'There are some sturdy fellows amongst them,I do not deny,'said the man in black,'especially amongst the preachers,clever withal-two or three of that class nearly drove Mr.Platitude mad,as perhaps you are aware,but they are not very numerous;and the old sturdy sort of preachers are fast dropping off,and,as we observe with pleasure,are generally succeeded by frothy coxcombs,whom it would not be very difficult to gain over.But what we most rely upon as an instrument to bring the Dissenters over to us is the mania for gentility,which amongst them has of late become as great,and more ridiculous than amongst the middle classes belonging to the Church of England.All the plain and simple fashions of their forefathers they are either about to abandon,or have already done so.Look at the most part of their chapels-no longer modest brick edifices,situated in quiet and retired streets,but lunatic-looking erections,in what the simpletons call the modern Gothic taste,of Portland stone,with a cross upon the top,and the site generally the most conspicuous that can be found.
And look at the manner in which they educate their children-I mean those that are wealthy.They do not even wish them to be Dissenters-"the sweet dears shall enjoy the advantages of good society,of which their parents were debarred."So the girls are sent to tip-top boarding-schools,where amongst other trash they read ROKEBY,and are taught to sing snatches from that high-flying ditty,the "Cavalier"-'Would you match the base Skippon,and Massey,and Brown,With the barons of England,who fight for the crown?-he!he!their own names.Whilst the lads are sent to those hotbeds of pride and folly-colleges,whence they return with a greater contempt for everything "low,"and especially for their own pedigree,than they went with.I tell you,friend,the children of Dissenters,if not their parents,are going over to the Church,as you call it,and the Church is going over to Rome.'
'I do not see the justice of that latter assertion at all,'said I;'some of the Dissenters'children may be coming over to the Church of England,and yet the Church of England be very far from going over to Rome.'
'In the high road for it,I assure you,'said the man in black;'part of it is going to abandon,the rest to lose their prerogative,and when a Church no longer retains its prerogative,it speedily loses its own respect,and that of others.'
'Well,'said I,'if the higher classes have all the vices and follies which you represent,on which point I can say nothing,as Ihave never mixed with them;and even supposing the middle classes are the foolish beings you would fain make them,and which I do not believe them as a body to be,you would still find some resistance amongst the lower classes:I have a considerable respect for their good sense and independence of character;but pray let me hear your opinion of them.'
'As for the lower classes,'said the man in black,'I believe them to be the most brutal wretches in the world,the most addicted to foul feeding,foul language,and foul vices of every kind;wretches who have neither love for country,religion,nor anything save their own vile selves.You surely do not think that they would oppose a change of religion!why,there is not one of them but would hurrah for the Pope,or Mahomet,for the sake of a hearty gorge and a drunken bout,like those which they are treated with at election contests.'
'Has your church any followers amongst them?'said I.
'Wherever there happens to be a Romish family of considerable possessions,'said the man in black,'our church is sure to have followers of the lower class,who have come over in the hope of getting something in the shape of dole or donation.As,however,the Romish is not yet the dominant religion,and the clergy of the English establishment have some patronage to bestow,the churches are not quite deserted by the lower classes;yet,were the Romish to become the established religion,they would,to a certainty,all go over to it;you can scarcely imagine what a self-interested set they are-for example,the landlord of that public-house in which I first met you,having lost a sum of money upon a cock-fight,and his affairs in consequence being in a bad condition,is on the eve of coming over to us,in the hope that two old Popish females of property,whom I confess,will advance a sum of money to set him up again in the world.'
'And what could have put such an idea into the poor fellow's head?'
said I.
'Oh,he and I have had some conversation upon the state of his affairs,'said the man in black;'I think he might make a rather useful convert in these parts,provided things take a certain turn,as they doubtless will.It is no bad thing to have a fighting fellow,who keeps a public-house,belonging to one's religion.He has been occasionally employed as a bully at elections by the Tory party,and he may serve us in the same capacity.The fellow comes of a good stock;I heard him say that his father headed the High Church mob who sacked and burnt Priestley's house at Birmingham,towards the end of the last century.'
'A disgraceful affair,'said I.
'What do you mean by a disgraceful affair?'said the man in black.