fied, and devoted to God, exhibit as a public Jockey, for the diversion, and scoff of the most wicked, and profane:" asking them, Whether they had taken the model of their religion from the wanton tricks of a set of heathens at their Olympic games, or from the holy word of God? Wor. Oh poor Bob! how he was taken in! how could he go on? Loveg It seems he hummed, and hawed, and stuttered, and stammered; took out his handkerchief and wiped his face, again and again; turned over two or three leaves at a time, but found it all just as bad got out of the pulpit as fast as he could, : to finish the plan of this new intended Manual, which I would recommend to be short, that it may be snug and portable for the pocket, as also fit to be bound up with the Week's Preparation, or the Companion to the Altar, should there not also be a proper prayer made before going into a ball-room, and another after returning from it? A prayer also may be necessary before a card assembly, together with a few holy ejaculations, to be said between the deals. I would also recommend having a huntsman's prayer, and a horse racer's prayer, especially for such of the reverend clergy as commence their own jockies, that the Almighty might protect them from breaking their necks, while they are exposing the pure, and holy religion of the gospel, to the ridicule, and contempt of the profanest people of the world. I lastly ask the question, if those amusements which will not bend into devotion, are fit for the clergy, as their very office demands it of them, that they should be devout at all times? and whether any recreations can, in any wise, be admissible among them, but such as leave them at full liberty to devote themselves to God, and for the people's good? Wishing that you, and all the clergy, may be as much a credit to their office, as their office itself would then be a credit to them,* "I am, "Your obedient humble servant, "JAMES READER." It may easily be supposed that Mr. Reader lost not a little of his custom in the business of sermon-making. Mr. Demure, however charitably concluded, that he was a little deranged through family misfortunes, and so it passed off. * Some of these thoughts appeared in a former publication, which was not intended for extensive circulation. and swore he would tell the Archdeacon, what a trick that sanctified fellow, old Reader, had put upon him. Wor. How in the world could he face his parishioners after this? Loveg. Oh Sir, he has but few of them to face. Men of this cast are sure to empty their churches; but it should seem, all his comrades had something to say to him ; one asked him, Who made his sermon for him? Another wondered, how he came so dreadfully to quarrel with himself? A third asked him, if his great-grandfather was not an old Puritan, and whether he was not so much in a hurry as to take up some of the leaves of one of his old long winded sermons ? It seems, poor Bob laughed it off as well as he could. And thus ended this most disgraceful farce. Mrs. Wor. Could Mr. Fribble approve of the conduct of Bob, and the Archdeacon? Loveg. Madam, he confessed, that Mr. Archdeacon Wildblood went rather a little too far, but that the clergy were flesh and blood as well as others; and that one of his best sermons was written upon this text : "We also are men of like passions with you." And when I told him how dangerous it was to interpret the Scriptures acccording to the coarse, vulgar sound of words, as we might thereby entirely pervert them from their original most holy sense, and design; he cried, "I beg your pardon Sir, but why may not my notions of that text, be as good as yours Wor. Could he then be so weak as to suppose, that our Lord's first Apostles might be as wicked as a set of heathens, by having the like corrupted passions with others; and especially, when they came to preach the pure, and holy dispensation of the gospel, which directs and enables us, to lay aside all our impure desires, and to "perfect holiness in the fear of the Lord? Loveg. I suppose he had not thought, as it related to the connexion of the words, that the apostles were only intreating the poor heathens, not to worship them as gods. But I have heard before now, that the same passage has been pressed into the service of licenciousness, by these inconsistent preachers of morality. Wor. Instead of being preachers of morolity, what better are such, than mere apologisers for sensuality? But what had he to say for himself? Loveg. Sir, he said he thought the text might be taken two ways; yet as to himself, he had no great / notion of frightening people by being "righteous over much;" though for his own part, he was very sorry people did not keep Good Friday, more strictly than they had done of late years ;* and that these were the sentiments of his father, and mother, before him. Wor. What could you say to all this rattle? Loveg. Indeed Sir, he gave me no time to say any thing, for he next began chattering away about the balls, and card-parties, they have in the town, during the winter season; and then observed, how impossible it was to spend a set of long dull nights, one after another, without something to prevent jovial minds from being hipped to death. Then he directly asked me, what where my favourite games at cards? but instead of waiting for my answer, which by the bye, would have puzzled me, he began crying out about a Miss Peg Prim, a famous dancer in their town; and how she moved like an angel; and though Mr. Reader cautioned me against religious topics with him, yet I could not but observe, that I did not think a set of silly Misses in a ball-room, moved like angels. Wor. How did he take your hints? Loveg. Oh Sir! the shatter-brained creature took no notice of my remarks; but went on chattering *The author is as much, for keeping Good Friday, as Mr. Pribble, notwithstanding the superstitious abuse of the day among some. away about what an elegant skaiter young Mr. Dapper was, and that though he was reckoned a pretty good dab at it himself, yet how glad he should be if he could but exhibit in the same manner; and how he and young Dapper, one rainy day, when they could do nothing else, played at battledore and shuttlecock, and that they kept up the shuttlecock two thousand and fourteen times, before they let it drop; and that they performed this wonderful feat within the space of twenty minutes, and then cried- Was not that clever ?" Wor. Some people are children all the days of their lives. One would have thought he had scarcely left off whipping his top, or driving his hoop. But is he not a great man for archery also? Loveg. He is fond of every thing that will introduce him to show his empty airs among the giddy, and the gay. But at length, I thought my patience would have been quite exhausted for after tea, he took down his fiddle, and began playing with his tweedle-dum, and tweedle-dee, and cried, "This is the first air my father taught me." Then he said, "Did you ever hear that charming fellow, Giardini? he is certainly the first violin player in the kingdom." And when I observed, I never heard of that gentleman's name before, he exclaimed, "Odds bobs! 1 think you know nobody ;" and then on he went, skipping, and fiddling about the room like a monkey; and would, every now-and-then, be asking me how I liked this, and how I liked that; and when I said that none of them suited my taste, he cried out, 66 Jove Sir, you seem to like nothing!" I just gave him the hint, that I supposed he principally read heathen authors, as he had been taught to swear by their gods; and immediately Mr. Reader took up the cudgels for me, by saying, I was fond of such conversation, as had in it something that was rational, and instructive. So he hung up his fiddle, and left off skipping about the room, and sat down. Wor. I fear he was set upon a hard task, if he By was only to talk about that which was rational, and instructive. Loveg. Why directly upon this, he began complimenting me upon the supposed powers of my oratory because I had persuaded Mrs. Chipman, though once so bad a woman, to renounce her connexion with Sir Charles; and how much the curiosity of the people was raised; and what a fine sermon they expected from me; and that there was one great orator about those parts, called Dr. Puff; and that he himself had done all in his power to make himself such an orator, by reading over Shakspeare's plays, and by studying Mr. Garrick's directions for reading the Common Prayer; yet he never could come up to the Doctor: and when I began telling him, that the change accomplished was not done by my oratory, but by the grace of God, he directly, with a great deal of complaisance, replied, "O surely Sir! it was by the grace of God, and your oratory put together." Wor. I dare say he would have chattered with you upon any subject you chose. Loveg. I suppose he would; for Mr. Reader says, the poor, vain thing, is very good tempered. However, he entertained us for a while with his history of Sir Charles Dash; that he was once in company with him, but that he was not in the habit of telling those great people, what was their duty; that his mother, Lady Dash, was still living; and that she was a great church-goer; and how mad the minister of the parish was at her, for being almost the only one who came to Wednesday, and Friday prayers, when he wanted to drop them that she scarce ever missed the sacrament, and that she was much stricter in her religion than people are now-adays. Then all at once, he burst out, and observed, "The clergy of our day, seem to differ about how strict we should be in our religion; pray, what are your notions on that point?" And when I began to tell him of St. Paul's account of the Christian min |