The London Printers Lamentation, or, the Press oppressed, and overprest.  
HOw Venerable and Worthily honoured in all kingdoms and Common-wealths, the wonderful and mysterious 〈…〉 ion, Utility and Dignity of Printing ha●● alw●yes been, can not be rationally contradicted, 〈…〉 paring it specially with the miserable condition and bar 〈…〉 nesse of the ancients as well in the Eastern as the Wester●●●rts of the World,( as Strabo de situ Orbis, writ l. 3.) Who( as he saith) for the better conveying to Posterity the memorable Acts and Monuments of their present Times, conceive● and contrived at first no better medium, than the Impression thereof with their fingers, or little sticks in Ashes or Sand, thinly dispersed and spread abroad in Vaults and Cells: But experience being the mistress of Art, some better Wits at length invented Knives and other Instruments for the Incision of Letter● in Barks of Trees; Others, for the Graving or Carving of them in ston; Others, with Pincers in Leaves of laurel, Fig-trees and other craffie leaves,( as in China, and other parts of the Indies and Eastern Countries) impressed their Memorials in uncouth Characters: Since that, the use of led was brought in estimation for the Insculption of words in a more convenient method. But( as the Adage is true, Facile est inventis addere, and use tends every day more and more to perfection) the happy experiment, first of Parchment, and then of Paper was ingeniously found out, with the use of Canes, Pencils, quills, and ink of several sorts: Yet all this while the benefit accrueing by that Invention, tended no further, than to the composing of one single Manuscript at one time, by the labour and Inscription of one single Person: The rarity and paucity whereof hath caused such honour, reverence and Authority, to be put upon the Antiquities of our Antcessors as worthily they merit.  
But at the Length, this vast expense of Time and pains enforced mens wits( by a cogent necessity) to inquire into, and search out the more occult and secret Mysteries of Art, for their better convenience and communication of their Writings: And thereupon by the blessing of Almighty God, upon the study and industry of John Cuthenburge, the rare and incomparable mystery and Science of Printing of Books, was invented and practised at Mentz in Germany, above 200. years ago; And soon after that Art was brought over into England by one William Caxton, a worshipful Mercer of the famous City of London, and there put in use, with meritorious approbation of the Religious and Virtuous King Henry the sixth, and all the Estates of this kingdom. Since which time( being about 220 years elapsed) that ingenious Mystery, splendour of Art, and Propagatrix of Knowledge hath been duly countenan●ed and encouraged with so much favour and respect of all our English Princes, that it is by laudable succession of time, ●rrived at that exquisite perfection, as we now see it in itself. For true is the Character of a Printer, to wit, 
Imprimit ille die, quantum non scribitur anno.  
In one dayes time a Printer will Print more,  
Than one man writ could in a Year before.   
To pretermit the honour and esteem placed upon it in particular by Henry the 8. and Edward the 6. and the Incorporation of the Stationers company by Queen Mary, merely and onely for her favour and respect to the Printers, and not to the Booksellers( albeit they were both in their several faculties then constituted in one ●ody and Society, under one generical and individual term of Stationers) Let us come to the Reign of the glorious Queen Elizabeth of ever blessed memory; And then we shall plainly and perspicuously discover her Majesties great love and Royal affection to Printing and Printers; who for the sake of them & it, so far descended from her Royal throne as that her Highness not only made several gracious Grants unto them for better maintaining their poor, but also graciously recommended( for the special encouragement and better subsistence of the Master ●rinters) the Regulat●o● of that Mystery, and the Professors thereof, to the Right Honourable and Judicious, the Lords of her M●●esties most Honourable Privy Council: Who 23 Junii 28 Eliz. made a ●emorable and noble Decree in the Star Chamber, Consisting the number of M●st●r Printers in England to the n●mber of ●wenty, to have the use and Exercise of Printing Houses for the time being;( be●●●es her Ma●esties Printers, and the Printers allowed for the Universities;) limiting and confin●n● them within such an excellent Method and strict Regulat●●●, as ●●nd●d very much to the Peace and Security of the Church, and 〈◇〉. But as the World waxeth old as doth a Garment, and the corruptions and evil manners of Times and men grow daily to a greater maturity and ripeness in sin and wickedness; And that all human kind are boldly inclined to rush through any forbidden mischief( like the old race of the giants, and the builders of Babel;) So in tract and process of time, and specially in these later dayes( notwithstanding the severity and authority of that good Decree of the Queens time,) Printing and Printers about the year 1637. were grown to such a monstrous excess and exorbitant disorder, that the prudent Limits, and Rules of that laudable Decree, were as much transgressed and infringed at that time, as the Kings-Bench Rules in Southwark have been extended and eloined in later dayes, for want of due execution of Justice.  
Wherefore by the special Command of our late Royal and most Illustr●ous King charles of blessed memory, the Right Honourable Thomas Lord Coventry, Lord Keeper of the great seal of England; The Lord Arch Bishop of Canterbury, his Grace, the Lord Bishop of London, Lord High Treasurer of England, the Lords chief Justices, and the Lord Chief Baron, being sate together in Council in the Star-Chamber 11. July 13. Car. And reviewing and maturely considering the said Decree and Ordinances of the Queens time; in very great wisdom, Policy, and Prudence of State, thought fit and adjudged not onely to confirm the same, but also to make and subjoin thereto several useful and convenient Additions and Supplements, as the reason of State, and the necessity of the times did then require. Which last Decree with due renown to the memory of the makers thereof) was the best and most exquisite Form and Constitution for the good Government and regulation of the Press, that ever was pronounced, or can reasonably be contrived, to keep it in due order and regular Exercise.  
But now may we well with sorrow cry out at this day, with the comedian, O Tempora, O mores! or, in another sense, with the Spouse in the Canticles, Ca: 2. v. 15. Take us the Foxes, the little Foxes, that spoil the Vines, for our Vines have tender Grapes. Never was there such an honourable, ingenious and profitable Mystery and Science in the world so basely intruded upon, and disesteemed, so carelessly regarded, so unworthily subjected to infamy and disgrace, by being made so common, as Printing hath been since 1640. in the dayes of our miserable confusions and Calamities: Neither can it be repaired, or restored to its native worth and regular Constitution, so long as such horrid Monstrosities and gibbous excrescences are suffered to remain and tumour in that disorderly and confused Body, as now it existeth in itself.  
The excessive number of Printing-houses and Master Printers, or such at least as use and exercise the faculty of Printing,( though some be booksellers onely by trade and education; and others are of other trades, not relative to Printing) is at present multiplied and increased to above triple the number of twenty, constituted by that decree of the starchamber: so that by means of that exorbitant and excessive number of above 60. Printing-houses in and about London, and the necessitous conditions of many of the Printers themselves, and the Imposition of others upon them( who if they will not adventure to print for them, what is unlawful and offensive to the State and Government,( being treasonable and seditious, and most profitable for sale) shall not be employed upon things lawful and expedient) all the irregularities, inconveniences, and mischiefs, that can be imagined to be committed and done by the too much liberty and licentiousness of the press, have been and are occasioned at this day, and daily will( without some speedy remedy and restriction, for the better encouragement of the honest and ingenious Artists) be continued amongst us. How can it in reason be conceived to stand with the Royalty and Dignity of his most Excellent Majesty,( whom God Almighty prosper and preserve) or with the safety and security of his kingdoms, to permit and suffer, either the fore-mentioned inconveniences for the future, or such notorious imp●eties and abominable Indignities and Insolences, done and offered to his Majest●es most Sacred Person and Estate, to go unpunished in the Actors thereof; who are nevertheless in truth and reality his Majesties Printers; against whom there is just Cause of Complaint at this present. As for example, Mr. Christopher Barker and Mr. John Bill, by their education and quality have little or no skill or experience in the Faculty and Art of Printing, as to the manual operation thereof, being never brought up in that Mystery: And the old Proverb is and will be true, to wit, Senex Psittacus non capit ferulam. And albe●t they are said and entitle themselves( by a very questionable and doubtful Authority both in Law and Equity) ●o be his Ma●esties Printers; yet indeed are they but nominal and titular; for that the manual work and Impression itself, as well of the late Acts of Parliament, as also of his Majesties Proclamations, and other Royal. Acts of State, hath been actually performed by Thomas Newcome, John field and Henry Hills, printers: Which three persons, to give them their proper Characters, have been the onely Instruments and Incendiaries against, and Enemies, to his sacred Majesty and his Friends, in their Stations and qualities, before and ever since the detestable and unparallelled Murder of our blessed sovereign his Royal Father, as far as the extent of the press could make them capable or extant.  
Who Printed the pretended Act of the Commons of England for the setting up an High Court of Justice, for the trial of his Martyred Majesty in 1648? Or, The Acts for abolishing King-ship, and renouncing the royal Line and Title of the Stuarts? Or, for the Declaring what Offences should be adjudged Treason? For taking the Engagement? for sale of Dean and Chapters Lands? for sale of the Kings, Queens, and Princes Goods and Lands; and the fee-farm Rents? for sale of Delinquents Lands; or, the Proclam●tion of 13. of September 165●. After the sight at WORCE●TER, offering, One Thousand pound to any person, to bring in his M●jesties pers●n? but only John field, Printer to the Parliament of England( and since by cronwell was and is continued Printer to the University of Cambridge!) Omitting many other Treasonable Offences, and egregious Indignities done by him and H. H●lls, to the Royal● Family, and good old Cause of the King and kingdom, in all the late Tyrannicall Usurpations. Who Printed the Weekly Intelligencer, and Mercuriu● Politicus, with the Cases of the Common-wealth stated, and that Interest will not lie, for Marchamont Nedham, Gent. from 1650. till the blessed and assured hopes of his Majesties Restauration of late, but Thomas Newcome, Printer, Dwelling over against Baynards Castle in Thames-street! And with what familiar Titles of honour did they salute His Majesty therein( we pray,) but of young Tarquin, the son of the late Tyrant, the Titular King of Scots, the young Pretender, with an infinite more of the like treasonable extraction; which for brevitie-sake, and for that they are of Miltons strain, and so publicly known, and were the weekly Trash and Trumpery of every Hawker, Pedlar, and Petty Carrier, we omit.  
But we cannot as yet pass-over his Majesties good friends, Hills and field( take them con●unctim or divisim:) What Zealots and Factors,( or blood-hounds and Tarriers rather) they have been for that abstract of Traitors, Tyrants and Usurpers, O●iver cronwell, his son Richard, and the pretended Committee of Safety, in searching for, seizing and suppressing( as far as they could) all Books, Treatises, and Papers, asserting the Kings Right and Title to the Crown, or tending to the Promotion of his Interest and Vindication of his Authority, the worst of his Majesties Enemies must necessary, with shane and Detestation confess! And is this all that hath been done by Hills and field to his Majesty onely, and his royal Relations nnd Interests? No! Their Impieties and Insolences have mounted as high, as to become actual and professed Traitors against the glorious Crown and Dignity of the King of Kings, blessed for ever: Have they not invaded and still do intrude upon his Majesties royal privilege, prerogative and Praeminence; And by the pusillanimous cowardice and insignificant Compact of Mr. Christopher Barker, and another of his name, and( not without probable suspicion,) by the consent and connivance of Mr. John Bill ( though he was artificially defeated in his expectations of profit;) Have they not obtained,( and now keep in their actual possession) the Manuscript Copy of the last Translation of tho holy Bible in English, ( attested with the hands of the Venerable and learned Translators in King James his time) ever since 6 March 1655. And thereupon by colour of an unlawful and enforced entrance in the Stationers Registry, printed and published ever since for the most part in several Editions of Bibles( consisting of great numbers) such egregious Blasphemies and damnable erratas, as have corrupted the pure Fountain, and rendered Gods holy Word contemptible to multitudes of the people at home, and a Ludibrium to all the Adversaries of our Religion? Have they not suffocated and suppressed all Books containing Pious and Religious Prayers and Devotions to be presented and offered to the blessed Trinity for the blessing of Heaven upon his Majesties royal Person and Family, and the Church and State, by preventing and obstructing the Printing of the Common Prayer, Primars, and Psalters, contrary to the Statute of 1. Q. Elizabeth c. 2. and other good Laws and Ordinances, and the ecclesiastical Canons of the Church of England; unless that they contained Prayers for their late Protector! And are these small Offences to be past and pardonned, or such as shall deserve the favour of indemnity and Oblivion? God forbid!  
Impunitas peccati praebet ansam peccandi. The not punishing of offences, emboldeneth offenders to commit greater Enormities with brazen brows, as if they were incorrigible: And( as the Proverb saith) He that saves a Thief from the gallows, shall first be robbed himself. Is not the King as the breath of our nostrils, the anointed of the Lord, his person sacred, his authority dreadful? And is not all our present and future security and happiness involved in his Ma●esties preservation and prosperity? And shall his Majesties most apparent and implacable enemies be chiefly entrusted in the great concernments of his State and Government, as Newcome, Hills and Field are under his Titular Printers? God forbid. Are there not honest and well affencted Printers in London sufficient & able and willing to serve his Majesty, but his grandest adversaries must be picked out for his service? And the Printing for his Majesty managed at the House of that libidinous & professed Adulterer H. Hills in Aldersgate-street, one that for his heresy in Religion( being an Anabaptist,) and his luxury in conversation( having hycritically confessed his fact in Print, and been imprisoned for his Adultery with a Taylors Wise in Black-friers,) would scandalise a good Christian, and an honest man to be in his company. But it seems the old confederacy compacted between Barker, Hills, and Field,( by the agitation of Nedham,) upon their conversi●n of the Copy of the Bible, cannot yet be forgotten; albeit it tend neversomuch to the dishonour, disparagement, and prejudice of his Majesties affairs? And therefore it is more than time( as is humbly conceived,) that as well the establishment of his Majesties office of Printer, as also the regulation of the number of Printers in England within good Rules and Limits, were speedily provided for and determ●ned; and not any longer be carelessly and improvidently left and sub●ected ●o such extreme mis●hiefs, and fatal inconveniences. And moreover it is very fit to be taken into serious consideration, how much mischief, and sedition a Press at New-England, may occasion and disperse in this Juncture of time, if the preciousness thereof be connived at, and any longer tolerated; When as we daily see such ventilations of opinions,( inclining to factions and seditions) are the common merchandise of the Press about the City of London which to a sober Christian and Loyal Subject, are plainly destructive both of Church and Stare; which God for his glory, unite preserve and propagate in the old good Order and Government.  
Having thus tru●y represented to public view the Cause of our Lamentation, We will never despair of his Majesties seasonable and timely redress: Being humbly confident, that for want of ●oyal and dutiful information presented to his Majesty, many fanatics, and disaffected persons to His Person and Government,( by a little counterfeit conversion and hypocritical subjection,) do continue and creep into his Ma●esties Serv●●●e in many great places of trust and profit; who being dyed in grain in the principles of popular liberty, would willingly cast off his Ma●esties sacred Authority, and abandon his Person, as they did his Royal Fathers, if God for our sins in judgement, should permit them the least opportunity. Quod malum in factum avertat Deus?  
But briefly to conclude, we most humbly submit the necessity of our speedy reformation and redress, upon consideration of the many great miseries and calamities, that have happened not only in England, Scotland, and Ireland; but also in Germany, France, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and other Countries and places, by the exorbitant and unlawful exercise of Printing in modern times: Which, had the science and use thereof been known in the time of the grand profession of the Donatist and Arian Heresies, would have immerged and drowned the whole World in a second Deluge of blood and confution to its utter destruction long time since. Yet however if our mystery be confined within fit and convenien● bounds, and not permitted transilire limits, it is and will be of singular use and convenience to his Majesty and his Dominion 〈◇〉 otherwise though the Art be so exquisite and excellent in itself, yet by Corruption and Depravation, it will become the more pernicious and perilous; As the strongest and richest Wine for want of good curing, will turn to the sharpest vinegar; and a little wound, or contusion neglected, will soon mortify and corrupt itself to an immedicable Gangraen.  
Ignis ab exiguo nascens, extinguitur undâ;  
said postquàm crevit, volitantque ad sydera flammae,  
Vix putei, fontes, fluvij succurrere possunt.  
A little fire to quench is done with ease;  
But when it rages, and the flames increase,  
pounds, fountains, Rivers scarce can it surcease.  
The Application is easily inferred, in reference to the inconvenience of exorbitant and irregular Printing in general: And as for his Majesties titular Printers Mr. Barker and Mr. Bill, let them consider themselves,( as all otherwise men will and must do,) under this trite and excellent aphorism, to wit, Impossibile est, vel verè admodùm difficile, ut qui ipsa opera non tractant, peritè valeant judicare.  
Impossible, or very hard be 't will,  
To judge a work well, wherein th'ave no skill.  
If a Presentment should be made of the matter of this complaint to any capable Inquest in this kingdom, they would endorse it Bella vera, and not return it with an Ignoramus.  
All which is most humbly submitted to public consideration, in hopes of Regulation and speedy Reformation.  
GOD SAVE THE KING.