Book: The Prose Works of Jonathan Swift, D. D., Volume IV:

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But, beside this love we owe to every man in his particular capacity
under the title of our neighbour, there is yet a duty of a more large
extensive nature incumbent on us; which is, our love to our neighbour in
his public capacity, as he is a member of that great body the
commonwealth, under the same government with ourselves; and this is
usually called love of the public, and is a duty to which we are more
strictly obliged than even that of loving ourselves; because therein
ourselves are also contained, as well as all our neighbours, in one
great body. This love of the public, or of the commonwealth, or love of
our country, was in ancient times properly known by the name of virtue,
because it was the greatest of all virtues, and was supposed to contain
all virtues in it: And many great examples of this virtue are left us on
record, scarcely to be believed, or even conceived, in such a base,
corrupted, wicked age as this we live in. In those times it was common
for men to sacrifice their lives for the good of their country, although
they had neither hope or belief of future rewards; whereas, in our days,
very few make the least scruple of sacrificing a whole nation, as well
as their own souls, for a little present gain; which often hath been
known to end in their own ruin in this world, as it certainly must in
that to come.

Have we not seen men, for the sake of some petty employment, give up
the very natural rights and liberties of their country, and of mankind,
in the ruin of which themselves must at last be involved? Are not these
corruptions gotten among the meanest of our people, who, for a piece of
money, will give their votes at a venture, for the disposal of their own
lives and fortunes, without considering whether it be to those who are
most likely to betray or defend them? But, if I were to produce only one
instance of a hundred wherein we fail in this duty of loving our
country, it would be an endless labour; and therefore I shall not
attempt it.

But here I would not be misunderstood: By the love of our country I do
not mean loyalty to our king, for that is a duty of another nature; and
a man may be very loyal, in the common sense of the word, without one
grain of public good at his heart. Witness this very kingdom we live in.
I verily believe, that, since the beginning of the world, no nation upon
earth ever shewed (all circumstances considered) such high constant
marks of loyalty in all their actions and behaviour, as we have done:
And, at the same time, no people ever appeared more utterly void of what
is called a public spirit. When I say the people, I mean the bulk or
mass of the people, for I have nothing to do with those in power.

Therefore I shall think my time not ill spent, if I can persuade most or
all of you who hear me, to shew the love you have for your country, by
endeavouring, in your several stations, to do all the public good you
are able. For I am certainly persuaded, that all our misfortunes arise
from no other original cause than that general disregard among us to the
public welfare.

I therefore undertake to shew you three things.

_First_: That there are few people so weak or mean, who have it not
sometimes in their power to be useful to the public.

_Secondly_: That it is often in the power of the meanest among mankind
to do mischief to the public.

And, _Lastly_: That all wilful injuries done to the public are very
great and aggravated sins in the sight of God.

_First_: There are few people so weak or mean, who have it not sometimes
in their power to be useful to the public. Solomon tells us of a poor
wise man who saved a city by his counsel. It hath often happened that a
private soldier, by some unexpected brave attempt, hath been
instrumental in obtaining a great victory. How many obscure men have
been authors of very useful inventions, whereof the world now reaps the
benefit? The very example of honesty and industry in a poor tradesman
will sometimes spread through a neighbourhood, when others see how
successful he is; and thus so many useful members are gained, for which
the whole body of the public is the better. Whoever is blessed with a
true public spirit, God will certainly put it into his way to make use
of that blessing, for the ends it was given him, by some means or other:
And therefore it hath been observed in most ages, that the greatest
actions, for the benefit of the commonwealth, have been performed by the
wisdom or courage, the contrivance or industry, of particular men, and
not of numbers; and that the safety of a kingdom hath often been owing
to those hands from whence it was least expected.

But, _Secondly_: It is often in the power of the meanest among mankind
to do mischief to the public: And hence arise most of those miseries
with which the states and kingdoms of the earth are infested. How many
great princes have been murdered by the meanest ruffians? The weakest
hand can open a flood-gate to drown a country, which a thousand of the
strongest cannot stop. Those who have thrown off all regard for public
good, will often have it in their way to do public evil, and will not
fail to exercise that power whenever they can. The greatest blow given
of late to this kingdom, was by the dishonesty of a few manufacturers;
who, by imposing bad ware at foreign markets, in almost the only traffic
permitted to us, did half ruin that trade; by which this poor unhappy
kingdom now suffers in the midst of sufferings. I speak not here of
persons in high stations, who ought to be free from all reflection, and
are supposed always to intend the welfare of the community: But we now
find by experience, that the meanest instrument may, by the concurrence
of accidents, have it in his power to bring a whole kingdom to the very
brink of destruction, and is, at this present, endeavouring to finish
his work; and hath agents among ourselves, who are contented to see
their own country undone, to be small sharers in that iniquitous gain,
which at last must end in their own ruin as well as ours. I confess, it
was chiefly the consideration of that great danger we are in, which
engaged me to discourse to you on this subject; to exhort you to a love
of your country, and a public spirit, when all you have is at stake; to
prefer the interest of your prince and your fellow-subjects before that
of one destructive impostor, and a few of his adherents.

Perhaps it may be thought by some, that this way of discoursing is not
so proper from the pulpit. But surely, when an open attempt is made, and
far carried on, to make a great kingdom one large poorhouse, to deprive
us of all means to exercise hospitality or charity, to turn our cities
and churches into ruins, to make the country a desert for wild beasts
and robbers, to destroy all arts and sciences, all trades and
manufactures, and the very tillage of the ground, only to enrich one
obscure ill-designing projector, and his followers; it is time for the
pastor to cry out that the wolf is getting into his flock, to warn them
to stand together, and all to consult the common safety. And God be
praised for His infinite goodness in raising such a spirit of union
among us, at least in this point, in the midst of all our former
divisions; which union, if it continue, will, in all probability, defeat
the pernicious design of this pestilent enemy to the nation.

But, from hence, it clearly follows how necessary the love of our
country, or a public spirit, is in every particular man, since the
wicked have so many opportunities of doing public mischief. Every man is
upon his guard for his private advantage; but, where the public is
concerned, he is apt to be negligent, considering himself only as one
among two or three millions, among whom the loss is equally shared, and
thus, he thinks, he can be no great sufferer. Meanwhile the trader, the
farmer, and the shopkeeper, complain of the hardness and deadness of the
times, and wonder whence it comes; while it is, in a great measure,
owing to their own folly, for want of that love of their country, and
public spirit and firm union among themselves, which are so necessary to
the prosperity of every nation.

Another method by which the meanest wicked man, may have it in his power
to injure the public, is false accusation, whereof this kingdom hath
afforded too many examples: Neither is it long since no man, whose
opinions were thought to differ from those in fashion, could safely
converse beyond his nearest friends, for fear of being sworn against, as
a traitor, by those who made a traffic of perjury and subornation; by
which the very peace of the nation was disturbed, and men fled from each
other as they would from a lion or a bear got loose. And, it is very
remarkable, that the pernicious project now in hand to reduce us to
beggary, was forwarded by one of these false accusers, who had been
convicted of endeavouring, by perjury and subornation, to take away the
lives of several innocent persons here among us; and, indeed, there
could not be a more proper instrument for such a work.

Another method by which the meanest people may do injury to the public,
is the spreading of lies and false rumours, thus raising a distrust
among the people of a nation, causing them to mistake their true
interest, and their enemies for their friends: And this hath been
likewise too successful a practice among us, where we have known the
whole kingdom misled by the grossest lies, raised upon occasion to serve
some particular turn. As it hath also happened in the case I lately
mentioned, where one obscure man, by representing our wants where they
were least, and concealing them where they were greatest, had almost
succeeded in a project of utterly ruining this whole kingdom; and may
still succeed, if God doth not continue that public spirit, which He
hath almost miraculously kindled in us upon this occasion.

Thus we see the public is many times, as it were, at the mercy of the
meanest instrument, who can be wicked enough to watch opportunities of
doing it mischief, upon the principles of avarice or malice; which, I am
afraid, are deeply rooted in too many breasts, and against which there
can be no defence, but a firm resolution in all honest men, to be
closely united and active in shewing their love to their country, by
preferring the public interest to their present private advantage. If a
passenger, in a great storm at sea, should hide his goods that they
might not be thrown overboard to lighten the ship, what would be the
consequence? The ship is cast away, and he loses his life and goods
together.

We have heard of men, who, through greediness of gain, have brought
infected goods into a nation, which bred a plague, whereof the owners
and their families perished first. Let those among us consider this and
tremble, whose houses are privately stored with those materials of
beggary and desolation, lately brought over to be scattered like a
pestilence among their countrymen, which may probably first seize upon
themselves and their families, until their houses shall be made a
dunghill.

I shall mention one practice more, by which the meanest instruments
often succeed in doing public mischief; and this is by deceiving us with
plausible arguments, to make us believe that the most ruinous project
they can offer is intended for our good, as it happened in the case so
often mentioned. For the poor ignorant people, allured by the appearing
convenience in their small dealings, did not discover the serpent in the
brass,[2] but were ready, like the Israelites, to offer incense to it;
neither could the wisdom of the nation convince them, until some, of
good intentions, made the cheat so plain to their sight, that those who
run may read. And thus the design was to treat us, in every point, as
the Philistines treated Samson, (I mean when he was betrayed by Delilah)
first to put out our eyes, and then bind us with fetters of brass.

[Footnote 2: "Brass" may be read "Wood's halfpence." [T.S.]]

I proceed to the last thing I proposed, which was to shew you that all
wilful injuries done to the public, are very great and aggravated sins
in the sight of God.

_First:_ It is apparent from Scripture, and most agreeable to reason,
that the safety and welfare of nations are under the most peculiar care
of God's providence. Thus He promised Abraham to save Sodom, if only ten
righteous men could be found in it. Thus the reason which God gave to
Jonas for not destroying Nineveh was, because there were six score
thousand men in that city.

All government is from God, Who is the God of order, and therefore
whoever attempts to breed confusion or disturbance among a people, doth
his utmost to take the government of the world out of God's hands, and
to put it into the hands of the Devil, who is the author of confusion.
By which it is plain, that no crime, how heinous soever, committed
against particular persons, can equal the guilt of him who does injury
to the public.

_Secondly_: All offenders against their country lie under this grievous
difficulty, that it is next to impossible to obtain a pardon, or make
restitution. The bulk of mankind are very quick at resenting injuries,
and very slow in forgiving them: And how shall one man be able to obtain
the pardon of millions, or repair the injuries he hath done to millions?
How shall those, who, by a most destructive fraud, got the whole wealth
of our neighbouring kingdom into their hands, be ever able to make a
recompence? How will the authors and promoters of that villainous
project, for the ruin of this poor country, be able to account with us
for the injuries they have already done, although they should no farther
succeed? The deplorable case of such wretches, must entirely be left to
the unfathomable mercies of God: For those who know the least in
religion are not ignorant that, without our utmost endeavours to make
restitution to the person injured, and to obtain his pardon, added to a
sincere repentance, there is no hope of salvation given in the Gospel.

_Lastly_: All offences against our own country have this aggravation,
that they are ungrateful and unnatural. It is to our country we owe
those laws which protect us in our lives, our liberties, our properties,
and our religion. Our country produced us into the world, and continues
to nourish us so, that it is usually called our mother; and there have
been examples of great magistrates, who have put their own children to
death for endeavouring to betray their country, as if they had attempted
the life of their natural parent.

Thus I have briefly shewn you how terrible a sin it is to be an enemy to
our country, in order to incite you to the contrary virtue, which at
this juncture is so highly necessary, when every man's endeavour will be
of use. We have hitherto been just able to support ourselves under many
hardships; but now the axe is laid to the root of the tree, and nothing
but a firm union among us can prevent our utter undoing. This we are
obliged to, in duty to our gracious King, as well as to ourselves. Let
us therefore preserve that public spirit, which God hath raised in us
for our own temporal interest For, if this wicked project should
succeed, which it cannot do but by our own folly; if we sell ourselves
for nought; the merchant, the shopkeeper, the artificer, must fly to the
desert with their miserable families, there to starve or live upon
rapine, or at least exchange their country for one more hospitable than
that where they were born.

Thus much I thought it my duty to say to you, who are under my care, to
warn you against those temporal evils, which may draw the worst of
spiritual evils after them; such as heart-burnings, murmurings,
discontents, and all manner of wickedness which a desperate condition of
life may tempt men to.

I am sensible that what I have now said will not go very far, being
confined to this assembly; but I hope it may stir up others of my
brethren to exhort their several congregations, after a more effectual
manner, to shew their love for their country on this important occasion.
And this, I am sure, cannot be called meddling in affairs of state.

I pray God protect his Most Gracious Majesty, and this kingdom, long
under his government, and defend us from all ruinous projectors,
deceivers, suborners, perjurers, false accusers, and oppressors; from
the virulence of party and faction; and unite us in loyalty to our King,
love to our country, and charity to each other.

And this we beg for Jesus Christ His sake: To Whom, &c.




ON THE MARTYRDOM OF KING CHARLES I.

PREACHED AT ST PATRICK'S, DUBLIN, JAN. 30, 1725-26, BEING SUNDAY.


GENESIS, XLIX. 5, 6, 7.

"Simeon and Levi are brethren; instruments of cruelty are in their
habitations.

"O my soul, come not thou into their secret; unto their assembly, mine
honour, be not thou united: for in their anger they slew a man, and in
their self-will they digged down a wall.

"Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce; and their wrath, for it was
cruel. I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel."


I know very well, that the Church hath been often censured for keeping
holy this day of humiliation, in memory of that excellent king and
blessed martyr, Charles I., who rather chose to die on a scaffold, than
betray the religion and liberties of his people, wherewith God and the
laws had entrusted him. But, at the same time, it is manifest that those
who make such censures are either people without any religion at all, or
who derive their principles, and perhaps their birth, from the abettors
of those who contrived the murder of that prince, and have not yet shewn
the world that their opinions are changed. It is alleged, that the
observation of this day hath served to continue and increase the
animosity and enmity among our countrymen, and to disunite Protestants;
that a law was made, upon the restoration of the Martyr's son, for a
general pardon and oblivion, forbidding all reproaches upon that
occasion; and, since none are now alive who were actors or instruments
in that tragedy, it is thought hard and uncharitable to keep up the
memory of it for all generations.

Now, because I conceive most of you to be ignorant in many particulars
concerning that horrid murder, and the rebellion which preceded it; I
will,

_First_, relate to you so much of the story as may be sufficient for
your information:

_Secondly_, I will tell you the consequences which this bloody deed had
upon these kingdoms:

And, _Lastly_, I will shew you to what good uses this solemn day of
humiliation may be applied.

As to the first: In the reign of this prince, Charles the Martyr, the
power and prerogative of the king were much greater than they are in our
times, and so had been for at least seven hundred years before; And the
best princes we ever had, carried their power much farther than the
blessed Martyr offered to do in the most blameable part of his reign.
But, the lands of the Crown having been prodigally bestowed to
favourites, in the preceding reigns, the succeeding kings could not
support themselves without taxes raised by Parliament; which put them
under a necessity of frequently calling those assemblies: And, the crown
lands being gotten into the hands of the nobility and gentry, beside the
possessions of which the Church had been robbed by King Henry the
Eighth, power, which always follows property, grew to lean to the side
of the people, by whom even the just rights of the Crown were often
disputed.

But further: Upon the cruel persecution raised against the Protestants,
under Queen Mary, among great numbers who fled the kingdom to seek for
shelter, several went and resided at Geneva, which is a commonwealth,
governed without a king, and where the religion, contrived by Calvin, is
without the order of bishops. When the Protestant faith was restored by
Queen Elizabeth, those who fled to Geneva returned among the rest home
to England, and were grown so fond of the government and religion of the
place they had left, that they used all possible endeavours to introduce
both into their own country; at the same time continually preaching and
railing against ceremonies and distinct habits of the clergy, taxing
whatever they disliked, as a remnant of Popery, and continued extremely
troublesome to the Church and state, under that great Queen, as well as
her successor King James I. These people called themselves Puritans, as
pretending to a purer faith than those of the Church established. And
these were the founders of our Dissenters. They did not think it
sufficient to leave all the errors of Popery, but threw off many
laudable and edifying institutions of the primitive Church, and, at
last, even the government of bishops; which, having been ordained by the
apostles themselves, had continued without interruption, in all
Christian churches, for above fifteen hundred years. And all this they
did, not because those things were evil, but because they were kept by
the Papists. From thence they proceeded, by degrees, to quarrel with the
kingly government; because, as I have already said, the city of Geneva,
to which their fathers had flown for refuge, was a commonwealth, or
government of the people.

These Puritans, about the middle of the Martyr's reign, were grown to a
considerable faction in the kingdom, and in the Lower House of
Parliament. They filled the public with the most false and bitter libels
against the bishops and the clergy, accusing chiefly the very best among
them of Popery; and, at the same time, the House of Commons grew so
insolent and uneasy to the King, that they refused to furnish him with
necessary supplies for the support of his family, unless upon such
conditions as he could not submit to without forfeiting his conscience
and honour, and even his coronation oath. And, in such an extremity, he
was forced upon a practice, no way justifiable, of raising money; for
which, however, he had the opinion of the judges on his side; for,
wicked judges there were in those times as well as in ours. There were
likewise many complaints, and sometimes justly, made against the
proceedings of a certain court, called the Star-chamber, a judicature of
great antiquity, but had suffered some corruptions, for which, however,
the King was nowise answerable, I cannot recollect any more subjects of
complaint with the least ground of reason, nor is it needful to
recollect them, because this gracious King did, upon the first
application, redress all grievances by an act of Parliament, and put it
out of his power to do any hardships for the future. But that wicked
faction in the House of Commons, not content with all those marks of his
justice and condescension, urged still for more; and joining with a
factious party from Scotland, who had the same fancies in religion,
forced him to pass an act for cutting off the head of his best and chief
minister; and, at the same time, compelled him, by tumults and
threatenings of a packed rabble, poisoned with the same doctrines, to
pass another law, by which it should not be in his power to dissolve
that Parliament without their own consent. Thus, by the greatest
weakness and infatuation that ever possessed any man's spirit, this
Prince did in effect sign his own destruction. For the House of Commons,
having the reins in their own hands, drove on furiously; sent him every
day some unreasonable demand, and when he refused to grant it, made use
of their own power, and declared that an ordinance of both Houses,
without the King's consent, should be obeyed as a law, contrary to all
reason and equity, as well as to the fundamental constitution of the
kingdom.

About this time the rebellion in Ireland broke out, wherein his
Parliament refused to assist him; nor would accept his offer to come
hither in person to subdue those rebels. These, and a thousand other
barbarities, forced the King to summon his loyal subjects to his
standard in his own defence. Meanwhile the English Parliament, instead
of helping the poor Protestants here, seized on the very army that his
Majesty was sending over for our relief, and turned them against their
own Sovereign. The rebellion in England continued for four or five
years: At last the King was forced to fly in disguise to the Scots, who
sold him to the rebels. And these Puritans had the impudent cruelty to
try his sacred person in a mock court of justice, and cut off his head;
which he might have saved, if he would have yielded to betray the
constitution in Church and state.

In this whole proceeding, Simeon and Levi were brethren; the wicked
insinuations of those fanatical preachers stirring up the cruelty of the
soldiers, who, by force of arms, excluded from the house every member of
Parliament, whom they apprehended to bear the least inclination towards
an agreement with the King, suffering only those to enter who thirsted
chiefly for his blood; and this is the very account given by their own
writers: From whence it is clear that this Prince was, in all respects,
a real martyr for the true religion and the liberty of the people. That
odious Parliament had first turned the bishops out of the House of
Lords; in a few years after, they murdered their King; then immediately
abolished the whole House of Lords; and so, at last, obtained their
wishes, of having a government of the people, and a new religion, both
after the manner of Geneva, without a king, a bishop, or a nobleman; and
this they blasphemously called "The kingdom of Christ and his saints."

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