The Mischief of Impositions, Conclusion
The Concluſion.
THus have I at length rub'd through the Reverend Authors Diſcourſe; and upon a Calm Reflexion on my work, do not think I can diſpleaſe any one more than my ſelf: Such is the common fate of eager Diſputants, that whilſt they would reach a knock at their Antagoniſts, they loſe their blow, and wound themſelves: ſo eaſie it is, while we are ſcribling, to forget that we are dying; and that our Sand runs faſter than our Ink: If the late change of Ink-horns, into Inck-glaſſes, had but taught us how frail and brittle we all are, it had been the moſt innocent ſignificant Ceremony that ever was invented. I could wiſh there were a General Auditors Office erected, to take the Account, what all Diſputes amount to, and 'tis probable the Total would be this, That the Contenders have loſt more, than ever their Readers gained. Thus zealous Gameſters win and loſe awhile, till at laſt the Box gets the ſtakes, and its well if the unconcerned by-ſtanders come off ſavers: And yet when we condemn, and ſeem to bewail our wranglings, we go on, and wrangle ſtill, like little children that ſcratch and bite, and cry together: But the Diſſenters have one Plea, That in theſe Piracies they are not the Aggreſſors, but ſtand purely on their juſt Defence: If the Winds could be quiet, the Waves would not tumultuate; but poor Neptune bears the blame of all the Mutinies in his Kingdom, when Aeolus only is guilty of the diſorder. If their Oppoſers could hold their hands, the Diſſenters would eaſily rule their tongues and pens, and would ſilently ſuffer ſilent perſecution: That which goes to the quick, is this, That men cannot be content to ſhoot their keen arrows, except they poyſon them with bitter words; like the Serpent that pierces with his teeth, and infuſes his venom along with his biting. It is far more eaſie to pluck up the Flood-gates, than having once done it, to ſhut 'em down again. We have ſeen the beginning of a Controverſie, which may perhaps outlive our Funerals, and the next age may lament thoſe wounds which the preſent has got, but ſleeps it out, and feels not. But if we muſt, or will reciprocate this Saw of Contention, what need to go down to the Philiſtins to ſharpen the Polemical Cutlaſs, when we have a file at home will give it too much keenneſs. I owe the Reader and my ſelf this debt of Juſtice, to profeſs, That I have not to my knowledg gratified any baſe luſt in this my Anſwer; I have ſteered by the compaſs of Truth, and have not vered willingly from it, though perhaps I have not always made the point I aimed at. I muſt further profeſs, That I have thoſe awful thoughts of the Reverend Doctor, whoſe Tract I pretend to Anſwer, that he has equalled moſt, and excelled many of thoſe Worthies, who have maintained the Proteſtant Cauſe againſt inſulting Rome; but in this Cauſe he has gone below himſelf, and many others, which I do not impute to any want of Controverſial skill, but the intrinſick weakneſs of the Cauſe he defended, and the real ſtrength of that he oppugned; and ſeeing further than others into the true ſtate of the Controverſie, he diſcerned the feebleſs of other mens Arguments; but yet through the iniquity of the matter, could find out none better of his own. And laſtly, I muſt openly profeſs, after all I can hear, or read againſt the Cauſe of Nonconformity, I am more confirm'd, that all the wit of man can never prove the Diſſenters in their way of worſhip guilty of the Miſchiefs of Separation, nor juſtifie the exacters of ſuch terms of Communion as are no way commanded by the word of God, no way neceſſary to the executing of thoſe Commands; but they muſt remain ſtill guilty of the Miſchief of theſe Impoſitions.
FINIS.
End of the text · Vincent Alsop, The Mischief of Impositions (1680)