Selections from the Observator (1681-1687) Part 6

Vol. 3. =Numb. 88=

THE OBSERVATOR,

_A_ Schism _a Greater Judgment then a_ Pestilence. _The_ Natural Rhetorique _of the_ Non-Cons. _The_ Danger _of them. Several_ Sorts _and_ Degrees _of Danger. Of Coming_ About, _or Coming_ Over. _The_ Cause _Transferr'd from_ Government _to_ Religion.

=Munday=, September 28. 1685.

_OBSERVATOR._ If I were the _Master_ of a _Territory_, I would as soon _Trust_ so many _Spirits_ in my _Pulpits, to Blow a Pestilence thorough my Dominions_, as so many of our _Non-Conforming Divines_; and reckon my _People_ much _Safer_ too, under the Danger of a _Plague_, then under the _Consequences_ of a _Schism_: For the _One Taints_ but the Bodies of Men; the _Other Destroys_ their very Souls; the _One_ takes them _Promiscuously_, the _Good_, and the _Bad, One_ with _Another_: But the _'Tother Marks_, and _Singles-out_ the _Best Men_ for _Ruine_, with a _Privilege_ of _Exemption_, to those that neither fear _G.o.d_, nor _Man_.

The _One_ Sweeps away a Number of Single _Persons_; the _Other_ Tears to pieces the _Sinews_ of a _Community_. The _One_ does, in _some Degree_, Conduce to the _Purging_ of a _Wicked Nation_, when the _Wrath_ of _Heaven_ is _Appeas'd_ by the _Discharge_ of some _Dreadfull Judgment_ upon't; (as the _Air_ is Clear'd by _Thunder_) The _Other_ does All that is _Possible_ to the _Filling-up_ of the _Measure_ of a _Publique Iniquity_; and the making of a Land Ripe for _Vengeance_.

_TRIMMER._ Prethee what _Danger_? Or what needs this _Lashing_, when they are All Tongue-Ty'd; and Driven into _Holes_, and _Hiding-Places_, to keep out of the way of _Messengers_, and _Constables_, and out of the _Clutches_ of the _Corporation-Act_, and _Other Penal Laws_ against their _Private Meetings_?

_Obs._ What dost thou Talk of Tongue-Ty'd? Why I will undertake it; (and in _Serious Good Earnest_ too) _Gagg_ the Whole Set of'em; Give Every man his _Pulpit_, or his _Chair_, and only a Bare Standing in't; and if they do not _Wink_, and _Nod_, and _Cuff_ any Prince in _Christendom_ out of his _Dominions_, without a _Word Speaking_, I'le be thy _Bond-slave_. Why they do not do their Bus'ness, man, by the Force of _Logique, Grammar_, or by the _Dint_ of _Theology_: But by _Groans, Pangs, Tragical Ululations, Silent Interjections, Whining Apostrophes, Melting Epiphonemas_; and in a word; by the Helps of _Natural Rhetorick_, without _Need_, of either _Sense_, or _Syllables_.

_Trim._ They _Preach_, and _Pray_, without _Speaking_ then.

_Obs._ No No. They do Talk for _Fashion_-sake: But Observe it while you will; They move the _Pa.s.sions_ of their _Auditory_, in the _Belfry_, or the _Church-Porch, Forty times more_ then Directly under the _Pulpit_: For the _Emphasis_ of an _Action_; a _Motion, Tone_, or _Countenance_, makes a much Deeper _Impression_, than that of a _Naked, Empty, Sound_: And for _My Part_, I fancy, it might do as well for 'em to Whistle their _Preachments_ as to Articulate them: For the _Masterpiece_, or the All in All of it, lies Mainly, in _Hitting_ the _Tune_.

_Trim._ D'ye call this Reasoning, or Ridiculing?

_Obs._ 'Tis _Both_ in _One_: For it is the _Ridiculous Truth_, and the _Just Reason, Method_, and _State_ of the _Matter_: And when People are once _Juggled_ Out _of their Wits_, they must be _Fool'd_ Into _'em again_. Now there needs no more to the doing of _That Work_, then the bare _Drawing_ of the _Curtain_, and letting People into the _Tyring-Room_. For the _Cause_, is all over, _Theatrical_: The _Actors_ are _Hypocrites_, in their _Manners_, as well as in the _Etymon_; and the whole _Manage_, fitter for a _Stage_, then a _Pulpit_. So that the most _Certain Way_ in _Nature_, for the making of the _Practice, Odious_; and the _Disabusing_ of the _Undiscerning Mult.i.tude_, is to _lay Open_ their _False Colours, Shapes_, & _Disguises_; and _Expose_ Every thing in its _Naked Simplicity_ to the _Light_.

_Trim._ And what if a man should Allow This sort of People now, to be the most _Uncouth, Hideous Monsters_ of the _Creation_? To have the _Teeth_, the _Nails_, the _Fierceness_, the _Strength_, & the _Appet.i.te_ of the most _Ravenous_ of _Wild Beasts_? This Discourse, of _Caution_, and _Description_, might do well enough in the _Countrys_ of _Lyons_, and _Tygers_: But what's All This, to _his Majesties Dominions_, where there are either _None_ of These Creatures, _at all_, or No _Other_, at least, then such as have their _Nails Par'd_, and their _Chops Muzzled_: And no more _Danger_ of them, at present, then of our _Beeves_, and _Muttons_.

_Obs._ Dost not thou know that there are _Several_ Sorts, & Degrees of _Danger_? A man may be Wheedled into a _Precipice_, as well as Thrown into't: A man may be Hugg'd or Suck'd to _Death_, without any Biting, or Scratching in the Case: A man may be Poyson'd in his _Porridge_, as well as Strangl'd in his _Bed_: A man may have False Opinions _Impos'd_ upon him by a _Fallacy_, or _Fraud_ in _Argument_, as well as Extorted from him, by the Force of _Menace_, and _Torment_. And his Bus'ness, at last, is _done_, as Dead, _One way_ as _T'other_: And so for the Degrees of _Danger_; There's _Danger at Hand_; there's _Danger_ at a _Distance_; _Danger_ in _Design_, and _Danger_ in _Practice_; And _Danger_, in fine, through All the _Preparatory_, and _Mediate Tendencies_ to _Mischief_, to the _Last Effect_ that _Pushes_ it self forth to _Execution_.

_Trim._ Very Good! And what are All These _Sorts_, and _Degrees_ of _Danger_ to the _Instances_ we have now _Before_ us?

_Obs._ 'Tis true; The _Faction_ is not in Condition to _Attacque_ the _Government_ by _Force_: Their _Armies_ are _Scatter'd_, and their _Squadrons Defeated_; the _Whole Party_ put to their _Shifts_; and the very _Best_ of 'em, has enough to do to _save his Own Bacon_. Their _Teeth_ are _Drawn_, I'le Allow ye, All but here and there a _Stump_; And yet they'l _Pinch, Plaguily_, though they cannot _Worry_, and _Tear_: And with _Time_, and _Good Discipline_, they'l come to _Grow again_. They have the _Same Principles_ to friend, that _ever_ they had: Only they must be _Manag'd Another Way_: And there can never Want _Matter_, for _Artificial Flattery, Wheedling, Imposture_ and _Hypocrisy_, to _Work_ upon. They are not in Condition to _Advance_, at this time of the Day, in the face of the _Sun_, and of the _Government_, with their _Petticoats Flying_, under the _Auspicious Direction_ of their _Tutelary Angel, Ferguson_; and [Fear Nothing but G.o.d] for their _Motto_. But they must Supply want of _Strength_, by _Stratagem_; and _Carry-on_ their _Approches_, out of sight. 'Tis only a little more _Patience_, and the _Work_ will be brought about, as sure at the _Long-Run_, by a _Mine_, as by a _Battery_: And the _Certifying_ of _a Hundred and Fifty Perrots_ into the _Service_, and _Protection_ Of the _Government_, will be of Greater _Effect_, then the _Drawing-up_ of _Ten Thousand men in Arms_, Against it. Now _These Methods_ lye All _Open_ still, only they are somewhat more _About_. Now as to _Dangers Remote_, or _Nearer hand; Dangers_ of _Design_, or _Dangers_ of _Practice_: All the _Preparatories_, & _Dispositions_ to _Mischief_, in their _Secret Impulses_, and _Causes_, are as _Vigorous_ Now, as Ever they were, that is to say, within Two or Three Motions of a _Publique Violence_: Only This Difference in the Case, that we have _Hitherto_, been in the _Greatest Danger_ of our _Profess'd_, & _Open Enemies_: And _Now_, G.o.d bless us from our _Pretending Friends_: For all on a Sudden, the _Trimmers_ are come-up to be _Stark Church-of-England-men_; And the _Phanatiques_, gotten a _Form Higher_, into the _Seat_ or _Cla.s.ses_ of the _Trimmers_.

_Trim._ Thou art _Well, neither Full nor Fasting_. Neither _Fanatique_, nor _Trimmer_, nor _Church-of-England-man_ I perceive, will please ye; The _Controversy_ of a New King; or a Common-Wealth, is _Out of Doors_; The Question of Liberty of Conscience; The _Privilege_ of _Private Meetings_ for Religous Worship; And a _Challenge_ of _Dispensation_ from the _Rites, Ceremonies, and_ Discipline _of the Church, are_ All layd aside. And All This will not serve the _Turn_ yet. Now if Men go to _Church_; Take _Tests_, make _Declarations_; And _Do_ and _Perform_ All that the _Law Requires_ of'em; where's the _Danger_ of These People I beseech ye?

_Obs._ Not in their _coming over_ with their _Bodies_, but in _Staying behind_, in their _Good Wills_, and _Affections_: Nay, and in their _Communicating_ with the _Church_ in the _Morning_, and in the _Afternoon_, with the _Schism_: And pray will you Note in them, One Thing _More_ too. 'Tis worth the while, when they _Ramble_ from their _Own Parish_, to _Observe_ whither they go: For I have known the very _Streets Throng'd_, out of Distance of _Hearing One Word_ that the _Minister says_, with the _Same Superst.i.tion_, that the _Quakers Flock_ to the _Door_, when they are _Lock'd-out_ of the _Meeting-House_: In which Case, It has yet the _Semblance_ of a _Private Meeting_; And in Truth, looks liker a _Political Muster_, then a _Religious Exercise_: But Heark ye for One Word, before we go any further; Suppose a Man should have sayd about the _Beginning_ of _July Last_, in a _Brisk Reply_ to a _Reflexion_ made upon the _Western-Rebells_; (at that time in their _Pride_ and _Glory_) [The King has as Loyal Subjects in That Army as Any are in T'other.] Wouldst thou have me, in Construction of _Common Sense_, and _Honesty_, look upon _That Person_, to be, Effectually Come over, and in the _State_ of _a True Church-of-England-man_; only for _Keeping_ the _Law_, with his _Heels_, when he _Breaks_ it, with his _Tongue_, and _Doctrine_? Now this is more then I Owe ye, upon the Matter in hand: For you have Carry'd the _Question_ quite _back_ again, from the _Non-Con-Ministers_, to the _Generality_, and the _Mult.i.tude_ of the _Dissenters_: which is a Point Wholly _Excepted_, and out of the _Limits_ of _Our Debate_: For All their _Conventicles_ without a _Mouth_, are _Monsters_; Meer _Nullities_, & _Bilks_, without a _Teacher_: So that I have _Restrain'd_ my _Applications_, Singly, to the _Rabbi's_ of the _Faction_, as _Including_, and _Implying_ the _Sense_, and the _Intent_ of their _Disciples_: Nay and _so far Including_ it, that they are _Barely_, the _Pa.s.sive Instruments_ of their _Leaders_. Now These _Heads_ of the _Divided Parties_, are a sort of People, that do not, by any Means, fall within the _Charitable Prospect_ of _Your Qualifications_: For they _Stand-off_, in _Contempt_, and _Defyance_ of the _Orders_, & _Censures_ of the _Church_, and of the _Law_, as much at _This Instant_, as _ever_ they did. Their _Followers Maintain_, and _Support_ them in That _Stubbornness_ of _Disobedience_; And so the _Opposition_ stands yet _Firm_, in _Effect_, though with _Less Noise_ of _Menace_, and _Tumult_.

The _Branches_, 'tis True, are _Lopt_; but the _Root_, not so much as _Touch'd_; Nay, and in such a Condition of _Vegetative Virtue_, and _Vigour_, that it wants nothing but _Time_, and a _Favourable Season_ to make it _Sprout_ again. And This you may a.s.sure your self of, that Nothing less then an _Utter_, an _Open_, a _Solemn_, and an _Irrevocable Divorce_, betwixt _These Libertine-Seducers_, and Those that have been _Trepann'd_, and _Inveigled_, out of the _Bosom_ of the _Church_, into the _Arms_ of the _Schism_: Nothing I say, less then Some such _Unalterable Act_, or _Decree_ of _Separation_, can ever _Secure_, either the _Church_, or the _State_ from the _Pernicious Consequences_ of this _Intelligence_: For betwixt _Blind Pity_, and _Foolish Zeal_, on the _One_ hand, and all the _Arts_, of _Moving_, and _Provoking_ Those _Pa.s.sions_, and _Affections_, on the _Other_, there is _kept-up_, and _Cherish'd_, a _Communication_ of _Reciprocal Kindness_, between them, that keeps the _Fire alive_ still in the _Embers_, 'till by _Degrees_, it _Blows-up_ All at last into a _Common Flame_. Now take away _These Bellows_, and _T'other Sparks_, and a man may _Sleep_ in his _Bed_, without _Dreaming_ of _Conflagrations_, or the _Dread_ of Rising with his Throat Cut.

_Trim._ I will not Excuse some _Hot-Headed Blades_, that let their _Tongues_ run before their _Wits_; And make it a Point of _Honour_, to _Brave_ All the _Terrors_ of _Death_, and _Dungeons_, in defence of the _Cause_ that they have _Undertaken_. The _Less said_, the _Better_; Though a Body cannot, in _Generosity_, but have some sort of _Compa.s.sion_, for a Man that Suffers _Death_, with _Constancy of Mind_, Even in a Mistaken Cause, if it be according to his _Conscience_.

_Obs._ If these _Impressions_ were _Inbred_, and the _Errors_ purely their _Own_, it would be a _Point_, not only of _Good Nature_, but of _Common Justice_, and _Humanity_, to have a _Tenderness_ for _People_ under an _Invincible Mistake_: But you have Started the _Strongest Argument_ in the World, against your _self_ here, by _Enforcing_ the _Necessity_ of Clearing the _Stage_ of the _Seditious Oracles_, that _Inspire These Desperate Resolutions_.

_Trim._ Why All matter of _Violence, Heat_ of _Dispute_, and _Clamour_ of _Argument_, is at an _End_. You hear no more of your _Scottish_, and _Western Declarations_; No more _Compet.i.tors_ for the _Crown_; or _Confederates_ for a _Republique_: And therefore prethee, _let_ us be at _Peace_ while we _May_ be at _Peace_; and do not stand _Puzzling_ the _People_ with _Danger_, where _No Danger is_.

_Obs._ Soft and Fair, _Trimmer_; those _Declarations, Practices_, and _Attempts_, are not to be _Repeated_ again in the _same Age_: But there are _more ways to the Wood then One_: And 'tis All a case, to a man that's _Robb'd_, whether the _Thieves_ came in at the _Door_, or at the _Window_. 'Tis very Right, That, since the Breaking of the _Rebellion_, the _Non-Cons_ lay their _Fingers_ upon their _Mouths_; and not _One Word_ of _Late_, upon the Subject of _Liberties_, and _Properties_; or of the Danger of _Tyranny_, and of _Arbitrary Power_: But All other _Grievances_ are Now _Swallow'd-up_ in _One_: They are All in _Tears_ for fear of the _Protestant Religion_; and _That's the Topique that's now Carry'd-on, through All Shapes, Figures, and Disguises_.

_Trim._ We shall have fine Work, Next Bout!

_London_, Printed for _Charles Brome_, at the Gun in St. _Paul's_ Church-yard.

Vol. 3. =Numb. 202=

THE OBSERVATOR.

_The way of Promoting_ Fears, _and_ Jelousies. _The_ People _meerly_ Pa.s.sive _in the Bus'ness. Both Parts seem to_ Contend _for the_ Same Common Principles. _The_ Rise of Jelousies.

=Sat.u.r.day=, August 21. 1686.

_TRIMMER._ The _Accommodating_ of Words, Phrases, and Texts to the Matter in hand, with the Interjecting, here and there, of Certain _Emphatical Winks_, and _Innuendo's_, to the _Common People_, will do the Bus'ness of _Fears and Jelousies_, you need never _Doubt_ it, without any more Ceremony.

_OBSERVATOR._ I do no more _Doubt_ it, then I do, that a Proper Remedy; Rightly Prepar'd; and Administer'd in the _Due_ Time and Proportion, will _Work_ such or such an _Effect_. But the _Skill_ lyes, in the Judgment of the Distemper; The Const.i.tution of the Patient; The Choice of the Physick; The Prescription of the Composition, the Preparation, and the Dos. Now _Your_ way of _Operating_, is only the Mechanicall _Part of the Bus'ness_; and no more, then the giving of a _Box_, a _Gally-pot_, or a _Gla.s.s_, with a Note of _Directions_, out of _One_ hand into _Another_: which Any _Porter_ that Plyes at the _Next Corner_, would do as _Dext'rously_, as ever a _Doctor_ of the _College_. The _Difficulty_, and the _Mystery_, is Over, before _You_ have any thing to _Do_ with it: The _Poysonous_, and _Intoxicating Draught_, Prepar'd; The _Mult.i.tude_ set a-Gaping for't, and Your _Office_, is only at last, to _Pour it down their Throats_. There's Matter of _History_, and _Fact_, enough, 'tis true, to _Satisfy any man_, that People may be made as _Mad_ with _Cant_, and _Gibberish_, as if they had taken _Henbane_; and that _the_ Sting _of_ Jelousy, will put them out of their _Wits_ as soon as _the_ Biting _of a_ Mad-Dog: But we are in the _Dark_ all this while, for the Rise, the Progress, and the Methods of Enflaming _Jelousies_, to bring'em up to that _Pitch_. Prethee let me Understand a little of their Birth, Growth, Discipline, and Education; How they are Fed, Nourish'd, and Entertain'd? What's the End, and Use of them? What Language do they _Speak_; or how comes it to pa.s.s, that the _Same_ Words, and Phrases, without _Any Intelligence_ with _Grammar, Logique, Common Usage_, or _Propriety_, should _Transport_ Some _Men_ into _Outrages, Palpitations of the Heart, Horrors_, and _Tremblings_, both of _Mind_, and of _Body_; and yet Work no more upon Others, then they _did_, before the very Letters of'em were taken out of the _Alphabet_? I do not call ye to a _Strict Shrift_ upon _Every Point_, but I Expect you shall say something to the _Whole Matter_; for a _Few Words_, in Order, will give a man more _Light_ to the _Reason_ of a Thing, then as many _Volumes_, in Confusion.

_Trim._ You are in the _Right_; that the _Craft_ lies in the Project, and the Preparatory _Manage_ of this Affair, and that the _Danger_ is gone too _Far_, when the _Mine_ is already _Wrought_; the _Powder Dispos'd_, and nothing wanting to the _Final Execution_ of the _Mischief_, but the _Lighting_ of the _Match_, and the Applying of the _Coal_ to the _Train_. You have _Well_ and _Truly_ enough _Observed_, the _Wonderfull Force_, that _Some Certain_ Words, and Phrases have; upon the _Affections_ of the _Mult.i.tude_; without the Least _Shadow_ of any Logical, Grammatical, or Philosophical _Reason_ for the _Operation_ of them. Now you must know, that _These_ Words, and Phrases, are made _Use_ of, and _Understood_, in the way of a Cypher, or a Jargon, and not according to the _Ordinary Acceptation_ of them, in a _Regular_ way of _Writing_, or of _Speaking_; So that, Effectually, the _Efficacy_ of such _Words_, and _Phrases_, is given for _Granted_; and how they come to _Obtain that Force_, remains the _Single Question_.

Now towards the _Understanding_ of this Matter, you must Consider, that no _State_ can be _Supplanted_, but by _Turning_ the _Peoples Hearts_, against the _Persons_, & the _Actions_ of their _Superiors_: So that in _All Conspiracies_ to _Destroy_ a _Government_, Fears & Jelousies, are _the_ Corner Stone _of the Babel_. Their Hearts are no sooner _Lost_, but they withdraw their Bodies too, and so, by _Degrees, Erect_ Laws, and Religions of their Own; and look upon themselves, by This time, as in _Another Commonwealth_.

_Obs._ 'Tis most _Certainly True_; and that in this _Separation_, they set-up an _Interest_ of _Direct_ Spite, as well as Opposition, to That of the _Church_, and of the _State_.

_Trim._ This is the very Course, and Progress of a _Popular Jelousy_: But pray take Notice as we go, that the _People_, are thus far, _Meerly_ Pa.s.sive; and _Contribute No Otherwise_, to the _Ruine_ of the _Publique_, then _a_ Snapping Sea does, to the _Sinking_ of a _Vessell_, when the _Billows_ are _Hurry'd-on_ by the _Violence_ of an Irresistible Tempest: if the _Winds_ would but let the _Waves alone_, they'd be _Quiet_. When they come once to Gather into [Private Meetings,] (or as you call them, Conventicles) you may _Then_ accompt upon it, that they are as good as put to _School_, to _Learn_ the Mystery of their _Profession_. For there are Canting-Schools, as well as Reading-Schools: and under This _Discipline_, they come by _Insensible Degrees_, to part with their _English_ Tongue, as well as with their _English_ Principles, and Manners. Nay, and Effectually, to take up such _Uncouth, Novel_, and _Strange_ Thoughts, Opinions, and Practices, that it looks, as if the English-Man, the Christian, and the Subject, were all lost in a Disguise. They are now, you must know, under New Lords, and Consequently, under New Laws; where they are _Train'd-up_ to _New Ways_ of Understanding Things, and to a _New Idiome_ of Expressing them.

Religion, Law, Government, Conscience, Good Manners, are so _Sacred_ in Themselves, that the _Worst_ of Men cannot but _Pretend_ a _Veneration_ for them; but how to _Baffle_, or to _Elude_ the _Force_, the _Obligation_, and the _Authority_ of them; and, at the Same Time, to set-up for the _a.s.serters_, and _Supporters_ of _These Publique Rights, Privileges_, and _Duties, There_ lies the _Difficulty_ of the _Undertaking_.

_Obs._ That is to say, how to _Resolve_ Religion, into an _Empty_ Notion: To Talk Christianity into a Paradox; and, with Christ in our _Mouths_, at _London_, to _fall down_, and _Worship_ Mahomet, in _Buda_: How to _Confound_ G.o.ds, and the Governments Friends and Enemies, so as to make the _Common People_ take _One_ for _T'other_. Now This can be no way done, but by setting-up the Counterfeit of Religion, Law, and Conscience, against the _Genuine_, and _Authentique_ Original; and by making Evil, to be Good, and Good, to be Evil.

_Trim._ You must _Note_, further, that in This _Opposition_, the Main Cause appears to be the _very Same_, on _Both sides_; and _Both Parts_ seem to _Contend_, for the Same Common Principles, of _Divine Worship_, and of _Civil Obedience_.

_Obs._ Only the _One_ Flies to the _Invisible Lights_ and _Dictates_ of the _Spirit_, in Matter of Religion; (taking Fancy for Revelation) and, in the Matter of Government, has Recourse to Certain _Unaccountable Whimsies_, of [Powers Reserv'd,] where there _never was any Power at all_; & _These Fooleries_, they _Trump_ upon the _Little People_, under the _Pompous Name_ of [_FUNDAMETALS_;] while the _Rulers_, on the _Other_ hand, Stick to the Law, to the Text, and to the _Approved Sense_ of the Best Interpreters of Both, for their _Guide_.

_Trim._ Very Good! And after they have _Departed_ from the Common Rule, and _Divided_ themselves from the Common Interest; it is but Reasonable to _Expect_, that they will Set-up Another Interest, and Another Rule to _Themselves_.

_Obs._ Well! But how do they _Manage That Province_ all this while, as to the _Subject_, I mean, that we were _Speaking_ of?

_Trim._ Why their way is, only to put _Religion_, and _Government_ in _Another Dress_; but under the Name, of [Religion,] and [_Government_,]

_Still_; and then to lay on a _Superstructure_, Answerable to the _Foundation_; I speak of the Leaders only; for their Disciples are _Blanck Paper_; and ready for _any Impression_. They _Talk_, to the Ears, and to the Pa.s.sions of their _Hearers_, not to their Understandings: and their _Auditors_ gather more of their _Meaning_, from their _Gestures, Actions, Countenances_, and from _Pathetical Tones_, then from the _Words Themselves_. As for _Sense_, or _No Sense_, 'tis _all a Case_; for 'tis the _Jingle_, not the _Matter_, that does _Their Bus'ness_. The _Less_ the People Understand, the _More_ they are Edify'd; for they take the _Congruities_ of Carnal Reason, for Vain Philosophy; and Incomprehensible Nonsense, pa.s.ses for _the Work of the_ Light Within. Their _Religion_ lies alltogether in Groan, and Rapture: _They Sacrifice to the_ Unknown G.o.d; and in One Word; They _Supply_ the _Want_ of Knowledge, with an _Excess_ of Zeal; and when they cannot _Understand_ the Plain English of a _Discourse_, they Wrap Themselves up in the Mystery. The making of a _Party_, & the Saving of their own _Skins_, are the _Two Main Points_ of the _Leaders_; and therefore, they _Cover_ themselves under Ambiguity, & Riddle; & Compa.s.s those Matters, by _Theatrical Gesticulations_, & _Actions_, which they dare not _Venture_ upon, in _Words_ at _Length_, or by the _Dint_ of _Argument_; for there is no _Law_ against _making of_ Faces, _and Dusting of_ Cushions, They are told _Mightily_, and _Plainly_, of _Heaven_, and _h.e.l.l_; but in such a _Manner_, that they will _Never Allow_ G.o.d, and the Government to be _Both of a side. Schism_ is Dignified with the _Name_ of Conscience; the Story of their _Grievances_, is the _Bitterest_ of Satyrs; Their very Pet.i.tions have the force of _Invectives_; and the _Smoother_, the _Softer_, you find the _Surface_ of them, the _Falser_, and the more _Dangerous_ they are at the _Bottom_: For betwixt the Persecution that is _Insinuated_, on the part of the _Government_, & the Innocence, the Piety, and the Modesty, on that of the Sufferers, Nothing can more Provoke, a _Horror_, and _Indignation_ for the _One_, or a _Tenderness_, & _Compa.s.sion_, for the _Other_.

_Obs._ That is to say, among Those that are not _Well Enform'd_, in the _Reason_, and _Equity of the Cause in Question_.

_Trim._ Come Come. I tell ye _Nakedly_ how things Are, and not how they Ought to be: and I speak of _Those Men_ too, that neither Do, nor Will, nor Can make a _Right Judgment_ upon the Matter in _Issue_. They do not take down _Reasons_ in Connexion; neither do their _Teachers_ so much as Offer at'em; But _their Work_ is, only to _Feed_ Itching Ears, and Humours, with _New-Quoyn'd Words, Affectate Phrases_: And briefly, to _Instruct_ their _Disciples_, by _Signs_ and _Tokens_, like so many _Dancing Horses_ to fall Lame upon all Four, for the _Pope_; to come-over, for the _Grand Vizier_; and at the very _Sound_ of Babylon, Anti-Christ, or Absolute Power, to Snort, and Boggle, as if they _Smelt Fire_. If I may tell ye the _Arrant Truth_, and _Simplicity_ of my _Heart_; This is the very Train of a Popular Inst.i.tution. They are Tutor'd, and Inur'd, to the a.s.suming of such and such _Pa.s.sions_, upon such and such _Occasions_; and they do All their _Ayres_, and _Tricks_, by the Direction of the _Hand_, or _Eye. They Dance_ to _Sounds, Hints, Nodds, Forms_, and _Syllables_; not to the force of _Fair Reasonings_, and _Natural Conclusions_; Nay, they are Taught, when to be _Angry_; when to be _Pleas'd_; and their very _Inclinations_, and _Aversions_, are none of their _Own, Neither_: The _Whole Bus'ness_, in short, is Artifice, Manage, and Practice; for _All their_ Mistakes, _and_ Mis-understandings, _take the_ Same Bia.s.s.

_Obs._ I do _Observe_, indeed, that they Shelter themselves under the _Dark Prophets_, and the _Revelation_. The _Number of the Beast_, they have all at their _Fingers Ends_; the _Geneva-Bibles_ are _Thumm'd_ over and over, at the _Same Texts_: As upon the Subject of the _Groves_, & the _High Places, Christian Liberty, Will-Worship, Humane Inventions, Idolatry, Superst.i.tion_, &c. There's not a _Verse_ in the whole _Bible_, against _Persecution_, but makes them Shake their Heads at the _Government_. Popery by _Interpretation_, is Episcopacy: The _Liberty_ of the Subject, has an _Aking Tooth_ at the _Prerogative_ of the Prince: But finally; such and such Terms, and Forms of Speaking, are, by Common Consent, to pa.s.s for _Current_, under such or such a Sense, and Meaning, how _Contrary_ soever, to their _Proper_, and _Genuine Signification_, or _Import_. But this speaks only to the Propagating of _Jelousies_, not to the Rise of them.

_Trim._ If you Ask me the [Rise] of _Jelousies_, I must _Answer_ ye, that they are _Begotten_ betwixt Ambition, Avarice, Hypocrisy, Craft, Malice, and Disloyalty, on the _One_ side; and Ignorance, Obstinacy, Blind Zeal, and an Impetuous Temerity, on the _Other_.

_London_, Printed for _Charles Brome_, at the Gun in St. _Paul's_ Church-yard.