Page:The Works of the Rev. Jonathan Swift, Volume 4.djvu/417

Rh worse than papists, and both of them more dangerous at present to our constitution both in church and state. Not that I think presbytery so corrupt a system of christian religion as popery; I believe it is not above one third as bad: but I think the presbyterians, and their clans of other fanaticks, or freethinkers and atheists that dangle after them, are as well inclined to pull down the present establishment of monarchy and religion, as any set of papists in Christendom; and therefore, that our danger, as things now stand, is infinitely greater from our protestant enemies; because they are much more able to ruin us, and full as willing. There is no doubt but that presbytery and a commonwealth, are less formidable evils than popery, slavery, and the pretender; for, if the fanaticks were in power, I should be in more apprehension of being starved, than burned. But, there are probably in England forty dissenters of all kinds, including their brethren the freethinkers, for one papist; and allowing one papist to be as terrible as three dissenters, it will appear by arithmetick, that we are thirteen times and one third, more in danger of being ruined by the latter, than the former.

The other qualification necessary for all pastors, if they will not be blind, ignorant, greedy, drunken dogs, &c. is to know the depths of Satan. This is harder than the former; that a poor gentleman ought not to be parson, vicar, or curate of a parish, except he be cunninger than the devil. I am afraid it will be difficult to remedy this defect, for one manifest reason, because whoever had only half the cunning of the devil, would never take up with a vicarage of ten pounds a year to live on at his ease, as