hume - of-736, książki, Philosphy
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[TABLE NOT SHOWN][TABLE NOT SHOWN]Copyright 1995, James Fieser (jfieser@utm.edu). See end note fordetails on copyright and editing conventions. This is a working draft;please report errors.[1]Editor's note: "Of the Liberty of the Press" appeared in 1741 inVolume one of Hume's Essays, Moral and Political. The text file hereis based on the 1777 edition of Hume's Essays and Treatises on SeveralSubjects. Spelling and punctuation have not been modernized.---------------------------------------------------------------------Of the Liberty of the PressNOTHING is more apt to surprize a foreigner, than the extremeliberty, which we enjoy in this country, of communicatingwhatever we please to the public, and of openly censuringevery measure, entered into by the king or his ministers. Ifthe administration resolve upon war, it is affirmed, that,either wilfully or ignorantly, they mistake the interests ofthe nation, and that peace, in the present situation ofaffairs, is infinitely preferable. If the passion of theministers lie towards peace, our political writers breathenothing but war and devastation, and represent to pacificconduct of the government as mean and pusillanimous. As thisliberty is not indulged in any other government, eitherrepublican or monarchical; in HOLLAND and VENICE, more than inFRANCE or SPAIN; it may very naturally give occasion to aquestion, How it happens that GREAT BRITAIN alone enjoys thispeculiar privilege?The reason, why the laws indulge us in such a liberty seems tobe derived from our mixed form of government, which is neitherwholly monarchical, nor wholly republican. It will be found,if I mistake not, a true observation in politics, that the twoextremes in government, liberty and slavery, commonly approachnearest to each other; and that, as you depart from theextremes, and mix a little of monarchy with liberty, thegovernment becomes always the more free; and on the otherhand, when you mix a little of liberty with monarchy, the yokebecomes always the more grievous and intolerable. In agovernment, such as that of FRANCE, which is absolute, andwhere law, custom, and religion concur, all of them, to makethe people fully satisfied with their condition, the monarchcannot entertain any jealousy against his subjects, andtherefore is apt to indulge them in great liberties both ofspeech and action. IN a government altogether republican, suchas that of HOLLAND, where there is not magistrate so eminentas to give jealousy to the state, there is no danger inintrusting the magistrates with large discretionary powers;and though many advantages result from such powers, inpreserving peace and order, yet they lay a considerablerestraint on men's actions, and make every private citizen paya great respect to the government. Thus it seems evident, thatthe two extremes of absolute monarchy and of a republic,approach near to each other in some material circumstances. Inthe first, the magistrate has no jealousy of the people: inthe second, the people have none of the magistrate: Which wantof jealousy begets a mutual confidence and trust in bothcases, and produces a species of liberty in monarchies, and ofarbitrary power in republics.To justify the other part of the foregoing observation, that,in every government, the means are most wide of each other,and that the mixtures of monarchy and liberty render the yokeeither more easy or more grievous; I must take notice of aremark in TACITUS with regard to the ROMANS under theemperors, that they neither could bear total slavery nor totalliberty, Nec totam sevitutem, nec totam libertatem patipossunt. This remark a celebrated poet has translated andapplied to the ENGLISH, in his lively description of queen ELIZABETH'spolicy and government,Et fit aimer son joug a 'l Anglois indompte,Qui ne peut ni servir, ni vivre en liberte.According to these remarks, we are to consider the ROMANgovernment under the emperors as a mixture of despotism andliberty, where the despotism prevailed; and the ENGLISHgovernment as a mixture of the same kind, where the libertypredominates. The consequences are conformable to theforegoing observation; and such as may be expected from thosemixed forms of government, which beget a mutual watchfulnessand jealousy. The ROMAN emperors were, many of them, the mostfrightful tyrants that ever disgraced human nature; and it isevident, that their cruelty was chiefly excited by theirjealousy, and by their observing that all the great men of ROMEbore with impatience the dominion of a family, which, but alittle before, was no wise superior to their own. On the otherhand, as the republican part of the government prevails in ENGLAND,though with a great mixture of monarchy, it is obliged, forits own preservation, to maintain a watchful jealousy over themagistrates, to remove all discretionary powers, and to secureevery one's life and fortune by general and inflexible laws.No action must be deemed a crime but what the law has plainlydetermined to be such: No crime must be imputed to a man butfrom a legal proof before his judges; and even these judgesmust be his fellow-subjects, who are obliged, by their owninterest, to have a watchful eye over the encroachments andviolence of the ministers. From these causes, it proceeds,that there is as much liberty, and even, perhaps,licentiousness in GREAT BRITAIN, as there were formerlyslavery and tyranny in ROME.These principles account for the great liberty of the press inthese kingdoms, beyond what is indulged in any othergovernment. It is apprehended, that arbitrary power wouldsteal in upon us, were we not careful to prevent its progress,and were there not an easy method of conveying the alarm fromone end of the kingdom to the other. The spirit of the peoplemust frequently be rouzed, in order to curb the ambition ofthe court; and the dread of rouzing this spirit must beemployed to prevent that ambition. Nothing so effectual tothis purpose as the liberty of the press, by which all thelearning, wit, and genius of the nation may be employed on theside of freedom, and every one be animated to its defence. Aslong, therefore, as the republican part of our government canmaintain itself against the monarchical, it will naturally becareful to keep the press open, as of importance to its ownpreservation.It must however be allowed, that the unbounded liberty of thepress, though it be difficult, perhaps impossible, to proposea suitable remedy for it, is one of the evils, attending thosemixt forms of government.[TABLE NOT SHOWN][1][COPYRIGHT: (c) 1995, James Fieser (jfieser@utm.edu), allrights reserved. Unaltered copies of this computer text filemay be freely distribute for personal and classroom use.Alterations to this file are permitted only for purposes ofcomputer printouts, although altered computer text files maynot circulate. Except to cover nominal distribution costs,this file cannot be sold without written permission from thecopyright holder. When quoting from this text, please use thefollowing citation: The Writings of David Hume, ed. JamesFieser (Internet Release, 1995).EDITORIAL CONVENTIONS: Original pagination is contained withincurly brackets (e.g., {1}). Spelling and punctuation have notbeen modernized. Printer's errors have been corrected withoutnote. Bracketed comments within the end notes are theeditor's. This is a working draft. Please report errors toJames Fieser (jfieser@utm.edu).][TABLE NOT SHOWN]� 1996
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