M'arthur Democrat. (McArthur, Vinton County, Ohio) 1853-1865, 1864-04-14
Ehe administration Res
pOhsible for the NaObs!
a SPEECu
FuR TUE
II Sl EEOl
ruR THG
LIBERTY OF TIE PRESS,
nfLIEYERFD By
HON. ARCHIBALD MAYO,
Of BUTLER COUNTY,
In the House of Representatives.,
March isih, 1854, g

~. tue HnHSt OF representatives,
March isih, 1854, ..
3'@cfJ .tt4| mortyrs is The s,ed afh> ChvrJ
The resolution Of Mr.. DREsGL, c
Franklin county, condcmniDg the LAT
'mohmng Of Democratic newspapers
and the substitute therefor offered hy
Mr. STANTON being nndey CONSIDER
alton, Mr.. MAYO rose and said
Mr.. SpEAKER: More than
quHltcr OF Il century ago, in tl,, Ger
lllhn town Of Men'z, the accunation,
"i Il great multitude rent the air a,
Il Statue was lifted TO ils pedestal
around the base ut which were gather
| cd delegations from every great city
in Europe - Was this tie scLlptured
scnbIancc ni II warrior, a statesman
y philosopher, poet, or an orator
None Ui these; but an humLie arti-
zan, who dad done more for h;s race
'ha'i war, or philosophy, cr snle-
craft, or poetry, or oh qupnce could
ever do-tho in,cnt,r Of printing.
|le discovered the Iulcrnn for VIII ich
Aichmedes sighed, and with it Free.
dom has move'' the word. He inau
grraIed new era, which startled
Priests and ?otrntatcs They had
been driven to their wits ends To SUP.
press s,dtjono aud impious books be
Irrr. and the advent Ot rbis "bIack
art' terrified them. Fight the devil
with fire, had been II maxim acted
on from tic earliest time. The works
i"I frotagoras IN Greecu-of tho MS
trolugerS in ltume-JrwisIl writings
and Christian writings, had at differ
rnl times been cpnolgGrd to the fam
re. Aud when Christianity spread
Ithc clergy relailated. The Council Of
Nice, the CUurcil uf EI,hcsus anI tho
Council Of Chalcedou, vii busted
themselves about the burning Of here
ticaI works. Poor Gallileo aItrrwurG
discovered that It was Il very danger
Gus experiment. TO toll tho ChulcI
anything she did not snow. But, at.
ter ali the burning ami smoking, / ere
WAS the devil IN this new shape. I'M
the annrry 0! dcsprti'm new wrav-
on WAS forged and censorship Of the
press became the established method
OF keeping the human intellect within
The boundaries prescribcd by author
Ity. In the Htr,n'h century the
Archbishop Of Alrl'z the c ty where
printing had bir;l- decrccd the es
tabIshm,nt Of censor; aul the
Council Vi latcrans, held at Rome,
ordered that IN future no books shouid
be printed but such AS had been in.
Specfed by ecclesiastical cunsurs la
the next ccntUf) government ctnsorS
were appointed in France and Eng-
land. IT. 1853 MiIton's e" IcopUcl,ss-
les" ami "DJensto pro Populo .4ng
hcaHu" were ordered to be burned 6y
the COMMON harSman. Until after
lho revolution pt lGSs no paper could !
be published without warrant fIom
the British crown. Thus tho devil" |
that woUid not burn Was chained. ln |
Germany The press was, perhaps,
most euslavcd and the EngIish |
poot, CAM pbelI, in his string "OJe
to the Germans" addressed them in
this earnest language:
'The press, tragic lottors,
Tha blessing 70 brought forth,
Behold it lies in ietGors
On the soil shich gave it birth
Bnt the trumpet must be kunrd
And the charsrr must br spurr'd,
For your father Arnin's sprite
Calls do Sn from Heaven that ye
Snail grid ycu for the tnht,
.... Aud be free !! and be free ~
Everywhcra the press was an object
Of distrust in times which recosnzed
the divine right of kings to rule, and
the duty Of the people to render un-
questioning ubedience. Tyrants view.
ed it with the same feeling which all
imatcd Napoleon, when he declared
''l fear three newspapers more than a
hundred thousand bayonets." In Eng
land our ancestors fought despotisln
inch by inch; placed Freedom behind
new bulwarks; intrenched her within
Magma Charta, Petition of Riqhts,
and Bill of Rights; ; and in that long
struggle the people and the press to-
gother broke, one by ono, the chains
that bound them. Then civilization
extended itself; science, art, litora-
ture, received new impetus ; intel
iigence became general; and national
freedom, greatness and prosperity fol.
lowed. While the nations around
were iyiEg in darkness, the new dawn
had spread over tho sky Of Great !,
Britain and bathed her chalky cliffs
.-E