A Vindication of the Press by Daniel Defoe
page 16 of 42 (38%)
page 16 of 42 (38%)
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Murder] which 'tis said occasion'd the Death of _Oliver Cromwel_.
These are the Uses of Writings in the Church and the State, with Answers to such Objections as may be made against them, not to mention particularly in respect to the former, the Writings of the Fathers, and even of some Heathen Philosophers, such as _Seneca_, &c. And besides the valuable Performances of our most eminent Divines in all Ages, as Dr. _Taylor_, Bishop _Usher, Tillotson, Beveridge_ &c. and _The whole Duty of Man_, &c. in our private Devotions. I now proceed to the Uses in Arts and Sciences. How much Posterity will be oblig'd to the Great Sir _Isaac Newton_ and Doctor _Flamstead_ for their Mathematical Writings, is more easy to imagine than the Improvements which may be made from thence; there's a great deal of Reason to believe, that if a future Age produces a Successor to Sir _Isaac_, (at present I take it, there's none in the World) that not only the Longitude at Sea will be discover'd, but the perpetual Motion, so many Ages sought after, found out. How much are the Gentlemen of the Law oblig'd to my Lord _Littleton's_ Institutes and _Coke's_ Commentaries thereupon? Writing in this Profession is esteem'd so Essential, that there's seldom a Judge quits the Stage of Life, without a voluminous Performance, as a Legacy to the World, and there's rarely a Term without some Production of the Press: The Numbers of these Writings are very much augmented by the various Reports of Cases from Time to Time made; and these seem to be entirely necessary by way of Precedent, as a discreet and cautious Justice will not take upon him to determine a Cause of difficulty without the Authority of a Precedent. |
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