bachelors to matrimony; so that in a few years it was a common
saying, that there were three strange wants at Wakefield, a
parson wanting pride, young men wanting wives, and ale-houses
wanting customers. Matrimony was always one of my favourite
topics, and I wrote several sermons to prove its happiness: but
there was a peculiar tenet which I made a point of supporting;
for I maintained with Whiston, that it was unlawful for a priest
of the church of England, after the death of his first wife, to
take a second, or to express it in one word, I valued myself upon
being a strict monogamist. I was early innitiated into this
important dispute, on which so many laborious volumes have been
written. I published some tracts upon the subject myself, which,
as they never sold, I have the consolation of thinking are read
only by the happy Few. Some of my friends called this my weak
side; but alas! they had not like me made it the subject of long
contemplation. The more I reflected upon it, the more important
it appeared. I even went a step beyond Whiston in displaying my
principles: as he had engraven upon his wife's tomb that she was
the only wife of William Whiston; so I wrote a similar epitaph
for my wife, though still living, in which I extolled her
prudence, oeconomy, and obedience till death; and having got it
copied fair, with an elegant frame, it was placed over the
chimney-piece, where it answered several very useful purposes. It
admonished my wife of her duty to me, and my fidelity to her; it
inspired her with a passion for fame, and constantly put her in
mind of her end.

It was thus, perhaps, from hearing marriage so often recommended,
that my eldest son, just upon leaving college, fixed his
affections upon the daughter of a neighbouring clergyman, who was