DE FOE'S REMARKS UPON THEM.

21

it is not essential to constitute a true prophet, that what he prophecies should come to pass. The scripture tells us of prophecying lies; They shall prophecy lies in my name. Now, how a man can prophecy lies, otherwise than by prophecying what shall not come to pass, I know not. I am loth to offer any thing to these poor deluded people that is sharp or bitter. I sincerely regret their mistake, and pity them for blindly following what I own I take to be a deceit. They merit our compassion, not our scoffs; and therefore I am sorry to see them exposed to the contempt and indecencies of the rabble. If they are so weak as to appear at the grave of Dr. Emes, upon the day fixed for raising him, I think it concerns the civil magistrates to keep off the mob from offering any violence to them; a thing not very unlikely, and what may be expected to be very fatal, the day being a double holiday, when the streets are likely to be crowded."*

When the time had elapsed, without the performance of the miracle, De Foe takes occasion, from its failure, to exhort the deluded people to return to the sober exercise of their senses, and to be thankful to God that the snare is broken. "I do confess," says he, "the prevalency of this delusion has been surprising, and nothing has been more strange to me in it, than to see men of sense and good character fall in with it; men that have been all their lives religiously disposed, masters of reason, well read in the Scriptures, and sound in the principles of the Christian religion. That these men should have been thus deluded, seems to signify something more than if it had been the common enthusiasm of men weak in judgment, wild in notion, and easy to be imposed upon."+ The principal patrons of these deluded men, besides Sir Richard Bulkley, were John Lacy, Esq.; Francis Moult, the chemist;

22 DE FOE MAKES A JOURNEY TO SCOTLAND.

Nicolas Facio, a learned foreigner; and Francis Maximilian Misson, author of "A New Voyage to Italy." The prophets were attacked by various writers, and it was with a view to them that Shaftesbury penned his celebrated "Letter on Enthusiasm."

Malice had industriously reported, that the chief patrons of these delusions were Quakers and other Dissenters. De Foe, alive to its injustice, rejected the calumny with disdain. It does not appear that one sect had any reason to quarrel with another upon this account, as each had its proportion; and it would be unjust to charge the follies of mankind upon any class of opinions, especially when disowned by the persons maintaining them. Enthusiasts and madmen, as these pages amply testify, are not confined to one description of religionists; and he who so restricts them, has not only a very small portion of charity, but is deficient in his knowledge of mankind, and imperfectly acquainted with human nature.

In the early part of the spring, De Foe made a tour to Scotland, although for what purpose is unknown. He was there at the beginning of April, soon after the commitment of the Scottish prisoners, and paid a visit to Lord Belhaven, in the Castle of Edinburgh. Of the interest he took in the case of that unfortunate nobleman, we shall have occasion to speak hereafter. De Foe's journey was probably upon some public account; but he did not stay long in Scotland, as we find him soon afterwards actively concerned in the parliamentary elections in his own country.

The first parliament of Great Britain was dissolved by proclamation the 15th of April; after which the country was busily occupied in the new elections. Upon this occasion, De Foe earnestly exhorts the electors not to choose Highflyers, "who are the declared enemies of the present constitution;" nor to betray their country for the sake of gratifying

DE FOE'S STRICTURES UPON, BRIBERY.

a sordid appetite.

23

He remonstrates, in strong language,

against the continued practice of bribery, which placed the liberties of the country at the mercy of those who have the longest purse. "He that will buy the country to choose him, will sell the country when he is chosen ;" he therefore recommends them to elect their representatives free of expence; "for men who in conscience cannot bribe, will serve you impartially when chosen." (B) De Foe justly observes, that "railing at courts makes no patriot;" and that we are rather to estimate a man by his tried principles and known character.

During this busy season, De Foe took a journey into the country, to observe the state of political parties, and animate the friends of liberty wherever he could interpose his influence. He tells us, he was presént himself at many of the elections, and observed, with shame and regret, the mode in which they were conducted. "I have not," says he, “so far sat still at the coffee-houses all this summer, as some of you have done, forming elections, telling noses, and casting up parties over a dish of coffee; but I have been among a great many of your electors myself. I have been an eyewitness to many of the most fulsome and loathsome stories I have told you; I have seen the possibility, aye, and too much the practice of men's voting implicitly, here for ale, there for influence, here again for parties, and there by persuasion. And God knows I speak it with regret for you all, and for your posterity, it is not an impossible thing to debauch this nation into a choice of thieves, knaves, devils, or

(B) De Foe illustrates his remark by the following story :-" William Rufus having an Abbey to bestow, several of the clergy, knowing the king to be covetous, bid large sums for the place. The king, seeing a monk stand by who offered nothing, asked him, And what wilt thou give for this Abbey? Indeed, not one penny,' says the monk, for it is against my conscience.' Then,' says the king, 'thou art the fittest man to be Abbot ;' and so gave him the Abbey immediately."- Review, v. 117.

24 HIS ZFAL FOR THE RETURN OF THE WHIGS.

any thing, comparatively speaking, by the power of various intoxications. Having seen and heard so much of your follies, and knowing the consequences, I think myself justified before God and man to tell you, that so far as these practices are allowed by you, so far you are ruining your country, and selling your liberties to French and Jacobite tyranny. And, far be it from me to fear the resentment of any power, be it never so great, in a truth so plain and significant as this. I tell you again, if you have chosen highflyers and Tories, abjuration-taking Jacobites, such as I have been describing, you have sold your nation, your birthright, your children to a pack of thieves, and sacrificed the liberty and religion of Britain to your sordid, debauched luxury and covetousness."* Our author exposes the inconsistency of some modern Whigs, in voting for Tory candidates, thus dividing their interests, and electing their own destroyers. "Oh, Whigs, Whigs, are these the politics your enemies charge you with? Catch a Tory voting for a Whig! Where can you find that fool to his party? The devils' votaries are always true to their master; and the children of this world wiser in their generation than the children of light."

From the temper of the times, De Foe had strong apprehensions of the ascendancy of Tory influence; and, in a strain of pointed irony, he lays open to the electors the consequences to be expected from such an event. They can give away nothing," says he, "but our money; they can overthrow nothing but our constitution; they can over-set nothing but the succession and the Union; they can sell nothing but our liberties; and what then? We shall do as well as our neighbours, who never knew what those toys and trifles, of law, liberty, or property, meant; and yet they sing and dance, and are as merry as other people, though they have

Review, v. 142.

REMARKS UPON PARLIAMENTARY REFORM.

25

not so much gear. Who knows but this may be the Shortest Way to a general deliverance; for, as has been noted, nothing opens our eyes, in this age, like precipitations. Now, if you will but choose these honest sort of folk into parliament, they will confirm all your melancholy reflections; and the scheme of management being swallowed up to a due heighth, you shall soon come to a perfection of your endeavours-a Tory parliament, a Tory ministry, a Tory peace, a Tory successor, and hey boys, up go we! The revolution, the succession, the union, the toleration, shall all receive their due regulations, and this nation shall arrive at its immediate state of bliss-THE SHORTEST WAY."*

Our author was far from being satisfied with the issue of the elections. The ground which the Whigs lost by the frequent return of these occasions, made him dissatisfied with the triennial bill; which, however advantageous upon some accounts, rendered the interval between them a constant season of intrigue and other mal-practices. In the present day, when so much has been said and written in favour of short parliaments, even to the rendering them annual, his opinion would be deemed unpopular. But, whatever objections may be started to the period now fixed by law, many will consider it sufficiently frequent to convulse the country, and repeat the scenes of riot and debauchery, which invariably occur at popular elections. Perhaps, a better mode of parliamentary reform would be, to restrain the overgrown influence of the proprietors of boroughs, by curtailing the elective franchise in some places, and extending it in others; also, by transferring the right of election from small places. to large towns. The people would then have an increased interest in the protection of their rights, and consequently in the preservation of the state.

As a cordial friend to the existing government, which he