the foregoing Article, to use _Irony_, _Drollery_, _Ridicule_, and
_Satire_, in any Case; or if the Fault lies in an exorbitant Use thereof,
or in any particular Species of _Drollery_; as, for example, such
_Drollery_ as is to be found in the polemical Writings and Sermons of Dr.
_South_; it is fit some Remedy should be employ'd for the Cure of this
Evil. And the Remedy I would propose, should not be to have the Authors
punish'd by the Magistrate, any more than for any other Faults in writing;
but either to neglect and despise it, as Rage and Scolding, which drop
into Oblivion with the Sound, and would have a Life given it by
Resentment: or to allow Men to _criticize_ and _ridicule_ one another for
their _Ironies_ and _Drollery_, and to exercise their Wit and Parts
against each other; that being the true Method to bring Things to a
Standard, to fix the Decency and Propriety of Writing, to teach Men how to
write to the Satisfaction of the ingenious, polite, and sensible Part of
Mankind: for Decency and Propriety will stand the Test of Ridicule, and
triumph over all the false Pretences to Wit; and Indecency and
Impropriety will sink under the Trial of Ridicule, as being capable of
being baffled by Reason, and justly ridicul'd. And if any kind or degree
of _Ridicule_ be absurd or _ridiculous_, that will appear so upon Trial,
no less than the low and gross _Ridicule_ prevalent among the unpolite
Part of the World: But that will never appear. On the contrary, _Ridicule_
of certain kinds, and under reasonable Directions and Rules, and used in
proper Time, Place, and Manner, (all which also are only to be found out
and fix'd by Trial and Experience) is both a proper and necessary Method
of Discourse in many Cases, and especially in the Case of _Gravity_, when
that is attended with Hypocrisy or Imposture, or with Ignorance, or with
soureness of Temper and Persecution; all which ought to draw after them
the _Ridicule_ and _Contempt_ of the Society, which has no other effectual
Remedy against such Methods of Imposition. And to determine in some
measure the Nature and Extent of the _Irony_ I contend for, as _Just_, I
profess to approve the noble _Sarcasm_ of _Elijah_[56]; wherein he thus
mocks the _Priests_ of _Baal_, saying in effect to them, "_Cry aloud, for_
your _Baal_ is a fine God: _He is either talking, or he is pursuing, or he
is in a Journey; or peradventure he sleepeth, and must be awaked_." And I
concur with the _Psalmist_[57], who thought it no Indecency to say, that
_he that sits in Heaven shall laugh them_ (that is, certain Kings, who
were _David_'s Enemies) _to scorn; the Lord shall have them in Derision_:
and must judge, that _laughing to scorn_, and _deriding_ the greatest Men
upon Earth, even Kings and Princes, to be a laudable and divine Method of
dealing with them, who are only to be taught or rebuk'd in some artful
way. I also approve of the following _Sarcasm_ or _Irony_, which has a
better Authority for it than _Elijah_ or the _Psalmist_. _Moses_
introduces God speaking thus after the Fall[58], _Behold the Man is become
like one of us, to know Good and Evil!_ And I think this Passage shews,
that the whole Affair of the _Fall_, of which we have so very brief an
Account, was a very entertaining Scene; and would have appear'd so, if set
forth at large; as indeed it does under the Hands of our Divines, who have
supplied that short Narration by various Additions, founded on
Conjectures, and particularly under the fine Hand of Dr. _Tho. Burnet_,
who has made a most ingenious Dialogue of what he suppos'd pass'd between
_Eve_ and the _Serpent_[59]. To say nothing of _Milton_'s famous _Paradise
Lost_.
In fine, ever since I could read the _Bible_, I was particularly pleas'd
with the _History_ of _Jonas_, where such a Representation is made of that
_Prophet_'s Ignorance, Folly, and Peevishness, as exposes him to the
utmost Contempt and Scorn, and fixes a perpetual _Ridicule_ on his
Character. And let me here observe, that this _History_ has had ample
Justice done it, in an Explication thereof by _two_ [60] very ingenious
Authors, who, by most penetrating and happy Criticisms and Reflections,
have drawn the Character of _Jonas_ in a more open manner.
III. But, _Thirdly_, I wave my _Remedy_, and am ready to come into any Law
that shall be made to rectify this suppos'd Fault of _Irony_, by punishing
those who are guilty of it.
The great Concern is and ought to be, that _the Liberty of examining into
the Truth of Things should be kept up_, that Men may have some Sense and
Knowledge, and not be the _Dupes_ of _Cheats_ and _Impostors_, or of those
who would keep them in the dark, and let them receive nothing but thro'
their Hands. If that be secur'd to us by Authority, I, for my part, am
very ready to sacrifice the Privilege of _Irony_, tho so much in fashion
among all Men; being persuaded, that a great Part of the _Irony_
complain'd of, has its rise from the _want of Liberty to examine into the
Truth of Things_; and that if that _Liberty_ was prevalent, it would,
without a Law, prevent all that _Irony_ which Men are driven into for want
of Liberty to speak plainly, and to protect themselves from the Attacks of
those who would take the Advantage to ruin them for direct Assertions; and
that such Authors as _Rabelais_, _Saint Aldegonde_, _Blount_, _Marvel_,
_Thekeringil_, and many others, would never have run into that Excess of
_Burlesque_, for which they are all so famous, had not the Restraint from
writing _seriously_ been so great.
"If [61] Men are forbid to speak their Minds _seriously_ on certain
Subjects, they will do it _ironically_. If they are forbid at all upon
such Subjects, or if they find it dangerous to do so, they will then
redouble their Disguise, involve themselves in mysteriousness, and talk so
as hardly to be understood, or at least not plainly interpreted by those
who are dispos'd to do them a Mischief. And thus _Raillery_ is brought
more in fashion, and runs into an Extreme. 'Tis the persecuting Spirit has
rais'd the _bantering_ one: And want of Liberty may account for want of a
true Politeness, and for the Corruption or wrong Use of Pleasantry and
Humour.
"If in this respect we strain the just Measure of what we call _Urbanity_,
and are apt sometimes to take a buffooning rustick Air, we may thank the
ridiculous Solemnity and sour Humour of our _Pedagogues_: or rather they
may thank themselves, if they in particular meet with the heaviest of this
kind of Treatment. For it will naturally fall heaviest, where the
Constraint has been the severest. The greater the Weight is, the bitterer
will be the Satire. The higher the Slavery, the more exquisite the
Buffoonery.
"That this is really so, may appear by looking on those Countries where
the spiritual Tyranny is highest. For the greatest of _Buffoons_ are the
_Italians_: and in their Writings, in their freer sort of Conversations,
on their Theatres, and in their _Streets_, _Buffoonery_ and _Burlesque_
are in the highest Vogue. 'Tis the only manner in which the poor cramp'd
Wretches can discharge a free Thought. We must yield to 'em the
Superiority in this sort of Wit. For what wonder is it if we, who have
more Liberty, have less Dexterity in that egregious way of _Raillery_ and
_Ridicule_?"
Liberty of _grave_ Examination being fix'd by Law, I am, I say, ready to
sacrifice the Privilege of _Irony_, and yield to have a Law enacted to
prevent it. I am, moreover, willing to leave the drawing up such a Law to
your self; who honestly and impartially say[62], that all who _droll_, let
them be of any Party, let them _droll for the Truth or against it_, should
be equally punish'd.
Thus this grand Affair of _Irony_, _Banter_, and _Ridicule_; this last
persecuting Pretence, upon which you would set the Humours and Passions of
People, who are all at quiet, on float, and make a Fermentation, and
raise a Persecution against particular People, seems perfectly settled, by
yielding to your own Terms.
IV. Let me here add, that I am apt to think, that when you draw up your
Law, you will find it so very difficult to settle the Point of _Decency_
in Writing, in respect to all the various kinds of _Irony_ and _Ridicule_,
that you will be ready to lay aside your Project; and that you will be no
more able to settle that _Point of Decency_, than you would be to settle
by Law, that _Cleanliness_ in Clothes, and that Politeness in Dress,
Behaviour, and Conversation, which become Men of Quality and Fortune in
the World, and should be habitual to them: And that, if you are able to do
that to your own Satisfaction, you will find it very difficult to engage
the Lawmakers in your Project. For I am persuaded, that if our Lawmakers
were, out of a rational Principle, disposed to give Liberty by Law to
_serious_ Opposition to publickly receiv'd Notions, they would not think
it of much Importance to make a _Law_ about a Method of _Irony_. They will
naturally conclude, that if Men may and ought to be allow'd to write
_seriously_ in Opposition to publickly receiv'd Doctrines, they should be
allow'd to write in their own way; and will be unwilling to be depriv'd of
ingenious and witty Discourses, or such as some of them will judge so,
about a Subject wherein _serious free_ Discourse is allow'd. Besides, I am
apt to think, that you, upon consideration of the Advantages which the
Church has receiv'd from the _Berkenheads_, the _Heylins_, the _Ryves's_,
the _Needhams_, the _Lestranges_, the _Nalsons_, the _Lesleys_, the
_Oldesworths_, and others, in their _Mercurius Aulicus_'s, their
_Mercurius Pragmaticus's_, their _Mercurius Rusticus's_, their
_Observators_[63], their _Heraclitus Ridens_'s, _Rehearsals_, their
_Examiners_[64], and the three Volumes against the _Rights of the Church_;
from the _Butlers_ in their _Hudibras_'s, and other Burlesque Works upon
the Religion and Religious Conduct of the Dissenters; or from the
_Eachards_, the _Tom Browns_, and _Swifts_; or from the _Parkers_[65],
_Patricks_[66], _Souths_[67], _Sherlocks_[68], _Atterburys_[69], and
_Sacheverels_[70]; in their Discourses, and Tracts against the
Nonconformists, Whigs, Low-Church-men, and Latitudinarians; and other such
ironical, satirical, and polemical Divines; and from such _drolling_
Judges as _Howel_, _Recorder_ of London, and the Chief Justice _Jefferys_,
who, in all Causes, where _Whigs_ or Dissenters were the Persons accus'd
and try'd before them, carried on the Trial by a [71] Train of ridicule on
them, their Witnesses and Counsel: I say, I am apt to think, that you
would be unwilling to be depriv'd of what has been and may be again so
serviceable.
I am dispos'd to think that Dr. _Snape_, who is notoriously known to have
gone into the greatest Lengths of Calumny and Satire against Bishop
_Hoadley_[72], to have fall'n upon the dissenting Clergy in a burlesque
and bantering Address to the _Peirces_, the _Calamys_, and the
_Bradburys_, and to have written a long _ironical Letter_ in the Name of
the _Jesuits_ to Mr. _de la Pilloniere_[73], will be thought a very
improper Object of Censure for such Employment of his Pen. On the
contrary, such sort of Attacks upon such Persons are the most meritorious
Parts of a Man's Life, recommend him as a Person of true and sincere
Religion, much more than the strongest Reasoning, and the most regular
Life; and pave the way to all the Riches, and Pleasures and Advantages or
Life; not only among those, who, under the Colour of Religion, are
carrying on a common _Corporation Cause_ of Wealth, Power, and Authority,
but among many well-meaning People, who allow of all Practices, which they
suppose help out the _Truth_! It seems to me a most prodigious Banter upon
us, for Men to talk in general of the _Immorality_ of _Ridicule_ and
_Irony_, and of _punishing_ Men for those Matters, when their own Practice
is _universal Irony_ and _Ridicule_ of all those who go not with them, and
_universal Applause_ and _Encouragement_ for such _Ridicule_ and _Irony_,
and distinguishing by all the honourable ways imaginable such _drolling_
Authors for their Drollery; and when Punishment for _Drollery_ is never
call'd for, but when _Drollery_ is used or employ'd against them!
I don't know whether you would be willing, if you consider of it, to limit
the Stage it self, which has with great Applause and Success, from Queen
_Elizabeth_'s Time downwards, ridicul'd the serious _Puritans_ and
_Dissenters_, and that without any Complaints from _good Churchmen_, that
_serious_ Persons and Things were _banter'd_ and _droll'd_ upon; and has
triumph'd over its fanatical Adversaries in the Person of _Pryn_, who
sufficiently suffer'd for his _Histrio-Mastix_, and has been approv'd of
as an innocent Diversion by the religious Dr. _Patrick_ in his _Friendly
Debate_, in the Reign of King _Charles_ II. when the Stage was in a very
immoral State. I don't know whether you would be willing even to restrain
_Bartholomew Fair_, where the Sect of the _New Prophets_ was the Subject
of a _Droll_ or _Puppet-Show_, to the great Satisfaction of the Auditors,
who, it may be presum'd, were all good Churchmen, _Puritans_ and
_Dissenters_ usually declining such Entertainments out of _real_ or
_pretended_ Seriousness. ("A certain Clergyman thought fit to remark, that
King _William_ could be no good Churchman, because of his not frequenting
the _Play-House_."[74])
V. It will probably be a Motive with you to be against abolishing
_Drollery_, when you reflect that the Men of _Irony_, the _Droles_ and
_Satirists_, have been and always will be very numerous on your side,
where they have been and are so much incourag'd for acting that Part, and
that they have always been and always will be very few on the side of
_Heterodoxy_; a Cause wherein an Author by engaging, may hurt his
Reputation and Fortune, and can propose nothing to himself but Poverty and
Disgrace. I doubt whether you would be for punishing your Friend Dr.
_Rogers_, from whom I just now quoted an _Irony_ on the Author of _The
Scheme of Literal Prophecy consider'd_, or any one else, for _laughing_ at
and making sport with him; or whether you would be for punishing the
Reverend Mr. _Trapp_, who implies the _Justness_ and _Propriety of
ridiculing Popery_; when he says[75], that _Popery is so foolish and
absurd, that every body of common Sense must_ LAUGH _at it_; and when he
refers to _Erasmus_ for having _abundantly_ RIDICUL'D their _Reliques_;
and himself puts _Ridicule_ in Practice against them, by representing
their Doctrines and Practices as _ridiculously foolish_, as _despicably
childish_, and _Matter of mere Scorn_; as _monstrous_; as _Spells_,
_juggling Tricks_, _gross Cheats_, _Impostures_[76], and _wretched
Shifts_; and in fine, in representing by way of _Specimen_, all their
_Miracles_ as _Legends_; of which he says, _These and a thousand more such
like unreasonable Lies, which a Child of common Sense would laugh at, are
impos'd upon and swallow'd by the ignorant People, and make a_ VERY GREAT
_Part of the Popish Religion._
And this, in concurrence with Mr. _Trapp_, I also take to be the Case of
Popery, that it must make Men _laugh_; and that it is much easier to be
gravely disposed in reading a _Stage-Comedy_ or _Farce_, than in
considering and reflecting on the _Comedy_ and _Farce_ of _Popery_; than
which, Wit and Folly, and Madness in conjunction, cannot invent or make a
thing more ridiculous, according to that Light in which I see their
Doctrines, Ceremonies and Worship, the Histories and Legends of their
Saints, and the pretended Miracles wrought in their Church; which has
hardly any thing _serious_ in it but its Persecutions, its Murders, its
Massacres; all employ'd against the most innocent and virtuous, and the
most sensible and learned Men, because they will not be _Tools_ to support
Villany and Ignorance.
"Transubstantiation, says _Tillotson_[77], is not a Controversy of
Scripture against Scripture, or of Reason against Reason, but of downright
Impudence against the plain meaning of Scripture, and all the Sense and
Reason of Mankind." And accordingly he scruples not to say, in a most
_drolling_ manner, that "Transubstantiation is one of the chief of the
_Roman_ Church's _legerdemain_ and _juggling Tricks_ of Falshood and
Imposture; and that in all Probability those common juggling Words of
_Hocus-pocus_, are nothing else but a Corruption of _hoc est corpus_, by
way of ridiculous Imitation of the Church of _Rome_ in their _Trick_ of
_Transubstantiation_." And as he _archly_ makes the Introduction of this
monstrous Piece of _grave Nonsense_ to be owing to its being at first
preach'd by its Promoters with _convenient Gravity and Solemnity_[78],
which is the common Method of imposing Absurdities on the World; so I
think that Doctrine taught with such _convenient Gravity and Solemnity_
should necessarily produce _Levity, Laughter and Ridicule_, in all
intelligent People to whom it is propos'd, who must _smile_, if they can
with safety, to see such Stuff vented with a grave Face.
In like manner many other Divines treat and laugh at _Popery_. Even the
solemn and grave Dr. _Whitby_ has written a Book against
_Transubstantiation_, under the Title of "Irrisio Dei Panarii, _The
Derision of the Breaden God_," in Imitation of the primitive Fathers, who
have written _Derisions_ and _Mockeries_ of the _Pagan_ Religion.
And he takes the Materials whereof this drolling Performance of his
consists, from the _holy Scriptures_, the _Apocryphal Books_, and
_Writings_ of the _holy Fathers_, as he tells us in his Title-Page; three
inexhaustible Sources of Wit and Irony against the Corrupters of true and
genuine Religion. In like manner he turns upon the Popish Clergy the
several Arguments urg'd by the _Jewish_ Clergy in the _New Testament_, for
the Authority of the _Jewish_ Church; and answers, under that _Irony_, all
that the Popish Clergy offer in behalf of the _Authority_ of their
_Church_, in a _Sermon_ at the End of his _Annotations_ on St. _John_'s
_Gospel_.
Nor do our Divines confine their _Derisions_, _Ridicule_ and _Irony_
against _Popery_ to their Treatises and Discourses, but fill their
_Sermons_, and especially their _Sermons_ on the _Fifth_ of _November_,
and other political _Days_, with infinite Reflections of that Kind. Of
these _Reflections_ a Popish Author publish'd a _Specimen_, in a Book
intitled[79], _Good Advice to Pulpits_, in order to shame the Church out
of their Method of _drolling_ and _laughing_ [80] at _Popery_. But this
Book had no other effect, than to produce a _Defence_ of those _Sermons_
under the Title of _Pulpit Popery true Popery_, vindicating the several
_Droll_ Representations made of _Popery_ in those _Sermons_.
Of these _drolling_ Reflections cited by the Popish Author out of our
Church of _England Sermons_, take these following for a Specimen of what
are to be met with in those _Sermons_[81].
"Pilgrimages, going Bare-foot, Hair-shirts, and Whips, with other such
Gospel-artillery, are their only Helps to Devotion.----It seems that with
them a Man sometimes cannot be a Penitent, unless he also turns Vagabond,
and foots it to _Jerusalem_.----He that thinks to expiate a Sin by going
bare-foot, does the Penance of a Goose, and only makes one Folly the
Atonement of another. _Paul_ indeed was scourg'd and beaten by the _Jews_;
but we never read that he beat or scourg'd himself; and if they think his
keeping under his Body imports so much, they must first prove that the
Body cannot be kept under by a virtuous Mind, and that the Mind cannot be
made virtuous but by a Scourge; and consequently, that Thongs and Whipcord
are Means of Grace, and Things necessary to Salvation. The truth is, if
Mens Religion lies no deeper than their Skin, it is possible they may
scourge themselves into very great Improvements.----But they will find
that bodily Exercise touches not the Soul; and consequently that in this
whole Course they are like Men out of the way: let them flash on never so
fast, they are not at all nearer their Journey's-end: And howsoever they
deceive themselves and others, they may as well expect to bring a Cart, as
a Soul, to Heaven.
"What say you to the Popish Doctrine of the _Sacrifice of the
Mass_.----According to this Doctrine, our blessed Saviour must still, to
the end of the World, be laid hold on by Sinners, be ground with their
Teeth, and sent down into their impure Paunches, as often as the Priest
shall pronounce this Charm, _hoc est corpus meum_: and it seems that he
was a false Prophet, when he said upon the Cross, _It is finish'd_, seeing
there was such an infinite deal of _loathsom Drudgery_ still to be
undergone.
"For _Purgatory_, 'tis not material in it self, whether it be, or where it
be, no more than the World in the Moon; but so long as that false Fire
serves to maintain a true one, and his Holiness's Kitchen smokes with the
Rents he receives for releasing Souls from thence, which never came there,
it concerns him and his to see to it, that it be not suffer'd to go out."
An ingenious Author, Sir _Richard Steel_, has of late made a _Dedication_
to his _Holiness_ the _Pope_ himself, before a Book entitled, _An Account
of the State of the Roman Catholick Religion throughout the World_, &c. In
which _Dedication_, that most exalted Clergyman the _Pope_, that
[suppos'd] infallible Dictator in Religion, and most grave Person; who, if
_serious_ Matters and Persons were always to be treated _seriously_, may
vie with any other Mortal for a Right to _serious_ Treatment; is expos'd
by incomparable _Drollery_ and _Irony_ to the utmost Contempt, to the
universal Satisfaction of Protestant Readers, who have been pleas'd to see
a gross Impostor, however respected and ador'd by godly and serious
Papists, so treated.
VI. In fine, it is suited to the common Practice of this Nation to
ridicule _Popery_ as well as _Nonconformity_; and tho several _grave_
Books, written among us against Popery, in the Reign of King _James_ II.
(of which yet the _Romish_ Priests complain'd, as treating the King's [82]
_Religion_ with Contempt) were then very well receiv'd and applauded for
Learning and strength of Arguing; yet, I believe, it may with more
Propriety be said, that King _James_ II. and _Popery_ were [83] _laugh'd_
or _Lilli-bullero'd_, than that they were _argu'd_ out of the Kingdom.
The reading the _King's Declaration of Indulgence_ in Churches 1688, had
this fatal _Jest_ put upon it by a reverend Divine, "Who pleasantly told
his People, _That tho he was obliged to read it, they were not obliged to
hear it_[84]; and stop'd till they all went out, and then he read it to
the Walls." To which may be added, the famous Mr. _Wallop_'s excellent
Comparison of that _Declaration_ upon the Instant of its Publication, to
_the scaffolding of St._ Paul_'s Church; which, as soon as the Building
was finish'd, would be pull'd down_.
Bishop _Burnet_ celebrates, with the greatest Justness, our Taste, and
indeed the Taste of the World in this Respect, when he relates how
_Popery_ was then used among us; and he recites some of the _Jests_ which
passed and were received with universal Applause. He tells us[85], "The
Court was now (that is, in 1686,) much set on making Converts, which
fail'd in most Instances, and produc'd _Repartees_; that whether true or
false, were much repeated, and were heard with great Satisfaction. The
Earl of _Mulgrave_ (since Duke of _Buckinghamshire_) was Lord Chamberlain;
he was apt to comply in every thing that he thought might be acceptable,
for he went with the King to Mass, and kneeled at it; and being look'd on
as indifferent to all Religions, the Priests made an Attack upon him: He
heard them _gravely_ arguing for _Transubstantiation_. He told them he was
willing to receive Instruction; he had taken much Pains to bring himself
to believe in God, who made the World and all Men in it: But it must not
be an ordinary Force of Argument that could make him believe that Man was
quits with God, and made God again. The Earl of _Middleton_ had marry'd
into a Popish Family, and was a Man of great Parts and a generous Temper,
but of loose Principles in Religion; so a Priest was sent to instruct him.
He began with _Transubstantiation_, of which he said he would convince him
immediately: And began thus, You believe the _Trinity_. _Middleton_ stop'd
him, and said, who told you so? At which he seem'd amazed. So the Earl
said, he expected he should convince him of his Belief, but not question
him of his own: With this the Priest was so disorder'd, that he could
proceed no farther. One Day the King gave the Duke of _Norfolk_ the Sword
of State to carry before him to the Chappel, and he stood at the Door.
Upon which the King said to him, My Lord, your Father would have gone
farther. To which the Duke answer'd, Your Majesty's Father was the better
Man, and he would not have gone so far. _Kirk_ was also spoken to, to
change his Religion, and he reply'd briskly, that he was already
pre-engag'd, for _he had promised the King of_ Morocco, _that if ever he
chang'd his Religion he would turn_ Mahometan." When K. _James_ sent an
_Irish_ Priest to convert the D. of _Bucks_ [_Villers_] the said Duke
entertain'd the Priest with a Bottle, and engag'd him in a _Dialogue_,
which the Duke afterwards caus'd to be printed, to the no small
Mortification of all Papists, who were therein exceedingly ridicul'd, and
to the Triumph of all good Churchmen, who are never better pleas'd, than
when they have the _Laugh_ on their side.
At this time also were publish'd two merry Books, by a couple of our
Divines, with express View to make Protestants laugh at _Popery_, as at a
_Farce_; and they were, _The School of the Eucharist_, wherein is a
Collection of ridiculous _Miracles_, pretended to be wrought to support
the Truth of _Transubstantiation_, and _Purgatory prov'd by Miracles_.