,,the ,,augustan ,,reprint ,,society ,,anthony ,,collins ,a ,,discourse ,,concerning ,ridicule and ,irony ,,in ,,writing 7#agbi7 ,introduction by ,,edward ,a4 ,,bloom ,,and ,,lillian ,d4 ,,bloom ,,publication ,,number #adb ,,william ,,andrews ,,clark ,,memorial ,,library ,,university ,,of ,,california1 ,,los ,,angeles #aigj ,,general ,,editors ,william ,e4 ,conway1 ,william ,andrews ,clark ,memorial ,library ,george ,robert ,guffey1 ,university of ,california1 ,los ,angeles ,maximillian ,e4 ,novak1 ,university of ,california1 ,los ,angeles ,,associate ,,editor ,david ,s4 ,rodes1 ,university of ,california1 ,los ,angeles ,,advisory ,,editors ,richard ,c4 ,boys1 ,university of ,michigan ,james ,l4 ,clifford1 ,columbia ,university ,ralph ,cohen1 ,university of ,virginia ,vinton ,a4 ,dearing1 ,university of ,california1 ,los ,angeles ,arthur ,friedman1 ,university of ,chicago ,louis ,a4 ,landa1 ,princeton ,university ,earl ,miner1 ,university of ,california1 ,los ,angeles ,samuel ,h4 ,monk1 ,university of ,minnesota ,everett ,t4 ,moore1 ,university of ,california1 ,los ,angeles ,lawrence ,clark ,powell1 ,william ,andrews ,clark ,memorial ,library ,james ,sutherland1 ,university ,college1 ,london ,h4 ,t4 ,swedenberg1 ,jr41 ,university of ,california1 ,los ,angeles ,robert ,vosper1 ,william ,andrews ,clark ,memorial ,library ,,corresponding ,,secretary ,edna ,c4 ,davis1 ,william ,andrews ,clark ,memorial ,library ,,editorial ,,assistant ,roberta ,medford1 ,william ,andrews ,clark ,memorial ,library ,,introduction ,between #agaj and #agbi ,anthony ,collins was lampooned1 satirized1 and gravely denounced from pulpit and press as ,england's most insidious defiler of church and state4 ,yet within a year of his death he became the model of a proper country gentleman1 444 he had an opulent ,fortune1 descended to him from his ,ancestors1 which he left behind him unimpair'd3 ,he lived on his own ,estate in the ,country1 where his ,tenants paid him moderate ,rents1 which he never enhanced on their making any ,improvements2 he always oblig'd his ,family to a constant attendance on ,publick ,worship2 as he was himself a ,man of the strictest ,morality1 for he never suffer'd any ,body about him who was deficient in that ,point2 he exercised a universal ,charity to all ,sorts of ,people1 without any ,regard either to ,sect or ,party2 being in the ,commission of the ,peace1 he administered ,justice with such ,impartiality and ,incorruptness1 that the most distant ,part of the ,county flock'd to his ,decisions2 but the chief ,use he made of his ,authority was in accommodating ,differences2444#a ,in a comparison which likens him to ,sir ,roger de ,coverley1 there is less truth than fiction4 ,what they did share was a love of the countryside and a universal ,charity towards its inhabitants4 ,for the most part1 however1 we can approximate ,collins's personality by reversing many of ,sir ,roger's traits4 ,often at war with his world1 as the spectatorial character was not1 he managed to maintain an intellectual rapport with it and even with those who sought his humiliation4 ,he never--as an instance--disguised his philosophical distrust of ,samuel ,clarke2 yet during any debate he planned most certainly to outdo him in civility and good manners4#b ,this decorum in no way compromised his pursuit of what he considered objective truth or his denunciation of all methods or impositions of spiritual tyranny4 ,thus1 during the virulent1 uneven battle which followed upon the publication of the ,discourse of ,free-,thinking1 he ignored his own wounds in order to applaud a critic's suspicions that there is a sophism in what he calls my hypothesis4 ,that is a temper that ought to go thro' all our ,inquirys1 and especially before we have an opportunity of examining things to the bottom4 ,it is safest at all times1 and we are least likely to be mistaken1 if we constantly suspect our selves to be under mistakes4444 ,i have no system to defend or that ,i would seem to defend1 and am unconcerned for the consequence that may be drawn from my opinion2 and therefore stand clear of all difficultys wch others either by their opinion or caution are involved in4#c ,this is the statement of a man whose intellectual and religious commitment makes him see that his own fallibility is symptomatic of a human tendency to error4 ,for himself1 hence1 he tries to avoid all manner of hard-voiced enthusiasm4 ,paradoxically1 however1 ,collins searched with a zealot's avidity for any controversy which would either assert his faith or test his disbelief4 ,when once he found his engagement1 he revelled in it1 whether as the aggressor or the harassed defendant4 ,for example1 in the ,preface to the ,scheme of ,literal ,prophecy ,considered he boastfully enumerated all the works--some twenty-nine--which had repudiated his earlier ,discourse on the ,grounds and ,reasons of the ,christian ,religion4 ,and in malicious fact he held up the publication of the ,scheme for almost a year that he might add a ,postscript to the ,preface in which he identified six more pieces hostile to the ,grounds and ,reasons4#d ,by ,may of #agbg and with no visible sign of fatigue he took on a new contender2 this time it was ,john ,rogers1 canon in ordinary to the ,prince of ,wales4 ,at the height of their debate1 in late summer1 ,collins made practical enquiries about methods to prolong and intensify its give-and-take4 ,thus1 in a note to his friend ,pierre ,des ,maizeaux1 he said3 ,but ,i would be particularly informed of the success and sale of the ,letter to ,dr ,rogers2 because1 if it could be1 ,i would add to a new edition thereof two or three as sheets2 which also might be sold separately to those who have already that ,letter4 ,for all his militant polemic1 he asked only that his ,adversaries observe with him a single rule of fair play2 namely1 that they refrain from name-calling and petty sniping4 ,personal matters1 he asserted1 tho they may some times afford useful remarks1 are little regarded by ,readers1 who are very seldom mistaken in judging that the most impertinent subject a man can talk of is himself1 particularly when he inveighs against another4#e ,if ,collins had been made to look back over the years #afgf-agbi1 he probably would have summarized the last twenty with a paraphrase of the ,popean line1 ,this long controversy1 my life4 ,for several years and in such works as ,priestcraft in ,perfection 7#agaj7 and ,a ,discourse of ,free-,thinking 7#agac71 he was a flailing polemicist against the entire ,anglican hierarchy4 ,not until #agbd did he become a polished debater1 when he initiated a controversy which for the next five years made a very great noise and which ended only with his death4 ,the loudest shot in the persistent barrage was sounded by the ,grounds and ,reasons1 and its last fusillade by the ,discourse concerning ,ridicule and ,irony in ,writing4#f ,during those five years ,collins concentrated upon a single opponent in each work and made it a rhetorical practice to change his ,adversary in successive essays4 ,he created in this way a composite victim whose strength was lessened by deindividualization2 in this way too he ran no risk of being labelled a hobbyhorse rider or1 more seriously1 a persecutor4 ,throughout the ,grounds and ,reasons he laughed at1 reasoned against1 and satirized ,william ,whiston's assumption that messianic prophecies in the ,old ,testament were literally fulfilled in the figure and mission of ,jesus4 ,within two years and in a new work1 he substituted ,edward ,chandler1 ,bishop of ,coventry and ,lichfield1 for the mathematician4 ,it need not have been the ,bishop2 any one of thirty-four others could have qualified for the role of opponent1 among them people like ,clarke1 and ,sykes1 and ,sherwood1 and even the ubiquitous ,whiston4 ,collins rejected them1 however1 to debate in the ,scheme with ,bishop ,chandler1 the author of ,a ,defence of ,christianity from the ,prophecies of the old ,testament1 with one who was1 in short1 the least controversial and yet the most orthodox of his many assailants4 ,early in #agbg the ,anglican establishment came to the abrupt realization that the subject of the continuing debate--the reliability of the argument from prophecy--was inconclusive1 that it could lead only to pedantic wrangling and hair-splitting with each side vainly clutching victory4 ,certainly the devotion of many clergymen to biblical criticism was secondary to their interest in orthodoxy as a functional adjunct of government1 both civil and canonical4 ,it was against this interest1 as it was enunciated in ,rogers's ,eight ,sermons concerning the ,necessity of ,revelation 7#agbg7 and particularly in its vindictive preface1 that ,collins chose to fight4#g ,the debate had now taken a happy turn for him4 ,as he saw it1 the central issue devolved upon man's natural right to religious liberty4 ,at least he made this the theme of his ,letter to ,dr4 ,rogers4 ,in writing to ,des ,maizeaux about the success of this work1 he obviously enjoyed his own profane irony3 ,i have had particular compliments made me by the ,,bp of ,salisbury1 and by ,dr ,clark1 who among other things sayd1 that the ,archbp of ,canterbury might have writ all that related to ,toleration in it3 to say nothing of what ,i hear from others4 ,dr ,rogers himself has acknowledged to his ,bookseller who sent it to him into the ,country1 that he has receivd it2 but says that he is so engaged in other affairs1 that he has no thought at present of answering it2 tho he may perhaps in time do so4#h ,in time ,rogers did4 ,he counterattacked on #b ,february #agbh with a ,vindication of the ,civil ,establishment of ,religion4#i ,for ,collins this work was a dogged repetition of what had gone before1 and so it could be ignored except for one of its appendices1 ,a ,letter from the ,rev4 ,dr4 ,marshall jun4 ,to the ,rev4 ,dr4 ,rogers1 upon ,occasion of his ,preface to his ,eight ,sermons4 ,its inclusion seemed an afterthought2 yet it altered the dimensions of the debate by narrowing and particularizing the areas of grievance which separated the debaters4 ,collins1 therefore1 rebutted it some fourteen months later in ,a ,discourse concerning ,ridicule and ,irony in ,writing4 ,he had great hopes for this pamphlet1 preparing carefully for its reception4 ,he encouraged the republication of his three preceding works1 which find their inevitable conclusion1 even their exoneration1 in this last performance1 and he probably persuaded his bookseller to undertake an elaborate promotional campaign4 ,for the new editions were advertised on seven different days between #aj ,january and #bg ,february #agbi in the ,daily ,post4 ,he wanted no one to miss the relationship between the ,discourse concerning ,ridicule and ,irony and these earlier pieces or to overlook its presence when it finally appeared in the pamphlet shops on #ag ,march4 ,collins was animated by his many debates4 ,indeed1 he sought the storms4 ,otherwise he would not1 could not1 have participated in these many verbal contests4 ,throughout them all1 his basic strategy--that of provocation--was determined by the very real fact that he had many more enemies than allies1 among them1 for instance1 such formidable antagonists as ,swift and ,richard ,bentley4#aj ,to survive he had to acquire a tough resilience1 a skill in fending off attacks or turning them to his own advantage4 ,nevertheless1 he remained a ready target all his life4 ,understandably so3 his radicalism was stubborn and his opinions predictable4 ,such firmness may of course indicate his aversion to trimming4 ,or it may reveal a lack of intellectual growth2 what he believed as a young man1 he perpetuated as a mature adult4 ,whether our answer is drawn from either possibility or1 more realistically1 from both1 the fact remains that he never camouflaged the two principles by which he lived and fought3 #a4 ,that universal liberty be established in respect to opinions and practises not prejudicial to the peace and welfare of society3 by which establishment1 truth must needs have the advantages over error and falsehood1 the law of ,god over the will of man1 and true ,christianity tolerated2 private judgment would be really exercised2 and men would be allowed to have suffered to follow their consciences1 over which ,god only is supreme3444 #b4 ,secondly1 that nothing but the law of nature1 7the observance whereof is absolutely necessary to society7 and what can be built thereon1 should be enforced by the civil sanctions of the magistrate3444#aa ,,ii ,there is very little in this statement to offend modern readers4 ,yet the orthodox in ,collins's own time had reason to be angry with him3 his arguments were inflammatory and his rhetoric was devious1 cheeky1 and effective4 ,those contesting him underscored his negativism1 imaging him as a destroyer of ,christianity eager to proselyte men1 from the ,christian to no religion at all4#ab ,certainly it is true that he aimed to disprove a ,christian revelation which he judged fraudulent and conspiratorial4 ,in place of ecclesiastical authority he offered the rule of conscience4 ,for orthodoxy he substituted a ,religion antecedent to ,revelation1 which is necessary to be known in order to ascertain ,revelation2 and by that ,religion he meant ,natural ,religion1 which is presupposed to ,revelation1 and is a ,test by which ,reveal'd ,religion is to be tried1 is a ,bottom on which it must stand1 and is a ,rule to understand it by4#ac ,categorical in tone1 the statement frustrated the ,anglican clergy by its very slipperiness2 its generalities left little opportunity for decisive rebuttal4 ,it provided no definition of natural religion beyond the predication of a body of unnamed moral law which is rational and original1 the archetype of what is valid in the world's religions4 ,his dismissal of revelation and his reduction of ,christianity to what he called its natural and hence incontrovertible basis carried with it a corollary1 that of man's absolute right to religious enquiry and profession4 ,here he became specific1 borrowing from ,lockean empiricism his conditions of intellectual assent4 ,evidence1 he said1 ought to be the sole ground of ,assent1 and ,examination is the way to arrive at ,evidence2 and therefore rather than ,i wou'd have ,examination1 ,arguing and ,objecting laid aside1 ,i wou'd chuse to say1 ,that no ,opinions whatever can be dangerous to a ,man that impartially examines into the ,truth of ,things4#ad ,the church leadership saw in this statement and others like it not an epistemological premise but a deliberate subterfuge1 an insidious blind to vindicate his attacks upon an organized priesthood4 ,we can recognize now that his opponents oversimplified his intention1 that they blackened it to make his villainy at once definitive and vulnerable4 ,at the same time we must admit that he often equated the ideas of repression and clerical authority1 even as he coupled those of freedom and the guide of private conscience4 ,the ,anglican church was infuriated by these correlations1 angered as much by their manner of expression as by their substance4 ,for the faithful were frequently thrown off balance by a strategy of ironical indirection4 ,sometimes this took the form of omission or the presentation of an argument in so fragmentary or slanted a fashion that ,collins's ,enemies could debate neither his implications nor his conclusions4 ,at other times he used this artful circumlocution to create his favorite mask1 that of the pious ,christian devoted to scripture or of the moralist perplexed by the divisions among the orthodox clergy4 ,finally1 his rhetoric was shaped by deistic predecessors who used sarcasm and satire to mock the gravity of church authority4 ,so much was their wit a trademark that as early as #agjb one commentator had noted1 when you expect an argument1 they make a jest4#ae ,collins himself resorted to this practice with both instinctive skill and deliberate contrivance4 ,all these methods1 though underhanded1 he silently justified on the assumption that he was dealing with a conspiracy of priests3 hence1 he professed that he had to fight fraud and deception with their like1 and that such craftiness1 suitable to his particular genius and temper1 was serviceable to his cause4 ,for these reasons even ,william ,warburton1 who had vainly struggled to be judicious1 described him as a ,writer1 whose dexterity in the arts of ,controversy was so remarkably contrasted by his abilities in reasoning and literature1 as to be ever putting one in mind of what travellers tell us of the genius of the proper ,indians1 who1 although the veriest bunglers in all the fine arts of manual operation1 yet excel everybody in slight of hand and the delusive feats of activity4#af ,whatever may be said of ,collins and his achievement1 one fact remains constant4 ,he was a brilliant and persistent trickster whose cunning in the techniques of polemic often silenced an opponent with every substantive right to win the debate4 ,he seized any opportunity to expose the diversity of ethical and theological opinion which set one ,anglican divine against another1 to observe--as ,jenkin put it--how the gladiators in dispute murder the cause between them1 while they so fiercely cut and wound one another4 ,for ,collins such observation was more than oratorical artifice2 it was one of the dogmas of his near-nihilism4 ,he commented once to ,des ,maizeaux upon the flurry of critics who replied to his statement of necessitarianism in the ,philosophical ,inquiry concerning ,human ,liberty3 ,i was extreamly pleasd with ,,bp ,hoadley1 444 as it was upon the true and only point worth disputing with ye ,preists1 viz whether we the laity are the ,calves and ,sheep of the ,preist4 ,and ,i am not less pleasd to see them manage this controversy with ye same vile arts against one another1 as they always use towards the laity4 ,it must open the eyes of a few and convince them1 that the ,preists mean nothing but wealth and power1 and have not the least 444 of those qualitys for wch the superstitious world admires them4#ag ,he applied this principle of divisive attack in ,a ,discourse of ,free-,thinking4 ,there in fifty-three pages he transparently ridiculed contradictions which hedged three areas of fundamental religious belief3 ,the ,nature and ,attributes of the ,eternal ,being or ,god1 444 the ,authority of ,scriptures1 and 444 the ,sense of ,scripture4 ,in accordance with one of his favorite tricks--the massing of eminent authority--his exposition rings with hallowed ,anglican names3 ,south1 ,bull1 ,taylor1 ,wallis1 ,carlton1 ,davenant1 ,edwards1 ,more1 ,tillotson1 ,fowler1 ,sherlock1 ,stillingfleet1 ,sacheverell1 ,beveridge1 ,grabe1 ,hickes1 ,lesley4#ah ,what united these men1 he insinuated1 was not a ,christian commitment but a talent to disagree with one another and even to repudiate themselves--as in the case of ,stillingfleet4 ,in effect1 the entire ,discourse bubbles with a carelessly suppressed snicker4 ,the clergy could not readily reply to this kind of incriminating exposure or deny its reality4 ,they therefore overreacted to other judgments that ,collins made1 particularly to his attacks upon ,christian revelation4 ,these they denigrated as misleading1 guileful1 sinister1 contrived1 deceitful1 insidious1 shuffling1 covert1 subversive4 ,what they objected to was1 first1 the way in which he reduced the demonstration of ,christian revelation to only the puzzling and perplexing argument from prophecy1 the casual ease with which he ignored or dismissed those other clear proofs derived from the miracles of ,jesus and the resurrection itself4#ai ,but even more the orthodox resented the masked point of view from which ,collins presented his disbelief4 ,for example1 the ,grounds and ,reasons is the deist's first extended attack upon revelation4 ,ostensibly it is1 as we have seen1 an answer to ,whiston's ,essay ,towards ,restoring the ,true ,text of the ,old ,testament2 and for ,vindicating the ,citations ,made ,thence in the ,new ,testament 7#agbb74 ,in it the mathematician argued that the ,hebraic prophecies relating to the messiah had been literally fulfilled in ,jesus4 ,but this truth1 he admitted1 had been obscured in the latter ,ages1 only because of those ,difficulties which have almost wholly arisen from the ,corruptions1 the unbelieving ,jews introduc'd into the ,hebrew and ,greek copies of the ,old ,testament1 soon after the ,beginning of the ,second ,century4 ,these conspiratorial corruptions he single-handedly planned to remove1 returning the ,old ,testament to a state of textual purity with emendations drawn from sources as varied as the ,samaritan ,pentateuch1 the ,greek ,psalms1 the ,antiquities of ,josephus1 the ,chaldee ,paraphrases1 the books of ,philo4 ,his pragmatic purpose was to nullify the biblical criticism of historical minded scholars as reputable as ,grotius1 to render useless the allegorical interpretation of messianic prophecies4 ,that is1 he saw in the latter a pernicious absence of fact1 a weak and enthusiastical whimsy1 unchristian adjustments to the exigencies of the moment4#bj ,collins fought not to destroy ,whiston's position1 which was all too easily destructible1 but to undermine the structure1 the very grounds and reasons with which orthodoxy supported the mysteries of its faith4 ,to do so1 he spun a gigantic web of irony controlled by a persona whose complex purpose was concealed by a mien of hyper-righteousness4 ,here then was one motivated by a fair-mindedness which allowed him to defend his opponent's right of scriptural exegesis even while disagreeing with its approach and its conclusions4 ,here too was a conservative ,christian different from ,whiston and many other great divines2 who seem to pay little deference to the books of the ,new ,testament1 the text whereof they are perpetually mending in their sermons1 commentaries1 and writings1 to serve purposes2 who pretend we should have more of the true text by being less tenacious of the printed one1 and in consequence thereof1 presume to correct by critical emendations1 serve capital places in the sacred writers2 and who 444 do virtually set aside the authority of the scripture1 and place those compositions in its stead4 ,finally1 here was one who1 obedient to the spirit of ,god's revealed word1 rejected the fallacy that messianic prophecy had been fulfilled in ,christ in any literal1 obvious and primary sense4#ba ,but though the persona could not accept ,whiston's program1 he was not a mere negativist4 ,with growing excitement he argued for allegorical interpretation4 ,at this point the reader discerns that he has been duped1 that nowhere has there been a denial of ,whiston's charge that the reading of messianic prophecy in a typical or allegorical or secondary sense is weak and enthusiastical4 ,on the contrary1 the reader finds only the damning innuendo that the two methods--the allegorical and the literal--differ from one another not in kind but in degree of absurdity4 ,after being protected for a long time by all the twists and turns of his creator's irony1 the persona finally reveals himself for what he is1 a man totally insolent and totally without remorse4 ,never for one moment did he wish to defend the scheme of allegorical prophecy but to attack it4 ,his argument1 stripped of its convolutions and pseudo-piety1 moves inexorably to a single1 negative conclusion4 ,christianity pretends to derive itself from ,judaism4 ,,jesus appeals to the religious books of the ,jews as prophesying of his ,mission4 ,none of these ,prophecies can be understood of him but in a typical allegoric sense4 ,now that sense is absurd1 and contrary to all scholastic rules of interpretation4 ,christianity1 therefore1 not being really predicted in the ,jewish ,writings1 is consequently false4#bb ,collins continued his attack upon ,christian revelation in the ,scheme4 ,in the two years which separated this work from the earlier ,grounds and ,reasons1 there occurred no change in the author's argument4 ,what does occur1 however1 is a perceptive if snide elaboration upon the mask4 ,this is in many ways the same persona who barely suppressed his guffaws in the earlier work4 ,now he is given an added dimension2 he is made more decisively rational than his predecessor and therefore more insightful in his knowledge of rhetorical method4 ,as a disciple of certain ,protestant polemicists and particularly of ,grotius1 whose integrity1 honor1 and biblical criticism he supports1 he is the empirical-minded ,christian who knows exactly why the literalists have failed to persuade the free-thinkers or even to have damaged their arguments4 ,for if you begin with ,infidels by denying to them1 what is evident and agreeable to common sense1 ,i think there can be no reasonable hopes of converting or convincing them4#bc ,the irony is abrasive simply because it unanswerably singles out the great rhetorical failure of orthodoxy1 its inability to argue from a set of principles as acceptable to the deists as to themselves4 ,many of the clergy chafed against ,collins's manipulation of this tongue-in-cheek persona4 ,they resented his irreverent wit which projected1 for example1 the image of an ,anglican ,god who talks to all mankind from corners and who shows his back parts to ,moses4 ,they were irritated by his jesting parables1 as in ,the ,case of ,free-,seeing1 and by the impertinence of labelling ,archbishop ,tillotson as the man whom all ,english ,free-,thinkers own as their ,head4#bd ,but most of all they gagged upon ,collins's use of satire in religious controversy4 ,as we have already seen1 there were complex reasons for his choice of technique4 ,he was a naturally witty man who1 sometimes out of fear and sometimes out of malice1 expressed himself best through circuitous irony4 ,in #agbd1 when he himself considered his oratorical practice1 he argued that his matter determined his style1 that the targets of his belittling wit were the saint-errants4 ,we can only imagine the exasperation of ,collins's ,anglican enemies when they found their orthodoxy thus slyly lumped with the eccentricities of ,samuel ,butler's true blew ,presbyterians4 ,it would be hard to live down the associations of those facetious lines which made the ,augustan divines1 like their unwelcome forebear ,hudibras1 members ,of that stubborn ,crew ,of ,errant ,saints1 whom all men grant ,to be the true ,church ,militant4 ,those dignified ,anglican exteriors were further punctured by ,collins's irreverent attack upon their cry of religious uniformity1 a cry which was ridiculous1 romantick1 and impossible to succeed4 ,he saw himself1 in short1 as an emancipated ,butler or even ,cervantes2 and like his famous predecessors he too would laugh quite out of countenance the fool and the hypocrite1 the pretender and the enthusiast1 the knave and the persecuter1 all those who would create a god in their own sour and puny image4 ,,iii ,by #agbg several of the orthodox felt that they could take no more of ,collins's laughter1 his sneering invectives against the clergy1 or his designs to make religion a ,matter purely personal2 and the ,knowledge of it to be obtain'd by personal ,consideration1 independently of any ,guides1 ,teachers1 or ,authority4 ,in the forefront of this group was ,john ,rogers1 whose hostility to the deist was articulate and compulsive4 ,at least it drove him into a position seemingly at odds with the spirit if not the law of ,english toleration4 ,he urged1 for example1 that those like ,collins be prosecuted in a civil court for a persuasion which is manifestly subversive of all ,order and ,polity1 and can no more consist with civil1 than with religious1 ,society4#be ,thereupon followed charge and countercharge4 ,new gladiators1 as different from each other as the nonconformist divine ,samuel ,chandler and the deist ,thomas ,chubb1 entered the arena on behalf of ,collins4 ,for all the dogmatic volubility of ,rogers1 orthodoxy appeared beleaguered4 ,the moderate clergy1 who witnessed this exchange1 became alarmed2 they feared that in the melee the very heart of ,english toleration would be threatened by the contenders1 all of whom spoke as its champion4 ,representative of such moderation was ,nathanael ,marshall1 who wished if not to end the debate1 then at least to contain its ardor4 ,as canon of ,windsor1 he supported the condition of a state religion protected by the magistrate but he worried over the extent of the latter's prerogative and power4 ,certainly he was more liberal than ,rogers in his willingness to entertain professions of religious diversity4 ,yet he straitjacketed his liberalism when he denied responsible men the right to attack laws1 both civil and canonical1 with ludicrous ,insult or with ,buffoonery and ,banter1 ,ridicule or ,sarcastick ,irony4#bf ,once again ,collins met the challenge4 ,in ,a ,discourse concerning ,ridicule and ,irony he devoted himself to undermining the moral1 the intellectual1 and practical foundations of that one restraint which ,marshall would impose upon the conduct of any religious quarrel4 ,he had little difficulty in achieving his objective4 ,his adversary's stand was visibly vulnerable and for several reasons4 ,it was too conscious of the tug-of-war between the deist and ,rogers1 too arbitrary in its choice of prohibition4 ,it was1 in truth1 strained by a choice between offending the establishment and yet rejecting clerical extremism4#bg ,moreover1 ,collins had this time an invisible partner1 a superior thinker against whom he could test his own ideas and from whom he could borrow others4 ,for the ,discourse concerning ,ridicule and ,irony is largely a particularization1 a crude but powerful reworking of ,shaftesbury's ,sensus ,communis3 ,an ,essay on the ,freedom of ,wit and ,humour4 ,supported by ,shaftesbury's urbane generalization1 ,collins laughed openly at the egocentricity and blindness of ,marshall's timid zealotry4 ,indeed1 he wryly found his orthodox opponent guilty of the very crime with which he1 as a subversive1 was charged4 ,it seemed to him1 he said1 a most prodigious ,banter upon mankind1 for ,men to talk in general of the ,immorality of ,ridicule and ,irony1 and of punishing ,men for those ,matters1 when their own ,practice is universal ,irony and ,ridicule of all those who go not with them1 and universal ,applause and ,encouragement for such ,ridicule and ,irony1 and distinguishing by all the honourable ways imaginable such drolling ,authors for their ,drollery2 and when ,punishment for ,drollery is never call'd for1 but when ,drollery is used or employ'd against them6 7p4 #bi7 ,collins's technique continued its ironic ambiguity1 reversal1 and obliquity4 ,under a tone of seeming innocence and good will1 he credited his adversaries with an enviable capacity for satiric argument4 ,in comradely fashion1 he found precedent for his own rhetorical practice through a variety of historical and biblical analogies4 ,but even more important for a contemporary audience1 he again resorted to the device of invoking the authority provided by some of the most respected names in the ,anglican ,establishment4 ,the use of satire in religious topics1 hence1 was manifest in the ,writings of our most eminent ,divines1 especially those of ,stillingfleet1 our greatest controversial ,writer 7pp4 #d-e74 ,with all the outrageous assurance of a self-invited guest1 the deist had seated himself at the table of his vainly protesting ,christian hosts 7whom he insisted on identifying as brethren74 ,in a word1 he said so as to obviate debate1 the ,opinions and ,practices of ,men in all ,matters1 and especially in ,matters of ,religion1 are generally so absurd and ridiculous that it is impossible for them not to be the ,subjects of ,ridicule 7p4 #ai74 ,thus adopting ,juvenal's concept of satiric necessity 7difficile est saturam non scribere71 ,collins here set forth the thesis and rationale of his enemy4 ,there was a kind of impudent virtuosity in his proofs1 in his manner of drawing a large1 impressive cluster of names into his ironic net and making all of them appear to be credible witnesses in his defense4 ,even ,swift1 amusingly compromised as one of the greatest ,droles that ever appear'd upon the ,stage of the ,world 7p4 #ci71 was brought to the witness box as evidence of the privileged status to which satiric writing was entitled4 ,collins enforced erudition with cool intelligence so that contemptuous amusement is present on every page of his ,discourse4 ,beneath his jeers and his laughter there was a serious denunciation of any kind of intellectual restraint1 however mild-seeming2 beneath his verbal pin-pricking there was conversely an exoneration of man's right to inquire1 to profess1 and to persuade4 ,beneath his jests and sarcasms there was further a firm philosophical commitment that informed the rhetoric of all his earlier work4 ,ridicule1 he asserted in #agbi1 is both a proper and necessary ,method of ,discourse in many ,cases1 and especially in the ,case of ,gravity1 when that is attended with ,hypocrisy or ,imposture1 or with ,ignorance1 or with soureness of ,temper and ,persecution3 all which ought to draw after them the ,ridicule and ,contempt of the ,society1 which has no other effectual ,remedy against such ,methods of ,imposition 7p4 #bb74 ,for the modern reader the ,discourse concerning ,ridicule and ,irony is the most satisfactory of ,collins's many pamphlets and books4 ,it lacks the pretentiousness of the ,scheme1 the snide convolutions of the ,grounds and ,reasons1 the argument by half-truths of the ,discourse of ,free-,thinking4 ,his last work is free of the curious ambivalence which marked so many of his earlier pieces1 a visible uncertainty which made him fear repression and yet court it4 ,on the contrary1 his last work is in fact a justification of his rhetorical mode and religious beliefs2 it is an apologia pro vita sua written with all the intensity and decisiveness that such a justification demands4 ,to be sure1 it takes passing shots at old enemies like ,swift1 but never with rancor4 ,and while its language is frequently ironical1 its thinking makes an earnest defense of wit as a weapon of truth4 ,the essay sets forth its author as an animal ridens1 a creature that through laughter and affable cynicism worships a universal ,god and respects a rational mankind4 ,brown ,university ,,notes ,,to ,,the ,,introduction #a ,universal ,spectator1 and ,weekly ,journal1 ,no4 #ih 7#bb ,august #agcj74 #b ,to ,des ,maizeaux 7#e ,may #agag73 ,b4 ,m4 ,sloane ,,mss4 #dbhb1 ff4 #abi-acj4 #c ,to ,des ,maizeaux 7#i ,february #agaf73 ,b4 ,m4 ,sloane ,,mss4 #dbhb1 f4 #abc4 #d ,the title page of the ,scheme is dated #agbf4 ,it was not advertised in the newspapers or journals of that year--a strange silence for any of ,collins's work4 ,its first notice appeared in the ,monthly ,catalogue3 ,being a ,general ,register of ,books1 ,sermons1 ,plays1 ,poetry1 ,pamphlets1 c4 ,printed and ,publish'd in ,london1 or the ,universities1 during the ,month of ,may1 #agbg 7see ,no4 #di74 ,yet we know that the ,scheme had been remarked upon as early as ,march when on the #ajth of that month ,samuel ,chandler published his ,reflections on the ,conduct of the ,modern ,deists in their late ,writings against ,christianity4 7,for the dating of ,chandler's work1 see the ,daily ,courant #aj ,march #agbg47 ,we know also that the ,scheme went to a second edition late in #agbg and was frequently advertised in the ,daily ,post between #b ,january and #bj ,january #agbh4 #e ,for the statement about the ,letter to ,dr4 ,rogers1 see ,b4 ,m4 ,sloane ,,mss4 #dbhb1 f4 #bbj 7#ae ,august #agbg74 ,for that on the use of personal matters in controversy1 see ,b4 ,m4 ,sloane ,,mss4 #dbhb1 f4 #agj 7#bg ,december #agai72 cf4 ,the ,scheme of ,literal ,prophecy ,considered 7,london1 #agbf71 pp4 #dbb-dch4 #f ,the ,grounds and ,reasons of the ,christian ,religion was published in ,london within the first four days of ,january #agbd2 see the advertisement in the ,daily ,post 7#d ,january #agbd74 ,a ,discourse concerning ,ridicule and ,irony in ,writing was published on or close to #ag ,march #agbi2 see the advertisement in the ,daily ,journal for that date4 #g ,we can generally fix the date of ,rogers's ,eight ,sermons within the first two months of #agbg because it was answered early by ,samuel ,chandler's ,reflections on the ,conduct of the ,modern ,deists4 7,see note #d47 ,for the dating of ,collins's rebuttal1 see the ,monthly ,catalogue1 ,no4 #di 7,may #agbg74 #h ,to ,des ,maizeaux 7#bd ,june #agbg73 ,b4 ,m4 ,sloane ,,mss4 #dbhb1 ff4 #bah-bai4 #i ,for the dating of this work1 see the ,daily ,post 7#ca ,january #agbh74 #aj ,for ,swift's satire1 see ,mr4 ,c---ns's ,discourse of ,free-,thinking1 ,put into plain ,english1 by way of ,abstract1 for the ,use of the ,poor4 ,for ,bentley's devastating probe of ,collins's scholarly inadequacies1 see his ,remarks on the ,discourse of ,free-,thinking4 ,by ,phileleutherus ,lipsiensis4 ,both works appeared in #agac4 #aa ,scheme1 pp4 #dcb-dcc4 #ab ,edward ,chandler1 ,a ,defence of ,christianity from the ,prophecies of the ,old ,testament 7,london1 #agbe71 p4 ii4 #ac ,a ,letter to ,dr4 ,rogers1 p4 #hi4 #ad ,a ,vindication of the ,divine ,attributes 7,london1 #agaj71 p4 #bd4 #ae ,robert ,jenkin1 ,a ,brief ,confutation of the ,pretences against ,natural and ,revealed ,religion 7,london1 #agjb71 p4 #dj4 #af ,for ,collins on his own rhetorical skills1 see ,scheme1 p4 #djb2 ,william ,warburton1 ,divine ,legation of ,moses1 ,demonstrated 7,london1 #ahdf71 ,,iii1 #aii4 #ag ,jenkin1 ,brief ,confutation1 p4 #ea2 for the letter 7#a ,july #agag71 see ,b4 ,m4 ,sloane ,,mss4 #dbhb1 f4 #acg4 #ah ,pp4 #df-ii4 #ai ,see1 for example1 the statement of ,john ,conybeare1 ,bishop of ,bristol1 in ,joseph ,spence1 ,observations1 ,anecdotes1 and ,characters of ,books and ,men1 ed4 ,james ,m4 ,osborn 7,oxford1 #aiff71 ,i1 sect4 #iib4 #bj ,essay1 pp4 #cbi-ccc 7for ,whiston's statement of sources72 pp4 #ccd-cce 7for his defense of literal interpretation74 ,the bracketed material indicates ,whiston's manuscript emendations of his own printed text2 see the ,british ,museum's copy of the ,essay 7#hgc4 #a4 #aj7 which originally belonged to the mathematician4 ,see ,collins1 ,grounds and ,reasons1 pp4 #ih-ii1 for the summary of ,whiston's attack upon allegorical interpretation4 #ba ,grounds and ,reasons1 pp4 #bj1 #dh-ej4 #bb ,this terse summary of the persona's argument was correctly made by ,warburton1 ,,iii1 #bcb4 #bc ,scheme1 p4 #cia4 #bd ,discourse of ,free-,thinking1 pp4 #ae-ag1 #ch1 #aga4 #be ,eight ,sermons1 pp4 #a1 lxi4 #bf ,marshall1 pp4 #cja1 #ccg4 ,for ,samuel ,chandler's contribution1 see his ,reflections on the ,conduct of the ,modern ,deists 7,london1 #agbg72 for ,chubb's contribution see ,some ,short ,reflections on the ,grounds and ,extent of ,authority and ,liberty1 ,with respect to the ,civil ,government 7,london1 #agbh74 #bg ,marshall's reluctance to support ,rogers's extremism is seen in the funeral sermon he preached at the latter's death 7,a ,sermon ,delivered in the ,parish ,church of ,st4 ,giles ,cripplegate1 ,may #ah1 #agbi4 ,upon ,occasion of the ,much ,lamented ,death of the ,revd4 ,john ,rogers ,london1 #agbi74 ,he made only the most casual and indifferent reference to ,rogers's work4 ,so obvious was this slight that it called for a rebuttal2 see ,philalethes 7,a4 ,a4 ,sykes 871 ,some ,remarks ,upon the ,reverend ,dr4 ,marshall's ,sermon on ,occasion of the ,death of the ,revd ,dr ,rogers 7,london1 #agbi74 ,,bibliographical ,,note ,this facsimile of ,a ,discourse concerning ,ridicule and ,irony in ,writing 7#agbi7 is reproduced from a copy in the ,william ,andrews ,clark ,memorial ,library4 ,a ,,discourse ,,concerning ,ridicule and ,irony ,,in ,,writing1 ,,in ,a ,,letter ,to the ,reverend ,dr4 ,,nathanael ,,marshall4 -------- ,ridiculum acri ,fortius melius magnas plerumq2 secat res4 -------- ,ridentem dicere verum ,quid vetat8 ,,london3 ,printed for ,j4 ,,brotherton in ,cornhill and sold by ,t4 ,,warner in ,pater-noster-,row1 and ,a4 ,,dodd without ,temple-,bar4 #agbi4 ,a ,,discourse ,,concerning ,ridicule and ,irony1 c4 ,,reverend ,,sir1 ,in your ,letter to ,dr4 ,rogers1 which he has publish'd at the ,end of his ,vindication of the ,civil ,establishment of ,religion1 ,i find a ,notion advanc'd by you3 which as it is a common and plausible ,topick for ,persecution1 and a ,topick by which you1 and many others1 urge the ,magistrate to punish or1 as you phrase it1 to pinch #bh ,men for controversial ,writings1 is particularly proper at this time to be fully consider'd2 and ,i hope to treat it in such manner as to make you your self1 and every fair ,reader1 sensible of the ,weakness thereof4 ,you profess to vindicate #bi a sober1 serious1 and modest ,inquiry into the ,reasons of any ,establishment4 ,and you add1 that you have not ordinarily found it judg'd inconsistent with the ,duty of a private ,subject1 to propose his ,doubts or his ,reasons to the ,publick in a modest way1 concerning the ,repeal of any ,law which he may think of ill ,consequence by its ,continuance4 ,if he be a ,man of ,ability1 and well vers'd in the ,argument1 he will deserve some ,attention2 but if he mistakes his ,talent1 and will be busy with what he very little understands1 ,contempt and ,odium will be his unavoidable and just ,allotment4 ,and you say1 that ,religion is more a personal ,affair1 in which every ,man has a peculiar ,right and ,interest1 and a ,concern that he be not mistaken1 than in any other ,case or ,instance which can fall under the ,cognizance of the ,magistrate2 and that greater ,allowances seem due to each private ,person for ,examination and ,inquiry in this1 than in any other ,example4 ,and herein ,i must do you the ,justice to acknowledge1 that you speak like a ,christian1 like a ,protestant1 like an ,englishman1 and a reasonable ,man2 like a ,man concerned for ,truth1 like a ,man of ,conscience2 like a ,man concern'd for the ,consciences of others2 like a ,man concern'd to have some ,sense1 ,learning1 and ,virtue in the ,world2 and1 in a word1 like a ,man who is not for abandoning all the valuable ,things in ,life to the ,tyranny1 ,ambition1 and ,covetousness of ,magistrates and ,ecclesiasticks4 ,but you observe1 that municipal ,laws#cj1 how trivial soever in their intrinsick ,value1 are never to be insulted2 never to be treated with ,buffoonery and ,banter1 ,ridicule and ,sarcastick ,irony4 ,so that ,dr4 ,rogers's grand ,adversary will have from you no measure of ,encouragement to his manner of ,writing4 ,again1 you never #ca desire to see the ,magistrate fencing in the publick ,religion with so thick a ,hedge as shall exclude all ,light1 and shall tear out the ,eyes of all such as endeavour to see thro' it4 ,sober arguing you never fear3 ,mockery and bitter ,railing1 if you could help it1 you would never bear1 either for the ,truth or against it4 ,upon which ,i offer these following ,considerations4 ,i4 ,first1 ,if what you call ,insult1 ,buffoonery1 ,banter1 ,ridicule and ,irony1 ,mockery and bitter ,railing1 be ,crimes in ,disputation1 you will find none more deeply involv'd in it than our most famous ,writers1 in their controversial ,treatises about serious ,matters2 as all ,notions and ,practices in ,religion1 whether reasonable or absurd1 may be equally and justly deem'd3 the ,notions and ,practices of ,papists1 ,presbyterians1 ,quakers1 and all other ,sects1 being no less serious to their respective ,sects than ridiculous to one another4 ,let any ,man read the ,writings of our most eminent ,divines against the ,papists1 ,puritans1 ,dissenters1 and ,hereticks1 and against one another1 and particularly the ,writings of ,alexander ,cook1 ,hales1 ,chillingworth1 ,patrick1 ,tillotson1 ,stillingfleet1 ,burnet1 ,south1 ,hickes1 ,sherlock and ,edwards1 and he will find them to abound with ,banter1 ,ridicule1 and ,irony4 ,stillingfleet in particular1 our greatest controversial ,writer1 who passes for grave and solemn1 is so conscious of his use thereof1 that he confesses that ,charge of the ,papists against him1 saying#cb1 ,but ,i forget my ,adversary's grave admonition1 that ,i would treat these ,matters seriously1 and lay aside ,drollery4 ,and again1 after a ,banter of near a ,page1 he says#cc1 ,but ,i forget ,i am so near my ,adversary's ,conclusion1 wherein he so gravely advises me1 that ,i would be pleas'd for once to write ,controversy1 and not ,play-,books4 ,nor did ,i ever hear the ,divines of the ,church condemn the ,doctor for his sarcastical ,method of writing ,controversy4 ,on the contrary1 ,i remember at the ,university1 that he used to be applauded no less for his ,wit than for his ,learning4 ,and to exalt his ,character as a ,wit1 his ,conferences between a ,romish ,priest1 a ,fanatick ,chaplain1 and a ,divine of the ,church of ,england1 c4 were spoken of as an excellent ,comedy1 and especially for that ,part which the ,fanatick ,chaplain acts therein1 who makes as comical and as ridiculous a ,figure as he does in any of the ,plays acted on the ,stage4 ,and in his ,controversy with ,dryden about the ,royal ,papers1 and those of the ,duchess of ,york1 he was deem'd to have out-done that famous ,satirist in tart ,repartees and ,reflections2 and to have attack'd the ,character of the ,poet with more severity1 than that ,poet1 who was so remarkable for his satirical ,reflections on the holy ,order1 did the ,character of the ,divine3 ,as for example1 he says to ,dryden#cd1 ,could nothing be said by you of ,bishop ,morley1 but that ,prelate of rich ,memory8 ,or had you a mind to tell us he was no ,poet8 ,or that he was out of the ,temptation of changing his ,religion for ,bread8 ,and many ,citations us'd to be produc'd out of his ,writings1 as ,specimens of his ironical ,talent2 among which ,i particularly remember his ,ridicule of his ,adversary ,mr4 ,alsop1 a famous ,presbyterian ,wit and ,divine2 whose ,book1 which was full of low ,raillery and ,ridicule1 he resembles #ce to the ,bird of ,athens1 as made up of ,face and ,feathers4 ,and the ,doctor himself adds1 in ,justification of the polite ,method of ,raillery in ,controversy1 that there is a pleasantness of ,wit1 which serves to entertain the ,reader in the rough and deep way of ,controversy4 ,nor did ,mr4 ,alsop want ,approvers of his ,raillery in his own ,party4 ,mr4 ,gilbert ,rule#cf1 a great ,scotch ,presbyterian ,divine1 who defended him against ,stillingfleet1 contends in behalf of his ,raillery1 ,that the ,facetiousness of ,mr4 ,alsop's ,strain needed to have bred no ,disgust1 being as a ,condiment to prevent ,tdium and ,nauseousness4 ,and he adds1 ,that he knows none that blame the excellent ,writings of ,mr4 ,fuller1 which have a ,pleasantness not unlike that of ,mr4 ,alsop4 ,and this manner of writing is seldom complain'd of1 as unfit to be allow'd1 by any but those who feel themselves hurt by it4 ,for the solemn and grave can bear a solemn and grave ,attack3 ,that gives them a sort of ,credit in the ,world1 and makes them appear considerable to themselves1 as worthy of a serious ,regard4 ,but ,contempt is what they1 who commonly are the most contemptible and worthless of ,men1 cannot bear nor withstand1 as setting them in their true ,light1 and being the most effectual ,method to drive ,imposture1 the sole ,foundation of their ,credit1 out of the ,world4 ,hence ,stillingfleet's ,popish ,adversaries1 more conscious perhaps of the ,ridiculousness of ,popery than the common ,people among ,protestants themselves1 fall upon him very furiously4 ,one says#cg1 ,that by the ,phrases1 which are the chief ,ornaments that set off the ,doctor's ,works1 we may easily guess in what ,books he has spent his ,time2 and that he is well vers'd in ,don ,quixot1 the ,seven ,champions1 and other ,romantick ,stories4 ,sure the ,doctor err'd in his ,vocation3 ,had he quitted all serious ,matters1 and dedicated himself wholly to ,drollery and ,romance1 with two or three ,years under ,hudibras1 he might have been a ,master in that ,faculty2 the ,stage might have been a ,gainer by it1 and the ,church of ,england would have been no ,loser4 ,another of his ,adversaries says1 #ch,peruse the ,doctor ,page after ,page1 you will find the ,man all along in peevish ,humour1 when you see his ,book brimfull of tart biting ,ironies1 ,drolleries1 comical ,expressions1 impertinent ,demands1 and idle ,stories1 c4 as if the discharging a little ,gall were enough to disparage the clearest ,miracles ,god ever wrought4 ,but what are these clearest ,miracles ,god ever wrought8 ,why1 the most extravagant1 whimsical1 absurd1 and ridiculous ,legends and ,stories imaginable2 such as that of ,st4 ,dominick#ci1 who when the ,devil came to him in the ,shape of a ,monkey1 made him hold a ,candle to him while he wrote1 and keep it so long between his ,toes1 till it burnt them2 and his keeping the ,devil1 who sometimes came to him in the ,shape of a ,flea1 and by skipping on the ,leaves of his ,book disturb'd his ,reading1 in that ,shape1 and using him for a ,mark to know where he left off reading3 ,such as ,st4 ,patrick's heating an ,oven with ,snow1 and turning a ,pound of ,honey into a ,pound of ,butter3 ,such as ,christ's marrying ,nuns1 and playing at ,cards with them2 and ,nuns living on the ,milk of the blessed ,virgin ,mary2 and that of divers ,orders1 and especially the ,benedictine1 being so dear to the blessed ,virgin1 that in ,heaven she lodges them under her ,petticoats3 ,such as making broken ,eggs whole2 and of ,people1 who had their ,heads cut off1 walking with their ,heads in their ,hands1 which were sometimes set on again3 ,such as ,failing for a hundred ,years2 and raising ,cows1 ,calves1 and ,birds from the ,dead1 after they had been chopt to ,pieces and eaten1 and putting on their ,heads after they had been pull'd or cut off2 and turning a ,pound of ,butter into a ,bell2 and making a ,bull give ,milk2 and raising a ,king's ,daughter from the ,dead1 and turning her into a ,son2 and the several ,translations thro' the ,air of the ,virgin ,mary's ,house from ,palestine to ,loretto1 and the ,miracles wrote there2 and more of the like ,kind4 ,are these1 or such as these the clearest ,miracles ,god ever wrought8 ,do such ,miracles deserve a serious ,regard8 ,and shall the ,gravity with which ,mankind is thus banter'd out of their common ,sense1 excuse these ,matters from ,ridicule8 ,it will be difficult to find any ,writers who have exceeded the ,doctors1 ,south and #dj ,edwards1 in ,banter1 ,irony1 ,satire and ,sarcasms3 ,the last of whom has written a ,discourse in ,defence of sharp ,reflections on ,authors and their ,opinions2 wherein he enumerates1 as ,examples for his ,purpose1 almost all the eminent ,divines of the ,church of ,england4 ,and ,mr4 #da ,collier1 speaking of a ,letter of the ,venerable ,bede to ,egbert ,bishop of ,york1 says1 ,the ,satire and ,declamation in this ,epistle shews the pious ,zeal and ,integrity of the ,author2 which seems to imply1 that ,satire and ,declamation is the orthodox and most pious ,method of writing in behalf of ,orthodoxy4 ,dr4 ,rogers1 to whom you write1 falls into the ,method of ,buffoonery1 ,banter1 ,satire1 ,drollery1 ,ridicule1 and ,irony1 even in the ,treatise to which your ,letter is subjoined1 and against that ,person whom you would have punish'd for that ,method3 ,when he says to him1 #db ,religion then1 it seems1 must be left to the ,scholars and ,gentlefolks1 and to them 'tis to be of no other use1 but as a ,subject of ,disputation to improve their ,parts and ,learning2 but methinks the ,vulgar might be indulged a little of it now and then1 upon ,sundays and ,holidays1 instead of ,bull-baiting and ,foot-ball4 ,and this insipid ,piece of ,drollery and false ,wit which is design'd to ridicule his ,adversary for asserting1 that ,what ,men understand nothing of1 they have no ,concern about2 which is a ,proposition that will stand the ,test of ,ridicule1 which will be found wholly to lie against the ,doctor1 for asserting the ,reasonableness of imposing ,things on the ,people which they do not understand is the more remarkable1 as it proceeds from one1 who is at the same time for using the ,sword of the ,magistrate against his ,adversary4 ,one would think the #dc ,inquisitor should banish the ,droll1 and the ,droll the ,inquisitor4 ,one of the greatest and best ,authorities for the pleasant and ironical manner of treating serious ,matters1 is that eminent ,divine at the ,time of the ,reformation1 the great ,erasmus1 who has written two ,books in this way with great ,applause of ,protestants1 and without subjecting himself to any ,persecution of ,papists3 which makes it highly proper to propose them to the ,consideration of the ,reader1 that he may regulate his ,notions1 by what1 it may be presum'd1 he approves of in that ,author4 ,these two ,books of ,erasmus are his ,colloquies1 and his ,praise of ,folly4 ,his ,colloquies were wrote in imitation of ,lucian's ,dialogues2 and ,i think with equal1 if not superior1 ,success4 ,both these ,authors had an ,aversion to sullen1 austere1 designing ,knaves2 and both of them being ,men of ,wit and ,satire1 employ'd their ,talents against ,superstition and ,hypocrisy4 ,lucian liv'd in an ,age when ,fiction and ,fable had usurp'd the ,name of ,religion1 and ,morality was corrupted by ,men of ,beard and ,grimace1 but scandalously ,leud and ,ignorant2 who yet had the ,impudence to preach up ,virtue1 and style themselves ,philosophers1 perpetually clashing with one another about the ,precedence of their several ,founders1 the ,merits of their different ,sects1 and if 'tis possible1 about ,trifles of less ,importance3 yet all agreeing in a different way to dupe and amuse the poor ,people1 by the fantastick ,singularity of their ,habits1 the unintelligible ,jargon of their ,schools1 and their ,pretensions to a severe and mortify'd ,life4 ,these ,jugglers and ,impostors ,lucian in great measure help'd to chase out of the ,world1 by exposing them in their proper ,colours1 and by representing them as ridiculous as they were4 ,but in a few ,generations after him1 a new ,race of ,men sprung up in the ,world1 well known by the ,name of ,monks and ,fryars1 different indeed from the former in ,religion1 ,garb1 and a few other ,circumstances2 but in the main1 the same sort of ,impostors1 the same ever-lasting ,cobweb-,spinners1 as to their nonsensical ,controversies1 the same abandon'd ,wretches1 as to their ,morals2 but as to the mysterious ,arts of heaping up ,wealth1 and picking the ,people's ,pockets1 infinitely superior to the ,pagan ,philosophers and ,priests4 ,these were the sanctify'd ,cheats1 whose ,folly and ,vices ,erasmus has so effectually lash'd1 that some ,countries have entirely turn'd these ,drones out of their ,cells2 and in other ,places1 where they are still kept up1 they are in some measure become contemptible1 and obliged to be always on their ,guard4 ,the ,papists say1 that these #dd;,colloquies1 by turning into ,ridicule the ,devotion to the holy ,virgin and ,saints1 the ,worship of ,relicks and ,images1 religious ,vows and ,pilgrimages1 have made more ,hereticks than the ,works of ,luther and ,calvin4 ,and ,i find the reverend ,mr4 ,trapp after calling #de ,reliques1 ,,foolish celebrates ,erasmus for having abundantly ,,ridicul',d them4 ,his ,praise of ,folly treats of serious ,matters1 in such a gay1 familiar1 ingenious and pleasant manner1 as makes it a ,work proper to be read by intelligent ,people1 to remove out of their ,minds all ,bigotry contracted by ,ignorance and an evil ,education1 all ,peevishness1 ,hatred1 and ,ill-nature towards one another1 on account of different ,sentiments in ,religion2 and to form in them the natural ,principles of ,moderation1 ,humanity1 ,affection and ,friendship4 ,our learned and ingenious ,bishop ,kennet could not do a more signal ,piece of ,service to our ,country1 than by translating into ,english this ,book1 which the ,ladies have now an ,opportunity of understanding no less than the ,men2 and from whence they may see the pleasant1 amiable1 and just ,disposition of ,mind of one of the most learned and ingenious ,men that ever liv'd1 as well as ,author of a great ,number of religious and devotional ,books2 nor could the ,bishop well give a heartier ,stroke at ,popery1 than by approving of ,erasmus's #df laughing at it1 and applauding his numberless ,taunts on its ,impostures1 ,cheats1 and ,delusions4 ,our ,clergy have ever treated ,mr4 ,hobbes with the greatest ,mockery1 ,ridicule and ,raillery3 ,as for example1 ,ward ,bishop of ,sarum1 ,brambal ,bishop of ,derry1 ,parker ,bishop of ,oxford1 ,dr4 ,wallis in his several bantering ,treatises against him1 ,lucy ,bishop of ,st4 ,davids1 ,shafto1 and particularly the ,reverend ,droll1 ,dr4 ,eachard1 in two ,dialogues1 which1 it is well known1 have been universally well receiv'd by the ,clergy1 and that for their ,treatment of ,mr4 ,hobbes in the ridiculing ,way2 for which the ,author himself makes the following just ,apology1 in his ,dedication of his ,second ,dialogue to ,archbishop ,sheldon1 ,that of all ,triflers1 'tis the ,set1 the ,grave1 the ,philosophical1 and the ,mathematical ,trifler1 to which he has the greatest ,aversion2 whom when he meets1 very gravely making out all ,men to be rational ,beasts both in ,nature and ,conversation1 and every ,man1 he pleases1 a rational ,rebel2 and upon any ,fright or ,pinch a rational ,atheist and ,anti-,christian2 and all this perform'd with all ,,demureness1 ,,solemnity1 ,,quotation of ,,scripture1 ,,appeals to ,,conscience and ,,church-,,history2 he must humbly beg his ,grace's ,pardon1 if then he has endeavour'd to ,,smile a little1 and to get as much out of his ,road and way of ,writing as possible4 ,these ,dialogues used to be much recommended to the ,youth to make them laugh at ,mr ,hobbes1 who was constantly represented as provok'd and put out of all ,temper by them1 and was said to have vented this strange and impious ,expression1 upon its being told him1 that the ,clergy said ,eachard had crucify'd ,hobbes2 ,why then don't they fall down and worship me8 ,mr4 ,selden has been the constant ,subject of ,clergy-banter1 for his ,history of ,tythes2 in the ,preface to which1 ,he reproaches the ,clergy with ,ignorance and ,laziness1 and upbraids them with having nothing to keep up their ,credit but ,beard1 ,title1 and ,habit2 and their ,studies reach'd no farther than the ,breviary1 the ,postils1 and ,polyanthea4 ,for this ,work he was attack'd more particularly by three ,divines1 ,tillesly1 ,mountagu1 and ,nettles4 ,and their ,success was thus originally represented#dg1 ,that he was so gall'd by ,tillesly1 so gagg'd by ,mountagu1 and so stung by ,nettles1 that he never came off in any of his ,undertakings with more loss of ,credit4 ,and this ,jest has pass'd much upon the ,world1 and been continued down in many ,books1 where ,mr4 ,selden is mention'd1 to his ,discredit with ignorant ,readers1 but not with the ,knowing and ,learned2 who1 as ,dr4 ,wotton tells us#dh1 have1 now ,party-heats are over1 acquiesced in what ,mr4 ,selden advanc'd2 who first1 ,,of ,,all ,,christians1 set the ,affair of ,tythes in a clear ,light4 ,it is usually said the ,comedy called ,ignoramus1 which is a ,clergy-banter upon the ,law1 was a design'd ,return for ,mr4 ,selden's ,history of ,tythes4 ,the ,reverend ,dr4 ,beaumont1 late ,master of ,st4 ,peter's ,college and ,king's ,professor of ,divinity1 has given us a ,book1 entitled1 ,some ,observations upon the ,apology of ,dr4 ,henry ,more for his ,mystery of ,godliness2 which endeavours to render the said ,doctor ridiculous1 and set ,people a laughing at him1 7p4 #i4 c4 #fd47 and used to be applauded as a complete ,performance in the way of ,raillery and ,irony1 and was well receiv'd for being directed against a ,person esteem'd ,heterodox4 ,many ,clergymen have written ,books to banter the ,works of ,mr4 ,locke1 among whom ,dr4 ,edwards must have the first ,place2 whose ,brief ,vindication of the fundamental ,articles of the ,christian ,faith1 which has the ,imprimatur before it of ,james1 ,beaumont1 ,covel1 and ,balderston1 four ,cambridge ,heads1 was never exceeded by the most licentious ,droll4 ,when ,sorbier's ,voyage to ,england1 which was a pert and insolent ,abuse and ,satire on the ,nation1 and written in the ,french manner of contemptuously treating all ,countries and ,men but ,france and ,frenchmen1 was publish'd1 it was deem'd proper that a drolling and satirical ,answer should be given to it1 and that the ,reverend ,dr4 ,sprat should be the ,droll employ'd2 who perform'd his ,part according to the ,expectation of the ,drolling ,court of ,king ,charles ,,ii4 and as the ingenious ,mr4 ,addison tells us1 #di ,vindicated the ,honour of his ,country1 in a ,book full of ,satire and ,ingenuity4 ,bishop ,beveridge ever pass'd for a serious and profound ,divine2 and his ,writings have fix'd that ,character upon him among the ,religious of the ,high ,church1 who have receiv'd his ,private ,thoughts and his ,volumes of ,sermons1 like ,manna from ,heaven4 ,and yet possibly never ,man had two more severe ,attacks made upon him than he had2 one by ,bishop ,stillingfleet1 who in ,a ,vindication of their ,majesties ,authority to fill the ,sees of the depriv'd ,bishops1 c4 occasion'd by ,dr4 ,beveridge's ,refusal of the ,bishoprick of ,bath and ,wells1 satirizes both his ,prudence and his ,sincerity2 and another1 by an ingenious ,bishop also1 who in ,a short ,view of ,dr4 ,beveridge's ,writings1 has in a most refin'd drolling manner represented those ,writings as abounding in most absurd and ridiculous ,divinity4 ,but one of the justest and finest ,pieces of ,irony1 and the most timely and seasonably vented1 and that deserves perpetual ,remembrance1 is1 ,andrews the grave ,bishop of ,winchester's ,irony1 on ,neal the grave ,bishop of ,durham2 of which we have the following ,relation in the ,poet ,waller's ,life1 prefix'd before his ,works3 ,on the ,day of the ,dissolution of the last ,parliament of ,king ,james the ,first1 ,mr4 ,waller1 out of ,curiosity or ,respect1 went to see the ,king at ,dinner2 with whom were ,dr4 ,andrews the ,bishop of ,winchester1 and ,dr4 ,neal ,bishop of ,durham1 standing behind his ,majesty's ,chair4 ,there happen'd something very extraordinary in the ,conversation those ,prelates had with the ,king1 on which ,mr4 ,waller did often reflect4 ,his ,majesty ask'd the ,bishops1 ,my ,lords1 cannot ,i take my ,subjects ,money when ,i want it1 without all this ,formality in ,parliament8 ,the ,bishop of ,durham readily answer'd1 ,god forbid1 ,sir1 but you should2 you are the ,breath of our ,nostrils4 ,whereupon the ,king turn'd and said to the ,bishop of ,winchester1 ,well1 my ,lord1 what say you8 ,sir1 replied the ,bishop1 ,i have no ,skill to judge of ,parliamentary ,cases4 ,the ,king answer'd1 ,no ,put-offs1 my ,lord2 answer me presently4 ,then1 ,sir1 said he1 ,i think it is lawful for you to take my ,brother ,neal's ,money1 for he offers it4 ,mr4 ,waller said the ,company was pleas'd with this ,answer1 and the ,wit of it seem'd to affect the ,king4 ,which shews the exceeding ,aptness and ,usefulness of a good ,irony2 that can convey an ,instruction to a vicious1 evil1 and tyrannical ,prince1 highly reflecting on his ,conduct1 without drawing on his ,resentment4 ,to these famous ,divines ,i might add the most eminent and renowned ,philosophers of ,antiquity1 who1 either out of a ,contempt of ,mankind1 or to gratify their peculiar ,tempers1 or to correct the ,vices and ,follies of ,men1 and to instil virtuous ,maxims in those who would only receive them in some pleasant way1 set up for good ,humour1 ,mirth1 and ,drollery1 as their standing ,method of ,life1 and of ,conversation with the ,world2 and have left behind them some of their occasional ,sayings upon record1 which do more ,honour to their ,memories than the most elaborate ,treatises would have done1 and more ,good to ,men2 upon whom a ,jest1 or witty ,saying1 is more fitted to operate and make ,impression than long ,deductions and ,reasonings1 and particularly on ,princes and great ,men1 who will receive no ,instruction but in some very artful and short ,way3 whereof even the rude ,diogenes1 the ,cynick1 has given us a most incomparable ,example1 in his occasional ,conference with ,alexander the ,great1 who was put into such ,temper by the mere ,freedom and ,raillery of the ,philosopher1 as to take every thing in good part he said to him1 and consequently be dispos'd to reflect upon it1 and to act with ,discretion4 ,at the ,head of these ,philosophers ,i place ,,socrates1 who has very generally in all ,ages pass'd for the wisest of ,men1 and was declared so by an ,oracle2 which1 at least1 was therein directed and influenc'd by some considerable human ,authority1 or by the common ,sentiments of ,men at that time4 ,his ,character ,i shall give you in the words of the most ingenious ,addison1 who was himself a ,master of ,humour and ,drollery1 and practis'd them in ,perfection1 and with great ,success in almost all his ,prose-writings4 ,socrates1 says he#ej1 who was the greatest ,propagator of ,morality in the ,heathen ,world1 and a ,martyr for the ,unity of the ,godhead1 was so famous for the exercise of the ,talent of ,raillery and ,humour among the politest ,people of ,antiquity1 that he gain'd the ,name of ,,the ,,drole4#ea ,a ,character that intitled him to the greatest ,merit1 as it most of all enabled him to promote ,virtue4 ,i might also offer to your ,confederation the ,affair of ,comedies2 which all polite ,governments have permitted1 or establish'd1 in their several populous and wealthy ,cities1 as the necessary and proper means to encounter ,vice and recommend ,virtue1 and to employ innocently and usefully the vacant ,hours of many1 who know not how to employ their ,time1 or would employ it amiss1 by entering into #eb ,factions and ,cabals to disturb the ,state2 or by ,gaming1 or by backbiting ,conversations about their ,neighbours4 ,and as ,comedies1 which were originally very gross1 grew by ,use more polite and refin'd in ,satire and ,raillery3 so the most celebrated ,wits and ,statesmen1 and ,persons of the greatest ,quality1 have engag'd and join'd with others in them1 and performed with the greatest ,success and ,reputation to themselves2 and have been valu'd1 not only for their ,talents of ,irony and ,drollery1 which were essential to the ,credit of such ,performances2 but applauded1 as acting the virtuous ,part of ,droles4 ,in fine1 ,books of ,satire1 ,wit1 ,humour1 ,ridicule1 ,drollery1 and ,irony1 are the most read and applauded of all ,books1 in all ,ages1 ,languages1 and ,countries4 ,and as those which are exquisite in their kinds1 are the standing ,entertainment of the ,ingenious and ,learned2 so others1 of a lower kind1 are to be found among the lower ,readers1 who sleep under all ,works which do not make them merry4 ,in a word1 the ,opinions and ,practices of ,men in all ,matters1 and especially in ,matters of ,religion1 are generally so absurd and ridiculous that it is impossible for them not to be the ,subjects of ,ridicule4 ,for what else can be expected from ,men who generally take up their ,opinions without any ,inquiry into their ,reasonableness or ,truth1 and upon the most incompetent ,grounds8 ,i cannot be supposed to injure ,mankind1 if ,i consider them under the ,character which the very ingenious ,sir ,richard ,steele gives of himself2 who acknowledges #ec that 7even while he took upon himself the ,title of the ,censor of ,great ,britain1 and in so many fine ,papers corrects his ,countrymen1 and particularly the ,freethinkers1 whom he directs the ,magistrate to punish with ,death7 it had been with him1 as it is with too many others1 that a #ec sort of an implicit ,religion seem'd the most easy and most comfortable2 and that a blind ,veneration for he knew not what1 and he knew not whom1 stood for every thing important4 ,and he confesses he was not enough aware1 that this ,implicitness of ,conduct is the great ,engine of ,popery1 fram'd for the ,destruction of good ,nature1 as well as good ,sense4 ,if so great a ,man could take up with such a ,method1 and act the ,part of a ,censor and ,director of others1 in a ,matter which he had not at all consider'd1 what can be expected else from others1 but absurd and ridiculous ,opinions and ,practices8 ,and if some ,men will fall into absurd and ridiculous ,opinions1 ,habits1 ,forms1 ,figures and ,grimaces2 there will be those who will laugh1 nay1 cannot help laughing at them4 ,hence most ,parties laugh at one another1 without the least ,scruple1 and with great ,applause of their own ,parties2 and the ,leaders of the same ,party laugh with one another1 when they consider the absurd and ridiculous ,opinions they profess1 and how they cheat and govern their ,followers2 agreeably to what ,cicero reports of ,cato#ed1 ,vetus autem illud ,catonis admodum scitum est1 qui mirari se aiebat1 quod non rideret haruspex cum haruspicem vidisset4 ,i think it may be justly suppos'd1 that ,pope ,alexander and ,thomas ,becket could not but laugh together at the ,simplicity and ,weakness of their ,followers1 the ,papists1 who receiv'd for truth the following ,story4 ,it was told as a ,fact#ee1 that when ,thomas ,becket1 who never drank any thing but ,water1 sat at ,table with ,pope ,alexander1 and that his ,holiness would needs taste of his ,cup2 lest his abstemiousness should be known1 ,god turn'd the ,water into ,wine3 so that the ,pope found nothing but ,wine in the ,cup4 ,but when ,becket pledg'd him1 it was turn'd into ,water again4 ,laughing therefore1 and ,ridicule in serious ,matters1 go round the ,world with no inconsiderable ,applause1 and seem highly proper for this ,world of ,nonsense and ,folly4 ,to hinder laughing upon such just ,occasions as are given1 is almost all one as to hinder breathing4 ,a very witty1 drolling1 ,dramatick ,poet1 and of the first ,rank for ,quality1 says in a ,prologue to his ,auditors4 ,suppose now1 at this ,instant1 one of you ,were tickled by a ,fool1 what would you do8 ',tis ten to one you'd laugh3 here's just the ,case4 ,for there are ,fools that tickle with their ,face4 ,your gay ,fool tickles with his ,dress and ,motions2 ,but your grave ,fool of ,fools with silly ,notions4 ,is it not then unjust that ,fops should still ,force one to laugh1 and then take laughing ill8 ,,ii4 ,secondly1 ,if it be a ,fault in those reverend ,divines1 mention'd in the foregoing ,article1 to use ,irony1 ,drollery1 ,ridicule1 and ,satire1 in any ,case2 or if the ,fault lies in an exorbitant ,use thereof1 or in any particular ,species of ,drollery2 as1 for example1 such ,drollery as is to be found in the polemical ,writings and ,sermons of ,dr4 ,south2 it is fit some ,remedy should be employ'd for the ,cure of this ,evil4 ,and the ,remedy ,i would propose1 should not be to have the ,authors punish'd by the ,magistrate1 any more than for any other ,faults in writing2 but either to neglect and despise it1 as ,rage and ,scolding1 which drop into ,oblivion with the ,sound1 and would have a ,life given it by ,resentment3 or to allow ,men to criticize and ridicule one another for their ,ironies and ,drollery1 and to exercise their ,wit and ,parts against each other2 that being the true ,method to bring ,things to a ,standard1 to fix the ,decency and ,propriety of ,writing1 to teach ,men how to write to the ,satisfaction of the ingenious1 polite1 and sensible ,part of ,mankind3 for ,decency and ,propriety will stand the ,test of ,ridicule1 and triumph over all the false ,pretences to ,wit2 and ,indecency and ,impropriety will sink under the ,trial of ,ridicule1 as being capable of being baffled by ,reason1 and justly ridicul'd4 ,and if any kind or degree of ,ridicule be absurd or ridiculous1 that will appear so upon ,trial1 no less than the low and gross ,ridicule prevalent among the unpolite ,part of the ,world3 ,but that will never appear4 ,on the contrary1 ,ridicule of certain kinds1 and under reasonable ,directions and ,rules1 and used in proper ,time1 ,place1 and ,manner1 7all which also are only to be found out and fix'd by ,trial and ,experience7 is both a proper and necessary ,method of ,discourse in many ,cases1 and especially in the ,case of ,gravity1 when that is attended with ,hypocrisy or ,imposture1 or with ,ignorance1 or with soureness of ,temper and ,persecution2 all which ought to draw after them the ,ridicule and ,contempt of the ,society1 which has no other effectual ,remedy against such ,methods of ,imposition4 ,and to determine in some measure the ,nature and ,extent of the ,irony ,i contend for1 as ,just1 ,i profess to approve the noble ,sarcasm of ,elijah#ef2 wherein he thus mocks the ,priests of ,baal1 saying in effect to them1 ,cry aloud1 for your ,baal is a fine ,god3 ,he is either talking1 or he is pursuing1 or he is in a ,journey2 or peradventure he sleepeth1 and must be awaked4 ,and ,i concur with the ,psalmist#eg1 who thought it no ,indecency to say1 that he that sits in ,heaven shall laugh them 7that is1 certain ,kings1 who were ,david's ,enemies7 to scorn2 the ,lord shall have them in ,derision3 and must judge1 that laughing to scorn1 and deriding the greatest ,men upon ,earth1 even ,kings and ,princes1 to be a laudable and divine ,method of dealing with them1 who are only to be taught or rebuk'd in some artful way4 ,i also approve of the following ,sarcasm or ,irony1 which has a better ,authority for it than ,elijah or the ,psalmist4 ,moses introduces ,god speaking thus after the ,fall#eh1 ,behold the ,man is become like one of us1 to know ,good and ,evil6 ,and ,i think this ,passage shews1 that the whole ,affair of the ,fall1 of which we have so very brief an ,account1 was a very entertaining ,scene2 and would have appear'd so1 if set forth at large2 as indeed it does under the ,hands of our ,divines1 who have supplied that short ,narration by various ,additions1 founded on ,conjectures1 and particularly under the fine ,hand of ,dr4 ,tho4 ,burnet1 who has made a most ingenious ,dialogue of what he suppos'd pass'd between ,eve and the ,serpent#ei4 ,to say nothing of ,milton's famous ,paradise ,lost4 ,in fine1 ever since ,i could read the ,bible1 ,i was particularly pleas'd with the ,history of ,jonas1 where such a ,representation is made of that ,prophet's ,ignorance1 ,folly1 and ,peevishness1 as exposes him to the utmost ,contempt and ,scorn1 and fixes a perpetual ,ridicule on his ,character4 ,and let me here observe1 that this ,history has had ample ,justice done it1 in an ,explication thereof by two #fj very ingenious ,authors1 who1 by most penetrating and happy ,criticisms and ,reflections1 have drawn the ,character of ,jonas in a more open manner4 ,,iii4 ,but1 ,thirdly1 ,i wave my ,remedy1 and am ready to come into any ,law that shall be made to rectify this suppos'd ,fault of ,irony1 by punishing those who are guilty of it4 ,the great ,concern is and ought to be1 that the ,liberty of examining into the ,truth of ,things should be kept up1 that ,men may have some ,sense and ,knowledge1 and not be the ,dupes of ,cheats and ,impostors1 or of those who would keep them in the dark1 and let them receive nothing but thro' their ,hands4 ,if that be secur'd to us by ,authority1 ,i1 for my part1 am very ready to sacrifice the ,privilege of ,irony1 tho so much in fashion among all ,men2 being persuaded1 that a great ,part of the ,irony complain'd of1 has its rise from the want of ,liberty to examine into the ,truth of ,things2 and that if that ,liberty was prevalent1 it would1 without a ,law1 prevent all that ,irony which ,men are driven into for want of ,liberty to speak plainly1 and to protect themselves from the ,attacks of those who would take the ,advantage to ruin them for direct ,assertions2 and that such ,authors as ,rabelais1 ,saint ,aldegonde1 ,blount1 ,marvel1 ,thekeringil1 and many others1 would never have run into that ,excess of ,burlesque1 for which they are all so famous1 had not the ,restraint from writing seriously been so great4 ,if #fa ,men are forbid to speak their ,minds seriously on certain ,subjects1 they will do it ironically4 ,if they are forbid at all upon such ,subjects1 or if they find it dangerous to do so1 they will then redouble their ,disguise1 involve themselves in mysteriousness1 and talk so as hardly to be understood1 or at least not plainly interpreted by those who are dispos'd to do them a ,mischief4 ,and thus ,raillery is brought more in fashion1 and runs into an ,extreme4 ',tis the persecuting ,spirit has rais'd the bantering one3 ,and want of ,liberty may account for want of a true ,politeness1 and for the ,corruption or wrong ,use of ,pleasantry and ,humour4 ,if in this respect we strain the just ,measure of what we call ,urbanity1 and are apt sometimes to take a buffooning rustick ,air1 we may thank the ridiculous ,solemnity and sour ,humour of our ,pedagogues3 or rather they may thank themselves1 if they in particular meet with the heaviest of this kind of ,treatment4 ,for it will naturally fall heaviest1 where the ,constraint has been the severest4 ,the greater the ,weight is1 the bitterer will be the ,satire4 ,the higher the ,slavery1 the more exquisite the ,buffoonery4 ,that this is really so1 may appear by looking on those ,countries where the spiritual ,tyranny is highest4 ,for the greatest of ,buffoons are the ,italians3 and in their ,writings1 in their freer sort of ,conversations1 on their ,theatres1 and in their ,streets1 ,buffoonery and ,burlesque are in the highest ,vogue4 ',tis the only manner in which the poor cramp'd ,wretches can discharge a free ,thought4 ,we must yield to 'em the ,superiority in this sort of ,wit4 ,for what wonder is it if we1 who have more ,liberty1 have less ,dexterity in that egregious way of ,raillery and ,ridicule8 ,liberty of grave ,examination being fix'd by ,law1 ,i am1 ,i say1 ready to sacrifice the ,privilege of ,irony1 and yield to have a ,law enacted to prevent it4 ,i am1 moreover1 willing to leave the drawing up such a ,law to your self2 who honestly and impartially say#fb1 that all who droll1 let them be of any ,party1 let them droll for the ,truth or against it1 should be equally punish'd4 ,thus this grand ,affair of ,irony1 ,banter1 and ,ridicule2 this last persecuting ,pretence1 upon which you would set the ,humours and ,passions of ,people1 who are all at quiet1 on float1 and make a ,fermentation1 and raise a ,persecution against particular ,people1 seems perfectly settled1 by yielding to your own ,terms4 ,,iv4 ,let me here add1 that ,i am apt to think1 that when you draw up your ,law1 you will find it so very difficult to settle the ,point of ,decency in ,writing1 in respect to all the various kinds of ,irony and ,ridicule1 that you will be ready to lay aside your ,project2 and that you will be no more able to settle that ,point of ,decency1 than you would be to settle by ,law1 that ,cleanliness in ,clothes1 and that ,politeness in ,dress1 ,behaviour1 and ,conversation1 which become ,men of ,quality and ,fortune in the ,world1 and should be habitual to them3 ,and that1 if you are able to do that to your own ,satisfaction1 you will find it very difficult to engage the ,lawmakers in your ,project4 ,for ,i am persuaded1 that if our ,lawmakers were1 out of a rational ,principle1 disposed to give ,liberty by ,law to serious ,opposition to publickly receiv'd ,notions1 they would not think it of much ,importance to make a ,law about a ,method of ,irony4 ,they will naturally conclude1 that if ,men may and ought to be allow'd to write seriously in ,opposition to publickly receiv'd ,doctrines1 they should be allow'd to write in their own way2 and will be unwilling to be depriv'd of ingenious and witty ,discourses1 or such as some of them will judge so1 about a ,subject wherein serious free ,discourse is allow'd4 ,besides1 ,i am apt to think1 that you1 upon consideration of the ,advantages which the ,church has receiv'd from the ,berkenheads1 the ,heylins1 the ,ryves's1 the ,needhams1 the ,lestranges1 the ,nalsons1 the ,lesleys1 the ,oldesworths1 and others1 in their ,mercurius ,aulicus's1 their ,mercurius ,pragmaticus's1 their ,mercurius ,rusticus's1 their ,observators#fc1 their ,heraclitus ,ridens's1 ,rehearsals1 their ,examiners#fd1 and the three ,volumes against the ,rights of the ,church2 from the ,butlers in their ,hudibras's1 and other ,burlesque ,works upon the ,religion and ,religious ,conduct of the ,dissenters2 or from the ,eachards1 the ,tom ,browns1 and ,swifts2 or from the ,parkers#fe1 ,patricks#ff1 ,souths#fg1 ,sherlocks#fh1 ,atterburys#fi1 and ,sacheverels#gj2 in their ,discourses1 and ,tracts against the ,nonconformists1 ,whigs1 ,low-,church-men1 and ,latitudinarians2 and other such ironical1 satirical1 and polemical ,divines2 and from such drolling ,judges as ,howel1 ,recorder of ,london1 and the ,chief ,justice ,jefferys1 who1 in all ,causes1 where ,whigs or ,dissenters were the ,persons accus'd and try'd before them1 carried on the ,trial by a #ga ,train of ridicule on them1 their ,witnesses and ,counsel3 ,i say1 ,i am apt to think1 that you would be unwilling to be depriv'd of what has been and may be again so serviceable4 ,i am dispos'd to think that ,dr4 ,snape1 who is notoriously known to have gone into the greatest ,lengths of ,calumny and ,satire against ,bishop ,hoadley#gb1 to have fall'n upon the dissenting ,clergy in a burlesque and bantering ,address to the ,peirces1 the ,calamys1 and the ,bradburys1 and to have written a long ironical ,letter in the ,name of the ,jesuits to ,mr4 de la ,pilloniere#gc1 will be thought a very improper ,object of ,censure for such ,employment of his ,pen4 ,on the contrary1 such sort of ,attacks upon such ,persons are the most meritorious ,parts of a ,man's ,life1 recommend him as a ,person of true and sincere ,religion1 much more than the strongest ,reasoning1 and the most regular ,life2 and pave the way to all the ,riches1 and ,pleasures and ,advantages or ,life2 not only among those1 who1 under the ,colour of ,religion1 are carrying on a common ,corporation ,cause of ,wealth1 ,power1 and ,authority1 but among many well-meaning ,people1 who allow of all ,practices1 which they suppose help out the ,truth6 ,it seems to me a most prodigious ,banter upon us1 for ,men to talk in general of the ,immorality of ,ridicule and ,irony1 and of punishing ,men for those ,matters1 when their own ,practice is universal ,irony and ,ridicule of all those who go not with them1 and universal ,applause and ,encouragement for such ,ridicule and ,irony1 and distinguishing by all the honourable ways imaginable such drolling ,authors for their ,drollery2 and when ,punishment for ,drollery is never call'd for1 but when ,drollery is used or employ'd against them6 ,i don't know whether you would be willing1 if you consider of it1 to limit the ,stage it self1 which has with great ,applause and ,success1 from ,queen ,elizabeth's ,time downwards1 ridicul'd the serious ,puritans and ,dissenters1 and that without any ,complaints from good ,churchmen1 that serious ,persons and ,things were banter'd and droll'd upon2 and has triumph'd over its fanatical ,adversaries in the ,person of ,pryn1 who sufficiently suffer'd for his ,histrio-,mastix1 and has been approv'd of as an innocent ,diversion by the religious ,dr4 ,patrick in his ,friendly ,debate1 in the ,reign of ,king ,charles ,,ii4 when the ,stage was in a very immoral ,state4 ,i don't know whether you would be willing even to restrain ,bartholomew ,fair1 where the ,sect of the ,new ,prophets was the ,subject of a ,droll or ,puppet-,show1 to the great ,satisfaction of the ,auditors1 who1 it may be presum'd1 were all good ,churchmen1 ,puritans and ,dissenters usually declining such ,entertainments out of real or pretended ,seriousness4 7,a certain ,clergyman thought fit to remark1 that ,king ,william could be no good ,churchman1 because of his not frequenting the ,play-,house4#gd7 ,v4 ,it will probably be a ,motive with you to be against abolishing ,drollery1 when you reflect that the ,men of ,irony1 the ,droles and ,satirists1 have been and always will be very numerous on your side1 where they have been and are so much incourag'd for acting that ,part1 and that they have always been and always will be very few on the side of ,heterodoxy2 a ,cause wherein an ,author by engaging1 may hurt his ,reputation and ,fortune1 and can propose nothing to himself but ,poverty and ,disgrace4 ,i doubt whether you would be for punishing your ,friend ,dr4 ,rogers1 from whom ,i just now quoted an ,irony on the ,author of ,the ,scheme of ,literal ,prophecy consider'd1 or any one else1 for laughing at and making sport with him2 or whether you would be for punishing the ,reverend ,mr4 ,trapp1 who implies the ,justness and ,propriety of ridiculing ,popery2 when he says#ge1 that ,popery is so foolish and absurd1 that every body of common ,sense must ,,laugh at it2 and when he refers to ,erasmus for having abundantly ,,ridicul',d their ,reliques2 and himself puts ,ridicule in ,practice against them1 by representing their ,doctrines and ,practices as ridiculously foolish1 as despicably childish1 and ,matter of mere ,scorn2 as monstrous2 as ,spells1 juggling ,tricks1 gross ,cheats1 ,impostures#gf1 and wretched ,shifts2 and in fine1 in representing by way of ,specimen1 all their ,miracles as ,legends2 of which he says1 ,these and a thousand more such like unreasonable ,lies1 which a ,child of common ,sense would laugh at1 are impos'd upon and swallow'd by the ignorant ,people1 and make a ,,very ,,great ,part of the ,popish ,religion4 ,and this1 in concurrence with ,mr4 ,trapp1 ,i also take to be the ,case of ,popery1 that it must make ,men laugh2 and that it is much easier to be gravely disposed in reading a ,stage-,comedy or ,farce1 than in considering and reflecting on the ,comedy and ,farce of ,popery2 than which1 ,wit and ,folly1 and ,madness in conjunction1 cannot invent or make a thing more ridiculous1 according to that ,light in which ,i see their ,doctrines1 ,ceremonies and ,worship1 the ,histories and ,legends of their ,saints1 and the pretended ,miracles wrought in their ,church2 which has hardly any thing serious in it but its ,persecutions1 its ,murders1 its ,massacres2 all employ'd against the most innocent and virtuous1 and the most sensible and learned ,men1 because they will not be ,tools to support ,villany and ,ignorance4 ,transubstantiation1 says ,tillotson#gg1 is not a ,controversy of ,scripture against ,scripture1 or of ,reason against ,reason1 but of downright ,impudence against the plain meaning of ,scripture1 and all the ,sense and ,reason of ,mankind4 ,and accordingly he scruples not to say1 in a most drolling manner1 that ,transubstantiation is one of the chief of the ,roman ,church's legerdemain and juggling ,tricks of ,falshood and ,imposture2 and that in all ,probability those common juggling ,words of ,hocus-pocus1 are nothing else but a ,corruption of hoc est corpus1 by way of ridiculous ,imitation of the ,church of ,rome in their ,trick of ,transubstantiation4 ,and as he archly makes the ,introduction of this monstrous ,piece of grave ,nonsense to be owing to its being at first preach'd by its ,promoters with convenient ,gravity and ,solemnity#gh1 which is the common ,method of imposing ,absurdities on the ,world2 so ,i think that ,doctrine taught with such convenient ,gravity and ,solemnity should necessarily produce ,levity1 ,laughter and ,ridicule1 in all intelligent ,people to whom it is propos'd1 who must smile1 if they can with safety1 to see such ,stuff vented with a grave ,face4 ,in like manner many other ,divines treat and laugh at ,popery4 ,even the solemn and grave ,dr4 ,whitby has written a ,book against ,transubstantiation1 under the ,title of ,irrisio ,dei ,panarii1 ,the ,derision of the ,breaden ,god1 in ,imitation of the primitive ,fathers1 who have written ,derisions and ,mockeries of the ,pagan ,religion4 ,and he takes the ,materials whereof this drolling ,performance of his consists1 from the holy ,scriptures1 the ,apocryphal ,books1 and ,writings of the holy ,fathers1 as he tells us in his ,title-,page2 three inexhaustible ,sources of ,wit and ,irony against the ,corrupters of true and genuine ,religion4 ,in like manner he turns upon the ,popish ,clergy the several ,arguments urg'd by the ,jewish ,clergy in the ,new ,testament1 for the ,authority of the ,jewish ,church2 and answers1 under that ,irony1 all that the ,popish ,clergy offer in behalf of the ,authority of their ,church1 in a ,sermon at the ,end of his ,annotations on ,st4 ,john's ,gospel4 ,nor do our ,divines confine their ,derisions1 ,ridicule and ,irony against ,popery to their ,treatises and ,discourses1 but fill their ,sermons1 and especially their ,sermons on the ,fifth of ,november1 and other political ,days1 with infinite ,reflections of that ,kind4 ,of these ,reflections a ,popish ,author publish'd a ,specimen1 in a ,book intitled#gi1 ,good ,advice to ,pulpits1 in order to shame the ,church out of their ,method of drolling and laughing #hj at ,popery4 ,but this ,book had no other effect1 than to produce a ,defence of those ,sermons under the ,title of ,pulpit ,popery true ,popery1 vindicating the several ,droll ,representations made of ,popery in those ,sermons4 ,of these drolling ,reflections cited by the ,popish ,author out of our ,church of ,england ,sermons1 take these following for a ,specimen of what are to be met with in those ,sermons#ha4 ,pilgrimages1 going ,bare-foot1 ,hair-shirts1 and ,whips1 with other such ,gospel-artillery1 are their only ,helps to ,devotion4----,it seems that with them a ,man sometimes cannot be a ,penitent1 unless he also turns ,vagabond1 and foots it to ,jerusalem4----,he that thinks to expiate a ,sin by going bare-foot1 does the ,penance of a ,goose1 and only makes one ,folly the ,atonement of another4 ,paul indeed was scourg'd and beaten by the ,jews2 but we never read that he beat or scourg'd himself2 and if they think his keeping under his ,body imports so much1 they must first prove that the ,body cannot be kept under by a virtuous ,mind1 and that the ,mind cannot be made virtuous but by a ,scourge2 and consequently1 that ,thongs and ,whipcord are ,means of ,grace1 and ,things necessary to ,salvation4 ,the truth is1 if ,mens ,religion lies no deeper than their ,skin1 it is possible they may scourge themselves into very great ,improvements4----,but they will find that bodily ,exercise touches not the ,soul2 and consequently that in this whole ,course they are like ,men out of the way3 let them flash on never so fast1 they are not at all nearer their ,journey's-end3 ,and howsoever they deceive themselves and others1 they may as well expect to bring a ,cart1 as a ,soul1 to ,heaven4 ,what say you to the ,popish ,doctrine of the ,sacrifice of the ,mass4----,according to this ,doctrine1 our blessed ,saviour must still1 to the end of the ,world1 be laid hold on by ,sinners1 be ground with their ,teeth1 and sent down into their impure ,paunches1 as often as the ,priest shall pronounce this ,charm1 hoc est corpus meum3 and it seems that he was a false ,prophet1 when he said upon the ,cross1 ,it is finish'd1 seeing there was such an infinite deal of loathsom ,drudgery still to be undergone4 ,for ,purgatory1 'tis not material in it self1 whether it be1 or where it be1 no more than the ,world in the ,moon2 but so long as that false ,fire serves to maintain a true one1 and his ,holiness's ,kitchen smokes with the ,rents he receives for releasing ,souls from thence1 which never came there1 it concerns him and his to see to it1 that it be not suffer'd to go out4 ,an ingenious ,author1 ,sir ,richard ,steel1 has of late made a ,dedication to his ,holiness the ,pope himself1 before a ,book entitled1 ,an ,account of the ,state of the ,roman ,catholick ,religion throughout the ,world1 c4 ,in which ,dedication1 that most exalted ,clergyman the ,pope1 that suppos'd infallible ,dictator in ,religion1 and most grave ,person2 who1 if serious ,matters and ,persons were always to be treated seriously1 may vie with any other ,mortal for a ,right to serious ,treatment2 is expos'd by incomparable ,drollery and ,irony to the utmost ,contempt1 to the universal ,satisfaction of ,protestant ,readers1 who have been pleas'd to see a gross ,impostor1 however respected and ador'd by godly and serious ,papists1 so treated4 ,,vi4 ,in fine1 it is suited to the common ,practice of this ,nation to ridicule ,popery as well as ,nonconformity2 and tho several grave ,books1 written among us against ,popery1 in the ,reign of ,king ,james ,,ii4 7of which yet the ,romish ,priests complain'd1 as treating the ,king's #hb ,religion with ,contempt7 were then very well receiv'd and applauded for ,learning and strength of ,arguing2 yet1 ,i believe1 it may with more ,propriety be said1 that ,king ,james ,,ii4 and ,popery were #hc laugh'd or ,lilli-bullero'd1 than that they were argu'd out of the ,kingdom4 ,the reading the ,king's ,declaration of ,indulgence in ,churches #afhh1 had this fatal ,jest put upon it by a reverend ,divine1 ,who pleasantly told his ,people1 ,that tho he was obliged to read it1 they were not obliged to hear it#hd2 and stop'd till they all went out1 and then he read it to the ,walls4 ,to which may be added1 the famous ,mr4 ,wallop's excellent ,comparison of that ,declaration upon the ,instant of its ,publication1 to the scaffolding of ,st4 ,paul's ,church2 which1 as soon as the ,building was finish'd1 would be pull'd down4 ,bishop ,burnet celebrates1 with the greatest ,justness1 our ,taste1 and indeed the ,taste of the ,world in this ,respect1 when he relates how ,popery was then used among us2 and he recites some of the ,jests which passed and were received with universal ,applause4 ,he tells us#he1 ,the ,court was now 7that is1 in #afhf17 much set on making ,converts1 which fail'd in most ,instances1 and produc'd ,repartees2 that whether true or false1 were much repeated1 and were heard with great ,satisfaction4 ,the ,earl of ,mulgrave 7since ,duke of ,buckinghamshire7 was ,lord ,chamberlain2 he was apt to comply in every thing that he thought might be acceptable1 for he went with the ,king to ,mass1 and kneeled at it2 and being look'd on as indifferent to all ,religions1 the ,priests made an ,attack upon him3 ,he heard them gravely arguing for ,transubstantiation4 ,he told them he was willing to receive ,instruction2 he had taken much ,pains to bring himself to believe in ,god1 who made the ,world and all ,men in it3 ,but it must not be an ordinary ,force of ,argument that could make him believe that ,man was quits with ,god1 and made ,god again4 ,the ,earl of ,middleton had marry'd into a ,popish ,family1 and was a ,man of great ,parts and a generous ,temper1 but of loose ,principles in ,religion2 so a ,priest was sent to instruct him4 ,he began with ,transubstantiation1 of which he said he would convince him immediately3 ,and began thus1 ,you believe the ,trinity4 ,middleton stop'd him1 and said1 who told you so8 ,at which he seem'd amazed4 ,so the ,earl said1 he expected he should convince him of his ,belief1 but not question him of his own3 ,with this the ,priest was so disorder'd1 that he could proceed no farther4 ,one ,day the ,king gave the ,duke of ,norfolk the ,sword of ,state to carry before him to the ,chappel1 and he stood at the ,door4 ,upon which the ,king said to him1 ,my ,lord1 your ,father would have gone farther4 ,to which the ,duke answer'd1 ,your ,majesty's ,father was the better ,man1 and he would not have gone so far4 ,kirk was also spoken to1 to change his ,religion1 and he reply'd briskly1 that he was already pre-engag'd1 for he had promised the ,king of ,morocco1 that if ever he chang'd his ,religion he would turn ,mahometan4 ,when ,k4 ,james sent an ,irish ,priest to convert the ,d4 of ,bucks ,villers the said ,duke entertain'd the ,priest with a ,bottle1 and engag'd him in a ,dialogue1 which the ,duke afterwards caus'd to be printed1 to the no small ,mortification of all ,papists1 who were therein exceedingly ridicul'd1 and to the ,triumph of all good ,churchmen1 who are never better pleas'd1 than when they have the ,laugh on their side4 ,at this time also were publish'd two merry ,books1 by a couple of our ,divines1 with express ,view to make ,protestants laugh at ,popery1 as at a ,farce2 and they were1 ,the ,school of the ,eucharist1 wherein is a ,collection of ridiculous ,miracles1 pretended to be wrought to support the ,truth of ,transubstantiation1 and ,purgatory prov'd by ,miracles4 ,i must not omit another incomparable ,piece of ,wit and ,raillery against ,popery1 publish'd at that time4 ,it seems the famous ,poet1 ,dryden1 thought fit to declare himself a ,roman ,catholick2 and had1 as 'tis said1 a ,penance injoyn'd him by his ,confessor1 for having formerly written ,the ,spanish ,fryar1 of composing some ,treatise in a poetical way for ,popery1 and against the ,reformation4 ,this he executed in a ,poem1 intituled1 ,the ,hind and ,panther2 which1 setting aside the ,absurdity of the ,matters therein asserted1 and of the several ,arguments to maintain them1 is1 in other ,respects1 one of the most mean ,compositions that ever the ,press produc'd4 ,was it proper to pass over in silence such a ,work1 from whence probably the ,popish ,party expected great ,matters1 as knowing the ,efficacy of ,poetry1 and being ,witnesses of the ,success the ,author had had in his ,absalom and ,achitophel against the ,whigs8 ,was it proper to write seriously and gravely against a ,book1 wherein the ,author every where aims at ,wit1 ,irony1 and ,burlesque1 and does himself make so ridiculous a ,figure1 as to be a standing ,jest throughout the whole8 ,was not the ,convert himself1 as such1 a ,jest1 or as professing any ,religion1 a ,jest2 who argu'd for ,pay1 and spoke as he was brib'd1 and would have profess'd any ,opinions1 as is the ,mode and ,practice of the ,world1 to which ,salary and ,preferments are annexed8 ,some ingenious ,persons of the ,times took a better ,method1 and agreeably to the ,temper and ,disposition of our ,countrymen1 and to the nature of ,dryden's ,attack1 and his interested ,writing for ,religion1 made a ,return in a ,paper intituled1 ,the ,hind and ,panther transvers'd to the ,story of the ,country-,mouse and ,city-,mouse3 ,out of which1 for a ,specimen of just ,irony1 and fine ,raillery1 ,i will give you the following ,passage4 ,sirrah1 says ,brindle1 thou hast brought us ,wine1 ,sour to my ,taste1 and to my ,eyes unfine4 ,says ,will1 ,all ,gentlemen like it4 ,ah6 says ,white1 ,what is approved by them must needs be right4 ',tis true1 ,i thought it bad1 but if the ,house ,commend it1 ,i submit1 a private ,mouse4 ,nor to their ,catholick ,consent oppose ,my erring ,judgment and reforming ,nose4 #hf,why1 what a ,devil1 shan't ,i trust my ,eyes1 ,must ,i drink ,stum1 because the ,rascal lies1 ,and palms upon us ,catholick ,consent1 ,to give sophisticated ,brewings ,vent8 ,says ,white1 what antient ,evidence can sway1 ,if you must argue thus and not obey8 ,drawers must be trusted1 thro' whose hands convey'd ,you take the ,liquor1 or you spoil the ,trade4 ,for sure those honest ,fellows have no ,knack ,of putting off stum'd ,claret for ,pontack4 ,how long alas6 would the poor ,vintner last1 ,if all that drink must judge1 and every ,guest ,be allow'd to have an understanding ,taste8 ,,vii4 ,i question whether ,high-,church would be willing to have the reverend ,author of the ,tale of a ,tub1 one of the greatest ,droles that ever appear'd upon the ,stage of the ,world1 punish'd for that or any other of his drolling ,works3 ,for tho religious ,matters1 and all the various ,forms of ,christianity have therein a considerable ,share of ,ridicule2 yet in regard of his ,drollery upon the ,whigs1 ,dissenters1 and the ,war with ,france 7things of as serious and weighty ,consideration1 and as much affecting the ,peace of ,society1 as ,justification by ,faith only1 ,predestination1 ,transubstantiation1 or ,constansubstantiation1 or ,questions about religious ,ceremonies1 or any such interested ,matters7 the ,convocation in their famous ,representation of the ,profaneness and ,blasphemy of the ,nation1 took no notice of his drolling on ,christianity3 ,and his ,usefulness in ,drollery and ,ridicule was deem'd sufficient by the ,pious ,queen ,anne1 and her pious ,ministry1 to intitle him to a ,church ,preferment of several hundred ,pounds per ,ann4 #hg which she bestow'd upon him1 notwithstanding a fanatick ,high-,churchman1 who weakly thought ,seriousness in ,religion of more use to ,high-,church than ,drollery1 and attempted to hinder his ,promotion1 by representing to her ,majesty1 ,what a ,scandal it would be both to ,church and ,state to bestow ,preferment upon a ,clergyman1 who was hardly suspected of being a ,christian4 ,besides1 ,high-,church receives daily most signal ,services from his drolling ,capacity1 which has of late exerted itself on the ,jacobite ,stage of ,mist's and ,fogg's ,journal1 and in other little ,papers publish'd in ,ireland2 in which he endeavours to expose the present ,administration of publick ,affairs to contempt1 to inflame the ,irish ,nation against the ,english1 and to make them throw off all ,subjection to the ,english ,government1 to satirize ,bishop ,burnet and other ,whig ,bishops2 and1 in fine1 to pave the way for a new or ,popish ,revolution1 as far as choosing the most proper ,topicks of ,invective1 and treating of them in the way of ,drollery1 can do4 ,,viii4 ,it is well known1 that ,gravity1 ,preciseness1 ,solemnity1 ,sourness1 formal ,dress and ,behaviour1 ,sobriety of ,manners1 keeping at a distance from the common ,pastimes of the ,world1 ,aversion to ,rites and ,ceremonies in the publick ,worship1 and to ,pictures1 ,images1 and ,musick in ,churches2 mixing ,religion in common ,conversion1 using long ,graces1 practising ,family-,worship1 part of which was praying ex tempore2 setting up and hearing ,lectures1 and a strict ,observation of the ,lord's ,day1 which was call'd the ,sabbath1 were the ,parts of the ,character of a ,puritan2 who1 it is to be observ'd1 usually had the ,imputation of ,hypocrisy for his great and extraordinary ,pretences to ,religion3 ,he was also a great ,opposer of the ,court-,measures in the ,reign of ,king ,james and ,king ,charles ,i4 and most zealous for ,law1 ,liberty1 and ,property1 when those two ,princes set up for raising ,money by their own ,authority1 and in consequence thereof1 fell into numerous other ,acts of ,violence and ,injustice4 ,it is also well known1 that to quell these ,puritans1 and lessen their ,credit1 and baffle all their ,pretences1 ,gaiety1 ,mirth1 ,pastimes or ,sports1 were incourag'd and requir'd on ,sundays of the ,people1 that ,churches were render'd gay1 theatrical1 and pleasant by the ,decorations1 ,paintings1 ,musick1 and ,ceremonies therein perform'd#hh2 and that the utmost ,ridicule was employ'd against some of them1 as ,enthusiasts1 and against others of them as ,hypocrites1 and against them all as factious and seditious1 by their ,adversaries2 who were under no ,restraints1 but incourag'd to write with ,scorn1 ,contempt1 ,raillery and ,satire against these suppos'd ,enemies of ,church and ,state4 ,nor did the great ,success of the ,puritans in the ,field of ,battle suppress that ,vein and ,humour of ,ridicule begun against them2 but the ,laudean ,party still carry'd on a ,paper ,war with innumerable ,pamphlets1 which all tended more or less to make the ,world laugh at and ridicule the ,puritans4 ,and ,i am verily persuaded1 that no ,history of any other ,country in the ,world can produce a ,parallel1 wherein the ,principle and ,practice of ,ridicule were ever so strongly encourag'd1 and so constantly pursu'd1 fix'd and rooted in the ,minds of ,men1 as it was and is in ,churchmen against ,puritans and ,dissenters4 ,even at this ,day the ,ridicule is so strong against the present ,dissenters1 so promoted by ,clergy and ,laity1 especially in ,villages and small ,country ,towns1 that they are unable to withstand its ,force1 but daily come over in ,numbers to the ,church to avoid being laugh'd at4 ,it seems to me a ,mark of ,distinction more likely to last in the ,church than any other ,matter that ,i can observe4 ,passive ,obedience1 the divine ,right of ,kings1 c4 rise and fall according to particular ,occasions2 but ,laughter at ,dissenters seems fixt for ever1 if they should chance to last so long4 ,south's ,sermons1 which now amount to six ,volumes1 make ,reading ,jests and ,banter upon ,dissenters1 the religious ,exercise of good ,churchmen upon ,sundays1 who now can serve ,god 7as many think they do by hearing or reading ,sermons7 and be as merry as at the ,play-house4 ,and ,hudibras1 which is a daily ,high-,church ,entertainment1 and a ,pocket and ,travelling ,high-,church ,companion1 must necessarily have a very considerable ,effect1 and cannot fail forming in ,men that ,humour and ,vein of ,ridicule upon ,dissenters which runs thro' that ,work4 ,in a word1 ,high-,church has constantly been an ,enemy to1 and a ,ridiculer of the ,seriousness of ,puritans and ,dissenters1 whom they have ever charg'd with ,hypocrisy for their ,seriousness4 ,after #hi the ,civil ,war had broke out in #afda1 and the ,king and ,court had settled at ,oxford1 one ,birkenhead1 who had liv'd in ,laud's ,family1 and been made ,fellow of ,all ,souls ,college by ,laud's ,means1 was appointed to write a ,weekly ,paper under the ,title of ,mercurius ,aulicus2 the first whereof was publish'd in #afdb4 ,in the ,absence of the ,author1 ,birkenhead1 from ,oxford1 it was continued by ,heylin4 ,birkenhead pleas'd the ,generality of ,readers with his ,waggeries and ,buffooneries2 and the ,royal ,party were so taken with it1 that the ,author was recommended to be ,reader of ,moral ,philosophy by his ,majesty2 who1 together with the religious ,electors1 it is justly to be presum'd1 thought ,waggery and ,buffoonery1 not only ,political1 but ,religious and ,moral1 when employ'd against ,puritans and ,dissenters4 ,,ix4 ,king ,charles the ,second's ,restoration brought along with it glorious ,high-,church ,times2 which were distinguish'd as much by laughing at ,dissenters1 as by persecuting them2 which pass for a ,pattern how ,dissenters are to be treated2 and which will never be given up1 by ,high-,church-men1 as faulty1 for ridiculing ,dissenters4 ,the ,king himself1 who had very good natural ,parts1 and a ,disposition to banter and ridicule every ,body1 and especially the ,presbyterians1 whose ,discipline he had felt for his ,lewdness and ,irreligion in ,scotland1 had in his ,exile an ,education1 and liv'd1 among some of the greatest ,droles and ,wits that any ,age ever produc'd2 who could not but form him in that way1 who was so well fitted by ,temper for it4 ,the ,duke of ,buckingham was his constant ,companion4 ,and he had a #ij great ,liveliness of ,wit1 and a peculiar ,faculty of turning all things into ridicule4 ,he was ,author of the ,rehearsal2 which1 as a most noble ,author says1 is #ia a justly admir'd ,piece of comick ,wit1 and has furnish'd our best ,wits in all their ,controversies1 even in ,religion and ,politicks1 as well as in the ,affairs of ,wit and ,learning1 with the most effectual and entertaining ,method of exposing ,folly1 ,pedantry1 false ,reason1 and ill ,writing4 ,the ,duke of ,buckingham #ib brought ,hobbes to him to be his ,tutor1 who was a ,philosophical ,drole1 and had a great deal of ,wit of the drolling kind4 ,sheldon1 who was afterwards ,archbishop of ,canterbury1 and attended the ,king constantly in his ,exile as his ,chaplain1 was an eminent ,drole1 as appears from ,bishop ,burnet1 who says#ic1 that he had a great ,pleasantness of ,conversation1 perhaps too great4 ,and ,hide1 afterwards ,earl of ,clarendon1 who attended the ,king in his ,exile1 seems also to have been a great ,drole1 by ,bishop ,burnet's representing him1 as one1 that had too much ,levity in his ,wit1 and that did not observe the ,decorum of his ,post#id4 ,in a ,speech to the ,lords and ,commons1 ,hide attack'd the ,gravity of the ,puritans1 saying#ie1 ,very merry ,men have been very godly ,men2 and if a good ,conscience be a continued ,feast1 there is no reason but ,men may be very merry at it4 ,and upon ,mr4 ,baxter and other ,presbyterian ,ministers waiting on him in relation to the ,savoy ,conference1 he said to ,mr4 ,baxter on the first ,salute#if1 that if he were but as fat as ,dr4 ,manton1 we should all do well4 ,no wonder therefore1 that ,ridicule1 and ,raillery1 and ,satire1 should prevail at ,court after the ,restoration2 and that ,king ,charles the ,second1 who was a ,wit himself1 and early taught to laugh at his ,father's ,stiffness#ig1 should be so great a ,master of them1 and bring them into play among his ,subjects2 and that he who had the most sovereign ,contempt for all ,mankind1 and in particular for the ,people and ,church of ,england1 should use his ,talent against them2 and that his ,people in return should give him like for like4 ,it is well known how he banter'd the ,presbyterian ,ministers1 who out of ,interest came over to him at ,breda2 where they were placed in a ,room next to his ,majesty1 and order'd to attend till his ,majesty had done his ,devotions2 who1 it seems1 pray'd so artfully1 and poured out so many of their ,phrases1 which he had learned when he was in ,scotland1 where he was forced to be present at religious ,exercises of six or seven ,hours a-day2 and had practis'd among the ,huguenot ,ministers in ,france#ih1 who reported him to have a sanctify'd ,heart1 and to speak the very ,language of ,canaan4 ,this ,ridicule he cover'd with ,seriousness2 having at that time ,occasion for those ,ministers1 who were then his great ,instruments in reconciling the ,nation to his ,restoration4 ,when he had no farther ,occasion for them1 he was open in his ,ridicule1 and would say1 that #ii ,presbyterianism was not a ,religion for a ,gentleman4 ,x4 ,would you1 who are a ,man of ,sense and ,learning1 and of some ,moderation1 be for punishing the ,author of ,the ,difficulties and ,discouragements which attend the ,study of the ,scriptures in the way of private ,judgment1 c4 who is suppos'd to be a ,prelate of the ,church1 for that ,book1 which is wholly an ,irony about the most sacred ,persons and ,things8 ,must not the fine ,irony it self1 and the ,execution of it1 with so much ,learning1 ,sense1 and ,wit1 raise in you the highest ,esteem and ,admiration of the ,author1 instead of a ,disposition to punish him8 ,would you appear to the intelligent ,part of the ,world such an ,enemy to ,knowledge1 and such a ,friend to the ,kingdom of ,darkness1 as such ,punishment would imply8 ,in fine1 can you see and direct us to a better way1 to make us inquire after and understand ,matters of ,religion1 to make us get and keep a good temper of ,mind1 and to plant and cultivate in us the ,virtues necessary to good ,order and ,peace in ,society1 and to eradicate the ,vices that every where give ,society so much ,disturbance1 than what is prescrib'd or imply'd in that ,book8 ,and can you think of a better ,form of ,conveyance1 or ,vehicle for ,matters of such universal ,concern to all intelligent ,people 7if you consider the ,state of the ,world1 and the infinite ,variety of ,understandings1 ,interests1 and ,designs of ,men1 who are all to be address'd to at the same ,time7 than his ,method of ,irony8 ,and has not ,success justify'd his ,method8 ,for the ,book has had a free ,vent in several ,impressions2 has been very generally read and applauded2 has convinced ,numbers1 and has been no ,occasion of trouble either to ,bookseller or ,author4 ,it has also had the ,advantage to have a most ingenious ,letter of ,john ,hales of ,eton join'd to some ,editions of it2 who by this ,letter1 as well as by several others of his ,pieces1 shews himself to have been another ,socrates1 one of the greatest ,masters of true ,wit and just ,irony1 as well as ,learning1 which the ,world ever produc'd2 and shews he could have writ such a ,book as the ,difficulties1 c4 ,but if you are capable of coming into any ,measures for punishing the ,author of the ,difficulties1 c4 for his ,irony1 ,i conceive1 that you may possibly hesitate a little in relation to the same ,author1 about his ,new ,defence of the ,bishop of ,bangor's ,sermon of the ,kingdom of ,christ1 consider'd as it is the ,performance of a ,man of ,letters2 which1 tho far below ,the ,difficulties1 c4 is an ingenious ,irony on that ,sermon4 ,you may probably1 like many others of the ,clergy1 approve of ,satire so well employ'd1 as against that ,bishop1 who has succeeded ,bishop ,burnet in being the ,subject of ,clergy-,ridicule1 as well as in his ,bishoprick4 ,the ,bishop himself was very justly patient1 under all ,attacks by the ,reverend ,trapp1 ,earbery1 ,snape1 ,law1 and ,luke ,milbourne1 in his ,tom of ,bedlam's ,answer to his ,brother ,ben ,hoadley1 ,st4 ,peter's ,poor ,parson near the ,exchange of ,principles2 some of which were of a very abusive kind1 and such as can hardly be parallel'd2 and did not call upon the ,magistrate to come to his ,aid against that ,author1 or against any others of the ,clergy who had attack'd him with as great ,mockery1 ,ridicule1 and ,irony1 as ever ,bishop had been by the profess'd ,adversaries of the ,order2 or as ever the ,bishops had been by the ,puritans and ,libellers in the ,reigns of ,queen ,elizabeth1 ,king ,james and ,king ,charles the ,first2 or as ,lesley1 ,hickes1 ,hill1 ,atterbury1 ,binks1 and other ,high-,church ,clergy1 did the late ,bishop ,burnet4 ,instead of that he took the true and proper ,method1 by publishing an ,answer to the said ,irony1 compos'd in the same ironical ,strain1 intitled1 ,the ,dean of ,worcester still the same3 ,or his new ,defence of the ,bishop of ,bangor's ,sermon1 consider'd1 as it is the ,performance of a great ,critick1 a ,man of ,sense1 and a ,man of ,probity4 ,which ,answer does1 in my ,opinion1 as much ,honour to the ,bishop1 by its ,excellency in the ironical ,way1 as it does by allowing the ,method it self1 and going into that ,method1 in imitation of his ,reverend ,brethren of the ,clergy1 who appear to be under no ,restraints from the ,immorality or ,indecency of treating the ,bishop in the way of ,ridicule and with the utmost ,contempt2 but1 on the contrary1 to be spurr'd on by the ,excellency and ,propriety thereof to use it against him1 even in the #ajj ,pulpit1 as ,part of the religious ,exercise on the ,lord's-day4 ,,xi4 ,there is an universal ,love and ,practice of ,drollery and ,ridicule in all1 even the most serious ,men1 in the most serious ,places1 and on the most serious ,occasions4 ,go into the ,privy-,councils of ,princes1 into ,senates1 into ,courts of ,judicature1 and into the ,assemblies of the ,kirk or ,church2 and you will find that ,wit1 good ,humour1 ,ridicule1 and ,drollery1 mix themselves in all the ,questions before those ,bodies2 and that the most solemn and sour ,person there present1 will ever be found endeavouring1 at least1 to crack his ,jest1 in order to raise a ,character for ,wit2 which has so great an ,applause attending it1 and renders ,men so universally acceptable for their ,conversation1 and places them above the greatest ,proficients in the ,sciences1 that almost every one is intoxicated with the ,passion of aiming at it4 ,in the ,reports made to us of the ,debates in the ,houses of ,lords1 ,commons1 and ,convocation1 the serious ,parts of the ,speeches there made die for the most part with the ,sound2 but the ,wit1 the ,irony1 the ,drollery1 the ,ridicule1 the ,satire1 and ,repartees1 are thought worthy to be remember'd and repeated in ,conversation1 and make a ,part of the ,history of the ,proceedings of those ,bodies1 no less than their grave ,transactions1 as some such must necessarily be4 ,whoever will look into ,antiquity for an ,account of the ,lives1 ,actions1 and ,works of the old ,philosophers1 will find little remaining of them2 but some of their witty1 drolling1 and bantering ,sayings1 which alone have been thought worthy to be preserv'd to ,posterity4 ,and if you will look into the ,lives of the modern ,statesmen1 ,philosophers1 ,divines1 ,lawyers1 c4 you will find that their witty ,sayings ever make a considerable ,part3 by reporting which great ,honour is intended to be done to their ,memory4 ,the great and most religious ,philosopher ,dr4 ,h4 ,more1 has a great many ,pieces of ,wit attributed to him in his ,life by ,mr4 ,ward1 who represents him from his ,companions1 #aja as one of the merriest ,greeks they were acquainted with1 and tells us1 that the ,doctor said in his last ,illness1 to him#ajb1 that the merry way was that which he saw mightily to take2 and so he used it the more4 ,the great and famous ,sir ,thomas ,more1 ,lord ,chancellor of ,england in ,henry the ,eighth's time1 was an inexhaustible ,source of ,drollery#ajc1 as his voluminous ,works1 which consist for the most part of controversial ,divinity in behalf of ,popery1 show1 and which are many of them written in ,dialogue1 the better to introduce the drolling ,way of ,writing1 which he has us'd in such ,perfection1 that it is said #ajd none can ever be weary of reading them1 tho they be never so long4 ,nor could ,death it self1 in immediate view before his ,eyes1 suppress his merry ,humour1 and hinder him from cracking ,jests on the ,scaffold2 tho he was a ,man of great ,piety and ,devotion1 whereof all the ,world was convinced by his ,conduct both in his ,life and at his ,death4 ,it is said 7as ,i have before observ'd7 of my ,lord ,chancellor ,clarendon1 that he had too much ,levity in his ,wit#aje1 and that he did not always observe the ,decorum of his ,post4 ,which implies not only his ,approbation of ,drollery in the most grave ,business1 but also his great ,knowledge of ,mankind1 by applying to them in that ,way2 which he knew from ,experience1 and especially from the common drolling #ajf ,conversation in the ,court of ,king ,charles the ,second1 would recommend him to the ,world much more than an impartial ,administration of ,justice2 which is less felt1 less understood1 and less taken notice of and applauded1 than a ,piece of ,wit2 which is generally suppos'd to imply in it a great deal of ,knowledge1 and a ,capacity fit for any thing4 ,mr4 ,whiston#ajg1 a famous ,person among us1 sets up for great ,gravity1 and proposes a ,scheme of ,gravity for the ,direction of those who write about ,religion3 ,he is for allowing ,unbelievers1 nay for having them invited by ,authority to produce all the real or original ,evidence they think they have discover'd against any ,parts of the ,bible2 against any ,parts of the ,jewish and ,christian ,religions1 in order to their being fully weigh'd and consider'd by all learned ,men2 provided at the same time1 that the whole be done gravely1 and seriously1 without all ,levity1 ,banter1 and ,ridicule4 ,and yet this ,man1 having a handle given him by ,bishop ,robinson's ,letter to the ,clergy of his ,diocess about ,new ,doxologies borrow'd from ,old ,hereticks1 takes the advantage of the ,bishop's 7supposed7 ,ignorance1 ,dulness1 ,stupidity1 and ,contradiction to himself1 and writes and prints1 like a ,tom ,brown or ,swift1 a most bantering and drolling ,letter1 under the sneering ,title of a ,letter of ,thanks to the ,right ,reverend the ,lord ,bishop of ,london1 for his late ,letter1 c4 whom1 one would think1 he should not only have spar'd1 but have applauded for his profound ,gravity1 and carrying on the ,cause of ,religion in a very remarkable manner1 with the most consummate ,solemnity4 ,but so strong was the ,temptation1 so naturally productive of ,mirth was the ,bishop's ,cause1 and his grave ,management thereof1 as that he could not help laughing at the ,bishop1 by himself2 and so was led on mechanically to write in that ,humour1 and to publish what he wrote1 and afterwards to defend his drole ,manner #ajh of attacking the ,bishop1 against those who took offence at that ,manner of writing4 ,,xii4 ,the burning ,papists themselves are not always serious with us3 ,they treat the ,church and its ,defenders as fanatical1 and laugh at them as such1 just as the ,church does the ,dissenters1 and have their elaborate ,works of ,drollery against their ,adversaries4 ,they publish'd a ,poem against the ,reformation1 just before the ,death of ,queen ,anne1 which was design'd to have given such a ,stroke to the ,protestant ,religion among us1 under the new projected ,revolution1 as ,hudibras did to ,puritanism after the ,restoration4 ,the ,popish ,editor1 in the ,preface to the said ,poem1 says1 that the ,motive of the ,author 7,thomas ,ward7 for publishing the ,history of the ,reformation in a ,burlesque ,style 7tho a ,history full of melancholy ,incidents1 which have distracted the ,nation1 even beyond the hope of recovery1 after so much ,blood drawn from all its ,veins1 and from its ,head7 was that which he met with in ,sir ,roger ,l',estrange's ,preface to the second ,part of his ,cit and ,bumkin1 express'd in these ,words2 ,tho this way of fooling is not my ,talent1 nor ,inclination2 yet ,i have great ,authorities for the taking up this ,humour1 in regard not only of the ,subject1 but of the ,age we live in2 which is so much upon the ,drole1 that hardly any thing else will down with it4 ,and the ingenious ,protestant ,editor of this ,poem at ,london1 which he allows to have some ,wit in it1 concludes the ,remarks he makes upon it1 by saying1 ,one thing more we can't forbear hinting at1 that a ,retaliation would be as happy a ,thought as could enter into the ,head of a ,man of ,genius and ,spirit4 ,what a fruitful ,harvest would the ,legends1 ,tricks1 spiritual ,jugglings1 ,convents1 and ,nunneries1 yield to a good ,poet8 ,buchanan in his ,franciscani1 and ,oldham in his ,satires on the ,jesuits1 have open'd the ,way1 and we heartily wish some equal ,pen would write the whole ,mystery of ,iniquity at length4 ,,xiii4 ,all the old ,puritan ,preachers1 who were originally ,divines of the ,church of ,england1 sprinkled and season'd their ,sermons with a great many drolling ,sayings against ,libertinism and ,vice1 and against ,church ,ceremonies2 many of which ,sayings are reported and handed down to us in ,books and ,conversation1 as are also the ,effects of those ,sayings1 which we are told converted many to ,christ on the ,spot1 or in the ,instant of ,delivery4 ,nor is that manner wholly laid aside1 but has continued to be kept alive by some ,hands at all times2 who have been greatly follow'd for their ,success in drolling upon ,sinners1 and treating of ,religion in humoursom and fantastical ,phrases1 and fixing that way of ,religion in some ,mens ,minds4 ,i do not remember to have met with a more complete ,drole in the ,church of ,england1 or in any other of the laughing or ridiculing ,sects1 than ,andrew ,marvel of the grave ,puritan ,sect1 in many ,works of his both in ,prose and ,verse1 but especially in his ,rehearsal ,transprosed2 which tho writ against ,parker1 who with great ,eloquence1 ,learning1 and a ,torrent of ,drollery and ,satire1 had defended the ,court and ,church's ,cause1 in asserting the ,necessity of ,penal ,laws against the ,nonconformists1 was read from the ,king down to the ,tradesman with great pleasure1 on account of that ,burlesque ,strain and lively ,drollery that ran thro' it1 as ,bishop ,burnet tells us#aji4 ,nor were the gravest ,puritans and ,dissenters among us less taken and pleas'd with his ,writings for their ,drollery1 than our drole ,king2 tho there are some ,passages in them1 which should give just ,offence to chaste ,ears4 ,i find also1 that the ,puritans and ,dissenters have always born with1 and allow'd of1 a great ,mixture of ,drollery in their ,sermons1 that one would think should offend their ,gravity1 and pious ,ears2 and that they applaud their ,ministers for such their ,discourses1 as much as the ,church does ,dr4 ,south for the ,ribaldry sprinkled thro'out his ,sermons about the most high ,points in ,divinity4 ,they have always had some eminent ,divines among them who have been remarkable for such ,passages and ,reflections3 ,and these have never lessen'd their number of ,auditors1 nor drawn upon themselves the ,character of ,irreligious2 but have had the largest ,auditories of contributing ,hearers1 as well as of ,churchmen1 who came to smile1 and have been esteem'd very pious ,men4 ,in fine1 the ,puritans and ,dissenters have1 like the ,church1 their ,taste of ,humour1 ,irony1 and ,ridicule1 which they promote with great ,zeal1 as a ,means to serve ,religion3 ,and ,i remember1 that1 among other things said in behalf of ,bunyan's ,pilgrim's ,progress1 upon the reprinting it lately by ,subscription1 it was affirm'd1 and that1 in my ,opinion1 truly1 that it had infinitely out-done ,the ,tale of a ,tub2 which perhaps had not made one ,convert to ,infidelity1 whereas the ,pilgrim's ,progress had converted many ,sinners to ,christ4 ,,xiv4 ,the ,quakers are certainly the most serious and solemn ,people among us in ,matters of ,religion1 and out-go the ,dissenters of all other ,kinds therein3 ,but yet the ,church has no regard to them on that ,account1 but takes ,advantage from thence to ridicule them the more1 and to call their ,sincerity more in question4 ,and ,i much doubt whether there was ever a ,book written against them by the ,divines of any ,sect with perfect ,decency1 and that had not its extravagant ,flouts1 ,scorn1 ,banter1 and ,irony1 and that not only of the laughing1 but of the cruel kind3 ,wherein they copy'd after the ,jews of old1 who while they prosecuted ,christ to ,death1 and carried on their ,high-,church ,tragedy against him1 acted against him the comick ,scenes #aaj of spitting in his ,face1 and buffeting him with the ,palms of their ,hands1 saying1 ,prophesy unto us1 thou ,christ1 who is he that smote thee2 and who1 when they had nail'd him to the ,cross1 revil'd him with divers ,taunts1 in which the ,chief ,priests1 ,scribes1 ,elders1 and even the ,thieves1 which were crucified with him1 concurr'd4 ,but yet for all this1 these solemn ,quakers themselves are not altogether averse to ,irony and ,ridicule1 and use it when they can4 ,their ,books abound in ,stories to ridicule in their ,turn the ,priests1 their great and bitter ,adversaries3 ,and they please themselves with throwing at the ,priests the ,centuries of ,scandalous ,ministers1 and the ,books of the ,cobler of ,glocester4 ,they have also their ,satirist and ,banterer1 ,samuel ,fisher2 whose ,works1 tho all wrote in the drolling ,style and ,manner1 they pride themselves in1 and have collected into one great ,volume in ,folio2 in which ,quaker-,wit and ,irony are set up against ,church1 ,presbyterian1 and ,independent ,wit and ,irony1 without the least ,scruple of the lawfulness of such ,arms4 ,in a word1 their ,author acts the ,part of a ,jack-,pudding1 ,merry ,andrew1 or ,buffoon1 with all the seeming ,right1 ,authority1 and ,privilege1 of the ,member of some ,establish'd ,church of abusing all the ,world but themselves4 ,the ,quakers have also encourag'd and publish'd a most arch ,book of the famous ,henry ,stubbe1 intitled1 ,a ,light shining out of ,darkness1 c4 ,wherein all the other religious ,parties among us are as handsomly and learnedly banter'd and ridicul'd1 as the ,quakers have been in any ,book against them4 ,and when they were attack'd by one ,samuel ,young1 a whimsical ,presbyterian-,buffoon-,divine1 who call'd himself ,trepidantium ,malleus1 and set up for an ,imitator of ,mr4 ,alsop1 in several ,pamphlets full of ,stories1 ,repartees1 and ,ironies2 in which ,young1 perhaps1 thought himself as secure from a ,return of the like kind1 as a ,ruffian or ,thief may when he assaults ,men3 ,his ,attacks were repell'd in a ,book intitled ,trepidantium ,malleus intrepidanter malleatus2 or the ,west ,country ,wiseaker's crack-brain'd ,reprimand hammer'd about his own ,numbscul4 ,being a ,joco-satirical ,return to a late ,tale of a ,tub1 emitted by a reverend ,non-con1 at present residing not far from ,bedlam1 said to be written by ,william ,penn1 who has therein made use of the carnal ,weapons of ,irony and ,banter1 and dress'd out the ,presbyterian ,priest in a ,fool's ,coat1 for a ,spectacle to the ,mob4 ,it is also to be observ'd1 that there are several ,tracts in the two ,volumes of ,william ,penn's ,works lately publish'd1 that for ingenious ,banter and ,irony1 are much superior to the ,priests his ,adversaries2 and that other ,quaker ,authors profess to write sometimes in a #aaa drolling ,style4 ,,xv4 ,the ,jacobite ,clergy have set up for great ,droles upon all the true ,friends of the ,establishment4 ,and ,i presume1 the ,body of our ,high ,churchmen would not willingly deprive them of the ,benefit of their ,drollery4 ,the celebrated ,mr4 ,collier #aab thus attacks ,bishop ,burnet1 for his ,,essay on the ,memory of ,queen ,mary4 ,this ,doctor1 you know1 is a ,man of mighty ,latitude1 and can say any thing to serve a ,turn2 whose ,reverence resolves ,cases of ,conscience backwards and forwards1 disputes pro and con1 praises and dispraises by secular ,measures2 with whom ,virtue and ,vice1 passive ,obedience and ,rebellion1 ,parricide and filial ,duty1 ,treachery and ,faithfulness1 and all the ,contradictions in ,nature1 are the best and worst things under the ,sun1 as they are for his ,purpose1 and according as the ,wind sits3 who equally and indifferently writes for and against all ,men1 the ,gospel1 and himself too1 as the ,world goes3 who can bestow a ,panegyrick upon the seven deadly ,sins1 and 7if there be occasion7 can make an ,invective against all the ,commandments4---- ,in relation to ,dr4 ,payne's ,sermon on the ,death of that ,queen1 he says#aac1 that to go thro' it is too great a ,discipline for any ,man1 whose ,palate hath ever relish'd any thing above three half-penny ,poetry4 ,he adds1 ,why1 ,sir1 many ,years ago ,i have heard some of it sung about the ,streets in wretched and nauseous ,doggrel4 ,what think you of this8 ,page #f4 ,i know not how to draw her ,picture1 'tis so all over beauteous1 without any ,foil1 any ,shade1 any ,blemish2 so perfect in every ,feature1 so accomplish'd in every ,part1 so adorn'd with every ,perfection and every ,grace4 ,o rare1 ,sir6 here's ,phillis and ,chloris1 and ,gillian a ,croydon4 ,sh' hath every ,feature1 every ,grace1 ,so charming every part1 c4 ,tis no wonder he tells us1 7p4 #h47 of strewing her with the ,flowers of withered and decay'd ,poetry2 for the ,song out of which he hath transcrib'd his ,sermon1 is of very great age1 and hath been sung at many a ,whitsun-,ale1 and many a ,wedding 7tho ,i believe never at a ,funeral before7 and therefore in all this time may well be decay'd and wither'd3 ,in the mean time1 if you were to draw the ,picture of a great ,princess1 ,i fansy you would not make choice of ,mopsa to sit to it4 ,alas6 ,sir1 there was ,cassandra and ,cleopatra1 and many a famed ,romance more1 which might have furnish'd him with handsome ,characters1 and yet he must needs be preaching and instructing his ,people out of ,hey down derry1 and the fair ,maid of ,kent4 ,if he had intitled it1 ,the ,white-,chapel ,ballad1 and got some body to set it to the ,tune of ,amaryllis1 compos'd by ,w4 ,p4 ,songster1 the ,character of the ,author1 the ,title1 and the ,matter1 would have very well agreed1 and perhaps it might have passed at the ,corners of the ,streets2 but to call it a ,sermon1 and by ,w4 ,p4 ,doctor in ,divinity1 'tis one of the lewdest things in the ,world4---- ,mr4 ,lesley attacks the ,clergy1 who pray'd that ,god would give ,king ,james ,victory over all his ,enemies#aad1 when that was the thing they least wish'd2 and confess'd1 that they labour'd all they could against it1 saying1 good ,god6 ,what ,apprehensions1 what ,thought had those ,men of their publick ,prayers2 bantering ,god ,almighty1 and mocking him to his ,face1 who heard their ,words1 and saw their ,hearts8 ,is not ,atheism a smaller ,sin than this1 since it is better to have no ,god1 than so to set up one to laugh at him4 ,again he says1 7p4 #abc47 ,it is a severe ,jest1 that the common ,people have got up against the ,clergy1 that there was but one thing formerly which the ,parliament could not do1 that is1 to make a ,man a ,woman3 ,but now there is another1 that is1 to make an ,oath which the ,clergy will not take4 ,the same ,author attacks ,bishop ,burnet's ,speech upon the ,bill against ,occasional ,conformity1 by a ,pamphlet intitled1 ,the ,bishop of ,salisbury's proper ,defence from a ,speech cry'd about the ,streets in his ,name1 and said to have been spoken by him in the ,house of ,lords upon the ,bill against ,occasional ,conformity2 which is one perpetual ,irony on the ,bishop1 and gives the ,author occasion to throw all manner of ,satire and ,abuse on the ,bishop4 ,the beginning of this ,pamphlet1 which is as follows1 will let the ,reader into the full ,knowledge of the ,design of the ,irony1 and the manner of ,execution4 ,the ,license of this ,age and of the ,press is so great1 that no ,rank or ,quality of ,men is free from the ,insults of loose and extravagant ,wits4 ,the good ,bishop of ,salisbury has had a plentiful ,share in this sort of ,treatment3 ,and now at last1 some or other has presum'd to burlesque his ,lordship in printing a ,speech for him1 which none that knows his ,lordship can believe ever came from him4 ,but because it may go down with others who are too apt to take ,slander upon trust1 and that his ,lordship has already been pelted with several ,answers to his ,speech1 ,i have presum'd to offer the following ,considerations1 to clear his ,lordship from the ,suspicion of having vented 7in such an august ,assembly7 those crude and undigested ,matters which are set forth in that ,speech1 and which so highly reflect on his ,lordship's self4 ,he has taken the same ,method of ,irony to attack the said ,bishop for his ,speech on the ,trial of ,sacheverel1 and for a ,sermon1 under this ,title1 ,the ,good ,old ,cause1 or ,lying in ,truth2 being a ,second ,defence of the ,lord ,bishop of ,sarum from a ,second ,speech1 and also the ,dissection of a ,sermon it is said his ,lordship preach'd in the ,cathedral ,church of ,salisbury4 ,and this ,pamphlet1 which is also a continued ,banter1 begins thus4 ,no ,man has more deserv'd than this good ,bishop1 and no ,man has been more persecuted by various ,ways and ,means than his ,lordship1 even to mobbing6 ,but the ugliest and most malicious of all these ,arts1 is that of putting false ,things upon him2 to write scandalous1 seditious1 and senseless ,papers1 and to affix his ,lordship's ,name6 ,i was forc'd some ,years ago to vindicate his ,lordship's ,reputation from one of this sort3 ,that ,speech had a ,bookseller's ,name to it of good figure1 and look'd something like2 but this ,speech 7said likewise to be spoken in the ,house of ,lords7 has no body to own it1 and has all the ,marks of ,grub4 ,but the nasty ,phiz is nothing to the inside4 ,that discovers the ,man2 the ,heart is false4 ,this same ,author has thought fit to attack ,mr4 ,hoadley 7since a ,bishop7 in the way of ,banter3 ,his ,best ,answer ever was made1 and to which no ,answer will ever be made1 is by his own ,confession a ,farce2 when he says in his ,preface1 ,if you ask why ,i treat this ,subject by way of farce1 and shew a little ,merriment sometimes8 it was because the ,foundation you stand upon is not only false but ridiculous1 and ought to be treated with the utmost ,contempt4 ,again1 in his ,finishing ,stroke1 in defence of his ,rehearsals1 ,best ,answer1 and ,best of all1 he gives us 7p4 #abe47 what he calls1 ,a ,battle-,royal between three ,cocks of the ,game1 ,higden1 ,hoadley1 and a ,hottentot2 which in the ,contents he calls ,a ,farce1 and to which he joins both a ,prologue and ,epilogue1 and divers other ,particulars1 all taken from the ,play-house4 ,the ,reverend ,mr4 ,matthias ,earbery sets up for a great ,satirist and ,drole upon the swearing and ,low-,church ,clergy1 in numerous ,pamphlets of late1 more particularly in his ,serious ,admonition to ,dr4 ,kennet3 ,to which is added1 a short but complete ,answer to ,mr4 ,marshal's late ,treatise called1 ,a ,defence of our ,constitution in ,church and ,state2 and a ,parallel is drawn between him and ,dr4 ,kennet1 for the ,satisfaction of the unprejudic'd ,reader4 ,he has a bantering ,argument #aae to shew1 that1 ,if in future ,ages ,mr4 ,marshal's ,book should escape the just ,judgment it deserves1 of being condemn'd to the ,pastry-,cooks and ,grocers1 an industrious ,chronologist might make an ,observation to prove him too young to write it4 ,the ,parallel is in ,pag4 #abf1 which being very gross ,raillery1 ,i only refer you to it4 ,this ,mr4 ,earbery also wrote a ,letter to ,bishop ,fleetwood1 under the ,title of ,a ,letter to the ,bishop of ,ely1 upon the ,occasion of his suppos'd late ,charge1 said to be deliver'd at ,cambridge ,august #g1 #agaf1 c4 in which he pursues the ,ironical ,scheme laid down in the said ,title1 and endeavours to vindicate his ,lordship from the ,aspersion of writing such a mean ,pamphlet1 as the ,charge4 ,nor do these ,jacobites confine their ,drollery to their ,adversaries without1 but exercise it on one another1 as may be seen in their late ,dispute about ,king ,edward the ,sixth's ,liturgy4 ,and ,mr4 ,lesley himself1 happening to engage on the side opposite to the ,traditions of the ,fathers1 and attacking those ,traditions by ,low-,church ,notions and ,arguments1 and thereby running counter to all his former ,books1 is attack'd just in the same manner he attack'd ,bishop ,burnet1 in a ,book under this ,title1 ,mr4 ,lesley's ,defence1 from some erroneous and dangerous ,principles1 advanced in a ,letter said to have been written concerning the ,new ,separation4 ,and it has several ,paragraphs at the beginning in the very words of one of ,mr4 ,lesley's ,books against the said ,bishop1 as may be seen on ,comparison4 ,,xvi4 ,christ-,church in ,oxford is no less famous for the ,drolling1 than for the ,orthodox ,spirit reigning there2 and the former1 being judged an excellent ,method to support the latter1 is cultivated among the ,youth1 and employ'd by the ,members of that ,society against all the supposed ,adversaries of the ,church1 and encourag'd by the governing ,ecclesiasticks there and elsewhere4 ,among the many1 who have receiv'd their ,education there1 and been form'd in ,drollery1 ,i will only instance in the ,reverend ,dr4 ,atterbury and ,dr4 ,south2 who being as famous for ,drollery as for ,zeal for ,religion1 and applauded for their ,wit no less than for their ,orthodoxy2 and particularly for imploying the former in behalf of the latter1 seem of sufficient ,weight to bear down all ,attempts to stifle their ,productions4 ,what ,considerations can make us amends for the ,loss of such excellent drolling ,writings1 which promote ,religion as well as ,mirth8 ,with what incomparable ,mockery1 ,ridicule and ,sarcasm does ,dr4 ,atterbury treat all the ,low-,church ,clergy that come in his way1 together with the ,whig ,ministry and ,administration in his several ,convocational ,tracts8 ,dr4 ,wake1 our present ,archbishop of ,canterbury1 is represented by him as writing so contumeliously #aaf of the ,clergy1 that had he not inform'd us in his ,title ,page who he was1 we should rather have guess'd him to have been of the ,cabal against ,priests and ,priestcraft1 than one of the ,order2 and as wholly govern'd by #aag ,interest in the ,debate1 and as giving us a most #aah shallow empty ,performance in relation to our ,ecclesiastical ,constitution1 which he #aai has done his best to undermine1 as knowing himself to be in the wrong2 and as deserving any ,name or ,censure1 none being too bad to be bestow'd on him2 and in fine1 as the least of the little officious ,pens by which he expects to be traduc'd4 ,dr4 ,bentley is represented as wrote out of ,reputation into ,preferment2 which1 whether it be a more severe ,sarcasm on the ,doctor1 than on the ,government1 is hard to determine2 and besides1 it gives ,applause to one of the most drolling and bantering ,performances that this drolling ,age has produc'd1 ,i mean ,dr4 ,bentley's ,dissertations on the ,epistles of ,phalaris1 and the ,fables of sop1 examin'd4 ,bishop ,burnet is a standing ,subject of ,ridicule with him2 as are ,bishop ,nicholson1 ,bishop ,kennet1 ,bishop ,gibson1 ,bishop ,trimnel to whom he writes a most drolling #abj ,letter and ,dr4 ,west2 and all the ,topicks that can affect them as ,scholars1 as honest ,men1 and ,clergymen1 are imploy'd to render them ridiculous1 and set the ,world a laughing at them1 who are not in the least spar'd for their being of the ,holy ,order2 but on the contrary seem more loaded and baited with ,sarcasms for that reason4 ,for a ,specimen1 take this ,banter or ,burlesque upon ,bishop ,kennet's ,dedication of his ,ecclesiastical ,synods and ,parliamentary ,convocations1 c4 to the ,archbishop of ,canterbury2 which ,banter runs thus#aba4 ,may it please your ,grace1 ,mr4 ,atterbury has lately forc'd a ,dedication upon you1 which favours too much of ,presumption or ,design2 he has presum'd to surprize you with an unexpected ,address1 and appears very indecently before your ,grace1 because he has taken no care to express upon this ,subject a due ,respect and ,reverence to the ,governors in ,church and ,state1 such as is suitable to the ,christian ,religion1 and his particular ,function3 ,the ,reports and ,authorities in his ,book are ,fruits of other ,mens ,collections1 not the immediate ,effects of his own ,searches into ,registers and ,records2 he imperiously summons your ,grace and my ,lords the ,bishops to an immediate ,compliance upon pain of being pronounc'd ,betrayers of the ,church----,this1 my ,lord1 is the ,character of the ,person ,i set up against2 but as for me1 ,i am quite another sort of ,man1 ,i am very well bred1 a great ,antiquary1 beholden to no body1 some ,wits and merry ,folks call me a ,tool and a ,play-thing 7,pref4 p4 #h47 ,but ,i assure your ,grace1 that what ,freedom soever ,i may have taken in taxing the ,vices of the inferior ,clergy1 7p4 #gg4 #ahh47 and in reflecting upon the ambitious ,designs of dignify'd ,presbyters 7p4 #aif472 yet ,i am however tender and dutiful in treating the ,governors of our ,church 7p4 #gh472 especially those of them who are of the ,ecclesiastical ,commission for ,preferments1 7p4 #caa74 ,i have a very great ,respect and ,reverence for every body that will give me any thing2 and how resolute soever ,mr4 ,atterbury may be1 your ,grace may do what you please with ,your ,grace's most humble and obedient ,servant1 ,,white ,,kennet4 ,but for ,drollery1 the ,reverend ,dr4 ,south outdoes even ,christ-,church1 and fills all his ,performances with it1 and throws it out against the ,enemies of the ,church1 and in particular against the late ,dr4 ,sherlock1 whom he thought fit to single out4 ,i shall select some ,passages from his ,writings against the said ,doctor1 which cannot but entertain the ,high-,church ,orthodox ,reader1 and reconcile him to a ,drollery so well employ'd4 ,he stiles him a great good ,man1 as a certain poor ,wretch1 meaning ,prior1 calls him4 ,again1 he says#abb1 ,there is hardly any one ,subject which he 7that is ,dr4 ,sherlock7 has wrote upon ,popery excepted1 that he has wrote both for it and against it4 ,could any thing be more sharp and bitter against the ,dissenters than what this ,man wrote in his ,answer to the ,protestant ,reconciler2 and yet how frankly1 or rather fulsomly does he open both his ,arms to embrace them in his ,sermon preach'd before the ,lord ,mayor on ,november #d1 #afhh4 ,tho ,i dare say1 that the ,dissenters themselves are of that ,constancy1 as to own that they were of the same ,principles in #hh that they were of in #he2 but the ,truth is1 old ,friendships cannot be so easily forgot3 ,and it has been an ,observation made by some1 that hardly can any one be found1 who was first tainted with a ,conventicle1 whom a ,cathedral could ever after cure1 but that still upon every cross turn of ,affairs against the ,church1 the irresistible ,magnetism of the ,good ,old ,cause 7as some still think it7 would quickly draw him out of the ,good ,old ,way4 ,the ,fable tells us of a ,cat once turn'd into a ,woman1 but the next sight of a ,mouse quickly dissolv'd the ,metamorphosis1 cashier'd the ,woman1 and restor'd the ,brute4 ,and some ,virtuosi 7skill'd in the useful ,philosophy of ,alterations7 have thought her much a ,gainer by the latter ,change1 there being so many unlucky ,turns in the ,world1 in which it is not half so safe and advantageous to walk upright1 as to be able to fall always upon one's ,legs4 ,again1 ,dr4 ,south says#abc1 ,when ,i consider how wonderfully pleas'd the ,man is with these two new started ,terms 7,self-consciousness and mutual ,consciousness7 so high in ,sound and so empty of ,sense1 instead of one substantial word 7,omniscience7 which gives us all that can be pretended useful in them1 with vast ,overplus and ,advantage1 and even swallows them up1 as ,moses's ,rod did those pitiful ,tools of the ,magicians3 ,this 7,i say7 brings to my mind 7whether ,i will or no7 a certain ,story of a grave ,person1 who riding in the ,road with his ,servant1 and finding himself something uneasy in his ,saddle1 bespoke his ,servant thus3 ,john 7says he7 alight1 and first take off the ,saddle that is upon my ,horse1 and then take off the ,saddle that is upon your ,horse2 and when you have done this1 put the ,saddle that was upon my ,horse1 upon your ,horse2 and put the ,saddle that was upon your ,horse1 upon my ,horse4 ,whereupon the ,man1 who had not studied the ,philosophy of ,saddles 7whether ,ambling or ,trotting7 so exactly as his ,master1 replies something short upon him2 ,lord1 ,master1 what need all these words8 ,could you not as well have said1 ,let us change ,saddles8 ,now ,i must confess1 ,i think the ,servant was much in the right2 tho the ,master having a rational ,head of his own1 and being withal willing to make the ,notion of changing ,saddles more plain1 easy and intelligible1 and to give a clearer ,explication of that word 7which his ,forefathers1 how good ,horsemen soever they might have been1 yet were not equally happy in explaining of7 was pleas'd to set it forth by that more full and accurate ,circumlocution4 ,he says#abd1 ,the ,author1 ,dr4 ,sherlock1 is no doubt a ,grecian in his ,heart6 ,and the tenth ,chapter of the ,animadversions is one continued ,banter upon the ,dean for his ,ignorance in ,greek and ,latin1 and even his ,inability to spell3 ,all which he closes with saying1 ,that ,st4 ,paul's ,school is certainly an excellent ,school1 and ,st4 ,paul's ,church a most noble ,church2 and therefore he thinks that he directs his ,course very prudently1 and happily too1 who in his ,passage to such a ,cathedral1 takes a ,school in his way4 ,again1 he says#abe1 ,he cannot see any new ,advantage that the ,dean has got over the ,socinians1 unless it be1 that the ,dean thinks his three ,gods will be too hard for their one4 ,after citing several ,scurrilities of the ,dean#abf1 7who it must be confess'd1 appears therein a great ,banterer also of ,dr4 ,south and his ,performance7 the ,dr4 says1 ,these1 with several more of the like ,gravel-,lane ,elegancies1 are all of them such peculiar ,strictures of the ,dean's ,genius1 that he might very well spare his ,name1 where he had made himself so well known by his ,mark2 for all the foregoing ,oyster-,wive-,kennel-,rhetorick seems so naturally to flow from him1 who had been so long ,rector of ,st4 ,botolph 7with the well-spoken ,billingsgate under his ,care7 that 7as much a ,teacher as he was7 it may well be question'd1 whether he has learn'd more from his ,parish1 than his ,parish from him4--,all favours of the ,porter1 the ,carman1 and the ,waterman2 and a pleasant ,scene it must be to see the ,master of the ,temple laying about him in the ,language of the ,stairs4 ,to the ,dean's ,scoff1 that this ,argument1 c4 was worth its weight in ,gold1 tho the ,dean fears it will not much enrich the ,buyer1 the ,doctor replies#abg1 ,what is that to him8 ,let him mind his own ,markets1 who never writes to enrich the ,buyer but the ,seller2 and that ,seller is himself3 and since he is so1 well is it for his ,books and his ,bookseller too1 that ,men generally buy before they read4 ,in requital of the scurrilous ,character of an ingenious ,blunderer1 ,dr4 ,south says#abh1 ,he must here return upon him the just ,charge of an impious ,blasphemer1 and that upon more ,accounts than one2 telling him withal1 that had he liv'd in the former ,times of the ,church1 his ,gown would have been stript off his ,back for his detestable ,blasphemies and ,heresies1 and some other ,place found out for him to perch in than the ,top of ,st4 ,paul's1 where at present he is placed like a true ,church ,weather-,cock1 7as he is7 notable for nothing so much1 as standing high and turning round4 ,again1 he says#abi1 ,and so ,i take my leave of the ,dean's three distinct infinite ,minds1 ,spirits1 or ,substances1 that is to say1 of his three ,gods2 and having done this1 methinks ,i see him go whimpering away with his ,finger in his ,eye1 and the ,complaint of ,micah in his ,mouth1 ,ye have taken away my ,gods which ,i made1 and what have ,i more#acj8 ,tho he must confess1 he cannot tell why he should be so fond of them1 since he dares undertake that he will never be able to bring the ,christian ,world either to believe in1 or to worship a ,trinity of ,gods3 ,nor does he see what use they are likely to be of1 even to himself1 unless peradventure to swear by4 ,again1 the ,doctor says#aca1 ,the ,dean's following ,instruction to his ,friend is certainly very diverting1 in these words1 where the ,animadverter charges the ,dean with ,absurdities and ,contradictions2 turn to the ,place and read it with its ,context1 and tell me what you cannot answer1 and ,i will2 to which he would have done well to have added1 ,if ,i can4 ,but the whole ,passage is just as if he had said1 ,sir1 if you find not ,contradictions and ,absurdities enough in my ,book to satisfy your ,curiosity that way1 pray come to the ,fountain-head1 and consult me1 and you shall be sure of a more plentiful ,supply4 ,again1 upon the ,dean's ,frequent reproaching the #acb ,animadverter with the ,character of a ,wit1 tho join'd with such ill-favour'd ,epithets1 as his witless ,malice has thought fit to degrade it with1 as that he is a spiteful ,wit1 a wrangling ,wit1 a satirical ,wit1 and the ,,witty1 subtle1 good-natur'd ,animadverter1 c4 the ,dr4 says1 that tho there be but little ,wit shewn in making such ,charges2 yet if ,wit be a ,reproach 7be it of what sort it will7 the ,animadverter is too just to return this ,reproach upon the ,defender2 and withal1 understands himself1 and what becomes him1 too well1 either to assume to himself1 or so much as to admit the ,character of a ,wit1 as at all due to him2 especially since he knows that common ,sense 7a thing much short of ,wit7 is enough to enable him to deal with such an ,adversary4 ,nevertheless1 there are many in the ,world1 who are both call'd and accounted ,wits1 and really are so2 which 7one would think7 should derive something of ,credit upon this ,qualification1 even in the ,esteem of this ,author himself1 or at least rebate the ,edge of his ,invectives against it1 considering that it might have pleas'd ,god to have made him a ,wit too4 ,,xvii4 ,as things now stand1 it may easily be seen1 that ,prosecutions for ,raillery and ,irony would not be relish'd well by the ,publick1 and would probably turn to the ,disreputation and ,disgrace of the ,prosecutor4 ,archbishop ,laud has always been much censur'd for his malicious ,prosecution of ,williams in the ,star-,chamber2 among whose ,crimes ,i find the following laid to his ,charge3 #acc ,that he said all ,flesh in ,england had corrupted their ,ways2 that he call'd a ,book intitled1 ,a ,coal from the ,altar 7written by ,dr4 ,heylin1 for placing the ,communion-,table at the ,east-end of the ,church1 and railing it in7 a ,pamphlet2 that he scoffingly said1 that he had heard of a ,mother ,church1 but not of a ,mother ,chapel1 meaning the ,king's1 to which all ,churches in ,ceremony ought to conform2 that he wickedly jested on ,st4 ,martin's ,hood2 that he said the ,people ought not to be lash'd by every body's ,whip2 that he said1 7citing a ,national ,council for it7 that the ,people are ,god's and the ,king's1 and not the ,priest's ,people2 and that he doth not allow ,priests to jeer and make ,invectives against the ,people4 ,and ,i humbly conceive1 that such ,matters had much better be suffer'd to go on in the ,world1 and take their ,course1 than that ,courts of ,judicature should be employ'd about them4 ,a ,sentence that imply'd some ,clergymen corrupt1 as well as some ,laymen1 of whom ,laud would only allow to have it said1 that they had corrupted their ,ways2 a ,jest upon ,st4 ,martin's ,hood1 which1 according to ,ecclesiastical ,history1 cur'd sore ,eyes2 and a ,ridicule upon a ,high-,church ,book of ,heylin's1 by calling it a ,pamphlet1 tho it was really a ,pamphlet1 as consisting of but seventy ,pages in ,quarto2 seem less wicked and hurtful than disturbing1 fining1 and undoing ,men about them4 ,and the having some ,concern for the ,people1 that they should not be used as the ,priest pleas'd2 that the ,people belong to ,god and the ,king1 and not to the ,priest2 and the not allowing the ,priests to jeer and make ,invectives against the ,people2 seem all ,errors fit to be born with4 ,archbishop ,laud was also thought guilty of an excessive ,piece of ,weakness in the ,punishment of #acd ,archibald the ,king's ,fool1 by laying the ,matter before the ,privy-,council1 and occasioning him to be expell'd the ,king's ,house for a poor ,jest upon himself2 who1 as he was a ,man at the ,head of the ,state1 should have despis'd such a thing in any ,body1 much more in a ,fool1 and who should never have been hurried on to be the ,instrument of any ,motion against him1 but have left it to others2 who upon the least ,intimation would have been glad to make their court to ,laud1 by sacrificing a ,fool only to his ,resentment4 ,,xviii4 ,i could have entertain'd the ,reader with a great ,variety of ,passages out of the ,fathers of the ,church1 whose ,writings are ,magazines of ,authority1 and urg'd upon us upon all ,occasions by ,ecclesiasticks1 and are particularly full of ,burlesque and ,ridicule on the ,gods and ,religion of the ,pagans2 in the use whereof they are much more unanimous1 than in the ,articles of their ,creed4 ,but that being a ,subject too great and extensive for a ,digression1 ,i shall content my self with the few following ,reflections2 which will sufficiently evince1 that the ,taste of the ,primitive ,christians was like that of the rest of the ,world2 that they could laugh and be as merry as the ,greeks and other ,pagans2 and that they would take the ,advantage of the ,pagans weak ,cause1 to introduce ,ridicule1 which always bears hard upon ,weakness and ,folly1 and must load them so as to prevent a ,possibility of their being remov'd by another ,ridicule4 ,these ,fathers have transfused into their ,writings all the ,wit and ,raillery of the antient ,pagan ,writers and ,philosophers2 who it is well known wrote a great deal to turn ,paganism into ,ridicule2 most of which now exists no where but in the ,works of the ,fathers2 all ,books of that kind being lost1 except ,cicero's ,books of the ,nature of ,gods1 and of ,divination1 and the ,dialogues of ,lucian2 both which ,authors have been of great use to the ,fathers to set them up for ,wits1 ,droles1 and ,satirists4 ,for a ,specimen how well these antient ,pagans could drole1 and how much beholden we are to the ,fathers for recording their ,drolleries1 the most remarkable1 ,i think1 are some ,fragments of a ,book of ,oenomaus concerning the ,pagan ,oracles1 cited and preserv'd by #ace ,eusebius2 who has given us occasion to #acf regret the loss of this ,work1 as one of the most valuable ,books written by the ,antients on the ,subject of ,oracles1 tho those ,books were very numerous4 ,and it is to be observ'd1 that this ,book and a great many1 perhaps a #acg thousand more1 were publish'd in ,greece1 where the ,imposture of ,oracles greatly prevail'd1 and great ,wealth flow'd in1 not only to the ,priests of the ,oracular ,temples1 but to all the ,inhabitants of ,greece1 and especially to those who lived in the ,neighbourhood of the several ,oracular ,temples2 who made a great ,profit from the rich ,travellers1 that came from all ,parts of the ,world to know their ,fortunes4 ,this shews the great ,integrity and ,fairness of the old ,pagans2 who would suffer not only their supposed standing ,revelation to be call'd in question1 but a ,revelation that brought in as much ,money1 as the ,chapels1 ,churches1 and ,shrines dedicated to the ,blessed ,virgin1 or to any of the ,saints1 do in the ,roman ,church1 without calling any ,man to ,account for the ,liberties they took2 who1 as far as appears1 were not expos'd #ach to any ,danger thereby4 ,it is also to be observ'd1 that the merry #aci ,epicureans were none of them ever prosecuted1 and that ,epicurus himself died quietly at ,athens in a very great old ,age4 ,but the ,book1 which the ,fathers made the most use of1 was that arch1 fly1 and drolling ,performance1 now lost1 of ,evemerus1 which he intitled1 ,a sacred ,history3 wherein he gave an historical ,account of the ,birth1 ,country1 ,lives1 ,deaths1 and ,burials of the ,gods4 ,this ,work was translated into ,latin by that arch ,wag ,ennius1 who himself has most ingeniously ridicul'd several ,impostors or very grave ,persons1 in a remarkable ,piece of ,poetry1 which ,i shall give my ,reader in ,english4 ,i value not a ,rush the ,marsian ,augur1 ,nor ,country-,fortune ,tellers1 nor ,town-,star-,gazers1 ,nor jugling ,gypsies1 nor yet ,dream-,interpreters3 ,for1 not by ,skill or ,art1 are these ,diviners2 ,but superstitious ,prophets1 ,guessers impudent1 ,or idle ,rogues1 or craz'd1 or mere starving ,beggars4 ,they know no way themselves1 yet others would direct2 ,and crave a ,groat of those1 to whom they promise ,riches3 ,thence let them take the ,groat1 and give back all the rest4 ,,xix4 ,wherefore ,i cannot but presume1 that an ,attempt to make a ,law to restrain ,irony1 c4 would prove abortive1 and that the ,attempt would be deem'd the ,effect of a very partial ,consideration of things1 and of present ,anger at a poor ,jest2 which ,men are not able to bear themselves1 how much soever they abound in ,jests1 both of the light and cruel kind1 on others3 tho for my own part ,i concur heartily with you in making such a ,law1 and in leaving it to a ,person of your ,equity to draw it up1 craving only the ,liberty to propose an ,amendment or ,addition1 viz4 that you would be pleas'd to insert a ,clause to prevent ,irony1 ,ridicule1 and ,banter1 from invading the ,pulpit1 and particularly to prevent pointing out ,persons of ,men #adj from thence1 and reviling them1 as also reviling whole ,bodies of ,men3 ,for whatever is immoral in ,print1 is1 in my ,opinion1 immoral in the ,pulpit4 ,besides1 these things seem more improper in the ,pulpit1 than they can be in ,print3 because no ,reprisals can be made in the former1 as in the latter ,case2 where they1 or the ,fear of them1 may give some ,check to the ,disorder1 and reduce things to a tolerable ,temper and ,decency4 ,if1 in order to justify my ,motion1 it could be thought necessary or proper here to give a ,detail of ridiculing and ironical ,passages1 taken from ,sermons against particular ,men1 and ,bodies of ,men1 and their ,doctrines1 you cannot but know how easy it would be to fill a ,volume with them1 without going to ,authors1 who have occasionally produc'd abundance of them4 ,and ,i will only mention here a ,passage in a ,volume of ,sermons1 just now publish'd1 of a well known ,high ,divine1 the ,reverend ,mr4 ,william ,reeves1 made famous by his ,translation of some ,apologies of the ,primitive ,fathers1 which gain'd him the ,applauses of a great many ,high ,men1 and particularly ,hickes1 ,dodwel1 and ,nelson1 c4 and a ,recommendation from the last to the ,queen1 who in the latter end of her ,reign made him ,chaplain in ,ordinary1 and obtain'd for him a considerable ,preferment4 ,this ,gentleman1 attacking ,bishop ,hoadley's ,sermon of ,the ,kingdom of ,christ1 says#ada1 ,in these last ,days we have been taught to be as indolent and unconcern'd as possible in the ,service of ,god3 ,a noted ,novellist ,bp4 ,hoadley among many other odd ,engines1 hath invented one1 to pump out all ,devotion from ,prayer1 and make it a ,vacuum4 ,instead of the old fervent1 affectionate way of ,worshipping1 he hath substituted a new ,idol1 a ,vanity1 a ,nothing of his own1 a calm and undisturb'd ,address to ,god4----,the ,arrows and bitter ,words ,mr4 ,hales hath levell'd against ,rome only1 our ,right ,reverend hath pointed a-new1 and shot them full against the ,church he superintends1 and with all the ,force of inbred1 fanatick ,fury4 ,and by this time surely it is well known1 that he is a very warm ,man in every thing1 but his ,prayers4 ,,xx4 ,instead of addressing the foregoing ,papers to you1 ,i could have address'd them to several others2 who of late have thought fit to recognize the ,right of ,men1 to examine into1 and judge for themselves in all ,matters of speculation1 and especially in ,matters of mere ,religion1 and to publish their ,reasons against any ,opinions they judge erroneous1 tho publickly receiv'd in the ,country where they live1 provided they do it seriously and gravely3 which is a noble ,progress in ,truth1 and owing to that glorious ,liberty1 and ,freedom of ,debate1 that we enjoy under our most excellent ,princes2 and which extorts it even from them1 who1 to have some ,credit in the ,world1 are forced to own1 what would discredit them to go on to deny1 among all who have any degree of ,virtue1 ,sense1 and ,learning4 ,but ,i was determin'd to address my self to you1 as a ,person of more remarkable ,moderation than ordinary in your ,letter to ,dr4 ,rogers3 ,and one1 who had1 long before1 in your ,defence of the ,constitution in ,church and ,state2 in answer to the ,charge of the ,nonjurors1 accusing us of ,heresy and ,schism1 ,perjury and ,treason1 valu'd #adb and commended the ,integrity of the ,nonjurors in declaring their ,sentiments3 and who1 tho you justly charge those of them you write against1 as attacking us with such uncommon ,marks of ,violence #adc as most plainly intimate1 that no ,measures are intended to be kept with us by them in the ,day of their ,prosperity1 who in the ,day of their ,adversity1 even when they are most at ,mercy1 cannot refrain from such raging ,provocations2 but when reduced to the ,necessity of taking ,quarter1 profess most plainly they will never give it3 ,yet as to these ,enemies1 who would destroy our ,church and ,state1 and #add revive upon us the ,charge of ,heresy and ,schism1 ,perjury and ,treason1 ,crimes of no small figure either in the ,law or in the ,gospel1 you only say1 that if you may have leave to borrow a ,thought from #ade one of their own most celebrated ,writers1 you would tell them1 that the ,blood and ,spirits were made to rise upon such ,occasions3 ,nature design'd not1 that we should be cold or indifferent in our manner of receiving1 or returning1 such foul ,reproaches4 ,this is great ,moderation1 and such as ,i heartily approve1 being dispos'd to forgive the ,punishment due by ,law to any ,fault1 when the ,non-execution of it will not overturn the ,government4 ,and ,i am willing to hope1 that since you can think that such bitter ,adversaries to you1 as these licentious ,jacobites are1 should only be smartly replied to1 and not be prosecuted by the ,government1 you will1 upon ,reflection1 think1 that a merry1 good humour'd ,adversary should be treated as well4 ,tho ,i have endeavour'd to defend the ,use of ,ridicule and ,irony1 yet it is such ,irony and ,ridicule only as is fit for polite ,persons to use4 ,as to the gross ,irony and ,ridicule1 ,i disapprove of it1 as ,i do other ,faults in ,writing2 only ,i would not have ,men punish'd1 or any other way disturb'd about it1 than by a ,return of ,ridicule and ,irony4 ,this ,i think fit to conclude with1 more to prevent ,misrepresentation from others1 than from you2 whom ,i look on to have too much ,sense and ,integrity to mistake or misrepresent me4 ,i am ,yours1 c4 ,,finis4 ,,william ,,andrews ,,clark ,,memorial ,,library ,,university ,,of ,,california1 ,,los ,,angeles ,,the ,,augustan ,,reprint ,,society ,,publications ,,in ,,print ,,the ,,augustan ,,reprint ,,society ,,publications ,,in ,,print #aidh-aidi #af4 ,henry ,nevil ,payne1 ,the ,fatal ,jealousie 7#afgc74 #ah4 ,anonymous1 ,of ,genius1 in ,the ,occasional ,paper1 ,vol4 ,,iii1 ,no4 #a 7#agai71 and ,aaron ,hill1 ,preface to ,the ,creation 7#agbj74 #aidi-aiej #ai4 ,susanna ,centlivre1 ,the ,busie ,body 7#agji74 #bj4 ,lewis ,theobald1 ,preface to the ,works of ,shakespeare 7#agcd74 #bb4 ,samuel ,johnson1 ,the ,vanity of ,human ,wishes 7#agdi71 and two ,rambler papers 7#agej74 #bc4 ,john ,dryden1 ,his ,majesties ,declaration ,defended 7#afha74 #aiej-aiea #bf4 ,charles ,macklin1 ,the ,man of the ,world 7#agib74 #aiea-aieb #ca4 ,thomas ,gray1 ,an ,elegy ,wrote in a ,country ,churchyard 7#agea71 and ,the ,eton ,college ,manuscript4 #aieb-aiec #da4 ,bernard ,mandeville1 ,a ,letter to ,dion 7#agcb74 #aifc-aifd #ajd4 ,thomas ,d',urfey1 ,wonders in the ,sun2 or1 ,the ,kingdom of the ,birds 7#agjf74 #aifd-aife #aaj4 ,john ,tutchin1 ,selected ,poems 7#afhe-agjj74 #aaa4 ,anonymous1 ,political ,justice 7#agcf74 #aab4 ,robert ,dodsley1 ,an ,essay on ,fable 7#agfd74 #aac4 ,t4 ,r41 ,an ,essay ,concerning ,critical and ,curious ,learning 7#afih74 #aad4 ,two ,poems ,against ,pope3 ,leonard ,welsted1 ,one ,epistle to ,mr4 ,a4 ,pope 7#agcj71 and ,anonymous1 ,the ,blatant ,beast 7#agdb74 #aife-aiff #aae4 ,daniel ,defoe and others1 ,accounts of the ,apparition of ,mrs4 ,veal4 #aaf4 ,charles ,macklin1 ,the ,covent ,garden ,theatre 7#ageb74 #aag4 ,sir ,george ,l',estrange1 ,citt and ,bumpkin 7#afhj74 #aah4 ,henry ,more1 ,enthusiasmus ,triumphatus 7#affb74 #aai4 ,thomas ,traherne1 ,meditations on the ,six ,days of the ,creation 7#agag74 #abj4 ,bernard ,mandeville1 ,aesop ,dress'd or a ,collection of ,fables 7#agjd74 #aiff-aifg #abc4 ,edmond ,malone1 ,cursory ,observations on the ,poems ,attributed to ,mr4 ,thomas ,rowley 7#aghb74 #abd4 ,anonymous1 ,the ,female ,wits 7#agjd74 #abe4 ,anonymous1 ,the ,scribleriad 7#agdb74 ,lord ,hervey1 ,the ,difference ,between ,verbal and ,practical ,virtue 7#agdb74 #aifg-aifh #abi4 ,lawrence ,echard1 ,prefaces to ,terence's ,comedies 7#afid7 and ,plautus's ,comedies 7#afid74 #acj4 ,henry ,more1 ,democritus ,platonissans 7#afdf74 #acb4 ,walter ,harte1 ,an ,essay on ,satire1 ,particularly on the ,dunciad 7#agcj74 #aifh-aifi #acc4 ,john ,courtenay1 ,a ,poetical ,review of the ,literary and ,moral ,character of the ,late ,samuel ,johnson 7#aghf74 #acd4 ,john ,downes1 ,roscius ,anglicanus 7#agjh74 #ace4 ,sir ,john ,hill1 ,hypochondriasis1 a ,practical ,treatise 7#agff74 #acf4 ,thomas ,sheridan1 ,discourse 444 ,being ,introductory to ,his ,course of ,lectures on ,elocution and the ,english ,language 7#agei74 #acg4 ,arthur ,murphy1 ,the ,englishman ,from ,paris 7#agcf74 #ach4 ,catherine ,trotter1 ,olinda's ,adventures 7#agah74 ,publications of the first fifteen years of the ,society 7numbers #a-ij7 are available in paperbound units of six issues at #af4jj per unit1 from the ,kraus ,reprint ,company1 #af ,east #dfth ,street1 ,new ,york1 ,n4,y4 #ajjag4 ,publications in print are available at the regular membership rate of #e4jj yearly4 ,prices of single issues may be obtained upon request4 ,subsequent publications may be checked in the annual prospectus4 ,,the ,,augustan ,,reprint ,,society ,,william ,,andrews ,,clark ,,memorial ,,library ,,university ,,of ,,california1 ,,los ,,angeles #bebj ,cimarron ,street 7at ,west ,adams71 ,los ,angeles1 ,california #ijjah ,make check or money order payable to ,,the ,,regents ,,of ,,the ,,university ,,of ,,california ,william ,andrews ,clark ,memorial ,library3 ,university of ,california1 ,los ,angeles ,,the ,,augustan ,,reprint ,,society #bebj ,,cimarron ,,street1 ,,los ,,angeles1 ,,california #ijjah ,general ,editors3 ,william ,e4 ,conway1 ,william ,andrews ,clark ,memorial ,library2 ,george ,robert ,guffey1 ,university of ,california1 ,los ,angeles2 ,maximillian ,e4 ,novak1 ,university of ,california1 ,los ,angeles ,corresponding ,secretary3 ,mrs4 ,edna ,c4 ,davis1 ,william ,andrews ,clark ,memorial ,library ,the ,society's purpose is to publish rare ,restoration and eighteenth-century works 7usually as facsimile reproductions74 ,all income of the ,society is devoted to defraying costs of publication and mailing4 ,correspondence concerning memberships in the ,united ,states and ,canada should be addressed to the ,corresponding ,secretary at the ,william ,andrews ,clark ,memorial ,library1 #bebj ,cimarron ,street1 ,los ,angeles1 ,california4 ,correspondence concerning editorial matters may be addressed to the ,general ,editors at the same address4 ,manuscripts of introductions should conform to the recommendations of the ,,mla ,style ,sheet4 ,the membership fee is #e4jj a year in the ,united ,states and ,canada and #a4ai4f in ,great ,britain and ,europe4 ,british and ,european prospective members should address ,b4 ,h4 ,blackwell1 ,broad ,street1 ,oxford1 ,england4 ,copies of back issues in print may be obtained from the ,corresponding ,secretary4 ,publications of the first fifteen years of the ,society 7numbers #a-ij7 are available in paperbound units of six issues at #af4jj per unit1 from the ,kraus ,reprint ,company1 #af ,east #dfth ,street1 ,new ,york1 ,n4,y4 #ajjag4 ,make check or money order payable to ,,the ,,regents ,,of ,,the ,,university ,,of ,,california ,,regular ,,publications ,,for #aifi-aigj #aci4 ,john ,ogilvie1 ,an ,essay on the lyric poetry of the ancients 7#agfb74 ,introduction by ,wallace ,jackson4 #adj4 ,a ,learned ,dissertation on ,dumpling 7#agbf7 and ,pudding burnt to pot or a compleat key to the ,dissertation on ,dumpling 7#agbg74 ,introduction by ,samuel ,l4 ,macey4 #ada4 ,selections from ,sir ,roger ,l',estrange's ,observator 7#afha-afhg74 ,introduction by ,violet ,jordain4 #adb4 ,anthony ,collins1 ,a ,discourse concerning ,ridicule and ,irony in writing 7#agbi74 ,introduction by ,edward ,a4 ,bloom and ,lillian ,d4 ,bloom4 #adc4 ,a ,letter from a clergyman to his friend1 with an account of the travels of ,captain ,lemuel ,gulliver 7#agbf74 ,introduction by ,martin ,kallich4 #add4 ,the ,art of ,architecture1 a poem4 ,in imitation of ,horace's ,art of poetry 7#agdb74 ,introduction by ,william ,a4 ,gibson4 ,,special ,,publication ,,for #aifi-aigj ,gerard ,langbaine1 ,an ,account of the ,english ,dramatick ,poets 7#afia71 ,introduction by ,john ,loftis4 #b ,volumes4 ,approximately #fjj pages4 ,price to members of the ,society1 #g4jj for the first copy 7both volumes71 and #h4ej for additional copies4 ,price to non-members1 #aj4jj4 ,already published in this series3 #a4 ,john ,ogilby1 ,the ,fables of ,aesop ,paraphras'd in ,verse 7#affh71 with an ,introduction by ,earl ,miner4 #bbh pages4 #b4 ,john ,gay1 ,fables 7#agbg1 #agch71 with an ,introduction by ,vinton ,a4 ,dearing4 #cff pages4 #c4 ,the ,empress of ,morocco and ,its ,critics 7,elkanah ,settle1 ,the ,empress of ,morocco #afgc with five plates2 ,notes and ,observations on the ,empress of ,morocco #afgd by ,john ,dryden1 ,john ,crowne and ,thomas ,snadwell2 ,notes and ,observations on the ,empress of ,morocco ,revised #afgd by ,elkanah ,settle2 and ,the ,empress of ,morocco4 ,a ,farce #afgd by ,thomas ,duffett71 with an ,introduction by ,maximillian ,e4 ,novak4 #cdh pages4 #d4 ,after ,,the ,,tempest 7the ,dryden-,davenant version of ,the ,tempest #afgj2 the operatic ,tempest #afgd2 ,thomas ,duffett's ,mock-,tempest #afge2 and the ,garrick ,tempest #agef71 with an ,introduction by ,george ,robert ,guffey4 #ccb pages4 ,price to members of the ,society1 #c4ej for the first copy of each title1 and #d4be for additional copies4 ,price to non-members1 #e4jj4 ,standing orders for this continuing series of ,special ,publications will be accepted4 ,british and ,european orders should be addressed to ,b4 ,h4 ,blackwell1 ,broad ,street1 ,oxford1 ,england4 ,footnotes3 #bh ,page #ccg4 #bi ,pag4 #cjb4 #cj ,page #cja4 #ca ,pag4 #cjg4 #cb ,stillingfleet's ,answer to several late ,treatises1 c4 ,page #ad4 #cc ,pag4 #ga4 #cd ,vindication of the ,answer to the ,royal ,papers4 p4 #aje4 #ce ,preface to ,unreasonableness of ,separation4 p4 #fb4 #cf ,rule's ,rational ,defence of ,nonconf4 p4 #bi4 #cg ,preface to ,stillingfleet still against ,stillingfleet4 #ch ,preface to a ,discourse of ,miracles wrote in the ,roman ,church1 c4 #ci ,see ,stillingfleet's ,second ,vind4 of the ,protestant ,grounds of ,faith1 c4 #c4 #dj ,edwards's ,new ,discov4 p4 #ahd-bae4 #da ,ecclesiast4 ,hist4 cent4 #h4 p4 #aif4 #db ,vind4 p4 #aii4 #dc ,see ,shaftesbury's ,characteristicks1 ,vol4 ,i4 p4 #fa4 #dd ,memoirs de ,trevoux1 ,an4 #agjg4 p4 #cif4 ,an4 #agag4 p4 #abjj4 #de ,trapp's ,popery truly stated1 p4 #abc4 #df ,preface4 #dg ,heylin's ,history of the ,presbyterians1 p4 #cia4 #dh ,wotton on the ,misna1 p4 #aah4 #di ,freeholder1 ,n #cj4 #ej ,freeholder1 ,numb4 xlv4 #ea ,see ,cicero de ,officiis1 l4 #a4 c4 #cj4 #eb ,see ,patrick's ,friendly ,debate1 ,part #a1 p4 #aci-ada4 #eth ,edit4 #ec ,preface to ,the ,state of the ,roman ,catholick ,religion1 p4 #aa4 #ed ,de ,divin4 l4 #b4 c4 #be4 #ee ,rog4 ,hoveden1 ,pars ii4 p4 #ebj4 #ef #a ,kings xviii4 #eg ,psalm ii4 #d4 #eh ,gen4 iii4 #bb4 #ei ,archolog4 ,philos4 l4 #b4 c4 #g4 #fj ,shaftesbury in ,charact4 ,vol4 #c4 and ,whitchcot's ,sermons3 ,vol4 ,i4 #fa ,shaftesbury's ,characteristicks1 ,vol4 ,i4 p4 #ga4 #fb ,page #cjg4 #fc ,how useful ,lestrange's ,observators1 which were design'd to expose the ,dissenters to ,contempt and ,persecution1 were deem'd to the ,church at the time they were publish'd1 may be judged of by ,bp4 ,burnet1 who says in his ,eighteen ,papers1 p4 #ij4 ,another ,buffoon was hired to plague the ,nation with three or four ,papers a ,week1 which to the ,reproach of the ,age in which we live1 had but too great and too general ,effect1 for poisoning the ,spirits of the ,clergy4 #fd ,in this ,work the ,dissenters and ,low ,churchmen are sufficiently rally'd and abus'd1 and particularly the ,free-,thinkers1 whose ,creed is therein represented as consisting of these two ,negatives1 ,no ,queen and no ,god4 ,examiners1 ,vol4 #c4 p4 #ab4 ,mr4 ,addison tells us ,freeholder ,n4 #ai4 the ,examiner was the favourite ,work of the ,party4 ,it was usher'd into the ,world by a ,letter from a ,secretary of ,state1 setting forth the great ,genius of the ,author1 the ,usefulness of his ,design1 and the mighty ,consequences that were to be expected from it4 ,it is said to be written by those among them whom they look'd upon as their most celebrated ,wits and ,politicians1 and was dispers'd into all ,quarters of the ,nation with great ,industry and ,expence4----,in this ,paper all the great ,men who had done eminent ,services to their ,country1 but a few ,years before1 were draughted out one by one1 and baited in their ,turns4 ,no ,sanctity of ,character1 or ,privilege of ,sex exempted ,persons4----,several of our ,prelates were the standing ,marks of publick ,raillery4---- #fe ,in his ,ecclesiastical ,policy1 his ,defence and ,continuation thereof1 and his ,reproof to ,marvel's ,rehearsal transpos'd4 #ff ,in his ,friendly ,debates4 #fg ,in his six ,volumes of ,sermons1 and in his ,books of the ,trinity4 #fh ,in his ,discourse of the ,knowledge of ,christ1 c4 his ,defences of ,dr4 ,stillingfleet's ,unreasonableness of ,separation1 and his ,answer to the ,protestant ,reconciler4 #fi ,in his ,translation of ,dryden's ,absalom and ,achitophel into ,latin ,verse1 whereby he was first flush'd2 and in his ,convocational ,controversy1 and in his numerous ,state ,libels4 #gj ,in his ,sermons1 ,rights of the ,church1 and especially his ,character of a ,low-,church-man1 drawn to abuse ,bishop ,floyd4 #ga ,of this1 the ,trials of ,penn and ,mead before ,howel1 and of ,baxter before ,jefferys1 are ,master ,pieces2 of which last you have an ,account in ,kennet's ,compleat ,history of ,england1 ,vol4 #c;d4 and of the former in the ,phoenix1 ,vol4 ,i4 #gb ,snape's ,vindication against ,pilloniere4 p4 #ej4 #gc ,id4 p4 #fc4 #gd ,the ,stage condemn'd1 p4 #b4 #ge ,popery truly stated1 p4 #abg1 #abh4 #gf ,pag4 #ge1 #gf1 #gg1 #gi1 #ha1 #aab1 #aac1 #abj1 #abb1 #abd1 #abe4 #gg ,sermons1 ,vol4 ,,iii4 p4 #bii4 #gh ,rule of ,faith1 p4 #cdg1 #cdh4 #gi ,see p4 #eg4 #hj ,pag4 #ei4 #ha ,pag4 #eg4 #hb ,burnet's ,history of his own ,times1 p4 #fgd4 #hc ,ib4 p4 #gib4 #hd ,ibid4 p4 #gdj4 #he ,ibid4 p4 #fhc4 #hf ,the ,protestant ,mouse speaks4 #hg ,boyer's ,life of ,queen ,anne1 in the ,annual ,list of the ,deaths1 p4 #fe4 #hh ,a ,clergyman preach'd thus to his ,auditory3 ,you have ,moses and ,aaron before you1 and the ,organs behind you1 so are a happy ,people2 for what greater ,comfort would mortal ,men have8 ,see ,walker's ,sufferings1 c4 p4 #agh4 #hi ,see the ,article ,heylin1 in ,wood's ,athen ,oxon4 #ij ,burnet's ,hist4 p4 #ajj4 #ia ,characteristicks1 ,vol4 ,i4 p4 #bei4 #ib ,burnet4 ibid4 #ic ,page #agg4 #id ,burnet p4 #ie4 #ie ,kennet's ,register1 p4 #beh4 #if ,ibid4 p4 #eaf4 #ig ,burnet's ,hist4 #ih ,kennet's ,register1 p4 #aaa4 #ii ,burnet's ,history1 p4 #ajg4 #ajj ,see the ,bp4 of ,bangor's ,preface to the ,answer to the ,representation of the ,lower ,house of ,convocation4 #aja ,ward's ,life of ,dr4 ,henry ,more1 p4 #abj4 #ajb ,ibid4 p4 #abb4 #ajc ,see the several ,lives of him4 #ajd ,life lately printed1 #agbf4 p4 #ii4 #aje ,burnet's ,hist4 p4 #ie4 #ajf ,temple's ,works1 ,vol4 ,,ii4 p4 #dj4 #ajg ,collection of authentick ,records1 ,vol4 ,,ii4 p4 #ajii4 #ajh ,second ,letter to the ,bishop of ,london1 p4 #c1 #d4 #aji ,history1 p4 #bfj4 #aaj ,mat4 xxvi4 #fg1 #fh4 #aaa ,elwood's ,history of his own ,life1 c4 p4 #cah4 #aab ,remarks on some late ,sermons1 c4 p4 #cd4 #aac ,pag4 #eb4 #aad ,answer to ,state of the ,protestants in ,ireland1 c4 p4 #ajh4 #aae ,pag4 #abj1 #aba4 #aaf ,preface1 p4 #ad4 #aag ,pag4 #aa1 #bd4 #aah ,pag4 #a4 #aai ,pag4 #d1 #aa1 #ab1 #ac1 #ai4 #abj ,appendix to ,parliamentary ,original1 c4 p4 #ad4 #aba ,some ,remarks on the ,temper of some late ,writers1 c4 p4 #cc4 #abb ,preface to ,animad4 p4 #ab1 #ac4 #abc ,animad4 p4 #aad4 #abd ,ibid4 p4 #ccb4 #abe ,ibid4 p4 #cdh4 #abf ,tritheism charged1 p4 #b1 #c4 #abg ,ib4 p4 #ajh4 #abh ,ibid4 p4 #agj4 #abi ,ibid4 p4 #bha4 #acj ,judg4 #ah4bd4 #aca ,ib4 p4 #bhe4 #acb ,ibid4 p4 #bii4 #acc ,fuller's ,church ,history1 ,cent4 #ag4 ,b4 #aa4 ,sect4 #hi1 ,parag4 #aj4 #acd ,rushworth1 ,part ,,ii4 ,vol4 ,i4 p4 #dga4 #ace ,prap4 ,evang4 l4 #d4 p4 #bji-bcd4 #acf ,fontenelle1 ,historie des ,oracles4 ,i4 ,dissert4 c4 vii4 #acg ,euseb4 ,id4 l4 #d4 #ach ,baltus1 ,suite de la ,reponse a l',his4 des ,oracles1 p4 #bhc4 #aci ,ibid4 #adj ,bp4 ,hoadley's ,answer to the ,representation1 c4 ,pref4 p4 #ab4 #ada ,page #ia4 #adb ,page #b4 #adc ,page #a4 #add ,page #d1 #e4 #ade ,mr4 ,collier4 ,transcriber's ,notes3 ,passages in italics are indicated by underscore4 ,additional spacing after some of the quotes is intentional to indicate both the end of a quotation and the beginning of a new paragraph as presented in the original text4 ,long s has been modernized4 ,the inclusion of two footnotes numbered #ec in intentional to reflect the original text4 ,footnote placement in this text reflects the placement in the original1 either inside punctuation or spaced between words4 ,the following misprints have been corrected3 administred corrected to administered 7page i7 othodoxy corrected to orthodoxy 7page vi7 ,trap's corrected to ,trapp's 7page #ab7 ,rididicule corrected to ,ridicule 7page #ai7 ridiulons corrected to ridiculous 7page #fc7 qustion corrected to question 7page #gc7 ,other than the corrections listed above1 printer's inconsistencies in spelling1 punctuation1 hyphenation1 and ligature usage have been retained4