from the author's intention, but diametrically oppofite to his whole meaning.

Owing to this it has been, that the subject of polygamy has been felected, and the indifcriminate practice of it faid to be recommended by the author of Thelyphthora. To guard against this, in the plain and express manner which he has done (vol. ii. p. 174-177. 288, and n. and 335, n.) he is forry to find was to little purpose: thefe paffages were overlooked, whether intentionally or not, is to be left to thofe who beft know. However, let the whole that the author has written on the fubject be taken fairly and candidly together, and it will appear, that nothing more is faid, than is warranted by fcripture, nature, and reafon, and to prove that the indifcriminate prohibition of it in all cafes, however circumftanced-which is no where warranted by the law of GOD-is one fource of public prostitution-which, Montefquieu truly fays, " may "be looked upon as the greatest of misfortunes in a popular ftate.'

I know no book, the Bible itself not excepted, which may not be abufed by partial quotation-and by that which is one confequence of it, mifreprefentation. We may prove atheism on David, as having faid, PÍ. xiv.1. There is no God;-a recommendation of drunkennefs from Pf. civ. 15. where he fays, Wine maketh glad the heart of man ;-or we may fuppofe, that the prophet Ifaiah, and the apostle Paul, meant to encourage the licen tioufnefs of a Sçavoir vivre club-by faying

-Let

-Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die. If. xxii. 13. 1 Cor. xv. 32.

Something like the difingenuoufness which would attend fuch proofs as these, has attended the misreprefentation of the author's treating polygamy.-He has maintained its forming a part of the divine plan, which was fo evidently calculated for the preservation of the female fex from defertion and proflitutionbut by a part only of what is faid on the subject being taken, and placed in another point of view, he is accused of recommending polygamy as an indifcriminate practice, to the fubverfion of the peace and domeftic happiness of every family in the kingdom-an idea as foreign from his purpose, as it was from the Apostle's (1 Tim. v. 23.) to make Timothy a winebibber (OwOTTOTYS)-See Prov. xxiii. 20. Matt. xi. 19. when he exhorted him to- drink no longer water, but to use a little wine for his ftomach's fake, and his often infirmities. Thus polygamy is mentioned in no other light, throughout this treatise, but as * expedient in fome cafes,neceffary in others, to prevent mischiefs of an infinitely more deplorable kind, both to individuals in particular, and to the public in general, than can poffibly arife from every man's being obliged to keep, maintain, and provide for, as the fcripture has commanded, the women he feduces-but in order to this, its lawfulness must be proved, for if it be difallowed of GOD-there is an end of all questions upon the fubject, and we

* See vol. ii. p. 178. + See Exod. xxii. 16.

Deut. xxii. 28, 29.
b 3

muft

must fit down contented under the prefent ruinous ftate of things, which is every day increafing the licentioufnefs of our men, the deftruction of our women, and the * depopulation of the land.

As for partial and unfair representation, it has been an ufual way of injuring arguments which do not eafily admit of plain and fair

anfwers.

Thus the Papifts ferved Erafmus, on his publishing his " Tranflation and Paraphrafe on the New Teftament." A great clamour was raised against him by the faculty of divinity at Paris, as before at Bafil; and “ Na"talis Bedda, a doctor of divinity, who was "at that time Syndic of the faculty, collected "feveral propofitions, which, as to the full

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import and general fenfe of them, were "lame and imperfect, being feparated from "what went before, and from what fol"lowed after, and thereby might be taken " in an ill sense; whereas, if they were red "with what went before, and what fol"lowed after, it would be found they were "found and orthodox." And thus at length a decree was passed against him, and "those "doctors who were on the fide of Erafmus, "were obliged to hold their peace, left, by

We were lately told, in one of the public prints, how truly I cannot fay, that-" a noble Lord ftated in the Houfe of Commons, with his ufual accuracy, that the decrease of people in this country, within these laft 90 years, has been ONE MILLION EIGHT HUNDRED THOUSAND." Surely this must be an exaggeration but yet it might be worth while to examine into the increafe or decreafe of the people.

"fpeaking

"fpeaking their thoughts freely, they should "become odious, and their lives be made uneafy." See Du PIN, Cent. 16. P: 267-8. Eng. Tranfl.

What Erafmus wrote on the treatment which he met with from many quarters, on account of his publication, deferves our notice, as containing a proper admonition to those who condemn, because they read with prejudice; and to those who are profligate enough to condemn, without reading at all.

"Sic oportet ad librum legendum acce"dere lectorem, ut folet ad convivium con"viva civilis. Convivator annititur omnibus "fatisfacere: & tamen fiquid apponitur,

quod hujus aut illius palato non refpon"deat, urbanè vel diffimulant, vel probant "etiam, ne quid contriftent convivatorem. Quis enim eum convivam ferat, qui tan"tùm hoc animo veniat ad menfam, ut carpens quæ apponuntur, ne vefcatur ipfe, nec alios vefci finat?

"Et tamen his quoque reperias incivi"liores, qui palam, qui fine fine damnent ac lacerent opus, quod nunquam legerint. Atque hoc fane faciunt quidam, qui fe Chriftiana pietatis doctores profitentur, & religionis antiftites; cum fit plus quam fycophanticum, damnare quod nefcias."

As I have too much reafon to think that fome of the unlearned, as well as the learned, stand much in need of being acquainted with the above, I will give it in English.

"A reader fhould come to the perufal of

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a book, as a courteous gueft comes to a "feaft. The giver of the feaft does his en"deavour to fatisfy all; yet, if any thing be "brought to table, which may not be agreeable to the palate of this or that perfon, they politely diffemble their diflike,

દ

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દ

or even approve, rather than grieve him "who has invited them. For who could "bear with that guest, who comes to the "table only with a difpofition to find fault, "and neither to partake himself, nor fuffer "others to partake of the entertainment ?

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"Yet you may find others more uncivil "than thefe, who openly, and without end, "will condemn and tear a work to pieces, "which they have never red. And fome do this, who profefs themselves teachers of Chriftian piety, and eminent * professors of religion. Whereas, to condemn that of "which you are ignorant, is beyond the "bafeness of the + bafeft informer.

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*

I could easily make fome ftrictures on the

Antiftes properly denotes a chief priest, prelate, or bishop but is alfo ufed for any man eminent among others. AINSWORTH.

Erafmus probably ufed it in the former fenfe. The author ufes it in the latter, for a reafon which some of his readers have more caufe, than he wishes they had, to fee the propriety of.

+ Sycophanticum, rendered literally, would afford no information to the unlearned reader; the term is therefore paraphrafed, in fuch a manner, as to give an idea of the fort of people which the Greeks called Sycophants, and, of courfe, what Erafmus means by Sycophanticum. For the derivation and meaning of Sycophants among the Athenians, fee Chambers' Dia.