m KaH J TRUTH I N A MASK Ades* &? primi kge lit or is or am. VIRG. GEOR. Garrit anlles Ex re fabettas. Ho R. DUEL IN Printed. LONDON, Reprinted for M. Co o p E R at the Globe in Pater-No/ter-Raw. [iii j T O The RIGHT HONOURABLE JAMES, LORD VISCOUNT CHAR L EMO UN?. MY LORD, YOUR Lord/Kip may re- member, that, during the fhort Space of Time in which I was charged with the Care of your Education, I alk- A z ed, 1304401 iv DEDICATION, ed, and obtained Leave to de- dicate the following ALLUSIONS to you : Although for many and weighty Reafons, which, in Charity, I forbear to mention here, I chofe to quit you fo foon; yet, fo far as You were confidered, it was with the greateft Regret 1 did it. As neither of us can juflly charge the other with the Caufe of this Separation, fo give me Leave to hope, that thefe little * Performances will not be lefs acceptable to you on that Ac- count, efpecially as they are not prefented with lefs Good- will and Efteem. As your Lordfhip, and every body elfe who knows me, are fenfible I am very far from being a Flat- terer ,- DE D I C A T ION. V terer ; and as I have not now the Honour to be a Relative to you in any Senfe ; fo, I hope, I fhould not be fufpected of Defign or Infmcerity, though fome of my Sentiments, on this Occafion, fhould be delivered in the ufual Style of Dedica- tions, That Style, however, and the Bafenefs of thofe who ufe it, as an Inftrument of their own Defigns, and an Incentive to the Vanity of their Pa- trons, I, from my Soul, abhor; and the Publick, to your Ho- nour, (hall obferve, that I, who know you, can, without the; leaft Fear of offending, addrefs you in quite another Manner. THAT Eftate, that Rank, and thofe natural Endowments, which, A 3 in vi DEDICATION. in another Dedication, might be called yours, and much en- larged on to flatter your Pride, on this Occafion, (hall be called the Property of your Country,, and of Mankind,, and be men- tioned only to alarm you. Do not, my Lord, let any low, de- figning Flatterer perfuade you, that fuch Talents were abfolute- ly left owed on. you by a wife and provident God. Do not liften to him ; the Wretch gapes' at a Reward for his deteftable Ca- fuiftry. I muft infift on it, they were only depofited with you for the publick Ufe, and muft be accounted for to the real Owner. Infinite Wifdom could never intend fo much for the Ufe of one Man, No, my Lord r we DEDICATION. vii we have (I fpeak in Behalf of the Publick, of which I make a Part) a juft Right to the ut- moft Improvement, and the beft Application you can poffibly make, of all the aforemention,- ed Talents, particularly the great Abilities with which God hath enriched your Mind, in Com- parifon of which we efteem your Fortune and Title as Trifles. My Intention in fpeak- ing thus to you, is to apprife your Country of the great Things they have a Right to expect from you; and you, of the mighty- Debt, which, in a few Years, you muft begin to difcharge. It is happy for you, my Lord, that, to your excellent Talents, God hath joined the mod a- A 4 miable viii DEDICATION. miable Difpolitions, without the Afliftance of which, it is incom- parably more difficult for Rea- fon and Principle to govern a great, than a little Mind: Yet, though good Difpofitions are qualified to reflect fuch Luftre on great Talents, and lend good Principles fuch powerful Succours, they may be, and often are, fo unhappily turned, as totally to fubdue the latter, and, by that Means, fatally corrupt and pervert the for- mer. How amiably will your good Nature adorn your Title, if it humbles you to a prudent De- gree of Condefcenfion for Per- fons in a lower Rank! How happily will it help you to ap- DE D1C AT 10 N. IX ply and enjoy your Fortune, if it opens your Heart with Ten- dernefs and Generofity to pro- per Objeds ! How glorioufly will it employ your Talents, if it at- taches them to the Service of your Country, and the Good of Mankind ! But if it opens your Ears to Flatterers, and your Affedions to the Followers of vicious Pleafures, your great E- ftate will not hinder you from being a Beggar, nor your Title from being the Contempt of Mankind, nor your fine Talents from being ftyled a good-natured Fool. It is true, there is no be- ing either a good or an agree- able Man without good Nature j yet fo it happens, that more young Gentlemen,, of Rank and Fortune, x DEDICATION. Fortuue , are deftroyed by that one good Quality, than by all their bad ones put toge- ther. THE advifeable Difpofition with which you are blefled, will make the Wifdom and Good* nefs of all, who approach you, your own, provided you can diftinguifh between the real and pretended Friend, between the ufeful and agreeable Advice. The Art of doing this is high- ly necefiary now, and will be more fo every Day; becaufe People of your Lordfliip's Rank feldom get a Sight of real Per- fons or Things, and are doomed to be treated with mere Ap- pearances during their whole Lives, As DEDICATION. xi As to Perfons, fufpecl thofe who comply with you in every thing, and feem to live only ta give you Pleafure ; be aflured they pleafe you only for their own Sakes, and Self is the grand Object that terminates their Views in all the Complaifance they fliew you. Rather depend on hi m ,, who, on fome Occafions, where Truth, and the Duty of a Friend, require it, difobliges, in order to fet you right. Such a Perfon, it is to be prefumed, hath no Eye to him- felf, no By-ends of his own. Be neither carried away by the feem- ing Wifdom, with which one fort of Advice may be inculcated ; nor deceived by the Artifice, with which another may beinfinuated ; but (trip the Subftance of what is, recom- xii DE D i c AT i o N. recommended to you, of all its Circumftances ; maturely conjfi- der it in itfelf, and compare it with your Duty, your Honour,, and your real Intereft on the Occasion. As to Things, my Lord, you are fure to be greatly, perhaps fatally, deceived by them, if you do not examine them with Can- dour, I fliould rather fiy, in- fpect into them with Severity. They are fektom what they ap>- pear to be. All is not good, that pleafes , nor all evil, that dif- gufls. Pleafure, and that of the loweft and groffeft Kind, is the Quagmire, in which the wealthy Heirs of this inactive and aban- doned Country generally plunge themfelves, their Fortunes, and their DEDICATION. xiii their Honours , it is the foul Sink, in which they are carried down to Contempt and Deftru&ion ; it is a Sand-bank, which, though covered itfelf by the Water, is, neverthelefs, rendered both infa- mous and formidable enough by the Wrecks of a thoufand great Eftates and Families. Here floats an empty Title ; there flounders a fickly Heir ; in another Place, fluctuate the fliattered Remains of a great Fortune, that are al- ready mortgaged to the Bottom ; in a fourth Place, Reputation is the Sport of the Winds ; and the Soul is finking, at a vaft Di- ftance, from all the Aids of Religion. May Heaven give you an early Difcernmcnt in this Matter, and not leave'you to the xiv DEDICATION. the late Tuition of Time and Experience ! I AM the more emboldened to fuggeft fuch Sentiments as thefe to you, and hope for Succefs, the rather, becaufe I have found in you a found and clear Judgment, a Readinefs to refign your Incli- nations to that, and the Advice of your Friends, and a Firmnefs in the Midft of artful Sollicita- tions, and fevere Trials, which few Men are Matters of. On thefe excellent Gifts, and Difpo- fitions, I cannot help creeling the higheft Hopes, efpecially when I fee a true Love, and a deepSenfe of Religion affording them the moft folid Foundation, and the moft unerring Dire&ion. You have the Honour and Happinefs, my DEDICATION. xr my Lord, to be defcended from Anceftors, eminently diftinguifli- ed for true Piety, and its infepa- rable Effect, Virtue. And it is a very fenfible Pleafure to your Friends, that this glorious Cha- racter of the Family, infinitely ou.tfhining all its Honours, is not likely to die in you. Let others, in this libertine and abandoned Age, abfurdly bend their Prin- .ciples to their Vices ; do you, my Lord, fubdue the wild and degenerate Part of your Nature to the Dictates of divine Wifdom. Coniider what Reftridions the Reformation of your Affedlions may require, rather than what Indulgences the Gratification of them may plead for. Confi- der what Principles are neceflary 3 to xvi DEDICATION. to the Prefervation and Well- being of Society, and to the Refinement of human Nature, in order to its being exalted to a Condition more commen- furate to its Wifhes and the Dignity of its original Frame and End. In the next Place, candidly confider the Chriftian Religion, as an Hiftory of Facts, and you will find it true $ and as a Syftem of moral Precepts, and you will find it excellent. I HAVE found, by Experience, that the naked Truth is difpleaf- ing to moft People, and even fhocking to many. I have, there- fore,in the following AL LU s IONS, given religious Truth fuch aDrefs and Mafk, as may perhaps, pro- cure it Admittance to a Confer- ence DEDICATION. xvii ence with fome of its Oppofers and Contemners. I have alfo led it out of the direct Path, where the difingenous never look for it; becaufe they are afraid of finding it, that it may have an Opportunity of meeting them in their own Ways. It is alfo as ne- eeflary, that Truth fhould thus go in Search of many, who fin- cerely admire it, but are carried to a great Diftance from it, by the Purfuitof a counterfeit Truth. Light feems, at leaft, to fall with greater Brightnefs and Power on our Eyes, when reflected from a Mirror, than in a direct Beam. Reafon, in like Manner, ftrikes with more Force at a Rebound ^ and, what we can fcarcely con- b ceive xvni ceive, when applied diredly to ourfelves, we often fuffer our Minds to be convinced of, when fet at a Diftance in fomewhat elfe, in which our Prejudices are not concerned. The Paflage to rnoft Mens Minds is narrow and winding ; and therefore thofe Truths, that cannot be thrown in dire&ly, muft fometimes be infinuated by Approaches, that don't feem to point too fully on them. Our blefled Saviour, who made the Heart, knew the Intri- cacy of its Inlets, and entered it with wonderful Addrefs by his Parables : His Example alone is fbfficient Authority for the Ufe of fuch Performances , but whe- ther the following ALLUSIONS are in DEDICATION. xix in any fort or degree fo execut- ed, as to anfwer the End pro- pofed by them, is humbly fub- mitted to Time, and the Reader. I fhall only here obferve to your Lordfhip, that though fbme Knowledge of Church Hiftory, and a near Acquaintance with the prefent reigning Controversies in Religion, may be neceflary to make them underftood minutely ; yet the great Lines of thefe Draughts are fo confpkuous, that their Likenefs will eafily be dif- cerned by every Reader of com- mon Capacity. Give me Leave, however, to pleafe myfelf with the Imagination, that they will be received by your Lordfhip* as a Teftimony of the moft fincere DEDICATION. fincere Affection and Efteesa, from, MY LORD, Tour Lord/hip s Nov. 14, PHILIP SKELTON CONTENTS, ALLUSION I. Caterpillar changed into aBut- ter flj-> Hluftrating the 'Exaltation of Man y fomewhat more than a Reptile^, into a State of Glory -, Page I ALLUSION II. The Branch revolting from the Stem, brings his Complaint againfl the Head which overshadows if, p. JO ALLUSION IIL fbe Sheep throw off the Tyranny of a Shepherd-, and experience the Foll$ of 'unbounded Liberty* p. 20 CONTENTS. ALLUSION IV. The Ejfefts of Party-Divifions repre- fented in a Common-wealth of Bees, P- 3<> ALLUSION V. A State of Nature no more defenjllle by Oxford Logic than by Common Senfe^ P-44 ALLUSION VI. Reafon and Revelation compared to the Sun and Moon, and the Behaviour of the World under the Want of one^ and Def eft of the other i p. 69 ALLUSION VII. Popery, Proteftantifm> and Puritanifm deferibed by the Uivifions among the Hierapolitans, p. 8^ ALLUSION VIIL 'the Church an Edifice deformed by Po- pery pery much more than by Gothic Ar- c 'hit eft ure, p. ioi ALLUSION IX. The Gofpel an univerfal Medicine, but counterfeited or ill adminiftered by Quacks , p. 121 ALLUSION X. New Light no better than a Dark Lanthorn, and ufed to as bad-Pur- pofes, p. 136 ALLUSION XI. The different SucceJjTes of Induftry and Indolence, p. ALLUSION XII. I'he various Difputes concerning the Origin of Power, and the Rounds of Obedience; ilhtjjfcj$ie3 in the Tryal of the Rivers jor'with drawing their tribute from the Ocean, p. 189 AL L u- CONTENTS, ALLUSION XIII. A Hiftory of the Church and Clergy, independent of the State, and united 'with it, under the Characters of Mifs Yeridet and her Nurfe, p, 220 ALLUSION ( I ) ALLUSION The Firft. A Caterpillar happening to fpy a more convenient and inviting Leaf, than that on which it crawled, advanced towards it, and being juft up- on the Point to pafs from the one to the other, was accofted by a Fellow- Worm, a Citizen of the fame Leaf, in the following Speech. c Brother, be- ' ware of venturing from your prefent Situation in queft of a better ; I own that Leaf you attempt affords more tender Food, fparkles with brighter Drops of Dew, and makes a loftier Figure than this we live on. But 4 then, the Way thither is dangerous. 1 Should you, in palling from hence to < it, drop from the Edge of either Leaf, B ' conlider (2) c confider the Height you are to fall ' from, confider the certain Ruin and c Death you are to fuffer, but above * all, confider the Lofs you will fuftain ' in never becoming a Butter-Fly. A Butter-Fly, (faid the other) what is that ? It is the mod beautiful Kind of 1 Bird (faid -he) into which every Ca- e terpillar ;s by Nature converted at a c certain Age. What AfTurance can c I have, laid the travelling Worm ' that fuch a Change (hall happen to c me, (hould I live to that Age in 4 which you fay it always happens ? * for could I be well afTured of it, I * fhould be lefs willing to hazard my * Life for Pleafure or Promotion ; the Difference between one Leaf and an- other being nothing in Comparifon with the Happinefs of becoming a Bird. You may be fully fatisfied re- plied the other, provided you can credit what I tell you, without a Pof- fiblity of having any other Intereft in fo doing, than the Pleafure of pre- 3 " ferving o (3 ) * ferving my Friend and Fellow In- < fed'. ^ " I LIVED in a miferable Ignorance <c of the happy Change incident to Caterpillars, till the Rifing of Yef- {C terday's Sun, which no fooner began " to fhine upon us over the Edge of <c that Leaf to which you afpire, and " which you know for fome Time <c throws its Shadow upon ours, but <c I was furprized with the Sight of a <c Creature the moft beautiful I had e- " ver beheld, fituated fo near me, that " I could view it to full Advantage, " which, whilft I was doing with " great Amazement and Pleafure, it " told me that my Aftonifhment at its " Figure and Colour would be much " encreafed,. did I know that it was a " Creature of the fame Origin and < c Kind with my felf. Surely, it is im- <* pofTible, faid I, that a Creature, whofe <f Body is covered with fuch elegant " Down, and whofe Look is rendered * c fo majeftick by thofe tall and flreight B 2 " Horns tc cc (4) " Horns that (hoot from your Fore- <c head, mould have ever been in the odious and abjedt Condition of a Ca- terpillar. It is impoffible, faid I a- gain with a deep Sigh, that fo glo- cc rious a Bird, whofe Wings rifing to " fuch a Height from your Back, dif- <e cover fuch Variety of Colours fo " beautifully difpofed, that the fined " Flowers, or even the moft fparkling <c Gems in the Drops of Dew, are " fcarce equal to them, mould have " any Affinity with fuch a wretched cc crawling Worm as I am." " BE not fo incredulous anfwered " the wonderful Birdj it is but a few <{ Days fince I found my felf awaking <f out of a State little differing from that <c of Death, and burfting a certain Shell " in which I had lain protected, I know " not how long. I perceived I was " hanging at the very fame Place to " which I had fixed myfelf fome Time before when a Caterpillar. The l< Wonder of this foon gave Way to i the ( 5) " the greater Pleafure and A mazement " that ' attended my Transformation, which was infinitely encreafed upon " my moving thefe^ Wings, and find- " ing I could pafs with fuch Expedi- {t tion thro' the Air. I no fooner " knew my Power, but I employed " it in the Gratification of my Curio- " fity. I roam'd from Flower to Flow- " er, from Tree to Tree, and faw " Things impofUble to be defcribed by " me, or conceived by you. Tranf- < ported with the Beauty, the Magni- " ficence, and Variety of fuch Objects, " I fpend my Days in Pleafures, as in- <l expreffible as the Wonders that ex- c< cite them. My Under ft anding is no <c lefs enlarged, than the Means afford - <e ed to its Improvement by thefe <c Wings, with which, as I can tranf- " port myfelf in a Moment to a great- " er Diftance than you can in many " Days ; fo, with the like won- {C derful Agility of Mind, I can tc vary the Objects of my Con- Bj templa- (6) " templation, even while I remain <c fixed in the fame Place. Whilft my " Body can make fuch fwift Flights " on thefe Wings, I can, with the " greateft Eafe and Expedition, re- <c move to the Means of new Delights, < l when cloyed with the Old ; or elude <c thole Dangers with unimaginable " Agility, which to the flow paced " Caterpillar, are unavoidable. But <{ fuch is the Activity of my Thoughts, ' that they leave even thefe Wings far " behind, and make fuch noble Sallies " from my felf, that I can forefee the " Dangers, and tafte the Delights of <c Places, to which I am not yet ar- " rived. Preferve thy felf, my Friend, " concluded the lovely Bird, for this 11 happy State, to which, if thou be <c not wanting to thyfelf in Care and " Prudence, Nature (hall one Day bring " thee. ' So faying he flapped his Wings e and rofe into the Air, farther than my Eye could well attend him, and c returned (7) returned again, accompanied by fe- * veral others, as beautiful as himfelf. They feemed to divert themfelves c by fporting with each other in the e Air, whilfl the Sun, me- thought, * {hone on their Wings with more 1 Pleafure and Luftre, than on all the * Works of Nature. In Hopes of be- * coming one of thefe, I am refolved 1 to take all pofTible Care to prefer ve ' my Life, and not rifque it for fuch ' Enjoyments as Caterpillars are capa- ' ble of j and you, my dear Friend, de- ' fift from your dangerous Attempt. * In the fame delightful AfTurance of f an happy Transformation, fo far def- pife the Pleafures of your prefent * reptile Condition, as by no Means to * hazard thofe that are incomparably ' more defirable for them.' HERE he ceafed, and the rafh, ad- venturous Caterpillar replied. c For * all this incredible Tale, Sir, I have c only your Word, which others, more 4 eafy of Belief than me, may liften to ' if (8 ) * if they pleafe ; but for my Part, I 1 will chufe thofe fmaller Enjoyments, 4 which I fee before me on that other * Leaf, becaufe they are certain and ' fenfible, rather than abftain in Hopes ' of higher Delights, which I have on- * ly another's Word for. Nature courts * roe to Enjoyment, and I will not re- ' fift. As for you, you may take your * own Way, and diftracl the prefent ' Moment which alone you can com- * mand, with an idle and whimficat * Concern for the Future, of which you have neither Knowledge nor * Poffefllon. But why do I trifle away * my precious Moments in this whim- * iical Speculation ? It is Lofs of Time * to conlider how to fpend it, when In- * flindfc is fo ready both to prompt and ' to direct Fare thee well, my Friend; ' live thou in Hopes, whilft I live in c Pleafures ; and much Good may thy gay, party-coloured Wings do thee, < when thou {halt have tucked them c on, ( 9) - on, thou. believing and obliging Ca- 1 terpillar.' WITH this he attempted the Paf- fage, but fell to the Ground forely bruifed ; which, together with the Heat of the Earth on which he lay, in a few Moments put an End to the Life of the poor incredulous Worm. The other, purfuant to his Refolution, lived careful of his Life, fixed himfelf to a Place pointed out to him by his winged Advifer, and the next Seafon changed his narrow Shell for the wide Range of the Air, and the Privilege of vifiting a thoufand Fields, with all the Sweets the Spring and Summer pro- duce. ALLUSION ALLUSION The Second. ON the Bank of the Thames ftood a young Oak, that by the FrelTi- nefs of its Bark, and the Vigour of its Shoots, proved itfelf found and the Soil ftrong ; it gained upon the Clouds by fwift Advances, and feemed to afpire towards Heaven with more exalted Head than all the Trees of the Foreft. Its upright Stem that rofe to a vaft Heighth, without any conliderable Branches, looked graceful in a Calm, and waved majeftick in the Wind. Below, it was cloathed with a plain and comely Bark, nor wanted it above the Ornaments of fair and goodly Leaves. The Birds feemed to rejoice in perch- ing on its Twigs , and as it raifed them nearer nearer Heave ;i than any other Tree,, feemed to fing their Maker's Praife among its Branches with peculiar De- light. For this all other Trees are faid to have hated, and even its Brother Oaks to have envied it. To what no- ble Heights it would have afcended is impoffible to tell, had not one of its Branches diflented from the Stem, and carried off with it a great Part of the Strength that fhould have fed and ag- grandized the Head. It fwelled and fpread into variety of lefTer Ramifica- tions, and feemed to fet up for an in- dependent Tree. It was crooked and mifhapen, and rather inflexible than flrong, The Owls perched upon its Boughs, and the Ravens netted among its Branches. When the Head of the Tree perceived its Pride, its diflenting and rebellious Spirit, it ceafed to fhoot higher into the Air, but fpread above into large and fhady Branches, that took up a wide Space, and afforded a fecure Shelter againfl Storms, from which which it protected even the rebellious Branch that grew beneath. But fo un- reafonable was that ambitious and male- content Bough, that it broke forth at laft, into the following bitter Expoftu- lation. " O thou overgrown Branch " (for it would not call it Head) with " what AfTurance canft thou intercept " the Sun and the Dew from me, who " have an equal Right to them with " thy felf ? With what Juftice canft " thou draw to thee all the Sap and " Subftance of thofe common Roots, " to which the feveral Branches of the <c Tree are equally intitled ? Permit " me thou proud OpprefTor to enjoy " my natural Rights. Is it becaufe I am lowly minded, and have placed <c my felf in an humble Station, that " thou beared thy Head fo far above " me, and infultefl me with the Rain " atfecond Hand? How much Strong- " er had our Tree been, how much " more majeftick had it appeared, hadft 4 thou fuffer'd me to mix with thee,, " and <c ( '3 ) " and make one Top of both. Our <c united Strength and Beauty had " raifed us far above all other Trees, " and made us <%ueen of the Foreft. " Then mould the Britifh Oak have " exceeded the Cedar of Libanus \ <{ then mould the Thames have reflected " nobler Shades in its clear and peace- " ful Streams, than all the Rivers of " other Lands, than the Rhone, the " Wefer, or the Tiber. Ceafe then " thy Pride, and give me room to " rife, or I mail gaul thy Sides, and " join the Thorn, and thy other Ene- 11 mies to deftroy thee. To this the Oak's fhady Head reply- ed, with a Sigh that was heard thro* all the Grove. " Inftead of anfwering " thy Speech, made up of Complaints " and Infults, with 'that Difdain which " the lofty Top might look down " with on ftraggling and difTenting " Branches, I (hall reafon with thee " as if thou wert my Equal. Thou " malt fee, that altho' I am high, I am " not ( H ) <c not proud, as thou wouldeft reprefent " me ; but willing to give thee an <c Anfwer, altho' thy Prefumption, and " the Juftice of my Caufe, might war- ' rent my Silence, Firft y thou takefl " it for granted that I am but thy fellow " Branch, which, were it true, I ought " to be allowed the Precedence due to " my Birth-right, as the elder Branch. " But I am the Head of the Tree, and <{ it is thy own Fault that thou art " beneath, and not a Part of the Head. " Why didft thou diflent from the " main Stem, before it had formed " itfelf into an Head ? Was it thy " Humility ? No, thou didft for fome " Time, vie Preheminence with me ; " and even now art only difcontented <{ becauie thou art not upon a Level " with, or higher than me. If thou " wert fo very Humble, why fhouldeft " thou ftomach the Lownefs of thy " Situation ? Is it not of thy own 11 chuling ? Is it not fuitable to that " Humility thou pretendeft ? Wouldeft " thou ( 'S ) <c thou have two Heads upon the fame " Tree ? No, I know thou wouldft c< not. It is thy Ambition to opprefs " me, and rife alone thy felf. Thou 11 wouldll rather be the Head of that " low, that crooked, and decrepit Tree, " thy Defigns, if fuccefsful, mu ft make " us, than be a Part of it, ftately as " it is. Thou wouldfl rather have us refemble that Fir, which hath loft " its main Top, in the room of which ' one of its Branches, before on a " Level with the reft, pre fumes' to " top it ; than that other, which " always mooting upwards, in a di- 11 reel: Stem, rifeth to fuch a Height. " How ftunted, how diftorted, how " aukward is the firft! How grace- " ful, how majeftick the latter ! But ' fuppofing thou fhouldeft only afpire " to an Equality with me, being fatif- " fied to (hare that Power, which I " now enjoy entire; even fo, thy Am- " bition would be as detrimental " to our Glory as it could, were it " carried <( carried to greater Heights. Look " round thee, and behold the miferable " Figure thofe Plants make, who have <c mot out into more Tops than one j " how low, how deformed, how en- " tangled by the Brambles, how over- " born by the higher Trees that grow * c near them ! Mark that Oak our <e next Neighbour, that rifes with two " Stems, almoft from the Ground. <c Its Strength is not doubled, but " divided, and it is impoflible its Se- " paration mould ever fuffer it to be- * come confiderable. How the one " Stem gauls the other ! What a Rot " there is between the Habitation of " foul Infeds, and troublefome Flyes ! " How its Branches, in time of Storm, <c fret each other, and impoverim it " in the Midft ! Call not that Humility " in thy felf, which has only happened " by a Difappointment of thy Am- ** bition, and is owing to the Supe- " riority of my Genius. Thou art *' low, but it is not with thy Will, " as ( '7 ) ( as may be gathered from thy own " Complaints and Difcontents. Nor " call it Pride in me, that I life my " Head towards Heaven, whither all < the Trees of the Foreft, nay, the " humbieft Shrubs, and even the Grafs * c afpires. Favoured by the Genius <{ that directs the Water to my Roots, " and parts the Clouds, to let the Sun- " Beams down upon my Leaves, I " hope at leaft to preferve my prefent " Exaltation, and, if thou and the " Axe do not prevent me, to rife yet " higher towards thofe blue Plains that " lie above me. Call me not Oppreffor, " who protected thee with thy Ravens, ct from Yefterday's Storm, and bore all " the Violence of its Wind and Hail 11 my felf j and who only overfhadow thee, either to defend thee, or pro- " tedt the main Intereft of the Oak, from that Ruin, which thy Pride " and Diflenfion would certainly bring <f upon it, were they fed by the Sun- " fliine and the Dew. What I do, C " thoa ( rf) " thou thy felf doft compel me to, <c and it is with great Sorrow, that I ec behold thee feparated from the other " Branches, and envious of the Glory * c of the Whole, which thou oughteft " rather to augment, by making thy <c felf more a Part of it. I take not " from thee, what is thine j but thou " unjuflly claimeft, as of particular c< Right, what belongs to the whole. fc Thou art my Shame and Reproach * c amongft Trees, the Check of my " Growth, and the Deftroyer of my " Beauty. Well didft thou fay that " we mould be the Queen of the Foreft, ' had we been united j but to give us * that Majefly which we want, whe- *' ther is it more reafonable, that thou * { fliouldeft afcend in one Trunk, " and become a Part of our common " Head, or that I mould lower my Glories, and fhrink into thee, who " art by Confeflion only an inferior " Branch, and, as is evident to all the Foreft, of a iidelong and diftorted " Growth ? ( '9 ) cc Growth ? I know thee an Alien ' from the Stem, out of which thou <{ fpringeft, and which thou wouldfl " draw afide. I know thy Spleen, and " expect the ufual Effects of the felfifh, cc Spirit that actuates thy crooked Na- " ture. However, flick thou to thy '* Malice, and I'll abide by my Re- 11 folution. Know, that I hold thee " too Inconfiderable, to deftroy my " Life, altho' thou mayfl impair my " Power j but if thou mouldft be cl able to deftroy me, remember, in u fo doing, that thou deflroyeft thy " felf. Thou malt be little, if I con- " tinuej if I perifh thou fhalt be no-" " thing. To the Genius of our Tree, " I refer my Caufe, and recommend " my Prefervation. Live thou, altho' " to repine and curfe me for thy own " Follies. C2 ALLUSION ( 20 ) ALLUSION The Third. NO T far from the Verge of a fpa- cious Foreft flood a Sheep Fold, the Poflefllon of a careful and wealthy Shepherd. So ftrong and fo high were its Fences, that the Wolf and the Ty- ger in vain attempted to overleep them. Even the Lyon roaring for his Prey was forced to feek it elfewhere ; here there was no Entrance for the proud Deftroy- er. Many a quiet Night had the ten- der Flock repofed its felf within it's wooden Fortification, and fearlefs heard the neighbouring Foreft echo with the Cry of ravenous Beafts. But at length a Ram or two of more Boldnefs than became Sheep, began to perfuade their Fellows* that they fpent their Nights like ( 2' > like Slaves and Cowards, and in a Way unbecoming Sheep of Spirit. 1 * Come (fays one of thefe Heroes * a little more eloquent than the reft) 1 come, my Fellow-Rams, and my 4 deareft Ewes, let us fally from this 4 miferable Penn, in which we are ra- 4 ther imprifoned by the Tyranny of 4 Man, than protected from the Fury 4 of wild Bealls. Let us fally, I fay, * into the open Plains, and enjoy that 1 delightful Liberty, in which the free * Denizens of the Foreft fpend their 1 happy Days. O Liberty ! Liberty ! 1 thou lovely, thou inviting Condition, 1 how defirable art thou to the Wretch c in Confinement, who pants and pines < for thy Charms ! How delightful to 4 the generous Soul, that difdains Re- 4 ftraint, and thinks even its Body a * Confinement! 4 Is it not moft unworthy, is it not < moil fhameful, my Fellows, to take 4 Laws * This Speech is founded on the Reafonings, and a<> comraodated tQ the Manner of jny Lord ( 22 ) Laws from Animals of another Kind, and live by Rules altogether foreign e to our Nature ? To what End our (lender Limbs, and the Swiftnefs of our Feet, if we are to be cooped up within fuch narrow Limits, or driven about at the Pleafure of a flow-paced < and fluggiih Animal ? To what End thefe formidable Horns, that arm our < Brows, which, helped by the Rapi- dity of our Carrier, make our Onfets * irrefiftible, if we are to owe our Safe- ty to artificial Arms in the Hands of Man? All Animals are provided * by Nature for their own Support, and armed for their own Defence. < Since Nature hath been as bountiful to us as others, let us enjoy her Gifts, and live according to Nature. O Na- ture! Nature! Nature! Thou Sove- reign of the World! Thou mighty Emprefs of the Creation! Thou mild * Mother and cherifhing Nurfe of all ! when (hall I break forth from flavim Rule?, and fly to thee ? When fhall I ( 23 ) * I purfue thy Dictates unreftrained by 1 Laws, by fervile and tyrannick Laws ? * It is better thou moulded: lead me, 4 than that Man mould drive me. Is ' not thy Wiffiotn inexhauftible ? Are * not thy Directions infallible? Why * mould others be" added ? To what < End fhould thofe of Man be fuper- * induced ? I feel, I feel thee kindling ' in my Breaft ! Behold, it enlarges to ' take thee in, thou generous, thou ' welcome Gueft, thou only lawful * Sovereign; let me now, long en- * flaved to ftrange Arts and unnatural * Inventions, with prifline Senfe of thee, * adore thy Power , and invoke thy * Affiftance, not only to free myfelf,. * but alfo to reftore the Liberty of thefe < my Kindred and my Fellows. And, O you dear Sharers of my good and < evil Fortune, join one and all to af- * fert with me the natural Liberty of our kind. No more be driven in ' Herds, but join in Arms. No more * be pent within this narrow Fold, but ( 24) ilTue forth into the fpacious Plains,. and range without Reftraint the flowery Fields; as free, as dauntlefs < as that rampant Lion, that makes 4 the echoing Foreft with his Roar, * and terrifies Mankind, our coward ' Matters, So faying he ceafed, and fuch of the Flock, as were moved with his Ha- rangue, found Means to elope with him from the Fold. As foon as they had their Legs at Liberty, they played a thoufand Gambols in the neighbour- ing Grounds, frilking and infulting the poor cowardly Slaves, as they called them, that kept within the Sheep-fold. They were wonderous witty at the Ex- pence of the tame Wretches that had not Spirit to venture as they did : They rambled round the . Fields : They ftraggled through the Foreft. The Lion devoured one , the Bear worried an- other ; and fome of thofe that furvived fuffered fo much, that they heartily repented of their jll-adviied Ramnefs> ia ('5 ) in quitting the Care of the Shepherd, and the Protection of the Sheep-fold. In this miferable Plight, one, fomewhat more lenfible of their Afflictions and Dangers than the reft, thus befpoke his Fellows: * ALTHO' it is not many Days fince* c we quitted a Place of Safety, under the ' fpecious Pretences of Liberty and * Enlargement, to expofe ourfelves to ' Dangers and Hardmips, which we ' might have been fufficiently aware ' of, had we not been blinded by Ap- 1 pearances, and fpirited away from ' Reafon and Safety, by the plaufible c Harangue of one, who was fo cun- 1 ning as to impofe upon himfelf, as 1 well as us; yet we have had Time c enough to make woeful Trial of our 1 Folly, and feel the melancholy Ef- : fe<5ts of it in a great Variety of Mif- : fortunes. We have been told fine ; Things of Nature, and taught to follow her as our only Guide and Security. But either we have mifta- D ken ( 26) ken her, or me is unable to perform thofe Promifes , which our Ring- c leaders have falfely made us in her f Name. Are not the Natures of all f other Things, entered into a Con- * fpiracy, to punifh our Prefumption ? We dare not repofe ourfelves in the ' Grafs, for fear of being ftung by Ser- * pents, or bit by other poiibnous Worms. Every Thorn wounds our tender Legs, and every Brier feizes ' us by the Wool, and tears off our * Fleeces. We have neither Swiftnefs c fufficient to fly from , nor Strength e to refift the Beafts of Prey, that ' feem to have a peculiar Tafte for our * Blood. There are a thoufand things f to frighten us, and our own natural Timidity adds ten thoufand more c that are not real. Should we live to * fee the Summer at an End, which is ' almoft impoffible, how mall we en- c counter the Difficulties of the Win- ' ter? Although there were neither * Bears, nor Tygers, nor Lions to invade C 27 ) us ; yet the Frofts, the Snows, and dreadful Storms of Wind and Rain are not to be refitted by any Defence which Creatures, fo feeble and impro- vident, can make againft them. Had we not widely miftaken Nature, we might eafily have feen, that me never defigned us for an independent State. It never was her Intention to form any thing abfolutely capable of fub- fifling apart from other things. To make one Whole of all her Works, /he hath left every Thing deficient in fome Particular, which is to be fup- plied by another, in order to combine the whole. Between us and Man there feems to be a natural, original, and necefTary League arifing from the Exigencies of both, which we mu* tually fupply. As for our Part, it is but too plain that we cannot fubfift without his Helpj he prepares our Food by the Sweat of his own Brow 5 ; he cures our Diftempers, and he e- refts fuch Fences round us, as are ne- D 2 * ceflary ( 28 ) * ceflary to protect us from the Fury * of our Foes. Surely to treat us in * this manner is by no means tyran- * nick. So far we are from being Slaves c to Man, that he rather feems to ren- ' der us fuch Attendance as could be 1 expected from nothing but a Servant. c And what have we gained by our E- ' lopement from him, but the Privi- ' lege of being more expofed to Dan- c gers, and more diffracted by Fears, * than while we permitted him to watch for us ? O Liberty, how much do we * miftake thee? If this is to be free, ' give me back again the happy Securi- ' ty of my former Confinement. While I kept within our Fold, in that Place at leaft, I could do what I pleafed ; ' but now no where. I have only < multiplied my Matters, and enlarged * my Slavery ; and all this for the fan- taftick Hope of being affifted and pro- * tected by Nature in the moft unnatu- f ral Attempt that Folly or Frenzy < could * could infpire. I am refolved, if I can c efcape the Dangers that lie between ' me and the Fold, to return, and put * myfelf again under the Protection of * Man. It is better to help out the na- tural Weaknefs of my kind, by the ' Wifdom and Power of a fuperior Na- ture, than perifh in the Lion's Paws, ' as the fpeedieft Relief I can hope < from the Diftrefs of my prefent Con- * dition. As for you, my Friends, I do < not expect you fhould follow either my Advice or Example, fo flrongly ' doth your Vanity feem ftill to poffefs c you. Fare-ye-well , and learn from ' further Calamities, what you have been too flupid to gather from the ( former. D 3 ALLUSION ( 3 ) ALLUSION The Fourth. IN the Garden of a wealthy Farmer flood a Bee-hive, inhabited by a Nation of frugal and laborious Bees, than which no other was governed by an abler King, or wifer Laws. And as the Garden, with the adjacent Coun- try, abounded with all fuch Flowers as that Climate, in the feveral Seafons, was wont to produce ; fo they made Store of Honey, lived peaceably and plentifully within themfelves, and plant- ed fo many Colonies as reached almofl from one End to the other of the Quickfet that defended them from the northerly Winds. But as Bees are fal- lible, as well as Men, their public Hap- pinefs began at laft to be diflurbed by a Spirit of Party and DiiTenfion; the Origin Origin of which was this. There was a certain daily Tribute of Honey paid to the King or Mafler-bee, as he is called among Men, which, by Law and Cuftom immemorial, was to be extracted from the fweeteft Flowers, and prefented pure and fine to tne Royal Bee. The King appointed cer- tain Officers to collect this Tribute, whofe Bufmefs it was, not to force it from the People, but to receive k as a free-will Offering. Alcho' his Right was unqueftionable, and his Power irrefifti- - ble; yet he was better pleafed that his Subjects fhould give, than that he (hould exact, and thought Love a better Medium of Government than Power. His Officers therefore were only to exhort them to a voluntary and g'.nerous Payment of the Royal Dues, and, in all other Refpects, to fuch a Be- haviour as becomes good Subjects and honeft Citizens. Between thefe and the People there arofe certain Difputes about the Purity and Goodnefs of ths D 4 Honey '( 32 ) Honey Jet apart for the King's Uie. From hence it began to be debated, what was the pureft Honey, and which the fweetcft Flowers. Concerning this Matter there were many and warm Difputes among the People j nor were the Officers of the Crown lefs divided. Their Differences did not flop here, nor were they long confined to the King's Revenues 5 for a thoufand idle Scruples began to be raifed about the Honey that was to be made for common Ufe. E- very different Opinion was fupported by a Sect and Party of its own ; and, fuch was the extravagant Humour of the Times, the more wild and fanciful any of thefe Notions were, the more nume- rous ufually were its Abettors. Some were for having the Honey made at all Seafons, maintaining, that fo good a Work fhould never be intermitted; o- thers contended to have -the Work con- fined to certain Seafons ; infifting that, in foul Weather, it was impoffible to work; and that, as for the King's, Honey ( 33 > Honey in particular, it ought only to be wrought on certain Days fet apart, and confecrated to that particular Pur- pofe. There was not a Flower in the Field that had not a Party in its Favour, and that was not condemned and pro- hibited by the Party of fome other Flower : So that , had they collected Honey from none but fuch as no Party had declared againil, they muft have collected none at all. Each Party took a Name, either from the Flower it af- fected, or the Ring-leader it followed} and thefe Names were contended for with all imaginable Zeal aud Earneftnefs by Numbers that knew nothing of their own Party Principles, and were kept warm only by the Name. One of the King's principal Officers fet up a very powerful Sect under the Name of Fi- nancers, fo called, becaufe they pretend- ed to farm the King's Revenues, and tax all Petitions delivered to his Maje- fty, as having the fole Right of pre- /enting them in themfelves. Many were ( 34 ) were the Impofitions and Ufurpations of this Sect, which, for fome Time, tyrannized over the reft, notwith- ftandbg that the King, unwilling to inflict condign Punishment on fo great a Part of his Subjects, who were milled by thefe Financers, protefted againft their Proceedings , and difallowed the Authority by which they acted, in fre- quent Manifestoes. But, at length, the better fort of Bees, becoming diffatif- fied with their unwarranted Ufurpati- ons, (hook off their Authority, and paid their Tribute to the King through more honeft, and lefs oppreflive Offi- cers. However, even thefe fell out a- mong themlelves, partly about the for- mer Differences that had embroiled the Hive, and partly about new ones arif- ing from Ignorance, or Zeal, or Ambi- tion. And, as on former Occafions, what could not be determined by the Tongue, was decided by the Sting ; fo now again they began to fight for their feveral Opi- nions. Great was the Confufion, and miferable ( 35 ) miferable the Slaughter, that enfued up- on thefe unhappy Diflenfions; the whole Hive raged with Fury and Uproar; the King's Revenues remained unpaid, and the publick Work was at a Stand, till the needlefs Niceties about the manner of doing it, mould be fettled. THINGS being brought to this Pafs, an ancient Bee, who had always diftin- guifhed himfelf, not only by his Induftry in the publick Work, and a punctual Difcharge of the King's Dues, but alfo by the readieil Obedience to the King's Officers, and by a meek and gentle Spi- rit in the midfl of turbulent and con- tentious Times, aflembled all the Citi- zens of the Hive in the vacant fpace on the Floor; and, with that Authority which his well-known Wifdom and In- tegrity had given him, leaning from a Comb that hung over them, addrefTed them in the following manner: c MY dear Fellow Subjects, it is not c becaufe our King wants either Au- 1 thorny or Power to reduce us tq^-the ' Obedience- 1 Obedience we owe him, and the c Peace and good Agreement we owe ourfelves, that he rather chufes to let * Reafon and Experience make us fen- ' fible of our Intereft, than to com- c pel us to our Duty by Force j but be- ' caufe he defires to rule with Cle- * mency rather than Rigour, and as a ' King among Bees, not a Tyrant over * Wafps. The Frenzy and Rebellion * that have poflefled us, might juftify 1 more fevere Methods in our King ; but thofe he feems to defer as the laft ' Remedy. Let me in the mean Time, with that honeft Zeal which I have ' always endeavoured to demonftrate * in the Service of the Publick, try if c I can prevent the Neceffity of hardier 4 Means, by applying thofe of Reafon ' and fober Advice. Let me earneftly ' intreat you to remember thofe happy * Times, when there were no Diffe- c rences among us ; how pure was our ' Honey, and how plentiful our Stores 1 c with what kind Affection did we af- < fid ( 37 ) c fift and encourage each other in the publick Work ! How agreeably did ' the Senfe of our general Intereft 1 fvveeten all our Toils ! and how joy- * fully did we feaft on the declicious * Stores provided for us by our mutual * Labours, and fecured by our unani- 1 mous Counfels ! The only Conten- 4 tion then was, who ftiould fet leaft * by himfelf, and promote the pub- ' lick Well- fare with greatefl Zeal 1 and Ability. Did any of you pine ' thro' Want then, as you do at prefent? 4 Was your Provifion difagreeable or 4 unwholefome to you ? Or, can any . of you fay that your King flighted his * Free-will Offering as fcanty or un- clean ? What moved you then to raife fuch idle Scruples about that which was to be prefented to him, feeing he never fhewed the fmalleft Difrelim to it ? Why do you contend about the Manner of preparing that < which you are to (hare among your- < felves, fmce before your pernicious * Refine- ( 38 ) * Refinements, our Honey was pure ' and perfect, our Subfiftance plentiful, * and our Enjoyment of it peaceable * and fearlefs ? Sufpend your Conten- c tious Spirits, cool your party Zeal for a Moment, and calmly reflet how abfurd it muft be to fpend that * Time in difputing how your Honey ought to be made, which fhould be * adlually employed in the making it ? Nay, what wild Infatuation muft fuch fcrupulous Difquifitions argue * in you, who knew fo well before * how to ptovide all Things neceflary 4 for the public k Weal ? For fhame, ceafe your airy Speculations, fit only for the Idle and Brain- fick, and be- take yourfelves to the folid Practice of that Knowledge which you had c at firft, and which will always be * fufficient for you, if you do not puzle * it away with vain Refinements. To what End are your Difputes, if they * are to laft for ever ? Do you not perceive that the Summer is far ad- ' vr.nced. ( 39 ) ' vanced, that the Winter approaches < apace, and that we are utterly un- * provided of that which is abfolutely * necefTary, while you are bufied in c trifling Debates about certain ufelefs * Niceties, that fpring from the Intem- * perance and Luxury of your own I- * maginations ? Why will you difpute 1 about the mofl convenient Seafons c for making Honey, when you will * not make it at any ? Why will you * drive about the Flowers out of which * it is to be gathered, when you will 1 not gather it at all ? A Wafp, fuch ' is the Malignity of its Nature, ex- ' tracts Poifon out of all Kinds of Herbs and Flowers, as well the wholefome as the baneful. So on the contrary, a Bee, let the Flowers be what they * will among which it plies, draws * wholefome and odoriferous Honey. Let me therefore befeech each of c you to gather from fuch Flowers as c lye neareft, in order to make the ' quickeft Returns j or from fuch as i furnifli c furnifti the greatefl Abundance of * fweet Juices, that our Supply may c be the more Plentiful ; or from what- ' ever Flowers he is befl pleafed with, c provided he do not fail in bringing in * every Day the Quantity required. * Let me advife you all to lay by thofe c party Names, by which you have * diftinguimed your felves and em- * broiled this Kingdom, and to value c your felves, not upon the Name or Credit of a Sect, but upon the Pri- vileges of our excellent Conftitution. Let me alfo advife you, who are ap- pointed publick Infpeclors of the Work, to receive all good and whole- fome Honey, that is brought you, and to flow it immediately, without enquiring what Hour of the Day it was gathered, or from what Vege- tables extracted. Our King, Thanks to his unlimited Bounty, has given us a free Grant of all the Gardens and Fields, and proclaimed the various Flowers that bloom at the feveral ' Seafons, (V ) Seafons, or enamel the whole Face of ' the Earth, to be clean and fit for * the Ufe of Bees. Let not one Part * of us pretend to live upon the La- * hour of the more Induftrious, while c they fpend their Time in difputing about Opinions, which, be they ne- c ver fo right, they have no Inclina- c tion to put in Practice. It is of dan- * gerous Confequence to ridicule thofe * as filly, unlearned, or flavifh, that 1 honeftly labour for the Common Sup- c port of our Society. There are ma- * ny among us that pretend to direct, c and dictate without any Authority from our King ; and others, who ' altho' authorized, take the Liberty to contend with and rail at each other, while they fhould give all their Dili- gence to regulate the publick Affairs. When his Majefty thinks it conveni- ent, no doubt on it, he will piinifh the firft as Intruders, and the laft as Difturbers of the publick Peace. By Unanimity and mutual Affiftance we E (hall (4* ) * fliall again thrive. If we lay By cur ' vain and foolifli Speculations, and ' induftrioufly apply our felvcs to the ' neceflary Bufinefs of the Hive, we * fhall again fiouriih. Peace, and Se- * curity, and Plenty fliall be again re- * flored. The Fields fhall contribute their Golden Wealth, and the Gar- * dens their rich Perfumes. But, if we i {ha.ll ilill periift in our abfurd and * dangerous Folly , let us remember * that \ve have a King, who, lince he cannot reform us by his Counfcls, will ' undoubtedly fubdue us to a founder <- and better Mind by that Power which 1 he holds not in vain. * WE may be fure he will neither be * regardlefsof our Intereft nor his own 4 Honour. Chufe you now whether you '* will be wifely led by Advice to con- fult your Safety, or be forced into a better Conducl by the unhappy Effects- < of your prefent Folly, and of the Royal Difpleafure. It is true, I am * but one of yourfelves, and no further < authorifed (43 ) authorifed to fpeak in Publick, than as Reafon, Neceffity, and Concern for the publick Calamity have emboldened me. However, it is your Intereft to be guided by Reafon, altho' it fhould be Conveyed to you through the mean- eft Vehicle, as well as to gather Honey from Flowers the lead (howy or ftately. ' SAYING this he withdrew. The Bees, afhamed of their paft Folly and Perverfenefs, and tired with the Mi- feries their Broils and Contentions had ; brought upon them, betake themfelves ' filent and repenting, to Labour and : Induftry. Nor was it long 'ere they 1 had fufficient Reafon to rejoice at the Reftoration of their ancient Simplicity; * for with it, Peace, Wealth and Order * returned, and all Things were fet to Rights within, while each Bee, ftudi- c ous of the common Good, ch'earfully traded among the Meadows and Fields, * and gladly faluted his fellow Citizen?, as he met them among the Flowers. ALLUSION (44 ) The Fifth. IT was about the Middle of Summer, when Nature enriches the Fields, and ftores the Gardens with unftinted X Bounty, that a pretty numerous Com- pany of Students and other Gentlemen, fet out from Oxford for London. As they were moft of them Men of Tafte, -and particularly enamoured of Nature, with a certain Caft to Freedom of Thought, they communicated their Obfervations on the Country they rode through, to the no fmall Entertainment of each other, altho' there was fcarce any Agreement In their Sentiments or Taftes. Some were befl pleafed with Gardens, others with Fields. The Rivers had their Admirers, and the new mown Meadows, with their Hay- cocks ( 45 ) cocks, theirs. This liked one Gentle- man's Seat, and that another - y and if there was any Thing in which they a- greed, it was in commending the Com- mons and the Downs, inafmuch as, there principally, Nature and Liberty appeared. This Diverfity of Sentiment afforded at firft, a good deal of Variety to their Converfation, and gave it a Sprightlinefs that does not always attend an uniformity of Tafte and Opinion in Company. However, it was not long 'ere it degenerated into Difputation, each Party growing fo warm in Defence of his own, and Contradiction of the oppofite Opinion, that the moft pofitive Bigots could not have expected greater Reiignation from others than thefe free, thefe fair, and candid Thinkers. They all talked at once, and wrangled with fuch Vehemence and Noife, that other Travellers, who met them, thought them mad, and thofe who dwelt by the Road, came out to flare, while their Dogs barked^ the Boors fhouted, and (46) and the Concert con filled of the mbfl confufed Set of Noifes that were ever heard. ALL this Time Aerius y who had ever before been careful to have his Share of Noife and Contention, was quite fi- lent, and feemed fo unufually wrapped up in Thought, that the reft, happen- ing, to obferve him, ceafed all of a fud- den, and, fixing their Eyes on him, ex- pected, in deep Sufpence, the Iflue of fuch intenfe Meditation. As foon as he found there was Silence made, he broke it with a loud Exclamation. * O how miferably are we debarred of our natural Rights and Privileges ! < Behold that Garden, a fpotof dtlicious * Ground, to which all Mankind have an equal Right, enclofed by ftrong < Walls, and engrofled by one ! Nay, behold the whole Country on our right Hand and on our left, that ought to be as free as Light or Air, occupied by particular Perfons, that call themfelves Owners and Lords of ( 47 ) it, and all its Produce! Away with thefe Hedges and Ditches ereded here * without my Confent, to (hut me and * Mankind out from our own! Who can endure, that, of all this noble 1 Country, io flored with the Necefla- e ries of Life, and the Materials of Plea- ' fure, not a Foot fliould be left us, but c this narrow Road, bare and barren, * and void even of Nourifhment, for the * Beafls that carry us ; infomuch that * we are forced to purchafe Neceflaries c on the Road, and fubmit to buy our ' own, or ftarve. Is it not, my Friends, 1 the Mark of a mod: flavifh and abject s Spirit, to fuffer ourfelves to be cooped < up between the Ditches that bound this Road, to follow the Crowd, to ' jog on contented with the Beafts of Burthen, while we dare not pafs into 4 our own Grounds, while we dare not 1 pull thofe Flowers, nor tafte thofe c Fruits, that fpring fpontaneous from a Soil common to Mankind, and re- * ferve not their Sweets with an Inten- * tion tion to pleafe any particular Perfon, but invite all, and are as ready to re- gale you or me, as him that prefumes to monopolize them. As for this c dull beaten Track, I leave it to the Wretches that are fatisfied to be led or driven by others. Let them poor- ly content themfelves with the Con- finement and Reflraint that others are pleafed .to lay upon them, fince they have not Refolution to afiert their own, nor Spirit to trace out a free * and generous Path for themfelves. I, ' for my own Part, will difmount im- mediately from this Horfe ; fuch Helps ' I defpife, they are a falfe Acknow- ledgment of Weaknefs, I have Legs ' of my own, of fufficient Strength, and (hall not borrow from an Animal fo much my inferior. Where is the 4 Good of thinking freely, if I may not c act with fuitable Freedom ? Whilft 1 nothing in Nature, no, not even Rea- ' fon itfelf, can bound my Thoughts j v muft I fuffer Ditches to confine my* Feet, (49 ) * Feet, and Locks my Hands? How * dare -any Man fliut me out from my * natural and indefeafible Rights? Are * not thefe Grounds mine, as well as his ' that has can fed thefe arbitrary Fences * to be made ? He might as well pre- * fume to meafure out the Sea by * Marches and Mearings, and erect par- ' ticular Pofleffion and Dominion on the ' Waters j taxing the Fifh, and renting c out the Waves, as to engrofs any Part ' of the Land, which was at firfl as com- mon as the Sea, and hath been fince ' cantoned and occupied by Tyrants and 1 OpprefTors, whole Rights I difallow, * as I defy their Power. THERE was fomething fo new in this Refolution, fo free in the Expqftu- lations with which it was defended, and fo animated in the whole Harangue, that, like the Cry of a Mafter-hound, it opened the Mouths of the whole Pack, who, almolt to a Man, feconded what he faid with a loud Cry of Nature and Liberty, and forthwith declared F againft ( 5 ) againft the common Road, and were preparing to take the Fields, when Polites^ who loved Freedom as well as Aerius, but knew how to diftinguim between that and Madnefs, obferving that they were in earneft, begged that Serins would, in the Name of the reft, anfwer him a few Queflions before they parted, which was readily granted him, and it produced the following (hort Dia- logue, < POLICE S. Pray, Aerius, with < what Intention did we leave Oxford? < AE R IUS. To vifit London. 'POLICES. Ought we not to c take the readieft, the fafefl, and the c mofl agreeable Way thither? < AERIUS. No doubt on it we e ought, and there it is; directly over thofe Fields, and through that Gar- e den. 'POLICES. Why do you not c think the High-way a more ready c Path to London , than over Hedge and < Ditch, after Will-irith-tbe->wifp? 'AERIUS. e AE,R1US. By no means. It winds * and turns fo many different Ways, * and maketh fuch needlefs Semicircles * and Angles, that I have not Patience ' to follow it. Not I, I am for the near < Cut. I love to go the fhorte.ft Way to my Point. Order the Road to be 1 cut in a right Line, and then perhaps c I may not altogether difapprove it j * but, remember, it muft be mathemati- * cally direct, or I will have nothing to fay to it. < POLICES. How can that be done, when it is to ferve other PCQJ- ' pies Occafions, as well as yours, and * * muft now and then make an Elbow < at a Country-town, that there may .be a Communication thence to the < City? < AERIUS. Pugh. What have I to 1 do with other Peoples Occafions ? < What ferves all, ferves none effectual- < ly. If I can find a ftiorter, that fhall * ferve my Occafions. F 2 < POLJTES. ( $2 ) < POLI'TES. But how can you find a (horter? Setting afide the Labour of leaping Ditches, and fcrambling through Hedges, is it poffible for you c to pate from hence in a right Line to * London? Every Hill you come to, will 1 oblige you to quit your diredt Path, and betake yourfelf to fuch round- ' about Ways as will coft you no little ( Time. There is no darting through c the Center of an Hill, to avoid going c about. Then a Lake, or a rapid River, ' or a walled Town, will put you quite c out, in fpite of your Teeth. At the End of your Journey you will cer- * tainly find, that travelling on the open c Road with a good Horie under you, was a readier Way than trudging it on < Foot through Briers and Thorns. We will give you Demonftration for that, ' by feeing a good Part of the Town be- < fore you arrive. * AERIUS. Why, look you, Poli- < tes, that may be, becaufe we mall be < greatly taken up in contemplating the * Beauties (53 ) Beauties of Nature as we pafs through them. But perhaps the high Road may be the readier of the two. I am fure you will allow, it is not the fafer. Such Impofition at Inns on a Road, fo befet with Foot- pads and High way- men, greatly frighten me. Give me the rural Honefty of thofe fruitful Fields and flowery Lawns , where I may walk, or ileep, or divert me, as I lift, without fear of Robbers or Pick-pockets. ' POLITES. Have a Care how you call Names, Aerius-, thofe Per- fons whom you afperfe, are Men of the fame way of thinking, and the very fame Principles with yourfelf. <4ERIUS. With me, Sir? No, Sir, I am a. Man of Honour, Sir, and would fcorn to rob or pilfer. < POL1TES* How do you mean? Are not all things in common ? I US. Yes, Sir, fo I hold. 1 POLICES. Is not therefore the Mo- ney in my Pocket as much yours as mine ? F 3 AERIUS. ( 54) Undoubtedly it is. POLICES. And is not the Money in your Fob as much mine as yours? < ^ERIUS. Hum. Why, why; I believe it muft. < POLICES. Well, then, what need you fear on the great Road, iince you carry nothing but what you acknowledge to be the Right of any Man you meet? And why will you load People with reproachful Names of Thief and Robber, for claiming what they have a natural Right to ? And which, if you refufed, you muft be an Enclofer and a Monopolifer by your own Principles, as much as he that fhuts you out of a Piece of your Ground, which he calls his Garden, becaufe he hath built a Wall about it, and carries the Key ? Then, again, I am furprized to hear you talk of Im- pofition at Inns, as if the Hoft could do you any Injuftice, who carry his Money as well as your own. Nay, is he not very civil in giving you either 4 Meat (55 ) < Meat or Drink for Money, which c he hath as good a Right to as your- felf ? <AERIUS. Civil! There you are out. Have not I a Right to his Meat * and Drink? Are they not mine? Is ' not all he hath my own.? < POLITES. And why then don't ' you travel with us, and treat your ' Friends, fince you have fuch plentiful 1 Provifion laid in before you ? < AERIUS. Becaufe I have the c very fame here in the Country at e- < very Gentleman's Seat and Farmer's Houfe. And then I am better pleafed < with the Tour of the Fields and c Gardens, which will lead me through * Flowers, and Fruits, and beautiful * Scenes, where I can tread on Nature's * green Carpet, and hear the fweet ' Chorus of the Grove, than the dufty 4 Track of this tedious Road, where I 1 muft beat my Feet on the unrelenting c Stones, and be tortured with the mriek- * ing of Cart-wheels, the rumbling of F 4 Coaches ( 6 ) c Coaches and Waggons, and the-harfh- * er Sound of their Voices who drive * them. I own to you, all Roads mult ' be alike fafe tome, who travel, as the ' Bircl^ do, without Coil or Charges, ' or any thing to lofe, which I claim a * fpecial Right to: But you will as rta- * dily own, I hope, that the Way I am ' taking is infinitely more agreeable than * this which you feem refolved to chufe. ' POLITES. Depend on it, Aerius, * I will, if you can prove it practicable. ' Do you think you can travel to London ' without your Horfe ? Or, if you mould, f would not the Labour out- weigh the ' Pleafure? < AER1US. By no mean?. I can * do it, and with Pleafure too ; befides, ' though it fliould be a little toilfome or ' fo, it is better than to be beholden to 1 a Brute for that, which Nature has qualified me to beftow on myfelf. I * cannot endure to fee one Creature mounted upon the back of another. * It is unnatural and tyrannick, and un- * worthv ( 57 ) < worthy of that Freedom, which,- as * \ve deiire it ourfelves, we mould not * infringe in other Creatures. 'POLICES. But, tell me, do you c really expecl: that the Inhabitants of * the Country will permit you to break 1 down their Fences; welcome you. * to their Hjjufes, and freely give you up your Share of that Provision $ ' which you fay they have in keeping * for you ? Do you think they will 4 readily acknowledge your Right of * Nature? You know the EngliJJj are * a ftubborn People, and talk much of Liberty and Property; what now * if they mould treat you like a * fturdy Beggar , and kick you from 1 their Doors, or knock out your * Brains for an Hou fe- breaker ? For, it ' is certain, not one in a million of them 1 know any thing of the Juftice of f c your Claim upon their Goods and * Chatties ; and, what is worfe, if you pleaded it to them until Doom's- 1 Day, they would never be con- vinced. f vinced, being as well intitled to c think for themfelves, as you or any ' Man elfe, and as tenacious of their t Subftance as you are of your Opi- nions? < AERIU'S. Why truly, Po/ites, ' our fcnglijh are a very unnatural kind of People j however, I hope to con- < vince them by the undeniable Ar- guments I {hall offer. There is Rea- * fon in all Men, and I {hall make fo ftrong an Appeal to that fovereign Arbitrefs of Truth, that they muft all prefently yield. < POLICES. I do not know that. * You fee plainly you cannot convince < me in a Cafe, in which I am not ' concerned : Plow much lefs will you be able to reafon them out of what ' tliey value more than their Lives ? AERIUS. It has alway been * my Opinion, that Scholars are the 4 moft bigotted Wretches upon Earth. ' You read, Polites^ you read. Hence ' your inexpugnable Prejudices, and in- f telkftual (5? ) 4 tellectual Slavery to Authorities, and 4 received Errors. But among the Coun- f try People there is more of Nature, ' and an opener Ear to Inftriiction. POLICES. Well, this may be * true j and, it is certain, Reading has * never biafled your Reafon. But tell 4 me, dear Aerius, would thofe Grounds 4 on the other Side of that Fence you c are going to break through, be fo * beautiful, or fo richly ftored with all ' manner of Plenty as they are, did not * fome Body take care to enclofe them * with Ditches, or to manure them ? < AER1US. It is likely they would not. ' P L I TE S. And would any one c take the Pains to cultivate them, had * all the reft of the World as good a ' Right to the Produce as himfelf? 4 AE R IUS. I believe no one would. e But what then ? * POLITES. Why then it fol- 4 lows, that if all particular Right were 4 taken away, thofe Crowds that you 4 now (60 ) now claim fo ftrenuoufly, would in one Seafon become ufelefs and un- fruitful, infomuch that neither you, nor any body elfe, would think them worth his claiming. But now I think on it, as I believe you are refolved to have your Swing, and fuch a one that there is little Hazard of my ever feeing you again j I muft not let you go off with my Clothes on your Back, That Coat, and the reft, are as much mine as yours: Come, ftrip, and divide before we part. * AERIUS. What, take my Clothes from me, that I bought with my own Money ! No, that is unreafonable and unjuft. But, hold, fince I have as good a Right to yours. 1 POL ITE S. Ay, that may be ; but as I am the ftronger, I am re- folved to have both ; and I want to know how you will find your Re- medv. j 'AERIUS. < A E R I U S. What ! would you have Right and PofTeffion decided by Force ?' < POLITES. Yes, undoubtedly in the goodly State of Nature you propofe, for there being no Laws, Right can be founded on nothing elfe.' 'AERIUS. Yes, Nature has her own Laws, and thofe fo binding that, were they not buried under the : unweildy Superstructure of Statutes : and Revelations, they would fuffi- 1 ciently fecure the Rights and Privi- 1 leges that are founded on them/ < P O L 7TE S. Are not the Laws c of Nature to be found in every Man ?' AERIUS. They are/ 'POLICES. Are they equally f ftrong in all ? < AERIUS. No, in fome they * do not operate with that Force that were to be wifhed. ' POLITES. How then are thofe f that obey the Law of Nature, to de- ' fend ( 62 ) 5 fend themfelves againft the Unjuftice and Oppreflion of the Lawlefs ? ' AERIU S. Now are we come right upon Society, and Civil Go- vernrnent,. and then the Ditches are < fafe again, and my Claim to the Lands inclofed, quite defaced. But < I tell you, Polites, Society is Nonfenfe. < Your Politicians make a great Stir a- < bout Forms of Government, fome { crying up a Monarchy, fome an A- ' riftocracy, fome a Democracy ; but < away with them all, fay I ; becaufe there' can be no fuch Thing as ' Liberty in any of them. Either * one or a few muft govern, and all the < reft muft be Slaves ; or elfe, if all govern, why then, Matters are to be 4 managed by the Majority j all the * reft muft fubmit, muft act contrary ' to their Judgments, and fuffer many Things againft their Wills. I tell ' thee, Polifes, Society is nothing better ' than a Trick impofed on the Many f by a few cunning and defigning c Knaves, 1 Knaves, to gratify their Avarice and 1 Ambition, and that they may live at ' the Expence of others. It is plain, that this is the Cafe from the Struggles * with which Governments are ob- tained, and the tyrannick Ufe that is c always made of them. Down with < the Thrones of Kings, and the Senate ' Houies of Common-Wealths ! Can ' we not live without fuch artificial f Trumpery, as well as FoXes or Lyons? c Into the Fire with your Acts of Par- liament, your Canons and your Vo~ c lumes of the Civil Law. They are.no- * thing but the Inftruments of Impofi- c tion and Coufenage, If you don't c know that they are, go to Law, Polites, 4 go to Law. A little Attendance in Wefi- ' minfter-Hall, or a Chancery Suit will * foon give you the fame Averfion to ' Law that I have. POLICES. Well then, Aerius, c it is agreed that vve have no Govern- * ment, no Laws. A E R 1 U $. ( 64) < AERIVS. Ay, agreed, agreed, Man. Come, iliake Hands on it. 4 How you and I fhall love one another * in a State of Nature! POLICES. Stay, not fo faft. ' No Shaking of Hands, no combining, c for you fay we are to lay afide all So * ciety. As for loving each other, that c is as your Submifiion to my Com- c mands (hall render you agreeable to * me. < A E R I U S. Your Commands ! * What does the Man mean ? Why, I c tll thee, we are now in a State of * Nature, in which 'there is no Autho- ( rity, no Sovereignty, no Laws. < POLICES. That is what I fay ; * and now that I am juft about twice 4 as ftrong as you, I will force you to c do what I pleafe. Your Coat is better * than mine, I will have that in the f firft Place. You have about forty c Guineas in your Pocket, come, de- e liver them ifp to me quickly. If you make any Refiftance -, by all the < Rights (65 ) 4 Rights and Privileges of Nature, I ' will dam out your Brains againfl the c Pavement. Why, I like this State c of Nature hugely. If we are to 1 have no Courts of Juftice, no Exe- * cutioners nor Gallows, I fhall live c moft delicicufly. I do not know whether there be a Man in the Na- * tion, whom I could not get the bet- * ter of at pulling, and hauling, and drubbing j if you turned us cut na- ' ked, do you^ fee, ? in fun's naiura- < libus. < A E R I U S. I mean, that in a State of Nature, there are no Laws, * but thofe of Nature, which will fe- c cure my Plights tho' I be the weaker.. P OL ir E S. Do not truft to c them, for I alTure you, now that we < are in a State of Nature, and utterly unaccountable for all we do, I find * the Law of Self-Love ftronger than 1 all the reft, and with the Affiflance e of thefe Hands, I fhall gratify it to G (66) * the full, let it coft you or others .' what it will. ' Do you hear this Gentleman, (faid ' *deriits y turning to the reft of the ( Company) do you hear the Threats of 1 this unreafonable and imperious Mon- ' iler ? You are concerned as well as * me. Stand by me therefore, and * do not fuffer the Weaker to be op- ' pre/fed, fince it muft be your own Turns next/ Upon this, they were all preparing to lend Aerius their Afliftance, when P elites cried out: c LOOK ye, Gentlemen, you are now deciding this Queition fairly in Fa- vour of me, without knowing it; and * Aerius himfelf, in having implored your Aid, has given up the Poffibili- * ty of fubfifting out of a Society. My Strength, too great for any one of you, 4 has forced you into a Society, a Ne~ c ceffity that muft ever change a State ' of Nature, if there could be fuch a 1 State (6? ) 4 State into Government, and clearly * evince the abiolute want of Laws * and Penalties, and pubiick Admini- flration of juftice. The Wall that * keeps us out of that Garden, would * be but a weak Defence for the Fruit 4 within, were they not fur rounded by * a ftronger Fortification ; I mean, the * Statutes againft Felony and petty 1 Larceny, which can keep out thofe 4 who could eafily climb over the Wall. 1 You may leap thefe Ditches too with- c out much Difficulty,, but you won't 4 fo eafily get over the Laws againft 4 Trefpals, that fortify thbfe Ditches 4 to better Purpofe than any Quickfet. Be advifed by me. Mount your 4 Horfes again, and purfue the King's 4 High-way, like honeft Men, who 4 dare keep the Caufeway of the Crown. * There is no Slavery in fo doing. 4 The King himfelf, God blefs' his 4 Majefly, mufl be fatisfied with it, 4 when he travels. Here he ftop'd, 14 ?jid ftrdden Shame feized the whole 4 Company (68) Company. They fneaked to their ' Horfes, and galloped forward, as faft * as they could, to make amends for c the Time they had loft. So ended this Conteft, in which, for once, fober Senfe and Reafon got the better of that fpecious kind of Mad- nefs, which, under the Pretence of Li- berty, would turn us wild into the Fields, a kind of Beaft more Savage than any other, as not fparing its own Kind, and- whilft it is miiled by a falfe Notion of Nature, committing Things- that Nature abhors. ALLUSION ALLUSION The Sixth. Sciagenes and Sefas. CCIAGENES. Say what you will, and magnify the Good that is done by the Cbriftian Religion, at what Rate you pleafe j I fay, it doth more Harm than Good in the World. There are two Things in which a Man may be rendered better or worfe, by the Doctrines he hears, and the Princi- ples he embraces ; to wit, his Mind and his Actions. Now in both, your Religion hath greatly injured us. As to our Minds, did they ever fhew fuch Extravagance under the Influence of any Syftem of Doctrines that has ob- tained in the World, as under the Chri. itian? ( 7 ) flian ? To illuftrate this by a Recital of all the ftrange and fenfelefs Opinions that your feveral Sects have contended for, would be a very odious and tedious Undertaking. As to our Actions, which it {hould be the Bufinefs of Re- ligion to regulate, how miferably they have been perverted by the Chriitian Religion, any one may perceive, who reads the Hiftory of the Chriftians. The Author of your Religion has told us, that we are to know a Tree by its Fruit; by this Rule, his muff have been a very corrupt Tree, for its Fruits have always been very unwholefome, as well as diftafteful, ever fmce the firft plant- ing. Chriftianity has affected the Ac- tions of its Profeffors in two different Ways. It has furnhlied fome with an hypocritical Covering for fuch Enor- mities as cannot bear the publick In- fpection, it has tempted them to put on the Appearance of Virtue, and make that ferve inftead of the Thing; whilfl it hath fupplicd others with Pre- tences, tences, for openly committing the moft horrid Crimes. Perfecution, Rebellion, Tyranny, and Bloodfhed, hang in Cluf- ters, on the Gofpel Vine, and weigh it down, in fpight of the Support afford- ed it by Prieftcraft, and the Power of the Church. S E LA S. You judge moft unfairly, S'tiflgentS) in afcribing thofe ill Effects, to the Chriftian Religion, which are diredlly contrary to its Doctrines, its Precepts, and the Examples it recom- mends to our Imitation. The abfurd Opinions, that fome, who called them- felves Chriftians, have broached and abetted, were the Produce of their own extravagant Imaginations. Our Saviour fcwed Wheat, but the Folly and wild Enthufiafm of Mankind, have fown Tares among it. Nor, can wicked Actions be attributed, with any Juftice, to Principles, altogether rational and virtuous, altho' they may be committed, by the ProfefTors of thofe Principles. You are a Lawyer j muft we burn our Statutes, 3 ( 72 ) Statutes, and the whole Corpus Jurum, becaufe you fecretly take Fees on one Side of a Caufe, and openly plead on the other ? Muft Phyfick and Surgery be prohibited, becaufe an ignorant Quack fhall miftake, and give Hemlock for a Cordial, or, becaufe a murdering Phy- fician {hall take a Fee, from a young libertine Heir, to fend his fickly Father out of the World ? Chrift planted a Vine, and its Fruits are Meeknefs, and Charity, and Obedience, to the higher Powers, and Self-denial ; which, as they are Virtues, much againft the Grain of the World, we may be fure they muft have weighed down the Chriftian Re- ligion, with that Load of Odium that attends them, had it not been fupported by the Vine-flock of God's continual Grace. Pride indeed, and Avarice, fpring up near the Root of the Vine, and twifting themfelves among its Bran- ches, mix their pale and baneful Berries, with its' beautiful and wholefome Clut- ters* THE ( 73 ) THE greater Part by far, both of the Knowledge and Virtue that is in' the World, fprings from the Chriftian Religion; tho' idle Pretenders to Know- ledge, have taken Occafion from thence, to pefter the World, with a thoufand vain Speculations, and pernicious Re- finements ; and, altho* wicked and felf- interefted Men have impudently pre- tended to draw the Motives of their unrighteous Practices, from a Delire to promote its Welfare. If indeed Mankind had never reafoned abfurdly, nor acted wickedly, before they em- braced the Chriftian Religion, we might, with the greater {hew of Truth, af- cribe the Folly and Vice, too often to be met with among Chriftians, to our Religion, rather than to the Infirmity^ and Degeneracy of our Nature. But, as it is quite otherwife, and as there; has really been more Knowledge, and ftridler Virtue among the Wormippers of Chrift JefiiSy than among thofe who were ignorant of Chriflianily, Expe- H rience ( 74 ) rience is againft you, I will tell thec a Tale-, if thou wilt liften it, O Sciagenes. 1 IN the old Egyptian Chronicles, c we are told, that the Sun, once upon * a Time, being highly provoked at the * Wickednefs of Mankind, which he was daily obliged, not only to behold, ' but to lend his Light to, refolved ne- * ver more to offend the Purity of his Eye, nor pollute the Luftre of his 1 Rays, with the Corruptions of the hu- c man Race. Full of Indignation he ' turned his foaming Steeds, and drove c the bright Chariot of the Day fo far ' into the Eaflern Sky, that it appear- * ed like a Star of the third Magnitude. e From thence, with a certain Penury * of Light, he twinkled faintly on this c ungrateful World, that had fo much * abufed his Bounty. However, not c intending to leave himfelf intirely c without a Witnefs, nor to plunge the c World in utter Darknefs, he ordered c his Sifter, the Moon, with her Train of ( 75 ) of Plants, to ftay behind, partly to afford Mankind a fmall Portion of that derivative Light which they en- joyed ; and partly to obferve, in their Periods round this World, the Beha- viour of Mankind during his Abfence. Mortals, inilead of lamenting his De- parture, hailed the Darknefs, and rejoiced in that Secrecy which it af- forded their Crimes ; the Beafts of Prey rumed from their Dens, and exercifed their Fury, without Reftraint or Fear : Their favage Nature grew ten-fold more outrageous, by the boundlefs and uninterrupted Licence the continual Night afforded them : The Fruits of the Earth, with all the Variety of fweet-fmelling Herb, or beautiful Flower, faded away, and ilirunk into their primitive Seeds, whilft nothing but the baneful Yew, and the cold Hemlock, with other poifonous Weeds, dverfpread the damp and dreary Soil. As thefe, with now and then a Dragon-, or a Tyger, when H 2 < they (76 ) < they could kill jthem, were the only ' Food of Mankind, they filled them e with various Diflempers, and (hortned their fearful and miferable Days. e From thence too, as well as from the Coldnefs and Inclemency of the Air, together with the continual Darknefs, the Heart of Man grew numb and ' infenfible, grew fierce and boiflerous, ' grew gloomy and fullen. . Charity ' grew Cold, and hardened to an Icicle. ' Humanity, in paffing from Man to < Man, was frozen by the Bleaknefs ( of the Air j and being fhivered to c Pieces, was blown away by the Winds in Snow. Fraud and Theft, and Ra- pine, fkreened by the black Wing of * Darknefs, with lawlefs and ungo- vernable Impunity, blended right and < wrong, and confounded Property. Pride and Anger, Envy and Malice, {talked Abroad in the thick Cloud of Night, and made fuch hideous Ha- ' vock, that the Moon is faid, to have ' fickened at the Sight, and fallen into thofe (77 ) thofe fainting Fits that have eve* fince, at certain Seafons, oppreiTed her, and overcome her Light. Every one kindled up a Fire of his own, and called it his Sun j while thofe who happened to live near each other, made greater Fires by their common Labour, on every high Hill, which they alfo called their publick Sun?, comforting themfelves with thofe, and forgetting the true Sun ; by which, at the fame Time that they defpifed its Abfence, they acknowledged the Ne- ceffity of its Influence. At length, the Fuel began to fail, and the Fires to go out. The Wicked lived and died in Works of Darknefs, in Fury, and Violence, and Terror. The virtuous few that flill remained, wandered up and down, a Prey to all they met, and fought in vain for Light. The Moon pitying their undeferved Suf- ferings, and fearing the total Extinc- tion of human Nature, fent a Mef- fage, by a Comet, which approached H 3 'the (78) the mod diftant Part of her Orbit, * acquainting her Brother with the State e of human Affairs, and befeeching him c to return, if not to fave a Race un- grateful to him, yet at leaft for the ' Prefervation of thofe who loved the 1 Light, and lived a Life becoming it. The Sun, fays the Chronicle, moved with Companion, and hoping that ' the Miferies Man had fuffered by the ' Abfence of his Rays, would have c fubdued his inordinate Paffions, and * drfpofed him to a more decent Con- ' duct, fet out again for this World j < and, as he drew nearer, the Heavens, 4 to the Eaflward (hone with glorious ' Light, and glowed with unufual Heat. * Left lie mould furprize and dazzle the World by a fudden and unexpected c Arrival, he fent the Morning Star before him, as his Harbinger, to pre- * pare his Way ; which the Eaftern ' Aftronomers no fooner obferved, but they publiihed the glad Tidings, to the great Comfort of the Good, and 1 the (79 ) e the no fmall Diftnay of the Evil. ' However, notwithstanding this Pre- ' paration, there were but few, even ' of thofe who wiflied for his Return, * who could bear the Brightnefs of the * Day-fpring when it vifited them ; io 1 tender had the long continued Dark- { nefs rendered their Eyes. It was ' fome Time before they could inure .' themfelves to the ftrong Beams of 1 Light that {hone io powerfully on ' them. There were Numbers whom ' the Length of Night had entirely ' blinded, who comprehended not the c Light, but attributed their {tumbling ' and flraying to a Continuation of ' Darknefs, when it was really owing to a Defeft in their own Opticks. All * Nature welcomed the Return of the * Sun with a joyful Salutation, except * the Owls, and Beads, and Men of 1 Prey, who had tyrannized in the 1 Dark. The Lyons, the Tygers, the < Bears, and the Wolves, betook < themfelves to their dark Caves and H 4 { gloomy (8o) ' gloomy Den?, becaufe their Deeds ' were evil. The more fubtile Serpent * put on a mining Garment, which it * pretended to have borrowed from the * new Beams of the Morning, and * practifed its Frauds in Day-lighr. ' The more impudent Vulture and ' Hawk, {laid, and outfaced the Sun, * directing themfelves by its Light in ' the bloody Deeds they committed* ' Among Men, fome roufed by its Ar- * rival, rejoiced, and went forth to * their honeft Labours in the Vineyard, ' or among their Folds, whilft others 4 took the Advantage of it, to opprefs ' their Neighbours with open Robberies ' and cruel Wars ; and when it ferved * them ill for fuch Purpofes, they re- f viled it, and wiflied that thofe Clouds * which it had raifed, might {hut out c its Light from the World, or intire- * ly extinguish it. At length, there < arofe a Sstft of Philofophers, falfely * fo called, who endeavoured to prove, that ( 8. ) that the Sun was of bad Confequencc to the Happincfs of the World. ' THEY bade their Difciples obferve how its Heat fublimed the Poifon of the baneful Weed, giving Growth to the horrid Bramble, and the prickly Thorn j but took no Notice of its calling forth the ufeful Tree, with the wholefome Herb, and cloathing Nature in its fplendid Attire of Flowers, perfumed with ten Thoufand O- tlours. They accufed it with caufing Calentures and Fevers, ungratefully forgetting, that it had removed thofe numberlefs Diforders that proceeded from the immoderate Cold, and the damp Vapours. They made it the Caufe of Putrefaction and Stench in Pools and Fens, without confidering that its. genial 'Heat ferments the warm Spirits and volatile Odours of the Spices. They were too (hort fighted, to fee the remote Benefit of thofe feeming or immediate Inconve- nkncies that attended the Influence of < the ( 82 ) the Sun. They could not dive fo far into Nature, as to find out the fecret Properties of Things, and therefore did not confider, that what is hurtful in one Cafe, is moft ufeful in another, for which it is peculiarly defigned. They taught, that it was the Source of violent Paffions , and Madnefs, without remembring that, whilft it gently foftened and warmed the ma- terial World, it infufed a fympathe- tick Tendernefs and Mildnefs into the Intellectual. They apprehended it would fet the World on Fire, becaufe it had thawed its Ice. They con- templated the Comets with more Plea- fure, and commended them as brighter Luminaries than the Sun. They ad- mired the Meteors, as infinitely more glorious than the Source of Day. They faid, the Sun was the Prifon of impious Souls, and that its Light was elaborated by Fiends, afcribing all the Wonders it performs in this lower World, to the Devils that work in its * fiery fiery Furnace : Nay, they curfed the Moon and the Planets, for no other Reafon, but becaufe they borrowed their Light from the Sun. Some of them lighted up Candles at Noon- day, and pretending to do their evil Deeds by thofe, afcribed all the Light about them, each to his own glimmer- ing Taper. Others maintained, that the Eye itfelf was a luminous Body, endued with innate Light j by the E- manation? of which, they faid, Vi- fion was performed j and, that it was not only fuperfluous, but dangerous to let in the adventitious Light of the Sun, left it fhould extinguish the na- tural Rays of the Eye. All this, and a great deal more they urged, becaufe, the Day Light was an Enemy to their Works of Darknefs. The All- feeing Sun was not ignorant of their Hypo- crify, their Ingratitude and Malice ; but he neither approached to fet them on Fire, nor retired again to leave them in Darknefsj he only faid, My " MY Sifter moves and mines on, without being difturbed or detained " by the ill Humour of thofe Curs, " who bark at her from the Earth. " In like Manner, I fhall pour out my " Heat and Light promifcuouily on <c all, on the Evil as well as the Good, " that whilft it directs and comforts " thefe, it may be a continual Witnefs " againfl thofe. My Influence is good " in itfelf, and its Luftre glorious, as " well when it mines on a Dunghil, " as when it paints the radiant Bow " in the Clouds. I decree, that my " Rays fhall be to every Man, as he <c is difpofed to receive them ; Good to tc the Good, according to his Nature; <{ and Evil to the Evil, according to his. " Whilft they (hall enable fame to fee, " they mail deprive others of their " Sight, who have a previous Difpo- " fition to Blindnefs. Whilft they di- " reel: and enlighten the Upright, in his honeft Calling, and are a Blefiing ** to him, they mall detect and accufe " the <c the Fraudulent, and bring a Curfe " on his Ways. They are calculated <{ for Good, and by Nature fitted for " it only ; yet they may be turned a- c< fide from the direct Purfuit of that c< End, and made to co-operate with " evil Caufes in perpretating Works of " Darknefs. They are by Nature the " Vehicles of Truth, although Daemons " may array themfelves in Robes of " Light, in order to deceive. ALLUSION The Seventh. NO City was more commodioufly fituated, governed by wifer Laws, nor inhabited by a more virtuous and courageous People than Hierapolis. The Confequences of this were, that, in the Space of about three hundred Years, (86) Years, it became Miflrefs of many Nations, and gained Ground a-pace , in all the other Parts of the known World. It did not long enjoy this Power, until it began to abufe it. Luxury, that fubdues even Conquerors, fupported by Wealth and Eafe-, fpread a-pace among the Hierapolitans t banim- ed the original Simplicity of their Man- ners, and fubftituted Foppery and Va- nity in the Place of it. This Corrup- tion of Manners was foon followed by an Affectation of ufelefs Niceties and Novelties in Knowledge, and by falfe Politicks. Hence it came to pafs, that, in a little Time, the Laws, although as intelligible as common Senfe itfelf, and as determinate as the utmoft Cau- tion could make them, began to be va- rioufly interpreted ; infomuch that they were forced, by an Infinity of Glofles, to fpeak the Language of Artifice and Faction ; nay , and of Contradiction too, oftener than that of Truth and Juflice. This clogged the Wheels of 3 the ( 8 7 ) the Government, and, what was worfe, turned them afide from the right Way. Different Parties founded themfelves on different Interpretations. Folly , En- thuliafm, and Fraud had each its own Interpreters, to extra<5l fuch Opinions from the Laws, while they were forced to pafs through bad Heads, and worfe Hearts, as threw all into Confufion, and flopped the Progrefs of their Arms abroad, and {hed their Blood within the Walls, in mutual Slaughter and Der ftrudtion. AT length one Party, growing more powerful than the reft, engroffed the Revenues of the City, new-modelled the Body of the Laws, adding, or tak- ing away what they thought proper, impoflng their own Senfe of what re- mained, and prohibiting, under fevere Penalties, the popular Perufal of the Laws themfelves. This Party chofe an Head, whom they called Dictator, and on him conferred an unlimited Power, to impofe fuch Interpretations of ( 88 ) of the Laws < as he pleafed on the Hie- ropolitans, and to govern them at his own Difcretion. THIS Tyrant, thus inverted with the fupreme Authority, changed the Name of the City, and called it after his own, Dictator ia: He alfo contriv- ed a very horrible kind of Dungeon, to which he confined all fuch Perfons as prefumed either to read the ancient Laws, or difpute his abfolute Authority in any Cafe. There was a kind of Prefs in this Dungeon, in which the Party offending being placed, his Fortune, his Confcience, or his Life, were fqueez- ed out of him. He ere<fted publick Stews, from whence he drew confide- rable Revenues. To conclude, he made rniferable Slaves of the poor Difttfto- rians, who were fo enervated by Luxu- ry and Vice of every kind, and fo en- tirely broken by the Power of this Ty- rant, that they had no Strength nor Inclination to refift him. 3 AT (89 ) AT length his Folly, his Infolence, and his Exactions, becoming intolerable, the few, who remained ftill uncor- rupted and uninilaved, agreed to quit the City, and commit themfelves to the Sea, in quell of fome new Country, where they might fettle and govern themfelves by the ancient Hieropolitan Laws, purged from all Abufes, and laid open to every Member of the Community. There were no more of thefe found, than three or four Ships were fufficient to receive. Thefe Vef- fels had fcarcely provided themfelves with Neceflaries, and put from Shore, when the Alarm of their Departure was given j upon which the Tyrant ordered out to the Purfuit, as many Dictator i an Gallies as could be got ready. But a Storm arifing, and they being ill provided, as putting out in hafte y and little acquainted with the Service, were all loft but a few;, which, being for feveral Days toffed about by the Storm, happened to meet, I and ( 9 ) and come to an Engagement with the Adventurers, who eafily defeated them, tor they had none but Diftatorian Slaves on board. The Adventurers, rejoicing in this Victory, as an happy Prefage of their future Fortunes, purfued their Courfe, as well as the Storm, which was now lels violent, would permit. Their Captains knew well how to govern, and their Pilots to fteer. Their Sailors plied upon Deck with Diligence, and were eager to affift and relieve each other. However, as there was not a fufficient Number of experienced Sea- men to man all the Veffels, fome of them were wrought by Paffengers and Sailors in Conjunction, which occafion- ed great Difordersj for the Paflengers, not being acquainted with the Buftnefs, and yet very defirous to labour for the common Safety, did but embarrafs one another, and hinder the Work they endeavoured to advance. Some, who thought they could never do too much, pulled the Ropes with fuch- Violence, 'that ( 9' ) that they frequently broke them. Others, by tugging contrary Ways, deftroyed the Effects of each other's Strength. The Decks were fo crouded by People, who knew only how to make Confu- fion, that the Sailors had not Room to ftir; and there was fuch a loud and di- ffracted Clamour of fome roaring one thing, and fome another, that neither the Captain nor the Pilot could be heard. Whenever the Ship heeled, they cried out, We are all loft ! And tumbled over one another in Heaps, fome being forely bruifed, and others falling over- board into the Sea. B y thefe Means, and the Darknefs of the Nights, the Ships loft Sight of one another, and fell off to different Courfes. The largeft of them, which was alfo the beft manned, made towards a certain Ifland, which was at a fufli- cient Diftance from the Port of D/- tfatoria; and yet fo near, that it might be reached, without expofing the Vef- I 2 fcl (92 ) fel to the many Dangers incident to too long a Voyage. THERE was a Pafienger on board this Veflel, who by the Time it had been a Week at Sea, had gained a fmattering of the Sailors Art, and, being very whimfical and overbearing, thought himfelf capable of giving Law to the Matter, and all the Crew. He pretend- ed great Diflike to the Ship, and the Government of it, and, praclifing fe- cretly with the fimpler Sort, in which he was affifted by certain Diffatorians, who, making a Shew of Abhorrence to the Tyrant, came on board purely to raifeDifturbances; he gained over fome to his Party, and made them ferious Converts to his feigned Difcontents. Thefe he affembled one Day privately in the Hold, aud harangued them in the following Manner : * I CANNOT but lament, my Fellow- 1 Sailors, that, after all our Endeavours to fly from the Wickednefs of Ditta- 1 fon'a, and the divine Judgments due to ( 93 } to it, we are ftill deeply infected with the nrft, and confequently have * but too much Reafon to dread the latter. In the firft Place, we left a Tyranny in order to put ourfelves under the kinder Influence of a free 1 Government. But what have we 4 gained by our Attempt ? Are we not * ftill under the Government of one ? * What Security can we have, that he will not tyrannize like him ofX)J8a- * toria? Nay, I can aflure you, his ' Principles are perfectly Di&atorian, * and you yourfelves may perceive it;, for he goes habited like the Difia- 1 torians, he cocks his Hat,- and laughs like one of the Prophane* He cannot ' fink a Dungeon, in the Ship - 3 but, as ' foon as we come afhore, you may ex- * pedt it, for he talks much of Difci- * line and Government j and it is but 1 two Days fince, as you all can witnefs, 4 he confined me to this Hold, for fay- * ing, that we ought not to fuffer our- ^ felves to be guided by a Pilot,/ but commit ( 94) ' commit ourfelves to the Steerage of Providence. Now the Hold is but c another kind of Dungeon ; and, fince 4 he hath fo foon begun to play the < Governor, we may be fure he will, in a little Time, aft the Tyrant. 4 Truft him not, O my Fellow- Tailors ; 4 for he is an haughty Lord, and a * proud Tyrant. He is a Diflatoriaq in 4 his Heart. Again, we left Diffato- 4 ria in order to purge ourfelves of the 4 Luxury, and ftrip ourfelves of the * Pomps and Vanities of that wicked Place ; and yet, behold, we are ftill c polluted with the fame Corruptions. 4 How odious to my Eyes is that daz- ling Paint that adorns the Side of the 4 Ship! How deteftable thofe graven { Figures that glitter on the Stern in various Colours, and mine in all the Splendour of Gold, the Author of all c Corruption ! How imperiouily does the Flag of Pride wave from the 1 Bolt-fprit in the Wind! But above c all, O my dear Fellows! How can you * endure '( 95 ) endure that Wooden Idol, that paint- ed Whore, that ftands naked from * the Waift upwards at the Prow ? To * what Fortunes, think you, can you * follow fuch a Whore? But further, do 1 we not {hew the moft unworthy Dif- f truft of Providence, in committing c ourielves to the Guidance of an hu- { man Pilot, and the Government of a ' Mortal's Wifdom ? To what End the < Rudder, the Maft, and the Tackle, * thofe Relicks of our former Abomi- 4 nations ? To what purpofe the Sails, 4 thofe Rags of Diffatorian Profanation ? Is there the fmalleft Mention made 4 of them? Is there any Command for 1 them in our ancient Laws? If there 1 be not, with what Aflurance can we * fuffer fuch unwarranted Innovations? * O how my Soul abhors fuch human, ' fuch carnal, fuch profane Inventions ? * Let us fly, my dear Companions, let * us quickly fly from this damnable c Machine, whofe Keel I know to be * rotten, and let us throw ourfelves in- c to (06) to the Cock-boat, a VefTel that has nothing of Diftatorian Art or Pride ' about it, and, with a firm Faith, com- < mit ourfelves to the Protection of Pro- f vidence.' THIS Speech made a ftrong Impref- lion on his unwary Hearers, and the more, becaufe of that vehement Aver- fion they had to the Dittatorian Abufes. So they, one and all, protefted againft every Thing that looked like Diftato- rian, and, with one Confent, refolved to feize the Cock-boat, and attempt a Voyage in it through the wide Sea. THI s Refolution they put in practice the very next Day, and committed them- felves to the Ocean without Oars, with- out Rudder, and without Victual- ling. They were no fooner got to Sea in their little Barque, than they per- ceived that it did not flir, and that they were in danger of being left motionlefs in the midft of the Ocean, to flarve for want of F0od, or perifli by the next violent blaft of Wind. It was then firft ( 97 ) firit that they. had recourfe to human Help, and feized a Rope that dragged after the Ship in the Water; fo that they made a (hift to keep up with the VelTel. The reft of the Crew, know- ing nothing of their Intention, threw out fome other Ropes to relieve them from the Diftrefs they were in, and hawl them to again. But, inftead of thanking them for their brotherly Con- cern, they railed aloud at them, calling them vile and prophane Wretches, proud Di&atorians , and when ever they faw any of them mounting the Shrowds to order the Tackle, or Sails, they called them Tyrants and High- flyers j and bid them beware of the Hold and the Dungeon, to humble their Pride. In this Mood they fol- lowed the Ship, till at length they began to feel the Want of Victualling grew faft upon them, which made them call aloud for Food to the Ship : but their extravagant Madnefs made them do it in fuch difobliging Terms, that they K on ( 9 8 ) on Deck thought proper to refufe them for fome Time, till Pity, and a Ten- dernefs for their Lives, moved them to hand down fome moldy Bifket, and fome coarfe Beef to them. This, al- though their Hunger forced them to devour it, did not fatisfy them. They infifted that they were intitled to an e- qual Share of the Ship's Provifion, and curfed the Crew for refilling it. Their male-content Spirit was ftill more en- flamed ; when the under Sailors taunted them from the Stern, and derided, with great Sharpnefs, their mad Project:, and the abfurd Defence they made for themfelves. At laft the Captain, hav- ing found what was the Matter, ap- peared at the Cabin Window, and fpoke to this Effect: : I AM much troubled, my dear < Friends, for the extravagant Spirit, with which I find you are pofTeffed. Be aflured I have not the fmalleft c Intentions to tyrannize. I only took the Office I hold at the Requefl of you ( 99 ) * you all; I am ready to lay it down again, if my Adminiflration has been < faulty. But then you muft elect an- * other, Order and Government nece- * farily requiring it, and our Laws giv* * ing fufficient Warrant thereunto. We * all abhor the flagitious Lives, and mi* * ferable Degeneracy of the Diftato- * rians as much as you ; but the Rig- '* ging and Ornaments of our Ship were none of their Crimes, being harmlefs * and indifferent Things. Without our * Rudder, our Sails, &c. we cannot make c the Voyage; we muft therefore retain c them as neceflary to our Prefervation, * Nor do we (hew, by fo doing, any * Diftruft of divine Providence, which * we can only hope to affift us, where * human Means fail. You yourfelves ( perceive, that your Hopes that Provi- 4 dence would do that for you, which c you can do for yourfelves, were idle, * becaufe it has deferted you, and left 1 you to depend on that Rope for your * Way, and on us for your Victual s* K 2 'I < I do not, like the reft of our Crew, 4 deride your Folly j but I pity theun- ' happy Refolution you have taken, * which cnuft inevitably end in your ' Ruin, if not fpeedily laid afide. Re- c _ turn, let me earneftly befeech you, to c your Friends and Fellow-Sailors, and, ' inftead of deftroying your felves, help < forward the common Good of the 'Community, you embarked in, at our ' Departure from Di&afon'a. In purg- ( ing ourfelves of Abufes, we have not fo much regarded what was Diftato- c rian t as what was contrary to our ancient Laws. Joined with us you e may live and profper j but, if you fe- ' parate, you muft perim. UPON hearing this, one or two re- turned to a better Mind , and were hawled up into the Ship. The Boat being driven againft the Ship by one Wave, and overfet by another, the refl were all loft. ALLUSION ALLUSION The Eighth. A Bout one thoufand feven hundred Years ago there was a Temple built, no matter where j but its Foun- dations were lank deep in a Rock of Adamant, and its Dome pierced the Clouds: The Materials were too hard for Time to impair, and the Work- manfliip too firm for the mofl furious Storms to injure: The Plan was drawn by the greateft Architect in the World, and the Deiign was proportionable to the immenfe *and exalted Genius of its Author: It was built in a plain Style, fo that, if it were viewed by one of a corrupt Tafte, it had little that he could admire ; for there was nothing extravagant or enormous in it; nay, its Height and Platform were fo judicioufly K 3 adjufted, ( 10-2 ') adjufted, that although both were very great, yet neither feemed prodigious. To one of any Judgment the whole Figure feemed wonderfully majeftick and ftately. It had two Excellencies peculiar to it; one, that, if you mould furvey it for fome time attentively, it would feem to grow in Size and Gran- deur, till, without either training the Eye, or {hocking the Imagination, it had infenfibly inlarged both, and taught the Beholder a certain Capacity of fee- ing and conceiving, which he was un- acquainted with before; the other, that the inftant you entered it, you were jftruck with a facred kind of Awe, which came fo irrefiftibly upon you, that were you of never fo gay or loofe a Difpolition, you could not help be- ing grave. But then this was attended with no Uneafmefs or Fear; for the Beauty and Chearfulnefs of all you faw was fuch, and the Light, which enter- ed by a thoufand fpacious Windows, was fo great, that you were as much delighted delighted as awed. Every thing was dif- pofed in fo fimple and natural an Or- der, and yet with fuch Magnificence, as could not but fill a judicious Beholder with a ferious and folemn kind of Joy, accompanied with that profound Reve- rence which ought to be felt, when a divine Nature is fuppofed to be prefent. Some were more taken with one thing, and fome with another j but all agreed, that the Architect had {hewn uncom- mon Skill, in giving it fuch abundance of Light, which ferved to difcover the Symmetry, the Beauty, and mafterly Contrivance of all within. There was no Utenfil that was not ornamental ; no Decoration that was not ufeful. To fay no more of it, it infinitely furpafled the Ephefan Temple of Diana, and even eclipfed the Glory of Solomons Temple at Jerufakm. THE Architect, who had built it at his own Expence,"when he died, left, in his laft Will and Teftament, an En- dowment fufficient to keep it clean, and K 4 in ( 104 ) in Repair; and nominated fuch Tra- ftees for the purpofe as he could con- fide in, both on account of their Ho- nefty, and the great Skill in Architec- ture, which he had communicated to them. He left them alfo a fair Copy of the Plan, with ftricl: Orders never to touch any. Part of the Work without confulting it ; and to appoint fuch o- thers as mould either aflift, or fucceed them in this Charge. For three or four hundred Years thefe Perfons dif- charged their Truft fo fufficiently, and the general Tafte continued fo pure, that the Edifice was admired for the fame Beauty and Majefly that recom- mended it at firfr. They came from all Parts of the World to fee it, and worfliip in it. It is true the Admirers of other renowned Temples, bigotted to their own favourite Notions of Ar- chitecture, and envious of the Honours that were paid to this, often battered it with Rams, and other warlike En- gines, but to no purpofe : So firm were its its Walls, that they could make no Imprefiion on it; and fo honeft was the Corporation of Truftees , and fo zealous for its Glory, that there was fcarce a Man of them who was not ready to receive the Shocks of the bat- tering Rams on his own Head, rather than fufFer them to touch the Temple. There were, from time to time, feve- ral among the Truftees, who either not rightly underftanding the Rules of Ar- chitecture, or elfe ambitious of getting a Name by Innovations, pretended to find Faults in the Structure, which they faid had been put in by unfkilful Ma- nagers, in the feveral Ages, fince the Death of the Architect. They endea- voured, but in vain, to make this ap- pear by the Plan ; and had their Opi- nions condemned in feveral Boards held by the Truftees, on purpofe to confider of thefe Matters. At length one of the Truftees, a covetous and intriguing Man, what by caballing and practif- ing with feme of the moft fhort- fighted, ( 106 ) lighted, or ill-principled of the Board j and what by calling in the Affiftance and Intereft of a great Lord in the Neighbourhood, acquired fuch an In- fluence over the Truftees, that he might do what he pleafed; and it was never in his Nature or Intention to do any- thing, that was not for his own private Intereft. He endeavoured to prove himfelf vefted with a Right to this Su- periority over his Brethren, from the Teftament of the Architect; becaufe the original Truftee, under whom he derived, happened to be firft in the Lift of Truftees, and mentioned there- in both by Name and Surname : With the fame Principles with which he had ufurped, he alfo abufed this Power. He took the Keys of the Temple into bis own Hand, and would let no body in, either to view the Building, or to adore the Deity td whom it was dedi- cated, without paying a very conlider- able Tax to him, of which he put the greater Part in his own Pockets, diftri- buting bating the reft among the other Tru* flees, who, by that means, and others as difhoneft and flavifh, were kept obe- dient to him. This was directly againfl the Intention of the Architect, who had wrote over the Entrance of the great Gate thefe Words: Let this Gate jland open to all People. By which- plain People thought a free Entrance was ordered for all: But he infifted,. that the Architect had given him the fble Right of interpreting that Sentence,, and judging of the Plan j to this Right he pleaded common Senfe, and Reafon, and Grammar ought to fubmit. He interpreted the Sentence thus: Let this Gate Jland open to all, who pay for Entrance-, the laft Words he faid were omitted for Brevity's fake; and fwore a terrible Oath, that he would never let any Mortal in, who queftioned his Authority. However, being confcious to himfelf that this Interpretation was ftrained, he covered the Sentence with a, brazen Plate ^ fo People even gave him. him his Demand ( for what other could they do?) thinking it better to pay, than be kept out. In Procefs of Time Mankind, who are always upon the Change, degenerated into a vitiated and barbarous Tafte; nothing, that was not extravagant and monftrous, could pleafe. In Architecture particularly, the wild and the vafl, the odd and the whimfi- fical alone were held in Admiration. The Uftirper, in Compliance with the Age ( for he that would fill his Pockets, ought to ferve the Times) covered the Walls both without and within, with a thoufand finical and gothick Orna- ments, that were fo well fitted to the ill Tafte of the Times, that they drew an infinite Rabble of Gapers to the Temple, who, coming out of mere Curiofity, and with little or no Tafte in Architecture, did greatly encreafe his Tax. He cut large Niches in the Walls, in which he placed Images, many of them of a very mean kind of Workmanfhipj and yet they were worshipped worfhipped by moft that came in, and admired by all. The Niches were fo frequent, and fo near the Foundation, that they could not but greatly impair the Strength of the Building : He dug a huge Vault under it, by which alfo the Foundations were much weakened ; there he flung the Carcafes of thofe dead Perfons, whofe Friends paid him for the Liberty of entering there, out of a fond Notion, that they would never rot in that Place. ALTHO' it was eafy to perceive the Abfurdity of this Conceit, by the noi- fome Stench that iflued from that Pit of Rottenefs, and had the moft un- wholefome Effedls on all who came in- to the Temple; yet the Practice (fuch is the Credulity of thofe who have given up their Reafon) went on. He glazed the Windows with a kind of painted Glafs, thro' which a dim and livid Light entered the Temple, and brought with it a great Variety of odd and and fuperftitious Figures, that feemed to place themfelves in the Windows for no other Purpofe, but to intercept the Rays of the Sun. This, which at Noon was no better than a Twi-light, was reduced to abfolute Darknefs by the Smut, which the Smoak of Tapers, that were burnt there Day and Night, had left upon the Walls and the Ceil- ing. Two Ends very advantageous to the Ufurper were anfwered by this ar- tificial Obfcurity, Firft, the idle and ridiculous Ornaments he had added be- ing ieen by Candle-light, were in lefs danger of having their Deformity or counterfeit Beauty difcovered j again, the Temple being dark of itfelf, it was neceflary that he mould furnifh Lights to thofe who went in, and as neceflary that they mould pay him roundly for his Service. THE upright and firm Pillars of the Doric k and Ionic k Order, which fup- ported the Work above with a natural Air of Grandeur and Strength, he cut into ( III ) into feeble Tortilles, enameled their Surfaces with a thoufand barbarous and crawling Figures, and loaded their Ca- pitals with fuch extravagant Foliages, as were a fufficient Weight for the Shaft, had there been nothing elfe. AT length he added to it another Building, or rather an Heap of almoft an equal Size with itfelf, but on a quite different Plan ; by which means the Uniformity of the Figure was intirely taken away. This new Erection had falfe Windows on the Out-fide that were glazed, as if intended for the Re- ception of Light, but the Wall was continued at thofe Places on the Infide, fo that the Light was intirely (hut out. It was fo crouded every where with little quaint Images, and Pictures, and grotefque Figures, flarting out from the Walls, that it feemed a Burlefque on the old Temple. He was continually adding feme new Device, which brought Gazers to it, and Money into his Pocket. The Front of the old 3 Temple ( I" ) Temple was fliut up, and thofe, who wanted to fee either, were introduced by that of the new, which flood the direct contrary Way, and fo were con- ducted thro' a private dark PafTage, by which means it was pretty difficult to know, when one was in the ancient and when in the modern Structure. His Reafon for this incoherent Situation was, to make his own Edifice feem more magnificent, than that of the an- cient Architect; for as you approached them in this Manner, you had the Front of his Pile, and only the Back of the old Temple in View at once; which he imagined could not but fet off his Erection in the moft advantage- ous Light ; but good Judges fay it hap- pened quite otherwife, and that the worft View of the one, was incompa- rably finer than the moft elaborate Prof- pect of the other. -The Mi flakes in this latter Addition were fo grofs and fo nu- merous, that many, even in thofe Times, perceived it was no great Mi- racle ( 3 ) racle of Art, and were fo free as to call it a new-fangled and modern Perfor- mance. To this, the Ufurper, with his Fellow Truftees had the AfTurance to anfwer, that it was no new nor late Erection, but of the fame Antiquity with what they called the old Temple, and built by the fame Architect ; who, if you would believe them, told their Corporation fo, and left them a verbal Licence to make what Additions or Alterations they (hould think proper ; but for this they had no authentick Re- cord to (hew. It was eafy to fee the Falmood of all their Afiertions on that Subject, by a bare View of this latter Edifice, in which there were an hun- dred Extravagancies altogether un- known to the Age in which the old Temple was built. However, to make what they maintained the more pro- bable, the Ufurper pofitively aflerted in the Teeth of common Senfe, and againft the Teilimony of every ones Eyes, that the whole Pile, as they L then then faw It, was raifed together, that It was impoffible for either to (land without the other, and that if it were not fo, there ought to have been an. Entrance to that Part which they called the Old Temple ; whereas you may obferve, faid be, that you are all obliged to enter by the Gate of that Structure which you call an Addition, and fo to pafs on thro' the whole Build- ing. Some of them told him, that it was. plain enough to any one's Eyes, $h,af there was an Entrance in the Front $f the Old Temple, and at the fame Time pointed to the Gate. To this he anfwered, that what they miftook for an Entrance was quite another Thing ; that if they underftood Archi- tecture, they would be of his Mind: that as they were ignorant of that Art, they ought to give him Leave to judge for them ; and modeftly fubrnit their Senfes and Reafon to his Skill; and that they were not to fuppofe any Ana- logy between a Temple and a dwelling Houfe.. f "5 J Houfe. Upon this they defired to fee a Plan ; but he told them that was only permitted by the Architect to the Board of Truftees. We hope then, faid they, we may fee his Will at leaft. No, replied he, I am fole Executor, and (hall fee it fulfilled. You have nothing to do with thele Matters, but are a Parcel of Blockheads and impu- dent Puppies. You do not underhand Architecture, and therefore can make nothing of the Plan. You are igno- rant of the Language, in which the Will was wrote, and therefore can make as little of that, Tho' there was fcarce any Thing in which the old and new Structure agreed, altho' the Front of each was turned a different Way, al- tho' their very Clocks pointed the Time, and their Weathercocks the Wind dif- ferently, yet the People thro' Ignorance or Fear, fuffered themfelves to be over- ruled, and were fatisfied to {hut their own, and be directed by his Eyes- L z HAYING. ( "6 ) HAVING thus quieted the People, he governed all Things by his own Will for a long Time, and many a fair Pen- ny he made by keeping the Keys. As for the other Truftees, they turned Empiricks and Quacks, and pretend- ing that the Bones, or Teeth, or Hair of fuch as had died in the Defence of the Temple, when it was befieged, could cure all Difeafes, they fold them publickly in the Temple -, and when they were exhaufted, brought more from the Magazine of Rottennefs in the Vault. By this means the Temple was converted into a kind of Shop, or Exchange, in which all Manner of Arts were ufed that .Knaves are wont to praclife on Fools. BUT, at laft, fome difpleafed with his intolerable Avarice and Pride, to which he fet no Bounds, and the Pro- ftitution of fo facred a Building to Mer- chandize and Gain, broke into the old Temple, by the Entrance that had been fo long fhut up j which they had the ( "7 ) the better Right to do, that the greater Number of them were Truftees. The firfl Thing they did was to fearch for the original Plan, which they found wrapt in an old worm-eaten Covering, and thrown into a dark Corner. Ha- ving opened it, they immediately fet themfelves to 'make fuch Alterations, as might reduce the Building to its an- tient Plainnefs, They prun'd the Walls of all the unnatural Ornaments with which their Beauty had been conceal- ed, and their Regularity defaced. They brumed off the Cobwebs, and the Smut. They demolished the Images, and filled up the Niches with the fame Materials that had been taken out of them before. In order to forward and direct their Work, they broke down the painted Glafs, that darkened the Windows j and put the moil tranfpa- rent Glafs they could get in the Room on't. Two- Things put a Stop to this Work, which, at firft, went on very I brifkly. ( II* ) brifkly. The Ufurper, with thofe of his Party, which was by far the moft numerous, fet upon them while they were thus employed, and killing a great many of them on the Spot, drove the reft into one End of the Temple, where, by the Afliftance of others, who came in to their Relief, they found means to barricade and fortify them- felves. Thefe Fortifications made an ill Figure in the Temple, but there was no Help for it. The Ufurper did not think it fufficient to put a Stop to the Reftoration of antient Architecture by Force, but he ufed a thoufand Slights and Stratagems to miflead and embroil the Reftorers, the chief of which was this: He fent many of his own Gang, to take on them the Appearance of Re^ ftorers, who, having artfully infinu- ated themfelves into their Efteem and Affection, put on the Shew of more than ordinary Zeal, finding fault with the Cowardice and Coldnefs of thofe who had begun the Work ; and pul- ling f 119 ) ling all down before them, without DiftincYion of good or bad, ancient or modern. Numbers of well -meaning,, fimple People were carried away with this Appearance, and fet themfelves to demolifii with the fame Ignorance and the fame Fury. Away went the facred Furniture of the Temple, pilfered by iacrilegious Hands! Down went every thing that was ornamental, though it was never fo ufeful ! The Windows were ftript of their tranfparent Glafs by pretended Haters of painted Glafs, and pretended Lovers of Light ; by which means the infide of the Tem- ple was expofed to the Weather; and the wild Devaftation they had made, lay open to the Eyes and Scoffs of their Enemies. Thefe barbarous and Got hick Ruiners were not a little affifted in their impious Pranks by Crouds of Thieves and Robbers, who, under Pretence of reforming Abufes in Architecture, broke into the Temple, and made Plunder of all they laid their Hands on. In vain did ( 120 ) did the fober and honeft, who confult- ed the Plan and the Will of the Archi- tect in all they did, labour to hinder thefe Abufes. But the Ufurper did not inveigh againft this Havock and thefe Bickerings, which he himfelf had been fecretly the Author of, in vain. He found it no difficult Matter to in- fufe a flrong Prejudice into People's Minds, againft fuch impious and out- rageous Practices, having, by his clan- deftine EmifTaries, firft rendered them fuch, for that very Purpofe. The Con- fequence of this was, that People ge- nerally thought it fafer to continue in that Party, and join themfelves to thofe who had added to, and corrupted the Temple, than to afTociate with fuch as feemed in a fair Way to pull it down upon their own Heads, not confidering that the Firmnefs of the Work made this impoffible. IN this Condition ftands the nobleft Edifice fn the World -, diftorted in its Figure, by a rude and Got hick Addi- tion; tion; difgraced, by idle and fantaftick Ornaments ; and fpoiled of its antient Glories, by pretended or ignorant Re- formers : So unhappily are its Beauty, its Majefty, and Grandeur impaired ; that many prefer the Temples of China, or the Mofques of Turkey, to it; and fome had rather worfhip in the open Air. ALLUSION The Ninth. FOR many Ages, the Good of Mankind had excited fome -, and Curiofity and Avarice, Numbers, to fearch for an univerfal Remedy, that might cure all Diftempers incident to the human Species. To this they were encouraged by an old Opinion handed down, from Time immemorial, and generally fpread among the People, M that ( 122 ) that there was really fuch a Thing in Nature, though very hard to be found out. Phyiick was narrowly fearched, Philofophy was fiddly examined, and even Magick fuperftitioufly confulred; but all to no Purpofe, the fugitive Mi- racle eluded all their Enquiries. Some were fo weak as to think, and others fo difingenuous as to pretend they had difcovered it 5 but a little Time and Experience fully demonftrated the Falfhood of the one, and the Folly of the other. Some were of Opinion, that there was no fuch Thing, but they were miftaken ; for, in the Garden of TJranion, a wife and mighty Prince, grew a Tree of excellent Beauty, and wonderful Size, whofe Fruit, with which it was continually loaded, were a prefent Remedy againft all Kinds of Maladies. The Subjects of this Prince had once the Privilege of walking and diverting themfelves in his Gardens^ the Air of which, whether it was owe- ing to the admirable Qualities of cer- tain ( 12 3 ) tain Simples, particularly this Tree, or to ibme peculiar Influence of the Hea- vens, was of fuch a benign Nature, that it was impoffible to feel any Ail- ment of Body, or Grievance of Mind, from the Time one entered the Gate, till one went out again. But fo foolifh and ungrateful were the People, that they abufed the Bounty of their Prince, ftealing his Fruit, and breaking dowft his Trees, in fuch a rude and unfightly manner, that he was obliged to {hut them out of it, and place a flrong Por- ter to defend the Door. However, as Uranion was the moft gracious and mer- ciful of all Princes, he pitied the un- happy Condition of his Subjects, who laboured under a thoufand Diforders, without any Remedy j and died fo faft, that feveral Parts of his once fair and populous Dominions were left deflitute of Inhabitants. WHILE he was reflecting, with great Compaffion, on the Miferies of his Peo- ple, and confidering how he might bed M 2 affift ( 124 ) afiift them, without debafing the Ma- jefty of his Perfon and Laws ; his Son, who had all his Father's Goodnefs in him, and was, moreover, related to the People, by his Mother, generoufly offered to quit, for a Time, the Glories and Delights of the Royal Palace, with the fined Gardens in the Univerfe, and expofe himfelf to the contagious Air, and all the Miferies that afflicted the unhappy People, in order to make them fenfible of their Ingratitude, and reduce them to a more reverend and obedient Difpofition. Go then, faid the good Uranion ; and as many as will follow your Rules, and live in Sobriety and Temperance, without which, you know, the uni- verfal Remedy is of no Effect, mail, on your Interceffion, and Recommen- dation, receive a Portion of that Fruit that cures all Diftempers. CHARGED with this gracious Com- miflion the young Prince left the Pa- lace, and living among the loweft and moil ( rhoft miferable of the People, laboured to recommend Submiffion and Obedi- ence to them, declaring the glad Tid- ings he had from his Father, propofing the infallible Remedy to them, and teaching them how to live, in order to profit by it. Some liftened and obey- ed ; others, wedded to their old Me- thods of Cure, rejected the Tender of his. The Pretenders to Phyfick, who made a Livelihood by their imperfect Skill ; or the Impoftures, with which they abufed the People, fearing the Ruin of their Craft, and envying the wonderful Cures he performed, en- deavoured to perfuade the People, that his Fruit would poifon them; but when this did not take Effect, they perfecuted him with the greatefl Cruel- ty, driving him from Place to Place, blackening his Character, and at length feizing on his Perfon, and putting him to Death, in the moft '. ignominious Manner, and with the fharpefl Tor- tures they could invent. M THE ( 126 ) - THE young Prince, forefeeing that this would be the Cafe, had chofen out, fome Time before his Death, cer- tain trufty Perfons, whom he veiled with a Power, to teach in his Name, and diftribute the univerfal Remedy, to as many as were difpofed to receive it. To thefe he confirmed their Com- miflion, after his Father had raifed him up to Life again, and procured them, iiich a continual Supply of the healing Fruit, as was necefTary to the Profe- cution of the happy Work they had in Hand. Thofe who had confpired the Death of his Son, the jufl Uranion dif- perfed and deftroyed, in a Manner fu it- able to his abfolute Power, and their mon- ftrous Crime. After this, Uranion right- ly judging, that it was beneath him to interfere perfonally with fo ungrateful and fo degenerate a People, constituted his Son fole Minifter, devolving on him the Power of tranfadting all Affairs whatfoever, throughout his Dominions. All Application was to be made, either to ( I2 7 ) to him, or, thro' his Recommendation and Affiftance. No Petition was to be preferred, whether it were for the univerfal Remedy, or any other Grant or Favour, but fuch as the Prince mould authorize and forward by his Seal. THE Perfons, to whom the Prince committed the Work of reclaiming the People, and difpenfing the univer- fal Remedy, acquitted themfelves of that Duty with great Integrity for a long Time, during which the Kingdom vifibly recovered, both as to the Num- ber and Health of the Subjects : But, at length, many covetous and ambitious Perfons, getting in among them, began to make Merchandize of the falutiferous Fruit. One of the moft confiderable, who dwelt in. a Town very com- modioufly lituated for Trade, creeled a Monopoly of this kind of Traffick, and claimed, for himfelf and Company, the fole Right of vending the univerfai Remedy. Not fatisfied with this in- tolerable tolerable Piece of Impudence, they fqueezed th& Juice out of the Fruit, alledging, that it was not intended for common Ufe, and that the People muflbe fatisfied with the Rind ; which, to make it go down the better, they fteeped in a compound Kind of Pickle, that gave it quite another Tafte, and fuch a one, as none but a very depraved Palate could relifli. The Fruit thus drained of its own fimple and wholefome Juice, thus bloated and adulterated with many Ingredients of evil or oppofite Qualities, poifoned the Blood of thofe who took it, and brought Sicknefs and Death, inftead of Health. To this ill Effect, the carelefs Man- ner, in which it was adminiftred, con- tributed greatly ; for thefe mercenary Managers, contrary to the Directions of the young Prince, who had ordered it to be difpenfed gratis, and taken by the Temperate only, at their extreme Peril, Peril, both fold it, and with ft a Licence, to take it even in the Midft of a Debauch; fo that, notwithftand- ing this Precaution, they both took it themfelves, becaufe it was of a very agreeable Flavour, and gave it to the People, becaufe it fold at double Value, where the Licence was tacked to it without obferving the neceflary Rules j by which Means, they and the People were infected with innumerable Difor- ders, many of which were never heard of before, and proved all mortal in the End. By this Means, they reduced the Nation to a worfe State of Health, than it had laboured under, before the Ufe of the univerfal Remedy; and not only that, but rendered them alfo- more Regardlefs of the Honour and Obedience they owed their Sovereign. This latter they brought about, by pre- tending, that the Fruit was of no Ufe, except they cooked and prepared it ; by affecting to receive and prefer thofe Petitions for it, which ought to have been been preferred to Uranion, by his Son only, and by perfuading the People, that the King would receive no Peti- tions, but fuch as were penned in a myfterious Jargon of their own, in order that they might make a Penny, by drawing them with their own Hands. By thefe Means, they held the People in fuch a Slavery to themfelves, that they forgot their true and real Depen- dance, on the Bounty of their King, and the Interceffion of his Son. Some of them turned Publick-Notaries, and earned unrighteous Bread, by ingroffing thefe Petitions, which rendered them, and the poor Petitioners, odious to U rani on. Others, commenced Cooks, and made Money, by dreffing out the univerfal Medicine, fo, as to make it pleafe the vitiated Tafte, and fit eafy on the fqueamim Stomach of fuch, as could reward them handfomely for their Pains. Others again went about from Place to Place, creeling Stages in the Country-Towns, on which they fet the the Royal Bounty to Sale. Thefe im- pudent Empi ricks and Quacks allured the People, that the Medicine which they had to fell, as they had managed it, could infalliby cure all Diftempers, without the Trouble and Confinement of a Regimen ; by which Artifice, they drew in the Generality of the People, to exchange their Sterling for fuch counterfeit or fophiflicated Stuff> as ruined their Health, and mortened their Days, inflead of refloring to them found Conftitutions, and fecuring their Lives. They fold their pretended Re- medies at Random, among the poorer Sort j but undertook the Conftitutions of the Rich, like the Repair of Build- ings, for a certain Salary by the Year. Uranion faw thefe Abufes, with all the Concern and Indignation, that a gracious and juft King can feel, upon feeing his Subjeds puflied on to all Manner of Wickednefs, and even Re* bellion, and with their Eyes opened to apparent Definition, by thofe whom he C 13* ) lie had appointed to preferve them in their Duty, and their Health. To appear in Perfon, and make Ufe of the Royal Authority, to put a Stop to thefe monftrous Practices and Corruptions, had been fuch a reverfing of his former, wife and righteous Methods, as was beneath him to ftoop to. To withdraw the Fruit, and difcontinue the Supplies ftipulated for between his Son and the People, was dishonouring the young Prince, and infringing the Covenant made thro' him. To fend the Prince again amongfl thofe, who had treated him fo ungratefully and barbaroufly already, and who were as likely now as formerly, to be guilty of the fame Cruelty (for the Modern Quacks were greater Gainers by their Impoftore, than the former, and every whit as covetous and malicious) feemed fuch an Abufe of Goodnefs, in Favour of Wretches fb altogether unworthy, that he did not entertain the leaft Thoughts of it. The Prince, who always endeavoured to ( J 33 ) to make as favourable a Reprefentation of the People as he could, interceded with his Father, to let Matters ftand as they were; alledging, that no better Method could be thought of, than that which the Managers had fo grofsly perverted; that there were ftill fome, who not only diftributed the Fruit pure and without a Price, but alfo protefted againft the impudent Traffick, which their Brethren made of it; that the Impofture was too grofs, and its ill Effects too grievous and too fenfible, to be long patiently endured, and that the People, having their Senfes ftill open, would at length take the Courage to hear with their Ears, and fee with their Eyes, the miferable Havock that was made among them. Uranion, in- finitely patient, and averfe to precipitate Refolutions, yielded to the Importu- nities and Interceffion of his Son : But the Quacks, fearing left the People mould one Day fee through an Impo- fture, that at once picked their Pockets, ruined ( 134) mined their Constitutions, and fvvept them out of the World, fet themfelves to contrive how they might moft effe- ctually prevent their ever ufing their Senfes. To accomplifh this they took feveral Ways, one was to tincture the Pickle, in which the Fruit was fleeped for vulgar Ufe, in a certain Opiate that occafioned Madnefs. The Generality of thofe who fwallowed this, loft all Ufe of their Reafon, and were reduced to a Condition little better than that of Brutes ; after which, as they were not fenfible of any Diforders under which they laboured, fo they made no Complaints : But on others , whofe Brains were ftronger, this Drug had not fo entire an Effect. To thefe the Quacks pretended, that the Univerfal Remedy could work no Cure on them, unlefs they underwent certain chirurgi- cal Operations, that were necefTary to prepare them for the Fruit. As foon as they got Leave to ufe their Lancets, they pierced the Drums of their Ears, broke broke the Coats of their Eyes, cut out their Palates, maimed the olfactory Nerves, and fo mangled the fenfible Parts on the Ends of their Fingers, that they could pafs a Cucumber, or a Pumpkin on them, for the all-healing Fruit. I N fhort, fo little Good and fuch a World of Mifchief was done by thefe Empiricks, that many began to think the univerfal Remedy a Cheat, and to doubt, whether there was any fuch thing or not, But the People at length opened their Eyes ; and feveral of thofe, who had been driven to Deftruction, recovering their Underftandings, went about declaiming againft, and detecting the Impofture of the Empiricks ; in- fomuch that many, taking their Con- ftitutions out of their Hands, betook themfelves to Temperance, and the Affiftance of fuch as gave the Fruit gratis ; by which Means they , in a fhort time, recovered their Health, and returned, like good Subjects, to their Allegiance. Allegiance. They petitioned the King in their own Mother Tongue, and had their Submiffion fo warmly recommend- ed by the Prince, that they were imme- diately received into Favour, and fuch plentiful Portions of the univerfal Re- medy were conferred upon them, that they had not only fufficient for their own Ufe j but alfo for as many of their Friends as would confent to return to a like Mind with themfelves. ALLUSION The Tenth. THIS World we live on is a new thing in the Univerfe, and but of late Creation. The Inhabitants of our neighbouring Planets have fcarcely yet got over their Wonder at the ftrange Revolution that happened in our Sy- ftem about fix thoufand Years ago, when there was Room made for this, i by ('37) by the Departure of an old World, that revolved in the fame Orbit which we now defcribe about the Sun. This PredecerTor of our Earth had a Moon or Satellit, of a Magnitude much more confiderable than ours, which, in like Manner , reflected a borrowed and changeable Light upon its Inhabitants. It happened that a Comet of unufual Size came within the Orbit of the old World, and approached fo near it, as to abforb its Moon in her Perigee, or greateft Approximation to the primary- Planet, by which its attractive Force became fo powerful, that it drew in that alfo, being then in its Aphelium^ or greateft Diftance from the Sun, and carried both away with it from the Center of our Syftem, into thofe cold and dark Regions that lie between the Orbit of Saturn and the fixed Stars. There (whether it was that the Attracti- on of the Comet decreafed with its Heat, or from what other Caufe, is not known) they were again difengaged N from from it, and left fo equally fufpended between the Attractions of the furround- ing Syftems, that they have remained ever fince in the fame Point of the Heavens, fixed and immoveable. The Inhabitants of this old World muft have been of a Nature very different from ours, or they had all perifhed long ago at fueh a Diftance from the Source of Light and Heat, fuppofing it poflible for them to have furvived the fiery Em- braces of the Comet. Many and un- fpeakable were the Miferies that attend- ed this melancholy Situation into which they fell. They endeavoured to relieve themfelves from the Cold by Fires, and from the Darknefs by Tapers made of the moft combuftible kinds of Wood that could be found. Thefe, we may be fure, fupplied the Abfence, and an- fwered the Ends of a Sun, but very im- perfectly. It required fo great and fo continual Labour to prepare and feed them, that few could provide themfelves with them 3 and even to thefe they af- forded ( '39 ) forded fuch a niggardly degree of Heat and Light, with fuch glimmering and contracted Views of things, that, had there not been an abfolute Neceffity for fome fuch Expedient, they had been in- tirely laid afide. AFTER feveral Ages fpent in this uncomfortable State of Cold and Dark- nefs, there arofe one, who, from the extraordinary degree of Wifdom and Power with which he was endued, feemed to be fent by the Author of Nature, for the Relief of the Pyran- drlam ( for fo are the Inhabitants of the old World called from their bearing Torches) and to remedy, as much as the Nature of things would admit of, the Miferies of living at fuch an im- menfe Diftance from any Sun. This extraordinary Perfon, who was wonder- fully Ikilled in the Secrets of Nature, took a great deal of Pains to teach them the Art of making a kind of portable Lamps, which infpired thofe who bore them with a kindly and agreeable N 2 Warmth, Warmth, and diffufed fuch a plentiful Light about them, that they could fee clearly all round, and particularly if they held them right, to a prodigious Diftance before them. The Pyran- driam exprefled a World of Gratitude to their Benefactor for the admirable and ufeful Invention j they erected Temples to him after his Departure; and wrote the Hiftory of his Life and Tranfactions in Terms full of Refpect, in which they dwelt copioufly on the Rules and Precepts that he gave them, about the Method of making and ma- naging their Lamps. This Book was kept at the publick Expence, with in- finite Care and Exadtnefs ; and that the Art contained in it might be ren- dered univerfally beneficial, Copies of it were taken by as many as defired them, which certain Officers, appoint- ed for that purpofe, took Care to cor- rect faithfully and fcrupuloufly by the Original. There was one thing in the Art of preparing thefe Lamps, which made ( 14* ) made it neceffary for the Pyrandrian-s- to erect themfelves into particular So- cieties or Corporations, and have fre- quent Meetings 5 and it was founded on this Obfervaticn in Natural Philo- fophy, that Fire is preferved by the Union, and extinguifhed by the Sepa- ration of that combuftible Matter on which it fubfifts. When therefore a new Lamp was to be lighted up, or one that had been extinguifhed to be rekindled, or fuch as were declining in Warmth or Luftre wanted to be re- newed, the Method was to call an Af- fembly, where every one was to repair with his Lamp trimmed. When they were met, all the Tapers were fet to- gether, and not only the dark one took Fire, but all -the reft were ob- ferved to coalefce and return from thefe Meetings with frem Brightnefs and Vi- gour. As the Precepts on which this Art was founded, lay fcattered here and there through the Hiflory of its Au- thor, ( 142 ) thor, it required fome Judgment to put them together ; and the Unfkilful fome- times miftook in preparing their Lamps, fo that while one could not get his Gompofition to take Fire at all, ano- ther had mixed his fo unhappily, that it blew up the whole AfTembly that came together to kindle it. To reme- dy thefe Inconveniencies, and prevent the Contempt into which the Art by this Means might fall, the moft noted for Skill and Succefs in making Lamps and for the extraordinary Brightnefs of their own^ met, and made an AbftracT: of the Rules in which the whole Art was contained. This they publifhed for vulgar Ufej and it was found by the" Experience of many Ages, to be of ex- cellent EfFeft in directing the Judgments of the Pyrandrians, fo various in them- felves to the one great Point intended by the Author > to wit, the making a good Lamp. ALTHOUGH the Benefit of thefe Lamps, and the Certainty with which, by ( '43 ) by the Help of the Abftract, they vvere- prepared, was too manifeft to be denied ; yet there wanted not thofe, who not only fpoke contemptuoufly of the Au- thor, but endeavoured to oppofe the Progrefs of the Invention. It cannot rationally be fuppofed, that they had any other Motive for fo doing, than the Fear of having their Lives, which, they fay, were none of the beft, ex- pofed by the Light: But, although this was the fole Motive of all who oppof- ed the Art, yet they {hewed their Op- pofition in different Ways; fome o- penly endeavoured to blow out the Lamps, but were mortified to find, that, by fo doing, they only difperfed the Snuff and Ames ; infomuch that they burnt with double Brifknefs and Luftre. Others tried to depreciate them, by making others of their own Invention, which, they pretended, an- fwered the End much better; but the contrary was manifeft ; for they were foon difcovered to be only the old wooden ( H4 ) wooden Torches, a little better dried than formerly by the Pleat of the Lamps. THERE were a third kind, more artful than the former, who pretended to be true Pyrandrians> and, with a fort of counterfeit Lamps, which, for an Hour or two, burnt extremely like the right ones, entered into their Aflemblies, and there, in a kind of plaufible Ha- rangues, laboured to difluade the Py- randrians from the Ufe of the Abftracl. This they did to make way for the Op- polition they intended againft the Hi- ftory itfelf; but covered their Defign under -the higheft Encomiums on the Excellence of the Lamps, the Wifdom of the Invention, and the Goodnefs of its Author. It is true, at firft they made a new Abftract of their own, which took prodigioufly for fome time j for the Inhabitants of the old Pyran- drian World were, like ours, and all other planetary People, extremely fond of Novelty and Change. But it was not ( '45 ) not long 'ere this Abftradt fell into Contempt upon comparing it with the original Hiftory, and finding it widely different from -that, and very defective in Practice. The pretended Pyran- drians^ finding this Artifice detected, with an Aflbrance peculiar to their Seel, fet themfelves to rail at all Abftradts, denying their own, and condemning that, and the old one, as equally fpuri- ous and pernicious. They infifted that, feeing the Invention, as it lay in the ancient Hiftory, was both perfect and intelligible, all Abftracls or Explana- tions muft be either vain or prejudicial ; that, if the Author had thought other- wife, he had furnimed the Pyrandrians with fuch of his own Contrivance, and not left his Art to be mangled, under a Notion of mending it, by Bunglers and Pretenders j and that there was juft Caufe of Fear, left, in procefs of time, the Hiftory fhould be quite laid afide, the Abftradt only ufed, and by that Means the Art, in a long Succeffion of O Ages, ( '46 ) Ages, t>e entirely loft. Although the true Pyrandrians declared, they laid no other Strefs on the Abftraft, but as it was authorized by a ftric"r. Conformity with the Hiftory, as it gave an entire and concife View of the neceftary In- gredients in a good Lamp, and as the Expedient had been found eminently ferviceable in fo entirely removing thofe Inconveniencies mentioned before, that proceeded from a lax, unguarded, and undirected Perufal of the Hiftory, that they were now generally forgot j al- though they referred every one to the Hiftory, and took all poflible Pains to preferve it genuine, and in full Autho- rity ; yet thofe, who oppofed the Ab- ftrac"l, went on, and, with a World of popular Sophiftry and Declamation, purfued this firft neceffary Step to that primitive Darknefs, which their real Principles and fecret Practices required. They ufed fo much Art and Caution, that they, at firft, made many Profelytes to their way of thinking, whom they afterwards ( 147 ) afterwards further initiated into their dark Defigns, as they found Means to wean them from the Love of Light, and polTefs them with a Fondnefs for fuch abfurd and abominable Practices as could not bear the Lamp. H o w E v E R , notwithstanding the thick Veil under which they concealed their Defigns, the Pyrandrian World was then too plentifully illuminated, for fuch an Impofition to pafs long up- on it. Several things affifled the Dif- covery : Firft, their counterfeit Lamps, with which they had found Admit- tance into the Pyrandrian AfTemblies were found out, and fo fufficiently ex- ploded, that they were obliged to lay them afide. Secondly, they could not be prevailed on to draw together thofe Precepts on which the Art was found- ed ; nor make Lamps even by the Hi- ftory itfelf, left, truly, they fhould im- pofe a particular Senfe on any Part of it, or introduce novel Explications. This gave great Caufe of Sufpicion, that O a they ( 148 ) they were not true Friends to the In- vention. Thirdly, they affected the fame way of Reafoning, and the fame Latitude of Thought with thofe who openly oppofed the Art, and were ever ready to cry them up as Patterns of good Senfe and found Judgment. Fourthly, they appeared to have no Light about them , and when they were queftioned with on that Article, they fhewed a dark Lanthorn in which, they faid, was inclofed a moft glorious Lamp, made by a new Receipt, from whence they vain-glorioufly afTumed , and the Pyrandrians, in Derifion, gave them the Name of Augenei, or New- lights. They could not be prevailed on to open thefe Lanthorns, although they had nothing to fear, but merely the being convicted of Impofture ; for the Pyrandnans ufed no Violence or Perfecution, thinking every one punim- ed himfelf fufficiently, who refufed the Ufe of the Lamps. The bare Ufe of an Abflract, that confeffedly contained nothing * ( H9 ) nothing different from the Hiftory , feemed to be too flight a Foundation for the Divifions that were broached , and the Debates that were fet on Foot. Since little or no Inconvenience could rationally be feared from thence, it was to be prefumed the Augenei had fome- thing of more Moment at the bottom, and that they were Enemies to the Lamps themfelves. At leafl if this was not the Cafe, fome other Principle or Delign, as detrimental to the Pub- lick Welfare, muft be fuppofed from the Induftry and Art ufed to conceal, not only thofe Lamps they pretended to carry about, but the Secret by which they were made, and the whole Plan of their Defigns. If the Lamps of the Pyrandrians were falfe Lights, or their Inventor a Deceiver, why did not the Augend^ who fet up for more than or- dinary Degrees of Benevolence, open- ly expofe the Impofture? If their own were the only true ones, why did they not produce them, and publifh the Re- O 3 ceipt ceipt by which they were made ? Why were all things to be managed covert- ly, and in the dark, by one Party, in a Difpute about Light, whilft the other dealt openly in every thing, and taughfc the World what they knew? Why were the Principles of the Augenei ib impenetrable and opake, while thofe- of the Pyrandrians were altogether tranfparent? Was it not a molt pre- pofterous thing while the Augenei rail- ed at the Pyrandrians for the Ufe of an Abftract for which they could not affign natural Reafons, becaufe the Co- operation of the feveral Ingredients was in itfelf myflerious and inexplicable, that they mould make a Secret of what, if you believed their own Words, they could very eafily explain? All thefe, and a thoufand other Queries of the fame kind , are no other Way to be anfwered, but by faying that the Ange- mi flood up in Defence of a pretended Light, in order to eftablifh a real Dark- nefs, nefs, becaufe Darknefs was the only Defence for their Deeds. THIS Controverfy is likely never to have an End j becaufe Light and Dark- nefs are incompatible, till one or other Party be deflroyed. BUT there is little Room to expe<5l this; lince if, on the one Hand, the real and manifefl Ufe of the Lamps muft always preferve the Art of making them, and the Hiftory in which it is contained; fo the Augend have many Helps to fupport them on the other. In all Controverfies Obfcurity has great- ly the Advantage of Perfpicuity. All the Defigns of the Pyrandriam are no fooner laid, than difcovered and ob- viated, while thofe of the Augend are impenetrable. The Pyrandrians lie o- pen to a thoufand Shots from the dark, expofed by their own Light, while the Augend are invifible, and only to be attacked at random. If there be the leaft Flaw in an Argument that is thoroughly underflood, it is immediate- O 4 ly ( '52 ) ly widened to a DifTolution of the whole : or, if there be none, it is eafy feeing where a pretended one may moft artfully and feafibly be fixed. BUT, on the other Side, be there never fo many real Defects, Obfcurity can hide them all ; and, as there is no diflinguifhing right from wrong, there is neither Safety nor Certainty in op- pofing any thing. What, faid the Py- randrians, is the Ufe of Light but to be diffufed about us, and to prefent us with a View of the Perfons or Things we are concerned with? The beneficent Inventor of our Lamps forbid us to hide them, but rather to let them mine before all the Pyrandrians , that all might fee and enjoy the Benefit of them, and provide themfelves with Lamps of their own; but thefe Augenei^ either envying us a Share of their new Light, or elfe fearing it mould be found to be no better than Darknefs, conceal both their Art and Lamps; and, by their {tumbling and irregular Motions, give fhrewd ( '53 ) fhrewd Signs that they had no Light; and, by their pilfering, and other dark Practices, that they defire none. A THOUSAND other Circumstances too tedious here to mention, concurred to confirm this Sufpicion j but at length an Accident happened that put it out of Queftion. One of the Augenei was caught afleep, after a Debauch,, by a Company of the Pyrandriam^ with his Lanthorn lying by him. They carried off both with them, and, in a full Af- fembly of their own People, examined him about the Nature of his new Light : But there was fuch a world of Shuffling and Ambiguity in all his An- fwers, that it was impoffible to make any thing of him, only this, that fuch equivocal and double-dealing plainly argued him an Impoftor ; befides, upon his being firfl roufed, which was ,in the midft of the AfTembly, he was in vaft Confufion to find himfelf furprized, his Eyes could not bear the Brightnefs ef the Lamps, and he demanded his Lanthorn ( i54 J Lanthorn with the greateft Marks o? Fear and Anxiety, in both his Voice and Looks. This was all the Helps they had to form his Character , or that of his Companions, from any Ob- fervations they could make on himfelf; for his Impudence foon recovered him from his Surprife, infomuch that he anfwered all their Queflions with an innocent Face and an affured Look- The Pyrandrians, finding it impoffible to draw him out from the intricate Re- cefTes and dark lurking Places, which his manifold Hypocrify and Impudence afforded him, ordered his Lanthorn to be opened, in Hopes of making a full Difcovery from thence : But they fpent a great deal of Time, to no purpofe, in fearching for a Door. After handing it about, and examining it one after an- other, they were obliged to ufe Violence to it. UPON breaking it open fuch a pefti- lential Vapour iffued from the Fradure, as made the Lamps, for a Moment or two, ( '55 ) two, burn blue, and feized the Heads of all that were prefent with an unac- countable Giddinefs: But, upon its go- ing off immediately, they could obferve no Light in the Lanthorn, nor any room for a Lamp or Candle: for the whole was fluffed with Implements of various kinds, which they drew out and examined one after another. Firft came forth a large Packet, with the Word NEtr-LIGHTwotQ upon it in capital Letters, and round the Word the Figures of the Sun, Moon, Stars, and other luminous Bodies, with Rays,, and large Encomiums interfperfed upoa the Nature and Excellence of Light. Upon breaking this open, it appeared to be only the covering of feveral other. Packets contained within it, and was all painted with Clouds on the infide. The firft of the leffer Packets, had TRUTH wrote on it, and underneath a. naked Woman held a Balance, one Scale of which was immerfed in a Cloud, while the Sun (hone brightly on, ( '56) on the other; upon opening this, there was found another with SOPHISTRY wrote upon it, and a Figure with two Faces peeping from behind a Curtain 5 and this again being open, was found full of fine Duft , which , by the leaft Breath of the By-flanders , arofe like Smoke, and, for fome Time, fo far prevailed upon the Lamps, as to render what paft almoft invifible. The next Packet that was difplayed, had NATURE wrote upon it, and underneath the Fi- gure or a favage Pyrandrian frifking. on his Hands and Feet, and haftening with Pleafure and Eagernefs in his Countenance, towards an Herd of four- footed Animals , that appeared at a Diftance. Within it was daubed with obfcene and drunken Figures, and rude Battles of naked Pyrandrians, tearing each other with their Teeth. It con- tained another that had PLEASURE wrote on the out-lide, and VICE within, and was filled with Dung. THE THE laft Packet, had LIBERTY wrote upon it, with the Picture of a War- Horfe bounding over a Wall, while his Rider grovelled at fome Diftance be- hind him, with the Saddle, Bridle, and other Furniture lying in Confufion round him. On the Inlide appeared the Figure of an Hydra, whofe hundred Heads, . armed with Fire and Stings, waged furious War with each other, and in the void Spaces among the Heads was wrote, LIBERTINISM and ANARCHY. It contained only a Medley of fmall Books, and warlike Weapons, cut in Wood, that looked like an Arfenal and a Library huddled together. It was obferved, that on one of the Books, thefe Words were carved, DARK- NESS TO BE FELT. Such were the Con- tents of the Packets. The reft of the Lanthorn was filled with Daggers, Poi- fons, Pick-locks, Rope-ladders, and all the various Inftruments, with which Night Enterprizes, and dark Defigns are wont to be carried on. By the Anatomy ( '58 ) Anatomy of this Lanthorn, as it was called, it appeared what Kind of Peo- ple the Augenei were, and an Edict was forthwith publifhed by the Pyran- drians, forbiding all Manner of Com- merce of Converfation with them, un- der this Penalty, That whofoever mould trangrefs the Edict, fhould have his Lamp forthwith quenched, and be for ver expelled the Luminous AfTembly, ALLUSION The Eleventh. AMONG the Numbers of weal- thy Romans who in the Julian and Augujlan Ages retired to the ftatcly Villa's they had built in Campania for their Pleafure, there was one, who be- taking himfelf to a Philofophical Life, exchanged all he was worth at Rome for I ( 159) for a moderate Parcel of Ground not far from Baia. The Improvements he made on this Spot, which was one of the moft fertile in the World, were rather defigned for Ufe than Ornament, and had fome Refemblance to thofe he made in his Mind, which were alto- gether in order to Virtue. He believed that human Happinefs was to be ob- tained by keeping both the Mind and Body clofe to Nature and Reafon, and that we make ourfelves miferable in Proportion to the fuperfluous Nicety of Houfes, Tables and Drefs, with which we treat our Bodies, and the curious Refinements in Knowledge, to which the more learned accuftom their Minds. He was an Enemy to Luxury of all Kinds, as well that which confifts in fuperfluous Learning, as unnecefiary Riches. It was for this Reafon that he laid it down to himfelf as a Law never to be difpenfed with, that he and his Family fliould by their Induftry in the Summer provide only what was necef- fary fary during the enfuing Year, with fome little Overplus in Cafe of Acci- dents or Difappointments in the next fucceeding Crop. By this Means being kept always bufy, he avoided all the Mifchiefs that are incident to an idle Life, together with the Perplexities and Errors that naturally arife from Study and Speculation. This Method, however fingular it may feem, gave him Health and Contentment, and thofe a long Life. But finding at laft that he muft yield to the common Lot of all Men, he called his two Sons Syngenes and T'ycherus to him, and fpoke to them in the following Manner. My Sons, hear the laft Commands of your dying Father, and remember them as an hereditary Secret, from whence you may draw Health of Body, Peace of Mind, and Length of Days, as I have done. As I perceive all Things in this great Body of the Roman Em- pire degenerating apace, and tending headlong to that State of Luxury and Corruption Corruption that never fails to ruin the Happinefs of Individuals, as well as the Strength of Common- wealths, fo I have lived myfelf, and out of my tender Regard to my dear Children, would have you live by other Maxims than thofe of your contemporary Ro- mans. I have left my Eftate fo equally divided between you, that one will have no Reafon to envy the other, ei- ther for the greater Quantity or Ferti- lity of his Portion. Each with proper Induftry will have enough to fupport a numerous Family in Plenty. Beware therefore of ever endeavouring to en- large your Patrimonies, for that may be attended with Injuftice and Violence,, and it would be Folly to expofe your- felves to Temptations, lince I have left you a Competency. I have designedly made you Polleffors only of what is fufficient, altho' I might have amafTed a much ampler Fortune, that your Suftenance may depend upon Induftry r the Mother of Virtue and Happinefs. P Since Since you have only enough, take Care therefore to k^ep it entire. With my Will I leave you a written Summary of my Oeconomy, in which you will find the beft Rules that can pofilbly be kid down for the Cultivation of this particular Piece of Ground. If you bferve them carefully, you {hall a- kound, and be happy ; if you neglect them, you fliall be poor and miferable. Remember what a long and happy Life they have given me ; and obferve how wretched and fhort lived the reft of Man- kind are generally rendered, by following Maxims of a contrary Nature. SOON after the deceafe of their Fa- ther, Syngenes and 'Tycberus took Pof- feffion of their feveral Eftates. While lycberus, full of his Father's Example, and directed by his Rules of Agricul- ture, gave the necefTary Application to the Provifion of Food for his Family j he obferved that his Brother Syngenes fuffered his Land to lye wholly untilled. Their Conduct was as different, as if they they had not been educated in the fame Family, or, as if their Father had brought them up in, and bequeathed to them at his Death, the Obfervation of quite contrary Maxims. Tycherus was always employed either in repair- ing his Houfe, or cultivating his Grounds ; and was never feen abroad in the Fields, without an Hatchet, a Rake, a Scickle, or fome other Inftru- ment of Huibandry j whereas, Synge- nes feldom ftirred Abroad -, and when he did, was obferved to faunter about with his Arms ftuck idly in his Bofom, or with a crooked Stick in his Hand, gathering the wild Fruit that this Hedge or that Coppice afforded. They happened to meet one Day, and Tyche- rus afked his Brother, why he did not plough his Ground, nor repair his Fen- ces, as his Father had done before him ? putting him in Mind that the Seafon was pretty far advanced, and that Seed Time would foon be over; and, I care not, faid Syngenes> if Harvefl were P 2 at at hand, I fhould then gather in my Crop. TTCHERUS. I am afraid you will find it a very fcanty one, unlefs you plow and fow for it. STNGENES. It is Prejudice of Education that makes you think fo. frCHERUS. And pray what is it makes you think that you can pofTibly reap without fowing ? I am fure our Father, who was the beft Farmer in the Neighbourhood, did not think as you do. SrNGENES. But I am no more tied down to his Way of Thinking, now that I am at Liberty to act for my- felf, than fye was to that of his Father, who fpent his Life under Arms. TTCHERUS. I don't fay you are, any farther than his Maxims and Ex- ample appear expedient and beneficial to yourfelf. But I imagine you will find his Way of cultivating and fowing his Grounds, as neceflary as Eating and Drinking, and wearing of Cloaths. STNGENES. ( 165 ) STNGENES. Perhaps not. 1 think fome of my Father's Principles very right, and others as wrong } and of thofe again that are right, fome may do very well for one Man's Purpofe-, that would ruin another. This firil Maxim indeed, that we mould follow Nature and Reafon in order to be happy, I greatly approve of ; as for the reft, they feem to be either foreign or falfe. TTCHERUS. Falfe! Pray give an Inftance. STNGENES. Why, can any Thing be more abfurd than to fuppofCj as he he did, that Labour is neceflary to Happinefs, and Pains-taking to the En- joyment of Pleafure ; by which he makes a Drudge and a Slave of Man, who is the Lord of the Creation. Our Vaffals, the inferior Animals, who keep nearer to Nature, are to live at Large truly, and to be fed and cloathed without Care or Trouble, while their Sovereign muft moil and muddle in the Earth, and ftooping down from his ere<fl ( 166 ) and regal Pofture, pay the Sweat of his majefterial Brow for every Mor- fel he is to put into his Mouth. How confiils this with the Harmony and good Order of Things ? ' frCHERUS. Ay, I was afraid it would come to this. Brother! Bro- ther ! you do very ill to read thofe Books of vain Philofophy that fill your Head with thefe Whims. Our wife Father ufed to obferve to us, that there is as great Madnefs in the Refinements of Philofophy, as Folly in the Ways and Fafliions of the World, and that they are alike far from Nature and Rea- fon. He was wont to tell us, that with refpedt to the Ends and Purpofes of Life, he that is commonly fly led a very learned Man, is the greateft Fool in the World. This we (hall fee veri- fied in you, before the Year's End; and notwithftanding you are fo great a Lord, and fuch a profound Man, you and your Family will be in want of NecefTaries, while J, who can fcarce keep keep my own Accounts, have "a fair: Profpect of liyj-tig warm and in Plenty. - Our Father owed his Happinefs and length of Life, to his being a plain downright Man ; if you followed his Example, you would prefer moderate Labour, tho' it were not necefTary, to the Support of your Family, merely becaufe it is wholefome to the Body, and amufing to the Mind. STNGENES. Brother, if you-; had Learningj you would never con- found Toil and Pleafure together, nor talk fo weakly as you do, about the Wholefomenefs of {training and har- raffing your Body, and the Amufements of working. If Reft is both wholefome and pleafant, how can its oppolite, Toil, be fo too ? But, it is in vain to argue with one, who knows not the. firft Rules of Difputation. TrCHERUS. I know no Oc- cafion for difputing, and therefore I do not trouble my Head, either about the fir ft or fecond Rules of it , but this I know ( 168) know by Obfervations made on others, that all your idle Folks are the mofl fplenetick and uneafy Wretches in the World, while thofe who take Pains, and are bufy, appear to be chearful and healthful. I find by myfelf too, that I have great Pleafure, in the Work of my own Hands; and that I am not eafy when I have nothing to do ; nay, I perceive that, unlefs I fatigue myfelf a little, I can have no Pleafure in Reft> that Condition in which you place your Happinefs. I mould think, as all Men partake of the fame Nature, that you muft perceive the fame Thing in your- felf : But, perhaps it may be otherwife. I am unlearned, and cannot difpute. All my Knowledge, dear Brother, con~ fifts in a little Experience and Common Senfe. SrNGENES. Yes, both the Kind and Degree of your Senfe is very common, your Amufements are thofe of the Vulgar, which, I fancy, neither j nor the reft of them would care to ( 169 ) to divert yourfelves withal, if you thought you could help it. TTCHERUS. It is no Matter whether we would or not; but, believe me, the folid and rational Entertain- ment, or Engagement, they give my Thoughts, is what I could never find in the little idle Games, with which polite People commonly amufe them- felves. The latter feem to be fit only for Children, and indeed your fine Folks, at leaft in this Part of the World, feem to be as little in earneft about this Life; while the Entertainments of me and my Neighbouring Farmers are ferious and manly. We fupport and enjoy Life at once, while thofe, who call themfelves our Betters, feem only to adt a Part, and pleafe themfelves with a very chiidim Refprefentation of Reality, that is found by none, but fuch as are induftrious about Things neceflary. Is it not very abfurd, Brother, to fhun the true Bufmefs of Life out of Sloth, and and then feek for forced invented Bufi- nefs, for want of fomething to do? S TN GENES. Yes, but it is not at all abfurd, to fpare unneceflary Pains, and fuch are the Labours of Mankind, which are fo much the more ridiculous than their mere Diverfions, as they are more ferious. rrCHERUS. How! are all the Labours of Mankind, abfurd and ridi- culous ? Not excepting even thofe that are necefiary for our Support ? STNGENES. Ay, but there are none fuch. They are all Inventions of our own, to plague ourfelves, who live as it were in a miferable World of our own contriving, and fubjeft to in- numerable Wants of our own making, for which we muft alfo make artificial Supplies. Our natural Wants are few, and thofe Nature it felf, without any other Help, can fufficiently provide for. -TrCHERUS. For Inftance now, mould you neglect to plow and fow thofe Fields before us, would you ex- peel: peel: to have the Neceflaries of Life, fpring fpontaneoufly out of them ? STNGENES. Yes. rrCHERUS. What, Corn, Wine, and Oil ? STNGENES. Yes, why not? Do you imagine thofe are lefs natural to the Earth than Grafs and Weeds, and a thoufand other Things, not fo ufeful, that grow unbid ? Nay, that are produced in greateft Abundance, where the Ground is lefs difturbed, or a in your Way of fpeaking, manured ? TTCHERUS. I do not know; this Doctrine is new to me, and I am lure, it is very different, not only from the Practice of our Father j but from that of Mankind in general. STNGENES. Why fo it is ; and what then ? rrCHERUS. Nothing, only I thought, that in Cafes of this Kind, the Experience of the oldeft Hufband- men, and indeed of all Men, might afford afford fome Foundation for an Argu- ment. S TNG E NE S. This is an Expe- rience that the World buys very dear. rrCHERUS. I do not; for my Father gave it to me for nothing, and I needed only to open my Eye- lids, and confirm it to myfelf by con- tinual Obfervations. STNGENES. You had a little more Trouble with it, than barely lifting up your Eye-lid. It has coft you all thofe Labours, that raife you fo foon in the Morning, and keep you fo late up at Night; and, believe me, that is no fmall Purchafe. Had you known that our bountiful Mother Earth, be- llows all Things, needful for our Sup- port, without afking or prefTmg, I be- lieve you would have fpared the con- tinual and earneft Solicitation of the Plough and Harrow. ITCHERUS. Yes, that I fhould, and have found fomething elfe to em- ploy me. But I would gladly know, what ( '73 ) what Arguments you can have for an Opinion fo fingular and furprizing ? STNGENES. The Argu ments are very good, but I won't fay, they will convince you. That Tree is a very large and plain one, and yet I do not think a blind Man could fee it at Noon-day. TTCHERUS. Well, but I will rub away the Prejudices from my Rea- fon, as well as I can, and try to appre- hend you. STNGENES. Tell me then, do you think the Works of Nature, difcover a perfect Wifdom in their Con T trivance ? TTCHERUS. I do, S TNG E NE S. And that in them there is unftinted Goodnefs (hewn to us, by their Author ? TTCHERUS. I do. STNGENES. Since then the whole World is fo full of the Wifdom and Goodnefs of its Author, why (hould you accufe him of providing fo ill for 0.3 the the Happinefs of Man, on whofe Ac- count the Whole was made, that Man is obliged to provide for himfelf, and that in the mofl laborious and painful Manner. If thofe Materials, that are neceflary for the Nouriihment of the human Body, and the Support of Life, require fo much Pains to produce and prepare them, then our Maker, inflead of beftowing freely, has, along with his Gifts, impofed fuch hard Conditions, that I really think Man, who by his Reafon is Lord, by his Wants and La- bours is rendered the very Slave of the whole Creation ; and yet this muft be the Cafe, if the Earth does not fend forth our Food, as it does that of all other Creatures, unlefs by mere dint of Labour : But, our Creator has not dealt fo with us-; Corn, and Olives, and Vines, are no more Aliens to the Earth, than other Plants lefs ufeful. The Ground is the common Parent of them all, and as they muft have fprung from thence at firft, fo they muft ba fuppofed. ( '75 ) iuppofed as much the Favourites of their mild Mother, and on as good a footing with her, as the reft of her Offspring j unlefs indeed you think her like thofe foolim Mothers, that indulge the moft froward of their Children ; while they treat the good-natured with Severity. Do you think me is partial to Thorns and Brambles ? rrCHERUS. I know nothing of her Sentiments, with refpecl to her Children, but as they are difcoverable by Matter of Fact. It is certain that Thorns, and Brambles, and other noxi- ous Weeds, grow apace in my Grounds, in fpight of all I can do to hinder them ; and were it not for a great deal of plowing, fowing, digging, planting, pruning, hedging, &t\ 1 find I and my Family might ftarve, for any Thing the Earth would afford us gratis. STNGENES. How do you find that ? Did you ever make the Experi- ment ? ( 176 ) TTC CHE R US. No, nor do I in- tend it in your Way; but thofe Fields that have lain fince Hannibal foraged in thefe Parts, without affording one Morfel of Bread, or one Drop of Wine or Oil j but, on the contrary, abundance of wild Shrubs, and ufelefs Plants of all kinds, give me Reafon enough to fear thefe would let me ftarve, if I did not cultivate them. STNGENES. All Parts of the World do not produce all kinds of Plants, though every Country or Climate is naturally fruitful in fuch things as are neceflary for the Support of its own Inhabitants. Plants grow fpontaneous in their own native Soil, and not with- out Cultivation in others. Corn, and Vines, and fuch like, are not Natives of our Climate, or elfe they would grow as familiarly here as thofe Bram- bles you complain of. TrC HE R US. How then are we of this barren Country to be fupported, if we do not cultivate the Ground ? SrNGENES.Ky feeding on fuch things as our Soil affords us, without mangling it with Ploughs and Spades. rrCHERUS. Obferve thofe Fields over-run with Briers and Thorns: Do you think you could live comfortably on what they produce in their prefent natural Condition ? STNGENES. Why not? It is only Prejudice makes us defpife their Fruits, and Difufe that renders them difagreeable or unwholefome to us. Be- fides, they furnifh Shelter for wild Beads, whofe Flem is excellent Food. frCHERUS. But not to be had without the Labour of hunting them, which fo great a Lord as you could never ftoop to. Again, the killing them is attended with great Danger, and that, I believe, you would care as little for as the Labour. As for Corn, and Olives, and Vines, I take them to be Natives of no Country in your Senfe; for fince they do not grow here without Labour and Manure, where can they grow? grow? There is not a more fruitful Spot of Ground on Earth than this we inhabit. Its Produce is brought to Maturity by the united Influence of both folar and fubterraneous Heat, ope- rating on a Soil ftrongly impregnated with Oil, and Sulphur, and Niter > which you Naturalifts allow to be Principles of Fertility; and accordingly onr Fruits are equal at lead to thofe of any other Country the Roman Eagle has yet viiited. STN GENES. Why, you talk as if the Seed of thefe more ufeful Plants had been dropped down like the Ancile out of Heaven, and not produced by the Earth ? Whence do you fuppofe we had them ? rrC HERUS. I think it is plain the Earth does not produce them of it- felf, even when kept clear of other Plants that might obftrucl their Growth ; and therefore I conclude they were formed by the Hand of our Maker at the fame Time with ourfelves, and de- livered livered to us, as both the Support of our Lives, and the Pledges of our In- duftry. To this agrees the Story of the Goddefs Ccres's teaching Triptole- lemiis the Art of Agriculture, and fend- ing him from Nation to Nation to pro- pagate that Art, and difpenfe the Seed fhe had given him. Perhaps there may be fomething of Fable and Allegory in this Story j but, if there is any thing to be gathered from it at all (and there is none of thofe ancient Tales without a Meaning) it is, that the World neither knew the Seed, nor the Method of pro- pagating it, until they had both from the Divine Being. STNGENES. So that we have Corn, &c. only by Tradition, without any natural Faculty in the Earth to produce it ? By this Means it may come at laft to be loft ; and then what will become of Mankind, who, according to you, cannot fubfift without it? TTCHE R. Fear not : It is fo necef- fary, that I'll engage the World will never fuffer it to run out. STNGENES. That is more than you can tell : For though I grant you, that 'tis very good j yet there are other things on which Mankind might fub- fift. You ufed the Word Weed fome time ago, by which is commonly meant an ufelefs or a noxious Plant ; but the Application of fuch a Term mews great Ignorance in thofe who ufe it, and does no lefs Difhonour to the Ma- ker of the World. Is there any thing ufelefs or hurtful in the Creation? Did God make thofe Plants to vaunt his own Power, or to incommode Man- kind ? Has he made any thing in this World for any other Reafbn, but our Accommodation ? Forbear fuch Ex- preffions therefore, and confider, that as all his Works are good, we might, if Prejudice and Cuftom did not hinder us, , feed as well on one thing as an- other. TTCHER. Could you make a Meal out of that great Stone that lies before you I STN- STNGENES. Out of that Stone ? No. Who ever thought of eating Stones? TTCHER. All things therefore are not fit for Food ; no, nor all Plants. They were intended for various Ufes; and many of them not for the imme- diate Ufe of Man. Nay, fome of them are undoubtedly hurtful in one refpeft, though they may be ufeful in another 5 and the Mifchief they do, is no more inconfiftent with the Goodnefs of God, than the reft of the Evil that is in the World. Whether God made all things for Man, I know not, no more than I do how to account for many things in the Creation. I was not by, when the World was made, nor have I been let into the fecret Caufes of things fincej all I can fay is, that there are many Evils incident to this Life, among which we Hufbandmen cannot but reckon Briers and Thorns ; fo far are we from thinking a Thicket as good as a Vine- yard -j or a Field overgrown with Bram- bles bles, as beneficial as one enriched with a Crop of Wheat. Jf we might guefs at the Defigns of our Maker , thefe Thorns, and Brambles, and Weeds of all kinds might have been intended partly as a Punifliment for the Wicked- nefs of Mankind, and partly to keep us bufy; who, if we had not that to do, might employ ourfelves in fomething worfe. But as we can neither trace the Originals, nor account for the Na- tures of all things, it is a lurer Way to Reafon from undeniable Fads. The hurtful, or, if you will have it fo, the lefs ufeful Plants grow of themfelves, while thofe, which we fland in more continual need of, are not to be obtain- ed of the Earth, without a good deal of Pains; but which, I think, it is worth one's while to take, on account of the Support and Pleafure they re- ward our Toil with. Thefe are Truths which it is Madnefs to deny; and thofe who will argue otherwife, I refer them to Hunger for an Anfwer. i S HV- ( 183 ) STNGENES. It is plain, that Tillage is Nonfenfe and Impertinence, from the infinite Difagreement there is about the manner of doing it : Were fuch a thing necefTary, it would have been made fo plain to all Men, that all v/ould have known it as naturally as they do, that opening one's Eyes is ne- ceflary to Sight. Shall that, on which Life depends, be left to the Corruption of human Inftitution and Tradition ? There is an infinite Variety of Opi- nions about the Cultivation of Ground. Perhaps none of them is right; or, if one of them be, how ftiall we find it out, and diftinguifh it from the reft ? It is impoffible to try them all ; and it is in vain to fet about the Work, un- lefs one knew how to do it fo as to be fure of not mifcarrying. TTCHERUS. You may put as many fubtil Queftions, and perplex yourfelf with as many Difficulties as you pleafe, I am obliged to give no other Anfwer to them than this, that I cannot cannot live without Food ; that Food is not to be had without cultivating the Earth; and that the Methods of Til- lage, which my Father practifed him- felf , and recommended to us , have always proved fuccefsful , and been crowned with plentiful Harvefts. This is enough for me, and I think myfelf concerned no further. As to the Jufti- fication of our Maker's Meafures, in creating us under fuch or fuch Circum- ilances , perhaps refined and curious Speculations will rather hinder than help us to do it properly. If things themfelves be candidly confulted, we fhall find them fpeaking the Wifdom and Goodnefs of their Creator in plainer and ftronger Terms, than thofe in Ufe among the Philofophers : If Perfons, I know no kind of Men fo well difpofed to honour and love the Father of the World, as thofe who earn a plentiful Subfiftence for themfelves and Fami- lies by the honeft Sweat of their Brows. They have Health, and Peace, and Con- tentment, tentment, the greater Part of which they owe to the Neceffity they are un- der of labouring for their Subfiftence, as appears from the more unhappy Con- dition of thofe who are fupported by the Indufiry of others in a Life of Idle- nefs. Had Providence given us all our Food without Labour, I am apt to think, we had all been as unhealthful and as unhappy as they, STNGENES. The Subftance of what you have advanced on this Sub- ject, if I have rightly underitood you, amounts to this ; that Thorns and Brambles, and what you call Weeds> fpring naturally and plentifully from the Earth; but that Corn, and other Vegetables neceflary to our Support, mufl be had eliewhere, and planted in the Ground, where it is impomble for them -to thrive or flourim, uhlefs the Soil be prepared and kept clear for them with infinite Labour. Pray, now, reconcile this with the Wifdom and Coodneis of the firft Caufe r R 186 ) This I could do, were my Underftanding able to keep pace with the Wifdom of our Maker.- But there are a few Things, which even you , with all your philofophical Sagacity, will never be able thorough- ly to apprehend. I have already en- deavoured to juilify this Difpofition of Things from the Ufefulnefs of Labour and Induftry to the Mind, as well rs- Body. But whether human* Nature did always require this- Exerciie , or whether the Earth was always under the- fame Indifpofition to afford us Nourishment without Labour, is what none of us can te^. Perhaps when the World was firfl made, the Ghara- ters of its Maker's Wifdom were more legible in it than now. I have often apprehended a Degeneracy in Nature, to which I have been encouraged by the ancient Fable of the Sons of and the Earth warring with the and bringing a Curfe upon the Earth, as a Punifhment for their Rebellion, Thefe, Thefe, however, are Conjectures, and fuch as I think it both Vanity and Pre- fumption to indulge. If the divine Wifdom has referved thefe things as a Secret, why mould we impertinently pry into them ? Let us take the World as we find it, and not trouble our Heads with Points that are too high for our Capacity, and no ways ufeful to us in our prefent Condition. STNGENES. It is very weak to found your Defence on Fables and Old- wives Tales. TrCHERUS. I do not take the Fable I fpoke of literally, nor do I lay a pofitive Strefs on it in any Senfe : But I take Matters of Fact as I find them ; and, if my way of accounting for them be weak or abfurd, it is be- caufe I have always been converfant in Fads and Things, and, for the moft part, little taken up in enquiring about their Caufes. If I have Plenty of Pro- viiion for my Family, a Sow to facri- fice to Ceres, and wherewithal to cu- ll 2 tertain- ( '88 ) tertain my rural Neighbours now and then of an Holiday, I think myfelf be- holden to the Gods, and no way con- cerned to examine their Conduct, or cenfure their Providence. But I forget that I have fomething elfe to do than to fland here all Day fpeculating and pra- ting with one, who, it feems, has more Intereft with the Earth than me, and can have his Food from thence without Labour. TrCHERUS following Experience, and Syngenes relying on his Speculations, purfued their firfl Refolutions j by which the one was, in a little time, reduced to Extremity of Want; and had the Mor- tification to fee his Grounds over-run with Weeds, Brambles, and Thorns, and far better qualified to feed an Herd of Swine or flicker wild Beafts, than fup- port a Family : While the Lands of the other were covered with Olive-yards, Vineyards, and Crops of Corn, from whence he drew a comfortable Subfift- ence for himfelf, his Children, and other Dependents* AL( LU : ALLUSION The Twelfth. N C E on a Time the Earth com- plained to the Ocean, concern- ing certain great Diforders committed by divers Rivers and Brooks, who, in- jftead of confining themfelves to their own Channel, and haftening to pay their Tribute to the Sea, did nothing elfe but ramble about the Fields, break down Ditches and Mearings, fweep a- way Corn, Hay, Cattle, and even Houfes, form {linking Pools and filthy MoraiTes, and, with infinite AfTurance r attack the very Capitals of potent Em- pires, driving the Inhabitants from their Dwellings, and fpoiling their Goods. This Complaint, which had but too much Truth in it, was heard with { I 9 J with great Attention by the Ocean, and' believed the more readily, becaufe he himfelf had, of a long Time, obferved, that many Bodies of Water, both great and fmall, having been permitted to leave him for a Space, contracted a Fondnefs for the Earth, and (hewed plainly they cared not, if they never re- turned to him again. His Difpleafure at thefe things being made known, an Aflembly of the Rivers was called, from which no Stream, from the greateft to the fmallefr, was abfent. THE Euphrates, being the oldeft of Rivers, prefided in this Aflembly, and opened it with a Speech, in which he fet forth the Caufes of their being con- vened, namely, the Cry of the Earth againft the Rivers, and the Difpleafure of the Ocean at the Revolters and Ab- fentees. At the Conclufion he gave it to them in Charge, to confider mature- ly of thefe Matters, and provide fuch Remedies as to their Wifdoms mould feem moft proper and effectual. TH-B THE Brooks, Rivulets, and Sewers* who, in order to make a Figure in this Affembly, had the Day before, bor- rowed of the Clouds long-flowing Cloaks and full bottomed Perriwigs, perceiving that a fevere Inquiry waa forthwith to be made into their Irregu- larities, followed the Speech of the Preiident with an hoarfe difcontented Growl, which they foon raifed to fo loud a Roar, that the Cataracts of Mount Ararat or the Nile did but gent- ly murmur in Comparifon of them. However, upon the Entry of the Sun and Saturn y who came to fee what was a doing, this hideous Clamour ceafed all at once, and thofe who made it were compelled, one after another, to lay afide their borrowed Perriwigs and Cloaks ; and a foul and pitiful Figure moil of them made, when ftripped of thofe adventitious Ornaments. Yet, notwithstanding this Difgrace, which might have humbled more confiderable Streams, the Brooks, depending on their their Numbers, and the Subtility and Tergiverfation natural to mean and little Rivulets, entered upon their De- fence with great AfTurance. One among the Croud flood forth in Behalf of the reft, and delivered himfelf thus: . ' THE Charge brought again ft us r e is no lefs furprizing than it is unrea- fonable. That the Earth from whom we and all other Rivers fpring, which we love and refrefh, and that the Ocean which we often replenish, without re- ' ceiving one Drop of Water from him, fhould pretend a Right to what we have always freely given, and join ' in fuch fevere Reprefentations, as have * been exhibited againft us this Day, is ' matter of great Amazement. As to the Articles, whereof we are accufed, * I muft plainly tell you, we look up- on them to be neither Trefpailes nor 4 Crimes ; but on the contrary, great * and ineftimable Benefits j for, what * tho' fome particular Places may fuf- * fer ? are thefe private and trivial Suf- 3 * ferings ( J 93 ) < ferings to be put in Competition with * the general and extenfive Service we c yield the Publick ? As to the Right, which the Ocean pretends to our Of- c ferings, we utterly difclaim it, being ' at the fame Time fully convinced, he ftands in no need of our Waters, as < having an inexhauftible Abundance of his own. Be that however as it ' will, we are determined to maintain the Privileges and Liberties of Rivers c to the laft, againft all Mounds, Banks, and Ramparts whatever, that ihall be < oppofed to them/ THIS Harangue was applauded by an univerfal Murmur from all the Ri- vulets 3 and feveral confiderable Rivers, confcious of their common Guilt, fpoke to the fame Effect. At length the Da- nube, arifing with an Air of Modefty and Dignity, faid, * ALTHOUGH I will readily acknow- 1 ledge, that, the Rivulets are very fer- 4 viceable to the Earth, and in order to * their being fo, ought to flow freely S in ( 194 ) in their feveral Channels, yet I muft infift on it, that the wild Sallies they make from thence, and the manifold Damages done by their Licentioufnefs, call aloud for Reftraint. It is their Duty to water the Soil, not their Pri- vilege to drown its Produce. Let them not hope to excufe the Ravages they voluntarily commit, by the Good they undefignedly occafion. The lat- ter, which is a Debt they owe to Na- ture, and which, in fome Sort, they cannot help paying, merits but flen- der Thanks ; whereas the former is an Excefs, by all Means to be correct- ed. Are they not fent down from the Hills, to flow gently among the Vallies, and there refre(h the Soil and its Inhabitants with pure and limpid Streams ? With what Affurance can they deviate from this excellent Pur- pofe, fwelling with muddy Waters, pouring over all around them, turning fpacious Plains, once fertile and po- pulous, into noifome Pools and putrid Fens, ( '95 ) * Fens, that deface the Beauty F Na- * ture, and poifon the Air of whole ' Climates ? It is true, I believe they * have but too great an Affeftion for the * Earth, or they would not labour to * engrofs fo much of it. But is it thus * they mew their Love ? Is Violence a Mark of Tendernefs? Is Outrage a Te- ' ftimony of Regard ? Surely they give 4 a very unjuft Demonft ration of their * Love to the Earth, at the Expence of ' the Duty they owe the Ocean. He ' is the Source of Water. It is from ' him we all derive, and to him we c mould all return. Thofe, who take ' a Pleafure in Stagnation, and love to mix with Filth and Putrifaction, lit-, * tie know, and, it feems, lefs relifli, c the Happinefs of mixing with the < mighty Ocean, and becoming Sharers of his Purity and Power. For my * own Part, I look upon myfelf, as an 1 Alien, and a Sojourner here on the 1 Earth, and it is with great Impatience that I purfue my Way towards the S z fruitful * fruitful Fountain of me, and all I f enjoy, and with inexpreffible Delight, * that I refund myfclf into his capacious ' Bofom. Altho' he wants not my Oblations, yet doth it not follow, that c he hath no Right to them. In Jufti- < fication of his Property in, and Claim c to all our Streams, I appeal to the ' Sun, who by his continual Solicitati- c ons, obtains of the Ocean all our Sup- c plies. THUS ended the Danube, and thus the Nile began. * I A M not much furprized to hear an European River fpeak thus. I 4 know full well from whence thofe ' Prejudices fpring, which the Rivers of that Quarter of the World have * imbibed. The pretended Partizans e of the Ocean have eftablimed their < Authority there, and inftil what No- tions they pleafe. This I know, and * this let every one who hears me, take c my Word for, that the Bowels of the * Earth and Mountains are full of Wa- ters, ( '97 ) ters, which they pour out inceflantly thro' a thoufand Springs, and thefe, con- tributing their refpeclive Funds, form all the Rivers of the Earth. I draw whatever I enrich the Egyptian Plains, and fwell the Ocean with, from the Mountains of the Moon. The Po borrows^ its Water from the Alps -, the River of the Amazons , and Reio de la Plata from the Andes ; the little Rivers of Greece from Lycaus, Ha mus, P Indus, Parnajjus j the Euphrates from the Mountains of Ar- menia ; the Indus, the Ganges, and the other Rivers of AJiti from Taurus and Caucafus. This, I think, is obvious j and therefore, we need look no far- ther for the Origin of our Waters. I am beholden to the Ocean for no part of my Flood, and fo (hall take the Liberty to expatiate on the fruit- ful Flats of Egypt, as freely and as long as I think proper. Let the Da- nube be tranfported with the Pleafure of lofing himfelf in the Sea. As I 83 * have ( i 9 8 ) 4 have no Notion of that Pleafure, I * fhall keep from thence and be inde- * pendent, till that unwelcome Seafon ' arrives, in which I muft of Neceffity * quit the Earth, and be blended with c the common Receptacle of Rivers. ' If the Brooks are wife, they will fol- * low my Example, and make the moft ' of Being, while they have it. Let ' them vifit the Meadows, and the ' Flowers. Let them tafle the Sweets c of the Spring, while they may. If they once fall into the Ocean, they ' are loft to themfelves for ever. As to ' what hath been faid concerning the c Sun, I think it plainly repugnant to common Obfervation and Experience. * He hath dried up many Rivers ; and V fince his Appearance in this Aflembly, . all the Brooks, excepting a few, have * dwindled away to nothing ; whether * he will ever replenifh them again, Sa- ' turn will (hew. But I mould think ' it very extraordinary if he does, inaf- < much as he hath often declared him- felf ( 199 ) c felf againft our Waters, and endea- ' voured all he could to rob us of them by the Violence of his Beams.' THIS Speech was highly extolled by the whole Faction of libertine Streams, who thought themfelves very happy, in having fo great a River as the Njle to countenance their violent and extrava- gant Difpolitions. It would be too te- dious to recapitulate here the many Speeches on both Sides, that followed that of the Nile. Some Rivers fpoke with great Mildnefs and Moderation ; others, with Abundance of Art and Subtilty; and others again, with pro- digious Rapidity and Noife, according to their various Humours. The Speech of the Maunder^ who is a great Sophi- fler and Perplexer, was too remarkable to be omitted. 4 FOR my Part, faid that infinuat- ing River, I do not think the Matter ' in Difpute of equal Confequence 4 with the Peace and Harmony of this < Affembly. I hope I mall be indulged S 4 a little ( 200 ) < a little, if I endeavour to afluage the ' unnatural Heats, that have been ' kindled among us, by the too forward * Zeal of my Brother Rivers, and re- ' duce the Points in Controverfv, to 1 fome Mean, in which we may ail ' agree. I have as much Refpect for * the Ocean, on the one Hand, and * as firm an Attachment to Liberty on * the other, as any in this Affembly j * yet I cannot, without great Concern, * behold an Affair of this Nature, * managed with fuch Animofity, and ' fuch a World of needlefs or pernicious * Punctilio, employed in a Controverfy * about which there is no Occafion for c being fo violently moved. Is Heat ' the Way to Truth ? Is Partiality an c Help to Juftice ? The Ocean had ra- ' ther forego our Tribute for ever, 1 than fee us thus embroiled. I am c utterly againft all Irregularities com- f mitted by Rivers. As to thofe com- plained of, we are obliged by the * eternal Ties of Benevolence, to hope * they ( 201 ) ' they have not been altogether fo en- * ormous, as hath been reprefented. 4 Some Rivers have a very ill-natured 1 and cruel Propenfity to cenfure. For- 1 bid it, Charity; forbid it. Benevolence, 4 that fo unamiable a Difpofition fhould * become general; or, that we fhould ' too readily believe fuch Things of ' our Neighbours. If I may judge of other Rivers by myfelf, there is in * them all an eternal and irrefiftible ' Delire of doing Good, and Abbor- ' rence of Evil. To this inward Re- < ftraint, thefe innate Banks and * Mounds , I fhould rather chnfe to truft their Conduct, and the Safety ' of their Neighbours, than to the * firmed Works of Earth and Stone; ' which (not to mention the Tyranny of erecting them, and the Slavery of ' being confined by them) ferve only, ' in my Opinion, to collecl: a Stream ' too much, and by that Means, force < it to burft out with the greater Vio- lence. I am therefore clearly for leav- ( 202 ) * ing them tothemfelves, and to that na- ' tive Freedom, which their Waters are ' eternally dictating to them. Water is a * free Element; and we cannot lay itun- 4 der outward Reftraints, without doing * Violence to the eternal and indefeafable * Constitution of Nature, which, in my 1 Apprehenfion, is more feniibly to be ' dreaded, more cautioufly to be avoided ' and prevented, than the trivial Incon- c veniencies, that have fo unnecerTarily * convened us to Day. As to the Ob- c lations of Water, with which we * prefent the Ocean, with all imagina- 1 ble Submiffion to the Danube, I think * he puts the Matter on a wrong Foot- ing. Let no one miftake me. I ' am by all Means for the Continuance ' of thofe Oblations, and do constantly tender them myfelf ; but I humbly < apprehend, they will be more ac- c ceptable, if they are given freely, * than if they appear to flow from an c acknowledged Debt and Obligation ; a Debt, which to my Judgment, { feems f feems to have no Foundation in ths ' Nature of Things. To fupport the Belief of it however, a very chime- ' rical Argument hath been employed: We have been told, that all our Waters have been lent us by the ' Ocean, at the Inftance of the Sun j c and for Proof of this, the Sun him- * felf, a Foreigner to this AfTembly, * hath been unnaturally appealed to. ' Have we not fufficient Means of In- ' formation among ourfelves ? Why * are preternatural Lights called in ? * Every River prefent can confute this ' incredible Hypothefis, by only re- * fledting that he holds Commerce with ' the Sea, at his Mouth alone. But, * if Fact and Experience are hot fuffi- c cient to convince us, let this Demon- ' ftration remove all our Doubts. It is ' impofiible to form an Idea of a River c without Water ; Water therefore is * efTential to a River ; and of Confe- ' quence every River mud be fuppofed to have Water in itfelf, if we will < be ( 204 ) * be fo candid as to allow that nothing * can fubfift without its Effence.' THUS fpoke the Mceander, and had his Vanity fed by a Roar of Applaufe. The Ni/e, and all other overflowing Streams, were infinitely pleafed with this Speech. They faw plainly enough, that it tended to eftabliili their Right to Inundations -, at the fame Time, that a profound Refpect for the Ocean, and an utter Abhorrence of all Irregularities, were artfully thrown out, as a Net, to entangle and draw in the ignorant and well-meaning, who could not be brought over by a more explicit way of arguing. They were ftill further pleafed to find, that this Artifice had been fuccefsful, even beyond their Hopes, and had made a prodigious Al- teration in the Aflembly. Rivers are fond of Liberty, and willing enough to be convinced, by any Reafonings, that compliment them with a Right to it, and the Difcretion to ufe and enjoy it, properly, in its full Extent. They do net not relifli fuch Diftindlions between that and Licentioufnefs, as may abridge it in the leaft. Hence it comes to pafs, that many, who thought the mofl per- fect Difcharge of Duty, and the utmofl Degree of Licence confident, were caught by the Subtilties of the Meander ; who, having pa fled a Compliment on them, inftead of an Argument, leemed to have reconciled the Nature of Li- berty and Duty better than either the Danube or the Nile. By thefe Means it happened, that they were unwitting- ly wafted over on the Sophiftry of the Mtzander to the Sentiments of the Nile. AFTER fome Time fpent in fubtile and metaphyfical Fooleries, to which the Maander's Way of arguing had ftrangely turned their Heads, the Eu- phrates with an awful kind of Indig- nation in his Countenance, arofe, and fpoke as follows : * I OWN it was with fome Impa- tience and much Concern, that I liftened ( 206 ) f liftened to what hath paffed in this AfTembly. I have heard the turbu- lent Harangue of the Brook, the * muddy Oration of the Nile, and the < difingenuous Speech of the Mteafidtr. As to the firft, it hath been more than s fufficiently anfwered, by the wife and * good Danube, who abounds with * \Vifdom, like Phifon and Tigris, in < the Time of the new Fruits. I fee * here a thoufand namelefs Rivulets and Sewers, who, becaufe they cannot difcern their own Bottoms, through c Waters foul with the OfT-fcourings of Bogs, and yet dirtier Places, take themfelves to be very profound ; and, < with the ufual Vanity of mallow Wa- ters, are for arrogating mighty Mat- ' ters to themfelves. But their occa- c iional Grandeur, which is nothing ' elfe but Froth at the top, Mud in c - the middle, and Filth at the bottom, was not Yefterday, and {hall not be c To-morrow. Let them enjoy their Day, Let them, with an extempo- rary ( 20; ) rary Licentioufnefs, pour their liber- 4 tine and erratick Waters over the t neighbouring Grounds ; and delay, as long as they can, the Payment of their Tribute to the Ocean. They ' muft foon be compelled to come into ' us, and be loft in larger Streams, long c before we mix with the Source of *. Water. It is hoped, however, that ' they will think proper to purge them- ' felves before they approach the greater c Rivers j and that thofe Rivers will not c fuffer themfelves to be tinctured with their Pollutions. As to thofe Brooks ' and Sinks, that dive under Ground, < not being able to bear the Light, as * I am afraid they go to water the in- c fernal Regions, fo I entertain no Hopes of ever feeing them again in the way * of their Duty. c As to the Sentiments of the Nile, I think no other could rationally be c expected from him ; and I underftood ( his Flood of Words to be, indeed, rather as an Apology for his own H- c centious ( 208 ) centious Conduit, than as a Series of < Reafonings fitted to effeft the Point < in Queftion. He, you all know, is but a greater Brook ; is ftrongly im- * pregnated with Mud ; and is remark- able for his annual Inundations, in which he at once covers and pollutes a large Region of the Earth ; infeft- ing it alfo with ten thoufand Specie^s < of noxious Vermin and Flies j and < with Crocodiles, the moft deceitful < and formidable of Animals, Let the * Egyptians, who feem to be little bet- ter than the Maggots of his Mud, < pleafe themfelves with wallowing < therein, and hail the polluted Plenty, ' which he fweeps away from other * Nations to beftow on them : This, I c hope, will neither be allowed to plead for his Practices, nor to recommend c his Principles on this Occafion. I can fcarcely forbear laughing at the odd fort of AfTu ranee he (hews, when * he gravely takes upon him to inftrucl: * us all concerning the Origin of our 1 Waters ; ( 209 ) Waters; although he, of all Rivers, is moft ignorant of his own. He fays he draws his Waters from the Moun- tains of the Moon. Does he mean the Mountains of that Planet, which inlightens us by Night? Or are they certain imaginary Hills fuppofed to be in Africa^ and fabuloufly fo called? It is among the Mountains and Val- leys of Abyjjinia that he collects his Waters; from which Mountains, however, he could not borrow a fingle Drop, were they not fupplied them- felves by the continual Rains that fall between the Tropicks during cer- tain Months of the Year. Let the Niger , who takes his Rife in the fame Region, fet him Right in that Matter. The Truth is, we all have our Waters from above. They are raifed from the Ocean by the Sun, and conveyed to us through that magnificent Aqueduft that lies over us. He is pleafed to fay, at the Clofe of his Oration, that the Sun, inftead of being inftrumental T in> ( 210 ) * in obtaining any Supplies of Water * for us, is perpetually exhaufting what * we have. For my own Part, inftead * of thinking this an Hardship, I think * myfelf obliged to be thankful to him * for railing me from the Earth, where * I am not over-ftudious of being con- * fiderable; for mixing me fo intimately * with his Raysj for exalting me to * Heaven, where, glorioufly arrayed by *- his Bounty in Gold and Purple, I 1 make the grand Tour of the Skies, * form the Pavilions and Chariots of the 6 celeftial Powers, and give the Thun^ 4 der its Voice and Wings,, when it is * levelled at Vice or Plagues. ' THOUGH it is beneath the Digni^- * ty of the Place I hold in this Af- ;* fembly ; nay, beneath that of com*- * mon Senfe and Reafon, fericufly. to * anfwer Sophifms and Cavils; yet, as *> the Speech of the Meander feems to - have made fome Impreflion, I mail * not pafs it by without making a few * Qbfervations on it. That infinuating 3. ' and (2.1 ) e and ferpentine River, who fometirnes * bends to the Danube, and anon again * winds about to the Nile, fets out c with plaufibleProfeffions of his Regard ' for Peace and Charity, to which he * would have us poftpone the Repre- ' fentations of the Ocean , and the ' Earth, as Matters of no great Confe- f fequence. It is the trite Expedient of * all, who would deceive, to cover their * evil Defigns under fpecious Appear- 1 ances. But this Speaker, as if Du- ' ties and Virtues were at Variance a- * mong themfelves, taking Advantage of the Warmth {hewn in this Debate, 4 though moftly by Partifansof hisovvr^ 4 would needs have us believe, that all 1 Zeal is culpable; that becaufe our Deliberations are not carried on with ' fufficient Temper, they ought to be * layed entirely alide; and that not only 4 the well-ordering of our Behaviour ' towards the Earth, and one another, 6 but alfo our Gratitude and Duty to * the Ocean , are mere indifferent T 2 Thin:: (212), * Things. Thefe I take to be very ' dangerous Sentiments. Is our Duty c to the great Source from whence we c derive all our Waters, a Thing of no * Confequence? Is it an improper Time ' for the Heart of an honeft River to c boil, when he hears fuch deteftable * Principles clandeftinely infmuated by * fome, and openly avowed by others ? ' How low is our Allegiance fallen in ' the Opinion of the Nt/e 9 when he f dare fo publickly renounce all Duty ' to the Ocean ? How is our Under- * landings vilified by the Meander, * when he hopes to pafs fuch Tenets * upon us as rational, by Arguments fo * fallacious and unfound ? I believe e- * very judicious and candid River, who c hears me, will readily agree, that e were we all but half as fenfible of our ' Duty as we ihould be, there could have been no Difpute here To-day. It is true, fhould we once divert our- felves of all Duty and Allegiance, we fhould then be in no Danger of Vio- lating 1 lating Charity for the fake of the O- ' cean, to whom we are accountable; ' or of the Earth, where we are to act. c But would not this be paying too c great a Price, even for Charity ? And * is it to be imagine^, that when we ' (hall have flript ourfelves of all Duty, * all Obligation, and Obedience, we {hall c then find nothing to contend about ? ' Is Peace very likely to be preferved in an Abfence of all other Ties than < fuch as we may pretend to have with- in ourfelves? I exped: little lefs than a Chaos, if every River is left, as the ' Meander would have him, intirely to ' himfelf, without Channels to contain * him, or Banks to confine his wild c ExcefTes, of which we fee fuch fla- 1 grant and fuch repeated Inftances every Day, as no eternal nor ftupid Ties of Charity can fhut our Eyes to. ' I have not, on any Occafion, obferv- i ed fo extraordinary an Inftance of Modefty, as the Meander hath fhewn in arguing on this Head. Inftead of 3 handing < handing it down to us as Demon ilra.- * tion, he only fays, it is his Opinion, c that, were the Banks entirely removed, * the Waters would flow more regular- ' ly, and more within Bounds, than * they do at prefent. He might have ' delivered this with much greater Af- * furance ; for I fuppofe you are all * fully fatisfied about the Reality and Strength of thofe inward Reftraints, ' thofe innate Banks and Mounds he mentions. You know very well, < that Water hath, in its own Nature, ' an eternal and abfolute Power to conr tain and direct itfelf j. and that one of ' thefe Banks, within a Stream, is < worth a thoufand Ramparts of Ada~ 4 mant without. It is not with altoge- * ther fo much Diffidence in himfelf, and Refpect for this Aflembly, that he propofes his Argument about the ' Eflence of Rivers :. He calls it a De- * monftration, and bids all our Doubts fr vanifli before it; and yet, I know * not how it is, mine Hill keep their ' Ground. * Ground, This borrowed EfTence of * ours,, that is perpetually flowing in at c one End of us, and out at the other, * puzzles me ftrangely. Being but mo- ' derately fkilled in Metaphylicks, I c cannot anfwer his Argument fcienti- fically ; but this I am pretty fore of, * that, had the Heavens with-held their 1 Showers, and the Springs been entirely * flopped up, one might as reafonably ' have alked for Water from the Deferta 4 of Barka, as from either the Nile, * or me ; or, I may fay, from any of c us. This Argument, I think, comes ' home to the Point, and proves, that Rivers are not altogether fo felf-origi- * nated as the Meander would have us c think. If, however, this Argument ' of his be allowed to pafs for a good c one, I am fure fo muft the one I am about to oifer. There is no forming 1 an Idea of a River without Banks> * and thofe on the outfide too. Take them away from your Idea of a River, * and you fufe and difperfe its Effencs into. (216) c into nothing. But not to teize you any longer with this Jargon of Ideas and Effences, I muft own, in fpite of ' that Vanity, too natural to me as well ' as other Rivers > that, were it not for * the high Banks that fhut me in on the * Right Hand and the Left, I mould * drown all Mefopotamia and Babylonia, and lofe myfelf in a huge unpayable ' Morafs. This vagrant Difpofition, < which I, with Shame and Concern, ac- c knowledge, hath difcovered itfelf on ' many Occafions. As often as my Banks ' fall off to any confiderable Diftance * from each other, I feize all the Flats between, and fometimes fwell fo high f as to overflow even the Banks them- < felves, and flood the Fields to a confi- * derable Diftance round me. When * Cyrus laid Siege to Babylon, he took ' Occafion, from this Weaknefs of * mine, to feduce me from the Defence * of my Children the Babylonians ; and, * by removing my Banks, led me into an artificial Pond contrived for that < purpofe ; Purpofe : where I was detained,, till my Waters became putrid, and the City, with its inhabitants, were made the Prey of the Sword. Thus was I made, by means of this Tendency in me to Evil, the Slave of another's Am- bition. This Tendency, however, if I miftake not, is, by no Means, pe- culiar to me. All other Rivers, ex- cepting the good Meander alone, have reafon to complain of the fame in themfelves; and might poffibly enough be made capable of the fame Practices, were they not reftrained by higher and ftronger Banks than mine. I mall readily grant the Meander, that Rivers are free Beings j but do at the fame Time infift on it, that this Free- dom is limitted. There are fome Things we cannot do j for Inftance, we cannot flow up the Side of a Moun- tain. Again, there are other Things we ought not to do. We ought not to deftroy the Fruits of the Earth, nor render the Earth itfelf ufelefs, by U e turning (218 ) * turning huge Trails of it into Bogs. c A Liberty to do fuch Things as this, c is only a Licence to enflave ourfelves. e Is not that River enflaved, to all In- tents and Purpofes, which, having quitted its own Channel, and poured c itfelf into a low and hollow Valley, c is there confined for ever, and blend- ed with Mud and Filth ? But many ' Streams are milled by Pride ; and e think it more glorious to become ' Lakes, or little independent Seas, as * they affect to be ftyled, than make a * Part of the great Ocean. The Caf- pian y who apes andoppofes the Ocean, * hath drawn in many, and very confi- * derable Rivers, by this blind Paffion < for Independency. How groily do * the laxartes, the Wolga t the Oxus, c and many others, miftake the Nature f of Grandeur and Independency, when < they rob the Ocean of his Right, and c give up, forever, the ineftimable Pri- yilege of incorporating with him, to 4 become ( 2I 9 ) become the defpicable Tributaries and < Vaffals of the Cafplan ! c I SHALL conclude, on this import- * ant Occasion, with reminding you, once more, that, if you have any c Senfe of either Duty or Gratitude, you < will not feparate, till you have fuffi- * ciently provided againft the Enormities < represented to you at the Opening of ' this Ailembly: I muft alfo tell you, * that it is your greater! Intereft to do this ; becaufe if you do not, it is but 4 reafonable to fear, the Ocean, or the ' Sun, will foon interpofe, and, by an. c "univerfal Deluge, or Conflagration, totally deflroy all the Rivers.' THUS ended the Euphrates. After a long Jangle about the Origin of Waters, and the Nature and Extent of Liberty, ,the Aflembly broke up, in a very tumul- tuous Manner, without coming to any Refolution ; and the Day being far ad- vanced, the Sun retired towards the O- cean, to confer with him about what had pafTed^ Uz ALLUSION ALLUSION The Thirteenth. THE Parents of Mifs Veridet left this World when fhe was but an Infant. Her Father, who was the beft of Men, was engaged, during his whole Life, in a Law Suit for an im- nienfe Eftate, to which he had a mod unqueftionable Right ; but thofe, who had poflefled themfelves of it, relying on great Art and Power, kept him out for a long Time ; yet finding at length that he began to gain Ground, fub- borned Witnefles againft him, who accufed him of high Crimes, for which, altho' his Innocence fully appeared on the Trial, he was put to Death in the moft publick and ignominious Manner. Mifs Veridet was recommended by her Father, a little before his Death, to the the Juftice of her Caufe, and the Care of ( 221 ) of Mrs. Le Clerk, her Nurfe, who was a very good Woman, and had an infi- nite Affedtion for the Child. Such early and extraordinary Indications of Undemanding, Goodnefs, and Beauty never appeared in any Child, as in this. At the Age, when other Children can fcarcely fpeak, her Knowledge was fu- perior to that of the wifeft Men ; fhe was the Arbitrefs of all Difputes, and the Reconciler of Differences through- out the whole Neighbourhood. Her faithful Nurfe took Care always to fet her in the moft favourable Point of Light, and to fhew her to the greateft Advantage. By thefe Means they gained many Friends, who contribu- ted what they could fpare towards their Support, and revived the Suit for the great Eflate, which Mifs was entitled to by the Death of her Father. The Ufurpers, alarmed at this, tried all Ways and Means firft to alienate their Friends from them, and then to take away the Life of the Child. But Nurfe, U 3 by 222 ) by her extreme Vigilance and Prudence, fo managed Matters, that they were defeated in all their Schemes. Upon this, for want of better Means, they betook themfelves to open Force. Here Nurfe aded her Part inimitably well, for which me fuffered the moft inex- preffible Hardmips. As fhe fled from Place to Place with the Child, fome- times hiding her, and at other Times calling their Friends to her Affiftance, fhe was frequently feized, imprifoned and fcourged in the moft cruel Manner for her Fidelity. Many alfo of thofe, who were refolute enough to fhew themfelves in the Defence of Nurfe and the Child, were put to Death with unheard of Barbarity, their Perfecutors fhewing themfelves very ingenious in the Contrivance of Cruelties to torture and deftroy them with. This how- ever, did only ferve to encreafe both their Zeal and Numbers, infomuch, that in a little Time a great Part of Mifs Veridet's Tenants declared openly for ( 223 ) for her, and one or other of the great Ones began every Day to augment her Party. Thefe Worthies made her Caufe their own, and gave Nurfe fuch liberal Contributions for the Mainte- nance of the Child and herfelf, that the Law-Suit was carried on with great Vigour ; and, as Nurfe was a moft ex- cellent Manager, and prodigioufly fpar- ing in her own Expences, Mifs was nobly fupported, and enabled to grati- fy the boundlefs Goodnefs of her Na-. ture in the Relief of the Diftreffed, who flocked to her from all Parts for Meat, Medicine, and Cloaths, which Nurfe, by her Direct ions, fupplied them with in great Abundance. About this Time Nurfe began to be afflicted with Hyfterick Fits, in which, altho' not very violent at firll;, fhe was fometimes flightly convulfed, and feemed to be threatned with an Encreafe of the Di- order. However, Mifs no fooner en- tered the Room, than her Fits vanimed, and me was perfectly well, After.this U 4 * falutary ( 224 ) falutary Experiment had been feveral Times tried, {he determined never to truft herfelf again to the irregular Mo- tions of her own Spirits, but always to keep Mifs fo near her, that her Diftem- per might be checked in its firft Attacks. NURSE being now no longer looked upon as a poor Woman in Diftrefs, a certain great Lord in the Neighbour- hood, who kept a very fplendid Court, fell deeply in Love with her, and fhe being not altogether diverted of the Ambition fo natural to her Sex, enter- tained his Paflion with a very favour- able Ear. He, for his Part, made his Court with all imaginable Civilities and Services both to her and Mifs. And Nurfe, on her Part, began to drefs a little more genteely, and affeft the Airs of a Perfon of Quality. At firft they contented themfelves with repeated Vifits ; but Nurfe having tailed the Sweets of Grandeur, after fome Time, removed with Mifs to his Lordmip's Houfe, and there took up her Abode. From From thenceforward me fet no Bounds to her Gaieties: She was always foremoft and higheft in the Fafhion. When high Heads were the Mode, her's overtopt all the Head's at Court. When Furbeloes came up, fhe was nothing but Furbelo from Top to Toe. At other Times fhe was all Lace and Fringe. As fhe was naturally of an humble Stature, fhe fup- plied that Defedt with high Heels, which at firft coft her fome indecent Falls, nor did fhe fcruple now and then to lay on a little Paint to difguife the too venera- ble Lines of her Countenance, and brighten it with a frefh Bloom. THESE Arts drew in many Admirers, who fhared with his Lordfhip in her good Graces and Encouragements, of which me was by no Means over-fpar- ing. Thefe Gentlemen, who from a depraved Notion of Grandeur, became her Lovers, were her's only j Mifs had no Share in their Friendmip, altho' in- deed they all treated her with great Com- plaifance and good Manners. A* ( 224 ) As for the plainer Sort of People, they thought her lefs agreeable in the midfl of fo much Drefs and Equipage, than formerly, when fhe fhewed her- felf every Day with an Air of good Humour and Familiarity in a decent Home-fpun Gown. They faid flie made but a ftiff and awkward Appearance, fqueezed up in her new Stays, and ftuck about with Pendants, and Brace- lets, and Rings, in which her Fingers, grown hard and inflexible with Induftry in her more fober Days, looked ungain- ly enough. In their Opinion, the good Woman made a very ftrange ungraceful Figure in a Palace, in a gilt Coach, and among People, who from their Infancy had been trained up to little elfe than a fine Addrefs and Mein. THE wifer Peeople were apprehen five of very ill Confequences from this flrange Turn in her Head, and began to fear left Mifs too might fuffer by it in the End. As for Mifs herfelf, me faw plainly what would come on't, and did not ( 22 7 ) not fail, from Time to Time, to hint her Sentiments to Nurfe in. very intel- ligible Terms, which, they fay, oc- caiioned a little Coolnefs and Mifunder- ftanding between them. Mifs, who quickly found herfelf no fit I*erfon for a Court, by the mere Compliments that were made her, under which {he could eafily difcover a fettled Diftafte, fpent mod of her Time, either in her Clofet, or walking abroad all alone among the Fields, and now and then ftepping in to chat for half an Hour with a Coun- try Acquaintance. During thefe Intervals of Abfence, Nurfe had m any and griev- ous Fits of her Diforder, in which fhe was all over torn wirh Convulfions, her Hands beating one another, her Feet claming together, and kicking with exceffive Violence, and her Face fo fliockingly diitorted, that many of her delicate Admirers were mightily cooled in their Affections, and fome of them even conceived an utter Diilike to her. On fuch Occafions Mifs was fometimes called ( 228 ) Called in, to the great Relief of her Nude ; although, as the poor Gentle- woman's Diforder encreafed, Mifs's Pre- fence had ftill lefs and lefs Effect upon her. She was fo happy as to be re- lieved out of one very outrageous Fit, by his Lordfhip's coming into the Room, the vaft Refpect me had for him, recalling her tumultuous Spirits to Order in a very furprizing Manner. After this (he never fent for Mifs when Ihe was ill, but always had Recourfe to his Lordmip, whofe Prefence in fome time was obferved to ftupify her Dif- order, and to change it into another, more continual and lafting, but ftill of the hyfterick kind. Miss finding me was no longer re- garded by her Nurfe, as a Perfon either ufeful or agreeable, retired among her own Tenants, where {he met with a kind Welcome from fome, although the greater Part were fo enflaved to Nurfe and his Lordfhip, that they treated poor Mifs with great Neglect, and the more, becaufe becaiife fhe came unattended, and had fo little of Grandeur or Quality about her. AFTER this, Nurfe and fhe feldom faw each other, and, when they did, it was by no Means to the Satisfaction of either. Nurfe told her fhe was too in- flexible in her Temper, and too rough in her Behaviour ; that the Succefs of her Affairs depended abfolutely on an oppofite Way of carrying herfelf ; that the great Folks, who had already fhewn themfelves fo favourably difpofed to- wards her, were highly difgufted at her fevere and difobliging Deportment ; and that the Recovery of her Fortune depend- ed abfolutely on ferving the Times, and being well with the great ones. To thefe Allegations Mifs retorted, that Nurfe's Behaviour was vain and unbe- coming her Years ; that fhe was acting altogether out of Character j that Dif- fimulation, and Flattery, and Pomp, neither became her as a good Woman, nor as her Nurfe 5 and concluded a little little tartly, that though Nurfe Le Clerk's feparate Interefl might depend abfolute- ly on the Favour of the Great, yet Mifs Veridet's neither did, nor ever fhould. Nurfe, who was grown ex- ceffi vely proud , could not bear this Reply, but flung away with great In- dignation, and fhook off her Chagrin in her Coach, which hurried her home to the Card-table, and a Company of very fafhionable Vifitors. ALTHOUGH Nurfe took no further Care of her Charge, yet me continued .to receive Mifs's Rents, which me ex- pended in Articles of Luxury, and Pre- fents to her Admirers, and Men of Power, to fecure their Intereft. And all this was for Mifs's Sake. Receipts were given in her Name, and a grand Oeconomy kept up for Mifs, who lived at a Diftance in a poor neglected Con- dition, and abhorred, from her Soul, the Practices of Nurfe, and all her Aflb- ciates. Mifs, in fhort, received not a Penny of her own 'Fortune, but was fupported ( 23 1 ) fupported by the voluntary Contribu- tions of a few poor People, who, after being forced by his Lordfliip to pay in Mifs's Rents to her Nurfe, were fo good as to relieve Mifs's Neceflities out of their own Pockets, for which they thought themfelves nobly payed by her Compa- ny and Converfation. NURSE, in the mean time, went on, heaping up Riches, endowing her Relations with great Eilates, wallowing in Luxury, and aping the Magnificence and Grandeur of a Princefs. She ex- changed her Levee of Beggars for one of Beaux , and took more Pleafure in the Compliments and Addreffes of the latter, than in the Bleffings of -the for- mer. Her Intrigues with his Lordmip, which were of more kinds than one, became notorious and fcandalous. How- ever, as is ufual in Correfpondences of that Nature, they led but an^uneafy Life together. Each would needs have lived at the other's Expence; and be- j there was no End of their Jealou- fies. fies. His Lordmip would fometimes carefs, and at other times kick herj and yet (he had fo far gained Ground, that he was often forced to attone for his Infults, with very flavim Submiflions: Nay, {he had fo eftablifhed herfelf with his Domefticks, that they lent her an Hand, on one or two Occafions, to turn him out of his own Houfe; and, if he attempted to re-enter by Force, {he armed herfelf, and, heading her own Partizans, fought him with amazing Virulence and Fury. If, in any of thefe Rencounters, {he happened to be worft- ed, me then made grievous Complaints to the Neighbours, and afked them how they could patiently ftand by, and fee fo good a Woman, who was Nurfe and Guardian to Mifs Veridet, fo barbaroufly treated. Help! Help! ihe would cry, it is for Mifs Verldet I fuffer; help me againft this Tyrant, who perfecutes me for my Fidelity to her. Although fome were carried away with this impudent Pretence, yet Peo- ple ( 233 ) pie generally faw through it, and knew very well it was not about Mifs herfelf, but about her Fortune, that all thefe Bickerings arofe. It was a common Obfervation, that, when Mrs. Le Clerk had the better of his Lordmip, (he ftyl- ed herfelf Princefs, Emprefs, and what not ; but when ever {he came by the worfe, then (he was only Nurfe to poor Mifs Feridet. AT length, what through Idlenefs and Luxury , and continual Stuffing (for fhe had a great Appetite) Nurfe became exceflively fat, and her hyfte- rical Diforder degenerated into a kind of Lethargy. During the Continuance of this Diftemper, {he was infenfible of every thing. She not only forgot Mifs, but herfelf too; infomuch that {he, and every thing about her, were continually bedaubed with huge invo- luntary Difcharges of Filth, which fmelled fo ftrong, that few People could endure to go nigh her. There arofe alfo an huge Bile on her Head, X which C which feemed to threaten a Mortifi- cation. Mifs Veridet, who had great Pity for her, made her a Vifit while Ihe was in this Condition j and, obferv- ing that her Bile was ripe, and that fhe had no Chirurgeon to attend her, (he took a Lancet, and ventured to dilate the Tumour; but had like to have payed: dearly for her Good - nature :. Such a Torrent of fetid Corruption iflued from the Orifice, as had infalli- bly fufFocated her, had me not been armed vljjth a very powerful aromatick Antidote ;, and Nurfe , roufed by the Fain, fell on her in a Fit of Diffraction and Fury, as if me would have torn her to Pieces. Her Habit of Body was fo bad, and the Humours fo very ill difpofed, that her Bile turned to a foul and obftinate Ulcer. Her lethar- gick. Diforder ftill continuing, without any vifible Abatement, certain Quacks, who had formerly prefcribed to her, and; who were famous for anodyne Noffrums, the only Medicines ufed in thofs ( 2 35 ) thofc Days were called in , and con- fulted with. After a long Debate con- cerning Particles, Effluviums, animal Spirits, Sympathies, Antipathies, Pro- gnoflicks, Diagnofticks, occult Quali- ties, and an huge Jargon of other my- fterious Terms, they agreed to ply her with Fomentations and Opiates ; but with fo ill Succefs were thefe Prefcrip- tions adminiftered, that her Diforder was greatly encreafed, and fhe feemed to be little better than dead. Mifs, who ftill gratefully remembered heV former Services, did not defert her in this Extremity. She fent for three or four very able Phyficians, who, ob- ferving that her Diforder was chiefly owing to a Plethory and a Cacochy- my , gave her ftrong Purgatives ; by the Ufe of which , and of alexi- pharmick Volatiles, the Symptoms of Putrifaction began to abate, and her Stupor gave way much fafter than the Phyficians expected; which indicated a very ftrong Texture of the Solids, X 2 an and an excellent natural Conftitutiorr. However, the utmoft they could do , by perfevering in this only poflible Me- thod of Cure, was to roufe her into a moft violent hyfterick Fit, in which (he raved, foamed at the Month, and layed about her fo outrageoufly, both with Hands and Feet, that thofe who held her being well boxed and fcratched for their Pains, were obliged to ufe fome Violence with her. Mifs, who was very affiduous on this Occalion-, fuffered moft, and had like to have loft one of her Eyes in the Scuffle. The Quacks, in the mean time, railed at what was a doing in the bittereft Terms , and publickly infilled on it, that the Patient, by the immoderate Application of Volatiles , was thrown into a Phrenfy, although it was well enough known, that Ihe had, of a long time, been greatly afflicted with Hy- ftericks} and that her prefent Fit pro- ceeded entirely from her Habit of Body, and by no means from the Medicines. The ( 2 37 ) The Phyficians were very well pleafed with having thrown off that Load of corrupted Humours, which of late had fo opprefTed the nervous Syftem, that, not having Strength enough to work itfelf up to a Fit, it had funk into a ftupid and profound Lethargy. This, they faid, was gaining a very confider- able Point, and promifed fair for a Re- covery. Mifs Veridet y not at all dif- couraged by the rough Treatment {he had received, fo plied her poor Nurfe, with Antihyflericks,, and, as her Under- flanding began to return, with mild, and yet powerful Reafonings, that (he at length prevailed, in a good meafure, over the prefent Tumult of her Spirits. Her Underflanding, however, appeared to be fomewhat impaired, and the Tor- por of her Diforder feemed to lag be- hind in her left Side, and (hew itfelf in the Shape of a Palfy, which, as it was not attended with a total Deprivation of Senfe and Motion, the Phyficians had fome Hopes of removing. For that purpofc ( 238 ) pnrpofe they recommended to her the ftricT: Obfervation of a Regimen, which confirmed in nothing more than a thin Diet, great Regularity in her Manner of living, and the conflant Ufe of a few well-chofen Alteratives. SHE had no fooner received thefe Directions, than Mifs Veridet interpofed a little feafonable Advice. You fee, dear Nurfe, faid fhe, what an idle and luxurious Life hath coft you ; your Health is, in a great meafure, deftroyed, and the Prefer vation of your very Life is next to a Miracle. All this had been prevented, had you continued in that plain induftrious Way of living, whicb r at your firfl being employed a-, bout me, brought you fo much real Honour and Health j and all your prefent Maladies and Miferies may be removed by a Return to the fame wife and happy Manner of fpending your Days* You heard, and I hope will confider, what the Phylicians faid to you. But furely nothing can be more wild ( 239 ) wild, than to think of following Rules, and living on a thin Diet, in fuch a Family as this. Befides, his Eordmip hates you from his very Soul, and me too. Nay, he gave me the Lie, this very Morning, and fwore the World would be well rid of you, if you were dead, merely becaufe I faid your Life was ft ill worth the preferving. He and all his famionable Vifitors entertain themfelves with dirty Stories of Acci- dents that happened to you in your late infenfible Condition. Your afluming the Titles and Airs of a Princefs af- fords them Matter of infinite Merry- ment. They call you the hoyden Prin- cefs, and Nurfe's Highnefs, and Queen Goody, with a thoufand other honorary Appellations of the like Nature. They talk alfo of feizing on all your Money and Furniture, and his Lordfhip hath already fecured your Jewels, for your Ufe, as he fays, but others fay, for his own.. Would you rather live here, infulted, plundered, ridiculed, than j. with ( 24 ) with me in Peace, Chearfulnefs, and real Honour ? Recoiled: the Pleafures of a natural, innocent, and active Life. Be impartial ; did you ever, fmce you entered into this riotous Way of Life, tafte fuch Tranfports of Joy, as for- merly, when the Relief of fome very miferable Object, or an high Act of Devotion, called up the Angel within you ? How I have feen the Tears run down thofe Cheeks on fuch Occafions! How have I feen a Rapture of that Kind rifmg within you, and rendering your Body perfectly infenfible to the red-hot Pincers, that were tearing your Flefh from your Bones, while you flood up like a ftrong Tower in my Defence! Yes, dear Nurfe, I have a lively Me. mory of your Goodnefs j I wifh you could as well remember your own Happinefs ; you would then renounce this falfe Sort of Grandeur, and go with me to be truly great and happy. Tell me not of the Services done by, or to be expected from,, the Great. When When they were all again ft us, the Juftice of my Caufe, and your un- conquerable Virtue, gave us a complete Victory. Since you began to employ other Meafures, fince you courted the Perfons, and flattered the Vices of Men in Power, with what Contempt and Deteftation have you been looked upon by the thinking Part of the World! As for my Sufferings, I (hould here make a lively Reprefentation of them, did I not too plainly perceive fuch a fettled Alienation of your Heart from, me, as precludes all Hopes of moving, you on that Topick. Reprefent there- fore your own Sufferings to yourfelf, and let a lively Senie of them awaken you to a prudent Concern for your own real Intereft. NURSE, altho' me was moft bitterly railed at behind her Back, yet had not of a long Time, been treated with (a much Freedom to her Face. To ex- poftulate with fo great and wife a Per r fon as her, was a downright In fait. Y Yet, ( 242 ) Yet, notwithflanding that fhe refented the greater Part of Mifs Veridtt's Dif- courfe, flic had ftill fome Refpeft for her, and Felt the Force of her Reafonings as fenfibly, as a Mind fo enfeebled could be well expected to do. WHAT you have put me in Mind of, faid {he to Mifs, is moftly true. I was happier with you in a neat little convenient Dwelling, than in this Pa- lace. Honeft Men, I find, are better Friends and Neighbours than great Men. As for my Diforders, there mull be fome Care taken of them ; but I neither think them at all fo grievous or dangerous, as the phyfical Gentlemen were pleafed to intimate, nor am I by any Means convinced, that dieting my- felf on Drugs will much conduce to my greater Health. As to the Article of my quitting this Houfe, and retiring with you, excufe me, dear Mifs, I can never think of it. I am no longer capable of thofe Pleafures, I formerly found, in being Caterer and Apothecary for ( 243 ) for the Poor. If, for your Credit, it is neceflary that fuch menial Offices mould be performed by fome Body, we will hire a few Servants, who (hall attend on that very Bufinefs, My Tiifte and Notions of Things, are now a little too refined for thefe pious 'antiquated Sort of Practices. I cannot go Abroad with- out a Coach, and there is no v in* ting Beggars and Lazars in a Coach you know. At firft, it is true, my Chanty and Piety procured us many Friends, But the Times are changed. Thofe Qualities are now little regarded, and we mufl have Recourfe to other Means. You and I had long ago been ftripped of all we have, had I not taken Care to keep in with his Lordmip, and other Perfons of Confequence. You may talk as you will concerning the. Juftice of your Caufe, and the Triumphs to be expected from thence j but commend me to a little feafonable Prudence and Policy. You, dear Mifs, are for new- modelling the World (which is im- Y 2 poffible) ( 244 ) pofiible) in order to cut it out for your own Friendship. Now I am for taking an eafier Way, and conforming our- felves to the World, that we may the better recommend ourfelves to its Fa- vour. Thefe, I grant you, are very oppofite Maxims ; but Experience vou- ches for the Utility of mine. Miss Veridet, perceiving by this and other Trials, that it was impoiTible all at once to wean her from Luxury and Grandeur, took a Lodging near his Lordfhip's, that (lie might be ready to lay hold on every new Opportunity that fhould favour the friendly Defigns &e had on her Nurfe. In this Situa- tion they fometimes vifited, and at o- ther Times did not fo much as traflick in How-do-yous. This Juftice how^ ever muft be done to his Lordfhip, that be generally carried towards Mifs Veri- det with Civility at leaft ; nay, and fhewed a greater Defire for Nurfe's Re- covery, and the Reformation of their * than Nurfe herfelf. He fre- quently ( 245 ) qaently joined with Mifs Veridet in preffing the NecefTity of greater Fru- gality in Entertainments, of more Com- panion towards the Poor, of eftabiim- ing a Uriel Difcipline among the Ser- vants, and particularly infifted on it, that Nurfe herfelf mould conform to the Rules prefcribed her by the Phy- fician?. As to the regulating of Ser- vants, fhe in Part confented to it, and accordingly fome Sets of them, fuch as thofe who had care of the Stables and the Gardens, were brought under a Method ; but fhe could never be per- fuaded to fubmit entirely to Rules her- felf. A great Table, and a magnifi- cent Equipage, were dearer to her than Health and Life, which {he was willing to facrifice to her Palate and her Vanity ; altha after all (lie pro- vided but ill for either ; for, as to the firft, flie had little or no Pleafure in what (he eat or drank, being generally gorged and cloyed with greater Quan- tities than Nature required, or could- difpenfe ( 246) difpenfe with ; and as to the latter, me did but purchafe Contempt from fome, and Envy from others, with all her vaft Expences. Her moft favourite Guefts, having their Bellies filled with her Delicacies, would get into Corners, laugh at her Folly ,, and rail at her Pride and Luxury in ,the moft reproachful Terms ; nay, fome of them would puke up her Victuals, accompanied with no fmall Virulence, in her very Face. She was little beloved by any Sort of People j but none hated her fo- muehy or talked fo hardly of her, as thofe whom (he entertained with the greateft Preparations, and thofe who owed their Rife and Fortunes entirely to her Partiality. Various Curfes, in fliort, feemed to fall upon her, accord- ing to her various Ways of betraying the Confidence repofed in her, a& Truftee to Mifs Verldefs Fortune, That, which me laid out in Articles of Luxury, turned to Diflempers j and that which fhe expended on her Vanity* became ( 247 ) became the Occafion of Shame and Re- proach to her. In the mean Time poor Mifs Veridefs Affairs were very ill ma- oaged, Counfellor Clod-pate, and Skin- flint the Attorney, both Nephews to Nurfe Le Clerk, were entrufled with the Care of Mifs's Law-Suit. After they had received immenfe Sums by that Bufinefs, they actually betrayed the Caufe they were feed for, and a Decree had certainly gone againft their Client, had {he not, to the utter A- mazement of all Weftminjler, appeared in Court, and pleaded her own Caufe; for which, however, fhe was imme- diately faddled with a feparate Action of Damage by every Lawyer at the Bar, and with a Trefpafs by the Court, for prefuming to act as a Lawyer, with- out being regularly bred to the Bufi- nefs, or qualified according to Form ; and, what was worfe, for interrupting the Bufinefs of all the Courts, inaf- much as nothing could be done while fhe was within the Walls. With the like (248 ) like Skill and Fidelity was me generally ferved in other Matters. Nurfe's own Relations, or the younger Sons of great Men, who were often fit for no other Purpofe, and altogether ignorant of Bufmefs, were, for the moft Part, em- ployed, and had large Salaries for mif- managing the Affairs of this injured young Lady. Of a good Number of Servants, who were paid for attending on Mifs's own Perfon, few or none ever went near her ; fo that me fcarcely knew any of them, nor were they bet- ter acquainted with her* THERE were . fome indeed , who {hewed an honeft Zeal for the Service of their young Miftrefs ; but the World being generally averfe to her, hated alfo thofe who efpoufed her, and, in fome 3\/teafure, did them the Honour to perfecute them for their Fidelity. Nurfe, in the mean Time, who could have protected thefe Perfons, and ought to have enabled them to render a more effectual Service, looked on them with a jealous ( 249 ) a jealous Eye, as reproaching her ow n unaccountable Conduct by their Zeal and Care. For thefe, and other the like Reafons, {he took Care to keep them down, and to reftrain the too petulant Warmth of the Men by all manner of Difcouragements. Thofe, faid me, who have a real Friendmip for Mils, will ferve her to the uttermoft of their Power for her own fake, although I mew them no Countenance ; and fo- as her Caufe and mine areftill, in fome meafure, one,, I ihall mare in their Ser- vices for nothing^ while I purchafe, with all the Favours I can confer, the Interefl and Affiflance of thofe, who care not a Straw for either of us, but as we are ufeful to themfelves. NURSE took Care to be as pubiick as poffible in- her Vifits to Mifs, and to fpeak of her on all Occafions, as her belt Friend, and only Confident; though perhaps their Hearts were never farther afunder than, at that very inftant. By this Means fhe. hoped to fupport her Z CredU f 250 ) Credit, as if her Conduct was approved of by Mifs Veridet; and, for a time, it had this Effect. But when Nurfe's Practices were once feen through, this Appearance of Friendfhip and Conful- tation between the two Ladies, fervcd only to render Mifs Veridet fufpeded, and afterwards hated by thofe, who were perfectly indifferent to her before. Hence it came to pafs, that the Party of thofe, who difputed her Patrimony with her, was greatly encreafed. Some queflioned her Legitimacy, others that of her Father j and the generality of them infifted, that all (he had fo im- pudently called her own, and Nurfe had fo infamoufly abufed, was confer- red on her by voluntary Contribution, and might be withdrawn again at Plea- fure. They are now preparing to pro- ceed dh this way of Reafoning to a forcible Refumption, as they call it, of all the Eftate j while Nurfe, in the mean Time, as if the whole World were ei- ther her fall Friends, or abfolute Slaves, $ perfeveres perfeveres in every Practice that can help to inflame the univerfal Odium a- gainfl herfelf, and increafe the growing Prejudices fo unjuftly entertained againft Mifs. Her Conduct: is made up of two Things, the moft incompatible in Na- ture, a Defence of Mifs Veridefs Rights, and a Dependence on mere Po- licy and worldly Power. With her Right Hand fhe holds by thefe; and with her Left, which is paralytick, me feebly attempts to manage that. 'Till {he is reftored to a founder Mind, and- a better State of Health, the Affairs- of this injured Heirefs are not likely to be put on an advantageous Foot- ing. FINIS, University of California SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY 405 Hilgard Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90024-1388 Return this material to the library from which it was borrowed. .REC'D IMKI I JAR 2 11991 NOV 2 1 1991 UC SOUTHERN REGIONAL UBRARY FACILITY 000137153 3