INTRODUCTION TO AREOPAGITICA

1. 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 he will prorapte 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.
[ Part 1

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 heard, 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
tyrcnny 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 theirs.
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.
[ Para 2
He is offering sincere praise and should not be accused of
flattering them.
 Three things are necessary for praise to be sincere :
(1) The person being praised should deserve the praise ;
(2) The person being praised should have the qualities attributed
to him
and (3) 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.
[ Para 3
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 pleased with public advice than
other rulers have been with public flattery. Tf this ordinance is
recinded it will show the contrast between the magnanimity of a
triennial Parliament and the arrogance of ecclesiastical and civil
administrators (like Laud and Strafford) who held sway so far.

[ Para 4
Milton is not afraid of criticising an 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.
[ Para 5

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 the Greek orators.
They will prove their greatness if they listen to reason and repeal
the Act regarding the licensing of books passed by them earlier.

{ Para 6
Milton is confident that Parliament will be willing to listen to
every reasonab1? suggestion. He, therefore,wishes to request them
to reconsider the Ordinance passed by them to regulate 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.
[ Para 7
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 are as powerful as the great men whose thoughts they
project. They contain the essence of the intellect and wisdom of die
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.
[ Para 8
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
licence (lawlessness) while he opposes the licensing of books. He
would review the history of licensing and show that this idea was
originated by the Inquisition and was picked up from there by the
English Bishops and has now been adopted by some of the
Presbyterians.
[ Para 9
In Athens which was the chief centre of literature and culture in
Greece only two types of books were 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.,
[ Para 10
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.
[ Para 11
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 sayings and soldierly ballads.
[ Para. 12
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 libellous books
(which openly condemned others) and books which showed
contempt of their gods.
[ Para 13
The Roman Government was so tolerant that they did not take any
action against Lecretius although he included in his chief 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 pany 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 libellous and blasphemous books were
suppressed. All other books were allowed to be freely written and
circulated.

[ Pan 14
At the beginning of the 4th 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 scrutinised and if they
were found to be dangerous they were condemned in the meetings
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 bishops. The Councils used to declare which
books were not food and did not go any further. After 800 A. D.
the Popes started exercising greater control over books.
[ Para 15
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) prohibited
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 Wyclifle and Huss
were condemning the abuses and corruption of the dignitaries of
the Roman Catholic Church. This frightened the Papal Court and
they 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 1545 and 1563) and the Spanish Inquisition working
together started drawing lists of books which were not to be read
by the faithful.

[ Para 16
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.
[ Para 17
The Papal Court thought that if four priests examined a book
before it was printed all satanic influence would be removed from
the book.
[ Para 18
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
tyrannising over human thought was liked by the authorities in
England in the days of Charles I. 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 Latin
and could not use the vulgar tongue (English) for such an
important work. But Milton’s 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.
[ Para 19
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 Deformation. It originated from the
most antiChristian Council-the Council of Trent, and the most
tyrannical court-the Spanish Inquisition. 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.
[ Para 20
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.
[ Para 21
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.
[ Para 22
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.
[ Para 23
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, ”Test all things and then stick to what seems good to
you”
[ Para 24
God gave the widest choice to man regarding his food, excepting
only that he should exercise moderation for the sake of his health.
God’s intention was that every mature man 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, are useful for
bringing out the truth.
[ Para 25
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 nor 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 oid books. They were magic books. This burning of
books was done by private dividuals out of their own free will and
was not enforced by the state or the church 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.
[ Para 26
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 to him was that he would not know good
without evil. One who can face all temptations and distinguish
between good and evil and prefer the path of virtue, is the true
Christian.
[ Para 27
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 jyjre.. What makes us pure is trial. Milton regards
Spenser as a great teacher because when he represented
Temperance in the form of Sir Guyon he made him go through the
cave of the god of wealth and the Bower of Earthly 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.
[ Para 28
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
of 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.
[ Para 29
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 these 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 these evil-minded persons used to spread the poison first
in the courts of princes and from there the poison spread
in the whole of society. Thus licensing will keep control over
English books while the corruption of heathen books will spread in
England through corrupt individuals.
[ Para 30

The corruption which is likely to come from books of religious

controversies is 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 are explained to them by the
learned men. Many English priests have been corrupted by reading
the comments of the Jesuits, the sorbonists and the Rowan
Catholics, and they corrupt the common man. But these dangerous
religious pamphlets cannot be controlled by the Licensing Act.
[ Para 31
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 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 evils like
heresy without writing any book. The licensing of books cannot
stop these evils.
[ Para 32
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.
The licensers will read all books and they will get the evils and
they will spread them. How are we to asssume 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.
[Para 33
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 Milton’s 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.
[Para 34
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.
[Para 35
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 fur any
state of this world. Plato in his own life broke the laws that he had
suggested in 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 in placing
restrictions on books alone.
[ Para 36
If the intention is to care for the morals of the people, mere control
on books will not do. 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 rustic fiddler gives to the villagers
the same delight as Sidney’s Arcadia gives to the educated classes
in cities. So the morals of the people cannot be controlled merely
by licensing books.

[ Para 37
Gluttony and excessive drinking are great vices in England.
People wear clothes cut in 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.
[ Para 38
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.
Plato’s suggestion to license books will involve us in numerous
other controls which will make the English a laughing 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 results.
 [ Para 39.
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.

[ Para 40
People who think that they can remove sin by removing all the
things which tempt people to commit 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. If we remove sin from the world we
remove virtue also.
[ Para 41
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 God’s law. We should allow good and bad books to
circulate freely and leavs 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 cruel persons being controlled.
[ Para 42
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 libellous 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 undesircable books which have already
been printed and proscribe them. A list of all the books which have
been condemned will have to be drawn up. All 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.

[ Para 43
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
books. Many sects in the past have preserved their doctrines 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 principles being written down. If the aim of
Parliament was improve the morals of the people, it will fail in its
purpose.
Licensing of books has been done ruthlessly in Italy and Spam,
but it has not made the people of those countries more honest and
more virtuous than the people of other countries.
[ Para 44
It will be very difficult to implement this order because it will be
very difficult to find so many men who are learned and impartial
enough to be appointed licensers. If the licensers are not fully
qualified they will do harm by approving of bad books and
rejecting good books.
For those licensers who are learned men this work will be a a wi
ste of time, because there is no greater drudgery than’ the task of
«’-’M»,;g a large Dumber of long and dull books in all season*.
For a scholar this will be a criminal waste of time. Milton begs the
present licensen 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 die 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 when they passed
it.
[ Para 45
Licensing can do no good. In fact, it is nositively harmful as it is
the greatest discouragement to learning and the biggest insult that
can be offered to learned men.
[ Para 46
Clergymen used to say that if pluralities (the system of out
clergyman holding more than one benefice) were abolished and
they were not paid well, learning will suffer because tney 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 learning for itself.
These scholars want ’ to serve God and truth and they want onlv
one reward-lasting fame. To distrust the judgment and honesty of
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 mind
without getting it checked by a licenser, la>t he creates a sect or a
schism or spreads immorality, is the greatest insult which can be
inflicted on a learned man. [ Para 47
Under this system a distinguished writer is treated as no 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.
[ Para 48
It is possible that after an author has 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
bis 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 thin what the author would have made it
with his additions.
[ Para 49
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. ,
[ Pura 50
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 hi 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 leader of the Reformation like Knox
may be subjected to this.treatment. This violence was done to a
great author whom Milton does not name.
[ Para 51

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 >i humiliating to write books and only ignorant
and lazy persons will be able to lead pleasant lives.
[ Para 52
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 net like consumer goods which can be standardised and
monopolised 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 ggt 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
scrutinised and cjitified by them. If an author has written some
scandalous or disgraceful beck 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
jailar but booKS which have caused no offence cannot go out
without a jailer’s (Licenser’s) signature on the title.
[ Para 53
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 Government’s 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.
[ Para 54
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. AH their
sermons have not made the people strong enough to face a
pamphlet without the protection of a licenser. ’What good has all
the preaching done if the people have to be saved from vice by the
Papist form of licensing
[ Para 55
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 kept 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 bishops, 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.
[ Para 57
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 office as a priest. Thus he will hold two offices-a thing which
the Presbyterians condemned in the past.
[ Para 58
The English and Scottish nations entered into a solemn Covenant
in order to suppress Roman Catholicism and end the rule of the
Bishops. 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
then 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 if from them.
[ Para 59

The aim of this Act seems to be to suppress all opposition. When

the bishoos werr to be suppressed it wss 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 aad
all this is happening while the Parliament is in session. The
members of Parliament 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
donot 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, therefore, actually encourage the growth of sects.
[ Para 60

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.
[ Para 61

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 fo 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.
[ Para 62

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 religion 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.
[ Para 63

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,
the clergymen will become lazy.
[ Para 64

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 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.
[ Para 65

True knowledge will be hindered by licensing. The licensers are

also priests and it will be difficult for them to perform the two
functions simultaneously. r Para fit
The loss of the nation due to licensing will be so great that it is
something unbelievable. It will stop the import of the nation’s
richest merchandise namely truth. It was first started by the and*
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.
[ Para 67

Truth came into the world in its purest form with Jesus Christ, but
when He went to Heaven and his Apostles 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 nil its glory when Jesus comes again. Licensing will
hinder the work of those who are seeking truth.
[ Para 68

The British people are proud that the Reformation has spread truth
in Sngiand. 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 Zuingii and Calvin should
not make the presbytei ians blind to other truths. They want
absolute unity in the Church and arc 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
fhe Church can be brought about by combining new truths with the
ld ones-
[Para 69

Milton wants 1(12 Lords and Commons of England to remember

that they belong to ,md arc th:’ 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 Reman, Julius Agricola, who governed England on behalf of
three Caesars, thought more highly of the natural wits of the
English than of the laboured learning of the French. The
Transylvanians came to England to learn their language, their
philosophy and their theology.
[ Para 70
God is special!;’ kind to Englishmen. The first trumpet call of the
Reformation was given to the whole of Europe by Wyclifife frem
England. If the bishops had not suppressed this great reformer
none of the other reformers would bave.become known and
England would have had the glory of reforming the whole of
Europe. <jod *ftnted iheEnglish to be the teachers of the world but
because of the obsfjnacy of the clergymen they have become most
backward in scholarship. Gotf 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 lead in the spiritual regeneration, though they are not
worthy of this trust. ( Para 71
London is ”the Man House of Liberty”. It provides shelter fp
those who sre persecuted in their own countries. Weapons are
made
here for the defence 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, sag;s and great men. If they look around them they
would find that a spiritual rebirth has already come.
[ Para 72

When people are keen to learn there are bound to be many

arguments and divergence of opinions. 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 be 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
Englishman’s 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.
[ Para 73
Yet these men who are keen to get knowledge and truth are being
condemned as sectarians. Just as the house of God cannot be built
unle” the wood and the stones are cut and shaped properly, in the
same v. „>• 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 harmonising the
opinions of various sects and schisms.
[ Para 74
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 Lord’s people should become prophets.
This has come true in England. All the people have become keenly
itcrested 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.
[ Para 75

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.
[ Para 76

The formation of sects and schisms shows the”Spirit and energy of

the people. Just as in the human body the freshness of the V food
and the spirit shows that the body is healthy. The capacity of
Englishmen 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 a 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.
[Para 77

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. Intellectuals can prosper in this
atmosphere of freedom.
[ Para 78

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 taxes will not support Parliament now. Milton loves the
liberty to know, to express oneself and to argue’freely more than
all other liberties.
[ Para 79

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
Brook. 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.

[ Para 80

Since England has won political and religious 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
Calvin. 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.

[ Para 81

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. Paul 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.
[ Para 82

Archbishop Laud enforced slavery to outward conformity and

the Presbyterians are following the same Policy. 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 atteept
to maintain external conformity would be more harmful than the
division into sects and schisms.
[ Para 83
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. 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.
[ Para 85

The ways of God are different from those of men. His truths do not
always come from the same places or organisations. A true
Christian should have conviction according to conscience and deep
faith. Even the meanest Christian should be given’ freedom of
conscience.
[ Para 86

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.
Para 87

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 reimposing 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.
[ Para 88

Milton approves of the part of the order which specifies that every
book should bear the namss of the author and the printer or at least
the printer’s name. The purpose of this regulation is to safeguard
the copyright of the author and the printer and this is a very good
thing. If any books appear in breach of this order and they are
found to be mischievous, they should be burnt by the common
hang
man. But the order regarding the licensing of books is mischievous
j 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 pass 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.
[ Para 89

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.
[ Para 90

2. OCCASION AND DATE OF PUBLICATION

Charles I ascended the throne of England in 1625. He was a

great dictator 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 JPrcsbyterians of Scotland and the Puritans of
England fought valiantiy against the despotism of the king and in
1640.
Charles 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 .-.onie control
over
books.
Since Parliament had fought for and won civtl 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 an order was passed providing that a printer should not
print
anything without rhe name and consent of the author.
In 1642 another order was passed providing that any printing press
which
printed any pamphlet scandalous to His Majesty or the proceedings
of Parliament would be demolished and ihe 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 narrowminded fanatics who wanted to
suppress all books written by royalists, Roman Catholics, heretics
and free thinkers.
So on the 14th 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 writ large”.
He published his first Divorce Tract and re-edited it without a
licence. This was a direct challenge to the Ordinance. The
Assembly denounced this pamphlet to Parliament. The Stationers’
Company petitioned Parliament against the unregistered
publication of this Tract, complaining of the laxity of the law
which allowed such a, blasphemous evil pamphlet to be printed. A
Committee en printing was appointed to go into the matter, but no
action seems to have been taken against Milton.

Now Milton’s 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 task of deciding the fate of books.
This inspired him to write the Areopaviiica.
 It was published on the 24th of November 1644, unlicened 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

3. THE TITLE ’AREOPAGITICA’

The title which Milton chose for his address to
ParliamentAreopagitica-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 Greek scholar and he greatly
admired the written orations of a master of Rhetoric in At hen:-
Isccrates (436-338 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 Areopafcitic 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 Arevpagilica.

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 Ares.
Ares was the god of war of the ancient Greeks. The Romans
identified him with Mars. This hill was situated to the West
oLAthens. II was the meeting place of the Upper Council as
distinguished from the Boule or Senate. The Court of Areopagus
had formerly possessed powers 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 felt 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 Areopaqnica 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 merir. 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
ihe 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
certainty 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 of the form of the Greek rhetorician’s work, but
also of the substance of St. Paul’s speech before the Court of
Areopagus in Act 17, 18-34. St, Paul’s attack on religious
conformity, and his insistence on man’s need for freedom to seek
God, brings his speech close in spirit to Milton’s Areopagitica.”

Thus the word ’Areopagitica’ does not suggest the subject matter
of Milton’s discourse. To the ordinary man it does not mean
anything. But it reminds learned men of the addresses of Isocrates
and St. Paul. And now the word ’Areopagitica’ has become
associated in the minds of all students of English literature with
Milton’s forceful plea for the free publication of books.

4. 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 specialised in what is known as
epideictic oratory. It is oratory distinguished by form and finish.
The speeches of Isocrates are unequalled for their melody and
style. He used to take ten to fifteen years to write one 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 arc Penegyricus (which is a penegyric on
Athens and describes the contribution of this city to the culture of
Greece), Symmachicus and Areopagiticus (which is an appeal to
the Senzte 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 f-ady Margaret 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
Areopagihcus.

5. 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 8 thought of controlling the printing of books- but no
specific orders were issued in his reign.

In the reign of Queen Mary (! 553-1559) the first steps were taken
to control the printing of books. In 1557 a company called
the Stationers’ Company was formed by joining together
ninetyseven London stationers. It was ordered by Letters-patent
that the members of this company and their successors by regular
apprenticeship had the exclusive right to print books in England.
All books bad to be registered in this company. No one who did
not belong to this company could print or publish anv book in the
English dominions without a special licence.

When Queen Elizabeth came to the throne in 1559 licensing was

m.:de 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 »ask
of licensing books. It ensured that the author or his representative
retained the copyright over his book. The publisher who first
published a classical work got copyright over it. The court also
prevented the publication of heretical, libellous and seditious
books. Nobody was allowed to print* any book without a licence.

Charles I was a despot and so when he became King (in 1625) the
Star Chamber became a symbol of tyranny. The slightest
opposition to the King’s arbitrary rule was ruthlessly suppressed.
The Long Parliament which was bitterly opposed to the despotic
rule of the King met in 1640 and the Star Chamber was abolished
in 1641 and ai! its decrees became illegal. The Stationers’
Company, however, retained its position. For two years there was
no licensing of books i.i England.
But it soon became apparent that the Presbyterians <who
dominated Parliament were as intolerant of criticism as the smarts
and they were not prepared to grant to the people full freedom to
print jvhat they liked. So on the 14th of June, 1643, Parliament
passed anorder imposing the licensing of books in the British
dominions. -It’ was this order which provoked Milton to write the
Areopagitica and so we must examine it in detail.

The Preamble (which gives the reasons why the order has become
necessary) states that ”many false, scandalous, seditious and
libellous books” have lately been published ”to the great
defamation of Religion and Government”. ”It is, therefore, ordered
by the Lords and Commons in Parliament” ”that no book etc. shall
from henceforth be printed or put to sale unless the same be first
approved of arr,J licensed by such person or persons as both or
either of the said Housesshall appoint for the licensing of tne
same”. The second pa1 of the urder sa:d that no parson should
print a book without consent o/thc author or publisher who have a
copyright on it.
Milton had no objection to the second part of the order which
secured copyright on books to the authors and publishers. He only
objected to the action cf Parliament in placing alt English books
under what he calls ”the oligarchy of twenty engrossers”.

Milton’s arguments against licensing and his passionate appeal to

Parliament to repeal the order fell on deaf ears. The order was used
not to suppress blasphemous, libellous and seditious books but to
suppress all opposition to the ruling party The Presbyterians kept
themselves in power by silencing all opposi’tion. Cromwell’s rule
was not based on the consent of the people. So during his regime
no pamphlet opposed to him was allowed to be printed. Two
months after Cromwell had set up his Protectorate it was decreed
that no public news or intelligence should be printed without the
previous sanction of the Secretary of State. It was only when the
Independents came to power in place of the Presbyterians that
there was some relaxation in enforcing the licensing order. They
did not, of course, tolerate Roman Catholics but they did not
persecute anyone for holding any other religious opinion. But the
people were not freed from the shackles of the licensers.

The worst fears which Milton had expressed in the Areopazitica

materialised after the Restoration. The Star Chamber decree of
July,
1637. was made the Licensing Act of 1662. Not only all book*;
and pamphlets but also all items of news had to be passed bv the
licenser before they were printed. In 1663 L’Estrange became
Licenser and he meant business and the literature of the period
bore the brunt. It is interesting to note that even the great epic,
Pircilise Lost, ran the risk of being suppressed altogether for the
following lines in Bjok !, • As when the sun new risen, !
Looks through the horizontal misty .iir Shorn of his beams, or from
behind the moon, In dim eclipse disastrous twilight sheds On half
the . ations, and with fear of change Perplexes moaarchs.
Darkened so, yet shone Above them all the Archangel. ’

This shows the absurdity of licensing and the ignorance displayed

by the licensers.

In 1685, the first year of James II, the Licensing Act was
renewed for eight \ears. In 1693 it was renewed for two years.
It was only in 1695 that the Act was allowed to expire and the
licensing of books came to an end. At last the British press
was free.) Macaujay hailed it as the period when ”English
literature was’ emancipated for ever from the control of the
Government”.

6. FORM AND STRUCTURE OF AREOPAGITICA

Areopagitica is addressed to the Parliament of England. It is an

oration meant to be read and not to be delivered before that august
body. Here Milton has followed the principles of oratory as laid
down by Quim jlian in De fnsiiiuiiorn’ Oratorio and practised by
Demstbenes, Cicero, Isocrates and other orators and rhetoricians
. In this form the oration is divided into three parts as follows ;-

(a) Exordium or Introduction.

(b) The Argument, contains the main arguments of the speaker.
(c) Peroration or Conclusion.

This is the introductory part of the main speech. He first sets forth
the purpose of his speech. He also tries to win the favour of the
members of his audience by praising their achievements.

Milton says that he is addressing the Lords and Commons of

England with mixed feelings of doubt and fear, hope and
confidence. Parliament has already won political and civil liberty
for the people. They are governing the country better than the king
and the bishops did. He is not flattering them. He is giving praise
which they fully deserve. It is impossible that there should be no
complaints at all. B-it ”when complaints are freely heard, deeply
considered and speedily reformed” there is liberty in the
commonwealth. He wants to appeal to them to safeguard the
liberty they have won by repealing an order that they have passed
recently.

Milton thus begins the speech very well. He wants to create a

proper atmosphere for the reception to the complaint that he is
going to make. He appeals to the elegint humanity of Greece which
has made the British people civilized. It is a good beginning and he
puts the members of Parliament in a mood to listen to him. After
complimenting Parliament for their reasonableness and love of
truth, he comes to his main arguments against the licensing of
books.

The Argument
This is the main part of the speech. The writer generally makes a
historical survey and then gives as many arguments as possible.

Milton’s main arguments are the following :

1. It is wrong to-suppress books because good books get killed

along with bad ones. ”He who destroys- a good book kills the
image of God, as it were in the eye”. ”A good book is the precious
life blood of a master spirit”.

Milton makes a historical survey and shows that fbere was no

censorship of books in Greece, Rome and among the early
Christians. It was started by the Roman Catholic Church to fight
against the Reformation. It was practised by the cruel, anti-
Christian institution-the Inquisition.

2. The wisest people of the world have always been in favour of

reading books of all types. It is for the readers to discriminate
between good and bad books. Wise people can get some good
even out of the worst books and fools cannot get anything good
even out of the best books.

3 T irfce which runs away from vice is no virtue at ail.

strength of virtue can only be proved when it fights against evil

and defeats it.

4. The licensing of books will discourage learning. A scholar is

reduced to the level of a school-boy if he has to get all his writings
checked by a licenser.

Peroration
The peroration is the summing up of the oration. Here Milton is at
his best. He is in the mood of hope and exaltation and his style
becomes lucid and clear. He begins with a grand eulogy of
England. It is ”a city of jefuge. the mansion house of Liberty”. She
is rousing herself up again after a period of inaction. ”Methinks I
see in my mind a none and puissant nation rousing herself like
strong man after sleep and shaking her invincible locks”. England
was the leader of the Reformation and now that itself is bjing
reformed. We should not b; ’’afraid of sects and schisms . ecause
they on!y arise when there is a passionate search for truth. The
licensing of books will only stop tnis search for truth. Milton,
therefore, appjals to Parliament to cancel tns Ordinance relating to
the licensing of books. If the search for truth continues without any
hindrance England \viii become ”a nation of prophets, of sages and
of worthies”.

The Peroration is a tine example of impassioned, rhetorical and

sonorous declamation.

When writing the Areopugirica Milton kepi the form of the Greek
orations as hjs model and from that point of view Milton’s address
to Parliament ib perfect.

7. THE; PERMANENT VALUE OF ’AREOPAGITICA’

The Areapaginca was written as a pamphlet in 1644 to urge the

British Parliament to repeal an Ordinance which it had passed the
previous year imposing censorship on ” books. If Milton had
confined himself to this topic only his writing would have been a
mere pamphlet and would have been forgotten like his parapnlets
on political, domestic and religious topics. But in the Areopagitica
Milton raises his. discussion to a high plane by showing the
greatness of books and how dangerous it is to suppress them. He
gives all possible arguments to prove that every educated man
should be left free to read what he likes. Alt books should ba
allowed to be published freely and the choice of books should be
left to the reason and judgment of the individuals. Thus tiie theme
of the Areopagitica is the right of every individual to have liberty
of thought and expression.

Thus the theme of the Areopagitica is of perennial interest and it is

written in a powerful style. So it cannot be called a mere pamphlet.
It is a great work of literature. It has appealed to every lover of
books and every lover of liberty in all lands where Englishis
spoken :..-mj written ever since <t was wri.ten mor,v ..han three
40 Milton : Areopagitica

hundred years ago. It has inspired and continues to inspire all

noble souls who value the liberty of thought and expression.

Milton says that if all books have to be approved by the licen- •

sers before they can be printed, many good books will be
suppressed akmg with bad ones. This would be criminal because
”a good book is the precious life-blood of a master spirit
embalmed and treasured up on purpose to a life beyond life.” ’-As
good almost kill a man as kill a good book, who kills a man kills a
reasonable creature, God’s image ; but he who destroys a good
book kills the image of God, as it were in the eye.”

This psncgyric on books has echoed and re-echoed in the English

speaking world during the last three hundred years.

What makes the Areopagitica great is Milton’s noble ardour for

liberty. It is a theme of permanent interest because throughout the
ages the governors all over the world have been afraid to let people
think and write freely. We may condemn Charlse I as a tyrant and
wo may condemn the Presbyterians for being narrow-minded but
even today there are numerous countries, civilized and uncivilized,
in which there are severe restrictions on the publication of books.
As Grierson has said. ”Free speech is sadly at a discount today-
The extreme wings-Catholics, Fascists, Communists-are united in
distrust of the human mind left free to think, and to utter what it
thinks. To those whose hope for humanity is centred in reason,
Milton’s tract remains a splendid prophetic hymn.” The fight for
intellectual freedom has gone on and is still going on all over the
world. As Herbert Read has said, ”Milton could not have foreseen
that three hundred years after the appearance of his pamphlet, his
words would be as apt as if they had come hot from the press.”
Milton has made full use of his vast learning to condemn the
censorship of books. He gives a detailed history of the licensing of
books in Greece, Rome and the Christian countries and proves that
censorship of books was non-existent till it was taken up by the
Roman Catholic Church to defend itself against the truths being
propagated by the Reformers. Milton’s arguments against licensing
are supponed by statements of great authorities and quotations
from the Bible and from Greek and Latin authors.

The sentences of the Areopagitica present some difficulties to us

because of their Latin construction. They are far away from
modern English syntax. English prose had not developed much up
to the time of Milton. His prose, getting out of tlu swaddling
clothes of his majestic poetry, has a strange ring to the modern
reader. Yet his style has a beauty and majesty of its own. The style
is the man. Milton’s style represents him fully. Gorgeous figures
and images rush into his mind and he forgets that he is writing
prose and not poetry. His prose is, therefore, passionate and
imaginative and comes nearest to poetry. Notice these memorable
passages about his country. They are written in prose but they have
the beauty of poetry.

Introduction to Areopagitica 41

”Behold now this vast city: a city of refuge, the mansion house

of liberty .What could a man require more from a nation so

pliant and so prone to seek after knowledge ? What wants there to

such a towardly and pregnant soil, but wise and faithful labourers,
to make a knowing people, a Nation of Prophets, of Sages, and of
Worthies ?”
When he expresses his love for his country and his confidence in
her future greatness he rises to dizzy heights :

”Methinks 1 see in my mind a noble and puissant nation rousing

like a strong man after sleep and shaking her invincible locks.
Methinks I see her as an eagle mewing her mighty youth and
kindling her undazzled eyes at the full mid-day beam.” The whole
picture comes before our minds. The Areopagiiica has a great
theme and it is expressed in memorable words. According to
Herbert Read. ”The Areop.igitica is Mijton’s greater prose work
and this rank is given to it on account of its inher.nt qualities of
fervour and style, but it is great also because of its wisdom, its
logic and the universal application of its argument. Every newly
established tyranny brings its pages to life again : there is no
encroachment on the liberty to know, to utter and to argue freely,
which it does not anticipate, and oppose wiih unanswerable
reason.”

The Areopagitica has a permanent place in English literature. ..

8. THE AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL ELEMENT IN

AREOPAGITICA

Milton had a strong desire for self-portraiture and in all the

pamphlets written during the years 1640-1660 he has given
glimpses of his own life. This is particularly true of the
Areopagitica. This address to Parlknent came from the dppth of his
being and represents his innermost thoughts and feelings. Here he
projected his own image to the public eye. The views expressed
here have come from the depth of his feelings and convictions and
the illustrations are taken from his wide reading, his observations
and experiences.
Milton had a deep love for his country. He was proud of being an
Englishman and he had high hopes that his country will become a
glorious nation in the years to come. When he visited Italy he was
very happy when he was told that Englishmen enjoyed far
greater intellectual liberty than the Italians. He says to the
members of Parliament, ”Lords and Commons of England,
consider what nation it is whereof ye are, and whereof ye are the
governors : a nation not slow and dull but of a quick,
ingenious, and piercing spirit; acute to invent, subtle and sinewy
to discourse, not beneath the reach of any point, the highest
that human cap-icity can soar to”. When he thinks of the future,
the vision of a glorious nation rises before him : ”Methinks I see
in ray mind a noble and puissant nation rousing herself like a
strong man after
42 Afifton: Areopagitica

sleep and shaking her invincible locks”. Thus Milton’s patriotism

finds its fullest expression in the Areopagitica.

Milton was a great lover of liberty. In all his writings he

expresses himself strongly in favour of domestic, religious and
political liberty. In the Areopagitica he makes a strong plea to the
state to permit every citizen to publish any book he likes without
taking permission from the authorities. He wants all opinions to
be tolerated. He sees no harm in the formation of sects and
schisms. But there is one exception : he cannot tolerate the
Roman Catholics. Popery, according to Milton, is anti-Christian.
These were the persons who first introduced thought-control, and
farmed cruel institutions like the Inquisition.

But Milton was not one with the extreme Punrn.is who wanted to
bring complete austerity in life. He had the spirit of the
Renaissance in him and so he was in favour of poetry and drama,
music and dancing. The extreme Puritans were in favour of
prohibiting these and they wanted only books on religion and
morality to be circulated. Milton, on the other hand, is in favour of
allow ing complete freedom to all books, good or bad, to come into
the world.

One aspect of Milton’s personality appears from every line of the

Areopaguica, that is his devotion to the Bibie. He proves By
referring to the Bible that God is not in favour of prohibiting
anything. God gave Adam reason which means freedom of choice
and placed a tempting object-the apple of knowledge-before him
and when Adam decided to eat that, God did not prevent him.
God has placed before man an abundance of things to eat and
drink and it is up to him to choose what he considers best for
him. This pioves his point that God wants that man should be free
to read what he likes because he possesses the faculty of reason
and can distinguish good from evil.

Milton taught his nephews and some other students for some

time and in the Areopagitica, he gives us an idea of his feelings as

a

schoolmaster. He says, ”What advantage is it to be a man over it

- is to be a boy at school, if we have only escaped the ferula to

come

under the fescue of an Imprimatur? And how can a man teach

with authority when all lie teaches, all he delivers, is but under

the tuition, under the correction of his patriarchallicenser ? I

hate a pupil teacher, and enduie not an instructor that comes to me

under the lordship of an overseeing first”.

Milton was a great scholar and a great lover of books. He tells us’
that his life was ”dedicated to studious labours”. We get evidence
of his scholarship from the historical survey that he makes of
licensing from the earliest times to his own day. And his
description of books is fit to be written in letters of gold : ”A good
book is the precious life-blood of a master spirit, embalmed and
treasured up on purpose to a life beyond life”.

Milton compares himself to Cicero. Just as Cicero was pressed by

the Sicilians »o <ake up the case against Verres in the Roman

Introduction to Areopagitica 43
Senate, Milton has been pressed to take up the case for Hbertjkof
thought and expression by the intellectuals of England with the
British Parliament.

Milton describes his own experience of his visit to Italy to prove

that licensing kills great literature. Because of the control over
thought and expression imposed by the Inquisition no great literary
work was being produced there. He also tells us that he met there
the great astronomer and physicist Galileo who was a victim of the
senseless cruelty of the Inquisition.

Love of liberty was the very life and breath of Milton and this is
best expressed in the Areopagitica. His feelings in this regard are
best summed up in his passionate appeal. ”Give me the liberty to
know, to utter, and to argue freely according to conscience, above
all liberties”.

Milton’s style in the Areopagitica also bears the stamp of his

personality. He was a Latin scholar and so Latin constructions
abound in his prose. He write-? intricate and long-winding
sentences which are sometimes difficult to follow but when he is
expressing some deeply felt emotion he rises to a grandeur which
is rare in Englsh prose. He is at bis best when he is inspired by
religious fervour and passion for liberty in some of the passages of
the Areopagitica. In his case the style is really the man.

Thus the Areopagitica fully expresses Milton’s thoughts and

feelings. As Hanford has remarked, ”carrying, -finally, the same
conscious interest in his own personality into the field of creative
art he made his poetry as well as his prose an intimate though
dignified record of his own experience.” @

9. MILTON’S PROSE STYLE IN AREOPAGITICA

The Arcopagaica is probably the strongest plea for liberty of
thought and expression in the English language and it should have
a very \\ ide appeal but it is not very popular because many persons
are repelled by its style. Modern prose with its short and simple
sentences had not been evolved up to Milton’s time. Milton was a
Latin scholar and so whea.he wrote English prose it was natural
that he should have constructed his sentences according to the
Latin syntax. The sentences are long and involved and have to be
read twice or thrice before the meaning becomes clear. But his
sentences become lucid and clear .when he rises to heights of
eloquence.

Milton was a born poet and his ambition was to write a great epic.
He trained himself by hard work and sustained study for this great
mission in life. But when he was giving finishing touches to his
education by means of foreign travel he heard that his. people were
engaged in a bitter fight for freedom and so he hurried home and
used his pen for the defence of his party. Thus the best years of his
life from the age of 32 to that of 52 were spent in writing prose
pamphlets in defence of personal, religious and intellectual liberty.
He said that he wrote his prose with his left hand but as Hanford
has said, ”his left hand was a very powerful one” specially when
he
44 Milton : Areopagitica

writing in defence- of liberty of thought and expression. Ti

Areopagitica. is really an inspired piece of writing.. ”1

Some of the qualities of his poetry are found in his prose also. For
instance, the ’Stately harmony* of his verses can be seen in the
Areopagitica also. At places in this address we hear the same
”organ voice of England” which Tennyson heard in his poetry. We
can see his balance and harmony throughout this oration. Let us
take the
2nd sentence as an example :

”And me perhaps each of these dispositions, as the subject was

whereon I entered, may have at other times variously affected, and
likely might in these foremost expressions now also disclose which
of them swayed most, but that the very attempt of this address thus
made, and the thought of whom it hath recourse to, hath got the
power within me to a passion, far more welcome than incidental to
a preface”.

If we examine this sentence closely we find that it is very well

constructed. Emphasis requires that he should begin with the
object, the personal pronoun me. The sentence has organic unity.
All the ideas are related together He is speaking of the mixed
feelings which sway the mind of an orator ; now which of these
feelings sways him most the preface may reveal, but there is
another idea co-related to it and it occurs in (he last section of the
sentence and it seems to have the effect of counter-balancing. The
sentence, because it does not follow the rules of English syntax,
may look as if sprawling, but it is a perfectly balanced and
compact sentence, with no loose ends in it.

Notice also the musical effects of the sounds in this sentence.

There is a predominance of liquid sounds-/, m, n, r. These liquid
sounds are balanced with consonant sounds. Such a union produces
a linked melody. This is true of most of the sentences of the
Areopagitica. They have melody, balance and harmony. Mark
Pattison has called it ”the prose of a poet”.

The main difficulty of the Areopagitica arises from the Latinised

construction of the sentences. In those days Latin was the language
of the educated classes and it was used in international
correspondence. Milton was a great Latin scholar and so it was
natural for him to use Latin syntax when he wrote English .prose.
The clauses are not joined together as in modern English. But if a
modern reader pauses after every sentence and joins the clauses
together and makes a paraphrase of the sentence in moderm
English, he will have no difficulty in following the meaning.
Because of the Latinised syntax Milton’s prose has an alien look
for a modern reader. Moreover, he uses many words in their Latin
meanings. For instance, ’insolent’ is used for ’unusual’, ’obtain’
for ’maintain’, etc. In reading the Areopagitica one has to rise to
the intellectual level of the writer and once he has done this he gets
great joy in reading this oration.

Stopford Brooke says that the main element of Milton’s style is his
”intellectual force.” Milton was a great scholar and we find the full
impact of his scholarship in the Areopagitica* He vritcs

Introduction to Areopagitica 45

with great conviction, illustrating every point from Heathen as well

as Biblical history and literature. As Stopford Brooke says, ”the
impression of an intense individuality settles down on us, as we
read, like a physical weight.” Milton’s style fully expresses his
mind and personality.

Mark Pattison accuses Milton of ”negligence” in the matter of

construction of sentences. This is a wrong charge. Milton writes
long sentences but he does not write loose, rambling prose. He
was writing a speech and so he was very careful about balance and
antithesis. His sentences are organically constructed and closely
knit. He was writing in a hurry and so we cannot expect from him
the finish and elegance of Isocrates who took ten to fifteen years to
complete one oration. Milton is sometimes rugged. He had no
time to polish his periods. But when Milton expresses his deep
emotion inspired by love of oooks or love of country or love of
religion or love of liberty he rises to a height of eloquence rarely
surpassed in English literature. Notice, for instance, the
following sentences :

”Who kills a man kills a reasonable creature, God’s image; but he

who destroys a good book, kills reason itself, kills the image of
God, as it were in the eye. Many a man lives a burden to the earth ;
but u. good book is the precious life-blood of a master spirit.
embalmed and treasured up on purpose to a life beyond life.”

”Methinks I see in my mind a noble and puissant nation rousing

herself like a strong man after sleep, and shaking her invincible
locks.”

These sentences have the rhythm of poetry and the splendour of

imagery and yet they are lucid and crystal clear.

Milton has a powerful individualised style. It has no grace or

polish but it has an austere grandeur of its own. As Mark Pattison
has said, the prose writings of Milton are ”the monuments of our
language, so remarkable that Milton’s paose works must always be
resorted to by students, as long as English remains the medium of
ideas.” ®

10. GENERAL COMMENTS ON AREOPAGITICA

The Areopagitica is the greatest classical oration in the English
language. It is a monumental plea for freedom of thought and
expression. This is the only prose work in which we hear the
”organ voice” of Milton.

It is written in the form of a speech which was not meant to be

delivered but only to be read by Members of Parliament. It is
packed with Milton’s profound learning, is rich in illustrations and
is marked here and there by flashes of insight and abounds in
passages of passionate eloquence. It was not meant for popular
appeal The common man could never understand it. Even
Members of Parliament must have found it difficult to comprehend
it fully. But the broad principles and the cogent arguments carry
conviction to everyone who has an open mind.
46 Milton: Areopagitica

There is, however, one flaw in Milton’s plea for toleration of all
opinions. He will allow all books-even the books of heretics and
sectarians-to be printed but he does not ertend that liberty to
Roman1 Catholics. So Milton does not really allow complete
liberty to all the people but only to the Protestants. But something
can be said in justification of Milton’s position. The Roman
Catholics were the first to impose thought-control and the
Inquisition started by the Roman Catholic Church committed the
worst crimes known to bjimamty in the name of the suppression of
heresy. In those days they did not deserve to be tolerated in a free
society.

The Areopagitica fully expresses love of liberty, bis passion for

books and his Milton’s pride in his own country. It is full of
forceful arguments, apt comparisons and noble, images. Marks
Pattison very correctly describes it as ”a copious flow of majestic
eloquence, the outpouring of a noble soul, with a divine scorn of
narrow dogma and paltry aims.”

1.

A SPEECH FOR THE LIBERTY OF UNLICENSED PRINTING,

TO THE PARLIAMENT OF

ENGLAND (1644)