Cleo. You have allow'd, that the Grand Point in Armies, and what has
been ever most labour'd among military Men, was to make them believe,
that Heaven, that is, the Deity they adore, was of their Side; and it
is certain, (as I have hinted before) that how widely soever Men had
differ'd in their Sentiments concerning the invisible Cause, or the
Worship it requires, they have all agreed in this; and the Use that
has been made of Religion in War has ever had a palpable Tendency this
way. The Word Fasting, indefinitely spoken, sounds very harshly to a
Man of a good Stomach; but, as practis'd religiously among
_Protestants_, it is hardly an Emblem of the Thing it self, and rather a
Joke than any grievous Penance: At least in _England_, by keeping a
Fast-Day, Men mean no more, than Eating their Dinners three or four
Hours later than they used to do, and perhaps no Supper that Night:
Which is a Piece of Abstinence, that is so far from being likely to
have an ill Effect upon the Strength or Spirits of Men in Health and
Vigour, that there is not One in Fifty, whom it will not render more
brisk and lively in the next Day. I speak of People that are not in
Want, and who, of dainty or courser Fate, eat as much much every Day
as their Appetite requires. As for Humiliation, it is a Word of
Course. Fast-Days, bar the Abstinence already mention'd, are kept no
otherwise, than the _Sunday_ is. In the Army of the Rebels, the
Chaplains perhaps preach'd and pray'd somewhat longer on those Days,
and read a few Chapters more in the Bible, than was usual for them to
do on a Sabbath-Day.
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