Page:The Works of the Rev. Jonathan Swift, Volume 3.djvu/74

the other side of the water. Thus, if all that array of military grandeur were confined to the proper scene, it would be much more for the interest of the owners, and less offensive to their fellow subjects.

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NUMBER XXI.

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 28, 1710.

Nam et majorum instituta tueri, sacris ceremoniisque retinendis, sapientis est.

— Ruituraque semper
Stat (mirum!) moles —

A wise man will protect and defend the rights of the church; which, in spite of the malice of its enemies, although tottering, and on the brink of destruction, stands secure, to the admiration of all men.

WHOEVER is a true lover of our constitution, must needs be pleased to see what successful endeavours are daily made, to restore it, in every branch, to its ancient form, from the languishing condition it has long lain in, and with such deadly symptoms.

I have already handled some abuses during the late management, and shall, in convenient time, go on with the rest. Hitherto I have confined myself to those of the state: but, with the good leave of some who think it a matter of small moment, I shall now take liberty to say something of the church.

For several years past there has not, I think, in Europe, been any society of men upon so unhappy a foot as the clergy of England; nor more hardly

treated