listened to in silence, only disturbed by cries of "Hear him! hear him!"
The House of Commons passed a vote of thanks to Earl Peterborough, instead of condemning him. His lordship obtained the same justice from the House of Peers, and prepared to set out with his dear Freind to deliver the kingdom of Spain to the archduke. This did not take place, solely because things do not always turn out as we wish them.
On leaving the house, our first care was to inquire after the health of John. We learned that he was leading a dissipated and debauched life with Mrs. Clive-Hart and a party of young men—intelligent, but atheists—who believed:
"That man is in no respect superior to the brutes; that he lives and dies as they do; that both spring from and both return to the earth ; that wisdom and virtue consist in enjoyment, and in living with those we love, as Solomon says at the end of the 'Koheleth,' which we call 'Ecclesiastes.'"
These sentiments were chiefly advanced among them by one Warburton,[1] a very forward, licen-
- ↑ In 1737 Bishop Warburton published his famous work, "The Divine Legation of Moses,' in which he asserted, "that the doctrine of a future state of reward and punishment was omitted in the books of Moses," and then proceeded to demonstrate "from that very omission, that a system which could dispense with a doctrine, the very bond and cement of human society, must have come from God, and that the people to whom it was given must have been placed under His immediate superintendence." In other words, the divine origin of the Mosaic "system" is demonstrated, because Moses did not teach to the chosen people the doctrine of a future life beyond the grave.
