has recourſe to his Bible. Neither the ſanctity of the patriarchs, nor the reſpect due to old age, as in the inſtance of the venerable Nahor; nor the tremendous ſtrength of the giants, the ſons of Anak, which could daunt the armies of Iſrael, and defeat, for a time, the gracious purpoſe of hewing to pieces the idolatrous nations, and extirpating them from the face of the promiſed land, can reſtrain the fallies of his riotous imagination. Although we ourselves have oftener than once entered our proteſt againſt this ſpurious ſpecies of wit, we are ſorry to obſerve that it is ſtill well received by a numerous claſs of readers. Ludere cum ſacris is, alas! become a favourite game. The faculties of the human underſtanding no longer fall proſtrate at the ſound of miracles and myſteries. And the example of thoſe who profeſs ſeriouſly to examine how far the conduct of the favourites of Heaven correſponds to the rules of morality, is even more alarming to genuine piety than the ſneer of the ſcornful.
PUBLISHER.
A ſerious charge, I confeſs! I ſhould be glad to hear how the author could extricate himſelf. I own I did not myſelf like his flippant familiarity with the good people of Iſrael; and having one day, by way of experiment, read Richilda, or the Progreſs from Vanity to Vice, to a very numerous mixed circle, an old lady, a conſtant frequenter of the neighbouring meeting-houſe in Black-friars, vehemently proteſted againſt ſetting Eve’s apple on a level with that of Atalanta, though the latter was of gold purified in the fire; and ſhe declared herſelf more ſcandalized by the concluding alluſion than ſhe had at any time felt at the lewd-
