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I fhall add but one-Inftance more, but that lying within the compass of our own Knowledge will be decifive: I fhall mention but two Hiftorians, both eminent Writers; the one Author of an excellent Treatife, ftil'd, de Monde dans la Lune; the other, Paulus Venetus; who both speak of a Bird in the Inland of Madagascar, the Feathers of whole Wings are twelve Feet in length, and which takes up an Horfe and his Rider, as eafily as one of our Kites takes up a little Moufe. Here is ample Proof of the Probability of Mr. Gulliver's Transportation, and being an hiftorical Fact, I fhall not throw away Words in defending it; if it be queftion'd, I fhall only defire the Objector to take a Voyage to Madagascar to cure his Incredulity; but earnestly request him to beware of this dangerous Animal, left by fatal Experience he be made fenfible of Mr. Gulliver's Veracity.

I shall now, Ladies, foon releafe your Patience, by difpatching the laft Objection, which is, That the account of the Houyhnhnms, in Latin Hinnientes is utterly incredible.

I prefume the Gentleman takes Offence because Mr. Gulliver indues the Houyhnhnms with the faculty of Speaking, and thereby places them in a ftation of Dignity equal to Man, the glory of the Creation: But wherein lies any Abfurdity? Do we not daily hear Parrots Speaking articulately? Have we forgot the fenfible Converfation between old Prince Maurice and a Parrot, taken from the Prince's own Mouth by our Embaflador Sir William Temple ? This Parrot, amongst other notable Obfervations, faid, I know you to be a great Prince from your majestic Air. And are not our own Magpies and Starlings equally difcerning and judicious? As they hang in our Streets at London, they, as it were, read the Looks of the Paffengers, and from obferving their Countenances, with an audible Voice, pronounce this Gentleman Rogue, and that Lady Whore. And can any one doubt but that they often speak Truth? Now if all thefe kinds of Birds are allow'd to fpeak, and to reafon, why muft Horfes be deny'd the like Privilege? Are they not more docile and tractable than moft other Creatures? and if lefs perfect Animals learn to speak, Why not they? Whence was it that the Poets of former Ages chose the Horse, or Pegafus, for their Patron? Undoubtedly because they were well acquainted with his fuperior Sagacity. He was their Infpirer, they honour'd him, they invok'd him: He open'd their Hippocrene for them, from whence they deriv'd all their noble Enthufiafm and divine Fury: And at this day are any Poets fuccefsful unless he bears them on his Wings:

Above our low and groß Abodes,

To mount o'er Stars and talk with Gods.

If I had been unacquainted with the Gentleman's great Proficiency in polite Literature, I might have entertain'd a Sufpicion, that he had forgot fome of the Greek and Latin he had learn'd at School: Has he not read the Speech of Xanthus, the Steed of Achilles preferv'd by the incompa rable Homer? Iliad. 19. v. 453

Achilles! yes! this day at least we bear
Thy Rage in fafety thro' the Files of War:
But come it will, the fatal Time must come,
Nor ours the Fault, but Gud decrees thy Doom :

Not

Not thro' our Crime, or flowness in the Course,
Fell thy Patroclus, but by heav'nly force.

No! could our fwiftness o'er the Winds prevail,
Or beat the Pinions of the Western Gales

All were in vain!

the Fates the Death demand,

Due to a mortal and immortal Hand.

Few Men can equal the ftrong Sense and beautiful Expreffion of this Steed of Achilles; he Reafons, he Moralizes, he Prophelies! Here we have the true Pegafæum melos ! Now, if all this was perform'd by Xanthus, why might it not by the Houyhnbums? Ifhould overwhelm the Genfleman with Authorities were I to quote Livy, who recites the Speech of an Ox, Roma, tibi cave. Pliny tells us, Lib. 8. r. 45. that it was a common thing for Oxen to speak: Eft frequens, in prodigiis prifcorum, bovem effe locatum. Oppian, Cyneg. 1. agrees with Homer about the Horfe of

Achilles:

With human Voice infpir'd, bis Steed deplor'd

The Fate depending dreadful o'er bis Lord.

Can a fuller Vindication of Mr. Gulliver be expected, who is thus amply fupported by the unexceptionable Teftimony of former Ages? Does not Virgil fpeak of Pecudes loquentes? And the divine Homer affures us, Odyff.12. 9. 464. that when certain Oxen were flain,

Along the Ground

Crept the raw Hides, and with a bellowing Sound
Roar'd the dead Limbs, the burning Entrails groan'd.

Now if thefe Oxen could perform thefe furprifing Wonders when dead, is it to be imagin'd they could not speak articulately when alive? If they could roar and bellow without the Organs of Sound, undoubtedly they fpoke when they had them.

I might here plead the Authority of the most excellent fop, who gives us the wife Speeches, and profound Inftru&tions of various Animals But he is fufpected to have been a Fabulist, and I would by no means, in this serious Controverfy, difhonour my Cause, by referring to a Perfon, who, as many judge, wrote chiefly from Invention: I want no fuch Supports, I only defire to be heard impartially.

Befides, What Scholar is there who has not read and admir'd the learned Herodotus? That Father of History affures us, in his Euterpe, that in Greece two Pigeons gave out Oracles with an human Voice, and wer honour'd with Temples Who has not heard of the vocal and oracular Oaks of Dodona? How Mafts of Ships cut out of that Grove gave audible Refponfes? A certain Gentleman, that shall be nameless, imports annually large quantities of the fame Timber; and Images made of it retain the fame Faculty at this Day, to the no fmall emolument of True Behievers. But I fay no more I am not fond of being feiz'd by an Inquifition. The refult of all is this, That if we allow articulate Speech to various Creatures, even to the Stock of a Tree, it is very une reasonable to deny it to an Hurie; and there re Mr. Gulliver is Rectus in Curiâ.

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And here innumerable Arguments pour'd in upon me; I could scarce reftrain the torrent of Eloquence that flow'd into my Imagination: But it fhews the skill of an Orator to know when to leave off; and he is often as much to be praised for what he does not fay, as for what he fays: I therefore check'd the Impetuofity, and chofe rather to be correct than copious. I will, therefore, Ladies, conclude the whole Difpute, by asking what Temptation Mr. Gulliver had to Falfify? Is not Truth as easily spoken as a Lye? Did he gain a Fortune? No, his Family is far from abound? ing. Did he gain Reputation? Undoubtedly he deferv'd it: But the prefent Debate is a Proof that he fuffers by being fufpected of Falfhood. So that nothing could poffibly have extorted a Relation liable to Objection, even from the Novelty of it, from a Perfon of Mr Gulliver's good Sense,but the force of Truth: Magna eft Veritas & prævalebit. And I hope I fhall be believed when I declare that the fame Motive alone induces me to undertake his Vindication. I am not related to his Family, I never had the Honour of his Acquaintance, or faw his Perfon: Nor am I biafs'd by any lucrative Motives: I act upon nobler Principles, and think it preferrable to all Rewards to defend Truth, for the fake of Truth; let the mercenary be Rich, let me be Honeft.

And now, Ladies, having laid before you the Evidence, I wait for the Verdict: I have used no flowers of Oratory, like our popular Demagogures, who fpeak to the Ear, not the Heart, and flatter the Imagination to deceive the Understanding: I have deliver'd my Sentimerts in a plain unaffected Stile, which is the only Ornament that Truth defires: Falfhood delights in Difguife, and loves to be conceal'd: Real Beauty wants no Paint, it only needs to be feen to be admir'd; Such little Arts are only us'd to cover Deformity. But I will detain you no longer: The Caufe is of great Importance, no less than the Reputation of an innocent Man who now fleeps with his Ancestors, and cannot fpeak for himself; of a Perfon who, because he has difcovered a new World, for that fole Reafon lies under the imputation of an Impoftor.

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The Company were unanimous in their Sentiments, and afferted the Veracity of Mr. Guliver; but added, that they fill lik'd Old England best, and would never be perfuaded to chufe either a Lilliputian or Brebdingnagian Husband.

A LETTER Concerning the new Preachers in

SIR,

TH

New-England.

Befon, Sett. 28. 1741. HE Religious Commotions in the Colony of Connecticut being very uncommon and extraordinary, it is thought proper to give the Publick fome account of them. In general, things appear in two very different and contrary Alpets, and Men are greatly divided in their Opinion, according as they happen molt Intenfely to view the one or the other. On the one fide, there religious Commotions have produced a general Concern upon the Minds of Men, a Reformation from tome Vices and Follies, and fome feem to have pified through a faving Charge; and fo far all good Men rejoice. But, on the other hand, many things appear in a quite different and contrary Alpe&t. Some Minifters pretend to

immediate Impreffions from the Spirit to leave their own People a long time, and to travel about Preaching every Day in the Week, and by virtue of fuch Commiffion they fuppofe they have fufficient Warrant to go into other Mens Pulpits, or at least into their efpecial Charge, without their Defire or Confent; and they have laid afide their Studies, Notes and Preparations, upon Pretence of being immediately Influenced and Impreffed by the Spirit what to preach; and fome of them have declared, that almoft all they Preach is by the immediate Impreffion of the Holy Gholt, putting a long chain of Thoughts into their Minds, and Words into their Mouths. And their main Design in Preaching feems not fo much to inform Mens Judgments, as to terrify and affright their Imaginations, and by awful Words and frightful Representations to fet the Congregation into hideous Shrieks and Outcries. And to this end, in every Place where they come, they reprefent that God is doing extraordinary Things in other Places, and that they are fome of the laft hardned Wretches that stand out: That this is the laft heavenly Call that ever they are likely to have That they are now hanging over the Pit of eternal Destruction, and juft ready, this Moment, to fall into it: That Hell fire now flashes in their Faces; and that the Devil now ftands juft ready to feize upon them and carry them to Hell; and they will oftentimes repeat the awful Word, Damn'd! Damn'd! Damn'd! three or four times over. This frequently frights the little Children, and fets them to fcreaming, and that frights their tender Mothers and fets them to fcreaming, and by degrees fpreads over great part of the Congregation; and forty, fifty, or an hundred of them all fcreaming together, makes fuch an awful and hideous Noife as will make a Man's Hair ftand on end. Some will faint away, fall down upon the Floor, wallow and foam; fome Women will rend off their Caps, Handkerchiefs, and other Cloaths, tear their Hair down about their Ears, and feem perfectly bereav'd of their Reafon. After a little while, commonly next Day, fome will come perfectly to their right Mind, and have no remembrance of what is pait: But fome are fuddenly fill'd with Extafies, Raptures and tranfports of Joy, and an infallible Affurance; and generally with a bitter, cenforious and uncharitable Spirit against all fuch as have not experienced thefe Raptures, or that don't look upon them as Evidences of an extraordinary and miraculous Conversion. When they are once thus enlighten'd, they pretend to a Spirit of difcerning, and by comparing Experiences, can tell who are Converted and who not, with fo much Certainty as that they cannot be deceived in one Inance in a hundred: And on them whom they judge Unconverted, they very freely beltow the Epithets of Pharifees, Hypocrites, and the like. And it is their profefs'd Principle to turn out all unconverted Minilters, and to make a general Separation between the Precious and the Vile. Hence they have openly condemn'd feveral Minifters as carnal old Pharifees, tho' nothing appears of Error in their Doctrine, or Scandal in their Lives; but have been fhining Examples of Piety, and fome of the Pil-` lars in the Church; and have charged their People to withdraw from them, and go and hear converted Minifters, or fet up private separate Meetings among themselves; and accord ngly many Churches feem to be upon the Point of dividing and breaking into Pieces. Mr. Dp of Long Island is the most remarkable Inftance of this kind: He has traveld from Stonington to New-Haven about So Miles, and condemn'd almost all

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the Minifters, particularly that fhining Example of Piety and Pillar of our Churches the aged and venerable Mr. ADAMS; and commanded his People to withdraw from him; and accordingly a confiderable number of the Communicants lately withdrew from him, as being a carnal old Pbarifee. In many Places where he comes, few or none will go to hear him; and wherever he can gain any confiderable Party he puts a stop to all ferious Concern and vital Piety, by turning all Religion into Parties and Quarrels. At New-Haven he and fome other Minifters and young gifted Brethren, held forth every Day on the Commencement Week, and generally continued till 10 or 11 0' Clock at Night, and then a great part of their carryings on was not by Praying, Singing and Preaching upon a Text as ufual; but one would make a fhort Prayer, then another give a Word of Exhortation, then another a Word of Exhortation: Then one would propofe a Pfalm, then another a Prayer, then another a Word of Exhortation, and fo on, without any certain Order or Method, fo that in one Meeting of two or three Hours, there would be, it may be, 20 or 30 diftinct Exercifes carried on by 9 or 10 diftinct Perfons; some standing in the Pulpit, fome in the body of Seats, fome in the Pews, and fome in the Gallery; and oftentimes feveral of them would fpeak together: So that fome Praying, fome Exhorting and Terrifying, fome Singing, fome Screaming, fome Crying, fome Laughing, and fome Scolding, made the most amazing Confufion that ever was heard. Mr. D in almost every Prayer vents himself against the Minister of the Place, and often declares him to be an unconverted Man, and fays that Thoufands are now curfing of him in Hell for being the Inftrument of their Damnation: He charges all to pray for his Deftruction and Confufion: He frequently calls him an Hypocrite, a Wolf in Sheep's Cloathing, and a Devit incarnate: And ufes fuch vile and opprobrious Language, as that had it been done by any other Man he would have been immediately fent to the Work houfe. I think that few or none of his greatest Admirers undertake peremptorily to juftify thefe things. But they have conceived fuch an extraordinary Opinion of his Holinefs and Succefs, as that they feem to fuppole that he has fome extraordinary Affittance or Commiffion to do that which may not be done by any other Man.

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The Reverend Trustees of the College and other Minifters at the Commencement, being greatly concern'd about thefe Proceedings fent to Mr. D... and his Party to defire a Conference with them in the Library, but receiv'd dilatory Answers, Once a Meffenger came and faid he fuppos'd Mr. D would be there presently; whereupon the Gentlemen waited about two Hours, and then sent another Messenger, who return'd an Answer, That Mr. D------ reckon'd it his Duty to ftay where he was. Whereupon the Minifters went Home, as thinking all farther Attempts would be fruitless. On the next Sabbath he drew off a Party and held a Meeting in a private Houíc.

Mr. FACIO'S

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