SISERA. By Joseph Payne, Esq. "OH where is the chief of the battle ?-say "O son of my pride, thou surely hast sped, The path of the victor thou canst not but tread : And the hour of thy coming no longer delay!" Thus sigh'd, from her window, the mother of him For the curse of the God of the Hebrews had come Oh blessed for ever shall she be whose hand From the chains of the tyrant delivered the land: Sir, FAULTS CONFINED TO NO PARTY. To the Editor of the County Miscellany. Your observations last month on the folly of entertaining a fear of papists," because they were once perse • The Editor has much pleasure in stating that he shall be able to insert several pieces in the Miscellany, which have been kindly furnished by the same Author. N cuting and bloody, were very seasonable, and I hope that some victims of ill-judged terror will profit by them. You justly observe that protestants have employed the sword and the stake to forward their views, religious persecution belonging to the age, and not to a party. My object in addressing you is to shew that the use of foul and abusive language has not been confined to a particular sect, as the following extracts will prove. Aylmer was Bishop of London in the reign of Elizabeth, and was exceedingly active in his efforts to put down the puritan party, which at that time had acquired considerable strength. Mr. Merbury, one of the ministers of Northampton, being brought before him, the following dialogue took place, "which formed part of a conference as disgraceful to the bishop, as it must have been irritating to the estiniable man whom he oppressed." Bishop, Thou speakest of making ministers; the bishop of Peterborough was never more overseen in his life, than when he admitted thee to be a preacher in Northampton. Merbury. Like enough so, (in some sense) I pray God those scales may fall from his eyes, B, Thou art a very ass; thou art mad; thou art courageous; nay, thou art impudent: by my troth I think he be mad, he careth for nobody.. M. Sir, I take exception against swearing judges; I praise God I am not mad, but sorry to see you so out of temper. B. Did you ever hear one more impudent? M. It is not (I trust) impudence to answer for myself. B. Nay, I know thou art courageous, thou art fool-hardy. M, Though I fear not you, yet I fear the Lord. B. Thou takest upon thee to be a preacher, but there is nothing in thee. Thou art a very ass, an idiot, and a fool. M. I humbly beseech you, sir, have patience; give this people better example. I am that I am, through the Lord. I submit the trial of my sufficiency to the judgment of the learned; but this wandering speech is not logical. B. This fellow would have a preacher in every parish church. B. Where wouldest thou have them? M. In Cambridge, in Oxford, in the inns of court, yea, and some in prison, if there wanted more; we doing our part, the Lord would do his. B. I thought where thou wouldst be; but where is the living for them? M. A man might cut a large thong out of your hide and the rest, and it would not be missed. B. Perge mentire. Thou shalt dispose of our livings orderly. M. It is more than you can do yourselves. If living be the default, they are to blame which have too much; whatever is the cause, the church feeleth the smart. B. Thou art an overthwart, proud puritan knave; thou wilt go to Northampton, and thou wilt have thine own saying to die, but thou shalt repent it. M. I am no puritan; I beseech you be good to me: I have been twice in prison, but I know not why. B. Where was he before? Keeper of the Gate house. With me, my lord. B. Have him to the Marshalsea, there he shall cope with the papists. M. I am to go whither it pleaseth God, but remember God's judgments: you do me open wrong, I pray God forgive you, That the parties in power could be scurrilous the above extract leaves no doubt: let us now see what strain the puritans could adopt in their defence. "Numerous anony mous pamphlets were issued, during Elizabeth's reign, which spared no invective or abuse, but appealing to some of the worst passions of human nature, sought to direct them with destructive energy against the archbishop and his system. The most distinguished and effective of these tracts bore the name of Martin Mar-prelate, and were printed at a private press, which was moved from one place to another, as the vigilance of Whitgift and his emissaries. rendered necessary. They were written in a coarse abusive style," as the following quotation will testify. It is taken from a pamphlet addressed "to the right puissant and terrible priests, my clergy masters of the confocation house," whether fickers general, worshipful paltripolitans, or any other of the holy league of subscription." "But our brother Winchester, you of all other men, are most wretched, for you openly in the presence of many hundreds, the last lent, 1587, pronounced that men might find fault, if they were disposed to quarrel, as well with the scripture as with the Book of Common Prayer. Who could hear this comparison without trembling? But lest you should think he had not as good a gift in speaking against his conscience as my lord of Canterbury is endued with, you are to understand that both in that sermon of his, and in another which he preached at the court the same lent, he protested before God, and the congregation where he stood, that there was not in the world at this day, nay, there had not been since the apostles' time, such a flourishing estate of a church, as we have now in England. Is it any marvel that we have so many swine, dumb-dogs, non-residents, with their journeymen the hedgepriests, so many lewd livers, as thieves, murderers, adulterers, drunkards, cormorants, rascals, so many ignorant and atheistical dolts, so many covetous popish bishops in our ministry, and so many and so monstrous corruptions in our church, and yet likely to have no redress: seeing our shameless, and wainscot-faced bishops, like beasts, contrary to the knowledge of all men, and against their own consciences, dare, in the ears of her majesty, affirm all to be well, when there is nothing but sores and blisters, yea, where the grief is even deadly at the heart. Nay, says my lord of Winchester (like a monstrous hypocrite, for he is a very dunce, not able to defend an argument, but till he come to the pinch he will cog and face it out, for his face is made of seasoned wainscot, and will lie as fast as a dog can trot), I have said it, I do say it, and I have said it. And say I, you shall one day answer it (without repentance) for abusing the church of God and her majesty in this sort. I would wish you to leave this villany, and the rest of your devilish practices against God's saints, lest you answer it where your peevish and choleric simplicity will not avail you. I am ashamed to think that the Church of England should have these wretches for the eyes thereof, that would have the people content themselves with bare reading only, and hold that they may be saved thereby ordinarily." As the above particulars not only illustrate the statement that "faults are confined to no party," but are also interesting in the ecclesiastical history of our country, perhaps you will think them worthy a place in your Magazine. I am indebted for my information to Price's History of Nonconformity, just published. Yours, &c. ས. THE FLOOD. THE light of every sparkling star And o'er the eastern hills afar Appeared the king of day. Sublime upon his moving throne, In regal state he sate alone, And, from his solitary height, Contemplated the lands below Of half the Earth, with more delight And viewed the new-made world, and strung Till air and earth and ocean rung, A fairer sight was given To mortal, or to angel shewn, Than that which now he gazed upon. High over head the perfect blue, And under these the ocean lay, As calm, as beautiful as they; The smiling earth looked young and gay With opening buds, and bloom, and flowers, |