,,bohn',s ,,standard ,,library    ,,the 
,,prose ,,works ,,of ,,jonathan ,,swift 
,,vol4 ,,iii      ,illustration3        
,jonathan ,swift1    from a picture by  
,frances ,bindon    ,in the possession  
of ,sir ,f ,r ,falkiner      ,,the      
,,prose ,,works    ,,of    ,,jonathan   
,,swift1 ,d4,d4    ,,edited ,,by        
,,temple ,,scott    ,,with ,a           
,,biographical ,,introduction ,,by      
,,the ,,rt4 ,,hon4 ,w4 ,e4 ,h4 ,,lecky1 
,m4,p4    ,,vol ,,iii    #ahih          
,,swift',s    ,,writings ,,on ,,religion
 ,,and ,,the ,,church    ,,vol4 ,i      
,,edited ,,by    ,,temple ,,scott       
#ahih          ,,preface4      ,the     
inquiry into the religious thought of   
the eighteenth century forms  one of the
 most interesting subjects for          
speculation in the history of  the      
intellectual development of western     
nations4 ,it is true1 that in  that     
history ,swift takes no special or      
distinguished part2 but he forms  a     
figure of peculiar interest in a special

 circle of his own4 ,swift had  no      
natural bent for the ministry of a      
church2 his instincts1 his  temperament1
 his intellect1 were of that order which
 fitted him for  leadership and         
administration4 ,he was a born          
magistrate and commander of  men4 ,it   
is1 therefore1 one of the finest        
compliments we can pay ,swift to  say1  
that no more faithful1 no more devoted1 
no stauncher servant has  that ,church  
possessed2 for we must remember the     
proud and haughty temper  which         
attempted to content itself with the    
humdrum duties of a parish  life4 ,swift
 entered the service of that ,church at 
a time when its need  for such a man was
 great2 and in spite of its disdain of  
his worth1 in  spite of its failure to  
recognize and acknowledge his           
transcendent  qualities1 he never forgot
 his oath1 and never shook in his       
allegiance4  ,to any one1 however1 who  
reads carefully his sermons1 his        
,thoughts on  ,religion1 and his ,letter

 to a ,young ,clergyman1 there comes a  
question--whether1 for his innermost    
conscience1 ,swift found a  satisfying  
conviction in the doctrines of          
,christianity4 ,i am not  answerable to 
,god1 he says1 for the doubts that arise
 in my own  breast1 since they are the  
consequence of that reason which he hath
  planted in me1 if ,i take care to     
conceal those doubts from others1 if ,i 
use my best endeavours to subdue them1  
and if they have no influence on  the   
conduct of my life4 ,we search in vain1 
in any of his writings1 for  any        
definite expression of doubt or want of 
faith in these doctrines4  ,when he     
touches on them1 as he does in the      
sermon ,on the ,trinity1 he  seems to   
avoid of set purpose1 rational inquiry1 
and contents himself  with insisting on 
the necessity for a belief in those     
mysteries  concerning ,god about which  
we cannot hope to know anything4 ,i do  
not  find1 he says1 in his ,letter to a 
,young ,clergyman1 that you are         

anywhere directed in the canons or      
articles to attempt explaining the      
mysteries of the ,christian religion2   
and1 indeed1 since ,providence  intended
 there should be mysteries1 ,i don't see
 how it can be agreeable  to piety1     
orthodoxy1 or good sense to go about    
such a work4 ,for to me  there seems a  
manifest dilemma in the case2 if you    
explain them1 they  are mysteries no    
longer2 if you fail1 you have laboured  
to no purpose4    ,it must at once be   
admitted that ,swift had not the        
metaphysical bent2  philosophy--in our  
modern sense of the word--was to him    
only a species  of word spinning4 ,that 
only was valuable which had a practical 
bearing  on life--and ,christianity had 
that4 ,he found in ,christianity1 as he 
knew  it--in the ,church of ,england1   
that is to say--an excellent            
organization1  which recognized the     
frailties of human nature1 aimed at     
making  healthier men's souls1 and gave 
mankind a reasonable guidance in the    

selection of the best motives to action4
 ,he himself1 as a preacher1 made  it   
his principal business1 first to tell   
the people what is their duty1  and then
 to convince them that it is so4 ,he had
 a profound faith in  existing          
institutions1 which to him were founded 
on the fundamental  traits of humanity4 
,the ,church of ,england he considered  
to be such an  institution2 and it was1 
moreover1 regulated and settled by order
 of the  ,state4 ,to follow its         
teachings would lead men to become good 
citizens1  honest dealers1 truthful and 
cleanly companions1 upright friends4    
,what  more could be demanded of any    
religion8    ,the ,romish ,church led   
away from the ,constitution as by law   
established4  ,dissent set up private   
authority1 which could no more be       
permitted in  religious than it was in  
political matters2 it meant dissension1 
revolution1 and the upheaval of tried   
and trusted associations4  ,therefore1  
the ,church of ,rome and the teachings  

of ,dissent were alike  dangerous2 and  
against both1 whenever they attempted   
the possession of  political power1 he  
waged a fierce and uncompromising war4  
,where sects  are tolerated in a ,state1
 he says1 in his ,sentiments of a       
,church of  ,england ,man1 it is fit    
they should enjoy a full liberty of     
conscience1  and every other privilege  
of free-born subjects1 to which no power
 is  annexed4 ,and to preserve their    
obedience upon all emergencies1 a       
government cannot give them too much    
ease1 nor trust them with too  little   
power4    ,swift had no passionate love 
for ideals--indeed1 he may have thought 
ideals to be figments of an overheated  
and1 therefore1 aberrated  imagination4 
,the practically real was the best      
ideal2 and by the real he  would        
understand that power which most capably
 and most regulatively  nursed1 guided1 
and assisted the best instincts of the  
average man4 ,the  average man was but a
 sorry creature1 and required           

adventitious aids for  his development4 
,gifted as he was with a large sympathy1
 ,swift yet was  seemingly incapable of 
appreciating those thought-forms which  
help us to  visualize mentally our      
religious aspirations and emotions4 ,a  
mere  emotion was but subject-matter for
 his satire4 ,he suspected any zeal     
which protested too much for truth1 and 
considered it odds on it being  either  
petulancy1 ambition1 or pride4          
,whatever may have been his private     
speculations as to the truth of the     
doctrines of ,christianity they never   
interfered with his sense of his        
responsibilities as a clergyman4 ,i look
 upon myself1 he says1 in the  capacity 
of a clergyman1 to be one appointed by  
,providence for defending  a post       
assigned me1 and for gaining over as    
many enemies as ,i can4  ,although ,i   
think my cause is just1 yet one great   
motive is my submitting  to the pleasure
 of ,providence1 and to the laws of my  
country4 ,if anyone  had asked him1 what

 was the pleasure of ,providence1 he    
would probably  have answered1 that it  
was plainly shown in the ,scriptures1   
and required  not the aid of the        
expositions of divines who were too     
curious1 or too  narrow1 in reducing    
orthodoxy within the compass of         
subtleties1  niceties1 and distinctions4
 ,truth was no abstraction--that was    
truth  which found its expression in the
 best action2 and this explains ,swift's
  acceptance of any organization which  
made for such expression4 ,he found  one
 ready in the ,church of ,england2 and  
whatever his doubts were1 those  only   
moved him which were aroused by action  
from those who attempted to  interfere  
with the working of that organization4  
,and this also helps to  explain his    
political attitude at the time when it  
was thought he had  deserted his        
friends4 ,the ,church was always his    
first consideration4 ,he  was not a     
,churchman because he was a politician1 
but a politician  because he was a      

,churchman4 ,these1 however1 are matters
 which are more  fully entered into by  
,swift himself in the tracts herewith   
reprinted1  and in the notes prefixed to
 them by the editor4    ,it was         
originally intended that ,swift's       
writings on ,religion and the  ,church  
should occupy a single volume of this   
edition of his works4 ,they  are1       
however1 so numerous that it has been   
found more convenient to  divide them   
into two volumes--the first including   
all the tracts1 except  those relating  
to the ,sacramental ,test2 the second   
containing the ,test  pamphlets and the 
twelve sermons1 with the ,remarks on    
,dr4 ,gibbs's  paraphrase of the        
,psalms1 in an appendix4 ,it is hoped   
that this  division1 while it entails   
upon the student the necessity for a    
double  reference1 will yet preserve the
 continuity of form enabling him to view
  ,swift's religious standpoint and work
 with as much advantage as he would     
have obtained by the original plan4     

,the editor again takes the opportunity 
to thank ,colonel ,f4 ,grant for the    
service he has rendered him in placing  
at his disposal his fine  collection of 
,swift's tracts4 ,the portrait which    
forms the frontispiece  to this volume  
is one of those painted by ,francis     
,bindon1 and was  formerly in the       
possession of ,judge ,berwick4 ,for     
permission to  photograph and reproduce 
it here1 thanks are due to ,sir         
,frederick ,r4  ,falkiner1 ,recorder of 
,dublin4    ,,temple ,,scott4           
,,contents3    ,,argument ,,against     
,,abolishing ,,christianity    ,,project
 ,,for ,,the ,,advancement ,,of         
,,religion    ,,sentiments ,,of ,a      
,,church ,,of ,,england ,,man           
,,remarks ,,upon ,,the ,,rights ,,of    
,,the ,,christian ,,church    ,,preface 
,,to ,,the ,,bishop ,,of ,,sarum',s     
,,introduction    ,,abstract ,,of       
,,collins',s ,,discourse ,,of           
,,freethinking    ,,some ,,thoughts ,,on
 ,,freethinking    ,,letter ,,to ,a     

,,young ,,clergyman    ,,arguments      
,,against ,,enlarging ,,the ,,power ,,of
 ,,bishops ,,in ,,letting ,,leases      
,,reasons ,,offered ,,to ,,the          
,,archbishop ,,of ,,dublin    ,,on ,,the
 ,,bill ,,for ,,the ,,clergy',s         
,,residing ,,on ,,their ,,livings       
,,considerations ,,upon ,,two ,,bills   
,,relating ,,to ,,the ,,clergy ,,of     
,,ireland    ,,reasons ,,against ,,the  
,,modus    ,,essay ,,on ,,the ,,fates   
,,of ,,clergymen    ,,concerning ,,that 
,,universal ,,hatred ,,which ,,prevails 
,,against ,,the ,,clergy    ,,thoughts  
,,on ,,religion    ,,further ,,thoughts 
,,on ,,religion    ,,prayers ,,for      
,,mrs4 ,,johnson    ,,an ,,evening      
,,prayer    ,,observations ,,on         
,,heylin',s ,,history ,,of              
,,presbyterians    9999999999           
9999999999       9999999999             
9999999999       9999999999             
,,an ,,argument    ,,to ,,prove ,,that  
,,the    ,,abolishing ,,of              
,,christianity ,,in ,,england    ,,may1 

,,as ,,things ,,now ,,stand1 ,,be       
,,attended ,,with ,,some                
,,inconveniences1 ,,and  ,,perhaps ,,not
 ,,produce ,,those ,,many ,,good        
,,effects ,,proposed ,,thereby4         
,,written ,,in ,,the ,,year #agjh4      
,,note4    ,in ,november1 #agjg1 ,swift 
left ,dublin in the train of the then   
,lord  ,lieutenant1 ,lord ,pembroke4    
,his travelling companion was ,sir      
,andrew  ,fountaine1 who1 on landing in 
,england1 set out with ,lord ,pembroke  
for  ,wilton1 while ,swift went on to   
,leicester to visit his mother4 ,he     
stayed  with her until some time in     
,december1 but1 by the middle of the    
same  month1 he was in ,london4 ,during 
this absence from ,ireland ,swift       
corresponded somewhat freely with       
,archbishop ,king of ,dublin1 and with  
,archdeacon ,walls--the letters to the  
former were first printed in  ,forster's
 ,life of ,swift4 ,for these ,forster   
was indebted to the ,rev4  ,mr4 ,reeves 
7vicar of ,lusk1 co4 ,dublin71 who      

discovered them in the  record-room of  
the see of ,armagh 7see ,life1 p4 #bje  
et seq4 and note74  ,one of ,swift's    
intentions1 while in the metropolis1 was
 to push forward  the claim of the      
,irish clergy for the remission of the  
,first ,fruits and  ,tenths1 a grant    
which had already been conceded to the  
,english clergy2  and his letters to    
,king often include requests for the    
necessary papers  by means of which he  
could lay the matter before either      
,godolphin or  ,somers4 ,walls had      
written to ,swift of the vacancy of the 
see of  ,waterford1 and1 from the reply 
to the archdeacon1 we learn that even at
  so early a date ,swift suffered a     
grievous disappointment2 for in         
,january1 #agjh1 the bishopric1 of which
 ,swift had hopes1 was presented to     
,dr4 ,thomas ,milles4 ,in his letter to 
,walls ,swift confesses that he once    
had a glimpse that things would have    
gone otherwise4444 ,but let us  talk no 
further on this subject4 ,i am          

stomach-sick of it already4 444  ,pray  
send me an account of some smaller      
vacancy in the ,government's  gift4 ,it 
was to ,somers1 and through him to ,lord
 ,halifax1 that ,swift  looked for      
recognition1 either for services        
rendered1 or because of  their          
appreciation of his abilities4 ,but1    
however much he may have been           
disappointed at their inaction1 it may  
not be argued1 as it has been1  that    
,swift's so-called change in his        
political opinions was the outcome      
either of spleen or chagrin against the 
,whigs for their ingratitude  towards   
him4 ,it is1 indeed1 questionable       
whether ,swift ever changed his         
political opinions1 speaking of these as
 party opinions4 ,from the day of  his  
entrance1 it may be said1 into the      
orders of the ,church1 his first        
thought was for it2 and on all political
 questions which touched ,church        
matters ,swift was neither ,whig nor    
,tory1 but churchman4 ,it was because   

of the attitude of the ,whigs towards   
the ,church that ,swift left them2  and 
in his writings he does not spare the   
,tories even when he finds them  taking 
up similar attitudes4 ,on purely        
political questions ,swift was too      
independent a thinker to be influenced  
by mere party views4 ,that he  wrote for
 the ,tories must be put down to        
,harley's personal influence1  and to   
his foresight which saw in ,swift a man 
who must be treated as an  equal with   
the highest in the land4 ,swift's       
intercourse with the leading  men of his
 day only served to accentuate his      
consciousness of his  superiority2 and a
 party which would permit him the free  
play of his  powers would be the party  
to which ,swift would give his adhesion4
  ,godolphin1 ,somers1 and ,walpole     
either did not recognize the genius of  
the man1 or their own points of view did
 not permit them to give him  the free  
play they felt he would obtain4 ,be that
 as it may1 ,harley  gained not only a  

splendid party fighter1 but a friend on 
whose  affection he could ever rely4    
,in these tracts on ,religion and the   
,church1 which he wrote in the year     
#agjh1 ,swift is not a party man1       
speaking for party purposes4 ,he        
believed1 and sincerely believed1 that  
for such beings as were the men  and    
women of this kingdom1 the ,church was1 
if not the highest and  noblest         
instrument for good1 yet the worthiest  
and ablest they had4  ,swift never lost 
himself in theories4 ,he was1 however1  
not blind to the  dangers which an      
established religion might engender2 but
 whatever its  dangers1 these would be  
inevitable to the most perfect system so
 long as  human nature was as base as it
 was4 ,the ,argument is written in a    
vein  of satirical banter2 but the      
,swiftian cynicism permeates every line4
 ,it  is the first of four tracts which 
form ,swift's most important expression 
of his thoughts on ,religion and the    
,church4 ,scott well describes it as    

one of the most felicitous efforts in   
our language1 to engage wit and  humour 
on the side of religion1 and ,forster   
speaks of it as having  also that       
indefinable subtlety of style which     
conveys not the writer's  knowledge of  
the subject only1 but his power and     
superiority over it4    ,i have not been
 able to find a copy of the original    
edition of the  ,argument upon which to 
base the present text--for that ,i have 
gone to  the first edition of the       
,miscellanies1 published in #agaa2 but  
,i have  collated this with those given 
by the ,miscellanies 7#agbh71 ,faulkner1
  ,hawkesworth1 ,scott1 ,morley1 and    
,craik4    ,t4 ,s4      ,,an ,,argument 
,,against ,,abolishing ,,christianity4  
,i am very sensible what a weakness and 
presumption it is1 to reason  against   
the general humour and disposition of   
the world4 ,i remember it  was with     
great justice1 and a due regard to the  
freedom both of the  public and the     
press1 forbidden upon several penalties 

to write1#a or  discourse1 or lay wagers
 against the ,union1 even before it was 
confirmed  by parliament1 because that  
was looked upon as a design1 to oppose  
the  current of the people1 which1      
besides the folly of it1 is a manifest  
breach of the fundamental law that makes
 this majority of opinion the  voice of 
,god4 ,in like manner1 and for the very 
same reasons1 it may  perhaps be neither
 safe nor prudent to argue against the  
abolishing of  ,christianity1 at a      
juncture when all parties appear#b so   
unanimously  determined upon the point1 
as we cannot but allow from their       
actions1  their discourses1 and their   
writings4 ,however1 ,i know not how1    
whether  from the affectation of        
singularity1 or the perverseness of     
human  nature1 but so it unhappily falls
 out1 that ,i cannot be entirely of this
  opinion4 ,nay1 though ,i were sure an 
order were issued for my immediate      
prosecution by the ,attorney-,general1  
,i should still confess that in the     

present posture of our affairs at home  
or abroad1 ,i do not yet see the        
absolute necessity of extirpating the   
,christian religion from among us4      
,footnote #a3 ,this refers to the       
,jacobitism of the time1 particularly   
among those who were opposed to the     
,union4 ,a reference to ,lord ,mahon's  
,reign of ,queen ,anne will show how    
strong was the opposition in  ,scotland1
 and how severe were the measures taken 
to put down that  opposition4 ,t4,s4    
,footnote #b3 ,craik and ,hawkesworth   
print the word seem1 but the            
,miscellanies1 ,faulkner1 and ,scott    
give it as in the text4 ,t4,s4    ,this 
perhaps may appear too great a paradox  
even for our wise and  paradoxical age  
to endure2 therefore ,i shall handle it 
with all  tenderness1 and with the      
utmost deference to that great and      
profound  majority which is of another  
sentiment4    ,and yet the curious may  
please to observe1 how much the genius  
of a  nation is liable to alter in half 

an age4 ,i have heard it affirmed for   
certain by some very old people1 that   
the contrary opinion was even in  their 
memories as much in vogue as the other  
is now2 and1 that a project  for the    
abolishing of ,christianity would then  
have appeared as singular1  and been    
thought as absurd1 as it would be at    
this time to write or  discourse in its 
defence4    ,therefore ,i freely own    
that all appearances are against me4    
,the system  of the ,gospel1 after the  
fate of other systems is generally      
antiquated  and exploded1 and the mass  
or body of the common people1 among whom
 it  seems to have had its latest       
credit1 are now grown as much ashamed of
 it  as their betters2 opinions1 like   
fashions1 always descending from those  
of quality to the middle sort1 and      
thence to the vulgar1 where at length   
they are dropped and vanish4    ,but    
here ,i would not be mistaken1 and must 
therefore be so bold as to  borrow a    
distinction from the writers on the     

other side1 when they make  a difference
 between nominal and real ,trinitarians4
 ,i hope no reader  imagines me so weak 
to stand up in the defence of real      
,christianity1  such as used in         
primitive times 7if we may believe the  
authors of those  ages7 to have an      
influence upon men's belief and actions3
 ,to offer at  the restoring of that    
would indeed be a wild project2 it would
 be to dig  up foundations2 to destroy  
at one blow all the wit1 and half the   
learning of the kingdom2 to break the   
entire frame and constitution of        
things2 to ruin trade1 extinguish arts  
and sciences with the professors  of    
them2 in short1 to turn our courts1     
exchanges1 and shops into  deserts2 and 
would be full as absurd as the proposal 
of ,horace1#c where  he advises the     
,romans all in a body to leave their    
city1 and seek a new  seat in some      
remote part of the world1 by way of cure
 for the corruption  of their manners4  
,footnote #c3 ,this proposal is embodied

 in the #afth ,epode1 where1 in an      
appeal to the ,roman people1 ,horace    
advises them to fly the evils of        
tyranny and civil war by sailing away to
 the happy land1 those islands  of the  
blest3      ,nos manet ,oceanus         
circumvagus6 arva1 beata    ,petamus    
arva1 divites et insulas6  ,t4,s4       
,therefore ,i think this caution was in 
itself altogether unnecessary1  7which  
,i have inserted only to prevent all    
possibility of cavilling7  since every  
candid reader will easily understand my 
discourse to be  intended only in       
defence of nominal ,christianity2 the   
other having been  for some time wholly 
laid aside by general consent1 as       
utterly  inconsistent with our present  
schemes of wealth and power4    ,but why
 we should therefore cast off the name  
and title of ,christians1  although the 
general opinion and resolution be so    
violent for it1 ,i  confess ,i cannot   
7with submission7 apprehend the         
consequence  necessary4#d ,however1     

since the undertakers propose such      
wonderful  advantages to the nation by  
this project1 and advance many plausible
  objections against the system of      
,christianity1 ,i shall briefly consider
  the strength of both1 fairly allow    
them their greatest weight1 and offer   
such answers as ,i think most           
reasonable4 ,after which ,i will beg    
leave to  shew what inconveniences may  
possibly happen by such an innovation1  
in  the present posture of our affairs4 
,footnote #d3 ,i give the reading of the
 ,miscellanies 7#agaa71 ,faulkner  and  
,hawkesworth4 ,scott and ,craik print   
it3 ,i confess ,i cannot 7with          
submission7 apprehend1 nor is the       
consequence necessary4 ,t4,s4    ,first1
 ,one great advantage proposed by the   
abolishing of ,christianity  is1 that it
 would very much enlarge and establish  
liberty of conscience1  that great      
bulwark of our nation1 and of the       
,protestant ,religion1 which  is still  
too much limited by priestcraft1        

notwithstanding all the good  intentions
 of the legislature1 as we have lately  
found by a severe  instance4 ,for it is 
confidently reported1 that two young    
gentlemen of  real hopes1 bright wit1   
and profound judgment1 who upon a       
thorough  examination of causes and     
effects1 and by the mere force of       
natural  abilities1 without the least   
tincture of learning1 having made a     
discovery1 that there was no ,god1 and  
generously communicating their  thoughts
 for the good of the public1 were some  
time ago1 by an  unparalleled severity1 
and upon ,i know not what obsolete law1 
broke for  blasphemy4#e ,and as it hath 
been wisely observed1 if persecution    
once  begins1 no man alive knows how far
 it may reach1 or where it will end4    
,footnote #e3 ,no record of this        
breaking has been discovered4 ,t4,s4    
,in answer to all which1 with deference 
to wiser judgments1 ,i think this       
rather shews the necessity of a nominal 
religion among us4 ,great wits  love to 

be free with the highest objects2 and if
 they cannot be allowed  a ,god to      
revile or renounce1 they will speak evil
 of dignities1 abuse  the government1   
and reflect upon the ministry2 which ,i 
am sure few will  deny to be of much    
more pernicious consequence1 according  
to the saying  of ,tiberius1 ,deorum    
offensa diis curae4#f ,as to the        
particular fact  related1 ,i think it is
 not fair to argue from one instance1   
perhaps  another cannot be produced2 yet
 7to the comfort of all those who may be
  apprehensive of persecution7 blasphemy
 we know is freely spoken a  million of 
times in every coffeehouse and tavern1  
or wherever else good  company meet4 ,it
 must be allowed indeed1 that to break  
an ,english  free-born officer only for 
blasphemy1 was1 to speak the gentlest of
 such  an action1 a very high strain of 
absolute power4 ,little can be said in  
excuse for the general2 perhaps he was  
afraid it might give offence to  the    
allies1 among whom1 for aught we know1  

it may be the custom of the  country to 
believe a ,god4 ,but if he argued1 as   
some have done1 upon a  mistaken        
principle1 that an officer who is guilty
 of speaking blasphemy1  may some time  
or other proceed so far as to raise a   
mutiny1 the  consequence is by no means 
to be admitted2 for1 surely the         
commander of  an ,english army is likely
 to be but ill obeyed1 whose soldiers   
fear and  reverence him as little as    
they do a ,deity4    ,footnote #f3      
,tacitus1 ,annals1 bk4 i41 c4 lxxiii4   
,t4,s4    ,it is further objected       
against the ,gospel ,system1 that it    
obliges men to  the belief of things too
 difficult for free-thinkers1 and such  
who have  shaken off the prejudices that
 usually cling to a confined education4 
,to  which ,i answer1 that men should be
 cautious how they raise objections     
which reflect upon the wisdom of the    
nation4 ,is not every body freely       
allowed to believe whatever he pleases1 
and to publish his belief to the  world 

whenever he thinks fit1 especially if it
 serves to strengthen the  party which  
is in the right8 ,would any indifferent 
foreigner1 who should  read the trumpery
 lately written by ,asgil1 ,tindal1     
,toland1 ,coward1#g  and forty more1    
imagine the ,gospel to be our rule of   
faith1 and  confirmed by parliaments8   
,does any man either believe1 or say he 
believes1 or desire to have it thought  
that he says he believes one  syllable  
of the matter8 ,and is any man worse    
received upon that score1  or does he   
find his want of nominal faith a        
disadvantage to him in the  pursuit of  
any civil or military employment8 ,what 
if there be an old  dormant statute or  
two against him1 are they not now       
obsolete1 to a  degree1 that ,empsom and
 ,dudley#h themselves if they were now  
alive1  would find it impossible to put 
them in execution8    ,footnote #g3     
,john ,asgill 7#afei-agch71 became a    
member of ,lincoln's ,inn1  and went    
over to ,ireland in #afig1 where he     

practised as a barrister1  amassed a    
large fortune1 and was elected to the   
,irish parliament4 ,for  writing ,an    
,argument1 proving that ,man may be     
translated from hence  without passing  
through ,death1 he was1 in #agjj1       
expelled the ,house1 and  the book      
ordered to be burnt4 ,on returning to   
,england he was elected to  parliament  
for ,bramber1 but suffered a second     
expulsion in #agab1 also on  account of 
this book4 ,he was imprisoned for debt1 
and remained under the  rules of the    
,fleet and ,king's ,bench for thirty    
years1 during which time  he wrote and  
published various political tracts4 ,his
 ,argument  attempted to interpret the  
relations between ,god and man by the   
technical rules of ,english law1 and    
,coleridge thought no little of its     
power and style4    ,matthew ,tindal    
7#afeg-agcc7 was born at ,beer ,ferrers1
 in ,devonshire4 ,he  studied at        
,oxford1 and obtained a fellowship in   
,all ,souls4 ,he was made  ,,ll4,d4 in  

#afhe1 and1 although he professed       
himself a ,roman ,catholic in  ,james   
,,ii4's reign1 he managed to keep his   
fellowship after that  monarch's flight 
by becoming ,protestant again4 ,his most
 important work  was ,the ,rights of the
 ,christian ,church ,asserted1 which the
 ,house of  ,commons in #agaj adjudged  
fit for burning by the hangman4 ,in     
#agcj he  published anonymously1 the    
first part of ,christianity as ,old as  
,creation1 a work which attacked        
strongly the authority of the           
,scriptures2 a second volume was never  
published4    ,john ,toland             
7#affi-agbb71 born near ,londonderry1   
and educated in a  ,catholic school4 ,he
 professed himself a ,protestant1 and   
was sent to  ,glasgow and ,edinburgh4   
,in the latter university he graduated  
in his  master's degree4 ,while studying
 at ,leyden he became a sceptic1 and in 
#afie published his ,christianity not   
,mysterious1 a work which aroused a     
wide controversy4 ,in his ,life of      

,milton 7#afih7 he denied that ,king    
,charles was the author of ,eikon       
,basilikae1 and also attacked the       
,gospels4 ,this also brought upon him   
rejoinders from ,dr4 ,blackall and ,dr4 
,samuel ,clarke4 ,he died at ,putney1 in
 easy circumstances1 due to the         
presents made him while visiting ,german
 courts4 ,he wrote other works1  chief  
among which may be mentioned1           
,socinianism truly ,stated 7#agje71     
,nazarenas 7#agah71 and ,tetradymus4    
,his ,posthumous ,works were issued  in 
two volumes in #agbf1 with a life by    
,des ,maizeaux4 ,craik calls him a  man 
of utterly worthless character1 and     
refers to his being mixed up  in some   
discreditable episodes as a political   
spy4    ,william ,coward 7#afef8--agbd87
 was born at ,winchester4 ,he studied   
medicine and became a fellow of ,wadham 
,college1 ,oxford4 ,his ,second         
,thoughts concerning ,human ,souls1     
published in #agjb1 occasioned fierce   
disputes1 on account of its materialism4

 ,the ,house of ,commons ordered  the   
work to be burnt by the hangman4        
,asgill1 ,toland1 ,tindal1 ,collins1 and
 ,coward are classed as the ,deistical  
writers of the eighteenth century4 ,in  
his ,history of ,english ,thought in    
the ,eighteenth ,century ,mr4 ,leslie   
,stephen gives an admirable exposition  
of their views1 and their special       
interpretation of ,locke's theories4    
,t4,s4    ,footnote #h3 ,of ,henry      
,,vii4 notoriety1 who aided the king1 by
 illegal  exactions1 to amass his large 
fortune4 ,they were executed by ,henry  
,,viii4  ,t4,s4    ,it is likewise      
urged1 that there are1 by computation1  
in this kingdom1  above ten thousand    
parsons1 whose revenues added to those  
of my lords  the bishops1 would suffice 
to maintain at least two hundred young  
gentlemen of wit and pleasure1 and      
freethinking1 enemies to priestcraft1   
narrow principles1 pedantry1 and        
prejudices2 who might be an ornament to 
the ,court and ,town3 ,and then1 again1 

so great a number of able bodied        
divines might be a recruit to our fleet 
and armies4 ,this indeed appears  to be 
a consideration of some weight3 ,but    
then1 on the other side1  several things
 deserve to be considered likewise3 ,as1
 first1 whether it  may not be thought  
necessary that in certain tracts of     
country1 like  what we call parishes1   
there shall be one man at least of      
abilities to  read and write4 ,then it  
seems a wrong computation1 that the     
revenues of  the ,church throughout this
 island would be large enough to        
maintain two  hundred young gentlemen1  
or even half that number1 after the     
present  refined way of living2 that is1
 to allow each of them such a rent1 as  
in  the modern form of speech1 would    
make them easy4 ,but still there is in  
this project a greater mischief behind2 
and we ought to beware of the  woman's  
folly1 who killed the hen that every    
morning laid her a golden  egg4 ,for1   
pray what would become of the race of   

men in the next age1 if  we had nothing 
to trust to beside the scrofulous1      
consumptive  productions1 furnished by  
our men of wit and pleasure1 when1      
having  squandered away their vigour1   
health and estates1 they are forced by  
some disagreeable marriage to piece up  
their broken fortunes1 and entail       
rottenness and politeness on their      
posterity8 ,now1 here are ten thousand  
persons reduced by the wise regulations 
of ,henry the ,eighth1#i to the         
necessity of a low diet1 and moderate   
exercise1 who are the only great        
restorers of our breed1 without which   
the nation would in an age or two       
become one great hospital4    ,footnote 
#i3 ,his seizures of the revenues of the
 ,church4 ,t4,s4    ,another advantage  
proposed by the abolishing of           
,christianity1 is the  clear gain of one
 day in seven1 which is now entirely    
lost1 and  consequently the kingdom one 
seventh less considerable in trade1     
business1 and pleasure1 besides the loss

 to the public of so many  stately      
structures now in the hands of the      
,clergy1 which might be  converted into 
playhouses1 exchanges1 market houses1   
common dormitories1  and other public   
edifices4    ,i hope ,i shall be        
forgiven a hard word1 if ,i call this a 
perfect  cavil4 ,i readily own there has
 been an old custom time out of mind1   
for people to assemble in the churches  
every ,sunday1 and that shops are  still
 frequently shut1 in order as it is     
conceived1 to preserve the  memory of   
that ancient practice1 but how this can 
prove a hindrance to  business or       
pleasure1 is hard to imagine4 ,what if  
the men of pleasure  are forced one day 
in the week1 to game at home instead of 
the chocolate  houses8#aj ,are not the  
taverns and coffeehouses open8 ,can     
there be a  more convenient season for  
taking a dose of physic8 ,are fewer     
claps got  upon ,sundays than other     
days8 ,is not that the chief day for    
traders to  sum up the accounts of the  

week1 and for lawyers to prepare their  
briefs8 ,but ,i would fain know how it  
can be pretended that the churches  are 
misapplied8 ,where are more appointments
 and rendezvouzes of  gallantry8 ,where 
more care to appear in the foremost box 
with greater  advantage of dress8 ,where
 more meetings for business8 ,where more
  bargains driven of all sorts8 ,and    
where so many conveniences or           
enticements to sleep8    ,footnote #aj3 
,the chocolate houses seem to have been 
largely used for  gambling purposes4    
,they were not so numerous as the coffee
 houses4  ,t4,s4    ,there is one       
advantage greater than any of the       
foregoing1 proposed by  the abolishing  
of ,christianity3 that it will utterly  
extinguish parties  among us1 by        
removing those factious distinctions of 
,high and ,low  ,church1 of ,whig and   
,tory1 ,presbyterian and ,church of     
,england1 which are  now so many mutual 
clogs upon public proceedings1 and are  
apt to prefer  the gratifying           

themselves1 or depressing their         
adversaries1 before the  most important 
interest of the state4    ,i confess1 if
 it were certain that so great an       
advantage would redound  to the nation  
by this expedient1 ,i would submit and  
be silent3 ,but will  any man say1 that 
if the words whoring1 drinking1         
cheating1 lying1  stealing1 were by act 
of parliament ejected out of the        
,english tongue  and dictionaries1 we   
should all awake next morning chaste and
 temperate1  honest and just1 and lovers
 of truth8 ,is this a fair consequence8 
,or1 if  the physicians would forbid us 
to pronounce the words pox1 gout1       
rheumatism and stone1 would that        
expedient serve like so many  talismans 
to destroy the diseases themselves8 ,are
 party and faction  rooted in men's     
hearts no deeper than phrases borrowed  
from religion1 or  founded upon no      
firmer principles8 ,and is our language 
so poor that we  cannot find other terms
 to express them8 ,are envy1 pride1     

avarice and  ambition such ill          
nomenclators1 that they cannot furnish  
appellations  for their owners8 ,will   
not heydukes and mamalukes1 mandarins   
and  patshaws1 or any other words formed
 at pleasure1 serve to distinguish      
those who are in the ministry from      
others who would be in it if they       
could8 ,what1 for instance1 is easier   
than to vary the form of speech1  and   
instead of the word church1 make it a   
question in politics1 whether  the      
,monument be in danger8 ,because        
religion was nearest at hand to  furnish
 a few convenient phrases1 is our       
invention so barren1 we can  find no    
other8 ,suppose1 for argument sake1 that
 the ,tories favoured  ,margarita1 the  
,whigs ,mrs4 ,tofts1#aa and the         
,trimmers#ab ,valentini1#ac  would not  
,margaritians1 ,toftians1 and           
,valentinians be very tolerable  marks  
of distinction8 ,the ,prasini and       
,veniti1#ad two most virulent  factions 
in ,italy1 began 7if ,i remember right7 

by a distinction of  colours in ribbons1
 which we might do with as good a       
grace#ae about the  dignity of the blue 
and the green1 and would serve as       
properly to divide  the ,court1 the     
,parliament1 and the ,kingdom between   
them1 as any terms of  art whatsoever1  
borrowed from religion4 ,and therefore  
,i think1 there is  little force in this
 objection against ,christianity1 or    
prospect of so  great an advantage as is
 proposed in the abolishing of it4      
,footnote #aa3 ,margarita was a famous  
,italian singer of the day4 ,her name   
was ,francesca ,margherita de l',epine1 
and she was known as the ,italian       
woman4 ,in his ,journal to ,stella for  
,august #fth1 #agaa1 ,swift writes3  ,we
 have a music meeting in our town       
,windsor to-night4 ,i went to the       
rehearsal of it1 and there was          
,margarita and her sister1 and another  
drab1 and a parcel of fiddlers2 ,i was  
weary1 and would not go to the  meeting1
 which ,i am sorry for1 because ,i heard

 it was a great assembly4  7,see present
 edition1 vol4 ii4 p4 #bai74    ,mrs4   
,catherine ,tofts was an ,englishwoman1 
who also sang in ,italian  opera4 ,she  
had a fine figure and a beautiful voice4
 ,steele in the  ,tatler1 ,no4 #bj1     
refers to her when in her state of      
insanity4 ,her mind1  evidently1 could  
not stand the strain of her great       
popularity1 and she  became mad in      
#agji4 ,in the ,tatler she is called    
,camilla2 and ,cibber  also speaks of   
the silver tone of her voice4 ,t4,s4    
,footnote #ab3 ,by the ,trimmers ,swift 
referred to the nickname given to  the  
party in the time of ,charles ,,ii41    
which consisted of those who  wished to 
compromise between the advocates of the 
,crown and the  supporters of the       
,protestant succession as against the   
,duke of ,york4  ,t4,s4    ,footnote    
#ac3 ,another ,italian singer of the    
time1 who was the rival of  ,margarita  
and ,mrs4 ,tofts4 ,t4,s4    ,footnote   
#ad3 ,this refers to the ,roman chariot 

races4 ,they gave rise to  the factions 
called ,albati1 ,russati1 ,prasini1 and 
,veniti4 ,the  ,prasini 7green7 and     
,veniti 7blue7 were the principal1 and  
their rivalry  landed the empire1 under 
,justinian1 in a civil war4 ,t4,s4      
,footnote #ae3 ,scott has and we might  
contend with as good a grace1 c4  ,craik
 follows ,scott4 ,the reading in the    
text is that of the  ,miscellanies      
7#agaa71 ,faulkner1 and ,hawkesworth4   
,t4,s4    ',tis again objected1 as a    
very absurd ridiculous custom1 that a   
set of  men should be suffered1 much    
less employed and hired1 to bawl one day
 in  seven against the lawfulness of    
those methods most in use toward the    
pursuit of greatness1 riches and        
pleasure1 which are the constant        
practice of all men alive on the other  
six4 ,but this objection is1 ,i  think1 
a little unworthy so refined an age as  
ours4 ,let us argue this  matter calmly3
 ,i appeal to the breast of any polite  
freethinker1 whether  in the pursuit of 

gratifying a predominant passion1 he    
hath not always  felt a wonderful       
incitement1 by reflecting it was a thing
 forbidden2 and  therefore we see1 in   
order to cultivate this taste1 the      
wisdom of the  nation hath taken special
 care1 that the ladies should be        
furnished with  prohibited silks1 and   
the men with prohibited wine4 ,and      
indeed it were  to be wished1 that some 
other prohibitions were promoted1 in    
order to  improve the pleasures of the  
town2 which1 for want of such expedients
  begin already1 as ,i am told1 to flag 
and grow languid1 giving way daily  to  
cruel inroads from the spleen4    ',tis 
likewise proposed as a great advantage  
to the public1 that if we  once discard 
the system of the ,gospel1 all religion 
will of course be  banished for ever2   
and consequently1 along with it1 those  
grievous  prejudices of education1 which
 under the names of virtue1 conscience1 
honour1 justice1 and the like1 are so   
apt to disturb the peace of human       

minds1 and the notions whereof are so   
hard to be eradicated by right  reason  
or freethinking1 sometimes during the   
whole course of our lives4    ,here     
first1 ,i observe how difficult it is to
 get rid of a phrase1 which  the world  
is once grown fond of1 though the       
occasion that first produced  it1 be    
entirely taken away4 ,for several years 
past1 if a man had but an  ill-favoured 
nose1 the deep-thinkers of the age would
 some way or other  contrive to impute  
the cause to the prejudice of his       
education4 ,from  this fountain were    
said to be derived all our foolish      
notions of  justice1 piety1 love of our 
country1 all our opinions of ,god1 or a 
future state1 ,heaven1 ,hell1 and the   
like3 ,and there might formerly  perhaps
 have been some pretence for this       
charge4 ,but so effectual care  has been
 taken to remove those prejudices1 by an
 entire change in the  methods of       
education1 that 7with honour ,i mention 
it to our polite  innovators7 the young 

gentlemen who are now on the scene1 seem
 to have  not the least tincture of     
those infusions1 or string of those     
weeds2  and1 by consequence1 the reason 
for abolishing nominal ,christianity    
upon  that pretext1 is wholly ceased4   
,for the rest1 it may perhaps admit a   
controversy1 whether the banishing  of  
all notions of religion whatsoever1     
would be convenient for the  vulgar4    
,not that ,i am in the least of opinion 
with those who hold  religion to have   
been the invention of politicians1 to   
keep the lower  part of the world in awe
 by the fear of invisible powers2 unless
 mankind  were then very different to   
what it is now3 ,for ,i look upon the   
mass or  body of our people here in     
,england1 to be as freethinkers1 that is
 to  say1 as staunch unbelievers1 as any
 of the highest rank4 ,but ,i conceive  
some scattered notions about a superior 
power to be of singular use for  the    
common people1 as furnishing excellent  
materials to keep children  quiet when  

they grow peevish1 and providing topics 
of amusement in a  tedious winter-night4
    ,lastly1 'tis proposed as a singular
 advantage1 that the abolishing of      
,christianity will very much contribute 
to the uniting of ,protestants1 by      
enlarging the terms of communion so as  
to take in all sorts of  dissenters1 who
 are now shut out of the pale upon      
account of a few  ceremonies which all  
sides confess to be things indifferent3 
,that this  alone will effectually      
answer the great ends of a scheme for   
comprehension1 by opening a large noble 
gate1 at which all bodies may  enter2   
whereas the chaffering with dissenters1 
and dodging about this or  t'other      
ceremony1 is but like opening a few     
wickets1 and leaving them at  jar1 by   
which no more than one can get in at a  
time1 and that1 not  without stooping1  
and sideling1 and squeezing his body4#af
    ,footnote #af3 ,in this passage1    
says ,scott1 the author's ,high ,church 
principles1 and jealousy of the         

,dissenters1 plainly shew themselves2   
and  it is1 perhaps1 in special         
reference to what is here said1 that he 
ranks  it among the pamphlets he wrote  
in opposition to the party then in      
power4 ,t4 ,s4    ,to all this ,i       
answer3 that there is one darling       
inclination of mankind1  which usually  
affects to be a retainer to religion1   
though she be  neither its parent1 its  
godmother1 or its friend2 ,i mean the   
spirit of  opposition1 that lived long  
before ,christianity1 and can easily    
subsist  without it4 ,let us1 for       
instance1 examine wherein the opposition
 of  sectaries among us consists1 we    
shall find ,christianity to have no     
share  in it at all ,does the ,gospel   
any where prescribe a starched1 squeezed
  countenance1 a stiff1 formal gait1 a  
singularity of manners and habit1  or   
any affected modes of speech different  
from the reasonable part of  mankind8   
,yet1 if ,christianity did not lend its 
name to stand in the gap1  and to employ

 or divert these humours1 they must of  
necessity be spent  in contraventions to
 the laws of the land1 and disturbance  
of the public  peace4 ,there is a       
portion of enthusiasm assigned to every 
nation1 which1  if it hath not proper   
objects to work on1 will burst out1 and 
set all  into a flame4 ,if the quiet of 
a state can be bought by only flinging  
men  a few ceremonies to devour1 it is a
 purchase no wise man would refuse  ,let
 the mastiffs amuse themselves about a  
sheep's skin stuffed with hay1  provided
 it will keep them from worrying the    
flock ,the institution of  convents     
abroad1 seems in one point a strain of  
great wisdom1 there  being few          
irregularities in human passions1 which 
may not have recourse  to vent          
themselves in some of those orders1     
which are so many retreats  for the     
speculative1 the melancholy1 the proud1 
the silent1 the politic  and the morose1
 to spend themselves1 and evaporate the 
noxious  particles1 for each of whom we 

in this island are forced to provide a  
several sect of religion1 to keep them  
quiet ,and whenever ,christianity  shall
 be abolished1 the legislature must find
 some other expedient to  employ and    
entertain them ,for what imports it how 
large a gate you open1  if there will be
 always left a number who place a pride 
and a merit in  not coming in8#ag       
,footnote #ag3 ,so the ,miscellanies    
7#agaa7 and ,hawkesworth ,faulkner1     
,scott1 and ,craik print1 in refusing to
 enter4 ,t4 ,s4    ,having thus         
considered the most important objections
 against  ,christianity1 and the chief  
advantages proposed by the abolishing   
thereof1 ,i shall now with equal        
deference and submission to wiser       
judgments as before1 proceed to mention 
a few inconveniences that may  happen1  
if the ,gospel should be repealed1 which
 perhaps the projectors  may not have   
sufficiently considered4    ,and first1 
,i am very sensible how much the        
gentlemen of wit and pleasure  are apt  

to murmur1 and be choqued#ah at the     
sight of so many draggled  tail parsons1
 that happen to fall in their way1 and  
offend their eyes1  but at the same     
time1 these wise reformers do not       
consider what an  advantage and felicity
 it is1 for great wits to be always     
provided with  objects of scorn and     
contempt1 in order to exercise and      
improve their  talents1 and divert their
 spleen from falling on each other or on
  themselves1 especially when all this  
may be done without the least           
imaginable danger to their persons4     
,footnote #ah3 ,shocked ,swift's habit  
when using a word of ,french origin  was
 to keep the ,french spelling4 ,t4 ,s4  
,and to urge another argument of a      
parallel nature4 ,if ,christianity were 
once abolished1 how could the           
freethinkers1 the strong reasoners1 and 
the men of profound learning1 be able to
 find another subject so  calculated in 
all points whereon to display their     
abilities8 ,what  wonderful productions 

of wit should we be deprived of1 from   
those whose  genius by continual        
practice hath been wholly turned upon   
raillery and  invectives against        
religion1 and would therefore never be  
able to shine  or distinguish themselves
 upon any other subject6 ,we are daily  
complaining of the great decline of wit 
among us1 and would we take away  the   
greatest1 perhaps the only topic we have
 left8 ,who would ever have  suspected  
,asgil for a wit1 or ,toland for a      
philosopher1 if the  inexhaustible stock
 of ,christianity had not been at hand  
to provide them  with materials8 ,what  
other subject1 through all art or       
nature1 could  have produced ,tindal for
 a profound author1 or furnished him    
with  readers8 ,it is the wise choice of
 the subject that alone adorns and      
distinguishes the writer4 ,for1 had a   
hundred such pens as these been         
employed on the side of religion1 they  
would have immediately sunk into        
silence and oblivion4    ,nor do ,i     

think it wholly groundless1 or my fears 
altogether imaginary1  that the         
abolishing of ,christianity may perhaps 
bring the ,church into  danger1 or at   
least put the senate to the trouble of  
another securing  vote4 ,i desire ,i may
 not be mistaken2 ,i am far from        
presuming to affirm  or think that the  
,church is in danger at present1 or as  
things now  stand2 but we know not how  
soon it may be so when the ,christian   
religion  is repealed4 ,as plausible as 
this project seems1 there may a         
dangerous  design lurk under it3#ai     
,nothing can be more notorious1 than    
that the  ,atheists1 ,deists1           
,socinians1 ,anti-trinitarians1 and     
other subdivisions  of freethinkers1 are
 persons of little zeal for the present 
ecclesiastical establishment3 ,their    
declared opinion is for repealing  the  
,sacramental ,test2 they are very       
indifferent with regard to  ceremonies2 
nor do they hold the jus divinum of     
,episcopacy4 ,therefore  this may be    

intended as one politic step toward     
altering the  constitution of the       
,church established1 and setting up     
,presbytery in the  stead1 which ,i     
leave to be further considered by those 
at the helm4    ,footnote #ai3 ,craik   
follows ,scott in altering this sentence
 to there  may be a dangerous design    
lurking under it2 but all other editors1
  except ,morley and ,roscoe1 give it as
 printed in the text4 ,t4,s4    ,in the 
last place1 ,i think nothing can be more
 plain1 than that by this  expedient1 we
 shall run into the evil we chiefly     
pretend to avoid2 and  that the         
abolishment of the ,christian religion  
will be the readiest  course we can take
 to introduce popery4 ,and ,i am the    
more inclined to  this opinion1 because 
we know it has been the constant        
practice of the  ,jesuits to send over  
emissaries1 with instructions to        
personate  themselves members of the    
several prevailing sects among us4 ,so  
it is  recorded1 that they have at      

sundry times appeared in the guise of   
,presbyterians1 ,anabaptists1           
,independents and ,quakers1 according as
 any  of these were most in credit2 so1 
since the fashion hath been taken up  of
 exploding religion1 the popish         
missionaries have not been wanting to   
mix with the freethinkers2 among whom1  
,toland the great oracle of the         
,antichristians is an ,irish priest1 the
 son of an ,irish priest2 and the  most 
learned and ingenious author of a book  
called ,the ,rights of the  ,christian  
,church1#bj was in a proper juncture    
reconciled to the ,romish  faith1 whose 
true son1 as appears by a hundred       
passages in his treatise1  he still     
continues4 ,perhaps ,i could add some   
others to the number2 but  the fact is  
beyond dispute1 and the reasoning they  
proceed by is right3  ,for1 supposing   
,christianity to be extinguished1 the   
people will never be  at ease till they 
find out some other method of worship2  
which will as  infallibly produce       

superstition1 as this will end in       
popery4    ,footnote #bj3 ,dr4 ,matthew 
,tindal 7see previous note1 p4 #i74 ,the
 book was  afterwards specially         
criticised by ,swift in his ,remarks    
upon a ,book  entitled ',the ,rights of 
the ,christian ,church4' ,see also note 
to the  present reprint of these        
,remarks4 ,t4,s4    ,and therefore1 if  
notwithstanding all ,i have said1 it    
still be thought  necessary to have a   
bill brought in for repealing           
,christianity1 ,i would  humbly offer an
 amendment2 that instead of the word1   
,christianity1 may  be put religion in  
general2 which ,i conceive will much    
better answer all  the good ends        
proposed by the projectors of it4 ,for1 
as long as we leave  in being a ,god and
 his providence1 with all the necessary 
consequences  which curious and         
inquisitive men will be apt to draw from
 such  premises1 we do not strike at the
 root of the evil1 though we should     
ever so effectually annihilate the      

present scheme of the ,gospel3 ,for1 of 
what use is freedom of thought1 if it   
will not produce freedom of  action1    
which is the sole end1 how remote soever
 in appearance1 of all  objections      
against ,christianity8 ,and therefore1  
the freethinkers  consider it as a sort 
of edifice1 wherein all the parts have  
such a  mutual dependence on each other1
 that if you happen to pull out one     
single nail1 the whole fabric must fall 
to the ground4 ,this was happily        
expressed by him who had heard of a text
 brought for proof of the  ,trinity1    
which in an ancient manuscript was      
differently read2 he  thereupon         
immediately took the hint1 and by a     
sudden deduction of a long  sorites1    
most logically concluded2 ,why1 if it be
 as you say1 ,i may  safely whore and   
drink on1 and defy the parson4 ,from    
which1 and many  the like instances easy
 to be produced1 ,i think nothing can be
 more  manifest1 than that the quarrel  
is not against any particular points of 

hard digestion in the ,christian system1
 but against religion in general2       
which1 by laying restraints on human    
nature1 is supposed the great enemy  to 
the freedom of thought and action4      
,upon the whole1 if it shall still be   
thought for the benefit of ,church  and 
,state1 that ,christianity be abolished2
 ,i conceive however1 it may be  more   
convenient to defer the execution to a  
time of peace1 and not  venture in this 
conjuncture to disoblige our allies1    
who1 as it falls  out1 are all          
,christians1 and many of them1 by the   
prejudices of their  education1 so      
bigoted1 as to place a sort of pride in 
the appellation4  ,if upon being        
rejected by them1 we are to trust an    
alliance with the  ,turk1 we shall find 
ourselves much deceived3 ,for1 as he is 
too remote1  and generally engaged in   
war with the ,persian emperor1 so his   
people  would be more scandalized at our
 infidelity1 than our ,christian        
neighbours4 ,for they the ,turks are not

 only strict observers of  religious    
worship1 but what is worse1 believe a   
,god2 which is more than  required of us
 even while we preserve the name of     
,christians4    ,to conclude3 ,whatever 
some may think of the great advantages  
to trade by  this favourite scheme1 ,i  
do very much apprehend1 that in six     
months time  after the act is passed for
 the extirpation of the ,gospel1 the    
,bank1 and  ,east-,india ,stock1 may    
fall at least one per cent4 ,and since  
that is  fifty times more than ever the 
wisdom of our age thought fit to venture
  for the preservation of ,christianity1
 there is no reason we should be at  so 
great a loss1 merely for the sake of    
destroying it4    9999999999            
9999999999       9999999999             
9999999999          ,,for ,,the         
,,advancement ,,of ,,religion1    ,,and 
,,the    ,,reformation ,,of ,,manners4  
,,by ,a ,,person ,,of ,,quality4        
,,note4    ,in placing this tract second
 in chronological order ,i am following 

,forster and ,craik4 ,all the collected 
editions of ,swift's works1  including  
the ,miscellanies of #agaa1 begin with  
,the ,sentiments of a  ,church of       
,england ,man1 continue with the        
,argument1 and then the  ,project4 ,but 
the short intervals which separated the 
publication of  all three tracts and the
 ,letter on the ,sacramental ,test1 make
 a strict  chronological order of less  
value than the order of development of  
the  subject-matter with which they     
deal1 granting even that the ,project   
appeared after ,the ,sentiments4 ,there 
seems1 however1 nothing  improbable in  
the suggestion made by ,forster1 that   
,swift planned the  writing of both the 
,argument and the ,project while on a   
visit to the  ,earl of ,berkeley1 at    
,cranford1 in #agjh2 and his dedication 
of the latter  to ,lady ,berkeley lends 
this suggestion added weight4 ,that the 
original  edition of the ,project is    
dated #agji is nothing to the point1    
since it  is well-known that the        

booksellers often antedated their       
publications1  as publishers do now1    
when the issue occurred towards the end 
of a year4  ,moreover1 the letter of the
 ,earl of ,berkeley to ,swift1 which    
,scott  misdates #agjf-agjg1 but which  
should be #agjh1 makes special reference
 to  this very tract1 showing that it   
was certainly published in #agjh4 ,i    
earnestly entreat you1 writes the earl1 
if you have not done it  already1 that  
you would not fail of having your       
bookseller enable the  ,archbishop of   
,york ,dr4 ,sterne to give a book to the
 queen2 for1 with  ,mr4 ,nelson1 ,i am  
entirely of opinion1 that ,her          
,majesty's reading of that  book on the 
,progress for the ,increase of ,morality
 and ,piety1 may be of  very great use  
to that end4 ,i have never seen a copy  
of the first  edition of ,the           
,sentiments1 and ,i cannot fix the exact
 date of its  publication2 but it was   
certainly not written before the        
,project4 ,the  ,project1 therefore1    

must be considered in the light of a    
preliminary  essay to the fuller and    
more digested statement of ,the         
,sentiments of a  ,church of ,england   
man2 and ,i have1 on this account1      
placed it as the  second tract written  
by ,swift in the year #agjh4            
,whatever may be thought of the         
particular methods which ,swift         
suggested  for realizing his reformatory
 scheme1 and they were1 no doubt1       
artificial and wooden enough2 the tract 
itself remains an excellent  survey of  
the evils and gross habits of the time4 
,the methods may be  ,utopian 7,swift   
himself thought they were open to       
discussion71 but the  spirit of         
sincerity and piety is unmistakable4 ,it
 is worth remembering1  however1 that   
several of the proposals1 such as those 
for closing the  public-houses at twelve
 o'clock at night2 the penalizing of    
publicans  who supplied drink to drunken
 customers2 the building of churches1   
have  since been adopted4    ,i cannot  

agree with ,mr4 ,churton ,collins       
7,jonathan ,swift1 pp4 #ei-fa7 in       
suspecting ,swift of a special policy of
 self-interest in writing the  ,project4
 ,swift was too honest a man to use the 
religious sentiment for  the purpose of 
counteracting any bad impression his    
previous writings  had made on those who
 had the power to advance him4 ,however 
much he  might delight in the possession
 of high worldly station1 he would never
  so prostitute himself to obtain it4   
,nor did he care to let the world  into 
the secret of his heart4 ,indeed1 all   
his life ,swift seemed to hide1  almost 
jealously1 the genuine piety of his     
nature4 ,whatever suspicion of  policy  
has surrounded the tract must be        
ascribed to the well-intentioned  letter
 of the ,earl of ,berkeley above quoted2
 and the ,earl would not have  written  
thus had he felt ,swift's motive to be  
any other than a purely  impersonal one4
    ,steele1 in his review of the       
,project in the fifth ,tatler 7,april   

#bjth1 #agji71 makes some interesting   
observations1 and seems to take  special
 note of the ,person of ,honour1 in the 
character of which ,swift  wrote it4    
,writing from ,will's ,coffee-,house1   
,steele says3 ,this week  being sacred  
to holy things1 and no public diversions
 allowed1 there has  been taken notice  
of even here1 a little ,treatise1 called
 ',a ,project for  the ,advancement of  
,religion3 dedicated to the ,countess of
 ,berkeley4' ,the  title was so         
uncommon1 and promised so peculiar a way
 of thinking1 that  every man here has  
read it1 and as many as have done so    
have approved  it4 ,it is written with  
the spirit of one who has seen the world
 enough  to undervalue it with good     
breeding4 ,the author must certainly be 
a man  of wisdom1 as well as piety1 and 
have spent as much time in the exercise 
of both4 ,the real causes of the decay  
of the interests of religion are  set   
forth in a clear and lively manner1     
without unseasonable passions2  and the 

whole air of the book1 as to the        
language1 the sentiments1 and  the      
reasonableness1 show it was written by  
one whose virtue sits easy  about him1  
and to whom vice is thoroughly          
contemptible4 ,it was said by  one of   
this company1 alluding to that knowledge
 of the world the author  seems to have1
 the man writes much like a gentleman1  
and goes to ,heaven  with a very good   
mien4    ,in his ,apology ,steele refers
 to this ,tatler note1 and remarks3 ,the
  gentleman ,i here intended was ,dr4   
,swift1 this kind of man ,i thought him 
at that time4 ,we have not met of late1 
but ,i hope he deserves this  character 
still4    ,the present text is based    
upon the first edition2 but this edition
 was  so wretchedly printed that ,i have
 carefully collated it with those given 
in the ,miscellanies 7#agaa71 ,faulkner 
7#agce71 and ,hawkesworth 7#agfb74      
,t4 ,s4        ,a    ,,project    ,,for 
,,the    ,,advancement ,,of ,,religion1 
,,and ,,the    ,,reformation ,,of       

,,manners4    ,,by ,a ,,person ,,of     
,,quality4        ,o quisquis volet     
impias      ,caedes1  rabiem tollere    
civicam3    ,si quaeret pater urbium    
,subscribi statuis1 indomitam audeat    
,refraenare licentiam4    ,hor4         
,,london3    ,printed and ,sold by ,h4  
,hills1 in ,black-fryars1 near the      
,water-side4  ,for the ,benefit of the  
,poor4 #agji4      ,,to ,,the ,,countess
 ,,of ,,berkeley4#a    ,,madam1    ,my  
intention in prefixing your ,ladyship's 
name1 is not after the common  form1 to 
desire your protection of the following 
papers2 which ,i take to  be a very     
unreasonable request2 since1 by being   
inscribed to your  ,ladyship1 though    
without your knowledge1 and from a      
concealed hand1 you  cannot recommend   
them without some suspicion of          
partiality4 ,my real  design is1 ,i     
confess1 the very same ,i have often    
detested in most  dedications2 that of  
publishing your praises to the world4   
,not upon the  subject of your noble    

birth1 for ,i know others as noble2 or  
of the  greatness of your fortune1 for  
,i know others far greater2 or of that  
beautiful race 7the images of their     
parents7 which call you mother3 for     
even this may perhaps have been equalled
 in some other age or country4          
,besides1 none of these advantages do   
derive any accomplishments to the       
owners1 but serve at best only to adorn 
what they really possess4 ,what ,i      
intend1 is your piety1 truth1 good      
sense1 and good nature1 affability1  and
 charity2 wherein ,i wish your ,ladyship
 had many equals1 or any  superiors2 and
 ,i wish ,i could say ,i knew them too1 
for then your  ,ladyship might have had 
a chance to escape this address4 ,in the
  meantime1 ,i think it highly          
necessary1 for the interest of virtue   
and  religion1 that the whole kingdom   
should be informed in some parts of     
your character3 ,for instance1 that the 
easiest and politest  conversation1     
joined with the truest piety1 may be    

observed in your  ,ladyship1 in as great
 perfection1 as they were ever seen     
apart in any  other persons4 ,that by   
your prudence and management under      
several  disadvantages1 you have        
preserved the lustre of that most noble 
family  into which you are grafted1 and 
which the immeasurable profusion of     
ancestors for many generations had too  
much eclipsed4 ,then1 how happily  you  
perform every office of life to which   
,providence has called you3 ,in  the    
education of those two incomparable     
daughters1 whose conduct is so          
universally admired2 in every duty of a 
prudent1 complying1 affectionate  wife2 
in that care which descends to the      
meanest of your domestics2 and1  lastly1
 in that endless bounty to the poor1 and
 discretion where to  distribute it4 ,i 
insist on my opinion1 that it is of     
importance for the  public to know this 
and a great deal more of your ,ladyship2
 yet whoever  goes about to inform them1
 shall instead of finding credit1       

perhaps be  censured for a flatterer4   
,to avoid so usual a reproach1 ,i       
declare this  to be no dedication1 but  
properly an introduction to a proposal  
for the  advancement of religion and    
morals1 by tracing1 however imperfectly1
  some few lineaments in the character  
of a ,lady1 who hath spent all her  life
 in the practice and promotion of both4 
,footnote #a3 ,this is the same         
,countess of ,berkeley whom ,swift      
hoaxed  with his ,meditation on a       
,broomstick4 ,she was the daughter of   
,viscount  ,campden and sister to the   
,earl of ,gainsborough4 ,t4,s4    ,among
 all the schemes offered to the public  
in this projecting age1 ,i  have        
observed with some displeasure1 that    
there have never been any for  the      
improvement of religion and morals2     
which beside the piety of the  design   
from the consequence of such a          
reformation in a future life1  would be 
the best natural means for advancing the
 public felicity of the  state1 as well 

as the present happiness of every       
individual4 ,for1 as  much as faith and 
morality are declined among us1 ,i am   
altogether  confident1 they might in a  
short time1 and with no very great      
trouble1  be raised to as high a        
perfection as numbers are capable of    
receiving4  ,indeed1 the method is so   
easy and obvious1 and some present      
opportunities so good1 that1 in order to
 have this project reduced to  practice1
 there seems to want nothing more than  
to put those in mind1  who by their     
honour1 duty1 and interest1 are chiefly 
concerned4    ,but because it is idle to
 propose remedies before we are assured 
of the  disease1 or to be in pain1#b    
till we are convinced of the danger2 ,i 
shall first shew in general1 that the   
nation is extremely corrupted in        
religion and morals2 and then ,i will   
offer a short scheme for the            
reformation of both4    ,footnote #b3   
,scott follows ,faulkner in using the   
word fear4 ,the  reading in the text is 

that of the first edition1 the          
,miscellanies  7#agaa71 and of          
,hawkesworth4 ,t4,s4    ,as to the      
first2 ,i know it is reckoned but a form
 of speech1 when  divines complain of   
the wickedness of the age3 ,however1 ,i 
believe1 upon  a fair comparison with   
other times and countries1 it would be  
found an  undoubted truth4    ,for1     
first2 to deliver nothing but plain     
matter of fact without  exaggeration or 
satire2 ,i suppose it will be granted1  
that hardly one in  a hundred among our 
people of quality or gentry1 appears to 
act by any  principle of religion2 that 
great numbers of them do entirely       
discard  it1 and are ready to own their 
disbelief of all revelation in ordinary 
discourse4 ,nor is the case much better 
among the vulgar1 especially in  great  
towns where the profaneness and         
ignorance of handicraftsmen1 small      
traders1 servants1 and the like1 are to 
a degree very hard to be  imagined      
greater4 ,then1 it is observed abroad1  

that no race of mortals  hath so little 
sense of religion1 as the ,english      
soldiers2 to confirm  which1 ,i have    
been often told by great officers in the
 army1 that in the  whole compass of    
their acquaintance1 they could not      
recollect three of  their profession1   
who seemed to regard or believe one     
syllable of the  ,gospel3 ,and the same1
 at least1 may be affirmed of the fleet4
 ,the  consequences of all which upon   
the actions of men are equally manifest4
  ,they never go about1 as in former    
time1 to hide or palliate their vices1  
but expose them freely to view1 like any
 other common occurrences of  life1     
without the least reproach from the     
world1 or themselves4 ,for  instance2   
any man will tell you he intends to be  
drunk this evening1 or  was so last     
night1 with as little ceremony or       
scruple1 as he would tell  you the time 
of the day4 ,he will let you know he is 
going to a whore1 or  that he has got a 
clap1 with as much indifferency1 as he  

would a piece  of public news4 ,he will 
swear1 curse1 or blaspheme1 without the 
least  passion or provocation4 ,and1    
though all regard for reputation is not 
quite laid aside in the other sex1 'tis1
 however1 at so low an ebb1 that  very  
few among them seem to think virtue and 
conduct of absolute  necessity for      
preserving it4 ,if this be not so1 how  
comes it to pass1  that women of tainted
 reputations find the same countenance  
and  reception in all public places1    
with those of the nicest virtue1 who    
pay1 and receive visits from them       
without any manner of scruple8 which    
proceeding1 as it is not very old among 
us1 so ,i take it to be of most         
pernicious consequence3 ,it looks like a
 sort of compounding between  virtue and
 vice1 as if a woman were allowed to be 
vicious1 provided she  be not a         
profligate2 as if there were a certain  
point1 where gallantry  ends1 and infamy
 begins1 or that a hundred criminal     
amours were not as  pardonable as half a

 score4    ,besides those corruptions   
already mentioned1 it would be endless  
to  enumerate such as arise from the    
excess of play or gaming3 ,the cheats1  
the quarrels1 the oaths and blasphemies 
among the men2 among the women1  the    
neglect of household affairs1 the       
unlimited freedoms1 the indecent        
passion2 and lastly1 the known inlet to 
all lewdness1 when after an ill  run1   
the person must answer the defects of   
the purse2 the rule on such  occasions  
holding true in play as it does in law2 
quod non habet in  crumena1 luat in     
corpore4    ,but all these are trifles  
in comparison1 if we step into other    
scenes1  and consider the fraud and     
cozenage of trading men and shopkeepers2
 that  insatiable gulf of injustice and 
oppression1 the law4 ,the open traffic  
for all civil and military employments1 
7,i wish it rested there7 without  the  
least regard to merit or qualifications2
 the corrupt management of  men in      
office2 the many detestable abuses in   

choosing those who  represent the       
people1 with the management of interest 
and factions among  the representatives4
 ,to which ,i must be bold to add1 the  
ignorance of  some of the lower clergy2 
the mean servile temper of others2 the  
pert  pragmatical demeanour of several  
young stagers in divinity1 upon their   
first producing themselves into the     
world2 with many other  circumstances1  
needless1 or rather invidious1 to       
mention2 which falling  in with the     
corruptions already related1 have1      
however unjustly1 almost  rendered the  
whole order contemptible4    ,this is a 
short view of the general depravities   
among us1 without  entering into        
particulars1 which would be an endless  
labour4 ,now1 as  universal and         
deep-rooted as these appear to be1 ,i am
 utterly deceived1  if an effectual     
remedy might not be applied to most of  
them2 neither am  ,i at present upon a  
wild speculative project1 but such a one
 as may be  easily put in execution4    

,for1 while the prerogative of giving   
all employments continues in the        
,crown1 either immediately1 or by       
subordination2 it is in the power of    
the ,prince to make piety and virtue    
become the fashion of the age1 if1  at  
the same time1 he would make them       
necessary qualifications for favour  and
 preferment4    ,it is clear1 from      
present experience1 that the bare       
example of the best  prince will not    
have any mighty influence1 where the age
 is very  corrupt4 ,for1 when was there 
ever a better prince on the throne than 
the  present ,queen8 ,i do not talk of  
her talent for government1 her love of  
the people1 or any other qualities that 
are purely regal2 but her piety1        
charity1 temperance1 conjugal love1 and 
whatever other virtues do best  adorn a 
private life2 wherein1 without question 
or flattery1 she hath no  superior3 yet1
 neither will it be satire or peevish   
invective to affirm1  that infidelity   
and vice are not much diminished since  

her coming to the  crown1 nor will1 in  
all probability1 till some more         
effectual remedies  be provided4        
,thus human nature seems to lie under   
this disadvantage1 that the example     
alone of a vicious prince1 will1 in     
time1 corrupt an age2 but that of a     
good one1 will not be sufficient to     
reform it1 without further  endeavours4 
,princes must therefore supply this     
defect by a vigorous  exercise of that  
authority1 which the law has left them1 
by making it  every man's interest and  
honour1 to cultivate religion and       
virtue2 by  rendering vice a disgrace1  
and the certain ruin to preferment or   
pretensions3 ,all which they should     
first attempt in their own courts and   
families4 ,for instance2 might not the  
,queen's domestics of the middle  and   
lower sort1 be obliged1 upon penalty of 
suspension1 or loss of their            
employments1 to a constant weekly       
attendance1 at least1 on the service  of
 the church2 to a decent behaviour in   

it2 to receive the ,sacrament  four     
times in the year2 to avoid swearing and
 irreligious profane  discourses2 and1  
to the appearance1 at least1 of         
temperance and  chastity8 ,might not the
 care of all this be committed to the   
strict  inspection of proper persons8   
,might not those of higher rank1 and    
nearer  access to her ,majesty's person1
 receive her own commands to the same   
purpose1 and be countenanced1 or        
disfavoured1 according as they obey8    
,might not the ,queen lay her           
injunctions on the ,bishops1 and other  
great  men of undoubted piety1 to make  
diligent enquiry1 to give her notice1 if
  any person about her should happen to 
be of libertine principles or  morals8  
,might not all those who enter upon any 
office in her ,majesty's  family1 be    
obliged to take an oath parallel with   
that against simony1  which is          
administered to the clergy8 ',tis not to
 be doubted1 but that if  these1 or the 
like proceedings1 were duly observed1   

morality and  religion would soon become
 fashionable court virtues2 and be taken
 up as  the only methods to get or keep 
employments there1 which alone would    
have mighty influence upon many of the  
nobility and principal gentry4    ,but1 
if the like methods were pursued as far 
as possible1 with regard to  those who  
are in the great employments of state1  
it is hard to conceive  how general a   
reformation they might in time produce  
among us4 ,for1 if  piety and virtue    
were once reckoned qualifications       
necessary to  preferment2 every man thus
 endowed1 when put into great stations1 
would  readily imitate the ,queen's     
example1 in the distribution of all     
offices  in his disposal2 especially if 
any apparent transgression1 through     
favour or partiality1 would be imputed  
to him for a misdemeanour1 by  which he 
must certainly forfeit his favour and   
station3 ,and there being  such great   
numbers in employment1 scattered through
 every town and  county in this kingdom2

 if all these were exemplary in the     
conduct of  their lives1 things would   
soon take a new face1 and religion      
receive a  mighty encouragement3 ,nor   
would the public weal be less advanced2 
since1  of nine offices in ten that are 
ill executed1 the defect is not in      
capacity or understanding1 but in common
 honesty4 ,i know no employment1  for   
which piety disqualifies any man2 and if
 it did1 ,i doubt the  objection would  
not be very seasonably offered at       
present2 because1 it  is perhaps too    
just a reflection1 that in the disposal 
of places1 the  question whether a      
person be fit for what he is recommended
 to1 is  generally the last that is     
thought on1 or regarded4    ,i have     
often imagined1 that something parallel 
to the office of censors  anciently in  
,rome1 would be of mighty use among us1 
and could be easily  limited from       
running into any exorbitances4 ,the     
,romans understood  liberty at least as 
well as we1 were as jealous of it1 and  

upon every  occasion as bold assertors4 
,yet ,i do not remember to have read any
 great  complaint of the abuses in that 
office among them2 but many admirable   
effects of it are left upon record4     
,there are several pernicious vices     
frequent and notorious among us1 that   
escape or elude the punishment of  any  
law we have yet invented1 or have had no
 law at all against them2  such as      
atheism1 drunkenness1 fraud1 avarice1   
and several others2 which1  by this     
institution1 wisely regulated1 might be 
much reformed4 ,suppose1  for instance1 
that itinerary commissioners were       
appointed to inspect  everywhere        
throughout the kingdom1 into the conduct
 7at least7 of men in  office1 with     
respect to their morals and religion1 as
 well as their  abilities2 to receive   
the complaints and informations that    
should be  offered against them1 and    
make their report here upon oath1 to the
  court1 or the ministry1 who should    
reward or punish accordingly4 ,i avoid  

entering into the particulars of this1  
or any other scheme1 which1  coming from
 a private hand1 might be liable to many
 defects1 but would  soon be digested by
 the wisdom of the nation2 and surely1  
six thousand  pounds a year would not be
 ill laid out among as many             
commissioners duly  qualified1 who1 in  
three divisions1 should be personally   
obliged to take  their yearly circuits  
for that purpose4    ,but this is beside
 my present design1 which was only to   
show what degree  of reformation is in  
the power of the ,queen1 without the    
interposition  of the legislature1 and  
which her ,majesty is1 without question1
 obliged  in conscience to endeavour by 
her authority1 as much as she does by   
her  practice4    ,it will be easily    
granted1 that the example of this great 
town hath a  mighty influence over the  
whole kingdom2 and it is as manifest1   
that the  town is equally influenced by 
the court1 and the ministry1 and those  
who1 by their employments1 or their     

hopes1 depend upon them4 ,now1 if  under
 so excellent a princess as the present 
,queen1 we would suppose a  family      
strictly regulated1 as ,i have above    
proposed2 a ministry1 where  every      
single person was of distinguished      
piety2 if we should suppose all  great  
offices of state and law filled after   
the same manner1 and with  such as were 
equally diligent in choosing persons1   
who1 in their several  subordinations1  
would be obliged to follow the examples 
of their  superiors1 under the penalty  
of loss of favour and place2 will not   
everybody grant1 that the empire of vice
 and irreligion would be soon  destroyed
 in this great metropolis1 and receive a
 terrible blow through  the whole       
island1 which hath so great an          
intercourse with it1 and so  much       
affects to follow its fashions8    ,for1
 if religion were once understood to be 
the necessary step to favour  and       
preferment2 can it be imagined that any 
man would openly offend  against it1 who

 had the least regard for his reputation
 or his fortune8  ,there is no quality  
so contrary to any nature1 which men    
cannot affect1  and put on upon         
occasions1 in order to serve an         
interest1 or gratify a  prevailing      
passion4 ,the proudest man will         
personate humility1 the  morosest learn 
to flatter1 the laziest will be sedulous
 and active1  where he is in pursuit of 
what he has much at heart4 ,how ready1  
therefore1 would most men be to step    
into the paths of virtue and piety1  if 
they infallibly led to favour and       
fortune6    ,if swearing and            
profaneness1 scandalous and avowed      
lewdness1 excessive  gaming and         
intemperance1 were a little             
discountenanced in the army1 ,i  cannot 
readily see what ill consequences could 
be apprehended2 if  gentlemen of that   
profession were at least obliged to some
 external  decorum in their conduct2 or 
even if a profligate life and character 
were not a means of advancement1 and the

 appearance of piety a most  infallible 
hindrance1 it is impossible the         
corruptions there should be  so         
universal and exorbitant4 ,i have been  
assured by several great  officers1 that
 no troops abroad are so ill disciplined
 as the ,english2  which cannot well be 
otherwise1 while the common soldiers    
have  perpetually before their eyes the 
vicious example of their leaders2 and   
it is hardly possible for those to      
commit any crime1 whereof these are  not
 infinitely more guilty1 and with less  
temptation4    ,it is commonly charged  
upon the gentlemen of the army1 that the
 beastly  vice of drinking to excess1   
hath been lately1 from their example1   
restored among us2 which for some years 
before was almost dropped in  ,england4 
,but1 whoever the introducers were1 they
 have succeeded to a  miracle2 many of  
the young nobility and gentry are       
already become great  proficients1 and  
are under no manner of concern to hide  
their talent1  but are got beyond all   

sense of shame or fear of reproach4     
,this might soon be remedied1 if the    
,queen would think fit to declare1  that
 no young person of quality whatsoever1 
who was notoriously addicted  to that1  
or any other vice1 should be capable of 
her favour1 or even  admitted into her  
presence1 with positive command to her  
ministers1 and  others in great office1 
to treat them in the same manner2 after 
which1  all men1 who had any regard for 
their reputation1 or any prospect of    
preferment1 would avoid their commerce4 
,this would quickly make that  vice so  
scandalous1 that those who could not    
subdue1 would at least  endeavour to    
disguise it4    ,by the like methods1 a 
stop might be put to that ruinous       
practice of  deep gaming2 and the reason
 why it prevails so much is1 because a  
treatment1 directly opposite in every   
point1 is made use of to promote  it2 by
 which means1 the laws enacted against  
this abuse are wholly  eluded4    ,it   
cannot be denied1 that the want of      

strict discipline in the  universities1 
hath been of pernicious consequence to  
the youth of this  nation1 who are there
 almost left entirely to their own      
management1  especially those among them
 of better quality and fortune2 who1    
because  they are not under a necessity 
of making learning their maintenance1   
are  easily allowed to pass their time1 
and take their degrees1 with little  or 
no improvement2 than which there cannot 
well be a greater absurdity4  ,for1 if  
no advancement of knowledge can be had  
from those places1 the  time there spent
 is at best utterly lost1 because every 
ornamental part  of education is better 
taught elsewhere3 ,and as for keeping   
youths out  of harm's way1 ,i doubt1    
where so many of them are got together1 
at full  liberty of doing what they     
please1 it will not answer the end4     
,but1  whatever abuses1 corruptions1 or 
deviations from statutes1 have crept    
into the universities through neglect1  
or length of time2 they might in  a     

great degree be reformed1 by strict     
injunctions from court 7upon each       
particular7 to the visitors and heads of
 houses2 besides the peculiar  authority
 the queen may have in several colleges1
 whereof her  predecessors were the     
founders4 ,and among other regulations1 
it would be  very convenient to prevent 
the excess of drink1 with that scurvy   
custom  among the lads1 and parent of   
the former vice1 the taking of tobacco1 
where it is not absolutely necessary in 
point of health4    ,from the           
universities1 the young nobility1 and   
others of great fortunes1  are sent for 
early up to town1 for fear of           
contracting any airs of  pedantry1 by a 
college education4 ,many of the younger 
gentry retire to  the ,inns of ,court1  
where they are wholly left to their own 
discretion4  ,and the consequence of    
this remissness in education appears1 by
  observing that nine in ten of those1  
who rise in the church or the  court1   
the law1 or the army1 are younger       

brothers1 or new men1 whose  narrow     
fortunes have forced them upon industry 
and application4    ,as for the ,inns of
 ,court1 unless we suppose them to be   
much degenerated1  they must needs be   
the worst instituted seminaries in any  
,christian  country2 but whether they   
may be corrected without interposition  
of the  legislature1 ,i have not skill  
enough to determine4 ,however1 it is    
certain1 that all wise nations have     
agreed in the necessity of a strict     
education1 which consisted1 among other 
things1 in the observance of  moral     
duties1 especially justice1 temperance1 
and chastity1 as well as  the knowledge 
of arts1 and bodily exercises3 ,but all 
these among us are  laughed out of      
doors4    ,without the least intention  
to offend the clergy1 ,i cannot but     
think1  that through a mistaken notion  
and practice1 they prevent themselves   
from doing much service1 which otherwise
 might lie in their power1 to  religion 
and virtue3 ,i mean1 by affecting so    

much to converse with each  other1 and  
caring so little to mingle with the     
laity4 ,they have their  particular     
clubs1 and particular coffee-houses1    
where they generally  appear in         
clusters3 ,a single divine dares hardly 
shew his person among  numbers of fine  
gentlemen2 or if he happens to fall into
 such company1  he is silent and        
suspicious1 in continual apprehension   
that some pert  man of pleasure should  
break an unmannerly jest1 and render him
  ridiculous4 ,now1 ,i take this        
behaviour of the clergy to be just as   
reasonable1 as if the physicians should 
agree to spend their time in  visiting  
one another1 or their several           
apothecaries1 and leave their  patients 
to shift for themselves4 ,in my humble  
opinion1 the clergy's  business lies    
entirely among the laity2 neither is    
there1 perhaps1 a  more effectual way to
 forward the salvation of men's souls1  
than for  spiritual persons to make     
themselves as agreeable as they can1 in 

the  conversations of the world2 for    
which a learned education gives them    
great advantage1 if they would please to
 improve and apply it4 ,it so  happens  
that the men of pleasure1 who never go  
to church1 nor use  themselves to read  
books of devotion1 form their ideas of  
the clergy  from a few poor strollers   
they often observe in the streets1 or   
sneaking  out of some person of         
quality's house1 where they are hired by
 the lady  at ten shillings a month2    
while those of better figure and parts1 
do  seldom appear to correct these      
notions4 ,and let some reasoners think  
what they please1 'tis certain that men 
must be brought to esteem and  love the 
clergy1 before they can be persuaded to 
be in love with  religion4 ,no man      
values the best medicine1 if            
administered by a  physician1 whose     
person he hates or despises4 ,if the    
clergy were as  forward to appear in all
 companies1 as other gentlemen1 and     
would a  little study the arts of       

conversation to make themselves         
agreeable1 they  might be welcome at    
every party where there was the least   
regard for  politeness or good sense2   
and consequently prevent a thousand     
vicious or  profane discourses1 as well 
as actions2 neither would men of        
understanding complain1 that a clergyman
 was a constraint upon the  company1    
because they could not speak blasphemy1 
or obscene jests before  him4 ,while the
 people are so jealous of the clergy's  
ambition1 as to  abhor all thoughts of  
the return of ecclesiastic discipline   
among them1  ,i do not see any other    
method left for men of that function to 
take1 in  order to reform the world1    
than by using all honest arts to make   
themselves acceptable to the laity4     
,this1 no doubt1 is part of that  wisdom
 of the serpent1 which the ,author of   
,christianity directs1 and is  the very 
method used by ,st4 ,paul1 who became   
all things to all men1 to  the ,jews a  
,jew1 and a ,greek to the ,greeks4      

,how to remedy these inconveniences1 may
 be a matter of some difficulty2  since 
the clergy seem to be of an opinion1    
that this humour of  sequestering       
themselves is a part of their duty2 nay1
 as ,i remember1  they have been told so
 by some of their bishops in their      
pastoral  letters1 particularly by one#c
 among them of great merit and          
distinction1 who yet1 in his own        
practice1 hath all his lifetime taken a 
course directly contrary4 ,but ,i am    
deceived1 if an awkward shame and  fear 
of ill usage from the laity1 have not a 
greater share in this  mistaken conduct1
 than their own inclinations3 ,however1 
if the outward  profession of religion  
and virtue1 were once in practice and   
countenance  at court1 as well as among 
all men in office1 or who have any hopes
 or  dependence for preferment1 a good  
treatment of the clergy would be the    
necessary consequence of such a         
reformation2 and they would soon be wise
  enough to see their own duty and      

interest in qualifying themselves for   
lay-conversation1 when once they were   
out of fear of being chocqued by        
ribaldry or profaneness4    ,footnote   
#c3 ,bishop ,burnet of ,salisbury4 ,see 
,swift's ,remarks on the  ,bishop of    
,sarum's ,introduction4 ,t4,s4    ,there
 is one further circumstance upon this  
occasion1 which ,i know not  whether it 
will be very orthodox to mention3 ,the  
clergy are the only set  of men among   
us1 who constantly wear a distinct habit
 from others2 the  consequence of which 
7not in reason but in fact7 is this1    
that as long  as any scandalous persons 
appear in that dress1 it will continue  
in some  degree a general mark of       
contempt4 ,whoever happens to see a     
scoundrel in  a gown1 reeling home at   
midnight1 7a sight neither frequent nor 
miraculous71 is apt to entertain an ill 
idea of the whole order1 and at  the    
same time to be extremely comforted in  
his own vices4 ,some remedy  might be   
put to this1 if those straggling        

gentlemen1 who come up to town  to seek 
their fortunes1 were fairly dismissed to
 the ,west ,indies1 where  there is work
 enough1 and where some better provision
 should be made for  them1 than ,i doubt
 there is at present4 ,or1 what if no   
person were  allowed to wear the habit1 
who had not some preferment in the      
church1 or  at least some temporal      
fortune sufficient to keep him out of   
contempt8  ,though1 in my opinion1 it   
were infinitely better1 if all the      
clergy  7except the bishops7 were       
permitted to appear like other men of   
the  graver sort1 unless at those       
seasons when they are doing the business
 of  their function4    ,there is one   
abuse in this town1 which wonderfully   
contributes to the  promotion of vice1  
that such men are often put into the    
commission of  the peace1 whose interest
 it is1 that virtue should be utterly   
banished  from among us1 who maintain1  
or at least enrich themselves1 by       
encouraging the grossest immoralities1  

to whom all the bawds of the ward  pay  
contribution1 for shelter and protection
 from the laws4 ,thus these  worthy     
magistrates1 instead of lessening       
enormities1 are the occasion of  just   
twice as much debauchery as there would 
be without them4 ,for those  infamous   
women are forced upon doubling their    
work and industry1 to  answer double    
charges1 of paying the justice1 and     
supporting themselves4  ,like thieves   
who escape the gallows1 and are let out 
to steal1 in order  to discharge the    
gaoler's fees4    ,it is not to be      
questioned1 but the ,queen and ministry 
might easily  redress this abominable   
grievance1 by enlarging the number of   
justices  of the peace1 by endeavouring 
to choose men of virtuous principles1 by
  admitting none who have not           
considerable fortunes1 perhaps1 by      
receiving  into the number some of the  
most eminent clergy4 ,then1 by forcing  
all of  them1 upon severe penalties1 to 
act when there is occasion1 and not     

permitting any who are offered to refuse
 the commission1 but in these  two last 
cases1 which are very material1 ,i doubt
 there will be need of  the legislature4
    ,the reformation of the stage is    
entirely in the power of the ,queen1 and
  in the consequences it hath upon the  
minds of the younger people1 does  very 
well deserve the strictest care4        
,besides the indecent and profane       
passages1 besides the perpetual turning 
into ridicule the very function  of the 
priesthood1 with other irregularities1  
in most modern comedies1  which have by 
others been objected to them1 it is     
worth observing the  distributive       
justice of the authors1 which is        
constantly applied to the  punishment of
 virtue1 and the reward of vice1        
directly opposite to the  rules of their
 best critics1 as well as to the        
practice of dramatic  poets1 in all     
other ages and countries4 ,for example1 
a country squire1  who is represented   
with no other vice but that of being a  

clown1 and  having the provincial accent
 upon his tongue1 which is neither a    
fault1  nor in his power to remedy1 must
 be condemned to marry a cast wench1 or 
a cracked chambermaid4 ,on the other    
side1 a rakehell of the town1 whose     
character is set off with no other      
accomplishment1 but excessive           
prodigality1 profaneness1 intemperance1 
and lust1 is rewarded with a  lady of   
great fortune to repair his own1 which  
his vices had almost  ruined4 ,and as in
 a tragedy1 the hero is represented to  
have obtained  many victories in order  
to raise his character in the minds of  
the  spectators2 so the hero of a comedy
 is represented to have been  victorious
 in all his intrigues1 for the same     
reason4 ,i do not remember1  that our   
,english poets ever suffered a criminal 
amour to succeed upon  the stage1 till  
the reign of ,king ,charles the ,second4
 ,ever since that  time1 the alderman is
 made a cuckold1 the deluded virgin is  
debauched1  and adultery and fornication

 are supposed to be committed behind the
  scenes1 as part of the action4 ,these 
and many more corruptions of the        
theatre1 peculiar to our age and nation1
 need continue no longer1 than  while   
the court is content to connive at or   
neglect them4 ,surely a  pension would  
not be ill employed on some men of wit1 
learning1 and  virtue1 who might have   
power to strike out every offensive or  
unbecoming  passage1 from plays already 
written1 as well as those that may be   
offered to the stage for the future4 ,by
 which1 and other wise  regulations1 the
 theatre might become a very innocent   
and useful  diversion1 instead of being 
a scandal and reproach to our religion  
and  country4    ,the proposals ,i have 
hitherto made for the advancement of    
religion and  morality1 are such as come
 within reach of the administration2    
such as a  pious active prince1 with a  
steady resolution1 might soon bring to  
effect4 ,neither am ,i aware of any     
objections to be raised against what ,i 

have advanced2 unless it should be      
thought1 that making religion a         
necessary step to interest and favour   
might increase hypocrisy among us2  and 
,i readily believe it would4 ,but if one
 in twenty should be brought  over to   
true piety by this1 or the like methods1
 and the other nineteen  be only        
hypocrites1 the advantage would still be
 great4 ,besides1  hypocrisy is much    
more eligible than open infidelity and  
vice2 it wears  the livery of religion2 
it acknowledges her authority1 and is   
cautious  of giving scandal4 ,nay1 a    
long continued disguise is too great a  
constraint upon human nature1 especially
 an ,english disposition2 men  would    
leave off their vices out of mere       
weariness1 rather than undergo  the toil
 and hazard1 and perhaps expense1 of    
practising them perpetually  in private4
 ,and ,i believe it is often with       
religion1 as it is with love2  which1 by
 much dissembling1 at last grows real4  
,all other projects to this great end   

have proved hitherto ineffectual4  ,laws
 against immorality have not been       
executed2 and proclamations             
occasionally issued out to enforce them 
are wholly unregarded as things  of     
form4 ,religious societies1 though begun
 with excellent intention1 and  by      
persons of true piety1#d have dwindled  
into factious clubs1 and  grown a trade 
to enrich little knavish informers of   
the meanest rank1  such as common       
constables1 and broken shopkeepers4     
,footnote #d3 ,the original edition     
omits here the words1 are said1 ,i  know
 not whether truly or not4 ,all other   
editions give these words4 ,t4  ,s4     
,and that some effectual attempt should 
be made toward such a  reformation1 is  
perhaps more necessary than people      
commonly apprehend2  because the ruin of
 a state is generally preceded by a     
universal  degeneracy of manners1 and   
contempt of religion2 which is entirely 
our  case at present4      ,dis te      
minorem quod geris imperas4--,,hor4 #e  

,footnote #e3 ,carmina1 iii4 #f4 #e4    
,neither is this a matter to be deferred
 till a more convenient time of  peace  
and leisure3 ,because a reformation in  
men's faith and morals is  the best     
natural1 as well as religious means1 to 
bring the war to a good  conclusion4    
,for1 if men in trust performed their   
duty for conscience  sake1 affairs would
 not suffer through fraud1 falsehood1   
and neglect1 as  they now perpetually   
do4 ,and if they believed a ,god1 and   
his ,providence1  and acted accordingly1
 they might reasonably hope for his     
divine  assistance1 in so just a cause  
as ours4    ,nor could the majesty of   
the ,english ,crown appear1 upon any    
occasion1 in  a greater lustre1 either  
to foreigners or subjects1 than by an   
administration1 which1 producing such   
great effects1 would discover so  much  
power4 ,and power being the natural     
appetite of princes1 a limited  monarch 
cannot so well gratify it in anything1  
as a strict execution of  the laws4     

,besides2 all parties would be obliged  
to close with so good a work as  this1  
for their own reputation3 ,neither is   
any expedient more likely to  unite     
them4 ,for the most violent party men1  
,i have ever observed1 are  such1 as in 
the conduct of their lives have         
discovered least sense of  religion or  
morality2 and when all such are laid    
aside1 at least those  among them as    
shall be found incorrigible1 it will be 
a matter perhaps  of no great difficulty
 to reconcile the rest4    ,the many    
corruptions at present in every branch  
of business are almost  inconceivable4  
,i have heard it computed by skilful    
persons1 that of six  millions raised   
every year for the service of the       
public1 one third1 at  least1 is sunk   
and intercepted through the several     
classes and  subordinations of artful   
men in office1 before the remainder is  
applied  to the proper use4 ,this is an 
accidental ill effect of our freedom4   
,and  while such men are in trust1 who  

have no check from within1 nor any      
views but toward their interest1 there  
is no other fence against them1  but the
 certainty of being hanged upon the     
first discovery1 by the  arbitrary will 
of an unlimited monarch1 or his vizier4 
,among us1 the  only danger to be       
apprehended is the loss of an           
employment2 and that  danger is to be   
eluded a thousand ways4 ,besides1 when  
fraud is great1 it  furnishes weapons to
 defend itself3 ,and at worst1 if the   
crimes be so  flagrant1 that a man is   
laid aside out of perfect shame1 7which 
rarely  happens7 he retires loaded with 
the spoils of the nation2 et fruitur    
diis iratis4 ,i could name a commission1
 where several persons1 out of a  salary
 of five hundred pounds1 without other  
visible revenues1 have  always lived at 
the rate of two thousand1 and laid out  
forty or fifty  thousand upon purchases 
of lands or annuities4 ,a hundred other 
instances  of the same kind might easily
 be produced4 ,what remedy1 therefore1  

can  be found against such grievances1  
in a constitution like ours1 but to     
bring religion into countenance1 and    
encourage those1 who1 from the hope  of 
future reward1 and dread of future      
punishment1 will be moved to act  with  
justice and integrity8    ,this is not  
to be accomplished any other way1 but by
 introducing  religion1 as much as      
possible1 to be the turn and fashion of 
the age2  which only lies in the power  
of the administration2 the prince with  
utmost strictness regulating the court1 
the ministry1 and other persons  in     
great employment2 and these1 by their   
example and authority1  reforming all   
who have dependence on them4    ,it is  
certain1 that a reformation successfully
 carried on in this great  town1 would  
in time spread itself over the whole    
kingdom1 since most of  the considerable
 youth pass here that season of their   
lives1 wherein the  strongest           
impressions are made1 in order to       
improve their education1 or  advance    

their fortune1 and those among them1 who
 return into their  several counties1   
are sure to be followed and imitated1 as
 the greatest  patterns of wit and good 
breeding4    ,and if things were once in
 this train1 that is1 if virtue and     
religion  were established as the       
necessary titles to reputation and      
preferment1  and if vice and infidelity 
were not only loaded with infamy1 but   
made  the infallible ruin of all men's  
pretensions1 our duty1 by becoming our  
interest1 would take root in our        
natures1 and mix with the very genius   
of our people1 so that it would not be  
easy for the example of one  wicked     
prince to bring us back to our former   
corruptions4    ,i have confined myself 
7as it is before observed7 to those     
methods for  the advancement of piety1  
which are in the power of a prince1     
limited  like ours1 by a strict         
execution of the laws already in force4 
,and this  is enough for a project1 that
 comes without any name or              

recommendation1  ,i doubt1 a great deal 
more than will suddenly be reduced into 
practice4  ,though1 if any disposition  
should appear towards so good a work1 it
 is  certain1 that the assistance of the
 legislative power would be necessary   
to make it more complete4 ,i will       
instance only a few particulars4    ,in 
order to reform the vices of this town1 
which1 as we have said1 hath  so mighty 
an influence on the whole kingdom1 it   
would be very  instrumental to have a   
law made1 that all taverns and alehouses
 should  be obliged to dismiss their    
company at twelve at night1 and shut up 
their doors1 and that no woman should be
 suffered to enter any tavern or        
alehouse1 upon any pretence whatsoever4 
,it is easy to conceive what a  number  
of ill consequences such a law would    
prevent1 the mischiefs of  quarrels1 and
 lewdness1 and thefts1 and midnight     
brawls1 the diseases of  intemperance   
and venery1 and a thousand other evils  
needless to mention4  ,nor would it be  

amiss1 if the masters of those          
public-houses were  obliged1 upon the   
severest penalties1 to give only a      
proportioned  quantity of drink to every
 company1 and when he found his guests  
disordered with excess1 to refuse them  
any more4    ,i believe there is hardly 
a nation in ,christendom1 where all kind
 of  fraud is practised in so           
immeasurable a degree as with us4 ,the  
lawyer1  the tradesman1 the mechanic1   
have found so many arts to deceive in   
their  several callings1 that they far  
outgrow the common prudence of mankind1 
which is in no sort able to fence       
against them4 ,neither could the        
legislature in anything more consult the
 public good1 than by providing  some   
effectual remedy against this evil1     
which1 in several cases1  deserves      
greater punishment than many crimes that
 are capital among us4  ,the vintner1   
who1 by mixing poison with his wines1   
destroys more lives  than any one       
disease in the bill of mortality2 the   

lawyer1 who persuades  you to a purchase
 which he knows is mortgaged for more   
than the worth1  to the ruin of you and 
your family2 the goldsmith or scrivener1
 who  takes all your fortune to dispose 
of1 when he has beforehand resolved to  
break the following day1 do surely      
deserve the gallows much better than    
the wretch who is carried thither for   
stealing a horse4    ,it cannot easily  
be answered to ,god or man1 why a law is
 not made for  limiting the press2 at   
least so far as to prevent the          
publishing of such  pernicious books1   
as1 under pretence of freethinking1     
endeavour to  overthrow those tenets in 
religion which have been held           
inviolable1  almost in all ages1 by     
every sect that pretend to be           
,christian2 and  cannot1 therefore1 with
 any colour of reason1 be called points 
in  controversy1 or matters of          
speculation1 as some would pretend4 ,the
  ,doctrine of the ,trinity1 the        
,divinity of ,christ1 the ,immortality  

of the  ,soul1 and even the truth of all
 revelation1 are daily exploded and     
denied in books openly printed2 though  
it is to be supposed neither  party will
 avow such principles1 or own the       
supporting of them to be any  way       
necessary to their service4#f           
,footnote #f3 ,this passage refers to   
the deistical publications of  ,asgill1 
,toland1 ,tindal1 and ,collins1 already 
noted4 ,t4 ,s4    ,it would be endless  
to set down every corruption or defect  
which  requires a remedy from the       
legislative power4 ,senates are like to 
have  little regard for any proposals   
that come from without doors2 though1   
under a due sense of my own inabilities1
 ,i am fully convinced1 that the        
unbiassed thoughts of an honest and wise
 man1 employed on the good of  his      
country1 may be better digested than the
 results of a multitude1  where faction 
and interest too often prevail2 as a    
single guide may  direct the way better 
than five hundred1 who have contrary    

views1 or  look asquint1 or shut their  
eyes4    ,i shall therefore mention but 
one more particular1 which ,i think the 
,parliament ought to take under         
consideration2 whether it be not a shame
  to our country1 and a scandal to      
,christianity1 that in many towns1 where
  there is a prodigious increase in the 
number of houses and inhabitants1  so   
little care should be taken for the     
building of churches1 that five  parts  
in six of the people are absolutely     
hindered from hearing divine  service8  
,particularly here in ,london1 where a  
single minister1 with one  or two sorry 
curates1 hath the care sometimes of     
above twenty thousand  souls incumbent  
on him4 ,a neglect of religion so       
ignominious1 in my  opinion1 that it can
 hardly be equalled in any civilized age
 or  country4#g    ,footnote #g3 ,this  
paragraph is known to have given the    
first hint to  certain bishops1         
particularly to ,bishop ,atterbury1 to  
procure a fund for  building fifty new  

churches in ,london4 ,t4 ,s4    ,but1 to
 leave these airy imaginations of       
introducing new laws for the  amendment 
of mankind2 what ,i principally insist  
on is1 a due execution  of the old1     
which lies wholly in the crown1 and in  
the authority derived  from thence4 ,i  
return1 therefore1 to my former         
assertion2 that if  stations of power1  
trust1 profit1 and honour1 were         
constantly made the  rewards of virtue  
and piety1 such an administration must  
needs have a  mighty influence on the   
faith and morals of the whole kingdom3  
,and men  of great abilities would then 
endeavour to excel in the duties of a   
religious life1 in order to qualify     
themselves for public service4 ,i may   
possibly be wrong in some of the means  
,i prescribe towards this end2 but  that
 is no material objection against the   
design itself4 ,let those who  are at   
the helm contrive it better1 which1     
perhaps1 they may easily do4  ,everybody
 will agree that the disease is         

manifest1 as well as dangerous2  that   
some remedy is necessary1 and that none 
yet applied hath been  effectual1 which 
is a sufficient excuse for any man who  
wishes well to  his country1 to offer   
his thoughts1 when he can have no other 
end in  view but the public good4 ,the  
present ,queen is a princess of as many 
and  great virtues as ever filled a     
throne3 ,how would it brighten her      
character to the present and after ages1
 if she would exert her utmost          
authority to instil some share of those 
virtues into her people1 which  they are
 too degenerate to learn only from her  
example6 ,and1 be it spoke  with all the
 veneration possible for so excellent a 
sovereign1 her best  endeavours in this 
weighty affair are a most important part
 of her duty1  as well as of her        
interest and her honour4    ,but1 it    
must be confessed1 that as things are   
now1 every man thinks that  he has laid 
in a sufficient stock of merit1 and may 
pretend to any  employment1 provided he 

has been loud and frequent in declaring 
himself  hearty for the government4     
',tis true1 he is a man of pleasure1 and
 a  freethinker1 that is1 in other      
words1 he is profligate in his morals1  
and a despiser of religion2 but in point
 of party1 he is one to be  confided in2
 he is an assertor of liberty and       
property2 he rattles it  out against    
,popery and ,arbitrary ,power1 and      
,priestcraft and ,high ,church4  ',tis  
enough3 ,he is a person fully qualified 
for any employment1 in the  court or the
 navy1 the law or the revenue2 where he 
will be sure to  leave no arts untried1 
of bribery1 fraud1 injustice1           
oppression1 that he  can practise with  
any hope of impunity4 ,no wonder such   
men are true to a  government where     
liberty runs high1 where property1      
however attained1 is  so well secured1  
and where the administration is at least
 so gentle3  ',tis impossible they could
 choose any other constitution1 without 
changing to their loss4    ,fidelity to 

a present establishment is indeed the   
principal means to  defend it from a    
foreign enemy1 but without other        
qualifications1 will  not prevent       
corruptions from within2 and states are 
more often ruined by  these than the    
other4    ,to conclude4 ,whether the    
proposals ,i have offered toward a      
reformation1  be such as are most       
prudent and convenient1 may probably be 
a question2  but it is none at all1     
whether some reformation be absolutely  
necessary2  because the nature of things
 is such1 that if abuses be not         
remedied1  they will certainly increase1
 nor ever stop1 till they end in the    
subversion of a commonwealth4 ,as there 
must always of necessity be some        
corruptions1 so1 in a well-instituted   
state1 the executive power will be      
always contending against them1 by      
reducing things 7as ,michiaevel  speaks7
 to their first principles2 never       
letting abuses grow  inveterate1 or     
multiply so far1 that it will be hard to

 find remedies1  and perhaps impossible 
to apply them4 ,as he that would keep   
his house in  repair1 must attend every 
little breach or flaw1 and supply it    
immediately2 else time alone will bring 
all to ruin2 how much more the  common  
accidents of storms and rain8 ,he must  
live in perpetual danger of  his house  
falling about his ears2 and will find it
 cheaper to throw it  quite down1 and   
build it again from the ground1 perhaps 
upon a new  foundation1 or at least in a
 new form1 which may neither be so safe1
 nor  so convenient1 as the old4        
9999999999       9999999999             
9999999999       9999999999             
,,the ,,sentiments    ,,of ,a           
,,church ,,of ,,england ,,man1    ,,with
 ,,respect ,,to    ,,religion ,,and     
,,government4    ,,written ,,in ,,the   
,,year #agjh4      ,,note4    ,the      
writing of this tract1 as has been      
already observed1 placed ,swift in  a   
position where allegiance to party was  
not easy to maintain4 ,it  amounted to a

 warning to ,whigs as well as ,tories4  
,to the former he urged  that the       
,church of ,england was wide enough for 
the highest principles of  civil        
liberty2 to the latter he tried to show 
that to be a religious and  ,god-fearing
 man it was not absolutely necessary to 
be a ,tory in  politics4 ,whoever has   
examined the conduct and proceedings of 
both  parties for some years past1      
whether in or out of power1 cannot well 
conceive it possible to go far towards  
the extremes of either1 without         
offering some violence to his integrity 
or understanding4 ,it is true  that     
,whiggism and fanatical genius were     
almost synonymous terms for  ,swift2 but
 that was because the ,church was of    
prime consideration with  him1 and the  
,whigs numbered in their ranks the great
 army of ,dissent4  ,swift1 in his      
famous letter to ,pope1 dated ,dublin1  
,january #ajth1  #agbj-ba1 reviews his  
political opinions of #agjh to justify  
himself  against the misrepresentations 

of the virulence of libellers3 whose    
malice has taken the same train in both1
 by fathering dangerous  principles in  
government upon me1 which ,i never      
maintained1 and insipid  productions1   
which ,i am not capable of writing4     
,that review is but a  summary of what  
is given fully in this tract4 ,no appeal
 was ever better  intentioned4 ,i only  
wish1 he says to ,pope1 my endeavours   
had  succeeded better in the great point
 ,i had at heart1 which was that of     
reconciling the ministers to each other4
 ,but ,high ,church and ,low ,church    
were cries which had divided politicians
 as if they did not belong to  one      
nation4 ,to ,swift it was easy enough to
 be a staunch ,churchman and at  the    
same time expose the fallacies          
underlying the faith in the sovereign   
power2 but then ,swift was here no party
 fanatic who would use the  ,church in  
danger cry for party purposes4 ,if      
others1 he writes twelve  years later1  
who had more concern and more influence1

 would have acted  their parts1 his     
appeal had not been made in vain4 ,as it
 was it failed  in its intended purpose1
 and ,swift lost what hold he had on    
,somers1  ,godolphin1 and the rest4 ,it 
remains1 however1 to testify to ,swift's
  principles in a manner least expected 
by those who have set him down as       
intemperate and inconsistent4           
,certainly1 no principles were ever more
  moderately expressed2 and1 assuredly1 
no expression of principles found       
fitter realization in conduct4    ,the  
text of this edition is based on that   
given in the ,miscellanies of  #agaa4 ,i
 have not succeeded in obtaining a copy 
of the original issue2  but ,i have     
collated the various texts given in the 
re-issues by  ,faulkner1 ,hawkesworth1  
,scott1 and the ,miscellanies of #agbh  
7vol4 i47  and #agdg 7vol4 i474    ,t4  
,s4        ,,the ,,sentiments ,,of ,a   
,,church ,,of    ,,england ,,man1 ,,with
 ,,respect ,,to    ,,religion ,,and     
,,government4      ,whosoever hath      

examined the conduct and proceedings of 
both parties for  some years past1      
whether in or out of power1 cannot well 
conceive it  possible to go far towards 
the extremes of either1 without offering
 some  violence to his integrity or     
understanding4 ,a wise and a good man   
may  indeed be sometimes induced to     
comply with a number whose opinion he   
generally approves1 though it be perhaps
 against his own4 ,but this  liberty    
should be made use of upon very few     
occasions1 and those of  small          
importance1 and then only with a view of
 bringing over his own  side another    
time to something of greater and more   
public moment4 ,but to  sacrifice the   
innocency of a friend1 the good of our  
country1 or our own  conscience to the  
humour1 or passion1 or interest of a    
party1 plainly  shews that either our   
heads or our hearts are not as they     
should be3 ,yet  this very practice is  
the fundamental law of each faction     
among us1 as  may be obvious to any who 

will impartially1 and without           
engagement1 be  at the pains to examine 
their actions1 which however is not so  
easy a  task3 ,for it seems a principle 
in human nature1 to incline one way more
  than another1 even in matters where we
 are wholly unconcerned4 ,and it is  a  
common observation1 that in reading a   
history of facts done a thousand  years 
ago1 or standing by at play among those 
who are perfect strangers  to us1 we are
 apt to find our hopes and wishes       
engaged on a sudden in  favour of one   
side more than another4 ,no wonder then1
 we are all so  ready to interest       
ourselves in the course of public       
affairs1 where the  most inconsiderable 
have some real share1 and by the        
wonderful  importance which every man is
 of to himself1 a very great imaginary  
one4    ,and indeed1 when the two       
parties that divide the whole           
commonwealth1  come once to a rupture1  
without any hopes left of forming a     
third with  better principles1 to       

balance the others2 it seems every man's
 duty to  choose a side1#a though he    
cannot entirely approve of either2 and  
all  pretences to neutrality are justly 
exploded by both1 being too stale and   
obvious1 only intending the safety and  
ease of a few individuals while  the    
public is embroiled4 ,this was the      
opinion and practice of the latter      
,cato1 whom ,i esteem to have been the  
wisest and best of all the ,romans4     
,but before things proceed to open      
violence1 the truest service a private  
man may hope to do his country1 is1 by  
unbiassing his mind as much as          
possible1 and then endeavouring to      
moderate between the rival powers2      
which must needs be owned a fair        
proceeding with the world1 because it   
is of all others the least consistent   
with the common design1 of making  a    
fortune by the merit of an opinion4     
,footnote #a3 ,faulkner and ,scott have 
one of the two sides4 ,t4 ,s4    ,i have
 gone as far as ,i am able in qualifying

 myself to be such a  moderator3 ,i     
believe ,i am no bigot in religion1 and 
,i am sure ,i am none  in government4 ,i
 converse in full freedom with many     
considerable men of  both parties1 and  
if not in equal number1 it is purely    
accidental and  personal1 as happening  
to be near the court1 and to have made  
acquaintance there1 more under one      
ministry than another4 ,then1 ,i am not 
under the necessity of declaring myself 
by the prospect of an  employment4 ,and 
lastly1 if all this be not sufficient1  
,i industriously  conceal my name1 which
 wholly exempts me from any hopes and   
fears in  delivering my opinion4    ,in 
consequence of this free use of my      
reason1 ,i cannot possibly think so     
well or so ill of either party1 as they 
would endeavour to persuade the  world  
of each other1 and of themselves4 ,for  
instance2 ,i do not charge it  upon the 
body of the ,whigs or the ,tories1 that 
their several principles  lead them to  
introduce ,presbytery1 and the religion 

of the ,church of  ,rome1 or a          
commonwealth and arbitrary power4 ,for1 
why should any party  be accused of a   
principle which they solemnly disown and
 protest  against8 ,but1 to this they   
have a mutual answer ready2 they both   
assure  us1 that their adversaries are  
not to be believed1 that they disown    
their principles out of fear1 which are 
manifest enough when we examine  their  
practices4 ,to prove this1 they will    
produce instances1 on one  side1 either 
of avowed ,presbyterians1 or persons of 
libertine and  atheistical tenets1 and  
on the other1 of professed ,papists1 or 
such as  are openly in the interest of  
the abdicated family4 ,now1 it is very  
natural for all subordinate sects and   
denominations in a state1 to side  with 
some general party1 and to choose that  
which they find to agree  with          
themselves in some general principle4   
,thus at the restoration1 the           
,presbyterians1 ,anabaptists1           
,independents1 and other sects1 did all 

with  very good reason unite and solder 
up their several schemes to join        
against the ,church1 who without regard 
to their distinctions1 treated  them all
 as equal adversaries4 ,thus1 our       
present dissenters do very  naturally   
close in with the ,whigs1 who profess   
moderation1 declare they  abhor all     
thoughts of persecution1 and think it   
hard that those who  differ only in a   
few ceremonies and speculations1 should 
be denied the  privilege and profit of  
serving their country in the highest    
employments  of state4 ,thus1 the       
atheists1 libertines1 despisers of      
religion and  revelation in general1    
that is to say1 all those who usually   
pass under  the name of freethinkers1 do
 properly join with the same body2      
because  they likewise preach up        
moderation1 and are not so overnice to  
distinguish between an unlimited liberty
 of conscience1 and an unlimited        
freedom of opinion4 ,then on the other  
side1 the professed firmness of  the    

,tories for ,episcopacy as an           
apostolical institution3 ,their aversion
  to those sects who lie under the      
reproach of having once destroyed their 
constitution1 and who they imagine1 by  
too indiscreet a zeal for  reformation  
have defaced the primitive model of the 
,church3 ,next1 their  veneration for   
monarchical government in the common    
course of  succession1 and their hatred 
to republican schemes3 ,these1 ,i say1  
are  principles which not only the      
nonjuring zealots profess1 but even     
,papists themselves fall readily in     
with4 ,and every extreme here  mentioned
 flings a general scandal upon the whole
 body it pretends to  adhere to4    ,but
 surely no man whatsoever ought in      
justice or good manners to be  charged  
with principles he actually disowns1    
unless his practices do  openly and     
without the least room for doubt        
contradict his profession3  ,not upon   
small surmises1 or because he has the   
misfortune to have ill  men sometimes   

agree with him in a few general         
sentiments4 ,however1  though the       
extremes of ,whig and ,tory seem with   
little justice to have  drawn religion  
into their controversies1 wherein they  
have small  concern2 yet they both have 
borrowed one leading principle from the 
abuse of it2 which is1 to have built    
their several systems of political      
faith1 not upon enquiries after truth1  
but upon opposition to each  other1 upon
 injurious appellations1 charging their 
adversaries with  horrid opinions1 and  
then reproaching them for the want of   
charity2 et  neuter falso4    ,in order 
to remove these prejudices1 ,i have     
thought nothing could be  more effectual
 than to describe the sentiments of a   
,church of ,england  man with respect to
 religion and government4 ,this ,i shall
 endeavour to  do in such a manner as   
may not be liable to least objection    
from either  party1 and which ,i am     
confident would be assented to by great 
numbers in  both1 if they were not      

misled to those mutual                  
misrepresentations1 by  such motives as 
they would be ashamed to own4    ,i     
shall begin with religion4    ,and here1
 though it makes an odd sound1 yet it is
 necessary to say1 that  whoever        
professes himself a member of the       
,church of ,england1 ought to  believe a
 ,god and his providence1 together with 
revealed religion1 and  the divinity of 
,christ4 ,for beside those many         
thousands1 who 7to speak  in the phrase 
of divines7 do practically deny all this
 by the immorality  of their lives2     
there is no small number1 who in their  
conversation and  writings directly or  
by consequence endeavour to overthrow   
it2 yet all  these place themselves in  
the list of the ,national ,church1      
though at the  same time 7as it is      
highly reasonable7 they are great       
sticklers for  liberty of conscience4   
,to enter upon particulars3 ,a ,church  
of ,england man hath a true  veneration 
for the scheme established among us of  

ecclesiastic  government2 and though he 
will not determine whether ,episcopacy  
be of  divine right1 he is sure it is   
most agreeable to primitive institution1
  fittest of all others for preserving  
order and purity1 and under its  present
 regulations best calculated for our    
civil state3 ,he should  therefore think
 the abolishment of that order among us 
would prove a  mighty scandal and       
corruption to our faith1 and manifestly 
dangerous to  our monarchy2 nay1 he     
would defend it by arms against all the 
powers on  earth1 except our own        
legislature2 in which case he would     
submit as to a  general calamity1 a     
dearth1 or a pestilence4    ,as to rites
 and ceremonies1 and forms of prayer2 he
 allows there might  be some useful     
alterations1 and more1 which in the     
prospect of uniting  ,christians might  
be very supportable1 as things declared 
in their own  nature indifferent2 to    
which he therefore would readily comply1
 if the  clergy1 or1 7though this be not

 so fair a method7 if the legislature   
should direct3 ,yet at the same time he 
cannot altogether blame the  former for 
their unwillingness to consent to any   
alteration2 which  beside the trouble1  
and perhaps disgrace1 would certainly   
never produce  the good effects intended
 by it4 ,the only condition that could  
make it  prudent and just for the clergy
 to comply in altering the ceremonial or
  any other indifferent part1 would be1 
a firm resolution in the  legislature to
 interpose by some strict and effectual 
laws to prevent  the rising and         
spreading of new sects how plausible    
soever1 for the  future2 else there must
 never be an end3 ,and it would be to   
act like a  man who should pull down and
 change the ornaments of his house1 in  
compliance to every one who was disposed
 to find fault as he passed by1  which  
besides the perpetual trouble and       
expense1 would very much damage1  and   
perhaps in time destroy the building4   
,sects in a state seem only  tolerated  

with any reason because they are already
 spread2 and because  it would not be   
agreeable with so mild a government1 or 
so pure a  religion as ours1 to use     
violent methods against great numbers of
  mistaken people1 while they do not    
manifestly endanger the constitution  of
 either4 ,but the greatest advocates for
 general liberty of conscience1  will   
allow that they ought to be checked in  
their beginnings1 if they  will allow   
them to be an evil at all1 or which is  
the same thing1 if  they will only      
grant1 it were better for the peace of  
the state1 that  there should be none4  
,but while the clergy consider the      
natural temper  of mankind in general1  
or of our own country in particular1    
what  assurances can they have1 that any
 compliances they shall make1 will      
remove the evil of dissension1 while the
 liberty still continues of  professing 
whatever new opinion we please8 ,or how 
can it be imagined  that the body of    
dissenting teachers1 who must be all    

undone by such a  revolution1 will not  
cast about for some new objections to   
withhold  their flocks1 and draw in     
fresh proselytes by some further        
innovations  or refinements8    ,upon   
these reasons he is for tolerating such 
different forms in  religious worship as
 are already admitted1 but by no means  
for leaving  it in the power of those   
who are tolerated1 to advance their own 
models  upon the ruin of what is already
 established1 which it is natural for   
all sects to desire1 and which they     
cannot justify by any consistent        
principles if they do not endeavour2 and
 yet1 which they cannot succeed  in     
without the utmost danger to the public 
peace4    ,to prevent these             
inconveniences1 he thinks it highly     
just1 that all  rewards of trust1       
profit1 or dignity1 which the state     
leaves in the  disposal of the          
administration1 should be given only to 
those whose  principles direct them to  
preserve the constitution in all its    

parts4 ,in  the late affair of          
,occasional ,conformity1 the general    
argument of those  who were against it1 
was not1 to deny it an evil in itself1  
but that the  remedy proposed was       
violent1 untimely1 and improper1 which  
is the ,bishop  of ,salisbury's opinion 
in the speech he made and published     
against the  bill3 ,but1 however just   
their fears or complaints might have    
been upon  that score1 he thinks it a   
little too gross and precipitate to     
employ  their writers already in        
arguments for repealing the sacramental 
test1  upon no wiser a maxim1 than that 
no man should on the account of         
conscience be deprived the liberty of   
serving his country2 a topic which  may 
be equally applied to admit ,papists1   
,atheists1 ,mahometans1 ,heathens1  and 
,jews4 ,if the ,church wants members of 
its own to employ in the  service of the
 public2 or be so unhappily contrived as
 to exclude from  its communion such    
persons who are likeliest to have great 

abilities1 it  is time it should be     
altered and reduced into some more      
perfect1 or at  least more popular form3
 ,but in the meanwhile1 it is not       
altogether  improbable1 that when those 
who dislike the constitution1 are so    
very  zealous in their offers for the   
service of their country1 they are not  
wholly unmindful of their party or of   
themselves4    ,the ,dutch whose        
practice is so often quoted to prove and
 celebrate the  great advantages of a   
general liberty of conscience1 have yet 
a national  religion professed by all   
who bear office among them3 ,but why    
should  they be a precedent for us      
either in religion or government8 ,our  
country  differs from theirs1 as well in
 situation1 soil1 and productions of    
nature1 as in the genius and complexion 
of inhabitants4 ,they are a             
commonwealth founded on a sudden by a   
desperate attempt in a desperate        
condition1 not formed or digested into a
 regular system by mature  thought and  

reason1 but huddled up under the        
pressure of sudden  exigencies2         
calculated for no long duration1 and    
hitherto subsisting by  accident in the 
midst of contending powers1 who cannot  
yet agree about  sharing it among them4 
,these difficulties do indeed preserve  
them from  any great corruptions1 which 
their crazy constitution would extremely
  subject them to in a long peace4 ,that
 confluence of people in a  persecuting 
age1 to a place of refuge nearest at    
hand1 put them upon the  necessity of   
trade1 to which they wisely gave all    
ease and  encouragement3 ,and if we     
could think fit to imitate them in this 
last  particular1 there would need no   
more to invite foreigners among us2 who 
seem to think no further than how to    
secure their property and  conscience1  
without projecting any share in that    
government which gives  them protection1
 or calling it persecution if it be     
denied them4 ,but ,i  speak it for the  
honour of our administration1 that      

although our sects  are not so numerous 
as those in ,holland1 which ,i presume  
is not our  fault1 and ,i hope is not   
our misfortune1 we much excel them and  
all  ,christendom besides in our        
indulgence to tender consciences4#b ,one
  single compliance with the national   
form of receiving the sacrament1 is  all
 we require to qualify any sectary among
 us for the greatest  employments in the
 state1 after which he is at liberty to 
rejoin his own  assemblies for the rest 
of his life4 ,besides1 ,i will suppose  
any of the  numerous sects in ,holland1 
to have so far prevailed as to have     
raised a  civil war1 destroyed their    
government and religion1 and put their  
administrators to death2 after which ,i 
will suppose the people to have         
recovered all again1 and to have settled
 on their old foundation4 ,then ,i      
would put a query1 whether that sect    
which was the unhappy instrument of  all
 this confusion1 could reasonably expect
 to be entrusted for the  future with   

the greatest employments1 or indeed to  
be hardly tolerated  among them8        
,footnote #b3 ,when this was written    
there was no law against ,occasional    
,conformity4 ,faulkner1 #agce4    ,to go
 on with the sentiments of a ,church of 
,england man3 ,he does not see  how that
 mighty passion for the ,church which   
some men pretend1 can well  consist with
 those indignities and that contempt    
they bestow on the  persons of the      
clergy4#c ,tis a strange mark whereby to
 distinguish ,high  ,churchmen1 that    
they are such who imagine the clergy can
 never be too  low4 ,he thinks the maxim
 these gentlemen are so fond of1 that   
they are  for an humble clergy1 is a    
very good one2 and so is he1 and for an 
humble laity too1 since humility is a   
virtue that perhaps equally  benefits   
and adorns every station of life4       
,footnote #c3 ,i observed very well with
 what insolence and haughtiness  some   
lords of the ,high-,church party        
treated1 not only their own  chaplains1 

but all other clergy whatsoever1 and    
thought this was  sufficiently          
recompensed by their professions of zeal
 to the church4    ,but then1 if the    
scribblers on the other side freely     
speak the  sentiments of their party1 a 
divine of the ,church of ,england cannot
 look  for much better quarter thence4  
,you shall observe nothing more frequent
  in their weekly papers than a way of  
affecting to confound the terms of      
,clergy and ,high ,church1 of applying  
both indifferently1 and then loading    
the latter with all the calumny they can
 invent4 ,they will tell you they       
honour a clergyman2 but talk1 at the    
same time1 as if there were not  three  
in the kingdom1 who could fall in with  
their definition4#d ,after  the like    
manner they insult the universities1 as 
poisoned fountains1 and  corrupters of  
youth4    ,footnote #d3 ,i had likewise 
observed how the ,whig lords took a     
direct  contrary measure1 treated the   
persons of particular clergymen with    

great  courtesy1 but shewed much        
ill-will and contempt for the order in  
general4    ,now1 it seems clear to me1 
that the ,whigs might easily have       
procured and  maintained a majority     
among the clergy1 and perhaps in the    
universities1  if they had not too much 
encouraged or connived at this          
intemperance of  speech and virulence of
 pen1 in the worst and most prostitute  
of their  party2 among whom there has   
been for some years past such a         
perpetual  clamour against the ambition1
 the implacable temper1 and the         
covetousness of the priesthood3 ,such a 
cant of ,high ,church1 and  persecution1
 and being priest-ridden2 so many       
reproaches about narrow  principles1 or 
terms of communion3 ,then such          
scandalous reflections on  the          
universities1 for infecting the youth of
 the nation with arbitrary  and         
,jacobite principles1 that it was       
natural for those1 who had the care  of 
religion and education1 to apprehend    

some general design of altering  the    
constitution of both4 ,and all this was 
the more extraordinary1  because it     
could not easily be forgot1 that        
whatever opposition was made  to the    
usurpations of ,king ,james1 proceeded  
altogether from the ,church  of         
,england1 and chiefly from the clergy1  
and one of the universities4  ,for1 if  
it were of any use to recall matters of 
fact1 what is more  notorious than that 
prince's applying himself first to the  
,church of  ,england8 ,and upon their   
refusal to fall in with his measures1   
making the  like advances to the        
dissenters of all kinds1 who readily and
 almost  universally complied with him1 
affecting in their numerous addresses   
and  pamphlets1 the style of ,our       
,brethren the ,roman ,catholics1 whose  
interests they put on the same foot with
 their own3 ,and some of  ,cromwell's   
officers took posts in the army raised  
against the ,prince of  ,orange4#e      
,these proceedings of theirs they can   

only extenuate by urging  the           
provocations they had met from the      
,church in ,king ,charles's reign1      
which though perhaps excusable upon the 
score of human infirmity1 are  not by   
any means a plea of merit equal to the  
constancy and sufferings  of the bishops
 and clergy1 or of the head and fellows 
of ,magdalen  ,college1 that furnished  
the ,prince of ,orange's declaration    
with such  powerful arguments to justify
 and promote the ,revolution4           
,footnote #e3 ,de ,foe's ,history of    
,addresses contains some humbling       
instances of the applause with which the
 sectaries hailed their old  enemy1     
,james ,,ii41 when they saw him engaged 
in hostility with the  established      
,church4 ,t4 ,s4    ,therefore a ,church
 of ,england man abhors the humour of   
the age in  delighting to fling scandals
 upon the clergy in general2 which      
besides  the disgrace to the            
,reformation1 and to religion itself1   
casts an  ignominy upon the kingdom that

 it does not deserve4 ,we have no better
  materials to compound the priesthood  
of1 than the mass of mankind1 which     
corrupted as it is1 those who receive   
orders must have some vices to  leave   
behind them when they enter into the    
,church1 and if a few do still  adhere1 
it is no wonder1 but rather a great one 
that they are no worse4  ,therefore he  
cannot think ambition1 or love of power 
more justly laid to  their charge than  
to other men1 because1 that would be to 
make religion  itself1 or at least the  
best constitution of ,church-government1
  answerable for the errors and         
depravity of human nature4    ,within   
these last two hundred years all sorts  
of temporal power have  been wrested    
from the clergy1 and much of their      
ecclesiastic1 the reason  or justice of 
which proceeding ,i shall not examine2  
but1 that the  remedies were a little   
too violent with respect to their       
possessions1  the legislature hath      
lately confessed by the remission of    

their ,first  ,fruits4#f ,neither do the
 common libellers deny this1 who in     
their  invectives only tax the ,church  
with an insatiable desire of power and  
wealth 7equally common to all bodies of 
men as well as individuals7 but  thank  
,god1 that the laws have deprived them  
of both4 ,however1 it is  worth         
observing the justice of parties3 ,the  
sects among us are apt to  complain1 and
 think it hard usage to be reproached   
now after fifty years  for overturning  
the state1 for the murder of a king1 and
 the indignity  of a usurpation2 yet    
these very men and their partisans1 are 
continually  reproaching the clergy1 and
 laying to their charge the pride1 the  
avarice1 the luxury1 the ignorance1 and 
superstition1 of ,popish times  for a   
thousand years past4    ,footnote #f3   
,the first fruits were the first year's 
income of  ecclesiastical benefices4 ,in
 the middle ages they were taken by the 
,pope  as a right2 but were handed over 
to the ,english crown in #aecd4 ,anne in

  #agjc gave them back to the ,church by
 letters patent1 an act confirmed by    
,parliament in #agjd4 ,the ,bounty of   
,queen ,anne1 however1 did not extend   
to ,ireland2 and one of ,swift's        
missions in ,london was to obtain this  
remission of the first fruits for the   
,irish clergy also4 ,t4 ,s4    ,he      
thinks it a scandal to government that  
such an unlimited liberty  should be    
allowed of publishing books against     
those doctrines in  religion1 wherein   
all ,christians have agreed1 much more  
to connive at  such tracts as reject all
 revelation1 and by their consequences  
often  deny the very being of a ,god4   
,surely 'tis not a sufficient atonement 
for  the writers1 that they profess much
 loyalty to the present government1  and
 sprinkle up and down some arguments in 
favour of the dissenters2  that they    
dispute as strenuously as they can for  
liberty of conscience1  and inveigh     
largely against all ecclesiastics1 under
 the name of ,high  ,church2 and1 in    

short1 under the shelter of some popular
 principles in  politics and religion1  
undermine the foundations of all piety  
and  virtue4    ,as he doth not reckon  
every schism of that damnable nature    
which some  would represent1 so he is   
very far from closing with the new      
opinion of  those who would make it no  
crime at all1 and argue at a wild rate1 
that  ,god ,almighty is delighted with  
the variety of faith and worship1 as ,he
  is with the varieties of nature4 ,to  
such absurdities are men carried by  the
 affectation of freethinking1 and       
removing the prejudices of  education1  
under which head they have for some time
 begun to list  morality and religion4  
,it is certain that before the rebellion
 in #afdb1  though the number of        
,puritans 7as they were then called7 was
 as great as  it is with us1 and though 
they affected to follow pastors of that 
denomination1 yet those pastors had     
episcopal ordination1 possessed         
preferments in the ,church1 and were    

sometimes promoted to bishoprics        
themselves4#g ,but1 a breach in the     
general form of worship was in those    
days reckoned so dangerous and sinful in
 itself1 and so offensive to  ,roman    
,catholics at home and abroad1 and that 
it was too unpopular to be  attempted2  
neither1 ,i believe1 was the expedient  
then found out of  maintaining separate 
pastors out of private purses4          
,footnote #g3 ,in the reign of          
,elizabeth1 and even in that of ,james1 
the  ,puritans were not1 properly       
speaking1 ,dissenters2 but1 on the      
contrary1  formed a sort of ,low ,church
 party in the national establishment4   
,archbishop ,abbot himself has been     
considered as a ,puritan4 ,t4 ,s4       
,when a schism is once spread in a      
nation1 there grows at length a  dispute
 which are the schismatics4 ,without    
entering on the arguments1  used by both
 sides among us1 to fix the guilt on    
each other2 'tis  certain1 that1 in the 
sense of the law1 the schism lies on    

that side  which opposes itself to the  
religion of the state4 ,i leave it among
 the  divines to dilate upon the danger 
of schism1 as a spiritual evil1 but ,i  
would consider it only as a temporal    
one4 ,and ,i think it clear that any    
great separation from the established   
worship1 though to a new one that  is   
more pure and perfect1 may be an        
occasion of endangering the public      
peace1 because it will compose a body   
always in reserve1 prepared to  follow  
any discontented heads upon the         
plausible pretext of advancing  true    
religion1 and opposing error1           
superstition1 or idolatry4 ,for this    
reason ,plato lays it down as a maxim1  
that1 men ought to worship the  gods    
according to the laws of the country1   
and he introduces ,socrates  in his last
 discourse utterly disowning the crime  
laid to his charge1 of  teaching new    
divinities or methods of worship4 ,thus 
the poor ,huguenots  of ,france were    
engaged in a civil war1 by the specious 

pretences of  some1 who under the guise 
of religion sacrificed so many thousand 
lives  to their own ambition and        
revenge4 ,thus was the whole body of    
,puritans  in ,england drawn to be      
instruments1 or abettors of all manner  
of  villainy1 by the artifices of a few 
men whose#h designs from the first  were
 levelled to destroy the constitution   
both of religion and  government4 ,and  
thus1 even in ,holland itself1 where it 
is pretended that  the variety of sects 
live so amicably together1 and in such  
perfect  obedience to the magistrate1 it
 is notorious how a turbulent party     
joining with the ,arminians1 did in the 
memory of our fathers attempt to        
destroy the liberty of that republic4   
,so that upon the whole1 where  sects   
are tolerated in a state1 'tis fit they 
should enjoy a full  liberty of         
conscience1 and every other privilege of
 freeborn subjects to  which no power is
 annexed4 ,and to preserve their        
obedience upon all  emergencies1 a      

government cannot give them too much    
ease1 nor trust them  with too little   
power4    ,footnote #h3 ,lord           
,clarendon's ,history2 but see also     
,gardiner's ,history  of ,england4 ,t4  
,s4    ,the clergy are usually charged  
with a persecuting spirit1 which they   
are  said to discover by an implacable  
hatred to all dissenters2 and this      
appears to be more unreasonable1 because
 they suffer less in their  interests by
 a toleration than any of the conforming
 laity3 ,for while  the ,church remains 
in its present form1 no dissenter can   
possibly have  any share in its         
dignities1 revenues1 or power2 whereas1 
by once  receiving the sacrament1 he is 
rendered capable of the highest         
employments in the state4 ,and it is    
very possible1 that a narrow  education1
 together with a mixture of human       
infirmity1 may help to beget  among some
 of the clergy in possession such an    
aversion and contempt for  all          
innovators1 as physicians are apt to    

have for empirics1 or lawyers  for      
pettifoggers1 or merchants for pedlars3 
,but since the number of  sectaries doth
 not concern the clergy either in point 
of interest or  conscience1 7it being an
 evil not in their power to remedy7 'tis
 more  fair and reasonable to suppose   
their dislike proceeds from the dangers 
they apprehend to the peace of the      
commonwealth1 in the ruin whereof  they 
must expect to be the first and greatest
 sufferers4    ,to conclude this        
section1 it must be observed1 there is a
 very good  word1 which hath of late    
suffered much by both parties1 and that 
is1  ,,moderation1 which the one side   
very justly disowns1 and the other as   
unjustly pretends to4 ,beside what      
passeth every day in conversation2 any  
man who reads the papers published by   
,mr4 ,lesley#i and others of his  stamp1
 must needs conclude1 that if this      
author could make the nation  see his   
adversaries under the colours he paints 
them in1 we have nothing  else to do1   

but rise as one man and destroy such    
wretches from the face  of the earth4   
,on the other side1 how shall we excuse 
the advocates for  moderation8 among    
whom1 ,i could appeal to a hundred      
papers of universal  approbation by the 
cause they were writ for1 which lay such
 principles  to the whole body of the   
,tories1 as1 if they were true1 and     
believed2  our next business should in  
prudence be1 to erect gibbets in every  
parish1 and hang them out of the way4   
,but ,i suppose it is presumed1 the     
common people understand raillery1 or at
 least1 rhetoric1 and will not  take    
hyperboles in too literal a sense2 which
 however in some junctures  might prove 
a desperate experiment4    ,footnote #i3
 ,this was ,charles ,leslie1 the second 
son of the ,bishop of  ,clogher         
7#afej-agbb74 ,he was educated for the  
bar1 but forsook that1 and  entered into
 holy orders4 ,in his zeal for the      
established ,church he  persecuted the  
,catholics2 but this did not interfere  

with his adhesion  to ,jacobite         
political principles4 ,he settled in    
,london1 and wrote a  weekly paper      
called ,the ,rehearsal1 or a ,review of 
the ,times1 in which  he attacked ,locke
 and ,hoadly4 ,he did all he could for  
the cause of the  exiled ,james1 but he 
gave up the work when he found it       
hopeless1 and  died in ,ireland4 ,he    
wrote many virulent theological works1  
as well as a  host of political tracts4 
,t4 ,s4    ,and this is moderation in   
the modern sense of the word1 to which1 
speaking impartially1 the bigots of both
 parties are equally entitled4          
,,section ,,ii4    ,the ,sentiments of a
 ,church of ,england ,man with respect  
to ,government4    ,we look upon it as a
 very just reproach1 though we cannot   
agree where to  fix it1 that there      
should be so much violence and hatred in
 religious  matters1 among men who agree
 in all fundamentals1 and only differ in
  some ceremonies1 or at most mere      
speculative points4 ,yet is not this    

frequently the case between contending  
parties in a state8 ,for instance3  ,do 
not the generality of ,whigs and ,tories
 among us1 profess to agree in  the same
 fundamentals1 their loyalty to the     
,queen1 their abjuration of  the        
,pretender1 the settlement of the crown 
in the protestant line1 and a           
revolution principle8 ,their affection  
to the ,church established1 with        
toleration of dissenters8 ,nay sometimes
 they go further1 and pass over  into   
each other's principles2 the ,whigs     
become great assertors of the           
prerogative1 and the ,tories of the     
people's liberty2 these crying down     
almost the whole set of bishops1 and    
those defending them2 so that the       
differences fairly stated1 would be much
 of a sort with those in  religion among
 us1 and amount to little more than1 who
 should take  place or go in and out    
first1 or kiss the ,queen's hand2 and   
what  are these but a few court         
ceremonies8 ,or1 who should be in the   

ministry8 ,and what is that to the body 
of the nation1 but a mere  speculative  
point8 ,yet ,i think it must be allowed1
 that no religious  sects ever carried  
their aversions for each other to       
greater heights  than our state-parties 
have done1 who the more to inflame their
 passions  have mixed religious and     
civil animosities together2 borrowing   
one of  their appellations from the     
,church1 with the addition of ,high and 
,low1  how little soever their disputes 
relate to the term as it is generally   
understood4    ,i now proceed to deliver
 the sentiments of a ,church of ,england
 man with  respect to government4    ,he
 doth not think the ,church of ,england 
so narrowly calculated1 that it  cannot 
fall in with any regular species of     
government2 nor does he think  any one  
regular species of government more      
acceptable to ,god than  another4 ,the  
three generally received in the schools 
have all of them  their several         
perfections1 and are subject to their   

several  depravations4 ,however1 few    
states are ruined by any defect in their
  institution1 but generally by the     
corruption of manners1 against which    
the best institution is no long         
security1 and without which a very ill  
one may subsist and flourish3 ,whereof  
there are two pregnant instances  now in
 ,europe4 ,the first is the aristocracy 
of ,venice1 which founded  upon the     
wisest maxims1 and digested by a great  
length of time1 hath in  our age        
admitted so many abuses through the     
degeneracy of the nobles1  that the     
period of its duration seems to         
approach4 ,the other is the  united     
republics of the ,states-general1 where 
a vein of temperance1  industry1        
parsimony1 and a public spirit1 running 
through the whole body  of the people1  
hath preserved an infant commonwealth of
 an untimely  birth and sickly          
constitution1 for above an hundred      
years1 through so  many dangers and     
difficulties1 as a much more healthy one

 could never  have struggled against1   
without those advantages4    ,where     
security of person and property are     
preserved by laws which none  but the   
,whole can repeal1 there the great ends 
of government are  provided for whether 
the administration be in the hands of   
,one1 or of  ,many4 ,where any one      
person or body of men1 who do not       
represent the  ,whole1 seize into their 
hands the power in the last resort1     
there is  properly no longer a          
government1 but what ,aristotle and his 
followers  call the abuse and corruption
 of one4 ,this distinction excludes     
arbitrary power in whatever numbers2    
which notwithstanding all that  ,hobbes1
 ,filmer#aj and others have said to its 
advantage1 ,i look upon as  a greater   
evil than anarchy itself2 as much as a  
savage is in a happier  state of life   
than a slave at the oar4    ,footnote   
#aj3 ,hobbes1 ,thomas 7#aehh-afgi71 the 
,english philosopher1 and  author of ,de
 ,cive 7#afdb71 ,treatise on ,human     

,nature 7#afej71 ,de  ,corpore ,politico
 7#afej71 ,leviathan 7#afea71 and other 
works4 ,swift is  here combating        
,hobbes's advocacy for a sovereign      
power1 as vested in a  single person4   
,filmer1 ,sir ,robert 7died #afdg71     
author of ,the ,anarchy of a limited and
  mixed ,monarchy1 ,patriarcha1 and ,the
 ,freeholder's ,grand ,inquest4 ,in  the
 ,patriarcha ,filmer attempted to prove 
that absolute government by a  monarch  
was a patriarchal institution4 ,locke   
replied to this work in his  ,two       
,treatises on ,government4 ,t4,s4    ,it
 is reckoned ill manners1 as well as    
unreasonable1 for men to quarrel  upon  
difference in opinion2 because that is  
usually supposed to be a  thing which no
 man can help in himself2 which however 
,i do not conceive  to be an universal  
infallible maxim1 except in those cases 
where the  question is pretty equally   
disputed among the learned and the wise2
  where it is otherwise1 a man of       
tolerable reason1 small experience1 and 

willing to be instructed1 may apprehend 
he is got into a wrong opinion1  though 
the whole course of his mind and        
inclination would persuade him  to      
believe it true3 ,he may be convinced   
that he is in error though he  does not 
see where it lies1 by the bad effects of
 it in the common  conduct of his life1 
and by observing those persons for whose
 wisdom and  goodness he has the        
greatest deference1 to be of a contrary 
sentiment4  ,according to ,hobbes's     
comparison of reasoning with casting up 
accounts1  whoever finds a mistake in   
the sum total1 must allow himself out1  
though1 after repeated trials he may not
 see in which article he has            
misreckoned4 ,i will instance in one    
opinion1 which ,i look upon every man   
obliged in conscience to quit1 or in    
prudence to conceal2 ,i mean1 that      
whoever argues in defence of absolute   
power in a single person1 though  he    
offers the old plausible plea1 that1 it 
is his opinion1 which he  cannot help   

unless he be convinced1 ought1 in all   
free states to be  treated as the common
 enemy of mankind4 ,yet this is laid as 
a heavy  charge upon the clergy of the  
two reigns before the ,revolution1 who  
under the terms of ,passive ,obedience  
and ,non-,resistance are said to have   
preached up the unlimited power of the  
prince1 because they found it a         
doctrine that pleased the ,court1 and   
made way for their preferment4 ,and  ,i 
believe there may be truth enough in    
this accusation1 to convince us1  that  
human frailty will too often interpose  
itself among persons of the  holiest    
function4 ,however1 it may be offered in
 excuse for the clergy1  that in the    
best societies there are some ill       
members1 which a corrupted  court and   
ministry will industriously find out and
 introduce4 ,besides1  it is manifest   
that the greater number of those who    
held and preached  this doctrine1 were  
misguided by equivocal terms1 and by    
perfect  ignorance in the principles of 

government1 which they had not made any 
part of their study4 ,the question      
originally put1 and as ,i remember to   
have heard it disputed in public        
schools1 was this2 whether under any    
pretence whatsoever it may be lawful to 
resist the supreme magistrate8  which   
was held in the negative2 and this is   
certainly the right opinion4  ,but many 
of the clergy1 and other learned men1   
deceived by dubious  expression1 mistook
 the object to which passive obedience  
was due4 ,by  the supreme magistrate is 
properly understood the legislative     
power1  which in all government must be 
absolute and unlimited4 ,but the word   
magistrate seeming to denote a single   
person1 and to express the  executive   
power1 it came to pass1 that the        
obedience due to the  legislature was   
for want of knowing or considering this 
easy  distinction1 misapplied to the    
administration4 ,neither is it any      
wonder1  that the clergy or other       
well-meaning people should fall into    

this  error1 which deceived ,hobbes     
himself so far1 as to be the foundation 
of  all the political mistakes in his   
book1 where he perpetually confounds    
the executive with the legislative      
power1 though all well-instituted       
states have ever placed them in         
different hands1 as may be obvious to   
those who know anything of ,athens1     
,sparta1 ,thebes1 and other republics   
of ,greece1 as well as the greater ones 
of ,carthage and ,rome4    ,besides1 it 
is to be considered that when these     
doctrines began to be  preached among   
us1 the kingdom had not quite worn out  
the memory of that  unhappy rebellion1  
under the consequences of which it had  
groaned almost  twenty years4 ,and a    
weak prince in conjunction with a       
succession of most  prostitute          
ministers1 began again to dispose the   
people to new attempts1  which it was1  
no doubt1 the clergy's duty to endeavour
 to prevent1 if  some of them had not   
for want of knowledge in temporal       

affairs1 and  others perhaps from a     
worse principle1 proceeded upon a topic 
that  strictly followed would enslave   
all mankind4    ,among other theological
 arguments made use of in those times1  
in praise  of monarchy1 and             
justification of absolute obedience to a
 prince1 there  seemed to be one of a   
singular nature3 ,it was urged that     
,heaven was  governed by a monarch1 who 
had none to control his power1 but was  
absolutely obeyed3 ,then it followed1   
that earthly governments were the  more 
perfect1 the nearer they imitated the   
government in ,heaven4 ,all  which ,i   
look upon as the strongest argument     
against despotic power that  ever was   
offered2 since no reason can possibly be
 assigned why it is  best for the world 
that ,god ,almighty hath such a power1  
which doth not  directly prove that no  
mortal man should ever have the like4   
,but though a ,church of ,england man   
thinks every species of government      
equally lawful1 he does not think them  

equally expedient2 or for every  country
 indifferently4 ,there may be something 
in the climate1 naturally  disposing men
 toward one sort of obedience1 as is    
manifest all over  ,asia1 where we never
 read of any commonwealth1 except some  
small ones on  the western coasts       
established by the ,greeks4 ,there may  
be a great deal  in the situation of a  
country1 and in the present genius of   
the people4  ,it hath been observed1    
that the temperate climates usually run 
into  moderate governments1 and the     
extremes into despotic power4 ',tis a   
remark of ,hobbes1 that the youth of    
,england are corrupted in their         
principles of government1 by reading the
 authors of ,greece and ,rome who  writ 
under commonwealths4 ,but it might have 
been more fairly offered for  the honour
 of liberty1 that while the rest of the 
known world was  overrun with the       
arbitrary government of single persons2 
arts and  sciences took their rise1 and 
flourished only in those few small      

territories were the people were free4  
,and though learning may continue  after
 liberty is lost1 as it did in ,rome1   
for a while1 upon the  foundations laid 
under the commonwealth1 and the         
particular patronage of  some emperors2 
yet it hardly ever began under a tyranny
 in any nation3  ,because slavery is of 
all things the greatest clog and        
obstacle to  speculation4 ,and indeed1  
arbitrary power is but the first natural
 step  from anarchy or the savage life2 
the adjusting of power and freedom      
being an effect and consequence of      
maturer thinking3 ,and this is nowhere  
so duly regulated as in a limited       
monarchy3 ,because ,i believe it may    
pass for a maxim in state1 that the     
administration cannot be placed in  too 
few hands1 nor the legislature in too   
many4 ,now in this material  point1 the 
constitution of the ,english government 
far exceeds all others  at this time on 
the earth1 to which the present         
establishment of the  ,church doth so   

happily agree1 that ,i think1 whoever is
 an enemy to  either1 must of necessity 
be so to both4    ,he thinks1 as our    
monarchy is constituted1 a hereditary   
right is much to  be preferred before   
election4 ,because the government here1 
especially by  some late amendments1 is 
so regularly disposed in all its parts1 
that it  almost executes itself4 ,and   
therefore upon the death of a prince    
among  us1 the administration goes on   
without any rub or interruption4 ,for   
the  same reasons we have little to     
apprehend from the weakness or fury of  
our monarchs1 who have such wise        
councils to guide the first1 and laws   
to restrain the other4 ,and therefore   
this hereditary right should be  kept so
 sacred1 as never to break the          
succession1 unless where the  preserving
 of it may endanger the constitution2   
which is not from any  intrinsic merit1 
or unalienable right in a particular    
family1 but to  avoid the consequences  
that usually attend the ambition of     

competitors1  to which elective kingdoms
 are exposed2 and which is the only     
obstacle  to hinder them from arriving  
at the greatest perfection that         
government  can possibly reach4 ,hence  
appears the absurdity of that           
distinction  between a king de facto1   
and one de jure1 with respect to us4    
,for  every limited monarch is a king de
 jure1 because he governs by the        
consent of the whole1 which is authority
 sufficient to abolish all  precedent   
right4 ,if a king come in by conquest1  
he is no longer a  limited monarch1 if  
he afterward consent to limitations1 he 
becomes  immediately king de jure for   
the same reason4    ,the great advocates
 for succession1 who affirm it ought not
 to be  violated upon any regard or     
consideration whatsoever1 do insist much
  upon one argument that seems to carry 
little weight4 ,they would have it1     
that a crown is a prince's birthright1  
and ought at least to be as well        
secured to him and his posterity as the 

inheritance of any private man3  ,in    
short1 that he has the same title to his
 kingdom which every  individual has to 
his property4 ,now the consequence of   
this doctrine  must be1 that as a man   
may find several ways to waste1         
misspend1 or  abuse his patrimony1      
without being answerable to the laws2 so
 a king may  in like manner do what he  
will with his own1 that is1 he may      
squander  and misapply his revenues1 and
 even alienate the crown1 without being 
called to an account by his subjects4   
,they allow such a prince to be  guilty 
indeed of much folly and wickedness1 but
 for those he is to  answer to ,god1 as 
every private man must do that is guilty
 of  mismanagement in his own concerns4 
,now the folly of this reasoning will   
best appear1 by applying it in a        
parallel case4 ,should any man argue1   
that a physician is supposed to         
understand his own art best2 that the   
law protects and encourages his         
profession2 and therefore although he   

should manifestly prescribe poison to   
all his patients1 whereof they  should  
immediately die1 he cannot be justly    
punished1 but is answerable  only to    
,god3 ,or should the same be offered in 
behalf of a divine1 who  would preach   
against religion and moral duties2 in   
either of these two  cases everybody    
would find out the sophistry1 and       
presently answer1 that  although common 
men are not exactly skilled in the      
composition or  application of          
medicines1 or in prescribing the limits 
of duty2 yet the  difference between    
poisons and remedies is easily known by 
their  effects1 and common reason soon  
distinguishes between virtue and vice3  
,and it must be necessary to forbid both
 these the further practice of  their   
professions1 because their crimes are   
not purely personal to the  physician or
 the divine1 but destructive to the     
public4 ,all which is  infinitely       
stronger in respect to a prince1 with   
whose good or ill  conduct the happiness

 or misery of a whole nation is         
included2 whereas  it is of small       
consequence to the public1 farther than 
examples1 how any  private person       
manages his property4    ,but granting  
that the right of a lineal successor to 
a crown were upon  the same foot with   
the property of a subject1 still ,it may
 at any time  be transferred by the     
legislative power1 as other properties  
frequently  are4 ,the supreme power in a
 state can do no wrong1 because whatever
 that  doth1 is the action of all2 and  
when the lawyers apply this maxim to the
  king1 they must understand it only in 
that sense as he is administrator  of   
the supreme power1 otherwise it is not  
universally true1 but may be  controlled
 in several instances easy to produce4  
,and these are the topics we must       
proceed upon to justify our exclusion   
of the young ,pretender in ,france2 that
 of his suspected birth being  merely   
popular1 and therefore not made use of  
as ,i remember1 since the  ,revolution  

in any speech1 vote1 or proclamation    
where there was occasion  to mention    
him4    ,as to the abdication of ,king  
,james1 which the advocates on that side
  look upon to have been forcible and   
unjust1 and consequently void in        
itself1 ,i think a man may observe every
 article of the ,english ,church1       
without being in much pain about it4    
',tis not unlikely that all doors  were 
laid open for his departure1 and perhaps
 not without the privity of  the ,prince
 of ,orange1 as reasonably concluding   
that the kingdom might be  settled in   
his absence3 ,but to affirm he had any  
cause to apprehend the  same treatment  
with his father1 is an improbable       
scandal flung upon the  nation by a few 
bigotted ,french scribblers1 or the     
invidious assertion  of a ruined party  
at home1 in the bitterness of their     
souls3 ,not one  material circumstance  
agreeing with those in #afdh2 and the   
greatest part  of the nation having     
preserved the utmost horror for that    

ignominious  murder3 ,but whether his   
removal were caused by his own fears or 
other  men's artifices1 'tis manifest to
 me1 that supposing the throne to be    
vacant1 which was the foot they went    
upon1 the body of the people were       
thereupon left at liberty1 to choose    
what form of government they  pleased1  
by themselves or their representatives4 
,the only difficulty of any weight      
against the proceedings at the          
,revolution1 is an obvious objection1 to
 which the writers upon that  subject   
have not yet given a direct or          
sufficient answer1 as if they  were in  
pain at some consequences which they    
apprehend those of the  contrary opinion
 might draw from it1 ,i will repeat this
 objection as it  was offered me some   
time ago1 with all its advantages1 by a 
very pious1  learned1 and worthy        
gentleman#aa of the nonjuring party4    
,footnote #aa3 ,mr4 ,nelson1 author of  
,the ,feasts and ,fasts of the ,church  
of ,england4    ,the force of his       

argument turned upon this2 that the laws
 made by the  supreme power1 cannot     
otherwise than by the supreme power be  
annulled3  ,that this consisting in     
,england of a ,king1 ,lords1 and        
,commons1 whereof  each have a negative 
voice1 no two of them can repeal or     
enact a law  without consent of the     
third2 much less may any one of them be 
entirely  excluded from its part of the 
legislature by a vote of the other two4 
,that all these maxims were openly      
violated at the ,revolution2 where an   
assembly of the nobles and people1 not  
summoned by the king's writ  7which was 
an essential part of the constitution7  
and consequently no  lawful meeting1 did
 merely upon their own authority1       
declare the king to  have abdicated1 the
 throne vacant1 and gave the crown by a 
vote to a  nephew1 when there were three
 children to inherit2 though by the     
fundamental laws of the realm the next  
heir is immediately to succeed4         
,neither does it appear how a prince's  

abdication can make any other sort  of  
vacancy in the throne1 than would be    
caused by his death1 since he  cannot   
abdicate for his children 7who claim    
their right of succession by  act of    
parliament7 otherwise than by his own   
consent in form to a bill  from the two 
houses4    ,and this is the difficulty  
that seems chiefly to stick with the    
most  reasonable of those1 who from a   
mere scruple of conscience refuse to    
join with us upon the revolution        
principle2 but for the rest1 are ,i     
believe as far from loving arbitrary    
government1 as any others can be1  who  
are born under a free constitution1 and 
are allowed to have the  least share of 
common good sense4    ,in this objection
 there are two questions included3      
,first1 whether upon  the foot of our   
constitution1 as it stood in the reign  
of the late ,king  ,james1 a king of    
,england may be deposed8 ,the second is1
 whether the  people of ,england        
convened by their own authority1 after  

the king had  withdrawn himself in the  
manner he did1 had power to alter the   
succession8    ,as for the first2 it is 
a point ,i shall not presume to         
determine1 and  shall therefore only    
say1 that to any man who holds the      
negative1 ,i  would demand the liberty  
of putting the case as strongly as ,i   
please4 ,i  will suppose a prince       
limited by laws like ours1 yet running  
into a  thousand caprices of cruelty    
like ,nero or ,caligula4 ,i will suppose
 him  to murder his mother and his wife1
 to commit incest1 to ravish matrons1   
to blow up the senate1 and burn his     
metropolis1 openly to renounce ,god  and
 ,christ1 and worship the devil4 ,these 
and the like exorbitances are  in the   
power of a single person to commit      
without the advice of a  ministry1 or   
assistance of an army4 ,and if such a   
king as ,i have  described1 cannot be   
deposed but by his own consent in       
parliament1 ,i do  not well see how he  
can be resisted1 or what can be meant by

 a limited  monarchy2 or what signifies 
the people's consent in making and      
repealing  laws1 if the person who      
administers hath no tie but conscience1 
and is  answerable to none but ,god4 ,i 
desire no stronger proof that an opinion
  must be false1 than to find very great
 absurdities annexed to it2 and  there  
cannot be greater than in the present   
case3 ,for it is not a bare  speculation
 that kings may run into such enormities
 as are  above-mentioned2 the practice  
may be proved by examples not only drawn
  from the first ,caesars or later      
emperors1 but many modern princes of    
,europe2 such as ,peter the ,cruel1     
,philip the ,second of ,spain1 ,john    
,basilovitz#ab of ,muscovy1 and in our  
own nation1 ,king ,john1 ,richard the   
,third1 and ,henry the ,eighth4 ,but    
there cannot be equal absurdities       
supposed in maintaining the contrary    
opinion2 because it is certain1  that   
princes have it in their power to keep a
 majority on their side1 by  any        

tolerable administration2 till provoked 
by continual oppressions1 no  man indeed
 can then answer where the madness of   
the people will stop4    ,footnote #ab3 
,peter the ,cruel is ,pedro of ,castile4
 ,ivan ,basilovitz was  the first       
emperor of ,russia who assumed the title
 of ,czar4 ,he was born  in #aebi1 and  
died in #aehd4    ,as to the second part
 of the objection2 whether the people of
 ,england  convened by their own        
authority1 upon ,king ,james's          
precipitate  departure1 had power to    
alter the succession8    ,in answer to  
this1 ,i think it is manifest from the  
practice of the  wisest nations1 and who
 seem to have had the truest notions of 
freedom1  that when a prince was laid   
aside for mal-administration1 the nobles
 and  people1 if they thought it        
necessary for the public weal1 did      
resume the  administration of the       
supreme power 7the power itself having  
been always  in them7 and did not only  
alter the succession1 but often the very

 form  of government too2 because they  
believed there was no natural right in  
one man to govern another1 but that all 
was by institution1 force1 or  consent4 
,thus1 the cities of ,greece1 when they 
drove out their  tyrannical kings1      
either chose others from a new family1  
or abolished  the kingly government1 and
 became free states4 ,thus the ,romans  
upon the  expulsion of ,tarquin found it
 inconvenient for them to be subject any
  longer to the pride1 the lust1 the    
cruelty and arbitrary will of single    
persons1 and therefore by general       
consent entirely altered the whole      
frame of their government4 ,nor do ,i   
find the proceedings of either1 in  this
 point1 to have been condemned by any   
historian of the succeeding  ages4      
,but a great deal hath been already said
 by other writers upon this  invidious  
and beaten subject2 therefore ,i shall  
let it fall1 though the  point is       
commonly mistaken1 especially by the    
lawyers2 who of all others  seem least  

to understand the nature of government  
in general2 like  under-workmen1 who are
 expert enough at making a single wheel 
in a  clock1 but are utterly ignorant   
how to adjust the several parts1 or     
regulate the movements4    ,to return   
therefore from this digression3 ,it is a
 ,church of ,england  man's opinion1    
that the freedom of a nation consists in
 an absolute  unlimited legislative     
power1 wherein the whole body of the    
people are  fairly represented1 and in  
an executive duly limited2 because on   
this  side likewise there may be        
dangerous degrees1 and a very ill       
extreme4  ,for when two parties in a    
state are pretty equal in power1        
pretensions1  merit1 and virtue1 7for   
these two last are with relation to     
parties and  a court1 quite different   
things7 it hath been the opinion of the 
best  writers upon government1 that a   
prince ought not in any sort to be under
  the guidance or influence of either1  
because he declines by this means  from 

his office of presiding over the whole1 
to be the head of a party2  which       
besides the indignity1 renders him      
answerable for all public               
mismanagements and the consequences of  
them2 and in whatever state this        
happens1 there must either be a weakness
 in the prince or ministry1 or  else the
 former is too much restrained by the   
legislature4#a    ,footnote #a3 ,this is
 as given in the ,miscellanies 7#agaa74 
,scott and  ,faulkner print by the      
nobles1 or those who represent the      
people4 ,t4  ,s4    ,to conclude3 ,a    
,church of ,england man may with        
prudence and a good  conscience approve 
the professed principles of one party   
more than the  other1 according as he   
thinks they best promote the good of    
,church and  ,state2 but he will never  
be swayed by passion or interest1 to    
advance an  opinion merely because it is
 that of the party he most approves2    
which  one single principle he looks    
upon as the root of all our civil       

animosities4 ,to enter into a party as  
into an order of friars with so         
resigned an obedience to superiors1 is  
very unsuitable both with the  civil and
 religious liberties we so zealously    
assert4 ,thus the  understandings of a  
whole senate are often enslaved by three
 or four  leaders on each side2 who     
instead of intending the public weal1   
have  their hearts wholly set upon ways 
and means how to get or to keep         
employments4 ,but to speak more at      
large1 how has this spirit of faction   
mingled itself with the mass of the     
people1 changed their nature and        
manners1 and the very genius of the     
nation2 broke all the laws of  charity1 
neighbourhood1 alliance and hospitality2
 destroyed all ties of  friendship1 and 
divided families against themselves6    
,and no wonder it  should be so1 when in
 order to find out the character of a   
person1  instead of inquiring whether he
 be a man of virtue1 honour1 piety1 wit1
  good sense1 or learning2 the modern   

question is only1 whether he be a  ,whig
 or a ,tory1 under which terms all good 
and ill qualities are  included4        
,now1 because it is a point of          
difficulty to choose an exact middle    
between two ill extremes1 it may be     
worth enquiring in the present case1    
which of these1 a wise and good man     
would rather seem to avoid3 ,taking     
therefore their own good and ill        
characters with due abatements and      
allowances for partiality and passion2  
,i should think that in order to        
preserve the constitution entire in     
,church and ,state1 whoever has a true  
value for both1 would be sure to avoid  
the extremes of ,whig for the sake  of  
the former1 and the extremes of ,tory on
 account of the latter4    ,i have now  
said all that ,i could think convenient 
upon so nice a  subject1 and find ,i    
have the ambition common with other     
reasoners1 to  wish at least that both  
parties may think me in the right1 which
 would  be of some use to those who have

 any virtue left1 but are blindly drawn 
into the extravagancies of either1 upon 
false representations1 to serve  the    
ambition or malice of designing men1    
without any prospect of their  own4 ,but
 if that is not to be hoped for1 my next
 wish should be1 that  both might think 
me in the wrong2 which ,i would         
understand as an ample  justification of
 myself1 and a sure ground to believe1  
that ,i have  proceeded at least with   
impartiality1 and perhaps with truth4   
9999999999       9999999999             
9999999999       9999999999             
,,remarks    ,,upon ,a    ,,book1       
,,intituled1    ,,the ,,rights ,,of     
,,the ,,christian ,,church1 c4          
,,written ,,in ,,the ,,year #agjh1 ,,but
 ,,left ,,unfinished4      ,,note4      
,dr4 ,matthew ,tindal1 of whom a short  
account has already been given 7see     
note1 p4 #i71 issued his ,rights of the 
,christian ,church in #agjf4 ,in  #agjg 
it had already gone through three       
editions4 ,the full title of the  work  

is3 ,the ,rights of the ,christian      
,church asserted1 against the  ,romish  
and all other ,priests1 who claim an    
independent ,power over it3  with a     
,preface concerning the ,government of  
the ,church of ,england1 as by  law     
established4 ,ostensibly the book was an
 attack on the ,roman  ,catholic        
,church1 but the attack was so cleverly 
veiled that it included  in its         
criticisms the ,church of ,england also2
 and must take its place  among the     
works of the deistical writers of the   
time who aimed at  subverting the       
foundations of the relationships between
 the ,church and  the ,state4 ,according
 to ,dr4 ,hicks1 who wrote several works
 in reply to  ,tindal's book1 ,tindal   
told a gentleman1 who found him at work 
on it1  that he was writing a book which
 would make the clergy mad4 ,if so1 he  
did not fall short of his intention2 for
 not only the clergy1 but even  learned 
laymen became mad4 ,in addition to ,dr4 
,hicks of ,oxford1 the  ,church of      

,england found champions in ,dr4        
,william ,wotton1 ,samuel ,hill1        
,conyers-,place1 ,mr4 ,oldisworth1 and  
,swift4 ,swift delayed the preparation  
of the materials for his reply1 or else 
he found other matters to occupy  his   
time--the ,sacheverel business came on  
soon after1 and the ,tindal  controversy
 lost interest in this more immediate   
and more important  affair4 ,so that    
,swift's criticism remained unfinished1 
and was only  published when his editors
 came to search among his papers4 ,in   
#agaj  ,tindal's work was ordered1 by a 
vote of the ,house of ,commons1 to be   
publicly burned by the hangman4 ,the    
grand jury of ,middlesex were  presented
 that the author1 printer1 and publisher
 of ,the ,rights of the  ,christian     
,church to be dangerous and disaffected 
persons1 and promoters  of sedition and 
profaneness2 and this charge was        
grounded on the  following extracts4 ,i 
take these from ,scott's note1 and ,i   
find that the  page references are to   

the second edition of ,tindal's work    
issued in  #agjf4    ,the church is a   
private society1 and no more power      
belonging to it than  to other private  
companies and clubs1 and1 consequently1 
all the right  anyone has to be an      
ecclesiastical officer1 and the power he
 is  entrusted with1 depends on the     
consent of the parties concerned1 and is
  no greater than they can bestow4      
,preface1 p4 xxx4    ,the ,scriptures   
nowhere make the receiving the ,lord's  
,supper from the  hands of a priest     
necessary4 p4 #ajd4    ,the remembrance 
of ,christ's sufferings a mere grace-cup
 delivered to be  handed about4 p4 #aje4
    ,among ,christians1 one no more than
 another can be reckoned a priest  from 
,scripture--,and the clerk has as good a
 title to the priesthood as  the parson 
444 ,every one1 as well as the minister1
 rightly consecrateth  the elements to  
himself 444 ,anything farther than this1
 may rather be  called ,conjuration than
 ,consecration4 p4 #ajh4    ,the        

absurdities of bishops being by divine  
appointment1 governors of  the          
,christian ,church1 and no others are   
capable of being of that number1  who   
derive not their right by an            
uninterrupted succession of bishops in  
the ,catholic ,church4 p4 #cac4    ,the 
supreme powers had no way to escape the 
heavier oppressions1 and  more          
insupportable usurpations of their own  
clergy1 than by submitting  to the      
,pope's milder yoke and gentler         
authority4 p4 #bee4    ,one grand cause 
of mistake is1 not considering when ,god
 acts as  governor of the universe1 and 
when as prince of a particular nation4  
,the  ,jews1 when they came out of the  
land of bondage1 were under no settled  
government1 till ,god was pleased to    
offer himself to be their king1 to      
which all the people expressly consented
 444 ,god's laws bound no nation1       
except those that agreed to the ,horeb  
contract4 p4 #aea4    ,not only an      
independent power of excommunication1   

but of ordination in  the clergy1 is    
inconsistent with the magistrate's right
 to protect the  commonwealth4 p4 #hg4  
,priests1 no better than spiritual      
make-baits1 baraters1 boute-feux1 and   
incendiaries1 and who make churches     
serve to worse purposes than bear       
gardens4 p4 #aah4    ,it is a grand     
mistake to suppose the magistrate's     
power extends to  indifferent things 444
 ,men have liberty as they please1 and a
 right 444  to form what clubs1         
companies1 or meetings1 they think fit1 
either for  business or pleasure1 which 
the magistrate 444 cannot hinder1       
without  manifest injustice4 p4 #ae4    
,god 444 interposed not among the ,jews1
 until they had chosen him for  their   
king4 p4 #cab4    ,for a full account of
 ,tindal and his work1 see the ,memoirs 
of the ,life  and ,writings of ,matthew 
,tindal1 with a ,history of the         
,controversies  wherein he was engaged1 
published in #agcc4 ,the text of the    
present  reprint of ,swift's ,remarks is

 based on that given in ,works1 vol4    
vii4 of the #dto edition of #agfd4 ,it  
has also been collated with the #hvo    
edition of same date 7vol4 xiii47 and   
with that of #agfb 7vol4 xiii474    ,t4 
,s4        ,,remarks ,,upon ,a ,,book   
,,intituled    ,,the ,,rights ,,of ,,the
 ,,christian    ,,church1 c4            
,before ,i enter upon a particular      
examination of this treatise1 it will   
be convenient to do two things3         
,first1 ,to give some account of the    
author1 together with the motives1  that
 might probably engage him in such a    
work4 ,and1    ,secondly1 to discover   
the nature and tendency in general1 of  
the work  itself4    ,the first of      
these1 although it hath been objected   
against1 seems highly  reasonable1      
especially in books that instil         
pernicious principles4 ,for1  although a
 book is not intrinsically much better  
or worse1 according to  the stature or  
complexion of the author1 yet1 when it  
happens to make a  noise1 we are apt1   

and curious1 as in other noises1 to look
 about from  whence it cometh4 ,but     
however1 there is something more in the 
matter4    ,if a theological subject be 
well handled by a layman1 it is better  
received than if it came from a divine2 
and that for reasons obvious  enough1   
which1 although of little weight in     
themselves1 will ever have a  great deal
 with mankind4    ,but1 when books are  
written with ill intentions1 to advance 
dangerous  opinions1 or destroy         
foundations2 it may be then of real use 
to know  from what quarter they come1   
and go a good way towards their         
confutation4 ,for instance1 if any man  
should write a book against the         
lawfulness of punishing felony with     
death2 and1 upon enquiry1 the author    
should be found in ,newgate under       
condemnation for robbing a house2 his   
arguments would not very unjustly lose  
much of their force1 from the           
circumstances he lay under4 ,so1 when   
,milton writ his book of divorces1  it  

was presently rejected as an occasional 
treatise2 because every body  knew1 he  
had a shrew for his wife4 ,neither can  
there be any reason  imagined1 why he   
might not1 after he was blind1 have writ
 another upon  the danger and           
inconvenience of eyes4 ,but1 it is a    
piece of logic which  will hardly pass  
on the world2 that because one man hath 
a sore nose1  therefore all the town    
should put plasters upon theirs4 ,so1 if
 this  treatise about the rights of the 
church should prove to be the work of a 
man steady in his principles1 of exact  
morals1 and profound learning1 a  true  
lover of his country1 and a hater of    
,christianity1 as what he  really       
believes to be a cheat upon mankind1    
whom he would undeceive  purely for     
their good2 it might be apt to check    
unwary men1 even of good  dispositions  
towards religion4 ,but if it be found   
the production of a  man soured with age
 and misfortunes1 together with the     
consciousness of  past miscarriages2 of 

one1 who1 in hopes of preferment1 was   
reconciled  to the ,popish religion2#a  
of one wholly prostitute in life and    
principles1 and only an enemy to        
religion1 because it condemns them3 ,in 
this case1 and this last ,i find is the 
universal opinion1 he is like to  have  
few proselytes1 beside those1 who1 from 
a sense of their vicious  lives1 require
 to be perpetually supplied by such     
amusements as this2  which serve to     
flatter their wishes1 and debase their  
understandings4    ,footnote #a3 ,dr4   
,matthew ,tindal became a convert to the
 ,romish religion  during the reign of  
,james ,,ii4 ,what share interest had in
 his conversion  may be easily imagined2
 but it is uncertain whether it was the 
disappointment of his expectations1 or  
conviction1 that1 in #afhg1  induced him
 to reconcile himself to the ,church of 
,england1 and become a  decided favourer
 of those doctrines which produced the  
,revolution4 ,he  often sat as a judge  
in the ,court of ,delegates1 but did not

 practise  much as an advocate in       
,doctor's ,commons4 ,his chief means of 
support was  a pension from government  
of #bjj4 ,tindal died in #agcc1 three   
years  after publication of his grand   
deistical work1 ,christianity as ,old as
  the ,creation4 ,his effects1 amounting
 to #b1jjj and upwards1 were            
appropriated by the noted ,eustace      
,budgell1 to the prejudice of the heir  
at law1 under a will attended with      
circumstances of great suspicion4 ,t4   
,s4    ,i know there are some who would 
fain have it1 that this discourse was   
written by a club of freethinkers1 among
 whom the supposed author only  came in 
for a share4 ,but1 sure1 we cannot judge
 so meanly of any party1  without       
affronting the dignity of mankind4 ,if  
this be so1 and if here be  the product 
of all their quotas and contributions1  
we must needs allow1  that freethinking 
is a most confined and limited talent4  
,it is true  indeed1 the whole discourse
 seemeth to be a motley1 inconsistent   

composition1 made up of various shreds  
of equal fineness1 although of          
different colours4 ,it is a bundle of   
incoherent maxims and assertions1  that 
frequently destroy one another4 ,but    
still there is the same  flatness of    
thought and style2 the same weak        
advances towards wit and  raillery2 the 
same petulancy and pertness of spirit2  
the same train of  superficial reading2 
the same thread of threadbare           
quotations3 the same  affectation of    
forming general rules upon false and    
scanty premises4  ,and1 lastly1 the same
 rapid venom sprinkled over the whole2  
which1 like  the dying impotent bite of 
a trodden benumbed snake1 may be        
nauseous and  offensive1 but cannot be  
very dangerous4    ,and1 indeed1 ,i am  
so far from thinking this libel to be   
born of several  fathers1 that it hath  
been the wonder of several others1 as   
well as  myself2 how it was possible for
 any man1 who appeareth to have gone the
  common circle of academical           

education2#b who hath taken so universal
 a  liberty1 and hath so entirely laid  
aside all regards1 not only of          
,christianity1 but common truth and     
justice2 one who is dead to all sense   
of shame1 and seemeth to be past the    
getting or losing a reputation1  should1
 with so many advantages1 and upon so   
unlimited a subject1 come  out with so  
poor1 so jejune a production4 ,should we
 pity or be amazed at  so perverse a    
talent1 which1 instead of qualifying an 
author to give a  new turn to old       
matter1 disposeth him quite contrary to 
talk in an old  beaten trivial manner   
upon topics wholly new4 ,to make so many
 sallies  into pedantry without a call1 
upon a subject the most alien1 and in   
the  very moments he is declaiming      
against it1 and in an age too1 where it 
is  so violently exploded1 especially   
among those readers he proposeth to     
entertain4    ,footnote #b3 ,see note1  
p4 #i1 where it will be seen that       
,tindal was an  ,oxford man4 ,t4,s4     

,i know it will be said1 that this is   
only to talk in the common style of  an 
answerer2 but ,i have not so little     
policy4 ,if there were any hope of      
reputation or merit from such victory1  
,i should be apt like others to  cry up 
the courage and conduct of an enemy4    
,whereas to detect the  weakness1 the   
malice1 the sophistry1 the falsehood1   
the ignorance of  such a writer1        
requireth little more than to rank his  
perfections in  such an order1 and place
 them in such a light1 that the         
commonest reader  may form a judgment of
 them4    ,it may still be a wonder how 
so heavy a book1 written upon a subject 
in  appearance so little instructive or 
diverting1 should survive to three      
editions1 and consequently find a better
 reception than is usual with  such     
bulky spiritless volumes2 and this1 in  
an age that pretendeth so  soon to be   
nauseated with what is tedious and dull4
 ,to which ,i can only  return1 that1 as
 burning a book by the common hangman1  

is a known  expedient to make it sell2  
so1 to write a book that deserveth such 
treatment1 is another3 ,and a third1    
perhaps as effectual as either1 is  to  
ply an insipid1 worthless tract with    
grave and learned answers1 as  ,dr4     
,hickes1 ,dr4 ,potter1#c and ,mr4       
,wotton have done4 ,design and          
performances1 however commendable1 have 
glanced a reputation upon the  piece2   
which oweth its life to the strength of 
those hands and weapons1  that were     
raised to destroy it2 like flinging a   
mountain upon a worm1  which1 instead of
 being bruised1 by the advantage of its 
littleness1  lodgeth under it unhurt4   
,footnote #c3 ,george ,hickes1 ,d4,d4   
7#afdb-agae71 born at ,newsham1 ,yorks1 
and educated at ,oxford4 ,he visited    
,scotland with his patron1 the ,duke of 
,lauderdale1 in #afgg1 and was presented
 by the ,st4 ,andrews ,university  with 
the degree of ,,ll4,d4 ,became ,dean of 
,worcester in #afhc1 but lost that      
office at the ,revolution1 for not      

taking the oaths4 ,the nonjuring        
prelates1 in #afic1 consecrated him     
,bishop of ,thetford4 ,dr4 ,hickes was a
  profound scholar1 and well versed in  
northern literature4 ,among his  works  
may be named1 ,institutiones            
,grammaticae ,anglo-,saxonicae et       
,maeso-,gothicae1 ,antiquae ,literaturae
 ,septentrionalis ,thesaurus4    ,john  
,potter1 ,d4,d4 7#afgd-agdg71 born at   
,wakefield1 and educated at  ,oxford4   
,in #agjg he published a ,discourse on  
,church ,government1 and  eight years   
later became ,bishop of ,oxford4 ,on the
 death of ,wake1 in  #agcg1 he was      
appointed to the ,archbishopric of      
,canterbury4 ,t4,s4    ,but neither is  
this all4 ,for the subject1 as          
unpromising as it seemeth  at first     
view1 is no less than that of           
,lucretius1 to free men's minds  from   
the bondage of religion2 and this not by
 little hints and by  piecemeal1 after  
the manner of those little atheistical  
tracts that  steal into the world1 but  

in a thorough wholesale manner2 by      
making  religion1 church1 ,christianity1
 with all their concomitants1 a perfect 
contrivance of the civil power4 ,it is  
an imputation often charged on  this    
sort of men1 that1 by their invectives  
against religion1 they can  possibly    
propose no other end than that of       
fortifying themselves and  others       
against the reproaches of a vicious     
life2 it being necessary for  men of    
libertine practices to embrace libertine
 principles1 or else they  cannot act in
 consistence with any reason1 or        
preserve any peace of  mind4 ,whether   
such authors have this design1 7whereof 
,i think they have  never gone about to 
acquit themselves7 thus much is certain2
 that no  other use is made of such     
writings3 ,neither did ,i ever hear this
  author's book justified by any person1
 either ,whig or ,tory1 except such  who
 are of that profligate character4 ,and1
 ,i believe1 whoever examineth  it1 will
 be of the same opinion2 although indeed

 such wretches are so  numerous1 that it
 seemeth rather surprising1 why the book
 hath had no  more editions1 than why it
 should have so many4    ,having thus   
endeavoured to satisfy the curious with 
some account of this  author's          
character1 let us examine what might    
probably be the motives to  engage him  
in such a work4 ,i shall say nothing of 
the principal1 which  is a sum of money2
 because that is not a mark to          
distinguish him from  any other trader  
with the press4 ,i will say nothing of  
revenge and  malice1 from resentment of 
the indignities and contempt he hath    
undergone for his crime of apostasy4 ,to
 this passion he has thought fit  to    
sacrifice order1 propriety1 discretion1 
and common sense1 as may be  seen in    
every page of his book3 ,but1 ,i am     
deceived1 if there were not a  third    
motive as powerful as the other two2 and
 that is1 vanity4 ,about  the latter end
 of ,king ,james's reign he had almost  
finished a learned  discourse in defence

 of the ,church of ,rome1 and to justify
 his  conversion3 ,all which1 upon the  
,revolution1 was quite out of season4   
,having thus prostituted his reputation1
 and at once ruined his hopes1 he  had  
no course left1 but to shew his spite   
against religion in general2  the false 
pretensions to which1 had proved so     
destructive to his credit  and fortune3 
,and1 at the same time1 loth to employ  
the speculations of  so many years to no
 purpose2 by an easy turn1 the same     
arguments he had  made use of to advance
 ,popery1 were full as properly levelled
 by him  against ,christianity itself2  
like the image1 which1 while it was new 
and  handsome1 was worshipped for a     
saint1 and when it came to be old and   
broken1 was still good enough to make a 
tolerable devil4 ,and1 therefore  every 
reader will observe1 that the arguments 
for ,popery are much the  strongest of  
any in his book1 as ,i shall further    
remark when ,i find them  in my way4    
,there is one circumstance in his       

title-page1 which ,i take to be not     
amiss1 where he calleth his book1 ,part 
the ,first4 ,this is a project to       
fright away answerers1 and make the poor
 advocates for religion believe1  he    
still keepeth further vengeance in      
petto4 ,it must be allowed1 he  hath not
 wholly lost time1 while he was of the  
,romish communion4 ,this  very trick he 
learned from his old father1 the ,pope2 
whose custom it is  to lift up his hand1
 and threaten to fulminate1 when he     
never meant to  shoot his bolts2 because
 the princes of ,christendom had learned
 the  secret to avoid or despise them4  
,dr4 ,hickes knew this very well1 and   
therefore1 in his answer to this ,book  
of ,rights1 where a second part  is     
threatened1 like a rash person he       
desperately crieth1 ,let it come4  ,but 
,i1 who have not too much phlegm to     
provoke angry wits of his  standard1    
must tell the author1 that the doctor   
plays the wag1 as if he  were sure1 it  
were all grimace4 ,for my part1 ,i      

declare1 if he writeth a  second part1  
,i will not write another answer2 or1 if
 ,i do1 it shall be  published1 before  
the other part cometh out4#d            
,footnote #d3 ,tindal did1 however1     
attempt to maintain his ground against  
his numerous opponents1 in ,a ,defence  
of the ,rights of the ,christian        
,church1 against a late ,visitation     
,sermon1 #hvo4 #agjg2 and also in ,a    
,second ,defence of the ,rights of the  
,christian ,church considered1 in two   
late ,indictments against a ,bookseller 
and ,his ,servant1 for selling one  of  
the said ,books1 #agjg4 ,t4 ,s4         
,there may have been another motive1    
although it be hardly credible1 both    
for publishing this work1 and           
threatening a second part3 ,it is not   
soon  conceived how far the sense of a  
man's vanity will transport him4 ,this  
man must have somewhere heard1 that     
dangerous enemies have been often       
bribed to silence with money or         
preferment3 ,and1 therefore1 to shew how

  formidable he is1 he hath published   
his first essay2 and1 in hopes of  hire 
to be quiet1 hath frighted us with his  
design of another4 ,what must  the      
clergy do in these unhappy              
circumstances8 ,if they should bestow   
this  man bread enough to stop his      
mouth1 it will but open those of a      
hundred  more1 who are every whit as    
well qualified to rail as he4 ,and      
truly1  when ,i compare the former      
enemies to ,christianity1 such as       
,socinus1#e  ,hobbes1 and ,spinosa1#f   
with such of their successors1 as       
,toland1 ,asgil1  ,coward1 ,gildon1#g   
this author of the ,rights1 and some    
others2 the  church appeareth to me like
 the sick old lion in the fable1 who1   
after  having his person outraged by the
 bull1 the elephant1 the horse1 and the 
bear1 took nothing so much to heart1 as 
to find himself at last insulted  by the
 spurn of an ass4    ,footnote #e3      
,laelius ,socinus 7#aebe-aefb71 born at 
,siena4 ,he studied at  ,bologna1 and in

 #aedf became a member of a secret      
freethinking society in  ,venice4 ,the  
society1 however1 was broken up1 and    
,socinus left ,italy for  ,switzerland  
and ,poland4 ,he died at ,zurich4 ,his  
papers were published by  his nephew1   
,faustus ,socinus1 who founded a sect on
 the tenets they  taught4    ,footnote  
#f3 ,benedict or ,baruch ,spinoza       
7#afcb-afgg71 born at ,amsterdam1  of a 
,portuguese ,jewish family4 ,he was     
excommunicated by his people for        
atheism4 ,he retired to the ,hague and  
took to making lenses1 and the  study of
 philosophy4 ,his ,ethics and ,tractatus
 ,theologico-,politicus  constitute a   
system of philosophy which has had no   
little influence on  modern thought4    
,see ,pollock's ,spinoza4    ,footnote  
#g3 ,charles ,gildon 7#affe-agbc-d7 was 
educated at ,douay4 ,he  printed a book 
called ,the ,deist's ,manual4 ,for      
accounts of ,coward1  ,toland1 and      
,asgil1 see note1 p4 #i4 ,i will now add
 a few words to give  the reader some   

general notion of the nature and        
tendency of the work  itself4    ,i     
think ,i may assert1 without the least  
partiality1 that it is a  treatise      
wholly devoid of wit or learning1 under 
the most violent and  weak endeavours   
and pretences to both4 ,that it is      
replenished throughout  with bold1 rude1
 improbable falsehoods1 and gross       
misinterpretations2  and supported by   
the most impudent sophistry and false   
logic ,i have  anywhere observed4 ,to   
this he hath added a paltry1 traditional
 cant of  priestrid and priestcraft1    
without reason or pretext as he applyeth
  it4 ,and when he raileth at those     
doctrines in ,popery 7which no          
,protestant was ever supposed to        
believe7 he leads the reader1 however1  
by the hand1 to make applications       
against the ,english clergy1 and then   
he never faileth to triumph1 as if he   
had made a very shrewd and notable      
stroke4 ,and because the court and      
kingdom seemeth disposed to moderation  

with regard to ,dissenters1 more perhaps
 than is agreeable to the hot           
unreasonable temper of some mistaken men
 among us2 therefore under the  shelter 
of that popular opinion1 he ridiculeth  
all that is sound in  religion1 even    
,christianity itself1 under the names of
 ,jacobite1  ,tackers1 ,high ,church1   
and other terms of factious jargon4 ,all
 which1 if  it were to be first rased   
from his book 7as just so much of       
nothing to  the purpose7 how little     
would remain to give the trouble of an  
answer6  ,to which let me add1 that the 
spirit or genius1 which animates the    
whole1 is plainly perceived to be       
nothing else but the abortive malice  of
 an old neglected man1#h who hath long  
lain under the extremes of  obloquy1    
poverty and contempt2 that have soured  
his temper1 and made him  fearless4 ,but
 where is the merit of being bold1 to a 
man that is secure  of impunity to his  
person1 and is past apprehension of     
anything else8 ,he  that hath neither   

reputation nor bread hath very little to
 lose1 and  hath therefore as little to 
fear4 ,and1 as it is usually said1      
,whoever  values not his own life1 is   
master of another man's2 so there is    
something like it in reputation3 ,he    
that is wholly lost to all regards  of  
truth or modesty1 may scatter so much   
calumny and scandal1 that some  part may
 perhaps be taken up before it fall to  
the ground2 because the  ill talent of  
the world is such1 that those who will  
be at pains enough  to inform themselves
 in a malicious story1 will take none at
 all to be  undeceived1 nay1 will be apt
 with some reluctance to admit a        
favourable  truth4    ,footnote #h3     
,tindal was not an old man at the time  
,swift wrote1  certainly not older than 
was ,swift himself4 ,t4 ,s4    ,to      
expostulate1 therefore1 with this author
 for doing mischief to  religion1 is to 
strew his bed with roses2 he will reply 
in triumph1 that  this was his design2  
and ,i am loth to mortify him1 by       

asserting he hath  done none at all4    
,for ,i never yet saw so poor an        
atheistical scribble1  which would not  
serve as a twig for sinking libertines  
to catch at4 ,it  must be allowed in    
their behalf1 that the faith of         
,christians is not as  a grain of       
mustard seed in comparison of theirs1   
which can remove such  mountains of     
absurdities1 and submit with so entire a
 resignation to  such apostles4 ,if     
these men had any share of that reason  
they pretend  to1 they would retire into
 ,christianity1 merely to give it ease4 
,and  therefore men can never be        
confirmed in such doctrines1 until they 
are  confirmed in their vices2 which    
last1 as we have already observed1 is   
the principal design of this and all    
other writers against revealed          
religion4    ,i am now opening the book 
which ,i propose to examine4 ,an        
employment1 as  it is entirely new to   
me1 so it is that to which1 of all      
others1 ,i have  naturally the greatest 

antipathy4 ,and1 indeed1 who can dwell  
upon a  tedious piece of insipid        
thinking1 and false reasoning1 so long  
as ,i am  likely to do1 without sharing 
the infection8    ,but1 before ,i plunge
 into the depths of the book itself1 ,i 
must be  forced to wade through the     
shallows of a long preface4    ,this    
preface1 large as we see it1 is only    
made up of such supernumerary  arguments
 against an independent power in the    
church1 as he could not1  without       
nauseous repetition1 scatter into the   
body of his book3 ,and it  is detached1 
like a forlorn hope1 to blunt the       
enemy's sword that  intendeth to attack 
him4 ,now1 ,i think1 it will be easy to 
prove1 that  the opinion of imperium in 
imperio1 in the sense he chargeth it    
upon  the clergy of ,england1 is what no
 one divine of any reputation1 and very 
few at all1 did ever maintain2 and1 that
 their universal sentiment in  this     
matter is such as few ,protestants did  
ever dispute4 ,but1 if the  author of   

the ,regale1 or two or three more       
obscure writers1 have  carried any      
points further than ,scripture and      
reason will allow1 7which  is more than 
,i know1 or shall trouble myself to     
enquire7 the clergy of  ,england is no  
more answerable for those1 than the     
laity is for all the  folly and         
impertinence of this treatise4 ,and1    
therefore1 that people may  not be      
amused1 or think this man is somewhat1  
that he hath advanced or  defended any  
oppressed truths1 or overthrown any     
growing dangerous  errors1 ,i will set  
in as clear a light as ,i can1 what ,i  
conceive to be  held by the established 
clergy and all reasonable ,protestants  
in this  matter4    ,everybody knows and
 allows1 that in all government there is
 an absolute1  unlimited1 legislative   
power1 which is originally in the body  
of the  people1 although1 by custom1    
conquest1 usurpation1 or other          
accidents1  sometimes fallen into the   
hands of one or a few4 ,this in ,england

 is  placed in the three estates        
7otherwise called the two ,houses of    
,parliament7 in conjunction with the    
,king4 ,and whatever they please to     
enact or to repeal in the settled forms1
 whether it be ecclesiastical or  civil1
 immediately becometh law or nullity4   
,their decrees may be against  equity1  
truth1 reason and religion1 but they are
 not against law2  because law is the   
will of the supreme legislature1 and    
that is1  themselves4 ,and there is no  
manner of doubt1 but the same authority1
  whenever it pleaseth1 may abolish     
,christianity1 and set up the ,jewish1  
,mahometan1 or heathen religion4 ,in    
short1 they may do anything within  the 
compass of human power4 ,and1 therefore1
 who will dispute that the  same law1   
which deprived the church not only of   
lands1 misapplied to  superstitious     
uses1 but even the tithes and glebes1   
7the ancient and  necessary support of  
parish priests7 may take away all the   
rest1  whenever the lawgivers please1   

and make the priesthood as primitive1 as
  this writer1 or others of his stamp1  
can desire4    ,but as the supreme power
 can certainly do ten thousand things   
more than  it ought1 so there are       
several things which some people may    
think it can  do1 although it really    
cannot4 ,for1 it unfortunately happens1 
that  edicts which cannot be executed1  
will not alter the nature of things4    
,so1 if a king and parliament should    
please to enact1 that a woman who  hath 
been a month married1 is virgo intacta1 
would that actually  restore her to her 
primitive state8 ,if the supreme power  
should resolve  a corporal of dragoons  
to be a doctor of divinity1 law or      
physic1 few1 ,i  believe1 would trust   
their souls1 fortunes1 or bodies to his 
direction2  because that power is       
neither fit to judge or teach those     
qualifications  which are absolutely    
necessary to the several professions4   
,put the case  that walking on the slack
 rope were the only talent required by  

act of  parliament for making a man a   
bishop2 no doubt1 when a man had done   
his  feat of activity in form1 he might 
sit in the ,house of ,lords1 put on his 
robes and his rochet1 go down to his    
palace1 receive and spend his  rents2   
but it requireth very little            
,christianity to believe this tumbler   
to be one whit more a bishop than he was
 before2 because the law of ,god  hath  
otherwise decreed2 which law1 although a
 nation may refuse to  receive it1      
cannot alter in its own nature4    ,and 
here lies the mistake of this           
superficial man1 who is not able to     
distinguish between what the civil power
 can hinder1 and what it can do4  ,if   
the parliament can annul ecclesiastical 
laws1 they must be able to  make them1  
since no greater power is required for  
one than the other4  ,see pref41 p4     
viii4 ,this consequence he repeateth    
above twenty times1  and always in the  
wrong4 ,he affecteth to form a few words
 into the shape  and size of a maxim1   

then trieth it by his ear1 and1         
according as he  likes the sound or     
cadence1 pronounceth it true4 ,cannot ,i
 stand over a  man with a great pole1   
and hinder him from making a watch1     
although ,i am  not able to make one    
myself4 ,if ,i have strength enough to  
knock a man on  the head1 doth it follow
 ,i can raise him to life again8 ,the   
parliament  may condemn all the ,greek  
and ,roman authors2 can it therefore    
create new  ones in their stead8 ,they  
may make laws1 indeed1 and call them    
canon and  ecclesiastical laws1 and     
oblige all men to observe them under    
pain of  high treason4 ,and so may ,i1  
who love as well as any man to have in  
my  own family the power in the last    
resort1 take a turnip1 then tie a       
string to it1 and call it a watch1 and  
turn away all my servants1 if  they     
refuse to call it so too4    ,for my own
 part1 ,i must confess that this opinion
 of the independent  power of the       
,church1 or imperium in imperio1        

wherewith this writer  raiseth such a   
dust1 is what ,i never imagined to be of
 any consequence1  never once heard     
disputed among divines1 nor remember to 
have read1  otherwise than as a scheme  
in one or two authors of middle rank1   
but  with very little weight laid on it4
 ,and ,i dare believe1 there is hardly  
one divine in ten that ever once thought
 of this matter4 ,yet to see a  large   
swelling volume written only to         
encounter this doctrine1 what  could one
 think less than that the whole body of 
the clergy were  perpetually tiring the 
press and the pulpit with nothing else8 
,i remember some years ago1 a virtuoso  
writ a small tract about worms1  proved 
them to be in more places than was      
generally observed1 and made  some      
discoveries by glasses4 ,this having met
 with some reception1  presently the    
poor man's head was full of nothing but 
worms2 all we eat  and drink1 all the   
whole consistence of human bodies1 and  
those of every  other animal1 the very  

air we breathe1 in short1 all nature    
throughout  was nothing but worms3 ,and1
 by that system1 he solved all          
difficulties1  and from thence all      
causes in philosophy4 ,thus it hath     
fared with our  author1 and his         
independent power4 ,the attack against  
occasional  conformity1 the scarcity of 
coffee1 the invasion of ,scotland1 the  
loss  of kerseys and narrow cloths1 the 
death of ,king ,william1 the author's   
turning ,papist for preferment1 the loss
 of the battle of ,almanza1 with  ten   
thousand other misfortunes1 are all     
owing to this imperium in  imperio4     
,it will be therefore necessary to set  
this matter in a clear light1 by        
enquiring whether the clergy have any   
power independent of the civil1  and of 
what nature it is4    ,whenever the     
,christian religion was embraced by the 
civil power in any  nation1 there is no 
doubt but the magistrates and senates   
were fully  instructed in the rudiments 
of it4 ,besides1 the ,christians were so

  numerous1 and their worship so open   
before the conversion of princes1  that 
their discipline1 as well as doctrine1  
could not be a secret3 ,they  saw       
plainly a subordination of              
ecclesiastics1 bishops1 priests1 and    
deacons3 ,that these had certain powers 
and employments different from  the     
laity3 ,that the bishops were           
consecrated1 and set apart for that     
office by those of their own order3     
,that the presbyters and deacons were   
differently set apart1 always by the    
bishops3 ,that none but the             
ecclesiastics presumed to pray or preach
 in places set apart for ,god's         
worship1 or to administer the ,lord's   
,supper3 ,that all questions relating   
either to discipline or doctrine1 were  
determined in ecclesiastical            
conventions4 ,these and the like        
doctrines and practices1 being most of  
them directly proved1 and the rest by   
very fair consequences deduced  from the
 words of our ,saviour and ,his         

apostles1 were certainly received  as a 
divine law by every prince or state     
which admitted the ,christian  religion3
 and1 consequently1 what they could not 
justly alter  afterwards1 any more than 
the common laws of nature4 ,and1        
therefore1  although the supreme power  
can hinder the clergy or ,church from   
making  any new canons1 or executing the
 old2 from consecrating bishops1 or     
refuse those that they do consecrate2   
or1 in short1 from performing any       
ecclesiastical office1 as they may from 
eating1 drinking1 and sleeping2  yet    
they cannot themselves perform those    
offices1 which are assigned to  the     
clergy by our ,saviour and ,his         
apostles2 or1 if they do1 it is not     
according to the divine institution1    
and1 consequently1 null and void4  ,our 
,saviour telleth us1 ,his kingdom is not
 of this world2 and  therefore1 to be   
sure1 the world is not of ,his kingdom1 
nor can ever  please ,him by interfering
 in the administration of it1 since ,he 

hath  appointed ministers of ,his own1  
and hath empowered and instructed them  
for that purpose3 ,so that1 ,i believe1 
the clergy1 who1 as he sayeth1 are  good
 at distinguishing1 would think it      
reasonable to distinguish between  their
 power1 and the liberty of exercising   
this power4 ,the former they  claim     
immediately from ,christ1 and the latter
 from the permission1  connivance1 or   
authority of the civil government2 with 
which the  clergy's power1 according to 
the solution ,i have given1 cannot      
possibly  interfere4    ,but this       
writer1 setting up to form a system upon
 stale1 scanty topics1  and a narrow    
circle of thought1 falleth into a       
thousand absurdities4 ,and  for a       
further help1 he hath a talent of       
rattling out phrases1 which seem  to    
have sense1 but have none at all3 the   
usual fate of those who are  ignorant of
 the force and compass of words1 without
 which it is  impossible for a man to   
write either pertinently or intelligibly

 upon  the most obvious subjects4       
,so1 in the beginning of his preface1   
page iv1 he says1 ,the ,church of       
,england being established by acts of   
parliament1 is a perfect creature  of   
the civil power2 ,i mean the polity and 
discipline of it1 and it is  that which 
maketh all the contention2 for as to the
 doctrines expressed  in the articles1  
,i do not find high church to be in any 
manner of pain2  but they who lay claim 
to most orthodoxy can distinguish       
themselves out  of them4 ,it is         
observable in this author1 that his     
style is naturally  harsh and ungrateful
 to the ear1 and his expressions mean   
and trivial2  but whenever he goeth     
about to polish a period1 you may be    
certain of  some gross defect in        
propriety or meaning3 ,so the lines just
 quoted seem  to run easily over the    
tongue3 and1 upon examination1 they are 
perfect  nonsense and blunder3 ,to speak
 in his own borrowed phrase1 what is    
contained in the idea of established8   

,surely1 not existence4 ,doth           
establishment give being to a thing8 ,he
 might have said the same thing  of     
,christianity in general1 or the        
existence of ,god1 since both are       
confirmed by acts of parliament4 ,but1  
the best is behind3 for1 in the  next   
line1 having named the church half a    
dozen times before1 he now  says1 he    
meaneth only the polity and discipline  
of it3 ,as if1 having  spoke in praise  
of the art of physic1 a man should      
explain himself1 that  he meant only the
 institution of a college of physicians 
into a  president and fellows4 ,and it  
will appear1 that this author1 however  
versed in the practice1 hath grossly    
transgressed the rules of nonsense1     
7whose property it is neither to affirm 
nor deny7 since every visible  assertion
 gathered from those few lines is       
absolutely false3 ,for where  was the   
necessity of excepting the doctrines    
expressed in the articles1  since these 
are equally creatures of the civil      

power1 having been  established by acts 
of parliament as well as the others4    
,but the ,church  of ,england is no     
creature of the civil power1 either as  
to its polity or  doctrines4 ,the       
fundamentals of both were deduced from  
,christ and ,his  apostles1 and the     
instructions of the purest and earliest 
ages1 and were  received as such by     
those princes or states who embraced    
,christianity1  whatever prudential     
additions have been made to the former  
by human  laws1 which alone can be      
justly altered or annulled by them4     
,what ,i have already said1 would1 ,i   
think1 be a sufficient answer to his    
whole preface1 and indeed to the        
greatest part of his book1 which is     
wholly turned upon battering down a sort
 of independent power in the  clergy2   
which few or none of them ever claimed  
or defended4 ,but there  being certain  
peculiarities in this preface1 that very
 much set off the  wit1 the learning1   
the raillery1 reasoning and sincerity of

 the author2  ,i shall take notice of   
some of them1 as ,i pass4    ,but here1 
,i hope1 it will not be expected1 that  
,i should bestow remarks  upon every    
passage in this book1 that is liable to 
exception for  ignorance1 falsehood1    
dulness1 or malice4 ,where he is so     
insipid1 that  nothing can be struck out
 for the reader's entertainment1 ,i     
shall  observe ,horace's rule3    ,quae 
desperes tractata nitescere posse1      
relinquas4    ,upon which account ,i    
shall say nothing of that great instance
 of his  candour and judgment in        
relation to ,dr4 ,stillingfleet1#i who  
7happening  to lie under his displeasure
 upon the fatal test of imperium in     
imperio7 is ,high ,church and ,jacobite1
 took the oaths of allegiance to  save  
him from the gallows1#aj and subscribed 
the articles only to keep  his          
preferment3 ,whereas the character of   
that prelate is universally  known to   
have been directly the reverse of what  
this writer gives him4    ,footnote #i3 

,edward ,stillingfleet 7#afce-afii71    
educated at ,cambridge1  wrote in #afei 
his ,irenicum1 or ,weapon ,salve for the
 ,church's ,wounds4  ,he also published 
a ,rational ,account of the ,protestant 
,religion in  #affd4 ,he occupied       
successively the important clerical     
offices of  ,prebendary of ,st4 ,paul's1
 ,archdeaconry of ,london1 ,deanery of  
,st4 ,paul's1  and ,bishopric of        
,worcester4 ,the later years of his life
 were occupied in  a controversy with   
,locke on that writer's ,essay on the   
,human  ,understanding4 ,t4 ,s4         
,footnote #aj3 ,page v1 he quotes       
,bishop ,stillingfleet's ,vindication of
  the ,doctrine of the ,trinity1 where  
the bishop says1 that a man might be    
very right in the belief of an article1 
though mistaken in the  explication of  
it4 ,upon which ,tindal observes3 ,these
 men treat the  articles1 as they do the
 oath of allegiance1 which1 they say1   
obliges  them not actually to assist the
 government1 but to do nothing against  

it2 that is1 nothing that would bring   
'em to the gallows4 ,note in  edition   
#agfd1 #dto4    ,but before he can      
attempt to ruin this damnable opinion of
 two  independent powers1 he telleth us2
 page vi41 ,it will be necessary to     
shew what is contained in the idea of   
government ,now1 it is to be            
understood1 that this refined way of    
speaking was introduced by ,mr4  ,locke2
 after whom the author limpeth as fast  
as he is able4 ,all the  former         
philosophers in the world1 from the age 
of ,socrates to ours1  would have       
ignorantly put the question1 ,quid est  
imperium8 ,but now it  seemeth we must  
vary our phrase2 and1 since our modern  
improvement of  human understanding1    
instead of desiring a philosopher to    
describe or  define a mouse-trap1 or    
tell me what it is2 ,i must gravely ask1
 what is  contained in the idea of a    
mouse-trap8 ,but then to observe how    
deeply  this new way of putting         
questions to a man's self1 maketh him   

enter into  the nature of things2 his   
present business is to show us1 what is 
contained in the idea of government4    
,the company knoweth nothing of the     
matter1 and would gladly be instructed2 
which he doth in the following  words1  
p4 #e4    ,it would be in vain for one  
intelligent being to pretend to set     
rules  to the actions of another1 if he 
had it not in his power to reward the   
compliance with1 or punish the          
deviations from1 his rules by some good1
  or evil1 which is not the natural     
consequence of those actions2 since  the
 forbidding men to do or forbear an     
action on the account of that           
convenience or inconvenience which      
attendeth it1 whether he who forbids  it
 will or no1 can be no more than advice4
    ,i shall not often draw such long   
quotations as this1 which ,i could not  
forbear to offer as a specimen of the   
propriety and perspicuity of this       
author's style4 ,and1 indeed1 what a    
light breaketh out upon us all1 as  soon

 as we have read these words6 ,how      
thoroughly are we instructed in  the    
whole nature of government8 ,what mighty
 truths are here discovered2  and how   
clearly conveyed to our understandings8 
,and therefore let us  melt this refined
 jargon into the old style for the      
improvement of such1  who are not enough
 conversant in the new4    ,if the      
author were one who used to talk like   
one of us1 he would have  spoke in this 
manner3 ,i think it necessary to give a 
full and perfect  definition of         
government1 such as will shew the nature
 and all the  properties of it2 and my  
definition is thus3 ,one man will never 
cure  another of stealing horses1 merely
 by minding him of the pains he hath    
taken1 the cold he hath got1 and the    
shoe-leather he hath lost in  stealing  
that horse2 nay1 to warn him1 that the  
horse may kick or fling  him1 or cost   
him more than he is worth in hay and    
oats1 can be no more  than advice4 ,for 
the gallows is not the natural effect of

 robbing on the  highway1 as heat is of 
fire3 and therefore1 if you will govern 
a man1  you must find out some other way
 of punishment1 than what he will       
inflict upon himself4    ,or1 if this   
will not do1 let us try it in another   
case 7which ,i  instanced before7 and in
 his own terms4 ,suppose he had thought 
it  necessary 7and ,i think it was as   
much so as the other7 to shew us what   
is contained in the idea of a mousetrap1
 he must have proceeded in these  terms4
 ,it would be in vain for an intelligent
 being1 to set rules for  hindering a   
mouse from eating his cheese1 unless he 
can inflict upon  that mouse some       
punishment1 which1 is not the natural   
consequence of  eating the cheese4 ,for1
 to tell her1 it may lie heavy on her   
stomach2  that she will grow too big to 
get back into her hole1 and the like1   
can  be no more than advice3 therefore1 
we must find out some way of  punishing 
her1 which hath more inconveniences than
 she will ever suffer  by the mere      

eating of cheese4 ,after this1 who is so
 slow of  understanding1 as not to have 
in his mind a full and complete idea of 
a  mouse-trap8 ,well4--,the ,free       
thinkers may talk what they please of   
pedantry1 and cant1 and jargon of       
schoolmen1 and insignificant terms in   
the writings of the clergy1 if ever the 
most perplexed and perplexing  follower 
of ,aristotle from ,scotus to ,suarez#aa
 could be a match for  this author4     
,footnote #aa3 ,duns ,scotus flourished 
in the thirteenth century4 ,he  studied 
at ,oxford and ,paris1 and his learning 
and acumen in reasoning  earned for him 
the title ,the ,subtle ,doctor4 ,he died
 at ,cologne in  #acjh4 ,he was a strong
 upholder of the doctrine of the        
,immaculate  ,conception4 ,his works are
 published in twelve volumes folio4     
,francis ,suarez 7#aedh-afag7 was a     
,spanish ,jesuit who wrote a work by    
command of the ,pope against the        
,english ,reformation4 ,he published    
some  very able religio-philosophical   

treatises1 from the ,roman ,catholic    
point  of view2 but1 indeed1 his        
writings altogether were enormous1 so   
far as  their number are concerned4 ,t4 
,s4    ,but the strength of his         
arguments is equal to the clearness of  
his  definitions4 ,for1 having most     
ignorantly divided government into three
  parts1 whereof the first contains the 
other two2 he attempteth to prove  that 
the clergy possess none of these by a   
divine right4 ,and he argueth  thus1 p4 
vii4 ,as to a legislative power1 if that
 belongs to the clergy  by a divine     
right1 it must be when they are         
assembled in convocation3  but the #be  
,hen4 ,,viii4 c4 #ai is a bar to any    
such divine right1 because  that act    
makes it no less than a praemunire for  
them1 so much so as to  meet without the
 king's writ1 c4 ,so that the force of  
his argument  lieth here2 if the clergy 
had a divine right1 it is taken away by 
the  #beth of ,henry the ,eighth4 ,and  
as ridiculous as this argument is1 the  

preface and book are founded upon it4   
,another argument against the           
legislative power in the clergy of      
,england1  is1 p4 viii4 that ,tacitus   
telleth us2 that in great affairs1 the  
,germans  consulted the whole body of   
the people4 ,de minoribus rebus         
principes  consultant1 de majoribus     
omnes3 ,ita tamen1 ut ea quoque1 quorum 
penes  plebem arbitrium est1 apud       
principes pertractentur4--,tacitus de   
,moribus  et ,populis ,germaniae4 ,upon 
which ,tindal observeth thus3 ,de       
majoribus  omnes1 was a fundamental     
amongst our ancestors long before they  
arrived  in ,great ,britain1 and matters
 of religion were ever reckoned among   
their  majora4 7,see ,pref4 p4 viii4 and
 ix47 ,now it is plain1 that our        
ancestors1 the ,saxons1 came from       
,germany3 ,it is likewise plain1 that   
religion was always reckoned by the     
heathens among their majora3 ,and  it is
 plain1 the whole body of the people    
could not be the clergy1 and  therefore1

 the clergy of ,england have no         
legislative power4    ,thirdly1 p4 ix4  
,they have no legislative power1 because
 ,mr4  ,washington1 in his ,observations
 on the ,ecclesiastical ,jurisdiction of
  the ,kings of ,england1 sheweth1 from 
undeniable authorities1 that in  the    
time of ,william the ,conqueror1 and    
several of his successors1 there  were  
no laws enacted concerning religion1 but
 by the great council of  the kingdom4  
,i hope1 likewise1 ,mr4 ,washington     
observeth that this great  council of   
the kingdom1 as appeareth by undeniable 
authorities1 was  sometimes entirely    
composed of bishops and clergy1 and     
called the  parliament1 and often       
consulted upon affairs of state1 as well
 as  church1 as it is agreed by twenty  
writers of three ages2 and if ,mr4      
,washington says otherwise1 he is an    
author just fit to be quoted by  beaux4 
,fourthly1--,but it is endless to pursue
 this matter any further2 in  that1 it  
is plain1 the clergy have no divine     

right to make laws2 because  ,henry     
,,viii1 ,edward ,,vi1 and ,queen        
,elizabeth1 with their parliaments will 
not allow it them4 ,now1 without        
examining what divine right the clergy  
have1 or how far it extendeth2 is it any
 sort of proof that ,i have no  right1  
because a stronger power will not let me
 exercise it8 ,or doth  all1 that this  
author says through his preface1 or book
 itself1 offer  any other sort of       
argument but this1 or what he deduces   
the same way8    ,but his arguments and 
definitions are yet more supportable    
than the  grossness of historical       
remarks1 which are scattered so         
plentifully in  his book1 that it would 
be tedious to enumerate1 or to shew the 
fraud  and ignorance of them4 ,i beg the
 reader's leave to take notice of one   
here just in my way2 and1 the rather1   
because ,i design for the future to  let
 hundreds of them pass without further  
notice4 ,when1 says he1 p4 x4  by the   
abolishing of the ,pope's power1 things 

were brought back to  their ancient     
channel1 the parliament's right in      
making ecclesiastical  laws revived of  
course4 ,what can possibly be meant by  
this ancient  channel8 ,why1 the channel
 that things ran in before the ,pope had
 any  power in ,england3 that is to say1
 before ,austin the monk converted      
,england1 before which time1 it seems1  
the parliament had a right to make      
ecclesiastical laws4 ,and what          
parliament could this be8 ,why1 the     
,lords  ,spiritual and ,temporal1 and   
the ,commons met at ,westminster4    ,i 
cannot here forbear reproving the folly 
and pedantry of some lawyers1  whose    
opinions this poor creature blindly     
followeth1 and rendereth yet  more      
absurd by his comments4 ,the knowledge  
of our constitution can be  only        
attained by consulting the earliest     
,english histories1 of which  those     
gentlemen seem utterly ignorant1 further
 than a quotation or an  index4 ,they   
would fain derive our government as now 

constituted1 from  antiquity3 ,and1     
because they have seen ,tacitus quoted  
for his majoribus  omnes2 and have read 
of the ,goths' military institution in  
their  progresses and conquests1 they   
presently dream of a parliament4 ,had   
their reading reached so far1 they might
 have deduced it much more  fairly from 
,aristotle and ,polybius1 who both      
distinctly name the  composition of rex1
 seniores1 et populus2 and the latter1  
as ,i  remember particularly1 with the  
highest approbation4 ,the princes1 in   
the  ,saxon ,heptarchy1 did indeed call 
their nobles sometimes together upon    
weighty affairs1 as most other princes  
of the world have done in all  ages4    
,but they made war and peace1 and raised
 money by their own  authority3 ,they   
gave or mended laws by their charters1  
and they raised  armies by their        
tenures4 ,besides1 some of those        
kingdoms fell in by  conquests1 before  
,england was reduced under one head1 and
 therefore  could pretend no rights1 but

 by the concessions of the conqueror4   
,further1 which is more material1 upon  
the admission of ,christianity1  great  
quantities of land were acquired by the 
clergy1 so that the great  council of   
the nation was often entirely of        
churchmen1 and ever a  considerable     
part4 ,but1 our present constitution is 
an artificial thing1  not fairly to be  
traced1 in my opinion1 beyond ,henry ,i4
 ,since which time  it hath in every age
 admitted several alterations2 and      
differeth now as  much1 even from what  
it was then1 as almost any two species  
of  government described by ,aristotle4 
,and1 it would be much more reasonable  
to affirm1 that the government of ,rome 
continued the same under  ,justinian1 as
 it was in the time of ,scipio1 because 
the senate and  consuls still remained1 
although the power of both had been     
several  hundred years transferred to   
the emperors4      ,,remarks ,,on ,,the 
,,preface4#ab    ,footnote #ab3         
,references to ,tindal's book1 and      

remarks upon it1 which  the author left 
thus indigested1 being hints for himself
 to use in  answering the said book4    
,page iv1 v4 ,if men of opposite        
sentiments can subscribe the same       
articles1 they are as much at liberty as
 if there were none4 ,may not a  man    
subscribe the whole articles1 because he
 differs from another in the            
explication of one8 ,how many oaths are 
prescribed1 that men may differ  in the 
explication of some part of them8       
,instance1 c4    ,page vi4 ,idea of     
,government4 ,a canting pedantic way1   
learned from  ,locke2 and how prettily  
he sheweth it4 ,instance--    ,page vii1
 #be ,hen4 ,,viii4 c4 #ai is a bar to   
any such divine right of a  legislative 
power in the clergy4 ,absurd to argue   
against the clergy's  divine right1     
because of the statute of ,henry ,,viii4
 ,how doth that  destroy divine right8  
,the sottish way of arguing2 from what  
the  parliament can do2 from their      
power1 c4    ,page viii4 ,if the        

parliament did not think they had a     
plenitude of  power in this matter1 they
 would not have damned all the canons of
  #afdj4 ,what doth he mean8 ,a grave   
divine could not answer all his         
playhouse and ,alsatia#ac cant1 c4 ,he  
hath read ,hudibras1 and many  plays4   
,footnote #ac3 ,or ,whitefriars1 then a 
place of asylum1 and frequented by      
sharpers1 of whose gibberish there are  
several specimens in ,shadwell's        
comedy1 ,the ,squire of ,alsatia4 ,t4   
,s4      ,ibid4 ,if the parliament can  
annul ecclesiastical laws1 they must be 
able to make them4 ,distinguish1 and    
shew the silliness1 c4    ,ibid4 ,all   
that he saith against the discipline1 he
 might say the same  against the        
doctrine1 nay1 against the belief of a  
,god1 viz4 ,that the  legislature might 
forbid it4 ,the ,church formeth and     
contriveth canons2  and the civil power1
 which is compulsive1 confirms them4    
,page ix4 ,there were no laws enacted   
but by the great council of the         

kingdom4 ,and that was very often1      
chiefly1 only bishops4    ,ibid4 ,laws  
settled by parliament to punish the     
clergy4 ,what laws  were those8    ,page
 x4 ,the people are bound to no laws but
 of their own choosing4 ,it  is         
fraudulent2 for they may consent to what
 others choose1 and so people  often do4
    ,page xiv4 paragraph #f4 ,the clergy
 are not supposed to have any divine    
legislature1 because that must be       
superior to all worldly power2 and  then
 the clergy might as well forbid the    
parliament to meet but when and  where  
they please1 c4 ,no such consequence at 
all4 ,they have a power  exclusive from 
all others4 ,ordained to act as clergy1 
but not govern in  civil affairs2 nor   
act without leave of the civil power4   
,page xxv4 ,the parliament suspected the
 love of power natural to  churchmen4   
,truly1 so is the love of pudding1 and  
most other things  desirable in this    
life2 and in that they are like the     
laity1 as in all  other things that are 

not good4 ,and1 therefore1 they are held
 not in  esteem for what they are like  
in1 but for their virtues4 ,the true way
 to  abuse them with effect1 is to tell 
us some faults of theirs1 that other    
men have not1 or not so much of as they1
 c4 ,might not any man speak  full as   
bad of senates1 diets1 and parliaments1 
as he can do about  councils2 and as bad
 of princes1 as he does of bishops8     
,page xxxi4 ,they might as well have    
made ,cardinals ,campegi and de         
,chinuchii1 ,bishops of ,salisbury and  
,worcester1 as have enacted that  their 
several sees and bishoprics were utterly
 void4 ,no4 ,the  legislature might     
determine who should not be a bishop    
there1 but not  make a bishop4    ,ibid4
 ,were not a great number deprived by   
parliament upon the  ,restoration8 ,does
 he mean presbyters8 ,what signifies    
that8    ,ibid4 ,have they not trusted  
this power with our princes8 ,why1 aye4 
,but that argueth not right1 but power4 
,have they not cut off a king's  head1  

c4 ,the ,church must do the best they   
can1 if not what they would4    ,page   
xxxvi4 ,if tithes and first-fruits are  
paid to spiritual persons as  such1 the 
king or queen is the most spiritual     
person1 c4 ,as if the  first-fruits1 c4 
were paid to the king1 as tithes to a   
spiritual  person4    ,page xliii4 ,king
 ,charles ,,ii4 thought fit that the    
bishops in ,scotland  should hold their 
bishoprics during will and pleasure2 ,i 
do not find  that the ,high ,church     
complained of this as an encroachment1  
c4 ,no2 but  as a pernicious counsel of 
,lord ,loch4#ad    ,footnote #ad3 ,scott
 thinks this refers to ,lord            
,lauderdale4 ,t4,s4    ,page xliv4 ,the 
common law judges have a power to       
determine1 whether a  man has a legal   
right to the sacrament4 ,they pretend   
it1 but what we  complain of as most    
abominable hardship1 c4    ,page xlv4   
,giving men thus blindly to the devil1  
is an extraordinary  piece of           
complaisance to a lay chancellor4 ,he is

 something in the  right2 and therefore 
it is a pity there are any2 and ,i hope 
the ,church  will provide against it4   
,but if the sentence be just1 it is not 
the  person1 but the contempt4 ,and1 if 
the author attacketh a man on the       
highway1 and taketh but twopence1 he    
shall be sent to the gallows1 more      
terrible to him than the devil1 for his 
contempt of the law1 c4  ,therefore he  
need not complain of being sent to hell4
    ,page xliv4 ,mr4 ,leslie may carry  
things too far1 as it is natural1       
because the other extreme is so great4  
,but what he says of the king's  losses1
 since the ,church lands were given     
away1 is too great a truth1  c4    ,page
 lxxvi4 ,to which ,i have nothing to    
plead1 except the zeal ,i have  for the 
,church of ,england4 ,you will see some 
pages further1 what he  meaneth by the  
,church2 but it is not fair not to begin
 with telling us  what is contained in  
the idea of a ,church1 c4    ,page      
lxxxiii4 ,they will not be angry with me

 for thinking better of the  ,church    
than they do1 c4 ,no1 but they will     
differ from you2 because the  worse the 
,queen is pleased1 you think her better4
 ,i believe the ,church  will not       
concern themselves much about your      
opinion of them1 c4    ,page lxxxiv4    
,but the ,popish1 ,eastern1             
,presbyterian and ,jacobite clergy1  c4 
,this is like a general pardon1 with    
such exceptions as make it  useless1 if 
we compute it1 c4    ,page lxxxvii4     
,misapplying of the word church1 c4     
,this is cavilling4  ,no doubt his      
project is for exempting the people3    
,but that is not what  in common speech 
we usually mean by the ,church4         
,besides1 who doth not  know that       
distinction8    ,ibid4 ,constantly apply
 the same ideas to them4 ,this is1 in   
old  ,english1 meaning the same thing4  
,page lxxxix4 ,demonstrates ,i could    
have no design but the promoting of     
truth1 c4 ,yes1 several designs1 as     
money1 spleen1 atheism1 c4 ,what8  will 

any man think truth was his design1 and 
not money and malice8 ,doth  he expect  
the ,house will go into a committee for 
a bill to bring things  to his scheme1  
to confound everything1 c4    ,some deny
 ,tindal to be the author1 and produce  
stories of his dulness  and stupidity4  
,but what is there in all this book1    
that the dullest man  in ,england might 
not write1 if he were angry and bold    
enough1 and had no  regard to truth8    
,,remarks ,,upon ,,the ,,book1 c4       
,page #d4 ,whether ,lewis ,,xiv4 has    
such a power over ,philip ,v8 ,he       
speaketh  here of the unlimited1        
uncontrollable authority of fathers4 ,a 
very  foolish question2 and his         
discourse hitherto1 of government1 weak 
and  trivial1 and liable to objections4 
,ibid4 ,whom he is to consider not as   
his own1 but the ,almighty's            
workmanship4 ,a very likely             
consideration for the ,ideas of the     
state of  nature4 ,a very wrong         
deduction of paternal government2 but   

that is  nothing to the dispute1 c4     
,page #ab4 ,and as such might justly be 
punished by every one in the state  of  
nature4 ,false2 he doth not seem to     
understand the state of nature1         
although he hath borrowed it from       
,hobbes1 c4    ,page #ad4 ,merely       
speculative points1 and other           
indifferent things1 c4  ,and why are    
speculative opinions so insignificant8  
,do not men proceed in  their practice  
according to their speculations8 ,so1 if
 the author were a  chancellor and one  
of his speculations were1 that the      
poorer the clergy  the better2 would not
 that be of great use1 if a cause came  
before him  of tithes or ,church lands8 
,ibid4 ,which can only be known by      
examining whether men had any power  in 
the state of nature over their own1 or  
others' actions in these  matters4 ,no1 
that is a wrong method1 unless where    
religion hath not  been revealed2 in    
natural religion4    ,ibid4 ,nothing at 
first sight can be more obvious1 than   

that in all  religious matters1 none    
could make over the right of judging for
  himself1 since that would cause his   
religion to be absolutely at the        
disposal of another4 ,at his rate of    
arguing 7,i think ,i do not             
misrepresent him1 and ,i believe he will
 not deny the consequence7 a man  may   
profess ,heathenism1 ,mahometism1 c4 and
 gain as many proselytes as  he can2 and
 they may have their assemblies1 and the
 magistrate ought to  protect them1     
provided they do not disturb the state3 
,and they may enjoy  all secular        
preferments1 be lords chancellors1      
judges1 c4 ,but there are  some opinions
 in several religions1 which1 although  
they do not directly  make men rebel1   
yet lead to it4 ,instance some4 ,nay we 
might have temples  for idols1 c4 ,a    
thousand such absurdities follow from   
his general  notions1 and ill-digested  
schemes4 ,and we see in the ,old        
,testament1 that  kings were reckoned   
good or ill1 as they suffered or        

hindered  image-worship and idolatry1 c4
 which was limiting conscience4    ,page
 #ae4 ,men may form what clubs1         
companies1 or meetings they think  fit1 
c1 which the magistrate1 as long as the 
public sustains no damage1  cannot      
hinder1 c4 ,this is false2 although the 
public sustain no  damage1 they will    
forbid clubs1 where they think danger   
may happen4    ,page #af4 ,the          
magistrate is as much obliged to protect
 them in the way  they choose of        
worshipping ,him1 as in any other       
indifferent  matter4--,page #ag4 ,the   
magistrate to treat all his subjects    
alike1 how  much soever they differ from
 him or one another in these matters4   
,this  shews1 that although they be     
,turks1 ,jews1 or ,heathens1 it is so4  
,but we  are sure ,christianity is the  
only true religion1 c4 and therefore it 
should be the magistrate's chief care to
 propagate it2 and that ,god  should be 
worshipped in that that those who are   
the teachers think most  proper1 c4     

,page #ah4 ,so that persecution is the  
most comprehensive of all crimes1  c4   
,but he hath not told us what is        
concluded in the idea of  persecution4  
,state it right4    ,ibid4 ,but here it 
may be demanded1 ,if a man's conscience 
make him do  such acts1 c4 ,this doth   
not answer the above objection3 ,for1 if
 the  public be not disturbed with      
atheistical principles preached1 nor    
immoralities1 all is well4 ,so that     
still1 men may be ,jews1 ,turks1 c4     
,page #bb4 ,the same reason which       
obliges them to make statutes of        
mortmain1 and other laws1 against the   
people's giving estates to the  clergy1 
will equally hold for their taking them 
away when given4 ,a  great security for 
property6 ,will this hold to any other  
society in the  state1 as merchants1 c4 
or only to ecclesiastics8 ,a pretty     
project3  ,forming general schemes      
requires a deeper head than this man's4 
,ibid4 ,but the good of the society     
being the only reason of the            

magistrate's having any power over men's
 properties1 ,i cannot see why he       
should deprive his subjects of any part 
thereof1 for the maintenance of  such   
opinions as have no tendency that way1  
c4 ,here is a paragraph  7vide also     
infra7 which has a great deal in it4    
,the meaning is1 that  no man ought to  
pay tithes1 who doth not believe what   
the minister  preacheth4 ,but how came  
they by this property8 ,when they       
purchased the  land1 they paid only for 
so much2 and the tithes were exempted4  
,it is an  older title than any man's   
estate is1 and if it were taken away    
to-morrow1 it could not without a new   
law belong to the owners of the  other  
nine parts1 any more than impropriations
 do4    ,ibid4 ,for the maintenance of  
such opinions1 as no ways contribute to 
the public good1 ,by such opinions as   
the public receive no advantage  by1 he 
must mean ,christianity4    ,page #bc4  
,who by reason of such articles are     
divided into different  sects4 ,a pretty

 cause of sects6 c4    ,page #bd4 ,so   
the same reason as often as it occurs1  
will oblige him to  leave that ,church4 
,this is an excuse for his turning      
,papist4    ,ibid4 ,unless you suppose  
churches like traps1 easy to admit one2 
but  when once he is in1 there he must  
always stick1 either for the pleasure   
or profit of the trap-setters4 ,remark  
his wit4    ,page #bi4 ,nothing can be  
more absurd than maintaining there must 
be two  independent powers in the same  
society4 ,this is abominably absurd2    
shew  it4    ,page #cc4 ,the whole      
hierarchy as built on it1 must          
necessarily fall to  the ground1 and    
great will be the fall of this spiritual
 ,babylon4 ,i  will do him justice1 and 
take notice1 when he is witty1 c4       
,page #cf4 ,for if there may be two such
 independent powers in every  society on
 earth1 why may there not be more than  
one in heaven8 ,a  delicate consequence4
    ,page #cg4 ,without having the less1
 he could not have the greater1 in      

which that is contained4 ,sophistical2  
instance wherein4    ,page #db4 ,some   
since1 subtler than the ,jews1 have     
managed commutations  more to their own 
advantage1 by enriching themselves1 and 
beggaring1 if  ,fame be not a liar1 many
 an honest dissenter4 ,it is fair to    
produce  witnesses1 is she a liar or    
not8 ,the report is almost impossible4  
,commutations were contrived for roguish
 registers and proctors1 and lay        
chancellors1 but not for the clergy4    
,page #dc4 ,kings and people1 who 7as   
the ,indians do the ,devil7 adored the  
,pope out of fear4 ,i am in doubt1      
whether ,i shall allow that for wit or  
no1 c4 ,look you1 in these cases1       
preface it thus3 ,if one may use an old 
saying4    ,page #dd4 ,one reason why   
the clergy make what they call schism1  
to be so  heinous a sin4 ,there it is   
now2 because he hath changed churches1  
he  ridiculeth schism2 as ,milton wrote 
for divorces1 because he had an ill     
wife4 ,for ten pages on1 we must give   

the true answer1 that makes all  these  
arguments of no use4    ,page #fj4 ,it  
possibly will be said1 ,i have all this 
while been doing  these gentlemen a     
great deal of wrong4 ,to do him justice1
 he sets forth  the objections of his   
adversaries with great strength1 and    
much to their  advantage4 ,no doubt     
those are the very objections we would  
offer4    ,page #fh4 ,their executioner4
 ,he is fond of this word in many       
places1  yet there is nothing in it     
further than it is the name for the     
hangman1  c4    ,page #fi4 ,since they  
exclude both from having anything in the
 ordering  of ,church matters4 ,another 
part of his scheme3 ,for by this the    
people  ought to execute ecclesiastical 
offices without distinction1 for he     
brings the other opinion as an absurd   
one4    ,page #gb1 ,they claim a        
judicial power1 and1 by virtue of it the
  government of the ,church1 and thereby
 7pardon the expression7 become         
traitors both to ,god and man4 ,who doth

 he desire to pardon him8 or is  this   
meant of the ,english clergy8 ,so it    
seemeth4 ,doth he desire them to  pardon
 him8 ,they do it as ,christians4 ,doth 
he desire the government to  do it8 ,but
 then how can they make examples8 ,he   
says1 the clergy do so1  c4 so he means 
all4    ,page #gd4 ,i would gladly know 
what they mean by giving the ,holy      
,ghost4  ,explain what is really meant  
by giving the ,holy ,ghost1 like a king 
empowering an ambassador4#ae            
,footnote #ae3 ,see ,hooker's ,eccl4    
,pol41 book v4  #gg4    ,page #gf4 ,the 
,popish clergy make very bold with the  
,three ,persons of the  ,trinity4 ,why  
then1 don't mix them1 but we see whom   
this glanceth on  most4 ,as to the ,cong
 d'lire1 and ,nolo episcopari1 not so   
absurd2  and1 if omitted1 why changed4  
,page #gh4 ,but not to digress--,pray1  
doth he call scurrility upon the        
clergy1 a digression8 ,the apology      
needless1 c4    ,ibid4 ,a clergyman1 it 
is said1 is ,god's ambassador4 ,but you 

know an  ambassador may have a          
secretary1 c4    ,ibid4 ,call their     
pulpit speeches1 the word of ,god4 ,that
 is a  mistake4    ,page #gi4 ,such     
persons to represent ,him4 ,are not they
 that own ,his  power1 fitter to        
represent ,him than others8 ,would the  
author be a fitter  person8    ,ibid4   
,puffed up with intolerable pride and   
insolence4 ,not at all2  for where is   
the pride to be employed by a prince1   
whom so few own1 and  whose being is    
disputed by such as this author8        
,ibid4 ,perhaps from a poor servitor1 c4
 to be a prime minister in  ,god's      
kingdom4 ,that is right4 ,god taketh    
notice of the difference  between poor  
servitors1 c4 ,extremely foolish--shew  
it4 ,the argument  lieth strongly       
against the apostles1 poor fishermen2   
and ,st4 ,paul1 a  tentmaker4 ,so gross 
and idle6    ,page #hj4 ,the formality  
of laying hand over head on a man4 ,a   
pun2 but  an old one4 ,i remember1 when 
,swan#af made that pun first1 he was    

severely checked for it4    ,footnote   
#af3 ,captain ,swan was a celebrated low
 humorist and punster who  frequented   
,will's ,coffee-house when it was the   
fashionable resort of men  of wit and   
pleasure4 ,t4 ,s4    ,ibid4 ,what more  
is required to give one a right1 c4     
,here shew1 what  power is in the       
church1 and what in the state to make   
priests4    ,page #he4 ,to bring men    
into1 and not turn them out of the      
ordinary way  of salvation4 ,yes2 but as
 one rotten sheep doth mischief--and do 
you  think it reasonable1 that such a   
one as this author1 should converse     
with ,christians1 and weak ones4        
,page #hf4 ,see his fine account of     
spiritual punishment4    ,page #hg4 ,the
 clergy affirm1 that if they had not the
 power to exclude  men from the ,church1
 its unity could not be preserved4 ,so  
to expel an  ill member from a college1 
would be to divide the college2 as in   
,all-,souls1 c4 ,apply it to him4#ag    
,footnote #ag3 ,tindal was a fellow of  

,all ,souls ,college4 ,t4 ,s4    ,page  
#hh4 ,i cannot see but it is contrary to
 the rules of charity1 to  exclude men  
from the ,church1 c4 ,all this turns    
upon the falsest  reasoning in the      
world4 ,so1 if a man be imprisoned for  
stealing a horse1  he is hindered from  
other duties3 ,and1 you might argue1    
that a man who  doth ill1 ought to be   
more diligent in minding other duties1  
and not to  be debarred from them4 ,it  
is for contumacy and rebellion against  
that  power in the church1 which the law
 hath confirmed4 ,so a man is outlawed  
for a trifle1 upon contumacy4    ,page  
#ib4 ,obliging all by penal laws to     
receive the sacrament4 ,this is  false4 
,page #ic4 ,the want of which means can 
only harden a man in his  impenitence4  
,it is for his being hardened that he is
 excluded4 ,suppose  a son robbeth his  
father on the highway1 and his father   
will not see him  till he restoreth the 
money and owneth his fault4 ,it is hard 
to deny him  paying his duty in other   

things1 c4 ,how absurd this6    ,page   
#ie4 ,and that only they had a right to 
give it4 ,another part of  his scheme1  
that the people have a right to give the
 sacrament4 ,see more  of it1 pp4 #ace  
and #acg4    ,page #if4 ,made familiar  
to such practices by the heathen        
priests4 ,well2  and this shews the     
necessity of it for peace' sake4 ,a     
silly objection of  this and other      
enemies to religion1 to think to        
disgrace it by applying  heathenism1    
which only concerns the political part  
wherein they were as  wise as others1   
and might give rules4 ,instance in some1
 c4    ,page #ih4 ,how differently from 
this do the great pretenders to         
primitive  practice act1 c4 ,this is a  
remarkable passage4 ,doth he condemn or 
allow this mysterious way8 ,it seems the
 first--and therefore these words  are a
 little turned1 but infallibly stood in 
the first draught as a  great argument  
for ,popery4    ,page #ajj4 ,they dress 
them up in a sanbenito4 ,so1 now we are 

to  answer for the inquisition4 ,one    
thing is1 that he makes the fathers     
guilty of asserting most of the         
corruptions about the power of priests4 
,page #ajd4 ,some priests assume to     
themselves an arbitrary power of        
excluding men from the ,lord's ,supper4 
,his scheme2 that any body may          
administer the sacraments1 women or     
children1 c4    ,page #ajh4 ,one no more
 than another can be reckoned a priest4 
,see his  scheme4 ,here he disgraces    
what the law enacts1 about the manner of
  consecrating1 c4    ,page #aah4       
,churches serve to worse purposes than  
bear-gardens4 ,this  from ,hudibras4    
,page #aai4 ,in the time of that wise   
heathen ,ammianus ,marcellinus4#ah      
,here he runs down all ,christianity in 
general4    ,footnote #ah3 ,ammianus    
,marcellinus 7died c4 #cij7 wrote a     
history of  ,rome in thirty-one books1  
of which ,gibbon thought rather highly4 
,the  history may be taken as a         
continuation of ,tacitus and ,suetonius4

 ,t4  ,s4    ,page #abj4 ,i shall1 in   
the following part of my discourse1 shew
 that  this doctrine is so far from     
serving the ends of religion1 that1 #a4 
,it  prevents the spreading of the      
gospel1 c4 ,this independent power in   
the  church is like the worms2 being the
 cause of all diseases4    ,page #abd4  
,how easily could the ,roman emperors   
have destroyed the  ,church8 ,just as if
 he had said2 how easily could ,herod   
kill ,christ  whilst a child1 c4        
,page #abe4 ,the people were set against
 bishops by reason of their  tyranny4   
,wrong4 ,for the bishops were no        
tyrants3 ,their power was  swallowed up 
by the ,popes1 and the people desired   
they should have more4  ,it were the    
regulars that tyrannized and formed     
priestcraft4 ,he is  ignorant4    ,page 
#aci4 ,he is not bound by the laws of   
,christ to leave his friends in  order  
to be baptized1 c4 ,this directly       
against the ,gospel4--,one would  think 
him an emissary1 by his preaching       

schism4    ,page #adb4 ,then will the   
communion of saints be practicable1 to  
which  the principles of all parties1   
the occasional conformists only         
excepted1  stand in direct opposition1  
c4 ,so that all are wrong but they4 ,the
  ,scripture is fully against schism4   
,tindal promoteth it and placeth in it  
all the present and future happiness of 
man4    ,page #add4 ,all he has hitherto
 said on this matter1 with a very little
  turn1 were arguments for ,popery3     
,for1 it is certain1 that religion had  
share in very few wars for many hundred 
years before the ,reformation1  because 
they were all of a mind4 ,it is the     
ambition of rebels1 preaching  upon the 
discontents of sectaries1 that they are 
not supreme1 which hath  caused wars for
 religion4 ,he is mistaken altogether4  
,his little narrow  understanding and   
want of learning4    ,page #ade4 ,though
 some say the high-fliers' lives might  
serve for a very  good rule1 if men     
would act quite contrary to them1 ,is he

 one of those  some8 ,beside the new    
turn of wit1 c4 all the clergy in       
,england come  under his notion of      
high-fliers1 as he states it4    ,page  
#adg4 ,none of them 7,churchmen7 could  
be brought to acknowledge it  lawful    
upon any account whatever1 to exclude   
the ,duke of ,york4 ,this  account false
 in fact4    ,ibid4 ,and the            
body-politic1 whether ecclesiastical or 
civil1 must be  dealt with after the    
same manner1 as the body-natural4 ,what1
 because it  is called a body1 and is a 
simile1 must it hold in all             
circumstances8    ,page #adh4 ,we find  
all wise legislators have had regard to 
the tempers1  inclinations1 and         
prejudices1 c4 ,this paragraph          
false4--,it was  directly contrary in   
several1 as ,lycurgus1 c4    ,page #aeb4
 ,all the skill of the prelatists is not
 able to discover the  least distinction
 between bishop and presbyter4 ,yet1    
,god knows1 this  hath been done many a 
time4    ,page #aeh4 ,the ,epistle to   

the ,philippians is directed to the     
bishops and  deacons1 ,i mean in due    
order after the people1 viz1 to the     
saints with  their bishops and deacons4 
,i hope he would argue from another     
place1  that the people precede the     
king1 because of these words3 ,ye shall 
be  destroyed both you and your king4   
,page #afg4 ,the ,pope and other great  
,church dons4 ,i suppose1 he meaneth    
bishops3 ,but ,i wish1 he would explain 
himself1 and not be so very witty  in   
the midst of an argument2 it is like two
 mediums2 not fair in  disputing4       
,page #afh4 ,clemens ,romanus blames the
 people not for assuming a power1  but  
for making a wrong use of it1 c4 ,his   
great error all along is1  that he doth 
not distinguish between a power1 and a  
liberty of  exercising that power1 c4 ,i
 would appeal to any man1 whether the   
clergy  have not too little power1 since
 a book like this1 that unsettleth      
foundations and would destroy all1 goes 
unpunished1 c4    ,page #aga4 ,by this  

or some such method the bishops obtained
 their power  over their fellow         
presbyters1 and both over the people4   
,the whole tenor  of the ,gospel        
directly contrary to it4 ,then it is not
 an allowable  means3 ,this carries it  
so far as to spoil his own system2 it is
 a sin to  have bishops as we have them4
    ,page #agb4 ,the preservation of    
peace and unity1 and not any divine     
right1 was the reason of establishing a 
superiority of one of the  presbyters   
over the rest4 ,otherwise there would1  
as they say1 have been  as many         
schismatics as ,presbyters4 ,no great   
compliment to the clergy of  those days4
 ,why so8 ,it is the natural effect of a
 worse independency1  which he keepeth  
such a clatter about2 an independency of
 churches on  each other1 which must    
naturally create schism4    ,page #ahc4 
,how could the ,christians have asserted
 the disinterestedness  of those who    
first preached the ,gospel1 particularly
 their having a  right to the tenth     

part4 ,yes1 that would have passed easy 
enough2 for  they could not imagine     
teachers could live on air2 and their   
heathen  priests were much more         
unreasonable4    ,page #ahd4 ,men's     
suffering for such opinions is not      
sufficient to  support the weight of    
them4 ,this is a glance against         
,christianity4  ,state the case of      
converting infidels2 the converters are 
supposed few2  the bulk of the priests  
must be of the converted country4 ,it is
 their  own people therefore they       
maintain4 ,what project or end can a few
  converters propose8 they can leave no 
power to their families1 c4 ,state      
this1 ,i say1 at length1 and give it a  
true turn4 ,princes give  corporations  
power to purchase lands4    ,page #ahg4 
,that it became an easy prey to the     
barbarous nations4  ,ignorance in       
,tindal4 ,the empire long declined      
before ,christianity was  introduced4   
,this a wrong cause1 if ever there was  
one4    ,page #aij1 ,it is the clergy's 

interest to have religion corrupted4    
,quite the contrary2 prove it4 ,how is  
it the interest of the ,english  clergy 
to corrupt religion8 ,the more justice  
and piety the people have1  the better  
it is for them2 for that would prevent  
the penury of farmers1  and the         
oppression of exacting covetous         
landlords1 c4 ,that which hath          
corrupted religion1 is the liberty      
unlimited of professing all opinions4   
,do not lawyers render law intricate by 
their speculations1 c4 ,and  physicians1
 c4    ,page #bji4 ,the spirit and      
temper of the clergy1 c4 ,what does this
 man  think the clergy are made of8     
,answer generally to what he says       
against  councils in the ten pages      
before4 ,suppose ,i should bring        
quotations in  their praise4    ,page   
#baa4 ,as the clergy1 though few in     
comparison of the laity1 were  the      
inventors of corruptions4 ,his scheme   
is1 that the fewer and poorer  the      
clergy the better1 and the contrary     

among the laity4 ,a noble  principle2   
and delicate consequences from it4      
,page #bjg4 ,men are not always         
condemned for the sake of opinions1 but 
opinions sometimes for the sake of men4 
,and so1 he hopes1 that if his  opinions
 are condemned1 people will think1 it is
 a spite against him1 as  having been   
always scandalous4    ,page #baj4 ,the  
meanest layman as good a judge as the   
greatest priest1  for the meanest man is
 as much interested in the truth of     
religion as  the greatest priest4 ,as if
 one should say1 the meanest sick man   
hath as  much interest in health as a   
physician1 therefore is as good a judge 
of  physic as a physician1 c4    ,ibid4 
,had synods been composed of laymen1    
none of those corruptions  which tend to
 advance the interest of the clergy1 c4 
,true1 but the  part the laity had in   
reforming1 was little more than         
plundering4 ,he  should understand1 that
 the nature of things is this1 that the 
clergy  are made of men1 and1 without   

some encouragement1 they will not have  
the  best1 but the worst4    ,page #bae4
 ,they who gave estates to1 rather than 
they who took them  from1 the clergy1   
were guilty of sacrilege4 ,then the     
people are the  ,church1 and the clergy 
not2 another part of his scheme4        
,page #bai4 ,the clergy1 as they        
subsisted by the alms of the people1 c4 
,this he would have still4 ,shew the    
folly of it4 ,not possible to shew any  
civilized nation ever did it ,who would 
be clergymen then8 ,the absurdity       
appears by putting the case1 that none  
were to be statesmen1 lawyers1 or       
physicians1 but who were to subsist by  
alms4    ,page #bbb4 ,these subtle      
clergymen work their designs1 who lately
 cut out  such a tacking job for them1  
c4 ,he is mistaken--,everybody was for  
the  bill almost3 though not for the    
tack4 ,the ,bishop of ,sarum was for it1
 as  appears by his speech against it4  
,but it seems1 the tacking is owing to  
metaphysical speculations4 ,i wonder    

whether is most perplexed1 this  author 
in his style1 or the writings of our    
divines4 ,in the judgment of  all people
 our divines have carried practical     
preaching and writing to  the greatest  
perfection it ever arrived to2 which    
shews1 that we may  affirm in general1  
our clergy is excellent1 although this  
or that man be  faulty4 ,as if an army  
be constantly victorious1 regular1 c4 we
 may say1  it is an excellent victorious
 army3 ,but ,tindal2 to disparage it1   
would  say1 such a serjeant ran away2   
such an ensign hid himself in a ditch2  
nay1 one colonel turned his back1       
therefore1 it is a corrupt1 cowardly    
army1 c4    ,page #bbd4 ,they were as   
apprehensive of the works of ,aristotle1
 as some  men are of the works of a late
 philosopher1 which1 they are afraid1   
will  let too much light into the world4
 ,yet just such1 another2 only a        
commentator on ,aristotle4 ,people are  
likely to improve their  understanding  
much with ,locke2 ,it is not his ,human 

,understanding1 but  other works that   
people dislike1 although in that there  
are some  dangerous tenets1 as that of  
no innate ideas4    ,page #bbf4 ,could  
they1 like the popish priests1 add to   
this a restraint  on the press1 their   
business would be done4 ,so it ought3   
,for example1  to hinder his book1      
because it is written to justify the    
vices and  infidelity of the age4 ,there
 can be no other design in it4 ,for1 is 
this  a way or manner to do good8       
,railing doth but provoke4 ,the opinion 
of the  whole parliament is1 the clergy 
are too poor4    ,ibid4 ,when some      
nations could be no longer kept from    
prying into  learning1 this miserable   
gibberish of the schools was contrived4 
,we  have exploded schoolmen as much as 
he1 and in some people's opinion too    
much1 since the liberty of embracing any
 opinion is allowed4 ,they  following   
,aristotle1 who is doubtless the        
greatest master of arguing in  the      
world3 ,but it hath been a fashion of   

late years to explode  ,aristotle1 and  
therefore this man hath fallen into it  
like others1 for  that reason1 without  
understanding him4 ,aristotle's poetry1 
rhetoric1  and politics1 are admirable1 
and therefore1 it is likely1 so are his 
logics4    ,page #bcj4 ,in these freer  
countries1 as the clergy have less      
power1 so  religion is better           
understood1 and more useful and         
excellent discourses  are made on that  
subject1 c4 ,not generally4 ,holland not
 very famous1  ,spain hath been1 and    
,france is4 ,but it requireth more      
knowledge1 than  his1 to form general   
rules1 which people strain 7when        
ignorant7 to false  deductions to make  
them out4    ,page #bcb4 ,chap4 ,,vii4  
,that this hypothesis of an independent 
power in  any set of clergymen1 makes   
all reformation unlawful1 except where  
those  who have this power1 do consent4 
,the title of this chapter1 ,a ,truism4 
,page #bcd4 ,if ,god has not placed     
mankind in respect to civil matters     

under an absolute power1 but has        
permitted them in every society to act  
as they judge best for their own safety1
 c4 ,bad parallels2 bad  politics2 want 
of due distinction between teaching and 
government4 ,the  people may know when  
they are governed well1 but not be wiser
 than their  instructors4 ,shew the     
difference4    ,ibid4 ,if ,god has      
allowed the civil society these         
privileges can we  suppose ,he hath less
 kindness for ,his church1 c4 ,here they
 are  distinguished1 then1 here it makes
 for him4 ,it is a sort of turn of      
expression1 which is scarce with him1   
and he contradicts himself to  follow   
it4    ,page #bce4 ,this cursed         
hypothesis had1 perhaps1 never been     
thought on  with relation to civils1 had
 not the clergy 7who have an            
inexhaustible  magazine of oppressive   
doctrines7 contrived first in           
ecclesiasticals1  c4 ,the seventh       
paragraph furious and false4 ,were there
 no tyrants  before the clergy1 c48     

,page #bcf4 ,therefore in order to serve
 them1 though ,i expect little  thanks1 
c4 ,and1 why so8 ,will they not1 as you 
say1 follow their  interest8 ,i thought 
you said so4 ,he has three or four      
sprightly turns of  this kind1 that     
look1 as if he thought he had done      
wonders1 and had put  all the clergy in 
a ferment4 ,whereas1 ,i do assure him1  
there are but two  things wonderful in  
his book3 ,first1 how any man in a      
,christian country  could have the      
boldness and wickedness to write it3    
,and1 how any  government would neglect 
punishing the author of it1 if not as an
 enemy  of religion1 yet a profligate   
trumpeter of sedition4 ,these are hard  
words1 got by reading his book4         
,ibid4 ,the light of nature as well as  
the ,gospel1 obliges people to  judge of
 themselves1 c4 to avoid false prophets1
 seducers1 c4 ,the  legislature can turn
 out a priest1 and appoint another      
ready-made1 but  not make one2 as you   
discharge a physician1 and may take a   

farrier2 but  he is no physician1 unless
 made as he ought to be4    ,ibid4      
,since no more power is required for the
 one than the other4  ,that is1 ,i      
dislike my physician1 and can turn him  
off1 therefore ,i can  make any man a   
physician1 c4 ,cujus est destruere1 c4  
,jest on it3  ,therefore because he lays
 schemes for destroying the ,church1 we 
must  employ him to raise it again4     
,see1 what danger lies in applying      
maxims  at random4 ,so1 because it is   
the soldiers' business to knock men on  
the  head1 it is theirs likewise to     
raise them to life1 c4    ,page #bcg4   
,it can belong only to the people to    
appoint their own  ecclesiastical       
officers4 ,this word people is so       
delicious in him1  that ,i cannot tell  
what is included in the idea of the     
people4 ,doth he  mean the rabble or the
 legislature1 c4 ,in this sense it may  
be true1  that the legislature giveth   
leave to the bishops to appoint1 and    
they  appoint themselves1 ,i mean1 the  

executive power appoints1 c4 ,he sheweth
  his ignorance in government4 ,as to   
,high ,church he carrieth it a          
prodigious way1 and includeth1 in the   
idea of it1 more than others will       
allow4    ,page #bci ,though it be      
customary to admit none to the ministry 
who are  not approved by the bishops or 
priests1 c4 ,one of his principles to   
expose4    ,ibid ,if every one has not  
an inherent right to choose his own     
guide1  then a man must be either of the
 religion of his guide1 or1 c4 ,that    
would make delicate work in a nation4   
,what would become of all our  churches8
 ,they must dwindle into conventicles4  
,show what would be the  consequence of 
this scheme in several points4 ,this    
great reformer1 if  his projects were   
reduced to practice1 how many thousand  
sects1 and  consequently tumults1 c4    
,men must be governed in speculation1 at
 least  not suffered to vent them1      
because opinions tend to actions1 which 
are  most governed by opinions1 c4 ,if  

those who write for the church writ  no 
better1 they would succeed but scurvily4
 ,but to see whether he be a  good      
writer1 let us see when he hath         
published his second part4    ,page #bec
 ,an excellent author in his preface to 
the ,account of ,denmark4  ,this man    
judgeth and writeth much of a level4    
,molesworth's preface full  of stale    
profligate topics4 ,that author wrote   
his book in spite to a  nation1 as this 
doth to religion1 and both perhaps on   
poor personal  piques#a4    ,footnote   
#ai3 ,this was ,robert1 ,viscount       
,molesworth 7#afef-agbe71 who  was born 
in ,dublin1 and educated at ,trinity    
,college there4 ,he was  ambassador at  
,copenhagen1 but had to resign on       
account of a dispute with  the ,danish  
king4 ,the ,account of ,denmark1 which  
he wrote on his  return1 was answered by
 ,dr4 ,king4 ,t4 ,s4    ,ibid ,by which 
means1 and not by any difference in     
speculative  matters1 they are more rich
 and populous4 ,as if ever anybody      

thought  that a difference in           
speculative opinions made men richer or 
poorer1 for  example1 c4    ,page #beh  
,play the ,devil for ,god's sake4 ,if   
this is meant for wit1 ,i  would be glad
 to observe it1 but in such cases ,i    
first look whether  there be common     
sense1 c4    ,page #bfa ,christendom has
 been the scene of perpetual wars1      
massacres1  c4 ,he doth not consider    
that most religious wars have been      
caused by  schisms1 when the dissenting 
parties were ready to join with any     
ambitious discontented man4 ,the        
national religion always desireth peace1
  even in her notions1 for its          
interests4    ,page #bgj4 ,some have    
taken the liberty to compare a high     
church priest  in politics to a monkey  
in a glass-shop1 where1 as he can do no 
good1 so  he never fails of doing       
mischief enough4 ,that is his modesty1  
it is his  own simile1 and it rather    
fits a man that does so and so1 7meaning
  himself47 ,besides the comparison is  

foolish3 ,so it is with men1 as  with   
stags4    ,page #bgf4 ,their interest   
obliges them directly to promote        
tyranny4 ,the  matter is1 that          
,christianity is the fault1 which spoils
 the priests1 for  they were like other 
men1 before they were priests4 ,among   
the ,romans1  priests did not do so2 for
 they had the greatest power during the 
republic4 ,i wonder he did not prove    
they spoiled ,nero4    ,page #bgg4 ,no  
princes have been more insupportable and
 done greater  violence to the          
commonwealth than those the clergy have 
honoured for  saints and martyrs4 ,for  
example in our country1 the princes most
  celebrated by our clergy are1 c4 c4 c4
 ,and the quarrels since the  ,conquest 
were nothing at all of the clergy1 but  
purely of families1 c4  wherein the     
clergy only joined like other men4      
,page #bgi4 ,after the                  
,reformation1#bj;,i desire to know      
whether the  conduct of the clergy was  
anyways altered for the better1 c4      

,monstrous  misrepresentation4 ,does    
this man's spirit of declaiming let him 
forget  all truth of fact1 as here1 c48 
,shew it4 ,or doth he flatter himself1 a
  time will come in future ages1 that   
men will believe it on his word8 ,in    
short1 between declaiming1 between      
misrepresenting1 and falseness1 and     
charging ,popish things1 and            
independency huddled together1 his whole
  book is employed4    ,footnote #bj3   
,reformation in #dto and #hvo editions1 
but ,tindal's word  is ,restoration4    
,t4,s4    ,set forth at large the       
necessity of union in religion1 and the 
disadvantage of the contrary1 and answer
 the contrary in ,holland1 where  they  
have no religion1 and are the worst     
constituted government in the  world to 
last4 ,it is ignorance of causes and    
appearances which makes  shallow people 
judge so much to their advantage4 ,they 
are governed by  the administration and 
almost legislature of ,holland through  
advantage  of property2 nor are they fit

 to be set in balance with a noble      
kingdom1  c4 like a man that gets a     
hundred pounds a year by hard labour1   
and one  that has it in land4    ,page  
#bhj4 ,it may be worth enquiring1       
whether the difference between the      
several sects in ,england1 c4 ,a noble  
notion started1 that union in the       
,church must enslave the kingdom3       
reflect on it4 ,this man hath somewhere 
heard1 that it is a point of wit to     
advance paradoxes1 and the bolder  the  
better4 ,but the wit lies in maintaining
 them1 which he neglecteth1  and formeth
 imaginary conclusions from them1 as if 
they were true and  uncontested4    ,he 
adds1 ,that in the best constituted     
,church1 the greatest good which1  can  
be expected of the ecclesiastics1 is    
from their divisions4 ,this is  a maxim 
deduced from a gradation of false       
suppositions4 ,if a man should  turn the
 tables1 and argue that all the         
debauchery1 atheism1  licentiousness1 c4
 of the times1 were owing to the poverty

 of the  clergy1 c4 what would he say8  
,there have been more wars of religion  
since the ruin of the clergy1 than      
before1 in ,england4 ,all the civil     
wars before were from other causes4     
,page #bhc4 ,prayers are made in the    
loyal university of ,oxford1 to         
continue the throne free from the       
contagion of schism4 ,see ,mather's     
sermon on the #bith of ,may1 #agje4     
,thus he ridicules the university while 
he is eating their bread4 ,the whole    
university comes with the most loyal    
addresses1 yet that goes for nothing4   
,if one indiscreet man drops an         
indiscreet word1 all must answer for it4
    ,page #bhf4 ,by allowing all1 who   
hold no opinions prejudicial to the     
state1 and contribute equally with their
 fellow-subjects to its support1  equal 
privileges in it4 ,but who denies that  
of the dissenters8 ,the  ,calvinist     
scheme1 one would not think1 proper for 
monarchy4 ,therefore1  they fall in with
 the ,scotch1 ,geneva1 and ,holland2 and

 when they had  strength here1 they     
pulled down the monarchy4 ,but ,i will  
tell an opinion  they hold prejudicial  
to the state in his opinion2 and that   
is1 that  they are against toleration1  
of which1 if ,i do not shew him ten     
times  more instances from their        
greatest writers1 than he can do of     
passive  obedience among the clergy1 ,i 
have done4    ,does not justice demand1 
that they who alike contribute to the   
burden1  should alike receive the       
advantage8 ,here is another of his      
maxims  closely put without considering 
what exceptions may be made4 ,the       
,papists  have contributed doubly 7being
 so taxed7 therefore by this rule they  
ought to have double advantage4         
,protection in property1 leave to trade 
and purchase1 c4 are enough for a       
government to give4 ,employments in a   
state are a reward for those who        
entirely agree with it1 c4 ,for         
example1 a man1 who upon all occasions  
declared his opinion of a  commonwealth 

to be preferable to a monarchy1 would   
not be a fit man to  have employments2  
let him enjoy his opinion1 but not be in
 a capacity of  reducing it to practice1
 c4    ,page #bhg4 ,there can be no     
alteration in the established mode of   
,church  discipline1 which is not made  
in a legal way4 ,oh1 but there are      
several  methods to compass this legal  
way1 by cunning1 faction1 industry4 ,the
  common people1 he knows1 may be       
wrought upon by priests2 these may      
influence the faction1 and so compass a 
very pernicious law1 and in a  legal way
 ruin the state2 as ,king ,charles ,i4  
began to be ruined in a  legal way1 by  
passing bills1 c4    ,page #bhh4 ,as    
everything is persecution1 which puts a 
man in a worse  condition than his      
neighbours4 ,it is hard to think        
sometimes whether  this man is hired to 
write for or against dissenters and the 
sects4 ,this  is their opinion1 although
 they will not own it so roundly4 ,let  
this be  brought to practice3 ,make a   

quaker lord chancellor1 who thinketh    
paying  tithes unlawful4 ,and bring     
other instances to shew that several    
employments affect the ,church4         
,ibid4 ,great advantage which both      
,church and state have got by the       
kindness already shewn to dissenters4   
,let them then be thankful for  that4   
,we humour children for their good      
sometimes1 but too much may  hurt4      
,observe that this #fdth paragraph just 
contradicts the former4 ,for1  if we    
have advantage by kindness shewn        
dissenters1 then there is no  necessity 
of banishment1 or death4    ,page #bij4 
,christ never designed the holy         
,sacrament should be  prostituted to    
serve a party4 ,and that people should  
be bribed by a  place to receive        
unworthily4 ,why1 the business is1 to be
 sure1 that  those who are employed are 
of the national church2 and the way to  
know  it is by receiving the sacrament1 
which all men ought to do in their own  
church2 and if not1 are hardly fit for  

an office2 and if they have those  moral
 qualifications he mentioneth1 joined to
 religion1 no fear of  receiving        
unworthily4 ,and for this there might be
 a remedy3 ,to take an  oath1 that they 
are of the same principles1 c4 for that 
is the end of  receiving2 and that it   
might be no bribe1 the bill against     
occasional  conformity would prevent    
entirely4    ,ibid4 ,preferring men not 
for their capacity1 but their zeal to   
the  ,church4 ,the misfortune is1 that  
if we prefer dissenters to great posts1 
they will have an inclination to make   
themselves the national church1  and so 
there will be perpetual struggling2     
which case may be dangerous  to the     
state4 ,for men are naturally wishing to
 get over others to their  own opinion3 
,witness this writer1 who hath published
 as singular and  absurd notions as     
possible1 yet hath a mighty zeal to     
bring us over to  them1 c4    ,page     
#bib4 ,here are two pages of scurrilous 
faction1 with a deal of  reflections on 

great persons4 ,under the notion of     
,high-,churchmen1 he  runs down all     
uniformity and church government4 ,here 
is the whole ,lower  ,house of          
,convocation1 which represents the body 
of the clergy and both  universities1   
treated with rudeness by an obscure1    
corrupt member1 while  he is eating     
their bread4    ,page #bid4 ,the reason 
why the middle sort of people retain so 
much of  their ancient virtue c4 is     
because no such pernicious notions are  
the  ingredients of their education2    
which 'tis a sign are infinitely absurd1
  when so many of the gentry and        
nobility can1 notwithstanding their     
prepossession1 get clear of them4 ,now  
the very same argument lies  against    
religion1 morality1 honour1 and honesty1
 which are1 it seems1  but prejudices of
 education1 and too many get clear of   
them4 ,the middle  sort of people have  
other things to mind than the factions  
of the age4  ,he always assigneth many  
causes1 and sometimes with reason1 since

 he  maketh imaginary effects4 ,he      
quarrels at power being lodged in the   
clergy3 ,when there is no reasonable    
,protestant1 clergy1 or laity1 who  will
 not readily own the inconveniences by  
too great power and wealth1  in any one 
body of men1 ecclesiastics1 or seculars3
 ,but on that account  to weed up the   
wheat with the tares2 to banish all     
religion1 because it  is capable of     
being corrupted2 to give unbounded      
licence to all sects1  c4--,and if      
heresies had not been used with some    
violence in the  primitive age1 we      
should have had1 instead of true        
religion1 the most  corrupt one in the  
world4    ,page #caf4 ,the ,dutch1 and  
the rest of our presbyterian allies1 c4 
,the  ,dutch will hardly thank him for  
this appellation4 ,the ,french          
,huguenots1  and ,geneva ,protestants   
themselves1 and others1 have lamented   
the want of  episcopacy1 and approved   
ours1 c4 ,in this and the next          
paragraph1 the  author introduceth the  

arguments he formerly used1 when he     
turned papist  in ,king ,james's time2  
and loth to lose them1 he gives them a  
new turn2  and they are the strongest   
,in his book1 at least have most        
artifice4    ,page #ccc4 ',tis plain1   
all the power the bishops have1 is      
derived from  the people1 c4 ,in general
 the distinction lies here4 ,the        
permissive  power of exercising         
jurisdiction1 lies in the people1 or    
legislature1 or  administrator of a     
kingdom2 but not of making him a bishop4
 ,as a  physician that commenceth       
abroad1 may be suffered to practise in  
,london  or be hindered2 but they have  
not the power of creating him a doctor1 
which is peculiar to a university4 ,this
 is some allusion2 but the thing  is    
plain1 as it seemeth to me1 and wanteth 
no subterfuge1 c4    ,page #cch4 ,a     
journeyman bishop to ordain for him4    
,doth any man think1  that writing at   
this rate1 does the author's cause any  
service8 ,is it  his wit or his spleen  

that he cannot govern8    ,page #cfd4   
,can any have a right to an office      
without having a right to  do those     
things in which the office consists8 ,i 
answer1 the ordination  is valid4 ,but a
 man may prudentially forbid to do some 
things4 ,as a  clergyman may marry      
without licence or banns2 the marriage  
is good2 yet  he is punishable for it4  
,page #cfh4 ,a choice made by persons   
who have no right to choose1 is an      
error of the first concoction4 ,that    
battered simile again2 this is  hard4 ,i
 wish the physicians had kept that a    
secret1 it lieth so ready  for him to be
 witty with4    ,page #cgj4 ,if         
prescription can make mere nullities to 
become good and  valid1 the laity may be
 capable of all manner of ecclesiastical
 power1  c4 ,there is a difference2 for 
here the same way is kept1 although     
there might be breaches2 but it is quite
 otherwise1 if you alter the  whole     
method from what it was at first4 ,we   
see bishops3 ,there always  were        

bishops3 ,it is the old way still4 ,so a
 family is still held the  same1        
although we are not sure of the purity  
of every one of the race4    ,page #chj4
 ,it is said1 ,that every nation is not 
a complete body politic  within itself  
as to ecclesiasticals4 ,but the whole   
church1 say they1  composes such a body1
 and ,christ is the head of it4 ,but    
,christ's  headship makes ,christians no
 more one body politic with respect to  
ecclesiasticals than to civils4 ,here we
 must shew the reason and  necessity of 
the ,church being a corporation all over
 the world3 ,to avoid  heresies1 and    
preserve fundamentals1 and hinder       
corrupting of ,scripture1  c4 ,but there
 are no such necessities in government1 
to be the same  everywhere1 c4 ,it is   
something like the colleges in a        
university2 they  all are independent1  
yet1 joined1 are one body4 ,so a general
 council  consisteth of many persons    
independent of one another1 c4          
,however there is such a thing as jus   

gentium1 c4 ,and he that is  doctor of  
physic1 or law1 is so in any university 
of ,europe1 like the  ,respublica       
,literaria4 ,nor to me does there seem  
anything  contradicting1 or improper in 
this notion of the ,catholic ,church2   
and  for want of such a communion1      
religion is so much corrupted1 and would
  be more1 if there were not more       
communion in this than in civils4 ,it   
is of no import to mankind how nations  
are governed2 but the preserving  the   
purity of religion is best held up by   
endeavouring to make it one  body over  
the world4 ,something like as there is  
in trade4 ,so to be able  to communicate
 with all ,christians we come among1 is 
at least to be  wished and aimed at as  
much as we can4    ,page #chd4 ,in a    
word1 if the bishops are not supreme1 c4
 ,here he  reassumeth his arguments for 
,popery1 that there cannot be a body    
politic  of the ,church through the     
whole world1 without a visible head to  
have  recourse to4 ,these were formerly 

writ to advance ,popery1 and now to put 
an absurdity upon the hypothesis of a   
,catholic ,church4 ,as they say in      
,ireland1 in ,king ,james's time1 they  
built mass-houses1 which we make  very  
good barns of4    ,page #chh4 ,bishops  
are1 under a premunire obliged to       
confirm and  consecrate the person named
 in the cong d'lire4 ,this perhaps is   
complained of4 ,he is permitted to do   
it4 ,we allow the legislature may       
hinder if they please2 as they may turn 
out ,christianity1 if they think  fit4  
,page #chi4 ,it is the magistrate who   
empowers them to do more for other      
bishops than they can for themselves1   
since they cannot appoint their  own    
successors4 ,yes they could1 if the     
magistrate would let them4 ,here  is an 
endless splutter1 and a parcel of       
perplexed distinctions upon no          
occasion4 ,all that the clergy pretend  
to1 is a right of qualifying men  for   
the ministry1 something like what a     
university doth with degrees4  ,this    

power they claim from ,god1 and that the
 civil power cannot do it as  pleasing  
to ,god without them2 but they may      
choose whether they will  suffer it or  
no4 ,a religion cannot be crammed down a
 nation's throat  against their will2   
but when they receive a religion1 it is 
supposed  they receive as their         
converters give it2 and1 upon that foot1
 they  cannot justly mingle their own   
methods1 that contradict that religion1 
c4    ,page #cij4 ,with us the bishops  
act only ministerially and by virtue of 
the regal commission1 by which the      
prince firmly enjoins and commands  them
 to proceed in choosing1 confirming1 and
 consecrating1 c4 ,suppose  we held it  
unlawful to do so3 ,how can we help it8 
but does that make it  rightful1 if it  
be not so8 ,suppose the author lived in 
a heathen  country1 where a law would be
 made to call ,christianity idolatrous2 
would that be a topic for him to prove  
it so by1 c48 ,and why do the  clergy   
incur a pre-munire2--,to frighten       

them--,because the law  understandeth1  
that1 if they refuse1 the chosen cannot 
be a bishop3 ,but1  if the clergy had an
 order to do it otherwise than they have
 prescribed1  they ought and would incur
 an hundred rather4    ,page #djb4 ,i   
believe the ,catholic ,church1 c4 ,here 
he ridicules the  ,apostles'            
,creed4--,another part of his           
scheme4--,by what he says in these      
pages1 it is certain1 his design is     
either to run down ,christianity1 or    
set up ,popery2 the latter it is more   
charitable to think1 and1 from his  past
 life1 highly probable4    ,page #dje4  
,that which gave the ,papists so great  
advantage was1  clergymen's talking so  
very inconsistent with themselves1 c4   
,state the  difference here between our 
separation from ,rome1 and the          
dissenters  from us1 and shew the       
falseness of what he sayeth4 ,i wish he 
would tell  us what he leaveth for a    
clergyman to do1 if he may not instruct 
the  people in religion1 and if they    

should not receive his instructions4    
,page #daa4 ,the restraint of the press 
a badge of ,popery4 ,why is that a      
badge of ,popery8 ,why not restrain the 
press to those who would confound       
religion1 as in civil matters8 ,but this
 toucheth himself4 ,he would  starve1   
perhaps1 c1 ,let him get some honester  
livelihood then4 ,it is  plain1 all his 
arguments against constraint1 c4 favour 
the papists as  much as dissenters2 for 
both have opinions that may affect the  
peace of  the state4    ,page #dac4     
,since this discourse1 c4 ,and must we  
have another volume on  this one subject
 of independency8 ,or1 is it to fright  
us8 ,i am not of  ,dr4 ,hickes's mind1  
,qu'il venge4 ,i pity the readers1 and  
the clergy  that must answer it1 be it  
ever so insipid4 ,reflect on his        
sarcastic  conclusion1 c4    9999999999 
9999999999       9999999999             
9999999999          ,a    ,,preface     
,,to ,,the    ,b---,p ,,of ,s----,m',s  
,,introduction1 c4      ,,note4    ,,at 

the time of writing this scathing piece 
of invective1 ,swift was busy  dealing  
out to an old friend a similar specimen 
of his terrible power of  rejoinder4    
,steele1 in the newly established       
,guardian1 as ,mr4 ,churton  ,collins   
well puts it1 drunk with party spirit1  
had so far forgotten  himself as to     
insert 444 a coarse and ungenerous      
reflection on ,swift4  ,swift sought an 
explanation through ,addison1 but       
,steele's egotism was  stronger than the
 feeling of friendship1 and the insult  
remained for  ,swift to wipe out in ,the
 ,importance of the ',guardian'         
,considered4  ,probably this severance  
from his friend1 due to political       
differences--for ,steele glowed in      
,whiggism--deepened1 if possible1 his   
hatred to ,whigs of whatever degree2 and
 in ,burnet he found another  object for
 his wit4 ,but apart from such a        
suggestion1 there was enough  in the    
,bishop's attitude towards the ,tories  
to rouse ,swift to his task4  ,it was   

not enough that ,burnet should accuse   
his political opponents of  sympathy    
with the ,french1 ,jacobitism1 and      
,popery1 but he must needs  flaunt his  
vanity in issuing1 in advance1 for      
purposes of advertisement1  the         
introduction to a work which was to come
 later4 ,this was enough for  ,swift1   
and the prelate who could smell popery  
at five hundred miles  distance better  
than fanaticism under his nose1 became  
the recipient of  one of the most       
amusing and yet most virulent attacks   
which even that  controversial age      
produced4 ,the whole pamphlet1 ,mr4     
,collins truly  says1 is inimitable4    
,its irony1 its humour1 its drollery1   
are  delicious4    ,it must not1        
however1 be imagined that ,swift's      
opinion of ,burnet is only  that which  
can be gathered from this ,preface4 ,he 
fully appreciated the  sterling         
qualities of scholarship and good       
nature1 since in his  ,remarks on       
,burnet's ,history of ,my ,own ,time1 he

 says3 after all he  was a man of       
generosity and good nature1 and very    
communicative2 but in  his last ten     
years was absolutely party-mad1 and     
fancied he saw ,popery  under every     
bush4 ,lord ,dartmouth has left an      
excellent sketch of  ,burnet's character
 in a note to the ,history of ,my ,own  
,time3 ,bishop  ,burnet was a man of the
 most extensive knowledge ,i ever met   
with2 had  read and seen a great deal1  
with a prodigious memory1 and a very    
indifferent judgment3 he was extremely  
partial1 and readily took  everything   
for granted that he heard to the        
prejudice of those he did  not like3    
which made him pass for a man of less   
truth than he really  was4 ,i do not    
think he designedly published anything  
he believed to be  false4 ,he had a     
boisterous1 vehement manner of          
expressing himself1 which  often made   
him ridiculous1 especially in the ,house
 of ,lords1 when what  he said would not
 have been thought so1 delivered in a   

lower voice1 and  a calmer behaviour4   
,his vast knowledge occasioned his      
frequent rambling  from the point he was
 speaking to1 which ran him into        
discourses of so  universal a nature1   
that there was no end to be expected but
 from a  failure of his strength and    
spirits1 of both which he had a larger  
share  than most men2 which were        
accompanied with a most invincible      
assurance4  7,note to the ,preface of   
,burnet's ,history of ,my ,own ,time1   
vol4 i4 p4  xxxiii1 ,oxford1 #ahig47    
,it may not be altogether out of place  
to give here a short biographical       
sketch of ,bishop ,burnet4    ,gilbert  
,burnet was born at ,edinburgh in #afdc4
 ,he studied first at  ,aberdeen and    
then in ,holland4 ,in #affe1 after he   
was elected a ,fellow of  the ,royal    
,society1 he entered holy orders1 became
 vicar of ,saltoun1 and1  in #affi1     
professor of divinity at ,glasgow4 ,the 
year #afgc found him in  ,london1       
engaged on his ,history of the          

,reformation1 and fulfilling the  duties
 of chaplain to the king1 preacher to   
the ,rolls1 and lecturer of  ,st4       
,clement's4 ,the ,reformation appeared  
in three folio volumes2 the  first in   
#afgi1 the second in #afha1 and the     
third in #agad4 ,he had already  written
 the ,lives of the ,dukes of ,hamilton1 
the ,life of ,sir ,matthew  ,hale1 and a
 ,life of the ,earl of ,rochester4      
,getting into some  political trouble he
 was deprived of his offices1 and left  
,england for  the continent4 ,after     
travelling in ,france he settled in     
,holland1 and  married a ,dutch lady4   
,when the ,prince of ,orange came to    
,england to  assume the government of   
the country1 ,burnet accompanied him1   
and in  #afhi was installed into the    
bishopric of ,salisbury4 ,evidently he  
had too  zealous a sentiment for        
,william and ,mary1 for his pastoral    
letter to the  clergy of his diocese1   
commenting on the new sovereign1 was    
condemned by  the parliament1 and       

ordered to be burnt by the common       
hangman4 ,he  married again1 on the     
death of his ,dutch wife1 a rich widow1 
,mrs4  ,berkeley1 who was his third     
spouse--hence ,swift's caustic          
reference4 ,he  died ,march #agth1      
#agad-ae4 ,in addition to his histories 
of the  ,reformation and his own times1 
he wrote an ,exposition of the          
,thirty-,nine ,articles 7#afii71 the    
,life of ,bishop ,bedell and the other  
lives already named1 and several sermons
 and controversial pieces4    ,the text 
of this pamphlet is that of the first   
edition1 collated with1  those given by 
,faulkner1 ,hawkesworth1 the            
,miscellanies of #agde1 and  ,scott4 ,it
 was originally published in #agac4     
,t4,s4        ,a    ,,preface#a    ,t ,o
   ,t ,h ,e    ,b--p of ,s--r--m's      
,,introduction    ,to the ,third ,volume
 of the    ,history of the ,reformation 
of the    ,church of ,england4    ,by   
,,gregory ,,misosarvm4    ----,spargere 
voces    ,in vulgum ambiguas2  quaerere 

confcius arma4    ,the ,second ,edition 
,,london3    ,printed for ,john         
,morphew1 near ,stationers ,hall4 #agac4
 ,price  #f;d4      ,,the  ,,preface4#b 
,,mr4 ,,morphew1    ,your care in       
putting an advertisement in the         
,,examiner has been of  great use to me4
 ,i do now send you my ,preface to the  
,b----p of  ,s----r----m's              
,,introduction to his third volume1     
which ,i desire you to  print in such a 
form1 as in the bookseller's phrase will
 make a sixpenny  touch2 hoping it will 
give such a public notice of my design1 
that it  may come into the hands of     
those who perhaps look not into the     
,b----p's  ,introduction4 ,i desire you 
will prefix to this a passage out of    
,virgil1  which does so perfectly agree 
with my present thoughts of his         
,l----dsh----p1 that ,i cannot express  
them better1 nor more truly1 than  those
 words do4    ,i am1 ,sir1    ,your most
 humble servant1    ,g4 ,,misosarum4    
,footnote #a3 ,mr4 ,nichols quotes from 

the ,speculum ,sarisburianum1 ,that  the
 frequent and hasty repetitions of such 
prefaces and introductions1  no less    
than three new ones in about one year's 
time1 beside an old  serviceable one    
republished concerning persecution--are 
preludes to  other practical things1    
beside pastoral cares1 sermons1 and     
histories4  ,t4 ,s4    ,footnote #b3    
,this preface to the bookseller is in   
imitation of the  bishop's own preface  
to the bookseller in the ,introduction1 
which was  signed ,g4 ,sarum4 ,t4 ,s4   
,this way of publishing introductions to
 books that are1 ,god knows when1  to   
come out1 is either wholly new1 or so   
long unpractised1 that my small  reading
 cannot trace it4 ,however we are to    
suppose1 that a person of his           
,lordship's great age and experience1   
would hardly act such a piece of        
singularity without some extraordinary  
motives4 ,i cannot but observe1  that   
his fellow-labourer1 the author of the  
paper called ,the  ,englishman1#c seems1

 in some of his late performances1 to   
have almost  transcribed the notions of 
the ,bishop3 these notions1 ,i take to  
have  been dictated by the same masters1
 leaving to each writer that peculiar   
manner of expressing himself1 which the 
poverty of our language forces  me to   
call their style4 ,when the ,guardian   
changed his title1 and  professed to    
engage in faction1 ,i was sure the word 
was given1 that  grand preparations were
 making against next sessions2 that all 
advantages would be taken of the little 
dissensions reported to be among  those 
in power2 and that the ,guardian would  
soon be seconded by some  other         
piqueerers#d from the same camp4 ,but ,i
 will confess1 my  suspicions did not   
carry me so far as to conjecture that   
this venerable  champion would be in    
such mighty haste to come into the      
field1 and serve  in the quality of an  
enfant perdu1#e armed only with a pocket
 pistol1  before his great blunderbuss  
could be got ready1 his old rusty       

breastplate scoured1 and his cracked    
headpiece mended4    ,footnote #c3      
,steele4    ,footnote #d3 ,piqueerer    
pickeerer 7modern7  a marauder1 a       
skirmisher  in advance of an army4 ,from
 ,french picorer  to maraud4 ,t4,s4     
,footnote #e3 ,enfant perdu1 one of the 
advanced guard2 or1 as  ,hawkesworth    
notes it1 one of the forlorn hope4      
,t4,s4    ,i was debating with myself1  
whether this hint of producing a small  
pamphlet to give notice of a large      
folio1 was not borrowed from the        
ceremonial in ,spanish romances1 where a
 dwarf is sent out upon the  battlements
 to signify to all passengers1 what a   
mighty giant there is  in the castle2 or
 whether the ,bishop copied this        
proceeding from the  fanfarronade of    
,monsieur ,boufflers1 when the ,earl of 
,portland and that  general had an      
interview4 ,several men were appointed  
at certain periods  to ride in great    
haste toward the ,english camp1 and cry 
out1  ,monseigneur vient1 ,monseigneur  

vient3 ,then1 small parties advanced    
with the same speed and the same cry1   
and this foppery held for many  hours1  
until the mareschal himself arrived4 ,so
 here1 the ,bishop 7as we  find by his  
dedication to ,mr4 ,churchill the       
bookseller7 has for a long  time sent   
warning of his arrival by advertisements
 in ,gazettes1 and  now his             
,introduction advances to tell us again1
 ,monseigneur vient3 ,in  the mean time1
 we must gape and wait and gaze the     
,lord knows how long1  and keep our     
spirits in some reasonable agitation1   
until his ,lordship's  real self shall  
think fit to appear in the habit of a   
folio4    ,i have seen the same sort of 
management at a puppet-show4 ,some      
puppets  of little or no consequence    
appeared several times at the window to 
allure the boys and the rabble3 ,the    
trumpeter sounded often1 and the        
doorkeeper cried a hundred times till he
 was hoarse1 that they were just  going 
to begin2 yet after all1 we were forced 

sometimes to wait an hour  before ,punch
 himself in person made his entry4      
,but why this ceremony among old        
acquaintance8 ,the world and he have    
long  known one another3 ,let him       
appoint his hour and make his visit1    
without  troubling us all day with a    
succession of messages from his laqueys 
and  pages4    ,with submission1 these  
little arts of getting off an edition1  
do ill  become any author above the size
 of ,marten#f the surgeon4 ,my ,lord    
tells  us1 that many thousands of the   
two former parts of his ,history are in 
the kingdom1#g and now he perpetually   
advertises in the gazette1 that  he     
intends to publish the third3 ,this is  
exactly in the method and style  of     
,marten3 ,the seventh edition 7many     
thousands of the former editions  having
 been sold off in a small time7 of ,mr4 
,marten's book concerning  secret       
diseases1 c4    ,footnote #f3 ,this is  
,john ,marten1 the author of two        
treatises on the  gout1 and a ,treatise 

of all the ,degrees and ,symptoms of the
 ,venereal  ,disease 7#agjh8-i74 ,his   
notoriety brought on him the ire of a   
licens'd  practitioner in physick and   
surgery1 one ,j4 ,spinke1 who1 in a     
pamphlet  entitled ,quackery ,unmask'd  
7#agji71 dealt ,marten some most        
uncourteous  blows4 ,from the pamphlet1 
it is difficult to judge whether ,spinke
 or  ,marten were the greater quack2 we 
should judge the former4 ,certainly     
,marten deserves our sympathy1 if only  
for ,spinke's virulence4 ,t4,s4         
,footnote #g3 ,page #bf4    ,does his   
,lordship intend to publish his great   
volume by subscription1  and is this    
,introduction only by way of specimen8  
,i was inclined to  think so1 because1  
in the prefixed letter to ,mr4          
,churchill1 which  introduces this      
,introduction1 there are some dubious   
expressions3 ,he  says1 the             
advertisements he published were in     
order to move people to  furnish him    
with materials1 which might help him to 

finish his work with  great advantage4  
,if he means half-a-guinea upon the     
subscription1 and  t'other half at the  
delivery1 why does he not tell us so in 
plain terms8    ,i am wondering how it  
came to pass1 that this diminutive      
letter to ,mr4  ,churchill should       
understand the business of introducing  
better than the  ,introduction itself2  
or why the ,bishop did not take it into 
his head to  send the former into the   
world some months before the latter2    
which  would have been a greater        
improvement upon the solemnity of the   
procession8    ,since ,i writ these last
 lines1 ,i have perused the whole       
pamphlet 7which  ,i had only dipped in  
before7 and found ,i have been hunting  
upon a wrong  scent2 for the author hath
 in several parts of his piece1         
discovered the  true motives which put  
him upon sending it abroad at this      
juncture2 ,i  shall therefore consider  
them as they come in my way4    ,my     
,lord begins his ,introduction with an  

account of the reasons why he  was      
guilty of so many mistakes in the first 
volume of his ,history of  the          
,reformation3 ,his excuses are just1    
rational1 and extremely  consistent4 ,he
 says1 he wrote in haste1#h which he    
confirms by  adding1 that it lay a year 
after he wrote it before it was put into
 the  press3#i ,at the same time he     
mentioned a passage extremely to the    
honour of that pious and excellent      
prelate1 ,archbishop ,sancroft1 which   
demonstrates his ,grace to have been a  
person of great sagacity1 and  almost a 
prophet4 ,dr4 ,burnet1 then a private   
divine1 desired admittance  to the      
,cotton library1 but was prevented by   
the archbishop1 who told ,sir  ,john    
,cotton1 that the said doctor was no    
friend to the prerogative of  the crown1
 nor to the constitution of the kingdom4
 ,this judgment was  the more           
extraordinary1 because the doctor had   
not long before published  a book in    
,scotland1 with his name prefixed1 which

 carries the regal  prerogative higher  
than any writer of the age3#aj however1 
the good  archbishop lived to see his   
opinion become universal in the kingdom4
    ,footnote #h3 ,page #f4    ,footnote
 #i3 ,page #aj4    ,footnote #aj3 ,this 
was ,burnet's ,vindication of the       
,authority1  ,constitution1 and ,laws of
 the ,church and ,state of ,scotland1   
dedicated  to the ,duke of ,lauderdale1 
and published in #afgb4 ,the dedication 
contains an eulogium of the duke1 and   
the work a defence of episcopacy  and   
monarchy against ,buchanan and his      
followers4 ,at a later period1 the      
author did not probably recollect this  
juvenile publication with1 much         
complacence4    ,it is somewhat         
remarkable to see the progress of this  
story4 ,in the  first edition of this   
,introduction1 it should seem1 he was   
prevented  by the ,archbishop1 c4 ,when 
the ,introduction was reprinted a year  
after with the ,history1 it stands3 ,a  
great prelate had been  beforehand and  

possessed him ,sir ,john ,cotton against
 me--,that unless  the ,archbishop of   
,canterbury would recommend me--he      
desired to be  excused--,the ,bishop of 
,worcester could not prevail on the     
,archbishop to  interpose4 ,this is     
somewhat less than preventing1 unless   
the ,archbishop  be meant by the great  
prelate4 ,which is not very probable4   
#a4 ,because  in the ,preface to this   
very third volume1 p4 #d1 he says1 ,it  
was by  ,archbishop ,sancroft's order he
 had the free use of everything that lay
  in the ,lambeth ,library4 #b4 ,because
 the ,author of ,speculum               
,sarisburianum 7p4 #f71 tells us1 ,his  
access to the ,library was owing  solely
 to the recommendation of ,archbishop   
,sancroft1 as ,i have been  informed by 
some of the family4 #c4 ,because ,bishop
 ,burnet1 in his  ,history of ,my ,own  
,times1 vol4 i4 p4 #cif1 says it was    
,dolben1 ,bishop  of ,rochester 7at the 
instigation of the ,duke of             
,lauderdale71 that  diverted ,sir ,john 

,cotton from suffering me to search his 
,library4  ,miscellanies1 vol4 viii4    
#agde4    ,the ,bishop goes on for many 
pages1 with an account of certain facts 
relating to the publishing of his two   
former volumes of the ,reformation1  the
 great success of that work1 and the    
adversaries who appeared against  it4   
,these are matters out of the way of my 
reading2 only ,i observe that  poor ,mr4
 ,henry ,wharton1#aa who has deserved so
 well of the commonwealth  of learning1 
and who gave himself the trouble of     
detecting some hundreds  of the         
,bishop's mistakes1 meets with very ill 
quarter from his ,lordship4  ,upon which
 ,i cannot avoid mentioning a peculiar  
method which this  prelate takes to     
revenge himself upon those who presume  
to differ from  him in print4 ,the      
,bishop of ,rochester#ab happened some  
years ago to be  of this number4 ,my    
,lord of ,sarum in his reply ventured to
 tell the  world1 that the gentleman who
 had writ against him1 meaning ,dr      

,atterbury1 was one upon whom he had    
conferred great obligations2 which  was 
a very generous ,christian contrivance  
of charging his adversary with          
ingratitude4 ,but it seems the truth    
happened to be on the other side2  which
 the doctor made appear in such a manner
 as would have silenced his  ,lordship  
for ever1 if he had not been writing    
proof4 ,poor ,mr4 ,wharton in  his grave
 is charged with the same accusation1   
but with circumstances  the most        
aggravating that malice and something   
else could invent#ac2  and which ,i will
 no more believe than five hundred      
passages in a certain  book of          
travels#ad4 ,see the character he gives 
of a divine1 and a  scholar1 who        
shortened his life in the service of    
,god and the church4  ,mr4 ,wharton     
desired me to intercede with ,tillotson 
for a prebend of  ,canterbury4 ,i did   
so1 but ,wharton would not believe it2  
said he would be  revenged1 and so writ 
against me4 ,soon after he was convinced

 ,i had  spoke for him1 said he was set 
on to do what he did1 and1 if ,i would  
procure any thing for him1 he would     
discover every thing to me#ae4  ,what a 
spirit of candour1 charity1 and good    
nature1 generosity1 and  truth1 shines  
through this story1 told of a most      
excellent and pious  divine1 twenty     
years after his death1 without one      
single voucher#af6    ,footnote #aa3    
,henry ,wharton 7#affd-afid-e71 a       
divine1 born at ,worstead1  ,norfolk1   
and educated at ,cambridge4 ,became     
chaplain to ,archbishop  ,sancroft in   
#afhh1 and then rector of ,chartham4    
,wrote ,a ,treatise on the  ,celibacy of
 the ,clergy2 ,the ,enthusiasm of the   
,church of ,rome  demonstrated in the   
,life of ,ignatius ,loyola2 ,a ,defence 
of  ,pluralities2 ,specimen of ,errors  
in ,burnet's ',history of the           
,reformation2' ,anglia ,sacra1 sive     
,collectio ,historiarum2 and ,history   
of ,archbishop ,laud4 ,the criticism on 
,burnet's ,history was written  under   

the nom de guerre of ,anthony ,farmar4  
,t4 ,s4    ,footnote #ab3 ,dr4          
,atterbury4    ,footnote #ac3 ,page #bb4
    ,footnote #ad3 ,burnet's ,travels4  
,footnote #ae3 ,page #bc4    ,footnote  
#af3 ,burnet's account of this matter   
was reprinted in the  ,preface to his   
,history of the ,reformation1 and it    
contains also the  bishop's rejoinder   
against ,wharton's method of criticism  
in the  ,specimen3 ,he had examined the 
dark ages before the ,reformation with  
much diligence1 and so knew many things 
relating to those times beyond  any man 
of the age2 he pretended that he had    
many more errors in  reserve1 and that  
this specimen was only a hasty          
collection of a few1  out of many other 
discoveries he could make4 ,this        
consisted of some  trifling and minute  
differences in some dates and           
transactions of no  importance1 upon    
which nothing depended2 so ,i cannot    
tell whether ,i took  these too easily  
from printed books1 or if ,i committed  

any errors in my  notes taken in the    
several offices4 ,he likewise follows me
 through the  several recapitulations ,i
 had made of the state of things before 
the  ,reformation1 and finds errors and 
omissions in most of these2 he adds     
some things out of papers ,i had never  
seen4 ,the whole was writ with so  much 
malice1 and such contempt1 that ,i must 
give some account of the  man1 and of   
his motives4 ,he had expressed great    
zeal against popery1 in  the end of     
,king ,james's reign1 being then        
chaplain to ,archbishop  ,sancroft1 who1
 as he said1 had promised him the first 
of those prebends  of ,canterbury that  
should fall in his gift3 for when he saw
 that the  archbishop was resolved not  
to take the oaths1 but to forsake the   
post1  he made an earnest application to
 me1 to secure that for him at          
,archbishop ,tillotson's hands4 ,i      
pressed him in it as much as was decent 
for me to do1 but he said he would not  
encourage these aspiring men1 by        

promising any thing1 before it should   
fall2 as indeed none of them fell       
during his time4 ,wharton1 upon this    
answer1 thought ,i had neglected him1   
looking on it as a civil denial1 and    
said he would be revenged2 and so  he   
published that specimen3 upon which1 ,i1
 in a letter that ,i printed1  addressed
 to the present ,bishop of ,worcester1  
charged him again and  again to bring   
forth all that he pretended to have     
reserved at that  time1 for1 till that  
was done1 ,i would not enter upon the   
examination of  that specimen4 ,it was  
received with contempt1 and ,tillotson  
justified my  pressing him to take      
,wharton under his particular protection
 so fully1  that he sent and asked me   
pardon4 ,he said he was set on to it2   
and that1  if ,i would procure any thing
 for him1 he would discover any thing to
 me4  ,i despised that offer1 but said  
that ,i would at any price buy of him   
those discoveries that he pretended to  
have in reserve4 ,but ,mr4 ,chiswell    

7at whose house he then lay7 being sick1
 said he could draw nothing of  that    
from him1 and he believed he had        
nothing4 ,he died about a year          
after4--,,burnet',s ,history of the     
,reformation ,,iii1 vii4 ,t4 ,s4        
,come we now to the reasons1 which moved
 his lordship to set about this  work at
 this time4 ,he could delay it no       
longer1 because the reasons of  his     
engaging in it at first seem to return  
upon him#ag4 ,he was then  frightened   
with the danger of a popish successor in
 view1 and the  dreadful apprehensions  
of the power of ,france4 ,england has   
forgot these  dangers1 and yet is nearer
 to them than ever#ah1 and therefore he 
is  resolved to awaken them with his    
third volume2 but in the mean time1     
sends this ,introduction to let them    
know they are asleep4 ,he then goes  on 
in describing the condition of the      
kingdom#ai1 after such a manner  as if  
destruction hung over us by a single    
hair2 as if the ,pope1 the  devil1 the  

,pretender1 and ,france1 were just at   
our doors4    ,footnote #ag3 ,page #bg4 
,footnote #ah3 ,page #bh4    ,footnote  
#ai3 ,page #bh4    ,when the ,bishop    
published his ,history1 there was a     
popish plot on foot1  the ,duke of ,york
 a known papist was presumptive heir to 
the crown1 the  ,house of ,commons would
 not hear of any expedient for securing 
their  religion under a popish prince1  
nor would the ,king or ,lords1 consent  
to  a bill of exclusion3 ,the ,french   
,king was in the height of his grandeur1
  and the vigour of his age4 ,at this   
day the presumptive heir1 with that     
whole illustrious family1 are           
,protestants1 the ,popish ,pretender    
excluded  for ever by several acts of   
,parliament1 and every person in the    
smallest  employment1 as well as the    
members in both ,houses1 obliged to     
abjure  him4 ,the ,french ,king is at   
the lowest ebb of life2 his armies have 
been  conquered and his towns won from  
him for ten years together1 and his     

kingdom is in danger of being torn by   
divisions during a long minority4  ,are 
these cases parallel8 ,or are we now in 
more danger of ,france and  popery than 
we were thirty years ago8 ,what can be  
the motive for  advancing such false1   
such detestable assertions8 ,what       
conclusions would  his ,lordship draw   
from such premises as these8 ,if        
injurious appellations  were of any     
advantage to a cause1 7as the style of  
our adversaries would  make us believe7 
what appellations would those deserve   
who thus  endeavour to sow the seeds of 
sedition1 and are impatient to see the  
fruits8 ,but1 saith he#bj1 the deaf     
adder stops her ear let the  charmer    
charm never so wisely4 ,true1 my ,lord1 
there are indeed too many  adders in    
this nation's bosom1 adders in all      
shapes1 and in all habits1  whom neither
 the ,queen nor parliament can charm to 
loyalty1 truth1  religion1 or honour4   
,footnote #bj3 ,page #bh4 ,among other  
instances produced by him of the  dismal

 condition we are in1 he offers one     
which could not easily be  guessed4 ,it 
is this3 ,that the little factious      
pamphlets written about  the end of     
,king ,charles ,,ii's reign1 lie dead in
 shops1 are looked on as  waste paper1  
and turned to pasteboard4 ,how many are 
there of his  ,lordship's writings which
 could otherwise never have been of any 
real  service to the public8 ,has he    
indeed so mean an opinion of our taste1 
to  send us at this time of day into all
 the corners of ,holborn1 ,duck ,lane1  
and ,moorfields1 in quest after the     
factious trash published in those  days 
by ,julian ,johnson1 ,hickeringil1 ,dr4 
,oates1 and himself#ba8    ,footnote    
#ba3 ,the ,rev4 ,samuel ,johnson1       
degraded from his clerical  rank1       
scourged1 and imprisoned1 for a work    
called ,julian's ,arts to  undermine    
,christianity1 in which he drew a       
parallel between that  apostate and     
,james1 then ,duke of ,york4 ,s4        
,edmund ,hickeringil1 a fanatic preacher

 at ,colchester4 ,he appears1 from  the 
various pamphlets which he wrote during 
the reigns of ,charles ,,ii4  and his   
brother1 to have been a meddling crazy  
fool4 ,he was born in  ,essex1 #afcj1   
and was educated at ,cambridge4 ,he     
entered the army1 and  went to ,jamaica1
 of which place he wrote a very curious 
account4  ,afterwards he entered holy   
orders1 and became rector of ,all       
,saints1  ,colchester4 ,he was a most   
eccentric individual4 ,t4 ,s4    ,his   
,lordship1 taking it for a postulatum1  
that the ,queen and ministry1  both     
,houses of ,parliament1 and a vast      
majority of the landed gentlemen        
throughout ,england are running headlong
 into ,popery1 lays hold on the         
occasion to describe the cruelties in   
,queen ,mary's reign1 an  inquisition   
setting up faggots in ,smithfield1 and  
executions all over  the kingdom4 ,here 
is that 7says he7 which those that look 
toward a  popish successor must look    
for4#bb ,and he insinuates through his  

whole  pamphlet1 that all who are not of
 his party1 look toward a popish        
successor4 ,these he divides into two   
parts1 the ,tory laity1 and the  ,tory  
clergy4 ,he tells the former1 though    
they have no religion at all1  but      
resolve to change with every wind and   
tide2 yet they ought to have  compassion
 on their countrymen and kindred4#bc    
,then he applies himself  to the ,tory  
clergy1 assures them1 that the fires    
revived in ,smithfield1  and all over   
the nation1 will have no amiable view2  
but least of all to  them1 who if they  
have any principle at all1 must be      
turned out of their  livings1 leave     
their families1 be hunted from place to 
place into parts  beyond the seas1 and  
meet with that contempt with which they 
treated  foreigners who took sanctuary  
among us4    ,footnote #bb3 ,page #cf4  
,footnote #bc3 ,page #cf4    ,this      
requires a recapitulation1 with some    
remarks4 ,first1 ,i do affirm1  that of 
every hundred professed atheists1       

deists1 and socinians in the  kingdom1  
ninety-nine at least are staunch        
thorough-paced ,whigs1 entirely         
agreeing with his ,lordship in politics 
and discipline2 and therefore  will     
venture all the fires of hell1 rather   
than singe one hair of their  beards in 
,smithfield4 ,secondly1 ,i do likewise  
affirm1 that those whom we  usually     
understand by the appellation of ,tory  
or high-church clergy1  were the        
greatest sticklers against the          
exorbitant proceedings of ,king  ,james1
 the best writers against popery1 and   
the most exemplary sufferers  for the   
established religion4 ,thirdly1 ,i do   
pronounce it to be a most  false and    
infamous scandal upon the nation in     
general1 and on the clergy  in          
particular1 to reproach them for        
treating foreigners with  haughtiness   
and contempt3 ,the ,french ,huguenots   
are many thousand  witnesses to the     
contrary2 and ,i wish they deserved a   
thousandth part of  the good treatment  

they have received4#bd    ,footnote #bd3
 ,swift's disparaging reference to the  
,huguenots must be put  down to the fact
 that he included them among            
,dissenters1 on account of  their       
,calvinism4 ,t4 ,s4    ,lastly1 ,i      
observe that the author of the paper    
called ,the ,englishman1  hath run into 
the same cant1 gravely advising the     
whole body of the  clergy not to bring  
in ,popery1 because that will put them  
under a  necessity of parting with their
 wives1 or losing their livings4    ,the
 bulk of the kingdom1 both clergy and   
laity1 happens to differ  extremely from
 this prelate1 in many principles both  
of politics and  religion3 ,now ,i ask1 
whether if any man of them had signed   
his name to a  system of atheism1 or    
,popery1 he could have argued with them 
otherwise  than he does8 ,or1 if ,i     
should write a grave letter to his      
,lordship with  the same advice1 taking 
it for granted that he was half an      
atheist1 and  half a papist1 and        

conjuring him by all he held dear to    
have compassion  upon all those who     
believed a ,god1 not to revive the fires
 in  ,smithfield1 that he must either   
forfeit his bishopric1 or not marry a   
fourth wife2#be ,i ask whether he would 
not think ,i intended him the  highest  
injury and affront8    ,footnote #be3   
,bishop ,burnet had already been married
 three times4 ,t4  ,s4    ,but as to the
 ,tory laity2 he gives them up in a lump
 for abandoned  atheists3 ,they are a   
set of men so impiously corrupted in the
 point of  religion1 that no scene of   
cruelty can fright them from leaping    
into it  ,popery and perhaps acting such
 a part in it1 as may be assigned       
them4#bf ,he therefore despairs of      
influencing them by any topics drawn    
from religion or compassion1 and        
advances the consideration of interest1 
as the only powerful argument to        
persuade them against ,popery4          
,footnote #bf3 ,page #cg4    ,what he   
offers upon this head is so very amazing

 from a ,christian1 a  clergyman1 and a 
prelate of the ,church of ,england1 that
 ,i must in my own  imagination strip   
him of those three capacities1 and put  
him among the  number of that set of men
 he mentions in the paragraph before2 or
 else  it will be impossible to shape   
out an answer4    ,his ,lordship1 in    
order to dissuade the ,tories from their
 design of  bringing in ,popery1 tells  
them1 how valuable a part of the whole  
soil  of ,england1 the abbey lands1 the 
estates of the bishops1 of the          
cathedrals1 and the tithes are2#bg how  
difficult such a resumption  would be to
 many families2 yet all these must be   
thrown up2 for  sacrilege in the church 
of ,rome1 is a mortal sin4 ,i desire it 
may be  observed1 what a jumble here is 
made of ecclesiastical revenues1 as if  
they were all upon the same foot1 were  
alienated with equal justice1 and  the  
clergy had no more reason to complain of
 the one than the other4  ,whereas the  
four branches mentioned by him are of   

very different  consideration4 ,if ,i   
might venture to guess the opinion of   
the clergy  upon this matter1 ,i believe
 they could wish that some small part of
 the  abbey lands had been applied to   
the augmentation of poor bishoprics1 and
  a very few acres to serve for glebes  
in those parishes where there are  none2
 after which ,i think they would not    
repine that the laity should  possess   
the rest4 ,if the estates of some       
bishops and cathedrals were  exorbitant 
before the ,reformation1 ,i believe the 
present clergy's wishes  reach no       
further than that some reasonable temper
 had been used1 instead  of paring them 
to the quick3 ,but as to the tithes1    
without examining  whether they be of   
divine institution1 ,i conceive there is
 hardly one of  that sacred order in    
,england1 and very few even among the   
laity that  love the ,church1 who will  
not allow the misapplying of those      
revenues to  secular persons1 to have   
been at first a most flagrant act of    

injustice  and oppression3 ,though at   
the same time1 ,god forbid they should  
be  restored any other way than by      
gradual purchase1 by the consent of     
those  who are now the lawful           
possessors1 or by the piety and         
generosity of  such worthy spirits as   
this nation sometimes produceth4 ,the   
,bishop knows  very well that the       
application of tithes to the maintenance
 of  monasteries1 was a scandalous      
usurpation even in popish times3 ,that  
the  monks usually sent out some of     
their fraternity to supply the cures2   
and  that when the monasteries were     
granted away by ,henry ,,viii41 the     
parishes  were left destituted1 or very 
meanly provided of any maintenance for a
  pastor3 ,so that in many places1 the  
whole ecclesiastical dues1 even to      
mortuaries1 ,easter-offerings1 and the  
like1 are in lay hands1 and the         
incumbent lies wholly at the mercy of   
his patron for his daily bread4 ,by     
these means there are several hundred   

parishes in ,england under #bj a  year1 
and many under ten4 ,i take his         
,lordship's bishopric to be worth  near 
#b1ejj annual income2 and ,i will engage
 at half a year's warning to  find him  
above #bjj beneficed clergymen who have 
not so much among them  all to support  
themselves and their families2 most of  
them orthodox1 of  good life and        
conversation1 as loth to see the fires  
kindled in  ,smithfield1 as his         
,lordship1 and at least as ready to face
 them under a  popish persecution4 ,but 
nothing is so hard for those who abound 
in  riches1 as to conceive how others   
can be in want4 ,how can the            
neighbouring vicar feel cold or hunger1 
while my ,lord is seated by a  good fire
 in the warmest room in his palace1 with
 a dozen dishes before  him8 ,i remember
 one other prelate much of the same     
stamp2 who when his  clergy would       
mention their wishes that some act of   
parliament might be  thought of for the 
good of the ,church1 would say1         

,gentlemen1 we are  very well as we are2
 if they would let us alone1 we should  
ask no  more4#bh    ,footnote #bg3 ,page
 #ch4    ,footnote #bh3 ,scott1 in a    
note1 thinks this reflection on ,burnet 
to be  unjust1 because of that prelate's
 zeal in forwarding a scheme in #agjd   
for ,improving the livings of the poorer
 clergy4 ,t4 ,s4    ,sacrilege 7says my 
,lord7 in the church of ,rome1 is a     
mortal sin2#bi  and is it only so in the
 church of ,rome8 ,or is it but a venial
 sin in  the ,church of ,england8 ,our  
litany calls fornication a deadly sin2  
and ,i  would appeal to his ,lordship   
for fifty years past1 whether he thought
  that or sacrilege the deadliest8 ,to  
make light of such a sin1 at the  same  
moment that he is frighting us from an  
idolatrous religion1 should  seem not   
very consistent4 ,thou that sayest1 a   
man should not commit  adultery1 dost   
thou commit adultery8 ,thou that        
abhorrest idols1 dost  thou commit      
sacrilege8    ,footnote #bi3 ,page #ch4 

,to smooth the way for the return of    
,popery in ,queen ,mary's time1 the     
grantees were confirmed by the ,pope in 
the possession of the abbey  lands4 ,but
 the ,bishop tells us1 that this        
confirmation was fraudulent  and invalid
 ,i shall believe it to be so1 though ,i
 happen to read in his  ,lordship's     
history3 ,but he adds1 that although the
 confirmation had been  good1 the       
priests would have got their land again 
by these two methods2  first1#cj the    
,statute of ,mortmain was repealed for  
#bj years1 in which  time no doubt they 
reckoned they would recover the best    
part of what  they had lost2 besides    
that1 engaging the clergy to renew no   
leases1 was  a thing entirely in their  
own power1 and this in forty years time 
would  raise their revenues to be about 
ten times their present value4 ,these   
two expedients for increasing the       
revenues of the ,church1 he represents  
as pernicious designs1 fit only to be   
practised in times of ,popery1 and  such

 as the laity ought never to consent to3
 ,whence1 and from what he  said before 
about tithes1 his ,lordship has freely  
declared his opinion1  that the clergy  
are rich enough1 and that the least     
addition to their  subsistence would be 
a step toward ,popery4 ,now it happens1 
that the two  only methods1 which could 
be thought on1 with any probability of  
success1 toward some reasonable         
augmentation of ecclesiastical revenues1
  are here rejected by a ,bishop1 as a  
means for introducing ,popery1 and  the 
nation publicly warned against them4    
,the continuance of the ,statute  of    
,mortmain in full force1 after the      
,church had been so terribly  stripped1 
appeared to ,her ,majesty and the       
kingdom a very unnecessary  hardship2   
upon which account it was at several    
times relaxed by the  legislature4 ,now 
as the relaxation of that statute is    
manifestly one of  the reasons which    
gives the ,bishop those terrible        
apprehensions of  ,popery coming on us2 

so ,i conceive another ground of his    
fears1 is the  remission of the         
first-fruits and tenths4 ,but where the 
inclination to  ,popery lay1 whether in 
,her ,majesty who proposed this         
benefaction1 the  parliament which      
confirmed1 or the clergy who accepted   
it1 his ,lordship  hath not thought fit 
to determine4    ,footnote #cj3 ,page   
#ci4    ,the other popish expedient for 
augmenting church-revenues1 is engaging 
the clergy to renew no leases4#ca       
,several of the most eminent  clergymen 
have assured me1 that nothing has been  
more wished for by good  men1 than a law
 to prevent 7at least7 bishops from     
setting leases for  lives4 ,i could name
 ten bishoprics in ,england whose       
revenues one with  another do not amount
 to #fjj a-year for each2 and if his    
lordship's1  for instance1 would be     
above ten times the value when the lives
 are  expired1 ,i should think the      
overplus would not be ill disposed      
toward an  augmentation of such as are  

now shamefully poor4 ,but ,i do assert1 
that  such an expedient was not always  
thought popish and dangerous by this    
right reverend historian4 ,i have had   
the honour formerly to converse  with   
him2 and he has told me several years   
ago1 that he lamented  extremely the    
power which bishops had of letting      
leases for lives1  whereby1 as he said1 
they were utterly deprived of raising   
their  revenues1 whatever alterations   
might happen in the value of money by   
length of time3 ,i think the reproach of
 betraying private conversation  will   
not upon this account be laid to my     
charge4 ,neither do ,i believe he  would
 have changed his opinion upon any      
score1 but to take up another1  more    
agreeable to the maxims of his party2   
that the least addition of  property to 
the ,church1 is one step toward ,popery4
    ,footnote #ca3 ,page #ci4    ,the   
,bishop goes on with much earnestness   
and prolixity to prove that the  ,pope's
 confirmation of the church lands to    

those who held them by ,king  ,henry's  
donation1 was null and fraudulent3      
,which is a point that ,i  believe no   
,protestant in ,england would give      
threepence to have his  choice whether  
it should be true or false3 ,it might   
indeed serve as a  passage in his       
history1 among a thousand other         
instances1 to detect the  knavery of the
 court of ,rome2 but ,i ask1 where could
 be the use of it in  this              
,introduction8 ,or why all this haste in
 publishing it at this  juncture2 and so
 out of all method apart1 and before the
 work itself8 ,he  gives his reasons in 
very plain terms2 we are now1 it seems1 
in more  danger of ,popery than toward  
the end of ,king ,charles ,,ii4's reign4
 ,that  set of men 7the ,tories7 is so  
impiously corrupted in the point of     
religion1 that no scene of cruelty can  
fright them from leaping into it1  and  
perhaps from acting such a part in it as
 may be assigned them4#cb  ,he doubts   
whether the ,high-,church clergy have   

any principles1 and  therefore will be  
ready to turn off their wives1 and look 
on the fires  kindled in ,smithfield as 
an amiable view4 ,these are the facts he
 all  along takes for granted1 and      
argues accordingly2 therefore1 in       
despair  of dissuading the nobility and 
gentry of the land from introducing     
,popery by any motives of honour1       
religion1 alliance or mercy1 he assures 
them1 that the ,pope has not duly       
confirmed their titles to the church    
lands in their possession1 which        
therefore must infallibly be restored1  
as soon as that religion is established 
among us4    ,footnote #cb3 ,page #cg4  
,thus1 in his ,lordship's opinion1 there
 is nothing wanting to make the         
majority of the kingdom1 both for       
number1 quality and possession1         
immediately embrace ,popery1 except a   
firm bull from the ,pope1 to  secure the
 abbey and other church lands and tithes
 to the present  proprietors and their  
heirs2 if this only difficulty could now

 be  adjusted1 the ,pretender would be  
restored next session1 the two ,houses  
reconciled to the church of ,rome       
against ,easter term1 and the fires     
lighted in ,smithfield by ,midsummer4   
,such horrible calumnies against a      
nation are not the less injurious to    
decency1 good-nature1 truth1  honour1   
and religion1 because they may be vented
 with safety4 ,and ,i will  appeal to   
any reader of common understanding1     
whether this be not the  most natural   
and necessary deduction from the        
passages ,i have cited and  referred to4
    ,yet all this is but friendly       
dealing1 in comparison with what he     
affords  the clergy upon the same       
article4 ,he supposes#cc all that       
reverend  body1 who differ from him in  
principles of church or state1 so far   
from  disliking ,popery1 upon the       
above-mentioned motives of perjury1     
quitting  their wives1 or burning their 
relations2 that the hopes of enjoying   
the abbey lands would soon bear down all

 such considerations1 and be an         
effectual incitement to their           
perversion2 and so he goes gravely on1  
as  with the only argument which he     
thinks can have any force1 to assure    
them1 that the parochial priests in     
,roman ,catholic countries are much     
poorer than in ours1 the several orders 
of regulars1 and the  magnificence of   
their church1 devouring all their       
treasure1 and by  consequence their     
hopes are vain of expecting to be richer
 after the  introduction of ,popery4    
,footnote #cc3 ,page #df4    ,but after 
all1 his ,lordship despairs1 that even  
this argument will have  any force with 
our abominable clergy1 because1 to use  
his own words1  ,they are an insensible 
and degenerate race1 who are thinking of
 nothing  but their present advantages2 
and so that they may now support a      
luxurious and brutal course of irregular
 and voluptuous practices1 they  are    
easily hired to betray their religion1  
to sell their country1 and  give up that

 liberty and those properties1 which are
 the present  felicities and glories of 
this nation4#cd ,he seems to reckon all 
these  evils as matters fully determined
 on1 and therefore falls into the last  
usual form of despair1 by threatening   
the authors of these miseries with      
lasting infamy1 and the curses of       
posterity upon perfidious betrayers  of 
their trust4#ce    ,footnote #cd3 ,page 
#dg4    ,footnote #ce3 ,page #dg4       
,let me turn this paragraph into vulgar 
language for the use of the poor1  and  
strictly adhere to the sense of the     
words4 ,i believe it may be  faithfully 
translated in the following manner3 ,the
 bulk of the clergy1  and one-third of  
the bishops1 are stupid sons of whores1 
who think of  nothing but getting money 
as soon as they can3 ,if they may but   
produce  enough to supply them in       
gluttony1 drunkenness1 and whoring1 they
 are  ready to turn traitors to ,god and
 their country1 and make their          
fellow-subjects slaves4 ,the rest of the

 period1 about threatening  infamy1 and 
the curses of posterity upon such dogs  
and villains1 may  stand as it does in  
the ,bishop's own phrase1 and so make   
the paragraph  all of a piece4    ,i    
will engage1 on the other side1 to      
paraphrase all the rogues and  rascals  
in the ,englishman1 so as to bring them 
up exactly to his  ,lordship's style3   
,but1 for my own part1 ,i much prefer   
the plain  ,billingsgate way of calling 
names1 because it expresses our meaning 
full  as well1 and would save abundance 
of time which is lost by                
circumlocution2 so1 for instance1 ,john 
,dunton1#cf who is retained on  the same
 side with the ,bishop1 calls my        
,lord-treasurer and ,lord  ,bolingbroke1
 traitors1 whoremasters1 and ,jacobites1
 which three words  cost our right      
reverend author thrice as many lines to 
define them2 and  ,i hope his ,lordship 
does not think there is any difference  
in point of  morality1 whether a man    
calls me traitor in one word1 or says ,i

 am one  hired to betray my religion and
 sell my country4#cg    ,footnote #cf3  
,see note on p4 #ej of vol4 i4 of this  
edition of ,swift's  works4 ,t4,s4      
,footnote #cg3 ,page #ea4    ,i am not  
surprised to see the ,bishop mention    
with contempt all  ,convocations of the 
,clergy2#ch for ,toland1 ,collins1      
,tindal1#ci and  others of the          
fraternity1 talk the very same language4
 ,his ,lordship  confesses he is not    
inclined to expect much from the        
assemblies of  clergymen4 ,there lies   
the misfortune2 for if he and some more 
of his  order would correct their       
inclinations1 a great deal of good might
 be  expected from such assemblies1 as  
much as they are now cramped by that    
submission1 which a corrupt clergy      
brought upon their innocent  successors4
 ,he will not deny that his copiousness 
in these matters is1  in his own        
opinion1 one of the meanest parts of his
 new work4 ,i will  agree with him1     
unless he happens to be more copious in 

any thing  else4 ,however1 it is not    
easy to conceive why he should be so    
copious  upon a subject he so much      
despises1 unless it were to gratify his 
talent  of railing at the clergy1 in the
 number of whom he disdains to be       
reckoned1 because he is a ,bishop4 ,for 
it is a style ,i observe some  prelates 
have fallen into of late years1 to talk 
of clergymen as if  themselves were not 
of the number3 ,you will read in many of
 their  speeches at ,dr4                
,sacheverel's#dj trial1 expressions to  
this or the like  effect3 ,my lords1 if 
clergymen be suffered1 c4 wherein they  
seem to  have reason2 and ,i am pretty  
confident1 that a great majority of the 
clergy were heartily inclined to disown 
any relation they had to the  managers  
in lawn4 ,however1 it was a confounding 
argument against  ,presbytery1 that     
those who are most suspected to lean    
that way1 treating  their inferior      
brethren with haughtiness1 rigour1 and  
contempt3  ,although1 to say the truth1 

nothing better could be hoped for2      
because1  ,i believe1 it may pass for a 
universal rule1 that in every diocese   
governed by bishops of the ,whig        
species1 the clergy 7especially the     
poorer sort7 are under double           
discipline1 and the laity left to       
themselves4 ,the opinion of ,sir ,thomas
 ,more1 which he produces to prove  the 
ill consequences or insignificancy of   
,convocations1 advances no such  thing1 
but says1 if the clergy assembled often1
 and might act as other  assemblies of  
clergy in ,christendom1 much good might 
have come3 but the  misfortune lay in   
their long disuse1 and that in his own  
and a good part  of his father's time1  
they never came together1 except at the 
command of  the prince4#da    ,footnote 
#ch3 ,page #dg4    ,footnote #ci3 ,see  
note1 p4 #i4 ,t4,s4    ,footnote #dj3   
,henry ,sacheverell1 ,d4,d41 was        
educated at ,marlborough and  ,oxford4  
,at ,magdalen ,college he was a         
fellow-student with ,addison1 and       

obtained there his fellowship and       
doctor's degree4 ,in #agji he preached  
two sermons1 one at the ,derby ,assizes1
 and the other at ,st4 ,paul's1 in      
which he urged the imminent danger of   
the ,church4 ,for these sermons1  which 
the parliament considered highly        
inflammatory1 he was1 by the  ,house of 
,commons1 at the instigation of         
,godolphin1 impeached1 and tried  before
 the ,lords in #agaj4 ,he was found     
guilty of a misdemeanour1 and was       
suspended from preaching for three      
years4 ,the trial made a great stir at  
the time1 and served but to increase the
 popularity of a man who1 had he  been  
let alone1 would1 probably1 never have  
been heard of4 ,he died in  #agbd1      
holding the living of ,st4 ,andrew1     
,holborn1 to which he was  presented    
after the expiration of his sentence4   
,t4,s4    ,footnote #da3 ,see ,sir      
,thomas ,more's ,apology1 #aecc1 p4     
#bda4    ,i suppose his lordship thinks1
 there is some original impediment in   

the  study of divinity1 or secret       
incapacity in a gown and cassock without
  lawn1 which disqualifies all inferior 
clergymen from debating upon  subjects  
of doctrine or discipline in the church4
 ,it is a famous saying  of his1 that he
 looks upon every layman to be an honest
 man1 until he  is by experience        
convinced to the contrary2 and on every 
clergyman as a  knave1 till he finds him
 to be an honest man4 ,what opinion then
 must we  have of a ,lower ,house of    
,convocation3#db where ,i am confident  
he will  hardly find three persons that 
ever convinced him of their honesty1 or 
will ever be at the pains to do it8     
,nay1 ,i am afraid they would think     
such a conviction might be no very      
advantageous bargain1 to gain the       
character of an honest man with his     
,lordship1 and lose it with the rest  of
 the world4    ,footnote #db3 ,it must  
not be forgotten1 that1 during the reign
 of ,queen  ,anne1 the body of the      
clergy were high-church men2 but the    

bishops1 who  had chiefly been promoted 
since the ,revolution1 were ,whiggish in
  politics1 and moderate in their       
sentiments of church government4 ,hence 
the ,upper and ,lower ,houses of        
,convocation rarely agreed in sentiment 
on  affairs of church or state4 ,t4 ,s4 
,in the famous ,concordate that was made
 between ,francis ,i4 of ,france and    
,pope ,leo ,x41 the ,bishop tells us1   
that the king and pope came to a        
bargain1 by which they divided the      
liberties of the ,gallican ,church      
between them1 and indeed quite enslaved 
it4#dc ,he intends1 in the  third part  
of his ,history which he is going to    
publish1 to open this  whole matter to  
the world4 ,in the mean time1 he        
mentions some ill  consequences to the  
,gallican ,church from that ,concordate1
 which are  worthy to be observed2 ,the 
church of ,france became a slave1 and   
this  change in their constitution put  
an end not only to national1 but even   
to provincial synods in that kingdom4   

,the assemblies of the clergy  there1   
meet now only to give subsidies1 c4 and 
he says1 our nation  may see by that    
proceeding1 what it is to deliver up the
 essential  liberties of a free         
constitution to a court4 #dd            
,footnote #dc3 ,page #ec4    ,footnote  
#dd3 ,page #ec4    ,all ,i can gather   
from this matter is1 that our ,king     
,henry made a better  bargain than his  
contemporary ,francis1 who divided the  
liberties of the  church between himself
 and the ,pope1 while the ,king of      
,england seized  them all to himself4   
,but how comes he to number the want of 
synods in  the ,gallican church among   
the grievances of that ,concordate1 and 
as a  mark of their slavery1 since he   
reckons all ,convocations of the ,clergy
  in ,england to be useless and         
dangerous8 ,or what difference in point 
of  liberty was there between the       
,gallican ,church under ,francis1 and   
the  ,english under ,harry8 ,for1 the   
latter was as much a papist as the      

former1  unless in the point of         
obedience to the see of ,rome2 and in   
every  quality of a good man1 or a good 
prince1 7except personal courage        
wherein both were equal7 the ,french    
monarch had the advantage by as many    
degrees as is possible for one man to   
have over another4    ,henry ,,viii4 had
 no manner of intention to change       
religion in his  kingdom2 he still      
continued to persecute and burn         
,protestants after he  had cast off the 
,pope's supremacy1 and ,i suppose this  
seizure of  ecclesiastical revenues     
7which ,francis never attempted7 cannot 
be  reckoned as a mark of the church's  
liberty4 ,by the quotation the ,bishop  
sets down to show the slavery of the    
,french church1 he represents it as  a  
grievance1 that bishops are not now     
elected there as formerly1 but  wholly  
appointed by the prince2 and that those 
made by the court have  been ordinarily 
the chief advancers of schisms1         
heresies1 and  oppressions of the       

church4 #de ,he cites another passage   
from a ,greek  writer1 and plainly      
insinuates1 that it is justly applicable
 to ,her  ,majesty's reign3 ,princes    
choose such men to that charge of a     
bishop  who may be their slaves1 and in 
all things obsequious to what they      
prescribe2 and may lie at their feet1   
and have not so much as a thought       
contrary to their commands4 #df         
,footnote #de3 ,page #ee4    ,footnote  
#df3 ,page #ee4    ,these are very      
singular passages for his ,lordship to  
set down in order  to show the dismal   
consequences of the ,french ,concordate1
 by the slavery  of the ,gallican       
,church1 compared with the freedom of   
ours4 ,i shall not  enter into a long   
dispute1 whether it were better for     
religion that  bishops should be chosen 
by the clergy1 or people1 or both       
together3 ,i  believe our author would  
give his vote for the second 7which     
however  would not have been of much    
advantage to himself1 and some others   

that ,i  could name74 ,but ,i ask1      
,whether bishops are any more elected in
 ,england  than in ,france8 ,and the    
want of synods are in his own opinion   
rather a  blessing than a grievance1    
unless he will affirm that more good can
 be  expected from a popish synod than  
an ,english ,convocation4 ,did the      
,french  clergy ever receive a greater  
blow to their liberties1 than the       
submission made to ,henry ,,viii41 or so
 great a one as the seizure of  their   
lands8 ,the ,reformation owed nothing to
 the good intentions of ,k4  ,henry3 ,he
 was only an instrument of it1 7as the  
logicians speak7 by  accident2 nor doth 
he appear through his whole reign to    
have had any  other views than those of 
gratifying his insatiable love of power1
  cruelty1 oppression1 and other        
irregular appetites4 ,but this kingdom  
as  well as many other parts of ,europe1
 was1 at that time1 generally weary  of 
the corruptions and impositions of the  
,roman court and church1 and  disposed  

to receive those doctrines which ,luther
 and his followers had  universally     
spread4 ,cranmer the archbishop1        
,cromwell1 and others of the  court1 did
 secretly embrace the ,reformation2 and 
the ,king's abrogating  the ,pope's     
supremacy1 made the people in general   
run into the new  doctrines with greater
 freedom1 because they hoped to be      
supported in it  by the authority and   
example of their prince1 who            
disappointed them so  far that he made  
no other step than rejecting the ,pope's
 supremacy as a  clog upon his own power
 and passions1 but retained every       
corruption  beside1 and became a cruel  
persecutor1 as well of those who denied 
his  own supremacy1 as of all others who
 professed any ,protestant doctrine4    
,neither hath any thing disgusted me    
more in reading the histories of  those 
times1 than to see one of the worst     
princes of any age or country1          
celebrated as an instrument in that     
glorious work of the ,reformation4      

,the ,bishop having gone over all the   
matters that properly fall within  his  
,introduction1 proceeds to expostulate  
with several sorts of  people2#dg ,first
 with ,protestants who are no           
,christians1 such as  atheists1 deists1 
freethinkers1 and the like enemies to   
,christianity4  ,but these he treats    
with the tenderness of a friend1 because
 they are  all of them of sound ,whig   
principles in church and state4         
,however1 to do  him justice1 he lightly
 touches some old topics for the truth  
of the  ,gospel2 and concludes by       
wishing that the freethinkers would     
consider  well1 if 7,anglice1 whether7  
they think it possible to bring a nation
  to be without any religion at all1 and
 what the consequences of that may      
prove2 #dh and in case they allow the   
negative1 he gives it clearly for       
,christianity4    ,footnote #dg3 ,page  
#ef4    ,footnote #dh3 ,page #ei4       
,secondly1 he applies himself 7if ,i    
take his meaning right7 to ,christian   

papists who have a taste of liberty1 and
 desires them to compare the            
absurdities of their own religion with  
the reasonableness of the  reformed3 #di
 ,against which1 as good luck would have
 it1 ,i have  nothing to object4        
,footnote #di3 ,page #ei4    ,thirdly1  
he is somewhat rough against his own    
party1 who having tasted  the sweets of 
,protestant liberty1 can look back so   
tamely on ,popery  coming on them2 it   
looks as if they were bewitched1 or that
 the devil  were in them1 to be so      
negligent4 ,it is not enough that they  
resolve not  to turn papists themselves3
 ,they ought to awaken all about them1  
even  the most ignorant and stupid1 to  
apprehend their danger1 and to exert    
themselves with their utmost industry to
 guard against it1 and to resist  it4   
,if after all their endeavours to       
prevent it1 the corruption of the  age1 
and the art and power of our enemies1   
prove too hard for us1 then1  and not   
until then1 we must submit to the will  

of ,god1 and be silent1  and prepare    
ourselves for all the extremity of      
suffering and of  misery3#ej with a     
great deal more of the same strain4     
,footnote #ej3 ,pages #fj1 #fa4    ,with
 due submission to the profound sagacity
 of this prelate1 who can  smell ,popery
 at #ejj miles distance1 better than    
fanaticism just under  his nose2 ,i take
 leave to tell him1 that this reproof to
 his friends1  for want of zeal and     
clamour against ,popery1 slavery1 and   
the ,pretender1  is what they have not  
deserved4 ,are the pamphlets and papers1
 daily  published by the sublime authors
 of his party full of any thing else8   
,are not the ,queen1 the ministers1 the 
majority of ,lords and ,commons1  loudly
 taxed in print with this charge against
 them at full length8 ,is  it not the   
perpetual echo of every ,whig           
coffeehouse and club8 ,have they  not   
quartered ,popery and the ,pretender    
upon the peace1 and treaty of  commerce2
 upon the possessing1 and quieting1 and 

keeping1 and  demolishing of ,dunkirk8  
,have they not clamoured because the    
,pretender  continued in ,france1 and   
because he left it8 ,have they not      
reported1  that the town swarmed with   
many thousand papists1 when upon search 
there  were never found so few of that  
religion in it before8 ,if a clergyman  
preaches obedience to the higher powers1
 is he not immediately traduced  as a   
papist8 ,can mortal man do more8 ,to    
deal plainly1 my ,lord1 your  friends   
are not strong enough yet to make an    
insurrection1 and it is  unreasonable to
 expect it from them1 until their       
neighbours are ready4    ,my ,lord1 ,i  
have a little seriousness at heart upon 
this point1 where  your ,lordship       
affects to show so much4 ,when you can  
prove1 that one  single word has ever   
dropped from any minister of state1 in  
public or  private1 in favour of the    
,pretender1 or his cause2 when you can  
make it  appear1 that in the course of  
this administration1 since the ,queen   

thought fit to change her servants1     
there hath one step been made toward    
weakening the ,hanover title1 or giving 
the least countenance to any  other     
whatsoever2 then1 and not until then1 go
 dry your chaff and  stubble1 give fire 
to the zeal of your faction1 and        
reproach them with  lukewarmness4       
,fourthly1 the ,bishop applies himself  
to the ,tories in general4 ,taking it   
for granted1 after his charitable       
manner1 that they are all ready         
prepared to introduce ,popery1 he puts  
an excuse into their mouths1 by  which  
they would endeavour to justify their   
change of religion4 ,that  ,popery is   
not what it was before the ,reformation3
 ,things are now much  mended2 and      
further corrections might be expected1  
if we would enter  into a treaty with   
them3 ,in particular1 they see the error
 of proceeding  severely with heretics2 
so that there is no reason to apprehend 
the  returns of such cruelties as were  
practised an age and a half ago4#ea     

,footnote #ea3 ,page #fb4    ,this1 he  
assures us1 is a plea offered by the    
,tories in defence of  themselves1 for  
going about at this juncture to         
establish the ,popish  religion among   
us3 ,what argument does he bring to     
prove the fact itself8          ,quibus 
indiciis1 quo teste1 probavit8    ,nil  
horum3 verbosa et grandis epistola venit
 #eb    ,footnote #eb3 ,juvenal1 ,sat4  
x4 #gj-ga4 ,t4 ,s4    ,nothing but this 
tedious ,introduction1 wherein he       
supposes it all along  as a thing       
granted4 ,that there might be a perfect 
union in the whole  ,christian ,church1 
is a blessing which every good man      
wishes1 but no  reasonable man can hope4
 ,that the more polite ,roman ,catholics
 have in  several places given up some  
of their superstitious fopperies1       
particularly concerning legends1 relics1
 and the like1 is what nobody  denies4  
,but the material points in difference  
between us and them are  universally    
retained and asserted1 in all their     

controversial writings4  ,and if his    
,lordship really thinks that every man  
who differs from him1  under the name of
 a ,tory in some church and state       
opinions1 is ready to  believe          
transubstantiation1 purgatory1 the      
infallibility of pope or  councils1 to  
worship saints and angels1 and the like2
 ,i can only pray  ,god to enlighten his
 understanding1 or graft in his heart   
the first  principles of charity2 a     
virtue which some people ought not by   
any means  wholly to renounce1 because  
it covers a multitude of sins4          
,fifthly1 the ,bishop applies himself to
 his own party in both ,houses of       
,parliament1 whom he exhorts to guard   
their religion and liberty against  all 
danger at what distance soever it may   
appear4 ,if they are absent and  remiss 
on critical occasions1 that is to say1  
if they do not attend  close next       
sessions1 to vote upon all occasions    
whatsoever against the  proceedings of  
the ,queen and ,her ,ministry2 or1 if   

any views of  advantage to themselves   
prevail on them4 #ec ,in other words1 if
 any of  them vote for the ,bill of     
,commerce1 in hopes of a place or a     
pension1 a  title1 or a garter2 ,god may
 work a deliverance for us another way4 
,that is to say1 by inviting the ,dutch4
 ,but they and their families1  7id est7
 those who are negligent or revolters1  
shall perish4 ,by which  is meant2 they 
shall be hanged as well as the present  
ministry and their  abettors1 as soon as
 we recover our power4 ,because they let
 in  idolatry1 superstition1 and        
tyranny4 ,because they stood by and     
suffered  the peace to be made1 the     
,bill of ,commerce to pass1 and ,dunkirk
 to lie  undemolished longer than we    
expected1 without raising a rebellion4  
,footnote #ec3 ,pages #fg1 #fh4    ,his 
last application is to the ,tory clergy1
 a parcel of blind1  ignorant1 dumb1    
sleeping1 greedy1 drunken dogs4#ed ,a   
pretty artful  episcopal method is this1
 of calling his brethren as many        

injurious  names as he pleases4 ,it is  
but quoting a text of ,scripture1 where 
the  characters of evil men are         
described1 and the thing is done2 and at
 the  same time the appearances of piety
 and devotion preserved4 ,i would       
engage1 with the help of a good         
,concordance1 and the liberty of        
perverting ,holy ,writ1 to find out as  
many injurious appellations1 as the     
,englishman throws out in any of his    
politic papers1 and apply them to  those
 persons who call good evil1 and evil   
good2 to those who cry  without cause1  
,every man to his tent1 ,o ,israel6 and 
to those who curse  the ,queen in their 
hearts6    ,footnote #ed3 ,this is the  
bishop's reference to the ,tory clergy3 
,but1  in the last place1 ,those who are
 appointed to be the watchmen1 who ought
  to give warning1 and to lift up their 
voice as a trumpet1 when they see  those
 wolves ready to break in and devour the
 flock1 have the heaviest  account of   
all others to make1 if they neglect     

their duty2 much more if  they betray   
their trust4 ,if they are so set on some
 smaller matters1 and  are so sharpened 
upon that account1 that they will not   
see their danger1  nor awaken others to 
see it1 and to fly from it2 the guilt of
 those  souls who have perished by their
 means1 ,god will require at their      
hands4  ,if they1 in the view of any    
advantage to themselves1 are silent when
  they ought to cry out day and night1  
they will fall under the character      
given by the prophet1 of the watchmen in
 his time3 ',they are blind1 they  are  
all dumb dogs1 they cannot bark1        
sleeping1 lying down1 loving to         
slumber3 ,yea1 they are greedy dogs1    
which can never have enough4 ,and  they 
are shepherds that cannot understand2   
they all look to their own  way1 every  
one for his gain from his quarter2 that 
say1 come1 ,i will  fetch wine1 and we  
will fill ourselves with strong drink2  
to-morrow  shall be as this day1 and    
much more abundant4'--,,burnet',s       

,history of  the ,reformation1 vol4 iii4
 p4 xxii4 ,t4 ,s4    ,these decent words
 he tells us1 make up a lively          
description of such  pastors1 as will   
not study controversy1 nor know the     
depths of ,satan4  ,he means ,i suppose1
 the controversy between us and the     
papists2 for as  to the freethinkers and
 dissenters of every denomination1 they 
are some  of the best friends to the    
cause4 ,now ,i have been told1 there is 
a body  of that kind of controversy     
published by the ,london divines1 which 
is  not to be matched in the world4 ,i  
believe likewise1 there is a good       
number of the clergy at present1        
thoroughly versed in that study2 after  
which ,i cannot but give my judgment1   
that it would be a very idle thing  for 
pastors in general to busy themselves   
much in disputes against  ,popery4 ,it  
being a dry heavy employment of the mind
 at best1 especially  when1 ,god be     
thanked1 there is so little occasion for
 it1 in the  generality of parishes     

throughout the kingdom1 and must be     
daily less  and less by the just        
severity of the laws1 and the utter     
aversion of our  people from that       
idolatrous superstition4    ,if ,i might
 be so bold as to name those who have   
the honour to be of his  ,lordship's    
party1 ,i would venture to tell him1    
that pastors have much  more occasion to
 study controversies against the several
 classes of  freethinkers and           
dissenters2 the former 7,i beg his      
,lordship's pardon for  saying so7 being
 a little worse than papists1 and both  
of them more  dangerous at present to   
our constitution both in church and     
state4 ,not  that ,i think ,presbytery  
so corrupt a system of ,christian       
religion as  ,popery2 ,i believe it is  
not above one-third as bad3 but ,i think
 the  ,presbyterians1 and their clans of
 other fanatics of freethinkers and     
atheists that dangle after them1 are as 
well inclined to pull down the  present 
establishment of monarchy and religion1 

as any set of ,papists in  ,christendom1
 and therefore that our danger as things
 now stand1 is  infinitely greater from 
our ,protestant enemies2 because they   
are much  more able to ruin us1 and full
 as willing4 ,there is no doubt1 but    
,presbytery1 and a commonwealth1 are    
less formidable evils than ,popery1     
slavery1 and the ,pretender2 for if the 
fanatics were in power1 ,i should  be in
 more apprehension of being starved than
 burned4 ,but there are  probably in    
,england forty dissenters of all kinds1 
including their  brethren the           
freethinkers1 for one papist2 and1      
allowing one papist to  be as terrible  
as three dissenters1 it will appear by  
arithmetic1 that  we are thirteen times 
and one-third more in danger of being   
ruined by  the latter than the former4  
,the other qualification necessary for  
all pastors1 if they will not be  blind1
 ignorant1 greedy1 drunken dogs1 c41 is1
 to know the depths of  ,satan4 ,this is
 harder than the former2 that a poor    

gentleman ought not  to be parson1      
vicar1 or curate of a parish1 except he 
be cunninger than  the devil4 ,i am     
afraid it will be difficult to remedy   
this defect for  one manifest reason1   
because whoever had only half the       
cunning of the  devil1 would never take 
up with a vicarage of #aj a-year1 to    
live on at  his ease1 as my ,lord       
expresseth it2 but seek out for some    
better  livelihood4 ,his ,lordship is of
 a nation very much distinguished for   
that  quality of cunning 7though they   
have a great many better7 and ,i think  
he  was never accused for wanting his   
share4 ,however upon a trial of skill ,i
  would venture to lay six to four on   
the devil's side1 who must be  allowed  
to be at least the older practitioner4  
,telling truth shames him1  and         
resistance makes him fly3 ,but to       
attempt outwitting him1 is to fight  him
 at his own weapon1 and consequently no 
cunning at all4 ,another thing  ,i would
 observe is1 that a man may be in the   

depths of ,satan1 without  knowing them 
all1 and such a man may be so far in    
,satan's depths as to  be out of his    
own4 ,one of the depths of ,satan1 is to
 counterfeit an  angel of light4        
,another1 ,i believe1 is1 to stir up the
 people against  their governors1 by    
false suggestions of danger4 ,a third is
 to be a  prompter to false brethren1   
and to send wolves about in sheep's     
clothing4 ,sometimes he sends ,jesuits  
about ,england in the habit and cant  of
 fanatics1 at other times he has fanatic
 missionaries in the habits of  ----4 ,i
 shall mention but one more of ,satan's 
depths1 for ,i confess ,i  know not the 
hundredth part of them2 and that is1 to 
employ his  emissaries in crying out    
against remote imaginary dangers1 by    
which we  may be taken off from         
defending ourselves against those which 
are real  and just at our elbows4       
,but his ,lordship draws towards a      
conclusion1 and bids us look about1 to  
consider the danger we are in1 before it

 is too late2 for he assures  us1 we are
 already going into some of the worst   
parts of popery2#ee  like the man who   
was so much in haste for his new coat1  
that he put it  on the wrong side out4  
,auricular confession1 priestly         
absolution1 and  the sacrifice of the   
mass1 have made great progress in       
,england1 and  nobody has observed it3  
several other popish points are carried 
higher  with us than by the papists     
themselves4#ef ,and somebody1 it seems1 
had the impudence to propose a union    
with the ,gallican church4#eg ,i  have  
indeed heard that ,mr4 ,lesley#eh       
published a discourse to that  purpose1 
which ,i have never seen2 nor do ,i     
perceive the evil in  proposing an union
 between any two churches in            
,christendom4 ,without  doubt ,mr4      
,lesley is most unhappily misled in his 
politics2 but if he be  the author of   
the late tract against ,popery#ei1 he   
has given the world  such a proof of his
 soundness in religion1 as many a bishop

 ought to be  proud of4 ,i never saw the
 gentleman in my life3 ,i know he is the
 son of  a great and excellent prelate1 
who upon several accounts was one of the
  most extraordinary men of his age4    
,mr4 ,lesley has written many useful    
discourses upon several subjects1 and   
hath so well deserved of the  ,christian
 religion1 and the ,church of ,england  
in particular1 that to  accuse him of   
impudence for proposing an union in two 
very different  faiths1 is a style which
 ,i hope few will imitate4 ,i detest    
,mr4 ,lesley's  political principles as 
much as his ,lordship can do for his    
heart2 but ,i  verily believe he acts   
from a mistaken conscience1 and         
therefore ,i  distinguish between the   
principles and the person4 ,however1 it 
is some  mortification to me1 when ,i   
see an avowed nonjuror contribute more  
to  the confounding of ,popery1 than    
could ever be done by a hundred thousand
  such ,introductions as this4          
,footnote #ee3 ,page #gj4    ,footnote  

#ef3 ,page #gj4    ,footnote #eg3 ,swift
 here disowns a charge loudly urged by  
the ,whigs of  the time against the high
 churchmen4 ,there were1 however1 strong
  symptoms of a nearer approach on their
 part to the church of ,rome4  ,hickes1 
the head of the ,jacobite writers1 had  
insinuated1 that there was  a proper    
sacrifice in the ,eucharist2 ,brett had 
published a ,sermon on the  ,doctrine of
 ,priestly ,absolution as essential to  
,salvation2 ,dodwell had  written       
against ,lay-,baptism1 and his doctrine 
at once excluded all the  dissenters    
7whose teachers are held as lay-men7    
from the pale of  ,christianity2  and1  
upon the whole1 there was a general     
disposition  among the clergy to        
censure1 if not the ,reformation itself1
 at least the  mode in which it was     
carried on4 ,s4    ,footnote #eh3       
,charles ,lesley1 or ,leslie1 the       
celebrated nonjuror4 ,he  published a   
,jacobite paper1 called the ,rehearsal1 
and was a strenuous  assertor of divine 

right2 but he was also so steady a      
,protestant1 that  he went to           
,bar-le-,duc to convert the ,chevalier  
de ,st ,george from the  errors of      
,rome4 ,s4 ,see note on p4 #fc4 ,t4 ,s4 
,footnote #ei3 ,the ,case stated between
 the ,church of ,rome and the ,church   
of ,england1 #agac4    ,his ,lordship   
ends with discovering a small ray of    
comfort4 ,god be  thanked there are many
 among us that stand upon the           
watch-tower1 and  that give faithful    
warning2 that stand in the breach1 and  
make  themselves a wall for their church
 and country2 that cry to ,god day and  
night1 and lie in the dust mourning     
before him1 to avert those judgments    
that seem to hasten towards us4 ,they   
search into the mystery of iniquity     
that is working among us1 and acquaint  
themselves with that mass of  corruption
 that is in popery4#fj ,he prays that   
the number of these  may increase1 and  
that he may be of that number1 ready    
either to die in  peace1 or to seal that

 doctrine he has been preaching above   
fifty years1  with his blood4#fa ,this  
being his last paragraph1 ,i have made  
bold to  transcribe the most important  
parts of it4 ,his design is to end after
  the manner of orators1 with leaving   
the strongest impression possible  upon 
the minds of his hearers4 ,a great      
breach is made2 the mystery of  popish  
iniquity is working among us2 may ,god  
avert those judgments  that are         
hastening towards us6 ,i am an old man1 
a preacher above fifty  years1 and ,i   
now expect and am ready to die a martyr 
for the doctrines  ,i have preached4    
,what an amiable idea does he here leave
 upon our minds1  of ,her ,majesty and  
her government6 ,he has been poring so  
long upon ,fox's  ,book of ,martyrs1    
that he imagines himself living in the  
reign of ,queen  ,mary1 and is resolved 
to set up for a knight-errant against   
,popery4 ,upon  the supposition of his  
being in earnest1 7which ,i am sure he  
is not7 it  would require but a very    

little more heat of imagination1 to make
 a  history of such a knight's          
adventures4 ,what would he say1 to      
behold the  fires kindled in            
,smithfield1 and all over the town1 on  
the #agth of  ,november2 to behold the  
,pope borne in triumph on the shoulders 
of the  people1 with a cardinal on the  
one side1 and the ,pretender on the     
other8  ,he would never believe it was  
,queen ,elizabeth's day1 but that of her
  persecuting sister3 ,in short1 how    
easily might a windmill be taken for    
the whore of ,babylon1 and a puppet-show
 for a popish procession8    ,footnote  
#fj3 ,page #ga    ,footnote #fa3 ,page  
#gb    ,but enthusiasm is none of his   
,lordship's faculty3 ,i am inclined to  
believe he might be melancholy enough   
when he writ this ,introduction3  ,the  
despair at his age of seeing a faction  
restored1 to which he hath  sacrificed  
so great a part of his life3 ,the little
 success he can hope  for in case he    
should resume those ,high-,church       

,principles1 in defence of  which he    
first employed his pen3 ,no visible     
expectation of removing to  ,farnham or 
,lambeth3 ,and lastly1 the misfortune of
 being hated by every  one1 who either  
wears the habit1 or values the          
profession of a  clergyman3 ,no wonder  
such a spirit1 in such a situation1 is  
provoked  beyond the regards of truth1  
decency1 religion1 or self-conviction4  
,to  do him justice1 he seems to have   
nothing else left1 but to cry out1      
halters1 gibbets1 faggots1 inquisition1 
,popery1 slavery1 and the  ,pretender4  
,but in the meantime1 he little         
considers what a world of  mischief he  
does to his cause4 ,it is very          
convenient1 for the present  designs of 
that faction1 to spread the opinion of  
our immediate danger  from ,popery and  
the ,pretender4 ,his directors therefore
 ought1 in my  humble opinion1 to have  
employed his ,lordship in publishing a  
book1  wherein he should have asserted1 
by the most solemn asseverations1 that  

all things were safe and well2 for the  
world has contracted so strong a  habit 
of believing him backwards1 that ,i am  
confident1 nine parts in ten  of those  
who have read or heard of his           
,introduction1 have slept in  greater   
security ever since4 ,it is like the    
melancholy tone of a  watchman at       
midnight1 who thumps with his pole1 as  
if some thief were  breaking in1 but you
 know by the noise1 that the door is    
fast4    ,however1 he thanks ,god there 
are many among us who stand in the      
breach3 ,i believe they may2 'tis a     
breach of their own making1 and they    
design to come forward1 and storm and   
plunder1 if they be not driven  back4   
,they make themselves a wall for their  
church and country4 ,a  south wall1 ,i  
suppose1 for all the best fruit of the  
church and country  to be nailed on4    
,let us examine this metaphor3 ,the wall
 of our church  and country is built of 
those who love the constitution in both3
 ,our  domestic enemies undermine some  

parts of the wall1 and place themselves 
in the breach2 and then they cry1 ,we   
are the wall6 ,we do not like such      
patchwork1 they build with untempered   
mortar2 nor can they ever cement  with  
us1 till they get better materials and  
better workmen3 ,god keep us  from      
having our breaches made up with such   
rubbish6 ,they stand upon the           
watch-tower2 they are indeed pragmatical
 enough to do so2 but who  assigned them
 that post1 to give us false            
intelligence1 to alarm us with  false   
dangers1 and send us to defend one gate1
 while their accomplices  are breaking  
in at another8 ,they cry to ,god1 day   
and night to avert the  judgment of     
,popery which seems to hasten towards   
us4 ,then ,i affirm1  they are          
hypocrites by day1 and filthy dreamers  
by night4 ,when they cry  unto him1 he  
will not hear them3 ,for they cry       
against the plainest  dictates of their 
own conscience1 reason1 and belief4     
,but lastly1 ,they lie in the dust1     

mourning before him4 ,hang me if ,i     
believe that1 unless it be figuratively 
spoken4 ,but suppose it to be  true2 why
 do they lie in the dust8 ,because they 
love to raise it3 ,for  what do they    
mourn8 ,why1 for power1 wealth1 and     
places4 ,there let the  enemies of the  
,queen1 and monarchy1 and the church1   
lie1 and mourn1 and  lick the dust1 like
 serpents1 till they are truly sensible 
of their  ingratitude1 falsehood1       
disobedience1 slander1 blasphemy1       
sedition1 and  every evil work6    ,i   
cannot find in my heart to conclude     
without offering his ,lordship a  little
 humble advice upon some certain points4
    ,first1 ,i would advise him1 if it  
be not too late in his life1 to         
endeavour a little at mending his style1
 which is mighty defective in  the      
circumstances of grammar1 propriety1    
politeness1 and smoothness2#fb  ,i      
fancied at first1 it might be owing to  
the prevalence of his passion1  as      
people sputter out nonsense for haste   

when they are in a rage4 ,and  indeed ,i
 believe this piece before me has       
received some additional  imperfections 
from that occasion4 ,but whoever has    
heard his sermons1 or  read his other   
tracts1 will find him very unhappy in   
his choice and  disposition of his      
words1 and1 for want of variety1        
repeating them1  especially the         
particles1 in a manner very grating to  
an ,english ear4  ,but ,i confine myself
 to this ,introduction1 as his last     
work1 where  endeavouring at rhetorical 
flowers1 he gives us only bunches of    
thistles2 of which ,i could present the 
reader with a plentiful crop2 but  ,i   
refer him to every page and line of the 
pamphlet itself4    ,footnote #fb3 ,in  
,swift's notes on ,burnet's ,history of 
his ,own ,times1  he points out many    
instances of the deficiency here stated4
 ,s4    ,secondly1 ,i would most humbly 
advise his ,lordship to examine a little
  into the nature of truth1 and         
sometimes to hear what she says4 ,i     

shall  produce two instances among a    
hundred4 ,when he asserts that we are   
now  in more danger of ,popery than     
toward the end of ,king ,charles ,,ii4's
  reign1 and gives the broadest hints1  
that the ,queen1 the ministry1 the      
parliament1 and the clergy1 are just    
going to introduce it2 ,i desire to     
know1 whether he really thinks truth is 
of his side1 or whether he be  not sure 
she is against him8 ,if the latter1 then
 truth and he will be  found in two     
different stories2 and which are we to  
believe8 ,again1 when  he gravely       
advises the clergy and laity of the     
,tory side1 not to light  the fires in  
,smithfield1 and goes on in twenty      
places already quoted1  as if the       
bargain was made for ,popery and slavery
 to enter3 ,i ask again1  whether he has
 rightly considered the nature of truth8
 ,i desire to put a  parallel case4     
,suppose his ,lordship should take it   
into his fancy to  write and publish a  
letter to any gentleman of no infamous  

character for  his religion or morals2  
and there advise him with great         
earnestness1 not  to rob or fire        
churches1 ravish his daughter1 or murder
 his father2 show  him the sin and the  
danger of these enormities1 that if he  
flattered  himself1 he could escape in  
disguise1 or bribe his jury1 he was     
grievously mistaken3 ,that he must in   
all probability forfeit his goods  and  
chattels1 die an ignominious death1 and 
be cursed by posterity2  ,would not such
 a gentleman justly think himself highly
 injured1 though  his ,lordship did not 
affirm that the said gentleman had his  
picklocks or  combustibles ready1 that  
he had attempted his daughter1 and drawn
 his  sword against his father in order 
to stab him8 ,whereas1 in the other     
case1 this writer affirms over and over1
 that all attempts for  introducing     
,popery and slavery are already made1   
the whole business  concerted1 and that 
little less than a miracle can prevent  
our ruin4    ,thirdly1 ,i could heartily

 wish his ,lordship would not undertake 
to  charge the opinions of one or two1  
and those probably nonjurors1 upon  the 
whole body of the nation that differs   
from him4 ,mr4 ,lesley writ a  ,proposal
 for a ,union with the ,gallican        
,church2 somebody else has  carried the 
necessity of priesthood in the point of 
baptism farther  than popery2 a third   
has asserted the independency of the    
church on  the state1 and in many things
 arraigned the supremacy of the crown4  
,then he speaks in a dubious insinuating
 way1 as if some other popish  tenets   
had been already advanced3 ,and at last 
concludes in this affected  strain of   
despondency1 ,what will all these things
 end in8 and on what  design are they   
driven8 ,alas1 it is too visible6 ',tis 
as clear as the  sun1 that these authors
 are encouraged by the ministry with a  
design to  bring in ,popery2 and in     
,popery all these things will end4    ,i
 never was so uncharitable as to        
believe1 that the whole party of which  

his ,lordship professeth himself a      
member1 had a real formed design of     
establishing atheism among us4 ,the     
reason why the ,whigs have taken the    
atheists1 or freethinkers1 into their   
body1 is because they wholly agree  in  
their political schemes1 and differ very
 little in church power and  discipline4
 ,however1 ,i could turn the argument   
against his ,lordship with  very great  
advantage1 by quoting passages from     
fifty pamphlets wholly  made up of      
,whiggism and atheism1 and then         
conclude2 ,what will all these  things  
end in8 ,and on what design are they    
driven8 ,alas1 it is too  visible6      
,lastly1 ,i would beg his ,lordship not 
to be so exceedingly outrageous  upon   
the memory of the dead2 because it is   
highly probable1 that1 in a  very short 
time he will be one of the number4 ,he  
has in plain words  given ,mr4 ,wharton 
the character of a most malicious1      
revengeful1  treacherous1 lying1        
mercenary villain4 ,to which ,i shall   

only say1 that  the direct reverse of   
this amiable description is what appears
 from the  works of that most learned   
divine1 and from the accounts given me  
by  those who knew him much better than 
the ,bishop seems to have done4 ,i      
meddle not with the moral part of his   
treatment4 ,god ,almighty forgive  his  
,lordship this manner of revenging      
himself2 and then there will be  but    
little consequence from an accusation   
which the dead cannot feel1  and which  
none of the living will believe4        
9999999999       9999999999             
9999999999       9999999999             
,,mr4 ,,collins',s ,,discourse ,,of     
,,freethinking2    ,,put ,,into ,,plain 
,,english1    ,,by ,,way ,,of           
,,abstract1    ,,for ,,the ,,use ,,of   
,,the ,,poor4    ,,by ,a ,,friend ,,of  
,,the ,,author4    ,,first ,,printed    
,,in #agac      ,,note4    ,of the      
deistical writers of the early          
eighteenth century1 ,anthony  ,collins  
7#afgf-agbi7 is1 perhaps1 the most      

celebrated4 ,he was born near  ,hounslow
 and educated at ,eton and ,cambridge4  
,his writings were mainly  attacks on   
,christianity1 and1 in addition to the  
,discourse on  ,freethinking1 he        
published3 ,discourse of the ,grounds   
and ,reasons of  the ,christian         
,religion2 ,scheme of ,literal ,prophecy
 ,considered2  ,priestcraft in          
,perfection2 ,historical and ,critical  
,essay on the  ,thirty-,nine ,articles2 
and ,a ,philosophical ,enquiry          
concerning ,human  ,liberty4 ,most of   
these writings engaged him in many and  
violent  controversies with some of the 
ablest divines of his time4 ,among      
these1  beside ,swift1 may be named1    
,whiston1 ,hare1 ,hoadly1 ,bentley1 and 
,samuel  ,clarke4 ,steele1 also1 had his
 fling at ,collins1 and thought that if 
ever man deserved to be denied the      
common benefits of air and water1 it  is
 the author of ',a ,discourse upon      
,freethinking' 7,guardian1 ,no4 #c74    
,but then ,steele's opinion on such a   

matter was of no great moment4 ,what    
was of more1 was the fact that the      
school to which ,collins belonged  found
 a decided opponent in ,locke1 from the 
writings of whom the members  of the    
school professed to draw their strongest
 arguments4 ,for a  philosophical       
appreciation of ,toland1 ,collins1 and  
the rest1 see ,mr4  ,leslie ,stephen's  
,english ,thought in the ,eighteenth    
,century 7chaps4  iii4 and iv4 of vol4  
i4 #ahha74    ,swift took an entirely   
different attitude towards ,collins from
 that  assumed by the professional      
controversialists4 ,he refused to take  
him  seriously1 and no doubt he felt    
that ridicule would as effectually serve
  his purpose as another method4        
,moreover1 he sought to use the         
opportunity for scoring a point against 
the ,whigs1 by insisting on the         
political side of the matter1 and1 in   
the person of an assumed defender  of   
,collins1 betrayed undoubted ,whig      
leanings4 ,swift1 at this time1 was     

deep in work1 pamphleteering for ,harley
 and ,st4 ,john4 ,he had already        
written ,the ,conduct of the ,allies1   
and ,some ,remarks on the ,barrier      
,treaty1 and was soon to write ,the     
,public ,spirit of the ,whigs4 ,the     
assumed and sarcastic defence of        
,collins must be taken as a ,swiftian   
dodge to bring odium and suspicion on   
the opponents of the ,tory  ministry1 by
 showing that the propounders of the    
hateful and ridiculous  atheism were    
themselves ,whigs4    ,sir ,henry       
,craik1 in a note to his reprint of this
 tract 7,selections  from ,swift1       
,oxford1 #ahic1 vol4 ii4 p4 #db71 agrees
 with ,scott as to the  motive which    
urged ,swift in writing it4 ,in this    
later tract1 he says1  ,swift makes no  
attempt to cloak his enmity2 and he     
boldly assumes the  character of a ,whig
 as the propounder of those atheistical 
absurdities1  which he wished1 as a     
useful political move1 but without any  
scrupulous  regard to fairness1 to      

represent as part and parcel of the     
tenets of  that party4 ,what gave       
colour1 says ,scott1 though only a      
colour1 to  his charge was1 that        
,toland1 ,tindal1 ,collins1 and most of 
those who  carried to licence their     
abhorrence of ,church-government1 were  
naturally  enough enrolled among that   
party in politics who professed most    
attachment to freedom of sentiment4 ,it 
must not1 however1 be forgotten1  that  
,swift's attachment to his ,church1 as  
it influenced him against the  ,whigs1  
would naturally influence him against   
the deistical writers also1  and that he
 must be credited1 to that extent1 with 
honesty of purpose4  ,that these writers
 were ,whigs was1 if one may so put it1 
an accident1 of  which it would have    
been more than a human act for ,swift   
not to take  advantage1 for party       
purposes4    ,curiously enough1 none of 
,swift's more modern biographers have   
thought  this imitation of ,collins's   
,discourse worthy of a mention2 yet it  

is1  in its way1 as fine a performance  
as his castigation of ,bishop ,burnet   
and his ,introduction4 ,the fooling is  
admirably carried on1 and the           
intention1 as explained in the          
introduction1 is excellently well       
realized4 ,it frightened ,collins into  
,holland4 ,to appreciate the  cleverness
 with which it has been done1 one should
 read ,swift's  ,abstract side by side  
with ,collins's ,discourse4    ,the     
pamphlet was advertised for sale in ,the
 ,examiner for ,tuesday1  ,january      
#bfth1 #agab-ac4 ,in ,his ,letters to   
,stella 7,january #afth and  #bast1     
#agab-ac71 ,swift makes the following   
references to it3 ,i came home  at      
seven1 and began a little whim which    
just came into my head1 and will  make a
 three-penny pamphlet4 ,it shall be     
finished in a week2 and1 if it          
succeeds1 you shall know what it is2    
otherwise not4 444 ,i was to-day  with  
my printer1 to give him a little        
pamphlet ,i have written2 but not       

politics4 ,it will be out by ,monday4   
,the present text is based on that of   
the first edition1 collated with  those 
given by ,nichols1 ,hawkesworth and     
,scott4 ,none of the  ,miscellanies     
prints this tract1 nor is it given in   
,faulkner's edition  of #agce-ch 7#f    
vols474 ,it is fully annotated and      
edited by ,nichols in the  first volume 
of his ,supplement to ,swift's ,works   
7#aggi74    ,t4 ,s4        ,mr4         
,,collin',s    ,,discourse    ,,of      
,,free-,,thinking1    ,,put ,,into      
,,plain ,,english1    ,,by ,,way ,,of   
,,abstract1    ,,for ,,the    ,,use ,,of
 ,,the ,,poor4    ,,by ,a ,,friend ,,of 
,,the ,,author4    #agac4               
,,introduction4    ,our party having    
failed1 by all their political          
arguments1 to  re-establish their power2
 the wise leaders have determined1 that 
the  last and principal remedy should be
 made use of1 for opening the eyes of   
this blinded nation2 and that a short1  
but perfect1 system of their  divinity1 

should be published1 to which we are all
 of us ready to  subscribe1 and which we
 lay down as a model1 bearing a close   
analogy to  our schemes in religion4    
,crafty1 designing men1 that they might 
keep the  world in awe1 have1 in their  
several forms of government1 placed a   
,supreme ,power on earth1 to keep       
human-kind in fear of being hanged2  and
 a supreme power in heaven1 for fear of 
being damned4 ,in order to  cure men's  
apprehensions of the former1 several of 
our learned members  have writ many     
profound treatises on ,anarchy2 but a   
brief complete body  of ,atheology      
seemed yet wanting1 till this           
irrefragable ,discourse  appeared4      
,however1 it so happens1 that our ablest
 brethren1 in their  elaborate          
disquisitions upon this subject1 have   
written with so much  caution1 that     
ignorant unbelievers have edified very  
little by them4 ,i  grant that those    
daring spirits1 who first adventured to 
write against  the direct rules of the  

gospel1 the current of antiquity1 the   
religion  of the magistrate1 and the    
laws of the land1 had some measures to  
keep2  and particularly when they railed
 at religion1 were in the right to use  
little artful disguises1 by which a jury
 could only find them guilty of  abusing
 heathenism or popery4 ,but the mystery 
is now revealed1 that  there is no such 
thing as mystery or revelation2 and     
though our friends  are out of place and
 power1 yet we may have so much         
confidence in the  present ministry1 to 
be secure1 that those who suffer so many
 free  speeches against their sovereign 
and themselves1 to pass unpunished1     
will never resent our expressing the    
freest thoughts against their  religion2
 but think with ,tiberius1 that if there
 be a ,god1 he is able  enough to       
revenge any injuries done to himself1   
without expecting the  civil power to   
interpose4#a    ,footnote #a3 ,swift was
 evidently very fond of this reference1 
since he  uses it several times in his  

writings4 ,t4 ,s4    ,by these          
reflections ,i was brought to think1    
that the most ingenious  author of the  
,discourse upon ,freethinking1 in a     
letter to ,somebody1  ,esq42 although he
 hath used less reserve than any of his 
predecessors1  might yet have been more 
free and open4 ,i considered1 that      
several  well-witters to infidelity1    
might be discouraged by a show of logic1
 and  a multiplicity of quotations1     
scattered through his book1 which to    
understandings of that size1 might carry
 an appearance of something like        
book-learning1 and consequently fright  
them from reading for their             
improvement2 ,i could see no reason why 
these great discoveries should be  hid  
from our youth of quality1 who frequent 
,whites and ,tom's2 why they  should not
 be adapted to the capacities of the    
,kit-,cat and ,hanover  ,clubs1#b who   
might then be able to read lectures on  
them to their  several toasts3 and it   
will be allowed on all hands1 that      

nothing can  sooner help to restore our 
abdicated cause1 than a firm universal  
belief  of the principles laid down by  
this sublime author4    ,footnote #b3   
,these were chocolate houses of the     
time1 supported mainly  by the          
aristocracy and the gamblers4 ,white's  
is still in existence1 and  has had the 
honour of having had a special history  
written about it4  ,tom's was in        
,russell ,street1 and so-called after   
its landlord1 ,tom ,west4  ,the         
,kit-,cat ,club was the resort of the   
,whig wits of the day1 and the  ,hanover
 ,club of those who favoured the        
,hanover succession4 ,t4 ,s4    ,for ,i 
am sensible that nothing would more     
contribute to the continuance  of the   
war and the restoration of the late     
ministry1 than to have the  doctrines   
delivered in this treatise well infused 
into the people4 ,i  have therefore     
compiled them into the following        
,abstract1 wherein ,i have  adhered to  
the very words of our author1 only      

adding some few  explanations of my own1
 where the terms happen to be too       
learned1 and  consequently a little     
beyond the comprehension of those for   
whom the  work was principally intended1
 ,i mean the nobility and gentry of our 
party4 ,after which ,i hope it will be  
impossible for the malice of a          
,jacobite1 highflying1 priestridden     
faction1 to misrepresent us4 ,the few   
additions ,i have made are for no other 
use than to help the transition1  which 
could not otherwise be kept in an       
abstract2 but ,i have not  presumed to  
advance anything of my own2 which       
besides would be needless  to an author 
who hath so fully handled and           
demonstrated every  particular4 ,i shall
 only add1 that though this writer1 when
 he speaks of  priests1 desires chiefly 
to be understood to mean the ,english   
clergy1  yet he includes all priests    
whatsoever1 except the ancient and      
modern  heathens1 the ,turks1 ,quakers1 
and ,socinians4      ,,the ,,letter4    

,,sir1    ,i send you this apology for  
,freethinking1#c without the least hopes
 of  doing good1 but purely to comply   
with your request2 for those truths     
which nobody can deny1 will do no good  
to those who deny them4 ,the  clergy1   
who are so impudent to teach the people 
the doctrines of faith1  are all either 
cunning knaves or mad fools2 for none   
but artificial1  designing men1 and     
crack-brained enthusiasts1 presume to be
 guides to  others in matters of        
speculation1 which all the doctrines of 
,christianity are2 and whoever has a    
mind to learn the ,christian  religion1 
naturally chooses such knaves and fools 
to teach them4 ,now the  ,bible1 which  
contains the precepts of the priests'   
religion1 is the most  difficult book in
 the world to be understood2 it requires
 a thorough  knowledge in natural1      
civil1 ecclesiastical history1 law1     
husbandry1  sailing1 physic1 pharmacy1  
mathematics1 metaphysics1 ethics1 and   
everything else that can be named3 ,and 

everybody who believes it ought  to     
understand it1 and must do so by force  
of his own freethinking1  without any   
guide or instructor4    ,footnote #c3   
,the chief strain of ,collins's         
,discourse is an eulogium  upon the     
necessity and advantage of              
,freethinking2 in which it is more  than
 insinuated that the advocates of       
revealed religion are enemies to  the   
progress of enlightened inquiry4 ,this  
insidious position is  ridiculed in the 
following parody4 ,s4    ,how can a man 
think at all1 if he does not think      
freely8 ,a man who does  not eat and    
drink freely1 does not eat and drink at 
all4 ,why may not ,i  be denied the     
liberty of freeseeing1 as well as       
freethinking8 ,yet nobody  pretends that
 the first is unlawful1 for a cat may   
look on a king2  though you be          
near-sighted1 or have weak or sore eyes1
 or are blind1 you  may be a free-seer2 
you ought to see for yourself1 and not  
trust to a  guide to choose the colour  

of your stockings1 or save you from     
falling  into a ditch4    ,in like      
manner1 there ought to be no restraint  
at all on thinking freely  upon any     
proposition1 however impious or absurd4 
,there is not the least  hurt in the    
wickedest thoughts1 provided they be    
free2 nor in telling  those thoughts to 
everybody1 and endeavouring to convince 
the world of  them2 for all this is     
included in the doctrine of             
freethinking1 as ,i  shall plainly show 
you in what follows2 and therefore you  
are all along  to understand the word   
freethinking in this sense4    ,if you  
are apt to be afraid of the devil1 think
 freely of him1 and you  destroy him and
 his kingdom4 ,freethinking has done him
 more mischief  than all the clergy in  
the world ever could do2 they believe in
 the  devil1 they have an interest in   
him1 and therefore are the great        
supports of his kingdom4 ,the devil was 
in the ,states-,general before they     
began to be freethinkers4 ,for ,england 

and ,holland#d were formerly the        
,christian territories of the devil2 ,i 
told you how he left ,holland2 and      
freethinking and the revolution banished
 him from ,england2 ,i defy all  the    
clergy to shew me when they ever had    
such success against him4 ,my  meaning  
is1 that to think freely of the devil1  
is to think there is no  devil at all2  
and he that thinks so1 the devil's in   
him if he be afraid  of the devil4      
,footnote #d3 ,collins is supposed to   
have imbibed his freethinking           
philosophy during his repeated visits to
 ,holland4 ,s4    ,but1 within these two
 or three years1 the devil has come into
 ,england  again1 and ,dr4              
,sacheverell#e has given him commission 
to appear in the  shape of a cat1 and   
carry old women about upon broomsticks3 
,and the  devil has now so many         
ministers ordained to his service1 that 
they  have rendered freethinking odious1
 and nothing but the second coming of   
,christ can restore it4    ,footnote #e3

 ,see note on p4 #adg4    ,the priests  
tell me1 ,i am to believe the ,bible1   
but freethinking tells  me otherwise in 
many particulars3 ,the ,bible says1 the 
,jews were a nation  favoured by ,god2  
but ,i who am a freethinker say1 that   
cannot be1 because  the ,jews lived in a
 corner of the earth1 and freethinking  
makes it  clear1 that those who live in 
corners cannot be favourites of ,god4   
,the  ,new ,testament all along asserts 
the truth of ,christianity1 but         
freethinking denies it2 because         
,christianity was communicated but to a 
few2 and whatever is communicated but to
 a few1 cannot be true2 for that  is    
like whispering1 and the proverb says1  
that there is no whispering  without    
lying4    ,here is a society in ,london 
for propagating freethinking throughout 
the  world1 encouraged and supported by 
the ,queen and many others4 ,you say1   
perhaps1 it is for propagating the      
,gospel4 ,do you think the missionaries 
we send will tell the heathens that they

 must not think freely8 ,no1  surely2   
why then1 it is manifest1 those         
missionaries must be  freethinkers1 and 
make the heathens so too4 ,but why      
should not the king  of ,siam1 whose    
religion is heathenism and idolatry1    
send over a parcel  of his priests to   
convert us to his church1 as well as we 
send  missionaries there8 ,both projects
 are exactly of a piece1 and equally    
reasonable2 and if those heathen priests
 were here1 it would be our duty  to    
hearken to them1 and think freely       
whether they may not be in the  right   
rather than we4 ,i heartily wish a      
detachment of such divines as ,dr       
,atterbury1 ,dr4 ,smallridge1#f ,dr4    
,swift1 ,dr4 ,sacheverell1 and some     
others1  were sent every year to the    
farthest part of the heathen world1 and 
that  we had a cargo of their priests in
 return1 who would spread freethinking  
among us2 then the war would go on1 the 
late ministry be restored1 and  faction 
cease1 which our priests inflame by     

haranguing upon texts1 and  falsely call
 that preaching the ,gospel4            
,footnote #f3 ,dr4 ,smallridge1 it will 
be remembered1 was the gentleman  who   
indignantly denied the authorship of ,a 
,tale of a ,tub 7see vol4 i4  of this   
edition74 ,he became ,bishop of ,bristol
 in #agad1 and died in #agai4  ,his     
style was well thought of at the time4  
,t4,s4    ,i have another project in my 
head1 which ought to be put in          
execution1  in order to make us         
freethinkers3 ,it is a great hardship   
and injustice1  that our priests must   
not be disturbed while they are prating 
in the  pulpit4 ,for example3 ,why      
should not ,william ,penn the ,quaker1  
or any  ,anabaptist1 ,papist1           
,muggletonian1 ,jew1 or                 
,sweet-,singer1#g have liberty  to come 
into ,st ,paul's ,church1 in the midst  
of divine service1 and  endeavour to    
convert first the aldermen1 then the    
preacher1 and  singing-men8 ,or pray1   
why might not poor ,mr4 ,whiston1#h who 

denies the  divinity of ,christ1 be     
allowed to come into the ,lower ,house  
of  ,convocation1 and convert the       
clergy8 ,but1 alas6 we are overrun with 
such  false notions1 that1 if ,penn or  
,whiston should do their duty1 they     
would  be reckoned fanatics1 and        
disturbers of the holy synod1 although  
they  have as good a title to it as ,st 
,paul had to go into the synagogues of  
the ,jews2 and their authority is full  
as divine as his4    ,footnote #g3 ,the 
,sweet-,singers were a fanatical sect of
 wailers1 founded  in ,scotland1 but    
which had no long life4 ,t4,s4 ,christ  
himself commands  us to be freethinkers2
 for he bids us search the scriptures1  
and take  heed what and whom we hear2 by
 which he plainly warns us1 not to      
believe  our bishops and clergy2 for    
,jesus ,christ1 when he considered that 
all  the ,jewish and heathen priests1   
whose religion he came to abolish1 were 
his enemies1 rightly concluded that     
those appointed by him to preach his    

own gospel1 would probably be so too2   
and could not be secure1 that any  set  
of priests1 of the faith he delivered1  
would ever be otherwise2  therefore it  
is fully demonstrated that the clergy of
 the ,church of  ,england are mortal    
enemies to ,christ1 and ought not to be 
believed4    ,footnote #h3 ,yet         
,whiston1 who receives this side-cut1   
was himself an  anxious combatant of    
,collins1 in his ,reflections on an     
,anonymous  ,pamphlet1 entitled1 ',a    
,defence of ,freethinking4' #agac4 ,s4  
,but1 without the privilege of          
freethinking1 how is it possible to know
  which is the right ,scripture8 ,here  
are perhaps twenty sorts of  ,scriptures
 in the several parts of the world1 and 
every set of priests  contend that their
 ,scripture is the true one4 ,the       
,indian ,brahmins have a  book of       
scripture called the ,shaster2 the      
,persees their ,zundivastaw2#i  the     
,bonzes in ,china have theirs1 written  
by the disciples of ,fo-he1 whom  they  

call ,god and ,saviour of the world1 who
 was born to teach the way  of          
salvation1 and to give satisfaction for 
all men's sins3 which1 you  see1 is     
directly the same with what our priests 
pretend of ,christ4 ,and  must we not   
think freely1 to find out which are in  
the right1 whether  the ,bishops or the 
,bonzes8 ,but the ,talapoins1 or heathen
 clergy of ,siam1  approach yet nearer  
to the system of our priests2 they have 
a ,book of  ,scripture written by       
,sommonocodam1 who1 the ,siamese say1   
was born of a  virgin1 and was the ,god 
expected by the ,universe2 just as our  
priests  tell us1 that ,jesus ,christ   
was born of the ,virgin ,mary1 and was  
the  ,messiah so long expected4 ,the    
,turkish priests1 or dervises1 have     
their  ,scripture which they call the   
,alcoran4 ,the ,jews have the ,old      
,testament  for their ,scripture1 and   
the ,christians have both the ,old and  
the ,new4  ,now among all these         
,scriptures1 there cannot above one be  

right2 and how  is it possible to know  
which is that1 without reading them all1
 and then  thinking freely1 every one of
 us for ourselves1 without following the
  advice or instruction of any guide1   
before we venture to choose8 ,the       
parliament ought to be at the charge of 
finding a sufficient number of  these   
,scriptures1 for every one of ,her      
,majesty's subjects1 for there are      
twenty to one against us1 that we may be
 in the wrong3 ,but a great deal  of    
freethinking will at last set us all    
right1 and every one will adhere  to the
 ,scripture he likes best2 by which     
means1 religion1 peace1 and  wealth1    
will be for ever secured in ,her        
,majesty's realms4    ,footnote #i3     
,swift means here1 of course1 the       
,zendavesta1 the  commentaries on the   
sacred books of the ,parsees4 ,not that 
,swift could  have known much of these  
,oriental religions2 but the names were 
good  enough for his purpose4 ,t4,s4    
,and it is the more necessary that the  

good people of ,england should have     
liberty to choose some other ,scripture1
 because all ,christian priests  differ 
so much about the copies of theirs1 and 
about the various  readings of the      
several manuscripts1 which quite        
destroys the authority  of the ,bible3  
for what authority can a book pretend   
to1 where there are  various            
readings8#aj ,and for this reason1 it is
 manifest that no man  can know the     
opinions of ,aristotle or ,plato1 or    
believe the facts  related by           
,thucydides or ,livy1 or be pleased with
 the poetry of ,homer  and ,virgil1 all 
which books are utterly useless1 upon   
account of their  various readings4     
,some books of ,scripture are said to be
 lost1 and this  utterly destroys the   
credit of those that are left3 some we  
reject1  which the ,africans and        
,copticks receive2 and why may we not   
think  freely1 and reject the rest8     
,some think the scriptures wholly       
inspired1  some partly2 and some not at 

all4 ,now this is just the very case of 
the  ,bramins1 ,persees1 ,bonzes1       
,talapoins1 ,dervises1 ,rabbis1 and all 
other  priests1 who build their religion
 upon books1 as our priests do upon     
their ,bibles2 they all equally differ  
about the copies1 various readings  and 
inspirations1 of their several          
,scriptures1 and ,god knows which are   
in the right3 ,freethinking alone can   
determine it4    ,footnote #aj3 ,in the 
discourse on ,freethinking1 p4 #hj1     
,collins insists  much on a passage in  
,victor of ,tunis1 from which he infers1
 that the  ,gospels were corrected and  
altered in the fourth century4 ,s4      
,it would be endless to show in how many
 particulars the priests of the         
,heathen and ,christian churches1 differ
 about the meaning even of those        
,scriptures which they universally      
receive as sacred4 ,but1 to avoid       
prolixity1 ,i shall confine myself to   
the different opinions among the        
priests of the ,church of ,england1 and 

here only give you a specimen1  because 
even these are too many to be           
enumerated4    ,i have found out a      
bishop1 7though indeed his opinions are 
condemned by  all his brethren17 who    
allows the ,scriptures to be so         
difficult1 that  ,god has left them     
rather as a trial of our industry than a
 repository of  our faith1 and furniture
 of creeds and articles of belief2 with 
several  other admirable schemes of     
freethinking1 which you may consult at  
your  leisure4    ,the doctrine of the  
,trinity is the most fundamental point  
of the whole  ,christian religion4      
,nothing is more easy to a freethinker1 
yet what  different notions of it do the
 ,english priests pretend to deduce from
  ,scripture1 explaining it by specific 
unities1 eternal modes of  subsistence1 
and the like unintelligible jargon8     
,nay1 it is a question  whether this    
doctrine be fundamental or no2 for      
though ,dr4 ,south and  ,bishop ,bull   
affirm it1 yet ,bishop ,taylor and ,dr4 

,wallis deny it4#aa ,and  that excellent
 freethinking prelate1 ,bishop ,taylor1 
observes1 that  ,athanasius's example   
was followed with too much greediness2  
by which  means it has happened1 that   
the greater number of our priests are in
  that sentiment1 and think it necessary
 to believe the ,trinity1 and           
incarnation of ,christ4#ab    ,footnote 
#aa3 ,dr4 ,robert ,south 7#afcc-agaf71  
rector of ,islip4 ,the  reference by    
,swift is to his controversy with       
,sherlock on the doctrine  of the       
,trinity4 ,the two disputants got into  
such depths that both were  charged with
 heresy4    ,dr4 ,george ,bull          
7#afcd-agaj71 ,bishop of ,st4 ,david's1 
wrote the ,defensio  ,fidei ,nicenae4   
,for his exposition of the necessity for
 the belief in the  divinity of the ,son
 of ,god he received the thanks of      
,bossuet4    ,dr4 ,jeremy ,taylor1      
,bishop of ,down and ,connor            
7#afac-affg71 and author of  ,holy      
,living and ,holy ,dying1 wrote also    

,unum ,necessarium1 or the  ,doctrine   
and ,practice of ,repentance4 ,his      
treatment1 in this work1 of  the        
doctrine of original sin was considered 
heterodox by ,bishop ,warner  and ,dr4  
,sanderson1 and a controversy ensued1 in
 the course of which  ,taylor was       
imprisoned in ,chepstow ,castle on a    
charge of being concerned  in a         
,royalist insurrection4    ,dr4 ,john   
,wallis 7#afaf-agjc71 here referred to1 
is the famous  mathematician and divine1
 and one of the original members of the 
,royal  ,society4 ,he is mentioned in   
the text by ,swift because of a work he 
published on the ,trinity1 which brought
 him into collision with the  ,arians4  
,but the ,doctor seems to have been     
addicted to views of a  controversial   
nature1 for his opinions on infant      
baptism and the keeping  of the ,sabbath
 found many objectors4 ,he was ,savilian
 ,professor of  ,geometry at ,oxford in 
#afdh4 ,t4,s4    ,footnote #ab3 ,see    
,swift's opinion of controversies on    

this subject in  his ,sermon upon the   
,trinity4 ,s4    ,our priests likewise  
dispute several circumstances about the 
resurrection of the dead1 the nature of 
our bodies after the  resurrection1 and 
in what manner they shall be united to  
our souls4 ,they  also attack one       
another very weakly with great vigour1  
about  predestination4 ,and it is       
certainly true1 7for ,bishop ,taylor and
 ,mr4  ,whiston the ,socinian say so17  
that all churches in prosperity alter   
their doctrines every age1 and are      
neither satisfied with themselves1  nor 
their own confessions2 neither does any 
clergyman of sense believe  the         
,thirty-nine ,articles4    ,our priests 
differ about the eternity of hell       
torments4 ,the famous ,dr  ,henry       
,more1#ac and the most pious and        
rational of all priests1 ,dr            
,tillotson1#ad 7both freethinkers17     
believe them to be not eternal4 ,they   
differ about keeping the sabbath1 the   
divine right of episcopacy1 and  the    

doctrine of original sin2 which is the  
foundation of the whole  ,christian     
religion2 for if men are not liable to  
be damned for ,adam's  sin1 the         
,christian religion is an imposture3    
,yet this is now disputed  among them2  
so is lay baptism2 so was formerly the  
lawfulness of usury1  but now the       
priests are common stock-jobbers1       
attorneys1 and scriveners4  ,in short   
there is no end of disputing among      
priests1 and therefore ,i  conclude1    
that there ought to be no such thing in 
the world as priests1  teachers1 or     
guides1 for instructing ignorant people 
in religion2 but  that every man ought  
to think freely for himself4            
,footnote #ac3 ,dr4 ,henry ,more        
7#afad-afhg71 the ,platonist theologian1
  wrote a philosophical poem entitled1  
,psycho-,zoia1 or the ,life of the      
,soul 7#afdj74 ,t4,s4    ,footnote #ad3 
,dr4 ,john ,tillotson 7#afcj-afid7      
succeeded ,bancroft as  ,archbishop of  
,canterbury4 ,he published some eloquent

 sermons and several  controversial     
tracts against ,catholicism4 ,t4,s4     
,i will tell you the meaning in all     
this2 the priests dispute every point   
in the ,christian religion1 as well as  
almost every text in the ,bible2  and   
the force of my argument lies here1 that
 whatever point is disputed  by one or  
two divines1 however condemned by the   
,church1 not only that  particular      
point1 but the whole article to which it
 relates1 may  lawfully be received or  
rejected by any freethinker4 ,for       
instance1  suppose ,more and ,tillotson 
deny the eternity of hell torments1 a   
freethinker may deny all future         
punishments whatsoever4 ,the priests    
dispute about explaining the ,trinity2  
therefore a freethinker may reject  one 
or two1 or the whole three persons2 at  
least he may reject  ,christianity1     
because the ,trinity is the most        
fundamental doctrine of  that religion4 
,so ,i affirm original sin1 and that men
 are now liable to  be damned for       

,adam's sin1 to be the foundation of the
 whole ,christian  religion2 but this   
point was formerly1 and is now disputed1
 therefore1 a  freethinker may deny the 
whole4 ,and ,i cannot help giving you   
one farther  direction1 how ,i insinuate
 all along1 that the wisest freethinking
  priests1 whom you may distinguish by  
the epithets ,i bestow them1 were  those
 who differed most from the generality  
of their brethren4    ,but besides1 the 
conduct of our priests in many other    
points1 makes  freethinking unavoidable2
 for some of them own1 that the         
doctrines of  the ,church are           
contradictory to one another1 as well as
 to reason2 which  ,i thus prove3 ,dr4  
,sacheverell says in his speech at his  
trial1 ,that by  abandoning passive     
obedience we must render ourselves the  
most  inconsistent ,church in the world3
 ,now 'tis plain1 that one inconsistency
  could not make the most inconsistent  
,church in the world2 ergo1 there  must 
have been a great many inconsistencies  

and contradictory doctrines  in the     
,church before4 ,dr4 ,south describes   
the incarnation of ,christ1 as  an      
astonishing mystery1 impossible to be   
conceived by man's reason2  ergo1 it is 
contradictory to itself1 and to reason1 
and ought to be  exploded by all        
freethinkers4    ,another instance of   
the priests' conduct1 which multiplies  
freethinkers1  is their acknowledgment  
of abuses1 defects1 and false doctrines1
 in the  ,church2 particularly that of  
eating black pudding1#ae which is so    
plainly forbid in the ,old and ,new     
,testament1 that ,i wonder those who    
pretend to believe a syllable in either 
will presume to taste it4 ,why  should  
,i mention the want of discipline1 and  
of a sideboard at the  altar1 with      
complaints of other great abuses and    
defects made by some of  the priests1   
which no man can think on without       
freethinking1 and  consequently         
rejecting ,christianity8    ,footnote   
#ae3 ,collins in his pamphlet quotes a  

,dr4 ,grabe1 who1 following  the ,jewish
 code of rules as regards food1         
considered the eating of blood  one of  
the points on which the ,church did not 
insist against4 ,in the  text ,swift    
ridicules this in the reference to black
 pudding4 ,t4 ,s4    ,when ,i see an    
honest freethinking bishop endeavour to 
destroy the power  and privileges of the
 ,church1 and ,dr4 ,atterbury angry with
 him for it1  and calling it dirty work1
 what can ,i conclude1 by virtue of     
being a  freethinker1 but that          
,christianity is all a cheat8    ,mr4   
,whiston has published several tracts1  
wherein he absolutely denies  the       
divinity of ,christ3 ,a bishop tells    
him1 ,sir1 in any matter where  you have
 the ,church's judgment against you1 you
 should be careful not to  break the    
peace of the ,church1 by writing against
 it1 though you are  sure you are in the
 right4#af ,now my opinion is directly  
contrary2 and  ,i affirm1 that if ten   
thousand freethinkers thought           

differently from the  received doctrine1
 and from each other1 they would be all 
in duty bound  to publish their thoughts
 7provided they were all sure of being  
in the  right7 though it broke the peace
 of the ,church and state ten thousand  
times4    ,footnote #af3 ,swift's       
,sermon on the ,trinity1 as well as a   
passage in  his ,thoughts upon          
,religion1 shews the weight which he    
attached to this  important argument4   
,s4    ,and here ,i must take leave to  
tell you1 although you cannot but have  
perceived it from what ,i have already  
said1 and shall be still more  amply    
convinced by what is to follow2 that    
freethinking signifies  nothing1 without
 freespeaking and freewriting4 ,it is   
the indispensable  duty of a            
freethinker1 to endeavour forcing all   
the world to think as he  does1 and by  
that means make them freethinkers too4  
,you are also to  understand1 that ,i   
allow no man to be a freethinker1 any   
further than as  he differs from the    

received doctrines of religion4 ,where a
 man falls  in1 though by perfect       
chance1 with what is generally believed1
 he is in  that point a confined and    
limited thinker2 and you shall see by   
and by1  that ,i celebrate those for the
 noblest freethinkers in every age1 who 
differed from the religion of their     
countries in the most fundamental       
points1 and especially in those which   
bear any analogy to the chief           
fundamentals of religion among us4      
,another trick of the priests is1 to    
charge all men with atheism1 who  have  
more wit than themselves2 which         
therefore ,i expect will be my case  for
 writing this discourse3 ,this is what  
makes them so implacable  against ,mr4  
,gildon1 ,dr4 ,tindal1 ,mr4 ,toland1#ag 
and myself1 and when they  call us wits1
 atheists1 it provokes us to be         
freethinkers4    ,footnote #ag3 ,see    
notes on pp4 #i1 #gi1 #hj1 #hb4         
,again2 the priests cannot agree when   
their ,scripture was written4 ,they     

differ about the number of canonical    
books1 and the various readings4  ,now  
those few among us who understand       
,latin1 are careful to tell this to  our
 disciples1 who presently fall          
a-freethinking1 that the ,bible is a    
book not to be depended upon in anything
 at all4    ,there is another thing1    
that mightily spreads freethinking1     
which ,i  believe you would hardly      
guess4 ,the priests have got a way of   
late of  writing books against          
freethinking2 ,i mean treatises in      
dialogue1 where  they introduce         
atheists1 deists1 sceptics1 and         
,socinians offering their  several      
arguments4 ,now these freethinkers are  
too hard for the priests  themselves in 
their own books2 and how can it be      
otherwise8 ,for if the  arguments       
usually offered by atheists1 are fairly 
represented in these  books1 they must  
needs convert everybody that reads them2
 because  atheists1 deists1 sceptics1   
and ,socinians1 have certainly better   

arguments to maintain their opinions1   
than any the priests can produce  to    
maintain the contrary4    ,mr4          
,creech1#ah a priest1 translated        
,lucretius into ,english1 which is a    
complete system of atheism2 and several 
young students1 who were  afterwards    
priests1 wrote verses in praise of this 
translation4 ,the  arguments against    
,providence in that book are so strong1 
that they have  added mightily to the   
number of freethinkers4    ,footnote    
#ah3 ,this is ,thomas ,creech1 the      
translator of ,horace1 to whom  ,swift  
refers in ,the ,battle of the ,books    
7see vol4 i4 p4 #ahj74 ,the  translation
 of ,lucretius was published in ,english
 verse in #afhb4 ,t4  ,s4    ,why should
 ,i mention the pious cheats of the     
priests1 who in the ,new  ,testament    
translate the word ecclesia sometimes   
the church1 and  sometimes the          
congregation2 and episcopus1 sometimes a
 bishop1 and  sometimes an overseer8 ,a 
priest1#ai translating a book1 left out 

a  whole passage that reflected on the  
king1 by which he was an enemy to       
political freethinking1 a most          
considerable branch of our system4      
,another priest1 translating a book of  
travels1#bj left out a lying  miracle1  
out of mere malice1 to conceal an       
argument for freethinking4 ,in  short1  
these frauds are very common in all     
books which are published by  priests3  
,but however1 ,i love to excuse them    
whenever ,i can3 ,and as to  this       
accusation1 they may plead the authority
 of the ancient fathers of  the ,church1
 for forgery1 corruption1 and mangling  
of authors1 with more  reason than for  
any of their articles of faith4 ,st     
,jerom1 ,st ,hilary1  ,eusebius         
,vercellensis1 ,victorinus1#ba and      
several others1 were all  guilty of     
arrant forgery and corruption3 ,for when
 they translated the  works of several  
freethinkers1 whom they called heretics1
 they omitted  all their heresies or    
freethinkings1 and had the impudence to 

own it to  the world4    ,footnote #ai3 
,collins refers to the ,rev4 ,mr4       
,brown1 who translated  ,father ,paul's 
,letters1 and omitted the words1 ,if the
 ,king of ,england  ,james ,i4 were not 
more a doctor than a king4    ,footnote 
#bj3 ,baumgarten's ,travels4 ,t4 ,s4    
,footnote #ba3 ,jerome1 or ,st4         
,hieronymus 7circa #cdj-dbj71 wrote the 
,latin vulgate translation of the       
,scriptures4 ,is accepted as one of the 
,fathers of the ,church4    ,st4        
,hilary1 another accepted ,father1 was  
bishop of ,poictiers4 ,he died  #cfg or 
#cfh4    ,the ,eusebius here named was  
,bishop of ,vercelli1 a city of         
,liguria4 ,he  flourished about ,a4,d4  
#cfj1 and distinguished himself at the  
,council of  ,milan in ,a4,d4 #cee1 for 
his attacks against ,arianism4 ,he was  
exiled to  ,upper ,thebais1 with several
 other bishops who refused to subscribe 
to  the condemnation of ,athanasius2 but
 was recalled with ,lucifer1 bishop of  
,cagliari1 ,sardinia4 ,in conjunction   

with ,athanasius he attended an         
,alexandrian synod which declared the   
,trinity consubstantial4 ,he  travelled 
much1 in the ,eastern provinces and     
,italy1 engaging in  missionary work4   
,he died about ,a4,d4 #cgc4    ,fabius  
,marius ,victorinus was born in ,africa1
 and died at ,rome in #cgj4 ,he  was a  
distinguished orator1 grammarian1 and   
rhetorician4 ,his chief work  was a     
treatise entitled ,de ,orthographia4 ,he
 also wrote many  theological books4 ,t4
 ,s4    ,from these many notorious      
instances of the priests' conduct1 ,i   
conclude  they are not to be relied on  
in any one thing relating to religion2  
but  that every man must think freely   
for himself4    ,but to this it may be  
objected1 that the bulk of mankind is as
 well  qualified for flying as thinking1
 and if every man thought it his duty   
to think freely1 and trouble his        
neighbour with his thoughts 7which is   
an essential part of freethinking17 it  
would make wild work in the  world4 ,i  

answer2 whoever cannot think freely1 may
 let it alone if he  pleases1 by virtue 
of his right to think freely2 that is to
 say1 if such  a man freely thinks that 
he cannot think freely1 of which every  
man is a  sufficient judge1 why1 then1  
he need not think freely1 unless he     
thinks  fit4    ,besides1 if the bulk of
 mankind cannot think freely in matters 
of  speculation1 as the being of a ,god1
 the immortality of the soul1 c4 why    
then1 freethinking is indeed no duty3   
,but then the priests must allow1  that 
men are not concerned to believe whether
 there is a ,god or no4 ,but  still     
those who are disposed to think freely1 
may think freely if they  please4    ,it
 is again objected1 that freethinking   
will produce endless divisions  in      
opinion1 and by consequence disorder    
society4 ,to which ,i answer2    ,when  
every single man comes to have a        
different opinion every day from  the   
whole world1 and from himself1 by virtue
 of freethinking1 and thinks  it his    

duty to convert every man to his own    
freethinking 7as all we  freethinkers   
do7 how can that possibly create so     
great a diversity of  opinions1 as to   
have a set of priests agree among       
themselves to teach  the same opinions  
in their several parishes to all who    
will come to hear  them8 ,besides1 if   
all people were of the same opinion1 the
 remedy would  be worse than the        
disease2 ,i will tell you the reason    
some other time4    ,besides1 difference
 in opinion1 especially in matters of   
great moment1  breeds no confusion at   
all4 ,witness ,papist and ,protestant1  
,roundhead and  ,cavalier1 ,whig and    
,tory1 now among us4 ,i observe1 the    
,turkish empire is  more at peace within
 itself1 than ,christian princes are    
with one  another4 ,those noble ,turkish
 virtues of charity and toleration1 are 
what  contribute chiefly to the         
flourishing state of that happy         
monarchy4  ,there ,christians and ,jews 
are tolerated1 and live at ease1 if they

 can  hold their tongues and think      
freely1 provided they never set foot    
within  the mosques1 nor write against  
,mahomet3 ,a few plunderings now and    
then  by the janissaries are all they   
have to fear4    ,it is objected1 that  
by freethinking1 men will think         
themselves into  atheism2 and indeed ,i 
have allowed all along1 that atheistical
 books  convert men to freethinking4    
,but suppose that to be true2 ,i can    
bring  you two divines who affirm       
superstition and enthusiasm to be worse 
than  atheism1 and more mischievous to  
society1 and in short it is necessary   
that the bulk of the people should be   
atheists or superstitious4    ,it is    
objected1 that priests ought to be      
relied on by the people1 as  lawyers and
 physicians1 because it is their        
faculty4    ,i answer1 ',tis true1 a man
 who is no lawyer is not suffered to    
plead for  himself2 but every man may be
 his own quack if he pleases1 and he    
only  ventures his life2 but in the     

other case the priest tells him he must 
be  damned3 ,therefore do not trust the 
priest1 but think freely for  yourself1 
and if you happen to think there is no  
hell1 there certainly  is none1 and     
consequently you cannot be damned2 ,i   
answer further1 that  wherever there is 
no lawyer1 physician1 or priest1 the    
country is  paradise4 ,besides1 all     
priests1 7except the orthodox1 and those
 are not  ours1 nor any that ,i know17  
are hired by the public to lead men into
  mischief2 but lawyers and physicians  
are not1 you hire them yourself4    ,it 
is objected1 7by priests no doubt1 but  
,i have forgot their names7  that false 
speculations are necessary to be imposed
 upon men1 in order  to assist the      
magistrate in keeping the peace1 and    
that men ought  therefore to be         
deceived1 like children1 for their own  
good4 ,i answer1  that zeal for imposing
 speculations1 whether true or false    
7under which  name of speculations ,i   
include all opinions of religion1 as the

 belief  of a ,god1 ,providence1        
immortality of the soul1 future rewards 
and  punishments1 c47 has done more hurt
 than it is possible for religion to  do
 good4 ,it puts us to the charge of     
maintaining ten thousand priests in     
,england1 which is a burden upon society
 never felt upon any other  occasion2   
and a greater evil to the public than if
 these ecclesiastics  were only employed
 in the most innocent offices of life1  
which ,i take to  be eating and         
drinking4 ,now if you offer to impose   
anything on mankind  besides what       
relates to moral duties1 as to pay your 
debts1 not pick  pockets1 nor commit    
murder1 and the like2 that is to say1   
if1 besides  this1 you oblige them to   
believe in ,god and ,jesus ,christ1 what
 you add  to their faith will take just 
so much off from their morality4 ,by    
this  argument it is manifest1 that a   
perfect moral man must be a perfect     
atheist2 every inch of religion he gets 
loses him an inch of morality3  ,for    

there is a certain quantum belongs to   
every man1 of which there is  nothing to
 spare4 ,this is clear from the common  
practice of all our  priests1 they never
 once preach to you to love your        
neighbour1 to be  just in your dealings1
 or to be sober and temperate4 ,the     
streets of  ,london are full of common  
whores1 publicly tolerated in their     
wickedness2 yet the priests make no     
complaints against this enormity1       
either from the pulpit or the press3 ,i 
can affirm1 that neither you nor  ,i1   
sir1 have ever heard one sermon against 
whoring since we were boys4  ,no1 the   
priests allow all these vices1 and love 
us the better for them1  provided we    
will promise not to harangue upon a     
text1 nor to sprinkle  a little water in
 a child's face1 which they call        
baptizing1 and would  engross it all to 
themselves4    ,besides1 the priests    
engage all the rogues1 villains1 and    
fools in their  party1 in order to make 
it as large as they can3 ,by this means 

they  seduced ,constantine the ,great#bb
 over to their religion1 who was the    
first ,christian emperor1 and so        
horrible a villain1 that the heathen    
priests told him they could not expiate 
his crimes in their church2 so  he was  
at a loss to know what to do1 till an   
,a,egyptian bishop assured  him1 that   
there was no villainy so great1 but was 
to be expiated by the  sacraments of the
 ,christian religion2 upon which he     
became a ,christian1  and to him that   
religion owes its first settlement4     
,footnote #bb3 ,the reference here is to
 the luminous cross which  ,constantine 
said he saw in the heavens1 and which   
influenced him to  embrace              
,christianity4 ,t4 ,s4    ,it is        
objected1 that freethinkers themselves  
are the most infamous1  wicked1 and     
senseless of all mankind4    ,i answer1 
first1 we say the same of priests1 and  
other believers4 ,but  the truth is1 men
 of all sects are equally good and bad2 
for no religion  whatsoever contributes 

in the least to mend men's lives4    ,i 
answer1 secondly1 that freethinkers use 
their understanding1 but those  who have
 religion do not2 therefore the first   
have more understanding  than the       
others2 witness ,toland1 ,tindal1       
,gildon#bc1 ,clendon1 ,coward1  and     
myself4 ,for1 use legs and have legs4   
,footnote #bc3 ,john ,clendon1 of the   
,middle ,temple1 published in           
#agji-agaj1 ,tractatus                  
,philosophico-,theologicus de ,persona2 
or1 a  ,treatise of the ,word ,person4  
,this singular book appears to have been
  written principally to prove that the 
doctrine of the ,trinity was very  well 
explained by an ,act of ,parliament1 #i 
and #aj ,will4 ,,iii4 ,it was           
complained of in the ,house of ,commons1
 ,march #beth1 #agaj1 and was judged  to
 be a scandalous1 seditious1 and        
blasphemous libel 4444 and was burnt  by
 the common hangman at the same time    
with ,tindal's ,rights4 ,n4     ,i      
answer1 thirdly1 that freethinkers are  

the most virtuous persons in  the world2
 for all freethinkers must certainly    
differ from the priests1  and from nine 
hundred ninety-nine of a thousand of    
those among whom they  live2 and are    
therefore virtuous of course1 because   
everybody hates  them4    ,i answer1    
fourthly1 that the most virtuous people 
in all ages have been  freethinkers2 of 
which ,i shall produce several          
instances#bd4    ,footnote #bd3 ,what   
follows is in ridicule of a long list of
  freethinkers1 as he calls them1 with  
which ,collins has graced his           
discourse2 in which he includes not only
 the ancient philosophers1 but  the     
inspired prophets1 and even ,king       
,solomon the wise4 ,s4     ,socrates was
 a freethinker2 for he disbelieved the  
gods of his country1  and the common    
creeds about them1 and declared his     
dislike when he heard  men attribute    
repentance1 anger1 and other passions to
 the gods1 and  talk of wars and battles
 in heaven1 and of the gods getting     

women with  child1 and such like        
fabulous and blasphemous stones4 ,i pick
 out these  particulars1 because they   
are the very same with what the priests 
have  in their ,bibles1 where repentance
 and anger are attributed to ,god2 where
  it is said1 there was war in heaven2  
and that the ,virgin ,mary was  with    
child by the ,holy ,ghost1 whom the     
priests call ,god2 all fabulous  and    
blasphemous stories4 ,now1 ,i affirm    
,socrates to have been a true           
,christian4 ,you will ask1 perhaps1 how 
that can be1 since he lived three  or   
four hundred years before ,christ8 ,i   
answer1 with ,justin ,martyr1 that      
,christ is nothing else but reason1 and 
,i hope you do not think ,socrates      
lived before reason4 ,now1 this true    
,christian ,socrates never made         
notions1 speculations1 or mysteries1 any
 part of his religion1 but  demonstrated
 all men to be fools who troubled       
themselves with enquiries  into heavenly
 things4 ,lastly1 'tis plain that       

,socrates was a  freethinker1 because he
 was calumniated for an atheist1 as     
freethinkers  generally are1 only       
because he was an enemy to all          
speculations and  inquiries into        
heavenly things4 ,for ,i argue thus1    
that if ,i never  trouble myself to     
think whether there be a ,god or no1 and
 forbid others  to do it1 ,i am a       
freethinker1 but not an atheist4        
,plato was a freethinker1 and his       
notions are so like some in the ,gospel1
  that a heathen charged ,christ with   
borrowing his doctrine from ,plato4     
,but ,origen#be defends ,christ very    
well against this charge1 by saying  he 
did not understand ,greek1 and therefore
 could not borrow his doctrine  from    
,plato4 ,however their two religions    
agreed so well1 that it was  common for 
,christians to turn ,platonists1 and    
,platonists ,christians4  ,when the     
,christians found out this1 one of their
 zealous priests 7worse  than any       
atheist7 forged several things under    

,plato's name1 but  conformable to      
,christianity1 by which the heathens    
were fraudulently  converted4           
,footnote #be3 ,origen1 a ,father of the
 ,church1 was born about #ahe4 ,he      
carried to extremes the celibate life   
taught in the ,gospel2 and his          
,treatise against ,celsus contains1     
according to ,st4 ,jerome and           
,eusebius1 the refutation of all the    
objections which have been made1  and   
all which ever will be made against     
,christianity4 ,t4 ,s4     ,epicurus was
 the greatest of all freethinkers1 and  
consequently the most  virtuous man in  
the world4 ,his opinions in religion    
were the most  complete system of       
atheism that ever appeared4 ,christians 
ought to have  the greatest veneration  
for him1 because he taught a higher     
point of  virtue than ,christ2 ,i mean  
the virtue of friendship1 which in the  
sense  we usually understand it1 is not 
so much as named in the ,new ,testament4
    ,plutarch was a freethinker1        

notwithstanding his being a priest2 but 
indeed he was a heathen priest4 ,his    
freethinking appears by showing the     
innocence of atheism1 7which at worst is
 only false reasoning17 and the         
mischiefs of superstition2 and explains 
what superstition is1 by calling  it a  
conceit of immortal ills after death1   
the opinion of hell torments1  dreadful 
aspects1 doleful groans1 and the like4  
,he is likewise very  satirical upon the
 public forms of devotion in his own    
country 7a  qualification absolutely    
necessary to a freethinker7 yet those   
forms  which he ridicules1 are the very 
same that now pass for true worship in  
almost all countries3 ,i am sure some of
 them do so in ours2 such as  abject    
looks1 distortions1 wry faces1 beggarly 
tones1 humiliation1 and  contrition4    
,varro1#bf the most learned among the   
,romans1 was a freethinker2 for he      
said1 the heathen divinity contained    
many fables below the dignity of        
immortal beings2 such1 for instance1 as 

,gods ,,begotten and ,,proceeding  from 
other ,gods4 ,these two words ,i desire 
you will particularly remark1  because  
they are the very terms made use of by  
our priests in their  doctrine of the   
,trinity3 ,he says likewise1 that there 
are many things  false in religion1 and 
so say all freethinkers2 but then he    
adds2 which  the vulgar ought not to    
know1 but it is expedient they should   
believe4  ,in this last he indeed       
discovers the whole secret of a         
statesman and  politician1 by denying   
the vulgar the privilege of             
freethinking1 and  here ,i differ from  
him4 ,however1 it is manifest from      
hence1 that the  ,trinity was an        
invention of statesmen and politicians4 
,footnote #bf3 ,marcus ,terentius ,varro
 7born ,b4,c4 #aag7 was the friend of   
,cicero4 ,he was a profound grammarian1 
historian1 and philosopher4 ,the        
expression ,swift applies to him as the 
most learned among the ,romans  is one  
by which he is generally called4 ,t4 ,s4

     ,the grave and wise ,cato the      
censor will for ever live in that noble 
freethinking saying--,i wonder1 said he1
 how one of our priests can  forbear    
laughing when he sees another6 7,for    
contempt of priests is  another grand   
characteristic of a freethinker74 ,this 
shews that ,cato  understood the whole  
mystery of the ,roman religion as by law
  established4 ,i beg you1 sir1 not to  
overlook these last words1  religion as 
by law established4 ,i translate        
hanisfax1 into the  general word1       
priest4 ,thus ,i apply the sentence to  
our priests in  ,england1 and1 when ,dr4
 ,smallridge sees ,dr4 ,atterbury1 ,i   
wonder how either  of them can forbear  
laughing at the cheat they put upon the 
people1 by  making them believe their   
religion as by law established4         
,cicero1 that consummate philosopher1   
and noble patriot1 though he was a      
priest1 and consequently more likely to 
be a knave2 gave the greatest  proofs of
 his freethinking4 ,first1 he professed 

the sceptic philosophy1  which doubts of
 everything4 ,then1 he wrote two        
treatises2#bg in the  first1 he shews   
the weakness of the ,stoics' arguments  
for the being of  the ,gods3 ,in the    
latter1 he has destroyed the whole      
revealed religion of  the ,greeks and   
,romans 7for why should not theirs be a 
revealed religion  as well as that of   
,christ87 ,cicero likewise tells us1 as 
his own  opinion1 that they who study   
philosophy1 do not believe there are any
  ,gods3 ,he denies the immortality of  
the soul1 and says1 there can be        
nothing after death4    ,footnote #bg3  
,de ,natura ,deomm4 ,t4 ,s4     ,and    
because the priests have the impudence  
to quote ,cicero in their  pulpits and  
pamphlets1 against freethinking2 ,i am  
resolved to disarm  them of his         
authority4 ,you must know1 his          
philosophical works are  generally in   
dialogues1 where people are brought in  
disputing against  one another3 ,now the
 priests when they see an argument to   

prove a ,god1  offered perhaps by a     
,stoic1 are such knaves or blockheads1  
to quote it  as if it were ,cicero's    
own2 whereas ,cicero was so noble a     
freethinker1  that he believed nothing  
at all of the matter1 nor ever shews the
 least  inclination to favour           
superstition1 or the belief of a ,god1  
and the  immortality of the soul2 unless
 what he throws out sometimes to save   
himself from danger1 in his speeches to 
the ,roman mob2 whose religion  was1    
however1 much more innocent and less    
absurd1 than that of popery at  least3  
,and ,i could say more--but you         
understand me4    ,seneca was a great   
freethinker1 and had a noble notion of  
the worship of  the gods1 for which our 
priests would call any man an atheist3  
,he laughs  at morning devotions1 or    
worshipping upon ,sabbath-days2 he says 
,god has  no need of ministers and      
servants1 because he himself serves     
mankind4  ,this religious man1 like his 
religious brethren the ,stoics1 denies  

the  immortality of the soul1 and says1 
all that is feigned to be so terrible   
in hell1 is but a fable3 ,death puts an 
end to all our misery1 c4 ,yet  the     
priests were anciently so fond of       
,seneca1 that they forged a             
correspondence of letters between him   
and ,st4 ,paul4    ,solomon himself1    
whose writings are called the word of   
,god1 was such a  freethinker1 that if  
he were now alive1 nothing but his      
building of  churches could have kept   
our priests from calling him an atheist4
 ,he  affirms the eternity of the world 
almost in the same manner with          
,manilius1#bh the heathen philosophical 
poet1 7which opinion entirely           
overthrows the history of the creation  
by ,moses1 and all the ,new             
,testament73 ,he denies the immortality 
of the soul1 assures us that men  die   
like beasts1 and that both go to one    
place4    ,footnote #bh3 ,marcus        
,manilius1 who probably flourished under
 ,theodosius  the ,great1 was a ,latin  

poet1 who wrote a poem entitled         
,astronomica4  ,t4,s4     ,the prophets 
of the ,old ,testament were generally   
freethinkers3 you must  understand1 that
 their way of learning to prophesy was  
by music and  drinking4#bi ,these       
prophets writ against the established   
religion of  the ,jews1 7which those    
people looked upon as the institution of
 ,god  himself17 as if they believed it 
was all a cheat3 that is to say1 with   
as great liberty against the priests and
 prophets of ,israel1 as ,dr4  ,tindal  
did lately against the priests and      
prophets of our ,israel1 who  has       
clearly shewn them and their religion to
 be cheats4 ,to prove this1  you may    
read several passages in ,isaiah1       
,ezekiel1 ,amos1 ,jeremiah1 c41  wherein
 you will find such instances of        
freethinking1 that1 if any  ,englishman 
had talked so in our days1 their        
opinions would have been  registered in 
,dr4 ,sacheverell's trial1 and in the   
representation of the  ,lower ,house of 

,convocation1 and produced as so many   
proofs of the  profaneness1 blasphemy1  
and atheism of the nation2 there being  
nothing  more profane1 blasphemous1 or  
atheistical in those representations1   
than  what these prophets have spoke1   
whose writings are yet called by our    
priests1 the word of ,god4 ,and         
therefore these prophets are as much    
atheists as myself1 or as any of my     
freethinking brethren whom ,i lately    
named to you4    ,footnote #bi3         
,collins1 after making the charge1 which
 has been repeated  by all freethinkers 
down to ,thomas ,paine1 that the        
prophets acquired  their fervour of     
spirit by the aid of music and wine1    
allows1  nevertheless1 that they were   
great freethinkers1 and writ with as    
great  liberty against the established  
religion of the ,jews1 which the people 
looked on as the institution of ,god    
himself as if they looked upon it  all  
to be imposture4--,discourse1 p4 #aec1  
et sequen4 ,s4     ,josephus was a great

 freethinker3 ,i wish he had chosen a   
better subject  to write on1 than those 
ignorant1 barbarous1 ridiculous         
scoundrels1 the  ,jews1 whom ,god 7if we
 may believe the priests7 thought fit to
 choose for  his own people4 ,i will    
give you some instances of his          
freethinking4 ,he  says1 ,cain travelled
 through several countries1 and kept    
company with  rakes and profligate      
fellows2 he corrupted the simplicities  
of former  times1 c41 which plainly     
supposes men before ,adam1 and          
consequently  that the priests' history 
of the creation by ,moses1 is an        
imposture4 ,he  says1 the ,israelites'  
passing through the ,red ,sea1 was no   
more than  ,alexander's passing at the  
,pamphilian sea2 that as for the        
appearance of  ,god at ,mount ,sinai1   
the reader may believe it as he pleases2
 that ,moses  persuaded the ,jews he had
 ,god for his guide1 just as the ,greeks
  pretended they had their laws from    
,apollo4 ,these are noble strains of    

freethinking1 which the priests knew not
 how to solve1 but by thinking  as      
freely3 ,for one of them says1 that     
,josephus writ this to make his  work   
acceptable to the heathens1 by striking 
out everything that was  incredible4    
,origen1 who was the first ,christian   
that had any learning1 has left a  noble
 testimony of his freethinking2 for a   
general council has  determined him to  
be damned2 which plainly shews he was a 
freethinker1  and was no saint2 for     
people were only sainted because of     
their want of  learning and excess of   
zeal2 so that all the fathers1 who are  
called  saints by the priests1 were     
worse than atheists4    ,minutius       
,felix#cj seems to be a true modern     
latitudinarian1  freethinking           
,christian2 for he is against altars1   
churches1 public  preaching1 and public 
assemblies2 and likewise against        
priests2 for1 he  says1 there were      
several great flourishing empires before
 there were any  orders of priests in   

the world4    ,footnote #cj3 ,marcus    
,minutius ,felix is said to have been   
born in ,africa4  ,he flourished in the 
third century1 and wrote a defence of   
,christianity1  in dialogue form1       
entitled1 ,octavius4 ,the work has been 
translated  into ,english by ,lord      
,hailes4 ,t4,s4    ,synesius1#ca who had
 too much learning and too little zeal  
for a saint1  was for some time a great 
freethinker2 he could not believe the   
resurrection till he was made a bishop1 
and then pretended to be  convinced by a
 lying miracle4    ,footnote #ca3       
,synesius of ,cyrene1 born #cgi1 is the 
,platonic philosopher  who became       
,bishop of ,ptolemais4 ,t4,s4    ,to    
come to our own country3 ,my ,lord      
,bacon was a great freethinker1 when  he
 tells us1 that whatever has the least  
relation to religion1 is  particularly  
liable to suspicion2 by which he seems  
to suspect all the  facts whereon most  
of the superstitions 7that is to say1   
what the  priests call the religions7 of

 the world are grounded4 ,he also       
prefers atheism before superstition4    
,mr4 ,hobbes was a person of great      
learning1 virtue1 and freethinking1     
except in the high church politics4     
,but ,archbishop ,tillotson is the      
person whom all ,english freethinkers   
own  as their head2 and his virtue is   
indisputable for this manifest reason2  
that ,dr4 ,hickes1 a priest1 calls him  
an atheist2 says1 he caused several  to 
turn atheists1 and to ridicule the      
priesthood and religion4 ,these  must be
 allowed to be noble effects of         
freethinking4 ,this great prelate       
assures us1 that all the duties of the  
,christian religion1 with respect  to   
,god1 are no other but what natural     
light prompts men to1 except the  two   
sacraments1 and praying to ,god in the  
name and mediation of ,christ4  ,as a   
priest and prelate1 he was obliged to   
say something of  ,christianity2 but    
pray observe1 sir1 how he brings himself
 off4 ,he  justly affirms that even     

these things are of less moment than    
natural  duties2 and because mothers'   
nursing their children is a natural     
duty1  it is of more moment than the two
 sacraments1 or than praying to ,god in 
the name and by the mediation of        
,christ4 ,this freethinking archbishop  
could not allow a miracle sufficient to 
give credit to a prophet who  taught    
anything contrary to our natural        
notions3 ,by which it is plain1  he     
rejected at once all the mysteries of   
,christianity4    ,i could name         
one-and-twenty more great men1 who were 
all freethinkers2  but that ,i fear to  
be tedious3 ,for1 'tis certain that all 
men of sense  depart from the opinions  
commonly received2 and are consequently 
more or  less men of sense1 according as
 they depart more or less from the      
opinions commonly received2 neither can 
you name an enemy to  freethinking1     
however he be dignified or              
distinguished1 whether  archbishop1     
bishop1 priest1 or deacon1 who has not  

been either a  crack-brained enthusiast1
 a diabolical villain1 or a most        
profound  ignorant brute4    ,thus1 sir1
 ,i have endeavoured to execute your    
commands1 and you may  print this       
,letter1 if you please2 but ,i would    
have you conceal my name4  ,for my      
opinion of virtue is1 that we ought not 
to venture doing  ourselves harm1 by    
endeavouring to do good4      ,i am     
yours1 c4        ,i have here given the 
public a brief1 but faithful abstract of
 this  most excellent ,essay2 wherein ,i
 have all along religiously adhered to  
our author's notions1 and generally to  
his words1 without any other  addition  
than that of explaining a few necessary 
consequences1 for the  sake of ignorant 
readers2 for1 to those who have the     
least degree of  learning1 ,i own they  
will be wholly useless4 ,i hope ,i have 
not1 in any  single instance1           
misrepresented the thoughts of this     
admirable writer4  ,if ,i have happened 
to mistake through inadvertency1 ,i     

entreat he will  condescend to inform   
me1 and point out the place1 upon which 
,i will  immediately beg pardon both of 
him and the world4 ,the design of his   
piece is to recommend freethinking1 and 
one chief motive is the example  of many
 excellent men who were of that sect4   
,he produces as the  principal points of
 their freethinking2 that they denied   
the ,being of a  ,god1 the ,torments of 
,hell1 the ,immortality of the ,soul1   
the ,trinity1  ,incarnation1 the history
 of the creation by ,moses1 with many   
other such  fabulous and blasphemous    
stories1 as he judiciously calls them3  
,and he  asserts1 that whoever denies   
the most of these1 is the completest    
freethinker1 and consequently the wisest
 and most virtuous man4 ,the  author1   
sensible of the prejudices of the age1  
does not directly affirm  himself an    
atheist2 he goes no further than to     
pronounce that atheism is  the most     
perfect degree of freethinking2 and     
leaves the reader to form  the          

conclusion4 ,however1 he seems to allow1
 that a man may be a  tolerable         
freethinker1 though he does believe a   
,god2 provided he utterly  rejects      
,providence1 ,revelation1 the ,old and  
,new ,testament1 ,future  ,rewards and  
,punishments1 the ,immortality of the   
,soul1 and other the  like impossible   
absurdities4 ,which mark of             
superabundant caution1  sacrificing     
truth to the superstition of priests1   
may perhaps be  forgiven1 but ought not 
to be imitated by any who would arrive  
7even in  this author's judgment7 at the
 true perfection of freethinking4       
9999999999       9999999999             
9999999999       9999999999             
,,some ,,thoughts    ,,on               
,,freethinking4    ,,written ,,in       
,,england1 ,,but ,,left ,,unfinished4   
,discoursing one day with a prelate of  
the kingdom of ,ireland1 who is a       
person of excellent wit and learning1 he
 offered a notion applicable to  the    
subject we were then upon1 which ,i took

 to be altogether new and  right4 ,he   
said1 that the difference betwixt a     
madman and one in his  wits1 in what    
related to speech1 consisted in this2   
that the former  spoke out whatever came
 into his mind1 and just in the confused
 manner  as his imagination presented   
the ideas3 ,the latter only expressed   
such  thoughts as his judgment directed 
him to choose1 leaving the rest to die  
away in his memory2 and that1 if the    
wisest man would1 at any time1  utter   
his thoughts in the crude indigested    
manner as they come into his  head1 he  
would be looked upon as raving mad4     
,and1 indeed1 when we  consider our     
thoughts1 as they are the seeds of words
 and actions1 we  cannot but agree that 
they ought to be kept under the         
strictest  regulation2 and that in the  
great multiplicity of ideas which one's 
mind  is apt to form1 there is nothing  
more difficult than to select those     
which are most proper for the conduct of
 life4 ,so that ,i cannot imagine  what 

is meant by the mighty zeal in some     
people for asserting the  freedom of    
thinking2 because1 if such thinkers keep
 their thoughts  within their own       
breasts1 they can be of no consequence1 
farther than to  themselves4 ,if they   
publish them to the world1 they ought to
 be  answerable for the effects their   
thoughts produce upon others4 ,there are
  thousands in this kingdom1 who1 in    
their thoughts1 prefer a republic1 or   
absolute power of a prince1 before a    
limited monarchy2 yet1 if any of  these 
should publish their opinions1 and go   
about1 by writing or  discourse1 to     
persuade the people to innovations in   
government1 they  would be liable to the
 severest punishments the law can       
inflict2 and  therefore they are usually
 so wise as to keep their sentiments to 
themselves4 ,but1 with respect to       
religion1 the matter is quite           
otherwise3 and the public1 at least here
 in ,england1 seems to be of  opinion   
with ,tiberius1 that ,deorum injuriae   

diis curae4 ,they leave it  to ,god     
,almighty to vindicate the injuries done
 to himself1 who is no  doubt           
sufficiently able1 by perpetual         
miracles1 to revenge the affronts  of   
impious men4 ,and1 it should seem1 that 
is what princes expect from  him1 though
 ,i cannot readily conceive the grounds 
they go upon2 nor why1  since they are  
,god's vicegerents1 they do not think   
themselves at least  equally obliged to 
preserve their master's honour as their 
own2 since  this is what they expect    
from those they depute1 and since they  
never  fail to represent the            
disobedience of their subjects1 as      
offences  against ,god4 ,it is true1 the
 visible reason of this neglect is      
obvious  enough3 ,the consequences of   
atheistical opinions1 published to the  
world1 are not so immediate1 or so      
sensible1 as doctrines of rebellion  and
 sedition1 spread in a proper season4   
,however1 ,i cannot but think the  same 
consequences are as natural and probable

 from the former1 though  more remote3  
,and whether these have not been in view
 among our great  planters of infidelity
 in ,england1 ,i shall hereafter        
examine4    9999999999       9999999999 
9999999999       9999999999          ,a 
,,letter    ,,to    ,a ,,young          
,,clergyman1    ,,lately ,,entered      
,,into    ,,holy ,,orders4    #agai-bj4 
,,note4    ,no stronger proof could be  
adduced of ,swift's genuine and earnest 
belief  in the dignity of a clergyman of
 the ,church than this letter4 ,in spite
  of the sarcasms which here and there  
are levelled against the mediocre       
members of the class1 it is evident     
,swift felt that these might be made    
worthy teachers and preachers of the    
doctrines of an institution  founded1 in
 his opinion1 for the best regulation of
 mankind4 ,the letter  serves also to   
present us with an outline of a picture 
of the clergyman  of his day2 and if    
this picture be not flattering1 it seems
 faithfully  to reflect the social      

conditions which we know to have        
prevailed at the  time4    ,the letter  
was written in the years of quiet which 
,swift enjoyed between  the             
pamphleteering crusade against the      
,whigs1 when ,harley and ,st4 ,john     
were in power1 and the famous social and
 political troubles which began  with   
,wood's halfpence4    ,the text of this 
letter is practically that of the first 
edition2 but ,i  have collated this with
 the texts given by ,hawkesworth1       
,scott1 the first  volume of the        
,miscellanies of #agbh1 and the second  
volume of the  ,miscellanies of #agde4  
,in the original edition1 and in the    
reprints  published to the time of      
,faulkner's collected edition1 the title
 reads  ,a ,letter to a ,young          
,gentleman1 etc4    ,t4,s4        ,a    
,,letter    ,,to ,a    ,,young          
,,gentleman1    ,,lately ,,enter',d     
,,into    ,,holy ,,orders    ,by a      
,person of ,,quality4    ,it is         
certainly known1 that the following     

,treatise was writ in ,ireland  by the  
,reverend ,dr4 ,swift1 ,dean of ,st4    
,patrick's in that ,kingdom4            
,dublin1 ,january the #ith1 #agai-bj4   
,sir1    ,although it was against my    
knowledge or advice1 that you entered   
into  holy orders1 under the present    
dispositions of mankind toward the      
,church1 yet since it is now supposed   
too late to recede1 7at least  according
 to the general practice and opinion17  
,i cannot forbear  offering my thoughts 
to you upon this new condition of life  
you are  engaged in4    ,i could        
heartily wish that the circumstances of 
your fortune1 had  enabled you to have  
continued some years longer in the      
university2 at  least till you were ten 
years standing2 to have laid in a       
competent  stock of human learning1 and 
some knowledge in divinity1 before you  
attempted to appear in the world3 ,for  
,i cannot but lament the common  course1
 which at least nine in ten of those who
 enter into the ministry  are obliged to

 run4 ,when they have taken a degree1   
and are consequently  grown a burden to 
their friends1 who now think themselves 
fully  discharged1 they get into orders 
as soon as they can2 7upon which ,i     
shall make no remarks17 first solicit a 
readership1 and if they be very         
fortunate1 arrive in time to a curacy   
here in town1 or else are sent to  be   
assistants in the country1 where they   
probably continue several  years1 7many 
of them their whole lives17 with thirty 
or forty pounds  a-year for their       
support1 till some bishop1 who happens  
to be not  overstocked with relations1  
or attached to favourites1 or is content
 to  supply his diocese without colonies
 from ,england1 bestows upon them some  
inconsiderable benefice1 when it is odds
 they are already encumbered  with a    
numerous family4 ,i should be glad to   
know what intervals of life  such       
persons can possibly set apart for the  
improvement of their minds2  or which   
way they could be furnished with books1 

the library they  brought with them from
 their college being usually not the    
most  numerous1 or judiciously chosen4  
,if such gentlemen arrive to be great   
scholars1 it must1 ,i think1 be either  
by means supernatural1 or by a  method  
altogether out of any road yet known to 
the learned4 ,but ,i  conceive the fact 
directly otherwise1 and that many of    
them lose the  greatest part of the     
small pittance they receive at the      
university4    ,i take it for granted1  
that you intend to pursue the beaten    
track1 and  are already desirous to be  
seen in a pulpit1 only ,i hope you will 
think  it proper to pass your quarantine
 among some of the desolate churches    
five miles round this town1 where you   
may at least learn to read and to  speak
 before you venture to expose your parts
 in a city congregation2  not that these
 are better judges1 but because1 if a   
man must needs  expose his folly1 it is 
more safe and discreet to do so before  
few  witnesses1 and in a scattered      

neighbourhood4 ,and you will do well if 
you  can prevail upon some intimate and 
judicious friend to be your constant    
hearer1 and allow him with the utmost   
freedom to give you notice of  whatever 
he shall find amiss either in your voice
 or gesture2 for want  of which early   
warning1 many clergymen continue        
defective1 and sometimes  ridiculous1 to
 the end of their lives2 neither is it  
rare to observe  among excellent and    
learned divines1 a certain ungracious   
manner1 or an  unhappy tone of voice1   
which they never have been able to shake
 off4    ,i should likewise have been   
glad1 if you had applied yourself a     
little  more to the study of the        
,english language1 than ,i fear you have
 done2  the neglect whereof is one of   
the most general defects among the      
scholars of this kingdom1 who seem not  
to have the least conception of a       
style1 but run on in a flat kind of     
phraseology1 often mingled with         
barbarous terms and expressions1        

peculiar to the nation3 ,neither do ,i  
perceive that any person1 either finds  
or acknowledges his wants upon  this    
head1 or in the least desires to have   
them supplied4 ,proper words  in proper 
places1 make the true definition of a   
style4 ,but this would  require too     
ample a disquisition to be now dwelt on3
 however1 ,i shall  venture to name one 
or two faults1 which are easy to be     
remedied1 with a  very small portion of 
abilities4    ,the first is the frequent
 use of obscure terms1 which by the     
women are  called hard words1 and by the
 better sort of vulgar1 fine language2  
than  which ,i do not know a more       
universal1 inexcusable1 and unnecessary 
mistake1 among the clergy of all        
distinctions1 but especially the        
younger practitioners4 ,i have been     
curious enough to take a list of        
several hundred words in a sermon of a  
new beginner1 which not one of  his     
hearers among a hundred could possibly  
understand1 neither can ,i  easily call 

to mind any clergyman of my own         
acquaintance who is wholly  exempt from 
this error1 although many of them agree 
with me in the  dislike of the thing4   
,but ,i am apt to put myself in the     
place of the  vulgar1 and think many    
words difficult or obscure1 which they  
will not  allow to be so1 because those 
words are obvious to scholars1 ,i       
believe  the method observed by the     
famous ,lord ,falkland#a in some of his 
writings1 would not be an ill one for   
young divines3 ,i was assured by an  old
 person of quality who knew him well1   
that when he doubted whether a  word was
 perfectly intelligible or no1 he used  
to consult one of his  lady's           
chambermaids1 7not the waiting-woman1   
because it was possible she  might be   
conversant in romances17 and by her     
judgment was guided whether  to receive 
or reject it4 ,and if that great person 
thought such a caution  necessary in    
treatises offered to the learned world1 
it will be sure at  least as proper in  

sermons1 where the meanest hearer is    
supposed to be  concerned1 and where    
very often a lady's chambermaid may be  
allowed to  equal half the congregation1
 both as to quality and understanding4  
,but ,i  know not how it comes to pass1 
that professors in most arts and        
sciences  are generally the worst       
qualified to explain their meanings to  
those who  are not of their tribe3 a    
common farmer shall make you understand 
in  three words1 that his foot is out of
 joint1 or his collar-bone broken1      
wherein a surgeon1 after a hundred terms
 of art1 if you are not a  scholar1     
shall leave you to seek4 ,it is         
frequently the same case in law1        
physic1 and even many of the meaner     
arts4    ,footnote #a3 ,lucius ,cary1   
second ,viscount ,falkland 7#afaj-afdc71
 who was  killed at the battle of       
,newbury in the great ,civil ,war1 was a
 generous  patron of learning and of the
 literary men of his day4 ,he was       
himself a  fine scholar and able writer4

 ,clarendon has recorded his character  
in  the seventh book of his ,history of 
the ,great ,rebellion3 ,a person of     
such prodigious parts of learning and   
knowledge1 of that inimitable  sweetness
 and delight in conversation1 of so     
flowing and obliging an  humanity and   
goodness to mankind1 that1 if there were
 no other brand  upon this odious and   
accursed ,civil ,war than that single   
loss1 it must  be infamous and execrable
 to all posterity4 ,falkland has been   
made the  hero of a romance by ,lord    
,lytton4 ,t4 ,s4      ,and upon this    
account it is1 that among hard words1 ,i
 number likewise  those which are       
peculiar to divinity as it is a science1
 because ,i have  observed several      
clergymen1 otherwise little fond of     
obscure terms1 yet  in their sermons    
very liberal of those which they find in
 ecclesiastical  writers1 as if it were 
our duty to understand them2 which ,i am
 sure it  is not4 ,and ,i defy the      
greatest divine to produce any law      

either of ,god  or man1 which obliges me
 to comprehend the meaning of           
omniscience1  omnipresence1 ubiquity1   
attribute1 beatific vision1 with a      
thousand  others so frequent in pulpits1
 any more than that of eccentric1       
idiosyncracy1 entity1 and the like4 ,i  
believe ,i may venture to insist        
farther1 that many terms used in ,holy  
,writ1 particularly by ,st ,paul1  might
 with more discretion be changed into   
plainer speech1 except when  they are   
introduced as part of a quotation4#b    
,footnote #b3 ,swift refers to this     
point in his ,thoughts on ,religion1    
and regrets that the explanation of     
matters of doctrine1 which ,st4 ,paul   
expressed in the current eastern        
vocabulary1 should have been            
perpetuated in terms founded on the same
 terminology4 ,t4 ,s4     ,i am the more
 earnest in this matter1 because it is a
 general complaint1  and the justest in 
the world4 ,for a divine has nothing to 
say to the  wisest congregation of any  

parish in this kingdom1 which he may not
  express in a manner to be understood  
by the meanest among them4 ,and this    
assertion must be true1 or else ,god    
requires from us more than we are  able 
to perform4 ,however1 not to contend    
whether a logician might  possibly put a
 case that would serve for an exception1
 ,i will appeal to  any man of letters1 
whether at least nineteen in twenty of  
those  perplexing words might not be    
changed into easy ones1 such as         
naturally  first occur to ordinary men1 
and probably did so at first to those   
very  gentlemen who are so fond of the  
former4    ,we are often reproved by    
divines from the pulpits1 on account of 
our  ignorance in things sacred1 and    
perhaps with justice enough4 ,however1  
it  is not very reasonable for them to  
expect1 that common men should          
understand expressions which are never  
made use of in common life4 ,no         
gentleman thinks it safe or prudent to  
send a servant with a message1  without 

repeating it more than once1 and        
endeavouring to put it into  terms      
brought down to the capacity of the     
bearer3 yet after all this  care1 it is 
frequent for servants to mistake1 and   
sometimes to occasion  misunderstandings
 among friends4 ,although the common    
domestics in some  gentlemen's families 
have more opportunities of improving    
their minds  than the ordinary sort of  
tradesmen4    ,it is usual for clergymen
 who are taxed with this learned defect1
 to  quote ,dr4 ,tillotson1 and other   
famous divines1 in their defence2       
without  considering the difference     
between elaborate discourses upon       
important  occasions1 delivered to      
princes or parliaments1 written with a  
view of  being made public1 and a plain 
sermon intended for the middle or lower 
size of people4 ,neither do they seem to
 remember the many alterations1         
additions1 and expungings1 made by great
 authors in those treatises  which they 
prepare for the public4 ,besides1 that  

excellent prelate  above-mentioned1 was 
known to preach after a much more       
popular manner in  the city             
congregations3 and if in those parts of 
his works he be any  where too obscure  
for the understandings of many who may  
be supposed to  have been his hearers1  
it ought to be numbered among his       
omissions4    ,the fear of being thought
 pedants hath been of pernicious        
consequence to  young divines4 ,this    
hath wholly taken many of them off from 
their  severer studies in the           
university1 which they have exchanged   
for plays1  poems1 and pamphlets1 in    
order to qualify them for tea-tables and
  coffee-houses4 ,this they usually call
 polite conversation2 knowing the       
world2 and reading men instead of books4
 ,these accomplishments1 when  applied  
to the pulpit1 appear by a quaint2      
terse1 florid style1 rounded  into      
periods and cadences1 commonly without  
either propriety or meaning4  ,i have   
listen'd with my utmost attention for   

half an hour to an orator  of this      
species1 without being able to          
understand1 much less to carry  away one
 single sentence out of a whole sermon4 
,others1 to shew that  their studies    
have not been confined to sciences1 or  
ancient authors1  will talk in the style
 of a gaming ordinary1 and ,white       
,friars#c1 when ,i  suppose the hearers 
can be little edified by the terms      
palming1  shuffling1 biting1 bamboozling
 and the like1 if they have not been    
sometimes conversant among pick-pockets 
and sharpers4 ,and truly1 as they  say1 
a man is known by his company1 so it    
should seem that a man's  company may be
 known by his manner of expressing      
himself1 either in  public assemblies1  
or private conversation4    ,footnote   
#c3 ,see note on ,alsatia1 p4 #ajj4 ,t4 
,s4     ,it would be endless to run over
 the several defects of style among us2 
,i  shall therefore say nothing of the  
mean and paltry 7which are usually      
attended by the fustian71 much less of  

the slovenly or indecent4 ,two  things  
,i will just warn you against2 the first
 is the frequency of flat  unnecessary  
epithets1 and the other is the folly of 
using old threadbare  phrases1 which    
will often make you go out of your way  
to find and apply  them1 are nauseous to
 rational hearers1 and will seldom      
express your  meaning as well as your   
own natural words4    ,although1 as ,i  
have already observed1 our ,english     
tongue is too little  cultivated in this
 kingdom2 yet the faults are nine in ten
 owing to  affectation1 and not to the  
want of understanding4 ,when a man's    
thoughts  are clear1 the properest words
 will generally offer themselves first1 
and his own judgment will direct him in 
what order to place them1 so as  they   
may be best understood4 ,where men err  
against this method1 it is  usually on  
purpose1 and to shew their learning1    
their oratory1 their  politeness1 or    
their knowledge of the world4 ,in short1
 that simplicity  without which no human

 performance can arrive to any great    
perfection1  is nowhere more eminently  
useful than in this4    ,i have been    
considering that part of oratory which  
relates to the moving  of the passions2 
this ,i observe is in esteem and        
practice among some  church divines1 as 
well as among all the preachers and     
hearers of the  fanatic or enthusiastic 
strain4 ,i will here deliver to you     
7perhaps with  more freedom than        
prudence7 my opinion upon the point4    
,the two great orators of ,greece and   
,rome1 ,demosthenes and ,cicero1 though 
each of them a leader 7or as the ,greeks
 call it a demagogue7 in a  popular     
state1 yet seem to differ in their      
practice upon this branch of  their art2
 the former who had to deal with a      
people of much more  politeness1        
learning1 and wit1 laid the greatest    
weight of his oratory  upon the strength
 of his arguments1 offered to their     
understanding and  reason3 whereas      
,tully considered the dispositions of a 

sincere1 more  ignorant1 and less       
mercurial nation1 by dwelling almost    
entirely on the  pathetic part4    ,but 
the principal thing to be remembered is1
 that the constant design of  both these
 orators in all their speeches1 was to  
drive some one  particular point1 either
 the condemnation or acquittal of an    
accused  person1 a persuasive to war1   
the enforcing of a law1 and the like2   
which  was determined upon the spot1    
according as the orators on either side 
prevailed4 ,and here it was often found 
of absolute necessity to inflame  or    
cool the passions of the audience1      
especially at ,rome where ,tully  spoke1
 and with whose writings young divines  
7,i mean those among them  who read old 
authors7 are more conversant than with  
those of  ,demosthenes1 who by many     
degrees excelled the other at least as  
an  orator4 ,but ,i do not see how this 
talent of moving the passions can be  of
 any great use toward directing         
,christian men in the conduct of their  

lives1 at least in these northern       
climates1 where ,i am confident the     
strongest eloquence of that kind will   
leave few impressions upon any of  our  
spirits deep enough to last till the    
next morning1 or rather to the  next    
meal4#d    ,footnote #d3 ,swift's own   
sermons rarely appealed to the emotions2
 they  were1 in his own phrase1         
political pamphlets1 and aimed at       
convincing  the reason4 ,t4 ,s4     ,but
 what hath chiefly put me out of conceit
 with this moving manner of  preaching1 
is the frequent disappointment it meets 
with4 ,i know a  gentleman1 who made it 
a rule in reading1 to skip over all     
sentences  where he spied a note of     
admiration at the end4 ,i believe those 
preachers who abound in epiphonemas1#e  
if they look about them1 would  find one
 part of their congregation out of      
countenance1 and the other  asleep1     
except perhaps an old female beggar or  
two in the aisles1 who  7if they be     
sincere7 may probably groan at the      

sound4    ,footnote #e3 ,epiphonema is a
 figure in rhetoric1 signifying a       
sententious kind of exclamation4 ,s4    
,nor is it a wonder1 that this expedient
 should so often miscarry1 which        
requires so much art and genius to      
arrive at any perfection in it1 as  any 
man will find1 much sooner than learn by
 consulting ,cicero himself4    ,i      
therefore entreat you to make use of    
this faculty 7if you ever be so         
unfortunate as to think you have it7 as 
seldom1 and with as much caution  as you
 can1 else ,i may probably have occasion
 to say of you as a great  person said  
of another upon this very subject4 ,a   
lady asked him coming  out of church1   
whether it were not a very moving       
discourse8 ,yes1 said  he1 ,i was       
extremely sorry1 for the man is my      
friend4    ,if in company you offer     
something for a jest1 and nobody second 
you in  your own laughter1 nor seems to 
relish what you said1 you may condemn   
their taste1 if you please1 and appeal  

to better judgments2 but in the         
meantime1 it must be agreed you make a  
very indifferent figure2 and it  is at  
least equally ridiculous to be          
disappointed in endeavouring to  make   
other folks grieve1 as to make them     
laugh4    ,a plain convincing reason may
 possibly operate upon the mind both of 
a  learned and ignorant hearer as long  
as they live1 and will edify a  thousand
 times more than the art of wetting the 
handkerchiefs of a whole  congregation1 
if you were sure to attain it4    ,if   
your arguments be strong1 in ,god's name
 offer them in as moving a  manner as   
the nature of the subject will properly 
admit1 wherein reason  and good advice  
will be your safest guides2 but beware  
of letting the  pathetic part swallow up
 the rational3 ,for ,i suppose1         
philosophers have  long agreed1 that    
passion should never prevail over       
reason4    ,as ,i take it1 the two      
principal branches of preaching are     
first to tell  the people what is their 

duty1 and then to convince them that it 
is so4  ,the topics for both these1 we  
know1 are brought from ,scripture and   
reason4 ,upon this first1 ,i wish it    
were often practised to instruct the    
hearers in the limits1 extent1 and      
compass of every duty1 which requires  a
 good deal of skill and judgment3 the   
other branch is1 ,i think1 not so       
difficult4 ,but what ,i would offer them
 both1 is this2 that it seems to  be in 
the power of a reasonable clergyman1 if 
he will be at the pains1  to make the   
most ignorant man comprehend what is his
 duty1 and to  convince him by argument 
drawn to the level of his understanding1
 that  he ought to perform it4    ,but  
,i must remember that my design in this 
paper was not so much to  instruct you  
in your business either as a clergyman  
or a preacher1 as to  warn you against  
some mistakes which are obvious to the  
generality of  mankind as well as to me2
 and we who are hearers1 may be allowed 
to have  some opportunities in the      

quality of being standers-by4 ,only     
perhaps ,i  may now again transgress by 
desiring you to express the heads of    
your  divisions in as few and clear     
words as you possibly can1 otherwise1 ,i
  and many thousand others will never be
 able to retain them1 nor  consequently 
to carry away a syllable of the sermon4 
,i shall now mention a particular       
wherein your whole body will be         
certainly against me1 and the laity     
almost to a man on my side4 ,however  it
 came about1 ,i cannot get over the     
prejudice of taking some little  offence
 at the clergy for perpetually reading  
their sermons#f2 perhaps  my frequent   
hearing of foreigners1 who never made   
use of notes1 may have  added to my     
disgust4 ,and ,i cannot but think1 that 
whatever is read1  differs as much from 
what is repeated without book1 as a copy
 does from  an original4 ,at the same   
time1 ,i am highly sensible what an     
extreme  difficulty it would be upon you
 to alter this method1 and that1 in such

  a case1 your sermons would be much    
less valuable than they are1 for want   
of time to improve and correct them4 ,i 
would therefore gladly come to a        
compromise with you in this matter4 ,i  
knew a clergyman of some  distinction1  
who appeared to deliver his sermon      
without looking into his  notes1 which  
when ,i complimented him upon1 he       
assured me he could not  repeat six     
lines2 but his method was to write the  
whole sermon in a  large plain hand1    
with all the forms of margin1 paragraph1
 marked page1  and the like2 then on    
,sunday morning he took care to run it  
over five or  six times1 which he could 
do in an hour2 and when he deliver'd it1
 by  pretending to turn his face from   
one side to the other1 he would 7in his 
own expression7 pick up the lines1 and  
cheat his people by making them  believe
 he had it all by heart4 ,he farther    
added1 that whenever he  happened by    
neglect to omit any of these            
circumstances1 the vogue of the  parish 

was1 ,our doctor gave us but an         
indifferent sermon to-day4 ,now  among  
us1 many clergymen act too directly     
contrary to this method1 that  from a   
habit of saving time and paper1 which   
they acquired at the  ,university1 they 
write in so diminutive a manner1 with   
such frequent  blots and                
interlineations1 that they are hardly   
able to go on without  perpetual        
hesitations or extemporary expletives3  
,and ,i desire to know  what can be more
 inexcusable1 than to see a divine and a
 scholar1 at a  loss in reading his own 
compositions1 which it is supposed he   
has been  preparing with much pains and 
thought for the instruction of his      
people8  ,the want of a little more care
 in this article1 is the cause of much  
ungraceful behaviour4 ,you will observe 
some clergymen with their heads  held   
down from the beginning to the end1     
within an inch of the cushion1  to read 
what is hardly legible2 which1 besides  
the untoward manner1  hinders them from 

making the best advantage of their      
voice3 others again  have a trick of    
popping up and down every moment from   
their paper to the  audience1 like an   
idle school-boy on a repetition day4    
,footnote #f3 ,the custom of reading    
sermons1 notes ,scott1 seems  originally
 to have arisen in opposition to the    
practice of ,dissenters1  many of whom  
affected to trust to their ,inspiration 
in their extempore  harangues4 ,t4 ,s4  
,let me entreat you1 therefore1 to add  
one half-crown a year to the  article of
 paper2 to transcribe your sermons in as
 large and plain a  manner as you can1  
and either make no interlineations1 or  
change the  whole leaf2 for we your     
hearers would rather you should be less 
correct  than perpetually stammering1   
which ,i take to be one of the worst    
solecisms in rhetoric3 ,and lastly1 read
 your sermon once or twice for a  few   
days before you preach it3 to which you 
will probably answer some  years hence1 
that it was but just finished when the  

last bell rang to  church3 and ,i shall 
readily believe1 but not excuse you4    
,i cannot forbear warning you in the    
most earnest manner against             
endeavouring at wit in your sermons1    
because by the strictest  computation1  
it is very near a million to one that   
you have none2 and  because too many of 
your calling have consequently made     
themselves  everlastingly ridiculous by 
attempting it4 ,i remember several young
 men  in this town1 who could never     
leave the pulpit under half a dozen     
conceits2 and this faculty adhered to   
those gentlemen a longer or  shorter    
time exactly in proportion to their     
several degrees of dulness3             
accordingly1 ,i am told that some of    
them retain it to this day4 ,i  heartily
 wish the brood were at an end4         
,before you enter into the common       
insufferable cant of taking all         
occasions to disparage the heathen      
philosophers1 ,i hope you will differ   
from some of your brethren1 by first    

enquiring what those philosophers  can  
say for themselves4 ,the system of      
morality to be gathered out of the      
writings or sayings of those ancient    
sages1 falls undoubtedly very short  of 
that delivered in the ,gospel1 and wants
 besides1 the divine sanction  which our
 ,saviour gave to ,his4 ,whatever is    
further related by the  evangelists1    
contains chiefly1 matters of fact1 and  
consequently of  faith1 such as the     
birth of ,christ1 ,his being the        
,messiah1 ,his ,miracles1  ,his death1  
resurrection1 and ascension4 ,none of   
which can properly come  under the      
appellation of human wisdom1 being      
intended only to make us  wise unto     
salvation4 ,and therefore in this point 
nothing can justly be  laid to the      
charge of the philosophers further than 
that they were  ignorant of certain     
facts that happened long after their    
death4 ,but ,i am  deceived1 if a better
 comment could be anywhere collected1   
upon the  moral part of the ,gospel1    

than from the writings of those         
excellent men2  even that divine precept
 of loving our enemies1 is at large     
insisted on  by ,plato1 who puts it1 as 
,i remember1 into the mouth of          
,socrates4#g ,and  as to the reproach of
 heathenism1 ,i doubt they had less of  
it than the  corrupted ,jews in whose   
time they lived4 ,for it is a gross     
piece of  ignorance among us to conceive
 that in those polite and learned ages1 
even persons of any tolerable education1
 much less the wisest  philosophers did 
acknowledge or worship any more than one
 almighty  power1 under several         
denominations1 to whom they allowed all 
those  attributes we ascribe to the     
,divinity3 and as ,i take it1 human     
comprehension reacheth no further3      
neither did our ,saviour think it       
necessary to explain to us the nature of
 ,god1 because ,i suppose it would  be  
impossible without bestowing on us other
 faculties than we possess at  present4 
,but the true misery of the heathen     

world appears to be what ,i  before     
mentioned1 the want of a ,divine        
,sanction1 without which the  dictates  
of the philosophers failed in the point 
of authority1 and  consequently the bulk
 of mankind lay indeed under a great    
load of  ignorance even in the article  
of morality1 but the philosophers       
themselves did not4 ,take the matter in 
this light1 it will afford field  enough
 for a divine to enlarge on1 by showing 
the advantages which the  ,christian    
world has over the heathen1 and the     
absolute necessity of  ,divine          
,revelation1 to make the knowledge of   
the true ,god1 and the  practice of     
virtue more universal in the world4     
,footnote #g3 ,this is in the ,crito of 
,plato1 where ,socrates says it is      
wrong to do harm to our enemies4 ,t4 ,s4
     ,i am not ignorant how much ,i     
differ in this opinion from some ancient
  fathers in the ,church1 who arguing   
against the heathens1 made it a         
principal topic to decry their          

philosophy as much as they could3 which1
  ,i hope1 is not altogether our present
 case4 ,besides1 it is to be            
considered1 that those fathers lived in 
the decline of literature2 and  in my   
judgment 7who should be unwilling to    
give the least offence7  appear to be   
rather most excellent1 holy persons1    
than of transcendent  genius and        
learning4 ,their genuine writings 7for  
many of them have  extremely suffered by
 spurious editions7 are of admirable use
 for  confirming the truth of ancient   
doctrines and discipline1 by shewing the
  state and practice of the primitive   
church4 ,but among such of them as  have
 fallen in my way1 ,i do not remember   
any whose manner of arguing or          
exhorting ,i could heartily recommend to
 the imitation of a young divine  when  
he is to speak from the pulpit4 ,perhaps
 ,i judge too hastily2 there  being     
several of them in whose writings ,i    
have made very little  progress1 and in 
others none at all4 ,for ,i perused only

 such as were  recommended to me1 at a  
time when ,i had more leisure and a     
better  disposition to read1 than have  
since fallen to my share4#h    ,footnote
 #h3 ,swift must refer here to the years
 he spent at ,moor ,park1  in the house 
of ,sir ,william ,temple4 ,the ,tale of 
a ,tub1 however1 shows  that he had not 
idled his time1 and that his            
acquaintance with the  writings of the  
fathers was fairly intimate4 ,t1 ,s4    
,to return then to the heathen          
philosophers1 ,i hope you will not only 
give them quarter1 but make their works 
a considerable part of your  study3 ,to 
these ,i will venture to add the        
principal orators and  historians1 and  
perhaps a few of the poets3 by the      
reading of which1 you  will soon        
discover your mind and thoughts to be   
enlarged1 your  imagination extended and
 refined1 your judgment directed1 your  
admiration lessened1 and your fortitude 
increased2 all which advantages  must   
needs be of excellent use to a divine1  

whose duty it is to preach  and practise
 the contempt of human things4    ,i    
would say something concerning          
quotations1 wherein ,i think you cannot 
be too sparing1 except from ,scripture1 
and the primitive writers of the        
,church4 ,as to the former1 when you    
offer a text as a proof of an           
illustration1 we your hearers expect to 
be fairly used1 and sometimes  think we 
have reason to complain1 especially of  
you younger divines1  which makes us    
fear that some of you conceive you have 
no more to do  than to turn over a      
concordance1 and there having found the 
principal  word1 introduce as much of   
the verse as will serve your turn1      
though in  reality it makes nothing for 
you4 ,i do not altogether disapprove the
  manner of interweaving texts of       
scripture through the style of your     
sermons1 wherein however1 ,i have       
sometimes observed great instances of   
indiscretion and impropriety1 against   
which ,i therefore venture to give  you 

a caution4    ,as to quotations from    
ancient fathers1 ,i think they are best 
brought in  to confirm some opinion     
controverted by those who differ from   
us3 in  other cases we give you full    
power to adopt the sentence for your    
own1  rather than tell us1 as ,st4      
,austin excellently observes4 ,but to   
mention modern writers by name1 or use  
the phrase of a late excellent  prelate 
of our ,church1 and the like1 is        
altogether intolerable1 and for  what   
reason ,i know not1 makes every rational
 hearer ashamed4 ,of no  better a stamp 
is your heathen philosopher and famous  
poet1 and  ,roman historian1 at least in
 common congregations1 who will rather  
believe you on your own word1 than on   
that of ,plato or ,homer4    ,i have    
lived to see ,greek and ,latin almost   
entirely driven out of the  pulpit1 for 
which ,i am heartily glad4 ,the frequent
 use of the latter was  certainly a     
remnant of ,popery which never admitted 
,scripture in the  vulgar language2 and 

,i wonder1 that practice was never      
accordingly  objected to us by the      
fanatics4    ,the mention of quotations 
puts me in mind of commonplace books1   
which  have been long in use by         
industrious young divines1 and ,i hear  
do still  continue so4 ,i know they are 
very beneficial to lawyers and          
physicians1  because they are           
collections of facts or cases1 whereupon
 a great part  of their several         
faculties depend2 of these ,i have seen 
several1 but  never yet any written by a
 clergyman2 only from what ,i am        
informed1 they  generally are extracts  
of theological and moral sentences drawn
 from  ecclesiastical and other authors1
 reduced under proper heads1 usually    
begun1 and perhaps finished1 while the  
collectors were young in the  church1 as
 being intended for materials or        
nurseries to stock future  sermons4 ,you
 will observe the wise editors of       
ancient authors1 when they  meet a      
sentence worthy of being distinguished1 

take special care to have  the first    
word printed in capital letters1 that   
you may not overlook it3  ,such1 for    
example1 as the ,,inconstancy of        
,,fortune1 the ,,goodness of ,,peace1   
the ,,excellency of ,,wisdom1 the       
,,certainty of ,,death3 that            
,,prosperity makes  men ,,insolent1 and 
,,adversity ,,humble2 and the like      
eternal truths1 which  every ploughman  
knows well enough before ,aristotle or  
,plato were  born4#i  ,if theological   
commonplace books be no better filled1  
,i think  they had better be laid aside1
 and ,i could wish that men of tolerable
  intellectuals would rather trust their
 own natural reason1 improved by a      
general conversation with books1 to     
enlarge on points which they are        
supposed already to understand4 ,if a   
rational man reads an excellent  author 
with just application1 he shall find    
himself extremely improved1  and perhaps
 insensibly led to imitate that author's
 perfections1  although in a little time

 he should not remember one word in the 
book1  nor even the subject it handled3 
for books give the same turn to our     
thoughts and way of reasoning1 that good
 and ill company do to our  behaviour   
and conversation2 without either loading
 our memories1 or  making us even       
sensible of the change4 ,and            
particularly ,i have observed  in       
preaching1 that no men succeed better   
than those who trust entirely  to the   
stock or fund of their own reason1      
advanced indeed1 but not  overlaid by   
commerce with books4 ,whoever only reads
 in order to  transcribe wise and       
shining remarks1 without entering into  
the genius  and spirit of the author1 as
 it is probable he will make no very    
judicious extract1 so he will be apt to 
trust to that collection in all  his    
compositions1 and be misled out of the  
regular way of thinking1 in  order to   
introduce those materials1 which he has 
been at the pains to  gather and the    
product of all this will be found a     

manifest incoherent  piece of patchwork4
    ,footnote #i3 ,thus in first        
edition4 ,scott and ,hawkesworth have3  
though  he never heard of ,aristotle or 
,plato4 ,t4,s4    ,some gentlemen       
abounding in their university erudition1
 are apt to fill  their sermons with    
philosophical terms and notions of the  
metaphysical  or abstracted kind1 which 
generally have one advantage1 to be     
equally  understood by the wise1 the    
vulgar1 and the preacher himself4 ,i    
have  been better entertained1 and more 
informed by a chapter#aj in the         
,pilgrim's ,progress1 than by a long    
discourse upon the will and the         
intellect1 and simple or complex ideas4 
,others again1 are fond of  dilating on 
matter and motion1 talk of the          
fortuitous concourse of  atoms1 of      
theories1 and phenomena1 directly       
against the advice of ,st  ,paul1 who   
yet appears to have been conversant     
enough in those kinds of  studies4      
,footnote #aj3 ,thus in first edition4  

,scott and ,hawkesworth have a few      
pages instead of a chapter ,t4 ,s     ,i
 do not find that you are anywhere      
directed in the canons or articles1  to 
attempt explaining the mysteries of the 
,christian religion4 ,and  indeed since 
,providence intended there should be    
mysteries1 ,i do not see  how it can be 
agreeable to piety1 orthodoxy or good   
sense1 to go about  such a work4 ,for1  
to me there seems to be a manifest      
dilemma in the case  if you explain     
them1 they are mysteries no longer1 if  
you fail1 you have  laboured to no      
purpose4 ,what ,i should think most     
reasonable and safe for  you to do upon 
this occasion is1 upon solemn days to   
deliver the  doctrine as the ,church    
holds it1 and confirm it by ,scripture4 
,for my  part1 having considered the    
matter impartially1 ,i can see no great 
reason which those gentlemen you call   
the freethinkers can have for  their    
clamour against religious mysteries1    
since it is plain1 they were  not       

invented by the clergy1 to whom they    
bring no profit1 nor acquire  any       
honour4 ,for every clergyman is ready   
either to tell us the utmost he  knows1 
or to confess that he does not          
understand them2 neither is it  strange 
that there should be mysteries in       
divinity as well as in the  commonest   
operations of nature4    ,and here ,i am
 at a loss what to say upon the frequent
 custom of  preaching against atheism1  
deism1 freethinking1 and the like1 as   
young  divines are particularly fond of 
doing especially when they exercise     
their talent in churches frequented by  
persons of quality1 which as it  is but 
an ill compliment to the audience2 so ,i
 am under some doubt  whether it answers
 the end4    ,because persons under     
those imputations are generally no great
  frequenters of churches1 and so the   
congregation is but little edified  for 
the sake of three or four fools who are 
past grace4 ,neither do ,i  think it any
 part of prudence to perplex the minds  

of well-disposed  people with doubts1   
which probably would never have         
otherwise come into  their heads4 ,but  
,i am of opinion1 and dare be positive  
in it1 that not  one in an hundred of   
those who pretend to be freethinkers1   
are really so  in their hearts4 ,for    
there is one observation which ,i never 
knew to  fail1 and ,i desire you will   
examine it in the course of your life1  
that  no gentleman of a liberal         
education1 and regular in his morals1   
did ever  profess himself a freethinker3
 where then are these kind of people to 
be  found8 ,among the worst part of the 
soldiery made up of pages1 younger      
brothers of obscure families1 and others
 of desperate fortunes2 or else  among  
idle town fops1 and now and then a      
drunken 'squire of the country4         
,therefore nothing can be plainer1 than 
that ignorance and vice are two         
ingredients absolutely necessary in the 
composition of those you  generally call
 freethinkers1 who in propriety of      

speech1 are no thinkers  at all4 ,and   
since ,i am in the way of it1 pray      
consider one thing  farther3 as young as
 you are1 you cannot but have already   
observed1 what  a violent run there is  
among too many weak people against      
university  education4 ,be firmly       
assured1 that the whole cry is made up  
by those who  were either never sent to 
a college2 or through their             
irregularities and  stupidity never made
 the least improvement while they were  
there4 ,i have  at least#aa forty of the
 latter sort now in my eye2 several of  
them in  this town1 whose learning1     
manners1 temperance1 probity1           
good-nature1  and politics1 are all of a
 piece4 ,others of them in the country1 
oppressing their tenants1 tyrannizing   
over the neighbourhood1 cheating  the   
vicar1 talking nonsense1 and getting    
drunk at the sessions4 ,it is  from such
 seminaries as these1 that the world is 
provided with the  several tribes and   
denominations of freethinkers1 who1 in  

my judgment1  are not to be reformed by 
arguments offered to prove the truth of 
the  ,christian religion1 because       
reasoning will never make a man correct 
an  ill opinion1 which by reasoning he  
never acquired3 for in the course of    
things1 men always grow vicious before  
they become unbelievers2 but if  you    
would once convince the town or country 
profligate1 by topics drawn  from the   
view of their own quiet1 reputation1    
health1 and advantage1  their infidelity
 would soon drop off3 ,this ,i confess  
is no easy task1  because it is almost  
in a literal sense1 to fight with       
beasts4 ,now1 to  make it clear1 that we
 are to look for no other original of   
this  infidelity1 whereof divines so    
much complain1 it is allowed on all     
hands1 that the people of ,england are  
more corrupt in their morals than  any  
other nation at this day under the sun3 
and this corruption is  manifestly owing
 to other causes1 both1 numerous and    
obvious1 much more  than to the         

publication of irreligious books1 which 
indeed are but the  consequence of the  
former4 ,for all the writers against    
,christianity  since the ,revolution    
have been of the lowest rank among men  
in regard to  literature1 wit1 and good 
sense1 and upon that account wholly     
unqualified to propagate heresies1      
unless among a people already           
abandoned4    ,footnote #aa3 ,scott and 
,hawkesworth print above forty4 ,t4 ,s4 
,in an age where everything disliked by 
those who think with the majority  is   
called disaffection1 it may perhaps be  
ill interpreted1 when ,i  venture to    
tell you that this universal depravation
 of manners is owing  to the perpetual  
bandying of factions among us for thirty
 years past2  when without weighing the 
motives of justice1 law1 conscience1 or 
honour1 every man adjusts his principles
 to those of the party he hath  chosen1 
and among whom he may best find his own 
account3 ,but by reason  of our frequent
 vicissitudes1 men who were impatient of

 being out of  play1 have been forced to
 recant1 or at least to reconcile their 
former  tenets with every new system of 
administration4 ,add to this1 that the  
old fundamental custom of annual        
parliaments being wholly laid aside1    
and elections growing chargeable1 since 
gentlemen found that their  country     
seats brought them in less than a seat  
in the ,house1 the voters1  that is to  
say1 the bulk of the common people have 
been universally  seduced into bribery1 
perjury1 drunkenness1 malice1 and       
slanders4    ,not to be further tedious1
 or rather invidious1 these are a few   
among  other causes which have          
contributed to the ruin of our morals1  
and  consequently to the contempt of    
religion3 ,for imagine to yourself1 if  
you please1 a landed youth1 whom his    
mother would never suffer to look  into 
a book for fear of spoiling his eyes1   
got into parliament1 and  observing all 
enemies to the clergy heard with the    
utmost applause1 what  notions he must  

imbibe2 how readily he will join in the 
cry2 what an  esteem he will conceive of
 himself2 and what a contempt he must   
entertain1 not only for his vicar at    
home1 but for the whole order4    ,i    
therefore again conclude1 that the trade
 of infidelity hath been taken  up only 
for an expedient to keep in countenance 
that universal  corruption of morals1   
which many other causes first           
contributed to  introduce and to        
cultivate4 ,and thus1 ,mr4 ,hobbes'     
saying upon reason may  be much more    
properly applied to religion3 that1 if  
religion will be  against a man1 a man  
will be against religion4 ,though after 
all1 ,i have  heard a profligate offer  
much stronger arguments against paying  
his  debts1 than ever he was known to do
 against ,christianity2 indeed the      
reason was1 because in that juncture he 
happened to be closer pressed by  the   
bailiff than the parson4    ,ignorance  
may perhaps be the mother of            
superstition2 but experience hath  not  

proved it to be so of devotion3 for     
,christianity always made the  most easy
 and quickest progress in civilized     
countries4 ,i mention this  because it  
is affirmed that the clergy are in most 
credit where  ignorance prevails 7and   
surely this kingdom would be called the 
paradise  of clergymen if that opinion  
were true7 for which they instance      
,england  in the times of ,popery4 ,but 
whoever knows anything of three or four 
centuries before the ,reformation1 will 
find the little learning then  stirring 
was more equally divided between the    
,english clergy and laity  than it is at
 present4 ,there were several famous    
lawyers in that period1  whose writings 
are still in the highest repute1 and    
some historians and  poets who were not 
of the ,church4#ab ,whereas now-a-days  
our education  is so corrupted1 that you
 will hardly find a young person of     
quality  with the least tincture of     
knowledge1 at the same time that many of
 the  clergy were never more learned1 or

 so scurvily treated4 ,here among us1   
at least1 a man of letters out of the   
three professions1 is almost a  prodigy4
 ,and those few who have preserved any  
rudiments of learning are  7except      
perhaps one or two smatterers7 the      
clergy's friends to a man3  and ,i dare 
appeal to any clergyman in this kingdom1
 whether the greatest  dunce in the     
parish be not always the most proud1    
wicked1 fraudulent1  and intractable of 
his flock4    ,footnote #ab3 ,what      
,swift calls learning was1 in his day1  
the property1  so to speak1 of          
professional men1 such as divines1      
lawyers1 and  university teachers4 ,the 
common man was too poor or too much     
taxed to  acquire it2 the aristocrat    
often too lazy or too fond of           
pleasure-seeking to bother about it4    
,the ,pre-,reformation days1 to which   
,swift refers1 could boast such men as  
,fabyan1 ,hall1 ,chaucer1 ,gower1 and   
,caxton1 as well as ,lord ,berners1 ,sir
 ,thomas ,more1 and ,lydgate1 who were  

not1 in any sense1 professional men4    
,t4,s4    ,i think the clergy have      
almost given over perplexing themselves 
and  their hearers with abstruse points 
of ,predestination1 ,election1 and the  
like2 at least it is time they should2  
and therefore ,i shall not trouble  you 
further upon this head4    ,i have now  
said all ,i could think convenient with 
relation to your  conduct in the pulpit3
 your behaviour in life#ac is another   
scene1 upon  which ,i shall readily     
offer you my thoughts1 if you appear to 
desire  them from me by your approbation
 of what ,i have here written2 if not1  
,i  have already troubled you too much4 
,footnote #ac3 ,scott and ,hawkesworth  
print your behaviour in the world4  ,the
 above is the reading of the first      
edition4 ,t4 ,s4      ,i am1 ,sir1      
,your ,affectionate    ,friend and      
,servant    ,a4,b4      ,january #ith4  
#agai-bj4      9999999999               
9999999999       9999999999             
9999999999          ,,some ,,arguments  

,,against ,,enlarging    ,,the ,,power  
,,of ,,bishops ,,in    ,,letting ,,of   
,,leases4      ,,note4    ,the years    
between that which saw the publication  
of the ,drapier  ,letters1 and that     
which rang with the fame of ,gulliver's 
,travels1  were busy fighting years for 
,swift4 ,apart from his vigorous        
championship  of the ,test1 and his war 
against the ,dissenters1 he espoused the
 cause  of the inferior clergy of his   
own ,church1 as against the bishops4    
,the  business of filling the vacant    
sees of ,ireland had degenerated into   
what  we should now call jobbery2 and   
during the period of ,sir ,robert       
,walpole's administration it was rarely 
that an ,irishman was selected4 ,on  any
 question1 therefore1 which affected the
 welfare of the lower clergy1  it will  
at once be seen1 that the ,lords        
,spiritual1 sitting in the ,irish       
,upper ,house1 would find little        
difficulty in coming to a solution4     
,that  the solution should also be one  

which only increased the clergy's       
difficulties1 might be expected from a  
body which aimed chiefly at  acquiring  
wealth and power for itself4    ,in the 
reign of ,charles ,i4 an act was passed1
 prohibiting all bishops1  and other    
ecclesiastical corporations1 from       
setting their lands for  above the term 
of twenty-one years3 the rent reserved  
to be half the  real value of such lands
 at the time they were set4 ,as ,swift  
points  out1 about the time of the      
,reformation1 a trade was carried on by 
the  popish bishops1 who felt that their
 terms of office would be short1 and    
who1 consequently1 to get what benefit  
they could while in office1 made  long  
leases and fee-farms of great part of   
their lands1 reserving very             
inconsiderable rents1 sometimes only a  
chiefry4 ,it was owing to a  continuance
 in this traffic by the bishops when    
they became ,protestants1  and to a     
recognition of the injustice of such    
alienation1 that the  legislature passed

 the act4 ,in #agbc1 however1 an attempt
 was made for  its repeal4 ,swift was   
not the man to permit the bishops to    
have their  way1 if he could help it4   
,his opinion of ,irish bishops is well  
known4  ,no blame1 he said1 rested with 
the court for these appointments4       
,excellent and moral men had been       
selected upon every occasion of         
vacancy1 but it unfortunately happened1 
that as these worthy divines  crossed   
,hounslow ,heath1 on their way to       
,ireland1 to take possession of  their  
bishoprics1 they have been regularly    
robbed and murdered by the  highwaymen  
frequenting that common1 who seize upon 
their robes and  patents1 come over to  
,ireland1 and are consecrated bishops in
 their  stead4 ,to prevent1 therefore1  
the encroachments of such individuals he
  wrote this tract1 in which he clearly 
demonstrates the justice and            
salutariness of ,charles's act4 ,his    
contention1 as ,monck ,mason points out 
7,history of ,st4 ,patrick's ,cathedral1

 p4 #cib1 note #a7 is confirmed by  all 
writers upon the subject1 and quotes    
from ,carte's ,life of ,james1  ,duke of
 ,ormond1 where it is stated that the   
bishoprics in ,ireland had1  the        
greatest part of them1 been depauperated
 in the change of religion  by absolute 
grants and long leases 7made generally  
by the popish bishops  that             
conformed7--some of them not able to    
maintain a bishop1 several  were1 by    
these means1 reduced to #ej a year1 as  
,waterford1 ,kilfenora1  and others1 and
 some to five marks1 as ,cloyne and     
,kilmacduagh4 ,to ,swift  is largely due
 the fact that the ,house of ,commons1  
when they received  the bill from the   
,lords1 threw it out4    ,scott1 in his 
note on this pamphlet 7amended from one 
by ,lord ,orrery71  takes his usual     
course when considering ,swift's        
attitude of opposition  --he implies a  
motive or prejudice4 ,in his opinion1   
,swift considered the  bill for the     
repeal of ,charles's act1 an indirect   

mode of gratifying  the existing        
bishops1 whom he did not regard with    
peculiar respect or  complacency1 at the
 expense of the ,church establishment1  
and that1  therefore1 the spirit of his 
opposition is1 in this instance1        
peculiarly caustic4 ,as a matter of     
fact1 the spirit of ,swift's  opposition
 was always peculiarly caustic1 in this 
case no more so than  in any other4 ,but
 to imply that his motive was a self    
gratifying one  only1 is to treat ,swift
 unfairly4 ,if the bishops required an  
example as  to how they should deal with
 their lands1 they could easily have    
found  one in ,swift himself4 ,in all   
the renewals of the leases of the       
,deanery  lands1 ,swift never sought his
 own immediate advantage1 his terms were
  based on the consideration that the   
lands were his only in trust for a      
successor4 ,to take one instance only1  
the instance of the parish of  ,kilberry
 in county ,kildare1 cited by ,monck    
,mason 7p4 #bg1 note h74 ,in  #afie the 

rent of this parish was reserved at #ajj
 ,english sterling1 in  #agag1 ,swift   
raised this rent to #aej1 in #agca to   
#agj1 and in #agda to  #bjj per annum1  
with a proportionable loss of fine upon 
each occasion4    ,the tract is dated   
,october #bast1 #agbc1 but as ,i have   
not come across a  copy of the original 
separate issue1 ,i have based the text  
on that given  by ,faulkner 7vol4 iv1   
#agce71 and the title page here         
reproduced is from  that edition4 ,the  
fifth volume of ,miscellanies1 also     
issued in #agce1  contains this tract1  
and ,i have compared the texts of the   
two4 ,the notes  given in ,scott's      
edition are1 in the main1 altered from  
,faulkner's  edition4    ,t4,s4         
,,some    ,,arguments    ,,against      
,,enlarging the    ,,power ,,of         
,,bishops    ,in ,,letting ,,of         
,,leases4    ,,with    ,,remarks on some
 ,queries    lately published4    ,mibi 
credite1 major haereditas venit         
unicuique vestraem in iisdem bonis ae   

jure  ae legibus1 quam ab iis ae quibus 
illa ipsa bona relicta sunt4    ,cicero 
pro ,a4 ,caecina4    ,written in the    
,year #agbc4    ,printed in the ,year   
,,mdccxxxiii4      ,in handling this    
subject1 ,i shall proceed wholly upon   
the supposition1  that those of our     
party1 who profess themselves members of
 the church  established1 and under the 
apostolical government of bishops1 do   
desire  the continuance and transmission
 of it to posterity1 at least1 in as    
good a condition as it is at present4   
,because1 as this discourse is not      
calculated for dissenters of any kind2  
so neither will it suit the talk  or    
sentiments of those persons1 who1 with  
the denomination of churchmen1  are     
oppressors of the inferior clergy1 and  
perpetually quarrelling at  the great   
incomes of the bishops2 which is a      
traditional cant delivered  down from   
former times1 and continued with great  
reason1 although it be  now near #bjj   
years since almost three parts in four  

of the church  revenues have been taken 
from the clergy3 ,besides the spoils    
that have  been gradually made ever     
since1 of glebes and other lands1 by the
  confusion of times1 the fraud of      
encroaching neighbours1 or the power of 
oppressors1 too great to be encountered4
    ,about the time of the ,reformation1
 many popish bishops of this kingdom1   
knowing they must have been soon        
ejected1 if they would not change their 
religion1 made long leases and fee-farms
 of great part of their lands1          
reserving very inconsiderable rents1    
sometimes only a chiefry2 by a  power   
they assumed1 directly contrary to many 
ancient canons1 yet  consistent enough  
with the common law4 ,this trade held on
 for many years  after the bishops      
became ,protestants2 and some of their  
names are still  remembered with infamy1
 on account of enriching their families 
by such  sacrilegious alienations4 ,by  
these means1 episcopal revenues were so 
low  reduced1 that three or four sees   

were often united to make a tolerable   
competency4 ,for some remedy to this    
evil1 ,king ,james the ,first1 by a     
bounty that became a good ,christian    
prince1 bestowed several forfeited      
lands on the northern bishoprics3 ,but  
in all other parts of the kingdom1  the 
,church continued still in the same     
distress and poverty2 some of the  sees 
hardly possessing enough to maintain a  
country vicar4 ,about the  middle of    
,king ,charles the ,first's reign1 the  
legislature here thought  fit to put a  
stop1 at least1 to any farther          
alienations2 and so a law  was enacted1 
prohibiting all bishops1 and other      
ecclesiastical  corporations1 from      
setting their lands for above the term  
of twenty-one  years2 the rent reserved 
to be one half of the real value of such
 lands  at the time they were set1      
without which condition the lease to be 
void4    ,soon after the restoration of 
,king ,charles the ,second1 the         
parliament  taking into consideration   

the miserable estate of the ,church1    
certain  lands1 by way of augmentation1 
were granted to eight bishops in the act
  of settlement1 and confirmed in the   
act of explanation2 of which bounty1  as
 ,i remember1 three sees were1 in a     
great measure1 defeated2 but by  what   
accidents1 it is not here of any        
importance to relate4    ,this1 at      
present1 is the condition of the ,church
 in ,ireland1 with regard  to ,episcopal
 revenues3 ,which ,i have thus briefly  
7and1 perhaps1  imperfectly7 deduced for
 some information to those1 whose       
thoughts do  not lead them to such      
considerations4    ,by virtue of the    
statute1 already mentioned1 under ,king 
,charles the  ,first1 limiting          
ecclesiastical bodies to the term of    
twenty-one years1  under the reserved   
rent of half real value1 the bishops    
have had some  share in the gradual rise
 of lands1 without which they could not 
have  been supported1 with any common   
decency that might become their station4

  ,it is above eighty years since the   
passing of that act3 ,the see of        
,meath1 one of the best in the kingdom1 
was then worth about #djj per  annum2   
the poorer ones in the same proportion4 
,if this were their  present condition1 
,i cannot conceive how they would have  
been able to  pay for their patents1 or 
buy their robes3 ,but this will         
certainly be  the condition of their    
successors1 if such a bill should pass1 
as they  say is now intended1 which ,i  
will suppose1 and believe1 many persons1
  who may give a vote for it1 are not   
aware of4    ,however1 this is the act  
which is now attempted to be repealed1  
or1 at  least1 eluded2 some are for     
giving bishops leave to let fee-farms2  
others would allow them to let leases   
for lives2 and the most moderate  would 
repeal that clause1 by which the bishops
 are bound to let their  lands at half  
value4    ,the reasons for the rise of  
value in lands1 are of two kinds4 ,of   
the  first kind1 are long peace and     

settlement after the devastations of    
war2  plantations1 improvements of bad  
soil1 recovery of bogs and marshes1     
advancement of trade and manufactures1  
increase of inhabitants1  encouragement 
of agriculture1 and the like4    ,but   
there is another reason for the rise of 
land1 more gradual1 constant  and       
certain2 which will have its effects in 
countries that are very far  from       
flourishing in any of the advantages ,i 
have just mentioned3 ,i mean  the       
perpetual decrease in the value of gold 
and silver4 ,i shall  discourse upon    
these two different kinds1 with a view  
towards the bill  now attempted4    ,as 
to the first3 ,i cannot see how this    
kingdom is at any height of             
improvement1 while four parts in five of
 the plantations for #cj years  past1   
have been real disimprovements2 nine in 
ten of the quick-set  hedges being      
ruined for want of care or skill4 ,and  
as to forest trees1  they being often   
taken out of woods1 and planted in      

single rows on the  tops of ditches1 it 
is impossible they should grow to be of 
use1 beauty1  or shelter4 ,neither can  
it be said1 that the soil of ,ireland is
 improved  to its full height1 while so 
much lies all winter under water1 and   
the  bogs made almost desperate by the  
ill cutting of the turf4 ,there hath1   
indeed1 been some little improvement in 
the manufactures of linen and  woollen1 
although very short of perfection3 ,but 
our trade was never in  so low a        
condition3 ,and as to agriculture1 of   
which all wise nations  have been so    
tender1 the desolation made in the      
country by engrossing  graziers1 and the
 great yearly importation of corn from  
,england1 are  lamentable instances     
under what discouragement it lies4      
,but1 notwithstanding all these         
mortifications1 ,i suppose there is no  
well-wisher to his country1 without a   
little hope1 that in time the  kingdom  
may be on a better foot in some of the  
articles above mentioned4  ,but it would

 be hard1 if ecclesiastical bodies      
should be the only  persons excluded    
from any share in public advantages2    
which yet can  never happen1 without a  
greater share of profit to their        
tenants3 ,if ,god  sends rain equally   
upon the just and the unjust2 why should
 those who  wait at ,his altars1 and are
 instructors of the people1 be cut off  
from  partaking in the general benefits 
of law1 or of nature8    ,but1 as this  
way of reasoning may seem to bear a more
 favourable eye  to the clergy1 than    
perhaps will suit with the present      
disposition1 or  fashion of the age2 ,i 
shall1 therefore1 dwell more largely    
upon the  second reason for the rise of 
land1 which is the perpetual decrease of
  the value of gold and silver4    ,this
 may be observed from the course of the 
,roman history1 above two  thousand     
years before those inexhaustible silver 
mines of ,potosi were  known4 ,the value
 of an obolus1 and of every other coin  
between the time  of ,romulus and that  

of ,augustus1 gradually sunk about five 
parts in six1  as appears by several    
passages out of the best authors4 ,and  
yet1 the  prodigious wealth of that     
state did not arise from the increase of
  bullion in the world1 by the discovery
 of new mines1 but from a much  more    
accidental cause1 which was1 the        
spreading of their conquests1 and       
thereby importing into ,rome and ,italy1
 the riches of the east and west4       
,when the seat of empire was removed to 
,constantinople1 the tide of money      
flowed that way1 without ever returning2
 and was scattered in ,asia4 ,but  when 
that mighty empire was overthrown by the
 northern people1 such a  stop was put  
to all trade and commerce1 that vast    
sums of money were  buried1 to escape   
the plundering of the conquerors2 and   
what remained  was carried off by those 
ravagers4    ,it were no difficult      
matter to compute the value of money in 
,england1  during the ,saxon reigns2 but
 the monkish and other writers since the

  ,conquest1 have put that matter in a  
clearer light1 by the several  accounts 
they have given us of the value of corn 
and cattle1 in years of  dearth and     
plenty4 ,every one knows1 that ,king    
,john's whole portion1  before he came  
to the crown1 was but five thousand     
pounds1 without a  foot of land4    ,i  
have likewise seen the steward's        
accounts1 of an ancient noble family  in
 ,england1 written in ,latin1 between   
three and four hundred years ago1  with 
the several prices of wine and victuals1
 to confirm my  observations4    ,i have
 been at the trouble of computing 7as   
others have done7 the  different values 
of money for about four hundred years   
past4 ,henry ,duke  of ,lancaster1 who  
lived about that period1 founded an     
hospital in  ,leicester1 for a certain  
number of old men2 charging his lands   
with a  groat a week to each for their  
maintenance1 which is to this day duly  
paid them4 ,in those times1 a penny was 
equal to ten-pence half-penny1  and     

somewhat more than half a farthing in   
ours2 which makes about eight  ninths'  
difference4    ,this is plain also1 from
 the old custom upon many estates in    
,england1 to  let for leases of lives1  
7renewable at pleasure7 where the       
reserved rent  is usually about         
twelve-pence a pound1 which then was    
near the half real  value3 ,and although
 the fines be not fixed1 yet the        
landlord gets  altogether not above     
three shillings in the pound of the     
worth of his  land3 ,and the tenants are
 so wedded to this custom1 that if the  
owner  suffer three lives to expire1    
none of them will take a lease on other 
conditions2 or1 if he brings in a       
foreigner who will agree to pay a       
reasonable rent1 the other tenants1 by  
all manner of injuries1 will make  that 
foreigner so uneasy1 that he must be    
forced to quit the farm2 as  the late   
,earl of ,bath felt1 by the experience  
of above ten thousand  pounds loss4     
,the gradual decrease for about two     

hundred years after1 was not            
considerable1 and therefore ,i do not   
rely on the account given by some       
historians1 that ,harry the ,seventh    
left behind him eighteen hundred        
thousand pounds2 for although the ,west 
,indies were discovered before his      
death1 and although he had the best     
talents and instruments for exacting  of
 money1 ever possessed by any prince    
since the time of ,vespasian1  7whom he 
resembled in many particulars72 yet ,i  
conceive1 that in his  days the whole   
coin of ,england could hardly amount to 
such a sum4 ,for in  the reign of       
,philip and ,mary1 ,sir ,thomas ,cokayne
 of ,derbyshire1 #a the  best           
housekeeper of his quality in the       
county1 allowed his lady fifty  pounds a
 year for maintaining the family1 one   
pound a year wages to each  servant1 and
 two pounds to the steward2 as ,i was   
told by a person of  quality who had    
seen the original account of his        
economy4 ,now this sum  of fifty pound1 

added to the advantages of a large      
domain1 might be  equal to about five   
hundred pounds a year at present1 or    
somewhat more  than four-fifths4        
,footnote #a3 ,sir ,thomas ,cokayne     
7#aeai8-aeib71 known as a professed     
hunter and not a scholler4 ,he was the  
eldest son of ,francis ,cokayne1 or     
,cockaine1 of ,ashbourne1 ,derbyshire4  
,one of his sons1 ,edward1 was the      
father of ,thomas ,cokayne1 the         
lexicographer4 ,sir ,thomas1 in #aeia1  
published ,a ,short ,treatise of        
,hunting1 compyled for the ,delight of  
,noblemen and ,gentlemen4 ,t4 ,s4       
,the great plenty of silver in ,england 
began in ,queen ,elizabeth's reign1     
when ,drake1 and others1 took vast      
quantities of coin and bullion from  the
 ,spaniards1 either upon their own      
,american coasts1 or in their return  to
 ,spain4 ,however1 so much hath been    
imported annually from that time to     
this1 that the value of money in        
,england1 and most parts of ,europe1 is 

sunk above one half within the space of 
an hundred years1  notwithstanding the  
great export of silver for about eighty 
years past1  to the ,east ,indies1 from 
whence it never returns4 ,but gold being
 not  liable to the same accident1 and  
by new discoveries growing every day    
more plentiful1 seems in danger of      
becoming a drug4    ,this hath been the 
progress of the value of money in former
 ages1 and  must of necessity continue  
so for the future1 without some new     
invasion  of ,goths and ,vandals to     
destroy law1 property and religion1     
alter the  very face of nature2 and turn
 the world upside down4    ,i must      
repeat1 that what ,i am to say upon this
 subject1 is intended only  for the     
conviction of those among our own party1
 who are true lovers of  the ,church1   
and would be glad it should continue in 
a tolerable degree  of prosperity to the
 end of the world4    ,the ,church is   
supposed to last for ever1 both in its  
discipline and  doctrine2 which is a    

privilege common to every petty         
corporation1 who  must likewise observe 
the laws of their foundation4 ,if a     
gentleman's  estate which now yields him
 a thousand pounds a year1 had been set 
for  ever at the highest value1 even in 
the flourishing days of ,king ,charles  
the ,second1 would it now amount to     
above four or five hundred at most8     
,what if this had happened two or three 
hundred years ago2 would the  reserved  
rent at this day be any more than a     
small chiefry8 ,suppose the  revenues of
 a bishop to have been under the same   
circumstances2 could he  now be able to 
perform works of hospitality and        
charity8 ,thus1 if the  revenues of a   
bishop be limited to a thousand pounds a
 year2 how will  his successor be in a  
condition to support his station with   
decency1  when the same denomination of 
money shall not answer an half1 a       
quarter1  or an eighth part of that sum8
 ,which must unavoidably be the         
consequence  of any bill to elude the   

limiting act1 whereby the ,church was   
preserved  from utter ruin4    ,the same
 reason holds good in all corporations  
whatsoever1 who cannot  follow a more   
pernicious practice than that of        
granting perpetuities1  for which many  
of them smart to this day2 although the 
leaders among  them are often so stupid 
as not to perceive it1 or sometimes so  
knavish  as to find their private       
account in cheating the community4      
,several colleges in ,oxford1 were aware
 of this growing evil about an  hundred 
years ago2 and1 instead of limiting     
their rents to a certain sum  of money1 
prevailed with their tenants to pay the 
price of so many  barrels of corn1 to be
 valued as the market went1 at two      
seasons 7as ,i  remember7 in the year4  
,for a barrel of corn is of a real      
intrinsic  value1 which gold and silver 
are not3 ,and by this invention1 these  
colleges have preserved a tolerable     
subsistence1 for their fellows and      
students1 to this day4    ,the present  

bishops will1 indeed be no sufferers by 
such a bill2  because1 their ages       
considered1 they cannot expect to see   
any great  decrease in the value of     
money2 or1 at worst1 they can make it up
 in the  fines1 which will probably be  
greater than usual1 upon the change of  
leases into fee-farms1 or lives2 or     
without the power of obliging their     
tenants to a real half value4 ,and1 as  
,i cannot well blame them for  taking   
such advantages1 7considering the nature
 of human kind7 when the  question is   
only1 whether the money shall be put    
into their own or  another man's pocket3
 ,so they will be never excusable before
 ,god or man1  if they do not to the    
death oppose1 declare1 and protest      
against any  such bill1 as must in its  
consequences complete the ruin of the   
,church1  and of their own order in this
 kingdom4    ,if the fortune of a       
private person be diminished by the     
weakness1 or  inadvertency of his       
ancestors1 in letting leases for ever at

 low rents1  the world lies open to his 
industry for purchasing of more2 but the
  ,church is barred by a dead hand2 or  
if it were otherwise1 yet the  custom of
 making bequests to it1 hath been out of
 practice for almost  two hundred years1
 and a great deal directly contrary hath
 been its  fortune4    ,i have been     
assured by a person of some consequence1
 to whom ,i am  likewise obliged for the
 account of some other facts already    
related1  that the late ,bishop of      
,salisbury1#b 7the greatest ,whig of    
that bench  in his days7 confessed to   
him1 that the liberty which bishops in  
,england  have of letting leases for    
lives1 would1 in his opinion1 be one day
 the  ruin of ,episcopacy there2 and    
thought the ,church in this kingdom     
happy  by the limitation act4           
,footnote #b3 ,dr4 ,barnet4    ,and have
 we not already found the effect of this
 different proceeding in  both kingdoms8
 ,have not two ,english prelates quitted
 their peerage and  seats in            

,parliament1 in a nation of freedom1 for
 the sake of a more  ample revenue1 even
 in this unhappy kingdom1 rather than   
lie under the  mortification of living  
below their dignity at home8 ,for which1
 however1  they cannot be justly        
censured4 ,i know indeed1 some persons1 
who offer1  as an argument for repealing
 the limiting bill1 that it may in      
future  ages prevent the practice of    
providing this kingdom with bishops from
  ,england1 when the only temptation    
will be removed4 ,and they allege1      
that1 as things have gone for some years
 past1 gentlemen will grow  discouraged 
from sending their sons to the          
university1 and from  suffering them to 
enter into holy orders1 when they are   
likely to  languish under a curacy1 or  
small vicarage1 to the end of their     
lives3  ,but this is all a vain         
imagination2 for the decrease in the    
value of  money will equally affect both
 kingdoms3 ,and besides1 when bishoprics
  here grow too small to invite over men

 of credit and consequence1 they  will  
be left more fully to the disposal of a 
chief governor1 who can  never fail of  
some worthless illiterate chaplain1 fond
 of a title and  precedence4 ,thus will 
that whole bench1 in an age or two1 be  
composed of  mean1 ignorant1 fawning    
gownmen1 humble suppliants and          
dependants upon  the court for a morsel 
of bread1 and ready to serve every turn 
that  shall be demanded from them1 in   
hopes of getting some commendam tacked  
to their sees2 which must then be the   
trade1 as it is now too much in         
,england1 to the great discouragement of
 the inferior clergy4 ,neither is  that 
practice without example among us4      
,it is now about eighty-five years since
 the passing of that limiting  act1 and 
there is but one instance1 in the memory
 of man1 of a bishop's  lease broken    
upon the plea of not being statutable2  
which1 in  everybody's opinion1 could   
have been lost by no other person than  
he who  was then tenant1 and happened to

 be very ungracious in his county4 ,in  
the present ,bishop of ,meath's#c case1 
that plea did not avail1 although  the  
lease were notoriously unstatutable2 the
 rent reserved1 being1 as ,i  have been 
told1 not a seventh part of the real    
value2 yet the jury1 upon  their oaths1 
very gravely found it to be according to
 the statute2 and  one of them was heard
 to say1 ,that he would eat his shoes   
before he  would give a verdict for the 
bishop4 ,a very few more have made the  
same  attempt with as little success4   
,every bishop1 and other ecclesiastical 
body1 reckon forty pounds in an hundred 
to be a reasonable half value2  or if it
 be only a third part1 it seldom1 or    
never1 breeds any  difference between   
landlord and tenant4 ,but when the rent 
is from five  to nine or ten parts less 
than the worth2 the bishop1 if he       
consults the  good of his see1 will be  
apt to expostulate2 and the tenant1 if  
he be an  honest man1 will have some    
regard to the reasonableness and justice

 of  the demand1 so as to yield to a    
moderate advancement1 rather than engage
  in a suit1 where law and equity are   
directly against him4 ,by these  means1 
the bishops have been so true to their  
trusts1 as to procure some  small share 
in the advancement of rents2 although it
 be notorious that  they do not receive 
the third penny 7fines included7 of the 
real value  of their lands throughout   
the kingdom4    ,footnote #c3 ,dr4      
,evans1 a ,welchman4 ,faulkner1 #agce4  
,i was never able to imagine what       
inconvenience could accrue to the       
public1 by one or two thousand pounds a 
year1 in the hands of a  ,protestant    
bishop1 any more than of a lay person4#d
 ,the former1  generally speaking1      
liveth as piously and hospitably as the 
other2 pays  his debts as honestly1 and 
spends as much of his revenue among his 
tenants3 ,besides1 if they be his       
immediate tenants1 you may distinguish  
them1 at first sight1 by their habits   
and horses2 or if you go to their       

houses1 by their comfortable way of     
living4 ,but the misfortune is1 that    
such immediate tenants1 generally       
speaking1 have others under them1 and   
so a third and fourth in subordination1 
till it comes to the welder 7as  they   
call him7 who sits at a rack-rent1 and  
lives as miserably as an  ,irish farmer 
upon a new lease from a lay landlord4   
,but suppose a bishop  happens to be    
avaricious1 7as being composed of the   
same stuff with  other men7 the         
consequence to the public is no worse   
than if he were a  squire2 for he leaves
 his fortune to his son1 or near        
relation1 who1 if  he be rich enough1   
will never think of entering into the   
,church4    ,footnote #d3 ,this part of 
the paragraph is to be applied to the   
period  when the whole was written1     
which was in #agbc1 when several of     
,queen  ,anne's bishops were living4    
,note in edition of #agfa1 as amended   
from  the edition of #agce4 ,t4,s4      
,and1 as there can be no disadvantage to

 the public1 in a ,protestant  country1 
that a man should hold lands as a       
bishop1 any more than if he  were a     
temporal person2 so it is of great      
advantage to the community1  where a    
bishop lives as he ought to do4 ,he is  
bound1 in conscience1 to  reside in his 
diocese1 and1 by a solemn promise1 to   
keep hospitality2  his estate is spent  
in the kingdom1 not remitted to         
,england2 he keeps  the clergy to their 
duty1 and is an example of virtue both  
to them and  the people4 ,suppose him an
 ill man2 yet his very character will   
withhold  him from any great or open    
exorbitancies4 ,but1 in fact1 it must be
  allowed1 that some bishops of this    
kingdom1 within twenty years past1  have
 done very signal and lasting acts of   
public charity2 great  instances        
whereof1 are the late#e and present#f   
,primate1 the ,lord  ,archbishop of     
,dublin#g that now is1 who hath left    
memorials of his  bounty in many parts  
of his province4 ,i might add1 the      

,bishop of  ,raphoe1#h and several      
others3 ,not forgetting the late ,dean  
of ,down1 ,dr4  ,pratt1 who bestowed one
 thousand pounds upon the university3   
,which  foundation1 7that ,i may observe
 by the way7 if the bill proposed should
  pass1 would be in the same            
circumstances with the bishops1 nor ever
 able  again to advance the stipends of 
the fellows and students1 as lately     
they found it necessary to do2 the      
determinate sum appointed by the        
statute for commons1 being not half     
sufficient1 by the fall of money1 to    
afford necessary sustenance4 ,but the   
passing of such a bill must put an  end 
to all ecclesiastical beneficence for   
the time to come2 and whether  this will
 be supplied by those who are to reap   
the benefit1 better than  it hath been  
done by the grantees of impropriate     
tithes1 who received  them upon the old 
church conditions of keeping            
hospitality2 it will be  easy to        
conjecture4    ,footnote #e3 ,dr4       

,marsh4    ,footnote #f3 ,dr4 ,lindsay4 
,footnote #g3 ,dr4 ,king4    ,footnote  
#h3 ,dr4 ,forster4    ,to allege1 that  
passing such a bill would be a good     
encouragement to  improve bishops'      
lands1 is a great error4 ,is it not the 
general method  of landlords1 to wait   
the expiration of a lease1 and then     
cant#i their  lands to the highest      
bidder8 ,and what should hinder the same
 course to  be taken in church leases1  
when the limitation is removed of paying
 half  the real value to the bishop8 ,in
 riding through the country1 how few    
improvements do we see upon the estates 
of laymen1 farther than about  their own
 domains8 ,to say the truth1 it is a    
great misfortune as well to  the public 
as to the bishops themselves1 that their
 lands are generally  let to lords and  
great squires1 who1 in reason1 were     
never designed to  be tenants2 and      
therefore may naturally murmur at the   
payment of rent1  as a subserviency they
 were not born to4 ,if the tenants to   

the ,church  were honest farmers1 they  
would pay their fines and rents with    
cheerfulness1 improve their lands1 and  
thank ,god they were to give but a      
moderate half value for what they held4 
,i have heard a man of a thousand       
pounds a year1 talk with great contempt 
of bishops' leases1 as being on  a worse
 foot than the rest of his estate2 and  
he had certainly reason3  ,my answer    
was1 that such leases were originally   
intended only for the  benefit of       
industrious husbandmen1 who would think 
it a great blessing  to be so provided  
for1 instead of having his farm screwed 
up to the  height1 not eating one       
comfortable meal in a year1 nor able to 
find  shoes for his children4           
,footnote #i3 ,to cant means to call for
 bidders at an auction sale4  ,probably 
derived from the ,o4 ,french cant       
quantum  how much4 ,t4,s4    ,i know not
 any advantage that can accrue by such a
 bill1 except the  preventing of perjury
 in jurymen1 and false dealing in       

tenants2 which is  a remedy like that of
 giving my money to an highwayman1      
before he  attempts to take it by force2
 and so ,i shall be sure to prevent the 
sin  of robbery4    ,i had wrote thus   
far1 and thought to have put an end2    
when a bookseller  sent me a small      
pamphlet1 entitled1 ,the ,case of the   
,laity1 with some  ,queries2 full of the
 strongest malice against the clergy1   
that ,i have  anywhere met with since   
the reign of ,toland1 and others of that
 tribe4  ,these kinds of advocates do   
infinite mischief to ,,our ,,good       
,,cause1 by  giving grounds to the      
unjust reproaches of ,,tories and       
,,jacobites1 who  charge us with being  
enemies to the ,church4 ,if ,i bear an  
hearty  unfeigned loyalty to his        
,majesty ,king ,george1 and the ,house  
of ,hanover1  not shaken in the least by
 the hardships we lie under1 which never
 can  be imputable to so gracious a     
prince3 ,if ,i sincerely abjure the     
,pretender1 and all ,popish successors2 

if ,i bear a due veneration to the      
glorious memory of the late ,king       
,william1 who preserved these kingdoms  
from ,popery and slavery1 with the      
expense of his blood1 and hazard of  his
 life3 ,and lastly1 if ,i am for a      
proper indulgence to all dissenters2  ,i
 think nothing more can be reasonably   
demanded of me as a ,,whig1 and  that my
 political catechism is full and        
complete4 ,but whoever1 under the       
shelter of that party denomination1 and 
of many great professions of  loyalty1  
would destroy1 or undermine1 or injure  
the ,church established2  ,i utterly    
disown him1 and think he ought to choose
 another name of  distinction for       
himself1 and his adherents4 ,i came into
 the cause upon  other principles1      
which1 by the grace of ,god1 ,i mean to 
preserve as long  as ,i live4 ,shall we 
justify the accusations of our          
adversaries8 ,hoc  ,ithacus velit--,the 
,tories and ,jacobites will behold us   
with a malicious  pleasure1 determined  

upon the ruin of our friends3 ,for is   
not the  present set of bishops almost  
entirely of that number1 as well as a   
great majority of the principal clergy8 
,and a short time will reduce the       
whole1 by vacancies upon death4    ,an  
impartial reader1 if he pleases to      
examine what ,i have already said1  will
 easily answer the bold ,queries in the 
pamphlet ,i mentioned3 ,he  will be     
convinced1 that the reason still        
strongly exists1 for which  that        
limiting law was enacted4 ,a reasonable 
man will wonder1 where can  be the      
insufferable grievance1 that an         
ecclesiastical landlord should  expect a
 moderate1 or third part value in rent  
for his lands1 when his  title is1 at   
least1 as ancient and as legal as that  
of a layman2 who  is yet but seldom     
guilty of giving such beneficial        
bargains4 ,has the  nation been thrown  
into confusion8 ,and have many poor     
families been  ruined by rack-rents paid
 for the lands of the church8 ,does the 

nation  cry out to have a law that must1
 in time1 send their bishops a-begging8 
,but1 ,god be thanked1 the clamour of   
enemies to the ,church is not yet the   
cry1 and1 ,i hope1 will never prove the 
voice of the nation4 ,the clergy1  ,i   
conceive1 will hardly allow that the    
people maintain them1 any more  than in 
the sense1 that all landlords whatsoever
 are maintained by the  people4 ,such   
assertions as these1 and the            
insinuations they carry along  with     
them1 proceed from principles which     
cannot be avowed by those who  are for  
preserving the happy constitution in    
,church and ,state4 ,whoever  were the  
proposers of such queries1 it might have
 provoked a bold  writer to retaliate1  
perhaps with more justice than prudence1
 by shewing  at whose door the grievance
 lies1 and that the bishops1 at least1  
are  not to answer for the poverty of   
tenants4    ,to gratify this great      
reformer1 who enlarges the episcopal    
rent-roll  almost one half2 let me      

suppose that all the ,church lands in   
the kingdom  were thrown up to the      
laity2 would the tenants1 in such a     
case1 sit  easier in their rents than   
they do now8 ,or1 would the money be    
equally  spent in the kingdom8 ,no3 ,the
 farmer would be screwed up to the      
utmost  penny1 by the agents and        
stewards of absentees1 and the revenues 
employed in making a figure at ,london2 
to which city a full third part  of the 
whole income of ,ireland is annually    
returned1 to answer that  single article
 of maintenance for ,irish landlords4   
,another of his quarrels is against     
pluralities and non-residence3 ,as to   
the former1 it is a word of ill name1   
but not well understood4 ,the  clergy   
having been stripped of the greatest    
part of their revenues1 the  glebes     
being generally lost1 the tithes in the 
hands of laymen1 the  churches          
demolished1 and the country depopulated2
 in order to preserve a  face of        
,christianity1 it was necessary to unite

 small vicarages1  sufficient to make a 
tolerable maintenance for a minister4   
,the profit of  ten or a dozen of these 
unions1 do seldom amount to above eighty
 or an  hundred pounds a year3 ,if there
 be a very few dignitaries1 whose       
preferments are1 perhaps1 more liable to
 this accusation1 it is to be  supposed1
 they may be favourites of the time1 or 
persons of superior  merit1 for whom    
there hath ever been some indulgence in 
all governments4    ,as to              
non-residence1 ,i believe there is no   
,christian country upon earth1  where   
the clergy have less to answer for upon 
that article4 ,i am  confident there are
 not ten clergymen in the kingdom1 who1 
properly  speaking1 can be termed       
non-residents3 ,for surely1 we are not  
to reckon  in that number1 those who1   
for want of glebes1 are forced to retire
 to  the nearest neighbouring village   
for a cabin to put their heads in2 the  
leading man of the parish1 when he makes
 the greatest clamour1 being  least     

disposed to accommodate the minister    
with an acre of ground4 ,and1  indeed1  
considering the difficulties the clergy 
lie under upon this  head1 it hath been 
frequent matter of wonder to me1 how    
they are able to  perform that part of  
their duty as well as they do4    ,there
 is a noble author1#aj who hath lately  
addressed to the ,house of  ,commons1 an
 excellent discourse for the            
,encouragement of ,agriculture2  full of
 most useful hints1 which1 ,i hope1 that
 honourable assembly will  consider as  
they deserve4 ,i am not a stranger to   
his lordship2 and1  excepting in what   
relates to the ,church1 there are few   
persons with  whose opinions ,i am      
better pleased to agree2 and am1        
therefore1 grieved  when ,i find him    
charging the inconveniencies in the     
payment of tithes  upon the clergy and  
their proctors4 ,his lordship is above  
considering a  very known and vulgar    
truth1 that the meanest farmer hath all 
manner of  advantages against the most  

powerful clergyman1 by whom it is       
impossible  he can be wronged1 although 
the minister were ever so evil disposed2
 the  whole system of teasing1          
perplexing1 and defrauding the proctor1 
or his  master1 being as well known to  
every ploughman1 as the reaping or      
sowing  of his corn1 and much more      
artfully practised4 ,besides1 the       
leading man  in the parish must have his
 tithes at his own rate1 which is hardly
 ever  above one quarter of the value4  
,and ,i have heard it computed by many  
skilful observers1 whose interest was   
not concerned1 that the clergy did  not 
receive1 throughout the kingdom1 one    
half of what the laws have made  their  
due4    ,footnote #aj3 ,the late ,lord  
,molesworth4    ,as to his lordship's   
discontent against the ,bishops'        
,courts1 ,i shall not  interpose further
 than in venturing my private opinion1  
that the clergy  would be very glad to  
recover their just dues by a more short1
 decisive1  and compulsive method1 than 

such a cramped and limited jurisdiction 
will  allow4    ,his lordship is not the
 only person disposed to give the clergy
 the  honour of being the sole          
encouragers of all new improvements4 ,if
 hops1  hemp1 flax1 and twenty things   
more are to be planted1 the clergy1     
alone1 must reward the industrious      
farmer1 by abatement of the tithe4      
,what if the owner of nine parts in ten 
would please to abate  proportionably in
 his rent1 for every acre thus improved8
 ,would not a  man just dropped from the
 clouds1 upon a full hearing1 judge the 
demand  to be1 at least1 as reasonable8 
,i believe no man will dispute his      
lordship's title to his estate2 nor     
will ,i the jus divinum of tithes1 which
 he mentions with some emotion4  ,i     
suppose the affirmative would be of     
little advantage to the clergy1  for the
 same reason that a maxim in law hath   
more weight in the world  than an       
article of faith4 ,and yet1 ,i think    
there may be such a thing as  sacrilege2

 because it is frequently mentioned by  
,greek and ,roman  authors1 as well as  
described in ,holy ,writ4 ,this ,i am   
sure of2 that his  lordship would1 at   
any time1 excuse a parliament for not   
concerning  itself in his properties1   
without his own consent4    ,the        
observations ,i have made upon his      
lordship's discourse1 have not1 ,i      
confess1 been altogether proper to my   
subject3 ,however1 since he hath  been  
pleased therein to offer some proposals 
to the ,house of ,commons1  with        
relation to the clergy1 ,i hope he will 
excuse me for differing from  him2 which
 proceeds from his own principle1 the   
desire of defending  liberty and        
property1 that he hath so strenuously   
and constantly  maintained4    ,but the 
other writer openly declares for a law1 
empowering the bishops  to set          
fee-farms2 and says1 ,whoever intimates 
that they will deny their  consent to   
such a reasonable law1 which the whole  
nation cries for1 are  enemies to them  

and the ,church4 ,whether this be his   
real opinion1 or  only a strain of mirth
 and irony1 the matter is not much4     
,however1 my  sentiments are so directly
 contrary to his2 that ,i think1 whoever
  impartially reads and considers what  
,i have written upon this argument1     
hath either no regard for the ,church   
established under the hierarchy of      
bishops1 or will never consent to any   
law that shall repeal1 or elude  the    
limiting clause1 relating to the real   
half value1 contained in the  act of    
parliament decimo ,caroli1 ,for the     
preservation of the  inheritance1 rights
 and profits of lands belonging to the  
,church1 and  persons ecclesiastical2   
which was grounded upon reasons that do 
still1  and must for ever subsist4      
,october #ba1 #agbc4      9999999999    
9999999999       9999999999             
9999999999          ,,reasons ,,humbly  
,,offered    ,,to ,,his ,,grace         
,,william1 ,,lord ,,archbishop ,,of     
,,dublin1 c4    ,,the ,,humble          

,,representation ,,of ,,the ,,clergy    
,,of ,,the ,,city ,,of ,,dublin4        
,,note4    ,scott's text has been       
collated with that given in volume eight
 of the  quarto edition of ,swift's     
,works 7#agfe74 ,in that edition the    
title is  given as3 ,the ,representation
 of the ,clergy of ,dublin1 c4    ,t4,s4
        ,,reasons ,,humbly ,,offered    
,,to ,,his    ,,grace ,,william1 ,,lord 
,,archbishop    ,,of ,,dublin1 c4#a     
,,the ,,humble ,,representation ,,of    
,,the ,,clergy    ,,of ,,the ,,city ,,of
 ,,dublin4    ,footnote #a3 ,william    
,king1 ,d4,d4 7#afej-agbi71 ,archbishop 
of ,dublin1 was  born in ,antrim1 and   
educated at a school at ,dungannon and  
,trinity  ,college1 ,dublin4 ,he was    
installed ,dean of ,st4 ,patrick's in   
#afhh-i  7,february #ast74 ,for his open
 espousal of the ,prince of ,orange1 he 
was  confined to the ,castle1 and       
suffered many indignities4 ,in #afij-a  
7,january #ith7 he was promoted to the  
see of ,derry4 ,his conduct through     

life was that of an ardent ,irish       
,protestant patriot4 ,he fought against 
,sectarianism1 ,roman ,catholicism1 and 
the interference of the ,english        
,parliament in ,irish affairs4 ,he      
opposed the ,toleration ,bill1 and      
protested against the act confirming the
 ,articles of ,limerick4 ,his           
relationship with ,swift became close   
when he sent the vicar of ,laracor  to  
,london1 to obtain for the ,irish clergy
 the restoration of the  first-fruits   
and twentieth parts2 but it was a       
relationship never  cemented by feelings
 warmer than those of esteem4 ,king     
acknowledged the  ability of ,swift1 but
 found him ambitious and overbearingly  
proud4  ,throughout life he remained a  
consistent ,high ,churchman1 and a      
strenuous  supporter of the rights of   
the ,church in ,ireland1 but his        
attempt1 in  #agbg1 to interfere with   
the affairs of the ,deanery of ,st4     
,patrick's1  brought down upon him      
,swift's wrath1 and an open quarrel     

ensued which  was partly softened by the
 ,archbishop retiring from the matter   
and  tacitly acknowledging ,swift's     
right4    ,king's chief published work  
is his treatise ,de ,origine ,mali1     
published  in #agjb1 and received with  
respectful consideration by the eminent 
thinkers of the day4 ,he wrote other    
minor works1 but none of any            
distinguished merit4 ,he succeeded      
,narcissus ,marsh as ,archbishop of     
,dublin in #agjb-c 7,march #aath74      
,swift's letters to ,king during the    
former's embassy on the matter of       
first-fruits1 make a most interesting   
chapter in the six volumes which ,scott 
devotes to ,swift's  correspondence4 ,t4
 ,s4    ,jan4 #agbd4    ,,my ,,lord1    
,your ,grace having been pleased to     
communicate to us a certain brief1 by   
letters patents1 for the relief of one  
,charles ,m',carthy1 whose house in     
,college-,green1 ,dublin1 was burnt by  
an accidental fire2 and having  desired 
us to consider of the said brief1 and   

give our opinions thereof  to your      
,grace2    ,we the ,clergy of the city  
of ,dublin1 in compliance with your     
,grace's  desire1 and with great        
acknowledgments for your paternal       
tenderness  towards us1 having maturely 
considered the said brief by letters    
patents1 compared the several parts of  
it with what is enjoined us by  the     
rubric1 7which is confirmed by act of   
parliament7 and consulted  persons      
skilled in the laws of the ,church2 do1 
in the names of ourselves  and of the   
rest of our brethren1 the ,clergy of the
 diocese of ,dublin1  most humbly       
represent to your ,grace3    ,first1    
,that1 by this brief1 your ,grace is    
required and commanded1 to  recommend   
and command all the parsons1 vicars1 c41
 to advance so great  an act of charity4
    ,we shall not presume to determine  
how far your ,grace may be commanded by 
the said brief2 but we humbly conceive  
that the ,clergy of your diocese        
cannot1 by any law now in being1 be     

commanded by your ,grace to advance  the
 said act of charity1 any other ways    
than by reading the said brief  in our  
several churches1 as prescribed by the  
rubric4    ,secondly1 ,whereas it is    
said in the said brief1 ,that the       
parsons1  vicars1 c4 upon the first     
,lord's day1 or opportunity after the   
receipt  of the copy of the said brief1 
shall1 deliberately and affectionately1 
publish and declare the tenor thereof to
 ,his ,majesty's subjects1 and          
earnestly persuade1 exhort1 and stir    
them up to contribute freely and        
cheerfully towards the relief of the    
said sufferer2    ,we do not comprehend 
what is meant by the word opportunity4  
,we never  do preach upon any day except
 the ,lord's day1 or some solemn days   
legally appointed2 neither is it        
possible for the strongest constitution 
among us to obey this command 7which    
includes no less than a whole  sermon7  
upon any other opportunity than when our
 people are met together  in the church2

 and to perform this work in every house
 where the  parishes are very populous1 
consisting sometimes here in town of    
#ijj or  #a1jjj houses1 would take up   
the space of a year1 although we should 
preach in two families every day2 and   
almost as much time in the  country1    
where the parishes are of large extent1 
the roads bad1 and the  people too poor 
to receive us1 and give charity at once4
    ,but1 if it be meant that these     
exhortations are commanded to be made in
  the church1 upon the ,lord's day1 we  
are humbly of opinion1 that it is  left 
to the discretion of the clergy1 to     
choose what subjects they think  most   
proper to preach on1 and at what times2 
and1 if they preach either  false       
doctrine or seditious principles1 they  
are liable to be punished4    ,it may   
possibly happen that the sufferer       
recommended may be a person not         
deserving the favour intended by the    
brief2 in which case no minister1  who  
knows the sufferer to be an undeserving 

person1 can with a safe  conscience1    
deliberately and affectionately publish 
the brief1 much less  earnestly         
persuade1 exhort1 and stir up the people
 to contribute freely  and cheerfully   
towards the relief of such a sufferer4#b
    ,footnote #b3 ,this ,m',carthy's    
house was burnt in the month of ,august 
#agbc1 and the universal opinion of     
mankind was1 that ,m',carthy himself    
was the person who had set fire to the  
house4 ,note in edition of  ,swift's    
,works1 vol4 viii41 #agfe1 #dto4        
,thirdly1 ,whereas in the said brief the
 ministers and curates are  required1 on
 the week-days next after the ,lord's   
day when the brief was  read1 to go from
 house to house1 with their             
church-wardens1 to ask and  receive from
 all persons the said charity3 ,we      
cannot but observe here1  that the said 
ministers are directly made collectors  
of the said charity  in conjunction with
 the church-wardens2 which however1 we  
presume1 was  not intended1 as being    

against all law and precedent3 ,and     
therefore1 we  apprehend1 there may be  
some inconsistency1 which leaves us at a
 loss  how to proceed4 ,for1 in the next
 paragraph1 the ministers and curates   
are only required1 where they           
conveniently can1 to accompany the      
church-wardens1 or procure some other of
 the chief inhabitants1 to do  the same4
 ,and1 in a following paragraph1 the    
whole work seems left  entirely to the  
church-wardens1 who are required to use 
their utmost  diligence to gather and   
collect the said charity1 and to pay the
 same1  in ten days after1 to the       
parson1 vicar1 c4    ,in answer to this1
 we do represent to your ,grace our     
humble opinion1  that neither we nor our
 church-wardens can be legally commanded
 or  required to go from house to house 
to receive the said charity2 because    
your ,grace hath informed us in your    
order1 at your visitation ,an4 ,dom4    
#agab1 that neither we nor our          
church-wardens are bound to make any    

collections for the poor1 save in the   
church2 which also appears plainly  by  
the rubric1 that appoints both time and 
place1 as your ,grace hath  observed in 
your said order4    ,we do likewise     
assure your ,grace1 that it is not in   
our power to procure  some of the chief 
inhabitants of our parishes to accompany
 the  church-wardens from house to house
 in these collections3 ,and we have     
reason to believe1 that such a proposal1
 made to our chief inhabitants          
7particularly in this city1 where our   
chief inhabitants are often peers  of   
the land7 would be received in a manner 
very little to our own  satisfaction1 or
 to the advantage of the said           
collections4    ,fourthly1 ,the brief   
doth will1 require1 and command the     
bishops1 and all  other dignitaries of  
the ,church1 that they make their       
contributions  distinctly1 to be        
returned in the several provinces to the
 several  archbishops of the same4      
,upon which we take leave to observe    

that the terms of expression here  are  
of the strongest kind1 and in a point   
that may subject the said  dignitaries  
7for we shall say nothing of the        
bishops7 to great  inconveniencies4     
,the said dignitaries are here willed1  
required1 and commanded to make  their  
contributions distinctly2 by which it   
should seem that they are  absolutely   
commanded to make contributions 7for the
 word distinctly is  but a              
circumstance71 and may be understood not
 very agreeable to a  voluntary1        
cheerful contribution4 ,and therefore1  
if any bishop or  dignitary should      
refuse to make his contribution1        
7perhaps for very good  reasons7 he may 
be thought to incur the crime of        
disobedience to ,his  ,majesty1 which   
all good subjects abhor1 when such a    
command is according  to law4    ,most  
dignities of this kingdom consist only  
of parochial tithes1 and the            
dignitaries are ministers of parishes4  
,a doubt may therefore arise1  whether  

the said dignitaries are willed1        
required1 and commanded1 to  make their 
contributions in both capacities1       
distinctly as dignitaries1  and jointly 
as parsons or vicars4    ,many dignities
 in this kingdom are the poorest kind of
 benefices2 and it  should seem hard to 
put poor dignitaries under the necessity
 either of  making greater contributions
 than they can afford1 or of exposing   
themselves to the censure of wanting    
charity1 by making their  contributions 
public4    ,our ,saviour commands us1 in
 works of charity1 to let not our left  
hand  know what our right hand doeth2   
which cannot well consist with our      
being willed1 required1 and commanded by
 any earthly power1 where no law  is    
prescribed1 to publish our charity to   
the world1 if we have a mind to  conceal
 it4    ,fifthly1 ,whereas it is said in
 the said brief1 ,that the parson1      
vicar1  c4 of every parish1 shall1 in   
six days after the receipt of the said  
charity1 return it to his respective    

chancellor1 c4 ,this may be a  great    
grievance1 hazard1 and expense to the   
said parson1 in remote and  desolate    
parts of the country1 where often an    
honest messenger 7if such  a one can be 
got7 must be hired to travel forty or   
fifty miles going and  coming2 which    
will probably cost more than the value  
of the contribution  he carries with    
him4 ,and this charge1 if briefs should 
happen to be  frequent1 would be enough 
to undo many a poor clergyman in the    
kingdom4    ,sixthly1 ,we observe in the
 said brief1 that the provost and       
fellows of  the ,university1 judges1    
officers of the courts1 and professors  
of laws  common and civil1 are neither  
willed1 required1 nor commanded to make 
their contributions2 but that so good a 
work is only recommended to  them4      
,whereas we conceive1 that all ,his     
,majesty's subjects are equally         
obliged1 with or without ,his ,majesty's
 commands1 to promote works of  charity 
according to their power2 and that the  

clergy1 in their  ecclesiastical        
capacity1 are only liable to such       
commands as the rubric1  or any other   
law shall enjoin1 being born to the same
 privileges of  freedom with the rest of
 ,his ,majesty's subjects4    ,we cannot
 but observe to your ,grace1 that1 in   
the ,english act of the  fourth year of 
,queen ,anne1 for the better collecting 
charity money on  briefs by             
letters-patent1 c4 the ministers are    
obliged only to read the  briefs in     
their churches1 without any particular  
exhortations2 neither  are they         
commanded to go from house to house with
 the church-wardens1  nor to send the   
money collected to their respective     
chancellors1 but pay  it to the         
undertaker or agent of the sufferer4 ,so
 that1 we humbly hope1  the clergy of   
this kingdom shall not1 without any law 
in being1 be put  to greater hardships  
in this case than their brethren in     
,england1 where  the legislature1       
intending to prevent the abuses in      

collecting charity  money on briefs1 did
 not think fit to put the clergy under  
any of those  difficulties we now       
complain of1 in the present brief by    
letters patent1  for the relief of      
,charles ,m',carthy aforesaid4    ,the  
collections upon the ,lord's day are the
 principal support of our own  numerous 
poor in our several parishes2 and       
therefore every single brief1  with the 
benefit of a full collection over the   
whole kingdom1 must  deprive several    
thousands of poor of their weekly       
maintenance1 for the  sake only of one  
person1 who often becomes a sufferer by 
his own folly  or negligence1 and is    
sure to overvalue his losses double or  
treble3 ,so  that1 if this precedent be 
followed1 as it certainly will if the   
present  brief should succeed1 we may   
probably have a new brief every week2   
and  thus1 for the advantage of         
fifty-two persons1 whereof not one in   
ten is  deserving1 and for the interest 
of a dozen dexterous clerks and         

secretaries1 the whole poor in the      
kingdom will be likely to starve4    ,we
 are credibly informed1 that neither the
 officers of the ,lord ,primate1  in    
preparing the report of his ,grace's    
opinion1 nor those of the  great-seal1  
in passing the patent for briefs1 will  
remit any of their  fees1 both which do 
amount to a considerable sum3 ,and thus 
the good  intentions of well-disposed   
people are in a great measure           
disappointed1  a large part of their    
charity being anticipated1 and alienated
 by fees  and gratuities4    ,lastly1   
,we cannot but represent to your ,grace 
our great concern and  grief1 to see the
 pains and labour of our church-wardens 
so much  increased1 by the injunctions  
and commands put upon them in this      
brief1  to the great disadvantage of the
 clergy and the people1 as well as to   
their own trouble1 damage1 and loss of  
time1 to which great additions  have    
been already made1 by laws appointing   
them to collect the taxes for  the watch

 and the poor-house1 which they bear    
with great unwillingness2  and1 if they 
shall find themselves further laden with
 such briefs as  this of ,m',carthy1 it 
will prove so great a discouragement1   
that we shall  never be able to provide 
honest and sufficient persons for that  
weighty  office of church-warden1 so    
necessary to the laity as well as the   
clergy1 in all things that relate to the
 order and regulation of  parishes4     
,upon all these considerations1 we      
humbly hope that your ,grace1 of whose  
fatherly care1 vigilance1 and           
tenderness1 we have had so many and     
great  instances1 will represent our    
case to his ,most ,excellent ,majesty1  
or to  the chief governor in this       
kingdom1 in such a manner1 that we may  
be  neither under the necessity of      
declining ,his ,majesty's commands in   
his  letters patent1 or of taking new   
and grievous burthens upon ourselves    
and our church-wardens1 to which neither
 the rubric nor any other law in  force 

oblige us to submit4      9999999999    
9999999999       9999999999             
9999999999          ,,on    ,,the       
,,bill    ,,for    ,,the ,,clergy',s    
,,residing ,,on ,,their ,,livings4      
,,note4    ,in the note to the tract1   
,some ,arguments against enlarging the  
,power of  ,bishops in letting ,leases  
7p4 #bai71 it was pointed out that the  
,bill  against which this tract was     
written was an attempt on the part of   
the  bishops to get back a power which  
they once had abused4 ,failing in this  
attempt1 in #agbc1 they renewed the     
attack in #agca by promoting two  bills1
 one called a ,bill of ,residence1 the  
other a ,bill of ,division4    ,the     
ostensible object of the ,bill of       
,residence was to compel the clergy  to 
reside on their livings4 ,by this bill1 
any person taking a benefice1  with cure
 of souls1 of the annual value of #ajj1 
was forced1 if the land  attached to    
that benefice had no house fit for      
residence1 to build one  thereon1 in any

 situation the bishop might think       
suitable1 this house to  cost one year  
and a half's income1 and to be completed
 within a time  fixed by the bishop4 ,it
 will at once be seen that the power    
over the  inferior clergy which this    
bill placed in the bishops' hands was by
 no  means insignificant2 and ,swift    
felt that to make such a bill law would 
not only tend to impoverish1 the        
inferior clergy1 but would place them   
in a position of subjection at once     
degrading and dispiriting4 ,he  opposed 
the bill1 with the consequence that the 
,house of ,commons  rejected it4    ,by 
the ,bill of ,division it was intended  
to be enacted that whenever a  church   
should become vacant1 although the      
incumbent should refuse his  consent1 it
 might be lawful for the chief governor1
 with the assent of  the major part of  
the ,privy ,council1 six at least       
consenting1 by and  with the consent of 
the ordinary and the patron1 to         
subdivide any parish  into as many      

portions as they might think fit1       
provided that1 after such  division1 the
 church of the old parish should        
continue worth1 at the  least1 #cjj per 
annum4 ,this bill1 which passed the     
,house of ,lords two  days after the    
,bill of ,residence1 ,swift opposed in a
 spirited and  somewhat bitter manner4  
,his opposition largely influenced the  
,lower  ,house in rejecting it4 ,the two
 tracts which state the grounds of his  
opposition to both bills are the present
 one1 and the following tract1          
,considerations upon two ,bills1 sent   
down from the ,house of ,lords to the   
,house of ,commons in ,ireland1 relating
 to the ,clergy4    ,scott notes that   
the tone of aigreur1 which is more      
distinctly felt  in the second of these 
tracts1 intimates a deep dissatisfaction
 with  late ecclesiastical preferments1 
which may perhaps be traced as much to  
personal disappointment as to any better
 cause2 a statement which it  was hardly
 worth making2 since1 however deep may  

have been ,swift's  personal feelings1  
he never allowed them to be the         
impelling motive to  his work4 ,it      
should suffice us to know that the cause
 which ,swift  espoused was a           
disinterested one4 ,as ,vicar of        
,laracor he knew what it  was to make a 
shift of living on an insufficient      
income2 and it may have  been1 this     
experience as much as personal          
disappointment which gave  pungency to  
his criticism4 ,it is easy enough to    
find questionable  motives for a        
satirist1 especially when that satirist 
is ,swift2 let us  not1 however1 forget 
that in his case the personal element   
was never  permitted to overweight the  
impersonal purpose4 ,other men when they
  reach prosperity often forget or      
ignore the hard conditions of their     
previous state2 to ,swift these         
conditions were always existing factors 
in his considerations for the           
amelioration of his fellow-men4 ,this it
 is  which gives to his writings so much

 of the tone of aigreur4    ,in his     
letter to ,john ,stearne1 ,bishop of    
,clogher1 dated ,july1 #agcc1  which is 
one of ,swift's most characteristic     
epistles--characteristic1  because the  
embodiment of truthful candour--he gives
 no equivocal  expression of opinion on 
these two bills4 ,he calls them1        
abominable  bills1 for enslaving and    
beggaring the clergy1 7which took their 
birth  from hell74 ,i call ,god to      
witness1 he adds1 that ,i did then1 and 
do  now1 and shall for ever1 firmly     
believe1 that every ,bishop who gave his
  vote for either of these bills1 did it
 with no other view 7bating  further    
promotion71 than a premeditated design1 
from the spirit of  ambition1 and love  
of arbitrary power1 to make the whole   
body of the  clergy their slaves and    
vassals until the day of judgment1 under
 the  load of poverty and contempt4     
,about the same time1 #agcb1 appeared   
another pamphlet entitled1 ,the         
,reconciler 444 shewing how all the good

 ends proposed by either of those       
bills1 may1 by a more gentle and easy   
method1 be attained1 without  injury to 
the rights of my lords the bishops2 or  
rigour and violence to  the inferior    
clergy4 ,in the main1 the writer agrees 
with ,swift2 but the  tract is valuable 
as showing that the controversy was no  
small one1 and  it furnishes also what  
is1 apparently1 an impartial history of 
the whole  affair4 ,three ,irish        
prelates voted against the bills on a   
division--,theophilus ,bolton1          
,archbishop of ,cashel1 ,charles ,carr1 
,bishop  of ,killaloe1 and ,robert      
,howard1 ,bishop of ,elphin4    ,the    
text of this tract is based on that     
which appeared in a volume of           
,miscellanies in ,prose and ,verse in   
the year #aghi4 ,it has been collated   
with those given by ,scott1             
,hawkesworth1 and other editors4        
,t4,s4        ,,on ,,the ,,bill ,,for   
,,the ,,clergy',s    ,,residing ,,on    
,,their ,,livings4      ,those gentlemen

 who have been promoted to bishoprics in
 this kingdom for  several years past1  
are of two sorts3 first1 certain private
 clergymen  from ,england1 who1 by the  
force of friends1 industry1             
solicitation1 or  other means and merits
 to me unknown1 have been raised to that
 character  by the mero motu of the     
crown4    ,of the other sort1 are some  
clergymen born in this kingdom1 who have
  most distinguished themselves by their
 warmth against ,popery1 their  great   
indulgence to ,dissenters1 and all true 
loyal ,protestants2 by their  zeal for  
the ,house of ,hanover1 abhorrence of   
the ,pretender1 and an  implicit        
readiness to fall into any measures that
 will make the  government easy to those
 who represent ,his ,majesty's person4  
,some of the former kind are such as are
 said to have enjoyed tolerable         
preferments in ,england2 and it is      
therefore much to their commendation    
that they have condescended to leave    
their native country1 and come over     

hither to be bishops1 merely to promote 
,christianity among us2 and  therefore  
in my opinion1 both their lordships1 and
 the many defenders  they bring over1   
may justly claim the merit of           
missionaries sent to  convert a nation  
from heresy and heathenism4    ,before  
,i proceed farther1 it may be proper to 
relate some particulars  wherein the    
circumstances of the ,english clergy    
differ from those of  ,ireland4    ,the 
districts of parishes throughout        
,england continue much the same as  they
 were before the ,reformation2 and most 
of the churches are of the  gothic      
architecture1 built some hundred years  
ago2 but the tithes of  great numbers of
 churches having been applied by the    
,pope's pretended  authority to several 
abbeys1 and even before the ,reformation
 bestowed by  that sacrilegious tyrant  
,henry ,,viii41 on his ravenous         
favourites1 the  maintenance of an      
incumbent in most parts of the kingdom  
is contemptibly  small2 and yet a vicar 

there of forty pounds a year1 can live  
with more  comfort1 than one of three   
times the nominal value with us4 ,for   
his  forty pounds are duly paid him1    
because there is not one farmer in a    
hundred1 who is not worth five times the
 rent he pays to his landlord1  and     
fifty times the sum demanded for the    
tithes2 which1 by the small  compass of 
his parish1 he can easily collect or    
compound for2 and if his  behaviour and 
understanding be supportable1 he will   
probably receive  presents now and then 
from his parishioners1 and perhaps from 
the  squire2 who1 although he may       
sometimes be apt to treat his parson a  
little superciliously1 will probably be 
softened by a little humble  demeanour4 
,the vicar is likewise generally sure to
 find upon his  admittance to his       
living1 a convenient house and barn in  
repair1 with a  garden1 and a field or  
two to graze a few cows1 and one horse  
for  himself and his wife4 ,he hath     
probably a market very near him1 perhaps

  in his own village4 ,no entertainment 
is expected from his visitor beyond  a  
pot of ale1 and a piece of cheese4 ,he  
hath every ,sunday the comfort of  a    
full congregation1 of plain1 cleanly    
people of both sexes1 well to  pass1 and
 who speak his own language4 ,the scene 
about him is fully  cultivated 7,i mean 
for the general7 and well inhabited4 ,he
 dreads no  thieves for anything but his
 apples1 for the trade of universal     
stealing  is not so epidemic there as   
with us4 ,his wife is little better than
  ,goody1 in her birth1 education1 or   
dress2 and as to himself1 we must let   
his parentage alone4 ,if he be the son  
of a farmer it is very sufficient1  and 
his sister may very decently be         
chambermaid to the squire's wife4 ,he   
goes about on working days in a         
grazier's coat1 and will not scruple to 
assist his workmen in harvest time4 ,he 
is usually wary and thrifty1 and  often 
more able to provide for a numerous     
family than some of ours can  do with a 

rectory called #cjjl4 a year4 ,his      
daughters shall go to  service1 or be   
sent 'prentice to the sempstress of the 
next town2 and  his sons are put to     
honest trades4 ,this is the usual course
 of an  ,english country vicar from     
twenty to sixty pounds a year4    ,as to
 the clergy of our own kingdom1 their   
livings are generally larger4  ,not     
originally1 or by the bounty of princes1
 parliaments1 or charitable  endowments1
 for the same degradations 7and as to   
glebes1 a much greater7  have been made 
here1 but1 by the destruction and       
desolation in the long  wars between the
 invaders and the natives2 during which 
time a great  part of the bishops'      
lands1 and almost all the glebes1 were  
lost in the  confusion4 ,the first      
invaders had almost the whole kingdom   
divided  amongst them4 ,new invaders    
succeeded1 and drove out their          
predecessors  as native ,irish4 ,these  
were expelled by others who came after1 
and upon  the same pretensions4 ,thus it

 went on for several hundred years1 and 
in  some degree even to our own         
memories4 ,and thus it will probably go 
on1  although not in a martial way1 to  
the end of the world4 ,for not only the 
purchasers of debentures forfeited in   
#afda1 were all of ,english birth1  but 
those after the ,restoration1 and many  
who came hither even since the          
,revolution1 are looked upon as perfect 
,irish2 directly contrary to the        
practice of all wise nations1 and       
particularly of the ,greeks and ,romans1
  in establishing their colonies1 by    
which name ,ireland is very absurdly    
called4    ,under these distractions the
 conquerors always seized what lands    
they  could with little ceremony1       
whether they belonged to the ,church or 
not3  ,thus the glebes were almost      
universally exposed to the first        
seizers1  and could never be recovered1 
although the grants1 with the particular
  denominations1 are manifest1 and still
 in being4 ,the whole lands of the  see 

of ,waterford were wholly taken by one  
family2 the like is reported  of other  
bishoprics4    ,king ,james the ,first1 
who deserves more of the ,church of     
,ireland than  all other princes put    
together1 having the forfeitures of vast
 tracts of  land in the northern parts  
7,i think commonly called the escheated 
counties71 having granted some hundred  
thousand acres of these lands to        
certain ,scotch and ,english favourites1
 was prevailed on by some great         
prelates to grant to some sees in the   
north1 and to many parishes there1      
certain parcels of land for the         
augmentation of poor bishoprics1 did    
likewise endow many parishes with glebes
 for the incumbents1 whereof a  good    
number escaped the depredations of #afda
 and #afhh4 ,these lands1 when  they    
were granted by ,king ,james1 consisted 
mostly of woody ground1  wherewith those
 parts of this island were then overrun4
 ,this is well  known1 universally      
allowed1 and by some in part remembered2

 the rest  being1 in some places1 not   
stubbed out to this day4 ,and the value 
of the  lands was consequently very     
inconsiderable1 till ,scotch colonies   
came  over in swarms upon great         
encouragement to make them habitable2 at
 least  for such a race of strong-bodied
 people1 who came hither from their own 
bleak barren highlands1 as it were into 
a paradise2 who soon were able  to get  
straw for their bedding1 instead of a   
bundle of heath spread on  the ground1  
and sprinkled with water4 ,here1 by     
degrees1 they acquired  some degree of  
politeness and civility1 from such      
neighbouring ,irish as  were still left 
after ,tyrone's last rebellion1 and are 
since grown  almost entirely possessors 
of the north4 ,thus1 at length1 the     
woods  being rooted up1 the land was    
brought in1 and tilled1 and the glebes  
which could not before yield two-pence  
an acre1 are equal to the best1         
sometimes affording the minister a good 
demesne1 and some land to let4    ,these

 wars and desolations in their natural  
consequences1 were likewise  the cause  
of another effect1 ,i mean that of      
uniting several parishes  under one     
incumbent4 ,for1 as the lands were of   
little value by the want  of inhabitants
 to cultivate them1 and many of the     
churches levelled to  the ground1       
particularly by the fanatic zeal of     
those rebellious saints  who murdered   
their king1 destroyed the ,church1 and  
overthrew monarchy  7for all which there
 is a humiliation day appointed by law1 
and soon  approaching72 so1 in order to 
give a tolerable maintenance to a       
minister1 and the country being too     
poor1 as well as devotion too low1  to  
think of building new churches1 it was  
found necessary to repair some  one     
church which had least suffered1 and    
join sometimes three or more1  enough   
for a bare support to some clergyman1   
who knew not where to  provide himself  
better4 ,this was a case of absolute    
necessity to prevent  heathenism1 as    

well as popery1 from overrunning the    
nation4 ,the  consequence of these      
unions was very different1 in different 
parts2 for1  in the north1 by the       
,scotch settlement1 their numbers daily 
increasing  by new additions from their 
own country1 and their prolific quality 
peculiar to northern people2 and lastly 
by their universally feeding  upon oats 
7which grain1 under its several         
preparations and  denominations1 is the 
only natural luxury of that hardy       
people7 the  value of tithes increased  
so prodigiously1 that at this day1 ,i   
confess1  several united parishes ought 
to be divided1 taking in so great a     
compass1 that it is almost impossible   
for the people to travel timely to      
their own parish church1 or their little
 churches to contain half their  number1
 though the revenue would be sufficient 
to maintain two1 or  perhaps three      
worthy clergymen with decency2 provided 
the times mend1 or  that they were      
honestly dealt with1 which ,i confess is

 seldom the case4  ,i shall name only   
one1 and it is the deanery of ,derry2   
the revenue  whereof1 if the dean could 
get his dues1 exceeding that of some    
bishoprics1 both by the compass and     
fertility of the soil1 the number as    
well as industry of the inhabitants1 the
 conveniency of exporting their  corn to
 ,dublin and foreign parts2 and1 lastly1
 by the accidental  discovery of marl in
 many places of the several parishes4   
,yet all this  revenue is wholly founded
 upon corn1 for ,i am told there is     
hardly an  acre of glebe for the dean to
 plant and build on4    ,i am therefore 
of opinion1 that a real undefalcated    
revenue of six  hundred pounds a year1  
is a sufficient income for a country    
dean in this  kingdom2 and since the    
rents consist wholly of tithes1 two     
parishes1 to  the amount of that value1 
should be united1 and the dean reside as
  minister in that of ,down1 and the    
remaining parishes be divided among     
worthy clergymen1 to about #cjjl4 a year

 to each4 ,the deanery of ,derry1  which
 is a large city1 might be left worth   
#hjjl4 a year1 and ,rapho  according as 
it shall be thought proper4 ,these three
 are the only  opulent deaneries in the 
whole kingdom1 and1 as ,i am informed1  
consist  all of tithes1 which was an    
unhappy expedient in the ,church1       
occasioned  by the sacrilegious         
robberies during the several times of   
confusion and  war2 insomuch that at    
this day there is hardly any remainder  
left of  dean and chapter lands in      
,ireland1 that delicious morsel         
swallowed so  greedily in ,england1     
under the fanatic usurpations4    ,as to
 the present scheme of a bill for       
obliging the clergy to residence1  now  
or lately in the privy council1 ,i know 
no more of the particulars  than what   
hath been told me by several clergymen  
of distinction2 who  say1 that a        
petition in the name of them all hath   
been presented to the  lord lieutenant  
and council1 that they might be heard by

 their counsel  against the bill1 and   
that the petition was rejected1 with    
some reasons  why it was rejected2 for  
the bishops know best what is proper for
 the  clergy4 ,it seems the bill        
consists of two parts3 ,first1 a power  
in the  bishops1 with consent of the    
archbishop1 and the patron1 to take off 
from any parish whatever1 it is worth   
above #cjj a year2 and this to be  done 
without the incumbent's consent1 which  
before was necessary in all  divisions4 
,the other part of the bill obligeth all
 clergymen1 from forty  pounds a year   
and upwards1 to reside1 and build a     
house in his parish4  ,but those of #dj 
are remitted till they shall receive    
#ajj out of the  revenue of first-fruits
 granted by ,her late ,majesty4         
9999999999       9999999999             
9999999999       9999999999             
,,considerations    ,,upon    ,,two     
,,bills1 c4      ,,note4    ,in the year
 #agca a ,bill was brought into the     
,house of ,lords by a great  majority of

 the ,right ,reverend the ,bishops1 for 
enabling them to divide  the livings of 
the inferior ,clergy2 which ,bill was   
approved of in the  ,privy-,council of  
,ireland1 and passed by the ,lords in   
,parliament4 ,it was  afterwards sent to
 the ,house of ,commons for their       
approbation2 but was  rejected by them  
with a great majority4 ,the supposed    
author of the  following                
,considerations1 who hath always been   
the best friend to the  inferior ,clergy
 of the ,church of ,england1 as may be  
seen by many parts  of his writings1    
opposed this pernicious project with    
great success2  which1 if it had passed 
into law1 would have been of the worst  
consequence to this nation4             
,advertisement to the reprint of this   
pamphlet in ,swift's ,works1 vol4 vi4   
,dublin3 ,faulkner1 #agch4    ,fuller   
details of the circumstances which gave 
,swift the opportunity for  writing this
 tract are given in the note prefixed to
 the previous  pamphlet 7see p4 #bej74  

,the text here given is that of the     
first edition4    ,t4,s4                
,,considerations    ,,upon ,,two        
,,bills    ,sent down from the ,r----   
,h---- the    ,h---- of ,l----    ,to   
the ,h----ble    ,h---- of ,c----       
,relating to the    ,,clergy    ,,of    
,i----,d4    ,,london4    ,printed for  
,a4 ,,moore1 near ,st4 ,paul's1 and     
,sold by the ,booksellers of            
,westminster and ,southwark1 #agcb4     
,i have often1 for above a month past1  
desired some few clergymen1 who  are    
pleased to visit me1 that they would    
procure an extract of two  bills1       
brought into the council by some of the 
bishops1 and both of them  since passed 
in the ,house of ,lords3 but ,i could   
never obtain what ,i  desired1 whether  
by the forgetfulness1 or negligence of  
those whom ,i  employed1 or the         
difficulty of the thing itself4         
,therefore1 if ,i shall  happen to      
mistake in any fact of consequence1 ,i  
desire my remarks upon  it1 may pass for

 nothing2 for my information is no      
better than what ,i  received in words  
from several divines1 who seemed to     
agree with each  other4 ,i have not the 
honour to be acquainted with any one    
single  prelate of the kingdom1 and am a
 stranger to their characters1 further  
than as common fame reports them1 which 
is not to be depended on4  ,therefore1  
,i cannot be supposed to act upon a     
principle of resentment4 ,i  esteem     
their functions 7if ,i may be allowed to
 say so without offence7  as truly      
apostolical1 and absolutely necessary to
 the perfection of a  ,christian        
,church4    ,there are no qualities more
 incident to the frailty and corruption 
of  human kind1 than an indifference1 or
 insensibility for other men's          
sufferings1 and a sudden forgetfulness  
of their own former humble state1  when 
they rise in the world4 ,these two      
dispositions have not1 ,i think1        
anywhere so strongly exerted themselves1
 as in the order of bishops with  regard

 to the inferior clergy2 for which ,i   
can find no reasons1 but such  as       
naturally should seem to operate a quite
 contrary way4 ,the  maintenance of the 
,clergy1 throughout the kingdom1 is     
precarious and  uncertain1 collected    
from a most miserable race of beggarly  
farmers2 at  whose mercy every minister 
lies to be defrauded3 ,his office1 as   
rector  or vicar1 if it be duly         
executed1 is very laborious4 ,as soon as
 he is  promoted to a bishopric1 the    
scene is entirely and happily changed2  
his  revenues are large1 and as surely  
paid as those of the king2 his whole    
business is once a-year1 to receive the 
attendance1 the submission1 and  the    
proxy-money of all his clergy1 in       
whatever part of the diocese he  shall  
please to think most convenient for     
himself4 ,neither is his  personal      
presence necessary1 for the business may
 be done by a  ,vicar-,general4 ,the    
fatigue of ordination1 is just what the 
bishops  please to make it1 and as      

matters have been for some time1 and may
  probably remain1 the fewer ordinations
 the better4 ,the rest of their  visible
 office1 consists in the honour of      
attending parliaments and  councils1 and
 bestowing preferments in their own     
gift2 in which last  employment1 and in 
their spiritual and temporal courts1 the
 labour falls  to their                 
,vicars-,general1 ,secretaries1         
,proctors1 ,apparitors1 ,seneschals1    
and the like4 ,now1 ,i say1 in so quick 
a change1 where their brethren in  a few
 days1 are become their subjects1 it    
would be reasonable1 at least1  to hope1
 that the labour1 confinement1 and      
subjection from which they  have so     
lately escaped1 like a bird out of the  
snare of the fowler1  might a little    
incline them to remember the condition  
of those1 who were  but last week their 
equals1 probably their companions or    
their friends1  and possibly1 as        
reasonable expectants4 ,there is a known
 story of  ,colonel ,tidcomb1 who1 while

 he continued a subaltern officer1 was  
every  day complaining against the      
pride1 oppression1 and hard treatment of
  colonels toward their officers2 yet in
 a very few minutes after he had        
received his commission for a regiment1 
walking with a friend on the  ,mall1 he 
confessed that the spirit of            
colonelship1 was coming fast upon  him1 
which spirit is said to have daily      
increased to the hour of his  death4    
,it is true1 the ,clergy of this        
kingdom1 who are promoted to bishoprics1
  have always some great advantages2    
either that of rich deaneries1  opulent 
and multiplied rectories and dignities1 
strong alliances by  birth or marriage1 
fortified by a superlative degree of    
zeal and  loyalty2 but1 however1 they   
were all at first no more than young    
beginners2 and before their great       
promotion1 were known by their plain    
,christian names1 among their old       
companions1 the middling rate of        
clergymen2 nor could1 therefore1 be     

strangers to their condition1 or  with  
any good grace1 forget it so soon as it 
hath sometimes happened4    ,i confess1 
,i do not remember to have observed any 
body of men1 acting  with so little     
concert as our clergy have done1 in a   
point where their  opinions appeared to 
be unanimous3 a point where their whole 
temporal  support was concerned1 as well
 as their power of serving ,god and his 
,church1 in their spiritual functions4  
,this hath been imputed to their  fear  
of disobliging1 or hopes of further     
favours upon compliance2  because it was
 observed1 that some who appeared at    
first with the  greatest zeal1 thought  
fit suddenly to absent themselves from  
the usual  meetings2 yet1 we know what  
expert solicitors the ,quakers1 the     
,dissenters1 and even the ,papists have 
sometimes found1 to drive a point  of   
advantage1 or present an impending evil4
    ,i have not seen any extract from   
the two bills introduced into the ,privy
  ,council by the bishops2 where the    

,clergy1 upon some failure in favour1   
or through the timorousness of many     
among their brethren1 were refused  to  
be heard by the ,council4 ,it seems     
these bills were both returned1  agreed 
to by the ,king and ,council in         
,england2 and the ,house of ,lords      
hath1 with great expedition1 passed them
 both1 and it is said they are          
immediately to be sent down to the      
,commons for their consent4    ,the     
particulars1 as they have been          
imperfectly reported to me1 are as      
follow3    ,by one of the bills1 the    
bishops have power to oblige the country
  clergy1 to build a mansion-house upon 
whatever part of their glebes  their    
lordships shall command2 and if the     
living be above #ej a-year1  the        
minister is bound to build1 after three 
years1 a house that shall  cost one year
 and a half's rent of his income4 ,for  
instance1 if a  clergyman with a wife   
and seven children gets a living of #ee 
per annum1  he must after three years1  

build a house that shall cost #gg #ajs41
 and  must support his family during the
 time the bishop shall appoint for the  
building of it with the remainder4 ,but1
 if the living be under #ej  a-year1 the
 minister shall be allowed an #ajj out  
of the first-fruits4    ,but1 there is  
said to be one circumstance a little    
extraordinary2 that  if there be a      
single spot in the glebe more barren1   
more marshy1 more  expos'd to winds1    
more distant from the church1 or        
skeleton of a church1  or from any      
conveniency of building3 the rector1 or 
vicar may be obliged  by the caprice1 or
 pique of the bishop1 to build1 under   
pain of  sequestration1 7an office1     
which ever falls into the most knavish  
hands17 upon whatever point his lordship
 shall command2 although the  farmers   
have not paid one quarter of his due4   
,i believe1 under the present distresses
 of the kingdom 7which  inevitably1     
without a miracle1 must increase for    
ever7 there are not ten  country        

clergymen in ,ireland reputed to possess
 a parish of #ajj per  annum who1 for   
some years past1 have actually received 
#fj1 and that  with the utmost          
difficulty and vexation4 ,i am1         
therefore1 at a loss what  kind of      
valuators the bishops will make use of1 
and whether the starving  vicar1 shall  
be forced to build his house with the   
money he never  received4    ,the other 
bill1 which passed in two days after the
 former1 is said to  concern the        
division of parishes into as many       
parcels as the bishop  shall think fit1 
only leaving #cjj a-year to the ,mother 
,church2 which  #cjj by another act     
passed some years ago1 they can divide  
likewise1 and  crumble as low as their  
will and pleasure will dispose them4 ,so
 that  instead of #fjj clergymen1 which1
 ,i think1 is the usual computation1 we 
may have1 in a small compass of years1  
almost as many thousands to live  with  
decency and comfort1 provide for their  
children1 c41 be charitable  to the     

poor1 and maintain hospitality4    ,but 
it is very reasonable to hope1 and      
heartily to be wished by all  those who 
have the least regard to our holy       
religion1 as hitherto  established1 or  
to a learned1 pious1 diligent1          
conversible clergyman1 or  even to      
common humanity2 that the honourable    
,house of ,commons will in  their great 
wisdom1 justice1 and tenderness to      
innocent men1 consider  these bills in  
another light4 ,it is said1 they well   
know this kingdom  not to be so over    
stocked with neighbouring gentry2 but a 
discreet1  learned clergyman1 with a    
competency fit for one of his education1
 may  be an entertaining1 a useful1 and 
sometimes a necessary companion4 ,that  
although such a clergyman may not be    
able constantly to find ,,beef and      
,,wine for his own family1 yet he may be
 allowed sometimes to afford both  to a 
neighbour1 without distressing himself2 
and the rather1 because he  may expect  
at least as good a return4 ,it will     

probably be considered1  that in many   
desolate parts1 there may not be always 
a sufficient number  of persons         
considerable enough to be trusted with  
commissions of the  peace1 which several
 of the ,clergy now supply much better1 
than a  little1 hedge1 contemptible1    
illiterate vicar from twenty to fifty   
pounds a-year1 the son of a weaver1     
pedlar1 tailor1 or miller1 can be       
presumed to do4    ,the landlords and   
farmers by this scheme can find no      
profit1 but will  certainly be losers2  
for instance1 if the large northern     
livings be  split into a dozen parishes1
 or more1 it will be very necessary for 
the  little threadbare gownman1 with his
 wife1 his proctor and every child  who 
can crawl1 to watch the fields at       
harvest time1 for fear of losing a      
single sheaf1 which he could not afford 
under peril of a day's starving2  for   
according to the ,scotch proverb1 a     
hungry louse bites sore4 ,this  would of
 necessity1 breed an infinite number of 

brangles and litigious  suits in the    
spiritual courts1 and put the wretched  
pastor at perpetual  variance with his  
whole parish4 ,but1 as they have        
hitherto stood1 a  clergyman established
 in a competent living is not under the 
necessity  of being so sharp1 vigilant1 
and exacting4 ,on the contrary1 it is   
well  known and allowed1 that the       
,clergy round the kingdom think         
themselves  well treated1 if they lose  
only one single third of their legal    
demands4    ,the honourable ,house may  
perhaps be inclined to conceive1 that my
 lords  the bishops enjoy as ample a    
power1 both spiritual and temporal1 as  
will  fully suffice to answer every     
branch of their office2 that they want  
no  laws to regulate the conduct of     
those clergymen1 over whom they preside2
  that if non-residence be a grievance1 
it is the patron's fault1 who  makes not
 a better choice1 or caused the         
plurality4 ,that if the general         
impartial character of persons chosen   

into the ,church had been more          
regarded1 and the motive of party1      
alliance1 kindred1 flatterers1 ill      
judgment1 or personal favour regarded   
less1 there would be fewer  complaints  
of non-residence1 neglect of care1      
blameable behaviour1 or  any other part 
of misconduct1 not to mention ignorance 
and stupidity4    ,i could name certain 
gentlemen of the gown1 whose awkward1   
spruce1 prim1  sneering1 and smirking   
countenances1 the very tone of their    
voices1 and  an ungainly strut in their 
walk1 without one single talent for any 
one  office1 have contrived to get good 
preferment by the mere force of         
flattery and cringing3 for which two    
virtues 7the only two virtues they      
pretend to7 they were1 however1 utterly 
unqualified4 ,and whom1 if ,i were  in  
power1 although they were my nephews or 
had married my nieces1 ,i  could never  
in point of good conscience or honour1  
have recommended to a  curacy in        
,connaught4    ,the honourable ,house of

 ,commons may likewise perhaps consider1
 that the  gentry of this kingdom differ
 from all others upon earth1 being less 
capable of employments in their own     
country1 than any others who come  from 
abroad1 and that most of them have      
little expectation of providing  for    
their younger children1 otherwise than  
by the ,church1 in which there  might be
 some hopes of getting a tolerable      
maintenance4 ,for after the  patrons    
should have settled their sons1 their   
nephews1 their nieces1  their           
dependants1 and their followers1 invited
 over from t'other side1  there would   
still remain an overplus of smaller     
church preferments1 to  be given to such
 clergy of the nation1 who shall have   
their quantum of  whatever merit may be 
then in fashion4 ,but by these bills1   
they will be  all as absolutely         
excluded1 as if they had passed under   
the denomination  of ,tories1 unless    
they can be contented at the utmost with
 #ej a-year1  which by the difficulties 

of collecting tithes in ,ireland1 and   
the daily  increasing miseries of the   
people1 will hardly rise to half the    
sum4    ,it is observed1 that the       
divines sent over hither to govern this 
,church1  have not seemed to consider   
the difference between both kingdoms1   
with  respect to the inferior clergy4   
,as to themselves1 indeed1 they find a  
large revenue in lands let at one       
quarter value1 which consequently must  
be paid while there is a penny left     
among us2 and1 the public distress  so  
little affects their interests1 that    
their fines are now higher than  ever1  
they content themselves to suppose that 
whatever a parish is said  to be worth1 
comes all into the parson's pocket4     
,the poverty of great numbers among the 
,clergy of ,england1 hath been the      
continual complaint of all men who wish 
well to the ,church1 and many  schemes  
have been thought on to redress it2 yet 
an ,english vicar of #dj  a-year1 lives 
much more comfortably than one of double

 the value in  ,ireland4 ,his farmers   
generally speaking1 are able and willing
 to pay him  his full dues4 ,he hath a  
decent church of ancient standing1      
filled every  ,lord's day with a large  
congregation of plain people1 well clad1
 and  behaving themselves as if they    
believed in ,god and ,christ4 ,he hath a
  house and barn in repair1 a field or  
two to graze his cows1 with a  garden   
and orchard4 ,no guest expects more from
 him than a pot of ale2 he  lives like  
an honest1 plain farmer1 as his wife is 
dressed but little  better than ,goody4 
,he is sometimes graciously invited by  
the squire1  where he sits at humble    
distance2 if he gets the love of his    
people1  they often make him little     
useful presents2 he is happy by being   
born to  no higher expectation1 for he  
is usually the son of some ordinary     
tradesman or middling farmer4 ,his      
learning is much of a size with his     
birth and education1 no more of either  
than what a poor hungry servitor  can be

 expected to bring with him from his    
college4 ,it would be tedious  to shew  
the reverse of all this in our distant  
poorer parishes1 through  most parts of 
,ireland1 wherein every reader may make 
the comparison4    ,lastly1 the         
honourable ,house of ,commons may       
consider1 whether the scheme  of        
multiplying beggarly clergymen through  
the whole kingdom who must all  have    
votes for choosing parliament men       
7provided they can prove their          
freeholds to be worth #djs4 per annum1  
ultra reprisas7 may not1 by  their      
numbers1 have great influence upon      
elections1 being entirely under  the    
dependance of their bishops4 ,for by a  
moderate computation1 after  all the    
divisions and subdivisions of parishes1 
that1 my lords1 the  bishops1 have power
 to make by their new laws1 there will1 
as soon as  the present set of clergy go
 off1 be raised an army of              
ecclesiastical  militants1 able enough  
for any kind of service1 except that of 

the  altar4    ,i am1 indeed1 in some   
concern about a fund for building a     
thousand or  two churches1 wherein these
 probationers may read their wall       
lectures1  and begin to doubt they must 
be contented with barns2 which barns    
will  be one great advancing step       
towards an accommodation with our true  
,protestant brethren1 the ,dissenters4  
,the scheme of encouraging clergymen to 
build houses by dividing a living  of   
#ejj a-year into ten parts1 is a        
contrivance1 the meaning whereof  hath  
got on the wrong side of my             
comprehension2 unless it may be argued1 
that bishops build no houses1 because   
they are so rich2 and therefore1  the   
inferior clergy will certainly build1 if
 you reduce them to beggary4  ,but ,i   
knew a very rich man of quality in      
,england1 who could never be  persuaded 
to keep a servant out of livery2 because
 such servants would  be expensive1 and 
apt1 in time1 to look like gentlemen2   
whereas the  others were ready to submit

 to the basest offices1 and at a cheaper
  pennyworth might increase his retinue4
    ,i hear1 it is the opinion of many  
wise men1 that before these bills pass  
both ,houses1 they should be sent back  
to ,england with the following  clauses 
inserted3    ,first1 that whereas there 
may be about a dozen double bishoprics  
in  ,ireland1 those bishoprics should be
 split and given to different  persons2 
and those of a single denomination be   
also divided into two1  three1 or four  
parts1 as occasion shall require2       
otherwise there may be  a question      
started1 whether twenty-two prelates can
 effectually extend  their paternal care
 and unlimited power1 for the protection
 and  correction of so great a number of
 spiritual subjects4 ,but this proposal 
will meet with such furious objections1 
that ,i shall not insist upon it1  for  
,i well remember to have read1 what a   
terrible fright the frogs were  in1 upon
 a report that the sun was going to     
marry4    ,another clause should be1    

that none of these twenty1 thirty1      
forty1 or  fifty pounders may be        
suffered to marry1 under the penalty of 
immediate  deprivation1 their marriages 
declared null1 and their children       
bastards2  for some desponding people1  
take the kingdom to be not in a         
condition of  encouraging so numerous a 
breed of beggars4    ,a third clause    
will be necessary1 that these humble    
gentry should be  absolutely            
disqualified from giving votes in       
elections for parliament  men4          
,others add a fourth1 which is a clause 
of indulgence1 that these reduced       
divines may be permitted to follow any  
lawful ways of living1 that will  not   
call them too often or too far from     
their spiritual offices 7for  unless ,i 
misapprehend1 they are supposed to have 
episcopal ordination74  ,for example1   
they may be lappers of linen1 bailiffs  
of the manor1 they  may let blood1 or   
apply plasters1 for three miles round2  
they may get a  dispensation to hold the

 clerkship and sextonship of their own  
parish  in commendam4 ,their wives and  
daughters may make shirts for the       
neighbourhood1 or if a barrack be near1 
for the soldiers4 ,in linen  countries1 
they may card and spin1 and keep a few  
looms in the house3  they may let       
lodgings1 and sell a pot of ale without 
doors1 but not at  home1 unless to sober
 company1 and at regular hours4 ,it is  
by some  thought a little hard1 that in 
an affair of the last consequence1 to   
the  very being of the ,clergy1 in the  
points of liberty and property1 as well 
as in their abilities to perform their  
duty2 this whole reverend body1  who are
 the established instructors of the     
nation in ,christianity and  moral      
virtues1 and are the only persons       
concerned1 should be the sole  persons  
not consulted4 ,let any scholar shew the
 like precedent in  ,christendom for    
twelve hundred years past4 ,an act of   
parliament for  settling or selling an  
estate in a private family1 is never    

passed till  all parties give consent4  
,but in the present case the whole body 
of the  ,clergy is1 as themselves       
apprehend1 determined to utter ruin1    
without  once expecting or asking their 
opinion1 and this by a scheme contrived 
only by one part of the convocation1    
while the other part which hath  been   
chosen in the usual forms1 wants only   
the regal permission to  assemble1 and  
consult about the affairs of the        
,church1 as their  predecessors have    
always done in former ages2 where it is 
presumed1 the  ,lower ,house hath a     
power of proposing canons1 and a        
negative voice1 as  well as the ,upper4 
,and ,god forbid 7say these objectors7  
that there  should be a real separate   
interest between the bishops and        
,clergy1 any  more than there is between
 a man and his wife1 a king and his     
people1 or  ,christ and his ,church4    
,it seems there is a provision in the   
bill1 that no parish shall be cut  into 
scraps1 without the consent of several  

persons1 who can be no  sufferers in the
 matter2 but ,i cannot find that the    
,clergy lay much  weight on this        
caution1 because they argue1 that the   
very persons from  whom these ,bills    
took their rise1 will have the greatest 
share in the  decision4    ,i do not1 by
 any means1 conceive the crying sin of  
the ,clergy in this  kingdom1 to be that
 of non-residence4 ,i am sure1 it is    
many degrees less  so here than in      
,england1 unless the possession of      
pluralities may pass  under that name2  
and if this be a fault1 it is well known
 to whom it  must be imputed3 ,i        
believe1 upon a fair inquiry 7and ,i    
hear an inquiry  is to be made7 they    
will appear to be most pardonably few1  
especially  considering how many        
parishes have not an inch of glebe1 and 
how  difficult it is upon any reasonable
 terms1 to find a place of  habitation4 
,and1 therefore1 ,god knows1 whether my 
lords the bishops will  be soon able to 
convince the ,clergy1 or those who have 

any regard for  that venerable body1    
that the chief motive in their          
lordships' minds1 by  procuring these   
bills1 was to prevent the sin of        
non-residence1 while  the universal     
opinion of almost every clergyman in the
 kingdom1 without  distinction of party1
 taking in even those who are not likely
 to be  sufferers1 stands directly      
against them4    ,if some livings in the
 north may be justly thought too large a
 compass  of land1 which makes it       
inconvenient for the remotest inhabitant
 to  attend the service of the ,church1 
which in some instances may be true2  no
 reasonable clergyman would oppose a    
proper remedy by particular acts  of    
parliament4    ,thus for instance1 the  
deanery of ,down1 a country deanery1 ,i 
think1  without a cathedral1 depending  
wholly upon an union of parishes joined 
together1 in a time when the land lay   
waste and thinly inhabited2 since  those
 circumstances are so prodigiously      
changed for the better1 may  properly be

 lessened1 leaving a decent competency  
to the dean1 and  placing rectories in  
the remaining churches1 which are now   
served only  by stipendiary curates4    
,the case may be probably the same in   
other parts3 and such a proceeding      
discreetly managed would be truly for   
the good of the ,church4    ,for it is  
to be observed1 that the dean and       
chapter lands1 which1 in  ,england were 
all seized under the fanatic usurpation1
 are things unknown  in ,ireland1 having
 been long ravished from the ,church1 by
 a succession  of confusions1 and tithes
 applied in their stead1 to support that
  ecclesiastical dignity4    ,the late  
,archbishop of ,dublin#a had a very     
different way of encouraging  the clergy
 of his diocese to residence3 ,when a   
lease had run out seven  years or more1 
he stipulated with the tenant to resign 
up twenty or  thirty acres to the       
minister of the parish where it lay     
convenient1  without lessening his      
former rent2 and with no great abatement

 of the  fine2 and this he did in the   
parts near ,dublin1 where land is at the
  highest rates1 leaving a small chiefry
 for the minister to pay1 hardly a      
sixth part of the value4 ,i doubt not   
that almost every bishop in the  kingdom
 may do the same generous act with less 
damage to their sees than  his late     
,grace of ,dublin2 much of whose lands  
were out in fee-farms1 or  leases for   
lives1 and ,i am sorry that the good    
example of that prelate  hath not been  
followed4    ,footnote #a3 ,the ,right  
,rev4 ,dr4 ,william ,king 7see p4 #bda74
 ,t4 ,s4    ,but a great majority of the
 ,clergy's friends cannot hitherto      
reconcile  themselves to this project1  
which they call a levelling principle1  
that  must inevitably root out the seeds
 of all honest emulation1 the legal     
parent of the greatest virtues1 and most
 generous actions among men2 but  which1
 in the general opinion 7for ,i do not  
pretend to offer my own17  will never   
more have room to exert itself in the   

breast of any clergyman  whom this      
kingdom shall produce4    ,but1 whether 
the consequences of these ,bills may1 by
 the virtues and  frailties of future   
bishops1 sent over hither to rule the   
,church1  terminate in good or evil1 ,i 
shall not presume to determine1 since   
,god  can work the former out of the    
latter4 ,but one thing ,i can venture to
  assert1 that from the earliest ages of
 ,christianity to the minute ,i am  now 
writing1 there never was a precedent of 
,,such a proceeding1 much less  to be   
feared1 hoped1 or apprehended from such 
hands in any ,christian  country1 and so
 it may pass for more than a phoenix1   
because it hath  risen without any      
assistance from the ashes of its sire4  
,the appearance of so many dissenters at
 the hearing of this cause1 is  what1 ,i
 am told1 hath not been charged to the  
account of their prudence  or           
moderation2 because that action hath    
been censured as a mark of  triumph and 
insult before the victory is complete2  

since neither of  these bills hath yet  
passed the ,house of ,commons1 and some 
are pleased  to think it not impossible 
that they may be rejected4 ,neither do  
,i hear1  that there is an enacting     
clause in either of the ,bills to apply 
any  part of the divided or subdivided  
tithes1 towards increasing the  stipends
 of the sectaries4 ,so that these       
gentlemen seem to be gratified  like    
him1 who1 after having been kicked      
downstairs1 took comfort when he  saw   
his friend kicked down after him4    ,i 
have heard many more objections against 
several particulars of both  these      
,bills1 but they are of a high nature1  
and carry such dreadful  innuendos1 that
 ,i dare not mention them1 resolving to 
give no offence  because ,i well know   
how obnoxious ,i have long been         
7although ,i conceive  without any fault
 of my own7 to the zeal and principles  
of those1 who  place all difference in  
opinion concerning public matters1 to   
the score  of disaffection1 whereof ,i  

am at least as innocent as the loudest  
of my  detractors4      ,,dublin1       
,feb4 #bd1 #agca-b4      9999999999     
9999999999       9999999999             
9999999999          ,,some    ,,reasons 
,,against    ,,the ,,bill ,,for         
,,settling ,,the ,,tithe    ,,of        
,,hemp1 ,,flax1 c41 ,,by ,a ,,modus4    
,,note4    ,about the end of #agcc the  
,irish ,house of ,commons had under     
consideration  a bill for the           
encouragement of the growth of flax and 
the manufacture  of linen4 ,this bill   
contained a clause by which the tithe   
upon flax  should be commuted by a modus
 or money composition4 ,the clergy1 to  
whom this tithe was an important source 
of revenue1 and1 naturally1 not  wishing
 to lose its advantage1 took steps to   
petition ,parliament to be  heard by    
counsel against the bill4 ,swift signed 
the petition1 which set  forth the      
injury which would be done to their     
order if the clause in the  bill1 then  
before the ,house1 were allowed to      

become law4 ,in addition to  this he    
committed and arranged his arguments to 
writing1 and issued them  in the        
following pamphlet4 ,the activity       
against the bill proved so  efficacious 
that the ,house of ,commons dropped it4 
,it may be remarked  that ,swift's      
interference was purely disinterested1  
since no part of the  revenue of ,st4   
,patrick's1 as ,monck ,mason points out1
 comes from the  district appropriated  
to the culture of flax2 nor did ,swift1 
or any  of his predecessors or          
successors1 ever receive one shilling   
upon  account of that tithe4    ,this   
attempt on the part of the ,house of    
,commons to regulate the affairs  of the
 clergy of ,ireland seems to have been  
one of a series which  divided laity and
 clergy into two strongly opposing      
parties4 ,on the one  side were the     
,house of ,commons and its supporters1  
on the other the  general body of the   
,irish clergy1 with1 for a time1 at any 
rate1 ,swift  at the head4 ,the tithe of

 pasturage1 or1 as it was called1 the   
tithe of  agistment1 was being strongly 
resisted at the time1 and many of the   
clergy were forced to sue in court      
before they could obtain it4 ,the       
matter of this tithe had been already   
before an ,irish court in #agjg1 and    
had been settled in favour of the suing 
clergyman1 one ,archdeacon ,neal2  and  
although the cause was removed to       
,king's ,bench in ,england1 the         
previous judgment was confirmed4 ,in    
spite of this decision1 however1 the    
tithe continued to be a subject of      
litigation1 and the landed  proprietors 
even formed themselves into associations
 for the purpose of  resisting the      
clergy's claim4 ,in #agcd the ,house of 
,commons aggravated  matters by passing 
resolutions against the claims1 many of 
which were  then the subject of legal   
actions1 and prevented decisions being  
come to  while it had the matter under  
its consideration4 ,from the pamphlets  
written at the time it may easily be    

seen that this interference on the  part
 of the lower ,house was both unseemly  
and unjust4 ,its conduct so  roused     
,swift that his indignation found       
expression in one of his  bitterest and 
most terrible poetical satires--,the    
,legion ,club--a  satire so bitter and  
so scathing that reading it now1 after  
the lapse of  more than a century and a 
half1 one shudders at its invective--a  
blasting flood of filth and vitriol1 out
 of some hellish fountain1 ,mr4         
,churton ,collins calls it4 ,we are told
 that its composition brought on a      
violent attack of vertigo1 and it       
remained unfinished4    ,the text here  
given is that of the first edition      
collated with those  given by ,faulkner1
 ,hawkesworth1 and ,scott4    ,t4,s4    
,,some    ,,reasons    ,,against ,,the  
,bill for settling the ,tyth of ,hemp1  
,flax1 c4 by a ,modus4    ,,mdccxxiv4   
,the ,clergy did little expect to have  
any cause of complaint against the      
present ,house of ,commons2 who in the  

last sessions1 were pleased to  throw   
out a ,bill#a sent them from the ,lords1
 which that reverend body  apprehended  
would be very injurious to them1 if it  
passed into a law2  and who1 in the     
present sessions1 defeated the arts and 
endeavours of  schismatics to repeal the
 ,sacramental ,test4    ,footnote #a3   
,for the bishops to divide livings4 ,see
 the two preceding  ,tracts4 ,t4 ,s4    
,for1 although it hath been allowed on  
all hands1 that the former of  those    
,bills might1 by its necessary          
consequences1 be very displeasing to    
the lay gentlemen of the kingdom1 for   
many reasons purely secular2 and1  that 
this last attempt for repealing the     
,test1 did much more affect1 at         
present1 the temporal interest than the 
spiritual2 yet the whole body of  the   
lower ,clergy have1 upon both these     
occasions1 expressed equal  gratitude to
 that honourable ,house1 for their      
justice and steadiness1 as  if the      
clergy alone were to receive the        

benefit4    ,it must needs be1          
therefore1 a great addition to the      
,clergy's grief1  that such an assembly 
as the present ,house of ,commons2      
should now1 with  an expedition more    
than usual1 agree to a bill for         
encouraging the linen  manufacture2 with
 a clause1 whereby the ,church is to    
lose two parts in  three1 of the legal  
tithe in flax and hemp4    ,some        
reasons1 why the ,clergy think such a   
law will be a great hardship  upon them1
 are1 ,i conceive1 those that follow4 ,i
 shall venture to  enumerate them with  
all deference due to that honourable    
assembly4    ,first2 the ,clergy suppose
 that they have not1 by any fault or    
demerit1  incurred the displeasure of   
the nation's representatives3 neither   
can  the declared loyalty of the present
 set1 from the highest prelate to the   
lowest vicar1 be in the least disputed3 
because1 there are hardly ten           
clergymen1 through the whole kingdom1   
for more than nineteen years past1  who 

have not been either preferred entirely 
upon account of their  declared         
affection to the ,hanover line2 or      
higher promoted as the due  reward of   
the same merit4    ,there is not a      
landlord in the whole kingdom1 residing 
some part of the  year at his           
country-seat1 who is not1 in his own    
conscience1 fully  convinced1 that the  
tithes of his minister have gradually   
sunk1 for some  years past1 one-third1  
or at least one-fourth of their former  
value1  exclusive of all non-solvencies4
    ,the payment of tithes in this      
kingdom1 is subject to so many frauds1  
brangles1 and other difficulties1 not   
only from ,papists and ,dissenters1  but
 even from those who profess themselves 
,protestants2 that by the  expense1 the 
trouble1 and vexation of collecting1 or 
bargaining for  them1 they are1 of all  
other rents1 the most precarious1       
uncertain1 and  ill paid4    ,the       
landlords in most parishes expect1 as a 
compliment1 that they shall  pay little 

more than half the value of their tithes
 for the lands they  hold in their own  
hands2 which often consist of large     
domains3 ,and it is  the minister's     
interest to make them easy upon that    
article1 when he  considers what        
influence those gentlemen have upon     
their tenants4    ,the ,clergy cannot   
but think it extremely severe1 that in a
 bill for  encouraging the linen        
manufacture1 they alone must be the     
sufferers1 who  can least afford it3    
,if1 as ,i am told1 there be a tax of   
three thousand  pounds a year1 paid by  
the public1 for a further encouragement 
to the  said manufacture2 are not the   
,clergy equal sharers in the charge with
  the rest of their fellow subjects8    
,what satisfactory reason can be        
therefore given1 why they alone should  
bear the whole additional weight1       
unless it will be alleged that their    
property is not upon an equal foot  with
 the properties of other men8 ,they     
acquire their own small pittance1  by at

 least as honest means1 as their        
neighbours1 the landlords1 possess      
their estates2 and have been always     
supposed1 except in rebellious or       
fanatical times1 to have as good a      
title3 ,for1 no families now in being   
can shew a more ancient4 ,indeed1 if it 
be true1 that some persons 7,i  hope    
they were not many7 were seen to laugh  
when the rights of the  ,clergy were    
mentioned2 in this case1 an opinion may 
possibly be soon  advanced1 that they   
have no rights at all4 ,and this is     
likely enough to  gain ground1 in       
proportion as the contempt of all       
religion shall  increase2 which is      
already in a very forward way4    ,it is
 said1 there will be also added to this 
,bill a clause for  diminishing the     
tithe of hops1 in order to cultivate    
that useful plant  among us3 ,and here  
likewise the load is to lie entirely on 
the shoulders  of the ,clergy1 while the
 landlords reap all the benefit4 ,it    
will not be  easy to foresee where such 

proceedings are like to stop3 ,or       
whether by  the same authority1 in civil
 times1 a parliament may not as justly  
challenge the same power in reducing all
 things titheable1 not below the  tenth 
part of the product1 7which is and ever 
will be the ,clergy's  equitable right7 
but from a tenth-part to a sixtieth or  
eightieth1 and  from thence to nothing4 
,i have heard it granted by skilful     
persons1 that the practice of taxing    
the ,clergy by parliament1 without their
 own consent1 is a new thing1 not  much 
above the date of seventy years3 before 
which period1 in times of  peace1 they  
always taxed themselves4 ,but things are
 extremely altered at  present3 ,it is  
not now sufficient to tax them in common
 with their  fellow subjects1 without   
imposing an additional tax upon them1   
from  which1 or from anything           
equivalent1 all their fellow-subjects   
are  exempt2 and this in a country      
professing ,christianity4    ,the       
greatest part of the ,clergy throughout 

this kingdom1 have been  stripped of    
their glebes by the confusion of times1 
by violence1 fraud1  oppression1 and    
other unlawful means3 ,all which glebes 
are now in the  hands of the laity4 ,so 
that they now are generally forced to   
lie at the  mercy of landlords1 for a   
small piece of ground in their parishes1
 at a  most exorbitant rent1 and usually
 for a short term of years2 whereon to  
build a house1 and enable them to       
reside4 ,yet1 in spite of these         
disadvantages1 ,i am a witness that they
 are generally more constant  residents 
than their brethren in ,england2 where  
the meanest vicar hath a  convenient    
dwelling1 with a barn1 a garden1 and a  
field or two for his  cattle2 besides   
the certainty of his little income from 
honest farmers1  able and willing1 not  
only to pay him his dues1 but likewise  
to make him  presents1 according to     
their ability1 for his better support4  
,in all  which circumstances1 the       
,clergy of ,ireland meet with a         

treatment  directly contrary4    ,it is 
hoped1 the honourable ,house will       
consider that it is impossible  for the 
most ill-minded1 avaricious1 or cunning 
clergyman1 to do the  least injustice to
 the meanest cottager in his parish1 in 
any bargain  for tithes1 or other       
ecclesiastical dues4 ,he can1 at the    
utmost1 only  demand to have his tithe  
fairly laid out2 and does not once in a 
hundred  times obtain his demand4 ,but  
every tenant1 from the poorest cottager 
to  the most substantial farmer1 can1   
and generally doth impose upon the      
minister1 by fraud1 by theft1 by lies1  
by perjuries1 by insolence1 and         
sometimes by force2 notwithstanding the 
utmost vigilance and skill of  himself  
and his proctor4 ,insomuch1 that it is  
allowed1 that the ,clergy  in general   
receive little more than one-half of    
their legal dues2 not  including the    
charges they are at in collecting or    
bargaining for them4    ,the land rents 
of ,ireland are computed to about two   

millions1 whereof  one-tenth amounts to 
two hundred thousand pounds4 ,the       
benefited  clergymen1 excluding those of
 this city1 are not reckoned to be above
  five hundred2 by which computation1   
they should each of them possess two    
hundred pounds a year1 if those tithes  
were equally divided1 although in  well 
cultivated corn countries it ought to be
 more2 whereas they hardly  receive one 
half of that sum2 with great            
defalcations1 and in very bad  payments4
 ,there are indeed1 a few glebes in the 
north pretty  considerable1 but if these
 and all the rest were in like manner   
equally  divided1 they would not add    
five pounds a year to every clergyman4  
,therefore1 whether the condition of the
 ,clergy in general among us be  justly 
liable to envy1 or able to bear a heavy 
burden1 which neither the  nobility1 nor
 gentry1 nor tradesmen1 nor farmers1    
will touch with one of  their fingers2  
this1 ,i say1 is submitted to the       
honourable ,house4    ,one terrible     

circumstance in this ,bill1 is1 that of 
turning the tithe of  flax and hemp into
 what the lawyers call a ,modus1 or a   
certain sum in  lieu of a tenth part of 
the product4 ,and by this practice of   
claiming a  ,modus in many parishes by  
ancient custom1 the ,clergy in both     
kingdoms  have been almost incredible   
sufferers4 ,thus1 in the present case1  
the  tithe of a tolerable acre of flax1 
which by a medium is worth twelve       
shillings1 is by the present ,bill      
reduced to four shillings4 ,neither is  
this the worst part in a ,modus2 every  
determinate sum must in process  of time
 sink from a fourth to a                
four-and-twentieth part1 or a great deal
  lower1 by that necessary fall         
attending the value of money1 which is  
now  at least nine tenths lower all over
 ,europe than it was four hundred  years
 ago1 by a gradual decline2 and even a  
third part at least within  our own     
memories1 in purchasing almost          
everything required for the  necessities

 or conveniencies of life2 as any       
gentleman can attest1 who  hath kept    
house for twenty years past4 ,and this  
will equally affect poor  countries as  
well as rich4 ,for1 although1 ,i look   
upon it as an  impossibility that this  
kingdom should ever thrive under its    
present  disadvantages1 which without a 
miracle must still increase2 yet1 when  
the whole cash of the nation shall sink 
to fifty thousand pounds2 we  must in   
all our traffic abroad1 either of import
 or export1 go by the  general rate at  
which money is valued in those countries
 that enjoy the  common privileges of   
human kind4 ,for this reason1 no        
corporation1 7if  the ,clergy may       
presume to call themselves one7 should  
by any means grant  away their          
properties in perpetuity upon any       
consideration whatsoever2  ,which is a  
rock that many corporations have split  
upon1 to their great  impoverishment1   
and sometimes to their utter undoing4   
,because they are  supposed to subsist  

for ever2 and because no determination  
of money is  of any certain perpetual   
intrinsic value4 ,this is known enough  
in  ,england1 where estates let for     
ever1 some hundred years ago1 by several
  ancient noble families1 do not at this
 present pay their posterity a          
twentieth part of what they are now     
worth at an easy rate4    ,a tax        
affecting one part of a nation1 which   
already bears its full share  in all    
parliamentary impositions1 cannot       
possibly be just1 except it be          
inflicted as a punishment upon that body
 of men which is taxed1 for some  great 
demerit or danger to the public         
apprehended from those upon whom  it is 
laid3 ,thus the ,papists and ,nonjurors 
have been doubly taxed for  refusing to 
give proper securities to the           
government2 which cannot be  objected   
against the ,clergy4 ,and therefore1 if 
this ,bill should pass2 ,i  think it    
ought to be with a preface1 shewing     
wherein they have offended1  and for    

what disaffection or other crime they   
are punished4    ,if an additional      
excise upon ale1 or a duty upon flesh   
and bread1 were  to be enacted1 neither 
the victualler1 butcher1 or baker would 
bear any  more of the charge than for   
what themselves consumed2 but it would  
be an  equal general tax through the    
whole kingdom3 ,whereas1 by this ,bill1 
the  ,clergy alone are avowedly         
condemned to be deprived of their       
ancient1  inherent1 undisputed rights1  
in order to encourage a manufacture by  
which all the rest of the kingdom are   
supposed to be gainers4    ,this ,bill  
is directly against ,magna ,charta1     
whereof the first clause  is for        
confirming the inviolable rights of     
,holy ,church2 as well as  contrary to  
the oath taken by all our kings at their
 coronation1 where  they swear to defend
 and protect the ,church in all its     
rights4    ,a tax laid upon employments 
is a very different thing4 ,the         
possessors of  civil and military       

employments are no corporation2 neither 
are they any  part of our constitution3 
,their salaries1 pay1 and perquisites   
are all  changeable at the pleasure of  
the prince who bestows them1 although   
the  army be paid from funds raised and 
appropriated by the legislature4 ,but   
the ,clergy as they have little reason  
to expect1 so they desire no more  than 
their ancient legal dues2 only indeed   
with the removal of many  grievous      
impediments in the collection of them2  
which it is to be feared  they must wait
 for until more favourable times4 ,it is
 well known1 that  they have already of 
their own accord shewn great indulgence 
to their  people upon this very article 
of flax1 seldom taking above a fourth   
part  of their tithe for small parcels1 
and oftentimes nothing at all from new  
beginners2 waiting with patience until  
the farmers were able1 and until        
greater quantities of land were employed
 in that part of husbandry2  never      
suspecting that their good intentions   

should be perverted in so  singular a   
manner to their detriment1 by that very 
assembly1 which1  during the time that  
convocations 7which are an original part
 of our  constitution ever since        
,christianity became national among us7 
are  thought fit to be suspended1 ,god  
knows for what reason1 or from what     
provocations2 ,i say1 from that very    
assembly1 who1 during the intervals  of 
convocations1 should rather be supposed 
to be guardians of the rights  and      
properties of the ,clergy1 than to make 
the least attempt upon  either4    ,i   
have not heard upon inquiry1 that any of
 those gentlemen1 who1 among  us without
 doors1 are called the ,court ,party1   
discover the least zeal in  this affair4
 ,if they had thoughts to interpose1 it 
might be conceived  they would shew     
their displeasure against this ,bill1   
which must very  much lessen the value  
of the ,king's patronage upon promotion 
to vacant  sees2 in the disposal of     
deaneries1 and other considerable       

preferments  in the ,church1 which are  
in the donation of the ,crown2 whereby  
the  viceroys will have fewer good      
preferments to bestow on their          
dependants1  as well as upon the kindred
 of members1 who may have a sufficient  
stock  of that sort of merit1 whatever  
it may be1 which may in future times    
most prevail4    ,the ,dissenters1 by   
not succeeding in their endeavours to   
procure a  repeal of the ,test1 have    
lost nothing1 but continue in full      
enjoyment of  their toleration2 while   
the ,clergy without giving the least    
offence1 are  by this ,bill deprived of 
a considerable branch of their ancient  
legal  rights1 whereby the schismatical 
party will have the pleasure of         
gratifying their revenge4 ,hoc ,graii   
voluere4    ,the farmer will find no    
relief by this ,modus1 because1 when his
  present lease shall expire1 his       
landlord will infallibly raise the rent 
in an equal proportion1 upon every part 
of land where flax is sown1 and  have so

 much a better security for payment at  
the expense of the ,clergy4    ,if we   
judge by things past1 it little avails  
that this ,bill is to be  limited to a  
certain time of ten1 twenty1 or thirty  
years4 ,for no  landlord will ever      
consent that a law shall expire1 by     
which he finds  himself a gainer2 and of
 this there are many examples1 as well  
in  ,england1 as in this kingdom4       
,the great end of this ,bill is1 by     
proper encouragement to extend the      
linen manufacture into those counties   
where it hath hitherto been little      
cultivated3 ,but this encouragement of  
lessening the tithe of flax and  hemp is
 one of such a kind as1 it is to be     
feared1 will have a directly  contrary  
effect4 ,because1 if ,i am rightly      
informed1 no set of men hath  for their 
number and fortunes been more           
industrious and successful than  the    
,clergy1 in introducing that manufacture
 into places which were  unacquainted   
with it2 by persuading their people to  

sow flax and hemp1  by procuring seed   
for them and by having them instructed  
in the  management thereof2 and this    
they did not without reasonable hopes of
  increasing the value of their parishes
 after some time1 as well as of         
promoting the benefit of the public4    
,but if this ,modus should take  place1 
the ,clergy will be so far from gaining 
that they will become  losers by any    
extraordinary care1 by having their best
 arable lands  turned to flax and hemp1 
which are reckoned great impoverishers  
of land3  ,they cannot therefore be     
blamed1 if they should shew as much zeal
 to  prevent its being introduced or    
improved in their parishes as they      
hitherto have shewed in the introducing 
and improving of it4 ,this1 ,i am  told1
 some of them have already declared at  
least so far as to resolve  not to give 
themselves any more trouble than other  
men about promoting a  manufacture by   
the success of which1 they only of all  
men are to be  sufferers4 ,perhaps the  

giving them even a further encouragement
 than the  law doth1 as it now stands1  
to a set of men who might on many       
accounts  be so useful to this purpose1 
would be no bad method of having the    
great  end of the ,bill more effectually
 answered3 ,but this is what they are   
far  from desiring2 all they petition   
for is no more than to continue on the  
same footing with the rest of their     
fellow-subjects4    ,if this ,modus of  
paying by the acre be to pass into a    
law1 it were to  be wished that the same
 law would appoint one or more sworn    
surveyors in  each parish to measure the
 lands on which flax and hemp are sown1 
as  also would settle the price of      
surveying1 and determine whether the    
incumbent or farmer is to pay for each  
annual survey4 ,without something  of   
this kind1 there must constantly be     
disputes between them1 and the          
neighbouring justices of peace must be  
teazed as often as those disputes       
happen4    ,i had written thus far1 when

 a paper was sent to me with several    
reasons  against the ,bill1 some whereof
 although they have been already        
touched1  are put in a better light1 and
 the rest did not occur to me4 ,i shall 
deliver them in the author's own words4 
,n4,b4 ,some ,alterations have been made
 in the ,bill about the ,modus1  since  
the above paper was writ2 but they are  
of little moment4      9999999999       
9999999999       9999999999             
9999999999          ,,some    ,,further 
,,reasons    ,,against    ,,the ,,bill  
,,for ,,settling ,,the ,,tithe    ,,of  
,,hemp1 ,,flax1 c4      ,i4 ,that tithes
 are the patrimony of the ,church3 ,and 
if not of ,divine  original1 yet at     
least of great antiquity4    ,,ii4 ,that
 all purchases and leases of titheable  
lands1 for many centuries  past1 have   
been made and taken1 subject to the     
demand of tithes1 and  those lands sold 
and taken just so much the cheaper on   
that account4    ,,iii4 ,that if any    
lands are exempted from tithes2 or the  

legal demands  of such tithes lessened  
by act of parliament1 so much value is  
taken  from the proprietor of the       
tithes1 and vested in the proprietor of 
the  lands1 or his head tenants4        
,,iv4 ,that no innocent unoffending     
person can be so deprived of his        
property without the greatest violation 
of common justice4    ,v4 ,that to do   
this upon a prospect of encouraging the 
linen1 or any  other manufacture1 is    
acting upon a very mistaken and unjust  
supposition1 inasmuch as the price of   
the lands so occupied will be no  way   
lessened to the farmer by such a law4   
,,vi4 ,that the ,clergy are content     
cheerfully to bear 7as they now do7 any 
burden in common with their             
fellow-subjects1 either for the support 
of  his ,majesty's government1 or the   
encouragement of the trade of the       
nation but think it very hard1 that they
 should be singled out to pay  heavier  
taxes than others1 at a time when by the
 decrease of the value  of their        

parishes they are less able to bear     
them4    ,,vii4 ,that the legislature   
hath heretofore distinguished the       
,clergy by  exemptions1 and not by      
additional loads1 and the present       
,clergy of the  kingdom hope they have  
not deserved worse of the legislature   
than their  predecessors4    ,,viii4    
,that by the original constitution of   
these kingdoms1 the ,clergy  had the    
sole right of taxing themselves1 and    
were in possession of that  right as low
 as the ,restoration3 ,and if that right
 be now devolved upon  the ,commons by  
the cession of the ,clergy1 the ,commons
 can be considered  in this case in no  
other light than as the guardians of the
 ,clergy4    ,,ix4 ,that besides those  
tithes always in the possession of the  
,clergy2  there are some portion of     
tithes lately come into their possession
 by  purchase2 that if this clause      
should take place1 they would not be    
allowed the benefit of these purchases1 
upon an equal footing of  advantage with

 the rest of their fellow-subjects4 ,and
 that some tithes  in the hands of      
impropriators1 are under settlements and
 mortgages4    ,x4 ,that the gentlemen  
of this ,house should consider1 that    
loading the  ,clergy is loading their   
own younger brothers and children2 with 
this  additional grievance1 that it is  
taking from the younger and poorer1 to  
give to the elder and richer4 ,and1     
,lastly1 ,that1 if it were at any time  
just and proper to do this1 it  would   
however be too severe to do it now1 when
 all the tithes of the  kingdom are     
known for some years past to have sunk  
above one-third part  in their value4   
,any income in the hands of the ,clergy1
 is at least as useful to the  public1  
as the same income in the hands of the  
laity4    ,it were more reasonable to   
grant the clergy in three parts of the  
nation  an additional support1 than to  
diminish their present subsistence4     
,great employments are and will be in   
the hands of ,englishmen2 nothing  left 

for the younger sons of ,irishmen but   
vicarages1 tide-waiters'  places1 c42   
therefore no reason to make them worse4 
,the ,modus upon the flax in ,england1  
affects only lands reclaimed since  the 
year #afij1 and is at the rate of five  
shillings the ,english acre1  which is  
equivalent to eight shillings and       
eightpence ,irish1 and that to  be paid 
before the farmer removed it from the   
field4 ,flax is a  manufacture of little
 consequence in ,england1 but is the    
staple in  ,ireland1 and if it increases
 7as it probably will7 must in many     
places  jostle out corn1 because it is  
more gainful4    ,the ,clergy of the    
,established ,church1 have no interest  
like those of the  ,church of ,rome1    
distinct from the true interest of their
 country2 and  therefore ought to suffer
 under no distinct impositions or taxes 
of any  kind4    ,the ,bill for settling
 the ,modus of flax in ,england1 was    
brought in1 in  the first year of the   
reign of ,king ,george ,i41 when the    

,clergy lay very  unjustly under the    
imputation of some disaffection4 ,and to
 encourage the  bringing in of some fens
 in ,lincolnshire1 which were not to be 
continued  under flax3 ,but it left all 
lands where flax had been sown before   
that  time1 under the same condition of 
tithing1 in which they were before the  
passing of that ,bill3 ,whereas this    
bill takes away what the ,clergy are    
actually possessed of4    ,that the     
woollen manufacture is the staple of    
,england1 as the linen is  that of      
,ireland1 yet no attempt was ever made  
in ,england to reduce the  tithe of     
wool1 for the encouragement of that     
manufacture4    ,this manufacture hath  
already been remarkably favoured by the 
,clergy1  who have hitherto been        
generally content with less than        
half--some with  sixpence a garden--and 
some have taken nothing4    ,employments
 they say have been taxed1 the reasons  
for which taxation  will not hold with  
regard to property1 at least till       

employments become  inheritances4       
,the ,commons always have had so tender 
a regard to property2 that they  never  
would suffer any law to pass1 whereby   
any particular persons might  be        
aggrieved without their own consent4    
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,,an ,,essay    ,,on ,,the    ,,fates   
,,of ,,clergymen4      ,,note4    ,this 
essay was first printed in ,nos4 v4 and 
vii4 of ,the ,intelligencer  7,dublin1  
#agbh74 ,in that periodical it bore the 
title3 ,a ,description of  what the     
,world calls ,discretion2 and had the   
following lines from ,ben  ,jonson as a 
text3      ,described it's thus3        
,defined would you it have8    ,then the
 ,world's honest ,man's an errant knave4
    ,the text here printed is based on  
the original issue1 and collated with   
the ,miscellanies1 vol4 iii4 of #agcb1  
and the ,miscellanies1 vol4 ii41  #agdg4
    ,t4,s4        ,,an ,,essay ,,on     
,,the ,,fates ,,of    ,,clergymen4      

,there is no talent so useful towards   
rising in the world1 or which puts  men 
more out of the reach of fortune1 than  
that quality generally  possessed by the
 dullest sort of people1 and is in      
common speech called  discretion2 a     
species of lower prudence1 by the       
assistance of which1  people of the     
meanest intellectuals1 without any other
 qualification1  pass through the world 
in great tranquillity1 and with         
universal good  treatment1 neither      
giving nor taking offence4 ,courts are  
seldom  unprovided of persons under this
 character1 on whom1 if they happen to  
be of great quality1 most employments1  
even the greatest1 naturally  fall1 when
 competitors will not agree2 and in such
 promotions1 nobody  rejoices or        
grieves4 ,the truth of this ,i could    
prove by several  instances within my   
own memory2 for ,i say nothing of       
present times4    ,and1 indeed1 as      
regularity and forms are of great use in
 carrying on the  business of the world1

 so it is very convenient1 that persons 
endued  with this kind of discretion1   
should have that share which is proper  
to  their talents1 in the conduct of    
affairs1 but by no means meddle in      
matters which require genius1 learning1 
strong comprehension1 quickness  of     
conception1 magnanimity1 generosity1    
sagacity1 or any other superior  gift of
 human minds4 ,because this sort of     
discretion is usually attended  with a  
strong desire of money1 and few scruples
 about the way of  obtaining it2 with   
servile flattery and submission2 with a 
want of all  public spirit or principle2
 with a perpetual wrong judgment1 when  
the  owners come into power and high    
place1 how to dispose of favour and     
preferment2 having no measures for merit
 and virtue in others1 but those  very  
steps by which themselves ascended2 nor 
the least intention of  doing good or   
hurt to the public1 farther than either 
one or t'other is  likely to be         
subservient to their own security or    

interest4 ,thus1 being  void of all     
friendship and enmity1 they never       
complain or find fault  with the times1 
and indeed never have reason to do so4  
,men of eminent parts and abilities1 as 
well as virtues1 do sometimes  rise in  
the court1 sometimes in the law1 and    
sometimes even in the  ,church4 ,such   
were the ,lord ,bacon1 the ,earl of     
,strafford1 ,archbishop  ,laud1 in the  
reign of ,king ,charles ,i41 and others 
in our own times1 whom  ,i shall not    
name2 but these1 and many more1 under   
different princes1 and  in different    
kingdoms1 were disgraced or banished1 or
 suffered death1  merely in envy to     
their virtues and superior genius1 which
 emboldened  them in great exigencies   
and distresses of state1 7wanting a     
reasonable  infusion of this aldermanly 
discretion17 to attempt the service of  
their  prince and country1 out of the   
common forms4    ,this evil fortune1    
which generally attends extraordinary   
men in the  management of great affairs1

 has been imputed to divers causes that 
need  not be here set down1 when so     
obvious a one occurs1 if what a certain 
writer observes be true1 that when a    
great genius appears in the world1  the 
dunces are all in confederacy against   
him4 ,and if this be his fate  when he  
employs his talents#a wholly in his     
closet1 without interfering  with any   
man's ambition or avarice1 what must he 
expect1 when he  ventures out to seek   
for preferment in a court1 but universal
 opposition  when he is mounting the    
ladder1 and every hand ready to turn him
 off  when he is at the top8 ,and in    
this point1 fortune generally acts      
directly contrary to nature2 for in     
nature we find1 that bodies full of     
life and spirits mount easily1 and are  
hard to fall1 whereas heavy  bodies are 
hard to rise1 and come down with greater
 velocity1 in  proportion to their      
weight2 but we find fortune every day   
acting just  the reverse of this4       
,footnote #a3 ,and thus although he     

employs his talents4 ,this is the       
reading of ,the ,intelligencer4 ,t4,s4  
,this talent of discretion1 as ,i have  
described it in its several  adjuncts   
and circumstances1 is nowhere so        
serviceable as to the clergy1  to whose 
preferment nothing is so fatal as the   
character of wit1  politeness in reading
 or manners1 or that kind of behaviour  
which we  contract by having too much   
conversation with persons of high       
station  and eminency3 these            
qualifications being reckoned1 by the   
vulgar of all  ranks1 to be marks of    
levity1 which is the last crime the     
world will  pardon in a clergyman2 to   
this ,i may add a free manner of        
speaking in  mixed company1 and too     
frequent an appearance in places of much
 resort1  which are equally noxious to  
spiritual promotion4    ,i have known1  
indeed1 a few exceptions to some parts  
of these  observations4#b ,i have seen  
some of the dullest men alive aiming at 
wit1 and others1 with as little         

pretensions1 affecting politeness in    
manners and discourse3 ,but never being 
able to persuade the world of  their    
guilt1 they grew into considerable      
stations1 upon the firm  assurance which
 all people had of their discretion1    
because they were of  a size too low to 
deceive the world to their own          
disadvantage4 ,but this1  ,i confess1 is
 a trial too dangerous often to engage  
in4    ,footnote #b3 ,this word is      
regulations in ,the ,intelligencer4     
,t4,s4    ,there is a known story of a  
clergyman1 who was recommended for a    
preferment by some great men at court1  
to an archbishop4#c ,his grace  said1 he
 had heard that the clergyman used to   
play at whist and  swobbers2#d that as  
to playing now and then a sober game at 
whist for  pastime1 it might be         
pardoned1 but he could not digest those 
wicked  swobbers2 and it was with some  
pains that my ,lord ,somers could       
undeceive him4 ,i ask1 by what talents  
we may suppose that great prelate       

ascended so high1 or what sort of       
qualifications he would expect in  those
 whom he took into his patronage1 or    
would probably recommend to  court for  
the government of distant churches8     
,footnote #c3 ,archbishop ,tenison1 who1
 by all contemporary accounts1 was  a   
very dull man4 ,there was a bitter      
sarcasm upon him usually ascribed to    
,swift1 ,that he was as hot and heavy as
 a tailor's goose4 ,s4    ,in ,the      
,intelligencer the word archbishop is   
replaced by the letters  ,a4,b4,c4,t4   
,t4,s4    ,footnote #d3 ,swobbers were  
four privileged cards used1 at one time1
  for betting purposes1 in the game of  
whist4 ,t4,s4    ,two clergymen1 in my  
memory1 stood candidates for a small    
free school in  ,yorkshire1 where a     
gentleman of quality and interest in the
 country1 who  happened to have a better
 understanding than his neighbours1     
procured  the place for him who was the 
better scholar1 and more gentlemanly    
person1 of the two1 very much to the    

regret of all the parish3 ,the  other1  
being disappointed1 came up to ,london1 
where he became the  greatest pattern of
 this lower discretion that ,i have     
known1 and  possessed it with as heavy  
intellectuals2 which1 together with the 
coldness of his temper1 and gravity of  
his deportment1 carried him safe        
through many difficulties1 and he lived 
and died in a great station2  while his 
competitor is too obscure for fame to   
tell us what became of  him4    ,this   
species of discretion1 which ,i so much 
celebrate1 and do most  heartily        
recommend1 hath one advantage not yet   
mentioned1 that it will  carry a man    
safe through all the malice and variety 
of parties1 so far1  that whatever      
faction happens to be uppermost1 his    
claim is usually  allowed for a share of
 what is going4 ,and the thing seems to 
me highly  reasonable3 ,for in all great
 changes1 the prevailing side is usually
 so  tempestuous1 that it wants the     
ballast of those whom the world calls   

moderate men1 and ,i call men of        
discretion2 whom people in power may1   
with little ceremony1 load as heavy as  
they please1 drive them through  the    
hardest and deepest roads without danger
 of foundering1 or breaking  their      
backs1 and will be sure to find them    
neither rusty nor vicious4    ,i#e will 
here give the reader a short history of 
two clergymen in  ,england1 the         
characters of each1 and the progress of 
their fortunes in  the world2 by which  
the force of worldly discretion1 and the
 bad  consequences from the want of that
 virtue1 will strongly appear4          
,footnote #e3 ,in ,the ,intelligencer1  
,no4 v41 this paragraph reads as        
follows3 ,in some following ,paper ,i   
will give the reader a short history  of
 two ,clergymen in ,england1 the        
characters of each1 and the progress of 
their fortunes in the world4 ,by which  
the force of worldly discretion1  and   
the bad consequences from the want of   
that virtue1 will strongly  appear4 ,in 

,no4 vii4 the subject is continued as in
 the next paragraph4  ,t4,s4            
,corusodes1 an ,oxford student1 and a   
farmer's son1 was never absent from     
prayers or lecture1 nor once out of his 
college1 after ,tom had tolled4  ,he    
spent every day ten hours in his closet1
 in reading his courses1  dozing1       
clipping papers1 or darning his         
stockings2 which last he  performed to  
admiration4 ,he could be soberly drunk  
at the expense of  others1 with college 
ale1 and at those seasons was always    
most devout4  ,he wore the same gown    
five years without draggling or tearing4
 ,he never  once looked into a playbook 
or a poem4 ,he read ,virgil and ,ramus  
in the  same cadence1 but with a very   
different taste4 ,he never understood a 
jest1 or had the least conception of    
wit4    ,for one saying he stands in    
renown to this day4 ,being with some    
other  students over a pot of ale1 one  
of the company said so many pleasant    
things1 that the rest were much         

diverted1 only ,corusodes was silent and
  unmoved4 ,when they parted1 he called 
this merry companion aside1 and  said1  
,sir1 ,i perceive by your often         
speaking1 and your friends  laughing1   
that you spoke many jests2 and you could
 not but observe my  silence3 ,but sir1 
this is my humour1 ,i never make a jest 
myself1 nor  ever laugh at another      
man's4    ,corusodes1 thus endowed1 got 
into holy orders2 having1 by the most   
extreme parsimony1 saved thirty-four    
pounds out of a very beggarly           
fellowship1 he went up to ,london1 where
 his sister was waitingwoman to a  lady1
 and so good a solicitor1 that by her   
means he was admitted to read  prayers  
in the family twice a-day1 at fourteen#a
 shillings a month4 ,he  had now        
acquired a low1 obsequious1 awkward bow1
 and a talent of gross  flattery both in
 and out of season2 he would shake the  
butler by the  hand2 he taught the page 
his catechism1 and was sometimes        
admitted to  dine at the steward's      

table4 ,in short1 he got the good word  
of the whole  family1 and was           
recommended by my lady for chaplain to  
some other noble  houses1 by which his  
revenue 7besides vales7 amounted to     
about thirty  pounds a-year3 ,his sister
 procured him a scarf from my lord1 who 
had a  small design of gallantry upon   
her2 and by his lordship's solicitation 
he got a lectureship in town of sixty   
pounds a-year2 where he preached        
constantly in person1 in a grave manner1
 with an audible voice1 a style         
ecclesiastic1 and the matter 7such as it
 was7 well suited to the  intellectuals 
of his hearers4 ,some time after1 a     
country living fell in  my lord's       
disposal2 and his lordship1 who had now 
some encouragement  given him of success
 in his amour1 bestowed the living on   
,corusodes1 who  still kept his         
lectureship and residence in town2 where
 he was a  constant attendant at all    
meetings relating to charity1 without   
ever  contributing further than his     

frequent pious exhortations4 ,if any    
woman  of better fashion in the parish  
happened to be absent from church1 they 
were sure of a visit from him in a day  
or two1 to chide and to dine with  them4
    ,footnote #f3 ,scott has ten        
shillings4 ,t4,s4    ,he had a select   
number of poor constantly attending at  
the street door  of his lodgings1 for   
whom he was a common solicitor to his   
former  patroness1 dropping in his own  
halfcrown among the collection1 and     
taking it out when he disposed of the   
money4 ,at a person of quality's  house1
 he would never sit down till he was    
thrice bid1 and then upon the  corner of
 the most distant chair4 ,his whole     
demeanour was formal and  starch1 which 
adhered so close1 that he could never   
shake it off in his  highest promotion4 
,his lord was now in high employment at 
court1 and attended by him with  the    
most abject assiduity2 and his sister   
being gone off with child to a  private 
lodging1 my lord continued his graces to

 ,corusodes1 got him to  be a chaplain  
in ordinary1 and in due time a parish in
 town1 and a  dignity in the ,church4   
,he paid his curates punctually1 at the 
lowest salary1 and partly out of  the   
communion money2 but gave them good     
advice in abundance4 ,he married  a     
citizen's widow1 who taught him to put  
out small sums at ten per  cent41 and   
brought him acquainted with jobbers in  
,change-alley4 ,by her  dexterity he    
sold the clerkship of his parish1 when  
it became vacant4    ,he kept a         
miserable house1 but the blame was laid 
wholly upon madam2 for  the good doctor 
was always at his books1 or visiting the
 sick1 or doing  other offices of       
charity and piety in his parish4    ,he 
treated all his inferiors of the clergy 
with a most sanctified pride2  was      
rigorously and universally censorious   
upon all his brethren of the  gown1 on  
their first appearance in the world1 or 
while they continued  meanly preferred2 
but gave large allowance to the laity of

 high rank1 or  great riches1 using     
neither eyes nor ears for their faults3 
,he was never  sensible of the least    
corruption in courts1 parliaments1 or   
ministries1  but made the most          
favourable constructions of all public  
proceedings2  and power1 in whatever    
hands1 or whatever party1 was always    
secure of  his most charitable opinion4 
,he had many wholesome maxims ready to  
excuse all miscarriages of state3 ,men  
are but men2 ,erunt vitia donec         
homines2 and1 ,quod supra nos1 nil ad   
nos2 with several others of  equal      
weight4    ,it would lengthen my paper  
beyond measure to trace out the whole   
system  of his conduct2 his dreadful    
apprehensions of ,popery2 his great     
moderation toward dissenters of all     
denominations2 with hearty wishes1      
that1 by yielding somewhat on both      
sides1 there might be a general union   
among ,protestants2 his short1          
inoffensive sermons in his turns at     
court1  and the matter exactly suited to

 the present juncture of prevailing     
opinions2 the arts he used to obtain a  
mitre1 by writing against  ,episcopacy2 
and the proofs he gave of his loyalty1  
by palliating or  defending the murder  
of a martyred prince4    ,endowed with  
all these accomplishments1 we leave him 
in the full career  of success1 mounting
 fast toward the top of the ,ladder     
,ecclesiastical1  which he hath a fair  
probability to reach2 without the merit 
of one  single virtue1 moderately       
stocked with the least valuable parts of
  erudition1 utterly devoid of all      
taste1 judgment1 or genius2 and1 in his 
grandeur1 naturally choosing to haul up 
others after him1 whose  accomplishments
 most resemble his own1 except his      
beloved sons1 nephews1  or other        
kindred1 be in competition2 or1 lastly1 
except his inclinations  be diverted by 
those who have power to mortify1 or     
further advance him4    ,eugenio set out
 from the same university1 and about the
 same time with  ,corusodes2 he had the 

reputation of an arch lad at school1 and
 was  unfortunately possessed with a    
talent for poetry2 on which account he  
received many chiding letters from his  
father1 and grave advice from his       
tutor4 ,he did not neglect his college  
learning1 but his chief study was  the  
authors of antiquity1 with a perfect    
knowledge in the ,greek and  ,roman     
tongues4 ,he could never procure himself
 to be chosen fellow3 ,for  it was      
objected against him1 that he had       
written verses1 and  particularly some  
wherein he glanced at a certain reverend
 doctor famous  for dulness3 ,that he   
been seen bowing to ladies1 as he met   
them in the  streets2 and it was proved1
 that once he had been found dancing in 
a  private family1 with half a dozen of 
both sexes4    ,he was the younger son  
to a gentleman of good birth1 but small 
estate2  and his father dying1 he was   
driven to ,london to seek his fortune3  
,he  got into orders1 and became reader 
in a parish church at twenty pounds     

a-year2 was carried by an ,oxford friend
 to ,will's coffee-house1  frequented in
 those days by men of wit1 where in some
 time he had the  bad luck to be        
distinguished4 ,his scanty salary       
compelled him to run  deep in debt for a
 new gown and cassock1 and now and then 
forced him to  write some paper of wit  
or humour1 or preach a sermon for ten   
shillings1  to supply his necessities4  
,he was a thousand times recommended by 
his  poetical friends to great persons1 
as a young man of excellent parts who   
deserved encouragement1 and received a  
thousand promises2 but his  modesty1 and
 a generous spirit1 which disdained the 
slavery of continual  application and   
attendance1 always disappointed him1    
making room for  vigilant dunces1 who   
were sure to be never out of sight4     
,he had an excellent faculty in         
preaching1 if he were not sometimes a   
little too refined1 and apt to trust too
 much to his own way of thinking  and   
reasoning4    ,when1 upon the vacancy of

 a preferment1 he was hardly drawn to   
attend  upon some promising lord1 he    
received the usual answer1 ,that he came
  too late1 for it had been given to    
another the very day before4 ,and he    
had only this comfort left1 that        
everybody said1 ,it was a thousand      
pities something could not be done for  
poor ,mr4 ,eugenio4    ,the remainder of
 his story will be dispatched in a few  
words3 ,wearied  with weak hopes1 and   
weaker pursuits1 he accepted a curacy in
  ,derbyshire1 of thirty pounds a-year1 
and when he was five-and-forty1 had  the
 great felicity to be preferred by a    
friend of his father's to a  vicarage   
worth annually sixty pounds1 in the most
 desert parts of  ,lincolnshire2 where1 
his spirit quite sunk with those        
reflections that  solitude and          
disappointments bring1 he married a     
farmer's widow1 and is  still alive1    
utterly undistinguished and forgotten2  
only some of the  neighbours have       
accidentally heard1 that he had been a  

notable man in  his youth4              
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,,concerning ,,that    ,,universal      
,,hatred1    ,,which ,,prevails         
,,against ,,the ,,clergy4      ,may #bd1
 #agcf4    ,i have been long considering
 and conjecturing1 what could be the    
causes  of that great disgust1 of late1 
against the clergy of both kingdoms1    
beyond what was ever known till that    
monster and tyrant1 ,henry ,,viii4 who  
took away from them1 against law1       
reason1 and justice1 at least           
two-thirds of their legal possessions2  
and whose successors 7except  ,queen    
,mary7 went on with their rapine1 till  
the accession of ,king ,james  ,i4 ,that
 detestable tyrant ,henry ,,viii4       
although he abolished the ,pope's  power
 in ,england1 as universal bishop1 yet  
what he did in that article1  however   
just it were in itself1 was the mere    
effect of his irregular  appetite1 to   
divorce himself from a wife he was weary

 of1 for a younger  and more beautiful  
woman1 whom he afterwards beheaded4     
,but1 at the same  time1 he was an      
entire defender of all the ,popish      
doctrines1 even those  which were the   
most absurd4 ,and1 while he put people  
to death for  denying him to be head of 
the ,church1 he burned every offender   
against  the doctrines of the ,roman    
faith2 and cut off the head of ,sir     
,thomas  ,more1 a person of the greatest
 virtue this kingdom ever produced1 for 
not directly owning him to be head of   
the ,church4 ,among all the princes  who
 ever reigned in the world there was    
never so infernal a beast as  ,henry    
,,viii4 in every vice of the most odious
 kind1 without any one  appearance of   
virtue3 ,but cruelty1 lust1 rapine1 and 
atheism1 were his  peculiar talents4 ,he
 rejected the power of the ,pope for no 
other reason1  than to give his full    
swing to commit sacrilege1 in which no  
tyrant1  since ,christianity became     
national1 did ever equal him by many    

degrees4  ,the abbeys1 endowed with     
lands by the mistaken notions of        
well-disposed  men1 were indeed too     
numerous1 and hurtful to the kingdom2   
and1  therefore1 the legislature might1 
after the ,reformation1 have justly     
applied them to some pious or public    
uses4    ,in a very few centuries after 
,christianity became national in most   
parts  of ,europe1 although the church  
of ,rome had already introduced many    
corruptions in religion2 yet the piety  
of early ,christians1 as well as  new   
converts1 was so great1 and particularly
 of princes1 as well as  noblemen and   
other wealthy persons1 that they built  
many religious  houses1 for those who   
were inclined to live in a recluse or   
solitary  manner1 endowing those        
monasteries with land4 ,it is true1 we  
read of  monks some ages before1 who    
dwelt in caves and cells1 in desert     
places4  ,but1 when public edifices were
 erected and endowed1 they began        
gradually  to degenerate into idleness1 

ignorance1 avarice1 ambition1 and       
luxury1  after the usual fate of all    
human institutions4 ,the ,popes1 who had
  already aggrandized themselves1 laid  
hold of the opportunity to subject  all 
religious houses with their priors and  
abbots1 to their peculiar  authority2   
whereby these religious orders became of
 an interest directly  different from   
the rest of mankind1 and wholly at the  
,pope's devotion4 ,i  need say no more  
on this article1 so generally known and 
so frequently  treated1 or of the       
frequent endeavours of some other       
princes1 as well as  our own1 to check  
the growth1 and wealth1 and power of the
 regulars4    ,in later times1 this     
mistaken piety1 of erecting and endowing
 abbeys1  began to decrease4 ,and       
therefore1 when some new-invented sect  
of monks  and friars began to start up1 
not being able to procure grants of     
land1  they got leave from the ,pope to 
appropriate the tithes and glebes of    
certain parishes1 as contiguous or near 

as they could find1 obliging  themselves
 to send out some of their body to take 
care of the people's  souls3 ,and1 if   
some of those parishes were at too great
 a distance from  the abbey1 the monks  
appointed to attend them were paid1 for 
the cure1  either a small stipend of a  
determined sum1 or sometimes a third    
part1  or what are now called the       
vicarial tithes4    ,as to the          
church-lands1 it hath been the opinion  
of many writers1 that1  in ,england1    
they amounted to a third part of the    
whole kingdom4 ,and  therefore1 if that 
wicked prince above-mentioned1 when he  
had cast off  the ,pope's power1 had    
introduced some reformation in religion1
 he could  not have been blamed for     
taking away the abbey-lands by authority
 of  parliament4 ,but1 when he continued
 the most cruel persecutor of all  those
 who differed in the least article of   
the ,popish religion1 which  was then   
the national and established faith1 his 
seizing on those lands1  and applying   

them to profane uses1 was absolute      
sacrilege1 in the  strongest sense of   
the word2 having been bequeathed by     
princes and pious  men to sacred uses4  
,in the reign of this prince1 the church
 and court of ,rome had arrived to  such
 a height of corruption1 in doctrine and
 discipline1 as gave great  offence to  
many wise1 learned1 and pious men1      
through most parts of  ,europe2 and     
several countries agreed to make some   
reformation in  religion4 ,but1 although
 a proper and just reformation were     
allowed to be  necessary1 even to       
preserve ,christianity itself1 yet the  
passions and  vices of men had mingled  
themselves so far1 as to pervert and    
confound  all the good endeavours of    
those who intended well3 ,and thus the  
reformation1 in every country where it  
was attempted1 was carried on in  the   
most impious and scandalous manner that 
can possibly be conceived4  ,to which   
unhappy proceedings we owe all the just 
reproachings that ,roman  ,catholics    

have cast upon us ever since4 ,for1 when
 the northern kingdoms  and states grew 
weary of the ,pope's tyranny1 and when  
their preachers1  beginning with the    
scandalous abuses of indulgencies1 and  
proceeding  farther to examine several  
points of faith1 had credit enough with 
their  princes1 who were in some fear   
lest such a change might affect the     
peace  of their countries1 because their
 bishops had great influence on the     
people by their wealth and power2 these 
politic teachers had a ready  answer to 
this purpose4 ,sir1 your ,majesty need  
not be in any pain or  apprehension3    
,take away the lands1 and sink the      
authority of the  bishops3 ,bestow those
 lands on your courtiers1 on your       
nobles1 and your  great officers in your
 army2 and then you will be secure of   
the people4  ,this advice was exactly   
followed4 ,and1 in the ,protestant      
monarchies  abroad1 little more than the
 shadow of ,episcopacy is left2 but1 in 
the  republics1 is wholly extinct4      

,in ,england1 the ,reformation was      
brought in after a somewhat different   
manner1 but upon the same principle of  
robbing the ,church4 ,however1  ,henry  
,,viii4 with great dexterity1 discovered
 an invention to gratify his  insatiable
 thirst for blood1 on both religions4   
9999999999       9999999999             
9999999999       9999999999             
,,thoughts ,,on ,,religion4      ,,note4
    ,in the ,gent4 ,mag41 vol4 xxxv41 p4
 #cgb 7,august1 #agfe71 is a reprint of 
these ,thoughts1 and ,further ,thoughts 
from ,deane ,swift's edition of  his    
relative's works1 just then published4  
,the note introducing the  reprint is   
signed ,t4,b42 but neither the note nor 
,t4,b4's remarks are of  much           
importance4 ,the present text is that of
 ,scott1 and collated with  the quarto  
edition of ,swift's ,works1 vol4 viii4  
#agfe4    ,t4,s4        ,,thoughts ,,on 
,,religion4      ,i am in all opinions  
to believe according to my own impartial
 reason2  which ,i am bound to inform   

and improve1 as far as my capacity and  
opportunities will permit4    ,it may be
 prudent in me to act sometimes by other
 men's reason1 but ,i  can think only by
 my own4    ,if another man's reason    
fully convinceth me1 it becomes my own  
reason4    ,to say a man is bound to    
believe1 is neither truth nor sense4    
,you may force men1 by interest or      
punishment1 to say or swear they        
believe1 and to act as if they believed3
 ,you can go no further4    ,every man1 
as a member of the commonwealth1 ought  
to be content with the  possession of   
his own opinion in private1 without     
perplexing his  neighbour or disturbing 
the public4    ,violent zeal for truth  
hath an hundred to one odds to be either
  petulancy1 ambition1 or pride4        
,there is a degree of corruption wherein
 some nations1 as bad as the  world is1 
will proceed to an amendment2 till which
 time particular men  should be quiet4  
,to remove opinions fundamental in      
religion is impossible1 and the  attempt

 wicked1 whether those opinions be true 
or false2 unless your  avowed design be 
to abolish that religion altogether4    
,so1 for instance1  in the famous       
doctrine of ,christ's divinity1 which   
hath been universally  received by all  
bodies of ,christians1 since the        
condemnation of ,arianism  under        
,constantine and his successors3        
,wherefore the proceedings of the       
,socinians are both vain and            
unwarrantable2 because they will be     
never  able to advance their own        
opinion1 or meet any other success than 
breeding doubts and disturbances in the 
world4 ,qui ratione suae  disturbant    
moenia mundi4    ,the want of belief is 
a defect that ought to be concealed when
 it cannot  be overcome4    ,the        
,christian religion1 in the most early  
times1 was proposed to the  ,jews and   
heathens without the article of         
,christ's divinity2 which1 ,i  remember1
 ,erasmus accounts for1 by its being too
 strong a meat for  babes4 ,perhaps1 if 

it were now softened by the ,chinese    
missionaries1 the  conversion of those  
infidels would be less difficult3 ,and  
we find by the  ,alcoran1 it is the     
great stumbling-block of the            
,mahometans4 ,but1 in a  country already
 ,christian1 to bring so fundamental a  
point of faith into  debate1 can have no
 consequences that are not pernicious to
 morals and  public peace4    ,i have   
been often offended to find ,st4 ,paul's
 allegories1 and other  figures of      
,grecian eloquence1 converted by divines
 into articles of  faith4    ,god's     
mercy is over all ,his works1 but       
divines of all sorts lessen that  mercy 
too much4    ,i look upon myself1 in the
 capacity of a clergyman1 to be one     
appointed  by ,providence for defending 
a post assigned me1 and for gaining over
 as  many enemies as ,i can4 ,although  
,i think my cause is just1 yet one great
  motive is my submitting to the        
pleasure of ,providence1 and to the laws
  of my country4    ,i am not answerable

 to ,god for the doubts that arise in my
 own breast1  since they are the        
consequence of that reason which ,he    
hath planted in  me2 if ,i take care to 
conceal those doubts from others1 if ,i 
use my best  endeavours to subdue them1 
and if they have no influence on the    
conduct  of my life4    ,i believe that 
thousands of men would be orthodox      
enough in certain  points1 if divines   
had not been too curious1 or too narrow1
 in reducing  orthodoxy within the      
compass of subtleties1 niceties1 and    
distinctions1  with little warrant from 
,scripture and less from reason or good 
policy4    ,i never saw1 heard1 nor     
read1 that the clergy were beloved in   
any nation  where ,christianity was the 
religion of the country4 ,nothing can   
render  them popular but some degree of 
persecution4    ,those fine gentlemen   
who affect the humour of railing at the 
clergy1  are1 ,i think1 bound in honour 
to turn parsons themselves1 and shew us 
better examples4    ,miserable mortals6 

,can we contribute to the honour and    
glory of ,god8 ,i  wish that expression 
were struck out of our ,prayer-books4   
,liberty of conscience1 properly        
speaking1 is no more than the liberty of
  possessing our own thoughts and       
opinions1 which every man enjoys without
  fear of the magistrate3 ,but how far  
he shall publicly act in pursuance  of  
those opinions1 is to be regulated by   
the laws of the country4  ,perhaps1 in  
my own thoughts1 ,i prefer a            
well-instituted commonwealth  before a  
monarchy2 and ,i know several others of 
the same opinion4 ,now1  if1 upon this  
pretence1 ,i should insist upon liberty 
of conscience1 form  conventicles of    
republicans1 and print books preferring 
that government  and condemning what is 
established1 the magistrate would1 with 
great  justice1 hang me and my          
disciples4 ,it is the same case in      
religion1  although not so avowed1 where
 liberty of conscience1 under the       
present  acceptation1 equally produces  

revolutions1 or at least convulsions and
  disturbances in a state2 which        
politicians would see well enough1 if   
their eyes were not blinded by faction1 
and of which these kingdoms1 as  well as
 ,france1 ,sweden1 and other countries1 
are flaming instances4  ,cromwell's     
notion upon this article was natural and
 right2 when1 upon  the surrender of a  
town in ,ireland1 the ,popish governor  
insisted upon an  article for liberty of
 conscience1 ,cromwell said1 he meddled 
with no  man's conscience2 but1 if by   
liberty of conscience1 the governor     
meant  the liberty of the mass1 he had  
express orders from the ,parliament of  
,england against admitting any such     
liberty at all4    ,it is impossible    
that anything so natural1 so necessary1 
and so  universal as death1 should ever 
have been designed by ,providence as an 
evil to mankind4    ,although reason    
were intended by ,providence to govern  
our passions1 yet  it seems that1 in two
 points of the greatest moment to the   

being and  continuance of the world1    
,god hath intended our passions to      
prevail over  reason4 ,the first is1 the
 propagation of our species1 since no   
wise man  ever married from the dictates
 of reason4 ,the other is1 the love of  
life1 which1 from the dictates of       
reason1 every man would despise1 and    
wish it at an end1 or that it never had 
a beginning4      9999999999            
9999999999       9999999999             
9999999999          ,,further ,,thoughts
 ,,on    ,,religion4      ,the          
,scripture system of man's creation is  
what ,christians are bound to  believe1 
and seems most agreeable of all others  
to probability and  reason4 ,adam was   
formed from a piece of clay1 and ,eve   
from one of his  ribs4 ,the text        
mentioneth nothing of his ,maker's      
intending him for1  except to rule over 
the beasts of the field and birds of the
 air4 ,as to  ,eve1 it doth not appear  
that her husband was her monarch1 only  
she was  to be his help meet1 and placed

 in some degree of subjection4 ,however1
  before his fall1 the beasts were his  
most obedient subjects1 whom he         
governed by absolute power4 ,after his  
eating the forbidden fruit1 the  course 
of nature was changed1 the animals began
 to reject his  government2 some were   
able to escape by flight1 and others    
were too  fierce to be attacked4 ,the   
,scripture mentioneth no particular acts
 of  royalty in ,adam over his          
posterity1 who were cotemporary with    
him1 or of  any monarch until after the 
flood2 whereof the first was ,nimrod1   
the  mighty hunter1 who1 as ,milton     
expresseth it1 made men1 and not beasts1
  his prey4 ,for men were easier caught 
by promises1 and subdued by the  folly  
or treachery of their own species4      
,whereas the brutes prevailed  only by  
their courage or strength1 which1 among 
them1 are peculiar to  certain kinds4   
,lions1 bears1 elephants1 and some other
 animals are  strong or valiant1 and    
their species never degenerates in their

 native  soil1 except they happen to be 
enslaved or destroyed by human fraud3   
,but  men degenerate every day1 merely  
by the folly1 the perverseness1 the     
avarice1 the tyranny1 the pride1 the    
treachery1 or inhumanity of their  own  
kind4      ,,three ,,prayers    ,,used  
,,by ,,the ,,dean ,,for ,,mrs ,,johnson1
    ,,in ,,her ,,last ,,sickness1       
#agbg4a    ,footnote #a3 ,dr4 ,swift1   
after his return to ,ireland in the     
beginning of  ,october #agbg1 having    
visited her ,stella frequently during   
her  sickness1 not only as a friend1 but
 a clergyman2 he used the following     
prayers on that occasion2 which are here
 printed from his own  handwriting4     
,note in volume viii4 of ,swift's       
,works1 ,dublin1 #agdf4      ,i4    ,a  
,,prayer ,,for ,,stella4    ,almighty   
and most gracious ,lord ,god1 extend1 we
 beseech ,thee1 ,thy pity  and          
compassion towards this ,thy languishing
 servant3 ,teach her to place  her hope 
and confidence entirely in ,thee2 give  

her a true sense of the  emptiness and  
vanity of all earthly things2 make her  
truly sensible of  all the infirmities  
of her life past1 and grant to her such 
a true  sincere repentance as is not to 
be repented of4 ,preserve her1 ,o ,lord1
 in  a sound mind and understanding1    
during this ,thy visitation3 ,keep her  
from both the sad extremes of           
presumption and despair4 ,if ,thou shalt
  please to restore her to her former   
health1 give her grace to be ever       
mindful of that mercy1 and to keep those
 good resolutions she now makes  in her 
sickness1 so that no length of time1 nor
 prosperity1 may entice  her to forget  
them4 ,let no thought of her misfortunes
 distract her mind1  and prevent the    
means towards her recovery1 or disturb  
her in her  preparations for a better   
life4 ,we beseech ,thee also1 ,o ,lord1 
of ,thy  infinite goodness to remember  
the good actions of this ,thy servant2  
that  the naked she hath clothed1 the   
hungry she hath fed1 the sick and the   

fatherless whom she hath relieved1 may  
be reckoned according to ,thy  gracious 
promise1 as if they had been done unto  
,thee4 ,hearken1 ,o ,lord1  to the      
prayers offered up by the friends of    
this ,thy servant in her  behalf1 and   
especially those now made by us unto    
,thee4 ,give ,thy blessing  to those    
endeavours used for her recovery2 but   
take from her all violent  desire1      
either of life or death1 further than   
with resignation to ,thy  holy will4    
,and now1 ,o ,lord1 we implore ,thy     
gracious favour towards us  here met    
together2 grant that the sense of this  
,thy servant's weakness  may add        
strength to our faith1 that we1         
considering the infirmities of  our     
nature1 and the uncertainty of life1    
may1 by this example1 be drawn  to      
repentance before it shall please ,thee 
to visit us in the like  manner4 ,accept
 these prayers1 we beseech ,thee1 for   
the sake of ,thy dear  ,son ,jesus      
,christ1 our ,lord2 who1 with ,thee and 

the ,holy ,ghost1 liveth  and reigneth  
ever one ,god world without end4 ,amen4 
,,ii4    ,a ,,prayer ,,used ,,by ,,the  
,,dean ,,for ,,mrs ,,johnson ,,in ,,her 
,,last  ,,sickness1  ,,written ,,oct4   
#ag1 #agbg4    ,most merciful ,father1  
accept our humblest prayers in behalf of
 this ,thy  languishing servant3        
,forgive the sins1 the frailties1 and   
infirmities of  her life past4 ,accept  
the good deeds she hath done1 in such a 
manner1  that at whatever time ,thou    
shalt please to call her1 she may be    
received  into everlasting habitations4 
,give her grace to continue sincerely   
thankful to ,thee for the many favours  
,thou hast bestowed upon her2 ,the      
ability and inclination and practice to 
do good1 and those virtues1  which have 
procured the esteem and love of her     
friends1 and a most  unspotted name in  
the world4 ,o ,god1 ,thou dispensest    
,thy blessings and  ,thy punishments1 as
 it becometh infinite justice and mercy2
 and since it  was ,thy pleasure to     

afflict her with a long1 constant1      
weakly state of  health1 make her truly 
sensible1 that it was for very wise     
ends1 and was  largely made up to her in
 other blessings1 more valuable and less
  common4 ,continue to her1 ,o ,lord1   
that firmness and constancy of mind1    
where with ,thou hast most graciously   
endowed her1 together with that         
contempt of worldly things and vanities1
 that she hath shewn in the  whole      
conduct of her life4 ,o all-powerful    
,being1 the least motion of  ,whose will
 can create or destroy a world2 pity us 
the mournful friends  of ,thy distressed
 servant1 who sink under the weight of  
her present  condition1 and the fear of 
losing the most valuable of our friends3
  ,restore her to us1 ,o ,lord1 if it be
 ,thy gracious will1 or inspire us  with
 constancy and resignation1 to support  
ourselves under so heavy an  affliction4
 ,restore her1 ,o ,lord1 for the sake of
 those poor1 who by  losing her will be 
desolate1 and those sick1 who will not  

only want her  bounty1 but her care and 
tending3 ,or else1 in ,thy mercy1 raise 
up some  other in her place with equal  
disposition and better abilities4       
,lessen1  ,o ,lord1 we beseech ,thee1   
her bodily pains1 or give her a double  
strength  of mind to support them4 ,and 
if ,thou wilt soon take her to ,thyself1
 turn  our thoughts rather upon that    
felicity1 which we hope she shall enjoy1
  than upon that unspeakable loss we    
shall endure4 ,let her memory be ever   
dear unto us2 and the example of her    
many virtues1 as far as human  infirmity
 will admit1 our constant imitation4    
,accept1 ,o ,lord1 these  prayers poured
 from the very bottom of our hearts1 in 
,thy mercy1 and for  the merits of our  
blessed ,saviour4 ,amen4      ,,iii4    
,,written ,nov4 #f1 #agbg4    ,o        
,merciful ,father1 ,who never afflictest
 ,thy children1 but for their own  good1
 and with justice1 over which ,thy mercy
 always prevaileth1 either  to turn them
 to repentance1 or to punish them in the

 present life1 in  order to reward them 
in a better2 take pity1 we beseech      
,thee1 upon this  ,thy poor afflicted   
servant1 languishing so long and so     
grievously under  the weight of ,thy    
hand4 ,give her strength1 ,o ,lord1 to  
support her  weakness2 and patience to  
endure her pains1 without repining at   
,thy  correction4 ,forgive every rash   
and inconsiderate expression which her  
anguish may at any time force from her  
tongue1 while her heart  continueth in  
an entire submission to ,thy will4      
,suppress in her1 ,o ,lord1  all eager  
desires of life1 and lessen her fears of
 death1 by inspiring  into her an       
humble1 yet assured1 hope of ,thy mercy4
 ,give her a sincere  repentance for all
 her transgressions and omissions1 and a
 firm  resolution to pass the remainder 
of her life in endeavouring to her      
utmost to observe all ,thy precepts4 ,we
 beseech ,thee likewise to compose  her 
thoughts2 and preserve to her the use of
 her memory and reason  during the      

course of her sickness4 ,give her a true
 conception of the  vanity1 folly1 and  
insignificancy of all human things2 and 
strengthen  her so as to beget in her a 
sincere love of ,thee in the midst of   
her  sufferings4 ,accept and impute all 
her good deeds1 and forgive her all     
those offences against ,thee1 which she 
hath sincerely repented of1 or  through 
the frailty of memory hath forgot4 ,and 
now1 ,o ,lord1 we turn to  ,thee in     
behalf of ourselves1 and the rest of her
 sorrowful friends4 ,let  not our grief 
afflict her mind1 and thereby have an   
ill effect on her  present distempers4  
,forgive the sorrow and weakness of     
those among us1  who sink under the     
grief and terror of losing so dear and  
useful a  friend4 ,accept and pardon our
 most earnest prayers and wishes for her
  longer continuance in this evil world1
 to do what ,thou art pleased to  call  
,thy service1 and is only her bounden   
duty2 that she may be still a  comfort  
to us1 and to all others who will want  

the benefit of her  conversation1 her   
advice1 her good offices1 or her        
charity4 ,and since  ,thou hast         
promised1 that where two or three are   
gathered together in ,thy  name1 ,thou  
wilt be in the midst of them1 to grant  
their request2 ,o  gracious ,lord1 grant
 to us who are here met in ,thy name1   
that those  requests1 which in the      
utmost sincerity and earnestness of our 
hearts we  have now made in behalf of   
this ,thy distressed servant1 and of    
ourselves1 may effectually be answered2 
through the merits of ,jesus  ,christ   
our ,lord4 ,amen4      ,,an ,,evening   
,,prayer1    ,,from ,,the ,,original    
,,manuscript ,,found ,,amongst ,,dr     
,,lyon',s ,,papers4    ,,oh6 ,almighty  
,god1 the searcher of all hearts1 and   
from whom no secrets  are hid1 who hast 
declared that all such as shall draw    
nigh to thee with  their lips1 when     
their hearts are far from thee1 are an  
abomination unto  thee2 cleanse1 we     
beseech thee1 the thoughts of our       

hearts1 by the  inspiration of thy ,holy
 ,spirit1 that no wandering1 vain1 nor  
idle  thoughts may put out of our minds 
that reverence and godly fear1 that     
becomes all those who come in thy       
presence4    ,we know1 ,o ,lord1 that   
while we are in these bodies1 we are    
absent from  the ,lord1 for no man can  
see thy face and live4 ,the only way    
that we can  draw near unto thee in this
 life1 is by prayer2 but1 ,o ,lord1 we  
know not  how to pray1 nor what to ask  
for as we ought4 ,we cannot pretend by  
our  supplications or prayers to turn or
 change thee1 for thou art the same     
yesterday1 to-day1 and for ever2 but the
 coming into thy presence1 the  drawing 
near unto thee1 is the only means to be 
changed ourselves1 to  become like thee 
in holiness and purity1 to be followers 
of thee as thy  dear children4 ,o1      
therefore1 turn not away thy face from  
us1 but let us  see so much of the      
excellencies of thy divine nature1 of   
thy goodness1  and justice1 and mercy1  

and forbearance1 and holiness1 and      
purity1 as  may make us hate everything 
in ourselves that is unlike to thee1    
that so  we may abhor and repent of and 
forsake those sins that we so often fall
  into when we forget thee4 ,lord6 ,we  
acknowledge and confess we have lived   
in a course of sin1 and folly1 and      
vanity1 from our youth up1 forgetting   
our latter end1 and our great account   
that we must one day make1 and  turning 
a deaf ear to thy many calls to us1     
either by thy holy word1 by  our        
teachers1 or by our own consciences2 and
 even thy more severe  messages by      
afflictions1 sicknesses1 crosses1 and   
disappointments1 have  not been of force
 enough to turn us from the vanity and  
folly of our own  ways4 ,what then can  
we expect in justice1 when thou shalt   
enter into  judgment with us1 but to    
have our portion with the hypocrites and
  unbelievers8 to depart for ever from  
the presence of the ,lord2 to be  turned
 into hell with those that forget ,god6 

,but1 ,o ,god1 most holy6 ,o  ,god1 most
 mighty6 ,o holy and most merciful      
,saviour1 deliver us not into  the      
bitter pains of eternal death1 but have 
mercy upon us1 most merciful  ,father1  
and forgive us our sins for thy name's  
sake2 for thou hast  declared thyself to
 be a ,god slow to anger1 full of       
goodness1  forbearance1 and             
long-suffering1 and forgiving iniquity1 
transgression1  and sin4 ,o ,lord1      
therefore1 shew thy mercy upon us4 ,o   
let it be in  pardoning our sins past1  
and in changing our natures1 in giving  
us a new  heart1 and a new spirit1 that 
we may lead a new life1 and walk before 
thee in newness of life1 that so sin may
 not have dominion over us for  the time
 to come4 ,o let thy good ,spirit1      
without which we can do  nothing1 ,o let
 that work in us both to will and do    
such things as may be  well pleasing to 
thee4 ,o let it change our thoughts and 
minds1 and take  them off the vain      
pleasures of this world1 and place them 

there where  only the true joys are to  
be found4 ,o fill our minds every day   
more and  more with the happiness of    
that blessed state of living for ever   
with  thee1 that we may make it our     
great work and business to work out our 
salvation1--to improve in the knowledge 
of thee1 whom to know is life  eternal4 
,but1 ,lord1 since we cannot know thee  
but by often drawing near  unto thee1   
and coming into thy presence1 which in  
this life1 we can do  only by prayer1 ,o
 make us1 therefore1 ever sensible of   
these great  benefits of prayer1 that we
 may rejoice at all opportunities of    
coming  into thy presence1 and may ever 
find ourselves the better and more      
heavenly minded by it1 and may never    
wilfully neglect any opportunity of  thy
 worship and service4 ,awaken thoroughly
 in us a serious sense of  these things1
 that so to-day1 while it is called     
to-day1 we may see and  know the things 
that belong to our peace1 before they be
 hid from our  eyes1 before that long   

night cometh when no man can work4 ,o   
that every  night may so effectually put
 us in mind of our last1 that we may    
every  day take care so to live1 as we  
shall then wish we had lived when we    
come to die2 that so when that night    
shall come1 we may as willingly put  off
 these bodies1 as we now put off our    
clothes1 and may rejoice to rest  from  
our labours1 and that our war with the  
world1 the devil1 and our  own corrupt  
nature1 is at an end4 ,in the meanwhile1
 we beseech thee to  take us1 and ours1 
and all that belongs to us1 into thy    
fatherly care  this night4 ,let thy holy
 angels be our guard1 while we are not  
in a  condition to defend ourselves1    
that we may not be under the power of   
devils or wicked men2 and preserve us   
also1 ,o ,lord1 from every evil         
accident1 that1 after a comfortable and 
refreshing sleep1 we may find           
ourselves1 and all that belongs to us1  
in peace and safety4 ,and now1 ,o       
,lord1 being ourselves still in the     

body1 and compassed about with          
infirmities1 we can neither be ignorant 
nor unmindful of the sufferings  of our 
fellow-creatures4 ,o ,lord1 we must     
acknowledge1 that they are all  but the 
effects of sin2 and1 therefore1 we      
beseech thee so to sanctify  their      
several chastisements to them1 that at  
length they may bring forth  the        
peaceable fruits of righteousness1 and  
then be thou graciously  pleased to     
remove thy heavy and afflicting hand    
from them4 ,and ,o that  the rest of    
mankind1 who are not under such trials1 
may1 by thy  goodness1 be led to        
repentance1 that the consciences of     
hard-hearted  sinners may be awakened1  
and the understandings of poor ignorant 
creatures enlightened1 and that all that
 love and fear thee may ever  find the  
joy and comfort of a good conscience1   
beyond all the  satisfactions that this 
world can afford4 ,and now1 blessed     
,lord1 from  whom every good gift comes1
 it is meet1 right1 and our bounden     

duty1  that we should offer up unto thee
 our thanks and praise for all thy      
goodness towards us1 for preserving     
peace in our land1 the light of thy     
,gospel1 and the true religion in our   
churches2 for giving us the fruits  of  
the earth in due season1 and preserving 
us from the plague and  sickness that   
rages in other lands4 ,we bless thee for
 that support and  maintenance1 which   
thou art pleased to afford us1 and that 
thou givest  us a heart to be sensible  
of this thy goodness1 and to return our 
thanks  at this time for the same2 and  
as to our persons1 for that measure of  
health that any of us do enjoy1 which is
 more than any of us do deserve4  ,we   
bless thee1 more particularly1 for thy  
protection over us the day  past2 that  
thy good spirit has kept us from falling
 into even the  greatest sins1 which1 by
 our wicked and corrupt nature1 we      
should  greedily have been hurried into2
 and that1 by the guard of thy holy     
angels1 we have been kept safe from any 

of those evils that might have  befallen
 us1 and which many are now groaning    
under1 who rose up in the  morning in   
safety and peace as well as we4 ,but    
above all1 for that great  mercy of     
contriving and effecting our redemption1
 by the death of our  ,saviour ,jesus   
,christ1 whom1 of thy great love to     
mankind1 thou didst  send into this     
world1 to take upon him our flesh1 to   
teach us thy will1  and to bear the     
guilt of our transgressions1 to die for 
our sins1 and to  rise again for our    
justification2 and for enabling us to   
lay hold of  that salvation1 by the     
gracious assistances of thy ,holy       
,spirit4 ,lord1  grant that the sense of
 this wonderful love of thine to us1 may
  effectually encourage us to walk in   
thy fear1 and live to thy glory1  that  
so when we shall put off this mortal    
state1 we may be made  partakers of that
 glory that shall then be revealed1     
which we beg of  thee1 for the sake of  
thy ,son ,jesus ,christ1 who died to    

procure it for  us1 and in whose name   
and words we do offer up the desires of 
our souls  unto thee1 saying1    ,our   
,father1 c4      ,,observations    ,,on 
,,heylin',s ,,history ,,of ,,the        
,,presbyterians4#a    ,footnote #a3     
,written by the ,dean in the beginning  
of the book1 on one of  the blank       
leaves4 ,note in vol4 ix4 #agge edition 
of ,swift's ,works4    ,this book1 by   
some errors and neglects in the style1  
seems not to have  received the         
author's#b last correction4 ,it is      
written with some  vehemence1 very      
pardonable in one who had been an       
observer and a  sufferer1 in ,england1  
under that diabolical fanatic sect which
 then  destroyed ,church and ,state4    
,but1 by comparing in my memory what ,i 
have  read in other histories1 he       
neither aggravates nor falsifies any    
facts4  ,his partiality appears chiefly 
in setting the actions of the           
,calvinists  in the strongest light1    
without equally dwelling on those of the

 other  side2 which1 however1 to say the
 truth1 was not his proper business4    
,and  yet he might have spent some more 
words on the inhuman massacre of ,paris 
and other parts of ,france1 which no    
provocation 7and yet the ,king had  the 
greatest possible7 could excuse1 or much
 extenuate4 ,the author1  according to  
the current opinion of the age he lived 
in1 had too high  notions of regal      
power2 led by the common mistake of the 
term ,supreme  ,magistrate1 and not     
rightly distinguishing between the      
legislature and  administration3 into   
which mistake the clergy fell1 or       
continued1 in the  reign of ,charles    
,,ii41 as ,i have shewn and explained in
 a treatise1 c4  ,j4 ,,swift4 ,march #f1
 #agbg-h4    ,footnote #b3 ,peter       
,heylin1 ,d4,d4 7#afjj-affb7 was born at
 ,burford1  ,oxfordshire4 ,educated at  
,magdalen ,college1 ,oxford1 and became 
in  succession1 chaplain to ,charles    
,i41 rector of ,hemmingford1 rector of  
,islip1 and a prebendary of             

,westminster4 ,he wrote the weekly      
paper1  ,mercurius ,auhcus1 and lost his
 estates during the ,civil ,war4 ,he was
  reinstated at the ,restoration into   
all his preferments4 ,his works are     
voluminous1 consisting of a             
,cosmography1 ,a ,help to ,english      
,history1  a ,life of ,charles ,i41 a   
,history of the ,reformation1 a ,history
 of  ,presbyterians1 a ,life of         
,archbishop ,laud1 and a few theological
  works4 ,the work on the               
,presbyterians1 here referred to by     
,swift1 was  published in #afgj4 ,t4,s4 
99       99       99       99       99  
,,chiswick ,,press3--,,charles          
,,whittingham ,,and ,,co4 ,,tooks       
,,court1 ,,chancery ,,lane1  ,,london4