wise admire him wish had bin rather buried and excus'd in the genial cups of an Academick night-sitting. By which laws he seems to tolerat no kind of learning, but by unalterable decree, consisting most of practicall 5 traditions, to the attainment whereof a Library of smaller bulk then his own dialogues would be abundant. And there also enacts that no Poet should so much as read to any privat man what he had writt'n, untill the Judges and Law-keepers had seen it and allow'd it; But that 10 Plato meant this Law peculiarly to that Commonwealth which he had imagin'd, and to no other, is evident. Why was he not else a Law-giver to himself, but a transgressor, and to be expell'd by his own Magistrats, both for the wanton epigrams and dialogues which he 15 made, and his perpetuall reading of Sophron Mimus and Aristophanes, books of grossest infamy, and also for commending the latter of them, though he were the malicious libeller of his chief friends, to be read by the Tyrant Dionysius, who had little need of such 20 trash to spend his time on? But that he knew this licencing of Poems had reference and dependence to many other proviso's there set down in his fancied republic, which in this world could have no place; and so neither he himself, nor any Magistrat, or City ever 25 imitated that cours, which tak'n apart from those other collaterall injunctions must needs be vain and fruitlesse. For if they fell upon one kind of strictnesse, unlesse their care were equall to regulat all other things of like aptnes to corrupt the mind, that single endea30 vour they knew would be but a fond labour: to shut 1 and fortifie one gate against corruption, and be necessitated to leave others round about wide open. If we think to regulat Printing, thereby to rectifie manners,

we must regulat all recreations and pastimes, all that is delightfull to man. No musick must be heard, no song be set or sung, but what is grave and Dorick. There must be licencing dancers, that no gesture, motion, or 5 deportment be taught our youth but what by their allowance shall be thought honest; for such Plato was provided of. It will ask more then the work of twenty licencers to examin all the lutes, the violins, and the ghittarrs in every house; they must not be suffer'd to 10 prattle as they doe, but must be licenc'd what they may say. And who shall silence all the airs and madrigalls, that whisper softnes in chambers? The Windows also, and the Balcone's must be thought on; there are shrewd books with dangerous Frontispices set to sale; who shall prohibit them? shall twenty licencers? The villages also must have their visitors to enquire what lectures the bagpipe and the rebbeck reads, ev'n to the ballatry and the gammuth of every municipal fidler, for these are the Countrymans Arcadia's and his Monte 20 Mayors. Next, what more Nationall corruption, for which England hears ill abroad, then houshold gluttony? who shall be the rectors of our daily rioting? and what shall be done to inhibit the multitudes that frequent those houses where drunk'nes is sold and harbour'd? 25 Our garments also should be referr'd to the licencing of

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some more sober work-masters to see them cut into a lesse wanton garb. Who shall regulat all the mixt conversation of our youth, male and female together, as is the fashion of this Country? who shall still appoint what 30 shall be discours'd, what presum'd, and no furder? Lastly, who shall forbid and separat all idle resort, all evill company? These things will be, and must be; but how they shall be lest hurtfull, how lest enticing,

herein consists the grave and governing wisdom of a State. To sequester out of the world into Atlantick and Eutopian polities, which never can be drawn into use, will not mend our condition; but to ordain wisely as 5 in this world of evill, in the midd'st whereof God hath plac't us unavoidably. Nor is it Plato's licencing of books will doe this, which necessarily pulls along with it so many other kinds of licencing, as will make us all both ridiculous and weary, and yet frustrat; but those unwritIo t'n, or at least unconstraining laws of vertuous education, religious and civill nurture, which Plato there mentions as the bonds and ligaments of the Commonwealth, the pillars and the sustainers of every writt'n Statute; these they be which will bear chief sway in such matters as 15 these, when all licencing will be easily eluded. Impunity and remissenes, for certain, are the bane of a Commonwealth; but here the great art lyes to discern in what the law is to bid restraint and punishment, and in what things perswasion only is to work. If every action 20 which is good, or evill in man at ripe years, were to be

under pittance and prescription and compulsion, what were vertue but a name, what praise could be then due to well-doing, what grammercy to be sober, just, or continent? Many there be that complain of divin 25 Providence for suffering Adam to transgresse. Foolish tongues! when God gave him reason, he gave him freedom to choose, for reason is but choosing; he had bin else a meer artificiall Adam, such an Adam as he is in the motions. We our selves esteem not of that obedi30 ence or love or gift, which is of force: God therefore left him free, set before him a provoking object, ever almost in his eyes; herein consisted his merit, herein the right of his reward, the praise of his abstinence. Where

fore did he creat passions within us, pleasures round about us, but that these rightly temper'd are the very ingredients of vertu? They are not skilfull considerers of human things, who imagin to remove sin by remov5 ing the matter of sin; for, besides that it is a huge heap increasing under the very act of diminishing though some part of it may for a time be withdrawn from some persons, it cannot from all in such a universall thing as books are; and when this is done, yet the sin remains 10 entire. Though ye take from a covetous man all his treasure, he has yet one jewell left: ye cannot bereave him of his covetousnesse. Banish all objects of lust, shut up all youth into the severest discipline that can be exercis'd in any hermitage, ye cannot make them 15 chaste that came not thither so; such great care and wisdom is requir'd to the right managing of this point. Suppose we could expell sin by this means; look how much we thus expell of sin, so much we expell of vertue for the matter of them both is the same; remove 20 that, and ye remove them both alike. This justifies the high providence of God, who though he command us temperance, justice, continence, yet powrs out before us ev'n to a profusenes all desirable things, and gives us minds that can wander beyond all limit and satiety. 25 Why should we then affect a rigor contrary to the manner of God and of nature, by abridging or scanting those means, which books freely permitted are, both to the triall of vertue and the exercise of truth? It would be better done to learn that the law must needs 30 be frivolous which goes to restrain things uncertainly and yet equally working to good and to evill. And were I the chooser, a dram of well-doing should be preferr'd before many times as much the forcible hindrance

of evill-doing. For God sure esteems the growth and compleating of one vertuous person more then the restraint of ten vitious. And albeit what ever thing we hear or see, sitting, walking, travelling, or conversing 5 may be fitly call'd our book, and is of the same effect that writings are, yet grant the thing to be prohibited were only books, it appears that this order hitherto is far insufficient to the end which it intends. Do we not see, not once or oftner, but weekly that continu'd Court10 libell against the Parlament and City, Printed, as the wet sheets can witnes, and dispers't among us for all that licencing can doe? yet this is the prime service a man would think, wherein this order should give proof of it self. If it were executed, you'l say. But certain, if 15 execution be remisse or blindfold now and in this particular, what will it be hereafter and in other books? If then the order shall not be vain and frustrat, behold a new labour, Lords and Commons: ye must repeal and proscribe all scandalous and unlicenc't books already 20 printed and divulg'd; after ye have drawn them up into

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a list, that all may know which are condemn'd and which not; and ordain that no forrein books be deliver'd out of custody, till they have bin read over. office will require the whole time of not a few overseers, 25 and those no vulgar men. There be also books which are partly usefull and excellent, partly culpable and pernicious; this work will ask as many more officials to make expurgations and expunctions, that the Commonwealth of learning be not damnify'd. In fine, when 30 the multitude of books encrease upon their hands, ye must be fain to catalogue all those Printers who are found frequently offending, and forbidd the importation of their whole suspected typography. In a word, that