The shortest-way with the dissenters, or, Proposals for the establishment of the church
Series: Library of English literature -- LEL 40136.
Publisher: [s.n.]
Published: 1702
Place of publication: London
Language: eng
Format: Microform
Number of pages: 29
Subjects: Church of England -- Humor; Dissenters, Religious -- England; Great Britain -- Politics and government -- 1702-1714 -- Pamphlets
Other titles: Proposals for the establishment of the church.
Notes: The High-Church Tories attempted to undermine an alliance between the dissenters and Low-Churchmen (mainly Whigs) by preventing the practice of 'occasional conformity.' To show his opposition to the motives of the Tories, Defoe published The shortest way with the dissenters (1702) His "method was ironic: to discredit the high-fliers [High-Church Tories] by writings as if from their point of view, but reducing their arguments to violent absurdity. The pamphlet had a huge sale but the irony recoiled on Defoe, for dissenters and High Churchmen alike took it seriously and alike were angry when the hoax became apparent. Defoe was prosecuted for seditious libel and arrested in May 1703 after a period of hiding." -Encyclopaedia Britannica.

Microfiche. Chicago, Ill. : Library Resources, inc., 1976. 1 microfiche : positive ; 8 x 13 cm. (Library of English literature ; LEL 40136)