But the reputation of the tackcrs is above the infection of thy poison d breath ; the nation knows that they were no Poufiniers, that they were not accused in the last reign
with corruption or receiving louicTores from count Tallard.
with corruption or receiving louicTores from count Tallard.
Rehearsal - v1 - 1750
Because a part is the -whole, and the lesser part includes the greater !
a noble foundation of government !
0. De Foe do's fay all this, as thou hast quoted his
very words, in thy Rehearsal, N. 25. And 'tis a noble
smndatitn for all thee. Do thou disprove it if thou canst f (j. ) And I'll tell thee more ; ws're resolved to try k
W»ce more : and that very soon, at the next elections. We have already set our engines on work all over the nation, to blacken and asperse whomever we don't like, tsjacohifsd and frenchify d, that is, whoever stand up for mother church !
C. One of your journeymen has been fnapt, EdwarJ Theobalds, and censured by the house of commons ; who have, upon that, passed a resolve, nemine contradicente, the td of this March, that to asperse any member of the bouse ofcommons, with being in the interest of the pretend ed prince of Wales, or the French government, for or in respect of his behaviour and proceedings in the house of com mons, is villainous and seditious, destructive of the liberties
ofparliament, and the freedom of elections ; and tends to
create a misunderstanding between her majesty and her sub- je3s. O. What
212 The REHEARSAL.
O. What care we for their nemine contra£cente s ! have legion' 'd them to all the nation, over and over ag
We've begun with and we '11 end with it! It carries us on purely J
And no harm has come to us !
lying,
We have printed lifts upon lists of the tackers,.
that resolve, and re-printed the chara&er ofa tacker (v which thou kep'st such a pother in thine of Dec. 23.
si
O. - Let us alone. We go on pi and piano,
. and thought's! to fright with additions. us)
C. How came you to limit your selves to the tacke
The whole house, nemine contradicente, have de "
against your wicked proceedings : and are contrary
your
notion of the writ of error. And are therefd curst by you, and doom'd a sacrifice to the injurd f pies
the : tackers sirst. We can easier deal with sacrifice j
rest. We'll /srg-f the sirst, and then turn th< all out of doors, as our late glorious and immortal tector did before us. And we have trode religiously in- his steps.
Now you must know, that these tackers are men of
the greatest bulk in the house of commons for estates aet
interest; they have most of the knights of the ft>irtt\. therefore we must get rid of them : they will never do our business. Some few of them perhaps may expect to be leading men in a commonwealth ; but for the gene rality of them, they remember the sequestrations, compo
fitions, dcclimaticns, and forfeitures in forty one times ; and will never run the hazard of having their estates di vided among all the rascality of the kingdom. There
fore they will oppose oar puss with all their might.
For this reason we use all endeavours to get them ex- eluded in the ensuing elections. To which end we have legions of pampblets, characters, stng-songs, &c. ready to throw out day after day, among the mobile, to keep
them warm; wherein we assure them, that these tackers
are all of them papishes and jacobites, and have already sold their country to the French, tho' they have so great a. stake in it I For we fay, what will not bigottry do?
Then
W^
The REHE A RSAL.
213 Then these being supported by our standingforce of Ob- servators, Reviews, and the rest of our scandalous club,
weekly papers, w e hope, will have a great effefl. Espe cially considering, that there is almost a total filence of the befieged on the church side. They're practising their
old non-refistance, and cannot long hold out against our furious attacks ! We shall certainly gain the people from them, while they take no care to keep them. And think it below them to use o ur little scribling methods. They're alham'd to write, unless politely, which the mob don't understand.
But this is not all. We have emissaries and Theobalds in all quarters through the kingdom, to back the circular let ters we have sent every where; and to give thenwiat all elections, no tacker! no tacktr! no high-church-man!
And we make not only those who oppose us, but all of the church that do not assist us, to be high-church-men ; all that are not of our side, who do notspeech and preach up for us, and fall not foul on their own bre
thren in the church, who do but hint at old church of England doctrines or mutter at schism, and would have any care taken of church or constitution. For we have declar'd against all neuters we treat all such as open enemies we always have done so.
And these high-slyers we make to be papisbes, all, eve ry one of them! This we have long inculcated, without
They despised our. bare faying so, without
oppofition.
proof, and thought would take with no body But they
now sind has taken and wonder at Let them un derstand their books, but we know men. We know what- to have thing rung in the ears of mob perpe
And therefore watch the least innuendo against v and mark such men, and expose them in all our pa
tually
pers which has filenc'd most of them. They dare not stand it! and we goon to expose them still more and more, having beaten them out of the field! And now the elections coming on, we rub up mob again, and re peat what we have long hammer'd into them, and which
make the last words of my last Saturday's Observa- tor
3
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it is
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a
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it
;
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it,
The REHEARSAL.
2i4
tor N. 96. (that it may be the more taken notice
where make my countryman conclude thus, Well, mas ter, all the high-sliers in England are not papisbts their hearts, then lam no countryman.
And we do not only fay so, but we have already ven the word, that such of them as shall dare to appear at the ensuing elections, ought to be shot thro' the head, which I'll give thee full proof at our next meeting. We intimidate wi bully! that's the way to deal v/ithpajfiie fools!
C. Is this the moderation recommended to vow ta*
queen you O. It's to
she recommends as shall prove. Besides you have moderation enough for us both! and
I'll promise you we '11 take none of yours from you much good may do you
1
From ,f>at. March 24, to &flt. March
1705. N°J5.
The shooting thro' the head letter sent to Oxford. The counter-scuffle at Coventry. A trial of lkill at Hert
ford. The character a tacker. Wherein
that the fate /^occasional bill has divested the church ofall her legal security.
CW. T N the bullying mood left thee last time, thou
your
ens. O.
promis'd'il to shew me one of the circular letters party sends about, to influence the ensuing eledi-
Does thy courage keep up still
never fails tho' believe thine will, when
thee, and will shew thee for that reason
shew
the reason for which we send tech letters about, to
pluck down the spirits of the high-church, and make them tremble under us Here's one we sent to Oxford, where there's nest of high-flyers, but we make them low ereepers before we have done with them! The letter directed For Mr. W— Ml Stttlt Ulegt in
shewed
of
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The REHEARSAL.
2j5
and is these words, The names of the ackers for Ox sord/hire, •uiho are penfioners of France, and ought to. be fiot thro the head, they pretend to appear at the ensuing
ckHion; Sir Robert Jenhinson, Sir Edward Norreys, Wil
liam Bromley, Sir William Whitlock, Thomas
Rodney, Francis Norreys, James Bertie, Sir William Glinn, Charles
North.
Short and sweet and we must suppose the like sent
to other places all over the kingdom, to teach them mode ration Now suppose the church should be willing to
learn tour moderation, and imitate it.
O. Thou dog of dogs, that would make sine work in
deed! our moderation! no, not that we recom
mend to them, but THEIr OWN moderation,
non-refistance moderation! thou know'st that none of our moderation, nor ever was. But— But— But—
What's the matter What mak'st put singer in eye,
filly, passive,
and ciy, like great booby
O. would vex any body. went t'other day as far
as Coventry, to beat one of your moderation men
C. Well, and what then
O. What then? Why when went to beat him—he
wou'dn't let me.
C. And thou blubbers and cries for that Why didn'st
thou take some body to help thee Thou cou'dn'st want
sriends in old loyal Coventry
O. summon'd all our moderation men, and they came
readily as heart could wish. But their moderation men came likewise, and we cou'dn't persuade them to be beaten quietly but they made disturbance and hub bub in the town (they always make quarrels and drove
vt out of it. Their
high-church-non-refiflance-clubs drubb'd plaguily and has employ all the surgeons in
the town, to plaister the low-church crowns.
C. A high crown'd-hat wards blow better than low-
crown 'd one moderation
and high of all sorts beats the low, even in self!
intolerable What beaten and laugFd at
O. This
too If you begin not to be afraid of us, we must be gin
!
I !
C.
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The REHEARSAL.
gin to begin again. We are undone! we shall be tie low— low indeed s And if' you are too many for Ut4l Coventry, where shall we hope to prevail ?
C. sou try'djour hand again last affixes at Hertford; and tho' the peace was kept, because the lord lieutenant sxia\ judges were'in town-; yet you were out -number 'dbf a vast majority of the high-church, out-bawsd. out-saci, out-done every way;
G. Is ov'k shooting thro' the head come to this ? Otem-
fora ! O mores!
C. Did'st think w* were so easy to be hullsd?
that You're got a spit and a stride before us !
ti6
. .
O. 1 prosess we thought so by all your past heham- cur ! and now you've learned our moderation so fif,
I
last time we met, that we had provided the word, Nt
told thee
tacker, no tacker ! to be the cry, at the ensuing eltcHm. And I hear that some of your high-church-folks have been before hand with us, and given out the word on their side,
a tacker! a tacker f which out-does us, as much as ay does no, ortheplaintiff'the defendant. . •
C. They are gentlemen of the best estates in the natiut, and therefore least to be suspected of any defign to betray their country to aforeign or intestine arbitrary power.
O. They are friends to the church, not only as Christi ans but Englishmen that as they believe the church has a spiritual authority committed to her by Christ; they know that she has legal tenure and establishment England, which stands upon the fame foundation as their own honours ox estates and which cannot be shaken, but by the fame means as must destroy in natural consequences theproperty in England, and as they found in effcct the
times offorty-one, when the bishops were turned out of the house of lords, the temporal peers found themselves lit loose and soon follow'd them, as did the royal authority, and the law self and the lives, liierty, and property
every
C. Let me know what thou mean'st by tacker ?
O. Tho' I've wrote much upon the subject, I
no more of it than that they are tick-tack men, and we Ye catch'd them at a why not. What do'st thou think they are ?
know
it ;
of
in so
it,
in
;
a
is,
The REHEARSAL.
217 very man in England were exposed to the lawless and
rbitrary sway of most tyrannical usurpers.
Now the tackers are men who see and consider all this, nd would not have the fame game play'd over again ;
nd therefore would (if they had leave) secure the rights
fthe church as sirmly as their own properties, knowing bat a breach upon the one is opening the door, aud the irst step to the invasion of the other, as both standing upon ne famefoot of the law and constitution, which, when roke in one part, is whole in none.
0. What do'st talk of breaking in upon the church and wading of her rights ? What rights of her did we in- ! 3ae ? We would only preserve our own birth-rights to
ave ashare in the government, and serve our country like >ther men, and Joinder her from persecuting us, for our
inscience,
C. Is it a persecution for conscience, not to let known
nemies to the church and the monarchy (and who have de- Iroy'd both before) into all the great offices of the state ? \nd there was a clause in the taclid bill to ease the dissent - rs of offices of burthen. And they faid before, that they >vould have willingly accepted, nay petition'd for the bill f such a clause had been in it. But now they reject it
nth. scorn, which makes it plain that it is not liberty of ''"science, but power that they affect, and not ashare, but he whole, as their conduct since has evidene'd ; it being urd for any to keep his seet, who is stigmatiz'd as a true
friend of the church I
But let me afle thee a question. Suppose an enemy who
had before sacICd and razd your city ; and after peace made, had made several attempts to betray and burn Md should desire leave noou only to pull down your walls, "Hedging they were of no use to you, only hinder'd you from the free air, and besides, that would be no vading of your property, for that he would not touch one °f your houses, no, upon his word he would not, only have in his power for that this watching and warding againit one another was breach of the peace, and tended
create ill-blood and jealous, among friends, &c.
Vol. O. What
I.
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it
I a
L
it
in
it,
2i8 The REHEARSAL.
O. What do'st bring in such a ridiculoussuppojt'm
It could be offer'd to none of common
C. You aflc'd me just now, what rights of the church
you had invaded ? What security had you taken from
Now I'll make my parallel. You whigs and
senters, join'd with our moderate clergy, who msJHj
coinpos'd the assembly os divines at Westminster, tore up
our church by the roots, as well as destroy'd the king, and etvil constitution. After the restoration, 1660, Jaws were made for their establishment and future security, par ticularly the act of uniformity, the corporation act, and the test act. These are the legal fences of the church as well as ofthestate.
Now you dissenters have wholly eluded the import and intendment ofthese by a new invention of occafional
conformity, which you have prevailed upon your cat' sciences to comply with for good places ! and to restore these «Æt to their true meaning, was the only design of the oc
cafional hill, which having been so often rejected, mollify d to all the ease possible to the conscience of dissent ers ; and if they understood their true interest too, that
consistent with anysecurity the church And constitution, the consequence unavoidable, that the church (not to sey the state has lost her legal security, and the benefit proposed to her these acts. And this pulling down her walls, and transmitting her to posterity naked as lhe came into the world, and divested of all defence and secu rity from the law.
O. By this you accuse the anti-tackers of all these evil
for ?
sense.
her ?
dis
designs. your C. No, do not, am not of
villainous breed,
who throw out with malice and fury against all that do not
jump exactly with your notions of things. may do justice to one without branding another and honest men may differ in judgment as to prudential methods. And
the whole house of commons, both tackers and anti-tackers, have (as told thee in my last) voted to be villainous and seditious to asperse any member of the house with being
in the interest the pretended prince Wales, £5V. fir kit
tho'
3
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of
it
I
;
is
by I
is
is
it,
art a •villain on all hands, and all thyscandalous club, who imploy most of their time in asperfing the members of both houses who do not please you, and the whole mini-
stry, with the foulest lies and flander; and when you have nothing to fay, cry out Rome and St. Germains [ which will run with the mob that do not examine things.
But the reputation of the tackcrs is above the infection of thy poison d breath ; the nation knows that they were no Poufiniers, that they were not accused in the last reign
with corruption or receiving louicTores from count Tallard.
That they didn't vote then for a standing army in time of peace. That they are not concerned in the new erected
corporations. That they enjoy not places and penfions at the will of the court. That they railed not at the management in the late r«g» ; and by that means, made themselves necessary to be taken off, and now enjoy warm
places and pen/ions, so purchased. How many of all thefe Jerts will you sind among the tackers ? They have ac
quitted themselves, in all turns, with the least blemisl* upon them, of any in that honourable house, disparage ment to none. They have, most of any, espous'd the
cause of their country, and the publick good, free from self- isb and finister ends. Their great estates, derived front their antient families, sets them above bribery ; and their
liberal education inspires them with a noble concern for
their country, which affords not such another number of gentlemen, so characteriz'd with all the vertues ofpatri ots among those that sit within St. Stephen's Chapel, in
cluding those who bemoan their ill fortune in being at that time absent, which deprived them of the honour of
The list of the tackersi
Front
220 The REHEARS AL.
From •§at. March 31, to•f)fft. April7, 1 705. N°
1. The last ueek the church England, 2. Oftht assembly divines at Westminster. The mm war caltd the moderate. 4. Of out-writing the whigs 5. Particularly on their scheme of government the people. Which runs up to blasphemy.
CW/'TpH lastfqueek ofthe church ofEngland. c- Whatdo'st mean
O. what noble whig faid upon the bustle at Co ventry and Hertford, of which thou told'st me last time, and other appearances there are, that the high- church and
the tackers intend to dispute at the ensuing elcctiom. He bid us not be discourag'd, but hold to our tackle, for, was the last squeek of the church of Encland. Do hut gripe Vw< hard this time, and you hear no more of them. This their last cast for we can get a hops?
ofcommons to our mind, we can then play above hard with the church, and tell them our mindsreely, '. Tjtty ha•ve not a friend in the world to protect them.
C. Then seems they must do for themselves, or die They must now speak, or for ever hereafter hold their
peace O. We hold them to their peace Ifwe can (z. )
but get over the house of commons, we have number of moderate clersy cut and dryd like those who comp
the assembly divines at Westminster, who (as they
will give up episcopacy, liturgy, and every rag of church, for peace fake
C. These pretended at sirst only to moderate our episco pacy — little— and our liturgy, for the ease of tender con
sciences, and to bring over the religious dijenters!
O. And- they did; but how many did they get
C. As many as were religious, and kept their word. For
some of the dissenters, at that time, did turn to the thurch, when they faw the deep defigns of their party, so re exceed their sirst pretenfions. O. There
I
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Tiie REHEARSAL. Al
0. There were some such fools among us, tho' not half so many as among you, who thought we were only fid of conscience ! and that we were obliged to stand to our uoord, and not to proceed further than what we, at sirst, pretended! that is, that we should not gain ground of air enemy ! nor accept of power, when it was in our
power! These were dunder-heads, or, as a great man (of
•our and our side! ) fays perpetually, men of speculation, who know not the world nor man. With this he answers
arguments, and tells stories of his travels
Then sind the conscentious part of both sides were
gidfd; your's into power, which yet they thought sit t0slstvi//;and our Taoc\ex2X. e divines ^Westminster, to let
go, when they found they had let go so far, that was
now too late tostruggle for it. And your history non
conformity, printed 1704, tells us, preface, p. 2. That the assembly of divines at Westminster were all of them,
except eight or nine, conformable ministers but they were moderate men and these eight or nine were able to leaven
the whole lump os them even to make root and branclx
•work with episcopacy, liturgy, and every thing else
This shews how sit moderate men are to stand in the
l*p, in the day of the church's distress
(3. ) Ifthe man war now call'd the moderate (to be
the fastuon! ) fights at this rate, doubt the captain may come to be hang'd for his moderation
Or was a sit emblem you gave us of yovh modera tion, to shew tliat we must expect broad-fides from its and that its language fire, blood, and pillars ofsmoke
(4. ) But if you whigsanddi/senters, joined withoUr moderate men, mould be permitted once more, (for our fins) to over- turn our church and monarchy, WE hope to
rise again, as we did once before. '
O. We'11 ward against that I'll warrant thee.
C You cannot and we will rife again, and
w.
turn you, the fame way we did before.
O. How was that
C. As Thurlo, who was secretary to Oliver, told my'
ord chancellor Clarendon, after the Mag's restoration,. 1660,
L 3
; ?
of is
!
it
I
!
in
all C.
I
!
it ;
!
of it
it
!
!
!
'222 The REHEARSAL.
1660, That tho' they were possestof the people, the/aw- er, and the army, yet they lost all as it were in a moment, and the people, who had set them up, turn'd against them. The chief cause of which he attributed to the books and papers wrote by the cavaliers, which tho' much fewer in number than those on our side (faid Thurlo ) yet were far superior in strength of reason, and the spirit with which they were wrote, above our cant and railing and scolding. And then our own confufions, making good what the royalise had often told us would be the consequence ofa grvei rmer. t set up on the soot of die people, all our autho rity was not sufficient to keep the eyes of the people shut any longer; and they turn'd, like the tide, to their former constitution and government, sinding no rest no tlement possible, but eternal revolution and confufion,
all the schemes of popular government we could contrive; and we try'd round, till we were weary and they too
(5. ) Now, my little Bays, we will do the fame
you. All your scandalous clubs, your rhimers, and jolly- toys, your Locks, your Sidneys, lolands, and D'avexattt, have not been able to give one word in ans'kuer to what has been objected against your popular schemes, from holy seiipture, from reason and experience, and (to srit the scvh out of you) from the Lws of the land, which all jointly damn coercion, and was read to you out of our pulpits in London on Sunday the 28th of January last, with sermons correspondent ou the 30th. At this you fume and fret, and fay tricks are put upon you! but know not how to help your selves. Poor rogues instead of answering or defending your, principles, you cry out
Rome St. Germains you have not one werdmtxe to
at the mouth, and call ill navies, which renders you still more ridiculous! you are gene you 're gone see for how long can noise and clamour hold
fay
you foam
it out against sense and reason, against scripture and law! The enchantment cannot hold long, sure cannot
You, Bays, have done as much as blockhead could do towards dissolving it. For what man of common sense but must see you all bewilder when he reads thy Otstr-
. 11ator
.
i
by
in set
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a it
! !
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;
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it ;
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!
!
The
REHEARSAL,
223 maters of last March 28 and 31, N. 99 and 100, of thy 3d Vol. wherein thou asserts, That tlxre is no arhitrary
power in England. No, not in king and parliament f whereas every man that can reckon three upon his sin gers, must know, that all governments in the world must be arhitrary, in some hands or other; for there must be a last re/crt in every government, and that must be arhi
trary xcAunaccountabl:, as having no supericr uponearth. Whether that arhitrary pcwer is in the hands of one, or many, is not now the point, but it mast be somevehere,
else there can be no government. Thestates of Holland are as arhitrary every whit as the Grand Seignior.
0. I put it in the people.
C. The whole body of the people, or the people collec tively can receive no appeal, or pasi any judgment, in any cafe whatever; therefore I suppose you mean the
people representatively, tlrat in their re pres en * tatives in ^ae house ol commons .
0. No no no these are they that battle, make
them rogues and villains, betrayers of their trust, and
wor/e than the Spanish inquistticn, or the Divan of the Twits, or the courts justice in the most barbarous and ar
hitrary governments, as fay N. 99, and now like the lords better than the commons.
C. The lords are all and every one of them made solely and arhitrarily by the crown. And you like the choice of the crown better than of the people then let the crown name all the house of commons too.
O. No, thank you for that we hate prerogative} WE're for pulling down, not raifing higher. And one of our quarrels with the commons is, for their asserting the
prerogative against the lords.
C. To whom then do you appeal from the people re
O. To their principals who elected them, who, fay, did not part with their power absolutely to them, nor give them unlimited commijsions, which, as averN. 100, Would be to act the part ofa mad-man.
C. Then your appeal to the people collective to whom.
presentative
L 4s
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is
;
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;
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!
it
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!
if it
is, I
!
The REHEARSAL.
'
224
whom, as I have shew'd, no appeal can be made.
O. Every one is the people. According to our r«ly that a part is the whole, and that the lejjer part includdH
the greater.
C. Upon this foot then, thou art the people.
O. Yes, and upon this foot, I single John Tutchin do
arraign the whole representative of the nation, upon mj original right, and the birth-right of every Englishrnan in England, else we are all jlaves, and subject to arbitrary power !
C. And every Englistman\&% the fame right, and there are many Englishmen who differ in opinion with worthy John Tutchin ; and think that the house of commons have behaved as they ought to do, and will choose the fair. e members again, even the tackers, and perhaps them chiefs. And that John Tutchin ought to receive that whipping was once forgiven him, for his bold, saucy, and seditious refections upon that august body of the representative of the
nation.
O. He's a slave that thinks so, ofslavish principles, i Perkinite, and 2. papish.
C. But isn't he the people, as well as Join Tutchin ? And hasn't he the freedom of his own opinion, as well as John Tutchin?
O. Then I John the people will go to cuffs with thee Roger the people.
C. This is the result of thy scheme of government ! and which is worse, it cannot be mended by all the schemes that Lock, Sidney, or all your men of wit put together ever have contriv'd, or possibly ever can contrive, upon the foot of the people; they all end in the self fame non
sense and contradiction! than which nothing can be more ridiculous that ever was asserted by mankind, not except ing Bedlam ! And do'st think it possible for Englishmen to be longer detain'd under such an infatuation, when it is made so very plain to them ? and under which they have seen their country ruin'd and undone, twice almost in the fame age ! and now again on the very brink of the fame
fetal precipice, hurry'd on by the fame madness ! which flops not short of blasphemy. . (6. ) O.
The REHEARSAL. (6. ) O. How! blasphemy!
225
C. What is it short, which
thou asserts N. 99, where
.
hou fay'st. There is a Trinity which all our lams seem
'o uuorjhip here on earth, estate, liberty, and life.
O. It is but a blasphemous allusion ! and I learnt it from
one of our celebrated 'books, intituled, A view of go vernment in Europe— —Also of the antiquity, &c. os par liaments, by'T. R. Esq; printed 1689, for R. Baldwin,
where, p. 10. from these words, Let us make man, he infers, As if God summon 'd a parliament of the Tri
nity- Blasphemous
C. wretches! Whither will nonsense
and obstinacy carry men ?
vine right, and a divine pattern, which was alledg'd in behalf of kings and of monarchy. This made Baxter re-
present heaven as a parliament, and sill it with saints pro portionable ; of which I told thee before, N. 30.
But they had, with better semblance, follow 'd their in genious Milton, who, in his Paradise Lost, makes Lucifer to have call'd a parliament in heaven (and I suppose it was thefirst ) himself the speaker, to assert their rights and li
berties against the arbitrary government os the king. From ^>at. April 7, to •§at. April 14, 1705. N° 37.
1. A provocation to the whigs to answer for themselves. j 2. An answer to a quotation out of Algernoon Sidney,
3. A witch-craft in words. 4. 'J he heathen notion of-
•
(1. ) 0Æ.
0. De Foe do's fay all this, as thou hast quoted his
very words, in thy Rehearsal, N. 25. And 'tis a noble
smndatitn for all thee. Do thou disprove it if thou canst f (j. ) And I'll tell thee more ; ws're resolved to try k
W»ce more : and that very soon, at the next elections. We have already set our engines on work all over the nation, to blacken and asperse whomever we don't like, tsjacohifsd and frenchify d, that is, whoever stand up for mother church !
C. One of your journeymen has been fnapt, EdwarJ Theobalds, and censured by the house of commons ; who have, upon that, passed a resolve, nemine contradicente, the td of this March, that to asperse any member of the bouse ofcommons, with being in the interest of the pretend ed prince of Wales, or the French government, for or in respect of his behaviour and proceedings in the house of com mons, is villainous and seditious, destructive of the liberties
ofparliament, and the freedom of elections ; and tends to
create a misunderstanding between her majesty and her sub- je3s. O. What
212 The REHEARSAL.
O. What care we for their nemine contra£cente s ! have legion' 'd them to all the nation, over and over ag
We've begun with and we '11 end with it! It carries us on purely J
And no harm has come to us !
lying,
We have printed lifts upon lists of the tackers,.
that resolve, and re-printed the chara&er ofa tacker (v which thou kep'st such a pother in thine of Dec. 23.
si
O. - Let us alone. We go on pi and piano,
. and thought's! to fright with additions. us)
C. How came you to limit your selves to the tacke
The whole house, nemine contradicente, have de "
against your wicked proceedings : and are contrary
your
notion of the writ of error. And are therefd curst by you, and doom'd a sacrifice to the injurd f pies
the : tackers sirst. We can easier deal with sacrifice j
rest. We'll /srg-f the sirst, and then turn th< all out of doors, as our late glorious and immortal tector did before us. And we have trode religiously in- his steps.
Now you must know, that these tackers are men of
the greatest bulk in the house of commons for estates aet
interest; they have most of the knights of the ft>irtt\. therefore we must get rid of them : they will never do our business. Some few of them perhaps may expect to be leading men in a commonwealth ; but for the gene rality of them, they remember the sequestrations, compo
fitions, dcclimaticns, and forfeitures in forty one times ; and will never run the hazard of having their estates di vided among all the rascality of the kingdom. There
fore they will oppose oar puss with all their might.
For this reason we use all endeavours to get them ex- eluded in the ensuing elections. To which end we have legions of pampblets, characters, stng-songs, &c. ready to throw out day after day, among the mobile, to keep
them warm; wherein we assure them, that these tackers
are all of them papishes and jacobites, and have already sold their country to the French, tho' they have so great a. stake in it I For we fay, what will not bigottry do?
Then
W^
The REHE A RSAL.
213 Then these being supported by our standingforce of Ob- servators, Reviews, and the rest of our scandalous club,
weekly papers, w e hope, will have a great effefl. Espe cially considering, that there is almost a total filence of the befieged on the church side. They're practising their
old non-refistance, and cannot long hold out against our furious attacks ! We shall certainly gain the people from them, while they take no care to keep them. And think it below them to use o ur little scribling methods. They're alham'd to write, unless politely, which the mob don't understand.
But this is not all. We have emissaries and Theobalds in all quarters through the kingdom, to back the circular let ters we have sent every where; and to give thenwiat all elections, no tacker! no tacktr! no high-church-man!
And we make not only those who oppose us, but all of the church that do not assist us, to be high-church-men ; all that are not of our side, who do notspeech and preach up for us, and fall not foul on their own bre
thren in the church, who do but hint at old church of England doctrines or mutter at schism, and would have any care taken of church or constitution. For we have declar'd against all neuters we treat all such as open enemies we always have done so.
And these high-slyers we make to be papisbes, all, eve ry one of them! This we have long inculcated, without
They despised our. bare faying so, without
oppofition.
proof, and thought would take with no body But they
now sind has taken and wonder at Let them un derstand their books, but we know men. We know what- to have thing rung in the ears of mob perpe
And therefore watch the least innuendo against v and mark such men, and expose them in all our pa
tually
pers which has filenc'd most of them. They dare not stand it! and we goon to expose them still more and more, having beaten them out of the field! And now the elections coming on, we rub up mob again, and re peat what we have long hammer'd into them, and which
make the last words of my last Saturday's Observa- tor
3
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The REHEARSAL.
2i4
tor N. 96. (that it may be the more taken notice
where make my countryman conclude thus, Well, mas ter, all the high-sliers in England are not papisbts their hearts, then lam no countryman.
And we do not only fay so, but we have already ven the word, that such of them as shall dare to appear at the ensuing elections, ought to be shot thro' the head, which I'll give thee full proof at our next meeting. We intimidate wi bully! that's the way to deal v/ithpajfiie fools!
C. Is this the moderation recommended to vow ta*
queen you O. It's to
she recommends as shall prove. Besides you have moderation enough for us both! and
I'll promise you we '11 take none of yours from you much good may do you
1
From ,f>at. March 24, to &flt. March
1705. N°J5.
The shooting thro' the head letter sent to Oxford. The counter-scuffle at Coventry. A trial of lkill at Hert
ford. The character a tacker. Wherein
that the fate /^occasional bill has divested the church ofall her legal security.
CW. T N the bullying mood left thee last time, thou
your
ens. O.
promis'd'il to shew me one of the circular letters party sends about, to influence the ensuing eledi-
Does thy courage keep up still
never fails tho' believe thine will, when
thee, and will shew thee for that reason
shew
the reason for which we send tech letters about, to
pluck down the spirits of the high-church, and make them tremble under us Here's one we sent to Oxford, where there's nest of high-flyers, but we make them low ereepers before we have done with them! The letter directed For Mr. W— Ml Stttlt Ulegt in
shewed
of
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The REHEARSAL.
2j5
and is these words, The names of the ackers for Ox sord/hire, •uiho are penfioners of France, and ought to. be fiot thro the head, they pretend to appear at the ensuing
ckHion; Sir Robert Jenhinson, Sir Edward Norreys, Wil
liam Bromley, Sir William Whitlock, Thomas
Rodney, Francis Norreys, James Bertie, Sir William Glinn, Charles
North.
Short and sweet and we must suppose the like sent
to other places all over the kingdom, to teach them mode ration Now suppose the church should be willing to
learn tour moderation, and imitate it.
O. Thou dog of dogs, that would make sine work in
deed! our moderation! no, not that we recom
mend to them, but THEIr OWN moderation,
non-refistance moderation! thou know'st that none of our moderation, nor ever was. But— But— But—
What's the matter What mak'st put singer in eye,
filly, passive,
and ciy, like great booby
O. would vex any body. went t'other day as far
as Coventry, to beat one of your moderation men
C. Well, and what then
O. What then? Why when went to beat him—he
wou'dn't let me.
C. And thou blubbers and cries for that Why didn'st
thou take some body to help thee Thou cou'dn'st want
sriends in old loyal Coventry
O. summon'd all our moderation men, and they came
readily as heart could wish. But their moderation men came likewise, and we cou'dn't persuade them to be beaten quietly but they made disturbance and hub bub in the town (they always make quarrels and drove
vt out of it. Their
high-church-non-refiflance-clubs drubb'd plaguily and has employ all the surgeons in
the town, to plaister the low-church crowns.
C. A high crown'd-hat wards blow better than low-
crown 'd one moderation
and high of all sorts beats the low, even in self!
intolerable What beaten and laugFd at
O. This
too If you begin not to be afraid of us, we must be gin
!
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C.
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The REHEARSAL.
gin to begin again. We are undone! we shall be tie low— low indeed s And if' you are too many for Ut4l Coventry, where shall we hope to prevail ?
C. sou try'djour hand again last affixes at Hertford; and tho' the peace was kept, because the lord lieutenant sxia\ judges were'in town-; yet you were out -number 'dbf a vast majority of the high-church, out-bawsd. out-saci, out-done every way;
G. Is ov'k shooting thro' the head come to this ? Otem-
fora ! O mores!
C. Did'st think w* were so easy to be hullsd?
that You're got a spit and a stride before us !
ti6
. .
O. 1 prosess we thought so by all your past heham- cur ! and now you've learned our moderation so fif,
I
last time we met, that we had provided the word, Nt
told thee
tacker, no tacker ! to be the cry, at the ensuing eltcHm. And I hear that some of your high-church-folks have been before hand with us, and given out the word on their side,
a tacker! a tacker f which out-does us, as much as ay does no, ortheplaintiff'the defendant. . •
C. They are gentlemen of the best estates in the natiut, and therefore least to be suspected of any defign to betray their country to aforeign or intestine arbitrary power.
O. They are friends to the church, not only as Christi ans but Englishmen that as they believe the church has a spiritual authority committed to her by Christ; they know that she has legal tenure and establishment England, which stands upon the fame foundation as their own honours ox estates and which cannot be shaken, but by the fame means as must destroy in natural consequences theproperty in England, and as they found in effcct the
times offorty-one, when the bishops were turned out of the house of lords, the temporal peers found themselves lit loose and soon follow'd them, as did the royal authority, and the law self and the lives, liierty, and property
every
C. Let me know what thou mean'st by tacker ?
O. Tho' I've wrote much upon the subject, I
no more of it than that they are tick-tack men, and we Ye catch'd them at a why not. What do'st thou think they are ?
know
it ;
of
in so
it,
in
;
a
is,
The REHEARSAL.
217 very man in England were exposed to the lawless and
rbitrary sway of most tyrannical usurpers.
Now the tackers are men who see and consider all this, nd would not have the fame game play'd over again ;
nd therefore would (if they had leave) secure the rights
fthe church as sirmly as their own properties, knowing bat a breach upon the one is opening the door, aud the irst step to the invasion of the other, as both standing upon ne famefoot of the law and constitution, which, when roke in one part, is whole in none.
0. What do'st talk of breaking in upon the church and wading of her rights ? What rights of her did we in- ! 3ae ? We would only preserve our own birth-rights to
ave ashare in the government, and serve our country like >ther men, and Joinder her from persecuting us, for our
inscience,
C. Is it a persecution for conscience, not to let known
nemies to the church and the monarchy (and who have de- Iroy'd both before) into all the great offices of the state ? \nd there was a clause in the taclid bill to ease the dissent - rs of offices of burthen. And they faid before, that they >vould have willingly accepted, nay petition'd for the bill f such a clause had been in it. But now they reject it
nth. scorn, which makes it plain that it is not liberty of ''"science, but power that they affect, and not ashare, but he whole, as their conduct since has evidene'd ; it being urd for any to keep his seet, who is stigmatiz'd as a true
friend of the church I
But let me afle thee a question. Suppose an enemy who
had before sacICd and razd your city ; and after peace made, had made several attempts to betray and burn Md should desire leave noou only to pull down your walls, "Hedging they were of no use to you, only hinder'd you from the free air, and besides, that would be no vading of your property, for that he would not touch one °f your houses, no, upon his word he would not, only have in his power for that this watching and warding againit one another was breach of the peace, and tended
create ill-blood and jealous, among friends, &c.
Vol. O. What
I.
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in
it,
2i8 The REHEARSAL.
O. What do'st bring in such a ridiculoussuppojt'm
It could be offer'd to none of common
C. You aflc'd me just now, what rights of the church
you had invaded ? What security had you taken from
Now I'll make my parallel. You whigs and
senters, join'd with our moderate clergy, who msJHj
coinpos'd the assembly os divines at Westminster, tore up
our church by the roots, as well as destroy'd the king, and etvil constitution. After the restoration, 1660, Jaws were made for their establishment and future security, par ticularly the act of uniformity, the corporation act, and the test act. These are the legal fences of the church as well as ofthestate.
Now you dissenters have wholly eluded the import and intendment ofthese by a new invention of occafional
conformity, which you have prevailed upon your cat' sciences to comply with for good places ! and to restore these «Æt to their true meaning, was the only design of the oc
cafional hill, which having been so often rejected, mollify d to all the ease possible to the conscience of dissent ers ; and if they understood their true interest too, that
consistent with anysecurity the church And constitution, the consequence unavoidable, that the church (not to sey the state has lost her legal security, and the benefit proposed to her these acts. And this pulling down her walls, and transmitting her to posterity naked as lhe came into the world, and divested of all defence and secu rity from the law.
O. By this you accuse the anti-tackers of all these evil
for ?
sense.
her ?
dis
designs. your C. No, do not, am not of
villainous breed,
who throw out with malice and fury against all that do not
jump exactly with your notions of things. may do justice to one without branding another and honest men may differ in judgment as to prudential methods. And
the whole house of commons, both tackers and anti-tackers, have (as told thee in my last) voted to be villainous and seditious to asperse any member of the house with being
in the interest the pretended prince Wales, £5V. fir kit
tho'
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art a •villain on all hands, and all thyscandalous club, who imploy most of their time in asperfing the members of both houses who do not please you, and the whole mini-
stry, with the foulest lies and flander; and when you have nothing to fay, cry out Rome and St. Germains [ which will run with the mob that do not examine things.
But the reputation of the tackcrs is above the infection of thy poison d breath ; the nation knows that they were no Poufiniers, that they were not accused in the last reign
with corruption or receiving louicTores from count Tallard.
That they didn't vote then for a standing army in time of peace. That they are not concerned in the new erected
corporations. That they enjoy not places and penfions at the will of the court. That they railed not at the management in the late r«g» ; and by that means, made themselves necessary to be taken off, and now enjoy warm
places and pen/ions, so purchased. How many of all thefe Jerts will you sind among the tackers ? They have ac
quitted themselves, in all turns, with the least blemisl* upon them, of any in that honourable house, disparage ment to none. They have, most of any, espous'd the
cause of their country, and the publick good, free from self- isb and finister ends. Their great estates, derived front their antient families, sets them above bribery ; and their
liberal education inspires them with a noble concern for
their country, which affords not such another number of gentlemen, so characteriz'd with all the vertues ofpatri ots among those that sit within St. Stephen's Chapel, in
cluding those who bemoan their ill fortune in being at that time absent, which deprived them of the honour of
The list of the tackersi
Front
220 The REHEARS AL.
From •§at. March 31, to•f)fft. April7, 1 705. N°
1. The last ueek the church England, 2. Oftht assembly divines at Westminster. The mm war caltd the moderate. 4. Of out-writing the whigs 5. Particularly on their scheme of government the people. Which runs up to blasphemy.
CW/'TpH lastfqueek ofthe church ofEngland. c- Whatdo'st mean
O. what noble whig faid upon the bustle at Co ventry and Hertford, of which thou told'st me last time, and other appearances there are, that the high- church and
the tackers intend to dispute at the ensuing elcctiom. He bid us not be discourag'd, but hold to our tackle, for, was the last squeek of the church of Encland. Do hut gripe Vw< hard this time, and you hear no more of them. This their last cast for we can get a hops?
ofcommons to our mind, we can then play above hard with the church, and tell them our mindsreely, '. Tjtty ha•ve not a friend in the world to protect them.
C. Then seems they must do for themselves, or die They must now speak, or for ever hereafter hold their
peace O. We hold them to their peace Ifwe can (z. )
but get over the house of commons, we have number of moderate clersy cut and dryd like those who comp
the assembly divines at Westminster, who (as they
will give up episcopacy, liturgy, and every rag of church, for peace fake
C. These pretended at sirst only to moderate our episco pacy — little— and our liturgy, for the ease of tender con
sciences, and to bring over the religious dijenters!
O. And- they did; but how many did they get
C. As many as were religious, and kept their word. For
some of the dissenters, at that time, did turn to the thurch, when they faw the deep defigns of their party, so re exceed their sirst pretenfions. O. There
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Tiie REHEARSAL. Al
0. There were some such fools among us, tho' not half so many as among you, who thought we were only fid of conscience ! and that we were obliged to stand to our uoord, and not to proceed further than what we, at sirst, pretended! that is, that we should not gain ground of air enemy ! nor accept of power, when it was in our
power! These were dunder-heads, or, as a great man (of
•our and our side! ) fays perpetually, men of speculation, who know not the world nor man. With this he answers
arguments, and tells stories of his travels
Then sind the conscentious part of both sides were
gidfd; your's into power, which yet they thought sit t0slstvi//;and our Taoc\ex2X. e divines ^Westminster, to let
go, when they found they had let go so far, that was
now too late tostruggle for it. And your history non
conformity, printed 1704, tells us, preface, p. 2. That the assembly of divines at Westminster were all of them,
except eight or nine, conformable ministers but they were moderate men and these eight or nine were able to leaven
the whole lump os them even to make root and branclx
•work with episcopacy, liturgy, and every thing else
This shews how sit moderate men are to stand in the
l*p, in the day of the church's distress
(3. ) Ifthe man war now call'd the moderate (to be
the fastuon! ) fights at this rate, doubt the captain may come to be hang'd for his moderation
Or was a sit emblem you gave us of yovh modera tion, to shew tliat we must expect broad-fides from its and that its language fire, blood, and pillars ofsmoke
(4. ) But if you whigsanddi/senters, joined withoUr moderate men, mould be permitted once more, (for our fins) to over- turn our church and monarchy, WE hope to
rise again, as we did once before. '
O. We'11 ward against that I'll warrant thee.
C You cannot and we will rife again, and
w.
turn you, the fame way we did before.
O. How was that
C. As Thurlo, who was secretary to Oliver, told my'
ord chancellor Clarendon, after the Mag's restoration,. 1660,
L 3
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it ;
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it
!
!
!
'222 The REHEARSAL.
1660, That tho' they were possestof the people, the/aw- er, and the army, yet they lost all as it were in a moment, and the people, who had set them up, turn'd against them. The chief cause of which he attributed to the books and papers wrote by the cavaliers, which tho' much fewer in number than those on our side (faid Thurlo ) yet were far superior in strength of reason, and the spirit with which they were wrote, above our cant and railing and scolding. And then our own confufions, making good what the royalise had often told us would be the consequence ofa grvei rmer. t set up on the soot of die people, all our autho rity was not sufficient to keep the eyes of the people shut any longer; and they turn'd, like the tide, to their former constitution and government, sinding no rest no tlement possible, but eternal revolution and confufion,
all the schemes of popular government we could contrive; and we try'd round, till we were weary and they too
(5. ) Now, my little Bays, we will do the fame
you. All your scandalous clubs, your rhimers, and jolly- toys, your Locks, your Sidneys, lolands, and D'avexattt, have not been able to give one word in ans'kuer to what has been objected against your popular schemes, from holy seiipture, from reason and experience, and (to srit the scvh out of you) from the Lws of the land, which all jointly damn coercion, and was read to you out of our pulpits in London on Sunday the 28th of January last, with sermons correspondent ou the 30th. At this you fume and fret, and fay tricks are put upon you! but know not how to help your selves. Poor rogues instead of answering or defending your, principles, you cry out
Rome St. Germains you have not one werdmtxe to
at the mouth, and call ill navies, which renders you still more ridiculous! you are gene you 're gone see for how long can noise and clamour hold
fay
you foam
it out against sense and reason, against scripture and law! The enchantment cannot hold long, sure cannot
You, Bays, have done as much as blockhead could do towards dissolving it. For what man of common sense but must see you all bewilder when he reads thy Otstr-
. 11ator
.
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The
REHEARSAL,
223 maters of last March 28 and 31, N. 99 and 100, of thy 3d Vol. wherein thou asserts, That tlxre is no arhitrary
power in England. No, not in king and parliament f whereas every man that can reckon three upon his sin gers, must know, that all governments in the world must be arhitrary, in some hands or other; for there must be a last re/crt in every government, and that must be arhi
trary xcAunaccountabl:, as having no supericr uponearth. Whether that arhitrary pcwer is in the hands of one, or many, is not now the point, but it mast be somevehere,
else there can be no government. Thestates of Holland are as arhitrary every whit as the Grand Seignior.
0. I put it in the people.
C. The whole body of the people, or the people collec tively can receive no appeal, or pasi any judgment, in any cafe whatever; therefore I suppose you mean the
people representatively, tlrat in their re pres en * tatives in ^ae house ol commons .
0. No no no these are they that battle, make
them rogues and villains, betrayers of their trust, and
wor/e than the Spanish inquistticn, or the Divan of the Twits, or the courts justice in the most barbarous and ar
hitrary governments, as fay N. 99, and now like the lords better than the commons.
C. The lords are all and every one of them made solely and arhitrarily by the crown. And you like the choice of the crown better than of the people then let the crown name all the house of commons too.
O. No, thank you for that we hate prerogative} WE're for pulling down, not raifing higher. And one of our quarrels with the commons is, for their asserting the
prerogative against the lords.
C. To whom then do you appeal from the people re
O. To their principals who elected them, who, fay, did not part with their power absolutely to them, nor give them unlimited commijsions, which, as averN. 100, Would be to act the part ofa mad-man.
C. Then your appeal to the people collective to whom.
presentative
L 4s
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The REHEARSAL.
'
224
whom, as I have shew'd, no appeal can be made.
O. Every one is the people. According to our r«ly that a part is the whole, and that the lejjer part includdH
the greater.
C. Upon this foot then, thou art the people.
O. Yes, and upon this foot, I single John Tutchin do
arraign the whole representative of the nation, upon mj original right, and the birth-right of every Englishrnan in England, else we are all jlaves, and subject to arbitrary power !
C. And every Englistman\&% the fame right, and there are many Englishmen who differ in opinion with worthy John Tutchin ; and think that the house of commons have behaved as they ought to do, and will choose the fair. e members again, even the tackers, and perhaps them chiefs. And that John Tutchin ought to receive that whipping was once forgiven him, for his bold, saucy, and seditious refections upon that august body of the representative of the
nation.
O. He's a slave that thinks so, ofslavish principles, i Perkinite, and 2. papish.
C. But isn't he the people, as well as Join Tutchin ? And hasn't he the freedom of his own opinion, as well as John Tutchin?
O. Then I John the people will go to cuffs with thee Roger the people.
C. This is the result of thy scheme of government ! and which is worse, it cannot be mended by all the schemes that Lock, Sidney, or all your men of wit put together ever have contriv'd, or possibly ever can contrive, upon the foot of the people; they all end in the self fame non
sense and contradiction! than which nothing can be more ridiculous that ever was asserted by mankind, not except ing Bedlam ! And do'st think it possible for Englishmen to be longer detain'd under such an infatuation, when it is made so very plain to them ? and under which they have seen their country ruin'd and undone, twice almost in the fame age ! and now again on the very brink of the fame
fetal precipice, hurry'd on by the fame madness ! which flops not short of blasphemy. . (6. ) O.
The REHEARSAL. (6. ) O. How! blasphemy!
225
C. What is it short, which
thou asserts N. 99, where
.
hou fay'st. There is a Trinity which all our lams seem
'o uuorjhip here on earth, estate, liberty, and life.
O. It is but a blasphemous allusion ! and I learnt it from
one of our celebrated 'books, intituled, A view of go vernment in Europe— —Also of the antiquity, &c. os par liaments, by'T. R. Esq; printed 1689, for R. Baldwin,
where, p. 10. from these words, Let us make man, he infers, As if God summon 'd a parliament of the Tri
nity- Blasphemous
C. wretches! Whither will nonsense
and obstinacy carry men ?
vine right, and a divine pattern, which was alledg'd in behalf of kings and of monarchy. This made Baxter re-
present heaven as a parliament, and sill it with saints pro portionable ; of which I told thee before, N. 30.
But they had, with better semblance, follow 'd their in genious Milton, who, in his Paradise Lost, makes Lucifer to have call'd a parliament in heaven (and I suppose it was thefirst ) himself the speaker, to assert their rights and li
berties against the arbitrary government os the king. From ^>at. April 7, to •§at. April 14, 1705. N° 37.
1. A provocation to the whigs to answer for themselves. j 2. An answer to a quotation out of Algernoon Sidney,
3. A witch-craft in words. 4. 'J he heathen notion of-
•
(1. ) 0Æ.
