The story of the establishment of the liberty of the Press in England is
full of interest, and tells the history of several books which involved
their authors and publishers in many difficulties. The censors of books
did not always occupy an enviable post, and were the objects of many
attacks. "Catalogue" Fraser lost his office for daring to license Walker's
book on the _Eikon Basilike_, which asserted that Gauden and not Charles
I. was the author. His successor Bohun was deprived of his orffice as
licenser and sent to prison for allowing a pamphlet to be printed entitled
_King William and Queen Mary, Conquerors_. The Jacobite printers suffered
severely when they were caught, which was not very frequent. In obscure
lanes and garrets they plied their secret trade, and deluged the land with
seditious books and papers. One William Anderton was tracked to a house
near St. James's Street, where he was known as a jeweller. Behind the bed
in his room was discovered a door which led to a dark closet, and there
were the types and a press, and heaps of Jacobite literature. Anderton was
found guilty of treason, and paid the penalty of death for his crime. In
1695 the Press was emancipated from its thraldom, and the office of
licenser ceased to exist. Henceforward popular judgment and the general
good sense and right feeling of the community constituted the only
licensing authority of the Press of England.
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