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Page 40
The Scene changes; he's at Court, the Ministers repay him his servile
Cringes by theirs; one comes up to him, and says, he hopes, when the
Bill comes into the House, he will favour him with his Vote for its
passing: He answers, he shall discharge the Trust reposed in him, like a
Man of Honour, in forwarding what is for the Good of his Country, and
opposing the contrary, tho' the Consequence were his own Ruin: That he
begg'd his Lordship's Pardon, if he dissented from him in Opinion, and
did not think what he required warrantable in a Man of Honour.
"You are not well inform'd, _replied the Nobleman_, but we'll talk of
that another Day, when I hope I shall convince you, that you did not
well understand me; my present Business is to wish you Joy,
_Courvite_'s Regiment is vacant, and tho' you have never serv'd,
your personal Bravery and good Conduct in the Senate have spoke so
much in your behalf, that you will to morrow have the Commission
sent you."
"My Lord, _replied the Patriot_, this is an unexpected favour, and I
am satisfied I owe it to your Lordship's Goodness. I hope an
Opportunity to speak my Gratitude, will present it self; in the mean
while count upon me, in whatever I can serve your Interest."
At these Words, with a visible Joy in his Looks, he vanish'd.
Three dirty Mechanicks appeared in a Shoemaker's Shop, who was a
Dreamer. He was declaiming to his Companions over a Pot of Beer, after
the following Manner.
"Look ye, Neighbours, there's an old Proverb says, _It is not the
Hood which makes the Monk_; the being born a Gentleman does not make
a Man of Sense; and the being bred a Tradesman, does not deprive us
of it; for how many great Men have leap'd from the Shop-board,
sprung up from the Stall, and have, by patching and heel-piecing
Religion and the State, made their Names famous to After-Ages? I can
name many, but I shall mention only _John_ of _Leyden_. Now, I see
no Reason, why Meanness of Birth should be an Obstacle to Merit, and
I am resolved, as I find a great many Things which ought to be
redress'd both in Church and State, if you my Friends will stand by
me, to aim at the setting both upright: For you must own, they are
basely trod awry. Trade is dead, Money is scarce, the Parsons are
proud, rich and lazy; War is necessary for the Circulation of Money;
and an honest Man may starve in these Times of Peace and Beggary.
"There are a great many Mysteries in Religion, which, as we don't
know what to make of them, are altogether unnecessary, and ought to
be laid aside, as well as a great many Ceremonies, which ought to be
lopp'd off for being chargeable."
The rest gave their assenting Nod, and seem'd to wonder at, and applaud
his Eloquency. In a Moment, I saw him preaching to a Mobb against the
Luxury of the Age, and telling them it shew'd a Meanness of Spirit to
want Necessaries, while the Gentry, by force of long Usurpations on
their Rights, rioted in all manner of Excess. That Providence brought
none into the World that he might starve; but that all on Earth had a
Right to what was necessary to their Support, which they ought to sieze,
since the Rich refus'd to share with them. From a Preacher I saw him a
Captain of a Rabble, plundering the Houses of the Nobility, was terrible
to all; and tho' he declared for levelling, would be serv'd with the
Pomp and Delicacy of a Prince; marries his Daughters to Lords, hoards
an immense Treasure, and wakes from his golden Dream.
Another Shade I saw suborning Witnesses, giving them Instructions what
to swear, packing Juries, banishing, hanging and beheading all his
Enemies, sending immense Sums to foreign Courts, to support his Power at
Home, bribing Senates, and carrying all before him without Controul,
when he vanish'd. My _English_ Friend told me, that Soul belong'd to the
Body of a Money-Scrivener, who almost crack'd his Brain with Politicks,
and thought of nothing less than being a prime Minister. I knew him
while I was in the World; his whole Discourse always ran on Liberty,
Trade, Free Elections, _&c._ and constantly inveigh'd against all
corrupt and self-interested Practices. I saw Persons descended from the
ancient Nobility fawning on Valets who were arrived to great Preferment
for Pimping; I beheld others contriving Schemes, to bring their Wives
and Daughters into the Company of Persons in Power, and aiming to
gain Preferment for themselves, at the Expence of the Vertue of their
Families; nor was there a Vice, a Folly or a Baseness, practised in this
World below, tho' ever so secret, which I did not see there represented,
the Particulars of which being too long for this Place, I must beg Leave
to refer them to the Second Volume of my Voyages.
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