a stall in
Birmingham on market-days, and it is added that this supply of
literature was equal to the demand.

[Sidenote: Liberty of the press slowly secured.] The liberty of the
press has been of slow growth. Scarcely had printing been invented when
it was found necessary everywhere to place it under some restraint, as
was, for instance, done by Rome in her "Index Expurgatorius" of
prohibited books, and the putting of printers who had offended under the
ban; the action of the University of Paris, alluded to in this volume,
p. 198, was essentially of the same kind. In England, at first, the
press was subjected to the common law; the crown judges themselves
determined the offence, and could punish the offender with fine,
imprisonment, or even death. Within the last century this power of
determination has been taken from them, and a jury must decide, not only
on the fact, but also on the character of the publication, whether
libellous, seditious, or otherwise offensive. [Sidenote: Its present
condition.] The press thus came to be a reflector of public opinion,
casting light back upon the public; yet as with other reflectors, a
portion of the illuminating power is lost. The restraints under which it
is laid are due, not so much to the fear that liberty will degenerate
into license, for public opinion would soon correct that; they are
rather connected with the necessities of the social state.

[Sidenote: Contrast between progress in the ages of Faith and Reason.]
Whoever will examine the condition of England at successive periods
during her passage through the Age of Faith will see how slow was her
progress, and will, perhaps, be surprised to find at its close how small
was her advance. The ideas that had served her for so many centuries as
a guide had rather obstructed than facilitated her way. But whoever will
consider what she has done since she fairly entered on her Age of Reason
will remark a wonderful contrast. There has not been a progress in
physical conditions only--a securing of better food, better clothing,
better shelter, swifter locomotion, the procurement of individual
happiness, an extension of the term of life. There has been a great
moral advancement. Such atrocities as those mentioned in the foregoing
paragraphs are now impossible, and so unlike our own manners that
doubtless we read of them at first with incredulity, and with difficulty
are brought to believe that these are the things our ancestors did.