Amelia — Volume 3 by Henry Fielding
page 87 of 268 (32%)
page 87 of 268 (32%)
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"Here beginneth the first chapter of--saint--Pox on't, Jack, what is the saint's name? I have forgot." "Timothy, you blockhead," answered another; "--Timothy." "Well, then," cries the orator, "of Saint Timothy. "'SIR,--I am very sorry to have any occasion of writing on the following subject in a country that is honoured with the name of Christian; much more am I concerned to address myself to a man whose many advantages, derived both from nature and fortune, should demand the highest return of gratitude to the great Giver of all those good things. Is not such a man guilty of the highest ingratitude to that most beneficent Being, by a direct and avowed disobedience of his most positive laws and commands? "'I need not tell you that adultery is forbid in the laws of the decalogue; nor need I, I hope, mention that it is expressly forbid in the New Testament.' "You see, therefore," said the orator, "what the law is, and therefore none of you will be able to plead ignorance when you come to the Old Bailey in the other world. But here goes again:-- "'If it had not been so expressly forbidden in Scripture, still the law of Nature would have yielded light enough for us to have discovered the great horror and atrociousness of this crime. "'And accordingly we find that nations, where the Sun of righteousness |
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