be neceffary a certificate of the marriage fhould be produced. This was impoffible; for the pretence of marriage was an impofition. Mr. Ba- -11 himself feemed to have known it at laft and though he feigned an ignorance of the matter to Thomson, yet the latter fufpects that he contrived to have him cancel the former deed, and confent to another, that Mr. Ba-1 muft have known could not operate in any court.

Our Author was left once more to execrate himself for having been made the dupe of his own folly and another's artifice. He thought indeed of a remedy in the Court of Chancery; but was informed that that Court could not give him the relief he wanted. His laft appeal lay to another Court, and he refolved to put himself on the trial of it. He found the Captain deaf to the calls of juftice and honour: but fays our Author) I refolved to work upon his pride; and I must own that I expected: more from that quarter than from any other. Nor was I deceived. I drew up a fhort ftate of my cafe, into which I introduced Mr. Ball's letters to the fuppofed Mrs. Thomson. I determined to lay it before the Public, and made the Captain acquainted with my intention.'-The family pride (as Thomson expected) was alarmed: a negociation was fet on foot, and he received 15col. on condition that he fhould, on oath, give up all the original letters of Mr. Ball on the subject. I complied (fays he) with the terms: but as I did not wifh to lofe the means of my own justification, I took care to keep attefted copies of all the papers I had delivered up. Since that period I have had reason to rejoice at this precaution; for when I attempted to employ the 1500 1. in bufinefs, I found that no one of reputation liked to be concerned with me.' To justify himfelf to the world, and remove that load of infamy which had long refted on him, to the person who chiefly merited it, is his profeffed motive in the publication before us. While he was penning the present narrative, he was, to his great furprise, vifited by the very woman who was the author of all his mis fortunes. She expreffed her forrow for what had paffed; and as the only reparation fhe could make, the offered (fays our Author) to divide with me an annuity of 300l. which the receives from her paramour; and begged that I would suppress the pamphlet. Mr. Thomfon rejected the offer with contempt; and, notwithstanding his finances were not in the moft promifing train, he refolved to lay the whole tranfaction before the Public, and to ftand to their award.

For our part, we are in doubt whether Mr. Thomson hath moft claim to pity, contempt, or deteftation. We have been alternately affected by each in the perufal of the prefent performance. Old as we are, we have not forgotten what youth is; and, contrary to the example of too many of the fame

ftanding

ftanding in life, whofe feverity is frequently the effect of envy, we still find in our bofoms a strong advocate for the follies and precipitance of youth. We know the power of female art when feconded by female beauty, and that appearance of gratitude and fimplicity, of which the abandoned part of the fex fo dextroufly avail themselves, to the delufion and deftruction of fimple and unwary minds. We pity the victim of female impofition, and would willingly give him fuch advice as hath the faireft chance of raising him fuperior to pity. But to reafon with paffion, is to go upon the forlorn hope! Experience, which tortures, frequently improves the heart. It realizes the leffons of caution; and we feel what we were warned of.

But though we are so ready to excufe the wild fallies of unguarded youth, and would willingly take the child of misfortune beneath our protection, even though that misfortune were the effect of a criminal paffion; yet when, inftead of begetting penitence, it nourishes rancour, and the gayer paffions of a fenfual tafte degenerate into the unrelenting rage of a dark and diabolical fpirit, we give to indignation what elfe would be due to pity; and forgetting the cry of mifery, we are only fhocked at the howl of revenge.

ART. IX. The Force of Truth; an authentic Narrative. By Thomas Scott, Curate of Wefton Underwood and Ravenstone, Bucks. 8vo. 2 s. unbound. Keith, 1779.

THIS

HIS Mr. Scott, if we may give any credit to his own account of himself, hath been a forry fort of a gentleman in his time. Whether he hath overcharged the picture with too much fhade, merely for the fake of making a fhew of his deep humility and contrition; or whether he hath drawn it according to life, and preferved in the delineation he hath exhibited of his features the force of truth, it is not our bufinefs to enquire. We must take the matter as it comes before us: and in this light it appears clearly to us, that Mr. Scott hath been-viz.- as aforefaid!" Very true (perhaps this gentleman will say), I join heartily with you in the accufation. I know that I was a proud, obftinate, hypocritical, perjured, blafphemous wretch: but the cafe is altered now.-I hope you will not difpute the power of Divine grace."-No-we fhall not difpute any point with Mr. Scott. We cannot combat him on his own ground. We cannot get any footing there. As to our ground-he is got above it! But though we do not chufe to difpute, we will affert our claim to the privilege of doubting.

Mr. Scott hath made choice of a motto from Horace, ut fi quis afellum

In campo doceat parentem currere frenis.

That is, in plain English-" An afs will be an afs, do what ye REV. Aug. 1780.

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can."

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can." And he backs this old Pagan proverb by a Scriptural. paradox, viz. "Vain man would be wife, though man be born a wild afs's colt." Now through the greatest part of this authentic narrative,' Mr. Scott produceth himfelf as a ftriking evidence both of the proverb of Horace and the paradox of Zophar the Naamathite. Mr. Pope produceth Sime's mate, as a match for any afs both in point of meeknefs and obftinacy. But Mr. Scott's obftinacy (if his account of himself be authentic) is naturally fo great as to leave no room for a grain of meekness. 'Tis like Aaron's ferpent! it fwallowed up every other paffion and principle of his heart! Few perfons (fays he, p. 152) were ever by nature more felf-fufficient and pofitive in their opinions than I was. Fond to excefs of entering into argument, I never failed on these occafions to betray this peculiarity of my character. Seldom did I ever acknowledge or fufpect myself mistaken: scarce ever did I drop any argument I had undertaken to fupport, until either my reafonings or my obftinacy had filenced my opponent. A certain person once faid of me, that I was like a ftone rolled down the hill, which could neither be stopped nor turned. This witness was true. Indeed I carried the fame obftinate, pofitive temper into my religious inquiries for I never gave up one tittle of my fentiments till I could defend them no longer; nor ever fubmitted to conviction till I could make no longer refiftance. The ftrong man, armed with my natural pride and obftinacy, and having with my vain imaginations and reafonings, and high thoughts, builded himfelf many ftrong holds, kept his caftle in my heart; and thus garrifoned, when the ftronger than he came against him, he ftood a long fiege.'

If the honefty of a man were in proportion to the freeness of his confeffion, Mr. Scott might have fome confiderable pretenfions to that character. And fo would the celebrated infidel Cardanus-who, in the delineation of his difpofition and character, hath thrown fome of thofe fombre tints on it that fhade fo large a part of Mr. Scott's portrait. "Nugacem (fays. Cardan of himself-somewhat in the ftyle of Mr. Scott) religionis contemptorem, invidum, triftem, fuorum oforem, inamcenum, aufterum; fponte etiam divinantem, maledicum, varium, ancipitem, impurum," &c. &c. &c. Now, if confeffion be a proof of fincerity, the Atheist and the Methodist have equal caufe for boafting of their great proficiency in the practice of this virtue. They differ indeed as to the cause of their turpitude: Cardan charging his to the account of his ftars; and Mr. Scott laying all the blame of his, on a depraved nature-on original fin-the well-fpring and fruitful root of all thefe multiplied evils (p. 97). The evils of Mr. Scott's nature, depraved as it might be by original fin, were indeed multiplied and aggravated to a very

great

great degree, if what he tells us of himself in pages 13, 14 and 15 be authentic. I was filled with a felf important opinion of my own worth, and the depth of my underftanding. I had adopted a fyftem of religion accommodated to that foolish pride, having almost wholly discarded myfteries from my creed, and regarding, with fovereign contempt, those who believed them. As far as I understand these controverfies, I was nearly a Socinian, and a Pelagian, and wholly an Arminian. Yet to my fhame be it spoken, I fought to obtain admiffion into the miniftry in a church whofe doctrines are diametrically oppofite to all the three; without once concerning myfelf about thofe barriers, which the wifdom of our forefathers have placed about her, purposely to prevent the intrusion of such dangerous heretics as I then was.

When I was preparing for this folemn office, I lived as be fore, in known fin and in utter neglect of prayer.-And thus, after fome difficulty, I continued with a heart full of pride and wickedness my life being polluted with many unrepented, unforfaken fins, without one cry for mercy, one prayer for direc-. tion or affiftance in, or bleffing upon, what I was about to do. After having concealed my fentiments under the mafque of general expreffions; after having fubfcribed to articles directly contrary to my then belief; and after having blafphemously declared in the prefence of God and the congregation in the moft folemn manner, fealing it with the Lord's fupper, that I judged myself to be inwardly moved by the Holy Ghoft to take this office upon me (not knowing, or not believing, that there was a Holy Ghoft), on Sept. 20, 1772, I was ordained a Deacon.'

Mr. Scott indeed foundly berates himfelf for this daring wickedness-calling himself all manner of names for it-fuch as a rebel, a blafphemer, an irreverent trifler with his God -a prefumptuous intruder into his facred miniftry :'-and ' whenever he thinks of it, he is filled with amazement that he is out of hell.'.

Now what, good Reader, was the ruling object of Mr. Scott's heart when he thus, like another "Ananias, lied to the Holy Ghoft?" He anfwers the question himself. 'A proud conceit of my abilities, and a vain-glorious imagination that I fhould fome time diftinguish and advance myfelf in the literary world.' Though the impofition of right reverend hands could not conquer Mr. Scott's unbelief in the Holy Ghoft, yet Mr. Venn's Effay on the Prophecy of Zacharias' brought about a ftrange and almoft miraculous revolution in his faith, and put the point before doubted of out of all difpute. I fhould (fays Mr. Scott) as eafily be convinced that there were no Holy Ghoft, as that he was not present with my foul when I read what Mr. Venn had written on that subject.' And yet, in the midst of thefe divine

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illapfes of the Spirit, Mr. Scott was an inveterate Arian-a defpifer of the doctrine of the Trinity, and had quarrelled (as he informs us) with the Articles of the Church of England about this doctrine.' At length, however, he began to fufpect the truth of Dr. Clarke's hypothefis ;'-and in time (for matters were in a train to complete his orthodoxy) he was conftrained to renounce his former fentiments, as utterly indefenfible.'

Still, however, fomething was lacking! His prejudices against Mr. Hervey upon doctrinal fübjects were very ftrong' But, providentially, about July 1777, Theron and Afpafio fell into his hands. All was very wonderful!-but 'efpecially (fays our Narrator) his animated defcription and application of the ftag-chace cleared up the important matter [viz. of Juftification] to my before-darkened apprehenfion, more than every thing I had hitherto read upon the fubject.'

All now was as it should be, except in the matter of 'perfonak election.' This was (as he says, very pathetically) foolishness' unto me!' But as Mr. Scott was born to be a thorough Calvinift in the end, predeftination, and its whole train, fell into his creed in due order; and now (fays he exultingly) I willingly fubmit to be confidered by the world under the mortifying cha racter of a filly, half-witted, crack-brained enthufiaft.'

ART. X. The New Univerfal Prayer-Book, or, Complete Syftem of Family Devotions, defigned for the Ufe of Proteftants of all Denominations, containing Forms of Prayer for every Morning and Evening in the Week, with fuitable Meditations and Reflections; also particular Prayers and Thanksgivings for every Occafion and Circumftance in Life. Likewife a practical Difcourfe on the Chriftian Sabbath and devout Meditations on the Lord's Supper, with Prayers to be used before and after the Participation of that holy Ordinance: including an Introduction recommending the Practice of Family Worship and Social Religion. By the Rev. Jof. Worthington, LL. D. late of Queen's College, Cambridge. 8vo. 3 s. bound. Hogg. 1779.

HOUGH we have fomewhat abridged this profufe title

Tpage, it hath ftill much the air and appearance of fpiritual

quackery and we think the book itself not wholly void of that oftentatious diction which empirics are always fond of; but which the humble Chriftian would confider as very unfuitable to the nature of prayer. Witnefs the following expreffion

The intellectual powers we are poffeffed of, the ufe of our reason, and our capability of knowing and enjoying God, are among the best of our mercies, for which we adore, and laud, and magnify thy venerable name.'

What