_What is it now that you intend for the Subject of your_ Observations?
_A._ Take it in few words then. My business is, to encounter the
_Faction_, and to Vindicate the _Government_; to detect their
_Forgeries_; to lay open the Rankness of their _Calumnies_, and
_Malice_; to Refute their _Seditious Doctrines_; to expose their
_Hypocrisy_, and the _bloudy Design_ that is carry'd on, under the Name,
and Semblance, of _Religion_; And, in short, to lift up the Cloke of the
_True Protestant_ (as he Christens himself) and to shew the People, the
_Jesuite_ that lies skulking under it.
_Q. Shall the_ Observator _be a_ Weekly Paper, _or How_?
_A._ No, No; but oftner, or seldomer, as I see Occasion.
_Q. Pray favour me a word; When you speak of a_ True Protestant, _don't
you mean a_ Dissenting Protestant?
_A._ Yes, I do: For your _Assenting_ and _Consenting Protestant_ (you
must know) is a _Christian_.
_Q. And is not a_ Dissenting Protestant _a_ Christian too?
_A._ Peradventure, he _is_ one; peradventure, _not_: For a _Dissenter_
has his Name from his _Disagreement_, not from his _Perswasion_.
_Q. What is a Dissenter then?_
_A._ Tis Impossible to say either what a _Dissenter IS_, or what he is
_NOT_. For he's a _NOTHING_; that may yet come to be _ANY thing_. He may
be a _Christian_; or he may be a _Turk_; But you'l find the best account
of him in his _Name_. _A DISSENTER, is one that thinks OTHERWISE._ That
is to say, let the _Magistrate_ think what he pleases, the _Dissenter_
will be sure to be of _another Opinion_. A _Dissenter_ is not of _This_,
or of _That_, or of _Any Religion_; but _A Member Politique of an
Incorporate Faction_: or Otherwise; A _Protestant-Fault-Finder_ in a
_Christian Commonwealth_.
_Q. Well! but tho' a_ Dissenter _may be_ any thing; _A_ Dissenting
Protestant _yet tells ye_ what _he Is_.
_A._ He does so, he tells ye that he _is_ a _Negative_: an
_Anti-Protester_; One that _Protests AGAINST_, but not _FOR_ any thing.
_Q. Ay; but so long as he opposes the_ Corruptions _of the Church of_
Rome.
_A._ Well: And so he does the _Rites_, and _Constitutions_ of the Church
of _England_ too. As a _Protestant_, he does the _former_; and the
_Other_ as a _Dissenter_.
_Q. But is there no_ Uniting _of These_ Dissenters?
_A._ You shall as soon make the Winds blow the same way, from all the
Poynts of the Compass.
_Q. There are_ Good _and_ Bad, _of_ all Opinions, _there's no doubt
on't: But do you think it fayr, to Condemn a_ whole Party _for some_ Ill
men _in't_?
_A._ No, by no means: The _Party_ is neither the _Worse_, for having
_Ill_ men in it, nor the _Better_, for _Good_. For whatever the
_Members_ are, the _Party_ is a _Confederacy_; as being a _Combination_,
against the _Law_.
_Q. But a man may_ Mean honestly, _and yet perhaps ly under some_
Mistake. _Can any man help his Opinion?_
_A._ A man may _Mean well_, and _Do Ill_; he may shed _Innocent Bloud_,
and _think he does God good Service_. 'Tis True: A man cannot help
_Thinking_; but he may help _Doing_: He is _Excusable_ for a _Private_
Mistake, for _That's_ an Error only to _himself_; but when it comes once
to an _Overt Act_, 'tis an _Usurpation_ upon the _Magistrate_, and
there's no Plea for't.
_Q. You have no kindnesse, I perceive, for a_ Dissenting Protestant;
_but what do you think of a bare_ Protestant _without any_ Adjunct?
_A._ I do look upon _Such_ a _Protestant_ to be a kind of an _Adjective
Noun-Substantive; It requires something to be joyn'd with it, to shew
its Signification_. By _Protestancy_ in _General_ is commonly understood
a _Separation_ of Christians from the Communion of the Church of _Rome_:
But to _Oppose Errors_, on the _One hand_, is not Sufficient, without
keeping our selves _Clear_ of Corruptions, on the _Other_. Now it was
the _Reformation_, not the _Protestation_, that Settled us upon a _true
Medium_ betwixt the two _Extreams_.
_Q. So that you look upon the_ Protestation, _and the_ Reformation, _it
seems, as two several things_.
_A._ Very right; But in such a manner only, that the _Former_, by Gods
Providence, made way for the _Other_.
_Q. But are not all_ Protestants _Members of the_ Reformed Religion?
_A._ Take notice, _First_, that the _Name_ came Originally from the
_Protestation_ in 1529. against the _Decree of Spires_; and that the
_Lutheran Protestants_ and _Ours_ of the Church of _England_, are not of
the _Sam Communion_. Now _Secondly_; If you take _Protestants_ in the
_Latitude_ with our _Dissenters_, they are not so much a _Religion_,
as a _Party_; and whoever takes this Body of _Dissenters_ for _Members_
of the _Reformed Religion_ sets up a _Reformation_ of a _hundred and
fifty Colours_ and as may [sic] _Heresies_. The _Anabaptists, Brownists,
Antinomians, Familists, &c._ do all of them set up for _Dissenting
Protestants_; but God forbid we should ever enter these _People_ upon
the Roll of the _Reformation_.
_Q._ Well! _but what do you think of_ Protestant Smith _and_ Protestant
Harris?
_A._ Just as I do of _Protestant Muncer_, and _Protestant Phifer_; a
Brace of _Protestants_ that cost the Empire 150000 Lives: and our own
_Pretended Protestants_ too, of Later Date, have cost _This Nation
little lesse_.
_Q. Ay: But these are men of quite another Temper: Do not you see how
zealous they are for the Preservation of the_ King's Person, _the_
Government, _and the_ Protestant Religion?
_A._ I _See_ well enough what they _Say_, and I _know_ what they _do_.
Consider, _First_, that they are Profess'd _Anabaptists: Smith_ no less
then a _pretended Prophet_; and the _Other_, a kind of a _Wet
Enthusiast. Secondly_; 'tis the very _Doctrine_ of the _Sect_ to root
out _Magistracy_, Cancel _Humane Laws; Kill_, and take _Possession_; and
_wash their Feet with the Bloud of the Ungodly_; and where ever they
have set Footing, they have _Practic'd_ what they _Taught_. Are not
these likely men now, to help out a _King_, and a _Religion_, at a dead
lift? If you would be further satisfy'd in the Truth of things, reade
_Sleidan, Spanhemius, Gastius, Hortensius, Bullinger, Pontanus, The
Dipper dipp'd, Bayly's Disswasive, Pagets Heresiography_, &c.
_Hortensius_ tells ye, how _Jack of Leydens Successor_ murthered his
Wife, to make way to his Daughter, _P._ 74. and after that, cut a girls
throat, for fear she should tell Tales. _Gastius_ tells us of a Fellow
that cut off his brothers Head, as by Impulse, and then cry'd, _The Will
of God is fulfilled, lib. I. Pa. 12. Jack of Leyden_ started up from
Supper, _to do some business_ (he said) _which the Father had commanded
him_, and cut off a Soldiers Head; and afterwards cut off his Wives head
in the _Market-place. Sleydans Comment. Lib. 10._
_Q. You will not make the_ Protestant-Mercury _to be an_ Anabaptist
_too, will ye_?
_A._ If you do make him _any thing_, I'le make him _That_. But in one
word, they are _Factious_ and _Necessitous_; and consequently, the
fittest Instruments in the world, for the Promoting of a _Sedition_.
First, as they are _Principled_ for't; and then, in respect of their
_Condition_; for they are every man of them under the Lash of the Law,
and Retainers to Prisons; So that in their _Fortunes_ they can hardly
be _worse_. Insomuch, that it is a common thing for them to lend a Name
to the countenancing of a Libel which no body else dares own.
_Q. Well! but let them be as_ poor, _and_ malicious _as_ Devils, _so
long as they have neither_ Brains, _nor_ Interest, _what hurt can their
Papers do_?
_A._ The Intelligences, you must know, that bear their _Names_, are not
of _their Composing_, but the Dictates of a _Faction_, and the Venom of
a Club of _Common-wealths-men_ instill'd into those Papers.
_Q. These are_ Words, _all this while, without_ Proofs; _Can you shew us
particularly where the Venom lies?_
_A._ It is the business of every Sheet they Publish, to Affront the
_Government_, the _Kings Authority_, and _Administration_; the
_Privy-Council_; the _Church, Bench, Juries, Witnesses_; All _Officers,
Ecclesiastical, Military_, and _Civil_: and no matter for _Truth_ or
_Honesty_, when a _Forg'd Relation_ will serve their turn. 'Tis a common
thing with them, to get half a dozen _Schismaticall_ Hands to a
_Petition_, or _Address_ in a corner, and then call it, the sense of the
Nation: and when all's done, they are not above twenty Persons, that
make all this Clutter in the Kingdom.
_Q. But to what End do they all this?_
_A._ To make the Government _Odious_, and _Contemptible_; to magnifie
their own Party; and fright the People out of their _Allegeance_, by
_Counterfeit Letters, Reports_, and _false Musters_, as if the sober and
considerable part of the Nation were all on their side.
_Q. We are in Common Charity to_ allow, _for_ Errors, _and_
Mis-reports, _and not presently to make an Act of_ Malice, _and_
Design, _out of every_ Mistake. _Can you shew me any of these_
Counterfeits, _and_ Impostures _that you speak of? These_ Cheats _upon
the_ People, _and_ Affronts _upon the_ Government?
_A._ Yes, yes; Abundantly. And Il'e give you Instances immediately upon
every poynt you'l ask me: Only This note, by the way; That let them be
_mistakes_, or _Contrivances_, or what you will, they all run
Unanimously _against_ the Government, without so much as one Syllable in
_favour_ of it: Which makes the matter desperately suspitious.
_Q. Let me see then, in the First place, where any_ Affront _is put upon
the_ Government.
_A. Some Persons_ (Says Smiths Prot. Int. N. 7.) _in_ Norwich, _&c. who
have a greater stock of_ Confidence, _and_ Malice, _then_ Wisdom, _and_
Honesty, _are so far transported with_ Zeal _to serve the_ Devil, _or
his_ Emissaryes _the_ Papists, _that they are now Prosecuting several_
Dissenting Protestants _upon_ Stat. 35. Eliz. _&c._ (And so the
Protestant-Mercury, _N._ 15.) _Some People at_ Norwich, _are playing
the_ Devil _for_ Godsake: _several honest, peaceable_, Protestant
Dissenters, _having been troubled for not coming to_ Church, _or having
been Present at_ Religious Meetings &c. Now what greater _Affront_ can
there be to _Government_, then This language, _First_, from an
_Anabaptist_ that is a _Professed Enemy_ to _all Government_; and
_Secondly_, from a _Private Person_, Bare-fac'd, to arraign a _Solemn
Law_: A _Law_ of this _Antiquity_; a _Law_ of _Queen Elizabeth's_, (a
Princesse so much Celebrated by our _Dissenters themselves_ for her
_Piety, Good Government_, and _Moderation_;) a _Law_ which, upon
Experience, has been found so _Necessary_, that the bare _Relaxing_ of
it, cost the _Life_ of a _Prince_, the _Bloud_ of _two or three hundred
thousand_ of his _Subjects_, and a _Twenty-years-Rebellion_? To say
nothing of the dangerous Consequence of making it _Unsafe_ for
_Magistrates_ to discharge their Dutyes, for fear of _Outrages_, and
_Libells_.
_Q. Well! but what have you to say now to the_ Kings Authority, _his_
Administration, _and his_ Privy Council.
_A. Smith_ (in his _Vox Populi, P._ 13.) saith, that _the King is
oblig'd to pass or Confirm those Laws his People shall Chuse_, at which
rate, if they shall tender him a Bill for the _Deposing_ of himself, he
is bound to _agree_ to't. _Secondly_, in the same Page, _he Denies the
Kings Power of Proroguing, or Dissolving Parliaments_; which is an
_Essential_ of _Government_ it self, under what Form soever, and he's no
longer a _King, without it_. And then for his _Administration, P._ 1.
the _Anabaptist_ charges upon his Majesty [_those many surprizing and
astonishing Prorogations, and Dissolutions_ (as he has worded his
Meaning) _to be procur'd by the Papists_.] And then, _P._ 15. he wounds
both the _King_, and his _Council_, at a Blow; in falling upon _those
that make the King break his Coronation-Oath_; arraigning his _Council_
in the _First_ place, and the _King himself_ in the _Second_; and that
for no less then the breach of _Oath_, and _Faith_.----Wee'l talk out
the Rest at our next Meeting.
_London_, Printed for _H. Brome_, at the Gun in S. _Pauls_ Church-yard.
=Numb.= 13.
THE OBSERVATOR.
In _QUESTION_ and _ANSWER_.
=SATURDAY=, May 14. 1681.
_Q_. _But which way lies_ your _Humour_ then?
_A._ My way (you must know) lies more to _History_, and _Books_, and
_Politicks_, and _Religion_, and _such as That_, But take this along
with you too; that I am for turning over of _Men_, as well as _Books_;
for that's the Profitable Study when all's done.
_Q. Pre' thee commend me to the_ Common Hangman _then, If He that_ turns
over _the most_ men _be the_ Greatest Philosopher. _But how_ turning
over _of_ Men?
_A._ That is to say, I _Read_ Them; I _Study_ them; I speak of _turning
over_ their _Actions_, not their _Bodys_. And Pray observe my _Simile.
Every_ Action _of a mans_ Life _resembles_ a Page _in a_ Book. D'ye Mark
me?
_Q._ I _were to Blame else, But what are the Authors that you would
recommend to a bodys Reading?_
_A._ Why thereafter as the Subject is, As for _History_; ye have _Clarks
Lives_, and _Examples_; _Lloyd's Memoirs_; the _Popes Warehouse_, &c.
For _Politicks_; There's Mr. _Baxters Holy Commonwealth_, the _Assemblys
Catechism_, The Letter about the _Black Box_, &c. For _Law_, ye have Mr.
_Prinn's Soveraign Power of Parliaments_; _Smiths Vox Populi_, &c. For
_Morals_, There's _Youth's Behaviour_; And then For _Deep Knowledge_, ye
have _Brightman's Revelations Reveal'd_; _Lilly's Hieroglyphicks_; the
_Northern Star_, _Jones_ of the _Heart_: All Excellent Pieces in their
kinds, and not Inferior (perhaps) to any of the Ancients.
_Q. I was never so happy as to meet with any of these Authors. But what
d'ye think of_ Cornelius Tacitus?
_A._ A _Talking, Tedious, Empty Fellow_.
_Q. Well but is not_ Titus Livius _a pretty Good_ Historian?
_A._ Ha Ha Ha. That Same _Titus_ is an Errant _Puppy_, A _Damn'd,
Insipid, Lying Coxcomb. Titus Livius_ a good _Historian_ sayst thou? Why
if I had a _Schoolboy_ that writ such _Latin_ I'de tickle his _Toby_ for
him.
_Q. But what's your Opinion of_ Caesars Commentaries _then? I mean, for
a_ Narrative?
_A._ A _Narrative_ d'ye say? Deliver me from such _Narratives_! Why 'tis
no more to be compar'd to the _Narratives_ that are written _now adays_,
then an _Apple_ is to an _Oyster_.
_Q. But however He was a very_ Brave Fellow, _was he not_?
_A._ He was an _Arbitrary_, Oppressing, Tyrannical _Fellow_. And then
for his _Bravery_, he did pretty well at the Battel of _Leipsick_, and
after that, at _Lepanto_; and when you have said that, you have said
all.
_Q. You have read all these Authors, have you not?_
_A._ Why verily I _have_, and I have _not_. They are a company of
_Lying, Ridiculing Rascals_; They do not _AFFECT_ me at all: they are
below me, they are not worth my notice.
_Q. What would I give to be as well vers'd in_ History, _as you are_?
_A._ And that's Impossible, let me tell ye; Utterly Impossible: For I
reade just six times as much as any other Man. I have Read more
_Folio's_ then ever _Tostatus_ read _Pages_. In one Word; I reade as
much in _one hour_, as any other man reads in _six_.
_Q. Why how can that be?_
_A._ Why you must know I have a notable Faculty that way. I read ye _two
Pages_ at a _view_: the _Right-hand_ Page with _one eye_, and the _Left_
with _t'other_, and then I carry _three Lines_ before me at a time with
_each eye_.
_Q. But can ye_ Keep _what ye_ Reade, _at this rate_?
_A._ I _remember_ six times more then I _reade_; for I supply all that
was left out, and yet 'tis a wonderfull thing, I cannot for my heart's
blood remember _Faces_. I dare swear I have taken one man for another
twenty times; but I am altogether for _Things_, and _Notions_, d'ye see,
and such like; _Countenances_, let me tell ye, don't _AFFECT_ me; And
yet I have a strange aversion for the two Faces I saw with you t'other
day.
_Q. What D'ye mean_, Kings-man _and_ Church-man?
_A. Devil's-man_ and _Damms-man_: A couple of _Canary-Birds_, I'le
warrant 'em: But _Kings-man_ is better yet then _Duke's-man_.
_Q. Why do ye talk thus of men of Quality, and Considerable Families?_
_A._ Well! but I may live to see their Honours laid in the dust tho' for
all that. Prethee why is not _Circingle-man, Lawn-sleeve-man,
Mitre-man_, as good a name as _Church-man_? Pray what Family is this
same _Church-man_ of, for I know a world of the _Name_? He's of the
_Prelatical House_, I suppose, Is he not?
_Q. Well, and is he ever the worse for that?_
_A._ Only _Antichrist_ is the _Head_ of the _Family_. Come let me talk a
little roundly to ye. How many sound _Protestant Divines_ may there be
of that House now, d'ye think, in _England_, and _Wales_, and the Town
of _Berwick upon Tweed_? not above _Six_, if I be a _Christian_, and all
the rest are _Tantivy's_, and worshippers of the Beast: But I may live
yet to have the scowring of some of their Frocks for 'em.
_Q. Prethee when didst thou see Mr._ Sancroft?
_A._ Not a good while; but _Harry_ and I had a Crash t'other day yonder
at _Greenwich_.
_Q. What's become of_ L'Estrange _I wonder?_
_A._ Who! _Towzer?_ that _Impudent Dog_; That _Tory-Rascal_; That
_Fidling Curr_. He's in the Plot with _Celiers_, and young _Tong_, as
sure as thou'rt alive, and as Rank a _Papist_ (let him swear what he
will) as ever Piss't.
_Q. But has he not taken the_ Sacrament _to the_ contrary?
_A._ A _Popish Proselyte_ is no more to be believ'd, upon his _Oath_,
than the _Devil himself_ if he were to Expound upon the _Gospel_. Why
they have Dispensations to swear any thing.
_Q. What and continue Papists still?_
_A._ Yes: And go on still with the Hellish Popish Plot, as heartily as
ever they did before. Why don't you see how the Toad Brazens it out
still that he was not at _Somerset-House_? tho' _Prance_ and _Mowbray_
swear they saw him there?
_Q. Well, But who knows best? He_ Himself, _or the_ Witnesses?
_A._ Not a fart matter; For whether 'twas so or not; It were better
Forty such Rogues were Hang'd then one Kings-Evidence Disparag'd.
_Q. But did they not swear a little short, think ye?_
_A._ Nay, they might have sworn _homer_, I must confess.
_Q. But now you mind me of_ Somerset-House; _Do'nt you remember a young
Fellow of_ Cambridge _that Refus'd to receive the Sacrament, because (as
he told his Master) he was reconcil'd to the Church, of_ Rome, _and
Converted, and Baptiz'd at_ Somerset-House? _This is an old story ye
must know. Why might not this be_ Towzer?
_A._ Nay as like as not, for the _Universitys_ are the very _Seminarys_
of _Popery_, and it will never be well with _England_ till _those
Calves_ be turn'd a _grazing_.
_Q. But is there no believing of a_ Converted Papist _upon his_ Oath?
_Why does the Law receive 'em then (upon such and such Certain Tests)
for_ statutable Protestants?
_A._ The _Law_ never was among 'em as _I_ have been. There's no such
thing (I tell ye) as a _Converted Papist_, and he shall sooner change
his _shape_, then his _Nature: Kiss a Book, Kiss mine Arse_.
_Q. Why d'ye talk thus at random?_
_A._ Come, come, the _Outlandish Doctor_ for my mony: that told one of
the _Macks_ t'other day in the face of the _Bench_, that _he would let
down his Breeches and shite upon him. Plain-dealing's a Jewell._
_Q. Thou'rt e'en as busy with a_ Backside _as a_ Glyster-Pipe. _But
(sluttery a part) Pray have a care what ye say; for if a_ Proselyted
Papist _be not to be trusted upon his_ Oath, _what becomes of the_ Kings
Evidence _that_ swear _under the_ same Circumstances? _But here's enough
of this; and Pre'thee tell us now, how go squares in the_ State _all
this while_?
_A._ Oh very bad, very bad, nothing but _Tory-Rorys_, from top to
bottom. _Tory-Judges; Tory-Jurys; Tory-Justices; Tory-Officers;
Tory-Crackfarts; Tory-Pamphlets_. All, _Certiorari-men_, and _Yorkists_.
But I rattled up some of 'em there at the----_What d'ye
call't-House_----Oh they'r grown strangely Insolent since these Bawling
Addresses.
_Q. Why what do they do?_
_A._ Why they set every _Rascally Squire_ and _Doctor above_ me: Nay,
they'l scarce put off their hats to me unless I begin; and then they
stand grinning at Me and my Train. Would you think now that a fellow
should have the Impudence to call Me to an account, for nothing in the
world, but saying, that _he had_ a Bitch _to his_ Wife, _and_ she _a_
Rogue _to her_ Husband. And then to be call'd _Sirrah_ for my pains,
only for telling a _Court-Kinsman_ of his that _I should Lace the Rogue,
his Cozens Coat for him_. Well If I had not sent a Fool o'my errant I
had had the Rascal in _Lob's_ Pound before this time.
_Q. And how came ye to miss?_
_A._ Why the Agent that I employ'd was so set upon his Guts, that he
never minded the discourse at the Table. We had had him else. Or if he
could but have got him to ha' met me, we'd ha' done his business.
_Q. But d'ye take this to be fair dealing now; to set any man at work to
betray his Host; or to give such language to people of Condition?_
_A._ What not when the _Protestant Religion_ lies at _stake_? Why
Pre'thee I tell the Proudest of 'em all to their Teeth, that they are
_Villains_ and _Scoundrells_. What do I care for their _Graces_ and
_Reverences_, they _Pimp_ for _Preferment_, and some of 'em shall hear
on't too _next Parliament_. But Hark ye I have a great deal of work upon
my hands, and I want an _Ammanuensis_ out of all Cry.
_Q. Why ye had a Pretty Fellow to'ther day, what's become of him?_
_A._ I'l tell ye then. A _Taylor_ had made him a _Garment_: and
afterwards coming to him for the _mony_, he deny'd the Receit on't and
being prest upon it, he offer'd to purge himself upon _Oath_, that he
never had any such Garment. Upon this, the matter rested for a while;
but at length, it was prov'd where he had _Sold_ it, and so the Taylor
had satisfaction. In short, I turn'd him away apon't, for he is no
servant for me that's _taken_ in a false Oath.
_Q. How is it possible for you to go thorough with all your
Writing-work?_
_A._ Nay that's true; considering what a deal of other business I have;
for really there would be no Justice done, if I did not look after
_Witnesses_, _Jurys_, Choice of _City-Officers_, Election of _Members_
to serve in _Parliament_, both for _Town_, and _Country_; the disposing
of _Ecclesiastical Dignitys_; the _Jurisdiction_ of _Courts_; the
_Government_ of _Prisons_; the _Regulation_ of _Messengers Fees_: In one
word, the stress of the whole Government lyes in a manner upon my
shoulders; And I am so _Harrass'd_ with it, that I profess I was e'en
thinking, a little before the Meeting of the last Parliament, to lay out
a matter of _Twenty or Thirty Thousand Pound_ upon some Pretty Seat in
the Country, and Retire.
_Q. Why truly for a man that has seen the world as you have done, what
can he do better?_
_A._ Yes, I have seen the world to my Cost. 'Twas a sad thing for me,
you must think, that never went to bed in my Mothers House without four
or five Servants to wait upon me, (and if I had a mind to a _Tart_, a
_Custard_, or a _Cheescake_ at any time, I had 'em all at command:) to
be _Hackny'd_, and _Jolted_ up and down in a Forreign Country like a
_Common Body_.
_Q. But what was it that put you upon_ Travel?
_A._ The Desire I had to see _Religions_, and _Fashions_: And now it
comes in my head. Did you ever see my _Grounds and Occasions of the
Contempt of the Clergy_?
_Q. Was That Yours then?_
_A. Mum_; betwixt friends. But I shall have a touch ere long at the
_Creed-making Rascal_ there.
_Q. Who's that?_ Athanasius?
_A._ The very same. What a _Declaration_ is there?
_Q. But how d'ye like the Kings Declaration?_
_A. Not at all. Not at all._ It runs so much upon the _Arbitrary_, and
the _Prelatick_? Yes, and upon something else too.
_Q. Come, 'Faith we should not part with dry lips, What d'ye think of
one_ Roomer _now to the Health of? (Hark, and I'le tell ye.)_
_A._ I'le drink no _Traitors_ Health.
_Q. Why prethee what is_ Civilly-Drinking _his Health, more then_
Dutifully Praying _for't_?
_A._ No: I am of the mans mind that said, I _hope the Devil will have
him; and if there be any punishment in Hell greater then another_, I
_hope the Devil will tear his soul to pieces_. So Farewell.