Fly fro the Prease and dwell with soothfastness, Suffice unto thy good, tho it be small, For horde hath, and climbing tickleness, Prease hath Envy, and wele is blent ore all; Savour no more then thee behove shall, Rede wele thy self that other folk canst rede, And trouth thee shall deliver it is no drede.
Now if he be Moral enough to take old _Chaucer_'s Advice I shall be glad; and so much for that subject. There is nothing now remains, before I come to vindicate _Don Quixot_, but a large Remark of his, upon the little or no swearing in Plays, which commonly is only a kind of an Interjection, as gad, I cod, oonz, _&c._ which I don't defend neither, and if any others have carelesly past the Press I'm sorry for't, for I hate them as much as he, yet because the Doctor has quoted the Statute Law against it and Players, to slander on one side, tho to reform on t'other, I will in return quote another piece of Law relating to Oaths, extreamly for his advantage, for there is only this quibbling difference between us, 'Tis a fault in us in swearing when we should not, and in him for not swearing when he should; but that now he may have occasion to say my Civilities are particular to him, I will make him do't.
I _J.C._ do sincerely promise and swear, that I will be faithful, and bear true Allegiance to His Majesty King _William_: And I do swear that I do, from my heart, abhor, detest and abjure, as Impious and Heretical, that damnable Doctrine and Position, that Princes excommunicated, or depriv'd by the Pope, or any Authority of the See of _Rome_, may be Depos'd or Murther'd by their Subjects, or any other whatsoever.
And I do declare that no Foreign Prince, Person, Prelate, State or Potentate, hath, or aught to have, any Jurisdiction, Power, Superiority, Preeminence or Authority, Ecclesiastical or Spiritual, within this Realm. _So help me God._
This now, with a sincerity proper, and coming to Church to hear our Divine Service, with the _Prayer_ for the _King_ in't, would give one a little satisfaction as to the Doctors present opinion, for what he has been, if you will but examine and scan it by his Book, tho it be a Reforming Book, is I am sure very disputable; in one Page of it he seems very zealous for the Protestant Reformation, and says, being very much piqu'd at _Sir John Brute_'s putting on a Clergy-man's Habit in the _Provok'd Wife_, _that the Church of _England_, he means the Men in her, is the only communion in the world, that will endure such insolencies as these_ [Footnote: Collier, p. 108.]; and this, tho it be somewhat _Bonnerish_ again, and _Switcher_-like, yet however seems to leer of our side; but then presently in another place he's as zealous for the _Roman_ Sect, and Jesuitically condemns a little wholesom Satyr in the Character of a pamper'd hypocritical covetous _Spanish Fryer_, for incivility in making him a Pimp to _Lorenzo_, and is very angry at the Author for calling this virtuous person _a parcel of holy Guts and Garbidge_, and telling him _that he has room in his Belly for his Church-steeple_; [Footnote: Collier, p. 98.] and here his Lash is up again for abusing them--oh--if _Doctor Absolution_ were Inquisitor general, and a Satyrist against Priests came under his hand, mercy upon us, how that poor Rascal would be flaug'd, for I find 'tis only the person of the Priest that he would have reverenc'd, let his opinion be what it will; nay, tho he were a _Priest of Baal_, as may be prov'd a little further, for here his Zeal shews itself not only for Christians, but the very _Turks_ too; and cavils again with _Jacinta_, in the _Mock Astrologer_, for jesting with _Alla_, and honest _Mahomet_, for he was a Brother Priest too: [Footnote: Collier, p. 61.] But stay, what's worst of all, have but patience to walk to another Page, and here you will find him just sinking into a downright doze and despondency, whither he had best set up for any Religion at all, or at least for one very indifferent.