Nor do they suffer less in the noble powers and faculties of their minds, which sink and degenerate by their vices, into a state of stupid incapacity that wholly unfits them for business, and even indisposes them to think. Or if they are capable of reflection, it is only to endure horror and anguish, which they can find no means of mitigating or avoiding, except by plunging deeper in dissipation, or taking sanctuary in atheistical principles. If to all these be added, the peace and harmony of families destroyed, the ties of nature and affection broken,-the laws of honour and virtue transgressed, and the brutal confusion introduced into society, it will not appear that the restraints, which on the one hand protect and secure so many valuable blessings, and on the other, deliver the world from so many miseries, can be deemed severe or unnecessary prohibitions.

As for polygamy, many reasons opposed it; it occasioned perpetual quarrelings and jealousies among the wives of the same individual; it debases and degrades them from their original station, as helpful companions, into mere instruments of sensual pleasure; it distracts, or rather annihilates the affections of the husband; it leads to neglect, or partial treatment of children; and it appears to violate the arrangements of nature, and the design of the Deity, who created only one pair at first, and by preserving so near an equality between the two sexes, seems to intimate that the same practice was intended to continue. This plurality, therefore, is contrary to the original institution of marriage, as well as the example of the earliest patriarchs. It was introduced when men degenerated from the primitive state of manners;

and though practised by the Jews, both before and under the law of Moses, it may be doubted how far it had the sanction of divine apprcbation, as the passages where it is mentioned are of equivocal import; or if there was such a permission, it might, like that of divorce, be granted because "of the hardness of their hearts;" or for some temporary purpose, rather than from any rectitude or propriety in the thing itself. Consequently the marriages of the patriarchs, recorded in Scripture, like their vices and imperfections, are no evidence that the custom was lawful, or intended to be general and permanent. In the times of the New Testament, the Jewish manners had undergone a reformation in this respect, as we meet with no trace or mention there of any such practice being tolerated. Upon the whole matter then, it was very apparent that those indulgences, for which libertines plead, are directly opposed to the best interests of mankind, both social and individual; and the author of the Christian law, who knew the nature of man, has wisely set bounds to those extravagant liberties, as the only safeguard, and most effectual means of promoting both public and private happiness. The conditions and requirements annexed to this law, were not in themselves agreeable to our perverse inclinations; but if followed, they brought an abundant recompense both here and hereafter; and it was but fair, that he who bestowed high rewards, should have the right to exact difficult perfor

mances.

Here his Lordship interposed some doubts, whether the premises warranted the conclusion. He admitted that the terms were difficult, but

seemed sceptical as to the certainty of the rewards. Upon this he was told that we had the same assurance of future rewards that we have of any other parts of Christianity. We have the promises of God made to us in Christ, and confirmed by miracles; and we have an earnest of them in the peace and satisfaction which follow a good conscience. The reward is abundantly sure, and there is no reason it should be given us before the conditions are performed on which it is promised. The difficulties were not greater than those we daily encounter in the most ordinary concerns of life, such as learning a common trade or profession, which sometimes requires years of study and expense. Besides, the pains and uneasiness we felt were rather the effect of our corrupt nature, than any excessive severity in the injunctions of Christianity, which gradually became more tolerable, as our vicious habits were subdued and relinquished.

Another argument or apology which his Lordship urged in defence of his irregularities, was the misconduct of Christians themselves, which he said had given him and many others great encouragement to continue in their iniquities. Even the clergy, who undertook to be the guides and instructors of others, often acted so as to make it difficult to think their belief was any thing else than a solemn pretence. Their ambition in aspiring after court favour, and the servile ends they took to attain it, as well as the divisions and animosities among themselves about trifles, made him suspect that religion was a mere trick, and the things could not be true, which, in their sermons and discourses, they so earnestly recommended. Others who pre

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tended to believe, lived so inconsistently with their profession, that no man could persuade himself they were serious, or had any principle of religion about them.

In answer to these excuses of himself, he was reminded that even the best men, through infirmity or temptation, may be overcome and betrayed into sins, which prove a source of grief to them all their life after; but it was not a just inference, from the failings of a few, to conclude that all Christians are hypocrites, or that all religion is a cheat. Many of the charges brought against believers were mistakes and calumnies, though it could not be denied that some of them were too true. But at all events it was unreasonable to make the faults of others a

plea or vindication for himself. Among the clergy, it was to be lamented, that some did not live suitably to their holy functions, or to the sacred obligations imposed on them by their profession; yet as a body, there were many of them who gave visible demonstrations of the power which religion had over them, in their contempt of the world, the strictness of their lives, their readiness to forgive injuries, to relieve the poor, and to do good on all occasions. As for their authority, if they stretched that too far, the gospel did plainly reprove them for it. They were only an order of men dedicated to God, to attend to his ordinances, and preserve the knowledge and remembrance of him among men. It was necessary therefore that they should be respected, and have a fit maintenance appointed for them, so that they might be preserved from the contempt that follows poverty, and the distractions which the providing against it might otherwise involve them in. And if some of them, either

through ambition or covetousness, used indirect or criminal means for attaining dignities and preferments; and when possessed of them, did either accumulate fortunes, or apply their wealth to luxury and vain pomp, these were personal failings in which the gospel was not concerned, and which could reflect no reproach or discredit on it, as it expressly censured and condemned them.

Such is a summary view of the chief arguments and objections which formed the topic of discourse on both sides. Every doubt and difficulty which bis Lordship had to urge against religion, pointed with all the force and effect his wit could give; and every sophistical evasion that could defend or embolden him in his vices, were faithfully recorded by his candid and venerable visitor. The substance, and in general the words of these memorable conversations, are here presented to the reader. The answers and refutations might perhaps in some cases have been extended or illustrated at greater length; but this has been avoided, as it seemed an unjustifiable liberty, both with the subject and the author, to give his arguments any additions, or clothe them in other language than he himself chose to express them. The result of the whole was such as might have been anticipated, and made a most salutary impression on the noble penitent. Driven by degrees and with reluctance from every strong-hold, he saw those sophistries within which he had entrenched and fortified himself, to be but a refuge of lies. His most rooted prejudices yielded and gave way before the irresistible energy of truth. Conviction won upon him at every stage of the discussion, and reached his conscience in spite of all his reasonings, and contrary to his strongest in