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+Project Gutenberg's Books Condemned to be Burnt, by James Anson Farrer
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Books Condemned to be Burnt
+
+Author: James Anson Farrer
+
+Release Date: March 6, 2010 [EBook #31520]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BOOKS CONDEMNED TO BE BURNT ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Steven Gibbs, Lisa Reigel, and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Transcriber's Note: Variations in spelling and hyphenation have
+been left as in the original. A complete list of typographical
+and punctuation corrections follows the text. Words italicized in
+the original are surrounded by _underscores_. In quoted material,
+a row of asterisks represents an ellipsis. Other ellipses match the
+original. More notes follow the text.
+
+
+The Book-Lover's Library.
+
+Edited by
+
+Henry B. Wheatley, F.S.A.
+
+
+
+
+                        BOOKS CONDEMNED
+                         TO BE BURNT.
+
+
+                              BY
+                      JAMES ANSON FARRER,
+
+
+                            LONDON
+               ELLIOT STOCK, 62, PATERNOSTER ROW
+                             1892
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE.
+
+
+_When did books first come to be burnt in England by the common
+hangman, and what was the last book to be so treated? This is the
+sort of question that occurs to a rational curiosity, but it is
+just this sort of question to which it is often most difficult to
+find an answer. Historians are generally too engrossed with the
+details of battles, all as drearily similar to one another as
+scenes of murder and rapine must of necessity be, to spare a
+glance for the far brighter and more instructive field of the
+mutations or of the progress of manners. The following work is an
+attempt to supply the deficiency on this particular subject._
+
+_I am indebted to chance for having directed me to the interest
+of book-burning as an episode in the history of the world's
+manners, the discursive allusions to it in the old numbers of
+"Notes and Queries" hinting to me the desirability of a more
+systematic mode of treatment. To bibliographers and literary
+historians I conceived that such a work might prove of utility
+and interest, and possibly serve to others as an introduction and
+incentive to a branch of our literary history that is not without
+its fascination. But I must also own to a less unselfish motive,
+for I imagined that not without its reward of delight would be a
+temporary sojourn among the books which, for their boldness of
+utterance or unconventional opinions, were not only not received
+by the best literary society of their day, but were with ignominy
+expelled from it. Nor was I wrong in my calculation._
+
+_But could I impart or convey the same delight to others?
+Clearly all that I could do was to invite them to enter on the
+same road, myself only subserving the humble functions of a
+signpost. I could avoid merely compiling for them a
+bibliographical dictionary, but I could not treat at length of
+each offender in my catalogue, without, in so exhausting my
+subject, exhausting at the same time my reader's patience. I have
+tried therefore to give something of the life of their history
+and times to the authors with whom I came in contact; to cast a
+little light on the idiosyncrasies or misfortunes of this one or
+of that; but to do them full justice, and to enable the reader to
+make their complete acquaintance, how was that possible with any
+regard for the laws of literary proportion? All I could do was to
+aim at something less dull than a dictionary, but something far
+short of a history._
+
+_I trust that no one will be either attracted or alarmed by any
+anticipations suggested by the title of my book. Although
+primarily a book for the library, it is also one of which no
+drawing-room table need be the least afraid. If I have found
+anything in my condemned authors which they would have done
+better to have left unsaid, I have, in referring to their
+fortunes, felt under no compulsion to reproduce their
+indiscretions. But, in all of them put together, I doubt whether
+there is as much to offend a scrupulous taste as in many a
+latter-day novel, the claim of which to the distinction of
+burning is often as indisputable as the certainty of its
+regrettable immunity from that fiery but fitting fate._
+
+_The custom I write about suggests some obvious reflections on
+the mutability of our national manners. Was the wisdom of our
+ancestors really so much greater than our own, as many profess
+to believe? If so, it is strange with how much of that wisdom we
+have learnt to dispense. One by one their old customs have fallen
+away from us, and I fancy that if any gentleman could come back
+to us from the seventeenth century, he would be less astonished
+by the novel sights he would see than by the old familiar sights
+he would miss. He would see no one standing in the pillory, no
+one being burnt at a stake, no one being "swum" for witchcraft,
+no one's veracity being tested by torture, and, above all, no
+hangman burning books at Cheapside, no unfortunate authors being
+flogged all the way from Fleet Street to Westminster. The absence
+of these things would probably strike him more than even the
+railways and the telegraph wires. Returning with his old-world
+ideas, he would wonder how life and property had survived the
+removal of their time-honoured props, or how, when all fear of
+punishment had been removed from the press, Church and State were
+still where he had left them. Reflecting on these things, he
+would recognise the fact that he himself had been living in an
+age of barbarism from which we, his posterity, were in process of
+gradual emergence. What vistas of still further improvement would
+not then be conjured up before his mind!_
+
+_We can hardly wonder at our ancestors burning books when we
+recollect their readiness to burn one another. It was not till
+the year 1790 that women ceased to be liable to be burnt alive
+for high or for _petit_ treason, and Blackstone found nothing to
+say against it. He saw nothing unfair in burning a woman for
+coining, but in only hanging a man. "The punishment of _petit_
+treason," he says, "in a man is to be drawn and hanged, and in a
+woman to be drawn and burned; the idea of which latter punishment
+seems to have been handed down to us by the ancient Druids, which
+condemned a woman to be burnt for murdering her husband, and it
+is now the usual punishment for all sorts of treasons committed
+by those of the female sex." Not a suspicion seems to have
+crossed the great jurist's mind that the supposed barbarity of
+the Druids was not altogether a conclusive justification for the
+barbarity of his own contemporaries. So let us take warning from
+his example, and let the history of our practice of book-burning
+serve to help us to keep our minds open with regard to anomalies
+which may still exist amongst us, descended from as suspicious an
+origin, and as little supported by reason._
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+
+                                                        PAGE
+     INTRODUCTION                                          1
+
+     CHAPTER I. SIXTEENTH-CENTURY BOOK-FIRES              25
+
+            II. BOOK-FIRES UNDER JAMES I                  48
+
+           III. CHARLES THE FIRST'S BOOK-FIRES            69
+
+            IV. BOOK-FIRES OF THE REBELLION               94
+
+             V. BOOK-FIRES OF THE RESTORATION            117
+
+            VI. BOOK-FIRES OF THE REVOLUTION             136
+
+           VII. OUR LAST BOOK-FIRES                      170
+
+     APPENDIX                                            191
+
+     INDEX                                               201
+
+
+
+
+BOOKS
+
+CONDEMNED TO BE BURNT.
+
+
+
+
+INTRODUCTION.
+
+
+There is the sort of attraction that belongs to all forbidden
+fruit in books which some public authority has condemned to the
+flames. And seeing that to collect something is a large part of
+the secret of human happiness, it occurred to me that a variety
+of the happiness that is sought in book collecting might be found
+in making a collection of books of this sort. I have, therefore,
+put together the following narrative of our burnt literature as
+some kind of aid to any book-lover who shall choose to take my
+hint and make the peculiarity I have indicated the key-note to
+the formation of his library.
+
+But the aid I offer is confined to books so condemned in the
+United Kingdom. Those who would pursue the study farther afield,
+and extend their wishes beyond the four seas, will find all the
+aid they need or desire in Peignot's admirable _Dictionnaire
+Critique, Littéraire, et Bibliographique des principaux Livres
+condamnés au feu, supprimés ou censurés_: Paris, 1806. To have
+extended my studies to cover this wider ground would have swollen
+my book as well as my labour beyond the limits of my inclination.
+I may mention that Hart's _Index Expurgatorius_ covers this wider
+ground for England, as far as it goes.
+
+Nevertheless, I may, perhaps, appropriately, by way of
+introduction, refer to some episodes and illustrations of
+book-burning, to show the place the custom had in the development
+of civilisation, and the distinction of good or bad company and
+ancient lineage enjoyed by such books as their punishment by
+burning entitles to places on the shelves of our fire-library.
+The custom was of pagan observance long before it passed into
+Christian practice; and for its existence in Greece, and for the
+first instance I know of, I would refer to the once famous or
+notorious work of Protagoras, certainly one of the wisest
+philosophers or sophists of ancient times. He was the first
+avowed Agnostic, for he wrote a work on the gods, of which the
+very first remark was that the existence of gods at all he could
+not himself either affirm or deny. For this offensive sentiment
+his book was publicly burnt; but Protagoras, could he have
+foreseen the future, might have esteemed himself happy to have
+lived before the Christian epoch, when authors came to share with
+their works the purifying process of fire. The world grew less
+humane as well as less sensible as it grew older, and came to
+think more of orthodoxy than of any other condition of the mind.
+
+The virtuous Romans appear to have been greater book-burners than
+the Greeks, both under the Republic and under the Empire. It was
+the Senate's function to condemn books to the flames, and the
+prætor's to see that it was done, generally in the Forum. But for
+this evil habit we might still possess many valuable works, such
+as the books attributed to Numa on Pontifical law (Livy xl.), and
+those eulogies of Pætus Thrasea and Helvidius, which were burnt,
+and their authors put to death, under the tyranny of Domitian
+(Tacitus, Agricola 2). Let these cases suffice to connect the
+custom with Pagan Rome, and to prove that this particular mode
+of warring with the expression of free thought boasts its
+precedents in pre-Christian antiquity.
+
+Nevertheless it is the custom as it was manifested in Christian
+times that has chief interest for us, because it is only with
+condemned books of this period that we have any chance of
+practical acquaintance. Some of these survived the flames, whilst
+none of antiquity's burning have come down to us. But on what
+principle it was that the burning authorities (in France
+generally the Parlement of Paris, or of the provinces), burnt
+some books, whilst others were only censured, condemned, or
+suppressed, I am unable to say, and I doubt whether any principle
+was involved. Peignot has noticed the chief books stigmatised by
+authority in all these various ways; but though undoubtedly this
+wider view is more philosophical, the view is quite comprehensive
+enough which confines itself to the consideration of books that
+were condemned to be burnt.
+
+Books so treated may be classified according as they offended
+against (i) the religion, (ii) the morals, or (iii) the politics
+of the day, those against the first being by far the most
+numerous, and so admitting here of notice only of their most
+conspicuous specimens.
+
+I. Of all the books burnt for offence under the first head, the
+most to be regretted, from an historical point of view, I take to
+be Porphyry's _Treatise against the Christians_, which was burnt
+A.D. 388 by order of Theodosius the Great. Porphyry believed that
+Daniel's prophecies had been written after the events foretold in
+them by some one who took the name of Daniel. It would have been
+interesting to have known Porphyry's grounds for this not
+improbable opinion, as well as his general charges against the
+Christians; and if there is anything in the tradition of the
+survival of a copy of Porphyry in one of the libraries of
+Florence, the testimony of the distinguished Platonist may yet
+enlighten us on the causes of the growing darkness of the age in
+which he lived.
+
+All the books of the famous Abelard were burnt by order of Pope
+Innocent II.; but it was his _Treatise on the Trinity_, condemned
+by the Council of Soissons about 1121, and by the Council of Sens
+in 1140, which chiefly led St. Bernard to his cruel persecution
+of this famous man. That great saint, using the habitual language
+of ecclesiastical charity, called Abelard an infernal dragon and
+the precursor of Antichrist. Among his heresies Abelard seems to
+have held the opinion that the devil has no power over man; but
+at all events the Church had in those days, as Abelard learnt to
+his cost, though, considering that his disciple Arnauld of
+Brescia was destined to be burnt alive at Rome in 1155, Abelard
+might have deemed himself fortunate in only incurring
+imprisonment, and not sharing the fate of his works as well as
+that of his illustrious follower.
+
+The latter calamity befell John Huss, who, having been led before
+the bishop's palace to see his own condemned works burnt, was
+then led on to be burnt himself, in 1415. Many of his works,
+however, were republished in the following century; but the
+twenty-nine errors which the Council of Constance detected in his
+work on the Church would probably nowadays seem venial enough. It
+was his misfortune to live in those days when the inhumanity of
+the world was at its climax.
+
+It continued at that climax for some time, though heretical
+authors were not always burnt with their books. Enjedim, for
+instance, the Hungarian Socinian, who died in 1596, survived the
+burning in many places of his "Explanations of Difficult Passages
+of the Old and New Testament, from which the Dogma of the
+Trinity is usually established" (_Explicationes locorum
+difficilium_, etc.). Peter d'Osma also, the Spanish theologian,
+whose _Treatise on Confession_ was condemned by the Archbishop of
+Toledo in the fifteenth century, might have esteemed himself
+happy that only his chair shared the burning of his book.
+Pomponacius, an Italian professor of philosophy, whose _Treatise
+on the Immortality of the Soul_ (1516), was burnt by the
+Venetians for the heretical opinion that the soul's immortality
+was not believed by Aristotle, and could only be proved by
+Scripture and the authority of the Church, seems to have died
+peacefully in 1526, albeit with the reputation of an atheist,
+which his writings do not support. Despériers was only imprisoned
+when his _Cymbalum Mundi_, censured by the Sorbonne, was
+consigned to the flames by the Parlement of Paris (March 7th,
+1537). And Luther, all of whose works were condemned to be burnt
+by the Diet of Worms (1521), actually survived their burning
+twenty-five years, though he himself had publicly burnt at
+Wittenberg Leo X.'s bull, anathematising his books, as well as
+the Decretals of previous Popes.
+
+Less fortunate than these were the famous martyrs of free
+thought, Dolet, Servetus, and Tyndale. All the works, which Dolet
+wrote or printed, were burnt as heretical by the Parlement of
+Paris (February 14th, 1543), and himself hanged and burnt three
+years later (August 3rd, 1546), at the age of thirty-seven. The
+reason seems chiefly to have been Dolet's unsparing exposure of
+the immoralities of monks and priests, and of the plan of the
+Sorbonne to put down the art of printing in France. In Peignot is
+preserved a long list of the names of the works to the
+publication of which he lent his aid.
+
+The burning of Servetus, the Parisian doctor, at Geneva (October
+27th, 1553), because his opinions on the Trinity did not agree
+with Calvin's, is of course the greatest blot on the memory of
+Calvin. All his books or manuscripts were burnt with him or
+elsewhere, so that his works are among the rarest of
+bibliographical treasures, and his _Christianismi Restitutio_
+(1553) is said to be the rarest book in the world. But apart from
+their rarity, I should hardly imagine that the works of Servetus
+possessed the slightest interest, or that their loss was the
+smallest loss to the literature of the world.
+
+But if Calvin must bear the burden of the death of Servetus,
+Christianity itself is responsible for the death of William
+Tyndale, who, deeming it desirable that his countrymen should
+possess in their own language the book on which their religion
+was founded, took the infinite trouble of translating the
+Scriptures into English. His New Testament was forthwith burnt in
+London, and himself after some years strangled and burnt at
+Antwerp (1536).
+
+The same literary persecution continued in the next century, the
+seventeenth. Bissendorf perished at the hands of the executioner
+at the same time that his books, _Nodi gordii resolutio_ (on the
+priestly calling), 1624, and _The Jesuits_, were burnt by the
+same agent. In the case of the _De Republicâ Ecclesiasticâ_
+(1617) by De Dominis, Christian savagery surpassed itself, for
+not only was it burnt by sentence of the Inquisition, but also
+the dead body of its author was exhumed for the purpose. Dominis
+had been a Jesuit for twenty years, then a bishop, and finally
+Archbishop of Spalatro. This office he gave up, and retired to
+England, where he might write with greater freedom than in Italy.
+There he wrote this work and a history of the Council of Trent.
+His chief offence was his advocacy of the unchristian principles
+of toleration; he wished to reunite and reconcile the Christian
+communions. But alas for human frailty! he retracted his errors,
+many of them most sensible opinions, in London, and again at
+Rome, whither he returned. Pope Urban VIII., however, imprisoned
+him in the Castle of St. Angelo, where he is said to have died of
+poison, so that only his dead body was available to burn with his
+book the same year (1625). Literary lives were tragic in those
+times.
+
+Simon Morin was burnt with all the copies of his _Pensées_ that
+could be found, on the Place de Grève, at Paris, March 14th,
+1663. Morin called himself the Son of Man, and such thoughts of
+his as survived the fire do not lead us in his case to grudge the
+flames their literary fuel. But it is curious to think that we
+are only two centuries from the time when the Parlement of Paris
+could pass such a sentence on such a sufferer.
+
+The Parlement of Dijon condemned to be burnt by the executioner
+Morisot's _Ahitophili Veritatis Lacrymæ_ (July 4th, 1625), but
+though this work was a violent satire upon the Jesuits, Morisot
+survived his book thirty-six years, the Jesuits revenging
+themselves with nothing worse than an epitaph, containing a bad
+pun, to the effect that their enemy, after a life not spent in
+wisdom, preferred to die as a fool (_Voluit mori-sot_).
+
+In the same century Molinos, the Spanish priest, and founder of
+Quietism, wrote his _Conduite Spirituelle_, which was condemned
+to the flames for sixty-eight heretical propositions, whilst its
+author was consigned to the prisons of the Inquisition, where he
+died after eleven years of it (1696). Self-absorption of the soul
+in God to the point of complete indifference to anything done to
+or by the body, even to the sufferings of the latter in hell, was
+the doctrine of Quietism that led ecclesiastic authority to feel
+its usual alarm for consequences; and it must be admitted that
+similar doctrines have at times played sad havoc with Christian
+morality. But perhaps they helped Molinos the better to bear his
+imprisonment.
+
+I may next refer to seventeenth-century writers who were
+fortunate enough not to share the burning of their books. (1)
+Wolkelius, a friend of Socinus, the edition of whose book _De
+Verâ Religione_, published at Amsterdam in 1645, was there burnt
+by order of the magistrates for its Socinian doctrines, appears
+to have lived for many years afterwards. Schlicttingius, a
+Polish follower of the same faith, escaped with expulsion from
+Poland, when the Diet condemned his book, _Confessio Fidei
+Christianæ_, to be burnt by the executioner. Sainte Foi, or
+Gerberon, whose _Miroir de la Vérité Chrétienne_ was condemned by
+several bishops and archbishops, and burnt by order of the
+Parlement of Aix (1678), lived to write other works, of probably
+as little interest. La Peyrère was only imprisoned at Brussels
+for his book on the _Pre-adamites_, which was burnt at Paris
+(1655). And Pascal saw his famous _Lettres à un Provincial_,
+which made too free with the dignity of all authorities, secular
+and religious, twice burnt, once in French (1657), and once in
+Latin (1660), without himself incurring a similar penalty. So did
+Derodon, professor of philosophy at Nismes, outlive the
+_Disputatio_ (1645), in which he made light of Cyril of
+Alexandria, and which was condemned and burnt by the Parlement of
+Toulouse for its opposition to some beliefs of Roman Catholicism.
+
+Passing now to the eighteenth century, we find book-burning, then
+declining in England, in full vigour on the Continent.
+
+The most important book that so suffered was Rousseau's admirable
+treatise on education, entitled _Émile_ (1762), condemned by the
+Parlement of Paris to be torn and burnt at the foot of its great
+staircase. It was also burnt at Geneva. Three years later the
+same writer's _Lettres de la Montagne_ were sentenced by the same
+tribunal to the same fate. Not all burnt books should be read,
+but Rousseau's _Émile_ is one that should be.
+
+So should the Marquis de Langle's _Voyage en Espagne_, condemned
+to the flames in 1788, but translated into English, German, and
+Italian. De Langle anticipated this fate for his book if it ever
+passed the Pyrenees: "So much the better," said he; "the reader
+loves the books they burn, so does the publisher, and the author;
+it is his blue ribbon." But, considering that he wrote against
+the Inquisition, and similar inhumanities or follies of
+Catholicism, De Langle must have been surprised at the burning of
+his book in Paris itself.
+
+A book at whose burning we may feel less surprise is the
+_Théologie Portative ou Dictionnaire abrégéde la Religion
+Chrétienne_, by the Abbé Bernier (1775), for a long time
+attributed to Voltaire, but really the work of an apostate monk,
+Dulaurent, who took refuge in Holland to write this and similar
+works.
+
+The number of books of a similar strong anti-Catholic tendency
+that were burnt in these years before the outbreak of the
+Revolution should be noticed as helping to explain that event.
+Their titles in most cases may suffice to indicate their nature.
+De la Mettrie's _L'homme Machine_ (1748) was written and burnt in
+Holland, its author being a doctor, of whom Voltaire said that he
+was a madman who only wrote when he was drunk. Of a similar kind
+was the _Testament_ of Jean Meslier, published posthumously in
+the _Evangile de la Raison_, and condemned to the flames about
+1765. On June 11th, 1763, the Parlement of Paris ordered to be
+burnt an anonymous poem, called _La Religion à l'Assemblée du
+Clergé de France_, in which the writer depicted in dark colours
+the morals of the French bishops of the time (1762). On January
+29th, 1768, was treated in the same way the _Histoire Impartiale
+des Jésuites_ of Linguet, whose _Annales Politiques_ in 1779
+conducted him to the Bastille, and who ultimately died at the
+hands of the Revolutionary Tribunal (1794). But the 18th of
+August, 1770, is memorable for having seen all the seven
+following books sentenced to burning by the Parlement of Paris:--
+
+1. Woolston's _Discours sur les Miracles de Jésus-Christ_,
+translated from the English (1727).
+
+2. Boulanger's _Christianisme dévoilé_.
+
+3. Freret's _Examen Critique des Apologistes de la Religion
+Chrétienne_, 1767.
+
+4. The _Examen Impartial des Principales Religions du Monde_.
+
+5. Baron d'Holbach's _Contagion Sacrée_, or _l'Histoire Naturelle
+de la Superstition_, 1768.
+
+6. Holbach's _Système de la Nature ou des Lois du Monde Physique
+et du Monde Moral_.
+
+7. Voltaire's _Dieu et les Hommes; oeuvre théologique, mais
+raisonnable_ (1769).
+
+No one writer, indeed, of the eighteenth century contributed so
+many books to the flames as Voltaire. Besides the above work, the
+following of his works incurred the same fate:--(1) the _Lettres
+Philosophiques_ (1733), (2) the _Cantique des Cantiques_ (1759),
+(3) the _Dictionnaire Philosophique_ (1764), also burnt at
+Geneva; (4) _L'Homme aux Quarante Écus_ (1767), (5) _Le Dîner du
+Comte de Boulainvilliers_ (1767). When we add to these burnings
+the fact that at least fourteen works of Voltaire were condemned,
+many others suppressed or forbidden, their author himself twice
+imprisoned in the Bastille, and often persecuted or obliged to
+fly from France, we must admit that seldom or never had any
+writer so eventful a literary career.
+
+II. Turning now to the books that were burnt for their real or
+supposed immoral tendency, I may refer briefly in chronological
+order to the following as the principal offenders, though of
+course there is not always a clear distinction between what was
+punished as immoral and punished as irreligious. This applies to
+the four volumes of the works of the Carmelite Mantuanus,
+published at Antwerp in 1576, of which nearly all the copies were
+burnt. This facile poet, who is said to have composed 59,000
+verses, was especially severe against women and against the
+ecclesiastical profession. In 1664, the _Journal de Louis Gorin
+de Saint Amour_, a satirical work, was condemned, chiefly
+apparently because it contained the five propositions of
+Jansenius. In 1623, the Parlement of Paris condemned Théophile to
+be burnt with his book, _Le Parnasse des Poètes Satyriques_, but
+the author escaped with his burning in effigy, and with
+imprisonment in a dungeon. I am tempted to quote Théophile's
+impromptu reply to a man who asserted that all poets were
+fools:--
+
+     "Oui, je l'avoue avec vous
+      Que tous les poêtes sont fous;
+      Mais sachant ce que vous êtes
+      Tous les fous ne sont pas poêtes."
+
+Hélot also escaped with a burning in effigy when his _L'Ecole des
+Filles_ was burnt at the foot of the gallows (1672). Lyser, who
+spent his life and his property in the advocacy of polygamy, was
+threatened by Christian V. with capital punishment if he appeared
+in Denmark, and his _Discursus Politicus de Polygamia_ was
+sentenced to public burning (1677).
+
+In the eighteenth century (1717) Gigli's satire, the _Vocabulario
+di Santa Caterina e della lingua Sanese_; Dufresnoy's _Princesses
+Malabares, ou le Célibat Philosophique_ (1734); Deslandes'
+_Pigmalion ou la Statue Animée_ (1741); the Jesuit Busembaum's
+_Theologia Moralis_ (which defends as an act of charity the
+commission to kill an excommunicated person), (1757); Toussaint's
+_Les Moeurs_ (1748); and the Abbé Talbert's satirical poem,
+_Langrognet aux Enfers_ (1760),--seem to complete the list of the
+principal works burnt by public authority. And of these the best
+is Toussaint's, who in 1764 published an apology for or
+retraction of his _Moeurs_, which has far less claim upon
+public attention than was obtained and merited by the original
+work.
+
+III. Books condemned for some unpopular political tendency may
+likewise be arranged in the order of their centuries.
+
+In the sixteenth, the most important are Louis d'Orléans'
+_Expostulatio_ (1593), a violent attack on Henri IV., and
+condemned by the Parlement of Paris; Archbishop Génébrard's _De
+sacrarum electionum jure et necessitate ad Ecclesiæ Gallicanæ
+redintegrationem_ (1593), condemned by the Parlement of Aix, and
+its author exiled. He maintained the right of the clergy and
+people to elect bishops against their nomination by the king. It
+is curious that the Parlement of Paris thought it necessary to
+burn the Jesuit Mariana's book _De Rege_ (1599) as
+anti-monarchical, seeing that it appeared with the privilege of
+the King of Spain. He maintained the right of killing a king for
+the cause of religion, and called Jacques Clement's act of
+assassination France's everlasting glory (_Galliæ æternum
+decus_). But it is only fair to add that the superior of the
+Order disapproved of the work as much as the Sorbonne.
+
+In the seventeenth century, I notice first the _Ecclesiasticus_
+of Scioppius, a work directed against our James I. and Casaubon
+(1611). The libel having been burnt in London, and its author
+hanged and beaten in effigy before the king on the stage, was
+burnt in Paris by order of the Parlement, chiefly for its
+calumnies on Henri IV. The author, originally a Jesuit, has been
+called the Attila of writers, having been said to have known the
+abusive terms of all tongues, and to have had them on the tip of
+his own. He wrote 104 works, apparently of the violent sort, so
+that Casaubon called him, according to the style of learned men
+in those days, "the most cruel of all wild beasts," whilst the
+Jesuits called him "the public pest of letters and society."
+
+The Senate of Venice caused to be burnt the _Della Liberta
+Veneta_, by a man who called himself Squitinio (1612), because it
+denied the independence of the Republic, and asserted that the
+Emperor had rightful claims over it; and about the same time
+(1617) the Parlement of Paris consigned to the same penalty
+D'Aubigné's _Histoire Universelle_ for the freedom of its satire
+on Charles IX., Henri III., Henri IV., and other French royal
+personages of the time. The second edition of D'Aubigné (1626) is
+the poorer for being shorn of these caustic passages.
+
+The Jesuit Keller's _Admonitio ad Ludovicum XIII._ (1625), and
+the same author's Mysteria Politica, (1625), were both sentenced
+to be burnt; also the Jesuit Sanctarel's _Tractatus de Hæresi_
+(1625), which claimed for the Pope the right to dispose, not only
+of the thrones, but also of the lives of princes. This doctrine
+was approved by the General of the Jesuits, but, under threat of
+being accounted guilty of treason, expressly disclaimed by the
+Jesuits as a body. In resisting such pretensions, the Sorbonne
+deserved well of France and of humanity. In 1665, the Châtelet
+ordered to be burnt Claude Joly's _Recueil des Maximes véritables
+et importantes pour l'Institution du Roi, contre la fausse et
+pernicieuse politique de Cardinal prétendu surintendant de
+l'éducation de Louis XIV._ (1652); a book which, if it had been
+regarded instead of being burnt, might have altered the character
+of that pernicious devastator, and therefore of history itself,
+very much for the better. About the same time, Milton's _Pro
+Populo Anglicano Defensio_, not to be burnt in England till the
+Restoration, had a foretaste in Paris of its ultimate fate.
+Eustache le Noble's satire against the Dutch, _Dialogue d'Esope
+et de Mercure_, and burnt by the executioner at Amsterdam, may
+complete the list of political works that paid for their
+offences by fire in the seventeenth century.
+
+The first to notice in the next century is Giannone's _Historia
+Civile de Regno di Napoli_ (1723), in five volumes, burnt by the
+Inquisition, which, but for his escape, would have suppressed the
+author as well as his book, for his free criticism of Popes and
+ecclesiastics. His escape saved the eighteenth century from the
+reproach of burning a writer. Next deserves a passing allusion
+the _Historia Nostri Temporis_, by the once famous writer Emmius,
+whose posthumous book suffered at the hands of George Albert,
+Prince of East Frisia. The Parlement of Toulouse condemned
+Reboulet's _Histoire des Filles de la Congrégation de l'Enfance_
+(1734) for accusing Madame de Moudonville, the founder of that
+convent, of publishing libels against the king. That of Paris and
+Besançon condemned Boncerf's _Des Inconvéniens des Droits
+Féodaux_ (1770).
+
+The number, indeed, of political works burnt during the eighth
+decade of the last century is as remarkable as the number of
+religious books so treated about the same period: one of the
+lesser indications of the coming Revolution. During this decade
+were condemned: (1) Pidanzet's _Correspondance secrète familière
+de Chancelier Maupeon avec Sorhouet_ (1771) for being
+blasphemous and seditious, and calculated to rouse people against
+government; a work that made sport of Maupeon and his Parlement.
+(2) Beaumarchais' _Mémoires_ (1774), of the literary style of
+which Voltaire himself is said to have been jealous, but which
+was condemned to the flames for its imputations on the powers
+that were. (3) Lanjuinais' _Monarque Accompli_ (1774), whose
+other title explains why it was condemned, as tending to sedition
+and revolt, _Prodiges de bonté, de savoir, et de sagesse, qui
+font l'éloge de Sa Majesté Impériale Joseph II., et qui rendent
+cet auguste monarque si précieux à l'humanité, discutés au
+tribunal de la raison et l'équité_. Lanjuinais, principal of a
+Catholic college in Switzerland, passed over to the Reformed
+Religion. (4) Martin de Marivaux's _L'Ami des Lois_ (1775), a
+pamphlet, in which the author protested against the words put
+into the mouth of the king by Chancellor Maupeon, Sept. 7th,
+1770: "We hold our Crown of God alone; the right of law-making,
+without dependence or partition, belongs to us alone." The author
+contended that the Crown was held only of the nation, and he
+excited the vengeance of the Crown by sending a copy of his work
+to each member of the Parlement. At the same time, to the same
+penalty and for the same offence, was condemned to the flames _Le
+Catéchisme du Citoyen, ou Elémens du Droit public Français, par
+demandes et par réponses_; the episode, and the origin of the
+dispute, clearly pointing to the rapidly approaching
+Revolutionary whirlwind, the spirit of which these literary
+productions anticipated and expressed.
+
+The last book I find to notice is the Abbé Raynal's _Histoire
+philosophique et politique des Etablissemens et du Commerce des
+Européens dans les Deux Indes_, published in 1771 at Geneva, and,
+after a first attempt at suppression in 1779, finally burnt by
+the order of the Parlement of Paris of May 25th, 1781, as
+impious, blasphemous, seditious, and the rest. Like many another
+eminent writer, Raynal had started as a Jesuit.
+
+From the above illustrations of the practice abroad, we may turn
+to a more detailed account of its history in England. Although in
+France it was much more common than in England during the
+eighteenth century, it appears to have come to an end in both
+countries about the same time. I am not aware of any proofs that
+it survived the French Revolution, and it is probable that that
+event, directly or indirectly, put an end to it. In England it
+seems gradually to have dwindled, and to have become extinct
+before the end of the century. If the same was the case in other
+countries, it would afford another instance of the fundamental
+community of development which seems to govern at least our part
+of the civilised world, regardless of national differences or
+boundaries. The different countries of the world seem to throw
+off evil habits, or to acquire new habits, with a degree of
+simultaneity which is all the more remarkable for being the
+result of no sort of agreement. At one time, for instance, they
+throw off Jesuitism, at another the practice of torture, at
+another the judicial ordeal, at another burnings for heresy, at
+another trials for witchcraft, at another book-burning; and now
+the turn seems approaching of war, or the trade of professional
+murder. The custom here to be dealt with, therefore, holds its
+place in the history of humanity, and is as deserving of study as
+any other custom whose rise and decline constitute a phase in the
+world's development.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+SIXTEENTH CENTURY BOOK-FIRES.
+
+
+Fire, which is the destruction of so many things, and destined,
+according to old Indian belief, one day to destroy the world, is
+so peculiarly the enemy of books, that the worm itself is not
+more fatal to them. Whole libraries have fallen a prey to the
+flames, and oftener, alas! by design than accident; the warrior
+always, whether Alexander at Persepolis, Antiochus at Jerusalem,
+Cæsar and Omar at Alexandria, or General Ulrich at Strasburg (in
+1870), esteeming it among the first duties of his barbarous
+calling to consign ideas and arts to destruction.
+
+But these are the fires of indiscriminate rage, due to the
+natural antagonism between civilisation and military barbarism;
+it is fire, discriminately applied, that attaches a special
+interest and value to books condemned to it. Whether the sentence
+has come from Pope or Archbishop, Parliament or King, the book so
+sentenced has a claim on our curiosity, and as often on our
+respect as our disdain. Fire, indeed, has been spoken of as the
+blue ribbon of literature, and many a modern author may fairly
+regret that such a distinction is no longer attainable in these
+days of enlightened advertisement.
+
+To collect books that have been dishonoured--or honoured--in this
+way, books that at the risk of heavy punishment have been saved
+from the public fire or the common hangman, is no mean amusement
+for a bibliophile. Some collect books for their bindings, some
+for their rarity, a minority for their contents; but he who
+collects a fire-library makes all these considerations secondary
+to the associations of his books with the lives of their authors
+and their place in the history of ideas. Perhaps he is thereby
+the more rational collector, if reason at all need be considered
+in the matter; for if my whim pleases myself, let him go hang who
+disdains or disapproves of it.
+
+All the books of such a library are not, of course, suitable for
+general reading, there being not a few disgraceful ones among
+them that fully deserved the stigma intended for them. But most
+are innocent enough, and many of them as dull as the authors of
+their condemnation; whilst others, again, are so sparkling and
+well written that I wish it were possible to rescue them from the
+oblivion that enshrouds them even more thickly than the dust of
+centuries. The English books of this sort naturally stand apart
+from their foreign rivals, and may be roughly classified
+according as they deal with the affairs of State or Church. The
+original flavour has gone from many of them, like the scent from
+dried flowers, with the dispute or ephemeral motive that gave
+rise to them; but a new flavour from that very fact has taken the
+place of the old, of the same sort that attaches to the relics of
+extinct religions or of bygone forms of life.
+
+The history of our country since the days of printing is exactly
+reflected in its burnt literature, and so little has the public
+fire been any respecter of class or dignity, that no branch of
+intellectual activity has failed to contribute some author whose
+work, or works, has been consigned to the flames. Our greatest
+poets, philosophers, bishops, lawyers, novelists, heads of
+colleges, are all represented in my collection, forming indeed a
+motley but no insipid society, wherein the gravest questions of
+government and the deepest problems of speculation are handled
+with freedom, and men who were most divided in their lives meet
+at last in a common bond of harmony. Cowell, the friend of
+prerogative, finds himself here side by side with Milton, the
+republican; and Sacheverell, the high churchman, in close company
+with Tindal and Defoe.
+
+For nearly 300 years the rude censorship of fire was applied to
+literature in England, beginning naturally in that fierce
+religious war we call the Reformation, which practically
+constitutes the history of England for some two centuries. The
+first grand occasion of book-burning was in response to the
+Pope's sentence against Martin Luther, when Wolsey went in state
+to St. Paul's, and many of Luther's publications were burned in
+the churchyard during a sermon against them by Fisher, Bishop of
+Rochester (1521).
+
+But the first printed work by an Englishman that was so treated
+was actually the Gospel. The story is too familiar to repeat, of
+the two occasions on which Tyndale's New Testament in English was
+burnt before Old St. Paul's; but in pausing to reflect that the
+book which met with this fiery fate, and whose author ultimately
+met with the same, is now sold in England by the million (for our
+received version is substantially Tyndale's), one can only stand
+aghast at the irony of the fearful contrast, which so widely
+separated the labourer from his triumph. But perhaps we can
+scarcely wonder that our ancestors, after centuries of mental
+blindness, should have tried to burn the light they were unable
+to bear, causing it thereby only to shine the brighter.
+
+It certainly spread with remarkable celerity; for in 1546 it
+became necessary to command all persons possessing them to
+deliver to the bishop, or sheriff, to be openly burnt, all works
+in English purporting to be written by Frith, Tyndale, Wicliff,
+Joye, Basil, Bale, Barnes, Coverdale, Turner, or Tracy. The
+extreme rarity and costliness of the works of these men are the
+measure of the completeness with which this order was carried
+out; but not of its success, for the ideas survived the books
+which contained them. A list of the books is given in Foxe (v.
+566), and comprises twelve by Coverdale, twenty-eight by Bale,
+thirteen by Basil (_alias_ Becon), ten by Frith, nine by Tyndale,
+seven by Joye, six by Turner, three by Barnes. Some of these may
+still be read, but more are non-existent. A complete account of
+them and their authors would almost amount to a history of the
+Reformation itself; but as they were burnt indiscriminately, as
+heretical books, they have not the same interest that attaches to
+books specifically condemned as heretical or seditious. Such of
+them, however, as a book-lover can light upon--and pay for--are,
+of course, treasures of the highest order.
+
+Great numbers of books were burnt in the reigns of Edward VI. and
+Mary, but it is not till the reign of the latter that a
+particular book stands forward as maltreated in this way. And,
+indeed, so many men were burnt in the reign of Queen Mary, that
+the burning of particular books may well have passed unnoticed,
+though pyramids of Protestant volumes, as Mr. D'Israeli says,
+were burnt in those few years of intolerance rampant and
+triumphant. The _Historie of Italie_, by William Thomas (1549),
+is sometimes said (on what authority I know not) to have been not
+merely burnt, but burnt by the common hangman, at this time. If
+so, it is the first that achieved a distinction which is
+generally claimed for Prynne's _Histriomastix_ (1633). The fact
+of the mere burning is of itself likely enough, for Thomas wrote
+very freely of the clergy at Rome and of Pope Paul III.: "By
+report, Rome is not without 40,000 harlots, maintained for the
+most part by the clergy and their followers." "Oh! what a world
+it is to see the pride and abomination that the churchmen there
+maintain." Yet Thomas himself had held a Church living, and had
+been clerk of the Council to Edward VI. He was among the ablest
+men of his time, and wrote, among other works, a lively defence
+of Henry VIII. in a work called _Peregryne_, on the title-page of
+which are these lines:
+
+     "He that dieth with honour, liveth for ever,
+      And the defamed dead recovereth never."
+
+And a sadly inglorious death was destined to be his own. For,
+shortly after Wyatt's insurrection, he was sent to the Tower,
+Wyatt at his own trial declaring that the conspiracy to
+assassinate Queen Mary when out walking was Thomas's, he himself
+having been opposed to it. For this cause, at all events, Thomas
+was hanged and quartered in May 1554, and his head set the next
+day upon London Bridge. He assured the crowd, in a speech before
+his execution, that he died for his country. Wood says he was of
+a hot, fiery spirit, that had sucked in damnable principles.
+Possibly they were not otherwise than sensible, for if he died on
+Wyatt's evidence alone, one cannot feel sure that he died
+justly. But had the insurrection only succeeded, it is curious to
+think what an amount of misery might have been spared to England,
+and how dark a page been lacking from the history of
+Christianity!
+
+Thomas's book was republished in 1561: but the first edition,
+that of 1549, is, of course, the right one to possess; though its
+fate has caused it to be extremely rare.
+
+Coming now to Queen Elizabeth's reign, the comparative rarity of
+book-burning is an additional testimony to the wisdom of her
+government. But (to say nothing of books that were prohibited or
+got their printers or authors into trouble) certain works,
+religious, political, and poetical, achieved the distinction of
+being publicly burnt, and they are works that curiously
+illustrate the manners of the time.
+
+The most important under the first of these heads are the
+translations of the works of Hendrick Niclas, of Leyden, Father
+of the Family of Love, or House of Charity, which were thought
+dangerous enough to be burnt by Royal Proclamation on October
+13th, 1579; so that such works as the _Joyful Message of the
+Kingdom_, _Peace upon Earth_, _the Prophecy of the Spirit of
+Love_, and others, are now exceedingly rare and costly. There
+are many extracts from the first of these in Knewstub's
+_Confutation "of its monstrous and horrible blasphemies"_ (1579),
+wherein I fail to recognise either the blasphemies or their
+confutation, nor do I find anything but sense in Niclas's letter
+to two daughters of Warwick, whom he seeks to dissuade from
+suffering death on a matter of conformity to certain Church
+ceremonies. He insists on the life or spirit of Christ as of more
+importance than any ceremony. "How well would they do who do now
+extol themselves before the simple, and say that they are the
+preachers of Christ, if they would first learn to know Christ
+before they made themselves ministers of Him!" "Whatever is
+served without the Spirit of Christ, it is an abomination to
+God." Nevertheless the young persons seem to have preferred death
+to his very sensible advice.
+
+Probably the Family of Love were misunderstood and
+misrepresented, both as regards their doctrines and their
+practices. Camden says that "under a show of singular integrity
+and sanctity they insinuated themselves into the affections of
+the ignorant common people"; that they regarded as reprobate all
+outside their Family, and deemed it lawful to deny on oath
+whatsoever they pleased. Niclas, according to Fuller, "wanted
+learning in himself and hated it in others." This is a failing so
+common as to be very probable, as it also is, that his disciples
+allegorised the Scriptures (like the Alexandrian Fathers before
+them), and counterfeited revelations. Fuller adds that they
+"grieved the Comforter, charging all their sins on God's Spirit,
+for not effectually assisting them against the same . . . sinning
+on design that their wickedness might be a foil to God's mercy,
+to set it off the brighter." But that they were Communists,
+Anarchists, or Libertines, there is no evidence; and the Queen's
+menial servant who wrote and presented to Parliament an apology
+for the Service of Love probably complained with justice of their
+being "defamed with many manner of false reports and lies." This
+availed nothing, however, against public opinion; and so the
+Queen commanded by proclamation "that the civil magistrate should
+be assistant to the ecclesiastical, and that the books should be
+publicly burnt." The sect, however, long survived the burning of
+its books.
+
+But already it was not enough to burn books of an unpopular
+tendency, cruelty against the author being plainly progressive
+from this time forward to the atrocious penalties afterwards
+associated with the presence of Laud in the Star Chamber. All our
+histories tell of John Stubbs, of Lincoln's Inn, who, when his
+right hand had been cut off for a literary work, with his left
+hand waved his hat from his head and cried, "Long live the
+Queen!" The punishment was out of all proportion to the offence.
+Men had a right to feel anxious when Elizabeth seemed on the
+point of marrying the Catholic Duke of Anjou. They remembered the
+days of Mary, and feared, with reason, the return of Catholicism.
+Stubbs gave expression to this fear in a work entitled the
+_Discoverie of a Gaping Gulf whereinto England is like to be
+swallowed by another French marriage, if the Lord forbid not the
+banes by letting her Majestie see the sin and punishment thereof_
+(1579). Page, the disperser of the book, suffered the same
+penalty as its author.
+
+The book made a great stir and was widely circulated, much to
+the vexation of the Queen. On September 27th appeared a very
+long proclamation calling it "a lewd, seditious book . . .
+bolstered up with manifest lies, &c.," and commanding it, wherever
+found, "to be destroyed (= burnt) in open sight of some public
+officer." The book itself is written with moderation and respect,
+if we make allowance for the questionable taste of writing on so
+delicate a subject at all. It is true that he calls France "a den
+of idolatry, a kingdom of darkness, confessing Belial and serving
+Baal"; nor does he spare the personal character of the Duke
+himself: he only desires that her Majesty may marry with such a
+house and such a person "as had not provoked the vengeance of the
+Lord." But plain speaking was needed, and it is possible that the
+offensive book had something to do with saving the Queen from a
+great folly and the nation from as great a danger.
+
+Stubbs, one is glad to find, though maimed, was neither disgraced
+nor disheartened by his misfortune. He learnt to write with his
+left hand, and wrote so much better with that than many people
+with their right, that Lord Burleigh employed him many years
+afterwards (1587) to compose an answer to Cardinal Allen's work,
+_A Modest Answer to English Persecutors_. After that I lose sight
+of Stubbs.
+
+The strong feeling against Episcopacy, which first meets us in
+works like Fish's _Supplication of Beggars_, or Tyndale's
+_Practice of Prelates_, and which found vent at last, as a
+powerful contributory cause, in the Revolution of the
+seventeenth century, was most clearly pronounced under Elizabeth
+in the famous tracts known as those of Martin Marprelate; and
+among these most bitterly in a small work that was burnt by order
+of the bishops, entitled a _Dialogue wherein is plainly laide
+open the tyrannical dealing of Lord Bishops against God's Church,
+with certain points of doctrine, wherein they approve themselves
+(according to D. Bridges his judgement) to be truely Bishops of
+the Divell_ (1589). This is shown in a sprightly dialogue between
+a Puritan and a Papist, a jack of both sides, and an Idol
+(_i.e._, church) minister, wherein the most is made of such facts
+as that the Bishop of St. David's was summoned before the High
+Commission for having two wives living, and that Bishop
+Culpepper, of Oxford, was fond of hawking and hunting. It is
+significant that this little tract was reprinted in 1640, on the
+eve of the Revolution.
+
+I pass now to a book of great political and historical interest:
+_The Conference about the Succession to the Crown of England_
+(1594), attributed to Doleman, but really the handiwork of
+Parsons, the Jesuit, Cardinal Allen, and others. In the first
+part, a civil lawyer shows at length that lineal descent and
+propinquity of blood are not of themselves sufficient title to
+the Crown; whilst in the second part a temporal lawyer discusses
+the titles of particular claimants to the succession of Queen
+Elizabeth. Among these, that of the Earl of Essex, to whom the
+book was dedicated, is discussed; the object of the book being to
+baffle the title of King James to the succession, and to fix it
+either on Essex or the Infanta of Spain. No wonder it gave great
+offence to the Queen, for it advocated also the lawfulness of
+deposing her; and it throws some light on those intrigues with
+the Jesuits which at one time formed so marked an incident in the
+eventful career of that unfortunate earl. Great efforts were made
+to suppress it, and there is a tradition that the printer was
+hanged, drawn, and quartered.
+
+The book itself has played no small part in our history, for not
+only was Milton's _Defensio_ mainly taken from it, but it formed
+the chief part of Bradshaw's long speech at the condemnation of
+Charles I. In 1681, when Parliament was debating the subject of
+the exclusion of the Duke of York from the succession, it was
+thought well to reprint it; but only two years later it was among
+the books which had the honour of being condemned to the flames
+by the University of Oxford, in its famous and loyal book-fire
+of 1683 (see p. 194).
+
+But if the history of the book was eventful, how much more so was
+that of its chief author, the famous Robert Parsons, first of
+Balliol College, and then of the Order of Jesus! Parsons was a
+very prince of intrigue. To say that he actually tried to
+persuade Philip II. to send a second Armada; that he tried to
+persuade the Earl of Derby to raise a rebellion, and then is
+suspected of having poisoned him for not consenting; that he
+instigated an English Jesuit to try to assassinate the Queen;
+and, among other plans, wished to get the Pope and the Kings of
+France and Spain to appoint a Catholic successor to Elizabeth,
+and to support their nominee by an armed confederacy, is to give
+but the meagre outline of his energetic career. The blacksmith's
+son certainly made no small use of his time and abilities. His
+life is the history in miniature of that of his order as a body;
+that same body whose enormous establishments in England at this
+day are in such bold defiance of the Catholic Emancipation Act,
+which makes even their residence in this kingdom illegal.
+
+Doleman's _Conference_ was answered in a little book by Peter
+Wentworth, entitled _A Pithy Exhortation to Her Majesty for
+establishing her Successor to the Crown_, in which the author
+advocated the claims of James I. The book was written in terms of
+great humility and respect, the author not being ignorant, as he
+quaintly says, "that the anger of a Prince is as the roaring of a
+Lyon, and even the messenger of Death." But this he was to learn
+by personal experience, for the Queen, incensed with him for
+venturing to advise her, not only had his book burnt, but sent
+him to the Tower, where, like so many others, he died. So at
+least says a printed slip in the Grenville copy of his book.
+
+But Wentworth is better and more deservedly remembered for his
+speeches than for his book--his famous speeches in 1575, and
+again in 1587, in Parliament in defence of the Commons' Right of
+Free Speech, for both of which he was temporarily committed to
+the Tower. Rumours of what would please or displease the Queen,
+or messages from the Queen, like that prohibiting the House to
+interfere in matters of religion, in those days reduced the voice
+of the House to a nullity. Wentworth's chief question was,
+"Whether this Council be not a place for any member of the same
+here assembled, freely and without control of any person or
+danger of laws, by bill or speech to utter any of the griefs of
+this Commonwealth whatsoever, touching the service of God, the
+safety of the prince and this noble realm." Yet so servile was
+the House of that period, that on both occasions it disclaimed
+and condemned its advocate--on the first occasion actually not
+allowing him to finish his speech. Yet, fortunately, both his
+speeches live, well reported in the Parliamentary Debates.
+
+To pass from politics to poetry; little as Archbishop Whitgift's
+proceedings in the High Commission endear his name to posterity,
+I am inclined to think he may be forgiven for cleansing
+Stationers' Hall by fire, in 1599, of certain works purporting to
+be poetical; such works, namely, as Marlowe's _Elegies of Ovid_,
+which appeared in company with Davies's _Epigrammes_, Marston's
+_Metamorphosis of Pigmalion's Image_, Hall's _Satires_, and
+Cutwode's _Caltha Poetarum; or, The Bumble Bee_. The latter is a
+fantastic poem of 187 stanzas about a bee and a marigold, and
+deserved the fire rather for its insipidity than for the reasons
+which justified the cleansing process applied to the others, the
+youthful productions of men who were destined to attain
+celebrity in very different directions of life.
+
+Marlowe, like Shakespeare, from an actor became a writer of
+plays; but though Ben Jonson extolled his "mighty muse," I doubt
+whether his _Edward II._, _Dr. Faustus_, or _Jew of Malta_, are
+now widely popular. Anthony Wood has left a very disagreeable
+picture of Marlowe's character, which one would fain hope is
+overdrawn; but the dramatist's early death in a low quarrel
+prevented him from ever redeeming his early offences, as a kinder
+fortune permitted to his companions in the Stationers' bonfire.
+
+Marston came to be more distinguished for his _Satires_ than for
+his plays, his _Scourge of Villainie_ being his chief title to
+fame. Of his _Pigmalion_ all that can be said is, that it is not
+quite so bad as Marlowe's _Elegies_. Warton justly says, with
+pompous euphemism: "His stream of poetry, if sometimes bright and
+unpolluted, almost always betrays a muddy bottom." But this muddy
+bottom is discernible, not in Marston alone, but also in Hall's
+_Virgidemiarum_, or Satires, of which Warton did all he could to
+revive the popularity. Hall was Marston's rival at Cambridge, but
+Hall claims to be the first English satirist. He took Juvenal for
+his model, but the Latin of Juvenal seems to me far less obscure
+than the English of Hall. I quote two lines to show what this
+Cambridge student thought of the great Elizabethan period in
+which he lived. Referring to some remote golden age, he says:--
+
+     "Then men were men; but now the greater part
+      Beasts are in life, and women are in heart."
+
+But strange are the evolutions of men. The author of the burnt
+satires rose from dignity to dignity in the Church. He became
+successively Bishop of Exeter and Bishop of Norwich, and to this
+day his devotional works are read by thousands who have never
+heard of his satires. He was sent as a deputy to the famous Synod
+of Dort, and was faithful to his Church and king through the
+Civil War. For this in his old age he suffered sequestration and
+imprisonment, and he lived to see his cathedral turned into a
+barrack, and his palace into an ale-house, dying shortly before
+the Restoration, in 1656, at the age of 82. Bayle thought him
+worthy of a place in his Dictionary, but he is still worthier of
+a place in our memories as one of those great English bishops
+who, like Burnet, Butler, or Tillotson, never put their Church
+before their humanity, but showed (what needed showing) that the
+Christianity of the clergy was not of necessity synonymous with
+the absolute negation of charity.
+
+Davies, too, Marlowe's early friend, rose to fame both as a poet
+and a statesman. But he began badly. He was disbarred from the
+Middle Temple for breaking a club over the head of another law
+student in the very dining-hall. After that he became member for
+Corfe Castle, and then successively Solicitor-General and
+Attorney-General for Ireland. He was knighted in 1607. One of the
+best books on that unhappy country is his _Discovery of the true
+causes why Ireland was never entirely subdued, nor brought under
+obedience of the Crown of England until the beginning of Her
+Majesty's happy reign_ (1611), dedicated to James I. His chief
+poems are his _Nosce Teipsum_ and _The Orchestra_. In 1614 he was
+elected for Newcastle-under-Lyme, and he died in 1626, aged only
+57. Yet in that time he had travelled a long way from the days of
+his early literary companionship with Christopher Marlowe.
+
+The Church at the end of the sixteenth century assuredly aimed
+high. At the time the above books were burnt, it was decreed that
+no satires or epigrams should be printed in the future; and that
+no plays should be printed without the inspection and permission
+of the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishop of London! But
+even this is nothing compared with that later attempt to subject
+the Press to the Church which called forth Milton's
+_Areopagitica_; there indeed soon came to be very little to
+choose between the Inquisition of the High Commission and the
+more noxious Inquisition of Rome.
+
+Near to the burnt works of the previous writers must be placed
+those of that prolific writer of the same period, Samuel
+Rowlands. The severity of his satire, and the obviousness of the
+allusions, caused two of his works to be burnt, first publicly,
+and then in the hall kitchen of the Stationers' Company, in
+October 1600. These were: _The Letting Humour's Blood in the
+Headvein_, and, _A Merry Meeting; or, 'tis Merry when Knaves
+meet_; both of which subsequently reappeared under the titles
+respectively of _Humour's Ordinarie, where a man may be verie
+merrie and exceeding well used for his sixpence_, and the _Knave
+of Clubs_. Either work would now cost much more than sixpence,
+and probably fail to make the reader very merry, or even merry at
+all. One of the epigrams, however, of the first work may be
+quoted as of more than ephemeral truth and interest:--
+
+     "Who seeks to please all men each way,
+        And not himself offend,
+      He may begin his work to-day,
+        But God knows when he'll end."
+
+Little appears to be known of Rowlands, but, like Bishop Hall, he
+could turn his pen to various purposes with great facility; for
+the prayers which he is thought to have composed, and which are
+published with the rest of his works in the admirable edition of
+1870, are of as high an order of merit as the religious works of
+his more famous contemporary.
+
+The only wonder is that the Archbishop did not enforce the
+burning of much more of the literature of the Elizabethan period,
+whilst he was engaged on such a crusade. He may well, however,
+have shrunk appalled from the magnitude of the task, and have
+thought it better to touch the margin than do nothing at all.
+And, after all, in those days a poet was lucky if they only burnt
+his poems, and not himself as well. In 1619 John Williams,
+barrister, was actually hanged, drawn, and quartered, for two
+poems which were not even printed, but which exist in manuscript
+at Cambridge to this day. These were _Balaam's Ass_ and the
+_Speculum Regale_. Williams was indiscreet enough to predict the
+King's death in 1621, and to send the poems secretly to his
+Majesty in a box. The odd thing is that he thought himself justly
+punished for his foolish freak, so very peculiar were men's
+notions of justice in those far-off barbarous days.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+BOOK-FIRES UNDER JAMES I.
+
+
+Despite Mr. D'Israeli's able defence of him, the fashion has
+survived of speaking disdainfully of James I. and all his works.
+The military men of his day, hating him for that wise love of
+peace which saved us at least from one war on the Continent,
+complained of a king who preferred to wage war with the pen than
+with the pike, and vented his anger on paper instead of with
+powder. But for all that, the patron and friend of Ben Jonson,
+and the constant promoter of arts and letters, was one of the
+best literary workmen of his time; nor will any one who dips into
+his works fail to put them aside without a considerably higher
+estimate than he had before of the ability of the most learned
+king that ever occupied the British throne--a monarch
+unapproached by any of his successors, save William III., in any
+sort of intellectual power.
+
+Yet here our admiration for James I. must perforce stop. For of
+many of his ideas the only excuse is that they were those of his
+age; and this is an excuse that is fatal to a claim to the
+highest order of merit. All men to some extent are the sport and
+victims of their intellectual surroundings; but it is the mark of
+superiority to rise above them, and this James I. often failed to
+do. He cannot, for instance, in this respect compare with a man
+whose works he persecuted, namely, Reginald Scot, who in 1584
+published his immortal _Discoverie of Witchcraft_, a book which,
+alike for its motive as its matter, occupies one of the highest
+places in the history of the literature of Europe.
+
+Yet Scot was only a Kentish country gentleman, who gave himself
+up solely, says Wood, to solid reading and the perusal of obscure
+but neglected authors, diversifying his studies with agriculture,
+and so producing the first extant treatise on hops. Nevertheless,
+he is among the heroes of the world, greater for me at least than
+any one of our most famous generals, for it was at the risk of
+his life that he wrote, as he says himself, "in behalf of the
+poor, the aged, and the simple"; and if he has no monument in our
+English Pantheon, he has a better and more abiding one in the
+hearts of all the well-wishers of humanity. For his reading led
+him to the assault of one of the best established, most sacred,
+yet most stupid, of the superstitions of mankind; and to have
+exposed both the folly of the belief, and the cruelty of the
+legal punishments, of witchcraft, more justly entitles his memory
+to honour than the capture of many stormed cities or the butchery
+of thousands of his fellow-beings on a battlefield.
+
+How trite is the argument that this or that belief must be true
+because so many generations have believed it, so many countries,
+so many famous men,--as if error, like stolen property, gained a
+title from prescription of time! Scot pierced this pretension
+with a single sentence: "Truth must not be measured by time, for
+every old opinion is not sound." "My great adversaries," he says,
+"are young ignorance and old custom. For what folly soever tract
+of time hath fostered, it is so superstitiously pursued of some
+as though no error could be acquainted with custom." May we not
+say, indeed, that beliefs are rendered suspect by the very extent
+of their currency and acceptance?
+
+But Scot had a greater adversary than even young ignorance or old
+custom; and that was King James, who, whilst King of Scotland,
+wrote his _Demonologie_ against Scot's ideas (1597). James's mind
+was strictly Bible-bound, and for him the disbelief in witches
+savoured of Sadduceeism, or the denial of spirits. Yet Scot had
+taken care to guard himself, for he wrote: "I deny not that there
+are witches or images; but I detest the idolatrous opinions
+conceived of them." Nor can James have carefully read Scot, for
+tacked on to the _Discoverie_ is a _Discourse of Devils and
+Spirits_, which to the simplest Sadducee would have been the
+veriest trash. Scot, for instance, says of the devil that "God
+created him purposely to destroy. I take his substance to be such
+as no man can by learning define, nor by wisdom search out"; a
+conclusion surely as wise as the theology is curious. Anyhow it
+is the very reverse of Sadduceean. It is said that one of the
+first proceedings of James's reign was to have all the copies of
+Scot's book burnt that could be seized, and undoubtedly one of
+the first of his Acts of Parliament was the statute that made all
+the devices of witchcraft punishable with death, as felony,
+without benefit of clergy.
+
+But about the burning there is room for doubt. For there is no
+English contemporary testimony of the fact. Voet, a professor of
+theology in Holland, is its only known contemporary witness; but
+he may have assumed the suppression of the book to have been
+identical with its burning; a common assumption, but a no less
+common mistake. On the other hand, many books undoubtedly were
+burnt under James that are not mentioned by name; and the great
+rarity of the first edition of the book, and its absence from
+some of our principal libraries, support the possibility of its
+having been among them.[52:1] Nevertheless, to quote Mr.
+D'Israeli: "On the King's arrival in England, having discovered
+the numerous impostures and illusions which he had often referred
+to as authorities, he grew suspicious of the whole system of
+Dæmonologie, and at length recanted it entirely. With the same
+conscientious zeal James had written the book, the King condemned
+it; and the sovereign separated himself from the author, in the
+cause of truth; but the clergy and the Parliament persisted in
+making the imaginary crime felony by the statute." So that if
+James really burnt the book, he must have burnt it to please
+others, not himself; and though he may have done so, the
+presumption is rather that he did not.
+
+The wonder is that Scot himself escaped the real or supposed fate
+of his book. Pleasing indeed is it to know that he lived out his
+days undisturbed to the end (1599) with his family and among his
+hops and flowers in Kent; not, however, before he had lived to
+see his book make a perceptible impression on the magistracy and
+even on the clergy of his time, till a perceptible check was
+given to his ideas by the _Demonologie_. But at all events he had
+given superstition a reeling blow, from which it never wholly
+recovered, and to which it ultimately succumbed. More than this
+can few men hope to do, and to have done so much is ample cause
+for contentment.
+
+Fundamental questions of all sorts were growing critical in the
+reign of James, who had not only the clearest ideas of their
+answer, but the firmest determination to have them, if possible,
+answered in his own way. The principal ones were: The
+relationship of the King to his subjects; of the Pope to kings;
+of the Established Church to Puritanism and Catholicism. And on
+the leading political and religious questions of his day James
+caused certain books to be burnt which advocated opinions
+contrary to his own--a mode of reasoning that reflects less
+credit on his philosophy than does his conduct in most other
+respects.
+
+But the first book that was burnt for its sentiments on
+Prerogative was one of which the King was believed personally to
+approve. This was probably the gist of its offence, for it
+appeared about the time that the King made his very supercilious
+speech to the Commons in answer to their complaints about the
+High Commission and other grievances.
+
+I allude to the famous _Interpreter_ (1607) by Cowell, Doctor of
+Civil Law at Cambridge, which, written at the instigation of
+Archbishop Bancroft, was dedicated to him, and caused a storm
+little dreamt of by its author. Sir E. Coke disliked Cowell, whom
+he nicknamed Cow-heel, and naturally disliked him still more for
+writing slightingly of Littleton and the Common Law. He therefore
+caused Parliament to take the matter up, with the result that
+Cowell was imprisoned and came near to hanging;[54:1] James only
+saving his life by suppressing his book by proclamation, for
+which the Commons returned him thanks with great exultation over
+their victory.
+
+For Cowell had taken too strongly the high monarchical line, and
+the episode of his book is really the first engagement in that
+great war between Prerogative and People which raged through the
+seventeenth century. "I hold it uncontrollable," he wrote, "that
+the King of England is an absolute king." "Though it be a
+merciful policy, and also a politic policy (not alterable without
+great peril) to make laws by the consent of the whole realm . . .
+yet simply to bind the prince to or by these laws were repugnant
+to the nature and custom of an absolute monarchy." "For those
+regalities which are of the higher nature there is not one that
+belonged to the most absolute prince in the world which doth not
+also belong to our King." But the book was condemned, not only
+for its sins against the Subject, but also for passages that were
+said to pinch on the authority of the King. Yet, considered
+merely as a Law Dictionary, it is still one of the best in our
+language.
+
+In the King's proclamation against the _Interpreter_ are some
+passages that curiously illustrate the mind of its author. He
+thus complains of the growing freedom of thought: "From the very
+highest mysteries of the Godhead and the most inscrutable
+counsels in the Trinitie to the very lowest pit of Hell and the
+confused action of the divells there, there is nothing now
+unsearched into by the curiositie of men's brains"; so that "it
+is no wonder that they do not spare to wade in all the deepest
+mysteries that belong to the persons or the state of Kinges and
+Princes, that are gods upon earth." King James's attitude to Free
+Thought reminds one of the legendary contention between Canute
+and the sea. No one has ever repeated the latter experiment, but
+how many thousands still disquiet themselves, as James did, about
+or against the progress of the human mind!
+
+In the proclamation itself there is no actual mention of burning,
+all persons in possession of the book being required to deliver
+their copies to the Lord Mayor or County Sheriffs "for the
+further order of its utter suppression" (March 25th, 1610);
+neither is there any allusion to burning in the Parliamentary
+journals, nor in the letters relating to the subject in Winwood's
+_Memorials_. The contemporary evidence of the fact is, however,
+supplied by Sir H. Spelman, who says in his _Glossarium_ (under
+the word "Tenure") that Cowell's book was publicly burnt.
+Otherwise, James's proclamations were not always attended to (by
+one, for instance, he prohibited hunting); and Roger Coke says
+that the books being out, "the proclamation could not call them
+in, but only served to make them more taken notice of."[57:1]
+
+That books were often suppressed or called in without being
+publicly burnt is well shown by Heylin's remark about Mocket's
+book (presently referred to), that it was "thought fit not only
+to call it in, but to expiate the errors of it in a public
+flame."[57:2] Among works thus suppressed without being burnt may
+be mentioned Bishop Thornborough's two books in favour of the
+union between England and Scotland (1604), Lord Coke's Speech and
+Charge at the Norwich Assizes (1607), and Sir W. Raleigh's first
+volume of the _History of the World_ (1614). I suspect that
+Scott's _Discoverie_ was likewise only suppressed, and that Voet
+erroneously thought that this involved and implied a public
+burning.
+
+But it was not for long that James had saved Cowell's life, for
+the latter's death the following year, and soon after the
+resignation of his professorship, is said by Fuller to have been
+hastened by the trouble about his book. The King throughout
+behaved with great judgment, nor is it so true that he
+surrendered Cowell to his enemies, as that he saved him from
+imminent personal peril. Men like Cowell and Blackwood and
+Bancroft were probably more monarchical than the monarch himself;
+and, though James held high notions of his own powers, and could
+even hint at being a god upon earth, his subjects were far more
+ready to accept his divinity than he was to force it upon them.
+It was not quite for nothing that James had had for his tutor the
+republican George Buchanan, one of the first opponents of
+monarchical absolutism in his famous _De Jure Regni apud Scotos_;
+nor did he ever quite forget the noble words in which at his
+first Parliament he thus defined for ever the position of a
+constitutional king: "That I am a servant it is most true, that
+as I am head and governor of all the people in my dominion who
+are my natural vassals and subjects, considering them in numbers
+and distinct ranks: so, if we will take the whole people as one
+body and mass, then, as the head is ordained for the body and not
+the body for the head, so must a righteous king know himself to
+be ordained for his people and not his people for him. . . . _I
+will never be ashamed to confess it my principal honour to be the
+great servant of the Commonwealth._"
+
+And in this very matter of Cowell's book James not only denied
+any preference for the civil over the common law, but professed
+"that, although he knew how great and large a king's rights and
+prerogatives were, yet that he would never affect nor seek to
+extend his beyond the prescription and limits of the municipal
+laws and customs of this realm."[59:1]
+
+A few years later Sir Walter Raleigh's first volume of his
+_History of the World_ was called in at the King's command,
+"especially for being too saucy in censuring princes." This fate
+its wonderful author took greatly to heart, as he had hoped
+thereby to please the King extraordinarily;[59:2] and,
+considering the terms wherewith in his preface he pointed the
+contrast between James and our previous rulers, one cannot but
+share his astonishment.
+
+This would seem to indicate that the King grew more sensitive
+about his position as time went on; and this conclusion is
+corroborated by his extraordinary conduct in reference to the
+works of David Paræus, the learned Protestant Professor of
+Divinity at Heidelberg. One can conceive no mortal soul ever
+reading those three vast folios of closely printed Latin in which
+Paræus commented on the Old and New Testament; but in those days
+people must have read everything. At all events, it was
+discovered that in his commentary on Romans xiii. Paræus had
+contended at great length and detail in favour of the people's
+right to restrain, even by force of arms, tyrannical violence on
+the part of the superior magistrate. On March 22nd, 1622,
+therefore, the Archbishop of Canterbury and twelve bishops, at
+the King's request, represented this doctrine to be most
+dangerous and seditious; and accordingly, on July 1st, the books
+of Paræus were publicly burnt after a sermon by the Bishop of
+London; and about the same time the Universities of Oxford and
+Cambridge, ever on the side of the divine right, proved their
+loyalty by condemning and burning the book, perhaps the only book
+whose condemnation never tempted to its perusal. But that very
+same year (August 22nd, 1622) the King found it necessary to
+issue directions concerning preaching and preachers, so freely
+was the Puritanical side of the community then beginning to
+express itself about the royal prerogative.
+
+As connected with the question of the prerogative must be
+mentioned, as burnt by James' order, the _Doctrina et Politia
+Ecclesiæ Anglicanæ_ (1616), a Latin translation of the English
+Prayer Book, as well as of Jewell's _Apology_ and Newell's
+_Catechism_, by Richard Mocket, then Warden of All Souls'. Mocket
+was chaplain to Archbishop Abbot, and wished to recommend the
+formularies and doctrines of the Church of England to foreign
+nations. History does not, indeed, record any deep impression as
+made on foreign nations by the book; though Heylin asserts that
+it had given no small reputation to the Church of England beyond
+the seas (_Laud_, 70); but it does record the fact of its being
+publicly burnt, as well as give some intimations of the reason.
+Fuller says that the main objection to it was, that Mocket had
+proved himself a better chaplain than subject, touching James in
+one of his tenderest points in contending for the right of the
+Archbishop of Canterbury to confirm the election of bishops in
+his province. Mocket also gave such extracts from the Homilies as
+seemed to have a Calvinistic leaning; and treated fast days as
+only of political institution. For such reasons the book was
+burnt by public edict, a censure which the writer took so much to
+heart that, as Fuller says, being "so much defeated in his
+expectation to find punishment where he looked for preferment, as
+if his life were bound up by sympathy in his book, he ended his
+days soon after." Poor Mocket was only forty when he died,
+succumbing, like Cowell, to the rough reception accorded to his
+book.
+
+Mocket's book is less one to read than to treasure as a sort of
+_lusus naturæ_ in the literary world; for it would certainly have
+seemed safe antecedently to wager a million to one that no Warden
+of All Souls' would ever write a book that would be subjected to
+the indignity of fire; and, in spite of his example, I would
+still wager a million to one that a similar fate will never
+befall any literary work of Mocket's successors. Mocket's book,
+therefore, has a certain distinction which is all its own; but
+those who do not love the Church of England without it will
+hardly be led to such love by reading Mocket. And Mocket himself,
+if we follow Fuller, seems to have wished to make his love for
+the Church a vehicle to his own preferment; but as, perhaps, in
+that respect he does not stand alone, I should be sorry that the
+implied reproach should rest as any stain upon his memory.
+
+Next to the question of the rights of kings over their subjects,
+the most important one of that time was concerning the rights of
+popes over kings--a question which, having been intensified by
+the Reformation, naturally came to a crisis after the Gunpowder
+Plot. James I. then instituted an oath of allegiance as a test of
+Catholic loyalty, and many Catholics took the oath without
+scruple, including the Archpriest Blackwell. Cardinal Bellarmine
+thereupon wrote a letter of rebuke to the latter, and Pope Paul
+V. sent a brief forbidding Catholics either to take the oath or
+to attend Protestant churches (October 1606). But it is
+remarkable that, so little did the Catholics believe in the
+authenticity of this brief, another--and an angry one--had to
+come from Rome the following September, to confirm and enforce
+it. King James very fairly took umbrage at the action and claims
+of the Pope, and spent six days in making notes which he wished
+the Bishop of Winchester to use in a reply to the Pope and the
+Cardinal. But when the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishop of
+Ely saw the King's notes, they thought them answer enough, and so
+James's _Apology for the Oath of Allegiance_ came to light, but
+without his name, the author, among other reasons, deeming it
+beneath his dignity to contend in argument with a cardinal. As
+the Cardinal responded, the King took a stronger measure, and
+under his own name wrote, in a single week, his _Premonition to
+all most Mighty Monarch_, wherein he exposed with great force the
+danger to all states from the pretensions of the Papacy.
+Thereupon, at Paul's invitation, Suarez penned that vast folio
+(778 pp.), the _Defensio Catholicæ Fidei contra Anglicanæ Sectæ
+Errores_ (1613), as a counterblast to James's _Apology_.
+Considering the subject, it was certainly written with singular
+moderation; and James would have done better to have left the
+book to the natural penalty of its immense bulk. As it was, he
+ordered it to be burnt at London, and at Oxford and Cambridge;
+forbade his subjects to read it, under severe penalties; and
+wrote to Philip III. of Spain to complain of his Jesuit subject.
+But Philip, of course, only expressed his sympathy with Suarez,
+and exhorted James to return to the Faith. The Parlement of Paris
+also consigned the book to the flames in 1614, as it had a few
+years before Bellarmine's _Tractatus de Potestate summi
+Pontificis in Temporalibus_, in which the same high pretensions
+were claimed for the Pope as were claimed by Suarez.
+
+The question at issue remains, of course, a burning one to this
+day. To James I., however, is due the credit of having been one
+of the earliest and ablest champions against the Temporal Power;
+and therefore side by side on our shelves with Bellarmine and
+Suarez should stand copies of the _Apology_ and the
+_Premonition_--both of them works which can scarcely fail to
+raise the King many degrees in the estimation of all who read
+them.
+
+But we have yet to see James as a theologian, for on his divinity
+he prided himself no less than on his king-craft. The burnings of
+Legatt at Smithfield and of Wightman at Lichfield for heretical
+opinions are sad blots on the King's memory; for it would seem
+that he personally pressed the bishops to proceed to this
+extremity, in the case of Legatt at least. Nor in the case of
+poor Conrad Vorst did he manifest more toleration or dignity. It
+was no concern of his if Vorst was appointed by the States to
+succeed Arminius as Professor of Theology at Leyden; yet, deeming
+his duty as Defender of the Faith to be bound by no seas, he
+actually interfered to prevent it, and rendered Vorst's life a
+burden to him, when he might just as reasonably have protested
+against the choice of a Grand Lama of Thibet.
+
+Vorst's book--the _Tractatus Theologicus de Deo_, an ugly,
+square, brown book of five hundred pages--is as unreadable as it
+is unprepossessing. Bayle says that it was shown to the King
+whilst out hunting, and that he forthwith read it with such
+energy as to be able to despatch within an hour to his resident
+at the Hague a detailed list of its heresies. Nothing in his
+reign seems to have excited him so much. Not only did he have it
+publicly burnt in St. Paul's Churchyard (October 1611), and at
+Oxford and Cambridge, but he entreated the States, under the pain
+of the loss of his friendship, to banish Vorst from their
+dominions altogether. No heretic, he said, ever better deserved
+to be burnt, but that he would leave to their Christian wisdom.
+"Such a Disquisition deserved the punishment of the Inquisition."
+If Vorst remained, no English youths should repair to "so
+infected a place" as the University of Leyden.
+
+The States resented at first the interference of the King of
+England, and supported Vorst, but the ultimate result of James's
+prolonged agitation was that in 1619 the National Synod of Dort
+declared Vorst's works to be impious and blasphemous, and their
+author unworthy to be an orthodox professor. He was accordingly
+banished from the University and from Holland for life, and died
+three years afterwards, fully justified by his persecution in his
+original reluctance to exchange his country living for the
+dignity of a professorship of theology.
+
+Bayle thinks he was fairly chargeable with Socinian views, but
+what most offended James was his metaphysical speculations on the
+Divine attributes. I will quote from Vorst two passages which
+vexed the royal soul, and should teach us to rejoice that the
+reign of such discussions shows signs of passing away:--
+
+     "Is there a quantity in God?
+      There is; but not a physical quantity,
+      But a supernatural quantity;
+      One nevertheless that is plainly imperceptible to us,
+      And merely spiritual."
+
+Or again:--
+
+"Hath God a body? If we will speak properly, He has none; yet is
+it no absurdity, speaking improperly, to ascribe a body unto God,
+that is, as the word is taken improperly and generally (and yet
+not very absurdly) for a true substance, in a large
+signification, or, if you will, abusive."
+
+The above are the principal books whose names have come down to
+us as burnt in the reign of James, and the initiation of such
+burning seems always to have come from the King himself. As yet,
+the Star Chamber and Court of High Commission do not appear to
+have assumed the direction of this lesser but not unimportant
+department of government. Nor is there yet any mention of the
+hangman: the mere burning by any menial official being, thought
+stigma enough. It is also remarkable that the books which chiefly
+roused James's anger to the burning point were the works of
+foreigners--of Paræus, Suarez, and Vorst. After James our country
+was too much occupied in burning its own books and pamphlets to
+burden itself with the additional labour of burning its
+neighbours'; the instances that occur are comparatively few and
+far between. But it is clear that, whatever were James's real
+views as to the limits of his political prerogative, in the field
+of literature he meant to play and did play the despot. Pity that
+one who could so deftly wield his pen should have rested his
+final argument on the bonfire!
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[52:1] That is Dr. Brinsley Nicholson's conclusion in his preface
+to Scot; yet, if the book was burnt, it is highly improbable that
+the common hangman officiated.
+
+[54:1] Winwood's _Memorials_, I. 125.
+
+[57:1] _Detection of Court and State of England_ (1696), I. 30.
+
+[57:2] _Life of Laud_, 70.
+
+[59:1] Winwood's _Memorials_, III. 136.
+
+[59:2] Letter of January 5th, 1614, in _Court and Times of James
+I._
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+CHARLES THE FIRST'S BOOK-FIRES.
+
+
+Few things now seem more surprising than the sort of fury with
+which in the earlier part of the seventeenth century the extreme
+rights of monarchs were advocated by large numbers of Englishmen.
+Political servitude was then the favourite dream of thousands.
+The Church made herself especially prominent on the side of
+prerogative; the pulpits resounded with what our ancestors called
+Crown Divinity; and in the reign of Charles I. the rival
+principles, ultimately fought for on the battlefield, first came
+into conflict over sermons, the immediate cause, indeed, of so
+many of the greatest political movements of our history.
+
+The first episode in this connection is the important case of Dr.
+Roger Manwaring, one of Charles's chaplains, who, at the time
+when the King was pressing for a compulsory loan, preached two
+sermons before him, advocating the King's right to impose any
+loan or tax without consent of Parliament, and, in fact, making a
+clean sweep of all the liberties of the subject whatsoever. At
+Charles's request, Manwaring published these sermons under the
+title of _Religion and Allegiance_ (1627). But the popular party
+in Parliament resolved to make an example of him, and a long
+speech on the subject by Pym is preserved in Rushworth. The
+Commons begged the Lords to pronounce judgment upon him, and a
+most severe one they did pronounce. He was to be imprisoned
+during the House's pleasure; to be fined £1000 to the King; to
+make a written submission at the bars of both Houses; to be
+suspended for three years; to be disabled from ever preaching at
+Court, or holding any ecclesiastical or secular office; and the
+King was to be moved to grant a proclamation for calling in and
+burning his book.
+
+On June 23rd, 1628, Manwaring made accordingly a most abject
+submission at the bars of both Houses, Heylin says, on his knees
+and with tears in his eyes, confessing his sermons to have been
+"full of dangerous passages, inferences, and scandalous
+aspersions in most parts"; and the next day Charles issued a
+proclamation for calling them in, as having incurred "the just
+censure and sentence of the High Court of Parliament." The
+sentence of suppression presumably in this case carried the
+burning; but, if so, there is no mention of any public burning by
+the bishops and others, to whom the books were to be delivered by
+their owners.
+
+Fuller says that much of Manwaring's sentence was remitted in
+consideration of his humble submission; and Charles the very same
+year not only pardoned him, but gave him ecclesiastical
+preferment, finally making him Bishop of St. David's. Heylin
+attests the resentment this indiscreet indulgence roused in the
+Commons; but, unfortunately, as Manwaring was doubtless well
+aware, to have incurred the anger of Parliament was motive enough
+with Charles for the preferment of the offender, and the shortest
+road to it.
+
+This is shown by the similar treatment accorded to the Rev.
+Richard Montagu, who had made himself conspicuous on the
+anti-Puritan side in the time of James. In defence of himself he
+had written his _Appello Cæsarem_, with James's leave and
+encouragement. It was a long book, refuting the charges made
+against him of Popery and Arminianism, and full of bitter
+invectives against the Puritans. After the matter had been long
+under the consideration of Parliament, the House prayed Charles
+to punish Montagu, and to suppress and burn his books; and this
+Charles did in a remarkable proclamation (January 17th, 1628),
+wherein the _Appello Cæsarem_ is admitted to have been _the first
+cause of those disputes and differences that have since much
+troubled the quiet of the Church_, and is therefore called in,
+Charles adding, that if others write again on the subject, "we
+shall take such order with them and those books that they shall
+wish they had never thought upon these needless controversies."
+It appears, however, from Rushworth that, in spite of this,
+several answers were penned to Montagu, and that they were
+suppressed. And what, indeed, would life be but for its "needless
+controversies"?
+
+Nothing could be more praiseworthy than Charles's attempt to put
+a stop to the idle disputations and bitter recriminations of the
+combatants on either side of religious controversy. Could he have
+succeeded he might have staved off the Civil War, which we might
+almost more fitly call a religious one. But in those days few
+men, unfortunately, had the cool wisdom to remain as neutral
+between Arminian and Calvinist, Papist and Protestant, as between
+the rival Egyptian sects which, in Juvenal's time, fought for the
+worship of the ibis or the crocodile. Our comparatively greater
+safety in these days is due to the large increase of that neutral
+party, which was so sadly insignificant in the time of Charles.
+May that party therefore never become less, but constantly grow
+larger!
+
+Montagu, at the time of the proclamation of his book, had been
+appointed Bishop of Chichester, having been raised to that see in
+spite or because of his quarrel with Parliament. He was
+consecrated by Laud in August of the same year, and Heylin admits
+that his promotion was more magnanimous than safe on the part of
+Charles, being clearly calculated to exasperate the House. Ten
+years later (1638) he was preferred to the see of Norwich. All
+his life he remained a prominent member of the Romanising party.
+
+These books of Manwaring and Montagu are important as proving
+clearly two historical points, viz.:--(1) The early date at which
+the Court party alienated even the House of Lords. (2) The fact
+that the original exciting cause of all the subsequent discord
+between Puritan and Prelatist came from a prominent member of the
+Laudian or Romanising faction.
+
+The rising temper of the people, and its justification, is shown
+even in these literary disputes. But the popular temper was
+destined to be more seriously roused by those atrocious sentences
+against the authors of certain books which were passed within a
+few years by the Star Chamber and High Commission. The heavy
+fines and cruel mutilations imposed by these courts were not new
+in the reign of Charles, but they became far more frequent, and
+were directed less against wrong conduct than disagreeable
+opinions. They are intimately connected with the memory of Laud,
+first as Bishop of London, and then as Archbishop of Canterbury,
+whose letters show that the severities in question were to him
+and Strafford (to use Hallam's expression) "the feebleness of
+excessive lenity." To the last Charles was not despotic enough to
+please Laud, who complains petulantly in his Diary of a prince
+"who knew not how to be, or be made great."
+
+As the first illustration of Laud's method for attaining this end
+must be mentioned the case of a book which enjoys the distinction
+of having brought its author to a more severe punishment than
+any other book in the English language. Our literature has had
+many a martyr, but Alexander Leighton is the foremost of the
+rank.
+
+He was a Scotch divine; nor can it be denied that his _Syon's
+Plea against the Prelacy_ (1628) contained, indeed, some bitter
+things against the bishops; he said they were of no use in God's
+house, and called them caterpillars, moths, and cankerworms. But
+our ancestors habitually indulged in such expressions; and even
+Tyndale, the martyr, called church functionaries horse-leeches,
+maggots, and caterpillars in a kingdom. Such terms were among the
+traditional amenities of all controversy, but especially of
+religious controversy. But since the Martin-Marprelate Tracts or
+Latimer's sermons the strong anti-Episcopalian feeling of the
+country had never expressed itself so vigorously as in this
+"decade of grievances" against the hierarchy, presented to
+Parliament by a man who was too sensitive of "the ruin of
+religion and the sinking of the State."
+
+The Star Chamber fined him £10,000, and then the High Commission
+Court deprived him of his ministry, and sentenced him to be
+whipped, to be pilloried, to lose his ears, to have his nose
+slit, to be branded on his cheeks with "S. S." (Sower of
+Sedition), and to be imprisoned for life! Probably with all this,
+the burning of his book went without saying; though I have found
+no specific mention of its incurring that fate.
+
+The sentence was executed in November 1630, in frost and snow,
+making its victim, as he says himself, "a theatre of misery to
+men and angels." It was all done in the name of law and order,
+like all the other great atrocities of history. After ten years'
+imprisonment Leighton was released by the Long Parliament, and a
+few years later he wrote an account of his sufferings, and a
+report of his trial in the Star Chamber. Therein we learn that
+Laud, the Bishop of London, was the moving spirit of the whole
+thing. At the end of his speech he apologised for his presence at
+the trial, admitting that by the Canon law no ecclesiastic might
+be present at a judicature where loss of life or limb was
+incurred, but contending that there was no such loss in
+ear-cutting, nose-slitting, branding, and whipping. Leighton, of
+course, may have been misinformed of what occurred at his trial
+(for he himself was not allowed to be present!); and so some
+doubt must also attach to the story that when the censure was
+delivered "the Prelate off with his cap, and holding up his
+hands gave thanks to God who had given him the victory over his
+enemies."
+
+Shortly after his release, Leighton was made keeper of Lambeth
+Palace, and then he died, "rather insane of mind for the
+hardships he had suffered"; but, such is the irony of fate, the
+man who had paid so heavily for his antipathy to bishops became
+himself the father of an archbishop!
+
+By an unexplained law of our nature the very severity of
+punishment seems to invite men to incur it; and Leighton's fate,
+like most penal warnings, rather incited to its imitation than
+deterred from it. The next to feel the grip of the Star Chamber
+was the famous William Prynne, barrister of Lincoln's Inn, and
+one of the most erudite as well as most voluminous writers our
+country has ever produced.
+
+He was only thirty-three when in 1633 he published his
+_Histriomastix; or, the Player's Scourge_. His labour had taken
+him seven years, nor was it the first work of his that had
+attracted the notice of authority. In a thousand closely printed
+pages, he argued, by an appeal to fifty-five councils,
+seventy-one fathers and Christian writers, one hundred and fifty
+Protestant and Catholic authors, and forty heathen philosophers
+into the bargain, that stage-plays, besides being sinful and
+heathenish, were "intolerable mischiefs to churches, to
+republics, to the manners, minds, and souls of men." Little as we
+think so now, this opinion, which was afterwards also Defoe's,
+was not without justification in those days. But Prynne's crusade
+did not stop at theatres; and Heylin's account reveals the
+feeling of contemporaries: "Neither the hospitality of the gentry
+in the time of Christmas, nor the music in cathedrals and the
+chapels royal, nor the pomps and gallantries of the Court, nor
+the Queen's harmless recreations, nor the King's solacing himself
+sometimes in masques and dances could escape the venom of his
+pen." "He seemed to breathe nothing but disgrace to the nation,
+infamy to the Church, reproaches to the Court, dishonour to the
+Queen." For his remarks against female actors were thought to be
+aimed at Henrietta Maria, though the pastoral in which she took
+part was posterior by six weeks to the publication of the
+book![78:1] The four legal societies "presented their Majesties
+with a pompous and magnificent masque, to let them see that
+Prynne's leaven had not soured them all, and that they were not
+poisoned with the same infection."[79:1]
+
+This surely might have been enough; but by the time the matter
+had come before the Star Chamber, Laud had succeeded Abbot (with
+whom Prynne was on friendly terms) as Archbishop of Canterbury
+(August 1633); and Laud was in favour of rigorous measures. So
+was Lord Dorset, and Lord Cottington, Chancellor of the
+Exchequer, whose judgment is of importance as showing that this
+was really the first occasion when the hangman's services were
+called in aid for the suppression of books:--
+
+"I do in the first place begin censure with his book. I condemn
+it to be burnt in the most public manner that can be. The manner
+in other countries is (where such books are) to be burnt by the
+hangman, though not used in England (yet I wish it may, in
+respect of the strangeness and heinousness of the matter
+contained in it) to have a strange manner of burning; therefore I
+shall desire it may be so burnt by the hand of the hangman. If
+it may agree with the Court, I do adjudge Mr. Prynne to be put
+from the Bar, and to be for ever uncapable of his profession. I
+do adjudge him, my Lords, that the Society of Lincoln's Inn do
+put him out of the Society; and because he had his offspring from
+Oxford" (now with a low voice said the Archbishop of Canterbury,
+"I am sorry that ever Oxford bred such an evil member") "there to
+be degraded. And I do condemn Mr. Prynne to stand in the pillory
+in two places, in Westminster and Cheapside, and that he shall
+lose both his ears, one in each place; and with a paper on his
+head declaring how foul an offence it is, viz. that it is for an
+infamous libel against both their Majesties, State and
+Government. And lastly (nay, not lastly) I do condemn him in
+£5,000 fine to the King. And lastly, perpetual
+imprisonment."[80:1]
+
+In this spirit the highest in the land understood justice in
+those golden monarchical days, little recking of the retribution
+that their cruelty was laying in store for them. A few years
+later history presents us with another graphic picture of the
+same sort, showing us the facetious as well as the ferocious
+aspect of the Star Chamber. Again Prynne stands before his
+judges, a full court (and theoretically the Star Chamber was
+co-extensive with the House of Lords), but this time in company
+with Bastwick, the physician, and Burton, the divine. Sir J.
+Finch, Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, says: "I had thought
+Mr. Prynne had had no ears, but methinks he hath ears." Thereupon
+many Lords look more closely at him, and the usher of the court
+is ordered to turn up his hair and show his ears. Their Lordships
+are displeased that no more had been cut off on the previous
+occasion, and "cast out some disgraceful words of him." To whom
+Prynne replies: "My Lords, there is never a one of your Honours
+but would be sorry to have your ears as mine are." The
+Lord-Keeper says: "In good truth he is somewhat saucy." "I hope,"
+says Prynne, "your Honours will not be offended. I pray God give
+you ears to hear."
+
+The whole of this interesting trial is best read in the fourth
+volume of the _Harleian Miscellany_. Prynne's main offence on
+this occasion was his _News from Ipswich_, written in prison, and
+his sentence was preceded by a speech from Laud, which the King
+made him afterwards publish, and which, after a denial of the
+Puritan charge of making innovations in religion, ended with the
+words: "Because the business hath some reflection upon myself I
+shall forbear to censure them, and leave them to God's mercy and
+the King's justice." Yet Laud in the very previous sentence had
+thanked his colleagues for the "just and honourable censure" they
+had passed; and when he spoke in this Pharisaical way of God's
+mercy and the King's justice, he knew that the said justice had
+condemned Prynne to be fined another £5,000, to be deprived of
+the remainder of his ears in the pillory, to be branded on both
+cheeks with "S. L." (Schismatical Libeller), and to be imprisoned
+for life in Carnarvon Castle.[82:1] Apart from that, Laud's
+defence seems conclusive on many of the points brought against
+him.
+
+Bastwick and Burton were at the same time, for their books,
+condemned to a fine of £5,000 each, to be pilloried, to lose
+their ears, and to be imprisoned, one at Launceston Castle, in
+Cornwall, and the other in Lancaster Castle. It does not appear
+that the burning of their books was on this occasion included in
+the sentence; but as the order for seizing libellous books was
+sometimes a separate matter from the sentence itself (Laud's
+_Hist._, 252), or could be ordered by the Archbishop alone, one
+may feel fairly sure that it followed.
+
+The execution of this sentence (June 30th, 1637) marks a
+turning-point in our history. The people strewed the way from the
+prison to the pillory with sweet herbs. From the pillory the
+prisoners severally addressed the sympathetic crowd, Bastwick,
+for instance, saying, "Had I as much blood as would swell the
+Thames, I would shed it every drop in this cause." Prynne,
+returning to prison by boat, actually made two Latin verses on
+the letters branded on his cheeks, with a pun upon Laud's name.
+As probably no one ever made verses on such an occasion before or
+since, they are deserving of quotation:--
+
+     "Stigmata maxillis referens insignia Laudis,
+        Exultans remeo, victima grata Deo."
+
+Their journey to their several prisons was a triumphal procession
+all the way; the people, as Heylin reluctantly writes, "either
+foolishly or factiously resorting to them as they passed, and
+seeming to bemoan their sufferings as unjustly rigorous. And such
+a haunt there was to the several castles to which they were
+condemned . . . that the State found it necessary to remove them
+further," Prynne to Jersey, Burton to Guernsey, and Bastwick to
+Scilly. The alarm of the Government at the resentment they had
+aroused by their cruelties is as conspicuous as that resentment
+itself. No English Government has ever with impunity incurred the
+charge of cruelty; nor is anything clearer than that as these
+atrocious sentences justified the coming Revolution, so they were
+among its most immediate causes.
+
+The _Letany_, for which Bastwick was punished on this occasion,
+was not the first work of his that had brought him to trouble.
+His first work, the _Elenchus Papisticæ Religionis_ (1627),
+against the Jesuits, was brought before the High Commission at
+the same time with his _Flagellum Pontificis_ (1635), a work
+which, ostensibly directed against the Pope's temporal power,
+aimed, in Laud's eyes, at English Episcopacy and the Church of
+England. The sting occurs near the end, where the author contends
+that the essentials of a bishop, namely, his election by his
+flock and the proper discharge of episcopal duties, are wanting
+in the bishops of his time. "Where is the ministering of doctrine
+and of the Word, and of the Sacraments? Where is the care of
+discipline and morals? Where is the consolation of the poor?
+where the rebuke of the wicked? Alas for the fall of Rome! Alas
+for the ruin of a flourishing Church! The bishops are neither
+chosen nor called; but by canvassing, and by money, and by wicked
+arts they are thrust upon their government." This was the
+beginning of trouble. The Court of High Commission condemned both
+his books to be burnt,[85:1] and their author to be fined £1,000,
+to be excommunicated, to be debarred from his profession, and to
+be imprisoned in the Gatehouse till he recanted; which, wrote
+Bastwick, would not be till Doomsday, in the afternoon.
+
+In the Gatehouse Bastwick penned his _Apologeticus ad Præsules
+Anglicanos_, and his _Letany_, the books for which he suffered,
+as above described, at the hands of the Star Chamber. The first
+was an attack on the High Commission, the second on the bishops,
+the Real Presence, and the Church Prayer Book. The language of
+the _Letany_ is in many passages extremely coarse, and it is only
+possible to quote such milder expressions as since the time of
+Tyndale had been traditional in the Puritan party. "As many
+prelates in England, so many vipers in the bowels of Church and
+State." They were "the very polecats, stoats, weasels, and
+minivers in the warren of Church and State." They were
+"Antichrist's little toes." To judge from these expressions
+merely one might be disposed to agree with Heylin, who says of
+the _Letany_ that it was "so silly and contemptible that nothing
+but the sin and malice which appeared in every line of it could
+have possibly preserved it from being ridiculous." But the
+_Letany_ is really a most important contribution to the history
+of the period. Nothing is more graphic than Bastwick's account of
+the almost regal reverence claimed for the Archbishop of
+Canterbury, the traffic of the streets interrupted when he issued
+from Lambeth, the overturning of the stalls; the author's
+description of the excessive power of the bishops, of the
+extortions of the ecclesiastical courts, is corroborated by
+abundant correlative testimony; and he appeals for the truth of
+his charges of immorality against the clergy of that time to the
+actual cases that came before the High Commission.
+
+Lord Clarendon speaks of Bastwick as "a half-witted,
+crack-brained fellow," unknown to either University or the
+College of Physicians; perhaps it was because he was unknown to
+either University that he acquired that splendid Latin style to
+which even Lord Clarendon does justice. The Latin preface to the
+second edition of the _Flagellum_, in which Bastwick returns
+thanks to the Long Parliament for his release from prison, is
+unsurpassed by the Latin writing of the best English scholars,
+and bespeaks anything but a half-witted brain. Cicero himself
+could hardly have done it better.
+
+Burton's book, however, was considered worse than Prynne's or
+Bastwick's, for Heylin calls it "the great masterpiece of
+mischief." It consists of two sermons, republished with an appeal
+to the King, under the title of _For God and King_. Like
+Bastwick, he writes in the interest of the King against the
+encroachments of the bishops; and complains bitterly of the
+ecclesiastical innovations then in vogue. His accusation is no
+less forcible, though less well known, than Laud's Defence in his
+Star Chamber speech; and if he did call the bishops "limbs of the
+Beast," "ravening wolves," and so forth, the language of Laud's
+party against the Puritans was not one whit more refined. So
+convinced was Burton of the justice of his cause, that he
+declared that all the time he stood in the pillory he thought
+himself "in heaven, and in a state of glory and triumph if any
+such state can possibly be on earth."
+
+It is in connection with Bastwick's _Letany_ and Prynne's _News
+from Ipswich_ that Lilburne, of subsequent revolutionary fame,
+first appears on the stage of history, as responsible for their
+printing in Holland and dispersion in England. At all events he
+was punished for that offence, being whipped with great severity,
+by order of the Star Chamber, all the way from the Fleet Prison
+to Westminster, where he stood for some hours in the pillory. He
+was then only twenty. Laud had the second instalment of the books
+seized upon landing, and then burnt.
+
+In this matter of book-burning the Archbishop seems at that time
+to have had sole authority, and doubtless many more books met
+with a fiery fate than are specifically mentioned. Laud himself
+refers in a letter to an order he issued for the seizure and
+public burning in Smithfield of as many copies as could be found
+of an English translation of St. Francis de Sales' _Praxis
+Spiritualis; or, The Introduction to a Devout Life_, which, after
+having been licensed by his chaplain, had been tampered with, in
+the Roman Catholic interest, in its passage through the press. Of
+this curious book some twelve hundred copies were burnt, but a
+few hundred copies had been dispersed before the seizure.
+
+The Archbishop's duties, as general superintendent of literature
+and the press, constituted, indeed, no sinecure. For ever since
+the year 1585, the Star Chamber regulations, passed at Archbishop
+Whitgift's instigation, had been in force; and, with unimportant
+exceptions, no book could be printed without being first seen,
+perused, and allowed by the Archbishop of Canterbury or Bishop of
+London. Rome herself had no more potent device for the
+maintenance of intellectual tyranny. The task of perusal was
+generally deputed to the Archbishop's chaplain, who, as in the
+case of Prynne's _Histriomastix_, ran the risk of a fine and the
+pillory if he suffered a book to be licensed without a careful
+study of its contents.
+
+But the powers of the Archbishop over the press were not yet
+enough for Laud, and in July 1637 the Star Chamber passed a
+decree, with a view to prevent English books from being printed
+abroad, that in addition to the compulsory licensing of all
+English books by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Bishop of London,
+or the University Chancellors, no books should be imported from
+abroad for sale without a catalogue of them being first sent to
+the Archbishop of Canterbury or Bishop of London, who, by their
+chaplains or others, were to superintend the unlading of such
+packages of books. The only merit of this decree is that it led
+Milton to write his _Areopagitica_. The Puritan belief that Laud
+aimed at the restoration of Popery has long since been proved
+erroneous. One of his bad dreams recorded in his Diary is that of
+his reconciliation with the Church of Rome; but there is abundant
+proof that he and his faction aimed at a spiritual and
+intellectual tyranny which would in no wise have been preferable
+to that of Rome. And of all Laud's dreams, surely that of the
+Archbishop of Canterbury exercising a perpetual dictatorship over
+English literature is not the least absurd and grotesque.
+
+Moreover, in August of this very same year Laud made another move
+in the direction of ecclesiastical tyranny. Bastwick and his
+party had contended, not only that Episcopacy was not of Divine
+institution, or _jure divino_ (as, indeed, Williams, Bishop of
+Lincoln, had argued before the King)[91:1]; but that the issuing
+of processes in the names and with the seals of the bishops in
+the ecclesiastical courts was a trespass on the Royal
+Prerogative. What happened proves that it was. The statute of
+Edward VI. (1 Ed. VI., c. 2) had enacted that all the proceedings
+of the ecclesiastical courts should "be made in the name and the
+style of the King," and that no other seal of jurisdiction should
+be used but with the Royal arms engraven, under penalty of
+imprisonment. Mary repealed this Act, nor did Elizabeth replace
+it. But a clause in a statute of James (1 Jac. I., c. 25)
+repealed the repealing Act of Mary, so that the Act of Edward
+came back into force; and Bastwick was perfectly right. The
+judges, nevertheless, in May 1637, decided that Mary's repeal Act
+was still in force; and Charles, at Laud's instigation, issued a
+proclamation, in August 1637, to the effect that the proceedings
+of the High Commission and other ecclesiastical courts were
+agreeable to the laws and statutes of the realm.[91:2] In this
+manner did the judges, the bishops, and the King conspire to
+subject Englishmen to the tyranny of the Church!
+
+The consequences belong to general history. Never was scheme of
+ecclesiastical ambition more completely shattered than Laud's;
+never was historical retribution more condign. Among the first
+acts of the Long Parliament (November 1640) was the release of
+Prynne and Bastwick and Burton; who were brought into the City,
+says Clarendon, by a crowd of some ten thousand persons, with
+boughs and flowers in their hands. Compensation was subsequently
+voted to them for the iniquitous fines imposed on them by the
+Star Chamber, and Prynne before long was one of the chief
+instruments in bringing Laud to trial and the block. But this was
+not before that ambitious prelate had seen the bishops deprived
+of their seats in the House of Lords, and the Root and Branch
+Bill for their abolition introduced, as well as the Star Chamber
+and High Commission Courts abolished. This should have been
+enough; and it is to be regretted that his punishment went beyond
+this total failure of the schemes of his life.
+
+Of the heroes of the books whose condemnation contributed so much
+to bring about the Revolution, only Prynne continued to figure
+as an object of interest in the subsequent stormy times. As a
+member of Parliament his political activity was only exceeded by
+his extraordinary literary productiveness; his legacy to the
+Library of Lincoln's Inn of his forty volumes of various works is
+probably the largest monument of literary labour ever produced by
+one man. His spirit of independence caused him to be constant to
+no political party, and after taking part against Cromwell he was
+made by the Government of the Restoration Keeper of the Records
+in the Tower, in which congenial post he finished his eventful
+career.
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[78:1] Whitelock's _Memorials of Charles I._, 1822. Laud is
+represented as mainly instrumental in the conduct of the whole of
+this nefarious proceeding, especially in procuring the sentence
+in the Star Chamber.
+
+[79:1] _Life of Laud_, 294.
+
+[80:1] From the account in the _State Trials_, III. 576.
+
+[82:1] In his defence he says that he always voted last or last
+but one. In that case he must always have heard the sentence
+passed by those who spoke before him, and not dissented from it.
+His sole excuse is, that he was no worse than his colleagues; to
+which the answer is, he ought to have been better.
+
+[85:1] Prynne, _New Discovery_, 132.
+
+[91:1] Laud's _Diary_ (Newman's edition), 87.
+
+[91:2] Heylin's _Laud_, 321, 322.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+BOOK-FIRES OF THE REBELLION.
+
+
+With the beneficent Revolution that practically began with the
+Long Parliament in November 1640, and put an end to the Star
+Chamber and High Commission, it might have been hoped that a
+better time was about to dawn for books. But the control of
+thought really only passed from the Monarchical to the
+Presbyterian party; and if authors no longer incurred the
+atrocious cruelties of the Star Chamber, their works were more
+freely burnt at the order of Parliament than they appear to have
+been when the sentence to such a fate rested with the King or the
+Archbishop of Canterbury.
+
+Parliament, in fact, assumed the dictatorship of literature, and
+exercised supreme jurisdiction over author, printer, publisher,
+and licenser. Either House separately, or both concurrently,
+assumed the exercise of this power; and, if a book were sentenced
+to be burnt, the hangman seems always to have been called in
+aid. In an age which was pre-eminently the age of pamphlets, and
+torn in pieces by religious and political dissension, the number
+of pamphlets that were condemned to be burnt by the common
+hangman was naturally legion, though, of course, a still greater
+number escaped with some lesser form of censure. It is only with
+the former that I propose to deal, and only with such of them as
+seem of more than usual interest as illustrating the manners and
+thoughts of that turbulent time.
+
+It is a significant fact that the first writer whose works
+incurred the wrath of Parliament was the Rev. John Pocklington,
+D.D., one of the foremost innovators in the Church in the days of
+Laud's prosperity. The House of Lords consigned two of his books
+to be burnt by the hangman, both in London and the two chief
+Universities (February 12th, 1641). These were his _Sunday no
+Sabbath_, and the _Altare Christianum_.
+
+The first of these was originally a sermon, preached on August
+17th, 1635, wherein the Puritan view of Sunday was vehemently
+assailed, and the Puritans themselves vigorously abused. "These
+Church Schismatics are the most gross, nay, the most transparent
+hypocrites and the most void of conscience of all others. They
+will take the benefit of the Church, but abjure the doctrine and
+discipline of the Church." How often has not this argument done
+duty since against Pocklington's ecclesiastical descendants! But
+it is to be historically regretted that Pocklington's views of
+Sunday, the same of course as those of James the First's famous
+book, or Declaration of Sports, were not destined to prevail, and
+seem still as far as ever from attainment.
+
+The _Altare Christianum_ had been published in 1637, in answer to
+certain books by Burton and Prynne, its object being to prove
+that altars and churches had existed before the Christian Church
+was 200 years old. But had these churches any more substantial
+existence than that one built, as he says, by Joseph of
+Arimathea, at Glastonbury, in the year 55 A.D.? Did the
+Arimathean really visit Glastonbury? Anyhow, the book is full of
+learning and instruction, and, indeed, both Pocklington's books
+have an interest of their own, apart from their fate, which, of
+so many, is their sole recommendation.
+
+The sentence against Pocklington was strongly vindictive. Both
+his practices and his doctrines were condemned. In his practice
+he was declared to have been "very superstitious and full of
+idolatry," and to have used many gestures and ceremonies "not
+established by the laws of this realm." These were the sort of
+ceremonies that, without ever having been so established by law,
+our ritualists have practically established by custom; and the
+offence of the ritualist doctrine as held in those days, and as
+illustrated by Pocklington, lay in the following tenets ascribed
+to him: (1) that it was men's duty to bow to altars as to the
+throne of the Great God; (2) that the Eucharist was the host and
+held corporeal presence therein; (3) that there was in the Church
+a distinction between holy places and a Holy of holies; (4) that
+the canons and constitutions of the Church were to be obeyed
+without examination.
+
+For these offences of ritual and doctrine--offences to which,
+fortunately, we can afford to be more indifferent than our
+ancestors were, no reasonable man now thinking twice about
+them--Pocklington was deprived of all his livings and dignities
+and preferments, and incapacitated from holding any for the
+future, whilst his books were consigned to the hangman. It may
+seem to us a spiteful sentence; but it was after all a mild
+revenge, considering the atrocious sufferings of the Puritan
+writers. It is worse to lose one's ears and one's liberty for
+life than even to be deprived of Church livings; and it is
+noticeable that bodily mutilations came to an end with the
+clipping of the talons of the Crown and the Church at the
+beginning of the Long Parliament.
+
+Taking now in order the works of a political nature that were
+condemned by the House of Commons to be burnt by the hangman, we
+come first to the _Speeches of Sir Edward Dering_, member for
+Kent in the Long Parliament, and a greater antiquary than he ever
+was a politician. He it was who, on May 27th, 1641, moved the
+first reading of the Root and Branch Bill for the abolition of
+Episcopacy. "The pride, the avarice, the ambition, and oppression
+by our ruling clergy is epidemical," he said; thereby proving
+that such an opinion was not merely a Puritan prejudice. But
+Dering appears only really to have aimed at the abolition of
+Laud's archiepiscopacy, and to have wished to see some purer form
+of prelacy re-established in place of the old. Naturally his
+views gave offence, which he only increased by republishing his
+speeches on matters of religion, Parliament being so incensed
+that it burned his book, and committed its author for a week to
+the Tower (February 2nd, 1642).
+
+Dering's was the common fate of moderate men in stormy times,
+who, seeing good on each side, are ill thought of by both.
+Failing to be loyal to either, he was by both mistrusted. For not
+only did he ultimately vote on the side of the royalist episcopal
+party, but he actually fought on the King's side; then, being
+disgusted with the royalists for their leaning to Popery, he
+accepted the pardon offered for a compensation by Parliament in
+1644, and died the same year, leaving posterity to regret that he
+was ever so ill-advised as to exchange antiquities for politics
+and party strife.
+
+The famous speech of the statesman whom Charles, with his usual
+defiance of public opinion, soon afterwards raised to the peerage
+as Lord Digby (on the passing of the Bill of Attainder against
+Lord Strafford), was, after its publication by its author,
+condemned to be burnt at Westminster, Cheapside, and Smithfield
+(July 13th, 1642). Digby voted against putting Strafford to
+death, because he did not think it proved by the evidence that
+Strafford had advised Charles to employ the army in Ireland for
+the subjection of England. But he condemned his general conduct
+as strongly as any man. He calls him "the great apostate to the
+Commonwealth, who must not expect to be pardoned it in this world
+till he be dispatched to the other." He refers very happily to
+his great abilities, "whereof God hath given him the use, but the
+devil the application." But does the critic's own memory stand
+much higher? Was he not the King's evil genius, who, together
+with the Queen, pushed him to that fatal step--the arrest of the
+five members?
+
+How soon Parliament acquired the evil habit of dealing by fire
+and the hangman with uncongenial publications is proved by the
+fact that in one year alone the following five leaflets or
+pamphlets suffered in this way:--
+
+1. _The Kentish Petition_, drawn up at the Maidstone Assizes by
+the gentry, ministry, and commonalty of Kent, praying for the
+preservation of episcopal government, and the settlement of
+religious differences by a synod of the clergy (April 17th,
+1642). The petition was couched in very strong language; and
+Professor Gardiner is probably right in saying that it was the
+condemnation of this famous petition which rendered civil war
+inevitable.
+
+2. _A True Relation of the Proceedings of the Scots and English
+Forces in the North of Ireland._ This was thought to be
+dishonouring to the Scots, and was accordingly ordered to be
+burnt (June 8th, 1642).
+
+3. _King James: his Judgment of a King and a Tyrant_ (September
+12th, 1642).
+
+4. _A Speedy Post from Heaven to the King of England_ (October
+5th, 1642).
+
+5. _Letter from Lord Falkland_ to the Earl of Cumberland,
+concerning the action at Worcester (October 8th, 1642).
+
+Thus did Parliament, and the House of Commons especially, improve
+upon the precedent first set by the Star Chamber; and the
+practice must soon have somewhat lost its force by the very
+frequency of its repetition. David Buchanan's _Truth's Manifest_,
+containing an account of the conduct of the Scotch nation in the
+Civil War, was condemned to be burnt by the hangman (April 13th,
+1646), but may still be read. _An Unhappy Game at Scotch and
+English_, pamphlets like the _Mercurius Elenchicus_ and
+_Mercurius Pragmaticus_, the _Justiciarius Justificatus_, by
+George Wither, perished about the same time in the same way; and
+in 1648 such profane Royalist political squibs as _The
+Parliament's Ten Commandments_; _The Parliament's Pater Noster,
+and Articles of the Faith_; and _Ecce the New Testament of our
+Lords and Saviours, the House of Commons at Westminster, or the
+Supreme Council at Windsor_, were, for special indignity,
+condemned to be burnt in the three most public places of London.
+
+The observance of Sunday has always been a fruitful source of
+contention, and in 1649 the chief magistrates in England and
+Wales were ordered by the House of Commons to cause to be burnt
+all copies of James Okeford's _Doctrine of the Fourth
+Commandment, deformed by Popery, reformed and restored to its
+primitive purity_ (March 18th, 1650). They did their duty so well
+that not a copy appears to survive, even in the British Museum.
+The author, moreover, was sentenced to be taken and imprisoned;
+so thoroughly did the spirit of persecution take possession of a
+Parliamentary majority when the power of it fell into their
+hands.
+
+This was also shown in other matters. For instance, not only were
+_Joseph Primatt's Petition_ to Parliament, with reference to his
+claims to certain coal mines, and Lilburne's _Just Reproof to
+Haberdasher's Hall_ on Primatt's behalf, condemned to be burnt by
+the hangman (January 15th, July 30th, 1652), but both authors
+were sentenced, one to fines amounting to £5,000, the other to
+fines amounting to £7,000, which, though falling far short of
+the Star Chamber fines, were very considerable sums in those
+days. Lilburne, on this occasion, was also sentenced to be
+banished, and to be deemed guilty of felony if he returned; but
+this part of the sentence was never enforced, for Lilburne
+remained, to continue to the very end, by speech and writing,
+that perpetual warfare with the party in power which constituted
+his political life.
+
+John Fry, M.P., who sat in the High Court of Justice for the
+trial of Charles I., wrote in 1648 his _Accuser Shamed_ against
+Colonel Downes, a fellow-member, who had most unfairly charged
+him before the House with blasphemy for certain expressions used
+in private conversation, and thereby caused his temporary
+suspension. Dr. Cheynel, President of St. John's at Oxford,
+printed an answer to this, and Fry rejoined in his _Clergy in
+their True Colours_ (1650), a pamphlet singularly expressive of
+the general dislike at that time entertained for the English
+clergy. He complains of the strange postures assumed by the
+clergy in their prayers before the sermon, and says: "Whether the
+fools and knaves in stage plays took their pattern from these
+men, or these from them, I cannot determine; but sure one is the
+brat of the other, they are so well alike." He confesses himself
+"of the opinion of most, that the clergy are the great
+incendiaries." In the matter of Psalm-singing he finds "few men
+under heaven more irrational in their religious exercises than
+our clergy." As to their common evasion of difficulties by the
+plea that it is above reason, he fairly observes: "If a man will
+consent to give up his reason, I would as soon converse with a
+beast as with that man." Nevertheless, how many do so still!
+
+Fry wrote as a rational churchman, not as an anti-Christian,
+"from a hearty desire for their (the clergy's) reformation, and a
+great zeal to my countrymen that they may no longer be deceived
+by such as call themselves the ministers of the Gospel, but are
+not." This appears on the title-page; but a good motive has
+seldom yet saved a man or a book, and the House, having debated
+about both tracts from morning till night, not only voted them
+highly scandalous and profane, but consigned them to the hangman
+to burn, and expelled Fry from his seat in Parliament (February
+21st, 1651).
+
+So far of the political utterances that for the offence they gave
+were condemned to the flames; but these only represent one side
+of the activity of the legislature of that time. Nothing, indeed,
+better illustrates the mind of the seventeenth century than the
+several instances in which Parliament, in the exercise of its
+assumed power over literature generally, interfered with works of
+a theological nature, nor does anything more clearly or curiously
+reveal the mental turmoil of that period than does the perusal of
+some of the works that then met with Parliamentary censure or
+condemnation. In undertaking this interference it is possible
+that Parliament exceeded its province, and one is glad that it
+has long since ceased to claim the keepership of the People's
+Conscience. But in those days ideas of toleration were in their
+infancy; the right of free thought, or of its expression, had not
+been established; and the maintenance of orthodoxy was deemed as
+much the duty of Parliament as the maintenance of the rights of
+the people. So a Parliamentary majority soon came to exercise as
+much tyranny over thought as ever had been exercised by king or
+bishop; and, in fact, the theological writer ran even greater
+personal risks from the indignation of Parliament than he would
+have run in the period preceding 1640, for he began to run in
+danger of his life.
+
+The first theological work dealt with by Parliament appears to
+have been that curious posthumous work, entitled _Comfort for
+Believers about their Sinnes and Troubles_, which appeared in
+June 1645, by John Archer, Master of Arts, and preacher at All
+Hallows', Lombard Street. It had but a short life, for the very
+next month the Assembly of Divines, then sitting at Westminster,
+complained to Parliament of its contents, and Parliament
+condemned it to be publicly burnt in four places, the Assembly to
+draw up a formal detestation to be read at the burning. In this
+document it was admitted that the author had been "of good
+estimation for learning and piety"; but the author's logic was
+better than his theology, for he attributed all evil to the Cause
+of all things, and contended that for wise purposes God not only
+permitted sin, but had a hand in its essence, namely, "in the
+privity, and ataxy, the anomye, or irregularity of the act" (if
+that makes it any clearer). A single passage will convey the
+drift of the seventy-six pages devoted to this difficult
+problem:--
+
+"Who hinted to God, or gave advice by counsel to Him, to let the
+creature sin? Did any necessity, arising upon the creature's
+being, enforce it that sin must be? Could not God have hindered
+sin, if He would? Might He not have kept man from sinning, as He
+did some of the angels? Therefore, it was His device and plot
+before the creature was that there should be sin. . . . It is by
+sin that most of God's glory in the discovery of His attributes
+doth arise. . . . Therefore certainly it limits Him much to bring
+in sin by a contingent accident, merely from the creature, and to
+deny God a hand and will in its being and bringing forth."
+
+The author thought these positions quite compatible with
+orthodoxy; not so, however, the Presbyterian divines, nor
+Parliament; and certainly Archer's questions were more easily and
+more swiftly answered by fire than in any other way. Had he
+lived, one wonders how the divines would have punished him. For
+the next two cases prove how dangerous it was becoming to be
+convicted or even suspected of heterodoxy. Parliament was
+beginning to understand its duty as Defender of the Faith as the
+Holy Inquisition has always understood it--namely, by the death
+of the luckless assailant.
+
+Thus, on July 24th, 1647, the House of Commons condemned to be
+burnt in three different places, on three different days, Paul
+Best's pamphlet, of the following curious title: _Mysteries
+Discovered, or a Mercurial Picture pointing out the way from
+Babylon to the Holy City, For the Good of all such as during that
+Night of General Error and Apostacy, II. Thess. ii. 3, Rev. iii.
+10, have been so long misled with Rome's Hobgoblin, by me, Paul
+Best, prisoner in the Gatehouse, Westminster_. It concluded with
+a prayer for release from an imprisonment, which had then lasted
+more than three years, for certain theological opinions
+"committed to a minister (a supposed friend) for his judgment and
+advice only." This minister was the Rev. Roger Leys, who
+infamously betrayed the trust reposed in him, and made public the
+frankness of private conversation.
+
+Best had been imprisoned in the Gatehouse for certain expressions
+he was supposed to have used about the Trinity; and before he
+wrote this pamphlet the House of Commons had actually voted that
+he should be hanged. Justly, therefore, he wrote: "Unless the
+Lord put to His helping hand of the magistrate for the manacling
+of Satan in that persecuting power, there is little hope either
+of the liberty of the subject or the law of God amongst us." And
+if he was not orthodox, he was sensible, for he says: "I cannot
+understand what detriment could redound either to Church or
+Commonwealth by toleration of religions."
+
+His heresy consisted in thinking that pagan ideas had been
+imported into, and so had corrupted, the original monotheism of
+Christianity. "We may perceive how by iniquity of time the real
+truth of God hath been trodden under foot by a verbal kind of
+divinity, introduced by the semi-pagan Christianity of the third
+century in the Western Church." He certainly did not hold the
+doctrine of the Trinity in what was then deemed the orthodox way,
+but his precise belief is rather obscurely stated, and is a
+matter of indifference.
+
+One is glad to learn that he escaped hanging after all, and was
+released about the end of 1647, probably at the instance of
+Cromwell. He then retired to the family seat in Yorkshire, where
+he combined farming with his favourite theological studies for
+the ten remaining years of his life. His career at Cambridge had
+been distinguished, as might also have been his career in the
+world but for that unfortunate bent for theology, and the use of
+his reason in its study, that has led so many worthy men to
+disgrace and destruction.
+
+But, in spite of the Assembly of Divines, the air was thick with
+theological speculation; and only a few weeks after the
+condemnation of Best's _Mysteries_, the House condemned to a
+similar fate Bidle's _Twelve Arguments drawn out of Scripture,
+wherein the Commonly Received Opinion touching the Deity of the
+Holy Spirit is Clearly and Fully Refuted_.
+
+Bidle, a tailor's son, must take high rank among the martyrs of
+learning. After a brilliant school career at Gloucester, he went
+to Magdalen College, Oxford, where, says his biographer, "he did
+so philosophise, as it might be observed, he was determined more
+by Reason than Authority"; and this dangerous beginning he
+shortly followed up, when master of the Free School at
+Gloucester, by the still more dangerous conclusion that the
+common doctrine of the Trinity "was not well grounded in
+Revelation, much less in Reason." For this he was brought before
+the magistrates at Gloucester on the charge of heresy (1644); and
+from that time till his death from gaol-fever in 1662, at the age
+of forty-two, Bidle seldom knew what liberty was. It was soon
+after his first imprisonment that he published his _Twelve
+Arguments_. Though the House had this burnt by the hangman, it
+was so popular that it was reprinted the same year. The year
+following (1648) the House passed an ordinance making a denial of
+the Trinity a capital offence; in spite of which Bidle published
+his _Confession of Faith touching the Holy Trinity, according to
+Scripture_, and his _Testimonies of Different Fathers_ regarding
+the same, the last of which manifests considerable learning. The
+Assembly of Divines then appealed to Parliament to put him to
+death; yet, strange to say, Parliament did not do so, but soon
+after released their prisoner. In 1654 he published his _Twofold
+Catechism_, for which he was again committed to the Gatehouse,
+and debarred from the use of pens, ink, and paper; and all his
+books were sentenced to be burnt (December 13th, 1654). After a
+time, his fate being still uncertain, Cromwell procured his
+release, or rather sent him off to the Scilly Isles. But his
+enemies got him into prison again at last, and there a blameless
+and pious life fell a victim to the power of bigotry. One may
+regret a life thus spent and sacrificed; but only so has the
+cause of free thought been gradually won.
+
+Bidle has also been thought to have been the translator of the
+famous _Racovian Catechism_, first published in Polish at Racow
+in 1605, and in Latin in 1609. In it two anti-Trinitarian divines
+reduced to a systematic form the whole of the Socinian doctrine.
+A special interest attaches to it from the fact that Milton, then
+nearly blind, was called before the House in connection with the
+Catechism, as though he had had a share in its translation or
+publication. It was condemned to be burnt as blasphemous (April
+1st, 1652). In the Journals of the House copious extracts are
+given from the work, from which the following may serve to
+indicate what chiefly gave offence:--
+
+"What do you conceive exceedingly profitable to be known of the
+Essence of God?
+
+"It is to know that in the Essence of God there is only one
+person . . . and that by no means can there be more persons in
+that Essence, and that many persons in one essence is a pernicious
+opinion, which doth easily pluck up and destroy the belief of one
+God. . . .
+
+"But the Christians do commonly affirm the Son and Spirit to be
+also persons in the unity of the same Godhead.
+
+"I know they do, but it is a very great error; and the arguments
+brought for it are taken from Scriptures misunderstood.
+
+"But seeing the Son is called God in the Scriptures, how can
+that be answered?
+
+"The word God in Scripture is chiefly used two ways: first, as it
+signifies Him that rules in heaven and earth . . .; secondly, as
+it signifies one who hath received some high power or authority
+from that one God, or is some way made partaker of the Deity of
+that one God. It is in this latter sense that the Son in certain
+places in Scripture is called God. And the Son is upon no higher
+account called God than that He is sanctified by the Father and
+sent into the world.
+
+"But hath not the Lord Jesus Christ besides His human a Divine
+nature also?
+
+"No, by no means, for that is not only repugnant to sound reason,
+but to the Holy Scripture also."
+
+This is doubtless enough to convey an idea of the Catechism,
+which was again translated in 1818 by T. Rees. Whether Bidle was
+the translator or not, he must have been actuated by good
+intentions in what he wrote; for he says of the _Twofold
+Catechism_, that it "was composed for their sakes that would fain
+be mere Christians, and not of this or that sect, inasmuch as all
+the sects of Christians, by what names soever distinguished, have
+either more or less departed from the simplicity and truth of
+the Scripture." But these Christians, who preferred their
+religion to their sect, Bidle should have known were too few to
+count.
+
+Far inferior writers to Bidle were Ebiezer Coppe and Laurence
+Clarkson: nor, if religious madness could be so stamped out, can
+we complain of the House of Commons for condemning their works to
+the flames. The strongest possible condemnation was passed for
+its "horrid blasphemies" on Coppe's _Fiery Flying Roll; or, Word
+from the Lord to all the Great Ones of the Earth whom this may
+concern, being the Last Warning Peace at the Dreadful Day of
+Judgment_. All discoverable copies of this book were to be burnt
+by the hangman at three different places (February 1st, 1650);
+and Coppe was imprisoned, but was released on his recantation of
+his opinions. His book was the cause of that curious ordinance of
+August 9th, 1650, for the "punishment of atheistical,
+blasphemous, and execrable opinions," which is the best summary
+and proof of the intense religious fanaticism then prevalent, and
+so curiously similar in all its details to that of the primitive
+Christian Church. At both periods the distinctive features were
+the claim to actual divinity, and to superiority to all moral
+laws.
+
+On September 27th, 1650, Clarkson's _Single Eye: all Light, no
+Darkness_, was condemned to be burnt by the hangman; and Clarkson
+himself not only sent to the House of Correction for a month, but
+sentenced to be banished after that for life under a penalty of
+death if he returned.
+
+These books have their value for students of human nature, and so
+have the next I refer to, the works of Ludovic Muggleton, most of
+which were written during this period, though not condemned to be
+burnt till the year 1676, and which in other respects seem to
+touch the lowest attainable depth of religious demoralisation.
+The extraordinary thing is that Muggleton actually founded a sort
+of religion of his own; at all events, he gave life and title to
+a sect, which counts votaries to this day. Only so recently as
+1846 a list of the works of Muggleton and his colleague Reeve was
+published, and the books advertised for sale. These two men
+claimed to be the two last witnesses or prophets, with power to
+sentence men to eternal damnation or blessedness. Muggleton had a
+decided preference for exercising the former power, especially in
+regard to the Quakers, one of his books being called _A Looking
+Glass for George Fox, the Quaker, and other Quakers, wherein they
+may See Themselves to be Right Devils_. There is no reason to
+believe Muggleton to have been a conscious impostor; only in an
+age vexed to madness by religious controversy, religious madness
+carried him further than others. An asylum would have met his
+case better than the sentence of the Old Bailey, which condemned
+him to stand for three days in the pillory at the three most
+eminent places in the City, his books to be there in three lots
+burnt over his head, and himself then to be imprisoned till he
+had paid a sum of £500 (1676). But this did not finish the man,
+for in 1681 he wrote his _Letter to Colonel Phaire_, the language
+of which is perhaps unsurpassed for repulsiveness in the whole
+range of religious literature. Muggleton's writings in short read
+as a kind of religious nightmare. In their case the fire was
+rather profaned by its fuel than the books honoured by the fire.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+BOOK-FIRES OF THE RESTORATION.
+
+
+With the Restoration, the burning of certain obnoxious books
+formed one of the first episodes of that Royalist war of revenge
+of which the most disgraceful expression was the exhumation and
+hanging at Tyburn of the bones of Cromwell and Ireton. And had
+Goodwin and Milton not absconded, it is probable that the revenge
+which had to content itself with their books would have extended
+to their persons.
+
+John Goodwin, distinguished as a minister and a prolific writer
+on the people's side, had dedicated in 1649 to the House of
+Commons his _Obstructours of Justice_, in which he defended the
+execution of Charles I. He based his case, indeed, after the
+fashion of those days, too completely on Biblical texts to suit
+our modern taste; but his book is far from being the "very weak
+and inconclusive performance" of which Neal speaks in his
+history of the Puritans. The sentiments follow exactly those of
+Rutherford's _Lex Rex_; as, for example, "The Crown is but the
+kingdom's or people's livery. . . . The king bears the relation
+of a political servant or vassal to that state, kingdom, or
+people over which he is set to govern." But the commonplaces of
+to-day were rank heresy in a chaplain to Cromwell.
+
+There seems to be no evidence to support Bishop Burnet's
+assertion that Goodwin was the head of the Fifth-Monarchy
+fanatics; and his story is simply that of a fearless, sensible,
+and conscientious minister, who took a strong interest in the
+political drama of his time, and advocated liberty of conscience
+before even Milton or Locke. But his chief distinction is to have
+been marked out for revenge in company with Milton by the
+miserable Restoration Parliament.
+
+Milton's _Eikonoklastes_ and _Defensio Populi Anglicani_ rank, of
+course, among the masterpieces of English prose, and ought to be
+read, where they never will be, in every Board and public school
+of England. In the first the picture of Charles I., as painted in
+the _Eikon Basilike_, was unmercifully torn to pieces. Charles's
+religion, Milton declares, had been all hypocrisy. He had
+resorted to "ignoble shifts to seem holy, and to get a saintship
+among the ignorant and wretched people." The prayer he had given
+as a relic to the bishop at his execution had been stolen from
+Sidney's _Arcadia_. In outward devotion he had not at all
+exceeded some of the worst kings in history. But in spite of
+Milton, the _Eikon Basilike_ sold rapidly, and contributed
+greatly to the reaction; and the Secretary of the Council of
+State had just reason to complain of the perverseness of his
+generation, "who, having first cried to God to be delivered from
+their king, now murmur against God for having heard their prayer,
+and cry as loud for their king against those that delivered
+them."
+
+The next year (1650) Milton had to take up his pen again in the
+same cause against the _Defence of Charles I. to Charles II._ by
+the learned Salmasius. Milton was not sparing in terms of abuse.
+He calls Salmasius "a rogue," "a foreign insignificant
+professor," "a slug," "a silly loggerhead," "a superlative fool."
+Even a _Times_ leader of to-day would fall short of Milton in
+vituperative terms. It is not for this we still reverence the
+_Defensio_; but for its political force, and its occasional
+splendid passages. Two samples must suffice:--
+
+"Be this right of kings whatever it will, the right of the people
+is as much from God as it. And whenever any people, without some
+visible designation from God Himself, appoint a king over them,
+they have the same right to pull him down as they had to set him
+up at first. And certainly it is a more Godlike action to depose
+a tyrant than to set one up; and there appears much more of God
+in the people when they depose an unjust prince than in a king
+that oppresses an innocent people. . . . So that there is but
+little reason for that wicked and foolish opinion that kings, who
+commonly are the worst of men, should be so high in God's account
+as that He should have put the world under them, to be at their
+beck and be governed according to their humour; and that for
+their sakes alone He should have reduced all mankind, whom He
+made after His own image, into the same condition as brutes."
+
+The conclusion of Milton's _Defensio_ is not more remarkable for
+its eloquence than it is for its closing paragraph. Addressing
+his countrymen in an exhortation that reminds one of the speeches
+of Pericles to the Athenians, he proceeds:--
+
+"God has graciously delivered you, the first of nations, from
+the two greatest miseries of this life, and most pernicious to
+virtue, tyranny, and superstition; He has endued you with
+greatness of mind to be the first of mankind, who, after having
+conquered their own king, and having had him delivered into their
+hands, have not scrupled to condemn him judicially, and pursuant
+to that sentence of condemnation to put him to death. After the
+performing so glorious an action as this, you ought to do nothing
+that is mean and little, not so much as to think of, much less to
+do, anything but what is great and sublime."
+
+An exhortation to virtue founded on an act of regicide! To such
+an issue had come the dispute concerning the Divine Right of
+kings; and with such diversity of opinion do different men form
+their judgments concerning the leading events of their time!
+
+The House of Commons, reverting for a time to the ancient
+procedure in these matters, petitioned the King on June 16th,
+1660, to call in these books of Goodwin and Milton, and to order
+them to be burnt by the common hangman: and the King so far
+assented as to issue a proclamation ordering all persons in
+possession of such books to deliver them up to their county
+sheriffs to be burnt by the hangman at the next assizes (August
+13th, 1660).[122:1] In this way a good many were burnt; but,
+happily for the authors themselves, "they so fled or so obscured
+themselves" that all endeavours to apprehend their persons
+failed. Subsequently the benefits of the Act of Oblivion were
+conferred on Milton; but they were denied to Goodwin, who, having
+barely escaped sentence of death by Parliament, was incapacitated
+from ever holding any office again.
+
+The _Lex Rex_, or the _Law and the Prince_ (1644), by the
+Presbyterian divine Samuel Rutherford, was another book which
+incurred the vengeance of the Restoration, and for the same
+reasons as Goodwin's book or Milton's. It was burnt by the
+hangman at Edinburgh (October 16th, 1660), St. Andrews (October
+23rd, 1660),[122:2] and London; its author was deprived of his
+offices both in the University and the Church, and was summoned
+on a charge of high treason before the Parliament of Edinburgh.
+His death in 1661 anticipated the probable legal sentence, and
+saved Rutherford from political martyrdom.
+
+His book was an answer to the _Sacra Sancta Regum Majestas_, in
+which the Divine Right of kings, and the duty of passive
+obedience, had been strenuously upheld. Its appearance in 1644
+created a great sensation, and threw into the shade Buchanan's
+_De Jure Regni apud Scotos_, which had hitherto held the field on
+the popular side. The purpose and style of the book may be
+gathered from the passage in the preface, wherein the writer
+gives, as his reason for writing, the opinion that arbitrary
+government had "over-swelled all banks of law, that it was now at
+the highest float . . . that the naked truth was, that prelates, a
+wild and pushing cattle to the lambs and flocks of Christ, had
+made a hideous noise; the wheels of their chariot did run an
+unequal pace with the bloodthirsty mind of the daughter of
+Babel." The contention was, that all regal power sprang from the
+suffrages of the people. "The king is subordinate to the
+Parliament, not co-ordinate, for the constituent is above the
+constituted." "What are kings but vassals to the State, who, if
+they turn tyrants, fall from their right?" For the rest, a book
+so crammed and stuffed with Biblical quotations as to be most
+unreadable. And indeed, of all the features of that miserable
+seventeenth century, surely nothing is more extraordinary than
+this insatiate taste of men of all parties for Jewish precedents.
+Never was the enslavement of the human mind to authority carried
+to more absurd lengths with more lamentable results; never was
+manifested a greater waste, or a greater wealth, of ability. For
+that reason, though Rutherford may claim a place on our shelves,
+he is little likely ever to be taken down from them. But may the
+principles he contended for remain as undisturbed as his repose!
+
+The year following the burning of these books the House of
+Commons directed its vengeance against certain statutes passed by
+the Republican government. On May 17th, 1661, a large majority
+condemned the _Solemn League and Covenant_ to be burnt by the
+hangman, the House of Lords concurring. All copies of it were
+also to be taken down from all churches and public places.
+Evelyn, seeing it burnt in several places in London on Monday
+22nd, exclaims, "Oh! prodigious change!" The Irish Parliament
+also condemned it to the flames, not only in Dublin, but in all
+the towns of Ireland.
+
+A few days later, May 27th, the House of Commons, unanimously and
+with no petition to the King, condemned to be burnt as
+"treasonable parchment writings":
+
+1. "The Act for erecting a High Court of Justice for the trial of
+Charles I."
+
+2. "The Act declaring and constituting the people of England a
+Commonwealth."
+
+3. "The Act for subscribing the Engagement."
+
+4. "The Act for renouncing and disannulling the title of Charles
+Stuart" (September 1656).
+
+5. "The Act for the security of the Lord Protector's person and
+continuance of the Nation in peace and safety" (September 1656).
+
+Three of these were burnt at Westminster and two at the Exchange.
+Pepys, beholding the latter sight from a balcony, was led to
+moralise on the mutability of human opinion. The strange thing is
+that, when these Acts were burnt, the Act for the abolition of
+the House of Lords (1649) appears to have escaped condemnation.
+For its intrinsic interest, I here insert the words of the old
+parchment:--
+
+"The Commons of England assembled in Parliament, finding by too
+long experience that the House of Lords is useless and dangerous
+to the people of England to be continued, hath thought fit to
+ordain and enact, and be it ordained and enacted by this present
+Parliament and by the authority of the same: That from henceforth
+the House of Lords in Parliament shall be and is hereby wholly
+abolished and taken away; and that the Lords shall not from
+henceforth meet and sit in the said house, called the Lords'
+House, or in any other house or place whatsoever as a House of
+Lords; nor shall sit, vote, advise, adjudge, or determine of any
+matter or thing whatsoever as a House of Lords in Parliament:
+Nevertheless, it is hereby declared, that neither such Lords as
+have demeaned themselves with honour, courage, and fidelity to
+the Commonwealth, nor their posterities (who shall continue so),
+shall be excluded from the public councils of the Nation, but
+shall be admitted thereunto and have their free vote in
+Parliament, if they shall be thereunto elected, as other persons
+of interest elected and qualified thereunto ought to have. And be
+it further ordained and enacted by the authority aforesaid, That
+no peer of this land (not being elected, qualified, and sitting
+as aforesaid) shall claim, have, or make use of any privilege of
+Parliament either in relation to his person, quality, or estate
+any law, usage, or custom to the contrary
+notwithstanding."[127:1]
+
+How true a presentiment our ancestors had of the incompatibility
+between an hereditary chamber and popular liberty is
+conspicuously shown by the next book we read of as burnt; and
+indeed there are few more instructive historical tracts than
+Locke's _Letter from a Person of Quality to his Friend in the
+Country_, which was ordered to be burnt by the Privy Council; and
+wherein he gave an account of the debates in the Lords on a Bill
+"to prevent the dangers which may arise from persons disaffected
+to the Government," in April and May 1675. It was actually
+proposed by this Bill to make compulsory on all officers of
+Church or State, and on all members of both Houses, an oath, not
+only declaring it unlawful upon any pretence to take arms against
+the King, but swearing to endeavour at no time the alteration of
+the government in Church and State. To that logical position had
+the Royalist spirit come within fifteen years of the Restoration;
+Charles II., according to Burnet, being much set on this scheme,
+which, says Locke, was "first hatched (as almost all the
+mischiefs of the world have been) amongst the great churchmen."
+The bishops and clergy, by their outcry, had caused Charles's
+Declaration of Indulgence (March 17th, 1671) to be cancelled, and
+the great seal broken off it; they had "tricked away the rights
+and liberties of the people, in this and all other countries,
+wherever they had had opportunity . . . that priest and prince
+may, like Castor and Pollux, be worshipped together as divine,
+in the same temple, by us poor lay-subjects; and that sense
+and reason, law, properties, rights, and liberties shall be
+understood as the oracles of those deities shall interpret."
+
+There seems no doubt that the extinction of liberty was as
+vigorously aimed at as it was nearly achieved at the period Locke
+describes, under the administration of Lord Danby. But the Bill,
+though carried in the Lords, was strongly contested. Locke says
+that it occupied sixteen or seventeen whole days of debate, the
+House sitting often till 8 or 9 P.M., or even to midnight. His
+account of the speakers and their arguments is one of the most
+graphic pages of historical painting in our language; but it is
+said to have been drawn up at the desire, and almost at the
+dictation, of Locke's friend, Lord Shaftesbury, who himself took
+a prominent part against the Bill. Fortunately, it never got
+beyond the House of Lords, a dispute between the two Houses
+leading to a prorogation of Parliament and so to the salvation of
+liberty. But the whole episode impresses on the mind the force of
+the current then, as always, flowing in favour of arbitrary
+government throughout our history, as well as a sense of the very
+narrow margin by which liberty of any sort has escaped or been
+evolved, and, in general, of wonder that it should ever have
+survived at all the combinations of adverse circumstances against
+it.
+
+It has been shown in the account of books burnt in the time of
+the Rebellion, how freely in the struggle between Orthodoxy and
+Free Thought--between the dogmas, that is, of the strongest sect
+and the speculations of individuals--fire was resorted to for the
+purpose of burning out unpopular opinions. These, indeed, were
+often of so fantastic a nature, that no fire was really needed to
+insure their extinction; whilst of others it may be said that, as
+their existence was originally independent of actual expression,
+so the punishment inflicted on their utterance could prove no
+barrier to their propagation.
+
+But besides the war that was waged in the domain of theology
+proper, between opinions claiming to be sound and opinions
+claiming to be true, a contest no less fierce centred for long
+round the very organisation of the Church; and between the
+Establishment and Dissent that hostile condition of thrust and
+parry, which has since become chronic, and is so detrimental to
+the cause professed by both alike, is no less visible in the
+field of literature than in that of our general history.
+Associated with the literary side of this great and bitter
+conflict--a side only too much ignored in the discreet popular
+histories of the English Church--are the names of Delaune, Defoe,
+Tindal, on the aggressive side, of Sacheverell and Drake on the
+defensive; each party, during the heat of battle, giving vent to
+sentiments so offensive to the other as to make it seem that fire
+alone could atone for the injury or remove the sting.
+
+The first book to mention in connection with this struggle is
+Delaune's _Plea for the Nonconformists_; a book round which hangs
+a melancholy tale, and which is entitled to a niche in the
+library of Fame for other reasons than the mere fact of its
+having been burnt before the Royal Exchange in 1683. The story
+shows the sacerdotalism of the Church of England at its very
+worst, and helps to explain the evil heritage of hatred which, in
+the hearts of the nonconforming sects, has since descended and
+still clings to her.
+
+Dr. Calamy, one of the King's chaplains, had preached and printed
+a sermon called _Scrupulous Conscience_, challenging to, or
+advocating, the friendly discussion of points of difference
+between the Church and the Nonconformists. Delaune, who kept a
+grammar school, was weak enough to take him at his word, and so
+wrote his _Plea_, a book of wondrous learning, and to this day
+one of the best to read concerning the origin and growth of the
+various rites of the Church. Thereupon he was whisked off to herd
+with the commonest felons in Newgate, whence he wrote repeatedly
+to Dr. Calamy, to beg him, as the cause of his unjust arrest, to
+procure his release. Delaune disclaimed all malignity against the
+English Church, or any member of it, and, with grim humour,
+entreated to be convinced of his errors "by something more like
+divinity than Newgate." But the Church has not always dealt in
+more convincing divinity, and accordingly the cowardly
+ecclesiastic held his peace and left his victim to suffer.
+
+It is difficult even now to tell the rest of Delaune's story with
+patience. He was indicted for intending to disturb the peace of
+the kingdom, to bring the King into the greatest hatred and
+contempt, and for printing and publishing, by force of arms, a
+scandalous libel against the King and the Prayer-Book. Of course
+it was extravagantly absurd, but these indictments were the legal
+forms under which the luckless Dissenters experienced sufferings
+that were to them the sternest realities. Delaune was, in
+consequence, fined a sum he could not possibly pay; his books
+(for he also wrote _The Image of the Beast_, wherein he showed,
+in three parallel columns, the far greater resemblance of the
+Catholic rites to those of Pagan Rome than to those of the New
+Testament) were condemned to be burnt; and his judges, humane
+enough to let him off the pillory in consideration of his
+education, sent him back to Newgate notwithstanding it. There, in
+that noisome atmosphere and in that foul company, he was obliged
+to shelter his wife and two small children; and there, after
+fifteen months, he died, having first seen all he loved on earth
+pine and die before him. And he was only one of eight thousand
+other Protestant Dissenters who died in prison during the merry,
+miserable reign of Charles II.! Of a truth, Dissent has something
+to forgive the Church; for persecution in Protestant England was
+very much the same as in Catholic France, with, if possible, less
+justification.
+
+The main argument of Delaune's book was, that the Church of
+England agreed more in its rites and doctrines with the Church of
+Rome, and both Churches with Pagan or pre-Christian Rome, than
+either did with the primitive Church or the word of the Gospel--a
+thesis that has long since become generally accepted; but his
+main offence consisted in saying that the Lord's Prayer ought in
+one sentence to have been translated precisely as it now has been
+in the Revised Version, and in contending that the frequent
+repetition of the prayer in church was contrary to the express
+command of Scripture. On these and other points Delaune's book
+was never answered--for the reason, I believe, that it never
+could be. After the Act of Toleration (1689) it was often
+reprinted; the eighth and last time in 1706, when the High Church
+movement to persecute Dissent had assumed dangerous strength,
+with an excellent preface by Defoe, and concluding with the
+letters to Dr. Calamy, written by Delaune from Newgate. Defoe
+well points out that the great artifice of Delaune's time was to
+make the persecution of Dissent appear necessary, by
+representing it as dangerous to the State as well as the Church.
+
+The mention of two other books seems to complete the list of
+burnt political literature down to the Revolution of 1688.
+
+One is _Malice Defeated_, or a brief relation of the accusation
+and deliverance of Elizabeth Cellier. The authoress was
+implicated in the Dangerfield conspiracy, and, having been
+indicted for plotting to kill the King and to reintroduce Popery,
+was sentenced at the Old Bailey to be imprisoned till she had
+paid a fine of £1,000, to stand three times in the pillory, and
+to have her books burnt by the hangman. I do not suppose that, in
+her case, literature incurred any loss.
+
+The other is the translation of Claude's _Plaintes des
+Protestants_, burnt at the Exchange on May 5th, 1686. After the
+Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, people like Sir Roger
+l'Estrange were well paid to write denials of any cruelties as
+connected with that measure in France; much as in our own day
+people wrote denials of the Turkish atrocities in Bulgaria. The
+famous Huguenot minister's book proved of course abundantly the
+falsity of this denial; but, as Evelyn says, so great a power in
+the English Court had then the French ambassador, "who was
+doubtless in great indignation at the pious and truly generous
+charity of all the nation for the relief of those miserable
+sufferers who came over for shelter," that, in deference to his
+wishes, the Government of James II. condemned the truth to the
+flames. Nothing in that monarch's reign proves more conclusively
+the depth of degradation to which his foreign policy and that of
+his brother had caused his country to fall.
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[122:1] In Kennet's _Register_, 189.
+
+[122:2] Lamont's _Diary_, 159.
+
+[127:1] Scobell's _Collection of Acts_, II. 8.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+BOOK-FIRES OF THE REVOLUTION.
+
+
+The period of the Revolution, by which I mean from the accession
+of William III. to the death of Queen Anne, was a time in which
+the conflict between Orthodoxy and Free Thought, and again
+between Church and Dissent, continued with an unabated ferocity,
+which is most clearly reflected in and illustrated by the
+sensational history of its contemporary literature, especially
+during the reign of Queen Anne. I am not aware that any book was
+burnt by authority of the English Parliament during the reign of
+William, but to say this in the face of Molyneux's _Case for
+Ireland_, which has been so frequently by great authorities
+declared to have been so treated, compels me to allude to the
+history of that book, and to give the reasons for a contrary
+belief.
+
+It is first stated in the preface to the edition of 1770 that
+William Molyneux's _Case for Ireland being bound by Acts of
+Parliament in England_, first published in 1698, was burnt by the
+hangman at the order of Parliament; and the statement has been
+often repeated by later writers, as by Mr. Lecky, Dr. Ball, and
+others. Why then is there no mention of such a sentence in the
+Journals of the Commons, where a full account is given of the
+proceedings against the book; nor in Swift's _Drapier Letters_,
+where he refers to the fate of the _Case for Ireland_? This seems
+almost conclusive evidence on the negative side; but as the
+editor of 1770 may have had some lost authority for his remark,
+and not been merely mistaken, some account may be given of the
+book, as of one possibly, but not probably, condemned to the
+flames.[137:1]
+
+Molyneux was distinguished for his scientific attainments, was a
+member of the Irish Parliament, first for Dublin City and then
+for the University, and was also a great friend of Locke the
+philosopher. The introduction in 1698 of the Bill, which was
+carried the same year by the English Parliament, forbidding the
+exportation of Irish woollen manufactures to England or
+elsewhere--one of the worst Acts of oppression of the many that
+England has perpetrated against Ireland--led Molyneux to write
+this book, in which he contends for the constitutional right of
+Ireland to absolute legislative independence. As the political
+relationship between the two countries--a relation now of pure
+force on one side, and of subjection on the other--is still a
+matter of contention, it will not be out of place to devote a few
+lines to a brief summary of his argument.
+
+Before 1641 no law made in England was of force in Ireland
+without the consent of the latter, a large number of English Acts
+not being received in Ireland till they had been separately
+enacted there also. At the so-called conquest of Ireland by Henry
+II., the English laws settled by him were voluntarily accepted by
+the Irish clergy and nobility, and Ireland was allowed the
+freedom of holding parliaments as a separate and distinct kingdom
+from England. So it was that John was made King (or Dominus) of
+Ireland even in the lifetime of his father, Henry II., and
+remained so during the reign of his brother, Richard I. Ireland,
+therefore, could not be bound by England without the consent of
+her own representatives; and the happiness of having her
+representatives in the English Parliament could hardly be hoped
+for, since that experiment had been proved in Cromwell's time to
+be too troublesome and inconvenient.
+
+Molyneux concluded his argument with a warning that subsequent
+history has amply justified--"Advancing the power of the
+Parliament of England by breaking the rights of another may in
+time have ill effects." So, indeed, it has; but such warnings or
+prophecies seldom bring favour to their authors, and the English
+Parliament was moved to fury by Molyneux' arguments. Yet the
+latter, writing to Locke on the subject of his book, had said: "I
+think I have treated it with that caution and submission that it
+cannot justly give any offence; insomuch that I scruple not to
+put my name to it; and, by the advice of some good friends, have
+presumed to dedicate it to his Majesty. . . . But till I either
+see how the Parliament at Westminster is pleased to take it, or
+till I see them risen, I do not think it advisable for me to go
+on t'other side of the water. Though I am not apprehensive of any
+mischief from them, yet God only knows what resentments captious
+men may take on such occasions." (April 19th, 1698.)
+
+Molyneux, however, was soon to know this himself, for on May 21st
+his book was submitted to the examination of a committee; and on
+the committee's report (June 22nd) that it was "of dangerous
+consequence to the Crown and people of England, by denying the
+authority of the King and Parliament of England to bind the
+kingdom and people of Ireland," an address was presented to the
+King praying him to punish the author of such "bold and
+pernicious assertions," and to discourage all things that might
+lessen the dependence of Ireland upon England; to which William
+replied that he would take care that what they complained of
+should be prevented and redressed. Perhaps the dedication of the
+book to the King restrained the House from voting it to the
+flames; but, anyhow, there is not the least contemporary evidence
+of their doing so. Molyneux did not survive the year of the
+condemnation of his book; but, in spite of his fears, he spent
+five weeks with Locke at Oates in the autumn of the same year,
+his book surviving him, to attest his wonderful foresight as much
+as later events justified his spirited remonstrance.
+
+There is, however, no doubt about the burning of a book for its
+theological sentiments at this time, though it was no Parliament
+but only an university which committed it to the fire. Oxford
+University has always tempered her love for learning with a
+dislike for inquiry, and set the cause of orthodoxy above the
+cause of truth. This phase of her character was never better
+illustrated than in the case of _The Naked Gospel_, by the Rev.
+Arthur Bury, Rector of Exeter College (1690).
+
+A high value attaches to the first edition of this book, wherein
+the author essayed to show what the primitive Gospel really was,
+what alterations had been gradually made in it, and what
+advantages and disadvantages had therefrom ensued. Bury, many
+years before, in 1648, had known what it was to be led from his
+college by a file of musketeers, and forbidden to return to
+Oxford or his fellowship under pain of death, because he had the
+courage in those days to read the prayers of the Church. So he
+had some justification for ascribing his anonymous work to "a
+true son of the Church"; and his motive was the promotion of that
+charity and toleration which breathes in its every page. The King
+had summoned a Convocation, to make certain changes in the
+Litany, and, if possible, to reconcile ecclesiastical
+differences; he even dreamt of uniting the Protestant Churches of
+England and of the Continent, and his Comprehension Bill, had it
+passed Parliament, might have made the English Church a really
+national Church; and it was from his sympathy with the broad
+ideas of the King that Bury wrote his pamphlet, intending not to
+publish it, but to present it to the members of Convocation
+severally. Unfortunately he showed or presented a few copies to a
+few friends, with the natural result that the work became known,
+the author admonished for heresy and driven from his rectorship,
+and the book publicly burnt, by a vote of the university, in the
+area of the schools (August 19th, 1690). He should have reflected
+that it is as little the part of a discreet man to try to
+reconcile religious factions as to seek to separate fighting
+tigers.
+
+The unexpected commotion roused by his book led the author to
+republish it with great modifications and omissions; a fact which
+much diminishes the interest of the second edition of 1691. For
+instance, the preface to the second edition omits this passage of
+the first: "The Church of England, as it needs not, so it does
+not, forbid any of its sons the use of their own eyes; if it
+did, this alone would be sufficient reason not only to distrust
+but to condemn it." Nevertheless both editions alike contain many
+passages remarkable for their breadth of view no less than for
+their admirable expression. What, for instance, could be better
+than the passage wherein he speaks of the priests cramming the
+people with doctrines, "so many in numbers that an ordinary mind
+cannot retain them; so perplexed in matter that the best
+understanding cannot comprehend them; so impertinent to any good
+purpose that a good man need not regard them; and so unmentioned
+in Scripture that none but the greatest subtlety can therein
+discover the least intimations of them"? Or again: "No king is
+more independent in his own dominions from any foreign
+jurisdiction in matters civil, than every Christian is within his
+own mind in matters of faith"? What Doctor of Divinity of these
+days would speak as courageously as this one did two hundred
+years ago? So let any one be prepared to give a good price for a
+first edition copy of _The Naked Gospel_, and, when obtained, to
+study as well as honour it.
+
+History is apt to repeat itself, and therefore it is of interest
+to note here that about a century and a half later (March 1849)
+Exeter College was again stirred to the burning point, and that
+in connection with a book which, apart from its intrinsic
+interest, enjoys the distinction of having been actually the last
+to be burnt in England. In the _Morning Post_ of March 9th, 1849,
+it is written: "We are informed that a work recently published by
+Mr. Froude, M.A., Fellow of Exeter College, entitled the _Nemesis
+of Faith_, was a few days since publicly burned by the
+authorities in the College Hall." The _Nemesis_, therefore,
+deserves a place in our libraries, and many will even prize it
+above its author's historical works, as the last example of the
+effort of the ecclesiastical spirit to crush the discussion of
+its dogmas. It is owing to this attempt that the _Nemesis_ is now
+so well known as to render any reference to its contents
+superfluous.
+
+We now pass to the reign of Queen Anne, when Toryism became the
+prevalent power in the country, and manifested its peculiar
+spirit by the increased persecution of literature.
+
+Among strictly theological works one by John Asgill, barrister,
+claims a peculiar distinction, for it was burnt by order of two
+Parliaments, English and Irish, and its author expelled from two
+Houses of Commons. This was the famous _Argument Proving that
+According to the Covenant of Eternal Life, revealed in the
+Scriptures, Man may be Translated from Hence into that Eternal
+Life without Passing Through Death, although the Human Nature of
+Christ Himself could not be thus Translated till He had Passed
+Through Death_ (1700). In this book of 106 pages Asgill argued
+that death, which had come by Adam, had been removed by the death
+of Christ, and had lost its legal power. He claimed the right,
+and asserted his expectation, of actual translation; and so went
+by the nickname of "Translated Asgill." He tells how in writing
+it he felt two powers within him, one bidding him write, the
+other bobbing his elbow; but unfortunately the former prevailed,
+as it generally does. His printer told him that his men thought
+the author a little crazed, in which Asgill fancied the printer
+spoke one word for them and two for himself. Other people agreed
+with the printer, to Asgill's advantage, for, as he says, "Coming
+into court to see me as a monster, and hearing me talk like a
+man, I soon fell into my share of practice": which I mention as a
+hint for the briefless. This was in Ireland, where Asgill was
+elected member for Enniscorthy, for which place however he only
+sat four days, being expelled for his pamphlet on October 10th,
+1703. Shortly afterwards Asgill became member for Bramber, in
+Sussex, but this seat, too, he lost in 1707 for the same reason,
+the English House, like the Irish, though not by a unanimous
+vote, condemning his book to the flames. Asgill's debts caused
+him apparently to spend the rest of his days in the comparative
+peace of the Fleet prison.
+
+Coleridge says there is no genuine Saxon English better than
+Asgill's, and that his irony is often finer than Swift's. At all
+events, his burnt work--the labour of seven years--is very dreary
+reading, relieved however by such occasional good sayings as "It
+is much easier to make a creed than to believe it after it is
+made," or "Custom itself, without a reason for it, is an argument
+only for fools." Asgill's defence before the House of Commons
+shows that a very strained interpretation was placed upon the
+passages that gave offence. Let it suffice to quote one: "Stare
+at me as long as you will, I am sure that neither my physiognomy,
+sins, nor misfortune can make me so unlikely to be translated as
+my Redeemer was to be hanged." Asgill clearly wrote in all
+honesty and sincerity, though the contrary has been suggested;
+and his defence was not without spirit or point: "Pray what is
+this blasphemous crime I here stand charged with? A belief of
+what we all profess, or at least of what no one can deny. If the
+death of the body be included in the fall, why is not this life
+of the body included in the redemption? And if I have a firmer
+belief in this than another, am I therefore a blasphemer?" But
+the House thought that he was; and to impugn the right of the
+majority to decide such a point would be to impugn a fundamental
+principle of the British Constitution. I therefore refrain from
+an opinion, and leave the matter to the reader's judgment.
+
+Among the many books that have owed an increase of popularity, or
+any popularity at all, to the fire that burnt them, may be
+instanced the two works of Dr. Coward, which were burnt by order
+of the House of Commons in Palace Yard on March 18th, 1704. Dr.
+Coward had been a Fellow of Merton, and he wrote poetry as well
+as books of medicine, but in 1702 he ventured on metaphysical
+ground, and under the pseudonym of "Estibius Psychalethes"
+dedicated to the clergy his _Second Thoughts concerning the
+Human Soul_, in which he contended that the notion of the soul as
+a separate immaterial substance was "a plain heathenist
+invention:" not exactly a position the clergy were likely to
+welcome, although the author repeatedly avowed his belief in an
+eternal future life. In 1704 the Doctor published his _Grand
+Essay: a Vindication of Reason and Religion against the
+Impostures of Philosophy_, in which he repeated his ideas about
+immaterial substances, and argued that matter and motion were the
+foundation of thought in man and brutes. The House of Commons
+called him to its bar, and burnt his books; a proceeding which
+conferred such additional popularity upon them that the Doctor
+was enabled the very same year to bring out a second edition of
+his _Second Thoughts_. Certainly no other treatment could have
+made the books popular. They are perfectly legitimate, but rather
+dry, metaphysical disquisitions; and Parliament might quite as
+fairly have burnt Locke's famous essay on the _Human
+Understanding_.
+
+For Parliament thus to constitute itself Defender of the Faith
+was not merely to trespass on the office of the Crown, but to sin
+against the more sacred right of common sense itself. We cannot
+be surprised, therefore, since the English Parliament sinned in
+this way (as it does to this day in a minor degree), that the
+Irish Parliament should have sinned equally, as it did about the
+same time, in the case of a book whose title far more suggested
+heresy than its contents substantiated it. I refer to Toland's
+_Christianity not Mysterious_ (1696), which was burnt by the
+hangman before the Parliament House Gate at Dublin, and in the
+open street before the Town-House, by order of the Committee of
+Religion of the Irish House of Commons, one member even going so
+far as to advocate the burning of Toland himself. It is difficult
+now to understand the extreme excitement caused by Toland's book,
+seeing that it was evidently written in the interests of
+Christianity, and would now be read without emotion by the most
+orthodox. It was only the superstructure, not the foundation,
+that Toland attacked; his whole contention being that
+Christianity, rightly understood, contained nothing mysterious or
+inconsistent with reason, but that all ideas of this sort, and
+most of its rites, had been aftergrowths, borrowed from Paganism,
+in that compromise between the new and old religion which
+constituted the world's Christianisation.[150:1] Although this
+fact is now generally admitted, Toland puts the case so well that
+it is best to give his own words:--
+
+"The Christians," he says, "were careful to remove all obstacles
+lying in the way of the Gentiles. They thought the most effectual
+way of gaining them over to their side was by compounding the
+matter, which led them to unwarrantable compliances, till at
+length they likewise set up for mysteries. Yet not having the
+least precedent for any ceremonies from the Gospel, excepting
+Baptism and the Supper, they strangely disguised and transformed
+these by adding to them the pagan mystic rites. They administered
+them with the strictest secrecy; and to be inferior to their
+adversaries in no circumstance, they permitted none to assist at
+them but such as were antecedently prepared or initiated."
+
+The parallel Toland proceeds to draw is extremely instructive,
+and could only be improved on in our own day by tracing both
+Pagan and Christian rites to their antecedent origins in India.
+What he says also of the Fathers would be nowadays assented to
+by all who have ever had the curiosity to look into their
+writings; namely, "that they were as injudicious, violent, and
+factious as other men; that they were, for the greatest part,
+very credulous and superstitious in religion, as well as
+pitifully ignorant and superficial in the minutest punctilios of
+literature."
+
+Toland was only twenty-six when he published his first book, but,
+to judge from the correspondence between Locke and Molyneux, he
+was vain and indiscreet. "He has raised against him," says the
+latter from Dublin (May 27th, 1697), "the clamours of all
+parties; and this not so much by his difference in opinion as by
+his unseasonable way of discoursing, propagating, and maintaining
+it." Again (September 11th, 1697): "Mr. T. is at last driven out
+of the kingdom; the poor gentleman, by his imprudent management,
+had raised such an universal outcry that it was even dangerous
+for a man to have been known once to converse with him. This made
+all men wary of reputation decline seeing him; insomuch that at
+last he wanted a meal's meat (as I am told), and none would admit
+him to their tables. The little stock of money which he brought
+into the country being exhausted, he fell to borrowing from any
+one that would lend him half-a-crown, and ran in debt for his
+wigs, clothes, and lodging." Then when the Parliament ordered him
+to be taken into custody, and to be prosecuted, he very wisely
+fled the country, suffering only a temporary rebuff, and writing
+many other books, political and religious, none of which ever
+attained the distinction of his first.
+
+But it was in the struggle between the Church and Dissent that
+the party-spirit of Queen Anne's reign chiefly manifested itself
+in the burning of books. No one fought for the cause of Dissent
+with greater energy or greater personal loss than the famous
+Defoe, the author of _Robinson Crusoe_. It brought him to ruin,
+and one of his books to the hangman.
+
+It would seem that his _Shortest Way with the Dissenters_ (1702),
+which ironically advocated their extermination, was in answer to
+a sermon preached at Oxford by Sacheverell in June of the same
+year, called _The Political Union_, wherein he alluded to a party
+against whom all friends of the Anglican Church "ought to hang
+out the bloody flag and banner of defiance." Defoe's pamphlet so
+exactly accorded with the sentiments of the High Church party
+against the Dissenters that the extent of their applause at first
+was only equalled by that of their subsequent fury when the true
+author and his true object came to be known. Parliament ordered
+the work to be burnt by the hangman, and Defoe was soon
+afterwards sentenced to a ruinous fine and imprisonment, and to
+three days' punishment in the pillory. It was on this occasion
+that he wrote his famous _Hymn to the Pillory_, which he
+distributed among the spectators, and from which (as it is
+somewhat long) I quote a few of the more striking lines:--
+
+     "Hail, Hieroglyphick State machine,
+      Contrived to punish fancy in;
+      Men that are men in thee can feel no pain,
+      And all thy insignificants disdain.
+
+             *       *       *       *       *
+
+      Here by the errors of the town
+      The fools look out and knaves look on.
+
+             *       *       *       *       *
+
+      Actions receive their tincture from the times,
+      And, as they change, are virtues made or crimes.
+      Thou art the State-trap of the Law,
+      But neither can keep knaves nor honest men in awe.
+
+             *       *       *       *       *
+
+      Thou art no shame to Truth and Honesty,
+      Nor is the character of such defaced by thee,
+      Who suffer by oppression's injury.
+      Shame, like the exhalations of the Sun,
+      Falls back where first the motion was begun,
+      And they who for no crime shall on thy brows appear,
+      Bear less reproach than they who placed them there."
+
+The State-trap of the Law, however, long survived Defoe's hymn to
+it, and was unworthily employed against many another great
+Englishman before its abolition. That event was delayed till the
+first year of Queen Victoria's reign; the House of Lords
+defending it, as it defended all other abuses of our old penal
+code, when the Commons in 1815 passed a Bill for its abolition.
+
+About the same time, Parliament ordered to be burnt by the
+hangman a pamphlet against the Test, which one John Humphrey, an
+aged Nonconformist minister, had written and circulated among the
+members of Parliament.[154:1] There seems to be no record of the
+pamphlet's name; and I only guess it may be a work entitled, _A
+Draught for a National Church accommodation, whereby the subjects
+of North and South Britain, however different in their judgments
+concerning Episcopacy and Presbytery, may yet be united_ (1709).
+For, to suggest union or compromise or reconciliation between
+parties is generally to court persecution from both.
+
+A book that was very famous in its day, on the opposite side to
+Defoe, was Doctor Drake's _Memorial of the Church of England_,
+published anonymously in 1705. The Tory author was indignant that
+the House of Lords should have rejected the Bill against
+Occasional Conformity, which would have made it impossible for
+Dissenters to hold any office by conforming to the Test Act; he
+complained of the knavish pains of the Dissenters to divide
+Churchmen into High and Low; and he declared that the present
+prospect of the Church was "very melancholy," and that of the
+government "not much more comfortable." Long habit has rendered
+us callous to the melancholy state of the Church and the
+discomfort of governments; but in Queen Anne's time the croakers'
+favourite cry was a serious offence. The Queen's Speech,
+therefore, of October 27th, 1705, expressed strong resentment at
+this representation of the Church in danger; both Houses, by
+considerable majorities, voted the Church to be "in a most safe
+and flourishing condition"; and a royal proclamation censured
+both the book and its unknown author, a few months after it had
+been presented by the Grand Jury of the City, and publicly burnt
+by the hangman. It was more rationally and effectually dealt
+with in Defoe's _High Church Legion, or the Memorial examined_;
+but one is sometimes tempted to wish that the cry of the Church
+in danger might be as summarily disposed of as it was in the
+reign of Queen Anne, when to vote its safety was deemed
+sufficient to insure it.
+
+Drake's misfortunes as a writer were as conspicuous as his
+abilities. Two years before the Memorial was burnt, his _Historia
+Anglo-Scotica_, purporting to give an impartial history of the
+events that occurred between England and Scotland from William
+the Conqueror to Queen Elizabeth, was burnt at Edinburgh (June
+30th, 1703). It was dedicated to Sir Edward Seymour, one of the
+Queen's Commissioners for the Union, and a High Churchman; and as
+it also expressed the hope that the Union would afford the Scotch
+"as ample a field to love and admire the generosity of the
+English as they had theretofore to dread their valour," it was
+clearly not calculated to please the Scotch. They accordingly
+burned it for its many reflections on the sovereignty and
+independence of their crown and nation. As the Memorial was also
+burnt at Dublin, Drake enjoys the distinction of having
+contributed a book to be burnt in each of the three kingdoms. He
+would, perhaps, have done better to have stuck to medicine; and
+indeed the number of books written by doctors, which have brought
+their authors into trouble, is a remarkable fact in the history
+of literature.
+
+Next to Drake's Memorial, and closely akin to it in argument,
+come the two famous sermons of Dr. Sacheverell, the friend of
+Addison; sermons which made a greater stir in the reign of Queen
+Anne than any sermons have ever since made, or seem ever likely
+to make again. They were preached in August and November 1709,
+the first at Derby, called the _Communication of Sin_, and the
+other at St. Paul's. The latter, _Perils among False Brethren_,
+is very vigorous, even to read, and it is easy to understand the
+commotion it caused. The False Brethren are the Dissenters and
+Republicans; Sacheverell is as indignant with those "upstart
+novelists" who presume "to evacuate the grand sanction of the
+Gospel, the eternity of hell torments," as with those false
+brethren who "will renounce their creed and read the Decalogue
+backward . . . fall down and worship the very Devil himself
+for the riches and honour of this world." In his advocacy of
+non-resistance he was thought to hit at the Glorious Revolution
+itself. "The grand security of our government, and the very
+pillar upon which it stands, is founded upon the steady belief of
+the subject's obligation to an absolute and unconditional
+obedience to the supreme power in all things lawful, and the
+utter illegality of any resistance upon any pretence whatsoever."
+
+Then came the great trial in the House of Lords, and
+Sacheverell's most able defence, often attributed to his friend
+Atterbury. This speech, which Boyer calls "studied, artful, and
+pathetic," deeply affected the fair sex, and even drew tears from
+some of the tender-hearted; but a certain lady to whom, before he
+preached the sermon, Sacheverell had explained the allusions in
+it to William III., the Ministry, and Lord Godolphin, was so
+astonished at the audacity of his public recantation that she
+suddenly cried out, "The greatest villain under the sun!" But for
+this little fact, one might think Sacheverell was unfairly
+treated. At the end of it all, however, he was only suspended
+from preaching for three years, and his sermons condemned to be
+burnt before the Royal Exchange in presence of the Lord Mayor and
+sheriffs; a sentence so much more lenient than at first seemed
+probable, that bonfires and illuminations in London and
+Westminster attested the general delight. At the instance, too,
+of Sacheverell's friends, certain other books were burnt two days
+before his own, by order of the House of Commons: so that the
+High Church party had not altogether the worst of the battle. The
+books so burnt were the following:--1. _The Rights of the
+Christian Church asserted against the Romish and all other
+Priests._ By M. Tindal. 2. _A Defence of the Rights of the
+Christian Church._ 3. _A Letter from a Country Attorney to a
+Country Parson concerning the Rights of the Church._ 4. Le
+Clerc's extract and judgment of the same. 5. John Clendon's
+_Tractatus Philosophico-Theologicus de Persona_: a book that
+dealt with the subject of the Trinity.
+
+Boyer gives a curious description of Sacheverell: "A man of large
+and strong make and good symmetry of parts; of a livid complexion
+and audacious look, without sprightliness; the result and
+indication of an envious, ill-natured, proud, sullen, and
+ambitious spirit"--clearly not the portrait of a friend. Lord
+Campbell thought the St. Paul sermon contemptible, and General
+Stanhope, in the debate, called it nonsensical and incoherent. It
+seems to me the very reverse, even if we abstract it from its
+stupendous effect. Sacheverell, no doubt, was a more than
+usually narrow-minded priest; but in judging of the preacher we
+must think also of the look and the voice and the gestures, and
+these probably fully made up, as they so often do, for anything
+false or illogical in the sermon itself.
+
+At all events, Sacheverell won for himself a place in English
+history. That he should have brought the House of Lords into
+conflict with the Church, causing it to condemn to the flames,
+together with his own sermons, the famous Oxford decree of 1683,
+which asserted the most absolute claims of monarchy, condemned
+twenty-seven propositions as impious and seditious, and most of
+them as heretical and blasphemous, and condemned the works of
+nineteen writers to the flames, would alone entitle his name to
+remembrance.[160:1] So incensed indeed were the Commons, that
+they also condemned to be burnt the very _Collections of Passages
+referred to by Dr. Sacheverell in the Answer to the Articles of
+his Impeachment_.
+
+But Parliament was in a burning mood; for Sacheverell's friends,
+wishing to justify his cry of the Church in danger, which he had
+ascribed to the heretical works lately printed, easily succeeded
+in procuring the burning of Tindal's and Clendon's books, before
+mentioned. Nor can any one who reads that immortal work, _The
+Rights of the Christian Church, asserted against the Romish and
+all other Priests who claim an independent power over it_, wonder
+at their so urging the House, however much he may wonder at their
+succeeding.
+
+The first edition of _The Rights of the Christian Church_
+appeared in 1706, published anonymously, but written by the
+celebrated Matthew Tindal, than whom All Souls' College has never
+had a more distinguished Fellow, nor produced a more brilliant
+writer. In those days, when the question that most agitated men's
+minds was whether the English Church was of Divine Right, and so
+independent of the civil power, or whether it was the creature
+of, and therefore subject to, the law, no work more convincingly
+proved the latter than this work of Tindal; a work which, even
+now, ought to be far more generally known than it is, no less for
+its great historical learning than for its scathing denunciations
+of priestcraft.
+
+As the subordination of the Church to the State is now a
+principle of general acceptance, there is less need to give a
+summary of Tindal's arguments, than to quote some of the passages
+which led the writer to predict, when composing it, that he was
+writing a book that would drive the clergy mad. The promoting the
+independent power of the clergy has, he says, "done more mischief
+to human societies than all the gross superstitions of the
+heathen, who were nowhere ever so stupid as to entertain such a
+monstrous contradiction as two independent powers in the same
+society; and, consequently, their priests were not capable of
+doing so much mischief to the Commonwealth as some since have
+been." The fact, that in heathen times greater differences in
+religion never gave rise to such desolating feuds as had always
+rent Christendom, proves that "the best religion has had the
+misfortune to have the worst priests." "'Tis an amazing thing to
+consider that, though Christ and His Apostles inculcated nothing
+so much as universal charity, and enjoined their disciples to
+treat, not only one another, notwithstanding their differences,
+but even Jews and Gentiles, with all the kindness imaginable, yet
+that their pretended successors should make it their business to
+teach such doctrines as destroy all love and friendship among
+people of different persuasions; and that with so good success
+that never did mortals hate, abhor, and damn one another more
+heartily, or are readier to do one another more mischief, than
+the different sects of Christians." "If in the time of that wise
+heathen Ammianus Marcellinus, the Christians bore such hatred to
+one another that, as he complains, no beasts were such deadly
+enemies to men as the more savage Christians were generally to
+one another, what would he, if now alive, say of them?" etc. "The
+custom of sacrificing men among the heathens was owing to their
+priests, especially the Druids. . . . And the sacrificing of
+Christians upon account of their religious tenets (for which
+millions have suffered) was introduced for no other reason than
+that the clergy, who took upon them to be the sole judges of
+religion, might, without control, impose what selfish doctrines
+they pleased." Of the High Church clergy he wittily observes:
+"Some say that their lives might serve for a very good rule, if
+men would act quite contrary to them; for then there is no
+Christian virtue which they could fail of observing."
+
+If Tindal wished to madden the clergy, he certainly succeeded,
+for the pulpits raged and thundered against his book. But the
+only sermon to which he responded was Dr. Wotton's printed
+Visitation sermon preached before the Bishop of Lincoln; and his
+_Defence of the Rights of the Christian Church_ (55 pages) was
+burnt in company with the larger work. It contained the "Letter
+from a Country Attorney to a Country Parson concerning the Rights
+of the Church," and the philosopher Le Clerc's appreciative
+reference to Tindal's work in his _Bibliothèque Choisie_.
+
+Nevertheless, Queen Anne had given Tindal a present of £500 for
+his book, and told him that she believed he had banished Popery
+beyond a possibility of its return. Tindal himself, it should be
+said, had become a Roman Catholic under James II. and then a
+Protestant again, but whether before or after the abdication of
+James is not quite clear. He placed a high value on his own work,
+for when, in December 1707, the Grand Jury of Middlesex presented
+_The Rights_ its author sagely reflected that such a proceeding
+would "occasion the reading of one of the best books that have
+been published in our age by many more people than otherwise
+would have read it." This probably was the case, with the result
+that it was burnt, as aforesaid, by the hangman in 1710 by order
+of the House of Commons, at the instance of Sacheverell's
+friends, in the very same week that Sacheverell's sermons
+themselves were burnt! The House wished perhaps to show itself
+impartial. The victory, for the time at least, was with
+Sacheverell and the Church. The Whig ministry was overturned, and
+its Tory successor passed the Bill against Occasional Conformity,
+and the Schism Act; and, had the Queen's reign been prolonged,
+would probably have repealed the very meagre Toleration Act of
+1689. Tindal, however, despite the Tory reaction, continued to
+write on the side of civil and religious liberty, keeping his
+best work for the last, published within three years of his
+death, when he was past seventy, namely, _Christianity as Old as
+the Creation; or, the Gospel a republication of the Religion of
+Nature_ (1730). Strange to say, this work, criticised as it was,
+was neither presented nor burnt. I have no reason, therefore, to
+present it here, and indeed it is a book of which rather to read
+the whole than merely extracts.
+
+About the same time that Sacheverell's sermons were the sensation
+of London, a sermon preached in Dublin on the Presbyterian side
+was attended there with the same marks of distinction. In
+November 1711 Boyse's sermon on _The Office of a Scriptural
+Bishop_ was burnt by the hangman, at the command of the Irish
+House of Lords. Unfortunately one cannot obtain this sermon
+without a great number of others, amongst which the author
+embedded it in a huge and repulsive folio comprising all his
+works. The sermon was first preached and printed in 1709, and
+reprinted the next year: it enters at length into the historical
+origin of Episcopacy in the early Church, the author alluding as
+follows to the Episcopacy aimed at by too many of his own
+contemporaries: "A grand and pompous sinecure, a domination over
+all the churches and ministers in a large district managed by
+others as his delegates, but requiring little labour of a man's
+own, and all this supported by large revenues and attended with
+considerable secular honours." Boyse could hardly say the same in
+these days, true, no doubt, as it was in his own. Still, that
+even an Irish House of Lords should have seen fit to burn his
+sermon makes one think that the political extinction of that body
+can have been no serious loss to the sum-total of the wisdom of
+the world.
+
+The last writer to incur a vote of burning from the House of
+Commons in Queen Anne's reign was William Fleetwood, Bishop of
+St. Asaph; and this for the preface to four sermons he had
+preached and published: (1) on the death of Queen Mary, 1694; (2)
+on the death of the Duke of Gloucester, 1700; (3) on the death of
+King William, 1701; (4) on the Queen's Accession, in 1702. It was
+voted to the public flames on June 10th, 1712, as "malicious and
+factious, highly reflecting upon the present administration of
+public affairs under Her Majesty, and tending to create discord
+and sedition among her subjects." The burning of the preface
+caused it to be the more read, and some 4,000 numbers of the
+_Spectator_, No. 384, carried it far and wide. Probably it was
+more read than the prelate's numerous tracts and sermons, such as
+his _Essay on Miracles_, or his _Vindication of the Thirteenth of
+Romans_.
+
+The bishop belonged to the party that was dissatisfied with the
+terms of the Peace of Utrecht, then pending, and his preface was
+clearly written as a vehicle or vent for his political
+sentiments. The offensive passage ran as follows: "We were, as
+all the world imagined then, just entering on the ways that
+promised to lead to such a peace as would have answered all the
+prayers of our religious Queen . . . when God, for our sins,
+permitted the spirit of discord to go forth, and by troubling
+sore the camp, the city, and the country (and oh! that it had
+altogether spared the places sacred to His worship!), to spoil
+for a time the beautiful and pleasing prospect, and give us, in
+its stead, I know not what--our enemies will tell the rest with
+pleasure." Writing to Bishop Burnet, he expresses himself still
+more strongly: "I am afraid England has lost all her constraining
+power, and that France thinks she has us in her hands, and may
+use us as she pleases, which, I daresay, will be as scurvily as
+we deserve. What a change has two years made! Your lordship may
+now imagine you are growing young again; for we are fallen,
+methinks, into the very dregs of Charles the Second's politics."
+Assuredly Bishop Fleetwood had done better to reserve his
+political opinions for private circulation, instead of exposing
+them to the world under the guise and shelter of what purported
+to be a religious publication.
+
+But he belonged to the age of the great political churchmen, when
+the Church played primarily the part of a great political
+institution, and her more ambitious members made the profession
+of religion subsidiary to the interests of the political party
+they espoused. The type is gradually becoming extinct, and the
+time is long since past when the preface to a bishop's sermons,
+or even his sermons themselves, could convulse the State. One
+cannot, for instance, conceive the recurrence of such a commotion
+as was raised by Fleetwood or Sacheverell, possible as everything
+is in the zigzag course of history. Still less can one conceive a
+repetition of such persecution of Dissent as has been illustrated
+by the cases of Delaune and Defoe. For either the Church
+moderated her hostility to Dissent, or her power to exercise it
+lessened; no instance occurring after the reign of Queen Anne of
+any book being sentenced to the flames on the side either of
+Orthodoxy or Dissent.
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[137:1] In _Notes and Queries_ for March 11th, 1854, Mr. James
+Graves, of Kilkenny, mentions as in his possession a copy of
+Molyneux, considerable portions of which had been consumed by
+fire.
+
+[150:1] In a letter in his _Vindicius Liberius_ he says: "As for
+the Christian religion in general, that book is so far from
+calling it in question that it was purposely written for its
+service, to defend it against the imputations of contradiction
+and obscurity which are frequently objected by its opposers."
+
+[154:1] Wilson's _Defoe_, iii. 52.
+
+[160:1] See Somers' _Tracts_ (1748), VII., 223, and the _Entire
+Confutation of Mr. Hoadley's Book_, for the decree itself, and
+the authors condemned. After the Rye House Plot, which caused
+this decree, Oxford addressed Charles II. as "the breath of our
+nostrils, the anointed of the Lord"; Cambridge called him "the
+Darling of Heaven!" Could the servility of ultra-loyalty go
+further?
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+OUR LAST BOOK-FIRES.
+
+
+The eighteenth century, which saw the abolition, or the beginning
+of the abolition, of so many bad customs of the most respectable
+lineage and antiquity, saw also the hangman employed for the last
+time for the punishment of books. The custom of book-burning,
+never formally abolished, died out at last from a gradual decline
+of public belief in its efficacy; just as tortures died out, and
+judicial ordeals died out, and, as we may hope, even war will die
+out, before the silent, disintegrating forces of increasing
+intelligence. As our history goes on, one becomes more struck by
+the many books which escape burning than by the few which incur
+it. The tale of some of those which were publicly burnt during
+the eighteenth century has already been told; so that it only
+remains to bring together, under their various heads, the
+different literary productions which complete the record of
+British works thus associated with the memory of the hangman.
+
+After the beginning of the Long Parliament, the House of Commons
+constituted itself the chief book-burning authority; but the
+House of Lords also, of its own motion, occasionally ordered the
+burning of offensive literary productions. Thus, on March 29th,
+1642, they sentenced John Bond, for forging a letter purporting
+to be addressed to Charles I. at York from the Queen in Holland,
+to stand in the pillory at Westminster Hall door and in
+Cheapside, with a paper on his head inscribed with "A contriver
+of false and scandalous libels," the said letter to be called in
+and burnt near him as he stood there.
+
+On December 18th, 1667, they sentenced William Carr, for
+dispersing scandalous papers against Lord Gerrard, of Brandon, to
+a fine of £1000 to the King, and imprisonment in the Fleet, and
+ordered the said papers to be burnt.
+
+On March 17th, 1697, a sentence of burning was voted by them
+against a libel called _Mr. Bertie's Case, with some Remarks on
+the Judgment Given Therein_.
+
+Sometimes they thought in this way to safeguard not merely truth
+in general, or the honour of their House, but also the interests
+of religion; as when, on December 8th, 1693, they ordered to be
+burnt by the hangman the very next day a pamphlet that had been
+sent to several of them, entitled _A Brief but Clear Confutation
+of the Trinity_, a copy of which possibly still lies hid in some
+private libraries, but about which, not having seen it, I can
+offer no judgment. At that time Lords and Commons alike
+disquieted themselves much over religious heresy, for in 1698 the
+Commons petitioned William III. to suppress pernicious books and
+pamphlets directed against the Trinity and other articles of the
+Faith, and gave ready assent to a Bill from the Lords "for the
+more effectual suppressing of atheism, blasphemy, and
+profaneness." But it would seem that these efforts had but a
+qualified success, for on February 12th, 1720, the Lords
+condemned a work which, "in a daring, impious manner, ridiculed
+the doctrine of the Trinity and all revealed religion," and was
+called, _A Sober Reply to Mr. Higgs' Merry Arguments from the
+Light of Nature for the Tritheistic Doctrine of the Trinity, with
+a Postscript relating to the Rev. Dr. Waterland_. This work,
+which was the last to be burnt as an offence against religion,
+was the work of one Joseph Hall, who was a gentleman and a
+serjeant-at-arms to the King, and in this way won his small title
+to fame.
+
+By the beginning of the eighteenth century, the House of Lords
+had come to assume a more active jurisdiction over the Press.
+Thus in 1702, within a few days we find them severely censuring
+the notorious Dr. Drake's _History of the Last Parliament, begun
+1700_; somebody's _Tom Double, returned out of the Country; or,
+The True Picture of a modern Whig_; Dr. Blinke's violent sermon,
+preached on January 30th, 1701, before the Lower House of
+Convocation; and a pamphlet, inviting over the Elector of
+Hanover. In the same month they condemned to be burnt by the
+hangman a book entitled, _Animadversions upon the two last 30th
+of January Sermons: one preached to the Honourable House of
+Commons, the other to the Lower House of Convocation. In a
+letter._ They resolved that it was "a malicious, villainous
+libel, containing very many reflections on King Charles I., of
+ever-blessed memory, and tending to the subversion of the
+Monarchy."
+
+But the more general practice was for the House of Lords to seek
+the concurrence of the other House in the consignment of printed
+matter to the flames; a concurrence which in those days was of
+far more easy attainment over book-burning or anything else than
+it is in our own time, or is ever likely to be in the future. It
+would also seem that during the eighteenth century it was
+generally the House of Lords that took the initiative in the
+time-honoured practice of condemning disagreeable opinions to the
+care of the hangman.
+
+The unanimity alluded to between our two Houses was displayed in
+several instances. Thus on November 16th, 1722, the Commons
+agreed with the resolution of the Peers to have burnt at the
+Exchange the Declaration of the Pretender, beginning:
+"Declaration of James III., King of England, Scotland, and
+Ireland, to all his loving Subjects of the three Nations, and to
+all Foreign Princes and States, to serve as a Foundation for a
+Lasting Peace in Europe," and signed "James Rex." In this
+interesting document, George I. was invited to quietly deliver up
+his possession of the British throne in return for James's
+bestowal on him of the title of king in his native dominions, and
+the ultimate succession to the same title in England. The
+indignation of the Peers raised their effusive loyalty to fever
+point, and they promptly voted this singular document "a false,
+insolent, and traitorous libel, the highest indignity to his
+most sacred Majesty King George, our lawful and undoubted
+sovereign, full of arrogance and presumption, in supposing the
+Pretender in a condition to offer terms to his Majesty; and
+injurious to the honour of the British nation, in imagining that
+a free, Protestant people, happy under the government of the best
+of princes, can be so infatuated as, without the utmost contempt
+and indignation, to hear of any terms from a Popish bigoted
+Pretender." But was it loyalty or sycophancy that could thus
+transmute even George I. into "the best of princes"?
+
+A less serious cause of alarm to their loyalty occurred in 1750,
+when certain _Constitutional Queries_ were "earnestly recommended
+to the serious consideration of every true Briton." This was
+directed against the Duke of Cumberland, of Culloden fame, who
+was in it compared to the crooked-backed Richard III.; and it was
+generally attributed to Lord Egmont, M.P., as spokesman of the
+opposition to the government of George II., then headed by the
+Prince of Wales, who died the year following. It caused a great
+sensation in both Houses, though several members in the Commons
+defended it. Nevertheless, at a conference both Houses voted it
+"a false, malicious, scandalous, infamous, and seditious libel,
+containing the most false, audacious, and abominable calumnies
+and indignities against his Majesty, and the most presumptuous
+and wicked insinuations that our laws, liberties, and properties,
+and the excellent constitution of this kingdom, were in danger
+under his Majesty's legal, mild, and gracious government" . . .
+and that "in abhorrence and detestation of such abominable and
+seditious practices," it should be burnt in New Palace Yard by
+the hangman on January 25th. Even a reward of £1,000 failed to
+discover the author, printer, or publisher of this paper, the
+condemnation of which rather whets the curiosity than satisfies
+the reason. I would shrink from saying that a paper so widely
+disseminated no longer exists; but even if it does not, its
+non-existence affords no proof that in its time it lacked
+justification.
+
+But what justification was there for George King, the bookseller,
+who a few years later did a very curious thing, actually forging
+and publishing a Royal speech--'_His Majesty's most Gracious
+Speech to, both Houses of Parliament on Thursday December 2nd,
+1756_'? Surely never since the giants of old assaulted heaven,
+was there such an invasion of sanctity, or so profane a scaling
+of the heights of intellect! What could the Lords do, being a
+patriotic body, but vote such an attempt, without even waiting
+for a conference with the Commons, "an audacious forgery and high
+contempt of his Majesty, his crown and dignity," and condemn the
+said forgery to be burnt on the 8th at Westminster, and three
+days later at the Exchange? How could they sentence King to less
+than six months of Newgate and a fine of £50, though, in their
+gentleness or fickleness, they ultimately released him from some
+of the former and all the latter penalty? Happy those who possess
+this political curiosity, and can compare it with the speech
+which the King really did make on the same day, and which,
+perhaps, did not show any marked superiority over the forged
+imitation.
+
+The next book-fire to which history brings us is associated with
+one of the most important and singular episodes in the annals of
+the British Constitution. I allude to the famous _North Briton_,
+No. 45, for which, as constituting a seditious libel, Wilkes,
+then member for Aylesbury, was, in spite of his privilege as a
+member, seized and imprisoned in the Tower (1763). We know from
+the experiences of recent times how ready the House of Commons
+is to throw Parliamentary or popular privileges to the winds
+whenever they stand in the way of political resentment, and so it
+was in our fathers' times. For, in spite of a vigorous speech
+from Pitt against a surrender of privilege which placed
+Parliament entirely at the mercy of the Crown, the Commons voted,
+by 258 to 133, that such privilege afforded no protection against
+the publication of seditious libels. The House of Lords, of
+course, concurred, but not without a protest from the dissentient
+minority, headed by Lord Temple, which has the true ring of
+political wisdom; and, like so many similar protests, is so
+instinct with zeal for public liberty as to atone in some measure
+for the fundamental injustice of the existence of an hereditary
+chamber. They held it "highly unbecoming the dignity, gravity,
+and wisdom of the House of Peers, as well as of their justice,
+thus judicially to explain away and diminish the privileges of
+their persons," etc.
+
+A few days later (December 1st) a second conference between the
+two Houses condemned No. 45 to be burnt at the Royal Exchange by
+the common hangman. And so it was on the 3rd, but not without a
+riot, which conveys a vivid picture of those "good old" or
+turbulent days; for the mob, encouraged by well-dressed people
+from the shops and balconies, who cried out, "Well done, boys!
+bravely done, boys!" set up such a hissing, that the sheriff's
+horses were frightened, and brave Alderman Hurley with difficulty
+reached the place where the paper was to be burnt. The mob seized
+what they could of the paper from the burning torch of the
+executioner, and finally thrashed the officials from the field.
+Practically, too, they had thrashed the custom out of existence,
+for there were very few such burnings afterwards.
+
+Wilkes was then expelled from the House of Commons; and the same
+House, becoming suddenly as tender of its privileges as it had
+previously been indifferent to them, passed a resolution, to
+which the Attorney-General, Sir Fletcher Norton, was said to have
+declared that he would pay no more regard than "to the oaths of
+so many drunken porters in Covent Garden," to the effect that a
+general warrant for apprehending and seizing the authors,
+printers, and publishers of a seditious and treasonable libel was
+not warranted by law. Such was the vaunted wisdom of our
+ancestors, that, having first decided that there could be no
+breach of privilege to protect a seditious libel, they then
+asserted the illegality of the very proceedings they had already
+justified! Truly they are not altogether in the wrong who deem
+that the chief glory of our Constitution lies in its singular
+elasticity.
+
+All the numbers of the _North Briton_ especially No. 45, have
+high interest as political and literary curiosities. Comparing
+even now the King's speech on April 19th, 1763, at the close of
+the Seven Years' War, with the passage in No. 45 which contained
+the sting of the whole, one feels that Walpole hardly exaggerated
+when he said that Wilkes had given "a flat lie to the King
+himself." Perhaps so; but are royal speeches as a rule
+conspicuous for their truth? The King had said: "My expectations
+have been fully answered by the happy effects which the several
+allies of my crown have derived from this salutary measure. The
+powers at war with my good brother the King of Prussia have been
+induced to agree to such terms of accommodation as that great
+prince has approved; and the success which has attended my
+negotiation has necessarily and immediately diffused the
+blessings of peace through every part of Europe." Wilkes's
+comment was as follows: "The infamous fallacy of this whole
+sentence is apparent to all mankind; for it is known that the
+King of Prussia did not barely approve, but absolutely dictated
+as conqueror, every article of the terms of peace. No advantage
+of any kind has accrued to that magnanimous prince from our
+negotiation; but he was basely deserted by the Scottish Prime
+Minister of England" (Lord Bute). And, after all, that truth was
+on the side of Wilkes rather than of the King is the verdict of
+history.
+
+The House of Lords, soon after its unconstitutional attack upon
+popular liberties in the case of Wilkes, showed itself as
+suddenly enamoured of them a few months later, when Timothy
+Brecknock, a hack writer, published his _Droit le Roy_, or a
+_Digest of the Rights and Prerogatives of the Imperial Crown of
+Great Britain_ (February 1764). Timothy, like Cowell in James
+I.'s time, favoured extreme monarchical pretensions, so much to
+the offence of the defenders of the people's rights, that they
+voted it "a false, malicious, and traitorous libel, inconsistent
+with the principles of the Revolution to which we owe the present
+happy establishment, and an audacious insult upon His Majesty,
+whose paternal care has been so early and so effectually shown
+to the religion, laws, and liberties of his people; tending to
+subvert the fundamental laws and liberties of these kingdoms and
+to introduce an illegal and arbitrary power." The Commons
+concurred with the Lords in condemning a copy to the flames at
+Westminster Palace Yard and the Exchange on February 25th and
+27th respectively; and the book is consequently so rare that for
+practical purposes it no longer exists. Sad to say, the Royalist
+author came to as bad an end as his book, for in his own person
+as well he came to require the attentions of the hangman for a
+murder he committed in Ireland.
+
+The next work which the Lower House concurred with the Upper in
+consigning to the hangman was _The Present Crisis with regard to
+America Considered_ (February 24th, 1775); but of this book the
+fate it met with seems now the only ascertainable fact about it.
+It appears to enjoy the real distinction of having been the last
+book condemned by Parliament in England to the flames; although
+that honour has sometimes been claimed for the _Commercial
+Restraints of Ireland_, by Provost Hely Hutchinson (1779); a
+claim which will remain to be considered after a brief survey of
+the works which in Scotland the wisdom of Parliament saw fit to
+punish by fire.
+
+The first order of this sort was dated November 16th, 1700, and
+sentenced to be burnt by the hangman at Mercat Cross His
+Majesty's _High Commission and Estates of Parliament_.
+
+In the same way was treated _A Defence of the Scots abdicating
+Darien, including an Answer to the Defence of the Scots
+Settlement there_, and _A Vindication_ of the same pamphlet, both
+by Walter Herries, who was ordered to be apprehended. More
+interesting to read would doubtless be a lampoon, said to reflect
+on everything sacred to Scotland, and burnt accordingly, which
+was called _Caledonia; or, the Pedlar turned Merchant_.
+
+Dr. James Drake, whose _Memorial of the Church of England_ was
+burnt in England in 1705, published a work two years earlier
+which stirred the Scotch Parliament to the same fiery point of
+indignation. This was his already mentioned _Historia
+Anglo-Scotica: an impartial History of all that happened between
+the Kings and Kingdoms of England and Scotland from the beginning
+of the Reign of William the Conqueror to the Reign of Queen
+Elizabeth_ (1703). This stout volume of 423 pages Drake printed
+without any date or name, pretending that the manuscript had
+come to him in such a way that it was impossible to trace its
+authorship. He dedicated it to Sir Edward Seymour, one of Queen
+Anne's commissioners for the then meditated and unpopular union
+between the two kingdoms. It gave the gravest offence, and was
+burnt at the Mercat Cross on June 30th for containing "many
+reflections on the sovereignty and independence of this crown and
+nation." But, apart from the history that attaches to it, I doubt
+if any one could regard it with interest.
+
+No less offence was given to Scotland by the English Whig writer
+William Attwood, whose _Superiority and Direct Dominion of the
+Imperial Crown of England over the Crown and Kingdom of Scotland,
+the true Foundation of a Compleat Union reasserted_ (1704), was
+burnt as "scurrilous and full of falsehoods," whilst a liberal
+reward was voted to Hodges and Anderson, who by their pens had
+advocated the independence of the Scotch crown. Ten years later
+Attwood contributed another work to the flames, called _The
+Scotch Patriot Unmasked_ (1715). Attwood was a barrister by
+profession, a controversialist in practice, writing against the
+theories of Filmer and the Tories. He had a great knowledge of
+old charters, and wrote an able but inconclusive answer to
+Molyneux' _Case for Ireland_. He last appears as Chief Justice in
+New York, where he became involved in debt and died.
+
+In 1706 two works were condemned to the Mercat Cross: (1) _An
+Account of the Burning of the Articles of Union at Dumfries_; (2)
+_Queries to the Presbyterian Noblemen, Barons, Burgesses,
+Ministers, and Commissioners in Scotland who are for the Scheme
+of an Incorporating Union with England_.
+
+Hutchinson's _Commercial Restraints of Ireland_, published in
+1779, and reviewing the progress of English misgovernment, proved
+the correctness of Molyneux' prognostications nearly a century
+before. "Can the history of any fruitful country on the globe,"
+he asked (and the question may be asked still), "enjoying peace
+for fourscore years, and not visited by plague or pestilence,
+produce so many recorded instances of the poverty and
+wretchedness and of the reiterated want and misery of the lower
+orders of the people? There is no such example in ancient or
+modern history."
+
+That a book of such sentiments should have been burnt, as easier
+so to deal with than to answer, would accord well enough with
+antecedent probability; but, inasmuch as there is no such record
+in the Commons' _Journals_, the probability must remain that
+Captain Valentine Blake, M.P. for Galway, who, in a letter to the
+_Times_ of February 14th, 1846, appears to have been the first to
+assert the fact, erroneously identified the fate of Hutchinson's
+anonymous work with the then received version of the fate of the
+work of Molyneux. The rarity of the first edition of the
+_Commercial Restraints_ may well enough accord with other methods
+of suppression than burning.
+
+_The Present Crisis_, therefore, of 1775, must retain the
+distinction of having been the last book to be condemned to the
+public fire; and with it a practice which can appeal for its
+descent to classical Greece and Rome passed at last out of
+fashion and favour, without any actual legislative abolition.
+When, in 1795, the great stir was made by Reeve's _Thoughts on
+English Government_, Sheridan's proposal to have it burnt met
+with little approval, and it escaped with only a censure. Reeve,
+president of an association against Republicans and Levellers,
+like Cowell and Brecknock before him, gave offence by the extreme
+claims he made for the English monarch. The relation between our
+two august chambers and the monarchy he compared to that between
+goodly branches and the tree itself: they were only branches,
+deriving their origin and nutriment from their common parent; but
+though they might be lopped off, the tree would remain a tree
+still. The Houses could give advice and consent, but the
+Government and its administration in all its parts rested wholly
+and solely with the King and his nominees. That a book of such
+sentiments should have escaped burning is doubtless partly due to
+the panic of Republicanism then raging in England; but it also
+shows the gradual growth of a sensible indifference to the power
+of the pen.
+
+And when we think of the freedom, almost unchecked, of the
+literature of the century now closing, of the impunity with which
+speculation attacks the very roots of all our political and
+theological traditions, and compare this state of liberty with
+the servitude of literature in the three preceding centuries,
+when it rested with archbishop or Commons or Lords not only to
+commit writings to the flames but to inflict cruelties and
+indignities on the writers, we cannot but recognise how
+proportionate to the advance we have made in toleration have been
+the benefits we have derived from it. Possibly this toleration
+arose from the gradual discovery that the practical consequences
+of writings seldom keep pace with the aim of the writer or the
+fears of authority; that, for instance, neither is property
+endangered by literary demonstrations of its immorality, nor are
+churches emptied by criticism. At all events, taking the risk of
+consequences, we have entered on an era of almost complete
+literary impunity; the bonfire is as extinct as the pillory; the
+only fiery ordeal is that of criticism, and dread of the reviewer
+has taken the place of all fear of the hangman.
+
+Whether the change is all gain, or the milder method more
+effectual than the old one, I would hesitate to affirm. He would
+be a bold man who would assert any lack of burnworthy books. The
+older custom had perhaps a certain picturesqueness which was lost
+with it. It was a bit of old English life, reaching far back into
+history--a custom that would have been not unworthy of the brush
+of Hogarth. For all that we cannot regret it. The practice became
+so common, and lent itself so readily to abuse by its
+indiscriminate application in the interests of religious bigotry
+or political partisanship, that the lesson of history is one of
+warning against it. Such a practice is only defensible or
+impressive in proportion to the rarity of its use. Applied not
+oftener than once or twice in a generation, in the case of some
+work that flagrantly shocked or injured the national conscience,
+the book-fire might have retained, or might still recover, its
+place in the economy of well-organised States; and the stigma it
+failed of by reason of its frequency might still attach to it by
+reason of its rarity.
+
+If, then, it were possible (as it surely would be) so to regulate
+and restrict its use that it should serve only as the last
+expression of the indignation of an offended community instead of
+the ready weapon of a party or a clique, one can conceive its
+revival being not without utility. To take an illustration. With
+the ordinary daily libels of the public press the community as
+such has no concern; there is no need to grudge them their
+traditional impunity. But supposing a newspaper, availing itself
+of an earlier reputation and a wide circulation, to publish as
+truths, highly damaging to individuals, what it knows or might
+know to be forgeries, the limit has clearly been overstepped of
+the bearable liberty of the press; the cause of the injured
+individual becomes the cause of the injured community, insulted
+by the unscrupulous advantage that has been taken of its
+trustfulness and of its inability to judge soundly where all the
+data for a sound judgment are studiously withheld. Such an action
+is as much and as flagrant a crime or offence against the
+community as an act of robbery or murder, which, though primarily
+an injury to the individual, is primarily avenged as an injury to
+the State. As such it calls for punishment, nor could any
+punishment be more appropriate than one which caused the
+offending newspaper to atone by dishonour for the dishonour it
+sought to inflict. Condemnation by Parliament to the flames would
+exactly meet the exigencies of a case so rare and exceptional,
+and would succeed in inflicting that disgrace of which such a
+punishment often formerly failed by very reason of its too
+frequent application.
+
+
+
+
+APPENDIX.
+
+
+After the conspiracy, known as the Rye House Plot, to kill
+Charles II. and his brother, the Duke of York, the University of
+Oxford ordered the public burning of books which ran counter to
+the doctrine of the Divine right of kings. As the decree is a
+literary and political curiosity of the highest order, and not
+easily accessible, I here transcribe it from Lord Somers'
+_Tracts_. The authors whose books were condemned are sometimes
+referred to quite generally, so that some are difficult to
+identify, but the following appear to be the principal ones that
+incurred the fiery indignation of the University:--1.
+Rutherford's _Lex Rex_; 2. G. Buchanan's _De Jure Regni apud
+Scotos_; 3. Bellarmine's _De Potestate Papæ_, and his _De
+Conciliis et Ecclesiâ Militante_; 4. Milton's _Eikonoklastes_,
+and his _Defensio Populi Anglicani_; 5. Goodwin's _Obstructours
+of Justice_; 6. Baxter's _Holy Commonwealth_; 7. Dolman's
+_Succession_; 8. Hobbes' _De Cive_ and _Leviathan_.
+
+     _The Judgment and Decree of the University of Oxford,
+     passed in their Convocation, July 21, 1683, against
+     certain pernicious books, and damnable doctrines,
+     destructive to the sacred persons of princes, their
+     State and Government, and of all Human Society._
+
+     "Although the barbarous assassination lately
+     enterprised against the person of his sacred majesty
+     and his royal brother, engages all our thoughts to
+     reflect with utmost detestation and abhorrence on that
+     execrable villainy, hateful to God and man, and pay our
+     due acknowledgments to the Divine Providence, which, by
+     extraordinary methods, brought it to pass, that the
+     breath of our nostrils, the anointed of the Lord, is
+     not taken in the pit which was prepared for him, and
+     that under his shadow we continue to live and to enjoy
+     the blessings of his government; yet, notwithstanding,
+     we find it to be a necessary duty at this time to
+     search into and lay open those impious doctrines, which
+     having been of late studiously disseminated, gave rise
+     and growth to those nefarious attempts, and pass upon
+     them our solemn public censure and decree of
+     condemnation.
+
+     "Therefore, to the honour of the holy and undivided
+     Trinity, the preservation of Catholic truth in the
+     Church, and that the king's majesty may be secured both
+     from the attempts of open bloody enemies and
+     machinations of treacherous heretics and schismatics,
+     we, the vice-chancellor, doctors, proctors, and masters
+     regent, met in convocation, in the accustomed manner,
+     the one and twentieth day of July, in the year 1683,
+     concerning certain propositions contained in divers
+     books and writings, published in the English and also
+     in the Latin tongue, repugnant to the Holy Scriptures,
+     decrees of councils, writings of the fathers, the faith
+     and profession of the primitive Church, and also
+     destruction of the kingly government, the safety of his
+     Majesty's person, the public peace, the laws of nature,
+     and bonds of human society, by our unanimous assent and
+     consent, have decreed and determined in manner and form
+     following:--
+
+     "The 1st Proposition.--All civil authority is derived
+     originally from the people.
+
+     "2. There is a mutual compact, tacit or express,
+     between a prince and his subjects, that if he perform
+     not his duty, they are discharged from theirs.
+
+     "3. That if lawful governors become tyrants, or govern
+     otherwise than by the laws of God and man they ought to
+     do, they forfeit the right they had unto their
+     government.--_Lex Rex_; _Buchanan, de Jure Regni_;
+     _Vindiciæ contra tyrannos_; _Bellarmine, de Conciliis,
+     de Pontifice_; _Milton_; _Goodwin_; _Baxter_; _H. C._
+
+     "4. The sovereignty of England is in the three estates,
+     viz., Kings, Lords, and Commons. The king has but a
+     co-ordinate power, and may be overruled by the other
+     two.--_Lex Rex_; _Hunter_, of a united and mixed
+     monarchy. _Baxter, H. C. Polit. Catechis._
+
+     "5. Birthright and proximity of blood give no title to
+     rule or government, and it is lawful to preclude the
+     next heir from his right and succession to the
+     crown.--_Lex Rex_; _Hunt's Postscript_; _Doleman's
+     History of Succession_; _Julian the Apostate_; _Mene
+     Tekel_.
+
+     "6. It is lawful for subjects, without the consent, and
+     against the command, of the supreme magistrate, to
+     enter into leagues, covenants, and associations, for
+     defence of themselves and their religion.--_Solemn
+     League and Covenant_; _Late Association_.
+
+     "7. Self-preservation is the fundamental law of nature,
+     and supersedes the obligation of all others, whensoever
+     they stand in competition with it.--_Hobbes' de Cive_;
+     _Leviathan_.
+
+     "8. The doctrine of the gospel concerning patient
+     suffering of injuries is not inconsistent with violent
+     resisting of the higher powers in case of persecution
+     for religion.--_Lex Rex_; _Julian Apostate_; _Apolog.
+     Relat._
+
+     "9. There lies no obligation upon Christians to passive
+     obedience, when the prince commands anything against
+     the laws of our country; and the primitive Christians
+     chose rather to die than resist, because Christianity
+     was not settled by the laws of the Empire.--_Julian
+     Apostate._
+
+     "10. Possession and strength give a right to govern,
+     and success in a cause, or enterprise, proclaims it to
+     be lawful and just; to pursue it is to comply with the
+     will of God, because it is to follow the conduct of His
+     providence.--_Hobbes_; _Owen's Sermon before the
+     Regicides, Jan. 31, 1648_; _Baxter_; _Jenkin's
+     Petition, Oct. 1651_.
+
+     "11. In the state of nature there is no difference
+     between good and evil, right and wrong; the state of
+     nature is the state of war, in which every man hath a
+     right to all things.
+
+     "12. The foundation of civil authority is this natural
+     right, which is not given, but left to the supreme
+     magistrate upon men's entering into societies; and not
+     only a foreign invader, but a domestic rebel, puts
+     himself again into a state of nature to be proceeded
+     against, not as a subject, but an enemy, and
+     consequently acquires by his rebellion the same right
+     over the life of his prince, as the prince for the most
+     heinous crimes has over the life of his own subjects.
+
+     "13. Every man, after his entering into a society,
+     retains a right of defending himself against force, and
+     cannot transfer that right to the commonwealth when he
+     consents to that union whereby a commonwealth is made;
+     and in case a great many men together have already
+     resisted the commonwealth, for which every one of them
+     expecteth death, they have liberty then to join
+     together to assist and defend one another. This bearing
+     of arms subsequent to the first breach of their duty,
+     though it be to maintain what they have done, is no new
+     unjust act, and if it be only to defend their persons,
+     is not unjust at all.
+
+     "14. An oath superadds no obligation to fact, and a
+     fact obliges no further than it is credited; and
+     consequently if a prince gives any indication that he
+     does not believe the promises of fealty and allegiance
+     made by any of his subjects, they are thereby freed
+     from their subjection; and, notwithstanding their pacts
+     and oaths, may lawfully rebel against, and destroy
+     their sovereign.--_Hobbes' de Cive_; _Leviathan_.
+
+     "15. If a people, that by oath and duty are obliged to
+     a sovereign, shall sinfully dispossess him, and,
+     contrary to their covenants, choose and covenant with
+     another, they may be obliged by their later covenants,
+     notwithstanding their former.--_Baxter_; _H. C._
+
+     "16. All oaths are unlawful and contrary to the Word of
+     God.--_Quakers._
+
+     "17. An oath obligeth not in the sense of the imposer,
+     but the taker's.--_Sheriff's Case._
+
+     "18. Dominion is founded in grace.
+
+     "19. The powers of this world are usurpations upon the
+     prerogative of Jesus Christ; and it is the duty of
+     God's people to destroy them, in order to the setting
+     Christ upon His throne.--_Fifth Monarchy Men._
+
+     "20. The presbyterian government is the sceptre of
+     Christ's kingdom, to which kings, as well as others,
+     are bound to submit; and the king's supremacy in
+     ecclesiastical affairs, asserted by the Church of
+     England, is injurious to Christ, the sole King and Head
+     of His Church.--_Altare Damascenum_; _Apolog. Relat.
+     Hist. Indulg._; _Cartwright_; _Travers_.
+
+     "21. It is not lawful for superiors to impose anything
+     in the worship of God that is not antecedently
+     necessary.
+
+     "22. The duty of not offending a weak brother is
+     inconsistent with all human authority of making laws
+     concerning indifferent things.--_Protest. Reconciler._
+
+     "23. Wicked kings and tyrants ought to be put to death;
+     and if the judges and inferior magistrates will not do
+     their office, the power of the sword devolves to the
+     people; if the major part of the people refuse to
+     exercise this power, then the ministers may
+     excommunicate such a king; after which it is lawful for
+     any of the subjects to kill him, as the people did
+     Athaliah, and Jehu Jezebel.--_Buchanan_; _Knox_;
+     _Goodman_; _Gibby_; _Jesuits_.
+
+     "24. After the sealing of the Scripture-canon the
+     people of God in all ages are to expect new revelations
+     for a rule of their actions (_a_); and it is lawful for
+     a private man, having an inward motion from God, to
+     kill a tyrant (_b_).--(_a_) _Quakers and other
+     Enthusiasts._ (_b_) _Goodman._
+
+     "25. The example of Phineas is to us instead of a
+     command; for what God hath commanded or approved in one
+     age must needs oblige in all.--_Goodman_; _Knox_;
+     _Napthali_.
+
+     "26. King Charles the First was lawfully put to death,
+     and his murderers were the blessed instruments of God's
+     glory in their generation.--_Milton_; _Goodwin_;
+     _Owen_.
+
+     "27. King Charles the First made war upon his
+     Parliament; and in such a case the king may not only be
+     resisted, but he ceaseth to be king.--_Baxter._
+
+     "We decree, judge, and declare all and every of these
+     propositions to be false, seditious, and impious; and
+     most of them to be also heretical and blasphemous,
+     infamous to Christian religion, and destructive of all
+     government in Church and State.
+
+     "We further decree, That the books which contain the
+     aforesaid propositions and impious doctrines are fitted
+     to deprave good manners, corrupt the minds of unwary
+     men, stir up seditions and tumults, overthrow states
+     and kingdoms, and lead to rebellion, murder of princes,
+     and atheism itself; and therefore we interdict all
+     members of the university from the reading of the said
+     books, under the penalties in the statutes expressed.
+     We also order the before-recited books to be publicly
+     burnt by the hand of our marshal, in the court of our
+     schools.
+
+     "Likewise we order, that, in perpetual memory hereof,
+     these our decrees shall be entered into the registry of
+     our convocation; and that copies of them being
+     communicated to the several colleges and halls within
+     this university, they be there publicly affixed in the
+     libraries, refectories, or other fit places, where they
+     may be seen and read of all.
+
+     "Lastly, we command and strictly enjoin all and
+     singular, the readers, tutors, catechists, and others
+     to whom the care and trust of institution of youth is
+     committed, that they diligently instruct and ground
+     their scholars in that most necessary doctrine, which,
+     in a manner, is the badge and character of the Church
+     of England, of submitting to every ordinance of man for
+     the Lord's sake, whether it be to the king as supreme,
+     or unto governors as unto them that are sent by him,
+     for the punishment of evil doers, and for the praise of
+     them that do well; teaching that this submission and
+     obedience is to be clear, absolute, and without
+     exception of any state or order of men. Also that they,
+     according to the Apostle's precept, exhort, that first
+     of all supplications, prayers, intercessions, and
+     giving of thanks be made for all men, for the king, and
+     all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and
+     peaceable life in all godliness and honesty; for this
+     is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour;
+     and in especial manner that they press and oblige them
+     humbly to offer their most ardent and daily prayers at
+     the throne of grace, for the preservation of our
+     Sovereign Lord King Charles from the attempts of open
+     violence and secret machinations of perfidious
+     traitors; that the defender of the faith, being safe
+     under the defence of the Most High, may continue his
+     reign on earth till he exchange it for that of a late
+     and happy immortality."
+
+
+
+
+INDEX.
+
+
+     Abelard, all his books burnt, 5.
+
+     Allen (Cardinal), 37.
+
+     Archer (John), of All Hallows, Lombard Street, 106.
+
+     Asgill (John), his book burnt by two Parliaments, 144-47.
+
+     Attwood (William), the English Whig, 184.
+
+     Aubigné (D'), his _Histoire Universelle_, 19.
+
+
+     Bale (Bishop), 29.
+
+     Barnes, 29.
+
+     Bastwick (the physician), 81-92.
+
+     Beaumarchais, his _Memoirs_ condemned to the flames, 22.
+
+     Becon, 29.
+
+     Bellarmine, his _Tractatus_ condemned by the Parliament of
+         Paris, 64.
+
+     Bernier (Abbé) _pseud._, 13.
+
+     Best (Paul), prisoner at the Gatehouse, 107-109.
+
+     Bidle (a tailor's son), 110.
+
+     Bissendorf burnt, as well as his books, 9.
+
+     Boncerf, 21.
+
+     _Book-fires of the Sixteenth Century_, 25-47.
+       _under James I._, 48-68.
+       _under Charles I._, 69-93.
+       _of the Rebellion_, 94-116.
+       _of the Restoration_, 117-135.
+       _of the Revolution_, 136-169.
+       (_our last_), 170-190.
+
+     Boulanger, _Christianisme dévoilé_, 15.
+
+     Boyse, his sermon burnt by the hangman, 166.
+
+     Brecknock (Timothy), 181.
+
+     Buchanan (David), 101.
+
+     Buchanan (George), 58, 123.
+
+     Burton, the divine, 81-92.
+
+     Bury (Rev. Arthur), 141-43.
+
+     Busenbaum (the Jesuit), 17.
+
+
+     Calamy (Dr.), 131.
+
+     Carr (William), 171.
+
+     Cellier (Elizabeth), 134.
+
+     _Charles I.'s Book-fires_, 69-93.
+
+     Clarkson (Laurence), 114.
+
+     Claude, his _Plaintes des Protestants_, 134.
+
+     Clendon (John), 159.
+
+     Coke (Sir Edward), 57.
+
+     _Constitutional Queries_ (1750), 175.
+
+     Coppe (Ebiezer), 114.
+
+     Coverdale (Bishop), 29.
+
+     Coward (Dr.), 147, 148.
+
+     Cowell (Dr.), 28, 54-59.
+
+     _Crisis, the Present_ (1775), 182, 186.
+
+     Cumberland (Duke of), of Culloden, compared with Richard
+         III., 175.
+
+     Cutwode, his _Caltha Poetarum_, 41.
+
+
+     Davies (Sir John), 41, 44.
+
+     Declaration of James III., 174.
+
+     Defoe (Daniel), 152-4.
+
+     Delaune, his _Plea for the Nonconformists_, 130-34.
+
+     Dering (Sir Edward), 98.
+
+     Derodon, Professor at Nismes, 12.
+
+     Deslandes, 17.
+
+     Despériers, 7.
+
+     Digby (Lord), 99.
+
+     Dolet, 8.
+
+     Doleman's _Conference_, 37.
+
+     Dominis (Marcus Antonius de), 9.
+
+     Drake (Dr. James), 155-57, 173, 183.
+
+     Dufresnoy, 17.
+
+     Dulaurent, an apostate monk, 13.
+
+
+     Emmius, his posthumous book, 21.
+
+     Enjedim, the Hungarian Socialist, 6.
+
+
+     Falkland (Lord), 101.
+
+     Fleetwood (William), Bishop of St. Asaph, 167.
+
+     Fish's _Supplication of Beggars_, 36.
+
+     Freret, 15.
+
+     Froude (J. A.), his _Nemesis of Faith_ burned, 144.
+
+     Frith, 29.
+
+     Fry (John), M.P., 103, 4.
+
+
+     Génébrard (Archbishop), 18.
+
+     Gerberon, 12.
+
+     Giannone, his _Historia Civile_, 21.
+
+     Gigli, his _Vocabulario_, 17.
+
+     Goodwin (John), prolific writer, 117-122.
+
+
+     Hall (Bishop), 41, 2, 3.
+
+     Hall (Joseph), serjeant-at-arms, 172.
+
+     Helot, his _L'Ecole des Filles_, 17.
+
+     Herries (Walter), 183.
+
+     Holbach (Baron d'), 15.
+
+     Humphrey (John), 154.
+
+     Huss (John), 6.
+
+     Hutchinson (Provost Hely), 182, 185.
+
+
+     _James I., Book-fires under_, 48-68.
+
+     James III., Declaration of, 174.
+
+     Joly (Claude), 20.
+
+     Joye, 29.
+
+     _Justiciarius justificatus_, 101.
+
+
+     Keller, the Jesuit, 19.
+
+     Kentish Petition (1642), 100.
+
+     King (George), the bookseller, 176.
+
+     Knewstub, his _Confutation_ (1579), 33.
+
+
+     La Mettrie (De), 14.
+
+     Langle (Marquis de), 13.
+
+     Lanjuinais, 22.
+
+     La Peyrère imprisoned, 12.
+
+     Leighton (Alexander), 75.
+
+     Le Noble (Eustache), 20.
+
+     Lilburne (John), 88, 102.
+
+     Linguet, 14.
+
+     Locke (John), 127-29.
+
+     _Love, Family of_, 32.
+
+     Luther, 7, 28.
+
+     Lyser, advocate of polygamy, 17.
+
+
+     Mantuanus, the Carmelite, 16.
+
+     Manwaring (Roger), 69-71.
+
+     Mariana, the Jesuit, 18.
+
+     Marivaux (Martin de), 22.
+
+     Marlowe (Christopher), 41, 42.
+
+     Martin Marprelate, 37.
+
+     Marston (John), 41, 42.
+
+     _Mercurius Elenchicus_, 101.
+
+     _Mercurius Pragmaticus_, 101.
+
+     Meslier (Jean), 14.
+
+     Milton, 20, 90, 118-22.
+
+     Mocket (Richard), 61.
+
+     Molinos, founder of Quietism, 11.
+
+     Molyneux (William), his _Case for Ireland_, 136-40.
+
+     Mondonville (Madame de), 21.
+
+     Montagu (Richard), anti-Puritan, 71-3.
+
+     Morin (Simon), 10.
+
+     Morisot, 10.
+
+     Muggleton (Ludovic), 115, 116.
+
+
+     Niclas (Hendrick), of Leyden, 32.
+
+     _North Briton_ (No. 45), 177.
+
+
+     Okeford (James), 102.
+
+     Orléans (Louis d'), 18.
+
+     Osma (Peter d'), 7.
+
+     Oxford (University of) Decree against certain pernicious
+         books, 192.
+
+
+     Paræus (David), 60.
+
+     _Parliament's Ten Commandments_, 101.
+
+     _Parliament's Pater Noster_, 101.
+
+     Parsons (Robert), the Jesuit, 37, 39.
+
+     Pascal, 12.
+
+     Peignot, the historian of Condemned Books, 2.
+
+     Pidanzet, 21.
+
+     Pocklington (Dr. John), 95-8.
+
+     Pomponacius, 7.
+
+     Porphyry, 5.
+
+     Primatt (Joseph), 102.
+
+     Prynne (William), 30, 77-93.
+
+
+     _Racovian Catechism_, 111-13.
+
+     Raleigh (Sir Walter), 59.
+
+     Raynal (Abbé), 23.
+
+     Reboulet, 21.
+
+     Reeves' _Thoughts on English Government_, 186.
+
+     Rousseau, 13.
+
+     Rowlands (Samuel), 45.
+
+     Rutherford (Samuel), 122.
+
+     Rye House Plot, Decree against pernicious books, 191.
+
+
+     Sacheverell (Henry), 157-61.
+
+     Sainte Foi, 12.
+
+     Salmasius, 119.
+
+     Sanctarel, the Jesuit, 20.
+
+     Schlicttingius, 11.
+
+     Scioppius, 18.
+
+     Scot (Reginald), one of the heroes of the world, 49-53.
+
+     Servetus, his burning, 8.
+
+     Squitinio, 19.
+
+     Stubbs (John), 35.
+
+     Suarez, 64.
+
+
+     Talbert (Abbé), 17.
+
+     Théophile, 16.
+
+     Thomas (William), 30.
+
+     Thornborough (Bishop), 57.
+
+     Tindal (Matthew), 159, 161-63.
+
+     Toland, 149.
+
+     Toussaint, 17.
+
+     Tracy, 29.
+
+     Turner, 29.
+
+     Tyndale (William), 9, 28, 75.
+
+
+     Voet, professor of theology, 51.
+
+     Voltaire, contributed more books to the flames than any
+         other author of the eighteenth century, 15.
+
+     Vorst (Conrad), 66.
+
+
+     Wentworth (Peter), 39.
+
+     Wicliff, 29.
+
+     Wilkes (John), and the _North Briton_, 177.
+
+     Williams (John), 46, 47.
+
+     Wither (George), 101.
+
+     Wolkelius, friend of Socinus, 11.
+
+     Woolston, his Discourse on Miracles, 15.
+
+
+_Elliot Stock, 62, Paternoster Row, London, E.C._
+
+
+
+
+TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES
+
+
+The original book has a rooster bookplate illustration at the
+beginning and an owl bookplate at the end. Each chapter begins
+and ends with a decorative woodcut.
+
+The following words use an oe ligature in the original:
+
+     Moeurs
+     oeuvre
+     Poetarum
+
+The following corrections have been made to the text:
+
+     Page 3: could not himself either affirm[original has
+     ffiarm] or deny
+
+     Page 35: same penalty as its author.[period missing in
+     original]
+
+     Page 136: William Molyneux's[apostrophe and final "s"
+     missing in original] Case for Ireland
+
+     Page 176: [original has extraneous quotation mark]both
+     Houses of Parliament on Thursday
+
+     Page 176: December 2nd, 1756'[original has double
+     quote]
+
+     Page 194: Hobbes'[apostrophe missing in original] de
+     Cive
+
+     Page 196: Hobbes'[apostrophe missing in original] de
+     Cive
+
+     Page 196: _Apolog. Relat. Hist. Indulg._[period missing
+     in original]
+
+     Page 201: Abelard[original has Abela d], all his books
+     burnt, 5.
+
+     Page 203: Génébrard[original has Génébrazd]
+     (Archbishop), 18.
+
+     Page 203: Helot, his L'Ecole[original has L'Escole] des
+     Filles, 17.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's Books Condemned to be Burnt, by James Anson Farrer
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BOOKS CONDEMNED TO BE BURNT ***
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+<pre>
+
+Project Gutenberg's Books Condemned to be Burnt, by James Anson Farrer
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Books Condemned to be Burnt
+
+Author: James Anson Farrer
+
+Release Date: March 6, 2010 [EBook #31520]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BOOKS CONDEMNED TO BE BURNT ***
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+
+
+
+Produced by Steven Gibbs, Lisa Reigel, and the Online
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+
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+
+<div class="notebox">
+<p>Transcriber's Note: Variations in spelling and hyphenation have been
+left as in the original. A complete list of typographical and
+punctuation corrections <a href="#TN">follows</a> the text. Ellipses match the original.
+More notes follow the text. Click on the page number to see an image of
+the page.</p>
+
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i" id="Page_i"></a>[<a href="./images/p_i.png">i</a>]</span></p>
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 261px;">
+<img src="./images/p_i.png" width="261" height="368" alt="rooster bookplate" title="" />
+</div>
+
+
+<p class="p3"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii" id="Page_ii"></a>[<a href="./images/ii.png">ii</a>]</span>
+The Book-Lover's Library.</p>
+
+<p class="p4">Edited by</p>
+
+<p class="p3">Henry B. Wheatley, F.S.A.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p class="biggap"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_iii" id="Page_iii"></a>[<a href="./images/iii.png">iii</a>]</span></p>
+<h1>BOOKS CONDEMNED<br />
+TO BE BURNT.</h1>
+
+<p class="gap">&nbsp;</p>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">By</span></h3>
+<h2>JAMES ANSON FARRER,</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<img src="./images/p_iii.png" width="4%" alt="decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h4>LONDON</h4>
+<h3>ELLIOT STOCK, 62, PATERNOSTER ROW</h3>
+<h4>1892</h4>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_iv" id="Page_iv"></a>[<a href="./images/iv.png">iv</a>]</span></p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_v" id="Page_v"></a>[<a href="./images/v.png">v</a>]</span></p>
+<h2>PREFACE.</h2>
+
+<p><i><span class="dropcapw"><span class="dropcap">W</span></span>HEN did books first come to be burnt in England by the common
+hangman, and what was the last book to be so treated? This is the
+sort of question that occurs to a rational curiosity, but it is
+just this sort of question to which it is often most difficult to
+find an answer. Historians are generally too engrossed with the
+details of battles, all as drearily similar to one another as
+scenes of murder and rapine must of necessity be, to spare a
+glance for the far brighter and more instructive field of the
+mutations or of the progress of manners. The following work is an
+attempt to supply the deficiency on this particular subject.</i></p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_vi" id="Page_vi"></a>[<a href="./images/vi.png">vi</a>]</span>
+<i>I am indebted to chance for having directed me to the interest
+of book-burning as an episode in the history of the world's
+manners, the discursive allusions to it in the old numbers of
+"Notes and Queries" hinting to me the desirability of a more
+systematic mode of treatment. To bibliographers and literary
+historians I conceived that such a work might prove of utility
+and interest, and possibly serve to others as an introduction and
+incentive to a branch of our literary history that is not without
+its fascination. But I must also own to a less unselfish motive,
+for I imagined that not without its reward of delight would be a
+temporary sojourn among the books which, for their boldness of
+utterance or unconventional opinions, were not only not received
+by the best literary society of their day, but were with ignominy
+expelled from it. Nor was I wrong in my calculation.</i></p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_vii" id="Page_vii"></a>[<a href="./images/vii.png">vii</a>]</span>
+<i>But could I impart or convey the same delight to others?
+Clearly all that I could do was to invite them to enter on the
+same road, myself only subserving the humble functions of a
+signpost. I could avoid merely compiling for them a
+bibliographical dictionary, but I could not treat at length of
+each offender in my catalogue, without, in so exhausting my
+subject, exhausting at the same time my reader's patience. I have
+tried therefore to give something of the life of their history
+and times to the authors with whom I came in contact; to cast a
+little light on the idiosyncrasies or misfortunes of this one or
+of that; but to do them full justice, and to enable the reader to
+make their complete acquaintance, how was that possible with any
+regard for the laws of literary proportion? All I could do was to
+aim at something less dull than a dictionary, but something far
+short of a history.</i></p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_viii" id="Page_viii"></a>[<a href="./images/viii.png">viii</a>]</span>
+<i>I trust that no one will be either attracted or alarmed by any
+anticipations suggested by the title of my book. Although
+primarily a book for the library, it is also one of which no
+drawing-room table need be the least afraid. If I have found
+anything in my condemned authors which they would have done
+better to have left unsaid, I have, in referring to their
+fortunes, felt under no compulsion to reproduce their
+indiscretions. But, in all of them put together, I doubt whether
+there is as much to offend a scrupulous taste as in many a
+latter-day novel, the claim of which to the distinction of
+burning is often as indisputable as the certainty of its
+regrettable immunity from that fiery but fitting fate.</i></p>
+
+<p><i>The custom I write about suggests some obvious reflections on
+the mutability of our national manners. Was the wisdom of our
+ancestors really so <span class="pagenum" style="font-style: normal;"><a name="Page_ix" id="Page_ix"></a>[<a href="./images/ix.png">ix</a>]</span>much greater than our own, as many profess
+to believe? If so, it is strange with how much of that wisdom we
+have learnt to dispense. One by one their old customs have fallen
+away from us, and I fancy that if any gentleman could come back
+to us from the seventeenth century, he would be less astonished
+by the novel sights he would see than by the old familiar sights
+he would miss. He would see no one standing in the pillory, no
+one being burnt at a stake, no one being "swum" for witchcraft,
+no one's veracity being tested by torture, and, above all, no
+hangman burning books at Cheapside, no unfortunate authors being
+flogged all the way from Fleet Street to Westminster. The absence
+of these things would probably strike him more than even the
+railways and the telegraph wires. Returning with his old-world
+ideas, he would wonder how life and property had survived the
+<span class="pagenum" style="font-style: normal;"><a name="Page_x" id="Page_x"></a>[<a href="./images/x.png">x</a>]</span>removal of their time-honoured props, or how, when all fear of
+punishment had been removed from the press, Church and State were
+still where he had left them. Reflecting on these things, he
+would recognise the fact that he himself had been living in an
+age of barbarism from which we, his posterity, were in process of
+gradual emergence. What vistas of still further improvement would
+not then be conjured up before his mind!</i></p>
+
+<p><i>We can hardly wonder at our ancestors burning books when we
+recollect their readiness to burn one another. It was not till
+the year 1790 that women ceased to be liable to be burnt alive
+for high or for <span class="stressed">petit</span> treason, and Blackstone found nothing to
+say against it. He saw nothing unfair in burning a woman for
+coining, but in only hanging a man. "The punishment of <span class="stressed">petit</span>
+treason," he says, "in a man is to be drawn and hanged, and <span class="pagenum" style="font-style: normal;"><a name="Page_xi" id="Page_xi"></a>[<a href="./images/xi.png">xi</a>]</span>in a
+woman to be drawn and burned; the idea of which latter punishment
+seems to have been handed down to us by the ancient Druids, which
+condemned a woman to be burnt for murdering her husband, and it
+is now the usual punishment for all sorts of treasons committed
+by those of the female sex." Not a suspicion seems to have
+crossed the great jurist's mind that the supposed barbarity of
+the Druids was not altogether a conclusive justification for the
+barbarity of his own contemporaries. So let us take warning from
+his example, and let the history of our practice of book-burning
+serve to help us to keep our minds open with regard to anomalies
+which may still exist amongst us, descended from as suspicious an
+origin, and as little supported by reason.</i></p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xii" id="Page_xii"></a>[<a href="./images/xii.png">xii</a>]</span></p>
+<h2>CONTENTS.</h2>
+
+<div class="centered">
+<table summary="Table of Contents" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" border="0">
+<tr>
+  <td class="tdright" colspan="3" style="font-size: 70%;">PAGE</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td class="tdlsc" colspan="2">Introduction</td>
+  <td class="tdright"><a href="#Page_1">1</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td class="tdrsc">Chapter I.</td>
+  <td class="tdlsc">Sixteenth-Century Book-Fires</td>
+  <td class="tdright"><a href="#Page_25">25</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td class="tdright">II.</td>
+  <td class="tdlsc">Book-Fires under James I</td>
+  <td class="tdright"><a href="#Page_48">48</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td class="tdright">III.</td>
+  <td class="tdlsc">Charles the First's Book-Fires</td>
+  <td class="tdright"><a href="#Page_69">69</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td class="tdright">IV.</td>
+  <td class="tdlsc">Book-Fires of the Rebellion</td>
+  <td class="tdright"><a href="#Page_94">94</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td class="tdright">V.</td>
+  <td class="tdlsc" style="padding-right: 5em;">Book-Fires of the Restoration</td>
+  <td class="tdright"><a href="#Page_117">117</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td class="tdright">VI.</td>
+  <td class="tdlsc">Book-Fires of the Revolution</td>
+  <td class="tdright"><a href="#Page_136">136</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td class="tdright">VII.</td>
+  <td class="tdlsc">Our Last Book-Fires</td>
+  <td class="tdright"><a href="#Page_170">170</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td class="tdlsc" colspan="2">Appendix</td>
+  <td class="tdright"><a href="#Page_191">191</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td class="tdlsc" colspan="2">Index</td>
+  <td class="tdright"><a href="#Page_201">201</a></td>
+</tr>
+</table>
+</div>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1"></a>[<a href="./images/1.png">1</a>]</span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<img src="./images/p001a.png" width="40%" alt="decorative woodcut" title="" />
+</div>
+
+
+<p class="smallgap">&nbsp;</p>
+<h1>BOOKS<br />
+
+CONDEMNED TO BE BURNT.</h1>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>INTRODUCTION.</h2>
+
+<p><span class="dropcapt"><span class="dropcap">T</span></span>HERE is the sort of attraction that belongs to all forbidden
+fruit in books which some public authority has condemned to the
+flames. And seeing that to collect something is a large part of
+the secret of human happiness, it occurred to me that a variety
+of the happiness that is sought in book collecting might be found
+in making a collection of books of this sort. I have, therefore,
+put together the following narrative of our burnt literature as
+some kind of aid to any book-lover who shall choose to take my
+hint and make the peculiarity I have indicated the key-note to
+the formation of his library.</p>
+
+<p>But the aid I offer is confined to books <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2"></a>[<a href="./images/2.png">2</a>]</span>so condemned in the
+United Kingdom. Those who would pursue the study farther afield,
+and extend their wishes beyond the four seas, will find all the
+aid they need or desire in Peignot's admirable <i>Dictionnaire
+Critique, Litt&eacute;raire, et Bibliographique des principaux Livres
+condamn&eacute;s au feu, supprim&eacute;s ou censur&eacute;s</i>: Paris, 1806. To have
+extended my studies to cover this wider ground would have swollen
+my book as well as my labour beyond the limits of my inclination.
+I may mention that Hart's <i>Index Expurgatorius</i> covers this wider
+ground for England, as far as it goes.</p>
+
+<p>Nevertheless, I may, perhaps, appropriately, by way of
+introduction, refer to some episodes and illustrations of
+book-burning, to show the place the custom had in the development
+of civilisation, and the distinction of good or bad company and
+ancient lineage enjoyed by such books as their punishment by
+burning entitles to places on the shelves of our fire-library.
+The custom was of pagan observance long before it passed into
+Christian practice; and for its existence in Greece, and for the
+first instance I know of, I would refer to the once famous or
+notorious work of Protagoras, certainly one of the wisest
+philosophers or sophists of ancient times. He was the first
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3"></a>[<a href="./images/3.png">3</a>]</span>avowed Agnostic, for he wrote a work on the gods, of which the
+very first remark was that the existence of gods at all he could
+not himself either affirm or deny. For this offensive sentiment
+his book was publicly burnt; but Protagoras, could he have
+foreseen the future, might have esteemed himself happy to have
+lived before the Christian epoch, when authors came to share with
+their works the purifying process of fire. The world grew less
+humane as well as less sensible as it grew older, and came to
+think more of orthodoxy than of any other condition of the mind.</p>
+
+<p>The virtuous Romans appear to have been greater book-burners than
+the Greeks, both under the Republic and under the Empire. It was
+the Senate's function to condemn books to the flames, and the
+pr&aelig;tor's to see that it was done, generally in the Forum. But for
+this evil habit we might still possess many valuable works, such
+as the books attributed to Numa on Pontifical law (Livy xl.), and
+those eulogies of P&aelig;tus Thrasea and Helvidius, which were burnt,
+and their authors put to death, under the tyranny of Domitian
+(Tacitus, Agricola 2). Let these cases suffice to connect the
+custom with Pagan Rome, and to prove that this <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4"></a>[<a href="./images/4.png">4</a>]</span>particular mode
+of warring with the expression of free thought boasts its
+precedents in pre-Christian antiquity.</p>
+
+<p>Nevertheless it is the custom as it was manifested in Christian
+times that has chief interest for us, because it is only with
+condemned books of this period that we have any chance of
+practical acquaintance. Some of these survived the flames, whilst
+none of antiquity's burning have come down to us. But on what
+principle it was that the burning authorities (in France
+generally the Parlement of Paris, or of the provinces), burnt
+some books, whilst others were only censured, condemned, or
+suppressed, I am unable to say, and I doubt whether any principle
+was involved. Peignot has noticed the chief books stigmatised by
+authority in all these various ways; but though undoubtedly this
+wider view is more philosophical, the view is quite comprehensive
+enough which confines itself to the consideration of books that
+were condemned to be burnt.</p>
+
+<p>Books so treated may be classified according as they offended
+against (i) the religion, (ii) the morals, or (iii) the politics
+of the day, those against the first being by far the most
+numerous, and so admitting here of notice only of their most
+conspicuous specimens.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5"></a>[<a href="./images/5.png">5</a>]</span>
+I. Of all the books burnt for offence under the first head, the
+most to be regretted, from an historical point of view, I take to
+be Porphyry's <i>Treatise against the Christians</i>, which was burnt
+<span class="smcap">a.d.</span> 388 by order of Theodosius the Great. Porphyry believed that
+Daniel's prophecies had been written after the events foretold in
+them by some one who took the name of Daniel. It would have been
+interesting to have known Porphyry's grounds for this not
+improbable opinion, as well as his general charges against the
+Christians; and if there is anything in the tradition of the
+survival of a copy of Porphyry in one of the libraries of
+Florence, the testimony of the distinguished Platonist may yet
+enlighten us on the causes of the growing darkness of the age in
+which he lived.</p>
+
+<p>All the books of the famous Abelard were burnt by order of Pope
+Innocent II.; but it was his <i>Treatise on the Trinity</i>, condemned
+by the Council of Soissons about 1121, and by the Council of Sens
+in 1140, which chiefly led St. Bernard to his cruel persecution
+of this famous man. That great saint, using the habitual language
+of ecclesiastical charity, called Abelard an infernal dragon and
+the precursor of Antichrist. Among his heresies Abelard <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6"></a>[<a href="./images/6.png">6</a>]</span>seems to
+have held the opinion that the devil has no power over man; but
+at all events the Church had in those days, as Abelard learnt to
+his cost, though, considering that his disciple Arnauld of
+Brescia was destined to be burnt alive at Rome in 1155, Abelard
+might have deemed himself fortunate in only incurring
+imprisonment, and not sharing the fate of his works as well as
+that of his illustrious follower.</p>
+
+<p>The latter calamity befell John Huss, who, having been led before
+the bishop's palace to see his own condemned works burnt, was
+then led on to be burnt himself, in 1415. Many of his works,
+however, were republished in the following century; but the
+twenty-nine errors which the Council of Constance detected in his
+work on the Church would probably nowadays seem venial enough. It
+was his misfortune to live in those days when the inhumanity of
+the world was at its climax.</p>
+
+<p>It continued at that climax for some time, though heretical
+authors were not always burnt with their books. Enjedim, for
+instance, the Hungarian Socinian, who died in 1596, survived the
+burning in many places of his "Explanations of Difficult Passages
+of the Old and New <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7"></a>[<a href="./images/7.png">7</a>]</span>Testament, from which the Dogma of the
+Trinity is usually established" (<i>Explicationes locorum
+difficilium</i>, etc.). Peter d'Osma also, the Spanish theologian,
+whose <i>Treatise on Confession</i> was condemned by the Archbishop of
+Toledo in the fifteenth century, might have esteemed himself
+happy that only his chair shared the burning of his book.
+Pomponacius, an Italian professor of philosophy, whose <i>Treatise
+on the Immortality of the Soul</i> (1516), was burnt by the
+Venetians for the heretical opinion that the soul's immortality
+was not believed by Aristotle, and could only be proved by
+Scripture and the authority of the Church, seems to have died
+peacefully in 1526, albeit with the reputation of an atheist,
+which his writings do not support. Desp&eacute;riers was only imprisoned
+when his <i>Cymbalum Mundi</i>, censured by the Sorbonne, was
+consigned to the flames by the Parlement of Paris (March 7th,
+1537). And Luther, all of whose works were condemned to be burnt
+by the Diet of Worms (1521), actually survived their burning
+twenty-five years, though he himself had publicly burnt at
+Wittenberg Leo X.'s bull, anathematising his books, as well as
+the Decretals of previous Popes.</p>
+
+<p>Less fortunate than these were the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8"></a>[<a href="./images/8.png">8</a>]</span>famous martyrs of free
+thought, Dolet, Servetus, and Tyndale. All the works, which Dolet
+wrote or printed, were burnt as heretical by the Parlement of
+Paris (February 14th, 1543), and himself hanged and burnt three
+years later (August 3rd, 1546), at the age of thirty-seven. The
+reason seems chiefly to have been Dolet's unsparing exposure of
+the immoralities of monks and priests, and of the plan of the
+Sorbonne to put down the art of printing in France. In Peignot is
+preserved a long list of the names of the works to the
+publication of which he lent his aid.</p>
+
+<p>The burning of Servetus, the Parisian doctor, at Geneva (October
+27th, 1553), because his opinions on the Trinity did not agree
+with Calvin's, is of course the greatest blot on the memory of
+Calvin. All his books or manuscripts were burnt with him or
+elsewhere, so that his works are among the rarest of
+bibliographical treasures, and his <i>Christianismi Restitutio</i>
+(1553) is said to be the rarest book in the world. But apart from
+their rarity, I should hardly imagine that the works of Servetus
+possessed the slightest interest, or that their loss was the
+smallest loss to the literature of the world.</p>
+
+<p>But if Calvin must bear the burden of <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9"></a>[<a href="./images/9.png">9</a>]</span>the death of Servetus,
+Christianity itself is responsible for the death of William
+Tyndale, who, deeming it desirable that his countrymen should
+possess in their own language the book on which their religion
+was founded, took the infinite trouble of translating the
+Scriptures into English. His New Testament was forthwith burnt in
+London, and himself after some years strangled and burnt at
+Antwerp (1536).</p>
+
+<p>The same literary persecution continued in the next century, the
+seventeenth. Bissendorf perished at the hands of the executioner
+at the same time that his books, <i>Nodi gordii resolutio</i> (on the
+priestly calling), 1624, and <i>The Jesuits</i>, were burnt by the
+same agent. In the case of the <i>De Republic&acirc; Ecclesiastic&acirc;</i>
+(1617) by De Dominis, Christian savagery surpassed itself, for
+not only was it burnt by sentence of the Inquisition, but also
+the dead body of its author was exhumed for the purpose. Dominis
+had been a Jesuit for twenty years, then a bishop, and finally
+Archbishop of Spalatro. This office he gave up, and retired to
+England, where he might write with greater freedom than in Italy.
+There he wrote this work and a history of the Council of Trent.
+His chief offence was his advocacy of the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10"></a>[<a href="./images/10.png">10</a>]</span>unchristian principles
+of toleration; he wished to reunite and reconcile the Christian
+communions. But alas for human frailty! he retracted his errors,
+many of them most sensible opinions, in London, and again at
+Rome, whither he returned. Pope Urban VIII., however, imprisoned
+him in the Castle of St. Angelo, where he is said to have died of
+poison, so that only his dead body was available to burn with his
+book the same year (1625). Literary lives were tragic in those
+times.</p>
+
+<p>Simon Morin was burnt with all the copies of his <i>Pens&eacute;es</i> that
+could be found, on the Place de Gr&egrave;ve, at Paris, March 14th,
+1663. Morin called himself the Son of Man, and such thoughts of
+his as survived the fire do not lead us in his case to grudge the
+flames their literary fuel. But it is curious to think that we
+are only two centuries from the time when the Parlement of Paris
+could pass such a sentence on such a sufferer.</p>
+
+<p>The Parlement of Dijon condemned to be burnt by the executioner
+Morisot's <i>Ahitophili Veritatis Lacrym&aelig;</i> (July 4th, 1625), but
+though this work was a violent satire upon the Jesuits, Morisot
+survived his book thirty-six years, the Jesuits revenging
+themselves with nothing worse <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11"></a>[<a href="./images/11.png">11</a>]</span>than an epitaph, containing a bad
+pun, to the effect that their enemy, after a life not spent in
+wisdom, preferred to die as a fool (<i>Voluit mori-sot</i>).</p>
+
+<p>In the same century Molinos, the Spanish priest, and founder of
+Quietism, wrote his <i>Conduite Spirituelle</i>, which was condemned
+to the flames for sixty-eight heretical propositions, whilst its
+author was consigned to the prisons of the Inquisition, where he
+died after eleven years of it (1696). Self-absorption of the soul
+in God to the point of complete indifference to anything done to
+or by the body, even to the sufferings of the latter in hell, was
+the doctrine of Quietism that led ecclesiastic authority to feel
+its usual alarm for consequences; and it must be admitted that
+similar doctrines have at times played sad havoc with Christian
+morality. But perhaps they helped Molinos the better to bear his
+imprisonment.</p>
+
+<p>I may next refer to seventeenth-century writers who were
+fortunate enough not to share the burning of their books. (1)
+Wolkelius, a friend of Socinus, the edition of whose book <i>De
+Ver&acirc; Religione</i>, published at Amsterdam in 1645, was there burnt
+by order of the magistrates for its Socinian doctrines, appears
+to have lived for many years afterwards. Schlicttingius, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12"></a>[<a href="./images/12.png">12</a>]</span>a
+Polish follower of the same faith, escaped with expulsion from
+Poland, when the Diet condemned his book, <i>Confessio Fidei
+Christian&aelig;</i>, to be burnt by the executioner. Sainte Foi, or
+Gerberon, whose <i>Miroir de la V&eacute;rit&eacute; Chr&eacute;tienne</i> was condemned by
+several bishops and archbishops, and burnt by order of the
+Parlement of Aix (1678), lived to write other works, of probably
+as little interest. La Peyr&egrave;re was only imprisoned at Brussels
+for his book on the <i>Pre-adamites</i>, which was burnt at Paris
+(1655). And Pascal saw his famous <i>Lettres &agrave; un Provincial</i>,
+which made too free with the dignity of all authorities, secular
+and religious, twice burnt, once in French (1657), and once in
+Latin (1660), without himself incurring a similar penalty. So did
+Derodon, professor of philosophy at Nismes, outlive the
+<i>Disputatio</i> (1645), in which he made light of Cyril of
+Alexandria, and which was condemned and burnt by the Parlement of
+Toulouse for its opposition to some beliefs of Roman Catholicism.</p>
+
+<p>Passing now to the eighteenth century, we find book-burning, then
+declining in England, in full vigour on the Continent.</p>
+
+<p>The most important book that so suffered was Rousseau's admirable
+treatise <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13"></a>[<a href="./images/13.png">13</a>]</span>on education, entitled <i>&Eacute;mile</i> (1762), condemned by the
+Parlement of Paris to be torn and burnt at the foot of its great
+staircase. It was also burnt at Geneva. Three years later the
+same writer's <i>Lettres de la Montagne</i> were sentenced by the same
+tribunal to the same fate. Not all burnt books should be read,
+but Rousseau's <i>&Eacute;mile</i> is one that should be.</p>
+
+<p>So should the Marquis de Langle's <i>Voyage en Espagne</i>, condemned
+to the flames in 1788, but translated into English, German, and
+Italian. De Langle anticipated this fate for his book if it ever
+passed the Pyrenees: "So much the better," said he; "the reader
+loves the books they burn, so does the publisher, and the author;
+it is his blue ribbon." But, considering that he wrote against
+the Inquisition, and similar inhumanities or follies of
+Catholicism, De Langle must have been surprised at the burning of
+his book in Paris itself.</p>
+
+<p>A book at whose burning we may feel less surprise is the
+<i>Th&eacute;ologie Portative ou Dictionnaire abr&eacute;g&eacute;de la Religion
+Chr&eacute;tienne</i>, by the Abb&eacute; Bernier (1775), for a long time
+attributed to Voltaire, but really the work of an apostate monk,
+Dulaurent, who took refuge in Holland to write this and similar
+works.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14"></a>[<a href="./images/14.png">14</a>]</span>
+The number of books of a similar strong anti-Catholic tendency
+that were burnt in these years before the outbreak of the
+Revolution should be noticed as helping to explain that event.
+Their titles in most cases may suffice to indicate their nature.
+De la Mettrie's <i>L'homme Machine</i> (1748) was written and burnt in
+Holland, its author being a doctor, of whom Voltaire said that he
+was a madman who only wrote when he was drunk. Of a similar kind
+was the <i>Testament</i> of Jean Meslier, published posthumously in
+the <i>Evangile de la Raison</i>, and condemned to the flames about
+1765. On June 11th, 1763, the Parlement of Paris ordered to be
+burnt an anonymous poem, called <i>La Religion &agrave; l'Assembl&eacute;e du
+Clerg&eacute; de France</i>, in which the writer depicted in dark colours
+the morals of the French bishops of the time (1762). On January
+29th, 1768, was treated in the same way the <i>Histoire Impartiale
+des J&eacute;suites</i> of Linguet, whose <i>Annales Politiques</i> in 1779
+conducted him to the Bastille, and who ultimately died at the
+hands of the Revolutionary Tribunal (1794). But the 18th of
+August, 1770, is memorable for having seen all the seven
+following books sentenced to burning by the Parlement of Paris:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15"></a>[<a href="./images/15.png">15</a>]</span>
+1. Woolston's <i>Discours sur les Miracles de J&eacute;sus-Christ</i>,
+translated from the English (1727).</p>
+
+<p>2. Boulanger's <i>Christianisme d&eacute;voil&eacute;</i>.</p>
+
+<p>3. Freret's <i>Examen Critique des Apologistes de la Religion
+Chr&eacute;tienne</i>, 1767.</p>
+
+<p>4. The <i>Examen Impartial des Principales Religions du Monde</i>.</p>
+
+<p>5. Baron d'Holbach's <i>Contagion Sacr&eacute;e</i>, or <i>l'Histoire Naturelle
+de la Superstition</i>, 1768.</p>
+
+<p>6. Holbach's <i>Syst&egrave;me de la Nature ou des Lois du Monde Physique
+et du Monde Moral</i>.</p>
+
+<p>7. Voltaire's <i>Dieu et les Hommes; &oelig;uvre th&eacute;ologique, mais
+raisonnable</i> (1769).</p>
+
+<p>No one writer, indeed, of the eighteenth century contributed so
+many books to the flames as Voltaire. Besides the above work, the
+following of his works incurred the same fate:&mdash;(1) the <i>Lettres
+Philosophiques</i> (1733), (2) the <i>Cantique des Cantiques</i> (1759),
+(3) the <i>Dictionnaire Philosophique</i> (1764), also burnt at
+Geneva; (4) <i>L'Homme aux Quarante &Eacute;cus</i> (1767), (5) <i>Le D&icirc;ner du
+Comte de Boulainvilliers</i> (1767). When we add to these burnings
+the fact that at least fourteen works of Voltaire were condemned,
+many others suppressed or forbidden, their author himself twice
+imprisoned in the Bastille, and <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16"></a>[<a href="./images/16.png">16</a>]</span>often persecuted or obliged to
+fly from France, we must admit that seldom or never had any
+writer so eventful a literary career.</p>
+
+<p>II. Turning now to the books that were burnt for their real or
+supposed immoral tendency, I may refer briefly in chronological
+order to the following as the principal offenders, though of
+course there is not always a clear distinction between what was
+punished as immoral and punished as irreligious. This applies to
+the four volumes of the works of the Carmelite Mantuanus,
+published at Antwerp in 1576, of which nearly all the copies were
+burnt. This facile poet, who is said to have composed 59,000
+verses, was especially severe against women and against the
+ecclesiastical profession. In 1664, the <i>Journal de Louis Gorin
+de Saint Amour</i>, a satirical work, was condemned, chiefly
+apparently because it contained the five propositions of
+Jansenius. In 1623, the Parlement of Paris condemned Th&eacute;ophile to
+be burnt with his book, <i>Le Parnasse des Po&egrave;tes Satyriques</i>, but
+the author escaped with his burning in effigy, and with
+imprisonment in a dungeon. I am tempted to quote Th&eacute;ophile's
+impromptu reply to a man who asserted that all poets were
+fools:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17"></a>[<a href="./images/17.png">17</a>]</span>
+<span class="i0">"Oui, je l'avoue avec vous<br /></span>
+<span class="i0i">Que tous les poêtes sont fous;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0i">Mais sachant ce que vous êtes<br /></span>
+<span class="i0i">Tous les fous ne sont pas poêtes."<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>H&eacute;lot also escaped with a burning in effigy when his <i>L'Ecole des
+Filles</i> was burnt at the foot of the gallows (1672). Lyser, who
+spent his life and his property in the advocacy of polygamy, was
+threatened by Christian V. with capital punishment if he appeared
+in Denmark, and his <i>Discursus Politicus de Polygamia</i> was
+sentenced to public burning (1677).</p>
+
+<p>In the eighteenth century (1717) Gigli's satire, the <i>Vocabulario
+di Santa Caterina e della lingua Sanese</i>; Dufresnoy's <i>Princesses
+Malabares, ou le C&eacute;libat Philosophique</i> (1734); Deslandes'
+<i>Pigmalion ou la Statue Anim&eacute;e</i> (1741); the Jesuit Busembaum's
+<i>Theologia Moralis</i> (which defends as an act of charity the
+commission to kill an excommunicated person), (1757); Toussaint's
+<i>Les M&oelig;urs</i> (1748); and the Abb&eacute; Talbert's satirical poem,
+<i>Langrognet aux Enfers</i> (1760),&mdash;seem to complete the list of the
+principal works burnt by public authority. And of these the best
+is Toussaint's, who in 1764 published an apology for or
+retraction of his <i>M&oelig;urs</i>, which has far less claim upon
+public <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18"></a>[<a href="./images/18.png">18</a>]</span>attention than was obtained and merited by the original
+work.</p>
+
+<p>III. Books condemned for some unpopular political tendency may
+likewise be arranged in the order of their centuries.</p>
+
+<p>In the sixteenth, the most important are Louis d'Orl&eacute;ans'
+<i>Expostulatio</i> (1593), a violent attack on Henri IV., and
+condemned by the Parlement of Paris; Archbishop G&eacute;n&eacute;brard's <i>De
+sacrarum electionum jure et necessitate ad Ecclesi&aelig; Gallican&aelig;
+redintegrationem</i> (1593), condemned by the Parlement of Aix, and
+its author exiled. He maintained the right of the clergy and
+people to elect bishops against their nomination by the king. It
+is curious that the Parlement of Paris thought it necessary to
+burn the Jesuit Mariana's book <i>De Rege</i> (1599) as
+anti-monarchical, seeing that it appeared with the privilege of
+the King of Spain. He maintained the right of killing a king for
+the cause of religion, and called Jacques Clement's act of
+assassination France's everlasting glory (<i>Galli&aelig; &aelig;ternum
+decus</i>). But it is only fair to add that the superior of the
+Order disapproved of the work as much as the Sorbonne.</p>
+
+<p>In the seventeenth century, I notice first the <i>Ecclesiasticus</i>
+of Scioppius, a work directed against our James I. and <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19"></a>[<a href="./images/19.png">19</a>]</span>Casaubon
+(1611). The libel having been burnt in London, and its author
+hanged and beaten in effigy before the king on the stage, was
+burnt in Paris by order of the Parlement, chiefly for its
+calumnies on Henri IV. The author, originally a Jesuit, has been
+called the Attila of writers, having been said to have known the
+abusive terms of all tongues, and to have had them on the tip of
+his own. He wrote 104 works, apparently of the violent sort, so
+that Casaubon called him, according to the style of learned men
+in those days, "the most cruel of all wild beasts," whilst the
+Jesuits called him "the public pest of letters and society."</p>
+
+<p>The Senate of Venice caused to be burnt the <i>Della Liberta
+Veneta</i>, by a man who called himself Squitinio (1612), because it
+denied the independence of the Republic, and asserted that the
+Emperor had rightful claims over it; and about the same time
+(1617) the Parlement of Paris consigned to the same penalty
+D'Aubign&eacute;'s <i>Histoire Universelle</i> for the freedom of its satire
+on Charles IX., Henri III., Henri IV., and other French royal
+personages of the time. The second edition of D'Aubign&eacute; (1626) is
+the poorer for being shorn of these caustic passages.</p>
+
+<p>The Jesuit Keller's <i>Admonitio ad <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20"></a>[<a href="./images/20.png">20</a>]</span>Ludovicum XIII.</i> (1625), and
+the same author's Mysteria Politica, (1625), were both sentenced
+to be burnt; also the Jesuit Sanctarel's <i>Tractatus de H&aelig;resi</i>
+(1625), which claimed for the Pope the right to dispose, not only
+of the thrones, but also of the lives of princes. This doctrine
+was approved by the General of the Jesuits, but, under threat of
+being accounted guilty of treason, expressly disclaimed by the
+Jesuits as a body. In resisting such pretensions, the Sorbonne
+deserved well of France and of humanity. In 1665, the Ch&acirc;telet
+ordered to be burnt Claude Joly's <i>Recueil des Maximes v&eacute;ritables
+et importantes pour l'Institution du Roi, contre la fausse et
+pernicieuse politique de Cardinal pr&eacute;tendu surintendant de
+l'&eacute;ducation de Louis XIV.</i> (1652); a book which, if it had been
+regarded instead of being burnt, might have altered the character
+of that pernicious devastator, and therefore of history itself,
+very much for the better. About the same time, Milton's <i>Pro
+Populo Anglicano Defensio</i>, not to be burnt in England till the
+Restoration, had a foretaste in Paris of its ultimate fate.
+Eustache le Noble's satire against the Dutch, <i>Dialogue d'Esope
+et de Mercure</i>, and burnt by the executioner at Amsterdam, may
+complete the list <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21"></a>[<a href="./images/21.png">21</a>]</span>of political works that paid for their
+offences by fire in the seventeenth century.</p>
+
+<p>The first to notice in the next century is Giannone's <i>Historia
+Civile de Regno di Napoli</i> (1723), in five volumes, burnt by the
+Inquisition, which, but for his escape, would have suppressed the
+author as well as his book, for his free criticism of Popes and
+ecclesiastics. His escape saved the eighteenth century from the
+reproach of burning a writer. Next deserves a passing allusion
+the <i>Historia Nostri Temporis</i>, by the once famous writer Emmius,
+whose posthumous book suffered at the hands of George Albert,
+Prince of East Frisia. The Parlement of Toulouse condemned
+Reboulet's <i>Histoire des Filles de la Congr&eacute;gation de l'Enfance</i>
+(1734) for accusing Madame de Moudonville, the founder of that
+convent, of publishing libels against the king. That of Paris and
+Besan&ccedil;on condemned Boncerf's <i>Des Inconv&eacute;niens des Droits
+F&eacute;odaux</i> (1770).</p>
+
+<p>The number, indeed, of political works burnt during the eighth
+decade of the last century is as remarkable as the number of
+religious books so treated about the same period: one of the
+lesser indications of the coming Revolution. During this decade
+were condemned: (1) Pidanzet's <i>Correspondance secr&egrave;te famili&egrave;re
+de <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22"></a>[<a href="./images/22.png">22</a>]</span>Chancelier Maupeon avec Sorhouet</i> (1771) for being
+blasphemous and seditious, and calculated to rouse people against
+government; a work that made sport of Maupeon and his Parlement.
+(2) Beaumarchais' <i>M&eacute;moires</i> (1774), of the literary style of
+which Voltaire himself is said to have been jealous, but which
+was condemned to the flames for its imputations on the powers
+that were. (3) Lanjuinais' <i>Monarque Accompli</i> (1774), whose
+other title explains why it was condemned, as tending to sedition
+and revolt, <i>Prodiges de bont&eacute;, de savoir, et de sagesse, qui
+font l'&eacute;loge de Sa Majest&eacute; Imp&eacute;riale Joseph II., et qui rendent
+cet auguste monarque si pr&eacute;cieux &agrave; l'humanit&eacute;, discut&eacute;s au
+tribunal de la raison et l'&eacute;quit&eacute;</i>. Lanjuinais, principal of a
+Catholic college in Switzerland, passed over to the Reformed
+Religion. (4) Martin de Marivaux's <i>L'Ami des Lois</i> (1775), a
+pamphlet, in which the author protested against the words put
+into the mouth of the king by Chancellor Maupeon, Sept. 7th,
+1770: "We hold our Crown of God alone; the right of law-making,
+without dependence or partition, belongs to us alone." The author
+contended that the Crown was held only of the nation, and he
+excited the vengeance of the Crown by sending a copy of his work
+to each member of the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23"></a>[<a href="./images/23.png">23</a>]</span>Parlement. At the same time, to the same
+penalty and for the same offence, was condemned to the flames <i>Le
+Cat&eacute;chisme du Citoyen, ou El&eacute;mens du Droit public Fran&ccedil;ais, par
+demandes et par r&eacute;ponses</i>; the episode, and the origin of the
+dispute, clearly pointing to the rapidly approaching
+Revolutionary whirlwind, the spirit of which these literary
+productions anticipated and expressed.</p>
+
+<p>The last book I find to notice is the Abb&eacute; Raynal's <i>Histoire
+philosophique et politique des Etablissemens et du Commerce des
+Europ&eacute;ens dans les Deux Indes</i>, published in 1771 at Geneva, and,
+after a first attempt at suppression in 1779, finally burnt by
+the order of the Parlement of Paris of May 25th, 1781, as
+impious, blasphemous, seditious, and the rest. Like many another
+eminent writer, Raynal had started as a Jesuit.</p>
+
+<p>From the above illustrations of the practice abroad, we may turn
+to a more detailed account of its history in England. Although in
+France it was much more common than in England during the
+eighteenth century, it appears to have come to an end in both
+countries about the same time. I am not aware of any proofs that
+it survived the French Revolution, and it is probable that that
+event, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24"></a>[<a href="./images/24.png">24</a>]</span>directly or indirectly, put an end to it. In England it
+seems gradually to have dwindled, and to have become extinct
+before the end of the century. If the same was the case in other
+countries, it would afford another instance of the fundamental
+community of development which seems to govern at least our part
+of the civilised world, regardless of national differences or
+boundaries. The different countries of the world seem to throw
+off evil habits, or to acquire new habits, with a degree of
+simultaneity which is all the more remarkable for being the
+result of no sort of agreement. At one time, for instance, they
+throw off Jesuitism, at another the practice of torture, at
+another the judicial ordeal, at another burnings for heresy, at
+another trials for witchcraft, at another book-burning; and now
+the turn seems approaching of war, or the trade of professional
+murder. The custom here to be dealt with, therefore, holds its
+place in the history of humanity, and is as deserving of study as
+any other custom whose rise and decline constitute a phase in the
+world's development.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<img src="./images/p24.png" width="20%" alt="mythical creature woodcut" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25"></a>[<a href="./images/25.png">25</a>]</span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<img src="./images/p025a.png" width="45%" alt="decorative woodcut" title="" />
+</div>
+
+
+<p class="smallgap">&nbsp;</p>
+<h2>CHAPTER I.</h2>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">Sixteenth Century Book-Fires.</span></h3>
+
+<p><span class="dropcapf"><span class="dropcap">F</span></span>IRE, which is the destruction of so many things, and destined,
+according to old Indian belief, one day to destroy the world, is
+so peculiarly the enemy of books, that the worm itself is not
+more fatal to them. Whole libraries have fallen a prey to the
+flames, and oftener, alas! by design than accident; the warrior
+always, whether Alexander at Persepolis, Antiochus at Jerusalem,
+C&aelig;sar and Omar at Alexandria, or General Ulrich at Strasburg (in
+1870), esteeming it among the first duties of his barbarous
+calling to consign ideas and arts to destruction.</p>
+
+<p>But these are the fires of indiscriminate rage, due to the
+natural antagonism between civilisation and military barbarism;
+it is fire, discriminately applied, that attaches a special
+interest and value to books condemned to it. Whether the sentence
+has come from Pope or Archbishop, Parliament or King, the book so
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26"></a>[<a href="./images/26.png">26</a>]</span>sentenced has a claim on our curiosity, and as often on our
+respect as our disdain. Fire, indeed, has been spoken of as the
+blue ribbon of literature, and many a modern author may fairly
+regret that such a distinction is no longer attainable in these
+days of enlightened advertisement.</p>
+
+<p>To collect books that have been dishonoured&mdash;or honoured&mdash;in this
+way, books that at the risk of heavy punishment have been saved
+from the public fire or the common hangman, is no mean amusement
+for a bibliophile. Some collect books for their bindings, some
+for their rarity, a minority for their contents; but he who
+collects a fire-library makes all these considerations secondary
+to the associations of his books with the lives of their authors
+and their place in the history of ideas. Perhaps he is thereby
+the more rational collector, if reason at all need be considered
+in the matter; for if my whim pleases myself, let him go hang who
+disdains or disapproves of it.</p>
+
+<p>All the books of such a library are not, of course, suitable for
+general reading, there being not a few disgraceful ones among
+them that fully deserved the stigma intended for them. But most
+are innocent enough, and many of them as dull <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27"></a>[<a href="./images/27.png">27</a>]</span>as the authors of
+their condemnation; whilst others, again, are so sparkling and
+well written that I wish it were possible to rescue them from the
+oblivion that enshrouds them even more thickly than the dust of
+centuries. The English books of this sort naturally stand apart
+from their foreign rivals, and may be roughly classified
+according as they deal with the affairs of State or Church. The
+original flavour has gone from many of them, like the scent from
+dried flowers, with the dispute or ephemeral motive that gave
+rise to them; but a new flavour from that very fact has taken the
+place of the old, of the same sort that attaches to the relics of
+extinct religions or of bygone forms of life.</p>
+
+<p>The history of our country since the days of printing is exactly
+reflected in its burnt literature, and so little has the public
+fire been any respecter of class or dignity, that no branch of
+intellectual activity has failed to contribute some author whose
+work, or works, has been consigned to the flames. Our greatest
+poets, philosophers, bishops, lawyers, novelists, heads of
+colleges, are all represented in my collection, forming indeed a
+motley but no insipid society, wherein the gravest questions of
+government and the deepest problems of speculation are <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28"></a>[<a href="./images/28.png">28</a>]</span>handled
+with freedom, and men who were most divided in their lives meet
+at last in a common bond of harmony. Cowell, the friend of
+prerogative, finds himself here side by side with Milton, the
+republican; and Sacheverell, the high churchman, in close company
+with Tindal and Defoe.</p>
+
+<p>For nearly 300 years the rude censorship of fire was applied to
+literature in England, beginning naturally in that fierce
+religious war we call the Reformation, which practically
+constitutes the history of England for some two centuries. The
+first grand occasion of book-burning was in response to the
+Pope's sentence against Martin Luther, when Wolsey went in state
+to St. Paul's, and many of Luther's publications were burned in
+the churchyard during a sermon against them by Fisher, Bishop of
+Rochester (1521).</p>
+
+<p>But the first printed work by an Englishman that was so treated
+was actually the Gospel. The story is too familiar to repeat, of
+the two occasions on which Tyndale's New Testament in English was
+burnt before Old St. Paul's; but in pausing to reflect that the
+book which met with this fiery fate, and whose author ultimately
+met with the same, is now sold in England by the million (for our
+received <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29"></a>[<a href="./images/29.png">29</a>]</span>version is substantially Tyndale's), one can only stand
+aghast at the irony of the fearful contrast, which so widely
+separated the labourer from his triumph. But perhaps we can
+scarcely wonder that our ancestors, after centuries of mental
+blindness, should have tried to burn the light they were unable
+to bear, causing it thereby only to shine the brighter.</p>
+
+<p>It certainly spread with remarkable celerity; for in 1546 it
+became necessary to command all persons possessing them to
+deliver to the bishop, or sheriff, to be openly burnt, all works
+in English purporting to be written by Frith, Tyndale, Wicliff,
+Joye, Basil, Bale, Barnes, Coverdale, Turner, or Tracy. The
+extreme rarity and costliness of the works of these men are the
+measure of the completeness with which this order was carried
+out; but not of its success, for the ideas survived the books
+which contained them. A list of the books is given in Foxe (v.
+566), and comprises twelve by Coverdale, twenty-eight by Bale,
+thirteen by Basil (<i>alias</i> Becon), ten by Frith, nine by Tyndale,
+seven by Joye, six by Turner, three by Barnes. Some of these may
+still be read, but more are non-existent. A complete account of
+them and their authors would almost amount to a history of the
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30"></a>[<a href="./images/30.png">30</a>]</span>Reformation itself; but as they were burnt indiscriminately, as
+heretical books, they have not the same interest that attaches to
+books specifically condemned as heretical or seditious. Such of
+them, however, as a book-lover can light upon&mdash;and pay for&mdash;are,
+of course, treasures of the highest order.</p>
+
+<p>Great numbers of books were burnt in the reigns of Edward VI. and
+Mary, but it is not till the reign of the latter that a
+particular book stands forward as maltreated in this way. And,
+indeed, so many men were burnt in the reign of Queen Mary, that
+the burning of particular books may well have passed unnoticed,
+though pyramids of Protestant volumes, as Mr. D'Israeli says,
+were burnt in those few years of intolerance rampant and
+triumphant. The <i>Historie of Italie</i>, by William Thomas (1549),
+is sometimes said (on what authority I know not) to have been not
+merely burnt, but burnt by the common hangman, at this time. If
+so, it is the first that achieved a distinction which is
+generally claimed for Prynne's <i>Histriomastix</i> (1633). The fact
+of the mere burning is of itself likely enough, for Thomas wrote
+very freely of the clergy at Rome and of Pope Paul III.: "By
+report, Rome is not without 40,000 <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31"></a>[<a href="./images/31.png">31</a>]</span>harlots, maintained for the
+most part by the clergy and their followers." "Oh! what a world
+it is to see the pride and abomination that the churchmen there
+maintain." Yet Thomas himself had held a Church living, and had
+been clerk of the Council to Edward VI. He was among the ablest
+men of his time, and wrote, among other works, a lively defence
+of Henry VIII. in a work called <i>Peregryne</i>, on the title-page of
+which are these lines:</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"He that dieth with honour, liveth for ever,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0i">And the defamed dead recovereth never."<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>And a sadly inglorious death was destined to be his own. For,
+shortly after Wyatt's insurrection, he was sent to the Tower,
+Wyatt at his own trial declaring that the conspiracy to
+assassinate Queen Mary when out walking was Thomas's, he himself
+having been opposed to it. For this cause, at all events, Thomas
+was hanged and quartered in May 1554, and his head set the next
+day upon London Bridge. He assured the crowd, in a speech before
+his execution, that he died for his country. Wood says he was of
+a hot, fiery spirit, that had sucked in damnable principles.
+Possibly they were not otherwise than sensible, for if he died on
+Wyatt's <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32"></a>[<a href="./images/32.png">32</a>]</span>evidence alone, one cannot feel sure that he died
+justly. But had the insurrection only succeeded, it is curious to
+think what an amount of misery might have been spared to England,
+and how dark a page been lacking from the history of
+Christianity!</p>
+
+<p>Thomas's book was republished in 1561: but the first edition,
+that of 1549, is, of course, the right one to possess; though its
+fate has caused it to be extremely rare.</p>
+
+<p>Coming now to Queen Elizabeth's reign, the comparative rarity of
+book-burning is an additional testimony to the wisdom of her
+government. But (to say nothing of books that were prohibited or
+got their printers or authors into trouble) certain works,
+religious, political, and poetical, achieved the distinction of
+being publicly burnt, and they are works that curiously
+illustrate the manners of the time.</p>
+
+<p>The most important under the first of these heads are the
+translations of the works of Hendrick Niclas, of Leyden, Father
+of the Family of Love, or House of Charity, which were thought
+dangerous enough to be burnt by Royal Proclamation on October
+13th, 1579; so that such works as the <i>Joyful Message of the
+Kingdom</i>, <i>Peace upon Earth</i>, <i>the Prophecy of the Spirit of
+Love</i>, and others, are now <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33"></a>[<a href="./images/33.png">33</a>]</span>exceedingly rare and costly. There
+are many extracts from the first of these in Knewstub's
+<i>Confutation "of its monstrous and horrible blasphemies"</i> (1579),
+wherein I fail to recognise either the blasphemies or their
+confutation, nor do I find anything but sense in Niclas's letter
+to two daughters of Warwick, whom he seeks to dissuade from
+suffering death on a matter of conformity to certain Church
+ceremonies. He insists on the life or spirit of Christ as of more
+importance than any ceremony. "How well would they do who do now
+extol themselves before the simple, and say that they are the
+preachers of Christ, if they would first learn to know Christ
+before they made themselves ministers of Him!" "Whatever is
+served without the Spirit of Christ, it is an abomination to
+God." Nevertheless the young persons seem to have preferred death
+to his very sensible advice.</p>
+
+<p>Probably the Family of Love were misunderstood and
+misrepresented, both as regards their doctrines and their
+practices. Camden says that "under a show of singular integrity
+and sanctity they insinuated themselves into the affections of
+the ignorant common people"; that they regarded as reprobate all
+outside their Family, and deemed it lawful to deny on <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34"></a>[<a href="./images/34.png">34</a>]</span>oath
+whatsoever they pleased. Niclas, according to Fuller, "wanted
+learning in himself and hated it in others." This is a failing so
+common as to be very probable, as it also is, that his disciples
+allegorised the Scriptures (like the Alexandrian Fathers before
+them), and counterfeited revelations. Fuller adds that they
+"grieved the Comforter, charging all their sins on God's Spirit,
+for not effectually assisting them against the same .&nbsp;.&nbsp;. sinning
+on design that their wickedness might be a foil to God's mercy,
+to set it off the brighter." But that they were Communists,
+Anarchists, or Libertines, there is no evidence; and the Queen's
+menial servant who wrote and presented to Parliament an apology
+for the Service of Love probably complained with justice of their
+being "defamed with many manner of false reports and lies." This
+availed nothing, however, against public opinion; and so the
+Queen commanded by proclamation "that the civil magistrate should
+be assistant to the ecclesiastical, and that the books should be
+publicly burnt." The sect, however, long survived the burning of
+its books.</p>
+
+<p>But already it was not enough to burn books of an unpopular
+tendency, cruelty against the author being plainly progressive
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35"></a>[<a href="./images/35.png">35</a>]</span>from this time forward to the atrocious penalties afterwards
+associated with the presence of Laud in the Star Chamber. All our
+histories tell of John Stubbs, of Lincoln's Inn, who, when his
+right hand had been cut off for a literary work, with his left
+hand waved his hat from his head and cried, "Long live the
+Queen!" The punishment was out of all proportion to the offence.
+Men had a right to feel anxious when Elizabeth seemed on the
+point of marrying the Catholic Duke of Anjou. They remembered the
+days of Mary, and feared, with reason, the return of Catholicism.
+Stubbs gave expression to this fear in a work entitled the
+<i>Discoverie of a Gaping Gulf whereinto England is like to be
+swallowed by another French marriage, if the Lord forbid not the
+banes by letting her Majestie see the sin and punishment thereof</i>
+(1579). Page, the disperser of the book, suffered the same
+penalty as its author.</p>
+
+<p>The book made a great stir and was widely circulated, much to the
+vexation of the Queen. On September 27th appeared a very long
+proclamation calling it "a lewd, seditious book .&nbsp;.&nbsp;. bolstered up
+with manifest lies, &amp;c.," and commanding it, wherever found, "to
+be destroyed (= burnt) in open sight of some <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36"></a>[<a href="./images/36.png">36</a>]</span>public officer."
+The book itself is written with moderation and respect, if we
+make allowance for the questionable taste of writing on so
+delicate a subject at all. It is true that he calls France "a den
+of idolatry, a kingdom of darkness, confessing Belial and serving
+Baal"; nor does he spare the personal character of the Duke
+himself: he only desires that her Majesty may marry with such a
+house and such a person "as had not provoked the vengeance of the
+Lord." But plain speaking was needed, and it is possible that the
+offensive book had something to do with saving the Queen from a
+great folly and the nation from as great a danger.</p>
+
+<p>Stubbs, one is glad to find, though maimed, was neither disgraced
+nor disheartened by his misfortune. He learnt to write with his
+left hand, and wrote so much better with that than many people
+with their right, that Lord Burleigh employed him many years
+afterwards (1587) to compose an answer to Cardinal Allen's work,
+<i>A Modest Answer to English Persecutors</i>. After that I lose sight
+of Stubbs.</p>
+
+<p>The strong feeling against Episcopacy, which first meets us in
+works like Fish's <i>Supplication of Beggars</i>, or Tyndale's
+<i>Practice of Prelates</i>, and which found vent at last, as a
+powerful contributory cause, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37"></a>[<a href="./images/37.png">37</a>]</span>in the Revolution of the
+seventeenth century, was most clearly pronounced under Elizabeth
+in the famous tracts known as those of Martin Marprelate; and
+among these most bitterly in a small work that was burnt by order
+of the bishops, entitled a <i>Dialogue wherein is plainly laide
+open the tyrannical dealing of Lord Bishops against God's Church,
+with certain points of doctrine, wherein they approve themselves
+(according to D. Bridges his judgement) to be truely Bishops of
+the Divell</i> (1589). This is shown in a sprightly dialogue between
+a Puritan and a Papist, a jack of both sides, and an Idol
+(<i>i.e.</i>, church) minister, wherein the most is made of such facts
+as that the Bishop of St. David's was summoned before the High
+Commission for having two wives living, and that Bishop
+Culpepper, of Oxford, was fond of hawking and hunting. It is
+significant that this little tract was reprinted in 1640, on the
+eve of the Revolution.</p>
+
+<p>I pass now to a book of great political and historical interest:
+<i>The Conference about the Succession to the Crown of England</i>
+(1594), attributed to Doleman, but really the handiwork of
+Parsons, the Jesuit, Cardinal Allen, and others. In the first
+part, a civil lawyer shows at length that lineal descent and
+propinquity of blood <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38"></a>[<a href="./images/38.png">38</a>]</span>are not of themselves sufficient title to
+the Crown; whilst in the second part a temporal lawyer discusses
+the titles of particular claimants to the succession of Queen
+Elizabeth. Among these, that of the Earl of Essex, to whom the
+book was dedicated, is discussed; the object of the book being to
+baffle the title of King James to the succession, and to fix it
+either on Essex or the Infanta of Spain. No wonder it gave great
+offence to the Queen, for it advocated also the lawfulness of
+deposing her; and it throws some light on those intrigues with
+the Jesuits which at one time formed so marked an incident in the
+eventful career of that unfortunate earl. Great efforts were made
+to suppress it, and there is a tradition that the printer was
+hanged, drawn, and quartered.</p>
+
+<p>The book itself has played no small part in our history, for not
+only was Milton's <i>Defensio</i> mainly taken from it, but it formed
+the chief part of Bradshaw's long speech at the condemnation of
+Charles I. In 1681, when Parliament was debating the subject of
+the exclusion of the Duke of York from the succession, it was
+thought well to reprint it; but only two years later it was among
+the books which had the honour of being condemned to the flames
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39"></a>[<a href="./images/39.png">39</a>]</span>by the University of Oxford, in its famous and loyal book-fire
+of 1683 (see p. <a href="#Page_194">194</a>).</p>
+
+<p>But if the history of the book was eventful, how much more so was
+that of its chief author, the famous Robert Parsons, first of
+Balliol College, and then of the Order of Jesus! Parsons was a
+very prince of intrigue. To say that he actually tried to
+persuade Philip II. to send a second Armada; that he tried to
+persuade the Earl of Derby to raise a rebellion, and then is
+suspected of having poisoned him for not consenting; that he
+instigated an English Jesuit to try to assassinate the Queen;
+and, among other plans, wished to get the Pope and the Kings of
+France and Spain to appoint a Catholic successor to Elizabeth,
+and to support their nominee by an armed confederacy, is to give
+but the meagre outline of his energetic career. The blacksmith's
+son certainly made no small use of his time and abilities. His
+life is the history in miniature of that of his order as a body;
+that same body whose enormous establishments in England at this
+day are in such bold defiance of the Catholic Emancipation Act,
+which makes even their residence in this kingdom illegal.</p>
+
+<p>Doleman's <i>Conference</i> was answered in a little book by Peter
+Wentworth, entitled <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40"></a>[<a href="./images/40.png">40</a>]</span><i>A Pithy Exhortation to Her Majesty for
+establishing her Successor to the Crown</i>, in which the author
+advocated the claims of James I. The book was written in terms of
+great humility and respect, the author not being ignorant, as he
+quaintly says, "that the anger of a Prince is as the roaring of a
+Lyon, and even the messenger of Death." But this he was to learn
+by personal experience, for the Queen, incensed with him for
+venturing to advise her, not only had his book burnt, but sent
+him to the Tower, where, like so many others, he died. So at
+least says a printed slip in the Grenville copy of his book.</p>
+
+<p>But Wentworth is better and more deservedly remembered for his
+speeches than for his book&mdash;his famous speeches in 1575, and
+again in 1587, in Parliament in defence of the Commons' Right of
+Free Speech, for both of which he was temporarily committed to
+the Tower. Rumours of what would please or displease the Queen,
+or messages from the Queen, like that prohibiting the House to
+interfere in matters of religion, in those days reduced the voice
+of the House to a nullity. Wentworth's chief question was,
+"Whether this Council be not a place for any member of the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41"></a>[<a href="./images/41.png">41</a>]</span>same
+here assembled, freely and without control of any person or
+danger of laws, by bill or speech to utter any of the griefs of
+this Commonwealth whatsoever, touching the service of God, the
+safety of the prince and this noble realm." Yet so servile was
+the House of that period, that on both occasions it disclaimed
+and condemned its advocate&mdash;on the first occasion actually not
+allowing him to finish his speech. Yet, fortunately, both his
+speeches live, well reported in the Parliamentary Debates.</p>
+
+<p>To pass from politics to poetry; little as Archbishop Whitgift's
+proceedings in the High Commission endear his name to posterity,
+I am inclined to think he may be forgiven for cleansing
+Stationers' Hall by fire, in 1599, of certain works purporting to
+be poetical; such works, namely, as Marlowe's <i>Elegies of Ovid</i>,
+which appeared in company with Davies's <i>Epigrammes</i>, Marston's
+<i>Metamorphosis of Pigmalion's Image</i>, Hall's <i>Satires</i>, and
+Cutwode's <i>Caltha Poetarum; or, The Bumble Bee</i>. The latter is a
+fantastic poem of 187 stanzas about a bee and a marigold, and
+deserved the fire rather for its insipidity than for the reasons
+which justified the cleansing process applied to the others, the
+youthful productions of men <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42"></a>[<a href="./images/42.png">42</a>]</span>who were destined to attain
+celebrity in very different directions of life.</p>
+
+<p>Marlowe, like Shakespeare, from an actor became a writer of
+plays; but though Ben Jonson extolled his "mighty muse," I doubt
+whether his <i>Edward II.</i>, <i>Dr. Faustus</i>, or <i>Jew of Malta</i>, are
+now widely popular. Anthony Wood has left a very disagreeable
+picture of Marlowe's character, which one would fain hope is
+overdrawn; but the dramatist's early death in a low quarrel
+prevented him from ever redeeming his early offences, as a kinder
+fortune permitted to his companions in the Stationers' bonfire.</p>
+
+<p>Marston came to be more distinguished for his <i>Satires</i> than for
+his plays, his <i>Scourge of Villainie</i> being his chief title to
+fame. Of his <i>Pigmalion</i> all that can be said is, that it is not
+quite so bad as Marlowe's <i>Elegies</i>. Warton justly says, with
+pompous euphemism: "His stream of poetry, if sometimes bright and
+unpolluted, almost always betrays a muddy bottom." But this muddy
+bottom is discernible, not in Marston alone, but also in Hall's
+<i>Virgidemiarum</i>, or Satires, of which Warton did all he could to
+revive the popularity. Hall was Marston's rival at Cambridge, but
+Hall claims to be the first English satirist. He took Juvenal for
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43"></a>[<a href="./images/43.png">43</a>]</span>his model, but the Latin of Juvenal seems to me far less obscure
+than the English of Hall. I quote two lines to show what this
+Cambridge student thought of the great Elizabethan period in
+which he lived. Referring to some remote golden age, he says:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"Then men were men; but now the greater part<br /></span>
+<span class="i0i">Beasts are in life, and women are in heart."<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>But strange are the evolutions of men. The author of the burnt
+satires rose from dignity to dignity in the Church. He became
+successively Bishop of Exeter and Bishop of Norwich, and to this
+day his devotional works are read by thousands who have never
+heard of his satires. He was sent as a deputy to the famous Synod
+of Dort, and was faithful to his Church and king through the
+Civil War. For this in his old age he suffered sequestration and
+imprisonment, and he lived to see his cathedral turned into a
+barrack, and his palace into an ale-house, dying shortly before
+the Restoration, in 1656, at the age of 82. Bayle thought him
+worthy of a place in his Dictionary, but he is still worthier of
+a place in our memories as one of those great English bishops
+who, like Burnet, Butler, or Tillotson, never put their Church
+before their humanity, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44"></a>[<a href="./images/44.png">44</a>]</span>but showed (what needed showing) that the
+Christianity of the clergy was not of necessity synonymous with
+the absolute negation of charity.</p>
+
+<p>Davies, too, Marlowe's early friend, rose to fame both as a poet
+and a statesman. But he began badly. He was disbarred from the
+Middle Temple for breaking a club over the head of another law
+student in the very dining-hall. After that he became member for
+Corfe Castle, and then successively Solicitor-General and
+Attorney-General for Ireland. He was knighted in 1607. One of the
+best books on that unhappy country is his <i>Discovery of the true
+causes why Ireland was never entirely subdued, nor brought under
+obedience of the Crown of England until the beginning of Her
+Majesty's happy reign</i> (1611), dedicated to James I. His chief
+poems are his <i>Nosce Teipsum</i> and <i>The Orchestra</i>. In 1614 he was
+elected for Newcastle-under-Lyme, and he died in 1626, aged only
+57. Yet in that time he had travelled a long way from the days of
+his early literary companionship with Christopher Marlowe.</p>
+
+<p>The Church at the end of the sixteenth century assuredly aimed
+high. At the time the above books were burnt, it was decreed that
+no satires or epigrams should <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45"></a>[<a href="./images/45.png">45</a>]</span>be printed in the future; and that
+no plays should be printed without the inspection and permission
+of the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishop of London! But
+even this is nothing compared with that later attempt to subject
+the Press to the Church which called forth Milton's
+<i>Areopagitica</i>; there indeed soon came to be very little to
+choose between the Inquisition of the High Commission and the
+more noxious Inquisition of Rome.</p>
+
+<p>Near to the burnt works of the previous writers must be placed
+those of that prolific writer of the same period, Samuel
+Rowlands. The severity of his satire, and the obviousness of the
+allusions, caused two of his works to be burnt, first publicly,
+and then in the hall kitchen of the Stationers' Company, in
+October 1600. These were: <i>The Letting Humour's Blood in the
+Headvein</i>, and, <i>A Merry Meeting; or, 'tis Merry when Knaves
+meet</i>; both of which subsequently reappeared under the titles
+respectively of <i>Humour's Ordinarie, where a man may be verie
+merrie and exceeding well used for his sixpence</i>, and the <i>Knave
+of Clubs</i>. Either work would now cost much more than sixpence,
+and probably fail to make the reader very merry, or even merry at
+all. One of the epigrams, however, of the first work may be
+quoted <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46"></a>[<a href="./images/46.png">46</a>]</span>as of more than ephemeral truth and interest:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"Who seeks to please all men each way,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1i">And not himself offend,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0i">He may begin his work to-day,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1i">But God knows when he'll end."<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>Little appears to be known of Rowlands, but, like Bishop Hall, he
+could turn his pen to various purposes with great facility; for
+the prayers which he is thought to have composed, and which are
+published with the rest of his works in the admirable edition of
+1870, are of as high an order of merit as the religious works of
+his more famous contemporary.</p>
+
+<p>The only wonder is that the Archbishop did not enforce the
+burning of much more of the literature of the Elizabethan period,
+whilst he was engaged on such a crusade. He may well, however,
+have shrunk appalled from the magnitude of the task, and have
+thought it better to touch the margin than do nothing at all.
+And, after all, in those days a poet was lucky if they only burnt
+his poems, and not himself as well. In 1619 John Williams,
+barrister, was actually hanged, drawn, and quartered, for two
+poems which were not even printed, but which exist in manuscript
+at Cambridge to this day. These were <i>Balaam's Ass</i> and the
+<i>Speculum Regale</i>. <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47"></a>[<a href="./images/47.png">47</a>]</span>Williams was indiscreet enough to predict the
+King's death in 1621, and to send the poems secretly to his
+Majesty in a box. The odd thing is that he thought himself justly
+punished for his foolish freak, so very peculiar were men's
+notions of justice in those far-off barbarous days.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<img src="./images/p047.png" width="15%" alt="bird woodcut" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48"></a>[<a href="./images/48.png">48</a>]</span></p>
+<div class="figcenter">
+<img src="./images/p048a.png" width="45%" alt="flowers and urns woodcut" title="" />
+</div>
+
+
+<p class="smallgap">&nbsp;</p>
+<h2>CHAPTER II.</h2>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">Book-Fires under James I.</span></h3>
+
+<p><span class="dropcapd"><span class="dropcap">D</span></span>ESPITE Mr. D'Israeli's able defence of him, the fashion has
+survived of speaking disdainfully of James I. and all his works.
+The military men of his day, hating him for that wise love of
+peace which saved us at least from one war on the Continent,
+complained of a king who preferred to wage war with the pen than
+with the pike, and vented his anger on paper instead of with
+powder. But for all that, the patron and friend of Ben Jonson,
+and the constant promoter of arts and letters, was one of the
+best literary workmen of his time; nor will any one who dips into
+his works fail to put them aside without a considerably higher
+estimate than he had before of the ability of the most learned
+king that ever occupied the British throne&mdash;a monarch
+unapproached by any of his successors, save William III., in any
+sort of intellectual power.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49"></a>[<a href="./images/49.png">49</a>]</span>
+Yet here our admiration for James I. must perforce stop. For of
+many of his ideas the only excuse is that they were those of his
+age; and this is an excuse that is fatal to a claim to the
+highest order of merit. All men to some extent are the sport and
+victims of their intellectual surroundings; but it is the mark of
+superiority to rise above them, and this James I. often failed to
+do. He cannot, for instance, in this respect compare with a man
+whose works he persecuted, namely, Reginald Scot, who in 1584
+published his immortal <i>Discoverie of Witchcraft</i>, a book which,
+alike for its motive as its matter, occupies one of the highest
+places in the history of the literature of Europe.</p>
+
+<p>Yet Scot was only a Kentish country gentleman, who gave himself
+up solely, says Wood, to solid reading and the perusal of obscure
+but neglected authors, diversifying his studies with agriculture,
+and so producing the first extant treatise on hops. Nevertheless,
+he is among the heroes of the world, greater for me at least than
+any one of our most famous generals, for it was at the risk of
+his life that he wrote, as he says himself, "in behalf of the
+poor, the aged, and the simple"; and if he has no monument in our
+English Pantheon, he has a better and more <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50"></a>[<a href="./images/50.png">50</a>]</span>abiding one in the
+hearts of all the well-wishers of humanity. For his reading led
+him to the assault of one of the best established, most sacred,
+yet most stupid, of the superstitions of mankind; and to have
+exposed both the folly of the belief, and the cruelty of the
+legal punishments, of witchcraft, more justly entitles his memory
+to honour than the capture of many stormed cities or the butchery
+of thousands of his fellow-beings on a battlefield.</p>
+
+<p>How trite is the argument that this or that belief must be true
+because so many generations have believed it, so many countries,
+so many famous men,&mdash;as if error, like stolen property, gained a
+title from prescription of time! Scot pierced this pretension
+with a single sentence: "Truth must not be measured by time, for
+every old opinion is not sound." "My great adversaries," he says,
+"are young ignorance and old custom. For what folly soever tract
+of time hath fostered, it is so superstitiously pursued of some
+as though no error could be acquainted with custom." May we not
+say, indeed, that beliefs are rendered suspect by the very extent
+of their currency and acceptance?</p>
+
+<p>But Scot had a greater adversary than even young ignorance or old
+custom; and that was King James, who, whilst King of <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51"></a>[<a href="./images/51.png">51</a>]</span>Scotland,
+wrote his <i>Demonologie</i> against Scot's ideas (1597). James's mind
+was strictly Bible-bound, and for him the disbelief in witches
+savoured of Sadduceeism, or the denial of spirits. Yet Scot had
+taken care to guard himself, for he wrote: "I deny not that there
+are witches or images; but I detest the idolatrous opinions
+conceived of them." Nor can James have carefully read Scot, for
+tacked on to the <i>Discoverie</i> is a <i>Discourse of Devils and
+Spirits</i>, which to the simplest Sadducee would have been the
+veriest trash. Scot, for instance, says of the devil that "God
+created him purposely to destroy. I take his substance to be such
+as no man can by learning define, nor by wisdom search out"; a
+conclusion surely as wise as the theology is curious. Anyhow it
+is the very reverse of Sadduceean. It is said that one of the
+first proceedings of James's reign was to have all the copies of
+Scot's book burnt that could be seized, and undoubtedly one of
+the first of his Acts of Parliament was the statute that made all
+the devices of witchcraft punishable with death, as felony,
+without benefit of clergy.</p>
+
+<p>But about the burning there is room for doubt. For there is no
+English contemporary testimony of the fact. Voet, a professor <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52"></a>[<a href="./images/52.png">52</a>]</span>of
+theology in Holland, is its only known contemporary witness; but
+he may have assumed the suppression of the book to have been
+identical with its burning; a common assumption, but a no less
+common mistake. On the other hand, many books undoubtedly were
+burnt under James that are not mentioned by name; and the great
+rarity of the first edition of the book, and its absence from
+some of our principal libraries, support the possibility of its
+having been among them.<a name="FNanchor_52:1_1" id="FNanchor_52:1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_52:1_1" class="fnanchor">[52:1]</a> Nevertheless, to quote Mr.
+D'Israeli: "On the King's arrival in England, having discovered
+the numerous impostures and illusions which he had often referred
+to as authorities, he grew suspicious of the whole system of
+D&aelig;monologie, and at length recanted it entirely. With the same
+conscientious zeal James had written the book, the King condemned
+it; and the sovereign separated himself from the author, in the
+cause of truth; but the clergy and the Parliament persisted in
+making the imaginary crime felony by the statute." So that if
+James really burnt the book, he must have burnt it to please
+others, not himself; and though <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53"></a>[<a href="./images/53.png">53</a>]</span>he may have done so, the
+presumption is rather that he did not.</p>
+
+<p>The wonder is that Scot himself escaped the real or supposed fate
+of his book. Pleasing indeed is it to know that he lived out his
+days undisturbed to the end (1599) with his family and among his
+hops and flowers in Kent; not, however, before he had lived to
+see his book make a perceptible impression on the magistracy and
+even on the clergy of his time, till a perceptible check was
+given to his ideas by the <i>Demonologie</i>. But at all events he had
+given superstition a reeling blow, from which it never wholly
+recovered, and to which it ultimately succumbed. More than this
+can few men hope to do, and to have done so much is ample cause
+for contentment.</p>
+
+<p>Fundamental questions of all sorts were growing critical in the
+reign of James, who had not only the clearest ideas of their
+answer, but the firmest determination to have them, if possible,
+answered in his own way. The principal ones were: The
+relationship of the King to his subjects; of the Pope to kings;
+of the Established Church to Puritanism and Catholicism. And on
+the leading political and religious questions of his day James
+caused certain books to be burnt which advocated opinions
+contrary to his own&mdash;a mode of <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54"></a>[<a href="./images/54.png">54</a>]</span>reasoning that reflects less
+credit on his philosophy than does his conduct in most other
+respects.</p>
+
+<p>But the first book that was burnt for its sentiments on
+Prerogative was one of which the King was believed personally to
+approve. This was probably the gist of its offence, for it
+appeared about the time that the King made his very supercilious
+speech to the Commons in answer to their complaints about the
+High Commission and other grievances.</p>
+
+<p>I allude to the famous <i>Interpreter</i> (1607) by Cowell, Doctor of
+Civil Law at Cambridge, which, written at the instigation of
+Archbishop Bancroft, was dedicated to him, and caused a storm
+little dreamt of by its author. Sir E. Coke disliked Cowell, whom
+he nicknamed Cow-heel, and naturally disliked him still more for
+writing slightingly of Littleton and the Common Law. He therefore
+caused Parliament to take the matter up, with the result that
+Cowell was imprisoned and came near to hanging;<a name="FNanchor_54:1_2" id="FNanchor_54:1_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_54:1_2" class="fnanchor">[54:1]</a> James only
+saving his life by suppressing his book by proclamation, for
+which the Commons returned him thanks with great exultation over
+their victory.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55"></a>[<a href="./images/55.png">55</a>]</span>
+For Cowell had taken too strongly the high monarchical line, and
+the episode of his book is really the first engagement in that
+great war between Prerogative and People which raged through the
+seventeenth century. "I hold it uncontrollable," he wrote, "that
+the King of England is an absolute king." "Though it be a
+merciful policy, and also a politic policy (not alterable without
+great peril) to make laws by the consent of the whole realm .&nbsp;.&nbsp;.
+yet simply to bind the prince to or by these laws were repugnant
+to the nature and custom of an absolute monarchy." "For those
+regalities which are of the higher nature there is not one that
+belonged to the most absolute prince in the world which doth not
+also belong to our King." But the book was condemned, not only
+for its sins against the Subject, but also for passages that were
+said to pinch on the authority of the King. Yet, considered
+merely as a Law Dictionary, it is still one of the best in our
+language.</p>
+
+<p>In the King's proclamation against the <i>Interpreter</i> are some
+passages that curiously illustrate the mind of its author. He
+thus complains of the growing freedom of thought: "From the very
+highest mysteries of the Godhead and the most inscrutable
+counsels in the Trinitie to the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56"></a>[<a href="./images/56.png">56</a>]</span>very lowest pit of Hell and the
+confused action of the divells there, there is nothing now
+unsearched into by the curiositie of men's brains"; so that "it
+is no wonder that they do not spare to wade in all the deepest
+mysteries that belong to the persons or the state of Kinges and
+Princes, that are gods upon earth." King James's attitude to Free
+Thought reminds one of the legendary contention between Canute
+and the sea. No one has ever repeated the latter experiment, but
+how many thousands still disquiet themselves, as James did, about
+or against the progress of the human mind!</p>
+
+<p>In the proclamation itself there is no actual mention of burning,
+all persons in possession of the book being required to deliver
+their copies to the Lord Mayor or County Sheriffs "for the
+further order of its utter suppression" (March 25th, 1610);
+neither is there any allusion to burning in the Parliamentary
+journals, nor in the letters relating to the subject in Winwood's
+<i>Memorials</i>. The contemporary evidence of the fact is, however,
+supplied by Sir H. Spelman, who says in his <i>Glossarium</i> (under
+the word "Tenure") that Cowell's book was publicly burnt.
+Otherwise, James's proclamations were not always attended to (by
+one, for instance, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57"></a>[<a href="./images/57.png">57</a>]</span>he prohibited hunting); and Roger Coke says
+that the books being out, "the proclamation could not call them
+in, but only served to make them more taken notice of."<a name="FNanchor_57:1_3" id="FNanchor_57:1_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_57:1_3" class="fnanchor">[57:1]</a></p>
+
+<p>That books were often suppressed or called in without being
+publicly burnt is well shown by Heylin's remark about Mocket's
+book (presently referred to), that it was "thought fit not only
+to call it in, but to expiate the errors of it in a public
+flame."<a name="FNanchor_57:2_4" id="FNanchor_57:2_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_57:2_4" class="fnanchor">[57:2]</a> Among works thus suppressed without being burnt may
+be mentioned Bishop Thornborough's two books in favour of the
+union between England and Scotland (1604), Lord Coke's Speech and
+Charge at the Norwich Assizes (1607), and Sir W. Raleigh's first
+volume of the <i>History of the World</i> (1614). I suspect that
+Scott's <i>Discoverie</i> was likewise only suppressed, and that Voet
+erroneously thought that this involved and implied a public
+burning.</p>
+
+<p>But it was not for long that James had saved Cowell's life, for
+the latter's death the following year, and soon after the
+resignation of his professorship, is said by Fuller to have been
+hastened by the trouble about his book. The King throughout
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58"></a>[<a href="./images/58.png">58</a>]</span>behaved with great judgment, nor is it so true that he
+surrendered Cowell to his enemies, as that he saved him from
+imminent personal peril. Men like Cowell and Blackwood and
+Bancroft were probably more monarchical than the monarch himself;
+and, though James held high notions of his own powers, and could
+even hint at being a god upon earth, his subjects were far more
+ready to accept his divinity than he was to force it upon them.
+It was not quite for nothing that James had had for his tutor the
+republican George Buchanan, one of the first opponents of
+monarchical absolutism in his famous <i>De Jure Regni apud Scotos</i>;
+nor did he ever quite forget the noble words in which at his
+first Parliament he thus defined for ever the position of a
+constitutional king: "That I am a servant it is most true, that
+as I am head and governor of all the people in my dominion who
+are my natural vassals and subjects, considering them in numbers
+and distinct ranks: so, if we will take the whole people as one
+body and mass, then, as the head is ordained for the body and not
+the body for the head, so must a righteous king know himself to
+be ordained for his people and not his people for him.&nbsp;.&nbsp;.&nbsp;. <i>I will
+never be ashamed to confess it my principal honour <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59"></a>[<a href="./images/59.png">59</a>]</span>to be the
+great servant of the Commonwealth.</i>"</p>
+
+<p>And in this very matter of Cowell's book James not only denied
+any preference for the civil over the common law, but professed
+"that, although he knew how great and large a king's rights and
+prerogatives were, yet that he would never affect nor seek to
+extend his beyond the prescription and limits of the municipal
+laws and customs of this realm."<a name="FNanchor_59:1_5" id="FNanchor_59:1_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_59:1_5" class="fnanchor">[59:1]</a></p>
+
+<p>A few years later Sir Walter Raleigh's first volume of his
+<i>History of the World</i> was called in at the King's command,
+"especially for being too saucy in censuring princes." This fate
+its wonderful author took greatly to heart, as he had hoped
+thereby to please the King extraordinarily;<a name="FNanchor_59:2_6" id="FNanchor_59:2_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_59:2_6" class="fnanchor">[59:2]</a> and,
+considering the terms wherewith in his preface he pointed the
+contrast between James and our previous rulers, one cannot but
+share his astonishment.</p>
+
+<p>This would seem to indicate that the King grew more sensitive
+about his position as time went on; and this conclusion is
+corroborated by his extraordinary conduct in reference to the
+works of David <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60"></a>[<a href="./images/60.png">60</a>]</span>Par&aelig;us, the learned Protestant Professor of
+Divinity at Heidelberg. One can conceive no mortal soul ever
+reading those three vast folios of closely printed Latin in which
+Par&aelig;us commented on the Old and New Testament; but in those days
+people must have read everything. At all events, it was
+discovered that in his commentary on Romans xiii. Par&aelig;us had
+contended at great length and detail in favour of the people's
+right to restrain, even by force of arms, tyrannical violence on
+the part of the superior magistrate. On March 22nd, 1622,
+therefore, the Archbishop of Canterbury and twelve bishops, at
+the King's request, represented this doctrine to be most
+dangerous and seditious; and accordingly, on July 1st, the books
+of Par&aelig;us were publicly burnt after a sermon by the Bishop of
+London; and about the same time the Universities of Oxford and
+Cambridge, ever on the side of the divine right, proved their
+loyalty by condemning and burning the book, perhaps the only book
+whose condemnation never tempted to its perusal. But that very
+same year (August 22nd, 1622) the King found it necessary to
+issue directions concerning preaching and preachers, so freely
+was the Puritanical side of the community <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61"></a>[<a href="./images/61.png">61</a>]</span>then beginning to
+express itself about the royal prerogative.</p>
+
+<p>As connected with the question of the prerogative must be
+mentioned, as burnt by James' order, the <i>Doctrina et Politia
+Ecclesi&aelig; Anglican&aelig;</i> (1616), a Latin translation of the English
+Prayer Book, as well as of Jewell's <i>Apology</i> and Newell's
+<i>Catechism</i>, by Richard Mocket, then Warden of All Souls'. Mocket
+was chaplain to Archbishop Abbot, and wished to recommend the
+formularies and doctrines of the Church of England to foreign
+nations. History does not, indeed, record any deep impression as
+made on foreign nations by the book; though Heylin asserts that
+it had given no small reputation to the Church of England beyond
+the seas (<i>Laud</i>, 70); but it does record the fact of its being
+publicly burnt, as well as give some intimations of the reason.
+Fuller says that the main objection to it was, that Mocket had
+proved himself a better chaplain than subject, touching James in
+one of his tenderest points in contending for the right of the
+Archbishop of Canterbury to confirm the election of bishops in
+his province. Mocket also gave such extracts from the Homilies as
+seemed to have a Calvinistic leaning; and treated fast days as
+only of political institution. <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62"></a>[<a href="./images/62.png">62</a>]</span>For such reasons the book was
+burnt by public edict, a censure which the writer took so much to
+heart that, as Fuller says, being "so much defeated in his
+expectation to find punishment where he looked for preferment, as
+if his life were bound up by sympathy in his book, he ended his
+days soon after." Poor Mocket was only forty when he died,
+succumbing, like Cowell, to the rough reception accorded to his
+book.</p>
+
+<p>Mocket's book is less one to read than to treasure as a sort of
+<i>lusus natur&aelig;</i> in the literary world; for it would certainly have
+seemed safe antecedently to wager a million to one that no Warden
+of All Souls' would ever write a book that would be subjected to
+the indignity of fire; and, in spite of his example, I would
+still wager a million to one that a similar fate will never
+befall any literary work of Mocket's successors. Mocket's book,
+therefore, has a certain distinction which is all its own; but
+those who do not love the Church of England without it will
+hardly be led to such love by reading Mocket. And Mocket himself,
+if we follow Fuller, seems to have wished to make his love for
+the Church a vehicle to his own preferment; but as, perhaps, in
+that respect he does not stand alone, I should be sorry that the
+implied <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63"></a>[<a href="./images/63.png">63</a>]</span>reproach should rest as any stain upon his memory.</p>
+
+<p>Next to the question of the rights of kings over their subjects,
+the most important one of that time was concerning the rights of
+popes over kings&mdash;a question which, having been intensified by
+the Reformation, naturally came to a crisis after the Gunpowder
+Plot. James I. then instituted an oath of allegiance as a test of
+Catholic loyalty, and many Catholics took the oath without
+scruple, including the Archpriest Blackwell. Cardinal Bellarmine
+thereupon wrote a letter of rebuke to the latter, and Pope Paul
+V. sent a brief forbidding Catholics either to take the oath or
+to attend Protestant churches (October 1606). But it is
+remarkable that, so little did the Catholics believe in the
+authenticity of this brief, another&mdash;and an angry one&mdash;had to
+come from Rome the following September, to confirm and enforce
+it. King James very fairly took umbrage at the action and claims
+of the Pope, and spent six days in making notes which he wished
+the Bishop of Winchester to use in a reply to the Pope and the
+Cardinal. But when the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishop of
+Ely saw the King's notes, they thought them answer enough, and so
+James's <i>Apology for the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64"></a>[<a href="./images/64.png">64</a>]</span>Oath of Allegiance</i> came to light, but
+without his name, the author, among other reasons, deeming it
+beneath his dignity to contend in argument with a cardinal. As
+the Cardinal responded, the King took a stronger measure, and
+under his own name wrote, in a single week, his <i>Premonition to
+all most Mighty Monarch</i>, wherein he exposed with great force the
+danger to all states from the pretensions of the Papacy.
+Thereupon, at Paul's invitation, Suarez penned that vast folio
+(778 pp.), the <i>Defensio Catholic&aelig; Fidei contra Anglican&aelig; Sect&aelig;
+Errores</i> (1613), as a counterblast to James's <i>Apology</i>.
+Considering the subject, it was certainly written with singular
+moderation; and James would have done better to have left the
+book to the natural penalty of its immense bulk. As it was, he
+ordered it to be burnt at London, and at Oxford and Cambridge;
+forbade his subjects to read it, under severe penalties; and
+wrote to Philip III. of Spain to complain of his Jesuit subject.
+But Philip, of course, only expressed his sympathy with Suarez,
+and exhorted James to return to the Faith. The Parlement of Paris
+also consigned the book to the flames in 1614, as it had a few
+years before Bellarmine's <i>Tractatus de Potestate summi
+Pontificis in Temporalibus</i>, in which the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65"></a>[<a href="./images/65.png">65</a>]</span>same high pretensions
+were claimed for the Pope as were claimed by Suarez.</p>
+
+<p>The question at issue remains, of course, a burning one to this
+day. To James I., however, is due the credit of having been one
+of the earliest and ablest champions against the Temporal Power;
+and therefore side by side on our shelves with Bellarmine and
+Suarez should stand copies of the <i>Apology</i> and the
+<i>Premonition</i>&mdash;both of them works which can scarcely fail to
+raise the King many degrees in the estimation of all who read
+them.</p>
+
+<p>But we have yet to see James as a theologian, for on his divinity
+he prided himself no less than on his king-craft. The burnings of
+Legatt at Smithfield and of Wightman at Lichfield for heretical
+opinions are sad blots on the King's memory; for it would seem
+that he personally pressed the bishops to proceed to this
+extremity, in the case of Legatt at least. Nor in the case of
+poor Conrad Vorst did he manifest more toleration or dignity. It
+was no concern of his if Vorst was appointed by the States to
+succeed Arminius as Professor of Theology at Leyden; yet, deeming
+his duty as Defender of the Faith to be bound by no seas, he
+actually interfered to prevent it, and rendered Vorst's life a
+burden to him, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66"></a>[<a href="./images/66.png">66</a>]</span>when he might just as reasonably have protested
+against the choice of a Grand Lama of Thibet.</p>
+
+<p>Vorst's book&mdash;the <i>Tractatus Theologicus de Deo</i>, an ugly,
+square, brown book of five hundred pages&mdash;is as unreadable as it
+is unprepossessing. Bayle says that it was shown to the King
+whilst out hunting, and that he forthwith read it with such
+energy as to be able to despatch within an hour to his resident
+at the Hague a detailed list of its heresies. Nothing in his
+reign seems to have excited him so much. Not only did he have it
+publicly burnt in St. Paul's Churchyard (October 1611), and at
+Oxford and Cambridge, but he entreated the States, under the pain
+of the loss of his friendship, to banish Vorst from their
+dominions altogether. No heretic, he said, ever better deserved
+to be burnt, but that he would leave to their Christian wisdom.
+"Such a Disquisition deserved the punishment of the Inquisition."
+If Vorst remained, no English youths should repair to "so
+infected a place" as the University of Leyden.</p>
+
+<p>The States resented at first the interference of the King of
+England, and supported Vorst, but the ultimate result of James's
+prolonged agitation was that in 1619 the National Synod of Dort
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67"></a>[<a href="./images/67.png">67</a>]</span>declared Vorst's works to be impious and blasphemous, and their
+author unworthy to be an orthodox professor. He was accordingly
+banished from the University and from Holland for life, and died
+three years afterwards, fully justified by his persecution in his
+original reluctance to exchange his country living for the
+dignity of a professorship of theology.</p>
+
+<p>Bayle thinks he was fairly chargeable with Socinian views, but
+what most offended James was his metaphysical speculations on the
+Divine attributes. I will quote from Vorst two passages which
+vexed the royal soul, and should teach us to rejoice that the
+reign of such discussions shows signs of passing away:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"Is there a quantity in God?<br /></span>
+<span class="i0i">There is; but not a physical quantity,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0i">But a supernatural quantity;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0i">One nevertheless that is plainly imperceptible to us,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0i">And merely spiritual."<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>Or again:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Hath God a body? If we will speak properly, He has none; yet is
+it no absurdity, speaking improperly, to ascribe a body unto God,
+that is, as the word is taken improperly and generally (and yet
+not very absurdly) for a true substance, in a large
+signification, or, if you will, abusive."</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68"></a>[<a href="./images/68.png">68</a>]</span>
+The above are the principal books whose names have come down to
+us as burnt in the reign of James, and the initiation of such
+burning seems always to have come from the King himself. As yet,
+the Star Chamber and Court of High Commission do not appear to
+have assumed the direction of this lesser but not unimportant
+department of government. Nor is there yet any mention of the
+hangman: the mere burning by any menial official being, thought
+stigma enough. It is also remarkable that the books which chiefly
+roused James's anger to the burning point were the works of
+foreigners&mdash;of Par&aelig;us, Suarez, and Vorst. After James our country
+was too much occupied in burning its own books and pamphlets to
+burden itself with the additional labour of burning its
+neighbours'; the instances that occur are comparatively few and
+far between. But it is clear that, whatever were James's real
+views as to the limits of his political prerogative, in the field
+of literature he meant to play and did play the despot. Pity that
+one who could so deftly wield his pen should have rested his
+final argument on the bonfire!</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<img src="./images/p068.png" width="20%" alt="bird woodcut" title="" />
+</div>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 90%;" />
+<h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_52:1_1" id="Footnote_52:1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_52:1_1"><span class="label">[52:1]</span></a> That is Dr. Brinsley Nicholson's conclusion in
+his preface to Scot; yet, if the book was burnt, it is highly
+improbable that the common hangman officiated.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_54:1_2" id="Footnote_54:1_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_54:1_2"><span class="label">[54:1]</span></a> Winwood's <i>Memorials</i>, I. 125.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_57:1_3" id="Footnote_57:1_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_57:1_3"><span class="label">[57:1]</span></a> <i>Detection of Court and State of England</i> (1696),
+I. 30.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_57:2_4" id="Footnote_57:2_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_57:2_4"><span class="label">[57:2]</span></a> <i>Life of Laud</i>, 70.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_59:1_5" id="Footnote_59:1_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_59:1_5"><span class="label">[59:1]</span></a> Winwood's <i>Memorials</i>, III. 136.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_59:2_6" id="Footnote_59:2_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor_59:2_6"><span class="label">[59:2]</span></a> Letter of January 5th, 1614, in <i>Court and Times
+of James I.</i></p></div>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69"></a>[<a href="./images/69.png">69</a>]</span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<img src="./images/p069a.png" width="45%" alt="flowers and urn woodcut" title="" />
+</div>
+
+
+<p class="smallgap">&nbsp;</p>
+<h2>CHAPTER III</h2>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">Charles the First's Book-Fires.</span></h3>
+
+<p><span class="dropcapf"><span class="dropcap">F</span></span>EW things now seem more surprising than the sort of fury with
+which in the earlier part of the seventeenth century the extreme
+rights of monarchs were advocated by large numbers of Englishmen.
+Political servitude was then the favourite dream of thousands.
+The Church made herself especially prominent on the side of
+prerogative; the pulpits resounded with what our ancestors called
+Crown Divinity; and in the reign of Charles I. the rival
+principles, ultimately fought for on the battlefield, first came
+into conflict over sermons, the immediate cause, indeed, of so
+many of the greatest political movements of our history.</p>
+
+<p>The first episode in this connection is the important case of Dr.
+Roger Manwaring, one of Charles's chaplains, who, at the time
+when the King was pressing for a compulsory loan, preached two
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70"></a>[<a href="./images/70.png">70</a>]</span>sermons before him, advocating the King's right to impose any
+loan or tax without consent of Parliament, and, in fact, making a
+clean sweep of all the liberties of the subject whatsoever. At
+Charles's request, Manwaring published these sermons under the
+title of <i>Religion and Allegiance</i> (1627). But the popular party
+in Parliament resolved to make an example of him, and a long
+speech on the subject by Pym is preserved in Rushworth. The
+Commons begged the Lords to pronounce judgment upon him, and a
+most severe one they did pronounce. He was to be imprisoned
+during the House's pleasure; to be fined &pound;1000 to the King; to
+make a written submission at the bars of both Houses; to be
+suspended for three years; to be disabled from ever preaching at
+Court, or holding any ecclesiastical or secular office; and the
+King was to be moved to grant a proclamation for calling in and
+burning his book.</p>
+
+<p>On June 23rd, 1628, Manwaring made accordingly a most abject
+submission at the bars of both Houses, Heylin says, on his knees
+and with tears in his eyes, confessing his sermons to have been
+"full of dangerous passages, inferences, and scandalous
+aspersions in most parts"; and the next day Charles issued a
+proclamation <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71"></a>[<a href="./images/71.png">71</a>]</span>for calling them in, as having incurred "the just
+censure and sentence of the High Court of Parliament." The
+sentence of suppression presumably in this case carried the
+burning; but, if so, there is no mention of any public burning by
+the bishops and others, to whom the books were to be delivered by
+their owners.</p>
+
+<p>Fuller says that much of Manwaring's sentence was remitted in
+consideration of his humble submission; and Charles the very same
+year not only pardoned him, but gave him ecclesiastical
+preferment, finally making him Bishop of St. David's. Heylin
+attests the resentment this indiscreet indulgence roused in the
+Commons; but, unfortunately, as Manwaring was doubtless well
+aware, to have incurred the anger of Parliament was motive enough
+with Charles for the preferment of the offender, and the shortest
+road to it.</p>
+
+<p>This is shown by the similar treatment accorded to the Rev.
+Richard Montagu, who had made himself conspicuous on the
+anti-Puritan side in the time of James. In defence of himself he
+had written his <i>Appello C&aelig;sarem</i>, with James's leave and
+encouragement. It was a long book, refuting the charges made
+against him of <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72"></a>[<a href="./images/72.png">72</a>]</span>Popery and Arminianism, and full of bitter
+invectives against the Puritans. After the matter had been long
+under the consideration of Parliament, the House prayed Charles
+to punish Montagu, and to suppress and burn his books; and this
+Charles did in a remarkable proclamation (January 17th, 1628),
+wherein the <i>Appello C&aelig;sarem</i> is admitted to have been <i>the first
+cause of those disputes and differences that have since much
+troubled the quiet of the Church</i>, and is therefore called in,
+Charles adding, that if others write again on the subject, "we
+shall take such order with them and those books that they shall
+wish they had never thought upon these needless controversies."
+It appears, however, from Rushworth that, in spite of this,
+several answers were penned to Montagu, and that they were
+suppressed. And what, indeed, would life be but for its "needless
+controversies"?</p>
+
+<p>Nothing could be more praiseworthy than Charles's attempt to put
+a stop to the idle disputations and bitter recriminations of the
+combatants on either side of religious controversy. Could he have
+succeeded he might have staved off the Civil War, which we might
+almost more fitly call a religious one. But in those days few
+men, unfortunately, had the cool <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73"></a>[<a href="./images/73.png">73</a>]</span>wisdom to remain as neutral
+between Arminian and Calvinist, Papist and Protestant, as between
+the rival Egyptian sects which, in Juvenal's time, fought for the
+worship of the ibis or the crocodile. Our comparatively greater
+safety in these days is due to the large increase of that neutral
+party, which was so sadly insignificant in the time of Charles.
+May that party therefore never become less, but constantly grow
+larger!</p>
+
+<p>Montagu, at the time of the proclamation of his book, had been
+appointed Bishop of Chichester, having been raised to that see in
+spite or because of his quarrel with Parliament. He was
+consecrated by Laud in August of the same year, and Heylin admits
+that his promotion was more magnanimous than safe on the part of
+Charles, being clearly calculated to exasperate the House. Ten
+years later (1638) he was preferred to the see of Norwich. All
+his life he remained a prominent member of the Romanising party.</p>
+
+<p>These books of Manwaring and Montagu are important as proving
+clearly two historical points, viz.:&mdash;(1) The early date at which
+the Court party alienated even the House of Lords. (2) The fact
+that the original exciting cause of all the subsequent <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74"></a>[<a href="./images/74.png">74</a>]</span>discord
+between Puritan and Prelatist came from a prominent member of the
+Laudian or Romanising faction.</p>
+
+<p>The rising temper of the people, and its justification, is shown
+even in these literary disputes. But the popular temper was
+destined to be more seriously roused by those atrocious sentences
+against the authors of certain books which were passed within a
+few years by the Star Chamber and High Commission. The heavy
+fines and cruel mutilations imposed by these courts were not new
+in the reign of Charles, but they became far more frequent, and
+were directed less against wrong conduct than disagreeable
+opinions. They are intimately connected with the memory of Laud,
+first as Bishop of London, and then as Archbishop of Canterbury,
+whose letters show that the severities in question were to him
+and Strafford (to use Hallam's expression) "the feebleness of
+excessive lenity." To the last Charles was not despotic enough to
+please Laud, who complains petulantly in his Diary of a prince
+"who knew not how to be, or be made great."</p>
+
+<p>As the first illustration of Laud's method for attaining this end
+must be mentioned the case of a book which enjoys the distinction
+of having brought its author to a <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75"></a>[<a href="./images/75.png">75</a>]</span>more severe punishment than
+any other book in the English language. Our literature has had
+many a martyr, but Alexander Leighton is the foremost of the
+rank.</p>
+
+<p>He was a Scotch divine; nor can it be denied that his <i>Syon's
+Plea against the Prelacy</i> (1628) contained, indeed, some bitter
+things against the bishops; he said they were of no use in God's
+house, and called them caterpillars, moths, and cankerworms. But
+our ancestors habitually indulged in such expressions; and even
+Tyndale, the martyr, called church functionaries horse-leeches,
+maggots, and caterpillars in a kingdom. Such terms were among the
+traditional amenities of all controversy, but especially of
+religious controversy. But since the Martin-Marprelate Tracts or
+Latimer's sermons the strong anti-Episcopalian feeling of the
+country had never expressed itself so vigorously as in this
+"decade of grievances" against the hierarchy, presented to
+Parliament by a man who was too sensitive of "the ruin of
+religion and the sinking of the State."</p>
+
+<p>The Star Chamber fined him &pound;10,000, and then the High Commission
+Court deprived him of his ministry, and sentenced him to be
+whipped, to be pilloried, to lose his ears, to have his nose
+slit, to <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76"></a>[<a href="./images/76.png">76</a>]</span>be branded on his cheeks with "S. S." (Sower of
+Sedition), and to be imprisoned for life! Probably with all this,
+the burning of his book went without saying; though I have found
+no specific mention of its incurring that fate.</p>
+
+<p>The sentence was executed in November 1630, in frost and snow,
+making its victim, as he says himself, "a theatre of misery to
+men and angels." It was all done in the name of law and order,
+like all the other great atrocities of history. After ten years'
+imprisonment Leighton was released by the Long Parliament, and a
+few years later he wrote an account of his sufferings, and a
+report of his trial in the Star Chamber. Therein we learn that
+Laud, the Bishop of London, was the moving spirit of the whole
+thing. At the end of his speech he apologised for his presence at
+the trial, admitting that by the Canon law no ecclesiastic might
+be present at a judicature where loss of life or limb was
+incurred, but contending that there was no such loss in
+ear-cutting, nose-slitting, branding, and whipping. Leighton, of
+course, may have been misinformed of what occurred at his trial
+(for he himself was not allowed to be present!); and so some
+doubt must also attach to the story that when the censure was
+delivered "the Prelate off <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77"></a>[<a href="./images/77.png">77</a>]</span>with his cap, and holding up his
+hands gave thanks to God who had given him the victory over his
+enemies."</p>
+
+<p>Shortly after his release, Leighton was made keeper of Lambeth
+Palace, and then he died, "rather insane of mind for the
+hardships he had suffered"; but, such is the irony of fate, the
+man who had paid so heavily for his antipathy to bishops became
+himself the father of an archbishop!</p>
+
+<p>By an unexplained law of our nature the very severity of
+punishment seems to invite men to incur it; and Leighton's fate,
+like most penal warnings, rather incited to its imitation than
+deterred from it. The next to feel the grip of the Star Chamber
+was the famous William Prynne, barrister of Lincoln's Inn, and
+one of the most erudite as well as most voluminous writers our
+country has ever produced.</p>
+
+<p>He was only thirty-three when in 1633 he published his
+<i>Histriomastix; or, the Player's Scourge</i>. His labour had taken
+him seven years, nor was it the first work of his that had
+attracted the notice of authority. In a thousand closely printed
+pages, he argued, by an appeal to fifty-five councils,
+seventy-one fathers and Christian writers, one hundred and fifty
+Protestant and Catholic authors, and <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78"></a>[<a href="./images/78.png">78</a>]</span>forty heathen philosophers
+into the bargain, that stage-plays, besides being sinful and
+heathenish, were "intolerable mischiefs to churches, to
+republics, to the manners, minds, and souls of men." Little as we
+think so now, this opinion, which was afterwards also Defoe's,
+was not without justification in those days. But Prynne's crusade
+did not stop at theatres; and Heylin's account reveals the
+feeling of contemporaries: "Neither the hospitality of the gentry
+in the time of Christmas, nor the music in cathedrals and the
+chapels royal, nor the pomps and gallantries of the Court, nor
+the Queen's harmless recreations, nor the King's solacing himself
+sometimes in masques and dances could escape the venom of his
+pen." "He seemed to breathe nothing but disgrace to the nation,
+infamy to the Church, reproaches to the Court, dishonour to the
+Queen." For his remarks against female actors were thought to be
+aimed at Henrietta Maria, though the pastoral in which she took
+part was posterior by six weeks to the publication of the
+book!<a name="FNanchor_78:1_7" id="FNanchor_78:1_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_78:1_7" class="fnanchor">[78:1]</a> The four <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79"></a>[<a href="./images/79.png">79</a>]</span>legal societies "presented their Majesties
+with a pompous and magnificent masque, to let them see that
+Prynne's leaven had not soured them all, and that they were not
+poisoned with the same infection."<a name="FNanchor_79:1_8" id="FNanchor_79:1_8"></a><a href="#Footnote_79:1_8" class="fnanchor">[79:1]</a></p>
+
+<p>This surely might have been enough; but by the time the matter
+had come before the Star Chamber, Laud had succeeded Abbot (with
+whom Prynne was on friendly terms) as Archbishop of Canterbury
+(August 1633); and Laud was in favour of rigorous measures. So
+was Lord Dorset, and Lord Cottington, Chancellor of the
+Exchequer, whose judgment is of importance as showing that this
+was really the first occasion when the hangman's services were
+called in aid for the suppression of books:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"I do in the first place begin censure with his book. I condemn
+it to be burnt in the most public manner that can be. The manner
+in other countries is (where such books are) to be burnt by the
+hangman, though not used in England (yet I wish it may, in
+respect of the strangeness and heinousness of the matter
+contained in it) to have a strange manner of burning; therefore I
+shall desire it may be so burnt by the hand of the hangman. If
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80"></a>[<a href="./images/80.png">80</a>]</span>it may agree with the Court, I do adjudge Mr. Prynne to be put
+from the Bar, and to be for ever uncapable of his profession. I
+do adjudge him, my Lords, that the Society of Lincoln's Inn do
+put him out of the Society; and because he had his offspring from
+Oxford" (now with a low voice said the Archbishop of Canterbury,
+"I am sorry that ever Oxford bred such an evil member") "there to
+be degraded. And I do condemn Mr. Prynne to stand in the pillory
+in two places, in Westminster and Cheapside, and that he shall
+lose both his ears, one in each place; and with a paper on his
+head declaring how foul an offence it is, viz. that it is for an
+infamous libel against both their Majesties, State and
+Government. And lastly (nay, not lastly) I do condemn him in
+&pound;5,000 fine to the King. And lastly, perpetual
+imprisonment."<a name="FNanchor_80:1_9" id="FNanchor_80:1_9"></a><a href="#Footnote_80:1_9" class="fnanchor">[80:1]</a></p>
+
+<p>In this spirit the highest in the land understood justice in
+those golden monarchical days, little recking of the retribution
+that their cruelty was laying in store for them. A few years
+later history presents us with another graphic picture of the
+same sort, showing us the facetious as well as the ferocious
+aspect of the Star <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81"></a>[<a href="./images/81.png">81</a>]</span>Chamber. Again Prynne stands before his
+judges, a full court (and theoretically the Star Chamber was
+co-extensive with the House of Lords), but this time in company
+with Bastwick, the physician, and Burton, the divine. Sir J.
+Finch, Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, says: "I had thought
+Mr. Prynne had had no ears, but methinks he hath ears." Thereupon
+many Lords look more closely at him, and the usher of the court
+is ordered to turn up his hair and show his ears. Their Lordships
+are displeased that no more had been cut off on the previous
+occasion, and "cast out some disgraceful words of him." To whom
+Prynne replies: "My Lords, there is never a one of your Honours
+but would be sorry to have your ears as mine are." The
+Lord-Keeper says: "In good truth he is somewhat saucy." "I hope,"
+says Prynne, "your Honours will not be offended. I pray God give
+you ears to hear."</p>
+
+<p>The whole of this interesting trial is best read in the fourth
+volume of the <i>Harleian Miscellany</i>. Prynne's main offence on
+this occasion was his <i>News from Ipswich</i>, written in prison, and
+his sentence was preceded by a speech from Laud, which the King
+made him afterwards publish, and which, after a denial <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82"></a>[<a href="./images/82.png">82</a>]</span>of the
+Puritan charge of making innovations in religion, ended with the
+words: "Because the business hath some reflection upon myself I
+shall forbear to censure them, and leave them to God's mercy and
+the King's justice." Yet Laud in the very previous sentence had
+thanked his colleagues for the "just and honourable censure" they
+had passed; and when he spoke in this Pharisaical way of God's
+mercy and the King's justice, he knew that the said justice had
+condemned Prynne to be fined another &pound;5,000, to be deprived of
+the remainder of his ears in the pillory, to be branded on both
+cheeks with "S. L." (Schismatical Libeller), and to be imprisoned
+for life in Carnarvon Castle.<a name="FNanchor_82:1_10" id="FNanchor_82:1_10"></a><a href="#Footnote_82:1_10" class="fnanchor">[82:1]</a> Apart from that, Laud's
+defence seems conclusive on many of the points brought against
+him.</p>
+
+<p>Bastwick and Burton were at the same time, for their books,
+condemned to a fine of &pound;5,000 each, to be pilloried, to lose
+their ears, and to be imprisoned, one <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83"></a>[<a href="./images/83.png">83</a>]</span>at Launceston Castle, in
+Cornwall, and the other in Lancaster Castle. It does not appear
+that the burning of their books was on this occasion included in
+the sentence; but as the order for seizing libellous books was
+sometimes a separate matter from the sentence itself (Laud's
+<i>Hist.</i>, 252), or could be ordered by the Archbishop alone, one
+may feel fairly sure that it followed.</p>
+
+<p>The execution of this sentence (June 30th, 1637) marks a
+turning-point in our history. The people strewed the way from the
+prison to the pillory with sweet herbs. From the pillory the
+prisoners severally addressed the sympathetic crowd, Bastwick,
+for instance, saying, "Had I as much blood as would swell the
+Thames, I would shed it every drop in this cause." Prynne,
+returning to prison by boat, actually made two Latin verses on
+the letters branded on his cheeks, with a pun upon Laud's name.
+As probably no one ever made verses on such an occasion before or
+since, they are deserving of quotation:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"Stigmata maxillis referens insignia Laudis,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1i">Exultans remeo, victima grata Deo."<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>Their journey to their several prisons was a triumphal procession
+all the way; the people, as Heylin reluctantly writes, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84"></a>[<a href="./images/84.png">84</a>]</span>"either
+foolishly or factiously resorting to them as they passed, and
+seeming to bemoan their sufferings as unjustly rigorous. And such
+a haunt there was to the several castles to which they were
+condemned .&nbsp;.&nbsp;. that the State found it necessary to remove them
+further," Prynne to Jersey, Burton to Guernsey, and Bastwick to
+Scilly. The alarm of the Government at the resentment they had
+aroused by their cruelties is as conspicuous as that resentment
+itself. No English Government has ever with impunity incurred the
+charge of cruelty; nor is anything clearer than that as these
+atrocious sentences justified the coming Revolution, so they were
+among its most immediate causes.</p>
+
+<p>The <i>Letany</i>, for which Bastwick was punished on this occasion,
+was not the first work of his that had brought him to trouble.
+His first work, the <i>Elenchus Papistic&aelig; Religionis</i> (1627),
+against the Jesuits, was brought before the High Commission at
+the same time with his <i>Flagellum Pontificis</i> (1635), a work
+which, ostensibly directed against the Pope's temporal power,
+aimed, in Laud's eyes, at English Episcopacy and the Church of
+England. The sting occurs near the end, where the author contends
+that the essentials of a bishop, namely, his election <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85"></a>[<a href="./images/85.png">85</a>]</span>by his
+flock and the proper discharge of episcopal duties, are wanting
+in the bishops of his time. "Where is the ministering of doctrine
+and of the Word, and of the Sacraments? Where is the care of
+discipline and morals? Where is the consolation of the poor?
+where the rebuke of the wicked? Alas for the fall of Rome! Alas
+for the ruin of a flourishing Church! The bishops are neither
+chosen nor called; but by canvassing, and by money, and by wicked
+arts they are thrust upon their government." This was the
+beginning of trouble. The Court of High Commission condemned both
+his books to be burnt,<a name="FNanchor_85:1_11" id="FNanchor_85:1_11"></a><a href="#Footnote_85:1_11" class="fnanchor">[85:1]</a> and their author to be fined &pound;1,000,
+to be excommunicated, to be debarred from his profession, and to
+be imprisoned in the Gatehouse till he recanted; which, wrote
+Bastwick, would not be till Doomsday, in the afternoon.</p>
+
+<p>In the Gatehouse Bastwick penned his <i>Apologeticus ad Pr&aelig;sules
+Anglicanos</i>, and his <i>Letany</i>, the books for which he suffered,
+as above described, at the hands of the Star Chamber. The first
+was an attack on the High Commission, the second on the bishops,
+the Real Presence, and the Church Prayer Book. The <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86"></a>[<a href="./images/86.png">86</a>]</span>language of
+the <i>Letany</i> is in many passages extremely coarse, and it is only
+possible to quote such milder expressions as since the time of
+Tyndale had been traditional in the Puritan party. "As many
+prelates in England, so many vipers in the bowels of Church and
+State." They were "the very polecats, stoats, weasels, and
+minivers in the warren of Church and State." They were
+"Antichrist's little toes." To judge from these expressions
+merely one might be disposed to agree with Heylin, who says of
+the <i>Letany</i> that it was "so silly and contemptible that nothing
+but the sin and malice which appeared in every line of it could
+have possibly preserved it from being ridiculous." But the
+<i>Letany</i> is really a most important contribution to the history
+of the period. Nothing is more graphic than Bastwick's account of
+the almost regal reverence claimed for the Archbishop of
+Canterbury, the traffic of the streets interrupted when he issued
+from Lambeth, the overturning of the stalls; the author's
+description of the excessive power of the bishops, of the
+extortions of the ecclesiastical courts, is corroborated by
+abundant correlative testimony; and he appeals for the truth of
+his charges of immorality against the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87"></a>[<a href="./images/87.png">87</a>]</span>clergy of that time to the
+actual cases that came before the High Commission.</p>
+
+<p>Lord Clarendon speaks of Bastwick as "a half-witted,
+crack-brained fellow," unknown to either University or the
+College of Physicians; perhaps it was because he was unknown to
+either University that he acquired that splendid Latin style to
+which even Lord Clarendon does justice. The Latin preface to the
+second edition of the <i>Flagellum</i>, in which Bastwick returns
+thanks to the Long Parliament for his release from prison, is
+unsurpassed by the Latin writing of the best English scholars,
+and bespeaks anything but a half-witted brain. Cicero himself
+could hardly have done it better.</p>
+
+<p>Burton's book, however, was considered worse than Prynne's or
+Bastwick's, for Heylin calls it "the great masterpiece of
+mischief." It consists of two sermons, republished with an appeal
+to the King, under the title of <i>For God and King</i>. Like
+Bastwick, he writes in the interest of the King against the
+encroachments of the bishops; and complains bitterly of the
+ecclesiastical innovations then in vogue. His accusation is no
+less forcible, though less well known, than Laud's Defence in his
+Star Chamber speech; and if he did call the bishops "limbs of the
+Beast," <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88"></a>[<a href="./images/88.png">88</a>]</span>"ravening wolves," and so forth, the language of Laud's
+party against the Puritans was not one whit more refined. So
+convinced was Burton of the justice of his cause, that he
+declared that all the time he stood in the pillory he thought
+himself "in heaven, and in a state of glory and triumph if any
+such state can possibly be on earth."</p>
+
+<p>It is in connection with Bastwick's <i>Letany</i> and Prynne's <i>News
+from Ipswich</i> that Lilburne, of subsequent revolutionary fame,
+first appears on the stage of history, as responsible for their
+printing in Holland and dispersion in England. At all events he
+was punished for that offence, being whipped with great severity,
+by order of the Star Chamber, all the way from the Fleet Prison
+to Westminster, where he stood for some hours in the pillory. He
+was then only twenty. Laud had the second instalment of the books
+seized upon landing, and then burnt.</p>
+
+<p>In this matter of book-burning the Archbishop seems at that time
+to have had sole authority, and doubtless many more books met
+with a fiery fate than are specifically mentioned. Laud himself
+refers in a letter to an order he issued for the seizure and
+public burning in Smithfield of as many copies as could be found
+of an English translation of <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89"></a>[<a href="./images/89.png">89</a>]</span>St. Francis de Sales' <i>Praxis
+Spiritualis; or, The Introduction to a Devout Life</i>, which, after
+having been licensed by his chaplain, had been tampered with, in
+the Roman Catholic interest, in its passage through the press. Of
+this curious book some twelve hundred copies were burnt, but a
+few hundred copies had been dispersed before the seizure.</p>
+
+<p>The Archbishop's duties, as general superintendent of literature
+and the press, constituted, indeed, no sinecure. For ever since
+the year 1585, the Star Chamber regulations, passed at Archbishop
+Whitgift's instigation, had been in force; and, with unimportant
+exceptions, no book could be printed without being first seen,
+perused, and allowed by the Archbishop of Canterbury or Bishop of
+London. Rome herself had no more potent device for the
+maintenance of intellectual tyranny. The task of perusal was
+generally deputed to the Archbishop's chaplain, who, as in the
+case of Prynne's <i>Histriomastix</i>, ran the risk of a fine and the
+pillory if he suffered a book to be licensed without a careful
+study of its contents.</p>
+
+<p>But the powers of the Archbishop over the press were not yet
+enough for Laud, and in July 1637 the Star Chamber <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90"></a>[<a href="./images/90.png">90</a>]</span>passed a
+decree, with a view to prevent English books from being printed
+abroad, that in addition to the compulsory licensing of all
+English books by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Bishop of London,
+or the University Chancellors, no books should be imported from
+abroad for sale without a catalogue of them being first sent to
+the Archbishop of Canterbury or Bishop of London, who, by their
+chaplains or others, were to superintend the unlading of such
+packages of books. The only merit of this decree is that it led
+Milton to write his <i>Areopagitica</i>. The Puritan belief that Laud
+aimed at the restoration of Popery has long since been proved
+erroneous. One of his bad dreams recorded in his Diary is that of
+his reconciliation with the Church of Rome; but there is abundant
+proof that he and his faction aimed at a spiritual and
+intellectual tyranny which would in no wise have been preferable
+to that of Rome. And of all Laud's dreams, surely that of the
+Archbishop of Canterbury exercising a perpetual dictatorship over
+English literature is not the least absurd and grotesque.</p>
+
+<p>Moreover, in August of this very same year Laud made another move
+in the direction of ecclesiastical tyranny. Bastwick and his
+party had contended, not <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91"></a>[<a href="./images/91.png">91</a>]</span>only that Episcopacy was not of Divine
+institution, or <i>jure divino</i> (as, indeed, Williams, Bishop of
+Lincoln, had argued before the King)<a name="FNanchor_91:1_12" id="FNanchor_91:1_12"></a><a href="#Footnote_91:1_12" class="fnanchor">[91:1]</a>; but that the issuing
+of processes in the names and with the seals of the bishops in
+the ecclesiastical courts was a trespass on the Royal
+Prerogative. What happened proves that it was. The statute of
+Edward VI. (1 Ed. VI., c. 2) had enacted that all the proceedings
+of the ecclesiastical courts should "be made in the name and the
+style of the King," and that no other seal of jurisdiction should
+be used but with the Royal arms engraven, under penalty of
+imprisonment. Mary repealed this Act, nor did Elizabeth replace
+it. But a clause in a statute of James (1 Jac. I., c. 25)
+repealed the repealing Act of Mary, so that the Act of Edward
+came back into force; and Bastwick was perfectly right. The
+judges, nevertheless, in May 1637, decided that Mary's repeal Act
+was still in force; and Charles, at Laud's instigation, issued a
+proclamation, in August 1637, to the effect that the proceedings
+of the High Commission and other ecclesiastical courts were
+agreeable to the laws and statutes of the realm.<a name="FNanchor_91:2_13" id="FNanchor_91:2_13"></a><a href="#Footnote_91:2_13" class="fnanchor">[91:2]</a> In this
+manner did the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92"></a>[<a href="./images/92.png">92</a>]</span>judges, the bishops, and the King conspire to
+subject Englishmen to the tyranny of the Church!</p>
+
+<p>The consequences belong to general history. Never was scheme of
+ecclesiastical ambition more completely shattered than Laud's;
+never was historical retribution more condign. Among the first
+acts of the Long Parliament (November 1640) was the release of
+Prynne and Bastwick and Burton; who were brought into the City,
+says Clarendon, by a crowd of some ten thousand persons, with
+boughs and flowers in their hands. Compensation was subsequently
+voted to them for the iniquitous fines imposed on them by the
+Star Chamber, and Prynne before long was one of the chief
+instruments in bringing Laud to trial and the block. But this was
+not before that ambitious prelate had seen the bishops deprived
+of their seats in the House of Lords, and the Root and Branch
+Bill for their abolition introduced, as well as the Star Chamber
+and High Commission Courts abolished. This should have been
+enough; and it is to be regretted that his punishment went beyond
+this total failure of the schemes of his life.</p>
+
+<p>Of the heroes of the books whose condemnation contributed so much
+to bring about the Revolution, only Prynne <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93"></a>[<a href="./images/93.png">93</a>]</span>continued to figure
+as an object of interest in the subsequent stormy times. As a
+member of Parliament his political activity was only exceeded by
+his extraordinary literary productiveness; his legacy to the
+Library of Lincoln's Inn of his forty volumes of various works is
+probably the largest monument of literary labour ever produced by
+one man. His spirit of independence caused him to be constant to
+no political party, and after taking part against Cromwell he was
+made by the Government of the Restoration Keeper of the Records
+in the Tower, in which congenial post he finished his eventful
+career.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<img src="./images/p093.png" width="18%" alt="creature woodcut" title="" />
+</div>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 90%;" />
+<h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_78:1_7" id="Footnote_78:1_7"></a><a href="#FNanchor_78:1_7"><span class="label">[78:1]</span></a> Whitelock's <i>Memorials of Charles I.</i>, 1822. Laud
+is represented as mainly instrumental in the conduct of the whole
+of this nefarious proceeding, especially in procuring the
+sentence in the Star Chamber.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_79:1_8" id="Footnote_79:1_8"></a><a href="#FNanchor_79:1_8"><span class="label">[79:1]</span></a> <i>Life of Laud</i>, 294.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_80:1_9" id="Footnote_80:1_9"></a><a href="#FNanchor_80:1_9"><span class="label">[80:1]</span></a> From the account in the <i>State Trials</i>, III.
+576.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_82:1_10" id="Footnote_82:1_10"></a><a href="#FNanchor_82:1_10"><span class="label">[82:1]</span></a> In his defence he says that he always voted last
+or last but one. In that case he must always have heard the
+sentence passed by those who spoke before him, and not dissented
+from it. His sole excuse is, that he was no worse than his
+colleagues; to which the answer is, he ought to have been
+better.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_85:1_11" id="Footnote_85:1_11"></a><a href="#FNanchor_85:1_11"><span class="label">[85:1]</span></a> Prynne, <i>New Discovery</i>, 132.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_91:1_12" id="Footnote_91:1_12"></a><a href="#FNanchor_91:1_12"><span class="label">[91:1]</span></a> Laud's <i>Diary</i> (Newman's edition), 87.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_91:2_13" id="Footnote_91:2_13"></a><a href="#FNanchor_91:2_13"><span class="label">[91:2]</span></a> Heylin's <i>Laud</i>, 321, 322.</p></div>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94"></a>[<a href="./images/94.png">94</a>]</span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<img src="./images/p094a.png" width="42%" alt="vines woodcut" title="" />
+</div>
+
+
+<p class="smallgap">&nbsp;</p>
+<h2>CHAPTER IV.</h2>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">Book-Fires of the Rebellion.</span></h3>
+
+
+<p><span class="dropcapw"><span class="dropcap">W</span></span>ITH the beneficent Revolution that practically began with the
+Long Parliament in November 1640, and put an end to the Star
+Chamber and High Commission, it might have been hoped that a
+better time was about to dawn for books. But the control of
+thought really only passed from the Monarchical to the
+Presbyterian party; and if authors no longer incurred the
+atrocious cruelties of the Star Chamber, their works were more
+freely burnt at the order of Parliament than they appear to have
+been when the sentence to such a fate rested with the King or the
+Archbishop of Canterbury.</p>
+
+<p>Parliament, in fact, assumed the dictatorship of literature, and
+exercised supreme jurisdiction over author, printer, publisher,
+and licenser. Either House separately, or both concurrently,
+assumed the exercise of this power; and, if a book were sentenced
+to be burnt, the hangman seems always <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95"></a>[<a href="./images/95.png">95</a>]</span>to have been called in
+aid. In an age which was pre-eminently the age of pamphlets, and
+torn in pieces by religious and political dissension, the number
+of pamphlets that were condemned to be burnt by the common
+hangman was naturally legion, though, of course, a still greater
+number escaped with some lesser form of censure. It is only with
+the former that I propose to deal, and only with such of them as
+seem of more than usual interest as illustrating the manners and
+thoughts of that turbulent time.</p>
+
+<p>It is a significant fact that the first writer whose works
+incurred the wrath of Parliament was the Rev. John Pocklington,
+D.D., one of the foremost innovators in the Church in the days of
+Laud's prosperity. The House of Lords consigned two of his books
+to be burnt by the hangman, both in London and the two chief
+Universities (February 12th, 1641). These were his <i>Sunday no
+Sabbath</i>, and the <i>Altare Christianum</i>.</p>
+
+<p>The first of these was originally a sermon, preached on August
+17th, 1635, wherein the Puritan view of Sunday was vehemently
+assailed, and the Puritans themselves vigorously abused. "These
+Church Schismatics are the most gross, nay, the most transparent
+hypocrites and <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96"></a>[<a href="./images/96.png">96</a>]</span>the most void of conscience of all others. They
+will take the benefit of the Church, but abjure the doctrine and
+discipline of the Church." How often has not this argument done
+duty since against Pocklington's ecclesiastical descendants! But
+it is to be historically regretted that Pocklington's views of
+Sunday, the same of course as those of James the First's famous
+book, or Declaration of Sports, were not destined to prevail, and
+seem still as far as ever from attainment.</p>
+
+<p>The <i>Altare Christianum</i> had been published in 1637, in answer to
+certain books by Burton and Prynne, its object being to prove
+that altars and churches had existed before the Christian Church
+was 200 years old. But had these churches any more substantial
+existence than that one built, as he says, by Joseph of
+Arimathea, at Glastonbury, in the year 55 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>? Did the
+Arimathean really visit Glastonbury? Anyhow, the book is full of
+learning and instruction, and, indeed, both Pocklington's books
+have an interest of their own, apart from their fate, which, of
+so many, is their sole recommendation.</p>
+
+<p>The sentence against Pocklington was strongly vindictive. Both
+his practices and his doctrines were condemned. In his practice
+he was declared to have been <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97"></a>[<a href="./images/97.png">97</a>]</span>"very superstitious and full of
+idolatry," and to have used many gestures and ceremonies "not
+established by the laws of this realm." These were the sort of
+ceremonies that, without ever having been so established by law,
+our ritualists have practically established by custom; and the
+offence of the ritualist doctrine as held in those days, and as
+illustrated by Pocklington, lay in the following tenets ascribed
+to him: (1) that it was men's duty to bow to altars as to the
+throne of the Great God; (2) that the Eucharist was the host and
+held corporeal presence therein; (3) that there was in the Church
+a distinction between holy places and a Holy of holies; (4) that
+the canons and constitutions of the Church were to be obeyed
+without examination.</p>
+
+<p>For these offences of ritual and doctrine&mdash;offences to which,
+fortunately, we can afford to be more indifferent than our
+ancestors were, no reasonable man now thinking twice about
+them&mdash;Pocklington was deprived of all his livings and dignities
+and preferments, and incapacitated from holding any for the
+future, whilst his books were consigned to the hangman. It may
+seem to us a spiteful sentence; but it was after all a mild
+revenge, considering the atrocious sufferings of the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98"></a>[<a href="./images/98.png">98</a>]</span>Puritan
+writers. It is worse to lose one's ears and one's liberty for
+life than even to be deprived of Church livings; and it is
+noticeable that bodily mutilations came to an end with the
+clipping of the talons of the Crown and the Church at the
+beginning of the Long Parliament.</p>
+
+<p>Taking now in order the works of a political nature that were
+condemned by the House of Commons to be burnt by the hangman, we
+come first to the <i>Speeches of Sir Edward Dering</i>, member for
+Kent in the Long Parliament, and a greater antiquary than he ever
+was a politician. He it was who, on May 27th, 1641, moved the
+first reading of the Root and Branch Bill for the abolition of
+Episcopacy. "The pride, the avarice, the ambition, and oppression
+by our ruling clergy is epidemical," he said; thereby proving
+that such an opinion was not merely a Puritan prejudice. But
+Dering appears only really to have aimed at the abolition of
+Laud's archiepiscopacy, and to have wished to see some purer form
+of prelacy re-established in place of the old. Naturally his
+views gave offence, which he only increased by republishing his
+speeches on matters of religion, Parliament being so incensed
+that it burned his book, and <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99"></a>[<a href="./images/99.png">99</a>]</span>committed its author for a week to
+the Tower (February 2nd, 1642).</p>
+
+<p>Dering's was the common fate of moderate men in stormy times,
+who, seeing good on each side, are ill thought of by both.
+Failing to be loyal to either, he was by both mistrusted. For not
+only did he ultimately vote on the side of the royalist episcopal
+party, but he actually fought on the King's side; then, being
+disgusted with the royalists for their leaning to Popery, he
+accepted the pardon offered for a compensation by Parliament in
+1644, and died the same year, leaving posterity to regret that he
+was ever so ill-advised as to exchange antiquities for politics
+and party strife.</p>
+
+<p>The famous speech of the statesman whom Charles, with his usual
+defiance of public opinion, soon afterwards raised to the peerage
+as Lord Digby (on the passing of the Bill of Attainder against
+Lord Strafford), was, after its publication by its author,
+condemned to be burnt at Westminster, Cheapside, and Smithfield
+(July 13th, 1642). Digby voted against putting Strafford to
+death, because he did not think it proved by the evidence that
+Strafford had advised Charles to employ the army in Ireland for
+the subjection of England. But he condemned his general <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100"></a>[<a href="./images/100.png">100</a>]</span>conduct
+as strongly as any man. He calls him "the great apostate to the
+Commonwealth, who must not expect to be pardoned it in this world
+till he be dispatched to the other." He refers very happily to
+his great abilities, "whereof God hath given him the use, but the
+devil the application." But does the critic's own memory stand
+much higher? Was he not the King's evil genius, who, together
+with the Queen, pushed him to that fatal step&mdash;the arrest of the
+five members?</p>
+
+<p>How soon Parliament acquired the evil habit of dealing by fire
+and the hangman with uncongenial publications is proved by the
+fact that in one year alone the following five leaflets or
+pamphlets suffered in this way:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>1. <i>The Kentish Petition</i>, drawn up at the Maidstone Assizes by
+the gentry, ministry, and commonalty of Kent, praying for the
+preservation of episcopal government, and the settlement of
+religious differences by a synod of the clergy (April 17th,
+1642). The petition was couched in very strong language; and
+Professor Gardiner is probably right in saying that it was the
+condemnation of this famous petition which rendered civil war
+inevitable.</p>
+
+<p>2. <i>A True Relation of the Proceedings of <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101"></a>[<a href="./images/101.png">101</a>]</span>the Scots and English
+Forces in the North of Ireland.</i> This was thought to be
+dishonouring to the Scots, and was accordingly ordered to be
+burnt (June 8th, 1642).</p>
+
+<p>3. <i>King James: his Judgment of a King and a Tyrant</i> (September
+12th, 1642).</p>
+
+<p>4. <i>A Speedy Post from Heaven to the King of England</i> (October
+5th, 1642).</p>
+
+<p>5. <i>Letter from Lord Falkland</i> to the Earl of Cumberland,
+concerning the action at Worcester (October 8th, 1642).</p>
+
+<p>Thus did Parliament, and the House of Commons especially, improve
+upon the precedent first set by the Star Chamber; and the
+practice must soon have somewhat lost its force by the very
+frequency of its repetition. David Buchanan's <i>Truth's Manifest</i>,
+containing an account of the conduct of the Scotch nation in the
+Civil War, was condemned to be burnt by the hangman (April 13th,
+1646), but may still be read. <i>An Unhappy Game at Scotch and
+English</i>, pamphlets like the <i>Mercurius Elenchicus</i> and
+<i>Mercurius Pragmaticus</i>, the <i>Justiciarius Justificatus</i>, by
+George Wither, perished about the same time in the same way; and
+in 1648 such profane Royalist political squibs as <i>The
+Parliament's Ten Commandments</i>; <i>The Parliament's Pater Noster,
+and Articles of the Faith</i>; and <i>Ecce the New Testament <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102"></a>[<a href="./images/102.png">102</a>]</span>of our
+Lords and Saviours, the House of Commons at Westminster, or the
+Supreme Council at Windsor</i>, were, for special indignity,
+condemned to be burnt in the three most public places of London.</p>
+
+<p>The observance of Sunday has always been a fruitful source of
+contention, and in 1649 the chief magistrates in England and
+Wales were ordered by the House of Commons to cause to be burnt
+all copies of James Okeford's <i>Doctrine of the Fourth
+Commandment, deformed by Popery, reformed and restored to its
+primitive purity</i> (March 18th, 1650). They did their duty so well
+that not a copy appears to survive, even in the British Museum.
+The author, moreover, was sentenced to be taken and imprisoned;
+so thoroughly did the spirit of persecution take possession of a
+Parliamentary majority when the power of it fell into their
+hands.</p>
+
+<p>This was also shown in other matters. For instance, not only were
+<i>Joseph Primatt's Petition</i> to Parliament, with reference to his
+claims to certain coal mines, and Lilburne's <i>Just Reproof to
+Haberdasher's Hall</i> on Primatt's behalf, condemned to be burnt by
+the hangman (January 15th, July 30th, 1652), but both authors
+were sentenced, one to fines amounting to &pound;5,000, the other to
+fines amounting to <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103"></a>[<a href="./images/103.png">103</a>]</span>&pound;7,000, which, though falling far short of
+the Star Chamber fines, were very considerable sums in those
+days. Lilburne, on this occasion, was also sentenced to be
+banished, and to be deemed guilty of felony if he returned; but
+this part of the sentence was never enforced, for Lilburne
+remained, to continue to the very end, by speech and writing,
+that perpetual warfare with the party in power which constituted
+his political life.</p>
+
+<p>John Fry, M.P., who sat in the High Court of Justice for the
+trial of Charles I., wrote in 1648 his <i>Accuser Shamed</i> against
+Colonel Downes, a fellow-member, who had most unfairly charged
+him before the House with blasphemy for certain expressions used
+in private conversation, and thereby caused his temporary
+suspension. Dr. Cheynel, President of St. John's at Oxford,
+printed an answer to this, and Fry rejoined in his <i>Clergy in
+their True Colours</i> (1650), a pamphlet singularly expressive of
+the general dislike at that time entertained for the English
+clergy. He complains of the strange postures assumed by the
+clergy in their prayers before the sermon, and says: "Whether the
+fools and knaves in stage plays took their pattern from these
+men, or these from them, I cannot determine; but sure one is the
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104"></a>[<a href="./images/104.png">104</a>]</span>brat of the other, they are so well alike." He confesses himself
+"of the opinion of most, that the clergy are the great
+incendiaries." In the matter of Psalm-singing he finds "few men
+under heaven more irrational in their religious exercises than
+our clergy." As to their common evasion of difficulties by the
+plea that it is above reason, he fairly observes: "If a man will
+consent to give up his reason, I would as soon converse with a
+beast as with that man." Nevertheless, how many do so still!</p>
+
+<p>Fry wrote as a rational churchman, not as an anti-Christian,
+"from a hearty desire for their (the clergy's) reformation, and a
+great zeal to my countrymen that they may no longer be deceived
+by such as call themselves the ministers of the Gospel, but are
+not." This appears on the title-page; but a good motive has
+seldom yet saved a man or a book, and the House, having debated
+about both tracts from morning till night, not only voted them
+highly scandalous and profane, but consigned them to the hangman
+to burn, and expelled Fry from his seat in Parliament (February
+21st, 1651).</p>
+
+<p>So far of the political utterances that for the offence they gave
+were condemned to the flames; but these only represent <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105"></a>[<a href="./images/105.png">105</a>]</span>one side
+of the activity of the legislature of that time. Nothing, indeed,
+better illustrates the mind of the seventeenth century than the
+several instances in which Parliament, in the exercise of its
+assumed power over literature generally, interfered with works of
+a theological nature, nor does anything more clearly or curiously
+reveal the mental turmoil of that period than does the perusal of
+some of the works that then met with Parliamentary censure or
+condemnation. In undertaking this interference it is possible
+that Parliament exceeded its province, and one is glad that it
+has long since ceased to claim the keepership of the People's
+Conscience. But in those days ideas of toleration were in their
+infancy; the right of free thought, or of its expression, had not
+been established; and the maintenance of orthodoxy was deemed as
+much the duty of Parliament as the maintenance of the rights of
+the people. So a Parliamentary majority soon came to exercise as
+much tyranny over thought as ever had been exercised by king or
+bishop; and, in fact, the theological writer ran even greater
+personal risks from the indignation of Parliament than he would
+have run in the period preceding 1640, for he began to run in
+danger of his life.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106"></a>[<a href="./images/106.png">106</a>]</span>
+The first theological work dealt with by Parliament appears to
+have been that curious posthumous work, entitled <i>Comfort for
+Believers about their Sinnes and Troubles</i>, which appeared in
+June 1645, by John Archer, Master of Arts, and preacher at All
+Hallows', Lombard Street. It had but a short life, for the very
+next month the Assembly of Divines, then sitting at Westminster,
+complained to Parliament of its contents, and Parliament
+condemned it to be publicly burnt in four places, the Assembly to
+draw up a formal detestation to be read at the burning. In this
+document it was admitted that the author had been "of good
+estimation for learning and piety"; but the author's logic was
+better than his theology, for he attributed all evil to the Cause
+of all things, and contended that for wise purposes God not only
+permitted sin, but had a hand in its essence, namely, "in the
+privity, and ataxy, the anomye, or irregularity of the act" (if
+that makes it any clearer). A single passage will convey the
+drift of the seventy-six pages devoted to this difficult
+problem:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Who hinted to God, or gave advice by counsel to Him, to let the
+creature sin? Did any necessity, arising upon the creature's
+being, enforce it that sin must <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107"></a>[<a href="./images/107.png">107</a>]</span>be? Could not God have hindered
+sin, if He would? Might He not have kept man from sinning, as He
+did some of the angels? Therefore, it was His device and plot
+before the creature was that there should be sin.&nbsp;.&nbsp;.&nbsp;. It is by sin
+that most of God's glory in the discovery of His attributes doth
+arise.&nbsp;.&nbsp;.&nbsp;. Therefore certainly it limits Him much to bring in sin
+by a contingent accident, merely from the creature, and to deny
+God a hand and will in its being and bringing forth."</p>
+
+<p>The author thought these positions quite compatible with
+orthodoxy; not so, however, the Presbyterian divines, nor
+Parliament; and certainly Archer's questions were more easily and
+more swiftly answered by fire than in any other way. Had he
+lived, one wonders how the divines would have punished him. For
+the next two cases prove how dangerous it was becoming to be
+convicted or even suspected of heterodoxy. Parliament was
+beginning to understand its duty as Defender of the Faith as the
+Holy Inquisition has always understood it&mdash;namely, by the death
+of the luckless assailant.</p>
+
+<p>Thus, on July 24th, 1647, the House of Commons condemned to be
+burnt in three different places, on three different days, Paul
+Best's pamphlet, of the following <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108"></a>[<a href="./images/108.png">108</a>]</span>curious title: <i>Mysteries
+Discovered, or a Mercurial Picture pointing out the way from
+Babylon to the Holy City, For the Good of all such as during that
+Night of General Error and Apostacy, II. Thess. ii. 3, Rev. iii.
+10, have been so long misled with Rome's Hobgoblin, by me, Paul
+Best, prisoner in the Gatehouse, Westminster</i>. It concluded with
+a prayer for release from an imprisonment, which had then lasted
+more than three years, for certain theological opinions
+"committed to a minister (a supposed friend) for his judgment and
+advice only." This minister was the Rev. Roger Leys, who
+infamously betrayed the trust reposed in him, and made public the
+frankness of private conversation.</p>
+
+<p>Best had been imprisoned in the Gatehouse for certain expressions
+he was supposed to have used about the Trinity; and before he
+wrote this pamphlet the House of Commons had actually voted that
+he should be hanged. Justly, therefore, he wrote: "Unless the
+Lord put to His helping hand of the magistrate for the manacling
+of Satan in that persecuting power, there is little hope either
+of the liberty of the subject or the law of God amongst us." And
+if he was not orthodox, he was sensible, for he says: "I <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109"></a>[<a href="./images/109.png">109</a>]</span>cannot
+understand what detriment could redound either to Church or
+Commonwealth by toleration of religions."</p>
+
+<p>His heresy consisted in thinking that pagan ideas had been
+imported into, and so had corrupted, the original monotheism of
+Christianity. "We may perceive how by iniquity of time the real
+truth of God hath been trodden under foot by a verbal kind of
+divinity, introduced by the semi-pagan Christianity of the third
+century in the Western Church." He certainly did not hold the
+doctrine of the Trinity in what was then deemed the orthodox way,
+but his precise belief is rather obscurely stated, and is a
+matter of indifference.</p>
+
+<p>One is glad to learn that he escaped hanging after all, and was
+released about the end of 1647, probably at the instance of
+Cromwell. He then retired to the family seat in Yorkshire, where
+he combined farming with his favourite theological studies for
+the ten remaining years of his life. His career at Cambridge had
+been distinguished, as might also have been his career in the
+world but for that unfortunate bent for theology, and the use of
+his reason in its study, that has led so many worthy men to
+disgrace and destruction.</p>
+
+<p>But, in spite of the Assembly of Divines, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110"></a>[<a href="./images/110.png">110</a>]</span>the air was thick with
+theological speculation; and only a few weeks after the
+condemnation of Best's <i>Mysteries</i>, the House condemned to a
+similar fate Bidle's <i>Twelve Arguments drawn out of Scripture,
+wherein the Commonly Received Opinion touching the Deity of the
+Holy Spirit is Clearly and Fully Refuted</i>.</p>
+
+<p>Bidle, a tailor's son, must take high rank among the martyrs of
+learning. After a brilliant school career at Gloucester, he went
+to Magdalen College, Oxford, where, says his biographer, "he did
+so philosophise, as it might be observed, he was determined more
+by Reason than Authority"; and this dangerous beginning he
+shortly followed up, when master of the Free School at
+Gloucester, by the still more dangerous conclusion that the
+common doctrine of the Trinity "was not well grounded in
+Revelation, much less in Reason." For this he was brought before
+the magistrates at Gloucester on the charge of heresy (1644); and
+from that time till his death from gaol-fever in 1662, at the age
+of forty-two, Bidle seldom knew what liberty was. It was soon
+after his first imprisonment that he published his <i>Twelve
+Arguments</i>. Though the House had this burnt by the hangman, it
+was so popular that it was <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111"></a>[<a href="./images/111.png">111</a>]</span>reprinted the same year. The year
+following (1648) the House passed an ordinance making a denial of
+the Trinity a capital offence; in spite of which Bidle published
+his <i>Confession of Faith touching the Holy Trinity, according to
+Scripture</i>, and his <i>Testimonies of Different Fathers</i> regarding
+the same, the last of which manifests considerable learning. The
+Assembly of Divines then appealed to Parliament to put him to
+death; yet, strange to say, Parliament did not do so, but soon
+after released their prisoner. In 1654 he published his <i>Twofold
+Catechism</i>, for which he was again committed to the Gatehouse,
+and debarred from the use of pens, ink, and paper; and all his
+books were sentenced to be burnt (December 13th, 1654). After a
+time, his fate being still uncertain, Cromwell procured his
+release, or rather sent him off to the Scilly Isles. But his
+enemies got him into prison again at last, and there a blameless
+and pious life fell a victim to the power of bigotry. One may
+regret a life thus spent and sacrificed; but only so has the
+cause of free thought been gradually won.</p>
+
+<p>Bidle has also been thought to have been the translator of the
+famous <i>Racovian Catechism</i>, first published in Polish <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112"></a>[<a href="./images/112.png">112</a>]</span>at Racow
+in 1605, and in Latin in 1609. In it two anti-Trinitarian divines
+reduced to a systematic form the whole of the Socinian doctrine.
+A special interest attaches to it from the fact that Milton, then
+nearly blind, was called before the House in connection with the
+Catechism, as though he had had a share in its translation or
+publication. It was condemned to be burnt as blasphemous (April
+1st, 1652). In the Journals of the House copious extracts are
+given from the work, from which the following may serve to
+indicate what chiefly gave offence:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"What do you conceive exceedingly profitable to be known of the
+Essence of God?</p>
+
+<p>"It is to know that in the Essence of God there is only one
+person .&nbsp;.&nbsp;. and that by no means can there be more persons in that
+Essence, and that many persons in one essence is a pernicious
+opinion, which doth easily pluck up and destroy the belief of one
+God.&nbsp;.&nbsp;.&nbsp;.</p>
+
+<p>"But the Christians do commonly affirm the Son and Spirit to be
+also persons in the unity of the same Godhead.</p>
+
+<p>"I know they do, but it is a very great error; and the arguments
+brought for it are taken from Scriptures misunderstood.</p>
+
+<p>"But seeing the Son is called God in <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113"></a>[<a href="./images/113.png">113</a>]</span>the Scriptures, how can
+that be answered?</p>
+
+<p>"The word God in Scripture is chiefly used two ways: first, as it
+signifies Him that rules in heaven and earth .&nbsp;.&nbsp;.; secondly, as it
+signifies one who hath received some high power or authority from
+that one God, or is some way made partaker of the Deity of that
+one God. It is in this latter sense that the Son in certain
+places in Scripture is called God. And the Son is upon no higher
+account called God than that He is sanctified by the Father and
+sent into the world.</p>
+
+<p>"But hath not the Lord Jesus Christ besides His human a Divine
+nature also?</p>
+
+<p>"No, by no means, for that is not only repugnant to sound reason,
+but to the Holy Scripture also."</p>
+
+<p>This is doubtless enough to convey an idea of the Catechism,
+which was again translated in 1818 by T. Rees. Whether Bidle was
+the translator or not, he must have been actuated by good
+intentions in what he wrote; for he says of the <i>Twofold
+Catechism</i>, that it "was composed for their sakes that would fain
+be mere Christians, and not of this or that sect, inasmuch as all
+the sects of Christians, by what names soever distinguished, have
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114"></a>[<a href="./images/114.png">114</a>]</span>either more or less departed from the simplicity and truth of
+the Scripture." But these Christians, who preferred their
+religion to their sect, Bidle should have known were too few to
+count.</p>
+
+<p>Far inferior writers to Bidle were Ebiezer Coppe and Laurence
+Clarkson: nor, if religious madness could be so stamped out, can
+we complain of the House of Commons for condemning their works to
+the flames. The strongest possible condemnation was passed for
+its "horrid blasphemies" on Coppe's <i>Fiery Flying Roll; or, Word
+from the Lord to all the Great Ones of the Earth whom this may
+concern, being the Last Warning Peace at the Dreadful Day of
+Judgment</i>. All discoverable copies of this book were to be burnt
+by the hangman at three different places (February 1st, 1650);
+and Coppe was imprisoned, but was released on his recantation of
+his opinions. His book was the cause of that curious ordinance of
+August 9th, 1650, for the "punishment of atheistical,
+blasphemous, and execrable opinions," which is the best summary
+and proof of the intense religious fanaticism then prevalent, and
+so curiously similar in all its details to that of the primitive
+Christian Church. At both periods the distinctive features were
+the claim to <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115"></a>[<a href="./images/115.png">115</a>]</span>actual divinity, and to superiority to all moral
+laws.</p>
+
+<p>On September 27th, 1650, Clarkson's <i>Single Eye: all Light, no
+Darkness</i>, was condemned to be burnt by the hangman; and Clarkson
+himself not only sent to the House of Correction for a month, but
+sentenced to be banished after that for life under a penalty of
+death if he returned.</p>
+
+<p>These books have their value for students of human nature, and so
+have the next I refer to, the works of Ludovic Muggleton, most of
+which were written during this period, though not condemned to be
+burnt till the year 1676, and which in other respects seem to
+touch the lowest attainable depth of religious demoralisation.
+The extraordinary thing is that Muggleton actually founded a sort
+of religion of his own; at all events, he gave life and title to
+a sect, which counts votaries to this day. Only so recently as
+1846 a list of the works of Muggleton and his colleague Reeve was
+published, and the books advertised for sale. These two men
+claimed to be the two last witnesses or prophets, with power to
+sentence men to eternal damnation or blessedness. Muggleton had a
+decided preference for exercising the former power, especially in
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116"></a>[<a href="./images/116.png">116</a>]</span>regard to the Quakers, one of his books being called <i>A Looking
+Glass for George Fox, the Quaker, and other Quakers, wherein they
+may See Themselves to be Right Devils</i>. There is no reason to
+believe Muggleton to have been a conscious impostor; only in an
+age vexed to madness by religious controversy, religious madness
+carried him further than others. An asylum would have met his
+case better than the sentence of the Old Bailey, which condemned
+him to stand for three days in the pillory at the three most
+eminent places in the City, his books to be there in three lots
+burnt over his head, and himself then to be imprisoned till he
+had paid a sum of &pound;500 (1676). But this did not finish the man,
+for in 1681 he wrote his <i>Letter to Colonel Phaire</i>, the language
+of which is perhaps unsurpassed for repulsiveness in the whole
+range of religious literature. Muggleton's writings in short read
+as a kind of religious nightmare. In their case the fire was
+rather profaned by its fuel than the books honoured by the fire.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<img src="./images/p116.png" width="20%" alt="decorative woodcut" title="" />
+</div>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117"></a>[<a href="./images/117.png">117</a>]</span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<img src="./images/p117a.png" width="45%" alt="flowers and urns woodcut" title="" />
+</div>
+
+
+<p class="smallgap">&nbsp;</p>
+<h2>CHAPTER V.</h2>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">Book-Fires of the Restoration.</span></h3>
+
+<p><span class="dropcapw"><span class="dropcap">W</span></span>ITH the Restoration, the burning of certain obnoxious books
+formed one of the first episodes of that Royalist war of revenge
+of which the most disgraceful expression was the exhumation and
+hanging at Tyburn of the bones of Cromwell and Ireton. And had
+Goodwin and Milton not absconded, it is probable that the revenge
+which had to content itself with their books would have extended
+to their persons.</p>
+
+<p>John Goodwin, distinguished as a minister and a prolific writer
+on the people's side, had dedicated in 1649 to the House of
+Commons his <i>Obstructours of Justice</i>, in which he defended the
+execution of Charles I. He based his case, indeed, after the
+fashion of those days, too completely on Biblical texts to suit
+our modern taste; but his book is far from being the "very weak
+and inconclusive performance" <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118"></a>[<a href="./images/118.png">118</a>]</span>of which Neal speaks in his
+history of the Puritans. The sentiments follow exactly those of
+Rutherford's <i>Lex Rex</i>; as, for example, "The Crown is but the
+kingdom's or people's livery.&nbsp;.&nbsp;.&nbsp;. The king bears the relation of a
+political servant or vassal to that state, kingdom, or people
+over which he is set to govern." But the commonplaces of to-day
+were rank heresy in a chaplain to Cromwell.</p>
+
+<p>There seems to be no evidence to support Bishop Burnet's
+assertion that Goodwin was the head of the Fifth-Monarchy
+fanatics; and his story is simply that of a fearless, sensible,
+and conscientious minister, who took a strong interest in the
+political drama of his time, and advocated liberty of conscience
+before even Milton or Locke. But his chief distinction is to have
+been marked out for revenge in company with Milton by the
+miserable Restoration Parliament.</p>
+
+<p>Milton's <i>Eikonoklastes</i> and <i>Defensio Populi Anglicani</i> rank, of
+course, among the masterpieces of English prose, and ought to be
+read, where they never will be, in every Board and public school
+of England. In the first the picture of Charles I., as painted in
+the <i>Eikon Basilike</i>, was unmercifully torn to pieces. Charles's
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119"></a>[<a href="./images/119.png">119</a>]</span>religion, Milton declares, had been all hypocrisy. He had
+resorted to "ignoble shifts to seem holy, and to get a saintship
+among the ignorant and wretched people." The prayer he had given
+as a relic to the bishop at his execution had been stolen from
+Sidney's <i>Arcadia</i>. In outward devotion he had not at all
+exceeded some of the worst kings in history. But in spite of
+Milton, the <i>Eikon Basilike</i> sold rapidly, and contributed
+greatly to the reaction; and the Secretary of the Council of
+State had just reason to complain of the perverseness of his
+generation, "who, having first cried to God to be delivered from
+their king, now murmur against God for having heard their prayer,
+and cry as loud for their king against those that delivered
+them."</p>
+
+<p>The next year (1650) Milton had to take up his pen again in the
+same cause against the <i>Defence of Charles I. to Charles II.</i> by
+the learned Salmasius. Milton was not sparing in terms of abuse.
+He calls Salmasius "a rogue," "a foreign insignificant
+professor," "a slug," "a silly loggerhead," "a superlative fool."
+Even a <i>Times</i> leader of to-day would fall short of Milton in
+vituperative terms. It is not for this we still reverence the
+<i>Defensio</i>; but for its political force, and its <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120"></a>[<a href="./images/120.png">120</a>]</span>occasional
+splendid passages. Two samples must suffice:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Be this right of kings whatever it will, the right of the people
+is as much from God as it. And whenever any people, without some
+visible designation from God Himself, appoint a king over them,
+they have the same right to pull him down as they had to set him
+up at first. And certainly it is a more Godlike action to depose
+a tyrant than to set one up; and there appears much more of God
+in the people when they depose an unjust prince than in a king
+that oppresses an innocent people.&nbsp;.&nbsp;.&nbsp;. So that there is but little
+reason for that wicked and foolish opinion that kings, who
+commonly are the worst of men, should be so high in God's account
+as that He should have put the world under them, to be at their
+beck and be governed according to their humour; and that for
+their sakes alone He should have reduced all mankind, whom He
+made after His own image, into the same condition as brutes."</p>
+
+<p>The conclusion of Milton's <i>Defensio</i> is not more remarkable for
+its eloquence than it is for its closing paragraph. Addressing
+his countrymen in an exhortation that reminds one of the speeches
+of Pericles to the Athenians, he proceeds:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121"></a>[<a href="./images/121.png">121</a>]</span>
+"God has graciously delivered you, the first of nations, from
+the two greatest miseries of this life, and most pernicious to
+virtue, tyranny, and superstition; He has endued you with
+greatness of mind to be the first of mankind, who, after having
+conquered their own king, and having had him delivered into their
+hands, have not scrupled to condemn him judicially, and pursuant
+to that sentence of condemnation to put him to death. After the
+performing so glorious an action as this, you ought to do nothing
+that is mean and little, not so much as to think of, much less to
+do, anything but what is great and sublime."</p>
+
+<p>An exhortation to virtue founded on an act of regicide! To such
+an issue had come the dispute concerning the Divine Right of
+kings; and with such diversity of opinion do different men form
+their judgments concerning the leading events of their time!</p>
+
+<p>The House of Commons, reverting for a time to the ancient
+procedure in these matters, petitioned the King on June 16th,
+1660, to call in these books of Goodwin and Milton, and to order
+them to be burnt by the common hangman: and the King so far
+assented as to issue a proclamation ordering all persons in
+possession of such books to deliver them up to their county
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122"></a>[<a href="./images/122.png">122</a>]</span>sheriffs to be burnt by the hangman at the next assizes (August
+13th, 1660).<a name="FNanchor_122:1_14" id="FNanchor_122:1_14"></a><a href="#Footnote_122:1_14" class="fnanchor">[122:1]</a> In this way a good many were burnt; but,
+happily for the authors themselves, "they so fled or so obscured
+themselves" that all endeavours to apprehend their persons
+failed. Subsequently the benefits of the Act of Oblivion were
+conferred on Milton; but they were denied to Goodwin, who, having
+barely escaped sentence of death by Parliament, was incapacitated
+from ever holding any office again.</p>
+
+<p>The <i>Lex Rex</i>, or the <i>Law and the Prince</i> (1644), by the
+Presbyterian divine Samuel Rutherford, was another book which
+incurred the vengeance of the Restoration, and for the same
+reasons as Goodwin's book or Milton's. It was burnt by the
+hangman at Edinburgh (October 16th, 1660), St. Andrews (October
+23rd, 1660),<a name="FNanchor_122:2_15" id="FNanchor_122:2_15"></a><a href="#Footnote_122:2_15" class="fnanchor">[122:2]</a> and London; its author was deprived of his
+offices both in the University and the Church, and was summoned
+on a charge of high treason before the Parliament of Edinburgh.
+His death in 1661 anticipated the probable legal sentence, and
+saved Rutherford from political martyrdom.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123"></a>[<a href="./images/123.png">123</a>]</span>
+His book was an answer to the <i>Sacra Sancta Regum Majestas</i>, in
+which the Divine Right of kings, and the duty of passive
+obedience, had been strenuously upheld. Its appearance in 1644
+created a great sensation, and threw into the shade Buchanan's
+<i>De Jure Regni apud Scotos</i>, which had hitherto held the field on
+the popular side. The purpose and style of the book may be
+gathered from the passage in the preface, wherein the writer
+gives, as his reason for writing, the opinion that arbitrary
+government had "over-swelled all banks of law, that it was now at
+the highest float .&nbsp;.&nbsp;. that the naked truth was, that prelates, a
+wild and pushing cattle to the lambs and flocks of Christ, had
+made a hideous noise; the wheels of their chariot did run an
+unequal pace with the bloodthirsty mind of the daughter of
+Babel." The contention was, that all regal power sprang from the
+suffrages of the people. "The king is subordinate to the
+Parliament, not co-ordinate, for the constituent is above the
+constituted." "What are kings but vassals to the State, who, if
+they turn tyrants, fall from their right?" For the rest, a book
+so crammed and stuffed with Biblical quotations as to be most
+unreadable. And indeed, of all the features of that miserable
+seventeenth <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124"></a>[<a href="./images/124.png">124</a>]</span>century, surely nothing is more extraordinary than
+this insatiate taste of men of all parties for Jewish precedents.
+Never was the enslavement of the human mind to authority carried
+to more absurd lengths with more lamentable results; never was
+manifested a greater waste, or a greater wealth, of ability. For
+that reason, though Rutherford may claim a place on our shelves,
+he is little likely ever to be taken down from them. But may the
+principles he contended for remain as undisturbed as his repose!</p>
+
+<p>The year following the burning of these books the House of
+Commons directed its vengeance against certain statutes passed by
+the Republican government. On May 17th, 1661, a large majority
+condemned the <i>Solemn League and Covenant</i> to be burnt by the
+hangman, the House of Lords concurring. All copies of it were
+also to be taken down from all churches and public places.
+Evelyn, seeing it burnt in several places in London on Monday
+22nd, exclaims, "Oh! prodigious change!" The Irish Parliament
+also condemned it to the flames, not only in Dublin, but in all
+the towns of Ireland.</p>
+
+<p>A few days later, May 27th, the House of Commons, unanimously and
+with no <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125"></a>[<a href="./images/125.png">125</a>]</span>petition to the King, condemned to be burnt as
+"treasonable parchment writings":</p>
+
+<p>1. "The Act for erecting a High Court of Justice for the trial of
+Charles I."</p>
+
+<p>2. "The Act declaring and constituting the people of England a
+Commonwealth."</p>
+
+<p>3. "The Act for subscribing the Engagement."</p>
+
+<p>4. "The Act for renouncing and disannulling the title of Charles
+Stuart" (September 1656).</p>
+
+<p>5. "The Act for the security of the Lord Protector's person and
+continuance of the Nation in peace and safety" (September 1656).</p>
+
+<p>Three of these were burnt at Westminster and two at the Exchange.
+Pepys, beholding the latter sight from a balcony, was led to
+moralise on the mutability of human opinion. The strange thing is
+that, when these Acts were burnt, the Act for the abolition of
+the House of Lords (1649) appears to have escaped condemnation.
+For its intrinsic interest, I here insert the words of the old
+parchment:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"The Commons of England assembled in Parliament, finding by too
+long experience that the House of Lords is useless and dangerous
+to the people of <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126"></a>[<a href="./images/126.png">126</a>]</span>England to be continued, hath thought fit to
+ordain and enact, and be it ordained and enacted by this present
+Parliament and by the authority of the same: That from henceforth
+the House of Lords in Parliament shall be and is hereby wholly
+abolished and taken away; and that the Lords shall not from
+henceforth meet and sit in the said house, called the Lords'
+House, or in any other house or place whatsoever as a House of
+Lords; nor shall sit, vote, advise, adjudge, or determine of any
+matter or thing whatsoever as a House of Lords in Parliament:
+Nevertheless, it is hereby declared, that neither such Lords as
+have demeaned themselves with honour, courage, and fidelity to
+the Commonwealth, nor their posterities (who shall continue so),
+shall be excluded from the public councils of the Nation, but
+shall be admitted thereunto and have their free vote in
+Parliament, if they shall be thereunto elected, as other persons
+of interest elected and qualified thereunto ought to have. And be
+it further ordained and enacted by the authority aforesaid, That
+no peer of this land (not being elected, qualified, and sitting
+as aforesaid) shall claim, have, or make use of any privilege of
+Parliament either in relation to his person, quality, or estate
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127"></a>[<a href="./images/127.png">127</a>]</span>any law, usage, or custom to the contrary
+notwithstanding."<a name="FNanchor_127:1_16" id="FNanchor_127:1_16"></a><a href="#Footnote_127:1_16" class="fnanchor">[127:1]</a></p>
+
+<p>How true a presentiment our ancestors had of the incompatibility
+between an hereditary chamber and popular liberty is
+conspicuously shown by the next book we read of as burnt; and
+indeed there are few more instructive historical tracts than
+Locke's <i>Letter from a Person of Quality to his Friend in the
+Country</i>, which was ordered to be burnt by the Privy Council; and
+wherein he gave an account of the debates in the Lords on a Bill
+"to prevent the dangers which may arise from persons disaffected
+to the Government," in April and May 1675. It was actually
+proposed by this Bill to make compulsory on all officers of
+Church or State, and on all members of both Houses, an oath, not
+only declaring it unlawful upon any pretence to take arms against
+the King, but swearing to endeavour at no time the alteration of
+the government in Church and State. To that logical position had
+the Royalist spirit come within fifteen years of the Restoration;
+Charles II., according to Burnet, being much set on this scheme,
+which, says Locke, was "first hatched (as almost all the
+mischiefs of the world have been) <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128"></a>[<a href="./images/128.png">128</a>]</span>amongst the great churchmen."
+The bishops and clergy, by their outcry, had caused Charles's
+Declaration of Indulgence (March 17th, 1671) to be cancelled, and
+the great seal broken off it; they had "tricked away the rights
+and liberties of the people, in this and all other countries,
+wherever they had had opportunity .&nbsp;.&nbsp;. that priest and prince may,
+like Castor and Pollux, be worshipped together as divine, in the
+same temple, by us poor lay-subjects; and that sense and reason,
+law, properties, rights, and liberties shall be understood as the
+oracles of those deities shall interpret."</p>
+
+<p>There seems no doubt that the extinction of liberty was as
+vigorously aimed at as it was nearly achieved at the period Locke
+describes, under the administration of Lord Danby. But the Bill,
+though carried in the Lords, was strongly contested. Locke says
+that it occupied sixteen or seventeen whole days of debate, the
+House sitting often till 8 or 9 <span class="smcap">p.m.</span>, or even to midnight. His
+account of the speakers and their arguments is one of the most
+graphic pages of historical painting in our language; but it is
+said to have been drawn up at the desire, and almost at the
+dictation, of Locke's friend, Lord Shaftesbury, who himself took
+a prominent part against the Bill. Fortunately, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129"></a>[<a href="./images/129.png">129</a>]</span>it never got
+beyond the House of Lords, a dispute between the two Houses
+leading to a prorogation of Parliament and so to the salvation of
+liberty. But the whole episode impresses on the mind the force of
+the current then, as always, flowing in favour of arbitrary
+government throughout our history, as well as a sense of the very
+narrow margin by which liberty of any sort has escaped or been
+evolved, and, in general, of wonder that it should ever have
+survived at all the combinations of adverse circumstances against
+it.</p>
+
+<p>It has been shown in the account of books burnt in the time of
+the Rebellion, how freely in the struggle between Orthodoxy and
+Free Thought&mdash;between the dogmas, that is, of the strongest sect
+and the speculations of individuals&mdash;fire was resorted to for the
+purpose of burning out unpopular opinions. These, indeed, were
+often of so fantastic a nature, that no fire was really needed to
+insure their extinction; whilst of others it may be said that, as
+their existence was originally independent of actual expression,
+so the punishment inflicted on their utterance could prove no
+barrier to their propagation.</p>
+
+<p>But besides the war that was waged in the domain of theology
+proper, between opinions claiming to be sound and opinions
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130"></a>[<a href="./images/130.png">130</a>]</span>claiming to be true, a contest no less fierce centred for long
+round the very organisation of the Church; and between the
+Establishment and Dissent that hostile condition of thrust and
+parry, which has since become chronic, and is so detrimental to
+the cause professed by both alike, is no less visible in the
+field of literature than in that of our general history.
+Associated with the literary side of this great and bitter
+conflict&mdash;a side only too much ignored in the discreet popular
+histories of the English Church&mdash;are the names of Delaune, Defoe,
+Tindal, on the aggressive side, of Sacheverell and Drake on the
+defensive; each party, during the heat of battle, giving vent to
+sentiments so offensive to the other as to make it seem that fire
+alone could atone for the injury or remove the sting.</p>
+
+<p>The first book to mention in connection with this struggle is
+Delaune's <i>Plea for the Nonconformists</i>; a book round which hangs
+a melancholy tale, and which is entitled to a niche in the
+library of Fame for other reasons than the mere fact of its
+having been burnt before the Royal Exchange in 1683. The story
+shows the sacerdotalism of the Church of England at its very
+worst, and helps to explain the evil heritage of hatred which, in
+the hearts <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131"></a>[<a href="./images/131.png">131</a>]</span>of the nonconforming sects, has since descended and
+still clings to her.</p>
+
+<p>Dr. Calamy, one of the King's chaplains, had preached and printed
+a sermon called <i>Scrupulous Conscience</i>, challenging to, or
+advocating, the friendly discussion of points of difference
+between the Church and the Nonconformists. Delaune, who kept a
+grammar school, was weak enough to take him at his word, and so
+wrote his <i>Plea</i>, a book of wondrous learning, and to this day
+one of the best to read concerning the origin and growth of the
+various rites of the Church. Thereupon he was whisked off to herd
+with the commonest felons in Newgate, whence he wrote repeatedly
+to Dr. Calamy, to beg him, as the cause of his unjust arrest, to
+procure his release. Delaune disclaimed all malignity against the
+English Church, or any member of it, and, with grim humour,
+entreated to be convinced of his errors "by something more like
+divinity than Newgate." But the Church has not always dealt in
+more convincing divinity, and accordingly the cowardly
+ecclesiastic held his peace and left his victim to suffer.</p>
+
+<p>It is difficult even now to tell the rest of Delaune's story with
+patience. He was indicted for intending to disturb the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132"></a>[<a href="./images/132.png">132</a>]</span>peace of
+the kingdom, to bring the King into the greatest hatred and
+contempt, and for printing and publishing, by force of arms, a
+scandalous libel against the King and the Prayer-Book. Of course
+it was extravagantly absurd, but these indictments were the legal
+forms under which the luckless Dissenters experienced sufferings
+that were to them the sternest realities. Delaune was, in
+consequence, fined a sum he could not possibly pay; his books
+(for he also wrote <i>The Image of the Beast</i>, wherein he showed,
+in three parallel columns, the far greater resemblance of the
+Catholic rites to those of Pagan Rome than to those of the New
+Testament) were condemned to be burnt; and his judges, humane
+enough to let him off the pillory in consideration of his
+education, sent him back to Newgate notwithstanding it. There, in
+that noisome atmosphere and in that foul company, he was obliged
+to shelter his wife and two small children; and there, after
+fifteen months, he died, having first seen all he loved on earth
+pine and die before him. And he was only one of eight thousand
+other Protestant Dissenters who died in prison during the merry,
+miserable reign of Charles II.! Of a truth, Dissent has something
+to forgive the Church; for <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133"></a>[<a href="./images/133.png">133</a>]</span>persecution in Protestant England was
+very much the same as in Catholic France, with, if possible, less
+justification.</p>
+
+<p>The main argument of Delaune's book was, that the Church of
+England agreed more in its rites and doctrines with the Church of
+Rome, and both Churches with Pagan or pre-Christian Rome, than
+either did with the primitive Church or the word of the Gospel&mdash;a
+thesis that has long since become generally accepted; but his
+main offence consisted in saying that the Lord's Prayer ought in
+one sentence to have been translated precisely as it now has been
+in the Revised Version, and in contending that the frequent
+repetition of the prayer in church was contrary to the express
+command of Scripture. On these and other points Delaune's book
+was never answered&mdash;for the reason, I believe, that it never
+could be. After the Act of Toleration (1689) it was often
+reprinted; the eighth and last time in 1706, when the High Church
+movement to persecute Dissent had assumed dangerous strength,
+with an excellent preface by Defoe, and concluding with the
+letters to Dr. Calamy, written by Delaune from Newgate. Defoe
+well points out that the great artifice of Delaune's time was to
+make the persecution of Dissent appear necessary, by
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134"></a>[<a href="./images/134.png">134</a>]</span>representing it as dangerous to the State as well as the Church.</p>
+
+<p>The mention of two other books seems to complete the list of
+burnt political literature down to the Revolution of 1688.</p>
+
+<p>One is <i>Malice Defeated</i>, or a brief relation of the accusation
+and deliverance of Elizabeth Cellier. The authoress was
+implicated in the Dangerfield conspiracy, and, having been
+indicted for plotting to kill the King and to reintroduce Popery,
+was sentenced at the Old Bailey to be imprisoned till she had
+paid a fine of &pound;1,000, to stand three times in the pillory, and
+to have her books burnt by the hangman. I do not suppose that, in
+her case, literature incurred any loss.</p>
+
+<p>The other is the translation of Claude's <i>Plaintes des
+Protestants</i>, burnt at the Exchange on May 5th, 1686. After the
+Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, people like Sir Roger
+l'Estrange were well paid to write denials of any cruelties as
+connected with that measure in France; much as in our own day
+people wrote denials of the Turkish atrocities in Bulgaria. The
+famous Huguenot minister's book proved of course abundantly the
+falsity of this denial; but, as Evelyn says, so great a power in
+the English Court had then the French ambassador, "who was
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135"></a>[<a href="./images/135.png">135</a>]</span>doubtless in great indignation at the pious and truly generous
+charity of all the nation for the relief of those miserable
+sufferers who came over for shelter," that, in deference to his
+wishes, the Government of James II. condemned the truth to the
+flames. Nothing in that monarch's reign proves more conclusively
+the depth of degradation to which his foreign policy and that of
+his brother had caused his country to fall.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<img src="./images/p135.png" width="20%" alt="bird woodcut" title="" />
+</div>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 90%;" />
+<h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_122:1_14" id="Footnote_122:1_14"></a><a href="#FNanchor_122:1_14"><span class="label">[122:1]</span></a> In Kennet's <i>Register</i>, 189.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_122:2_15" id="Footnote_122:2_15"></a><a href="#FNanchor_122:2_15"><span class="label">[122:2]</span></a> Lamont's <i>Diary</i>, 159.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_127:1_16" id="Footnote_127:1_16"></a><a href="#FNanchor_127:1_16"><span class="label">[127:1]</span></a> Scobell's <i>Collection of Acts</i>, II. 8.</p></div>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136"></a>[<a href="./images/136.png">136</a>]</span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<img src="./images/p136a.png" width="45%" alt="vine and urn woodcut" title="" />
+</div>
+
+
+<p class="smallgap">&nbsp;</p>
+<h2>CHAPTER VI.</h2>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">Book-Fires of the Revolution.</span></h3>
+
+<p><span class="dropcapt"><span class="dropcap">T</span></span>HE period of the Revolution, by which I mean from the accession
+of William III. to the death of Queen Anne, was a time in which
+the conflict between Orthodoxy and Free Thought, and again
+between Church and Dissent, continued with an unabated ferocity,
+which is most clearly reflected in and illustrated by the
+sensational history of its contemporary literature, especially
+during the reign of Queen Anne. I am not aware that any book was
+burnt by authority of the English Parliament during the reign of
+William, but to say this in the face of Molyneux's <i>Case for
+Ireland</i>, which has been so frequently by great authorities
+declared to have been so treated, compels me to allude to the
+history of that book, and to give the reasons for a contrary
+belief.</p>
+
+<p>It is first stated in the preface to the edition of 1770 that
+William Molyneux's <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137"></a>[<a href="./images/137.png">137</a>]</span><i>Case for Ireland being bound by Acts of
+Parliament in England</i>, first published in 1698, was burnt by the
+hangman at the order of Parliament; and the statement has been
+often repeated by later writers, as by Mr. Lecky, Dr. Ball, and
+others. Why then is there no mention of such a sentence in the
+Journals of the Commons, where a full account is given of the
+proceedings against the book; nor in Swift's <i>Drapier Letters</i>,
+where he refers to the fate of the <i>Case for Ireland</i>? This seems
+almost conclusive evidence on the negative side; but as the
+editor of 1770 may have had some lost authority for his remark,
+and not been merely mistaken, some account may be given of the
+book, as of one possibly, but not probably, condemned to the
+flames.<a name="FNanchor_137:1_17" id="FNanchor_137:1_17"></a><a href="#Footnote_137:1_17" class="fnanchor">[137:1]</a></p>
+
+<p>Molyneux was distinguished for his scientific attainments, was a
+member of the Irish Parliament, first for Dublin City and then
+for the University, and was also a great friend of Locke the
+philosopher. The introduction in 1698 of the Bill, which was
+carried the same year by the English Parliament, forbidding the
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138"></a>[<a href="./images/138.png">138</a>]</span>exportation of Irish woollen manufactures to England or
+elsewhere&mdash;one of the worst Acts of oppression of the many that
+England has perpetrated against Ireland&mdash;led Molyneux to write
+this book, in which he contends for the constitutional right of
+Ireland to absolute legislative independence. As the political
+relationship between the two countries&mdash;a relation now of pure
+force on one side, and of subjection on the other&mdash;is still a
+matter of contention, it will not be out of place to devote a few
+lines to a brief summary of his argument.</p>
+
+<p>Before 1641 no law made in England was of force in Ireland
+without the consent of the latter, a large number of English Acts
+not being received in Ireland till they had been separately
+enacted there also. At the so-called conquest of Ireland by Henry
+II., the English laws settled by him were voluntarily accepted by
+the Irish clergy and nobility, and Ireland was allowed the
+freedom of holding parliaments as a separate and distinct kingdom
+from England. So it was that John was made King (or Dominus) of
+Ireland even in the lifetime of his father, Henry II., and
+remained so during the reign of his brother, Richard I. Ireland,
+therefore, could not be bound by England without <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139"></a>[<a href="./images/139.png">139</a>]</span>the consent of
+her own representatives; and the happiness of having her
+representatives in the English Parliament could hardly be hoped
+for, since that experiment had been proved in Cromwell's time to
+be too troublesome and inconvenient.</p>
+
+<p>Molyneux concluded his argument with a warning that subsequent
+history has amply justified&mdash;"Advancing the power of the
+Parliament of England by breaking the rights of another may in
+time have ill effects." So, indeed, it has; but such warnings or
+prophecies seldom bring favour to their authors, and the English
+Parliament was moved to fury by Molyneux' arguments. Yet the
+latter, writing to Locke on the subject of his book, had said: "I
+think I have treated it with that caution and submission that it
+cannot justly give any offence; insomuch that I scruple not to
+put my name to it; and, by the advice of some good friends, have
+presumed to dedicate it to his Majesty.&nbsp;.&nbsp;.&nbsp;. But till I either see
+how the Parliament at Westminster is pleased to take it, or till
+I see them risen, I do not think it advisable for me to go on
+t'other side of the water. Though I am not apprehensive of any
+mischief from them, yet God only knows what resentments captious
+men <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140"></a>[<a href="./images/140.png">140</a>]</span>may take on such occasions." (April 19th, 1698.)</p>
+
+<p>Molyneux, however, was soon to know this himself, for on May 21st
+his book was submitted to the examination of a committee; and on
+the committee's report (June 22nd) that it was "of dangerous
+consequence to the Crown and people of England, by denying the
+authority of the King and Parliament of England to bind the
+kingdom and people of Ireland," an address was presented to the
+King praying him to punish the author of such "bold and
+pernicious assertions," and to discourage all things that might
+lessen the dependence of Ireland upon England; to which William
+replied that he would take care that what they complained of
+should be prevented and redressed. Perhaps the dedication of the
+book to the King restrained the House from voting it to the
+flames; but, anyhow, there is not the least contemporary evidence
+of their doing so. Molyneux did not survive the year of the
+condemnation of his book; but, in spite of his fears, he spent
+five weeks with Locke at Oates in the autumn of the same year,
+his book surviving him, to attest his wonderful foresight as much
+as later events justified his spirited remonstrance.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141"></a>[<a href="./images/141.png">141</a>]</span>
+There is, however, no doubt about the burning of a book for its
+theological sentiments at this time, though it was no Parliament
+but only an university which committed it to the fire. Oxford
+University has always tempered her love for learning with a
+dislike for inquiry, and set the cause of orthodoxy above the
+cause of truth. This phase of her character was never better
+illustrated than in the case of <i>The Naked Gospel</i>, by the Rev.
+Arthur Bury, Rector of Exeter College (1690).</p>
+
+<p>A high value attaches to the first edition of this book, wherein
+the author essayed to show what the primitive Gospel really was,
+what alterations had been gradually made in it, and what
+advantages and disadvantages had therefrom ensued. Bury, many
+years before, in 1648, had known what it was to be led from his
+college by a file of musketeers, and forbidden to return to
+Oxford or his fellowship under pain of death, because he had the
+courage in those days to read the prayers of the Church. So he
+had some justification for ascribing his anonymous work to "a
+true son of the Church"; and his motive was the promotion of that
+charity and toleration which breathes in its every page. The King
+had summoned a Convocation, to make certain changes in the
+Litany, and, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142"></a>[<a href="./images/142.png">142</a>]</span>if possible, to reconcile ecclesiastical
+differences; he even dreamt of uniting the Protestant Churches of
+England and of the Continent, and his Comprehension Bill, had it
+passed Parliament, might have made the English Church a really
+national Church; and it was from his sympathy with the broad
+ideas of the King that Bury wrote his pamphlet, intending not to
+publish it, but to present it to the members of Convocation
+severally. Unfortunately he showed or presented a few copies to a
+few friends, with the natural result that the work became known,
+the author admonished for heresy and driven from his rectorship,
+and the book publicly burnt, by a vote of the university, in the
+area of the schools (August 19th, 1690). He should have reflected
+that it is as little the part of a discreet man to try to
+reconcile religious factions as to seek to separate fighting
+tigers.</p>
+
+<p>The unexpected commotion roused by his book led the author to
+republish it with great modifications and omissions; a fact which
+much diminishes the interest of the second edition of 1691. For
+instance, the preface to the second edition omits this passage of
+the first: "The Church of England, as it needs not, so it does
+not, forbid any of its sons the use of their own <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143"></a>[<a href="./images/143.png">143</a>]</span>eyes; if it
+did, this alone would be sufficient reason not only to distrust
+but to condemn it." Nevertheless both editions alike contain many
+passages remarkable for their breadth of view no less than for
+their admirable expression. What, for instance, could be better
+than the passage wherein he speaks of the priests cramming the
+people with doctrines, "so many in numbers that an ordinary mind
+cannot retain them; so perplexed in matter that the best
+understanding cannot comprehend them; so impertinent to any good
+purpose that a good man need not regard them; and so unmentioned
+in Scripture that none but the greatest subtlety can therein
+discover the least intimations of them"? Or again: "No king is
+more independent in his own dominions from any foreign
+jurisdiction in matters civil, than every Christian is within his
+own mind in matters of faith"? What Doctor of Divinity of these
+days would speak as courageously as this one did two hundred
+years ago? So let any one be prepared to give a good price for a
+first edition copy of <i>The Naked Gospel</i>, and, when obtained, to
+study as well as honour it.</p>
+
+<p>History is apt to repeat itself, and therefore it is of interest
+to note here <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144"></a>[<a href="./images/144.png">144</a>]</span>that about a century and a half later (March 1849)
+Exeter College was again stirred to the burning point, and that
+in connection with a book which, apart from its intrinsic
+interest, enjoys the distinction of having been actually the last
+to be burnt in England. In the <i>Morning Post</i> of March 9th, 1849,
+it is written: "We are informed that a work recently published by
+Mr. Froude, M.A., Fellow of Exeter College, entitled the <i>Nemesis
+of Faith</i>, was a few days since publicly burned by the
+authorities in the College Hall." The <i>Nemesis</i>, therefore,
+deserves a place in our libraries, and many will even prize it
+above its author's historical works, as the last example of the
+effort of the ecclesiastical spirit to crush the discussion of
+its dogmas. It is owing to this attempt that the <i>Nemesis</i> is now
+so well known as to render any reference to its contents
+superfluous.</p>
+
+<p>We now pass to the reign of Queen Anne, when Toryism became the
+prevalent power in the country, and manifested its peculiar
+spirit by the increased persecution of literature.</p>
+
+<p>Among strictly theological works one by John Asgill, barrister,
+claims a peculiar distinction, for it was burnt by order of two
+Parliaments, English and Irish, and <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145"></a>[<a href="./images/145.png">145</a>]</span>its author expelled from two
+Houses of Commons. This was the famous <i>Argument Proving that
+According to the Covenant of Eternal Life, revealed in the
+Scriptures, Man may be Translated from Hence into that Eternal
+Life without Passing Through Death, although the Human Nature of
+Christ Himself could not be thus Translated till He had Passed
+Through Death</i> (1700). In this book of 106 pages Asgill argued
+that death, which had come by Adam, had been removed by the death
+of Christ, and had lost its legal power. He claimed the right,
+and asserted his expectation, of actual translation; and so went
+by the nickname of "Translated Asgill." He tells how in writing
+it he felt two powers within him, one bidding him write, the
+other bobbing his elbow; but unfortunately the former prevailed,
+as it generally does. His printer told him that his men thought
+the author a little crazed, in which Asgill fancied the printer
+spoke one word for them and two for himself. Other people agreed
+with the printer, to Asgill's advantage, for, as he says, "Coming
+into court to see me as a monster, and hearing me talk like a
+man, I soon fell into my share of practice": which I mention as a
+hint for the briefless. This was in Ireland, where Asgill <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146"></a>[<a href="./images/146.png">146</a>]</span>was
+elected member for Enniscorthy, for which place however he only
+sat four days, being expelled for his pamphlet on October 10th,
+1703. Shortly afterwards Asgill became member for Bramber, in
+Sussex, but this seat, too, he lost in 1707 for the same reason,
+the English House, like the Irish, though not by a unanimous
+vote, condemning his book to the flames. Asgill's debts caused
+him apparently to spend the rest of his days in the comparative
+peace of the Fleet prison.</p>
+
+<p>Coleridge says there is no genuine Saxon English better than
+Asgill's, and that his irony is often finer than Swift's. At all
+events, his burnt work&mdash;the labour of seven years&mdash;is very dreary
+reading, relieved however by such occasional good sayings as "It
+is much easier to make a creed than to believe it after it is
+made," or "Custom itself, without a reason for it, is an argument
+only for fools." Asgill's defence before the House of Commons
+shows that a very strained interpretation was placed upon the
+passages that gave offence. Let it suffice to quote one: "Stare
+at me as long as you will, I am sure that neither my physiognomy,
+sins, nor misfortune can make me so unlikely to be translated as
+my Redeemer was to <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147"></a>[<a href="./images/147.png">147</a>]</span>be hanged." Asgill clearly wrote in all
+honesty and sincerity, though the contrary has been suggested;
+and his defence was not without spirit or point: "Pray what is
+this blasphemous crime I here stand charged with? A belief of
+what we all profess, or at least of what no one can deny. If the
+death of the body be included in the fall, why is not this life
+of the body included in the redemption? And if I have a firmer
+belief in this than another, am I therefore a blasphemer?" But
+the House thought that he was; and to impugn the right of the
+majority to decide such a point would be to impugn a fundamental
+principle of the British Constitution. I therefore refrain from
+an opinion, and leave the matter to the reader's judgment.</p>
+
+<p>Among the many books that have owed an increase of popularity, or
+any popularity at all, to the fire that burnt them, may be
+instanced the two works of Dr. Coward, which were burnt by order
+of the House of Commons in Palace Yard on March 18th, 1704. Dr.
+Coward had been a Fellow of Merton, and he wrote poetry as well
+as books of medicine, but in 1702 he ventured on metaphysical
+ground, and under the pseudonym of "Estibius Psychalethes"
+dedicated to the clergy his <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148"></a>[<a href="./images/148.png">148</a>]</span><i>Second Thoughts concerning the
+Human Soul</i>, in which he contended that the notion of the soul as
+a separate immaterial substance was "a plain heathenist
+invention:" not exactly a position the clergy were likely to
+welcome, although the author repeatedly avowed his belief in an
+eternal future life. In 1704 the Doctor published his <i>Grand
+Essay: a Vindication of Reason and Religion against the
+Impostures of Philosophy</i>, in which he repeated his ideas about
+immaterial substances, and argued that matter and motion were the
+foundation of thought in man and brutes. The House of Commons
+called him to its bar, and burnt his books; a proceeding which
+conferred such additional popularity upon them that the Doctor
+was enabled the very same year to bring out a second edition of
+his <i>Second Thoughts</i>. Certainly no other treatment could have
+made the books popular. They are perfectly legitimate, but rather
+dry, metaphysical disquisitions; and Parliament might quite as
+fairly have burnt Locke's famous essay on the <i>Human
+Understanding</i>.</p>
+
+<p>For Parliament thus to constitute itself Defender of the Faith
+was not merely to trespass on the office of the Crown, but to sin
+against the more sacred right of <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149"></a>[<a href="./images/149.png">149</a>]</span>common sense itself. We cannot
+be surprised, therefore, since the English Parliament sinned in
+this way (as it does to this day in a minor degree), that the
+Irish Parliament should have sinned equally, as it did about the
+same time, in the case of a book whose title far more suggested
+heresy than its contents substantiated it. I refer to Toland's
+<i>Christianity not Mysterious</i> (1696), which was burnt by the
+hangman before the Parliament House Gate at Dublin, and in the
+open street before the Town-House, by order of the Committee of
+Religion of the Irish House of Commons, one member even going so
+far as to advocate the burning of Toland himself. It is difficult
+now to understand the extreme excitement caused by Toland's book,
+seeing that it was evidently written in the interests of
+Christianity, and would now be read without emotion by the most
+orthodox. It was only the superstructure, not the foundation,
+that Toland attacked; his whole contention being that
+Christianity, rightly understood, contained nothing mysterious or
+inconsistent with reason, but that all ideas of this sort, and
+most of its rites, had been aftergrowths, borrowed from Paganism,
+in that compromise between the new and old religion which
+constituted the world's Christianisation.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150"></a>[<a href="./images/150.png">150</a>]</span><a name="FNanchor_150:1_18" id="FNanchor_150:1_18"></a><a href="#Footnote_150:1_18" class="fnanchor">[150:1]</a> Although this
+fact is now generally admitted, Toland puts the case so well that
+it is best to give his own words:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"The Christians," he says, "were careful to remove all obstacles
+lying in the way of the Gentiles. They thought the most effectual
+way of gaining them over to their side was by compounding the
+matter, which led them to unwarrantable compliances, till at
+length they likewise set up for mysteries. Yet not having the
+least precedent for any ceremonies from the Gospel, excepting
+Baptism and the Supper, they strangely disguised and transformed
+these by adding to them the pagan mystic rites. They administered
+them with the strictest secrecy; and to be inferior to their
+adversaries in no circumstance, they permitted none to assist at
+them but such as were antecedently prepared or initiated."</p>
+
+<p>The parallel Toland proceeds to draw is extremely instructive,
+and could only be improved on in our own day by tracing both
+Pagan and Christian rites to their antecedent origins in India.
+What <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151"></a>[<a href="./images/151.png">151</a>]</span>he says also of the Fathers would be nowadays assented to
+by all who have ever had the curiosity to look into their
+writings; namely, "that they were as injudicious, violent, and
+factious as other men; that they were, for the greatest part,
+very credulous and superstitious in religion, as well as
+pitifully ignorant and superficial in the minutest punctilios of
+literature."</p>
+
+<p>Toland was only twenty-six when he published his first book, but,
+to judge from the correspondence between Locke and Molyneux, he
+was vain and indiscreet. "He has raised against him," says the
+latter from Dublin (May 27th, 1697), "the clamours of all
+parties; and this not so much by his difference in opinion as by
+his unseasonable way of discoursing, propagating, and maintaining
+it." Again (September 11th, 1697): "Mr. T. is at last driven out
+of the kingdom; the poor gentleman, by his imprudent management,
+had raised such an universal outcry that it was even dangerous
+for a man to have been known once to converse with him. This made
+all men wary of reputation decline seeing him; insomuch that at
+last he wanted a meal's meat (as I am told), and none would admit
+him to their tables. The little stock of money which he <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152"></a>[<a href="./images/152.png">152</a>]</span>brought
+into the country being exhausted, he fell to borrowing from any
+one that would lend him half-a-crown, and ran in debt for his
+wigs, clothes, and lodging." Then when the Parliament ordered him
+to be taken into custody, and to be prosecuted, he very wisely
+fled the country, suffering only a temporary rebuff, and writing
+many other books, political and religious, none of which ever
+attained the distinction of his first.</p>
+
+<p>But it was in the struggle between the Church and Dissent that
+the party-spirit of Queen Anne's reign chiefly manifested itself
+in the burning of books. No one fought for the cause of Dissent
+with greater energy or greater personal loss than the famous
+Defoe, the author of <i>Robinson Crusoe</i>. It brought him to ruin,
+and one of his books to the hangman.</p>
+
+<p>It would seem that his <i>Shortest Way with the Dissenters</i> (1702),
+which ironically advocated their extermination, was in answer to
+a sermon preached at Oxford by Sacheverell in June of the same
+year, called <i>The Political Union</i>, wherein he alluded to a party
+against whom all friends of the Anglican Church "ought to hang
+out the bloody flag and banner of defiance." Defoe's pamphlet so
+exactly accorded with the sentiments of the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153"></a>[<a href="./images/153.png">153</a>]</span>High Church party
+against the Dissenters that the extent of their applause at first
+was only equalled by that of their subsequent fury when the true
+author and his true object came to be known. Parliament ordered
+the work to be burnt by the hangman, and Defoe was soon
+afterwards sentenced to a ruinous fine and imprisonment, and to
+three days' punishment in the pillory. It was on this occasion
+that he wrote his famous <i>Hymn to the Pillory</i>, which he
+distributed among the spectators, and from which (as it is
+somewhat long) I quote a few of the more striking lines:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"Hail, Hieroglyphick State machine,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0i">Contrived to punish fancy in;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0i">Men that are men in thee can feel no pain,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0i">And all thy insignificants disdain.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i1i"><b>.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;.</b><br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0i">Here by the errors of the town<br /></span>
+<span class="i0i">The fools look out and knaves look on.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i1i"><b>.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;.</b><br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0i">Actions receive their tincture from the times,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0i">And, as they change, are virtues made or crimes.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0i">Thou art the State-trap of the Law,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0i">But neither can keep knaves nor honest men in awe.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i1i"><b>.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;.</b><br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0i">Thou art no shame to Truth and Honesty,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0i">Nor is the character of such defaced by thee,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0i">Who suffer by oppression's injury.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0i">Shame, like the exhalations of the Sun,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0i">Falls back where first the motion was begun,<br /></span>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154"></a>[<a href="./images/154.png">154</a>]</span>
+<span class="i0i">And they who for no crime shall on thy brows appear,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0i">Bear less reproach than they who placed them there."<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>The State-trap of the Law, however, long survived Defoe's hymn to
+it, and was unworthily employed against many another great
+Englishman before its abolition. That event was delayed till the
+first year of Queen Victoria's reign; the House of Lords
+defending it, as it defended all other abuses of our old penal
+code, when the Commons in 1815 passed a Bill for its abolition.</p>
+
+<p>About the same time, Parliament ordered to be burnt by the
+hangman a pamphlet against the Test, which one John Humphrey, an
+aged Nonconformist minister, had written and circulated among the
+members of Parliament.<a name="FNanchor_154:1_19" id="FNanchor_154:1_19"></a><a href="#Footnote_154:1_19" class="fnanchor">[154:1]</a> There seems to be no record of the
+pamphlet's name; and I only guess it may be a work entitled, <i>A
+Draught for a National Church accommodation, whereby the subjects
+of North and South Britain, however different in their judgments
+concerning Episcopacy and Presbytery, may yet be united</i> (1709).
+For, to suggest union or compromise or reconciliation between
+parties is generally to court persecution from both.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155"></a>[<a href="./images/155.png">155</a>]</span>
+A book that was very famous in its day, on the opposite side to
+Defoe, was Doctor Drake's <i>Memorial of the Church of England</i>,
+published anonymously in 1705. The Tory author was indignant that
+the House of Lords should have rejected the Bill against
+Occasional Conformity, which would have made it impossible for
+Dissenters to hold any office by conforming to the Test Act; he
+complained of the knavish pains of the Dissenters to divide
+Churchmen into High and Low; and he declared that the present
+prospect of the Church was "very melancholy," and that of the
+government "not much more comfortable." Long habit has rendered
+us callous to the melancholy state of the Church and the
+discomfort of governments; but in Queen Anne's time the croakers'
+favourite cry was a serious offence. The Queen's Speech,
+therefore, of October 27th, 1705, expressed strong resentment at
+this representation of the Church in danger; both Houses, by
+considerable majorities, voted the Church to be "in a most safe
+and flourishing condition"; and a royal proclamation censured
+both the book and its unknown author, a few months after it had
+been presented by the Grand Jury of the City, and publicly burnt
+by the hangman. It was <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156"></a>[<a href="./images/156.png">156</a>]</span>more rationally and effectually dealt
+with in Defoe's <i>High Church Legion, or the Memorial examined</i>;
+but one is sometimes tempted to wish that the cry of the Church
+in danger might be as summarily disposed of as it was in the
+reign of Queen Anne, when to vote its safety was deemed
+sufficient to insure it.</p>
+
+<p>Drake's misfortunes as a writer were as conspicuous as his
+abilities. Two years before the Memorial was burnt, his <i>Historia
+Anglo-Scotica</i>, purporting to give an impartial history of the
+events that occurred between England and Scotland from William
+the Conqueror to Queen Elizabeth, was burnt at Edinburgh (June
+30th, 1703). It was dedicated to Sir Edward Seymour, one of the
+Queen's Commissioners for the Union, and a High Churchman; and as
+it also expressed the hope that the Union would afford the Scotch
+"as ample a field to love and admire the generosity of the
+English as they had theretofore to dread their valour," it was
+clearly not calculated to please the Scotch. They accordingly
+burned it for its many reflections on the sovereignty and
+independence of their crown and nation. As the Memorial was also
+burnt at Dublin, Drake enjoys the distinction of having
+contributed a book to be burnt in <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157"></a>[<a href="./images/157.png">157</a>]</span>each of the three kingdoms. He
+would, perhaps, have done better to have stuck to medicine; and
+indeed the number of books written by doctors, which have brought
+their authors into trouble, is a remarkable fact in the history
+of literature.</p>
+
+<p>Next to Drake's Memorial, and closely akin to it in argument,
+come the two famous sermons of Dr. Sacheverell, the friend of
+Addison; sermons which made a greater stir in the reign of Queen
+Anne than any sermons have ever since made, or seem ever likely
+to make again. They were preached in August and November 1709,
+the first at Derby, called the <i>Communication of Sin</i>, and the
+other at St. Paul's. The latter, <i>Perils among False Brethren</i>,
+is very vigorous, even to read, and it is easy to understand the
+commotion it caused. The False Brethren are the Dissenters and
+Republicans; Sacheverell is as indignant with those "upstart
+novelists" who presume "to evacuate the grand sanction of the
+Gospel, the eternity of hell torments," as with those false
+brethren who "will renounce their creed and read the Decalogue
+backward .&nbsp;.&nbsp;. fall down and worship the very Devil himself for the
+riches and honour of this world." In his advocacy of
+non-resistance he was thought to hit at the Glorious Revolution
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158"></a>[<a href="./images/158.png">158</a>]</span>itself. "The grand security of our government, and the very
+pillar upon which it stands, is founded upon the steady belief of
+the subject's obligation to an absolute and unconditional
+obedience to the supreme power in all things lawful, and the
+utter illegality of any resistance upon any pretence whatsoever."</p>
+
+<p>Then came the great trial in the House of Lords, and
+Sacheverell's most able defence, often attributed to his friend
+Atterbury. This speech, which Boyer calls "studied, artful, and
+pathetic," deeply affected the fair sex, and even drew tears from
+some of the tender-hearted; but a certain lady to whom, before he
+preached the sermon, Sacheverell had explained the allusions in
+it to William III., the Ministry, and Lord Godolphin, was so
+astonished at the audacity of his public recantation that she
+suddenly cried out, "The greatest villain under the sun!" But for
+this little fact, one might think Sacheverell was unfairly
+treated. At the end of it all, however, he was only suspended
+from preaching for three years, and his sermons condemned to be
+burnt before the Royal Exchange in presence of the Lord Mayor and
+sheriffs; a sentence so much more lenient than at first seemed
+probable, that bonfires and illuminations in London and
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159"></a>[<a href="./images/159.png">159</a>]</span>Westminster attested the general delight. At the instance, too,
+of Sacheverell's friends, certain other books were burnt two days
+before his own, by order of the House of Commons: so that the
+High Church party had not altogether the worst of the battle. The
+books so burnt were the following:&mdash;1. <i>The Rights of the
+Christian Church asserted against the Romish and all other
+Priests.</i> By M. Tindal. 2. <i>A Defence of the Rights of the
+Christian Church.</i> 3. <i>A Letter from a Country Attorney to a
+Country Parson concerning the Rights of the Church.</i> 4. Le
+Clerc's extract and judgment of the same. 5. John Clendon's
+<i>Tractatus Philosophico-Theologicus de Persona</i>: a book that
+dealt with the subject of the Trinity.</p>
+
+<p>Boyer gives a curious description of Sacheverell: "A man of large
+and strong make and good symmetry of parts; of a livid complexion
+and audacious look, without sprightliness; the result and
+indication of an envious, ill-natured, proud, sullen, and
+ambitious spirit"&mdash;clearly not the portrait of a friend. Lord
+Campbell thought the St. Paul sermon contemptible, and General
+Stanhope, in the debate, called it nonsensical and incoherent. It
+seems to me the very reverse, even if we abstract it from its
+stupendous effect. Sacheverell, no doubt, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160"></a>[<a href="./images/160.png">160</a>]</span>was a more than
+usually narrow-minded priest; but in judging of the preacher we
+must think also of the look and the voice and the gestures, and
+these probably fully made up, as they so often do, for anything
+false or illogical in the sermon itself.</p>
+
+<p>At all events, Sacheverell won for himself a place in English
+history. That he should have brought the House of Lords into
+conflict with the Church, causing it to condemn to the flames,
+together with his own sermons, the famous Oxford decree of 1683,
+which asserted the most absolute claims of monarchy, condemned
+twenty-seven propositions as impious and seditious, and most of
+them as heretical and blasphemous, and condemned the works of
+nineteen writers to the flames, would alone entitle his name to
+remembrance.<a name="FNanchor_160:1_20" id="FNanchor_160:1_20"></a><a href="#Footnote_160:1_20" class="fnanchor">[160:1]</a> So incensed indeed were the Commons, that
+they also condemned to be burnt the very <i>Collections of Passages
+referred to by Dr. Sacheverell in the Answer to the Articles of
+his Impeachment</i>.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161"></a>[<a href="./images/161.png">161</a>]</span>
+But Parliament was in a burning mood; for Sacheverell's friends,
+wishing to justify his cry of the Church in danger, which he had
+ascribed to the heretical works lately printed, easily succeeded
+in procuring the burning of Tindal's and Clendon's books, before
+mentioned. Nor can any one who reads that immortal work, <i>The
+Rights of the Christian Church, asserted against the Romish and
+all other Priests who claim an independent power over it</i>, wonder
+at their so urging the House, however much he may wonder at their
+succeeding.</p>
+
+<p>The first edition of <i>The Rights of the Christian Church</i>
+appeared in 1706, published anonymously, but written by the
+celebrated Matthew Tindal, than whom All Souls' College has never
+had a more distinguished Fellow, nor produced a more brilliant
+writer. In those days, when the question that most agitated men's
+minds was whether the English Church was of Divine Right, and so
+independent of the civil power, or whether it was the creature
+of, and therefore subject to, the law, no work more convincingly
+proved the latter than this work of Tindal; a work which, even
+now, ought to be far more generally known than it is, no less for
+its great historical learning than for its scathing denunciations
+of priestcraft.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162"></a>[<a href="./images/162.png">162</a>]</span>
+As the subordination of the Church to the State is now a
+principle of general acceptance, there is less need to give a
+summary of Tindal's arguments, than to quote some of the passages
+which led the writer to predict, when composing it, that he was
+writing a book that would drive the clergy mad. The promoting the
+independent power of the clergy has, he says, "done more mischief
+to human societies than all the gross superstitions of the
+heathen, who were nowhere ever so stupid as to entertain such a
+monstrous contradiction as two independent powers in the same
+society; and, consequently, their priests were not capable of
+doing so much mischief to the Commonwealth as some since have
+been." The fact, that in heathen times greater differences in
+religion never gave rise to such desolating feuds as had always
+rent Christendom, proves that "the best religion has had the
+misfortune to have the worst priests." "'Tis an amazing thing to
+consider that, though Christ and His Apostles inculcated nothing
+so much as universal charity, and enjoined their disciples to
+treat, not only one another, notwithstanding their differences,
+but even Jews and Gentiles, with all the kindness imaginable, yet
+that their pretended successors should make it their <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163"></a>[<a href="./images/163.png">163</a>]</span>business to
+teach such doctrines as destroy all love and friendship among
+people of different persuasions; and that with so good success
+that never did mortals hate, abhor, and damn one another more
+heartily, or are readier to do one another more mischief, than
+the different sects of Christians." "If in the time of that wise
+heathen Ammianus Marcellinus, the Christians bore such hatred to
+one another that, as he complains, no beasts were such deadly
+enemies to men as the more savage Christians were generally to
+one another, what would he, if now alive, say of them?" etc. "The
+custom of sacrificing men among the heathens was owing to their
+priests, especially the Druids.&nbsp;.&nbsp;.&nbsp;. And the sacrificing of
+Christians upon account of their religious tenets (for which
+millions have suffered) was introduced for no other reason than
+that the clergy, who took upon them to be the sole judges of
+religion, might, without control, impose what selfish doctrines
+they pleased." Of the High Church clergy he wittily observes:
+"Some say that their lives might serve for a very good rule, if
+men would act quite contrary to them; for then there is no
+Christian virtue which they could fail of observing."</p>
+
+<p>If Tindal wished to madden the clergy, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164"></a>[<a href="./images/164.png">164</a>]</span>he certainly succeeded,
+for the pulpits raged and thundered against his book. But the
+only sermon to which he responded was Dr. Wotton's printed
+Visitation sermon preached before the Bishop of Lincoln; and his
+<i>Defence of the Rights of the Christian Church</i> (55 pages) was
+burnt in company with the larger work. It contained the "Letter
+from a Country Attorney to a Country Parson concerning the Rights
+of the Church," and the philosopher Le Clerc's appreciative
+reference to Tindal's work in his <i>Biblioth&egrave;que Choisie</i>.</p>
+
+<p>Nevertheless, Queen Anne had given Tindal a present of &pound;500 for
+his book, and told him that she believed he had banished Popery
+beyond a possibility of its return. Tindal himself, it should be
+said, had become a Roman Catholic under James II. and then a
+Protestant again, but whether before or after the abdication of
+James is not quite clear. He placed a high value on his own work,
+for when, in December 1707, the Grand Jury of Middlesex presented
+<i>The Rights</i> its author sagely reflected that such a proceeding
+would "occasion the reading of one of the best books that have
+been published in our age by many more people than otherwise
+would have read it." This probably was the case, with the result
+that it was burnt, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165"></a>[<a href="./images/165.png">165</a>]</span>as aforesaid, by the hangman in 1710 by order
+of the House of Commons, at the instance of Sacheverell's
+friends, in the very same week that Sacheverell's sermons
+themselves were burnt! The House wished perhaps to show itself
+impartial. The victory, for the time at least, was with
+Sacheverell and the Church. The Whig ministry was overturned, and
+its Tory successor passed the Bill against Occasional Conformity,
+and the Schism Act; and, had the Queen's reign been prolonged,
+would probably have repealed the very meagre Toleration Act of
+1689. Tindal, however, despite the Tory reaction, continued to
+write on the side of civil and religious liberty, keeping his
+best work for the last, published within three years of his
+death, when he was past seventy, namely, <i>Christianity as Old as
+the Creation; or, the Gospel a republication of the Religion of
+Nature</i> (1730). Strange to say, this work, criticised as it was,
+was neither presented nor burnt. I have no reason, therefore, to
+present it here, and indeed it is a book of which rather to read
+the whole than merely extracts.</p>
+
+<p>About the same time that Sacheverell's sermons were the sensation
+of London, a sermon preached in Dublin on the Presbyterian side
+was attended there with the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166"></a>[<a href="./images/166.png">166</a>]</span>same marks of distinction. In
+November 1711 Boyse's sermon on <i>The Office of a Scriptural
+Bishop</i> was burnt by the hangman, at the command of the Irish
+House of Lords. Unfortunately one cannot obtain this sermon
+without a great number of others, amongst which the author
+embedded it in a huge and repulsive folio comprising all his
+works. The sermon was first preached and printed in 1709, and
+reprinted the next year: it enters at length into the historical
+origin of Episcopacy in the early Church, the author alluding as
+follows to the Episcopacy aimed at by too many of his own
+contemporaries: "A grand and pompous sinecure, a domination over
+all the churches and ministers in a large district managed by
+others as his delegates, but requiring little labour of a man's
+own, and all this supported by large revenues and attended with
+considerable secular honours." Boyse could hardly say the same in
+these days, true, no doubt, as it was in his own. Still, that
+even an Irish House of Lords should have seen fit to burn his
+sermon makes one think that the political extinction of that body
+can have been no serious loss to the sum-total of the wisdom of
+the world.</p>
+
+<p>The last writer to incur a vote of burning from the House of
+Commons in Queen <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167"></a>[<a href="./images/167.png">167</a>]</span>Anne's reign was William Fleetwood, Bishop of
+St. Asaph; and this for the preface to four sermons he had
+preached and published: (1) on the death of Queen Mary, 1694; (2)
+on the death of the Duke of Gloucester, 1700; (3) on the death of
+King William, 1701; (4) on the Queen's Accession, in 1702. It was
+voted to the public flames on June 10th, 1712, as "malicious and
+factious, highly reflecting upon the present administration of
+public affairs under Her Majesty, and tending to create discord
+and sedition among her subjects." The burning of the preface
+caused it to be the more read, and some 4,000 numbers of the
+<i>Spectator</i>, No. 384, carried it far and wide. Probably it was
+more read than the prelate's numerous tracts and sermons, such as
+his <i>Essay on Miracles</i>, or his <i>Vindication of the Thirteenth of
+Romans</i>.</p>
+
+<p>The bishop belonged to the party that was dissatisfied with the
+terms of the Peace of Utrecht, then pending, and his preface was
+clearly written as a vehicle or vent for his political
+sentiments. The offensive passage ran as follows: "We were, as
+all the world imagined then, just entering on the ways that
+promised to lead to such a peace as would have answered all the
+prayers of our religious Queen .&nbsp;.&nbsp;. when <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168"></a>[<a href="./images/168.png">168</a>]</span>God, for our sins,
+permitted the spirit of discord to go forth, and by troubling
+sore the camp, the city, and the country (and oh! that it had
+altogether spared the places sacred to His worship!), to spoil
+for a time the beautiful and pleasing prospect, and give us, in
+its stead, I know not what&mdash;our enemies will tell the rest with
+pleasure." Writing to Bishop Burnet, he expresses himself still
+more strongly: "I am afraid England has lost all her constraining
+power, and that France thinks she has us in her hands, and may
+use us as she pleases, which, I daresay, will be as scurvily as
+we deserve. What a change has two years made! Your lordship may
+now imagine you are growing young again; for we are fallen,
+methinks, into the very dregs of Charles the Second's politics."
+Assuredly Bishop Fleetwood had done better to reserve his
+political opinions for private circulation, instead of exposing
+them to the world under the guise and shelter of what purported
+to be a religious publication.</p>
+
+<p>But he belonged to the age of the great political churchmen, when
+the Church played primarily the part of a great political
+institution, and her more ambitious members made the profession
+of religion subsidiary to the interests <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169"></a>[<a href="./images/169.png">169</a>]</span>of the political party
+they espoused. The type is gradually becoming extinct, and the
+time is long since past when the preface to a bishop's sermons,
+or even his sermons themselves, could convulse the State. One
+cannot, for instance, conceive the recurrence of such a commotion
+as was raised by Fleetwood or Sacheverell, possible as everything
+is in the zigzag course of history. Still less can one conceive a
+repetition of such persecution of Dissent as has been illustrated
+by the cases of Delaune and Defoe. For either the Church
+moderated her hostility to Dissent, or her power to exercise it
+lessened; no instance occurring after the reign of Queen Anne of
+any book being sentenced to the flames on the side either of
+Orthodoxy or Dissent.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<img src="./images/p169.png" width="23%" alt="winged creature woodcut" title="" />
+</div>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 90%;" />
+<h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_137:1_17" id="Footnote_137:1_17"></a><a href="#FNanchor_137:1_17"><span class="label">[137:1]</span></a> In <i>Notes and Queries</i> for March 11th, 1854, Mr.
+James Graves, of Kilkenny, mentions as in his possession a copy
+of Molyneux, considerable portions of which had been consumed by
+fire.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_150:1_18" id="Footnote_150:1_18"></a><a href="#FNanchor_150:1_18"><span class="label">[150:1]</span></a> In a letter in his <i>Vindicius Liberius</i> he says:
+"As for the Christian religion in general, that book is so far
+from calling it in question that it was purposely written for its
+service, to defend it against the imputations of contradiction
+and obscurity which are frequently objected by its opposers."</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_154:1_19" id="Footnote_154:1_19"></a><a href="#FNanchor_154:1_19"><span class="label">[154:1]</span></a> Wilson's <i>Defoe</i>, iii. 52.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_160:1_20" id="Footnote_160:1_20"></a><a href="#FNanchor_160:1_20"><span class="label">[160:1]</span></a> See Somers' <i>Tracts</i> (1748), VII., 223, and the
+<i>Entire Confutation of Mr. Hoadley's Book</i>, for the decree
+itself, and the authors condemned. After the Rye House Plot,
+which caused this decree, Oxford addressed Charles II. as "the
+breath of our nostrils, the anointed of the Lord"; Cambridge
+called him "the Darling of Heaven!" Could the servility of
+ultra-loyalty go further?</p></div>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170"></a>[<a href="./images/170.png">170</a>]</span></p>
+<div class="figcenter">
+<img src="./images/p170a.png" width="40%" alt="flowers woodcut" title="" />
+</div>
+
+
+<p class="smallgap">&nbsp;</p>
+<h2>CHAPTER VII.</h2>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">Our Last Book-Fires.</span></h3>
+
+<p><span class="dropcapt"><span class="dropcap">T</span></span>HE eighteenth century, which saw the abolition, or the beginning
+of the abolition, of so many bad customs of the most respectable
+lineage and antiquity, saw also the hangman employed for the last
+time for the punishment of books. The custom of book-burning,
+never formally abolished, died out at last from a gradual decline
+of public belief in its efficacy; just as tortures died out, and
+judicial ordeals died out, and, as we may hope, even war will die
+out, before the silent, disintegrating forces of increasing
+intelligence. As our history goes on, one becomes more struck by
+the many books which escape burning than by the few which incur
+it. The tale of some of those which were publicly burnt during
+the eighteenth century has already been told; so that it only
+remains to bring together, under their various heads, the
+different literary productions <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171"></a>[<a href="./images/171.png">171</a>]</span>which complete the record of
+British works thus associated with the memory of the hangman.</p>
+
+<p>After the beginning of the Long Parliament, the House of Commons
+constituted itself the chief book-burning authority; but the
+House of Lords also, of its own motion, occasionally ordered the
+burning of offensive literary productions. Thus, on March 29th,
+1642, they sentenced John Bond, for forging a letter purporting
+to be addressed to Charles I. at York from the Queen in Holland,
+to stand in the pillory at Westminster Hall door and in
+Cheapside, with a paper on his head inscribed with "A contriver
+of false and scandalous libels," the said letter to be called in
+and burnt near him as he stood there.</p>
+
+<p>On December 18th, 1667, they sentenced William Carr, for
+dispersing scandalous papers against Lord Gerrard, of Brandon, to
+a fine of &pound;1000 to the King, and imprisonment in the Fleet, and
+ordered the said papers to be burnt.</p>
+
+<p>On March 17th, 1697, a sentence of burning was voted by them
+against a libel called <i>Mr. Bertie's Case, with some Remarks on
+the Judgment Given Therein</i>.</p>
+
+<p>Sometimes they thought in this way to safeguard not merely truth
+in general, or the honour of their House, but also the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172"></a>[<a href="./images/172.png">172</a>]</span>interests
+of religion; as when, on December 8th, 1693, they ordered to be
+burnt by the hangman the very next day a pamphlet that had been
+sent to several of them, entitled <i>A Brief but Clear Confutation
+of the Trinity</i>, a copy of which possibly still lies hid in some
+private libraries, but about which, not having seen it, I can
+offer no judgment. At that time Lords and Commons alike
+disquieted themselves much over religious heresy, for in 1698 the
+Commons petitioned William III. to suppress pernicious books and
+pamphlets directed against the Trinity and other articles of the
+Faith, and gave ready assent to a Bill from the Lords "for the
+more effectual suppressing of atheism, blasphemy, and
+profaneness." But it would seem that these efforts had but a
+qualified success, for on February 12th, 1720, the Lords
+condemned a work which, "in a daring, impious manner, ridiculed
+the doctrine of the Trinity and all revealed religion," and was
+called, <i>A Sober Reply to Mr. Higgs' Merry Arguments from the
+Light of Nature for the Tritheistic Doctrine of the Trinity, with
+a Postscript relating to the Rev. Dr. Waterland</i>. This work,
+which was the last to be burnt as an offence against religion,
+was the work of one Joseph Hall, who was a gentleman <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173"></a>[<a href="./images/173.png">173</a>]</span>and a
+serjeant-at-arms to the King, and in this way won his small title
+to fame.</p>
+
+<p>By the beginning of the eighteenth century, the House of Lords
+had come to assume a more active jurisdiction over the Press.
+Thus in 1702, within a few days we find them severely censuring
+the notorious Dr. Drake's <i>History of the Last Parliament, begun
+1700</i>; somebody's <i>Tom Double, returned out of the Country; or,
+The True Picture of a modern Whig</i>; Dr. Blinke's violent sermon,
+preached on January 30th, 1701, before the Lower House of
+Convocation; and a pamphlet, inviting over the Elector of
+Hanover. In the same month they condemned to be burnt by the
+hangman a book entitled, <i>Animadversions upon the two last 30th
+of January Sermons: one preached to the Honourable House of
+Commons, the other to the Lower House of Convocation. In a
+letter.</i> They resolved that it was "a malicious, villainous
+libel, containing very many reflections on King Charles I., of
+ever-blessed memory, and tending to the subversion of the
+Monarchy."</p>
+
+<p>But the more general practice was for the House of Lords to seek
+the concurrence of the other House in the consignment of printed
+matter to the flames; a concurrence which in those days was of
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174"></a>[<a href="./images/174.png">174</a>]</span>far more easy attainment over book-burning or anything else than
+it is in our own time, or is ever likely to be in the future. It
+would also seem that during the eighteenth century it was
+generally the House of Lords that took the initiative in the
+time-honoured practice of condemning disagreeable opinions to the
+care of the hangman.</p>
+
+<p>The unanimity alluded to between our two Houses was displayed in
+several instances. Thus on November 16th, 1722, the Commons
+agreed with the resolution of the Peers to have burnt at the
+Exchange the Declaration of the Pretender, beginning:
+"Declaration of James III., King of England, Scotland, and
+Ireland, to all his loving Subjects of the three Nations, and to
+all Foreign Princes and States, to serve as a Foundation for a
+Lasting Peace in Europe," and signed "James Rex." In this
+interesting document, George I. was invited to quietly deliver up
+his possession of the British throne in return for James's
+bestowal on him of the title of king in his native dominions, and
+the ultimate succession to the same title in England. The
+indignation of the Peers raised their effusive loyalty to fever
+point, and they promptly voted this singular document "a false,
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175"></a>[<a href="./images/175.png">175</a>]</span>insolent, and traitorous libel, the highest indignity to his
+most sacred Majesty King George, our lawful and undoubted
+sovereign, full of arrogance and presumption, in supposing the
+Pretender in a condition to offer terms to his Majesty; and
+injurious to the honour of the British nation, in imagining that
+a free, Protestant people, happy under the government of the best
+of princes, can be so infatuated as, without the utmost contempt
+and indignation, to hear of any terms from a Popish bigoted
+Pretender." But was it loyalty or sycophancy that could thus
+transmute even George I. into "the best of princes"?</p>
+
+<p>A less serious cause of alarm to their loyalty occurred in 1750,
+when certain <i>Constitutional Queries</i> were "earnestly recommended
+to the serious consideration of every true Briton." This was
+directed against the Duke of Cumberland, of Culloden fame, who
+was in it compared to the crooked-backed Richard III.; and it was
+generally attributed to Lord Egmont, M.P., as spokesman of the
+opposition to the government of George II., then headed by the
+Prince of Wales, who died the year following. It caused a great
+sensation in both Houses, though several members in the Commons
+defended it. <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176"></a>[<a href="./images/176.png">176</a>]</span>Nevertheless, at a conference both Houses voted it
+"a false, malicious, scandalous, infamous, and seditious libel,
+containing the most false, audacious, and abominable calumnies
+and indignities against his Majesty, and the most presumptuous
+and wicked insinuations that our laws, liberties, and properties,
+and the excellent constitution of this kingdom, were in danger
+under his Majesty's legal, mild, and gracious government" .&nbsp;.&nbsp;. and
+that "in abhorrence and detestation of such abominable and
+seditious practices," it should be burnt in New Palace Yard by
+the hangman on January 25th. Even a reward of &pound;1,000 failed to
+discover the author, printer, or publisher of this paper, the
+condemnation of which rather whets the curiosity than satisfies
+the reason. I would shrink from saying that a paper so widely
+disseminated no longer exists; but even if it does not, its
+non-existence affords no proof that in its time it lacked
+justification.</p>
+
+<p>But what justification was there for George King, the bookseller,
+who a few years later did a very curious thing, actually forging
+and publishing a Royal speech&mdash;'<i>His Majesty's most Gracious
+Speech to, both Houses of Parliament on Thursday December 2nd,
+1756</i>'? Surely never since the giants of old assaulted heaven,
+was <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177"></a>[<a href="./images/177.png">177</a>]</span>there such an invasion of sanctity, or so profane a scaling
+of the heights of intellect! What could the Lords do, being a
+patriotic body, but vote such an attempt, without even waiting
+for a conference with the Commons, "an audacious forgery and high
+contempt of his Majesty, his crown and dignity," and condemn the
+said forgery to be burnt on the 8th at Westminster, and three
+days later at the Exchange? How could they sentence King to less
+than six months of Newgate and a fine of &pound;50, though, in their
+gentleness or fickleness, they ultimately released him from some
+of the former and all the latter penalty? Happy those who possess
+this political curiosity, and can compare it with the speech
+which the King really did make on the same day, and which,
+perhaps, did not show any marked superiority over the forged
+imitation.</p>
+
+<p>The next book-fire to which history brings us is associated with
+one of the most important and singular episodes in the annals of
+the British Constitution. I allude to the famous <i>North Briton</i>,
+No. 45, for which, as constituting a seditious libel, Wilkes,
+then member for Aylesbury, was, in spite of his privilege as a
+member, seized and imprisoned in the Tower (1763). We know from
+the experiences <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178"></a>[<a href="./images/178.png">178</a>]</span>of recent times how ready the House of Commons
+is to throw Parliamentary or popular privileges to the winds
+whenever they stand in the way of political resentment, and so it
+was in our fathers' times. For, in spite of a vigorous speech
+from Pitt against a surrender of privilege which placed
+Parliament entirely at the mercy of the Crown, the Commons voted,
+by 258 to 133, that such privilege afforded no protection against
+the publication of seditious libels. The House of Lords, of
+course, concurred, but not without a protest from the dissentient
+minority, headed by Lord Temple, which has the true ring of
+political wisdom; and, like so many similar protests, is so
+instinct with zeal for public liberty as to atone in some measure
+for the fundamental injustice of the existence of an hereditary
+chamber. They held it "highly unbecoming the dignity, gravity,
+and wisdom of the House of Peers, as well as of their justice,
+thus judicially to explain away and diminish the privileges of
+their persons," etc.</p>
+
+<p>A few days later (December 1st) a second conference between the
+two Houses condemned No. 45 to be burnt at the Royal Exchange by
+the common hangman. And so it was on the 3rd, but not without a
+riot, which conveys a <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179"></a>[<a href="./images/179.png">179</a>]</span>vivid picture of those "good old" or
+turbulent days; for the mob, encouraged by well-dressed people
+from the shops and balconies, who cried out, "Well done, boys!
+bravely done, boys!" set up such a hissing, that the sheriff's
+horses were frightened, and brave Alderman Hurley with difficulty
+reached the place where the paper was to be burnt. The mob seized
+what they could of the paper from the burning torch of the
+executioner, and finally thrashed the officials from the field.
+Practically, too, they had thrashed the custom out of existence,
+for there were very few such burnings afterwards.</p>
+
+<p>Wilkes was then expelled from the House of Commons; and the same
+House, becoming suddenly as tender of its privileges as it had
+previously been indifferent to them, passed a resolution, to
+which the Attorney-General, Sir Fletcher Norton, was said to have
+declared that he would pay no more regard than "to the oaths of
+so many drunken porters in Covent Garden," to the effect that a
+general warrant for apprehending and seizing the authors,
+printers, and publishers of a seditious and treasonable libel was
+not warranted by law. Such was the vaunted wisdom of our
+ancestors, that, having first decided that there could <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180"></a>[<a href="./images/180.png">180</a>]</span>be no
+breach of privilege to protect a seditious libel, they then
+asserted the illegality of the very proceedings they had already
+justified! Truly they are not altogether in the wrong who deem
+that the chief glory of our Constitution lies in its singular
+elasticity.</p>
+
+<p>All the numbers of the <i>North Briton</i> especially No. 45, have
+high interest as political and literary curiosities. Comparing
+even now the King's speech on April 19th, 1763, at the close of
+the Seven Years' War, with the passage in No. 45 which contained
+the sting of the whole, one feels that Walpole hardly exaggerated
+when he said that Wilkes had given "a flat lie to the King
+himself." Perhaps so; but are royal speeches as a rule
+conspicuous for their truth? The King had said: "My expectations
+have been fully answered by the happy effects which the several
+allies of my crown have derived from this salutary measure. The
+powers at war with my good brother the King of Prussia have been
+induced to agree to such terms of accommodation as that great
+prince has approved; and the success which has attended my
+negotiation has necessarily and immediately diffused the
+blessings of peace through every part of Europe." Wilkes's
+comment was as <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181"></a>[<a href="./images/181.png">181</a>]</span>follows: "The infamous fallacy of this whole
+sentence is apparent to all mankind; for it is known that the
+King of Prussia did not barely approve, but absolutely dictated
+as conqueror, every article of the terms of peace. No advantage
+of any kind has accrued to that magnanimous prince from our
+negotiation; but he was basely deserted by the Scottish Prime
+Minister of England" (Lord Bute). And, after all, that truth was
+on the side of Wilkes rather than of the King is the verdict of
+history.</p>
+
+<p>The House of Lords, soon after its unconstitutional attack upon
+popular liberties in the case of Wilkes, showed itself as
+suddenly enamoured of them a few months later, when Timothy
+Brecknock, a hack writer, published his <i>Droit le Roy</i>, or a
+<i>Digest of the Rights and Prerogatives of the Imperial Crown of
+Great Britain</i> (February 1764). Timothy, like Cowell in James
+I.'s time, favoured extreme monarchical pretensions, so much to
+the offence of the defenders of the people's rights, that they
+voted it "a false, malicious, and traitorous libel, inconsistent
+with the principles of the Revolution to which we owe the present
+happy establishment, and an audacious insult upon His Majesty,
+whose paternal care has been <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182"></a>[<a href="./images/182.png">182</a>]</span>so early and so effectually shown
+to the religion, laws, and liberties of his people; tending to
+subvert the fundamental laws and liberties of these kingdoms and
+to introduce an illegal and arbitrary power." The Commons
+concurred with the Lords in condemning a copy to the flames at
+Westminster Palace Yard and the Exchange on February 25th and
+27th respectively; and the book is consequently so rare that for
+practical purposes it no longer exists. Sad to say, the Royalist
+author came to as bad an end as his book, for in his own person
+as well he came to require the attentions of the hangman for a
+murder he committed in Ireland.</p>
+
+<p>The next work which the Lower House concurred with the Upper in
+consigning to the hangman was <i>The Present Crisis with regard to
+America Considered</i> (February 24th, 1775); but of this book the
+fate it met with seems now the only ascertainable fact about it.
+It appears to enjoy the real distinction of having been the last
+book condemned by Parliament in England to the flames; although
+that honour has sometimes been claimed for the <i>Commercial
+Restraints of Ireland</i>, by Provost Hely Hutchinson (1779); a
+claim which will remain to be considered after a brief survey of
+the works which in Scotland the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183"></a>[<a href="./images/183.png">183</a>]</span>wisdom of Parliament saw fit to
+punish by fire.</p>
+
+<p>The first order of this sort was dated November 16th, 1700, and
+sentenced to be burnt by the hangman at Mercat Cross His
+Majesty's <i>High Commission and Estates of Parliament</i>.</p>
+
+<p>In the same way was treated <i>A Defence of the Scots abdicating
+Darien, including an Answer to the Defence of the Scots
+Settlement there</i>, and <i>A Vindication</i> of the same pamphlet, both
+by Walter Herries, who was ordered to be apprehended. More
+interesting to read would doubtless be a lampoon, said to reflect
+on everything sacred to Scotland, and burnt accordingly, which
+was called <i>Caledonia; or, the Pedlar turned Merchant</i>.</p>
+
+<p>Dr. James Drake, whose <i>Memorial of the Church of England</i> was
+burnt in England in 1705, published a work two years earlier
+which stirred the Scotch Parliament to the same fiery point of
+indignation. This was his already mentioned <i>Historia
+Anglo-Scotica: an impartial History of all that happened between
+the Kings and Kingdoms of England and Scotland from the beginning
+of the Reign of William the Conqueror to the Reign of Queen
+Elizabeth</i> (1703). This stout volume of 423 pages Drake printed
+without any date or name, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184"></a>[<a href="./images/184.png">184</a>]</span>pretending that the manuscript had
+come to him in such a way that it was impossible to trace its
+authorship. He dedicated it to Sir Edward Seymour, one of Queen
+Anne's commissioners for the then meditated and unpopular union
+between the two kingdoms. It gave the gravest offence, and was
+burnt at the Mercat Cross on June 30th for containing "many
+reflections on the sovereignty and independence of this crown and
+nation." But, apart from the history that attaches to it, I doubt
+if any one could regard it with interest.</p>
+
+<p>No less offence was given to Scotland by the English Whig writer
+William Attwood, whose <i>Superiority and Direct Dominion of the
+Imperial Crown of England over the Crown and Kingdom of Scotland,
+the true Foundation of a Compleat Union reasserted</i> (1704), was
+burnt as "scurrilous and full of falsehoods," whilst a liberal
+reward was voted to Hodges and Anderson, who by their pens had
+advocated the independence of the Scotch crown. Ten years later
+Attwood contributed another work to the flames, called <i>The
+Scotch Patriot Unmasked</i> (1715). Attwood was a barrister by
+profession, a controversialist in practice, writing against the
+theories of Filmer and the Tories. He had a great knowledge of
+old charters, and <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185"></a>[<a href="./images/185.png">185</a>]</span>wrote an able but inconclusive answer to
+Molyneux' <i>Case for Ireland</i>. He last appears as Chief Justice in
+New York, where he became involved in debt and died.</p>
+
+<p>In 1706 two works were condemned to the Mercat Cross: (1) <i>An
+Account of the Burning of the Articles of Union at Dumfries</i>; (2)
+<i>Queries to the Presbyterian Noblemen, Barons, Burgesses,
+Ministers, and Commissioners in Scotland who are for the Scheme
+of an Incorporating Union with England</i>.</p>
+
+<p>Hutchinson's <i>Commercial Restraints of Ireland</i>, published in
+1779, and reviewing the progress of English misgovernment, proved
+the correctness of Molyneux' prognostications nearly a century
+before. "Can the history of any fruitful country on the globe,"
+he asked (and the question may be asked still), "enjoying peace
+for fourscore years, and not visited by plague or pestilence,
+produce so many recorded instances of the poverty and
+wretchedness and of the reiterated want and misery of the lower
+orders of the people? There is no such example in ancient or
+modern history."</p>
+
+<p>That a book of such sentiments should have been burnt, as easier
+so to deal with than to answer, would accord well enough <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186"></a>[<a href="./images/186.png">186</a>]</span>with
+antecedent probability; but, inasmuch as there is no such record
+in the Commons' <i>Journals</i>, the probability must remain that
+Captain Valentine Blake, M.P. for Galway, who, in a letter to the
+<i>Times</i> of February 14th, 1846, appears to have been the first to
+assert the fact, erroneously identified the fate of Hutchinson's
+anonymous work with the then received version of the fate of the
+work of Molyneux. The rarity of the first edition of the
+<i>Commercial Restraints</i> may well enough accord with other methods
+of suppression than burning.</p>
+
+<p><i>The Present Crisis</i>, therefore, of 1775, must retain the
+distinction of having been the last book to be condemned to the
+public fire; and with it a practice which can appeal for its
+descent to classical Greece and Rome passed at last out of
+fashion and favour, without any actual legislative abolition.
+When, in 1795, the great stir was made by Reeve's <i>Thoughts on
+English Government</i>, Sheridan's proposal to have it burnt met
+with little approval, and it escaped with only a censure. Reeve,
+president of an association against Republicans and Levellers,
+like Cowell and Brecknock before him, gave offence by the extreme
+claims he made for the English monarch. The relation between <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187"></a>[<a href="./images/187.png">187</a>]</span>our
+two august chambers and the monarchy he compared to that between
+goodly branches and the tree itself: they were only branches,
+deriving their origin and nutriment from their common parent; but
+though they might be lopped off, the tree would remain a tree
+still. The Houses could give advice and consent, but the
+Government and its administration in all its parts rested wholly
+and solely with the King and his nominees. That a book of such
+sentiments should have escaped burning is doubtless partly due to
+the panic of Republicanism then raging in England; but it also
+shows the gradual growth of a sensible indifference to the power
+of the pen.</p>
+
+<p>And when we think of the freedom, almost unchecked, of the
+literature of the century now closing, of the impunity with which
+speculation attacks the very roots of all our political and
+theological traditions, and compare this state of liberty with
+the servitude of literature in the three preceding centuries,
+when it rested with archbishop or Commons or Lords not only to
+commit writings to the flames but to inflict cruelties and
+indignities on the writers, we cannot but recognise how
+proportionate to the advance we have made in toleration have been
+the benefits we <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188"></a>[<a href="./images/188.png">188</a>]</span>have derived from it. Possibly this toleration
+arose from the gradual discovery that the practical consequences
+of writings seldom keep pace with the aim of the writer or the
+fears of authority; that, for instance, neither is property
+endangered by literary demonstrations of its immorality, nor are
+churches emptied by criticism. At all events, taking the risk of
+consequences, we have entered on an era of almost complete
+literary impunity; the bonfire is as extinct as the pillory; the
+only fiery ordeal is that of criticism, and dread of the reviewer
+has taken the place of all fear of the hangman.</p>
+
+<p>Whether the change is all gain, or the milder method more
+effectual than the old one, I would hesitate to affirm. He would
+be a bold man who would assert any lack of burnworthy books. The
+older custom had perhaps a certain picturesqueness which was lost
+with it. It was a bit of old English life, reaching far back into
+history&mdash;a custom that would have been not unworthy of the brush
+of Hogarth. For all that we cannot regret it. The practice became
+so common, and lent itself so readily to abuse by its
+indiscriminate application in the interests of religious bigotry
+or political partisanship, that the lesson of history is one of
+warning <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189"></a>[<a href="./images/189.png">189</a>]</span>against it. Such a practice is only defensible or
+impressive in proportion to the rarity of its use. Applied not
+oftener than once or twice in a generation, in the case of some
+work that flagrantly shocked or injured the national conscience,
+the book-fire might have retained, or might still recover, its
+place in the economy of well-organised States; and the stigma it
+failed of by reason of its frequency might still attach to it by
+reason of its rarity.</p>
+
+<p>If, then, it were possible (as it surely would be) so to regulate
+and restrict its use that it should serve only as the last
+expression of the indignation of an offended community instead of
+the ready weapon of a party or a clique, one can conceive its
+revival being not without utility. To take an illustration. With
+the ordinary daily libels of the public press the community as
+such has no concern; there is no need to grudge them their
+traditional impunity. But supposing a newspaper, availing itself
+of an earlier reputation and a wide circulation, to publish as
+truths, highly damaging to individuals, what it knows or might
+know to be forgeries, the limit has clearly been overstepped of
+the bearable liberty of the press; the cause of the injured
+individual becomes the cause of the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190"></a>[<a href="./images/190.png">190</a>]</span>injured community, insulted
+by the unscrupulous advantage that has been taken of its
+trustfulness and of its inability to judge soundly where all the
+data for a sound judgment are studiously withheld. Such an action
+is as much and as flagrant a crime or offence against the
+community as an act of robbery or murder, which, though primarily
+an injury to the individual, is primarily avenged as an injury to
+the State. As such it calls for punishment, nor could any
+punishment be more appropriate than one which caused the
+offending newspaper to atone by dishonour for the dishonour it
+sought to inflict. Condemnation by Parliament to the flames would
+exactly meet the exigencies of a case so rare and exceptional,
+and would succeed in inflicting that disgrace of which such a
+punishment often formerly failed by very reason of its too
+frequent application.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<img src="./images/p190.png" width="23%" alt="decorative woodcut" title="" />
+</div>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191"></a>[<a href="./images/191.png">191</a>]</span></p>
+<div class="figcenter">
+<img src="./images/p191a.png" width="40%" alt="devil and grapevine woodcut" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<p class="smallgap">&nbsp;</p>
+<h2>APPENDIX.</h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="dropcapa"><span class="dropcap">A</span></span>FTER the conspiracy, known as the Rye House Plot, to kill
+Charles II. and his brother, the Duke of York, the University of
+Oxford ordered the public burning of books which ran counter to
+the doctrine of the Divine right of kings. As the decree is a
+literary and political curiosity of the highest order, and not
+easily accessible, I here transcribe it from Lord Somers'
+<i>Tracts</i>. The authors whose books were condemned are sometimes
+referred to quite generally, so that some are difficult to
+identify, but the following appear to be the principal ones that
+incurred the fiery indignation of the University:&mdash;1.
+Rutherford's <i>Lex Rex</i>; 2. G. Buchanan's <i>De Jure Regni apud
+Scotos</i>; 3. Bellarmine's <i>De Potestate Pap&aelig;</i>, and his <i>De
+Conciliis et Ecclesi&acirc; Militante</i>; 4. Milton's <i>Eikonoklastes</i>,
+and his <i>Defensio Populi Anglicani</i>; 5. Goodwin's <i>Obstructours
+of Justice</i>; 6. Baxter's <i>Holy Commonwealth</i>; <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192"></a>[<a href="./images/192.png">192</a>]</span>7. Dolman's
+<i>Succession</i>; 8. Hobbes' <i>De Cive</i> and <i>Leviathan</i>.</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot">
+<div class="titlepush">
+<p><i>The Judgment and Decree of the University of Oxford, passed in their
+Convocation, July 21, 1683, against certain pernicious books, and
+damnable doctrines, destructive to the sacred persons of princes, their
+State and Government, and of all Human Society.</i></p> </div>
+
+<p>"Although the barbarous assassination lately enterprised against the
+person of his sacred majesty and his royal brother, engages all our
+thoughts to reflect with utmost detestation and abhorrence on that
+execrable villainy, hateful to God and man, and pay our due
+acknowledgments to the Divine Providence, which, by extraordinary
+methods, brought it to pass, that the breath of our nostrils, the
+anointed of the Lord, is not taken in the pit which was prepared for
+him, and that under his shadow we continue to live and to enjoy the
+blessings of his government; yet, notwithstanding, we find it to be a
+necessary duty at this time to search into and lay open those impious
+doctrines, which having been of late studiously disseminated, gave rise
+and growth to those nefarious attempts, and pass upon them our solemn
+public censure and decree of condemnation.</p>
+
+<p>"Therefore, to the honour of the holy and undivided Trinity, the
+preservation of Catholic truth in the Church, and that the king's
+majesty may be secured both from <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193"></a>[<a href="./images/193.png">193</a>]</span>the attempts of open bloody
+enemies and machinations of treacherous heretics and schismatics, we,
+the vice-chancellor, doctors, proctors, and masters regent, met in
+convocation, in the accustomed manner, the one and twentieth day of
+July, in the year 1683, concerning certain propositions contained in
+divers books and writings, published in the English and also in the
+Latin tongue, repugnant to the Holy Scriptures, decrees of councils,
+writings of the fathers, the faith and profession of the primitive
+Church, and also destruction of the kingly government, the safety of his
+Majesty's person, the public peace, the laws of nature, and bonds of
+human society, by our unanimous assent and consent, have decreed and
+determined in manner and form following:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"The 1st Proposition.&mdash;All civil authority is derived originally
+from the people.</p>
+
+<p>"2. There is a mutual compact, tacit or express, between a prince and
+his subjects, that if he perform not his duty, they are discharged from
+theirs.</p>
+
+<p>"3. That if lawful governors become tyrants, or govern otherwise than by
+the laws of God and man they ought to do, they forfeit the right they
+had unto their government.&mdash;<i>Lex Rex</i>; <i>Buchanan, de Jure Regni</i>;
+<i>Vindici&aelig; contra tyrannos</i>; <i>Bellarmine, de Conciliis, de
+Pontifice</i>; <i>Milton</i>; <i>Goodwin</i>; <i>Baxter</i>; <i>H. C.</i></p>
+
+<p>"4. The sovereignty of England is in the three estates, viz., Kings,
+Lords, and Commons. The king has but a co-ordinate power, and may be
+overruled by the other <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194"></a>[<a href="./images/194.png">194</a>]</span>two.&mdash;<i>Lex Rex</i>; <i>Hunter</i>, of a
+united and mixed monarchy. <i>Baxter, H. C. Polit. Catechis.</i></p>
+
+<p>"5. Birthright and proximity of blood give no title to rule or
+government, and it is lawful to preclude the next heir from his right
+and succession to the crown.&mdash;<i>Lex Rex</i>; <i>Hunt's Postscript</i>;
+<i>Doleman's History of Succession</i>; <i>Julian the Apostate</i>; <i>Mene Tekel</i>.</p>
+
+<p>"6. It is lawful for subjects, without the consent, and against the
+command, of the supreme magistrate, to enter into leagues, covenants,
+and associations, for defence of themselves and their
+religion.&mdash;<i>Solemn League and Covenant</i>; <i>Late Association</i>.</p>
+
+<p>"7. Self-preservation is the fundamental law of nature, and supersedes
+the obligation of all others, whensoever they stand in competition with
+it.&mdash;<i>Hobbes' de Cive</i>; <i>Leviathan</i>.</p>
+
+<p>"8. The doctrine of the gospel concerning patient suffering of injuries
+is not inconsistent with violent resisting of the higher powers in case
+of persecution for religion.&mdash;<i>Lex Rex</i>; <i>Julian Apostate</i>;
+<i>Apolog. Relat.</i></p>
+
+<p>"9. There lies no obligation upon Christians to passive obedience, when
+the prince commands anything against the laws of our country; and the
+primitive Christians chose rather to die than resist, because
+Christianity was not settled by the laws of the Empire.&mdash;<i>Julian
+Apostate.</i></p>
+
+<p>"10. Possession and strength give a right to govern, and success in a
+cause, or enterprise, proclaims it to be lawful and just; to pursue it
+is to comply with the will of God, because it is to follow the conduct
+of His providence.&mdash;<i>Hobbes</i>; <i>Owen's Sermon before <span class="pagenum"><a
+name="Page_195" id="Page_195"></a>[<a href="./images/195.png">195</a>]</span>the Regicides, Jan. 31, 1648</i>;
+<i>Baxter</i>; <i>Jenkin's Petition, Oct. 1651</i>.</p>
+
+<p>"11. In the state of nature there is no difference between good and
+evil, right and wrong; the state of nature is the state of war, in which
+every man hath a right to all things.</p>
+
+<p>"12. The foundation of civil authority is this natural right, which is
+not given, but left to the supreme magistrate upon men's entering into
+societies; and not only a foreign invader, but a domestic rebel, puts
+himself again into a state of nature to be proceeded against, not as a
+subject, but an enemy, and consequently acquires by his rebellion the
+same right over the life of his prince, as the prince for the most
+heinous crimes has over the life of his own subjects.</p>
+
+<p>"13. Every man, after his entering into a society, retains a right of
+defending himself against force, and cannot transfer that right to the
+commonwealth when he consents to that union whereby a commonwealth is
+made; and in case a great many men together have already resisted the
+commonwealth, for which every one of them expecteth death, they have
+liberty then to join together to assist and defend one another. This
+bearing of arms subsequent to the first breach of their duty, though it
+be to maintain what they have done, is no new unjust act, and if it be
+only to defend their persons, is not unjust at all.</p>
+
+<p>"14. An oath superadds no obligation to fact, and a fact obliges no
+further than it is credited; and consequently if a prince gives <span class="pagenum"><a
+name="Page_196" id="Page_196"></a>[<a href="./images/196.png">196</a>]</span>any indication that he does not
+believe the promises of fealty and allegiance made by any of his
+subjects, they are thereby freed from their subjection; and,
+notwithstanding their pacts and oaths, may lawfully rebel against, and
+destroy their sovereign.&mdash;<i>Hobbes' de Cive</i>; <i>Leviathan</i>.</p>
+
+<p>"15. If a people, that by oath and duty are obliged to a sovereign,
+shall sinfully dispossess him, and, contrary to their covenants, choose
+and covenant with another, they may be obliged by their later covenants,
+notwithstanding their former.&mdash;<i>Baxter</i>; <i>H. C.</i></p>
+
+<p>"16. All oaths are unlawful and contrary to the Word of
+God.&mdash;<i>Quakers.</i></p>
+
+<p>"17. An oath obligeth not in the sense of the imposer, but the
+taker's.&mdash;<i>Sheriff's Case.</i></p>
+
+<p>"18. Dominion is founded in grace.</p>
+
+<p>"19. The powers of this world are usurpations upon the prerogative of
+Jesus Christ; and it is the duty of God's people to destroy them, in
+order to the setting Christ upon His throne.&mdash;<i>Fifth Monarchy Men.</i></p>
+
+<p>"20. The presbyterian government is the sceptre of Christ's kingdom, to
+which kings, as well as others, are bound to submit; and the king's
+supremacy in ecclesiastical affairs, asserted by the Church of England,
+is injurious to Christ, the sole King and Head of His
+Church.&mdash;<i>Altare Damascenum</i>; <i>Apolog. Relat. Hist. Indulg.</i>;
+<i>Cartwright</i>; <i>Travers</i>.</p>
+
+<p>"21. It is not lawful for superiors to impose anything in the worship of
+God that is not antecedently necessary.</p>
+
+<p>"22. The duty of not offending a weak brother is inconsistent with all
+human <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197"></a>[<a href="./images/197.png">197</a>]</span>authority of making laws concerning indifferent
+things.&mdash;<i>Protest. Reconciler.</i></p>
+
+<p>"23. Wicked kings and tyrants ought to be put to death; and if the
+judges and inferior magistrates will not do their office, the power of
+the sword devolves to the people; if the major part of the people refuse
+to exercise this power, then the ministers may excommunicate such a
+king; after which it is lawful for any of the subjects to kill him, as
+the people did Athaliah, and Jehu Jezebel.&mdash;<i>Buchanan</i>; <i>Knox</i>;
+<i>Goodman</i>; <i>Gibby</i>; <i>Jesuits</i>.</p>
+
+<p>"24. After the sealing of the Scripture-canon the people of God in all
+ages are to expect new revelations for a rule of their actions (<i>a</i>);
+and it is lawful for a private man, having an inward motion from God, to
+kill a tyrant (<i>b</i>).&mdash;(<i>a</i>) <i>Quakers and other Enthusiasts.</i> (<i>b</i>)
+<i>Goodman.</i></p>
+
+<p>"25. The example of Phineas is to us instead of a command; for what God
+hath commanded or approved in one age must needs oblige in
+all.&mdash;<i>Goodman</i>; <i>Knox</i>; <i>Napthali</i>.</p>
+
+<p>"26. King Charles the First was lawfully put to death, and his murderers
+were the blessed instruments of God's glory in their
+generation.&mdash;<i>Milton</i>; <i>Goodwin</i>; <i>Owen</i>.</p>
+
+<p>"27. King Charles the First made war upon his Parliament; and in such a
+case the king may not only be resisted, but he ceaseth to be
+king.&mdash;<i>Baxter.</i></p>
+
+<p>"We decree, judge, and declare all and every of these propositions to be
+false, seditious, and impious; and most of them to be also heretical and
+blasphemous, infamous <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198"></a>[<a href="./images/198.png">198</a>]</span>to Christian religion, and destructive of
+all government in Church and State.</p>
+
+<p>"We further decree, That the books which contain the aforesaid
+propositions and impious doctrines are fitted to deprave good manners,
+corrupt the minds of unwary men, stir up seditions and tumults,
+overthrow states and kingdoms, and lead to rebellion, murder of princes,
+and atheism itself; and therefore we interdict all members of the
+university from the reading of the said books, under the penalties in
+the statutes expressed. We also order the before-recited books to be
+publicly burnt by the hand of our marshal, in the court of our schools.</p>
+
+<p>"Likewise we order, that, in perpetual memory hereof, these our decrees
+shall be entered into the registry of our convocation; and that copies
+of them being communicated to the several colleges and halls within this
+university, they be there publicly affixed in the libraries,
+refectories, or other fit places, where they may be seen and read of
+all.</p>
+
+<p>"Lastly, we command and strictly enjoin all and singular, the readers,
+tutors, catechists, and others to whom the care and trust of institution
+of youth is committed, that they diligently instruct and ground their
+scholars in that most necessary doctrine, which, in a manner, is the
+badge and character of the Church of England, of submitting to every
+ordinance of man for the Lord's sake, whether it be to the king as
+supreme, or unto governors as unto them that are sent by him, for the
+punishment of evil doers, and for the praise of them that do well;
+teaching that <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199"></a>[<a href="./images/199.png">199</a>]</span>this submission and obedience is to be clear,
+absolute, and without exception of any state or order of men. Also that
+they, according to the Apostle's precept, exhort, that first of all
+supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for
+all men, for the king, and all that are in authority; that we may lead a
+quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty; for this is good
+and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; and in especial manner
+that they press and oblige them humbly to offer their most ardent and
+daily prayers at the throne of grace, for the preservation of our
+Sovereign Lord King Charles from the attempts of open violence and
+secret machinations of perfidious traitors; that the defender of the
+faith, being safe under the defence of the Most High, may continue his
+reign on earth till he exchange it for that of a late and happy
+immortality."</p></div>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<img src="./images/p199.png" width="16%" alt="winged creature woodcut" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200"></a>[<a href="./images/200.png">200</a>]</span></p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201"></a>[<a href="./images/201.png">201</a>]</span></p>
+<div class="figcenter">
+<img src="./images/p201.png" width="45%" alt="face and flowers woodcut" title="" />
+</div>
+
+
+<p class="smallgap">&nbsp;</p>
+<h2>INDEX.</h2>
+
+<ul class="list">
+  <li>Abelard, all his books burnt, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>.</li>
+  <li>Allen (Cardinal), <a href="#Page_37">37</a>.</li>
+  <li>Archer (John), of All Hallows, Lombard Street, <a href="#Page_106">106</a>.</li>
+  <li>Asgill (John), his book burnt by two Parliaments, <a href="#Page_144">144-47</a>.</li>
+  <li>Attwood (William), the English Whig, <a href="#Page_184">184</a>.</li>
+  <li>Aubign&eacute; (D'), his <i>Histoire Universelle</i>, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>.</li>
+
+  <li>&nbsp;</li>
+  <li>Bale (Bishop), <a href="#Page_29">29</a>.</li>
+  <li>Barnes, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>.</li>
+  <li>Bastwick (the physician), <a href="#Page_81">81-92</a>.</li>
+  <li>Beaumarchais, his <i>Memoirs</i> condemned to the flames, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>.</li>
+  <li>Becon, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>.</li>
+  <li>Bellarmine, his <i>Tractatus</i> condemned by the Parliament of Paris, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>.</li>
+  <li>Bernier (Abb&eacute;) <i>pseud.</i>, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>.</li>
+  <li>Best (Paul), prisoner at the Gatehouse, <a href="#Page_107">107-109</a>.</li>
+  <li>Bidle (a tailor's son), <a href="#Page_110">110</a>.</li>
+  <li>Bissendorf burnt, as well as his books, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>.</li>
+  <li>Boncerf, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>.</li>
+  <li><i>Book-fires of the Sixteenth Century</i>, <a href="#Page_25">25-47</a>.</li>
+    <li class="listsubitem"><i>under James I.</i>, <a href="#Page_48">48-68</a>.</li>
+    <li class="listsubitem"><i>under Charles I.</i>, <a href="#Page_69">69-93</a>.</li>
+    <li class="listsubitem"><i>of the Rebellion</i>, <a href="#Page_94">94-116</a>.</li>
+    <li class="listsubitem"><i>of the Restoration</i>, <a href="#Page_117">117-135</a>.</li>
+    <li class="listsubitem"><i>of the Revolution</i>, <a href="#Page_136">136-169</a>.</li>
+    <li class="listsubitem">(<i>our last</i>), <a href="#Page_170">170-190</a>.</li>
+  <li><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202"></a>[<a href="./images/202.png">202</a>]</span>Boulanger, <i>Christianisme d&eacute;voil&eacute;</i>, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>.</li>
+  <li>Boyse, his sermon burnt by the hangman, <a href="#Page_166">166</a>.</li>
+  <li>Brecknock (Timothy), <a href="#Page_181">181</a>.</li>
+  <li>Buchanan (David), <a href="#Page_101">101</a>.</li>
+  <li>Buchanan (George), <a href="#Page_58">58</a>, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>.</li>
+  <li>Burton, the divine, <a href="#Page_81">81-92</a>.</li>
+  <li>Bury (Rev. Arthur), <a href="#Page_141">141-43</a>.</li>
+  <li>Busenbaum (the Jesuit), <a href="#Page_17">17</a>.</li>
+
+  <li>&nbsp;</li>
+  <li>Calamy (Dr.), <a href="#Page_131">131</a>.</li>
+  <li>Carr (William), <a href="#Page_171">171</a>.</li>
+  <li>Cellier (Elizabeth), <a href="#Page_134">134</a>.</li>
+  <li><i>Charles I.'s Book-fires</i>, <a href="#Page_69">69-93</a>.</li>
+  <li>Clarkson (Laurence), <a href="#Page_114">114</a>.</li>
+  <li>Claude, his <i>Plaintes des Protestants</i>, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>.</li>
+  <li>Clendon (John), <a href="#Page_159">159</a>.</li>
+  <li>Coke (Sir Edward), <a href="#Page_57">57</a>.</li>
+  <li><i>Constitutional Queries</i> (1750), <a href="#Page_175">175</a>.</li>
+  <li>Coppe (Ebiezer), <a href="#Page_114">114</a>.</li>
+  <li>Coverdale (Bishop), <a href="#Page_29">29</a>.</li>
+  <li>Coward (Dr.), <a href="#Page_147">147</a>, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>.</li>
+  <li>Cowell (Dr.), <a href="#Page_28">28</a>, <a href="#Page_54">54-59</a>.</li>
+  <li><i>Crisis, the Present</i> (1775), <a href="#Page_182">182</a>, <a href="#Page_186">186</a>.</li>
+  <li>Cumberland (Duke of), of Culloden, compared with Richard III., <a href="#Page_175">175</a>.</li>
+  <li>Cutwode, his <i>Caltha P&oelig;tarum</i>, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>.</li>
+
+  <li>&nbsp;</li>
+  <li>Davies (Sir John), <a href="#Page_41">41</a>, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>.</li>
+  <li>Declaration of James III., <a href="#Page_174">174</a>.</li>
+  <li>Defoe (Daniel), <a href="#Page_152">152-4</a>.</li>
+  <li>Delaune, his <i>Plea for the Nonconformists</i>, <a href="#Page_130">130-34</a>.</li>
+  <li>Dering (Sir Edward), <a href="#Page_98">98</a>.</li>
+  <li>Derodon, Professor at Nismes, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>.</li>
+  <li>Deslandes, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>.</li>
+  <li>Desp&eacute;riers, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>.</li>
+  <li>Digby (Lord), <a href="#Page_99">99</a>.</li>
+  <li>Dolet, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>.</li>
+  <li>Doleman's <i>Conference</i>, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>.</li>
+  <li><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203"></a>[<a href="./images/203.png">203</a>]</span>Dominis (Marcus Antonius de), <a href="#Page_9">9</a>.</li>
+  <li>Drake (Dr. James), <a href="#Page_155">155-57</a>, <a href="#Page_173">173</a>, <a href="#Page_183">183</a>.</li>
+  <li>Dufresnoy, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>.</li>
+  <li>Dulaurent, an apostate monk, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>.</li>
+
+  <li>&nbsp;</li>
+  <li>Emmius, his posthumous book, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>.</li>
+  <li>Enjedim, the Hungarian Socialist, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>.</li>
+
+  <li>&nbsp;</li>
+  <li>Falkland (Lord), <a href="#Page_101">101</a>.</li>
+  <li>Fleetwood (William), Bishop of St. Asaph, <a href="#Page_167">167</a>.</li>
+  <li>Fish's <i>Supplication of Beggars</i>, <a href="#Page_36">36</a>.</li>
+  <li>Freret, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>.</li>
+  <li>Froude (J. A.), his <i>Nemesis of Faith</i> burned, <a href="#Page_144">144</a>.</li>
+  <li>Frith, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>.</li>
+  <li>Fry (John), M.P., <a href="#Page_103">103</a>, <a href="#Page_104">4</a>.</li>
+
+  <li>&nbsp;</li>
+  <li>G&eacute;n&eacute;brard (Archbishop), <a href="#Page_18">18</a>.</li>
+  <li>Gerberon, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>.</li>
+  <li>Giannone, his <i>Historia Civile</i>, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>.</li>
+  <li>Gigli, his <i>Vocabulario</i>, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>.</li>
+  <li>Goodwin (John), prolific writer, <a href="#Page_117">117-122</a>.</li>
+
+  <li>&nbsp;</li>
+  <li>Hall (Bishop), <a href="#Page_41">41</a>, <a href="#Page_42">2</a>, <a href="#Page_43">3</a>.</li>
+  <li>Hall (Joseph), serjeant-at-arms, <a href="#Page_172">172</a>.</li>
+  <li>Helot, his <i>L'Ecole des Filles</i>, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>.</li>
+  <li>Herries (Walter), <a href="#Page_183">183</a>.</li>
+  <li>Holbach (Baron d'), <a href="#Page_15">15</a>.</li>
+  <li>Humphrey (John), <a href="#Page_154">154</a>.</li>
+  <li>Huss (John), <a href="#Page_6">6</a>.</li>
+  <li>Hutchinson (Provost Hely), <a href="#Page_182">182</a>, <a href="#Page_185">185</a>.</li>
+
+  <li>&nbsp;</li>
+  <li><i>James I., Book-fires under</i>, <a href="#Page_48">48-68</a>.</li>
+  <li>James III., Declaration of, <a href="#Page_174">174</a>.</li>
+  <li>Joly (Claude), <a href="#Page_20">20</a>.</li>
+  <li>Joye, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>.</li>
+  <li><i>Justiciarius justificatus</i>, <a href="#Page_101">101</a>.</li>
+
+  <li>&nbsp;</li>
+  <li><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204"></a>[<a href="./images/204.png">204</a>]</span>Keller, the Jesuit, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>.</li>
+  <li>Kentish Petition (1642), <a href="#Page_100">100</a>.</li>
+  <li>King (George), the bookseller, <a href="#Page_176">176</a>.</li>
+  <li>Knewstub, his <i>Confutation</i> (1579), <a href="#Page_33">33</a>.</li>
+
+  <li>&nbsp;</li>
+  <li>La Mettrie (De), <a href="#Page_14">14</a>.</li>
+  <li>Langle (Marquis de), <a href="#Page_13">13</a>.</li>
+  <li>Lanjuinais, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>.</li>
+  <li>La Peyr&egrave;re imprisoned, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>.</li>
+  <li>Leighton (Alexander), <a href="#Page_75">75</a>.</li>
+  <li>Le Noble (Eustache), <a href="#Page_20">20</a>.</li>
+  <li>Lilburne (John), <a href="#Page_88">88</a>, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>.</li>
+  <li>Linguet, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>.</li>
+  <li>Locke (John), <a href="#Page_127">127-29</a>.</li>
+  <li><i>Love, Family of</i>, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>.</li>
+  <li>Luther, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>.</li>
+  <li>Lyser, advocate of polygamy, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>.</li>
+
+  <li>&nbsp;</li>
+  <li>Mantuanus, the Carmelite, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>.</li>
+  <li>Manwaring (Roger), <a href="#Page_69">69-71</a>.</li>
+  <li>Mariana, the Jesuit, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>.</li>
+  <li>Marivaux (Martin de), <a href="#Page_22">22</a>.</li>
+  <li>Marlowe (Christopher), <a href="#Page_41">41</a>, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>.</li>
+  <li>Martin Marprelate, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>.</li>
+  <li>Marston (John), <a href="#Page_41">41</a>, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>.</li>
+  <li><i>Mercurius Elenchicus</i>, <a href="#Page_101">101</a>.</li>
+  <li><i>Mercurius Pragmaticus</i>, <a href="#Page_101">101</a>.</li>
+  <li>Meslier (Jean), <a href="#Page_14">14</a>.</li>
+  <li>Milton, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>, <a href="#Page_118">118-22</a>.</li>
+  <li>Mocket (Richard), <a href="#Page_61">61</a>.</li>
+  <li>Molinos, founder of Quietism, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>.</li>
+  <li>Molyneux (William), his <i>Case for Ireland</i>, <a href="#Page_136">136-40</a>.</li>
+  <li>Mondonville (Madame de), <a href="#Page_21">21</a>.</li>
+  <li>Montagu (Richard), anti-Puritan, <a href="#Page_71">71-3</a>.</li>
+  <li>Morin (Simon), <a href="#Page_10">10</a>.</li>
+  <li>Morisot, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>.</li>
+  <li>Muggleton (Ludovic), <a href="#Page_115">115</a>, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>.</li>
+
+  <li>&nbsp;</li>
+  <li><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205"></a>[<a href="./images/205.png">205</a>]</span>Niclas (Hendrick), of Leyden, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>.</li>
+  <li><i>North Briton</i> (No. 45), <a href="#Page_177">177</a>.</li>
+
+  <li>&nbsp;</li>
+  <li>Okeford (James), <a href="#Page_102">102</a>.</li>
+  <li>Orl&eacute;ans (Louis d'), <a href="#Page_18">18</a>.</li>
+  <li>Osma (Peter d'), <a href="#Page_7">7</a>.</li>
+  <li>Oxford (University of) Decree against certain pernicious books, <a href="#Page_192">192</a>.</li>
+
+  <li>&nbsp;</li>
+  <li>Par&aelig;us (David), <a href="#Page_60">60</a>.</li>
+  <li><i>Parliament's Ten Commandments</i>, <a href="#Page_101">101</a>.</li>
+  <li><i>Parliament's Pater Noster</i>, <a href="#Page_101">101</a>.</li>
+  <li>Parsons (Robert), the Jesuit, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>, <a href="#Page_39">39</a>.</li>
+  <li>Pascal, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>.</li>
+  <li>Peignot, the historian of Condemned Books, <a href="#Page_2">2</a>.</li>
+  <li>Pidanzet, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>.</li>
+  <li>Pocklington (Dr. John), <a href="#Page_95">95-8</a>.</li>
+  <li>Pomponacius, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>.</li>
+  <li>Porphyry, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>.</li>
+  <li>Primatt (Joseph), <a href="#Page_102">102</a>.</li>
+  <li>Prynne (William), <a href="#Page_30">30</a>, <a href="#Page_77">77-93</a>.</li>
+
+  <li>&nbsp;</li>
+  <li><i>Racovian Catechism</i>, <a href="#Page_111">111-13</a>.</li>
+  <li>Raleigh (Sir Walter), <a href="#Page_59">59</a>.</li>
+  <li>Raynal (Abb&eacute;), <a href="#Page_23">23</a>.</li>
+  <li>Reboulet, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>.</li>
+  <li>Reeves' <i>Thoughts on English Government</i>, <a href="#Page_186">186</a>.</li>
+  <li>Rousseau, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>.</li>
+  <li>Rowlands (Samuel), <a href="#Page_45">45</a>.</li>
+  <li>Rutherford (Samuel), <a href="#Page_122">122</a>.</li>
+  <li>Rye House Plot, Decree against pernicious books, <a href="#Page_191">191</a>.</li>
+
+  <li>&nbsp;</li>
+  <li>Sacheverell (Henry), <a href="#Page_157">157-61</a>.</li>
+  <li>Sainte Foi, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>.</li>
+  <li>Salmasius, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>.</li>
+  <li>Sanctarel, the Jesuit, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>.</li>
+  <li><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206"></a>[<a href="./images/206.png">206</a>]</span>Schlicttingius, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>.</li>
+  <li>Scioppius, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>.</li>
+  <li>Scot (Reginald), one of the heroes of the world, <a href="#Page_49">49-53</a>.</li>
+  <li>Servetus, his burning, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>.</li>
+  <li>Squitinio, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>.</li>
+  <li>Stubbs (John), <a href="#Page_35">35</a>.</li>
+  <li>Suarez, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>.</li>
+
+  <li>&nbsp;</li>
+  <li>Talbert (Abb&eacute;), <a href="#Page_17">17</a>.</li>
+  <li>Th&eacute;ophile, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>.</li>
+  <li>Thomas (William), <a href="#Page_30">30</a>.</li>
+  <li>Thornborough (Bishop), <a href="#Page_57">57</a>.</li>
+  <li>Tindal (Matthew), <a href="#Page_159">159</a>, <a href="#Page_161">161-63</a>.</li>
+  <li>Toland, <a href="#Page_149">149</a>.</li>
+  <li>Toussaint, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>.</li>
+  <li>Tracy, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>.</li>
+  <li>Turner, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>.</li>
+  <li>Tyndale (William), <a href="#Page_9">9</a>, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>.</li>
+
+  <li>&nbsp;</li>
+  <li>Voet, professor of theology, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>.</li>
+  <li>Voltaire, contributed more books to the flames than any other author of the eighteenth century, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>.</li>
+  <li>Vorst (Conrad), <a href="#Page_66">66</a>.</li>
+
+  <li>&nbsp;</li>
+  <li>Wentworth (Peter), <a href="#Page_39">39</a>.</li>
+  <li>Wicliff, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>.</li>
+  <li>Wilkes (John), and the <i>North Briton</i>, <a href="#Page_177">177</a>.</li>
+  <li>Williams (John), <a href="#Page_46">46</a>, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>.</li>
+  <li>Wither (George), <a href="#Page_101">101</a>.</li>
+  <li>Wolkelius, friend of Socinus, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>.</li>
+  <li>Woolston, his Discourse on Miracles, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>.</li>
+</ul>
+
+<p class="gap"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207"></a>[<a href="./images/207.png">207</a>]</span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<img src="./images/p207.png" width="30%" alt="owl bookplate" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<p class="gap">&nbsp;</p>
+<hr style="width: 30%;" />
+<p class="center"><i>Elliot Stock, 62, Paternoster Row, London, E.C.</i></p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<div class="notebox">
+<h2><a name="TN" id="TN"></a>TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES</h2>
+
+<p>Pages iv and 200 are blank in the original.</p>
+
+<p>The following corrections have been made to the text:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot">
+<p>Page 3: could not himself either affirm[original has ffiarm] or deny</p>
+
+<p>Page 35: same penalty as its author.[period missing in original]</p>
+
+<p>Page 136: William Molyneux's[apostrophe and final "s" missing in
+original] Case for Ireland</p>
+
+<p>Page 176: [original has extraneous quotation mark]both Houses of
+Parliament on Thursday</p>
+
+<p>Page 176: December 2nd, 1756'[original has double quote]</p>
+
+<p>Page 194: Hobbes'[apostrophe missing in original] de Cive</p>
+
+<p>Page 196: Hobbes'[apostrophe missing in original] de Cive</p>
+
+<p>Page 196: <i>Apolog. Relat. Hist. Indulg.</i>[period missing in
+original]</p>
+
+<p>Page 201: Abelard[original has Abela d], all his books burnt, 5.</p>
+
+<p>Page 203: G&eacute;n&eacute;brard[original has
+G&eacute;n&eacute;brazd] (Archbishop), 18.</p>
+
+<p>Page 203: Helot, his L'Ecole[original has L'Escole] des Filles,
+17.</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's Books Condemned to be Burnt, by James Anson Farrer
+
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+</body>
+</html>
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+Project Gutenberg's Books Condemned to be Burnt, by James Anson Farrer
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Books Condemned to be Burnt
+
+Author: James Anson Farrer
+
+Release Date: March 6, 2010 [EBook #31520]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BOOKS CONDEMNED TO BE BURNT ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Steven Gibbs, Lisa Reigel, and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Transcriber's Note: Variations in spelling and hyphenation have
+been left as in the original. A complete list of typographical
+and punctuation corrections follows the text. Words italicized in
+the original are surrounded by _underscores_. In quoted material,
+a row of asterisks represents an ellipsis. Other ellipses match the
+original. More notes follow the text.
+
+
+The Book-Lover's Library.
+
+Edited by
+
+Henry B. Wheatley, F.S.A.
+
+
+
+
+                        BOOKS CONDEMNED
+                         TO BE BURNT.
+
+
+                              BY
+                      JAMES ANSON FARRER,
+
+
+                            LONDON
+               ELLIOT STOCK, 62, PATERNOSTER ROW
+                             1892
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE.
+
+
+_When did books first come to be burnt in England by the common
+hangman, and what was the last book to be so treated? This is the
+sort of question that occurs to a rational curiosity, but it is
+just this sort of question to which it is often most difficult to
+find an answer. Historians are generally too engrossed with the
+details of battles, all as drearily similar to one another as
+scenes of murder and rapine must of necessity be, to spare a
+glance for the far brighter and more instructive field of the
+mutations or of the progress of manners. The following work is an
+attempt to supply the deficiency on this particular subject._
+
+_I am indebted to chance for having directed me to the interest
+of book-burning as an episode in the history of the world's
+manners, the discursive allusions to it in the old numbers of
+"Notes and Queries" hinting to me the desirability of a more
+systematic mode of treatment. To bibliographers and literary
+historians I conceived that such a work might prove of utility
+and interest, and possibly serve to others as an introduction and
+incentive to a branch of our literary history that is not without
+its fascination. But I must also own to a less unselfish motive,
+for I imagined that not without its reward of delight would be a
+temporary sojourn among the books which, for their boldness of
+utterance or unconventional opinions, were not only not received
+by the best literary society of their day, but were with ignominy
+expelled from it. Nor was I wrong in my calculation._
+
+_But could I impart or convey the same delight to others?
+Clearly all that I could do was to invite them to enter on the
+same road, myself only subserving the humble functions of a
+signpost. I could avoid merely compiling for them a
+bibliographical dictionary, but I could not treat at length of
+each offender in my catalogue, without, in so exhausting my
+subject, exhausting at the same time my reader's patience. I have
+tried therefore to give something of the life of their history
+and times to the authors with whom I came in contact; to cast a
+little light on the idiosyncrasies or misfortunes of this one or
+of that; but to do them full justice, and to enable the reader to
+make their complete acquaintance, how was that possible with any
+regard for the laws of literary proportion? All I could do was to
+aim at something less dull than a dictionary, but something far
+short of a history._
+
+_I trust that no one will be either attracted or alarmed by any
+anticipations suggested by the title of my book. Although
+primarily a book for the library, it is also one of which no
+drawing-room table need be the least afraid. If I have found
+anything in my condemned authors which they would have done
+better to have left unsaid, I have, in referring to their
+fortunes, felt under no compulsion to reproduce their
+indiscretions. But, in all of them put together, I doubt whether
+there is as much to offend a scrupulous taste as in many a
+latter-day novel, the claim of which to the distinction of
+burning is often as indisputable as the certainty of its
+regrettable immunity from that fiery but fitting fate._
+
+_The custom I write about suggests some obvious reflections on
+the mutability of our national manners. Was the wisdom of our
+ancestors really so much greater than our own, as many profess
+to believe? If so, it is strange with how much of that wisdom we
+have learnt to dispense. One by one their old customs have fallen
+away from us, and I fancy that if any gentleman could come back
+to us from the seventeenth century, he would be less astonished
+by the novel sights he would see than by the old familiar sights
+he would miss. He would see no one standing in the pillory, no
+one being burnt at a stake, no one being "swum" for witchcraft,
+no one's veracity being tested by torture, and, above all, no
+hangman burning books at Cheapside, no unfortunate authors being
+flogged all the way from Fleet Street to Westminster. The absence
+of these things would probably strike him more than even the
+railways and the telegraph wires. Returning with his old-world
+ideas, he would wonder how life and property had survived the
+removal of their time-honoured props, or how, when all fear of
+punishment had been removed from the press, Church and State were
+still where he had left them. Reflecting on these things, he
+would recognise the fact that he himself had been living in an
+age of barbarism from which we, his posterity, were in process of
+gradual emergence. What vistas of still further improvement would
+not then be conjured up before his mind!_
+
+_We can hardly wonder at our ancestors burning books when we
+recollect their readiness to burn one another. It was not till
+the year 1790 that women ceased to be liable to be burnt alive
+for high or for _petit_ treason, and Blackstone found nothing to
+say against it. He saw nothing unfair in burning a woman for
+coining, but in only hanging a man. "The punishment of _petit_
+treason," he says, "in a man is to be drawn and hanged, and in a
+woman to be drawn and burned; the idea of which latter punishment
+seems to have been handed down to us by the ancient Druids, which
+condemned a woman to be burnt for murdering her husband, and it
+is now the usual punishment for all sorts of treasons committed
+by those of the female sex." Not a suspicion seems to have
+crossed the great jurist's mind that the supposed barbarity of
+the Druids was not altogether a conclusive justification for the
+barbarity of his own contemporaries. So let us take warning from
+his example, and let the history of our practice of book-burning
+serve to help us to keep our minds open with regard to anomalies
+which may still exist amongst us, descended from as suspicious an
+origin, and as little supported by reason._
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+
+                                                        PAGE
+     INTRODUCTION                                          1
+
+     CHAPTER I. SIXTEENTH-CENTURY BOOK-FIRES              25
+
+            II. BOOK-FIRES UNDER JAMES I                  48
+
+           III. CHARLES THE FIRST'S BOOK-FIRES            69
+
+            IV. BOOK-FIRES OF THE REBELLION               94
+
+             V. BOOK-FIRES OF THE RESTORATION            117
+
+            VI. BOOK-FIRES OF THE REVOLUTION             136
+
+           VII. OUR LAST BOOK-FIRES                      170
+
+     APPENDIX                                            191
+
+     INDEX                                               201
+
+
+
+
+BOOKS
+
+CONDEMNED TO BE BURNT.
+
+
+
+
+INTRODUCTION.
+
+
+There is the sort of attraction that belongs to all forbidden
+fruit in books which some public authority has condemned to the
+flames. And seeing that to collect something is a large part of
+the secret of human happiness, it occurred to me that a variety
+of the happiness that is sought in book collecting might be found
+in making a collection of books of this sort. I have, therefore,
+put together the following narrative of our burnt literature as
+some kind of aid to any book-lover who shall choose to take my
+hint and make the peculiarity I have indicated the key-note to
+the formation of his library.
+
+But the aid I offer is confined to books so condemned in the
+United Kingdom. Those who would pursue the study farther afield,
+and extend their wishes beyond the four seas, will find all the
+aid they need or desire in Peignot's admirable _Dictionnaire
+Critique, Litteraire, et Bibliographique des principaux Livres
+condamnes au feu, supprimes ou censures_: Paris, 1806. To have
+extended my studies to cover this wider ground would have swollen
+my book as well as my labour beyond the limits of my inclination.
+I may mention that Hart's _Index Expurgatorius_ covers this wider
+ground for England, as far as it goes.
+
+Nevertheless, I may, perhaps, appropriately, by way of
+introduction, refer to some episodes and illustrations of
+book-burning, to show the place the custom had in the development
+of civilisation, and the distinction of good or bad company and
+ancient lineage enjoyed by such books as their punishment by
+burning entitles to places on the shelves of our fire-library.
+The custom was of pagan observance long before it passed into
+Christian practice; and for its existence in Greece, and for the
+first instance I know of, I would refer to the once famous or
+notorious work of Protagoras, certainly one of the wisest
+philosophers or sophists of ancient times. He was the first
+avowed Agnostic, for he wrote a work on the gods, of which the
+very first remark was that the existence of gods at all he could
+not himself either affirm or deny. For this offensive sentiment
+his book was publicly burnt; but Protagoras, could he have
+foreseen the future, might have esteemed himself happy to have
+lived before the Christian epoch, when authors came to share with
+their works the purifying process of fire. The world grew less
+humane as well as less sensible as it grew older, and came to
+think more of orthodoxy than of any other condition of the mind.
+
+The virtuous Romans appear to have been greater book-burners than
+the Greeks, both under the Republic and under the Empire. It was
+the Senate's function to condemn books to the flames, and the
+praetor's to see that it was done, generally in the Forum. But for
+this evil habit we might still possess many valuable works, such
+as the books attributed to Numa on Pontifical law (Livy xl.), and
+those eulogies of Paetus Thrasea and Helvidius, which were burnt,
+and their authors put to death, under the tyranny of Domitian
+(Tacitus, Agricola 2). Let these cases suffice to connect the
+custom with Pagan Rome, and to prove that this particular mode
+of warring with the expression of free thought boasts its
+precedents in pre-Christian antiquity.
+
+Nevertheless it is the custom as it was manifested in Christian
+times that has chief interest for us, because it is only with
+condemned books of this period that we have any chance of
+practical acquaintance. Some of these survived the flames, whilst
+none of antiquity's burning have come down to us. But on what
+principle it was that the burning authorities (in France
+generally the Parlement of Paris, or of the provinces), burnt
+some books, whilst others were only censured, condemned, or
+suppressed, I am unable to say, and I doubt whether any principle
+was involved. Peignot has noticed the chief books stigmatised by
+authority in all these various ways; but though undoubtedly this
+wider view is more philosophical, the view is quite comprehensive
+enough which confines itself to the consideration of books that
+were condemned to be burnt.
+
+Books so treated may be classified according as they offended
+against (i) the religion, (ii) the morals, or (iii) the politics
+of the day, those against the first being by far the most
+numerous, and so admitting here of notice only of their most
+conspicuous specimens.
+
+I. Of all the books burnt for offence under the first head, the
+most to be regretted, from an historical point of view, I take to
+be Porphyry's _Treatise against the Christians_, which was burnt
+A.D. 388 by order of Theodosius the Great. Porphyry believed that
+Daniel's prophecies had been written after the events foretold in
+them by some one who took the name of Daniel. It would have been
+interesting to have known Porphyry's grounds for this not
+improbable opinion, as well as his general charges against the
+Christians; and if there is anything in the tradition of the
+survival of a copy of Porphyry in one of the libraries of
+Florence, the testimony of the distinguished Platonist may yet
+enlighten us on the causes of the growing darkness of the age in
+which he lived.
+
+All the books of the famous Abelard were burnt by order of Pope
+Innocent II.; but it was his _Treatise on the Trinity_, condemned
+by the Council of Soissons about 1121, and by the Council of Sens
+in 1140, which chiefly led St. Bernard to his cruel persecution
+of this famous man. That great saint, using the habitual language
+of ecclesiastical charity, called Abelard an infernal dragon and
+the precursor of Antichrist. Among his heresies Abelard seems to
+have held the opinion that the devil has no power over man; but
+at all events the Church had in those days, as Abelard learnt to
+his cost, though, considering that his disciple Arnauld of
+Brescia was destined to be burnt alive at Rome in 1155, Abelard
+might have deemed himself fortunate in only incurring
+imprisonment, and not sharing the fate of his works as well as
+that of his illustrious follower.
+
+The latter calamity befell John Huss, who, having been led before
+the bishop's palace to see his own condemned works burnt, was
+then led on to be burnt himself, in 1415. Many of his works,
+however, were republished in the following century; but the
+twenty-nine errors which the Council of Constance detected in his
+work on the Church would probably nowadays seem venial enough. It
+was his misfortune to live in those days when the inhumanity of
+the world was at its climax.
+
+It continued at that climax for some time, though heretical
+authors were not always burnt with their books. Enjedim, for
+instance, the Hungarian Socinian, who died in 1596, survived the
+burning in many places of his "Explanations of Difficult Passages
+of the Old and New Testament, from which the Dogma of the
+Trinity is usually established" (_Explicationes locorum
+difficilium_, etc.). Peter d'Osma also, the Spanish theologian,
+whose _Treatise on Confession_ was condemned by the Archbishop of
+Toledo in the fifteenth century, might have esteemed himself
+happy that only his chair shared the burning of his book.
+Pomponacius, an Italian professor of philosophy, whose _Treatise
+on the Immortality of the Soul_ (1516), was burnt by the
+Venetians for the heretical opinion that the soul's immortality
+was not believed by Aristotle, and could only be proved by
+Scripture and the authority of the Church, seems to have died
+peacefully in 1526, albeit with the reputation of an atheist,
+which his writings do not support. Desperiers was only imprisoned
+when his _Cymbalum Mundi_, censured by the Sorbonne, was
+consigned to the flames by the Parlement of Paris (March 7th,
+1537). And Luther, all of whose works were condemned to be burnt
+by the Diet of Worms (1521), actually survived their burning
+twenty-five years, though he himself had publicly burnt at
+Wittenberg Leo X.'s bull, anathematising his books, as well as
+the Decretals of previous Popes.
+
+Less fortunate than these were the famous martyrs of free
+thought, Dolet, Servetus, and Tyndale. All the works, which Dolet
+wrote or printed, were burnt as heretical by the Parlement of
+Paris (February 14th, 1543), and himself hanged and burnt three
+years later (August 3rd, 1546), at the age of thirty-seven. The
+reason seems chiefly to have been Dolet's unsparing exposure of
+the immoralities of monks and priests, and of the plan of the
+Sorbonne to put down the art of printing in France. In Peignot is
+preserved a long list of the names of the works to the
+publication of which he lent his aid.
+
+The burning of Servetus, the Parisian doctor, at Geneva (October
+27th, 1553), because his opinions on the Trinity did not agree
+with Calvin's, is of course the greatest blot on the memory of
+Calvin. All his books or manuscripts were burnt with him or
+elsewhere, so that his works are among the rarest of
+bibliographical treasures, and his _Christianismi Restitutio_
+(1553) is said to be the rarest book in the world. But apart from
+their rarity, I should hardly imagine that the works of Servetus
+possessed the slightest interest, or that their loss was the
+smallest loss to the literature of the world.
+
+But if Calvin must bear the burden of the death of Servetus,
+Christianity itself is responsible for the death of William
+Tyndale, who, deeming it desirable that his countrymen should
+possess in their own language the book on which their religion
+was founded, took the infinite trouble of translating the
+Scriptures into English. His New Testament was forthwith burnt in
+London, and himself after some years strangled and burnt at
+Antwerp (1536).
+
+The same literary persecution continued in the next century, the
+seventeenth. Bissendorf perished at the hands of the executioner
+at the same time that his books, _Nodi gordii resolutio_ (on the
+priestly calling), 1624, and _The Jesuits_, were burnt by the
+same agent. In the case of the _De Republica Ecclesiastica_
+(1617) by De Dominis, Christian savagery surpassed itself, for
+not only was it burnt by sentence of the Inquisition, but also
+the dead body of its author was exhumed for the purpose. Dominis
+had been a Jesuit for twenty years, then a bishop, and finally
+Archbishop of Spalatro. This office he gave up, and retired to
+England, where he might write with greater freedom than in Italy.
+There he wrote this work and a history of the Council of Trent.
+His chief offence was his advocacy of the unchristian principles
+of toleration; he wished to reunite and reconcile the Christian
+communions. But alas for human frailty! he retracted his errors,
+many of them most sensible opinions, in London, and again at
+Rome, whither he returned. Pope Urban VIII., however, imprisoned
+him in the Castle of St. Angelo, where he is said to have died of
+poison, so that only his dead body was available to burn with his
+book the same year (1625). Literary lives were tragic in those
+times.
+
+Simon Morin was burnt with all the copies of his _Pensees_ that
+could be found, on the Place de Greve, at Paris, March 14th,
+1663. Morin called himself the Son of Man, and such thoughts of
+his as survived the fire do not lead us in his case to grudge the
+flames their literary fuel. But it is curious to think that we
+are only two centuries from the time when the Parlement of Paris
+could pass such a sentence on such a sufferer.
+
+The Parlement of Dijon condemned to be burnt by the executioner
+Morisot's _Ahitophili Veritatis Lacrymae_ (July 4th, 1625), but
+though this work was a violent satire upon the Jesuits, Morisot
+survived his book thirty-six years, the Jesuits revenging
+themselves with nothing worse than an epitaph, containing a bad
+pun, to the effect that their enemy, after a life not spent in
+wisdom, preferred to die as a fool (_Voluit mori-sot_).
+
+In the same century Molinos, the Spanish priest, and founder of
+Quietism, wrote his _Conduite Spirituelle_, which was condemned
+to the flames for sixty-eight heretical propositions, whilst its
+author was consigned to the prisons of the Inquisition, where he
+died after eleven years of it (1696). Self-absorption of the soul
+in God to the point of complete indifference to anything done to
+or by the body, even to the sufferings of the latter in hell, was
+the doctrine of Quietism that led ecclesiastic authority to feel
+its usual alarm for consequences; and it must be admitted that
+similar doctrines have at times played sad havoc with Christian
+morality. But perhaps they helped Molinos the better to bear his
+imprisonment.
+
+I may next refer to seventeenth-century writers who were
+fortunate enough not to share the burning of their books. (1)
+Wolkelius, a friend of Socinus, the edition of whose book _De
+Vera Religione_, published at Amsterdam in 1645, was there burnt
+by order of the magistrates for its Socinian doctrines, appears
+to have lived for many years afterwards. Schlicttingius, a
+Polish follower of the same faith, escaped with expulsion from
+Poland, when the Diet condemned his book, _Confessio Fidei
+Christianae_, to be burnt by the executioner. Sainte Foi, or
+Gerberon, whose _Miroir de la Verite Chretienne_ was condemned by
+several bishops and archbishops, and burnt by order of the
+Parlement of Aix (1678), lived to write other works, of probably
+as little interest. La Peyrere was only imprisoned at Brussels
+for his book on the _Pre-adamites_, which was burnt at Paris
+(1655). And Pascal saw his famous _Lettres a un Provincial_,
+which made too free with the dignity of all authorities, secular
+and religious, twice burnt, once in French (1657), and once in
+Latin (1660), without himself incurring a similar penalty. So did
+Derodon, professor of philosophy at Nismes, outlive the
+_Disputatio_ (1645), in which he made light of Cyril of
+Alexandria, and which was condemned and burnt by the Parlement of
+Toulouse for its opposition to some beliefs of Roman Catholicism.
+
+Passing now to the eighteenth century, we find book-burning, then
+declining in England, in full vigour on the Continent.
+
+The most important book that so suffered was Rousseau's admirable
+treatise on education, entitled _Emile_ (1762), condemned by the
+Parlement of Paris to be torn and burnt at the foot of its great
+staircase. It was also burnt at Geneva. Three years later the
+same writer's _Lettres de la Montagne_ were sentenced by the same
+tribunal to the same fate. Not all burnt books should be read,
+but Rousseau's _Emile_ is one that should be.
+
+So should the Marquis de Langle's _Voyage en Espagne_, condemned
+to the flames in 1788, but translated into English, German, and
+Italian. De Langle anticipated this fate for his book if it ever
+passed the Pyrenees: "So much the better," said he; "the reader
+loves the books they burn, so does the publisher, and the author;
+it is his blue ribbon." But, considering that he wrote against
+the Inquisition, and similar inhumanities or follies of
+Catholicism, De Langle must have been surprised at the burning of
+his book in Paris itself.
+
+A book at whose burning we may feel less surprise is the
+_Theologie Portative ou Dictionnaire abregede la Religion
+Chretienne_, by the Abbe Bernier (1775), for a long time
+attributed to Voltaire, but really the work of an apostate monk,
+Dulaurent, who took refuge in Holland to write this and similar
+works.
+
+The number of books of a similar strong anti-Catholic tendency
+that were burnt in these years before the outbreak of the
+Revolution should be noticed as helping to explain that event.
+Their titles in most cases may suffice to indicate their nature.
+De la Mettrie's _L'homme Machine_ (1748) was written and burnt in
+Holland, its author being a doctor, of whom Voltaire said that he
+was a madman who only wrote when he was drunk. Of a similar kind
+was the _Testament_ of Jean Meslier, published posthumously in
+the _Evangile de la Raison_, and condemned to the flames about
+1765. On June 11th, 1763, the Parlement of Paris ordered to be
+burnt an anonymous poem, called _La Religion a l'Assemblee du
+Clerge de France_, in which the writer depicted in dark colours
+the morals of the French bishops of the time (1762). On January
+29th, 1768, was treated in the same way the _Histoire Impartiale
+des Jesuites_ of Linguet, whose _Annales Politiques_ in 1779
+conducted him to the Bastille, and who ultimately died at the
+hands of the Revolutionary Tribunal (1794). But the 18th of
+August, 1770, is memorable for having seen all the seven
+following books sentenced to burning by the Parlement of Paris:--
+
+1. Woolston's _Discours sur les Miracles de Jesus-Christ_,
+translated from the English (1727).
+
+2. Boulanger's _Christianisme devoile_.
+
+3. Freret's _Examen Critique des Apologistes de la Religion
+Chretienne_, 1767.
+
+4. The _Examen Impartial des Principales Religions du Monde_.
+
+5. Baron d'Holbach's _Contagion Sacree_, or _l'Histoire Naturelle
+de la Superstition_, 1768.
+
+6. Holbach's _Systeme de la Nature ou des Lois du Monde Physique
+et du Monde Moral_.
+
+7. Voltaire's _Dieu et les Hommes; oeuvre theologique, mais
+raisonnable_ (1769).
+
+No one writer, indeed, of the eighteenth century contributed so
+many books to the flames as Voltaire. Besides the above work, the
+following of his works incurred the same fate:--(1) the _Lettres
+Philosophiques_ (1733), (2) the _Cantique des Cantiques_ (1759),
+(3) the _Dictionnaire Philosophique_ (1764), also burnt at
+Geneva; (4) _L'Homme aux Quarante Ecus_ (1767), (5) _Le Diner du
+Comte de Boulainvilliers_ (1767). When we add to these burnings
+the fact that at least fourteen works of Voltaire were condemned,
+many others suppressed or forbidden, their author himself twice
+imprisoned in the Bastille, and often persecuted or obliged to
+fly from France, we must admit that seldom or never had any
+writer so eventful a literary career.
+
+II. Turning now to the books that were burnt for their real or
+supposed immoral tendency, I may refer briefly in chronological
+order to the following as the principal offenders, though of
+course there is not always a clear distinction between what was
+punished as immoral and punished as irreligious. This applies to
+the four volumes of the works of the Carmelite Mantuanus,
+published at Antwerp in 1576, of which nearly all the copies were
+burnt. This facile poet, who is said to have composed 59,000
+verses, was especially severe against women and against the
+ecclesiastical profession. In 1664, the _Journal de Louis Gorin
+de Saint Amour_, a satirical work, was condemned, chiefly
+apparently because it contained the five propositions of
+Jansenius. In 1623, the Parlement of Paris condemned Theophile to
+be burnt with his book, _Le Parnasse des Poetes Satyriques_, but
+the author escaped with his burning in effigy, and with
+imprisonment in a dungeon. I am tempted to quote Theophile's
+impromptu reply to a man who asserted that all poets were
+fools:--
+
+     "Oui, je l'avoue avec vous
+      Que tous les poetes sont fous;
+      Mais sachant ce que vous etes
+      Tous les fous ne sont pas poetes."
+
+Helot also escaped with a burning in effigy when his _L'Ecole des
+Filles_ was burnt at the foot of the gallows (1672). Lyser, who
+spent his life and his property in the advocacy of polygamy, was
+threatened by Christian V. with capital punishment if he appeared
+in Denmark, and his _Discursus Politicus de Polygamia_ was
+sentenced to public burning (1677).
+
+In the eighteenth century (1717) Gigli's satire, the _Vocabulario
+di Santa Caterina e della lingua Sanese_; Dufresnoy's _Princesses
+Malabares, ou le Celibat Philosophique_ (1734); Deslandes'
+_Pigmalion ou la Statue Animee_ (1741); the Jesuit Busembaum's
+_Theologia Moralis_ (which defends as an act of charity the
+commission to kill an excommunicated person), (1757); Toussaint's
+_Les Moeurs_ (1748); and the Abbe Talbert's satirical poem,
+_Langrognet aux Enfers_ (1760),--seem to complete the list of the
+principal works burnt by public authority. And of these the best
+is Toussaint's, who in 1764 published an apology for or
+retraction of his _Moeurs_, which has far less claim upon
+public attention than was obtained and merited by the original
+work.
+
+III. Books condemned for some unpopular political tendency may
+likewise be arranged in the order of their centuries.
+
+In the sixteenth, the most important are Louis d'Orleans'
+_Expostulatio_ (1593), a violent attack on Henri IV., and
+condemned by the Parlement of Paris; Archbishop Genebrard's _De
+sacrarum electionum jure et necessitate ad Ecclesiae Gallicanae
+redintegrationem_ (1593), condemned by the Parlement of Aix, and
+its author exiled. He maintained the right of the clergy and
+people to elect bishops against their nomination by the king. It
+is curious that the Parlement of Paris thought it necessary to
+burn the Jesuit Mariana's book _De Rege_ (1599) as
+anti-monarchical, seeing that it appeared with the privilege of
+the King of Spain. He maintained the right of killing a king for
+the cause of religion, and called Jacques Clement's act of
+assassination France's everlasting glory (_Galliae aeternum
+decus_). But it is only fair to add that the superior of the
+Order disapproved of the work as much as the Sorbonne.
+
+In the seventeenth century, I notice first the _Ecclesiasticus_
+of Scioppius, a work directed against our James I. and Casaubon
+(1611). The libel having been burnt in London, and its author
+hanged and beaten in effigy before the king on the stage, was
+burnt in Paris by order of the Parlement, chiefly for its
+calumnies on Henri IV. The author, originally a Jesuit, has been
+called the Attila of writers, having been said to have known the
+abusive terms of all tongues, and to have had them on the tip of
+his own. He wrote 104 works, apparently of the violent sort, so
+that Casaubon called him, according to the style of learned men
+in those days, "the most cruel of all wild beasts," whilst the
+Jesuits called him "the public pest of letters and society."
+
+The Senate of Venice caused to be burnt the _Della Liberta
+Veneta_, by a man who called himself Squitinio (1612), because it
+denied the independence of the Republic, and asserted that the
+Emperor had rightful claims over it; and about the same time
+(1617) the Parlement of Paris consigned to the same penalty
+D'Aubigne's _Histoire Universelle_ for the freedom of its satire
+on Charles IX., Henri III., Henri IV., and other French royal
+personages of the time. The second edition of D'Aubigne (1626) is
+the poorer for being shorn of these caustic passages.
+
+The Jesuit Keller's _Admonitio ad Ludovicum XIII._ (1625), and
+the same author's Mysteria Politica, (1625), were both sentenced
+to be burnt; also the Jesuit Sanctarel's _Tractatus de Haeresi_
+(1625), which claimed for the Pope the right to dispose, not only
+of the thrones, but also of the lives of princes. This doctrine
+was approved by the General of the Jesuits, but, under threat of
+being accounted guilty of treason, expressly disclaimed by the
+Jesuits as a body. In resisting such pretensions, the Sorbonne
+deserved well of France and of humanity. In 1665, the Chatelet
+ordered to be burnt Claude Joly's _Recueil des Maximes veritables
+et importantes pour l'Institution du Roi, contre la fausse et
+pernicieuse politique de Cardinal pretendu surintendant de
+l'education de Louis XIV._ (1652); a book which, if it had been
+regarded instead of being burnt, might have altered the character
+of that pernicious devastator, and therefore of history itself,
+very much for the better. About the same time, Milton's _Pro
+Populo Anglicano Defensio_, not to be burnt in England till the
+Restoration, had a foretaste in Paris of its ultimate fate.
+Eustache le Noble's satire against the Dutch, _Dialogue d'Esope
+et de Mercure_, and burnt by the executioner at Amsterdam, may
+complete the list of political works that paid for their
+offences by fire in the seventeenth century.
+
+The first to notice in the next century is Giannone's _Historia
+Civile de Regno di Napoli_ (1723), in five volumes, burnt by the
+Inquisition, which, but for his escape, would have suppressed the
+author as well as his book, for his free criticism of Popes and
+ecclesiastics. His escape saved the eighteenth century from the
+reproach of burning a writer. Next deserves a passing allusion
+the _Historia Nostri Temporis_, by the once famous writer Emmius,
+whose posthumous book suffered at the hands of George Albert,
+Prince of East Frisia. The Parlement of Toulouse condemned
+Reboulet's _Histoire des Filles de la Congregation de l'Enfance_
+(1734) for accusing Madame de Moudonville, the founder of that
+convent, of publishing libels against the king. That of Paris and
+Besancon condemned Boncerf's _Des Inconveniens des Droits
+Feodaux_ (1770).
+
+The number, indeed, of political works burnt during the eighth
+decade of the last century is as remarkable as the number of
+religious books so treated about the same period: one of the
+lesser indications of the coming Revolution. During this decade
+were condemned: (1) Pidanzet's _Correspondance secrete familiere
+de Chancelier Maupeon avec Sorhouet_ (1771) for being
+blasphemous and seditious, and calculated to rouse people against
+government; a work that made sport of Maupeon and his Parlement.
+(2) Beaumarchais' _Memoires_ (1774), of the literary style of
+which Voltaire himself is said to have been jealous, but which
+was condemned to the flames for its imputations on the powers
+that were. (3) Lanjuinais' _Monarque Accompli_ (1774), whose
+other title explains why it was condemned, as tending to sedition
+and revolt, _Prodiges de bonte, de savoir, et de sagesse, qui
+font l'eloge de Sa Majeste Imperiale Joseph II., et qui rendent
+cet auguste monarque si precieux a l'humanite, discutes au
+tribunal de la raison et l'equite_. Lanjuinais, principal of a
+Catholic college in Switzerland, passed over to the Reformed
+Religion. (4) Martin de Marivaux's _L'Ami des Lois_ (1775), a
+pamphlet, in which the author protested against the words put
+into the mouth of the king by Chancellor Maupeon, Sept. 7th,
+1770: "We hold our Crown of God alone; the right of law-making,
+without dependence or partition, belongs to us alone." The author
+contended that the Crown was held only of the nation, and he
+excited the vengeance of the Crown by sending a copy of his work
+to each member of the Parlement. At the same time, to the same
+penalty and for the same offence, was condemned to the flames _Le
+Catechisme du Citoyen, ou Elemens du Droit public Francais, par
+demandes et par reponses_; the episode, and the origin of the
+dispute, clearly pointing to the rapidly approaching
+Revolutionary whirlwind, the spirit of which these literary
+productions anticipated and expressed.
+
+The last book I find to notice is the Abbe Raynal's _Histoire
+philosophique et politique des Etablissemens et du Commerce des
+Europeens dans les Deux Indes_, published in 1771 at Geneva, and,
+after a first attempt at suppression in 1779, finally burnt by
+the order of the Parlement of Paris of May 25th, 1781, as
+impious, blasphemous, seditious, and the rest. Like many another
+eminent writer, Raynal had started as a Jesuit.
+
+From the above illustrations of the practice abroad, we may turn
+to a more detailed account of its history in England. Although in
+France it was much more common than in England during the
+eighteenth century, it appears to have come to an end in both
+countries about the same time. I am not aware of any proofs that
+it survived the French Revolution, and it is probable that that
+event, directly or indirectly, put an end to it. In England it
+seems gradually to have dwindled, and to have become extinct
+before the end of the century. If the same was the case in other
+countries, it would afford another instance of the fundamental
+community of development which seems to govern at least our part
+of the civilised world, regardless of national differences or
+boundaries. The different countries of the world seem to throw
+off evil habits, or to acquire new habits, with a degree of
+simultaneity which is all the more remarkable for being the
+result of no sort of agreement. At one time, for instance, they
+throw off Jesuitism, at another the practice of torture, at
+another the judicial ordeal, at another burnings for heresy, at
+another trials for witchcraft, at another book-burning; and now
+the turn seems approaching of war, or the trade of professional
+murder. The custom here to be dealt with, therefore, holds its
+place in the history of humanity, and is as deserving of study as
+any other custom whose rise and decline constitute a phase in the
+world's development.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+SIXTEENTH CENTURY BOOK-FIRES.
+
+
+Fire, which is the destruction of so many things, and destined,
+according to old Indian belief, one day to destroy the world, is
+so peculiarly the enemy of books, that the worm itself is not
+more fatal to them. Whole libraries have fallen a prey to the
+flames, and oftener, alas! by design than accident; the warrior
+always, whether Alexander at Persepolis, Antiochus at Jerusalem,
+Caesar and Omar at Alexandria, or General Ulrich at Strasburg (in
+1870), esteeming it among the first duties of his barbarous
+calling to consign ideas and arts to destruction.
+
+But these are the fires of indiscriminate rage, due to the
+natural antagonism between civilisation and military barbarism;
+it is fire, discriminately applied, that attaches a special
+interest and value to books condemned to it. Whether the sentence
+has come from Pope or Archbishop, Parliament or King, the book so
+sentenced has a claim on our curiosity, and as often on our
+respect as our disdain. Fire, indeed, has been spoken of as the
+blue ribbon of literature, and many a modern author may fairly
+regret that such a distinction is no longer attainable in these
+days of enlightened advertisement.
+
+To collect books that have been dishonoured--or honoured--in this
+way, books that at the risk of heavy punishment have been saved
+from the public fire or the common hangman, is no mean amusement
+for a bibliophile. Some collect books for their bindings, some
+for their rarity, a minority for their contents; but he who
+collects a fire-library makes all these considerations secondary
+to the associations of his books with the lives of their authors
+and their place in the history of ideas. Perhaps he is thereby
+the more rational collector, if reason at all need be considered
+in the matter; for if my whim pleases myself, let him go hang who
+disdains or disapproves of it.
+
+All the books of such a library are not, of course, suitable for
+general reading, there being not a few disgraceful ones among
+them that fully deserved the stigma intended for them. But most
+are innocent enough, and many of them as dull as the authors of
+their condemnation; whilst others, again, are so sparkling and
+well written that I wish it were possible to rescue them from the
+oblivion that enshrouds them even more thickly than the dust of
+centuries. The English books of this sort naturally stand apart
+from their foreign rivals, and may be roughly classified
+according as they deal with the affairs of State or Church. The
+original flavour has gone from many of them, like the scent from
+dried flowers, with the dispute or ephemeral motive that gave
+rise to them; but a new flavour from that very fact has taken the
+place of the old, of the same sort that attaches to the relics of
+extinct religions or of bygone forms of life.
+
+The history of our country since the days of printing is exactly
+reflected in its burnt literature, and so little has the public
+fire been any respecter of class or dignity, that no branch of
+intellectual activity has failed to contribute some author whose
+work, or works, has been consigned to the flames. Our greatest
+poets, philosophers, bishops, lawyers, novelists, heads of
+colleges, are all represented in my collection, forming indeed a
+motley but no insipid society, wherein the gravest questions of
+government and the deepest problems of speculation are handled
+with freedom, and men who were most divided in their lives meet
+at last in a common bond of harmony. Cowell, the friend of
+prerogative, finds himself here side by side with Milton, the
+republican; and Sacheverell, the high churchman, in close company
+with Tindal and Defoe.
+
+For nearly 300 years the rude censorship of fire was applied to
+literature in England, beginning naturally in that fierce
+religious war we call the Reformation, which practically
+constitutes the history of England for some two centuries. The
+first grand occasion of book-burning was in response to the
+Pope's sentence against Martin Luther, when Wolsey went in state
+to St. Paul's, and many of Luther's publications were burned in
+the churchyard during a sermon against them by Fisher, Bishop of
+Rochester (1521).
+
+But the first printed work by an Englishman that was so treated
+was actually the Gospel. The story is too familiar to repeat, of
+the two occasions on which Tyndale's New Testament in English was
+burnt before Old St. Paul's; but in pausing to reflect that the
+book which met with this fiery fate, and whose author ultimately
+met with the same, is now sold in England by the million (for our
+received version is substantially Tyndale's), one can only stand
+aghast at the irony of the fearful contrast, which so widely
+separated the labourer from his triumph. But perhaps we can
+scarcely wonder that our ancestors, after centuries of mental
+blindness, should have tried to burn the light they were unable
+to bear, causing it thereby only to shine the brighter.
+
+It certainly spread with remarkable celerity; for in 1546 it
+became necessary to command all persons possessing them to
+deliver to the bishop, or sheriff, to be openly burnt, all works
+in English purporting to be written by Frith, Tyndale, Wicliff,
+Joye, Basil, Bale, Barnes, Coverdale, Turner, or Tracy. The
+extreme rarity and costliness of the works of these men are the
+measure of the completeness with which this order was carried
+out; but not of its success, for the ideas survived the books
+which contained them. A list of the books is given in Foxe (v.
+566), and comprises twelve by Coverdale, twenty-eight by Bale,
+thirteen by Basil (_alias_ Becon), ten by Frith, nine by Tyndale,
+seven by Joye, six by Turner, three by Barnes. Some of these may
+still be read, but more are non-existent. A complete account of
+them and their authors would almost amount to a history of the
+Reformation itself; but as they were burnt indiscriminately, as
+heretical books, they have not the same interest that attaches to
+books specifically condemned as heretical or seditious. Such of
+them, however, as a book-lover can light upon--and pay for--are,
+of course, treasures of the highest order.
+
+Great numbers of books were burnt in the reigns of Edward VI. and
+Mary, but it is not till the reign of the latter that a
+particular book stands forward as maltreated in this way. And,
+indeed, so many men were burnt in the reign of Queen Mary, that
+the burning of particular books may well have passed unnoticed,
+though pyramids of Protestant volumes, as Mr. D'Israeli says,
+were burnt in those few years of intolerance rampant and
+triumphant. The _Historie of Italie_, by William Thomas (1549),
+is sometimes said (on what authority I know not) to have been not
+merely burnt, but burnt by the common hangman, at this time. If
+so, it is the first that achieved a distinction which is
+generally claimed for Prynne's _Histriomastix_ (1633). The fact
+of the mere burning is of itself likely enough, for Thomas wrote
+very freely of the clergy at Rome and of Pope Paul III.: "By
+report, Rome is not without 40,000 harlots, maintained for the
+most part by the clergy and their followers." "Oh! what a world
+it is to see the pride and abomination that the churchmen there
+maintain." Yet Thomas himself had held a Church living, and had
+been clerk of the Council to Edward VI. He was among the ablest
+men of his time, and wrote, among other works, a lively defence
+of Henry VIII. in a work called _Peregryne_, on the title-page of
+which are these lines:
+
+     "He that dieth with honour, liveth for ever,
+      And the defamed dead recovereth never."
+
+And a sadly inglorious death was destined to be his own. For,
+shortly after Wyatt's insurrection, he was sent to the Tower,
+Wyatt at his own trial declaring that the conspiracy to
+assassinate Queen Mary when out walking was Thomas's, he himself
+having been opposed to it. For this cause, at all events, Thomas
+was hanged and quartered in May 1554, and his head set the next
+day upon London Bridge. He assured the crowd, in a speech before
+his execution, that he died for his country. Wood says he was of
+a hot, fiery spirit, that had sucked in damnable principles.
+Possibly they were not otherwise than sensible, for if he died on
+Wyatt's evidence alone, one cannot feel sure that he died
+justly. But had the insurrection only succeeded, it is curious to
+think what an amount of misery might have been spared to England,
+and how dark a page been lacking from the history of
+Christianity!
+
+Thomas's book was republished in 1561: but the first edition,
+that of 1549, is, of course, the right one to possess; though its
+fate has caused it to be extremely rare.
+
+Coming now to Queen Elizabeth's reign, the comparative rarity of
+book-burning is an additional testimony to the wisdom of her
+government. But (to say nothing of books that were prohibited or
+got their printers or authors into trouble) certain works,
+religious, political, and poetical, achieved the distinction of
+being publicly burnt, and they are works that curiously
+illustrate the manners of the time.
+
+The most important under the first of these heads are the
+translations of the works of Hendrick Niclas, of Leyden, Father
+of the Family of Love, or House of Charity, which were thought
+dangerous enough to be burnt by Royal Proclamation on October
+13th, 1579; so that such works as the _Joyful Message of the
+Kingdom_, _Peace upon Earth_, _the Prophecy of the Spirit of
+Love_, and others, are now exceedingly rare and costly. There
+are many extracts from the first of these in Knewstub's
+_Confutation "of its monstrous and horrible blasphemies"_ (1579),
+wherein I fail to recognise either the blasphemies or their
+confutation, nor do I find anything but sense in Niclas's letter
+to two daughters of Warwick, whom he seeks to dissuade from
+suffering death on a matter of conformity to certain Church
+ceremonies. He insists on the life or spirit of Christ as of more
+importance than any ceremony. "How well would they do who do now
+extol themselves before the simple, and say that they are the
+preachers of Christ, if they would first learn to know Christ
+before they made themselves ministers of Him!" "Whatever is
+served without the Spirit of Christ, it is an abomination to
+God." Nevertheless the young persons seem to have preferred death
+to his very sensible advice.
+
+Probably the Family of Love were misunderstood and
+misrepresented, both as regards their doctrines and their
+practices. Camden says that "under a show of singular integrity
+and sanctity they insinuated themselves into the affections of
+the ignorant common people"; that they regarded as reprobate all
+outside their Family, and deemed it lawful to deny on oath
+whatsoever they pleased. Niclas, according to Fuller, "wanted
+learning in himself and hated it in others." This is a failing so
+common as to be very probable, as it also is, that his disciples
+allegorised the Scriptures (like the Alexandrian Fathers before
+them), and counterfeited revelations. Fuller adds that they
+"grieved the Comforter, charging all their sins on God's Spirit,
+for not effectually assisting them against the same . . . sinning
+on design that their wickedness might be a foil to God's mercy,
+to set it off the brighter." But that they were Communists,
+Anarchists, or Libertines, there is no evidence; and the Queen's
+menial servant who wrote and presented to Parliament an apology
+for the Service of Love probably complained with justice of their
+being "defamed with many manner of false reports and lies." This
+availed nothing, however, against public opinion; and so the
+Queen commanded by proclamation "that the civil magistrate should
+be assistant to the ecclesiastical, and that the books should be
+publicly burnt." The sect, however, long survived the burning of
+its books.
+
+But already it was not enough to burn books of an unpopular
+tendency, cruelty against the author being plainly progressive
+from this time forward to the atrocious penalties afterwards
+associated with the presence of Laud in the Star Chamber. All our
+histories tell of John Stubbs, of Lincoln's Inn, who, when his
+right hand had been cut off for a literary work, with his left
+hand waved his hat from his head and cried, "Long live the
+Queen!" The punishment was out of all proportion to the offence.
+Men had a right to feel anxious when Elizabeth seemed on the
+point of marrying the Catholic Duke of Anjou. They remembered the
+days of Mary, and feared, with reason, the return of Catholicism.
+Stubbs gave expression to this fear in a work entitled the
+_Discoverie of a Gaping Gulf whereinto England is like to be
+swallowed by another French marriage, if the Lord forbid not the
+banes by letting her Majestie see the sin and punishment thereof_
+(1579). Page, the disperser of the book, suffered the same
+penalty as its author.
+
+The book made a great stir and was widely circulated, much to
+the vexation of the Queen. On September 27th appeared a very
+long proclamation calling it "a lewd, seditious book . . .
+bolstered up with manifest lies, &c.," and commanding it, wherever
+found, "to be destroyed (= burnt) in open sight of some public
+officer." The book itself is written with moderation and respect,
+if we make allowance for the questionable taste of writing on so
+delicate a subject at all. It is true that he calls France "a den
+of idolatry, a kingdom of darkness, confessing Belial and serving
+Baal"; nor does he spare the personal character of the Duke
+himself: he only desires that her Majesty may marry with such a
+house and such a person "as had not provoked the vengeance of the
+Lord." But plain speaking was needed, and it is possible that the
+offensive book had something to do with saving the Queen from a
+great folly and the nation from as great a danger.
+
+Stubbs, one is glad to find, though maimed, was neither disgraced
+nor disheartened by his misfortune. He learnt to write with his
+left hand, and wrote so much better with that than many people
+with their right, that Lord Burleigh employed him many years
+afterwards (1587) to compose an answer to Cardinal Allen's work,
+_A Modest Answer to English Persecutors_. After that I lose sight
+of Stubbs.
+
+The strong feeling against Episcopacy, which first meets us in
+works like Fish's _Supplication of Beggars_, or Tyndale's
+_Practice of Prelates_, and which found vent at last, as a
+powerful contributory cause, in the Revolution of the
+seventeenth century, was most clearly pronounced under Elizabeth
+in the famous tracts known as those of Martin Marprelate; and
+among these most bitterly in a small work that was burnt by order
+of the bishops, entitled a _Dialogue wherein is plainly laide
+open the tyrannical dealing of Lord Bishops against God's Church,
+with certain points of doctrine, wherein they approve themselves
+(according to D. Bridges his judgement) to be truely Bishops of
+the Divell_ (1589). This is shown in a sprightly dialogue between
+a Puritan and a Papist, a jack of both sides, and an Idol
+(_i.e._, church) minister, wherein the most is made of such facts
+as that the Bishop of St. David's was summoned before the High
+Commission for having two wives living, and that Bishop
+Culpepper, of Oxford, was fond of hawking and hunting. It is
+significant that this little tract was reprinted in 1640, on the
+eve of the Revolution.
+
+I pass now to a book of great political and historical interest:
+_The Conference about the Succession to the Crown of England_
+(1594), attributed to Doleman, but really the handiwork of
+Parsons, the Jesuit, Cardinal Allen, and others. In the first
+part, a civil lawyer shows at length that lineal descent and
+propinquity of blood are not of themselves sufficient title to
+the Crown; whilst in the second part a temporal lawyer discusses
+the titles of particular claimants to the succession of Queen
+Elizabeth. Among these, that of the Earl of Essex, to whom the
+book was dedicated, is discussed; the object of the book being to
+baffle the title of King James to the succession, and to fix it
+either on Essex or the Infanta of Spain. No wonder it gave great
+offence to the Queen, for it advocated also the lawfulness of
+deposing her; and it throws some light on those intrigues with
+the Jesuits which at one time formed so marked an incident in the
+eventful career of that unfortunate earl. Great efforts were made
+to suppress it, and there is a tradition that the printer was
+hanged, drawn, and quartered.
+
+The book itself has played no small part in our history, for not
+only was Milton's _Defensio_ mainly taken from it, but it formed
+the chief part of Bradshaw's long speech at the condemnation of
+Charles I. In 1681, when Parliament was debating the subject of
+the exclusion of the Duke of York from the succession, it was
+thought well to reprint it; but only two years later it was among
+the books which had the honour of being condemned to the flames
+by the University of Oxford, in its famous and loyal book-fire
+of 1683 (see p. 194).
+
+But if the history of the book was eventful, how much more so was
+that of its chief author, the famous Robert Parsons, first of
+Balliol College, and then of the Order of Jesus! Parsons was a
+very prince of intrigue. To say that he actually tried to
+persuade Philip II. to send a second Armada; that he tried to
+persuade the Earl of Derby to raise a rebellion, and then is
+suspected of having poisoned him for not consenting; that he
+instigated an English Jesuit to try to assassinate the Queen;
+and, among other plans, wished to get the Pope and the Kings of
+France and Spain to appoint a Catholic successor to Elizabeth,
+and to support their nominee by an armed confederacy, is to give
+but the meagre outline of his energetic career. The blacksmith's
+son certainly made no small use of his time and abilities. His
+life is the history in miniature of that of his order as a body;
+that same body whose enormous establishments in England at this
+day are in such bold defiance of the Catholic Emancipation Act,
+which makes even their residence in this kingdom illegal.
+
+Doleman's _Conference_ was answered in a little book by Peter
+Wentworth, entitled _A Pithy Exhortation to Her Majesty for
+establishing her Successor to the Crown_, in which the author
+advocated the claims of James I. The book was written in terms of
+great humility and respect, the author not being ignorant, as he
+quaintly says, "that the anger of a Prince is as the roaring of a
+Lyon, and even the messenger of Death." But this he was to learn
+by personal experience, for the Queen, incensed with him for
+venturing to advise her, not only had his book burnt, but sent
+him to the Tower, where, like so many others, he died. So at
+least says a printed slip in the Grenville copy of his book.
+
+But Wentworth is better and more deservedly remembered for his
+speeches than for his book--his famous speeches in 1575, and
+again in 1587, in Parliament in defence of the Commons' Right of
+Free Speech, for both of which he was temporarily committed to
+the Tower. Rumours of what would please or displease the Queen,
+or messages from the Queen, like that prohibiting the House to
+interfere in matters of religion, in those days reduced the voice
+of the House to a nullity. Wentworth's chief question was,
+"Whether this Council be not a place for any member of the same
+here assembled, freely and without control of any person or
+danger of laws, by bill or speech to utter any of the griefs of
+this Commonwealth whatsoever, touching the service of God, the
+safety of the prince and this noble realm." Yet so servile was
+the House of that period, that on both occasions it disclaimed
+and condemned its advocate--on the first occasion actually not
+allowing him to finish his speech. Yet, fortunately, both his
+speeches live, well reported in the Parliamentary Debates.
+
+To pass from politics to poetry; little as Archbishop Whitgift's
+proceedings in the High Commission endear his name to posterity,
+I am inclined to think he may be forgiven for cleansing
+Stationers' Hall by fire, in 1599, of certain works purporting to
+be poetical; such works, namely, as Marlowe's _Elegies of Ovid_,
+which appeared in company with Davies's _Epigrammes_, Marston's
+_Metamorphosis of Pigmalion's Image_, Hall's _Satires_, and
+Cutwode's _Caltha Poetarum; or, The Bumble Bee_. The latter is a
+fantastic poem of 187 stanzas about a bee and a marigold, and
+deserved the fire rather for its insipidity than for the reasons
+which justified the cleansing process applied to the others, the
+youthful productions of men who were destined to attain
+celebrity in very different directions of life.
+
+Marlowe, like Shakespeare, from an actor became a writer of
+plays; but though Ben Jonson extolled his "mighty muse," I doubt
+whether his _Edward II._, _Dr. Faustus_, or _Jew of Malta_, are
+now widely popular. Anthony Wood has left a very disagreeable
+picture of Marlowe's character, which one would fain hope is
+overdrawn; but the dramatist's early death in a low quarrel
+prevented him from ever redeeming his early offences, as a kinder
+fortune permitted to his companions in the Stationers' bonfire.
+
+Marston came to be more distinguished for his _Satires_ than for
+his plays, his _Scourge of Villainie_ being his chief title to
+fame. Of his _Pigmalion_ all that can be said is, that it is not
+quite so bad as Marlowe's _Elegies_. Warton justly says, with
+pompous euphemism: "His stream of poetry, if sometimes bright and
+unpolluted, almost always betrays a muddy bottom." But this muddy
+bottom is discernible, not in Marston alone, but also in Hall's
+_Virgidemiarum_, or Satires, of which Warton did all he could to
+revive the popularity. Hall was Marston's rival at Cambridge, but
+Hall claims to be the first English satirist. He took Juvenal for
+his model, but the Latin of Juvenal seems to me far less obscure
+than the English of Hall. I quote two lines to show what this
+Cambridge student thought of the great Elizabethan period in
+which he lived. Referring to some remote golden age, he says:--
+
+     "Then men were men; but now the greater part
+      Beasts are in life, and women are in heart."
+
+But strange are the evolutions of men. The author of the burnt
+satires rose from dignity to dignity in the Church. He became
+successively Bishop of Exeter and Bishop of Norwich, and to this
+day his devotional works are read by thousands who have never
+heard of his satires. He was sent as a deputy to the famous Synod
+of Dort, and was faithful to his Church and king through the
+Civil War. For this in his old age he suffered sequestration and
+imprisonment, and he lived to see his cathedral turned into a
+barrack, and his palace into an ale-house, dying shortly before
+the Restoration, in 1656, at the age of 82. Bayle thought him
+worthy of a place in his Dictionary, but he is still worthier of
+a place in our memories as one of those great English bishops
+who, like Burnet, Butler, or Tillotson, never put their Church
+before their humanity, but showed (what needed showing) that the
+Christianity of the clergy was not of necessity synonymous with
+the absolute negation of charity.
+
+Davies, too, Marlowe's early friend, rose to fame both as a poet
+and a statesman. But he began badly. He was disbarred from the
+Middle Temple for breaking a club over the head of another law
+student in the very dining-hall. After that he became member for
+Corfe Castle, and then successively Solicitor-General and
+Attorney-General for Ireland. He was knighted in 1607. One of the
+best books on that unhappy country is his _Discovery of the true
+causes why Ireland was never entirely subdued, nor brought under
+obedience of the Crown of England until the beginning of Her
+Majesty's happy reign_ (1611), dedicated to James I. His chief
+poems are his _Nosce Teipsum_ and _The Orchestra_. In 1614 he was
+elected for Newcastle-under-Lyme, and he died in 1626, aged only
+57. Yet in that time he had travelled a long way from the days of
+his early literary companionship with Christopher Marlowe.
+
+The Church at the end of the sixteenth century assuredly aimed
+high. At the time the above books were burnt, it was decreed that
+no satires or epigrams should be printed in the future; and that
+no plays should be printed without the inspection and permission
+of the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishop of London! But
+even this is nothing compared with that later attempt to subject
+the Press to the Church which called forth Milton's
+_Areopagitica_; there indeed soon came to be very little to
+choose between the Inquisition of the High Commission and the
+more noxious Inquisition of Rome.
+
+Near to the burnt works of the previous writers must be placed
+those of that prolific writer of the same period, Samuel
+Rowlands. The severity of his satire, and the obviousness of the
+allusions, caused two of his works to be burnt, first publicly,
+and then in the hall kitchen of the Stationers' Company, in
+October 1600. These were: _The Letting Humour's Blood in the
+Headvein_, and, _A Merry Meeting; or, 'tis Merry when Knaves
+meet_; both of which subsequently reappeared under the titles
+respectively of _Humour's Ordinarie, where a man may be verie
+merrie and exceeding well used for his sixpence_, and the _Knave
+of Clubs_. Either work would now cost much more than sixpence,
+and probably fail to make the reader very merry, or even merry at
+all. One of the epigrams, however, of the first work may be
+quoted as of more than ephemeral truth and interest:--
+
+     "Who seeks to please all men each way,
+        And not himself offend,
+      He may begin his work to-day,
+        But God knows when he'll end."
+
+Little appears to be known of Rowlands, but, like Bishop Hall, he
+could turn his pen to various purposes with great facility; for
+the prayers which he is thought to have composed, and which are
+published with the rest of his works in the admirable edition of
+1870, are of as high an order of merit as the religious works of
+his more famous contemporary.
+
+The only wonder is that the Archbishop did not enforce the
+burning of much more of the literature of the Elizabethan period,
+whilst he was engaged on such a crusade. He may well, however,
+have shrunk appalled from the magnitude of the task, and have
+thought it better to touch the margin than do nothing at all.
+And, after all, in those days a poet was lucky if they only burnt
+his poems, and not himself as well. In 1619 John Williams,
+barrister, was actually hanged, drawn, and quartered, for two
+poems which were not even printed, but which exist in manuscript
+at Cambridge to this day. These were _Balaam's Ass_ and the
+_Speculum Regale_. Williams was indiscreet enough to predict the
+King's death in 1621, and to send the poems secretly to his
+Majesty in a box. The odd thing is that he thought himself justly
+punished for his foolish freak, so very peculiar were men's
+notions of justice in those far-off barbarous days.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+BOOK-FIRES UNDER JAMES I.
+
+
+Despite Mr. D'Israeli's able defence of him, the fashion has
+survived of speaking disdainfully of James I. and all his works.
+The military men of his day, hating him for that wise love of
+peace which saved us at least from one war on the Continent,
+complained of a king who preferred to wage war with the pen than
+with the pike, and vented his anger on paper instead of with
+powder. But for all that, the patron and friend of Ben Jonson,
+and the constant promoter of arts and letters, was one of the
+best literary workmen of his time; nor will any one who dips into
+his works fail to put them aside without a considerably higher
+estimate than he had before of the ability of the most learned
+king that ever occupied the British throne--a monarch
+unapproached by any of his successors, save William III., in any
+sort of intellectual power.
+
+Yet here our admiration for James I. must perforce stop. For of
+many of his ideas the only excuse is that they were those of his
+age; and this is an excuse that is fatal to a claim to the
+highest order of merit. All men to some extent are the sport and
+victims of their intellectual surroundings; but it is the mark of
+superiority to rise above them, and this James I. often failed to
+do. He cannot, for instance, in this respect compare with a man
+whose works he persecuted, namely, Reginald Scot, who in 1584
+published his immortal _Discoverie of Witchcraft_, a book which,
+alike for its motive as its matter, occupies one of the highest
+places in the history of the literature of Europe.
+
+Yet Scot was only a Kentish country gentleman, who gave himself
+up solely, says Wood, to solid reading and the perusal of obscure
+but neglected authors, diversifying his studies with agriculture,
+and so producing the first extant treatise on hops. Nevertheless,
+he is among the heroes of the world, greater for me at least than
+any one of our most famous generals, for it was at the risk of
+his life that he wrote, as he says himself, "in behalf of the
+poor, the aged, and the simple"; and if he has no monument in our
+English Pantheon, he has a better and more abiding one in the
+hearts of all the well-wishers of humanity. For his reading led
+him to the assault of one of the best established, most sacred,
+yet most stupid, of the superstitions of mankind; and to have
+exposed both the folly of the belief, and the cruelty of the
+legal punishments, of witchcraft, more justly entitles his memory
+to honour than the capture of many stormed cities or the butchery
+of thousands of his fellow-beings on a battlefield.
+
+How trite is the argument that this or that belief must be true
+because so many generations have believed it, so many countries,
+so many famous men,--as if error, like stolen property, gained a
+title from prescription of time! Scot pierced this pretension
+with a single sentence: "Truth must not be measured by time, for
+every old opinion is not sound." "My great adversaries," he says,
+"are young ignorance and old custom. For what folly soever tract
+of time hath fostered, it is so superstitiously pursued of some
+as though no error could be acquainted with custom." May we not
+say, indeed, that beliefs are rendered suspect by the very extent
+of their currency and acceptance?
+
+But Scot had a greater adversary than even young ignorance or old
+custom; and that was King James, who, whilst King of Scotland,
+wrote his _Demonologie_ against Scot's ideas (1597). James's mind
+was strictly Bible-bound, and for him the disbelief in witches
+savoured of Sadduceeism, or the denial of spirits. Yet Scot had
+taken care to guard himself, for he wrote: "I deny not that there
+are witches or images; but I detest the idolatrous opinions
+conceived of them." Nor can James have carefully read Scot, for
+tacked on to the _Discoverie_ is a _Discourse of Devils and
+Spirits_, which to the simplest Sadducee would have been the
+veriest trash. Scot, for instance, says of the devil that "God
+created him purposely to destroy. I take his substance to be such
+as no man can by learning define, nor by wisdom search out"; a
+conclusion surely as wise as the theology is curious. Anyhow it
+is the very reverse of Sadduceean. It is said that one of the
+first proceedings of James's reign was to have all the copies of
+Scot's book burnt that could be seized, and undoubtedly one of
+the first of his Acts of Parliament was the statute that made all
+the devices of witchcraft punishable with death, as felony,
+without benefit of clergy.
+
+But about the burning there is room for doubt. For there is no
+English contemporary testimony of the fact. Voet, a professor of
+theology in Holland, is its only known contemporary witness; but
+he may have assumed the suppression of the book to have been
+identical with its burning; a common assumption, but a no less
+common mistake. On the other hand, many books undoubtedly were
+burnt under James that are not mentioned by name; and the great
+rarity of the first edition of the book, and its absence from
+some of our principal libraries, support the possibility of its
+having been among them.[52:1] Nevertheless, to quote Mr.
+D'Israeli: "On the King's arrival in England, having discovered
+the numerous impostures and illusions which he had often referred
+to as authorities, he grew suspicious of the whole system of
+Daemonologie, and at length recanted it entirely. With the same
+conscientious zeal James had written the book, the King condemned
+it; and the sovereign separated himself from the author, in the
+cause of truth; but the clergy and the Parliament persisted in
+making the imaginary crime felony by the statute." So that if
+James really burnt the book, he must have burnt it to please
+others, not himself; and though he may have done so, the
+presumption is rather that he did not.
+
+The wonder is that Scot himself escaped the real or supposed fate
+of his book. Pleasing indeed is it to know that he lived out his
+days undisturbed to the end (1599) with his family and among his
+hops and flowers in Kent; not, however, before he had lived to
+see his book make a perceptible impression on the magistracy and
+even on the clergy of his time, till a perceptible check was
+given to his ideas by the _Demonologie_. But at all events he had
+given superstition a reeling blow, from which it never wholly
+recovered, and to which it ultimately succumbed. More than this
+can few men hope to do, and to have done so much is ample cause
+for contentment.
+
+Fundamental questions of all sorts were growing critical in the
+reign of James, who had not only the clearest ideas of their
+answer, but the firmest determination to have them, if possible,
+answered in his own way. The principal ones were: The
+relationship of the King to his subjects; of the Pope to kings;
+of the Established Church to Puritanism and Catholicism. And on
+the leading political and religious questions of his day James
+caused certain books to be burnt which advocated opinions
+contrary to his own--a mode of reasoning that reflects less
+credit on his philosophy than does his conduct in most other
+respects.
+
+But the first book that was burnt for its sentiments on
+Prerogative was one of which the King was believed personally to
+approve. This was probably the gist of its offence, for it
+appeared about the time that the King made his very supercilious
+speech to the Commons in answer to their complaints about the
+High Commission and other grievances.
+
+I allude to the famous _Interpreter_ (1607) by Cowell, Doctor of
+Civil Law at Cambridge, which, written at the instigation of
+Archbishop Bancroft, was dedicated to him, and caused a storm
+little dreamt of by its author. Sir E. Coke disliked Cowell, whom
+he nicknamed Cow-heel, and naturally disliked him still more for
+writing slightingly of Littleton and the Common Law. He therefore
+caused Parliament to take the matter up, with the result that
+Cowell was imprisoned and came near to hanging;[54:1] James only
+saving his life by suppressing his book by proclamation, for
+which the Commons returned him thanks with great exultation over
+their victory.
+
+For Cowell had taken too strongly the high monarchical line, and
+the episode of his book is really the first engagement in that
+great war between Prerogative and People which raged through the
+seventeenth century. "I hold it uncontrollable," he wrote, "that
+the King of England is an absolute king." "Though it be a
+merciful policy, and also a politic policy (not alterable without
+great peril) to make laws by the consent of the whole realm . . .
+yet simply to bind the prince to or by these laws were repugnant
+to the nature and custom of an absolute monarchy." "For those
+regalities which are of the higher nature there is not one that
+belonged to the most absolute prince in the world which doth not
+also belong to our King." But the book was condemned, not only
+for its sins against the Subject, but also for passages that were
+said to pinch on the authority of the King. Yet, considered
+merely as a Law Dictionary, it is still one of the best in our
+language.
+
+In the King's proclamation against the _Interpreter_ are some
+passages that curiously illustrate the mind of its author. He
+thus complains of the growing freedom of thought: "From the very
+highest mysteries of the Godhead and the most inscrutable
+counsels in the Trinitie to the very lowest pit of Hell and the
+confused action of the divells there, there is nothing now
+unsearched into by the curiositie of men's brains"; so that "it
+is no wonder that they do not spare to wade in all the deepest
+mysteries that belong to the persons or the state of Kinges and
+Princes, that are gods upon earth." King James's attitude to Free
+Thought reminds one of the legendary contention between Canute
+and the sea. No one has ever repeated the latter experiment, but
+how many thousands still disquiet themselves, as James did, about
+or against the progress of the human mind!
+
+In the proclamation itself there is no actual mention of burning,
+all persons in possession of the book being required to deliver
+their copies to the Lord Mayor or County Sheriffs "for the
+further order of its utter suppression" (March 25th, 1610);
+neither is there any allusion to burning in the Parliamentary
+journals, nor in the letters relating to the subject in Winwood's
+_Memorials_. The contemporary evidence of the fact is, however,
+supplied by Sir H. Spelman, who says in his _Glossarium_ (under
+the word "Tenure") that Cowell's book was publicly burnt.
+Otherwise, James's proclamations were not always attended to (by
+one, for instance, he prohibited hunting); and Roger Coke says
+that the books being out, "the proclamation could not call them
+in, but only served to make them more taken notice of."[57:1]
+
+That books were often suppressed or called in without being
+publicly burnt is well shown by Heylin's remark about Mocket's
+book (presently referred to), that it was "thought fit not only
+to call it in, but to expiate the errors of it in a public
+flame."[57:2] Among works thus suppressed without being burnt may
+be mentioned Bishop Thornborough's two books in favour of the
+union between England and Scotland (1604), Lord Coke's Speech and
+Charge at the Norwich Assizes (1607), and Sir W. Raleigh's first
+volume of the _History of the World_ (1614). I suspect that
+Scott's _Discoverie_ was likewise only suppressed, and that Voet
+erroneously thought that this involved and implied a public
+burning.
+
+But it was not for long that James had saved Cowell's life, for
+the latter's death the following year, and soon after the
+resignation of his professorship, is said by Fuller to have been
+hastened by the trouble about his book. The King throughout
+behaved with great judgment, nor is it so true that he
+surrendered Cowell to his enemies, as that he saved him from
+imminent personal peril. Men like Cowell and Blackwood and
+Bancroft were probably more monarchical than the monarch himself;
+and, though James held high notions of his own powers, and could
+even hint at being a god upon earth, his subjects were far more
+ready to accept his divinity than he was to force it upon them.
+It was not quite for nothing that James had had for his tutor the
+republican George Buchanan, one of the first opponents of
+monarchical absolutism in his famous _De Jure Regni apud Scotos_;
+nor did he ever quite forget the noble words in which at his
+first Parliament he thus defined for ever the position of a
+constitutional king: "That I am a servant it is most true, that
+as I am head and governor of all the people in my dominion who
+are my natural vassals and subjects, considering them in numbers
+and distinct ranks: so, if we will take the whole people as one
+body and mass, then, as the head is ordained for the body and not
+the body for the head, so must a righteous king know himself to
+be ordained for his people and not his people for him. . . . _I
+will never be ashamed to confess it my principal honour to be the
+great servant of the Commonwealth._"
+
+And in this very matter of Cowell's book James not only denied
+any preference for the civil over the common law, but professed
+"that, although he knew how great and large a king's rights and
+prerogatives were, yet that he would never affect nor seek to
+extend his beyond the prescription and limits of the municipal
+laws and customs of this realm."[59:1]
+
+A few years later Sir Walter Raleigh's first volume of his
+_History of the World_ was called in at the King's command,
+"especially for being too saucy in censuring princes." This fate
+its wonderful author took greatly to heart, as he had hoped
+thereby to please the King extraordinarily;[59:2] and,
+considering the terms wherewith in his preface he pointed the
+contrast between James and our previous rulers, one cannot but
+share his astonishment.
+
+This would seem to indicate that the King grew more sensitive
+about his position as time went on; and this conclusion is
+corroborated by his extraordinary conduct in reference to the
+works of David Paraeus, the learned Protestant Professor of
+Divinity at Heidelberg. One can conceive no mortal soul ever
+reading those three vast folios of closely printed Latin in which
+Paraeus commented on the Old and New Testament; but in those days
+people must have read everything. At all events, it was
+discovered that in his commentary on Romans xiii. Paraeus had
+contended at great length and detail in favour of the people's
+right to restrain, even by force of arms, tyrannical violence on
+the part of the superior magistrate. On March 22nd, 1622,
+therefore, the Archbishop of Canterbury and twelve bishops, at
+the King's request, represented this doctrine to be most
+dangerous and seditious; and accordingly, on July 1st, the books
+of Paraeus were publicly burnt after a sermon by the Bishop of
+London; and about the same time the Universities of Oxford and
+Cambridge, ever on the side of the divine right, proved their
+loyalty by condemning and burning the book, perhaps the only book
+whose condemnation never tempted to its perusal. But that very
+same year (August 22nd, 1622) the King found it necessary to
+issue directions concerning preaching and preachers, so freely
+was the Puritanical side of the community then beginning to
+express itself about the royal prerogative.
+
+As connected with the question of the prerogative must be
+mentioned, as burnt by James' order, the _Doctrina et Politia
+Ecclesiae Anglicanae_ (1616), a Latin translation of the English
+Prayer Book, as well as of Jewell's _Apology_ and Newell's
+_Catechism_, by Richard Mocket, then Warden of All Souls'. Mocket
+was chaplain to Archbishop Abbot, and wished to recommend the
+formularies and doctrines of the Church of England to foreign
+nations. History does not, indeed, record any deep impression as
+made on foreign nations by the book; though Heylin asserts that
+it had given no small reputation to the Church of England beyond
+the seas (_Laud_, 70); but it does record the fact of its being
+publicly burnt, as well as give some intimations of the reason.
+Fuller says that the main objection to it was, that Mocket had
+proved himself a better chaplain than subject, touching James in
+one of his tenderest points in contending for the right of the
+Archbishop of Canterbury to confirm the election of bishops in
+his province. Mocket also gave such extracts from the Homilies as
+seemed to have a Calvinistic leaning; and treated fast days as
+only of political institution. For such reasons the book was
+burnt by public edict, a censure which the writer took so much to
+heart that, as Fuller says, being "so much defeated in his
+expectation to find punishment where he looked for preferment, as
+if his life were bound up by sympathy in his book, he ended his
+days soon after." Poor Mocket was only forty when he died,
+succumbing, like Cowell, to the rough reception accorded to his
+book.
+
+Mocket's book is less one to read than to treasure as a sort of
+_lusus naturae_ in the literary world; for it would certainly have
+seemed safe antecedently to wager a million to one that no Warden
+of All Souls' would ever write a book that would be subjected to
+the indignity of fire; and, in spite of his example, I would
+still wager a million to one that a similar fate will never
+befall any literary work of Mocket's successors. Mocket's book,
+therefore, has a certain distinction which is all its own; but
+those who do not love the Church of England without it will
+hardly be led to such love by reading Mocket. And Mocket himself,
+if we follow Fuller, seems to have wished to make his love for
+the Church a vehicle to his own preferment; but as, perhaps, in
+that respect he does not stand alone, I should be sorry that the
+implied reproach should rest as any stain upon his memory.
+
+Next to the question of the rights of kings over their subjects,
+the most important one of that time was concerning the rights of
+popes over kings--a question which, having been intensified by
+the Reformation, naturally came to a crisis after the Gunpowder
+Plot. James I. then instituted an oath of allegiance as a test of
+Catholic loyalty, and many Catholics took the oath without
+scruple, including the Archpriest Blackwell. Cardinal Bellarmine
+thereupon wrote a letter of rebuke to the latter, and Pope Paul
+V. sent a brief forbidding Catholics either to take the oath or
+to attend Protestant churches (October 1606). But it is
+remarkable that, so little did the Catholics believe in the
+authenticity of this brief, another--and an angry one--had to
+come from Rome the following September, to confirm and enforce
+it. King James very fairly took umbrage at the action and claims
+of the Pope, and spent six days in making notes which he wished
+the Bishop of Winchester to use in a reply to the Pope and the
+Cardinal. But when the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishop of
+Ely saw the King's notes, they thought them answer enough, and so
+James's _Apology for the Oath of Allegiance_ came to light, but
+without his name, the author, among other reasons, deeming it
+beneath his dignity to contend in argument with a cardinal. As
+the Cardinal responded, the King took a stronger measure, and
+under his own name wrote, in a single week, his _Premonition to
+all most Mighty Monarch_, wherein he exposed with great force the
+danger to all states from the pretensions of the Papacy.
+Thereupon, at Paul's invitation, Suarez penned that vast folio
+(778 pp.), the _Defensio Catholicae Fidei contra Anglicanae Sectae
+Errores_ (1613), as a counterblast to James's _Apology_.
+Considering the subject, it was certainly written with singular
+moderation; and James would have done better to have left the
+book to the natural penalty of its immense bulk. As it was, he
+ordered it to be burnt at London, and at Oxford and Cambridge;
+forbade his subjects to read it, under severe penalties; and
+wrote to Philip III. of Spain to complain of his Jesuit subject.
+But Philip, of course, only expressed his sympathy with Suarez,
+and exhorted James to return to the Faith. The Parlement of Paris
+also consigned the book to the flames in 1614, as it had a few
+years before Bellarmine's _Tractatus de Potestate summi
+Pontificis in Temporalibus_, in which the same high pretensions
+were claimed for the Pope as were claimed by Suarez.
+
+The question at issue remains, of course, a burning one to this
+day. To James I., however, is due the credit of having been one
+of the earliest and ablest champions against the Temporal Power;
+and therefore side by side on our shelves with Bellarmine and
+Suarez should stand copies of the _Apology_ and the
+_Premonition_--both of them works which can scarcely fail to
+raise the King many degrees in the estimation of all who read
+them.
+
+But we have yet to see James as a theologian, for on his divinity
+he prided himself no less than on his king-craft. The burnings of
+Legatt at Smithfield and of Wightman at Lichfield for heretical
+opinions are sad blots on the King's memory; for it would seem
+that he personally pressed the bishops to proceed to this
+extremity, in the case of Legatt at least. Nor in the case of
+poor Conrad Vorst did he manifest more toleration or dignity. It
+was no concern of his if Vorst was appointed by the States to
+succeed Arminius as Professor of Theology at Leyden; yet, deeming
+his duty as Defender of the Faith to be bound by no seas, he
+actually interfered to prevent it, and rendered Vorst's life a
+burden to him, when he might just as reasonably have protested
+against the choice of a Grand Lama of Thibet.
+
+Vorst's book--the _Tractatus Theologicus de Deo_, an ugly,
+square, brown book of five hundred pages--is as unreadable as it
+is unprepossessing. Bayle says that it was shown to the King
+whilst out hunting, and that he forthwith read it with such
+energy as to be able to despatch within an hour to his resident
+at the Hague a detailed list of its heresies. Nothing in his
+reign seems to have excited him so much. Not only did he have it
+publicly burnt in St. Paul's Churchyard (October 1611), and at
+Oxford and Cambridge, but he entreated the States, under the pain
+of the loss of his friendship, to banish Vorst from their
+dominions altogether. No heretic, he said, ever better deserved
+to be burnt, but that he would leave to their Christian wisdom.
+"Such a Disquisition deserved the punishment of the Inquisition."
+If Vorst remained, no English youths should repair to "so
+infected a place" as the University of Leyden.
+
+The States resented at first the interference of the King of
+England, and supported Vorst, but the ultimate result of James's
+prolonged agitation was that in 1619 the National Synod of Dort
+declared Vorst's works to be impious and blasphemous, and their
+author unworthy to be an orthodox professor. He was accordingly
+banished from the University and from Holland for life, and died
+three years afterwards, fully justified by his persecution in his
+original reluctance to exchange his country living for the
+dignity of a professorship of theology.
+
+Bayle thinks he was fairly chargeable with Socinian views, but
+what most offended James was his metaphysical speculations on the
+Divine attributes. I will quote from Vorst two passages which
+vexed the royal soul, and should teach us to rejoice that the
+reign of such discussions shows signs of passing away:--
+
+     "Is there a quantity in God?
+      There is; but not a physical quantity,
+      But a supernatural quantity;
+      One nevertheless that is plainly imperceptible to us,
+      And merely spiritual."
+
+Or again:--
+
+"Hath God a body? If we will speak properly, He has none; yet is
+it no absurdity, speaking improperly, to ascribe a body unto God,
+that is, as the word is taken improperly and generally (and yet
+not very absurdly) for a true substance, in a large
+signification, or, if you will, abusive."
+
+The above are the principal books whose names have come down to
+us as burnt in the reign of James, and the initiation of such
+burning seems always to have come from the King himself. As yet,
+the Star Chamber and Court of High Commission do not appear to
+have assumed the direction of this lesser but not unimportant
+department of government. Nor is there yet any mention of the
+hangman: the mere burning by any menial official being, thought
+stigma enough. It is also remarkable that the books which chiefly
+roused James's anger to the burning point were the works of
+foreigners--of Paraeus, Suarez, and Vorst. After James our country
+was too much occupied in burning its own books and pamphlets to
+burden itself with the additional labour of burning its
+neighbours'; the instances that occur are comparatively few and
+far between. But it is clear that, whatever were James's real
+views as to the limits of his political prerogative, in the field
+of literature he meant to play and did play the despot. Pity that
+one who could so deftly wield his pen should have rested his
+final argument on the bonfire!
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[52:1] That is Dr. Brinsley Nicholson's conclusion in his preface
+to Scot; yet, if the book was burnt, it is highly improbable that
+the common hangman officiated.
+
+[54:1] Winwood's _Memorials_, I. 125.
+
+[57:1] _Detection of Court and State of England_ (1696), I. 30.
+
+[57:2] _Life of Laud_, 70.
+
+[59:1] Winwood's _Memorials_, III. 136.
+
+[59:2] Letter of January 5th, 1614, in _Court and Times of James
+I._
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+CHARLES THE FIRST'S BOOK-FIRES.
+
+
+Few things now seem more surprising than the sort of fury with
+which in the earlier part of the seventeenth century the extreme
+rights of monarchs were advocated by large numbers of Englishmen.
+Political servitude was then the favourite dream of thousands.
+The Church made herself especially prominent on the side of
+prerogative; the pulpits resounded with what our ancestors called
+Crown Divinity; and in the reign of Charles I. the rival
+principles, ultimately fought for on the battlefield, first came
+into conflict over sermons, the immediate cause, indeed, of so
+many of the greatest political movements of our history.
+
+The first episode in this connection is the important case of Dr.
+Roger Manwaring, one of Charles's chaplains, who, at the time
+when the King was pressing for a compulsory loan, preached two
+sermons before him, advocating the King's right to impose any
+loan or tax without consent of Parliament, and, in fact, making a
+clean sweep of all the liberties of the subject whatsoever. At
+Charles's request, Manwaring published these sermons under the
+title of _Religion and Allegiance_ (1627). But the popular party
+in Parliament resolved to make an example of him, and a long
+speech on the subject by Pym is preserved in Rushworth. The
+Commons begged the Lords to pronounce judgment upon him, and a
+most severe one they did pronounce. He was to be imprisoned
+during the House's pleasure; to be fined L1000 to the King; to
+make a written submission at the bars of both Houses; to be
+suspended for three years; to be disabled from ever preaching at
+Court, or holding any ecclesiastical or secular office; and the
+King was to be moved to grant a proclamation for calling in and
+burning his book.
+
+On June 23rd, 1628, Manwaring made accordingly a most abject
+submission at the bars of both Houses, Heylin says, on his knees
+and with tears in his eyes, confessing his sermons to have been
+"full of dangerous passages, inferences, and scandalous
+aspersions in most parts"; and the next day Charles issued a
+proclamation for calling them in, as having incurred "the just
+censure and sentence of the High Court of Parliament." The
+sentence of suppression presumably in this case carried the
+burning; but, if so, there is no mention of any public burning by
+the bishops and others, to whom the books were to be delivered by
+their owners.
+
+Fuller says that much of Manwaring's sentence was remitted in
+consideration of his humble submission; and Charles the very same
+year not only pardoned him, but gave him ecclesiastical
+preferment, finally making him Bishop of St. David's. Heylin
+attests the resentment this indiscreet indulgence roused in the
+Commons; but, unfortunately, as Manwaring was doubtless well
+aware, to have incurred the anger of Parliament was motive enough
+with Charles for the preferment of the offender, and the shortest
+road to it.
+
+This is shown by the similar treatment accorded to the Rev.
+Richard Montagu, who had made himself conspicuous on the
+anti-Puritan side in the time of James. In defence of himself he
+had written his _Appello Caesarem_, with James's leave and
+encouragement. It was a long book, refuting the charges made
+against him of Popery and Arminianism, and full of bitter
+invectives against the Puritans. After the matter had been long
+under the consideration of Parliament, the House prayed Charles
+to punish Montagu, and to suppress and burn his books; and this
+Charles did in a remarkable proclamation (January 17th, 1628),
+wherein the _Appello Caesarem_ is admitted to have been _the first
+cause of those disputes and differences that have since much
+troubled the quiet of the Church_, and is therefore called in,
+Charles adding, that if others write again on the subject, "we
+shall take such order with them and those books that they shall
+wish they had never thought upon these needless controversies."
+It appears, however, from Rushworth that, in spite of this,
+several answers were penned to Montagu, and that they were
+suppressed. And what, indeed, would life be but for its "needless
+controversies"?
+
+Nothing could be more praiseworthy than Charles's attempt to put
+a stop to the idle disputations and bitter recriminations of the
+combatants on either side of religious controversy. Could he have
+succeeded he might have staved off the Civil War, which we might
+almost more fitly call a religious one. But in those days few
+men, unfortunately, had the cool wisdom to remain as neutral
+between Arminian and Calvinist, Papist and Protestant, as between
+the rival Egyptian sects which, in Juvenal's time, fought for the
+worship of the ibis or the crocodile. Our comparatively greater
+safety in these days is due to the large increase of that neutral
+party, which was so sadly insignificant in the time of Charles.
+May that party therefore never become less, but constantly grow
+larger!
+
+Montagu, at the time of the proclamation of his book, had been
+appointed Bishop of Chichester, having been raised to that see in
+spite or because of his quarrel with Parliament. He was
+consecrated by Laud in August of the same year, and Heylin admits
+that his promotion was more magnanimous than safe on the part of
+Charles, being clearly calculated to exasperate the House. Ten
+years later (1638) he was preferred to the see of Norwich. All
+his life he remained a prominent member of the Romanising party.
+
+These books of Manwaring and Montagu are important as proving
+clearly two historical points, viz.:--(1) The early date at which
+the Court party alienated even the House of Lords. (2) The fact
+that the original exciting cause of all the subsequent discord
+between Puritan and Prelatist came from a prominent member of the
+Laudian or Romanising faction.
+
+The rising temper of the people, and its justification, is shown
+even in these literary disputes. But the popular temper was
+destined to be more seriously roused by those atrocious sentences
+against the authors of certain books which were passed within a
+few years by the Star Chamber and High Commission. The heavy
+fines and cruel mutilations imposed by these courts were not new
+in the reign of Charles, but they became far more frequent, and
+were directed less against wrong conduct than disagreeable
+opinions. They are intimately connected with the memory of Laud,
+first as Bishop of London, and then as Archbishop of Canterbury,
+whose letters show that the severities in question were to him
+and Strafford (to use Hallam's expression) "the feebleness of
+excessive lenity." To the last Charles was not despotic enough to
+please Laud, who complains petulantly in his Diary of a prince
+"who knew not how to be, or be made great."
+
+As the first illustration of Laud's method for attaining this end
+must be mentioned the case of a book which enjoys the distinction
+of having brought its author to a more severe punishment than
+any other book in the English language. Our literature has had
+many a martyr, but Alexander Leighton is the foremost of the
+rank.
+
+He was a Scotch divine; nor can it be denied that his _Syon's
+Plea against the Prelacy_ (1628) contained, indeed, some bitter
+things against the bishops; he said they were of no use in God's
+house, and called them caterpillars, moths, and cankerworms. But
+our ancestors habitually indulged in such expressions; and even
+Tyndale, the martyr, called church functionaries horse-leeches,
+maggots, and caterpillars in a kingdom. Such terms were among the
+traditional amenities of all controversy, but especially of
+religious controversy. But since the Martin-Marprelate Tracts or
+Latimer's sermons the strong anti-Episcopalian feeling of the
+country had never expressed itself so vigorously as in this
+"decade of grievances" against the hierarchy, presented to
+Parliament by a man who was too sensitive of "the ruin of
+religion and the sinking of the State."
+
+The Star Chamber fined him L10,000, and then the High Commission
+Court deprived him of his ministry, and sentenced him to be
+whipped, to be pilloried, to lose his ears, to have his nose
+slit, to be branded on his cheeks with "S. S." (Sower of
+Sedition), and to be imprisoned for life! Probably with all this,
+the burning of his book went without saying; though I have found
+no specific mention of its incurring that fate.
+
+The sentence was executed in November 1630, in frost and snow,
+making its victim, as he says himself, "a theatre of misery to
+men and angels." It was all done in the name of law and order,
+like all the other great atrocities of history. After ten years'
+imprisonment Leighton was released by the Long Parliament, and a
+few years later he wrote an account of his sufferings, and a
+report of his trial in the Star Chamber. Therein we learn that
+Laud, the Bishop of London, was the moving spirit of the whole
+thing. At the end of his speech he apologised for his presence at
+the trial, admitting that by the Canon law no ecclesiastic might
+be present at a judicature where loss of life or limb was
+incurred, but contending that there was no such loss in
+ear-cutting, nose-slitting, branding, and whipping. Leighton, of
+course, may have been misinformed of what occurred at his trial
+(for he himself was not allowed to be present!); and so some
+doubt must also attach to the story that when the censure was
+delivered "the Prelate off with his cap, and holding up his
+hands gave thanks to God who had given him the victory over his
+enemies."
+
+Shortly after his release, Leighton was made keeper of Lambeth
+Palace, and then he died, "rather insane of mind for the
+hardships he had suffered"; but, such is the irony of fate, the
+man who had paid so heavily for his antipathy to bishops became
+himself the father of an archbishop!
+
+By an unexplained law of our nature the very severity of
+punishment seems to invite men to incur it; and Leighton's fate,
+like most penal warnings, rather incited to its imitation than
+deterred from it. The next to feel the grip of the Star Chamber
+was the famous William Prynne, barrister of Lincoln's Inn, and
+one of the most erudite as well as most voluminous writers our
+country has ever produced.
+
+He was only thirty-three when in 1633 he published his
+_Histriomastix; or, the Player's Scourge_. His labour had taken
+him seven years, nor was it the first work of his that had
+attracted the notice of authority. In a thousand closely printed
+pages, he argued, by an appeal to fifty-five councils,
+seventy-one fathers and Christian writers, one hundred and fifty
+Protestant and Catholic authors, and forty heathen philosophers
+into the bargain, that stage-plays, besides being sinful and
+heathenish, were "intolerable mischiefs to churches, to
+republics, to the manners, minds, and souls of men." Little as we
+think so now, this opinion, which was afterwards also Defoe's,
+was not without justification in those days. But Prynne's crusade
+did not stop at theatres; and Heylin's account reveals the
+feeling of contemporaries: "Neither the hospitality of the gentry
+in the time of Christmas, nor the music in cathedrals and the
+chapels royal, nor the pomps and gallantries of the Court, nor
+the Queen's harmless recreations, nor the King's solacing himself
+sometimes in masques and dances could escape the venom of his
+pen." "He seemed to breathe nothing but disgrace to the nation,
+infamy to the Church, reproaches to the Court, dishonour to the
+Queen." For his remarks against female actors were thought to be
+aimed at Henrietta Maria, though the pastoral in which she took
+part was posterior by six weeks to the publication of the
+book![78:1] The four legal societies "presented their Majesties
+with a pompous and magnificent masque, to let them see that
+Prynne's leaven had not soured them all, and that they were not
+poisoned with the same infection."[79:1]
+
+This surely might have been enough; but by the time the matter
+had come before the Star Chamber, Laud had succeeded Abbot (with
+whom Prynne was on friendly terms) as Archbishop of Canterbury
+(August 1633); and Laud was in favour of rigorous measures. So
+was Lord Dorset, and Lord Cottington, Chancellor of the
+Exchequer, whose judgment is of importance as showing that this
+was really the first occasion when the hangman's services were
+called in aid for the suppression of books:--
+
+"I do in the first place begin censure with his book. I condemn
+it to be burnt in the most public manner that can be. The manner
+in other countries is (where such books are) to be burnt by the
+hangman, though not used in England (yet I wish it may, in
+respect of the strangeness and heinousness of the matter
+contained in it) to have a strange manner of burning; therefore I
+shall desire it may be so burnt by the hand of the hangman. If
+it may agree with the Court, I do adjudge Mr. Prynne to be put
+from the Bar, and to be for ever uncapable of his profession. I
+do adjudge him, my Lords, that the Society of Lincoln's Inn do
+put him out of the Society; and because he had his offspring from
+Oxford" (now with a low voice said the Archbishop of Canterbury,
+"I am sorry that ever Oxford bred such an evil member") "there to
+be degraded. And I do condemn Mr. Prynne to stand in the pillory
+in two places, in Westminster and Cheapside, and that he shall
+lose both his ears, one in each place; and with a paper on his
+head declaring how foul an offence it is, viz. that it is for an
+infamous libel against both their Majesties, State and
+Government. And lastly (nay, not lastly) I do condemn him in
+L5,000 fine to the King. And lastly, perpetual
+imprisonment."[80:1]
+
+In this spirit the highest in the land understood justice in
+those golden monarchical days, little recking of the retribution
+that their cruelty was laying in store for them. A few years
+later history presents us with another graphic picture of the
+same sort, showing us the facetious as well as the ferocious
+aspect of the Star Chamber. Again Prynne stands before his
+judges, a full court (and theoretically the Star Chamber was
+co-extensive with the House of Lords), but this time in company
+with Bastwick, the physician, and Burton, the divine. Sir J.
+Finch, Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, says: "I had thought
+Mr. Prynne had had no ears, but methinks he hath ears." Thereupon
+many Lords look more closely at him, and the usher of the court
+is ordered to turn up his hair and show his ears. Their Lordships
+are displeased that no more had been cut off on the previous
+occasion, and "cast out some disgraceful words of him." To whom
+Prynne replies: "My Lords, there is never a one of your Honours
+but would be sorry to have your ears as mine are." The
+Lord-Keeper says: "In good truth he is somewhat saucy." "I hope,"
+says Prynne, "your Honours will not be offended. I pray God give
+you ears to hear."
+
+The whole of this interesting trial is best read in the fourth
+volume of the _Harleian Miscellany_. Prynne's main offence on
+this occasion was his _News from Ipswich_, written in prison, and
+his sentence was preceded by a speech from Laud, which the King
+made him afterwards publish, and which, after a denial of the
+Puritan charge of making innovations in religion, ended with the
+words: "Because the business hath some reflection upon myself I
+shall forbear to censure them, and leave them to God's mercy and
+the King's justice." Yet Laud in the very previous sentence had
+thanked his colleagues for the "just and honourable censure" they
+had passed; and when he spoke in this Pharisaical way of God's
+mercy and the King's justice, he knew that the said justice had
+condemned Prynne to be fined another L5,000, to be deprived of
+the remainder of his ears in the pillory, to be branded on both
+cheeks with "S. L." (Schismatical Libeller), and to be imprisoned
+for life in Carnarvon Castle.[82:1] Apart from that, Laud's
+defence seems conclusive on many of the points brought against
+him.
+
+Bastwick and Burton were at the same time, for their books,
+condemned to a fine of L5,000 each, to be pilloried, to lose
+their ears, and to be imprisoned, one at Launceston Castle, in
+Cornwall, and the other in Lancaster Castle. It does not appear
+that the burning of their books was on this occasion included in
+the sentence; but as the order for seizing libellous books was
+sometimes a separate matter from the sentence itself (Laud's
+_Hist._, 252), or could be ordered by the Archbishop alone, one
+may feel fairly sure that it followed.
+
+The execution of this sentence (June 30th, 1637) marks a
+turning-point in our history. The people strewed the way from the
+prison to the pillory with sweet herbs. From the pillory the
+prisoners severally addressed the sympathetic crowd, Bastwick,
+for instance, saying, "Had I as much blood as would swell the
+Thames, I would shed it every drop in this cause." Prynne,
+returning to prison by boat, actually made two Latin verses on
+the letters branded on his cheeks, with a pun upon Laud's name.
+As probably no one ever made verses on such an occasion before or
+since, they are deserving of quotation:--
+
+     "Stigmata maxillis referens insignia Laudis,
+        Exultans remeo, victima grata Deo."
+
+Their journey to their several prisons was a triumphal procession
+all the way; the people, as Heylin reluctantly writes, "either
+foolishly or factiously resorting to them as they passed, and
+seeming to bemoan their sufferings as unjustly rigorous. And such
+a haunt there was to the several castles to which they were
+condemned . . . that the State found it necessary to remove them
+further," Prynne to Jersey, Burton to Guernsey, and Bastwick to
+Scilly. The alarm of the Government at the resentment they had
+aroused by their cruelties is as conspicuous as that resentment
+itself. No English Government has ever with impunity incurred the
+charge of cruelty; nor is anything clearer than that as these
+atrocious sentences justified the coming Revolution, so they were
+among its most immediate causes.
+
+The _Letany_, for which Bastwick was punished on this occasion,
+was not the first work of his that had brought him to trouble.
+His first work, the _Elenchus Papisticae Religionis_ (1627),
+against the Jesuits, was brought before the High Commission at
+the same time with his _Flagellum Pontificis_ (1635), a work
+which, ostensibly directed against the Pope's temporal power,
+aimed, in Laud's eyes, at English Episcopacy and the Church of
+England. The sting occurs near the end, where the author contends
+that the essentials of a bishop, namely, his election by his
+flock and the proper discharge of episcopal duties, are wanting
+in the bishops of his time. "Where is the ministering of doctrine
+and of the Word, and of the Sacraments? Where is the care of
+discipline and morals? Where is the consolation of the poor?
+where the rebuke of the wicked? Alas for the fall of Rome! Alas
+for the ruin of a flourishing Church! The bishops are neither
+chosen nor called; but by canvassing, and by money, and by wicked
+arts they are thrust upon their government." This was the
+beginning of trouble. The Court of High Commission condemned both
+his books to be burnt,[85:1] and their author to be fined L1,000,
+to be excommunicated, to be debarred from his profession, and to
+be imprisoned in the Gatehouse till he recanted; which, wrote
+Bastwick, would not be till Doomsday, in the afternoon.
+
+In the Gatehouse Bastwick penned his _Apologeticus ad Praesules
+Anglicanos_, and his _Letany_, the books for which he suffered,
+as above described, at the hands of the Star Chamber. The first
+was an attack on the High Commission, the second on the bishops,
+the Real Presence, and the Church Prayer Book. The language of
+the _Letany_ is in many passages extremely coarse, and it is only
+possible to quote such milder expressions as since the time of
+Tyndale had been traditional in the Puritan party. "As many
+prelates in England, so many vipers in the bowels of Church and
+State." They were "the very polecats, stoats, weasels, and
+minivers in the warren of Church and State." They were
+"Antichrist's little toes." To judge from these expressions
+merely one might be disposed to agree with Heylin, who says of
+the _Letany_ that it was "so silly and contemptible that nothing
+but the sin and malice which appeared in every line of it could
+have possibly preserved it from being ridiculous." But the
+_Letany_ is really a most important contribution to the history
+of the period. Nothing is more graphic than Bastwick's account of
+the almost regal reverence claimed for the Archbishop of
+Canterbury, the traffic of the streets interrupted when he issued
+from Lambeth, the overturning of the stalls; the author's
+description of the excessive power of the bishops, of the
+extortions of the ecclesiastical courts, is corroborated by
+abundant correlative testimony; and he appeals for the truth of
+his charges of immorality against the clergy of that time to the
+actual cases that came before the High Commission.
+
+Lord Clarendon speaks of Bastwick as "a half-witted,
+crack-brained fellow," unknown to either University or the
+College of Physicians; perhaps it was because he was unknown to
+either University that he acquired that splendid Latin style to
+which even Lord Clarendon does justice. The Latin preface to the
+second edition of the _Flagellum_, in which Bastwick returns
+thanks to the Long Parliament for his release from prison, is
+unsurpassed by the Latin writing of the best English scholars,
+and bespeaks anything but a half-witted brain. Cicero himself
+could hardly have done it better.
+
+Burton's book, however, was considered worse than Prynne's or
+Bastwick's, for Heylin calls it "the great masterpiece of
+mischief." It consists of two sermons, republished with an appeal
+to the King, under the title of _For God and King_. Like
+Bastwick, he writes in the interest of the King against the
+encroachments of the bishops; and complains bitterly of the
+ecclesiastical innovations then in vogue. His accusation is no
+less forcible, though less well known, than Laud's Defence in his
+Star Chamber speech; and if he did call the bishops "limbs of the
+Beast," "ravening wolves," and so forth, the language of Laud's
+party against the Puritans was not one whit more refined. So
+convinced was Burton of the justice of his cause, that he
+declared that all the time he stood in the pillory he thought
+himself "in heaven, and in a state of glory and triumph if any
+such state can possibly be on earth."
+
+It is in connection with Bastwick's _Letany_ and Prynne's _News
+from Ipswich_ that Lilburne, of subsequent revolutionary fame,
+first appears on the stage of history, as responsible for their
+printing in Holland and dispersion in England. At all events he
+was punished for that offence, being whipped with great severity,
+by order of the Star Chamber, all the way from the Fleet Prison
+to Westminster, where he stood for some hours in the pillory. He
+was then only twenty. Laud had the second instalment of the books
+seized upon landing, and then burnt.
+
+In this matter of book-burning the Archbishop seems at that time
+to have had sole authority, and doubtless many more books met
+with a fiery fate than are specifically mentioned. Laud himself
+refers in a letter to an order he issued for the seizure and
+public burning in Smithfield of as many copies as could be found
+of an English translation of St. Francis de Sales' _Praxis
+Spiritualis; or, The Introduction to a Devout Life_, which, after
+having been licensed by his chaplain, had been tampered with, in
+the Roman Catholic interest, in its passage through the press. Of
+this curious book some twelve hundred copies were burnt, but a
+few hundred copies had been dispersed before the seizure.
+
+The Archbishop's duties, as general superintendent of literature
+and the press, constituted, indeed, no sinecure. For ever since
+the year 1585, the Star Chamber regulations, passed at Archbishop
+Whitgift's instigation, had been in force; and, with unimportant
+exceptions, no book could be printed without being first seen,
+perused, and allowed by the Archbishop of Canterbury or Bishop of
+London. Rome herself had no more potent device for the
+maintenance of intellectual tyranny. The task of perusal was
+generally deputed to the Archbishop's chaplain, who, as in the
+case of Prynne's _Histriomastix_, ran the risk of a fine and the
+pillory if he suffered a book to be licensed without a careful
+study of its contents.
+
+But the powers of the Archbishop over the press were not yet
+enough for Laud, and in July 1637 the Star Chamber passed a
+decree, with a view to prevent English books from being printed
+abroad, that in addition to the compulsory licensing of all
+English books by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Bishop of London,
+or the University Chancellors, no books should be imported from
+abroad for sale without a catalogue of them being first sent to
+the Archbishop of Canterbury or Bishop of London, who, by their
+chaplains or others, were to superintend the unlading of such
+packages of books. The only merit of this decree is that it led
+Milton to write his _Areopagitica_. The Puritan belief that Laud
+aimed at the restoration of Popery has long since been proved
+erroneous. One of his bad dreams recorded in his Diary is that of
+his reconciliation with the Church of Rome; but there is abundant
+proof that he and his faction aimed at a spiritual and
+intellectual tyranny which would in no wise have been preferable
+to that of Rome. And of all Laud's dreams, surely that of the
+Archbishop of Canterbury exercising a perpetual dictatorship over
+English literature is not the least absurd and grotesque.
+
+Moreover, in August of this very same year Laud made another move
+in the direction of ecclesiastical tyranny. Bastwick and his
+party had contended, not only that Episcopacy was not of Divine
+institution, or _jure divino_ (as, indeed, Williams, Bishop of
+Lincoln, had argued before the King)[91:1]; but that the issuing
+of processes in the names and with the seals of the bishops in
+the ecclesiastical courts was a trespass on the Royal
+Prerogative. What happened proves that it was. The statute of
+Edward VI. (1 Ed. VI., c. 2) had enacted that all the proceedings
+of the ecclesiastical courts should "be made in the name and the
+style of the King," and that no other seal of jurisdiction should
+be used but with the Royal arms engraven, under penalty of
+imprisonment. Mary repealed this Act, nor did Elizabeth replace
+it. But a clause in a statute of James (1 Jac. I., c. 25)
+repealed the repealing Act of Mary, so that the Act of Edward
+came back into force; and Bastwick was perfectly right. The
+judges, nevertheless, in May 1637, decided that Mary's repeal Act
+was still in force; and Charles, at Laud's instigation, issued a
+proclamation, in August 1637, to the effect that the proceedings
+of the High Commission and other ecclesiastical courts were
+agreeable to the laws and statutes of the realm.[91:2] In this
+manner did the judges, the bishops, and the King conspire to
+subject Englishmen to the tyranny of the Church!
+
+The consequences belong to general history. Never was scheme of
+ecclesiastical ambition more completely shattered than Laud's;
+never was historical retribution more condign. Among the first
+acts of the Long Parliament (November 1640) was the release of
+Prynne and Bastwick and Burton; who were brought into the City,
+says Clarendon, by a crowd of some ten thousand persons, with
+boughs and flowers in their hands. Compensation was subsequently
+voted to them for the iniquitous fines imposed on them by the
+Star Chamber, and Prynne before long was one of the chief
+instruments in bringing Laud to trial and the block. But this was
+not before that ambitious prelate had seen the bishops deprived
+of their seats in the House of Lords, and the Root and Branch
+Bill for their abolition introduced, as well as the Star Chamber
+and High Commission Courts abolished. This should have been
+enough; and it is to be regretted that his punishment went beyond
+this total failure of the schemes of his life.
+
+Of the heroes of the books whose condemnation contributed so much
+to bring about the Revolution, only Prynne continued to figure
+as an object of interest in the subsequent stormy times. As a
+member of Parliament his political activity was only exceeded by
+his extraordinary literary productiveness; his legacy to the
+Library of Lincoln's Inn of his forty volumes of various works is
+probably the largest monument of literary labour ever produced by
+one man. His spirit of independence caused him to be constant to
+no political party, and after taking part against Cromwell he was
+made by the Government of the Restoration Keeper of the Records
+in the Tower, in which congenial post he finished his eventful
+career.
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[78:1] Whitelock's _Memorials of Charles I._, 1822. Laud is
+represented as mainly instrumental in the conduct of the whole of
+this nefarious proceeding, especially in procuring the sentence
+in the Star Chamber.
+
+[79:1] _Life of Laud_, 294.
+
+[80:1] From the account in the _State Trials_, III. 576.
+
+[82:1] In his defence he says that he always voted last or last
+but one. In that case he must always have heard the sentence
+passed by those who spoke before him, and not dissented from it.
+His sole excuse is, that he was no worse than his colleagues; to
+which the answer is, he ought to have been better.
+
+[85:1] Prynne, _New Discovery_, 132.
+
+[91:1] Laud's _Diary_ (Newman's edition), 87.
+
+[91:2] Heylin's _Laud_, 321, 322.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+BOOK-FIRES OF THE REBELLION.
+
+
+With the beneficent Revolution that practically began with the
+Long Parliament in November 1640, and put an end to the Star
+Chamber and High Commission, it might have been hoped that a
+better time was about to dawn for books. But the control of
+thought really only passed from the Monarchical to the
+Presbyterian party; and if authors no longer incurred the
+atrocious cruelties of the Star Chamber, their works were more
+freely burnt at the order of Parliament than they appear to have
+been when the sentence to such a fate rested with the King or the
+Archbishop of Canterbury.
+
+Parliament, in fact, assumed the dictatorship of literature, and
+exercised supreme jurisdiction over author, printer, publisher,
+and licenser. Either House separately, or both concurrently,
+assumed the exercise of this power; and, if a book were sentenced
+to be burnt, the hangman seems always to have been called in
+aid. In an age which was pre-eminently the age of pamphlets, and
+torn in pieces by religious and political dissension, the number
+of pamphlets that were condemned to be burnt by the common
+hangman was naturally legion, though, of course, a still greater
+number escaped with some lesser form of censure. It is only with
+the former that I propose to deal, and only with such of them as
+seem of more than usual interest as illustrating the manners and
+thoughts of that turbulent time.
+
+It is a significant fact that the first writer whose works
+incurred the wrath of Parliament was the Rev. John Pocklington,
+D.D., one of the foremost innovators in the Church in the days of
+Laud's prosperity. The House of Lords consigned two of his books
+to be burnt by the hangman, both in London and the two chief
+Universities (February 12th, 1641). These were his _Sunday no
+Sabbath_, and the _Altare Christianum_.
+
+The first of these was originally a sermon, preached on August
+17th, 1635, wherein the Puritan view of Sunday was vehemently
+assailed, and the Puritans themselves vigorously abused. "These
+Church Schismatics are the most gross, nay, the most transparent
+hypocrites and the most void of conscience of all others. They
+will take the benefit of the Church, but abjure the doctrine and
+discipline of the Church." How often has not this argument done
+duty since against Pocklington's ecclesiastical descendants! But
+it is to be historically regretted that Pocklington's views of
+Sunday, the same of course as those of James the First's famous
+book, or Declaration of Sports, were not destined to prevail, and
+seem still as far as ever from attainment.
+
+The _Altare Christianum_ had been published in 1637, in answer to
+certain books by Burton and Prynne, its object being to prove
+that altars and churches had existed before the Christian Church
+was 200 years old. But had these churches any more substantial
+existence than that one built, as he says, by Joseph of
+Arimathea, at Glastonbury, in the year 55 A.D.? Did the
+Arimathean really visit Glastonbury? Anyhow, the book is full of
+learning and instruction, and, indeed, both Pocklington's books
+have an interest of their own, apart from their fate, which, of
+so many, is their sole recommendation.
+
+The sentence against Pocklington was strongly vindictive. Both
+his practices and his doctrines were condemned. In his practice
+he was declared to have been "very superstitious and full of
+idolatry," and to have used many gestures and ceremonies "not
+established by the laws of this realm." These were the sort of
+ceremonies that, without ever having been so established by law,
+our ritualists have practically established by custom; and the
+offence of the ritualist doctrine as held in those days, and as
+illustrated by Pocklington, lay in the following tenets ascribed
+to him: (1) that it was men's duty to bow to altars as to the
+throne of the Great God; (2) that the Eucharist was the host and
+held corporeal presence therein; (3) that there was in the Church
+a distinction between holy places and a Holy of holies; (4) that
+the canons and constitutions of the Church were to be obeyed
+without examination.
+
+For these offences of ritual and doctrine--offences to which,
+fortunately, we can afford to be more indifferent than our
+ancestors were, no reasonable man now thinking twice about
+them--Pocklington was deprived of all his livings and dignities
+and preferments, and incapacitated from holding any for the
+future, whilst his books were consigned to the hangman. It may
+seem to us a spiteful sentence; but it was after all a mild
+revenge, considering the atrocious sufferings of the Puritan
+writers. It is worse to lose one's ears and one's liberty for
+life than even to be deprived of Church livings; and it is
+noticeable that bodily mutilations came to an end with the
+clipping of the talons of the Crown and the Church at the
+beginning of the Long Parliament.
+
+Taking now in order the works of a political nature that were
+condemned by the House of Commons to be burnt by the hangman, we
+come first to the _Speeches of Sir Edward Dering_, member for
+Kent in the Long Parliament, and a greater antiquary than he ever
+was a politician. He it was who, on May 27th, 1641, moved the
+first reading of the Root and Branch Bill for the abolition of
+Episcopacy. "The pride, the avarice, the ambition, and oppression
+by our ruling clergy is epidemical," he said; thereby proving
+that such an opinion was not merely a Puritan prejudice. But
+Dering appears only really to have aimed at the abolition of
+Laud's archiepiscopacy, and to have wished to see some purer form
+of prelacy re-established in place of the old. Naturally his
+views gave offence, which he only increased by republishing his
+speeches on matters of religion, Parliament being so incensed
+that it burned his book, and committed its author for a week to
+the Tower (February 2nd, 1642).
+
+Dering's was the common fate of moderate men in stormy times,
+who, seeing good on each side, are ill thought of by both.
+Failing to be loyal to either, he was by both mistrusted. For not
+only did he ultimately vote on the side of the royalist episcopal
+party, but he actually fought on the King's side; then, being
+disgusted with the royalists for their leaning to Popery, he
+accepted the pardon offered for a compensation by Parliament in
+1644, and died the same year, leaving posterity to regret that he
+was ever so ill-advised as to exchange antiquities for politics
+and party strife.
+
+The famous speech of the statesman whom Charles, with his usual
+defiance of public opinion, soon afterwards raised to the peerage
+as Lord Digby (on the passing of the Bill of Attainder against
+Lord Strafford), was, after its publication by its author,
+condemned to be burnt at Westminster, Cheapside, and Smithfield
+(July 13th, 1642). Digby voted against putting Strafford to
+death, because he did not think it proved by the evidence that
+Strafford had advised Charles to employ the army in Ireland for
+the subjection of England. But he condemned his general conduct
+as strongly as any man. He calls him "the great apostate to the
+Commonwealth, who must not expect to be pardoned it in this world
+till he be dispatched to the other." He refers very happily to
+his great abilities, "whereof God hath given him the use, but the
+devil the application." But does the critic's own memory stand
+much higher? Was he not the King's evil genius, who, together
+with the Queen, pushed him to that fatal step--the arrest of the
+five members?
+
+How soon Parliament acquired the evil habit of dealing by fire
+and the hangman with uncongenial publications is proved by the
+fact that in one year alone the following five leaflets or
+pamphlets suffered in this way:--
+
+1. _The Kentish Petition_, drawn up at the Maidstone Assizes by
+the gentry, ministry, and commonalty of Kent, praying for the
+preservation of episcopal government, and the settlement of
+religious differences by a synod of the clergy (April 17th,
+1642). The petition was couched in very strong language; and
+Professor Gardiner is probably right in saying that it was the
+condemnation of this famous petition which rendered civil war
+inevitable.
+
+2. _A True Relation of the Proceedings of the Scots and English
+Forces in the North of Ireland._ This was thought to be
+dishonouring to the Scots, and was accordingly ordered to be
+burnt (June 8th, 1642).
+
+3. _King James: his Judgment of a King and a Tyrant_ (September
+12th, 1642).
+
+4. _A Speedy Post from Heaven to the King of England_ (October
+5th, 1642).
+
+5. _Letter from Lord Falkland_ to the Earl of Cumberland,
+concerning the action at Worcester (October 8th, 1642).
+
+Thus did Parliament, and the House of Commons especially, improve
+upon the precedent first set by the Star Chamber; and the
+practice must soon have somewhat lost its force by the very
+frequency of its repetition. David Buchanan's _Truth's Manifest_,
+containing an account of the conduct of the Scotch nation in the
+Civil War, was condemned to be burnt by the hangman (April 13th,
+1646), but may still be read. _An Unhappy Game at Scotch and
+English_, pamphlets like the _Mercurius Elenchicus_ and
+_Mercurius Pragmaticus_, the _Justiciarius Justificatus_, by
+George Wither, perished about the same time in the same way; and
+in 1648 such profane Royalist political squibs as _The
+Parliament's Ten Commandments_; _The Parliament's Pater Noster,
+and Articles of the Faith_; and _Ecce the New Testament of our
+Lords and Saviours, the House of Commons at Westminster, or the
+Supreme Council at Windsor_, were, for special indignity,
+condemned to be burnt in the three most public places of London.
+
+The observance of Sunday has always been a fruitful source of
+contention, and in 1649 the chief magistrates in England and
+Wales were ordered by the House of Commons to cause to be burnt
+all copies of James Okeford's _Doctrine of the Fourth
+Commandment, deformed by Popery, reformed and restored to its
+primitive purity_ (March 18th, 1650). They did their duty so well
+that not a copy appears to survive, even in the British Museum.
+The author, moreover, was sentenced to be taken and imprisoned;
+so thoroughly did the spirit of persecution take possession of a
+Parliamentary majority when the power of it fell into their
+hands.
+
+This was also shown in other matters. For instance, not only were
+_Joseph Primatt's Petition_ to Parliament, with reference to his
+claims to certain coal mines, and Lilburne's _Just Reproof to
+Haberdasher's Hall_ on Primatt's behalf, condemned to be burnt by
+the hangman (January 15th, July 30th, 1652), but both authors
+were sentenced, one to fines amounting to L5,000, the other to
+fines amounting to L7,000, which, though falling far short of
+the Star Chamber fines, were very considerable sums in those
+days. Lilburne, on this occasion, was also sentenced to be
+banished, and to be deemed guilty of felony if he returned; but
+this part of the sentence was never enforced, for Lilburne
+remained, to continue to the very end, by speech and writing,
+that perpetual warfare with the party in power which constituted
+his political life.
+
+John Fry, M.P., who sat in the High Court of Justice for the
+trial of Charles I., wrote in 1648 his _Accuser Shamed_ against
+Colonel Downes, a fellow-member, who had most unfairly charged
+him before the House with blasphemy for certain expressions used
+in private conversation, and thereby caused his temporary
+suspension. Dr. Cheynel, President of St. John's at Oxford,
+printed an answer to this, and Fry rejoined in his _Clergy in
+their True Colours_ (1650), a pamphlet singularly expressive of
+the general dislike at that time entertained for the English
+clergy. He complains of the strange postures assumed by the
+clergy in their prayers before the sermon, and says: "Whether the
+fools and knaves in stage plays took their pattern from these
+men, or these from them, I cannot determine; but sure one is the
+brat of the other, they are so well alike." He confesses himself
+"of the opinion of most, that the clergy are the great
+incendiaries." In the matter of Psalm-singing he finds "few men
+under heaven more irrational in their religious exercises than
+our clergy." As to their common evasion of difficulties by the
+plea that it is above reason, he fairly observes: "If a man will
+consent to give up his reason, I would as soon converse with a
+beast as with that man." Nevertheless, how many do so still!
+
+Fry wrote as a rational churchman, not as an anti-Christian,
+"from a hearty desire for their (the clergy's) reformation, and a
+great zeal to my countrymen that they may no longer be deceived
+by such as call themselves the ministers of the Gospel, but are
+not." This appears on the title-page; but a good motive has
+seldom yet saved a man or a book, and the House, having debated
+about both tracts from morning till night, not only voted them
+highly scandalous and profane, but consigned them to the hangman
+to burn, and expelled Fry from his seat in Parliament (February
+21st, 1651).
+
+So far of the political utterances that for the offence they gave
+were condemned to the flames; but these only represent one side
+of the activity of the legislature of that time. Nothing, indeed,
+better illustrates the mind of the seventeenth century than the
+several instances in which Parliament, in the exercise of its
+assumed power over literature generally, interfered with works of
+a theological nature, nor does anything more clearly or curiously
+reveal the mental turmoil of that period than does the perusal of
+some of the works that then met with Parliamentary censure or
+condemnation. In undertaking this interference it is possible
+that Parliament exceeded its province, and one is glad that it
+has long since ceased to claim the keepership of the People's
+Conscience. But in those days ideas of toleration were in their
+infancy; the right of free thought, or of its expression, had not
+been established; and the maintenance of orthodoxy was deemed as
+much the duty of Parliament as the maintenance of the rights of
+the people. So a Parliamentary majority soon came to exercise as
+much tyranny over thought as ever had been exercised by king or
+bishop; and, in fact, the theological writer ran even greater
+personal risks from the indignation of Parliament than he would
+have run in the period preceding 1640, for he began to run in
+danger of his life.
+
+The first theological work dealt with by Parliament appears to
+have been that curious posthumous work, entitled _Comfort for
+Believers about their Sinnes and Troubles_, which appeared in
+June 1645, by John Archer, Master of Arts, and preacher at All
+Hallows', Lombard Street. It had but a short life, for the very
+next month the Assembly of Divines, then sitting at Westminster,
+complained to Parliament of its contents, and Parliament
+condemned it to be publicly burnt in four places, the Assembly to
+draw up a formal detestation to be read at the burning. In this
+document it was admitted that the author had been "of good
+estimation for learning and piety"; but the author's logic was
+better than his theology, for he attributed all evil to the Cause
+of all things, and contended that for wise purposes God not only
+permitted sin, but had a hand in its essence, namely, "in the
+privity, and ataxy, the anomye, or irregularity of the act" (if
+that makes it any clearer). A single passage will convey the
+drift of the seventy-six pages devoted to this difficult
+problem:--
+
+"Who hinted to God, or gave advice by counsel to Him, to let the
+creature sin? Did any necessity, arising upon the creature's
+being, enforce it that sin must be? Could not God have hindered
+sin, if He would? Might He not have kept man from sinning, as He
+did some of the angels? Therefore, it was His device and plot
+before the creature was that there should be sin. . . . It is by
+sin that most of God's glory in the discovery of His attributes
+doth arise. . . . Therefore certainly it limits Him much to bring
+in sin by a contingent accident, merely from the creature, and to
+deny God a hand and will in its being and bringing forth."
+
+The author thought these positions quite compatible with
+orthodoxy; not so, however, the Presbyterian divines, nor
+Parliament; and certainly Archer's questions were more easily and
+more swiftly answered by fire than in any other way. Had he
+lived, one wonders how the divines would have punished him. For
+the next two cases prove how dangerous it was becoming to be
+convicted or even suspected of heterodoxy. Parliament was
+beginning to understand its duty as Defender of the Faith as the
+Holy Inquisition has always understood it--namely, by the death
+of the luckless assailant.
+
+Thus, on July 24th, 1647, the House of Commons condemned to be
+burnt in three different places, on three different days, Paul
+Best's pamphlet, of the following curious title: _Mysteries
+Discovered, or a Mercurial Picture pointing out the way from
+Babylon to the Holy City, For the Good of all such as during that
+Night of General Error and Apostacy, II. Thess. ii. 3, Rev. iii.
+10, have been so long misled with Rome's Hobgoblin, by me, Paul
+Best, prisoner in the Gatehouse, Westminster_. It concluded with
+a prayer for release from an imprisonment, which had then lasted
+more than three years, for certain theological opinions
+"committed to a minister (a supposed friend) for his judgment and
+advice only." This minister was the Rev. Roger Leys, who
+infamously betrayed the trust reposed in him, and made public the
+frankness of private conversation.
+
+Best had been imprisoned in the Gatehouse for certain expressions
+he was supposed to have used about the Trinity; and before he
+wrote this pamphlet the House of Commons had actually voted that
+he should be hanged. Justly, therefore, he wrote: "Unless the
+Lord put to His helping hand of the magistrate for the manacling
+of Satan in that persecuting power, there is little hope either
+of the liberty of the subject or the law of God amongst us." And
+if he was not orthodox, he was sensible, for he says: "I cannot
+understand what detriment could redound either to Church or
+Commonwealth by toleration of religions."
+
+His heresy consisted in thinking that pagan ideas had been
+imported into, and so had corrupted, the original monotheism of
+Christianity. "We may perceive how by iniquity of time the real
+truth of God hath been trodden under foot by a verbal kind of
+divinity, introduced by the semi-pagan Christianity of the third
+century in the Western Church." He certainly did not hold the
+doctrine of the Trinity in what was then deemed the orthodox way,
+but his precise belief is rather obscurely stated, and is a
+matter of indifference.
+
+One is glad to learn that he escaped hanging after all, and was
+released about the end of 1647, probably at the instance of
+Cromwell. He then retired to the family seat in Yorkshire, where
+he combined farming with his favourite theological studies for
+the ten remaining years of his life. His career at Cambridge had
+been distinguished, as might also have been his career in the
+world but for that unfortunate bent for theology, and the use of
+his reason in its study, that has led so many worthy men to
+disgrace and destruction.
+
+But, in spite of the Assembly of Divines, the air was thick with
+theological speculation; and only a few weeks after the
+condemnation of Best's _Mysteries_, the House condemned to a
+similar fate Bidle's _Twelve Arguments drawn out of Scripture,
+wherein the Commonly Received Opinion touching the Deity of the
+Holy Spirit is Clearly and Fully Refuted_.
+
+Bidle, a tailor's son, must take high rank among the martyrs of
+learning. After a brilliant school career at Gloucester, he went
+to Magdalen College, Oxford, where, says his biographer, "he did
+so philosophise, as it might be observed, he was determined more
+by Reason than Authority"; and this dangerous beginning he
+shortly followed up, when master of the Free School at
+Gloucester, by the still more dangerous conclusion that the
+common doctrine of the Trinity "was not well grounded in
+Revelation, much less in Reason." For this he was brought before
+the magistrates at Gloucester on the charge of heresy (1644); and
+from that time till his death from gaol-fever in 1662, at the age
+of forty-two, Bidle seldom knew what liberty was. It was soon
+after his first imprisonment that he published his _Twelve
+Arguments_. Though the House had this burnt by the hangman, it
+was so popular that it was reprinted the same year. The year
+following (1648) the House passed an ordinance making a denial of
+the Trinity a capital offence; in spite of which Bidle published
+his _Confession of Faith touching the Holy Trinity, according to
+Scripture_, and his _Testimonies of Different Fathers_ regarding
+the same, the last of which manifests considerable learning. The
+Assembly of Divines then appealed to Parliament to put him to
+death; yet, strange to say, Parliament did not do so, but soon
+after released their prisoner. In 1654 he published his _Twofold
+Catechism_, for which he was again committed to the Gatehouse,
+and debarred from the use of pens, ink, and paper; and all his
+books were sentenced to be burnt (December 13th, 1654). After a
+time, his fate being still uncertain, Cromwell procured his
+release, or rather sent him off to the Scilly Isles. But his
+enemies got him into prison again at last, and there a blameless
+and pious life fell a victim to the power of bigotry. One may
+regret a life thus spent and sacrificed; but only so has the
+cause of free thought been gradually won.
+
+Bidle has also been thought to have been the translator of the
+famous _Racovian Catechism_, first published in Polish at Racow
+in 1605, and in Latin in 1609. In it two anti-Trinitarian divines
+reduced to a systematic form the whole of the Socinian doctrine.
+A special interest attaches to it from the fact that Milton, then
+nearly blind, was called before the House in connection with the
+Catechism, as though he had had a share in its translation or
+publication. It was condemned to be burnt as blasphemous (April
+1st, 1652). In the Journals of the House copious extracts are
+given from the work, from which the following may serve to
+indicate what chiefly gave offence:--
+
+"What do you conceive exceedingly profitable to be known of the
+Essence of God?
+
+"It is to know that in the Essence of God there is only one
+person . . . and that by no means can there be more persons in
+that Essence, and that many persons in one essence is a pernicious
+opinion, which doth easily pluck up and destroy the belief of one
+God. . . .
+
+"But the Christians do commonly affirm the Son and Spirit to be
+also persons in the unity of the same Godhead.
+
+"I know they do, but it is a very great error; and the arguments
+brought for it are taken from Scriptures misunderstood.
+
+"But seeing the Son is called God in the Scriptures, how can
+that be answered?
+
+"The word God in Scripture is chiefly used two ways: first, as it
+signifies Him that rules in heaven and earth . . .; secondly, as
+it signifies one who hath received some high power or authority
+from that one God, or is some way made partaker of the Deity of
+that one God. It is in this latter sense that the Son in certain
+places in Scripture is called God. And the Son is upon no higher
+account called God than that He is sanctified by the Father and
+sent into the world.
+
+"But hath not the Lord Jesus Christ besides His human a Divine
+nature also?
+
+"No, by no means, for that is not only repugnant to sound reason,
+but to the Holy Scripture also."
+
+This is doubtless enough to convey an idea of the Catechism,
+which was again translated in 1818 by T. Rees. Whether Bidle was
+the translator or not, he must have been actuated by good
+intentions in what he wrote; for he says of the _Twofold
+Catechism_, that it "was composed for their sakes that would fain
+be mere Christians, and not of this or that sect, inasmuch as all
+the sects of Christians, by what names soever distinguished, have
+either more or less departed from the simplicity and truth of
+the Scripture." But these Christians, who preferred their
+religion to their sect, Bidle should have known were too few to
+count.
+
+Far inferior writers to Bidle were Ebiezer Coppe and Laurence
+Clarkson: nor, if religious madness could be so stamped out, can
+we complain of the House of Commons for condemning their works to
+the flames. The strongest possible condemnation was passed for
+its "horrid blasphemies" on Coppe's _Fiery Flying Roll; or, Word
+from the Lord to all the Great Ones of the Earth whom this may
+concern, being the Last Warning Peace at the Dreadful Day of
+Judgment_. All discoverable copies of this book were to be burnt
+by the hangman at three different places (February 1st, 1650);
+and Coppe was imprisoned, but was released on his recantation of
+his opinions. His book was the cause of that curious ordinance of
+August 9th, 1650, for the "punishment of atheistical,
+blasphemous, and execrable opinions," which is the best summary
+and proof of the intense religious fanaticism then prevalent, and
+so curiously similar in all its details to that of the primitive
+Christian Church. At both periods the distinctive features were
+the claim to actual divinity, and to superiority to all moral
+laws.
+
+On September 27th, 1650, Clarkson's _Single Eye: all Light, no
+Darkness_, was condemned to be burnt by the hangman; and Clarkson
+himself not only sent to the House of Correction for a month, but
+sentenced to be banished after that for life under a penalty of
+death if he returned.
+
+These books have their value for students of human nature, and so
+have the next I refer to, the works of Ludovic Muggleton, most of
+which were written during this period, though not condemned to be
+burnt till the year 1676, and which in other respects seem to
+touch the lowest attainable depth of religious demoralisation.
+The extraordinary thing is that Muggleton actually founded a sort
+of religion of his own; at all events, he gave life and title to
+a sect, which counts votaries to this day. Only so recently as
+1846 a list of the works of Muggleton and his colleague Reeve was
+published, and the books advertised for sale. These two men
+claimed to be the two last witnesses or prophets, with power to
+sentence men to eternal damnation or blessedness. Muggleton had a
+decided preference for exercising the former power, especially in
+regard to the Quakers, one of his books being called _A Looking
+Glass for George Fox, the Quaker, and other Quakers, wherein they
+may See Themselves to be Right Devils_. There is no reason to
+believe Muggleton to have been a conscious impostor; only in an
+age vexed to madness by religious controversy, religious madness
+carried him further than others. An asylum would have met his
+case better than the sentence of the Old Bailey, which condemned
+him to stand for three days in the pillory at the three most
+eminent places in the City, his books to be there in three lots
+burnt over his head, and himself then to be imprisoned till he
+had paid a sum of L500 (1676). But this did not finish the man,
+for in 1681 he wrote his _Letter to Colonel Phaire_, the language
+of which is perhaps unsurpassed for repulsiveness in the whole
+range of religious literature. Muggleton's writings in short read
+as a kind of religious nightmare. In their case the fire was
+rather profaned by its fuel than the books honoured by the fire.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+BOOK-FIRES OF THE RESTORATION.
+
+
+With the Restoration, the burning of certain obnoxious books
+formed one of the first episodes of that Royalist war of revenge
+of which the most disgraceful expression was the exhumation and
+hanging at Tyburn of the bones of Cromwell and Ireton. And had
+Goodwin and Milton not absconded, it is probable that the revenge
+which had to content itself with their books would have extended
+to their persons.
+
+John Goodwin, distinguished as a minister and a prolific writer
+on the people's side, had dedicated in 1649 to the House of
+Commons his _Obstructours of Justice_, in which he defended the
+execution of Charles I. He based his case, indeed, after the
+fashion of those days, too completely on Biblical texts to suit
+our modern taste; but his book is far from being the "very weak
+and inconclusive performance" of which Neal speaks in his
+history of the Puritans. The sentiments follow exactly those of
+Rutherford's _Lex Rex_; as, for example, "The Crown is but the
+kingdom's or people's livery. . . . The king bears the relation
+of a political servant or vassal to that state, kingdom, or
+people over which he is set to govern." But the commonplaces of
+to-day were rank heresy in a chaplain to Cromwell.
+
+There seems to be no evidence to support Bishop Burnet's
+assertion that Goodwin was the head of the Fifth-Monarchy
+fanatics; and his story is simply that of a fearless, sensible,
+and conscientious minister, who took a strong interest in the
+political drama of his time, and advocated liberty of conscience
+before even Milton or Locke. But his chief distinction is to have
+been marked out for revenge in company with Milton by the
+miserable Restoration Parliament.
+
+Milton's _Eikonoklastes_ and _Defensio Populi Anglicani_ rank, of
+course, among the masterpieces of English prose, and ought to be
+read, where they never will be, in every Board and public school
+of England. In the first the picture of Charles I., as painted in
+the _Eikon Basilike_, was unmercifully torn to pieces. Charles's
+religion, Milton declares, had been all hypocrisy. He had
+resorted to "ignoble shifts to seem holy, and to get a saintship
+among the ignorant and wretched people." The prayer he had given
+as a relic to the bishop at his execution had been stolen from
+Sidney's _Arcadia_. In outward devotion he had not at all
+exceeded some of the worst kings in history. But in spite of
+Milton, the _Eikon Basilike_ sold rapidly, and contributed
+greatly to the reaction; and the Secretary of the Council of
+State had just reason to complain of the perverseness of his
+generation, "who, having first cried to God to be delivered from
+their king, now murmur against God for having heard their prayer,
+and cry as loud for their king against those that delivered
+them."
+
+The next year (1650) Milton had to take up his pen again in the
+same cause against the _Defence of Charles I. to Charles II._ by
+the learned Salmasius. Milton was not sparing in terms of abuse.
+He calls Salmasius "a rogue," "a foreign insignificant
+professor," "a slug," "a silly loggerhead," "a superlative fool."
+Even a _Times_ leader of to-day would fall short of Milton in
+vituperative terms. It is not for this we still reverence the
+_Defensio_; but for its political force, and its occasional
+splendid passages. Two samples must suffice:--
+
+"Be this right of kings whatever it will, the right of the people
+is as much from God as it. And whenever any people, without some
+visible designation from God Himself, appoint a king over them,
+they have the same right to pull him down as they had to set him
+up at first. And certainly it is a more Godlike action to depose
+a tyrant than to set one up; and there appears much more of God
+in the people when they depose an unjust prince than in a king
+that oppresses an innocent people. . . . So that there is but
+little reason for that wicked and foolish opinion that kings, who
+commonly are the worst of men, should be so high in God's account
+as that He should have put the world under them, to be at their
+beck and be governed according to their humour; and that for
+their sakes alone He should have reduced all mankind, whom He
+made after His own image, into the same condition as brutes."
+
+The conclusion of Milton's _Defensio_ is not more remarkable for
+its eloquence than it is for its closing paragraph. Addressing
+his countrymen in an exhortation that reminds one of the speeches
+of Pericles to the Athenians, he proceeds:--
+
+"God has graciously delivered you, the first of nations, from
+the two greatest miseries of this life, and most pernicious to
+virtue, tyranny, and superstition; He has endued you with
+greatness of mind to be the first of mankind, who, after having
+conquered their own king, and having had him delivered into their
+hands, have not scrupled to condemn him judicially, and pursuant
+to that sentence of condemnation to put him to death. After the
+performing so glorious an action as this, you ought to do nothing
+that is mean and little, not so much as to think of, much less to
+do, anything but what is great and sublime."
+
+An exhortation to virtue founded on an act of regicide! To such
+an issue had come the dispute concerning the Divine Right of
+kings; and with such diversity of opinion do different men form
+their judgments concerning the leading events of their time!
+
+The House of Commons, reverting for a time to the ancient
+procedure in these matters, petitioned the King on June 16th,
+1660, to call in these books of Goodwin and Milton, and to order
+them to be burnt by the common hangman: and the King so far
+assented as to issue a proclamation ordering all persons in
+possession of such books to deliver them up to their county
+sheriffs to be burnt by the hangman at the next assizes (August
+13th, 1660).[122:1] In this way a good many were burnt; but,
+happily for the authors themselves, "they so fled or so obscured
+themselves" that all endeavours to apprehend their persons
+failed. Subsequently the benefits of the Act of Oblivion were
+conferred on Milton; but they were denied to Goodwin, who, having
+barely escaped sentence of death by Parliament, was incapacitated
+from ever holding any office again.
+
+The _Lex Rex_, or the _Law and the Prince_ (1644), by the
+Presbyterian divine Samuel Rutherford, was another book which
+incurred the vengeance of the Restoration, and for the same
+reasons as Goodwin's book or Milton's. It was burnt by the
+hangman at Edinburgh (October 16th, 1660), St. Andrews (October
+23rd, 1660),[122:2] and London; its author was deprived of his
+offices both in the University and the Church, and was summoned
+on a charge of high treason before the Parliament of Edinburgh.
+His death in 1661 anticipated the probable legal sentence, and
+saved Rutherford from political martyrdom.
+
+His book was an answer to the _Sacra Sancta Regum Majestas_, in
+which the Divine Right of kings, and the duty of passive
+obedience, had been strenuously upheld. Its appearance in 1644
+created a great sensation, and threw into the shade Buchanan's
+_De Jure Regni apud Scotos_, which had hitherto held the field on
+the popular side. The purpose and style of the book may be
+gathered from the passage in the preface, wherein the writer
+gives, as his reason for writing, the opinion that arbitrary
+government had "over-swelled all banks of law, that it was now at
+the highest float . . . that the naked truth was, that prelates, a
+wild and pushing cattle to the lambs and flocks of Christ, had
+made a hideous noise; the wheels of their chariot did run an
+unequal pace with the bloodthirsty mind of the daughter of
+Babel." The contention was, that all regal power sprang from the
+suffrages of the people. "The king is subordinate to the
+Parliament, not co-ordinate, for the constituent is above the
+constituted." "What are kings but vassals to the State, who, if
+they turn tyrants, fall from their right?" For the rest, a book
+so crammed and stuffed with Biblical quotations as to be most
+unreadable. And indeed, of all the features of that miserable
+seventeenth century, surely nothing is more extraordinary than
+this insatiate taste of men of all parties for Jewish precedents.
+Never was the enslavement of the human mind to authority carried
+to more absurd lengths with more lamentable results; never was
+manifested a greater waste, or a greater wealth, of ability. For
+that reason, though Rutherford may claim a place on our shelves,
+he is little likely ever to be taken down from them. But may the
+principles he contended for remain as undisturbed as his repose!
+
+The year following the burning of these books the House of
+Commons directed its vengeance against certain statutes passed by
+the Republican government. On May 17th, 1661, a large majority
+condemned the _Solemn League and Covenant_ to be burnt by the
+hangman, the House of Lords concurring. All copies of it were
+also to be taken down from all churches and public places.
+Evelyn, seeing it burnt in several places in London on Monday
+22nd, exclaims, "Oh! prodigious change!" The Irish Parliament
+also condemned it to the flames, not only in Dublin, but in all
+the towns of Ireland.
+
+A few days later, May 27th, the House of Commons, unanimously and
+with no petition to the King, condemned to be burnt as
+"treasonable parchment writings":
+
+1. "The Act for erecting a High Court of Justice for the trial of
+Charles I."
+
+2. "The Act declaring and constituting the people of England a
+Commonwealth."
+
+3. "The Act for subscribing the Engagement."
+
+4. "The Act for renouncing and disannulling the title of Charles
+Stuart" (September 1656).
+
+5. "The Act for the security of the Lord Protector's person and
+continuance of the Nation in peace and safety" (September 1656).
+
+Three of these were burnt at Westminster and two at the Exchange.
+Pepys, beholding the latter sight from a balcony, was led to
+moralise on the mutability of human opinion. The strange thing is
+that, when these Acts were burnt, the Act for the abolition of
+the House of Lords (1649) appears to have escaped condemnation.
+For its intrinsic interest, I here insert the words of the old
+parchment:--
+
+"The Commons of England assembled in Parliament, finding by too
+long experience that the House of Lords is useless and dangerous
+to the people of England to be continued, hath thought fit to
+ordain and enact, and be it ordained and enacted by this present
+Parliament and by the authority of the same: That from henceforth
+the House of Lords in Parliament shall be and is hereby wholly
+abolished and taken away; and that the Lords shall not from
+henceforth meet and sit in the said house, called the Lords'
+House, or in any other house or place whatsoever as a House of
+Lords; nor shall sit, vote, advise, adjudge, or determine of any
+matter or thing whatsoever as a House of Lords in Parliament:
+Nevertheless, it is hereby declared, that neither such Lords as
+have demeaned themselves with honour, courage, and fidelity to
+the Commonwealth, nor their posterities (who shall continue so),
+shall be excluded from the public councils of the Nation, but
+shall be admitted thereunto and have their free vote in
+Parliament, if they shall be thereunto elected, as other persons
+of interest elected and qualified thereunto ought to have. And be
+it further ordained and enacted by the authority aforesaid, That
+no peer of this land (not being elected, qualified, and sitting
+as aforesaid) shall claim, have, or make use of any privilege of
+Parliament either in relation to his person, quality, or estate
+any law, usage, or custom to the contrary
+notwithstanding."[127:1]
+
+How true a presentiment our ancestors had of the incompatibility
+between an hereditary chamber and popular liberty is
+conspicuously shown by the next book we read of as burnt; and
+indeed there are few more instructive historical tracts than
+Locke's _Letter from a Person of Quality to his Friend in the
+Country_, which was ordered to be burnt by the Privy Council; and
+wherein he gave an account of the debates in the Lords on a Bill
+"to prevent the dangers which may arise from persons disaffected
+to the Government," in April and May 1675. It was actually
+proposed by this Bill to make compulsory on all officers of
+Church or State, and on all members of both Houses, an oath, not
+only declaring it unlawful upon any pretence to take arms against
+the King, but swearing to endeavour at no time the alteration of
+the government in Church and State. To that logical position had
+the Royalist spirit come within fifteen years of the Restoration;
+Charles II., according to Burnet, being much set on this scheme,
+which, says Locke, was "first hatched (as almost all the
+mischiefs of the world have been) amongst the great churchmen."
+The bishops and clergy, by their outcry, had caused Charles's
+Declaration of Indulgence (March 17th, 1671) to be cancelled, and
+the great seal broken off it; they had "tricked away the rights
+and liberties of the people, in this and all other countries,
+wherever they had had opportunity . . . that priest and prince
+may, like Castor and Pollux, be worshipped together as divine,
+in the same temple, by us poor lay-subjects; and that sense
+and reason, law, properties, rights, and liberties shall be
+understood as the oracles of those deities shall interpret."
+
+There seems no doubt that the extinction of liberty was as
+vigorously aimed at as it was nearly achieved at the period Locke
+describes, under the administration of Lord Danby. But the Bill,
+though carried in the Lords, was strongly contested. Locke says
+that it occupied sixteen or seventeen whole days of debate, the
+House sitting often till 8 or 9 P.M., or even to midnight. His
+account of the speakers and their arguments is one of the most
+graphic pages of historical painting in our language; but it is
+said to have been drawn up at the desire, and almost at the
+dictation, of Locke's friend, Lord Shaftesbury, who himself took
+a prominent part against the Bill. Fortunately, it never got
+beyond the House of Lords, a dispute between the two Houses
+leading to a prorogation of Parliament and so to the salvation of
+liberty. But the whole episode impresses on the mind the force of
+the current then, as always, flowing in favour of arbitrary
+government throughout our history, as well as a sense of the very
+narrow margin by which liberty of any sort has escaped or been
+evolved, and, in general, of wonder that it should ever have
+survived at all the combinations of adverse circumstances against
+it.
+
+It has been shown in the account of books burnt in the time of
+the Rebellion, how freely in the struggle between Orthodoxy and
+Free Thought--between the dogmas, that is, of the strongest sect
+and the speculations of individuals--fire was resorted to for the
+purpose of burning out unpopular opinions. These, indeed, were
+often of so fantastic a nature, that no fire was really needed to
+insure their extinction; whilst of others it may be said that, as
+their existence was originally independent of actual expression,
+so the punishment inflicted on their utterance could prove no
+barrier to their propagation.
+
+But besides the war that was waged in the domain of theology
+proper, between opinions claiming to be sound and opinions
+claiming to be true, a contest no less fierce centred for long
+round the very organisation of the Church; and between the
+Establishment and Dissent that hostile condition of thrust and
+parry, which has since become chronic, and is so detrimental to
+the cause professed by both alike, is no less visible in the
+field of literature than in that of our general history.
+Associated with the literary side of this great and bitter
+conflict--a side only too much ignored in the discreet popular
+histories of the English Church--are the names of Delaune, Defoe,
+Tindal, on the aggressive side, of Sacheverell and Drake on the
+defensive; each party, during the heat of battle, giving vent to
+sentiments so offensive to the other as to make it seem that fire
+alone could atone for the injury or remove the sting.
+
+The first book to mention in connection with this struggle is
+Delaune's _Plea for the Nonconformists_; a book round which hangs
+a melancholy tale, and which is entitled to a niche in the
+library of Fame for other reasons than the mere fact of its
+having been burnt before the Royal Exchange in 1683. The story
+shows the sacerdotalism of the Church of England at its very
+worst, and helps to explain the evil heritage of hatred which, in
+the hearts of the nonconforming sects, has since descended and
+still clings to her.
+
+Dr. Calamy, one of the King's chaplains, had preached and printed
+a sermon called _Scrupulous Conscience_, challenging to, or
+advocating, the friendly discussion of points of difference
+between the Church and the Nonconformists. Delaune, who kept a
+grammar school, was weak enough to take him at his word, and so
+wrote his _Plea_, a book of wondrous learning, and to this day
+one of the best to read concerning the origin and growth of the
+various rites of the Church. Thereupon he was whisked off to herd
+with the commonest felons in Newgate, whence he wrote repeatedly
+to Dr. Calamy, to beg him, as the cause of his unjust arrest, to
+procure his release. Delaune disclaimed all malignity against the
+English Church, or any member of it, and, with grim humour,
+entreated to be convinced of his errors "by something more like
+divinity than Newgate." But the Church has not always dealt in
+more convincing divinity, and accordingly the cowardly
+ecclesiastic held his peace and left his victim to suffer.
+
+It is difficult even now to tell the rest of Delaune's story with
+patience. He was indicted for intending to disturb the peace of
+the kingdom, to bring the King into the greatest hatred and
+contempt, and for printing and publishing, by force of arms, a
+scandalous libel against the King and the Prayer-Book. Of course
+it was extravagantly absurd, but these indictments were the legal
+forms under which the luckless Dissenters experienced sufferings
+that were to them the sternest realities. Delaune was, in
+consequence, fined a sum he could not possibly pay; his books
+(for he also wrote _The Image of the Beast_, wherein he showed,
+in three parallel columns, the far greater resemblance of the
+Catholic rites to those of Pagan Rome than to those of the New
+Testament) were condemned to be burnt; and his judges, humane
+enough to let him off the pillory in consideration of his
+education, sent him back to Newgate notwithstanding it. There, in
+that noisome atmosphere and in that foul company, he was obliged
+to shelter his wife and two small children; and there, after
+fifteen months, he died, having first seen all he loved on earth
+pine and die before him. And he was only one of eight thousand
+other Protestant Dissenters who died in prison during the merry,
+miserable reign of Charles II.! Of a truth, Dissent has something
+to forgive the Church; for persecution in Protestant England was
+very much the same as in Catholic France, with, if possible, less
+justification.
+
+The main argument of Delaune's book was, that the Church of
+England agreed more in its rites and doctrines with the Church of
+Rome, and both Churches with Pagan or pre-Christian Rome, than
+either did with the primitive Church or the word of the Gospel--a
+thesis that has long since become generally accepted; but his
+main offence consisted in saying that the Lord's Prayer ought in
+one sentence to have been translated precisely as it now has been
+in the Revised Version, and in contending that the frequent
+repetition of the prayer in church was contrary to the express
+command of Scripture. On these and other points Delaune's book
+was never answered--for the reason, I believe, that it never
+could be. After the Act of Toleration (1689) it was often
+reprinted; the eighth and last time in 1706, when the High Church
+movement to persecute Dissent had assumed dangerous strength,
+with an excellent preface by Defoe, and concluding with the
+letters to Dr. Calamy, written by Delaune from Newgate. Defoe
+well points out that the great artifice of Delaune's time was to
+make the persecution of Dissent appear necessary, by
+representing it as dangerous to the State as well as the Church.
+
+The mention of two other books seems to complete the list of
+burnt political literature down to the Revolution of 1688.
+
+One is _Malice Defeated_, or a brief relation of the accusation
+and deliverance of Elizabeth Cellier. The authoress was
+implicated in the Dangerfield conspiracy, and, having been
+indicted for plotting to kill the King and to reintroduce Popery,
+was sentenced at the Old Bailey to be imprisoned till she had
+paid a fine of L1,000, to stand three times in the pillory, and
+to have her books burnt by the hangman. I do not suppose that, in
+her case, literature incurred any loss.
+
+The other is the translation of Claude's _Plaintes des
+Protestants_, burnt at the Exchange on May 5th, 1686. After the
+Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, people like Sir Roger
+l'Estrange were well paid to write denials of any cruelties as
+connected with that measure in France; much as in our own day
+people wrote denials of the Turkish atrocities in Bulgaria. The
+famous Huguenot minister's book proved of course abundantly the
+falsity of this denial; but, as Evelyn says, so great a power in
+the English Court had then the French ambassador, "who was
+doubtless in great indignation at the pious and truly generous
+charity of all the nation for the relief of those miserable
+sufferers who came over for shelter," that, in deference to his
+wishes, the Government of James II. condemned the truth to the
+flames. Nothing in that monarch's reign proves more conclusively
+the depth of degradation to which his foreign policy and that of
+his brother had caused his country to fall.
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[122:1] In Kennet's _Register_, 189.
+
+[122:2] Lamont's _Diary_, 159.
+
+[127:1] Scobell's _Collection of Acts_, II. 8.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+BOOK-FIRES OF THE REVOLUTION.
+
+
+The period of the Revolution, by which I mean from the accession
+of William III. to the death of Queen Anne, was a time in which
+the conflict between Orthodoxy and Free Thought, and again
+between Church and Dissent, continued with an unabated ferocity,
+which is most clearly reflected in and illustrated by the
+sensational history of its contemporary literature, especially
+during the reign of Queen Anne. I am not aware that any book was
+burnt by authority of the English Parliament during the reign of
+William, but to say this in the face of Molyneux's _Case for
+Ireland_, which has been so frequently by great authorities
+declared to have been so treated, compels me to allude to the
+history of that book, and to give the reasons for a contrary
+belief.
+
+It is first stated in the preface to the edition of 1770 that
+William Molyneux's _Case for Ireland being bound by Acts of
+Parliament in England_, first published in 1698, was burnt by the
+hangman at the order of Parliament; and the statement has been
+often repeated by later writers, as by Mr. Lecky, Dr. Ball, and
+others. Why then is there no mention of such a sentence in the
+Journals of the Commons, where a full account is given of the
+proceedings against the book; nor in Swift's _Drapier Letters_,
+where he refers to the fate of the _Case for Ireland_? This seems
+almost conclusive evidence on the negative side; but as the
+editor of 1770 may have had some lost authority for his remark,
+and not been merely mistaken, some account may be given of the
+book, as of one possibly, but not probably, condemned to the
+flames.[137:1]
+
+Molyneux was distinguished for his scientific attainments, was a
+member of the Irish Parliament, first for Dublin City and then
+for the University, and was also a great friend of Locke the
+philosopher. The introduction in 1698 of the Bill, which was
+carried the same year by the English Parliament, forbidding the
+exportation of Irish woollen manufactures to England or
+elsewhere--one of the worst Acts of oppression of the many that
+England has perpetrated against Ireland--led Molyneux to write
+this book, in which he contends for the constitutional right of
+Ireland to absolute legislative independence. As the political
+relationship between the two countries--a relation now of pure
+force on one side, and of subjection on the other--is still a
+matter of contention, it will not be out of place to devote a few
+lines to a brief summary of his argument.
+
+Before 1641 no law made in England was of force in Ireland
+without the consent of the latter, a large number of English Acts
+not being received in Ireland till they had been separately
+enacted there also. At the so-called conquest of Ireland by Henry
+II., the English laws settled by him were voluntarily accepted by
+the Irish clergy and nobility, and Ireland was allowed the
+freedom of holding parliaments as a separate and distinct kingdom
+from England. So it was that John was made King (or Dominus) of
+Ireland even in the lifetime of his father, Henry II., and
+remained so during the reign of his brother, Richard I. Ireland,
+therefore, could not be bound by England without the consent of
+her own representatives; and the happiness of having her
+representatives in the English Parliament could hardly be hoped
+for, since that experiment had been proved in Cromwell's time to
+be too troublesome and inconvenient.
+
+Molyneux concluded his argument with a warning that subsequent
+history has amply justified--"Advancing the power of the
+Parliament of England by breaking the rights of another may in
+time have ill effects." So, indeed, it has; but such warnings or
+prophecies seldom bring favour to their authors, and the English
+Parliament was moved to fury by Molyneux' arguments. Yet the
+latter, writing to Locke on the subject of his book, had said: "I
+think I have treated it with that caution and submission that it
+cannot justly give any offence; insomuch that I scruple not to
+put my name to it; and, by the advice of some good friends, have
+presumed to dedicate it to his Majesty. . . . But till I either
+see how the Parliament at Westminster is pleased to take it, or
+till I see them risen, I do not think it advisable for me to go
+on t'other side of the water. Though I am not apprehensive of any
+mischief from them, yet God only knows what resentments captious
+men may take on such occasions." (April 19th, 1698.)
+
+Molyneux, however, was soon to know this himself, for on May 21st
+his book was submitted to the examination of a committee; and on
+the committee's report (June 22nd) that it was "of dangerous
+consequence to the Crown and people of England, by denying the
+authority of the King and Parliament of England to bind the
+kingdom and people of Ireland," an address was presented to the
+King praying him to punish the author of such "bold and
+pernicious assertions," and to discourage all things that might
+lessen the dependence of Ireland upon England; to which William
+replied that he would take care that what they complained of
+should be prevented and redressed. Perhaps the dedication of the
+book to the King restrained the House from voting it to the
+flames; but, anyhow, there is not the least contemporary evidence
+of their doing so. Molyneux did not survive the year of the
+condemnation of his book; but, in spite of his fears, he spent
+five weeks with Locke at Oates in the autumn of the same year,
+his book surviving him, to attest his wonderful foresight as much
+as later events justified his spirited remonstrance.
+
+There is, however, no doubt about the burning of a book for its
+theological sentiments at this time, though it was no Parliament
+but only an university which committed it to the fire. Oxford
+University has always tempered her love for learning with a
+dislike for inquiry, and set the cause of orthodoxy above the
+cause of truth. This phase of her character was never better
+illustrated than in the case of _The Naked Gospel_, by the Rev.
+Arthur Bury, Rector of Exeter College (1690).
+
+A high value attaches to the first edition of this book, wherein
+the author essayed to show what the primitive Gospel really was,
+what alterations had been gradually made in it, and what
+advantages and disadvantages had therefrom ensued. Bury, many
+years before, in 1648, had known what it was to be led from his
+college by a file of musketeers, and forbidden to return to
+Oxford or his fellowship under pain of death, because he had the
+courage in those days to read the prayers of the Church. So he
+had some justification for ascribing his anonymous work to "a
+true son of the Church"; and his motive was the promotion of that
+charity and toleration which breathes in its every page. The King
+had summoned a Convocation, to make certain changes in the
+Litany, and, if possible, to reconcile ecclesiastical
+differences; he even dreamt of uniting the Protestant Churches of
+England and of the Continent, and his Comprehension Bill, had it
+passed Parliament, might have made the English Church a really
+national Church; and it was from his sympathy with the broad
+ideas of the King that Bury wrote his pamphlet, intending not to
+publish it, but to present it to the members of Convocation
+severally. Unfortunately he showed or presented a few copies to a
+few friends, with the natural result that the work became known,
+the author admonished for heresy and driven from his rectorship,
+and the book publicly burnt, by a vote of the university, in the
+area of the schools (August 19th, 1690). He should have reflected
+that it is as little the part of a discreet man to try to
+reconcile religious factions as to seek to separate fighting
+tigers.
+
+The unexpected commotion roused by his book led the author to
+republish it with great modifications and omissions; a fact which
+much diminishes the interest of the second edition of 1691. For
+instance, the preface to the second edition omits this passage of
+the first: "The Church of England, as it needs not, so it does
+not, forbid any of its sons the use of their own eyes; if it
+did, this alone would be sufficient reason not only to distrust
+but to condemn it." Nevertheless both editions alike contain many
+passages remarkable for their breadth of view no less than for
+their admirable expression. What, for instance, could be better
+than the passage wherein he speaks of the priests cramming the
+people with doctrines, "so many in numbers that an ordinary mind
+cannot retain them; so perplexed in matter that the best
+understanding cannot comprehend them; so impertinent to any good
+purpose that a good man need not regard them; and so unmentioned
+in Scripture that none but the greatest subtlety can therein
+discover the least intimations of them"? Or again: "No king is
+more independent in his own dominions from any foreign
+jurisdiction in matters civil, than every Christian is within his
+own mind in matters of faith"? What Doctor of Divinity of these
+days would speak as courageously as this one did two hundred
+years ago? So let any one be prepared to give a good price for a
+first edition copy of _The Naked Gospel_, and, when obtained, to
+study as well as honour it.
+
+History is apt to repeat itself, and therefore it is of interest
+to note here that about a century and a half later (March 1849)
+Exeter College was again stirred to the burning point, and that
+in connection with a book which, apart from its intrinsic
+interest, enjoys the distinction of having been actually the last
+to be burnt in England. In the _Morning Post_ of March 9th, 1849,
+it is written: "We are informed that a work recently published by
+Mr. Froude, M.A., Fellow of Exeter College, entitled the _Nemesis
+of Faith_, was a few days since publicly burned by the
+authorities in the College Hall." The _Nemesis_, therefore,
+deserves a place in our libraries, and many will even prize it
+above its author's historical works, as the last example of the
+effort of the ecclesiastical spirit to crush the discussion of
+its dogmas. It is owing to this attempt that the _Nemesis_ is now
+so well known as to render any reference to its contents
+superfluous.
+
+We now pass to the reign of Queen Anne, when Toryism became the
+prevalent power in the country, and manifested its peculiar
+spirit by the increased persecution of literature.
+
+Among strictly theological works one by John Asgill, barrister,
+claims a peculiar distinction, for it was burnt by order of two
+Parliaments, English and Irish, and its author expelled from two
+Houses of Commons. This was the famous _Argument Proving that
+According to the Covenant of Eternal Life, revealed in the
+Scriptures, Man may be Translated from Hence into that Eternal
+Life without Passing Through Death, although the Human Nature of
+Christ Himself could not be thus Translated till He had Passed
+Through Death_ (1700). In this book of 106 pages Asgill argued
+that death, which had come by Adam, had been removed by the death
+of Christ, and had lost its legal power. He claimed the right,
+and asserted his expectation, of actual translation; and so went
+by the nickname of "Translated Asgill." He tells how in writing
+it he felt two powers within him, one bidding him write, the
+other bobbing his elbow; but unfortunately the former prevailed,
+as it generally does. His printer told him that his men thought
+the author a little crazed, in which Asgill fancied the printer
+spoke one word for them and two for himself. Other people agreed
+with the printer, to Asgill's advantage, for, as he says, "Coming
+into court to see me as a monster, and hearing me talk like a
+man, I soon fell into my share of practice": which I mention as a
+hint for the briefless. This was in Ireland, where Asgill was
+elected member for Enniscorthy, for which place however he only
+sat four days, being expelled for his pamphlet on October 10th,
+1703. Shortly afterwards Asgill became member for Bramber, in
+Sussex, but this seat, too, he lost in 1707 for the same reason,
+the English House, like the Irish, though not by a unanimous
+vote, condemning his book to the flames. Asgill's debts caused
+him apparently to spend the rest of his days in the comparative
+peace of the Fleet prison.
+
+Coleridge says there is no genuine Saxon English better than
+Asgill's, and that his irony is often finer than Swift's. At all
+events, his burnt work--the labour of seven years--is very dreary
+reading, relieved however by such occasional good sayings as "It
+is much easier to make a creed than to believe it after it is
+made," or "Custom itself, without a reason for it, is an argument
+only for fools." Asgill's defence before the House of Commons
+shows that a very strained interpretation was placed upon the
+passages that gave offence. Let it suffice to quote one: "Stare
+at me as long as you will, I am sure that neither my physiognomy,
+sins, nor misfortune can make me so unlikely to be translated as
+my Redeemer was to be hanged." Asgill clearly wrote in all
+honesty and sincerity, though the contrary has been suggested;
+and his defence was not without spirit or point: "Pray what is
+this blasphemous crime I here stand charged with? A belief of
+what we all profess, or at least of what no one can deny. If the
+death of the body be included in the fall, why is not this life
+of the body included in the redemption? And if I have a firmer
+belief in this than another, am I therefore a blasphemer?" But
+the House thought that he was; and to impugn the right of the
+majority to decide such a point would be to impugn a fundamental
+principle of the British Constitution. I therefore refrain from
+an opinion, and leave the matter to the reader's judgment.
+
+Among the many books that have owed an increase of popularity, or
+any popularity at all, to the fire that burnt them, may be
+instanced the two works of Dr. Coward, which were burnt by order
+of the House of Commons in Palace Yard on March 18th, 1704. Dr.
+Coward had been a Fellow of Merton, and he wrote poetry as well
+as books of medicine, but in 1702 he ventured on metaphysical
+ground, and under the pseudonym of "Estibius Psychalethes"
+dedicated to the clergy his _Second Thoughts concerning the
+Human Soul_, in which he contended that the notion of the soul as
+a separate immaterial substance was "a plain heathenist
+invention:" not exactly a position the clergy were likely to
+welcome, although the author repeatedly avowed his belief in an
+eternal future life. In 1704 the Doctor published his _Grand
+Essay: a Vindication of Reason and Religion against the
+Impostures of Philosophy_, in which he repeated his ideas about
+immaterial substances, and argued that matter and motion were the
+foundation of thought in man and brutes. The House of Commons
+called him to its bar, and burnt his books; a proceeding which
+conferred such additional popularity upon them that the Doctor
+was enabled the very same year to bring out a second edition of
+his _Second Thoughts_. Certainly no other treatment could have
+made the books popular. They are perfectly legitimate, but rather
+dry, metaphysical disquisitions; and Parliament might quite as
+fairly have burnt Locke's famous essay on the _Human
+Understanding_.
+
+For Parliament thus to constitute itself Defender of the Faith
+was not merely to trespass on the office of the Crown, but to sin
+against the more sacred right of common sense itself. We cannot
+be surprised, therefore, since the English Parliament sinned in
+this way (as it does to this day in a minor degree), that the
+Irish Parliament should have sinned equally, as it did about the
+same time, in the case of a book whose title far more suggested
+heresy than its contents substantiated it. I refer to Toland's
+_Christianity not Mysterious_ (1696), which was burnt by the
+hangman before the Parliament House Gate at Dublin, and in the
+open street before the Town-House, by order of the Committee of
+Religion of the Irish House of Commons, one member even going so
+far as to advocate the burning of Toland himself. It is difficult
+now to understand the extreme excitement caused by Toland's book,
+seeing that it was evidently written in the interests of
+Christianity, and would now be read without emotion by the most
+orthodox. It was only the superstructure, not the foundation,
+that Toland attacked; his whole contention being that
+Christianity, rightly understood, contained nothing mysterious or
+inconsistent with reason, but that all ideas of this sort, and
+most of its rites, had been aftergrowths, borrowed from Paganism,
+in that compromise between the new and old religion which
+constituted the world's Christianisation.[150:1] Although this
+fact is now generally admitted, Toland puts the case so well that
+it is best to give his own words:--
+
+"The Christians," he says, "were careful to remove all obstacles
+lying in the way of the Gentiles. They thought the most effectual
+way of gaining them over to their side was by compounding the
+matter, which led them to unwarrantable compliances, till at
+length they likewise set up for mysteries. Yet not having the
+least precedent for any ceremonies from the Gospel, excepting
+Baptism and the Supper, they strangely disguised and transformed
+these by adding to them the pagan mystic rites. They administered
+them with the strictest secrecy; and to be inferior to their
+adversaries in no circumstance, they permitted none to assist at
+them but such as were antecedently prepared or initiated."
+
+The parallel Toland proceeds to draw is extremely instructive,
+and could only be improved on in our own day by tracing both
+Pagan and Christian rites to their antecedent origins in India.
+What he says also of the Fathers would be nowadays assented to
+by all who have ever had the curiosity to look into their
+writings; namely, "that they were as injudicious, violent, and
+factious as other men; that they were, for the greatest part,
+very credulous and superstitious in religion, as well as
+pitifully ignorant and superficial in the minutest punctilios of
+literature."
+
+Toland was only twenty-six when he published his first book, but,
+to judge from the correspondence between Locke and Molyneux, he
+was vain and indiscreet. "He has raised against him," says the
+latter from Dublin (May 27th, 1697), "the clamours of all
+parties; and this not so much by his difference in opinion as by
+his unseasonable way of discoursing, propagating, and maintaining
+it." Again (September 11th, 1697): "Mr. T. is at last driven out
+of the kingdom; the poor gentleman, by his imprudent management,
+had raised such an universal outcry that it was even dangerous
+for a man to have been known once to converse with him. This made
+all men wary of reputation decline seeing him; insomuch that at
+last he wanted a meal's meat (as I am told), and none would admit
+him to their tables. The little stock of money which he brought
+into the country being exhausted, he fell to borrowing from any
+one that would lend him half-a-crown, and ran in debt for his
+wigs, clothes, and lodging." Then when the Parliament ordered him
+to be taken into custody, and to be prosecuted, he very wisely
+fled the country, suffering only a temporary rebuff, and writing
+many other books, political and religious, none of which ever
+attained the distinction of his first.
+
+But it was in the struggle between the Church and Dissent that
+the party-spirit of Queen Anne's reign chiefly manifested itself
+in the burning of books. No one fought for the cause of Dissent
+with greater energy or greater personal loss than the famous
+Defoe, the author of _Robinson Crusoe_. It brought him to ruin,
+and one of his books to the hangman.
+
+It would seem that his _Shortest Way with the Dissenters_ (1702),
+which ironically advocated their extermination, was in answer to
+a sermon preached at Oxford by Sacheverell in June of the same
+year, called _The Political Union_, wherein he alluded to a party
+against whom all friends of the Anglican Church "ought to hang
+out the bloody flag and banner of defiance." Defoe's pamphlet so
+exactly accorded with the sentiments of the High Church party
+against the Dissenters that the extent of their applause at first
+was only equalled by that of their subsequent fury when the true
+author and his true object came to be known. Parliament ordered
+the work to be burnt by the hangman, and Defoe was soon
+afterwards sentenced to a ruinous fine and imprisonment, and to
+three days' punishment in the pillory. It was on this occasion
+that he wrote his famous _Hymn to the Pillory_, which he
+distributed among the spectators, and from which (as it is
+somewhat long) I quote a few of the more striking lines:--
+
+     "Hail, Hieroglyphick State machine,
+      Contrived to punish fancy in;
+      Men that are men in thee can feel no pain,
+      And all thy insignificants disdain.
+
+             *       *       *       *       *
+
+      Here by the errors of the town
+      The fools look out and knaves look on.
+
+             *       *       *       *       *
+
+      Actions receive their tincture from the times,
+      And, as they change, are virtues made or crimes.
+      Thou art the State-trap of the Law,
+      But neither can keep knaves nor honest men in awe.
+
+             *       *       *       *       *
+
+      Thou art no shame to Truth and Honesty,
+      Nor is the character of such defaced by thee,
+      Who suffer by oppression's injury.
+      Shame, like the exhalations of the Sun,
+      Falls back where first the motion was begun,
+      And they who for no crime shall on thy brows appear,
+      Bear less reproach than they who placed them there."
+
+The State-trap of the Law, however, long survived Defoe's hymn to
+it, and was unworthily employed against many another great
+Englishman before its abolition. That event was delayed till the
+first year of Queen Victoria's reign; the House of Lords
+defending it, as it defended all other abuses of our old penal
+code, when the Commons in 1815 passed a Bill for its abolition.
+
+About the same time, Parliament ordered to be burnt by the
+hangman a pamphlet against the Test, which one John Humphrey, an
+aged Nonconformist minister, had written and circulated among the
+members of Parliament.[154:1] There seems to be no record of the
+pamphlet's name; and I only guess it may be a work entitled, _A
+Draught for a National Church accommodation, whereby the subjects
+of North and South Britain, however different in their judgments
+concerning Episcopacy and Presbytery, may yet be united_ (1709).
+For, to suggest union or compromise or reconciliation between
+parties is generally to court persecution from both.
+
+A book that was very famous in its day, on the opposite side to
+Defoe, was Doctor Drake's _Memorial of the Church of England_,
+published anonymously in 1705. The Tory author was indignant that
+the House of Lords should have rejected the Bill against
+Occasional Conformity, which would have made it impossible for
+Dissenters to hold any office by conforming to the Test Act; he
+complained of the knavish pains of the Dissenters to divide
+Churchmen into High and Low; and he declared that the present
+prospect of the Church was "very melancholy," and that of the
+government "not much more comfortable." Long habit has rendered
+us callous to the melancholy state of the Church and the
+discomfort of governments; but in Queen Anne's time the croakers'
+favourite cry was a serious offence. The Queen's Speech,
+therefore, of October 27th, 1705, expressed strong resentment at
+this representation of the Church in danger; both Houses, by
+considerable majorities, voted the Church to be "in a most safe
+and flourishing condition"; and a royal proclamation censured
+both the book and its unknown author, a few months after it had
+been presented by the Grand Jury of the City, and publicly burnt
+by the hangman. It was more rationally and effectually dealt
+with in Defoe's _High Church Legion, or the Memorial examined_;
+but one is sometimes tempted to wish that the cry of the Church
+in danger might be as summarily disposed of as it was in the
+reign of Queen Anne, when to vote its safety was deemed
+sufficient to insure it.
+
+Drake's misfortunes as a writer were as conspicuous as his
+abilities. Two years before the Memorial was burnt, his _Historia
+Anglo-Scotica_, purporting to give an impartial history of the
+events that occurred between England and Scotland from William
+the Conqueror to Queen Elizabeth, was burnt at Edinburgh (June
+30th, 1703). It was dedicated to Sir Edward Seymour, one of the
+Queen's Commissioners for the Union, and a High Churchman; and as
+it also expressed the hope that the Union would afford the Scotch
+"as ample a field to love and admire the generosity of the
+English as they had theretofore to dread their valour," it was
+clearly not calculated to please the Scotch. They accordingly
+burned it for its many reflections on the sovereignty and
+independence of their crown and nation. As the Memorial was also
+burnt at Dublin, Drake enjoys the distinction of having
+contributed a book to be burnt in each of the three kingdoms. He
+would, perhaps, have done better to have stuck to medicine; and
+indeed the number of books written by doctors, which have brought
+their authors into trouble, is a remarkable fact in the history
+of literature.
+
+Next to Drake's Memorial, and closely akin to it in argument,
+come the two famous sermons of Dr. Sacheverell, the friend of
+Addison; sermons which made a greater stir in the reign of Queen
+Anne than any sermons have ever since made, or seem ever likely
+to make again. They were preached in August and November 1709,
+the first at Derby, called the _Communication of Sin_, and the
+other at St. Paul's. The latter, _Perils among False Brethren_,
+is very vigorous, even to read, and it is easy to understand the
+commotion it caused. The False Brethren are the Dissenters and
+Republicans; Sacheverell is as indignant with those "upstart
+novelists" who presume "to evacuate the grand sanction of the
+Gospel, the eternity of hell torments," as with those false
+brethren who "will renounce their creed and read the Decalogue
+backward . . . fall down and worship the very Devil himself
+for the riches and honour of this world." In his advocacy of
+non-resistance he was thought to hit at the Glorious Revolution
+itself. "The grand security of our government, and the very
+pillar upon which it stands, is founded upon the steady belief of
+the subject's obligation to an absolute and unconditional
+obedience to the supreme power in all things lawful, and the
+utter illegality of any resistance upon any pretence whatsoever."
+
+Then came the great trial in the House of Lords, and
+Sacheverell's most able defence, often attributed to his friend
+Atterbury. This speech, which Boyer calls "studied, artful, and
+pathetic," deeply affected the fair sex, and even drew tears from
+some of the tender-hearted; but a certain lady to whom, before he
+preached the sermon, Sacheverell had explained the allusions in
+it to William III., the Ministry, and Lord Godolphin, was so
+astonished at the audacity of his public recantation that she
+suddenly cried out, "The greatest villain under the sun!" But for
+this little fact, one might think Sacheverell was unfairly
+treated. At the end of it all, however, he was only suspended
+from preaching for three years, and his sermons condemned to be
+burnt before the Royal Exchange in presence of the Lord Mayor and
+sheriffs; a sentence so much more lenient than at first seemed
+probable, that bonfires and illuminations in London and
+Westminster attested the general delight. At the instance, too,
+of Sacheverell's friends, certain other books were burnt two days
+before his own, by order of the House of Commons: so that the
+High Church party had not altogether the worst of the battle. The
+books so burnt were the following:--1. _The Rights of the
+Christian Church asserted against the Romish and all other
+Priests._ By M. Tindal. 2. _A Defence of the Rights of the
+Christian Church._ 3. _A Letter from a Country Attorney to a
+Country Parson concerning the Rights of the Church._ 4. Le
+Clerc's extract and judgment of the same. 5. John Clendon's
+_Tractatus Philosophico-Theologicus de Persona_: a book that
+dealt with the subject of the Trinity.
+
+Boyer gives a curious description of Sacheverell: "A man of large
+and strong make and good symmetry of parts; of a livid complexion
+and audacious look, without sprightliness; the result and
+indication of an envious, ill-natured, proud, sullen, and
+ambitious spirit"--clearly not the portrait of a friend. Lord
+Campbell thought the St. Paul sermon contemptible, and General
+Stanhope, in the debate, called it nonsensical and incoherent. It
+seems to me the very reverse, even if we abstract it from its
+stupendous effect. Sacheverell, no doubt, was a more than
+usually narrow-minded priest; but in judging of the preacher we
+must think also of the look and the voice and the gestures, and
+these probably fully made up, as they so often do, for anything
+false or illogical in the sermon itself.
+
+At all events, Sacheverell won for himself a place in English
+history. That he should have brought the House of Lords into
+conflict with the Church, causing it to condemn to the flames,
+together with his own sermons, the famous Oxford decree of 1683,
+which asserted the most absolute claims of monarchy, condemned
+twenty-seven propositions as impious and seditious, and most of
+them as heretical and blasphemous, and condemned the works of
+nineteen writers to the flames, would alone entitle his name to
+remembrance.[160:1] So incensed indeed were the Commons, that
+they also condemned to be burnt the very _Collections of Passages
+referred to by Dr. Sacheverell in the Answer to the Articles of
+his Impeachment_.
+
+But Parliament was in a burning mood; for Sacheverell's friends,
+wishing to justify his cry of the Church in danger, which he had
+ascribed to the heretical works lately printed, easily succeeded
+in procuring the burning of Tindal's and Clendon's books, before
+mentioned. Nor can any one who reads that immortal work, _The
+Rights of the Christian Church, asserted against the Romish and
+all other Priests who claim an independent power over it_, wonder
+at their so urging the House, however much he may wonder at their
+succeeding.
+
+The first edition of _The Rights of the Christian Church_
+appeared in 1706, published anonymously, but written by the
+celebrated Matthew Tindal, than whom All Souls' College has never
+had a more distinguished Fellow, nor produced a more brilliant
+writer. In those days, when the question that most agitated men's
+minds was whether the English Church was of Divine Right, and so
+independent of the civil power, or whether it was the creature
+of, and therefore subject to, the law, no work more convincingly
+proved the latter than this work of Tindal; a work which, even
+now, ought to be far more generally known than it is, no less for
+its great historical learning than for its scathing denunciations
+of priestcraft.
+
+As the subordination of the Church to the State is now a
+principle of general acceptance, there is less need to give a
+summary of Tindal's arguments, than to quote some of the passages
+which led the writer to predict, when composing it, that he was
+writing a book that would drive the clergy mad. The promoting the
+independent power of the clergy has, he says, "done more mischief
+to human societies than all the gross superstitions of the
+heathen, who were nowhere ever so stupid as to entertain such a
+monstrous contradiction as two independent powers in the same
+society; and, consequently, their priests were not capable of
+doing so much mischief to the Commonwealth as some since have
+been." The fact, that in heathen times greater differences in
+religion never gave rise to such desolating feuds as had always
+rent Christendom, proves that "the best religion has had the
+misfortune to have the worst priests." "'Tis an amazing thing to
+consider that, though Christ and His Apostles inculcated nothing
+so much as universal charity, and enjoined their disciples to
+treat, not only one another, notwithstanding their differences,
+but even Jews and Gentiles, with all the kindness imaginable, yet
+that their pretended successors should make it their business to
+teach such doctrines as destroy all love and friendship among
+people of different persuasions; and that with so good success
+that never did mortals hate, abhor, and damn one another more
+heartily, or are readier to do one another more mischief, than
+the different sects of Christians." "If in the time of that wise
+heathen Ammianus Marcellinus, the Christians bore such hatred to
+one another that, as he complains, no beasts were such deadly
+enemies to men as the more savage Christians were generally to
+one another, what would he, if now alive, say of them?" etc. "The
+custom of sacrificing men among the heathens was owing to their
+priests, especially the Druids. . . . And the sacrificing of
+Christians upon account of their religious tenets (for which
+millions have suffered) was introduced for no other reason than
+that the clergy, who took upon them to be the sole judges of
+religion, might, without control, impose what selfish doctrines
+they pleased." Of the High Church clergy he wittily observes:
+"Some say that their lives might serve for a very good rule, if
+men would act quite contrary to them; for then there is no
+Christian virtue which they could fail of observing."
+
+If Tindal wished to madden the clergy, he certainly succeeded,
+for the pulpits raged and thundered against his book. But the
+only sermon to which he responded was Dr. Wotton's printed
+Visitation sermon preached before the Bishop of Lincoln; and his
+_Defence of the Rights of the Christian Church_ (55 pages) was
+burnt in company with the larger work. It contained the "Letter
+from a Country Attorney to a Country Parson concerning the Rights
+of the Church," and the philosopher Le Clerc's appreciative
+reference to Tindal's work in his _Bibliotheque Choisie_.
+
+Nevertheless, Queen Anne had given Tindal a present of L500 for
+his book, and told him that she believed he had banished Popery
+beyond a possibility of its return. Tindal himself, it should be
+said, had become a Roman Catholic under James II. and then a
+Protestant again, but whether before or after the abdication of
+James is not quite clear. He placed a high value on his own work,
+for when, in December 1707, the Grand Jury of Middlesex presented
+_The Rights_ its author sagely reflected that such a proceeding
+would "occasion the reading of one of the best books that have
+been published in our age by many more people than otherwise
+would have read it." This probably was the case, with the result
+that it was burnt, as aforesaid, by the hangman in 1710 by order
+of the House of Commons, at the instance of Sacheverell's
+friends, in the very same week that Sacheverell's sermons
+themselves were burnt! The House wished perhaps to show itself
+impartial. The victory, for the time at least, was with
+Sacheverell and the Church. The Whig ministry was overturned, and
+its Tory successor passed the Bill against Occasional Conformity,
+and the Schism Act; and, had the Queen's reign been prolonged,
+would probably have repealed the very meagre Toleration Act of
+1689. Tindal, however, despite the Tory reaction, continued to
+write on the side of civil and religious liberty, keeping his
+best work for the last, published within three years of his
+death, when he was past seventy, namely, _Christianity as Old as
+the Creation; or, the Gospel a republication of the Religion of
+Nature_ (1730). Strange to say, this work, criticised as it was,
+was neither presented nor burnt. I have no reason, therefore, to
+present it here, and indeed it is a book of which rather to read
+the whole than merely extracts.
+
+About the same time that Sacheverell's sermons were the sensation
+of London, a sermon preached in Dublin on the Presbyterian side
+was attended there with the same marks of distinction. In
+November 1711 Boyse's sermon on _The Office of a Scriptural
+Bishop_ was burnt by the hangman, at the command of the Irish
+House of Lords. Unfortunately one cannot obtain this sermon
+without a great number of others, amongst which the author
+embedded it in a huge and repulsive folio comprising all his
+works. The sermon was first preached and printed in 1709, and
+reprinted the next year: it enters at length into the historical
+origin of Episcopacy in the early Church, the author alluding as
+follows to the Episcopacy aimed at by too many of his own
+contemporaries: "A grand and pompous sinecure, a domination over
+all the churches and ministers in a large district managed by
+others as his delegates, but requiring little labour of a man's
+own, and all this supported by large revenues and attended with
+considerable secular honours." Boyse could hardly say the same in
+these days, true, no doubt, as it was in his own. Still, that
+even an Irish House of Lords should have seen fit to burn his
+sermon makes one think that the political extinction of that body
+can have been no serious loss to the sum-total of the wisdom of
+the world.
+
+The last writer to incur a vote of burning from the House of
+Commons in Queen Anne's reign was William Fleetwood, Bishop of
+St. Asaph; and this for the preface to four sermons he had
+preached and published: (1) on the death of Queen Mary, 1694; (2)
+on the death of the Duke of Gloucester, 1700; (3) on the death of
+King William, 1701; (4) on the Queen's Accession, in 1702. It was
+voted to the public flames on June 10th, 1712, as "malicious and
+factious, highly reflecting upon the present administration of
+public affairs under Her Majesty, and tending to create discord
+and sedition among her subjects." The burning of the preface
+caused it to be the more read, and some 4,000 numbers of the
+_Spectator_, No. 384, carried it far and wide. Probably it was
+more read than the prelate's numerous tracts and sermons, such as
+his _Essay on Miracles_, or his _Vindication of the Thirteenth of
+Romans_.
+
+The bishop belonged to the party that was dissatisfied with the
+terms of the Peace of Utrecht, then pending, and his preface was
+clearly written as a vehicle or vent for his political
+sentiments. The offensive passage ran as follows: "We were, as
+all the world imagined then, just entering on the ways that
+promised to lead to such a peace as would have answered all the
+prayers of our religious Queen . . . when God, for our sins,
+permitted the spirit of discord to go forth, and by troubling
+sore the camp, the city, and the country (and oh! that it had
+altogether spared the places sacred to His worship!), to spoil
+for a time the beautiful and pleasing prospect, and give us, in
+its stead, I know not what--our enemies will tell the rest with
+pleasure." Writing to Bishop Burnet, he expresses himself still
+more strongly: "I am afraid England has lost all her constraining
+power, and that France thinks she has us in her hands, and may
+use us as she pleases, which, I daresay, will be as scurvily as
+we deserve. What a change has two years made! Your lordship may
+now imagine you are growing young again; for we are fallen,
+methinks, into the very dregs of Charles the Second's politics."
+Assuredly Bishop Fleetwood had done better to reserve his
+political opinions for private circulation, instead of exposing
+them to the world under the guise and shelter of what purported
+to be a religious publication.
+
+But he belonged to the age of the great political churchmen, when
+the Church played primarily the part of a great political
+institution, and her more ambitious members made the profession
+of religion subsidiary to the interests of the political party
+they espoused. The type is gradually becoming extinct, and the
+time is long since past when the preface to a bishop's sermons,
+or even his sermons themselves, could convulse the State. One
+cannot, for instance, conceive the recurrence of such a commotion
+as was raised by Fleetwood or Sacheverell, possible as everything
+is in the zigzag course of history. Still less can one conceive a
+repetition of such persecution of Dissent as has been illustrated
+by the cases of Delaune and Defoe. For either the Church
+moderated her hostility to Dissent, or her power to exercise it
+lessened; no instance occurring after the reign of Queen Anne of
+any book being sentenced to the flames on the side either of
+Orthodoxy or Dissent.
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[137:1] In _Notes and Queries_ for March 11th, 1854, Mr. James
+Graves, of Kilkenny, mentions as in his possession a copy of
+Molyneux, considerable portions of which had been consumed by
+fire.
+
+[150:1] In a letter in his _Vindicius Liberius_ he says: "As for
+the Christian religion in general, that book is so far from
+calling it in question that it was purposely written for its
+service, to defend it against the imputations of contradiction
+and obscurity which are frequently objected by its opposers."
+
+[154:1] Wilson's _Defoe_, iii. 52.
+
+[160:1] See Somers' _Tracts_ (1748), VII., 223, and the _Entire
+Confutation of Mr. Hoadley's Book_, for the decree itself, and
+the authors condemned. After the Rye House Plot, which caused
+this decree, Oxford addressed Charles II. as "the breath of our
+nostrils, the anointed of the Lord"; Cambridge called him "the
+Darling of Heaven!" Could the servility of ultra-loyalty go
+further?
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+OUR LAST BOOK-FIRES.
+
+
+The eighteenth century, which saw the abolition, or the beginning
+of the abolition, of so many bad customs of the most respectable
+lineage and antiquity, saw also the hangman employed for the last
+time for the punishment of books. The custom of book-burning,
+never formally abolished, died out at last from a gradual decline
+of public belief in its efficacy; just as tortures died out, and
+judicial ordeals died out, and, as we may hope, even war will die
+out, before the silent, disintegrating forces of increasing
+intelligence. As our history goes on, one becomes more struck by
+the many books which escape burning than by the few which incur
+it. The tale of some of those which were publicly burnt during
+the eighteenth century has already been told; so that it only
+remains to bring together, under their various heads, the
+different literary productions which complete the record of
+British works thus associated with the memory of the hangman.
+
+After the beginning of the Long Parliament, the House of Commons
+constituted itself the chief book-burning authority; but the
+House of Lords also, of its own motion, occasionally ordered the
+burning of offensive literary productions. Thus, on March 29th,
+1642, they sentenced John Bond, for forging a letter purporting
+to be addressed to Charles I. at York from the Queen in Holland,
+to stand in the pillory at Westminster Hall door and in
+Cheapside, with a paper on his head inscribed with "A contriver
+of false and scandalous libels," the said letter to be called in
+and burnt near him as he stood there.
+
+On December 18th, 1667, they sentenced William Carr, for
+dispersing scandalous papers against Lord Gerrard, of Brandon, to
+a fine of L1000 to the King, and imprisonment in the Fleet, and
+ordered the said papers to be burnt.
+
+On March 17th, 1697, a sentence of burning was voted by them
+against a libel called _Mr. Bertie's Case, with some Remarks on
+the Judgment Given Therein_.
+
+Sometimes they thought in this way to safeguard not merely truth
+in general, or the honour of their House, but also the interests
+of religion; as when, on December 8th, 1693, they ordered to be
+burnt by the hangman the very next day a pamphlet that had been
+sent to several of them, entitled _A Brief but Clear Confutation
+of the Trinity_, a copy of which possibly still lies hid in some
+private libraries, but about which, not having seen it, I can
+offer no judgment. At that time Lords and Commons alike
+disquieted themselves much over religious heresy, for in 1698 the
+Commons petitioned William III. to suppress pernicious books and
+pamphlets directed against the Trinity and other articles of the
+Faith, and gave ready assent to a Bill from the Lords "for the
+more effectual suppressing of atheism, blasphemy, and
+profaneness." But it would seem that these efforts had but a
+qualified success, for on February 12th, 1720, the Lords
+condemned a work which, "in a daring, impious manner, ridiculed
+the doctrine of the Trinity and all revealed religion," and was
+called, _A Sober Reply to Mr. Higgs' Merry Arguments from the
+Light of Nature for the Tritheistic Doctrine of the Trinity, with
+a Postscript relating to the Rev. Dr. Waterland_. This work,
+which was the last to be burnt as an offence against religion,
+was the work of one Joseph Hall, who was a gentleman and a
+serjeant-at-arms to the King, and in this way won his small title
+to fame.
+
+By the beginning of the eighteenth century, the House of Lords
+had come to assume a more active jurisdiction over the Press.
+Thus in 1702, within a few days we find them severely censuring
+the notorious Dr. Drake's _History of the Last Parliament, begun
+1700_; somebody's _Tom Double, returned out of the Country; or,
+The True Picture of a modern Whig_; Dr. Blinke's violent sermon,
+preached on January 30th, 1701, before the Lower House of
+Convocation; and a pamphlet, inviting over the Elector of
+Hanover. In the same month they condemned to be burnt by the
+hangman a book entitled, _Animadversions upon the two last 30th
+of January Sermons: one preached to the Honourable House of
+Commons, the other to the Lower House of Convocation. In a
+letter._ They resolved that it was "a malicious, villainous
+libel, containing very many reflections on King Charles I., of
+ever-blessed memory, and tending to the subversion of the
+Monarchy."
+
+But the more general practice was for the House of Lords to seek
+the concurrence of the other House in the consignment of printed
+matter to the flames; a concurrence which in those days was of
+far more easy attainment over book-burning or anything else than
+it is in our own time, or is ever likely to be in the future. It
+would also seem that during the eighteenth century it was
+generally the House of Lords that took the initiative in the
+time-honoured practice of condemning disagreeable opinions to the
+care of the hangman.
+
+The unanimity alluded to between our two Houses was displayed in
+several instances. Thus on November 16th, 1722, the Commons
+agreed with the resolution of the Peers to have burnt at the
+Exchange the Declaration of the Pretender, beginning:
+"Declaration of James III., King of England, Scotland, and
+Ireland, to all his loving Subjects of the three Nations, and to
+all Foreign Princes and States, to serve as a Foundation for a
+Lasting Peace in Europe," and signed "James Rex." In this
+interesting document, George I. was invited to quietly deliver up
+his possession of the British throne in return for James's
+bestowal on him of the title of king in his native dominions, and
+the ultimate succession to the same title in England. The
+indignation of the Peers raised their effusive loyalty to fever
+point, and they promptly voted this singular document "a false,
+insolent, and traitorous libel, the highest indignity to his
+most sacred Majesty King George, our lawful and undoubted
+sovereign, full of arrogance and presumption, in supposing the
+Pretender in a condition to offer terms to his Majesty; and
+injurious to the honour of the British nation, in imagining that
+a free, Protestant people, happy under the government of the best
+of princes, can be so infatuated as, without the utmost contempt
+and indignation, to hear of any terms from a Popish bigoted
+Pretender." But was it loyalty or sycophancy that could thus
+transmute even George I. into "the best of princes"?
+
+A less serious cause of alarm to their loyalty occurred in 1750,
+when certain _Constitutional Queries_ were "earnestly recommended
+to the serious consideration of every true Briton." This was
+directed against the Duke of Cumberland, of Culloden fame, who
+was in it compared to the crooked-backed Richard III.; and it was
+generally attributed to Lord Egmont, M.P., as spokesman of the
+opposition to the government of George II., then headed by the
+Prince of Wales, who died the year following. It caused a great
+sensation in both Houses, though several members in the Commons
+defended it. Nevertheless, at a conference both Houses voted it
+"a false, malicious, scandalous, infamous, and seditious libel,
+containing the most false, audacious, and abominable calumnies
+and indignities against his Majesty, and the most presumptuous
+and wicked insinuations that our laws, liberties, and properties,
+and the excellent constitution of this kingdom, were in danger
+under his Majesty's legal, mild, and gracious government" . . .
+and that "in abhorrence and detestation of such abominable and
+seditious practices," it should be burnt in New Palace Yard by
+the hangman on January 25th. Even a reward of L1,000 failed to
+discover the author, printer, or publisher of this paper, the
+condemnation of which rather whets the curiosity than satisfies
+the reason. I would shrink from saying that a paper so widely
+disseminated no longer exists; but even if it does not, its
+non-existence affords no proof that in its time it lacked
+justification.
+
+But what justification was there for George King, the bookseller,
+who a few years later did a very curious thing, actually forging
+and publishing a Royal speech--'_His Majesty's most Gracious
+Speech to, both Houses of Parliament on Thursday December 2nd,
+1756_'? Surely never since the giants of old assaulted heaven,
+was there such an invasion of sanctity, or so profane a scaling
+of the heights of intellect! What could the Lords do, being a
+patriotic body, but vote such an attempt, without even waiting
+for a conference with the Commons, "an audacious forgery and high
+contempt of his Majesty, his crown and dignity," and condemn the
+said forgery to be burnt on the 8th at Westminster, and three
+days later at the Exchange? How could they sentence King to less
+than six months of Newgate and a fine of L50, though, in their
+gentleness or fickleness, they ultimately released him from some
+of the former and all the latter penalty? Happy those who possess
+this political curiosity, and can compare it with the speech
+which the King really did make on the same day, and which,
+perhaps, did not show any marked superiority over the forged
+imitation.
+
+The next book-fire to which history brings us is associated with
+one of the most important and singular episodes in the annals of
+the British Constitution. I allude to the famous _North Briton_,
+No. 45, for which, as constituting a seditious libel, Wilkes,
+then member for Aylesbury, was, in spite of his privilege as a
+member, seized and imprisoned in the Tower (1763). We know from
+the experiences of recent times how ready the House of Commons
+is to throw Parliamentary or popular privileges to the winds
+whenever they stand in the way of political resentment, and so it
+was in our fathers' times. For, in spite of a vigorous speech
+from Pitt against a surrender of privilege which placed
+Parliament entirely at the mercy of the Crown, the Commons voted,
+by 258 to 133, that such privilege afforded no protection against
+the publication of seditious libels. The House of Lords, of
+course, concurred, but not without a protest from the dissentient
+minority, headed by Lord Temple, which has the true ring of
+political wisdom; and, like so many similar protests, is so
+instinct with zeal for public liberty as to atone in some measure
+for the fundamental injustice of the existence of an hereditary
+chamber. They held it "highly unbecoming the dignity, gravity,
+and wisdom of the House of Peers, as well as of their justice,
+thus judicially to explain away and diminish the privileges of
+their persons," etc.
+
+A few days later (December 1st) a second conference between the
+two Houses condemned No. 45 to be burnt at the Royal Exchange by
+the common hangman. And so it was on the 3rd, but not without a
+riot, which conveys a vivid picture of those "good old" or
+turbulent days; for the mob, encouraged by well-dressed people
+from the shops and balconies, who cried out, "Well done, boys!
+bravely done, boys!" set up such a hissing, that the sheriff's
+horses were frightened, and brave Alderman Hurley with difficulty
+reached the place where the paper was to be burnt. The mob seized
+what they could of the paper from the burning torch of the
+executioner, and finally thrashed the officials from the field.
+Practically, too, they had thrashed the custom out of existence,
+for there were very few such burnings afterwards.
+
+Wilkes was then expelled from the House of Commons; and the same
+House, becoming suddenly as tender of its privileges as it had
+previously been indifferent to them, passed a resolution, to
+which the Attorney-General, Sir Fletcher Norton, was said to have
+declared that he would pay no more regard than "to the oaths of
+so many drunken porters in Covent Garden," to the effect that a
+general warrant for apprehending and seizing the authors,
+printers, and publishers of a seditious and treasonable libel was
+not warranted by law. Such was the vaunted wisdom of our
+ancestors, that, having first decided that there could be no
+breach of privilege to protect a seditious libel, they then
+asserted the illegality of the very proceedings they had already
+justified! Truly they are not altogether in the wrong who deem
+that the chief glory of our Constitution lies in its singular
+elasticity.
+
+All the numbers of the _North Briton_ especially No. 45, have
+high interest as political and literary curiosities. Comparing
+even now the King's speech on April 19th, 1763, at the close of
+the Seven Years' War, with the passage in No. 45 which contained
+the sting of the whole, one feels that Walpole hardly exaggerated
+when he said that Wilkes had given "a flat lie to the King
+himself." Perhaps so; but are royal speeches as a rule
+conspicuous for their truth? The King had said: "My expectations
+have been fully answered by the happy effects which the several
+allies of my crown have derived from this salutary measure. The
+powers at war with my good brother the King of Prussia have been
+induced to agree to such terms of accommodation as that great
+prince has approved; and the success which has attended my
+negotiation has necessarily and immediately diffused the
+blessings of peace through every part of Europe." Wilkes's
+comment was as follows: "The infamous fallacy of this whole
+sentence is apparent to all mankind; for it is known that the
+King of Prussia did not barely approve, but absolutely dictated
+as conqueror, every article of the terms of peace. No advantage
+of any kind has accrued to that magnanimous prince from our
+negotiation; but he was basely deserted by the Scottish Prime
+Minister of England" (Lord Bute). And, after all, that truth was
+on the side of Wilkes rather than of the King is the verdict of
+history.
+
+The House of Lords, soon after its unconstitutional attack upon
+popular liberties in the case of Wilkes, showed itself as
+suddenly enamoured of them a few months later, when Timothy
+Brecknock, a hack writer, published his _Droit le Roy_, or a
+_Digest of the Rights and Prerogatives of the Imperial Crown of
+Great Britain_ (February 1764). Timothy, like Cowell in James
+I.'s time, favoured extreme monarchical pretensions, so much to
+the offence of the defenders of the people's rights, that they
+voted it "a false, malicious, and traitorous libel, inconsistent
+with the principles of the Revolution to which we owe the present
+happy establishment, and an audacious insult upon His Majesty,
+whose paternal care has been so early and so effectually shown
+to the religion, laws, and liberties of his people; tending to
+subvert the fundamental laws and liberties of these kingdoms and
+to introduce an illegal and arbitrary power." The Commons
+concurred with the Lords in condemning a copy to the flames at
+Westminster Palace Yard and the Exchange on February 25th and
+27th respectively; and the book is consequently so rare that for
+practical purposes it no longer exists. Sad to say, the Royalist
+author came to as bad an end as his book, for in his own person
+as well he came to require the attentions of the hangman for a
+murder he committed in Ireland.
+
+The next work which the Lower House concurred with the Upper in
+consigning to the hangman was _The Present Crisis with regard to
+America Considered_ (February 24th, 1775); but of this book the
+fate it met with seems now the only ascertainable fact about it.
+It appears to enjoy the real distinction of having been the last
+book condemned by Parliament in England to the flames; although
+that honour has sometimes been claimed for the _Commercial
+Restraints of Ireland_, by Provost Hely Hutchinson (1779); a
+claim which will remain to be considered after a brief survey of
+the works which in Scotland the wisdom of Parliament saw fit to
+punish by fire.
+
+The first order of this sort was dated November 16th, 1700, and
+sentenced to be burnt by the hangman at Mercat Cross His
+Majesty's _High Commission and Estates of Parliament_.
+
+In the same way was treated _A Defence of the Scots abdicating
+Darien, including an Answer to the Defence of the Scots
+Settlement there_, and _A Vindication_ of the same pamphlet, both
+by Walter Herries, who was ordered to be apprehended. More
+interesting to read would doubtless be a lampoon, said to reflect
+on everything sacred to Scotland, and burnt accordingly, which
+was called _Caledonia; or, the Pedlar turned Merchant_.
+
+Dr. James Drake, whose _Memorial of the Church of England_ was
+burnt in England in 1705, published a work two years earlier
+which stirred the Scotch Parliament to the same fiery point of
+indignation. This was his already mentioned _Historia
+Anglo-Scotica: an impartial History of all that happened between
+the Kings and Kingdoms of England and Scotland from the beginning
+of the Reign of William the Conqueror to the Reign of Queen
+Elizabeth_ (1703). This stout volume of 423 pages Drake printed
+without any date or name, pretending that the manuscript had
+come to him in such a way that it was impossible to trace its
+authorship. He dedicated it to Sir Edward Seymour, one of Queen
+Anne's commissioners for the then meditated and unpopular union
+between the two kingdoms. It gave the gravest offence, and was
+burnt at the Mercat Cross on June 30th for containing "many
+reflections on the sovereignty and independence of this crown and
+nation." But, apart from the history that attaches to it, I doubt
+if any one could regard it with interest.
+
+No less offence was given to Scotland by the English Whig writer
+William Attwood, whose _Superiority and Direct Dominion of the
+Imperial Crown of England over the Crown and Kingdom of Scotland,
+the true Foundation of a Compleat Union reasserted_ (1704), was
+burnt as "scurrilous and full of falsehoods," whilst a liberal
+reward was voted to Hodges and Anderson, who by their pens had
+advocated the independence of the Scotch crown. Ten years later
+Attwood contributed another work to the flames, called _The
+Scotch Patriot Unmasked_ (1715). Attwood was a barrister by
+profession, a controversialist in practice, writing against the
+theories of Filmer and the Tories. He had a great knowledge of
+old charters, and wrote an able but inconclusive answer to
+Molyneux' _Case for Ireland_. He last appears as Chief Justice in
+New York, where he became involved in debt and died.
+
+In 1706 two works were condemned to the Mercat Cross: (1) _An
+Account of the Burning of the Articles of Union at Dumfries_; (2)
+_Queries to the Presbyterian Noblemen, Barons, Burgesses,
+Ministers, and Commissioners in Scotland who are for the Scheme
+of an Incorporating Union with England_.
+
+Hutchinson's _Commercial Restraints of Ireland_, published in
+1779, and reviewing the progress of English misgovernment, proved
+the correctness of Molyneux' prognostications nearly a century
+before. "Can the history of any fruitful country on the globe,"
+he asked (and the question may be asked still), "enjoying peace
+for fourscore years, and not visited by plague or pestilence,
+produce so many recorded instances of the poverty and
+wretchedness and of the reiterated want and misery of the lower
+orders of the people? There is no such example in ancient or
+modern history."
+
+That a book of such sentiments should have been burnt, as easier
+so to deal with than to answer, would accord well enough with
+antecedent probability; but, inasmuch as there is no such record
+in the Commons' _Journals_, the probability must remain that
+Captain Valentine Blake, M.P. for Galway, who, in a letter to the
+_Times_ of February 14th, 1846, appears to have been the first to
+assert the fact, erroneously identified the fate of Hutchinson's
+anonymous work with the then received version of the fate of the
+work of Molyneux. The rarity of the first edition of the
+_Commercial Restraints_ may well enough accord with other methods
+of suppression than burning.
+
+_The Present Crisis_, therefore, of 1775, must retain the
+distinction of having been the last book to be condemned to the
+public fire; and with it a practice which can appeal for its
+descent to classical Greece and Rome passed at last out of
+fashion and favour, without any actual legislative abolition.
+When, in 1795, the great stir was made by Reeve's _Thoughts on
+English Government_, Sheridan's proposal to have it burnt met
+with little approval, and it escaped with only a censure. Reeve,
+president of an association against Republicans and Levellers,
+like Cowell and Brecknock before him, gave offence by the extreme
+claims he made for the English monarch. The relation between our
+two august chambers and the monarchy he compared to that between
+goodly branches and the tree itself: they were only branches,
+deriving their origin and nutriment from their common parent; but
+though they might be lopped off, the tree would remain a tree
+still. The Houses could give advice and consent, but the
+Government and its administration in all its parts rested wholly
+and solely with the King and his nominees. That a book of such
+sentiments should have escaped burning is doubtless partly due to
+the panic of Republicanism then raging in England; but it also
+shows the gradual growth of a sensible indifference to the power
+of the pen.
+
+And when we think of the freedom, almost unchecked, of the
+literature of the century now closing, of the impunity with which
+speculation attacks the very roots of all our political and
+theological traditions, and compare this state of liberty with
+the servitude of literature in the three preceding centuries,
+when it rested with archbishop or Commons or Lords not only to
+commit writings to the flames but to inflict cruelties and
+indignities on the writers, we cannot but recognise how
+proportionate to the advance we have made in toleration have been
+the benefits we have derived from it. Possibly this toleration
+arose from the gradual discovery that the practical consequences
+of writings seldom keep pace with the aim of the writer or the
+fears of authority; that, for instance, neither is property
+endangered by literary demonstrations of its immorality, nor are
+churches emptied by criticism. At all events, taking the risk of
+consequences, we have entered on an era of almost complete
+literary impunity; the bonfire is as extinct as the pillory; the
+only fiery ordeal is that of criticism, and dread of the reviewer
+has taken the place of all fear of the hangman.
+
+Whether the change is all gain, or the milder method more
+effectual than the old one, I would hesitate to affirm. He would
+be a bold man who would assert any lack of burnworthy books. The
+older custom had perhaps a certain picturesqueness which was lost
+with it. It was a bit of old English life, reaching far back into
+history--a custom that would have been not unworthy of the brush
+of Hogarth. For all that we cannot regret it. The practice became
+so common, and lent itself so readily to abuse by its
+indiscriminate application in the interests of religious bigotry
+or political partisanship, that the lesson of history is one of
+warning against it. Such a practice is only defensible or
+impressive in proportion to the rarity of its use. Applied not
+oftener than once or twice in a generation, in the case of some
+work that flagrantly shocked or injured the national conscience,
+the book-fire might have retained, or might still recover, its
+place in the economy of well-organised States; and the stigma it
+failed of by reason of its frequency might still attach to it by
+reason of its rarity.
+
+If, then, it were possible (as it surely would be) so to regulate
+and restrict its use that it should serve only as the last
+expression of the indignation of an offended community instead of
+the ready weapon of a party or a clique, one can conceive its
+revival being not without utility. To take an illustration. With
+the ordinary daily libels of the public press the community as
+such has no concern; there is no need to grudge them their
+traditional impunity. But supposing a newspaper, availing itself
+of an earlier reputation and a wide circulation, to publish as
+truths, highly damaging to individuals, what it knows or might
+know to be forgeries, the limit has clearly been overstepped of
+the bearable liberty of the press; the cause of the injured
+individual becomes the cause of the injured community, insulted
+by the unscrupulous advantage that has been taken of its
+trustfulness and of its inability to judge soundly where all the
+data for a sound judgment are studiously withheld. Such an action
+is as much and as flagrant a crime or offence against the
+community as an act of robbery or murder, which, though primarily
+an injury to the individual, is primarily avenged as an injury to
+the State. As such it calls for punishment, nor could any
+punishment be more appropriate than one which caused the
+offending newspaper to atone by dishonour for the dishonour it
+sought to inflict. Condemnation by Parliament to the flames would
+exactly meet the exigencies of a case so rare and exceptional,
+and would succeed in inflicting that disgrace of which such a
+punishment often formerly failed by very reason of its too
+frequent application.
+
+
+
+
+APPENDIX.
+
+
+After the conspiracy, known as the Rye House Plot, to kill
+Charles II. and his brother, the Duke of York, the University of
+Oxford ordered the public burning of books which ran counter to
+the doctrine of the Divine right of kings. As the decree is a
+literary and political curiosity of the highest order, and not
+easily accessible, I here transcribe it from Lord Somers'
+_Tracts_. The authors whose books were condemned are sometimes
+referred to quite generally, so that some are difficult to
+identify, but the following appear to be the principal ones that
+incurred the fiery indignation of the University:--1.
+Rutherford's _Lex Rex_; 2. G. Buchanan's _De Jure Regni apud
+Scotos_; 3. Bellarmine's _De Potestate Papae_, and his _De
+Conciliis et Ecclesia Militante_; 4. Milton's _Eikonoklastes_,
+and his _Defensio Populi Anglicani_; 5. Goodwin's _Obstructours
+of Justice_; 6. Baxter's _Holy Commonwealth_; 7. Dolman's
+_Succession_; 8. Hobbes' _De Cive_ and _Leviathan_.
+
+     _The Judgment and Decree of the University of Oxford,
+     passed in their Convocation, July 21, 1683, against
+     certain pernicious books, and damnable doctrines,
+     destructive to the sacred persons of princes, their
+     State and Government, and of all Human Society._
+
+     "Although the barbarous assassination lately
+     enterprised against the person of his sacred majesty
+     and his royal brother, engages all our thoughts to
+     reflect with utmost detestation and abhorrence on that
+     execrable villainy, hateful to God and man, and pay our
+     due acknowledgments to the Divine Providence, which, by
+     extraordinary methods, brought it to pass, that the
+     breath of our nostrils, the anointed of the Lord, is
+     not taken in the pit which was prepared for him, and
+     that under his shadow we continue to live and to enjoy
+     the blessings of his government; yet, notwithstanding,
+     we find it to be a necessary duty at this time to
+     search into and lay open those impious doctrines, which
+     having been of late studiously disseminated, gave rise
+     and growth to those nefarious attempts, and pass upon
+     them our solemn public censure and decree of
+     condemnation.
+
+     "Therefore, to the honour of the holy and undivided
+     Trinity, the preservation of Catholic truth in the
+     Church, and that the king's majesty may be secured both
+     from the attempts of open bloody enemies and
+     machinations of treacherous heretics and schismatics,
+     we, the vice-chancellor, doctors, proctors, and masters
+     regent, met in convocation, in the accustomed manner,
+     the one and twentieth day of July, in the year 1683,
+     concerning certain propositions contained in divers
+     books and writings, published in the English and also
+     in the Latin tongue, repugnant to the Holy Scriptures,
+     decrees of councils, writings of the fathers, the faith
+     and profession of the primitive Church, and also
+     destruction of the kingly government, the safety of his
+     Majesty's person, the public peace, the laws of nature,
+     and bonds of human society, by our unanimous assent and
+     consent, have decreed and determined in manner and form
+     following:--
+
+     "The 1st Proposition.--All civil authority is derived
+     originally from the people.
+
+     "2. There is a mutual compact, tacit or express,
+     between a prince and his subjects, that if he perform
+     not his duty, they are discharged from theirs.
+
+     "3. That if lawful governors become tyrants, or govern
+     otherwise than by the laws of God and man they ought to
+     do, they forfeit the right they had unto their
+     government.--_Lex Rex_; _Buchanan, de Jure Regni_;
+     _Vindiciae contra tyrannos_; _Bellarmine, de Conciliis,
+     de Pontifice_; _Milton_; _Goodwin_; _Baxter_; _H. C._
+
+     "4. The sovereignty of England is in the three estates,
+     viz., Kings, Lords, and Commons. The king has but a
+     co-ordinate power, and may be overruled by the other
+     two.--_Lex Rex_; _Hunter_, of a united and mixed
+     monarchy. _Baxter, H. C. Polit. Catechis._
+
+     "5. Birthright and proximity of blood give no title to
+     rule or government, and it is lawful to preclude the
+     next heir from his right and succession to the
+     crown.--_Lex Rex_; _Hunt's Postscript_; _Doleman's
+     History of Succession_; _Julian the Apostate_; _Mene
+     Tekel_.
+
+     "6. It is lawful for subjects, without the consent, and
+     against the command, of the supreme magistrate, to
+     enter into leagues, covenants, and associations, for
+     defence of themselves and their religion.--_Solemn
+     League and Covenant_; _Late Association_.
+
+     "7. Self-preservation is the fundamental law of nature,
+     and supersedes the obligation of all others, whensoever
+     they stand in competition with it.--_Hobbes' de Cive_;
+     _Leviathan_.
+
+     "8. The doctrine of the gospel concerning patient
+     suffering of injuries is not inconsistent with violent
+     resisting of the higher powers in case of persecution
+     for religion.--_Lex Rex_; _Julian Apostate_; _Apolog.
+     Relat._
+
+     "9. There lies no obligation upon Christians to passive
+     obedience, when the prince commands anything against
+     the laws of our country; and the primitive Christians
+     chose rather to die than resist, because Christianity
+     was not settled by the laws of the Empire.--_Julian
+     Apostate._
+
+     "10. Possession and strength give a right to govern,
+     and success in a cause, or enterprise, proclaims it to
+     be lawful and just; to pursue it is to comply with the
+     will of God, because it is to follow the conduct of His
+     providence.--_Hobbes_; _Owen's Sermon before the
+     Regicides, Jan. 31, 1648_; _Baxter_; _Jenkin's
+     Petition, Oct. 1651_.
+
+     "11. In the state of nature there is no difference
+     between good and evil, right and wrong; the state of
+     nature is the state of war, in which every man hath a
+     right to all things.
+
+     "12. The foundation of civil authority is this natural
+     right, which is not given, but left to the supreme
+     magistrate upon men's entering into societies; and not
+     only a foreign invader, but a domestic rebel, puts
+     himself again into a state of nature to be proceeded
+     against, not as a subject, but an enemy, and
+     consequently acquires by his rebellion the same right
+     over the life of his prince, as the prince for the most
+     heinous crimes has over the life of his own subjects.
+
+     "13. Every man, after his entering into a society,
+     retains a right of defending himself against force, and
+     cannot transfer that right to the commonwealth when he
+     consents to that union whereby a commonwealth is made;
+     and in case a great many men together have already
+     resisted the commonwealth, for which every one of them
+     expecteth death, they have liberty then to join
+     together to assist and defend one another. This bearing
+     of arms subsequent to the first breach of their duty,
+     though it be to maintain what they have done, is no new
+     unjust act, and if it be only to defend their persons,
+     is not unjust at all.
+
+     "14. An oath superadds no obligation to fact, and a
+     fact obliges no further than it is credited; and
+     consequently if a prince gives any indication that he
+     does not believe the promises of fealty and allegiance
+     made by any of his subjects, they are thereby freed
+     from their subjection; and, notwithstanding their pacts
+     and oaths, may lawfully rebel against, and destroy
+     their sovereign.--_Hobbes' de Cive_; _Leviathan_.
+
+     "15. If a people, that by oath and duty are obliged to
+     a sovereign, shall sinfully dispossess him, and,
+     contrary to their covenants, choose and covenant with
+     another, they may be obliged by their later covenants,
+     notwithstanding their former.--_Baxter_; _H. C._
+
+     "16. All oaths are unlawful and contrary to the Word of
+     God.--_Quakers._
+
+     "17. An oath obligeth not in the sense of the imposer,
+     but the taker's.--_Sheriff's Case._
+
+     "18. Dominion is founded in grace.
+
+     "19. The powers of this world are usurpations upon the
+     prerogative of Jesus Christ; and it is the duty of
+     God's people to destroy them, in order to the setting
+     Christ upon His throne.--_Fifth Monarchy Men._
+
+     "20. The presbyterian government is the sceptre of
+     Christ's kingdom, to which kings, as well as others,
+     are bound to submit; and the king's supremacy in
+     ecclesiastical affairs, asserted by the Church of
+     England, is injurious to Christ, the sole King and Head
+     of His Church.--_Altare Damascenum_; _Apolog. Relat.
+     Hist. Indulg._; _Cartwright_; _Travers_.
+
+     "21. It is not lawful for superiors to impose anything
+     in the worship of God that is not antecedently
+     necessary.
+
+     "22. The duty of not offending a weak brother is
+     inconsistent with all human authority of making laws
+     concerning indifferent things.--_Protest. Reconciler._
+
+     "23. Wicked kings and tyrants ought to be put to death;
+     and if the judges and inferior magistrates will not do
+     their office, the power of the sword devolves to the
+     people; if the major part of the people refuse to
+     exercise this power, then the ministers may
+     excommunicate such a king; after which it is lawful for
+     any of the subjects to kill him, as the people did
+     Athaliah, and Jehu Jezebel.--_Buchanan_; _Knox_;
+     _Goodman_; _Gibby_; _Jesuits_.
+
+     "24. After the sealing of the Scripture-canon the
+     people of God in all ages are to expect new revelations
+     for a rule of their actions (_a_); and it is lawful for
+     a private man, having an inward motion from God, to
+     kill a tyrant (_b_).--(_a_) _Quakers and other
+     Enthusiasts._ (_b_) _Goodman._
+
+     "25. The example of Phineas is to us instead of a
+     command; for what God hath commanded or approved in one
+     age must needs oblige in all.--_Goodman_; _Knox_;
+     _Napthali_.
+
+     "26. King Charles the First was lawfully put to death,
+     and his murderers were the blessed instruments of God's
+     glory in their generation.--_Milton_; _Goodwin_;
+     _Owen_.
+
+     "27. King Charles the First made war upon his
+     Parliament; and in such a case the king may not only be
+     resisted, but he ceaseth to be king.--_Baxter._
+
+     "We decree, judge, and declare all and every of these
+     propositions to be false, seditious, and impious; and
+     most of them to be also heretical and blasphemous,
+     infamous to Christian religion, and destructive of all
+     government in Church and State.
+
+     "We further decree, That the books which contain the
+     aforesaid propositions and impious doctrines are fitted
+     to deprave good manners, corrupt the minds of unwary
+     men, stir up seditions and tumults, overthrow states
+     and kingdoms, and lead to rebellion, murder of princes,
+     and atheism itself; and therefore we interdict all
+     members of the university from the reading of the said
+     books, under the penalties in the statutes expressed.
+     We also order the before-recited books to be publicly
+     burnt by the hand of our marshal, in the court of our
+     schools.
+
+     "Likewise we order, that, in perpetual memory hereof,
+     these our decrees shall be entered into the registry of
+     our convocation; and that copies of them being
+     communicated to the several colleges and halls within
+     this university, they be there publicly affixed in the
+     libraries, refectories, or other fit places, where they
+     may be seen and read of all.
+
+     "Lastly, we command and strictly enjoin all and
+     singular, the readers, tutors, catechists, and others
+     to whom the care and trust of institution of youth is
+     committed, that they diligently instruct and ground
+     their scholars in that most necessary doctrine, which,
+     in a manner, is the badge and character of the Church
+     of England, of submitting to every ordinance of man for
+     the Lord's sake, whether it be to the king as supreme,
+     or unto governors as unto them that are sent by him,
+     for the punishment of evil doers, and for the praise of
+     them that do well; teaching that this submission and
+     obedience is to be clear, absolute, and without
+     exception of any state or order of men. Also that they,
+     according to the Apostle's precept, exhort, that first
+     of all supplications, prayers, intercessions, and
+     giving of thanks be made for all men, for the king, and
+     all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and
+     peaceable life in all godliness and honesty; for this
+     is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour;
+     and in especial manner that they press and oblige them
+     humbly to offer their most ardent and daily prayers at
+     the throne of grace, for the preservation of our
+     Sovereign Lord King Charles from the attempts of open
+     violence and secret machinations of perfidious
+     traitors; that the defender of the faith, being safe
+     under the defence of the Most High, may continue his
+     reign on earth till he exchange it for that of a late
+     and happy immortality."
+
+
+
+
+INDEX.
+
+
+     Abelard, all his books burnt, 5.
+
+     Allen (Cardinal), 37.
+
+     Archer (John), of All Hallows, Lombard Street, 106.
+
+     Asgill (John), his book burnt by two Parliaments, 144-47.
+
+     Attwood (William), the English Whig, 184.
+
+     Aubigne (D'), his _Histoire Universelle_, 19.
+
+
+     Bale (Bishop), 29.
+
+     Barnes, 29.
+
+     Bastwick (the physician), 81-92.
+
+     Beaumarchais, his _Memoirs_ condemned to the flames, 22.
+
+     Becon, 29.
+
+     Bellarmine, his _Tractatus_ condemned by the Parliament of
+         Paris, 64.
+
+     Bernier (Abbe) _pseud._, 13.
+
+     Best (Paul), prisoner at the Gatehouse, 107-109.
+
+     Bidle (a tailor's son), 110.
+
+     Bissendorf burnt, as well as his books, 9.
+
+     Boncerf, 21.
+
+     _Book-fires of the Sixteenth Century_, 25-47.
+       _under James I._, 48-68.
+       _under Charles I._, 69-93.
+       _of the Rebellion_, 94-116.
+       _of the Restoration_, 117-135.
+       _of the Revolution_, 136-169.
+       (_our last_), 170-190.
+
+     Boulanger, _Christianisme devoile_, 15.
+
+     Boyse, his sermon burnt by the hangman, 166.
+
+     Brecknock (Timothy), 181.
+
+     Buchanan (David), 101.
+
+     Buchanan (George), 58, 123.
+
+     Burton, the divine, 81-92.
+
+     Bury (Rev. Arthur), 141-43.
+
+     Busenbaum (the Jesuit), 17.
+
+
+     Calamy (Dr.), 131.
+
+     Carr (William), 171.
+
+     Cellier (Elizabeth), 134.
+
+     _Charles I.'s Book-fires_, 69-93.
+
+     Clarkson (Laurence), 114.
+
+     Claude, his _Plaintes des Protestants_, 134.
+
+     Clendon (John), 159.
+
+     Coke (Sir Edward), 57.
+
+     _Constitutional Queries_ (1750), 175.
+
+     Coppe (Ebiezer), 114.
+
+     Coverdale (Bishop), 29.
+
+     Coward (Dr.), 147, 148.
+
+     Cowell (Dr.), 28, 54-59.
+
+     _Crisis, the Present_ (1775), 182, 186.
+
+     Cumberland (Duke of), of Culloden, compared with Richard
+         III., 175.
+
+     Cutwode, his _Caltha Poetarum_, 41.
+
+
+     Davies (Sir John), 41, 44.
+
+     Declaration of James III., 174.
+
+     Defoe (Daniel), 152-4.
+
+     Delaune, his _Plea for the Nonconformists_, 130-34.
+
+     Dering (Sir Edward), 98.
+
+     Derodon, Professor at Nismes, 12.
+
+     Deslandes, 17.
+
+     Desperiers, 7.
+
+     Digby (Lord), 99.
+
+     Dolet, 8.
+
+     Doleman's _Conference_, 37.
+
+     Dominis (Marcus Antonius de), 9.
+
+     Drake (Dr. James), 155-57, 173, 183.
+
+     Dufresnoy, 17.
+
+     Dulaurent, an apostate monk, 13.
+
+
+     Emmius, his posthumous book, 21.
+
+     Enjedim, the Hungarian Socialist, 6.
+
+
+     Falkland (Lord), 101.
+
+     Fleetwood (William), Bishop of St. Asaph, 167.
+
+     Fish's _Supplication of Beggars_, 36.
+
+     Freret, 15.
+
+     Froude (J. A.), his _Nemesis of Faith_ burned, 144.
+
+     Frith, 29.
+
+     Fry (John), M.P., 103, 4.
+
+
+     Genebrard (Archbishop), 18.
+
+     Gerberon, 12.
+
+     Giannone, his _Historia Civile_, 21.
+
+     Gigli, his _Vocabulario_, 17.
+
+     Goodwin (John), prolific writer, 117-122.
+
+
+     Hall (Bishop), 41, 2, 3.
+
+     Hall (Joseph), serjeant-at-arms, 172.
+
+     Helot, his _L'Ecole des Filles_, 17.
+
+     Herries (Walter), 183.
+
+     Holbach (Baron d'), 15.
+
+     Humphrey (John), 154.
+
+     Huss (John), 6.
+
+     Hutchinson (Provost Hely), 182, 185.
+
+
+     _James I., Book-fires under_, 48-68.
+
+     James III., Declaration of, 174.
+
+     Joly (Claude), 20.
+
+     Joye, 29.
+
+     _Justiciarius justificatus_, 101.
+
+
+     Keller, the Jesuit, 19.
+
+     Kentish Petition (1642), 100.
+
+     King (George), the bookseller, 176.
+
+     Knewstub, his _Confutation_ (1579), 33.
+
+
+     La Mettrie (De), 14.
+
+     Langle (Marquis de), 13.
+
+     Lanjuinais, 22.
+
+     La Peyrere imprisoned, 12.
+
+     Leighton (Alexander), 75.
+
+     Le Noble (Eustache), 20.
+
+     Lilburne (John), 88, 102.
+
+     Linguet, 14.
+
+     Locke (John), 127-29.
+
+     _Love, Family of_, 32.
+
+     Luther, 7, 28.
+
+     Lyser, advocate of polygamy, 17.
+
+
+     Mantuanus, the Carmelite, 16.
+
+     Manwaring (Roger), 69-71.
+
+     Mariana, the Jesuit, 18.
+
+     Marivaux (Martin de), 22.
+
+     Marlowe (Christopher), 41, 42.
+
+     Martin Marprelate, 37.
+
+     Marston (John), 41, 42.
+
+     _Mercurius Elenchicus_, 101.
+
+     _Mercurius Pragmaticus_, 101.
+
+     Meslier (Jean), 14.
+
+     Milton, 20, 90, 118-22.
+
+     Mocket (Richard), 61.
+
+     Molinos, founder of Quietism, 11.
+
+     Molyneux (William), his _Case for Ireland_, 136-40.
+
+     Mondonville (Madame de), 21.
+
+     Montagu (Richard), anti-Puritan, 71-3.
+
+     Morin (Simon), 10.
+
+     Morisot, 10.
+
+     Muggleton (Ludovic), 115, 116.
+
+
+     Niclas (Hendrick), of Leyden, 32.
+
+     _North Briton_ (No. 45), 177.
+
+
+     Okeford (James), 102.
+
+     Orleans (Louis d'), 18.
+
+     Osma (Peter d'), 7.
+
+     Oxford (University of) Decree against certain pernicious
+         books, 192.
+
+
+     Paraeus (David), 60.
+
+     _Parliament's Ten Commandments_, 101.
+
+     _Parliament's Pater Noster_, 101.
+
+     Parsons (Robert), the Jesuit, 37, 39.
+
+     Pascal, 12.
+
+     Peignot, the historian of Condemned Books, 2.
+
+     Pidanzet, 21.
+
+     Pocklington (Dr. John), 95-8.
+
+     Pomponacius, 7.
+
+     Porphyry, 5.
+
+     Primatt (Joseph), 102.
+
+     Prynne (William), 30, 77-93.
+
+
+     _Racovian Catechism_, 111-13.
+
+     Raleigh (Sir Walter), 59.
+
+     Raynal (Abbe), 23.
+
+     Reboulet, 21.
+
+     Reeves' _Thoughts on English Government_, 186.
+
+     Rousseau, 13.
+
+     Rowlands (Samuel), 45.
+
+     Rutherford (Samuel), 122.
+
+     Rye House Plot, Decree against pernicious books, 191.
+
+
+     Sacheverell (Henry), 157-61.
+
+     Sainte Foi, 12.
+
+     Salmasius, 119.
+
+     Sanctarel, the Jesuit, 20.
+
+     Schlicttingius, 11.
+
+     Scioppius, 18.
+
+     Scot (Reginald), one of the heroes of the world, 49-53.
+
+     Servetus, his burning, 8.
+
+     Squitinio, 19.
+
+     Stubbs (John), 35.
+
+     Suarez, 64.
+
+
+     Talbert (Abbe), 17.
+
+     Theophile, 16.
+
+     Thomas (William), 30.
+
+     Thornborough (Bishop), 57.
+
+     Tindal (Matthew), 159, 161-63.
+
+     Toland, 149.
+
+     Toussaint, 17.
+
+     Tracy, 29.
+
+     Turner, 29.
+
+     Tyndale (William), 9, 28, 75.
+
+
+     Voet, professor of theology, 51.
+
+     Voltaire, contributed more books to the flames than any
+         other author of the eighteenth century, 15.
+
+     Vorst (Conrad), 66.
+
+
+     Wentworth (Peter), 39.
+
+     Wicliff, 29.
+
+     Wilkes (John), and the _North Briton_, 177.
+
+     Williams (John), 46, 47.
+
+     Wither (George), 101.
+
+     Wolkelius, friend of Socinus, 11.
+
+     Woolston, his Discourse on Miracles, 15.
+
+
+_Elliot Stock, 62, Paternoster Row, London, E.C._
+
+
+
+
+TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES
+
+
+The original book has a rooster bookplate illustration at the
+beginning and an owl bookplate at the end. Each chapter begins
+and ends with a decorative woodcut.
+
+The following words use an oe ligature in the original:
+
+     Moeurs
+     oeuvre
+     Poetarum
+
+The following corrections have been made to the text:
+
+     Page 3: could not himself either affirm[original has
+     ffiarm] or deny
+
+     Page 35: same penalty as its author.[period missing in
+     original]
+
+     Page 136: William Molyneux's[apostrophe and final "s"
+     missing in original] Case for Ireland
+
+     Page 176: [original has extraneous quotation mark]both
+     Houses of Parliament on Thursday
+
+     Page 176: December 2nd, 1756'[original has double
+     quote]
+
+     Page 194: Hobbes'[apostrophe missing in original] de
+     Cive
+
+     Page 196: Hobbes'[apostrophe missing in original] de
+     Cive
+
+     Page 196: _Apolog. Relat. Hist. Indulg._[period missing
+     in original]
+
+     Page 201: Abelard[original has Abela d], all his books
+     burnt, 5.
+
+     Page 203: Genebrard[original has Genebrazd]
+     (Archbishop), 18.
+
+     Page 203: Helot, his L'Ecole[original has L'Escole] des
+     Filles, 17.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's Books Condemned to be Burnt, by James Anson Farrer
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