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INTRODUCTION TO AREOPAGITICA
(Book John Milton Areopagitica)

OCCASTION AND DATE OF PUBLICATION
Charles 1 ascended the throne of England in 1625. He was a great tyrant and believed in
the theory of the Divine Right of Kings. He started ruling the country and imposing taxes
without the consent of Parliament. The licensing of books was in the hands of the star
Chamber which suppressed all books which were critical of the king. The Presbyterians of
Scotland and the Puritans of England fought valiantly against the despotism of the king
and in 1640Charles was forced to call Parliament which came to be known as the Long
Parliament. This Parliament was dominated by the Presbyterians. They abolished the Star
Chamber in 1641, and appointed a Committee of Examinations to keep some control over
books.

Since Parliament had fought for and won civil liberty, people expected that now the press
would be absolutely free and everyone would be free to print whatever book he liked. But
there were two fears. The Church was afraid of heresy and of sects and schisms and the
Parliament was afraid of royalist literature being printed.

There was also a fear that some unscrupulous publishers may reproduce some book first
published by another publisher. So in 1641 and order was passed providing that a printer
should not print anything without the name and consent of the author. In 1642 another
order was passed providing that any printing press which printed any pamphlet
scandalous to Hs Majesty or the proceedings of Parliament would be demolished and the
printers would be punished. There was no word about licensing of books in these orders.

But the Presbyterians who dominated Parliament were not satisfied. They were
narrow minded fanatic who wanted to suppress all books written by royalists, Roman
Catholics, heretics and free thinkers. So on the 14
th
of June, 1643, Parliament passed an
ordinance reviving the system of the licensing of books which had ended with the abolition
of the Star Chamber in 1641. The main part of this Ordinance provided that no book
should be published unless it had been first approved by at least one of the twenty licencers
appointed by Parliament. The second part provided that no person should print any book
without the consent of the author or the publisher who has copyright over it. The second
part was very reasonable. The intellectuals only objected to the first part of this order.

Milton was shocked. He could never imagine that his own party which had fought
heroically against the king for civil liberty would impose this bondage on the people. He
was disillusioned about the Presbyterians. As he has said elsewhere,
New Presbyter was but old priest with large.
He published his first Divorce Tract and Tract and re-edited it without a license. This was
a direct challenge to the Ordinance. The Stationers Company petitioned Parliament against
the unregistered publication of this blasphemous evil pamphlet to be printed. A Committee
on printing was appointed to go into the matter, but no action seems to have been taken
against Milton.
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Now Miltons mind turned seriously to the fundamental question of the freedom of
thought and expression. He felt that it was atrocious for Parliament to entrust to a few
men of little learning and judgment the responsible talk of deciding the fate of books. This
inspired him to write the Areopagitica . It was published on the 24
th
of November, 1644,
unlicensed and unregistered. The Stationers complained against him before the Lords but
no action was taken against Milton. Nor was any action taken to repeal the Ordinance.

THE HISTORY OF LICENSING IN ENGLAND
When the art of printing was introduced in England the Government realized that
books were a powerful instrument for moulding public opinion. They, therefore thought of
regulating the press. Henry V111 thought of controlling the printing of books but no
specific orders were issued in his reign.

In the reign of Queen Mary (1553-1559) the first steps were taken to control the
printing of books. In 1557 a company called the Stationers Company was formed by
joining together ninety seven London stationers. It was ordered by Letter-Patent that the
members of this company and their successors by regular apprentice ship had the exclusive
right to print books in England. All books had to be registered in this company. No one
who did not belong to this company could print or publish any book in the English
dominions without a special license.

When Queen Elizabeth came to the throne to 1559 licensing was made more strict
but the authority to license books was taken away from the Stationers Company and vested
in the Privy Council which formed a body of licensers. The head of this body was the
Archbishop of Canterbury. He alone could not cope with the enormous work of licensing
all the books that were to be printed in England and so he usually delegated this work to
the Bishop of London or a Committee of Officers. They did the licensing on behalf of the
Privy Council. In 1566 the court of the Star Chamber was entrusted with the task of
licensing books. It ensured that the author or his representative retained the

THE TITTLE AREOPAGITICA
The title which Milton chose for his address to Parliament-Areopagitica- had nothing
to do with its subject matter-an appeal to Parliament to give people liberty to print freely
any books they liked. Milton was a Greed scholar and he greatly admired the written
orations of a master of Rhetoric in Athens Isocrates (436-338B B. C). Due to the
weakness of his nerves Isocrates could not speak in public but he wrote speeches to be read
by the people. His seventh oration is entitled The Areopagitic Discourse or
Areopagiticus. It was an address to the Senate of Athens. So when Milton wrote his own
address to the British Parliament he called it Areopagitica.

Isocrates warned the Athenian Parliament about the danger to Athens and the whole of
Greece posed by the policies of Philip of Macedon. He appealed to them to change the form
of democracy which prevailed in Athens at that time. The word Areopagus means the Hill
of Area was the god of war of the ancient Greeks. The Roman identified him with Mars.
This hill was situated to the West of Athens. It was the meeting place of the Upper Council
as distinguished from the Boule or Senate. The Court of Areopagus had formerly powers
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to influence the religious and political affairs of the country. But Pericles who controlled
the affairs of Athens from 460 to 429 B. C. reduced its functions and it lost its powers.
Isocrates fest that the powers of this court should be restored and the liberties of the people
should be curtailed so that Athens became stronger to face the threat from Philip of
Macedon,
There are just a few things in common between the Areopagiticus of Isocrates and the
Areopagitica of Milton. They are both addresses written by private individuals to the
highest legislative bodies of their respective countries. Both of them appealed to the
assemblies concerned to change their policies but the appeals of both fell on deaf ears.

But the theme and style of Areopagitica are quite different from those of the oration of
Isocrates. Isocrates pleaded for reducing the liberty of the people in order to strengthen
the hands of the Government. Milton pleaded for the grant of full liberty of thought and
expression to the people. He wanted that Parliament should take back their licensing order
and should allow all books to be printed without any restriction.

Milton was more interested in his matter than in form. The Areopagitica contains
magnificent passages, marked by passionate eloquence. But, on the whole, his style is
rugged and involved and far removed from English syntax. It was written in haste and so
most of the paragraphs lack grace and finish. Isocrates, on the other hand, aimed at
perfection of form even at the cost of matter. He took ten to fifteen years to finish writing
one oration. As has been said, for melody, artistic merit, perfection of form and literary
finish, Isocrates remains unrivalled.

Milton was in love with Hellenic culture. He also loved Greek language and literature.
He admired the grace and finish of the style of Isocrates. It was, therefore, natural that
when he wrote an address to Parliament he borrowed the title from that of an oration of
Isocrates.

Milton chose an unfamiliar title which could never appeal to the common British
readers. But this book was not meant to appeal to the common man at all. It was meant to
appeal only to members of the British Parliament. Its style is so elevated and its matter is
so terse that it is doubtful whether even the members of that august body understood all
the matter of this learned discourse. They were certainly not moved to remove the shackles
which they had put on the press.

Michael Davis suggests another reason why Milton chose this title. He says, Perhaps
the title Areopagitica is intended as a reminder not only the form of the Greek
rhetoricians work, but also of the St. Pauls speech before the Court of Areopagus in Act
17, 18, 34. St Pauls attack on religious conformity, and his insistence on mans need for
freedom to seek God, brings his speech close in spirit to Miltons Areopagitica.

Thus the word, Areopagitica does not suggest the subject matter of Miltons discourse.
To the ordinary man it does not mean anything. But it reminds learned men of the
addresses of Isocrates in the minds of all students of English literature with Miltons
forceful plea for the free publication of books.
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ISOCRATES AND MILTON
Isocrates (436-338 B. C) was a great teacher of rhetoric in Athens. He himself could not
speak in public due to nervous weakness but he could teach others how to speak and he
could write speeches which others could speak. He specialized in what is known as
epideictic oratory. Distinguished by form and finish. The speeches of Isocrates unequalled
for their melody and style. He used to take ten to ten to fifteen years to write on oration. He
cared much more for perfection of form and artistic finish than for presentation of matter.
He had a large number of pupils for whom he wrote model speeches. His students later
became great statesmen and orators.
Twenty one of his written orations have come down to us. The most famous of them
are Penegyricus (which is a panegyric on Athens and describes the contribution of this city
to the culture of Greece), Symmachicus and Areopagiticus (which is an appeal to the
Senate of Athens to increase the powers of the court of Areopagus).

Milton was attracted to Isocrates by his sonorous style and powerful eloquence. In his
sonnet. To the Lady Margret Ley. Milton refers to the fact that when Isocrates heard of the
victory of Philip of Macedon at Chaeronea, which destroyed the freedom of Greece, he put
an end to his life. Milton says:

. As that dishonest victory
At Chaeronea, fatal to liberty
Killed with report that old man eloquent

Milton also paid a tribute to him by calling his address to Parliament Areopagitica after
Isocrates oration called Areopagiticus.











DETAILED SUMMARY OF AREOPAGITICA

Milton says that he is going to address the British Parliament on a subject which is likely
to promote the public good. He feels that he is at the beginning of a very serious and
responsible task and so he is feeling mentally agitated. He is not sure what the result of his
appeal will be. While writing this address he is swayed by feelings of hope as well as fear.
He hopes that be will promote the public good and he has confidence in his capacity to
move the house. The thought that he is addressing the High Court of Parliament has
created tremendous enthusiasm In him. (Para 1)
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He is full of enthusiasm and full of joy because he is doing something to promote the
liberty of his country. We should not expect to have the type of civil liberty in which
nobody will have any grievance at all. But it is true civil liberty when the complaints of the
citizens are freely hear, seriously considered and speedily redressed. The very fact that he
is able to address Parliament shows that they have won a large part of this liberty. This is a
great achievement because this liberty was won after the political tyranny and spiritual
superstition imposed on them by the Stuart Kings. Even the Romans who were known for
their manliness could not have won freedom so soon after a tyranny such as their. They
have been able to win this freedom because of the grace of God and the guidance and
wisdom of Parliament Milton thinks that there is nothing wrong if he gives high praise to
Parliament for its praiseworthy actions. In fact, they deserve much more praise than he is
giving them.

He is offering sincere praise and should not be accused of flattering them. Three things
are necessary for praise to be sincere:
a. The person being praised should deserve the praise ;
b. The person being praised should have the qualities attributed to him and
c. The person offering the person offering the praise should be fully convinced that the
person who is praised deserves the praise. In these respects his praise is sincere.

A person who describes eloquently the noble actions of others and is not afraid to
describe with equal freedom what could have been done better is not a flatterer but a
sincere admirer. If he proves by argument that it would promote the cause of truth,
learning and liberty if the ordinance imposing licensing of books is revoked, it would not
mean condemning Parliament. He is doing this in the confidence that Parliament is more p
leased with public advice than other rulers have been with public flattery. If this ordinance
is recinded it will show the contrast between the magnanimity of a triennial Parliament and
the arrogance of ecclesiastical and civil administrator (like Laud and Strafford) who held
sway so far.

Milton is not afraid of criticizing as Act of Parliament because the members of this
body imitate the liberal culture and civilization of Greece where freedom of thought was
permitted. It is because they have followed the culture, wisdom and literature of Greece
that they are far more civilized than their forefathers the Goths and the jutes of the
middle Ages. He takes the example of Isocrates who from his own house wrote an oration
addressed to the parliament of Athens in which he advised them to change their pattern of
democracy and make it more severe. In those days persons who devoted themselves to
intellectual pursuits and the art of oratory were listened to with honour not only in their
own cities and districts but even in other lands, and changes in laws were made according
to their advice.

Milton says that Greece is the land of sunshine which is very good for the blossoming of
genius. He has lived in the cold climate of England. But he has trained his mind by study.
He is, therefore not much inferior to the orators of Greece. But the British Parliament is
far superior to the assemblies who listened to he Greek orators. They will prove their
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greatness if they listen to reason and repeal the Act regarding the licensing of books passed
by them earlier.

Milton is confident that Parliament will be willing to listen to every reasonable suggestion.
He , therefore, wishes to request them to reconsider the Ordinance passed by them to
regular the printing of books . He has no objection to that part of the order which ensures
copyright to the authors and publishers on their books, or provides for payment of money
for the maintenance of the poor. He objects to the clause which provides that no book or
pamphlet or paper will henceforth be printed unless it has first been approved by a certain
number of persons who will be appointed by Parliament for this purpose or by at least one
of them. In this discourse he wants to point out the harm that licensing will do to the
nation. He will try to show that the inventors of the licensing of books were the Papists who
were responsible for all the cruelties of the Inquisition. Next, he purposes to describe what
is to be thought of books in general. Then he will try to prove that this order will not
suppress the type of books which it is intended to suppress, namely books which spread
scandals or preach disloyalty to the state or damage the reputation of others. Finally he will
show that this order will discourage learning and suppress all truths.

The Government must keep a watchful eye over books as it does over men. Publishers of
bad books must be punished, because books are not dead things. They are powerful agents
for good or evil. They contain the essence of the intellect and wisdom of the person who
produced them. One has to be very cautious about suppressing a book. Killing a good book
is worse than killing a man. He who kills a man kills a reasonable creature whom God
made in His own image. But one who destroys a good book kills reason itself which is the
highest gift of God to man.

We should be very cautious when taking action against books. If a great book is suppressed
it is like killing a great man. It kills reason it self. But he does not want to be condemned
for advocating license (lawlessness) while he opposes the licensing of books. He would
review the history of licensing and show that this idea was originated by the Inquistion and
was picked up from there by the English Bishop and has now been adopted by some of the
Presbyterians.

In Athens which was the chief centre of literature and culture in Greece only two types
of books wee suppressed: either blasphemous and atheistical books or those which defamed
living personalities by name. Thus the books of Protagoras were burnt and he was
banished from the city because he openly preached atheism. They took no notice of books
of other sects and even of those who advocated sensual pleasures or denied that God was
merciful.
The Greeks did not suppress any sect or opinion. They did not take any action against
Epicurus who defined happiness as pleasure or against Aristippus who preached that
pleasure was the end of life. Nor did they suppress the immoral plays of old comedians.

As for the other leading city of Greece Sparta, there was no need of the licensing of
books among them because they cared for nothing except brave deeds of war. They disliked
all writings except their terse, pithy savings and soldierly ballads.
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The early Romans, like the Spartans, were trained to become rough for wars. They
knew very little of learning beyond their legal code called the Twelve Tables. They only
suppressed libelous books (which openly condemned others) and books which showed
contempt of their gods.
The Roman Government was so tolerant that they did not take any action against
Lecretius although he included in his chef poem an exposition of the philosophy of
Epicurus. Emperor Augustus did not take any action against Livy although in his History
of Rome he favoured the party of Pompey which was opposed to the party of Caesar, the
uncle of the Emperor. From that time onwards there was only tyranny in the Roman
Empire and good as well as bad books were suppressed. But in Greece and in the early
days of the Roman Empire only libelous and blasphemous books were suppressed. All
other books were allowed to be freely written and circulated.
At the beginning of the 4
th
Century A.D. the Roman Emperors became Christians. They
did not become more strict in dealing with books. The books of the grand heretics
(Christians who did not agree with the policies of the Pope) were scrutinized and if they
were found to be dangerous they were condemned in the meanings of the General Council
and then prohibited or burnt under the authority of the Emperor. The writings of heathen
authors were, however, not interfered with. This was changed in 398 A.D when the Fourth
Council of Carthage forbade the reading of heathen books even by the bishop. The
Councils used to declare which books were not good and did not go any further. After 800
A. D. the Popes started exercising greater control over books.

After this the Popes started prohibiting and burning the books which they did not like.
In the beginning only a small number of books were banned. Then pope Martin V (1417 -
1431) prohibiting the reading of all heretical books and ordered that anyone reading them
would be excommunicated from the Church. The reason for this greater strictness was that
reformers like Wycliffe and Huss were condemning the abuses and corruption of the
dignitaries of the Roman Catholic Church. This frightened the Papal Court and then
started taking strong measures against books which were supposed to be heretical. Pope
Leo X (Pope from 1513 1521)and his successors followed this policy. The council of Trent
(which met between 1545and 1563) and the Spanish Inquisition working together started
drawing lists of books which were not to be read by the faithful.
The Papal Court and the Inquisition finally decided to order that no book, pamphlet or
paper could be printed unless it was first approved and licensed under the signatures of
two or three priests. They seemed to feel that St. Peter had delegated to the Pope not only
the keys of Heaven but also the keys of the press. Milton gives a sample of the remarks of
the priests who have read the book and the final order giving permission for the book to be
printed.

The Papal court thought that if four priests examined a book before it was printed all
satanic influence would be removed from the book.

Thus the licensing of books was started by the Pope and his followers. Some of the
books licensed by them bear as many as five signatures of the licensers on the title cover.
This system of tyrannizing over human thought was liked by the authorities in England in
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the days of Charles 1. The Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishop of London were given
the authority to examine all books and permit them to be printed if they approved of them.
The system was imitated from the Roman Catholic Church to such an extent that the word
giving permission to print (Imprimatur) was used in Latin. It seemed as if the learned
Bishop knew only and could not use the vulgar tongue (English) for such an important
work. But Miltons idea is that the English language, which is the language of the people
who are great lovers of liberty, could not provide enough slavish words to translate a
dictatorial and arrogant word like Imprimatur into English.

Thus the system of licensing of books was invented by the Pope and his followers.
It had never been heard of in any actient state or church. Nor is it to be found in any
English law, ancient or modern. It is not to be found in any modern state which has
followed the course of the Beformation. It originated from the most anti Christian Council-
of Trent, and the most tyrannical court the Spanish Inquistion. Up to the time of the
Inquisition books were allowed to come into the world as freely as human children. The
Roman Catholic Church devised this method of thought control because they were
troubled by the Reformation. The Anglican clergy and the Presbyterians have adopted this
system from Rome.

But some persons might say that the inventors of the system were bad but the
system might be good. The idea of licensing was not something very difficult to think of.
Earlier rulers must have thought of it but they did not adopt it because they thought that
the system was bad. A bad tree can bear only bad fruit. The Papists brain is a bad tree
which can only yield dangerous fruit. Now he wants to consider whether it is useful or
harmful to read all types of books, good or bad.

Moses, Daniel and St. Paul were thoroughly acquainted with the books of the
Egyptians, the Babylonians and the Greeks. St. Paul did not think it unholy to include some
maxims from three Greek poets in the holy scripture itself. Emperor Julian, the cleverest
enemy of Christianity ordered that Christians must not read heathen authors. This was a
calamity for Christians because they ran the risk of declining into ignorance. But luckily
the law lapsed with the death of Julian within two years. To be deprived of Hellenic
learning was thought to be a greater persecution than the open cruelty of other emperors.
It is said that an angel asked St. Jerome in a dream not to read Cicero. But Milton thinks
that it might have been the Devil who asked the Saint not to read Cicero. An angel was
likely to have rebuked him for reading Plautus and not Cicero.
Milton says that if we are to be guided by visions we may as well consider a vision of
Dionysius, Bishop of Alexandria. God said to him in a vision, Read all books which come
into your hands, because you are competent to exercise your reason and judgment in the
matter. This was in accordance with the advice of St. Paul who said, This was in
accordance with the advice of St. Paul who said, Test all things and then stick to what
seems good to you.

God gave the widest choice to man regarding his food, excepting only that he should
exercise moderation for the sake of his health. Gods intention was that every mature man
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should exercise his reason and power of understanding in the choice of books. Even a bad
book is useful to an intelligent man. He can refute its false arguments.
Milton refers Parliament to the opinion of Mr Seldon, one of its most learned members. He
has shown that all opinions, even errors, when they are known, read and examined, ae
useful for bringing out the truth.
Temperance (moderation) is a great virtue but God has left a free choice to a grown-up
man in the matter of books. If there is perpetual prohibition of bad things by law there
would be no scope for preaching. Neither Solomon no any other author inspired by God
has, said that particular books are bad and so must not be read.

The Ephesians who were converted to Christianity by St. Paul burnt their old books. They
were magic books. This burning of books was done by private individuals out of their own
free will and was not enforced by the state or the churchy and so it does not justify
censorship of books by the state. If these books had not been burnt someone else might
have read them with profit.

Good and evil grow up together in life and cannot be separated from each other. Without
an understanding of evil we cannot understand good. When Adam tasted the forbidden
fruit the punishment given him was that he would not know good without evil. One who
can face all temptation and distinguish between good and evil and prefer the path of virtue,
is the true Christian.

Milton does not have a high opinion of virtue which remains in isolation and avoids
encounter with evil. Virtue must prove its greatness by being put to trial in facing vice.
Human beings are not born pure. Milton regards Spenser as a great teacher when he
represented Temperance in the form of Sir Guyon he made him go though the cave of the
god of wealth and the flower of Earthy Bliss, so that he could face all the temptations and
overcome them. Since it is necessary to examine error in order to establish truth, we
should read all types of books.

It is feared that there would be three kinds of harm if the people are allowed to read
books freely. The first fear is that bad books will corrupt the minds of the readers. If that is
accepted all books human learning and controversies should be banned. In fact, the Bible
itself will have to be expelled because it quite often describes evil things said about God in
crude language. It contains many obscene words. The ancient Fathers described the
immoralities of the heathens in great detail. They bring to light more heresies than they
prove to be wrong. If we read these books our minds will be poisoned and so these books
must be banned.

There is no use prohibiting English books if the books of heathen writers (which are
corrupt) are not prohibited. There is no use saying that books are not likely to do any
harm because they are written in an unknown language. The infection of corruption Is
spread by evil-minded men. Many of them know foreign languages and they will read these
corrupt books and spread the infection. In the past evil-minded persons used to spread the
poison first in the courts of princes and from there the poison spread in the whole of
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society. Thus licensing will keep control over English books while the corruption of heathen
books will spread in England through corrupt individuals.

The corruption which is likely to come from books of religious controversies; more
dangerous because it will affect the learned men and not the ignorant people. The
uneducated people are not seduced by these books unless they area explained to them by
the learned men. Many English priests have been corrupted by reading the comments of
the Jesuits, the sorbonists and the Roman Catholics, and they corrupt the common man.
But these dangerous religious pamphlets cannot be controlled by the Licensing Act .

The heathen books which are available in plenty in England are a source of learning
and culture. If they are suppressed it will be a serious a damage to learning. If they are not
suppressed, the learned will get the corruption and they will pass on the infection to the
common man. Evil things are learnt by people in a thousand ways other than through
books. Moreover, teachers can spread evil like heresy without writing any book. The
licensing of books cannot stop these evils.

Learned men are the first to read books and so they receive the vice and evil first and
then they pass on these evils to the others. And they will spread them. How are we to
assume that the licensers will be infallible and incorruptible? A wise man can get some
wisdom out of the worst book. A fool will remain a fool even if he is given the best book to
read. Aristotle, Solomon and Jesus Christ have said that good books are wasted on fools.
Lincensing is bad because it will deprive the wise men of the opportunity of reading many
books which may be bad but from which they can get some wisdom, while the fools will be
able to get no benefit even from the good books which will be approved by the licensers.

Those who are in favour of licensing say that obscene and heretical books offer
temptations to the human mind and so they should be banned. But Miltons reply is that
these books are like medicinal drugs for strong men. These books will strengthen their
minds. As for children and childish men, an appeal can be made to them to avoid reading
such books. Licensing will not prevent them from reading such books. Thus it is clear that
the licensing system cannot serve its purpose.

No ancient or well-governed state adopted the system of licensing of books. It is not
something which they could not think of. They did not adopt it because they did not
approve of it.

Plato was a great philosopher but his imagination took a wrong turn when he was
writing his Republic. In the laws that he made for his imaginary republic he does not
permit any learning except with the permission of the Magistrates. He also prohibited
poets from reading their poems to private individuals without the sanction of the judges.
But Plato did not make this suggestion seriously for any state of this world. Plato in his own
life broke the laws that he had suggested is his Republic. He wrote some immoral epigrams
and dialogues and read the mimes of Sophron and the comedies of Aristophanes which are
all immoral. Corruption can come to the mind from many sources and so there is no point
is placing restrictions on books alone.
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If the intention is to care for the morals of the people. Mere control on books will not do.
All those things which give pleasure to man will have to be controlled. The licensers should
keep a check on the music and dancing and even the gestures and movements of the young.
A very large number of licensers will be required to examine all the musical instruments
in all houses. The sounds which express the sentiment of love between men and women will
have to be controlled. Licensers will have to be sent to villages also to keep a control on the
feelings aroused by the bagpipes and other musical instruments. The rustle fiddler gives to
the villagers the same delight as Sidneys Arcadia gives to the educated classes in cities. So
the morals of the people cannot be controlled merely by licensing books.

Gluttony and excessive drinking are great vices in England. People wear clothes cut I
immoral styles. Boys and girls talk freely and dance together. Immoral activities can be
controlled by appealing to the moral sense of the people. The state cannot control the
morals of the people by controlling the press.
We cannot improve our world by withdrawing into imaginary worlds like New Atlantis
or Utopia. We live in a world of evil and we cannot solve our problems by applying moral
principles. Platos suggestion license books will involve us in numerous other controls
which will make the English a language stock in the world. Plato has emphasized the
importance of education. We should reform the people by appealing to their moral sense.
The art of administration lies in judging where restraint is necessary and where persuasion
can achieve the best result.
When every action of an adult is controlled and he has no choice between good and evil,
he cannot be praised for his virtuous actions. Many persons say that God should not have
permitted Adam to eat the forbidden apple. They are wrong. When God gave reason to
Adam He gave him the right to choose between good and evil. God has given us passions
and has spread pleasures before us. He has also given us reason. If we enjoy the pleasures
within limits and are reasonable we can build up our moral and spiritual personality.

People who think that they can remove sin by removing all the things which tempt
people to omit sins have no knowledge of human nature or the world. Sin increases when
attempts are made to reduce it. Bad books may be banned but that does not solve the
problem because there are objectionable passages even in good books. You can take away
the wealth of a greedy man but you cannot take away his greed. Men cannot be made
virtuous by taking away all objects of sin from them. Virtue becomes a reality only in its
struggle with sin.

God wishes that we should be temperate and should abstain from all vices. But he has
placed before us all the temptations of life. He has given us reason and judgment, so that
we can choose right from wrong and lead a virtuous life. Why should we make laws
different from Gods law. We should allow good and bad books to circulate freely and leave
it to the judgment of the individuals to choose the right books. A small amount of good
action should be preferred to the suppression of a large amount of evil action. God would
prefer to see one person growing virtuous rather than seeing ten victims persons being
controlled.

12

Books alone do not lead us to virtue or vice. Whatever we see or hear leads us to virtue
or vice. The Licensing Act is unable to prevent a libelous royalist periodical (The
Mercurius Aulicus) from appearing in print every week. It condemns Parliament every
week and yet it is not stopped. This shows that the Licensing Act is not effective. If this Act
is to be effective Parliament will have to search all scandalous and undesirable books which
have already been printed and proscribe them. A list of all the books which are imported
will have to be examined before they are released to the public. Even good books will have
to be examined because there may be objectionable passages in them. All this work will
require an enormous number of licensers. When the licensers find that their work has
increased immensely they will order the closure of presses in which undesirable books have
been found to have been printed. So in order to make the Licensing Act effective
Parliament will have to act like the Council of Trent and the Inquisition, which it will not
like to do.

If the aim of Parliament in passing the Licensing Act was to prevent the formation of
sects and schisms it will not succeed. It is not necessary that new sects should put down
their principles in a pure form for ages by propagating their principles by word of mouth.
Even Christianity was once a schism and it spread all over Asia without its principle being
written down. If the aim of Parliament was to improve the morals of the people, it will fail
in its purpose Licensing of books has been done ruthlessly in Italy and Spain, but it has
not made the people of those countries more honest and more virtuous than the people of
other countries.

It will be very difficult to implement this order because it will be very difficult to find so
many men who are learn4ed and impartial enough to be appointed licensers. If the
licensers are not fully qualified they will do harm by approving of bad books and rejects
good books. For those licensers who are learned men this work will be a waste of time,
because there is no greater drudgery than the task of reading a large number of long and
dull books in all seasons. For a scholar this will be a criminal waste of time. Milton begs the
present licensers to pardon him. They have accepted this work in obedience to the wishes
of Parliament. But they are already tired of it and wish to get rid of it. No competent man
is likely to accept the job in future. Only those who accept the drudgery and the wages of
proof readers will accept the job. In future, therefore, we shall have licensers who will be
ignorant and proud. So this order will not serve the purpose which Parliament had in mind
which they passed it
Licensing can do no good. In fact, it is positively harmful as it is the greatest
discouragement to learning and the biggest insult that can be offered to learned men.

Clergymen used to say that if pluralities (the system of one clergyman holding more
than one benefice) were abolished and they were not paid well, learning will suffer because
they claimed that they were the only learned people. But Milton does not agree. The clergy
were after money and not learning. The Licensing Act will harm the innocent scholars who
love leaning for itself. These scholars want to serve God and truth and they want only one
reward These scholars want to serve God and truth and they want only one reward
lasting fame. To distrust the judgment and honesty o one who has a great reputation for
learning and has never offended. And not to regard him as fit to print what comes in his
13

mind without getting it checked by a licenser, lest he creates a sect or a schism or sp reads
immorality, is the greatest insult which can be inflicted on a learned man.

Under this system a distinguished writer is treated as not better than a schoolboy and
his serious and carefully prepared books are treated as If they were merely exercises of a
boy learning grammar, under a teacher and cannot be printed without being scanned
hurriedly by a licenser who is perhaps younger and inferior in judgment and who has no
time to study the books carefully and gives his judgment without mature consideration.
The scholar is not trusted and is treated like a foreigner or a fool. This is an insult to the
author and to the dignity of learning.
It is possible that after an author ha completed a book, got it licensed and sent to the
press he may get a fresh idea. He cannot give it to the press because it has first to be
checked by a licenser. So the press has to wait while the author runs to the licenser to get
his approval for the addition. It may perhaps happen a dozen times in a single book. He has
to go to the same licenser every time and can get his work done only if the licenser is at
leisure. In the meantime either the press must remain closed or the book would be sent to
the world worse than what the author would have made it with his addition.

An author writes a book if he has a message to convey to the reader. Hence he is a
teacher. But none will respect a teacher who is under the guardianship of a licenser who
pretends to be a patriarch with authority to delete or correct anything in the book
according to his caprice which he calls his judgment. A sensitive reader will not like to
read such a licensed book. He may not agree with the judgment of the licenser at all. The
reader may not like the idea of the state dictating to him what he should read and what he
should not read.

If the work of an author who is now dead comes to the licensers for permission to print
it or reprint it, they may order that a certain portion may be deleted. This might have been
written in a moment of inspiration but may appear undesirable to the perverted taste of a
licenser. The result will be that the book will be printed in a mutilated form. Even a great
lender of the Reformation like knox may be subjected to this treatment. This violence was
done to a great author whom Milton does not name.
If these things are not opposed and set right in time by members of Parliament, the
licensers will delete the best passages of the finest books and thus they will do injury to the
unprotected books of the worthiest men after their death. If the licensing continues learned
scholars will find it humiliating to write books and only ignorant and lazy persons will be
able to lead pleasant lives.

The licensing of books is an insult not only to all authors living and dead- but to the
nation as a whole. All the wisdom and judgment of the whole nation cannot be
concentrated in twenty licensers, however, learned they might be. Truth and understanding
are not like consume goods which can be standardized and monopolized by a few. The
Licensing Act will impose on the authors the type of slavery which the Philistines had
imposed on the Jews. The Jews had to go to them to get their axes and the blades of their
ploughs sharpened. The authors will have to go to the licensers to get the results of their
knowledge and experience scrutinized and certified by them. If an author has written some
14

scandalous or disgraceful book it may be ordered that in future he will not be allowed to
publish any book unless it has first been checked by some officers. But why should authors
who have never done anything wrong be subjected to this humiliation? This Act shows that
everyone is suspected. It is an insult to the whole nation. Even debtors and offenders can
walk about freely without a jailer but books which have caused no offence cannot go out
without a jailers (Licensers signature on the title.

It is also an insult to the common people because the Parliament is so suspicious of
them that they cannot trust them to read an English pamphlet without the permission of a
licenser.

They think that the common people have no reason and judgment. This does not show
the Governments love of the people, because in Roman Catholic countries where the
authorities do not love the people, they are treated in this very way. It may be said that bad
books are a source of corruption and licensing saves the people from them. But there are
many sources of corruption and licensing cannot save the people from them.

This is a reflection on the priests also because it means that in spite of all their
preaching the people are so unprincipled that their faith in Christianity can be shaken by
every new pamphlet. All their sermons have not made the people strong enough to face a
pamphlet without the protection of licenser. What good has all the preaching done if the
people have to be saved from vice by the Papist form of licensing?

Milton had been told by the scholars of other countries that the English people enjoyed
freedom while they themselves were groaning under the tyranny imposed by the
Inquisition. Licensing was a great discouragement to learning and that is why nothing
great had been written in Italy for a long time. There Milton had met the great astronomer,
Galileo, who was being dept in prison because the Inquisition did not agree with his views
on astronomy. (Para 56)

Although Milton knew that in those days England was suffering terribly due to the
tyranny of the bishop, he took the opinion of other countries that England enjoyed
intellectual freedom as an assurance of future happiness. He knew that there were many
great men in England who would bring about religious and political liberation . Parliament
brought about this revolution but he is sorry that it has imposed intellectual slavery. The
intellectuals of England who had a favourable opinion of Milton and who respected
Parliament and were respected by it, pressed Milton to use all his arguments to persuade
Parliament to end licensing, just as the Sicilians had requested Cicero to plead against
Verres. So Milton is expressing the common grievance of all those intellectuals who are
engaged in the search for truth.

Speaking on behalf of the intellectuals Milton says that the introduction of licensing will
bring the worst practices of the Inquisition. If the Presbyterians refuse to let the public
read any books except the ones they like, it will be a second tyranny over learning. They
will become sure that the Bishops and the Presbyterians are the same. In those days the
Archbishop did the licensing. Now an ignorant priest will do it and he will also retain his
15

office as a priest. Thus he will hold two offices- a thing which the Presbyterians condemned
in the past.

The English and Scottish nations entered into a solemn Covenant in order to suppress
Roman Catholicism and end the rule of the Bishop. But now one type of slavery is being
imposed for another. Now the people will not be under the Archbishop but they will be
under the licensers. First they will exercise control on books and them on other things.
Why should a church based on strong faith be afraid of books? The Christian religion does
not approve of the licensing of books. The English Bishops learnt it from the Inquisition
and the Presbyterians have learnt it from them.
The aim of this Act seems to be to suppress all opposition. When the bishops were to
be suppressed it was said that this was being done to set the press free. But others have
taken the place of the bishops. The freedom of learning is to be put in chains again and all
this is happening while the Parliament is in session. The members of Parliament should
remember should remember the arguments which they themselves used to suppress the
rule of the bishops. When coercive methods are used against books the sects and schisms do
not die. People feel that there must be some spark of truth in them and so they flourish.
When a book is suppressed people feel that there must be some truth in it. This order for
the licensing of books will, there fore, actually encourage the growth of sects.

Just as our limbs remain healthy by exercise, our faith and knowledge remain fresh if
they are constantly tested in action. If we believe in a truth only because the priest says so
or the assembly of Divines says so, it is no better than heresy even if it is true. Truth is like
the water of a fountain. It must flow, otherwise it stagnates into blind belief.

Many persons give charge of their religion to others. A rich man has no time for religion
but he wishes to be called religious. So he engages a priest and entrusts all his religious
affairs to his charge. He regards his association with this priest as a proof of his religious
devotion. He entertains this priest (who is his religion) very well and then remains busy in
earning money the whole day. This is the effect of licensing on rich businessmen.

When people know that they are to be allowed to read only those books which are
approved of by the licensers, they will stop their own search for truth. The lovers of
pleasure will devote all their time to enjoyments because religious will come to them in a
readymade form from the licensers. The spirit of enquiry will disappear and everything
will be reduced to a fixed pattern. This will be a sort of intellectual and spiritual death.

The effect of licensing on clergyman will be no better. For their normal work of
delivering sermons they will take help from published sermons, notes and summaries
which are available in abundance. If new books challenging the accepted principles appear,
the clergymen will have to work hard to controvert these heresies and they have to keep
instructing their parishioners so that they are not misled. If these books are suppressed by
the licensers, their parishioners so that are not misled. If these books are suppressed by the
licensers, the clergymen will become lazy.
If a man is judicious and learned and is prepared to express his views openly, he
should be allowed to publish his books freely. Jesus Christ said that he was speaking the
16

truth because he had the courage to preach in public. Writing is more public than
preaching and it is easy to refute the errors of a printed book.

True knowledge will be hindered by licensing. The licensers are also priest and it will be
difficult for them to perform the two functions simultaneously.

The loss of the nation due to licensing will be so great that it is something unbelievable.
It will stop the import of the nations richest merchandise namely truth. It was first started
by the anti Christian Roman Catholic Church to prevent the spread of the Reformation
and to spread falsehood in the world. The English should thank God that they enjoy more
intellectual freedom than most other nations. But that does not mean that they should not
advance further towards truth.

Truth came into the world in its purest form with Jesus Christ, but when He went to
Heaven and his A postles died, a wicked race of deceivers cut truth to pieces and scattered
its parts far and wide. The friends of truth have been trying to find it out but it will be
found in all its glory when Jesus comes again. Licensing will hinder the work of those who
are seeking truth.

The British people are proud that the Reformation has spread truth in England. But
they should use that light to discover more truths. It is not enough to end the rule of the
Bishops. Other reforms are also needed. The light of reformers like Zuingli and Calvin
should not make the Presbyterians blind to other truths. They want absolute unity in the
Church and are afraid of sects and schisms because of their pride and ignorance. They are
checking the search for truth. The golden rule in theology as in Arithmetic is to search
what we do not know on the basis of what we know. Harmony in the Church can be
brought about by combining new truths with the old ones.
Milton wants the Lords and Common of England to remember that they belong to and
are the rulers of a nation consisting of clever and sharp people who are skilful in inventing
new things and strong in arguments and discussions. From ancient times they have gone
deep into the study of philosophy and science. Pythagoras and the Persians learnt much
from the English, The wise Roman, Julius Agricola, who governed England on behalf of
three Caesars, thought more highly of the natural wits of the English than of the labored
learning of the French. The Transylvanians came to England to learn their language their
philosophy and their theology.

God is special kind to Englishmen. The first trumpet call of the Reformation was
given to the whole of Europe by Wyciffe from England. If the bishops had not suppressed
this great reformer none of the other reformers would have become known and England
would have had the glory of reforming the whole of Europe. God wanted the English to be
the teachers of the world but because of the obstinacy of the clergymen they have become
most backward in scholarship. God now wants to start a new spiritual age and He wants
the information to be further reformed. God is revealing Himself to His own Englishmen
and He wants them to take the led in the spiritual regeneration, though they are not worthy
of this trust.

17

London is the Man House of Liberty. It provides shelter to those who are persecuted
in their own countries. Weapons are made here for the defense of justice and truth. A lot of
thinkers and writers are working hard for a new spiritual revival. England needs wise and
faithful workers so that she is converted into a nation of prophets, sages and great men. If
they took around them they would find that a spiritual rebirth has already come.

When people are keen to learn there are bound to be many arguments and divergence
of opinion. God has stirred up a great desire for knowledge in the people of London. But
under the absurd terror of sects and schisms Parliament is introducing restrictions on
freedom of expression. We should to happy that people now understand and argue about
religion which in the past was in the hands of priests. If we exercise some prudence and
tolerance we might be able to combine all those people who are working for sects and
schisms in a common search for truth. If a stranger were to visit England he would be
astonished at the Englishmans love of truth and freedom. He would exclaim that if he had
the help of men like the English he able to make any church or kingdom happy.

Yet these men who are ken to get knowledge and truth are being condemned as
sectarians. Just as the house of God cannot be built unless the wood and the stones are cut
and shaped properly, in the same way the house of truth cannot be made without
differences of opinion. When people are searching for truth there cannot be uniformity of
opinion. Truth can be evolved by harmonizing the opinion of various sects and schisms.

Milton wants his countrymen to be very wise in building up their faith when they are
expecting a great reformation . Moses, the great prophet wished that all the Lords people
should become prophets. This has come true in England. All the people have become
keenly it crested in religion. Some people have become jealous and they feel that the
formation of sects will divide the English church. But the English church is like a strong
tree and the sects are its branches. They do not weaken the tree. The Roman Catholics who
wish to destroy the Church of England will not succeed in their designs.

At one time London was besieged by Royalist troops and an attack was imminent. Even
in that moment of peril the people were holding discussions on philosophical, scientific and
religious matters. This shows their mental peace and confidence in their government. This
is the same confidence which was shown by a Roman citizen who purchased the land on
which the enemy (Hannibal) was camping at the normal price.

The formation of sects and schisms shows the spirit and energy of the people. Just as in
the human body the freshness of the Flood and the spirit shows that the body is healthy.
The capacity of English men to defend their freedom and also to argue and discuss shows
that they are destined to become great in future ages. Just as a snake casts off its old skin
the British nation is throwing off its corrupt past and advancing towards truth and virtue.
The nation is like strongman who is getting up after sleep. She is like an eagle which is
renewing its youth and looking at the mid-day glory of truth.
Should Parliament suppress the new truth and knowledge by subjecting it to the control
of twenty licensers? This will impoverish the minds of the people. Parliament has fought
for and secured liberty for the people in this atmosphere of freedom.
18


The members of Parliament are the lovers and founders of liberty. If they now want to
make the people ignorant and brutish, they will have to change their own nature and
become despotic like the king and his supporters. Persons who fought against the king for
his illegal will not support Parliament now. Milton loves the liberty to know, to express
oneself and to argue freely more than all other liberties.
Milton does not offer his own opinion regarding the action to be taken against those
who differ from the authorities and hold new opinions. He refers Parliament to the last
words of one of its members who sacrificed himself for the cause of liberty Lord Book .
He exhorted the nation to hear with patience and humility those who hold opinions
according to their conscience and are branded as sectarians or schismatics. His advice
should be carefully considered.
Since England has won political and religion liberty the time is now ripe for free
enquiry and discussion. Truth is strong enough to fight against falsehood. We should not
protect truth by suppressing books which we consider false . We should let truth and
falsehood engage in a free fight. Many persons who seek truth are not satisfied with
Presbyterianism which came ready-made from Calyin. Solomon asked people to search for
wisdom everywhere. But the licensing system requires that we should read only those books
which are permitted to be printed by the licensers. If a person discovers a new truth and he
wants to publish it, he has to fight against a licenser.
Truth is the strongest thing next only to God. It need not be protected by licensing. If
truth is fettered it becomes distorted. Truth may have many sides. Many things are not
wholly true or wholly false. St. boasted that Christ bequeathed liberty to all his followers.
But Christians are taking away the liberty of other Christians. It is hypocrisy to judge our
fellow-men and think that we are right while all others are wrong.

Archbishop Laud enforced slavery to outward conformity and the Presbyterians are
following the same Polly. They should unite the scattered pieces of truth wherever they find
them. They do not do that. The result is that there is dead conformity without essential
unity. The foundation of the Church is Jesus. The attempt to maintain external conformity
would be more harmful than the division into sects and schisms.

People should not keep away from the main body of the church because of minor
differences. We should tolerate differences and not compel all the people to hold the same
opinion. Roman Catholicism, of course, cannot be tolerated because it is nothing but open
superstition and it uproots all religious and civil independence. But even in dealing with
them force should not be used but they should be persuaded to come to the right path with
kindness. Positive evil cannot be tolerated but minor differences of opinion should be
tolerated. (Para 84)

When a person has discovered a truth and he writes a book on it, licensing should no
prevent him from publishing his book. Licensing is more likely to prohibit truth than
falsehood. Licensing checks the spread of new ideas. Licensing encourages the formation of
new sects for when truth is suppressed people are encouraged to form new groups. When
God wants a religious revolution to take place He sends men of rare ability to do this work.
19

At such a time false teachers also become busy. It is, therefore, necessary that persons who
know the truth should be allowed full freedom to publish their books.

The ways of God are different from those of men. His truths do not always come from
the same places or organizations. A true Christian should have conviction according to
conscience and deep faith. Even the meant Christian should be given freedom of
conscience.

If the leaders of the sects appear to be wrong the matter can be discussed and debated
with them. It is possible that they are seeing the truth from a different point of view. It is
possible that some of them may be genuine exponents of truth. If Parliament suppresses all
of them because they want uniformity of religion, they will be persecutors of the true faith.

Many members of the present Parliament defied the licensing act of Charles I and
published books without submitting them to the licensers. Milton hopes that those very
persons were not responsible for re imposing that slavery on the people. Moses and Christ
favoured freedom of thought. Those members of Parliament who are determined to
suppress freedom of thought should themselves be suppressed. They are now puffed up
with pride and their sufferings caused by the licensing Act of Charles I have not made them
wise.

Milton approves of the part of the order which specifies that every book should bear the
names of the author and the printer or at least the printers name. The purpose of this
regulation is to safeguard the copyright of the author and the printer and this is a very
found to be mischievous, they should be burnt by the common hangman. But the order
regarding the licensing of books is mischievous and arbitrary and is derived from the
Spanish Inquisition and the star-Chamber. The aim of these bodies was to suppress the
opinions of the people. It seems that the Stationers company persuaded Parliament by
using some false arguments to press this order because they wanted to secure a monopoly
over some books. Their aim also was to let royalist (anti-Parliament) Books escape to other
countries a thing which has actually happened.
Milton does not want to discuss the false arguments of the booksellers here. A good
government is as liable to commit mistakes as a bad one. A Magistrate may be led to take a
wrong action if he is wrongly informed and this may easily happen if the printing of books
is controlled by a few licensers. The greatest virtue of persons in high positions is that if
they commit a mistake they acknowledge it and set things right. This virtue is possessed by
the honoured lords and commons of England and so he appeals to them to repeal the
Ordinance regarding the licensing of books.