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diff --git a/40339-8.txt b/40339-8.txt deleted file mode 100644 index c1e5154..0000000 --- a/40339-8.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,2878 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Selections from the Observator (1681-1687), by -Roger L'Estrange - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with -almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org - - -Title: Selections from the Observator (1681-1687) - -Author: Roger L'Estrange - -Commentator: Violet Jordain - -Release Date: July 26, 2012 [EBook #40339] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE OBSERVATOR *** - - - - -Produced by Colin Bell, Hazel Batey, Joseph Cooper and the -Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - - - - - THE AUGUSTAN REPRINT SOCIETY - - - SIR ROGER L'ESTRANGE - - - - - _SELECTIONS FROM_ - - THE - - OBSERVATOR - - (1681-1687) - - - _Introduction by_ Violet Jordain - - - PUBLICATION NUMBER 141 - - WILLIAM ANDREWS CLARK MEMORIAL LIBRARY - - University of California, Los Angeles - - 1970 - - - - - GENERAL EDITORS - - William E. Conway, _William Andrews Clark Memorial Library_ - - George Robert Guffey, _University of California, Los Angeles_ - - Maximillian E. Novak, _University of California, Los Angeles_ - - - ASSOCIATE EDITOR - - David S. Rodes, _University of California, Los Angeles_ - - - ADVISORY EDITORS - - Richard C. Boys, _University of Michigan_ - - James L. Clifford, _Columbia University_ - - Ralph Cohen, _University of Virginia_ - - Vinton A. Dearing, _University of California, Los Angeles_ - - Arthur Friedman, _University of Chicago_ - - Louis A. Landa, _Princeton University_ - - Earl Miner, _University of California, Los Angeles_ - - Samuel H. Monk, _University of Minnesota_ - - Everett T. Moore, _University of California, Los Angeles_ - - Lawrence Clark Powell, _William Andrews Clark Memorial Library_ - - James Sutherland, _University College, London_ - - H. T. Swedenberg, Jr., _University of California, Los Angeles_ - - Robert Vosper, _William Andrews Clark Memorial Library_ - - - CORRESPONDING SECRETARY - - Edna C. Davis, _William Andrews Clark Memorial Library_ - - - EDITORIAL ASSISTANT - - Roberta Medford, _William Andrews Clark Memorial Library_ - - -[Illustration: THE OBSERVATOR. =Numb. 1.= For text go to Page 9.] - - - - -INTRODUCTION - - - I fancy, _Trimmer_, that if You and I could but - get leave to peep out of our Graves again a matter - of a hundred and fifty year hence, we should find - these Papers in Bodlies Library, among the Memorialls - of State; and Celebrated for the Only Warrantable - Remains concerning this Juncture of Affairs. - (_Observator_ No. 259, 16 December 1682) - - -When the first of 931 single, folio sheets of the _Observator_ appeared -on 13 April 1681, the sixty-five-year-old Roger L'Estrange, their sole -author, had been a controversial London Royalist for over twenty years. -As Crown protégé, he had served intermittently as Surveyor of the Press, -Chief Licenser, and Justice of the King's Peace Commission; as a writer, -he had produced two newspapers, the _Intelligencer_ and the _Newes_ -(1663-1666), dozens of political pamphlets, and seven translations from -Spanish, Latin, and French.[1] Rightly nicknamed "bloodhound of the -press," L'Estrange was notorious for his ruthless ferreting out of -illegal presses and seditious publishers, as well as for his tireless -warfare against the powerful Stationers' Company.[2] No less well known -were his intransigent reactionary views, for we can estimate that some -64,000 copies of pamphlets bearing his name were circulating in the City -during the two years preceding the _Observator_.[3] Thus the -_Observator_ papers represent not only the official propaganda of the -restored monarchy, but also the intellectual temper of a powerful, -influential man whose London fame was sufficiently demonstrated in the -winter of 1680, when he was publicly burned in effigy during that year's -Pope-burning festivities. - -In the muddy torrent of "Intelligences," "Mercuries," "Courants," -"Pacquets," and sundry newssheets, the _Observator_ marks the beginnings -of a new sort of journalism, one which was to shape the development of -the English periodical. Although _Heraclitus Ridens_ and its opponent -_Democritus Ridens_ initiated the dialogue form for the newspaper -seventy-two days before the _Observator_, their relatively short run -relegates these pioneers to a shadowy background, as it does the even -earlier trade paper in dialogue, the _City and Country Mercury_ -(1667).[4] The eighty-two issues of _Heraclitus Ridens_ and thirteen of -_Democritus Ridens_ cannot be compared in quantity to the 931 issues of -the _Observator_ published three or four times a week from 13 April 1681 -to 9 March 1687, nor can their stiff dialogues be compared in importance -to L'Estrange's much fuller exploitation of the form. Consequently, even -though he did not initiate the newspaper in dialogue form, L'Estrange is -unanimously given the honor of having popularized the form, or, in the -words of Richmond P. Bond, of having "borrowed the dialogue and fastened -it on English journalism for a generation as a factional procedure."[5] - -Imitators did not wait long. Nine days after the first _Observator_, -L'Estrange's arch-enemy, Harry Care, changed to dialogue the _Popish -Courant_ section of his _Weekly Pacquet of Advice from Rome_, -relinquishing the expository format which he had followed since 1678. -Later, after the Glorious Revolution, the popularity of L'Estrange's -paper is evident in the spate of imitative "Observators" that ensued: -_The English Spy: Or, the Critical Observator_ (1693); _The Poetical -Observator_ (1702); Tutchin's _Observator_ (1702--a Whig organ) and -Leslie's _Observator_ (1704--a Tory organ); _The Comicall Observator_ -(1704); _The Observator Reviv'd_ (1707), and more. As late as 1716 there -was created a _Weekly Observator_. By the turn of the century, the very -term "Observator" had come to signify a controversy _in dialogue_.[6] -Interestingly enough, even the typography of L'Estrange's _Observator_ -may have left its mark on succeeding journals. A brief comparison of -Interregnum newspapers (such as _Newes Out of Ireland_ in 1642, _The -Scotch Mercury_ in 1643, _The Commonwealth Mercury_ in 1658) with John -Dunton's _The Athenian Mercury_ (1693) and Charles Leslie's _Observator_ -(1704) reveals a marked difference in typography. In the earlier papers -the typography is generally uniform, with italics used for proper names -and quotations, whereas L'Estrange's and Leslie's papers exhibit the -whole range of typeface available to the seventeenth-century printer. -Dissenter Dunton's _Athenian Mercury_, on the other hand, shows much -less eccentricity in its typography, limiting itself to generous use of -italics only, while Defoe's _Review_ goes back to the earlier restraint -and presents a neat, uniform page. Whether these typographical -differences are attributable to particular political views or merely to -"schools" of printing is difficult to say. - -In addition to this obvious sort of superficial imitation, there are -many indications that L'Estrange's _Observator_ had a more permanent -influence on posterity. It has been suggested that the periodical -specializing in query and answer between reader and editor, which was -initiated by John Dunton's _Athenian Mercury_ and which we still have -today, may have been inspired by the _Observator's_ habitual retorts to -opponents.[7] James Sutherland isolates in Defoe certain qualities of -prose style which he attributes to Defoe's extensive reading of -L'Estrange; and he sees L'Estrange's natural colloquial manner as -setting a pattern for journalists who followed him.[8] Far-fetched as it -may seem at first glance, even Addison's _Spectator_ shows a certain -similarity to the _Observator_. Although the manner, tone, language, and -political views of the two are antithetical, the _Spectator's_ peculiar -blend of moralizing and diversion is reminiscent of L'Estrange's work. -In both papers we notice a serious didactic purpose tempered by literary -techniques and imaginative handling of material. Decades before -Addison's famous credo--"to make their Instruction Agreeable, and their -Diversion useful ... to enliven Morality with Wit, and to temper Wit -with Morality"[9]--L'Estrange had formulated a similar theory: - - _Obs._: Where there has been Any thing of That which you - call Raillery, or Farce; It has amounted to no more then - a Speaking to the Common People in their Own Way.... - He that Talks Dry Reason to them, does as good as treat - 'em in an Unknown Tongue; and there's no Other way of - Conveying the True Sense, & Notion of Things, either to - their Affections, or to their Understandings, then by the - Palate.... - (II, No. 15) - -And as a link between L'Estrange and Addison we have Defoe's analogous -promise in "the Introduction" to the _Review_: "After our Serious -Matters are over, we shall at the end of every Paper, Present you with a -little Diversion, as any thing occurs to make the World Merry."[10] -These notions rest, of course, on the ancient _dulce et utile_, though -modified in various ways in each of the three papers to suit the -temperaments of their writers, the tastes of their mass-audiences, and -different times. It is perhaps not irresponsible, then, to say that the -synonymous titles of Addison's and L'Estrange's periodicals symbolize an -affinity of purpose and technique. Indeed, the _Observator_ can, in many -ways, be considered a rather crude and primitive ancestor of the -_Spectator_.[11] - -The purpose of the _Observator_ and its main targets are clearly -formulated in _Observator_ No. 1, as well as in the prefatory "To the -Reader," which was written in 1683 for the publication of Volume 1 of -the collected papers. The "faction" which L'Estrange proposes to reprove -consists at first (1681-1682) of Shaftesbury's republican-minded -followers and of the perpetrators of the Popish Plot. In his evaluation -of the Plot, L'Estrange agrees with some modern historians,[12] for he -never doubted that it was a Whig fabrication, an invented cause around -which the party members could rally and which neatly veiled the -parliamentary power-struggle behind the scenes. Titus Oates is -consequently the _Observator's_ _bête noire_, and Andrew Marvell's -pamphlet, _The Growth of Popery_, is for L'Estrange the odious origin of -the Plot: - - _Obs._: I do not know Any man throughout the whole Tract - of the Controversy that has held a Candle to the Devil - with a Better Grace then the Author of that Pamphlet ... - that Furnishes so Clear a Light toward the Opening of - the Roots, Springs, and Causes of our Late Miserable - Disorders, and Confusions.... Prethee let Otes'es - Popish Plot, Stand, or Fall, to it's Own Master; provided - that Marvels may be Allow'd to be the Elder Brother.... - (II, No. 16) - -Toward the end of 1682, when the Whigs had ceased being an imminent -threat to the government and all but one of the Whig newspapers had been -silenced, L'Estrange turned his attack against the more moderate -Trimmers, as illustrated in _Observator_ III, No. 88. But whether the -offensive is against Whigs or Trimmers, Dissenters and advocates of -toleration are always in the line of L'Estrange's fire as chief -subverters of absolute monarchy and of the Church of England, as is -evident in the satire of _Observator_ Nos. 13 and 110. On the eve of the -Glorious Revolution, this rigid stand lost him the support of both the -Anglican clergy and the universities, support of which he was so proud -in his "To the Reader." Finally, _Observator_ No. 1 singles out the Whig -press as one of its chief targets. The "Smith" referred to in that first -number is Anabaptist Francis "Elephant" Smith, publisher of the -outrageous _Mirabilis Annus_ books, the inflammatory pamphlet _Vox -Populi_, and the offensive paper _Smith's Protestant Intelligence_; -"Harris" is Benjamin Harris, publisher of the Whig paper, _Domestic -Intelligence_. These, together with Harry Care (_Weekly Pacquet of -Advice from Rome_ and _Popish Courant_), Richard Janeway (_Impartial -Protestant Mercury_), Langley Curtis (_The Protestant Mercury_), and -hordes of anti-Royalist authors or publications are habitually quoted or -referred to in L'Estrange's counterpropaganda. His untiring countering -of Whig publications earned him Nahum Tate's hyperbolic praise in _The -Second Part of Absalom and Achitophel_: - - Than _Sheva_, none more loyal Zeal have shown, - Wakefull, as _Judah's_ Lion for the Crown, - Who for that Cause still combats in his Age, - For which his Youth with danger did engage. - In vain our factious Priests the Cant revive, - In vain seditious Scribes with Libels strive - T'enflame the Crow'd, while He with watchfull Eye - Observes, and shoots their Treasons as they fly. - Their weekly Frauds his keen Replies detect, - He undeceives more fast than they infect. - So _Moses_ when the Pest on _Legions_ prey'd, - Advanc'd his Signal and the Plague was stay'd.[13] - -Parochial as these concerns seem today, the _Observator_ in its totality -goes far beyond the Harry Cares and "Elephant" Smiths in its exhortation -to greater rationality in areas ancillary to but transcending politics -proper. Its assiduous ridicule of Enthusiasm, following in the steps of -Meric Casaubon and Henry More,[14] its analyses of political -manipulation of the naive populace, its explanations of psychological -appeals, its Orwellian warnings against the snares of loaded diction and -the dangers of affective political rhetoric--all these efforts evident -in the few _Observators_ represented here are an important step in the -direction of a less superstitious, less hysterical century. -Paradoxically, L'Estrange mobilized progressive ideas in the service of -an archaic political and religious administration, thereby familiarizing -the man on the street with notions and attitudes commonly known as -Enlightened. - -The sugar coating in the _Observator_ is, however, as significant as the -pill, and distinguishes L'Estrange's journalism from his predecessors'. -Apart from the traditional satiric blend of verbal banter and polemic, -which has received ample commentary,[15] his use of established literary -modes further enhances the colloquies, making them especially diverting -for his audience and interesting for us. As dialogues, the papers belong -to a genre whose popularity has remained constant from Plato onward. The -appeal of the form lies in its pleasurable verisimilitude, immediacy, -adaptability to differing points of view, and, especially after the -Restoration, in its potentiality for humorous repartee.[16] As -_satiric_ dialogues, L'Estrange's sheets satisfy what seems to be a -universal love of ridicule, an innate trait of the human mind, although -there is no agreement among students of satire as to its exact -psychological operations. In addition to adopting this form, which -belongs to imaginative literature rather than to journalism, L'Estrange -spices his _Observator_ with a number of other devices designed to -provide variety, change in speed, and amusement for his reader, who is -in turn bullied, joshed, castigated, reasoned, or laughed into accepting -L'Estrange's views. - -Frequently, for example, the dialogue gives way to a pointed anecdote -(old or current, invented or factual), such as the story of Jack of -Leyden in _Observator_ No. 1, or the following from a later dialogue, -humorously satirizing the dour William Prynne and the Puritans' strange -concepts of sin: - - _Trimmer_: A Gentleman that had Cut-off his own hair on - the Saturday, came the next day to Church in his first Perriwig. - The Parson (that was already Enter'd into his Sermon) - turn'd his Discourse presently, from his Text in the - Holy Bible, to the Subject of Prynnes _Unloveliness of - Lovelocks_; and Thrash'd for a matter of a Quarter of an - hour, upon the Mortal Sin of Wearing False Hair. The - Gentleman, finding that he would never give him over, - 'till he had Preach'd him into a Flat State of Reprobation, - fairly took off his Perriwig, and Clapt it upon One of the - Buttons at the Corner of the Pew. The Poor Man had not - One word more to say to the Perriwig; and was run so far - from his Text, that he could not for his heart find the way - home again: So that to make short on't; He gave the - People his Blessing, and Dismiss'd the Congregation. - (II, No. 21) - -Frequently, also, L'Estrange satirizes by means of parody or ludicrous -examples of his enemies' rhetoric or behavior, as in the case of the -"Dissenting Academies" in _Observator_ No. 110. But most important of -the techniques for entertaining are his creation of carefully delineated -speaker-_personae_ and his "Characters," again both borrowed from the -literary tradition. - -After the first twenty-nine _Observators_, which are experimental in -that "Q" and "A" have shifting personalities (as in Nos. 1 and 13), -L'Estrange manipulates "Whig" and "Tory" for 171 papers, changes to -"Whig" and "Observator" for 33 papers, briefly (six papers) shifts to -"Whig" and "Courantier," and finally settles down to "Trimmer" and -"Observator" for the remaining 692 papers. In all these, the Tory -satirist (whether he be "Tory" or "Observator") is presented as the -conventional "snarling dog" described by Robert C. Elliott,[17] with -appropriate outbursts of polemic, invective, bitter irony, and railing -humor. Even the traditional crudity is there, although compared to, say, -the _Popish Courant_, L'Estrange manifests a Victorian restraint. -"Whig," on the other hand, is presented as a naive, credulous, -not-too-bright individual whose main fault is not so much that he is a -Whig but that he is a Whig because he has no mental capacity for -discrimination. The "A" speaker of No. 13 (apparently a humorous thrust -at John Eachard, author of _Grounds and Occasions of the Contempt of the -Clergy_) with his preference for Prynne, Baxter, and Smith over Tacitus, -Livy, and Caesar, is typical of the later "Whig" _persona_. Humorless, -misguided, and chronically given to believing even the most outrageous -gossip, "Whig" cuts a foolish and therefore amusing figure when pitted -against the sophisticated, trenchant-minded "Tory." "Trimmer" is quite -different. L'Estrange here creates a much more intelligent opponent, one -who is given the liberty of satirizing "Observator" himself and even -patronizing him with the nickname "Nobs." Instead of naivete and obvious -stupidity, "Trimmer" has the guile and surface morality of the perfect -hypocrite, a "pretending friend" as "Observator" notes in _Observator_ -III, Nos. 88 and 202. The humor in these later dialogues does not emerge -from the "Trimmer" personality but from the frequent self-satire and -criticism on the part of L'Estrange. "Trimmer," for example, is allowed -to mock the prose style, figures of speech, stubbornness and -repetitiveness of "Observator," as "Trimmer's" chiding tone in -_Observator_ III, No. 88 suggests. To borrow a term from Robert C. -Elliott, the entertainment of these later colloquies resides primarily -in the technique of the "satirist satirized."[18] L'Estrange, in short, -creates both _adversariuses_ as _dramatis personae_ rather than as -simple straw men, a departure from the run-of-the-mill Restoration -dialogue evident in the following interruption of his artfully built -illusion: - - _Obs._: For Varieties sake then, we'le to work another way. - Do You keep up your Part of Trimmer still: Do Just as - you use to do; and be sure to maintain your Character; - Leave the Whig and the Tory to Me. - - _Trimmer_: For the Dialogue sake it shall be done. - - _Obs._: But then you must Consider that there are Severall - sort of Trimmers: as your State-Trimmer, Your Law-Trimmer.... - - _Trimmer_: And You shall Suppose Mee to be a Statesman. - - _Obs._: But of what Magnitude? A Lord? A Knight?... - - _Trimmer_: Why truly Nobs, if they be all of a Price, I - don't care if I be a Lord. - - _Obs._: We are over that Point then; And so I am your - Lordships most Humble Servant. - -But this role playing within role playing is discarded at the end of the -paper, the role of Lord being apparently too cumbersome: - - _Trimmer_: No more of your Lordships, as you love me, - Nobs; for I am e'en as weary as a Dog of my Dignity. - (No. 242) - -The "Character," however, is not only L'Estrange's favorite satiric tool -but perhaps the literary form most frequently used in the _Observator_. -L'Estrange himself attests to his partiality in his parting comment at -the close of the _Observator_: - - _Obs._: For my Fancy lyes more to Character, then to - Dialogue; and whoever will be so Kind as to Furnish me - with Spitefull Materials, shall get his Own again with - Interest, in an Essay upon Humane Nature. - (III, No. 246) - -The Character was, of course, still highly popular in the latter half -of the century, as Chester Noyes Greenough's listings show,[19] so that -in indulging his own taste, L'Estrange was also catering to the tastes -of his public. Of whatever other value the _Observator_ may be to the -modern student, it is invaluable as a fine example of the -state-of-the-Character toward the end of the century. Practically every -type of Character analyzed by Benjamin Boyce in his two studies can be -found repeatedly in L'Estrange's dialogues:[20] the earlier imitations -of Theophrastan Characters, with their parallelisms and antitheses; the -Overburian Character, with its extravagant metaphors; the externally -dramatized; the subjective; the sprung. There are Characters of -ideologies, of political parties, of virtues, of vices, of Whigs and -Dissenters (vices), of Tories and Anglicans (virtues). There are several -"Credo-Characters" (confessions or manifestoes), and finally there is -the habitually dramatized self-exposing Character which becomes -indistinguishable from the _dramatis persona_, as is the Character of -the Modern Whig in Nos. 13 and 110. Among the _Observators_ included -here, the definition of "Dissenter" in No. 1 is based on Character -techniques, as is the conceit of the Protestant as "Adjective -Noun-Substantive" in the same number. So is also the lengthy exposure of -"Leaders" in III, No. 202, beginning with "They Talk, to the Ears, and -to the Passions of their Hearers." - -A final comment about L'Estrange's prose, which has been variously -labeled "colloquial," "idiomatic," "vulgar," "coarse"--all vaguely -descriptive terms suggesting value judgment, and none precise enough to -give an intelligible account of what L'Estrange actually does. In -addition to the obvious device of choppy syntax and deliberately -careless constructions simulating extemporaneous speech, L'Estrange's -figures and proverbial material demonstrate his meticulous shaping of an -"applied prose"[21] particularly suitable for the audience whose -opinions he tried to sway. His metaphors and analogies tend to rely on -commonly known objects or experiences, and because of rhetorical -necessity they are almost always unpleasantly graphic. A random sampling -yielded the following results: about twenty-five percent of the figures -in the _Observator_ deal with some specific part of the human body -(nails, spleen, mouth, eyes, ears, knees, heels, flesh, guts, belly) or -physiological processes (ulcerating, itching, chewing, digesting, -spitting, reeking, seeing, crouching, sweating, gobbling). There is no -euphemistic delicacy in these figures; L'Estrange carefully selects the -most earthy, common vehicles, thus achieving what James Sutherland has -termed "racy" and "vigorous" prose.[22] Another twenty-four percent of -the figures are based on common occupations, daily activities, or -objects familiar to the simpler citizen of London. These figures -ordinarily pivot on barter or trade (horse traders, hagglers, fishwives, -car men); on activities such as cooking, gambling, or glass-making; and -on such objects as clothing, bagpipes, paper-pellets, bonnets, and -chamber-pots. The rest derive from the animal kingdom, the Scriptures, -street-entertainment (jugglers, puppets, high-rope walkers) and folk -medicine (glysters and plasters). It is obvious that these -figures--their concreteness, sensuousness, and closeness to the daily -experience of the ordinary reader--are a main ingredient in the richly -colloquial texture of L'Estrange's prose, as is the proverbial material -which he incorporates unsparingly. - -In L'Estrange's language the law of the land cannot be misunderstood, -for it calls _a spade a spade_ (No. 106; T-S699).[23] The factions win -their objectives _by hook or crook_ (No. 100; T-H588) even though they -are as _mad as March Hares_ (No. 15; T-H148) and _as Blind as Beetles_ -(No. 15; T-B219). Certain things are _as clear as the Day_ (No. 25; -T-D56) or _as plain as the nose o'my face_ (No. 40; T-N215), whereas -others are so confused that one can _make neither Head nor tayl on't_ -(No. 35; T-H258). When _noses are put out of joint_ (No. 38; T-N219) and -Tories are given a _bone to pick_ (No. 55; T-B522), there will obviously -be _no love lost betwixt_ Whigs and Tories (No. 97; T-L544). - -Thus L'Estrange's Characters, together with the fanciful anecdotes, -self-satire, parodies, and _personae_, provide the satire and humor in -the _Observator_, the whole being couched in familiar, pungent language. -As L'Estrange counters the faction, propagandizes, and exhorts to -rational behavior, he also amuses and delights, always hoping that the -laughter provoked by his satiric treatment will cure what he saw as -follies of his age, always appealing to the common reader whose sense of -humor, he believed, was probably more developed than his sense. - - California State College, - Dominguez Hills - - - - -NOTES TO THE INTRODUCTION - - - 1: The translations before 1681 are _The Visions of Dom Francisco de - Quevedo_ (1667); _A Guide to Eternity_ (1672); _Five Love-letters - from a Nun_ (1677); _The Gentleman-Apothecary_ (1678); _Seneca's - Morals_ (1678); _Twenty Select Colloquies of Erasmus_ (1679); and - _Tully's Offices_ (1680). - - 2: Various perspectives on L'Estrange's life and works can be found - in the following: George Kitchin, _Sir Roger L'Estrange_ (London, - 1913) for L'Estrange's life and impact on the Restoration press; J. - G. Muddiman, _The King's Journalist_ (London, 1923) for L'Estrange's - rivalry with Henry Muddiman, editor of the _Oxford [London] - Gazette_; David J. Littlefield, "The Polemic Art of Sir Roger - L'Estrange: A Study of His Political Writings, 1659-1688" - (Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation, Yale University, 1961) for an - overview of L'Estrange as a political pamphleteer. - - 3: In 1679 L'Estrange wrote six new pamphlets and reprinted three - old ones; in 1680 eleven new and seventeen old; at the start of - 1681, ten new and seventeen old. A probable norm of 1000-1500 copies - per pamphlet edition has been estimated by Joseph Frank, _The - Beginnings of the English Newspaper, 1620-1660_ (Cambridge, Mass., - 1961), p. 314; two orders of 1500 pamphlets each were given to the - Restoration printer Nathaniel Thompson, as noted by Leona - Rostenberg, "Nathaniel Thompson, Catholic Printer and Publisher of - the Restoration," _The Library_, 3rd ser., X (1955), 195. - - 4: _Heraclitus Ridens_ was considered by generations of historians - as the first newspaper in dialogue; most recently, James Sutherland - (_English Literature of the Late Seventeenth Century_, Oxford, 1969, - p. 241) has given precedence to _The City and Country Mercury_. - - 5: _Studies in the Early English Periodical_ (Chapel Hill, 1957), p. - 38. - - 6: Ibid., pp. 38-39. - - 7: Walter Graham, _English Literary Periodicals_ (New York, 1930), - pp. 38, 63, 168. - - 8: _On English Prose_ (Toronto, 1965), pp. 72-74. - - 9: _The Spectator_, No. 10, ed. Donald F. Bond (Oxford, 1965), I, - 44. - - 10: _The Review_, ed. Arthur Wellesley Secord (Facsimile Text - Society, New York, 1938), I, 4. - - 11: Several of the literary techniques in the _Spectator_ had been - introduced into journalism by L'Estrange. _Spectator_ No. 1, for - example, presents a _persona_ in the character of "Mr. Spectator"; - No. 2 contains a dream-allegory; Nos. 11 and 34 present indirect - discourse between _dramatis personae_; No. 19 sketches a Character - of the Envious Man--all literary modes abundant in the _Observator_. - - 12: See especially J. R. Jones, _The First Whigs; The Politics of - the Exclusion Crisis, 1678-1683_ (London, 1961), pp. 20, 24, 50-51, - 56, 94, 112, 123-124. - - 13: For attribution and identification of Sheva, see G. R. Noyes, - ed., _The Poetical Works of John Dryden_ (Boston, 1909), pp. 137, - 966. - - 14: The works that are echoed in the Observator are Meric Casaubon, - _A Treatise Concerning Enthusiasme ..._ (London, 1655) and Henry - More, _Enthusiasmus Triumphatus ..._ (London, 1656). - - 15: The mixture of tones is discussed in Alvin Kernan, _The Cankered - Muse_ (New Haven, 1959), pp. 68, 76; Leonard Feinberg, _Introduction - to Satire_ (Ames, Iowa, 1967), pp. 124-125; Gilbert Highet, _The - Anatomy of Satire_ (Princeton, 1962), p. 18. - - 16: Hugh Macdonald, "Banter in English Controversial Prose After the - Restoration," _Essays and Studies by Members of the English - Association_, XXXII (1946), 22, 26, 38. - - 17: _The Power of Satire: Magic, Ritual, Art_ (Princeton, 1960), pp. - 133-136, 164-165. - - 18: Ibid., pp. 130-222 (_passim_). - - 19: _A Bibliography of the Theophrastan Character in English, With - Several Portrait Characters_ (Cambridge, Mass., 1947). - - 20: _The Theophrastan Character in England to 1642_ (Cambridge, - Mass., 1947) and _The Polemic Character, 1640-1661_ (Lincoln, Neb., - 1955). - - 21: The term is suggested by Ian Gordon (_The Movement of English - Prose_, London, 1966, p. 136) in his discussion of the simple, - clear, journalistic style practiced by L'Estrange, Defoe, and Swift - in their political writings. - - 22: _On English Prose_, p. 70. - - 23: The symbol "T" and accompanying numbers refer to the entries in - Morris Palmer Tilley, _A Dictionary of the Proverb in England in the - Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries_ (Ann Arbor, 1950). - - - - -BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE - - - The sources for the parts of the _Observator_ in _Dialogue_ - reprinted here are Volume I of the first collected edition published - in 1684, and Volume III, published and bound together with Volume II - in 1687, both in the collection of the William Andrews Clark - Memorial Library. The pieces reprinted from Volume I consist of the - prefatory "To the Reader," and _Observator_ Nos. 1, 13, and 110; the - papers reprinted from Volume III consist of _Observator_ Nos. 88 and - 202. In this edition the following editorial changes have been made: - black letter type is indicated by underlining; inverted letters have - been corrected; obvious compositor's errors have been corrected; and - inconsistencies in font due to compositors' carelessness have been - normalized. The frontispiece to this facsimile reprint is reproduced - from the Clark copy and measures approximately 13-7/16" x 8-5/8" in - the original. - - - - -THE OBSERVATOR - -To the _READER_. - - -Most _Prefaces_ are, (Effectually) _Apologies_; and neither the _Book_, -nor the _Author_, one Jot the _Better_ for them. If the _Book_ be -_Good_, it will not _Need_ an _Apology_; If _Bad_, it will not _Bear_ -One: For where a man thinks, by _Calling_ himself _Noddy_, in the -_Epistle_, to _Atone_, for _Shewing_ himself to be one, in the _Text_; -He does (with Respect to the Dignity of an _Author_) but _Bind up Two -Fools_ in _One Cover_: But there's no more Trusting some People with -_Pen, Ink, and Paper_, then the Maddest Extravagants in _Bedlam_, with -_Fire_, _Sword_, or _Poyson_. He that _Writes Ill_, and _Sees_ it, why -does he _Write on_? And, with a kind of _Malice Prepense, Murder_ the -_Ingenious_ part of _Mankind_? He that _Really Believes_ he Writes -_Well_; why does he pretend to _Think_ Otherwise? Now take it which way -you please, a man runs a Risque of his _Reputation_, for want, either of -_Skill_, and _Judgment_, the _One_ way; Or of _Good Faith_, and _Candor_ -the _Other_. Beside a Mighty Oversight, in _Imagining_ to bring himself -off, from an _Ill_ Thing, _Done_, or _Said_, by Telling the World that -he did it for _This_ or _That Reason_. When a Book has once past the -_Press_ into the _Publique_; there's no more _Recalling_ of it, then of -a _Word Spoken_, out of the _Air_ again. And a man may as well hope to -Reverse the _Decree_ of his _Mortality_, as the _Fate_ of his -_Writings_. In short: When the _Dice_ are _Cast_, the _Author_ must -stand his _Chance_. - -Now that I may not be thought to Enterfere with my self, by _Declaiming_ -against _One Preface_ in _Another_: I do here previously Renounce to All -the Little Arts and Forms of Bespeaking the _Good Will_ of the _Reader_; -As a _Practice_, not only _Mean_, _Light_, and _Unprofitable_; but -wholly _Contrary_ to the _Bent_ of _My Inclination_; as well as -_Inconsistent_ with the very _Drift_, and _Quality_ of my _Design_. For -These _Papers_ were _Written_, Indifferently, for the _Enformation_ of -the _Multitude_; and for the _Reproof_ of a _Faction_: _Two Interests_ -that I am not much _Sollicitous_, or _Ambitious_, to _Oblige_: And upon -_This Consideration_ it is, that I have _Address'd_ them to the _Reader_ -in _Generall_; as a _Calculation_ that will serve for _All Meridians_: -But if I could have Resolved upon a _Dedication_, with any _Particular -Mark_, or _Epithete_ of _Distinction_; it should have been, _To the -IGNORANT, the SEDITIOUS_, or _the SCHISMATICAL Reader_; for _There_, -properly, lies _my Bus'ness_. - -The Reader will find in the _First Number_ of This Collection, the _True -Intent_, and _Design_ of the _Undertaking_; And he will likewise find, -in the very _Date_ of it, (April 13. 1681.) the _Absolute Necessity_ of -some Such _Application_, to Encounter the _Notorious Falshoods_; the -_Malicious Scandals_, and the _Poysonous Doctrines_ of _That Season_. - -Whether I had Sufficient _Ground_, or _Reason_, for the Warmth I have -Exprest in These Papers, upon Several Occasions, (out of an Affectionate -Sense of my _Duty_, and a _Zeal_ for the _Peace_, _Welfare_, and -_Safety_ of my _Country_;) I _Dare_, and I _Do Appeal_ to the _King_, -and his _Ministers_; to the _Consciences_ of as many of his Majesties -_Subjects_, as are not _Stark Blind_ because they _WILL_ not _See_; and -to the Justice of the Nation. I do _Appeal_, I say, to his Majesties -_Proclamations_; to his _Royal Declaration_; Several _Orders_ of -_Councel_; the _Examinations_, and _Confessions_ of _Unquestionable -Witnesses_; The _Solemnity_ of so many _Tryals_, _Sentences_, and -_Executions_; and the _Criminals_, Every Man of 'em, Either -_Acknowledging_ the _Crime_, or _Justifying_ the _Treason_: But the -_FACT_, however made as _Clear_ as the _Day_. There's the _Flight_ of -the _Conspirators_; Their _Arms Seiz'd_; Their _Councels Laid Open_; -_Men Listed_; The _Methods_ of the _Confederacy Detected_, to the very -_Time_, and _Place_ for the _Perpetration_ of the _Villany_; to the very -_Circumstance_ of the _Providential Fire_ at _Newmarket_, that -_Disappointed_ it. I have All These _Demonstrative Proofs_, and -_Convincing Evidences_, to _Warrant_ me in the most _Violent -Presumptions_ of a _Rebellion_ in _Agitation_: And the _Phanatiques -Themselves_ made good the _Worst_ Things that ever I said of the -_Party_: In _Vindication_ of the _Importunity_ of All my _Foreboding_, -if not _Prophetical Suspicions_: Nay, they were come to the very -_Point_, and _Crisis_ of the _Operation_, of That _Unaccountable_, and -_Amazing Vote_. [_If his Majesty shall come by Any Violent Death (which -God Forbid) it shall_ be _Reveng'd to the Utmost upon the Papists_.] The -_King_, and the _Duke_ were to be _Murder'd_ by _Republican_, and -_Fanatical Rebells_: _There's_ your _VIOLENT DEATH_. And _Then_, -[Reuenge it upon the Papists:] For [_the Thing_ (says _Keeling_) _was to -be laid upon the Papists as a Branch of the Popish Plot_. Walcots Tryal. -Fol.9.] And the _Next_ Step was, for the _Traytors_ to _Unriddle_ the -_Mystery_, and to _Expound_, Who were the _Papists_. [_The Lord Mayor, -and the Sheriffs_] _were Three_ of 'em. _They_, were to be Kill'd; And -[_as many of the_ Lieutenancy _as they could get; And the Principal -Ministers of State; My Lord_ Halifax, _My Lord_ Rochester, _and my_ Lord -Keeper: (_They_ were _Three Papists more_.) _My Lord_ Keeper _was to -have been_ Hang'd _upon the same Post that_ College _had hung. Sir_ John -Moor _to be_ Hung-up _in_ Guildhall, _as a Betrayer of the Rights and -Liberties of the City. And the Judges Lordships to be_ Flay'd, _and_ -Stuff'd, _and_ Hung-up _in_ Westminster Hall: _And a great many of the_ -Pensionary Parliament Hang'd-up, _as Betrayers of the Rights of the -People_. Walcots Tryal, p. 15.] You have here, a _Practical Explanation_ -of the _True-Protestant Way_, (in case of _the King's Violent Death_) -_of Revenging it to the Utmost upon the Papists_. And This Intended -_Assassination_ (says _Ferguson_ (in the same Page)) [_Is a Glorious -Action, and such an Action as_ I HOPE TO SEE PUBLIQUELY GRATIFY'D BY -PARLIAMENT; _And Question not but you will be Fam'd for it, and_ Statues -_Erected for you, with the Title of_ LIBERATORES PATRIAE. _Ibid._] Now -when Matters were come to _This Pass_ once, I think it was High Time to -Write _Observators_. - -I might Enlarge my self, upon the _Inducements_ that Mov'd me to Enter -upon This _Province_; The _Needfullness_ of some _Popular Medium_ for -the _Rectifying_ of _Vulgar Mistakes,_ and for _Instilling_ of -_Dutyfull_, and _Honest Principles_ into the _Common People_, upon That -_Turbulent_, and _Seditious Juncture_: But I am not Willing to _Clogg_ -my _Preface_, with the _Repetition_ of what I have spoken so _Expressly_ -to, in the _Book_. - -I am now to Advertise the _Reader_, in the next Place; That as I have -not Strain'd, so much as _One Syllable_, in the _Whole Course_ of _These -Papers_, beyond the _Line_ of _Truth_, Nor let fall _One Word, Contrary_ -to my _Conscience_; Nor _Layd-on_ so much as _One False Colour_, for a -_Blind_, or a _Disguise_: As I have not done any Thing of All This, I -say; Nor _Gratify'd_ so much as _One Passion_ to the Prejudice, of any -_MAN_, or _THING_; or of _Common Justice it Self_: So neither, on the -_Other_ hand, was I less _Cautious_, and _Considerate_, in the -_Undertaking_ of This _Duty_, then I have been _Clear_, and _Impartial_, -in the _Discharge_, and _Manage_ of it. - -I was no sooner Possess't, of the _Reason_, and the _Expedience_ of -the _Thing_; but I fell presently to _Deliberate_ upon the -_Invidious Difficulties_; The _Scandals_, _Reproches_, and a -Thousand Other _Mischiefs_, and _Inconveniencies_, that would -probably _Attend_ it. I laid them All _before_ me; And upon a _Full -Computation_ of the _Matter, Pro_ and _Con_; I Resolv'd, at last, to -Put _pen to paper_; not without some _Vanity_ perhaps, in -_Affecting_ the _Honour_ of being _Revil'd_, by the _Blasphemers_ of -_God_, and the _King_. I shall say Nothing of the _Traytors_; The -_Papists_; The _Fidlers_; The _All-manner-of-Rogues_, and -_Debauchees_ that they have _made_ me: For their _Cause_ is -_Founded_ upon a _Sacrilegious Hypocrisy; Maintain'd_ by _Fraud_, -_Scandal_, and _Imposture_. And when they have a mind to _Blacken_ -a man, 'tis not a _Straw_ matter, for any _Foundation_ of _Fact_, or -_History_: But _Paint_ him as like the _Devil_ as they _Can_; and to -make short Work on't, _One Fanatique_ Sits to _Another_, for the -_Picture_. But _These Scurrilities_ have more of _Noise_ in 'em, -then of _Weight_: And Those People that had the face to _Calumniate -Charles the First_, for a _TYRANT_, and a _PAPIST_; And the -_Confidence_, at This very day, to do as much for _Charles the -Second_; They that _Preach REBELLION_ out of the _GOSPEL_; Give it -the _Name_ of _GOD'S TRUTH, GOD'S CAUSE_; And offer up the _Bloud_ -of _Kings_ as an _Acceptable Sacrifice_ to _Jesus Christ_: What -_Christian_ will not _Value_ himself, upon the _Reputation_ of lying -under the _Scourge_ of _Those Tongues_, and _Pens_, that Offer these -_Outrages_ to their _Maker_, and their _Saviour_? So that these -_Clamours_, and _Maledictions_, I look upon, as Matter, rather of -_Advantage_, then _Discredit_; Where _Loyalty_ to the _King_, and to -the _Church_, is made the _Crime_: But yet I must Confess, I had -_Some Other Mortifications_ in my _Thought_, that went a little -_Nearer_ me. - -As first, the _Indecency_ of a _Gentlemans_ Entring into a -_Street-Brawl_, (and _Bare-fac'd_ too) with the _Sink_ of _Mankind_, -both for _Quality_, and _Wickedness_. 21y. The _Disproportion_, and the -_Indecorum_ of the Thing, for an _Old Fellow_ that now Writes _Sixty -Eight_, to run about, a _Masquerading_, and _Dialoguing_ of it, in -_Twenty Fantastical Shapes_, only to furnish a _Popular Entertainment_, -and _Diversion_. 31y. The _Scandalous Appearance_ of it, for Me to take -up the _Profession_, and _Bus'ness_ of a _Pamphleteer_; And (almost) to -Lose the _Name_ of my _Family_, by it, in _Exchange_ for That of the -_Observator_. 41y. I had This Prospect before me too. What -_Construction_ would be made upon't; (If I may speak it with _Modesty_) -even to the _Lessening_ of my _Character_; And Consequently, to my -Detriment, Every way, as well in Respect of _Fortune_, as _Esteem_: For -men are apt, in such Cases as This, to _Mistake_, the _Intent_, as well -as the _Reason_ of the _Office_; and to Impute the most _Sacred_, and -_Consciencious Zeal_ of an _Upright Heart_, in the performance of the -most _Important_, and _Necessary Duty_, only to a _Levity_ of _Mind_, -perchance; Or in Other Terms; to an Over _Officious_, and _Pragmatical -Itch of Medling_: It makes a man to be lookt upon, as if a _Pamphlet_ -were his _Masterpiece_; and when he's once _Nail'd_ to _That Post_, he -may reckon upon't, that he's at the _Top_ of his _Preferment_. Upon -These _Four Difficulties_, I Reason'd with my self, after This Manner. -To the _First_; What do I care, for having so much _Dirt_ Thrown at me, -that will _Wash off_ again? And at the worst, the Engaging with such a -_Rabble_ of _Contaminated Varlets_, is no more then _Leaping_ into the -_Mud_ to help my _Father. Secondly. 'Tis not for a man in years_, to do -so and so. Well! And here's a _Reputative Circumstance_, on the _One_ -hand, against an _Indispensable Duty_, on the _Other_. The _Common -people_ are _Poyson'd_, and will run _Stark Mad_, if they be not -_Cur'd_: Offer them _Reason_, without _Fooling_, and it will never -_Down_ with them: And give them _Fooling_, without _Argument_, they're -never the _Better_ for't. Let 'em _Alone_, and All's _Lost_. So that the -_Mixture_ is become as _Necessary_, as the _Office_; And it has been _My -Part_, only to _Season_ the _One_ with the _Other. Thirdly_, I must Set -the _Conscience_ of the Action, against the _Reproch_. And _Lastly; 'Tis -nothing to me what Other People_ Think, _so long as I am Conscious to my -Self that I Do what I_ Ought. - -All This I Computed upon, _before-hand_; And thus far, I have not been -_Deceiv'd_ in my _Account_. I have been _Baited_ with _Thousands_ upon -_Thousands_ of _Libells_. I have Created _Enemies_ that do me the -_Honour_ to _Hate_ me, perhaps, next to the _King Himself_ (God Bless -him) and the _Royal Family_. Their _Scandals_ are _Blown over_: Their -_Malice, Defeated_, And whenever _my Hour comes_, I am ready to Deliver -up my _Soul_, with the _Conscience_ of an _Honest Man_, as to what I -have done, in _This Particular_: And I do here Declare, in the -_Presence_ of an _All-Seeing_, and an _All-Knowing God_, That as I have -never yet receiv'd any _Answer_, more then _Cavil_, and _Shuffling_, to -the _Doctrine_, and _Reasoning_ of _These Papers_: So I never _made use_ -of Any _Sophism_, or _Double Meaning_, in Defence of the _Cause_ that I -have here taken upon me to _Assert_: But have dealt _Plainly_, and -_Above-Bord_, without either _Fallacy_, or _Collusion_. - -After This _View_ of the _Worst side_ of my _Case_; (And (in truth) a -kind of _Abstract_ of it, in _Minutes_) I should be Extremely wanting, -both to _God_ and _Man_, in not taking _This Occasion_, of making -_known_ to the _world_, the _Many Generous Instances_ of _Affection_, -and _Respect_, which I have received, not only from the most -_Considerable_ Part of his Majesties _Loyal Subjects_ of _All -Qualities_, and _Degrees_; But _Particularly_ from the _Two Famous -Universities Themselves_: And, in short, from the most _Eminent Persons_ -of the _Long Robe_, in their _Several Professions_: In _Testimony_ of -their _Favourable Acceptance_ of my _Honest Endeavours_ toward the -Service, both of the _Church_, & the _State_. And This I am Obliged to -leave behind me, upon _Record_; out of a _Double Right_, & _Regard_, as -well to my _Friends_, as to my _Self_: For I reckon upon it, as an -_Accumulation_ of _Honour_, to _Me_, to be _Rescu'd_ out of the hands of -_Publique Enemies_, and _Apostates_, by Men of the Clear _Contrary -Character_; That is to say; by Men of _Unquestionable Integrity_, and of -_Unspotted Faith_. - -My _Back Friends_ are as _Merry_, now, as _a Laugh on One side of the -Mouth_ can Make 'em; at the _Conceit_ of calling the several _Presents_ -which have been made me (and they are very _Considerable_) by the name -of a _Gathering_; and they do not Stick to put it about, That I was my -_Own Sollicitor_ for the _Begging_ of it. I have been Told of One, that -_said_ as much; _for whose sake_, I would Advise _All Parents_ to take -it for a _Warning_, not to _Stuff_ their _Childrens Heads_ so Damnably, -with _Greek and Latin_, as to leave no _Room_ for _Brains_, and _Good -Manners_. But what if it _be a Gathering_? Are not All _Publique -Benevolences; Publique Works; Publique Acknowledgments_; the _same -Thing_? Neither do I find any more _Scandal_, in receiving a _Reward_ -for a _Service_ in a _Common Cause_, then in a _Lawyers_ taking a _Fee_, -in a _Private_ One: But be it what it _will_: I shall Transmit the -_Acknowledgment_ of it, with This Paper, as the _Glory of my Life_: And -Value my self Incomparably more upon so _Eminent_ a _Mark_ of a _General -Esteem_; then upon the _Advantage_ of _Ten times a Greater Sum_, by _Any -Other way_. But _Gatherings_, with some People, are only _Honourable_, -when they are Apply'd to the _Maintaining_ of _Conspirators_, and -_Affidavit-Men_: And they Account _Money_ much better _Bestow'd_ upon -the _Subversion_ of the _Government_, then toward the _Defending_ of it: -But _That Orange is Squeez'd as far as 'twill Drop, already_. - -Now to the _Calumny_ of _My Setting This Bus'ness afoot; First_, I thank -God, that neither my _Mind_, nor my _Condition_ were ever Sunk _so_ Low, -yet, as to _Descend_ to _That way of Application_. 21y, As I hope to be -Sav'd, the Matter was Proceeded upon, in _Several Places_, and a _Long -Time_, before ever I had the Least _Inkling_, or _Imagination_ of it; -And when it was so far _Advanc'd, without my Privity_, I must Certainly -have been both a Great _Fool_, and a Great _Clown_, either to have -_Oppos'd_, or _Refus'd_, a Token of so _Obliging_, and so _Generous_ a -_Respect_. To Conclude; If any man has been so _Misled_, as to _Intend_ -That for a _Personal Charity_; which I cannot _Honourably_ Own the -_Receiving_ of, under _That Notion_; I am ready to Return him his -Proportion, with a Thousand Acknowledgments: But This shall not Hinder -me yet, from _Cherishing_ in my _Thoughts_, the _Remembrance_ of what -_Honour_ soever has been done me for the sake of the _Publique_. - -The Reflexions that have been Pass'd upon my _Quality_, and -_Conversation_, need no Further Answer, then to Appeal to my very -_Name_, and my _Acquaintance_: But for the _Charge_ of being a _Papist_, -it is as _False_, as it is _Malicious_. - -I am to say One Word more now, concerning my _L. Shaftsbury_; whose -_Name_, and _Title_, I have often Occasion to make mention of, in This -Book. The _Reader_ is to take Notice, that it is Intended of the _Late -Earl of Shaftsbury_, who Dy'd at _Amsterdam, Jan. 168-2/3. The Surviving -Heir of That Honour, and Family, having ever Demean'd himself with a -Remarkable Loyalty, and Respect, toward the King, and his Government_. - - - - -=Numb. 1.= - -THE OBSERVATOR. - -In _QUESTION_ and _ANSWER_. - -=WEDNESDAY=, April 13. 1681. - - -_Q. WEll! They are so. But do you think now to bring'um to their Wits -again with a_ Pamphlet? - -_A._ Come, Come; 'Tis the _Press_ that has made'um _Mad_, and the -_Press_ must set'um _Right_ again. The Distemper is _Epidemical_; and -there's no way in the world, but by _Printing_, to convey the _Remedy_ -to the _Disease_. - -_Q. But what is it that you call a_ Remedy? - -_A._ The _Removing_ of the _Cause_. That is to say, the _Undeceiving_ of -the _People_: for they are well enough Disposed, of themselves, to be -Orderly, and Obedient; if they were not misled by _Ill Principles_, and -Hair'd and Juggled out of their Senses with so many Frightful _Stories_ -and _Impostures_. - -_Q. Well! to be Plain and Short; You call your self the_ Observator: -_What is it now that you intend for the Subject of your_ Observations? - -_A._ Take it in few words then. My business is, to encounter the -_Faction_, and to Vindicate the _Government_; to detect their -_Forgeries_; to lay open the Rankness of their _Calumnies_, and -_Malice_; to Refute their _Seditious Doctrines_; to expose their -_Hypocrisy_, and the _bloudy Design_ that is carry'd on, under the Name, -and Semblance, of _Religion_; And, in short, to lift up the Cloke of the -_True Protestant_ (as he Christens himself) and to shew the People, the -_Jesuite_ that lies skulking under it. - -_Q. Shall the_ Observator _be a_ Weekly Paper, _or How_? - -_A._ No, No; but oftner, or seldomer, as I see Occasion. - -_Q. Pray favour me a word; When you speak of a_ True Protestant, _don't -you mean a_ Dissenting Protestant? - -_A._ Yes, I do: For your _Assenting_ and _Consenting Protestant_ (you -must know) is a _Christian_. - -_Q. And is not a_ Dissenting Protestant _a_ Christian too? - -_A._ Peradventure, he _is_ one; peradventure, _not_: For a _Dissenter_ -has his Name from his _Disagreement_, not from his _Perswasion_. - -_Q. What is a Dissenter then?_ - -_A._ Tis Impossible to say either what a _Dissenter IS_, or what he is -_NOT_. For he's a _NOTHING_; that may yet come to be _ANY thing_. He may -be a _Christian_; or he may be a _Turk_; But you'l find the best account -of him in his _Name_. _A DISSENTER, is one that thinks OTHERWISE._ That -is to say, let the _Magistrate_ think what he pleases, the _Dissenter_ -will be sure to be of _another Opinion_. A _Dissenter_ is not of _This_, -or of _That_, or of _Any Religion_; but _A Member Politique of an -Incorporate Faction_: or Otherwise; A _Protestant-Fault-Finder_ in a -_Christian Commonwealth_. - -_Q. Well! but tho' a_ Dissenter _may be_ any thing; _A_ Dissenting -Protestant _yet tells ye_ what _he Is_. - -_A._ He does so, he tells ye that he _is_ a _Negative_: an -_Anti-Protester_; One that _Protests AGAINST_, but not _FOR_ any thing. - -_Q. Ay; but so long as he opposes the_ Corruptions _of the Church of_ -Rome. - -_A._ Well: And so he does the _Rites_, and _Constitutions_ of the Church -of _England_ too. As a _Protestant_, he does the _former_; and the -_Other_ as a _Dissenter_. - -_Q. But is there no_ Uniting _of These_ Dissenters? - -_A._ You shall as soon make the Winds blow the same way, from all the -Poynts of the Compass. - -_Q. There are_ Good _and_ Bad, _of_ all Opinions, _there's no doubt -on't: But do you think it fayr, to Condemn a_ whole Party _for some_ Ill -men _in't_? - -_A._ No, by no means: The _Party_ is neither the _Worse_, for having -_Ill_ men in it, nor the _Better_, for _Good_. For whatever the -_Members_ are, the _Party_ is a _Confederacy_; as being a _Combination_, -against the _Law_. - -_Q. But a man may_ Mean honestly, _and yet perhaps ly under some_ -Mistake. _Can any man help his Opinion?_ - -_A._ A man may _Mean well_, and _Do Ill_; he may shed _Innocent Bloud_, -and _think he does God good Service_. 'Tis True: A man cannot help -_Thinking_; but he may help _Doing_: He is _Excusable_ for a _Private_ -Mistake, for _That's_ an Error only to _himself_; but when it comes once -to an _Overt Act_, 'tis an _Usurpation_ upon the _Magistrate_, and -there's no Plea for't. - -_Q. You have no kindnesse, I perceive, for a_ Dissenting Protestant; -_but what do you think of a bare_ Protestant _without any_ Adjunct? - -_A._ I do look upon _Such_ a _Protestant_ to be a kind of an _Adjective -Noun-Substantive; It requires something to be joyn'd with it, to shew -its Signification_. By _Protestancy_ in _General_ is commonly understood -a _Separation_ of Christians from the Communion of the Church of _Rome_: -But to _Oppose Errors_, on the _One hand_, is not Sufficient, without -keeping our selves _Clear_ of Corruptions, on the _Other_. Now it was -the _Reformation_, not the _Protestation_, that Settled us upon a _true -Medium_ betwixt the two _Extreams_. - -_Q. So that you look upon the_ Protestation, _and the_ Reformation, _it -seems, as two several things_. - -_A._ Very right; But in such a manner only, that the _Former_, by Gods -Providence, made way for the _Other_. - -_Q. But are not all_ Protestants _Members of the_ Reformed Religion? - -_A._ Take notice, _First_, that the _Name_ came Originally from the -_Protestation_ in 1529. against the _Decree of Spires_; and that the -_Lutheran Protestants_ and _Ours_ of the Church of _England_, are not of -the _Sam Communion_. Now _Secondly_; If you take _Protestants_ in the -_Latitude_ with our _Dissenters_, they are not so much a _Religion_, -as a _Party_; and whoever takes this Body of _Dissenters_ for _Members_ -of the _Reformed Religion_ sets up a _Reformation_ of a _hundred and -fifty Colours_ and as may [sic] _Heresies_. The _Anabaptists, Brownists, -Antinomians, Familists, &c._ do all of them set up for _Dissenting -Protestants_; but God forbid we should ever enter these _People_ upon -the Roll of the _Reformation_. - -_Q._ Well! _but what do you think of_ Protestant Smith _and_ Protestant -Harris? - -_A._ Just as I do of _Protestant Muncer_, and _Protestant Phifer_; a -Brace of _Protestants_ that cost the Empire 150000 Lives: and our own -_Pretended Protestants_ too, of Later Date, have cost _This Nation -little lesse_. - -_Q. Ay: But these are men of quite another Temper: Do not you see how -zealous they are for the Preservation of the_ King's Person, _the_ -Government, _and the_ Protestant Religion? - -_A._ I _See_ well enough what they _Say_, and I _know_ what they _do_. -Consider, _First_, that they are Profess'd _Anabaptists: Smith_ no less -then a _pretended Prophet_; and the _Other_, a kind of a _Wet -Enthusiast. Secondly_; 'tis the very _Doctrine_ of the _Sect_ to root -out _Magistracy_, Cancel _Humane Laws; Kill_, and take _Possession_; and -_wash their Feet with the Bloud of the Ungodly_; and where ever they -have set Footing, they have _Practic'd_ what they _Taught_. Are not -these likely men now, to help out a _King_, and a _Religion_, at a dead -lift? If you would be further satisfy'd in the Truth of things, reade -_Sleidan, Spanhemius, Gastius, Hortensius, Bullinger, Pontanus, The -Dipper dipp'd, Bayly's Disswasive, Pagets Heresiography_, &c. -_Hortensius_ tells ye, how _Jack of Leydens Successor_ murthered his -Wife, to make way to his Daughter, _P._ 74. and after that, cut a girls -throat, for fear she should tell Tales. _Gastius_ tells us of a Fellow -that cut off his brothers Head, as by Impulse, and then cry'd, _The Will -of God is fulfilled, lib. I. Pa. 12. Jack of Leyden_ started up from -Supper, _to do some business_ (he said) _which the Father had commanded -him_, and cut off a Soldiers Head; and afterwards cut off his Wives head -in the _Market-place. Sleydans Comment. Lib. 10._ - -_Q. You will not make the_ Protestant-Mercury _to be an_ Anabaptist -_too, will ye_? - -_A._ If you do make him _any thing_, I'le make him _That_. But in one -word, they are _Factious_ and _Necessitous_; and consequently, the -fittest Instruments in the world, for the Promoting of a _Sedition_. -First, as they are _Principled_ for't; and then, in respect of their -_Condition_; for they are every man of them under the Lash of the Law, -and Retainers to Prisons; So that in their _Fortunes_ they can hardly -be _worse_. Insomuch, that it is a common thing for them to lend a Name -to the countenancing of a Libel which no body else dares own. - -_Q. Well! but let them be as_ poor, _and_ malicious _as_ Devils, _so -long as they have neither_ Brains, _nor_ Interest, _what hurt can their -Papers do_? - -_A._ The Intelligences, you must know, that bear their _Names_, are not -of _their Composing_, but the Dictates of a _Faction_, and the Venom of -a Club of _Common-wealths-men_ instill'd into those Papers. - -_Q. These are_ Words, _all this while, without_ Proofs; _Can you shew us -particularly where the Venom lies?_ - -_A._ It is the business of every Sheet they Publish, to Affront the -_Government_, the _Kings Authority_, and _Administration_; the -_Privy-Council_; the _Church, Bench, Juries, Witnesses_; All _Officers, -Ecclesiastical, Military_, and _Civil_: and no matter for _Truth_ or -_Honesty_, when a _Forg'd Relation_ will serve their turn. 'Tis a common -thing with them, to get half a dozen _Schismaticall_ Hands to a -_Petition_, or _Address_ in a corner, and then call it, the sense of the -Nation: and when all's done, they are not above twenty Persons, that -make all this Clutter in the Kingdom. - -_Q. But to what End do they all this?_ - -_A._ To make the Government _Odious_, and _Contemptible_; to magnifie -their own Party; and fright the People out of their _Allegeance_, by -_Counterfeit Letters, Reports_, and _false Musters_, as if the sober and -considerable part of the Nation were all on their side. - -_Q. We are in Common Charity to_ allow, _for_ Errors, _and_ -Mis-reports, _and not presently to make an Act of_ Malice, _and_ -Design, _out of every_ Mistake. _Can you shew me any of these_ -Counterfeits, _and_ Impostures _that you speak of? These_ Cheats _upon -the_ People, _and_ Affronts _upon the_ Government? - -_A._ Yes, yes; Abundantly. And Il'e give you Instances immediately upon -every poynt you'l ask me: Only This note, by the way; That let them be -_mistakes_, or _Contrivances_, or what you will, they all run -Unanimously _against_ the Government, without so much as one Syllable in -_favour_ of it: Which makes the matter desperately suspitious. - -_Q. Let me see then, in the First place, where any_ Affront _is put upon -the_ Government. - -_A. Some Persons_ (Says Smiths Prot. Int. N. 7.) _in_ Norwich, _&c. who -have a greater stock of_ Confidence, _and_ Malice, _then_ Wisdom, _and_ -Honesty, _are so far transported with_ Zeal _to serve the_ Devil, _or -his_ Emissaryes _the_ Papists, _that they are now Prosecuting several_ -Dissenting Protestants _upon_ Stat. 35. Eliz. _&c._ (And so the -Protestant-Mercury, _N._ 15.) _Some People at_ Norwich, _are playing -the_ Devil _for_ Godsake: _several honest, peaceable_, Protestant -Dissenters, _having been troubled for not coming to_ Church, _or having -been Present at_ Religious Meetings &c. Now what greater _Affront_ can -there be to _Government_, then This language, _First_, from an -_Anabaptist_ that is a _Professed Enemy_ to _all Government_; and -_Secondly_, from a _Private Person_, Bare-fac'd, to arraign a _Solemn -Law_: A _Law_ of this _Antiquity_; a _Law_ of _Queen Elizabeth's_, (a -Princesse so much Celebrated by our _Dissenters themselves_ for her -_Piety, Good Government_, and _Moderation_;) a _Law_ which, upon -Experience, has been found so _Necessary_, that the bare _Relaxing_ of -it, cost the _Life_ of a _Prince_, the _Bloud_ of _two or three hundred -thousand_ of his _Subjects_, and a _Twenty-years-Rebellion_? To say -nothing of the dangerous Consequence of making it _Unsafe_ for -_Magistrates_ to discharge their Dutyes, for fear of _Outrages_, and -_Libells_. - -_Q. Well! but what have you to say now to the_ Kings Authority, _his_ -Administration, _and his_ Privy Council. - -_A. Smith_ (in his _Vox Populi, P._ 13.) saith, that _the King is -oblig'd to pass or Confirm those Laws his People shall Chuse_, at which -rate, if they shall tender him a Bill for the _Deposing_ of himself, he -is bound to _agree_ to't. _Secondly_, in the same Page, _he Denies the -Kings Power of Proroguing, or Dissolving Parliaments_; which is an -_Essential_ of _Government_ it self, under what Form soever, and he's no -longer a _King, without it_. And then for his _Administration, P._ 1. -the _Anabaptist_ charges upon his Majesty [_those many surprizing and -astonishing Prorogations, and Dissolutions_ (as he has worded his -Meaning) _to be procur'd by the Papists_.] And then, _P._ 15. he wounds -both the _King_, and his _Council_, at a Blow; in falling upon _those -that make the King break his Coronation-Oath_; arraigning his _Council_ -in the _First_ place, and the _King himself_ in the _Second_; and that -for no less then the breach of _Oath_, and _Faith_.----Wee'l talk out -the Rest at our next Meeting. - -_London_, Printed for _H. Brome_, at the Gun in S. _Pauls_ Church-yard. - - - - -=Numb.= 13. - -THE OBSERVATOR. - -In _QUESTION_ and _ANSWER_. - -=SATURDAY=, May 14. 1681. - - -_Q_. _But which way lies_ your _Humour_ then? - -_A._ My way (you must know) lies more to _History_, and _Books_, and -_Politicks_, and _Religion_, and _such as That_, But take this along -with you too; that I am for turning over of _Men_, as well as _Books_; -for that's the Profitable Study when all's done. - -_Q. Pre' thee commend me to the_ Common Hangman _then, If He that_ turns -over _the most_ men _be the_ Greatest Philosopher. _But how_ turning -over _of_ Men? - -_A._ That is to say, I _Read_ Them; I _Study_ them; I speak of _turning -over_ their _Actions_, not their _Bodys_. And Pray observe my _Simile. -Every_ Action _of a mans_ Life _resembles_ a Page _in a_ Book. D'ye Mark -me? - -_Q._ I _were to Blame else, But what are the Authors that you would -recommend to a bodys Reading?_ - -_A._ Why thereafter as the Subject is, As for _History_; ye have _Clarks -Lives_, and _Examples_; _Lloyd's Memoirs_; the _Popes Warehouse_, &c. -For _Politicks_; There's Mr. _Baxters Holy Commonwealth_, the _Assemblys -Catechism_, The Letter about the _Black Box_, &c. For _Law_, ye have Mr. -_Prinn's Soveraign Power of Parliaments_; _Smiths Vox Populi_, &c. For -_Morals_, There's _Youth's Behaviour_; And then For _Deep Knowledge_, ye -have _Brightman's Revelations Reveal'd_; _Lilly's Hieroglyphicks_; the -_Northern Star_, _Jones_ of the _Heart_: All Excellent Pieces in their -kinds, and not Inferior (perhaps) to any of the Ancients. - -_Q. I was never so happy as to meet with any of these Authors. But what -d'ye think of_ Cornelius Tacitus? - -_A._ A _Talking, Tedious, Empty Fellow_. - -_Q. Well but is not_ Titus Livius _a pretty Good_ Historian? - -_A._ Ha Ha Ha. That Same _Titus_ is an Errant _Puppy_, A _Damn'd, -Insipid, Lying Coxcomb. Titus Livius_ a good _Historian_ sayst thou? Why -if I had a _Schoolboy_ that writ such _Latin_ I'de tickle his _Toby_ for -him. - -_Q. But what's your Opinion of_ Caesars Commentaries _then? I mean, for -a_ Narrative? - -_A._ A _Narrative_ d'ye say? Deliver me from such _Narratives_! Why 'tis -no more to be compar'd to the _Narratives_ that are written _now adays_, -then an _Apple_ is to an _Oyster_. - -_Q. But however He was a very_ Brave Fellow, _was he not_? - -_A._ He was an _Arbitrary_, Oppressing, Tyrannical _Fellow_. And then -for his _Bravery_, he did pretty well at the Battel of _Leipsick_, and -after that, at _Lepanto_; and when you have said that, you have said -all. - -_Q. You have read all these Authors, have you not?_ - -_A._ Why verily I _have_, and I have _not_. They are a company of -_Lying, Ridiculing Rascals_; They do not _AFFECT_ me at all: they are -below me, they are not worth my notice. - -_Q. What would I give to be as well vers'd in_ History, _as you are_? - -_A._ And that's Impossible, let me tell ye; Utterly Impossible: For I -reade just six times as much as any other Man. I have Read more -_Folio's_ then ever _Tostatus_ read _Pages_. In one Word; I reade as -much in _one hour_, as any other man reads in _six_. - -_Q. Why how can that be?_ - -_A._ Why you must know I have a notable Faculty that way. I read ye _two -Pages_ at a _view_: the _Right-hand_ Page with _one eye_, and the _Left_ -with _t'other_, and then I carry _three Lines_ before me at a time with -_each eye_. - -_Q. But can ye_ Keep _what ye_ Reade, _at this rate_? - -_A._ I _remember_ six times more then I _reade_; for I supply all that -was left out, and yet 'tis a wonderfull thing, I cannot for my heart's -blood remember _Faces_. I dare swear I have taken one man for another -twenty times; but I am altogether for _Things_, and _Notions_, d'ye see, -and such like; _Countenances_, let me tell ye, don't _AFFECT_ me; And -yet I have a strange aversion for the two Faces I saw with you t'other -day. - -_Q. What D'ye mean_, Kings-man _and_ Church-man? - -_A. Devil's-man_ and _Damms-man_: A couple of _Canary-Birds_, I'le -warrant 'em: But _Kings-man_ is better yet then _Duke's-man_. - -_Q. Why do ye talk thus of men of Quality, and Considerable Families?_ - -_A._ Well! but I may live to see their Honours laid in the dust tho' for -all that. Prethee why is not _Circingle-man, Lawn-sleeve-man, -Mitre-man_, as good a name as _Church-man_? Pray what Family is this -same _Church-man_ of, for I know a world of the _Name_? He's of the -_Prelatical House_, I suppose, Is he not? - -_Q. Well, and is he ever the worse for that?_ - -_A._ Only _Antichrist_ is the _Head_ of the _Family_. Come let me talk a -little roundly to ye. How many sound _Protestant Divines_ may there be -of that House now, d'ye think, in _England_, and _Wales_, and the Town -of _Berwick upon Tweed_? not above _Six_, if I be a _Christian_, and all -the rest are _Tantivy's_, and worshippers of the Beast: But I may live -yet to have the scowring of some of their Frocks for 'em. - -_Q. Prethee when didst thou see Mr._ Sancroft? - -_A._ Not a good while; but _Harry_ and I had a Crash t'other day yonder -at _Greenwich_. - -_Q. What's become of_ L'Estrange _I wonder?_ - -_A._ Who! _Towzer?_ that _Impudent Dog_; That _Tory-Rascal_; That -_Fidling Curr_. He's in the Plot with _Celiers_, and young _Tong_, as -sure as thou'rt alive, and as Rank a _Papist_ (let him swear what he -will) as ever Piss't. - -_Q. But has he not taken the_ Sacrament _to the_ contrary? - -_A._ A _Popish Proselyte_ is no more to be believ'd, upon his _Oath_, -than the _Devil himself_ if he were to Expound upon the _Gospel_. Why -they have Dispensations to swear any thing. - -_Q. What and continue Papists still?_ - -_A._ Yes: And go on still with the Hellish Popish Plot, as heartily as -ever they did before. Why don't you see how the Toad Brazens it out -still that he was not at _Somerset-House_? tho' _Prance_ and _Mowbray_ -swear they saw him there? - -_Q. Well, But who knows best? He_ Himself, _or the_ Witnesses? - -_A._ Not a fart matter; For whether 'twas so or not; It were better -Forty such Rogues were Hang'd then one Kings-Evidence Disparag'd. - -_Q. But did they not swear a little short, think ye?_ - -_A._ Nay, they might have sworn _homer_, I must confess. - -_Q. But now you mind me of_ Somerset-House; _Do'nt you remember a young -Fellow of_ Cambridge _that Refus'd to receive the Sacrament, because (as -he told his Master) he was reconcil'd to the Church, of_ Rome, _and -Converted, and Baptiz'd at_ Somerset-House? _This is an old story ye -must know. Why might not this be_ Towzer? - -_A._ Nay as like as not, for the _Universitys_ are the very _Seminarys_ -of _Popery_, and it will never be well with _England_ till _those -Calves_ be turn'd a _grazing_. - -_Q. But is there no believing of a_ Converted Papist _upon his_ Oath? -_Why does the Law receive 'em then (upon such and such Certain Tests) -for_ statutable Protestants? - -_A._ The _Law_ never was among 'em as _I_ have been. There's no such -thing (I tell ye) as a _Converted Papist_, and he shall sooner change -his _shape_, then his _Nature: Kiss a Book, Kiss mine Arse_. - -_Q. Why d'ye talk thus at random?_ - -_A._ Come, come, the _Outlandish Doctor_ for my mony: that told one of -the _Macks_ t'other day in the face of the _Bench_, that _he would let -down his Breeches and shite upon him. Plain-dealing's a Jewell._ - -_Q. Thou'rt e'en as busy with a_ Backside _as a_ Glyster-Pipe. _But -(sluttery a part) Pray have a care what ye say; for if a_ Proselyted -Papist _be not to be trusted upon his_ Oath, _what becomes of the_ Kings -Evidence _that_ swear _under the_ same Circumstances? _But here's enough -of this; and Pre'thee tell us now, how go squares in the_ State _all -this while_? - -_A._ Oh very bad, very bad, nothing but _Tory-Rorys_, from top to -bottom. _Tory-Judges; Tory-Jurys; Tory-Justices; Tory-Officers; -Tory-Crackfarts; Tory-Pamphlets_. All, _Certiorari-men_, and _Yorkists_. -But I rattled up some of 'em there at the----_What d'ye -call't-House_----Oh they'r grown strangely Insolent since these Bawling -Addresses. - -_Q. Why what do they do?_ - -_A._ Why they set every _Rascally Squire_ and _Doctor above_ me: Nay, -they'l scarce put off their hats to me unless I begin; and then they -stand grinning at Me and my Train. Would you think now that a fellow -should have the Impudence to call Me to an account, for nothing in the -world, but saying, that _he had_ a Bitch _to his_ Wife, _and_ she _a_ -Rogue _to her_ Husband. And then to be call'd _Sirrah_ for my pains, -only for telling a _Court-Kinsman_ of his that _I should Lace the Rogue, -his Cozens Coat for him_. Well If I had not sent a Fool o'my errant I -had had the Rascal in _Lob's_ Pound before this time. - -_Q. And how came ye to miss?_ - -_A._ Why the Agent that I employ'd was so set upon his Guts, that he -never minded the discourse at the Table. We had had him else. Or if he -could but have got him to ha' met me, we'd ha' done his business. - -_Q. But d'ye take this to be fair dealing now; to set any man at work to -betray his Host; or to give such language to people of Condition?_ - -_A._ What not when the _Protestant Religion_ lies at _stake_? Why -Pre'thee I tell the Proudest of 'em all to their Teeth, that they are -_Villains_ and _Scoundrells_. What do I care for their _Graces_ and -_Reverences_, they _Pimp_ for _Preferment_, and some of 'em shall hear -on't too _next Parliament_. But Hark ye I have a great deal of work upon -my hands, and I want an _Ammanuensis_ out of all Cry. - -_Q. Why ye had a Pretty Fellow to'ther day, what's become of him?_ - -_A._ I'l tell ye then. A _Taylor_ had made him a _Garment_: and -afterwards coming to him for the _mony_, he deny'd the Receit on't and -being prest upon it, he offer'd to purge himself upon _Oath_, that he -never had any such Garment. Upon this, the matter rested for a while; -but at length, it was prov'd where he had _Sold_ it, and so the Taylor -had satisfaction. In short, I turn'd him away apon't, for he is no -servant for me that's _taken_ in a false Oath. - -_Q. How is it possible for you to go thorough with all your -Writing-work?_ - -_A._ Nay that's true; considering what a deal of other business I have; -for really there would be no Justice done, if I did not look after -_Witnesses_, _Jurys_, Choice of _City-Officers_, Election of _Members_ -to serve in _Parliament_, both for _Town_, and _Country_; the disposing -of _Ecclesiastical Dignitys_; the _Jurisdiction_ of _Courts_; the -_Government_ of _Prisons_; the _Regulation_ of _Messengers Fees_: In one -word, the stress of the whole Government lyes in a manner upon my -shoulders; And I am so _Harrass'd_ with it, that I profess I was e'en -thinking, a little before the Meeting of the last Parliament, to lay out -a matter of _Twenty or Thirty Thousand Pound_ upon some Pretty Seat in -the Country, and Retire. - -_Q. Why truly for a man that has seen the world as you have done, what -can he do better?_ - -_A._ Yes, I have seen the world to my Cost. 'Twas a sad thing for me, -you must think, that never went to bed in my Mothers House without four -or five Servants to wait upon me, (and if I had a mind to a _Tart_, a -_Custard_, or a _Cheescake_ at any time, I had 'em all at command:) to -be _Hackny'd_, and _Jolted_ up and down in a Forreign Country like a -_Common Body_. - -_Q. But what was it that put you upon_ Travel? - -_A._ The Desire I had to see _Religions_, and _Fashions_: And now it -comes in my head. Did you ever see my _Grounds and Occasions of the -Contempt of the Clergy_? - -_Q. Was That Yours then?_ - -_A. Mum_; betwixt friends. But I shall have a touch ere long at the -_Creed-making Rascal_ there. - -_Q. Who's that?_ Athanasius? - -_A._ The very same. What a _Declaration_ is there? - -_Q. But how d'ye like the Kings Declaration?_ - -_A. Not at all. Not at all._ It runs so much upon the _Arbitrary_, and -the _Prelatick_? Yes, and upon something else too. - -_Q. Come, 'Faith we should not part with dry lips, What d'ye think of -one_ Roomer _now to the Health of? (Hark, and I'le tell ye.)_ - -_A._ I'le drink no _Traitors_ Health. - -_Q. Why prethee what is_ Civilly-Drinking _his Health, more then_ -Dutifully Praying _for't_? - -_A._ No: I am of the mans mind that said, I _hope the Devil will have -him; and if there be any punishment in Hell greater then another_, I -_hope the Devil will tear his soul to pieces_. So Farewell. - -_Q. What a Blessed sort of_ Subjects _and_ Christians _are these, that -value themselves in the_ One Capacity, _for their_ Contempt _of_ -Authority: _And in the_ other, _for the Zeal of Flying out into_ -Blasphemys, _and_ Execrations, _instead of_ Prayers? _But what shall_ I -_call this at last? A_ Romantique, _or an_ Historical Observator? - -_London_, Printed for _Johanna Brome_, at the Gun in S. _Pauls_ -Church-yard. - - - - -=Numb.= 110 - -THE OBSERVATOR. - -In _DIALOGUE_. - -=SATURDAY=, March 11. 1681. - - -_WHIG._ Come; I'le shew ye my _study, Tory_. - -_TORY._ Why you have got a Brave _Library_ here. - -_Wh._ For a _Choice Collection_, let me tell ye, as any is in -_Christendom_. - -_To._ You have all the _Greek_ and _Latin Fathers_, I suppose; the -_Councells_, the _Schoolmen_, and those People. - -_Wh._ I had'em all; but there's a great deal of _Trash_; and so I e'en -rid my hands of'em; though some of'em did pretty well too; considering -those _Dark Times_. Now here can I sit as _Snug_ as a _Hare_ in her -_Form_, and Chat away a Winters Evening with a _Good Fire_, a _Pipe_, -and a _Friend_, and never feel how the time spends. - -_To._ Well! And why should not You and I keep our _Conferences_ here -too? - -_Wh._ Best of all: There's no body within hearing; and then we have our -_Books_ and _Papers_ about us, and all in such Order, that I'le lay my -Finger, Blindfold, upon any book you'le call for. - -_To._ But what Subject are they mostly of? - -_Wh._ Matters of _State, History, Travells_, The Rights and Power of the -_People, Reformation, Religion, Discipline, Admonitions, Remonstrances, -Petitions, Appeals_; as ye see'em mark'd upon the Shelves. But all this -is nothing, you'l say, when y'ave seen my _Gallery_. Open that same Door -before ye. - -_To._ Bless me! What a Treasure's here? - -_Wh._ Look ye now. That side is all _News-Books,_ and _Political -Divinity_. - -_To._ You mean _Polemical_ Divinity I suppose. - -_Wh._ Ay Ay; 'Tis all one for that. Now all to'ther side is _Dissenting -Protestants_; as _Cartwright, Brown, Barrow, Robinson_, _Hetherington, -Trask, Naylor, Best, Biddle, Muggleton_. And here are your _Muncerians, -Apostoliques, Separatists, Catharists, Enthusiasts, Adamits, Huttites, -Augustinians, Libertines, Georgites, Familists, Ranters Seekers, -Sweet-Singers, Antinomians, Arrians, Socinians, Millenaryes, Quakers_: -And in Two words; all the _Godly Party_. They make Fourteen Folio's of -Catalogue. - -_To._ But ha'ye no _Manuscripts_? - -_Wh._ Yes I have Three cases there beyond the Chimny, that I wou'd not -change for _Bodlies Library_ three times over. - -_To._ What do they treat of? - -_Wh._ Two of 'em are altogether upon the _Art of Government_, and the -_Third_ is Cramm'd with _Lampoon_ and _Satyr_. You sha'not name me any -one Copy that has scap'd me; nor any Exigent of State; but I'le furnish -ye out of these Papers with an Expedient for't. - -_To._ And wherein does this _Art of Government_ Consist? - -_Wh._ In _Foresight, Experience, Presence of Thought, Prudence of -Direction_, and _Vigour of Execution_. To be short; Every Motion of the -_Head_, the _Eye_, the _Hand_, the _Foot_, the _Body_. Contributes a -part to this Great Work. - -_To._ Is it a Science that may be Convey'd by _Instruction_? - -_Wh._ With as much Ease as _Fencing_, or _Dancing_. There are Three or -Four _Dissenting Academies_ here about the Town, where People are taught -to _Nod, Wink, Gape, Cough, Spit_; Nay the very _Tuning_ of their -_Hum's_ and _Haw's_, by _Rule and Method_; when to _Smite the Breast_, -and when to _Dust the Cushion_; when to _Leap_ in the _Pulpit_, and when -to _Swim_; when to be _Serene_, and when to _Thunder_: Nay the _Faces_ -they are to make at every _Period_; and the very _Measure_ of their -_pauses_; that the _Parenthesis_ may be large enough for the _Groans_, & -_Ejaculations_ of the _Secret ones_ to _Play_ in; they are taught to -Pray for the _King_ with _One Tone_ and _Countenance_, and for the -_Parliament_ with _another_. - -_To._ I have Observ'd them indeed to Cry with a Loud Voice, _Lord! -strengthen the Hands of the One_, & then to drop the Note into a kinde -of a Piping whisper, with a _Lord! Turn the Heart of the Other_; which -is as much as to say, _Alas! the Poor Gentleman is out of his way, and -we must set all hands at work to bring him to comply with his_ -Parliament, _though that_ Handy work, _at last, bring his_ Royall Head -_to the_ Scaffold. - -_Wh._ If you wou'd not be a _Rogue_ now and tell tales, I could let ye -in to the whole _Popular Mystery_; and shew ye the _Folly_, and the -_Vanity_ of any other Claim to _Sovereign Power_. And then _I_ have all -the _Prints_ brought me as soon as ever they come out. - -_To._ Pre'thee let's fall to work then. - -_Wh._ Come, I'le give you a sight of one of my _Boxes_ first; but I must -be gone in a quarter of an hour upon absolute Necessity. - -_To._ Well! And whether in such hast? - -_Wh._ There's One at _Newington_ has promis'd me an _Answer_ to the -_Dissenters Sayings_; and then I am told of a _Godly Divine_ at -_Clapham_, that has a _Reply_ ready to the _Notes upon College_. - -_To._ Let's make the best of our time then. Stay a little; what have we -here? - -_Wh._ Every thing is _Titled_, ye see, ready to your hand; so that you -may Pick and Chuse. - -_To._ Let me see then. _Pious Frauds; Mentall Reservations; -Infallibility of the Assembly; Baxters Saints; Cases of Conscience; -Dispensations, Contributions, Maxims, Intelligence, Orders, Committees, -Juryes, Caballs, Religion, Property, Demands, Proposals, Grievances, -Pretences, Salvo's, Distinctions, Explanations, Projects, Directions, -Advices, Resolutions, Invectives, Fictions, Forms of Reproaches_, suited -to _All Persons, Orders_, and _Qualities; True-Protestant Privileges_; -The _Doctrine_ of _Probabilityes_, and _Implicit Obedience_. - -_Wh._ Now upon all these Heads, ye have _Authoritys, Precedents_; and -all the _Colours, Arguments_, and _Elucidations_ that the matter will -bear. - -_To._ But your _Pious Frauds, Mentall Reservations, Infallibility, -Dispensations, Salvo's, Distinctions, Probabilityes, Implicit Faith_; -These are all _Popish Points_. - -_Wh._ They are so, when they are apply'd to the service of the -Church of _Rome_: but the _True Protestant-Cause Sanctifies_ the -_Principle_. As there's a great difference betwixt the _Popes -Excommunicating_ of an _Hereticall Prince_; and the _Generall -Assemblys Excommunicating_ of an _Antichristian, Episcopall Prince_; -betwixt a _Popish Gunpowder-Treason_, in the _Cellers, under_ the -_Parliament-House_; and a _Gunpowder Commission_ to _Kill_ and -_Slay_ within the _walls_ of the _Same House, above ground_; though -to Carnal Eyes they may both appear to _Center_ in the same _Point_: -And so in like manner, betwixt a _Conspiracy_ of _Papists_ to _cut -off the King_, and _Subvert the Government_; and a -_True-Protestant-Association_, to the very _same Effect_: Nay with -this Advantage too; that the Latter Propounds the Accomplishing of -that, in a matter of a _month_ or _six weeks_, which the Zeal of -their Fore-fathers was at least _Ten_, or a _dozen years a doing_. - -_To._ 'Tis a Great Ease for a man to have all these Subjects -_Common-Plac'd_ to his hand. - -_Wh._ Right. And where you may turn to any thing you have a mind to see, -with a _wet Finger_. - -_To._ But Pray'e How do you approve (in many of our _Seisures_) of the -_Application_ of _Popish Trinkets_ to _Prophane Uses_, which were by -them Dedicated to the service of a _Superstitious Religion_? - -_Wh._ You cannot Imagine, though an _Embroder'd Cope_ may be an -_Abomination_, what a _Cordial the Pearl_ of it is to a _True-Protestant -Professor. Lambs-Wool_ drinks no way better then out of a _Chalice_. Or -in other Cases; 'Tis but Destroying the _Popish Form_ of an _Idolatrous -Vessell_, and the _Intrinsick Value_ is never the less _Current_ -according to the _Standard_ of the _Reformation_. The _Picture_ of the -_Blessed Virgin_, with our _Saviour_ in her Arms, is never a jot the -worse for _sale_ to a _Painter_, for being an object of _Idolatry_ about -the _Altar_. - -_To._ And yet I have seen it Committed to the _Flames_, but it has been -an Oversight, betwixt the _Zeal_ and the _Ignorance_ of the -_Magistrate_. How many _Curious Crucifixes_, and _Reliques_, with -_Delicate Inlayings_, and _Carvings_ have I seen Expos'd at _Gill_ the -_Constables_ in _Westminster_; truly, at very _Reasonable Rates_? - -_Wh._ Not unlikely; but then ye must know, they were _Seiz'd_ in _One -Capacity_, and _sold_ in _Another_; for they were _vended_ in the -Contemplation of the _Workmanship_, though they were _taken_ as the -_Fooleries_ of a _False Religion_. We have in our days seen the -_Representation_ of the _Trinity_, Demolish'd in a _Church-Window_, with -Extraordinary _Zeal_ and _Approbation_. - -_To._ Why truly I am as much against the making of any _Image_ or -_Figure_ of _God the Father_ under the _Form_ of a _Man_, as any body; -for _Twenty Mistakes_ and _Inconveniencies_ that may arise upon the -Consideration of such an _Object_; but I know no hurt in the world in -the Representing of our _Saviour_ under a _Human shape_; or of the _Holy -Ghost_ under the shadow of a _Dove_: beside that the thing is presum'd -to have been done by _Authority_; for otherwise, the same _Zeal_ that -Destroys but the _Window_ of the _Church_, would not stick at the -Destroying perhaps of every thing else that belongs to't. But prethee -tell me One thing, suppose the _Blessed Trinity_, so Represented, should -be the _Seal_ of an _Ancient_ Community, or _Society_ of men, what's the -difference betwixt that _Figure_, in _Graving_, or in _Nealing_; in -_Silver_, or in _Glass_? Would not you as much _scruple_ the putting of -that _Seal_ to a _Lease_, as the _seeing_ of that _Figure_ in a -_Church-Window_? - -_Wh._ No; by no means; for the _One_ is Purely a _Civil Act_; and the -_Other_ has a Regard to _Religious Worship_. - -_To._ And yet this _Image_, or _Pretended Resemblance_, is the _same -thing_ in the _One_, as it is in the _Other_. Well! I am Extremly -pleas'd with this Private Corner for Liberty of Discourse. - -_Wh._ Here you may have all the _Papers_ as they come out, _Fresh and -Fresh_: All the _Arguments_, and _Politiques_ of the _Dissenting Party_; -Chuse _your own Theme_, Take _your own Time_, and Treat upon _your own -Conditions_. - -_To._ That's as fair as any Mortall can wish; So that when the day does -not afford other matter to work upon, we may Look a little more narrowly -into the _Merits_ of the _Cause_. And so much for that. But here let me -ask ye a Question: Do you know a _Little Cause-Jobber_ yonder somewhere -about _Kings-street, in Covent Garden_? - -_Wh._ Does he not use the _Christian Coffee-House_? - -_To._ The very same. He was saying t'other day that _L'Estrange_ was a -_Pensioner of Cromwels_; a _Papist_; and that he durst not bring his -_Action_ against any man for _Calling_ him so: That he was a _Rogue_; a -_Fidler_; Liv'd in _Covent-Garden_ a good while, and got his _Living_ by -his _Trade_; And that a _Magistrate_, not far from that place, would -_Justify_ it. The Two first Points, I suppose, will be Disputed in -another place: And for the _Fidler_: 'Tis well known that _L'Estrange_ -liv'd Eight or Nine years in one of the _Piazza-Houses_ there; and kept -_Servants_ that would have Scorn'd to have Sorted themselves with any -thing so mean as this _Paltry Varlet_. But to the Business. How far will -the _Privilege_ of a _True-Protestant-Whig_ Justify a _Villain_ in so -many _Scandalous Lyes_? - -_Wh._ So far as the _Common Good_ of the _Cause_ is more Valuable then -the _single Credit_ of a _Private Person_. But what say ye now to -_Curtis's Advertisement_ (in his Last _Mercury_) of _Tong's Narrative_, -and _Case_; concerning _L'Estrange_, Printed for C W? - -_To._ I say, 'tis _first_, a _Cheat_; for 'tis none of _Tong's Writing_; -_2ly_, 'Tis _Another Cheat_; for 'twas Printed for _Langley Curtis_, -with his Name to _Tongs Appointment_ for the Printing of it: Only he has -Fobb'd a _New_, and a _False Title-Page_ to't. But what says Mr. -_Oates_, all this while, to _L'Estranges Enformation_ against _Tonge_, -in the _Shammer Shamm'd_? where that young Fellow has the Impudence to -declare under his hand, the very _Foundation_ of _Oates's_ Plot to be a -_Cheat_: And _I appeal to all Good Protestants for Justice upon that -Scandalous Wretch_. - -_Wh._ Nay, 'tis a horrible Abuse, and really the man stands in's own -light: What was't? 500 or a 1000 Pound that he recover'd of One that did -not say the Hundredth part of what this comes to? The Lord Deliver me! I -knew the Time when 'twas _half a Hanging-matter_ to have made the least -doubt of any Branch of the Hellish Plot: But for this Audacious Fool to -say in Expresse Terms, that [_the_ Four Jesuites Letters, _wherein_ -Oates _pretended was the whole Discovery, were_ Counterfeits] is utterly -Intolerable. I'le e'en go my ways immediately, and talk with the Doctor -about it. - -_London_, Printed for _Joanna Brome_, at the Gun in S. _Pauls_ -Church-yard. - - - - - Vol. 3. =Numb. 88= - -THE OBSERVATOR, - -_A_ Schism _a Greater Judgment then a_ Pestilence. _The_ Natural -Rhetorique _of the_ Non-Cons. _The_ Danger _of them. Several_ Sorts -_and_ Degrees _of Danger. Of Coming_ About, _or Coming_ Over. _The_ -Cause _Transferr'd from_ Government _to_ Religion. - -=Munday=, September 28. 1685. - - -_OBSERVATOR._ If I were the _Master_ of a _Territory_, I would as soon -_Trust_ so many _Spirits_ in my _Pulpits, to Blow a Pestilence thorough -my Dominions_, as so many of our _Non-Conforming Divines_; and reckon my -_People_ much _Safer_ too, under the Danger of a _Plague_, then under -the _Consequences_ of a _Schism_: For the _One Taints_ but the Bodies of -Men; the _Other Destroys_ their very Souls; the _One_ takes them -_Promiscuously_, the _Good_, and the _Bad, One_ with _Another_: But the -_'Tother Marks_, and _Singles-out_ the _Best Men_ for _Ruine_, with a -_Privilege_ of _Exemption_, to those that neither fear _God_, nor _Man_. -The _One_ Sweeps away a Number of Single _Persons_; the _Other_ Tears to -pieces the _Sinews_ of a _Community_. The _One_ does, in _some Degree_, -Conduce to the _Purging_ of a _Wicked Nation_, when the _Wrath_ of -_Heaven_ is _Appeas'd_ by the _Discharge_ of some _Dreadfull Judgment_ -upon't; (as the _Air_ is Clear'd by _Thunder_) The _Other_ does All that -is _Possible_ to the _Filling-up_ of the _Measure_ of a _Publique -Iniquity_; and the making of a Land Ripe for _Vengeance_. - -_TRIMMER._ Prethee what _Danger_? Or what needs this _Lashing_, when -they are All Tongue-Ty'd; and Driven into _Holes_, and _Hiding-Places_, -to keep out of the way of _Messengers_, and _Constables_, and out of the -_Clutches_ of the _Corporation-Act_, and _Other Penal Laws_ against -their _Private Meetings_? - -_Obs._ What dost thou Talk of Tongue-Ty'd? Why I will undertake it; (and -in _Serious Good Earnest_ too) _Gagg_ the Whole Set of'em; Give Every -man his _Pulpit_, or his _Chair_, and only a Bare Standing in't; and if -they do not _Wink_, and _Nod_, and _Cuff_ any Prince in _Christendom_ -out of his _Dominions_, without a _Word Speaking_, I'le be thy -_Bond-slave_. Why they do not do their Bus'ness, man, by the Force of -_Logique, Grammar_, or by the _Dint_ of _Theology_: But by _Groans, -Pangs, Tragical Ululations, Silent Interjections, Whining Apostrophes, -Melting Epiphonemas_; and in a word; by the Helps of _Natural -Rhetorick_, without _Need_, of either _Sense_, or _Syllables_. - -_Trim._ They _Preach_, and _Pray_, without _Speaking_ then. - -_Obs._ No No. They do Talk for _Fashion_-sake: But Observe it while you -will; They move the _Passions_ of their _Auditory_, in the _Belfry_, or -the _Church-Porch, Forty times more_ then Directly under the _Pulpit_: -For the _Emphasis_ of an _Action_; a _Motion, Tone_, or _Countenance_, -makes a much Deeper _Impression_, than that of a _Naked, Empty, Sound_: -And for _My Part_, I fancy, it might do as well for 'em to Whistle their -_Preachments_ as to Articulate them: For the _Masterpiece_, or the All -in All of it, lies Mainly, in _Hitting_ the _Tune_. - -_Trim._ D'ye call this Reasoning, or Ridiculing? - -_Obs._ 'Tis _Both_ in _One_: For it is the _Ridiculous Truth_, and the -_Just Reason, Method_, and _State_ of the _Matter_: And when People are -once _Juggled_ Out _of their Wits_, they must be _Fool'd_ Into _'em -again_. Now there needs no more to the doing of _That Work_, then the -bare _Drawing_ of the _Curtain_, and letting People into the -_Tyring-Room_. For the _Cause_, is all over, _Theatrical_: The _Actors_ -are _Hypocrites_, in their _Manners_, as well as in the _Etymon_; and -the whole _Manage_, fitter for a _Stage_, then a _Pulpit_. So that the -most _Certain Way_ in _Nature_, for the making of the _Practice, -Odious_; and the _Disabusing_ of the _Undiscerning Multitude_, is to -_lay Open_ their _False Colours, Shapes_, & _Disguises_; and _Expose_ -Every thing in its _Naked Simplicity_ to the _Light_. - -_Trim._ And what if a man should Allow This sort of People now, to be -the most _Uncouth, Hideous Monsters_ of the _Creation_? To have the -_Teeth_, the _Nails_, the _Fierceness_, the _Strength_, & the _Appetite_ -of the most _Ravenous_ of _Wild Beasts_? This Discourse, of _Caution_, -and _Description_, might do well enough in the _Countrys_ of _Lyons_, -and _Tygers_: But what's All This, to _his Majesties Dominions_, where -there are either _None_ of These Creatures, _at all_, or No _Other_, at -least, then such as have their _Nails Par'd_, and their _Chops Muzzled_: -And no more _Danger_ of them, at present, then of our _Beeves_, and -_Muttons_. - -_Obs._ Dost not thou know that there are _Several_ Sorts, & Degrees of -_Danger_? A man may be Wheedled into a _Precipice_, as well as Thrown -into't: A man may be Hugg'd or Suck'd to _Death_, without any Biting, or -Scratching in the Case: A man may be Poyson'd in his _Porridge_, as well -as Strangl'd in his _Bed_: A man may have False Opinions _Impos'd_ upon -him by a _Fallacy_, or _Fraud_ in _Argument_, as well as Extorted from -him, by the Force of _Menace_, and _Torment_. And his Bus'ness, at last, -is _done_, as Dead, _One way_ as _T'other_: And so for the Degrees of -_Danger_; There's _Danger at Hand_; there's _Danger_ at a _Distance_; -_Danger_ in _Design_, and _Danger_ in _Practice_; And _Danger_, in fine, -through All the _Preparatory_, and _Mediate Tendencies_ to _Mischief_, -to the _Last Effect_ that _Pushes_ it self forth to _Execution_. - -_Trim._ Very Good! And what are All These _Sorts_, and _Degrees_ of -_Danger_ to the _Instances_ we have now _Before_ us? - -_Obs._ 'Tis true; The _Faction_ is not in Condition to _Attacque_ the -_Government_ by _Force_: Their _Armies_ are _Scatter'd_, and their -_Squadrons Defeated_; the _Whole Party_ put to their _Shifts_; and the -very _Best_ of 'em, has enough to do to _save his Own Bacon_. Their -_Teeth_ are _Drawn_, I'le Allow ye, All but here and there a _Stump_; -And yet they'l _Pinch, Plaguily_, though they cannot _Worry_, and -_Tear_: And with _Time_, and _Good Discipline_, they'l come to _Grow -again_. They have the _Same Principles_ to friend, that _ever_ they had: -Only they must be _Manag'd Another Way_: And there can never Want -_Matter_, for _Artificial Flattery, Wheedling, Imposture_ and -_Hypocrisy_, to _Work_ upon. They are not in Condition to _Advance_, at -this time of the Day, in the face of the _Sun_, and of the _Government_, -with their _Petticoats Flying_, under the _Auspicious Direction_ of -their _Tutelary Angel, Ferguson_; and [Fear Nothing but God] for their -_Motto_. But they must Supply want of _Strength_, by _Stratagem_; and -_Carry-on_ their _Approches_, out of sight. 'Tis only a little more -_Patience_, and the _Work_ will be brought about, as sure at the -_Long-Run_, by a _Mine_, as by a _Battery_: And the _Certifying_ of _a -Hundred and Fifty Perrots_ into the _Service_, and _Protection_ Of the -_Government_, will be of Greater _Effect_, then the _Drawing-up_ of _Ten -Thousand men in Arms_, Against it. Now _These Methods_ lye All _Open_ -still, only they are somewhat more _About_. Now as to _Dangers Remote_, -or _Nearer hand; Dangers_ of _Design_, or _Dangers_ of _Practice_: All -the _Preparatories_, & _Dispositions_ to _Mischief_, in their _Secret -Impulses_, and _Causes_, are as _Vigorous_ Now, as Ever they were, that -is to say, within Two or Three Motions of a _Publique Violence_: Only -This Difference in the Case, that we have _Hitherto_, been in the -_Greatest Danger_ of our _Profess'd_, & _Open Enemies_: And _Now_, God -bless us from our _Pretending Friends_: For all on a Sudden, the -_Trimmers_ are come-up to be _Stark Church-of-England-men_; And the -_Phanatiques_, gotten a _Form Higher_, into the _Seat_ or _Classes_ of -the _Trimmers_. - -_Trim._ Thou art _Well, neither Full nor Fasting_. Neither _Fanatique_, -nor _Trimmer_, nor _Church-of-England-man_ I perceive, will please ye; -The _Controversy_ of a New King; or a Common-Wealth, is _Out of Doors_; -The Question of Liberty of Conscience; The _Privilege_ of _Private -Meetings_ for Religous Worship; And a _Challenge_ of _Dispensation_ from -the _Rites, Ceremonies, and_ Discipline _of the Church, are_ All layd -aside. And All This will not serve the _Turn_ yet. Now if Men go to -_Church_; Take _Tests_, make _Declarations_; And _Do_ and _Perform_ All -that the _Law Requires_ of'em; where's the _Danger_ of These People I -beseech ye? - -_Obs._ Not in their _coming over_ with their _Bodies_, but in _Staying -behind_, in their _Good Wills_, and _Affections_: Nay, and in their -_Communicating_ with the _Church_ in the _Morning_, and in the -_Afternoon_, with the _Schism_: And pray will you Note in them, One -Thing _More_ too. 'Tis worth the while, when they _Ramble_ from their -_Own Parish_, to _Observe_ whither they go: For I have known the very -_Streets Throng'd_, out of Distance of _Hearing One Word_ that the -_Minister says_, with the _Same Superstition_, that the _Quakers Flock_ -to the _Door_, when they are _Lock'd-out_ of the _Meeting-House_: In -which Case, It has yet the _Semblance_ of a _Private Meeting_; And in -Truth, looks liker a _Political Muster_, then a _Religious Exercise_: -But Heark ye for One Word, before we go any further; Suppose a Man -should have sayd about the _Beginning_ of _July Last_, in a _Brisk -Reply_ to a _Reflexion_ made upon the _Western-Rebells_; (at that time -in their _Pride_ and _Glory_) [The King has as Loyal Subjects in That -Army as Any are in T'other.] Wouldst thou have me, in Construction of -_Common Sense_, and _Honesty_, look upon _That Person_, to be, -Effectually Come over, and in the _State_ of _a True -Church-of-England-man_; only for _Keeping_ the _Law_, with his _Heels_, -when he _Breaks_ it, with his _Tongue_, and _Doctrine_? Now this is more -then I Owe ye, upon the Matter in hand: For you have Carry'd the -_Question_ quite _back_ again, from the _Non-Con-Ministers_, to the -_Generality_, and the _Multitude_ of the _Dissenters_: which is a Point -Wholly _Excepted_, and out of the _Limits_ of _Our Debate_: For All -their _Conventicles_ without a _Mouth_, are _Monsters_; Meer -_Nullities_, & _Bilks_, without a _Teacher_: So that I have _Restrain'd_ -my _Applications_, Singly, to the _Rabbi's_ of the _Faction_, as -_Including_, and _Implying_ the _Sense_, and the _Intent_ of their -_Disciples_: Nay and _so far Including_ it, that they are _Barely_, the -_Passive Instruments_ of their _Leaders_. Now These _Heads_ of the -_Divided Parties_, are a sort of People, that do not, by any Means, fall -within the _Charitable Prospect_ of _Your Qualifications_: For they -_Stand-off_, in _Contempt_, and _Defyance_ of the _Orders_, & _Censures_ -of the _Church_, and of the _Law_, as much at _This Instant_, as _ever_ -they did. Their _Followers Maintain_, and _Support_ them in That -_Stubbornness_ of _Disobedience_; And so the _Opposition_ stands yet -_Firm_, in _Effect_, though with _Less Noise_ of _Menace_, and _Tumult_. -The _Branches_, 'tis True, are _Lopt_; but the _Root_, not so much as -_Touch'd_; Nay, and in such a Condition of _Vegetative Virtue_, and -_Vigour_, that it wants nothing but _Time_, and a _Favourable Season_ to -make it _Sprout_ again. And This you may Assure your self of, that -Nothing less then an _Utter_, an _Open_, a _Solemn_, and an _Irrevocable -Divorce_, betwixt _These Libertine-Seducers_, and Those that have been -_Trepann'd_, and _Inveigled_, out of the _Bosom_ of the _Church_, into -the _Arms_ of the _Schism_: Nothing I say, less then Some such -_Unalterable Act_, or _Decree_ of _Separation_, can ever _Secure_, -either the _Church_, or the _State_ from the _Pernicious Consequences_ -of this _Intelligence_: For betwixt _Blind Pity_, and _Foolish Zeal_, on -the _One_ hand, and all the _Arts_, of _Moving_, and _Provoking_ Those -_Passions_, and _Affections_, on the _Other_, there is _kept-up_, and -_Cherish'd_, a _Communication_ of _Reciprocal Kindness_, between them, -that keeps the _Fire alive_ still in the _Embers_, 'till by _Degrees_, -it _Blows-up_ All at last into a _Common Flame_. Now take away _These -Bellows_, and _T'other Sparks_, and a man may _Sleep_ in his _Bed_, -without _Dreaming_ of _Conflagrations_, or the _Dread_ of Rising with -his Throat Cut. - -_Trim._ I will not Excuse some _Hot-Headed Blades_, that let their -_Tongues_ run before their _Wits_; And make it a Point of _Honour_, to -_Brave_ All the _Terrors_ of _Death_, and _Dungeons_, in defence of the -_Cause_ that they have _Undertaken_. The _Less said_, the _Better_; -Though a Body cannot, in _Generosity_, but have some sort of -_Compassion_, for a Man that Suffers _Death_, with _Constancy of Mind_, -Even in a Mistaken Cause, if it be according to his _Conscience_. - -_Obs._ If these _Impressions_ were _Inbred_, and the _Errors_ purely -their _Own_, it would be a _Point_, not only of _Good Nature_, but of -_Common Justice_, and _Humanity_, to have a _Tenderness_ for _People_ -under an _Invincible Mistake_: But you have Started the _Strongest -Argument_ in the World, against your _self_ here, by _Enforcing_ the -_Necessity_ of Clearing the _Stage_ of the _Seditious Oracles_, that -_Inspire These Desperate Resolutions_. - -_Trim._ Why All matter of _Violence, Heat_ of _Dispute_, and _Clamour_ -of _Argument_, is at an _End_. You hear no more of your _Scottish_, and -_Western Declarations_; No more _Competitors_ for the _Crown_; or -_Confederates_ for a _Republique_: And therefore prethee, _let_ us be at -_Peace_ while we _May_ be at _Peace_; and do not stand _Puzzling_ the -_People_ with _Danger_, where _No Danger is_. - -_Obs._ Soft and Fair, _Trimmer_; those _Declarations, Practices_, and -_Attempts_, are not to be _Repeated_ again in the _same Age_: But there -are _more ways to the Wood then One_: And 'tis All a case, to a man -that's _Robb'd_, whether the _Thieves_ came in at the _Door_, or at the -_Window_. 'Tis very Right, That, since the Breaking of the _Rebellion_, -the _Non-Cons_ lay their _Fingers_ upon their _Mouths_; and not _One -Word_ of _Late_, upon the Subject of _Liberties_, and _Properties_; or -of the Danger of _Tyranny_, and of _Arbitrary Power_: But All other -_Grievances_ are Now _Swallow'd-up_ in _One_: They are All in _Tears_ -for fear of the _Protestant Religion_; and _That's the Topique that's -now Carry'd-on, through All Shapes, Figures, and Disguises_. - -_Trim._ We shall have fine Work, Next Bout! - -_London_, Printed for _Charles Brome_, at the Gun in St. _Paul's_ -Church-yard. - - - - - Vol. 3. =Numb. 202= - -THE OBSERVATOR. - -_The way of Promoting_ Fears, _and_ Jelousies. _The_ People _meerly_ -Passive _in the Bus'ness. Both Parts seem to_ Contend _for the_ Same -Common Principles. _The_ Rise of Jelousies. - -=Saturday=, August 21. 1686. - - -_TRIMMER._ The _Accommodating_ of Words, Phrases, and Texts to the -Matter in hand, with the Interjecting, here and there, of Certain -_Emphatical Winks_, and _Innuendo's_, to the _Common People_, will do -the Bus'ness of _Fears and Jelousies_, you need never _Doubt_ it, -without any more Ceremony. - -_OBSERVATOR._ I do no more _Doubt_ it, then I do, that a Proper Remedy; -Rightly Prepar'd; and Administer'd in the _Due_ Time and Proportion, -will _Work_ such or such an _Effect_. But the _Skill_ lyes, in the -Judgment of the Distemper; The Constitution of the Patient; The Choice -of the Physick; The Prescription of the Composition, the Preparation, -and the Dos. Now _Your_ way of _Operating_, is only the Mechanicall -_Part of the Bus'ness_; and no more, then the giving of a _Box_, a -_Gally-pot_, or a _Glass_, with a Note of _Directions_, out of _One_ -hand into _Another_: which Any _Porter_ that Plyes at the _Next Corner_, -would do as _Dext'rously_, as ever a _Doctor_ of the _College_. The -_Difficulty_, and the _Mystery_, is Over, before _You_ have any thing to -_Do_ with it: The _Poysonous_, and _Intoxicating Draught_, Prepar'd; The -_Multitude_ set a-Gaping for't, and Your _Office_, is only at last, to -_Pour it down their Throats_. There's Matter of _History_, and _Fact_, -enough, 'tis true, to _Satisfy any man_, that People may be made as -_Mad_ with _Cant_, and _Gibberish_, as if they had taken _Henbane_; and -that _the_ Sting _of_ Jelousy, will put them out of their _Wits_ as soon -as _the_ Biting _of a_ Mad-Dog: But we are in the _Dark_ all this while, -for the Rise, the Progress, and the Methods of Enflaming _Jelousies_, to -bring'em up to that _Pitch_. Prethee let me Understand a little of their -Birth, Growth, Discipline, and Education; How they are Fed, Nourish'd, -and Entertain'd? What's the End, and Use of them? What Language do they -_Speak_; or how comes it to pass, that the _Same_ Words, and Phrases, -without _Any Intelligence_ with _Grammar, Logique, Common Usage_, or -_Propriety_, should _Transport_ Some _Men_ into _Outrages, Palpitations -of the Heart, Horrors_, and _Tremblings_, both of _Mind_, and of _Body_; -and yet Work no more upon Others, then they _did_, before the very -Letters of'em were taken out of the _Alphabet_? I do not call ye to a -_Strict Shrift_ upon _Every Point_, but I Expect you shall say -something to the _Whole Matter_; for a _Few Words_, in Order, will give -a man more _Light_ to the _Reason_ of a Thing, then as many _Volumes_, -in Confusion. - -_Trim._ You are in the _Right_; that the _Craft_ lies in the Project, -and the Preparatory _Manage_ of this Affair, and that the _Danger_ is -gone too _Far_, when the _Mine_ is already _Wrought_; the _Powder -Dispos'd_, and nothing wanting to the _Final Execution_ of the -_Mischief_, but the _Lighting_ of the _Match_, and the Applying of the -_Coal_ to the _Train_. You have _Well_ and _Truly_ enough _Observed_, -the _Wonderfull Force_, that _Some Certain_ Words, and Phrases have; -upon the _Affections_ of the _Multitude_; without the Least _Shadow_ of -any Logical, Grammatical, or Philosophical _Reason_ for the _Operation_ -of them. Now you must know, that _These_ Words, and Phrases, are made -_Use_ of, and _Understood_, in the way of a Cypher, or a Jargon, and not -according to the _Ordinary Acceptation_ of them, in a _Regular_ way of -_Writing_, or of _Speaking_; So that, Effectually, the _Efficacy_ of -such _Words_, and _Phrases_, is given for _Granted_; and how they come -to _Obtain that Force_, remains the _Single Question_. - -Now towards the _Understanding_ of this Matter, you must Consider, that -no _State_ can be _Supplanted_, but by _Turning_ the _Peoples Hearts_, -against the _Persons_, & the _Actions_ of their _Superiors_: So that in -_All Conspiracies_ to _Destroy_ a _Government_, Fears & Jelousies, are -_the_ Corner Stone _of the Babel_. Their Hearts are no sooner _Lost_, -but they withdraw their Bodies too, and so, by _Degrees, Erect_ Laws, -and Religions of their Own; and look upon themselves, by This time, as -in _Another Commonwealth_. - -_Obs._ 'Tis most _Certainly True_; and that in this _Separation_, they -set-up an _Interest_ of _Direct_ Spite, as well as Opposition, to That -of the _Church_, and of the _State_. - -_Trim._ This is the very Course, and Progress of a _Popular Jelousy_: -But pray take Notice as we go, that the _People_, are thus far, _Meerly_ -Passive; and _Contribute No Otherwise_, to the _Ruine_ of the -_Publique_, then _a_ Snapping Sea does, to the _Sinking_ of a _Vessell_, -when the _Billows_ are _Hurry'd-on_ by the _Violence_ of an -Irresistible Tempest: if the _Winds_ would but let the _Waves alone_, -they'd be _Quiet_. When they come once to Gather into [Private -Meetings,] (or as you call them, Conventicles) you may _Then_ accompt -upon it, that they are as good as put to _School_, to _Learn_ the -Mystery of their _Profession_. For there are Canting-Schools, as well as -Reading-Schools: and under This _Discipline_, they come by _Insensible -Degrees_, to part with their _English_ Tongue, as well as with their -_English_ Principles, and Manners. Nay, and Effectually, to take up such -_Uncouth, Novel_, and _Strange_ Thoughts, Opinions, and Practices, that -it looks, as if the English-Man, the Christian, and the Subject, were -all lost in a Disguise. They are now, you must know, under New Lords, -and Consequently, under New Laws; where they are _Train'd-up_ to _New -Ways_ of Understanding Things, and to a _New Idiome_ of Expressing them. -Religion, Law, Government, Conscience, Good Manners, are so _Sacred_ in -Themselves, that the _Worst_ of Men cannot but _Pretend_ a _Veneration_ -for them; but how to _Baffle_, or to _Elude_ the _Force_, the -_Obligation_, and the _Authority_ of them; and, at the Same Time, to -set-up for the _Asserters_, and _Supporters_ of _These Publique Rights, -Privileges_, and _Duties, There_ lies the _Difficulty_ of the -_Undertaking_. - -_Obs._ That is to say, how to _Resolve_ Religion, into an _Empty_ -Notion: To Talk Christianity into a Paradox; and, with Christ in our -_Mouths_, at _London_, to _fall down_, and _Worship_ Mahomet, in _Buda_: -How to _Confound_ Gods, and the Governments Friends and Enemies, so as -to make the _Common People_ take _One_ for _T'other_. Now This can be no -way done, but by setting-up the Counterfeit of Religion, Law, and -Conscience, against the _Genuine_, and _Authentique_ Original; and by -making Evil, to be Good, and Good, to be Evil. - -_Trim._ You must _Note_, further, that in This _Opposition_, the Main -Cause appears to be the _very Same_, on _Both sides_; and _Both Parts_ -seem to _Contend_, for the Same Common Principles, of _Divine Worship_, -and of _Civil Obedience_. - -_Obs._ Only the _One_ Flies to the _Invisible Lights_ and _Dictates_ of -the _Spirit_, in Matter of Religion; (taking Fancy for Revelation) and, -in the Matter of Government, has Recourse to Certain _Unaccountable -Whimsies_, of [Powers Reserv'd,] where there _never was any Power at -all_; & _These Fooleries_, they _Trump_ upon the _Little People_, under -the _Pompous Name_ of [_FUNDAMETALS_;] while the _Rulers_, on the -_Other_ hand, Stick to the Law, to the Text, and to the _Approved Sense_ -of the Best Interpreters of Both, for their _Guide_. - -_Trim._ Very Good! And after they have _Departed_ from the Common Rule, -and _Divided_ themselves from the Common Interest; it is but Reasonable -to _Expect_, that they will Set-up Another Interest, and Another Rule to -_Themselves_. - -_Obs._ Well! But how do they _Manage That Province_ all this while, as -to the _Subject_, I mean, that we were _Speaking_ of? - -_Trim._ Why their way is, only to put _Religion_, and _Government_ in -_Another Dress_; but under the Name, of [Religion,] and [_Government_,] -_Still_; and then to lay on a _Superstructure_, Answerable to the -_Foundation_; I speak of the Leaders only; for their Disciples are -_Blanck Paper_; and ready for _any Impression_. They _Talk_, to the -Ears, and to the Passions of their _Hearers_, not to their -Understandings: and their _Auditors_ gather more of their _Meaning_, -from their _Gestures, Actions, Countenances_, and from _Pathetical -Tones_, then from the _Words Themselves_. As for _Sense_, or _No Sense_, -'tis _all a Case_; for 'tis the _Jingle_, not the _Matter_, that does -_Their Bus'ness_. The _Less_ the People Understand, the _More_ they are -Edify'd; for they take the _Congruities_ of Carnal Reason, for Vain -Philosophy; and Incomprehensible Nonsense, passes for _the Work of the_ -Light Within. Their _Religion_ lies alltogether in Groan, and Rapture: -_They Sacrifice to the_ Unknown God; and in One Word; They _Supply_ the -_Want_ of Knowledge, with an _Excess_ of Zeal; and when they cannot -_Understand_ the Plain English of a _Discourse_, they Wrap Themselves up -in the Mystery. The making of a _Party_, & the Saving of their own -_Skins_, are the _Two Main Points_ of the _Leaders_; and therefore, they -_Cover_ themselves under Ambiguity, & Riddle; & Compass those Matters, -by _Theatrical Gesticulations_, & _Actions_, which they dare not -_Venture_ upon, in _Words_ at _Length_, or by the _Dint_ of _Argument_; -for there is no _Law_ against _making of_ Faces, _and Dusting of_ -Cushions, They are told _Mightily_, and _Plainly_, of _Heaven_, and -_Hell_; but in such a _Manner_, that they will _Never Allow_ God, and -the Government to be _Both of a side. Schism_ is Dignified with the -_Name_ of Conscience; the Story of their _Grievances_, is the -_Bitterest_ of Satyrs; Their very Petitions have the force of -_Invectives_; and the _Smoother_, the _Softer_, you find the _Surface_ -of them, the _Falser_, and the more _Dangerous_ they are at the -_Bottom_: For betwixt the Persecution that is _Insinuated_, on the part -of the _Government_, & the Innocence, the Piety, and the Modesty, on -that of the Sufferers, Nothing can more Provoke, a _Horror_, and -_Indignation_ for the _One_, or a _Tenderness_, & _Compassion_, for the -_Other_. - -_Obs._ That is to say, among Those that are not _Well Enform'd_, in the -_Reason_, and _Equity of the Cause in Question_. - -_Trim._ Come Come. I tell ye _Nakedly_ how things Are, and not how they -Ought to be: and I speak of _Those Men_ too, that neither Do, nor Will, -nor Can make a _Right Judgment_ upon the Matter in _Issue_. They do not -take down _Reasons_ in Connexion; neither do their _Teachers_ so much as -Offer at'em; But _their Work_ is, only to _Feed_ Itching Ears, and -Humours, with _New-Quoyn'd Words, Affectate Phrases_: And briefly, to -_Instruct_ their _Disciples_, by _Signs_ and _Tokens_, like so many -_Dancing Horses_ to fall Lame upon all Four, for the _Pope_; to -come-over, for the _Grand Vizier_; and at the very _Sound_ of Babylon, -Anti-Christ, or Absolute Power, to Snort, and Boggle, as if they _Smelt -Fire_. If I may tell ye the _Arrant Truth_, and _Simplicity_ of my -_Heart_; This is the very Train of a Popular Institution. They are -Tutor'd, and Inur'd, to the Assuming of such and such _Passions_, upon -such and such _Occasions_; and they do All their _Ayres_, and _Tricks_, -by the Direction of the _Hand_, or _Eye. They Dance_ to _Sounds, Hints, -Nodds, Forms_, and _Syllables_; not to the force of _Fair Reasonings_, -and _Natural Conclusions_; Nay, they are Taught, when to be _Angry_; -when to be _Pleas'd_; and their very _Inclinations_, and _Aversions_, -are none of their _Own, Neither_: The _Whole Bus'ness_, in short, is -Artifice, Manage, and Practice; for _All their_ Mistakes, _and_ -Mis-understandings, _take the_ Same Biass. - -_Obs._ I do _Observe_, indeed, that they Shelter themselves under the -_Dark Prophets_, and the _Revelation_. The _Number of the Beast_, they -have all at their _Fingers Ends_; the _Geneva-Bibles_ are _Thumm'd_ over -and over, at the _Same Texts_: As upon the Subject of the _Groves_, & -the _High Places, Christian Liberty, Will-Worship, Humane Inventions, -Idolatry, Superstition_, &c. There's not a _Verse_ in the whole _Bible_, -against _Persecution_, but makes them Shake their Heads at the -_Government_. Popery by _Interpretation_, is Episcopacy: The _Liberty_ -of the Subject, has an _Aking Tooth_ at the _Prerogative_ of the Prince: -But finally; such and such Terms, and Forms of Speaking, are, by Common -Consent, to pass for _Current_, under such or such a Sense, and -Meaning, how _Contrary_ soever, to their _Proper_, and _Genuine -Signification_, or _Import_. But this speaks only to the Propagating of -_Jelousies_, not to the Rise of them. - -_Trim._ If you Ask me the [Rise] of _Jelousies_, I must _Answer_ ye, -that they are _Begotten_ betwixt Ambition, Avarice, Hypocrisy, Craft, -Malice, and Disloyalty, on the _One_ side; and Ignorance, Obstinacy, -Blind Zeal, and an Impetuous Temerity, on the _Other_. - -_London_, Printed for _Charles Brome_, at the Gun in St. _Paul's_ -Church-yard. - - - - -WILLIAM ANDREWS CLARK - -MEMORIAL LIBRARY - -UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, LOS ANGELES - - * * * * * - -THE AUGUSTAN REPRINT SOCIETY - -PUBLICATIONS IN PRINT - - - - -THE AUGUSTAN REPRINT SOCIETY - -PUBLICATIONS IN PRINT - - * * * * * - - -1948-1949 - -16. Henry Nevil Payne, _The Fatal Jealousie_ (1673). - -18. Anonymous, "Of Genius," in _The Occasional Paper_, Vol. III, No. 10 -(1719), and Aaron Hill, Preface to _The Creation_ (1720). - - -1949-1950 - -19. Susanna Centlivre, _The Busie Body_ (1709). - -20. Lewis Theobald, _Prepace to the Works of Shakespeare_ (1734). - -22. Samuel Johnson, _The Vanity of Human Wishes_ (1749), and two -_Rambler_ papers (1750). - -23. John Dryden, _His Majesties Declaration Defended_ (1681). - - -1950-1951 - -26. Charles Macklin, _The Man of the World_ (1792). - - -1951-1952 - -31. Thomas Gray, _An Elegy Wrote in a Country Church-yard_ (1751), and -_The Eton College Manuscript_. - - -1952-1953 - -41. Bernard Mandeville, _A Letter to Dion_ (1732). - - -1963-1964 - -104. Thomas D'Urfey, _Wonders in the Sun; or, The Kingdom of the Birds_ -(1706). - - -1964-1965 - -110. John Tutchin, _Selected Poems_ (1685-1700). - -111. Anonymous, _Political Justice_ (1736). - -112. Robert Dodsley, _An Essay on Fable_ (1764). - -113. T. R., _An Essay Concerning Critical and Curious Learning_ (1698). - -114. _Two Poems Against Pope_: Leonard Welsted, _One Epistle to Mr. A. -Pope_ (1730), and Anonymous, _The Blatant Beast_ (1742). - - -1965-1966 - -115. Daniel Defoe and others, _Accounts of the Apparition of Mrs. Veal_. - -116. Charles Macklin, _The Covent Garden Theatre_ (1752). - -117. Sir George L'Estrange, _Citt and Bumpkin_ (1680). - -118. Henry More, _Enthusiasmus Triumphatus_ (1662). - -119. Thomas Traherne, _Meditations on the Six Days of the Creation_ -(1717). - -120. Bernard Mandeville, _Aesop Dress'd or a Collection of Fables_ -(1704). - - -1966-1967 - -123. Edmond Malone, _Cursory Observations on the Poems Attributed to Mr. -Thomas Rowley_ (1782). - -124. Anonymous, _The Female Wits_ (1704). - -125. Anonymous, _The Scribleriad_ (1742). Lord Hervey, _The Difference -Between Verbal and Practical Virtue_ (1742). - - -1967-1968 - -129. Lawrence Echard, Prefaces to _Terence's Comedies_ (1694) and -_Plautus's Comedies_ (1694). - -130. Henry More, _Democritus Platonissans_ (1646). - -132. Walter Harte, _An Essay on Satire, Particularly on the Dunciad_ -(1730). - - -1968-1969 - -133. 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British and European orders should be addressed to B. H. -Blackwell, Broad Street, Oxford, England. - - - - -Transcriber's Note - -The closing square brackets have been removed from the end of the -following as no opening bracket was found in the text. - -1. Page 13 - _Some People at_ Norwich, _are playing -the_ Devil _for_ Godsake: _several honest, peaceable_, Protestant -Dissenters, _having been troubled for not coming to_ Church, _or having -been Present at_ Religious Meetings &c.] - -2. Page 14 - _Smith_ (in his _Vox Populi, P._ 13.) saith, that _the King is -oblig'd to pass or Confirm those Laws his People shall Chuse_.] - -On Page 14 the fullstop after Chuse has been changed to a comma. - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Selections from the Observator -(1681-1687), by Roger L'Estrange - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE OBSERVATOR *** - -***** This file should be named 40339-8.txt or 40339-8.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/4/0/3/3/40339/ - -Produced by Colin Bell, Hazel Batey, Joseph Cooper and the -Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed. - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no -one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation -(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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