No More Learning

C. That is to fay, I am an honest man, and speak
day.
my mind freely, just as it alters, if it were ten times aI
Iam no more book-learned than thy self. But have . some mother-wit. And can see as far into a mill-stone as another. And now I see plainly, that all
thy working is directly against my dear queen. There were objections against some of her father's ministers. But thou halt rogud and knavd all her ministry from top to bottom, not sparing the prince himself her dear
bufiand. As is fully shew'3 ia Cassandra, and thy own
faid'st words quoted, of which I am a witness, for thou *
3
i6 The REHEARSAL,
it all to my self, and much more than is there set down. Is not the plain consequence then, that she must be serv'd as her father was, and as his father was ? The objection against whom was his ministry too, and evil counsellors. We know where that will end.
Which of all thy ministry that thou woud'st have in,
can boast such a glorious victory, during their ten years war, as is now obtain' d by the duke of Marlborough ? This cuts thy cronies the whigs to the heart. They had rather no good shou'd be done, than not by themselves ; that they may have handle still to blacken the ministry . Does'nt thy back ake for the scandalous character thou
hast given of this duke of Marlborough ?
O. I wish I had those words in again. I'll speak
twice as much goodof him now. May be, the other may be forgotten. But I am not well. I'll talk no more with. th. ee tonight. Get my bed'ready.
From &flt. August 12, to,§at. August 19, 1704. N° 3.
Of the ministry. And the revolution.
- Coun. 'T Am as proud of my new/a/? , iai&trObservatof, X as you are of yours.
Obs. What post hast thou got ? honest countryman.
C. Since thou wert made the publick vindicator of the Re•volution, the town (I will not be so prophane and con ceited as thou art, to put it upon providence) has made
me thy Rehearser. something like it ? if not of providence,
Is not that thy secretary, master, or' and thou being now a publick minister^ yet of legion, of our sovereign lord the
people, then I amsecretary ofstate, am I not ? and hence
forth I must counter-fign thy Observators, and be answer able for them.
gone
But I begin in an ill time. For thy last Wednesday's Observator, Aug. 9. is lakgVdzX. all over the town, and despisd by our. own friends. For want of fense thou arc
' .
The REHEARSAL.
17 gone to rhime. And thy verses are such doggrel, and full of nafiiness, as turns every bodies stomach. Therefore I'll go back to thy former Observators. And we'll talk a
little of the subject of the ministry we were last upon.
0. I wou'd have thee well instructed in that point, be
cause it is of great consequence. Know then, that the
tories and highfyers call the king (or queen) the minister of God, and as such, accountable only to God. And all that have commission from the king, they call the king's mini
And these are they whom they mean by the mini stry, and so include not the king under that denominati
on, but those only who are put in authority under him. But on the other hand, we whigs (now country-man take notice) do include the king (or queen) under the name
of the ministry, as being set up and made by the people, and so are ministers of the people, and accountable to them, for their male administrations ; to be deposed and even ex ecuted by them, as any other common malefactor. And the king (or queen ) is likewise answerable for all those ministers whom he (or she) employs under him (or her) Therefore when we blacken and defame the ministry, it is adirect attacking of him (or her) who employs them. By this method we carry'd our ends against K. Char. I and K. Jam. II. And hope to carry them on still. Besides,
my dear country man, the ministry being, the life and soul of the government, without which the government is dead, and nothing but a word, for what government is it that is not
sters.
And how can it be adminijlred without
a? I
ministry Therefore when still keep
administred?
old
betmiixt the government æk^ministry of England,
as I told thee i this is parting offoul and body, which we call death. And it is a direct dissolution of xbe. government. But these dunder-heads do not see it. I'll tell thee, country man, I'll undertake, as filly a fellow as I am, to break, any government in. the world, if they'll give me. leave to' blacken and asperse the ministry, as publickly and bravely as 1 do in England. To tell them/, as I do in my Obser-
•vator of last March 1 1,
court to any indictment, where 1 expect to have fair play,
to
my
distinction
am ready to in 1703. answer
18 The REHEARS AL.
and not be condemned without being heard: Which will hi
the practice of our courts of justice, as long as our present
judgis are in being.
Then to fall upon our admirals and generals, and name
them by name, as I do Sir George Rook in many of my Observators, even in my last of Aug. i 6. and represent him in most scandalous manner.
And to fay of another great general, as I do in my Ob-
servator of May I 3, 1 704.
in a fighting army, under a general that voe now dearly want, •who did not use to return from the war, SINE
O dear liberty and property ! who wou'd live in a coun try where he cou'd be restrain'd from this ?
In short country-man, we will have none that are for the church to be either judges or generals, or admirals, oi in any other office, either ecclefiastical, civil, or military. We'll talk them out, we'll rail them out ; we'll obser•vd- tor them all. We can make one an hero, for being al ways beaten, if he be on our side. And let the others
clade victor; and then ride in triumph over his quein in a medal.
Jight or not fight, we'll be at 'em. In mine of Saturday
last. Aug. 1 z. I was upon the admiralty again and the
I name, the re turn of the Tholoun squadron, the affairs s/'Ponts, the late inglorious action of Gray don, the treachery at Ca- maret, with many other like instances. Then I bring my charge home upon the government, that the actors in those dishonourable Jcenes have been so sightly punifi9d. This will stir up the mob, to think all wrong at court. And
whole management of our sea affairs :
you know the next thing is, to think of a remedy.
That bull-dog of Cassandra has chas'd me from one to another, till he brought me (part 2. p. 17. ) where I fall foul upon his royal highness the prince himself, and tell him plainly, that the highest office in England, is not above the law e/'England. And that the laws c/'England weri made to detect and punish offenders. This put me a little
agast, but I was claps d on the back, and bid stand to That had party wou'd stand me, who had greatei
It has been my to be fortune
I a
by
it-
if I
prosecuted for so saying
prove ; as it has
The REHEARS AL.
19
nxiori than this for me to do. And so I did. And an swered boldly in my Observator of last July 19. That a« to the charge of nojustice being done by the prince or his auncil, for the publicksafety, but the guilty persons si;ll
in court, open
continud to be employ d, notwithstanding the prooss made of their embezzlements of the stores, Use. I answer, That it
is matter offact, which I ready
am
ponied before the right honourable the house oflords.
been
am to
C. And had you nojustice there neither ? Is not this a fort of an accusation against the justice of the lords too ? Why did you not go to my queen ? I am sure she wou'd have done you justice.
O. I have told thee often, that the crown itself is but an office, like that of the lord mayor orsheriffs ; which is
already
the reason I give in my Observator (Vol. 2. N. 25. ) 'That the regal dignity can never be hereditary. And being but
an office, you know, the highest office in England is not above the law of England, &c. as I apply 'd it to the prince. And it is her ofsice, not his, that is the highest office in England. And I told thee last time we met, that
J owe her no more respect than according to the loy.
force ?
Inow to arat! NowI'llbe begin smell
C. Oho!
upon thy Bones, in behalf of my dear queen, for all thy French. Thou fay'st thy loyalty is limited by law. And thou wilt give no more. Wilt thou give as much then ? And we shall agree. Wilt thou own those acts of parlia ment quoted in my last, that there is no coercive power over my queen, either in lords, commons, or the people ? That none of them, nor all together have any legiflative power without the queen ? Or, wilt thou fay, that this is not law ? That these acts of parliament are not still in
Or, that an act os parliament is not law ? Thou
titpegg'd down, Bays, thou must answer directly to these
things. They are plain questions. And thy loy and loy
alty will not help thee. If thou shuffle, or give a cart load of ill names, it will but make thee more ridiculous. And I'll tell thee, not only I my self, but all my honest
country-men, who have been so long led by the nose by thee,
20 The REHEARSAL.
thee, will quit thee, for a scoundrel, who can'st talk an<J rave at random, but i«raa nothing, nor C3. rift. an/kver to any thing. Thou hast appeal'd to the7•an>. Let'the" /ai«
then bejudge. Ifthou can'st not answer to these a£ls
of
parliament here objected, thou art gone ! gone ! as dead as a herring. And the /aw which thou hast abus'd may take hold on thee, tho* thou think'st that there will' be no righteous proceedings in any of our courts ofjustice,' as long as our -present judges are in being, thou; wast then out of their clutches. And thought'st'itwould never be day.
Gr whose hands thou might'? come into.
Thou must answer likewise for calling the abdication
of the late K. James, a depofing of him, and divesting him. of ailhis' regalities, and 'making him a fugitive on the earth. As thou do'st in thy Obfervator, Vol. 2. N. 89. Whereas, to avoid all these odious imputations, and the breach of our laws, which allow not of depofing our
kings, the wifdom ofthe convention found out the abdica tion. And thou, like a blockhead, mak'st them all one. Thou a vindicator of the revolution! Thou mak'st the revolution as black as the 30th of "January. In which thou do'st rejoyce, and compar'st them together, as equally glorious acts. Did our fore-fathers (fay'st
thou) de-truncate the father? Did not we depose the
son ? And may not future ages examine the difference be- . t-ivixt the decollation, and the abdication? Is this a vindi cating of the revolution ? If great stresshad not been laid upon the vacancy of the throne, and the abdication (to' avoid the odium of a depofition ) these words had not en- dur'd such tough debates. And thou now givest them
up, after thy master Julian Johnson, who wou'd have it an ab-renunciation. And made afool of that too.
O. Andthou'lt make a fool df me too, if I have been writing all this while against the revolution.
C. Most certainly, Sir, you have been in the wrong box. You have been writing for your old puss a common wealth. And either wilfully or ignorantly mistook the" point of the revolution. And compar'd'ft to forty-one, even tofcrty-eigbt.
O. I hope
'lit
w ,
. :
11
I hope they'll put it upon my ignorance. For who can think, that I could otherwise have been so cursedly impudent, as to justify the de-collation of the queen's royal
The REHEARSAL. 21
grandfather ; the depofition (as I call of her father, and making him fugitive upon the earth, like Cain, to set «p the depofing doctrine, and powtr of the people to do the fame his daughter and, in order to to blacken her ministry, openly and above-board, to all the nation Be- sides running my self into a direct premunire thestatute
13 Car. 2. c/kz/>. . to set up legislative in the nation without the king. And, which grieves me more than all this, to cast such an eternal blot upon my dear and im- mortal king William, as to make him the author of all
this and just counter-part to our glorious and immor tal Oliver
prosess thought the revolution had proceeded upon the fame principles offorty-one. And that no one cou'd have found with the one, without condemning of the other. never thought of abdication, or did not under
stand'it. But hereafter, I'll learn to understand, before nvrite.
From &at. August 9, to . §at. August 26, 704. N° 4.
Legion Astra tied, on the Bfioo of the late victones.
And for sear of the occafional bill, &c.
Coun. 'T T W now, master Observator, why so grumpy never faw thee in such humour all the days of my hse. My october makes thee grin, but does not
make thee laugh. And has been so with thee ever since the news of our glorious victories both by land andsea.
Obf. must put fair face upon it. But no glori ous victory to me. Nor to thee neither, thou had'st sense.
C. Thou mazes me, master, art thou dreaming?
has the hag rid thee last night Come, let me understand
little.
Or O. Art
a
I I\_ I
?
a
a
it
I
;
a if
it) it,
it is
1
by :
it
1 O
II.
by
a.
? I
y ay- jo,
k,, 0
;
a
22 The REHEARSAL.
O. Art thou not true to your cause, to restore our cem- mon-ivealth ? whose health thou hast drank in many a bumper, by the name of old puss, at our calves head feasts.
C. I hope you don't mistrust me, master ; the last drop of my blood for the good old cause.
I'll
spend
O. I doubt not thygoed will, country-man, therefore I will open my heart to thee. Thou know'st what pains I have taken to blacken the present ministry, I mean all of them that are not on our side.
C. Right ! master, that has been the sole business of all
thy Observators.
O. Besides, turning the revolution upon the foot of the
depofing doctrine, and the power of the people. Taking no notice at all of the abdication, upon which the convention went. We spoke of this last Saturday ; wherein I answered
. fully whatever cou'd be objected to the contrary. Now, by this, country-man, we preserve our right to depose what king or queen we please. And have full liberty and pro
perty to justify the glorious revolution offorty-one. And if any dare speak against even upon their madding-day, of the 30th of January, we immediately brand them as high-fliers, tories, and tantivy-men, nay very perkinites, and enemies to the revolution.
C. There thou hast them fast, my boy.
O. Having sixt thisfoundation, we next come to apply it. And that done by asperstng all of the ministry that are not for our purpose, and making them odious to the nation. And then there ground for new revolution, as was formerly, andformerly. Unless the whole mi nistry be put in to the hands of ourfriends, who know
what to do with' it.
For this end, thou know'st have bespatter the bishops
and clergy, both houses of convocation, the house of com mons, the council-table, the judges, and put them all into my list of knaves, in my Observator, Vol. 2. N. 99. And likewise thou know'st how villainously have treated the
duke of Marllorough, and Sir Gecrge Rook, the commanders in chief both sea and W. And then magnify the heroical achievements in the last reign, to disparage them.
by
is
IIa a"
'd
I
is a
it,
it
The REHEARSAL.
23 And because the house of commons prefled so hard the bill
against occafional conformity, we legion' d mi million V them to the purpose all over the nation. By this means we hop'd to getanew parliament, more to our own mind. And then how we wou'd have bellow'd, and made interest, to
shew, that nothing was done either by sea or land. And therefore that it was necessary the old ministry and generals u\ouM be employ'd, who had done such wonders under
K. William.
Now, country-man, consider what it is to be difap
pointed of all these glorious expectations ! To hear the cburcb-party boast, thatmore has been done in onesummer, under their administration, than in all the ten years war
before f under a queen of the name of Stuart, than under a foreigner ! under one English and royal-born, and an heart entirely English, who has promis'd to encourage and main
tain the church of England as by law establish'd; and upon all occafions ofpromotions to any ecclefi
astical dignity, to have a very just regard to such, as are eminent and remarkable for their
vahich shall be thought proper, it may be securely transmitted
andsettled to posterity.
Now men of constant zeal for the church of England,
as by law establish 'd, will never think that it is an encou ragement to her, and a proper method to transmit her se curely settled, to divest her of thosesecurities which the
lain has already given her. That the corporation acl, and the test act, which debar all from places of power
and trust who are not of her communion.
C. And how have we got off from those laws?
O. By a notable dislinction. not man of such or such communion, while he of
C. Most certainly, Sir.
O. Therefore, we go to church, receive the sacrament upon our knees, which we us'd to call idolatry, and con form to tittle with all the whole liturgy, rites, and cere
monies, which "we give as the reasons of our non-conformi ty
and constant zeal for the
Queen's Speech
** ~"sj'a~ eb- 27
piety, learning,
church ; that by this and all other methods,
a a
is
it Is ?
is, a
$4
The REHEARSAL.
ty. Then who can fay we are non-conformists ! We are not surely so, at that instant while we are conforming. And so we are within the letter of the /aw, tho' we return to our conventicles next day ; and rail as much at the
the queenhas promis'd to maintain ) call this an eluding of the Innu. Besides the vile hypocrisy in this practice. And therefore have brought in a hill (which we have twice thrown out) to explain . those laws, not to have meant otcastonal conformity only, but a constant conformity to the church establish'd. It being impossible for those laws to have any other meaning, than not to trust those who were not truly and fincerely in the interest of the church esta blished, with such places ofpower as to be enabl'd to de
stroy her.
As when we made laws to exclude the malignants, and
all friends of the anti-christian episcopal hierarchy, in our blessed reign. We wou'd have mumbs d the rogues, if they had offer'd to have eluded our laws, by an occafeonal and hypocritical conformity. We wou'd soon have let them know, what was the true import and meaning of the law, with a halter about their necks.
C. All in good time, master.
O. Alas ! • when now ? country-man, these uictories in the hands of church-men, have stopt our mouths. What shall we fay \ How shall we railzx the ministry nextfiffion ofparliament ? How do we know we shall procure a new
parliament ? In which of our administrations can we pre tend the publick treasury was so frugally and yet honour ably manag'd ? In supporting such vast alliances, and car rying our t ms into the heart of Germahy, where English colours were never seen before. And then the success ,
[oh ! that torments our souls'] which has attended all this ! Then they'll be comparing this with the other sort offuc- ces/es which we had, when foreigners commanded our troops, at Steenkirt, Landcn, and along, £ff c. for ten years together. They'll mind us of the address made by the
house of lards to K. Will. That the commander in chief, under
ehurch as ever.
Now the constant zealots for the church establish d'(whom
The REHEARS AL'.
inder his majejly, of the English forces, should be a natu- val-born-fubject of his majesty's. And complaining of the ! oss of honour to the English abroad, in the posts allow'd
:hem, and stipulated in former reigns, as well as dishonour :hereby to the crown of England. And humbly intreat- ing that so many foreigners shou'd not be imploy'd, par ticularly in the Tower of London over the stores, arms, and office of ordinance, Sec. Of all which he took no notice. The foreigners still carry 'd it. They'll fay, that foreign ers will still employ foreigners, and trust them before the English. And thence represent to us the happiness of the cronvn being again return'd to the true line of the Stuarts,
which we resolv'd to extirpate, as was nastily discover d in the informations p. 1 34. annex'd to the account of the
Rye-house conspiracy. But the fame resolution was renew'd, with -vows, by some of the chiefs of us, upon the execution
(which we call martyrdom) of L. R. And' I'll tell thee country-man, we had it in full scent, and cou'd hardly have been disappointed, but for these, O these late victories,
which have broke all our measures.
Ten to one, but the hill against occafional-conformity may now come on again, and be carrfd. Which if it
be not, the corporation and test acts, the only things that now hamper us, are gone for ever. And occafional con formity, having been so often debated, and nothing enact
ed against will pass and be hereaster understood, as the true and genuine meaning of the corporation act, and the test act, and that nothing more requird them. And then let the constant xealots see how their church establish V
will be secur'd and transmitted to posterity! You know there an old faying, new lords, new laws. And that every dog has his day
C. That is, long look for comes at last. like not
these delays and hopes. I'd be doing. Is there nothing now to be set forward Is your heart in your hose Come
pluck up, master, I'll stand thee.
O. am little down at present. But in my next,
shall shew thee what to be done. And how our mat ters are to be order am going to council learned in the law. Therefore can stay no longer with thee now. From
Vol.
i$
I.
a
it,
C
by
I
is
d. . . 1is )
I
I ?
is
by
26 The REHEARSAL.
From &at. Aug. 26, to ,§at. Sept. z, 1704. N°5.
Of the former and present state of legion. Of the burning of London, An. 1666.
Ca«». T Left thee last tinie going to thy council Iearnei X in the law, and the close-juncto-cabal. What have they determin'd ? what have I now to do? have
they quite given over the cause : and must we fit down quietly under a church of England queen, and churci
? charm'd with the noise of their good management of the treasury and councils at home,
of England ministry
. and their glorious successes abroad !
O. No, country-man, our legion is of that breed of
. devils, who defy the voice of the charmer, charm he
jiever so wisely. For they stop their ears. They are deaf adders. But they are aot dumb. None hiss so loud as they. And the word is given, to hiss now
jnore loudly than ever. For we have to do with a peo ple who are'aH ears, but have no eyes. And therefore they believe every thing that they hear, but nothing that they see. Make a noise, tom,—hollow, boys, hollo, —that carries it with the mob—who care not a far- thing for all your reasoning and disputing. You had as
good preach to a beetle ; or to the roaring of the sea.
Therefore we must sill them with resentments, and work
upon their passions.
And one special rule is given to us, never to matter
truth or faljhood. That will hamper ones invention. And it is all one as to mob, the one goes down as well as the other.
C. Right ! master. That is the constant rule we have observ'd all the way fromforty one downwards. But the rogues will be disproving of our lies. What mall we do then ?
O. Psha, man, thou art an ofe. Thou art not half learn'd
The REHEARSAL.
a7
learn'd in our mystery. Disprove quotha! what signi sies that ? repeat the fame lye, over and over again, and with ten times more assurance. Never heed answering.
Who minds answers. 'Tis the weakest side that answers. They are the desendants. And it is the attacking party carries it, ten to one.
That martyr and bead of the church in forty-one-time* whom we made a calves- head of, was full ofhis answer ing. And what did we return to his fine well-pennd declarations and messaces, full of reason, law, and all that ? the more of that we found in we answer 'd
with more insolent and bold resolve. And we carry it. For that shew'd we had power. And the lels reason that power gives, the greater. You may as well preach in battle, or make speech to great
reason, who contend
may recruit sooner than we can do. How then, master O. Ne'er trouble thy head. They know better how
to get victory over us, than how to make use of when they have got it. They will begin to court and flatter us again, to shew their moderation! and still con tinue to employ us in places of power to please us. This was the method used by King Charles all along. Who often had in his power to have crusht us to no thing, and ended what he called our rebellion. This gave us still new strength, and we gained by his advan tages over us, as well as by ours over him. For this shewed us to be the considerable party that must be gra tisied and of whom the government was afraid. This magnisied us in the eyes of the people, till we got them all over to us at last.