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 prayingex tempore; setting up and hearing Lectures, and a strict Observation of the Lord’s Day, which was call’d theSabbath, were the Parts of the Character of aPuritan; 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 KingJamesand KingCharlesI. 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 onSundaysof the People, that Churches were render’dgay, 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, asEnthusiasts, and against others of them asHypocrites, 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 thePuritansin the Field of Battle suppress thatVeinandHumourofRidiculebegun against them; but theLaudeanParty still carry’d on a Paper War with innumerable Pamphlets, which all tended more or less to make the Worldlaughat andridiculethePuritans. And I am verily persuaded, that no History of any other Country in the World can produce a Parallel, wherein the Principle and Practice ofRidiculewere 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 theRidiculeis 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 beinglaugh’dat. 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 particularOccasions; butLaughteratDissentersseems fixt for ever, if they should chance to last so long.
South’s Sermons, which now amount tosix Volumes, make ReadingJestsandBanteruponDissenters, the religious Exercise of good Churchmen uponSundays, who now can serve God (as many think they do by hearing or reading Sermons) and be as merry as at the Play-house. AndHudibras, 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 ofRidiculeuponDissenterswhich runs thro’ that Work. In a word, High-Church has constantly been an Enemy to, and a Ridiculer of theSeriousnessofPuritansandDissenters, whom they have ever charg’d withHypocrisyfor theirSeriousness.
“After[89]the Civil War had broke out in 1641, and the King and Court had settled atOxford, oneBirkenhead, who had liv’d inLaud’s Family, and been made Fellow ofAll Souls CollegebyLaud’s Means, was appointed to write a Weekly Paper under the Title ofMercurius Aulicus; the first whereof was publish’d in 1642. In the Absence of the Author,Birkenhead, fromOxford, it was continued byHeylin.Birkenheadpleas’d the Generality of Readers with hisWaggeriesandBuffooneries; and the Royal Party were so taken with it, that the Author was recommended to be Reader ofMoral Philosophyby his Majesty;” who, together with the religious Electors, it is justly to be presum’d, thoughtWaggeryandBuffoonery, not only Political, butReligiousandMoral, when employ’d againstPuritansandDissenters.
IX. KingCharlesthe Second’s Restoration brought along with it gloriousHigh-ChurchTimes; which were distinguish’d as much bylaughingatDissenters, as by persecuting them; which pass for a Pattern how Dissenters are to be treated; and which will never be given up, byHigh-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 thePresbyterians, whose Discipline he had felt for his Lewdness and Irreligion inScotland, had in hisExilean Education, and liv’d, among some of the greatestDrolesandWitsthat 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 ofBuckinghamwas 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 theRehearsal; which, as a most noble Author says, is[91]a justly admir’d Piece of comick Wit, andhas 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 ofBuckingham[92]broughtHobbesto him to be hisTutor, who was aPhilosophical Drole, and had a great deal ofWitof thedrollingkind.Sheldon, who was afterwards Archbishop ofCanterbury, and attended the King constantly in his Exile as hisChaplain, was an eminentDrole, as appears from BishopBurnet, who says[93],thathe had a great Pleasantness of Conversation, perhaps too great.
AndHide, afterwards Earl ofClarendon, who attended the King in his Exile, seems also to have been a great Drole, by BishopBurnet’s representing him, as one, thathad too much Levity in his Wit, and that did not observe the Decorum of his Post[94]. In aSpeechto the Lords and Commons,Hideattack’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.Baxterand other Presbyterian Ministers waiting on him in relation to theSavoy Conference, he said to Mr.Baxteron the first Salute[96], that if “he were but as fat as Dr.Manton, we should all do well.”
No wonder therefore, thatRidicule, andRaillery, andSatire, should prevail at Court after theRestoration; and that KingCharlesthe Second, who was a Wit himself, and early taught to laugh at hisFather’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 ofEngland, 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 atBreda; 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 oftheir Phrases, which he had learned when he was inScotland, where he was forced to be present at religious Exercises of six or seven Hours a-day; and had practis’d among theHuguenotMinisters inFrance[98], who reported him to have asanctify’d Heart, and tospeak the very Language ofCanaan. ThisRidiculehecover’dwithSeriousness; having at that time Occasion for those Ministers, who were then his great Instruments in reconciling the Nation to hisRestoration. When he had no farther Occasion for them, he was open in hisRidicule, 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 ofThe 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 anIronyabout the most sacred Persons and Things? Must not the fineIronyit 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 eradicatethe 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 betterFormofConveyance, orVehiclefor 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 ofIrony? 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 ingeniousLetterofJohn HalesofEtonjoin’d to some Editions of it; who by thisLetter, as well as by several others of his Pieces, shews himself to have been anotherSocrates, one of the greatest Masters oftrue Witandjust Irony, as well as Learning, which the World ever produc’d; and shews he could have writ such a Book as theDifficulties, &c. But if you are capable of coming into any Measures for punishing the Author of theDifficulties, &c. for hisIrony, I conceive, that you may possibly hesitate a little in relation to the same Author, about hisNew Defence of the Bishop ofBangor’s Sermon of the Kingdom of Christ, consider’d as it is the Performance of a Man of Letters; which, tho far belowThe Difficulties, &c. is an ingeniousIronyon thatSermon. You may probably, like many others of the Clergy, approve of Satire so well employ’d, as against that Bishop, who has succeeded BishopBurnetin being the Subject ofClergy-Ridicule, as well as in his Bishoprick. The Bishop himself was very justly patient, under all Attacks by the ReverendTrapp,Earbery,Snape,Law, andLuke Milbourne, in hisTom of Bedlam’s Answerto his BrotherBen Hoadley,St.Peter’sPoorParson 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 thePuritansandLibellersin the Reigns of QueenElizabeth, KingJamesand KingCharlesthe First; or asLesley,Hickes,Hill,Atterbury,Binks, and other High-Church Clergy, did the late BishopBurnet. Instead of that he took the true and proper Method, by publishing anAnswerto the saidIrony, compos’d in the sameironical Strain, intitled,The Dean ofWorcesterstill the same: Or his new Defence of the Bishop ofBangor’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 theironical 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 theImmoralityorIndecencyof treating the Bishop in the way of Ridicule and with the utmost Contempt; but, on the contrary, to be spurr’d on by theExcellencyandProprietythereof to use it against him, even in the[100]Pulpit, as Part of the religious Exercise on theLord’s-day.
XI. There is an universal Love and Practice ofDrolleryandRidiculein all, even the mostseriousMen, in the mostserious Places, and on the mostserious 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 Piecesof Wit attributed to him in hisLifeby 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 hislast 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 SirThomas More, Lord Chancellor ofEnglandinHenrythe Eighth’s time, was an inexhaustible Source ofDrollery[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 thedrollingWay 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 hismerryHumour, and hinder him from crackingJestson theScaffold; tho he was a Man of greatPietyandDevotion, 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 ChancellorClarendon, that “he had too muchLevityin hisWit[105], and that he did not always observe theDecorumof his Post.” Which implies not only his Approbation ofDrolleryin the mostgraveBusiness, but also his great Knowledge of Mankind, by applying to them in thatWay; which he knew from Experience, and especially from the commondrolling[106]Conversation in the Court of KingCharlesthe Second, would recommend him to the World much more than animpartial Administration of Justice; which is less felt, less understood,and less taken notice of and applauded, than aPieceofWit; 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 greatGravity, and proposes a Scheme ofGravityfor the Direction of those who write about Religion: He is for allowingUnbelievers, 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 theBible; against any Parts of theJewishand 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 donegravely, andseriously, without allLevity,Banter, andRidicule.” And yet this Man, having a handle given him by BishopRobinson’s Letter to theClergyof hisDiocessaboutNew 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 aTom BrownorSwift, a mostbanteringanddrollingLetter, under the sneering Title of aLetter of Thanks to the Right Reverend the Lord Bishop ofLondon,for his late Letter, &c. whom, one would think, he should not only have spar’d, but have applauded for hisprofound Gravity, and carrying on the Cause of Religion in a very remarkable manner, with the mostconsummate Solemnity. But so strong was the Temptation, so naturally productive of Mirth was the Bishop’sCause, 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, andafterwards to defend his droleManner[108]of attacking the Bishop, against those who tookoffenceat thatMannerof writing.
XII. The burning Papists themselves are not alwaysseriouswith us: They treat the Church and its Defenders asfanatical, andlaughat them assuch, just as the Church does the Dissenters, and have their elaborate Works ofDrolleryagainst their Adversaries. They publish’d a Poem against theReformation, just before the Death of QueenAnne, which was design’d to have given such a Stroke to the Protestant Religion among us, under the new projected Revolution, asHudibrasdid toPuritanismafter theRestoration. The Popish Editor, in the Preface to the said Poem, says, “that the Motive of the Author (Thomas Ward) for publishing theHistory 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 SirRoger L’Estrange’s Preface to the second Part of hisCitandBumkin, 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 atLondon, 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 happya 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?Buchananin hisFranciscani, andOldhamin hisSatireson 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 ofEngland, sprinkled and season’d their Sermons with a great manydrollingSayings againstLibertinismandVice, 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 toChriston 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 uponSinners, 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 ofEngland, or in any other of thelaughingorridiculingSects, thanAndrew Marvelof the gravePuritanSect, in many Works of his both in Prose and Verse, but especially in hisRehearsal Transprosed; which tho writ againstParker, 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 theKingdown to the Tradesman with great pleasure, on account of that Burlesque Strain and lively Drollery that ran thro’ it,”as BishopBurnettells us[109]. Nor were the gravestPuritansand Dissenters among us less taken and pleas’d with his Writings for theirDrollery, than ourdrole King; tho there are some Passages in them, which should give just Offence to chaste Ears.
I find also, that thePuritansandDissentershave always born with, and allow’d of, a great Mixture ofDrolleryin 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.Southfor 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 ofIrreligious; but have had the largest Auditories of contributing Hearers, as well as of Churchmen, who came to smile, and have been esteem’d verypiousMen.
In fine, thePuritansandDissentershave, 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 ofBunyan’sPilgrim’s Progress, upon the reprinting it lately by Subscription, it was affirm’d, and that, in my Opinion, truly, “that it had infinitely out-doneThe Tale of a Tub; which perhaps had not made one Convert to Infidelity, whereas thePilgrim’s Progresshad converted many Sinners toChrist.”
XIV. TheQuakersare certainly the mostseriousand 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 toridiculethem 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 thelaughing, but of thecruelkind: Wherein they copy’d after theJewsof old, who while they prosecutedChristto Death, and carried on their High-Church Tragedy against him, acted against him thecomick 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’dhim with diversTaunts, in which theChief Priests,Scribes,Elders, and even theThieves, which were crucified with him, concurr’d. But yet for all this, these solemn Quakers themselves are not altogether averse toIronyandRidicule, 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 theCenturies of Scandalous Ministers, and the Books of theCobler ofGlocester. They have also their Satirist and Banterer,Samuel Fisher; whose Works, tho all wrote in thedrollingStyle and Manner, they pride themselves in, and have collected into one great Volume inFolio; 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 aJack-Pudding,Merry Andrew, orBuffoon, with all the seeming Right, Authority, and Privilege, of the Member of some Establish’d Church of abusing all the World but themselves. TheQuakershave also encourag’d and publish’d a most arch Book of the famousHenry 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 theQuakershave been in any Book against them. And when they were attack’d by oneSamuel Young, a whimsical Presbyterian-Buffoon-Divine, who call’d himselfTrepidantium Malleus, and set up for an Imitator of Mr.Alsop, in several Pamphlets full of Stories, Repartees, and Ironies; in whichYoung, 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’dReprimandhammer’d about his own Numbscul. Being aJoco-satiricalReturn to a late Tale of a Tub, emitted by a reverendNon-con, at present residing not far fromBedlam,” said to be written byWilliam 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 ofWilliam 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 greatDrolesupon all the true Friends of theEstablishment.And I presume, the Body of our High Churchmen would not willingly deprive them of the Benefit of theirDrollery.
The celebrated Mr.Collier[112]thus attacks BishopBurnet, for hisEssayon the Memory of QueenMary. “This Doctor, you know, is a Man of mightyLatitude, and can say any thing to serve a Turn; whoseReverenceresolves Cases of Conscience backwards and forwards, disputesproandcon, 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 thebestandworstthings 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’sSermonon the Death of thatQueen, he says[113], “that to go thro’ it is too great a Discipline for any Man, whose Palate hath ever relish’d any thing abovethree half-penny Poetry.” He adds, “Why, Sir, many Years ago I have heard some of it sung about the Streets in wretched and nauseousDoggrel. What think you of this?Page6.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’sPhillisandChloris, andGillian a Croydon.
“Sh’ hathevery Feature, every Grace,“So charmingevery part,&c.
“Tis no wonder he tells us, (p.8.) ofstrewing her with the Flowers of withered and decay’d Poetry; for theSongout of which he hath transcrib’d hisSermon, is of verygreat age, and hath been sung at many aWhitsun-Ale, and many aWedding(tho I believe never at a Funeral before) and therefore in all this time may well bedecay’d and wither’d: In the mean time, if you were to draw the Picture of agreat Princess, I fansy you would not make choice ofMopsato sit to it. Alas! Sir, there wasCassandraandCleopatra, and many a famedRomancemore, which might have furnish’d him with handsome Characters, and yet he must needs bepreaching and instructinghis People out ofHey down derry, and thefair Maid ofKent. If he had intitled it,TheWhite-ChapelBallad, and got some body to set it to the Tune ofAmaryllis, compos’d byW. P. Songster, the Character of theAuthor, theTitle, and theMatter, would have very well agreed, and perhaps it might have passed at the Corners of the Streets; but to call it aSermon, and byW. P.Doctor inDivinity, ’tis one of thelewdestthings in the World.——”
Mr.Lesleyattacks the Clergy, who pray’d “that God would give KingJamesVictory 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 notAtheisma smaller Sin than this, since it is better to have no God, than so to set up oneto 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 BishopBurnet’sSpeech upon the Bill against Occasional Conformity, by a Pamphlet intitled,The Bishop ofSalisbury’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 perpetualIronyon 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 ofSalisburyhas 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 severalAnswers 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 hisSpeechon theTrialofSacheverel, and for aSermon, under this Title, “The Good Old Cause,orLying in Truth; being a Second Defence of the Lord Bishop ofSarumfrom a Second Speech, and also the Dissection of a Sermon it is said his Lordship preach’d in the Cathedral Church ofSalisbury.” 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 ofGrub. 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: HisBest Answer ever was made, and to which no Answer will ever be made, is by his own Confession aFarce; when he says in hisPreface, “If you ask why I treat this Subject by way offarce, and shew a little Merriment sometimes? it was because the Foundation you stand upon is not onlyfalsebutridiculous, and ought to be treated with theutmost Contempt.”
Again, in his “Finishing Stroke, in defence ofhisRehearsals, 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 aHottentot;” which in theContentshe callsA Farce, and to which he joins both aPrologueandEpilogue, and divers other Particulars, all taken from thePlay-house.
The Reverend Mr.Matthias Earberysets 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 thePastry-CooksandGrocers, an industrious Chronologist might make an Observation to prove him too young to write it.”
TheParallelis inPag.126, which being very grossRaillery, I only refer you to it.
This Mr.Earberyalso wrote aLetter to BishopFleetwood, under the Title of “A Letter to the Bishop ofEly, upon the Occasion of hissuppos’dlateCharge, said to be deliver’d atCambridge August7, 1716,&c.” in which he pursues the Ironical Scheme laid down in the said Title, and endeavours tovindicatehisLordship from the Aspersion of writing such a mean Pamphlet, as theCharge.
Nor do theseJacobitesconfine their Drollery to their Adversaries without, but exercise it on one another, as may be seen in their late Dispute about KingEdward the Sixth’s Liturgy. And Mr.Lesleyhimself, 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 BishopBurnet, 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-ChurchinOxfordis no less famous for theDrolling, than for theOrthodoxSpirit 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.Atterburyand Dr.South; who being as famous forDrolleryas for Zeal for Religion, and applauded for theirWitno less than for theirOrthodoxy; 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 excellentdrolling Writings, which promote Religion as well as Mirth?
With what incomparable Mockery, Ridicule and Sarcasm does Dr.Atterburytreat all the Low-Church Clergy that come in his way, together with theWhigMinistry and Administration in his severalConvocational Tracts? Dr.Wake, our present Archbishop ofCanterbury, is represented by him as writing socontumeliously[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]Interestin theDebate, and as giving us a most[118]shallow empty Performancein relation to our Ecclesiastical Constitution, which he[119]has done his best to undermine, as knowing himself to be in the wrong; and asdeservingany Name or Censure, none beingtoo bad to be bestow’don him; and in fine, asthe least of the little officious Pens by which he expects to be traduc’d.
Dr.Bentleyis represented aswrote 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 meanDr.Bentley’s Dissertations on the Epistles ofPhalaris,and the Fables ofÆsop,examin’d.
BishopBurnetis a standing Subject of Ridicule with him; as are BishopNicholson, BishopKennet, BishopGibson, BishopTrimnel[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 themridiculous, 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 aSpecimen, take this Banter or Burlesque upon BishopKennet’s Dedication of hisEcclesiastical Synods and Parliamentary Convocations, &c. to the Archbishop ofCanterbury; which Banter runs thus[121].