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+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 30343 ***
+
+  THE AUGUSTAN REPRINT SOCIETY
+
+  ANTHONY COLLINS
+
+  A DISCOURSE
+  CONCERNING
+  Ridicule and Irony
+  IN WRITING
+
+  (1729)
+
+  _Introduction by_
+  EDWARD A. BLOOM AND LILLIAN D. BLOOM
+
+  PUBLICATION NUMBER 142
+  WILLIAM ANDREWS CLARK MEMORIAL LIBRARY
+  UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, LOS ANGELES
+
+  1970
+
+
+
+  GENERAL EDITORS
+
+  William E. Conway, _William Andrews Clark Memorial Library_
+  George Robert Guffey, _University of California, Los Angeles_
+  Maximillian E. Novak, _University of California, Los Angeles_
+
+
+  ASSOCIATE EDITOR
+
+  David S. Rodes, _University of California, Los Angeles_
+
+
+  ADVISORY EDITORS
+
+  Richard C. Boys, _University of Michigan_
+  James L. Clifford, _Columbia University_
+  Ralph Cohen, _University of Virginia_
+  Vinton A. Dearing, _University of California, Los Angeles_
+  Arthur Friedman, _University of Chicago_
+  Louis A. Landa, _Princeton University_
+  Earl Miner, _University of California, Los Angeles_
+  Samuel H. Monk, _University of Minnesota_
+  Everett T. Moore, _University of California, Los Angeles_
+  Lawrence Clark Powell, _William Andrews Clark Memorial Library_
+  James Sutherland, _University College, London_
+  H. T. Swedenberg, Jr., _University of California, Los Angeles_
+  Robert Vosper, _William Andrews Clark Memorial Library_
+
+
+  CORRESPONDING SECRETARY
+
+  Edna C. Davis, _William Andrews Clark Memorial Library_
+
+
+  EDITORIAL ASSISTANT
+
+  Roberta Medford, _William Andrews Clark Memorial Library_
+
+
+
+
+INTRODUCTION
+
+Between 1710 and 1729 Anthony Collins was lampooned, satirized, and
+gravely denounced from pulpit and press as England's most insidious
+defiler of church and state. Yet within a year of his death he became the
+model of a proper country gentleman,
+
+     ... he had an opulent Fortune, descended to him from his Ancestors,
+     which he left behind him unimpair'd: He lived on his own Estate in
+     the Country, where his Tenants paid him moderate Rents, which he
+     never enhanced on their making any Improvements; he always oblig'd
+     his Family to a constant attendance on Publick Worship; as he was
+     himself a Man of the strictest Morality, for he never suffer'd any
+     Body about him who was deficient in that Point; he exercised a
+     universal Charity to all Sorts of People, without any Regard either
+     to Sect or Party; being in the Commission of the Peace, he
+     administered Justice with such Impartiality and Incorruptness, that
+     the most distant Part of the County flock'd to his Decisions; but the
+     chief Use he made of his Authority was in accommodating
+     Differences;...[1]
+
+In a comparison which likens him to Sir Roger de Coverley, there is less
+truth than fiction. What they did share was a love of the countryside and
+a "universal Charity" towards its inhabitants. For the most part, however,
+we can approximate Collins's personality by reversing many of Sir Roger's
+traits. Often at war with his world, as the spectatorial character was
+not, he managed to maintain an intellectual rapport with it and even with
+those who sought his humiliation. He never--as an instance--disguised his
+philosophical distrust of Samuel Clarke; yet during any debate he planned
+"most certainly [to] outdo him in civility and good manners."[2] This
+decorum in no way compromised his pursuit of what he considered objective
+truth or his denunciation of all "methods" or impositions of spiritual
+tyranny. Thus, during the virulent, uneven battle which followed upon the
+publication of the _Discourse of Free-Thinking_, he ignored his own wounds
+in order to applaud a critic's
+
+     _suspicions that there is a sophism_ in what he calls my
+     _hypothesis_. That is a temper that ought to go thro' all our
+     Inquirys, and especially before we have an opportunity of examining
+     things to the bottom. It is safest at all times, and we are least
+     likely to be mistaken, if we constantly suspect our selves to be
+     under mistakes.... I have no system to defend or that I would seem to
+     defend, and am unconcerned for the consequence that may be drawn from
+     my opinion; and therefore stand clear of all difficultys wch others
+     either by their opinion or caution are involved in.[3]
+
+
+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 error. For himself, hence, he tries to avoid all manner of hard-voiced
+enthusiasm. Paradoxically, however, Collins searched with a zealot's
+avidity for any controversy which would either assert his faith or test
+his disbelief. When once he found his engagement, he revelled in it,
+whether as the aggressor or the harassed defendant. For example, 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 Religion_.
+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 Reasons_.[4]
+
+By May of 1727 and with no visible sign of fatigue he took on a new
+contender; this time it was John Rogers, canon in ordinary to the Prince
+of Wales. At the height of their debate, in late summer, Collins made
+practical enquiries about methods to prolong and intensify its
+give-and-take. Thus, in a note to his friend Pierre Des Maizeaux, he said:
+"But I would be particularly informed of the success and sale of the
+Letter to Dr Rogers; because, if it could be, I would add to a new
+edition thereof two or three as sheets; which also might be sold
+separately to those who have already that Letter." For all his militant
+polemic, he asked only that his "Adversaries" observe with him a single
+rule of fair play; namely, that they refrain from name-calling and petty
+sniping. "Personal matters," he asserted, "tho they may some times afford
+useful remarks, are little regarded by Readers, who are very seldom
+mistaken in judging that the most impertinent subject a man can talk of is
+himself," particularly when he inveighs against another.[5]
+
+If Collins had been made to look back over the years 1676-1729, he
+probably would have summarized the last twenty with a paraphrase of the
+Popean line, "This long controversy, my life." For several years and in
+such works as _Priestcraft in Perfection_ (1710) and _A Discourse of
+Free-Thinking_ (1713), he was a flailing polemicist against the entire
+Anglican hierarchy. Not until 1724 did he become a polished debater, when
+he initiated a controversy which for the next five years made a "very
+great noise" and which ended only with his death. The loudest shot in the
+persistent barrage was sounded by the _Grounds and Reasons_, and its last
+fusillade by the _Discourse concerning Ridicule and Irony in Writing_.[6]
+
+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 essays. He created in this way a composite victim whose
+strength was lessened by deindividualization; in this way too he ran no
+risk of being labelled a hobbyhorse rider or, more seriously, a
+persecutor. Throughout the _Grounds and Reasons_ he laughed at, reasoned
+against, and satirized William Whiston's assumption that messianic
+prophecies in the Old Testament were literally fulfilled in the figure and
+mission of Jesus. Within two years and in a new work, he substituted
+Edward Chandler, Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield, for the mathematician.
+It need not have been the Bishop; any one of thirty-four others could have
+qualified for the role of opponent, among them people like Clarke, and
+Sykes, and Sherwood, and even the ubiquitous Whiston. Collins rejected
+them, however, to debate in the _Scheme_ with Bishop Chandler, the author
+of _A Defence of Christianity from the Prophecies of the old Testament_,
+with one who was, in short, the least controversial and yet the most
+orthodox of his many assailants.
+
+Early in 1727 the Anglican establishment came to the abrupt realization
+that the subject of the continuing debate--the reliability of the argument
+from prophecy--was inconclusive, that it could lead only to pedantic
+wrangling and hair-splitting with each side vainly clutching victory.
+Certainly the devotion of many clergymen to biblical criticism was
+secondary to their interest in orthodoxy as a functional adjunct of
+government, both civil and canonical. It was against this interest, as it
+was enunciated in Rogers's _Eight Sermons concerning the Necessity of
+Revelation_ (1727) and particularly in its vindictive preface, that
+Collins chose to fight.[7] The debate had now taken a happy turn for him.
+As he saw it, the central issue devolved upon man's natural right to
+religious liberty. At least he made this the theme of his _Letter to Dr.
+Rogers_. In writing to Des Maizeaux about the success of this work, he
+obviously enjoyed his own profane irony:
+
+     I have had particular compliments made me by the BP of Salisbury,
+     and by Dr Clark, who among other things sayd, that the Archbp of
+     Canterbury might have writ all that related to Toleration in it: to
+     say nothing of what I hear from others. Dr Rogers himself has
+     acknowledg[ed] to his Bookseller who sent it to him into the Country,
+     that he has receivd it; but says that he is so engaged in other
+     affairs, that he has no thought at present of answering it; tho he
+     may perhaps in time do so.[8]
+
+
+In time Rogers did. He counterattacked on 2 February 1728 with a
+_Vindication of the Civil Establishment of Religion_.[9] For Collins this
+work was a dogged repetition of what had gone before, and so it could be
+ignored except for one of its appendices, _A Letter from the Rev. Dr.
+Marshall jun. To the Rev. Dr. Rogers, upon Occasion of his Preface to his
+Eight Sermons_. Its inclusion seemed an afterthought; yet it altered the
+dimensions of the debate by narrowing and particularizing the areas of
+grievance which separated the debaters. Collins, therefore, rebutted it
+some fourteen months later in _A Discourse concerning Ridicule and Irony
+in Writing_. He had great hopes for this pamphlet, preparing carefully for
+its reception. He encouraged the republication of his three preceding
+works, which find their inevitable conclusion, even their exoneration, in
+this last performance, and he probably persuaded his bookseller to
+undertake an elaborate promotional campaign. For the new editions were
+advertised on seven different days between 10 January and 27 February 1729
+in the _Daily Post_. 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 17
+March.
+
+Collins was animated by his many debates. Indeed, "he sought the storms."
+Otherwise he would not, could not, have participated in these many verbal
+contests. Throughout them all, his basic strategy--that of
+provocation--was determined by the very real fact that he had many more
+enemies than allies, among them, for instance, such formidable antagonists
+as Swift and Richard Bentley.[10] To survive he had to acquire a tough
+resilience, a skill in fending off attacks or turning them to his own
+advantage. Nevertheless, he remained a ready target all his life.
+Understandably so: his radicalism was stubborn and his opinions
+predictable. Such firmness may of course indicate his aversion to
+trimming. Or it may reveal a lack of intellectual growth; what he believed
+as a young man, he perpetuated as a mature adult. Whether our answer is
+drawn from either possibility or, more realistically, from both, the fact
+remains that he never camouflaged the two principles by which he lived and
+fought:
+
+     1. That universal liberty be established in respect to opinions and
+     practises not prejudicial to the peace and welfare of society: by
+     which establishment, truth must needs have the advantages over
+     _error_ and _falsehood_, the _law_ of _God_ over the _will_ of _man_,
+     and _true Christianity tolerated_; private _judgment_ would be really
+     exercised; and men would be allowed to have suffered to follow their
+     consciences, over which God only is supreme:...
+
+     2. Secondly, that nothing but the _law of nature_, (the observance
+     whereof is absolutely necessary to society) and what can be built
+     thereon, should be enforced by the civil sanctions of the
+     magistrate:...[11]
+
+
+II
+
+There is very little in this statement to offend modern readers. Yet the
+orthodox in Collins's own time had reason to be angry with him: his
+arguments were inflammatory and his rhetoric was devious, cheeky, and
+effective. Those contesting him underscored his negativism, imaging him as
+a destroyer of Christianity eager "to proselyte men, from the Christian to
+no religion at all."[12] Certainly it is true that he aimed to disprove a
+Christian revelation which he judged fraudulent and conspiratorial. In
+place of ecclesiastical authority he offered the rule of conscience. For
+orthodoxy he substituted "a Religion antecedent to Revelation, which is
+necessary to be known in order to _ascertain Revelation_; and by that
+Religion [he meant] _Natural Religion_, which is presupposed to
+Revelation, and is a Test by which Reveal'd Religion is to be tried, is a
+Bottom on which it must stand, and is a Rule to understand it by."[13]
+Categorical in tone, the statement frustrated the Anglican clergy by its
+very slipperiness; its generalities left little opportunity for decisive
+rebuttal. It provided no definition of natural religion beyond the
+predication of a body of unnamed moral law which is rational and original,
+the archetype of what is valid in the world's religions.
+
+His dismissal of revelation and his reduction of Christianity to what he
+called its "natural" and hence incontrovertible basis carried with it a
+corollary, that of man's absolute right to religious enquiry and
+profession. Here he became specific, borrowing from Lockean empiricism his
+conditions of intellectual assent. "Evidence," he said, "ought to be the
+sole ground of Assent, and Examination is the way to arrive at Evidence;
+and therefore rather than I wou'd have Examination, Arguing and Objecting
+laid aside, I wou'd chuse to say, That no Opinions whatever can be
+dangerous to a Man that impartially examines into the Truth of
+Things."[14] The church leadership saw in this statement and others like
+it not an epistemological premise but a deliberate subterfuge, an
+insidious blind to vindicate his attacks upon an organized priesthood. We
+can recognize now that his opponents oversimplified his intention, that
+they blackened it to make his villainy at once definitive and vulnerable.
+At the same time we must admit that he often equated the ideas of
+repression and clerical authority, even as he coupled those of freedom and
+the guide of private conscience.
+
+The Anglican church was infuriated by these correlations, angered as much
+by their manner of expression as by their substance. For the faithful were
+frequently thrown off balance by a strategy of ironical indirection.
+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 conclusions. At other times
+he used this artful circumlocution to create his favorite mask, that of
+the pious Christian devoted to scripture or of the moralist perplexed by
+the divisions among the orthodox clergy. Finally, his rhetoric was shaped
+by deistic predecessors who used sarcasm and satire to mock the gravity of
+church authority. So much was their wit a trademark that as early as 1702
+one commentator had noted, "when you expect an argument, they make a
+jest."[15] Collins himself resorted to this practice with both instinctive
+skill and deliberate contrivance.
+
+All these methods, though underhanded, he silently justified on the
+assumption that he was dealing with a conspiracy of priests: hence, he
+professed that he had to fight fraud and deception with their like, and
+that such craftiness, suitable "to his particular genius and temper," was
+"serviceable to his cause." For these reasons even William Warburton, who
+had vainly struggled to be judicious, described him as "a Writer, whose
+dexterity in the arts of Controversy was so remarkably contrasted by his
+abilities in reasoning and literature, as to be ever putting one in mind
+of what travellers tell us of the genius of the proper Indians, who,
+although the veriest bunglers in all the fine arts of manual operation,
+yet excel everybody in slight of hand and the delusive feats of
+activity."[16] Whatever may be said of Collins and his achievement, one
+fact remains constant. 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 debate.
+
+He seized any opportunity to expose the diversity of ethical and
+theological opinion which set one Anglican divine against another, "to
+observe"--as Jenkin put it--"how the gladiators in dispute murder the
+cause between them, while they so fiercely cut and wound one another." For
+Collins such observation was more than oratorical artifice; it was one of
+the dogmas of his near-nihilism. He commented once to Des Maizeaux upon
+the flurry of critics who replied to his statement of necessitarianism in
+the _Philosophical Inquiry concerning Human Liberty_:
+
+     I was extreamly pleasd with BP Hoadley, ... as it was upon the true
+     and only point worth disputing with ye Preists, viz whether we the
+     laity are the Calves and Sheep of the Preist. And I am not less
+     pleasd to see them manage this controversy with ye same vile arts
+     against one another, as they always use towards the laity. It must
+     open the eyes of a few and convince them, that the Preists mean
+     nothing but wealth and power, and have not the least ... of those
+     qualitys for wch the superstitious world admires them.[17]
+
+
+He applied this principle of divisive attack in _A Discourse of
+Free-Thinking_. There in fifty-three pages he transparently ridiculed
+contradictions which hedged three areas of fundamental religious belief:
+_"The Nature and Attributes of the Eternal Being or God, ... the Authority
+of Scriptures, and ... the Sense of Scripture."_ In accordance with one of
+his favorite tricks--the massing of eminent authority--his exposition
+rings with hallowed Anglican names: South, Bull, Taylor, Wallis, Carlton,
+Davenant, Edwards, More, Tillotson, Fowler, Sherlock, Stillingfleet,
+Sacheverell, Beveridge, Grabe, Hickes, Lesley.[18] What united these men,
+he insinuated, was not a Christian commitment but a talent to disagree
+with one another and even to repudiate themselves--as in the case of
+Stillingfleet. In effect, the entire _Discourse_ bubbles with a carelessly
+suppressed snicker.
+
+The clergy could not readily reply to this kind of incriminating exposure
+or deny its reality. They therefore overreacted to other judgments that
+Collins made, particularly to his attacks upon Christian revelation. These
+they denigrated as misleading, guileful, sinister, contrived, deceitful,
+insidious, shuffling, covert, subversive. What they objected to was,
+first, the way in which he reduced the demonstration of Christian
+revelation to only the "puzzling and perplexing" argument from prophecy,
+the casual ease with which he ignored or dismissed those other "clear"
+proofs derived from the miracles of Jesus and the resurrection itself.[19]
+But even more the orthodox resented the masked point of view from which
+Collins presented his disbelief.
+
+For example, the _Grounds and Reasons_ is the deist's first extended
+attack upon revelation. Ostensibly it is, as we have seen, an answer to
+Whiston's _Essay Towards Restoring the True Text of the Old Testament; and
+for Vindicating the Citations Made Thence in the New Testament_ (1722). In
+it the mathematician argued that the Hebraic prophecies relating to the
+messiah had been literally fulfilled in Jesus. But this truth, he
+admitted, had been obscured "in the latter Ages," only because of those
+"Difficulties" which "have [almost wholly] arisen from the Corruptions,
+the unbelieving _Jews_ introduc'd into the Hebrew and Greek copies of the
+Old Testament, [soon after] the Beginning of the Second Century." These
+conspiratorial corruptions he single-handedly planned to remove, returning
+the Old Testament to a state of textual purity with emendations drawn from
+sources as varied as the Samaritan Pentateuch, the Greek Psalms, the
+Antiquities of Josephus, the Chaldee Paraphrases, the books of Philo. His
+pragmatic purpose was to nullify the biblical criticism of historical
+minded scholars as reputable as Grotius, to render useless the allegorical
+interpretation of messianic prophecies. That is, he saw in the latter a
+"pernicious" absence of fact, a "weak and enthusiastical" whimsy,
+unchristian adjustments to the exigencies of the moment.[20]
+
+Collins fought not to destroy Whiston's position, which was all too easily
+destructible, but to undermine the structure, the very "grounds and
+reasons" with which orthodoxy supported the mysteries of its faith. To do
+so, he spun a gigantic web of irony controlled by a persona whose complex
+purpose was concealed by a mien of hyper-righteousness. 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 conclusions. Here too was a conservative Christian different from
+Whiston "and many other great divines; who seem to pay little deference to
+the books of the New Testament, the text whereof they are perpetually
+mending in their sermons, commentaries, and writings, to serve purposes;
+who pretend _we should have more of the true text by being less tenacious
+of the printed one_, and in consequence thereof, presume to correct by
+critical _emendations_, serve _capital places_ in the _sacred writers_;
+and who ... do virtually set aside the authority of the scripture, and
+place those compositions in its stead." Finally, here was one who,
+obedient to the spirit of God's revealed word, rejected the fallacy that
+messianic prophecy had been fulfilled in Christ in any "literal, obvious
+and primary sense."[21]
+
+But though the persona could not accept Whiston's program, he was not a
+mere negativist. With growing excitement he argued for allegorical
+interpretation. At this point the reader discerns that he has been duped,
+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 enthusiastical." On the contrary, 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 absurdity.
+After being protected for a long time by all the twists and turns of his
+creator's irony, the persona finally reveals himself for what he is, a man
+totally insolent and totally without remorse. Never for one moment did he
+wish to defend the scheme of allegorical prophecy but to attack it. His
+argument, stripped of its convolutions and pseudo-piety, moves inexorably
+to a single, negative conclusion. "Christianity pretends to derive itself
+from Judaism. JESUS appeals to the religious books of the Jews as
+prophesying of his Mission. None of these Prophecies can be understood of
+him but in a _typical allegoric_ sense. Now that sense is absurd, and
+contrary to all scholastic rules of interpretation. Christianity,
+therefore, not being really predicted in the Jewish Writings, is
+consequently false."[22]
+
+Collins continued his attack upon Christian revelation in the _Scheme_. In
+the two years which separated this work from the earlier _Grounds and
+Reasons_, there occurred no change in the author's argument. What does
+occur, however, is a perceptive if snide elaboration upon the mask. This
+is in many ways the same persona who barely suppressed his guffaws in the
+earlier work. Now he is given an added dimension; he is made more
+decisively rational than his predecessor and therefore more insightful in
+his knowledge of rhetorical method. As a disciple of certain Protestant
+polemicists and particularly of Grotius, whose "integrity," "honor," and
+biblical criticism he supports, 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 arguments. "For if you begin
+with Infidels by denying to them, what is evident and agreeable to common
+sense, I think there can be no reasonable hopes of converting or
+convincing them."[23] The irony is abrasive simply because it unanswerably
+singles out the great rhetorical failure of orthodoxy, its inability to
+argue from a set of principles as acceptable to the deists as to
+themselves.
+
+Many of the clergy chafed against Collins's manipulation of this
+tongue-in-cheek persona. They resented his irreverent wit which projected,
+for example, the image of an Anglican God who "talks to all mankind from
+corners" and who shows his back parts to Moses. They were irritated by his
+jesting parables, as in "The Case of Free-Seeing," and by the impertinence
+of labelling Archbishop Tillotson as the man "whom all _English
+Free-Thinkers_ own as their Head."[24]
+
+But most of all they gagged upon Collins's use of satire in religious
+controversy. As we have already seen, there were complex reasons for his
+choice of technique. He was a naturally witty man who, sometimes out of
+fear and sometimes out of malice, expressed himself best through
+circuitous irony. In 1724, when he himself considered his oratorical
+practice, he argued that his matter determined his style, that the targets
+of his belittling wit were the "saint-errants." 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"
+Presbyterians. It would be hard to live down the associations of those
+facetious lines which made the Augustan divines, like their unwelcome
+forebear Hudibras, members
+
+                      Of that stubborn Crew
+  Of Errant Saints, whom all men grant
+  To be the true Church Militant.
+
+Those dignified Anglican exteriors were further punctured by Collins's
+irreverent attack upon their cry of religious uniformity, a cry which was
+"ridiculous, romantick, and impossible to succeed." He saw himself, in
+short, as an emancipated Butler or even Cervantes; and like his famous
+predecessors he too would laugh quite out of countenance the fool and the
+hypocrite, the pretender and the enthusiast, the knave and the persecuter,
+all those who would create a god in their own sour and puny image.
+
+
+III
+
+By 1727 several of the orthodox felt that they could take no more of
+Collins's laughter, his sneering invectives against the clergy, or his
+designs to make religion "a Matter purely personal; and the Knowledge of
+it to be obtain'd by personal Consideration, _independently of any Guides,
+Teachers, or Authority_." In the forefront of this group was John Rogers,
+whose hostility to the deist was articulate and compulsive. At least it
+drove him into a position seemingly at odds with the spirit if not the law
+of English toleration. He urged, for example, that those like Collins be
+prosecuted in a civil court for a persuasion "which is manifestly
+subversive of all Order and Polity, and can no more consist with civil,
+than with religious, Society."[25]
+
+Thereupon followed charge and countercharge. New gladiators, as different
+from each other as the nonconformist divine Samuel Chandler and the deist
+Thomas Chubb, entered the arena on behalf of Collins. For all the dogmatic
+volubility of Rogers, orthodoxy appeared beleaguered. The moderate clergy,
+who witnessed this exchange, became alarmed; they feared that in the melee
+the very heart of English toleration would be threatened by the
+contenders, all of whom spoke as its champion. Representative of such
+moderation was Nathanael Marshall, who wished if not to end the debate,
+then at least to contain its ardor. As canon of Windsor, he supported the
+condition of a state religion protected by the magistrate but he worried
+over the extent of the latter's prerogative and power. Certainly he was
+more liberal than Rogers in his willingness to entertain professions of
+religious diversity. Yet he straitjacketed his liberalism when he denied
+responsible men the right to attack laws, both civil and canonical, with
+"ludicrous Insult" or "with Buffoonery and Banter, Ridicule or Sarcastick
+Irony."[26]
+
+Once again Collins met the challenge. In _A Discourse concerning Ridicule
+and Irony_ he devoted himself to undermining the moral, the intellectual,
+and practical foundations of that one restraint which Marshall would
+impose upon the conduct of any religious quarrel. He had little difficulty
+in achieving his objective. His adversary's stand was visibly vulnerable
+and for several reasons. It was too conscious of the tug-of-war between
+the deist and Rogers, too arbitrary in its choice of prohibition. It was,
+in truth, strained by a choice between offending the establishment and yet
+rejecting clerical extremism.[27] Moreover, Collins had this time an
+invisible partner, a superior thinker against whom he could test his own
+ideas and from whom he could borrow others. For the _Discourse concerning
+Ridicule and Irony_ is largely a particularization, a crude but powerful
+reworking of Shaftesbury's _Sensus Communis: An Essay on the Freedom of
+Wit and Humour_.
+
+Supported by Shaftesbury's urbane generalization, Collins laughed openly
+at the egocentricity and blindness of Marshall's timid zealotry. Indeed,
+he wryly found his orthodox opponent guilty of the very crime with which
+he, as a subversive, was charged. It seemed to him, he said,
+
+     a most prodigious Banter upon [mankind], for Men to talk in general
+     of the _Immorality_ of _Ridicule_ and _Irony_, and of _punishing_ Men
+     for those Matters, when their own Practice is _universal Irony_ and
+     _Ridicule_ of all those who go not with them, and _universal
+     Applause_ and _Encouragement_ for such _Ridicule_ and _Irony_, and
+     distinguishing by all the honourable ways imaginable such _drolling_
+     Authors for their Drollery; and when Punishment for _Drollery_ is
+     never call'd for, but when _Drollery_ is used or employ'd against
+     them!
+
+     (p. 29)
+
+Collins's technique continued its ironic ambiguity, reversal, and
+obliquity. Under a tone of seeming innocence and good will, he credited
+his adversaries with an enviable capacity for satiric argument. In
+comradely fashion, he found precedent for his own rhetorical practice
+through a variety of historical and biblical analogies. But even more
+important for a contemporary audience, he again resorted to the device of
+invoking the authority provided by some of the most respected names in the
+Anglican Establishment. The use of satire in religious topics, hence, was
+manifest in "the Writings of our most eminent Divines," especially those
+of Stillingfleet, "our greatest controversial Writer" (pp. 4-5).
+
+With all the outrageous assurance of a self-invited guest, the deist had
+seated himself at the table of his vainly protesting Christian hosts (whom
+he insisted on identifying as brethren). "In a word," he said so as to
+obviate debate, "the Opinions and Practices of Men in all Matters, and
+especially in Matters of Religion, are generally so absurd and ridiculous
+that it is impossible for them not to be the Subjects of Ridicule" (p.
+19). Thus adopting Juvenal's concept of satiric necessity ("difficile est
+saturam non scribere"), Collins here set forth the thesis and rationale of
+his enemy. There was a kind of impudent virtuosity in his "proofs," in his
+manner of drawing a large, impressive cluster of names into his ironic net
+and making all of them appear to be credible witnesses in his defense.
+Even Swift, amusingly compromised as "one of the greatest _Droles_ that
+ever appear'd upon the Stage of the World" (p. 39), was brought to the
+witness box as evidence of the privileged status to which satiric writing
+was entitled. Collins enforced erudition with cool intelligence so that
+contemptuous amusement is present on every page of his _Discourse_.
+
+Beneath his jeers and his laughter there was a serious denunciation of any
+kind of intellectual restraint, however mild-seeming; beneath his verbal
+pin-pricking there was conversely an exoneration of man's right to
+inquire, to profess, and to persuade. Beneath his jests and sarcasms there
+was further a firm philosophical commitment that informed the rhetoric of
+all his earlier work. Ridicule, he asserted in 1729, "is both a proper and
+necessary Method of Discourse in many Cases, and especially in the Case of
+_Gravity_, when that is attended with Hypocrisy or Imposture, or with
+Ignorance, or with soureness of Temper and Persecution: all which ought to
+draw after them the _Ridicule_ and _Contempt_ of the Society, which has no
+other effectual Remedy against such Methods of Imposition" (p. 22).
+
+For the modern reader the _Discourse concerning Ridicule and Irony_ is the
+most satisfactory of Collins's many pamphlets and books. It lacks the
+pretentiousness of the _Scheme_, the snide convolutions of the _Grounds
+and Reasons_, the argument by half-truths of the _Discourse of
+Free-Thinking_. His last work is free of the curious ambivalence which
+marked so many of his earlier pieces, a visible uncertainty which made him
+fear repression and yet court it. On the contrary, his last work is in
+fact a justification of his rhetorical mode and religious beliefs; it is
+an _apologia pro vita sua_ written with all the intensity and decisiveness
+that such a justification demands. To be sure, it takes passing shots at
+old enemies like Swift, but never with rancor. And while its language is
+frequently ironical, its thinking makes an earnest defense of wit as a
+weapon of truth. The essay sets forth its author as an _animal ridens_, a
+creature that through laughter and affable cynicism worships a universal
+God and respects a rational mankind.
+
+Brown University
+
+
+
+
+NOTES TO THE INTRODUCTION
+
+[1] _Universal Spectator, and Weekly Journal_, No. 98 (22 August 1730).
+
+[2] To Des Maizeaux (5 May 1717): B. M. Sloane MSS. 4282, ff. 129-130.
+
+[3] To Des Maizeaux (9 February 1716): B. M. Sloane MSS. 4282, f. 123.
+
+[4] The title page of the _Scheme_ is dated 1726. It was not advertised in
+the newspapers or journals of that year--a strange silence for any of
+Collins's work. Its first notice appeared in the _Monthly Catalogue: Being
+a General Register of Books, Sermons, Plays, Poetry, Pamphlets, &c.
+Printed and Publish'd in London, or the Universities, during the Month of
+May, 1727_ (see No. 49). Yet we know that the _Scheme_ had been remarked
+upon as early as March when on the 10th of that month Samuel Chandler
+published his _Reflections on the Conduct of the Modern Deists in their
+late Writings against Christianity_. (For the dating of Chandler's work,
+see the _Daily Courant_ [10 March 1727].) We know also that the _Scheme_
+went to a second edition late in 1727 and was frequently advertised in the
+_Daily Post_ between 2 January and 20 January 1728.
+
+[5] For the statement about the _Letter to Dr. Rogers_, see B. M. Sloane
+MSS. 4282, f. 220 (15 August 1727). For that on the use of "personal
+matters" in controversy, see B. M. Sloane MSS. 4282, f. 170 (27 December
+1719); cf. _The Scheme of Literal Prophecy Considered_ (London, 1726), pp.
+422-438.
+
+[6] _The Grounds and Reasons of the Christian Religion_ was published in
+London within the first four days of January 1724; see the advertisement
+in the _Daily Post_ (4 January 1724). _A Discourse concerning Ridicule and
+Irony in Writing_ was published on or close to 17 March 1729; see the
+advertisement in the _Daily Journal_ for that date.
+
+[7] We can generally fix the date of Rogers's _Eight Sermons_ within the
+first two months of 1727 because it was answered early by Samuel
+Chandler's _Reflections on the Conduct of the Modern Deists_. (See note
+4.) For the dating of Collins's rebuttal, see the _Monthly Catalogue_, No.
+49 (May 1727).
+
+[8] To Des Maizeaux (24 June 1727): B. M. Sloane MSS. 4282, ff. 218-219.
+
+[9] For the dating of this work, see the _Daily Post_ (31 January 1728).
+
+[10] For Swift's satire, see _Mr. C---ns's Discourse of Free-Thinking, Put
+into plain English, by way of Abstract, for the Use of the Poor_. For
+Bentley's devastating probe of Collins's scholarly inadequacies, see his
+_Remarks on the Discourse of Free-Thinking. By Phileleutherus Lipsiensis_.
+Both works appeared in 1713.
+
+[11] _Scheme_, pp. 432-433.
+
+[12] Edward Chandler, _A Defence of Christianity from the Prophecies of
+the Old Testament_ (London, 1725), p. ii.
+
+[13] _A Letter to Dr. Rogers_, p. 89.
+
+[14] _A Vindication of the Divine Attributes_ (London, 1710), p. 24.
+
+[15] Robert Jenkin, _A Brief Confutation of the Pretences against Natural
+and Revealed Religion_ (London, 1702), p. 40.
+
+[16] For Collins on his own rhetorical skills, see _Scheme_, p. 402;
+William Warburton, _Divine Legation of Moses, Demonstrated_ (London,
+1846), III, 199.
+
+[17] Jenkin, _Brief Confutation_, p. 51; for the letter (1 July 1717), see
+B. M. Sloane MSS. 4282, f. 137.
+
+[18] Pp. 46-99.
+
+[19] See, for example, the statement of John Conybeare, Bishop of Bristol,
+in Joseph Spence, _Observations, Anecdotes, and Characters of Books and
+Men_, ed. James M. Osborn (Oxford, 1966), I, sect. 992.
+
+[20] _Essay_, pp. 329-333 (for Whiston's statement of sources); pp.
+334-335 (for his defense of literal interpretation). The bracketed
+material indicates Whiston's manuscript emendations of his own printed
+text; see the British Museum's copy of the _Essay_ (873. 1. 10) which
+originally belonged to the mathematician. See Collins, _Grounds and
+Reasons_, pp. 98-99, for the summary of Whiston's attack upon allegorical
+interpretation.
+
+[21] _Grounds and Reasons_, pp. 20, 48-50.
+
+[22] This terse summary of the persona's argument was correctly made by
+Warburton, III, 232.
+
+[23] _Scheme_, p. 391.
+
+[24] _Discourse of Free-Thinking_, pp. 15-17, 38, 171.
+
+[25] _Eight Sermons_, pp. 1, lxi.
+
+[26] Marshall, pp. 301, 337. For Samuel Chandler's contribution, see his
+_Reflections on the Conduct of the Modern Deists_ (London, 1727); for
+Chubb's contribution see _Some Short Reflections on the Grounds and Extent
+of Authority and Liberty, With respect to the Civil Government_ (London,
+1728).
+
+[27] Marshall's reluctance to support Rogers's extremism is seen in the
+funeral sermon he preached at the latter's death (_A Sermon Delivered in
+the Parish Church of St. Giles Cripplegate, May 18, 1729. Upon Occasion of
+the Much Lamented Death of the Revd. John Rogers_ [London, 1729]). He
+made only the most casual and indifferent reference to Rogers's work. So
+obvious was this slight that it called for a rebuttal; see Philalethes (A.
+A. Sykes [?]), _Some Remarks Upon the Reverend Dr. Marshall's Sermon on
+Occasion of the Death of the Revd Dr Rogers_ (London, 1729).
+
+
+
+
+BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
+
+This facsimile of _A Discourse concerning Ridicule and Irony in Writing_
+(1729) is reproduced from a copy in the William Andrews Clark Memorial
+Library.
+
+
+
+
+  A
+  DISCOURSE
+  CONCERNING
+  Ridicule and Irony
+  IN
+  WRITING,
+  IN A
+  LETTER
+  To the Reverend
+  Dr. NATHANAEL MARSHALL.
+
+  -------- _Ridiculum acri
+  Fortius & melius magnas plerumq; secat res._
+
+  -------- _Ridentem dicere verum
+  Quid vetat?_
+
+  _LONDON:_
+
+  Printed for J. BROTHERTON in _Cornhill_ and sold
+  by T. WARNER in _Pater-noster-Row_, and
+  A. DODD without _Temple-Bar_. 1729.
+
+
+
+
+  A
+  DISCOURSE
+  CONCERNING
+  _Ridicule_ and _Irony_, &c.
+
+
+REVEREND SIR,
+
+In your _Letter_ to Dr. _Rogers_, which he has publish'd at the End of his
+_Vindication of the Civil Establishment of Religion_, I find a Notion
+advanc'd by you: which as it is a common and plausible Topick for
+Persecution, and a Topick by which you, and many others, urge the
+Magistrate to punish [or, as you phrase it, _to pinch_] [28] Men for
+controversial Writings, is particularly proper at this time to be fully
+consider'd; and I hope to treat it in such manner as to make you your
+self, and every fair Reader, sensible of the Weakness thereof.
+
+You profess to "vindicate [29] a sober, serious, and modest Inquiry into
+the Reasons of any Establishment."
+
+And you add, that you "have not ordinarily found it judg'd inconsistent
+with the Duty of a _private Subject_, to propose his Doubts or his Reasons
+to the Publick in a _modest_ way, concerning the _Repeal_ of any Law which
+he may think of ill Consequence by its Continuance. If he be a Man of
+Ability, and well vers'd in the Argument, he will deserve some Attention;
+but if he mistakes his Talent, and will be busy with what he very little
+understands, Contempt and Odium will be his unavoidable and just
+Allotment." And you say, that "Religion is more a personal Affair, in
+which every Man has a peculiar Right and Interest, and a Concern that he
+be not mistaken, than in any other Case or Instance which can fall under
+the Cognizance of the Magistrate; and that greater Allowances seem due to
+each private Person for Examination and Inquiry in this, than in any other
+Example."
+
+And herein I must do you the Justice to acknowledge, that you speak like a
+Christian, like a Protestant, like an _Englishman_, and a reasonable Man;
+like a Man concerned for Truth, like a Man of Conscience; like a Man
+concern'd for the Consciences of others; like a Man concern'd to have some
+Sense, Learning, and Virtue in the World; and, in a word, like a Man who
+is not for abandoning all the valuable Things in Life to the Tyranny,
+Ambition, and Covetousness of Magistrates and Ecclesiasticks.
+
+But you observe, that "municipal Laws[30], how trivial soever in their
+intrinsick Value, are never to be _insulted_; never to be treated with
+_Buffoonery_ and _Banter_, _Ridicule_ and _Sarcastick Irony_. So that Dr.
+_Rogers_'s grand Adversary will have from you no measure of Encouragement
+to his manner of Writing." Again, you "never [31] desire to see the
+Magistrate fencing in the publick Religion with so thick a Hedge as shall
+exclude all Light, and shall tear out the Eyes of all such as endeavour to
+see thro' it. _Sober arguing_ you never fear: _Mockery_ and _bitter
+Railing_, if you could help it, you would never bear, either _for the
+Truth or against it_."
+
+Upon which I offer these following Considerations.
+
+I. _First_, If what you call _Insult_, _Buffoonery_, _Banter_, _Ridicule_
+and _Irony_, _Mockery_ and _bitter Railing_, be Crimes in Disputation, you
+will find none more deeply involv'd in it than our most famous Writers, in
+their controversial Treatises about _serious_ Matters; as all Notions and
+Practices in Religion, whether reasonable or absurd, may be equally and
+justly deem'd: the Notions and Practices of Papists, Presbyterians,
+Quakers, and all other Sects, being no less _serious_ to their respective
+Sects than ridiculous to one another. Let any Man read the Writings of our
+most eminent Divines against the _Papists_, _Puritans_, _Dissenters_, and
+_Hereticks_, and against one another, and particularly the Writings of
+_Alexander Cook_, _Hales_, _Chillingworth_, _Patrick_, _Tillotson_,
+_Stillingfleet_, _Burnet_, _South_, _Hickes_, _Sherlock_ and _Edwards_,
+and he will find them to abound with _Banter_, _Ridicule_, and _Irony_.
+_Stillingfleet_ in particular, our greatest controversial Writer, who
+passes for _grave_ and _solemn_, is so conscious of his use thereof, that
+he confesses that Charge of the Papists against him, saying[32], "But I
+forget my Adversary's grave admonition, that I _would treat these Matters
+seriously, and lay aside Drollery_." And again, after a _Banter_ of near a
+Page, he says[33], "But I forget I am so near my Adversary's Conclusion,
+wherein he so _gravely_ advises me, that I _would be pleas'd for once to
+write Controversy, and not Play-Books_." Nor did I ever hear the Divines
+of the Church condemn the Doctor for his sarcastical Method of writing
+Controversy. On the contrary, I remember at the University, that he used
+to be applauded no less for his Wit than for his Learning. And to exalt
+his Character as a Wit, his _Conferences between a_ Romish _Priest, a
+Fanatick Chaplain, and a Divine of the Church of_ England, _&c._ were
+spoken of as an excellent _Comedy_, and especially for that Part which the
+_Fanatick Chaplain_ acts therein, who makes as comical and as ridiculous a
+Figure as he does in any of the _Plays_ acted on the Stage. And in his
+_Controversy_ with _Dryden_ about the _Royal Papers_, and those of the
+_Duchess_ of _York_, he was deem'd to have out-done that famous _Satirist_
+in tart Repartees and Reflections; and to have attack'd the Character of
+the _Poet_ with more severity, than that _Poet_, who was so remarkable for
+his satirical Reflections on the holy Order, did the Character of the
+_Divine_: As for example, he says to _Dryden_[34], "Could nothing be said
+by you of Bishop _Morley_, but that _Prelate of rich Memory_? Or had you a
+mind to tell us he was no _Poet_? Or that he was out of the Temptation of
+changing his Religion for Bread?" And many Citations us'd to be produc'd
+out of his Writings, as Specimens of his ironical Talent; among which I
+particularly remember his _Ridicule_ of his Adversary Mr. _Alsop_, a
+famous Presbyterian Wit and Divine; whose Book, which was full of low
+Raillery and Ridicule, he resembles [35] to _the Bird of_ Athens, as _made
+up of Face and Feathers_. And the Doctor himself adds, in Justification of
+the polite Method of Raillery in Controversy, that _there is a
+pleasantness of Wit, which serves to entertain the Reader in the rough
+and deep way of Controversy_. Nor did Mr. _Alsop_ want Approvers of his
+Raillery in his own Party. Mr. _Gilbert Rule_[36], a great _Scotch_
+Presbyterian Divine, who defended him against _Stillingfleet_, contends in
+behalf of his Raillery, "That the Facetiousness of Mr. _Alsop_'s Strain
+needed to have bred no Disgust, being as a Condiment to prevent _Tædium_
+and Nauseousness." And he adds, "That he knows none that blame the
+excellent Writings of Mr. _Fuller_, which have a Pleasantness not unlike
+that of Mr. _Alsop_."
+
+And this manner of writing is seldom complain'd of, as unfit to be
+allow'd, by any but those who feel themselves hurt by it. For the solemn
+and grave can bear a solemn and grave Attack: That gives them a sort of
+Credit in the World, and makes them appear considerable to themselves, as
+worthy of a serious Regard. But _Contempt_ is what they, who commonly are
+the most contemptible and worthless of Men, cannot bear nor withstand, as
+setting them in their true Light, and being the most effectual Method to
+drive Imposture, the sole Foundation of their Credit, out of the World.
+Hence _Stillingfleet_'s Popish Adversaries, more conscious perhaps of the
+Ridiculousness of Popery than the common People among Protestants
+themselves, fall upon him very furiously. One says[37], "That by the
+Phrases, which are the chief Ornaments that set off the Doctor's Works, we
+may easily guess in what Books he has spent his Time; and that he is well
+vers'd in _Don Quixot_, the _Seven Champions_, and other _Romantick
+Stories_. Sure the Doctor err'd in his Vocation: Had he quitted all
+serious Matters, and dedicated himself wholly to Drollery and Romance,
+with two or three Years under _Hudibras_, he might have been a Master in
+that Faculty; the Stage might have been a Gainer by it, and the Church of
+_England_ would have been no Loser."
+
+Another of his Adversaries says, "[38]Peruse the Doctor Page after Page,
+you will find the Man all along in peevish Humour, when you see his Book
+brimfull of tart biting Ironies, Drolleries, comical Expressions,
+impertinent Demands, and idle Stories, _&c._ as if the discharging a
+little Gall were enough to disparage _the clearest Miracles_ God ever
+wrought."
+
+But what are these _clearest Miracles God ever wrought_? Why, the most
+extravagant, whimsical, absurd, and ridiculous Legends and Stories
+imaginable; such as that of _St. Dominick_[39], who when the Devil came to
+him in the Shape of a _Monkey_, made him hold a Candle to him while he
+wrote, and keep it so long between his Toes, till it burnt them; and his
+keeping the Devil, who sometimes came to him in the Shape of a _Flea_, and
+by skipping on the Leaves of his Book disturb'd his Reading, in that
+Shape, and using him for a Mark to know where he left off reading: Such as
+St. _Patrick_'s heating an Oven with Snow, and turning a Pound of Honey
+into a Pound of Butter: Such as _Christ_'s marrying Nuns, and playing at
+Cards with them; and Nuns living on the Milk of the blessed Virgin _Mary_;
+and that of divers Orders, and especially the _Benedictine_, being so dear
+to the blessed Virgin, that in Heaven she lodges them under her
+Petticoats: Such as making broken Eggs whole; and of People, who had
+their Heads cut off, walking with their Heads in their Hands, which were
+sometimes set on again: Such as Failing for a hundred Years; and raising
+Cows, Calves, and Birds from the Dead, after they had been chopt to Pieces
+and eaten, and putting on their Heads after they had been pull'd or cut
+off; and turning a Pound of Butter into a Bell; and making a Bull give
+Milk; and raising a King's Daughter from the Dead, and turning her into a
+Son; and the several Translations thro' the Air of the Virgin _Mary_'s
+House from _Palestine_ to _Loretto_, and the Miracles wrote there; and
+more of the like Kind.
+
+Are these, or such as these the _clearest Miracles God ever wrought_? Do
+such Miracles deserve a serious Regard? And shall the _Gravity_ with which
+Mankind is thus banter'd out of their common Sense, excuse these Matters
+from _Ridicule_?
+
+It will be difficult to find any Writers who have exceeded the Doctors,
+_South_ and [40] _Edwards_, in _Banter_, _Irony_, _Satire_ and _Sarcasms_:
+The last of whom has written a Discourse in _Defence of sharp Reflections
+on Authors and their Opinions_; wherein he enumerates, as Examples for his
+Purpose, almost all the eminent Divines of the Church of _England_. And
+Mr. [41] _Collier_, speaking of a Letter of the Venerable _Bede_ to
+_Egbert_ Bishop of _York_, says, "The Satire and Declamation in this
+_Epistle_ shews the _pious Zeal_ and _Integrity_ of the Author;" which
+seems to imply, that _Satire_ and _Declamation_ is the orthodox and most
+pious Method of writing in behalf of _Orthodoxy_.
+
+Dr. _Rogers_, to whom you write, falls into the Method of Buffoonery,
+Banter, Satire, Drollery, Ridicule, and Irony, even in the Treatise to
+which your Letter is subjoined, and against that _Person_ whom you would
+have punish'd for that Method: When he says to him, [42] "Religion then,
+it seems, must be left to the Scholars and Gentlefolks, and to them 'tis
+to be of no other use, but as a Subject of Disputation to improve their
+Parts and Learning; but methinks the Vulgar might be indulged a little of
+it now and then, upon Sundays and Holidays, instead of Bull-baiting and
+Foot-ball." And this insipid Piece of Drollery and false Wit [which is
+design'd to ridicule his Adversary for asserting, that _What Men
+understand nothing of, they have no Concern about_; which is a Proposition
+that will stand the Test of _Ridicule_, which will be found wholly to lie
+against the Doctor, for asserting the Reasonableness of imposing Things on
+the People which they do not understand] is the more remarkable, as it
+proceeds from one, who is at the same time for using the Sword of the
+Magistrate against his Adversary. One would think the [43] _Inquisitor_
+should banish the _Droll_, and the _Droll_ the _Inquisitor_.
+
+One of the greatest and best Authorities for the _pleasant_ and _ironical_
+manner of treating _serious_ Matters, is that eminent Divine at the Time
+of the Reformation, the great _Erasmus_, who has written two Books in this
+way with great Applause of Protestants, and without subjecting himself to
+any Persecution of Papists: which makes it highly proper to propose them
+to the Consideration of the Reader, that he may regulate his Notions, by
+what, it may be presum'd, he approves of in that Author. These two Books
+of _Erasmus_ are his _Colloquies_, and his _Praise of Folly_.
+
+His _Colloquies_ were wrote in imitation of _Lucian_'s _Dialogues_; and I
+think with equal, if not superior, Success.
+
+Both these Authors had an Aversion to sullen, austere, designing Knaves;
+and both of them being Men of Wit and Satire, employ'd their Talents
+against _Superstition_ and _Hypocrisy_. _Lucian_ liv'd in an Age when
+_Fiction_ and _Fable_ had usurp'd the Name of _Religion_, and _Morality_
+was corrupted by _Men_ of _Beard_ and _Grimace_, but scandalously _Leud_
+and _Ignorant_; who yet had the Impudence to preach up _Virtue_, and style
+themselves _Philosophers_, perpetually clashing with one another about the
+Precedence of their several Founders, the Merits of their different Sects,
+and if 'tis possible, about Trifles of less Importance: yet all agreeing
+in a different way to dupe and amuse the poor People, by the _fantastick_
+Singularity of their Habits, the unintelligible Jargon of their Schools,
+and their Pretensions to a severe and mortify'd Life.
+
+These Jugglers and Impostors _Lucian_ in great measure help'd to chase out
+of the World, by exposing them in their proper Colours, and by
+representing them as ridiculous as they were. But in a few Generations
+after him, a new Race of Men sprung up in the World, well known by the
+Name of _Monks_ and _Fryars_, different indeed from the former in
+Religion, Garb, and a few other Circumstances; but in the main, the same
+sort of Impostors, the same ever-lasting Cobweb-Spinners, as to their
+nonsensical Controversies, the same abandon'd _Wretches_, as to their
+Morals; but as to the mysterious Arts of heaping up Wealth, and picking
+the People's Pockets, infinitely superior to the _Pagan Philosophers_ and
+_Priests_. These were the sanctify'd Cheats, whose Folly and Vices
+_Erasmus_ has so effectually lash'd, that some Countries have entirely
+turn'd these Drones out of their Cells; and in other Places, where they
+are still kept up, they are in some measure become contemptible, and
+obliged to be always on their Guard.
+
+The Papists say, that these "[44]_Colloquies_, by turning into _Ridicule_
+the Devotion to the holy Virgin and Saints, the Worship of Relicks and
+Images, religious Vows and Pilgrimages, have made more Hereticks than the
+Works of _Luther_ and _Calvin_." And I find the reverend Mr. _Trapp_
+[after calling [45] _Reliques_, FOOLISH] celebrates _Erasmus_ for _having
+abundantly_ RIDICUL'D _them_.
+
+His _Praise of Folly_ treats of _serious_ Matters, in such a gay,
+familiar, ingenious and pleasant manner, as makes it a Work proper to be
+read by intelligent People, to remove out of their Minds all Bigotry
+contracted by Ignorance and an evil Education, all Peevishness, Hatred,
+and Ill-nature towards one another, on account of different Sentiments in
+Religion; and to form in them the natural Principles of Moderation,
+Humanity, Affection and Friendship. Our learned and ingenious Bishop
+_Kennet_ could not do a more signal Piece of Service to our Country, than
+by translating into _English_ this Book, which the Ladies have now an
+Opportunity of understanding no less than the Men; and from whence they
+may see the pleasant, amiable, and just Disposition of Mind of one of the
+most learned and ingenious Men that ever liv'd, as well as Author of a
+great Number of religious and devotional Books; nor could the Bishop well
+give a heartier Stroke at Popery, than by approving of _Erasmus_'s [46]
+_laughing_ at it, and applauding his numberless _Taunts on its Impostures,
+Cheats, and Delusions_.
+
+Our Clergy have ever treated Mr. _Hobbes_ with the greatest Mockery,
+Ridicule and Raillery: As for example, _Ward_ Bishop of _Sarum_, _Brambal_
+Bishop of _Derry_, _Parker_ Bishop of _Oxford_, Dr. _Wallis_ in his
+several bantering Treatises against him, _Lucy_ Bishop of _St. Davids,
+Shafto_, and particularly the Reverend _Droll_, Dr. _Eachard_, in two
+_Dialogues_, which, it is well known, have been universally well receiv'd
+by the Clergy, and that for their Treatment of Mr. _Hobbes_ in the
+ridiculing Way; for which the Author himself makes the following just
+Apology, in his _Dedication_ of his _Second Dialogue_ to Archbishop
+_Sheldon_, "That of all Triflers, 'tis the _Set_, the _Grave_, the
+_Philosophical_, and the _Mathematical Trifler_, to which he has the
+greatest Aversion; whom when he meets, very gravely making out all Men to
+be rational Beasts both in Nature and Conversation, and every Man, he
+pleases, a rational Rebel; and upon any Fright or Pinch a rational Atheist
+and Anti-Christian; and all this perform'd with all DEMURENESS, SOLEMNITY,
+QUOTATION of SCRIPTURE, APPEALS to CONSCIENCE and CHURCH-HISTORY; he must
+humbly beg his _Grace's_ Pardon, if then he has endeavour'd to SMILE a
+little, and to get as much out of his Road and way of Writing as
+possible." These _Dialogues_ used to be much recommended to the Youth to
+make them laugh at Mr _Hobbes_, who was constantly represented as
+provok'd and put out of all Temper by them, and was said to have vented
+this strange and impious Expression, upon its being told him, that _the
+Clergy said_ Eachard _had crucify'd_ Hobbes; "Why then don't they fall
+down and worship me?"
+
+Mr. _Selden_ has been the constant Subject of Clergy-banter, for his
+_History of Tythes_; in the _Preface_ to which, "He reproaches the Clergy
+with Ignorance and Laziness, and upbraids them with having nothing to keep
+up their Credit but _Beard_, _Title_, and _Habit_; and their Studies
+reach'd no farther than the _Breviary_, the _Postils_, and _Polyanthea_."
+For this Work he was attack'd more particularly by three Divines,
+_Tillesly_, _Mountagu_, and _Nettles_. And their Success was thus
+originally represented[47], "That he was so gall'd by _Tillesly_, so
+gagg'd by _Mountagu_, and so stung by _Nettles_, that he never came off in
+any of his Undertakings with more loss of Credit." And this Jest has
+pass'd much upon the World, and been continued down in many Books, where
+Mr. _Selden_ is mention'd, to his Discredit with ignorant Readers, but not
+with the Knowing and Learned; who, as Dr. _Wotton_ tells us[48], _have,
+now Party-heats are over, acquiesced in what Mr._ Selden advanc'd; _who
+first_, OF ALL CHRISTIANS, _set the Affair_ of Tythes _in a clear Light_.
+
+It is usually said the Comedy called _Ignoramus_, which is a Clergy-banter
+upon the _Law_, was a design'd Return for Mr. _Selden_'s _History of
+Tythes_.
+
+The Reverend Dr. _Beaumont_, late Master of St. _Peter_'s _College_ and
+King's Professor of Divinity, has given us a Book, entitled, "Some
+Observations upon the Apology of Dr. _Henry More_ for his _Mystery of
+Godliness_;" which endeavours to render the said Doctor _ridiculous_, and
+set People a _laughing_ at him, (_p._ 9. _&c._ 64.) and used to be
+applauded as a complete Performance in the way of Raillery and Irony, and
+was well receiv'd for being directed against a Person esteem'd Heterodox.
+
+Many Clergymen have written Books to banter the Works of Mr. _Locke_,
+among whom Dr. _Edwards_ must have the first Place; whose _Brief
+Vindication of the fundamental Articles of the Christian Faith_, which has
+the _Imprimatur_ before it of _James_, _Beaumont_, _Covel_, and
+_Balderston_, four _Cambridge_ Heads, was never exceeded by the most
+licentious _Droll_.
+
+When _Sorbier_'s _Voyage_ to _England_, which was a pert and insolent
+Abuse and Satire on the Nation, and written in the _French_ manner of
+contemptuously treating all Countries and Men but _France_ and
+_Frenchmen_, was publish'd, it was deem'd proper that a drolling and
+satirical Answer should be given to it, and that the Reverend Dr. _Sprat_
+should be the _Droll_ employ'd; who perform'd his Part according to the
+Expectation of the Drolling Court of King _Charles_ II. and as the
+ingenious Mr. _Addison_ tells us, [49] _Vindicated the Honour of his
+Country, in a Book full of Satire and Ingenuity_.
+
+Bishop _Beveridge_ ever pass'd for a serious and profound Divine; and his
+Writings have fix'd that Character upon him among the Religious of the
+High Church, who have receiv'd his _Private Thoughts_ and his Volumes of
+_Sermons_, like _Manna_ from Heaven. And yet possibly never Man had two
+more severe Attacks made upon him than he had; one by Bishop
+_Stillingfleet_, who in _A Vindication of their Majesties Authority to
+fill the Sees of the depriv'd Bishops_, &c. occasion'd by Dr.
+_Beveridge_'s Refusal of the Bishoprick of _Bath_ and _Wells_, satirizes
+both his _Prudence_ and his _Sincerity_; and another, by an ingenious
+Bishop also, who in _A short View of Dr._ Beveridge_'s Writings_, has in a
+most refin'd _drolling manner_ represented those Writings as abounding in
+most absurd and ridiculous Divinity.
+
+But one of the justest and finest Pieces of _Irony_, and the most timely
+and seasonably vented, and that deserves perpetual Remembrance, is,
+_Andrews_ the grave Bishop of _Winchester_'s Irony, on _Neal_ the grave
+Bishop of _Durham_; of which we have the following Relation in the Poet
+_Waller_'s _Life_, prefix'd before his Works: "On the Day of the
+Dissolution of the last Parliament of King _James_ the First, Mr.
+_Waller_, out of Curiosity or Respect, went to see the King at Dinner;
+with whom were Dr. _Andrews_ the Bishop of _Winchester_, and Dr. _Neal_
+Bishop of _Durham_, standing behind his Majesty's Chair. There happen'd
+something very extraordinary in the Conversation those Prelates had with
+the King, on which Mr. _Waller_ did often reflect. His Majesty ask'd the
+Bishops, _My Lords, cannot I take my Subjects Money when I want it,
+without all this Formality in Parliament?_ The Bishop of _Durham_ readily
+answer'd, _God forbid, Sir, but you should; you are the Breath of our
+Nostrils_. Whereupon the King turn'd and said to the Bishop of
+_Winchester_, _Well, my Lord, what say you? Sir_, replied the Bishop, _I
+have no Skill to judge of Parliamentary Cases_. The King answer'd, _No
+Put-offs, my Lord; answer me presently. Then, Sir_, said he, _I think it
+is lawful for you to take my Brother_ Neal_'s_ _Money, for he offers it_.
+Mr. _Waller_ said the Company was pleas'd with this Answer, and the Wit
+of it seem'd to affect the King." Which shews the exceeding Aptness and
+Usefulness of a good _Irony_; that can convey an Instruction to a vicious,
+evil, and tyrannical Prince, highly reflecting on his Conduct, without
+drawing on his Resentment.
+
+To these famous Divines I might add the most eminent and renowned
+Philosophers of Antiquity, who, either out of a Contempt of Mankind, or to
+gratify their peculiar Tempers, or to correct the Vices and Follies of
+Men, and to instil virtuous Maxims in those who would only receive them in
+some pleasant way, set up for good Humour, Mirth, and Drollery, as their
+standing Method of Life, and of Conversation with the World; and have left
+behind them some of their occasional Sayings upon record, which do more
+Honour to their Memories than the most elaborate Treatises would have
+done, and more Good to Men; upon whom a Jest, or witty Saying, is more
+fitted to operate and make Impression than long Deductions and Reasonings,
+and particularly on Princes and great Men, who will receive no Instruction
+but in some very artful and short Way: whereof even the rude _Diogenes_,
+the _Cynick_, has given us a most incomparable Example, in his occasional
+Conference with _Alexander the Great_, who was put into such Temper by the
+mere Freedom and Raillery of the Philosopher, as to take every thing in
+good part he said to him, and consequently be dispos'd to reflect upon it,
+and to act with Discretion. At the Head of these Philosophers I place
+SOCRATES, who has very generally in all Ages pass'd for the _wisest_ of
+_Men_, and was declared so by an _Oracle_; which, at least, was therein
+directed and influenc'd by some considerable human Authority, or by the
+common Sentiments of Men at that time. His Character I shall give you in
+the words of the most ingenious _Addison_, who was himself a Master of
+_Humour_ and _Drollery_, and practis'd them in Perfection, and with great
+Success in almost all his Prose-writings. "_Socrates_, says he[50], who
+was the greatest Propagator of Morality in the Heathen World, and a Martyr
+for the Unity of the Godhead, was so famous for the exercise of the Talent
+[of Raillery and Humour] among the politest People of Antiquity, that he
+gain'd the Name of THE DROLE.[51]" A Character that intitled him to the
+greatest Merit, as it most of all enabled him to promote Virtue.
+
+I might also offer to your Confederation the Affair of _Comedies_; which
+all polite Governments have permitted, or establish'd, in their several
+populous and wealthy Cities, as the necessary and proper means to
+encounter Vice and recommend Virtue, and to employ innocently and usefully
+the vacant Hours of many, who know not how to employ their Time, or would
+employ it amiss, by entering into [52] Factions and Cabals to disturb the
+State; or by Gaming, or by backbiting Conversations about their
+Neighbours. And as _Comedies_, which were originally very gross, grew by
+Use more polite and refin'd in _Satire_ and _Raillery_: so the most
+celebrated Wits and Statesmen, and Persons of the greatest Quality, have
+engag'd and join'd with others in them, and performed with the greatest
+Success and Reputation to themselves; and have been valu'd, not only for
+their Talents of _Irony_ and _Drollery_, which were essential to the
+Credit of such Performances; but applauded, as acting the virtuous Part of
+_Droles_.
+
+In fine, Books of Satire, Wit, Humour, Ridicule, Drollery, and Irony, are
+the most read and applauded of all Books, in all Ages, Languages, and
+Countries. And as those which are exquisite in their kinds, are the
+standing Entertainment of the Ingenious and Learned; so others, of a lower
+kind, are to be found among the lower Readers, who sleep under all Works
+which do not make them merry.
+
+In a word, the Opinions and Practices of Men in all Matters, and
+especially in Matters of Religion, are generally so absurd and ridiculous
+that it is impossible for them not to be the Subjects of Ridicule.
+
+For what else can be expected from Men who generally take up their
+Opinions without any Inquiry into their Reasonableness or Truth, and upon
+the most incompetent Grounds? I cannot be supposed to injure Mankind, if I
+consider them under the Character which the very ingenious Sir _Richard
+Steele_ gives of himself; who _acknowledges_ [53] that (even while he took
+upon himself the Title of the _Censor_ of _Great Britain_, and in so many
+fine Papers corrects his Countrymen, and particularly _the Freethinkers_,
+whom he directs the Magistrate to punish with Death) _it had been with
+him, as it is with too many others, that a [53] sort of an_ implicit
+Religion _seem'd the most easy and most comfortable; and that a blind
+Veneration for_ he knew not what, _and he_ knew not whom, _stood for every
+thing important_. And he _confesses_ he _was not enough aware, that this
+Implicitness of Conduct is the great Engine of Popery, fram'd for the
+Destruction of_ good Nature, _as well as_ good Sense. If so great a Man
+could take up with such a Method, and act the Part of a _Censor_ and
+Director of others, in a Matter which he had not at all consider'd, what
+can be expected else from others, but absurd and ridiculous Opinions and
+Practices?
+
+And if some Men will fall into absurd and ridiculous Opinions, Habits,
+Forms, Figures and Grimaces; there will be those who will _laugh_, nay,
+cannot help _laughing_ at them. Hence most Parties laugh at one another,
+without the least Scruple, and with great Applause of their own Parties;
+and the Leaders of the same Party laugh with one another, when they
+consider the absurd and ridiculous Opinions they profess, and how they
+cheat and govern their Followers; agreeably to what _Cicero_ reports of
+_Cato_[54], "_Vetus autem illud_ Catonis _admodum scitum est, qui_ mirari
+se _aiebat, quod non rideret haruspex cum haruspicem vidisset_."
+
+I think it may be justly suppos'd, that Pope _Alexander_ and _Thomas
+Becket_ could not but laugh together at the Simplicity and Weakness of
+their Followers, the Papists, who receiv'd for truth the following Story.
+It was told as a Fact[55], "that when _Thomas Becket_, who never drank any
+thing but Water, sat at Table with _Pope Alexander_, and that his Holiness
+would needs taste of his Cup; lest his abstemiousness should be known, God
+turn'd the Water into Wine: so that the _Pope_ found nothing but Wine in
+the Cup. But when _Becket_ pledg'd him, it was turn'd into Water again."
+
+_Laughing_ therefore, and _Ridicule_ in _serious Matters_, go round the
+World with no inconsiderable Applause, and seem highly proper for this
+World of Nonsense and Folly. To hinder _laughing_ upon such just Occasions
+as are given, is almost all one as to hinder _breathing_. A very witty,
+drolling, Dramatick Poet, and of the first Rank for Quality, says in a
+_Prologue_ to his Auditors.
+
+  "_Suppose now, at this Instant, one of you_
+  "_Were tickled by a Fool, what would you do?_
+  "_'Tis ten to one you'd_ laugh: _here's just the Case._
+  "_For there are Fools that tickle with their Face._
+  "_Your gay Fool tickles with his Dress and Motions;_
+  "_But your_ grave Fool _of_ Fools _with_ silly Notions.
+  "_Is it not then unjust that Fops should still_
+  "_Force one to_ laugh, _and then take laughing ill?_
+
+
+II. _Secondly_, If it be a Fault in those reverend Divines, mention'd in
+the foregoing Article, to use _Irony_, _Drollery_, _Ridicule_, and
+_Satire_, in any Case; or if the Fault lies in an exorbitant Use thereof,
+or in any particular Species of _Drollery_; as, for example, such
+_Drollery_ as is to be found in the polemical Writings and Sermons of Dr.
+_South_; it is fit some Remedy should be employ'd for the Cure of this
+Evil. And the Remedy I would propose, should not be to have the Authors
+punish'd by the Magistrate, any more than for any other Faults in writing;
+but either to neglect and despise it, as Rage and Scolding, which drop
+into Oblivion with the Sound, and would have a Life given it by
+Resentment: or to allow Men to _criticize_ and _ridicule_ one another for
+their _Ironies_ and _Drollery_, and to exercise their Wit and Parts
+against each other; that being the true Method to bring Things to a
+Standard, to fix the Decency and Propriety of Writing, to teach Men how to
+write to the Satisfaction of the ingenious, polite, and sensible Part of
+Mankind: for Decency and Propriety will stand the Test of Ridicule, and
+triumph over all the false Pretences to Wit; and Indecency and
+Impropriety will sink under the Trial of Ridicule, as being capable of
+being baffled by Reason, and justly ridicul'd. And if any kind or degree
+of _Ridicule_ be absurd or _ridiculous_, that will appear so upon Trial,
+no less than the low and gross _Ridicule_ prevalent among the unpolite
+Part of the World: But that will never appear. On the contrary, _Ridicule_
+of certain kinds, and under reasonable Directions and Rules, and used in
+proper Time, Place, and Manner, (all which also are only to be found out
+and fix'd by Trial and Experience) is both a proper and necessary Method
+of Discourse in many Cases, and especially in the Case of _Gravity_, when
+that is attended with Hypocrisy or Imposture, or with Ignorance, or with
+soureness of Temper and Persecution; all which ought to draw after them
+the _Ridicule_ and _Contempt_ of the Society, which has no other effectual
+Remedy against such Methods of Imposition. And to determine in some
+measure the Nature and Extent of the _Irony_ I contend for, as _Just_, I
+profess to approve the noble _Sarcasm_ of _Elijah_[56]; wherein he thus
+mocks the _Priests_ of _Baal_, saying in effect to them, "_Cry aloud, for_
+your _Baal_ is a fine God: _He is either talking, or he is pursuing, or he
+is in a Journey; or peradventure he sleepeth, and must be awaked_." And I
+concur with the _Psalmist_[57], who thought it no Indecency to say, that
+_he that sits in Heaven shall laugh them_ (that is, certain Kings, who
+were _David_'s Enemies) _to scorn; the Lord shall have them in Derision_:
+and must judge, that _laughing to scorn_, and _deriding_ the greatest Men
+upon Earth, even Kings and Princes, to be a laudable and divine Method of
+dealing with them, who are only to be taught or rebuk'd in some artful
+way. I also approve of the following _Sarcasm_ or _Irony_, which has a
+better Authority for it than _Elijah_ or the _Psalmist_. _Moses_
+introduces God speaking thus after the Fall[58], _Behold the Man is become
+like one of us, to know Good and Evil!_ And I think this Passage shews,
+that the whole Affair of the _Fall_, of which we have so very brief an
+Account, was a very entertaining Scene; and would have appear'd so, if set
+forth at large; as indeed it does under the Hands of our Divines, who have
+supplied that short Narration by various Additions, founded on
+Conjectures, and particularly under the fine Hand of Dr. _Tho. Burnet_,
+who has made a most ingenious Dialogue of what he suppos'd pass'd between
+_Eve_ and the _Serpent_[59]. To say nothing of _Milton_'s famous _Paradise
+Lost_.
+
+In fine, ever since I could read the _Bible_, I was particularly pleas'd
+with the _History_ of _Jonas_, where such a Representation is made of that
+_Prophet_'s Ignorance, Folly, and Peevishness, as exposes him to the
+utmost Contempt and Scorn, and fixes a perpetual _Ridicule_ on his
+Character. And let me here observe, that this _History_ has had ample
+Justice done it, in an Explication thereof by _two_ [60] very ingenious
+Authors, who, by most penetrating and happy Criticisms and Reflections,
+have drawn the Character of _Jonas_ in a more open manner.
+
+
+III. But, _Thirdly_, I wave my _Remedy_, and am ready to come into any Law
+that shall be made to rectify this suppos'd Fault of _Irony_, by punishing
+those who are guilty of it.
+
+The great Concern is and ought to be, that _the Liberty of examining into
+the Truth of Things should be kept up_, that Men may have some Sense and
+Knowledge, and not be the _Dupes_ of _Cheats_ and _Impostors_, or of those
+who would keep them in the dark, and let them receive nothing but thro'
+their Hands. If that be secur'd to us by Authority, I, for my part, am
+very ready to sacrifice the Privilege of _Irony_, tho so much in fashion
+among all Men; being persuaded, that a great Part of the _Irony_
+complain'd of, has its rise from the _want of Liberty to examine into the
+Truth of Things_; and that if that _Liberty_ was prevalent, it would,
+without a Law, prevent all that _Irony_ which Men are driven into for want
+of Liberty to speak plainly, and to protect themselves from the Attacks of
+those who would take the Advantage to ruin them for direct Assertions; and
+that such Authors as _Rabelais_, _Saint Aldegonde_, _Blount_, _Marvel_,
+_Thekeringil_, and many others, would never have run into that Excess of
+_Burlesque_, for which they are all so famous, had not the Restraint from
+writing _seriously_ been so great.
+
+"If [61] Men are forbid to speak their Minds _seriously_ on certain
+Subjects, they will do it _ironically_. If they are forbid at all upon
+such Subjects, or if they find it dangerous to do so, they will then
+redouble their Disguise, involve themselves in mysteriousness, and talk so
+as hardly to be understood, or at least not plainly interpreted by those
+who are dispos'd to do them a Mischief. And thus _Raillery_ is brought
+more in fashion, and runs into an Extreme. 'Tis the persecuting Spirit has
+rais'd the _bantering_ one: And want of Liberty may account for want of a
+true Politeness, and for the Corruption or wrong Use of Pleasantry and
+Humour.
+
+"If in this respect we strain the just Measure of what we call _Urbanity_,
+and are apt sometimes to take a buffooning rustick Air, we may thank the
+ridiculous Solemnity and sour Humour of our _Pedagogues_: or rather they
+may thank themselves, if they in particular meet with the heaviest of this
+kind of Treatment. For it will naturally fall heaviest, where the
+Constraint has been the severest. The greater the Weight is, the bitterer
+will be the Satire. The higher the Slavery, the more exquisite the
+Buffoonery.
+
+"That this is really so, may appear by looking on those Countries where
+the spiritual Tyranny is highest. For the greatest of _Buffoons_ are the
+_Italians_: and in their Writings, in their freer sort of Conversations,
+on their Theatres, and in their _Streets_, _Buffoonery_ and _Burlesque_
+are in the highest Vogue. 'Tis the only manner in which the poor cramp'd
+Wretches can discharge a free Thought. We must yield to 'em the
+Superiority in this sort of Wit. For what wonder is it if we, who have
+more Liberty, have less Dexterity in that egregious way of _Raillery_ and
+_Ridicule_?"
+
+Liberty of _grave_ Examination being fix'd by Law, I am, I say, ready to
+sacrifice the Privilege of _Irony_, and yield to have a Law enacted to
+prevent it. I am, moreover, willing to leave the drawing up such a Law to
+your self; who honestly and impartially say[62], that all who _droll_, let
+them be of any Party, let them _droll for the Truth or against it_, should
+be equally punish'd.
+
+Thus this grand Affair of _Irony_, _Banter_, and _Ridicule_; this last
+persecuting Pretence, upon which you would set the Humours and Passions of
+People, who are all at quiet, on float, and make a Fermentation, and
+raise a Persecution against particular People, seems perfectly settled, by
+yielding to your own Terms.
+
+
+IV. Let me here add, that I am apt to think, that when you draw up your
+Law, you will find it so very difficult to settle the Point of _Decency_
+in Writing, in respect to all the various kinds of _Irony_ and _Ridicule_,
+that you will be ready to lay aside your Project; and that you will be no
+more able to settle that _Point of Decency_, than you would be to settle
+by Law, that _Cleanliness_ in Clothes, and that Politeness in Dress,
+Behaviour, and Conversation, which become Men of Quality and Fortune in
+the World, and should be habitual to them: And that, if you are able to do
+that to your own Satisfaction, you will find it very difficult to engage
+the Lawmakers in your Project. For I am persuaded, that if our Lawmakers
+were, out of a rational Principle, disposed to give Liberty by Law to
+_serious_ Opposition to publickly receiv'd Notions, they would not think
+it of much Importance to make a _Law_ about a Method of _Irony_. They will
+naturally conclude, that if Men may and ought to be allow'd to write
+_seriously_ in Opposition to publickly receiv'd Doctrines, they should be
+allow'd to write in their own way; and will be unwilling to be depriv'd of
+ingenious and witty Discourses, or such as some of them will judge so,
+about a Subject wherein _serious free_ Discourse is allow'd. Besides, I am
+apt to think, that you, upon consideration of the Advantages which the
+Church has receiv'd from the _Berkenheads_, the _Heylins_, the _Ryves's_,
+the _Needhams_, the _Lestranges_, the _Nalsons_, the _Lesleys_, the
+_Oldesworths_, and others, in their _Mercurius Aulicus_'s, their
+_Mercurius Pragmaticus's_, their _Mercurius Rusticus's_, their
+_Observators_[63], their _Heraclitus Ridens_'s, _Rehearsals_, their
+_Examiners_[64], and the three Volumes against the _Rights of the Church_;
+from the _Butlers_ in their _Hudibras_'s, and other Burlesque Works upon
+the Religion and Religious Conduct of the Dissenters; or from the
+_Eachards_, the _Tom Browns_, and _Swifts_; or from the _Parkers_[65],
+_Patricks_[66], _Souths_[67], _Sherlocks_[68], _Atterburys_[69], and
+_Sacheverels_[70]; in their Discourses, and Tracts against the
+Nonconformists, Whigs, Low-Church-men, and Latitudinarians; and other such
+ironical, satirical, and polemical Divines; and from such _drolling_
+Judges as _Howel_, _Recorder_ of London, and the Chief Justice _Jefferys_,
+who, in all Causes, where _Whigs_ or Dissenters were the Persons accus'd
+and try'd before them, carried on the Trial by a [71] Train of ridicule on
+them, their Witnesses and Counsel: I say, I am apt to think, that you
+would be unwilling to be depriv'd of what has been and may be again so
+serviceable.
+
+I am dispos'd to think that Dr. _Snape_, who is notoriously known to have
+gone into the greatest Lengths of Calumny and Satire against Bishop
+_Hoadley_[72], to have fall'n upon the dissenting Clergy in a burlesque
+and bantering Address to the _Peirces_, the _Calamys_, and the
+_Bradburys_, and to have written a long _ironical Letter_ in the Name of
+the _Jesuits_ to Mr. _de la Pilloniere_[73], will be thought a very
+improper Object of Censure for such Employment of his Pen. On the
+contrary, such sort of Attacks upon such Persons are the most meritorious
+Parts of a Man's Life, recommend him as a Person of true and sincere
+Religion, much more than the strongest Reasoning, and the most regular
+Life; and pave the way to all the Riches, and Pleasures and Advantages or
+Life; not only among those, who, under the Colour of Religion, are
+carrying on a common _Corporation Cause_ of Wealth, Power, and Authority,
+but among many well-meaning People, who allow of all Practices, which they
+suppose help out the _Truth_! It seems to me a most prodigious Banter upon
+us, for Men to talk in general of the _Immorality_ of _Ridicule_ and
+_Irony_, and of _punishing_ Men for those Matters, when their own Practice
+is _universal Irony_ and _Ridicule_ of all those who go not with them, and
+_universal Applause_ and _Encouragement_ for such _Ridicule_ and _Irony_,
+and distinguishing by all the honourable ways imaginable such _drolling_
+Authors for their Drollery; and when Punishment for _Drollery_ is never
+call'd for, but when _Drollery_ is used or employ'd against them!
+
+I don't know whether you would be willing, if you consider of it, to limit
+the Stage it self, which has with great Applause and Success, from Queen
+_Elizabeth_'s Time downwards, ridicul'd the serious _Puritans_ and
+_Dissenters_, and that without any Complaints from _good Churchmen_, that
+_serious_ Persons and Things were _banter'd_ and _droll'd_ upon; and has
+triumph'd over its fanatical Adversaries in the Person of _Pryn_, who
+sufficiently suffer'd for his _Histrio-Mastix_, and has been approv'd of
+as an innocent Diversion by the religious Dr. _Patrick_ in his _Friendly
+Debate_, in the Reign of King _Charles_ II. when the Stage was in a very
+immoral State. I don't know whether you would be willing even to restrain
+_Bartholomew Fair_, where the Sect of the _New Prophets_ was the Subject
+of a _Droll_ or _Puppet-Show_, to the great Satisfaction of the Auditors,
+who, it may be presum'd, were all good Churchmen, _Puritans_ and
+_Dissenters_ usually declining such Entertainments out of _real_ or
+_pretended_ Seriousness. ("A certain Clergyman thought fit to remark, that
+King _William_ could be no good Churchman, because of his not frequenting
+the _Play-House_."[74])
+
+
+V. It will probably be a Motive with you to be against abolishing
+_Drollery_, when you reflect that the Men of _Irony_, the _Droles_ and
+_Satirists_, have been and always will be very numerous on your side,
+where they have been and are so much incourag'd for acting that Part, and
+that they have always been and always will be very few on the side of
+_Heterodoxy_; a Cause wherein an Author by engaging, may hurt his
+Reputation and Fortune, and can propose nothing to himself but Poverty and
+Disgrace. I doubt whether you would be for punishing your Friend Dr.
+_Rogers_, from whom I just now quoted an _Irony_ on the Author of _The
+Scheme of Literal Prophecy consider'd_, or any one else, for _laughing_ at
+and making sport with him; or whether you would be for punishing the
+Reverend Mr. _Trapp_, who implies the _Justness_ and _Propriety of
+ridiculing Popery_; when he says[75], that _Popery is so foolish and
+absurd, that every body of common Sense must_ LAUGH _at it_; and when he
+refers to _Erasmus_ for having _abundantly_ RIDICUL'D their _Reliques_;
+and himself puts _Ridicule_ in Practice against them, by representing
+their Doctrines and Practices as _ridiculously foolish_, as _despicably
+childish_, and _Matter of mere Scorn_; as _monstrous_; as _Spells_,
+_juggling Tricks_, _gross Cheats_, _Impostures_[76], and _wretched
+Shifts_; and in fine, in representing by way of _Specimen_, all their
+_Miracles_ as _Legends_; of which he says, _These and a thousand more such
+like unreasonable Lies, which a Child of common Sense would laugh at, are
+impos'd upon and swallow'd by the ignorant People, and make a_ VERY GREAT
+_Part of the Popish Religion._
+
+And this, in concurrence with Mr. _Trapp_, I also take to be the Case of
+Popery, that it must make Men _laugh_; and that it is much easier to be
+gravely disposed in reading a _Stage-Comedy_ or _Farce_, than in
+considering and reflecting on the _Comedy_ and _Farce_ of _Popery_; than
+which, Wit and Folly, and Madness in conjunction, cannot invent or make a
+thing more ridiculous, according to that Light in which I see their
+Doctrines, Ceremonies and Worship, the Histories and Legends of their
+Saints, and the pretended Miracles wrought in their Church; which has
+hardly any thing _serious_ in it but its Persecutions, its Murders, its
+Massacres; all employ'd against the most innocent and virtuous, and the
+most sensible and learned Men, because they will not be _Tools_ to support
+Villany and Ignorance.
+
+"Transubstantiation, says _Tillotson_[77], is not a Controversy of
+Scripture against Scripture, or of Reason against Reason, but of downright
+Impudence against the plain meaning of Scripture, and all the Sense and
+Reason of Mankind." And accordingly he scruples not to say, in a most
+_drolling_ manner, that "Transubstantiation is one of the chief of the
+_Roman_ Church's _legerdemain_ and _juggling Tricks_ of Falshood and
+Imposture; and that in all Probability those common juggling Words of
+_Hocus-pocus_, are nothing else but a Corruption of _hoc est corpus_, by
+way of ridiculous Imitation of the Church of _Rome_ in their _Trick_ of
+_Transubstantiation_." 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_[78],
+which is the common Method of imposing Absurdities on the World; so I
+think that Doctrine taught with such _convenient Gravity and Solemnity_
+should necessarily produce _Levity, Laughter and Ridicule_, in all
+intelligent People to whom it is propos'd, who must _smile_, if they can
+with safety, to see such Stuff vented with a grave Face.
+
+In like manner many other Divines treat and laugh at _Popery_. Even the
+solemn and grave Dr. _Whitby_ has written a Book against
+_Transubstantiation_, under the Title of "Irrisio Dei Panarii, _The
+Derision of the Breaden God_," in Imitation of the primitive Fathers, who
+have written _Derisions_ and _Mockeries_ of the _Pagan_ Religion.
+
+And he takes the Materials whereof this drolling Performance of his
+consists, from the _holy Scriptures_, the _Apocryphal Books_, and
+_Writings_ of the _holy Fathers_, as he tells us in his Title-Page; three
+inexhaustible Sources of Wit and Irony against the Corrupters of true and
+genuine Religion. In like manner he turns upon the Popish Clergy the
+several Arguments urg'd by the _Jewish_ Clergy in the _New Testament_, for
+the Authority of the _Jewish_ Church; and answers, under that _Irony_, all
+that the Popish Clergy offer in behalf of the _Authority_ of their
+_Church_, in a _Sermon_ at the End of his _Annotations_ on St. _John_'s
+_Gospel_.
+
+Nor do our Divines confine their _Derisions_, _Ridicule_ and _Irony_
+against _Popery_ to their Treatises and Discourses, but fill their
+_Sermons_, and especially their _Sermons_ on the _Fifth_ of _November_,
+and other political _Days_, with infinite Reflections of that Kind. Of
+these _Reflections_ a Popish Author publish'd a _Specimen_, in a Book
+intitled[79], _Good Advice to Pulpits_, in order to shame the Church out
+of their Method of _drolling_ and _laughing_ [80] at _Popery_. But this
+Book had no other effect, than to produce a _Defence_ of those _Sermons_
+under the Title of _Pulpit Popery true Popery_, vindicating the several
+_Droll_ Representations made of _Popery_ in those _Sermons_.
+
+Of these _drolling_ Reflections cited by the Popish Author out of our
+Church of _England Sermons_, take these following for a Specimen of what
+are to be met with in those _Sermons_[81].
+
+"Pilgrimages, going Bare-foot, Hair-shirts, and Whips, with other such
+Gospel-artillery, are their only Helps to Devotion.----It seems that with
+them a Man sometimes cannot be a Penitent, unless he also turns Vagabond,
+and foots it to _Jerusalem_.----He that thinks to expiate a Sin by going
+bare-foot, does the Penance of a Goose, and only makes one Folly the
+Atonement of another. _Paul_ indeed was scourg'd and beaten by the _Jews_;
+but we never read that he beat or scourg'd himself; and if they think his
+keeping under his Body imports so much, they must first prove that the
+Body cannot be kept under by a virtuous Mind, and that the Mind cannot be
+made virtuous but by a Scourge; and consequently, that Thongs and Whipcord
+are Means of Grace, and Things necessary to Salvation. The truth is, if
+Mens Religion lies no deeper than their Skin, it is possible they may
+scourge themselves into very great Improvements.----But they will find
+that bodily Exercise touches not the Soul; and consequently that in this
+whole Course they are like Men out of the way: let them flash on never so
+fast, they are not at all nearer their Journey's-end: And howsoever they
+deceive themselves and others, they may as well expect to bring a Cart, as
+a Soul, to Heaven.
+
+"What say you to the Popish Doctrine of the _Sacrifice of the
+Mass_.----According to this Doctrine, our blessed Saviour must still, to
+the end of the World, be laid hold on by Sinners, be ground with their
+Teeth, and sent down into their impure Paunches, as often as the Priest
+shall pronounce this Charm, _hoc est corpus meum_: and it seems that he
+was a false Prophet, when he said upon the Cross, _It is finish'd_, seeing
+there was such an infinite deal of _loathsom Drudgery_ still to be
+undergone.
+
+"For _Purgatory_, 'tis not material in it self, whether it be, or where it
+be, no more than the World in the Moon; but so long as that false Fire
+serves to maintain a true one, and his Holiness's Kitchen smokes with the
+Rents he receives for releasing Souls from thence, which never came there,
+it concerns him and his to see to it, that it be not suffer'd to go out."
+
+An ingenious Author, Sir _Richard Steel_, has of late made a _Dedication_
+to his _Holiness_ the _Pope_ himself, before a Book entitled, _An Account
+of the State of the Roman Catholick Religion throughout the World_, &c. In
+which _Dedication_, that most exalted Clergyman the _Pope_, that
+[suppos'd] infallible Dictator in Religion, and most grave Person; who, if
+_serious_ Matters and Persons were always to be treated _seriously_, may
+vie with any other Mortal for a Right to _serious_ Treatment; is expos'd
+by incomparable _Drollery_ and _Irony_ to the utmost Contempt, to the
+universal Satisfaction of Protestant Readers, who have been pleas'd to see
+a gross Impostor, however respected and ador'd by godly and serious
+Papists, so treated.
+
+
+VI. In fine, it is suited to the common Practice of this Nation to
+ridicule _Popery_ as well as _Nonconformity_; and tho several _grave_
+Books, written among us against Popery, in the Reign of King _James_ II.
+(of which yet the _Romish_ Priests complain'd, as treating the King's [82]
+_Religion_ with Contempt) were then very well receiv'd and applauded for
+Learning and strength of Arguing; yet, I believe, it may with more
+Propriety be said, that King _James_ II. and _Popery_ were [83] _laugh'd_
+or _Lilli-bullero'd_, than that they were _argu'd_ out of the Kingdom.
+
+The reading the _King's Declaration of Indulgence_ in Churches 1688, had
+this fatal _Jest_ put upon it by a reverend Divine, "Who pleasantly told
+his People, _That tho he was obliged to read it, they were not obliged to
+hear it_[84]; and stop'd till they all went out, and then he read it to
+the Walls." To which may be added, the famous Mr. _Wallop_'s excellent
+Comparison of that _Declaration_ upon the Instant of its Publication, to
+_the scaffolding of St._ Paul_'s Church; which, as soon as the Building
+was finish'd, would be pull'd down_.
+
+Bishop _Burnet_ celebrates, with the greatest Justness, our Taste, and
+indeed the Taste of the World in this Respect, when he relates how
+_Popery_ was then used among us; and he recites some of the _Jests_ which
+passed and were received with universal Applause. He tells us[85], "The
+Court was now (that is, in 1686,) much set on making Converts, which
+fail'd in most Instances, and produc'd _Repartees_; that whether true or
+false, were much repeated, and were heard with great Satisfaction. The
+Earl of _Mulgrave_ (since Duke of _Buckinghamshire_) was Lord Chamberlain;
+he was apt to comply in every thing that he thought might be acceptable,
+for he went with the King to Mass, and kneeled at it; and being look'd on
+as indifferent to all Religions, the Priests made an Attack upon him: He
+heard them _gravely_ arguing for _Transubstantiation_. He told them he was
+willing to receive Instruction; he had taken much Pains to bring himself
+to believe in God, who made the World and all Men in it: But it must not
+be an ordinary Force of Argument that could make him believe that Man was
+quits with God, and made God again. The Earl of _Middleton_ had marry'd
+into a Popish Family, and was a Man of great Parts and a generous Temper,
+but of loose Principles in Religion; so a Priest was sent to instruct him.
+He began with _Transubstantiation_, of which he said he would convince him
+immediately: And began thus, You believe the _Trinity_. _Middleton_ stop'd
+him, and said, who told you so? At which he seem'd amazed. So the Earl
+said, he expected he should convince him of his Belief, but not question
+him of his own: With this the Priest was so disorder'd, that he could
+proceed no farther. One Day the King gave the Duke of _Norfolk_ the Sword
+of State to carry before him to the Chappel, and he stood at the Door.
+Upon which the King said to him, My Lord, your Father would have gone
+farther. To which the Duke answer'd, Your Majesty's Father was the better
+Man, and he would not have gone so far. _Kirk_ was also spoken to, to
+change his Religion, and he reply'd briskly, that he was already
+pre-engag'd, for _he had promised the King of_ Morocco, _that if ever he
+chang'd his Religion he would turn_ Mahometan." When K. _James_ sent an
+_Irish_ Priest to convert the D. of _Bucks_ [_Villers_] the said Duke
+entertain'd the Priest with a Bottle, and engag'd him in a _Dialogue_,
+which the Duke afterwards caus'd to be printed, to the no small
+Mortification of all Papists, who were therein exceedingly ridicul'd, and
+to the Triumph of all good Churchmen, who are never better pleas'd, than
+when they have the _Laugh_ on their side.
+
+At this time also were publish'd two merry Books, by a couple of our
+Divines, with express View to make Protestants laugh at _Popery_, as at a
+_Farce_; and they were, _The School of the Eucharist_, wherein is a
+Collection of ridiculous _Miracles_, pretended to be wrought to support
+the Truth of _Transubstantiation_, and _Purgatory prov'd by Miracles_.
+
+I must not omit another incomparable Piece of Wit and Raillery against
+_Popery_, publish'd at that time. It seems the famous Poet, _Dryden_,
+thought fit to declare himself a _Roman Catholick_; and had, as 'tis said,
+a _Penance_ injoyn'd him by his Confessor, for having formerly written
+_The Spanish Fryar_, of composing some _Treatise_ in a _poetical way_ for
+_Popery_, and against the _Reformation_. This he executed in a _Poem_,
+intituled, _The Hind and Panther_; which, setting aside the Absurdity of
+the Matters therein asserted, and of the several Arguments to maintain
+them, is, in other Respects, one of the most mean Compositions that ever
+the Press produc'd. Was it proper to pass over in silence such a Work,
+from whence probably the Popish Party expected great Matters, as knowing
+the Efficacy of Poetry, and being Witnesses of the Success the Author had
+had in his _Absalom_ and _Achitophel_ against the _Whigs_? Was it proper
+to write _seriously_ and _gravely_ against a Book, wherein the Author
+every where aims at Wit, Irony, and Burlesque, and does himself make so
+ridiculous a Figure, as to be a standing Jest throughout the whole? Was
+not the Convert himself, as such, a _Jest_, or as professing any Religion,
+a _Jest_; who argu'd for Pay, and spoke as he was brib'd, and would have
+profess'd any Opinions, as is the Mode and Practice of the World, to which
+Salary and Preferments are annexed? Some ingenious Persons of the Times
+took a better Method, and agreeably to the Temper and Disposition of our
+Countrymen, and to the nature of _Dryden_'s Attack, and his interested
+Writing for Religion, made a Return in a Paper intituled, _The Hind and
+Panther transvers'd to the Story of the Country-Mouse and City-Mouse_: Out
+of which, for a Specimen of _just Irony_, and _fine Raillery_, I will give
+you the following Passage.
+
+  "_Sirrah, says_ Brindle, _thou hast brought us_ Wine,
+  "_Sour to my Taste, and to my Eyes unfine._
+  "_Says_ Will, _All Gentlemen like it. Ah! says_ White,
+  "_What is approved by them must needs be right._
+  "_'Tis true, I thought it bad, but if the_ House
+  "_Commend it, I submit, a_ private Mouse.
+  "_Nor to their Catholick Consent oppose_
+  "_My erring Judgment and reforming Nose._
+  "[86]_Why, what a Devil, shan't I trust my Eyes,_
+  "_Must I drink Stum, because the Rascal lies,_
+  "_And palms upon us_ Catholick _Consent,_
+  "_To give_ sophisticated Brewings _Vent?_
+  "_Says_ White, _what antient Evidence can sway,_
+  "_If you must argue thus and not obey?_
+  "Drawers _must be trusted, thro' whose hands convey'd_
+  "_You take the Liquor, or you spoil the Trade._
+  "_For sure those honest_ Fellows _have no Knack_
+  "_Of putting off stum'd Claret for_ Pontack.
+  "_How long alas! would the poor Vintner last,_      }
+  "_If all that drink must_ judge, _and every Guest_  }
+  "_Be allow'd to have an understanding_ Taste?       }
+
+
+VII. I question whether High-Church would be willing to have the reverend
+Author of the _Tale of a Tub_, one of the greatest _Droles_ that ever
+appear'd upon the Stage of the World, punish'd for that or any other of
+his _drolling_ Works: For tho religious Matters, and all the various Forms
+of Christianity have therein a considerable Share of _Ridicule_; yet in
+regard of his _Drollery_ upon the _Whigs_, _Dissenters_, and the _War_
+with _France_ (things of as _serious_ and weighty Consideration, and as
+much affecting the Peace of Society, as _Justification_ by _Faith only_,
+_Predestination_, _Transubstantiation_, or _Constansubstantiation_, or
+_Questions_ about _religious Ceremonies_, or any such interested Matters)
+the _Convocation_ in their famous _Representation_ of the _Profaneness_
+and _Blasphemy_ of the Nation, took no notice of his _drolling_ on
+Christianity: And his Usefulness in _Drollery_ and _Ridicule_ was deem'd
+sufficient by the _Pious_ Queen _Anne_, and her _pious Ministry_, to
+intitle him to a Church Preferment of several hundred Pounds _per Ann._
+[87] which she bestow'd upon him, notwithstanding a _fanatick
+High-Churchman_, who weakly thought _Seriousness_ in Religion of more use
+to High-Church than _Drollery_, and attempted to hinder his Promotion, by
+representing to her Majesty, "What a Scandal it would be both to Church
+and State to bestow Preferment upon a Clergyman, who was hardly suspected
+of being a Christian." Besides, High-Church receives daily most signal
+Services from his drolling Capacity, which has of late exerted itself on
+the Jacobite Stage of _Mist_'s and _Fogg_'s Journal, and in other little
+Papers publish'd in _Ireland_; in which he endeavours to expose the
+present Administration of publick Affairs to contempt, to inflame the
+_Irish_ Nation against the _English_, and to make them throw off all
+Subjection to the _English_ Government, to satirize Bishop _Burnet_ and
+other _Whig_ Bishops; and, in fine, to pave the way for a new or Popish
+Revolution, as far as choosing the most proper Topicks of Invective, and
+treating of them in the way of _Drollery_, can do.
+
+
+VIII. It is well known, that Gravity, Preciseness, Solemnity, Sourness,
+formal Dress and Behaviour, Sobriety of Manners, keeping at a distance
+from the common Pastimes of the World, Aversion to Rites and Ceremonies in
+the publick Worship, and to Pictures, Images, and Musick in Churches;
+mixing Religion in common Conversion, using long Graces, practising
+Family-Worship, part of which was praying _ex tempore_; setting up and
+hearing Lectures, and a strict Observation of the Lord's Day, which was
+call'd the _Sabbath_, were the Parts of the Character of a _Puritan_; who,
+it is to be observ'd, usually had the Imputation of Hypocrisy for his
+great and extraordinary Pretences to Religion: He was also a great Opposer
+of the Court-Measures in the Reign of King _James_ and King _Charles_ I.
+and most zealous for Law, Liberty, and Property, when those two Princes
+set up for raising Money by their own Authority, and in consequence
+thereof, fell into numerous other Acts of Violence and Injustice. It is
+also well known, that to quell these Puritans, and lessen their Credit,
+and baffle all their Pretences, Gaiety, Mirth, Pastimes or Sports, were
+incourag'd and requir'd on _Sundays_ of the People, that Churches were
+render'd gay, theatrical, and pleasant by the Decorations, Paintings,
+Musick, and Ceremonies therein perform'd[88]; and that the utmost Ridicule
+was employ'd against some of them, as _Enthusiasts_, and against others of
+them as _Hypocrites_, and against them all as factious and seditious, by
+their Adversaries; who were under no Restraints, but incourag'd to write
+with Scorn, Contempt, Raillery and Satire against these suppos'd Enemies
+of Church and State. Nor did the great Success of the _Puritans_ in the
+Field of Battle suppress that _Vein_ and _Humour_ of _Ridicule_ begun
+against them; but the _Laudean_ Party still carry'd on a Paper War with
+innumerable Pamphlets, which all tended more or less to make the World
+_laugh_ at and _ridicule_ the _Puritans_. And I am verily persuaded, that
+no History of any other Country in the World can produce a Parallel,
+wherein the Principle and Practice of _Ridicule_ were ever so strongly
+encourag'd, and so constantly pursu'd, fix'd and rooted in the Minds of
+Men, as it was and is in Churchmen against Puritans and Dissenters. Even
+at this Day the _Ridicule_ is so strong against the present Dissenters, so
+promoted by Clergy and Laity, especially in Villages and small Country
+Towns, that they are unable to withstand its Force, but daily come over in
+Numbers to the Church to avoid being _laugh'd_ at. It seems to me a Mark
+of Distinction more likely to last in the Church than any other Matter
+that I can observe. Passive Obedience, the divine Right of Kings, _&c._
+rise and fall according to particular Occasions; but _Laughter_ at
+_Dissenters_ seems fixt for ever, if they should chance to last so long.
+
+_South_'s Sermons, which now amount to _six Volumes_, make Reading _Jests_
+and _Banter_ upon _Dissenters_, the religious Exercise of good Churchmen
+upon _Sundays_, who now can serve God (as many think they do by hearing or
+reading Sermons) and be as merry as at the Play-house. And _Hudibras_,
+which is a daily High-Church Entertainment, and a Pocket and Travelling
+High-Church Companion, must necessarily have a very considerable Effect,
+and cannot fail forming in Men that Humour and Vein of _Ridicule_ upon
+_Dissenters_ which runs thro' that Work. In a word, High-Church has
+constantly been an Enemy to, and a Ridiculer of the _Seriousness_ of
+_Puritans_ and _Dissenters_, whom they have ever charg'd with _Hypocrisy_
+for their _Seriousness_.
+
+"After [89] the Civil War had broke out in 1641, and the King and Court
+had settled at _Oxford_, one _Birkenhead_, who had liv'd in _Laud_'s
+Family, and been made Fellow of _All Souls College_ by _Laud_'s Means, was
+appointed to write a Weekly Paper under the Title of _Mercurius Aulicus_;
+the first whereof was publish'd in 1642. In the Absence of the Author,
+_Birkenhead_, from _Oxford_, it was continued by _Heylin_. _Birkenhead_
+pleas'd the Generality of Readers with his _Waggeries_ and _Buffooneries_;
+and the Royal Party were so taken with it, that the Author was recommended
+to be Reader of _Moral Philosophy_ by his Majesty;" who, together with the
+religious Electors, it is justly to be presum'd, thought _Waggery_ and
+_Buffoonery_, not only Political, but _Religious_ and _Moral_, when
+employ'd against _Puritans_ and _Dissenters_.
+
+
+IX. King _Charles_ the Second's Restoration brought along with it glorious
+_High-Church_ Times; which were distinguish'd as much by _laughing_ at
+_Dissenters_, as by persecuting them; which pass for a Pattern how
+Dissenters are to be treated; and which will never be given up, by
+_High-Church-men_, as faulty, for ridiculing Dissenters.
+
+The King himself, who had very good natural Parts, and a Disposition to
+banter and ridicule every Body, and especially the _Presbyterians_, whose
+Discipline he had felt for his Lewdness and Irreligion in _Scotland_, had
+in his _Exile_ an Education, and liv'd, among some of the greatest
+_Droles_ and _Wits_ that any Age ever produc'd; who could not but form him
+in that way, who was so well fitted by Temper for it. The Duke of
+_Buckingham_ was his constant Companion. And he had a [90] _great
+Liveliness of Wit, and a peculiar Faculty of turning all things into
+ridicule_. He was Author of the _Rehearsal_; which, as a most noble Author
+says, is [91] _a justly admir'd Piece of comick Wit_, and _has furnish'd
+our best Wits in all their Controversies, even in Religion and Politicks,
+as well as in the Affairs of Wit and Learning, with the most effectual and
+entertaining Method of exposing Folly, Pedantry, false Reason, and ill
+Writing_. The Duke of _Buckingham_ [92] brought _Hobbes_ to him to be his
+_Tutor_, who was a _Philosophical Drole_, and had a great deal of _Wit_ of
+the _drolling_ kind. _Sheldon_, who was afterwards Archbishop of
+_Canterbury_, and attended the King constantly in his Exile as his
+_Chaplain_, was an eminent _Drole_, as appears from Bishop _Burnet_, who
+says[93], that _he had a great Pleasantness of Conversation, perhaps too
+great_.
+
+And _Hide_, afterwards Earl of _Clarendon_, who attended the King in his
+Exile, seems also to have been a great Drole, by Bishop _Burnet_'s
+representing him, as one, that _had too much Levity in his Wit, and that
+did not observe the Decorum of his Post_[94]. In a _Speech_ to the Lords
+and Commons, _Hide_ attack'd the Gravity of the Puritans, saying[95],
+"Very merry Men have been very godly Men; and if a good Conscience be a
+continued Feast, there is no reason but Men may be very merry at it." And
+upon Mr. _Baxter_ and other Presbyterian Ministers waiting on him in
+relation to the _Savoy Conference_, he said to Mr. _Baxter_ on the first
+Salute[96], that if "he were but as fat as Dr. _Manton_, we should all do
+well."
+
+No wonder therefore, that _Ridicule_, and _Raillery_, and _Satire_, should
+prevail at Court after the _Restoration_; and that King _Charles_ the
+Second, who was a Wit himself, and early taught to laugh at his _Father's
+Stiffness_[97], should be so great a Master of them, and bring them into
+play among his Subjects; and that he who had the most sovereign Contempt
+for all Mankind, and in particular for the People and Church of _England_,
+should use his Talent against them; and that his People in return should
+give him like for like.
+
+It is well known how he banter'd the Presbyterian Ministers, who out of
+Interest came over to him at _Breda_; where they were placed in a Room
+next to his Majesty, and order'd to attend till his Majesty had done his
+Devotions; who, it seems, pray'd so artfully, and poured out so many of
+their Phrases, which he had learned when he was in _Scotland_, where he
+was forced to be present at religious Exercises of six or seven Hours
+a-day; and had practis'd among the _Huguenot_ Ministers in _France_[98],
+who reported him to have a _sanctify'd Heart_, and to _speak the very
+Language of_ Canaan. This _Ridicule_ he _cover'd_ with _Seriousness_;
+having at that time Occasion for those Ministers, who were then his great
+Instruments in reconciling the Nation to his _Restoration_. When he had no
+farther Occasion for them, he was open in his _Ridicule_, and would say,
+that [99] _Presbyterianism was not a Religion for a Gentleman_.
+
+
+X. Would you, who are a Man of Sense and Learning, and of some Moderation,
+be for punishing the Author of _The Difficulties and Discouragements which
+attend the Study of the Scriptures in the way of private Judgment_, &c.
+who is suppos'd to be a Prelate of the Church, for that Book, which is
+wholly an _Irony_ about the most sacred Persons and Things? Must not the
+fine _Irony_ it self, and the Execution of it, with so much Learning,
+Sense, and Wit, raise in you the highest Esteem and Admiration of the
+Author, instead of a Disposition to punish him? Would you appear to the
+intelligent Part of the World such an Enemy to Knowledge, and such a
+Friend to the Kingdom of Darkness, as such Punishment would imply? In
+fine, can you see and direct us to a better way, to make us inquire after
+and understand Matters of Religion, to make us get and keep a good temper
+of Mind, and to plant and cultivate in us the Virtues necessary to good
+Order and Peace in Society, and to eradicate the Vices that every where
+give Society so much Disturbance, than what is prescrib'd or imply'd in
+that Book? And can you think of a better _Form_ of _Conveyance_, or
+_Vehicle_ for Matters of such universal Concern to all intelligent People
+(if you consider the State of the World, and the infinite Variety of
+Understandings, Interests, and Designs of Men, who are all to be address'd
+to at the same Time) than his Method of _Irony_? And has not Success
+justify'd his Method? For the Book has had a free Vent in several
+Impressions; has been very generally read and applauded; has convinced
+Numbers, and has been no Occasion of trouble either to Bookseller or
+Author. It has also had the Advantage to have a most ingenious _Letter_ of
+_John Hales_ of _Eton_ join'd to some Editions of it; who by this
+_Letter_, as well as by several others of his Pieces, shews himself to
+have been another _Socrates_, one of the greatest Masters of _true Wit_
+and _just Irony_, as well as Learning, which the World ever produc'd; and
+shews he could have writ such a Book as the _Difficulties_, &c. But if you
+are capable of coming into any Measures for punishing the Author of the
+_Difficulties_, &c. for his _Irony_, I conceive, that you may possibly
+hesitate a little in relation to the same Author, about his _New Defence
+of the Bishop of_ Bangor_'s Sermon of the Kingdom of Christ, consider'd as
+it is the Performance of a Man of Letters_; which, tho far below _The
+Difficulties_, &c. is an ingenious _Irony_ on that _Sermon_. You may
+probably, like many others of the Clergy, approve of Satire so well
+employ'd, as against that Bishop, who has succeeded Bishop _Burnet_ in
+being the Subject of _Clergy-Ridicule_, as well as in his Bishoprick. The
+Bishop himself was very justly patient, under all Attacks by the Reverend
+_Trapp_, _Earbery_, _Snape_, _Law_, and _Luke Milbourne_, in his _Tom of
+Bedlam's Answer to his Brother_ Ben Hoadley, _St._ Peter_'s_ Poor _Parson
+near the Exchange of Principles_; some of which were of a very abusive
+kind, and such as can hardly be parallel'd; and did not call upon the
+Magistrate to come to his Aid against that Author, or against any others
+of the Clergy who had attack'd him with as great Mockery, Ridicule, and
+Irony, as ever Bishop had been by the profess'd Adversaries of the Order;
+or as ever the Bishops had been by the _Puritans_ and _Libellers_ in the
+Reigns of Queen _Elizabeth_, King _James_ and King _Charles_ the First; or
+as _Lesley_, _Hickes_, _Hill_, _Atterbury_, _Binks_, and other High-Church
+Clergy, did the late Bishop _Burnet_. Instead of that he took the true and
+proper Method, by publishing an _Answer_ to the said _Irony_, compos'd in
+the same _ironical Strain_, intitled, _The Dean of_ Worcester _still the
+same: Or his new Defence of the Bishop of_ Bangor_'s Sermon, consider'd,
+as it is the Performance of a great Critick, a Man of Sense, and a Man of
+Probity_. Which Answer does, in my Opinion, as much Honour to the Bishop,
+by its Excellency in the _ironical Way_, as it does by allowing the Method
+it self, and going into that Method, in imitation of his Reverend Brethren
+of the Clergy, 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 Contempt; but, on the contrary, to be spurr'd on by the
+_Excellency_ and _Propriety_ thereof to use it against him, even in the
+[100] _Pulpit_, as Part of the religious Exercise on the _Lord's-day_.
+
+
+XI. There is an universal Love and Practice of _Drollery_ and _Ridicule_
+in all, even the most _serious_ Men, in the most _serious Places_, and on
+the most _serious Occasions_. Go into the Privy-Councils of Princes, into
+Senates, into Courts of Judicature, and into the Assemblies of the Kirk or
+Church; and you will find that Wit, good Humour, Ridicule, and Drollery,
+mix themselves in all the Questions before those Bodies; and that the most
+solemn and sour Person there present, will ever be found endeavouring, at
+least, to crack his Jest, in order to raise a Character for Wit; which has
+so great an Applause attending it, and renders Men so universally
+acceptable for their Conversation, and places them above the greatest
+Proficients in the Sciences, that almost every one is intoxicated with the
+Passion of aiming at it.
+
+In the Reports made to us of the Debates in the Houses of Lords, Commons,
+and Convocation, the serious Parts of the Speeches there made die for the
+most part with the Sound; but the Wit, the Irony, the Drollery, the
+Ridicule, the Satire, and Repartees, are thought worthy to be remember'd
+and repeated in Conversation, and make a Part of the History of the
+Proceedings of those Bodies, no less than their grave Transactions, as
+some such must necessarily be.
+
+Whoever will look into Antiquity for an Account of the Lives, Actions, and
+Works of the old Philosophers, will find little remaining of them; but
+some of their witty, drolling, and bantering Sayings, which alone have
+been thought worthy to be preserv'd to Posterity. And if you will look
+into the Lives of the modern Statesmen, Philosophers, Divines, Lawyers,
+_&c._ you will find that their witty Sayings ever make a considerable
+Part: by reporting which great Honour is intended to be done to their
+Memory. The great and most religious Philosopher Dr. _H. More_, has a
+great many Pieces of Wit attributed to him in his _Life_ by Mr. _Ward_,
+who represents him from his Companions, [101] _as one of the merriest
+Greeks they were acquainted with_, and tells us, that the Doctor said in
+his _last Illness_, to him[102], _that the merry way was that which he saw
+mightily to take; and so he used it the more_.
+
+The great and famous Sir _Thomas More_, Lord Chancellor of _England_ in
+_Henry_ the Eighth's time, was an inexhaustible Source of _Drollery_[103],
+as his voluminous Works, which consist for the most part of controversial
+Divinity in behalf of Popery, show, and which are many of them written in
+Dialogue, the better to introduce the _drolling_ Way of Writing, which he
+has us'd in such Perfection, that it is said [104] _none can ever be weary
+of reading them, tho they be never so long_. Nor could Death it self, in
+immediate view before his Eyes, suppress his _merry_ Humour, and hinder
+him from cracking _Jests_ on the _Scaffold_; tho he was a Man of great
+_Piety_ and _Devotion_, whereof all the World was convinced by his Conduct
+both in his Life and at his Death.
+
+It is said (as I have before observ'd) of my Lord Chancellor _Clarendon_,
+that "he had too much _Levity_ in his _Wit_[105], and that he did not
+always observe the _Decorum_ of his Post." Which implies not only his
+Approbation of _Drollery_ in the most _grave_ Business, but also his great
+Knowledge of Mankind, by applying to them in that _Way_; which he knew
+from Experience, and especially from the common _drolling_ [106]
+Conversation in the Court of King _Charles_ the Second, would recommend
+him to the World much more than an _impartial Administration of Justice_;
+which is less felt, less understood, and less taken notice of and
+applauded, than a _Piece_ of _Wit_; which is generally suppos'd to imply
+in it a great deal of Knowledge, and a Capacity fit for any thing.
+
+Mr. _Whiston_[107], a famous Person among us, sets up for great _Gravity_,
+and proposes a Scheme of _Gravity_ for the Direction of those who write
+about Religion: He is for allowing _Unbelievers_, 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 _Bible_; against any
+Parts of the _Jewish_ and Christian Religions, in order to their being
+fully weigh'd and consider'd by all learned Men; provided at the same
+time, that the whole be done _gravely_, and _seriously_, without all
+_Levity_, _Banter_, and _Ridicule_." And yet this Man, having a handle
+given him by Bishop _Robinson_'s Letter to the _Clergy_ of his _Diocess_
+about _New Doxologies borrow'd from Old Hereticks_, takes the advantage of
+the Bishop's (supposed) Ignorance, Dulness, Stupidity, and Contradiction
+to himself, and writes and prints, like a _Tom Brown_ or _Swift_, a most
+_bantering_ and _drolling_ Letter, under the sneering Title of a _Letter
+of Thanks to the Right Reverend the Lord Bishop of_ London, _for his late
+Letter_, &c. whom, one would think, he should not only have spar'd, but
+have applauded for his _profound Gravity_, and carrying on the Cause of
+Religion in a very remarkable manner, with the most _consummate
+Solemnity_. But so strong was the Temptation, so naturally productive of
+Mirth was the Bishop's _Cause_, and his grave Management thereof, as that
+he could not help laughing at the Bishop, by himself; and so was led on
+mechanically to write in that Humour, and to publish what he wrote, and
+afterwards to defend his drole _Manner_ [108] of attacking the Bishop,
+against those who took _offence_ at that _Manner_ of writing.
+
+
+XII. The burning Papists themselves are not always _serious_ with us: They
+treat the Church and its Defenders as _fanatical_, and _laugh_ at them as
+_such_, just as the Church does the Dissenters, and have their elaborate
+Works of _Drollery_ against their Adversaries. They publish'd a Poem
+against the _Reformation_, just before the Death of Queen _Anne_, which
+was design'd to have given such a Stroke to the Protestant Religion among
+us, under the new projected Revolution, as _Hudibras_ did to _Puritanism_
+after the _Restoration_. The Popish Editor, in the Preface to the said
+Poem, says, "that the Motive of the Author (_Thomas Ward_) for publishing
+the _History of the Reformation in a Burlesque Style_ (tho a History full
+of melancholy Incidents, which have distracted the Nation, even beyond the
+hope of recovery, after so much Blood drawn from all its Veins, and from
+its Head) was that which he met with in Sir _Roger L'Estrange_'s Preface
+to the second Part of his _Cit_ and _Bumkin_, express'd in these Words;
+_Tho this way of fooling is not my Talent, nor Inclination; yet I have
+great Authorities for the taking up this Humour, in regard not only of the
+Subject, but of the Age we live in; which is so much upon the Drole, that
+hardly any thing else will down with it._"
+
+And the ingenious Protestant Editor of this Poem at _London_, which he
+allows to have some Wit in it, concludes the Remarks he makes upon it, by
+saying, "One thing more we can't forbear hinting at, that a Retaliation
+would be as happy a Thought as could enter into the Head of a Man of
+Genius and Spirit. What a fruitful Harvest would the Legends, Tricks,
+spiritual Jugglings, Convents, and Nunneries, yield to a good Poet?
+_Buchanan_ in his _Franciscani_, and _Oldham_ in his _Satires_ on the
+Jesuits, have open'd the Way, and we heartily wish some equal Pen would
+write the whole Mystery of Iniquity at length."
+
+
+XIII. All the old Puritan Preachers, who were originally Divines of the
+Church of _England_, sprinkled and season'd their Sermons with a great
+many _drolling_ Sayings against _Libertinism_ and _Vice_, and against
+Church Ceremonies; many of which Sayings are reported and handed down to
+us in Books and Conversation, as are also the Effects of those Sayings,
+which we are told converted many to _Christ_ on the Spot, or in the
+Instant of Delivery. Nor is that manner wholly laid aside, but has
+continued to be kept alive by some Hands at all times; who have been
+greatly follow'd for their Success in drolling upon _Sinners_, and
+treating of Religion in humoursom and fantastical Phrases, and fixing that
+way of Religion in some Mens Minds.
+
+I do not remember to have met with a more complete Drole in the Church of
+_England_, or in any other of the _laughing_ or _ridiculing_ Sects, than
+_Andrew Marvel_ of the grave _Puritan_ Sect, in many Works of his both in
+Prose and Verse, but especially in his _Rehearsal Transprosed_; which tho
+writ against _Parker_, who with great Eloquence, Learning, and a Torrent
+of Drollery and Satire, had defended the Court and Church's Cause, in
+asserting the Necessity of Penal Laws against the Nonconformists, "was
+read from the _King_ down to the Tradesman with great pleasure, on account
+of that Burlesque Strain and lively Drollery that ran thro' it," as
+Bishop _Burnet_ tells us[109]. Nor were the gravest _Puritans_ and
+Dissenters among us less taken and pleas'd with his Writings for their
+_Drollery_, than our _drole King_; tho there are some Passages in them,
+which should give just Offence to chaste Ears.
+
+I find also, that the _Puritans_ and _Dissenters_ have always born with,
+and allow'd of, a great Mixture of _Drollery_ in their Sermons, that one
+would think should offend their Gravity, and pious Ears; and that they
+applaud their Ministers for such their Discourses, as much as the Church
+does Dr. _South_ for the Ribaldry sprinkled thro'out his Sermons about the
+most high Points in Divinity. They have always had some eminent Divines
+among them who have been remarkable for such Passages and Reflections: And
+these have never lessen'd their number of Auditors, nor drawn upon
+themselves the Character of _Irreligious_; but have had the largest
+Auditories of contributing Hearers, as well as of Churchmen, who came to
+smile, and have been esteem'd very _pious_ Men.
+
+In fine, the _Puritans_ and _Dissenters_ have, like the Church, their
+Taste of Humour, Irony, and Ridicule, which they promote with great Zeal,
+as a Means to serve Religion: And I remember, that, among other things
+said in behalf of _Bunyan_'s _Pilgrim's Progress_, upon the reprinting it
+lately by Subscription, it was affirm'd, and that, in my Opinion, truly,
+"that it had infinitely out-done _The Tale of a Tub_; which perhaps had
+not made one Convert to Infidelity, whereas the _Pilgrim's Progress_ had
+converted many Sinners to _Christ_."
+
+
+XIV. The _Quakers_ are certainly the most _serious_ and solemn People
+among us in Matters of Religion, and out-go the Dissenters of all other
+Kinds therein: But yet the Church has no regard to them on that Account,
+but takes Advantage from thence to _ridicule_ them the more, and to call
+their Sincerity more in question. And I much doubt whether there was ever
+a Book written against them by the Divines of any Sect with perfect
+Decency, and that had not its extravagant Flouts, Scorn, Banter, and
+Irony, and that not only of the _laughing_, but of the _cruel_ kind:
+Wherein they copy'd after the _Jews_ of old, who while they prosecuted
+_Christ_ to Death, and carried on their High-Church Tragedy against him,
+acted against him the _comick Scenes_ [110] "of spitting in his Face, and
+buffeting him with the Palms of their Hands, saying, _Prophesy unto us,
+thou Christ, who is he that smote thee_;" and who, when they had nail'd
+him to the Cross, _revil'd_ him with divers _Taunts_, in which the _Chief
+Priests_, _Scribes_, _Elders_, and even the _Thieves, which were crucified
+with him_, concurr'd. But yet for all this, these solemn Quakers
+themselves are not altogether averse to _Irony_ and _Ridicule_, and use it
+when they can. Their Books abound in Stories to ridicule in their Turn the
+Priests, their great and bitter Adversaries: And they please themselves
+with throwing at the Priests the _Centuries of Scandalous Ministers_, and
+the Books of the _Cobler of_ Glocester. They have also their Satirist and
+Banterer, _Samuel Fisher_; whose Works, tho all wrote in the _drolling_
+Style and Manner, they pride themselves in, and have collected into one
+great Volume in _Folio_; in which Quaker-Wit and Irony are set up against
+Church, Presbyterian, and Independent Wit and Irony, without the least
+Scruple of the lawfulness of such Arms. In a word, their Author acts the
+Part of a _Jack-Pudding_, _Merry Andrew_, or _Buffoon_, with all the
+seeming Right, Authority, and Privilege, of the Member of some Establish'd
+Church of abusing all the World but themselves. The _Quakers_ have also
+encourag'd and publish'd a most arch Book of the famous _Henry Stubbe_,
+intitled, _A Light shining out of Darkness_, &c. Wherein all the other
+religious Parties among us are as handsomly and learnedly banter'd and
+ridicul'd, as the _Quakers_ have been in any Book against them. And when
+they were attack'd by one _Samuel Young_, a whimsical
+Presbyterian-Buffoon-Divine, who call'd himself _Trepidantium Malleus_,
+and set up for an Imitator of Mr. _Alsop_, in several Pamphlets full of
+Stories, Repartees, and Ironies; in which _Young_, perhaps, thought
+himself as secure from a Return of the like kind, as a Ruffian or Thief
+may when he assaults Men: His Attacks were repell'd in a Book intitled
+"_Trepidantium Malleus intrepidanter malleatus_; or the West Country
+Wiseaker's crack-brain'd _Reprimand_ hammer'd about his own Numbscul.
+Being a _Joco-satirical_ Return to a late Tale of a Tub, emitted by a
+reverend _Non-con_, at present residing not far from _Bedlam_," said to be
+written by _William Penn_, who has therein made use of the carnal Weapons
+of Irony and Banter, and dress'd out the Presbyterian Priest in a Fool's
+Coat, for a Spectacle to the Mob. It is also to be observ'd, that there
+are several Tracts in the two Volumes of _William Penn_'s Works lately
+publish'd, that for ingenious Banter and Irony, are much superior to the
+Priests his Adversaries; and that other Quaker Authors profess to write
+sometimes in a [111] _drolling Style_.
+
+
+XV. The Jacobite Clergy have set up for great _Droles_ upon all the true
+Friends of the _Establishment_. And I presume, the Body of our High
+Churchmen would not willingly deprive them of the Benefit of their
+_Drollery_.
+
+The celebrated Mr. _Collier_ [112] thus attacks Bishop _Burnet_, for his
+ESSAY _on the Memory of Queen_ Mary. "This Doctor, you know, is a Man of
+mighty _Latitude_, and can say any thing to serve a Turn; whose
+_Reverence_ resolves Cases of Conscience backwards and forwards, disputes
+_pro_ and _con_, praises and dispraises by secular Measures; with whom
+Virtue and Vice, passive Obedience and Rebellion, Parricide and filial
+Duty, Treachery and Faithfulness, and all the Contradictions in Nature,
+are the _best_ and _worst_ things under the Sun, as they are for his
+Purpose, and according as the Wind sits: who equally and indifferently
+writes for and against all Men, the Gospel, and himself too, as the World
+goes: who can bestow a Panegyrick upon the seven deadly Sins, and (if
+there be occasion) can make an Invective against all the
+Commandments.----"
+
+In relation to Dr. _Payne_'s _Sermon_ on the Death of that _Queen_, he
+says[113], "that to go thro' it is too great a Discipline for any Man,
+whose Palate hath ever relish'd any thing above _three half-penny
+Poetry_." He adds, "Why, Sir, many Years ago I have heard some of it sung
+about the Streets in wretched and nauseous _Doggrel_. What think you of
+this? _Page_ 6. _I know not how to draw her Picture, 'tis so all over
+beauteous, without any Foil, any Shade, any Blemish; so perfect in every
+Feature, so accomplish'd in every Part, so adorn'd with every Perfection
+and every Grace._ O rare, Sir! here's _Phillis_ and _Chloris_, and
+_Gillian a Croydon_.
+
+  "_Sh' hath_ every Feature, every Grace,
+  "_So charming_ every part, _&c_.
+
+"Tis no wonder he tells us, (_p._ 8.) of _strewing her with the Flowers of
+withered and decay'd Poetry_; for the _Song_ out of which he hath
+transcrib'd his _Sermon_, is of very _great age_, and hath been sung at
+many a _Whitsun-Ale_, and many a _Wedding_ (tho I believe never at a
+Funeral before) and therefore in all this time may well be _decay'd and
+wither'd_: In the mean time, if you were to draw the Picture of a _great
+Princess_, I fansy you would not make choice of _Mopsa_ to sit to it.
+Alas! Sir, there was _Cassandra_ and _Cleopatra_, and many a famed
+_Romance_ more, which might have furnish'd him with handsome Characters,
+and yet he must needs be _preaching and instructing_ his People out of
+_Hey down derry_, and the _fair Maid of_ Kent. If he had intitled it,
+_The_ White-Chapel _Ballad_, and got some body to set it to the Tune of
+_Amaryllis_, compos'd by _W. P. Songster_, the Character of the _Author_,
+the _Title_, and the _Matter_, would have very well agreed, and perhaps it
+might have passed at the Corners of the Streets; but to call it a
+_Sermon_, and by _W. P._ Doctor in _Divinity_, 'tis one of the _lewdest_
+things in the World.----"
+
+Mr. _Lesley_ attacks the Clergy, who pray'd "that God would give King
+_James_ Victory over all his Enemies[114], when that was the thing they
+least wish'd; and confess'd, that they labour'd all they could against
+it," saying, "good God! What Apprehensions, what Thought had those Men of
+their publick Prayers; bantering God Almighty, and mocking him to his
+Face, who heard their Words, and saw their Hearts? Is not _Atheism_ a
+smaller Sin than this, since it is better to have no God, than so to set
+up one _to laugh at him_."
+
+Again he says, (_p._ 123.) "It is a severe Jest, that the common People
+have got up against the Clergy, that there was but one thing formerly
+which the Parliament could not do, that is, to make a Man a Woman: But now
+there is another, that is, to make an Oath which the Clergy will not
+take."
+
+The same Author attacks Bishop _Burnet_'s _Speech upon the Bill against
+Occasional Conformity_, by a Pamphlet intitled, _The Bishop of_
+Salisbury_'s proper Defence from a Speech cry'd about the Streets in his
+Name, and said to have been spoken by him in the House of Lords upon the
+Bill against Occasional Conformity_; which is one perpetual _Irony_ on the
+Bishop, and gives the Author occasion to throw all manner of Satire and
+Abuse on the Bishop. The beginning of this Pamphlet, which is as follows,
+will let the Reader into the full Knowledge of the Design of the Irony,
+and the manner of Execution.
+
+"The License of this Age and of the Press is so great, that no Rank or
+Quality of Men is free from the Insults of loose and extravagant Wits.
+
+"The good Bishop of _Salisbury_ has had a plentiful Share in this sort of
+Treatment: And now at last, some or other has presum'd to burlesque his
+Lordship in printing a Speech for him, which none that knows his Lordship
+can believe ever came from him.
+
+"But because it may go down with others who are too apt to take Slander
+upon trust, and that his Lordship has already been pelted with several
+Answers to his Speech, I have presum'd to offer the following
+Considerations, to clear his Lordship from the Suspicion of having vented
+(in such an august Assembly) those crude and undigested Matters which are
+set forth in that Speech, and which so highly reflect on his Lordship's
+self."
+
+He has taken the same Method of Irony to attack the said Bishop for his
+_Speech_ on the _Trial_ of _Sacheverel_, and for a _Sermon_, under this
+Title, "The Good Old Cause, _or_ Lying in Truth; being a Second Defence of
+the Lord Bishop of _Sarum_ from a Second Speech, and also the Dissection
+of a Sermon it is said his Lordship preach'd in the Cathedral Church of
+_Salisbury_." And this Pamphlet, which is also a continued Banter, begins
+thus.
+
+"No Man has more deserv'd than this good Bishop, and no Man has been more
+persecuted by various Ways and Means than his Lordship, even to mobbing!
+But the ugliest and most malicious of all these Arts, is that of putting
+false Things upon him; to write scandalous, seditious, and senseless
+Papers, and to affix his Lordship's Name! I was forc'd some Years ago to
+vindicate his Lordship's Reputation from one of this sort: That Speech had
+a Bookseller's Name to it of good figure, and look'd something like; but
+this Speech (said likewise to be spoken in the House of Lords) has no body
+to own it, and has all the Marks of _Grub_. But the nasty Phiz is nothing
+to the inside. That discovers the Man; the Heart is false."
+
+This same Author has thought fit to attack Mr. _Hoadley_ (since a Bishop)
+in the way of Banter: His _Best Answer ever was made, and to which no
+Answer will ever be made_, is by his own Confession a _Farce_; when he
+says in his _Preface_, "If you ask why I treat this Subject by way of
+_farce_, and shew a little Merriment sometimes? it was because the
+Foundation you stand upon is not only _false_ but _ridiculous_, and ought
+to be treated with the _utmost Contempt_."
+
+Again, in his "_Finishing Stroke, in defence of_ his _Rehearsals, Best
+Answer, and Best of all_," he gives us (_p._ 125.) what he calls, "A
+Battle-Royal between three Cocks of the Game, _Higden_, _Hoadley_, and a
+_Hottentot_;" which in the _Contents_ he calls _A Farce_, and to which he
+joins both a _Prologue_ and _Epilogue_, and divers other Particulars, all
+taken from the _Play-house_.
+
+The Reverend Mr. _Matthias Earbery_ sets up for a great Satirist and Drole
+upon the swearing and Low-Church Clergy, in numerous Pamphlets of late,
+more particularly in his "_Serious Admonition to Dr._ Kennet: To which is
+added, a short but complete Answer to Mr. _Marshal_'s late Treatise
+called, _A Defence of our Constitution in Church and State_; and a
+Parallel is drawn between him and Dr. _Kennet_, for the Satisfaction of
+the unprejudic'd Reader."
+
+He has a bantering Argument [115] to shew, that, "If in future Ages Mr.
+_Marshal_'s Book should escape the just Judgment it deserves, of being
+condemn'd to the _Pastry-Cooks_ and _Grocers_, an industrious Chronologist
+might make an Observation to prove him too young to write it."
+
+The _Parallel_ is in _Pag._ 126, which being very gross _Raillery_, I only
+refer you to it.
+
+This Mr. _Earbery_ also wrote a _Letter to Bishop_ Fleetwood, under the
+Title of "A Letter to the Bishop of _Ely_, upon the Occasion of his
+_suppos'd_ late _Charge_, said to be deliver'd at _Cambridge August_ 7,
+1716, _&c._" in which he pursues the Ironical Scheme laid down in the said
+Title, and endeavours to _vindicate_ his _Lordship from the Aspersion of
+writing such a mean Pamphlet_, as the _Charge_.
+
+Nor do these _Jacobites_ confine their Drollery to their Adversaries
+without, but exercise it on one another, as may be seen in their late
+Dispute about King _Edward the Sixth_'s Liturgy. And Mr. _Lesley_ himself,
+happening to engage on the side opposite to the Traditions of the Fathers,
+and attacking those Traditions by Low-Church Notions and Arguments, and
+thereby running counter to all his former Books, is attack'd just in the
+same manner he attack'd Bishop _Burnet_, in a Book under this Title, "Mr.
+_Lesley_'s Defence, from some erroneous and dangerous Principles, advanced
+in a Letter said to have been written concerning the New Separation." And
+it has several Paragraphs at the beginning in the very words of one of Mr.
+_Lesley_'s Books against the said Bishop, as may be seen on Comparison.
+
+
+XVI. _Christ-Church_ in _Oxford_ is no less famous for the _Drolling_,
+than for the _Orthodox_ Spirit reigning there; and the former, being
+judged an excellent Method to support the latter, is cultivated among the
+Youth, and employ'd by the Members of that Society against all the
+supposed Adversaries of the Church, and encourag'd by the governing
+Ecclesiasticks there and elsewhere.
+
+Among the many, who have receiv'd their Education there, and been form'd
+in Drollery, I will only instance in the Reverend Dr. _Atterbury_ and Dr.
+_South_; who being as famous for _Drollery_ as for Zeal for Religion, and
+applauded for their _Wit_ no less than for their _Orthodoxy_; and
+particularly for imploying the former in behalf of the latter, seem of
+sufficient Weight to bear down all Attempts to stifle their Productions.
+What Considerations can make us amends for the Loss of such excellent
+_drolling Writings_, which promote Religion as well as Mirth?
+
+With what incomparable Mockery, Ridicule and Sarcasm does Dr. _Atterbury_
+treat all the Low-Church Clergy that come in his way, together with the
+_Whig_ Ministry and Administration in his several _Convocational Tracts_?
+Dr. _Wake_, our present Archbishop of _Canterbury_, is represented by him
+as writing so _contumeliously_ [116] of the Clergy, _that had he not
+inform'd us in his Title Page who he was, we should rather have guess'd
+him to have been of the Cabal against Priests and Priestcraft, than one of
+the Order_; and as wholly govern'd by [117] _Interest_ in the _Debate_,
+and as giving us a most [118] _shallow empty Performance_ in relation to
+our Ecclesiastical Constitution, which he [119] _has done his best to
+undermine_, as knowing himself to be in the wrong; and as _deserving_ any
+Name or Censure, none being _too bad to be bestow'd_ on him; and in fine,
+as _the least of the little officious Pens by which he expects to be
+traduc'd_.
+
+Dr. _Bentley_ is represented as _wrote out of Reputation into Preferment_;
+which, whether it be a more severe Sarcasm on the Doctor, than on the
+Government, is hard to determine; and besides, it gives Applause to one of
+the most drolling and bantering Performances that this drolling Age has
+produc'd, I mean _Dr._ Bentley_'s Dissertations on the Epistles of_
+Phalaris, _and the Fables of_ Æsop, _examin'd_.
+
+Bishop _Burnet_ is a standing Subject of Ridicule with him; as are Bishop
+_Nicholson_, Bishop _Kennet_, Bishop _Gibson_, Bishop _Trimnel_ [to whom
+he writes a most drolling [120] Letter] and Dr. _West_; and all the
+Topicks that can affect them as Scholars, as honest Men, and Clergymen,
+are imploy'd to render them ridiculous, and set the World a laughing at
+them, who are not in the least spar'd for their being of the Holy Order;
+but on the contrary seem more loaded and baited with Sarcasms for that
+reason.
+
+For a _Specimen_, take this Banter or Burlesque upon Bishop _Kennet_'s
+Dedication of his _Ecclesiastical Synods and Parliamentary Convocations_,
+&c. to the Archbishop of _Canterbury_; which Banter runs thus[121].
+
+     "_May it please your Grace_,
+
+     "Mr. _Atterbury_ has lately forc'd a Dedication upon you, which
+     favours too much of Presumption or Design; he has presum'd to
+     surprize you with an unexpected Address, and appears very indecently
+     before your Grace, because he has taken no care to express upon this
+     Subject a due Respect and Reverence to the Governors in Church and
+     State, such as is suitable to the Christian Religion, and his
+     particular Function: The Reports and Authorities in his Book are
+     Fruits of other Mens Collections, not the immediate Effects of his
+     own Searches into _Registers_ and _Records_; he imperiously summons
+     your Grace and my Lords the Bishops to an immediate Compliance upon
+     pain of being pronounc'd Betrayers of the Church----This, my Lord, is
+     the Character of the Person _I set up_ against; but as for me, I am
+     quite another sort of Man, I am very well bred, a great Antiquary,
+     beholden to no body, _some Wits and merry Folks call me a Tool and a
+     Play-thing_ (_Pref. p._ 8.) But I assure your Grace, that what
+     Freedom soever I may have taken in taxing the Vices of the inferior
+     _Clergy_, (_p._ 77. 188.) and in reflecting _upon the ambitious
+     Designs of dignify'd Presbyters_ (_p._ 196.); yet _I am however
+     tender and dutiful in treating the Governors of our Church_ (p. 78.);
+     especially _those of them who are of the Ecclesiastical Commission
+     for Preferments_, (p. 311). I have a very great Respect and Reverence
+     for every body that will give me any thing; and how resolute soever
+     Mr. _Atterbury_ may be, your Grace may do what you please with
+
+     _Your Grace's most humble_
+
+     _and obedient Servant_,
+
+     WHITE KENNET.
+
+
+But for _Drollery_, the Reverend Dr. _South_ outdoes even _Christ-Church_,
+and fills all his Performances with it, and throws it out against the
+Enemies of the Church, and in particular against the late Dr. _Sherlock_,
+whom he thought fit to single out. I shall select some Passages from his
+Writings against the said Doctor, which cannot but entertain the
+High-Church Orthodox Reader, and reconcile him to a _Drollery_ so well
+employ'd.
+
+He stiles him _a great good Man, as a certain poor Wretch_, meaning
+_Prior, calls him_.
+
+Again, he says[122], "There is hardly any one Subject which he (that is
+Dr. _Sherlock_) has wrote upon Popery excepted, that he has wrote both
+for it and against it. Could any thing be more sharp and bitter against
+the Dissenters than what this Man wrote in his _Answer_ to the _Protestant
+Reconciler_; and yet how frankly, or rather fulsomly does he open both his
+Arms to embrace them in his Sermon preach'd before the Lord Mayor on
+_November_ 4, 1688. Tho I dare say, that the Dissenters themselves are of
+that Constancy, as to own that they were of the same Principles in 88 that
+they were of in 85; but the Truth is, old Friendships cannot be so easily
+forgot: And it has been an Observation made by some, that hardly can any
+one be found, who was first tainted with a Conventicle, whom a Cathedral
+could ever after cure, but that still upon every cross turn of Affairs
+against the _Church_, the irresistible _Magnetism_ of the _Good Old Cause_
+(as some still think it) would quickly draw him out of the _Good Old Way_.
+The Fable tells us of a _Cat_ once turn'd into a _Woman_, but the next
+sight of a _Mouse_ quickly dissolv'd the _Metamorphosis_, cashier'd the
+Woman, and restor'd the Brute. And some _Virtuosi_ (skill'd in the _useful
+Philosophy_ of _Alterations_) have thought her much a Gainer by the latter
+Change, there being so many unlucky Turns in the World, in which it is not
+half so safe and advantageous to _walk upright_, as to be _able to fall
+always upon one's Legs_."
+
+Again, Dr. _South_ says[123], "When I consider how wonderfully pleas'd the
+Man is with these two new started Terms (_Self-consciousness_ and _mutual
+Consciousness_) so high in Sound and so empty of Sense, instead of one
+substantial word (_Omniscience_) which gives us all that can be pretended
+useful in them, with vast Overplus and Advantage, and even swallows them
+up, as _Moses_'s Rod did those pitiful Tools of the _Magicians_: This (I
+say) brings to my mind (whether I will or no) a certain Story of a grave
+Person, who riding in the Road with his Servant, and finding himself
+something uneasy in his Saddle, bespoke his Servant thus: _John_ (says he)
+_alight, and first take off the Saddle that is upon my Horse, and then
+take off the Saddle that is upon your Horse; and when you have done this,
+put the Saddle that was upon my Horse, upon your Horse; and put the Saddle
+that was upon your Horse, upon my Horse_. Whereupon the Man, who had not
+studied the Philosophy of Saddles (whether _Ambling_ or _Trotting_) so
+exactly as his Master, replies something short upon him; _Lord, Master,
+what need all these words? Could you not as well have said, Let us change
+Saddles?_ Now I must confess, I think the Servant was much in the right;
+tho the Master having a _rational Head of his own_, and being withal
+willing to make the _Notion_ of _changing_ Saddles more _plain_, _easy_
+and _intelligible_, and to give a clearer Explication of that word (which
+his Forefathers, how good _Horsemen_ soever they might have been, yet were
+_not equally happy in explaining of_) was pleas'd to set it forth by that
+more full and accurate Circumlocution."
+
+He says[124], _The Author_, Dr. _Sherlock, is no doubt a_ Grecian _in his
+Heart_! And the tenth Chapter of the _Animadversions_ is one continued
+Banter upon the _Dean_ for his Ignorance in _Greek_ and _Latin_, and even
+his Inability to spell: All which he _closes_ with saying, "That St.
+_Paul_'s _School_ is certainly an excellent School, and St. _Paul_'s
+Church a most noble Church; and therefore he thinks that he directs his
+Course very prudently, and happily too, who in his Passage to such a
+_Cathedral_, takes a School in his way."
+
+Again, he says[125], "He cannot see any new Advantage that the Dean has
+got over the _Socinians_, unless it be, that the Dean thinks his _three
+Gods_ will be too hard for their _one_."
+
+After citing several Scurrilities of the Dean[126], (who it must be
+confess'd, appears therein a great Banterer also of Dr. _South_ and his
+Performance) the Dr. says, "These, with several more of the like
+_Gravel-Lane_ Elegancies, are all of them such peculiar Strictures of the
+Dean's _Genius_, that he might very well spare his Name, where he had made
+himself so well known by his Mark; for all the foregoing
+_Oyster-Wive-Kennel-Rhetorick_ seems so naturally to flow from him, who
+had been so long Rector of St. _Botolph_ (with the well-spoken
+_Billingsgate_ under his Care) that (as much a Teacher as he was) it may
+well be question'd, whether he has learn'd more from his Parish, than his
+Parish from him.--All favours of the Porter, the Carman, and the Waterman;
+and a pleasant Scene it must be to see the _Master of the Temple_ laying
+about him in the Language of the Stairs."
+
+To the Dean's Scoff, that _this Argument_, &c. _was worth its weight in
+Gold, tho the_ Dean _fears it will not much enrich the Buyer_, the Doctor
+replies[127], "What is that to him? Let him mind his own Markets, who
+never writes to _enrich the Buyer_ but the Seller; and that _Seller_ is
+himself: and since he is so, well is it for his Books and his Bookseller
+too, that Men generally _buy_ before they _read_."
+
+In requital of the scurrilous Character of an _ingenious Blunderer_, Dr.
+_South_ says[128], "He must here return upon him the just Charge of an
+_impious Blasphemer_, and that upon more Accounts than one; telling him
+withal, that had he liv'd in the former Times of the Church, his Gown
+would have been stript off his Back for his detestable Blasphemies and
+Heresies, and some other Place found out for him to perch in than the Top
+of St. _Paul's_, where at present he is placed like a true Church
+Weather-Cock, (as he is) notable for nothing so much, as _standing high
+and turning round_."
+
+Again, he says[129], "And so I take my leave of the Dean's _three distinct
+infinite Minds, Spirits_, or _Substances_, that is to say, of his _three
+Gods_; and having done this, methinks I see him go whimpering away with
+his Finger in his Eye, and the Complaint of _Micah_ in his Mouth, _Ye have
+taken away my Gods which I made, and what have I more_[130]? Tho he must
+confess, he cannot tell why he should be so fond of them, since he dares
+undertake that he will never be able to bring the Christian World either
+to believe in, or to worship a _Trinity of Gods_: Nor does he see what use
+they are likely to be of, even to himself, unless peradventure to _swear
+by_."
+
+Again, the Doctor says[131], "The Dean's following Instruction to his
+Friend is certainly very diverting, in these words, where the Animadverter
+charges the Dean with Absurdities and Contradictions; turn to the Place
+and read it with its Context, and tell me what you cannot answer, and I
+will; to which he would have done well to have added, _If I can_. But the
+whole Passage is just as if he had said, Sir, if you find not
+Contradictions and Absurdities enough in my Book to satisfy your Curiosity
+that way, pray come to the Fountain-head, and consult me, and you shall be
+sure of a more plentiful Supply."
+
+Again, upon the Dean's "Frequent reproaching the [132] Animadverter with
+the Character of a _Wit_, tho join'd with such ill-favour'd Epithets, as
+his witless Malice has thought fit to degrade it with, as that he is _a
+spiteful Wit_, a _wrangling Wit_, a _satirical Wit_, and the WITTY,
+_subtle_, _good-natur'd Animadverter, &c._ the Dr. says, that tho there be
+but little _Wit_ shewn in making such Charges; yet if _Wit_ be a
+_Reproach_ (be it of what sort it will) the Animadverter is too _just_ to
+return this _Reproach_ upon the _Defender_; and withal, understands
+himself, and what becomes him, too well, either to _assume_ to himself, or
+so much as to _admit_ the Character of a _Wit_, as at all due to him;
+especially since he knows that _common Sense_ (a thing much short of Wit)
+is enough to enable him to deal with such an Adversary. Nevertheless,
+there are many in the World, who are both call'd and accounted _Wits_, and
+really are so; which (one would think) should derive something of Credit
+upon this Qualification, even in the Esteem of this Author himself, or at
+least rebate the Edge of his Invectives against it, considering that it
+might have pleas'd God to have made him a _Wit_ too."
+
+
+XVII. As things now stand, it may easily be seen, that Prosecutions for
+_Raillery_ and _Irony_ would not be relish'd well by the Publick, and
+would probably turn to the Disreputation and Disgrace of the Prosecutor.
+
+Archbishop _Laud_ has always been much censur'd for his malicious
+Prosecution of _Williams_ in the _Star-Chamber_; among whose Crimes I find
+the following laid to his Charge: [133] _That he said all Flesh in_
+England _had corrupted their Ways_; that _he call'd a Book intitled_, A
+Coal from the Altar (written by Dr. _Heylin_, for placing the
+Communion-Table at the East-end of the Church, and railing it in) _a
+Pamphlet_; that he _scoffingly said, that he had heard of a Mother Church,
+but not of a Mother Chapel, meaning the King's, to which all Churches in
+Ceremony ought to conform_; that _he wickedly jested on St._ Martin_'s
+Hood_; that _he said the People ought not to be lash'd by every body's
+Whip_; that _he said_, (citing _a National Council for it_) _that the
+People are God's and the King's, and not the Priest's People; and that he
+doth not allow Priests to jeer and make Invectives against the People_.
+And I humbly conceive, that such Matters had much better be suffer'd to go
+on in the World, and take their Course, than that Courts of Judicature
+should be employ'd about them. A Sentence that imply'd some _Clergymen_
+corrupt, as well as some _Laymen_, of whom _Laud_ would only allow to have
+it said, that they had _corrupted their Ways_; a _Jest_ upon St.
+_Martin_'s _Hood_, which, according to Ecclesiastical History, _cur'd sore
+Eyes_; and a _Ridicule_ upon a High-Church Book of _Heylin_'s, by calling
+it a Pamphlet, tho it was really a Pamphlet, as consisting of but seventy
+Pages in Quarto; seem less _wicked_ and hurtful than disturbing, fining,
+and undoing Men about them. And the having some Concern for the People,
+that they should not be used as the Priest pleas'd; that the _People_
+belong to _God_ and the _King_, and _not to the Priest_; and the _not
+allowing_ the _Priests_ to _jeer and make Invectives against the People_;
+seem all Errors fit to be born with.
+
+Archbishop _Laud_ was also thought guilty of an excessive Piece of
+Weakness in the Punishment of [134] _Archibald_ the King's Fool, by laying
+the Matter before the Privy-Council, and occasioning him to be expell'd
+the King's House for a poor _Jest_ upon himself; who, as he was a Man at
+the Head of the State, should have despis'd such a thing in any Body, much
+more in a _Fool_, and who should never have been hurried on to be the
+Instrument of any _Motion_ against him, but have left it to others; who
+upon the least Intimation would have been glad to make their court to
+_Laud_, by sacrificing a _Fool_ only to his Resentment.
+
+
+XVIII. I could have entertain'd the Reader with a great Variety of
+Passages out of the Fathers of the Church, whose Writings are Magazines of
+Authority, and urg'd upon us upon all Occasions by Ecclesiasticks, and are
+particularly full of _Burlesque_ and _Ridicule_ on the _Gods and Religion_
+of the _Pagans_; in the use whereof they are much more unanimous, than in
+the Articles of their _Creed_. But that being a Subject too great and
+extensive for a Digression, I shall content my self with the few following
+Reflections; which will sufficiently evince, that the _Taste_ of the
+Primitive Christians was like that of the rest of the World; that they
+could laugh and be as merry as the _Greeks_ and other _Pagans_; and that
+they would take the Advantage of the _Pagans_ weak Cause, to introduce
+_Ridicule_, which always bears hard upon Weakness and Folly, and must load
+them so as to prevent a Possibility of their being remov'd by another
+_Ridicule_.
+
+These Fathers have transfused into their Writings all the Wit and Raillery
+of the antient _Pagan_ Writers and Philosophers; who it is well known
+wrote a great deal to turn _Paganism_ into Ridicule; most of which now
+exists no where but in the Works of the Fathers; all Books of that kind
+being lost, except _Cicero_'s Books of _the Nature of Gods_, and of
+_Divination_, and the Dialogues of _Lucian_; both which Authors have been
+of great use to the _Fathers_ to set them up for _Wits_, _Droles_, and
+_Satirists_. For a Specimen how well these antient _Pagans_ could _drole_,
+and how much beholden we are to the Fathers for recording their
+Drolleries, the most remarkable, I think, are some _Fragments_ of a Book
+of _Oenomaus_ concerning the _Pagan Oracles_, cited and preserv'd by [135]
+_Eusebius_; who has given us occasion to [136] _regret_ the loss of this
+Work, as one of the most valuable Books written by the Antients on the
+Subject of _Oracles_, tho those Books were _very numerous_. And it is to
+be observ'd, that this Book and a great many, perhaps a [137] thousand
+more, were publish'd in _Greece_, where the Imposture of _Oracles_ greatly
+prevail'd, and great Wealth flow'd in, not only to the Priests of the
+_Oracular Temples_, but to all the Inhabitants of _Greece_, and especially
+to those who lived in the Neighbourhood of the several _Oracular
+Temples_; who made a great Profit from the rich Travellers, that came from
+all Parts of the World to know their Fortunes. This shews the great
+Integrity and Fairness of the old _Pagans_; who would suffer not only
+their supposed standing Revelation to be call'd in question, but a
+Revelation that brought in as much Money, as the Chapels, Churches, and
+Shrines dedicated to the Blessed Virgin, or to any of the Saints, do in
+the _Roman_ Church, without calling any Man to Account for the Liberties
+they took; who, as far as appears, were not expos'd [138] _to any Danger_
+thereby. It is also to be observ'd, that the merry [139] _Epicureans were
+none of them ever prosecuted_, and _that_ Epicurus _himself died quietly
+at_ Athens _in a very great old Age_.
+
+But the Book, which the Fathers made the most use of, was that arch, fly,
+and drolling Performance, now lost, of _Evemerus_, which he intitled, _A
+sacred History_: wherein he gave an _historical Account_ of the _Birth_,
+_Country_, _Lives_, _Deaths_, and _Burials_ of the _Gods_. This Work was
+translated into _Latin_ by that arch Wag _Ennius_, who himself has most
+ingeniously _ridicul'd_ several Impostors or very grave Persons, in a
+remarkable Piece of Poetry, which I shall give my Reader in _English_.
+
+  "_I value not a Rush the_ Marsian _Augur,_
+  "_Nor Country-Fortune Tellers, nor Town-Star-Gazers,_
+  "_Nor jugling Gypsies, nor yet Dream-Interpreters:_
+  "_For, not by Skill or Art, are these Diviners;_
+  "_But superstitious Prophets, Guessers impudent,_
+  "_Or idle Rogues, or craz'd, or mere starving Beggars._
+  "_They know no way themselves, yet others would direct;_
+  "_And crave a Groat of those, to whom they promise Riches:_
+  "_Thence let them take the Groat, and give back all the rest._
+
+
+XIX. Wherefore I cannot but presume, that an Attempt to make a _Law_ to
+restrain _Irony_, &c. would prove abortive, and that the Attempt would be
+deem'd the Effect of a very partial Consideration of things, and of
+present Anger at a poor Jest; which Men are not able to bear themselves,
+how much soever they abound in _Jests_, both of the _light_ and _cruel_
+kind, on others: tho for my own part I concur heartily with you in
+_making_ such a _Law_, and in leaving it to a Person of your _Equity_ to
+draw it up, craving only the Liberty to propose an Amendment or Addition,
+_viz._ that you would be pleas'd to insert a Clause to prevent _Irony_,
+_Ridicule_, and _Banter_, from invading the Pulpit, and particularly to
+prevent pointing out _Persons of Men_ [140] from thence, and reviling
+them, as also reviling whole Bodies of Men: For whatever is immoral in
+Print, is, in my Opinion, immoral in the Pulpit. Besides, these things
+seem more improper in the Pulpit, than they can be in Print: because no
+_Reprisals_ can be made in the former, as in the latter Case; where they,
+or the Fear of them, may give some Check to the Disorder, and reduce
+things to a tolerable Temper and Decency. If, in order to justify my
+Motion, it could be thought necessary or proper here to give a Detail of
+ridiculing and ironical Passages, taken from Sermons against particular
+Men, and Bodies of Men, and their Doctrines, you cannot but know how easy
+it would be to fill a Volume with them, without going to Authors, who have
+occasionally produc'd abundance of them. And I will only mention here a
+Passage in a _Volume of Sermons_, just now publish'd, of a well known
+_High Divine_, the Reverend Mr. _William Reeves_, made famous by his
+_Translation_ of some _Apologies of the Primitive Fathers_, which gain'd
+him the Applauses of a great many _High Men_, and particularly _Hickes_,
+_Dodwel_, and _Nelson_, &c. and a Recommendation from the last to the
+Queen, who in the latter end of her Reign made him _Chaplain in Ordinary_,
+and obtain'd for him a considerable Preferment. This Gentleman, attacking
+Bishop _Hoadley_'s _Sermon_ of _The Kingdom of Christ_, says[141], "In
+these last Days we have been taught to be as indolent and unconcern'd as
+possible in the Service of God: A noted _Novellist_ [Bp. _Hoadley_] among
+many other odd _Engines_, hath invented one, to pump out all Devotion from
+Prayer, and make it a _Vacuum_. Instead of the old fervent, affectionate
+way of Worshipping, he hath substituted a new Idol, a Vanity, a Nothing of
+his own, _a calm and undisturb'd Address to God_.----The _Arrows_ and
+_bitter Words_ Mr. _Hales_ hath levell'd against _Rome_ only, our Right
+Reverend hath _pointed a-new_, and shot them full against the Church he
+superintends, and with all the Force of inbred, fanatick Fury. And by this
+time surely it is well known, that he is a very _warm Man_ in every thing,
+but his _Prayers_."
+
+
+XX. Instead of addressing the foregoing Papers to you, I could have
+address'd them to several others; who of late have thought fit to
+recognize the Right of Men, to examine into, and judge for themselves in
+all Matters of speculation, and especially in Matters of mere Religion,
+and to publish their Reasons against any Opinions they judge erroneous,
+tho publickly receiv'd in the Country where they live, provided they do it
+_seriously_ and _gravely_: which is a noble Progress in Truth, and owing
+to that glorious Liberty, and Freedom of Debate, that we enjoy under our
+most excellent Princes; and which extorts it even from them, who, to have
+some Credit in the World, are forced to own, what would discredit them to
+go on to deny, among all who have any degree of _Virtue_, _Sense_, and
+_Learning_. But I was determin'd to address my self to you, as a Person of
+more remarkable _Moderation_ than ordinary in your _Letter_ to Dr.
+_Rogers_: And one, who had, long before, in your _Defence of the
+Constitution in Church and State; in answer to the Charge of the
+Nonjurors, accusing us of Heresy and Schism, Perjury and Treason_, "valu'd
+[142] and commended the Integrity of the Nonjurors in declaring their
+Sentiments:" and who, tho you justly charge those of them you write
+against, "as attacking us with such uncommon Marks of Violence [143] as
+most plainly intimate, that no Measures are intended to be kept with us by
+them in the Day of their Prosperity, who in the Day of their Adversity,
+even when they are most at Mercy, cannot refrain from such _raging_
+Provocations; but when reduced to the Necessity of _taking_ Quarter,
+profess most plainly they will never give it:" Yet as to these Enemies,
+who would destroy our Church and State, and [144] "revive upon us the
+Charge of _Heresy_ and _Schism_, _Perjury_ and _Treason_, Crimes of no
+small figure either in the Law or in the Gospel," you only say, that "if
+you may have leave to borrow a Thought from [145] one of their own most
+celebrated Writers, you would tell them, that _the Blood and Spirits were
+made to rise upon such Occasions_: Nature design'd not, that we should be
+cold or indifferent in our manner of receiving, or returning, such foul
+Reproaches." This is great Moderation, and such as I heartily approve,
+being dispos'd to forgive the Punishment due by Law to any Fault, when the
+Non-execution of it will not overturn the Government. And I am willing to
+hope, that since you can think that such bitter Adversaries to you, as
+these licentious _Jacobites_ are, should only be smartly replied to, and
+not be prosecuted by the Government, you will, upon Reflection, think,
+that a merry, good humour'd Adversary should be treated as well.
+
+Tho I have endeavour'd to defend the Use of _Ridicule_ and _Irony_, yet it
+is such _Irony_ and _Ridicule_ only as is fit for polite Persons to use.
+As to the gross _Irony_ and _Ridicule_, I disapprove of it, as I do other
+Faults in Writing; only I would not have Men punish'd, or any other way
+disturb'd about it, than by a Return of _Ridicule_ and _Irony_. This I
+think fit to conclude with, more to prevent Misrepresentation from others,
+than from you; whom I look on to have too much Sense and Integrity to
+mistake or misrepresent me.
+
+_I am Yours, &c._
+
+
+_FINIS._
+
+
+
+
+WILLIAM ANDREWS CLARK MEMORIAL LIBRARY
+
+UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, LOS ANGELES
+
+
+THE AUGUSTAN REPRINT SOCIETY
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+PUBLICATIONS IN PRINT THE AUGUSTAN REPRINT SOCIETY
+
+PUBLICATIONS IN PRINT
+
+
+1948-1949
+
+16. Henry Nevil Payne, _The Fatal Jealousie_ (1673).
+
+18. Anonymous, "Of Genius," in _The Occasional Paper_, Vol. III, No. 1
+(1719), and Aaron Hill, Preface to _The Creation_ (1720).
+
+
+1949-1950
+
+19. Susanna Centlivre, _The Busie Body_ (1709).
+
+20. Lewis Theobald, _Preface to the Works of Shakespeare_ (1734).
+
+22. Samuel Johnson, _The Vanity of Human Wishes_ (1749), and two _Rambler_
+papers (1750).
+
+23. John Dryden, _His Majesties Declaration Defended_ (1681).
+
+
+1950-1951
+
+26. Charles Macklin, _The Man of the World_ (1792).
+
+
+1951-1952
+
+31. Thomas Gray, _An Elegy Wrote in a Country Churchyard_ (1751), and _The
+Eton College Manuscript_.
+
+
+1952-1953
+
+41. Bernard Mandeville, _A Letter to Dion_ (1732).
+
+
+1963-1964
+
+104. Thomas D'Urfey, _Wonders in the Sun; or, The Kingdom of the Birds_
+(1706).
+
+
+1964-1965
+
+110. John Tutchin, _Selected Poems_ (1685-1700).
+
+111. Anonymous, _Political Justice_ (1736).
+
+112. Robert Dodsley, _An Essay on Fable_ (1764).
+
+113. T. R., _An Essay Concerning Critical and Curious Learning_ (1698).
+
+114. _Two Poems Against Pope:_ Leonard Welsted, _One Epistle to Mr. A.
+Pope_ (1730), and Anonymous, _The Blatant Beast_ (1742).
+
+
+1965-1966
+
+115. Daniel Defoe and others, _Accounts of the Apparition of Mrs. Veal_.
+
+116. Charles Macklin, _The Covent Garden Theatre_ (1752).
+
+117. Sir George L'Estrange, _Citt and Bumpkin_ (1680).
+
+118. Henry More, _Enthusiasmus Triumphatus_ (1662).
+
+119. Thomas Traherne, _Meditations on the Six Days of the Creation_
+(1717).
+
+120. Bernard Mandeville, _Aesop Dress'd or a Collection of Fables_ (1704).
+
+
+1966-1967
+
+123. Edmond Malone, _Cursory Observations on the Poems Attributed to Mr.
+Thomas Rowley_ (1782).
+
+124. Anonymous, _The Female Wits_ (1704).
+
+125. Anonymous, _The Scribleriad_ (1742). Lord Hervey, _The Difference
+Between Verbal and Practical Virtue_ (1742).
+
+
+1967-1968
+
+129. Lawrence Echard, Prefaces to _Terence's Comedies_ (1694) and
+_Plautus's Comedies_ (1694).
+
+130. Henry More, _Democritus Platonissans_ (1646).
+
+132. Walter Harte, _An Essay on Satire, Particularly on the Dunciad_
+(1730).
+
+
+1968-1969
+
+133. John Courtenay, _A Poetical Review of the Literary and Moral
+Character of the Late Samuel Johnson_ (1786).
+
+134. John Downes, _Roscius Anglicanus_ (1708).
+
+135. Sir John Hill, _Hypochondriasis, a Practical Treatise_ (1766).
+
+136. Thomas Sheridan, _Discourse ... Being Introductory to His Course of
+Lectures on Elocution and the English Language_ (1759).
+
+137. Arthur Murphy, _The Englishman From Paris_ (1736).
+
+138. [Catherine Trotter], _Olinda's Adventures_ (1718).
+
+
+Publications of the first fifteen years of the Society (numbers 1-90) are
+available in paperbound units of six issues at $16.00 per unit, from the
+Kraus Reprint Company, 16 East 46th Street, New York, N.Y. 10017.
+
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+$5.00 yearly. Prices of single issues may be obtained upon request.
+Subsequent publications may be checked in the annual prospectus.
+
+
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+
+WILLIAM ANDREWS CLARK MEMORIAL LIBRARY
+
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+
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+
+THE AUGUSTAN REPRINT SOCIETY
+
+2520 CIMARRON STREET, LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA 90018
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+_General Editors:_ William E. Conway, William Andrews Clark Memorial
+Library; George Robert Guffey, University of California, Los Angeles;
+Maximillian E. Novak, University of California, Los Angeles
+
+_Corresponding Secretary:_ Mrs. Edna C. Davis, William Andrews Clark
+Memorial Library
+
+The Society's purpose is to publish rare Restoration and
+eighteenth-century works (usually as facsimile reproductions). All income
+of the Society is devoted to defraying costs of publication and mailing.
+
+Correspondence concerning memberships in the United States and Canada
+should be addressed to the Corresponding Secretary at the William Andrews
+Clark Memorial Library, 2520 Cimarron Street, Los Angeles, California.
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+fee is $5.00 a year in the United States and Canada and £1.19.6 in Great
+Britain and Europe. British and European prospective members should
+address B. H. Blackwell, Broad Street, Oxford, England. Copies of back
+issues in print may be obtained from the Corresponding Secretary.
+
+Publications of the first fifteen years of the Society (numbers 1-90) are
+available in paperbound units of six issues at $16.00 per unit, from the
+Kraus Reprint Company, 16 East 46th Street, New York, N.Y. 10017.
+
+Make check or money order payable to THE REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF
+CALIFORNIA
+
+
+REGULAR PUBLICATIONS FOR 1969-1970
+
+139. John Ogilvie, _An Essay on the lyric poetry of the ancients_ (1762).
+Introduction by Wallace Jackson.
+
+140. _A Learned Dissertation on Dumpling_ (1726) and _Pudding burnt to pot
+or a compleat key to the Dissertation on Dumpling_ (1727). Introduction by
+Samuel L. Macey.
+
+141. Selections from Sir Roger L'Estrange's _Observator_ (1681-1687).
+Introduction by Violet Jordain.
+
+142. Anthony Collins, _A Discourse concerning Ridicule and Irony in
+writing_ (1729). Introduction by Edward A. Bloom and Lillian D. Bloom.
+
+143. _A Letter from a clergyman to his friend, with an account of the
+travels of Captain Lemuel Gulliver_ (1726). Introduction by Martin
+Kallich.
+
+144. _The Art of Architecture, a poem. In imitation of Horace's Art of
+poetry_ (1742). Introduction by William A. Gibson.
+
+
+SPECIAL PUBLICATION FOR 1969-1970
+
+Gerard Langbaine, _An Account of the English Dramatick Poets_ (1691),
+Introduction by John Loftis. 2 Volumes. Approximately 600 pages. Price to
+members of the Society, $7.00 for the first copy (both volumes), and $8.50
+for additional copies. Price to non-members, $10.00.
+
+Already published in this series:
+
+1. John Ogilby, _The Fables of Aesop Paraphras'd in Verse_ (1668), with an
+Introduction by Earl Miner. 228 pages.
+
+2. John Gay, _Fables_ (1727, 1738), with an Introduction by Vinton A.
+Dearing. 366 pages.
+
+3. _The Empress of Morocco and Its Critics_ (Elkanah Settle, _The Empress
+of Morocco_ [1673] with five plates; _Notes and Observations on the
+Empress of Morocco_ [1674] by John Dryden, John Crowne and Thomas
+Snadwell; _Notes and Observations on the Empress of Morocco Revised_
+[1674] by Elkanah Settle; and _The Empress of Morocco. A Farce_ [1674] by
+Thomas Duffett), with an Introduction by Maximillian E. Novak. 348 pages.
+
+4. _After THE TEMPEST_ (the Dryden-Davenant version of _The Tempest_
+[1670]; the "operatic" _Tempest_ [1674]; Thomas Duffett's _Mock-Tempest_
+[1675]; and the "Garrick" _Tempest_ [1756]), with an Introduction by
+George Robert Guffey. 332 pages.
+
+Price to members of the Society, $3.50 for the first copy of each title,
+and $4.25 for additional copies. Price to non-members, $5.00. Standing
+orders for this continuing series of Special Publications will be
+accepted. British and European orders should be addressed to B. H.
+Blackwell, Broad Street, Oxford, England.
+
+
+
+
+Footnotes:
+
+[28] _Page_ 337.
+
+[29] _Pag._ 302.
+
+[30] _Page_ 301.
+
+[31] _Pag._ 307.
+
+[32] Stillingfleet's _Answer to several late Treatises_, &c. _Page_ 14.
+
+[33] _Pag._ 71.
+
+[34] Vindication of the Answer to the Royal Papers. _p._ 105.
+
+[35] _Preface to_ Unreasonableness of Separation. _p._ 62.
+
+[36] Rule's _Rational Defence_ of Nonconf. _p._ 29.
+
+[37] _Preface to_ Stillingfleet _still against_ Stillingfleet.
+
+[38] _Preface to a Discourse of_ Miracles wrote in the _Roman_ Church,
+_&c._
+
+[39] See _Stillingfleet_'s Second Vind. of the Protestant Grounds of
+Faith, _c._ 3.
+
+[40] _Edwards's_ New Discov. _p._ 184-215.
+
+[41] _Ecclesiast. Hist._ cent. 8. _p._ 196.
+
+[42] Vind. _p._ 199.
+
+[43] _See_ Shaftesbury's _Characteristicks_, Vol. I. p. 61.
+
+[44] Memoirs de Trevoux, _An._ 1707. _p._ 396. _An._ 1717. _p._ 1200.
+
+[45] _Trapp_'s Popery truly stated, _p._ 123.
+
+[46] _Preface._
+
+[47] _Heylin_'s History of the Presbyterians, _p._ 391.
+
+[48] _Wotton_ on the _Misna_, p. 118.
+
+[49] _Freeholder_, Nº 30.
+
+[50] _Freeholder_, Numb. xlv.
+
+[51] _See_ Cicero de Officiis, _l._ 1. _c._ 30.
+
+[52] _See_ Patrick_'s Friendly Debate_, Part 1, _p._ 139-141. 5_th Edit._
+
+[53] _Preface to_ The State of the Roman Catholick Religion, _p._ 11.
+
+[54] De Divin. l. 2. c. 25.
+
+[55] _Rog. Hoveden_, Pars ii. p. 520.
+
+[56] 1 _Kings_ xviii.
+
+[57] _Psalm_ ii. 4.
+
+[58] _Gen._ iii. 22.
+
+[59] Archæolog. Philos. _l._ 2. _c._ 7.
+
+[60] Shaftesbury _in Charact._ Vol. 3. _and_ Whitchcot_'s Sermons_: Vol.
+I.
+
+[61] Shaftesbury's _Characteristicks_, Vol. I. p. 71.
+
+[62] _Page_ 307.
+
+[63] _How useful_ Lestrange_'s_ Observators, _which were design'd to
+expose the Dissenters to Contempt and Persecution, were deem'd to the
+Church at the time they were publish'd, may be judged of by Bp._ Burnet,
+_who says_ [_in his_ Eighteen Papers, _p._ 90.] "_Another Buffoon was
+hired to plague the Nation with three or four Papers a Week, which to the
+Reproach of the Age in which we live, had but too great and too general
+Effect, for poisoning the Spirits of the Clergy._"
+
+[64] _In this Work the Dissenters and Low Churchmen are sufficiently
+rally'd and abus'd, and particularly the_ Free-Thinkers, _whose_ Creed _is
+therein represented as consisting of these two Negatives_, No Queen and no
+God. _Examiners_, Vol. 3. p. 12.
+
+_Mr._ Addison _tells us_ [Freeholder Nº. 19.] "_the_ Examiner _was the
+favourite Work of the Party. It was usher'd into the World by a Letter
+from a Secretary of State, setting forth the great Genius of the Author,
+the Usefulness of his Design, and the mighty Consequences that were to be
+expected from it. It is said to be written by those among them whom they
+look'd upon as their most celebrated Wits and Politicians, and was
+dispers'd into all Quarters of the Nation with great Industry and
+Expence.----In this Paper all the great Men who had done eminent Services
+to their Country, but a few Years before, were draughted out one by one,
+and baited in their Turns. No Sanctity of Character, or Privilege of Sex
+exempted Persons.----Several of our Prelates were the standing Marks of
+publick Raillery._----"
+
+[65] _In his_ Ecclesiastical Policy, _his_ Defence and Continuation
+_thereof, and his_ Reproof to _Marvel_'s Rehearsal transpos'd.
+
+[66] _In his_ Friendly Debates.
+
+[67] _In his six Volumes of_ Sermons, _and in his_ Books _of the_ Trinity.
+
+[68] _In his_ Discourse of the Knowledge of Christ, _&c. his_ Defences of
+Dr. _Stillingfleet_'s Unreasonableness of Separation, _and his_ Answer _to
+the_ Protestant Reconciler.
+
+[69] _In his Translation of_ Dryden_'s_ Absalom _and_ Achitophel _into_
+Latin _Verse, whereby he was first flush'd; and in his_ Convocational
+Controversy, _and in his numerous State Libels_.
+
+[70] _In his_ Sermons, Rights of the Church, _and especially his_
+Character of a Low-Church-man, _drawn to abuse Bishop_ Floyd.
+
+[71] _Of this, the Trials of_ Penn _and_ Mead _before_ Howel, _and of_
+Baxter _before_ Jefferys, _are Master Pieces; of which last you have an
+Account in_ Kennet_'s_ Compleat History of _England, Vol. 3d. and of the
+former in_ the Phoenix, _Vol._ I.
+
+[72] Snape_'s_ Vindication against _Pilloniere_. p. 50.
+
+[73] _Id._ p. 63.
+
+[74] _The Stage condemn'd_, p. 2.
+
+[75] Popery truly stated, _p._ 127, 128.
+
+[76] _Pag._ 75, 76, 77, 79, 81, 112, 113, 120, 122, 124, 125.
+
+[77] _Sermons_, Vol. III. p. 299.
+
+[78] Rule of Faith, _p._ 347, 348.
+
+[79] See _p._ 57.
+
+[80] _Pag._ 59.
+
+[81] _Pag._ 57.
+
+[82] Burnet_'s_ History of his own Times, _p._ 674.
+
+[83] Ib. _p._ 792.
+
+[84] Ibid. _p._ 740.
+
+[85] Ibid. _p._ 683.
+
+[86] _The Protestant Mouse speaks._
+
+[87] _Boyer_'s Life of Queen _Anne_, in the Annual List of the Deaths,
+_p._ 65.
+
+[88] _A_ Clergyman _preach'd thus to his_ Auditory: _"You have_ Moses
+_and_ Aaron _before you, and the Organs behind you, so are a happy People;
+for what greater Comfort would mortal Men have?"_ See _Walker_'s
+Sufferings, _&c. p._ 178.
+
+[89] _See the Article_ Heylin, in _Wood_'s Athenæ Oxon.
+
+[90] Burnet_'s Hist._ p. 100.
+
+[91] _Characteristicks_, Vol. I. p. 259.
+
+[92] Burnet. _ibid._
+
+[93] Page 177.
+
+[94] Burnet _p._ 95.
+
+[95] Kennet_'s Register_, p. 258.
+
+[96] _Ibid._ p. 516.
+
+[97] Burnet_'s Hist._
+
+[98] Kennet_'s Register_, p. 111.
+
+[99] Burnet_'s History_, p. 107.
+
+[100] _See the Bp. of_ Bangor_'s Preface to the_ Answer _to the_
+Representation _of the Lower House of Convocation_.
+
+[101] Ward_'s Life of Dr._ Henry More, _p._ 120.
+
+[102] Ibid. _p._ 122.
+
+[103] _See the several Lives of him._
+
+[104] _Life lately printed_, 1726. p. 99.
+
+[105] Burnet_'s Hist._ p. 95.
+
+[106] Temple_'s Works_, Vol. II. p. 40.
+
+[107] _Collection of authentick Records_, Vol. II. p. 1099.
+
+[108] _Second Letter to the Bishop of_ London, _p._ 3, 4.
+
+[109] _History_, p. 260.
+
+[110] _Mat._ xxvi. 67, 68.
+
+[111] Elwood_'s History of his own Life_, &c. _p._ 318.
+
+[112] _Remarks on some late Sermons_, &c. _p._ 34.
+
+[113] _Pag._ 52.
+
+[114] _Answer to_ State of the Protestants in _Ireland_, &c. _p._ 108.
+
+[115] _Pag._ 120, 121.
+
+[116] _Preface_, p. 14.
+
+[117] _Pag._ 11, 24.
+
+[118] _Pag._ 1.
+
+[119] _Pag._ 4, 11, 12, 13, 19.
+
+[120] Appendix to Parliamentary Original, &c. _p._ 14.
+
+[121] Some Remarks on the Temper of some late Writers, &c. _p._ 33.
+
+[122] Preface to Animad. _p._ 12, 13.
+
+[123] Animad. _p._ 114.
+
+[124] Ibid. _p._ 332.
+
+[125] Ibid. _p._ 348.
+
+[126] Tritheism charged, _p._ 2, 3.
+
+[127] Ib. _p._ 108.
+
+[128] Ibid. _p._ 170.
+
+[129] Ibid. _p._ 281.
+
+[130] Judg. 18.24.
+
+[131] Ib. _p._ 285.
+
+[132] Ibid. _p._ 299.
+
+[133] _Fuller_'s Church History, Cent. 17. B. 11. Sect. 89, Parag. 10.
+
+[134] _Rushworth_, Part II. Vol. I. _p._ 471.
+
+[135] _Prap. Evang._ l. 4. p. 209-234.
+
+[136] Fontenelle, Historie des Oracles. I. Dissert. c. vii.
+
+[137] Euseb. Id. l. 4.
+
+[138] _Baltus_, Suite de la Reponse a l'His. des Oracles, _p._ 283.
+
+[139] _Ibid._
+
+[140] _Bp._ Hoadley_'s Answer to_ the Representation, _&c. Pref._ p. 12.
+
+[141] _Page_ 91.
+
+[142] _Page_ 2.
+
+[143] _Page_ 1.
+
+[144] _Page_ 4, 5.
+
+[145] _Mr._ Collier.
+
+
+
+
+Transcriber's Notes:
+
+Passages in italics are indicated by _underscore_.
+
+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 text.
+
+Long "s" has been modernized.
+
+The inclusion of two footnotes numbered 53 in intentional to reflect the
+original text.
+
+Footnote placement in this text reflects the placement in the original,
+either inside punctuation or spaced between words.
+
+The following misprints have been corrected:
+  "administred" corrected to "administered" (page i)
+  "othodoxy" corrected to "orthodoxy" (page vi)
+  "Trap's" corrected to "Trapp's" (page 12)
+  "Rididicule" corrected to "Ridicule" (page 19)
+  "ridiulons" corrected to "ridiculous" (page 63)
+  "qustion" corrected to "question" (page 73)
+
+Other than the corrections listed above, printer's inconsistencies in
+spelling, punctuation, hyphenation, and ligature usage have been retained.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of A Discourse Concerning Ridicule and
+Irony in Writing (1729), by Anthony Collins
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 30343 ***
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+      The Project Gutenberg eBook of A Discourse Concerning Ridicule and Irony in Writing, by Anthony Collins.
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+<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 30343 ***</div>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">The Augustan Reprint Society</span></h3>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<h2>ANTHONY COLLINS</h2>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<h1>A DISCOURSE</h1>
+<h2>CONCERNING</h2>
+<h1>Ridicule and Irony</h1>
+<h1>IN WRITING</h1>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<h4>(1729)</h4>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<h3><i>Introduction by</i><br />
+<span class="smcap">Edward A. Bloom and Lillian D. Bloom</span></h3>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<h4>PUBLICATION NUMBER 142</h4>
+<h4>WILLIAM ANDREWS CLARK MEMORIAL LIBRARY</h4>
+<h4><span class="smcap">University of California, Los Angeles</span></h4>
+<h4>1970</h4>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="editors">
+<tr>
+<td align="center"><b>GENERAL EDITORS</b><br />
+William E. Conway, <i>William Andrews Clark Memorial Library</i><br />
+George Robert Guffey, <i>University of California, Los Angeles</i><br />
+Maximillian E. Novak, <i>University of California, Los Angeles</i><br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<b>ASSOCIATE EDITOR</b><br />
+David S. Rodes, <i>University of California, Los Angeles</i><br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<b>ADVISORY EDITORS</b><br />
+Richard C. Boys, <i>University of Michigan</i><br />
+James L. Clifford, <i>Columbia University</i><br />
+Ralph Cohen, <i>University of Virginia</i><br />
+Vinton A. Dearing, <i>University of California, Los Angeles</i><br />
+Arthur Friedman, <i>University of Chicago</i><br />
+Louis A. Landa, <i>Princeton University</i><br />
+Earl Miner, <i>University of California, Los Angeles</i><br />
+Samuel H. Monk, <i>University of Minnesota</i><br />
+Everett T. Moore, <i>University of California, Los Angeles</i><br />
+Lawrence Clark Powell, <i>William Andrews Clark Memorial Library</i><br />
+James Sutherland, <i>University College, London</i><br />
+H. T. Swedenberg, Jr., <i>University of California, Los Angeles</i><br />
+Robert Vosper, <i>William Andrews Clark Memorial Library</i><br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<b>CORRESPONDING SECRETARY</b><br />
+Edna C. Davis, <i>William Andrews Clark Memorial Library</i><br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<b>EDITORIAL ASSISTANT</b><br />
+Roberta Medford, <i>William Andrews Clark Memorial Library</i></td></tr></table>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_i" id="Page_i">[Pg i]</a></span></p>
+<h3>INTRODUCTION</h3>
+
+<p>Between 1710 and 1729 Anthony Collins was lampooned, satirized, and
+gravely denounced from pulpit and press as England&#8217;s most insidious
+defiler of church and state. Yet within a year of his death he became the
+model of a proper country gentleman,</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>... he had an opulent Fortune, descended to him from his Ancestors,
+which he left behind him unimpair&#8217;d: He lived on his own Estate in
+the Country, where his Tenants paid him moderate Rents, which he
+never enhanced on their making any Improvements; he always oblig&#8217;d
+his Family to a constant attendance on Publick Worship; as he was
+himself a Man of the strictest Morality, for he never suffer&#8217;d any
+Body about him who was deficient in that Point; he exercised a
+universal Charity to all Sorts of People, without any Regard either
+to Sect or Party; being in the Commission of the Peace, he
+<ins class="correction" title="original reads 'administred'">administered</ins> Justice with such Impartiality and Incorruptness, that
+the most distant Part of the County flock&#8217;d to his Decisions; but the
+chief Use he made of his Authority was in accommodating
+Differences;...<small><a name="f1.1" id="f1.1" href="#f1">[1]</a></small></p></div>
+
+<p>In a comparison which likens him to Sir Roger de Coverley, there is less
+truth than fiction. What they did share was a love of the countryside and
+a &#8220;universal Charity&#8221; towards its inhabitants. For the most part, however,
+we can approximate Collins&#8217;s personality by reversing many of Sir Roger&#8217;s
+traits. Often at war with his world, as the spectatorial character was
+not, he managed to maintain an intellectual rapport with it and even with
+those who sought his humiliation. He never&mdash;as an instance&mdash;disguised his
+philosophical distrust of Samuel Clarke; yet during any debate he planned
+&#8220;most certainly [to] outdo him in civility and good manners.&#8221;<small><a name="f2.1" id="f2.1" href="#f2">[2]</a></small> This
+decorum in no way compromised his pursuit of what he considered objective
+truth or his denunciation of all<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_ii" id="Page_ii">[Pg ii]</a></span> &#8220;methods&#8221; or impositions of spiritual
+tyranny. Thus, during the virulent, uneven battle which followed upon the
+publication of the <i>Discourse of Free-Thinking</i>, he ignored his own wounds
+in order to applaud a critic&#8217;s</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p><i>suspicions that there is a sophism</i> in what he calls my
+<i>hypothesis</i>. That is a temper that ought to go thro&#8217; all our
+Inquirys, and especially before we have an opportunity of examining
+things to the bottom. It is safest at all times, and we are least
+likely to be mistaken, if we constantly suspect our selves to be
+under mistakes.... I have no system to defend or that I would seem to
+defend, and am unconcerned for the consequence that may be drawn from
+my opinion; and therefore stand clear of all difficultys w<sup>ch</sup> others
+either by their opinion or caution are involved in.<small><a name="f3.1" id="f3.1" href="#f3">[3]</a></small></p></div>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>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 error. For himself, hence, he tries to avoid all manner of hard-voiced
+enthusiasm. Paradoxically, however, Collins searched with a zealot&#8217;s
+avidity for any controversy which would either assert his faith or test
+his disbelief. When once he found his engagement, he revelled in it,
+whether as the aggressor or the harassed defendant. For example, in the
+&#8220;Preface&#8221; to the <i>Scheme of Literal Prophecy Considered</i> he boastfully
+enumerated all the works&mdash;some twenty-nine&mdash;which had repudiated his
+earlier <i>Discourse on the Grounds and Reasons of the Christian Religion</i>.
+And in malicious fact he held up the publication of the <i>Scheme</i> for
+almost a year that he might add a &#8220;Postscript to the Preface&#8221; in which he
+identified six more pieces hostile to the <i>Grounds and Reasons</i>.<small><a name="f4.1" id="f4.1" href="#f4">[4]</a></small></p>
+
+<p>By May of 1727 and with no visible sign of fatigue he took on a new
+contender; this time it was John Rogers, canon in ordinary to the Prince
+of Wales. At the height of their debate, in late summer, Collins made
+practical enquiries about methods to prolong and intensify its
+give-and-take. Thus, in a note to his friend Pierre Des Maizeaux, he said:
+&#8220;But I would be particularly informed of the success and sale of the
+Letter to D<sup>r</sup> Rogers;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_iii" id="Page_iii">[Pg iii]</a></span> because, if it could be, I would add to a new
+edition thereof two or three as sheets; which also might be sold
+separately to those who have already that Letter.&#8221; For all his militant
+polemic, he asked only that his &#8220;Adversaries&#8221; observe with him a single
+rule of fair play; namely, that they refrain from name-calling and petty
+sniping. &#8220;Personal matters,&#8221; he asserted, &#8220;tho they may some times afford
+useful remarks, are little regarded by Readers, who are very seldom
+mistaken in judging that the most impertinent subject a man can talk of is
+himself,&#8221; particularly when he inveighs against another.<small><a name="f5.1" id="f5.1" href="#f5">[5]</a></small></p>
+
+<p>If Collins had been made to look back over the years 1676-1729, he
+probably would have summarized the last twenty with a paraphrase of the
+Popean line, &#8220;This long controversy, my life.&#8221; For several years and in
+such works as <i>Priestcraft in Perfection</i> (1710) and <i>A Discourse of
+Free-Thinking</i> (1713), he was a flailing polemicist against the entire
+Anglican hierarchy. Not until 1724 did he become a polished debater, when
+he initiated a controversy which for the next five years made a &#8220;very
+great noise&#8221; and which ended only with his death. The loudest shot in the
+persistent barrage was sounded by the <i>Grounds and Reasons</i>, and its last
+fusillade by the <i>Discourse concerning Ridicule and Irony in Writing</i>.<small><a name="f6.1" id="f6.1" href="#f6">[6]</a></small></p>
+
+<p>During those five years Collins concentrated upon a single opponent in
+each work and made it a rhetorical practice to change his &#8220;Adversary&#8221; in
+successive essays. He created in this way a composite victim whose
+strength was lessened by deindividualization; in this way too he ran no
+risk of being labelled a hobbyhorse rider or, more seriously, a
+persecutor. Throughout the <i>Grounds and Reasons</i> he laughed at, reasoned
+against, and satirized William Whiston&#8217;s assumption that messianic
+prophecies in the Old Testament were literally fulfilled in the figure and
+mission of Jesus. Within two years and in a new work, he substituted
+Edward Chandler, Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield, for the mathematician.
+It need not have been the Bishop; any one of thirty-four others could have
+qualified for the role of opponent, among them people like Clarke, and
+Sykes, and Sherwood, and even the ubiquitous Whiston. Collins rejected
+them, however, to debate in the <i>Scheme</i> with Bishop Chandler, the author
+of <i>A Defence of Christianity from the Prophecies of the old Testament</i>,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_iv" id="Page_iv">[Pg iv]</a></span>
+with one who was, in short, the least controversial and yet the most
+orthodox of his many assailants.</p>
+
+<p>Early in 1727 the Anglican establishment came to the abrupt realization
+that the subject of the continuing debate&mdash;the reliability of the argument
+from prophecy&mdash;was inconclusive, that it could lead only to pedantic
+wrangling and hair-splitting with each side vainly clutching victory.
+Certainly the devotion of many clergymen to biblical criticism was
+secondary to their interest in orthodoxy as a functional adjunct of
+government, both civil and canonical. It was against this interest, as it
+was enunciated in Rogers&#8217;s <i>Eight Sermons concerning the Necessity of
+Revelation</i> (1727) and particularly in its vindictive preface, that
+Collins chose to fight.<small><a name="f7.1" id="f7.1" href="#f7">[7]</a></small> The debate had now taken a happy turn for him.
+As he saw it, the central issue devolved upon man&#8217;s natural right to
+religious liberty. At least he made this the theme of his <i>Letter to Dr.
+Rogers</i>. In writing to Des Maizeaux about the success of this work, he
+obviously enjoyed his own profane irony:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>I have had particular compliments made me by the B<sup>P</sup> of Salisbury,
+and by D<sup>r</sup> Clark, who among other things sayd, that the Archbp of
+Canterbury might have writ all that related to Toleration in it: to
+say nothing of what I hear from others. D<sup>r</sup> Rogers himself has
+acknowledg[ed] to his Bookseller who sent it to him into the Country,
+that he has receivd it; but says that he is so engaged in other
+affairs, that he has no thought at present of answering it; tho he
+may perhaps in time do so.<small><a name="f8.1" id="f8.1" href="#f8">[8]</a></small></p></div>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>In time Rogers did. He counterattacked on 2 February 1728 with a
+<i>Vindication of the Civil Establishment of Religion</i>.<small><a name="f9.1" id="f9.1" href="#f9">[9]</a></small> For Collins this
+work was a dogged repetition of what had gone before, and so it could be
+ignored except for one of its appendices, <i>A Letter from the Rev. Dr.
+Marshall jun. To the Rev. Dr. Rogers, upon Occasion of his Preface to his
+Eight Sermons</i>. Its inclusion seemed an afterthought; yet it altered the
+dimensions of the debate by narrowing and particularizing the areas of
+grievance which separated the debaters. Collins, therefore, rebutted it
+some fourteen months later in <i>A Discourse concerning Ridicule and Irony</i><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_v" id="Page_v">[Pg v]</a></span>
+<i>in Writing</i>. He had great hopes for this pamphlet, preparing carefully for
+its reception. He encouraged the republication of his three preceding
+works, which find their inevitable conclusion, even their exoneration, in
+this last performance, and he probably persuaded his bookseller to
+undertake an elaborate promotional campaign. For the new editions were
+advertised on seven different days between 10 January and 27 February 1729
+in the <i>Daily Post</i>. He wanted no one to miss the relationship between the
+<i>Discourse concerning Ridicule and Irony</i> and these earlier pieces or to
+overlook its presence when it finally appeared in the pamphlet shops on 17
+March.</p>
+
+<p>Collins was animated by his many debates. Indeed, &#8220;he sought the storms.&#8221;
+Otherwise he would not, could not, have participated in these many verbal
+contests. Throughout them all, his basic strategy&mdash;that of
+provocation&mdash;was determined by the very real fact that he had many more
+enemies than allies, among them, for instance, such formidable antagonists
+as Swift and Richard Bentley.<small><a name="f10.1" id="f10.1" href="#f10">[10]</a></small> To survive he had to acquire a tough
+resilience, a skill in fending off attacks or turning them to his own
+advantage. Nevertheless, he remained a ready target all his life.
+Understandably so: his radicalism was stubborn and his opinions
+predictable. Such firmness may of course indicate his aversion to
+trimming. Or it may reveal a lack of intellectual growth; what he believed
+as a young man, he perpetuated as a mature adult. Whether our answer is
+drawn from either possibility or, more realistically, from both, the fact
+remains that he never camouflaged the two principles by which he lived and
+fought:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>1. That universal liberty be established in respect to opinions and
+practises not prejudicial to the peace and welfare of society: by
+which establishment, truth must needs have the advantages over
+<i>error</i> and <i>falsehood</i>, the <i>law</i> of <i>God</i> over the <i>will</i> of <i>man</i>,
+and <i>true Christianity tolerated</i>; private <i>judgment</i> would be really
+exercised; and men would be allowed to have suffered to follow their
+consciences, over which God only is supreme:...</p>
+
+<p>2. Secondly, that nothing but the <i>law of nature</i>, (the observance
+whereof is absolutely necessary to society)<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_vi" id="Page_vi">[Pg vi]</a></span> and what can be built
+thereon, should be enforced by the civil sanctions of the
+magistrate:...<small><a name="f11.1" id="f11.1" href="#f11">[11]</a></small></p></div>
+
+
+<h3>II</h3>
+
+<p>There is very little in this statement to offend modern readers. Yet the
+orthodox in Collins&#8217;s own time had reason to be angry with him: his
+arguments were inflammatory and his rhetoric was devious, cheeky, and
+effective. Those contesting him underscored his negativism, imaging him as
+a destroyer of Christianity eager &#8220;to proselyte men, from the Christian to
+no religion at all.&#8221;<small><a name="f12.1" id="f12.1" href="#f12">[12]</a></small> Certainly it is true that he aimed to disprove a
+Christian revelation which he judged fraudulent and conspiratorial. In
+place of ecclesiastical authority he offered the rule of conscience. For
+<ins class="correction" title="original reads 'othodoxy'">orthodoxy</ins> he substituted &#8220;a Religion antecedent to Revelation, which is
+necessary to be known in order to <i>ascertain Revelation</i>; and by that
+Religion [he meant] <i>Natural Religion</i>, which is presupposed to
+Revelation, and is a Test by which Reveal&#8217;d Religion is to be tried, is a
+Bottom on which it must stand, and is a Rule to understand it by.&#8221;<small><a name="f13.1" id="f13.1" href="#f13">[13]</a></small>
+Categorical in tone, the statement frustrated the Anglican clergy by its
+very slipperiness; its generalities left little opportunity for decisive
+rebuttal. It provided no definition of natural religion beyond the
+predication of a body of unnamed moral law which is rational and original,
+the archetype of what is valid in the world&#8217;s religions.</p>
+
+<p>His dismissal of revelation and his reduction of Christianity to what he
+called its &#8220;natural&#8221; and hence incontrovertible basis carried with it a
+corollary, that of man&#8217;s absolute right to religious enquiry and
+profession. Here he became specific, borrowing from Lockean empiricism his
+conditions of intellectual assent. &#8220;Evidence,&#8221; he said, &#8220;ought to be the
+sole ground of Assent, and Examination is the way to arrive at Evidence;
+and therefore rather than I wou&#8217;d have Examination, Arguing and Objecting
+laid aside, I wou&#8217;d chuse to say, That no Opinions whatever can be
+dangerous to a Man that impartially examines into the Truth of
+Things.&#8221;<small><a name="f14.1" id="f14.1" href="#f14">[14]</a></small> The church leadership saw in this statement and others like
+it not an epistemological premise but a deliberate subterfuge, an
+insidious blind to vindicate his attacks upon an organized priesthood.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_vii" id="Page_vii">[Pg vii]</a></span> We
+can recognize now that his opponents oversimplified his intention, that
+they blackened it to make his villainy at once definitive and vulnerable.
+At the same time we must admit that he often equated the ideas of
+repression and clerical authority, even as he coupled those of freedom and
+the guide of private conscience.</p>
+
+<p>The Anglican church was infuriated by these correlations, angered as much
+by their manner of expression as by their substance. For the faithful were
+frequently thrown off balance by a strategy of ironical indirection.
+Sometimes this took the form of omission or the presentation of an
+argument in so fragmentary or slanted a fashion that Collins&#8217;s &#8220;Enemies&#8221;
+could debate neither his implications nor his conclusions. At other times
+he used this artful circumlocution to create his favorite mask, that of
+the pious Christian devoted to scripture or of the moralist perplexed by
+the divisions among the orthodox clergy. Finally, his rhetoric was shaped
+by deistic predecessors who used sarcasm and satire to mock the gravity of
+church authority. So much was their wit a trademark that as early as 1702
+one commentator had noted, &#8220;when you expect an argument, they make a
+jest.&#8221;<small><a name="f15.1" id="f15.1" href="#f15">[15]</a></small> Collins himself resorted to this practice with both instinctive
+skill and deliberate contrivance.</p>
+
+<p>All these methods, though underhanded, he silently justified on the
+assumption that he was dealing with a conspiracy of priests: hence, he
+professed that he had to fight fraud and deception with their like, and
+that such craftiness, suitable &#8220;to his particular genius and temper,&#8221; was
+&#8220;serviceable to his cause.&#8221; For these reasons even William Warburton, who
+had vainly struggled to be judicious, described him as &#8220;a Writer, whose
+dexterity in the arts of Controversy was so remarkably contrasted by his
+abilities in reasoning and literature, as to be ever putting one in mind
+of what travellers tell us of the genius of the proper Indians, who,
+although the veriest bunglers in all the fine arts of manual operation,
+yet excel everybody in slight of hand and the delusive feats of
+activity.&#8221;<small><a name="f16.1" id="f16.1" href="#f16">[16]</a></small> Whatever may be said of Collins and his achievement, one
+fact remains constant. 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 debate.</p>
+
+<p>He seized any opportunity to expose the diversity of ethical and
+theological opinion which set one Anglican divine against<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_viii" id="Page_viii">[Pg viii]</a></span> another, &#8220;to
+observe&#8221;&mdash;as Jenkin put it&mdash;&#8220;how the gladiators in dispute murder the
+cause between them, while they so fiercely cut and wound one another.&#8221; For
+Collins such observation was more than oratorical artifice; it was one of
+the dogmas of his near-nihilism. He commented once to Des Maizeaux upon
+the flurry of critics who replied to his statement of necessitarianism in
+the <i>Philosophical Inquiry concerning Human Liberty</i>:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>I was extreamly pleasd with B<sup>P</sup> Hoadley, ... as it was upon the true
+and only point worth disputing with y<sup>e</sup> Preists, viz whether we the
+laity are the Calves and Sheep of the Preist. And I am not less
+pleasd to see them manage this controversy with y<sup>e</sup> same vile arts
+against one another, as they always use towards the laity. It must
+open the eyes of a few and convince them, that the Preists mean
+nothing but wealth and power, and have not the least ... of those
+qualitys for w<sup>ch</sup> the superstitious world admires them.<small><a name="f17.1" id="f17.1" href="#f17">[17]</a></small></p></div>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>He applied this principle of divisive attack in <i>A Discourse of
+Free-Thinking</i>. There in fifty-three pages he transparently ridiculed
+contradictions which hedged three areas of fundamental religious belief:
+<i>&#8220;The Nature and Attributes of the Eternal Being or God, ... the Authority
+of Scriptures, and ... the Sense of Scripture.&#8221;</i> In accordance with one of
+his favorite tricks&mdash;the massing of eminent authority&mdash;his exposition
+rings with hallowed Anglican names: South, Bull, Taylor, Wallis, Carlton,
+Davenant, Edwards, More, Tillotson, Fowler, Sherlock, Stillingfleet,
+Sacheverell, Beveridge, Grabe, Hickes, Lesley.<small><a name="f18.1" id="f18.1" href="#f18">[18]</a></small> What united these men,
+he insinuated, was not a Christian commitment but a talent to disagree
+with one another and even to repudiate themselves&mdash;as in the case of
+Stillingfleet. In effect, the entire <i>Discourse</i> bubbles with a carelessly
+suppressed snicker.</p>
+
+<p>The clergy could not readily reply to this kind of incriminating exposure
+or deny its reality. They therefore overreacted to other judgments that
+Collins made, particularly to his attacks upon Christian revelation. These
+they denigrated as misleading, guileful, sinister, contrived, deceitful,
+insidious, shuffling, covert, subversive. What they objected to was,
+first, the way in which<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_ix" id="Page_ix">[Pg ix]</a></span> he reduced the demonstration of Christian
+revelation to only the &#8220;puzzling and perplexing&#8221; argument from prophecy,
+the casual ease with which he ignored or dismissed those other &#8220;clear&#8221;
+proofs derived from the miracles of Jesus and the resurrection itself.<small><a name="f19.1" id="f19.1" href="#f19">[19]</a></small>
+But even more the orthodox resented the masked point of view from which
+Collins presented his disbelief.</p>
+
+<p>For example, the <i>Grounds and Reasons</i> is the deist&#8217;s first extended
+attack upon revelation. Ostensibly it is, as we have seen, an answer to
+Whiston&#8217;s <i>Essay Towards Restoring the True Text of the Old Testament; and
+for Vindicating the Citations Made Thence in the New Testament</i> (1722). In
+it the mathematician argued that the Hebraic prophecies relating to the
+messiah had been literally fulfilled in Jesus. But this truth, he
+admitted, had been obscured &#8220;in the latter Ages,&#8221; only because of those
+&#8220;Difficulties&#8221; which &#8220;have [almost wholly] arisen from the Corruptions,
+the unbelieving <i>Jews</i> introduc&#8217;d into the Hebrew and Greek copies of the
+Old Testament, [soon after] the Beginning of the Second Century.&#8221; These
+conspiratorial corruptions he single-handedly planned to remove, returning
+the Old Testament to a state of textual purity with emendations drawn from
+sources as varied as the Samaritan Pentateuch, the Greek Psalms, the
+Antiquities of Josephus, the Chaldee Paraphrases, the books of Philo. His
+pragmatic purpose was to nullify the biblical criticism of historical
+minded scholars as reputable as Grotius, to render useless the allegorical
+interpretation of messianic prophecies. That is, he saw in the latter a
+&#8220;pernicious&#8221; absence of fact, a &#8220;weak and enthusiastical&#8221; whimsy,
+unchristian adjustments to the exigencies of the moment.<small><a name="f20.1" id="f20.1" href="#f20">[20]</a></small></p>
+
+<p>Collins fought not to destroy Whiston&#8217;s position, which was all too easily
+destructible, but to undermine the structure, the very &#8220;grounds and
+reasons&#8221; with which orthodoxy supported the mysteries of its faith. To do
+so, he spun a gigantic web of irony controlled by a persona whose complex
+purpose was concealed by a mien of hyper-righteousness. Here then was one
+motivated by a fair-mindedness which allowed him to defend his opponent&#8217;s
+right of scriptural exegesis even while disagreeing with its approach and
+its conclusions. Here too was a conservative Christian different from
+Whiston &#8220;and many other great divines; who seem to pay little deference to
+the books of the New Testament,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_x" id="Page_x">[Pg x]</a></span> the text whereof they are perpetually
+mending in their sermons, commentaries, and writings, to serve purposes;
+who pretend <i>we should have more of the true text by being less tenacious
+of the printed one</i>, and in consequence thereof, presume to correct by
+critical <i>emendations</i>, serve <i>capital places</i> in the <i>sacred writers</i>;
+and who ... do virtually set aside the authority of the scripture, and
+place those compositions in its stead.&#8221; Finally, here was one who,
+obedient to the spirit of God&#8217;s revealed word, rejected the fallacy that
+messianic prophecy had been fulfilled in Christ in any &#8220;literal, obvious
+and primary sense.&#8221;<small><a name="f21.1" id="f21.1" href="#f21">[21]</a></small></p>
+
+<p>But though the persona could not accept Whiston&#8217;s program, he was not a
+mere negativist. With growing excitement he argued for allegorical
+interpretation. At this point the reader discerns that he has been duped,
+that nowhere has there been a denial of Whiston&#8217;s charge that the reading
+of messianic prophecy in a typical or allegorical or secondary sense is
+&#8220;weak and enthusiastical.&#8221; On the contrary, the reader finds only the
+damning innuendo that the two methods&mdash;the allegorical and the
+literal&mdash;differ from one another not in kind but in degree of absurdity.
+After being protected for a long time by all the twists and turns of his
+creator&#8217;s irony, the persona finally reveals himself for what he is, a man
+totally insolent and totally without remorse. Never for one moment did he
+wish to defend the scheme of allegorical prophecy but to attack it. His
+argument, stripped of its convolutions and pseudo-piety, moves inexorably
+to a single, negative conclusion. &#8220;Christianity pretends to derive itself
+from Judaism. JESUS appeals to the religious books of the Jews as
+prophesying of his Mission. None of these Prophecies can be understood of
+him but in a <i>typical allegoric</i> sense. Now that sense is absurd, and
+contrary to all scholastic rules of interpretation. Christianity,
+therefore, not being really predicted in the Jewish Writings, is
+consequently false.&#8221;<small><a name="f22.1" id="f22.1" href="#f22">[22]</a></small></p>
+
+<p>Collins continued his attack upon Christian revelation in the <i>Scheme</i>. In
+the two years which separated this work from the earlier <i>Grounds and
+Reasons</i>, there occurred no change in the author&#8217;s argument. What does
+occur, however, is a perceptive if snide elaboration upon the mask. This
+is in many ways the same persona who barely suppressed his guffaws in the
+earlier work. Now he is given an added dimension; he is made more
+decisively<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_xi" id="Page_xi">[Pg xi]</a></span> rational than his predecessor and therefore more insightful in
+his knowledge of rhetorical method. As a disciple of certain Protestant
+polemicists and particularly of Grotius, whose &#8220;integrity,&#8221; &#8220;honor,&#8221; and
+biblical criticism he supports, 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 arguments. &#8220;For if you begin
+with Infidels by denying to them, what is evident and agreeable to common
+sense, I think there can be no reasonable hopes of converting or
+convincing them.&#8221;<small><a name="f23.1" id="f23.1" href="#f23">[23]</a></small> The irony is abrasive simply because it unanswerably
+singles out the great rhetorical failure of orthodoxy, its inability to
+argue from a set of principles as acceptable to the deists as to
+themselves.</p>
+
+<p>Many of the clergy chafed against Collins&#8217;s manipulation of this
+tongue-in-cheek persona. They resented his irreverent wit which projected,
+for example, the image of an Anglican God who &#8220;talks to all mankind from
+corners&#8221; and who shows his back parts to Moses. They were irritated by his
+jesting parables, as in &#8220;The Case of Free-Seeing,&#8221; and by the impertinence
+of labelling Archbishop Tillotson as the man &#8220;whom all <i>English
+Free-Thinkers</i> own as their Head.&#8221;<small><a name="f24.1" id="f24.1" href="#f24">[24]</a></small></p>
+
+<p>But most of all they gagged upon Collins&#8217;s use of satire in religious
+controversy. As we have already seen, there were complex reasons for his
+choice of technique. He was a naturally witty man who, sometimes out of
+fear and sometimes out of malice, expressed himself best through
+circuitous irony. In 1724, when he himself considered his oratorical
+practice, he argued that his matter determined his style, that the targets
+of his belittling wit were the &#8220;saint-errants.&#8221; We can only imagine the
+exasperation of Collins&#8217;s Anglican enemies when they found their orthodoxy
+thus slyly lumped with the eccentricities of Samuel Butler&#8217;s &#8220;true blew&#8221;
+Presbyterians. It would be hard to live down the associations of those
+facetious lines which made the Augustan divines, like their unwelcome
+forebear Hudibras, members</p>
+
+<p class="poem"><span style="margin-left: 10em;">Of that stubborn Crew</span><br />
+Of Errant Saints, whom all men grant<br />
+To be the true Church Militant.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_xii" id="Page_xii">[Pg xii]</a></span>Those dignified Anglican exteriors were further punctured by Collins&#8217;s
+irreverent attack upon their cry of religious uniformity, a cry which was
+&#8220;ridiculous, romantick, and impossible to succeed.&#8221; He saw himself, in
+short, as an emancipated Butler or even Cervantes; and like his famous
+predecessors he too would laugh quite out of countenance the fool and the
+hypocrite, the pretender and the enthusiast, the knave and the persecuter,
+all those who would create a god in their own sour and puny image.</p>
+
+
+<h3>III</h3>
+
+<p>By 1727 several of the orthodox felt that they could take no more of
+Collins&#8217;s laughter, his sneering invectives against the clergy, or his
+designs to make religion &#8220;a Matter purely personal; and the Knowledge of
+it to be obtain&#8217;d by personal Consideration, <i>independently of any Guides,
+Teachers, or Authority</i>.&#8221; In the forefront of this group was John Rogers,
+whose hostility to the deist was articulate and compulsive. At least it
+drove him into a position seemingly at odds with the spirit if not the law
+of English toleration. He urged, for example, that those like Collins be
+prosecuted in a civil court for a persuasion &#8220;which is manifestly
+subversive of all Order and Polity, and can no more consist with civil,
+than with religious, Society.&#8221;<small><a name="f25.1" id="f25.1" href="#f25">[25]</a></small></p>
+
+<p>Thereupon followed charge and countercharge. New gladiators, as different
+from each other as the nonconformist divine Samuel Chandler and the deist
+Thomas Chubb, entered the arena on behalf of Collins. For all the dogmatic
+volubility of Rogers, orthodoxy appeared beleaguered. The moderate clergy,
+who witnessed this exchange, became alarmed; they feared that in the melee
+the very heart of English toleration would be threatened by the
+contenders, all of whom spoke as its champion. Representative of such
+moderation was Nathanael Marshall, who wished if not to end the debate,
+then at least to contain its ardor. As canon of Windsor, he supported the
+condition of a state religion protected by the magistrate but he worried
+over the extent of the latter&#8217;s prerogative and power. Certainly he was
+more liberal than Rogers in his willingness to entertain professions of
+religious diversity. Yet he straitjacketed his liberalism when he denied
+responsible men the right to attack<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_xiii" id="Page_xiii">[Pg xiii]</a></span> laws, both civil and canonical, with
+&#8220;ludicrous Insult&#8221; or &#8220;with Buffoonery and Banter, Ridicule or Sarcastick
+Irony.&#8221;<small><a name="f26.1" id="f26.1" href="#f26">[26]</a></small></p>
+
+<p>Once again Collins met the challenge. In <i>A Discourse concerning Ridicule
+and Irony</i> he devoted himself to undermining the moral, the intellectual,
+and practical foundations of that one restraint which Marshall would
+impose upon the conduct of any religious quarrel. He had little difficulty
+in achieving his objective. His adversary&#8217;s stand was visibly vulnerable
+and for several reasons. It was too conscious of the tug-of-war between
+the deist and Rogers, too arbitrary in its choice of prohibition. It was,
+in truth, strained by a choice between offending the establishment and yet
+rejecting clerical extremism.<small><a name="f27.1" id="f27.1" href="#f27">[27]</a></small> Moreover, Collins had this time an
+invisible partner, a superior thinker against whom he could test his own
+ideas and from whom he could borrow others. For the <i>Discourse concerning
+Ridicule and Irony</i> is largely a particularization, a crude but powerful
+reworking of Shaftesbury&#8217;s <i>Sensus Communis: An Essay on the Freedom of
+Wit and Humour</i>.</p>
+
+<p>Supported by Shaftesbury&#8217;s urbane generalization, Collins laughed openly
+at the egocentricity and blindness of Marshall&#8217;s timid zealotry. Indeed,
+he wryly found his orthodox opponent guilty of the very crime with which
+he, as a subversive, was charged. It seemed to him, he said,</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>a most prodigious Banter upon [mankind], for Men to talk in general
+of the <i>Immorality</i> of <i>Ridicule</i> and <i>Irony</i>, and of <i>punishing</i> Men
+for those Matters, when their own Practice is <i>universal Irony</i> and
+<i>Ridicule</i> of all those who go not with them, and <i>universal
+Applause</i> and <i>Encouragement</i> for such <i>Ridicule</i> and <i>Irony</i>, and
+distinguishing by all the honourable ways imaginable such <i>drolling</i>
+Authors for their Drollery; and when Punishment for <i>Drollery</i> is
+never call&#8217;d for, but when <i>Drollery</i> is used or employ&#8217;d against them!</p>
+
+<p class="right">(<a href="#Page_29">p. 29</a>)</p></div>
+
+<p>Collins&#8217;s technique continued its ironic ambiguity, reversal, and
+obliquity. Under a tone of seeming innocence and good will, he credited
+his adversaries with an enviable capacity for satiric<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_xiv" id="Page_xiv">[Pg xiv]</a></span> argument. In
+comradely fashion, he found precedent for his own rhetorical practice
+through a variety of historical and biblical analogies. But even more
+important for a contemporary audience, he again resorted to the device of
+invoking the authority provided by some of the most respected names in the
+Anglican Establishment. The use of satire in religious topics, hence, was
+manifest in &#8220;the Writings of our most eminent Divines,&#8221; especially those
+of Stillingfleet, &#8220;our greatest controversial Writer&#8221; (<a href="#Page_4">pp. 4-5</a>).</p>
+
+<p>With all the outrageous assurance of a self-invited guest, the deist had
+seated himself at the table of his vainly protesting Christian hosts (whom
+he insisted on identifying as brethren). &#8220;In a word,&#8221; he said so as to
+obviate debate, &#8220;the Opinions and Practices of Men in all Matters, and
+especially in Matters of Religion, are generally so absurd and ridiculous
+that it is impossible for them not to be the Subjects of Ridicule&#8221; (<a href="#Page_19">p. 19</a>). Thus adopting Juvenal&#8217;s concept of
+satiric necessity (&#8220;difficile est saturam non scribere&#8221;), Collins here set forth the thesis and rationale of
+his enemy. There was a kind of impudent virtuosity in his &#8220;proofs,&#8221; in his
+manner of drawing a large, impressive cluster of names into his ironic net
+and making all of them appear to be credible witnesses in his defense.
+Even Swift, amusingly compromised as &#8220;one of the greatest <i>Droles</i> that
+ever appear&#8217;d upon the Stage of the World&#8221; (<a href="#Page_39">p. 39</a>), was brought to the
+witness box as evidence of the privileged status to which satiric writing
+was entitled. Collins enforced erudition with cool intelligence so that
+contemptuous amusement is present on every page of his <i>Discourse</i>.</p>
+
+<p>Beneath his jeers and his laughter there was a serious denunciation of any
+kind of intellectual restraint, however mild-seeming; beneath his verbal
+pin-pricking there was conversely an exoneration of man&#8217;s right to
+inquire, to profess, and to persuade. Beneath his jests and sarcasms there
+was further a firm philosophical commitment that informed the rhetoric of
+all his earlier work. Ridicule, he asserted in 1729, &#8220;is both a proper and
+necessary Method of Discourse in many Cases, and especially in the Case of
+<i>Gravity</i>, when that is attended with Hypocrisy or Imposture, or with
+Ignorance, or with soureness of Temper and Persecution: all which ought to
+draw after them the <i>Ridicule</i> and <i>Contempt</i> of the Society, which has no
+other effectual Remedy against such<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_xv" id="Page_xv">[Pg xv]</a></span> Methods of Imposition&#8221; (<a href="#Page_22">p. 22</a>).</p>
+
+<p>For the modern reader the <i>Discourse concerning Ridicule and Irony</i> is the
+most satisfactory of Collins&#8217;s many pamphlets and books. It lacks the
+pretentiousness of the <i>Scheme</i>, the snide convolutions of the <i>Grounds
+and Reasons</i>, the argument by half-truths of the <i>Discourse of
+Free-Thinking</i>. His last work is free of the curious ambivalence which
+marked so many of his earlier pieces, a visible uncertainty which made him
+fear repression and yet court it. On the contrary, his last work is in
+fact a justification of his rhetorical mode and religious beliefs; it is
+an <i>apologia pro vita sua</i> written with all the intensity and decisiveness
+that such a justification demands. To be sure, it takes passing shots at
+old enemies like Swift, but never with rancor. And while its language is
+frequently ironical, its thinking makes an earnest defense of wit as a
+weapon of truth. The essay sets forth its author as an <i>animal ridens</i>, a
+creature that through laughter and affable cynicism worships a universal
+God and respects a rational mankind.</p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>Brown University</p>
+
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_xvi" id="Page_xvi">[Pg xvi]</a></span></p>
+<h3>NOTES TO THE INTRODUCTION</h3>
+
+<p><a name="f1" id="f1" href="#f1.1">1.</a> <i>Universal Spectator, and Weekly Journal</i>, No. 98 (22 August 1730).</p>
+
+<p><a name="f2" id="f2" href="#f2.1">2.</a> To Des Maizeaux (5 May 1717): B. M. Sloane MSS. 4282, ff. 129-130.</p>
+
+<p><a name="f3" id="f3" href="#f3.1">3.</a> To Des Maizeaux (9 February 1716): B. M. Sloane MSS. 4282, f. 123.</p>
+
+<p><a name="f4" id="f4" href="#f4.1">4.</a> The title page of the <i>Scheme</i> is dated 1726. It was not advertised in
+the newspapers or journals of that year&mdash;a strange silence for any of
+Collins&#8217;s work. Its first notice appeared in the <i>Monthly Catalogue: Being
+a General Register of Books, Sermons, Plays, Poetry, Pamphlets, &amp;c.
+Printed and Publish&#8217;d in London, or the Universities, during the Month of
+May, 1727</i> (see No. 49). Yet we know that the <i>Scheme</i> had been remarked
+upon as early as March when on the 10th of that month Samuel Chandler
+published his <i>Reflections on the Conduct of the Modern Deists in their
+late Writings against Christianity</i>. (For the dating of Chandler&#8217;s work,
+see the <i>Daily Courant</i> [10 March 1727].) We know also that the <i>Scheme</i>
+went to a second edition late in 1727 and was frequently advertised in the
+<i>Daily Post</i> between 2 January and 20 January 1728.</p>
+
+<p><a name="f5" id="f5" href="#f5.1">5.</a> For the statement about the <i>Letter to Dr. Rogers</i>, see B. M. Sloane
+MSS. 4282, f. 220 (15 August 1727). For that on the use of &#8220;personal
+matters&#8221; in controversy, see B. M. Sloane MSS. 4282, f. 170 (27 December
+1719); cf. <i>The Scheme of Literal Prophecy Considered</i> (London, 1726), pp.
+422-438.</p>
+
+<p><a name="f6" id="f6" href="#f6.1">6.</a> <i>The Grounds and Reasons of the Christian Religion</i> was published in
+London within the first four days of January 1724; see the advertisement
+in the <i>Daily Post</i> (4 January 1724). <i>A Discourse concerning Ridicule and
+Irony in Writing</i> was published on or close to 17 March 1729; see the
+advertisement in the <i>Daily Journal</i> for that date.</p>
+
+<p><a name="f7" id="f7" href="#f7.1">7.</a> We can generally fix the date of Rogers&#8217;s <i>Eight Sermons</i> within the
+first two months of 1727 because it was answered early by Samuel
+Chandler&#8217;s <i>Reflections on the Conduct of the Modern Deists</i>. (See <a href="#f4">note 4</a>.)
+For the dating of Collins&#8217;s rebuttal, see the <i>Monthly Catalogue</i>, No. 49 (May 1727).</p>
+
+<p><a name="f8" id="f8" href="#f8.1">8.</a> To Des Maizeaux (24 June 1727): B. M. Sloane MSS. 4282, ff. 218-219.</p>
+
+<p><a name="f9" id="f9" href="#f9.1">9.</a> For the dating of this work, see the <i>Daily Post</i> (31 January 1728).</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_xvii" id="Page_xvii">[Pg xvii]</a></span><a name="f10" id="f10" href="#f10.1">10.</a> For
+Swift&#8217;s satire, see <i>Mr. C---ns&#8217;s Discourse of Free-Thinking, Put
+into plain English, by way of Abstract, for the Use of the Poor</i>. For
+Bentley&#8217;s devastating probe of Collins&#8217;s scholarly inadequacies, see his
+<i>Remarks on the Discourse of Free-Thinking. By Phileleutherus Lipsiensis</i>.
+Both works appeared in 1713.</p>
+
+<p><a name="f11" id="f11" href="#f11.1">11.</a> <i>Scheme</i>, pp. 432-433.</p>
+
+<p><a name="f12" id="f12" href="#f12.1">12.</a> Edward Chandler, <i>A Defence of Christianity from the Prophecies of
+the Old Testament</i> (London, 1725), p. ii.</p>
+
+<p><a name="f13" id="f13" href="#f13.1">13.</a> <i>A Letter to Dr. Rogers</i>, p. 89.</p>
+
+<p><a name="f14" id="f14" href="#f14.1">14.</a> <i>A Vindication of the Divine Attributes</i> (London, 1710), p. 24.</p>
+
+<p><a name="f15" id="f15" href="#f15.1">15.</a> Robert Jenkin, <i>A Brief Confutation of the Pretences against Natural
+and Revealed Religion</i> (London, 1702), p. 40.</p>
+
+<p><a name="f16" id="f16" href="#f16.1">16.</a> For Collins on his own rhetorical skills, see <i>Scheme</i>, p. 402;
+William Warburton, <i>Divine Legation of Moses, Demonstrated</i> (London,
+1846), III, 199.</p>
+
+<p><a name="f17" id="f17" href="#f17.1">17.</a> Jenkin, <i>Brief Confutation</i>, p. 51; for the letter (1 July 1717), see
+B. M. Sloane MSS. 4282, f. 137.</p>
+
+<p><a name="f18" id="f18" href="#f18.1">18.</a> Pp. 46-99.</p>
+
+<p><a name="f19" id="f19" href="#f19.1">19.</a> See, for example, the statement of John Conybeare, Bishop of Bristol,
+in Joseph Spence, <i>Observations, Anecdotes, and Characters of Books and
+Men</i>, ed. James M. Osborn (Oxford, 1966), I, sect. 992.</p>
+
+<p><a name="f20" id="f20" href="#f20.1">20.</a> <i>Essay</i>, pp. 329-333 (for Whiston&#8217;s statement of sources); pp.
+334-335 (for his defense of literal interpretation). The bracketed material indicates Whiston&#8217;s manuscript emendations of his own printed
+text; see the British Museum&#8217;s copy of the <i>Essay</i> (873. 1. 10) which originally belonged to the mathematician. See Collins, <i>Grounds and
+Reasons</i>, pp. 98-99, for the summary of Whiston&#8217;s attack upon allegorical interpretation.</p>
+
+<p><a name="f21" id="f21" href="#f21.1">21.</a> <i>Grounds and Reasons</i>, pp. 20, 48-50.</p>
+
+<p><a name="f22" id="f22" href="#f22.1">22.</a> This terse summary of the persona&#8217;s argument was correctly made by Warburton, III, 232.</p>
+
+<p><a name="f23" id="f23" href="#f23.1">23.</a> <i>Scheme</i>, p. 391.</p>
+
+<p><a name="f24" id="f24" href="#f24.1">24.</a> <i>Discourse of Free-Thinking</i>, pp. 15-17, 38, 171.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_xviii" id="Page_xviii">[Pg xviii]</a></span><a name="f25" id="f25" href="#f25.1">25.</a> <i>Eight Sermons</i>, pp. 1, lxi.</p>
+
+<p><a name="f26" id="f26" href="#f26.1">26.</a> Marshall, pp. 301, 337. For Samuel Chandler&#8217;s contribution, see his
+<i>Reflections on the Conduct of the Modern Deists</i> (London, 1727); for
+Chubb&#8217;s contribution see <i>Some Short Reflections on the Grounds and Extent
+of Authority and Liberty, With respect to the Civil Government</i> (London,
+1728).</p>
+
+<p><a name="f27" id="f27" href="#f27.1">27.</a> Marshall&#8217;s reluctance to support Rogers&#8217;s extremism is seen in the
+funeral sermon he preached at the latter&#8217;s death (<i>A Sermon Delivered in the Parish Church of St. Giles Cripplegate, May 18, 1729. Upon Occasion of
+the Much Lamented Death of the Rev<sup>d</sup>. John Rogers</i> [London, 1729]). He made only the most casual and indifferent reference to Rogers&#8217;s work. So
+obvious was this slight that it called for a rebuttal; see Philalethes (A. A. Sykes [?]), <i>Some Remarks Upon the Reverend Dr. Marshall&#8217;s Sermon on
+Occasion of the Death of the Rev<sup>d</sup> D<sup>r</sup> Rogers</i> (London, 1729).</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="Bibliographical Note">
+<tr><td align="center"><b>BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE</b></td></tr>
+<tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><td>This facsimile of <i>A Discourse concerning Ridicule and Irony in Writing</i>
+(1729) is reproduced from a copy in the William Andrews Clark Memorial Library.</td></tr></table>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h3>A</h3>
+<h1>DISCOURSE</h1>
+<h3>CONCERNING</h3>
+<h2>Ridicule and Irony</h2>
+<h3>IN</h3>
+<h1>WRITING,</h1>
+<h3>IN A</h3>
+<h2>LETTER</h2>
+<h4>To the Reverend</h4>
+<h3>Dr. <span class="smcap">Nathanael Marshall</span>.</h3>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="quotes">
+<tr><td>&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;&mdash; <i>Ridiculum acri<br />
+Fortius &amp; melius magnas plerumq; secat res.</i></td></tr>
+<tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><td>&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;&mdash; <i>Ridentem dicere verum<br />
+Quid vetat?</i></td></tr></table>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p class="center"><i>L&nbsp;O&nbsp;N&nbsp;D&nbsp;O&nbsp;N&nbsp;:</i></p>
+
+<p class="center">Printed for <span class="smcap">J. Brotherton</span> in <i>Cornhill</i> and sold<br />
+by <span class="smcap">T. Warner</span> in <i>Pater-noster-Row</i>, and<br />
+<span class="smcap">A. Dodd</span> without <i>Temple-Bar</i>. 1729.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 35%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span></p>
+
+<h3>A</h3>
+<h1>DISCOURSE</h1>
+<h3>CONCERNING</h3>
+<h2><i>Ridicule</i> and <i>Irony</i>, &amp;c.</h2>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Reverend Sir</span>,</p>
+
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="caps">In</span> your <i>Letter</i> to Dr. <i>Rogers</i>, which he has publish&#8217;d at the End of his
+<i>Vindication of the Civil Establishment of Religion</i>, I find a Notion
+advanc&#8217;d by you: which as it is a common and plausible Topick for
+Persecution, and a Topick by which you, and many others, urge the
+Magistrate to punish [or, as you phrase it, <i>to pinch</i>] <small><a name="f28.1" id="f28.1" href="#f28">[28]</a></small> Men for
+controversial Writings, is particularly proper at this time to be fully
+consider&#8217;d; and I hope to treat it in such manner as to make you your
+self, and every fair Reader, sensible of the Weakness thereof.</p>
+
+<p>You profess to &#8220;vindicate <small><a name="f29.1" id="f29.1" href="#f29">[29]</a></small> a sober, serious, and modest Inquiry into
+the Reasons of any Establishment.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span>And you add, that you &#8220;have not ordinarily found it judg&#8217;d inconsistent
+with the Duty of a <i>private Subject</i>, to propose his Doubts or his Reasons
+to the Publick in a <i>modest</i> way, concerning the <i>Repeal</i> of any Law which
+he may think of ill Consequence by its Continuance. If he be a Man of
+Ability, and well vers&#8217;d in the Argument, he will deserve some Attention;
+but if he mistakes his Talent, and will be busy with what he very little
+understands, Contempt and Odium will be his unavoidable and just
+Allotment.&#8221; And you say, that &#8220;Religion is more a personal Affair, in
+which every Man has a peculiar Right and Interest, and a Concern that he
+be not mistaken, than in any other Case or Instance which can fall under
+the Cognizance of the Magistrate; and that greater Allowances seem due to
+each private Person for Examination and Inquiry in this, than in any other
+Example.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>And herein I must do you the Justice to acknowledge, that you speak like a
+Christian, like a Protestant, like an <i>Englishman</i>, and a reasonable Man;
+like a Man concerned for Truth, like a Man of Conscience; like a Man
+concern&#8217;d for the Consciences of others; like a Man concern&#8217;d to have some
+Sense, Learning, and Virtue in the World; and, in a word, like a Man who
+is not for abandoning all the valuable Things in Life to the Tyranny,
+Ambition, and Covetousness of Magistrates and Ecclesiasticks.</p>
+
+<p>But you observe, that &#8220;municipal Laws<small><a name="f30.1" id="f30.1" href="#f30">[30]</a></small>, how trivial soever in their
+intrinsick Value, are never to be <i>insulted</i>; never to be treated with
+<i>Buffoonery</i> and <i>Banter</i>, <i>Ridicule</i> and <i>Sarcastick Irony</i>. So that Dr.
+<i>Rogers</i>&#8217;s grand Adversary will have from you no measure of Encouragement
+to his manner of Writing.&#8221; Again, you &#8220;never <small><a name="f31.1" id="f31.1" href="#f31">[31]</a></small> desire to see the
+Magistrate fencing in the publick Religion<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span> with so thick a Hedge as shall
+exclude all Light, and shall tear out the Eyes of all such as endeavour to
+see thro&#8217; it. <i>Sober arguing</i> you never fear: <i>Mockery</i> and <i>bitter
+Railing</i>, if you could help it, you would never bear, either <i>for the
+Truth or against it</i>.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Upon which I offer these following Considerations.</p>
+
+<p>I. <i>First</i>, If what you call <i>Insult</i>, <i>Buffoonery</i>, <i>Banter</i>, <i>Ridicule</i>
+and <i>Irony</i>, <i>Mockery</i> and <i>bitter Railing</i>, be Crimes in Disputation, you
+will find none more deeply involv&#8217;d in it than our most famous Writers, in
+their controversial Treatises about <i>serious</i> Matters; as all Notions and
+Practices in Religion, whether reasonable or absurd, may be equally and
+justly deem&#8217;d: the Notions and Practices of Papists, Presbyterians,
+Quakers, and all other Sects, being no less <i>serious</i> to their respective
+Sects than ridiculous to one another. Let any Man read the Writings of our
+most eminent Divines against the <i>Papists</i>, <i>Puritans</i>, <i>Dissenters</i>, and
+<i>Hereticks</i>, and against one another, and particularly the Writings of
+<i>Alexander Cook</i>, <i>Hales</i>, <i>Chillingworth</i>, <i>Patrick</i>, <i>Tillotson</i>,
+<i>Stillingfleet</i>, <i>Burnet</i>, <i>South</i>, <i>Hickes</i>, <i>Sherlock</i> and <i>Edwards</i>,
+and he will find them to abound with <i>Banter</i>, <i>Ridicule</i>, and <i>Irony</i>.
+<i>Stillingfleet</i> in particular, our greatest controversial Writer, who
+passes for <i>grave</i> and <i>solemn</i>, is so conscious of his use thereof, that
+he confesses that Charge of the Papists against him, saying<small><a name="f32.1" id="f32.1" href="#f32">[32]</a></small>, &#8220;But I
+forget my Adversary&#8217;s grave admonition, that I <i>would treat these Matters
+seriously, and lay aside Drollery</i>.&#8221; And again, after a <i>Banter</i> of near a
+Page, he says<small><a name="f33.1" id="f33.1" href="#f33">[33]</a></small>, &#8220;But I forget I am so near my Adversary&#8217;s Conclusion,
+wherein he so <i>gravely</i> advises me, that I <i>would be pleas&#8217;d for once</i><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span> <i>to
+write Controversy, and not Play-Books</i>.&#8221; Nor did I ever hear the Divines
+of the Church condemn the Doctor for his sarcastical Method of writing
+Controversy. On the contrary, I remember at the University, that he used
+to be applauded no less for his Wit than for his Learning. And to exalt
+his Character as a Wit, his <i>Conferences between a</i> Romish <i>Priest, a
+Fanatick Chaplain, and a Divine of the Church of</i> England, <i>&amp;c.</i> were
+spoken of as an excellent <i>Comedy</i>, and especially for that Part which the
+<i>Fanatick Chaplain</i> acts therein, who makes as comical and as ridiculous a
+Figure as he does in any of the <i>Plays</i> acted on the Stage. And in his
+<i>Controversy</i> with <i>Dryden</i> about the <i>Royal Papers</i>, and those of the
+<i>Duchess</i> of <i>York</i>, he was deem&#8217;d to have out-done that famous <i>Satirist</i>
+in tart Repartees and Reflections; and to have attack&#8217;d the Character of
+the <i>Poet</i> with more severity, than that <i>Poet</i>, who was so remarkable for
+his satirical Reflections on the holy Order, did the Character of the
+<i>Divine</i>: As for example, he says to <i>Dryden</i><small><a name="f34.1" id="f34.1" href="#f34">[34]</a></small>, &#8220;Could nothing be said
+by you of Bishop <i>Morley</i>, but that <i>Prelate of rich Memory</i>? Or had you a
+mind to tell us he was no <i>Poet</i>? Or that he was out of the Temptation of
+changing his Religion for Bread?&#8221; And many Citations us&#8217;d to be produc&#8217;d
+out of his Writings, as Specimens of his ironical Talent; among which I
+particularly remember his <i>Ridicule</i> of his Adversary Mr. <i>Alsop</i>, a
+famous Presbyterian Wit and Divine; whose Book, which was full of low
+Raillery and Ridicule, he resembles <small><a name="f35.1" id="f35.1" href="#f35">[35]</a></small> to <i>the Bird of</i> Athens, as <i>made
+up of Face and Feathers</i>. And the Doctor himself adds, in Justification of
+the polite Method of Raillery in Controversy, that <i>there is a
+pleasantness of Wit, which serves to entertain</i><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span> <i>the Reader in the rough
+and deep way of Controversy</i>. Nor did Mr. <i>Alsop</i> want Approvers of his
+Raillery in his own Party. Mr. <i>Gilbert Rule</i><small><a name="f36.1" id="f36.1" href="#f36">[36]</a></small>, a great <i>Scotch</i>
+Presbyterian Divine, who defended him against <i>Stillingfleet</i>, contends in
+behalf of his Raillery, &#8220;That the Facetiousness of Mr. <i>Alsop</i>&#8217;s Strain
+needed to have bred no Disgust, being as a Condiment to prevent <i>T&aelig;dium</i>
+and Nauseousness.&#8221; And he adds, &#8220;That he knows none that blame the
+excellent Writings of Mr. <i>Fuller</i>, which have a Pleasantness not unlike
+that of Mr. <i>Alsop</i>.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>And this manner of writing is seldom complain&#8217;d of, as unfit to be
+allow&#8217;d, by any but those who feel themselves hurt by it. For the solemn
+and grave can bear a solemn and grave Attack: That gives them a sort of
+Credit in the World, and makes them appear considerable to themselves, as
+worthy of a serious Regard. But <i>Contempt</i> is what they, who commonly are
+the most contemptible and worthless of Men, cannot bear nor withstand, as
+setting them in their true Light, and being the most effectual Method to
+drive Imposture, the sole Foundation of their Credit, out of the World.
+Hence <i>Stillingfleet</i>&#8217;s Popish Adversaries, more conscious perhaps of the
+Ridiculousness of Popery than the common People among Protestants
+themselves, fall upon him very furiously. One says<small><a name="f37.1" id="f37.1" href="#f37">[37]</a></small>, &#8220;That by the
+Phrases, which are the chief Ornaments that set off the Doctor&#8217;s Works, we
+may easily guess in what Books he has spent his Time; and that he is well
+vers&#8217;d in <i>Don Quixot</i>, the <i>Seven Champions</i>, and other <i>Romantick
+Stories</i>. Sure the Doctor err&#8217;d in his Vocation: Had he quitted all
+serious Matters, and dedicated himself wholly to Drollery and Romance,
+with two or three <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span>Years under <i>Hudibras</i>, he might have been a Master in
+that Faculty; the Stage might have been a Gainer by it, and the Church of
+<i>England</i> would have been no Loser.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Another of his Adversaries says, &#8220;<small><a name="f38.1" id="f38.1" href="#f38">[38]</a></small>Peruse the Doctor Page after Page,
+you will find the Man all along in peevish Humour, when you see his Book
+brimfull of tart biting Ironies, Drolleries, comical Expressions,
+impertinent Demands, and idle Stories, <i>&amp;c.</i> as if the discharging a
+little Gall were enough to disparage <i>the clearest Miracles</i> God ever wrought.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>But what are these <i>clearest Miracles God ever wrought</i>? Why, the most
+extravagant, whimsical, absurd, and ridiculous Legends and Stories
+imaginable; such as that of <i>St. Dominick</i><small><a name="f39.1" id="f39.1" href="#f39">[39]</a></small>, who when the Devil came to
+him in the Shape of a <i>Monkey</i>, made him hold a Candle to him while he
+wrote, and keep it so long between his Toes, till it burnt them; and his
+keeping the Devil, who sometimes came to him in the Shape of a <i>Flea</i>, and
+by skipping on the Leaves of his Book disturb&#8217;d his Reading, in that
+Shape, and using him for a Mark to know where he left off reading: Such as
+St. <i>Patrick</i>&#8217;s heating an Oven with Snow, and turning a Pound of Honey
+into a Pound of Butter: Such as <i>Christ</i>&#8217;s marrying Nuns, and playing at
+Cards with them; and Nuns living on the Milk of the blessed Virgin <i>Mary</i>;
+and that of divers Orders, and especially the <i>Benedictine</i>, being so dear
+to the blessed Virgin, that in Heaven she lodges them under her
+Petticoats: Such as making broken Eggs whole; <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span>and of People, who had
+their Heads cut off, walking with their Heads in their Hands, which were
+sometimes set on again: Such as Failing for a hundred Years; and raising
+Cows, Calves, and Birds from the Dead, after they had been chopt to Pieces
+and eaten, and putting on their Heads after they had been pull&#8217;d or cut
+off; and turning a Pound of Butter into a Bell; and making a Bull give
+Milk; and raising a King&#8217;s Daughter from the Dead, and turning her into a
+Son; and the several Translations thro&#8217; the Air of the Virgin <i>Mary</i>&#8217;s
+House from <i>Palestine</i> to <i>Loretto</i>, and the Miracles wrote there; and
+more of the like Kind.</p>
+
+<p>Are these, or such as these the <i>clearest Miracles God ever wrought</i>? Do
+such Miracles deserve a serious Regard? And shall the <i>Gravity</i> with which
+Mankind is thus banter&#8217;d out of their common Sense, excuse these Matters
+from <i>Ridicule</i>?</p>
+
+<p>It will be difficult to find any Writers who have exceeded the Doctors,
+<i>South</i> and <small><a name="f40.1" id="f40.1" href="#f40">[40]</a></small> <i>Edwards</i>, in <i>Banter</i>, <i>Irony</i>, <i>Satire</i> and <i>Sarcasms</i>:
+The last of whom has written a Discourse in <i>Defence of sharp Reflections
+on Authors and their Opinions</i>; wherein he enumerates, as Examples for his
+Purpose, almost all the eminent Divines of the Church of <i>England</i>. And
+Mr. <small><a name="f41.1" id="f41.1" href="#f41">[41]</a></small> <i>Collier</i>, speaking of a Letter of the Venerable <i>Bede</i> to
+<i>Egbert</i> Bishop of <i>York</i>, says, &#8220;The Satire and Declamation in this
+<i>Epistle</i> shews the <i>pious Zeal</i> and <i>Integrity</i> of the Author;&#8221; which
+seems to imply, that <i>Satire</i> and <i>Declamation</i> is the orthodox and most
+pious Method of writing in behalf of <i>Orthodoxy</i>.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span>Dr. <i>Rogers</i>, to whom you write, falls into the Method of Buffoonery,
+Banter, Satire, Drollery, Ridicule, and Irony, even in the Treatise to
+which your Letter is subjoined, and against that <i>Person</i> whom you would
+have punish&#8217;d for that Method: When he says to him, <small><a name="f42.1" id="f42.1" href="#f42">[42]</a></small> &#8220;Religion then,
+it seems, must be left to the Scholars and Gentlefolks, and to them &#8217;tis
+to be of no other use, but as a Subject of Disputation to improve their
+Parts and Learning; but methinks the Vulgar might be indulged a little of
+it now and then, upon Sundays and Holidays, instead of Bull-baiting and
+Foot-ball.&#8221; And this insipid Piece of Drollery and false Wit [which is
+design&#8217;d to ridicule his Adversary for asserting, that <i>What Men
+understand nothing of, they have no Concern about</i>; which is a Proposition
+that will stand the Test of <i>Ridicule</i>, which will be found wholly to lie
+against the Doctor, for asserting the Reasonableness of imposing Things on
+the People which they do not understand] is the more remarkable, as it
+proceeds from one, who is at the same time for using the Sword of the
+Magistrate against his Adversary. One would think the <small><a name="f43.1" id="f43.1" href="#f43">[43]</a></small> <i>Inquisitor</i>
+should banish the <i>Droll</i>, and the <i>Droll</i> the <i>Inquisitor</i>.</p>
+
+<p>One of the greatest and best Authorities for the <i>pleasant</i> and <i>ironical</i>
+manner of treating <i>serious</i> Matters, is that eminent Divine at the Time
+of the Reformation, the great <i>Erasmus</i>, who has written two Books in this
+way with great Applause of Protestants, and without subjecting himself to
+any Persecution of Papists: which makes it highly proper to propose them
+to the Consideration of the Reader, that he may regulate his Notions, by
+what, it <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span>may be presum&#8217;d, he approves of in that Author. These two Books
+of <i>Erasmus</i> are his <i>Colloquies</i>, and his <i>Praise of Folly</i>.</p>
+
+<p>His <i>Colloquies</i> were wrote in imitation of <i>Lucian</i>&#8217;s <i>Dialogues</i>; and I
+think with equal, if not superior, Success.</p>
+
+<p>Both these Authors had an Aversion to sullen, austere, designing Knaves;
+and both of them being Men of Wit and Satire, employ&#8217;d their Talents
+against <i>Superstition</i> and <i>Hypocrisy</i>. <i>Lucian</i> liv&#8217;d in an Age when
+<i>Fiction</i> and <i>Fable</i> had usurp&#8217;d the Name of <i>Religion</i>, and <i>Morality</i>
+was corrupted by <i>Men</i> of <i>Beard</i> and <i>Grimace</i>, but scandalously <i>Leud</i>
+and <i>Ignorant</i>; who yet had the Impudence to preach up <i>Virtue</i>, and style
+themselves <i>Philosophers</i>, perpetually clashing with one another about the
+Precedence of their several Founders, the Merits of their different Sects,
+and if &#8217;tis possible, about Trifles of less Importance: yet all agreeing
+in a different way to dupe and amuse the poor People, by the <i>fantastick</i>
+Singularity of their Habits, the unintelligible Jargon of their Schools,
+and their Pretensions to a severe and mortify&#8217;d Life.</p>
+
+<p>These Jugglers and Impostors <i>Lucian</i> in great measure help&#8217;d to chase out
+of the World, by exposing them in their proper Colours, and by
+representing them as ridiculous as they were. But in a few Generations
+after him, a new Race of Men sprung up in the World, well known by the
+Name of <i>Monks</i> and <i>Fryars</i>, different indeed from the former in
+Religion, Garb, and a few other Circumstances; but in the main, the same
+sort of Impostors, the same ever-lasting Cobweb-Spinners, as to their
+nonsensical Controversies, the same abandon&#8217;d <i>Wretches</i>, as to their
+Morals; but as to the mysterious Arts of heaping up Wealth, and picking<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span>
+the People&#8217;s Pockets, infinitely superior to the <i>Pagan Philosophers</i> and
+<i>Priests</i>. These were the sanctify&#8217;d Cheats, whose Folly and Vices
+<i>Erasmus</i> has so effectually lash&#8217;d, that some Countries have entirely
+turn&#8217;d these Drones out of their Cells; and in other Places, where they
+are still kept up, they are in some measure become contemptible, and
+obliged to be always on their Guard.</p>
+
+<p>The Papists say, that these &#8220;<small><a name="f44.1" id="f44.1" href="#f44">[44]</a></small><i>Colloquies</i>, by turning into <i>Ridicule</i>
+the Devotion to the holy Virgin and Saints, the Worship of Relicks and
+Images, religious Vows and Pilgrimages, have made more Hereticks than the
+Works of <i>Luther</i> and <i>Calvin</i>.&#8221; And I find the reverend Mr. <i>Trapp</i>
+[after calling <small><a name="f45.1" id="f45.1" href="#f45">[45]</a></small> <i>Reliques</i>, <span class="smcap">Foolish</span>] celebrates <i>Erasmus</i> for <i>having
+abundantly</i> <span class="smcap">ridicul&#8217;d</span> <i>them</i>.</p>
+
+<p>His <i>Praise of Folly</i> treats of <i>serious</i> Matters, in such a gay,
+familiar, ingenious and pleasant manner, as makes it a Work proper to be
+read by intelligent People, to remove out of their Minds all Bigotry
+contracted by Ignorance and an evil Education, all Peevishness, Hatred,
+and Ill-nature towards one another, on account of different Sentiments in
+Religion; and to form in them the natural Principles of Moderation,
+Humanity, Affection and Friendship. Our learned and ingenious Bishop
+<i>Kennet</i> could not do a more signal Piece of Service to our Country, than
+by translating into <i>English</i> this Book, which the Ladies have now an
+Opportunity of understanding no less than the Men; and from whence they
+may see the pleasant, amiable, and just Disposition of Mind of one of the
+most learned and ingenious Men that ever liv&#8217;d, as well <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span>as Author of a
+great Number of religious and devotional Books; nor could the Bishop well
+give a heartier Stroke at Popery, than by approving of <i>Erasmus</i>&#8217;s <small><a name="f46.1" id="f46.1" href="#f46">[46]</a></small>
+<i>laughing</i> at it, and applauding his numberless <i>Taunts on its Impostures,
+Cheats, and Delusions</i>.</p>
+
+<p>Our Clergy have ever treated Mr. <i>Hobbes</i> with the greatest Mockery,
+Ridicule and Raillery: As for example, <i>Ward</i> Bishop of <i>Sarum</i>, <i>Brambal</i>
+Bishop of <i>Derry</i>, <i>Parker</i> Bishop of <i>Oxford</i>, Dr. <i>Wallis</i> in his
+several bantering Treatises against him, <i>Lucy</i> Bishop of <i>St. Davids,
+Shafto</i>, and particularly the Reverend <i>Droll</i>, Dr. <i>Eachard</i>, in two
+<i>Dialogues</i>, which, it is well known, have been universally well receiv&#8217;d
+by the Clergy, and that for their Treatment of Mr. <i>Hobbes</i> in the
+ridiculing Way; for which the Author himself makes the following just
+Apology, in his <i>Dedication</i> of his <i>Second Dialogue</i> to Archbishop
+<i>Sheldon</i>, &#8220;That of all Triflers, &#8217;tis the <i>Set</i>, the <i>Grave</i>, the
+<i>Philosophical</i>, and the <i>Mathematical Trifler</i>, to which he has the
+greatest Aversion; whom when he meets, very gravely making out all Men to
+be rational Beasts both in Nature and Conversation, and every Man, he
+pleases, a rational Rebel; and upon any Fright or Pinch a rational Atheist
+and Anti-Christian; and all this perform&#8217;d with all <span class="smcap">Demureness</span>, <span class="smcap">Solemnity</span>,
+<span class="smcap">Quotation</span> of <span class="smcap">Scripture</span>, <span class="smcap">Appeals</span> to <span class="smcap">Conscience</span> and <span class="smcap">Church-History</span>; he must
+humbly beg his <i>Grace&#8217;s</i> Pardon, if then he has endeavour&#8217;d to <span class="smcap">smile</span> a
+little, and to get as much out of his Road and way of Writing as
+possible.&#8221; These <i>Dialogues</i> used to be much recommended to the Youth to
+make them laugh at Mr <i>Hobbes</i>, who <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span>was constantly represented as
+provok&#8217;d and put out of all Temper by them, and was said to have vented
+this strange and impious Expression, upon its being told him, that <i>the
+Clergy said</i> Eachard <i>had crucify&#8217;d</i> Hobbes; &#8220;Why then don&#8217;t they fall
+down and worship me?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Mr. <i>Selden</i> has been the constant Subject of Clergy-banter, for his
+<i>History of Tythes</i>; in the <i>Preface</i> to which, &#8220;He reproaches the Clergy
+with Ignorance and Laziness, and upbraids them with having nothing to keep
+up their Credit but <i>Beard</i>, <i>Title</i>, and <i>Habit</i>; and their Studies
+reach&#8217;d no farther than the <i>Breviary</i>, the <i>Postils</i>, and <i>Polyanthea</i>.&#8221;
+For this Work he was attack&#8217;d more particularly by three Divines,
+<i>Tillesly</i>, <i>Mountagu</i>, and <i>Nettles</i>. And their Success was thus
+originally represented<small><a name="f47.1" id="f47.1" href="#f47">[47]</a></small>, &#8220;That he was so gall&#8217;d by <i>Tillesly</i>, so
+gagg&#8217;d by <i>Mountagu</i>, and so stung by <i>Nettles</i>, that he never came off in
+any of his Undertakings with more loss of Credit.&#8221; And this Jest has
+pass&#8217;d much upon the World, and been continued down in many Books, where
+Mr. <i>Selden</i> is mention&#8217;d, to his Discredit with ignorant Readers, but not
+with the Knowing and Learned; who, as Dr. <i>Wotton</i> tells us<small><a name="f48.1" id="f48.1" href="#f48">[48]</a></small>, <i>have,
+now Party-heats are over, acquiesced in what Mr.</i> Selden advanc&#8217;d; <i>who
+first</i>, <span class="smcap">of all Christians</span>, <i>set the Affair</i> of Tythes <i>in a clear Light</i>.</p>
+
+<p>It is usually said the Comedy called <i>Ignoramus</i>, which is a Clergy-banter
+upon the <i>Law</i>, was a design&#8217;d Return for Mr. <i>Selden</i>&#8217;s <i>History of Tythes</i>.</p>
+
+<p>The Reverend Dr. <i>Beaumont</i>, late Master of St. <i>Peter</i>&#8217;s <i>College</i> and
+King&#8217;s Professor of Divinity, has given us a Book, entitled, &#8220;Some
+Observations <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span>upon the Apology of Dr. <i>Henry More</i> for his <i>Mystery of
+Godliness</i>;&#8221; which endeavours to render the said Doctor <i>ridiculous</i>, and
+set People a <i>laughing</i> at him, (<i>p. 9. &amp;c. 64.</i>) and used to be applauded
+as a complete Performance in the way of Raillery and Irony, and was well
+receiv&#8217;d for being directed against a Person esteem&#8217;d Heterodox.</p>
+
+<p>Many Clergymen have written Books to banter the Works of Mr. <i>Locke</i>,
+among whom Dr. <i>Edwards</i> must have the first Place; whose <i>Brief
+Vindication of the fundamental Articles of the Christian Faith</i>, which has
+the <i>Imprimatur</i> before it of <i>James</i>, <i>Beaumont</i>, <i>Covel</i>, and
+<i>Balderston</i>, four <i>Cambridge</i> Heads, was never exceeded by the most licentious <i>Droll</i>.</p>
+
+<p>When <i>Sorbier</i>&#8217;s <i>Voyage</i> to <i>England</i>, which was a pert and insolent
+Abuse and Satire on the Nation, and written in the <i>French</i> manner of
+contemptuously treating all Countries and Men but <i>France</i> and
+<i>Frenchmen</i>, was publish&#8217;d, it was deem&#8217;d proper that a drolling and
+satirical Answer should be given to it, and that the Reverend Dr. <i>Sprat</i>
+should be the <i>Droll</i> employ&#8217;d; who perform&#8217;d his Part according to the
+Expectation of the Drolling Court of King <i>Charles</i> II. and as the
+ingenious Mr. <i>Addison</i> tells us, <small><a name="f49.1" id="f49.1" href="#f49">[49]</a></small> <i>Vindicated the Honour of his
+Country, in a Book full of Satire and Ingenuity</i>.</p>
+
+<p>Bishop <i>Beveridge</i> ever pass&#8217;d for a serious and profound Divine; and his
+Writings have fix&#8217;d that Character upon him among the Religious of the
+High Church, who have receiv&#8217;d his <i>Private Thoughts</i> and his Volumes of
+<i>Sermons</i>, like <i>Manna</i> from Heaven. And yet possibly never Man had two
+more severe Attacks made upon him than he had; one by Bishop
+<i>Stillingfleet</i>, who in <i>A Vindication of their Majesties Authority to
+fill the Sees of</i><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span> <i>the depriv&#8217;d Bishops</i>, &amp;c. occasion&#8217;d by Dr.
+<i>Beveridge</i>&#8217;s Refusal of the Bishoprick of <i>Bath</i> and <i>Wells</i>, satirizes
+both his <i>Prudence</i> and his <i>Sincerity</i>; and another, by an ingenious
+Bishop also, who in <i>A short View of Dr.</i> Beveridge<i>&#8217;s Writings</i>, has in a
+most refin&#8217;d <i>drolling manner</i> represented those Writings as abounding in
+most absurd and ridiculous Divinity.</p>
+
+<p>But one of the justest and finest Pieces of <i>Irony</i>, and the most timely
+and seasonably vented, and that deserves perpetual Remembrance, is,
+<i>Andrews</i> the grave Bishop of <i>Winchester</i>&#8217;s Irony, on <i>Neal</i> the grave
+Bishop of <i>Durham</i>; of which we have the following Relation in the Poet
+<i>Waller</i>&#8217;s <i>Life</i>, prefix&#8217;d before his Works: &#8220;On the Day of the
+Dissolution of the last Parliament of King <i>James</i> the First, Mr.
+<i>Waller</i>, out of Curiosity or Respect, went to see the King at Dinner;
+with whom were Dr. <i>Andrews</i> the Bishop of <i>Winchester</i>, and Dr. <i>Neal</i>
+Bishop of <i>Durham</i>, standing behind his Majesty&#8217;s Chair. There happen&#8217;d
+something very extraordinary in the Conversation those Prelates had with
+the King, on which Mr. <i>Waller</i> did often reflect. His Majesty ask&#8217;d the
+Bishops, <i>My Lords, cannot I take my Subjects Money when I want it,
+without all this Formality in Parliament?</i> The Bishop of <i>Durham</i> readily
+answer&#8217;d, <i>God forbid, Sir, but you should; you are the Breath of our
+Nostrils</i>. Whereupon the King turn&#8217;d and said to the Bishop of
+<i>Winchester</i>, <i>Well, my Lord, what say you? Sir</i>, replied the Bishop, <i>I
+have no Skill to judge of Parliamentary Cases</i>. The King answer&#8217;d, <i>No
+Put-offs, my Lord; answer me presently. Then, Sir</i>, said he, <i>I think it
+is lawful for you to take my Brother</i> Neal<i>&#8217;s</i> <i>Money, for he offers it</i>.
+Mr. <i>Waller</i> said the Company was pleas&#8217;d with this Answer, and the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span> Wit
+of it seem&#8217;d to affect the King.&#8221; Which shews the exceeding Aptness and
+Usefulness of a good <i>Irony</i>; that can convey an Instruction to a vicious,
+evil, and tyrannical Prince, highly reflecting on his Conduct, without
+drawing on his Resentment.</p>
+
+<p>To these famous Divines I might add the most eminent and renowned
+Philosophers of Antiquity, who, either out of a Contempt of Mankind, or to
+gratify their peculiar Tempers, or to correct the Vices and Follies of
+Men, and to instil virtuous Maxims in those who would only receive them in
+some pleasant way, set up for good Humour, Mirth, and Drollery, as their
+standing Method of Life, and of Conversation with the World; and have left
+behind them some of their occasional Sayings upon record, which do more
+Honour to their Memories than the most elaborate Treatises would have
+done, and more Good to Men; upon whom a Jest, or witty Saying, is more
+fitted to operate and make Impression than long Deductions and Reasonings,
+and particularly on Princes and great Men, who will receive no Instruction
+but in some very artful and short Way: whereof even the rude <i>Diogenes</i>,
+the <i>Cynick</i>, has given us a most incomparable Example, in his occasional
+Conference with <i>Alexander the Great</i>, who was put into such Temper by the
+mere Freedom and Raillery of the Philosopher, as to take every thing in
+good part he said to him, and consequently be dispos&#8217;d to reflect upon it,
+and to act with Discretion. At the Head of these Philosophers I place
+<span class="smcap">Socrates</span>, who has very generally in all Ages pass&#8217;d for the <i>wisest</i> of
+<i>Men</i>, and was declared so by an <i>Oracle</i>; which, at least, was therein
+directed and influenc&#8217;d by some considerable human Authority, or by the
+common Sentiments of Men at that time. His Character I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span> shall give you in
+the words of the most ingenious <i>Addison</i>, who was himself a Master of
+<i>Humour</i> and <i>Drollery</i>, and practis&#8217;d them in Perfection, and with great
+Success in almost all his Prose-writings. &#8220;<i>Socrates</i>, says he<small><a name="f50.1" id="f50.1" href="#f50">[50]</a></small>, who
+was the greatest Propagator of Morality in the Heathen World, and a Martyr
+for the Unity of the Godhead, was so famous for the exercise of the Talent
+[of Raillery and Humour] among the politest People of Antiquity, that he
+gain&#8217;d the Name of <span class="smcap">the Drole</span>.<small><a name="f51.1" id="f51.1" href="#f51">[51]</a></small>&#8221; A Character that intitled him to the
+greatest Merit, as it most of all enabled him to promote Virtue.</p>
+
+<p>I might also offer to your Confederation the Affair of <i>Comedies</i>; which
+all polite Governments have permitted, or establish&#8217;d, in their several
+populous and wealthy Cities, as the necessary and proper means to
+encounter Vice and recommend Virtue, and to employ innocently and usefully
+the vacant Hours of many, who know not how to employ their Time, or would
+employ it amiss, by entering into <small><a name="f52.1" id="f52.1" href="#f52">[52]</a></small> Factions and Cabals to disturb the
+State; or by Gaming, or by backbiting Conversations about their
+Neighbours. And as <i>Comedies</i>, which were originally very gross, grew by
+Use more polite and refin&#8217;d in <i>Satire</i> and <i>Raillery</i>: so the most
+celebrated Wits and Statesmen, and Persons of the greatest Quality, have
+engag&#8217;d and join&#8217;d with others in them, and performed with the greatest
+Success and Reputation to themselves; and have been valu&#8217;d, not only for
+their Talents of <i>Irony</i> and <i>Drollery</i>, which were essential to the
+Credit of such Performances; but applauded, as acting the virtuous Part of <i>Droles</i>.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span>In fine, Books of Satire, Wit,
+Humour, <ins class="correction" title="original reads 'Rididicule'">Ridicule</ins>, Drollery, and Irony, are
+the most read and applauded of all Books, in all Ages, Languages, and
+Countries. And as those which are exquisite in their kinds, are the
+standing Entertainment of the Ingenious and Learned; so others, of a lower
+kind, are to be found among the lower Readers, who sleep under all Works which do not make them merry.</p>
+
+<p>In a word, the Opinions and Practices of Men in all Matters, and
+especially in Matters of Religion, are generally so absurd and ridiculous
+that it is impossible for them not to be the Subjects of Ridicule.</p>
+
+<p>For what else can be expected from Men who generally take up their
+Opinions without any Inquiry into their Reasonableness or Truth, and upon
+the most incompetent Grounds? I cannot be supposed to injure Mankind, if I
+consider them under the Character which the very ingenious Sir <i>Richard
+Steele</i> gives of himself; who <i>acknowledges</i> <small><a name="f53.1" id="f53.1" href="#f53">[53]</a></small> that (even while he took
+upon himself the Title of the <i>Censor</i> of <i>Great Britain</i>, and in so many
+fine Papers corrects his Countrymen, and particularly <i>the Freethinkers</i>,
+whom he directs the Magistrate to punish with Death) <i>it had been with
+him, as it is with too many others, that a</i> <small><a href="#f53">[53]</a></small> <i>sort of an</i> implicit
+Religion <i>seem&#8217;d the most easy and most comfortable; and that a blind
+Veneration for</i> he knew not what, <i>and he</i> knew not whom, <i>stood for every
+thing important</i>. And he <i>confesses</i> he <i>was not enough aware, that this
+Implicitness of Conduct is the great Engine of Popery, fram&#8217;d for the
+Destruction of</i> good Nature, <i>as well as</i> good Sense. If so great a Man
+could take up with such a Method, and act the Part of a <i>Censor</i> and
+Director<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span> of others, in a Matter which he had not at all consider&#8217;d, what
+can be expected else from others, but absurd and ridiculous Opinions and Practices?</p>
+
+<p>And if some Men will fall into absurd and ridiculous Opinions, Habits,
+Forms, Figures and Grimaces; there will be those who will <i>laugh</i>, nay,
+cannot help <i>laughing</i> at them. Hence most Parties laugh at one another,
+without the least Scruple, and with great Applause of their own Parties;
+and the Leaders of the same Party laugh with one another, when they
+consider the absurd and ridiculous Opinions they profess, and how they
+cheat and govern their Followers; agreeably to what <i>Cicero</i> reports of
+<i>Cato</i><small><a name="f54.1" id="f54.1" href="#f54">[54]</a></small>, &#8220;<i>Vetus autem illud</i> Catonis <i>admodum scitum est, qui</i> mirari
+se <i>aiebat, quod non rideret haruspex cum haruspicem vidisset</i>.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>I think it may be justly suppos&#8217;d, that Pope <i>Alexander</i> and <i>Thomas
+Becket</i> could not but laugh together at the Simplicity and Weakness of
+their Followers, the Papists, who receiv&#8217;d for truth the following Story.
+It was told as a Fact<small><a name="f55.1" id="f55.1" href="#f55">[55]</a></small>, &#8220;that when <i>Thomas Becket</i>, who never drank any
+thing but Water, sat at Table with <i>Pope Alexander</i>, and that his Holiness
+would needs taste of his Cup; lest his abstemiousness should be known, God
+turn&#8217;d the Water into Wine: so that the <i>Pope</i> found nothing but Wine in
+the Cup. But when <i>Becket</i> pledg&#8217;d him, it was turn&#8217;d into Water again.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p><i>Laughing</i> therefore, and <i>Ridicule</i> in <i>serious Matters</i>, go round the
+World with no inconsiderable Applause, and seem highly proper for this
+World of Nonsense and Folly. To hinder <i>laughing</i> upon such just Occasions
+as are given, is almost all one <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span>as to hinder <i>breathing</i>. A very witty,
+drolling, Dramatick Poet, and of the first Rank for Quality, says in a
+<i>Prologue</i> to his Auditors.</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+&#8220;<i>Suppose now, at this Instant, one of you</i><br />
+&#8220;<i>Were tickled by a Fool, what would you do?</i><br />
+&#8220;<i>&#8217;Tis ten to one you&#8217;d</i> laugh: <i>here&#8217;s just the Case.</i><br />
+&#8220;<i>For there are Fools that tickle with their Face.</i><br />
+&#8220;<i>Your gay Fool tickles with his Dress and Motions;</i><br />
+&#8220;<i>But your</i> grave Fool <i>of</i> Fools <i>with</i> silly Notions.<br />
+&#8220;<i>Is it not then unjust that Fops should still</i><br />
+&#8220;<i>Force one to</i> laugh, <i>and then take laughing ill?</i></p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>II. <i>Secondly</i>, If it be a Fault in those reverend Divines, mention&#8217;d in
+the foregoing Article, to use <i>Irony</i>, <i>Drollery</i>, <i>Ridicule</i>, and
+<i>Satire</i>, in any Case; or if the Fault lies in an exorbitant Use thereof,
+or in any particular Species of <i>Drollery</i>; as, for example, such
+<i>Drollery</i> as is to be found in the polemical Writings and Sermons of Dr.
+<i>South</i>; it is fit some Remedy should be employ&#8217;d for the Cure of this
+Evil. And the Remedy I would propose, should not be to have the Authors
+punish&#8217;d by the Magistrate, any more than for any other Faults in writing;
+but either to neglect and despise it, as Rage and Scolding, which drop
+into Oblivion with the Sound, and would have a Life given it by
+Resentment: or to allow Men to <i>criticize</i> and <i>ridicule</i> one another for
+their <i>Ironies</i> and <i>Drollery</i>, and to exercise their Wit and Parts
+against each other; that being the true Method to bring Things to a
+Standard, to fix the Decency and Propriety of Writing, to teach Men how to
+write to the Satisfaction of the ingenious, polite, and sensible Part of
+Mankind: for Decency and Propriety will stand the Test of Ridicule, and
+triumph over all the false Pretences to Wit; and Indecency and
+Impropriety<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span> will sink under the Trial of Ridicule, as being capable of
+being baffled by Reason, and justly ridicul&#8217;d. And if any kind or degree
+of <i>Ridicule</i> be absurd or <i>ridiculous</i>, that will appear so upon Trial,
+no less than the low and gross <i>Ridicule</i> prevalent among the unpolite
+Part of the World: But that will never appear. On the contrary, <i>Ridicule</i>
+of certain kinds, and under reasonable Directions and Rules, and used in
+proper Time, Place, and Manner, (all which also are only to be found out
+and fix&#8217;d by Trial and Experience) is both a proper and necessary Method
+of Discourse in many Cases, and especially in the Case of <i>Gravity</i>, when
+that is attended with Hypocrisy or Imposture, or with Ignorance, or with
+soureness of Temper and Persecution; all which ought to draw after them
+the <i>Ridicule</i> and <i>Contempt</i> of the Society, which has no other effectual
+Remedy against such Methods of Imposition. And to determine in some
+measure the Nature and Extent of the <i>Irony</i> I contend for, as <i>Just</i>, I
+profess to approve the noble <i>Sarcasm</i> of <i>Elijah</i><small><a name="f56.1" id="f56.1" href="#f56">[56]</a></small>; wherein he thus
+mocks the <i>Priests</i> of <i>Baal</i>, saying in effect to them, &#8220;<i>Cry aloud, for</i>
+your <i>Baal</i> is a fine God: <i>He is either talking, or he is pursuing, or he
+is in a Journey; or peradventure he sleepeth, and must be awaked</i>.&#8221; And I
+concur with the <i>Psalmist</i><small><a name="f57.1" id="f57.1" href="#f57">[57]</a></small>, who thought it no Indecency to say, that
+<i>he that sits in Heaven shall laugh them</i> (that is, certain Kings, who
+were <i>David</i>&#8217;s Enemies) <i>to scorn; the Lord shall have them in Derision</i>:
+and must judge, that <i>laughing to scorn</i>, and <i>deriding</i> the greatest Men
+upon Earth, even Kings and Princes, to be a laudable and divine Method of
+dealing with them, who are only to be taught or rebuk&#8217;d in some artful
+way. I also approve of the following <i>Sarcasm</i> or <i>Irony</i>, which <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span>has a
+better Authority for it than <i>Elijah</i> or the <i>Psalmist</i>. <i>Moses</i>
+introduces God speaking thus after the Fall<small><a name="f58.1" id="f58.1" href="#f58">[58]</a></small>, <i>Behold the Man is become
+like one of us, to know Good and Evil!</i> And I think this Passage shews,
+that the whole Affair of the <i>Fall</i>, of which we have so very brief an
+Account, was a very entertaining Scene; and would have appear&#8217;d so, if set
+forth at large; as indeed it does under the Hands of our Divines, who have
+supplied that short Narration by various Additions, founded on
+Conjectures, and particularly under the fine Hand of Dr. <i>Tho. Burnet</i>,
+who has made a most ingenious Dialogue of what he suppos&#8217;d pass&#8217;d between
+<i>Eve</i> and the <i>Serpent</i><small><a name="f59.1" id="f59.1" href="#f59">[59]</a></small>. To say nothing of <i>Milton</i>&#8217;s famous <i>Paradise Lost</i>.</p>
+
+<p>In fine, ever since I could read the <i>Bible</i>, I was particularly pleas&#8217;d
+with the <i>History</i> of <i>Jonas</i>, where such a Representation is made of that
+<i>Prophet</i>&#8217;s Ignorance, Folly, and Peevishness, as exposes him to the
+utmost Contempt and Scorn, and fixes a perpetual <i>Ridicule</i> on his
+Character. And let me here observe, that this <i>History</i> has had ample
+Justice done it, in an Explication thereof by <i>two</i> <small><a name="f60.1" id="f60.1" href="#f60">[60]</a></small> very ingenious
+Authors, who, by most penetrating and happy Criticisms and Reflections,
+have drawn the Character of <i>Jonas</i> in a more open manner.</p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>III. But, <i>Thirdly</i>, I wave my <i>Remedy</i>, and am ready to come into any Law
+that shall be made to rectify this suppos&#8217;d Fault of <i>Irony</i>, by punishing those who are guilty of it.</p>
+
+<p>The great Concern is and ought to be, that <i>the Liberty of examining into
+the Truth of Things should be</i><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span> <i>kept up</i>, that Men may have some Sense and
+Knowledge, and not be the <i>Dupes</i> of <i>Cheats</i> and <i>Impostors</i>, or of those
+who would keep them in the dark, and let them receive nothing but thro&#8217;
+their Hands. If that be secur&#8217;d to us by Authority, I, for my part, am
+very ready to sacrifice the Privilege of <i>Irony</i>, tho so much in fashion
+among all Men; being persuaded, that a great Part of the <i>Irony</i>
+complain&#8217;d of, has its rise from the <i>want of Liberty to examine into the
+Truth of Things</i>; and that if that <i>Liberty</i> was prevalent, it would,
+without a Law, prevent all that <i>Irony</i> which Men are driven into for want
+of Liberty to speak plainly, and to protect themselves from the Attacks of
+those who would take the Advantage to ruin them for direct Assertions; and
+that such Authors as <i>Rabelais</i>, <i>Saint Aldegonde</i>, <i>Blount</i>, <i>Marvel</i>,
+<i>Thekeringil</i>, and many others, would never have run into that Excess of
+<i>Burlesque</i>, for which they are all so famous, had not the Restraint from
+writing <i>seriously</i> been so great.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;If <small><a name="f61.1" id="f61.1" href="#f61">[61]</a></small> Men are forbid to speak their Minds <i>seriously</i> on certain
+Subjects, they will do it <i>ironically</i>. If they are forbid at all upon
+such Subjects, or if they find it dangerous to do so, they will then
+redouble their Disguise, involve themselves in mysteriousness, and talk so
+as hardly to be understood, or at least not plainly interpreted by those
+who are dispos&#8217;d to do them a Mischief. And thus <i>Raillery</i> is brought
+more in fashion, and runs into an Extreme. &#8217;Tis the persecuting Spirit has
+rais&#8217;d the <i>bantering</i> one: And want of Liberty may account for want of a
+true Politeness, and for the Corruption or wrong Use of Pleasantry and Humour.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span>&#8220;If in this respect we strain the just Measure of what we call <i>Urbanity</i>,
+and are apt sometimes to take a buffooning rustick Air, we may thank the
+ridiculous Solemnity and sour Humour of our <i>Pedagogues</i>: or rather they
+may thank themselves, if they in particular meet with the heaviest of this
+kind of Treatment. For it will naturally fall heaviest, where the
+Constraint has been the severest. The greater the Weight is, the bitterer
+will be the Satire. The higher the Slavery, the more exquisite the Buffoonery.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;That this is really so, may appear by looking on those Countries where
+the spiritual Tyranny is highest. For the greatest of <i>Buffoons</i> are the
+<i>Italians</i>: and in their Writings, in their freer sort of Conversations,
+on their Theatres, and in their <i>Streets</i>, <i>Buffoonery</i> and <i>Burlesque</i>
+are in the highest Vogue. &#8217;Tis the only manner in which the poor cramp&#8217;d
+Wretches can discharge a free Thought. We must yield to &#8217;em the
+Superiority in this sort of Wit. For what wonder is it if we, who have
+more Liberty, have less Dexterity in that egregious way of <i>Raillery</i> and <i>Ridicule</i>?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Liberty of <i>grave</i> Examination being fix&#8217;d by Law, I am, I say, ready to
+sacrifice the Privilege of <i>Irony</i>, and yield to have a Law enacted to
+prevent it. I am, moreover, willing to leave the drawing up such a Law to
+your self; who honestly and impartially say<small><a name="f62.1" id="f62.1" href="#f62">[62]</a></small>, that all who <i>droll</i>, let
+them be of any Party, let them <i>droll for the Truth or against it</i>, should be equally punish&#8217;d.</p>
+
+<p>Thus this grand Affair of <i>Irony</i>, <i>Banter</i>, and <i>Ridicule</i>; this last
+persecuting Pretence, upon which you would set the Humours and Passions of
+People,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span> who are all at quiet, on float, and make a Fermentation, and
+raise a Persecution against particular People, seems perfectly settled, by
+yielding to your own Terms.</p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>IV. Let me here add, that I am apt to think, that when you draw up your
+Law, you will find it so very difficult to settle the Point of <i>Decency</i>
+in Writing, in respect to all the various kinds of <i>Irony</i> and <i>Ridicule</i>,
+that you will be ready to lay aside your Project; and that you will be no
+more able to settle that <i>Point of Decency</i>, than you would be to settle
+by Law, that <i>Cleanliness</i> in Clothes, and that Politeness in Dress,
+Behaviour, and Conversation, which become Men of Quality and Fortune in
+the World, and should be habitual to them: And that, if you are able to do
+that to your own Satisfaction, you will find it very difficult to engage
+the Lawmakers in your Project. For I am persuaded, that if our Lawmakers
+were, out of a rational Principle, disposed to give Liberty by Law to
+<i>serious</i> Opposition to publickly receiv&#8217;d Notions, they would not think
+it of much Importance to make a <i>Law</i> about a Method of <i>Irony</i>. They will
+naturally conclude, that if Men may and ought to be allow&#8217;d to write
+<i>seriously</i> in Opposition to publickly receiv&#8217;d Doctrines, they should be
+allow&#8217;d to write in their own way; and will be unwilling to be depriv&#8217;d of
+ingenious and witty Discourses, or such as some of them will judge so,
+about a Subject wherein <i>serious free</i> Discourse is allow&#8217;d. Besides, I am
+apt to think, that you, upon consideration of the Advantages which the
+Church has receiv&#8217;d from the <i>Berkenheads</i>, the <i>Heylins</i>, the <i>Ryves&#8217;s</i>,
+the <i>Needhams</i>, the <i>Lestranges</i>, the <i>Nalsons</i>, the <i>Lesleys</i>, the
+<i>Oldesworths</i>, and others, in their <i>Mercurius Aulicus</i>&#8217;s, their
+<i>Mercurius Pragmaticus&#8217;s</i>,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span> their <i>Mercurius Rusticus&#8217;s</i>, their
+<i>Observators</i><small><a name="f63.1" id="f63.1" href="#f63">[63]</a></small>, their <i>Heraclitus Ridens</i>&#8217;s, <i>Rehearsals</i>, their
+<i>Examiners</i><small><a name="f64.1" id="f64.1" href="#f64">[64]</a></small>, and the three Volumes against the <i>Rights of the Church</i>;
+from the <i>Butlers</i> in their <i>Hudibras</i>&#8217;s, and other Burlesque Works upon
+the Religion and Religious Conduct of the Dissenters; or from the
+<i>Eachards</i>, the <i>Tom Browns</i>, and <i>Swifts</i>; or from the <i>Parkers</i><small><a name="f65.1" id="f65.1" href="#f65">[65]</a></small>,
+<i>Patricks</i><small><a name="f66.1" id="f66.1" href="#f66">[66]</a></small>, <i>Souths</i><small><a name="f67.1" id="f67.1" href="#f67">[67]</a></small>,
+<i>Sherlocks</i><small><a name="f68.1" id="f68.1" href="#f68">[68]</a></small>, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span><i>Atterburys</i><small><a name="f69.1" id="f69.1" href="#f69">[69]</a></small>, and
+<i>Sacheverels</i><small><a name="f70.1" id="f70.1" href="#f70">[70]</a></small>; in their Discourses, and Tracts against the
+Nonconformists, Whigs, Low-Church-men, and Latitudinarians; and other such
+ironical, satirical, and polemical Divines; and from such <i>drolling</i>
+Judges as <i>Howel</i>, <i>Recorder</i> of London, and the Chief Justice <i>Jefferys</i>,
+who, in all Causes, where <i>Whigs</i> or Dissenters were the Persons accus&#8217;d
+and try&#8217;d before them, carried on the Trial by a <small><a name="f71.1" id="f71.1" href="#f71">[71]</a></small> Train of ridicule on
+them, their Witnesses and Counsel: I say, I am apt to think, that you
+would be unwilling to be depriv&#8217;d of what has been and may be again so serviceable.</p>
+
+<p>I am dispos&#8217;d to think that Dr. <i>Snape</i>, who is notoriously known to have
+gone into the greatest Lengths of Calumny and Satire against Bishop
+<i>Hoadley</i><small><a name="f72.1" id="f72.1" href="#f72">[72]</a></small>, to have fall&#8217;n upon the dissenting Clergy in a burlesque
+and bantering Address to the <i>Peirces</i>, the <i>Calamys</i>, and the
+<i>Bradburys</i>, and to have written a long <i>ironical Letter</i> in the Name of
+the <i>Jesuits</i> to Mr. <i>de la Pilloniere</i><small><a name="f73.1" id="f73.1" href="#f73">[73]</a></small>, will be thought a very
+improper Object of Censure for such Employment of his Pen. On the
+contrary, such sort of Attacks upon such Persons are the most meritorious
+Parts of a Man&#8217;s Life, recommend him as a Person of true and sincere
+Religion, much more than the strongest Reasoning, and the most regular
+Life; and pave the way to all the Riches, and Pleasures<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span> and Advantages or
+Life; not only among those, who, under the Colour of Religion, are
+carrying on a common <i>Corporation Cause</i> of Wealth, Power, and Authority,
+but among many well-meaning People, who allow of all Practices, which they
+suppose help out the <i>Truth</i>! It seems to me a most prodigious Banter upon
+us, for Men to talk in general of the <i>Immorality</i> of <i>Ridicule</i> and
+<i>Irony</i>, and of <i>punishing</i> Men for those Matters, when their own Practice
+is <i>universal Irony</i> and <i>Ridicule</i> of all those who go not with them, and
+<i>universal Applause</i> and <i>Encouragement</i> for such <i>Ridicule</i> and <i>Irony</i>,
+and distinguishing by all the honourable ways imaginable such <i>drolling</i>
+Authors for their Drollery; and when Punishment for <i>Drollery</i> is never
+call&#8217;d for, but when <i>Drollery</i> is used or employ&#8217;d against them!</p>
+
+<p>I don&#8217;t know whether you would be willing, if you consider of it, to limit
+the Stage it self, which has with great Applause and Success, from Queen
+<i>Elizabeth</i>&#8217;s Time downwards, ridicul&#8217;d the serious <i>Puritans</i> and
+<i>Dissenters</i>, and that without any Complaints from <i>good Churchmen</i>, that
+<i>serious</i> Persons and Things were <i>banter&#8217;d</i> and <i>droll&#8217;d</i> upon; and has
+triumph&#8217;d over its fanatical Adversaries in the Person of <i>Pryn</i>, who
+sufficiently suffer&#8217;d for his <i>Histrio-Mastix</i>, and has been approv&#8217;d of
+as an innocent Diversion by the religious Dr. <i>Patrick</i> in his <i>Friendly
+Debate</i>, in the Reign of King <i>Charles</i> II. when the Stage was in a very
+immoral State. I don&#8217;t know whether you would be willing even to restrain
+<i>Bartholomew Fair</i>, where the Sect of the <i>New Prophets</i> was the Subject
+of a <i>Droll</i> or <i>Puppet-Show</i>, to the great Satisfaction of the Auditors,
+who, it may be presum&#8217;d, were all good Churchmen, <i>Puritans</i> and
+<i>Dissenters</i> usually declining such Entertainments out<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span> of <i>real</i> or
+<i>pretended</i> Seriousness. (&#8220;A certain Clergyman thought fit to remark, that
+King <i>William</i> could be no good Churchman, because of his not frequenting
+the <i>Play-House</i>.&#8221;<small><a name="f74.1" id="f74.1" href="#f74">[74]</a></small>)</p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>V. It will probably be a Motive with you to be against abolishing
+<i>Drollery</i>, when you reflect that the Men of <i>Irony</i>, the <i>Droles</i> and
+<i>Satirists</i>, have been and always will be very numerous on your side,
+where they have been and are so much incourag&#8217;d for acting that Part, and
+that they have always been and always will be very few on the side of
+<i>Heterodoxy</i>; a Cause wherein an Author by engaging, may hurt his
+Reputation and Fortune, and can propose nothing to himself but Poverty and
+Disgrace. I doubt whether you would be for punishing your Friend Dr.
+<i>Rogers</i>, from whom I just now quoted an <i>Irony</i> on the Author of <i>The
+Scheme of Literal Prophecy consider&#8217;d</i>, or any one else, for <i>laughing</i> at
+and making sport with him; or whether you would be for punishing the
+Reverend Mr. <i>Trapp</i>, who implies the <i>Justness</i> and <i>Propriety of
+ridiculing Popery</i>; when he says<small><a name="f75.1" id="f75.1" href="#f75">[75]</a></small>, that <i>Popery is so foolish and
+absurd, that every body of common Sense must</i> <span class="smcap">laugh</span> <i>at it</i>; and when he
+refers to <i>Erasmus</i> for having <i>abundantly</i> <span class="smcap">ridicul&#8217;d</span> their <i>Reliques</i>;
+and himself puts <i>Ridicule</i> in Practice against them, by representing
+their Doctrines and Practices as <i>ridiculously foolish</i>, as <i>despicably
+childish</i>, and <i>Matter of mere Scorn</i>; as <i>monstrous</i>; as <i>Spells</i>,
+<i>juggling Tricks</i>, <i>gross Cheats</i>, <i>Impostures</i><small><a name="f76.1" id="f76.1" href="#f76">[76]</a></small>, and <i>wretched
+Shifts</i>; and in fine, in representing by way of <i>Specimen</i>, all their
+<i>Miracles</i> as <i>Legends</i>; of which he says, <i>These and a thousand more such
+like unreasonable Lies, which a Child of common Sense</i><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span> <i>would laugh at, are
+impos&#8217;d upon and swallow&#8217;d by the ignorant People, and make a</i> <span class="smcap">very great</span>
+<i>Part of the Popish Religion.</i></p>
+
+<p>And this, in concurrence with Mr. <i>Trapp</i>, I also take to be the Case of
+Popery, that it must make Men <i>laugh</i>; and that it is much easier to be
+gravely disposed in reading a <i>Stage-Comedy</i> or <i>Farce</i>, than in
+considering and reflecting on the <i>Comedy</i> and <i>Farce</i> of <i>Popery</i>; than
+which, Wit and Folly, and Madness in conjunction, cannot invent or make a
+thing more ridiculous, according to that Light in which I see their
+Doctrines, Ceremonies and Worship, the Histories and Legends of their
+Saints, and the pretended Miracles wrought in their Church; which has
+hardly any thing <i>serious</i> in it but its Persecutions, its Murders, its
+Massacres; all employ&#8217;d against the most innocent and virtuous, and the
+most sensible and learned Men, because they will not be <i>Tools</i> to support
+Villany and Ignorance.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Transubstantiation, says <i>Tillotson</i><small><a name="f77.1" id="f77.1" href="#f77">[77]</a></small>, is not a Controversy of
+Scripture against Scripture, or of Reason against Reason, but of downright
+Impudence against the plain meaning of Scripture, and all the Sense and
+Reason of Mankind.&#8221; And accordingly he scruples not to say, in a most
+<i>drolling</i> manner, that &#8220;Transubstantiation is one of the chief of the
+<i>Roman</i> Church&#8217;s <i>legerdemain</i> and <i>juggling Tricks</i> of Falshood and
+Imposture; and that in all Probability those common juggling Words of
+<i>Hocus-pocus</i>, are nothing else but a Corruption of <i>hoc est corpus</i>, by
+way of ridiculous Imitation of the Church of <i>Rome</i> in their <i>Trick</i> of
+<i>Transubstantiation</i>.&#8221; And as he <i>archly</i> makes the Introduction of this
+monstrous Piece of <i>grave Nonsense</i> to be owing to its being at first
+preach&#8217;d by its Promoters with <i>convenient Gravity and</i><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span>
+<i>Solemnity</i><small><a name="f78.1" id="f78.1" href="#f78">[78]</a></small>,
+which is the common Method of imposing Absurdities on the World; so I
+think that Doctrine taught with such <i>convenient Gravity and Solemnity</i>
+should necessarily produce <i>Levity, Laughter and Ridicule</i>, in all
+intelligent People to whom it is propos&#8217;d, who must <i>smile</i>, if they can
+with safety, to see such Stuff vented with a grave Face.</p>
+
+<p>In like manner many other Divines treat and laugh at <i>Popery</i>. Even the
+solemn and grave Dr. <i>Whitby</i> has written a Book against
+<i>Transubstantiation</i>, under the Title of &#8220;Irrisio Dei Panarii, <i>The
+Derision of the Breaden God</i>,&#8221; in Imitation of the primitive Fathers, who
+have written <i>Derisions</i> and <i>Mockeries</i> of the <i>Pagan</i> Religion.</p>
+
+<p>And he takes the Materials whereof this drolling Performance of his
+consists, from the <i>holy Scriptures</i>, the <i>Apocryphal Books</i>, and
+<i>Writings</i> of the <i>holy Fathers</i>, as he tells us in his Title-Page; three
+inexhaustible Sources of Wit and Irony against the Corrupters of true and
+genuine Religion. In like manner he turns upon the Popish Clergy the
+several Arguments urg&#8217;d by the <i>Jewish</i> Clergy in the <i>New Testament</i>, for
+the Authority of the <i>Jewish</i> Church; and answers, under that <i>Irony</i>, all
+that the Popish Clergy offer in behalf of the <i>Authority</i> of their
+<i>Church</i>, in a <i>Sermon</i> at the End of his <i>Annotations</i> on St. <i>John</i>&#8217;s <i>Gospel</i>.</p>
+
+<p>Nor do our Divines confine their <i>Derisions</i>, <i>Ridicule</i> and <i>Irony</i>
+against <i>Popery</i> to their Treatises and Discourses, but fill their
+<i>Sermons</i>, and especially their <i>Sermons</i> on the <i>Fifth</i> of <i>November</i>,
+and other political <i>Days</i>, with infinite Reflections of that Kind. Of
+these <i>Reflections</i> a Popish Author publish&#8217;d a <i>Specimen</i>, in a Book
+intitled<small><a name="f79.1" id="f79.1" href="#f79">[79]</a></small>, <i>Good Advice</i>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span><i>to Pulpits</i>, in order to shame the Church out
+of their Method of <i>drolling</i> and <i>laughing</i> <small><a name="f80.1" id="f80.1" href="#f80">[80]</a></small> at <i>Popery</i>. But this
+Book had no other effect, than to produce a <i>Defence</i> of those <i>Sermons</i>
+under the Title of <i>Pulpit Popery true Popery</i>, vindicating the several
+<i>Droll</i> Representations made of <i>Popery</i> in those <i>Sermons</i>.</p>
+
+<p>Of these <i>drolling</i> Reflections cited by the Popish Author out of our
+Church of <i>England Sermons</i>, take these following for a Specimen of what
+are to be met with in those <i>Sermons</i><small><a name="f81.1" id="f81.1" href="#f81">[81]</a></small>.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Pilgrimages, going Bare-foot, Hair-shirts, and Whips, with other such
+Gospel-artillery, are their only Helps to Devotion.&mdash;&mdash;It seems that with
+them a Man sometimes cannot be a Penitent, unless he also turns Vagabond,
+and foots it to <i>Jerusalem</i>.&mdash;&mdash;He that thinks to expiate a Sin by going
+bare-foot, does the Penance of a Goose, and only makes one Folly the
+Atonement of another. <i>Paul</i> indeed was scourg&#8217;d and beaten by the <i>Jews</i>;
+but we never read that he beat or scourg&#8217;d himself; and if they think his
+keeping under his Body imports so much, they must first prove that the
+Body cannot be kept under by a virtuous Mind, and that the Mind cannot be
+made virtuous but by a Scourge; and consequently, that Thongs and Whipcord
+are Means of Grace, and Things necessary to Salvation. The truth is, if
+Mens Religion lies no deeper than their Skin, it is possible they may
+scourge themselves into very great Improvements.&mdash;&mdash;But they will find
+that bodily Exercise touches not the Soul; and consequently that in this
+whole Course they are like Men out of the way: let them flash on never so
+fast, they <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span>are not at all nearer their Journey&#8217;s-end: And howsoever they
+deceive themselves and others, they may as well expect to bring a Cart, as a Soul, to Heaven.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;What say you to the Popish Doctrine of the <i>Sacrifice of the
+Mass</i>.&mdash;&mdash;According to this Doctrine, our blessed Saviour must still, to
+the end of the World, be laid hold on by Sinners, be ground with their
+Teeth, and sent down into their impure Paunches, as often as the Priest
+shall pronounce this Charm, <i>hoc est corpus meum</i>: and it seems that he
+was a false Prophet, when he said upon the Cross, <i>It is finish&#8217;d</i>, seeing
+there was such an infinite deal of <i>loathsom Drudgery</i> still to be undergone.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;For <i>Purgatory</i>, &#8217;tis not material in it self, whether it be, or where it
+be, no more than the World in the Moon; but so long as that false Fire
+serves to maintain a true one, and his Holiness&#8217;s Kitchen smokes with the
+Rents he receives for releasing Souls from thence, which never came there,
+it concerns him and his to see to it, that it be not suffer&#8217;d to go out.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>An ingenious Author, Sir <i>Richard Steel</i>, has of late made a <i>Dedication</i>
+to his <i>Holiness</i> the <i>Pope</i> himself, before a Book entitled, <i>An Account
+of the State of the Roman Catholick Religion throughout the World</i>, &amp;c. In
+which <i>Dedication</i>, that most exalted Clergyman the <i>Pope</i>, that
+[suppos&#8217;d] infallible Dictator in Religion, and most grave Person; who, if
+<i>serious</i> Matters and Persons were always to be treated <i>seriously</i>, may
+vie with any other Mortal for a Right to <i>serious</i> Treatment; is expos&#8217;d
+by incomparable <i>Drollery</i> and <i>Irony</i> to the utmost Contempt, to the
+universal Satisfaction of Protestant Readers, who have been pleas&#8217;d to see
+a gross Impostor, however<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span> respected and ador&#8217;d by godly and serious
+Papists, so treated.</p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>VI. In fine, it is suited to the common Practice of this Nation to
+ridicule <i>Popery</i> as well as <i>Nonconformity</i>; and tho several <i>grave</i>
+Books, written among us against Popery, in the Reign of King <i>James</i> II.
+(of which yet the <i>Romish</i> Priests complain&#8217;d, as treating the King&#8217;s <small><a name="f82.1" id="f82.1" href="#f82">[82]</a></small>
+<i>Religion</i> with Contempt) were then very well receiv&#8217;d and applauded for
+Learning and strength of Arguing; yet, I believe, it may with more
+Propriety be said, that King <i>James</i> II. and <i>Popery</i> were <small><a name="f83.1" id="f83.1" href="#f83">[83]</a></small> <i>laugh&#8217;d</i>
+or <i>Lilli-bullero&#8217;d</i>, than that they were <i>argu&#8217;d</i> out of the Kingdom.</p>
+
+<p>The reading the <i>King&#8217;s Declaration of Indulgence</i> in Churches 1688, had
+this fatal <i>Jest</i> put upon it by a reverend Divine, &#8220;Who pleasantly told
+his People, <i>That tho he was obliged to read it, they were not obliged to
+hear it</i><small><a name="f84.1" id="f84.1" href="#f84">[84]</a></small>; and stop&#8217;d till they all went out, and then he read it to
+the Walls.&#8221; To which may be added, the famous Mr. <i>Wallop</i>&#8217;s excellent
+Comparison of that <i>Declaration</i> upon the Instant of its Publication, to
+<i>the scaffolding of St.</i> Paul<i>&#8217;s Church; which, as soon as the Building
+was finish&#8217;d, would be pull&#8217;d down</i>.</p>
+
+<p>Bishop <i>Burnet</i> celebrates, with the greatest Justness, our Taste, and
+indeed the Taste of the World in this Respect, when he relates how
+<i>Popery</i> was then used among us; and he recites some of the <i>Jests</i> which
+passed and were received with universal Applause. He tells us<small><a name="f85.1" id="f85.1" href="#f85">[85]</a></small>, &#8220;The
+Court was now (that is, in 1686,) much set on making Converts, which
+fail&#8217;d in most Instances, and produc&#8217;d <i>Repartees</i>; that whether true or
+false, were much repeated, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span>and were heard with great Satisfaction. The
+Earl of <i>Mulgrave</i> (since Duke of <i>Buckinghamshire</i>) was Lord Chamberlain;
+he was apt to comply in every thing that he thought might be acceptable,
+for he went with the King to Mass, and kneeled at it; and being look&#8217;d on
+as indifferent to all Religions, the Priests made an Attack upon him: He
+heard them <i>gravely</i> arguing for <i>Transubstantiation</i>. He told them he was
+willing to receive Instruction; he had taken much Pains to bring himself
+to believe in God, who made the World and all Men in it: But it must not
+be an ordinary Force of Argument that could make him believe that Man was
+quits with God, and made God again. The Earl of <i>Middleton</i> had marry&#8217;d
+into a Popish Family, and was a Man of great Parts and a generous Temper,
+but of loose Principles in Religion; so a Priest was sent to instruct him.
+He began with <i>Transubstantiation</i>, of which he said he would convince him
+immediately: And began thus, You believe the <i>Trinity</i>. <i>Middleton</i> stop&#8217;d
+him, and said, who told you so? At which he seem&#8217;d amazed. So the Earl
+said, he expected he should convince him of his Belief, but not question
+him of his own: With this the Priest was so disorder&#8217;d, that he could
+proceed no farther. One Day the King gave the Duke of <i>Norfolk</i> the Sword
+of State to carry before him to the Chappel, and he stood at the Door.
+Upon which the King said to him, My Lord, your Father would have gone
+farther. To which the Duke answer&#8217;d, Your Majesty&#8217;s Father was the better
+Man, and he would not have gone so far. <i>Kirk</i> was also spoken to, to
+change his Religion, and he reply&#8217;d briskly, that he was already
+pre-engag&#8217;d, for <i>he had promised the King of</i> Morocco, <i>that if ever</i><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span>
+<i>he chang&#8217;d his Religion he would turn</i> Mahometan.&#8221; When K. <i>James</i> sent an
+<i>Irish</i> Priest to convert the D. of <i>Bucks</i> [<i>Villers</i>] the said Duke
+entertain&#8217;d the Priest with a Bottle, and engag&#8217;d him in a <i>Dialogue</i>,
+which the Duke afterwards caus&#8217;d to be printed, to the no small
+Mortification of all Papists, who were therein exceedingly ridicul&#8217;d, and
+to the Triumph of all good Churchmen, who are never better pleas&#8217;d, than
+when they have the <i>Laugh</i> on their side.</p>
+
+<p>At this time also were publish&#8217;d two merry Books, by a couple of our
+Divines, with express View to make Protestants laugh at <i>Popery</i>, as at a
+<i>Farce</i>; and they were, <i>The School of the Eucharist</i>, wherein is a
+Collection of ridiculous <i>Miracles</i>, pretended to be wrought to support
+the Truth of <i>Transubstantiation</i>, and <i>Purgatory prov&#8217;d by Miracles</i>.</p>
+
+<p>I must not omit another incomparable Piece of Wit and Raillery against
+<i>Popery</i>, publish&#8217;d at that time. It seems the famous Poet, <i>Dryden</i>,
+thought fit to declare himself a <i>Roman Catholick</i>; and had, as &#8217;tis said,
+a <i>Penance</i> injoyn&#8217;d him by his Confessor, for having formerly written
+<i>The Spanish Fryar</i>, of composing some <i>Treatise</i> in a <i>poetical way</i> for
+<i>Popery</i>, and against the <i>Reformation</i>. This he executed in a <i>Poem</i>,
+intituled, <i>The Hind and Panther</i>; which, setting aside the Absurdity of
+the Matters therein asserted, and of the several Arguments to maintain
+them, is, in other Respects, one of the most mean Compositions that ever
+the Press produc&#8217;d. Was it proper to pass over in silence such a Work,
+from whence probably the Popish Party expected great Matters, as knowing
+the Efficacy of Poetry, and being Witnesses of the Success the Author had
+had in his <i>Absalom</i> and <i>Achitophel</i> against the <i>Whigs</i>? Was it proper
+to write <i>seriously</i> and <i>gravely</i> against a Book, wherein the Author
+every where aims at Wit, Irony, and Burlesque, and does himself make<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span> so
+ridiculous a Figure, as to be a standing Jest throughout the whole? Was
+not the Convert himself, as such, a <i>Jest</i>, or as professing any Religion,
+a <i>Jest</i>; who argu&#8217;d for Pay, and spoke as he was brib&#8217;d, and would have
+profess&#8217;d any Opinions, as is the Mode and Practice of the World, to which
+Salary and Preferments are annexed? Some ingenious Persons of the Times
+took a better Method, and agreeably to the Temper and Disposition of our
+Countrymen, and to the nature of <i>Dryden</i>&#8217;s Attack, and his interested
+Writing for Religion, made a Return in a Paper intituled, <i>The Hind and
+Panther transvers&#8217;d to the Story of the Country-Mouse and City-Mouse</i>: Out
+of which, for a Specimen of <i>just Irony</i>, and <i>fine Raillery</i>, I will give you the following Passage.</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+&#8220;<i>Sirrah, says</i> Brindle, <i>thou hast brought us</i> Wine,<br />
+&#8220;<i>Sour to my Taste, and to my Eyes unfine.</i><br />
+&#8220;<i>Says</i> Will, <i>All Gentlemen like it. Ah! says</i> White,<br />
+&#8220;<i>What is approved by them must needs be right.</i><br />
+&#8220;<i>&#8217;Tis true, I thought it bad, but if the</i> House<br />
+&#8220;<i>Commend it, I submit, a</i> private Mouse.<br />
+&#8220;<i>Nor to their Catholick Consent oppose</i><br />
+&#8220;<i>My erring Judgment and reforming Nose.</i><br />
+&#8220;<small><a name="f86.1" id="f86.1" href="#f86">[86]</a></small><i>Why, what a Devil, shan&#8217;t I trust my Eyes,</i><br />
+&#8220;<i>Must I drink Stum, because the Rascal lies,</i><br />
+&#8220;<i>And palms upon us</i> Catholick <i>Consent,</i><br />
+&#8220;<i>To give</i> sophisticated Brewings <i>Vent?</i><br />
+&#8220;<i>Says</i> White, <i>what antient Evidence can sway,</i><br />
+&#8220;<i>If you must argue thus and not obey?</i><br />
+&#8220;Drawers <i>must be trusted, thro&#8217; whose hands convey&#8217;d</i><br />
+&#8220;<i>You take the Liquor, or you spoil the Trade.</i><br />
+&#8220;<i>For sure those honest</i> Fellows <i>have no Knack</i><br />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span>&#8220;<i>Of putting off stum&#8217;d Claret for</i> Pontack.<br />
+&#8220;<i>How long alas! would the poor Vintner last,</i><br />
+&#8220;<i>If all that drink must</i> judge, <i>and every Guest</i><br />
+&#8220;<i>Be allow&#8217;d to have an understanding</i> Taste?</p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>VII. I question whether High-Church would be willing to have the reverend
+Author of the <i>Tale of a Tub</i>, one of the greatest <i>Droles</i> that ever
+appear&#8217;d upon the Stage of the World, punish&#8217;d for that or any other of
+his <i>drolling</i> Works: For tho religious Matters, and all the various Forms
+of Christianity have therein a considerable Share of <i>Ridicule</i>; yet in
+regard of his <i>Drollery</i> upon the <i>Whigs</i>, <i>Dissenters</i>, and the <i>War</i>
+with <i>France</i> (things of as <i>serious</i> and weighty Consideration, and as
+much affecting the Peace of Society, as <i>Justification</i> by <i>Faith only</i>,
+<i>Predestination</i>, <i>Transubstantiation</i>, or <i>Constansubstantiation</i>, or
+<i>Questions</i> about <i>religious Ceremonies</i>, or any such interested Matters)
+the <i>Convocation</i> in their famous <i>Representation</i> of the <i>Profaneness</i>
+and <i>Blasphemy</i> of the Nation, took no notice of his <i>drolling</i> on
+Christianity: And his Usefulness in <i>Drollery</i> and <i>Ridicule</i> was deem&#8217;d
+sufficient by the <i>Pious</i> Queen <i>Anne</i>, and her <i>pious Ministry</i>, to
+intitle him to a Church Preferment of several hundred Pounds <i>per Ann.</i>
+<small><a name="f87.1" id="f87.1" href="#f87">[87]</a></small> which she bestow&#8217;d upon him, notwithstanding a <i>fanatick
+High-Churchman</i>, who weakly thought <i>Seriousness</i> in Religion of more use
+to High-Church than <i>Drollery</i>, and attempted to hinder his Promotion, by
+representing to her Majesty, &#8220;What a Scandal it would be both to Church
+and State to bestow Preferment upon a Clergyman, who was hardly suspected
+of being a Christian.&#8221; Besides, High-Church receives daily most signal
+Services from his drolling Capacity, which has of late exerted itself on
+the Jacobite Stage of <i>Mist</i>&#8217;s <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span>and <i>Fogg</i>&#8217;s Journal, and in other little
+Papers publish&#8217;d in <i>Ireland</i>; in which he endeavours to expose the
+present Administration of publick Affairs to contempt, to inflame the
+<i>Irish</i> Nation against the <i>English</i>, and to make them throw off all
+Subjection to the <i>English</i> Government, to satirize Bishop <i>Burnet</i> and
+other <i>Whig</i> Bishops; and, in fine, to pave the way for a new or Popish
+Revolution, as far as choosing the most proper Topicks of Invective, and
+treating of them in the way of <i>Drollery</i>, can do.</p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>VIII. It is well known, that Gravity, Preciseness, Solemnity, Sourness,
+formal Dress and Behaviour, Sobriety of Manners, keeping at a distance
+from the common Pastimes of the World, Aversion to Rites and Ceremonies in
+the publick Worship, and to Pictures, Images, and Musick in Churches;
+mixing Religion in common Conversion, using long Graces, practising
+Family-Worship, part of which was praying <i>ex tempore</i>; setting up and
+hearing Lectures, and a strict Observation of the Lord&#8217;s Day, which was
+call&#8217;d the <i>Sabbath</i>, were the Parts of the Character of a <i>Puritan</i>; who,
+it is to be observ&#8217;d, usually had the Imputation of Hypocrisy for his
+great and extraordinary Pretences to Religion: He was also a great Opposer
+of the Court-Measures in the Reign of King <i>James</i> and King <i>Charles</i> I.
+and most zealous for Law, Liberty, and Property, when those two Princes
+set up for raising Money by their own Authority, and in consequence
+thereof, fell into numerous other Acts of Violence and Injustice. It is
+also well known, that to quell these Puritans, and lessen their Credit,
+and baffle all their Pretences, Gaiety, Mirth, Pastimes or Sports, were
+incourag&#8217;d and requir&#8217;d on <i>Sundays</i> of the People, that Churches were
+render&#8217;d<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span> gay, theatrical, and pleasant by the Decorations, Paintings,
+Musick, and Ceremonies therein perform&#8217;d<small><a name="f88.1" id="f88.1" href="#f88">[88]</a></small>; and that the utmost Ridicule
+was employ&#8217;d against some of them, as <i>Enthusiasts</i>, and against others of
+them as <i>Hypocrites</i>, and against them all as factious and seditious, by
+their Adversaries; who were under no Restraints, but incourag&#8217;d to write
+with Scorn, Contempt, Raillery and Satire against these suppos&#8217;d Enemies
+of Church and State. Nor did the great Success of the <i>Puritans</i> in the
+Field of Battle suppress that <i>Vein</i> and <i>Humour</i> of <i>Ridicule</i> begun
+against them; but the <i>Laudean</i> Party still carry&#8217;d on a Paper War with
+innumerable Pamphlets, which all tended more or less to make the World
+<i>laugh</i> at and <i>ridicule</i> the <i>Puritans</i>. And I am verily persuaded, that
+no History of any other Country in the World can produce a Parallel,
+wherein the Principle and Practice of <i>Ridicule</i> were ever so strongly
+encourag&#8217;d, and so constantly pursu&#8217;d, fix&#8217;d and rooted in the Minds of
+Men, as it was and is in Churchmen against Puritans and Dissenters. Even
+at this Day the <i>Ridicule</i> is so strong against the present Dissenters, so
+promoted by Clergy and Laity, especially in Villages and small Country
+Towns, that they are unable to withstand its Force, but daily come over in
+Numbers to the Church to avoid being <i>laugh&#8217;d</i> at. It seems to me a Mark
+of Distinction more likely to last in the Church than any other Matter
+that I can observe. Passive Obedience, the divine Right of Kings, <i>&amp;c.</i>
+rise and fall according to particular <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span>Occasions; but <i>Laughter</i> at
+<i>Dissenters</i> seems fixt for ever, if they should chance to last so long.</p>
+
+<p><i>South</i>&#8217;s Sermons, which now amount to <i>six Volumes</i>, make Reading <i>Jests</i>
+and <i>Banter</i> upon <i>Dissenters</i>, the religious Exercise of good Churchmen
+upon <i>Sundays</i>, who now can serve God (as many think they do by hearing or
+reading Sermons) and be as merry as at the Play-house. And <i>Hudibras</i>,
+which is a daily High-Church Entertainment, and a Pocket and Travelling
+High-Church Companion, must necessarily have a very considerable Effect,
+and cannot fail forming in Men that Humour and Vein of <i>Ridicule</i> upon
+<i>Dissenters</i> which runs thro&#8217; that Work. In a word, High-Church has
+constantly been an Enemy to, and a Ridiculer of the <i>Seriousness</i> of
+<i>Puritans</i> and <i>Dissenters</i>, whom they have ever charg&#8217;d with <i>Hypocrisy</i>
+for their <i>Seriousness</i>.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;After <small><a name="f89.1" id="f89.1" href="#f89">[89]</a></small> the Civil War had broke out in 1641, and the King and Court
+had settled at <i>Oxford</i>, one <i>Birkenhead</i>, who had liv&#8217;d in <i>Laud</i>&#8217;s
+Family, and been made Fellow of <i>All Souls College</i> by <i>Laud</i>&#8217;s Means, was
+appointed to write a Weekly Paper under the Title of <i>Mercurius Aulicus</i>;
+the first whereof was publish&#8217;d in 1642. In the Absence of the Author,
+<i>Birkenhead</i>, from <i>Oxford</i>, it was continued by <i>Heylin</i>. <i>Birkenhead</i>
+pleas&#8217;d the Generality of Readers with his <i>Waggeries</i> and <i>Buffooneries</i>;
+and the Royal Party were so taken with it, that the Author was recommended
+to be Reader of <i>Moral Philosophy</i> by his Majesty;&#8221; who, together with the
+religious Electors, it is justly to be presum&#8217;d, thought <i>Waggery</i> and
+<i>Buffoonery</i>, not only Political, but <i>Religious</i> and <i>Moral</i>, when
+employ&#8217;d against <i>Puritans</i> and <i>Dissenters</i>.</p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span>IX. King <i>Charles</i> the Second&#8217;s Restoration brought along with it glorious
+<i>High-Church</i> Times; which were distinguish&#8217;d as much by <i>laughing</i> at
+<i>Dissenters</i>, as by persecuting them; which pass for a Pattern how
+Dissenters are to be treated; and which will never be given up, by
+<i>High-Church-men</i>, as faulty, for ridiculing Dissenters.</p>
+
+<p>The King himself, who had very good natural Parts, and a Disposition to
+banter and ridicule every Body, and especially the <i>Presbyterians</i>, whose
+Discipline he had felt for his Lewdness and Irreligion in <i>Scotland</i>, had
+in his <i>Exile</i> an Education, and liv&#8217;d, among some of the greatest
+<i>Droles</i> and <i>Wits</i> that any Age ever produc&#8217;d; who could not but form him
+in that way, who was so well fitted by Temper for it. The Duke of
+<i>Buckingham</i> was his constant Companion. And he had a <small><a name="f90.1" id="f90.1" href="#f90">[90]</a></small> <i>great
+Liveliness of Wit, and a peculiar Faculty of turning all things into
+ridicule</i>. He was Author of the <i>Rehearsal</i>; which, as a most noble Author
+says, is <small><a name="f91.1" id="f91.1" href="#f91">[91]</a></small> <i>a justly admir&#8217;d Piece of comick Wit</i>, and <i>has furnish&#8217;d
+our best Wits in all their Controversies, even in Religion and Politicks,
+as well as in the Affairs of Wit and Learning, with the most effectual and
+entertaining Method of exposing Folly, Pedantry, false Reason, and ill
+Writing</i>. The Duke of <i>Buckingham</i> <small><a name="f92.1" id="f92.1" href="#f92">[92]</a></small> brought <i>Hobbes</i> to him to be his
+<i>Tutor</i>, who was a <i>Philosophical Drole</i>, and had a great deal of <i>Wit</i> of
+the <i>drolling</i> kind. <i>Sheldon</i>, who was afterwards Archbishop of
+<i>Canterbury</i>, and attended the King constantly in his Exile as his
+<i>Chaplain</i>, was an eminent <i>Drole</i>, as appears from Bishop <i>Burnet</i>, who
+says<small><a name="f93.1" id="f93.1" href="#f93">[93]</a></small>, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span>that
+<i>he had a great Pleasantness of Conversation, perhaps too great</i>.</p>
+
+<p>And <i>Hide</i>, afterwards Earl of <i>Clarendon</i>, who attended the King in his
+Exile, seems also to have been a great Drole, by Bishop <i>Burnet</i>&#8217;s
+representing him, as one, that <i>had too much Levity in his Wit, and that
+did not observe the Decorum of his Post</i><small><a name="f94.1" id="f94.1" href="#f94">[94]</a></small>. In a <i>Speech</i> to the Lords
+and Commons, <i>Hide</i> attack&#8217;d the Gravity of the Puritans, saying<small><a name="f95.1" id="f95.1" href="#f95">[95]</a></small>,
+&#8220;Very merry Men have been very godly Men; and if a good Conscience be a
+continued Feast, there is no reason but Men may be very merry at it.&#8221; And
+upon Mr. <i>Baxter</i> and other Presbyterian Ministers waiting on him in
+relation to the <i>Savoy Conference</i>, he said to Mr. <i>Baxter</i> on the first
+Salute<small><a name="f96.1" id="f96.1" href="#f96">[96]</a></small>, that if &#8220;he were but as fat as Dr. <i>Manton</i>, we should all do well.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>No wonder therefore, that <i>Ridicule</i>, and <i>Raillery</i>, and <i>Satire</i>, should
+prevail at Court after the <i>Restoration</i>; and that King <i>Charles</i> the
+Second, who was a Wit himself, and early taught to laugh at his <i>Father&#8217;s
+Stiffness</i><small><a name="f97.1" id="f97.1" href="#f97">[97]</a></small>, should be so great a Master of them, and bring them into
+play among his Subjects; and that he who had the most sovereign Contempt
+for all Mankind, and in particular for the People and Church of <i>England</i>,
+should use his Talent against them; and that his People in return should give him like for like.</p>
+
+<p>It is well known how he banter&#8217;d the Presbyterian Ministers, who out of
+Interest came over to him at <i>Breda</i>; where they were placed in a Room
+next to his Majesty, and order&#8217;d to attend till his Majesty had done his
+Devotions; who, it seems, pray&#8217;d so artfully, and poured out so many of
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span>their Phrases, which he had learned when he was in <i>Scotland</i>, where he
+was forced to be present at religious Exercises of six or seven Hours
+a-day; and had practis&#8217;d among the <i>Huguenot</i> Ministers in <i>France</i><small><a name="f98.1" id="f98.1" href="#f98">[98]</a></small>,
+who reported him to have a <i>sanctify&#8217;d Heart</i>, and to <i>speak the very
+Language of</i> Canaan. This <i>Ridicule</i> he <i>cover&#8217;d</i> with <i>Seriousness</i>;
+having at that time Occasion for those Ministers, who were then his great
+Instruments in reconciling the Nation to his <i>Restoration</i>. When he had no
+farther Occasion for them, he was open in his <i>Ridicule</i>, and would say,
+that <small><a name="f99.1" id="f99.1" href="#f99">[99]</a></small> <i>Presbyterianism was not a Religion for a Gentleman</i>.</p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>X. Would you, who are a Man of Sense and Learning, and of some Moderation,
+be for punishing the Author of <i>The Difficulties and Discouragements which
+attend the Study of the Scriptures in the way of private Judgment</i>, &amp;c.
+who is suppos&#8217;d to be a Prelate of the Church, for that Book, which is
+wholly an <i>Irony</i> about the most sacred Persons and Things? Must not the
+fine <i>Irony</i> it self, and the Execution of it, with so much Learning,
+Sense, and Wit, raise in you the highest Esteem and Admiration of the
+Author, instead of a Disposition to punish him? Would you appear to the
+intelligent Part of the World such an Enemy to Knowledge, and such a
+Friend to the Kingdom of Darkness, as such Punishment would imply? In
+fine, can you see and direct us to a better way, to make us inquire after
+and understand Matters of Religion, to make us get and keep a good temper
+of Mind, and to plant and cultivate in us the Virtues necessary to good
+Order and Peace in Society, and to eradicate <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span>the Vices that every where
+give Society so much Disturbance, than what is prescrib&#8217;d or imply&#8217;d in
+that Book? And can you think of a better <i>Form</i> of <i>Conveyance</i>, or
+<i>Vehicle</i> for Matters of such universal Concern to all intelligent People
+(if you consider the State of the World, and the infinite Variety of
+Understandings, Interests, and Designs of Men, who are all to be address&#8217;d
+to at the same Time) than his Method of <i>Irony</i>? And has not Success
+justify&#8217;d his Method? For the Book has had a free Vent in several
+Impressions; has been very generally read and applauded; has convinced
+Numbers, and has been no Occasion of trouble either to Bookseller or
+Author. It has also had the Advantage to have a most ingenious <i>Letter</i> of
+<i>John Hales</i> of <i>Eton</i> join&#8217;d to some Editions of it; who by this
+<i>Letter</i>, as well as by several others of his Pieces, shews himself to
+have been another <i>Socrates</i>, one of the greatest Masters of <i>true Wit</i>
+and <i>just Irony</i>, as well as Learning, which the World ever produc&#8217;d; and
+shews he could have writ such a Book as the <i>Difficulties</i>, &amp;c. But if you
+are capable of coming into any Measures for punishing the Author of the
+<i>Difficulties</i>, &amp;c. for his <i>Irony</i>, I conceive, that you may possibly
+hesitate a little in relation to the same Author, about his <i>New Defence
+of the Bishop of</i> Bangor<i>&#8217;s Sermon of the Kingdom of Christ, consider&#8217;d as
+it is the Performance of a Man of Letters</i>; which, tho far below <i>The
+Difficulties</i>, &amp;c. is an ingenious <i>Irony</i> on that <i>Sermon</i>. You may
+probably, like many others of the Clergy, approve of Satire so well
+employ&#8217;d, as against that Bishop, who has succeeded Bishop <i>Burnet</i> in
+being the Subject of <i>Clergy-Ridicule</i>, as well as in his Bishoprick. The
+Bishop himself was very justly patient, under all Attacks by the Reverend
+<i>Trapp</i>, <i>Earbery</i>, <i>Snape</i>, <i>Law</i>, and <i>Luke Milbourne</i>, in his <i>Tom of
+Bedlam&#8217;s Answer</i><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span> <i>to his Brother</i> Ben Hoadley, <i>St.</i> Peter<i>&#8217;s</i> Poor <i>Parson
+near the Exchange of Principles</i>; some of which were of a very abusive
+kind, and such as can hardly be parallel&#8217;d; and did not call upon the
+Magistrate to come to his Aid against that Author, or against any others
+of the Clergy who had attack&#8217;d him with as great Mockery, Ridicule, and
+Irony, as ever Bishop had been by the profess&#8217;d Adversaries of the Order;
+or as ever the Bishops had been by the <i>Puritans</i> and <i>Libellers</i> in the
+Reigns of Queen <i>Elizabeth</i>, King <i>James</i> and King <i>Charles</i> the First; or
+as <i>Lesley</i>, <i>Hickes</i>, <i>Hill</i>, <i>Atterbury</i>, <i>Binks</i>, and other High-Church
+Clergy, did the late Bishop <i>Burnet</i>. Instead of that he took the true and
+proper Method, by publishing an <i>Answer</i> to the said <i>Irony</i>, compos&#8217;d in
+the same <i>ironical Strain</i>, intitled, <i>The Dean of</i> Worcester <i>still the
+same: Or his new Defence of the Bishop of</i> Bangor<i>&#8217;s Sermon, consider&#8217;d,
+as it is the Performance of a great Critick, a Man of Sense, and a Man of
+Probity</i>. Which Answer does, in my Opinion, as much Honour to the Bishop,
+by its Excellency in the <i>ironical Way</i>, as it does by allowing the Method
+it self, and going into that Method, in imitation of his Reverend Brethren
+of the Clergy, who appear to be under no Restraints from the <i>Immorality</i>
+or <i>Indecency</i> of treating the Bishop in the way of Ridicule and with the
+utmost Contempt; but, on the contrary, to be spurr&#8217;d on by the
+<i>Excellency</i> and <i>Propriety</i> thereof to use it against him, even in the
+<small><a name="f100.1" id="f100.1" href="#f100">[100]</a></small> <i>Pulpit</i>, as Part of the religious Exercise on the <i>Lord&#8217;s-day</i>.</p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>XI. There is an universal Love and Practice of <i>Drollery</i> and <i>Ridicule</i>
+in all, even the most <i>serious</i> <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span>Men, in the most <i>serious Places</i>, and on
+the most <i>serious Occasions</i>. Go into the Privy-Councils of Princes, into
+Senates, into Courts of Judicature, and into the Assemblies of the Kirk or
+Church; and you will find that Wit, good Humour, Ridicule, and Drollery,
+mix themselves in all the Questions before those Bodies; and that the most
+solemn and sour Person there present, will ever be found endeavouring, at
+least, to crack his Jest, in order to raise a Character for Wit; which has
+so great an Applause attending it, and renders Men so universally
+acceptable for their Conversation, and places them above the greatest
+Proficients in the Sciences, that almost every one is intoxicated with the Passion of aiming at it.</p>
+
+<p>In the Reports made to us of the Debates in the Houses of Lords, Commons,
+and Convocation, the serious Parts of the Speeches there made die for the
+most part with the Sound; but the Wit, the Irony, the Drollery, the
+Ridicule, the Satire, and Repartees, are thought worthy to be remember&#8217;d
+and repeated in Conversation, and make a Part of the History of the
+Proceedings of those Bodies, no less than their grave Transactions, as some such must necessarily be.</p>
+
+<p>Whoever will look into Antiquity for an Account of the Lives, Actions, and
+Works of the old Philosophers, will find little remaining of them; but
+some of their witty, drolling, and bantering Sayings, which alone have
+been thought worthy to be preserv&#8217;d to Posterity. And if you will look
+into the Lives of the modern Statesmen, Philosophers, Divines, Lawyers,
+<i>&amp;c.</i> you will find that their witty Sayings ever make a considerable
+Part: by reporting which great Honour is intended to be done to their
+Memory. The great and most religious Philosopher Dr. <i>H. More</i>, has a
+great many Pieces<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span> of Wit attributed to him in his <i>Life</i> by Mr. <i>Ward</i>,
+who represents him from his Companions, <small><a name="f101.1" id="f101.1" href="#f101">[101]</a></small> <i>as one of the merriest
+Greeks they were acquainted with</i>, and tells us, that the Doctor said in
+his <i>last Illness</i>, to him<small><a name="f102.1" id="f102.1" href="#f102">[102]</a></small>, <i>that the merry way was that which he saw
+mightily to take; and so he used it the more</i>.</p>
+
+<p>The great and famous Sir <i>Thomas More</i>, Lord Chancellor of <i>England</i> in
+<i>Henry</i> the Eighth&#8217;s time, was an inexhaustible Source of <i>Drollery</i><small><a name="f103.1" id="f103.1" href="#f103">[103]</a></small>,
+as his voluminous Works, which consist for the most part of controversial
+Divinity in behalf of Popery, show, and which are many of them written in
+Dialogue, the better to introduce the <i>drolling</i> Way of Writing, which he
+has us&#8217;d in such Perfection, that it is said <small><a name="f104.1" id="f104.1" href="#f104">[104]</a></small> <i>none can ever be weary
+of reading them, tho they be never so long</i>. Nor could Death it self, in
+immediate view before his Eyes, suppress his <i>merry</i> Humour, and hinder
+him from cracking <i>Jests</i> on the <i>Scaffold</i>; tho he was a Man of great
+<i>Piety</i> and <i>Devotion</i>, whereof all the World was convinced by his Conduct
+both in his Life and at his Death.</p>
+
+<p>It is said (as I have before observ&#8217;d) of my Lord Chancellor <i>Clarendon</i>,
+that &#8220;he had too much <i>Levity</i> in his <i>Wit</i><small><a name="f105.1" id="f105.1" href="#f105">[105]</a></small>, and that he did not
+always observe the <i>Decorum</i> of his Post.&#8221; Which implies not only his
+Approbation of <i>Drollery</i> in the most <i>grave</i> Business, but also his great
+Knowledge of Mankind, by applying to them in that <i>Way</i>; which he knew
+from Experience, and especially from the common <i>drolling</i> <small><a name="f106.1" id="f106.1" href="#f106">[106]</a></small>
+Conversation in the Court of King <i>Charles</i> the Second, would recommend
+him to the World much more than an <i>impartial Administration of Justice</i>;
+which is less felt, less understood, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span>and less taken notice of and
+applauded, than a <i>Piece</i> of <i>Wit</i>; which is generally suppos&#8217;d to imply
+in it a great deal of Knowledge, and a Capacity fit for any thing.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. <i>Whiston</i><small><a name="f107.1" id="f107.1" href="#f107">[107]</a></small>, a famous Person among us, sets up for great <i>Gravity</i>,
+and proposes a Scheme of <i>Gravity</i> for the Direction of those who write
+about Religion: He is for allowing <i>Unbelievers</i>, nay for having them
+&#8220;invited by Authority to produce all the real or original Evidence they
+think they have discover&#8217;d against any Parts of the <i>Bible</i>; against any
+Parts of the <i>Jewish</i> and Christian Religions, in order to their being
+fully weigh&#8217;d and consider&#8217;d by all learned Men; provided at the same
+time, that the whole be done <i>gravely</i>, and <i>seriously</i>, without all
+<i>Levity</i>, <i>Banter</i>, and <i>Ridicule</i>.&#8221; And yet this Man, having a handle
+given him by Bishop <i>Robinson</i>&#8217;s Letter to the <i>Clergy</i> of his <i>Diocess</i>
+about <i>New Doxologies borrow&#8217;d from Old Hereticks</i>, takes the advantage of
+the Bishop&#8217;s (supposed) Ignorance, Dulness, Stupidity, and Contradiction
+to himself, and writes and prints, like a <i>Tom Brown</i> or <i>Swift</i>, a most
+<i>bantering</i> and <i>drolling</i> Letter, under the sneering Title of a <i>Letter
+of Thanks to the Right Reverend the Lord Bishop of</i> London, <i>for his late
+Letter</i>, &amp;c. whom, one would think, he should not only have spar&#8217;d, but
+have applauded for his <i>profound Gravity</i>, and carrying on the Cause of
+Religion in a very remarkable manner, with the most <i>consummate
+Solemnity</i>. But so strong was the Temptation, so naturally productive of
+Mirth was the Bishop&#8217;s <i>Cause</i>, and his grave Management thereof, as that
+he could not help laughing at the Bishop, by himself; and so was led on
+mechanically to write in that Humour, and to publish what he wrote, and
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span>afterwards to defend his drole
+<i>Manner</i> <small><a name="f108.1" id="f108.1" href="#f108">[108]</a></small> of attacking the Bishop,
+against those who took <i>offence</i> at that <i>Manner</i> of writing.</p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>XII. The burning Papists themselves are not always <i>serious</i> with us: They
+treat the Church and its Defenders as <i>fanatical</i>, and <i>laugh</i> at them as
+<i>such</i>, just as the Church does the Dissenters, and have their elaborate
+Works of <i>Drollery</i> against their Adversaries. They publish&#8217;d a Poem
+against the <i>Reformation</i>, just before the Death of Queen <i>Anne</i>, which
+was design&#8217;d to have given such a Stroke to the Protestant Religion among
+us, under the new projected Revolution, as <i>Hudibras</i> did to <i>Puritanism</i>
+after the <i>Restoration</i>. The Popish Editor, in the Preface to the said
+Poem, says, &#8220;that the Motive of the Author (<i>Thomas Ward</i>) for publishing
+the <i>History of the Reformation in a Burlesque Style</i> (tho a History full
+of melancholy Incidents, which have distracted the Nation, even beyond the
+hope of recovery, after so much Blood drawn from all its Veins, and from
+its Head) was that which he met with in Sir <i>Roger L&#8217;Estrange</i>&#8217;s Preface
+to the second Part of his <i>Cit</i> and <i>Bumkin</i>, express&#8217;d in these Words;
+<i>Tho this way of fooling is not my Talent, nor Inclination; yet I have
+great Authorities for the taking up this Humour, in regard not only of the
+Subject, but of the Age we live in; which is so much upon the Drole, that
+hardly any thing else will down with it.</i>&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>And the ingenious Protestant Editor of this Poem at <i>London</i>, which he
+allows to have some Wit in it, concludes the Remarks he makes upon it, by
+saying, &#8220;One thing more we can&#8217;t forbear hinting at, that a Retaliation
+would be as happy <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span>a Thought as could enter into the Head of a Man of
+Genius and Spirit. What a fruitful Harvest would the Legends, Tricks,
+spiritual Jugglings, Convents, and Nunneries, yield to a good Poet?
+<i>Buchanan</i> in his <i>Franciscani</i>, and <i>Oldham</i> in his <i>Satires</i> on the
+Jesuits, have open&#8217;d the Way, and we heartily wish some equal Pen would
+write the whole Mystery of Iniquity at length.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>XIII. All the old Puritan Preachers, who were originally Divines of the
+Church of <i>England</i>, sprinkled and season&#8217;d their Sermons with a great
+many <i>drolling</i> Sayings against <i>Libertinism</i> and <i>Vice</i>, and against
+Church Ceremonies; many of which Sayings are reported and handed down to
+us in Books and Conversation, as are also the Effects of those Sayings,
+which we are told converted many to <i>Christ</i> on the Spot, or in the
+Instant of Delivery. Nor is that manner wholly laid aside, but has
+continued to be kept alive by some Hands at all times; who have been
+greatly follow&#8217;d for their Success in drolling upon <i>Sinners</i>, and
+treating of Religion in humoursom and fantastical Phrases, and fixing that
+way of Religion in some Mens Minds.</p>
+
+<p>I do not remember to have met with a more complete Drole in the Church of
+<i>England</i>, or in any other of the <i>laughing</i> or <i>ridiculing</i> Sects, than
+<i>Andrew Marvel</i> of the grave <i>Puritan</i> Sect, in many Works of his both in
+Prose and Verse, but especially in his <i>Rehearsal Transprosed</i>; which tho
+writ against <i>Parker</i>, who with great Eloquence, Learning, and a Torrent
+of Drollery and Satire, had defended the Court and Church&#8217;s Cause, in
+asserting the Necessity of Penal Laws against the Nonconformists, &#8220;was
+read from the <i>King</i> down to the Tradesman with great pleasure, on account
+of that Burlesque Strain and lively Drollery that ran thro&#8217; it,&#8221;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span> as
+Bishop <i>Burnet</i> tells us<small><a name="f109.1" id="f109.1" href="#f109">[109]</a></small>. Nor were the gravest <i>Puritans</i> and
+Dissenters among us less taken and pleas&#8217;d with his Writings for their
+<i>Drollery</i>, than our <i>drole King</i>; tho there are some Passages in them,
+which should give just Offence to chaste Ears.</p>
+
+<p>I find also, that the <i>Puritans</i> and <i>Dissenters</i> have always born with,
+and allow&#8217;d of, a great Mixture of <i>Drollery</i> in their Sermons, that one
+would think should offend their Gravity, and pious Ears; and that they
+applaud their Ministers for such their Discourses, as much as the Church
+does Dr. <i>South</i> for the Ribaldry sprinkled thro&#8217;out his Sermons about the
+most high Points in Divinity. They have always had some eminent Divines
+among them who have been remarkable for such Passages and Reflections: And
+these have never lessen&#8217;d their number of Auditors, nor drawn upon
+themselves the Character of <i>Irreligious</i>; but have had the largest
+Auditories of contributing Hearers, as well as of Churchmen, who came to
+smile, and have been esteem&#8217;d very <i>pious</i> Men.</p>
+
+<p>In fine, the <i>Puritans</i> and <i>Dissenters</i> have, like the Church, their
+Taste of Humour, Irony, and Ridicule, which they promote with great Zeal,
+as a Means to serve Religion: And I remember, that, among other things
+said in behalf of <i>Bunyan</i>&#8217;s <i>Pilgrim&#8217;s Progress</i>, upon the reprinting it
+lately by Subscription, it was affirm&#8217;d, and that, in my Opinion, truly,
+&#8220;that it had infinitely out-done <i>The Tale of a Tub</i>; which perhaps had
+not made one Convert to Infidelity, whereas the <i>Pilgrim&#8217;s Progress</i> had
+converted many Sinners to <i>Christ</i>.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>XIV. The <i>Quakers</i> are certainly the most <i>serious</i> and solemn People
+among us in Matters of Religion,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span> and out-go the Dissenters of all other
+Kinds therein: But yet the Church has no regard to them on that Account,
+but takes Advantage from thence to <i>ridicule</i> them the more, and to call
+their Sincerity more in question. And I much doubt whether there was ever
+a Book written against them by the Divines of any Sect with perfect
+Decency, and that had not its extravagant Flouts, Scorn, Banter, and
+Irony, and that not only of the <i>laughing</i>, but of the <i>cruel</i> kind:
+Wherein they copy&#8217;d after the <i>Jews</i> of old, who while they prosecuted
+<i>Christ</i> to Death, and carried on their High-Church Tragedy against him,
+acted against him the <i>comick Scenes</i> <small><a name="f110.1" id="f110.1" href="#f110">[110]</a></small> &#8220;of spitting in his Face, and
+buffeting him with the Palms of their Hands, saying, <i>Prophesy unto us,
+thou Christ, who is he that smote thee</i>;&#8221; and who, when they had nail&#8217;d
+him to the Cross, <i>revil&#8217;d</i> him with divers <i>Taunts</i>, in which the <i>Chief
+Priests</i>, <i>Scribes</i>, <i>Elders</i>, and even the <i>Thieves, which were crucified
+with him</i>, concurr&#8217;d. But yet for all this, these solemn Quakers
+themselves are not altogether averse to <i>Irony</i> and <i>Ridicule</i>, and use it
+when they can. Their Books abound in Stories to ridicule in their Turn the
+Priests, their great and bitter Adversaries: And they please themselves
+with throwing at the Priests the <i>Centuries of Scandalous Ministers</i>, and
+the Books of the <i>Cobler of</i> Glocester. They have also their Satirist and
+Banterer, <i>Samuel Fisher</i>; whose Works, tho all wrote in the <i>drolling</i>
+Style and Manner, they pride themselves in, and have collected into one
+great Volume in <i>Folio</i>; in which Quaker-Wit and Irony are set up against
+Church, Presbyterian, and Independent Wit and Irony, without the least
+Scruple of the lawfulness of such Arms. In a word, their Author acts the
+Part of a <i>Jack-Pudding</i>, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span><i>Merry Andrew</i>, or <i>Buffoon</i>, with all the
+seeming Right, Authority, and Privilege, of the Member of some Establish&#8217;d
+Church of abusing all the World but themselves. The <i>Quakers</i> have also
+encourag&#8217;d and publish&#8217;d a most arch Book of the famous <i>Henry Stubbe</i>,
+intitled, <i>A Light shining out of Darkness</i>, &amp;c. Wherein all the other
+religious Parties among us are as handsomly and learnedly banter&#8217;d and
+ridicul&#8217;d, as the <i>Quakers</i> have been in any Book against them. And when
+they were attack&#8217;d by one <i>Samuel Young</i>, a whimsical
+Presbyterian-Buffoon-Divine, who call&#8217;d himself <i>Trepidantium Malleus</i>,
+and set up for an Imitator of Mr. <i>Alsop</i>, in several Pamphlets full of
+Stories, Repartees, and Ironies; in which <i>Young</i>, perhaps, thought
+himself as secure from a Return of the like kind, as a Ruffian or Thief
+may when he assaults Men: His Attacks were repell&#8217;d in a Book intitled
+&#8220;<i>Trepidantium Malleus intrepidanter malleatus</i>; or the West Country
+Wiseaker&#8217;s crack-brain&#8217;d <i>Reprimand</i> hammer&#8217;d about his own Numbscul.
+Being a <i>Joco-satirical</i> Return to a late Tale of a Tub, emitted by a
+reverend <i>Non-con</i>, at present residing not far from <i>Bedlam</i>,&#8221; said to be
+written by <i>William Penn</i>, who has therein made use of the carnal Weapons
+of Irony and Banter, and dress&#8217;d out the Presbyterian Priest in a Fool&#8217;s
+Coat, for a Spectacle to the Mob. It is also to be observ&#8217;d, that there
+are several Tracts in the two Volumes of <i>William Penn</i>&#8217;s Works lately
+publish&#8217;d, that for ingenious Banter and Irony, are much superior to the
+Priests his Adversaries; and that other Quaker Authors profess to write
+sometimes in a <small><a name="f111.1" id="f111.1" href="#f111">[111]</a></small> <i>drolling Style</i>.</p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>XV. The Jacobite Clergy have set up for great <i>Droles</i> upon all the true
+Friends of the <i>Establishment</i>. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span>And I presume, the Body of our High
+Churchmen would not willingly deprive them of the Benefit of their
+<i>Drollery</i>.</p>
+
+<p>The celebrated Mr. <i>Collier</i> <small><a name="f112.1" id="f112.1" href="#f112">[112]</a></small> thus attacks Bishop <i>Burnet</i>, for his
+<span class="smcap">Essay</span> <i>on the Memory of Queen</i> Mary. &#8220;This Doctor, you know, is a Man of
+mighty <i>Latitude</i>, and can say any thing to serve a Turn; whose
+<i>Reverence</i> resolves Cases of Conscience backwards and forwards, disputes
+<i>pro</i> and <i>con</i>, praises and dispraises by secular Measures; with whom
+Virtue and Vice, passive Obedience and Rebellion, Parricide and filial
+Duty, Treachery and Faithfulness, and all the Contradictions in Nature,
+are the <i>best</i> and <i>worst</i> things under the Sun, as they are for his
+Purpose, and according as the Wind sits: who equally and indifferently
+writes for and against all Men, the Gospel, and himself too, as the World
+goes: who can bestow a Panegyrick upon the seven deadly Sins, and (if
+there be occasion) can make an Invective against all the Commandments.&mdash;&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>In relation to Dr. <i>Payne</i>&#8217;s <i>Sermon</i> on the Death of that <i>Queen</i>, he
+says<small><a name="f113.1" id="f113.1" href="#f113">[113]</a></small>, &#8220;that to go thro&#8217; it is too great a Discipline for any Man,
+whose Palate hath ever relish&#8217;d any thing above <i>three half-penny
+Poetry</i>.&#8221; He adds, &#8220;Why, Sir, many Years ago I have heard some of it sung
+about the Streets in wretched and nauseous <i>Doggrel</i>. What think you of
+this? <i>Page</i> 6. <i>I know not how to draw her Picture, &#8217;tis so all over
+beauteous, without any Foil, any Shade, any Blemish; so perfect in every
+Feature, so accomplish&#8217;d in every Part, so adorn&#8217;d with every Perfection
+and every Grace.</i> O rare, Sir! here&#8217;s <i>Phillis</i> and <i>Chloris</i>, and <i>Gillian a Croydon</i>.</p>
+
+<p class="poem"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span>
+&#8220;<i>Sh&#8217; hath</i> every Feature, every Grace,<br />
+&#8220;<i>So charming</i> every part, <i>&amp;c</i>.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Tis no wonder he tells us, (<i>p.</i> 8.) of <i>strewing her with the Flowers of
+withered and decay&#8217;d Poetry</i>; for the <i>Song</i> out of which he hath
+transcrib&#8217;d his <i>Sermon</i>, is of very <i>great age</i>, and hath been sung at
+many a <i>Whitsun-Ale</i>, and many a <i>Wedding</i> (tho I believe never at a
+Funeral before) and therefore in all this time may well be <i>decay&#8217;d and
+wither&#8217;d</i>: In the mean time, if you were to draw the Picture of a <i>great
+Princess</i>, I fansy you would not make choice of <i>Mopsa</i> to sit to it.
+Alas! Sir, there was <i>Cassandra</i> and <i>Cleopatra</i>, and many a famed
+<i>Romance</i> more, which might have furnish&#8217;d him with handsome Characters,
+and yet he must needs be <i>preaching and instructing</i> his People out of
+<i>Hey down derry</i>, and the <i>fair Maid of</i> Kent. If he had intitled it,
+<i>The</i> White-Chapel <i>Ballad</i>, and got some body to set it to the Tune of
+<i>Amaryllis</i>, compos&#8217;d by <i>W. P. Songster</i>, the Character of the <i>Author</i>,
+the <i>Title</i>, and the <i>Matter</i>, would have very well agreed, and perhaps it
+might have passed at the Corners of the Streets; but to call it a
+<i>Sermon</i>, and by <i>W. P.</i> Doctor in <i>Divinity</i>, &#8217;tis one of the <i>lewdest</i>
+things in the World.&mdash;&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Mr. <i>Lesley</i> attacks the Clergy, who pray&#8217;d &#8220;that God would give King
+<i>James</i> Victory over all his Enemies<small><a name="f114.1" id="f114.1" href="#f114">[114]</a></small>, when that was the thing they
+least wish&#8217;d; and confess&#8217;d, that they labour&#8217;d all they could against
+it,&#8221; saying, &#8220;good God! What Apprehensions, what Thought had those Men of
+their publick Prayers; bantering God Almighty,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span> and mocking him to his
+Face, who heard their Words, and saw their Hearts? Is not <i>Atheism</i> a
+smaller Sin than this, since it is better to have no God, than so to set up one <i>to laugh at him</i>.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Again he says, (<i>p.</i> 123.) &#8220;It is a severe Jest, that the common People
+have got up against the Clergy, that there was but one thing formerly
+which the Parliament could not do, that is, to make a Man a Woman: But now
+there is another, that is, to make an Oath which the Clergy will not take.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The same Author attacks Bishop <i>Burnet</i>&#8217;s <i>Speech upon the Bill against
+Occasional Conformity</i>, by a Pamphlet intitled, <i>The Bishop of</i>
+Salisbury<i>&#8217;s proper Defence from a Speech cry&#8217;d about the Streets in his
+Name, and said to have been spoken by him in the House of Lords upon the
+Bill against Occasional Conformity</i>; which is one perpetual <i>Irony</i> on the
+Bishop, and gives the Author occasion to throw all manner of Satire and
+Abuse on the Bishop. The beginning of this Pamphlet, which is as follows,
+will let the Reader into the full Knowledge of the Design of the Irony, and the manner of Execution.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The License of this Age and of the Press is so great, that no Rank or
+Quality of Men is free from the Insults of loose and extravagant Wits.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The good Bishop of <i>Salisbury</i> has had a plentiful Share in this sort of
+Treatment: And now at last, some or other has presum&#8217;d to burlesque his
+Lordship in printing a Speech for him, which none that knows his Lordship can believe ever came from him.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But because it may go down with others who are too apt to take Slander
+upon trust, and that his Lordship has already been pelted with several<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span>
+Answers to his Speech, I have presum&#8217;d to offer the following
+Considerations, to clear his Lordship from the Suspicion of having vented
+(in such an august Assembly) those crude and undigested Matters which are
+set forth in that Speech, and which so highly reflect on his Lordship&#8217;s self.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He has taken the same Method of Irony to attack the said Bishop for his
+<i>Speech</i> on the <i>Trial</i> of <i>Sacheverel</i>, and for a <i>Sermon</i>, under this
+Title, &#8220;The Good Old Cause, <i>or</i> Lying in Truth; being a Second Defence of
+the Lord Bishop of <i>Sarum</i> from a Second Speech, and also the Dissection
+of a Sermon it is said his Lordship preach&#8217;d in the Cathedral Church of
+<i>Salisbury</i>.&#8221; And this Pamphlet, which is also a continued Banter, begins thus.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No Man has more deserv&#8217;d than this good Bishop, and no Man has been
+more persecuted by various Ways and Means than his Lordship, even to
+mobbing! But the ugliest and most malicious of all these Arts, is
+that of putting false Things upon him; to write scandalous,
+seditious, and senseless Papers, and to affix his Lordship&#8217;s Name! I
+was forc&#8217;d some Years ago to vindicate his Lordship&#8217;s Reputation from
+one of this sort: That Speech had a Bookseller&#8217;s Name to it of good
+figure, and look&#8217;d something like; but this Speech (said likewise to
+be spoken in the House of Lords) has no body to own it, and has all
+the Marks of <i>Grub</i>. But the nasty Phiz is nothing to the inside. That discovers the Man; the Heart is false.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>This same Author has thought fit to attack Mr. <i>Hoadley</i> (since a Bishop)
+in the way of Banter: His<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span> <i>Best Answer ever was made, and to which no
+Answer will ever be made</i>, is by his own Confession a <i>Farce</i>; when he
+says in his <i>Preface</i>, &#8220;If you ask why I treat this Subject by way of
+<i>farce</i>, and shew a little Merriment sometimes? it was because the
+Foundation you stand upon is not only <i>false</i> but <i>ridiculous</i>, and ought
+to be treated with the <i>utmost Contempt</i>.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Again, in his &#8220;<i>Finishing Stroke, in defence of</i> his <i>Rehearsals, Best
+Answer, and Best of all</i>,&#8221; he gives us (<i>p.</i> 125.) what he calls, &#8220;A
+Battle-Royal between three Cocks of the Game, <i>Higden</i>, <i>Hoadley</i>, and a
+<i>Hottentot</i>;&#8221; which in the <i>Contents</i> he calls <i>A Farce</i>, and to which he
+joins both a <i>Prologue</i> and <i>Epilogue</i>, and divers other Particulars, all
+taken from the <i>Play-house</i>.</p>
+
+<p>The Reverend Mr. <i>Matthias Earbery</i> sets up for a great Satirist and Drole
+upon the swearing and Low-Church Clergy, in numerous Pamphlets of late,
+more particularly in his &#8220;<i>Serious Admonition to Dr.</i> Kennet: To which is
+added, a short but complete Answer to Mr. <i>Marshal</i>&#8217;s late Treatise
+called, <i>A Defence of our Constitution in Church and State</i>; and a
+Parallel is drawn between him and Dr. <i>Kennet</i>, for the Satisfaction of
+the unprejudic&#8217;d Reader.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He has a bantering Argument <small><a name="f115.1" id="f115.1" href="#f115">[115]</a></small> to shew, that, &#8220;If in future Ages Mr.
+<i>Marshal</i>&#8217;s Book should escape the just Judgment it deserves, of being
+condemn&#8217;d to the <i>Pastry-Cooks</i> and <i>Grocers</i>, an industrious Chronologist
+might make an Observation to prove him too young to write it.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The <i>Parallel</i> is in <i>Pag.</i> 126, which being very gross <i>Raillery</i>, I only
+refer you to it.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span>This Mr. <i>Earbery</i> also wrote a <i>Letter to Bishop</i> Fleetwood, under the
+Title of &#8220;A Letter to the Bishop of <i>Ely</i>, upon the Occasion of his
+<i>suppos&#8217;d</i> late <i>Charge</i>, said to be deliver&#8217;d at <i>Cambridge August</i> 7,
+1716, <i>&amp;c.</i>&#8221; in which he pursues the Ironical Scheme laid down in the said
+Title, and endeavours to <i>vindicate</i> his <i>Lordship from the Aspersion of
+writing such a mean Pamphlet</i>, as the <i>Charge</i>.</p>
+
+<p>Nor do these <i>Jacobites</i> confine their Drollery to their Adversaries
+without, but exercise it on one another, as may be seen in their late
+Dispute about King <i>Edward the Sixth</i>&#8217;s Liturgy. And Mr. <i>Lesley</i> himself,
+happening to engage on the side opposite to the Traditions of the Fathers,
+and attacking those Traditions by Low-Church Notions and Arguments, and
+thereby running counter to all his former Books, is attack&#8217;d just in the
+same manner he attack&#8217;d Bishop <i>Burnet</i>, in a Book under this Title, &#8220;Mr.
+<i>Lesley</i>&#8217;s Defence, from some erroneous and dangerous Principles, advanced
+in a Letter said to have been written concerning the New Separation.&#8221; And
+it has several Paragraphs at the beginning in the very words of one of Mr.
+<i>Lesley</i>&#8217;s Books against the said Bishop, as may be seen on Comparison.</p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>XVI. <i>Christ-Church</i> in <i>Oxford</i> is no less famous for the <i>Drolling</i>,
+than for the <i>Orthodox</i> Spirit reigning there; and the former, being
+judged an excellent Method to support the latter, is cultivated among the
+Youth, and employ&#8217;d by the Members of that Society against all the
+supposed Adversaries of the Church, and encourag&#8217;d by the governing
+Ecclesiasticks there and elsewhere.</p>
+
+<p>Among the many, who have receiv&#8217;d their Education there, and been form&#8217;d
+in Drollery, I will only instance in the Reverend Dr. <i>Atterbury</i> and Dr.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span>
+<i>South</i>; who being as famous for <i>Drollery</i> as for Zeal for Religion, and
+applauded for their <i>Wit</i> no less than for their <i>Orthodoxy</i>; and
+particularly for imploying the former in behalf of the latter, seem of
+sufficient Weight to bear down all Attempts to stifle their Productions.
+What Considerations can make us amends for the Loss of such excellent
+<i>drolling Writings</i>, which promote Religion as well as Mirth?</p>
+
+<p>With what incomparable Mockery, Ridicule and Sarcasm does Dr. <i>Atterbury</i>
+treat all the Low-Church Clergy that come in his way, together with the
+<i>Whig</i> Ministry and Administration in his several <i>Convocational Tracts</i>?
+Dr. <i>Wake</i>, our present Archbishop of <i>Canterbury</i>, is represented by him
+as writing so <i>contumeliously</i> <small><a name="f116.1" id="f116.1" href="#f116">[116]</a></small> of the Clergy, <i>that had he not
+inform&#8217;d us in his Title Page who he was, we should rather have guess&#8217;d
+him to have been of the Cabal against Priests and Priestcraft, than one of
+the Order</i>; and as wholly govern&#8217;d by <small><a name="f117.1" id="f117.1" href="#f117">[117]</a></small> <i>Interest</i> in the <i>Debate</i>,
+and as giving us a most <small><a name="f118.1" id="f118.1" href="#f118">[118]</a></small> <i>shallow empty Performance</i> in relation to
+our Ecclesiastical Constitution, which he <small><a name="f119.1" id="f119.1" href="#f119">[119]</a></small> <i>has done his best to
+undermine</i>, as knowing himself to be in the wrong; and as <i>deserving</i> any
+Name or Censure, none being <i>too bad to be bestow&#8217;d</i> on him; and in fine,
+as <i>the least of the little officious Pens by which he expects to be traduc&#8217;d</i>.</p>
+
+<p>Dr. <i>Bentley</i> is represented as <i>wrote out of Reputation into Preferment</i>;
+which, whether it be a more severe Sarcasm on the Doctor, than on the
+Government, is hard to determine; and besides, it gives Applause to one of
+the most drolling and bantering Performances that this drolling Age has
+produc&#8217;d, I mean <i>Dr.</i> Bentley<i>&#8217;s Dissertations on the Epistles of</i>
+Phalaris, <i>and the Fables of</i> &AElig;sop, <i>examin&#8217;d</i>.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span>Bishop <i>Burnet</i> is a standing Subject of Ridicule with him; as are Bishop
+<i>Nicholson</i>, Bishop <i>Kennet</i>, Bishop <i>Gibson</i>, Bishop <i>Trimnel</i> [to whom
+he writes a most drolling <small><a name="f120.1" id="f120.1" href="#f120">[120]</a></small> Letter] and Dr. <i>West</i>; and all the
+Topicks that can affect them as Scholars, as honest Men, and Clergymen,
+are imploy&#8217;d to render them <ins class="correction" title="original reads 'ridiulons'">ridiculous</ins>, and set the World a laughing at
+them, who are not in the least spar&#8217;d for their being of the Holy Order;
+but on the contrary seem more loaded and baited with Sarcasms for that
+reason.</p>
+
+<p>For a <i>Specimen</i>, take this Banter or Burlesque upon Bishop <i>Kennet</i>&#8217;s
+Dedication of his <i>Ecclesiastical Synods and Parliamentary Convocations</i>,
+&amp;c. to the Archbishop of <i>Canterbury</i>; which Banter runs thus<small><a name="f121.1" id="f121.1" href="#f121">[121]</a></small>.</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">&#8220;<i>May it please your Grace</i>,</span></p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Mr. <i>Atterbury</i> has lately forc&#8217;d a Dedication upon you, which
+favours too much of Presumption or Design; he has presum&#8217;d to
+surprize you with an unexpected Address, and appears very indecently
+before your Grace, because he has taken no care to express upon this
+Subject a due Respect and Reverence to the Governors in Church and
+State, such as is suitable to the Christian Religion, and his
+particular Function: The Reports and Authorities in his Book are
+Fruits of other Mens Collections, not the immediate Effects of his
+own Searches into <i>Registers</i> and <i>Records</i>; he imperiously summons
+your Grace and my Lords the Bishops to an immediate Compliance upon
+pain of being pronounc&#8217;d Betrayers of the Church&mdash;&mdash;This, my Lord, is
+the Character of the Person <i>I set up</i> against; but as for me, I <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span>am
+quite another sort of Man, I am very well bred, a great Antiquary,
+beholden to no body, <i>some Wits and merry Folks call me a Tool and a
+Play-thing</i> (<i>Pref. p.</i> 8.) But I assure your Grace, that what
+Freedom soever I may have taken in taxing the Vices of the inferior
+<i>Clergy</i>, (<i>p.</i> 77. 188.) and in reflecting <i>upon the ambitious
+Designs of dignify&#8217;d Presbyters</i> (<i>p.</i> 196.); yet <i>I am however
+tender and dutiful in treating the Governors of our Church</i> (p. 78.);
+especially <i>those of them who are of the Ecclesiastical Commission
+for Preferments</i>, (p. 311). I have a very great Respect and Reverence
+for every body that will give me any thing; and how resolute soever
+Mr. <i>Atterbury</i> may be, your Grace may do what you please with</p>
+
+<p><span style="margin-left: 6em;"><i>Your Grace&#8217;s most humble</i></span></p>
+
+<p><span style="margin-left: 8em;"><i>and obedient Servant</i>,</span></p>
+
+<p><span style="margin-left: 10em;">WHITE KENNET.</span></p></div>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>But for <i>Drollery</i>, the Reverend Dr. <i>South</i> outdoes even <i>Christ-Church</i>,
+and fills all his Performances with it, and throws it out against the
+Enemies of the Church, and in particular against the late Dr. <i>Sherlock</i>,
+whom he thought fit to single out. I shall select some Passages from his
+Writings against the said Doctor, which cannot but entertain the
+High-Church Orthodox Reader, and reconcile him to a <i>Drollery</i> so well
+employ&#8217;d.</p>
+
+<p>He stiles him <i>a great good Man, as a certain poor Wretch</i>, meaning
+<i>Prior, calls him</i>.</p>
+
+<p>Again, he says<small><a name="f122.1" id="f122.1" href="#f122">[122]</a></small>, &#8220;There is hardly any one Subject which he (that is
+Dr. <i>Sherlock</i>) has wrote upon<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span> Popery excepted, that he has wrote both
+for it and against it. Could any thing be more sharp and bitter against
+the Dissenters than what this Man wrote in his <i>Answer</i> to the <i>Protestant
+Reconciler</i>; and yet how frankly, or rather fulsomly does he open both his
+Arms to embrace them in his Sermon preach&#8217;d before the Lord Mayor on
+<i>November</i> 4, 1688. Tho I dare say, that the Dissenters themselves are of
+that Constancy, as to own that they were of the same Principles in 88 that
+they were of in 85; but the Truth is, old Friendships cannot be so easily
+forgot: And it has been an Observation made by some, that hardly can any
+one be found, who was first tainted with a Conventicle, whom a Cathedral
+could ever after cure, but that still upon every cross turn of Affairs
+against the <i>Church</i>, the irresistible <i>Magnetism</i> of the <i>Good Old Cause</i>
+(as some still think it) would quickly draw him out of the <i>Good Old Way</i>.
+The Fable tells us of a <i>Cat</i> once turn&#8217;d into a <i>Woman</i>, but the next
+sight of a <i>Mouse</i> quickly dissolv&#8217;d the <i>Metamorphosis</i>, cashier&#8217;d the
+Woman, and restor&#8217;d the Brute. And some <i>Virtuosi</i> (skill&#8217;d in the <i>useful
+Philosophy</i> of <i>Alterations</i>) have thought her much a Gainer by the latter
+Change, there being so many unlucky Turns in the World, in which it is not
+half so safe and advantageous to <i>walk upright</i>, as to be <i>able to fall
+always upon one&#8217;s Legs</i>.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Again, Dr. <i>South</i> says<small><a name="f123.1" id="f123.1" href="#f123">[123]</a></small>, &#8220;When I consider how wonderfully pleas&#8217;d the
+Man is with these two new started Terms (<i>Self-consciousness</i> and <i>mutual
+Consciousness</i>) so high in Sound and so empty of Sense, instead of one
+substantial word (<i>Omniscience</i>)<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span> which gives us all that can be pretended
+useful in them, with vast Overplus and Advantage, and even swallows them
+up, as <i>Moses</i>&#8217;s Rod did those pitiful Tools of the <i>Magicians</i>: This (I
+say) brings to my mind (whether I will or no) a certain Story of a grave
+Person, who riding in the Road with his Servant, and finding himself
+something uneasy in his Saddle, bespoke his Servant thus: <i>John</i> (says he)
+<i>alight, and first take off the Saddle that is upon my Horse, and then
+take off the Saddle that is upon your Horse; and when you have done this,
+put the Saddle that was upon my Horse, upon your Horse; and put the Saddle
+that was upon your Horse, upon my Horse</i>. Whereupon the Man, who had not
+studied the Philosophy of Saddles (whether <i>Ambling</i> or <i>Trotting</i>) so
+exactly as his Master, replies something short upon him; <i>Lord, Master,
+what need all these words? Could you not as well have said, Let us change
+Saddles?</i> Now I must confess, I think the Servant was much in the right;
+tho the Master having a <i>rational Head of his own</i>, and being withal
+willing to make the <i>Notion</i> of <i>changing</i> Saddles more <i>plain</i>, <i>easy</i>
+and <i>intelligible</i>, and to give a clearer Explication of that word (which
+his Forefathers, how good <i>Horsemen</i> soever they might have been, yet were
+<i>not equally happy in explaining of</i>) was pleas&#8217;d to set it forth by that
+more full and accurate Circumlocution.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He says<small><a name="f124.1" id="f124.1" href="#f124">[124]</a></small>, <i>The Author</i>, Dr. <i>Sherlock, is no doubt a</i> Grecian <i>in his
+Heart</i>! And the tenth Chapter of the <i>Animadversions</i> is one continued
+Banter upon the <i>Dean</i> for his Ignorance in <i>Greek</i> and <i>Latin</i>, and even
+his Inability to spell: All which he <i>closes</i> <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span>with saying, &#8220;That St.
+<i>Paul</i>&#8217;s <i>School</i> is certainly an excellent School, and St. <i>Paul</i>&#8217;s
+Church a most noble Church; and therefore he thinks that he directs his
+Course very prudently, and happily too, who in his Passage to such a
+<i>Cathedral</i>, takes a School in his way.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Again, he says<small><a name="f125.1" id="f125.1" href="#f125">[125]</a></small>, &#8220;He cannot see any new Advantage that the Dean has
+got over the <i>Socinians</i>, unless it be, that the Dean thinks his <i>three
+Gods</i> will be too hard for their <i>one</i>.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>After citing several Scurrilities of the Dean<small><a name="f126.1" id="f126.1" href="#f126">[126]</a></small>, (who it must be
+confess&#8217;d, appears therein a great Banterer also of Dr. <i>South</i> and his
+Performance) the Dr. says, &#8220;These, with several more of the like
+<i>Gravel-Lane</i> Elegancies, are all of them such peculiar Strictures of the
+Dean&#8217;s <i>Genius</i>, that he might very well spare his Name, where he had made
+himself so well known by his Mark; for all the foregoing
+<i>Oyster-Wive-Kennel-Rhetorick</i> seems so naturally to flow from him, who
+had been so long Rector of St. <i>Botolph</i> (with the well-spoken
+<i>Billingsgate</i> under his Care) that (as much a Teacher as he was) it may
+well be question&#8217;d, whether he has learn&#8217;d more from his Parish, than his
+Parish from him.&mdash;All favours of the Porter, the Carman, and the Waterman;
+and a pleasant Scene it must be to see the <i>Master of the Temple</i> laying
+about him in the Language of the Stairs.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>To the Dean&#8217;s Scoff, that <i>this Argument</i>, &amp;c. <i>was worth its weight in
+Gold, tho the</i> Dean <i>fears it will not much enrich the Buyer</i>, the Doctor
+replies<small><a name="f127.1" id="f127.1" href="#f127">[127]</a></small>, &#8220;What is that to him? Let him mind his own Markets, who
+never writes to <i>enrich the Buyer</i> but the Seller;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span> and that <i>Seller</i> is
+himself: and since he is so, well is it for his Books and his Bookseller
+too, that Men generally <i>buy</i> before they <i>read</i>.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>In requital of the scurrilous Character of an <i>ingenious Blunderer</i>, Dr.
+<i>South</i> says<small><a name="f128.1" id="f128.1" href="#f128">[128]</a></small>, &#8220;He must here return upon him the just Charge of an
+<i>impious Blasphemer</i>, and that upon more Accounts than one; telling him
+withal, that had he liv&#8217;d in the former Times of the Church, his Gown
+would have been stript off his Back for his detestable Blasphemies and
+Heresies, and some other Place found out for him to perch in than the Top
+of St. <i>Paul&#8217;s</i>, where at present he is placed like a true Church
+Weather-Cock, (as he is) notable for nothing so much, as <i>standing high and turning round</i>.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Again, he says<small><a name="f129.1" id="f129.1" href="#f129">[129]</a></small>, &#8220;And so I take my leave of the Dean&#8217;s <i>three distinct
+infinite Minds, Spirits</i>, or <i>Substances</i>, that is to say, of his <i>three
+Gods</i>; and having done this, methinks I see him go whimpering away with
+his Finger in his Eye, and the Complaint of <i>Micah</i> in his Mouth, <i>Ye have
+taken away my Gods which I made, and what have I more</i><small><a name="f130.1" id="f130.1" href="#f130">[130]</a></small>? Tho he must
+confess, he cannot tell why he should be so fond of them, since he dares
+undertake that he will never be able to bring the Christian World either
+to believe in, or to worship a <i>Trinity of Gods</i>: Nor does he see what use
+they are likely to be of, even to himself, unless peradventure to <i>swear by</i>.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Again, the Doctor says<small><a name="f131.1" id="f131.1" href="#f131">[131]</a></small>, &#8220;The Dean&#8217;s following Instruction to his
+Friend is certainly very diverting, in these words, where the Animadverter
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span>charges the Dean with Absurdities and Contradictions; turn to the Place
+and read it with its Context, and tell me what you cannot answer, and I
+will; to which he would have done well to have added, <i>If I can</i>. But the
+whole Passage is just as if he had said, Sir, if you find not
+Contradictions and Absurdities enough in my Book to satisfy your Curiosity
+that way, pray come to the Fountain-head, and consult me, and you shall be
+sure of a more plentiful Supply.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Again, upon the Dean&#8217;s &#8220;Frequent reproaching the <small><a name="f132.1" id="f132.1" href="#f132">[132]</a></small> Animadverter with
+the Character of a <i>Wit</i>, tho join&#8217;d with such ill-favour&#8217;d Epithets, as
+his witless Malice has thought fit to degrade it with, as that he is <i>a
+spiteful Wit</i>, a <i>wrangling Wit</i>, a <i>satirical Wit</i>, and the <span class="smcap">Witty</span>,
+<i>subtle</i>, <i>good-natur&#8217;d Animadverter, &amp;c.</i> the Dr. says, that tho there be
+but little <i>Wit</i> shewn in making such Charges; yet if <i>Wit</i> be a
+<i>Reproach</i> (be it of what sort it will) the Animadverter is too <i>just</i> to
+return this <i>Reproach</i> upon the <i>Defender</i>; and withal, understands
+himself, and what becomes him, too well, either to <i>assume</i> to himself, or
+so much as to <i>admit</i> the Character of a <i>Wit</i>, as at all due to him;
+especially since he knows that <i>common Sense</i> (a thing much short of Wit)
+is enough to enable him to deal with such an Adversary. Nevertheless,
+there are many in the World, who are both call&#8217;d and accounted <i>Wits</i>, and
+really are so; which (one would think) should derive something of Credit
+upon this Qualification, even in the Esteem of this Author himself, or at
+least rebate the Edge of his Invectives against it, considering that it
+might have pleas&#8217;d God to have made him a <i>Wit</i> too.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span>XVII. As things now stand, it may easily be seen, that Prosecutions for
+<i>Raillery</i> and <i>Irony</i> would not be relish&#8217;d well by the Publick, and
+would probably turn to the Disreputation and Disgrace of the Prosecutor.</p>
+
+<p>Archbishop <i>Laud</i> has always been much censur&#8217;d for his malicious
+Prosecution of <i>Williams</i> in the <i>Star-Chamber</i>; among whose Crimes I find
+the following laid to his Charge: <small><a name="f133.1" id="f133.1" href="#f133">[133]</a></small> <i>That he said all Flesh in</i>
+England <i>had corrupted their Ways</i>; that <i>he call&#8217;d a Book intitled</i>, A
+Coal from the Altar (written by Dr. <i>Heylin</i>, for placing the
+Communion-Table at the East-end of the Church, and railing it in) <i>a
+Pamphlet</i>; that he <i>scoffingly said, that he had heard of a Mother Church,
+but not of a Mother Chapel, meaning the King&#8217;s, to which all Churches in
+Ceremony ought to conform</i>; that <i>he wickedly jested on St.</i> Martin<i>&#8217;s
+Hood</i>; that <i>he said the People ought not to be lash&#8217;d by every body&#8217;s
+Whip</i>; that <i>he said</i>, (citing <i>a National Council for it</i>) <i>that the
+People are God&#8217;s and the King&#8217;s, and not the Priest&#8217;s People; and that he
+doth not allow Priests to jeer and make Invectives against the People</i>.
+And I humbly conceive, that such Matters had much better be suffer&#8217;d to go
+on in the World, and take their Course, than that Courts of Judicature
+should be employ&#8217;d about them. A Sentence that imply&#8217;d some <i>Clergymen</i>
+corrupt, as well as some <i>Laymen</i>, of whom <i>Laud</i> would only allow to have
+it said, that they had <i>corrupted their Ways</i>; a <i>Jest</i> upon St.
+<i>Martin</i>&#8217;s <i>Hood</i>, which, according to Ecclesiastical History, <i>cur&#8217;d sore
+Eyes</i>; and a <i>Ridicule</i> upon a High-Church Book of <i>Heylin</i>&#8217;s, by calling
+it a Pamphlet, tho it was really a Pamphlet, as consisting of but seventy
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span>Pages in Quarto; seem less <i>wicked</i> and hurtful than disturbing, fining,
+and undoing Men about them. And the having some Concern for the People,
+that they should not be used as the Priest pleas&#8217;d; that the <i>People</i>
+belong to <i>God</i> and the <i>King</i>, and <i>not to the Priest</i>; and the <i>not
+allowing</i> the <i>Priests</i> to <i>jeer and make Invectives against the People</i>;
+seem all Errors fit to be born with.</p>
+
+<p>Archbishop <i>Laud</i> was also thought guilty of an excessive Piece of
+Weakness in the Punishment of <small><a name="f134.1" id="f134.1" href="#f134">[134]</a></small> <i>Archibald</i> the King&#8217;s Fool, by laying
+the Matter before the Privy-Council, and occasioning him to be expell&#8217;d
+the King&#8217;s House for a poor <i>Jest</i> upon himself; who, as he was a Man at
+the Head of the State, should have despis&#8217;d such a thing in any Body, much
+more in a <i>Fool</i>, and who should never have been hurried on to be the
+Instrument of any <i>Motion</i> against him, but have left it to others; who
+upon the least Intimation would have been glad to make their court to
+<i>Laud</i>, by sacrificing a <i>Fool</i> only to his Resentment.</p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>XVIII. I could have entertain&#8217;d the Reader with a great Variety of
+Passages out of the Fathers of the Church, whose Writings are Magazines of
+Authority, and urg&#8217;d upon us upon all Occasions by Ecclesiasticks, and are
+particularly full of <i>Burlesque</i> and <i>Ridicule</i> on the <i>Gods and Religion</i>
+of the <i>Pagans</i>; in the use whereof they are much more unanimous, than in
+the Articles of their <i>Creed</i>. But that being a Subject too great and
+extensive for a Digression, I shall content my self with the few following
+Reflections; which will sufficiently evince, that the <i>Taste</i> of the
+Primitive Christians was like that of the rest <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span>of the World; that they
+could laugh and be as merry as the <i>Greeks</i> and other <i>Pagans</i>; and that
+they would take the Advantage of the <i>Pagans</i> weak Cause, to introduce
+<i>Ridicule</i>, which always bears hard upon Weakness and Folly, and must load
+them so as to prevent a Possibility of their being remov&#8217;d by another
+<i>Ridicule</i>.</p>
+
+<p>These Fathers have transfused into their Writings all the Wit and Raillery
+of the antient <i>Pagan</i> Writers and Philosophers; who it is well known
+wrote a great deal to turn <i>Paganism</i> into Ridicule; most of which now
+exists no where but in the Works of the Fathers; all Books of that kind
+being lost, except <i>Cicero</i>&#8217;s Books of <i>the Nature of Gods</i>, and of
+<i>Divination</i>, and the Dialogues of <i>Lucian</i>; both which Authors have been
+of great use to the <i>Fathers</i> to set them up for <i>Wits</i>, <i>Droles</i>, and
+<i>Satirists</i>. For a Specimen how well these antient <i>Pagans</i> could <i>drole</i>,
+and how much beholden we are to the Fathers for recording their
+Drolleries, the most remarkable, I think, are some <i>Fragments</i> of a Book
+of <i>Oenomaus</i> concerning the <i>Pagan Oracles</i>, cited and preserv&#8217;d by <small><a name="f135.1" id="f135.1" href="#f135">[135]</a></small>
+<i>Eusebius</i>; who has given us occasion to <small><a name="f136.1" id="f136.1" href="#f136">[136]</a></small> <i>regret</i> the loss of this
+Work, as one of the most valuable Books written by the Antients on the
+Subject of <i>Oracles</i>, tho those Books were <i>very numerous</i>. And it is to
+be observ&#8217;d, that this Book and a great many, perhaps a <small><a name="f137.1" id="f137.1" href="#f137">[137]</a></small> thousand
+more, were publish&#8217;d in <i>Greece</i>, where the Imposture of <i>Oracles</i> greatly
+prevail&#8217;d, and great Wealth flow&#8217;d in, not only to the Priests of the
+<i>Oracular Temples</i>, but to all the Inhabitants of <i>Greece</i>, and especially
+to those who lived in the Neighbourhood of the several <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span><i>Oracular
+Temples</i>; who made a great Profit from the rich Travellers, that came from
+all Parts of the World to know their Fortunes. This shews the great
+Integrity and Fairness of the old <i>Pagans</i>; who would suffer not only
+their supposed standing Revelation to be call&#8217;d in <ins class="correction" title="original reads 'qustion'">question</ins>, but a
+Revelation that brought in as much Money, as the Chapels, Churches, and
+Shrines dedicated to the Blessed Virgin, or to any of the Saints, do in
+the <i>Roman</i> Church, without calling any Man to Account for the Liberties
+they took; who, as far as appears, were not expos&#8217;d <small><a name="f138.1" id="f138.1" href="#f138">[138]</a></small> <i>to any Danger</i>
+thereby. It is also to be observ&#8217;d, that the merry <small><a name="f139.1" id="f139.1" href="#f139">[139]</a></small> <i>Epicureans were
+none of them ever prosecuted</i>, and <i>that</i> Epicurus <i>himself died quietly
+at</i> Athens <i>in a very great old Age</i>.</p>
+
+<p>But the Book, which the Fathers made the most use of, was that arch, fly,
+and drolling Performance, now lost, of <i>Evemerus</i>, which he intitled, <i>A
+sacred History</i>: wherein he gave an <i>historical Account</i> of the <i>Birth</i>,
+<i>Country</i>, <i>Lives</i>, <i>Deaths</i>, and <i>Burials</i> of the <i>Gods</i>. This Work was
+translated into <i>Latin</i> by that arch Wag <i>Ennius</i>, who himself has most
+ingeniously <i>ridicul&#8217;d</i> several Impostors or very grave Persons, in a
+remarkable Piece of Poetry, which I shall give my Reader in <i>English</i>.</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+&#8220;<i>I value not a Rush the</i> Marsian <i>Augur,</i><br />
+&#8220;<i>Nor Country-Fortune Tellers, nor Town-Star-Gazers,</i><br />
+&#8220;<i>Nor jugling Gypsies, nor yet Dream-Interpreters:</i><br />
+&#8220;<i>For, not by Skill or Art, are these Diviners;</i><br />
+&#8220;<i>But superstitious Prophets, Guessers impudent,</i><br />
+&#8220;<i>Or idle Rogues, or craz&#8217;d, or mere starving Beggars.</i><br />
+&#8220;<i>They know no way themselves, yet others would direct;</i><br />
+&#8220;<i>And crave a Groat of those, to whom they promise Riches:</i><br />
+&#8220;<i>Thence let them take the Groat, and give back all the rest.</i></p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span>XIX. Wherefore I cannot but presume, that an Attempt to make a <i>Law</i> to
+restrain <i>Irony</i>, &amp;c. would prove abortive, and that the Attempt would be
+deem&#8217;d the Effect of a very partial Consideration of things, and of
+present Anger at a poor Jest; which Men are not able to bear themselves,
+how much soever they abound in <i>Jests</i>, both of the <i>light</i> and <i>cruel</i>
+kind, on others: tho for my own part I concur heartily with you in
+<i>making</i> such a <i>Law</i>, and in leaving it to a Person of your <i>Equity</i> to
+draw it up, craving only the Liberty to propose an Amendment or Addition,
+<i>viz.</i> that you would be pleas&#8217;d to insert a Clause to prevent <i>Irony</i>,
+<i>Ridicule</i>, and <i>Banter</i>, from invading the Pulpit, and particularly to
+prevent pointing out <i>Persons of Men</i> <small><a name="f140.1" id="f140.1" href="#f140">[140]</a></small> from thence, and reviling
+them, as also reviling whole Bodies of Men: For whatever is immoral in
+Print, is, in my Opinion, immoral in the Pulpit. Besides, these things
+seem more improper in the Pulpit, than they can be in Print: because no
+<i>Reprisals</i> can be made in the former, as in the latter Case; where they,
+or the Fear of them, may give some Check to the Disorder, and reduce
+things to a tolerable Temper and Decency. If, in order to justify my
+Motion, it could be thought necessary or proper here to give a Detail of
+ridiculing and ironical Passages, taken from Sermons against particular
+Men, and Bodies of Men, and their Doctrines, you cannot but know how easy
+it would be to fill a Volume with them, without going to Authors, who have
+occasionally produc&#8217;d abundance of them. And I will only mention here a
+Passage in a <i>Volume of Sermons</i>, just now publish&#8217;d, of a well known
+<i>High Divine</i>, the Reverend Mr. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span><i>William Reeves</i>, made famous by his
+<i>Translation</i> of some <i>Apologies of the Primitive Fathers</i>, which gain&#8217;d
+him the Applauses of a great many <i>High Men</i>, and particularly <i>Hickes</i>,
+<i>Dodwel</i>, and <i>Nelson</i>, &amp;c. and a Recommendation from the last to the
+Queen, who in the latter end of her Reign made him <i>Chaplain in Ordinary</i>,
+and obtain&#8217;d for him a considerable Preferment. This Gentleman, attacking
+Bishop <i>Hoadley</i>&#8217;s <i>Sermon</i> of <i>The Kingdom of Christ</i>, says<small><a name="f141.1" id="f141.1" href="#f141">[141]</a></small>, &#8220;In
+these last Days we have been taught to be as indolent and unconcern&#8217;d as
+possible in the Service of God: A noted <i>Novellist</i> [Bp. <i>Hoadley</i>] among
+many other odd <i>Engines</i>, hath invented one, to pump out all Devotion from
+Prayer, and make it a <i>Vacuum</i>. Instead of the old fervent, affectionate
+way of Worshipping, he hath substituted a new Idol, a Vanity, a Nothing of
+his own, <i>a calm and undisturb&#8217;d Address to God</i>.&mdash;&mdash;The <i>Arrows</i> and
+<i>bitter Words</i> Mr. <i>Hales</i> hath levell&#8217;d against <i>Rome</i> only, our Right
+Reverend hath <i>pointed a-new</i>, and shot them full against the Church he
+superintends, and with all the Force of inbred, fanatick Fury. And by this
+time surely it is well known, that he is a very <i>warm Man</i> in every thing,
+but his <i>Prayers</i>.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>XX. Instead of addressing the foregoing Papers to you, I could have
+address&#8217;d them to several others; who of late have thought fit to
+recognize the Right of Men, to examine into, and judge for themselves in
+all Matters of speculation, and especially in Matters of mere Religion,
+and to publish their Reasons against any Opinions they judge erroneous,
+tho publickly receiv&#8217;d in the Country where they live, provided they do it
+<i>seriously</i><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span> and <i>gravely</i>: which is a noble Progress in Truth, and owing
+to that glorious Liberty, and Freedom of Debate, that we enjoy under our
+most excellent Princes; and which extorts it even from them, who, to have
+some Credit in the World, are forced to own, what would discredit them to
+go on to deny, among all who have any degree of <i>Virtue</i>, <i>Sense</i>, and
+<i>Learning</i>. But I was determin&#8217;d to address my self to you, as a Person of
+more remarkable <i>Moderation</i> than ordinary in your <i>Letter</i> to Dr.
+<i>Rogers</i>: And one, who had, long before, in your <i>Defence of the
+Constitution in Church and State; in answer to the Charge of the
+Nonjurors, accusing us of Heresy and Schism, Perjury and Treason</i>, &#8220;valu&#8217;d
+<small><a name="f142.1" id="f142.1" href="#f142">[142]</a></small> and commended the Integrity of the Nonjurors in declaring their
+Sentiments:&#8221; and who, tho you justly charge those of them you write
+against, &#8220;as attacking us with such uncommon Marks of Violence <small><a name="f143.1" id="f143.1" href="#f143">[143]</a></small> as
+most plainly intimate, that no Measures are intended to be kept with us by
+them in the Day of their Prosperity, who in the Day of their Adversity,
+even when they are most at Mercy, cannot refrain from such <i>raging</i>
+Provocations; but when reduced to the Necessity of <i>taking</i> Quarter,
+profess most plainly they will never give it:&#8221; Yet as to these Enemies,
+who would destroy our Church and State, and <small><a name="f144.1" id="f144.1" href="#f144">[144]</a></small> &#8220;revive upon us the
+Charge of <i>Heresy</i> and <i>Schism</i>, <i>Perjury</i> and <i>Treason</i>, Crimes of no
+small figure either in the Law or in the Gospel,&#8221; you only say, that &#8220;if
+you may have leave to borrow a Thought from <small><a name="f145.1" id="f145.1" href="#f145">[145]</a></small> one of their own most
+celebrated Writers, you would tell them, that <i>the Blood and Spirits were
+made to rise upon such Occasions</i>: Nature design&#8217;d not, that <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span>we should be
+cold or indifferent in our manner of receiving, or returning, such foul
+Reproaches.&#8221; This is great Moderation, and such as I heartily approve,
+being dispos&#8217;d to forgive the Punishment due by Law to any Fault, when the
+Non-execution of it will not overturn the Government. And I am willing to
+hope, that since you can think that such bitter Adversaries to you, as
+these licentious <i>Jacobites</i> are, should only be smartly replied to, and
+not be prosecuted by the Government, you will, upon Reflection, think,
+that a merry, good humour&#8217;d Adversary should be treated as well.</p>
+
+<p>Tho I have endeavour&#8217;d to defend the Use of <i>Ridicule</i> and <i>Irony</i>, yet it
+is such <i>Irony</i> and <i>Ridicule</i> only as is fit for polite Persons to use.
+As to the gross <i>Irony</i> and <i>Ridicule</i>, I disapprove of it, as I do other
+Faults in Writing; only I would not have Men punish&#8217;d, or any other way
+disturb&#8217;d about it, than by a Return of <i>Ridicule</i> and <i>Irony</i>. This I
+think fit to conclude with, more to prevent Misrepresentation from others,
+than from you; whom I look on to have too much Sense and Integrity to
+mistake or misrepresent me.</p>
+
+<p class="right"><i>I am Yours, &amp;c.</i></p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p class="center"><b><i>F<span class="spacer">&nbsp;</span>I<span class="spacer">&nbsp;</span>N<span class="spacer">&nbsp;</span>I<span class="spacer">&nbsp;</span>S.</i></b></p>
+
+
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p>
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><b>Footnotes:</b></p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f28" id="f28" href="#f28.1">[28]</a> <i>Page</i> 337.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f29" id="f29" href="#f29.1">[29]</a> <i>Pag.</i> 302.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f30" id="f30" href="#f30.1">[30]</a> <i>Page</i> 301.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f31" id="f31" href="#f31.1">[31]</a> <i>Pag.</i> 307.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f32" id="f32" href="#f32.1">[32]</a> Stillingfleet&#8217;s <i>Answer to several late Treatises</i>, &amp;c. <i>Page</i> 14.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f33" id="f33" href="#f33.1">[33]</a> <i>Pag.</i> 71.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f34" id="f34" href="#f34.1">[34]</a> Vindication of the Answer to the Royal Papers. <i>p.</i> 105.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f35" id="f35" href="#f35.1">[35]</a> <i>Preface to</i> Unreasonableness of Separation. <i>p.</i> 62.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f36" id="f36" href="#f36.1">[36]</a> Rule&#8217;s <i>Rational Defence</i> of Nonconf. <i>p.</i> 29.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f37" id="f37" href="#f37.1">[37]</a> <i>Preface to</i> Stillingfleet <i>still against</i> Stillingfleet.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f38" id="f38" href="#f38.1">[38]</a> <i>Preface to a Discourse of</i> Miracles wrote in the <i>Roman</i> Church, <i>&amp;c.</i></p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f39" id="f39" href="#f39.1">[39]</a> See <i>Stillingfleet</i>&#8217;s Second Vind. of the Protestant Grounds of Faith, <i>c.</i> 3.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f40" id="f40" href="#f40.1">[40]</a> <i>Edwards&#8217;s</i> New Discov. <i>p.</i> 184-215.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f41" id="f41" href="#f41.1">[41]</a> <i>Ecclesiast. Hist.</i> cent. 8. <i>p.</i> 196.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f42" id="f42" href="#f42.1">[42]</a> Vind. <i>p.</i> 199.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f43" id="f43" href="#f43.1">[43]</a> <i>See</i> Shaftesbury&#8217;s <i>Characteristicks</i>, Vol. I. p. 61.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f44" id="f44" href="#f44.1">[44]</a> Memoirs de Trevoux, <i>An.</i> 1707. <i>p.</i> 396. <i>An.</i> 1717. <i>p.</i> 1200.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f45" id="f45" href="#f45.1">[45]</a> <ins class="correction" title="original reads 'Trap's'"><i>Trapp</i>&#8217;s</ins> Popery truly stated, <i>p.</i> 123.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f46" id="f46" href="#f46.1">[46]</a> <i>Preface.</i></p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f47" id="f47" href="#f47.1">[47]</a> <i>Heylin</i>&#8217;s History of the Presbyterians, <i>p.</i> 391.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f48" id="f48" href="#f48.1">[48]</a> <i>Wotton</i> on the <i>Misna</i>, p. 118.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f49" id="f49" href="#f49.1">[49]</a> <i>Freeholder</i>, N&ordm; 30.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f50" id="f50" href="#f50.1">[50]</a> <i>Freeholder</i>, Numb. xlv.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f51" id="f51" href="#f51.1">[51]</a> <i>See</i> Cicero de Officiis, <i>l.</i> 1. <i>c.</i> 30.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f52" id="f52" href="#f52.1">[52]</a> <i>See</i> Patrick<i>&#8217;s Friendly Debate</i>, Part 1, <i>p.</i> 139-141. 5<i>th Edit.</i></p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f53" id="f53" href="#f53.1">[53]</a> <i>Preface to</i> The State of the Roman Catholick Religion, <i>p.</i> 11.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f54" id="f54" href="#f54.1">[54]</a> De Divin. l. 2. c. 25.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f55" id="f55" href="#f55.1">[55]</a> <i>Rog. Hoveden</i>, Pars ii. p. 520.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f56" id="f56" href="#f56.1">[56]</a> 1 <i>Kings</i> xviii.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f57" id="f57" href="#f57.1">[57]</a> <i>Psalm</i> ii. 4.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f58" id="f58" href="#f58.1">[58]</a> <i>Gen.</i> iii. 22.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f59" id="f59" href="#f59.1">[59]</a> Arch&aelig;olog. Philos. <i>l.</i> 2. <i>c.</i> 7.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f60" id="f60" href="#f60.1">[60]</a> Shaftesbury <i>in Charact.</i> Vol. 3. <i>and</i> Whitchcot<i>&#8217;s Sermons</i>: Vol. I.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f61" id="f61" href="#f61.1">[61]</a> Shaftesbury&#8217;s <i>Characteristicks</i>, Vol. I. p. 71.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f62" id="f62" href="#f62.1">[62]</a> <i>Page</i> 307.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f63" id="f63" href="#f63.1">[63]</a> <i>How useful</i> Lestrange<i>&#8217;s</i> Observators, <i>which were design&#8217;d to
+expose the Dissenters to Contempt and Persecution, were deem&#8217;d to the
+Church at the time they were publish&#8217;d, may be judged of by Bp.</i> Burnet,
+<i>who says</i> [<i>in his</i> Eighteen Papers, <i>p.</i> 90.] &#8220;<i>Another Buffoon was
+hired to plague the Nation with three or four Papers a Week, which to the
+Reproach of the Age in which we live, had but too great and too general
+Effect, for poisoning the Spirits of the Clergy.</i>&#8221;</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f64" id="f64" href="#f64.1">[64]</a> <i>In this Work the Dissenters and Low Churchmen are sufficiently
+rally&#8217;d and abus&#8217;d, and particularly the</i> Free-Thinkers, <i>whose</i> Creed <i>is
+therein represented as consisting of these two Negatives</i>, No Queen and no God. <i>Examiners</i>, Vol. 3. p. 12.<br />
+<br />
+<i>Mr.</i> Addison <i>tells us</i> [Freeholder N&ordm;. 19.] &#8220;<i>the</i> Examiner <i>was the
+favourite Work of the Party. It was usher&#8217;d into the World by a Letter
+from a Secretary of State, setting forth the great Genius of the Author,
+the Usefulness of his Design, and the mighty Consequences that were to be
+expected from it. It is said to be written by those among them whom they
+look&#8217;d upon as their most celebrated Wits and Politicians, and was
+dispers&#8217;d into all Quarters of the Nation with great Industry and
+Expence.&mdash;&mdash;In this Paper all the great Men who had done eminent Services
+to their Country, but a few Years before, were draughted out one by one,
+and baited in their Turns. No Sanctity of Character, or Privilege of Sex
+exempted Persons.&mdash;&mdash;Several of our Prelates were the standing Marks of
+publick Raillery.</i>&mdash;&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f65" id="f65" href="#f65.1">[65]</a> <i>In his</i> Ecclesiastical Policy, <i>his</i> Defence and Continuation
+<i>thereof, and his</i> Reproof to <i>Marvel</i>&#8217;s Rehearsal transpos&#8217;d.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f66" id="f66" href="#f66.1">[66]</a> <i>In his</i> Friendly Debates.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f67" id="f67" href="#f67.1">[67]</a> <i>In his six Volumes of</i> Sermons, <i>and in his</i> Books <i>of the</i> Trinity.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f68" id="f68" href="#f68.1">[68]</a> <i>In his</i> Discourse of the Knowledge of Christ, <i>&amp;c. his</i> Defences of
+Dr. <i>Stillingfleet</i>&#8217;s Unreasonableness of Separation, <i>and his</i> Answer <i>to the</i> Protestant Reconciler.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f69" id="f69" href="#f69.1">[69]</a> <i>In his Translation of</i> Dryden<i>&#8217;s</i> Absalom <i>and</i> Achitophel <i>into</i>
+Latin <i>Verse, whereby he was first flush&#8217;d; and in his</i> Convocational
+Controversy, <i>and in his numerous State Libels</i>.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f70" id="f70" href="#f70.1">[70]</a> <i>In his</i> Sermons, Rights of the Church, <i>and especially his</i> Character of a Low-Church-man, <i>drawn to abuse Bishop</i> Floyd.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f71" id="f71" href="#f71.1">[71]</a> <i>Of this, the Trials of</i> Penn <i>and</i> Mead <i>before</i> Howel, <i>and of</i>
+Baxter <i>before</i> Jefferys, <i>are Master Pieces; of which last you have an
+Account in</i> Kennet<i>&#8217;s</i> Compleat History of <i>England, Vol. 3d. and of the
+former in</i> the Ph&oelig;nix, <i>Vol.</i> I.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f72" id="f72" href="#f72.1">[72]</a> Snape<i>&#8217;s</i> Vindication against <i>Pilloniere</i>. p. 50.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f73" id="f73" href="#f73.1">[73]</a> <i>Id.</i> p. 63.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f74" id="f74" href="#f74.1">[74]</a> <i>The Stage condemn&#8217;d</i>, p. 2.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f75" id="f75" href="#f75.1">[75]</a> Popery truly stated, <i>p.</i> 127, 128.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f76" id="f76" href="#f76.1">[76]</a> <i>Pag.</i> 75, 76, 77, 79, 81, 112, 113, 120, 122, 124, 125.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f77" id="f77" href="#f77.1">[77]</a> <i>Sermons</i>, Vol. III. p. 299.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f78" id="f78" href="#f78.1">[78]</a> Rule of Faith, <i>p.</i> 347, 348.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f79" id="f79" href="#f79.1">[79]</a> See <i>p.</i> 57.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f80" id="f80" href="#f80.1">[80]</a> <i>Pag.</i> 59.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f81" id="f81" href="#f81.1">[81]</a> <i>Pag.</i> 57.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f82" id="f82" href="#f82.1">[82]</a> Burnet<i>&#8217;s</i> History of his own Times, <i>p.</i> 674.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f83" id="f83" href="#f83.1">[83]</a> Ib. <i>p.</i> 792.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f84" id="f84" href="#f84.1">[84]</a> Ibid. <i>p.</i> 740.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f85" id="f85" href="#f85.1">[85]</a> Ibid. <i>p.</i> 683.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f86" id="f86" href="#f86.1">[86]</a> <i>The Protestant Mouse speaks.</i></p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f87" id="f87" href="#f87.1">[87]</a> <i>Boyer</i>&#8217;s Life of Queen <i>Anne</i>, in the Annual List of the Deaths, <i>p.</i> 65.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f88" id="f88" href="#f88.1">[88]</a> <i>A</i> Clergyman <i>preach&#8217;d thus to his</i> Auditory: <i>&#8220;You have</i> Moses
+<i>and</i> Aaron <i>before you, and the Organs behind you, so are a happy People;
+for what greater Comfort would mortal Men have?&#8221;</i> See <i>Walker</i>&#8217;s
+Sufferings, <i>&amp;c. p.</i> 178.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f89" id="f89" href="#f89.1">[89]</a> <i>See the Article</i> Heylin, in <i>Wood</i>&#8217;s Athen&aelig; Oxon.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f90" id="f90" href="#f90.1">[90]</a> Burnet<i>&#8217;s Hist.</i> p. 100.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f91" id="f91" href="#f91.1">[91]</a> <i>Characteristicks</i>, Vol. I. p. 259.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f92" id="f92" href="#f92.1">[92]</a> Burnet. <i>ibid.</i></p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f93" id="f93" href="#f93.1">[93]</a> Page 177.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f94" id="f94" href="#f94.1">[94]</a> Burnet <i>p.</i> 95.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f95" id="f95" href="#f95.1">[95]</a> Kennet<i>&#8217;s Register</i>, p. 258.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f96" id="f96" href="#f96.1">[96]</a> <i>Ibid.</i> p. 516.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f97" id="f97" href="#f97.1">[97]</a> Burnet<i>&#8217;s Hist.</i></p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f98" id="f98" href="#f98.1">[98]</a> Kennet<i>&#8217;s Register</i>, p. 111.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f99" id="f99" href="#f99.1">[99]</a> Burnet<i>&#8217;s History</i>, p. 107.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f100" id="f100" href="#f100.1">[100]</a> <i>See the Bp. of</i> Bangor<i>&#8217;s Preface to the</i> Answer <i>to the</i> Representation <i>of the Lower House of Convocation</i>.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f101" id="f101" href="#f101.1">[101]</a> Ward<i>&#8217;s Life of Dr.</i> Henry More, <i>p.</i> 120.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f102" id="f102" href="#f102.1">[102]</a> Ibid. <i>p.</i> 122.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f103" id="f103" href="#f103.1">[103]</a> <i>See the several Lives of him.</i></p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f104" id="f104" href="#f104.1">[104]</a> <i>Life lately printed</i>, 1726. p. 99.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f105" id="f105" href="#f105.1">[105]</a> Burnet<i>&#8217;s Hist.</i> p. 95.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f106" id="f106" href="#f106.1">[106]</a> Temple<i>&#8217;s Works</i>, Vol. II. p. 40.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f107" id="f107" href="#f107.1">[107]</a> <i>Collection of authentick Records</i>, Vol. II. p. 1099.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f108" id="f108" href="#f108.1">[108]</a> <i>Second Letter to the Bishop of</i> London, <i>p.</i> 3, 4.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f109" id="f109" href="#f109.1">[109]</a> <i>History</i>, p. 260.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f110" id="f110" href="#f110.1">[110]</a> <i>Mat.</i> xxvi. 67, 68.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f111" id="f111" href="#f111.1">[111]</a> Elwood<i>&#8217;s History of his own Life</i>, &amp;c. <i>p.</i> 318.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f112" id="f112" href="#f112.1">[112]</a> <i>Remarks on some late Sermons</i>, &amp;c. <i>p.</i> 34.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f113" id="f113" href="#f113.1">[113]</a> <i>Pag.</i> 52.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f114" id="f114" href="#f114.1">[114]</a> <i>Answer to</i> State of the Protestants in <i>Ireland</i>, &amp;c. <i>p.</i> 108.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f115" id="f115" href="#f115.1">[115]</a> <i>Pag.</i> 120, 121.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f116" id="f116" href="#f116.1">[116]</a> <i>Preface</i>, p. 14.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f117" id="f117" href="#f117.1">[117]</a> <i>Pag.</i> 11, 24.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f118" id="f118" href="#f118.1">[118]</a> <i>Pag.</i> 1.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f119" id="f119" href="#f119.1">[119]</a> <i>Pag.</i> 4, 11, 12, 13, 19.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f120" id="f120" href="#f120.1">[120]</a> Appendix to Parliamentary Original, &amp;c. <i>p.</i> 14.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f121" id="f121" href="#f121.1">[121]</a> Some Remarks on the Temper of some late Writers, &amp;c. <i>p.</i> 33.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f122" id="f122" href="#f122.1">[122]</a> Preface to Animad. <i>p.</i> 12, 13.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f123" id="f123" href="#f123.1">[123]</a> Animad. <i>p.</i> 114.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f124" id="f124" href="#f124.1">[124]</a> Ibid. <i>p.</i> 332.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f125" id="f125" href="#f125.1">[125]</a> Ibid. <i>p.</i> 348.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f126" id="f126" href="#f126.1">[126]</a> Tritheism charged, <i>p.</i> 2, 3.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f127" id="f127" href="#f127.1">[127]</a> Ib. <i>p.</i> 108.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f128" id="f128" href="#f128.1">[128]</a> Ibid. <i>p.</i> 170.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f129" id="f129" href="#f129.1">[129]</a> Ibid. <i>p.</i> 281.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f130" id="f130" href="#f130.1">[130]</a> Judg. 18.24.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f131" id="f131" href="#f131.1">[131]</a> Ib. <i>p.</i> 285.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f132" id="f132" href="#f132.1">[132]</a> Ibid. <i>p.</i> 299.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f133" id="f133" href="#f133.1">[133]</a> <i>Fuller</i>&#8217;s Church History, Cent. 17. B. 11. Sect. 89, Parag. 10.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f134" id="f134" href="#f134.1">[134]</a> <i>Rushworth</i>, Part II. Vol. I. <i>p.</i> 471.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f135" id="f135" href="#f135.1">[135]</a> <i>Prap. Evang.</i> l. 4. p. 209-234.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f136" id="f136" href="#f136.1">[136]</a> Fontenelle, Historie des Oracles. I. Dissert. c. vii.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f137" id="f137" href="#f137.1">[137]</a> Euseb. Id. l. 4.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f138" id="f138" href="#f138.1">[138]</a> <i>Baltus</i>, Suite de la Reponse a l&#8217;His. des Oracles, <i>p.</i> 283.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f139" id="f139" href="#f139.1">[139]</a> <i>Ibid.</i></p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f140" id="f140" href="#f140.1">[140]</a> <i>Bp.</i> Hoadley<i>&#8217;s Answer to</i> the Representation, <i>&amp;c. Pref.</i> p. 12.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f141" id="f141" href="#f141.1">[141]</a> <i>Page</i> 91.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f142" id="f142" href="#f142.1">[142]</a> <i>Page</i> 2.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f143" id="f143" href="#f143.1">[143]</a> <i>Page</i> 1.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f144" id="f144" href="#f144.1">[144]</a> <i>Page</i> 4, 5.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f145" id="f145" href="#f145.1">[145]</a> <i>Mr.</i> Collier.</p>
+
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p>
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h3>WILLIAM ANDREWS CLARK<br />MEMORIAL LIBRARY</h3>
+<h3>UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, LOS ANGELES</h3>
+<p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p>
+<h2><span class="smcap">The Augustan Reprint Society</span></h2>
+<h4>PUBLICATIONS IN PRINT</h4>
+<p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<h2><span class="smcap">The Augustan Reprint Society</span></h2>
+
+<h4>Publications in Print</h4>
+
+<h4>1948-1949</h4>
+<div class="ads">
+<p>16. Henry Nevil Payne, <i>The Fatal Jealousie</i> (1673).</p>
+<p class="hang">18. Anonymous, &#8220;Of Genius,&#8221; in <i>The Occasional Paper</i>, Vol. III, No. 1 (1719), and Aaron Hill, Preface to <i>The Creation</i> (1720).</p></div>
+
+<h4>1949-1950</h4>
+<div class="ads">
+<p>19. Susanna Centlivre, <i>The Busie Body</i> (1709).</p>
+<p>20. Lewis Theobald, <i>Preface to the Works of Shakespeare</i> (1734).</p>
+<p>22. Samuel Johnson, <i>The Vanity of Human Wishes</i> (1749), and two <i>Rambler</i> papers (1750).</p>
+<p>23. John Dryden, <i>His Majesties Declaration Defended</i> (1681).</p></div>
+
+<h4>1950-1951</h4>
+<div class="ads">
+<p>26. Charles Macklin, <i>The Man of the World</i> (1792).</p></div>
+
+<h4>1951-1952</h4>
+<div class="ads">
+<p>31. Thomas Gray, <i>An Elegy Wrote in a Country Churchyard</i> (1751), and <i>The Eton College Manuscript</i>.</p></div>
+
+<h4>1952-1953</h4>
+<div class="ads">
+<p>41. Bernard Mandeville, <i>A Letter to Dion</i> (1732).</p></div>
+
+<h4>1963-1964</h4>
+<div class="ads">
+<p>104. Thomas D&#8217;Urfey, <i>Wonders in the Sun; or, The Kingdom of the Birds</i> (1706).</p></div>
+
+<h4>1964-1965</h4>
+<div class="ads">
+<p>110. John Tutchin, <i>Selected Poems</i> (1685-1700).</p>
+<p>111. Anonymous, <i>Political Justice</i> (1736).</p>
+<p>112. Robert Dodsley, <i>An Essay on Fable</i> (1764).</p>
+<p>113. T. R., <i>An Essay Concerning Critical and Curious Learning</i> (1698).</p>
+<p class="hang">114. <i>Two Poems Against Pope:</i> Leonard Welsted, <i>One Epistle to Mr. A. Pope</i> (1730), and Anonymous, <i>The Blatant Beast</i> (1742).</p></div>
+
+<h4>1965-1966</h4>
+<div class="ads">
+<p>115. Daniel Defoe and others, <i>Accounts of the Apparition of Mrs. Veal</i>.</p>
+<p>116. Charles Macklin, <i>The Covent Garden Theatre</i> (1752).</p>
+<p>117. Sir George L&#8217;Estrange, <i>Citt and Bumpkin</i> (1680).</p>
+<p>118. Henry More, <i>Enthusiasmus Triumphatus</i> (1662).</p>
+<p>119. Thomas Traherne, <i>Meditations on the Six Days of the Creation</i> (1717).</p>
+<p>120. Bernard Mandeville, <i>Aesop Dress&#8217;d or a Collection of Fables</i> (1704).</p></div>
+
+<h4>1966-1967</h4>
+<div class="ads">
+<p>123. Edmond Malone, <i>Cursory Observations on the Poems Attributed to Mr. Thomas Rowley</i> (1782).</p>
+<p>124. Anonymous, <i>The Female Wits</i> (1704).</p>
+<p class="hang">125. Anonymous, <i>The Scribleriad</i> (1742). Lord Hervey, <i>The Difference Between Verbal and Practical Virtue</i> (1742).</p></div>
+
+<h4>1967-1968</h4>
+<div class="ads">
+<p>129. Lawrence Echard, Prefaces to <i>Terence&#8217;s Comedies</i> (1694) and <i>Plautus&#8217;s Comedies</i> (1694).</p>
+<p>130. Henry More, <i>Democritus Platonissans</i> (1646).</p>
+<p>132. Walter Harte, <i>An Essay on Satire, Particularly on the Dunciad</i> (1730).</p></div>
+
+<h4>1968-1969</h4>
+<div class="ads">
+<p class="hang">133. John Courtenay, <i>A Poetical Review of the Literary and Moral Character of the Late Samuel Johnson</i> (1786).</p>
+<p>134. John Downes, <i>Roscius Anglicanus</i> (1708).</p>
+<p>135. Sir John Hill, <i>Hypochondriasis, a Practical Treatise</i> (1766).</p>
+<p class="hang">136. Thomas Sheridan, <i>Discourse ... Being Introductory to His Course of Lectures on Elocution and the English Language</i> (1759).</p>
+<p>137. Arthur Murphy, <i>The Englishman From Paris</i> (1736).</p>
+<p>138. [Catherine Trotter], <i>Olinda&#8217;s Adventures</i> (1718).</p></div>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<div class="ads">
+<p>Publications of the first fifteen years of the Society (numbers 1-90) are
+available in paperbound units of six issues at $16.00 per unit, from the
+Kraus Reprint Company, 16 East 46th Street, New York, N.Y. 10017.</p>
+
+<p>Publications in print are available at the regular membership rate of
+$5.00 yearly. Prices of single issues may be obtained upon request.
+Subsequent publications may be checked in the annual prospectus.</p></div>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+<h3><span class="smcap">The Augustan Reprint Society</span></h3>
+<h3><span class="smcap">William Andrews Clark<br />Memorial Library</span></h3>
+<p class="center">UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, LOS ANGELES</p>
+<p class="center">2520 Cimarron Street (at West Adams), Los Angeles, California 90018</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p class="center"><i>Make check or money order payable to</i><br />THE REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+<h4>William Andrews Clark Memorial Library: University of California, Los Angeles</h4>
+
+<h2><span class="smcap">The Augustan Reprint Society</span></h2>
+<h5>2520 CIMARRON STREET, LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA 90018</h5>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<p class="center"><i>General Editors:</i> William E. Conway, William Andrews Clark Memorial
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+
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+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>The Society&#8217;s purpose is to publish rare Restoration and
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+
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+address B. H. Blackwell, Broad Street, Oxford, England. Copies of back
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+
+<p>Publications of the first fifteen years of the Society (numbers 1-90) are
+available in paperbound units of six issues at $16.00 per unit, from the
+Kraus Reprint Company, 16 East 46th Street, New York, N.Y. 10017.</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
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+
+<p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p>
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+<h4>REGULAR PUBLICATIONS FOR 1969-1970</h4>
+
+<p class="hang">139. John Ogilvie, <i>An Essay on the lyric poetry of the ancients</i> (1762). Introduction by Wallace Jackson.</p>
+
+<p class="hang">140. <i>A Learned Dissertation on Dumpling</i> (1726) and <i>Pudding burnt to pot or a compleat key to the Dissertation on Dumpling</i> (1727). Introduction by Samuel L. Macey.</p>
+
+<p class="hang">141. Selections from Sir Roger L&#8217;Estrange&#8217;s <i>Observator</i> (1681-1687). Introduction by Violet Jordain.</p>
+
+<p class="hang">142. Anthony Collins, <i>A Discourse concerning Ridicule and Irony in writing</i> (1729). Introduction by Edward A. Bloom and Lillian D. Bloom.</p>
+
+<p class="hang">143. <i>A Letter from a clergyman to his friend, with an account of the travels of Captain Lemuel Gulliver</i> (1726). Introduction by Martin Kallich.</p>
+
+<p class="hang">144. <i>The Art of Architecture, a poem. In imitation of Horace&#8217;s Art of poetry</i> (1742). Introduction by William A. Gibson.</p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p>
+<h4>SPECIAL PUBLICATION FOR 1969-1970</h4>
+
+<p class="hang">Gerard Langbaine, <i>An Account of the English Dramatick Poets</i> (1691), Introduction by John Loftis. 2 Volumes. Approximately 600 pages. Price to
+members of the Society, $7.00 for the first copy (both volumes), and $8.50 for additional copies. Price to non-members, $10.00.</p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>Already published in this series:</p>
+
+<p class="hang">1. John Ogilby, <i>The Fables of Aesop Paraphras&#8217;d in Verse</i> (1668), with an Introduction by Earl Miner. 228 pages.</p>
+
+<p class="hang">2. John Gay, <i>Fables</i> (1727, 1738), with an Introduction by Vinton A. Dearing. 366 pages.</p>
+
+<p class="hang">3. <i>The Empress of Morocco and Its Critics</i> (Elkanah Settle, <i>The Empress of Morocco</i> [1673] with five plates; <i>Notes and Observations on the
+Empress of Morocco</i> [1674] by John Dryden, John Crowne and Thomas Snadwell; <i>Notes and Observations on the Empress of Morocco Revised</i>
+[1674] by Elkanah Settle; and <i>The Empress of Morocco. A Farce</i> [1674] by Thomas Duffett), with an Introduction by Maximillian E. Novak. 348 pages.</p>
+
+<p class="hang">4. <i>After THE TEMPEST</i> (the Dryden-Davenant version of <i>The Tempest</i> [1670]; the &#8220;operatic&#8221; <i>Tempest</i> [1674]; Thomas Duffett&#8217;s <i>Mock-Tempest</i>
+[1675]; and the &#8220;Garrick&#8221; <i>Tempest</i> [1756]), with an Introduction by George Robert Guffey. 332 pages.</p>
+
+<p>Price to members of the Society, $3.50 for the first copy of each title,
+and $4.25 for additional copies. Price to non-members, $5.00. Standing
+orders for this continuing series of Special Publications will be
+accepted. British and European orders should be addressed to B. H.
+Blackwell, Broad Street, Oxford, England.</p>
+
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p>
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><b>Transcriber&#8217;s Notes:</b></p>
+
+<p>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 text.</p>
+
+<p>Long &#8220;s&#8221; has been modernized.</p>
+
+<p>The inclusion of two footnotes numbered 53 in intentional to reflect the
+original text.</p>
+
+<p>Footnote placement in this text reflects the placement in the original,
+either inside punctuation or spaced between words.</p>
+
+<p>Other than the corrections noted by hover information, printer&#8217;s inconsistencies in
+spelling, punctuation, hyphenation, and ligature usage have been retained.</p>
+
+<div>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 30343 ***</div>
+</body>
+</html>
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+Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for
+eBook #30343 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/30343)
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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of A Discourse Concerning Ridicule and Irony
+in Writing (1729), by Anthony Collins
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: A Discourse Concerning Ridicule and Irony in Writing (1729)
+
+Author: Anthony Collins
+
+Editor: Edward A. Bloom
+        Lillian D. Bloom
+
+Release Date: October 27, 2009 [EBook #30343]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RIDICULE, IRONY IN WRITING ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Tor Martin Kristiansen, Joseph Cooper, Stephanie
+Eason, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at
+https://www.pgdp.net.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+  THE AUGUSTAN REPRINT SOCIETY
+
+  ANTHONY COLLINS
+
+  A DISCOURSE
+  CONCERNING
+  Ridicule and Irony
+  IN WRITING
+
+  (1729)
+
+  _Introduction by_
+  EDWARD A. BLOOM AND LILLIAN D. BLOOM
+
+  PUBLICATION NUMBER 142
+  WILLIAM ANDREWS CLARK MEMORIAL LIBRARY
+  UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, LOS ANGELES
+
+  1970
+
+
+
+  GENERAL EDITORS
+
+  William E. Conway, _William Andrews Clark Memorial Library_
+  George Robert Guffey, _University of California, Los Angeles_
+  Maximillian E. Novak, _University of California, Los Angeles_
+
+
+  ASSOCIATE EDITOR
+
+  David S. Rodes, _University of California, Los Angeles_
+
+
+  ADVISORY EDITORS
+
+  Richard C. Boys, _University of Michigan_
+  James L. Clifford, _Columbia University_
+  Ralph Cohen, _University of Virginia_
+  Vinton A. Dearing, _University of California, Los Angeles_
+  Arthur Friedman, _University of Chicago_
+  Louis A. Landa, _Princeton University_
+  Earl Miner, _University of California, Los Angeles_
+  Samuel H. Monk, _University of Minnesota_
+  Everett T. Moore, _University of California, Los Angeles_
+  Lawrence Clark Powell, _William Andrews Clark Memorial Library_
+  James Sutherland, _University College, London_
+  H. T. Swedenberg, Jr., _University of California, Los Angeles_
+  Robert Vosper, _William Andrews Clark Memorial Library_
+
+
+  CORRESPONDING SECRETARY
+
+  Edna C. Davis, _William Andrews Clark Memorial Library_
+
+
+  EDITORIAL ASSISTANT
+
+  Roberta Medford, _William Andrews Clark Memorial Library_
+
+
+
+
+INTRODUCTION
+
+Between 1710 and 1729 Anthony Collins was lampooned, satirized, and
+gravely denounced from pulpit and press as England's most insidious
+defiler of church and state. Yet within a year of his death he became the
+model of a proper country gentleman,
+
+     ... he had an opulent Fortune, descended to him from his Ancestors,
+     which he left behind him unimpair'd: He lived on his own Estate in
+     the Country, where his Tenants paid him moderate Rents, which he
+     never enhanced on their making any Improvements; he always oblig'd
+     his Family to a constant attendance on Publick Worship; as he was
+     himself a Man of the strictest Morality, for he never suffer'd any
+     Body about him who was deficient in that Point; he exercised a
+     universal Charity to all Sorts of People, without any Regard either
+     to Sect or Party; being in the Commission of the Peace, he
+     administered Justice with such Impartiality and Incorruptness, that
+     the most distant Part of the County flock'd to his Decisions; but the
+     chief Use he made of his Authority was in accommodating
+     Differences;...[1]
+
+In a comparison which likens him to Sir Roger de Coverley, there is less
+truth than fiction. What they did share was a love of the countryside and
+a "universal Charity" towards its inhabitants. For the most part, however,
+we can approximate Collins's personality by reversing many of Sir Roger's
+traits. Often at war with his world, as the spectatorial character was
+not, he managed to maintain an intellectual rapport with it and even with
+those who sought his humiliation. He never--as an instance--disguised his
+philosophical distrust of Samuel Clarke; yet during any debate he planned
+"most certainly [to] outdo him in civility and good manners."[2] This
+decorum in no way compromised his pursuit of what he considered objective
+truth or his denunciation of all "methods" or impositions of spiritual
+tyranny. Thus, during the virulent, uneven battle which followed upon the
+publication of the _Discourse of Free-Thinking_, he ignored his own wounds
+in order to applaud a critic's
+
+     _suspicions that there is a sophism_ in what he calls my
+     _hypothesis_. That is a temper that ought to go thro' all our
+     Inquirys, and especially before we have an opportunity of examining
+     things to the bottom. It is safest at all times, and we are least
+     likely to be mistaken, if we constantly suspect our selves to be
+     under mistakes.... I have no system to defend or that I would seem to
+     defend, and am unconcerned for the consequence that may be drawn from
+     my opinion; and therefore stand clear of all difficultys wch others
+     either by their opinion or caution are involved in.[3]
+
+
+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 error. For himself, hence, he tries to avoid all manner of hard-voiced
+enthusiasm. Paradoxically, however, Collins searched with a zealot's
+avidity for any controversy which would either assert his faith or test
+his disbelief. When once he found his engagement, he revelled in it,
+whether as the aggressor or the harassed defendant. For example, 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 Religion_.
+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 Reasons_.[4]
+
+By May of 1727 and with no visible sign of fatigue he took on a new
+contender; this time it was John Rogers, canon in ordinary to the Prince
+of Wales. At the height of their debate, in late summer, Collins made
+practical enquiries about methods to prolong and intensify its
+give-and-take. Thus, in a note to his friend Pierre Des Maizeaux, he said:
+"But I would be particularly informed of the success and sale of the
+Letter to Dr Rogers; because, if it could be, I would add to a new
+edition thereof two or three as sheets; which also might be sold
+separately to those who have already that Letter." For all his militant
+polemic, he asked only that his "Adversaries" observe with him a single
+rule of fair play; namely, that they refrain from name-calling and petty
+sniping. "Personal matters," he asserted, "tho they may some times afford
+useful remarks, are little regarded by Readers, who are very seldom
+mistaken in judging that the most impertinent subject a man can talk of is
+himself," particularly when he inveighs against another.[5]
+
+If Collins had been made to look back over the years 1676-1729, he
+probably would have summarized the last twenty with a paraphrase of the
+Popean line, "This long controversy, my life." For several years and in
+such works as _Priestcraft in Perfection_ (1710) and _A Discourse of
+Free-Thinking_ (1713), he was a flailing polemicist against the entire
+Anglican hierarchy. Not until 1724 did he become a polished debater, when
+he initiated a controversy which for the next five years made a "very
+great noise" and which ended only with his death. The loudest shot in the
+persistent barrage was sounded by the _Grounds and Reasons_, and its last
+fusillade by the _Discourse concerning Ridicule and Irony in Writing_.[6]
+
+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 essays. He created in this way a composite victim whose
+strength was lessened by deindividualization; in this way too he ran no
+risk of being labelled a hobbyhorse rider or, more seriously, a
+persecutor. Throughout the _Grounds and Reasons_ he laughed at, reasoned
+against, and satirized William Whiston's assumption that messianic
+prophecies in the Old Testament were literally fulfilled in the figure and
+mission of Jesus. Within two years and in a new work, he substituted
+Edward Chandler, Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield, for the mathematician.
+It need not have been the Bishop; any one of thirty-four others could have
+qualified for the role of opponent, among them people like Clarke, and
+Sykes, and Sherwood, and even the ubiquitous Whiston. Collins rejected
+them, however, to debate in the _Scheme_ with Bishop Chandler, the author
+of _A Defence of Christianity from the Prophecies of the old Testament_,
+with one who was, in short, the least controversial and yet the most
+orthodox of his many assailants.
+
+Early in 1727 the Anglican establishment came to the abrupt realization
+that the subject of the continuing debate--the reliability of the argument
+from prophecy--was inconclusive, that it could lead only to pedantic
+wrangling and hair-splitting with each side vainly clutching victory.
+Certainly the devotion of many clergymen to biblical criticism was
+secondary to their interest in orthodoxy as a functional adjunct of
+government, both civil and canonical. It was against this interest, as it
+was enunciated in Rogers's _Eight Sermons concerning the Necessity of
+Revelation_ (1727) and particularly in its vindictive preface, that
+Collins chose to fight.[7] The debate had now taken a happy turn for him.
+As he saw it, the central issue devolved upon man's natural right to
+religious liberty. At least he made this the theme of his _Letter to Dr.
+Rogers_. In writing to Des Maizeaux about the success of this work, he
+obviously enjoyed his own profane irony:
+
+     I have had particular compliments made me by the BP of Salisbury,
+     and by Dr Clark, who among other things sayd, that the Archbp of
+     Canterbury might have writ all that related to Toleration in it: to
+     say nothing of what I hear from others. Dr Rogers himself has
+     acknowledg[ed] to his Bookseller who sent it to him into the Country,
+     that he has receivd it; but says that he is so engaged in other
+     affairs, that he has no thought at present of answering it; tho he
+     may perhaps in time do so.[8]
+
+
+In time Rogers did. He counterattacked on 2 February 1728 with a
+_Vindication of the Civil Establishment of Religion_.[9] For Collins this
+work was a dogged repetition of what had gone before, and so it could be
+ignored except for one of its appendices, _A Letter from the Rev. Dr.
+Marshall jun. To the Rev. Dr. Rogers, upon Occasion of his Preface to his
+Eight Sermons_. Its inclusion seemed an afterthought; yet it altered the
+dimensions of the debate by narrowing and particularizing the areas of
+grievance which separated the debaters. Collins, therefore, rebutted it
+some fourteen months later in _A Discourse concerning Ridicule and Irony
+in Writing_. He had great hopes for this pamphlet, preparing carefully for
+its reception. He encouraged the republication of his three preceding
+works, which find their inevitable conclusion, even their exoneration, in
+this last performance, and he probably persuaded his bookseller to
+undertake an elaborate promotional campaign. For the new editions were
+advertised on seven different days between 10 January and 27 February 1729
+in the _Daily Post_. 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 17
+March.
+
+Collins was animated by his many debates. Indeed, "he sought the storms."
+Otherwise he would not, could not, have participated in these many verbal
+contests. Throughout them all, his basic strategy--that of
+provocation--was determined by the very real fact that he had many more
+enemies than allies, among them, for instance, such formidable antagonists
+as Swift and Richard Bentley.[10] To survive he had to acquire a tough
+resilience, a skill in fending off attacks or turning them to his own
+advantage. Nevertheless, he remained a ready target all his life.
+Understandably so: his radicalism was stubborn and his opinions
+predictable. Such firmness may of course indicate his aversion to
+trimming. Or it may reveal a lack of intellectual growth; what he believed
+as a young man, he perpetuated as a mature adult. Whether our answer is
+drawn from either possibility or, more realistically, from both, the fact
+remains that he never camouflaged the two principles by which he lived and
+fought:
+
+     1. That universal liberty be established in respect to opinions and
+     practises not prejudicial to the peace and welfare of society: by
+     which establishment, truth must needs have the advantages over
+     _error_ and _falsehood_, the _law_ of _God_ over the _will_ of _man_,
+     and _true Christianity tolerated_; private _judgment_ would be really
+     exercised; and men would be allowed to have suffered to follow their
+     consciences, over which God only is supreme:...
+
+     2. Secondly, that nothing but the _law of nature_, (the observance
+     whereof is absolutely necessary to society) and what can be built
+     thereon, should be enforced by the civil sanctions of the
+     magistrate:...[11]
+
+
+II
+
+There is very little in this statement to offend modern readers. Yet the
+orthodox in Collins's own time had reason to be angry with him: his
+arguments were inflammatory and his rhetoric was devious, cheeky, and
+effective. Those contesting him underscored his negativism, imaging him as
+a destroyer of Christianity eager "to proselyte men, from the Christian to
+no religion at all."[12] Certainly it is true that he aimed to disprove a
+Christian revelation which he judged fraudulent and conspiratorial. In
+place of ecclesiastical authority he offered the rule of conscience. For
+orthodoxy he substituted "a Religion antecedent to Revelation, which is
+necessary to be known in order to _ascertain Revelation_; and by that
+Religion [he meant] _Natural Religion_, which is presupposed to
+Revelation, and is a Test by which Reveal'd Religion is to be tried, is a
+Bottom on which it must stand, and is a Rule to understand it by."[13]
+Categorical in tone, the statement frustrated the Anglican clergy by its
+very slipperiness; its generalities left little opportunity for decisive
+rebuttal. It provided no definition of natural religion beyond the
+predication of a body of unnamed moral law which is rational and original,
+the archetype of what is valid in the world's religions.
+
+His dismissal of revelation and his reduction of Christianity to what he
+called its "natural" and hence incontrovertible basis carried with it a
+corollary, that of man's absolute right to religious enquiry and
+profession. Here he became specific, borrowing from Lockean empiricism his
+conditions of intellectual assent. "Evidence," he said, "ought to be the
+sole ground of Assent, and Examination is the way to arrive at Evidence;
+and therefore rather than I wou'd have Examination, Arguing and Objecting
+laid aside, I wou'd chuse to say, That no Opinions whatever can be
+dangerous to a Man that impartially examines into the Truth of
+Things."[14] The church leadership saw in this statement and others like
+it not an epistemological premise but a deliberate subterfuge, an
+insidious blind to vindicate his attacks upon an organized priesthood. We
+can recognize now that his opponents oversimplified his intention, that
+they blackened it to make his villainy at once definitive and vulnerable.
+At the same time we must admit that he often equated the ideas of
+repression and clerical authority, even as he coupled those of freedom and
+the guide of private conscience.
+
+The Anglican church was infuriated by these correlations, angered as much
+by their manner of expression as by their substance. For the faithful were
+frequently thrown off balance by a strategy of ironical indirection.
+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 conclusions. At other times
+he used this artful circumlocution to create his favorite mask, that of
+the pious Christian devoted to scripture or of the moralist perplexed by
+the divisions among the orthodox clergy. Finally, his rhetoric was shaped
+by deistic predecessors who used sarcasm and satire to mock the gravity of
+church authority. So much was their wit a trademark that as early as 1702
+one commentator had noted, "when you expect an argument, they make a
+jest."[15] Collins himself resorted to this practice with both instinctive
+skill and deliberate contrivance.
+
+All these methods, though underhanded, he silently justified on the
+assumption that he was dealing with a conspiracy of priests: hence, he
+professed that he had to fight fraud and deception with their like, and
+that such craftiness, suitable "to his particular genius and temper," was
+"serviceable to his cause." For these reasons even William Warburton, who
+had vainly struggled to be judicious, described him as "a Writer, whose
+dexterity in the arts of Controversy was so remarkably contrasted by his
+abilities in reasoning and literature, as to be ever putting one in mind
+of what travellers tell us of the genius of the proper Indians, who,
+although the veriest bunglers in all the fine arts of manual operation,
+yet excel everybody in slight of hand and the delusive feats of
+activity."[16] Whatever may be said of Collins and his achievement, one
+fact remains constant. 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 debate.
+
+He seized any opportunity to expose the diversity of ethical and
+theological opinion which set one Anglican divine against another, "to
+observe"--as Jenkin put it--"how the gladiators in dispute murder the
+cause between them, while they so fiercely cut and wound one another." For
+Collins such observation was more than oratorical artifice; it was one of
+the dogmas of his near-nihilism. He commented once to Des Maizeaux upon
+the flurry of critics who replied to his statement of necessitarianism in
+the _Philosophical Inquiry concerning Human Liberty_:
+
+     I was extreamly pleasd with BP Hoadley, ... as it was upon the true
+     and only point worth disputing with ye Preists, viz whether we the
+     laity are the Calves and Sheep of the Preist. And I am not less
+     pleasd to see them manage this controversy with ye same vile arts
+     against one another, as they always use towards the laity. It must
+     open the eyes of a few and convince them, that the Preists mean
+     nothing but wealth and power, and have not the least ... of those
+     qualitys for wch the superstitious world admires them.[17]
+
+
+He applied this principle of divisive attack in _A Discourse of
+Free-Thinking_. There in fifty-three pages he transparently ridiculed
+contradictions which hedged three areas of fundamental religious belief:
+_"The Nature and Attributes of the Eternal Being or God, ... the Authority
+of Scriptures, and ... the Sense of Scripture."_ In accordance with one of
+his favorite tricks--the massing of eminent authority--his exposition
+rings with hallowed Anglican names: South, Bull, Taylor, Wallis, Carlton,
+Davenant, Edwards, More, Tillotson, Fowler, Sherlock, Stillingfleet,
+Sacheverell, Beveridge, Grabe, Hickes, Lesley.[18] What united these men,
+he insinuated, was not a Christian commitment but a talent to disagree
+with one another and even to repudiate themselves--as in the case of
+Stillingfleet. In effect, the entire _Discourse_ bubbles with a carelessly
+suppressed snicker.
+
+The clergy could not readily reply to this kind of incriminating exposure
+or deny its reality. They therefore overreacted to other judgments that
+Collins made, particularly to his attacks upon Christian revelation. These
+they denigrated as misleading, guileful, sinister, contrived, deceitful,
+insidious, shuffling, covert, subversive. What they objected to was,
+first, the way in which he reduced the demonstration of Christian
+revelation to only the "puzzling and perplexing" argument from prophecy,
+the casual ease with which he ignored or dismissed those other "clear"
+proofs derived from the miracles of Jesus and the resurrection itself.[19]
+But even more the orthodox resented the masked point of view from which
+Collins presented his disbelief.
+
+For example, the _Grounds and Reasons_ is the deist's first extended
+attack upon revelation. Ostensibly it is, as we have seen, an answer to
+Whiston's _Essay Towards Restoring the True Text of the Old Testament; and
+for Vindicating the Citations Made Thence in the New Testament_ (1722). In
+it the mathematician argued that the Hebraic prophecies relating to the
+messiah had been literally fulfilled in Jesus. But this truth, he
+admitted, had been obscured "in the latter Ages," only because of those
+"Difficulties" which "have [almost wholly] arisen from the Corruptions,
+the unbelieving _Jews_ introduc'd into the Hebrew and Greek copies of the
+Old Testament, [soon after] the Beginning of the Second Century." These
+conspiratorial corruptions he single-handedly planned to remove, returning
+the Old Testament to a state of textual purity with emendations drawn from
+sources as varied as the Samaritan Pentateuch, the Greek Psalms, the
+Antiquities of Josephus, the Chaldee Paraphrases, the books of Philo. His
+pragmatic purpose was to nullify the biblical criticism of historical
+minded scholars as reputable as Grotius, to render useless the allegorical
+interpretation of messianic prophecies. That is, he saw in the latter a
+"pernicious" absence of fact, a "weak and enthusiastical" whimsy,
+unchristian adjustments to the exigencies of the moment.[20]
+
+Collins fought not to destroy Whiston's position, which was all too easily
+destructible, but to undermine the structure, the very "grounds and
+reasons" with which orthodoxy supported the mysteries of its faith. To do
+so, he spun a gigantic web of irony controlled by a persona whose complex
+purpose was concealed by a mien of hyper-righteousness. 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 conclusions. Here too was a conservative Christian different from
+Whiston "and many other great divines; who seem to pay little deference to
+the books of the New Testament, the text whereof they are perpetually
+mending in their sermons, commentaries, and writings, to serve purposes;
+who pretend _we should have more of the true text by being less tenacious
+of the printed one_, and in consequence thereof, presume to correct by
+critical _emendations_, serve _capital places_ in the _sacred writers_;
+and who ... do virtually set aside the authority of the scripture, and
+place those compositions in its stead." Finally, here was one who,
+obedient to the spirit of God's revealed word, rejected the fallacy that
+messianic prophecy had been fulfilled in Christ in any "literal, obvious
+and primary sense."[21]
+
+But though the persona could not accept Whiston's program, he was not a
+mere negativist. With growing excitement he argued for allegorical
+interpretation. At this point the reader discerns that he has been duped,
+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 enthusiastical." On the contrary, 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 absurdity.
+After being protected for a long time by all the twists and turns of his
+creator's irony, the persona finally reveals himself for what he is, a man
+totally insolent and totally without remorse. Never for one moment did he
+wish to defend the scheme of allegorical prophecy but to attack it. His
+argument, stripped of its convolutions and pseudo-piety, moves inexorably
+to a single, negative conclusion. "Christianity pretends to derive itself
+from Judaism. JESUS appeals to the religious books of the Jews as
+prophesying of his Mission. None of these Prophecies can be understood of
+him but in a _typical allegoric_ sense. Now that sense is absurd, and
+contrary to all scholastic rules of interpretation. Christianity,
+therefore, not being really predicted in the Jewish Writings, is
+consequently false."[22]
+
+Collins continued his attack upon Christian revelation in the _Scheme_. In
+the two years which separated this work from the earlier _Grounds and
+Reasons_, there occurred no change in the author's argument. What does
+occur, however, is a perceptive if snide elaboration upon the mask. This
+is in many ways the same persona who barely suppressed his guffaws in the
+earlier work. Now he is given an added dimension; he is made more
+decisively rational than his predecessor and therefore more insightful in
+his knowledge of rhetorical method. As a disciple of certain Protestant
+polemicists and particularly of Grotius, whose "integrity," "honor," and
+biblical criticism he supports, 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 arguments. "For if you begin
+with Infidels by denying to them, what is evident and agreeable to common
+sense, I think there can be no reasonable hopes of converting or
+convincing them."[23] The irony is abrasive simply because it unanswerably
+singles out the great rhetorical failure of orthodoxy, its inability to
+argue from a set of principles as acceptable to the deists as to
+themselves.
+
+Many of the clergy chafed against Collins's manipulation of this
+tongue-in-cheek persona. They resented his irreverent wit which projected,
+for example, the image of an Anglican God who "talks to all mankind from
+corners" and who shows his back parts to Moses. They were irritated by his
+jesting parables, as in "The Case of Free-Seeing," and by the impertinence
+of labelling Archbishop Tillotson as the man "whom all _English
+Free-Thinkers_ own as their Head."[24]
+
+But most of all they gagged upon Collins's use of satire in religious
+controversy. As we have already seen, there were complex reasons for his
+choice of technique. He was a naturally witty man who, sometimes out of
+fear and sometimes out of malice, expressed himself best through
+circuitous irony. In 1724, when he himself considered his oratorical
+practice, he argued that his matter determined his style, that the targets
+of his belittling wit were the "saint-errants." 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"
+Presbyterians. It would be hard to live down the associations of those
+facetious lines which made the Augustan divines, like their unwelcome
+forebear Hudibras, members
+
+                      Of that stubborn Crew
+  Of Errant Saints, whom all men grant
+  To be the true Church Militant.
+
+Those dignified Anglican exteriors were further punctured by Collins's
+irreverent attack upon their cry of religious uniformity, a cry which was
+"ridiculous, romantick, and impossible to succeed." He saw himself, in
+short, as an emancipated Butler or even Cervantes; and like his famous
+predecessors he too would laugh quite out of countenance the fool and the
+hypocrite, the pretender and the enthusiast, the knave and the persecuter,
+all those who would create a god in their own sour and puny image.
+
+
+III
+
+By 1727 several of the orthodox felt that they could take no more of
+Collins's laughter, his sneering invectives against the clergy, or his
+designs to make religion "a Matter purely personal; and the Knowledge of
+it to be obtain'd by personal Consideration, _independently of any Guides,
+Teachers, or Authority_." In the forefront of this group was John Rogers,
+whose hostility to the deist was articulate and compulsive. At least it
+drove him into a position seemingly at odds with the spirit if not the law
+of English toleration. He urged, for example, that those like Collins be
+prosecuted in a civil court for a persuasion "which is manifestly
+subversive of all Order and Polity, and can no more consist with civil,
+than with religious, Society."[25]
+
+Thereupon followed charge and countercharge. New gladiators, as different
+from each other as the nonconformist divine Samuel Chandler and the deist
+Thomas Chubb, entered the arena on behalf of Collins. For all the dogmatic
+volubility of Rogers, orthodoxy appeared beleaguered. The moderate clergy,
+who witnessed this exchange, became alarmed; they feared that in the melee
+the very heart of English toleration would be threatened by the
+contenders, all of whom spoke as its champion. Representative of such
+moderation was Nathanael Marshall, who wished if not to end the debate,
+then at least to contain its ardor. As canon of Windsor, he supported the
+condition of a state religion protected by the magistrate but he worried
+over the extent of the latter's prerogative and power. Certainly he was
+more liberal than Rogers in his willingness to entertain professions of
+religious diversity. Yet he straitjacketed his liberalism when he denied
+responsible men the right to attack laws, both civil and canonical, with
+"ludicrous Insult" or "with Buffoonery and Banter, Ridicule or Sarcastick
+Irony."[26]
+
+Once again Collins met the challenge. In _A Discourse concerning Ridicule
+and Irony_ he devoted himself to undermining the moral, the intellectual,
+and practical foundations of that one restraint which Marshall would
+impose upon the conduct of any religious quarrel. He had little difficulty
+in achieving his objective. His adversary's stand was visibly vulnerable
+and for several reasons. It was too conscious of the tug-of-war between
+the deist and Rogers, too arbitrary in its choice of prohibition. It was,
+in truth, strained by a choice between offending the establishment and yet
+rejecting clerical extremism.[27] Moreover, Collins had this time an
+invisible partner, a superior thinker against whom he could test his own
+ideas and from whom he could borrow others. For the _Discourse concerning
+Ridicule and Irony_ is largely a particularization, a crude but powerful
+reworking of Shaftesbury's _Sensus Communis: An Essay on the Freedom of
+Wit and Humour_.
+
+Supported by Shaftesbury's urbane generalization, Collins laughed openly
+at the egocentricity and blindness of Marshall's timid zealotry. Indeed,
+he wryly found his orthodox opponent guilty of the very crime with which
+he, as a subversive, was charged. It seemed to him, he said,
+
+     a most prodigious Banter upon [mankind], for Men to talk in general
+     of the _Immorality_ of _Ridicule_ and _Irony_, and of _punishing_ Men
+     for those Matters, when their own Practice is _universal Irony_ and
+     _Ridicule_ of all those who go not with them, and _universal
+     Applause_ and _Encouragement_ for such _Ridicule_ and _Irony_, and
+     distinguishing by all the honourable ways imaginable such _drolling_
+     Authors for their Drollery; and when Punishment for _Drollery_ is
+     never call'd for, but when _Drollery_ is used or employ'd against
+     them!
+
+     (p. 29)
+
+Collins's technique continued its ironic ambiguity, reversal, and
+obliquity. Under a tone of seeming innocence and good will, he credited
+his adversaries with an enviable capacity for satiric argument. In
+comradely fashion, he found precedent for his own rhetorical practice
+through a variety of historical and biblical analogies. But even more
+important for a contemporary audience, he again resorted to the device of
+invoking the authority provided by some of the most respected names in the
+Anglican Establishment. The use of satire in religious topics, hence, was
+manifest in "the Writings of our most eminent Divines," especially those
+of Stillingfleet, "our greatest controversial Writer" (pp. 4-5).
+
+With all the outrageous assurance of a self-invited guest, the deist had
+seated himself at the table of his vainly protesting Christian hosts (whom
+he insisted on identifying as brethren). "In a word," he said so as to
+obviate debate, "the Opinions and Practices of Men in all Matters, and
+especially in Matters of Religion, are generally so absurd and ridiculous
+that it is impossible for them not to be the Subjects of Ridicule" (p.
+19). Thus adopting Juvenal's concept of satiric necessity ("difficile est
+saturam non scribere"), Collins here set forth the thesis and rationale of
+his enemy. There was a kind of impudent virtuosity in his "proofs," in his
+manner of drawing a large, impressive cluster of names into his ironic net
+and making all of them appear to be credible witnesses in his defense.
+Even Swift, amusingly compromised as "one of the greatest _Droles_ that
+ever appear'd upon the Stage of the World" (p. 39), was brought to the
+witness box as evidence of the privileged status to which satiric writing
+was entitled. Collins enforced erudition with cool intelligence so that
+contemptuous amusement is present on every page of his _Discourse_.
+
+Beneath his jeers and his laughter there was a serious denunciation of any
+kind of intellectual restraint, however mild-seeming; beneath his verbal
+pin-pricking there was conversely an exoneration of man's right to
+inquire, to profess, and to persuade. Beneath his jests and sarcasms there
+was further a firm philosophical commitment that informed the rhetoric of
+all his earlier work. Ridicule, he asserted in 1729, "is both a proper and
+necessary Method of Discourse in many Cases, and especially in the Case of
+_Gravity_, when that is attended with Hypocrisy or Imposture, or with
+Ignorance, or with soureness of Temper and Persecution: all which ought to
+draw after them the _Ridicule_ and _Contempt_ of the Society, which has no
+other effectual Remedy against such Methods of Imposition" (p. 22).
+
+For the modern reader the _Discourse concerning Ridicule and Irony_ is the
+most satisfactory of Collins's many pamphlets and books. It lacks the
+pretentiousness of the _Scheme_, the snide convolutions of the _Grounds
+and Reasons_, the argument by half-truths of the _Discourse of
+Free-Thinking_. His last work is free of the curious ambivalence which
+marked so many of his earlier pieces, a visible uncertainty which made him
+fear repression and yet court it. On the contrary, his last work is in
+fact a justification of his rhetorical mode and religious beliefs; it is
+an _apologia pro vita sua_ written with all the intensity and decisiveness
+that such a justification demands. To be sure, it takes passing shots at
+old enemies like Swift, but never with rancor. And while its language is
+frequently ironical, its thinking makes an earnest defense of wit as a
+weapon of truth. The essay sets forth its author as an _animal ridens_, a
+creature that through laughter and affable cynicism worships a universal
+God and respects a rational mankind.
+
+Brown University
+
+
+
+
+NOTES TO THE INTRODUCTION
+
+[1] _Universal Spectator, and Weekly Journal_, No. 98 (22 August 1730).
+
+[2] To Des Maizeaux (5 May 1717): B. M. Sloane MSS. 4282, ff. 129-130.
+
+[3] To Des Maizeaux (9 February 1716): B. M. Sloane MSS. 4282, f. 123.
+
+[4] The title page of the _Scheme_ is dated 1726. It was not advertised in
+the newspapers or journals of that year--a strange silence for any of
+Collins's work. Its first notice appeared in the _Monthly Catalogue: Being
+a General Register of Books, Sermons, Plays, Poetry, Pamphlets, &c.
+Printed and Publish'd in London, or the Universities, during the Month of
+May, 1727_ (see No. 49). Yet we know that the _Scheme_ had been remarked
+upon as early as March when on the 10th of that month Samuel Chandler
+published his _Reflections on the Conduct of the Modern Deists in their
+late Writings against Christianity_. (For the dating of Chandler's work,
+see the _Daily Courant_ [10 March 1727].) We know also that the _Scheme_
+went to a second edition late in 1727 and was frequently advertised in the
+_Daily Post_ between 2 January and 20 January 1728.
+
+[5] For the statement about the _Letter to Dr. Rogers_, see B. M. Sloane
+MSS. 4282, f. 220 (15 August 1727). For that on the use of "personal
+matters" in controversy, see B. M. Sloane MSS. 4282, f. 170 (27 December
+1719); cf. _The Scheme of Literal Prophecy Considered_ (London, 1726), pp.
+422-438.
+
+[6] _The Grounds and Reasons of the Christian Religion_ was published in
+London within the first four days of January 1724; see the advertisement
+in the _Daily Post_ (4 January 1724). _A Discourse concerning Ridicule and
+Irony in Writing_ was published on or close to 17 March 1729; see the
+advertisement in the _Daily Journal_ for that date.
+
+[7] We can generally fix the date of Rogers's _Eight Sermons_ within the
+first two months of 1727 because it was answered early by Samuel
+Chandler's _Reflections on the Conduct of the Modern Deists_. (See note
+4.) For the dating of Collins's rebuttal, see the _Monthly Catalogue_, No.
+49 (May 1727).
+
+[8] To Des Maizeaux (24 June 1727): B. M. Sloane MSS. 4282, ff. 218-219.
+
+[9] For the dating of this work, see the _Daily Post_ (31 January 1728).
+
+[10] For Swift's satire, see _Mr. C---ns's Discourse of Free-Thinking, Put
+into plain English, by way of Abstract, for the Use of the Poor_. For
+Bentley's devastating probe of Collins's scholarly inadequacies, see his
+_Remarks on the Discourse of Free-Thinking. By Phileleutherus Lipsiensis_.
+Both works appeared in 1713.
+
+[11] _Scheme_, pp. 432-433.
+
+[12] Edward Chandler, _A Defence of Christianity from the Prophecies of
+the Old Testament_ (London, 1725), p. ii.
+
+[13] _A Letter to Dr. Rogers_, p. 89.
+
+[14] _A Vindication of the Divine Attributes_ (London, 1710), p. 24.
+
+[15] Robert Jenkin, _A Brief Confutation of the Pretences against Natural
+and Revealed Religion_ (London, 1702), p. 40.
+
+[16] For Collins on his own rhetorical skills, see _Scheme_, p. 402;
+William Warburton, _Divine Legation of Moses, Demonstrated_ (London,
+1846), III, 199.
+
+[17] Jenkin, _Brief Confutation_, p. 51; for the letter (1 July 1717), see
+B. M. Sloane MSS. 4282, f. 137.
+
+[18] Pp. 46-99.
+
+[19] See, for example, the statement of John Conybeare, Bishop of Bristol,
+in Joseph Spence, _Observations, Anecdotes, and Characters of Books and
+Men_, ed. James M. Osborn (Oxford, 1966), I, sect. 992.
+
+[20] _Essay_, pp. 329-333 (for Whiston's statement of sources); pp.
+334-335 (for his defense of literal interpretation). The bracketed
+material indicates Whiston's manuscript emendations of his own printed
+text; see the British Museum's copy of the _Essay_ (873. 1. 10) which
+originally belonged to the mathematician. See Collins, _Grounds and
+Reasons_, pp. 98-99, for the summary of Whiston's attack upon allegorical
+interpretation.
+
+[21] _Grounds and Reasons_, pp. 20, 48-50.
+
+[22] This terse summary of the persona's argument was correctly made by
+Warburton, III, 232.
+
+[23] _Scheme_, p. 391.
+
+[24] _Discourse of Free-Thinking_, pp. 15-17, 38, 171.
+
+[25] _Eight Sermons_, pp. 1, lxi.
+
+[26] Marshall, pp. 301, 337. For Samuel Chandler's contribution, see his
+_Reflections on the Conduct of the Modern Deists_ (London, 1727); for
+Chubb's contribution see _Some Short Reflections on the Grounds and Extent
+of Authority and Liberty, With respect to the Civil Government_ (London,
+1728).
+
+[27] Marshall's reluctance to support Rogers's extremism is seen in the
+funeral sermon he preached at the latter's death (_A Sermon Delivered in
+the Parish Church of St. Giles Cripplegate, May 18, 1729. Upon Occasion of
+the Much Lamented Death of the Revd. John Rogers_ [London, 1729]). He
+made only the most casual and indifferent reference to Rogers's work. So
+obvious was this slight that it called for a rebuttal; see Philalethes (A.
+A. Sykes [?]), _Some Remarks Upon the Reverend Dr. Marshall's Sermon on
+Occasion of the Death of the Revd Dr Rogers_ (London, 1729).
+
+
+
+
+BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
+
+This facsimile of _A Discourse concerning Ridicule and Irony in Writing_
+(1729) is reproduced from a copy in the William Andrews Clark Memorial
+Library.
+
+
+
+
+  A
+  DISCOURSE
+  CONCERNING
+  Ridicule and Irony
+  IN
+  WRITING,
+  IN A
+  LETTER
+  To the Reverend
+  Dr. NATHANAEL MARSHALL.
+
+  -------- _Ridiculum acri
+  Fortius & melius magnas plerumq; secat res._
+
+  -------- _Ridentem dicere verum
+  Quid vetat?_
+
+  _LONDON:_
+
+  Printed for J. BROTHERTON in _Cornhill_ and sold
+  by T. WARNER in _Pater-noster-Row_, and
+  A. DODD without _Temple-Bar_. 1729.
+
+
+
+
+  A
+  DISCOURSE
+  CONCERNING
+  _Ridicule_ and _Irony_, &c.
+
+
+REVEREND SIR,
+
+In your _Letter_ to Dr. _Rogers_, which he has publish'd at the End of his
+_Vindication of the Civil Establishment of Religion_, I find a Notion
+advanc'd by you: which as it is a common and plausible Topick for
+Persecution, and a Topick by which you, and many others, urge the
+Magistrate to punish [or, as you phrase it, _to pinch_] [28] Men for
+controversial Writings, is particularly proper at this time to be fully
+consider'd; and I hope to treat it in such manner as to make you your
+self, and every fair Reader, sensible of the Weakness thereof.
+
+You profess to "vindicate [29] a sober, serious, and modest Inquiry into
+the Reasons of any Establishment."
+
+And you add, that you "have not ordinarily found it judg'd inconsistent
+with the Duty of a _private Subject_, to propose his Doubts or his Reasons
+to the Publick in a _modest_ way, concerning the _Repeal_ of any Law which
+he may think of ill Consequence by its Continuance. If he be a Man of
+Ability, and well vers'd in the Argument, he will deserve some Attention;
+but if he mistakes his Talent, and will be busy with what he very little
+understands, Contempt and Odium will be his unavoidable and just
+Allotment." And you say, that "Religion is more a personal Affair, in
+which every Man has a peculiar Right and Interest, and a Concern that he
+be not mistaken, than in any other Case or Instance which can fall under
+the Cognizance of the Magistrate; and that greater Allowances seem due to
+each private Person for Examination and Inquiry in this, than in any other
+Example."
+
+And herein I must do you the Justice to acknowledge, that you speak like a
+Christian, like a Protestant, like an _Englishman_, and a reasonable Man;
+like a Man concerned for Truth, like a Man of Conscience; like a Man
+concern'd for the Consciences of others; like a Man concern'd to have some
+Sense, Learning, and Virtue in the World; and, in a word, like a Man who
+is not for abandoning all the valuable Things in Life to the Tyranny,
+Ambition, and Covetousness of Magistrates and Ecclesiasticks.
+
+But you observe, that "municipal Laws[30], how trivial soever in their
+intrinsick Value, are never to be _insulted_; never to be treated with
+_Buffoonery_ and _Banter_, _Ridicule_ and _Sarcastick Irony_. So that Dr.
+_Rogers_'s grand Adversary will have from you no measure of Encouragement
+to his manner of Writing." Again, you "never [31] desire to see the
+Magistrate fencing in the publick Religion with so thick a Hedge as shall
+exclude all Light, and shall tear out the Eyes of all such as endeavour to
+see thro' it. _Sober arguing_ you never fear: _Mockery_ and _bitter
+Railing_, if you could help it, you would never bear, either _for the
+Truth or against it_."
+
+Upon which I offer these following Considerations.
+
+I. _First_, If what you call _Insult_, _Buffoonery_, _Banter_, _Ridicule_
+and _Irony_, _Mockery_ and _bitter Railing_, be Crimes in Disputation, you
+will find none more deeply involv'd in it than our most famous Writers, in
+their controversial Treatises about _serious_ Matters; as all Notions and
+Practices in Religion, whether reasonable or absurd, may be equally and
+justly deem'd: the Notions and Practices of Papists, Presbyterians,
+Quakers, and all other Sects, being no less _serious_ to their respective
+Sects than ridiculous to one another. Let any Man read the Writings of our
+most eminent Divines against the _Papists_, _Puritans_, _Dissenters_, and
+_Hereticks_, and against one another, and particularly the Writings of
+_Alexander Cook_, _Hales_, _Chillingworth_, _Patrick_, _Tillotson_,
+_Stillingfleet_, _Burnet_, _South_, _Hickes_, _Sherlock_ and _Edwards_,
+and he will find them to abound with _Banter_, _Ridicule_, and _Irony_.
+_Stillingfleet_ in particular, our greatest controversial Writer, who
+passes for _grave_ and _solemn_, is so conscious of his use thereof, that
+he confesses that Charge of the Papists against him, saying[32], "But I
+forget my Adversary's grave admonition, that I _would treat these Matters
+seriously, and lay aside Drollery_." And again, after a _Banter_ of near a
+Page, he says[33], "But I forget I am so near my Adversary's Conclusion,
+wherein he so _gravely_ advises me, that I _would be pleas'd for once to
+write Controversy, and not Play-Books_." Nor did I ever hear the Divines
+of the Church condemn the Doctor for his sarcastical Method of writing
+Controversy. On the contrary, I remember at the University, that he used
+to be applauded no less for his Wit than for his Learning. And to exalt
+his Character as a Wit, his _Conferences between a_ Romish _Priest, a
+Fanatick Chaplain, and a Divine of the Church of_ England, _&c._ were
+spoken of as an excellent _Comedy_, and especially for that Part which the
+_Fanatick Chaplain_ acts therein, who makes as comical and as ridiculous a
+Figure as he does in any of the _Plays_ acted on the Stage. And in his
+_Controversy_ with _Dryden_ about the _Royal Papers_, and those of the
+_Duchess_ of _York_, he was deem'd to have out-done that famous _Satirist_
+in tart Repartees and Reflections; and to have attack'd the Character of
+the _Poet_ with more severity, than that _Poet_, who was so remarkable for
+his satirical Reflections on the holy Order, did the Character of the
+_Divine_: As for example, he says to _Dryden_[34], "Could nothing be said
+by you of Bishop _Morley_, but that _Prelate of rich Memory_? Or had you a
+mind to tell us he was no _Poet_? Or that he was out of the Temptation of
+changing his Religion for Bread?" And many Citations us'd to be produc'd
+out of his Writings, as Specimens of his ironical Talent; among which I
+particularly remember his _Ridicule_ of his Adversary Mr. _Alsop_, a
+famous Presbyterian Wit and Divine; whose Book, which was full of low
+Raillery and Ridicule, he resembles [35] to _the Bird of_ Athens, as _made
+up of Face and Feathers_. And the Doctor himself adds, in Justification of
+the polite Method of Raillery in Controversy, that _there is a
+pleasantness of Wit, which serves to entertain the Reader in the rough
+and deep way of Controversy_. Nor did Mr. _Alsop_ want Approvers of his
+Raillery in his own Party. Mr. _Gilbert Rule_[36], a great _Scotch_
+Presbyterian Divine, who defended him against _Stillingfleet_, contends in
+behalf of his Raillery, "That the Facetiousness of Mr. _Alsop_'s Strain
+needed to have bred no Disgust, being as a Condiment to prevent _Tædium_
+and Nauseousness." And he adds, "That he knows none that blame the
+excellent Writings of Mr. _Fuller_, which have a Pleasantness not unlike
+that of Mr. _Alsop_."
+
+And this manner of writing is seldom complain'd of, as unfit to be
+allow'd, by any but those who feel themselves hurt by it. For the solemn
+and grave can bear a solemn and grave Attack: That gives them a sort of
+Credit in the World, and makes them appear considerable to themselves, as
+worthy of a serious Regard. But _Contempt_ is what they, who commonly are
+the most contemptible and worthless of Men, cannot bear nor withstand, as
+setting them in their true Light, and being the most effectual Method to
+drive Imposture, the sole Foundation of their Credit, out of the World.
+Hence _Stillingfleet_'s Popish Adversaries, more conscious perhaps of the
+Ridiculousness of Popery than the common People among Protestants
+themselves, fall upon him very furiously. One says[37], "That by the
+Phrases, which are the chief Ornaments that set off the Doctor's Works, we
+may easily guess in what Books he has spent his Time; and that he is well
+vers'd in _Don Quixot_, the _Seven Champions_, and other _Romantick
+Stories_. Sure the Doctor err'd in his Vocation: Had he quitted all
+serious Matters, and dedicated himself wholly to Drollery and Romance,
+with two or three Years under _Hudibras_, he might have been a Master in
+that Faculty; the Stage might have been a Gainer by it, and the Church of
+_England_ would have been no Loser."
+
+Another of his Adversaries says, "[38]Peruse the Doctor Page after Page,
+you will find the Man all along in peevish Humour, when you see his Book
+brimfull of tart biting Ironies, Drolleries, comical Expressions,
+impertinent Demands, and idle Stories, _&c._ as if the discharging a
+little Gall were enough to disparage _the clearest Miracles_ God ever
+wrought."
+
+But what are these _clearest Miracles God ever wrought_? Why, the most
+extravagant, whimsical, absurd, and ridiculous Legends and Stories
+imaginable; such as that of _St. Dominick_[39], who when the Devil came to
+him in the Shape of a _Monkey_, made him hold a Candle to him while he
+wrote, and keep it so long between his Toes, till it burnt them; and his
+keeping the Devil, who sometimes came to him in the Shape of a _Flea_, and
+by skipping on the Leaves of his Book disturb'd his Reading, in that
+Shape, and using him for a Mark to know where he left off reading: Such as
+St. _Patrick_'s heating an Oven with Snow, and turning a Pound of Honey
+into a Pound of Butter: Such as _Christ_'s marrying Nuns, and playing at
+Cards with them; and Nuns living on the Milk of the blessed Virgin _Mary_;
+and that of divers Orders, and especially the _Benedictine_, being so dear
+to the blessed Virgin, that in Heaven she lodges them under her
+Petticoats: Such as making broken Eggs whole; and of People, who had
+their Heads cut off, walking with their Heads in their Hands, which were
+sometimes set on again: Such as Failing for a hundred Years; and raising
+Cows, Calves, and Birds from the Dead, after they had been chopt to Pieces
+and eaten, and putting on their Heads after they had been pull'd or cut
+off; and turning a Pound of Butter into a Bell; and making a Bull give
+Milk; and raising a King's Daughter from the Dead, and turning her into a
+Son; and the several Translations thro' the Air of the Virgin _Mary_'s
+House from _Palestine_ to _Loretto_, and the Miracles wrote there; and
+more of the like Kind.
+
+Are these, or such as these the _clearest Miracles God ever wrought_? Do
+such Miracles deserve a serious Regard? And shall the _Gravity_ with which
+Mankind is thus banter'd out of their common Sense, excuse these Matters
+from _Ridicule_?
+
+It will be difficult to find any Writers who have exceeded the Doctors,
+_South_ and [40] _Edwards_, in _Banter_, _Irony_, _Satire_ and _Sarcasms_:
+The last of whom has written a Discourse in _Defence of sharp Reflections
+on Authors and their Opinions_; wherein he enumerates, as Examples for his
+Purpose, almost all the eminent Divines of the Church of _England_. And
+Mr. [41] _Collier_, speaking of a Letter of the Venerable _Bede_ to
+_Egbert_ Bishop of _York_, says, "The Satire and Declamation in this
+_Epistle_ shews the _pious Zeal_ and _Integrity_ of the Author;" which
+seems to imply, that _Satire_ and _Declamation_ is the orthodox and most
+pious Method of writing in behalf of _Orthodoxy_.
+
+Dr. _Rogers_, to whom you write, falls into the Method of Buffoonery,
+Banter, Satire, Drollery, Ridicule, and Irony, even in the Treatise to
+which your Letter is subjoined, and against that _Person_ whom you would
+have punish'd for that Method: When he says to him, [42] "Religion then,
+it seems, must be left to the Scholars and Gentlefolks, and to them 'tis
+to be of no other use, but as a Subject of Disputation to improve their
+Parts and Learning; but methinks the Vulgar might be indulged a little of
+it now and then, upon Sundays and Holidays, instead of Bull-baiting and
+Foot-ball." And this insipid Piece of Drollery and false Wit [which is
+design'd to ridicule his Adversary for asserting, that _What Men
+understand nothing of, they have no Concern about_; which is a Proposition
+that will stand the Test of _Ridicule_, which will be found wholly to lie
+against the Doctor, for asserting the Reasonableness of imposing Things on
+the People which they do not understand] is the more remarkable, as it
+proceeds from one, who is at the same time for using the Sword of the
+Magistrate against his Adversary. One would think the [43] _Inquisitor_
+should banish the _Droll_, and the _Droll_ the _Inquisitor_.
+
+One of the greatest and best Authorities for the _pleasant_ and _ironical_
+manner of treating _serious_ Matters, is that eminent Divine at the Time
+of the Reformation, the great _Erasmus_, who has written two Books in this
+way with great Applause of Protestants, and without subjecting himself to
+any Persecution of Papists: which makes it highly proper to propose them
+to the Consideration of the Reader, that he may regulate his Notions, by
+what, it may be presum'd, he approves of in that Author. These two Books
+of _Erasmus_ are his _Colloquies_, and his _Praise of Folly_.
+
+His _Colloquies_ were wrote in imitation of _Lucian_'s _Dialogues_; and I
+think with equal, if not superior, Success.
+
+Both these Authors had an Aversion to sullen, austere, designing Knaves;
+and both of them being Men of Wit and Satire, employ'd their Talents
+against _Superstition_ and _Hypocrisy_. _Lucian_ liv'd in an Age when
+_Fiction_ and _Fable_ had usurp'd the Name of _Religion_, and _Morality_
+was corrupted by _Men_ of _Beard_ and _Grimace_, but scandalously _Leud_
+and _Ignorant_; who yet had the Impudence to preach up _Virtue_, and style
+themselves _Philosophers_, perpetually clashing with one another about the
+Precedence of their several Founders, the Merits of their different Sects,
+and if 'tis possible, about Trifles of less Importance: yet all agreeing
+in a different way to dupe and amuse the poor People, by the _fantastick_
+Singularity of their Habits, the unintelligible Jargon of their Schools,
+and their Pretensions to a severe and mortify'd Life.
+
+These Jugglers and Impostors _Lucian_ in great measure help'd to chase out
+of the World, by exposing them in their proper Colours, and by
+representing them as ridiculous as they were. But in a few Generations
+after him, a new Race of Men sprung up in the World, well known by the
+Name of _Monks_ and _Fryars_, different indeed from the former in
+Religion, Garb, and a few other Circumstances; but in the main, the same
+sort of Impostors, the same ever-lasting Cobweb-Spinners, as to their
+nonsensical Controversies, the same abandon'd _Wretches_, as to their
+Morals; but as to the mysterious Arts of heaping up Wealth, and picking
+the People's Pockets, infinitely superior to the _Pagan Philosophers_ and
+_Priests_. These were the sanctify'd Cheats, whose Folly and Vices
+_Erasmus_ has so effectually lash'd, that some Countries have entirely
+turn'd these Drones out of their Cells; and in other Places, where they
+are still kept up, they are in some measure become contemptible, and
+obliged to be always on their Guard.
+
+The Papists say, that these "[44]_Colloquies_, by turning into _Ridicule_
+the Devotion to the holy Virgin and Saints, the Worship of Relicks and
+Images, religious Vows and Pilgrimages, have made more Hereticks than the
+Works of _Luther_ and _Calvin_." And I find the reverend Mr. _Trapp_
+[after calling [45] _Reliques_, FOOLISH] celebrates _Erasmus_ for _having
+abundantly_ RIDICUL'D _them_.
+
+His _Praise of Folly_ treats of _serious_ Matters, in such a gay,
+familiar, ingenious and pleasant manner, as makes it a Work proper to be
+read by intelligent People, to remove out of their Minds all Bigotry
+contracted by Ignorance and an evil Education, all Peevishness, Hatred,
+and Ill-nature towards one another, on account of different Sentiments in
+Religion; and to form in them the natural Principles of Moderation,
+Humanity, Affection and Friendship. Our learned and ingenious Bishop
+_Kennet_ could not do a more signal Piece of Service to our Country, than
+by translating into _English_ this Book, which the Ladies have now an
+Opportunity of understanding no less than the Men; and from whence they
+may see the pleasant, amiable, and just Disposition of Mind of one of the
+most learned and ingenious Men that ever liv'd, as well as Author of a
+great Number of religious and devotional Books; nor could the Bishop well
+give a heartier Stroke at Popery, than by approving of _Erasmus_'s [46]
+_laughing_ at it, and applauding his numberless _Taunts on its Impostures,
+Cheats, and Delusions_.
+
+Our Clergy have ever treated Mr. _Hobbes_ with the greatest Mockery,
+Ridicule and Raillery: As for example, _Ward_ Bishop of _Sarum_, _Brambal_
+Bishop of _Derry_, _Parker_ Bishop of _Oxford_, Dr. _Wallis_ in his
+several bantering Treatises against him, _Lucy_ Bishop of _St. Davids,
+Shafto_, and particularly the Reverend _Droll_, Dr. _Eachard_, in two
+_Dialogues_, which, it is well known, have been universally well receiv'd
+by the Clergy, and that for their Treatment of Mr. _Hobbes_ in the
+ridiculing Way; for which the Author himself makes the following just
+Apology, in his _Dedication_ of his _Second Dialogue_ to Archbishop
+_Sheldon_, "That of all Triflers, 'tis the _Set_, the _Grave_, the
+_Philosophical_, and the _Mathematical Trifler_, to which he has the
+greatest Aversion; whom when he meets, very gravely making out all Men to
+be rational Beasts both in Nature and Conversation, and every Man, he
+pleases, a rational Rebel; and upon any Fright or Pinch a rational Atheist
+and Anti-Christian; and all this perform'd with all DEMURENESS, SOLEMNITY,
+QUOTATION of SCRIPTURE, APPEALS to CONSCIENCE and CHURCH-HISTORY; he must
+humbly beg his _Grace's_ Pardon, if then he has endeavour'd to SMILE a
+little, and to get as much out of his Road and way of Writing as
+possible." These _Dialogues_ used to be much recommended to the Youth to
+make them laugh at Mr _Hobbes_, who was constantly represented as
+provok'd and put out of all Temper by them, and was said to have vented
+this strange and impious Expression, upon its being told him, that _the
+Clergy said_ Eachard _had crucify'd_ Hobbes; "Why then don't they fall
+down and worship me?"
+
+Mr. _Selden_ has been the constant Subject of Clergy-banter, for his
+_History of Tythes_; in the _Preface_ to which, "He reproaches the Clergy
+with Ignorance and Laziness, and upbraids them with having nothing to keep
+up their Credit but _Beard_, _Title_, and _Habit_; and their Studies
+reach'd no farther than the _Breviary_, the _Postils_, and _Polyanthea_."
+For this Work he was attack'd more particularly by three Divines,
+_Tillesly_, _Mountagu_, and _Nettles_. And their Success was thus
+originally represented[47], "That he was so gall'd by _Tillesly_, so
+gagg'd by _Mountagu_, and so stung by _Nettles_, that he never came off in
+any of his Undertakings with more loss of Credit." And this Jest has
+pass'd much upon the World, and been continued down in many Books, where
+Mr. _Selden_ is mention'd, to his Discredit with ignorant Readers, but not
+with the Knowing and Learned; who, as Dr. _Wotton_ tells us[48], _have,
+now Party-heats are over, acquiesced in what Mr._ Selden advanc'd; _who
+first_, OF ALL CHRISTIANS, _set the Affair_ of Tythes _in a clear Light_.
+
+It is usually said the Comedy called _Ignoramus_, which is a Clergy-banter
+upon the _Law_, was a design'd Return for Mr. _Selden_'s _History of
+Tythes_.
+
+The Reverend Dr. _Beaumont_, late Master of St. _Peter_'s _College_ and
+King's Professor of Divinity, has given us a Book, entitled, "Some
+Observations upon the Apology of Dr. _Henry More_ for his _Mystery of
+Godliness_;" which endeavours to render the said Doctor _ridiculous_, and
+set People a _laughing_ at him, (_p._ 9. _&c._ 64.) and used to be
+applauded as a complete Performance in the way of Raillery and Irony, and
+was well receiv'd for being directed against a Person esteem'd Heterodox.
+
+Many Clergymen have written Books to banter the Works of Mr. _Locke_,
+among whom Dr. _Edwards_ must have the first Place; whose _Brief
+Vindication of the fundamental Articles of the Christian Faith_, which has
+the _Imprimatur_ before it of _James_, _Beaumont_, _Covel_, and
+_Balderston_, four _Cambridge_ Heads, was never exceeded by the most
+licentious _Droll_.
+
+When _Sorbier_'s _Voyage_ to _England_, which was a pert and insolent
+Abuse and Satire on the Nation, and written in the _French_ manner of
+contemptuously treating all Countries and Men but _France_ and
+_Frenchmen_, was publish'd, it was deem'd proper that a drolling and
+satirical Answer should be given to it, and that the Reverend Dr. _Sprat_
+should be the _Droll_ employ'd; who perform'd his Part according to the
+Expectation of the Drolling Court of King _Charles_ II. and as the
+ingenious Mr. _Addison_ tells us, [49] _Vindicated the Honour of his
+Country, in a Book full of Satire and Ingenuity_.
+
+Bishop _Beveridge_ ever pass'd for a serious and profound Divine; and his
+Writings have fix'd that Character upon him among the Religious of the
+High Church, who have receiv'd his _Private Thoughts_ and his Volumes of
+_Sermons_, like _Manna_ from Heaven. And yet possibly never Man had two
+more severe Attacks made upon him than he had; one by Bishop
+_Stillingfleet_, who in _A Vindication of their Majesties Authority to
+fill the Sees of the depriv'd Bishops_, &c. occasion'd by Dr.
+_Beveridge_'s Refusal of the Bishoprick of _Bath_ and _Wells_, satirizes
+both his _Prudence_ and his _Sincerity_; and another, by an ingenious
+Bishop also, who in _A short View of Dr._ Beveridge_'s Writings_, has in a
+most refin'd _drolling manner_ represented those Writings as abounding in
+most absurd and ridiculous Divinity.
+
+But one of the justest and finest Pieces of _Irony_, and the most timely
+and seasonably vented, and that deserves perpetual Remembrance, is,
+_Andrews_ the grave Bishop of _Winchester_'s Irony, on _Neal_ the grave
+Bishop of _Durham_; of which we have the following Relation in the Poet
+_Waller_'s _Life_, prefix'd before his Works: "On the Day of the
+Dissolution of the last Parliament of King _James_ the First, Mr.
+_Waller_, out of Curiosity or Respect, went to see the King at Dinner;
+with whom were Dr. _Andrews_ the Bishop of _Winchester_, and Dr. _Neal_
+Bishop of _Durham_, standing behind his Majesty's Chair. There happen'd
+something very extraordinary in the Conversation those Prelates had with
+the King, on which Mr. _Waller_ did often reflect. His Majesty ask'd the
+Bishops, _My Lords, cannot I take my Subjects Money when I want it,
+without all this Formality in Parliament?_ The Bishop of _Durham_ readily
+answer'd, _God forbid, Sir, but you should; you are the Breath of our
+Nostrils_. Whereupon the King turn'd and said to the Bishop of
+_Winchester_, _Well, my Lord, what say you? Sir_, replied the Bishop, _I
+have no Skill to judge of Parliamentary Cases_. The King answer'd, _No
+Put-offs, my Lord; answer me presently. Then, Sir_, said he, _I think it
+is lawful for you to take my Brother_ Neal_'s_ _Money, for he offers it_.
+Mr. _Waller_ said the Company was pleas'd with this Answer, and the Wit
+of it seem'd to affect the King." Which shews the exceeding Aptness and
+Usefulness of a good _Irony_; that can convey an Instruction to a vicious,
+evil, and tyrannical Prince, highly reflecting on his Conduct, without
+drawing on his Resentment.
+
+To these famous Divines I might add the most eminent and renowned
+Philosophers of Antiquity, who, either out of a Contempt of Mankind, or to
+gratify their peculiar Tempers, or to correct the Vices and Follies of
+Men, and to instil virtuous Maxims in those who would only receive them in
+some pleasant way, set up for good Humour, Mirth, and Drollery, as their
+standing Method of Life, and of Conversation with the World; and have left
+behind them some of their occasional Sayings upon record, which do more
+Honour to their Memories than the most elaborate Treatises would have
+done, and more Good to Men; upon whom a Jest, or witty Saying, is more
+fitted to operate and make Impression than long Deductions and Reasonings,
+and particularly on Princes and great Men, who will receive no Instruction
+but in some very artful and short Way: whereof even the rude _Diogenes_,
+the _Cynick_, has given us a most incomparable Example, in his occasional
+Conference with _Alexander the Great_, who was put into such Temper by the
+mere Freedom and Raillery of the Philosopher, as to take every thing in
+good part he said to him, and consequently be dispos'd to reflect upon it,
+and to act with Discretion. At the Head of these Philosophers I place
+SOCRATES, who has very generally in all Ages pass'd for the _wisest_ of
+_Men_, and was declared so by an _Oracle_; which, at least, was therein
+directed and influenc'd by some considerable human Authority, or by the
+common Sentiments of Men at that time. His Character I shall give you in
+the words of the most ingenious _Addison_, who was himself a Master of
+_Humour_ and _Drollery_, and practis'd them in Perfection, and with great
+Success in almost all his Prose-writings. "_Socrates_, says he[50], who
+was the greatest Propagator of Morality in the Heathen World, and a Martyr
+for the Unity of the Godhead, was so famous for the exercise of the Talent
+[of Raillery and Humour] among the politest People of Antiquity, that he
+gain'd the Name of THE DROLE.[51]" A Character that intitled him to the
+greatest Merit, as it most of all enabled him to promote Virtue.
+
+I might also offer to your Confederation the Affair of _Comedies_; which
+all polite Governments have permitted, or establish'd, in their several
+populous and wealthy Cities, as the necessary and proper means to
+encounter Vice and recommend Virtue, and to employ innocently and usefully
+the vacant Hours of many, who know not how to employ their Time, or would
+employ it amiss, by entering into [52] Factions and Cabals to disturb the
+State; or by Gaming, or by backbiting Conversations about their
+Neighbours. And as _Comedies_, which were originally very gross, grew by
+Use more polite and refin'd in _Satire_ and _Raillery_: so the most
+celebrated Wits and Statesmen, and Persons of the greatest Quality, have
+engag'd and join'd with others in them, and performed with the greatest
+Success and Reputation to themselves; and have been valu'd, not only for
+their Talents of _Irony_ and _Drollery_, which were essential to the
+Credit of such Performances; but applauded, as acting the virtuous Part of
+_Droles_.
+
+In fine, Books of Satire, Wit, Humour, Ridicule, Drollery, and Irony, are
+the most read and applauded of all Books, in all Ages, Languages, and
+Countries. And as those which are exquisite in their kinds, are the
+standing Entertainment of the Ingenious and Learned; so others, of a lower
+kind, are to be found among the lower Readers, who sleep under all Works
+which do not make them merry.
+
+In a word, the Opinions and Practices of Men in all Matters, and
+especially in Matters of Religion, are generally so absurd and ridiculous
+that it is impossible for them not to be the Subjects of Ridicule.
+
+For what else can be expected from Men who generally take up their
+Opinions without any Inquiry into their Reasonableness or Truth, and upon
+the most incompetent Grounds? I cannot be supposed to injure Mankind, if I
+consider them under the Character which the very ingenious Sir _Richard
+Steele_ gives of himself; who _acknowledges_ [53] that (even while he took
+upon himself the Title of the _Censor_ of _Great Britain_, and in so many
+fine Papers corrects his Countrymen, and particularly _the Freethinkers_,
+whom he directs the Magistrate to punish with Death) _it had been with
+him, as it is with too many others, that a [53] sort of an_ implicit
+Religion _seem'd the most easy and most comfortable; and that a blind
+Veneration for_ he knew not what, _and he_ knew not whom, _stood for every
+thing important_. And he _confesses_ he _was not enough aware, that this
+Implicitness of Conduct is the great Engine of Popery, fram'd for the
+Destruction of_ good Nature, _as well as_ good Sense. If so great a Man
+could take up with such a Method, and act the Part of a _Censor_ and
+Director of others, in a Matter which he had not at all consider'd, what
+can be expected else from others, but absurd and ridiculous Opinions and
+Practices?
+
+And if some Men will fall into absurd and ridiculous Opinions, Habits,
+Forms, Figures and Grimaces; there will be those who will _laugh_, nay,
+cannot help _laughing_ at them. Hence most Parties laugh at one another,
+without the least Scruple, and with great Applause of their own Parties;
+and the Leaders of the same Party laugh with one another, when they
+consider the absurd and ridiculous Opinions they profess, and how they
+cheat and govern their Followers; agreeably to what _Cicero_ reports of
+_Cato_[54], "_Vetus autem illud_ Catonis _admodum scitum est, qui_ mirari
+se _aiebat, quod non rideret haruspex cum haruspicem vidisset_."
+
+I think it may be justly suppos'd, that Pope _Alexander_ and _Thomas
+Becket_ could not but laugh together at the Simplicity and Weakness of
+their Followers, the Papists, who receiv'd for truth the following Story.
+It was told as a Fact[55], "that when _Thomas Becket_, who never drank any
+thing but Water, sat at Table with _Pope Alexander_, and that his Holiness
+would needs taste of his Cup; lest his abstemiousness should be known, God
+turn'd the Water into Wine: so that the _Pope_ found nothing but Wine in
+the Cup. But when _Becket_ pledg'd him, it was turn'd into Water again."
+
+_Laughing_ therefore, and _Ridicule_ in _serious Matters_, go round the
+World with no inconsiderable Applause, and seem highly proper for this
+World of Nonsense and Folly. To hinder _laughing_ upon such just Occasions
+as are given, is almost all one as to hinder _breathing_. A very witty,
+drolling, Dramatick Poet, and of the first Rank for Quality, says in a
+_Prologue_ to his Auditors.
+
+  "_Suppose now, at this Instant, one of you_
+  "_Were tickled by a Fool, what would you do?_
+  "_'Tis ten to one you'd_ laugh: _here's just the Case._
+  "_For there are Fools that tickle with their Face._
+  "_Your gay Fool tickles with his Dress and Motions;_
+  "_But your_ grave Fool _of_ Fools _with_ silly Notions.
+  "_Is it not then unjust that Fops should still_
+  "_Force one to_ laugh, _and then take laughing ill?_
+
+
+II. _Secondly_, If it be a Fault in those reverend Divines, mention'd in
+the foregoing Article, to use _Irony_, _Drollery_, _Ridicule_, and
+_Satire_, in any Case; or if the Fault lies in an exorbitant Use thereof,
+or in any particular Species of _Drollery_; as, for example, such
+_Drollery_ as is to be found in the polemical Writings and Sermons of Dr.
+_South_; it is fit some Remedy should be employ'd for the Cure of this
+Evil. And the Remedy I would propose, should not be to have the Authors
+punish'd by the Magistrate, any more than for any other Faults in writing;
+but either to neglect and despise it, as Rage and Scolding, which drop
+into Oblivion with the Sound, and would have a Life given it by
+Resentment: or to allow Men to _criticize_ and _ridicule_ one another for
+their _Ironies_ and _Drollery_, and to exercise their Wit and Parts
+against each other; that being the true Method to bring Things to a
+Standard, to fix the Decency and Propriety of Writing, to teach Men how to
+write to the Satisfaction of the ingenious, polite, and sensible Part of
+Mankind: for Decency and Propriety will stand the Test of Ridicule, and
+triumph over all the false Pretences to Wit; and Indecency and
+Impropriety will sink under the Trial of Ridicule, as being capable of
+being baffled by Reason, and justly ridicul'd. And if any kind or degree
+of _Ridicule_ be absurd or _ridiculous_, that will appear so upon Trial,
+no less than the low and gross _Ridicule_ prevalent among the unpolite
+Part of the World: But that will never appear. On the contrary, _Ridicule_
+of certain kinds, and under reasonable Directions and Rules, and used in
+proper Time, Place, and Manner, (all which also are only to be found out
+and fix'd by Trial and Experience) is both a proper and necessary Method
+of Discourse in many Cases, and especially in the Case of _Gravity_, when
+that is attended with Hypocrisy or Imposture, or with Ignorance, or with
+soureness of Temper and Persecution; all which ought to draw after them
+the _Ridicule_ and _Contempt_ of the Society, which has no other effectual
+Remedy against such Methods of Imposition. And to determine in some
+measure the Nature and Extent of the _Irony_ I contend for, as _Just_, I
+profess to approve the noble _Sarcasm_ of _Elijah_[56]; wherein he thus
+mocks the _Priests_ of _Baal_, saying in effect to them, "_Cry aloud, for_
+your _Baal_ is a fine God: _He is either talking, or he is pursuing, or he
+is in a Journey; or peradventure he sleepeth, and must be awaked_." And I
+concur with the _Psalmist_[57], who thought it no Indecency to say, that
+_he that sits in Heaven shall laugh them_ (that is, certain Kings, who
+were _David_'s Enemies) _to scorn; the Lord shall have them in Derision_:
+and must judge, that _laughing to scorn_, and _deriding_ the greatest Men
+upon Earth, even Kings and Princes, to be a laudable and divine Method of
+dealing with them, who are only to be taught or rebuk'd in some artful
+way. I also approve of the following _Sarcasm_ or _Irony_, which has a
+better Authority for it than _Elijah_ or the _Psalmist_. _Moses_
+introduces God speaking thus after the Fall[58], _Behold the Man is become
+like one of us, to know Good and Evil!_ And I think this Passage shews,
+that the whole Affair of the _Fall_, of which we have so very brief an
+Account, was a very entertaining Scene; and would have appear'd so, if set
+forth at large; as indeed it does under the Hands of our Divines, who have
+supplied that short Narration by various Additions, founded on
+Conjectures, and particularly under the fine Hand of Dr. _Tho. Burnet_,
+who has made a most ingenious Dialogue of what he suppos'd pass'd between
+_Eve_ and the _Serpent_[59]. To say nothing of _Milton_'s famous _Paradise
+Lost_.
+
+In fine, ever since I could read the _Bible_, I was particularly pleas'd
+with the _History_ of _Jonas_, where such a Representation is made of that
+_Prophet_'s Ignorance, Folly, and Peevishness, as exposes him to the
+utmost Contempt and Scorn, and fixes a perpetual _Ridicule_ on his
+Character. And let me here observe, that this _History_ has had ample
+Justice done it, in an Explication thereof by _two_ [60] very ingenious
+Authors, who, by most penetrating and happy Criticisms and Reflections,
+have drawn the Character of _Jonas_ in a more open manner.
+
+
+III. But, _Thirdly_, I wave my _Remedy_, and am ready to come into any Law
+that shall be made to rectify this suppos'd Fault of _Irony_, by punishing
+those who are guilty of it.
+
+The great Concern is and ought to be, that _the Liberty of examining into
+the Truth of Things should be kept up_, that Men may have some Sense and
+Knowledge, and not be the _Dupes_ of _Cheats_ and _Impostors_, or of those
+who would keep them in the dark, and let them receive nothing but thro'
+their Hands. If that be secur'd to us by Authority, I, for my part, am
+very ready to sacrifice the Privilege of _Irony_, tho so much in fashion
+among all Men; being persuaded, that a great Part of the _Irony_
+complain'd of, has its rise from the _want of Liberty to examine into the
+Truth of Things_; and that if that _Liberty_ was prevalent, it would,
+without a Law, prevent all that _Irony_ which Men are driven into for want
+of Liberty to speak plainly, and to protect themselves from the Attacks of
+those who would take the Advantage to ruin them for direct Assertions; and
+that such Authors as _Rabelais_, _Saint Aldegonde_, _Blount_, _Marvel_,
+_Thekeringil_, and many others, would never have run into that Excess of
+_Burlesque_, for which they are all so famous, had not the Restraint from
+writing _seriously_ been so great.
+
+"If [61] Men are forbid to speak their Minds _seriously_ on certain
+Subjects, they will do it _ironically_. If they are forbid at all upon
+such Subjects, or if they find it dangerous to do so, they will then
+redouble their Disguise, involve themselves in mysteriousness, and talk so
+as hardly to be understood, or at least not plainly interpreted by those
+who are dispos'd to do them a Mischief. And thus _Raillery_ is brought
+more in fashion, and runs into an Extreme. 'Tis the persecuting Spirit has
+rais'd the _bantering_ one: And want of Liberty may account for want of a
+true Politeness, and for the Corruption or wrong Use of Pleasantry and
+Humour.
+
+"If in this respect we strain the just Measure of what we call _Urbanity_,
+and are apt sometimes to take a buffooning rustick Air, we may thank the
+ridiculous Solemnity and sour Humour of our _Pedagogues_: or rather they
+may thank themselves, if they in particular meet with the heaviest of this
+kind of Treatment. For it will naturally fall heaviest, where the
+Constraint has been the severest. The greater the Weight is, the bitterer
+will be the Satire. The higher the Slavery, the more exquisite the
+Buffoonery.
+
+"That this is really so, may appear by looking on those Countries where
+the spiritual Tyranny is highest. For the greatest of _Buffoons_ are the
+_Italians_: and in their Writings, in their freer sort of Conversations,
+on their Theatres, and in their _Streets_, _Buffoonery_ and _Burlesque_
+are in the highest Vogue. 'Tis the only manner in which the poor cramp'd
+Wretches can discharge a free Thought. We must yield to 'em the
+Superiority in this sort of Wit. For what wonder is it if we, who have
+more Liberty, have less Dexterity in that egregious way of _Raillery_ and
+_Ridicule_?"
+
+Liberty of _grave_ Examination being fix'd by Law, I am, I say, ready to
+sacrifice the Privilege of _Irony_, and yield to have a Law enacted to
+prevent it. I am, moreover, willing to leave the drawing up such a Law to
+your self; who honestly and impartially say[62], that all who _droll_, let
+them be of any Party, let them _droll for the Truth or against it_, should
+be equally punish'd.
+
+Thus this grand Affair of _Irony_, _Banter_, and _Ridicule_; this last
+persecuting Pretence, upon which you would set the Humours and Passions of
+People, who are all at quiet, on float, and make a Fermentation, and
+raise a Persecution against particular People, seems perfectly settled, by
+yielding to your own Terms.
+
+
+IV. Let me here add, that I am apt to think, that when you draw up your
+Law, you will find it so very difficult to settle the Point of _Decency_
+in Writing, in respect to all the various kinds of _Irony_ and _Ridicule_,
+that you will be ready to lay aside your Project; and that you will be no
+more able to settle that _Point of Decency_, than you would be to settle
+by Law, that _Cleanliness_ in Clothes, and that Politeness in Dress,
+Behaviour, and Conversation, which become Men of Quality and Fortune in
+the World, and should be habitual to them: And that, if you are able to do
+that to your own Satisfaction, you will find it very difficult to engage
+the Lawmakers in your Project. For I am persuaded, that if our Lawmakers
+were, out of a rational Principle, disposed to give Liberty by Law to
+_serious_ Opposition to publickly receiv'd Notions, they would not think
+it of much Importance to make a _Law_ about a Method of _Irony_. They will
+naturally conclude, that if Men may and ought to be allow'd to write
+_seriously_ in Opposition to publickly receiv'd Doctrines, they should be
+allow'd to write in their own way; and will be unwilling to be depriv'd of
+ingenious and witty Discourses, or such as some of them will judge so,
+about a Subject wherein _serious free_ Discourse is allow'd. Besides, I am
+apt to think, that you, upon consideration of the Advantages which the
+Church has receiv'd from the _Berkenheads_, the _Heylins_, the _Ryves's_,
+the _Needhams_, the _Lestranges_, the _Nalsons_, the _Lesleys_, the
+_Oldesworths_, and others, in their _Mercurius Aulicus_'s, their
+_Mercurius Pragmaticus's_, their _Mercurius Rusticus's_, their
+_Observators_[63], their _Heraclitus Ridens_'s, _Rehearsals_, their
+_Examiners_[64], and the three Volumes against the _Rights of the Church_;
+from the _Butlers_ in their _Hudibras_'s, and other Burlesque Works upon
+the Religion and Religious Conduct of the Dissenters; or from the
+_Eachards_, the _Tom Browns_, and _Swifts_; or from the _Parkers_[65],
+_Patricks_[66], _Souths_[67], _Sherlocks_[68], _Atterburys_[69], and
+_Sacheverels_[70]; in their Discourses, and Tracts against the
+Nonconformists, Whigs, Low-Church-men, and Latitudinarians; and other such
+ironical, satirical, and polemical Divines; and from such _drolling_
+Judges as _Howel_, _Recorder_ of London, and the Chief Justice _Jefferys_,
+who, in all Causes, where _Whigs_ or Dissenters were the Persons accus'd
+and try'd before them, carried on the Trial by a [71] Train of ridicule on
+them, their Witnesses and Counsel: I say, I am apt to think, that you
+would be unwilling to be depriv'd of what has been and may be again so
+serviceable.
+
+I am dispos'd to think that Dr. _Snape_, who is notoriously known to have
+gone into the greatest Lengths of Calumny and Satire against Bishop
+_Hoadley_[72], to have fall'n upon the dissenting Clergy in a burlesque
+and bantering Address to the _Peirces_, the _Calamys_, and the
+_Bradburys_, and to have written a long _ironical Letter_ in the Name of
+the _Jesuits_ to Mr. _de la Pilloniere_[73], will be thought a very
+improper Object of Censure for such Employment of his Pen. On the
+contrary, such sort of Attacks upon such Persons are the most meritorious
+Parts of a Man's Life, recommend him as a Person of true and sincere
+Religion, much more than the strongest Reasoning, and the most regular
+Life; and pave the way to all the Riches, and Pleasures and Advantages or
+Life; not only among those, who, under the Colour of Religion, are
+carrying on a common _Corporation Cause_ of Wealth, Power, and Authority,
+but among many well-meaning People, who allow of all Practices, which they
+suppose help out the _Truth_! It seems to me a most prodigious Banter upon
+us, for Men to talk in general of the _Immorality_ of _Ridicule_ and
+_Irony_, and of _punishing_ Men for those Matters, when their own Practice
+is _universal Irony_ and _Ridicule_ of all those who go not with them, and
+_universal Applause_ and _Encouragement_ for such _Ridicule_ and _Irony_,
+and distinguishing by all the honourable ways imaginable such _drolling_
+Authors for their Drollery; and when Punishment for _Drollery_ is never
+call'd for, but when _Drollery_ is used or employ'd against them!
+
+I don't know whether you would be willing, if you consider of it, to limit
+the Stage it self, which has with great Applause and Success, from Queen
+_Elizabeth_'s Time downwards, ridicul'd the serious _Puritans_ and
+_Dissenters_, and that without any Complaints from _good Churchmen_, that
+_serious_ Persons and Things were _banter'd_ and _droll'd_ upon; and has
+triumph'd over its fanatical Adversaries in the Person of _Pryn_, who
+sufficiently suffer'd for his _Histrio-Mastix_, and has been approv'd of
+as an innocent Diversion by the religious Dr. _Patrick_ in his _Friendly
+Debate_, in the Reign of King _Charles_ II. when the Stage was in a very
+immoral State. I don't know whether you would be willing even to restrain
+_Bartholomew Fair_, where the Sect of the _New Prophets_ was the Subject
+of a _Droll_ or _Puppet-Show_, to the great Satisfaction of the Auditors,
+who, it may be presum'd, were all good Churchmen, _Puritans_ and
+_Dissenters_ usually declining such Entertainments out of _real_ or
+_pretended_ Seriousness. ("A certain Clergyman thought fit to remark, that
+King _William_ could be no good Churchman, because of his not frequenting
+the _Play-House_."[74])
+
+
+V. It will probably be a Motive with you to be against abolishing
+_Drollery_, when you reflect that the Men of _Irony_, the _Droles_ and
+_Satirists_, have been and always will be very numerous on your side,
+where they have been and are so much incourag'd for acting that Part, and
+that they have always been and always will be very few on the side of
+_Heterodoxy_; a Cause wherein an Author by engaging, may hurt his
+Reputation and Fortune, and can propose nothing to himself but Poverty and
+Disgrace. I doubt whether you would be for punishing your Friend Dr.
+_Rogers_, from whom I just now quoted an _Irony_ on the Author of _The
+Scheme of Literal Prophecy consider'd_, or any one else, for _laughing_ at
+and making sport with him; or whether you would be for punishing the
+Reverend Mr. _Trapp_, who implies the _Justness_ and _Propriety of
+ridiculing Popery_; when he says[75], that _Popery is so foolish and
+absurd, that every body of common Sense must_ LAUGH _at it_; and when he
+refers to _Erasmus_ for having _abundantly_ RIDICUL'D their _Reliques_;
+and himself puts _Ridicule_ in Practice against them, by representing
+their Doctrines and Practices as _ridiculously foolish_, as _despicably
+childish_, and _Matter of mere Scorn_; as _monstrous_; as _Spells_,
+_juggling Tricks_, _gross Cheats_, _Impostures_[76], and _wretched
+Shifts_; and in fine, in representing by way of _Specimen_, all their
+_Miracles_ as _Legends_; of which he says, _These and a thousand more such
+like unreasonable Lies, which a Child of common Sense would laugh at, are
+impos'd upon and swallow'd by the ignorant People, and make a_ VERY GREAT
+_Part of the Popish Religion._
+
+And this, in concurrence with Mr. _Trapp_, I also take to be the Case of
+Popery, that it must make Men _laugh_; and that it is much easier to be
+gravely disposed in reading a _Stage-Comedy_ or _Farce_, than in
+considering and reflecting on the _Comedy_ and _Farce_ of _Popery_; than
+which, Wit and Folly, and Madness in conjunction, cannot invent or make a
+thing more ridiculous, according to that Light in which I see their
+Doctrines, Ceremonies and Worship, the Histories and Legends of their
+Saints, and the pretended Miracles wrought in their Church; which has
+hardly any thing _serious_ in it but its Persecutions, its Murders, its
+Massacres; all employ'd against the most innocent and virtuous, and the
+most sensible and learned Men, because they will not be _Tools_ to support
+Villany and Ignorance.
+
+"Transubstantiation, says _Tillotson_[77], is not a Controversy of
+Scripture against Scripture, or of Reason against Reason, but of downright
+Impudence against the plain meaning of Scripture, and all the Sense and
+Reason of Mankind." And accordingly he scruples not to say, in a most
+_drolling_ manner, that "Transubstantiation is one of the chief of the
+_Roman_ Church's _legerdemain_ and _juggling Tricks_ of Falshood and
+Imposture; and that in all Probability those common juggling Words of
+_Hocus-pocus_, are nothing else but a Corruption of _hoc est corpus_, by
+way of ridiculous Imitation of the Church of _Rome_ in their _Trick_ of
+_Transubstantiation_." 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_[78],
+which is the common Method of imposing Absurdities on the World; so I
+think that Doctrine taught with such _convenient Gravity and Solemnity_
+should necessarily produce _Levity, Laughter and Ridicule_, in all
+intelligent People to whom it is propos'd, who must _smile_, if they can
+with safety, to see such Stuff vented with a grave Face.
+
+In like manner many other Divines treat and laugh at _Popery_. Even the
+solemn and grave Dr. _Whitby_ has written a Book against
+_Transubstantiation_, under the Title of "Irrisio Dei Panarii, _The
+Derision of the Breaden God_," in Imitation of the primitive Fathers, who
+have written _Derisions_ and _Mockeries_ of the _Pagan_ Religion.
+
+And he takes the Materials whereof this drolling Performance of his
+consists, from the _holy Scriptures_, the _Apocryphal Books_, and
+_Writings_ of the _holy Fathers_, as he tells us in his Title-Page; three
+inexhaustible Sources of Wit and Irony against the Corrupters of true and
+genuine Religion. In like manner he turns upon the Popish Clergy the
+several Arguments urg'd by the _Jewish_ Clergy in the _New Testament_, for
+the Authority of the _Jewish_ Church; and answers, under that _Irony_, all
+that the Popish Clergy offer in behalf of the _Authority_ of their
+_Church_, in a _Sermon_ at the End of his _Annotations_ on St. _John_'s
+_Gospel_.
+
+Nor do our Divines confine their _Derisions_, _Ridicule_ and _Irony_
+against _Popery_ to their Treatises and Discourses, but fill their
+_Sermons_, and especially their _Sermons_ on the _Fifth_ of _November_,
+and other political _Days_, with infinite Reflections of that Kind. Of
+these _Reflections_ a Popish Author publish'd a _Specimen_, in a Book
+intitled[79], _Good Advice to Pulpits_, in order to shame the Church out
+of their Method of _drolling_ and _laughing_ [80] at _Popery_. But this
+Book had no other effect, than to produce a _Defence_ of those _Sermons_
+under the Title of _Pulpit Popery true Popery_, vindicating the several
+_Droll_ Representations made of _Popery_ in those _Sermons_.
+
+Of these _drolling_ Reflections cited by the Popish Author out of our
+Church of _England Sermons_, take these following for a Specimen of what
+are to be met with in those _Sermons_[81].
+
+"Pilgrimages, going Bare-foot, Hair-shirts, and Whips, with other such
+Gospel-artillery, are their only Helps to Devotion.----It seems that with
+them a Man sometimes cannot be a Penitent, unless he also turns Vagabond,
+and foots it to _Jerusalem_.----He that thinks to expiate a Sin by going
+bare-foot, does the Penance of a Goose, and only makes one Folly the
+Atonement of another. _Paul_ indeed was scourg'd and beaten by the _Jews_;
+but we never read that he beat or scourg'd himself; and if they think his
+keeping under his Body imports so much, they must first prove that the
+Body cannot be kept under by a virtuous Mind, and that the Mind cannot be
+made virtuous but by a Scourge; and consequently, that Thongs and Whipcord
+are Means of Grace, and Things necessary to Salvation. The truth is, if
+Mens Religion lies no deeper than their Skin, it is possible they may
+scourge themselves into very great Improvements.----But they will find
+that bodily Exercise touches not the Soul; and consequently that in this
+whole Course they are like Men out of the way: let them flash on never so
+fast, they are not at all nearer their Journey's-end: And howsoever they
+deceive themselves and others, they may as well expect to bring a Cart, as
+a Soul, to Heaven.
+
+"What say you to the Popish Doctrine of the _Sacrifice of the
+Mass_.----According to this Doctrine, our blessed Saviour must still, to
+the end of the World, be laid hold on by Sinners, be ground with their
+Teeth, and sent down into their impure Paunches, as often as the Priest
+shall pronounce this Charm, _hoc est corpus meum_: and it seems that he
+was a false Prophet, when he said upon the Cross, _It is finish'd_, seeing
+there was such an infinite deal of _loathsom Drudgery_ still to be
+undergone.
+
+"For _Purgatory_, 'tis not material in it self, whether it be, or where it
+be, no more than the World in the Moon; but so long as that false Fire
+serves to maintain a true one, and his Holiness's Kitchen smokes with the
+Rents he receives for releasing Souls from thence, which never came there,
+it concerns him and his to see to it, that it be not suffer'd to go out."
+
+An ingenious Author, Sir _Richard Steel_, has of late made a _Dedication_
+to his _Holiness_ the _Pope_ himself, before a Book entitled, _An Account
+of the State of the Roman Catholick Religion throughout the World_, &c. In
+which _Dedication_, that most exalted Clergyman the _Pope_, that
+[suppos'd] infallible Dictator in Religion, and most grave Person; who, if
+_serious_ Matters and Persons were always to be treated _seriously_, may
+vie with any other Mortal for a Right to _serious_ Treatment; is expos'd
+by incomparable _Drollery_ and _Irony_ to the utmost Contempt, to the
+universal Satisfaction of Protestant Readers, who have been pleas'd to see
+a gross Impostor, however respected and ador'd by godly and serious
+Papists, so treated.
+
+
+VI. In fine, it is suited to the common Practice of this Nation to
+ridicule _Popery_ as well as _Nonconformity_; and tho several _grave_
+Books, written among us against Popery, in the Reign of King _James_ II.
+(of which yet the _Romish_ Priests complain'd, as treating the King's [82]
+_Religion_ with Contempt) were then very well receiv'd and applauded for
+Learning and strength of Arguing; yet, I believe, it may with more
+Propriety be said, that King _James_ II. and _Popery_ were [83] _laugh'd_
+or _Lilli-bullero'd_, than that they were _argu'd_ out of the Kingdom.
+
+The reading the _King's Declaration of Indulgence_ in Churches 1688, had
+this fatal _Jest_ put upon it by a reverend Divine, "Who pleasantly told
+his People, _That tho he was obliged to read it, they were not obliged to
+hear it_[84]; and stop'd till they all went out, and then he read it to
+the Walls." To which may be added, the famous Mr. _Wallop_'s excellent
+Comparison of that _Declaration_ upon the Instant of its Publication, to
+_the scaffolding of St._ Paul_'s Church; which, as soon as the Building
+was finish'd, would be pull'd down_.
+
+Bishop _Burnet_ celebrates, with the greatest Justness, our Taste, and
+indeed the Taste of the World in this Respect, when he relates how
+_Popery_ was then used among us; and he recites some of the _Jests_ which
+passed and were received with universal Applause. He tells us[85], "The
+Court was now (that is, in 1686,) much set on making Converts, which
+fail'd in most Instances, and produc'd _Repartees_; that whether true or
+false, were much repeated, and were heard with great Satisfaction. The
+Earl of _Mulgrave_ (since Duke of _Buckinghamshire_) was Lord Chamberlain;
+he was apt to comply in every thing that he thought might be acceptable,
+for he went with the King to Mass, and kneeled at it; and being look'd on
+as indifferent to all Religions, the Priests made an Attack upon him: He
+heard them _gravely_ arguing for _Transubstantiation_. He told them he was
+willing to receive Instruction; he had taken much Pains to bring himself
+to believe in God, who made the World and all Men in it: But it must not
+be an ordinary Force of Argument that could make him believe that Man was
+quits with God, and made God again. The Earl of _Middleton_ had marry'd
+into a Popish Family, and was a Man of great Parts and a generous Temper,
+but of loose Principles in Religion; so a Priest was sent to instruct him.
+He began with _Transubstantiation_, of which he said he would convince him
+immediately: And began thus, You believe the _Trinity_. _Middleton_ stop'd
+him, and said, who told you so? At which he seem'd amazed. So the Earl
+said, he expected he should convince him of his Belief, but not question
+him of his own: With this the Priest was so disorder'd, that he could
+proceed no farther. One Day the King gave the Duke of _Norfolk_ the Sword
+of State to carry before him to the Chappel, and he stood at the Door.
+Upon which the King said to him, My Lord, your Father would have gone
+farther. To which the Duke answer'd, Your Majesty's Father was the better
+Man, and he would not have gone so far. _Kirk_ was also spoken to, to
+change his Religion, and he reply'd briskly, that he was already
+pre-engag'd, for _he had promised the King of_ Morocco, _that if ever he
+chang'd his Religion he would turn_ Mahometan." When K. _James_ sent an
+_Irish_ Priest to convert the D. of _Bucks_ [_Villers_] the said Duke
+entertain'd the Priest with a Bottle, and engag'd him in a _Dialogue_,
+which the Duke afterwards caus'd to be printed, to the no small
+Mortification of all Papists, who were therein exceedingly ridicul'd, and
+to the Triumph of all good Churchmen, who are never better pleas'd, than
+when they have the _Laugh_ on their side.
+
+At this time also were publish'd two merry Books, by a couple of our
+Divines, with express View to make Protestants laugh at _Popery_, as at a
+_Farce_; and they were, _The School of the Eucharist_, wherein is a
+Collection of ridiculous _Miracles_, pretended to be wrought to support
+the Truth of _Transubstantiation_, and _Purgatory prov'd by Miracles_.
+
+I must not omit another incomparable Piece of Wit and Raillery against
+_Popery_, publish'd at that time. It seems the famous Poet, _Dryden_,
+thought fit to declare himself a _Roman Catholick_; and had, as 'tis said,
+a _Penance_ injoyn'd him by his Confessor, for having formerly written
+_The Spanish Fryar_, of composing some _Treatise_ in a _poetical way_ for
+_Popery_, and against the _Reformation_. This he executed in a _Poem_,
+intituled, _The Hind and Panther_; which, setting aside the Absurdity of
+the Matters therein asserted, and of the several Arguments to maintain
+them, is, in other Respects, one of the most mean Compositions that ever
+the Press produc'd. Was it proper to pass over in silence such a Work,
+from whence probably the Popish Party expected great Matters, as knowing
+the Efficacy of Poetry, and being Witnesses of the Success the Author had
+had in his _Absalom_ and _Achitophel_ against the _Whigs_? Was it proper
+to write _seriously_ and _gravely_ against a Book, wherein the Author
+every where aims at Wit, Irony, and Burlesque, and does himself make so
+ridiculous a Figure, as to be a standing Jest throughout the whole? Was
+not the Convert himself, as such, a _Jest_, or as professing any Religion,
+a _Jest_; who argu'd for Pay, and spoke as he was brib'd, and would have
+profess'd any Opinions, as is the Mode and Practice of the World, to which
+Salary and Preferments are annexed? Some ingenious Persons of the Times
+took a better Method, and agreeably to the Temper and Disposition of our
+Countrymen, and to the nature of _Dryden_'s Attack, and his interested
+Writing for Religion, made a Return in a Paper intituled, _The Hind and
+Panther transvers'd to the Story of the Country-Mouse and City-Mouse_: Out
+of which, for a Specimen of _just Irony_, and _fine Raillery_, I will give
+you the following Passage.
+
+  "_Sirrah, says_ Brindle, _thou hast brought us_ Wine,
+  "_Sour to my Taste, and to my Eyes unfine._
+  "_Says_ Will, _All Gentlemen like it. Ah! says_ White,
+  "_What is approved by them must needs be right._
+  "_'Tis true, I thought it bad, but if the_ House
+  "_Commend it, I submit, a_ private Mouse.
+  "_Nor to their Catholick Consent oppose_
+  "_My erring Judgment and reforming Nose._
+  "[86]_Why, what a Devil, shan't I trust my Eyes,_
+  "_Must I drink Stum, because the Rascal lies,_
+  "_And palms upon us_ Catholick _Consent,_
+  "_To give_ sophisticated Brewings _Vent?_
+  "_Says_ White, _what antient Evidence can sway,_
+  "_If you must argue thus and not obey?_
+  "Drawers _must be trusted, thro' whose hands convey'd_
+  "_You take the Liquor, or you spoil the Trade._
+  "_For sure those honest_ Fellows _have no Knack_
+  "_Of putting off stum'd Claret for_ Pontack.
+  "_How long alas! would the poor Vintner last,_      }
+  "_If all that drink must_ judge, _and every Guest_  }
+  "_Be allow'd to have an understanding_ Taste?       }
+
+
+VII. I question whether High-Church would be willing to have the reverend
+Author of the _Tale of a Tub_, one of the greatest _Droles_ that ever
+appear'd upon the Stage of the World, punish'd for that or any other of
+his _drolling_ Works: For tho religious Matters, and all the various Forms
+of Christianity have therein a considerable Share of _Ridicule_; yet in
+regard of his _Drollery_ upon the _Whigs_, _Dissenters_, and the _War_
+with _France_ (things of as _serious_ and weighty Consideration, and as
+much affecting the Peace of Society, as _Justification_ by _Faith only_,
+_Predestination_, _Transubstantiation_, or _Constansubstantiation_, or
+_Questions_ about _religious Ceremonies_, or any such interested Matters)
+the _Convocation_ in their famous _Representation_ of the _Profaneness_
+and _Blasphemy_ of the Nation, took no notice of his _drolling_ on
+Christianity: And his Usefulness in _Drollery_ and _Ridicule_ was deem'd
+sufficient by the _Pious_ Queen _Anne_, and her _pious Ministry_, to
+intitle him to a Church Preferment of several hundred Pounds _per Ann._
+[87] which she bestow'd upon him, notwithstanding a _fanatick
+High-Churchman_, who weakly thought _Seriousness_ in Religion of more use
+to High-Church than _Drollery_, and attempted to hinder his Promotion, by
+representing to her Majesty, "What a Scandal it would be both to Church
+and State to bestow Preferment upon a Clergyman, who was hardly suspected
+of being a Christian." Besides, High-Church receives daily most signal
+Services from his drolling Capacity, which has of late exerted itself on
+the Jacobite Stage of _Mist_'s and _Fogg_'s Journal, and in other little
+Papers publish'd in _Ireland_; in which he endeavours to expose the
+present Administration of publick Affairs to contempt, to inflame the
+_Irish_ Nation against the _English_, and to make them throw off all
+Subjection to the _English_ Government, to satirize Bishop _Burnet_ and
+other _Whig_ Bishops; and, in fine, to pave the way for a new or Popish
+Revolution, as far as choosing the most proper Topicks of Invective, and
+treating of them in the way of _Drollery_, can do.
+
+
+VIII. It is well known, that Gravity, Preciseness, Solemnity, Sourness,
+formal Dress and Behaviour, Sobriety of Manners, keeping at a distance
+from the common Pastimes of the World, Aversion to Rites and Ceremonies in
+the publick Worship, and to Pictures, Images, and Musick in Churches;
+mixing Religion in common Conversion, using long Graces, practising
+Family-Worship, part of which was praying _ex tempore_; setting up and
+hearing Lectures, and a strict Observation of the Lord's Day, which was
+call'd the _Sabbath_, were the Parts of the Character of a _Puritan_; who,
+it is to be observ'd, usually had the Imputation of Hypocrisy for his
+great and extraordinary Pretences to Religion: He was also a great Opposer
+of the Court-Measures in the Reign of King _James_ and King _Charles_ I.
+and most zealous for Law, Liberty, and Property, when those two Princes
+set up for raising Money by their own Authority, and in consequence
+thereof, fell into numerous other Acts of Violence and Injustice. It is
+also well known, that to quell these Puritans, and lessen their Credit,
+and baffle all their Pretences, Gaiety, Mirth, Pastimes or Sports, were
+incourag'd and requir'd on _Sundays_ of the People, that Churches were
+render'd gay, theatrical, and pleasant by the Decorations, Paintings,
+Musick, and Ceremonies therein perform'd[88]; and that the utmost Ridicule
+was employ'd against some of them, as _Enthusiasts_, and against others of
+them as _Hypocrites_, and against them all as factious and seditious, by
+their Adversaries; who were under no Restraints, but incourag'd to write
+with Scorn, Contempt, Raillery and Satire against these suppos'd Enemies
+of Church and State. Nor did the great Success of the _Puritans_ in the
+Field of Battle suppress that _Vein_ and _Humour_ of _Ridicule_ begun
+against them; but the _Laudean_ Party still carry'd on a Paper War with
+innumerable Pamphlets, which all tended more or less to make the World
+_laugh_ at and _ridicule_ the _Puritans_. And I am verily persuaded, that
+no History of any other Country in the World can produce a Parallel,
+wherein the Principle and Practice of _Ridicule_ were ever so strongly
+encourag'd, and so constantly pursu'd, fix'd and rooted in the Minds of
+Men, as it was and is in Churchmen against Puritans and Dissenters. Even
+at this Day the _Ridicule_ is so strong against the present Dissenters, so
+promoted by Clergy and Laity, especially in Villages and small Country
+Towns, that they are unable to withstand its Force, but daily come over in
+Numbers to the Church to avoid being _laugh'd_ at. It seems to me a Mark
+of Distinction more likely to last in the Church than any other Matter
+that I can observe. Passive Obedience, the divine Right of Kings, _&c._
+rise and fall according to particular Occasions; but _Laughter_ at
+_Dissenters_ seems fixt for ever, if they should chance to last so long.
+
+_South_'s Sermons, which now amount to _six Volumes_, make Reading _Jests_
+and _Banter_ upon _Dissenters_, the religious Exercise of good Churchmen
+upon _Sundays_, who now can serve God (as many think they do by hearing or
+reading Sermons) and be as merry as at the Play-house. And _Hudibras_,
+which is a daily High-Church Entertainment, and a Pocket and Travelling
+High-Church Companion, must necessarily have a very considerable Effect,
+and cannot fail forming in Men that Humour and Vein of _Ridicule_ upon
+_Dissenters_ which runs thro' that Work. In a word, High-Church has
+constantly been an Enemy to, and a Ridiculer of the _Seriousness_ of
+_Puritans_ and _Dissenters_, whom they have ever charg'd with _Hypocrisy_
+for their _Seriousness_.
+
+"After [89] the Civil War had broke out in 1641, and the King and Court
+had settled at _Oxford_, one _Birkenhead_, who had liv'd in _Laud_'s
+Family, and been made Fellow of _All Souls College_ by _Laud_'s Means, was
+appointed to write a Weekly Paper under the Title of _Mercurius Aulicus_;
+the first whereof was publish'd in 1642. In the Absence of the Author,
+_Birkenhead_, from _Oxford_, it was continued by _Heylin_. _Birkenhead_
+pleas'd the Generality of Readers with his _Waggeries_ and _Buffooneries_;
+and the Royal Party were so taken with it, that the Author was recommended
+to be Reader of _Moral Philosophy_ by his Majesty;" who, together with the
+religious Electors, it is justly to be presum'd, thought _Waggery_ and
+_Buffoonery_, not only Political, but _Religious_ and _Moral_, when
+employ'd against _Puritans_ and _Dissenters_.
+
+
+IX. King _Charles_ the Second's Restoration brought along with it glorious
+_High-Church_ Times; which were distinguish'd as much by _laughing_ at
+_Dissenters_, as by persecuting them; which pass for a Pattern how
+Dissenters are to be treated; and which will never be given up, by
+_High-Church-men_, as faulty, for ridiculing Dissenters.
+
+The King himself, who had very good natural Parts, and a Disposition to
+banter and ridicule every Body, and especially the _Presbyterians_, whose
+Discipline he had felt for his Lewdness and Irreligion in _Scotland_, had
+in his _Exile_ an Education, and liv'd, among some of the greatest
+_Droles_ and _Wits_ that any Age ever produc'd; who could not but form him
+in that way, who was so well fitted by Temper for it. The Duke of
+_Buckingham_ was his constant Companion. And he had a [90] _great
+Liveliness of Wit, and a peculiar Faculty of turning all things into
+ridicule_. He was Author of the _Rehearsal_; which, as a most noble Author
+says, is [91] _a justly admir'd Piece of comick Wit_, and _has furnish'd
+our best Wits in all their Controversies, even in Religion and Politicks,
+as well as in the Affairs of Wit and Learning, with the most effectual and
+entertaining Method of exposing Folly, Pedantry, false Reason, and ill
+Writing_. The Duke of _Buckingham_ [92] brought _Hobbes_ to him to be his
+_Tutor_, who was a _Philosophical Drole_, and had a great deal of _Wit_ of
+the _drolling_ kind. _Sheldon_, who was afterwards Archbishop of
+_Canterbury_, and attended the King constantly in his Exile as his
+_Chaplain_, was an eminent _Drole_, as appears from Bishop _Burnet_, who
+says[93], that _he had a great Pleasantness of Conversation, perhaps too
+great_.
+
+And _Hide_, afterwards Earl of _Clarendon_, who attended the King in his
+Exile, seems also to have been a great Drole, by Bishop _Burnet_'s
+representing him, as one, that _had too much Levity in his Wit, and that
+did not observe the Decorum of his Post_[94]. In a _Speech_ to the Lords
+and Commons, _Hide_ attack'd the Gravity of the Puritans, saying[95],
+"Very merry Men have been very godly Men; and if a good Conscience be a
+continued Feast, there is no reason but Men may be very merry at it." And
+upon Mr. _Baxter_ and other Presbyterian Ministers waiting on him in
+relation to the _Savoy Conference_, he said to Mr. _Baxter_ on the first
+Salute[96], that if "he were but as fat as Dr. _Manton_, we should all do
+well."
+
+No wonder therefore, that _Ridicule_, and _Raillery_, and _Satire_, should
+prevail at Court after the _Restoration_; and that King _Charles_ the
+Second, who was a Wit himself, and early taught to laugh at his _Father's
+Stiffness_[97], should be so great a Master of them, and bring them into
+play among his Subjects; and that he who had the most sovereign Contempt
+for all Mankind, and in particular for the People and Church of _England_,
+should use his Talent against them; and that his People in return should
+give him like for like.
+
+It is well known how he banter'd the Presbyterian Ministers, who out of
+Interest came over to him at _Breda_; where they were placed in a Room
+next to his Majesty, and order'd to attend till his Majesty had done his
+Devotions; who, it seems, pray'd so artfully, and poured out so many of
+their Phrases, which he had learned when he was in _Scotland_, where he
+was forced to be present at religious Exercises of six or seven Hours
+a-day; and had practis'd among the _Huguenot_ Ministers in _France_[98],
+who reported him to have a _sanctify'd Heart_, and to _speak the very
+Language of_ Canaan. This _Ridicule_ he _cover'd_ with _Seriousness_;
+having at that time Occasion for those Ministers, who were then his great
+Instruments in reconciling the Nation to his _Restoration_. When he had no
+farther Occasion for them, he was open in his _Ridicule_, and would say,
+that [99] _Presbyterianism was not a Religion for a Gentleman_.
+
+
+X. Would you, who are a Man of Sense and Learning, and of some Moderation,
+be for punishing the Author of _The Difficulties and Discouragements which
+attend the Study of the Scriptures in the way of private Judgment_, &c.
+who is suppos'd to be a Prelate of the Church, for that Book, which is
+wholly an _Irony_ about the most sacred Persons and Things? Must not the
+fine _Irony_ it self, and the Execution of it, with so much Learning,
+Sense, and Wit, raise in you the highest Esteem and Admiration of the
+Author, instead of a Disposition to punish him? Would you appear to the
+intelligent Part of the World such an Enemy to Knowledge, and such a
+Friend to the Kingdom of Darkness, as such Punishment would imply? In
+fine, can you see and direct us to a better way, to make us inquire after
+and understand Matters of Religion, to make us get and keep a good temper
+of Mind, and to plant and cultivate in us the Virtues necessary to good
+Order and Peace in Society, and to eradicate the Vices that every where
+give Society so much Disturbance, than what is prescrib'd or imply'd in
+that Book? And can you think of a better _Form_ of _Conveyance_, or
+_Vehicle_ for Matters of such universal Concern to all intelligent People
+(if you consider the State of the World, and the infinite Variety of
+Understandings, Interests, and Designs of Men, who are all to be address'd
+to at the same Time) than his Method of _Irony_? And has not Success
+justify'd his Method? For the Book has had a free Vent in several
+Impressions; has been very generally read and applauded; has convinced
+Numbers, and has been no Occasion of trouble either to Bookseller or
+Author. It has also had the Advantage to have a most ingenious _Letter_ of
+_John Hales_ of _Eton_ join'd to some Editions of it; who by this
+_Letter_, as well as by several others of his Pieces, shews himself to
+have been another _Socrates_, one of the greatest Masters of _true Wit_
+and _just Irony_, as well as Learning, which the World ever produc'd; and
+shews he could have writ such a Book as the _Difficulties_, &c. But if you
+are capable of coming into any Measures for punishing the Author of the
+_Difficulties_, &c. for his _Irony_, I conceive, that you may possibly
+hesitate a little in relation to the same Author, about his _New Defence
+of the Bishop of_ Bangor_'s Sermon of the Kingdom of Christ, consider'd as
+it is the Performance of a Man of Letters_; which, tho far below _The
+Difficulties_, &c. is an ingenious _Irony_ on that _Sermon_. You may
+probably, like many others of the Clergy, approve of Satire so well
+employ'd, as against that Bishop, who has succeeded Bishop _Burnet_ in
+being the Subject of _Clergy-Ridicule_, as well as in his Bishoprick. The
+Bishop himself was very justly patient, under all Attacks by the Reverend
+_Trapp_, _Earbery_, _Snape_, _Law_, and _Luke Milbourne_, in his _Tom of
+Bedlam's Answer to his Brother_ Ben Hoadley, _St._ Peter_'s_ Poor _Parson
+near the Exchange of Principles_; some of which were of a very abusive
+kind, and such as can hardly be parallel'd; and did not call upon the
+Magistrate to come to his Aid against that Author, or against any others
+of the Clergy who had attack'd him with as great Mockery, Ridicule, and
+Irony, as ever Bishop had been by the profess'd Adversaries of the Order;
+or as ever the Bishops had been by the _Puritans_ and _Libellers_ in the
+Reigns of Queen _Elizabeth_, King _James_ and King _Charles_ the First; or
+as _Lesley_, _Hickes_, _Hill_, _Atterbury_, _Binks_, and other High-Church
+Clergy, did the late Bishop _Burnet_. Instead of that he took the true and
+proper Method, by publishing an _Answer_ to the said _Irony_, compos'd in
+the same _ironical Strain_, intitled, _The Dean of_ Worcester _still the
+same: Or his new Defence of the Bishop of_ Bangor_'s Sermon, consider'd,
+as it is the Performance of a great Critick, a Man of Sense, and a Man of
+Probity_. Which Answer does, in my Opinion, as much Honour to the Bishop,
+by its Excellency in the _ironical Way_, as it does by allowing the Method
+it self, and going into that Method, in imitation of his Reverend Brethren
+of the Clergy, 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 Contempt; but, on the contrary, to be spurr'd on by the
+_Excellency_ and _Propriety_ thereof to use it against him, even in the
+[100] _Pulpit_, as Part of the religious Exercise on the _Lord's-day_.
+
+
+XI. There is an universal Love and Practice of _Drollery_ and _Ridicule_
+in all, even the most _serious_ Men, in the most _serious Places_, and on
+the most _serious Occasions_. Go into the Privy-Councils of Princes, into
+Senates, into Courts of Judicature, and into the Assemblies of the Kirk or
+Church; and you will find that Wit, good Humour, Ridicule, and Drollery,
+mix themselves in all the Questions before those Bodies; and that the most
+solemn and sour Person there present, will ever be found endeavouring, at
+least, to crack his Jest, in order to raise a Character for Wit; which has
+so great an Applause attending it, and renders Men so universally
+acceptable for their Conversation, and places them above the greatest
+Proficients in the Sciences, that almost every one is intoxicated with the
+Passion of aiming at it.
+
+In the Reports made to us of the Debates in the Houses of Lords, Commons,
+and Convocation, the serious Parts of the Speeches there made die for the
+most part with the Sound; but the Wit, the Irony, the Drollery, the
+Ridicule, the Satire, and Repartees, are thought worthy to be remember'd
+and repeated in Conversation, and make a Part of the History of the
+Proceedings of those Bodies, no less than their grave Transactions, as
+some such must necessarily be.
+
+Whoever will look into Antiquity for an Account of the Lives, Actions, and
+Works of the old Philosophers, will find little remaining of them; but
+some of their witty, drolling, and bantering Sayings, which alone have
+been thought worthy to be preserv'd to Posterity. And if you will look
+into the Lives of the modern Statesmen, Philosophers, Divines, Lawyers,
+_&c._ you will find that their witty Sayings ever make a considerable
+Part: by reporting which great Honour is intended to be done to their
+Memory. The great and most religious Philosopher Dr. _H. More_, has a
+great many Pieces of Wit attributed to him in his _Life_ by Mr. _Ward_,
+who represents him from his Companions, [101] _as one of the merriest
+Greeks they were acquainted with_, and tells us, that the Doctor said in
+his _last Illness_, to him[102], _that the merry way was that which he saw
+mightily to take; and so he used it the more_.
+
+The great and famous Sir _Thomas More_, Lord Chancellor of _England_ in
+_Henry_ the Eighth's time, was an inexhaustible Source of _Drollery_[103],
+as his voluminous Works, which consist for the most part of controversial
+Divinity in behalf of Popery, show, and which are many of them written in
+Dialogue, the better to introduce the _drolling_ Way of Writing, which he
+has us'd in such Perfection, that it is said [104] _none can ever be weary
+of reading them, tho they be never so long_. Nor could Death it self, in
+immediate view before his Eyes, suppress his _merry_ Humour, and hinder
+him from cracking _Jests_ on the _Scaffold_; tho he was a Man of great
+_Piety_ and _Devotion_, whereof all the World was convinced by his Conduct
+both in his Life and at his Death.
+
+It is said (as I have before observ'd) of my Lord Chancellor _Clarendon_,
+that "he had too much _Levity_ in his _Wit_[105], and that he did not
+always observe the _Decorum_ of his Post." Which implies not only his
+Approbation of _Drollery_ in the most _grave_ Business, but also his great
+Knowledge of Mankind, by applying to them in that _Way_; which he knew
+from Experience, and especially from the common _drolling_ [106]
+Conversation in the Court of King _Charles_ the Second, would recommend
+him to the World much more than an _impartial Administration of Justice_;
+which is less felt, less understood, and less taken notice of and
+applauded, than a _Piece_ of _Wit_; which is generally suppos'd to imply
+in it a great deal of Knowledge, and a Capacity fit for any thing.
+
+Mr. _Whiston_[107], a famous Person among us, sets up for great _Gravity_,
+and proposes a Scheme of _Gravity_ for the Direction of those who write
+about Religion: He is for allowing _Unbelievers_, 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 _Bible_; against any
+Parts of the _Jewish_ and Christian Religions, in order to their being
+fully weigh'd and consider'd by all learned Men; provided at the same
+time, that the whole be done _gravely_, and _seriously_, without all
+_Levity_, _Banter_, and _Ridicule_." And yet this Man, having a handle
+given him by Bishop _Robinson_'s Letter to the _Clergy_ of his _Diocess_
+about _New Doxologies borrow'd from Old Hereticks_, takes the advantage of
+the Bishop's (supposed) Ignorance, Dulness, Stupidity, and Contradiction
+to himself, and writes and prints, like a _Tom Brown_ or _Swift_, a most
+_bantering_ and _drolling_ Letter, under the sneering Title of a _Letter
+of Thanks to the Right Reverend the Lord Bishop of_ London, _for his late
+Letter_, &c. whom, one would think, he should not only have spar'd, but
+have applauded for his _profound Gravity_, and carrying on the Cause of
+Religion in a very remarkable manner, with the most _consummate
+Solemnity_. But so strong was the Temptation, so naturally productive of
+Mirth was the Bishop's _Cause_, and his grave Management thereof, as that
+he could not help laughing at the Bishop, by himself; and so was led on
+mechanically to write in that Humour, and to publish what he wrote, and
+afterwards to defend his drole _Manner_ [108] of attacking the Bishop,
+against those who took _offence_ at that _Manner_ of writing.
+
+
+XII. The burning Papists themselves are not always _serious_ with us: They
+treat the Church and its Defenders as _fanatical_, and _laugh_ at them as
+_such_, just as the Church does the Dissenters, and have their elaborate
+Works of _Drollery_ against their Adversaries. They publish'd a Poem
+against the _Reformation_, just before the Death of Queen _Anne_, which
+was design'd to have given such a Stroke to the Protestant Religion among
+us, under the new projected Revolution, as _Hudibras_ did to _Puritanism_
+after the _Restoration_. The Popish Editor, in the Preface to the said
+Poem, says, "that the Motive of the Author (_Thomas Ward_) for publishing
+the _History of the Reformation in a Burlesque Style_ (tho a History full
+of melancholy Incidents, which have distracted the Nation, even beyond the
+hope of recovery, after so much Blood drawn from all its Veins, and from
+its Head) was that which he met with in Sir _Roger L'Estrange_'s Preface
+to the second Part of his _Cit_ and _Bumkin_, express'd in these Words;
+_Tho this way of fooling is not my Talent, nor Inclination; yet I have
+great Authorities for the taking up this Humour, in regard not only of the
+Subject, but of the Age we live in; which is so much upon the Drole, that
+hardly any thing else will down with it._"
+
+And the ingenious Protestant Editor of this Poem at _London_, which he
+allows to have some Wit in it, concludes the Remarks he makes upon it, by
+saying, "One thing more we can't forbear hinting at, that a Retaliation
+would be as happy a Thought as could enter into the Head of a Man of
+Genius and Spirit. What a fruitful Harvest would the Legends, Tricks,
+spiritual Jugglings, Convents, and Nunneries, yield to a good Poet?
+_Buchanan_ in his _Franciscani_, and _Oldham_ in his _Satires_ on the
+Jesuits, have open'd the Way, and we heartily wish some equal Pen would
+write the whole Mystery of Iniquity at length."
+
+
+XIII. All the old Puritan Preachers, who were originally Divines of the
+Church of _England_, sprinkled and season'd their Sermons with a great
+many _drolling_ Sayings against _Libertinism_ and _Vice_, and against
+Church Ceremonies; many of which Sayings are reported and handed down to
+us in Books and Conversation, as are also the Effects of those Sayings,
+which we are told converted many to _Christ_ on the Spot, or in the
+Instant of Delivery. Nor is that manner wholly laid aside, but has
+continued to be kept alive by some Hands at all times; who have been
+greatly follow'd for their Success in drolling upon _Sinners_, and
+treating of Religion in humoursom and fantastical Phrases, and fixing that
+way of Religion in some Mens Minds.
+
+I do not remember to have met with a more complete Drole in the Church of
+_England_, or in any other of the _laughing_ or _ridiculing_ Sects, than
+_Andrew Marvel_ of the grave _Puritan_ Sect, in many Works of his both in
+Prose and Verse, but especially in his _Rehearsal Transprosed_; which tho
+writ against _Parker_, who with great Eloquence, Learning, and a Torrent
+of Drollery and Satire, had defended the Court and Church's Cause, in
+asserting the Necessity of Penal Laws against the Nonconformists, "was
+read from the _King_ down to the Tradesman with great pleasure, on account
+of that Burlesque Strain and lively Drollery that ran thro' it," as
+Bishop _Burnet_ tells us[109]. Nor were the gravest _Puritans_ and
+Dissenters among us less taken and pleas'd with his Writings for their
+_Drollery_, than our _drole King_; tho there are some Passages in them,
+which should give just Offence to chaste Ears.
+
+I find also, that the _Puritans_ and _Dissenters_ have always born with,
+and allow'd of, a great Mixture of _Drollery_ in their Sermons, that one
+would think should offend their Gravity, and pious Ears; and that they
+applaud their Ministers for such their Discourses, as much as the Church
+does Dr. _South_ for the Ribaldry sprinkled thro'out his Sermons about the
+most high Points in Divinity. They have always had some eminent Divines
+among them who have been remarkable for such Passages and Reflections: And
+these have never lessen'd their number of Auditors, nor drawn upon
+themselves the Character of _Irreligious_; but have had the largest
+Auditories of contributing Hearers, as well as of Churchmen, who came to
+smile, and have been esteem'd very _pious_ Men.
+
+In fine, the _Puritans_ and _Dissenters_ have, like the Church, their
+Taste of Humour, Irony, and Ridicule, which they promote with great Zeal,
+as a Means to serve Religion: And I remember, that, among other things
+said in behalf of _Bunyan_'s _Pilgrim's Progress_, upon the reprinting it
+lately by Subscription, it was affirm'd, and that, in my Opinion, truly,
+"that it had infinitely out-done _The Tale of a Tub_; which perhaps had
+not made one Convert to Infidelity, whereas the _Pilgrim's Progress_ had
+converted many Sinners to _Christ_."
+
+
+XIV. The _Quakers_ are certainly the most _serious_ and solemn People
+among us in Matters of Religion, and out-go the Dissenters of all other
+Kinds therein: But yet the Church has no regard to them on that Account,
+but takes Advantage from thence to _ridicule_ them the more, and to call
+their Sincerity more in question. And I much doubt whether there was ever
+a Book written against them by the Divines of any Sect with perfect
+Decency, and that had not its extravagant Flouts, Scorn, Banter, and
+Irony, and that not only of the _laughing_, but of the _cruel_ kind:
+Wherein they copy'd after the _Jews_ of old, who while they prosecuted
+_Christ_ to Death, and carried on their High-Church Tragedy against him,
+acted against him the _comick Scenes_ [110] "of spitting in his Face, and
+buffeting him with the Palms of their Hands, saying, _Prophesy unto us,
+thou Christ, who is he that smote thee_;" and who, when they had nail'd
+him to the Cross, _revil'd_ him with divers _Taunts_, in which the _Chief
+Priests_, _Scribes_, _Elders_, and even the _Thieves, which were crucified
+with him_, concurr'd. But yet for all this, these solemn Quakers
+themselves are not altogether averse to _Irony_ and _Ridicule_, and use it
+when they can. Their Books abound in Stories to ridicule in their Turn the
+Priests, their great and bitter Adversaries: And they please themselves
+with throwing at the Priests the _Centuries of Scandalous Ministers_, and
+the Books of the _Cobler of_ Glocester. They have also their Satirist and
+Banterer, _Samuel Fisher_; whose Works, tho all wrote in the _drolling_
+Style and Manner, they pride themselves in, and have collected into one
+great Volume in _Folio_; in which Quaker-Wit and Irony are set up against
+Church, Presbyterian, and Independent Wit and Irony, without the least
+Scruple of the lawfulness of such Arms. In a word, their Author acts the
+Part of a _Jack-Pudding_, _Merry Andrew_, or _Buffoon_, with all the
+seeming Right, Authority, and Privilege, of the Member of some Establish'd
+Church of abusing all the World but themselves. The _Quakers_ have also
+encourag'd and publish'd a most arch Book of the famous _Henry Stubbe_,
+intitled, _A Light shining out of Darkness_, &c. Wherein all the other
+religious Parties among us are as handsomly and learnedly banter'd and
+ridicul'd, as the _Quakers_ have been in any Book against them. And when
+they were attack'd by one _Samuel Young_, a whimsical
+Presbyterian-Buffoon-Divine, who call'd himself _Trepidantium Malleus_,
+and set up for an Imitator of Mr. _Alsop_, in several Pamphlets full of
+Stories, Repartees, and Ironies; in which _Young_, perhaps, thought
+himself as secure from a Return of the like kind, as a Ruffian or Thief
+may when he assaults Men: His Attacks were repell'd in a Book intitled
+"_Trepidantium Malleus intrepidanter malleatus_; or the West Country
+Wiseaker's crack-brain'd _Reprimand_ hammer'd about his own Numbscul.
+Being a _Joco-satirical_ Return to a late Tale of a Tub, emitted by a
+reverend _Non-con_, at present residing not far from _Bedlam_," said to be
+written by _William Penn_, who has therein made use of the carnal Weapons
+of Irony and Banter, and dress'd out the Presbyterian Priest in a Fool's
+Coat, for a Spectacle to the Mob. It is also to be observ'd, that there
+are several Tracts in the two Volumes of _William Penn_'s Works lately
+publish'd, that for ingenious Banter and Irony, are much superior to the
+Priests his Adversaries; and that other Quaker Authors profess to write
+sometimes in a [111] _drolling Style_.
+
+
+XV. The Jacobite Clergy have set up for great _Droles_ upon all the true
+Friends of the _Establishment_. And I presume, the Body of our High
+Churchmen would not willingly deprive them of the Benefit of their
+_Drollery_.
+
+The celebrated Mr. _Collier_ [112] thus attacks Bishop _Burnet_, for his
+ESSAY _on the Memory of Queen_ Mary. "This Doctor, you know, is a Man of
+mighty _Latitude_, and can say any thing to serve a Turn; whose
+_Reverence_ resolves Cases of Conscience backwards and forwards, disputes
+_pro_ and _con_, praises and dispraises by secular Measures; with whom
+Virtue and Vice, passive Obedience and Rebellion, Parricide and filial
+Duty, Treachery and Faithfulness, and all the Contradictions in Nature,
+are the _best_ and _worst_ things under the Sun, as they are for his
+Purpose, and according as the Wind sits: who equally and indifferently
+writes for and against all Men, the Gospel, and himself too, as the World
+goes: who can bestow a Panegyrick upon the seven deadly Sins, and (if
+there be occasion) can make an Invective against all the
+Commandments.----"
+
+In relation to Dr. _Payne_'s _Sermon_ on the Death of that _Queen_, he
+says[113], "that to go thro' it is too great a Discipline for any Man,
+whose Palate hath ever relish'd any thing above _three half-penny
+Poetry_." He adds, "Why, Sir, many Years ago I have heard some of it sung
+about the Streets in wretched and nauseous _Doggrel_. What think you of
+this? _Page_ 6. _I know not how to draw her Picture, 'tis so all over
+beauteous, without any Foil, any Shade, any Blemish; so perfect in every
+Feature, so accomplish'd in every Part, so adorn'd with every Perfection
+and every Grace._ O rare, Sir! here's _Phillis_ and _Chloris_, and
+_Gillian a Croydon_.
+
+  "_Sh' hath_ every Feature, every Grace,
+  "_So charming_ every part, _&c_.
+
+"Tis no wonder he tells us, (_p._ 8.) of _strewing her with the Flowers of
+withered and decay'd Poetry_; for the _Song_ out of which he hath
+transcrib'd his _Sermon_, is of very _great age_, and hath been sung at
+many a _Whitsun-Ale_, and many a _Wedding_ (tho I believe never at a
+Funeral before) and therefore in all this time may well be _decay'd and
+wither'd_: In the mean time, if you were to draw the Picture of a _great
+Princess_, I fansy you would not make choice of _Mopsa_ to sit to it.
+Alas! Sir, there was _Cassandra_ and _Cleopatra_, and many a famed
+_Romance_ more, which might have furnish'd him with handsome Characters,
+and yet he must needs be _preaching and instructing_ his People out of
+_Hey down derry_, and the _fair Maid of_ Kent. If he had intitled it,
+_The_ White-Chapel _Ballad_, and got some body to set it to the Tune of
+_Amaryllis_, compos'd by _W. P. Songster_, the Character of the _Author_,
+the _Title_, and the _Matter_, would have very well agreed, and perhaps it
+might have passed at the Corners of the Streets; but to call it a
+_Sermon_, and by _W. P._ Doctor in _Divinity_, 'tis one of the _lewdest_
+things in the World.----"
+
+Mr. _Lesley_ attacks the Clergy, who pray'd "that God would give King
+_James_ Victory over all his Enemies[114], when that was the thing they
+least wish'd; and confess'd, that they labour'd all they could against
+it," saying, "good God! What Apprehensions, what Thought had those Men of
+their publick Prayers; bantering God Almighty, and mocking him to his
+Face, who heard their Words, and saw their Hearts? Is not _Atheism_ a
+smaller Sin than this, since it is better to have no God, than so to set
+up one _to laugh at him_."
+
+Again he says, (_p._ 123.) "It is a severe Jest, that the common People
+have got up against the Clergy, that there was but one thing formerly
+which the Parliament could not do, that is, to make a Man a Woman: But now
+there is another, that is, to make an Oath which the Clergy will not
+take."
+
+The same Author attacks Bishop _Burnet_'s _Speech upon the Bill against
+Occasional Conformity_, by a Pamphlet intitled, _The Bishop of_
+Salisbury_'s proper Defence from a Speech cry'd about the Streets in his
+Name, and said to have been spoken by him in the House of Lords upon the
+Bill against Occasional Conformity_; which is one perpetual _Irony_ on the
+Bishop, and gives the Author occasion to throw all manner of Satire and
+Abuse on the Bishop. The beginning of this Pamphlet, which is as follows,
+will let the Reader into the full Knowledge of the Design of the Irony,
+and the manner of Execution.
+
+"The License of this Age and of the Press is so great, that no Rank or
+Quality of Men is free from the Insults of loose and extravagant Wits.
+
+"The good Bishop of _Salisbury_ has had a plentiful Share in this sort of
+Treatment: And now at last, some or other has presum'd to burlesque his
+Lordship in printing a Speech for him, which none that knows his Lordship
+can believe ever came from him.
+
+"But because it may go down with others who are too apt to take Slander
+upon trust, and that his Lordship has already been pelted with several
+Answers to his Speech, I have presum'd to offer the following
+Considerations, to clear his Lordship from the Suspicion of having vented
+(in such an august Assembly) those crude and undigested Matters which are
+set forth in that Speech, and which so highly reflect on his Lordship's
+self."
+
+He has taken the same Method of Irony to attack the said Bishop for his
+_Speech_ on the _Trial_ of _Sacheverel_, and for a _Sermon_, under this
+Title, "The Good Old Cause, _or_ Lying in Truth; being a Second Defence of
+the Lord Bishop of _Sarum_ from a Second Speech, and also the Dissection
+of a Sermon it is said his Lordship preach'd in the Cathedral Church of
+_Salisbury_." And this Pamphlet, which is also a continued Banter, begins
+thus.
+
+"No Man has more deserv'd than this good Bishop, and no Man has been more
+persecuted by various Ways and Means than his Lordship, even to mobbing!
+But the ugliest and most malicious of all these Arts, is that of putting
+false Things upon him; to write scandalous, seditious, and senseless
+Papers, and to affix his Lordship's Name! I was forc'd some Years ago to
+vindicate his Lordship's Reputation from one of this sort: That Speech had
+a Bookseller's Name to it of good figure, and look'd something like; but
+this Speech (said likewise to be spoken in the House of Lords) has no body
+to own it, and has all the Marks of _Grub_. But the nasty Phiz is nothing
+to the inside. That discovers the Man; the Heart is false."
+
+This same Author has thought fit to attack Mr. _Hoadley_ (since a Bishop)
+in the way of Banter: His _Best Answer ever was made, and to which no
+Answer will ever be made_, is by his own Confession a _Farce_; when he
+says in his _Preface_, "If you ask why I treat this Subject by way of
+_farce_, and shew a little Merriment sometimes? it was because the
+Foundation you stand upon is not only _false_ but _ridiculous_, and ought
+to be treated with the _utmost Contempt_."
+
+Again, in his "_Finishing Stroke, in defence of_ his _Rehearsals, Best
+Answer, and Best of all_," he gives us (_p._ 125.) what he calls, "A
+Battle-Royal between three Cocks of the Game, _Higden_, _Hoadley_, and a
+_Hottentot_;" which in the _Contents_ he calls _A Farce_, and to which he
+joins both a _Prologue_ and _Epilogue_, and divers other Particulars, all
+taken from the _Play-house_.
+
+The Reverend Mr. _Matthias Earbery_ sets up for a great Satirist and Drole
+upon the swearing and Low-Church Clergy, in numerous Pamphlets of late,
+more particularly in his "_Serious Admonition to Dr._ Kennet: To which is
+added, a short but complete Answer to Mr. _Marshal_'s late Treatise
+called, _A Defence of our Constitution in Church and State_; and a
+Parallel is drawn between him and Dr. _Kennet_, for the Satisfaction of
+the unprejudic'd Reader."
+
+He has a bantering Argument [115] to shew, that, "If in future Ages Mr.
+_Marshal_'s Book should escape the just Judgment it deserves, of being
+condemn'd to the _Pastry-Cooks_ and _Grocers_, an industrious Chronologist
+might make an Observation to prove him too young to write it."
+
+The _Parallel_ is in _Pag._ 126, which being very gross _Raillery_, I only
+refer you to it.
+
+This Mr. _Earbery_ also wrote a _Letter to Bishop_ Fleetwood, under the
+Title of "A Letter to the Bishop of _Ely_, upon the Occasion of his
+_suppos'd_ late _Charge_, said to be deliver'd at _Cambridge August_ 7,
+1716, _&c._" in which he pursues the Ironical Scheme laid down in the said
+Title, and endeavours to _vindicate_ his _Lordship from the Aspersion of
+writing such a mean Pamphlet_, as the _Charge_.
+
+Nor do these _Jacobites_ confine their Drollery to their Adversaries
+without, but exercise it on one another, as may be seen in their late
+Dispute about King _Edward the Sixth_'s Liturgy. And Mr. _Lesley_ himself,
+happening to engage on the side opposite to the Traditions of the Fathers,
+and attacking those Traditions by Low-Church Notions and Arguments, and
+thereby running counter to all his former Books, is attack'd just in the
+same manner he attack'd Bishop _Burnet_, in a Book under this Title, "Mr.
+_Lesley_'s Defence, from some erroneous and dangerous Principles, advanced
+in a Letter said to have been written concerning the New Separation." And
+it has several Paragraphs at the beginning in the very words of one of Mr.
+_Lesley_'s Books against the said Bishop, as may be seen on Comparison.
+
+
+XVI. _Christ-Church_ in _Oxford_ is no less famous for the _Drolling_,
+than for the _Orthodox_ Spirit reigning there; and the former, being
+judged an excellent Method to support the latter, is cultivated among the
+Youth, and employ'd by the Members of that Society against all the
+supposed Adversaries of the Church, and encourag'd by the governing
+Ecclesiasticks there and elsewhere.
+
+Among the many, who have receiv'd their Education there, and been form'd
+in Drollery, I will only instance in the Reverend Dr. _Atterbury_ and Dr.
+_South_; who being as famous for _Drollery_ as for Zeal for Religion, and
+applauded for their _Wit_ no less than for their _Orthodoxy_; and
+particularly for imploying the former in behalf of the latter, seem of
+sufficient Weight to bear down all Attempts to stifle their Productions.
+What Considerations can make us amends for the Loss of such excellent
+_drolling Writings_, which promote Religion as well as Mirth?
+
+With what incomparable Mockery, Ridicule and Sarcasm does Dr. _Atterbury_
+treat all the Low-Church Clergy that come in his way, together with the
+_Whig_ Ministry and Administration in his several _Convocational Tracts_?
+Dr. _Wake_, our present Archbishop of _Canterbury_, is represented by him
+as writing so _contumeliously_ [116] of the Clergy, _that had he not
+inform'd us in his Title Page who he was, we should rather have guess'd
+him to have been of the Cabal against Priests and Priestcraft, than one of
+the Order_; and as wholly govern'd by [117] _Interest_ in the _Debate_,
+and as giving us a most [118] _shallow empty Performance_ in relation to
+our Ecclesiastical Constitution, which he [119] _has done his best to
+undermine_, as knowing himself to be in the wrong; and as _deserving_ any
+Name or Censure, none being _too bad to be bestow'd_ on him; and in fine,
+as _the least of the little officious Pens by which he expects to be
+traduc'd_.
+
+Dr. _Bentley_ is represented as _wrote out of Reputation into Preferment_;
+which, whether it be a more severe Sarcasm on the Doctor, than on the
+Government, is hard to determine; and besides, it gives Applause to one of
+the most drolling and bantering Performances that this drolling Age has
+produc'd, I mean _Dr._ Bentley_'s Dissertations on the Epistles of_
+Phalaris, _and the Fables of_ Æsop, _examin'd_.
+
+Bishop _Burnet_ is a standing Subject of Ridicule with him; as are Bishop
+_Nicholson_, Bishop _Kennet_, Bishop _Gibson_, Bishop _Trimnel_ [to whom
+he writes a most drolling [120] Letter] and Dr. _West_; and all the
+Topicks that can affect them as Scholars, as honest Men, and Clergymen,
+are imploy'd to render them ridiculous, and set the World a laughing at
+them, who are not in the least spar'd for their being of the Holy Order;
+but on the contrary seem more loaded and baited with Sarcasms for that
+reason.
+
+For a _Specimen_, take this Banter or Burlesque upon Bishop _Kennet_'s
+Dedication of his _Ecclesiastical Synods and Parliamentary Convocations_,
+&c. to the Archbishop of _Canterbury_; which Banter runs thus[121].
+
+     "_May it please your Grace_,
+
+     "Mr. _Atterbury_ has lately forc'd a Dedication upon you, which
+     favours too much of Presumption or Design; he has presum'd to
+     surprize you with an unexpected Address, and appears very indecently
+     before your Grace, because he has taken no care to express upon this
+     Subject a due Respect and Reverence to the Governors in Church and
+     State, such as is suitable to the Christian Religion, and his
+     particular Function: The Reports and Authorities in his Book are
+     Fruits of other Mens Collections, not the immediate Effects of his
+     own Searches into _Registers_ and _Records_; he imperiously summons
+     your Grace and my Lords the Bishops to an immediate Compliance upon
+     pain of being pronounc'd Betrayers of the Church----This, my Lord, is
+     the Character of the Person _I set up_ against; but as for me, I am
+     quite another sort of Man, I am very well bred, a great Antiquary,
+     beholden to no body, _some Wits and merry Folks call me a Tool and a
+     Play-thing_ (_Pref. p._ 8.) But I assure your Grace, that what
+     Freedom soever I may have taken in taxing the Vices of the inferior
+     _Clergy_, (_p._ 77. 188.) and in reflecting _upon the ambitious
+     Designs of dignify'd Presbyters_ (_p._ 196.); yet _I am however
+     tender and dutiful in treating the Governors of our Church_ (p. 78.);
+     especially _those of them who are of the Ecclesiastical Commission
+     for Preferments_, (p. 311). I have a very great Respect and Reverence
+     for every body that will give me any thing; and how resolute soever
+     Mr. _Atterbury_ may be, your Grace may do what you please with
+
+     _Your Grace's most humble_
+
+     _and obedient Servant_,
+
+     WHITE KENNET.
+
+
+But for _Drollery_, the Reverend Dr. _South_ outdoes even _Christ-Church_,
+and fills all his Performances with it, and throws it out against the
+Enemies of the Church, and in particular against the late Dr. _Sherlock_,
+whom he thought fit to single out. I shall select some Passages from his
+Writings against the said Doctor, which cannot but entertain the
+High-Church Orthodox Reader, and reconcile him to a _Drollery_ so well
+employ'd.
+
+He stiles him _a great good Man, as a certain poor Wretch_, meaning
+_Prior, calls him_.
+
+Again, he says[122], "There is hardly any one Subject which he (that is
+Dr. _Sherlock_) has wrote upon Popery excepted, that he has wrote both
+for it and against it. Could any thing be more sharp and bitter against
+the Dissenters than what this Man wrote in his _Answer_ to the _Protestant
+Reconciler_; and yet how frankly, or rather fulsomly does he open both his
+Arms to embrace them in his Sermon preach'd before the Lord Mayor on
+_November_ 4, 1688. Tho I dare say, that the Dissenters themselves are of
+that Constancy, as to own that they were of the same Principles in 88 that
+they were of in 85; but the Truth is, old Friendships cannot be so easily
+forgot: And it has been an Observation made by some, that hardly can any
+one be found, who was first tainted with a Conventicle, whom a Cathedral
+could ever after cure, but that still upon every cross turn of Affairs
+against the _Church_, the irresistible _Magnetism_ of the _Good Old Cause_
+(as some still think it) would quickly draw him out of the _Good Old Way_.
+The Fable tells us of a _Cat_ once turn'd into a _Woman_, but the next
+sight of a _Mouse_ quickly dissolv'd the _Metamorphosis_, cashier'd the
+Woman, and restor'd the Brute. And some _Virtuosi_ (skill'd in the _useful
+Philosophy_ of _Alterations_) have thought her much a Gainer by the latter
+Change, there being so many unlucky Turns in the World, in which it is not
+half so safe and advantageous to _walk upright_, as to be _able to fall
+always upon one's Legs_."
+
+Again, Dr. _South_ says[123], "When I consider how wonderfully pleas'd the
+Man is with these two new started Terms (_Self-consciousness_ and _mutual
+Consciousness_) so high in Sound and so empty of Sense, instead of one
+substantial word (_Omniscience_) which gives us all that can be pretended
+useful in them, with vast Overplus and Advantage, and even swallows them
+up, as _Moses_'s Rod did those pitiful Tools of the _Magicians_: This (I
+say) brings to my mind (whether I will or no) a certain Story of a grave
+Person, who riding in the Road with his Servant, and finding himself
+something uneasy in his Saddle, bespoke his Servant thus: _John_ (says he)
+_alight, and first take off the Saddle that is upon my Horse, and then
+take off the Saddle that is upon your Horse; and when you have done this,
+put the Saddle that was upon my Horse, upon your Horse; and put the Saddle
+that was upon your Horse, upon my Horse_. Whereupon the Man, who had not
+studied the Philosophy of Saddles (whether _Ambling_ or _Trotting_) so
+exactly as his Master, replies something short upon him; _Lord, Master,
+what need all these words? Could you not as well have said, Let us change
+Saddles?_ Now I must confess, I think the Servant was much in the right;
+tho the Master having a _rational Head of his own_, and being withal
+willing to make the _Notion_ of _changing_ Saddles more _plain_, _easy_
+and _intelligible_, and to give a clearer Explication of that word (which
+his Forefathers, how good _Horsemen_ soever they might have been, yet were
+_not equally happy in explaining of_) was pleas'd to set it forth by that
+more full and accurate Circumlocution."
+
+He says[124], _The Author_, Dr. _Sherlock, is no doubt a_ Grecian _in his
+Heart_! And the tenth Chapter of the _Animadversions_ is one continued
+Banter upon the _Dean_ for his Ignorance in _Greek_ and _Latin_, and even
+his Inability to spell: All which he _closes_ with saying, "That St.
+_Paul_'s _School_ is certainly an excellent School, and St. _Paul_'s
+Church a most noble Church; and therefore he thinks that he directs his
+Course very prudently, and happily too, who in his Passage to such a
+_Cathedral_, takes a School in his way."
+
+Again, he says[125], "He cannot see any new Advantage that the Dean has
+got over the _Socinians_, unless it be, that the Dean thinks his _three
+Gods_ will be too hard for their _one_."
+
+After citing several Scurrilities of the Dean[126], (who it must be
+confess'd, appears therein a great Banterer also of Dr. _South_ and his
+Performance) the Dr. says, "These, with several more of the like
+_Gravel-Lane_ Elegancies, are all of them such peculiar Strictures of the
+Dean's _Genius_, that he might very well spare his Name, where he had made
+himself so well known by his Mark; for all the foregoing
+_Oyster-Wive-Kennel-Rhetorick_ seems so naturally to flow from him, who
+had been so long Rector of St. _Botolph_ (with the well-spoken
+_Billingsgate_ under his Care) that (as much a Teacher as he was) it may
+well be question'd, whether he has learn'd more from his Parish, than his
+Parish from him.--All favours of the Porter, the Carman, and the Waterman;
+and a pleasant Scene it must be to see the _Master of the Temple_ laying
+about him in the Language of the Stairs."
+
+To the Dean's Scoff, that _this Argument_, &c. _was worth its weight in
+Gold, tho the_ Dean _fears it will not much enrich the Buyer_, the Doctor
+replies[127], "What is that to him? Let him mind his own Markets, who
+never writes to _enrich the Buyer_ but the Seller; and that _Seller_ is
+himself: and since he is so, well is it for his Books and his Bookseller
+too, that Men generally _buy_ before they _read_."
+
+In requital of the scurrilous Character of an _ingenious Blunderer_, Dr.
+_South_ says[128], "He must here return upon him the just Charge of an
+_impious Blasphemer_, and that upon more Accounts than one; telling him
+withal, that had he liv'd in the former Times of the Church, his Gown
+would have been stript off his Back for his detestable Blasphemies and
+Heresies, and some other Place found out for him to perch in than the Top
+of St. _Paul's_, where at present he is placed like a true Church
+Weather-Cock, (as he is) notable for nothing so much, as _standing high
+and turning round_."
+
+Again, he says[129], "And so I take my leave of the Dean's _three distinct
+infinite Minds, Spirits_, or _Substances_, that is to say, of his _three
+Gods_; and having done this, methinks I see him go whimpering away with
+his Finger in his Eye, and the Complaint of _Micah_ in his Mouth, _Ye have
+taken away my Gods which I made, and what have I more_[130]? Tho he must
+confess, he cannot tell why he should be so fond of them, since he dares
+undertake that he will never be able to bring the Christian World either
+to believe in, or to worship a _Trinity of Gods_: Nor does he see what use
+they are likely to be of, even to himself, unless peradventure to _swear
+by_."
+
+Again, the Doctor says[131], "The Dean's following Instruction to his
+Friend is certainly very diverting, in these words, where the Animadverter
+charges the Dean with Absurdities and Contradictions; turn to the Place
+and read it with its Context, and tell me what you cannot answer, and I
+will; to which he would have done well to have added, _If I can_. But the
+whole Passage is just as if he had said, Sir, if you find not
+Contradictions and Absurdities enough in my Book to satisfy your Curiosity
+that way, pray come to the Fountain-head, and consult me, and you shall be
+sure of a more plentiful Supply."
+
+Again, upon the Dean's "Frequent reproaching the [132] Animadverter with
+the Character of a _Wit_, tho join'd with such ill-favour'd Epithets, as
+his witless Malice has thought fit to degrade it with, as that he is _a
+spiteful Wit_, a _wrangling Wit_, a _satirical Wit_, and the WITTY,
+_subtle_, _good-natur'd Animadverter, &c._ the Dr. says, that tho there be
+but little _Wit_ shewn in making such Charges; yet if _Wit_ be a
+_Reproach_ (be it of what sort it will) the Animadverter is too _just_ to
+return this _Reproach_ upon the _Defender_; and withal, understands
+himself, and what becomes him, too well, either to _assume_ to himself, or
+so much as to _admit_ the Character of a _Wit_, as at all due to him;
+especially since he knows that _common Sense_ (a thing much short of Wit)
+is enough to enable him to deal with such an Adversary. Nevertheless,
+there are many in the World, who are both call'd and accounted _Wits_, and
+really are so; which (one would think) should derive something of Credit
+upon this Qualification, even in the Esteem of this Author himself, or at
+least rebate the Edge of his Invectives against it, considering that it
+might have pleas'd God to have made him a _Wit_ too."
+
+
+XVII. As things now stand, it may easily be seen, that Prosecutions for
+_Raillery_ and _Irony_ would not be relish'd well by the Publick, and
+would probably turn to the Disreputation and Disgrace of the Prosecutor.
+
+Archbishop _Laud_ has always been much censur'd for his malicious
+Prosecution of _Williams_ in the _Star-Chamber_; among whose Crimes I find
+the following laid to his Charge: [133] _That he said all Flesh in_
+England _had corrupted their Ways_; that _he call'd a Book intitled_, A
+Coal from the Altar (written by Dr. _Heylin_, for placing the
+Communion-Table at the East-end of the Church, and railing it in) _a
+Pamphlet_; that he _scoffingly said, that he had heard of a Mother Church,
+but not of a Mother Chapel, meaning the King's, to which all Churches in
+Ceremony ought to conform_; that _he wickedly jested on St._ Martin_'s
+Hood_; that _he said the People ought not to be lash'd by every body's
+Whip_; that _he said_, (citing _a National Council for it_) _that the
+People are God's and the King's, and not the Priest's People; and that he
+doth not allow Priests to jeer and make Invectives against the People_.
+And I humbly conceive, that such Matters had much better be suffer'd to go
+on in the World, and take their Course, than that Courts of Judicature
+should be employ'd about them. A Sentence that imply'd some _Clergymen_
+corrupt, as well as some _Laymen_, of whom _Laud_ would only allow to have
+it said, that they had _corrupted their Ways_; a _Jest_ upon St.
+_Martin_'s _Hood_, which, according to Ecclesiastical History, _cur'd sore
+Eyes_; and a _Ridicule_ upon a High-Church Book of _Heylin_'s, by calling
+it a Pamphlet, tho it was really a Pamphlet, as consisting of but seventy
+Pages in Quarto; seem less _wicked_ and hurtful than disturbing, fining,
+and undoing Men about them. And the having some Concern for the People,
+that they should not be used as the Priest pleas'd; that the _People_
+belong to _God_ and the _King_, and _not to the Priest_; and the _not
+allowing_ the _Priests_ to _jeer and make Invectives against the People_;
+seem all Errors fit to be born with.
+
+Archbishop _Laud_ was also thought guilty of an excessive Piece of
+Weakness in the Punishment of [134] _Archibald_ the King's Fool, by laying
+the Matter before the Privy-Council, and occasioning him to be expell'd
+the King's House for a poor _Jest_ upon himself; who, as he was a Man at
+the Head of the State, should have despis'd such a thing in any Body, much
+more in a _Fool_, and who should never have been hurried on to be the
+Instrument of any _Motion_ against him, but have left it to others; who
+upon the least Intimation would have been glad to make their court to
+_Laud_, by sacrificing a _Fool_ only to his Resentment.
+
+
+XVIII. I could have entertain'd the Reader with a great Variety of
+Passages out of the Fathers of the Church, whose Writings are Magazines of
+Authority, and urg'd upon us upon all Occasions by Ecclesiasticks, and are
+particularly full of _Burlesque_ and _Ridicule_ on the _Gods and Religion_
+of the _Pagans_; in the use whereof they are much more unanimous, than in
+the Articles of their _Creed_. But that being a Subject too great and
+extensive for a Digression, I shall content my self with the few following
+Reflections; which will sufficiently evince, that the _Taste_ of the
+Primitive Christians was like that of the rest of the World; that they
+could laugh and be as merry as the _Greeks_ and other _Pagans_; and that
+they would take the Advantage of the _Pagans_ weak Cause, to introduce
+_Ridicule_, which always bears hard upon Weakness and Folly, and must load
+them so as to prevent a Possibility of their being remov'd by another
+_Ridicule_.
+
+These Fathers have transfused into their Writings all the Wit and Raillery
+of the antient _Pagan_ Writers and Philosophers; who it is well known
+wrote a great deal to turn _Paganism_ into Ridicule; most of which now
+exists no where but in the Works of the Fathers; all Books of that kind
+being lost, except _Cicero_'s Books of _the Nature of Gods_, and of
+_Divination_, and the Dialogues of _Lucian_; both which Authors have been
+of great use to the _Fathers_ to set them up for _Wits_, _Droles_, and
+_Satirists_. For a Specimen how well these antient _Pagans_ could _drole_,
+and how much beholden we are to the Fathers for recording their
+Drolleries, the most remarkable, I think, are some _Fragments_ of a Book
+of _Oenomaus_ concerning the _Pagan Oracles_, cited and preserv'd by [135]
+_Eusebius_; who has given us occasion to [136] _regret_ the loss of this
+Work, as one of the most valuable Books written by the Antients on the
+Subject of _Oracles_, tho those Books were _very numerous_. And it is to
+be observ'd, that this Book and a great many, perhaps a [137] thousand
+more, were publish'd in _Greece_, where the Imposture of _Oracles_ greatly
+prevail'd, and great Wealth flow'd in, not only to the Priests of the
+_Oracular Temples_, but to all the Inhabitants of _Greece_, and especially
+to those who lived in the Neighbourhood of the several _Oracular
+Temples_; who made a great Profit from the rich Travellers, that came from
+all Parts of the World to know their Fortunes. This shews the great
+Integrity and Fairness of the old _Pagans_; who would suffer not only
+their supposed standing Revelation to be call'd in question, but a
+Revelation that brought in as much Money, as the Chapels, Churches, and
+Shrines dedicated to the Blessed Virgin, or to any of the Saints, do in
+the _Roman_ Church, without calling any Man to Account for the Liberties
+they took; who, as far as appears, were not expos'd [138] _to any Danger_
+thereby. It is also to be observ'd, that the merry [139] _Epicureans were
+none of them ever prosecuted_, and _that_ Epicurus _himself died quietly
+at_ Athens _in a very great old Age_.
+
+But the Book, which the Fathers made the most use of, was that arch, fly,
+and drolling Performance, now lost, of _Evemerus_, which he intitled, _A
+sacred History_: wherein he gave an _historical Account_ of the _Birth_,
+_Country_, _Lives_, _Deaths_, and _Burials_ of the _Gods_. This Work was
+translated into _Latin_ by that arch Wag _Ennius_, who himself has most
+ingeniously _ridicul'd_ several Impostors or very grave Persons, in a
+remarkable Piece of Poetry, which I shall give my Reader in _English_.
+
+  "_I value not a Rush the_ Marsian _Augur,_
+  "_Nor Country-Fortune Tellers, nor Town-Star-Gazers,_
+  "_Nor jugling Gypsies, nor yet Dream-Interpreters:_
+  "_For, not by Skill or Art, are these Diviners;_
+  "_But superstitious Prophets, Guessers impudent,_
+  "_Or idle Rogues, or craz'd, or mere starving Beggars._
+  "_They know no way themselves, yet others would direct;_
+  "_And crave a Groat of those, to whom they promise Riches:_
+  "_Thence let them take the Groat, and give back all the rest._
+
+
+XIX. Wherefore I cannot but presume, that an Attempt to make a _Law_ to
+restrain _Irony_, &c. would prove abortive, and that the Attempt would be
+deem'd the Effect of a very partial Consideration of things, and of
+present Anger at a poor Jest; which Men are not able to bear themselves,
+how much soever they abound in _Jests_, both of the _light_ and _cruel_
+kind, on others: tho for my own part I concur heartily with you in
+_making_ such a _Law_, and in leaving it to a Person of your _Equity_ to
+draw it up, craving only the Liberty to propose an Amendment or Addition,
+_viz._ that you would be pleas'd to insert a Clause to prevent _Irony_,
+_Ridicule_, and _Banter_, from invading the Pulpit, and particularly to
+prevent pointing out _Persons of Men_ [140] from thence, and reviling
+them, as also reviling whole Bodies of Men: For whatever is immoral in
+Print, is, in my Opinion, immoral in the Pulpit. Besides, these things
+seem more improper in the Pulpit, than they can be in Print: because no
+_Reprisals_ can be made in the former, as in the latter Case; where they,
+or the Fear of them, may give some Check to the Disorder, and reduce
+things to a tolerable Temper and Decency. If, in order to justify my
+Motion, it could be thought necessary or proper here to give a Detail of
+ridiculing and ironical Passages, taken from Sermons against particular
+Men, and Bodies of Men, and their Doctrines, you cannot but know how easy
+it would be to fill a Volume with them, without going to Authors, who have
+occasionally produc'd abundance of them. And I will only mention here a
+Passage in a _Volume of Sermons_, just now publish'd, of a well known
+_High Divine_, the Reverend Mr. _William Reeves_, made famous by his
+_Translation_ of some _Apologies of the Primitive Fathers_, which gain'd
+him the Applauses of a great many _High Men_, and particularly _Hickes_,
+_Dodwel_, and _Nelson_, &c. and a Recommendation from the last to the
+Queen, who in the latter end of her Reign made him _Chaplain in Ordinary_,
+and obtain'd for him a considerable Preferment. This Gentleman, attacking
+Bishop _Hoadley_'s _Sermon_ of _The Kingdom of Christ_, says[141], "In
+these last Days we have been taught to be as indolent and unconcern'd as
+possible in the Service of God: A noted _Novellist_ [Bp. _Hoadley_] among
+many other odd _Engines_, hath invented one, to pump out all Devotion from
+Prayer, and make it a _Vacuum_. Instead of the old fervent, affectionate
+way of Worshipping, he hath substituted a new Idol, a Vanity, a Nothing of
+his own, _a calm and undisturb'd Address to God_.----The _Arrows_ and
+_bitter Words_ Mr. _Hales_ hath levell'd against _Rome_ only, our Right
+Reverend hath _pointed a-new_, and shot them full against the Church he
+superintends, and with all the Force of inbred, fanatick Fury. And by this
+time surely it is well known, that he is a very _warm Man_ in every thing,
+but his _Prayers_."
+
+
+XX. Instead of addressing the foregoing Papers to you, I could have
+address'd them to several others; who of late have thought fit to
+recognize the Right of Men, to examine into, and judge for themselves in
+all Matters of speculation, and especially in Matters of mere Religion,
+and to publish their Reasons against any Opinions they judge erroneous,
+tho publickly receiv'd in the Country where they live, provided they do it
+_seriously_ and _gravely_: which is a noble Progress in Truth, and owing
+to that glorious Liberty, and Freedom of Debate, that we enjoy under our
+most excellent Princes; and which extorts it even from them, who, to have
+some Credit in the World, are forced to own, what would discredit them to
+go on to deny, among all who have any degree of _Virtue_, _Sense_, and
+_Learning_. But I was determin'd to address my self to you, as a Person of
+more remarkable _Moderation_ than ordinary in your _Letter_ to Dr.
+_Rogers_: And one, who had, long before, in your _Defence of the
+Constitution in Church and State; in answer to the Charge of the
+Nonjurors, accusing us of Heresy and Schism, Perjury and Treason_, "valu'd
+[142] and commended the Integrity of the Nonjurors in declaring their
+Sentiments:" and who, tho you justly charge those of them you write
+against, "as attacking us with such uncommon Marks of Violence [143] as
+most plainly intimate, that no Measures are intended to be kept with us by
+them in the Day of their Prosperity, who in the Day of their Adversity,
+even when they are most at Mercy, cannot refrain from such _raging_
+Provocations; but when reduced to the Necessity of _taking_ Quarter,
+profess most plainly they will never give it:" Yet as to these Enemies,
+who would destroy our Church and State, and [144] "revive upon us the
+Charge of _Heresy_ and _Schism_, _Perjury_ and _Treason_, Crimes of no
+small figure either in the Law or in the Gospel," you only say, that "if
+you may have leave to borrow a Thought from [145] one of their own most
+celebrated Writers, you would tell them, that _the Blood and Spirits were
+made to rise upon such Occasions_: Nature design'd not, that we should be
+cold or indifferent in our manner of receiving, or returning, such foul
+Reproaches." This is great Moderation, and such as I heartily approve,
+being dispos'd to forgive the Punishment due by Law to any Fault, when the
+Non-execution of it will not overturn the Government. And I am willing to
+hope, that since you can think that such bitter Adversaries to you, as
+these licentious _Jacobites_ are, should only be smartly replied to, and
+not be prosecuted by the Government, you will, upon Reflection, think,
+that a merry, good humour'd Adversary should be treated as well.
+
+Tho I have endeavour'd to defend the Use of _Ridicule_ and _Irony_, yet it
+is such _Irony_ and _Ridicule_ only as is fit for polite Persons to use.
+As to the gross _Irony_ and _Ridicule_, I disapprove of it, as I do other
+Faults in Writing; only I would not have Men punish'd, or any other way
+disturb'd about it, than by a Return of _Ridicule_ and _Irony_. This I
+think fit to conclude with, more to prevent Misrepresentation from others,
+than from you; whom I look on to have too much Sense and Integrity to
+mistake or misrepresent me.
+
+_I am Yours, &c._
+
+
+_FINIS._
+
+
+
+
+WILLIAM ANDREWS CLARK MEMORIAL LIBRARY
+
+UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, LOS ANGELES
+
+
+THE AUGUSTAN REPRINT SOCIETY
+
+PUBLICATIONS IN PRINT THE AUGUSTAN REPRINT SOCIETY
+
+PUBLICATIONS IN PRINT
+
+
+1948-1949
+
+16. Henry Nevil Payne, _The Fatal Jealousie_ (1673).
+
+18. Anonymous, "Of Genius," in _The Occasional Paper_, Vol. III, No. 1
+(1719), and Aaron Hill, Preface to _The Creation_ (1720).
+
+
+1949-1950
+
+19. Susanna Centlivre, _The Busie Body_ (1709).
+
+20. Lewis Theobald, _Preface to the Works of Shakespeare_ (1734).
+
+22. Samuel Johnson, _The Vanity of Human Wishes_ (1749), and two _Rambler_
+papers (1750).
+
+23. John Dryden, _His Majesties Declaration Defended_ (1681).
+
+
+1950-1951
+
+26. Charles Macklin, _The Man of the World_ (1792).
+
+
+1951-1952
+
+31. Thomas Gray, _An Elegy Wrote in a Country Churchyard_ (1751), and _The
+Eton College Manuscript_.
+
+
+1952-1953
+
+41. Bernard Mandeville, _A Letter to Dion_ (1732).
+
+
+1963-1964
+
+104. Thomas D'Urfey, _Wonders in the Sun; or, The Kingdom of the Birds_
+(1706).
+
+
+1964-1965
+
+110. John Tutchin, _Selected Poems_ (1685-1700).
+
+111. Anonymous, _Political Justice_ (1736).
+
+112. Robert Dodsley, _An Essay on Fable_ (1764).
+
+113. T. R., _An Essay Concerning Critical and Curious Learning_ (1698).
+
+114. _Two Poems Against Pope:_ Leonard Welsted, _One Epistle to Mr. A.
+Pope_ (1730), and Anonymous, _The Blatant Beast_ (1742).
+
+
+1965-1966
+
+115. Daniel Defoe and others, _Accounts of the Apparition of Mrs. Veal_.
+
+116. Charles Macklin, _The Covent Garden Theatre_ (1752).
+
+117. Sir George L'Estrange, _Citt and Bumpkin_ (1680).
+
+118. Henry More, _Enthusiasmus Triumphatus_ (1662).
+
+119. Thomas Traherne, _Meditations on the Six Days of the Creation_
+(1717).
+
+120. Bernard Mandeville, _Aesop Dress'd or a Collection of Fables_ (1704).
+
+
+1966-1967
+
+123. Edmond Malone, _Cursory Observations on the Poems Attributed to Mr.
+Thomas Rowley_ (1782).
+
+124. Anonymous, _The Female Wits_ (1704).
+
+125. Anonymous, _The Scribleriad_ (1742). Lord Hervey, _The Difference
+Between Verbal and Practical Virtue_ (1742).
+
+
+1967-1968
+
+129. Lawrence Echard, Prefaces to _Terence's Comedies_ (1694) and
+_Plautus's Comedies_ (1694).
+
+130. Henry More, _Democritus Platonissans_ (1646).
+
+132. Walter Harte, _An Essay on Satire, Particularly on the Dunciad_
+(1730).
+
+
+1968-1969
+
+133. John Courtenay, _A Poetical Review of the Literary and Moral
+Character of the Late Samuel Johnson_ (1786).
+
+134. John Downes, _Roscius Anglicanus_ (1708).
+
+135. Sir John Hill, _Hypochondriasis, a Practical Treatise_ (1766).
+
+136. Thomas Sheridan, _Discourse ... Being Introductory to His Course of
+Lectures on Elocution and the English Language_ (1759).
+
+137. Arthur Murphy, _The Englishman From Paris_ (1736).
+
+138. [Catherine Trotter], _Olinda's Adventures_ (1718).
+
+
+Publications of the first fifteen years of the Society (numbers 1-90) are
+available in paperbound units of six issues at $16.00 per unit, from the
+Kraus Reprint Company, 16 East 46th Street, New York, N.Y. 10017.
+
+Publications in print are available at the regular membership rate of
+$5.00 yearly. Prices of single issues may be obtained upon request.
+Subsequent publications may be checked in the annual prospectus.
+
+
+THE AUGUSTAN REPRINT SOCIETY
+
+WILLIAM ANDREWS CLARK MEMORIAL LIBRARY
+
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+
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+
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+
+THE AUGUSTAN REPRINT SOCIETY
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+
+_General Editors:_ William E. Conway, William Andrews Clark Memorial
+Library; George Robert Guffey, University of California, Los Angeles;
+Maximillian E. Novak, University of California, Los Angeles
+
+_Corresponding Secretary:_ Mrs. Edna C. Davis, William Andrews Clark
+Memorial Library
+
+The Society's purpose is to publish rare Restoration and
+eighteenth-century works (usually as facsimile reproductions). All income
+of the Society is devoted to defraying costs of publication and mailing.
+
+Correspondence concerning memberships in the United States and Canada
+should be addressed to the Corresponding Secretary at the William Andrews
+Clark Memorial Library, 2520 Cimarron Street, Los Angeles, California.
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+Britain and Europe. British and European prospective members should
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+
+Publications of the first fifteen years of the Society (numbers 1-90) are
+available in paperbound units of six issues at $16.00 per unit, from the
+Kraus Reprint Company, 16 East 46th Street, New York, N.Y. 10017.
+
+Make check or money order payable to THE REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF
+CALIFORNIA
+
+
+REGULAR PUBLICATIONS FOR 1969-1970
+
+139. John Ogilvie, _An Essay on the lyric poetry of the ancients_ (1762).
+Introduction by Wallace Jackson.
+
+140. _A Learned Dissertation on Dumpling_ (1726) and _Pudding burnt to pot
+or a compleat key to the Dissertation on Dumpling_ (1727). Introduction by
+Samuel L. Macey.
+
+141. Selections from Sir Roger L'Estrange's _Observator_ (1681-1687).
+Introduction by Violet Jordain.
+
+142. Anthony Collins, _A Discourse concerning Ridicule and Irony in
+writing_ (1729). Introduction by Edward A. Bloom and Lillian D. Bloom.
+
+143. _A Letter from a clergyman to his friend, with an account of the
+travels of Captain Lemuel Gulliver_ (1726). Introduction by Martin
+Kallich.
+
+144. _The Art of Architecture, a poem. In imitation of Horace's Art of
+poetry_ (1742). Introduction by William A. Gibson.
+
+
+SPECIAL PUBLICATION FOR 1969-1970
+
+Gerard Langbaine, _An Account of the English Dramatick Poets_ (1691),
+Introduction by John Loftis. 2 Volumes. Approximately 600 pages. Price to
+members of the Society, $7.00 for the first copy (both volumes), and $8.50
+for additional copies. Price to non-members, $10.00.
+
+Already published in this series:
+
+1. John Ogilby, _The Fables of Aesop Paraphras'd in Verse_ (1668), with an
+Introduction by Earl Miner. 228 pages.
+
+2. John Gay, _Fables_ (1727, 1738), with an Introduction by Vinton A.
+Dearing. 366 pages.
+
+3. _The Empress of Morocco and Its Critics_ (Elkanah Settle, _The Empress
+of Morocco_ [1673] with five plates; _Notes and Observations on the
+Empress of Morocco_ [1674] by John Dryden, John Crowne and Thomas
+Snadwell; _Notes and Observations on the Empress of Morocco Revised_
+[1674] by Elkanah Settle; and _The Empress of Morocco. A Farce_ [1674] by
+Thomas Duffett), with an Introduction by Maximillian E. Novak. 348 pages.
+
+4. _After THE TEMPEST_ (the Dryden-Davenant version of _The Tempest_
+[1670]; the "operatic" _Tempest_ [1674]; Thomas Duffett's _Mock-Tempest_
+[1675]; and the "Garrick" _Tempest_ [1756]), with an Introduction by
+George Robert Guffey. 332 pages.
+
+Price to members of the Society, $3.50 for the first copy of each title,
+and $4.25 for additional copies. Price to non-members, $5.00. Standing
+orders for this continuing series of Special Publications will be
+accepted. British and European orders should be addressed to B. H.
+Blackwell, Broad Street, Oxford, England.
+
+
+
+
+Footnotes:
+
+[28] _Page_ 337.
+
+[29] _Pag._ 302.
+
+[30] _Page_ 301.
+
+[31] _Pag._ 307.
+
+[32] Stillingfleet's _Answer to several late Treatises_, &c. _Page_ 14.
+
+[33] _Pag._ 71.
+
+[34] Vindication of the Answer to the Royal Papers. _p._ 105.
+
+[35] _Preface to_ Unreasonableness of Separation. _p._ 62.
+
+[36] Rule's _Rational Defence_ of Nonconf. _p._ 29.
+
+[37] _Preface to_ Stillingfleet _still against_ Stillingfleet.
+
+[38] _Preface to a Discourse of_ Miracles wrote in the _Roman_ Church,
+_&c._
+
+[39] See _Stillingfleet_'s Second Vind. of the Protestant Grounds of
+Faith, _c._ 3.
+
+[40] _Edwards's_ New Discov. _p._ 184-215.
+
+[41] _Ecclesiast. Hist._ cent. 8. _p._ 196.
+
+[42] Vind. _p._ 199.
+
+[43] _See_ Shaftesbury's _Characteristicks_, Vol. I. p. 61.
+
+[44] Memoirs de Trevoux, _An._ 1707. _p._ 396. _An._ 1717. _p._ 1200.
+
+[45] _Trapp_'s Popery truly stated, _p._ 123.
+
+[46] _Preface._
+
+[47] _Heylin_'s History of the Presbyterians, _p._ 391.
+
+[48] _Wotton_ on the _Misna_, p. 118.
+
+[49] _Freeholder_, Nº 30.
+
+[50] _Freeholder_, Numb. xlv.
+
+[51] _See_ Cicero de Officiis, _l._ 1. _c._ 30.
+
+[52] _See_ Patrick_'s Friendly Debate_, Part 1, _p._ 139-141. 5_th Edit._
+
+[53] _Preface to_ The State of the Roman Catholick Religion, _p._ 11.
+
+[54] De Divin. l. 2. c. 25.
+
+[55] _Rog. Hoveden_, Pars ii. p. 520.
+
+[56] 1 _Kings_ xviii.
+
+[57] _Psalm_ ii. 4.
+
+[58] _Gen._ iii. 22.
+
+[59] Archæolog. Philos. _l._ 2. _c._ 7.
+
+[60] Shaftesbury _in Charact._ Vol. 3. _and_ Whitchcot_'s Sermons_: Vol.
+I.
+
+[61] Shaftesbury's _Characteristicks_, Vol. I. p. 71.
+
+[62] _Page_ 307.
+
+[63] _How useful_ Lestrange_'s_ Observators, _which were design'd to
+expose the Dissenters to Contempt and Persecution, were deem'd to the
+Church at the time they were publish'd, may be judged of by Bp._ Burnet,
+_who says_ [_in his_ Eighteen Papers, _p._ 90.] "_Another Buffoon was
+hired to plague the Nation with three or four Papers a Week, which to the
+Reproach of the Age in which we live, had but too great and too general
+Effect, for poisoning the Spirits of the Clergy._"
+
+[64] _In this Work the Dissenters and Low Churchmen are sufficiently
+rally'd and abus'd, and particularly the_ Free-Thinkers, _whose_ Creed _is
+therein represented as consisting of these two Negatives_, No Queen and no
+God. _Examiners_, Vol. 3. p. 12.
+
+_Mr._ Addison _tells us_ [Freeholder Nº. 19.] "_the_ Examiner _was the
+favourite Work of the Party. It was usher'd into the World by a Letter
+from a Secretary of State, setting forth the great Genius of the Author,
+the Usefulness of his Design, and the mighty Consequences that were to be
+expected from it. It is said to be written by those among them whom they
+look'd upon as their most celebrated Wits and Politicians, and was
+dispers'd into all Quarters of the Nation with great Industry and
+Expence.----In this Paper all the great Men who had done eminent Services
+to their Country, but a few Years before, were draughted out one by one,
+and baited in their Turns. No Sanctity of Character, or Privilege of Sex
+exempted Persons.----Several of our Prelates were the standing Marks of
+publick Raillery._----"
+
+[65] _In his_ Ecclesiastical Policy, _his_ Defence and Continuation
+_thereof, and his_ Reproof to _Marvel_'s Rehearsal transpos'd.
+
+[66] _In his_ Friendly Debates.
+
+[67] _In his six Volumes of_ Sermons, _and in his_ Books _of the_ Trinity.
+
+[68] _In his_ Discourse of the Knowledge of Christ, _&c. his_ Defences of
+Dr. _Stillingfleet_'s Unreasonableness of Separation, _and his_ Answer _to
+the_ Protestant Reconciler.
+
+[69] _In his Translation of_ Dryden_'s_ Absalom _and_ Achitophel _into_
+Latin _Verse, whereby he was first flush'd; and in his_ Convocational
+Controversy, _and in his numerous State Libels_.
+
+[70] _In his_ Sermons, Rights of the Church, _and especially his_
+Character of a Low-Church-man, _drawn to abuse Bishop_ Floyd.
+
+[71] _Of this, the Trials of_ Penn _and_ Mead _before_ Howel, _and of_
+Baxter _before_ Jefferys, _are Master Pieces; of which last you have an
+Account in_ Kennet_'s_ Compleat History of _England, Vol. 3d. and of the
+former in_ the Phoenix, _Vol._ I.
+
+[72] Snape_'s_ Vindication against _Pilloniere_. p. 50.
+
+[73] _Id._ p. 63.
+
+[74] _The Stage condemn'd_, p. 2.
+
+[75] Popery truly stated, _p._ 127, 128.
+
+[76] _Pag._ 75, 76, 77, 79, 81, 112, 113, 120, 122, 124, 125.
+
+[77] _Sermons_, Vol. III. p. 299.
+
+[78] Rule of Faith, _p._ 347, 348.
+
+[79] See _p._ 57.
+
+[80] _Pag._ 59.
+
+[81] _Pag._ 57.
+
+[82] Burnet_'s_ History of his own Times, _p._ 674.
+
+[83] Ib. _p._ 792.
+
+[84] Ibid. _p._ 740.
+
+[85] Ibid. _p._ 683.
+
+[86] _The Protestant Mouse speaks._
+
+[87] _Boyer_'s Life of Queen _Anne_, in the Annual List of the Deaths,
+_p._ 65.
+
+[88] _A_ Clergyman _preach'd thus to his_ Auditory: _"You have_ Moses
+_and_ Aaron _before you, and the Organs behind you, so are a happy People;
+for what greater Comfort would mortal Men have?"_ See _Walker_'s
+Sufferings, _&c. p._ 178.
+
+[89] _See the Article_ Heylin, in _Wood_'s Athenæ Oxon.
+
+[90] Burnet_'s Hist._ p. 100.
+
+[91] _Characteristicks_, Vol. I. p. 259.
+
+[92] Burnet. _ibid._
+
+[93] Page 177.
+
+[94] Burnet _p._ 95.
+
+[95] Kennet_'s Register_, p. 258.
+
+[96] _Ibid._ p. 516.
+
+[97] Burnet_'s Hist._
+
+[98] Kennet_'s Register_, p. 111.
+
+[99] Burnet_'s History_, p. 107.
+
+[100] _See the Bp. of_ Bangor_'s Preface to the_ Answer _to the_
+Representation _of the Lower House of Convocation_.
+
+[101] Ward_'s Life of Dr._ Henry More, _p._ 120.
+
+[102] Ibid. _p._ 122.
+
+[103] _See the several Lives of him._
+
+[104] _Life lately printed_, 1726. p. 99.
+
+[105] Burnet_'s Hist._ p. 95.
+
+[106] Temple_'s Works_, Vol. II. p. 40.
+
+[107] _Collection of authentick Records_, Vol. II. p. 1099.
+
+[108] _Second Letter to the Bishop of_ London, _p._ 3, 4.
+
+[109] _History_, p. 260.
+
+[110] _Mat._ xxvi. 67, 68.
+
+[111] Elwood_'s History of his own Life_, &c. _p._ 318.
+
+[112] _Remarks on some late Sermons_, &c. _p._ 34.
+
+[113] _Pag._ 52.
+
+[114] _Answer to_ State of the Protestants in _Ireland_, &c. _p._ 108.
+
+[115] _Pag._ 120, 121.
+
+[116] _Preface_, p. 14.
+
+[117] _Pag._ 11, 24.
+
+[118] _Pag._ 1.
+
+[119] _Pag._ 4, 11, 12, 13, 19.
+
+[120] Appendix to Parliamentary Original, &c. _p._ 14.
+
+[121] Some Remarks on the Temper of some late Writers, &c. _p._ 33.
+
+[122] Preface to Animad. _p._ 12, 13.
+
+[123] Animad. _p._ 114.
+
+[124] Ibid. _p._ 332.
+
+[125] Ibid. _p._ 348.
+
+[126] Tritheism charged, _p._ 2, 3.
+
+[127] Ib. _p._ 108.
+
+[128] Ibid. _p._ 170.
+
+[129] Ibid. _p._ 281.
+
+[130] Judg. 18.24.
+
+[131] Ib. _p._ 285.
+
+[132] Ibid. _p._ 299.
+
+[133] _Fuller_'s Church History, Cent. 17. B. 11. Sect. 89, Parag. 10.
+
+[134] _Rushworth_, Part II. Vol. I. _p._ 471.
+
+[135] _Prap. Evang._ l. 4. p. 209-234.
+
+[136] Fontenelle, Historie des Oracles. I. Dissert. c. vii.
+
+[137] Euseb. Id. l. 4.
+
+[138] _Baltus_, Suite de la Reponse a l'His. des Oracles, _p._ 283.
+
+[139] _Ibid._
+
+[140] _Bp._ Hoadley_'s Answer to_ the Representation, _&c. Pref._ p. 12.
+
+[141] _Page_ 91.
+
+[142] _Page_ 2.
+
+[143] _Page_ 1.
+
+[144] _Page_ 4, 5.
+
+[145] _Mr._ Collier.
+
+
+
+
+Transcriber's Notes:
+
+Passages in italics are indicated by _underscore_.
+
+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 text.
+
+Long "s" has been modernized.
+
+The inclusion of two footnotes numbered 53 in intentional to reflect the
+original text.
+
+Footnote placement in this text reflects the placement in the original,
+either inside punctuation or spaced between words.
+
+The following misprints have been corrected:
+  "administred" corrected to "administered" (page i)
+  "othodoxy" corrected to "orthodoxy" (page vi)
+  "Trap's" corrected to "Trapp's" (page 12)
+  "Rididicule" corrected to "Ridicule" (page 19)
+  "ridiulons" corrected to "ridiculous" (page 63)
+  "qustion" corrected to "question" (page 73)
+
+Other than the corrections listed above, printer's inconsistencies in
+spelling, punctuation, hyphenation, and ligature usage have been retained.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of A Discourse Concerning Ridicule and
+Irony in Writing (1729), by Anthony Collins
+
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+<pre>
+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of A Discourse Concerning Ridicule and Irony
+in Writing (1729), by Anthony Collins
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: A Discourse Concerning Ridicule and Irony in Writing (1729)
+
+Author: Anthony Collins
+
+Editor: Edward A. Bloom
+        Lillian D. Bloom
+
+Release Date: October 27, 2009 [EBook #30343]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RIDICULE, IRONY IN WRITING ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Tor Martin Kristiansen, Joseph Cooper, Stephanie
+Eason, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at
+https://www.pgdp.net.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">The Augustan Reprint Society</span></h3>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<h2>ANTHONY COLLINS</h2>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<h1>A DISCOURSE</h1>
+<h2>CONCERNING</h2>
+<h1>Ridicule and Irony</h1>
+<h1>IN WRITING</h1>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<h4>(1729)</h4>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<h3><i>Introduction by</i><br />
+<span class="smcap">Edward A. Bloom and Lillian D. Bloom</span></h3>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<h4>PUBLICATION NUMBER 142</h4>
+<h4>WILLIAM ANDREWS CLARK MEMORIAL LIBRARY</h4>
+<h4><span class="smcap">University of California, Los Angeles</span></h4>
+<h4>1970</h4>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="editors">
+<tr>
+<td align="center"><b>GENERAL EDITORS</b><br />
+William E. Conway, <i>William Andrews Clark Memorial Library</i><br />
+George Robert Guffey, <i>University of California, Los Angeles</i><br />
+Maximillian E. Novak, <i>University of California, Los Angeles</i><br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<b>ASSOCIATE EDITOR</b><br />
+David S. Rodes, <i>University of California, Los Angeles</i><br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<b>ADVISORY EDITORS</b><br />
+Richard C. Boys, <i>University of Michigan</i><br />
+James L. Clifford, <i>Columbia University</i><br />
+Ralph Cohen, <i>University of Virginia</i><br />
+Vinton A. Dearing, <i>University of California, Los Angeles</i><br />
+Arthur Friedman, <i>University of Chicago</i><br />
+Louis A. Landa, <i>Princeton University</i><br />
+Earl Miner, <i>University of California, Los Angeles</i><br />
+Samuel H. Monk, <i>University of Minnesota</i><br />
+Everett T. Moore, <i>University of California, Los Angeles</i><br />
+Lawrence Clark Powell, <i>William Andrews Clark Memorial Library</i><br />
+James Sutherland, <i>University College, London</i><br />
+H. T. Swedenberg, Jr., <i>University of California, Los Angeles</i><br />
+Robert Vosper, <i>William Andrews Clark Memorial Library</i><br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<b>CORRESPONDING SECRETARY</b><br />
+Edna C. Davis, <i>William Andrews Clark Memorial Library</i><br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<b>EDITORIAL ASSISTANT</b><br />
+Roberta Medford, <i>William Andrews Clark Memorial Library</i></td></tr></table>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_i" id="Page_i">[Pg i]</a></span></p>
+<h3>INTRODUCTION</h3>
+
+<p>Between 1710 and 1729 Anthony Collins was lampooned, satirized, and
+gravely denounced from pulpit and press as England&#8217;s most insidious
+defiler of church and state. Yet within a year of his death he became the
+model of a proper country gentleman,</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>... he had an opulent Fortune, descended to him from his Ancestors,
+which he left behind him unimpair&#8217;d: He lived on his own Estate in
+the Country, where his Tenants paid him moderate Rents, which he
+never enhanced on their making any Improvements; he always oblig&#8217;d
+his Family to a constant attendance on Publick Worship; as he was
+himself a Man of the strictest Morality, for he never suffer&#8217;d any
+Body about him who was deficient in that Point; he exercised a
+universal Charity to all Sorts of People, without any Regard either
+to Sect or Party; being in the Commission of the Peace, he
+<ins class="correction" title="original reads 'administred'">administered</ins> Justice with such Impartiality and Incorruptness, that
+the most distant Part of the County flock&#8217;d to his Decisions; but the
+chief Use he made of his Authority was in accommodating
+Differences;...<small><a name="f1.1" id="f1.1" href="#f1">[1]</a></small></p></div>
+
+<p>In a comparison which likens him to Sir Roger de Coverley, there is less
+truth than fiction. What they did share was a love of the countryside and
+a &#8220;universal Charity&#8221; towards its inhabitants. For the most part, however,
+we can approximate Collins&#8217;s personality by reversing many of Sir Roger&#8217;s
+traits. Often at war with his world, as the spectatorial character was
+not, he managed to maintain an intellectual rapport with it and even with
+those who sought his humiliation. He never&mdash;as an instance&mdash;disguised his
+philosophical distrust of Samuel Clarke; yet during any debate he planned
+&#8220;most certainly [to] outdo him in civility and good manners.&#8221;<small><a name="f2.1" id="f2.1" href="#f2">[2]</a></small> This
+decorum in no way compromised his pursuit of what he considered objective
+truth or his denunciation of all<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_ii" id="Page_ii">[Pg ii]</a></span> &#8220;methods&#8221; or impositions of spiritual
+tyranny. Thus, during the virulent, uneven battle which followed upon the
+publication of the <i>Discourse of Free-Thinking</i>, he ignored his own wounds
+in order to applaud a critic&#8217;s</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p><i>suspicions that there is a sophism</i> in what he calls my
+<i>hypothesis</i>. That is a temper that ought to go thro&#8217; all our
+Inquirys, and especially before we have an opportunity of examining
+things to the bottom. It is safest at all times, and we are least
+likely to be mistaken, if we constantly suspect our selves to be
+under mistakes.... I have no system to defend or that I would seem to
+defend, and am unconcerned for the consequence that may be drawn from
+my opinion; and therefore stand clear of all difficultys w<sup>ch</sup> others
+either by their opinion or caution are involved in.<small><a name="f3.1" id="f3.1" href="#f3">[3]</a></small></p></div>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>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 error. For himself, hence, he tries to avoid all manner of hard-voiced
+enthusiasm. Paradoxically, however, Collins searched with a zealot&#8217;s
+avidity for any controversy which would either assert his faith or test
+his disbelief. When once he found his engagement, he revelled in it,
+whether as the aggressor or the harassed defendant. For example, in the
+&#8220;Preface&#8221; to the <i>Scheme of Literal Prophecy Considered</i> he boastfully
+enumerated all the works&mdash;some twenty-nine&mdash;which had repudiated his
+earlier <i>Discourse on the Grounds and Reasons of the Christian Religion</i>.
+And in malicious fact he held up the publication of the <i>Scheme</i> for
+almost a year that he might add a &#8220;Postscript to the Preface&#8221; in which he
+identified six more pieces hostile to the <i>Grounds and Reasons</i>.<small><a name="f4.1" id="f4.1" href="#f4">[4]</a></small></p>
+
+<p>By May of 1727 and with no visible sign of fatigue he took on a new
+contender; this time it was John Rogers, canon in ordinary to the Prince
+of Wales. At the height of their debate, in late summer, Collins made
+practical enquiries about methods to prolong and intensify its
+give-and-take. Thus, in a note to his friend Pierre Des Maizeaux, he said:
+&#8220;But I would be particularly informed of the success and sale of the
+Letter to D<sup>r</sup> Rogers;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_iii" id="Page_iii">[Pg iii]</a></span> because, if it could be, I would add to a new
+edition thereof two or three as sheets; which also might be sold
+separately to those who have already that Letter.&#8221; For all his militant
+polemic, he asked only that his &#8220;Adversaries&#8221; observe with him a single
+rule of fair play; namely, that they refrain from name-calling and petty
+sniping. &#8220;Personal matters,&#8221; he asserted, &#8220;tho they may some times afford
+useful remarks, are little regarded by Readers, who are very seldom
+mistaken in judging that the most impertinent subject a man can talk of is
+himself,&#8221; particularly when he inveighs against another.<small><a name="f5.1" id="f5.1" href="#f5">[5]</a></small></p>
+
+<p>If Collins had been made to look back over the years 1676-1729, he
+probably would have summarized the last twenty with a paraphrase of the
+Popean line, &#8220;This long controversy, my life.&#8221; For several years and in
+such works as <i>Priestcraft in Perfection</i> (1710) and <i>A Discourse of
+Free-Thinking</i> (1713), he was a flailing polemicist against the entire
+Anglican hierarchy. Not until 1724 did he become a polished debater, when
+he initiated a controversy which for the next five years made a &#8220;very
+great noise&#8221; and which ended only with his death. The loudest shot in the
+persistent barrage was sounded by the <i>Grounds and Reasons</i>, and its last
+fusillade by the <i>Discourse concerning Ridicule and Irony in Writing</i>.<small><a name="f6.1" id="f6.1" href="#f6">[6]</a></small></p>
+
+<p>During those five years Collins concentrated upon a single opponent in
+each work and made it a rhetorical practice to change his &#8220;Adversary&#8221; in
+successive essays. He created in this way a composite victim whose
+strength was lessened by deindividualization; in this way too he ran no
+risk of being labelled a hobbyhorse rider or, more seriously, a
+persecutor. Throughout the <i>Grounds and Reasons</i> he laughed at, reasoned
+against, and satirized William Whiston&#8217;s assumption that messianic
+prophecies in the Old Testament were literally fulfilled in the figure and
+mission of Jesus. Within two years and in a new work, he substituted
+Edward Chandler, Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield, for the mathematician.
+It need not have been the Bishop; any one of thirty-four others could have
+qualified for the role of opponent, among them people like Clarke, and
+Sykes, and Sherwood, and even the ubiquitous Whiston. Collins rejected
+them, however, to debate in the <i>Scheme</i> with Bishop Chandler, the author
+of <i>A Defence of Christianity from the Prophecies of the old Testament</i>,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_iv" id="Page_iv">[Pg iv]</a></span>
+with one who was, in short, the least controversial and yet the most
+orthodox of his many assailants.</p>
+
+<p>Early in 1727 the Anglican establishment came to the abrupt realization
+that the subject of the continuing debate&mdash;the reliability of the argument
+from prophecy&mdash;was inconclusive, that it could lead only to pedantic
+wrangling and hair-splitting with each side vainly clutching victory.
+Certainly the devotion of many clergymen to biblical criticism was
+secondary to their interest in orthodoxy as a functional adjunct of
+government, both civil and canonical. It was against this interest, as it
+was enunciated in Rogers&#8217;s <i>Eight Sermons concerning the Necessity of
+Revelation</i> (1727) and particularly in its vindictive preface, that
+Collins chose to fight.<small><a name="f7.1" id="f7.1" href="#f7">[7]</a></small> The debate had now taken a happy turn for him.
+As he saw it, the central issue devolved upon man&#8217;s natural right to
+religious liberty. At least he made this the theme of his <i>Letter to Dr.
+Rogers</i>. In writing to Des Maizeaux about the success of this work, he
+obviously enjoyed his own profane irony:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>I have had particular compliments made me by the B<sup>P</sup> of Salisbury,
+and by D<sup>r</sup> Clark, who among other things sayd, that the Archbp of
+Canterbury might have writ all that related to Toleration in it: to
+say nothing of what I hear from others. D<sup>r</sup> Rogers himself has
+acknowledg[ed] to his Bookseller who sent it to him into the Country,
+that he has receivd it; but says that he is so engaged in other
+affairs, that he has no thought at present of answering it; tho he
+may perhaps in time do so.<small><a name="f8.1" id="f8.1" href="#f8">[8]</a></small></p></div>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>In time Rogers did. He counterattacked on 2 February 1728 with a
+<i>Vindication of the Civil Establishment of Religion</i>.<small><a name="f9.1" id="f9.1" href="#f9">[9]</a></small> For Collins this
+work was a dogged repetition of what had gone before, and so it could be
+ignored except for one of its appendices, <i>A Letter from the Rev. Dr.
+Marshall jun. To the Rev. Dr. Rogers, upon Occasion of his Preface to his
+Eight Sermons</i>. Its inclusion seemed an afterthought; yet it altered the
+dimensions of the debate by narrowing and particularizing the areas of
+grievance which separated the debaters. Collins, therefore, rebutted it
+some fourteen months later in <i>A Discourse concerning Ridicule and Irony</i><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_v" id="Page_v">[Pg v]</a></span>
+<i>in Writing</i>. He had great hopes for this pamphlet, preparing carefully for
+its reception. He encouraged the republication of his three preceding
+works, which find their inevitable conclusion, even their exoneration, in
+this last performance, and he probably persuaded his bookseller to
+undertake an elaborate promotional campaign. For the new editions were
+advertised on seven different days between 10 January and 27 February 1729
+in the <i>Daily Post</i>. He wanted no one to miss the relationship between the
+<i>Discourse concerning Ridicule and Irony</i> and these earlier pieces or to
+overlook its presence when it finally appeared in the pamphlet shops on 17
+March.</p>
+
+<p>Collins was animated by his many debates. Indeed, &#8220;he sought the storms.&#8221;
+Otherwise he would not, could not, have participated in these many verbal
+contests. Throughout them all, his basic strategy&mdash;that of
+provocation&mdash;was determined by the very real fact that he had many more
+enemies than allies, among them, for instance, such formidable antagonists
+as Swift and Richard Bentley.<small><a name="f10.1" id="f10.1" href="#f10">[10]</a></small> To survive he had to acquire a tough
+resilience, a skill in fending off attacks or turning them to his own
+advantage. Nevertheless, he remained a ready target all his life.
+Understandably so: his radicalism was stubborn and his opinions
+predictable. Such firmness may of course indicate his aversion to
+trimming. Or it may reveal a lack of intellectual growth; what he believed
+as a young man, he perpetuated as a mature adult. Whether our answer is
+drawn from either possibility or, more realistically, from both, the fact
+remains that he never camouflaged the two principles by which he lived and
+fought:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>1. That universal liberty be established in respect to opinions and
+practises not prejudicial to the peace and welfare of society: by
+which establishment, truth must needs have the advantages over
+<i>error</i> and <i>falsehood</i>, the <i>law</i> of <i>God</i> over the <i>will</i> of <i>man</i>,
+and <i>true Christianity tolerated</i>; private <i>judgment</i> would be really
+exercised; and men would be allowed to have suffered to follow their
+consciences, over which God only is supreme:...</p>
+
+<p>2. Secondly, that nothing but the <i>law of nature</i>, (the observance
+whereof is absolutely necessary to society)<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_vi" id="Page_vi">[Pg vi]</a></span> and what can be built
+thereon, should be enforced by the civil sanctions of the
+magistrate:...<small><a name="f11.1" id="f11.1" href="#f11">[11]</a></small></p></div>
+
+
+<h3>II</h3>
+
+<p>There is very little in this statement to offend modern readers. Yet the
+orthodox in Collins&#8217;s own time had reason to be angry with him: his
+arguments were inflammatory and his rhetoric was devious, cheeky, and
+effective. Those contesting him underscored his negativism, imaging him as
+a destroyer of Christianity eager &#8220;to proselyte men, from the Christian to
+no religion at all.&#8221;<small><a name="f12.1" id="f12.1" href="#f12">[12]</a></small> Certainly it is true that he aimed to disprove a
+Christian revelation which he judged fraudulent and conspiratorial. In
+place of ecclesiastical authority he offered the rule of conscience. For
+<ins class="correction" title="original reads 'othodoxy'">orthodoxy</ins> he substituted &#8220;a Religion antecedent to Revelation, which is
+necessary to be known in order to <i>ascertain Revelation</i>; and by that
+Religion [he meant] <i>Natural Religion</i>, which is presupposed to
+Revelation, and is a Test by which Reveal&#8217;d Religion is to be tried, is a
+Bottom on which it must stand, and is a Rule to understand it by.&#8221;<small><a name="f13.1" id="f13.1" href="#f13">[13]</a></small>
+Categorical in tone, the statement frustrated the Anglican clergy by its
+very slipperiness; its generalities left little opportunity for decisive
+rebuttal. It provided no definition of natural religion beyond the
+predication of a body of unnamed moral law which is rational and original,
+the archetype of what is valid in the world&#8217;s religions.</p>
+
+<p>His dismissal of revelation and his reduction of Christianity to what he
+called its &#8220;natural&#8221; and hence incontrovertible basis carried with it a
+corollary, that of man&#8217;s absolute right to religious enquiry and
+profession. Here he became specific, borrowing from Lockean empiricism his
+conditions of intellectual assent. &#8220;Evidence,&#8221; he said, &#8220;ought to be the
+sole ground of Assent, and Examination is the way to arrive at Evidence;
+and therefore rather than I wou&#8217;d have Examination, Arguing and Objecting
+laid aside, I wou&#8217;d chuse to say, That no Opinions whatever can be
+dangerous to a Man that impartially examines into the Truth of
+Things.&#8221;<small><a name="f14.1" id="f14.1" href="#f14">[14]</a></small> The church leadership saw in this statement and others like
+it not an epistemological premise but a deliberate subterfuge, an
+insidious blind to vindicate his attacks upon an organized priesthood.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_vii" id="Page_vii">[Pg vii]</a></span> We
+can recognize now that his opponents oversimplified his intention, that
+they blackened it to make his villainy at once definitive and vulnerable.
+At the same time we must admit that he often equated the ideas of
+repression and clerical authority, even as he coupled those of freedom and
+the guide of private conscience.</p>
+
+<p>The Anglican church was infuriated by these correlations, angered as much
+by their manner of expression as by their substance. For the faithful were
+frequently thrown off balance by a strategy of ironical indirection.
+Sometimes this took the form of omission or the presentation of an
+argument in so fragmentary or slanted a fashion that Collins&#8217;s &#8220;Enemies&#8221;
+could debate neither his implications nor his conclusions. At other times
+he used this artful circumlocution to create his favorite mask, that of
+the pious Christian devoted to scripture or of the moralist perplexed by
+the divisions among the orthodox clergy. Finally, his rhetoric was shaped
+by deistic predecessors who used sarcasm and satire to mock the gravity of
+church authority. So much was their wit a trademark that as early as 1702
+one commentator had noted, &#8220;when you expect an argument, they make a
+jest.&#8221;<small><a name="f15.1" id="f15.1" href="#f15">[15]</a></small> Collins himself resorted to this practice with both instinctive
+skill and deliberate contrivance.</p>
+
+<p>All these methods, though underhanded, he silently justified on the
+assumption that he was dealing with a conspiracy of priests: hence, he
+professed that he had to fight fraud and deception with their like, and
+that such craftiness, suitable &#8220;to his particular genius and temper,&#8221; was
+&#8220;serviceable to his cause.&#8221; For these reasons even William Warburton, who
+had vainly struggled to be judicious, described him as &#8220;a Writer, whose
+dexterity in the arts of Controversy was so remarkably contrasted by his
+abilities in reasoning and literature, as to be ever putting one in mind
+of what travellers tell us of the genius of the proper Indians, who,
+although the veriest bunglers in all the fine arts of manual operation,
+yet excel everybody in slight of hand and the delusive feats of
+activity.&#8221;<small><a name="f16.1" id="f16.1" href="#f16">[16]</a></small> Whatever may be said of Collins and his achievement, one
+fact remains constant. 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 debate.</p>
+
+<p>He seized any opportunity to expose the diversity of ethical and
+theological opinion which set one Anglican divine against<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_viii" id="Page_viii">[Pg viii]</a></span> another, &#8220;to
+observe&#8221;&mdash;as Jenkin put it&mdash;&#8220;how the gladiators in dispute murder the
+cause between them, while they so fiercely cut and wound one another.&#8221; For
+Collins such observation was more than oratorical artifice; it was one of
+the dogmas of his near-nihilism. He commented once to Des Maizeaux upon
+the flurry of critics who replied to his statement of necessitarianism in
+the <i>Philosophical Inquiry concerning Human Liberty</i>:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>I was extreamly pleasd with B<sup>P</sup> Hoadley, ... as it was upon the true
+and only point worth disputing with y<sup>e</sup> Preists, viz whether we the
+laity are the Calves and Sheep of the Preist. And I am not less
+pleasd to see them manage this controversy with y<sup>e</sup> same vile arts
+against one another, as they always use towards the laity. It must
+open the eyes of a few and convince them, that the Preists mean
+nothing but wealth and power, and have not the least ... of those
+qualitys for w<sup>ch</sup> the superstitious world admires them.<small><a name="f17.1" id="f17.1" href="#f17">[17]</a></small></p></div>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>He applied this principle of divisive attack in <i>A Discourse of
+Free-Thinking</i>. There in fifty-three pages he transparently ridiculed
+contradictions which hedged three areas of fundamental religious belief:
+<i>&#8220;The Nature and Attributes of the Eternal Being or God, ... the Authority
+of Scriptures, and ... the Sense of Scripture.&#8221;</i> In accordance with one of
+his favorite tricks&mdash;the massing of eminent authority&mdash;his exposition
+rings with hallowed Anglican names: South, Bull, Taylor, Wallis, Carlton,
+Davenant, Edwards, More, Tillotson, Fowler, Sherlock, Stillingfleet,
+Sacheverell, Beveridge, Grabe, Hickes, Lesley.<small><a name="f18.1" id="f18.1" href="#f18">[18]</a></small> What united these men,
+he insinuated, was not a Christian commitment but a talent to disagree
+with one another and even to repudiate themselves&mdash;as in the case of
+Stillingfleet. In effect, the entire <i>Discourse</i> bubbles with a carelessly
+suppressed snicker.</p>
+
+<p>The clergy could not readily reply to this kind of incriminating exposure
+or deny its reality. They therefore overreacted to other judgments that
+Collins made, particularly to his attacks upon Christian revelation. These
+they denigrated as misleading, guileful, sinister, contrived, deceitful,
+insidious, shuffling, covert, subversive. What they objected to was,
+first, the way in which<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_ix" id="Page_ix">[Pg ix]</a></span> he reduced the demonstration of Christian
+revelation to only the &#8220;puzzling and perplexing&#8221; argument from prophecy,
+the casual ease with which he ignored or dismissed those other &#8220;clear&#8221;
+proofs derived from the miracles of Jesus and the resurrection itself.<small><a name="f19.1" id="f19.1" href="#f19">[19]</a></small>
+But even more the orthodox resented the masked point of view from which
+Collins presented his disbelief.</p>
+
+<p>For example, the <i>Grounds and Reasons</i> is the deist&#8217;s first extended
+attack upon revelation. Ostensibly it is, as we have seen, an answer to
+Whiston&#8217;s <i>Essay Towards Restoring the True Text of the Old Testament; and
+for Vindicating the Citations Made Thence in the New Testament</i> (1722). In
+it the mathematician argued that the Hebraic prophecies relating to the
+messiah had been literally fulfilled in Jesus. But this truth, he
+admitted, had been obscured &#8220;in the latter Ages,&#8221; only because of those
+&#8220;Difficulties&#8221; which &#8220;have [almost wholly] arisen from the Corruptions,
+the unbelieving <i>Jews</i> introduc&#8217;d into the Hebrew and Greek copies of the
+Old Testament, [soon after] the Beginning of the Second Century.&#8221; These
+conspiratorial corruptions he single-handedly planned to remove, returning
+the Old Testament to a state of textual purity with emendations drawn from
+sources as varied as the Samaritan Pentateuch, the Greek Psalms, the
+Antiquities of Josephus, the Chaldee Paraphrases, the books of Philo. His
+pragmatic purpose was to nullify the biblical criticism of historical
+minded scholars as reputable as Grotius, to render useless the allegorical
+interpretation of messianic prophecies. That is, he saw in the latter a
+&#8220;pernicious&#8221; absence of fact, a &#8220;weak and enthusiastical&#8221; whimsy,
+unchristian adjustments to the exigencies of the moment.<small><a name="f20.1" id="f20.1" href="#f20">[20]</a></small></p>
+
+<p>Collins fought not to destroy Whiston&#8217;s position, which was all too easily
+destructible, but to undermine the structure, the very &#8220;grounds and
+reasons&#8221; with which orthodoxy supported the mysteries of its faith. To do
+so, he spun a gigantic web of irony controlled by a persona whose complex
+purpose was concealed by a mien of hyper-righteousness. Here then was one
+motivated by a fair-mindedness which allowed him to defend his opponent&#8217;s
+right of scriptural exegesis even while disagreeing with its approach and
+its conclusions. Here too was a conservative Christian different from
+Whiston &#8220;and many other great divines; who seem to pay little deference to
+the books of the New Testament,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_x" id="Page_x">[Pg x]</a></span> the text whereof they are perpetually
+mending in their sermons, commentaries, and writings, to serve purposes;
+who pretend <i>we should have more of the true text by being less tenacious
+of the printed one</i>, and in consequence thereof, presume to correct by
+critical <i>emendations</i>, serve <i>capital places</i> in the <i>sacred writers</i>;
+and who ... do virtually set aside the authority of the scripture, and
+place those compositions in its stead.&#8221; Finally, here was one who,
+obedient to the spirit of God&#8217;s revealed word, rejected the fallacy that
+messianic prophecy had been fulfilled in Christ in any &#8220;literal, obvious
+and primary sense.&#8221;<small><a name="f21.1" id="f21.1" href="#f21">[21]</a></small></p>
+
+<p>But though the persona could not accept Whiston&#8217;s program, he was not a
+mere negativist. With growing excitement he argued for allegorical
+interpretation. At this point the reader discerns that he has been duped,
+that nowhere has there been a denial of Whiston&#8217;s charge that the reading
+of messianic prophecy in a typical or allegorical or secondary sense is
+&#8220;weak and enthusiastical.&#8221; On the contrary, the reader finds only the
+damning innuendo that the two methods&mdash;the allegorical and the
+literal&mdash;differ from one another not in kind but in degree of absurdity.
+After being protected for a long time by all the twists and turns of his
+creator&#8217;s irony, the persona finally reveals himself for what he is, a man
+totally insolent and totally without remorse. Never for one moment did he
+wish to defend the scheme of allegorical prophecy but to attack it. His
+argument, stripped of its convolutions and pseudo-piety, moves inexorably
+to a single, negative conclusion. &#8220;Christianity pretends to derive itself
+from Judaism. JESUS appeals to the religious books of the Jews as
+prophesying of his Mission. None of these Prophecies can be understood of
+him but in a <i>typical allegoric</i> sense. Now that sense is absurd, and
+contrary to all scholastic rules of interpretation. Christianity,
+therefore, not being really predicted in the Jewish Writings, is
+consequently false.&#8221;<small><a name="f22.1" id="f22.1" href="#f22">[22]</a></small></p>
+
+<p>Collins continued his attack upon Christian revelation in the <i>Scheme</i>. In
+the two years which separated this work from the earlier <i>Grounds and
+Reasons</i>, there occurred no change in the author&#8217;s argument. What does
+occur, however, is a perceptive if snide elaboration upon the mask. This
+is in many ways the same persona who barely suppressed his guffaws in the
+earlier work. Now he is given an added dimension; he is made more
+decisively<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_xi" id="Page_xi">[Pg xi]</a></span> rational than his predecessor and therefore more insightful in
+his knowledge of rhetorical method. As a disciple of certain Protestant
+polemicists and particularly of Grotius, whose &#8220;integrity,&#8221; &#8220;honor,&#8221; and
+biblical criticism he supports, 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 arguments. &#8220;For if you begin
+with Infidels by denying to them, what is evident and agreeable to common
+sense, I think there can be no reasonable hopes of converting or
+convincing them.&#8221;<small><a name="f23.1" id="f23.1" href="#f23">[23]</a></small> The irony is abrasive simply because it unanswerably
+singles out the great rhetorical failure of orthodoxy, its inability to
+argue from a set of principles as acceptable to the deists as to
+themselves.</p>
+
+<p>Many of the clergy chafed against Collins&#8217;s manipulation of this
+tongue-in-cheek persona. They resented his irreverent wit which projected,
+for example, the image of an Anglican God who &#8220;talks to all mankind from
+corners&#8221; and who shows his back parts to Moses. They were irritated by his
+jesting parables, as in &#8220;The Case of Free-Seeing,&#8221; and by the impertinence
+of labelling Archbishop Tillotson as the man &#8220;whom all <i>English
+Free-Thinkers</i> own as their Head.&#8221;<small><a name="f24.1" id="f24.1" href="#f24">[24]</a></small></p>
+
+<p>But most of all they gagged upon Collins&#8217;s use of satire in religious
+controversy. As we have already seen, there were complex reasons for his
+choice of technique. He was a naturally witty man who, sometimes out of
+fear and sometimes out of malice, expressed himself best through
+circuitous irony. In 1724, when he himself considered his oratorical
+practice, he argued that his matter determined his style, that the targets
+of his belittling wit were the &#8220;saint-errants.&#8221; We can only imagine the
+exasperation of Collins&#8217;s Anglican enemies when they found their orthodoxy
+thus slyly lumped with the eccentricities of Samuel Butler&#8217;s &#8220;true blew&#8221;
+Presbyterians. It would be hard to live down the associations of those
+facetious lines which made the Augustan divines, like their unwelcome
+forebear Hudibras, members</p>
+
+<p class="poem"><span style="margin-left: 10em;">Of that stubborn Crew</span><br />
+Of Errant Saints, whom all men grant<br />
+To be the true Church Militant.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_xii" id="Page_xii">[Pg xii]</a></span>Those dignified Anglican exteriors were further punctured by Collins&#8217;s
+irreverent attack upon their cry of religious uniformity, a cry which was
+&#8220;ridiculous, romantick, and impossible to succeed.&#8221; He saw himself, in
+short, as an emancipated Butler or even Cervantes; and like his famous
+predecessors he too would laugh quite out of countenance the fool and the
+hypocrite, the pretender and the enthusiast, the knave and the persecuter,
+all those who would create a god in their own sour and puny image.</p>
+
+
+<h3>III</h3>
+
+<p>By 1727 several of the orthodox felt that they could take no more of
+Collins&#8217;s laughter, his sneering invectives against the clergy, or his
+designs to make religion &#8220;a Matter purely personal; and the Knowledge of
+it to be obtain&#8217;d by personal Consideration, <i>independently of any Guides,
+Teachers, or Authority</i>.&#8221; In the forefront of this group was John Rogers,
+whose hostility to the deist was articulate and compulsive. At least it
+drove him into a position seemingly at odds with the spirit if not the law
+of English toleration. He urged, for example, that those like Collins be
+prosecuted in a civil court for a persuasion &#8220;which is manifestly
+subversive of all Order and Polity, and can no more consist with civil,
+than with religious, Society.&#8221;<small><a name="f25.1" id="f25.1" href="#f25">[25]</a></small></p>
+
+<p>Thereupon followed charge and countercharge. New gladiators, as different
+from each other as the nonconformist divine Samuel Chandler and the deist
+Thomas Chubb, entered the arena on behalf of Collins. For all the dogmatic
+volubility of Rogers, orthodoxy appeared beleaguered. The moderate clergy,
+who witnessed this exchange, became alarmed; they feared that in the melee
+the very heart of English toleration would be threatened by the
+contenders, all of whom spoke as its champion. Representative of such
+moderation was Nathanael Marshall, who wished if not to end the debate,
+then at least to contain its ardor. As canon of Windsor, he supported the
+condition of a state religion protected by the magistrate but he worried
+over the extent of the latter&#8217;s prerogative and power. Certainly he was
+more liberal than Rogers in his willingness to entertain professions of
+religious diversity. Yet he straitjacketed his liberalism when he denied
+responsible men the right to attack<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_xiii" id="Page_xiii">[Pg xiii]</a></span> laws, both civil and canonical, with
+&#8220;ludicrous Insult&#8221; or &#8220;with Buffoonery and Banter, Ridicule or Sarcastick
+Irony.&#8221;<small><a name="f26.1" id="f26.1" href="#f26">[26]</a></small></p>
+
+<p>Once again Collins met the challenge. In <i>A Discourse concerning Ridicule
+and Irony</i> he devoted himself to undermining the moral, the intellectual,
+and practical foundations of that one restraint which Marshall would
+impose upon the conduct of any religious quarrel. He had little difficulty
+in achieving his objective. His adversary&#8217;s stand was visibly vulnerable
+and for several reasons. It was too conscious of the tug-of-war between
+the deist and Rogers, too arbitrary in its choice of prohibition. It was,
+in truth, strained by a choice between offending the establishment and yet
+rejecting clerical extremism.<small><a name="f27.1" id="f27.1" href="#f27">[27]</a></small> Moreover, Collins had this time an
+invisible partner, a superior thinker against whom he could test his own
+ideas and from whom he could borrow others. For the <i>Discourse concerning
+Ridicule and Irony</i> is largely a particularization, a crude but powerful
+reworking of Shaftesbury&#8217;s <i>Sensus Communis: An Essay on the Freedom of
+Wit and Humour</i>.</p>
+
+<p>Supported by Shaftesbury&#8217;s urbane generalization, Collins laughed openly
+at the egocentricity and blindness of Marshall&#8217;s timid zealotry. Indeed,
+he wryly found his orthodox opponent guilty of the very crime with which
+he, as a subversive, was charged. It seemed to him, he said,</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>a most prodigious Banter upon [mankind], for Men to talk in general
+of the <i>Immorality</i> of <i>Ridicule</i> and <i>Irony</i>, and of <i>punishing</i> Men
+for those Matters, when their own Practice is <i>universal Irony</i> and
+<i>Ridicule</i> of all those who go not with them, and <i>universal
+Applause</i> and <i>Encouragement</i> for such <i>Ridicule</i> and <i>Irony</i>, and
+distinguishing by all the honourable ways imaginable such <i>drolling</i>
+Authors for their Drollery; and when Punishment for <i>Drollery</i> is
+never call&#8217;d for, but when <i>Drollery</i> is used or employ&#8217;d against them!</p>
+
+<p class="right">(<a href="#Page_29">p. 29</a>)</p></div>
+
+<p>Collins&#8217;s technique continued its ironic ambiguity, reversal, and
+obliquity. Under a tone of seeming innocence and good will, he credited
+his adversaries with an enviable capacity for satiric<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_xiv" id="Page_xiv">[Pg xiv]</a></span> argument. In
+comradely fashion, he found precedent for his own rhetorical practice
+through a variety of historical and biblical analogies. But even more
+important for a contemporary audience, he again resorted to the device of
+invoking the authority provided by some of the most respected names in the
+Anglican Establishment. The use of satire in religious topics, hence, was
+manifest in &#8220;the Writings of our most eminent Divines,&#8221; especially those
+of Stillingfleet, &#8220;our greatest controversial Writer&#8221; (<a href="#Page_4">pp. 4-5</a>).</p>
+
+<p>With all the outrageous assurance of a self-invited guest, the deist had
+seated himself at the table of his vainly protesting Christian hosts (whom
+he insisted on identifying as brethren). &#8220;In a word,&#8221; he said so as to
+obviate debate, &#8220;the Opinions and Practices of Men in all Matters, and
+especially in Matters of Religion, are generally so absurd and ridiculous
+that it is impossible for them not to be the Subjects of Ridicule&#8221; (<a href="#Page_19">p. 19</a>). Thus adopting Juvenal&#8217;s concept of
+satiric necessity (&#8220;difficile est saturam non scribere&#8221;), Collins here set forth the thesis and rationale of
+his enemy. There was a kind of impudent virtuosity in his &#8220;proofs,&#8221; in his
+manner of drawing a large, impressive cluster of names into his ironic net
+and making all of them appear to be credible witnesses in his defense.
+Even Swift, amusingly compromised as &#8220;one of the greatest <i>Droles</i> that
+ever appear&#8217;d upon the Stage of the World&#8221; (<a href="#Page_39">p. 39</a>), was brought to the
+witness box as evidence of the privileged status to which satiric writing
+was entitled. Collins enforced erudition with cool intelligence so that
+contemptuous amusement is present on every page of his <i>Discourse</i>.</p>
+
+<p>Beneath his jeers and his laughter there was a serious denunciation of any
+kind of intellectual restraint, however mild-seeming; beneath his verbal
+pin-pricking there was conversely an exoneration of man&#8217;s right to
+inquire, to profess, and to persuade. Beneath his jests and sarcasms there
+was further a firm philosophical commitment that informed the rhetoric of
+all his earlier work. Ridicule, he asserted in 1729, &#8220;is both a proper and
+necessary Method of Discourse in many Cases, and especially in the Case of
+<i>Gravity</i>, when that is attended with Hypocrisy or Imposture, or with
+Ignorance, or with soureness of Temper and Persecution: all which ought to
+draw after them the <i>Ridicule</i> and <i>Contempt</i> of the Society, which has no
+other effectual Remedy against such<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_xv" id="Page_xv">[Pg xv]</a></span> Methods of Imposition&#8221; (<a href="#Page_22">p. 22</a>).</p>
+
+<p>For the modern reader the <i>Discourse concerning Ridicule and Irony</i> is the
+most satisfactory of Collins&#8217;s many pamphlets and books. It lacks the
+pretentiousness of the <i>Scheme</i>, the snide convolutions of the <i>Grounds
+and Reasons</i>, the argument by half-truths of the <i>Discourse of
+Free-Thinking</i>. His last work is free of the curious ambivalence which
+marked so many of his earlier pieces, a visible uncertainty which made him
+fear repression and yet court it. On the contrary, his last work is in
+fact a justification of his rhetorical mode and religious beliefs; it is
+an <i>apologia pro vita sua</i> written with all the intensity and decisiveness
+that such a justification demands. To be sure, it takes passing shots at
+old enemies like Swift, but never with rancor. And while its language is
+frequently ironical, its thinking makes an earnest defense of wit as a
+weapon of truth. The essay sets forth its author as an <i>animal ridens</i>, a
+creature that through laughter and affable cynicism worships a universal
+God and respects a rational mankind.</p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>Brown University</p>
+
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_xvi" id="Page_xvi">[Pg xvi]</a></span></p>
+<h3>NOTES TO THE INTRODUCTION</h3>
+
+<p><a name="f1" id="f1" href="#f1.1">1.</a> <i>Universal Spectator, and Weekly Journal</i>, No. 98 (22 August 1730).</p>
+
+<p><a name="f2" id="f2" href="#f2.1">2.</a> To Des Maizeaux (5 May 1717): B. M. Sloane MSS. 4282, ff. 129-130.</p>
+
+<p><a name="f3" id="f3" href="#f3.1">3.</a> To Des Maizeaux (9 February 1716): B. M. Sloane MSS. 4282, f. 123.</p>
+
+<p><a name="f4" id="f4" href="#f4.1">4.</a> The title page of the <i>Scheme</i> is dated 1726. It was not advertised in
+the newspapers or journals of that year&mdash;a strange silence for any of
+Collins&#8217;s work. Its first notice appeared in the <i>Monthly Catalogue: Being
+a General Register of Books, Sermons, Plays, Poetry, Pamphlets, &amp;c.
+Printed and Publish&#8217;d in London, or the Universities, during the Month of
+May, 1727</i> (see No. 49). Yet we know that the <i>Scheme</i> had been remarked
+upon as early as March when on the 10th of that month Samuel Chandler
+published his <i>Reflections on the Conduct of the Modern Deists in their
+late Writings against Christianity</i>. (For the dating of Chandler&#8217;s work,
+see the <i>Daily Courant</i> [10 March 1727].) We know also that the <i>Scheme</i>
+went to a second edition late in 1727 and was frequently advertised in the
+<i>Daily Post</i> between 2 January and 20 January 1728.</p>
+
+<p><a name="f5" id="f5" href="#f5.1">5.</a> For the statement about the <i>Letter to Dr. Rogers</i>, see B. M. Sloane
+MSS. 4282, f. 220 (15 August 1727). For that on the use of &#8220;personal
+matters&#8221; in controversy, see B. M. Sloane MSS. 4282, f. 170 (27 December
+1719); cf. <i>The Scheme of Literal Prophecy Considered</i> (London, 1726), pp.
+422-438.</p>
+
+<p><a name="f6" id="f6" href="#f6.1">6.</a> <i>The Grounds and Reasons of the Christian Religion</i> was published in
+London within the first four days of January 1724; see the advertisement
+in the <i>Daily Post</i> (4 January 1724). <i>A Discourse concerning Ridicule and
+Irony in Writing</i> was published on or close to 17 March 1729; see the
+advertisement in the <i>Daily Journal</i> for that date.</p>
+
+<p><a name="f7" id="f7" href="#f7.1">7.</a> We can generally fix the date of Rogers&#8217;s <i>Eight Sermons</i> within the
+first two months of 1727 because it was answered early by Samuel
+Chandler&#8217;s <i>Reflections on the Conduct of the Modern Deists</i>. (See <a href="#f4">note 4</a>.)
+For the dating of Collins&#8217;s rebuttal, see the <i>Monthly Catalogue</i>, No. 49 (May 1727).</p>
+
+<p><a name="f8" id="f8" href="#f8.1">8.</a> To Des Maizeaux (24 June 1727): B. M. Sloane MSS. 4282, ff. 218-219.</p>
+
+<p><a name="f9" id="f9" href="#f9.1">9.</a> For the dating of this work, see the <i>Daily Post</i> (31 January 1728).</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_xvii" id="Page_xvii">[Pg xvii]</a></span><a name="f10" id="f10" href="#f10.1">10.</a> For
+Swift&#8217;s satire, see <i>Mr. C---ns&#8217;s Discourse of Free-Thinking, Put
+into plain English, by way of Abstract, for the Use of the Poor</i>. For
+Bentley&#8217;s devastating probe of Collins&#8217;s scholarly inadequacies, see his
+<i>Remarks on the Discourse of Free-Thinking. By Phileleutherus Lipsiensis</i>.
+Both works appeared in 1713.</p>
+
+<p><a name="f11" id="f11" href="#f11.1">11.</a> <i>Scheme</i>, pp. 432-433.</p>
+
+<p><a name="f12" id="f12" href="#f12.1">12.</a> Edward Chandler, <i>A Defence of Christianity from the Prophecies of
+the Old Testament</i> (London, 1725), p. ii.</p>
+
+<p><a name="f13" id="f13" href="#f13.1">13.</a> <i>A Letter to Dr. Rogers</i>, p. 89.</p>
+
+<p><a name="f14" id="f14" href="#f14.1">14.</a> <i>A Vindication of the Divine Attributes</i> (London, 1710), p. 24.</p>
+
+<p><a name="f15" id="f15" href="#f15.1">15.</a> Robert Jenkin, <i>A Brief Confutation of the Pretences against Natural
+and Revealed Religion</i> (London, 1702), p. 40.</p>
+
+<p><a name="f16" id="f16" href="#f16.1">16.</a> For Collins on his own rhetorical skills, see <i>Scheme</i>, p. 402;
+William Warburton, <i>Divine Legation of Moses, Demonstrated</i> (London,
+1846), III, 199.</p>
+
+<p><a name="f17" id="f17" href="#f17.1">17.</a> Jenkin, <i>Brief Confutation</i>, p. 51; for the letter (1 July 1717), see
+B. M. Sloane MSS. 4282, f. 137.</p>
+
+<p><a name="f18" id="f18" href="#f18.1">18.</a> Pp. 46-99.</p>
+
+<p><a name="f19" id="f19" href="#f19.1">19.</a> See, for example, the statement of John Conybeare, Bishop of Bristol,
+in Joseph Spence, <i>Observations, Anecdotes, and Characters of Books and
+Men</i>, ed. James M. Osborn (Oxford, 1966), I, sect. 992.</p>
+
+<p><a name="f20" id="f20" href="#f20.1">20.</a> <i>Essay</i>, pp. 329-333 (for Whiston&#8217;s statement of sources); pp.
+334-335 (for his defense of literal interpretation). The bracketed material indicates Whiston&#8217;s manuscript emendations of his own printed
+text; see the British Museum&#8217;s copy of the <i>Essay</i> (873. 1. 10) which originally belonged to the mathematician. See Collins, <i>Grounds and
+Reasons</i>, pp. 98-99, for the summary of Whiston&#8217;s attack upon allegorical interpretation.</p>
+
+<p><a name="f21" id="f21" href="#f21.1">21.</a> <i>Grounds and Reasons</i>, pp. 20, 48-50.</p>
+
+<p><a name="f22" id="f22" href="#f22.1">22.</a> This terse summary of the persona&#8217;s argument was correctly made by Warburton, III, 232.</p>
+
+<p><a name="f23" id="f23" href="#f23.1">23.</a> <i>Scheme</i>, p. 391.</p>
+
+<p><a name="f24" id="f24" href="#f24.1">24.</a> <i>Discourse of Free-Thinking</i>, pp. 15-17, 38, 171.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_xviii" id="Page_xviii">[Pg xviii]</a></span><a name="f25" id="f25" href="#f25.1">25.</a> <i>Eight Sermons</i>, pp. 1, lxi.</p>
+
+<p><a name="f26" id="f26" href="#f26.1">26.</a> Marshall, pp. 301, 337. For Samuel Chandler&#8217;s contribution, see his
+<i>Reflections on the Conduct of the Modern Deists</i> (London, 1727); for
+Chubb&#8217;s contribution see <i>Some Short Reflections on the Grounds and Extent
+of Authority and Liberty, With respect to the Civil Government</i> (London,
+1728).</p>
+
+<p><a name="f27" id="f27" href="#f27.1">27.</a> Marshall&#8217;s reluctance to support Rogers&#8217;s extremism is seen in the
+funeral sermon he preached at the latter&#8217;s death (<i>A Sermon Delivered in the Parish Church of St. Giles Cripplegate, May 18, 1729. Upon Occasion of
+the Much Lamented Death of the Rev<sup>d</sup>. John Rogers</i> [London, 1729]). He made only the most casual and indifferent reference to Rogers&#8217;s work. So
+obvious was this slight that it called for a rebuttal; see Philalethes (A. A. Sykes [?]), <i>Some Remarks Upon the Reverend Dr. Marshall&#8217;s Sermon on
+Occasion of the Death of the Rev<sup>d</sup> D<sup>r</sup> Rogers</i> (London, 1729).</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="Bibliographical Note">
+<tr><td align="center"><b>BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE</b></td></tr>
+<tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><td>This facsimile of <i>A Discourse concerning Ridicule and Irony in Writing</i>
+(1729) is reproduced from a copy in the William Andrews Clark Memorial Library.</td></tr></table>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h3>A</h3>
+<h1>DISCOURSE</h1>
+<h3>CONCERNING</h3>
+<h2>Ridicule and Irony</h2>
+<h3>IN</h3>
+<h1>WRITING,</h1>
+<h3>IN A</h3>
+<h2>LETTER</h2>
+<h4>To the Reverend</h4>
+<h3>Dr. <span class="smcap">Nathanael Marshall</span>.</h3>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="quotes">
+<tr><td>&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;&mdash; <i>Ridiculum acri<br />
+Fortius &amp; melius magnas plerumq; secat res.</i></td></tr>
+<tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><td>&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;&mdash; <i>Ridentem dicere verum<br />
+Quid vetat?</i></td></tr></table>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p class="center"><i>L&nbsp;O&nbsp;N&nbsp;D&nbsp;O&nbsp;N&nbsp;:</i></p>
+
+<p class="center">Printed for <span class="smcap">J. Brotherton</span> in <i>Cornhill</i> and sold<br />
+by <span class="smcap">T. Warner</span> in <i>Pater-noster-Row</i>, and<br />
+<span class="smcap">A. Dodd</span> without <i>Temple-Bar</i>. 1729.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 35%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span></p>
+
+<h3>A</h3>
+<h1>DISCOURSE</h1>
+<h3>CONCERNING</h3>
+<h2><i>Ridicule</i> and <i>Irony</i>, &amp;c.</h2>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Reverend Sir</span>,</p>
+
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="caps">In</span> your <i>Letter</i> to Dr. <i>Rogers</i>, which he has publish&#8217;d at the End of his
+<i>Vindication of the Civil Establishment of Religion</i>, I find a Notion
+advanc&#8217;d by you: which as it is a common and plausible Topick for
+Persecution, and a Topick by which you, and many others, urge the
+Magistrate to punish [or, as you phrase it, <i>to pinch</i>] <small><a name="f28.1" id="f28.1" href="#f28">[28]</a></small> Men for
+controversial Writings, is particularly proper at this time to be fully
+consider&#8217;d; and I hope to treat it in such manner as to make you your
+self, and every fair Reader, sensible of the Weakness thereof.</p>
+
+<p>You profess to &#8220;vindicate <small><a name="f29.1" id="f29.1" href="#f29">[29]</a></small> a sober, serious, and modest Inquiry into
+the Reasons of any Establishment.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span>And you add, that you &#8220;have not ordinarily found it judg&#8217;d inconsistent
+with the Duty of a <i>private Subject</i>, to propose his Doubts or his Reasons
+to the Publick in a <i>modest</i> way, concerning the <i>Repeal</i> of any Law which
+he may think of ill Consequence by its Continuance. If he be a Man of
+Ability, and well vers&#8217;d in the Argument, he will deserve some Attention;
+but if he mistakes his Talent, and will be busy with what he very little
+understands, Contempt and Odium will be his unavoidable and just
+Allotment.&#8221; And you say, that &#8220;Religion is more a personal Affair, in
+which every Man has a peculiar Right and Interest, and a Concern that he
+be not mistaken, than in any other Case or Instance which can fall under
+the Cognizance of the Magistrate; and that greater Allowances seem due to
+each private Person for Examination and Inquiry in this, than in any other
+Example.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>And herein I must do you the Justice to acknowledge, that you speak like a
+Christian, like a Protestant, like an <i>Englishman</i>, and a reasonable Man;
+like a Man concerned for Truth, like a Man of Conscience; like a Man
+concern&#8217;d for the Consciences of others; like a Man concern&#8217;d to have some
+Sense, Learning, and Virtue in the World; and, in a word, like a Man who
+is not for abandoning all the valuable Things in Life to the Tyranny,
+Ambition, and Covetousness of Magistrates and Ecclesiasticks.</p>
+
+<p>But you observe, that &#8220;municipal Laws<small><a name="f30.1" id="f30.1" href="#f30">[30]</a></small>, how trivial soever in their
+intrinsick Value, are never to be <i>insulted</i>; never to be treated with
+<i>Buffoonery</i> and <i>Banter</i>, <i>Ridicule</i> and <i>Sarcastick Irony</i>. So that Dr.
+<i>Rogers</i>&#8217;s grand Adversary will have from you no measure of Encouragement
+to his manner of Writing.&#8221; Again, you &#8220;never <small><a name="f31.1" id="f31.1" href="#f31">[31]</a></small> desire to see the
+Magistrate fencing in the publick Religion<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span> with so thick a Hedge as shall
+exclude all Light, and shall tear out the Eyes of all such as endeavour to
+see thro&#8217; it. <i>Sober arguing</i> you never fear: <i>Mockery</i> and <i>bitter
+Railing</i>, if you could help it, you would never bear, either <i>for the
+Truth or against it</i>.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Upon which I offer these following Considerations.</p>
+
+<p>I. <i>First</i>, If what you call <i>Insult</i>, <i>Buffoonery</i>, <i>Banter</i>, <i>Ridicule</i>
+and <i>Irony</i>, <i>Mockery</i> and <i>bitter Railing</i>, be Crimes in Disputation, you
+will find none more deeply involv&#8217;d in it than our most famous Writers, in
+their controversial Treatises about <i>serious</i> Matters; as all Notions and
+Practices in Religion, whether reasonable or absurd, may be equally and
+justly deem&#8217;d: the Notions and Practices of Papists, Presbyterians,
+Quakers, and all other Sects, being no less <i>serious</i> to their respective
+Sects than ridiculous to one another. Let any Man read the Writings of our
+most eminent Divines against the <i>Papists</i>, <i>Puritans</i>, <i>Dissenters</i>, and
+<i>Hereticks</i>, and against one another, and particularly the Writings of
+<i>Alexander Cook</i>, <i>Hales</i>, <i>Chillingworth</i>, <i>Patrick</i>, <i>Tillotson</i>,
+<i>Stillingfleet</i>, <i>Burnet</i>, <i>South</i>, <i>Hickes</i>, <i>Sherlock</i> and <i>Edwards</i>,
+and he will find them to abound with <i>Banter</i>, <i>Ridicule</i>, and <i>Irony</i>.
+<i>Stillingfleet</i> in particular, our greatest controversial Writer, who
+passes for <i>grave</i> and <i>solemn</i>, is so conscious of his use thereof, that
+he confesses that Charge of the Papists against him, saying<small><a name="f32.1" id="f32.1" href="#f32">[32]</a></small>, &#8220;But I
+forget my Adversary&#8217;s grave admonition, that I <i>would treat these Matters
+seriously, and lay aside Drollery</i>.&#8221; And again, after a <i>Banter</i> of near a
+Page, he says<small><a name="f33.1" id="f33.1" href="#f33">[33]</a></small>, &#8220;But I forget I am so near my Adversary&#8217;s Conclusion,
+wherein he so <i>gravely</i> advises me, that I <i>would be pleas&#8217;d for once</i><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span> <i>to
+write Controversy, and not Play-Books</i>.&#8221; Nor did I ever hear the Divines
+of the Church condemn the Doctor for his sarcastical Method of writing
+Controversy. On the contrary, I remember at the University, that he used
+to be applauded no less for his Wit than for his Learning. And to exalt
+his Character as a Wit, his <i>Conferences between a</i> Romish <i>Priest, a
+Fanatick Chaplain, and a Divine of the Church of</i> England, <i>&amp;c.</i> were
+spoken of as an excellent <i>Comedy</i>, and especially for that Part which the
+<i>Fanatick Chaplain</i> acts therein, who makes as comical and as ridiculous a
+Figure as he does in any of the <i>Plays</i> acted on the Stage. And in his
+<i>Controversy</i> with <i>Dryden</i> about the <i>Royal Papers</i>, and those of the
+<i>Duchess</i> of <i>York</i>, he was deem&#8217;d to have out-done that famous <i>Satirist</i>
+in tart Repartees and Reflections; and to have attack&#8217;d the Character of
+the <i>Poet</i> with more severity, than that <i>Poet</i>, who was so remarkable for
+his satirical Reflections on the holy Order, did the Character of the
+<i>Divine</i>: As for example, he says to <i>Dryden</i><small><a name="f34.1" id="f34.1" href="#f34">[34]</a></small>, &#8220;Could nothing be said
+by you of Bishop <i>Morley</i>, but that <i>Prelate of rich Memory</i>? Or had you a
+mind to tell us he was no <i>Poet</i>? Or that he was out of the Temptation of
+changing his Religion for Bread?&#8221; And many Citations us&#8217;d to be produc&#8217;d
+out of his Writings, as Specimens of his ironical Talent; among which I
+particularly remember his <i>Ridicule</i> of his Adversary Mr. <i>Alsop</i>, a
+famous Presbyterian Wit and Divine; whose Book, which was full of low
+Raillery and Ridicule, he resembles <small><a name="f35.1" id="f35.1" href="#f35">[35]</a></small> to <i>the Bird of</i> Athens, as <i>made
+up of Face and Feathers</i>. And the Doctor himself adds, in Justification of
+the polite Method of Raillery in Controversy, that <i>there is a
+pleasantness of Wit, which serves to entertain</i><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span> <i>the Reader in the rough
+and deep way of Controversy</i>. Nor did Mr. <i>Alsop</i> want Approvers of his
+Raillery in his own Party. Mr. <i>Gilbert Rule</i><small><a name="f36.1" id="f36.1" href="#f36">[36]</a></small>, a great <i>Scotch</i>
+Presbyterian Divine, who defended him against <i>Stillingfleet</i>, contends in
+behalf of his Raillery, &#8220;That the Facetiousness of Mr. <i>Alsop</i>&#8217;s Strain
+needed to have bred no Disgust, being as a Condiment to prevent <i>T&aelig;dium</i>
+and Nauseousness.&#8221; And he adds, &#8220;That he knows none that blame the
+excellent Writings of Mr. <i>Fuller</i>, which have a Pleasantness not unlike
+that of Mr. <i>Alsop</i>.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>And this manner of writing is seldom complain&#8217;d of, as unfit to be
+allow&#8217;d, by any but those who feel themselves hurt by it. For the solemn
+and grave can bear a solemn and grave Attack: That gives them a sort of
+Credit in the World, and makes them appear considerable to themselves, as
+worthy of a serious Regard. But <i>Contempt</i> is what they, who commonly are
+the most contemptible and worthless of Men, cannot bear nor withstand, as
+setting them in their true Light, and being the most effectual Method to
+drive Imposture, the sole Foundation of their Credit, out of the World.
+Hence <i>Stillingfleet</i>&#8217;s Popish Adversaries, more conscious perhaps of the
+Ridiculousness of Popery than the common People among Protestants
+themselves, fall upon him very furiously. One says<small><a name="f37.1" id="f37.1" href="#f37">[37]</a></small>, &#8220;That by the
+Phrases, which are the chief Ornaments that set off the Doctor&#8217;s Works, we
+may easily guess in what Books he has spent his Time; and that he is well
+vers&#8217;d in <i>Don Quixot</i>, the <i>Seven Champions</i>, and other <i>Romantick
+Stories</i>. Sure the Doctor err&#8217;d in his Vocation: Had he quitted all
+serious Matters, and dedicated himself wholly to Drollery and Romance,
+with two or three <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span>Years under <i>Hudibras</i>, he might have been a Master in
+that Faculty; the Stage might have been a Gainer by it, and the Church of
+<i>England</i> would have been no Loser.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Another of his Adversaries says, &#8220;<small><a name="f38.1" id="f38.1" href="#f38">[38]</a></small>Peruse the Doctor Page after Page,
+you will find the Man all along in peevish Humour, when you see his Book
+brimfull of tart biting Ironies, Drolleries, comical Expressions,
+impertinent Demands, and idle Stories, <i>&amp;c.</i> as if the discharging a
+little Gall were enough to disparage <i>the clearest Miracles</i> God ever wrought.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>But what are these <i>clearest Miracles God ever wrought</i>? Why, the most
+extravagant, whimsical, absurd, and ridiculous Legends and Stories
+imaginable; such as that of <i>St. Dominick</i><small><a name="f39.1" id="f39.1" href="#f39">[39]</a></small>, who when the Devil came to
+him in the Shape of a <i>Monkey</i>, made him hold a Candle to him while he
+wrote, and keep it so long between his Toes, till it burnt them; and his
+keeping the Devil, who sometimes came to him in the Shape of a <i>Flea</i>, and
+by skipping on the Leaves of his Book disturb&#8217;d his Reading, in that
+Shape, and using him for a Mark to know where he left off reading: Such as
+St. <i>Patrick</i>&#8217;s heating an Oven with Snow, and turning a Pound of Honey
+into a Pound of Butter: Such as <i>Christ</i>&#8217;s marrying Nuns, and playing at
+Cards with them; and Nuns living on the Milk of the blessed Virgin <i>Mary</i>;
+and that of divers Orders, and especially the <i>Benedictine</i>, being so dear
+to the blessed Virgin, that in Heaven she lodges them under her
+Petticoats: Such as making broken Eggs whole; <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span>and of People, who had
+their Heads cut off, walking with their Heads in their Hands, which were
+sometimes set on again: Such as Failing for a hundred Years; and raising
+Cows, Calves, and Birds from the Dead, after they had been chopt to Pieces
+and eaten, and putting on their Heads after they had been pull&#8217;d or cut
+off; and turning a Pound of Butter into a Bell; and making a Bull give
+Milk; and raising a King&#8217;s Daughter from the Dead, and turning her into a
+Son; and the several Translations thro&#8217; the Air of the Virgin <i>Mary</i>&#8217;s
+House from <i>Palestine</i> to <i>Loretto</i>, and the Miracles wrote there; and
+more of the like Kind.</p>
+
+<p>Are these, or such as these the <i>clearest Miracles God ever wrought</i>? Do
+such Miracles deserve a serious Regard? And shall the <i>Gravity</i> with which
+Mankind is thus banter&#8217;d out of their common Sense, excuse these Matters
+from <i>Ridicule</i>?</p>
+
+<p>It will be difficult to find any Writers who have exceeded the Doctors,
+<i>South</i> and <small><a name="f40.1" id="f40.1" href="#f40">[40]</a></small> <i>Edwards</i>, in <i>Banter</i>, <i>Irony</i>, <i>Satire</i> and <i>Sarcasms</i>:
+The last of whom has written a Discourse in <i>Defence of sharp Reflections
+on Authors and their Opinions</i>; wherein he enumerates, as Examples for his
+Purpose, almost all the eminent Divines of the Church of <i>England</i>. And
+Mr. <small><a name="f41.1" id="f41.1" href="#f41">[41]</a></small> <i>Collier</i>, speaking of a Letter of the Venerable <i>Bede</i> to
+<i>Egbert</i> Bishop of <i>York</i>, says, &#8220;The Satire and Declamation in this
+<i>Epistle</i> shews the <i>pious Zeal</i> and <i>Integrity</i> of the Author;&#8221; which
+seems to imply, that <i>Satire</i> and <i>Declamation</i> is the orthodox and most
+pious Method of writing in behalf of <i>Orthodoxy</i>.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span>Dr. <i>Rogers</i>, to whom you write, falls into the Method of Buffoonery,
+Banter, Satire, Drollery, Ridicule, and Irony, even in the Treatise to
+which your Letter is subjoined, and against that <i>Person</i> whom you would
+have punish&#8217;d for that Method: When he says to him, <small><a name="f42.1" id="f42.1" href="#f42">[42]</a></small> &#8220;Religion then,
+it seems, must be left to the Scholars and Gentlefolks, and to them &#8217;tis
+to be of no other use, but as a Subject of Disputation to improve their
+Parts and Learning; but methinks the Vulgar might be indulged a little of
+it now and then, upon Sundays and Holidays, instead of Bull-baiting and
+Foot-ball.&#8221; And this insipid Piece of Drollery and false Wit [which is
+design&#8217;d to ridicule his Adversary for asserting, that <i>What Men
+understand nothing of, they have no Concern about</i>; which is a Proposition
+that will stand the Test of <i>Ridicule</i>, which will be found wholly to lie
+against the Doctor, for asserting the Reasonableness of imposing Things on
+the People which they do not understand] is the more remarkable, as it
+proceeds from one, who is at the same time for using the Sword of the
+Magistrate against his Adversary. One would think the <small><a name="f43.1" id="f43.1" href="#f43">[43]</a></small> <i>Inquisitor</i>
+should banish the <i>Droll</i>, and the <i>Droll</i> the <i>Inquisitor</i>.</p>
+
+<p>One of the greatest and best Authorities for the <i>pleasant</i> and <i>ironical</i>
+manner of treating <i>serious</i> Matters, is that eminent Divine at the Time
+of the Reformation, the great <i>Erasmus</i>, who has written two Books in this
+way with great Applause of Protestants, and without subjecting himself to
+any Persecution of Papists: which makes it highly proper to propose them
+to the Consideration of the Reader, that he may regulate his Notions, by
+what, it <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span>may be presum&#8217;d, he approves of in that Author. These two Books
+of <i>Erasmus</i> are his <i>Colloquies</i>, and his <i>Praise of Folly</i>.</p>
+
+<p>His <i>Colloquies</i> were wrote in imitation of <i>Lucian</i>&#8217;s <i>Dialogues</i>; and I
+think with equal, if not superior, Success.</p>
+
+<p>Both these Authors had an Aversion to sullen, austere, designing Knaves;
+and both of them being Men of Wit and Satire, employ&#8217;d their Talents
+against <i>Superstition</i> and <i>Hypocrisy</i>. <i>Lucian</i> liv&#8217;d in an Age when
+<i>Fiction</i> and <i>Fable</i> had usurp&#8217;d the Name of <i>Religion</i>, and <i>Morality</i>
+was corrupted by <i>Men</i> of <i>Beard</i> and <i>Grimace</i>, but scandalously <i>Leud</i>
+and <i>Ignorant</i>; who yet had the Impudence to preach up <i>Virtue</i>, and style
+themselves <i>Philosophers</i>, perpetually clashing with one another about the
+Precedence of their several Founders, the Merits of their different Sects,
+and if &#8217;tis possible, about Trifles of less Importance: yet all agreeing
+in a different way to dupe and amuse the poor People, by the <i>fantastick</i>
+Singularity of their Habits, the unintelligible Jargon of their Schools,
+and their Pretensions to a severe and mortify&#8217;d Life.</p>
+
+<p>These Jugglers and Impostors <i>Lucian</i> in great measure help&#8217;d to chase out
+of the World, by exposing them in their proper Colours, and by
+representing them as ridiculous as they were. But in a few Generations
+after him, a new Race of Men sprung up in the World, well known by the
+Name of <i>Monks</i> and <i>Fryars</i>, different indeed from the former in
+Religion, Garb, and a few other Circumstances; but in the main, the same
+sort of Impostors, the same ever-lasting Cobweb-Spinners, as to their
+nonsensical Controversies, the same abandon&#8217;d <i>Wretches</i>, as to their
+Morals; but as to the mysterious Arts of heaping up Wealth, and picking<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span>
+the People&#8217;s Pockets, infinitely superior to the <i>Pagan Philosophers</i> and
+<i>Priests</i>. These were the sanctify&#8217;d Cheats, whose Folly and Vices
+<i>Erasmus</i> has so effectually lash&#8217;d, that some Countries have entirely
+turn&#8217;d these Drones out of their Cells; and in other Places, where they
+are still kept up, they are in some measure become contemptible, and
+obliged to be always on their Guard.</p>
+
+<p>The Papists say, that these &#8220;<small><a name="f44.1" id="f44.1" href="#f44">[44]</a></small><i>Colloquies</i>, by turning into <i>Ridicule</i>
+the Devotion to the holy Virgin and Saints, the Worship of Relicks and
+Images, religious Vows and Pilgrimages, have made more Hereticks than the
+Works of <i>Luther</i> and <i>Calvin</i>.&#8221; And I find the reverend Mr. <i>Trapp</i>
+[after calling <small><a name="f45.1" id="f45.1" href="#f45">[45]</a></small> <i>Reliques</i>, <span class="smcap">Foolish</span>] celebrates <i>Erasmus</i> for <i>having
+abundantly</i> <span class="smcap">ridicul&#8217;d</span> <i>them</i>.</p>
+
+<p>His <i>Praise of Folly</i> treats of <i>serious</i> Matters, in such a gay,
+familiar, ingenious and pleasant manner, as makes it a Work proper to be
+read by intelligent People, to remove out of their Minds all Bigotry
+contracted by Ignorance and an evil Education, all Peevishness, Hatred,
+and Ill-nature towards one another, on account of different Sentiments in
+Religion; and to form in them the natural Principles of Moderation,
+Humanity, Affection and Friendship. Our learned and ingenious Bishop
+<i>Kennet</i> could not do a more signal Piece of Service to our Country, than
+by translating into <i>English</i> this Book, which the Ladies have now an
+Opportunity of understanding no less than the Men; and from whence they
+may see the pleasant, amiable, and just Disposition of Mind of one of the
+most learned and ingenious Men that ever liv&#8217;d, as well <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span>as Author of a
+great Number of religious and devotional Books; nor could the Bishop well
+give a heartier Stroke at Popery, than by approving of <i>Erasmus</i>&#8217;s <small><a name="f46.1" id="f46.1" href="#f46">[46]</a></small>
+<i>laughing</i> at it, and applauding his numberless <i>Taunts on its Impostures,
+Cheats, and Delusions</i>.</p>
+
+<p>Our Clergy have ever treated Mr. <i>Hobbes</i> with the greatest Mockery,
+Ridicule and Raillery: As for example, <i>Ward</i> Bishop of <i>Sarum</i>, <i>Brambal</i>
+Bishop of <i>Derry</i>, <i>Parker</i> Bishop of <i>Oxford</i>, Dr. <i>Wallis</i> in his
+several bantering Treatises against him, <i>Lucy</i> Bishop of <i>St. Davids,
+Shafto</i>, and particularly the Reverend <i>Droll</i>, Dr. <i>Eachard</i>, in two
+<i>Dialogues</i>, which, it is well known, have been universally well receiv&#8217;d
+by the Clergy, and that for their Treatment of Mr. <i>Hobbes</i> in the
+ridiculing Way; for which the Author himself makes the following just
+Apology, in his <i>Dedication</i> of his <i>Second Dialogue</i> to Archbishop
+<i>Sheldon</i>, &#8220;That of all Triflers, &#8217;tis the <i>Set</i>, the <i>Grave</i>, the
+<i>Philosophical</i>, and the <i>Mathematical Trifler</i>, to which he has the
+greatest Aversion; whom when he meets, very gravely making out all Men to
+be rational Beasts both in Nature and Conversation, and every Man, he
+pleases, a rational Rebel; and upon any Fright or Pinch a rational Atheist
+and Anti-Christian; and all this perform&#8217;d with all <span class="smcap">Demureness</span>, <span class="smcap">Solemnity</span>,
+<span class="smcap">Quotation</span> of <span class="smcap">Scripture</span>, <span class="smcap">Appeals</span> to <span class="smcap">Conscience</span> and <span class="smcap">Church-History</span>; he must
+humbly beg his <i>Grace&#8217;s</i> Pardon, if then he has endeavour&#8217;d to <span class="smcap">smile</span> a
+little, and to get as much out of his Road and way of Writing as
+possible.&#8221; These <i>Dialogues</i> used to be much recommended to the Youth to
+make them laugh at Mr <i>Hobbes</i>, who <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span>was constantly represented as
+provok&#8217;d and put out of all Temper by them, and was said to have vented
+this strange and impious Expression, upon its being told him, that <i>the
+Clergy said</i> Eachard <i>had crucify&#8217;d</i> Hobbes; &#8220;Why then don&#8217;t they fall
+down and worship me?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Mr. <i>Selden</i> has been the constant Subject of Clergy-banter, for his
+<i>History of Tythes</i>; in the <i>Preface</i> to which, &#8220;He reproaches the Clergy
+with Ignorance and Laziness, and upbraids them with having nothing to keep
+up their Credit but <i>Beard</i>, <i>Title</i>, and <i>Habit</i>; and their Studies
+reach&#8217;d no farther than the <i>Breviary</i>, the <i>Postils</i>, and <i>Polyanthea</i>.&#8221;
+For this Work he was attack&#8217;d more particularly by three Divines,
+<i>Tillesly</i>, <i>Mountagu</i>, and <i>Nettles</i>. And their Success was thus
+originally represented<small><a name="f47.1" id="f47.1" href="#f47">[47]</a></small>, &#8220;That he was so gall&#8217;d by <i>Tillesly</i>, so
+gagg&#8217;d by <i>Mountagu</i>, and so stung by <i>Nettles</i>, that he never came off in
+any of his Undertakings with more loss of Credit.&#8221; And this Jest has
+pass&#8217;d much upon the World, and been continued down in many Books, where
+Mr. <i>Selden</i> is mention&#8217;d, to his Discredit with ignorant Readers, but not
+with the Knowing and Learned; who, as Dr. <i>Wotton</i> tells us<small><a name="f48.1" id="f48.1" href="#f48">[48]</a></small>, <i>have,
+now Party-heats are over, acquiesced in what Mr.</i> Selden advanc&#8217;d; <i>who
+first</i>, <span class="smcap">of all Christians</span>, <i>set the Affair</i> of Tythes <i>in a clear Light</i>.</p>
+
+<p>It is usually said the Comedy called <i>Ignoramus</i>, which is a Clergy-banter
+upon the <i>Law</i>, was a design&#8217;d Return for Mr. <i>Selden</i>&#8217;s <i>History of Tythes</i>.</p>
+
+<p>The Reverend Dr. <i>Beaumont</i>, late Master of St. <i>Peter</i>&#8217;s <i>College</i> and
+King&#8217;s Professor of Divinity, has given us a Book, entitled, &#8220;Some
+Observations <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span>upon the Apology of Dr. <i>Henry More</i> for his <i>Mystery of
+Godliness</i>;&#8221; which endeavours to render the said Doctor <i>ridiculous</i>, and
+set People a <i>laughing</i> at him, (<i>p. 9. &amp;c. 64.</i>) and used to be applauded
+as a complete Performance in the way of Raillery and Irony, and was well
+receiv&#8217;d for being directed against a Person esteem&#8217;d Heterodox.</p>
+
+<p>Many Clergymen have written Books to banter the Works of Mr. <i>Locke</i>,
+among whom Dr. <i>Edwards</i> must have the first Place; whose <i>Brief
+Vindication of the fundamental Articles of the Christian Faith</i>, which has
+the <i>Imprimatur</i> before it of <i>James</i>, <i>Beaumont</i>, <i>Covel</i>, and
+<i>Balderston</i>, four <i>Cambridge</i> Heads, was never exceeded by the most licentious <i>Droll</i>.</p>
+
+<p>When <i>Sorbier</i>&#8217;s <i>Voyage</i> to <i>England</i>, which was a pert and insolent
+Abuse and Satire on the Nation, and written in the <i>French</i> manner of
+contemptuously treating all Countries and Men but <i>France</i> and
+<i>Frenchmen</i>, was publish&#8217;d, it was deem&#8217;d proper that a drolling and
+satirical Answer should be given to it, and that the Reverend Dr. <i>Sprat</i>
+should be the <i>Droll</i> employ&#8217;d; who perform&#8217;d his Part according to the
+Expectation of the Drolling Court of King <i>Charles</i> II. and as the
+ingenious Mr. <i>Addison</i> tells us, <small><a name="f49.1" id="f49.1" href="#f49">[49]</a></small> <i>Vindicated the Honour of his
+Country, in a Book full of Satire and Ingenuity</i>.</p>
+
+<p>Bishop <i>Beveridge</i> ever pass&#8217;d for a serious and profound Divine; and his
+Writings have fix&#8217;d that Character upon him among the Religious of the
+High Church, who have receiv&#8217;d his <i>Private Thoughts</i> and his Volumes of
+<i>Sermons</i>, like <i>Manna</i> from Heaven. And yet possibly never Man had two
+more severe Attacks made upon him than he had; one by Bishop
+<i>Stillingfleet</i>, who in <i>A Vindication of their Majesties Authority to
+fill the Sees of</i><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span> <i>the depriv&#8217;d Bishops</i>, &amp;c. occasion&#8217;d by Dr.
+<i>Beveridge</i>&#8217;s Refusal of the Bishoprick of <i>Bath</i> and <i>Wells</i>, satirizes
+both his <i>Prudence</i> and his <i>Sincerity</i>; and another, by an ingenious
+Bishop also, who in <i>A short View of Dr.</i> Beveridge<i>&#8217;s Writings</i>, has in a
+most refin&#8217;d <i>drolling manner</i> represented those Writings as abounding in
+most absurd and ridiculous Divinity.</p>
+
+<p>But one of the justest and finest Pieces of <i>Irony</i>, and the most timely
+and seasonably vented, and that deserves perpetual Remembrance, is,
+<i>Andrews</i> the grave Bishop of <i>Winchester</i>&#8217;s Irony, on <i>Neal</i> the grave
+Bishop of <i>Durham</i>; of which we have the following Relation in the Poet
+<i>Waller</i>&#8217;s <i>Life</i>, prefix&#8217;d before his Works: &#8220;On the Day of the
+Dissolution of the last Parliament of King <i>James</i> the First, Mr.
+<i>Waller</i>, out of Curiosity or Respect, went to see the King at Dinner;
+with whom were Dr. <i>Andrews</i> the Bishop of <i>Winchester</i>, and Dr. <i>Neal</i>
+Bishop of <i>Durham</i>, standing behind his Majesty&#8217;s Chair. There happen&#8217;d
+something very extraordinary in the Conversation those Prelates had with
+the King, on which Mr. <i>Waller</i> did often reflect. His Majesty ask&#8217;d the
+Bishops, <i>My Lords, cannot I take my Subjects Money when I want it,
+without all this Formality in Parliament?</i> The Bishop of <i>Durham</i> readily
+answer&#8217;d, <i>God forbid, Sir, but you should; you are the Breath of our
+Nostrils</i>. Whereupon the King turn&#8217;d and said to the Bishop of
+<i>Winchester</i>, <i>Well, my Lord, what say you? Sir</i>, replied the Bishop, <i>I
+have no Skill to judge of Parliamentary Cases</i>. The King answer&#8217;d, <i>No
+Put-offs, my Lord; answer me presently. Then, Sir</i>, said he, <i>I think it
+is lawful for you to take my Brother</i> Neal<i>&#8217;s</i> <i>Money, for he offers it</i>.
+Mr. <i>Waller</i> said the Company was pleas&#8217;d with this Answer, and the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span> Wit
+of it seem&#8217;d to affect the King.&#8221; Which shews the exceeding Aptness and
+Usefulness of a good <i>Irony</i>; that can convey an Instruction to a vicious,
+evil, and tyrannical Prince, highly reflecting on his Conduct, without
+drawing on his Resentment.</p>
+
+<p>To these famous Divines I might add the most eminent and renowned
+Philosophers of Antiquity, who, either out of a Contempt of Mankind, or to
+gratify their peculiar Tempers, or to correct the Vices and Follies of
+Men, and to instil virtuous Maxims in those who would only receive them in
+some pleasant way, set up for good Humour, Mirth, and Drollery, as their
+standing Method of Life, and of Conversation with the World; and have left
+behind them some of their occasional Sayings upon record, which do more
+Honour to their Memories than the most elaborate Treatises would have
+done, and more Good to Men; upon whom a Jest, or witty Saying, is more
+fitted to operate and make Impression than long Deductions and Reasonings,
+and particularly on Princes and great Men, who will receive no Instruction
+but in some very artful and short Way: whereof even the rude <i>Diogenes</i>,
+the <i>Cynick</i>, has given us a most incomparable Example, in his occasional
+Conference with <i>Alexander the Great</i>, who was put into such Temper by the
+mere Freedom and Raillery of the Philosopher, as to take every thing in
+good part he said to him, and consequently be dispos&#8217;d to reflect upon it,
+and to act with Discretion. At the Head of these Philosophers I place
+<span class="smcap">Socrates</span>, who has very generally in all Ages pass&#8217;d for the <i>wisest</i> of
+<i>Men</i>, and was declared so by an <i>Oracle</i>; which, at least, was therein
+directed and influenc&#8217;d by some considerable human Authority, or by the
+common Sentiments of Men at that time. His Character I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span> shall give you in
+the words of the most ingenious <i>Addison</i>, who was himself a Master of
+<i>Humour</i> and <i>Drollery</i>, and practis&#8217;d them in Perfection, and with great
+Success in almost all his Prose-writings. &#8220;<i>Socrates</i>, says he<small><a name="f50.1" id="f50.1" href="#f50">[50]</a></small>, who
+was the greatest Propagator of Morality in the Heathen World, and a Martyr
+for the Unity of the Godhead, was so famous for the exercise of the Talent
+[of Raillery and Humour] among the politest People of Antiquity, that he
+gain&#8217;d the Name of <span class="smcap">the Drole</span>.<small><a name="f51.1" id="f51.1" href="#f51">[51]</a></small>&#8221; A Character that intitled him to the
+greatest Merit, as it most of all enabled him to promote Virtue.</p>
+
+<p>I might also offer to your Confederation the Affair of <i>Comedies</i>; which
+all polite Governments have permitted, or establish&#8217;d, in their several
+populous and wealthy Cities, as the necessary and proper means to
+encounter Vice and recommend Virtue, and to employ innocently and usefully
+the vacant Hours of many, who know not how to employ their Time, or would
+employ it amiss, by entering into <small><a name="f52.1" id="f52.1" href="#f52">[52]</a></small> Factions and Cabals to disturb the
+State; or by Gaming, or by backbiting Conversations about their
+Neighbours. And as <i>Comedies</i>, which were originally very gross, grew by
+Use more polite and refin&#8217;d in <i>Satire</i> and <i>Raillery</i>: so the most
+celebrated Wits and Statesmen, and Persons of the greatest Quality, have
+engag&#8217;d and join&#8217;d with others in them, and performed with the greatest
+Success and Reputation to themselves; and have been valu&#8217;d, not only for
+their Talents of <i>Irony</i> and <i>Drollery</i>, which were essential to the
+Credit of such Performances; but applauded, as acting the virtuous Part of <i>Droles</i>.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span>In fine, Books of Satire, Wit,
+Humour, <ins class="correction" title="original reads 'Rididicule'">Ridicule</ins>, Drollery, and Irony, are
+the most read and applauded of all Books, in all Ages, Languages, and
+Countries. And as those which are exquisite in their kinds, are the
+standing Entertainment of the Ingenious and Learned; so others, of a lower
+kind, are to be found among the lower Readers, who sleep under all Works which do not make them merry.</p>
+
+<p>In a word, the Opinions and Practices of Men in all Matters, and
+especially in Matters of Religion, are generally so absurd and ridiculous
+that it is impossible for them not to be the Subjects of Ridicule.</p>
+
+<p>For what else can be expected from Men who generally take up their
+Opinions without any Inquiry into their Reasonableness or Truth, and upon
+the most incompetent Grounds? I cannot be supposed to injure Mankind, if I
+consider them under the Character which the very ingenious Sir <i>Richard
+Steele</i> gives of himself; who <i>acknowledges</i> <small><a name="f53.1" id="f53.1" href="#f53">[53]</a></small> that (even while he took
+upon himself the Title of the <i>Censor</i> of <i>Great Britain</i>, and in so many
+fine Papers corrects his Countrymen, and particularly <i>the Freethinkers</i>,
+whom he directs the Magistrate to punish with Death) <i>it had been with
+him, as it is with too many others, that a</i> <small><a href="#f53">[53]</a></small> <i>sort of an</i> implicit
+Religion <i>seem&#8217;d the most easy and most comfortable; and that a blind
+Veneration for</i> he knew not what, <i>and he</i> knew not whom, <i>stood for every
+thing important</i>. And he <i>confesses</i> he <i>was not enough aware, that this
+Implicitness of Conduct is the great Engine of Popery, fram&#8217;d for the
+Destruction of</i> good Nature, <i>as well as</i> good Sense. If so great a Man
+could take up with such a Method, and act the Part of a <i>Censor</i> and
+Director<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span> of others, in a Matter which he had not at all consider&#8217;d, what
+can be expected else from others, but absurd and ridiculous Opinions and Practices?</p>
+
+<p>And if some Men will fall into absurd and ridiculous Opinions, Habits,
+Forms, Figures and Grimaces; there will be those who will <i>laugh</i>, nay,
+cannot help <i>laughing</i> at them. Hence most Parties laugh at one another,
+without the least Scruple, and with great Applause of their own Parties;
+and the Leaders of the same Party laugh with one another, when they
+consider the absurd and ridiculous Opinions they profess, and how they
+cheat and govern their Followers; agreeably to what <i>Cicero</i> reports of
+<i>Cato</i><small><a name="f54.1" id="f54.1" href="#f54">[54]</a></small>, &#8220;<i>Vetus autem illud</i> Catonis <i>admodum scitum est, qui</i> mirari
+se <i>aiebat, quod non rideret haruspex cum haruspicem vidisset</i>.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>I think it may be justly suppos&#8217;d, that Pope <i>Alexander</i> and <i>Thomas
+Becket</i> could not but laugh together at the Simplicity and Weakness of
+their Followers, the Papists, who receiv&#8217;d for truth the following Story.
+It was told as a Fact<small><a name="f55.1" id="f55.1" href="#f55">[55]</a></small>, &#8220;that when <i>Thomas Becket</i>, who never drank any
+thing but Water, sat at Table with <i>Pope Alexander</i>, and that his Holiness
+would needs taste of his Cup; lest his abstemiousness should be known, God
+turn&#8217;d the Water into Wine: so that the <i>Pope</i> found nothing but Wine in
+the Cup. But when <i>Becket</i> pledg&#8217;d him, it was turn&#8217;d into Water again.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p><i>Laughing</i> therefore, and <i>Ridicule</i> in <i>serious Matters</i>, go round the
+World with no inconsiderable Applause, and seem highly proper for this
+World of Nonsense and Folly. To hinder <i>laughing</i> upon such just Occasions
+as are given, is almost all one <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span>as to hinder <i>breathing</i>. A very witty,
+drolling, Dramatick Poet, and of the first Rank for Quality, says in a
+<i>Prologue</i> to his Auditors.</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+&#8220;<i>Suppose now, at this Instant, one of you</i><br />
+&#8220;<i>Were tickled by a Fool, what would you do?</i><br />
+&#8220;<i>&#8217;Tis ten to one you&#8217;d</i> laugh: <i>here&#8217;s just the Case.</i><br />
+&#8220;<i>For there are Fools that tickle with their Face.</i><br />
+&#8220;<i>Your gay Fool tickles with his Dress and Motions;</i><br />
+&#8220;<i>But your</i> grave Fool <i>of</i> Fools <i>with</i> silly Notions.<br />
+&#8220;<i>Is it not then unjust that Fops should still</i><br />
+&#8220;<i>Force one to</i> laugh, <i>and then take laughing ill?</i></p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>II. <i>Secondly</i>, If it be a Fault in those reverend Divines, mention&#8217;d in
+the foregoing Article, to use <i>Irony</i>, <i>Drollery</i>, <i>Ridicule</i>, and
+<i>Satire</i>, in any Case; or if the Fault lies in an exorbitant Use thereof,
+or in any particular Species of <i>Drollery</i>; as, for example, such
+<i>Drollery</i> as is to be found in the polemical Writings and Sermons of Dr.
+<i>South</i>; it is fit some Remedy should be employ&#8217;d for the Cure of this
+Evil. And the Remedy I would propose, should not be to have the Authors
+punish&#8217;d by the Magistrate, any more than for any other Faults in writing;
+but either to neglect and despise it, as Rage and Scolding, which drop
+into Oblivion with the Sound, and would have a Life given it by
+Resentment: or to allow Men to <i>criticize</i> and <i>ridicule</i> one another for
+their <i>Ironies</i> and <i>Drollery</i>, and to exercise their Wit and Parts
+against each other; that being the true Method to bring Things to a
+Standard, to fix the Decency and Propriety of Writing, to teach Men how to
+write to the Satisfaction of the ingenious, polite, and sensible Part of
+Mankind: for Decency and Propriety will stand the Test of Ridicule, and
+triumph over all the false Pretences to Wit; and Indecency and
+Impropriety<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span> will sink under the Trial of Ridicule, as being capable of
+being baffled by Reason, and justly ridicul&#8217;d. And if any kind or degree
+of <i>Ridicule</i> be absurd or <i>ridiculous</i>, that will appear so upon Trial,
+no less than the low and gross <i>Ridicule</i> prevalent among the unpolite
+Part of the World: But that will never appear. On the contrary, <i>Ridicule</i>
+of certain kinds, and under reasonable Directions and Rules, and used in
+proper Time, Place, and Manner, (all which also are only to be found out
+and fix&#8217;d by Trial and Experience) is both a proper and necessary Method
+of Discourse in many Cases, and especially in the Case of <i>Gravity</i>, when
+that is attended with Hypocrisy or Imposture, or with Ignorance, or with
+soureness of Temper and Persecution; all which ought to draw after them
+the <i>Ridicule</i> and <i>Contempt</i> of the Society, which has no other effectual
+Remedy against such Methods of Imposition. And to determine in some
+measure the Nature and Extent of the <i>Irony</i> I contend for, as <i>Just</i>, I
+profess to approve the noble <i>Sarcasm</i> of <i>Elijah</i><small><a name="f56.1" id="f56.1" href="#f56">[56]</a></small>; wherein he thus
+mocks the <i>Priests</i> of <i>Baal</i>, saying in effect to them, &#8220;<i>Cry aloud, for</i>
+your <i>Baal</i> is a fine God: <i>He is either talking, or he is pursuing, or he
+is in a Journey; or peradventure he sleepeth, and must be awaked</i>.&#8221; And I
+concur with the <i>Psalmist</i><small><a name="f57.1" id="f57.1" href="#f57">[57]</a></small>, who thought it no Indecency to say, that
+<i>he that sits in Heaven shall laugh them</i> (that is, certain Kings, who
+were <i>David</i>&#8217;s Enemies) <i>to scorn; the Lord shall have them in Derision</i>:
+and must judge, that <i>laughing to scorn</i>, and <i>deriding</i> the greatest Men
+upon Earth, even Kings and Princes, to be a laudable and divine Method of
+dealing with them, who are only to be taught or rebuk&#8217;d in some artful
+way. I also approve of the following <i>Sarcasm</i> or <i>Irony</i>, which <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span>has a
+better Authority for it than <i>Elijah</i> or the <i>Psalmist</i>. <i>Moses</i>
+introduces God speaking thus after the Fall<small><a name="f58.1" id="f58.1" href="#f58">[58]</a></small>, <i>Behold the Man is become
+like one of us, to know Good and Evil!</i> And I think this Passage shews,
+that the whole Affair of the <i>Fall</i>, of which we have so very brief an
+Account, was a very entertaining Scene; and would have appear&#8217;d so, if set
+forth at large; as indeed it does under the Hands of our Divines, who have
+supplied that short Narration by various Additions, founded on
+Conjectures, and particularly under the fine Hand of Dr. <i>Tho. Burnet</i>,
+who has made a most ingenious Dialogue of what he suppos&#8217;d pass&#8217;d between
+<i>Eve</i> and the <i>Serpent</i><small><a name="f59.1" id="f59.1" href="#f59">[59]</a></small>. To say nothing of <i>Milton</i>&#8217;s famous <i>Paradise Lost</i>.</p>
+
+<p>In fine, ever since I could read the <i>Bible</i>, I was particularly pleas&#8217;d
+with the <i>History</i> of <i>Jonas</i>, where such a Representation is made of that
+<i>Prophet</i>&#8217;s Ignorance, Folly, and Peevishness, as exposes him to the
+utmost Contempt and Scorn, and fixes a perpetual <i>Ridicule</i> on his
+Character. And let me here observe, that this <i>History</i> has had ample
+Justice done it, in an Explication thereof by <i>two</i> <small><a name="f60.1" id="f60.1" href="#f60">[60]</a></small> very ingenious
+Authors, who, by most penetrating and happy Criticisms and Reflections,
+have drawn the Character of <i>Jonas</i> in a more open manner.</p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>III. But, <i>Thirdly</i>, I wave my <i>Remedy</i>, and am ready to come into any Law
+that shall be made to rectify this suppos&#8217;d Fault of <i>Irony</i>, by punishing those who are guilty of it.</p>
+
+<p>The great Concern is and ought to be, that <i>the Liberty of examining into
+the Truth of Things should be</i><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span> <i>kept up</i>, that Men may have some Sense and
+Knowledge, and not be the <i>Dupes</i> of <i>Cheats</i> and <i>Impostors</i>, or of those
+who would keep them in the dark, and let them receive nothing but thro&#8217;
+their Hands. If that be secur&#8217;d to us by Authority, I, for my part, am
+very ready to sacrifice the Privilege of <i>Irony</i>, tho so much in fashion
+among all Men; being persuaded, that a great Part of the <i>Irony</i>
+complain&#8217;d of, has its rise from the <i>want of Liberty to examine into the
+Truth of Things</i>; and that if that <i>Liberty</i> was prevalent, it would,
+without a Law, prevent all that <i>Irony</i> which Men are driven into for want
+of Liberty to speak plainly, and to protect themselves from the Attacks of
+those who would take the Advantage to ruin them for direct Assertions; and
+that such Authors as <i>Rabelais</i>, <i>Saint Aldegonde</i>, <i>Blount</i>, <i>Marvel</i>,
+<i>Thekeringil</i>, and many others, would never have run into that Excess of
+<i>Burlesque</i>, for which they are all so famous, had not the Restraint from
+writing <i>seriously</i> been so great.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;If <small><a name="f61.1" id="f61.1" href="#f61">[61]</a></small> Men are forbid to speak their Minds <i>seriously</i> on certain
+Subjects, they will do it <i>ironically</i>. If they are forbid at all upon
+such Subjects, or if they find it dangerous to do so, they will then
+redouble their Disguise, involve themselves in mysteriousness, and talk so
+as hardly to be understood, or at least not plainly interpreted by those
+who are dispos&#8217;d to do them a Mischief. And thus <i>Raillery</i> is brought
+more in fashion, and runs into an Extreme. &#8217;Tis the persecuting Spirit has
+rais&#8217;d the <i>bantering</i> one: And want of Liberty may account for want of a
+true Politeness, and for the Corruption or wrong Use of Pleasantry and Humour.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span>&#8220;If in this respect we strain the just Measure of what we call <i>Urbanity</i>,
+and are apt sometimes to take a buffooning rustick Air, we may thank the
+ridiculous Solemnity and sour Humour of our <i>Pedagogues</i>: or rather they
+may thank themselves, if they in particular meet with the heaviest of this
+kind of Treatment. For it will naturally fall heaviest, where the
+Constraint has been the severest. The greater the Weight is, the bitterer
+will be the Satire. The higher the Slavery, the more exquisite the Buffoonery.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;That this is really so, may appear by looking on those Countries where
+the spiritual Tyranny is highest. For the greatest of <i>Buffoons</i> are the
+<i>Italians</i>: and in their Writings, in their freer sort of Conversations,
+on their Theatres, and in their <i>Streets</i>, <i>Buffoonery</i> and <i>Burlesque</i>
+are in the highest Vogue. &#8217;Tis the only manner in which the poor cramp&#8217;d
+Wretches can discharge a free Thought. We must yield to &#8217;em the
+Superiority in this sort of Wit. For what wonder is it if we, who have
+more Liberty, have less Dexterity in that egregious way of <i>Raillery</i> and <i>Ridicule</i>?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Liberty of <i>grave</i> Examination being fix&#8217;d by Law, I am, I say, ready to
+sacrifice the Privilege of <i>Irony</i>, and yield to have a Law enacted to
+prevent it. I am, moreover, willing to leave the drawing up such a Law to
+your self; who honestly and impartially say<small><a name="f62.1" id="f62.1" href="#f62">[62]</a></small>, that all who <i>droll</i>, let
+them be of any Party, let them <i>droll for the Truth or against it</i>, should be equally punish&#8217;d.</p>
+
+<p>Thus this grand Affair of <i>Irony</i>, <i>Banter</i>, and <i>Ridicule</i>; this last
+persecuting Pretence, upon which you would set the Humours and Passions of
+People,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span> who are all at quiet, on float, and make a Fermentation, and
+raise a Persecution against particular People, seems perfectly settled, by
+yielding to your own Terms.</p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>IV. Let me here add, that I am apt to think, that when you draw up your
+Law, you will find it so very difficult to settle the Point of <i>Decency</i>
+in Writing, in respect to all the various kinds of <i>Irony</i> and <i>Ridicule</i>,
+that you will be ready to lay aside your Project; and that you will be no
+more able to settle that <i>Point of Decency</i>, than you would be to settle
+by Law, that <i>Cleanliness</i> in Clothes, and that Politeness in Dress,
+Behaviour, and Conversation, which become Men of Quality and Fortune in
+the World, and should be habitual to them: And that, if you are able to do
+that to your own Satisfaction, you will find it very difficult to engage
+the Lawmakers in your Project. For I am persuaded, that if our Lawmakers
+were, out of a rational Principle, disposed to give Liberty by Law to
+<i>serious</i> Opposition to publickly receiv&#8217;d Notions, they would not think
+it of much Importance to make a <i>Law</i> about a Method of <i>Irony</i>. They will
+naturally conclude, that if Men may and ought to be allow&#8217;d to write
+<i>seriously</i> in Opposition to publickly receiv&#8217;d Doctrines, they should be
+allow&#8217;d to write in their own way; and will be unwilling to be depriv&#8217;d of
+ingenious and witty Discourses, or such as some of them will judge so,
+about a Subject wherein <i>serious free</i> Discourse is allow&#8217;d. Besides, I am
+apt to think, that you, upon consideration of the Advantages which the
+Church has receiv&#8217;d from the <i>Berkenheads</i>, the <i>Heylins</i>, the <i>Ryves&#8217;s</i>,
+the <i>Needhams</i>, the <i>Lestranges</i>, the <i>Nalsons</i>, the <i>Lesleys</i>, the
+<i>Oldesworths</i>, and others, in their <i>Mercurius Aulicus</i>&#8217;s, their
+<i>Mercurius Pragmaticus&#8217;s</i>,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span> their <i>Mercurius Rusticus&#8217;s</i>, their
+<i>Observators</i><small><a name="f63.1" id="f63.1" href="#f63">[63]</a></small>, their <i>Heraclitus Ridens</i>&#8217;s, <i>Rehearsals</i>, their
+<i>Examiners</i><small><a name="f64.1" id="f64.1" href="#f64">[64]</a></small>, and the three Volumes against the <i>Rights of the Church</i>;
+from the <i>Butlers</i> in their <i>Hudibras</i>&#8217;s, and other Burlesque Works upon
+the Religion and Religious Conduct of the Dissenters; or from the
+<i>Eachards</i>, the <i>Tom Browns</i>, and <i>Swifts</i>; or from the <i>Parkers</i><small><a name="f65.1" id="f65.1" href="#f65">[65]</a></small>,
+<i>Patricks</i><small><a name="f66.1" id="f66.1" href="#f66">[66]</a></small>, <i>Souths</i><small><a name="f67.1" id="f67.1" href="#f67">[67]</a></small>,
+<i>Sherlocks</i><small><a name="f68.1" id="f68.1" href="#f68">[68]</a></small>, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span><i>Atterburys</i><small><a name="f69.1" id="f69.1" href="#f69">[69]</a></small>, and
+<i>Sacheverels</i><small><a name="f70.1" id="f70.1" href="#f70">[70]</a></small>; in their Discourses, and Tracts against the
+Nonconformists, Whigs, Low-Church-men, and Latitudinarians; and other such
+ironical, satirical, and polemical Divines; and from such <i>drolling</i>
+Judges as <i>Howel</i>, <i>Recorder</i> of London, and the Chief Justice <i>Jefferys</i>,
+who, in all Causes, where <i>Whigs</i> or Dissenters were the Persons accus&#8217;d
+and try&#8217;d before them, carried on the Trial by a <small><a name="f71.1" id="f71.1" href="#f71">[71]</a></small> Train of ridicule on
+them, their Witnesses and Counsel: I say, I am apt to think, that you
+would be unwilling to be depriv&#8217;d of what has been and may be again so serviceable.</p>
+
+<p>I am dispos&#8217;d to think that Dr. <i>Snape</i>, who is notoriously known to have
+gone into the greatest Lengths of Calumny and Satire against Bishop
+<i>Hoadley</i><small><a name="f72.1" id="f72.1" href="#f72">[72]</a></small>, to have fall&#8217;n upon the dissenting Clergy in a burlesque
+and bantering Address to the <i>Peirces</i>, the <i>Calamys</i>, and the
+<i>Bradburys</i>, and to have written a long <i>ironical Letter</i> in the Name of
+the <i>Jesuits</i> to Mr. <i>de la Pilloniere</i><small><a name="f73.1" id="f73.1" href="#f73">[73]</a></small>, will be thought a very
+improper Object of Censure for such Employment of his Pen. On the
+contrary, such sort of Attacks upon such Persons are the most meritorious
+Parts of a Man&#8217;s Life, recommend him as a Person of true and sincere
+Religion, much more than the strongest Reasoning, and the most regular
+Life; and pave the way to all the Riches, and Pleasures<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span> and Advantages or
+Life; not only among those, who, under the Colour of Religion, are
+carrying on a common <i>Corporation Cause</i> of Wealth, Power, and Authority,
+but among many well-meaning People, who allow of all Practices, which they
+suppose help out the <i>Truth</i>! It seems to me a most prodigious Banter upon
+us, for Men to talk in general of the <i>Immorality</i> of <i>Ridicule</i> and
+<i>Irony</i>, and of <i>punishing</i> Men for those Matters, when their own Practice
+is <i>universal Irony</i> and <i>Ridicule</i> of all those who go not with them, and
+<i>universal Applause</i> and <i>Encouragement</i> for such <i>Ridicule</i> and <i>Irony</i>,
+and distinguishing by all the honourable ways imaginable such <i>drolling</i>
+Authors for their Drollery; and when Punishment for <i>Drollery</i> is never
+call&#8217;d for, but when <i>Drollery</i> is used or employ&#8217;d against them!</p>
+
+<p>I don&#8217;t know whether you would be willing, if you consider of it, to limit
+the Stage it self, which has with great Applause and Success, from Queen
+<i>Elizabeth</i>&#8217;s Time downwards, ridicul&#8217;d the serious <i>Puritans</i> and
+<i>Dissenters</i>, and that without any Complaints from <i>good Churchmen</i>, that
+<i>serious</i> Persons and Things were <i>banter&#8217;d</i> and <i>droll&#8217;d</i> upon; and has
+triumph&#8217;d over its fanatical Adversaries in the Person of <i>Pryn</i>, who
+sufficiently suffer&#8217;d for his <i>Histrio-Mastix</i>, and has been approv&#8217;d of
+as an innocent Diversion by the religious Dr. <i>Patrick</i> in his <i>Friendly
+Debate</i>, in the Reign of King <i>Charles</i> II. when the Stage was in a very
+immoral State. I don&#8217;t know whether you would be willing even to restrain
+<i>Bartholomew Fair</i>, where the Sect of the <i>New Prophets</i> was the Subject
+of a <i>Droll</i> or <i>Puppet-Show</i>, to the great Satisfaction of the Auditors,
+who, it may be presum&#8217;d, were all good Churchmen, <i>Puritans</i> and
+<i>Dissenters</i> usually declining such Entertainments out<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span> of <i>real</i> or
+<i>pretended</i> Seriousness. (&#8220;A certain Clergyman thought fit to remark, that
+King <i>William</i> could be no good Churchman, because of his not frequenting
+the <i>Play-House</i>.&#8221;<small><a name="f74.1" id="f74.1" href="#f74">[74]</a></small>)</p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>V. It will probably be a Motive with you to be against abolishing
+<i>Drollery</i>, when you reflect that the Men of <i>Irony</i>, the <i>Droles</i> and
+<i>Satirists</i>, have been and always will be very numerous on your side,
+where they have been and are so much incourag&#8217;d for acting that Part, and
+that they have always been and always will be very few on the side of
+<i>Heterodoxy</i>; a Cause wherein an Author by engaging, may hurt his
+Reputation and Fortune, and can propose nothing to himself but Poverty and
+Disgrace. I doubt whether you would be for punishing your Friend Dr.
+<i>Rogers</i>, from whom I just now quoted an <i>Irony</i> on the Author of <i>The
+Scheme of Literal Prophecy consider&#8217;d</i>, or any one else, for <i>laughing</i> at
+and making sport with him; or whether you would be for punishing the
+Reverend Mr. <i>Trapp</i>, who implies the <i>Justness</i> and <i>Propriety of
+ridiculing Popery</i>; when he says<small><a name="f75.1" id="f75.1" href="#f75">[75]</a></small>, that <i>Popery is so foolish and
+absurd, that every body of common Sense must</i> <span class="smcap">laugh</span> <i>at it</i>; and when he
+refers to <i>Erasmus</i> for having <i>abundantly</i> <span class="smcap">ridicul&#8217;d</span> their <i>Reliques</i>;
+and himself puts <i>Ridicule</i> in Practice against them, by representing
+their Doctrines and Practices as <i>ridiculously foolish</i>, as <i>despicably
+childish</i>, and <i>Matter of mere Scorn</i>; as <i>monstrous</i>; as <i>Spells</i>,
+<i>juggling Tricks</i>, <i>gross Cheats</i>, <i>Impostures</i><small><a name="f76.1" id="f76.1" href="#f76">[76]</a></small>, and <i>wretched
+Shifts</i>; and in fine, in representing by way of <i>Specimen</i>, all their
+<i>Miracles</i> as <i>Legends</i>; of which he says, <i>These and a thousand more such
+like unreasonable Lies, which a Child of common Sense</i><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span> <i>would laugh at, are
+impos&#8217;d upon and swallow&#8217;d by the ignorant People, and make a</i> <span class="smcap">very great</span>
+<i>Part of the Popish Religion.</i></p>
+
+<p>And this, in concurrence with Mr. <i>Trapp</i>, I also take to be the Case of
+Popery, that it must make Men <i>laugh</i>; and that it is much easier to be
+gravely disposed in reading a <i>Stage-Comedy</i> or <i>Farce</i>, than in
+considering and reflecting on the <i>Comedy</i> and <i>Farce</i> of <i>Popery</i>; than
+which, Wit and Folly, and Madness in conjunction, cannot invent or make a
+thing more ridiculous, according to that Light in which I see their
+Doctrines, Ceremonies and Worship, the Histories and Legends of their
+Saints, and the pretended Miracles wrought in their Church; which has
+hardly any thing <i>serious</i> in it but its Persecutions, its Murders, its
+Massacres; all employ&#8217;d against the most innocent and virtuous, and the
+most sensible and learned Men, because they will not be <i>Tools</i> to support
+Villany and Ignorance.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Transubstantiation, says <i>Tillotson</i><small><a name="f77.1" id="f77.1" href="#f77">[77]</a></small>, is not a Controversy of
+Scripture against Scripture, or of Reason against Reason, but of downright
+Impudence against the plain meaning of Scripture, and all the Sense and
+Reason of Mankind.&#8221; And accordingly he scruples not to say, in a most
+<i>drolling</i> manner, that &#8220;Transubstantiation is one of the chief of the
+<i>Roman</i> Church&#8217;s <i>legerdemain</i> and <i>juggling Tricks</i> of Falshood and
+Imposture; and that in all Probability those common juggling Words of
+<i>Hocus-pocus</i>, are nothing else but a Corruption of <i>hoc est corpus</i>, by
+way of ridiculous Imitation of the Church of <i>Rome</i> in their <i>Trick</i> of
+<i>Transubstantiation</i>.&#8221; And as he <i>archly</i> makes the Introduction of this
+monstrous Piece of <i>grave Nonsense</i> to be owing to its being at first
+preach&#8217;d by its Promoters with <i>convenient Gravity and</i><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span>
+<i>Solemnity</i><small><a name="f78.1" id="f78.1" href="#f78">[78]</a></small>,
+which is the common Method of imposing Absurdities on the World; so I
+think that Doctrine taught with such <i>convenient Gravity and Solemnity</i>
+should necessarily produce <i>Levity, Laughter and Ridicule</i>, in all
+intelligent People to whom it is propos&#8217;d, who must <i>smile</i>, if they can
+with safety, to see such Stuff vented with a grave Face.</p>
+
+<p>In like manner many other Divines treat and laugh at <i>Popery</i>. Even the
+solemn and grave Dr. <i>Whitby</i> has written a Book against
+<i>Transubstantiation</i>, under the Title of &#8220;Irrisio Dei Panarii, <i>The
+Derision of the Breaden God</i>,&#8221; in Imitation of the primitive Fathers, who
+have written <i>Derisions</i> and <i>Mockeries</i> of the <i>Pagan</i> Religion.</p>
+
+<p>And he takes the Materials whereof this drolling Performance of his
+consists, from the <i>holy Scriptures</i>, the <i>Apocryphal Books</i>, and
+<i>Writings</i> of the <i>holy Fathers</i>, as he tells us in his Title-Page; three
+inexhaustible Sources of Wit and Irony against the Corrupters of true and
+genuine Religion. In like manner he turns upon the Popish Clergy the
+several Arguments urg&#8217;d by the <i>Jewish</i> Clergy in the <i>New Testament</i>, for
+the Authority of the <i>Jewish</i> Church; and answers, under that <i>Irony</i>, all
+that the Popish Clergy offer in behalf of the <i>Authority</i> of their
+<i>Church</i>, in a <i>Sermon</i> at the End of his <i>Annotations</i> on St. <i>John</i>&#8217;s <i>Gospel</i>.</p>
+
+<p>Nor do our Divines confine their <i>Derisions</i>, <i>Ridicule</i> and <i>Irony</i>
+against <i>Popery</i> to their Treatises and Discourses, but fill their
+<i>Sermons</i>, and especially their <i>Sermons</i> on the <i>Fifth</i> of <i>November</i>,
+and other political <i>Days</i>, with infinite Reflections of that Kind. Of
+these <i>Reflections</i> a Popish Author publish&#8217;d a <i>Specimen</i>, in a Book
+intitled<small><a name="f79.1" id="f79.1" href="#f79">[79]</a></small>, <i>Good Advice</i>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span><i>to Pulpits</i>, in order to shame the Church out
+of their Method of <i>drolling</i> and <i>laughing</i> <small><a name="f80.1" id="f80.1" href="#f80">[80]</a></small> at <i>Popery</i>. But this
+Book had no other effect, than to produce a <i>Defence</i> of those <i>Sermons</i>
+under the Title of <i>Pulpit Popery true Popery</i>, vindicating the several
+<i>Droll</i> Representations made of <i>Popery</i> in those <i>Sermons</i>.</p>
+
+<p>Of these <i>drolling</i> Reflections cited by the Popish Author out of our
+Church of <i>England Sermons</i>, take these following for a Specimen of what
+are to be met with in those <i>Sermons</i><small><a name="f81.1" id="f81.1" href="#f81">[81]</a></small>.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Pilgrimages, going Bare-foot, Hair-shirts, and Whips, with other such
+Gospel-artillery, are their only Helps to Devotion.&mdash;&mdash;It seems that with
+them a Man sometimes cannot be a Penitent, unless he also turns Vagabond,
+and foots it to <i>Jerusalem</i>.&mdash;&mdash;He that thinks to expiate a Sin by going
+bare-foot, does the Penance of a Goose, and only makes one Folly the
+Atonement of another. <i>Paul</i> indeed was scourg&#8217;d and beaten by the <i>Jews</i>;
+but we never read that he beat or scourg&#8217;d himself; and if they think his
+keeping under his Body imports so much, they must first prove that the
+Body cannot be kept under by a virtuous Mind, and that the Mind cannot be
+made virtuous but by a Scourge; and consequently, that Thongs and Whipcord
+are Means of Grace, and Things necessary to Salvation. The truth is, if
+Mens Religion lies no deeper than their Skin, it is possible they may
+scourge themselves into very great Improvements.&mdash;&mdash;But they will find
+that bodily Exercise touches not the Soul; and consequently that in this
+whole Course they are like Men out of the way: let them flash on never so
+fast, they <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span>are not at all nearer their Journey&#8217;s-end: And howsoever they
+deceive themselves and others, they may as well expect to bring a Cart, as a Soul, to Heaven.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;What say you to the Popish Doctrine of the <i>Sacrifice of the
+Mass</i>.&mdash;&mdash;According to this Doctrine, our blessed Saviour must still, to
+the end of the World, be laid hold on by Sinners, be ground with their
+Teeth, and sent down into their impure Paunches, as often as the Priest
+shall pronounce this Charm, <i>hoc est corpus meum</i>: and it seems that he
+was a false Prophet, when he said upon the Cross, <i>It is finish&#8217;d</i>, seeing
+there was such an infinite deal of <i>loathsom Drudgery</i> still to be undergone.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;For <i>Purgatory</i>, &#8217;tis not material in it self, whether it be, or where it
+be, no more than the World in the Moon; but so long as that false Fire
+serves to maintain a true one, and his Holiness&#8217;s Kitchen smokes with the
+Rents he receives for releasing Souls from thence, which never came there,
+it concerns him and his to see to it, that it be not suffer&#8217;d to go out.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>An ingenious Author, Sir <i>Richard Steel</i>, has of late made a <i>Dedication</i>
+to his <i>Holiness</i> the <i>Pope</i> himself, before a Book entitled, <i>An Account
+of the State of the Roman Catholick Religion throughout the World</i>, &amp;c. In
+which <i>Dedication</i>, that most exalted Clergyman the <i>Pope</i>, that
+[suppos&#8217;d] infallible Dictator in Religion, and most grave Person; who, if
+<i>serious</i> Matters and Persons were always to be treated <i>seriously</i>, may
+vie with any other Mortal for a Right to <i>serious</i> Treatment; is expos&#8217;d
+by incomparable <i>Drollery</i> and <i>Irony</i> to the utmost Contempt, to the
+universal Satisfaction of Protestant Readers, who have been pleas&#8217;d to see
+a gross Impostor, however<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span> respected and ador&#8217;d by godly and serious
+Papists, so treated.</p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>VI. In fine, it is suited to the common Practice of this Nation to
+ridicule <i>Popery</i> as well as <i>Nonconformity</i>; and tho several <i>grave</i>
+Books, written among us against Popery, in the Reign of King <i>James</i> II.
+(of which yet the <i>Romish</i> Priests complain&#8217;d, as treating the King&#8217;s <small><a name="f82.1" id="f82.1" href="#f82">[82]</a></small>
+<i>Religion</i> with Contempt) were then very well receiv&#8217;d and applauded for
+Learning and strength of Arguing; yet, I believe, it may with more
+Propriety be said, that King <i>James</i> II. and <i>Popery</i> were <small><a name="f83.1" id="f83.1" href="#f83">[83]</a></small> <i>laugh&#8217;d</i>
+or <i>Lilli-bullero&#8217;d</i>, than that they were <i>argu&#8217;d</i> out of the Kingdom.</p>
+
+<p>The reading the <i>King&#8217;s Declaration of Indulgence</i> in Churches 1688, had
+this fatal <i>Jest</i> put upon it by a reverend Divine, &#8220;Who pleasantly told
+his People, <i>That tho he was obliged to read it, they were not obliged to
+hear it</i><small><a name="f84.1" id="f84.1" href="#f84">[84]</a></small>; and stop&#8217;d till they all went out, and then he read it to
+the Walls.&#8221; To which may be added, the famous Mr. <i>Wallop</i>&#8217;s excellent
+Comparison of that <i>Declaration</i> upon the Instant of its Publication, to
+<i>the scaffolding of St.</i> Paul<i>&#8217;s Church; which, as soon as the Building
+was finish&#8217;d, would be pull&#8217;d down</i>.</p>
+
+<p>Bishop <i>Burnet</i> celebrates, with the greatest Justness, our Taste, and
+indeed the Taste of the World in this Respect, when he relates how
+<i>Popery</i> was then used among us; and he recites some of the <i>Jests</i> which
+passed and were received with universal Applause. He tells us<small><a name="f85.1" id="f85.1" href="#f85">[85]</a></small>, &#8220;The
+Court was now (that is, in 1686,) much set on making Converts, which
+fail&#8217;d in most Instances, and produc&#8217;d <i>Repartees</i>; that whether true or
+false, were much repeated, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span>and were heard with great Satisfaction. The
+Earl of <i>Mulgrave</i> (since Duke of <i>Buckinghamshire</i>) was Lord Chamberlain;
+he was apt to comply in every thing that he thought might be acceptable,
+for he went with the King to Mass, and kneeled at it; and being look&#8217;d on
+as indifferent to all Religions, the Priests made an Attack upon him: He
+heard them <i>gravely</i> arguing for <i>Transubstantiation</i>. He told them he was
+willing to receive Instruction; he had taken much Pains to bring himself
+to believe in God, who made the World and all Men in it: But it must not
+be an ordinary Force of Argument that could make him believe that Man was
+quits with God, and made God again. The Earl of <i>Middleton</i> had marry&#8217;d
+into a Popish Family, and was a Man of great Parts and a generous Temper,
+but of loose Principles in Religion; so a Priest was sent to instruct him.
+He began with <i>Transubstantiation</i>, of which he said he would convince him
+immediately: And began thus, You believe the <i>Trinity</i>. <i>Middleton</i> stop&#8217;d
+him, and said, who told you so? At which he seem&#8217;d amazed. So the Earl
+said, he expected he should convince him of his Belief, but not question
+him of his own: With this the Priest was so disorder&#8217;d, that he could
+proceed no farther. One Day the King gave the Duke of <i>Norfolk</i> the Sword
+of State to carry before him to the Chappel, and he stood at the Door.
+Upon which the King said to him, My Lord, your Father would have gone
+farther. To which the Duke answer&#8217;d, Your Majesty&#8217;s Father was the better
+Man, and he would not have gone so far. <i>Kirk</i> was also spoken to, to
+change his Religion, and he reply&#8217;d briskly, that he was already
+pre-engag&#8217;d, for <i>he had promised the King of</i> Morocco, <i>that if ever</i><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span>
+<i>he chang&#8217;d his Religion he would turn</i> Mahometan.&#8221; When K. <i>James</i> sent an
+<i>Irish</i> Priest to convert the D. of <i>Bucks</i> [<i>Villers</i>] the said Duke
+entertain&#8217;d the Priest with a Bottle, and engag&#8217;d him in a <i>Dialogue</i>,
+which the Duke afterwards caus&#8217;d to be printed, to the no small
+Mortification of all Papists, who were therein exceedingly ridicul&#8217;d, and
+to the Triumph of all good Churchmen, who are never better pleas&#8217;d, than
+when they have the <i>Laugh</i> on their side.</p>
+
+<p>At this time also were publish&#8217;d two merry Books, by a couple of our
+Divines, with express View to make Protestants laugh at <i>Popery</i>, as at a
+<i>Farce</i>; and they were, <i>The School of the Eucharist</i>, wherein is a
+Collection of ridiculous <i>Miracles</i>, pretended to be wrought to support
+the Truth of <i>Transubstantiation</i>, and <i>Purgatory prov&#8217;d by Miracles</i>.</p>
+
+<p>I must not omit another incomparable Piece of Wit and Raillery against
+<i>Popery</i>, publish&#8217;d at that time. It seems the famous Poet, <i>Dryden</i>,
+thought fit to declare himself a <i>Roman Catholick</i>; and had, as &#8217;tis said,
+a <i>Penance</i> injoyn&#8217;d him by his Confessor, for having formerly written
+<i>The Spanish Fryar</i>, of composing some <i>Treatise</i> in a <i>poetical way</i> for
+<i>Popery</i>, and against the <i>Reformation</i>. This he executed in a <i>Poem</i>,
+intituled, <i>The Hind and Panther</i>; which, setting aside the Absurdity of
+the Matters therein asserted, and of the several Arguments to maintain
+them, is, in other Respects, one of the most mean Compositions that ever
+the Press produc&#8217;d. Was it proper to pass over in silence such a Work,
+from whence probably the Popish Party expected great Matters, as knowing
+the Efficacy of Poetry, and being Witnesses of the Success the Author had
+had in his <i>Absalom</i> and <i>Achitophel</i> against the <i>Whigs</i>? Was it proper
+to write <i>seriously</i> and <i>gravely</i> against a Book, wherein the Author
+every where aims at Wit, Irony, and Burlesque, and does himself make<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span> so
+ridiculous a Figure, as to be a standing Jest throughout the whole? Was
+not the Convert himself, as such, a <i>Jest</i>, or as professing any Religion,
+a <i>Jest</i>; who argu&#8217;d for Pay, and spoke as he was brib&#8217;d, and would have
+profess&#8217;d any Opinions, as is the Mode and Practice of the World, to which
+Salary and Preferments are annexed? Some ingenious Persons of the Times
+took a better Method, and agreeably to the Temper and Disposition of our
+Countrymen, and to the nature of <i>Dryden</i>&#8217;s Attack, and his interested
+Writing for Religion, made a Return in a Paper intituled, <i>The Hind and
+Panther transvers&#8217;d to the Story of the Country-Mouse and City-Mouse</i>: Out
+of which, for a Specimen of <i>just Irony</i>, and <i>fine Raillery</i>, I will give you the following Passage.</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+&#8220;<i>Sirrah, says</i> Brindle, <i>thou hast brought us</i> Wine,<br />
+&#8220;<i>Sour to my Taste, and to my Eyes unfine.</i><br />
+&#8220;<i>Says</i> Will, <i>All Gentlemen like it. Ah! says</i> White,<br />
+&#8220;<i>What is approved by them must needs be right.</i><br />
+&#8220;<i>&#8217;Tis true, I thought it bad, but if the</i> House<br />
+&#8220;<i>Commend it, I submit, a</i> private Mouse.<br />
+&#8220;<i>Nor to their Catholick Consent oppose</i><br />
+&#8220;<i>My erring Judgment and reforming Nose.</i><br />
+&#8220;<small><a name="f86.1" id="f86.1" href="#f86">[86]</a></small><i>Why, what a Devil, shan&#8217;t I trust my Eyes,</i><br />
+&#8220;<i>Must I drink Stum, because the Rascal lies,</i><br />
+&#8220;<i>And palms upon us</i> Catholick <i>Consent,</i><br />
+&#8220;<i>To give</i> sophisticated Brewings <i>Vent?</i><br />
+&#8220;<i>Says</i> White, <i>what antient Evidence can sway,</i><br />
+&#8220;<i>If you must argue thus and not obey?</i><br />
+&#8220;Drawers <i>must be trusted, thro&#8217; whose hands convey&#8217;d</i><br />
+&#8220;<i>You take the Liquor, or you spoil the Trade.</i><br />
+&#8220;<i>For sure those honest</i> Fellows <i>have no Knack</i><br />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span>&#8220;<i>Of putting off stum&#8217;d Claret for</i> Pontack.<br />
+&#8220;<i>How long alas! would the poor Vintner last,</i><br />
+&#8220;<i>If all that drink must</i> judge, <i>and every Guest</i><br />
+&#8220;<i>Be allow&#8217;d to have an understanding</i> Taste?</p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>VII. I question whether High-Church would be willing to have the reverend
+Author of the <i>Tale of a Tub</i>, one of the greatest <i>Droles</i> that ever
+appear&#8217;d upon the Stage of the World, punish&#8217;d for that or any other of
+his <i>drolling</i> Works: For tho religious Matters, and all the various Forms
+of Christianity have therein a considerable Share of <i>Ridicule</i>; yet in
+regard of his <i>Drollery</i> upon the <i>Whigs</i>, <i>Dissenters</i>, and the <i>War</i>
+with <i>France</i> (things of as <i>serious</i> and weighty Consideration, and as
+much affecting the Peace of Society, as <i>Justification</i> by <i>Faith only</i>,
+<i>Predestination</i>, <i>Transubstantiation</i>, or <i>Constansubstantiation</i>, or
+<i>Questions</i> about <i>religious Ceremonies</i>, or any such interested Matters)
+the <i>Convocation</i> in their famous <i>Representation</i> of the <i>Profaneness</i>
+and <i>Blasphemy</i> of the Nation, took no notice of his <i>drolling</i> on
+Christianity: And his Usefulness in <i>Drollery</i> and <i>Ridicule</i> was deem&#8217;d
+sufficient by the <i>Pious</i> Queen <i>Anne</i>, and her <i>pious Ministry</i>, to
+intitle him to a Church Preferment of several hundred Pounds <i>per Ann.</i>
+<small><a name="f87.1" id="f87.1" href="#f87">[87]</a></small> which she bestow&#8217;d upon him, notwithstanding a <i>fanatick
+High-Churchman</i>, who weakly thought <i>Seriousness</i> in Religion of more use
+to High-Church than <i>Drollery</i>, and attempted to hinder his Promotion, by
+representing to her Majesty, &#8220;What a Scandal it would be both to Church
+and State to bestow Preferment upon a Clergyman, who was hardly suspected
+of being a Christian.&#8221; Besides, High-Church receives daily most signal
+Services from his drolling Capacity, which has of late exerted itself on
+the Jacobite Stage of <i>Mist</i>&#8217;s <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span>and <i>Fogg</i>&#8217;s Journal, and in other little
+Papers publish&#8217;d in <i>Ireland</i>; in which he endeavours to expose the
+present Administration of publick Affairs to contempt, to inflame the
+<i>Irish</i> Nation against the <i>English</i>, and to make them throw off all
+Subjection to the <i>English</i> Government, to satirize Bishop <i>Burnet</i> and
+other <i>Whig</i> Bishops; and, in fine, to pave the way for a new or Popish
+Revolution, as far as choosing the most proper Topicks of Invective, and
+treating of them in the way of <i>Drollery</i>, can do.</p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>VIII. It is well known, that Gravity, Preciseness, Solemnity, Sourness,
+formal Dress and Behaviour, Sobriety of Manners, keeping at a distance
+from the common Pastimes of the World, Aversion to Rites and Ceremonies in
+the publick Worship, and to Pictures, Images, and Musick in Churches;
+mixing Religion in common Conversion, using long Graces, practising
+Family-Worship, part of which was praying <i>ex tempore</i>; setting up and
+hearing Lectures, and a strict Observation of the Lord&#8217;s Day, which was
+call&#8217;d the <i>Sabbath</i>, were the Parts of the Character of a <i>Puritan</i>; who,
+it is to be observ&#8217;d, usually had the Imputation of Hypocrisy for his
+great and extraordinary Pretences to Religion: He was also a great Opposer
+of the Court-Measures in the Reign of King <i>James</i> and King <i>Charles</i> I.
+and most zealous for Law, Liberty, and Property, when those two Princes
+set up for raising Money by their own Authority, and in consequence
+thereof, fell into numerous other Acts of Violence and Injustice. It is
+also well known, that to quell these Puritans, and lessen their Credit,
+and baffle all their Pretences, Gaiety, Mirth, Pastimes or Sports, were
+incourag&#8217;d and requir&#8217;d on <i>Sundays</i> of the People, that Churches were
+render&#8217;d<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span> gay, theatrical, and pleasant by the Decorations, Paintings,
+Musick, and Ceremonies therein perform&#8217;d<small><a name="f88.1" id="f88.1" href="#f88">[88]</a></small>; and that the utmost Ridicule
+was employ&#8217;d against some of them, as <i>Enthusiasts</i>, and against others of
+them as <i>Hypocrites</i>, and against them all as factious and seditious, by
+their Adversaries; who were under no Restraints, but incourag&#8217;d to write
+with Scorn, Contempt, Raillery and Satire against these suppos&#8217;d Enemies
+of Church and State. Nor did the great Success of the <i>Puritans</i> in the
+Field of Battle suppress that <i>Vein</i> and <i>Humour</i> of <i>Ridicule</i> begun
+against them; but the <i>Laudean</i> Party still carry&#8217;d on a Paper War with
+innumerable Pamphlets, which all tended more or less to make the World
+<i>laugh</i> at and <i>ridicule</i> the <i>Puritans</i>. And I am verily persuaded, that
+no History of any other Country in the World can produce a Parallel,
+wherein the Principle and Practice of <i>Ridicule</i> were ever so strongly
+encourag&#8217;d, and so constantly pursu&#8217;d, fix&#8217;d and rooted in the Minds of
+Men, as it was and is in Churchmen against Puritans and Dissenters. Even
+at this Day the <i>Ridicule</i> is so strong against the present Dissenters, so
+promoted by Clergy and Laity, especially in Villages and small Country
+Towns, that they are unable to withstand its Force, but daily come over in
+Numbers to the Church to avoid being <i>laugh&#8217;d</i> at. It seems to me a Mark
+of Distinction more likely to last in the Church than any other Matter
+that I can observe. Passive Obedience, the divine Right of Kings, <i>&amp;c.</i>
+rise and fall according to particular <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span>Occasions; but <i>Laughter</i> at
+<i>Dissenters</i> seems fixt for ever, if they should chance to last so long.</p>
+
+<p><i>South</i>&#8217;s Sermons, which now amount to <i>six Volumes</i>, make Reading <i>Jests</i>
+and <i>Banter</i> upon <i>Dissenters</i>, the religious Exercise of good Churchmen
+upon <i>Sundays</i>, who now can serve God (as many think they do by hearing or
+reading Sermons) and be as merry as at the Play-house. And <i>Hudibras</i>,
+which is a daily High-Church Entertainment, and a Pocket and Travelling
+High-Church Companion, must necessarily have a very considerable Effect,
+and cannot fail forming in Men that Humour and Vein of <i>Ridicule</i> upon
+<i>Dissenters</i> which runs thro&#8217; that Work. In a word, High-Church has
+constantly been an Enemy to, and a Ridiculer of the <i>Seriousness</i> of
+<i>Puritans</i> and <i>Dissenters</i>, whom they have ever charg&#8217;d with <i>Hypocrisy</i>
+for their <i>Seriousness</i>.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;After <small><a name="f89.1" id="f89.1" href="#f89">[89]</a></small> the Civil War had broke out in 1641, and the King and Court
+had settled at <i>Oxford</i>, one <i>Birkenhead</i>, who had liv&#8217;d in <i>Laud</i>&#8217;s
+Family, and been made Fellow of <i>All Souls College</i> by <i>Laud</i>&#8217;s Means, was
+appointed to write a Weekly Paper under the Title of <i>Mercurius Aulicus</i>;
+the first whereof was publish&#8217;d in 1642. In the Absence of the Author,
+<i>Birkenhead</i>, from <i>Oxford</i>, it was continued by <i>Heylin</i>. <i>Birkenhead</i>
+pleas&#8217;d the Generality of Readers with his <i>Waggeries</i> and <i>Buffooneries</i>;
+and the Royal Party were so taken with it, that the Author was recommended
+to be Reader of <i>Moral Philosophy</i> by his Majesty;&#8221; who, together with the
+religious Electors, it is justly to be presum&#8217;d, thought <i>Waggery</i> and
+<i>Buffoonery</i>, not only Political, but <i>Religious</i> and <i>Moral</i>, when
+employ&#8217;d against <i>Puritans</i> and <i>Dissenters</i>.</p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span>IX. King <i>Charles</i> the Second&#8217;s Restoration brought along with it glorious
+<i>High-Church</i> Times; which were distinguish&#8217;d as much by <i>laughing</i> at
+<i>Dissenters</i>, as by persecuting them; which pass for a Pattern how
+Dissenters are to be treated; and which will never be given up, by
+<i>High-Church-men</i>, as faulty, for ridiculing Dissenters.</p>
+
+<p>The King himself, who had very good natural Parts, and a Disposition to
+banter and ridicule every Body, and especially the <i>Presbyterians</i>, whose
+Discipline he had felt for his Lewdness and Irreligion in <i>Scotland</i>, had
+in his <i>Exile</i> an Education, and liv&#8217;d, among some of the greatest
+<i>Droles</i> and <i>Wits</i> that any Age ever produc&#8217;d; who could not but form him
+in that way, who was so well fitted by Temper for it. The Duke of
+<i>Buckingham</i> was his constant Companion. And he had a <small><a name="f90.1" id="f90.1" href="#f90">[90]</a></small> <i>great
+Liveliness of Wit, and a peculiar Faculty of turning all things into
+ridicule</i>. He was Author of the <i>Rehearsal</i>; which, as a most noble Author
+says, is <small><a name="f91.1" id="f91.1" href="#f91">[91]</a></small> <i>a justly admir&#8217;d Piece of comick Wit</i>, and <i>has furnish&#8217;d
+our best Wits in all their Controversies, even in Religion and Politicks,
+as well as in the Affairs of Wit and Learning, with the most effectual and
+entertaining Method of exposing Folly, Pedantry, false Reason, and ill
+Writing</i>. The Duke of <i>Buckingham</i> <small><a name="f92.1" id="f92.1" href="#f92">[92]</a></small> brought <i>Hobbes</i> to him to be his
+<i>Tutor</i>, who was a <i>Philosophical Drole</i>, and had a great deal of <i>Wit</i> of
+the <i>drolling</i> kind. <i>Sheldon</i>, who was afterwards Archbishop of
+<i>Canterbury</i>, and attended the King constantly in his Exile as his
+<i>Chaplain</i>, was an eminent <i>Drole</i>, as appears from Bishop <i>Burnet</i>, who
+says<small><a name="f93.1" id="f93.1" href="#f93">[93]</a></small>, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span>that
+<i>he had a great Pleasantness of Conversation, perhaps too great</i>.</p>
+
+<p>And <i>Hide</i>, afterwards Earl of <i>Clarendon</i>, who attended the King in his
+Exile, seems also to have been a great Drole, by Bishop <i>Burnet</i>&#8217;s
+representing him, as one, that <i>had too much Levity in his Wit, and that
+did not observe the Decorum of his Post</i><small><a name="f94.1" id="f94.1" href="#f94">[94]</a></small>. In a <i>Speech</i> to the Lords
+and Commons, <i>Hide</i> attack&#8217;d the Gravity of the Puritans, saying<small><a name="f95.1" id="f95.1" href="#f95">[95]</a></small>,
+&#8220;Very merry Men have been very godly Men; and if a good Conscience be a
+continued Feast, there is no reason but Men may be very merry at it.&#8221; And
+upon Mr. <i>Baxter</i> and other Presbyterian Ministers waiting on him in
+relation to the <i>Savoy Conference</i>, he said to Mr. <i>Baxter</i> on the first
+Salute<small><a name="f96.1" id="f96.1" href="#f96">[96]</a></small>, that if &#8220;he were but as fat as Dr. <i>Manton</i>, we should all do well.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>No wonder therefore, that <i>Ridicule</i>, and <i>Raillery</i>, and <i>Satire</i>, should
+prevail at Court after the <i>Restoration</i>; and that King <i>Charles</i> the
+Second, who was a Wit himself, and early taught to laugh at his <i>Father&#8217;s
+Stiffness</i><small><a name="f97.1" id="f97.1" href="#f97">[97]</a></small>, should be so great a Master of them, and bring them into
+play among his Subjects; and that he who had the most sovereign Contempt
+for all Mankind, and in particular for the People and Church of <i>England</i>,
+should use his Talent against them; and that his People in return should give him like for like.</p>
+
+<p>It is well known how he banter&#8217;d the Presbyterian Ministers, who out of
+Interest came over to him at <i>Breda</i>; where they were placed in a Room
+next to his Majesty, and order&#8217;d to attend till his Majesty had done his
+Devotions; who, it seems, pray&#8217;d so artfully, and poured out so many of
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span>their Phrases, which he had learned when he was in <i>Scotland</i>, where he
+was forced to be present at religious Exercises of six or seven Hours
+a-day; and had practis&#8217;d among the <i>Huguenot</i> Ministers in <i>France</i><small><a name="f98.1" id="f98.1" href="#f98">[98]</a></small>,
+who reported him to have a <i>sanctify&#8217;d Heart</i>, and to <i>speak the very
+Language of</i> Canaan. This <i>Ridicule</i> he <i>cover&#8217;d</i> with <i>Seriousness</i>;
+having at that time Occasion for those Ministers, who were then his great
+Instruments in reconciling the Nation to his <i>Restoration</i>. When he had no
+farther Occasion for them, he was open in his <i>Ridicule</i>, and would say,
+that <small><a name="f99.1" id="f99.1" href="#f99">[99]</a></small> <i>Presbyterianism was not a Religion for a Gentleman</i>.</p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>X. Would you, who are a Man of Sense and Learning, and of some Moderation,
+be for punishing the Author of <i>The Difficulties and Discouragements which
+attend the Study of the Scriptures in the way of private Judgment</i>, &amp;c.
+who is suppos&#8217;d to be a Prelate of the Church, for that Book, which is
+wholly an <i>Irony</i> about the most sacred Persons and Things? Must not the
+fine <i>Irony</i> it self, and the Execution of it, with so much Learning,
+Sense, and Wit, raise in you the highest Esteem and Admiration of the
+Author, instead of a Disposition to punish him? Would you appear to the
+intelligent Part of the World such an Enemy to Knowledge, and such a
+Friend to the Kingdom of Darkness, as such Punishment would imply? In
+fine, can you see and direct us to a better way, to make us inquire after
+and understand Matters of Religion, to make us get and keep a good temper
+of Mind, and to plant and cultivate in us the Virtues necessary to good
+Order and Peace in Society, and to eradicate <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span>the Vices that every where
+give Society so much Disturbance, than what is prescrib&#8217;d or imply&#8217;d in
+that Book? And can you think of a better <i>Form</i> of <i>Conveyance</i>, or
+<i>Vehicle</i> for Matters of such universal Concern to all intelligent People
+(if you consider the State of the World, and the infinite Variety of
+Understandings, Interests, and Designs of Men, who are all to be address&#8217;d
+to at the same Time) than his Method of <i>Irony</i>? And has not Success
+justify&#8217;d his Method? For the Book has had a free Vent in several
+Impressions; has been very generally read and applauded; has convinced
+Numbers, and has been no Occasion of trouble either to Bookseller or
+Author. It has also had the Advantage to have a most ingenious <i>Letter</i> of
+<i>John Hales</i> of <i>Eton</i> join&#8217;d to some Editions of it; who by this
+<i>Letter</i>, as well as by several others of his Pieces, shews himself to
+have been another <i>Socrates</i>, one of the greatest Masters of <i>true Wit</i>
+and <i>just Irony</i>, as well as Learning, which the World ever produc&#8217;d; and
+shews he could have writ such a Book as the <i>Difficulties</i>, &amp;c. But if you
+are capable of coming into any Measures for punishing the Author of the
+<i>Difficulties</i>, &amp;c. for his <i>Irony</i>, I conceive, that you may possibly
+hesitate a little in relation to the same Author, about his <i>New Defence
+of the Bishop of</i> Bangor<i>&#8217;s Sermon of the Kingdom of Christ, consider&#8217;d as
+it is the Performance of a Man of Letters</i>; which, tho far below <i>The
+Difficulties</i>, &amp;c. is an ingenious <i>Irony</i> on that <i>Sermon</i>. You may
+probably, like many others of the Clergy, approve of Satire so well
+employ&#8217;d, as against that Bishop, who has succeeded Bishop <i>Burnet</i> in
+being the Subject of <i>Clergy-Ridicule</i>, as well as in his Bishoprick. The
+Bishop himself was very justly patient, under all Attacks by the Reverend
+<i>Trapp</i>, <i>Earbery</i>, <i>Snape</i>, <i>Law</i>, and <i>Luke Milbourne</i>, in his <i>Tom of
+Bedlam&#8217;s Answer</i><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span> <i>to his Brother</i> Ben Hoadley, <i>St.</i> Peter<i>&#8217;s</i> Poor <i>Parson
+near the Exchange of Principles</i>; some of which were of a very abusive
+kind, and such as can hardly be parallel&#8217;d; and did not call upon the
+Magistrate to come to his Aid against that Author, or against any others
+of the Clergy who had attack&#8217;d him with as great Mockery, Ridicule, and
+Irony, as ever Bishop had been by the profess&#8217;d Adversaries of the Order;
+or as ever the Bishops had been by the <i>Puritans</i> and <i>Libellers</i> in the
+Reigns of Queen <i>Elizabeth</i>, King <i>James</i> and King <i>Charles</i> the First; or
+as <i>Lesley</i>, <i>Hickes</i>, <i>Hill</i>, <i>Atterbury</i>, <i>Binks</i>, and other High-Church
+Clergy, did the late Bishop <i>Burnet</i>. Instead of that he took the true and
+proper Method, by publishing an <i>Answer</i> to the said <i>Irony</i>, compos&#8217;d in
+the same <i>ironical Strain</i>, intitled, <i>The Dean of</i> Worcester <i>still the
+same: Or his new Defence of the Bishop of</i> Bangor<i>&#8217;s Sermon, consider&#8217;d,
+as it is the Performance of a great Critick, a Man of Sense, and a Man of
+Probity</i>. Which Answer does, in my Opinion, as much Honour to the Bishop,
+by its Excellency in the <i>ironical Way</i>, as it does by allowing the Method
+it self, and going into that Method, in imitation of his Reverend Brethren
+of the Clergy, who appear to be under no Restraints from the <i>Immorality</i>
+or <i>Indecency</i> of treating the Bishop in the way of Ridicule and with the
+utmost Contempt; but, on the contrary, to be spurr&#8217;d on by the
+<i>Excellency</i> and <i>Propriety</i> thereof to use it against him, even in the
+<small><a name="f100.1" id="f100.1" href="#f100">[100]</a></small> <i>Pulpit</i>, as Part of the religious Exercise on the <i>Lord&#8217;s-day</i>.</p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>XI. There is an universal Love and Practice of <i>Drollery</i> and <i>Ridicule</i>
+in all, even the most <i>serious</i> <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span>Men, in the most <i>serious Places</i>, and on
+the most <i>serious Occasions</i>. Go into the Privy-Councils of Princes, into
+Senates, into Courts of Judicature, and into the Assemblies of the Kirk or
+Church; and you will find that Wit, good Humour, Ridicule, and Drollery,
+mix themselves in all the Questions before those Bodies; and that the most
+solemn and sour Person there present, will ever be found endeavouring, at
+least, to crack his Jest, in order to raise a Character for Wit; which has
+so great an Applause attending it, and renders Men so universally
+acceptable for their Conversation, and places them above the greatest
+Proficients in the Sciences, that almost every one is intoxicated with the Passion of aiming at it.</p>
+
+<p>In the Reports made to us of the Debates in the Houses of Lords, Commons,
+and Convocation, the serious Parts of the Speeches there made die for the
+most part with the Sound; but the Wit, the Irony, the Drollery, the
+Ridicule, the Satire, and Repartees, are thought worthy to be remember&#8217;d
+and repeated in Conversation, and make a Part of the History of the
+Proceedings of those Bodies, no less than their grave Transactions, as some such must necessarily be.</p>
+
+<p>Whoever will look into Antiquity for an Account of the Lives, Actions, and
+Works of the old Philosophers, will find little remaining of them; but
+some of their witty, drolling, and bantering Sayings, which alone have
+been thought worthy to be preserv&#8217;d to Posterity. And if you will look
+into the Lives of the modern Statesmen, Philosophers, Divines, Lawyers,
+<i>&amp;c.</i> you will find that their witty Sayings ever make a considerable
+Part: by reporting which great Honour is intended to be done to their
+Memory. The great and most religious Philosopher Dr. <i>H. More</i>, has a
+great many Pieces<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span> of Wit attributed to him in his <i>Life</i> by Mr. <i>Ward</i>,
+who represents him from his Companions, <small><a name="f101.1" id="f101.1" href="#f101">[101]</a></small> <i>as one of the merriest
+Greeks they were acquainted with</i>, and tells us, that the Doctor said in
+his <i>last Illness</i>, to him<small><a name="f102.1" id="f102.1" href="#f102">[102]</a></small>, <i>that the merry way was that which he saw
+mightily to take; and so he used it the more</i>.</p>
+
+<p>The great and famous Sir <i>Thomas More</i>, Lord Chancellor of <i>England</i> in
+<i>Henry</i> the Eighth&#8217;s time, was an inexhaustible Source of <i>Drollery</i><small><a name="f103.1" id="f103.1" href="#f103">[103]</a></small>,
+as his voluminous Works, which consist for the most part of controversial
+Divinity in behalf of Popery, show, and which are many of them written in
+Dialogue, the better to introduce the <i>drolling</i> Way of Writing, which he
+has us&#8217;d in such Perfection, that it is said <small><a name="f104.1" id="f104.1" href="#f104">[104]</a></small> <i>none can ever be weary
+of reading them, tho they be never so long</i>. Nor could Death it self, in
+immediate view before his Eyes, suppress his <i>merry</i> Humour, and hinder
+him from cracking <i>Jests</i> on the <i>Scaffold</i>; tho he was a Man of great
+<i>Piety</i> and <i>Devotion</i>, whereof all the World was convinced by his Conduct
+both in his Life and at his Death.</p>
+
+<p>It is said (as I have before observ&#8217;d) of my Lord Chancellor <i>Clarendon</i>,
+that &#8220;he had too much <i>Levity</i> in his <i>Wit</i><small><a name="f105.1" id="f105.1" href="#f105">[105]</a></small>, and that he did not
+always observe the <i>Decorum</i> of his Post.&#8221; Which implies not only his
+Approbation of <i>Drollery</i> in the most <i>grave</i> Business, but also his great
+Knowledge of Mankind, by applying to them in that <i>Way</i>; which he knew
+from Experience, and especially from the common <i>drolling</i> <small><a name="f106.1" id="f106.1" href="#f106">[106]</a></small>
+Conversation in the Court of King <i>Charles</i> the Second, would recommend
+him to the World much more than an <i>impartial Administration of Justice</i>;
+which is less felt, less understood, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span>and less taken notice of and
+applauded, than a <i>Piece</i> of <i>Wit</i>; which is generally suppos&#8217;d to imply
+in it a great deal of Knowledge, and a Capacity fit for any thing.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. <i>Whiston</i><small><a name="f107.1" id="f107.1" href="#f107">[107]</a></small>, a famous Person among us, sets up for great <i>Gravity</i>,
+and proposes a Scheme of <i>Gravity</i> for the Direction of those who write
+about Religion: He is for allowing <i>Unbelievers</i>, nay for having them
+&#8220;invited by Authority to produce all the real or original Evidence they
+think they have discover&#8217;d against any Parts of the <i>Bible</i>; against any
+Parts of the <i>Jewish</i> and Christian Religions, in order to their being
+fully weigh&#8217;d and consider&#8217;d by all learned Men; provided at the same
+time, that the whole be done <i>gravely</i>, and <i>seriously</i>, without all
+<i>Levity</i>, <i>Banter</i>, and <i>Ridicule</i>.&#8221; And yet this Man, having a handle
+given him by Bishop <i>Robinson</i>&#8217;s Letter to the <i>Clergy</i> of his <i>Diocess</i>
+about <i>New Doxologies borrow&#8217;d from Old Hereticks</i>, takes the advantage of
+the Bishop&#8217;s (supposed) Ignorance, Dulness, Stupidity, and Contradiction
+to himself, and writes and prints, like a <i>Tom Brown</i> or <i>Swift</i>, a most
+<i>bantering</i> and <i>drolling</i> Letter, under the sneering Title of a <i>Letter
+of Thanks to the Right Reverend the Lord Bishop of</i> London, <i>for his late
+Letter</i>, &amp;c. whom, one would think, he should not only have spar&#8217;d, but
+have applauded for his <i>profound Gravity</i>, and carrying on the Cause of
+Religion in a very remarkable manner, with the most <i>consummate
+Solemnity</i>. But so strong was the Temptation, so naturally productive of
+Mirth was the Bishop&#8217;s <i>Cause</i>, and his grave Management thereof, as that
+he could not help laughing at the Bishop, by himself; and so was led on
+mechanically to write in that Humour, and to publish what he wrote, and
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span>afterwards to defend his drole
+<i>Manner</i> <small><a name="f108.1" id="f108.1" href="#f108">[108]</a></small> of attacking the Bishop,
+against those who took <i>offence</i> at that <i>Manner</i> of writing.</p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>XII. The burning Papists themselves are not always <i>serious</i> with us: They
+treat the Church and its Defenders as <i>fanatical</i>, and <i>laugh</i> at them as
+<i>such</i>, just as the Church does the Dissenters, and have their elaborate
+Works of <i>Drollery</i> against their Adversaries. They publish&#8217;d a Poem
+against the <i>Reformation</i>, just before the Death of Queen <i>Anne</i>, which
+was design&#8217;d to have given such a Stroke to the Protestant Religion among
+us, under the new projected Revolution, as <i>Hudibras</i> did to <i>Puritanism</i>
+after the <i>Restoration</i>. The Popish Editor, in the Preface to the said
+Poem, says, &#8220;that the Motive of the Author (<i>Thomas Ward</i>) for publishing
+the <i>History of the Reformation in a Burlesque Style</i> (tho a History full
+of melancholy Incidents, which have distracted the Nation, even beyond the
+hope of recovery, after so much Blood drawn from all its Veins, and from
+its Head) was that which he met with in Sir <i>Roger L&#8217;Estrange</i>&#8217;s Preface
+to the second Part of his <i>Cit</i> and <i>Bumkin</i>, express&#8217;d in these Words;
+<i>Tho this way of fooling is not my Talent, nor Inclination; yet I have
+great Authorities for the taking up this Humour, in regard not only of the
+Subject, but of the Age we live in; which is so much upon the Drole, that
+hardly any thing else will down with it.</i>&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>And the ingenious Protestant Editor of this Poem at <i>London</i>, which he
+allows to have some Wit in it, concludes the Remarks he makes upon it, by
+saying, &#8220;One thing more we can&#8217;t forbear hinting at, that a Retaliation
+would be as happy <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span>a Thought as could enter into the Head of a Man of
+Genius and Spirit. What a fruitful Harvest would the Legends, Tricks,
+spiritual Jugglings, Convents, and Nunneries, yield to a good Poet?
+<i>Buchanan</i> in his <i>Franciscani</i>, and <i>Oldham</i> in his <i>Satires</i> on the
+Jesuits, have open&#8217;d the Way, and we heartily wish some equal Pen would
+write the whole Mystery of Iniquity at length.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>XIII. All the old Puritan Preachers, who were originally Divines of the
+Church of <i>England</i>, sprinkled and season&#8217;d their Sermons with a great
+many <i>drolling</i> Sayings against <i>Libertinism</i> and <i>Vice</i>, and against
+Church Ceremonies; many of which Sayings are reported and handed down to
+us in Books and Conversation, as are also the Effects of those Sayings,
+which we are told converted many to <i>Christ</i> on the Spot, or in the
+Instant of Delivery. Nor is that manner wholly laid aside, but has
+continued to be kept alive by some Hands at all times; who have been
+greatly follow&#8217;d for their Success in drolling upon <i>Sinners</i>, and
+treating of Religion in humoursom and fantastical Phrases, and fixing that
+way of Religion in some Mens Minds.</p>
+
+<p>I do not remember to have met with a more complete Drole in the Church of
+<i>England</i>, or in any other of the <i>laughing</i> or <i>ridiculing</i> Sects, than
+<i>Andrew Marvel</i> of the grave <i>Puritan</i> Sect, in many Works of his both in
+Prose and Verse, but especially in his <i>Rehearsal Transprosed</i>; which tho
+writ against <i>Parker</i>, who with great Eloquence, Learning, and a Torrent
+of Drollery and Satire, had defended the Court and Church&#8217;s Cause, in
+asserting the Necessity of Penal Laws against the Nonconformists, &#8220;was
+read from the <i>King</i> down to the Tradesman with great pleasure, on account
+of that Burlesque Strain and lively Drollery that ran thro&#8217; it,&#8221;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span> as
+Bishop <i>Burnet</i> tells us<small><a name="f109.1" id="f109.1" href="#f109">[109]</a></small>. Nor were the gravest <i>Puritans</i> and
+Dissenters among us less taken and pleas&#8217;d with his Writings for their
+<i>Drollery</i>, than our <i>drole King</i>; tho there are some Passages in them,
+which should give just Offence to chaste Ears.</p>
+
+<p>I find also, that the <i>Puritans</i> and <i>Dissenters</i> have always born with,
+and allow&#8217;d of, a great Mixture of <i>Drollery</i> in their Sermons, that one
+would think should offend their Gravity, and pious Ears; and that they
+applaud their Ministers for such their Discourses, as much as the Church
+does Dr. <i>South</i> for the Ribaldry sprinkled thro&#8217;out his Sermons about the
+most high Points in Divinity. They have always had some eminent Divines
+among them who have been remarkable for such Passages and Reflections: And
+these have never lessen&#8217;d their number of Auditors, nor drawn upon
+themselves the Character of <i>Irreligious</i>; but have had the largest
+Auditories of contributing Hearers, as well as of Churchmen, who came to
+smile, and have been esteem&#8217;d very <i>pious</i> Men.</p>
+
+<p>In fine, the <i>Puritans</i> and <i>Dissenters</i> have, like the Church, their
+Taste of Humour, Irony, and Ridicule, which they promote with great Zeal,
+as a Means to serve Religion: And I remember, that, among other things
+said in behalf of <i>Bunyan</i>&#8217;s <i>Pilgrim&#8217;s Progress</i>, upon the reprinting it
+lately by Subscription, it was affirm&#8217;d, and that, in my Opinion, truly,
+&#8220;that it had infinitely out-done <i>The Tale of a Tub</i>; which perhaps had
+not made one Convert to Infidelity, whereas the <i>Pilgrim&#8217;s Progress</i> had
+converted many Sinners to <i>Christ</i>.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>XIV. The <i>Quakers</i> are certainly the most <i>serious</i> and solemn People
+among us in Matters of Religion,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span> and out-go the Dissenters of all other
+Kinds therein: But yet the Church has no regard to them on that Account,
+but takes Advantage from thence to <i>ridicule</i> them the more, and to call
+their Sincerity more in question. And I much doubt whether there was ever
+a Book written against them by the Divines of any Sect with perfect
+Decency, and that had not its extravagant Flouts, Scorn, Banter, and
+Irony, and that not only of the <i>laughing</i>, but of the <i>cruel</i> kind:
+Wherein they copy&#8217;d after the <i>Jews</i> of old, who while they prosecuted
+<i>Christ</i> to Death, and carried on their High-Church Tragedy against him,
+acted against him the <i>comick Scenes</i> <small><a name="f110.1" id="f110.1" href="#f110">[110]</a></small> &#8220;of spitting in his Face, and
+buffeting him with the Palms of their Hands, saying, <i>Prophesy unto us,
+thou Christ, who is he that smote thee</i>;&#8221; and who, when they had nail&#8217;d
+him to the Cross, <i>revil&#8217;d</i> him with divers <i>Taunts</i>, in which the <i>Chief
+Priests</i>, <i>Scribes</i>, <i>Elders</i>, and even the <i>Thieves, which were crucified
+with him</i>, concurr&#8217;d. But yet for all this, these solemn Quakers
+themselves are not altogether averse to <i>Irony</i> and <i>Ridicule</i>, and use it
+when they can. Their Books abound in Stories to ridicule in their Turn the
+Priests, their great and bitter Adversaries: And they please themselves
+with throwing at the Priests the <i>Centuries of Scandalous Ministers</i>, and
+the Books of the <i>Cobler of</i> Glocester. They have also their Satirist and
+Banterer, <i>Samuel Fisher</i>; whose Works, tho all wrote in the <i>drolling</i>
+Style and Manner, they pride themselves in, and have collected into one
+great Volume in <i>Folio</i>; in which Quaker-Wit and Irony are set up against
+Church, Presbyterian, and Independent Wit and Irony, without the least
+Scruple of the lawfulness of such Arms. In a word, their Author acts the
+Part of a <i>Jack-Pudding</i>, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span><i>Merry Andrew</i>, or <i>Buffoon</i>, with all the
+seeming Right, Authority, and Privilege, of the Member of some Establish&#8217;d
+Church of abusing all the World but themselves. The <i>Quakers</i> have also
+encourag&#8217;d and publish&#8217;d a most arch Book of the famous <i>Henry Stubbe</i>,
+intitled, <i>A Light shining out of Darkness</i>, &amp;c. Wherein all the other
+religious Parties among us are as handsomly and learnedly banter&#8217;d and
+ridicul&#8217;d, as the <i>Quakers</i> have been in any Book against them. And when
+they were attack&#8217;d by one <i>Samuel Young</i>, a whimsical
+Presbyterian-Buffoon-Divine, who call&#8217;d himself <i>Trepidantium Malleus</i>,
+and set up for an Imitator of Mr. <i>Alsop</i>, in several Pamphlets full of
+Stories, Repartees, and Ironies; in which <i>Young</i>, perhaps, thought
+himself as secure from a Return of the like kind, as a Ruffian or Thief
+may when he assaults Men: His Attacks were repell&#8217;d in a Book intitled
+&#8220;<i>Trepidantium Malleus intrepidanter malleatus</i>; or the West Country
+Wiseaker&#8217;s crack-brain&#8217;d <i>Reprimand</i> hammer&#8217;d about his own Numbscul.
+Being a <i>Joco-satirical</i> Return to a late Tale of a Tub, emitted by a
+reverend <i>Non-con</i>, at present residing not far from <i>Bedlam</i>,&#8221; said to be
+written by <i>William Penn</i>, who has therein made use of the carnal Weapons
+of Irony and Banter, and dress&#8217;d out the Presbyterian Priest in a Fool&#8217;s
+Coat, for a Spectacle to the Mob. It is also to be observ&#8217;d, that there
+are several Tracts in the two Volumes of <i>William Penn</i>&#8217;s Works lately
+publish&#8217;d, that for ingenious Banter and Irony, are much superior to the
+Priests his Adversaries; and that other Quaker Authors profess to write
+sometimes in a <small><a name="f111.1" id="f111.1" href="#f111">[111]</a></small> <i>drolling Style</i>.</p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>XV. The Jacobite Clergy have set up for great <i>Droles</i> upon all the true
+Friends of the <i>Establishment</i>. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span>And I presume, the Body of our High
+Churchmen would not willingly deprive them of the Benefit of their
+<i>Drollery</i>.</p>
+
+<p>The celebrated Mr. <i>Collier</i> <small><a name="f112.1" id="f112.1" href="#f112">[112]</a></small> thus attacks Bishop <i>Burnet</i>, for his
+<span class="smcap">Essay</span> <i>on the Memory of Queen</i> Mary. &#8220;This Doctor, you know, is a Man of
+mighty <i>Latitude</i>, and can say any thing to serve a Turn; whose
+<i>Reverence</i> resolves Cases of Conscience backwards and forwards, disputes
+<i>pro</i> and <i>con</i>, praises and dispraises by secular Measures; with whom
+Virtue and Vice, passive Obedience and Rebellion, Parricide and filial
+Duty, Treachery and Faithfulness, and all the Contradictions in Nature,
+are the <i>best</i> and <i>worst</i> things under the Sun, as they are for his
+Purpose, and according as the Wind sits: who equally and indifferently
+writes for and against all Men, the Gospel, and himself too, as the World
+goes: who can bestow a Panegyrick upon the seven deadly Sins, and (if
+there be occasion) can make an Invective against all the Commandments.&mdash;&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>In relation to Dr. <i>Payne</i>&#8217;s <i>Sermon</i> on the Death of that <i>Queen</i>, he
+says<small><a name="f113.1" id="f113.1" href="#f113">[113]</a></small>, &#8220;that to go thro&#8217; it is too great a Discipline for any Man,
+whose Palate hath ever relish&#8217;d any thing above <i>three half-penny
+Poetry</i>.&#8221; He adds, &#8220;Why, Sir, many Years ago I have heard some of it sung
+about the Streets in wretched and nauseous <i>Doggrel</i>. What think you of
+this? <i>Page</i> 6. <i>I know not how to draw her Picture, &#8217;tis so all over
+beauteous, without any Foil, any Shade, any Blemish; so perfect in every
+Feature, so accomplish&#8217;d in every Part, so adorn&#8217;d with every Perfection
+and every Grace.</i> O rare, Sir! here&#8217;s <i>Phillis</i> and <i>Chloris</i>, and <i>Gillian a Croydon</i>.</p>
+
+<p class="poem"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span>
+&#8220;<i>Sh&#8217; hath</i> every Feature, every Grace,<br />
+&#8220;<i>So charming</i> every part, <i>&amp;c</i>.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Tis no wonder he tells us, (<i>p.</i> 8.) of <i>strewing her with the Flowers of
+withered and decay&#8217;d Poetry</i>; for the <i>Song</i> out of which he hath
+transcrib&#8217;d his <i>Sermon</i>, is of very <i>great age</i>, and hath been sung at
+many a <i>Whitsun-Ale</i>, and many a <i>Wedding</i> (tho I believe never at a
+Funeral before) and therefore in all this time may well be <i>decay&#8217;d and
+wither&#8217;d</i>: In the mean time, if you were to draw the Picture of a <i>great
+Princess</i>, I fansy you would not make choice of <i>Mopsa</i> to sit to it.
+Alas! Sir, there was <i>Cassandra</i> and <i>Cleopatra</i>, and many a famed
+<i>Romance</i> more, which might have furnish&#8217;d him with handsome Characters,
+and yet he must needs be <i>preaching and instructing</i> his People out of
+<i>Hey down derry</i>, and the <i>fair Maid of</i> Kent. If he had intitled it,
+<i>The</i> White-Chapel <i>Ballad</i>, and got some body to set it to the Tune of
+<i>Amaryllis</i>, compos&#8217;d by <i>W. P. Songster</i>, the Character of the <i>Author</i>,
+the <i>Title</i>, and the <i>Matter</i>, would have very well agreed, and perhaps it
+might have passed at the Corners of the Streets; but to call it a
+<i>Sermon</i>, and by <i>W. P.</i> Doctor in <i>Divinity</i>, &#8217;tis one of the <i>lewdest</i>
+things in the World.&mdash;&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Mr. <i>Lesley</i> attacks the Clergy, who pray&#8217;d &#8220;that God would give King
+<i>James</i> Victory over all his Enemies<small><a name="f114.1" id="f114.1" href="#f114">[114]</a></small>, when that was the thing they
+least wish&#8217;d; and confess&#8217;d, that they labour&#8217;d all they could against
+it,&#8221; saying, &#8220;good God! What Apprehensions, what Thought had those Men of
+their publick Prayers; bantering God Almighty,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span> and mocking him to his
+Face, who heard their Words, and saw their Hearts? Is not <i>Atheism</i> a
+smaller Sin than this, since it is better to have no God, than so to set up one <i>to laugh at him</i>.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Again he says, (<i>p.</i> 123.) &#8220;It is a severe Jest, that the common People
+have got up against the Clergy, that there was but one thing formerly
+which the Parliament could not do, that is, to make a Man a Woman: But now
+there is another, that is, to make an Oath which the Clergy will not take.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The same Author attacks Bishop <i>Burnet</i>&#8217;s <i>Speech upon the Bill against
+Occasional Conformity</i>, by a Pamphlet intitled, <i>The Bishop of</i>
+Salisbury<i>&#8217;s proper Defence from a Speech cry&#8217;d about the Streets in his
+Name, and said to have been spoken by him in the House of Lords upon the
+Bill against Occasional Conformity</i>; which is one perpetual <i>Irony</i> on the
+Bishop, and gives the Author occasion to throw all manner of Satire and
+Abuse on the Bishop. The beginning of this Pamphlet, which is as follows,
+will let the Reader into the full Knowledge of the Design of the Irony, and the manner of Execution.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The License of this Age and of the Press is so great, that no Rank or
+Quality of Men is free from the Insults of loose and extravagant Wits.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The good Bishop of <i>Salisbury</i> has had a plentiful Share in this sort of
+Treatment: And now at last, some or other has presum&#8217;d to burlesque his
+Lordship in printing a Speech for him, which none that knows his Lordship can believe ever came from him.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But because it may go down with others who are too apt to take Slander
+upon trust, and that his Lordship has already been pelted with several<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span>
+Answers to his Speech, I have presum&#8217;d to offer the following
+Considerations, to clear his Lordship from the Suspicion of having vented
+(in such an august Assembly) those crude and undigested Matters which are
+set forth in that Speech, and which so highly reflect on his Lordship&#8217;s self.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He has taken the same Method of Irony to attack the said Bishop for his
+<i>Speech</i> on the <i>Trial</i> of <i>Sacheverel</i>, and for a <i>Sermon</i>, under this
+Title, &#8220;The Good Old Cause, <i>or</i> Lying in Truth; being a Second Defence of
+the Lord Bishop of <i>Sarum</i> from a Second Speech, and also the Dissection
+of a Sermon it is said his Lordship preach&#8217;d in the Cathedral Church of
+<i>Salisbury</i>.&#8221; And this Pamphlet, which is also a continued Banter, begins thus.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No Man has more deserv&#8217;d than this good Bishop, and no Man has been
+more persecuted by various Ways and Means than his Lordship, even to
+mobbing! But the ugliest and most malicious of all these Arts, is
+that of putting false Things upon him; to write scandalous,
+seditious, and senseless Papers, and to affix his Lordship&#8217;s Name! I
+was forc&#8217;d some Years ago to vindicate his Lordship&#8217;s Reputation from
+one of this sort: That Speech had a Bookseller&#8217;s Name to it of good
+figure, and look&#8217;d something like; but this Speech (said likewise to
+be spoken in the House of Lords) has no body to own it, and has all
+the Marks of <i>Grub</i>. But the nasty Phiz is nothing to the inside. That discovers the Man; the Heart is false.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>This same Author has thought fit to attack Mr. <i>Hoadley</i> (since a Bishop)
+in the way of Banter: His<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span> <i>Best Answer ever was made, and to which no
+Answer will ever be made</i>, is by his own Confession a <i>Farce</i>; when he
+says in his <i>Preface</i>, &#8220;If you ask why I treat this Subject by way of
+<i>farce</i>, and shew a little Merriment sometimes? it was because the
+Foundation you stand upon is not only <i>false</i> but <i>ridiculous</i>, and ought
+to be treated with the <i>utmost Contempt</i>.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Again, in his &#8220;<i>Finishing Stroke, in defence of</i> his <i>Rehearsals, Best
+Answer, and Best of all</i>,&#8221; he gives us (<i>p.</i> 125.) what he calls, &#8220;A
+Battle-Royal between three Cocks of the Game, <i>Higden</i>, <i>Hoadley</i>, and a
+<i>Hottentot</i>;&#8221; which in the <i>Contents</i> he calls <i>A Farce</i>, and to which he
+joins both a <i>Prologue</i> and <i>Epilogue</i>, and divers other Particulars, all
+taken from the <i>Play-house</i>.</p>
+
+<p>The Reverend Mr. <i>Matthias Earbery</i> sets up for a great Satirist and Drole
+upon the swearing and Low-Church Clergy, in numerous Pamphlets of late,
+more particularly in his &#8220;<i>Serious Admonition to Dr.</i> Kennet: To which is
+added, a short but complete Answer to Mr. <i>Marshal</i>&#8217;s late Treatise
+called, <i>A Defence of our Constitution in Church and State</i>; and a
+Parallel is drawn between him and Dr. <i>Kennet</i>, for the Satisfaction of
+the unprejudic&#8217;d Reader.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He has a bantering Argument <small><a name="f115.1" id="f115.1" href="#f115">[115]</a></small> to shew, that, &#8220;If in future Ages Mr.
+<i>Marshal</i>&#8217;s Book should escape the just Judgment it deserves, of being
+condemn&#8217;d to the <i>Pastry-Cooks</i> and <i>Grocers</i>, an industrious Chronologist
+might make an Observation to prove him too young to write it.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The <i>Parallel</i> is in <i>Pag.</i> 126, which being very gross <i>Raillery</i>, I only
+refer you to it.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span>This Mr. <i>Earbery</i> also wrote a <i>Letter to Bishop</i> Fleetwood, under the
+Title of &#8220;A Letter to the Bishop of <i>Ely</i>, upon the Occasion of his
+<i>suppos&#8217;d</i> late <i>Charge</i>, said to be deliver&#8217;d at <i>Cambridge August</i> 7,
+1716, <i>&amp;c.</i>&#8221; in which he pursues the Ironical Scheme laid down in the said
+Title, and endeavours to <i>vindicate</i> his <i>Lordship from the Aspersion of
+writing such a mean Pamphlet</i>, as the <i>Charge</i>.</p>
+
+<p>Nor do these <i>Jacobites</i> confine their Drollery to their Adversaries
+without, but exercise it on one another, as may be seen in their late
+Dispute about King <i>Edward the Sixth</i>&#8217;s Liturgy. And Mr. <i>Lesley</i> himself,
+happening to engage on the side opposite to the Traditions of the Fathers,
+and attacking those Traditions by Low-Church Notions and Arguments, and
+thereby running counter to all his former Books, is attack&#8217;d just in the
+same manner he attack&#8217;d Bishop <i>Burnet</i>, in a Book under this Title, &#8220;Mr.
+<i>Lesley</i>&#8217;s Defence, from some erroneous and dangerous Principles, advanced
+in a Letter said to have been written concerning the New Separation.&#8221; And
+it has several Paragraphs at the beginning in the very words of one of Mr.
+<i>Lesley</i>&#8217;s Books against the said Bishop, as may be seen on Comparison.</p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>XVI. <i>Christ-Church</i> in <i>Oxford</i> is no less famous for the <i>Drolling</i>,
+than for the <i>Orthodox</i> Spirit reigning there; and the former, being
+judged an excellent Method to support the latter, is cultivated among the
+Youth, and employ&#8217;d by the Members of that Society against all the
+supposed Adversaries of the Church, and encourag&#8217;d by the governing
+Ecclesiasticks there and elsewhere.</p>
+
+<p>Among the many, who have receiv&#8217;d their Education there, and been form&#8217;d
+in Drollery, I will only instance in the Reverend Dr. <i>Atterbury</i> and Dr.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span>
+<i>South</i>; who being as famous for <i>Drollery</i> as for Zeal for Religion, and
+applauded for their <i>Wit</i> no less than for their <i>Orthodoxy</i>; and
+particularly for imploying the former in behalf of the latter, seem of
+sufficient Weight to bear down all Attempts to stifle their Productions.
+What Considerations can make us amends for the Loss of such excellent
+<i>drolling Writings</i>, which promote Religion as well as Mirth?</p>
+
+<p>With what incomparable Mockery, Ridicule and Sarcasm does Dr. <i>Atterbury</i>
+treat all the Low-Church Clergy that come in his way, together with the
+<i>Whig</i> Ministry and Administration in his several <i>Convocational Tracts</i>?
+Dr. <i>Wake</i>, our present Archbishop of <i>Canterbury</i>, is represented by him
+as writing so <i>contumeliously</i> <small><a name="f116.1" id="f116.1" href="#f116">[116]</a></small> of the Clergy, <i>that had he not
+inform&#8217;d us in his Title Page who he was, we should rather have guess&#8217;d
+him to have been of the Cabal against Priests and Priestcraft, than one of
+the Order</i>; and as wholly govern&#8217;d by <small><a name="f117.1" id="f117.1" href="#f117">[117]</a></small> <i>Interest</i> in the <i>Debate</i>,
+and as giving us a most <small><a name="f118.1" id="f118.1" href="#f118">[118]</a></small> <i>shallow empty Performance</i> in relation to
+our Ecclesiastical Constitution, which he <small><a name="f119.1" id="f119.1" href="#f119">[119]</a></small> <i>has done his best to
+undermine</i>, as knowing himself to be in the wrong; and as <i>deserving</i> any
+Name or Censure, none being <i>too bad to be bestow&#8217;d</i> on him; and in fine,
+as <i>the least of the little officious Pens by which he expects to be traduc&#8217;d</i>.</p>
+
+<p>Dr. <i>Bentley</i> is represented as <i>wrote out of Reputation into Preferment</i>;
+which, whether it be a more severe Sarcasm on the Doctor, than on the
+Government, is hard to determine; and besides, it gives Applause to one of
+the most drolling and bantering Performances that this drolling Age has
+produc&#8217;d, I mean <i>Dr.</i> Bentley<i>&#8217;s Dissertations on the Epistles of</i>
+Phalaris, <i>and the Fables of</i> &AElig;sop, <i>examin&#8217;d</i>.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span>Bishop <i>Burnet</i> is a standing Subject of Ridicule with him; as are Bishop
+<i>Nicholson</i>, Bishop <i>Kennet</i>, Bishop <i>Gibson</i>, Bishop <i>Trimnel</i> [to whom
+he writes a most drolling <small><a name="f120.1" id="f120.1" href="#f120">[120]</a></small> Letter] and Dr. <i>West</i>; and all the
+Topicks that can affect them as Scholars, as honest Men, and Clergymen,
+are imploy&#8217;d to render them <ins class="correction" title="original reads 'ridiulons'">ridiculous</ins>, and set the World a laughing at
+them, who are not in the least spar&#8217;d for their being of the Holy Order;
+but on the contrary seem more loaded and baited with Sarcasms for that
+reason.</p>
+
+<p>For a <i>Specimen</i>, take this Banter or Burlesque upon Bishop <i>Kennet</i>&#8217;s
+Dedication of his <i>Ecclesiastical Synods and Parliamentary Convocations</i>,
+&amp;c. to the Archbishop of <i>Canterbury</i>; which Banter runs thus<small><a name="f121.1" id="f121.1" href="#f121">[121]</a></small>.</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">&#8220;<i>May it please your Grace</i>,</span></p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Mr. <i>Atterbury</i> has lately forc&#8217;d a Dedication upon you, which
+favours too much of Presumption or Design; he has presum&#8217;d to
+surprize you with an unexpected Address, and appears very indecently
+before your Grace, because he has taken no care to express upon this
+Subject a due Respect and Reverence to the Governors in Church and
+State, such as is suitable to the Christian Religion, and his
+particular Function: The Reports and Authorities in his Book are
+Fruits of other Mens Collections, not the immediate Effects of his
+own Searches into <i>Registers</i> and <i>Records</i>; he imperiously summons
+your Grace and my Lords the Bishops to an immediate Compliance upon
+pain of being pronounc&#8217;d Betrayers of the Church&mdash;&mdash;This, my Lord, is
+the Character of the Person <i>I set up</i> against; but as for me, I <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span>am
+quite another sort of Man, I am very well bred, a great Antiquary,
+beholden to no body, <i>some Wits and merry Folks call me a Tool and a
+Play-thing</i> (<i>Pref. p.</i> 8.) But I assure your Grace, that what
+Freedom soever I may have taken in taxing the Vices of the inferior
+<i>Clergy</i>, (<i>p.</i> 77. 188.) and in reflecting <i>upon the ambitious
+Designs of dignify&#8217;d Presbyters</i> (<i>p.</i> 196.); yet <i>I am however
+tender and dutiful in treating the Governors of our Church</i> (p. 78.);
+especially <i>those of them who are of the Ecclesiastical Commission
+for Preferments</i>, (p. 311). I have a very great Respect and Reverence
+for every body that will give me any thing; and how resolute soever
+Mr. <i>Atterbury</i> may be, your Grace may do what you please with</p>
+
+<p><span style="margin-left: 6em;"><i>Your Grace&#8217;s most humble</i></span></p>
+
+<p><span style="margin-left: 8em;"><i>and obedient Servant</i>,</span></p>
+
+<p><span style="margin-left: 10em;">WHITE KENNET.</span></p></div>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>But for <i>Drollery</i>, the Reverend Dr. <i>South</i> outdoes even <i>Christ-Church</i>,
+and fills all his Performances with it, and throws it out against the
+Enemies of the Church, and in particular against the late Dr. <i>Sherlock</i>,
+whom he thought fit to single out. I shall select some Passages from his
+Writings against the said Doctor, which cannot but entertain the
+High-Church Orthodox Reader, and reconcile him to a <i>Drollery</i> so well
+employ&#8217;d.</p>
+
+<p>He stiles him <i>a great good Man, as a certain poor Wretch</i>, meaning
+<i>Prior, calls him</i>.</p>
+
+<p>Again, he says<small><a name="f122.1" id="f122.1" href="#f122">[122]</a></small>, &#8220;There is hardly any one Subject which he (that is
+Dr. <i>Sherlock</i>) has wrote upon<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span> Popery excepted, that he has wrote both
+for it and against it. Could any thing be more sharp and bitter against
+the Dissenters than what this Man wrote in his <i>Answer</i> to the <i>Protestant
+Reconciler</i>; and yet how frankly, or rather fulsomly does he open both his
+Arms to embrace them in his Sermon preach&#8217;d before the Lord Mayor on
+<i>November</i> 4, 1688. Tho I dare say, that the Dissenters themselves are of
+that Constancy, as to own that they were of the same Principles in 88 that
+they were of in 85; but the Truth is, old Friendships cannot be so easily
+forgot: And it has been an Observation made by some, that hardly can any
+one be found, who was first tainted with a Conventicle, whom a Cathedral
+could ever after cure, but that still upon every cross turn of Affairs
+against the <i>Church</i>, the irresistible <i>Magnetism</i> of the <i>Good Old Cause</i>
+(as some still think it) would quickly draw him out of the <i>Good Old Way</i>.
+The Fable tells us of a <i>Cat</i> once turn&#8217;d into a <i>Woman</i>, but the next
+sight of a <i>Mouse</i> quickly dissolv&#8217;d the <i>Metamorphosis</i>, cashier&#8217;d the
+Woman, and restor&#8217;d the Brute. And some <i>Virtuosi</i> (skill&#8217;d in the <i>useful
+Philosophy</i> of <i>Alterations</i>) have thought her much a Gainer by the latter
+Change, there being so many unlucky Turns in the World, in which it is not
+half so safe and advantageous to <i>walk upright</i>, as to be <i>able to fall
+always upon one&#8217;s Legs</i>.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Again, Dr. <i>South</i> says<small><a name="f123.1" id="f123.1" href="#f123">[123]</a></small>, &#8220;When I consider how wonderfully pleas&#8217;d the
+Man is with these two new started Terms (<i>Self-consciousness</i> and <i>mutual
+Consciousness</i>) so high in Sound and so empty of Sense, instead of one
+substantial word (<i>Omniscience</i>)<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span> which gives us all that can be pretended
+useful in them, with vast Overplus and Advantage, and even swallows them
+up, as <i>Moses</i>&#8217;s Rod did those pitiful Tools of the <i>Magicians</i>: This (I
+say) brings to my mind (whether I will or no) a certain Story of a grave
+Person, who riding in the Road with his Servant, and finding himself
+something uneasy in his Saddle, bespoke his Servant thus: <i>John</i> (says he)
+<i>alight, and first take off the Saddle that is upon my Horse, and then
+take off the Saddle that is upon your Horse; and when you have done this,
+put the Saddle that was upon my Horse, upon your Horse; and put the Saddle
+that was upon your Horse, upon my Horse</i>. Whereupon the Man, who had not
+studied the Philosophy of Saddles (whether <i>Ambling</i> or <i>Trotting</i>) so
+exactly as his Master, replies something short upon him; <i>Lord, Master,
+what need all these words? Could you not as well have said, Let us change
+Saddles?</i> Now I must confess, I think the Servant was much in the right;
+tho the Master having a <i>rational Head of his own</i>, and being withal
+willing to make the <i>Notion</i> of <i>changing</i> Saddles more <i>plain</i>, <i>easy</i>
+and <i>intelligible</i>, and to give a clearer Explication of that word (which
+his Forefathers, how good <i>Horsemen</i> soever they might have been, yet were
+<i>not equally happy in explaining of</i>) was pleas&#8217;d to set it forth by that
+more full and accurate Circumlocution.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He says<small><a name="f124.1" id="f124.1" href="#f124">[124]</a></small>, <i>The Author</i>, Dr. <i>Sherlock, is no doubt a</i> Grecian <i>in his
+Heart</i>! And the tenth Chapter of the <i>Animadversions</i> is one continued
+Banter upon the <i>Dean</i> for his Ignorance in <i>Greek</i> and <i>Latin</i>, and even
+his Inability to spell: All which he <i>closes</i> <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span>with saying, &#8220;That St.
+<i>Paul</i>&#8217;s <i>School</i> is certainly an excellent School, and St. <i>Paul</i>&#8217;s
+Church a most noble Church; and therefore he thinks that he directs his
+Course very prudently, and happily too, who in his Passage to such a
+<i>Cathedral</i>, takes a School in his way.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Again, he says<small><a name="f125.1" id="f125.1" href="#f125">[125]</a></small>, &#8220;He cannot see any new Advantage that the Dean has
+got over the <i>Socinians</i>, unless it be, that the Dean thinks his <i>three
+Gods</i> will be too hard for their <i>one</i>.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>After citing several Scurrilities of the Dean<small><a name="f126.1" id="f126.1" href="#f126">[126]</a></small>, (who it must be
+confess&#8217;d, appears therein a great Banterer also of Dr. <i>South</i> and his
+Performance) the Dr. says, &#8220;These, with several more of the like
+<i>Gravel-Lane</i> Elegancies, are all of them such peculiar Strictures of the
+Dean&#8217;s <i>Genius</i>, that he might very well spare his Name, where he had made
+himself so well known by his Mark; for all the foregoing
+<i>Oyster-Wive-Kennel-Rhetorick</i> seems so naturally to flow from him, who
+had been so long Rector of St. <i>Botolph</i> (with the well-spoken
+<i>Billingsgate</i> under his Care) that (as much a Teacher as he was) it may
+well be question&#8217;d, whether he has learn&#8217;d more from his Parish, than his
+Parish from him.&mdash;All favours of the Porter, the Carman, and the Waterman;
+and a pleasant Scene it must be to see the <i>Master of the Temple</i> laying
+about him in the Language of the Stairs.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>To the Dean&#8217;s Scoff, that <i>this Argument</i>, &amp;c. <i>was worth its weight in
+Gold, tho the</i> Dean <i>fears it will not much enrich the Buyer</i>, the Doctor
+replies<small><a name="f127.1" id="f127.1" href="#f127">[127]</a></small>, &#8220;What is that to him? Let him mind his own Markets, who
+never writes to <i>enrich the Buyer</i> but the Seller;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span> and that <i>Seller</i> is
+himself: and since he is so, well is it for his Books and his Bookseller
+too, that Men generally <i>buy</i> before they <i>read</i>.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>In requital of the scurrilous Character of an <i>ingenious Blunderer</i>, Dr.
+<i>South</i> says<small><a name="f128.1" id="f128.1" href="#f128">[128]</a></small>, &#8220;He must here return upon him the just Charge of an
+<i>impious Blasphemer</i>, and that upon more Accounts than one; telling him
+withal, that had he liv&#8217;d in the former Times of the Church, his Gown
+would have been stript off his Back for his detestable Blasphemies and
+Heresies, and some other Place found out for him to perch in than the Top
+of St. <i>Paul&#8217;s</i>, where at present he is placed like a true Church
+Weather-Cock, (as he is) notable for nothing so much, as <i>standing high and turning round</i>.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Again, he says<small><a name="f129.1" id="f129.1" href="#f129">[129]</a></small>, &#8220;And so I take my leave of the Dean&#8217;s <i>three distinct
+infinite Minds, Spirits</i>, or <i>Substances</i>, that is to say, of his <i>three
+Gods</i>; and having done this, methinks I see him go whimpering away with
+his Finger in his Eye, and the Complaint of <i>Micah</i> in his Mouth, <i>Ye have
+taken away my Gods which I made, and what have I more</i><small><a name="f130.1" id="f130.1" href="#f130">[130]</a></small>? Tho he must
+confess, he cannot tell why he should be so fond of them, since he dares
+undertake that he will never be able to bring the Christian World either
+to believe in, or to worship a <i>Trinity of Gods</i>: Nor does he see what use
+they are likely to be of, even to himself, unless peradventure to <i>swear by</i>.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Again, the Doctor says<small><a name="f131.1" id="f131.1" href="#f131">[131]</a></small>, &#8220;The Dean&#8217;s following Instruction to his
+Friend is certainly very diverting, in these words, where the Animadverter
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span>charges the Dean with Absurdities and Contradictions; turn to the Place
+and read it with its Context, and tell me what you cannot answer, and I
+will; to which he would have done well to have added, <i>If I can</i>. But the
+whole Passage is just as if he had said, Sir, if you find not
+Contradictions and Absurdities enough in my Book to satisfy your Curiosity
+that way, pray come to the Fountain-head, and consult me, and you shall be
+sure of a more plentiful Supply.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Again, upon the Dean&#8217;s &#8220;Frequent reproaching the <small><a name="f132.1" id="f132.1" href="#f132">[132]</a></small> Animadverter with
+the Character of a <i>Wit</i>, tho join&#8217;d with such ill-favour&#8217;d Epithets, as
+his witless Malice has thought fit to degrade it with, as that he is <i>a
+spiteful Wit</i>, a <i>wrangling Wit</i>, a <i>satirical Wit</i>, and the <span class="smcap">Witty</span>,
+<i>subtle</i>, <i>good-natur&#8217;d Animadverter, &amp;c.</i> the Dr. says, that tho there be
+but little <i>Wit</i> shewn in making such Charges; yet if <i>Wit</i> be a
+<i>Reproach</i> (be it of what sort it will) the Animadverter is too <i>just</i> to
+return this <i>Reproach</i> upon the <i>Defender</i>; and withal, understands
+himself, and what becomes him, too well, either to <i>assume</i> to himself, or
+so much as to <i>admit</i> the Character of a <i>Wit</i>, as at all due to him;
+especially since he knows that <i>common Sense</i> (a thing much short of Wit)
+is enough to enable him to deal with such an Adversary. Nevertheless,
+there are many in the World, who are both call&#8217;d and accounted <i>Wits</i>, and
+really are so; which (one would think) should derive something of Credit
+upon this Qualification, even in the Esteem of this Author himself, or at
+least rebate the Edge of his Invectives against it, considering that it
+might have pleas&#8217;d God to have made him a <i>Wit</i> too.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span>XVII. As things now stand, it may easily be seen, that Prosecutions for
+<i>Raillery</i> and <i>Irony</i> would not be relish&#8217;d well by the Publick, and
+would probably turn to the Disreputation and Disgrace of the Prosecutor.</p>
+
+<p>Archbishop <i>Laud</i> has always been much censur&#8217;d for his malicious
+Prosecution of <i>Williams</i> in the <i>Star-Chamber</i>; among whose Crimes I find
+the following laid to his Charge: <small><a name="f133.1" id="f133.1" href="#f133">[133]</a></small> <i>That he said all Flesh in</i>
+England <i>had corrupted their Ways</i>; that <i>he call&#8217;d a Book intitled</i>, A
+Coal from the Altar (written by Dr. <i>Heylin</i>, for placing the
+Communion-Table at the East-end of the Church, and railing it in) <i>a
+Pamphlet</i>; that he <i>scoffingly said, that he had heard of a Mother Church,
+but not of a Mother Chapel, meaning the King&#8217;s, to which all Churches in
+Ceremony ought to conform</i>; that <i>he wickedly jested on St.</i> Martin<i>&#8217;s
+Hood</i>; that <i>he said the People ought not to be lash&#8217;d by every body&#8217;s
+Whip</i>; that <i>he said</i>, (citing <i>a National Council for it</i>) <i>that the
+People are God&#8217;s and the King&#8217;s, and not the Priest&#8217;s People; and that he
+doth not allow Priests to jeer and make Invectives against the People</i>.
+And I humbly conceive, that such Matters had much better be suffer&#8217;d to go
+on in the World, and take their Course, than that Courts of Judicature
+should be employ&#8217;d about them. A Sentence that imply&#8217;d some <i>Clergymen</i>
+corrupt, as well as some <i>Laymen</i>, of whom <i>Laud</i> would only allow to have
+it said, that they had <i>corrupted their Ways</i>; a <i>Jest</i> upon St.
+<i>Martin</i>&#8217;s <i>Hood</i>, which, according to Ecclesiastical History, <i>cur&#8217;d sore
+Eyes</i>; and a <i>Ridicule</i> upon a High-Church Book of <i>Heylin</i>&#8217;s, by calling
+it a Pamphlet, tho it was really a Pamphlet, as consisting of but seventy
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span>Pages in Quarto; seem less <i>wicked</i> and hurtful than disturbing, fining,
+and undoing Men about them. And the having some Concern for the People,
+that they should not be used as the Priest pleas&#8217;d; that the <i>People</i>
+belong to <i>God</i> and the <i>King</i>, and <i>not to the Priest</i>; and the <i>not
+allowing</i> the <i>Priests</i> to <i>jeer and make Invectives against the People</i>;
+seem all Errors fit to be born with.</p>
+
+<p>Archbishop <i>Laud</i> was also thought guilty of an excessive Piece of
+Weakness in the Punishment of <small><a name="f134.1" id="f134.1" href="#f134">[134]</a></small> <i>Archibald</i> the King&#8217;s Fool, by laying
+the Matter before the Privy-Council, and occasioning him to be expell&#8217;d
+the King&#8217;s House for a poor <i>Jest</i> upon himself; who, as he was a Man at
+the Head of the State, should have despis&#8217;d such a thing in any Body, much
+more in a <i>Fool</i>, and who should never have been hurried on to be the
+Instrument of any <i>Motion</i> against him, but have left it to others; who
+upon the least Intimation would have been glad to make their court to
+<i>Laud</i>, by sacrificing a <i>Fool</i> only to his Resentment.</p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>XVIII. I could have entertain&#8217;d the Reader with a great Variety of
+Passages out of the Fathers of the Church, whose Writings are Magazines of
+Authority, and urg&#8217;d upon us upon all Occasions by Ecclesiasticks, and are
+particularly full of <i>Burlesque</i> and <i>Ridicule</i> on the <i>Gods and Religion</i>
+of the <i>Pagans</i>; in the use whereof they are much more unanimous, than in
+the Articles of their <i>Creed</i>. But that being a Subject too great and
+extensive for a Digression, I shall content my self with the few following
+Reflections; which will sufficiently evince, that the <i>Taste</i> of the
+Primitive Christians was like that of the rest <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span>of the World; that they
+could laugh and be as merry as the <i>Greeks</i> and other <i>Pagans</i>; and that
+they would take the Advantage of the <i>Pagans</i> weak Cause, to introduce
+<i>Ridicule</i>, which always bears hard upon Weakness and Folly, and must load
+them so as to prevent a Possibility of their being remov&#8217;d by another
+<i>Ridicule</i>.</p>
+
+<p>These Fathers have transfused into their Writings all the Wit and Raillery
+of the antient <i>Pagan</i> Writers and Philosophers; who it is well known
+wrote a great deal to turn <i>Paganism</i> into Ridicule; most of which now
+exists no where but in the Works of the Fathers; all Books of that kind
+being lost, except <i>Cicero</i>&#8217;s Books of <i>the Nature of Gods</i>, and of
+<i>Divination</i>, and the Dialogues of <i>Lucian</i>; both which Authors have been
+of great use to the <i>Fathers</i> to set them up for <i>Wits</i>, <i>Droles</i>, and
+<i>Satirists</i>. For a Specimen how well these antient <i>Pagans</i> could <i>drole</i>,
+and how much beholden we are to the Fathers for recording their
+Drolleries, the most remarkable, I think, are some <i>Fragments</i> of a Book
+of <i>Oenomaus</i> concerning the <i>Pagan Oracles</i>, cited and preserv&#8217;d by <small><a name="f135.1" id="f135.1" href="#f135">[135]</a></small>
+<i>Eusebius</i>; who has given us occasion to <small><a name="f136.1" id="f136.1" href="#f136">[136]</a></small> <i>regret</i> the loss of this
+Work, as one of the most valuable Books written by the Antients on the
+Subject of <i>Oracles</i>, tho those Books were <i>very numerous</i>. And it is to
+be observ&#8217;d, that this Book and a great many, perhaps a <small><a name="f137.1" id="f137.1" href="#f137">[137]</a></small> thousand
+more, were publish&#8217;d in <i>Greece</i>, where the Imposture of <i>Oracles</i> greatly
+prevail&#8217;d, and great Wealth flow&#8217;d in, not only to the Priests of the
+<i>Oracular Temples</i>, but to all the Inhabitants of <i>Greece</i>, and especially
+to those who lived in the Neighbourhood of the several <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span><i>Oracular
+Temples</i>; who made a great Profit from the rich Travellers, that came from
+all Parts of the World to know their Fortunes. This shews the great
+Integrity and Fairness of the old <i>Pagans</i>; who would suffer not only
+their supposed standing Revelation to be call&#8217;d in <ins class="correction" title="original reads 'qustion'">question</ins>, but a
+Revelation that brought in as much Money, as the Chapels, Churches, and
+Shrines dedicated to the Blessed Virgin, or to any of the Saints, do in
+the <i>Roman</i> Church, without calling any Man to Account for the Liberties
+they took; who, as far as appears, were not expos&#8217;d <small><a name="f138.1" id="f138.1" href="#f138">[138]</a></small> <i>to any Danger</i>
+thereby. It is also to be observ&#8217;d, that the merry <small><a name="f139.1" id="f139.1" href="#f139">[139]</a></small> <i>Epicureans were
+none of them ever prosecuted</i>, and <i>that</i> Epicurus <i>himself died quietly
+at</i> Athens <i>in a very great old Age</i>.</p>
+
+<p>But the Book, which the Fathers made the most use of, was that arch, fly,
+and drolling Performance, now lost, of <i>Evemerus</i>, which he intitled, <i>A
+sacred History</i>: wherein he gave an <i>historical Account</i> of the <i>Birth</i>,
+<i>Country</i>, <i>Lives</i>, <i>Deaths</i>, and <i>Burials</i> of the <i>Gods</i>. This Work was
+translated into <i>Latin</i> by that arch Wag <i>Ennius</i>, who himself has most
+ingeniously <i>ridicul&#8217;d</i> several Impostors or very grave Persons, in a
+remarkable Piece of Poetry, which I shall give my Reader in <i>English</i>.</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+&#8220;<i>I value not a Rush the</i> Marsian <i>Augur,</i><br />
+&#8220;<i>Nor Country-Fortune Tellers, nor Town-Star-Gazers,</i><br />
+&#8220;<i>Nor jugling Gypsies, nor yet Dream-Interpreters:</i><br />
+&#8220;<i>For, not by Skill or Art, are these Diviners;</i><br />
+&#8220;<i>But superstitious Prophets, Guessers impudent,</i><br />
+&#8220;<i>Or idle Rogues, or craz&#8217;d, or mere starving Beggars.</i><br />
+&#8220;<i>They know no way themselves, yet others would direct;</i><br />
+&#8220;<i>And crave a Groat of those, to whom they promise Riches:</i><br />
+&#8220;<i>Thence let them take the Groat, and give back all the rest.</i></p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span>XIX. Wherefore I cannot but presume, that an Attempt to make a <i>Law</i> to
+restrain <i>Irony</i>, &amp;c. would prove abortive, and that the Attempt would be
+deem&#8217;d the Effect of a very partial Consideration of things, and of
+present Anger at a poor Jest; which Men are not able to bear themselves,
+how much soever they abound in <i>Jests</i>, both of the <i>light</i> and <i>cruel</i>
+kind, on others: tho for my own part I concur heartily with you in
+<i>making</i> such a <i>Law</i>, and in leaving it to a Person of your <i>Equity</i> to
+draw it up, craving only the Liberty to propose an Amendment or Addition,
+<i>viz.</i> that you would be pleas&#8217;d to insert a Clause to prevent <i>Irony</i>,
+<i>Ridicule</i>, and <i>Banter</i>, from invading the Pulpit, and particularly to
+prevent pointing out <i>Persons of Men</i> <small><a name="f140.1" id="f140.1" href="#f140">[140]</a></small> from thence, and reviling
+them, as also reviling whole Bodies of Men: For whatever is immoral in
+Print, is, in my Opinion, immoral in the Pulpit. Besides, these things
+seem more improper in the Pulpit, than they can be in Print: because no
+<i>Reprisals</i> can be made in the former, as in the latter Case; where they,
+or the Fear of them, may give some Check to the Disorder, and reduce
+things to a tolerable Temper and Decency. If, in order to justify my
+Motion, it could be thought necessary or proper here to give a Detail of
+ridiculing and ironical Passages, taken from Sermons against particular
+Men, and Bodies of Men, and their Doctrines, you cannot but know how easy
+it would be to fill a Volume with them, without going to Authors, who have
+occasionally produc&#8217;d abundance of them. And I will only mention here a
+Passage in a <i>Volume of Sermons</i>, just now publish&#8217;d, of a well known
+<i>High Divine</i>, the Reverend Mr. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span><i>William Reeves</i>, made famous by his
+<i>Translation</i> of some <i>Apologies of the Primitive Fathers</i>, which gain&#8217;d
+him the Applauses of a great many <i>High Men</i>, and particularly <i>Hickes</i>,
+<i>Dodwel</i>, and <i>Nelson</i>, &amp;c. and a Recommendation from the last to the
+Queen, who in the latter end of her Reign made him <i>Chaplain in Ordinary</i>,
+and obtain&#8217;d for him a considerable Preferment. This Gentleman, attacking
+Bishop <i>Hoadley</i>&#8217;s <i>Sermon</i> of <i>The Kingdom of Christ</i>, says<small><a name="f141.1" id="f141.1" href="#f141">[141]</a></small>, &#8220;In
+these last Days we have been taught to be as indolent and unconcern&#8217;d as
+possible in the Service of God: A noted <i>Novellist</i> [Bp. <i>Hoadley</i>] among
+many other odd <i>Engines</i>, hath invented one, to pump out all Devotion from
+Prayer, and make it a <i>Vacuum</i>. Instead of the old fervent, affectionate
+way of Worshipping, he hath substituted a new Idol, a Vanity, a Nothing of
+his own, <i>a calm and undisturb&#8217;d Address to God</i>.&mdash;&mdash;The <i>Arrows</i> and
+<i>bitter Words</i> Mr. <i>Hales</i> hath levell&#8217;d against <i>Rome</i> only, our Right
+Reverend hath <i>pointed a-new</i>, and shot them full against the Church he
+superintends, and with all the Force of inbred, fanatick Fury. And by this
+time surely it is well known, that he is a very <i>warm Man</i> in every thing,
+but his <i>Prayers</i>.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>XX. Instead of addressing the foregoing Papers to you, I could have
+address&#8217;d them to several others; who of late have thought fit to
+recognize the Right of Men, to examine into, and judge for themselves in
+all Matters of speculation, and especially in Matters of mere Religion,
+and to publish their Reasons against any Opinions they judge erroneous,
+tho publickly receiv&#8217;d in the Country where they live, provided they do it
+<i>seriously</i><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span> and <i>gravely</i>: which is a noble Progress in Truth, and owing
+to that glorious Liberty, and Freedom of Debate, that we enjoy under our
+most excellent Princes; and which extorts it even from them, who, to have
+some Credit in the World, are forced to own, what would discredit them to
+go on to deny, among all who have any degree of <i>Virtue</i>, <i>Sense</i>, and
+<i>Learning</i>. But I was determin&#8217;d to address my self to you, as a Person of
+more remarkable <i>Moderation</i> than ordinary in your <i>Letter</i> to Dr.
+<i>Rogers</i>: And one, who had, long before, in your <i>Defence of the
+Constitution in Church and State; in answer to the Charge of the
+Nonjurors, accusing us of Heresy and Schism, Perjury and Treason</i>, &#8220;valu&#8217;d
+<small><a name="f142.1" id="f142.1" href="#f142">[142]</a></small> and commended the Integrity of the Nonjurors in declaring their
+Sentiments:&#8221; and who, tho you justly charge those of them you write
+against, &#8220;as attacking us with such uncommon Marks of Violence <small><a name="f143.1" id="f143.1" href="#f143">[143]</a></small> as
+most plainly intimate, that no Measures are intended to be kept with us by
+them in the Day of their Prosperity, who in the Day of their Adversity,
+even when they are most at Mercy, cannot refrain from such <i>raging</i>
+Provocations; but when reduced to the Necessity of <i>taking</i> Quarter,
+profess most plainly they will never give it:&#8221; Yet as to these Enemies,
+who would destroy our Church and State, and <small><a name="f144.1" id="f144.1" href="#f144">[144]</a></small> &#8220;revive upon us the
+Charge of <i>Heresy</i> and <i>Schism</i>, <i>Perjury</i> and <i>Treason</i>, Crimes of no
+small figure either in the Law or in the Gospel,&#8221; you only say, that &#8220;if
+you may have leave to borrow a Thought from <small><a name="f145.1" id="f145.1" href="#f145">[145]</a></small> one of their own most
+celebrated Writers, you would tell them, that <i>the Blood and Spirits were
+made to rise upon such Occasions</i>: Nature design&#8217;d not, that <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span>we should be
+cold or indifferent in our manner of receiving, or returning, such foul
+Reproaches.&#8221; This is great Moderation, and such as I heartily approve,
+being dispos&#8217;d to forgive the Punishment due by Law to any Fault, when the
+Non-execution of it will not overturn the Government. And I am willing to
+hope, that since you can think that such bitter Adversaries to you, as
+these licentious <i>Jacobites</i> are, should only be smartly replied to, and
+not be prosecuted by the Government, you will, upon Reflection, think,
+that a merry, good humour&#8217;d Adversary should be treated as well.</p>
+
+<p>Tho I have endeavour&#8217;d to defend the Use of <i>Ridicule</i> and <i>Irony</i>, yet it
+is such <i>Irony</i> and <i>Ridicule</i> only as is fit for polite Persons to use.
+As to the gross <i>Irony</i> and <i>Ridicule</i>, I disapprove of it, as I do other
+Faults in Writing; only I would not have Men punish&#8217;d, or any other way
+disturb&#8217;d about it, than by a Return of <i>Ridicule</i> and <i>Irony</i>. This I
+think fit to conclude with, more to prevent Misrepresentation from others,
+than from you; whom I look on to have too much Sense and Integrity to
+mistake or misrepresent me.</p>
+
+<p class="right"><i>I am Yours, &amp;c.</i></p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p class="center"><b><i>F<span class="spacer">&nbsp;</span>I<span class="spacer">&nbsp;</span>N<span class="spacer">&nbsp;</span>I<span class="spacer">&nbsp;</span>S.</i></b></p>
+
+
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p>
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><b>Footnotes:</b></p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f28" id="f28" href="#f28.1">[28]</a> <i>Page</i> 337.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f29" id="f29" href="#f29.1">[29]</a> <i>Pag.</i> 302.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f30" id="f30" href="#f30.1">[30]</a> <i>Page</i> 301.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f31" id="f31" href="#f31.1">[31]</a> <i>Pag.</i> 307.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f32" id="f32" href="#f32.1">[32]</a> Stillingfleet&#8217;s <i>Answer to several late Treatises</i>, &amp;c. <i>Page</i> 14.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f33" id="f33" href="#f33.1">[33]</a> <i>Pag.</i> 71.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f34" id="f34" href="#f34.1">[34]</a> Vindication of the Answer to the Royal Papers. <i>p.</i> 105.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f35" id="f35" href="#f35.1">[35]</a> <i>Preface to</i> Unreasonableness of Separation. <i>p.</i> 62.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f36" id="f36" href="#f36.1">[36]</a> Rule&#8217;s <i>Rational Defence</i> of Nonconf. <i>p.</i> 29.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f37" id="f37" href="#f37.1">[37]</a> <i>Preface to</i> Stillingfleet <i>still against</i> Stillingfleet.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f38" id="f38" href="#f38.1">[38]</a> <i>Preface to a Discourse of</i> Miracles wrote in the <i>Roman</i> Church, <i>&amp;c.</i></p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f39" id="f39" href="#f39.1">[39]</a> See <i>Stillingfleet</i>&#8217;s Second Vind. of the Protestant Grounds of Faith, <i>c.</i> 3.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f40" id="f40" href="#f40.1">[40]</a> <i>Edwards&#8217;s</i> New Discov. <i>p.</i> 184-215.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f41" id="f41" href="#f41.1">[41]</a> <i>Ecclesiast. Hist.</i> cent. 8. <i>p.</i> 196.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f42" id="f42" href="#f42.1">[42]</a> Vind. <i>p.</i> 199.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f43" id="f43" href="#f43.1">[43]</a> <i>See</i> Shaftesbury&#8217;s <i>Characteristicks</i>, Vol. I. p. 61.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f44" id="f44" href="#f44.1">[44]</a> Memoirs de Trevoux, <i>An.</i> 1707. <i>p.</i> 396. <i>An.</i> 1717. <i>p.</i> 1200.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f45" id="f45" href="#f45.1">[45]</a> <ins class="correction" title="original reads 'Trap's'"><i>Trapp</i>&#8217;s</ins> Popery truly stated, <i>p.</i> 123.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f46" id="f46" href="#f46.1">[46]</a> <i>Preface.</i></p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f47" id="f47" href="#f47.1">[47]</a> <i>Heylin</i>&#8217;s History of the Presbyterians, <i>p.</i> 391.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f48" id="f48" href="#f48.1">[48]</a> <i>Wotton</i> on the <i>Misna</i>, p. 118.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f49" id="f49" href="#f49.1">[49]</a> <i>Freeholder</i>, N&ordm; 30.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f50" id="f50" href="#f50.1">[50]</a> <i>Freeholder</i>, Numb. xlv.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f51" id="f51" href="#f51.1">[51]</a> <i>See</i> Cicero de Officiis, <i>l.</i> 1. <i>c.</i> 30.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f52" id="f52" href="#f52.1">[52]</a> <i>See</i> Patrick<i>&#8217;s Friendly Debate</i>, Part 1, <i>p.</i> 139-141. 5<i>th Edit.</i></p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f53" id="f53" href="#f53.1">[53]</a> <i>Preface to</i> The State of the Roman Catholick Religion, <i>p.</i> 11.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f54" id="f54" href="#f54.1">[54]</a> De Divin. l. 2. c. 25.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f55" id="f55" href="#f55.1">[55]</a> <i>Rog. Hoveden</i>, Pars ii. p. 520.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f56" id="f56" href="#f56.1">[56]</a> 1 <i>Kings</i> xviii.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f57" id="f57" href="#f57.1">[57]</a> <i>Psalm</i> ii. 4.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f58" id="f58" href="#f58.1">[58]</a> <i>Gen.</i> iii. 22.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f59" id="f59" href="#f59.1">[59]</a> Arch&aelig;olog. Philos. <i>l.</i> 2. <i>c.</i> 7.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f60" id="f60" href="#f60.1">[60]</a> Shaftesbury <i>in Charact.</i> Vol. 3. <i>and</i> Whitchcot<i>&#8217;s Sermons</i>: Vol. I.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f61" id="f61" href="#f61.1">[61]</a> Shaftesbury&#8217;s <i>Characteristicks</i>, Vol. I. p. 71.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f62" id="f62" href="#f62.1">[62]</a> <i>Page</i> 307.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f63" id="f63" href="#f63.1">[63]</a> <i>How useful</i> Lestrange<i>&#8217;s</i> Observators, <i>which were design&#8217;d to
+expose the Dissenters to Contempt and Persecution, were deem&#8217;d to the
+Church at the time they were publish&#8217;d, may be judged of by Bp.</i> Burnet,
+<i>who says</i> [<i>in his</i> Eighteen Papers, <i>p.</i> 90.] &#8220;<i>Another Buffoon was
+hired to plague the Nation with three or four Papers a Week, which to the
+Reproach of the Age in which we live, had but too great and too general
+Effect, for poisoning the Spirits of the Clergy.</i>&#8221;</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f64" id="f64" href="#f64.1">[64]</a> <i>In this Work the Dissenters and Low Churchmen are sufficiently
+rally&#8217;d and abus&#8217;d, and particularly the</i> Free-Thinkers, <i>whose</i> Creed <i>is
+therein represented as consisting of these two Negatives</i>, No Queen and no God. <i>Examiners</i>, Vol. 3. p. 12.<br />
+<br />
+<i>Mr.</i> Addison <i>tells us</i> [Freeholder N&ordm;. 19.] &#8220;<i>the</i> Examiner <i>was the
+favourite Work of the Party. It was usher&#8217;d into the World by a Letter
+from a Secretary of State, setting forth the great Genius of the Author,
+the Usefulness of his Design, and the mighty Consequences that were to be
+expected from it. It is said to be written by those among them whom they
+look&#8217;d upon as their most celebrated Wits and Politicians, and was
+dispers&#8217;d into all Quarters of the Nation with great Industry and
+Expence.&mdash;&mdash;In this Paper all the great Men who had done eminent Services
+to their Country, but a few Years before, were draughted out one by one,
+and baited in their Turns. No Sanctity of Character, or Privilege of Sex
+exempted Persons.&mdash;&mdash;Several of our Prelates were the standing Marks of
+publick Raillery.</i>&mdash;&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f65" id="f65" href="#f65.1">[65]</a> <i>In his</i> Ecclesiastical Policy, <i>his</i> Defence and Continuation
+<i>thereof, and his</i> Reproof to <i>Marvel</i>&#8217;s Rehearsal transpos&#8217;d.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f66" id="f66" href="#f66.1">[66]</a> <i>In his</i> Friendly Debates.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f67" id="f67" href="#f67.1">[67]</a> <i>In his six Volumes of</i> Sermons, <i>and in his</i> Books <i>of the</i> Trinity.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f68" id="f68" href="#f68.1">[68]</a> <i>In his</i> Discourse of the Knowledge of Christ, <i>&amp;c. his</i> Defences of
+Dr. <i>Stillingfleet</i>&#8217;s Unreasonableness of Separation, <i>and his</i> Answer <i>to the</i> Protestant Reconciler.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f69" id="f69" href="#f69.1">[69]</a> <i>In his Translation of</i> Dryden<i>&#8217;s</i> Absalom <i>and</i> Achitophel <i>into</i>
+Latin <i>Verse, whereby he was first flush&#8217;d; and in his</i> Convocational
+Controversy, <i>and in his numerous State Libels</i>.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f70" id="f70" href="#f70.1">[70]</a> <i>In his</i> Sermons, Rights of the Church, <i>and especially his</i> Character of a Low-Church-man, <i>drawn to abuse Bishop</i> Floyd.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f71" id="f71" href="#f71.1">[71]</a> <i>Of this, the Trials of</i> Penn <i>and</i> Mead <i>before</i> Howel, <i>and of</i>
+Baxter <i>before</i> Jefferys, <i>are Master Pieces; of which last you have an
+Account in</i> Kennet<i>&#8217;s</i> Compleat History of <i>England, Vol. 3d. and of the
+former in</i> the Ph&oelig;nix, <i>Vol.</i> I.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f72" id="f72" href="#f72.1">[72]</a> Snape<i>&#8217;s</i> Vindication against <i>Pilloniere</i>. p. 50.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f73" id="f73" href="#f73.1">[73]</a> <i>Id.</i> p. 63.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f74" id="f74" href="#f74.1">[74]</a> <i>The Stage condemn&#8217;d</i>, p. 2.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f75" id="f75" href="#f75.1">[75]</a> Popery truly stated, <i>p.</i> 127, 128.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f76" id="f76" href="#f76.1">[76]</a> <i>Pag.</i> 75, 76, 77, 79, 81, 112, 113, 120, 122, 124, 125.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f77" id="f77" href="#f77.1">[77]</a> <i>Sermons</i>, Vol. III. p. 299.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f78" id="f78" href="#f78.1">[78]</a> Rule of Faith, <i>p.</i> 347, 348.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f79" id="f79" href="#f79.1">[79]</a> See <i>p.</i> 57.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f80" id="f80" href="#f80.1">[80]</a> <i>Pag.</i> 59.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f81" id="f81" href="#f81.1">[81]</a> <i>Pag.</i> 57.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f82" id="f82" href="#f82.1">[82]</a> Burnet<i>&#8217;s</i> History of his own Times, <i>p.</i> 674.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f83" id="f83" href="#f83.1">[83]</a> Ib. <i>p.</i> 792.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f84" id="f84" href="#f84.1">[84]</a> Ibid. <i>p.</i> 740.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f85" id="f85" href="#f85.1">[85]</a> Ibid. <i>p.</i> 683.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f86" id="f86" href="#f86.1">[86]</a> <i>The Protestant Mouse speaks.</i></p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f87" id="f87" href="#f87.1">[87]</a> <i>Boyer</i>&#8217;s Life of Queen <i>Anne</i>, in the Annual List of the Deaths, <i>p.</i> 65.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f88" id="f88" href="#f88.1">[88]</a> <i>A</i> Clergyman <i>preach&#8217;d thus to his</i> Auditory: <i>&#8220;You have</i> Moses
+<i>and</i> Aaron <i>before you, and the Organs behind you, so are a happy People;
+for what greater Comfort would mortal Men have?&#8221;</i> See <i>Walker</i>&#8217;s
+Sufferings, <i>&amp;c. p.</i> 178.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f89" id="f89" href="#f89.1">[89]</a> <i>See the Article</i> Heylin, in <i>Wood</i>&#8217;s Athen&aelig; Oxon.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f90" id="f90" href="#f90.1">[90]</a> Burnet<i>&#8217;s Hist.</i> p. 100.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f91" id="f91" href="#f91.1">[91]</a> <i>Characteristicks</i>, Vol. I. p. 259.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f92" id="f92" href="#f92.1">[92]</a> Burnet. <i>ibid.</i></p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f93" id="f93" href="#f93.1">[93]</a> Page 177.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f94" id="f94" href="#f94.1">[94]</a> Burnet <i>p.</i> 95.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f95" id="f95" href="#f95.1">[95]</a> Kennet<i>&#8217;s Register</i>, p. 258.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f96" id="f96" href="#f96.1">[96]</a> <i>Ibid.</i> p. 516.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f97" id="f97" href="#f97.1">[97]</a> Burnet<i>&#8217;s Hist.</i></p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f98" id="f98" href="#f98.1">[98]</a> Kennet<i>&#8217;s Register</i>, p. 111.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f99" id="f99" href="#f99.1">[99]</a> Burnet<i>&#8217;s History</i>, p. 107.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f100" id="f100" href="#f100.1">[100]</a> <i>See the Bp. of</i> Bangor<i>&#8217;s Preface to the</i> Answer <i>to the</i> Representation <i>of the Lower House of Convocation</i>.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f101" id="f101" href="#f101.1">[101]</a> Ward<i>&#8217;s Life of Dr.</i> Henry More, <i>p.</i> 120.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f102" id="f102" href="#f102.1">[102]</a> Ibid. <i>p.</i> 122.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f103" id="f103" href="#f103.1">[103]</a> <i>See the several Lives of him.</i></p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f104" id="f104" href="#f104.1">[104]</a> <i>Life lately printed</i>, 1726. p. 99.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f105" id="f105" href="#f105.1">[105]</a> Burnet<i>&#8217;s Hist.</i> p. 95.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f106" id="f106" href="#f106.1">[106]</a> Temple<i>&#8217;s Works</i>, Vol. II. p. 40.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f107" id="f107" href="#f107.1">[107]</a> <i>Collection of authentick Records</i>, Vol. II. p. 1099.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f108" id="f108" href="#f108.1">[108]</a> <i>Second Letter to the Bishop of</i> London, <i>p.</i> 3, 4.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f109" id="f109" href="#f109.1">[109]</a> <i>History</i>, p. 260.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f110" id="f110" href="#f110.1">[110]</a> <i>Mat.</i> xxvi. 67, 68.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f111" id="f111" href="#f111.1">[111]</a> Elwood<i>&#8217;s History of his own Life</i>, &amp;c. <i>p.</i> 318.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f112" id="f112" href="#f112.1">[112]</a> <i>Remarks on some late Sermons</i>, &amp;c. <i>p.</i> 34.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f113" id="f113" href="#f113.1">[113]</a> <i>Pag.</i> 52.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f114" id="f114" href="#f114.1">[114]</a> <i>Answer to</i> State of the Protestants in <i>Ireland</i>, &amp;c. <i>p.</i> 108.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f115" id="f115" href="#f115.1">[115]</a> <i>Pag.</i> 120, 121.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f116" id="f116" href="#f116.1">[116]</a> <i>Preface</i>, p. 14.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f117" id="f117" href="#f117.1">[117]</a> <i>Pag.</i> 11, 24.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f118" id="f118" href="#f118.1">[118]</a> <i>Pag.</i> 1.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f119" id="f119" href="#f119.1">[119]</a> <i>Pag.</i> 4, 11, 12, 13, 19.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f120" id="f120" href="#f120.1">[120]</a> Appendix to Parliamentary Original, &amp;c. <i>p.</i> 14.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f121" id="f121" href="#f121.1">[121]</a> Some Remarks on the Temper of some late Writers, &amp;c. <i>p.</i> 33.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f122" id="f122" href="#f122.1">[122]</a> Preface to Animad. <i>p.</i> 12, 13.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f123" id="f123" href="#f123.1">[123]</a> Animad. <i>p.</i> 114.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f124" id="f124" href="#f124.1">[124]</a> Ibid. <i>p.</i> 332.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f125" id="f125" href="#f125.1">[125]</a> Ibid. <i>p.</i> 348.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f126" id="f126" href="#f126.1">[126]</a> Tritheism charged, <i>p.</i> 2, 3.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f127" id="f127" href="#f127.1">[127]</a> Ib. <i>p.</i> 108.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f128" id="f128" href="#f128.1">[128]</a> Ibid. <i>p.</i> 170.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f129" id="f129" href="#f129.1">[129]</a> Ibid. <i>p.</i> 281.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f130" id="f130" href="#f130.1">[130]</a> Judg. 18.24.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f131" id="f131" href="#f131.1">[131]</a> Ib. <i>p.</i> 285.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f132" id="f132" href="#f132.1">[132]</a> Ibid. <i>p.</i> 299.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f133" id="f133" href="#f133.1">[133]</a> <i>Fuller</i>&#8217;s Church History, Cent. 17. B. 11. Sect. 89, Parag. 10.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f134" id="f134" href="#f134.1">[134]</a> <i>Rushworth</i>, Part II. Vol. I. <i>p.</i> 471.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f135" id="f135" href="#f135.1">[135]</a> <i>Prap. Evang.</i> l. 4. p. 209-234.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f136" id="f136" href="#f136.1">[136]</a> Fontenelle, Historie des Oracles. I. Dissert. c. vii.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f137" id="f137" href="#f137.1">[137]</a> Euseb. Id. l. 4.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f138" id="f138" href="#f138.1">[138]</a> <i>Baltus</i>, Suite de la Reponse a l&#8217;His. des Oracles, <i>p.</i> 283.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f139" id="f139" href="#f139.1">[139]</a> <i>Ibid.</i></p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f140" id="f140" href="#f140.1">[140]</a> <i>Bp.</i> Hoadley<i>&#8217;s Answer to</i> the Representation, <i>&amp;c. Pref.</i> p. 12.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f141" id="f141" href="#f141.1">[141]</a> <i>Page</i> 91.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f142" id="f142" href="#f142.1">[142]</a> <i>Page</i> 2.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f143" id="f143" href="#f143.1">[143]</a> <i>Page</i> 1.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f144" id="f144" href="#f144.1">[144]</a> <i>Page</i> 4, 5.</p>
+
+<p class="hang"><a name="f145" id="f145" href="#f145.1">[145]</a> <i>Mr.</i> Collier.</p>
+
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p>
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h3>WILLIAM ANDREWS CLARK<br />MEMORIAL LIBRARY</h3>
+<h3>UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, LOS ANGELES</h3>
+<p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p>
+<h2><span class="smcap">The Augustan Reprint Society</span></h2>
+<h4>PUBLICATIONS IN PRINT</h4>
+<p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<h2><span class="smcap">The Augustan Reprint Society</span></h2>
+
+<h4>Publications in Print</h4>
+
+<h4>1948-1949</h4>
+<div class="ads">
+<p>16. Henry Nevil Payne, <i>The Fatal Jealousie</i> (1673).</p>
+<p class="hang">18. Anonymous, &#8220;Of Genius,&#8221; in <i>The Occasional Paper</i>, Vol. III, No. 1 (1719), and Aaron Hill, Preface to <i>The Creation</i> (1720).</p></div>
+
+<h4>1949-1950</h4>
+<div class="ads">
+<p>19. Susanna Centlivre, <i>The Busie Body</i> (1709).</p>
+<p>20. Lewis Theobald, <i>Preface to the Works of Shakespeare</i> (1734).</p>
+<p>22. Samuel Johnson, <i>The Vanity of Human Wishes</i> (1749), and two <i>Rambler</i> papers (1750).</p>
+<p>23. John Dryden, <i>His Majesties Declaration Defended</i> (1681).</p></div>
+
+<h4>1950-1951</h4>
+<div class="ads">
+<p>26. Charles Macklin, <i>The Man of the World</i> (1792).</p></div>
+
+<h4>1951-1952</h4>
+<div class="ads">
+<p>31. Thomas Gray, <i>An Elegy Wrote in a Country Churchyard</i> (1751), and <i>The Eton College Manuscript</i>.</p></div>
+
+<h4>1952-1953</h4>
+<div class="ads">
+<p>41. Bernard Mandeville, <i>A Letter to Dion</i> (1732).</p></div>
+
+<h4>1963-1964</h4>
+<div class="ads">
+<p>104. Thomas D&#8217;Urfey, <i>Wonders in the Sun; or, The Kingdom of the Birds</i> (1706).</p></div>
+
+<h4>1964-1965</h4>
+<div class="ads">
+<p>110. John Tutchin, <i>Selected Poems</i> (1685-1700).</p>
+<p>111. Anonymous, <i>Political Justice</i> (1736).</p>
+<p>112. Robert Dodsley, <i>An Essay on Fable</i> (1764).</p>
+<p>113. T. R., <i>An Essay Concerning Critical and Curious Learning</i> (1698).</p>
+<p class="hang">114. <i>Two Poems Against Pope:</i> Leonard Welsted, <i>One Epistle to Mr. A. Pope</i> (1730), and Anonymous, <i>The Blatant Beast</i> (1742).</p></div>
+
+<h4>1965-1966</h4>
+<div class="ads">
+<p>115. Daniel Defoe and others, <i>Accounts of the Apparition of Mrs. Veal</i>.</p>
+<p>116. Charles Macklin, <i>The Covent Garden Theatre</i> (1752).</p>
+<p>117. Sir George L&#8217;Estrange, <i>Citt and Bumpkin</i> (1680).</p>
+<p>118. Henry More, <i>Enthusiasmus Triumphatus</i> (1662).</p>
+<p>119. Thomas Traherne, <i>Meditations on the Six Days of the Creation</i> (1717).</p>
+<p>120. Bernard Mandeville, <i>Aesop Dress&#8217;d or a Collection of Fables</i> (1704).</p></div>
+
+<h4>1966-1967</h4>
+<div class="ads">
+<p>123. Edmond Malone, <i>Cursory Observations on the Poems Attributed to Mr. Thomas Rowley</i> (1782).</p>
+<p>124. Anonymous, <i>The Female Wits</i> (1704).</p>
+<p class="hang">125. Anonymous, <i>The Scribleriad</i> (1742). Lord Hervey, <i>The Difference Between Verbal and Practical Virtue</i> (1742).</p></div>
+
+<h4>1967-1968</h4>
+<div class="ads">
+<p>129. Lawrence Echard, Prefaces to <i>Terence&#8217;s Comedies</i> (1694) and <i>Plautus&#8217;s Comedies</i> (1694).</p>
+<p>130. Henry More, <i>Democritus Platonissans</i> (1646).</p>
+<p>132. Walter Harte, <i>An Essay on Satire, Particularly on the Dunciad</i> (1730).</p></div>
+
+<h4>1968-1969</h4>
+<div class="ads">
+<p class="hang">133. John Courtenay, <i>A Poetical Review of the Literary and Moral Character of the Late Samuel Johnson</i> (1786).</p>
+<p>134. John Downes, <i>Roscius Anglicanus</i> (1708).</p>
+<p>135. Sir John Hill, <i>Hypochondriasis, a Practical Treatise</i> (1766).</p>
+<p class="hang">136. Thomas Sheridan, <i>Discourse ... Being Introductory to His Course of Lectures on Elocution and the English Language</i> (1759).</p>
+<p>137. Arthur Murphy, <i>The Englishman From Paris</i> (1736).</p>
+<p>138. [Catherine Trotter], <i>Olinda&#8217;s Adventures</i> (1718).</p></div>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<div class="ads">
+<p>Publications of the first fifteen years of the Society (numbers 1-90) are
+available in paperbound units of six issues at $16.00 per unit, from the
+Kraus Reprint Company, 16 East 46th Street, New York, N.Y. 10017.</p>
+
+<p>Publications in print are available at the regular membership rate of
+$5.00 yearly. Prices of single issues may be obtained upon request.
+Subsequent publications may be checked in the annual prospectus.</p></div>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+<h3><span class="smcap">The Augustan Reprint Society</span></h3>
+<h3><span class="smcap">William Andrews Clark<br />Memorial Library</span></h3>
+<p class="center">UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, LOS ANGELES</p>
+<p class="center">2520 Cimarron Street (at West Adams), Los Angeles, California 90018</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p class="center"><i>Make check or money order payable to</i><br />THE REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+<h4>William Andrews Clark Memorial Library: University of California, Los Angeles</h4>
+
+<h2><span class="smcap">The Augustan Reprint Society</span></h2>
+<h5>2520 CIMARRON STREET, LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA 90018</h5>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<p class="center"><i>General Editors:</i> William E. Conway, William Andrews Clark Memorial
+Library; George Robert Guffey, University of California, Los Angeles; Maximillian E. Novak, University of California, Los Angeles</p>
+
+<p class="center"><i>Corresponding Secretary:</i> Mrs. Edna C. Davis, William Andrews Clark Memorial Library</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>The Society&#8217;s purpose is to publish rare Restoration and
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+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+<h4>REGULAR PUBLICATIONS FOR 1969-1970</h4>
+
+<p class="hang">139. John Ogilvie, <i>An Essay on the lyric poetry of the ancients</i> (1762). Introduction by Wallace Jackson.</p>
+
+<p class="hang">140. <i>A Learned Dissertation on Dumpling</i> (1726) and <i>Pudding burnt to pot or a compleat key to the Dissertation on Dumpling</i> (1727). Introduction by Samuel L. Macey.</p>
+
+<p class="hang">141. Selections from Sir Roger L&#8217;Estrange&#8217;s <i>Observator</i> (1681-1687). Introduction by Violet Jordain.</p>
+
+<p class="hang">142. Anthony Collins, <i>A Discourse concerning Ridicule and Irony in writing</i> (1729). Introduction by Edward A. Bloom and Lillian D. Bloom.</p>
+
+<p class="hang">143. <i>A Letter from a clergyman to his friend, with an account of the travels of Captain Lemuel Gulliver</i> (1726). Introduction by Martin Kallich.</p>
+
+<p class="hang">144. <i>The Art of Architecture, a poem. In imitation of Horace&#8217;s Art of poetry</i> (1742). Introduction by William A. Gibson.</p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p>
+<h4>SPECIAL PUBLICATION FOR 1969-1970</h4>
+
+<p class="hang">Gerard Langbaine, <i>An Account of the English Dramatick Poets</i> (1691), Introduction by John Loftis. 2 Volumes. Approximately 600 pages. Price to
+members of the Society, $7.00 for the first copy (both volumes), and $8.50 for additional copies. Price to non-members, $10.00.</p>
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+<p>Already published in this series:</p>
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+
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+[1674] by Elkanah Settle; and <i>The Empress of Morocco. A Farce</i> [1674] by Thomas Duffett), with an Introduction by Maximillian E. Novak. 348 pages.</p>
+
+<p class="hang">4. <i>After THE TEMPEST</i> (the Dryden-Davenant version of <i>The Tempest</i> [1670]; the &#8220;operatic&#8221; <i>Tempest</i> [1674]; Thomas Duffett&#8217;s <i>Mock-Tempest</i>
+[1675]; and the &#8220;Garrick&#8221; <i>Tempest</i> [1756]), with an Introduction by George Robert Guffey. 332 pages.</p>
+
+<p>Price to members of the Society, $3.50 for the first copy of each title,
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+Blackwell, Broad Street, Oxford, England.</p>
+
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p>
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><b>Transcriber&#8217;s Notes:</b></p>
+
+<p>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 text.</p>
+
+<p>Long &#8220;s&#8221; has been modernized.</p>
+
+<p>The inclusion of two footnotes numbered 53 in intentional to reflect the
+original text.</p>
+
+<p>Footnote placement in this text reflects the placement in the original,
+either inside punctuation or spaced between words.</p>
+
+<p>Other than the corrections noted by hover information, printer&#8217;s inconsistencies in
+spelling, punctuation, hyphenation, and ligature usage have been retained.</p>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of A Discourse Concerning Ridicule and Irony
+in Writing (1729), by Anthony Collins
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: A Discourse Concerning Ridicule and Irony in Writing (1729)
+
+Author: Anthony Collins
+
+Editor: Edward A. Bloom
+        Lillian D. Bloom
+
+Release Date: October 27, 2009 [EBook #30343]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RIDICULE, IRONY IN WRITING ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Tor Martin Kristiansen, Joseph Cooper, Stephanie
+Eason, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at
+https://www.pgdp.net.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+  THE AUGUSTAN REPRINT SOCIETY
+
+  ANTHONY COLLINS
+
+  A DISCOURSE
+  CONCERNING
+  Ridicule and Irony
+  IN WRITING
+
+  (1729)
+
+  _Introduction by_
+  EDWARD A. BLOOM AND LILLIAN D. BLOOM
+
+  PUBLICATION NUMBER 142
+  WILLIAM ANDREWS CLARK MEMORIAL LIBRARY
+  UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, LOS ANGELES
+
+  1970
+
+
+
+  GENERAL EDITORS
+
+  William E. Conway, _William Andrews Clark Memorial Library_
+  George Robert Guffey, _University of California, Los Angeles_
+  Maximillian E. Novak, _University of California, Los Angeles_
+
+
+  ASSOCIATE EDITOR
+
+  David S. Rodes, _University of California, Los Angeles_
+
+
+  ADVISORY EDITORS
+
+  Richard C. Boys, _University of Michigan_
+  James L. Clifford, _Columbia University_
+  Ralph Cohen, _University of Virginia_
+  Vinton A. Dearing, _University of California, Los Angeles_
+  Arthur Friedman, _University of Chicago_
+  Louis A. Landa, _Princeton University_
+  Earl Miner, _University of California, Los Angeles_
+  Samuel H. Monk, _University of Minnesota_
+  Everett T. Moore, _University of California, Los Angeles_
+  Lawrence Clark Powell, _William Andrews Clark Memorial Library_
+  James Sutherland, _University College, London_
+  H. T. Swedenberg, Jr., _University of California, Los Angeles_
+  Robert Vosper, _William Andrews Clark Memorial Library_
+
+
+  CORRESPONDING SECRETARY
+
+  Edna C. Davis, _William Andrews Clark Memorial Library_
+
+
+  EDITORIAL ASSISTANT
+
+  Roberta Medford, _William Andrews Clark Memorial Library_
+
+
+
+
+INTRODUCTION
+
+Between 1710 and 1729 Anthony Collins was lampooned, satirized, and
+gravely denounced from pulpit and press as England's most insidious
+defiler of church and state. Yet within a year of his death he became the
+model of a proper country gentleman,
+
+     ... he had an opulent Fortune, descended to him from his Ancestors,
+     which he left behind him unimpair'd: He lived on his own Estate in
+     the Country, where his Tenants paid him moderate Rents, which he
+     never enhanced on their making any Improvements; he always oblig'd
+     his Family to a constant attendance on Publick Worship; as he was
+     himself a Man of the strictest Morality, for he never suffer'd any
+     Body about him who was deficient in that Point; he exercised a
+     universal Charity to all Sorts of People, without any Regard either
+     to Sect or Party; being in the Commission of the Peace, he
+     administered Justice with such Impartiality and Incorruptness, that
+     the most distant Part of the County flock'd to his Decisions; but the
+     chief Use he made of his Authority was in accommodating
+     Differences;...[1]
+
+In a comparison which likens him to Sir Roger de Coverley, there is less
+truth than fiction. What they did share was a love of the countryside and
+a "universal Charity" towards its inhabitants. For the most part, however,
+we can approximate Collins's personality by reversing many of Sir Roger's
+traits. Often at war with his world, as the spectatorial character was
+not, he managed to maintain an intellectual rapport with it and even with
+those who sought his humiliation. He never--as an instance--disguised his
+philosophical distrust of Samuel Clarke; yet during any debate he planned
+"most certainly [to] outdo him in civility and good manners."[2] This
+decorum in no way compromised his pursuit of what he considered objective
+truth or his denunciation of all "methods" or impositions of spiritual
+tyranny. Thus, during the virulent, uneven battle which followed upon the
+publication of the _Discourse of Free-Thinking_, he ignored his own wounds
+in order to applaud a critic's
+
+     _suspicions that there is a sophism_ in what he calls my
+     _hypothesis_. That is a temper that ought to go thro' all our
+     Inquirys, and especially before we have an opportunity of examining
+     things to the bottom. It is safest at all times, and we are least
+     likely to be mistaken, if we constantly suspect our selves to be
+     under mistakes.... I have no system to defend or that I would seem to
+     defend, and am unconcerned for the consequence that may be drawn from
+     my opinion; and therefore stand clear of all difficultys wch others
+     either by their opinion or caution are involved in.[3]
+
+
+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 error. For himself, hence, he tries to avoid all manner of hard-voiced
+enthusiasm. Paradoxically, however, Collins searched with a zealot's
+avidity for any controversy which would either assert his faith or test
+his disbelief. When once he found his engagement, he revelled in it,
+whether as the aggressor or the harassed defendant. For example, 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 Religion_.
+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 Reasons_.[4]
+
+By May of 1727 and with no visible sign of fatigue he took on a new
+contender; this time it was John Rogers, canon in ordinary to the Prince
+of Wales. At the height of their debate, in late summer, Collins made
+practical enquiries about methods to prolong and intensify its
+give-and-take. Thus, in a note to his friend Pierre Des Maizeaux, he said:
+"But I would be particularly informed of the success and sale of the
+Letter to Dr Rogers; because, if it could be, I would add to a new
+edition thereof two or three as sheets; which also might be sold
+separately to those who have already that Letter." For all his militant
+polemic, he asked only that his "Adversaries" observe with him a single
+rule of fair play; namely, that they refrain from name-calling and petty
+sniping. "Personal matters," he asserted, "tho they may some times afford
+useful remarks, are little regarded by Readers, who are very seldom
+mistaken in judging that the most impertinent subject a man can talk of is
+himself," particularly when he inveighs against another.[5]
+
+If Collins had been made to look back over the years 1676-1729, he
+probably would have summarized the last twenty with a paraphrase of the
+Popean line, "This long controversy, my life." For several years and in
+such works as _Priestcraft in Perfection_ (1710) and _A Discourse of
+Free-Thinking_ (1713), he was a flailing polemicist against the entire
+Anglican hierarchy. Not until 1724 did he become a polished debater, when
+he initiated a controversy which for the next five years made a "very
+great noise" and which ended only with his death. The loudest shot in the
+persistent barrage was sounded by the _Grounds and Reasons_, and its last
+fusillade by the _Discourse concerning Ridicule and Irony in Writing_.[6]
+
+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 essays. He created in this way a composite victim whose
+strength was lessened by deindividualization; in this way too he ran no
+risk of being labelled a hobbyhorse rider or, more seriously, a
+persecutor. Throughout the _Grounds and Reasons_ he laughed at, reasoned
+against, and satirized William Whiston's assumption that messianic
+prophecies in the Old Testament were literally fulfilled in the figure and
+mission of Jesus. Within two years and in a new work, he substituted
+Edward Chandler, Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield, for the mathematician.
+It need not have been the Bishop; any one of thirty-four others could have
+qualified for the role of opponent, among them people like Clarke, and
+Sykes, and Sherwood, and even the ubiquitous Whiston. Collins rejected
+them, however, to debate in the _Scheme_ with Bishop Chandler, the author
+of _A Defence of Christianity from the Prophecies of the old Testament_,
+with one who was, in short, the least controversial and yet the most
+orthodox of his many assailants.
+
+Early in 1727 the Anglican establishment came to the abrupt realization
+that the subject of the continuing debate--the reliability of the argument
+from prophecy--was inconclusive, that it could lead only to pedantic
+wrangling and hair-splitting with each side vainly clutching victory.
+Certainly the devotion of many clergymen to biblical criticism was
+secondary to their interest in orthodoxy as a functional adjunct of
+government, both civil and canonical. It was against this interest, as it
+was enunciated in Rogers's _Eight Sermons concerning the Necessity of
+Revelation_ (1727) and particularly in its vindictive preface, that
+Collins chose to fight.[7] The debate had now taken a happy turn for him.
+As he saw it, the central issue devolved upon man's natural right to
+religious liberty. At least he made this the theme of his _Letter to Dr.
+Rogers_. In writing to Des Maizeaux about the success of this work, he
+obviously enjoyed his own profane irony:
+
+     I have had particular compliments made me by the BP of Salisbury,
+     and by Dr Clark, who among other things sayd, that the Archbp of
+     Canterbury might have writ all that related to Toleration in it: to
+     say nothing of what I hear from others. Dr Rogers himself has
+     acknowledg[ed] to his Bookseller who sent it to him into the Country,
+     that he has receivd it; but says that he is so engaged in other
+     affairs, that he has no thought at present of answering it; tho he
+     may perhaps in time do so.[8]
+
+
+In time Rogers did. He counterattacked on 2 February 1728 with a
+_Vindication of the Civil Establishment of Religion_.[9] For Collins this
+work was a dogged repetition of what had gone before, and so it could be
+ignored except for one of its appendices, _A Letter from the Rev. Dr.
+Marshall jun. To the Rev. Dr. Rogers, upon Occasion of his Preface to his
+Eight Sermons_. Its inclusion seemed an afterthought; yet it altered the
+dimensions of the debate by narrowing and particularizing the areas of
+grievance which separated the debaters. Collins, therefore, rebutted it
+some fourteen months later in _A Discourse concerning Ridicule and Irony
+in Writing_. He had great hopes for this pamphlet, preparing carefully for
+its reception. He encouraged the republication of his three preceding
+works, which find their inevitable conclusion, even their exoneration, in
+this last performance, and he probably persuaded his bookseller to
+undertake an elaborate promotional campaign. For the new editions were
+advertised on seven different days between 10 January and 27 February 1729
+in the _Daily Post_. 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 17
+March.
+
+Collins was animated by his many debates. Indeed, "he sought the storms."
+Otherwise he would not, could not, have participated in these many verbal
+contests. Throughout them all, his basic strategy--that of
+provocation--was determined by the very real fact that he had many more
+enemies than allies, among them, for instance, such formidable antagonists
+as Swift and Richard Bentley.[10] To survive he had to acquire a tough
+resilience, a skill in fending off attacks or turning them to his own
+advantage. Nevertheless, he remained a ready target all his life.
+Understandably so: his radicalism was stubborn and his opinions
+predictable. Such firmness may of course indicate his aversion to
+trimming. Or it may reveal a lack of intellectual growth; what he believed
+as a young man, he perpetuated as a mature adult. Whether our answer is
+drawn from either possibility or, more realistically, from both, the fact
+remains that he never camouflaged the two principles by which he lived and
+fought:
+
+     1. That universal liberty be established in respect to opinions and
+     practises not prejudicial to the peace and welfare of society: by
+     which establishment, truth must needs have the advantages over
+     _error_ and _falsehood_, the _law_ of _God_ over the _will_ of _man_,
+     and _true Christianity tolerated_; private _judgment_ would be really
+     exercised; and men would be allowed to have suffered to follow their
+     consciences, over which God only is supreme:...
+
+     2. Secondly, that nothing but the _law of nature_, (the observance
+     whereof is absolutely necessary to society) and what can be built
+     thereon, should be enforced by the civil sanctions of the
+     magistrate:...[11]
+
+
+II
+
+There is very little in this statement to offend modern readers. Yet the
+orthodox in Collins's own time had reason to be angry with him: his
+arguments were inflammatory and his rhetoric was devious, cheeky, and
+effective. Those contesting him underscored his negativism, imaging him as
+a destroyer of Christianity eager "to proselyte men, from the Christian to
+no religion at all."[12] Certainly it is true that he aimed to disprove a
+Christian revelation which he judged fraudulent and conspiratorial. In
+place of ecclesiastical authority he offered the rule of conscience. For
+orthodoxy he substituted "a Religion antecedent to Revelation, which is
+necessary to be known in order to _ascertain Revelation_; and by that
+Religion [he meant] _Natural Religion_, which is presupposed to
+Revelation, and is a Test by which Reveal'd Religion is to be tried, is a
+Bottom on which it must stand, and is a Rule to understand it by."[13]
+Categorical in tone, the statement frustrated the Anglican clergy by its
+very slipperiness; its generalities left little opportunity for decisive
+rebuttal. It provided no definition of natural religion beyond the
+predication of a body of unnamed moral law which is rational and original,
+the archetype of what is valid in the world's religions.
+
+His dismissal of revelation and his reduction of Christianity to what he
+called its "natural" and hence incontrovertible basis carried with it a
+corollary, that of man's absolute right to religious enquiry and
+profession. Here he became specific, borrowing from Lockean empiricism his
+conditions of intellectual assent. "Evidence," he said, "ought to be the
+sole ground of Assent, and Examination is the way to arrive at Evidence;
+and therefore rather than I wou'd have Examination, Arguing and Objecting
+laid aside, I wou'd chuse to say, That no Opinions whatever can be
+dangerous to a Man that impartially examines into the Truth of
+Things."[14] The church leadership saw in this statement and others like
+it not an epistemological premise but a deliberate subterfuge, an
+insidious blind to vindicate his attacks upon an organized priesthood. We
+can recognize now that his opponents oversimplified his intention, that
+they blackened it to make his villainy at once definitive and vulnerable.
+At the same time we must admit that he often equated the ideas of
+repression and clerical authority, even as he coupled those of freedom and
+the guide of private conscience.
+
+The Anglican church was infuriated by these correlations, angered as much
+by their manner of expression as by their substance. For the faithful were
+frequently thrown off balance by a strategy of ironical indirection.
+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 conclusions. At other times
+he used this artful circumlocution to create his favorite mask, that of
+the pious Christian devoted to scripture or of the moralist perplexed by
+the divisions among the orthodox clergy. Finally, his rhetoric was shaped
+by deistic predecessors who used sarcasm and satire to mock the gravity of
+church authority. So much was their wit a trademark that as early as 1702
+one commentator had noted, "when you expect an argument, they make a
+jest."[15] Collins himself resorted to this practice with both instinctive
+skill and deliberate contrivance.
+
+All these methods, though underhanded, he silently justified on the
+assumption that he was dealing with a conspiracy of priests: hence, he
+professed that he had to fight fraud and deception with their like, and
+that such craftiness, suitable "to his particular genius and temper," was
+"serviceable to his cause." For these reasons even William Warburton, who
+had vainly struggled to be judicious, described him as "a Writer, whose
+dexterity in the arts of Controversy was so remarkably contrasted by his
+abilities in reasoning and literature, as to be ever putting one in mind
+of what travellers tell us of the genius of the proper Indians, who,
+although the veriest bunglers in all the fine arts of manual operation,
+yet excel everybody in slight of hand and the delusive feats of
+activity."[16] Whatever may be said of Collins and his achievement, one
+fact remains constant. 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 debate.
+
+He seized any opportunity to expose the diversity of ethical and
+theological opinion which set one Anglican divine against another, "to
+observe"--as Jenkin put it--"how the gladiators in dispute murder the
+cause between them, while they so fiercely cut and wound one another." For
+Collins such observation was more than oratorical artifice; it was one of
+the dogmas of his near-nihilism. He commented once to Des Maizeaux upon
+the flurry of critics who replied to his statement of necessitarianism in
+the _Philosophical Inquiry concerning Human Liberty_:
+
+     I was extreamly pleasd with BP Hoadley, ... as it was upon the true
+     and only point worth disputing with ye Preists, viz whether we the
+     laity are the Calves and Sheep of the Preist. And I am not less
+     pleasd to see them manage this controversy with ye same vile arts
+     against one another, as they always use towards the laity. It must
+     open the eyes of a few and convince them, that the Preists mean
+     nothing but wealth and power, and have not the least ... of those
+     qualitys for wch the superstitious world admires them.[17]
+
+
+He applied this principle of divisive attack in _A Discourse of
+Free-Thinking_. There in fifty-three pages he transparently ridiculed
+contradictions which hedged three areas of fundamental religious belief:
+_"The Nature and Attributes of the Eternal Being or God, ... the Authority
+of Scriptures, and ... the Sense of Scripture."_ In accordance with one of
+his favorite tricks--the massing of eminent authority--his exposition
+rings with hallowed Anglican names: South, Bull, Taylor, Wallis, Carlton,
+Davenant, Edwards, More, Tillotson, Fowler, Sherlock, Stillingfleet,
+Sacheverell, Beveridge, Grabe, Hickes, Lesley.[18] What united these men,
+he insinuated, was not a Christian commitment but a talent to disagree
+with one another and even to repudiate themselves--as in the case of
+Stillingfleet. In effect, the entire _Discourse_ bubbles with a carelessly
+suppressed snicker.
+
+The clergy could not readily reply to this kind of incriminating exposure
+or deny its reality. They therefore overreacted to other judgments that
+Collins made, particularly to his attacks upon Christian revelation. These
+they denigrated as misleading, guileful, sinister, contrived, deceitful,
+insidious, shuffling, covert, subversive. What they objected to was,
+first, the way in which he reduced the demonstration of Christian
+revelation to only the "puzzling and perplexing" argument from prophecy,
+the casual ease with which he ignored or dismissed those other "clear"
+proofs derived from the miracles of Jesus and the resurrection itself.[19]
+But even more the orthodox resented the masked point of view from which
+Collins presented his disbelief.
+
+For example, the _Grounds and Reasons_ is the deist's first extended
+attack upon revelation. Ostensibly it is, as we have seen, an answer to
+Whiston's _Essay Towards Restoring the True Text of the Old Testament; and
+for Vindicating the Citations Made Thence in the New Testament_ (1722). In
+it the mathematician argued that the Hebraic prophecies relating to the
+messiah had been literally fulfilled in Jesus. But this truth, he
+admitted, had been obscured "in the latter Ages," only because of those
+"Difficulties" which "have [almost wholly] arisen from the Corruptions,
+the unbelieving _Jews_ introduc'd into the Hebrew and Greek copies of the
+Old Testament, [soon after] the Beginning of the Second Century." These
+conspiratorial corruptions he single-handedly planned to remove, returning
+the Old Testament to a state of textual purity with emendations drawn from
+sources as varied as the Samaritan Pentateuch, the Greek Psalms, the
+Antiquities of Josephus, the Chaldee Paraphrases, the books of Philo. His
+pragmatic purpose was to nullify the biblical criticism of historical
+minded scholars as reputable as Grotius, to render useless the allegorical
+interpretation of messianic prophecies. That is, he saw in the latter a
+"pernicious" absence of fact, a "weak and enthusiastical" whimsy,
+unchristian adjustments to the exigencies of the moment.[20]
+
+Collins fought not to destroy Whiston's position, which was all too easily
+destructible, but to undermine the structure, the very "grounds and
+reasons" with which orthodoxy supported the mysteries of its faith. To do
+so, he spun a gigantic web of irony controlled by a persona whose complex
+purpose was concealed by a mien of hyper-righteousness. 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 conclusions. Here too was a conservative Christian different from
+Whiston "and many other great divines; who seem to pay little deference to
+the books of the New Testament, the text whereof they are perpetually
+mending in their sermons, commentaries, and writings, to serve purposes;
+who pretend _we should have more of the true text by being less tenacious
+of the printed one_, and in consequence thereof, presume to correct by
+critical _emendations_, serve _capital places_ in the _sacred writers_;
+and who ... do virtually set aside the authority of the scripture, and
+place those compositions in its stead." Finally, here was one who,
+obedient to the spirit of God's revealed word, rejected the fallacy that
+messianic prophecy had been fulfilled in Christ in any "literal, obvious
+and primary sense."[21]
+
+But though the persona could not accept Whiston's program, he was not a
+mere negativist. With growing excitement he argued for allegorical
+interpretation. At this point the reader discerns that he has been duped,
+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 enthusiastical." On the contrary, 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 absurdity.
+After being protected for a long time by all the twists and turns of his
+creator's irony, the persona finally reveals himself for what he is, a man
+totally insolent and totally without remorse. Never for one moment did he
+wish to defend the scheme of allegorical prophecy but to attack it. His
+argument, stripped of its convolutions and pseudo-piety, moves inexorably
+to a single, negative conclusion. "Christianity pretends to derive itself
+from Judaism. JESUS appeals to the religious books of the Jews as
+prophesying of his Mission. None of these Prophecies can be understood of
+him but in a _typical allegoric_ sense. Now that sense is absurd, and
+contrary to all scholastic rules of interpretation. Christianity,
+therefore, not being really predicted in the Jewish Writings, is
+consequently false."[22]
+
+Collins continued his attack upon Christian revelation in the _Scheme_. In
+the two years which separated this work from the earlier _Grounds and
+Reasons_, there occurred no change in the author's argument. What does
+occur, however, is a perceptive if snide elaboration upon the mask. This
+is in many ways the same persona who barely suppressed his guffaws in the
+earlier work. Now he is given an added dimension; he is made more
+decisively rational than his predecessor and therefore more insightful in
+his knowledge of rhetorical method. As a disciple of certain Protestant
+polemicists and particularly of Grotius, whose "integrity," "honor," and
+biblical criticism he supports, 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 arguments. "For if you begin
+with Infidels by denying to them, what is evident and agreeable to common
+sense, I think there can be no reasonable hopes of converting or
+convincing them."[23] The irony is abrasive simply because it unanswerably
+singles out the great rhetorical failure of orthodoxy, its inability to
+argue from a set of principles as acceptable to the deists as to
+themselves.
+
+Many of the clergy chafed against Collins's manipulation of this
+tongue-in-cheek persona. They resented his irreverent wit which projected,
+for example, the image of an Anglican God who "talks to all mankind from
+corners" and who shows his back parts to Moses. They were irritated by his
+jesting parables, as in "The Case of Free-Seeing," and by the impertinence
+of labelling Archbishop Tillotson as the man "whom all _English
+Free-Thinkers_ own as their Head."[24]
+
+But most of all they gagged upon Collins's use of satire in religious
+controversy. As we have already seen, there were complex reasons for his
+choice of technique. He was a naturally witty man who, sometimes out of
+fear and sometimes out of malice, expressed himself best through
+circuitous irony. In 1724, when he himself considered his oratorical
+practice, he argued that his matter determined his style, that the targets
+of his belittling wit were the "saint-errants." 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"
+Presbyterians. It would be hard to live down the associations of those
+facetious lines which made the Augustan divines, like their unwelcome
+forebear Hudibras, members
+
+                      Of that stubborn Crew
+  Of Errant Saints, whom all men grant
+  To be the true Church Militant.
+
+Those dignified Anglican exteriors were further punctured by Collins's
+irreverent attack upon their cry of religious uniformity, a cry which was
+"ridiculous, romantick, and impossible to succeed." He saw himself, in
+short, as an emancipated Butler or even Cervantes; and like his famous
+predecessors he too would laugh quite out of countenance the fool and the
+hypocrite, the pretender and the enthusiast, the knave and the persecuter,
+all those who would create a god in their own sour and puny image.
+
+
+III
+
+By 1727 several of the orthodox felt that they could take no more of
+Collins's laughter, his sneering invectives against the clergy, or his
+designs to make religion "a Matter purely personal; and the Knowledge of
+it to be obtain'd by personal Consideration, _independently of any Guides,
+Teachers, or Authority_." In the forefront of this group was John Rogers,
+whose hostility to the deist was articulate and compulsive. At least it
+drove him into a position seemingly at odds with the spirit if not the law
+of English toleration. He urged, for example, that those like Collins be
+prosecuted in a civil court for a persuasion "which is manifestly
+subversive of all Order and Polity, and can no more consist with civil,
+than with religious, Society."[25]
+
+Thereupon followed charge and countercharge. New gladiators, as different
+from each other as the nonconformist divine Samuel Chandler and the deist
+Thomas Chubb, entered the arena on behalf of Collins. For all the dogmatic
+volubility of Rogers, orthodoxy appeared beleaguered. The moderate clergy,
+who witnessed this exchange, became alarmed; they feared that in the melee
+the very heart of English toleration would be threatened by the
+contenders, all of whom spoke as its champion. Representative of such
+moderation was Nathanael Marshall, who wished if not to end the debate,
+then at least to contain its ardor. As canon of Windsor, he supported the
+condition of a state religion protected by the magistrate but he worried
+over the extent of the latter's prerogative and power. Certainly he was
+more liberal than Rogers in his willingness to entertain professions of
+religious diversity. Yet he straitjacketed his liberalism when he denied
+responsible men the right to attack laws, both civil and canonical, with
+"ludicrous Insult" or "with Buffoonery and Banter, Ridicule or Sarcastick
+Irony."[26]
+
+Once again Collins met the challenge. In _A Discourse concerning Ridicule
+and Irony_ he devoted himself to undermining the moral, the intellectual,
+and practical foundations of that one restraint which Marshall would
+impose upon the conduct of any religious quarrel. He had little difficulty
+in achieving his objective. His adversary's stand was visibly vulnerable
+and for several reasons. It was too conscious of the tug-of-war between
+the deist and Rogers, too arbitrary in its choice of prohibition. It was,
+in truth, strained by a choice between offending the establishment and yet
+rejecting clerical extremism.[27] Moreover, Collins had this time an
+invisible partner, a superior thinker against whom he could test his own
+ideas and from whom he could borrow others. For the _Discourse concerning
+Ridicule and Irony_ is largely a particularization, a crude but powerful
+reworking of Shaftesbury's _Sensus Communis: An Essay on the Freedom of
+Wit and Humour_.
+
+Supported by Shaftesbury's urbane generalization, Collins laughed openly
+at the egocentricity and blindness of Marshall's timid zealotry. Indeed,
+he wryly found his orthodox opponent guilty of the very crime with which
+he, as a subversive, was charged. It seemed to him, he said,
+
+     a most prodigious Banter upon [mankind], for Men to talk in general
+     of the _Immorality_ of _Ridicule_ and _Irony_, and of _punishing_ Men
+     for those Matters, when their own Practice is _universal Irony_ and
+     _Ridicule_ of all those who go not with them, and _universal
+     Applause_ and _Encouragement_ for such _Ridicule_ and _Irony_, and
+     distinguishing by all the honourable ways imaginable such _drolling_
+     Authors for their Drollery; and when Punishment for _Drollery_ is
+     never call'd for, but when _Drollery_ is used or employ'd against
+     them!
+
+     (p. 29)
+
+Collins's technique continued its ironic ambiguity, reversal, and
+obliquity. Under a tone of seeming innocence and good will, he credited
+his adversaries with an enviable capacity for satiric argument. In
+comradely fashion, he found precedent for his own rhetorical practice
+through a variety of historical and biblical analogies. But even more
+important for a contemporary audience, he again resorted to the device of
+invoking the authority provided by some of the most respected names in the
+Anglican Establishment. The use of satire in religious topics, hence, was
+manifest in "the Writings of our most eminent Divines," especially those
+of Stillingfleet, "our greatest controversial Writer" (pp. 4-5).
+
+With all the outrageous assurance of a self-invited guest, the deist had
+seated himself at the table of his vainly protesting Christian hosts (whom
+he insisted on identifying as brethren). "In a word," he said so as to
+obviate debate, "the Opinions and Practices of Men in all Matters, and
+especially in Matters of Religion, are generally so absurd and ridiculous
+that it is impossible for them not to be the Subjects of Ridicule" (p.
+19). Thus adopting Juvenal's concept of satiric necessity ("difficile est
+saturam non scribere"), Collins here set forth the thesis and rationale of
+his enemy. There was a kind of impudent virtuosity in his "proofs," in his
+manner of drawing a large, impressive cluster of names into his ironic net
+and making all of them appear to be credible witnesses in his defense.
+Even Swift, amusingly compromised as "one of the greatest _Droles_ that
+ever appear'd upon the Stage of the World" (p. 39), was brought to the
+witness box as evidence of the privileged status to which satiric writing
+was entitled. Collins enforced erudition with cool intelligence so that
+contemptuous amusement is present on every page of his _Discourse_.
+
+Beneath his jeers and his laughter there was a serious denunciation of any
+kind of intellectual restraint, however mild-seeming; beneath his verbal
+pin-pricking there was conversely an exoneration of man's right to
+inquire, to profess, and to persuade. Beneath his jests and sarcasms there
+was further a firm philosophical commitment that informed the rhetoric of
+all his earlier work. Ridicule, he asserted in 1729, "is both a proper and
+necessary Method of Discourse in many Cases, and especially in the Case of
+_Gravity_, when that is attended with Hypocrisy or Imposture, or with
+Ignorance, or with soureness of Temper and Persecution: all which ought to
+draw after them the _Ridicule_ and _Contempt_ of the Society, which has no
+other effectual Remedy against such Methods of Imposition" (p. 22).
+
+For the modern reader the _Discourse concerning Ridicule and Irony_ is the
+most satisfactory of Collins's many pamphlets and books. It lacks the
+pretentiousness of the _Scheme_, the snide convolutions of the _Grounds
+and Reasons_, the argument by half-truths of the _Discourse of
+Free-Thinking_. His last work is free of the curious ambivalence which
+marked so many of his earlier pieces, a visible uncertainty which made him
+fear repression and yet court it. On the contrary, his last work is in
+fact a justification of his rhetorical mode and religious beliefs; it is
+an _apologia pro vita sua_ written with all the intensity and decisiveness
+that such a justification demands. To be sure, it takes passing shots at
+old enemies like Swift, but never with rancor. And while its language is
+frequently ironical, its thinking makes an earnest defense of wit as a
+weapon of truth. The essay sets forth its author as an _animal ridens_, a
+creature that through laughter and affable cynicism worships a universal
+God and respects a rational mankind.
+
+Brown University
+
+
+
+
+NOTES TO THE INTRODUCTION
+
+[1] _Universal Spectator, and Weekly Journal_, No. 98 (22 August 1730).
+
+[2] To Des Maizeaux (5 May 1717): B. M. Sloane MSS. 4282, ff. 129-130.
+
+[3] To Des Maizeaux (9 February 1716): B. M. Sloane MSS. 4282, f. 123.
+
+[4] The title page of the _Scheme_ is dated 1726. It was not advertised in
+the newspapers or journals of that year--a strange silence for any of
+Collins's work. Its first notice appeared in the _Monthly Catalogue: Being
+a General Register of Books, Sermons, Plays, Poetry, Pamphlets, &c.
+Printed and Publish'd in London, or the Universities, during the Month of
+May, 1727_ (see No. 49). Yet we know that the _Scheme_ had been remarked
+upon as early as March when on the 10th of that month Samuel Chandler
+published his _Reflections on the Conduct of the Modern Deists in their
+late Writings against Christianity_. (For the dating of Chandler's work,
+see the _Daily Courant_ [10 March 1727].) We know also that the _Scheme_
+went to a second edition late in 1727 and was frequently advertised in the
+_Daily Post_ between 2 January and 20 January 1728.
+
+[5] For the statement about the _Letter to Dr. Rogers_, see B. M. Sloane
+MSS. 4282, f. 220 (15 August 1727). For that on the use of "personal
+matters" in controversy, see B. M. Sloane MSS. 4282, f. 170 (27 December
+1719); cf. _The Scheme of Literal Prophecy Considered_ (London, 1726), pp.
+422-438.
+
+[6] _The Grounds and Reasons of the Christian Religion_ was published in
+London within the first four days of January 1724; see the advertisement
+in the _Daily Post_ (4 January 1724). _A Discourse concerning Ridicule and
+Irony in Writing_ was published on or close to 17 March 1729; see the
+advertisement in the _Daily Journal_ for that date.
+
+[7] We can generally fix the date of Rogers's _Eight Sermons_ within the
+first two months of 1727 because it was answered early by Samuel
+Chandler's _Reflections on the Conduct of the Modern Deists_. (See note
+4.) For the dating of Collins's rebuttal, see the _Monthly Catalogue_, No.
+49 (May 1727).
+
+[8] To Des Maizeaux (24 June 1727): B. M. Sloane MSS. 4282, ff. 218-219.
+
+[9] For the dating of this work, see the _Daily Post_ (31 January 1728).
+
+[10] For Swift's satire, see _Mr. C---ns's Discourse of Free-Thinking, Put
+into plain English, by way of Abstract, for the Use of the Poor_. For
+Bentley's devastating probe of Collins's scholarly inadequacies, see his
+_Remarks on the Discourse of Free-Thinking. By Phileleutherus Lipsiensis_.
+Both works appeared in 1713.
+
+[11] _Scheme_, pp. 432-433.
+
+[12] Edward Chandler, _A Defence of Christianity from the Prophecies of
+the Old Testament_ (London, 1725), p. ii.
+
+[13] _A Letter to Dr. Rogers_, p. 89.
+
+[14] _A Vindication of the Divine Attributes_ (London, 1710), p. 24.
+
+[15] Robert Jenkin, _A Brief Confutation of the Pretences against Natural
+and Revealed Religion_ (London, 1702), p. 40.
+
+[16] For Collins on his own rhetorical skills, see _Scheme_, p. 402;
+William Warburton, _Divine Legation of Moses, Demonstrated_ (London,
+1846), III, 199.
+
+[17] Jenkin, _Brief Confutation_, p. 51; for the letter (1 July 1717), see
+B. M. Sloane MSS. 4282, f. 137.
+
+[18] Pp. 46-99.
+
+[19] See, for example, the statement of John Conybeare, Bishop of Bristol,
+in Joseph Spence, _Observations, Anecdotes, and Characters of Books and
+Men_, ed. James M. Osborn (Oxford, 1966), I, sect. 992.
+
+[20] _Essay_, pp. 329-333 (for Whiston's statement of sources); pp.
+334-335 (for his defense of literal interpretation). The bracketed
+material indicates Whiston's manuscript emendations of his own printed
+text; see the British Museum's copy of the _Essay_ (873. 1. 10) which
+originally belonged to the mathematician. See Collins, _Grounds and
+Reasons_, pp. 98-99, for the summary of Whiston's attack upon allegorical
+interpretation.
+
+[21] _Grounds and Reasons_, pp. 20, 48-50.
+
+[22] This terse summary of the persona's argument was correctly made by
+Warburton, III, 232.
+
+[23] _Scheme_, p. 391.
+
+[24] _Discourse of Free-Thinking_, pp. 15-17, 38, 171.
+
+[25] _Eight Sermons_, pp. 1, lxi.
+
+[26] Marshall, pp. 301, 337. For Samuel Chandler's contribution, see his
+_Reflections on the Conduct of the Modern Deists_ (London, 1727); for
+Chubb's contribution see _Some Short Reflections on the Grounds and Extent
+of Authority and Liberty, With respect to the Civil Government_ (London,
+1728).
+
+[27] Marshall's reluctance to support Rogers's extremism is seen in the
+funeral sermon he preached at the latter's death (_A Sermon Delivered in
+the Parish Church of St. Giles Cripplegate, May 18, 1729. Upon Occasion of
+the Much Lamented Death of the Revd. John Rogers_ [London, 1729]). He
+made only the most casual and indifferent reference to Rogers's work. So
+obvious was this slight that it called for a rebuttal; see Philalethes (A.
+A. Sykes [?]), _Some Remarks Upon the Reverend Dr. Marshall's Sermon on
+Occasion of the Death of the Revd Dr Rogers_ (London, 1729).
+
+
+
+
+BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
+
+This facsimile of _A Discourse concerning Ridicule and Irony in Writing_
+(1729) is reproduced from a copy in the William Andrews Clark Memorial
+Library.
+
+
+
+
+  A
+  DISCOURSE
+  CONCERNING
+  Ridicule and Irony
+  IN
+  WRITING,
+  IN A
+  LETTER
+  To the Reverend
+  Dr. NATHANAEL MARSHALL.
+
+  -------- _Ridiculum acri
+  Fortius & melius magnas plerumq; secat res._
+
+  -------- _Ridentem dicere verum
+  Quid vetat?_
+
+  _LONDON:_
+
+  Printed for J. BROTHERTON in _Cornhill_ and sold
+  by T. WARNER in _Pater-noster-Row_, and
+  A. DODD without _Temple-Bar_. 1729.
+
+
+
+
+  A
+  DISCOURSE
+  CONCERNING
+  _Ridicule_ and _Irony_, &c.
+
+
+REVEREND SIR,
+
+In your _Letter_ to Dr. _Rogers_, which he has publish'd at the End of his
+_Vindication of the Civil Establishment of Religion_, I find a Notion
+advanc'd by you: which as it is a common and plausible Topick for
+Persecution, and a Topick by which you, and many others, urge the
+Magistrate to punish [or, as you phrase it, _to pinch_] [28] Men for
+controversial Writings, is particularly proper at this time to be fully
+consider'd; and I hope to treat it in such manner as to make you your
+self, and every fair Reader, sensible of the Weakness thereof.
+
+You profess to "vindicate [29] a sober, serious, and modest Inquiry into
+the Reasons of any Establishment."
+
+And you add, that you "have not ordinarily found it judg'd inconsistent
+with the Duty of a _private Subject_, to propose his Doubts or his Reasons
+to the Publick in a _modest_ way, concerning the _Repeal_ of any Law which
+he may think of ill Consequence by its Continuance. If he be a Man of
+Ability, and well vers'd in the Argument, he will deserve some Attention;
+but if he mistakes his Talent, and will be busy with what he very little
+understands, Contempt and Odium will be his unavoidable and just
+Allotment." And you say, that "Religion is more a personal Affair, in
+which every Man has a peculiar Right and Interest, and a Concern that he
+be not mistaken, than in any other Case or Instance which can fall under
+the Cognizance of the Magistrate; and that greater Allowances seem due to
+each private Person for Examination and Inquiry in this, than in any other
+Example."
+
+And herein I must do you the Justice to acknowledge, that you speak like a
+Christian, like a Protestant, like an _Englishman_, and a reasonable Man;
+like a Man concerned for Truth, like a Man of Conscience; like a Man
+concern'd for the Consciences of others; like a Man concern'd to have some
+Sense, Learning, and Virtue in the World; and, in a word, like a Man who
+is not for abandoning all the valuable Things in Life to the Tyranny,
+Ambition, and Covetousness of Magistrates and Ecclesiasticks.
+
+But you observe, that "municipal Laws[30], how trivial soever in their
+intrinsick Value, are never to be _insulted_; never to be treated with
+_Buffoonery_ and _Banter_, _Ridicule_ and _Sarcastick Irony_. So that Dr.
+_Rogers_'s grand Adversary will have from you no measure of Encouragement
+to his manner of Writing." Again, you "never [31] desire to see the
+Magistrate fencing in the publick Religion with so thick a Hedge as shall
+exclude all Light, and shall tear out the Eyes of all such as endeavour to
+see thro' it. _Sober arguing_ you never fear: _Mockery_ and _bitter
+Railing_, if you could help it, you would never bear, either _for the
+Truth or against it_."
+
+Upon which I offer these following Considerations.
+
+I. _First_, If what you call _Insult_, _Buffoonery_, _Banter_, _Ridicule_
+and _Irony_, _Mockery_ and _bitter Railing_, be Crimes in Disputation, you
+will find none more deeply involv'd in it than our most famous Writers, in
+their controversial Treatises about _serious_ Matters; as all Notions and
+Practices in Religion, whether reasonable or absurd, may be equally and
+justly deem'd: the Notions and Practices of Papists, Presbyterians,
+Quakers, and all other Sects, being no less _serious_ to their respective
+Sects than ridiculous to one another. Let any Man read the Writings of our
+most eminent Divines against the _Papists_, _Puritans_, _Dissenters_, and
+_Hereticks_, and against one another, and particularly the Writings of
+_Alexander Cook_, _Hales_, _Chillingworth_, _Patrick_, _Tillotson_,
+_Stillingfleet_, _Burnet_, _South_, _Hickes_, _Sherlock_ and _Edwards_,
+and he will find them to abound with _Banter_, _Ridicule_, and _Irony_.
+_Stillingfleet_ in particular, our greatest controversial Writer, who
+passes for _grave_ and _solemn_, is so conscious of his use thereof, that
+he confesses that Charge of the Papists against him, saying[32], "But I
+forget my Adversary's grave admonition, that I _would treat these Matters
+seriously, and lay aside Drollery_." And again, after a _Banter_ of near a
+Page, he says[33], "But I forget I am so near my Adversary's Conclusion,
+wherein he so _gravely_ advises me, that I _would be pleas'd for once to
+write Controversy, and not Play-Books_." Nor did I ever hear the Divines
+of the Church condemn the Doctor for his sarcastical Method of writing
+Controversy. On the contrary, I remember at the University, that he used
+to be applauded no less for his Wit than for his Learning. And to exalt
+his Character as a Wit, his _Conferences between a_ Romish _Priest, a
+Fanatick Chaplain, and a Divine of the Church of_ England, _&c._ were
+spoken of as an excellent _Comedy_, and especially for that Part which the
+_Fanatick Chaplain_ acts therein, who makes as comical and as ridiculous a
+Figure as he does in any of the _Plays_ acted on the Stage. And in his
+_Controversy_ with _Dryden_ about the _Royal Papers_, and those of the
+_Duchess_ of _York_, he was deem'd to have out-done that famous _Satirist_
+in tart Repartees and Reflections; and to have attack'd the Character of
+the _Poet_ with more severity, than that _Poet_, who was so remarkable for
+his satirical Reflections on the holy Order, did the Character of the
+_Divine_: As for example, he says to _Dryden_[34], "Could nothing be said
+by you of Bishop _Morley_, but that _Prelate of rich Memory_? Or had you a
+mind to tell us he was no _Poet_? Or that he was out of the Temptation of
+changing his Religion for Bread?" And many Citations us'd to be produc'd
+out of his Writings, as Specimens of his ironical Talent; among which I
+particularly remember his _Ridicule_ of his Adversary Mr. _Alsop_, a
+famous Presbyterian Wit and Divine; whose Book, which was full of low
+Raillery and Ridicule, he resembles [35] to _the Bird of_ Athens, as _made
+up of Face and Feathers_. And the Doctor himself adds, in Justification of
+the polite Method of Raillery in Controversy, that _there is a
+pleasantness of Wit, which serves to entertain the Reader in the rough
+and deep way of Controversy_. Nor did Mr. _Alsop_ want Approvers of his
+Raillery in his own Party. Mr. _Gilbert Rule_[36], a great _Scotch_
+Presbyterian Divine, who defended him against _Stillingfleet_, contends in
+behalf of his Raillery, "That the Facetiousness of Mr. _Alsop_'s Strain
+needed to have bred no Disgust, being as a Condiment to prevent _Taedium_
+and Nauseousness." And he adds, "That he knows none that blame the
+excellent Writings of Mr. _Fuller_, which have a Pleasantness not unlike
+that of Mr. _Alsop_."
+
+And this manner of writing is seldom complain'd of, as unfit to be
+allow'd, by any but those who feel themselves hurt by it. For the solemn
+and grave can bear a solemn and grave Attack: That gives them a sort of
+Credit in the World, and makes them appear considerable to themselves, as
+worthy of a serious Regard. But _Contempt_ is what they, who commonly are
+the most contemptible and worthless of Men, cannot bear nor withstand, as
+setting them in their true Light, and being the most effectual Method to
+drive Imposture, the sole Foundation of their Credit, out of the World.
+Hence _Stillingfleet_'s Popish Adversaries, more conscious perhaps of the
+Ridiculousness of Popery than the common People among Protestants
+themselves, fall upon him very furiously. One says[37], "That by the
+Phrases, which are the chief Ornaments that set off the Doctor's Works, we
+may easily guess in what Books he has spent his Time; and that he is well
+vers'd in _Don Quixot_, the _Seven Champions_, and other _Romantick
+Stories_. Sure the Doctor err'd in his Vocation: Had he quitted all
+serious Matters, and dedicated himself wholly to Drollery and Romance,
+with two or three Years under _Hudibras_, he might have been a Master in
+that Faculty; the Stage might have been a Gainer by it, and the Church of
+_England_ would have been no Loser."
+
+Another of his Adversaries says, "[38]Peruse the Doctor Page after Page,
+you will find the Man all along in peevish Humour, when you see his Book
+brimfull of tart biting Ironies, Drolleries, comical Expressions,
+impertinent Demands, and idle Stories, _&c._ as if the discharging a
+little Gall were enough to disparage _the clearest Miracles_ God ever
+wrought."
+
+But what are these _clearest Miracles God ever wrought_? Why, the most
+extravagant, whimsical, absurd, and ridiculous Legends and Stories
+imaginable; such as that of _St. Dominick_[39], who when the Devil came to
+him in the Shape of a _Monkey_, made him hold a Candle to him while he
+wrote, and keep it so long between his Toes, till it burnt them; and his
+keeping the Devil, who sometimes came to him in the Shape of a _Flea_, and
+by skipping on the Leaves of his Book disturb'd his Reading, in that
+Shape, and using him for a Mark to know where he left off reading: Such as
+St. _Patrick_'s heating an Oven with Snow, and turning a Pound of Honey
+into a Pound of Butter: Such as _Christ_'s marrying Nuns, and playing at
+Cards with them; and Nuns living on the Milk of the blessed Virgin _Mary_;
+and that of divers Orders, and especially the _Benedictine_, being so dear
+to the blessed Virgin, that in Heaven she lodges them under her
+Petticoats: Such as making broken Eggs whole; and of People, who had
+their Heads cut off, walking with their Heads in their Hands, which were
+sometimes set on again: Such as Failing for a hundred Years; and raising
+Cows, Calves, and Birds from the Dead, after they had been chopt to Pieces
+and eaten, and putting on their Heads after they had been pull'd or cut
+off; and turning a Pound of Butter into a Bell; and making a Bull give
+Milk; and raising a King's Daughter from the Dead, and turning her into a
+Son; and the several Translations thro' the Air of the Virgin _Mary_'s
+House from _Palestine_ to _Loretto_, and the Miracles wrote there; and
+more of the like Kind.
+
+Are these, or such as these the _clearest Miracles God ever wrought_? Do
+such Miracles deserve a serious Regard? And shall the _Gravity_ with which
+Mankind is thus banter'd out of their common Sense, excuse these Matters
+from _Ridicule_?
+
+It will be difficult to find any Writers who have exceeded the Doctors,
+_South_ and [40] _Edwards_, in _Banter_, _Irony_, _Satire_ and _Sarcasms_:
+The last of whom has written a Discourse in _Defence of sharp Reflections
+on Authors and their Opinions_; wherein he enumerates, as Examples for his
+Purpose, almost all the eminent Divines of the Church of _England_. And
+Mr. [41] _Collier_, speaking of a Letter of the Venerable _Bede_ to
+_Egbert_ Bishop of _York_, says, "The Satire and Declamation in this
+_Epistle_ shews the _pious Zeal_ and _Integrity_ of the Author;" which
+seems to imply, that _Satire_ and _Declamation_ is the orthodox and most
+pious Method of writing in behalf of _Orthodoxy_.
+
+Dr. _Rogers_, to whom you write, falls into the Method of Buffoonery,
+Banter, Satire, Drollery, Ridicule, and Irony, even in the Treatise to
+which your Letter is subjoined, and against that _Person_ whom you would
+have punish'd for that Method: When he says to him, [42] "Religion then,
+it seems, must be left to the Scholars and Gentlefolks, and to them 'tis
+to be of no other use, but as a Subject of Disputation to improve their
+Parts and Learning; but methinks the Vulgar might be indulged a little of
+it now and then, upon Sundays and Holidays, instead of Bull-baiting and
+Foot-ball." And this insipid Piece of Drollery and false Wit [which is
+design'd to ridicule his Adversary for asserting, that _What Men
+understand nothing of, they have no Concern about_; which is a Proposition
+that will stand the Test of _Ridicule_, which will be found wholly to lie
+against the Doctor, for asserting the Reasonableness of imposing Things on
+the People which they do not understand] is the more remarkable, as it
+proceeds from one, who is at the same time for using the Sword of the
+Magistrate against his Adversary. One would think the [43] _Inquisitor_
+should banish the _Droll_, and the _Droll_ the _Inquisitor_.
+
+One of the greatest and best Authorities for the _pleasant_ and _ironical_
+manner of treating _serious_ Matters, is that eminent Divine at the Time
+of the Reformation, the great _Erasmus_, who has written two Books in this
+way with great Applause of Protestants, and without subjecting himself to
+any Persecution of Papists: which makes it highly proper to propose them
+to the Consideration of the Reader, that he may regulate his Notions, by
+what, it may be presum'd, he approves of in that Author. These two Books
+of _Erasmus_ are his _Colloquies_, and his _Praise of Folly_.
+
+His _Colloquies_ were wrote in imitation of _Lucian_'s _Dialogues_; and I
+think with equal, if not superior, Success.
+
+Both these Authors had an Aversion to sullen, austere, designing Knaves;
+and both of them being Men of Wit and Satire, employ'd their Talents
+against _Superstition_ and _Hypocrisy_. _Lucian_ liv'd in an Age when
+_Fiction_ and _Fable_ had usurp'd the Name of _Religion_, and _Morality_
+was corrupted by _Men_ of _Beard_ and _Grimace_, but scandalously _Leud_
+and _Ignorant_; who yet had the Impudence to preach up _Virtue_, and style
+themselves _Philosophers_, perpetually clashing with one another about the
+Precedence of their several Founders, the Merits of their different Sects,
+and if 'tis possible, about Trifles of less Importance: yet all agreeing
+in a different way to dupe and amuse the poor People, by the _fantastick_
+Singularity of their Habits, the unintelligible Jargon of their Schools,
+and their Pretensions to a severe and mortify'd Life.
+
+These Jugglers and Impostors _Lucian_ in great measure help'd to chase out
+of the World, by exposing them in their proper Colours, and by
+representing them as ridiculous as they were. But in a few Generations
+after him, a new Race of Men sprung up in the World, well known by the
+Name of _Monks_ and _Fryars_, different indeed from the former in
+Religion, Garb, and a few other Circumstances; but in the main, the same
+sort of Impostors, the same ever-lasting Cobweb-Spinners, as to their
+nonsensical Controversies, the same abandon'd _Wretches_, as to their
+Morals; but as to the mysterious Arts of heaping up Wealth, and picking
+the People's Pockets, infinitely superior to the _Pagan Philosophers_ and
+_Priests_. These were the sanctify'd Cheats, whose Folly and Vices
+_Erasmus_ has so effectually lash'd, that some Countries have entirely
+turn'd these Drones out of their Cells; and in other Places, where they
+are still kept up, they are in some measure become contemptible, and
+obliged to be always on their Guard.
+
+The Papists say, that these "[44]_Colloquies_, by turning into _Ridicule_
+the Devotion to the holy Virgin and Saints, the Worship of Relicks and
+Images, religious Vows and Pilgrimages, have made more Hereticks than the
+Works of _Luther_ and _Calvin_." And I find the reverend Mr. _Trapp_
+[after calling [45] _Reliques_, FOOLISH] celebrates _Erasmus_ for _having
+abundantly_ RIDICUL'D _them_.
+
+His _Praise of Folly_ treats of _serious_ Matters, in such a gay,
+familiar, ingenious and pleasant manner, as makes it a Work proper to be
+read by intelligent People, to remove out of their Minds all Bigotry
+contracted by Ignorance and an evil Education, all Peevishness, Hatred,
+and Ill-nature towards one another, on account of different Sentiments in
+Religion; and to form in them the natural Principles of Moderation,
+Humanity, Affection and Friendship. Our learned and ingenious Bishop
+_Kennet_ could not do a more signal Piece of Service to our Country, than
+by translating into _English_ this Book, which the Ladies have now an
+Opportunity of understanding no less than the Men; and from whence they
+may see the pleasant, amiable, and just Disposition of Mind of one of the
+most learned and ingenious Men that ever liv'd, as well as Author of a
+great Number of religious and devotional Books; nor could the Bishop well
+give a heartier Stroke at Popery, than by approving of _Erasmus_'s [46]
+_laughing_ at it, and applauding his numberless _Taunts on its Impostures,
+Cheats, and Delusions_.
+
+Our Clergy have ever treated Mr. _Hobbes_ with the greatest Mockery,
+Ridicule and Raillery: As for example, _Ward_ Bishop of _Sarum_, _Brambal_
+Bishop of _Derry_, _Parker_ Bishop of _Oxford_, Dr. _Wallis_ in his
+several bantering Treatises against him, _Lucy_ Bishop of _St. Davids,
+Shafto_, and particularly the Reverend _Droll_, Dr. _Eachard_, in two
+_Dialogues_, which, it is well known, have been universally well receiv'd
+by the Clergy, and that for their Treatment of Mr. _Hobbes_ in the
+ridiculing Way; for which the Author himself makes the following just
+Apology, in his _Dedication_ of his _Second Dialogue_ to Archbishop
+_Sheldon_, "That of all Triflers, 'tis the _Set_, the _Grave_, the
+_Philosophical_, and the _Mathematical Trifler_, to which he has the
+greatest Aversion; whom when he meets, very gravely making out all Men to
+be rational Beasts both in Nature and Conversation, and every Man, he
+pleases, a rational Rebel; and upon any Fright or Pinch a rational Atheist
+and Anti-Christian; and all this perform'd with all DEMURENESS, SOLEMNITY,
+QUOTATION of SCRIPTURE, APPEALS to CONSCIENCE and CHURCH-HISTORY; he must
+humbly beg his _Grace's_ Pardon, if then he has endeavour'd to SMILE a
+little, and to get as much out of his Road and way of Writing as
+possible." These _Dialogues_ used to be much recommended to the Youth to
+make them laugh at Mr _Hobbes_, who was constantly represented as
+provok'd and put out of all Temper by them, and was said to have vented
+this strange and impious Expression, upon its being told him, that _the
+Clergy said_ Eachard _had crucify'd_ Hobbes; "Why then don't they fall
+down and worship me?"
+
+Mr. _Selden_ has been the constant Subject of Clergy-banter, for his
+_History of Tythes_; in the _Preface_ to which, "He reproaches the Clergy
+with Ignorance and Laziness, and upbraids them with having nothing to keep
+up their Credit but _Beard_, _Title_, and _Habit_; and their Studies
+reach'd no farther than the _Breviary_, the _Postils_, and _Polyanthea_."
+For this Work he was attack'd more particularly by three Divines,
+_Tillesly_, _Mountagu_, and _Nettles_. And their Success was thus
+originally represented[47], "That he was so gall'd by _Tillesly_, so
+gagg'd by _Mountagu_, and so stung by _Nettles_, that he never came off in
+any of his Undertakings with more loss of Credit." And this Jest has
+pass'd much upon the World, and been continued down in many Books, where
+Mr. _Selden_ is mention'd, to his Discredit with ignorant Readers, but not
+with the Knowing and Learned; who, as Dr. _Wotton_ tells us[48], _have,
+now Party-heats are over, acquiesced in what Mr._ Selden advanc'd; _who
+first_, OF ALL CHRISTIANS, _set the Affair_ of Tythes _in a clear Light_.
+
+It is usually said the Comedy called _Ignoramus_, which is a Clergy-banter
+upon the _Law_, was a design'd Return for Mr. _Selden_'s _History of
+Tythes_.
+
+The Reverend Dr. _Beaumont_, late Master of St. _Peter_'s _College_ and
+King's Professor of Divinity, has given us a Book, entitled, "Some
+Observations upon the Apology of Dr. _Henry More_ for his _Mystery of
+Godliness_;" which endeavours to render the said Doctor _ridiculous_, and
+set People a _laughing_ at him, (_p._ 9. _&c._ 64.) and used to be
+applauded as a complete Performance in the way of Raillery and Irony, and
+was well receiv'd for being directed against a Person esteem'd Heterodox.
+
+Many Clergymen have written Books to banter the Works of Mr. _Locke_,
+among whom Dr. _Edwards_ must have the first Place; whose _Brief
+Vindication of the fundamental Articles of the Christian Faith_, which has
+the _Imprimatur_ before it of _James_, _Beaumont_, _Covel_, and
+_Balderston_, four _Cambridge_ Heads, was never exceeded by the most
+licentious _Droll_.
+
+When _Sorbier_'s _Voyage_ to _England_, which was a pert and insolent
+Abuse and Satire on the Nation, and written in the _French_ manner of
+contemptuously treating all Countries and Men but _France_ and
+_Frenchmen_, was publish'd, it was deem'd proper that a drolling and
+satirical Answer should be given to it, and that the Reverend Dr. _Sprat_
+should be the _Droll_ employ'd; who perform'd his Part according to the
+Expectation of the Drolling Court of King _Charles_ II. and as the
+ingenious Mr. _Addison_ tells us, [49] _Vindicated the Honour of his
+Country, in a Book full of Satire and Ingenuity_.
+
+Bishop _Beveridge_ ever pass'd for a serious and profound Divine; and his
+Writings have fix'd that Character upon him among the Religious of the
+High Church, who have receiv'd his _Private Thoughts_ and his Volumes of
+_Sermons_, like _Manna_ from Heaven. And yet possibly never Man had two
+more severe Attacks made upon him than he had; one by Bishop
+_Stillingfleet_, who in _A Vindication of their Majesties Authority to
+fill the Sees of the depriv'd Bishops_, &c. occasion'd by Dr.
+_Beveridge_'s Refusal of the Bishoprick of _Bath_ and _Wells_, satirizes
+both his _Prudence_ and his _Sincerity_; and another, by an ingenious
+Bishop also, who in _A short View of Dr._ Beveridge_'s Writings_, has in a
+most refin'd _drolling manner_ represented those Writings as abounding in
+most absurd and ridiculous Divinity.
+
+But one of the justest and finest Pieces of _Irony_, and the most timely
+and seasonably vented, and that deserves perpetual Remembrance, is,
+_Andrews_ the grave Bishop of _Winchester_'s Irony, on _Neal_ the grave
+Bishop of _Durham_; of which we have the following Relation in the Poet
+_Waller_'s _Life_, prefix'd before his Works: "On the Day of the
+Dissolution of the last Parliament of King _James_ the First, Mr.
+_Waller_, out of Curiosity or Respect, went to see the King at Dinner;
+with whom were Dr. _Andrews_ the Bishop of _Winchester_, and Dr. _Neal_
+Bishop of _Durham_, standing behind his Majesty's Chair. There happen'd
+something very extraordinary in the Conversation those Prelates had with
+the King, on which Mr. _Waller_ did often reflect. His Majesty ask'd the
+Bishops, _My Lords, cannot I take my Subjects Money when I want it,
+without all this Formality in Parliament?_ The Bishop of _Durham_ readily
+answer'd, _God forbid, Sir, but you should; you are the Breath of our
+Nostrils_. Whereupon the King turn'd and said to the Bishop of
+_Winchester_, _Well, my Lord, what say you? Sir_, replied the Bishop, _I
+have no Skill to judge of Parliamentary Cases_. The King answer'd, _No
+Put-offs, my Lord; answer me presently. Then, Sir_, said he, _I think it
+is lawful for you to take my Brother_ Neal_'s_ _Money, for he offers it_.
+Mr. _Waller_ said the Company was pleas'd with this Answer, and the Wit
+of it seem'd to affect the King." Which shews the exceeding Aptness and
+Usefulness of a good _Irony_; that can convey an Instruction to a vicious,
+evil, and tyrannical Prince, highly reflecting on his Conduct, without
+drawing on his Resentment.
+
+To these famous Divines I might add the most eminent and renowned
+Philosophers of Antiquity, who, either out of a Contempt of Mankind, or to
+gratify their peculiar Tempers, or to correct the Vices and Follies of
+Men, and to instil virtuous Maxims in those who would only receive them in
+some pleasant way, set up for good Humour, Mirth, and Drollery, as their
+standing Method of Life, and of Conversation with the World; and have left
+behind them some of their occasional Sayings upon record, which do more
+Honour to their Memories than the most elaborate Treatises would have
+done, and more Good to Men; upon whom a Jest, or witty Saying, is more
+fitted to operate and make Impression than long Deductions and Reasonings,
+and particularly on Princes and great Men, who will receive no Instruction
+but in some very artful and short Way: whereof even the rude _Diogenes_,
+the _Cynick_, has given us a most incomparable Example, in his occasional
+Conference with _Alexander the Great_, who was put into such Temper by the
+mere Freedom and Raillery of the Philosopher, as to take every thing in
+good part he said to him, and consequently be dispos'd to reflect upon it,
+and to act with Discretion. At the Head of these Philosophers I place
+SOCRATES, who has very generally in all Ages pass'd for the _wisest_ of
+_Men_, and was declared so by an _Oracle_; which, at least, was therein
+directed and influenc'd by some considerable human Authority, or by the
+common Sentiments of Men at that time. His Character I shall give you in
+the words of the most ingenious _Addison_, who was himself a Master of
+_Humour_ and _Drollery_, and practis'd them in Perfection, and with great
+Success in almost all his Prose-writings. "_Socrates_, says he[50], who
+was the greatest Propagator of Morality in the Heathen World, and a Martyr
+for the Unity of the Godhead, was so famous for the exercise of the Talent
+[of Raillery and Humour] among the politest People of Antiquity, that he
+gain'd the Name of THE DROLE.[51]" A Character that intitled him to the
+greatest Merit, as it most of all enabled him to promote Virtue.
+
+I might also offer to your Confederation the Affair of _Comedies_; which
+all polite Governments have permitted, or establish'd, in their several
+populous and wealthy Cities, as the necessary and proper means to
+encounter Vice and recommend Virtue, and to employ innocently and usefully
+the vacant Hours of many, who know not how to employ their Time, or would
+employ it amiss, by entering into [52] Factions and Cabals to disturb the
+State; or by Gaming, or by backbiting Conversations about their
+Neighbours. And as _Comedies_, which were originally very gross, grew by
+Use more polite and refin'd in _Satire_ and _Raillery_: so the most
+celebrated Wits and Statesmen, and Persons of the greatest Quality, have
+engag'd and join'd with others in them, and performed with the greatest
+Success and Reputation to themselves; and have been valu'd, not only for
+their Talents of _Irony_ and _Drollery_, which were essential to the
+Credit of such Performances; but applauded, as acting the virtuous Part of
+_Droles_.
+
+In fine, Books of Satire, Wit, Humour, Ridicule, Drollery, and Irony, are
+the most read and applauded of all Books, in all Ages, Languages, and
+Countries. And as those which are exquisite in their kinds, are the
+standing Entertainment of the Ingenious and Learned; so others, of a lower
+kind, are to be found among the lower Readers, who sleep under all Works
+which do not make them merry.
+
+In a word, the Opinions and Practices of Men in all Matters, and
+especially in Matters of Religion, are generally so absurd and ridiculous
+that it is impossible for them not to be the Subjects of Ridicule.
+
+For what else can be expected from Men who generally take up their
+Opinions without any Inquiry into their Reasonableness or Truth, and upon
+the most incompetent Grounds? I cannot be supposed to injure Mankind, if I
+consider them under the Character which the very ingenious Sir _Richard
+Steele_ gives of himself; who _acknowledges_ [53] that (even while he took
+upon himself the Title of the _Censor_ of _Great Britain_, and in so many
+fine Papers corrects his Countrymen, and particularly _the Freethinkers_,
+whom he directs the Magistrate to punish with Death) _it had been with
+him, as it is with too many others, that a [53] sort of an_ implicit
+Religion _seem'd the most easy and most comfortable; and that a blind
+Veneration for_ he knew not what, _and he_ knew not whom, _stood for every
+thing important_. And he _confesses_ he _was not enough aware, that this
+Implicitness of Conduct is the great Engine of Popery, fram'd for the
+Destruction of_ good Nature, _as well as_ good Sense. If so great a Man
+could take up with such a Method, and act the Part of a _Censor_ and
+Director of others, in a Matter which he had not at all consider'd, what
+can be expected else from others, but absurd and ridiculous Opinions and
+Practices?
+
+And if some Men will fall into absurd and ridiculous Opinions, Habits,
+Forms, Figures and Grimaces; there will be those who will _laugh_, nay,
+cannot help _laughing_ at them. Hence most Parties laugh at one another,
+without the least Scruple, and with great Applause of their own Parties;
+and the Leaders of the same Party laugh with one another, when they
+consider the absurd and ridiculous Opinions they profess, and how they
+cheat and govern their Followers; agreeably to what _Cicero_ reports of
+_Cato_[54], "_Vetus autem illud_ Catonis _admodum scitum est, qui_ mirari
+se _aiebat, quod non rideret haruspex cum haruspicem vidisset_."
+
+I think it may be justly suppos'd, that Pope _Alexander_ and _Thomas
+Becket_ could not but laugh together at the Simplicity and Weakness of
+their Followers, the Papists, who receiv'd for truth the following Story.
+It was told as a Fact[55], "that when _Thomas Becket_, who never drank any
+thing but Water, sat at Table with _Pope Alexander_, and that his Holiness
+would needs taste of his Cup; lest his abstemiousness should be known, God
+turn'd the Water into Wine: so that the _Pope_ found nothing but Wine in
+the Cup. But when _Becket_ pledg'd him, it was turn'd into Water again."
+
+_Laughing_ therefore, and _Ridicule_ in _serious Matters_, go round the
+World with no inconsiderable Applause, and seem highly proper for this
+World of Nonsense and Folly. To hinder _laughing_ upon such just Occasions
+as are given, is almost all one as to hinder _breathing_. A very witty,
+drolling, Dramatick Poet, and of the first Rank for Quality, says in a
+_Prologue_ to his Auditors.
+
+  "_Suppose now, at this Instant, one of you_
+  "_Were tickled by a Fool, what would you do?_
+  "_'Tis ten to one you'd_ laugh: _here's just the Case._
+  "_For there are Fools that tickle with their Face._
+  "_Your gay Fool tickles with his Dress and Motions;_
+  "_But your_ grave Fool _of_ Fools _with_ silly Notions.
+  "_Is it not then unjust that Fops should still_
+  "_Force one to_ laugh, _and then take laughing ill?_
+
+
+II. _Secondly_, If it be a Fault in those reverend Divines, mention'd in
+the foregoing Article, to use _Irony_, _Drollery_, _Ridicule_, and
+_Satire_, in any Case; or if the Fault lies in an exorbitant Use thereof,
+or in any particular Species of _Drollery_; as, for example, such
+_Drollery_ as is to be found in the polemical Writings and Sermons of Dr.
+_South_; it is fit some Remedy should be employ'd for the Cure of this
+Evil. And the Remedy I would propose, should not be to have the Authors
+punish'd by the Magistrate, any more than for any other Faults in writing;
+but either to neglect and despise it, as Rage and Scolding, which drop
+into Oblivion with the Sound, and would have a Life given it by
+Resentment: or to allow Men to _criticize_ and _ridicule_ one another for
+their _Ironies_ and _Drollery_, and to exercise their Wit and Parts
+against each other; that being the true Method to bring Things to a
+Standard, to fix the Decency and Propriety of Writing, to teach Men how to
+write to the Satisfaction of the ingenious, polite, and sensible Part of
+Mankind: for Decency and Propriety will stand the Test of Ridicule, and
+triumph over all the false Pretences to Wit; and Indecency and
+Impropriety will sink under the Trial of Ridicule, as being capable of
+being baffled by Reason, and justly ridicul'd. And if any kind or degree
+of _Ridicule_ be absurd or _ridiculous_, that will appear so upon Trial,
+no less than the low and gross _Ridicule_ prevalent among the unpolite
+Part of the World: But that will never appear. On the contrary, _Ridicule_
+of certain kinds, and under reasonable Directions and Rules, and used in
+proper Time, Place, and Manner, (all which also are only to be found out
+and fix'd by Trial and Experience) is both a proper and necessary Method
+of Discourse in many Cases, and especially in the Case of _Gravity_, when
+that is attended with Hypocrisy or Imposture, or with Ignorance, or with
+soureness of Temper and Persecution; all which ought to draw after them
+the _Ridicule_ and _Contempt_ of the Society, which has no other effectual
+Remedy against such Methods of Imposition. And to determine in some
+measure the Nature and Extent of the _Irony_ I contend for, as _Just_, I
+profess to approve the noble _Sarcasm_ of _Elijah_[56]; wherein he thus
+mocks the _Priests_ of _Baal_, saying in effect to them, "_Cry aloud, for_
+your _Baal_ is a fine God: _He is either talking, or he is pursuing, or he
+is in a Journey; or peradventure he sleepeth, and must be awaked_." And I
+concur with the _Psalmist_[57], who thought it no Indecency to say, that
+_he that sits in Heaven shall laugh them_ (that is, certain Kings, who
+were _David_'s Enemies) _to scorn; the Lord shall have them in Derision_:
+and must judge, that _laughing to scorn_, and _deriding_ the greatest Men
+upon Earth, even Kings and Princes, to be a laudable and divine Method of
+dealing with them, who are only to be taught or rebuk'd in some artful
+way. I also approve of the following _Sarcasm_ or _Irony_, which has a
+better Authority for it than _Elijah_ or the _Psalmist_. _Moses_
+introduces God speaking thus after the Fall[58], _Behold the Man is become
+like one of us, to know Good and Evil!_ And I think this Passage shews,
+that the whole Affair of the _Fall_, of which we have so very brief an
+Account, was a very entertaining Scene; and would have appear'd so, if set
+forth at large; as indeed it does under the Hands of our Divines, who have
+supplied that short Narration by various Additions, founded on
+Conjectures, and particularly under the fine Hand of Dr. _Tho. Burnet_,
+who has made a most ingenious Dialogue of what he suppos'd pass'd between
+_Eve_ and the _Serpent_[59]. To say nothing of _Milton_'s famous _Paradise
+Lost_.
+
+In fine, ever since I could read the _Bible_, I was particularly pleas'd
+with the _History_ of _Jonas_, where such a Representation is made of that
+_Prophet_'s Ignorance, Folly, and Peevishness, as exposes him to the
+utmost Contempt and Scorn, and fixes a perpetual _Ridicule_ on his
+Character. And let me here observe, that this _History_ has had ample
+Justice done it, in an Explication thereof by _two_ [60] very ingenious
+Authors, who, by most penetrating and happy Criticisms and Reflections,
+have drawn the Character of _Jonas_ in a more open manner.
+
+
+III. But, _Thirdly_, I wave my _Remedy_, and am ready to come into any Law
+that shall be made to rectify this suppos'd Fault of _Irony_, by punishing
+those who are guilty of it.
+
+The great Concern is and ought to be, that _the Liberty of examining into
+the Truth of Things should be kept up_, that Men may have some Sense and
+Knowledge, and not be the _Dupes_ of _Cheats_ and _Impostors_, or of those
+who would keep them in the dark, and let them receive nothing but thro'
+their Hands. If that be secur'd to us by Authority, I, for my part, am
+very ready to sacrifice the Privilege of _Irony_, tho so much in fashion
+among all Men; being persuaded, that a great Part of the _Irony_
+complain'd of, has its rise from the _want of Liberty to examine into the
+Truth of Things_; and that if that _Liberty_ was prevalent, it would,
+without a Law, prevent all that _Irony_ which Men are driven into for want
+of Liberty to speak plainly, and to protect themselves from the Attacks of
+those who would take the Advantage to ruin them for direct Assertions; and
+that such Authors as _Rabelais_, _Saint Aldegonde_, _Blount_, _Marvel_,
+_Thekeringil_, and many others, would never have run into that Excess of
+_Burlesque_, for which they are all so famous, had not the Restraint from
+writing _seriously_ been so great.
+
+"If [61] Men are forbid to speak their Minds _seriously_ on certain
+Subjects, they will do it _ironically_. If they are forbid at all upon
+such Subjects, or if they find it dangerous to do so, they will then
+redouble their Disguise, involve themselves in mysteriousness, and talk so
+as hardly to be understood, or at least not plainly interpreted by those
+who are dispos'd to do them a Mischief. And thus _Raillery_ is brought
+more in fashion, and runs into an Extreme. 'Tis the persecuting Spirit has
+rais'd the _bantering_ one: And want of Liberty may account for want of a
+true Politeness, and for the Corruption or wrong Use of Pleasantry and
+Humour.
+
+"If in this respect we strain the just Measure of what we call _Urbanity_,
+and are apt sometimes to take a buffooning rustick Air, we may thank the
+ridiculous Solemnity and sour Humour of our _Pedagogues_: or rather they
+may thank themselves, if they in particular meet with the heaviest of this
+kind of Treatment. For it will naturally fall heaviest, where the
+Constraint has been the severest. The greater the Weight is, the bitterer
+will be the Satire. The higher the Slavery, the more exquisite the
+Buffoonery.
+
+"That this is really so, may appear by looking on those Countries where
+the spiritual Tyranny is highest. For the greatest of _Buffoons_ are the
+_Italians_: and in their Writings, in their freer sort of Conversations,
+on their Theatres, and in their _Streets_, _Buffoonery_ and _Burlesque_
+are in the highest Vogue. 'Tis the only manner in which the poor cramp'd
+Wretches can discharge a free Thought. We must yield to 'em the
+Superiority in this sort of Wit. For what wonder is it if we, who have
+more Liberty, have less Dexterity in that egregious way of _Raillery_ and
+_Ridicule_?"
+
+Liberty of _grave_ Examination being fix'd by Law, I am, I say, ready to
+sacrifice the Privilege of _Irony_, and yield to have a Law enacted to
+prevent it. I am, moreover, willing to leave the drawing up such a Law to
+your self; who honestly and impartially say[62], that all who _droll_, let
+them be of any Party, let them _droll for the Truth or against it_, should
+be equally punish'd.
+
+Thus this grand Affair of _Irony_, _Banter_, and _Ridicule_; this last
+persecuting Pretence, upon which you would set the Humours and Passions of
+People, who are all at quiet, on float, and make a Fermentation, and
+raise a Persecution against particular People, seems perfectly settled, by
+yielding to your own Terms.
+
+
+IV. Let me here add, that I am apt to think, that when you draw up your
+Law, you will find it so very difficult to settle the Point of _Decency_
+in Writing, in respect to all the various kinds of _Irony_ and _Ridicule_,
+that you will be ready to lay aside your Project; and that you will be no
+more able to settle that _Point of Decency_, than you would be to settle
+by Law, that _Cleanliness_ in Clothes, and that Politeness in Dress,
+Behaviour, and Conversation, which become Men of Quality and Fortune in
+the World, and should be habitual to them: And that, if you are able to do
+that to your own Satisfaction, you will find it very difficult to engage
+the Lawmakers in your Project. For I am persuaded, that if our Lawmakers
+were, out of a rational Principle, disposed to give Liberty by Law to
+_serious_ Opposition to publickly receiv'd Notions, they would not think
+it of much Importance to make a _Law_ about a Method of _Irony_. They will
+naturally conclude, that if Men may and ought to be allow'd to write
+_seriously_ in Opposition to publickly receiv'd Doctrines, they should be
+allow'd to write in their own way; and will be unwilling to be depriv'd of
+ingenious and witty Discourses, or such as some of them will judge so,
+about a Subject wherein _serious free_ Discourse is allow'd. Besides, I am
+apt to think, that you, upon consideration of the Advantages which the
+Church has receiv'd from the _Berkenheads_, the _Heylins_, the _Ryves's_,
+the _Needhams_, the _Lestranges_, the _Nalsons_, the _Lesleys_, the
+_Oldesworths_, and others, in their _Mercurius Aulicus_'s, their
+_Mercurius Pragmaticus's_, their _Mercurius Rusticus's_, their
+_Observators_[63], their _Heraclitus Ridens_'s, _Rehearsals_, their
+_Examiners_[64], and the three Volumes against the _Rights of the Church_;
+from the _Butlers_ in their _Hudibras_'s, and other Burlesque Works upon
+the Religion and Religious Conduct of the Dissenters; or from the
+_Eachards_, the _Tom Browns_, and _Swifts_; or from the _Parkers_[65],
+_Patricks_[66], _Souths_[67], _Sherlocks_[68], _Atterburys_[69], and
+_Sacheverels_[70]; in their Discourses, and Tracts against the
+Nonconformists, Whigs, Low-Church-men, and Latitudinarians; and other such
+ironical, satirical, and polemical Divines; and from such _drolling_
+Judges as _Howel_, _Recorder_ of London, and the Chief Justice _Jefferys_,
+who, in all Causes, where _Whigs_ or Dissenters were the Persons accus'd
+and try'd before them, carried on the Trial by a [71] Train of ridicule on
+them, their Witnesses and Counsel: I say, I am apt to think, that you
+would be unwilling to be depriv'd of what has been and may be again so
+serviceable.
+
+I am dispos'd to think that Dr. _Snape_, who is notoriously known to have
+gone into the greatest Lengths of Calumny and Satire against Bishop
+_Hoadley_[72], to have fall'n upon the dissenting Clergy in a burlesque
+and bantering Address to the _Peirces_, the _Calamys_, and the
+_Bradburys_, and to have written a long _ironical Letter_ in the Name of
+the _Jesuits_ to Mr. _de la Pilloniere_[73], will be thought a very
+improper Object of Censure for such Employment of his Pen. On the
+contrary, such sort of Attacks upon such Persons are the most meritorious
+Parts of a Man's Life, recommend him as a Person of true and sincere
+Religion, much more than the strongest Reasoning, and the most regular
+Life; and pave the way to all the Riches, and Pleasures and Advantages or
+Life; not only among those, who, under the Colour of Religion, are
+carrying on a common _Corporation Cause_ of Wealth, Power, and Authority,
+but among many well-meaning People, who allow of all Practices, which they
+suppose help out the _Truth_! It seems to me a most prodigious Banter upon
+us, for Men to talk in general of the _Immorality_ of _Ridicule_ and
+_Irony_, and of _punishing_ Men for those Matters, when their own Practice
+is _universal Irony_ and _Ridicule_ of all those who go not with them, and
+_universal Applause_ and _Encouragement_ for such _Ridicule_ and _Irony_,
+and distinguishing by all the honourable ways imaginable such _drolling_
+Authors for their Drollery; and when Punishment for _Drollery_ is never
+call'd for, but when _Drollery_ is used or employ'd against them!
+
+I don't know whether you would be willing, if you consider of it, to limit
+the Stage it self, which has with great Applause and Success, from Queen
+_Elizabeth_'s Time downwards, ridicul'd the serious _Puritans_ and
+_Dissenters_, and that without any Complaints from _good Churchmen_, that
+_serious_ Persons and Things were _banter'd_ and _droll'd_ upon; and has
+triumph'd over its fanatical Adversaries in the Person of _Pryn_, who
+sufficiently suffer'd for his _Histrio-Mastix_, and has been approv'd of
+as an innocent Diversion by the religious Dr. _Patrick_ in his _Friendly
+Debate_, in the Reign of King _Charles_ II. when the Stage was in a very
+immoral State. I don't know whether you would be willing even to restrain
+_Bartholomew Fair_, where the Sect of the _New Prophets_ was the Subject
+of a _Droll_ or _Puppet-Show_, to the great Satisfaction of the Auditors,
+who, it may be presum'd, were all good Churchmen, _Puritans_ and
+_Dissenters_ usually declining such Entertainments out of _real_ or
+_pretended_ Seriousness. ("A certain Clergyman thought fit to remark, that
+King _William_ could be no good Churchman, because of his not frequenting
+the _Play-House_."[74])
+
+
+V. It will probably be a Motive with you to be against abolishing
+_Drollery_, when you reflect that the Men of _Irony_, the _Droles_ and
+_Satirists_, have been and always will be very numerous on your side,
+where they have been and are so much incourag'd for acting that Part, and
+that they have always been and always will be very few on the side of
+_Heterodoxy_; a Cause wherein an Author by engaging, may hurt his
+Reputation and Fortune, and can propose nothing to himself but Poverty and
+Disgrace. I doubt whether you would be for punishing your Friend Dr.
+_Rogers_, from whom I just now quoted an _Irony_ on the Author of _The
+Scheme of Literal Prophecy consider'd_, or any one else, for _laughing_ at
+and making sport with him; or whether you would be for punishing the
+Reverend Mr. _Trapp_, who implies the _Justness_ and _Propriety of
+ridiculing Popery_; when he says[75], that _Popery is so foolish and
+absurd, that every body of common Sense must_ LAUGH _at it_; and when he
+refers to _Erasmus_ for having _abundantly_ RIDICUL'D their _Reliques_;
+and himself puts _Ridicule_ in Practice against them, by representing
+their Doctrines and Practices as _ridiculously foolish_, as _despicably
+childish_, and _Matter of mere Scorn_; as _monstrous_; as _Spells_,
+_juggling Tricks_, _gross Cheats_, _Impostures_[76], and _wretched
+Shifts_; and in fine, in representing by way of _Specimen_, all their
+_Miracles_ as _Legends_; of which he says, _These and a thousand more such
+like unreasonable Lies, which a Child of common Sense would laugh at, are
+impos'd upon and swallow'd by the ignorant People, and make a_ VERY GREAT
+_Part of the Popish Religion._
+
+And this, in concurrence with Mr. _Trapp_, I also take to be the Case of
+Popery, that it must make Men _laugh_; and that it is much easier to be
+gravely disposed in reading a _Stage-Comedy_ or _Farce_, than in
+considering and reflecting on the _Comedy_ and _Farce_ of _Popery_; than
+which, Wit and Folly, and Madness in conjunction, cannot invent or make a
+thing more ridiculous, according to that Light in which I see their
+Doctrines, Ceremonies and Worship, the Histories and Legends of their
+Saints, and the pretended Miracles wrought in their Church; which has
+hardly any thing _serious_ in it but its Persecutions, its Murders, its
+Massacres; all employ'd against the most innocent and virtuous, and the
+most sensible and learned Men, because they will not be _Tools_ to support
+Villany and Ignorance.
+
+"Transubstantiation, says _Tillotson_[77], is not a Controversy of
+Scripture against Scripture, or of Reason against Reason, but of downright
+Impudence against the plain meaning of Scripture, and all the Sense and
+Reason of Mankind." And accordingly he scruples not to say, in a most
+_drolling_ manner, that "Transubstantiation is one of the chief of the
+_Roman_ Church's _legerdemain_ and _juggling Tricks_ of Falshood and
+Imposture; and that in all Probability those common juggling Words of
+_Hocus-pocus_, are nothing else but a Corruption of _hoc est corpus_, by
+way of ridiculous Imitation of the Church of _Rome_ in their _Trick_ of
+_Transubstantiation_." 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_[78],
+which is the common Method of imposing Absurdities on the World; so I
+think that Doctrine taught with such _convenient Gravity and Solemnity_
+should necessarily produce _Levity, Laughter and Ridicule_, in all
+intelligent People to whom it is propos'd, who must _smile_, if they can
+with safety, to see such Stuff vented with a grave Face.
+
+In like manner many other Divines treat and laugh at _Popery_. Even the
+solemn and grave Dr. _Whitby_ has written a Book against
+_Transubstantiation_, under the Title of "Irrisio Dei Panarii, _The
+Derision of the Breaden God_," in Imitation of the primitive Fathers, who
+have written _Derisions_ and _Mockeries_ of the _Pagan_ Religion.
+
+And he takes the Materials whereof this drolling Performance of his
+consists, from the _holy Scriptures_, the _Apocryphal Books_, and
+_Writings_ of the _holy Fathers_, as he tells us in his Title-Page; three
+inexhaustible Sources of Wit and Irony against the Corrupters of true and
+genuine Religion. In like manner he turns upon the Popish Clergy the
+several Arguments urg'd by the _Jewish_ Clergy in the _New Testament_, for
+the Authority of the _Jewish_ Church; and answers, under that _Irony_, all
+that the Popish Clergy offer in behalf of the _Authority_ of their
+_Church_, in a _Sermon_ at the End of his _Annotations_ on St. _John_'s
+_Gospel_.
+
+Nor do our Divines confine their _Derisions_, _Ridicule_ and _Irony_
+against _Popery_ to their Treatises and Discourses, but fill their
+_Sermons_, and especially their _Sermons_ on the _Fifth_ of _November_,
+and other political _Days_, with infinite Reflections of that Kind. Of
+these _Reflections_ a Popish Author publish'd a _Specimen_, in a Book
+intitled[79], _Good Advice to Pulpits_, in order to shame the Church out
+of their Method of _drolling_ and _laughing_ [80] at _Popery_. But this
+Book had no other effect, than to produce a _Defence_ of those _Sermons_
+under the Title of _Pulpit Popery true Popery_, vindicating the several
+_Droll_ Representations made of _Popery_ in those _Sermons_.
+
+Of these _drolling_ Reflections cited by the Popish Author out of our
+Church of _England Sermons_, take these following for a Specimen of what
+are to be met with in those _Sermons_[81].
+
+"Pilgrimages, going Bare-foot, Hair-shirts, and Whips, with other such
+Gospel-artillery, are their only Helps to Devotion.----It seems that with
+them a Man sometimes cannot be a Penitent, unless he also turns Vagabond,
+and foots it to _Jerusalem_.----He that thinks to expiate a Sin by going
+bare-foot, does the Penance of a Goose, and only makes one Folly the
+Atonement of another. _Paul_ indeed was scourg'd and beaten by the _Jews_;
+but we never read that he beat or scourg'd himself; and if they think his
+keeping under his Body imports so much, they must first prove that the
+Body cannot be kept under by a virtuous Mind, and that the Mind cannot be
+made virtuous but by a Scourge; and consequently, that Thongs and Whipcord
+are Means of Grace, and Things necessary to Salvation. The truth is, if
+Mens Religion lies no deeper than their Skin, it is possible they may
+scourge themselves into very great Improvements.----But they will find
+that bodily Exercise touches not the Soul; and consequently that in this
+whole Course they are like Men out of the way: let them flash on never so
+fast, they are not at all nearer their Journey's-end: And howsoever they
+deceive themselves and others, they may as well expect to bring a Cart, as
+a Soul, to Heaven.
+
+"What say you to the Popish Doctrine of the _Sacrifice of the
+Mass_.----According to this Doctrine, our blessed Saviour must still, to
+the end of the World, be laid hold on by Sinners, be ground with their
+Teeth, and sent down into their impure Paunches, as often as the Priest
+shall pronounce this Charm, _hoc est corpus meum_: and it seems that he
+was a false Prophet, when he said upon the Cross, _It is finish'd_, seeing
+there was such an infinite deal of _loathsom Drudgery_ still to be
+undergone.
+
+"For _Purgatory_, 'tis not material in it self, whether it be, or where it
+be, no more than the World in the Moon; but so long as that false Fire
+serves to maintain a true one, and his Holiness's Kitchen smokes with the
+Rents he receives for releasing Souls from thence, which never came there,
+it concerns him and his to see to it, that it be not suffer'd to go out."
+
+An ingenious Author, Sir _Richard Steel_, has of late made a _Dedication_
+to his _Holiness_ the _Pope_ himself, before a Book entitled, _An Account
+of the State of the Roman Catholick Religion throughout the World_, &c. In
+which _Dedication_, that most exalted Clergyman the _Pope_, that
+[suppos'd] infallible Dictator in Religion, and most grave Person; who, if
+_serious_ Matters and Persons were always to be treated _seriously_, may
+vie with any other Mortal for a Right to _serious_ Treatment; is expos'd
+by incomparable _Drollery_ and _Irony_ to the utmost Contempt, to the
+universal Satisfaction of Protestant Readers, who have been pleas'd to see
+a gross Impostor, however respected and ador'd by godly and serious
+Papists, so treated.
+
+
+VI. In fine, it is suited to the common Practice of this Nation to
+ridicule _Popery_ as well as _Nonconformity_; and tho several _grave_
+Books, written among us against Popery, in the Reign of King _James_ II.
+(of which yet the _Romish_ Priests complain'd, as treating the King's [82]
+_Religion_ with Contempt) were then very well receiv'd and applauded for
+Learning and strength of Arguing; yet, I believe, it may with more
+Propriety be said, that King _James_ II. and _Popery_ were [83] _laugh'd_
+or _Lilli-bullero'd_, than that they were _argu'd_ out of the Kingdom.
+
+The reading the _King's Declaration of Indulgence_ in Churches 1688, had
+this fatal _Jest_ put upon it by a reverend Divine, "Who pleasantly told
+his People, _That tho he was obliged to read it, they were not obliged to
+hear it_[84]; and stop'd till they all went out, and then he read it to
+the Walls." To which may be added, the famous Mr. _Wallop_'s excellent
+Comparison of that _Declaration_ upon the Instant of its Publication, to
+_the scaffolding of St._ Paul_'s Church; which, as soon as the Building
+was finish'd, would be pull'd down_.
+
+Bishop _Burnet_ celebrates, with the greatest Justness, our Taste, and
+indeed the Taste of the World in this Respect, when he relates how
+_Popery_ was then used among us; and he recites some of the _Jests_ which
+passed and were received with universal Applause. He tells us[85], "The
+Court was now (that is, in 1686,) much set on making Converts, which
+fail'd in most Instances, and produc'd _Repartees_; that whether true or
+false, were much repeated, and were heard with great Satisfaction. The
+Earl of _Mulgrave_ (since Duke of _Buckinghamshire_) was Lord Chamberlain;
+he was apt to comply in every thing that he thought might be acceptable,
+for he went with the King to Mass, and kneeled at it; and being look'd on
+as indifferent to all Religions, the Priests made an Attack upon him: He
+heard them _gravely_ arguing for _Transubstantiation_. He told them he was
+willing to receive Instruction; he had taken much Pains to bring himself
+to believe in God, who made the World and all Men in it: But it must not
+be an ordinary Force of Argument that could make him believe that Man was
+quits with God, and made God again. The Earl of _Middleton_ had marry'd
+into a Popish Family, and was a Man of great Parts and a generous Temper,
+but of loose Principles in Religion; so a Priest was sent to instruct him.
+He began with _Transubstantiation_, of which he said he would convince him
+immediately: And began thus, You believe the _Trinity_. _Middleton_ stop'd
+him, and said, who told you so? At which he seem'd amazed. So the Earl
+said, he expected he should convince him of his Belief, but not question
+him of his own: With this the Priest was so disorder'd, that he could
+proceed no farther. One Day the King gave the Duke of _Norfolk_ the Sword
+of State to carry before him to the Chappel, and he stood at the Door.
+Upon which the King said to him, My Lord, your Father would have gone
+farther. To which the Duke answer'd, Your Majesty's Father was the better
+Man, and he would not have gone so far. _Kirk_ was also spoken to, to
+change his Religion, and he reply'd briskly, that he was already
+pre-engag'd, for _he had promised the King of_ Morocco, _that if ever he
+chang'd his Religion he would turn_ Mahometan." When K. _James_ sent an
+_Irish_ Priest to convert the D. of _Bucks_ [_Villers_] the said Duke
+entertain'd the Priest with a Bottle, and engag'd him in a _Dialogue_,
+which the Duke afterwards caus'd to be printed, to the no small
+Mortification of all Papists, who were therein exceedingly ridicul'd, and
+to the Triumph of all good Churchmen, who are never better pleas'd, than
+when they have the _Laugh_ on their side.
+
+At this time also were publish'd two merry Books, by a couple of our
+Divines, with express View to make Protestants laugh at _Popery_, as at a
+_Farce_; and they were, _The School of the Eucharist_, wherein is a
+Collection of ridiculous _Miracles_, pretended to be wrought to support
+the Truth of _Transubstantiation_, and _Purgatory prov'd by Miracles_.
+
+I must not omit another incomparable Piece of Wit and Raillery against
+_Popery_, publish'd at that time. It seems the famous Poet, _Dryden_,
+thought fit to declare himself a _Roman Catholick_; and had, as 'tis said,
+a _Penance_ injoyn'd him by his Confessor, for having formerly written
+_The Spanish Fryar_, of composing some _Treatise_ in a _poetical way_ for
+_Popery_, and against the _Reformation_. This he executed in a _Poem_,
+intituled, _The Hind and Panther_; which, setting aside the Absurdity of
+the Matters therein asserted, and of the several Arguments to maintain
+them, is, in other Respects, one of the most mean Compositions that ever
+the Press produc'd. Was it proper to pass over in silence such a Work,
+from whence probably the Popish Party expected great Matters, as knowing
+the Efficacy of Poetry, and being Witnesses of the Success the Author had
+had in his _Absalom_ and _Achitophel_ against the _Whigs_? Was it proper
+to write _seriously_ and _gravely_ against a Book, wherein the Author
+every where aims at Wit, Irony, and Burlesque, and does himself make so
+ridiculous a Figure, as to be a standing Jest throughout the whole? Was
+not the Convert himself, as such, a _Jest_, or as professing any Religion,
+a _Jest_; who argu'd for Pay, and spoke as he was brib'd, and would have
+profess'd any Opinions, as is the Mode and Practice of the World, to which
+Salary and Preferments are annexed? Some ingenious Persons of the Times
+took a better Method, and agreeably to the Temper and Disposition of our
+Countrymen, and to the nature of _Dryden_'s Attack, and his interested
+Writing for Religion, made a Return in a Paper intituled, _The Hind and
+Panther transvers'd to the Story of the Country-Mouse and City-Mouse_: Out
+of which, for a Specimen of _just Irony_, and _fine Raillery_, I will give
+you the following Passage.
+
+  "_Sirrah, says_ Brindle, _thou hast brought us_ Wine,
+  "_Sour to my Taste, and to my Eyes unfine._
+  "_Says_ Will, _All Gentlemen like it. Ah! says_ White,
+  "_What is approved by them must needs be right._
+  "_'Tis true, I thought it bad, but if the_ House
+  "_Commend it, I submit, a_ private Mouse.
+  "_Nor to their Catholick Consent oppose_
+  "_My erring Judgment and reforming Nose._
+  "[86]_Why, what a Devil, shan't I trust my Eyes,_
+  "_Must I drink Stum, because the Rascal lies,_
+  "_And palms upon us_ Catholick _Consent,_
+  "_To give_ sophisticated Brewings _Vent?_
+  "_Says_ White, _what antient Evidence can sway,_
+  "_If you must argue thus and not obey?_
+  "Drawers _must be trusted, thro' whose hands convey'd_
+  "_You take the Liquor, or you spoil the Trade._
+  "_For sure those honest_ Fellows _have no Knack_
+  "_Of putting off stum'd Claret for_ Pontack.
+  "_How long alas! would the poor Vintner last,_      }
+  "_If all that drink must_ judge, _and every Guest_  }
+  "_Be allow'd to have an understanding_ Taste?       }
+
+
+VII. I question whether High-Church would be willing to have the reverend
+Author of the _Tale of a Tub_, one of the greatest _Droles_ that ever
+appear'd upon the Stage of the World, punish'd for that or any other of
+his _drolling_ Works: For tho religious Matters, and all the various Forms
+of Christianity have therein a considerable Share of _Ridicule_; yet in
+regard of his _Drollery_ upon the _Whigs_, _Dissenters_, and the _War_
+with _France_ (things of as _serious_ and weighty Consideration, and as
+much affecting the Peace of Society, as _Justification_ by _Faith only_,
+_Predestination_, _Transubstantiation_, or _Constansubstantiation_, or
+_Questions_ about _religious Ceremonies_, or any such interested Matters)
+the _Convocation_ in their famous _Representation_ of the _Profaneness_
+and _Blasphemy_ of the Nation, took no notice of his _drolling_ on
+Christianity: And his Usefulness in _Drollery_ and _Ridicule_ was deem'd
+sufficient by the _Pious_ Queen _Anne_, and her _pious Ministry_, to
+intitle him to a Church Preferment of several hundred Pounds _per Ann._
+[87] which she bestow'd upon him, notwithstanding a _fanatick
+High-Churchman_, who weakly thought _Seriousness_ in Religion of more use
+to High-Church than _Drollery_, and attempted to hinder his Promotion, by
+representing to her Majesty, "What a Scandal it would be both to Church
+and State to bestow Preferment upon a Clergyman, who was hardly suspected
+of being a Christian." Besides, High-Church receives daily most signal
+Services from his drolling Capacity, which has of late exerted itself on
+the Jacobite Stage of _Mist_'s and _Fogg_'s Journal, and in other little
+Papers publish'd in _Ireland_; in which he endeavours to expose the
+present Administration of publick Affairs to contempt, to inflame the
+_Irish_ Nation against the _English_, and to make them throw off all
+Subjection to the _English_ Government, to satirize Bishop _Burnet_ and
+other _Whig_ Bishops; and, in fine, to pave the way for a new or Popish
+Revolution, as far as choosing the most proper Topicks of Invective, and
+treating of them in the way of _Drollery_, can do.
+
+
+VIII. It is well known, that Gravity, Preciseness, Solemnity, Sourness,
+formal Dress and Behaviour, Sobriety of Manners, keeping at a distance
+from the common Pastimes of the World, Aversion to Rites and Ceremonies in
+the publick Worship, and to Pictures, Images, and Musick in Churches;
+mixing Religion in common Conversion, using long Graces, practising
+Family-Worship, part of which was praying _ex tempore_; setting up and
+hearing Lectures, and a strict Observation of the Lord's Day, which was
+call'd the _Sabbath_, were the Parts of the Character of a _Puritan_; who,
+it is to be observ'd, usually had the Imputation of Hypocrisy for his
+great and extraordinary Pretences to Religion: He was also a great Opposer
+of the Court-Measures in the Reign of King _James_ and King _Charles_ I.
+and most zealous for Law, Liberty, and Property, when those two Princes
+set up for raising Money by their own Authority, and in consequence
+thereof, fell into numerous other Acts of Violence and Injustice. It is
+also well known, that to quell these Puritans, and lessen their Credit,
+and baffle all their Pretences, Gaiety, Mirth, Pastimes or Sports, were
+incourag'd and requir'd on _Sundays_ of the People, that Churches were
+render'd gay, theatrical, and pleasant by the Decorations, Paintings,
+Musick, and Ceremonies therein perform'd[88]; and that the utmost Ridicule
+was employ'd against some of them, as _Enthusiasts_, and against others of
+them as _Hypocrites_, and against them all as factious and seditious, by
+their Adversaries; who were under no Restraints, but incourag'd to write
+with Scorn, Contempt, Raillery and Satire against these suppos'd Enemies
+of Church and State. Nor did the great Success of the _Puritans_ in the
+Field of Battle suppress that _Vein_ and _Humour_ of _Ridicule_ begun
+against them; but the _Laudean_ Party still carry'd on a Paper War with
+innumerable Pamphlets, which all tended more or less to make the World
+_laugh_ at and _ridicule_ the _Puritans_. And I am verily persuaded, that
+no History of any other Country in the World can produce a Parallel,
+wherein the Principle and Practice of _Ridicule_ were ever so strongly
+encourag'd, and so constantly pursu'd, fix'd and rooted in the Minds of
+Men, as it was and is in Churchmen against Puritans and Dissenters. Even
+at this Day the _Ridicule_ is so strong against the present Dissenters, so
+promoted by Clergy and Laity, especially in Villages and small Country
+Towns, that they are unable to withstand its Force, but daily come over in
+Numbers to the Church to avoid being _laugh'd_ at. It seems to me a Mark
+of Distinction more likely to last in the Church than any other Matter
+that I can observe. Passive Obedience, the divine Right of Kings, _&c._
+rise and fall according to particular Occasions; but _Laughter_ at
+_Dissenters_ seems fixt for ever, if they should chance to last so long.
+
+_South_'s Sermons, which now amount to _six Volumes_, make Reading _Jests_
+and _Banter_ upon _Dissenters_, the religious Exercise of good Churchmen
+upon _Sundays_, who now can serve God (as many think they do by hearing or
+reading Sermons) and be as merry as at the Play-house. And _Hudibras_,
+which is a daily High-Church Entertainment, and a Pocket and Travelling
+High-Church Companion, must necessarily have a very considerable Effect,
+and cannot fail forming in Men that Humour and Vein of _Ridicule_ upon
+_Dissenters_ which runs thro' that Work. In a word, High-Church has
+constantly been an Enemy to, and a Ridiculer of the _Seriousness_ of
+_Puritans_ and _Dissenters_, whom they have ever charg'd with _Hypocrisy_
+for their _Seriousness_.
+
+"After [89] the Civil War had broke out in 1641, and the King and Court
+had settled at _Oxford_, one _Birkenhead_, who had liv'd in _Laud_'s
+Family, and been made Fellow of _All Souls College_ by _Laud_'s Means, was
+appointed to write a Weekly Paper under the Title of _Mercurius Aulicus_;
+the first whereof was publish'd in 1642. In the Absence of the Author,
+_Birkenhead_, from _Oxford_, it was continued by _Heylin_. _Birkenhead_
+pleas'd the Generality of Readers with his _Waggeries_ and _Buffooneries_;
+and the Royal Party were so taken with it, that the Author was recommended
+to be Reader of _Moral Philosophy_ by his Majesty;" who, together with the
+religious Electors, it is justly to be presum'd, thought _Waggery_ and
+_Buffoonery_, not only Political, but _Religious_ and _Moral_, when
+employ'd against _Puritans_ and _Dissenters_.
+
+
+IX. King _Charles_ the Second's Restoration brought along with it glorious
+_High-Church_ Times; which were distinguish'd as much by _laughing_ at
+_Dissenters_, as by persecuting them; which pass for a Pattern how
+Dissenters are to be treated; and which will never be given up, by
+_High-Church-men_, as faulty, for ridiculing Dissenters.
+
+The King himself, who had very good natural Parts, and a Disposition to
+banter and ridicule every Body, and especially the _Presbyterians_, whose
+Discipline he had felt for his Lewdness and Irreligion in _Scotland_, had
+in his _Exile_ an Education, and liv'd, among some of the greatest
+_Droles_ and _Wits_ that any Age ever produc'd; who could not but form him
+in that way, who was so well fitted by Temper for it. The Duke of
+_Buckingham_ was his constant Companion. And he had a [90] _great
+Liveliness of Wit, and a peculiar Faculty of turning all things into
+ridicule_. He was Author of the _Rehearsal_; which, as a most noble Author
+says, is [91] _a justly admir'd Piece of comick Wit_, and _has furnish'd
+our best Wits in all their Controversies, even in Religion and Politicks,
+as well as in the Affairs of Wit and Learning, with the most effectual and
+entertaining Method of exposing Folly, Pedantry, false Reason, and ill
+Writing_. The Duke of _Buckingham_ [92] brought _Hobbes_ to him to be his
+_Tutor_, who was a _Philosophical Drole_, and had a great deal of _Wit_ of
+the _drolling_ kind. _Sheldon_, who was afterwards Archbishop of
+_Canterbury_, and attended the King constantly in his Exile as his
+_Chaplain_, was an eminent _Drole_, as appears from Bishop _Burnet_, who
+says[93], that _he had a great Pleasantness of Conversation, perhaps too
+great_.
+
+And _Hide_, afterwards Earl of _Clarendon_, who attended the King in his
+Exile, seems also to have been a great Drole, by Bishop _Burnet_'s
+representing him, as one, that _had too much Levity in his Wit, and that
+did not observe the Decorum of his Post_[94]. In a _Speech_ to the Lords
+and Commons, _Hide_ attack'd the Gravity of the Puritans, saying[95],
+"Very merry Men have been very godly Men; and if a good Conscience be a
+continued Feast, there is no reason but Men may be very merry at it." And
+upon Mr. _Baxter_ and other Presbyterian Ministers waiting on him in
+relation to the _Savoy Conference_, he said to Mr. _Baxter_ on the first
+Salute[96], that if "he were but as fat as Dr. _Manton_, we should all do
+well."
+
+No wonder therefore, that _Ridicule_, and _Raillery_, and _Satire_, should
+prevail at Court after the _Restoration_; and that King _Charles_ the
+Second, who was a Wit himself, and early taught to laugh at his _Father's
+Stiffness_[97], should be so great a Master of them, and bring them into
+play among his Subjects; and that he who had the most sovereign Contempt
+for all Mankind, and in particular for the People and Church of _England_,
+should use his Talent against them; and that his People in return should
+give him like for like.
+
+It is well known how he banter'd the Presbyterian Ministers, who out of
+Interest came over to him at _Breda_; where they were placed in a Room
+next to his Majesty, and order'd to attend till his Majesty had done his
+Devotions; who, it seems, pray'd so artfully, and poured out so many of
+their Phrases, which he had learned when he was in _Scotland_, where he
+was forced to be present at religious Exercises of six or seven Hours
+a-day; and had practis'd among the _Huguenot_ Ministers in _France_[98],
+who reported him to have a _sanctify'd Heart_, and to _speak the very
+Language of_ Canaan. This _Ridicule_ he _cover'd_ with _Seriousness_;
+having at that time Occasion for those Ministers, who were then his great
+Instruments in reconciling the Nation to his _Restoration_. When he had no
+farther Occasion for them, he was open in his _Ridicule_, and would say,
+that [99] _Presbyterianism was not a Religion for a Gentleman_.
+
+
+X. Would you, who are a Man of Sense and Learning, and of some Moderation,
+be for punishing the Author of _The Difficulties and Discouragements which
+attend the Study of the Scriptures in the way of private Judgment_, &c.
+who is suppos'd to be a Prelate of the Church, for that Book, which is
+wholly an _Irony_ about the most sacred Persons and Things? Must not the
+fine _Irony_ it self, and the Execution of it, with so much Learning,
+Sense, and Wit, raise in you the highest Esteem and Admiration of the
+Author, instead of a Disposition to punish him? Would you appear to the
+intelligent Part of the World such an Enemy to Knowledge, and such a
+Friend to the Kingdom of Darkness, as such Punishment would imply? In
+fine, can you see and direct us to a better way, to make us inquire after
+and understand Matters of Religion, to make us get and keep a good temper
+of Mind, and to plant and cultivate in us the Virtues necessary to good
+Order and Peace in Society, and to eradicate the Vices that every where
+give Society so much Disturbance, than what is prescrib'd or imply'd in
+that Book? And can you think of a better _Form_ of _Conveyance_, or
+_Vehicle_ for Matters of such universal Concern to all intelligent People
+(if you consider the State of the World, and the infinite Variety of
+Understandings, Interests, and Designs of Men, who are all to be address'd
+to at the same Time) than his Method of _Irony_? And has not Success
+justify'd his Method? For the Book has had a free Vent in several
+Impressions; has been very generally read and applauded; has convinced
+Numbers, and has been no Occasion of trouble either to Bookseller or
+Author. It has also had the Advantage to have a most ingenious _Letter_ of
+_John Hales_ of _Eton_ join'd to some Editions of it; who by this
+_Letter_, as well as by several others of his Pieces, shews himself to
+have been another _Socrates_, one of the greatest Masters of _true Wit_
+and _just Irony_, as well as Learning, which the World ever produc'd; and
+shews he could have writ such a Book as the _Difficulties_, &c. But if you
+are capable of coming into any Measures for punishing the Author of the
+_Difficulties_, &c. for his _Irony_, I conceive, that you may possibly
+hesitate a little in relation to the same Author, about his _New Defence
+of the Bishop of_ Bangor_'s Sermon of the Kingdom of Christ, consider'd as
+it is the Performance of a Man of Letters_; which, tho far below _The
+Difficulties_, &c. is an ingenious _Irony_ on that _Sermon_. You may
+probably, like many others of the Clergy, approve of Satire so well
+employ'd, as against that Bishop, who has succeeded Bishop _Burnet_ in
+being the Subject of _Clergy-Ridicule_, as well as in his Bishoprick. The
+Bishop himself was very justly patient, under all Attacks by the Reverend
+_Trapp_, _Earbery_, _Snape_, _Law_, and _Luke Milbourne_, in his _Tom of
+Bedlam's Answer to his Brother_ Ben Hoadley, _St._ Peter_'s_ Poor _Parson
+near the Exchange of Principles_; some of which were of a very abusive
+kind, and such as can hardly be parallel'd; and did not call upon the
+Magistrate to come to his Aid against that Author, or against any others
+of the Clergy who had attack'd him with as great Mockery, Ridicule, and
+Irony, as ever Bishop had been by the profess'd Adversaries of the Order;
+or as ever the Bishops had been by the _Puritans_ and _Libellers_ in the
+Reigns of Queen _Elizabeth_, King _James_ and King _Charles_ the First; or
+as _Lesley_, _Hickes_, _Hill_, _Atterbury_, _Binks_, and other High-Church
+Clergy, did the late Bishop _Burnet_. Instead of that he took the true and
+proper Method, by publishing an _Answer_ to the said _Irony_, compos'd in
+the same _ironical Strain_, intitled, _The Dean of_ Worcester _still the
+same: Or his new Defence of the Bishop of_ Bangor_'s Sermon, consider'd,
+as it is the Performance of a great Critick, a Man of Sense, and a Man of
+Probity_. Which Answer does, in my Opinion, as much Honour to the Bishop,
+by its Excellency in the _ironical Way_, as it does by allowing the Method
+it self, and going into that Method, in imitation of his Reverend Brethren
+of the Clergy, 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 Contempt; but, on the contrary, to be spurr'd on by the
+_Excellency_ and _Propriety_ thereof to use it against him, even in the
+[100] _Pulpit_, as Part of the religious Exercise on the _Lord's-day_.
+
+
+XI. There is an universal Love and Practice of _Drollery_ and _Ridicule_
+in all, even the most _serious_ Men, in the most _serious Places_, and on
+the most _serious Occasions_. Go into the Privy-Councils of Princes, into
+Senates, into Courts of Judicature, and into the Assemblies of the Kirk or
+Church; and you will find that Wit, good Humour, Ridicule, and Drollery,
+mix themselves in all the Questions before those Bodies; and that the most
+solemn and sour Person there present, will ever be found endeavouring, at
+least, to crack his Jest, in order to raise a Character for Wit; which has
+so great an Applause attending it, and renders Men so universally
+acceptable for their Conversation, and places them above the greatest
+Proficients in the Sciences, that almost every one is intoxicated with the
+Passion of aiming at it.
+
+In the Reports made to us of the Debates in the Houses of Lords, Commons,
+and Convocation, the serious Parts of the Speeches there made die for the
+most part with the Sound; but the Wit, the Irony, the Drollery, the
+Ridicule, the Satire, and Repartees, are thought worthy to be remember'd
+and repeated in Conversation, and make a Part of the History of the
+Proceedings of those Bodies, no less than their grave Transactions, as
+some such must necessarily be.
+
+Whoever will look into Antiquity for an Account of the Lives, Actions, and
+Works of the old Philosophers, will find little remaining of them; but
+some of their witty, drolling, and bantering Sayings, which alone have
+been thought worthy to be preserv'd to Posterity. And if you will look
+into the Lives of the modern Statesmen, Philosophers, Divines, Lawyers,
+_&c._ you will find that their witty Sayings ever make a considerable
+Part: by reporting which great Honour is intended to be done to their
+Memory. The great and most religious Philosopher Dr. _H. More_, has a
+great many Pieces of Wit attributed to him in his _Life_ by Mr. _Ward_,
+who represents him from his Companions, [101] _as one of the merriest
+Greeks they were acquainted with_, and tells us, that the Doctor said in
+his _last Illness_, to him[102], _that the merry way was that which he saw
+mightily to take; and so he used it the more_.
+
+The great and famous Sir _Thomas More_, Lord Chancellor of _England_ in
+_Henry_ the Eighth's time, was an inexhaustible Source of _Drollery_[103],
+as his voluminous Works, which consist for the most part of controversial
+Divinity in behalf of Popery, show, and which are many of them written in
+Dialogue, the better to introduce the _drolling_ Way of Writing, which he
+has us'd in such Perfection, that it is said [104] _none can ever be weary
+of reading them, tho they be never so long_. Nor could Death it self, in
+immediate view before his Eyes, suppress his _merry_ Humour, and hinder
+him from cracking _Jests_ on the _Scaffold_; tho he was a Man of great
+_Piety_ and _Devotion_, whereof all the World was convinced by his Conduct
+both in his Life and at his Death.
+
+It is said (as I have before observ'd) of my Lord Chancellor _Clarendon_,
+that "he had too much _Levity_ in his _Wit_[105], and that he did not
+always observe the _Decorum_ of his Post." Which implies not only his
+Approbation of _Drollery_ in the most _grave_ Business, but also his great
+Knowledge of Mankind, by applying to them in that _Way_; which he knew
+from Experience, and especially from the common _drolling_ [106]
+Conversation in the Court of King _Charles_ the Second, would recommend
+him to the World much more than an _impartial Administration of Justice_;
+which is less felt, less understood, and less taken notice of and
+applauded, than a _Piece_ of _Wit_; which is generally suppos'd to imply
+in it a great deal of Knowledge, and a Capacity fit for any thing.
+
+Mr. _Whiston_[107], a famous Person among us, sets up for great _Gravity_,
+and proposes a Scheme of _Gravity_ for the Direction of those who write
+about Religion: He is for allowing _Unbelievers_, 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 _Bible_; against any
+Parts of the _Jewish_ and Christian Religions, in order to their being
+fully weigh'd and consider'd by all learned Men; provided at the same
+time, that the whole be done _gravely_, and _seriously_, without all
+_Levity_, _Banter_, and _Ridicule_." And yet this Man, having a handle
+given him by Bishop _Robinson_'s Letter to the _Clergy_ of his _Diocess_
+about _New Doxologies borrow'd from Old Hereticks_, takes the advantage of
+the Bishop's (supposed) Ignorance, Dulness, Stupidity, and Contradiction
+to himself, and writes and prints, like a _Tom Brown_ or _Swift_, a most
+_bantering_ and _drolling_ Letter, under the sneering Title of a _Letter
+of Thanks to the Right Reverend the Lord Bishop of_ London, _for his late
+Letter_, &c. whom, one would think, he should not only have spar'd, but
+have applauded for his _profound Gravity_, and carrying on the Cause of
+Religion in a very remarkable manner, with the most _consummate
+Solemnity_. But so strong was the Temptation, so naturally productive of
+Mirth was the Bishop's _Cause_, and his grave Management thereof, as that
+he could not help laughing at the Bishop, by himself; and so was led on
+mechanically to write in that Humour, and to publish what he wrote, and
+afterwards to defend his drole _Manner_ [108] of attacking the Bishop,
+against those who took _offence_ at that _Manner_ of writing.
+
+
+XII. The burning Papists themselves are not always _serious_ with us: They
+treat the Church and its Defenders as _fanatical_, and _laugh_ at them as
+_such_, just as the Church does the Dissenters, and have their elaborate
+Works of _Drollery_ against their Adversaries. They publish'd a Poem
+against the _Reformation_, just before the Death of Queen _Anne_, which
+was design'd to have given such a Stroke to the Protestant Religion among
+us, under the new projected Revolution, as _Hudibras_ did to _Puritanism_
+after the _Restoration_. The Popish Editor, in the Preface to the said
+Poem, says, "that the Motive of the Author (_Thomas Ward_) for publishing
+the _History of the Reformation in a Burlesque Style_ (tho a History full
+of melancholy Incidents, which have distracted the Nation, even beyond the
+hope of recovery, after so much Blood drawn from all its Veins, and from
+its Head) was that which he met with in Sir _Roger L'Estrange_'s Preface
+to the second Part of his _Cit_ and _Bumkin_, express'd in these Words;
+_Tho this way of fooling is not my Talent, nor Inclination; yet I have
+great Authorities for the taking up this Humour, in regard not only of the
+Subject, but of the Age we live in; which is so much upon the Drole, that
+hardly any thing else will down with it._"
+
+And the ingenious Protestant Editor of this Poem at _London_, which he
+allows to have some Wit in it, concludes the Remarks he makes upon it, by
+saying, "One thing more we can't forbear hinting at, that a Retaliation
+would be as happy a Thought as could enter into the Head of a Man of
+Genius and Spirit. What a fruitful Harvest would the Legends, Tricks,
+spiritual Jugglings, Convents, and Nunneries, yield to a good Poet?
+_Buchanan_ in his _Franciscani_, and _Oldham_ in his _Satires_ on the
+Jesuits, have open'd the Way, and we heartily wish some equal Pen would
+write the whole Mystery of Iniquity at length."
+
+
+XIII. All the old Puritan Preachers, who were originally Divines of the
+Church of _England_, sprinkled and season'd their Sermons with a great
+many _drolling_ Sayings against _Libertinism_ and _Vice_, and against
+Church Ceremonies; many of which Sayings are reported and handed down to
+us in Books and Conversation, as are also the Effects of those Sayings,
+which we are told converted many to _Christ_ on the Spot, or in the
+Instant of Delivery. Nor is that manner wholly laid aside, but has
+continued to be kept alive by some Hands at all times; who have been
+greatly follow'd for their Success in drolling upon _Sinners_, and
+treating of Religion in humoursom and fantastical Phrases, and fixing that
+way of Religion in some Mens Minds.
+
+I do not remember to have met with a more complete Drole in the Church of
+_England_, or in any other of the _laughing_ or _ridiculing_ Sects, than
+_Andrew Marvel_ of the grave _Puritan_ Sect, in many Works of his both in
+Prose and Verse, but especially in his _Rehearsal Transprosed_; which tho
+writ against _Parker_, who with great Eloquence, Learning, and a Torrent
+of Drollery and Satire, had defended the Court and Church's Cause, in
+asserting the Necessity of Penal Laws against the Nonconformists, "was
+read from the _King_ down to the Tradesman with great pleasure, on account
+of that Burlesque Strain and lively Drollery that ran thro' it," as
+Bishop _Burnet_ tells us[109]. Nor were the gravest _Puritans_ and
+Dissenters among us less taken and pleas'd with his Writings for their
+_Drollery_, than our _drole King_; tho there are some Passages in them,
+which should give just Offence to chaste Ears.
+
+I find also, that the _Puritans_ and _Dissenters_ have always born with,
+and allow'd of, a great Mixture of _Drollery_ in their Sermons, that one
+would think should offend their Gravity, and pious Ears; and that they
+applaud their Ministers for such their Discourses, as much as the Church
+does Dr. _South_ for the Ribaldry sprinkled thro'out his Sermons about the
+most high Points in Divinity. They have always had some eminent Divines
+among them who have been remarkable for such Passages and Reflections: And
+these have never lessen'd their number of Auditors, nor drawn upon
+themselves the Character of _Irreligious_; but have had the largest
+Auditories of contributing Hearers, as well as of Churchmen, who came to
+smile, and have been esteem'd very _pious_ Men.
+
+In fine, the _Puritans_ and _Dissenters_ have, like the Church, their
+Taste of Humour, Irony, and Ridicule, which they promote with great Zeal,
+as a Means to serve Religion: And I remember, that, among other things
+said in behalf of _Bunyan_'s _Pilgrim's Progress_, upon the reprinting it
+lately by Subscription, it was affirm'd, and that, in my Opinion, truly,
+"that it had infinitely out-done _The Tale of a Tub_; which perhaps had
+not made one Convert to Infidelity, whereas the _Pilgrim's Progress_ had
+converted many Sinners to _Christ_."
+
+
+XIV. The _Quakers_ are certainly the most _serious_ and solemn People
+among us in Matters of Religion, and out-go the Dissenters of all other
+Kinds therein: But yet the Church has no regard to them on that Account,
+but takes Advantage from thence to _ridicule_ them the more, and to call
+their Sincerity more in question. And I much doubt whether there was ever
+a Book written against them by the Divines of any Sect with perfect
+Decency, and that had not its extravagant Flouts, Scorn, Banter, and
+Irony, and that not only of the _laughing_, but of the _cruel_ kind:
+Wherein they copy'd after the _Jews_ of old, who while they prosecuted
+_Christ_ to Death, and carried on their High-Church Tragedy against him,
+acted against him the _comick Scenes_ [110] "of spitting in his Face, and
+buffeting him with the Palms of their Hands, saying, _Prophesy unto us,
+thou Christ, who is he that smote thee_;" and who, when they had nail'd
+him to the Cross, _revil'd_ him with divers _Taunts_, in which the _Chief
+Priests_, _Scribes_, _Elders_, and even the _Thieves, which were crucified
+with him_, concurr'd. But yet for all this, these solemn Quakers
+themselves are not altogether averse to _Irony_ and _Ridicule_, and use it
+when they can. Their Books abound in Stories to ridicule in their Turn the
+Priests, their great and bitter Adversaries: And they please themselves
+with throwing at the Priests the _Centuries of Scandalous Ministers_, and
+the Books of the _Cobler of_ Glocester. They have also their Satirist and
+Banterer, _Samuel Fisher_; whose Works, tho all wrote in the _drolling_
+Style and Manner, they pride themselves in, and have collected into one
+great Volume in _Folio_; in which Quaker-Wit and Irony are set up against
+Church, Presbyterian, and Independent Wit and Irony, without the least
+Scruple of the lawfulness of such Arms. In a word, their Author acts the
+Part of a _Jack-Pudding_, _Merry Andrew_, or _Buffoon_, with all the
+seeming Right, Authority, and Privilege, of the Member of some Establish'd
+Church of abusing all the World but themselves. The _Quakers_ have also
+encourag'd and publish'd a most arch Book of the famous _Henry Stubbe_,
+intitled, _A Light shining out of Darkness_, &c. Wherein all the other
+religious Parties among us are as handsomly and learnedly banter'd and
+ridicul'd, as the _Quakers_ have been in any Book against them. And when
+they were attack'd by one _Samuel Young_, a whimsical
+Presbyterian-Buffoon-Divine, who call'd himself _Trepidantium Malleus_,
+and set up for an Imitator of Mr. _Alsop_, in several Pamphlets full of
+Stories, Repartees, and Ironies; in which _Young_, perhaps, thought
+himself as secure from a Return of the like kind, as a Ruffian or Thief
+may when he assaults Men: His Attacks were repell'd in a Book intitled
+"_Trepidantium Malleus intrepidanter malleatus_; or the West Country
+Wiseaker's crack-brain'd _Reprimand_ hammer'd about his own Numbscul.
+Being a _Joco-satirical_ Return to a late Tale of a Tub, emitted by a
+reverend _Non-con_, at present residing not far from _Bedlam_," said to be
+written by _William Penn_, who has therein made use of the carnal Weapons
+of Irony and Banter, and dress'd out the Presbyterian Priest in a Fool's
+Coat, for a Spectacle to the Mob. It is also to be observ'd, that there
+are several Tracts in the two Volumes of _William Penn_'s Works lately
+publish'd, that for ingenious Banter and Irony, are much superior to the
+Priests his Adversaries; and that other Quaker Authors profess to write
+sometimes in a [111] _drolling Style_.
+
+
+XV. The Jacobite Clergy have set up for great _Droles_ upon all the true
+Friends of the _Establishment_. And I presume, the Body of our High
+Churchmen would not willingly deprive them of the Benefit of their
+_Drollery_.
+
+The celebrated Mr. _Collier_ [112] thus attacks Bishop _Burnet_, for his
+ESSAY _on the Memory of Queen_ Mary. "This Doctor, you know, is a Man of
+mighty _Latitude_, and can say any thing to serve a Turn; whose
+_Reverence_ resolves Cases of Conscience backwards and forwards, disputes
+_pro_ and _con_, praises and dispraises by secular Measures; with whom
+Virtue and Vice, passive Obedience and Rebellion, Parricide and filial
+Duty, Treachery and Faithfulness, and all the Contradictions in Nature,
+are the _best_ and _worst_ things under the Sun, as they are for his
+Purpose, and according as the Wind sits: who equally and indifferently
+writes for and against all Men, the Gospel, and himself too, as the World
+goes: who can bestow a Panegyrick upon the seven deadly Sins, and (if
+there be occasion) can make an Invective against all the
+Commandments.----"
+
+In relation to Dr. _Payne_'s _Sermon_ on the Death of that _Queen_, he
+says[113], "that to go thro' it is too great a Discipline for any Man,
+whose Palate hath ever relish'd any thing above _three half-penny
+Poetry_." He adds, "Why, Sir, many Years ago I have heard some of it sung
+about the Streets in wretched and nauseous _Doggrel_. What think you of
+this? _Page_ 6. _I know not how to draw her Picture, 'tis so all over
+beauteous, without any Foil, any Shade, any Blemish; so perfect in every
+Feature, so accomplish'd in every Part, so adorn'd with every Perfection
+and every Grace._ O rare, Sir! here's _Phillis_ and _Chloris_, and
+_Gillian a Croydon_.
+
+  "_Sh' hath_ every Feature, every Grace,
+  "_So charming_ every part, _&c_.
+
+"Tis no wonder he tells us, (_p._ 8.) of _strewing her with the Flowers of
+withered and decay'd Poetry_; for the _Song_ out of which he hath
+transcrib'd his _Sermon_, is of very _great age_, and hath been sung at
+many a _Whitsun-Ale_, and many a _Wedding_ (tho I believe never at a
+Funeral before) and therefore in all this time may well be _decay'd and
+wither'd_: In the mean time, if you were to draw the Picture of a _great
+Princess_, I fansy you would not make choice of _Mopsa_ to sit to it.
+Alas! Sir, there was _Cassandra_ and _Cleopatra_, and many a famed
+_Romance_ more, which might have furnish'd him with handsome Characters,
+and yet he must needs be _preaching and instructing_ his People out of
+_Hey down derry_, and the _fair Maid of_ Kent. If he had intitled it,
+_The_ White-Chapel _Ballad_, and got some body to set it to the Tune of
+_Amaryllis_, compos'd by _W. P. Songster_, the Character of the _Author_,
+the _Title_, and the _Matter_, would have very well agreed, and perhaps it
+might have passed at the Corners of the Streets; but to call it a
+_Sermon_, and by _W. P._ Doctor in _Divinity_, 'tis one of the _lewdest_
+things in the World.----"
+
+Mr. _Lesley_ attacks the Clergy, who pray'd "that God would give King
+_James_ Victory over all his Enemies[114], when that was the thing they
+least wish'd; and confess'd, that they labour'd all they could against
+it," saying, "good God! What Apprehensions, what Thought had those Men of
+their publick Prayers; bantering God Almighty, and mocking him to his
+Face, who heard their Words, and saw their Hearts? Is not _Atheism_ a
+smaller Sin than this, since it is better to have no God, than so to set
+up one _to laugh at him_."
+
+Again he says, (_p._ 123.) "It is a severe Jest, that the common People
+have got up against the Clergy, that there was but one thing formerly
+which the Parliament could not do, that is, to make a Man a Woman: But now
+there is another, that is, to make an Oath which the Clergy will not
+take."
+
+The same Author attacks Bishop _Burnet_'s _Speech upon the Bill against
+Occasional Conformity_, by a Pamphlet intitled, _The Bishop of_
+Salisbury_'s proper Defence from a Speech cry'd about the Streets in his
+Name, and said to have been spoken by him in the House of Lords upon the
+Bill against Occasional Conformity_; which is one perpetual _Irony_ on the
+Bishop, and gives the Author occasion to throw all manner of Satire and
+Abuse on the Bishop. The beginning of this Pamphlet, which is as follows,
+will let the Reader into the full Knowledge of the Design of the Irony,
+and the manner of Execution.
+
+"The License of this Age and of the Press is so great, that no Rank or
+Quality of Men is free from the Insults of loose and extravagant Wits.
+
+"The good Bishop of _Salisbury_ has had a plentiful Share in this sort of
+Treatment: And now at last, some or other has presum'd to burlesque his
+Lordship in printing a Speech for him, which none that knows his Lordship
+can believe ever came from him.
+
+"But because it may go down with others who are too apt to take Slander
+upon trust, and that his Lordship has already been pelted with several
+Answers to his Speech, I have presum'd to offer the following
+Considerations, to clear his Lordship from the Suspicion of having vented
+(in such an august Assembly) those crude and undigested Matters which are
+set forth in that Speech, and which so highly reflect on his Lordship's
+self."
+
+He has taken the same Method of Irony to attack the said Bishop for his
+_Speech_ on the _Trial_ of _Sacheverel_, and for a _Sermon_, under this
+Title, "The Good Old Cause, _or_ Lying in Truth; being a Second Defence of
+the Lord Bishop of _Sarum_ from a Second Speech, and also the Dissection
+of a Sermon it is said his Lordship preach'd in the Cathedral Church of
+_Salisbury_." And this Pamphlet, which is also a continued Banter, begins
+thus.
+
+"No Man has more deserv'd than this good Bishop, and no Man has been more
+persecuted by various Ways and Means than his Lordship, even to mobbing!
+But the ugliest and most malicious of all these Arts, is that of putting
+false Things upon him; to write scandalous, seditious, and senseless
+Papers, and to affix his Lordship's Name! I was forc'd some Years ago to
+vindicate his Lordship's Reputation from one of this sort: That Speech had
+a Bookseller's Name to it of good figure, and look'd something like; but
+this Speech (said likewise to be spoken in the House of Lords) has no body
+to own it, and has all the Marks of _Grub_. But the nasty Phiz is nothing
+to the inside. That discovers the Man; the Heart is false."
+
+This same Author has thought fit to attack Mr. _Hoadley_ (since a Bishop)
+in the way of Banter: His _Best Answer ever was made, and to which no
+Answer will ever be made_, is by his own Confession a _Farce_; when he
+says in his _Preface_, "If you ask why I treat this Subject by way of
+_farce_, and shew a little Merriment sometimes? it was because the
+Foundation you stand upon is not only _false_ but _ridiculous_, and ought
+to be treated with the _utmost Contempt_."
+
+Again, in his "_Finishing Stroke, in defence of_ his _Rehearsals, Best
+Answer, and Best of all_," he gives us (_p._ 125.) what he calls, "A
+Battle-Royal between three Cocks of the Game, _Higden_, _Hoadley_, and a
+_Hottentot_;" which in the _Contents_ he calls _A Farce_, and to which he
+joins both a _Prologue_ and _Epilogue_, and divers other Particulars, all
+taken from the _Play-house_.
+
+The Reverend Mr. _Matthias Earbery_ sets up for a great Satirist and Drole
+upon the swearing and Low-Church Clergy, in numerous Pamphlets of late,
+more particularly in his "_Serious Admonition to Dr._ Kennet: To which is
+added, a short but complete Answer to Mr. _Marshal_'s late Treatise
+called, _A Defence of our Constitution in Church and State_; and a
+Parallel is drawn between him and Dr. _Kennet_, for the Satisfaction of
+the unprejudic'd Reader."
+
+He has a bantering Argument [115] to shew, that, "If in future Ages Mr.
+_Marshal_'s Book should escape the just Judgment it deserves, of being
+condemn'd to the _Pastry-Cooks_ and _Grocers_, an industrious Chronologist
+might make an Observation to prove him too young to write it."
+
+The _Parallel_ is in _Pag._ 126, which being very gross _Raillery_, I only
+refer you to it.
+
+This Mr. _Earbery_ also wrote a _Letter to Bishop_ Fleetwood, under the
+Title of "A Letter to the Bishop of _Ely_, upon the Occasion of his
+_suppos'd_ late _Charge_, said to be deliver'd at _Cambridge August_ 7,
+1716, _&c._" in which he pursues the Ironical Scheme laid down in the said
+Title, and endeavours to _vindicate_ his _Lordship from the Aspersion of
+writing such a mean Pamphlet_, as the _Charge_.
+
+Nor do these _Jacobites_ confine their Drollery to their Adversaries
+without, but exercise it on one another, as may be seen in their late
+Dispute about King _Edward the Sixth_'s Liturgy. And Mr. _Lesley_ himself,
+happening to engage on the side opposite to the Traditions of the Fathers,
+and attacking those Traditions by Low-Church Notions and Arguments, and
+thereby running counter to all his former Books, is attack'd just in the
+same manner he attack'd Bishop _Burnet_, in a Book under this Title, "Mr.
+_Lesley_'s Defence, from some erroneous and dangerous Principles, advanced
+in a Letter said to have been written concerning the New Separation." And
+it has several Paragraphs at the beginning in the very words of one of Mr.
+_Lesley_'s Books against the said Bishop, as may be seen on Comparison.
+
+
+XVI. _Christ-Church_ in _Oxford_ is no less famous for the _Drolling_,
+than for the _Orthodox_ Spirit reigning there; and the former, being
+judged an excellent Method to support the latter, is cultivated among the
+Youth, and employ'd by the Members of that Society against all the
+supposed Adversaries of the Church, and encourag'd by the governing
+Ecclesiasticks there and elsewhere.
+
+Among the many, who have receiv'd their Education there, and been form'd
+in Drollery, I will only instance in the Reverend Dr. _Atterbury_ and Dr.
+_South_; who being as famous for _Drollery_ as for Zeal for Religion, and
+applauded for their _Wit_ no less than for their _Orthodoxy_; and
+particularly for imploying the former in behalf of the latter, seem of
+sufficient Weight to bear down all Attempts to stifle their Productions.
+What Considerations can make us amends for the Loss of such excellent
+_drolling Writings_, which promote Religion as well as Mirth?
+
+With what incomparable Mockery, Ridicule and Sarcasm does Dr. _Atterbury_
+treat all the Low-Church Clergy that come in his way, together with the
+_Whig_ Ministry and Administration in his several _Convocational Tracts_?
+Dr. _Wake_, our present Archbishop of _Canterbury_, is represented by him
+as writing so _contumeliously_ [116] of the Clergy, _that had he not
+inform'd us in his Title Page who he was, we should rather have guess'd
+him to have been of the Cabal against Priests and Priestcraft, than one of
+the Order_; and as wholly govern'd by [117] _Interest_ in the _Debate_,
+and as giving us a most [118] _shallow empty Performance_ in relation to
+our Ecclesiastical Constitution, which he [119] _has done his best to
+undermine_, as knowing himself to be in the wrong; and as _deserving_ any
+Name or Censure, none being _too bad to be bestow'd_ on him; and in fine,
+as _the least of the little officious Pens by which he expects to be
+traduc'd_.
+
+Dr. _Bentley_ is represented as _wrote out of Reputation into Preferment_;
+which, whether it be a more severe Sarcasm on the Doctor, than on the
+Government, is hard to determine; and besides, it gives Applause to one of
+the most drolling and bantering Performances that this drolling Age has
+produc'd, I mean _Dr._ Bentley_'s Dissertations on the Epistles of_
+Phalaris, _and the Fables of_ AEsop, _examin'd_.
+
+Bishop _Burnet_ is a standing Subject of Ridicule with him; as are Bishop
+_Nicholson_, Bishop _Kennet_, Bishop _Gibson_, Bishop _Trimnel_ [to whom
+he writes a most drolling [120] Letter] and Dr. _West_; and all the
+Topicks that can affect them as Scholars, as honest Men, and Clergymen,
+are imploy'd to render them ridiculous, and set the World a laughing at
+them, who are not in the least spar'd for their being of the Holy Order;
+but on the contrary seem more loaded and baited with Sarcasms for that
+reason.
+
+For a _Specimen_, take this Banter or Burlesque upon Bishop _Kennet_'s
+Dedication of his _Ecclesiastical Synods and Parliamentary Convocations_,
+&c. to the Archbishop of _Canterbury_; which Banter runs thus[121].
+
+     "_May it please your Grace_,
+
+     "Mr. _Atterbury_ has lately forc'd a Dedication upon you, which
+     favours too much of Presumption or Design; he has presum'd to
+     surprize you with an unexpected Address, and appears very indecently
+     before your Grace, because he has taken no care to express upon this
+     Subject a due Respect and Reverence to the Governors in Church and
+     State, such as is suitable to the Christian Religion, and his
+     particular Function: The Reports and Authorities in his Book are
+     Fruits of other Mens Collections, not the immediate Effects of his
+     own Searches into _Registers_ and _Records_; he imperiously summons
+     your Grace and my Lords the Bishops to an immediate Compliance upon
+     pain of being pronounc'd Betrayers of the Church----This, my Lord, is
+     the Character of the Person _I set up_ against; but as for me, I am
+     quite another sort of Man, I am very well bred, a great Antiquary,
+     beholden to no body, _some Wits and merry Folks call me a Tool and a
+     Play-thing_ (_Pref. p._ 8.) But I assure your Grace, that what
+     Freedom soever I may have taken in taxing the Vices of the inferior
+     _Clergy_, (_p._ 77. 188.) and in reflecting _upon the ambitious
+     Designs of dignify'd Presbyters_ (_p._ 196.); yet _I am however
+     tender and dutiful in treating the Governors of our Church_ (p. 78.);
+     especially _those of them who are of the Ecclesiastical Commission
+     for Preferments_, (p. 311). I have a very great Respect and Reverence
+     for every body that will give me any thing; and how resolute soever
+     Mr. _Atterbury_ may be, your Grace may do what you please with
+
+     _Your Grace's most humble_
+
+     _and obedient Servant_,
+
+     WHITE KENNET.
+
+
+But for _Drollery_, the Reverend Dr. _South_ outdoes even _Christ-Church_,
+and fills all his Performances with it, and throws it out against the
+Enemies of the Church, and in particular against the late Dr. _Sherlock_,
+whom he thought fit to single out. I shall select some Passages from his
+Writings against the said Doctor, which cannot but entertain the
+High-Church Orthodox Reader, and reconcile him to a _Drollery_ so well
+employ'd.
+
+He stiles him _a great good Man, as a certain poor Wretch_, meaning
+_Prior, calls him_.
+
+Again, he says[122], "There is hardly any one Subject which he (that is
+Dr. _Sherlock_) has wrote upon Popery excepted, that he has wrote both
+for it and against it. Could any thing be more sharp and bitter against
+the Dissenters than what this Man wrote in his _Answer_ to the _Protestant
+Reconciler_; and yet how frankly, or rather fulsomly does he open both his
+Arms to embrace them in his Sermon preach'd before the Lord Mayor on
+_November_ 4, 1688. Tho I dare say, that the Dissenters themselves are of
+that Constancy, as to own that they were of the same Principles in 88 that
+they were of in 85; but the Truth is, old Friendships cannot be so easily
+forgot: And it has been an Observation made by some, that hardly can any
+one be found, who was first tainted with a Conventicle, whom a Cathedral
+could ever after cure, but that still upon every cross turn of Affairs
+against the _Church_, the irresistible _Magnetism_ of the _Good Old Cause_
+(as some still think it) would quickly draw him out of the _Good Old Way_.
+The Fable tells us of a _Cat_ once turn'd into a _Woman_, but the next
+sight of a _Mouse_ quickly dissolv'd the _Metamorphosis_, cashier'd the
+Woman, and restor'd the Brute. And some _Virtuosi_ (skill'd in the _useful
+Philosophy_ of _Alterations_) have thought her much a Gainer by the latter
+Change, there being so many unlucky Turns in the World, in which it is not
+half so safe and advantageous to _walk upright_, as to be _able to fall
+always upon one's Legs_."
+
+Again, Dr. _South_ says[123], "When I consider how wonderfully pleas'd the
+Man is with these two new started Terms (_Self-consciousness_ and _mutual
+Consciousness_) so high in Sound and so empty of Sense, instead of one
+substantial word (_Omniscience_) which gives us all that can be pretended
+useful in them, with vast Overplus and Advantage, and even swallows them
+up, as _Moses_'s Rod did those pitiful Tools of the _Magicians_: This (I
+say) brings to my mind (whether I will or no) a certain Story of a grave
+Person, who riding in the Road with his Servant, and finding himself
+something uneasy in his Saddle, bespoke his Servant thus: _John_ (says he)
+_alight, and first take off the Saddle that is upon my Horse, and then
+take off the Saddle that is upon your Horse; and when you have done this,
+put the Saddle that was upon my Horse, upon your Horse; and put the Saddle
+that was upon your Horse, upon my Horse_. Whereupon the Man, who had not
+studied the Philosophy of Saddles (whether _Ambling_ or _Trotting_) so
+exactly as his Master, replies something short upon him; _Lord, Master,
+what need all these words? Could you not as well have said, Let us change
+Saddles?_ Now I must confess, I think the Servant was much in the right;
+tho the Master having a _rational Head of his own_, and being withal
+willing to make the _Notion_ of _changing_ Saddles more _plain_, _easy_
+and _intelligible_, and to give a clearer Explication of that word (which
+his Forefathers, how good _Horsemen_ soever they might have been, yet were
+_not equally happy in explaining of_) was pleas'd to set it forth by that
+more full and accurate Circumlocution."
+
+He says[124], _The Author_, Dr. _Sherlock, is no doubt a_ Grecian _in his
+Heart_! And the tenth Chapter of the _Animadversions_ is one continued
+Banter upon the _Dean_ for his Ignorance in _Greek_ and _Latin_, and even
+his Inability to spell: All which he _closes_ with saying, "That St.
+_Paul_'s _School_ is certainly an excellent School, and St. _Paul_'s
+Church a most noble Church; and therefore he thinks that he directs his
+Course very prudently, and happily too, who in his Passage to such a
+_Cathedral_, takes a School in his way."
+
+Again, he says[125], "He cannot see any new Advantage that the Dean has
+got over the _Socinians_, unless it be, that the Dean thinks his _three
+Gods_ will be too hard for their _one_."
+
+After citing several Scurrilities of the Dean[126], (who it must be
+confess'd, appears therein a great Banterer also of Dr. _South_ and his
+Performance) the Dr. says, "These, with several more of the like
+_Gravel-Lane_ Elegancies, are all of them such peculiar Strictures of the
+Dean's _Genius_, that he might very well spare his Name, where he had made
+himself so well known by his Mark; for all the foregoing
+_Oyster-Wive-Kennel-Rhetorick_ seems so naturally to flow from him, who
+had been so long Rector of St. _Botolph_ (with the well-spoken
+_Billingsgate_ under his Care) that (as much a Teacher as he was) it may
+well be question'd, whether he has learn'd more from his Parish, than his
+Parish from him.--All favours of the Porter, the Carman, and the Waterman;
+and a pleasant Scene it must be to see the _Master of the Temple_ laying
+about him in the Language of the Stairs."
+
+To the Dean's Scoff, that _this Argument_, &c. _was worth its weight in
+Gold, tho the_ Dean _fears it will not much enrich the Buyer_, the Doctor
+replies[127], "What is that to him? Let him mind his own Markets, who
+never writes to _enrich the Buyer_ but the Seller; and that _Seller_ is
+himself: and since he is so, well is it for his Books and his Bookseller
+too, that Men generally _buy_ before they _read_."
+
+In requital of the scurrilous Character of an _ingenious Blunderer_, Dr.
+_South_ says[128], "He must here return upon him the just Charge of an
+_impious Blasphemer_, and that upon more Accounts than one; telling him
+withal, that had he liv'd in the former Times of the Church, his Gown
+would have been stript off his Back for his detestable Blasphemies and
+Heresies, and some other Place found out for him to perch in than the Top
+of St. _Paul's_, where at present he is placed like a true Church
+Weather-Cock, (as he is) notable for nothing so much, as _standing high
+and turning round_."
+
+Again, he says[129], "And so I take my leave of the Dean's _three distinct
+infinite Minds, Spirits_, or _Substances_, that is to say, of his _three
+Gods_; and having done this, methinks I see him go whimpering away with
+his Finger in his Eye, and the Complaint of _Micah_ in his Mouth, _Ye have
+taken away my Gods which I made, and what have I more_[130]? Tho he must
+confess, he cannot tell why he should be so fond of them, since he dares
+undertake that he will never be able to bring the Christian World either
+to believe in, or to worship a _Trinity of Gods_: Nor does he see what use
+they are likely to be of, even to himself, unless peradventure to _swear
+by_."
+
+Again, the Doctor says[131], "The Dean's following Instruction to his
+Friend is certainly very diverting, in these words, where the Animadverter
+charges the Dean with Absurdities and Contradictions; turn to the Place
+and read it with its Context, and tell me what you cannot answer, and I
+will; to which he would have done well to have added, _If I can_. But the
+whole Passage is just as if he had said, Sir, if you find not
+Contradictions and Absurdities enough in my Book to satisfy your Curiosity
+that way, pray come to the Fountain-head, and consult me, and you shall be
+sure of a more plentiful Supply."
+
+Again, upon the Dean's "Frequent reproaching the [132] Animadverter with
+the Character of a _Wit_, tho join'd with such ill-favour'd Epithets, as
+his witless Malice has thought fit to degrade it with, as that he is _a
+spiteful Wit_, a _wrangling Wit_, a _satirical Wit_, and the WITTY,
+_subtle_, _good-natur'd Animadverter, &c._ the Dr. says, that tho there be
+but little _Wit_ shewn in making such Charges; yet if _Wit_ be a
+_Reproach_ (be it of what sort it will) the Animadverter is too _just_ to
+return this _Reproach_ upon the _Defender_; and withal, understands
+himself, and what becomes him, too well, either to _assume_ to himself, or
+so much as to _admit_ the Character of a _Wit_, as at all due to him;
+especially since he knows that _common Sense_ (a thing much short of Wit)
+is enough to enable him to deal with such an Adversary. Nevertheless,
+there are many in the World, who are both call'd and accounted _Wits_, and
+really are so; which (one would think) should derive something of Credit
+upon this Qualification, even in the Esteem of this Author himself, or at
+least rebate the Edge of his Invectives against it, considering that it
+might have pleas'd God to have made him a _Wit_ too."
+
+
+XVII. As things now stand, it may easily be seen, that Prosecutions for
+_Raillery_ and _Irony_ would not be relish'd well by the Publick, and
+would probably turn to the Disreputation and Disgrace of the Prosecutor.
+
+Archbishop _Laud_ has always been much censur'd for his malicious
+Prosecution of _Williams_ in the _Star-Chamber_; among whose Crimes I find
+the following laid to his Charge: [133] _That he said all Flesh in_
+England _had corrupted their Ways_; that _he call'd a Book intitled_, A
+Coal from the Altar (written by Dr. _Heylin_, for placing the
+Communion-Table at the East-end of the Church, and railing it in) _a
+Pamphlet_; that he _scoffingly said, that he had heard of a Mother Church,
+but not of a Mother Chapel, meaning the King's, to which all Churches in
+Ceremony ought to conform_; that _he wickedly jested on St._ Martin_'s
+Hood_; that _he said the People ought not to be lash'd by every body's
+Whip_; that _he said_, (citing _a National Council for it_) _that the
+People are God's and the King's, and not the Priest's People; and that he
+doth not allow Priests to jeer and make Invectives against the People_.
+And I humbly conceive, that such Matters had much better be suffer'd to go
+on in the World, and take their Course, than that Courts of Judicature
+should be employ'd about them. A Sentence that imply'd some _Clergymen_
+corrupt, as well as some _Laymen_, of whom _Laud_ would only allow to have
+it said, that they had _corrupted their Ways_; a _Jest_ upon St.
+_Martin_'s _Hood_, which, according to Ecclesiastical History, _cur'd sore
+Eyes_; and a _Ridicule_ upon a High-Church Book of _Heylin_'s, by calling
+it a Pamphlet, tho it was really a Pamphlet, as consisting of but seventy
+Pages in Quarto; seem less _wicked_ and hurtful than disturbing, fining,
+and undoing Men about them. And the having some Concern for the People,
+that they should not be used as the Priest pleas'd; that the _People_
+belong to _God_ and the _King_, and _not to the Priest_; and the _not
+allowing_ the _Priests_ to _jeer and make Invectives against the People_;
+seem all Errors fit to be born with.
+
+Archbishop _Laud_ was also thought guilty of an excessive Piece of
+Weakness in the Punishment of [134] _Archibald_ the King's Fool, by laying
+the Matter before the Privy-Council, and occasioning him to be expell'd
+the King's House for a poor _Jest_ upon himself; who, as he was a Man at
+the Head of the State, should have despis'd such a thing in any Body, much
+more in a _Fool_, and who should never have been hurried on to be the
+Instrument of any _Motion_ against him, but have left it to others; who
+upon the least Intimation would have been glad to make their court to
+_Laud_, by sacrificing a _Fool_ only to his Resentment.
+
+
+XVIII. I could have entertain'd the Reader with a great Variety of
+Passages out of the Fathers of the Church, whose Writings are Magazines of
+Authority, and urg'd upon us upon all Occasions by Ecclesiasticks, and are
+particularly full of _Burlesque_ and _Ridicule_ on the _Gods and Religion_
+of the _Pagans_; in the use whereof they are much more unanimous, than in
+the Articles of their _Creed_. But that being a Subject too great and
+extensive for a Digression, I shall content my self with the few following
+Reflections; which will sufficiently evince, that the _Taste_ of the
+Primitive Christians was like that of the rest of the World; that they
+could laugh and be as merry as the _Greeks_ and other _Pagans_; and that
+they would take the Advantage of the _Pagans_ weak Cause, to introduce
+_Ridicule_, which always bears hard upon Weakness and Folly, and must load
+them so as to prevent a Possibility of their being remov'd by another
+_Ridicule_.
+
+These Fathers have transfused into their Writings all the Wit and Raillery
+of the antient _Pagan_ Writers and Philosophers; who it is well known
+wrote a great deal to turn _Paganism_ into Ridicule; most of which now
+exists no where but in the Works of the Fathers; all Books of that kind
+being lost, except _Cicero_'s Books of _the Nature of Gods_, and of
+_Divination_, and the Dialogues of _Lucian_; both which Authors have been
+of great use to the _Fathers_ to set them up for _Wits_, _Droles_, and
+_Satirists_. For a Specimen how well these antient _Pagans_ could _drole_,
+and how much beholden we are to the Fathers for recording their
+Drolleries, the most remarkable, I think, are some _Fragments_ of a Book
+of _Oenomaus_ concerning the _Pagan Oracles_, cited and preserv'd by [135]
+_Eusebius_; who has given us occasion to [136] _regret_ the loss of this
+Work, as one of the most valuable Books written by the Antients on the
+Subject of _Oracles_, tho those Books were _very numerous_. And it is to
+be observ'd, that this Book and a great many, perhaps a [137] thousand
+more, were publish'd in _Greece_, where the Imposture of _Oracles_ greatly
+prevail'd, and great Wealth flow'd in, not only to the Priests of the
+_Oracular Temples_, but to all the Inhabitants of _Greece_, and especially
+to those who lived in the Neighbourhood of the several _Oracular
+Temples_; who made a great Profit from the rich Travellers, that came from
+all Parts of the World to know their Fortunes. This shews the great
+Integrity and Fairness of the old _Pagans_; who would suffer not only
+their supposed standing Revelation to be call'd in question, but a
+Revelation that brought in as much Money, as the Chapels, Churches, and
+Shrines dedicated to the Blessed Virgin, or to any of the Saints, do in
+the _Roman_ Church, without calling any Man to Account for the Liberties
+they took; who, as far as appears, were not expos'd [138] _to any Danger_
+thereby. It is also to be observ'd, that the merry [139] _Epicureans were
+none of them ever prosecuted_, and _that_ Epicurus _himself died quietly
+at_ Athens _in a very great old Age_.
+
+But the Book, which the Fathers made the most use of, was that arch, fly,
+and drolling Performance, now lost, of _Evemerus_, which he intitled, _A
+sacred History_: wherein he gave an _historical Account_ of the _Birth_,
+_Country_, _Lives_, _Deaths_, and _Burials_ of the _Gods_. This Work was
+translated into _Latin_ by that arch Wag _Ennius_, who himself has most
+ingeniously _ridicul'd_ several Impostors or very grave Persons, in a
+remarkable Piece of Poetry, which I shall give my Reader in _English_.
+
+  "_I value not a Rush the_ Marsian _Augur,_
+  "_Nor Country-Fortune Tellers, nor Town-Star-Gazers,_
+  "_Nor jugling Gypsies, nor yet Dream-Interpreters:_
+  "_For, not by Skill or Art, are these Diviners;_
+  "_But superstitious Prophets, Guessers impudent,_
+  "_Or idle Rogues, or craz'd, or mere starving Beggars._
+  "_They know no way themselves, yet others would direct;_
+  "_And crave a Groat of those, to whom they promise Riches:_
+  "_Thence let them take the Groat, and give back all the rest._
+
+
+XIX. Wherefore I cannot but presume, that an Attempt to make a _Law_ to
+restrain _Irony_, &c. would prove abortive, and that the Attempt would be
+deem'd the Effect of a very partial Consideration of things, and of
+present Anger at a poor Jest; which Men are not able to bear themselves,
+how much soever they abound in _Jests_, both of the _light_ and _cruel_
+kind, on others: tho for my own part I concur heartily with you in
+_making_ such a _Law_, and in leaving it to a Person of your _Equity_ to
+draw it up, craving only the Liberty to propose an Amendment or Addition,
+_viz._ that you would be pleas'd to insert a Clause to prevent _Irony_,
+_Ridicule_, and _Banter_, from invading the Pulpit, and particularly to
+prevent pointing out _Persons of Men_ [140] from thence, and reviling
+them, as also reviling whole Bodies of Men: For whatever is immoral in
+Print, is, in my Opinion, immoral in the Pulpit. Besides, these things
+seem more improper in the Pulpit, than they can be in Print: because no
+_Reprisals_ can be made in the former, as in the latter Case; where they,
+or the Fear of them, may give some Check to the Disorder, and reduce
+things to a tolerable Temper and Decency. If, in order to justify my
+Motion, it could be thought necessary or proper here to give a Detail of
+ridiculing and ironical Passages, taken from Sermons against particular
+Men, and Bodies of Men, and their Doctrines, you cannot but know how easy
+it would be to fill a Volume with them, without going to Authors, who have
+occasionally produc'd abundance of them. And I will only mention here a
+Passage in a _Volume of Sermons_, just now publish'd, of a well known
+_High Divine_, the Reverend Mr. _William Reeves_, made famous by his
+_Translation_ of some _Apologies of the Primitive Fathers_, which gain'd
+him the Applauses of a great many _High Men_, and particularly _Hickes_,
+_Dodwel_, and _Nelson_, &c. and a Recommendation from the last to the
+Queen, who in the latter end of her Reign made him _Chaplain in Ordinary_,
+and obtain'd for him a considerable Preferment. This Gentleman, attacking
+Bishop _Hoadley_'s _Sermon_ of _The Kingdom of Christ_, says[141], "In
+these last Days we have been taught to be as indolent and unconcern'd as
+possible in the Service of God: A noted _Novellist_ [Bp. _Hoadley_] among
+many other odd _Engines_, hath invented one, to pump out all Devotion from
+Prayer, and make it a _Vacuum_. Instead of the old fervent, affectionate
+way of Worshipping, he hath substituted a new Idol, a Vanity, a Nothing of
+his own, _a calm and undisturb'd Address to God_.----The _Arrows_ and
+_bitter Words_ Mr. _Hales_ hath levell'd against _Rome_ only, our Right
+Reverend hath _pointed a-new_, and shot them full against the Church he
+superintends, and with all the Force of inbred, fanatick Fury. And by this
+time surely it is well known, that he is a very _warm Man_ in every thing,
+but his _Prayers_."
+
+
+XX. Instead of addressing the foregoing Papers to you, I could have
+address'd them to several others; who of late have thought fit to
+recognize the Right of Men, to examine into, and judge for themselves in
+all Matters of speculation, and especially in Matters of mere Religion,
+and to publish their Reasons against any Opinions they judge erroneous,
+tho publickly receiv'd in the Country where they live, provided they do it
+_seriously_ and _gravely_: which is a noble Progress in Truth, and owing
+to that glorious Liberty, and Freedom of Debate, that we enjoy under our
+most excellent Princes; and which extorts it even from them, who, to have
+some Credit in the World, are forced to own, what would discredit them to
+go on to deny, among all who have any degree of _Virtue_, _Sense_, and
+_Learning_. But I was determin'd to address my self to you, as a Person of
+more remarkable _Moderation_ than ordinary in your _Letter_ to Dr.
+_Rogers_: And one, who had, long before, in your _Defence of the
+Constitution in Church and State; in answer to the Charge of the
+Nonjurors, accusing us of Heresy and Schism, Perjury and Treason_, "valu'd
+[142] and commended the Integrity of the Nonjurors in declaring their
+Sentiments:" and who, tho you justly charge those of them you write
+against, "as attacking us with such uncommon Marks of Violence [143] as
+most plainly intimate, that no Measures are intended to be kept with us by
+them in the Day of their Prosperity, who in the Day of their Adversity,
+even when they are most at Mercy, cannot refrain from such _raging_
+Provocations; but when reduced to the Necessity of _taking_ Quarter,
+profess most plainly they will never give it:" Yet as to these Enemies,
+who would destroy our Church and State, and [144] "revive upon us the
+Charge of _Heresy_ and _Schism_, _Perjury_ and _Treason_, Crimes of no
+small figure either in the Law or in the Gospel," you only say, that "if
+you may have leave to borrow a Thought from [145] one of their own most
+celebrated Writers, you would tell them, that _the Blood and Spirits were
+made to rise upon such Occasions_: Nature design'd not, that we should be
+cold or indifferent in our manner of receiving, or returning, such foul
+Reproaches." This is great Moderation, and such as I heartily approve,
+being dispos'd to forgive the Punishment due by Law to any Fault, when the
+Non-execution of it will not overturn the Government. And I am willing to
+hope, that since you can think that such bitter Adversaries to you, as
+these licentious _Jacobites_ are, should only be smartly replied to, and
+not be prosecuted by the Government, you will, upon Reflection, think,
+that a merry, good humour'd Adversary should be treated as well.
+
+Tho I have endeavour'd to defend the Use of _Ridicule_ and _Irony_, yet it
+is such _Irony_ and _Ridicule_ only as is fit for polite Persons to use.
+As to the gross _Irony_ and _Ridicule_, I disapprove of it, as I do other
+Faults in Writing; only I would not have Men punish'd, or any other way
+disturb'd about it, than by a Return of _Ridicule_ and _Irony_. This I
+think fit to conclude with, more to prevent Misrepresentation from others,
+than from you; whom I look on to have too much Sense and Integrity to
+mistake or misrepresent me.
+
+_I am Yours, &c._
+
+
+_FINIS._
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+
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+16. Henry Nevil Payne, _The Fatal Jealousie_ (1673).
+
+18. Anonymous, "Of Genius," in _The Occasional Paper_, Vol. III, No. 1
+(1719), and Aaron Hill, Preface to _The Creation_ (1720).
+
+
+1949-1950
+
+19. Susanna Centlivre, _The Busie Body_ (1709).
+
+20. Lewis Theobald, _Preface to the Works of Shakespeare_ (1734).
+
+22. Samuel Johnson, _The Vanity of Human Wishes_ (1749), and two _Rambler_
+papers (1750).
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+23. John Dryden, _His Majesties Declaration Defended_ (1681).
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+1950-1951
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+1963-1964
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+104. Thomas D'Urfey, _Wonders in the Sun; or, The Kingdom of the Birds_
+(1706).
+
+
+1964-1965
+
+110. John Tutchin, _Selected Poems_ (1685-1700).
+
+111. Anonymous, _Political Justice_ (1736).
+
+112. Robert Dodsley, _An Essay on Fable_ (1764).
+
+113. T. R., _An Essay Concerning Critical and Curious Learning_ (1698).
+
+114. _Two Poems Against Pope:_ Leonard Welsted, _One Epistle to Mr. A.
+Pope_ (1730), and Anonymous, _The Blatant Beast_ (1742).
+
+
+1965-1966
+
+115. Daniel Defoe and others, _Accounts of the Apparition of Mrs. Veal_.
+
+116. Charles Macklin, _The Covent Garden Theatre_ (1752).
+
+117. Sir George L'Estrange, _Citt and Bumpkin_ (1680).
+
+118. Henry More, _Enthusiasmus Triumphatus_ (1662).
+
+119. Thomas Traherne, _Meditations on the Six Days of the Creation_
+(1717).
+
+120. Bernard Mandeville, _Aesop Dress'd or a Collection of Fables_ (1704).
+
+
+1966-1967
+
+123. Edmond Malone, _Cursory Observations on the Poems Attributed to Mr.
+Thomas Rowley_ (1782).
+
+124. Anonymous, _The Female Wits_ (1704).
+
+125. Anonymous, _The Scribleriad_ (1742). Lord Hervey, _The Difference
+Between Verbal and Practical Virtue_ (1742).
+
+
+1967-1968
+
+129. Lawrence Echard, Prefaces to _Terence's Comedies_ (1694) and
+_Plautus's Comedies_ (1694).
+
+130. Henry More, _Democritus Platonissans_ (1646).
+
+132. Walter Harte, _An Essay on Satire, Particularly on the Dunciad_
+(1730).
+
+
+1968-1969
+
+133. John Courtenay, _A Poetical Review of the Literary and Moral
+Character of the Late Samuel Johnson_ (1786).
+
+134. John Downes, _Roscius Anglicanus_ (1708).
+
+135. Sir John Hill, _Hypochondriasis, a Practical Treatise_ (1766).
+
+136. Thomas Sheridan, _Discourse ... Being Introductory to His Course of
+Lectures on Elocution and the English Language_ (1759).
+
+137. Arthur Murphy, _The Englishman From Paris_ (1736).
+
+138. [Catherine Trotter], _Olinda's Adventures_ (1718).
+
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+The Society's purpose is to publish rare Restoration and
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+
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+should be addressed to the Corresponding Secretary at the William Andrews
+Clark Memorial Library, 2520 Cimarron Street, Los Angeles, California.
+Correspondence concerning editorial matters may be addressed to the
+General Editors at the same address. Manuscripts of introductions should
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+fee is $5.00 a year in the United States and Canada and L1.19.6 in Great
+Britain and Europe. British and European prospective members should
+address B. H. Blackwell, Broad Street, Oxford, England. Copies of back
+issues in print may be obtained from the Corresponding Secretary.
+
+Publications of the first fifteen years of the Society (numbers 1-90) are
+available in paperbound units of six issues at $16.00 per unit, from the
+Kraus Reprint Company, 16 East 46th Street, New York, N.Y. 10017.
+
+Make check or money order payable to THE REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF
+CALIFORNIA
+
+
+REGULAR PUBLICATIONS FOR 1969-1970
+
+139. John Ogilvie, _An Essay on the lyric poetry of the ancients_ (1762).
+Introduction by Wallace Jackson.
+
+140. _A Learned Dissertation on Dumpling_ (1726) and _Pudding burnt to pot
+or a compleat key to the Dissertation on Dumpling_ (1727). Introduction by
+Samuel L. Macey.
+
+141. Selections from Sir Roger L'Estrange's _Observator_ (1681-1687).
+Introduction by Violet Jordain.
+
+142. Anthony Collins, _A Discourse concerning Ridicule and Irony in
+writing_ (1729). Introduction by Edward A. Bloom and Lillian D. Bloom.
+
+143. _A Letter from a clergyman to his friend, with an account of the
+travels of Captain Lemuel Gulliver_ (1726). Introduction by Martin
+Kallich.
+
+144. _The Art of Architecture, a poem. In imitation of Horace's Art of
+poetry_ (1742). Introduction by William A. Gibson.
+
+
+SPECIAL PUBLICATION FOR 1969-1970
+
+Gerard Langbaine, _An Account of the English Dramatick Poets_ (1691),
+Introduction by John Loftis. 2 Volumes. Approximately 600 pages. Price to
+members of the Society, $7.00 for the first copy (both volumes), and $8.50
+for additional copies. Price to non-members, $10.00.
+
+Already published in this series:
+
+1. John Ogilby, _The Fables of Aesop Paraphras'd in Verse_ (1668), with an
+Introduction by Earl Miner. 228 pages.
+
+2. John Gay, _Fables_ (1727, 1738), with an Introduction by Vinton A.
+Dearing. 366 pages.
+
+3. _The Empress of Morocco and Its Critics_ (Elkanah Settle, _The Empress
+of Morocco_ [1673] with five plates; _Notes and Observations on the
+Empress of Morocco_ [1674] by John Dryden, John Crowne and Thomas
+Snadwell; _Notes and Observations on the Empress of Morocco Revised_
+[1674] by Elkanah Settle; and _The Empress of Morocco. A Farce_ [1674] by
+Thomas Duffett), with an Introduction by Maximillian E. Novak. 348 pages.
+
+4. _After THE TEMPEST_ (the Dryden-Davenant version of _The Tempest_
+[1670]; the "operatic" _Tempest_ [1674]; Thomas Duffett's _Mock-Tempest_
+[1675]; and the "Garrick" _Tempest_ [1756]), with an Introduction by
+George Robert Guffey. 332 pages.
+
+Price to members of the Society, $3.50 for the first copy of each title,
+and $4.25 for additional copies. Price to non-members, $5.00. Standing
+orders for this continuing series of Special Publications will be
+accepted. British and European orders should be addressed to B. H.
+Blackwell, Broad Street, Oxford, England.
+
+
+
+
+Footnotes:
+
+[28] _Page_ 337.
+
+[29] _Pag._ 302.
+
+[30] _Page_ 301.
+
+[31] _Pag._ 307.
+
+[32] Stillingfleet's _Answer to several late Treatises_, &c. _Page_ 14.
+
+[33] _Pag._ 71.
+
+[34] Vindication of the Answer to the Royal Papers. _p._ 105.
+
+[35] _Preface to_ Unreasonableness of Separation. _p._ 62.
+
+[36] Rule's _Rational Defence_ of Nonconf. _p._ 29.
+
+[37] _Preface to_ Stillingfleet _still against_ Stillingfleet.
+
+[38] _Preface to a Discourse of_ Miracles wrote in the _Roman_ Church,
+_&c._
+
+[39] See _Stillingfleet_'s Second Vind. of the Protestant Grounds of
+Faith, _c._ 3.
+
+[40] _Edwards's_ New Discov. _p._ 184-215.
+
+[41] _Ecclesiast. Hist._ cent. 8. _p._ 196.
+
+[42] Vind. _p._ 199.
+
+[43] _See_ Shaftesbury's _Characteristicks_, Vol. I. p. 61.
+
+[44] Memoirs de Trevoux, _An._ 1707. _p._ 396. _An._ 1717. _p._ 1200.
+
+[45] _Trapp_'s Popery truly stated, _p._ 123.
+
+[46] _Preface._
+
+[47] _Heylin_'s History of the Presbyterians, _p._ 391.
+
+[48] _Wotton_ on the _Misna_, p. 118.
+
+[49] _Freeholder_, No 30.
+
+[50] _Freeholder_, Numb. xlv.
+
+[51] _See_ Cicero de Officiis, _l._ 1. _c._ 30.
+
+[52] _See_ Patrick_'s Friendly Debate_, Part 1, _p._ 139-141. 5_th Edit._
+
+[53] _Preface to_ The State of the Roman Catholick Religion, _p._ 11.
+
+[54] De Divin. l. 2. c. 25.
+
+[55] _Rog. Hoveden_, Pars ii. p. 520.
+
+[56] 1 _Kings_ xviii.
+
+[57] _Psalm_ ii. 4.
+
+[58] _Gen._ iii. 22.
+
+[59] Archaeolog. Philos. _l._ 2. _c._ 7.
+
+[60] Shaftesbury _in Charact._ Vol. 3. _and_ Whitchcot_'s Sermons_: Vol.
+I.
+
+[61] Shaftesbury's _Characteristicks_, Vol. I. p. 71.
+
+[62] _Page_ 307.
+
+[63] _How useful_ Lestrange_'s_ Observators, _which were design'd to
+expose the Dissenters to Contempt and Persecution, were deem'd to the
+Church at the time they were publish'd, may be judged of by Bp._ Burnet,
+_who says_ [_in his_ Eighteen Papers, _p._ 90.] "_Another Buffoon was
+hired to plague the Nation with three or four Papers a Week, which to the
+Reproach of the Age in which we live, had but too great and too general
+Effect, for poisoning the Spirits of the Clergy._"
+
+[64] _In this Work the Dissenters and Low Churchmen are sufficiently
+rally'd and abus'd, and particularly the_ Free-Thinkers, _whose_ Creed _is
+therein represented as consisting of these two Negatives_, No Queen and no
+God. _Examiners_, Vol. 3. p. 12.
+
+_Mr._ Addison _tells us_ [Freeholder No. 19.] "_the_ Examiner _was the
+favourite Work of the Party. It was usher'd into the World by a Letter
+from a Secretary of State, setting forth the great Genius of the Author,
+the Usefulness of his Design, and the mighty Consequences that were to be
+expected from it. It is said to be written by those among them whom they
+look'd upon as their most celebrated Wits and Politicians, and was
+dispers'd into all Quarters of the Nation with great Industry and
+Expence.----In this Paper all the great Men who had done eminent Services
+to their Country, but a few Years before, were draughted out one by one,
+and baited in their Turns. No Sanctity of Character, or Privilege of Sex
+exempted Persons.----Several of our Prelates were the standing Marks of
+publick Raillery._----"
+
+[65] _In his_ Ecclesiastical Policy, _his_ Defence and Continuation
+_thereof, and his_ Reproof to _Marvel_'s Rehearsal transpos'd.
+
+[66] _In his_ Friendly Debates.
+
+[67] _In his six Volumes of_ Sermons, _and in his_ Books _of the_ Trinity.
+
+[68] _In his_ Discourse of the Knowledge of Christ, _&c. his_ Defences of
+Dr. _Stillingfleet_'s Unreasonableness of Separation, _and his_ Answer _to
+the_ Protestant Reconciler.
+
+[69] _In his Translation of_ Dryden_'s_ Absalom _and_ Achitophel _into_
+Latin _Verse, whereby he was first flush'd; and in his_ Convocational
+Controversy, _and in his numerous State Libels_.
+
+[70] _In his_ Sermons, Rights of the Church, _and especially his_
+Character of a Low-Church-man, _drawn to abuse Bishop_ Floyd.
+
+[71] _Of this, the Trials of_ Penn _and_ Mead _before_ Howel, _and of_
+Baxter _before_ Jefferys, _are Master Pieces; of which last you have an
+Account in_ Kennet_'s_ Compleat History of _England, Vol. 3d. and of the
+former in_ the Phoenix, _Vol._ I.
+
+[72] Snape_'s_ Vindication against _Pilloniere_. p. 50.
+
+[73] _Id._ p. 63.
+
+[74] _The Stage condemn'd_, p. 2.
+
+[75] Popery truly stated, _p._ 127, 128.
+
+[76] _Pag._ 75, 76, 77, 79, 81, 112, 113, 120, 122, 124, 125.
+
+[77] _Sermons_, Vol. III. p. 299.
+
+[78] Rule of Faith, _p._ 347, 348.
+
+[79] See _p._ 57.
+
+[80] _Pag._ 59.
+
+[81] _Pag._ 57.
+
+[82] Burnet_'s_ History of his own Times, _p._ 674.
+
+[83] Ib. _p._ 792.
+
+[84] Ibid. _p._ 740.
+
+[85] Ibid. _p._ 683.
+
+[86] _The Protestant Mouse speaks._
+
+[87] _Boyer_'s Life of Queen _Anne_, in the Annual List of the Deaths,
+_p._ 65.
+
+[88] _A_ Clergyman _preach'd thus to his_ Auditory: _"You have_ Moses
+_and_ Aaron _before you, and the Organs behind you, so are a happy People;
+for what greater Comfort would mortal Men have?"_ See _Walker_'s
+Sufferings, _&c. p._ 178.
+
+[89] _See the Article_ Heylin, in _Wood_'s Athenae Oxon.
+
+[90] Burnet_'s Hist._ p. 100.
+
+[91] _Characteristicks_, Vol. I. p. 259.
+
+[92] Burnet. _ibid._
+
+[93] Page 177.
+
+[94] Burnet _p._ 95.
+
+[95] Kennet_'s Register_, p. 258.
+
+[96] _Ibid._ p. 516.
+
+[97] Burnet_'s Hist._
+
+[98] Kennet_'s Register_, p. 111.
+
+[99] Burnet_'s History_, p. 107.
+
+[100] _See the Bp. of_ Bangor_'s Preface to the_ Answer _to the_
+Representation _of the Lower House of Convocation_.
+
+[101] Ward_'s Life of Dr._ Henry More, _p._ 120.
+
+[102] Ibid. _p._ 122.
+
+[103] _See the several Lives of him._
+
+[104] _Life lately printed_, 1726. p. 99.
+
+[105] Burnet_'s Hist._ p. 95.
+
+[106] Temple_'s Works_, Vol. II. p. 40.
+
+[107] _Collection of authentick Records_, Vol. II. p. 1099.
+
+[108] _Second Letter to the Bishop of_ London, _p._ 3, 4.
+
+[109] _History_, p. 260.
+
+[110] _Mat._ xxvi. 67, 68.
+
+[111] Elwood_'s History of his own Life_, &c. _p._ 318.
+
+[112] _Remarks on some late Sermons_, &c. _p._ 34.
+
+[113] _Pag._ 52.
+
+[114] _Answer to_ State of the Protestants in _Ireland_, &c. _p._ 108.
+
+[115] _Pag._ 120, 121.
+
+[116] _Preface_, p. 14.
+
+[117] _Pag._ 11, 24.
+
+[118] _Pag._ 1.
+
+[119] _Pag._ 4, 11, 12, 13, 19.
+
+[120] Appendix to Parliamentary Original, &c. _p._ 14.
+
+[121] Some Remarks on the Temper of some late Writers, &c. _p._ 33.
+
+[122] Preface to Animad. _p._ 12, 13.
+
+[123] Animad. _p._ 114.
+
+[124] Ibid. _p._ 332.
+
+[125] Ibid. _p._ 348.
+
+[126] Tritheism charged, _p._ 2, 3.
+
+[127] Ib. _p._ 108.
+
+[128] Ibid. _p._ 170.
+
+[129] Ibid. _p._ 281.
+
+[130] Judg. 18.24.
+
+[131] Ib. _p._ 285.
+
+[132] Ibid. _p._ 299.
+
+[133] _Fuller_'s Church History, Cent. 17. B. 11. Sect. 89, Parag. 10.
+
+[134] _Rushworth_, Part II. Vol. I. _p._ 471.
+
+[135] _Prap. Evang._ l. 4. p. 209-234.
+
+[136] Fontenelle, Historie des Oracles. I. Dissert. c. vii.
+
+[137] Euseb. Id. l. 4.
+
+[138] _Baltus_, Suite de la Reponse a l'His. des Oracles, _p._ 283.
+
+[139] _Ibid._
+
+[140] _Bp._ Hoadley_'s Answer to_ the Representation, _&c. Pref._ p. 12.
+
+[141] _Page_ 91.
+
+[142] _Page_ 2.
+
+[143] _Page_ 1.
+
+[144] _Page_ 4, 5.
+
+[145] _Mr._ Collier.
+
+
+
+
+Transcriber's Notes:
+
+Passages in italics are indicated by _underscore_.
+
+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 text.
+
+Long "s" has been modernized.
+
+The inclusion of two footnotes numbered 53 in intentional to reflect the
+original text.
+
+Footnote placement in this text reflects the placement in the original,
+either inside punctuation or spaced between words.
+
+The following misprints have been corrected:
+  "administred" corrected to "administered" (page i)
+  "othodoxy" corrected to "orthodoxy" (page vi)
+  "Trap's" corrected to "Trapp's" (page 12)
+  "Rididicule" corrected to "Ridicule" (page 19)
+  "ridiulons" corrected to "ridiculous" (page 63)
+  "qustion" corrected to "question" (page 73)
+
+Other than the corrections listed above, printer's inconsistencies in
+spelling, punctuation, hyphenation, and ligature usage have been retained.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of A Discourse Concerning Ridicule and
+Irony in Writing (1729), by Anthony Collins
+
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