A Discourse Concerning Ridicule and Irony in Writing (1729) Part 4

Mr. _Whiston_[107], a famous Person among us, sets up for great _Gravity_, and proposes a Scheme of _Gravity_ for the Direction of those who write about Religion: He is for allowing _Unbelievers_, nay for having them "invited by Authority to produce all the real or original Evidence they think they have discover'd against any Parts of the _Bible_; against any Parts of the _Jewish_ and Christian Religions, in order to their being fully weigh'd and consider'd by all learned Men; provided at the same time, that the whole be done _gravely_, and _seriously_, without all _Levity_, _Banter_, and _Ridicule_." And yet this Man, having a handle given him by Bishop _Robinson_'s Letter to the _Clergy_ of his _Diocess_ about _New Doxologies borrow'd from Old Hereticks_, takes the advantage of the Bishop's (supposed) Ignorance, Dulness, Stupidity, and Contradiction to himself, and writes and prints, like a _Tom Brown_ or _Swift_, a most _bantering_ and _drolling_ Letter, under the sneering t.i.tle of a _Letter of Thanks to the Right Reverend the Lord Bishop of_ London, _for his late Letter_, &c. whom, one would think, he should not only have spar'd, but have applauded for his _profound Gravity_, and carrying on the Cause of Religion in a very remarkable manner, with the most _consummate Solemnity_. But so strong was the Temptation, so naturally productive of Mirth was the Bishop's _Cause_, and his grave Management thereof, as that he could not help laughing at the Bishop, by himself; and so was led on mechanically to write in that Humour, and to publish what he wrote, and afterwards to defend his drole _Manner_ [108] of attacking the Bishop, against those who took _offence_ at that _Manner_ of writing.

XII. The burning Papists themselves are not always _serious_ with us: They treat the Church and its Defenders as _fanatical_, and _laugh_ at them as _such_, just as the Church does the Dissenters, and have their elaborate Works of _Drollery_ against their Adversaries. They publish'd a Poem against the _Reformation_, just before the Death of Queen _Anne_, which was design'd to have given such a Stroke to the Protestant Religion among us, under the new projected Revolution, as _Hudibras_ did to _Puritanism_ after the _Restoration_. The Popish Editor, in the Preface to the said Poem, says, "that the Motive of the Author (_Thomas Ward_) for publishing the _History of the Reformation in a Burlesque Style_ (tho a History full of melancholy Incidents, which have distracted the Nation, even beyond the hope of recovery, after so much Blood drawn from all its Veins, and from its Head) was that which he met with in Sir _Roger L'Estrange_'s Preface to the second Part of his _Cit_ and _b.u.mkin_, express'd in these Words; _Tho this way of fooling is not my Talent, nor Inclination; yet I have great Authorities for the taking up this Humour, in regard not only of the Subject, but of the Age we live in; which is so much upon the Drole, that hardly any thing else will down with it._"

And the ingenious Protestant Editor of this Poem at _London_, which he allows to have some Wit in it, concludes the Remarks he makes upon it, by saying, "One thing more we can't forbear hinting at, that a Retaliation would be as happy a Thought as could enter into the Head of a Man of Genius and Spirit. What a fruitful Harvest would the Legends, Tricks, spiritual Jugglings, Convents, and Nunneries, yield to a good Poet?

_Buchanan_ in his _Franciscani_, and _Oldham_ in his _Satires_ on the Jesuits, have open'd the Way, and we heartily wish some equal Pen would write the whole Mystery of Iniquity at length."

XIII. All the old Puritan Preachers, who were originally Divines of the Church of _England_, sprinkled and season'd their Sermons with a great many _drolling_ Sayings against _Libertinism_ and _Vice_, and against Church Ceremonies; many of which Sayings are reported and handed down to us in Books and Conversation, as are also the Effects of those Sayings, which we are told converted many to _Christ_ on the Spot, or in the Instant of Delivery. Nor is that manner wholly laid aside, but has continued to be kept alive by some Hands at all times; who have been greatly follow'd for their Success in drolling upon _Sinners_, and treating of Religion in humoursom and fantastical Phrases, and fixing that way of Religion in some Mens Minds.

I do not remember to have met with a more complete Drole in the Church of _England_, or in any other of the _laughing_ or _ridiculing_ Sects, than _Andrew Marvel_ of the grave _Puritan_ Sect, in many Works of his both in Prose and Verse, but especially in his _Rehearsal Transprosed_; which tho writ against _Parker_, who with great Eloquence, Learning, and a Torrent of Drollery and Satire, had defended the Court and Church's Cause, in a.s.serting the Necessity of Penal Laws against the Nonconformists, "was read from the _King_ down to the Tradesman with great pleasure, on account of that Burlesque Strain and lively Drollery that ran thro' it," as Bishop _Burnet_ tells us[109]. Nor were the gravest _Puritans_ and Dissenters among us less taken and pleas'd with his Writings for their _Drollery_, than our _drole King_; tho there are some Pa.s.sages in them, which should give just Offence to chaste Ears.

I find also, that the _Puritans_ and _Dissenters_ have always born with, and allow'd of, a great Mixture of _Drollery_ in their Sermons, that one would think should offend their Gravity, and pious Ears; and that they applaud their Ministers for such their Discourses, as much as the Church does Dr. _South_ for the Ribaldry sprinkled thro'out his Sermons about the most high Points in Divinity. They have always had some eminent Divines among them who have been remarkable for such Pa.s.sages and Reflections: And these have never lessen'd their number of Auditors, nor drawn upon themselves the Character of _Irreligious_; but have had the largest Auditories of contributing Hearers, as well as of Churchmen, who came to smile, and have been esteem'd very _pious_ Men.

In fine, the _Puritans_ and _Dissenters_ have, like the Church, their Taste of Humour, Irony, and Ridicule, which they promote with great Zeal, as a Means to serve Religion: And I remember, that, among other things said in behalf of _Bunyan_'s _Pilgrim's Progress_, upon the reprinting it lately by Subscription, it was affirm'd, and that, in my Opinion, truly, "that it had infinitely out-done _The Tale of a Tub_; which perhaps had not made one Convert to Infidelity, whereas the _Pilgrim's Progress_ had converted many Sinners to _Christ_."

XIV. The _Quakers_ are certainly the most _serious_ and solemn People among us in Matters of Religion, and out-go the Dissenters of all other Kinds therein: But yet the Church has no regard to them on that Account, but takes Advantage from thence to _ridicule_ them the more, and to call their Sincerity more in question. And I much doubt whether there was ever a Book written against them by the Divines of any Sect with perfect Decency, and that had not its extravagant Flouts, Scorn, Banter, and Irony, and that not only of the _laughing_, but of the _cruel_ kind: Wherein they copy'd after the _Jews_ of old, who while they prosecuted _Christ_ to Death, and carried on their High-Church Tragedy against him, acted against him the _comick Scenes_ [110] "of spitting in his Face, and buffeting him with the Palms of their Hands, saying, _Prophesy unto us, thou Christ, who is he that smote thee_;" and who, when they had nail'd him to the Cross, _revil'd_ him with divers _Taunts_, in which the _Chief Priests_, _Scribes_, _Elders_, and even the _Thieves, which were crucified with him_, concurr'd. But yet for all this, these solemn Quakers themselves are not altogether averse to _Irony_ and _Ridicule_, and use it when they can. Their Books abound in Stories to ridicule in their Turn the Priests, their great and bitter Adversaries: And they please themselves with throwing at the Priests the _Centuries of Scandalous Ministers_, and the Books of the _Cobler of_ Glocester. They have also their Satirist and Banterer, _Samuel Fisher_; whose Works, tho all wrote in the _drolling_ Style and Manner, they pride themselves in, and have collected into one great Volume in _Folio_; in which Quaker-Wit and Irony are set up against Church, Presbyterian, and Independent Wit and Irony, without the least Scruple of the lawfulness of such Arms. In a word, their Author acts the Part of a _Jack-Pudding_, _Merry Andrew_, or _Buffoon_, with all the seeming Right, Authority, and Privilege, of the Member of some Establish'd Church of abusing all the World but themselves. The _Quakers_ have also encourag'd and publish'd a most arch Book of the famous _Henry Stubbe_, int.i.tled, _A Light shining out of Darkness_, &c. Wherein all the other religious Parties among us are as handsomly and learnedly banter'd and ridicul'd, as the _Quakers_ have been in any Book against them. And when they were attack'd by one _Samuel Young_, a whimsical Presbyterian-Buffoon-Divine, who call'd himself _Trepidantium Malleus_, and set up for an Imitator of Mr. _Alsop_, in several Pamphlets full of Stories, Repartees, and Ironies; in which _Young_, perhaps, thought himself as secure from a Return of the like kind, as a Ruffian or Thief may when he a.s.saults Men: His Attacks were repell'd in a Book int.i.tled "_Trepidantium Malleus intrepidanter malleatus_; or the West Country Wiseaker's crack-brain'd _Reprimand_ hammer'd about his own Numbscul.

Being a _Joco-satirical_ Return to a late Tale of a Tub, emitted by a reverend _Non-con_, at present residing not far from _Bedlam_," said to be written by _William Penn_, who has therein made use of the carnal Weapons of Irony and Banter, and dress'd out the Presbyterian Priest in a Fool's Coat, for a Spectacle to the Mob. It is also to be observ'd, that there are several Tracts in the two Volumes of _William Penn_'s Works lately publish'd, that for ingenious Banter and Irony, are much superior to the Priests his Adversaries; and that other Quaker Authors profess to write sometimes in a [111] _drolling Style_.

XV. The Jacobite Clergy have set up for great _Droles_ upon all the true Friends of the _Establishment_. And I presume, the Body of our High Churchmen would not willingly deprive them of the Benefit of their _Drollery_.

The celebrated Mr. _Collier_ [112] thus attacks Bishop _Burnet_, for his ESSAY _on the Memory of Queen_ Mary. "This Doctor, you know, is a Man of mighty _Lat.i.tude_, and can say any thing to serve a Turn; whose _Reverence_ resolves Cases of Conscience backwards and forwards, disputes _pro_ and _con_, praises and dispraises by secular Measures; with whom Virtue and Vice, pa.s.sive Obedience and Rebellion, Parricide and filial Duty, Treachery and Faithfulness, and all the Contradictions in Nature, are the _best_ and _worst_ things under the Sun, as they are for his Purpose, and according as the Wind sits: who equally and indifferently writes for and against all Men, the Gospel, and himself too, as the World goes: who can bestow a Panegyrick upon the seven deadly Sins, and (if there be occasion) can make an Invective against all the Commandments.----"

In relation to Dr. _Payne_'s _Sermon_ on the Death of that _Queen_, he says[113], "that to go thro' it is too great a Discipline for any Man, whose Palate hath ever relish'd any thing above _three half-penny Poetry_." He adds, "Why, Sir, many Years ago I have heard some of it sung about the Streets in wretched and nauseous _Doggrel_. What think you of this? _Page_ 6. _I know not how to draw her Picture, 'tis so all over beauteous, without any Foil, any Shade, any Blemish; so perfect in every Feature, so accomplish'd in every Part, so adorn'd with every Perfection and every Grace._ O rare, Sir! here's _Phillis_ and _Chloris_, and _Gillian a Croydon_.

"_Sh' hath_ every Feature, every Grace, "_So charming_ every part, _&c_.

"Tis no wonder he tells us, (_p._ 8.) of _strewing her with the Flowers of withered and decay'd Poetry_; for the _Song_ out of which he hath transcrib'd his _Sermon_, is of very _great age_, and hath been sung at many a _Whitsun-Ale_, and many a _Wedding_ (tho I believe never at a Funeral before) and therefore in all this time may well be _decay'd and wither'd_: In the mean time, if you were to draw the Picture of a _great Princess_, I fansy you would not make choice of _Mopsa_ to sit to it.

Alas! Sir, there was _Ca.s.sandra_ and _Cleopatra_, and many a famed _Romance_ more, which might have furnish'd him with handsome Characters, and yet he must needs be _preaching and instructing_ his People out of _Hey down derry_, and the _fair Maid of_ Kent. If he had int.i.tled it, _The_ White-Chapel _Ballad_, and got some body to set it to the Tune of _Amaryllis_, compos'd by _W. P. Songster_, the Character of the _Author_, the _t.i.tle_, and the _Matter_, would have very well agreed, and perhaps it might have pa.s.sed at the Corners of the Streets; but to call it a _Sermon_, and by _W. P._ Doctor in _Divinity_, 'tis one of the _lewdest_ things in the World.----"

Mr. _Lesley_ attacks the Clergy, who pray'd "that G.o.d would give King _James_ Victory over all his Enemies[114], when that was the thing they least wish'd; and confess'd, that they labour'd all they could against it," saying, "good G.o.d! What Apprehensions, what Thought had those Men of their publick Prayers; bantering G.o.d Almighty, and mocking him to his Face, who heard their Words, and saw their Hearts? Is not _Atheism_ a smaller Sin than this, since it is better to have no G.o.d, than so to set up one _to laugh at him_."

Again he says, (_p._ 123.) "It is a severe Jest, that the common People have got up against the Clergy, that there was but one thing formerly which the Parliament could not do, that is, to make a Man a Woman: But now there is another, that is, to make an Oath which the Clergy will not take."

The same Author attacks Bishop _Burnet_'s _Speech upon the Bill against Occasional Conformity_, by a Pamphlet int.i.tled, _The Bishop of_ Salisbury_'s proper Defence from a Speech cry'd about the Streets in his Name, and said to have been spoken by him in the House of Lords upon the Bill against Occasional Conformity_; which is one perpetual _Irony_ on the Bishop, and gives the Author occasion to throw all manner of Satire and Abuse on the Bishop. The beginning of this Pamphlet, which is as follows, will let the Reader into the full Knowledge of the Design of the Irony, and the manner of Execution.

"The License of this Age and of the Press is so great, that no Rank or Quality of Men is free from the Insults of loose and extravagant Wits.

"The good Bishop of _Salisbury_ has had a plentiful Share in this sort of Treatment: And now at last, some or other has presum'd to burlesque his Lordship in printing a Speech for him, which none that knows his Lordship can believe ever came from him.

"But because it may go down with others who are too apt to take Slander upon trust, and that his Lordship has already been pelted with several Answers to his Speech, I have presum'd to offer the following Considerations, to clear his Lordship from the Suspicion of having vented (in such an august a.s.sembly) those crude and undigested Matters which are set forth in that Speech, and which so highly reflect on his Lordship's self."

He has taken the same Method of Irony to attack the said Bishop for his _Speech_ on the _Trial_ of _Sacheverel_, and for a _Sermon_, under this t.i.tle, "The Good Old Cause, _or_ Lying in Truth; being a Second Defence of the Lord Bishop of _Sarum_ from a Second Speech, and also the Dissection of a Sermon it is said his Lordship preach'd in the Cathedral Church of _Salisbury_." And this Pamphlet, which is also a continued Banter, begins thus.

"No Man has more deserv'd than this good Bishop, and no Man has been more persecuted by various Ways and Means than his Lordship, even to mobbing!

But the ugliest and most malicious of all these Arts, is that of putting false Things upon him; to write scandalous, seditious, and senseless Papers, and to affix his Lordship's Name! I was forc'd some Years ago to vindicate his Lordship's Reputation from one of this sort: That Speech had a Bookseller's Name to it of good figure, and look'd something like; but this Speech (said likewise to be spoken in the House of Lords) has no body to own it, and has all the Marks of _Grub_. But the nasty Phiz is nothing to the inside. That discovers the Man; the Heart is false."

This same Author has thought fit to attack Mr. _Hoadley_ (since a Bishop) in the way of Banter: His _Best Answer ever was made, and to which no Answer will ever be made_, is by his own Confession a _Farce_; when he says in his _Preface_, "If you ask why I treat this Subject by way of _farce_, and shew a little Merriment sometimes? it was because the Foundation you stand upon is not only _false_ but _ridiculous_, and ought to be treated with the _utmost Contempt_."

Again, in his "_Finishing Stroke, in defence of_ his _Rehearsals, Best Answer, and Best of all_," he gives us (_p._ 125.) what he calls, "A Battle-Royal between three c.o.c.ks of the Game, _Higden_, _Hoadley_, and a _Hottentot_;" which in the _Contents_ he calls _A Farce_, and to which he joins both a _Prologue_ and _Epilogue_, and divers other Particulars, all taken from the _Play-house_.

The Reverend Mr. _Matthias Earbery_ sets up for a great Satirist and Drole upon the swearing and Low-Church Clergy, in numerous Pamphlets of late, more particularly in his "_Serious Admonition to Dr._ Kennet: To which is added, a short but complete Answer to Mr. _Marshal_'s late Treatise called, _A Defence of our Const.i.tution in Church and State_; and a Parallel is drawn between him and Dr. _Kennet_, for the Satisfaction of the unprejudic'd Reader."

He has a bantering Argument [115] to shew, that, "If in future Ages Mr.

_Marshal_'s Book should escape the just Judgment it deserves, of being condemn'd to the _Pastry-Cooks_ and _Grocers_, an industrious Chronologist might make an Observation to prove him too young to write it."

The _Parallel_ is in _Pag._ 126, which being very gross _Raillery_, I only refer you to it.

This Mr. _Earbery_ also wrote a _Letter to Bishop_ Fleetwood, under the t.i.tle of "A Letter to the Bishop of _Ely_, upon the Occasion of his _suppos'd_ late _Charge_, said to be deliver'd at _Cambridge August_ 7, 1716, _&c._" in which he pursues the Ironical Scheme laid down in the said t.i.tle, and endeavours to _vindicate_ his _Lordship from the Aspersion of writing such a mean Pamphlet_, as the _Charge_.

Nor do these _Jacobites_ confine their Drollery to their Adversaries without, but exercise it on one another, as may be seen in their late Dispute about King _Edward the Sixth_'s Liturgy. And Mr. _Lesley_ himself, happening to engage on the side opposite to the Traditions of the Fathers, and attacking those Traditions by Low-Church Notions and Arguments, and thereby running counter to all his former Books, is attack'd just in the same manner he attack'd Bishop _Burnet_, in a Book under this t.i.tle, "Mr.

_Lesley_'s Defence, from some erroneous and dangerous Principles, advanced in a Letter said to have been written concerning the New Separation." And it has several Paragraphs at the beginning in the very words of one of Mr.

_Lesley_'s Books against the said Bishop, as may be seen on Comparison.

XVI. _Christ-Church_ in _Oxford_ is no less famous for the _Drolling_, than for the _Orthodox_ Spirit reigning there; and the former, being judged an excellent Method to support the latter, is cultivated among the Youth, and employ'd by the Members of that Society against all the supposed Adversaries of the Church, and encourag'd by the governing Ecclesiasticks there and elsewhere.

Among the many, who have receiv'd their Education there, and been form'd in Drollery, I will only instance in the Reverend Dr. _Atterbury_ and Dr.

_South_; who being as famous for _Drollery_ as for Zeal for Religion, and applauded for their _Wit_ no less than for their _Orthodoxy_; and particularly for imploying the former in behalf of the latter, seem of sufficient Weight to bear down all Attempts to stifle their Productions.

What Considerations can make us amends for the Loss of such excellent _drolling Writings_, which promote Religion as well as Mirth?

With what incomparable Mockery, Ridicule and Sarcasm does Dr. _Atterbury_ treat all the Low-Church Clergy that come in his way, together with the _Whig_ Ministry and Administration in his several _Convocational Tracts_?

Dr. _Wake_, our present Archbishop of _Canterbury_, is represented by him as writing so _contumeliously_ [116] of the Clergy, _that had he not inform'd us in his t.i.tle Page who he was, we should rather have guess'd him to have been of the Cabal against Priests and Priestcraft, than one of the Order_; and as wholly govern'd by [117] _Interest_ in the _Debate_, and as giving us a most [118] _shallow empty Performance_ in relation to our Ecclesiastical Const.i.tution, which he [119] _has done his best to undermine_, as knowing himself to be in the wrong; and as _deserving_ any Name or Censure, none being _too bad to be bestow'd_ on him; and in fine, as _the least of the little officious Pens by which he expects to be traduc'd_.

Dr. _Bentley_ is represented as _wrote out of Reputation into Preferment_; which, whether it be a more severe Sarcasm on the Doctor, than on the Government, is hard to determine; and besides, it gives Applause to one of the most drolling and bantering Performances that this drolling Age has produc'd, I mean _Dr._ Bentley_'s Dissertations on the Epistles of_ Phalaris, _and the Fables of_ aesop, _examin'd_.

Bishop _Burnet_ is a standing Subject of Ridicule with him; as are Bishop _Nicholson_, Bishop _Kennet_, Bishop _Gibson_, Bishop _Trimnel_ [to whom he writes a most drolling [120] Letter] and Dr. _West_; and all the Topicks that can affect them as Scholars, as honest Men, and Clergymen, are imploy'd to render them ridiculous, and set the World a laughing at them, who are not in the least spar'd for their being of the Holy Order; but on the contrary seem more loaded and baited with Sarcasms for that reason.

For a _Specimen_, take this Banter or Burlesque upon Bishop _Kennet_'s Dedication of his _Ecclesiastical Synods and Parliamentary Convocations_, &c. to the Archbishop of _Canterbury_; which Banter runs thus[121].

"_May it please your Grace_,

"Mr. _Atterbury_ has lately forc'd a Dedication upon you, which favours too much of Presumption or Design; he has presum'd to surprize you with an unexpected Address, and appears very indecently before your Grace, because he has taken no care to express upon this Subject a due Respect and Reverence to the Governors in Church and State, such as is suitable to the Christian Religion, and his particular Function: The Reports and Authorities in his Book are Fruits of other Mens Collections, not the immediate Effects of his own Searches into _Registers_ and _Records_; he imperiously summons your Grace and my Lords the Bishops to an immediate Compliance upon pain of being p.r.o.nounc'd Betrayers of the Church----This, my Lord, is the Character of the Person _I set up_ against; but as for me, I am quite another sort of Man, I am very well bred, a great Antiquary, beholden to no body, _some Wits and merry Folks call me a Tool and a Play-thing_ (_Pref. p._ 8.) But I a.s.sure your Grace, that what Freedom soever I may have taken in taxing the Vices of the inferior _Clergy_, (_p._ 77. 188.) and in reflecting _upon the ambitious Designs of dignify'd Presbyters_ (_p._ 196.); yet _I am however tender and dutiful in treating the Governors of our Church_ (p. 78.); especially _those of them who are of the Ecclesiastical Commission for Preferments_, (p. 311). I have a very great Respect and Reverence for every body that will give me any thing; and how resolute soever Mr. _Atterbury_ may be, your Grace may do what you please with

_Your Grace's most humble_

_and obedient Servant_,

WHITE KENNET.

But for _Drollery_, the Reverend Dr. _South_ outdoes even _Christ-Church_, and fills all his Performances with it, and throws it out against the Enemies of the Church, and in particular against the late Dr. _Sherlock_, whom he thought fit to single out. I shall select some Pa.s.sages from his Writings against the said Doctor, which cannot but entertain the High-Church Orthodox Reader, and reconcile him to a _Drollery_ so well employ'd.

He stiles him _a great good Man, as a certain poor Wretch_, meaning _Prior, calls him_.

Again, he says[122], "There is hardly any one Subject which he (that is Dr. _Sherlock_) has wrote upon Popery excepted, that he has wrote both for it and against it. Could any thing be more sharp and bitter against the Dissenters than what this Man wrote in his _Answer_ to the _Protestant Reconciler_; and yet how frankly, or rather fulsomly does he open both his Arms to embrace them in his Sermon preach'd before the Lord Mayor on _November_ 4, 1688. Tho I dare say, that the Dissenters themselves are of that Constancy, as to own that they were of the same Principles in 88 that they were of in 85; but the Truth is, old Friendships cannot be so easily forgot: And it has been an Observation made by some, that hardly can any one be found, who was first tainted with a Conventicle, whom a Cathedral could ever after cure, but that still upon every cross turn of Affairs against the _Church_, the irresistible _Magnetism_ of the _Good Old Cause_ (as some still think it) would quickly draw him out of the _Good Old Way_.