160

HISTORY OP EN GLAND.

CHAP.

XIX.

J6I)2.

The firstparlia-mentarydiscus-sions onthe li-berty ofthe press.

against a court favourite would have been brought before thePrivy Council and sent to the Tower. Those times were gone,never to return. There was no longer any danger that theKing would oppress the members of the legislature; and therewas much danger that the members of the legislature mightoppress the people. Nevertheless the words Privilege of Par-liament, those words which the stern senators of the precedinggeneration had murmured when a tyrant filled their chamberwith his guards, those words which a hundred thousand Lon-doners had shouted in his ears when he ventured for the lasttime within the walls of their city, still retained a magical in-fluence over all who loved liberty. It was long before even themost enlightened men became sensible that the precautionswhich had been originally devised for the purpose of pro-tecting patriots against the displeasure of the Court nowserved only to proteot sycophants against the displeasure ofthe nation.

It is also to be observed that few of those who showed at thistime the greatest desire to increase the political power of thepeople were as yet prepared to emancipate the press from thecontrol of the government. The Licensing Act, which hadpassed, as a matter of course, in 1685, expired in 1693, andwas renewed, not however without an opposition, which,though feeble when compared with the magnitude of the objectin dispute, proved that the public mind was beginning dimly toperceive how closely civil freedom and freedom of conscienceare connected with freedom of discussion.

On the history of the Licensing Act no preceding writer hasthought it worth while to expend any care or labour. Yetsurely the events which led to the establishment of the libertyof the press in England, and in all the countries peopled by theEnglish race, may be thought to have as much interest for the