The Storm

by Daniel Defoe

  According therefore to my own private opinion of these words; I shall for the present occasion only Paraphrase them thus, that the Lord has a way or an end in the Whirle-wind, and in the Storm, nor is this a very unusual Method of expressing things in Scripture, where the way is Exprest, to signify the design, or end of a thing.

  And from this Exposition I advance this head.

  That as God by his power Governs the elements, so in all their Extraordinary Motions, they are in a Perticular manner acted by his Soveraignity. And,

  2. When the Creation is put into any Violent or Supernatural Agitation, God has always some Extraordinary thing to bring to pass, he has a meaning in all the Remarkables of Nature.

  3. We ought dilligently to observe the extraordinary actings of Providence, in order to discover and Deprecate the displeasure of Almighty God, Providences are never Dumb, and if we can not discern the signals of his Anger, we must be very blind. The Voice of his Judgements is heard in the Voice of Nature, and if we make our selves Deaf, he is pleas’d to make them speak the Louder, to awaken the stupifyed sences, and startle the World, which seem’d rather Amus’d than Amas’d, with the common Course of things. This I take to be some of the true meaning of the way of God, in the Whirle-wind, and in the Storm.

  The design of this Discourse therefore, is to put the Nation in general upon proper Resolutions; if we pretend to believe that there is any such thing as a Collateral Sympathy, a Communication of Circumstances, between a Nations Follies, and her Fate. Any Harmony between Merit and Mischief, between the Crimes of Men and the Vengeance of Heaven; we cannot but allow this Extra-Vulpit admonition to be just.

  And let not any man Object against this being call’d a Sermon, and its being introduc’d from a Text of Scripture while the remainer of this Discourse, seems wholly Civil and Political.

  If all our Measures in Civil affairs were deduc’d as Inferences from sacred Texts, I am of the Opinion the Text would be well improv’d, and Publick matters never the worse Guided.

  And for this reason, tho’ the Subject be not Treated, with the Gravity of a Sermon, nor in so serious a manner, as would become a Pulpit, yet it may be not the less suitable to the occasion and for the manner, it must be placed to the Authors account.

  Besides the Title I think has provided for the Method and If so he that expected it otherwise than it is tis his Fault, and not Mine.

  The Term Sermon which is but Sermo, a Speech, may Justify all the Novelty of my Method if those who find fault please to give themselves leave to allow it, and since it has never profain’d the Pulpit, I believe the Text will receive no Prejudice by it, I wish every Sermon equally Improv’d.

  And what tho’ your Humble Servant be no Man of the Text; if he be a Man of Honesty, he may have a hand in making you all Men of Application.

  In publick Callamities, every Circumstance is a Sermon, and every thing we see a Preacher.

  The trembling Habitations of an Unthinking People Preach to us, and might have made any Nation in the World tremble but us; when we were rock’d out of our Sleep as Children are Rock’d into it; and when the terrible Hand of Soveraign Power rock’d many a Wretch from one Sleep to another, and made a Grave of the Bed, without the Ceremony of waking in the Passage.

  The shatter’d Palaces of our Princes Preach to us, and tell us aloud, that without respect to Dignity, he is able to put that Dreadful Text in Execution; That if a Nation does wickedly they shall be destroy’d both they and their King.5

  The fallen Oaks, which stood before to tell us they were the longest liv’d of all God’s Creatures, Preach to us, and tell us that the most towring object of humane Beauty and strength must lye humble and prostrate, when he is pleased to give a Check to that Splendor which was deriv’d from his Power.

  The Wrecks of our Navies and Fleets Preach to us, that ’tis in vain we pretend to be Wall’d about by the Ocean, and ride Masters of the Sea: And that, if he who bestow’d that Scituation upon us thinks fit, he can make that Element which has been our Strength, and the Encreaser of our Wealth, be the Grave of our Treasure, and the Enemy of our Commerce; he can put it into so violent Agitation, by the blast of his Mouth, that all our Defence and the Naval Strength we have vallued our selves so much upon, shall at once be swallow’d up in the Mouth of our Friend the Sea; and we shall find our Destruction in the very thing from which we expected our Defence.

  Our Seamen and Soldiers, whose Dead Bodies Embrace the English Shores, Preach aloud to us, that whenever we think fit to Embark them on any Design, which Heaven approves not of, he can blast the Embrio, and devour those People whose Hands are lifted up against Justice and Right.

  Also they Preach to us, Not to build our hopes of Success upon the multitude of Ships or Men, who are thus easily reduc’d, and the Strength of a whole Nation brought to Ruine in a Moment.

  These are the Monitors of our Missfortunes, and some of these admonitions would be well preach’d from the Mouths of those whose Tallent as well as Office gives them reason to do it, and us to expect it.

  But since the Sons of the Prophets have not yet thought it proper to enter very far into this Matter, not doubting but they will in due time find it as suitable to their Inclination as ’tis to their Duty,

  In the mean time let us see if no uncommon Application may be made of so uncommon a Circumstance.

  First, ’tis matter of wonder that any Man can be so senceless, as to suppose there is nothing extraordinary in so signal an Instance of a Supream Power; but ’tis much more remarkable that those who have Religion enough to own it a Judgment, are yet at a loss how to appropriate it’s signification.

  Every one thinks it to be a Judgment upon the Person or Parties they see touch’d with it. W—the Carpenter was knock’d on the head with a Stack of Chimneys, and his Wife saved; all the Neighbours cried out ’twas a Judgment upon him for keeping a Whore; but if Stacks of Chimnies were to have fallen on the Heads of all that keep Whores, Miserere Dei.6

  S—was kill’d by the like Accident, and he must be singl’d out for Extortion; But think ye that he was a Sinner above all the Gallileans?

  The Jacobites and Non-Jurants7 shall rise up in Judgment against this Generation, and shall condemn them, for they tell us, this Storm is a Judgment on the whole Nation, for Excluding their Lawful Soveraign, and Abjuring his Posterity: Upon this head they have been preaching up Repentance, and Humiliation to us; and some of them are willing to reduce all to a very practical Exhortation, and tell us, we ought to look upon it as a Loud Call to Restore the Right Owner (as they call him) to the Possession of his own again; that is, in short, to rebel against a Mild, Gentle, Just and Protestant Queen, and call in the Popish Posterity of an abdicated Tyrant.

  These Gentlemen are Men of Uses and Application, and know very well how to make an Advantage of God’s Judgments, when they serve their turn.

  The Whigs and Occasional Conformists8 shall rise up in Judgment against this Generation; for they are sensible of the present severe Stroke of Providence, and think ’tis a mark of Heavens Displeasure upon the Nation, for the violent methods made use of by some People against them, for their Religion, contrary to their Native Right, and the Liberty of their Consciences.

  Some think a general Blast follows all the Endeavours of this Nation against the Common Enemy, for their slighting and reproaching the Glorious Memory of the late King William,9 whose Gallant Endeavours for the general good of Europe, and of England in particular, were Treacherously thwarted and disappointed while he was alive, and are Basely and Scandalously undervalued and slighted now he is Dead; and of this sort I confess my self enclined to be one.

  From these general Observations we may descend to particulars, and every one judges according to their own Fancy.

  Some will have it, that the Slaughter and Destruction among the Fleet, is a Judgment upon them, for going into the Streights,10 and coming home again without doing any business; but those forget, that if they did all they were ordered to do, the Fault lies in t
hose who sent them, and not in they that went.

  Some will have the Damage among the Colliers to be a Judgment, upon those who have Engross’d the Trade, and made the Poor pay so dear for Coals;11 not enquiring whether those Engrossers of the Coals are not left safe on Shore, while the poor Seamen are drown’d, who know nothing of the matter.

  ’Tis plain to me, who ever are Punish’d by the Storm, we that are left have a share in the Judgment, and a Trebble concern in the Cause.

  If it could be said that those who are destroy’d, or who have suffered the loss of Lives, Limbs or Goods, were the only People who gave any occasion to the Divine Justice thus severely to Revenge it self, then all admonition to the rest of Mankind would be useless, any farther than it directed them to be Cautious how they provoked him in like manner; but have we not all had a hand in the general provocation, though not an equal share in the general Calamity.

  Sometimes the Judgements of Heaven, bear so much Analogy to the Crimes, that the Punishment points out the Offence, and ’tis easy to distinguish what it is the perticular hand of Justice points at.

  And if we will seek for a Perticular case, in which Heaven seems to have singled out this way of Punishment on the Nation, as best proportion’d to the general National Crime we are all guilty of? what seems more Rational than to Judge that tis a severe Animadversion upon the Feuds and Storms of parties kept up among us in this Nation, with such unnatural Heat, and such unaccountable Fury, that no man, who has the least Compassion for his Native Country, but must with more than Common Grief, be concerned for it, since unless some speedy course be taken to bring a general Composure upon the minds of Men, the general ruin seems Inevitable.

  If the matters in Debate were of Extraordinary Consequence, there might be some pretence for Espousing contrary parties with unusual heat; but while the difference lies in small, and, in some cases, indifferent things, tis a most inexcusable Madness that the Feuds shou’d be run up so high, that all manner of Charity should Perish and be lost among us.

  We have had an Extraordinary Bustle in the World about Moderation, and all Parties pretend to it, and now we are as busy about Peace, and every one lays in a Loud Claim to it.

  I have seen, with some regret, the strange Mysterious Management of this Age about Moderation, and tho’ some late Authors have Published that Moderation is a Vertue, It begins to be a question whether it is or no.

  I wish some Body would make enquiry after the occasion that has brought this Blessed Word into so much Contempt in the World; tis very hard that a word expressive of the most Glorious Principle in the World, should become the Brand of reproach, and a Badge of Infamy to Parties; be a Nick-name it self, and be Nick-nam’d on every side; and that at a time when the Vertue it self, is perhaps the only thing left in the World, that can preserve this Nation from Destruction.

  ’Tis too unhappy for England, that Men of immoderate Principles are so powerfull as they are. Let the Party be which it will, tis Destruction even to themselves, to run up all their Niceties and all their Scruples to the Extremes. Every Dispute becomes a Feud, every Spark a Flame, every word a Blow, every Blow, a Civil-War, and by this Intestine Confusion of Principles, Backt with the Passion and Fury of Men, this unhappy Nation is Subdivided into an Infinite Number of Parties, Factions, Intrests and seperate Opinions.

  Every Man being thus bent upon the propagation of his own Notion, for want of this healing Spirit of Moderation, falls foul upon his Neighbour because he has not the same Heat, and if he finds him better Temper’d than himself, if he finds him less Violent, less Furious, than himself, he is Imediately Branded with the Scandal of Moderation.

  Since then the Change of times has made this Practice, which in its very Nature is a Foundation of Vertue, become a Crime, Let us examine who are, and who are not Guilty of it.

  For the Negatives of this Vice of Moderation they are something Easier to be discover’d than ordinary, both in Principles and in Practice; and, without the Scandal of a Censorious Writer, I may be allowed to say all the following Instances may stand clear of this Crime.

  1. If Mr. Sachaverell, with his Bloody Flag, and Banner of Defiance, were Indicted for Moderation, I verily believe no Jury would bring him in Guilty.12

  2. If Dr. J—ne, Author of the Character of a Low-Churchman, Mr.—Author of the New Association, if a famous Bishop who told us, ’twould never be well with England till all the Dissenters were serv’d like the Hugonots in France, if any of these were Indicted for Moderation, they might safely plead not Guilty.13

  3. If Sir John Friend and Sir William Parkins, had been only accus’d for Moderation, they had never been Hanged, nor Collyer and Cook had never absolv’d them at the Gallows without Repentance.14

  4. If he were Hang’d for Moderation, who ask’d the Question, whether if the Play-house in Dorset-Garden, were let for a Meeting-house, ’twould not do more harm than tis like to do as a Theatre, he would certainly Dye Innocently.

  5. If Fuller15 had been Voted an Incorrigible Rogue only for the Vice of Moderation, I should have thought the House of Commons had done him wrong.

  6. If the Councellors of the late King, such as Father P—, my Lord S—16 and all those that betray’d their Master, by hurrying on his ruin and their own. If those Gentlemen were Charged with Moderation, I doubt we should wrong them.

  7. If some of the Members of our Late Convocation shou’d be accused for Moderation, I believe it might be no Difficult task to Vindicate them.

  8. If this Crime should be Charged higher than we dare to mention, I am perswaded some Persons of Note would think themselves abused.

  9. In short all those Gentlemen, by whatsoever Names or Titles Distinguish’d, who repine at the Settlement,17 who reproach the Tolleration, and who Blame the Queen for her promises of Maintaining it, these abhor the thoughts of this Scandalous Crime of Moderation, and are as Innocent of it as the Child unborne.

  10. Tis the Opinion of some People, That there are some of our beloved Friends in Scotland, may be Vindicated in this case, nay others are of the Opinion, tis not a National Crime in that Country, that is, ’tis not a sin the Scots are much adicted to.

  11. Lastly, Take our English Clergy in general, some are ready to say they have no great cause of Repentance for the sin of Moderation.

  On the other hand, some People have so home a Charge of this Error laid upon them, that ’twill be very hard to clear themselves of it, and I am afraid they would be brought in Guilty by a Jury, almost without going away from the Bar. as,

  1. Our Observator,18 they say, is Guilty of Moderation, with Relation to his Wit, and Especially as concerning his good Manners; I hope he wont be prosecuted for it the next Sessions, if he should, I doubt, ’twill go hard with him.

  2. If our News-writers should be Indited for Moderation, as to Truth of Fact, I would advise them to plead Guilty, and throw themselves upon the Mercy of the Court.

  3. Some of our Captains, they say, are addicted to Fight but Moderately; I hope all the rest wont be Infected, but I know not what to say to it.

  4. Some of our Lawyers are apt to be very Moderate in their Justice, but being well read in the Law are cunning enough to keep off an Indictment, so there is no fear of them.

  5. Some of our General Receivers, when they got the Publick Money in their hands, were apt to be very Moderate in paying it out again.

  6. Some have been very Moderate in giving in their accounts too, as may appear in former Reigns, and perhaps in time to come too.

  Some Moderately Wise, some Moderatly Honest, but most Immoderately adicted to think themselves Both.

  Tho’ I might be a little more serious upon the matter, yet this way of talking is not so much a Jest neither as it looks like; and has its Moral, in it self, which a Wise man may see, and for the Fool tis no matter whether he does or no. Custome has prevailed upon us to such a degree, that almost in every part the very Practice seem a Scandal, and the Word passes for a Reproach.

  To say, among the Sons of L
evy,19 such a man is a Moderate Church-man is to say he is no Church-man, and some of our present Bishops from the Practice of Moderation have been boldly call’d Presbiterians in the Pamphlets of our less Moderate writers.

  In short, ’tis hard to find any party or profession of Men among us, that care for the Title; and those who but Moderately espouse an Intrest, are generally suspected by those who are of that side, as Persons Favouring their Enemies.

  These Moderate Men, said a Gentleman whose Gown and Band had given us reason to expect better Language, they will Ruin the Church, this Damn’d Moderation, says he, spoils all, we should deal well enough with the Dissenters, if it were not for these men of Moderation, they are worse than Dissenters, for they seem to be among us, and yet wont Joyn heartily to do the Work.

  Moderation seems to be cast off on every side, and is used as a Badge of reproach in every Class, or degree of Men in the World.

  In the Church of England, ’tis call’d Low-Church.

  In the Court, ’tis call’d Whiggism.

  In the Dissenters, ’tis call’d Occasional Conformity.

  In Parties, ’tis call’d Trimming.20

  In Religion, ’tis call’d Latitudinarian.

  In Opinion, ’tis call’d Indifference,

  In the Church of Scotland, ’tis call’d Prelacy.21

  While Moderation of principles seems thus the general Sin of Parties, Let them consider whether Heaven it self has not declar’d War against us all on this Head, and filld us with immoderate Judgements.

  Where’s all our prospect of success Abroad, or prosperity at home? Since our late Thanksgiveing for Victories,22 how has Heaven Treated us, but like a Nation, that being puff’d up and exalted with prosperity, began to slight Forreign Judgements, and leaving Providence to Work by it self fell to making War at home with one another, as if we would prove that the Scripture was not true and that a Kingdom might stand tho’ it were divided against it self.23