A narrative of this controversy has been given at page 10, and what is here added is only in fuller illustration of it. The first is that part of the preface of the New York edition of The Craftsman which actually relates to Gaine, and which drew from him the article printed at page 14. The second is a letter to Gaine, which he printed in The Mercury, and which was doubtless written upon the appearance of The Occasional Reverberator, No. 1.

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N Imitation of the Advertiser to a Pamphlet written to the Reverend Mr. FRANCIS SQUIRE, and lately republish'd in NewYork, for the Edification of Bigots, and the Promotion of ghostly Dominion; I. think it proper to acquaint the Reader with my Motive for reprinting the following Sermon. It is to expose the Absurdity and Impudence of those slavish papistical Principles, that are almost weekly vented in print, and must, to every unbias'd Thinker, afford the clearest Demonstration of the same fastidious and rampant Priest-craft, which is so remarkably humbled and repress'd in the ensuing Discourse.

While the above Advertiser, and those of his Faction have, by the vilest Arts, and for the suppression of the Truth, excluded every Man of different Sentiments, or what amounts to the same Thing, every Lover of Virtue and Liberty, from a fair Hearing in a certain News-Paper, which (contrary to the known Liberty of the Press) is now [p. ii] made the obsequious Vehicle of Misrepresentation and Slander, they seem to flatter themselves with the Thoughts of an irrestrainable Career, tho' they publish, as in Fact they do, the most notorious and impudent Forgeries. Whether a Press thus prostituted to a Party, and inaccessible to every

Antagonist, be not more dangerous to the civil and religious Rights of the People, than the total Suppression of Printing, is humbly submitted to the Public, especially as they have found Means to deter another Printer from inserting in his Paper, any Answer from the Independent Reflector, or his Friends. What but this Security of falsifying unanswer'd, and writing without Opponents, could inspire the Author of the abovementioned Advertisement with sufficient Assurance, to charge Philo-Reflector with asserting, that no Clergyman had attempted an Answer to the Independent Whigg. I was not ignorant, that whole Hosts of the Cloth, had attempted to answer those excellent and unanswerable Papers; I have, myself, read many Pamphlets with delusive Titles to that Purpose, some as bad, and others, if possible, even worse than the seasonable Performance of Parson Squire. Nay, I know that the Clergy had a Hand in far the greatest Part of all the Lampoons and Libels, all the Malice and Calumny discharg'd at those invincible Writers. As they rail'd without Shame, they scribbled without End, and were wonderfully instrumental in cheapning the Linings of Trunks, as well as forming Foundations for Christmas-Pies without Number.

That their before-mentioned Enroachments on the Liberty of the Press, is no false Alarm, but undoubted Reality, is too notorious to be denied. Several Gentlemen, both of the City and Country, have constantly applied to Gaine, to be heard in his Paper, against the Misrepresentations he had published; but he remained inexorable. The Thing indeed is now become the common Subject of Conversation, and loudly exclaim'd against by all Lovers of Liberty, and the Constitution. But to render the truth of this astonishing Partiality still more evident, the following Relation I can attest whenever publicly called upon. Discoursing the other Day with a Gentleman on this Head, and telling him I could neither believe Mr. Gaine to be so great an Enemy to the Liberties of Englishmen, nor any Gentleman among us mean enough, to insist on his rejecting every Vindication against the Aspersions he published; the Gentleman, to

convince me of my Error, produced two original Letters from that mercenary Printer: The One bears Date the 5th of April last, in which he says, That after mature Deliberation, I am come to a Resolution, not to be any Ways concerned in Disputes for the future. Whence it appears, that his Talent at Falsifying, is not inferior to that of his Employers, in as much as he has been concerned in Disputes ever since: Then he proceeds, For Reasons best known to myself, I beg to be excused at present: If you are attacked in my Paper, and will answer in a mild Manner, you may depend, I will oblige as far as is consistent with the Interest of my Calling. Upon which I beg leave to make the following Observations.

First, That, according to Mr. Gaine's Reasoning, a Printer may justly refuse inserting in his Paper, the most useful and unexceptionable Composition, without assigning any Reason, it being sufficient, in his Opinion, to have his Reason known to himself; which, doubtless, it always will be: And agreeable to this Position, he may deny the Insertion of any Man's Vindication of his Character, against the most injurious Calumnies.

[p. xii] Secondly, He is to be the sole Judge of what is, or is not to be printed; because the former is to be written in a mild Manner; and whenever he is pleased to think it otherwise, it is to be suppressed.

Thirdly, Tho' it be never so mild, yet his printing it, is to be consistent with his Interest; the plain English of which is, that if he can get a Groat more for suppressing than for publishing the Truth, the Truth is to be suppressed.

Fourthly, He is never to consult his Duty, but only the Interest of his Calling.

This is Mr. Gaine's Notion of the Liberty of the Press, which is so much more destructive of the Cause of Truth and Virtue, than no Press at all, as the publication of Falsehood and Error, without being contradicted, is more pernicious than no Publication. But it seems, that even this uncommon Abuse of the Press, would not answer the

Purposes of his Masters; for it might possibly be made his Interest, to print a mild Answer to a furious Attack, which would create some Obstruction to their Design of publishing their Calumnies, unanswered, and unopposed. He therefore sends the Gentleman another Letter, in which he says, I am fully determin'd not to insert the Papers which you delivered me, upon any Account whatsoever. These Papers the Gentleman also shewed me, and they contain'd a few Remarks upon our intended College, which every Man in the Province had a Right to make, and which were afterwards published in the Gazette. I must therefore submit it to the impartial Reader, whether a Printer, so prostituting the Press, and printing the most contumelious Invectives against whole Bodies of Men, as well as personal Scurrilities, without admitting their Answers, deserves any Encouragement from the Public; and whether the Government of our College would be safe in the Hands of any Sect, who already begin to lay the Foundation of our Oppression and Bondage, by an open Invasion of the Liberty of the Press, and evidently shew, they want nothing but the Power, in order to exercise the Malice of Tyrants.

[p. xiii] What renders the Conduct of this Fellow still more inexcusable, is, that he neither prints for one Side, nor refuses to print for the other, from Conviction or Principle: So far from it, that he told a Gentleman he would rather print for the Reflector and his Friends, because their Productions would be a Credit to his Paper, whereas he was sensible at present, he published a great deal of Stupidity and Nonsense, or Words to that purpose, But it was his Interest.

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From all this, it sufficiently appears, what little Reason these dirty Scribblers have to triumph, on Account of their d Conquests. Tho' they assert the most flagrant Falshoods, they are sure of not being answered; and then exult in the Unanswerableness of their Reasonings. But surely it must, to Men of the least Consideration, appear a very untenable Cause, that requires such iniquitous Artifices for its Support. Was Truth on their Side, why should they