He told me in General, the Country was Good, Wholsome, Fruitful, rarely Scituate for Trade, extraordinarily Accommodated with Harbours, Rivers and Bays for Shipping; full of Inhabitants; for it had been Peopled from all Parts, and had in it some of the Blood of all the Nations in theMoon.
He told me, as the Inhabitants were the most Numerous, so they were the strangest People that liv'd; both their Natures, Tempers, Qualities, Actions, and way of Living, was made up of innumerable Contradictions: That they were theWisestFools, and theFoolishestWise Men in the World; theWeakestStrongest,RichestPoorest, mostGenerousCovetous,BoldCowardly,FalseFaithful,SoberDissolute,SurlyCivil,SlothfulDiligent,PeaceableQuarrelling,LoyalSeditious Nation that ever was known.
Besides my Observations which I made my self, and which could only furnish me with what was present, and which I shall take time to inform my Reader with as much Care and Conciseness as possible; I was beholding to this OldLunarian, for every thing that was Historical or Particular.
And First, He inform'd me, That in this new Country they had very seldom any Clouds at all, and consequently no extraordinary Storms, but a constant Serenity, moderate Breezes cooled the Air, and constant Evening Exhalations kept the Earth moist and fruitful; and as the Winds they had were various and strong enough to assist their Navigation, so they were without the Terrors, Dangers, Ship-wrecks and Destructions, which he knew we were troubled with in this ourLunarWorld, as he call'd it.
The first just Observation I made of this was, That I suppos'd from hence the wonderful Clearness of the Air, and the Advantage of so vast Optick Capacities they enjoy'd, was obtained:Alas! says the Old Fellow,You see nothing to what some of ourGreat Eyessee in some Parts of this World, nor do you see any thing compar'd to what you may see by the help of some new Invented Glasses, of which I may in time let you see the Experiment;and perhaps you may find this to be the reason why we do not so abound in Books as in yourLunar World;and that except it be some extraordinaryTranslationsout of your Country, you will find but little in our Libraries, worth giving you a great deal of Trouble.
We immediately quitted the Philosophical Discourse of Winds, and I began to be mighty Inquisitive after these Glasses and Translations, and
1st, I understood here was a strange sort of Glass that did not so much bring to the Eye, as by I know not what wonderful Operation carried out the Eye to the Object, and quite varies from all our Doctrine of Opticks, by forming several strangePhænomenain Sight, which we are utterly unacquainted with; nor couldVision,Rarification, or any of our School-mens fine Terms, stand me in any stead in this case; but here was such Additions ofpiercing Organs, Particles ofTransparence,Emission,Transmission,Mediums, Contraction ofRays, and a Thousand Applications of things prepar'd for the wondrous Operation, that you may be sure are requisite for the bringing to pass something yet unheard of on this side theMoon.
First we were inform'd, by the help of these Glasses, strange things, which pass in our World for Non-Entities, is to be seen, and very perceptible; for Example:
State Polity, in all its Meanders, Shifts, Turns, Tricks, and Contraries, are so exactly Delineated and Describ'd, That they are in hopes in time to draw a pair of Globes out, to bring all those things to a certainty.
Not but that it made some Puzzle, even among these Clear-sighted Nations, to determine whatFigurethe Plans and Drafts of this undiscover'dWorld of Mysteriesought to be describ'd in: Some were of Opinion, it ought, to be anIrregular Centagon, a Figure with an HundredConesor Angles: Since theUnaccountablesof this State-Science, are hid in a Million ofundiscover'd Corners; as the Craft, Subtilty and Hypocrisy of Knaves and Courtiers have concealed them, never to be found out, but by this wonderfulD---l-scope, which seem'd to threaten a perfect Discovery of all thoseNudities, which have lain hid in the Embrio, and false Conceptions ofAbortive Policy, ever since the Foundation of the World.
Some were of Opinion, this Plan ought to be Circular, and in a Globular Form, since it was on all sides alike, full ofdark Spots, untrod Mazes,waking Mischiefs, and sleeping Mysteries; and being delineated like the Globes display'd, would discover all the Lines of Wickedness to the Eye at one view: Besides, they fancied some sort of Analogy in the Rotundity of the Figure, with the continued Circular Motion of all Court-Policies, in the stated Round of Universal Knavery.
Others would have had itHyrogliphicalas by aHand in Hand, the Form representing the Affinity betweenState Policyhere, andState Policyin the Infernal Regions, with some unkind Similies between the Oeconomy of Satan's Kingdom, and those of most of the Temporal Powers on Earth; but this was thought too unkind. At last it was determin'd, That neither of these Schemes were capable of the vast Description; and that, therefore, the Drafts must be made single, tho' not dividing the Governments, yet dividing the Arts of Governing into proper distinct Schemes,viz.
1. A particular Plan ofPublick Faith; and here we had the Experiment immediately made: The Representation is quallified for the Meridian of anyCountry, as well inour Worldastheirs; and turning it to'ardsour own World, there I saw plainly anExchequer shut up, and 20000 Mourning Families selling theirCoaches,Horses,Whores,Equipages,&c.for Bread, the Government standing by laughing, and looking on: Hard by I saw theChamberof a great City shut up, and Forty ThousandOrphansturn'd adrift in the World; some had noCloaths, some noShoes, some noMoney; and still the City Magistrates calling upon other Orphans, topay their money in. These things put me in mind of the ProphetEzekiel, and methoughts I heard the same Voice that spoke to him, calling me, and telling me,Come hither, and I'll show thee greater Abominations than these:So looking still on that vast Map, by the help of these Magnifying Glasses, I sawhuge Fleets hir'd for Transport-Service, but never paid; vast TaxesAnticipated, that were never Collected; others Collected andAppropriated, but Misapplied: Millions ofTalleysstruck to be Discounted, and the Poor paying 40per Cent, to receive their Money. I saw huge Quantities of Moneydrawn in, and little or noneissued out; vast Prizes takenfrom the Enemy, and then taken away again at home byFriends; Shipssav'don the Sea, and sunk in thePrize Offices; Merchantsescapingfrom Enemies at Sea, and bePiratedbySham Embargoes,Counterfeit Claims,Confiscations,&ca-shoar: There we sawTurkey-Fleetstaken into Convoys, and Guarded to the very Mouth of the Enemy, and thenabandon'd for their better Security: Here we saw Mons.Pouchartrainshutting up the Town-house ofParis, and plundring the Bank ofLyons.
2. Here we law the State of the War among Nations; Here was theFrenchgiving Sham-thanks for Victories they never got, and some body else adressing and congratulatingthe sublime Glory of running away:Here wasTe Deumfor Sham-Victories by Land; and there was Thanksgiving forDitto by Sea:Here we might see two Armies fight, both run away, andboth come and thank GOD for nothing:Here we saw a Plan of a late War like that inIreland; there was all the Officerscursing aDutchGeneral, because the damn'd Rogue would fight, andspoil a good War, that with decent Management andgood Husbandry, might have beeneek't outthis Twenty Years; there was whole Armies hunting twoCowsto oneIrishman, and driving of black Cattle declar'd theNoble End of the the War:Here we saw a Country full of Stone Walls and strong Towns, where every Campaign, the Trade of War was carried on by the Soldiers, with the same Intriguing as it was carried on in the Council Chambers; there was Millions of Contributions raised, and vast Sums Collected, but noTaxes lessen'd; wholePlate Fleetssurpriz'd, but noTreasure found; vaft Sumslostby Enemies, and yet neverfoundby Friends, Ships loaded with Volatile Silver, that came awayfull, and gat homeempty; whole Voyages made to beatNo body, and plunderEvery body; two Millions robb'd from the honest Merchants, and not a Groat sav'd for the honest Subjects: There we saw Captains Lifting Men with the Governments Money, and letting them go again for their own; Ships fitted out at the Rates of Two Millions a Year, to fight but once in Three Years, and thenrun awayfor want of Powder and Shot.
There we sawPartition Treatiesdamned, and the whole given away,ConfederationswithoutAllies,AllieswithoutQuota's,PrinceswithoutArmies,ArmieswithoutMen, andMenwithoutMoney,CrownswithoutKings,KingswithoutSubjects, moreKingsthanCountries, and moreCountriesthan were worth fighting for.
Here we could see the King ofFranceupbraiding his Neighbours with dishonourably assisting his Rebels,though the Mischief was, they did it not neither; and in the same Breath, assisting theHungarianRebels against the Emperor;M.LdN.refusing so dishonourable an Action, as to aid the RebelliousCamisars, but Leaguing with the Admirantde Castile, to Invade the Dominions of his Master to whom he swore Allegiance: Here we saw Protestants fight against Protestants,to help Papists, Papists against Papiststo help Protestants, Protestants call in Turks, to keep Faith against Christiansthat break it:Here we could seeSwedesfighting for Revenge, and call it Religion;Cardinalsdeposing their Catholick Prince, to introduce the Tyrannyof a Lutheranand call it Liberty;ArmiesElecting Kings, and call it Free Choice;FrenchconqueringSavoy, to secure the Liberty ofItaly.
3. The Map of State Policy contains abundance of Civil Transactions, no where to be discover'd but in thiswonderful Country, and by this prodigious Invention: As first, it shows an Eminent Prelate running in every body's Debt to relieve the Poor, and bring toGodRobbery forBurnt-Offering:It opens a Door to the Fate of Nations; and there we might see theDuke of S--ybought three times, and his subjects sold every time;Portugalbought twice, and neither time worththe Earnest;Spainbought once, but loth to go with theBidder;Venicewilling to be Bought, if there had been any Buyers;BavariaBought, and run away with theMoney; the EmperorBoughtandSold, but Bilkt the Chapman; theFrenchbuying Kingdoms he can'tkeep, theDutchkeep Kingdoms they neverBought; and theEnglishpaying their Money withoutPurchase.
In Matters of Civil Concerns, here was to be seenReligionwith no out-side, and muchOut-sidewith no Religion, much Strife aboutPeace, and no Peace in theDesign:Here was Plunder withoutViolence, Violence withoutPersecution, Conscience withoutGood Works, and Good Works withoutCharity; Parties cutting one anothers Throatsfor God's Sake, pulling down Churchesde propoganda fide, and making Divisions by way ofAssociation.
Here we havePeace and Unionbrought to passThe Shortest Way, Extirpation and Destruction prov'd to be the Road toPlentyandPleasure:Here all the Wise Nations, a Learned Author would have Quoted,if he could have found them, are to be seen, who carry on Exclusive Laws to the general Safety and Satisfaction of their Subjects.
Occasional Billsmay have here a particular Historical, Categorical Description: But of them by themselves.
Here you might have the Rise, Original, Lawfulness, Usefulness, and Necessity ofPassive Obedience, as fairly represented as a System of Divinity, and as clearly demonstratedas by a Geographical Description; and which exceeds our mean Understanding here, 'tis by the wonderful Assistance of these Glasses, plainly discerned to be Coherentwith Resistance,taking Arms,calling in Foreign Powers,and the like.--- Here you have a plain Discovery ofC.ofE.Politicks, and a Map of Loyalty: Here 'tis as plainly demonstrated as the Nose in a Man's Face,provided he has one, that a Man mayAbdicate, drive away, andDethronehis Prince, and yet be absolutely and intirely free from, and innocent of the leastFracture, Breach, Incroachment, or Intrenchment, upon the Doctrine ofNon-Resistance:Canshootat his Prince without any Design tokill him,fightagainst him without raisingRebellion, and take up Arms, without leaving War against his Prince.
Here they can persecute Dissenters, without desiring they should Conform, conform to the Church they would overthrow;Prayfor the Prince theydare not Name, andNamethe Prince theydo not pray for.
By the help of these Glasses strange Insights are made, into the vast mysterious dark World ofState Policy; but that which is yet more strange, and requires vast Volumes to descend to the Particulars of, and huge Diagrams, Spheres, Charts, and a Thousand nice things to display is, That in this vast Intelligent Discovery it is not only made plain, that those things are so, but all the vast Contradictions are made Rational, reconciled to Practice, and brought down to Demonstration.
German Clock-Work, the perpetual Motions, the Prim Mobilies of Our short-sighted World, are Trifles to these Nicer Disquisitions.
Here it would be plain and rational, why a Parliament-Man will spend 5000l.to be Chosen, that cannot get a Groat Honestly bysetting there: It would be easily made out to be rational, why he thatrails mostat a Court is soonest receiv'dinto it:Here it would be very plain, how great Estates are got inlittle Places, and Double innone at all. 'Tis easy to be prov'd honest and faithful to Victual theFrenchFleet out ofEnglishStores, and let our own Navy want them; a long Sight, or a large Lunar Perspective, will make all these things not only plain in Fact, but Rational and Justifiable to all the World.
'Tis a strange thing to any body without doubt, that has not been in thatclear-sighted Region, to comprehend, That those we callHigh-flyersinEnglandare the only Friendsto the Dissenters, and have been the most Diligent and Faithful in their Interest, of any People in the Nation; and yet so it is,Gentlemen, and they ought to have the Thanks of thewhole Bodyfor it.
In this advanc'd Station, we see it plainly by Reflexion, That the Dissenters, like a parcel of Knaves, have retained all theHigh-Church-menin their Pay; they are certainly all in theirPension-Roll:Indeed, I could not see the Money paid them there, it was too remote; but I could plainly see the thing; all the deep Lines of the Project are laid as true, they are soTacktandConsolidatedtogether, that if any one will give themselves leave to consider, they will be most effectually convinced, That theHigh-Churchand theDissentershere, are all in a Caball, a meer Knot, a piece of Clock-work; the Dissenters are the Dial-Plate, and the High-Church the Movement, theWheel within the Wheels, the Spring and the Screw to bring all things to Motion, and make theHandon theDial-platepoint which way theDissentersplease.
For what else have beenall the Shamsthey have put upon theGovernments, Kings, States, and People they have been concern'd with? What Schemes have they laid on purposeto be broken?What vast Contrivances, on purpose to be ridicul'd and expos'd?The Men are not Fools, they had never V---d toConsolidateaB---but that they were willing to save the Dissenters, and put it into a posture, in which theywere sure it would miscarry. I defy all the Wise Men of theMoonto show another good reason for it.
Methinks I begin to pity my Brethren, the moderate Men of the Church, that they cannot see into thisNew Plot, and to wish they would but get up into ourConsolidator, and take a Journey to theMoon, and there, by the help of these Glasses, they would see theAllegorical,Symbollical,Hetrodoxicallityof all this Matter; it would make immediate Converts of them; they would see plainly, that toTackandConsolidate, to makeExclusive Laws, topersecutefor Conscience,disturb, anddistressParties; these are allPhanatick Plots, meer Combinations against the Church, to bring her into Contempt, and to fix and establish the Dissenters to the end of the Chapter: But of this I shall findoccasionto speakOccasionally, when anOccasionpresents it self, to examine a certainOccasional Bill, transacting in these Lunar Regions, some time before I had the Happiness to arrive there.
In examining the Multitude and Variety of thesemost admirable Glassesfor the assisting theOpticks, or indeed the Formation of a new perceptive Faculty; it was you may be sure most surprizing to find there, that Art had exceeded Nature; and the Power of Vision was assisted to that prodigious Degree, as even to distinguishNon-Entity it self; and in these strange Engines of Light it could not but be very pleasing, to distinguish plainly betwixtBeingandMatter, and to come to a Determination, in the so long Canvast Dispute of Substance,vel Materialis, vel Spiritualis; and I can solidly affirm, That in all our Contention betweenEntityandNon-Entity, there is solittle worth meddling with, that had we had these Glasses some Ages ago, we should have left troubling our heads with it.
I take upon me, therefore, to assure my Reader, That whoever pleases to take a Journey, or Voyage, or Flight up to theseLunar Regions, as soon as ever he comes ashoar there, will presently be convinc'd, of the Reasonableness ofImmaterial Substance, and theImmortality, as well asImmaterialityof the Soul: He will no sooner look into these Explicating Glasses, but he will be-able to know the separate meaning ofBody,Soul,Spirit,Life,Motion,Death, and a Thousand things thatWise-menpuzzle themselves about here, because they are notFools enough to understand.
Here too I find Glasses for theSecond Sight, as our Old Women call it. ThisSecond Sighthas been often pretended to inOur Regions, and some Famous Old Wives have told us, they can seeDeath, theSoul,Futurity, and the Neighbourhood of them, in the Countenance: By thiswonderful Art, these good People unfold strange Mysteries,asunder someIrrecoverableDisease, to foretellDeath; underHypocondriackMelancholy, to presageTrouble of Mind; in pining Youth, to predictContagious Love; and an Hundred other Infallibilities,which never fail to be true as soon as ever they come to pass, and are all grounded upon the same Infallibility, by which a Shepherd may always know when any one of his Sheepis Rotten, viz.when he shakes himself to pieces.
But all this Guess and Uncertainty is a Trifle, to the vast Discoveries of theseExplicatory Optick-Glasses; for here are seen the Nature and Consequences of Secret Mysteries: Here are read strange Mysteries relating toPredestination,Eternal Decrees, and the like: Here 'tis plainly prov'd, ThatPredestinationis, in spight of all Enthusiastick Pretences, so intirely committed into Man's Power, that whoever pleases tohang himself to Day, won't Live till to Morrow: no, thoughForty Predestination Prophetswere to tell him,His time was not yet come. There abstruse Points are commonly and solemnly Discuss'd here; and these People are suchHereticks, that they sayGod's Decreesare all subservient to the means of hisProvidence; That what we call Providence is a subjecting all things to the greatChain of Causes and Consequences, by which that one Grand Decree, That all Effects shall Obey, without reserve to their proper moving Causes, supercedes allsubsequent Doctrines, or pretended Decrees, or Predestination in the World: That by this Rule, he thatwill kill himself,GOD, Nature, Providence, or Decree, will not be concern'dto hinder him, buthe shall Die; any Decrees, Predestination, or Fore-Knowledge of Infinite Power,to the contrary in any wise, notwithstandingthat it is in a Man's Power to throw himself into the Water,and be Drown'd; and to kill another Man,and he shall Die, and to say, God appointed it, is to make him the Author of Murther, and to injure the Murtherer in putting him to Death for what he could not help doing.
All these things arereceived Truthshere, and no doubt would be so every where else, if the Eyes of Reason were opened to the Testimony of Nature, or if they had the helps of these mostIncomparable Glasses.
Some pretended, by the help of theseSecond-sight Glasses, to see the common Periods of Life; and Others said, they could see a great way beyondthe leap in the Dark:I confess, all I could see of the first was, that holding up the Glass against the Sea, I plainly saw, as it were on the edge of the Horizon, these Words,
The Verge of Life and Death is here.'Tis best to know where 'tis, but not how far.
As to seeingbeyond Death, all the Glasses I lookt into for that purpose,made but little of it; and these were the onlyTubesthat I found Defective; for here I could discern nothing but Clouds, Mists, and thick dark hazy Weather; but revolving in my Mind, that I had read acertain Bookin our own Country, called,Nature; it presently occurr'd, That the Conclusion of it, to all such as gave themselves the trouble of making out those foolish things call'd Inferences, was alwaysLook up; upon which, turning one of their GlassesUp, and erecting the Point of it towards theZenith, I saw these Words in the Air,REVELATION, in large Capital Letters.
I had like to have rais'd the Mob upon me for lookinguprightwith this Glass; for this, they said, was prying into the Mysteries of the GreatEyeof the World; That we ought to enquire no farther than he has inform'd us, andto believewhat he had left usmore Obscure:Upon this, I laid down the Glasses, and concluded, that we hadMosesand theProphets, and should be never the likelier to be taught byOne come from theMoon.
In short, I found, indeed, they had a great deal more Knowledge of things than we in this World; and thatNature,Science, andReason, had obtained great Improvements in theLunar World; but as toReligion, it was the same equally resign'd to and concluded inFaithandRedemption; so I shall give the World no great Information of these things.
I come next to some other strange Acquirements obtained by the helps of these Glasses; and particularly for the discerning theImperceptiblesof Nature; such as, theSoul,Thought,Honesty,Religion,Virginity, and an Hundred other nice things, too small for humane Discerning.
The Discoveries made by these Glasses, as to theSoul, are of a very diverting Variety; someHieroglyphical, andEmblematical, and some Demonstrative.
TheHieroglyphicalDiscoveries of the Soul make it appear in theImage of its Maker; and the Analogy is remarkable, even in the verySimily; for as they represent the Original of Nature asOne Great Eye, illuminating as well as discerning all things; so theSoul, in itsAllegorical, orHieroglyphicalResemblance, appears as aGreat Eye, embracing the Man, enveloping, operating, and informing every Part;from whencethose sort of People who we falsly callPoliticians, acting so much to put outthis Great Eye, by acting against their common Understandings, are very aptly represented bya great Eye, with Six or Seven pair of Spectacles on; not but that the Eye of their Souls may be clear enough of it self, as to the common Understanding; but that they happen to have occasion to look sometimesso many ways at once, and to judge, conclude, and understandso many contrary waysupon one and the same thing; that they are fain to put double Glasses upon their Understanding, as we look at theSolar Ecclipses, to represent 'em indifferent Lights, leasttheir Judgmentsshould notbe wheadledinto a Compliance with theHellish Resolutions of their Wills; and this is what I call the Emblematick Representation of the Soul.
As for the Demonstrations of theSoul's Existence, 'tis a plain case, by theseExplicative Glasses, thatit is, some have pretended to give us the Parts; and we have heard of Chyrurgeons, that could read an Anatomical Lecture on the Parts Of the Soul; and these pretend it to be a Creature in form, whetherCamelionorSalamandar, Authors have not determin'd; nor is it compleatly discover'dwhenit comes into the Body, orhowit goes out, orwhereits Locality or Habitation is, while 'tis a Resident.
But they very aptly show it, like a Prince, in his Seat, in the middle ofhis Palace the Brain, issuing out his incessant Orders to innumerable Troops ofNerves,Sinews,Muscles,Tendons,Veins,Arteries,Fibres,Capilaris, anduseful Officers, call'dOrganici, who faithfully execute all the Parts ofSensation,Locomotion,Concoction, &c. and in the Hundred Thousandth part ofa Moment, return with particular Messages forInformation, and demand NewInstructions. If any part ofhis Kingdom, the Body, suffers a Depredation, or an Invasion of the Enemy, the Expresses fly to the Seat of the Soul,the Brain, and immediately are order'd backto smart, that the Body may of course send more Messengersto complain; immediately other Expresses are dispatcht to the Tongue, with Ordersto cry out, that the Neighbours may come in and help, or Friends send for the Chyrurgeon: Uponthe Application, and a Cure,all is quiet, and the same Expresses are dispatcht to the Tongueto be hush, and say no more of it till farther Orders: All this is as plain to be seen in these Engines,as the MoonofOur Worldfrom the World in theMoon.
As the Being, Nature, and Scituation ofhumane Soulis thusSphericallyandMathematicallydiscover'd, I could not find any Second Thoughts about it in all their Books, whether of their own Composition or by Translation; for it was a General received Notion, That there could not be a greater Absurdity in humane Knowledge, than to imploy the Thoughts in Questioning, what is as plainly known by its Consequences, as if seen withthe Eye; and that to doubt the Being or Extent of the Soul's Operation, is toimploy her against her self; and therefore, when I began to argue with my Old Philosopher, against the Materiality and Immortality of this Mystery we callSoul,he laught at me, and told me, he found we had none of their Glasses in our World; and bid me send all ourScepticks,Soul-Sleepers, ourCowards,Bakers,KingsandBakewells, up to him into theMoon, if they wanted Demonstrations; where, by the help of their Engines, they would make it plain to them, that theGreat Eyebeing one vast Intellect,InfiniteandEternal, allInferior Lifeis a Degree ofhimself, and as exactly represents him as one littleFlamethe wholeMass of Fire; That it is therefore uncapable of Dissolution, being like its Original in Duration, as well as in its Powers and Faculties, but that it goes and returns byEmission,Regression, as theGreat Eyegoverns and determines; and this was plainly made out, by the Figure I had seen it in,viz.anEye, the exact Image of its Maker: 'Tis true,it was darkenedby Ignorance, Folly and Crime, and therefore oblig'dto wear Spectacles; but tho' these were Defects or Interruptions in its Operation, they were none in its Nature; which as it had its immediate Efflux fromthe Great Eye, and its return to him must partake of himself, and could not but be of a Qualityuncomatable, by Casualty or Death.
From this Discourse we the more willingly adjourned our present Thoughts,I being clearly convinced of the Matter; and as for our Learned Doctors, with their Second and ThirdThoughts, I told him I would recommend themto the Man in theMoon for their farther Illumination, which if they refuse to accept, it was but just they should remainin a Wood, wherethey are, and arelike to be, puzzling themselves about Demonstrations, squaring of Circles, and convertingobliqueintoright Angles, to bring out a MathematicalClock-Work Soul, that will go till theWeight is down, and then stand still tillthey know not whomust wind it up again.
However, I cannot pass over a very strange and extraordinary piece of Art which this Old Gentleman inform'd me of, and that was an Engineto screw a Man into himself:Perhaps our Country-men may be at some Difficulty to comprehend these things by my dull Description; and to such I cannot but recommend, a Journeyin my Engine to theMoon.
ThisMachinethat I am speaking of, contains a multitude ofstrange SpringsandScrews, and a Man that puts himself into it, is very insensibly carried intovast Speculations,Reflexions, andregular Debates with himself:They have a very hard Name for it in those Parts; but if I were to give it anEnglishName, it should be call'd,The Cogitator, orthe Chair of Reflection.
And First, The Person that is seated here feels some pain in passing someNegative Springs, that are wound up, effectually to shut out allInjecting, DisturbingThoughts; and the better to prepare him for the Operation that is to follow, and this is without doubt a very rational way; for when a Man canabsolutely shut out all manner of thinking, but what he is upon, he shall think the more Intensly upon the one object before him.
This Operation past, here arecertain Screwsthat drawdirect Linesfrom everyAngle of the Engine to the Brain of the Man, and at the same time, other direct Lines to his Eyes; at the other end of which Lines, there are Glasses which convey or reflect the Objects the Person is desirous tothink upon.
Then the main Wheels are turn'd, which wind up according to their several Offices;thisthe Memory,thatthe Understanding; athirdthe Will, afourththe thinking Faculty; and these being put all into regular Motions, pointed by direct Lines to their proper Objects, and perfectly uninterrupted by the Intervention of Whimsy, Chimera, and a Thousand flutteringDæmonsthat Gender in the Fancy, but are effectually Lockt out as before, assist one another to receive right Notions, and form just Ideas of the things they are directed to, and from thence the Man is impower'd to make right Conclusions,to think and act like himself, suitable to the sublime Qualities his Soul was originally blest with.
There never was a Man went into one of thesethinking Engines, but he came wiser out than he was before; and I am persuaded, it would be a more effectual Cure to ourDeism,Atheism,Scepticism, and all otherScisms, than ever theItalian's Engine, for Curing the Gout by cutting off the Toe.
This is a most wonderful Engine, and performs admirably, and my Author gave me extraordinary Accounts of the good Effects of it; and I cannot but tell my Reader, That our Sublunar World suffers Millions of Inconveniencies, for want of this thinking Engine: I have had a great many Projects in my Head, how to bring our People to regular thinking, but 'tis in vain without this Engin; and how to get the Model of it I know not; how to screw up the Will, the Understanding, and the rest of the Powers; how to bring the Eye, the Thought, the Fancy, and the Memory, into Mathematical Order, and obedient to Mechanick Operation; helpBoyl,Norris,Newton,Manton,Hammond,Tillotson, and all the Learned Race, helpPhylosophy,Divinity,Physicks,Oeconomicks, all's in vain, a Mechanick Chair of Reflection is the only Remedy that ever I found in my Life for this Work.
As to the Effects of Mathematical thinking, what Volumes might be writ of it will more easily appear, if we consider the wondrous Usefulness of this Engine in all humane Affairs; as ofWar,Peace,Justice,Injuries,Passion,Love,Marriage,Trade,Policy, andReligion.
When a Man has been screw'd into himself, and brought by this Art to a Regularity of Thought, he never commits any Absurdity after it; his Actions are squared by the same Lines, for Action is but the Consequence of Thinking; and he that acts before he thinks, sets humane Nature with the bottom upward.
M.would never have made his Speech, nor the famousB----lywrote a Book, if ever they had been in this thinking Engine: One would have never told us of Nations he never saw, nor the other told us, he had seen a great many, and was never the Wiser.
H.had never ruin'd his Family to Marry Whore, Thief and Beggar-Woman, in one Salliant Lady, after having been told so honestly, and so often of it by the very Woman her self.
Our late unhappy Monarch had never trusted theEnglishClergy, when they preacht up that Non-Resistance, which he must needs see they could never Practice; had his Majesty been screw'd up into thisCogitator, he had presently reflected, that it was against Nature to expect they should stand still, and let him tread upon them: That they should, whatever they had preacht or pretended to, hold open their Throats to have them be cut, and tye their own Hands from resisting the Lord's Anointed.
Had some of our Clergy been screw'd in this Engine, they had never turned Martyrs for their Allegiance to the Late King, only for the Lechery of having Dr.S-------in their Company.
Had our Merchants been manag'd in this Engine, they had never trusted theirTurkeyFleet with a famous Squadron, that took a great deal of care to Convoy them safe into the Enemies Hands.
Had some People been in this Engine, when they had made a certain League in the World, in order to make amends for a better made before, they would certainly have consider'd farther, before they had embarkt with a Nation, that are neither fit to go abroad nor stay at Home.
As for the Thinking practis'd in Noble Speeches,Occasional Bills, Addressings about Prerogative, Convocation Disputes, Turnings in and Turnings out at Ours, and all the Courts ofChristendom, I have nothing to say to it.
Had the Duke ofBavariabeen in our Engine, he would never have begun a Quarrel, which he knew all the Powers ofEuropewere concern'd to suppress, and lay all other Business down till it was done.
Had the Elector ofSaxonypast the Operation of this Engine, he would never have beggar'd a Rich Electorate, to ruin a beggar'd Crown, nor sold himself for a Kingdom hardly worth any Man's taking: He would never have made himself less than he was, in hopes of being really no greater; and stept down from a Protestant Duke, and Imperial Elector, to be a Nominal Mock King with a shadow of Power, and a Name without honour, Dignity or Strength.
Had Mons.Tallardbeen in our Engine, he would not only not have attackt the Confederates when they past the Morass and Rivulet in his Front, but not have attackt them at all, nor have suffer'd them to have attackt him, it being his Business not to have fought at all, but have linger'd out the War, till the Duke ofSavoyhaving been reduced, the Confederate Army must have been forced to have divided themselves of course, in order to defend their own.
Some that have been very forward to have us proceedThe Shortest Waywith theScots, may be said to stand in great need of this Chair of Reflection, to find out a just Cause for such a War, and to make a Neighbour-Nation making themselves secure, a sufficient Reason for another Neighbour-Nation to fall upon them: Our Engine would presently show it them in a clear sight, by way of Paralel, that 'tis just with the fame Right as a Man may break open a House, because the People bar and bolt the Windows.
If some-body has chang'd Hands there from bad to worse, and open'd instead of closing Differences in those Cases, theCogitatormigyt have brought them, by more regular Thinking, to have known that was not at all the Method of bringing theS---sto Reason.
OurCogitatorwould be a very necessary thing to show some People, That Poverty and Weakness is not a sufficient Ground to oppress a Nation, and their having but little Trade, cannot be a sufficient Ground to equip Fleets to take away what they have.
I cannot deny, that I have often thought they have had something of this Engine in our NeighbouringAntient Kingdom, since no Man, however we pretend to be angry, but will own they are in the right of it, as to themselves, to Vote and procure Bills for their own Security, and not to do as others demand withoutConditionsfit to be accepted: But of that by it self.
There are abundance of People in Our World, of all sorts and Conditions, that stand in need of our thinking Engines, andto be screw'd into themselves a little, that they might think as directly as they speak absurdly: But of these also in a Class by it self.
This Engine has a great deal of Philosophy in it; and particularly, 'tis a wonderful Remedy againstPoreing; and as it was said of Mons.JurieuatAmsterdam, that he us'd tolose himself in himself; by the Assistance of this piece of Regularity, a Man is most effectually secur'd againstbewildring Thoughts, and by direct thinking, he prevents all manner of dangerous wandring, since nothing can come to more speedy Conclusions, than that which in right Lines, points to the proper Subject of Debate.
All sorts ofConfusion of Thoughtsare perfectly avoided and prevented in this case, and a Man is never troubled withSpleen,Hyppo, orMute Madness, when once he has been thus under the Operation ofthe Screw:It prevents abundance of Capital Disasters in Men, in private Affairs; it preventshasty Marriages,rash Vows,Duels,Quarrels, Suits atLaw, and most sorts ofRepentance. In the State, it saves a Government from many Inconveniences; it checks immoderateAmbition, stopsWars,NaviesandExpeditions; especially it prevents Members makinglong Speecheswhen they havenothing to say; it keeps back Rebellions, Insurrections, Clashings of Houses,Occasional Bills,Tacking, &c.
It has a wonderful Property in our Affairs at Sea, and has prevented many aBloody Fight, in which a great many honest Men might have lost their Lives that are now useful Fellows, and help to Man and manage Her Majesty's Navy.
What if some People are apt to charge Cowardice upon some People in those Cases? 'Tis plainthatcannot beit, for he that dare incur the Resentment of theEnglishMob, shows more Courage than would be able to carry him through Forty Sea-fights.
'Tis therefore for want of being in this Engine, that we censure People, because they don't be knocking one another on the Head, like the People at theBear-Garden; where, if they do not see theBlood run about, they always cry out,A Cheat; and the poor Fellows are fain to cut one another, that they may not be pull'd a pieces; where the Case is plain, they arebold for fear, and pull up Courage enough to Fight, because they are afraid of the People.
This Engine prevents all sorts ofLunacies,Love-Frenzies, andMelancholy-Madness, for preserving the Thought in right Lines to direct Objects, it is impossible anyDeliriums,Whimsies, orfluttering Airof Ideas, can interrupt the Man, he can never be Mad; for which reason I cannot but recommend it to my LordS---, my LordN---, and my LordH-----, as absolutely necesssary to defend them from the State-Madness, which for some Ages has possest their Families, and which runs too much in the Blood.
It is also an excellent Introduction to Thought, and therefore very well adapted to those People whose peculiar Talent and Praise is, Thatthey never think at all. Of these, if his Grace ofB---dwould please to accept Advice from theMan in the Moon, it should be to put himself into this Engine, as a Soveraign Cure to the known Disease call'd theThoughtless Evil.
But above all, it is an excellent Remedy, and very useful to a sort of People, who are alwaysTravellingin Thought, but neverDeliver'dinto Action; who are so exceeding busy at Thinking, they have no leisure for Action; of whom the late Poet sung well to the purpose;
----Some modern Coxcombs, whoRetire to Think, 'cause they have nought to do;For Thoughts were giv'n for Actions Government,Where Action ceases, Thought Impertinent:The Sphere of Action is Life's Happiness,And he that Thinks beyond, Thinks like an Ass.
Rochest. Poems,p.9.
These Gentlemen would make excellent use of this Engine, for it would teach 'em to dispatch one thing before they begin another; and therefore is of singular use to honestS----, whose peculiar it was, to be always beginning Projects, but never finish any.
The Variety of this Engine, its Uses, and Improvements, are Innumerable, and the Reader must not expect I can give any thing like a perfect Description of it.
There are yet another sort of Machine, which I never obtained a sight of, till the last Voyage I made to this Lunar Orb, and these are calledElevators:The Mechanick Operations of these are wonderful, and helpt by Fire; by which the Sences are raised toall the strange Extreameswe can imagine, and whereby the Intelligent Soul is made to converse with its own Species, whether embody'd or not.
Those that are rais'd to a due pitch in this wondrous Frame, have a clear Prospect into the World of Spirits, and converse withVisions,Guardian-Angels,Spirits departed, and what not: And as this is a wonderful Knowledge, and not to be obtained, but by the help of this Fire; so those that have try'd the Experiment, give strange Accounts ofSympathy,Prexistenceof Souls,Dreams, and the like.
I confess, I always believ'd a converse of Spirits, and have heard of some who have experienced so much of it, as they could obtain uponno Body elseto believe.
I never saw any reason to doubt the Existent State of the Spirit before embody'd, any more than I did of its Immortality after it shall be uncas'd, and the Scriptures saying, the Spirit returns to God that gave it, impliesa coming from, or how could it be call'da return.
Nor can I see a reason why Embodying a Spirit should altogether Interrupt its Converse with the World of Spirits, from whence it was taken; and to what else shall we ascribeGuardian Angels, in which the Scripture is also plain; and from whence comeSecret Notices, Impulse ofThought, pressingUrgencies of Inclination, to or from this or that altogether Involuntary; but from somewaking kind Assistant wandring Spirit, which gives secret hints to its Fellow-Creature, of some approaching Evil or Good, which it was not able to foresee.
For Spirits without the helps of Voice converse.
I know we have supplied much of this withEnthusiasmandconceited Revelation; but the People of this World convince us, that it may be all Natural, by obtaining it in a Mechanick way,viz.by forming something suitable to the sublime Nature, which working by Art, shall only rectify the morevigorous Particlesof the Soul, and work it up toa suitable Elevation. This Engine is wholly applied to the Head, and Works by Injection; the chief Influence being on what we callFancy, or Imagination, which by the heat of strong Ideas, is fermented to a strange heighth, and is thus brought to see backward and forward every way, beyond it self: By this a Man fancies himselfin the Moon, and realizes things there as distinctly, as if he was actually talking tomy Old Phylosopher.
This indeed is an admirable Engine, 'tis compos'd ofan Hundred Thousandrational Consequences,Five times the numberof Conjectures, Supposes, and Probabilities, besides an innumerable Company of fluttering Suggestions, and Injections, which hover round the Imagination, and are all taken in as fast as they can be Concocted and Digested there: These are form'd into Ideas, and some of those so well put together, so exactly shap'd, so well drest and set out by the Additional Fire of Fancy, that it is no uncommon thing for the Person to be intirely deceived by himself, not knowingthe brat of his own Begetting, nor be able to distinguish between Reality and Representation: From hence we have some People talking to Images of their own forming, and seeing more Devils and Spectres than ever appear'd: From hence we have weaker Heads not able to bear the Operation, seeing imperfect Visions, as of Horses and Men without Heads or Arms,LightwithoutFire, hearingVoiceswithoutSound, and Noises withoutShapes, as their own Fears or Fancies broke thePhænomenabefore the intire Formation.
But the more Genuine and perfect Use of these vast Elevations of the Fancy, which are perform'd, as I said, by the Mechanick Operation of Innate Fire, is to guide Mankind to as much Fore-sight of things, as either by Nature, or by the Aid of any thing Extranatural, may be obtain'd; and by this exceeding Knowledge, a Man shall forebode to himself approaching Evil or Good, so as to avoid this, or be in the way of that; and what if I should say, That the Notices of these things are not only frequent, but constant, and require nothing of us, but to make use of thisElevator, to keep our Eyes, our Ears, and our Fancies open to the hints; and observe them;
You may suppose me, if you please, come by this time into those Northern Kingdoms I mention'd before, where my Old Philosopher was a Native, and not to trouble you with any of the needful Observations, Learned Inscriptions,&c. on the way, according to the laudable practices of the Famous Mr.Br---mly, 'tis sufficient to tell you I found there anOpulent,Populous,PotentandTerrible People.
I found them at War with one of the greatest Monarchs of theLunarWorld, and at the same time miserably rent and torn, mangl'd and disorder'd among themselves.
As soon as I observ'd the Political posture of their Affairs, (for here a Man sees things mighty soon by the helps of such a Masterly Eye-sight as I have mention'd) and remembring what is said for our Instruction,That a Kingdom divided against its self cannot stand; I ask'd the Old Gentleman if he hadany Estatein that Country? He told me, no great matter; but ask'd me why I put that Question to him?Because, said I,if this People go on fighting and snarling at all the World, and one among another in this manner, they will certainly be Ruin'd and Undone, either subdu'd by some more powerful Neighbour; whilst one Party will stand still and see the t'others Throat cut, tho' their own Turn immediately follows, or else they will destroy and devour one another. Therefore I told him I would have him Turn his Estate into Money, and go some where else; or go back to the other World with me.
No, no, reply'd the Old Man,I am in no such Fear at this Time, the Scale of Affairs is very lately chang'd here, says he,in but a very few Years.
I know nothing of that, said I,but I am sure there never was but one spot of Ground in that World which I came from, that was divided like them, and that's that very Country I liv'd in. Here are three Kingdoms of you in one spot, said I, Onehas already beenConquer'd and Subdu'd, the t'othersuppres'd its Native lnhabitants, and planted it with her own, and now carries it with so high a Hand over them of her own Breed, thatshe limits their Trade, stops their Ports, when the Inhabitants have made their Manufactures, these wont give them leave to send them abroad, impose Laws upon them, refuse to alter and amend those they would make for themselves, make them pay Customs, Excises,andTaxes,and yetpay the Garrisons and Guardsthat defend them, themselves; Press their Inhabitants to their Fleets, and carry away their Old Veteran Troops that should defend them, and leave them to raise more to be serv'd in the same manner, will let none of their Mony be carry'd over thither, nor let them Coin any of their own; and a great many such hardships they suffer under the Hand of this Nationas meer SlavesandConquer'd People, tho' the greatest part of the Traders are the People of the very Nation that treats 'em thus.
On the other hand, this creates Eternal Murmurs, Heart-burnings and Regret, both in the Natives and the Transplanted Inhabitants; the first have shewn their Uneasiness by frequent Insurrections and Rebellions, for Nature prompts the meanest Animal to struggle for Liberty; and these struggles have often been attended with great Cruelty, Ravages, Death, Massacres, and Ruin both of Families and the Country it self: As to the Transplanted Inhabitants, they run into Clandestine Trade, into corresponding with their Masters Enemies,Victualling their Navies, Colonies and the like, receiving and importing their Goods in spight of all the Orders and Directions to the contrary.
These are the effects of Divisions, and Feuds on that side; on the other hand there is a KingdomEntireUnconquer'd andIndependent, and for the present, under the same Monarch with the rest.---- But here their Feuds are greater than with the other, andmore dangerous by farbecause National: This Kingdom joins to the North part of the first Kingdom, and Terrible Divisions ly among the two Nations.
The People of these two Kingdoms are call'd if you please for distinction sake, for I cannot well make you understand their hard Names,SolunariansandNolunarians, these to theSouthand those to theNorth, theSolunarianswere divided in their Articles of Religion; the Governing Party, or the Establish'd Church, I shall call theSolunarianChurch; but the whole Kingdom was full of a sort of Religious People call'dCrolians, who like our Dissenters inEnglandprofess divers sub-divided Opinions by themselves, and cou'd not, or wou'd not, let it go which way it will, joyn with the Establish'd Church.
On the other hand, the Establish'd Church in the Northern Kingdom was allCrolians, but full ofSolunariansin Opinions, who were Dissenters there, as theCrolianswere Dissenters in the South, and this unhappy mixture occasion'd endless Feuds, Divisions, Sub-divisions and Animosities without Number, of which hereafter.
The Northern Men are Bold, Terrible Numerous andBrave, to the last Degree, but Poor, and by the Encroachments of their Neighbours, growing poorer every Day.
The Southern are equally Brave, more Numerous and Terrible, but Wealthy andcare not for Wars, had rather stay at Home and Quarrel with one another, than go Abroad to Fight, making good an Old Maxim,Too Poor t'Agree, and yet too Rich to Fight.
Between these the Feud is great, and every Day growing greater; and those People who pretend to have been in theCogitatororthinking Enginetell us, all the lines of Consequences in that Affair point at a fatal period between the Kingdoms.
The Complaints also are great, and back'd with fiery Arguments on both sides; the Northern Men say, theSolunarianshave dealt unjustly and unkindly by them in several Articles; but the Southern Men reply with a most powerful Argument,viz.they arePoor, and therefore ought to be Oppress'd, Suppress'd, orany thing.
But the main Debate is like to lye upon the Article of Choosinga King; both the Nations being under one Government at present, but the Settlement ending in the Reigning Line, the Northern Men refuse to joyn in Government again, unless they have a rectification of some Conditions in which, they say, they have the worst of it.
In this case, even the Southern Men themselves, say, they believe theNolunarianshave been in theChair of Reflection, thethinking Engine, and that having screw'd their Understandings into a Direct Position to that Matter before them, they have made a right Judgment of their own Affairs, andwith all their Povertystand on the best Footas to Right.
But as the matter of this Northern Quarrel comes under a Second Head, and is more properly the Subject of a Second Voyage to theMoon; the Reader may have it more at large consider'd in another Class, and some farther Enlightnings in that Affair than perhaps can be reasonably expected of me here.
But of all the Feuds and Brangles that ever poor Nation was embroild in, of all the Quarrels, the Factions and Parties that ever the People of any Nation thought worth while to fall out for, none were ever inrealityso light, ineffectso heavy, inappearanceso great, insubstanceso small, innameso terrible, innatureso trifling, as those for which this Southern Country was altogether by the Ears among themselves.
And this was one Reason why I so earnestly enquir'd of myLunarian Philosopher, whether he had an Estate in that Country or no. But having told him the Cause of that enquiry, he reply'd, there was one thing in the Nature of his Country-men which secur'd them from the ruin which usually attendeddivided Nations,viz.that if any Foreign Nation thinking to take the advantage of their Intestine Divisionsfell upon themin the highest of all their Feuds, they'd lay aside their Parties and Quarrels and presentlyfall in togetherto beat out the common Enemy; and then no sooner had they obtain'dPeace abroad, by their Conduct and Bravery, but they would fall to cutting one anothers Throats again at homeas naturallyas if it had been their proper Calling, and that for Trifles too,meer Trifles.
Very well, said I tomy learned Self, pretty like my own Country still, that whatever Peace they haveabroad, are sure to have noneat home.
To come at the historical Account of theseLunarianDissentions, it will be absolutely necessary to enter a little into the Story ofthe Place, at least as far as relates to the present Constitution, both of the People, the Government, and the Subject of their present Quarrels.
And first we are to understand, that there has for some Ages been carry'd on in these Countries, a private feud or quarrel among the People, about a thing call'd by themUpogyla, with us very vulgarly call'dReligion.
This Difference, as in its Original it was not great, nor indeed upon Points accounted among themselves Essential, so it had never been a Difference of any height, if there had not always been some one thing, or other, hapning in the State which made the Court-Polititians think it necessary to keep the People busy and embroil'd, to prevent their more narrow Inspection into Depredations and Encroachments on their Liberties, which was always making on them by the Court.
'Tis not deny'd but there might be a Native want of Charity in the Inhabitant, adapting them to Feud, and particularly qualifying them to be alwavs Piquing one another; and some of their own Nation, who by the help of the famous Perspectives before-mentioned, pretend to have seen farther into the Insides of Nature and Constitution than other People, tell us the cross Lines of Nature which appear in the make of those particular People, signify a directNegativeas to the Article ofCharityand good Neighbour-hood.
'Twas particularly unhappy to this wrangling People, that Reasons of State should always fall in, to make that uncharitableness and continual quarrelling Humour necessary to carry on the Publick Affairs of the Nation, and may pass for a certain Proof, that the State was under some Diseases and Convulsions, which, like a Body that digests nothing so well as what is hurtful to its Constitution, makes use of those things for its Support, which are in their very Nature, fatal to its being, and must at last tend to its Destruction.
But as this however enclin'd them to be continuallySnarlingat one another, so as in all Quarrels it generally appears one Side must go down.
The prevailing Party therefore always kept the Power in their Hands, and as theunderwere always Subject to the lash they soon took care to hook their Quarrel into the Affairs of State, and so joinReligiousDifferences, andCivilDifferences together.
These things had long embroil'd the Nation, and frequently involv'd them in bitter Enmities, Feuds, and Quarrels, and once in a tedious, ruinous, and bloody War in their own Bowels, in which, contrary to all expectation, thislesser Partyprevail'd.
And since the allegorick Relation may bear great Similitude with our European Affairs on this sidethe Moon:I shall for the ease of Expression, and the better Understanding of the Reader, frequently call them by the same Names our unhappy Parties are call'd by inEngland, asSolunnarian Churchmen, andCrolian Dissenters, at the same time desiring my Reader to observe, that he isalways to rememberwho it is we are talking of, and that he isby no meansto understand me of any Person, Party, People, Nation, or Place on this side the Moon, any Expression, Circumstance, Similitude, or Appearanceto the contrary in any wise notwithstanding.
This premis'd, I am to tell the Reader that the last Civil War in thisLunarCountry ended in the Victors confounding their own Conquests by their intestine Broils, they being as is already noted a most Eternally Quarrelling Nation; upon this new Breach, they that first began the War, turn'd about, and pleading that they took up Arms to regulate the Government, not to overthrow it, fell in with the Family of their Kings, who had been banish'd,and one of them destroy'd, and restor'd the Crown to the Family, and the Nation to the Crown, justfor all the Worldas thePresbyteriansinEnglanddid, in the Case of KingCharlesthe Second.
The Party that was thus restor'd, accepted the return the others made to their Duty, and their Assistance in restoring the Family of their Monarch, but abated not a Tittle of the old Rancour against themas a Partywhich they entertain'd at their first taking Arms, not allowing the return they had made to beany attonement at allfor the Crimes they had been guilty of before. 'Tis true they pass'd an Act or Grant ofGeneral Pardon, and Oblivion, as in all such Cases is usual, and as without which the other would never ha' come in, or have join'd Powers to form the Restoration they were bringing to pass, but the old Feud of Religion continu'd with this addition, that theDissenterswereRebels,Murtherers,King-killers, Enemies toMonarchyand Civil Government, lovers of Confusion, popular, anarchial Governments, and movers of Sedition; that this was in their veryNatureandPrinciples, and the like.
In this Condition, and under these Mortifications this Party of People liv'd just anEgyptianServitude,viz.of 40 Years, in which time they were frequently vex'd with Persecution,Harass'd, Plunder'd,Fin'd, Imprisoned, and very hardly Treated, insomuch that they pretend to be able to give an account of vast Sums of their Country-Mony, levy'd upon them on these Occasions, amounting as I take it to 2 Millions ofLunatians, a Coin they keep their Accounts by there, and much about the value of our Pound Sterling; besides this they were hook't into a great many Sham Plots, and Sworn out of theirLivesandEstatesin such a manner, that in the very next Reign the Government was so sensible of their hard treatment, that they revers'd several Sentences by the same Authority that had Executed them; a most undeniable Proof they were asham'd of what had been done; at last, the Prince who was restor'd as abovesaid, dyed, and his Brother mounted the Throne; and now begana third Sceneof Affairs, for this Prince was neitherChurch-man, norDissenter, but of a different Religion from them all, known in that Country by the Name ofAbrogratzianism, and this Religion of his had this one absolutely necessary Consequence in it, that a Man could not be sincerely and heartily of this, but he must be an Implacable hater of both the other. As this is laid down as a previous Supposition, we are with the same Reason to imagine this Prince to be entirely bent upon the Suppression and Destruction of both the other, if notabsolutelyas to Life and Estate, yetentirelyas to Religion.
To bring this the more readily to pass like a true Polititian, had his Methods and Particulars been equally Politick with his Generals, he began at the right End,viz.to make the Breach between theSolunnarian Church, and theCrolian Dissentersas wide as possible, and to do this it was resolv'd to shift Sides, and as the Crown had always took part with the Church, crush'd, humbl'd, persecuted, and by all means possible mortify'd the Dissenters, as is noted in the Reign of his Predecessor. This Prince resolv'd to caress, cherish, and encourage theCroliansby all possible Arts and outward Endearments, not so much that they purpos'd them any real Favour,for the destruction of both was equally determin'd, nor so much that they expected to draw them over toAbrogratzianism, but Two Reasons may be suppos'd to give Rise to this Project.
1. TheLunarian ChurchParty had all along Preach'd up for a part of their Religion, thatAbsolute undisputed Obedience, was due from every Subject to their Prince without anyReserve, Reluctance orRepining; that as to Resistance, it was Fatal toBody,Soul,Religion,JusticeandGovernment; and tho' the Doctrine was Repugnant toNature, and to the very Supreme Command it self, yet he that resisted, receiv'd to himself Damnation, justfor all the Worldlike our Doctrine ofPassive Obedience. Now tho' theseSolunarianChurch-Men did not absolutely believe all they said themselves to be true, yet they found it necessary to push these things to the uttermost Extremities, because they might the better fix upon theCrolian Dissenters, the Charge of professing less Loyal Principles than they. For as to theCrolians, they profess'd openly they would pay Obedience to the Prince, as far as the Laws directed,but no farther.
These things were run up to strange heights, and the People were always falling out about what they would do, or wou'd not do, if things wereso or so, as they were not, andwere never likely to be; and the hot Men on both sides were every now and then going together by the Ears aboutChimeras, Shadows,May-be'sandSupposes.
The hot Men of theSolunarian Churchwere for knocking theCroliansin the Head, because as they said they wereRebels, theirFatherswere Rebels, and they would certainly turn Rebels again upon occasion.
TheCroliansinsisted upon it, that they had nothing to do with what was done before they were Born, that if they were Criminal, because their Fathers were so, then a great many who were now of theSolunarian Churchwere as Guilty as they, several of the best Members of that Church having been Born ofCrolianParents.
In the matter of Loyalty they insisted upon it, they were as Loyal as theSolunarians, for that they were as Loyal as Nature, Reason and the Laws both of God and Man requir'd, and what the Other talk'd ofmore, was but a meer pretence, and so it would be found if ever their Prince should have occasion to put them to the Tryal, that he that pretended to go beyond the Power of Nature and Reason,must indeed go beyond them, and they never desir'd to be brought into the extream, but they were ready at any time to shew such Proofs, and give such Demonstrations of their Loyalty, as would satisfy any reasonable Prince, andfor more they had nothing to say.
In this posture of Affairs, this new Prince found his Subjects when he came to the Crown, theSolunarian ChurchCaress'd him, and notwithstanding his being Devoted to theAbrogratzian Faith, they Crown'd him with extraordinary Acclamations.
They were the rather enclin'd to push this forward by how much they thought it would singularly mortify theCrolians, and all the sorts ofDissenters, for they had all along declar'd their abhorrence of theAbrogratziansto such a Degree that they publickly endeavour'd to have got a general Concurrence of the whole Nation in the PublickCortez, orDyetof the Kingdom, to have joyn'd with them in Excluding this very Prince by Name, and all other Princes that should ever embrace theAbrogratzianFaith.
And it wanted but a very little of bringing it to pass, for almost all the Great Men of the Nation, tho'Solunarians, yet that were Men ofTemper, Moderation, andFore-sight, were for this exclusive Law. But theHigh PriestsandPatriarchsof theSolunarian Churchprevented it, and upon pretence of thisPassive Obedience Principle, made their Interest and gave their Voices for Crowning, or Entailing the Crown and Government on the Head of one of the most Implacable Enemies both to their Religion and Civil Right that ever the Nation saw;but they liv'd to Repent it too late.
This Conquest over theCroliansand theModerate Solunarians, if it did not suppress them entirely, it yet gave the other Part such an ascendant over them, that they made no Doubt when that Prince came to the Crown, they had done so much to oblige him, that he could deny them nothing, and therefore in expectation they swallow'd up the whole Body of theCroliansat once, and began to talk of nothing less than Banishing them to the Northern part of the Country, or to certain Islands, and Countries a vast way off, where formerly great numbers of them had fled for shelter in like Cases.
And this was the more probable by an unhappy Stroke theseCroliansattempted to strike,but miscarry'din at the very beginning of this Prince's Reign: for as they had always profest an aversion to this Prince on account of his Religion, as soon as their other King was dead, they set up one of his Natural Sons against this King, which theSolunarianshad so joyfully Crown'd. This young Prince invaded his Dominions, and great Numbers of the most zealousCroliansjoyn'd him---- But to cut the Story short, he was entirely routed by the Forces of the new Prince, for all theSolunarian Churchjoyn'd with him against theCrolianswithout any respect to the Interest of Religion, so they overthrew their Brethren: The young invaded Prince was taken and put to Death openly, andGreat Crueltieswere exercis'd in cold Blood upon the poor unhappy People that were taken in the Defeat!
Thus a second time these LoyalSolunarian Church-menEstablish'd their Enemy, and built up what they were glad afterwards to pull down again, and to beg the assistance of thoseCrolianswhom they had so rudely handled, to help them demolish the Power they had erected themselves, and which now began to set its foot upon the Throat of those that nourish'd and supported it.
Upon this exceeding Loyalty and blind Assistance given to their Prince, theSolunariansmade no question but they had so Eternally bound him to them, that it would be in their Power to pull down the very Name ofCrolianism, and utterly destroy it from the Nation.
But the time came on to Undeceive them, for this Prince, whose Principle as anAbrogratzian, was to destroy them both, as it happened, was furnish'd with Counsellors and Ecclesiasticks of his own Profession, ten thousand Times more bent for their general Ruin, than himself.
For abstracted from the Venom and Rancour of his Profession as anAbrogratzian, and from the furious Zeal of hisBramin, Priests, and Religious People, that continually hung about him, and that prompted him to act against his Temper and Inclination, by which he ruin'd all, he was else aforwardandgenerousPrince, and likely to have made his People Great and Flourishing.
But hisfurious Church-Menruin'd all his good Designs, and turn'd all his Projects to compass the Introduction of his own Religion into his Dominions.
Nay, and had he not fatally been push'd on by such as really design'd his Ruin, to drive this deep Design on too hastily and turn the Scale of his Management from a close and conceal'd, to an open and profess'd Design, he might have gone a great way with it.--------- Had he been content to have let that have been twenty Year a doing, which he impatiently as well as preposterously attempted all at once.-------Wise Men have thoughthe might in time have supprest theSolunarian Religion, and have set up his own.
To give a short Scheme of his Proceedings, and with them of the reason of his Miscarriage.
1. Having defeated the RebelliousCrolians, as is before noted, and reflecting on the Danger he was in upon the sudden Progress of that Rebellion, for indeed he was within a trifle of Ruin in that Affair; and had not theCroliansbeen deceiv'd by the darkness of the Night and led to a large Ditch of Water, which they could not pass over, they had certainly surpriz'd and overthrown his Army, and cut them in pieces, before they had known who had hurt them. Upon the Sense of this Danger, he takes up a pretence of necessity for the being always ready to resistthe Factious Crolians, as he call'd them, and by that Insinuation hooks himself into astanding Army in time of Peace; ----- nay, and so easy were theSolunarian Churchto yield up any point, which they did but imagin would help to crush their Brethren theCrolians, that they not only consented to this unusual Invasion of their antient Liberties, but sent up severalTestimonialsof their free Consent, nay, and of their Joy of having arriv'd to so great a Happiness, as to have a Prince thatsetting aside the formality of Lawswould vouchsafe to Govern them by the glorious Method of aStanding Army.------
TheseTestimonialswere things not much unlikeour AddressesinEngland, and which when I heard I could not but remember our Case, in the time of the late KingJames, when the City ofCarlislein their Address,Thankt his Majestyfor the Establishing a Standing Army inEnglandin time of Peace, calling it theStrength, and Gloryof the Kingdom.
So strong is the Ambition and Envy of Parties, theseSolunarian Gentlemennot grudging to put out one of their own eyes, so they might at the same time put out both the Eyes of their Enemies; theCroliansrather consented to this badge of their own Slavery, and brought themselves who were a free People before, under the Power and Slavery of the Sword.
The ease with which this Prince got over so considerable a Point as this, made him begin to be too credulous and to perswade himself that theSolunarian Church-Menwere really in earnest, as to their Pageant-Doctrin ofNon-Resistance, and that as he had seen them bear with strange extravagancies on theCrolianPart, they were real and in earnest when they Preach'd that Men ought to obey for Conscience's sake, whatever hardship were impos'd upon them, and however unjust, or contrary to the Laws of God, Nature, Reason, or their Country; what Principle in the World could more readily prompt a Prince to attempt what he so earnestly coveted, as this zealous Prince did the restoring theAbrogratzianFaith, for since he had but two sorts of People to do with; one he had crush'd by force, and had brought the other to profess it theirReligion, theirDuty, and theirResolutionto bear every thing he thought fit to Impose upon them, and that they should beDamn'dif theyresisted, the Work seem'd half done to his Hand.