Turn to the Senſe, ſuch a falſe Idea of the Deſign, and ſo huddle Matters of the greateſt Con⯑ſequence together in abrupt Generals, that no greater Wrong can be done to the Subject; thus the ſale of a Volume of twenty Shillings is ſpoil'd, by perſwading People that the Subſtance of the Book is contain'd in the Summary of 4s. price, the Undertaker is ruin'd, the Reader impos'd upon, and the Author's perhaps 20 Years Labour loſt and undervalued: I refer my Reader, for the Truth of this, to the ſeveral Abridgments of the Turkiſh Hiſtory, Joſephus, Baxter's Life, and the like.

I think in Juſtice, no Man has a Right to make any Abridgment of a Book, but the Proprietor of the Book; and I am ſure no Man can be ſo well qualified for the doing it, as the Author, if alive, becauſe no Man can be capable of knowing the true Senſe of the Deſign, or of giving it a due Turn like him that compos'd it.

This is the firſt Sort of the Preſs-Piracy, the next is pirating Books in ſmaller Print, and meaner Paper, in order to ſell them lower than the firſt Impreſſion. Thus as ſoon as a Book is publiſh'd by the Author, a raskally Fellow buys it, and immediately falls to work upon it, and if it was a Book of a Crown, he will contract it ſo as to ſell it for two Shillings, a Book of three Shill⯑ings for one Shilling, a Pamphlet of a Shilling, for 2d. a Six-penny Book in a penny Sheet, and the like. This is down-right robbing on the High-way, or cutting a [...] (were they not afraid of their Deſerts) is a [21] Ruin to Trade, a Diſcouragement to Learning, and the Shame of a well mannag'd Government.

The Law we are upon, effectually ſuppreſſes this moſt villainous Practice, for every Author being o⯑blig'd to ſet his Name to the Book he writes, has, by this Law, an undoubted excluſive Right to the Property of it. The Clauſe in the Law is a Patent to the Author, and ſettles the Propriety of the Work wholly in himſelf, or in ſuch to whom he ſhall aſſign it; and 'tis reaſonable it ſhould be ſo: For if an Author has not the right of a Book, after he has made it, and the benefit be not his own, and the Law will not protect him in that Benefit, 'twould be very hard the Law ſhould pretend to puniſh him for it.

'Twould be unaccountably ſevere, to make a Man anſwerable for the Miſcarriages of a thing which he ſhall not reap the benefit of if well perform'd; there is no Law ſo much wanting in the Nation, relating to Trade and Civil Property, as this, nor is there a greater Abuſe in any Civil Employment, than the printing of other Mens Copies, every jot as unjuſt as lying wi [...]h their Wives, and breaking-up their Houſes.

This Grievance a Licenſer will never remedy; nay theſe People who act them in ſecret, and without Principles, are out of the reach of a Licenſer, for they value not the Law, are unaccountable themſelves, and have their Hawkers and Mannagers under them.

But if an Author has a Right of Action given him by Law, not againſt him only who ſhall print his Copy, but againſt the Publiſher of it alſo; and this Law being made full and expreſs, the Evil will die, for no body will dare to ſell the Book, when the vi⯑lainous Pirate has finiſh'd the Impreſſion.

[22] It has been objected againſt ſuch a Regulation of the Preſs, That it will fill the Town with ſcanda⯑lous Lampoons and Paſquinadoes, which will be hand⯑ed about in manuſcript, and do as much harm as Printing. To this I muſt anſwer, A Reſtraint upon the Preſs will do ſo, and always did; and I appeal to any Man's Judgment, to ſhew me a time when ever the Town ſwarm'd with things of that Nature, as it did in King Charles the Second's Time, King James's, and ſome part of King William's, when the Preſs was under the Government of a Licenſer, and therefore this Law can no way be more inſtrumen⯑tal to it than that was, nor I think will not be ſo much.

I can ſee no further Objection againſt my Opinion, and ſhall be very willing to conſider it when I meet with it; in the mean time, if any one can propoſe a b [...]er Method, more agreeable to the Juſtice of the Nation, and more effectual to all the Ends that are needful to be conſider'd, I hope he will not be diſ⯑courag'd by this Eſſay, from making the Propoſal.