Essays, Moral and Political/Essay 2
ESSAY II.
Of the Liberty of the Press.
There is nothing more apt to surprise a Foreigner, than the extreme Liberty we enjoy in this Country, of communicating whatever we please to the Publick, and of openly censuring every Measure which is enter'd into by the King or his Ministers. If the Administration resolve upon War, 'tis affirm'd, that either wilfully or ignorantly they mistake the Interest of the Nation, and that Peace, in the present Situation of Affairs, is infinitely preferable. If the Passion of the Ministers be for Peace, our Political Writers breathe nothing but War and Devastation, and represent the pacifick Conduct of the Government as mean and pusillanimous. As this Liberty is not indulg'd in any other Government, either Republican or Monarchical; in Holland and Venice, no more than in France or Spain; it may very naturally give Occasion to these two Questions, How it happens that Great Britain enjoys such a peculiar Privilege? and, Whether the unlimited Exercise of this Liberty be advantageous or prejudicial to the Publick?
AS to the first Question, Why the Laws indulge us in such an extraordinary Liberty? I believe the Reason may be deriv'd from our mixt Form of Government, which is neither wholly Monarchical, nor wholly Republican. 'Twill be found, if I mistake not, to be a true Observation in Politicks, That the two Extremes in Government, of Liberty and Slavery, approach nearest to each other; and, that as you depart from the Extremes, and mix a little of Monarchy with Liberty, the Government becomes always the more free; and, on the other Hand, when you mix a little of Liberty with Monarchy, the Yoke becomes always the more grievous and intolerable. In a Government, such as that of France, which is entirely absolute, and where Laws, Custom, and Religion, all concur to make the People fully satisfi'd with their Condition, the Monarch cannot entertain the least Jealousy against his Subjects, and therefore is apt to indulge them in great Liberties both of Speech and Action. In a Government altogether Republican, such as Holland, where there is no Magistrate so eminent as to give Jealousy to the State, there is also no Danger in intrusting the Magistrates with very large discretionary Powers; and tho' many Advantages result from such Powers, in the Preservation of Peace and Order; yet they lay a considerable Restraint on Mens Actions, and make every private Subject pay a great Respect to the Government. Thus it is evident, that the two Extremes, of absolute Monarchy and of a Republic, approach very near to each other in the most material Circumstances. In the first, the Magistrate has no Jealousy of the People: In the second, the People have no Jealousy of the Magistrate: Which want of Jealousy begets a mutual Confidence and Trust in both Cases, and produces a Species of Liberty in Monarchies, and of arbitrary Power in Republics.
To justify the other Part of the foregoing Proposition, that in every Government the Means are most wide of each other, and that the Mixtures of Monarchy and Liberty render the Yoke either more easy or more grievous. I must take Notice of a Remark of Tacitus with regard to the Romans under their Emperors, that they neither could bear total Slavery nor total Liberty, Nec totam servitutem nec totam libertatem pati possunt. This Remark a famous Poet has translated and applied to the English in his admirable Description of Queen Elizabeth's Policy and happy Government.
Qui ne peut ni servir, ni vivre en liberté
Henriade, Liv. 1.
According to these Remarks, therefore, we are to consider the Roman Government as a Mixture of Despotism and Liberty, where the Despotism prevailed; and the English Government as a Mixture of the same Kind, but where the Liberty predominates. The Consequences are exactly conformable to the foregoing Observation; and such as may be expected from those mixed Forms of Government, which beget a mutual Watchfulness and Jealousy. The Roman Emperors were, many of them, the most frightful Tyrants that ever disgraced Humanity; and 'tis evident their Cruelty was chiefly excited by their Jealousy, and by their observing, that all the great Men of Rome bore with Impatience the Dominion of a Family, which, but a little before, was nowise superior to their own. On the other Hand, as the Republican Part of the Government prevails in England, tho' with a great Mixture of Monarchy, 'tis obliged, for its own Preservation, to maintain a watchful Jealousy over the Magistrates, to remove all discretionary Powers, and to secure every one's Life and Fortune by general and inflexible Laws. No Action must be deemed a Crime but what the Law has plainly determined to be such: No Crime must be imputed to a Man but from a legal Proof before his Judges: And even these Judges must be his Fellow-subjects, who are obliged by their own Interest to have a watchful Eye over the Encroachments and Violence of the Ministers. From these Causes it proceeds, that there is as much Liberty, and even, perhaps, Licence in Britain, as there was formerly Slavery and Tyranny in Rome.
These Principles account for the great Liberty of the Press in these Kingdoms, beyond what is indulg'd in any other Government. 'Tis sufficiently known, that despotic Power wou'd soon steal in upon us, were we not extreme watchful to prevent its Progress, and were there not an easy Method of conveying the Alarum from one End of the Kingdom to the other. The Spirit of the People must frequently be rouz'd to curb the Ambition of the Court; and the Dread of rouzing this Spirit must be employ'd to prevent that Ambition. Nothing is so effectual to this Purpose as the Liberty of the Press, by which all the Learning, Wit, and Genius of the Nation may be employ'd on the Side of Liberty, and every one be animated to its Defence. As long, therefore, as the Republican Part of our Government can maintain itself against the Monarchical, it must be extreme jealous of the Liberty of the Press, as of the utmost Importance to its Preservation.
Since therefore the Liberty of the Press is so essential to the Support of our mixt Government; this sufficiently decides the second Question, Whether this Liberty be advantageous or prejudicial; there being nothing of greater Importance in every State than the Preservation of the ancient Government, especially if it be a free one. But I wou'd fain go a Step farther, and assert, that such a Liberty is attended with so few Inconveniencies, that it may be claim'd as the common Right of Mankind, and ought to be indulg'd them almost in every Government; except the Ecclesiastical, to which indeed it wou'd be fatal. We need not dread from this Liberty any such ill Consequences as follow'd from the Harangues of the popular Demagogues of Athens and Tribunes of Rome. A Man reads a Book or Pamphlet alone and coolly. There is none present from whom he can catch the Passion by Contagion. He is not hurry'd away by the Force and Energy of Action. And shou'd he be wrought up to never so seditious a Humour, there is no violent Resolution presented to him, by which he can immediately vent his Passion. The Liberty of the Press, therefore, however abus'd, can scarce ever excite popular Tumults or Rebellion. And as to those Murmurs or secret Discontents it may occasion, 'tis better they shou'd get Vent in Words, that they may come to the Knowledge of the Magistrate before it be too late, in order to his providing a Remedy against them. Mankind, 'tis true, have always a greater Propension to believe what is said to the Disadvantage of their Governors than the contrary; but this Inclination is inseparable from them, whether they have Liberty or not. A Whisper may fly as quick, and be as pernicious as a Pamphlet. Nay it will be more pernicious, where Men are not accustom'd to think freely, or distinguish betwixt Truth and Falshood.
It has also been found, as the Experience of Mankind increases, that the People are no such dangerous Monster as they have been represented, and that 'tis in every Respect better to guide them, like rational Creatures, than to lead or drive them, like brute Beasts. Before the united Provinces set the Example, Toleration was deem'd incompatible with good Government, and 'twas thought impossible, that a Number of religious Sects cou'd live together in Harmony and Peace, and have all of them an equal Affection to their common Country, and to each other. England has set a like Example of civil Liberty; and tho' this Liberty seems to occasion some mall Ferment at present, it has not as yet produced any pernicious Effects, and it is to be hoped, that Men, being every Day more accustomed to the free Discussion of public Affairs, will improve in their Judgment of them, and be with greater Difficulty seduced by every idle Rumor and popular Clamour
'Tis a very comfortable Reflection to the Lovers of Liberty, that this peculiar Privilege of Britain is of a Kind that cannot easily be wrested from us, and must last as long as our Government remains, in any Degree, free and independent. 'Tis seldom, that Liberty of any Kind is lost all at once. Slavery has so frightful an Aspect to Men accustom'd to Freedom, that it must steal in upon them by Degrees, and must disguise itself in a thousand Shapes, in ordet to be received. But if the Liberty of the Press ever be lost, it must be lost at once. The general Laws against Sedition and Libelling are at present as strong as they possibly can be made. Nothing can impose a farther Restraint, but either the clapping an Imprimatur upon the Press, or the giving very large discretionary Powers to the Court to punish whatever displeases them. But these Concessions would be such a bare-fac'd Violation of Liberty, that they will probably be the last Efforts of a despotic Government. We may conclude, that the Liberty of Britain is gone for ever, when these Attempts shall succeed.