_Popery_, publish'd at that time. It seems the famous Poet, _Dryden_,
thought fit to declare himself a _Roman Catholick_; and had, as 'tis said,
a _Penance_ injoyn'd him by his Confessor, for having formerly written
_The Spanish Fryar_, of composing some _Treatise_ in a _poetical way_ for
_Popery_, and against the _Reformation_. This he executed in a _Poem_,
intituled, _The Hind and Panther_; which, setting aside the Absurdity of
the Matters therein asserted, and of the several Arguments to maintain
them, is, in other Respects, one of the most mean Compositions that ever
the Press produc'd. Was it proper to pass over in silence such a Work,
from whence probably the Popish Party expected great Matters, as knowing
the Efficacy of Poetry, and being Witnesses of the Success the Author had
had in his _Absalom_ and _Achitophel_ against the _Whigs_? Was it proper
to write _seriously_ and _gravely_ against a Book, wherein the Author
every where aims at Wit, Irony, and Burlesque, and does himself make so
ridiculous a Figure, as to be a standing Jest throughout the whole? Was
not the Convert himself, as such, a _Jest_, or as professing any Religion,
a _Jest_; who argu'd for Pay, and spoke as he was brib'd, and would have
profess'd any Opinions, as is the Mode and Practice of the World, to which
Salary and Preferments are annexed? Some ingenious Persons of the Times
took a better Method, and agreeably to the Temper and Disposition of our
Countrymen, and to the nature of _Dryden_'s Attack, and his interested
Writing for Religion, made a Return in a Paper intituled, _The Hind and
Panther transvers'd to the Story of the Country-Mouse and City-Mouse_: Out
of which, for a Specimen of _just Irony_, and _fine Raillery_, I will give
you the following Passage.
"_Sirrah, says_ Brindle, _thou hast brought us_ Wine,
"_Sour to my Taste, and to my Eyes unfine._
"_Says_ Will, _All Gentlemen like it. Ah! says_ White,
"_What is approved by them must needs be right._
"_'Tis true, I thought it bad, but if the_ House
"_Commend it, I submit, a_ private Mouse.
"_Nor to their Catholick Consent oppose_
"_My erring Judgment and reforming Nose._
"[86]_Why, what a Devil, shan't I trust my Eyes,_
"_Must I drink Stum, because the Rascal lies,_
"_And palms upon us_ Catholick _Consent,_
"_To give_ sophisticated Brewings _Vent?_
"_Says_ White, _what antient Evidence can sway,_
"_If you must argue thus and not obey?_
"Drawers _must be trusted, thro' whose hands convey'd_
"_You take the Liquor, or you spoil the Trade._
"_For sure those honest_ Fellows _have no Knack_
"_Of putting off stum'd Claret for_ Pontack.
"_How long alas! would the poor Vintner last,_ }
"_If all that drink must_ judge, _and every Guest_ }
"_Be allow'd to have an understanding_ Taste? }
VII. I question whether High-Church would be willing to have the reverend
Author of the _Tale of a Tub_, one of the greatest _Droles_ that ever
appear'd upon the Stage of the World, punish'd for that or any other of
his _drolling_ Works: For tho religious Matters, and all the various Forms
of Christianity have therein a considerable Share of _Ridicule_; yet in
regard of his _Drollery_ upon the _Whigs_, _Dissenters_, and the _War_
with _France_ (things of as _serious_ and weighty Consideration, and as
much affecting the Peace of Society, as _Justification_ by _Faith only_,
_Predestination_, _Transubstantiation_, or _Constansubstantiation_, or
_Questions_ about _religious Ceremonies_, or any such interested Matters)
the _Convocation_ in their famous _Representation_ of the _Profaneness_
and _Blasphemy_ of the Nation, took no notice of his _drolling_ on
Christianity: And his Usefulness in _Drollery_ and _Ridicule_ was deem'd
sufficient by the _Pious_ Queen _Anne_, and her _pious Ministry_, to
intitle him to a Church Preferment of several hundred Pounds _per Ann._
[87] which she bestow'd upon him, notwithstanding a _fanatick
High-Churchman_, who weakly thought _Seriousness_ in Religion of more use
to High-Church than _Drollery_, and attempted to hinder his Promotion, by
representing to her Majesty, "What a Scandal it would be both to Church
and State to bestow Preferment upon a Clergyman, who was hardly suspected
of being a Christian." Besides, High-Church receives daily most signal
Services from his drolling Capacity, which has of late exerted itself on
the Jacobite Stage of _Mist_'s and _Fogg_'s Journal, and in other little
Papers publish'd in _Ireland_; in which he endeavours to expose the
present Administration of publick Affairs to contempt, to inflame the
_Irish_ Nation against the _English_, and to make them throw off all
Subjection to the _English_ Government, to satirize Bishop _Burnet_ and
other _Whig_ Bishops; and, in fine, to pave the way for a new or Popish
Revolution, as far as choosing the most proper Topicks of Invective, and
treating of them in the way of _Drollery_, can do.
VIII. It is well known, that Gravity, Preciseness, Solemnity, Sourness,
formal Dress and Behaviour, Sobriety of Manners, keeping at a distance
from the common Pastimes of the World, Aversion to Rites and Ceremonies in
the publick Worship, and to Pictures, Images, and Musick in Churches;
mixing Religion in common Conversion, using long Graces, practising
Family-Worship, part of which was praying _ex tempore_; setting up and
hearing Lectures, and a strict Observation of the Lord's Day, which was
call'd the _Sabbath_, were the Parts of the Character of a _Puritan_; who,
it is to be observ'd, usually had the Imputation of Hypocrisy for his
great and extraordinary Pretences to Religion: He was also a great Opposer
of the Court-Measures in the Reign of King _James_ and King _Charles_ I.
and most zealous for Law, Liberty, and Property, when those two Princes
set up for raising Money by their own Authority, and in consequence
thereof, fell into numerous other Acts of Violence and Injustice. It is
also well known, that to quell these Puritans, and lessen their Credit,
and baffle all their Pretences, Gaiety, Mirth, Pastimes or Sports, were
incourag'd and requir'd on _Sundays_ of the People, that Churches were
render'd gay, theatrical, and pleasant by the Decorations, Paintings,
Musick, and Ceremonies therein perform'd[88]; and that the utmost Ridicule
was employ'd against some of them, as _Enthusiasts_, and against others of
them as _Hypocrites_, and against them all as factious and seditious, by
their Adversaries; who were under no Restraints, but incourag'd to write
with Scorn, Contempt, Raillery and Satire against these suppos'd Enemies
of Church and State. Nor did the great Success of the _Puritans_ in the
Field of Battle suppress that _Vein_ and _Humour_ of _Ridicule_ begun
against them; but the _Laudean_ Party still carry'd on a Paper War with
innumerable Pamphlets, which all tended more or less to make the World
_laugh_ at and _ridicule_ the _Puritans_. And I am verily persuaded, that
no History of any other Country in the World can produce a Parallel,
wherein the Principle and Practice of _Ridicule_ were ever so strongly
encourag'd, and so constantly pursu'd, fix'd and rooted in the Minds of
Men, as it was and is in Churchmen against Puritans and Dissenters. Even
at this Day the _Ridicule_ is so strong against the present Dissenters, so
promoted by Clergy and Laity, especially in Villages and small Country
Towns, that they are unable to withstand its Force, but daily come over in
Numbers to the Church to avoid being _laugh'd_ at. It seems to me a Mark
of Distinction more likely to last in the Church than any other Matter
that I can observe. Passive Obedience, the divine Right of Kings, _&c._
rise and fall according to particular Occasions; but _Laughter_ at
_Dissenters_ seems fixt for ever, if they should chance to last so long.
_South_'s Sermons, which now amount to _six Volumes_, make Reading _Jests_
and _Banter_ upon _Dissenters_, the religious Exercise of good Churchmen
upon _Sundays_, who now can serve God (as many think they do by hearing or
reading Sermons) and be as merry as at the Play-house. And _Hudibras_,
which is a daily High-Church Entertainment, and a Pocket and Travelling
High-Church Companion, must necessarily have a very considerable Effect,
and cannot fail forming in Men that Humour and Vein of _Ridicule_ upon
_Dissenters_ which runs thro' that Work. In a word, High-Church has
constantly been an Enemy to, and a Ridiculer of the _Seriousness_ of
_Puritans_ and _Dissenters_, whom they have ever charg'd with _Hypocrisy_
for their _Seriousness_.
"After [89] the Civil War had broke out in 1641, and the King and Court
had settled at _Oxford_, one _Birkenhead_, who had liv'd in _Laud_'s
Family, and been made Fellow of _All Souls College_ by _Laud_'s Means, was
appointed to write a Weekly Paper under the Title of _Mercurius Aulicus_;
the first whereof was publish'd in 1642. In the Absence of the Author,
_Birkenhead_, from _Oxford_, it was continued by _Heylin_. _Birkenhead_
pleas'd the Generality of Readers with his _Waggeries_ and _Buffooneries_;
and the Royal Party were so taken with it, that the Author was recommended
to be Reader of _Moral Philosophy_ by his Majesty;" who, together with the
religious Electors, it is justly to be presum'd, thought _Waggery_ and
_Buffoonery_, not only Political, but _Religious_ and _Moral_, when
employ'd against _Puritans_ and _Dissenters_.
IX. King _Charles_ the Second's Restoration brought along with it glorious
_High-Church_ Times; which were distinguish'd as much by _laughing_ at
_Dissenters_, as by persecuting them; which pass for a Pattern how
Dissenters are to be treated; and which will never be given up, by
_High-Church-men_, as faulty, for ridiculing Dissenters.
The King himself, who had very good natural Parts, and a Disposition to
banter and ridicule every Body, and especially the _Presbyterians_, whose
Discipline he had felt for his Lewdness and Irreligion in _Scotland_, had
in his _Exile_ an Education, and liv'd, among some of the greatest
_Droles_ and _Wits_ that any Age ever produc'd; who could not but form him
in that way, who was so well fitted by Temper for it. The Duke of
_Buckingham_ was his constant Companion. And he had a [90] _great
Liveliness of Wit, and a peculiar Faculty of turning all things into
ridicule_. He was Author of the _Rehearsal_; which, as a most noble Author
says, is [91] _a justly admir'd Piece of comick Wit_, and _has furnish'd
our best Wits in all their Controversies, even in Religion and Politicks,
as well as in the Affairs of Wit and Learning, with the most effectual and
entertaining Method of exposing Folly, Pedantry, false Reason, and ill
Writing_. The Duke of _Buckingham_ [92] brought _Hobbes_ to him to be his
_Tutor_, who was a _Philosophical Drole_, and had a great deal of _Wit_ of
the _drolling_ kind. _Sheldon_, who was afterwards Archbishop of
_Canterbury_, and attended the King constantly in his Exile as his
_Chaplain_, was an eminent _Drole_, as appears from Bishop _Burnet_, who
says[93], that _he had a great Pleasantness of Conversation, perhaps too
great_.
And _Hide_, afterwards Earl of _Clarendon_, who attended the King in his
Exile, seems also to have been a great Drole, by Bishop _Burnet_'s
representing him, as one, that _had too much Levity in his Wit, and that
did not observe the Decorum of his Post_[94]. In a _Speech_ to the Lords
and Commons, _Hide_ attack'd the Gravity of the Puritans, saying[95],
"Very merry Men have been very godly Men; and if a good Conscience be a
continued Feast, there is no reason but Men may be very merry at it." And
upon Mr. _Baxter_ and other Presbyterian Ministers waiting on him in
relation to the _Savoy Conference_, he said to Mr. _Baxter_ on the first
Salute[96], that if "he were but as fat as Dr. _Manton_, we should all do
well."
No wonder therefore, that _Ridicule_, and _Raillery_, and _Satire_, should
prevail at Court after the _Restoration_; and that King _Charles_ the
Second, who was a Wit himself, and early taught to laugh at his _Father's
Stiffness_[97], should be so great a Master of them, and bring them into
play among his Subjects; and that he who had the most sovereign Contempt
for all Mankind, and in particular for the People and Church of _England_,
should use his Talent against them; and that his People in return should
give him like for like.
It is well known how he banter'd the Presbyterian Ministers, who out of
Interest came over to him at _Breda_; where they were placed in a Room
next to his Majesty, and order'd to attend till his Majesty had done his
Devotions; who, it seems, pray'd so artfully, and poured out so many of
their Phrases, which he had learned when he was in _Scotland_, where he
was forced to be present at religious Exercises of six or seven Hours
a-day; and had practis'd among the _Huguenot_ Ministers in _France_[98],
who reported him to have a _sanctify'd Heart_, and to _speak the very
Language of_ Canaan. This _Ridicule_ he _cover'd_ with _Seriousness_;
having at that time Occasion for those Ministers, who were then his great
Instruments in reconciling the Nation to his _Restoration_. When he had no
farther Occasion for them, he was open in his _Ridicule_, and would say,
that [99] _Presbyterianism was not a Religion for a Gentleman_.
X. Would you, who are a Man of Sense and Learning, and of some Moderation,
be for punishing the Author of _The Difficulties and Discouragements which
attend the Study of the Scriptures in the way of private Judgment_, &c.
who is suppos'd to be a Prelate of the Church, for that Book, which is
wholly an _Irony_ about the most sacred Persons and Things? Must not the
fine _Irony_ it self, and the Execution of it, with so much Learning,
Sense, and Wit, raise in you the highest Esteem and Admiration of the
Author, instead of a Disposition to punish him? Would you appear to the
intelligent Part of the World such an Enemy to Knowledge, and such a
Friend to the Kingdom of Darkness, as such Punishment would imply? In
fine, can you see and direct us to a better way, to make us inquire after
and understand Matters of Religion, to make us get and keep a good temper
of Mind, and to plant and cultivate in us the Virtues necessary to good
Order and Peace in Society, and to eradicate the Vices that every where
give Society so much Disturbance, than what is prescrib'd or imply'd in
that Book? And can you think of a better _Form_ of _Conveyance_, or
_Vehicle_ for Matters of such universal Concern to all intelligent People
(if you consider the State of the World, and the infinite Variety of
Understandings, Interests, and Designs of Men, who are all to be address'd
to at the same Time) than his Method of _Irony_? And has not Success
justify'd his Method? For the Book has had a free Vent in several
Impressions; has been very generally read and applauded; has convinced
Numbers, and has been no Occasion of trouble either to Bookseller or
Author. It has also had the Advantage to have a most ingenious _Letter_ of
_John Hales_ of _Eton_ join'd to some Editions of it; who by this
_Letter_, as well as by several others of his Pieces, shews himself to
have been another _Socrates_, one of the greatest Masters of _true Wit_
and _just Irony_, as well as Learning, which the World ever produc'd; and
shews he could have writ such a Book as the _Difficulties_, &c. But if you
are capable of coming into any Measures for punishing the Author of the
_Difficulties_, &c. for his _Irony_, I conceive, that you may possibly
hesitate a little in relation to the same Author, about his _New Defence
of the Bishop of_ Bangor_'s Sermon of the Kingdom of Christ, consider'd as
it is the Performance of a Man of Letters_; which, tho far below _The
Difficulties_, &c. is an ingenious _Irony_ on that _Sermon_. You may
probably, like many others of the Clergy, approve of Satire so well
employ'd, as against that Bishop, who has succeeded Bishop _Burnet_ in
being the Subject of _Clergy-Ridicule_, as well as in his Bishoprick. The
Bishop himself was very justly patient, under all Attacks by the Reverend
_Trapp_, _Earbery_, _Snape_, _Law_, and _Luke Milbourne_, in his _Tom of
Bedlam's Answer to his Brother_ Ben Hoadley, _St._ Peter_'s_ Poor _Parson
near the Exchange of Principles_; some of which were of a very abusive
kind, and such as can hardly be parallel'd; and did not call upon the
Magistrate to come to his Aid against that Author, or against any others
of the Clergy who had attack'd him with as great Mockery, Ridicule, and
Irony, as ever Bishop had been by the profess'd Adversaries of the Order;
or as ever the Bishops had been by the _Puritans_ and _Libellers_ in the
Reigns of Queen _Elizabeth_, King _James_ and King _Charles_ the First; or
as _Lesley_, _Hickes_, _Hill_, _Atterbury_, _Binks_, and other High-Church
Clergy, did the late Bishop _Burnet_. Instead of that he took the true and
proper Method, by publishing an _Answer_ to the said _Irony_, compos'd in
the same _ironical Strain_, intitled, _The Dean of_ Worcester _still the
same: Or his new Defence of the Bishop of_ Bangor_'s Sermon, consider'd,
as it is the Performance of a great Critick, a Man of Sense, and a Man of
Probity_. Which Answer does, in my Opinion, as much Honour to the Bishop,
by its Excellency in the _ironical Way_, as it does by allowing the Method
it self, and going into that Method, in imitation of his Reverend Brethren
of the Clergy, who appear to be under no Restraints from the _Immorality_
or _Indecency_ of treating the Bishop in the way of Ridicule and with the
utmost Contempt; but, on the contrary, to be spurr'd on by the
_Excellency_ and _Propriety_ thereof to use it against him, even in the
[100] _Pulpit_, as Part of the religious Exercise on the _Lord's-day_.
XI. There is an universal Love and Practice of _Drollery_ and _Ridicule_
in all, even the most _serious_ Men, in the most _serious Places_, and on
the most _serious Occasions_. Go into the Privy-Councils of Princes, into
Senates, into Courts of Judicature, and into the Assemblies of the Kirk or
Church; and you will find that Wit, good Humour, Ridicule, and Drollery,
mix themselves in all the Questions before those Bodies; and that the most
solemn and sour Person there present, will ever be found endeavouring, at
least, to crack his Jest, in order to raise a Character for Wit; which has
so great an Applause attending it, and renders Men so universally
acceptable for their Conversation, and places them above the greatest
Proficients in the Sciences, that almost every one is intoxicated with the
Passion of aiming at it.
In the Reports made to us of the Debates in the Houses of Lords, Commons,
and Convocation, the serious Parts of the Speeches there made die for the
most part with the Sound; but the Wit, the Irony, the Drollery, the
Ridicule, the Satire, and Repartees, are thought worthy to be remember'd
and repeated in Conversation, and make a Part of the History of the
Proceedings of those Bodies, no less than their grave Transactions, as
some such must necessarily be.
Whoever will look into Antiquity for an Account of the Lives, Actions, and
Works of the old Philosophers, will find little remaining of them; but
some of their witty, drolling, and bantering Sayings, which alone have
been thought worthy to be preserv'd to Posterity. And if you will look
into the Lives of the modern Statesmen, Philosophers, Divines, Lawyers,
_&c._ you will find that their witty Sayings ever make a considerable
Part: by reporting which great Honour is intended to be done to their
Memory. The great and most religious Philosopher Dr. _H. More_, has a
great many Pieces of Wit attributed to him in his _Life_ by Mr. _Ward_,
who represents him from his Companions, [101] _as one of the merriest
Greeks they were acquainted with_, and tells us, that the Doctor said in
his _last Illness_, to him[102], _that the merry way was that which he saw
mightily to take; and so he used it the more_.
The great and famous Sir _Thomas More_, Lord Chancellor of _England_ in
_Henry_ the Eighth's time, was an inexhaustible Source of _Drollery_[103],
as his voluminous Works, which consist for the most part of controversial
Divinity in behalf of Popery, show, and which are many of them written in
Dialogue, the better to introduce the _drolling_ Way of Writing, which he
has us'd in such Perfection, that it is said [104] _none can ever be weary
of reading them, tho they be never so long_. Nor could Death it self, in
immediate view before his Eyes, suppress his _merry_ Humour, and hinder
him from cracking _Jests_ on the _Scaffold_; tho he was a Man of great
_Piety_ and _Devotion_, whereof all the World was convinced by his Conduct
both in his Life and at his Death.
It is said (as I have before observ'd) of my Lord Chancellor _Clarendon_,
that "he had too much _Levity_ in his _Wit_[105], and that he did not
always observe the _Decorum_ of his Post." Which implies not only his
Approbation of _Drollery_ in the most _grave_ Business, but also his great
Knowledge of Mankind, by applying to them in that _Way_; which he knew
from Experience, and especially from the common _drolling_ [106]
Conversation in the Court of King _Charles_ the Second, would recommend
him to the World much more than an _impartial Administration of Justice_;
which is less felt, less understood, and less taken notice of and
applauded, than a _Piece_ of _Wit_; which is generally suppos'd to imply
in it a great deal of Knowledge, and a Capacity fit for any thing.
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 Title 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 _Bumkin_, 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._"