that a mere good disposition was of the nature of divine grace, he next shewed that a life of the strictest morality may exist when "the oil of grace" is still wanting. Mr. Lovegood boldly said, that an Atheist as well as a Christian, * may be a moral inan; and that the morality of most men, is in general, little better than negative, consisting much more in what people do not do, than in what they really do: and that any man will, for self-interested motives, and for the sake of his own ease and comfort, attend to the common rules of morality, as all those who violated them are guilty of the grossest acts of folly against their own interest. That a man of unjust and knavish principles is sure sooner or later, to suffer for his own folly. That the man of passion and revenge will certainly entail much greater sufferings on himself, than what others have felt from him, by the mad violence of his anger. In short, if a man did but consult his own health or interest, he would be moral: and that, however highly advantageous, a strict attention to the rules of morality may prove to the good of society, yet that real Christians, who are blessed with the "oil of grace," have much higher motives to go by, than such as are to be found among mere moralists. On these things, he afterwards expatiated so well, that it puzzled Mr. Lovely's mind not a little. On the one hand, he felt himself half angry, that all his religious props were knocked from under him, while he found it a considerable difficulty to deny the truth of what he had heard. But when he perceived that Mrs. Lovely was still more seriously impressed, under a further discovery of her defective righteousness, and began again to express the anxiety of her mind, after her second return from church, how much both of them had fallen short of the sacred standard of real Christianity; he was still more highly incensed against

*It is probable Mr. Lovegood borrowed this expressios from a famous charge, the late bishop of St. Asaph delivered when bishop of St. David's.

the harsh doctrine of Mr. Lovegood, which had so discomposed the mind of his dearest Ann. Even the blessed tears of repentance, as they trickled from her eye, pierced him to the heart, while he heard with astonishment, that one of so pure a mind, in his esteem should still acknowledge herself such an unworthy sinner in the sight of God. Matters, however, thus passed till the next day. The reader is therefore requested to suspend his curiosity until to-morrow; and, after a night's rest, the subject will be resumed.

DIALOGUE XXV.

THE FAMILY OF THE WORTHYS, MR. LOVEGOOD, AND THE LOVELYS.

THE SAME SUBJECT CONTINUED, WITH ILLUSTRATIONS FROM THE BOOK OF JOB.

ON

N the morrow, Mr. Lovegood attended on his customary visit. Mr. Worthy having introduced his guests to each other, it was observable, that Mr. Lovely received the address of Mr. Lovegood, with a degree of coldness and formality, very contrary to that which belonged to the natural sweetness of his disposition. And after dinner the following conversation took place. [Mrs. Lovely appears rather faint and weak.]

Lov. I told you, my dear, that going to Church yesterday afternoon, would be too much for you. [To Mr. Lovegood.] And Sir, I must be free to tell you, that your doctrine is too severe and harsh for my delicate and tender wife; though I am sure Sir, you mean it for the best, and I should be glad, if all the clergy followed your good example.

Loveg. Indeed Sir, it was not my design to have advanced any thing, that was improperly harsh and severe; and if I have been guilty of such a mistake, I wish to be open to conviction, and shall be quite ready to retract it.

Lov. Why Sir, you must allow me the liberty to say, (I hope Mr. Worthy will pardon me,) that I never heard any body but yourself make so free with the character of Job, as you did in your morning ser mon; certainly he was a very holy man.

Loveg. Dear Sir, did I in any wise deny it? though for a while, he had such strange apprehensions and misconceptions of God.

Lov. Sir, Dr. Nescience, the minister of our

* Learned men should have learned names. No wonder then that Dr. Nescience has his name from a Latin derivation, though in plain English Dr. Know-nothing; I believe my readers can pretty well comprehend all my other names, without understanding Latin. A facetious old clergyman, Dr. Burton, Vice Provost of Eton, when I was at that school, passed some neat sarcasms upon a person of a very ignorant and pedantic character, recommending him to an uncle of mine, as being a gentleman of great Nescience. The person began bowing and scraping, supposing the Doctor had passed upon him some very high compliment; the Doctor, therefore heightened the compliment, by observing, that he could not say too much of him on that subject; for that he knew him to be a man of great Nescience, of very great Nescience indeed; and nothing further was discovered by the pedant, than that all was designed as a high encomium on his wisdom; and, it is proba ble, our present Doctor was one of the same family.

Dr. Nescience, it seems, procured his Doctor's degree, not from his own University at Cambridge, where, had he made such an attempt, his knowledge had been well sifted, or his ignorance thoroughly exposed: from thence, therefore, he received no higher honor, than that of the first degree of a Bachelor of Arts: but he came at his Doctorship by a much shorter cut, from one of the famous Universities in the north of Scotland; and in order that he might obtain this high literary honor, a testimonial of his learning being needed, this he procured to be signed by three reverend gentlemen of the same redoubtable order of Doctors; Dr. Numscull, Dr. Papscull, and Dr. Loggerhead.

This information however, as it respects Dr. Nescience, and by what means he obtained the high honor of being called the Doctor, reflects not the least discredit on Dissenters, nor yet on some others of real erudition, where there are unhappy barriers in their way, to procure such degrees in a more creditable line; but Dr. Nescience, and the rest of his fraternity of the same order, have found out this, as the ready way to look big, with a little, or even no learning. Before he procured his degree, he was denominated the little Rector; but now he found himself upon the pedestal of this Scotch Diploma, he had the satisfaction of being called the little Doctor; and the satisfac tion also, of several sharp curtain lectures from his wife; this famous honor having cost him not less than 107. she oftentimes reminding him, for his extravagance in giving so much

parish, gave us a very different character of the life of Job, when he preached upon that text, " My righteousness I hold fast, and will not let it go: my heart shall not reproach me, as long as I live." The Doctor told us, that it was his own righteousness which was his confidence, and that thereby he obtained the reward of heaven.

Mrs. Lov. But you know my dear, neither you nor I have any great opinion of the little Doctor, or his curate, Mr. Flimsey: we have both observed, while they seem to be aiming at something, they cannot make out any thing. But do you not think you have a little misunderstood Mr. Lovegood? [To Mr. Lovegood,] Sir, it might be much to the satisfaction of myself and my husband, if you would explain yourself still further on that subject.

Loveg. Dear Sir, there is no doubt of the integrity and uprightness of Job: but while he was righteous, he was also self-righteous-in that lay his crime; and this rendered him proud and angry before God.

Lov. Proud and angry---Why, was not he the most patient man upon earth?

Loveg. Yes Sir, and this was abundantly exemplified by his holy patience before God for seven long days and nights, when even after he had been hurled from the pinacle of the highest prosperity, into the gulph of the deepest adversity; he could meekly say,

The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away, blessed be the name of the Lord;" nor was his patience less conspicuous, when cruelly tempted to curse God, he could submissively reply; "shall we

money for a dunce's cap to cover his ignorance, and of the old proverb, A fool and his money are soon parted. However he contrived, in a measure to quiet her mind, under the idea that the loss of the money would soon be recovered, as he was going to turn author, by re-publishing three famous novels; Tom Thumb, Jack the Giant Killer, and Old Mother Goose's Tales. These he meant to enrich with certain annotations, lucubrations, and remarks of his own composing; and he had no doubt but that his Doctor's degree, would wonderfully quicken the sale of the publication.