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``You will see such a one working out ``a frame of little designs upon the ig- ``norance and perplexities of the poor ``and needy man ; -- shall raise a fortune ``upon the inexperience of a youth, or ``the unsuspecting temper of his friend ``who would have trusted him with his ``life. ``When old age comes on, and re- ``pentance calls him to look back upon ``this black account, and state it over ``again with his conscience, ------ CON- ``SCIENCE looks into the STATUTES at ``LARGE ; -- finds no express law broken ``by what he has done ; -- perceives no ``penalty or forfeiture of goods and chat- ``tels incurred ; -- sees no scourge waving ``over his head, or prison opening his ``gates upon him : -- What is there to ``affright his conscience ? -- Conscience ``has |
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``has got safely entrenched behind the ``Letter of the Law ; sits there invul- ``nerable, fortified with Cases and Re= ``ports so strongly on all sides, -- that ``it is not preaching can dispossess it of ``its hold.'' [Here Corporal Trim and my uncle Toby exchanged looks with each other. -- Aye, -- aye, Trim ! quoth my uncle Toby, shaking his head, -- these are but sorry fortifications, Trim. ------ O ! very poor work, answered Trim, to what your Honour and I make of it. ------ The character of this last man, said Dr. Slop, interrupting Trim, is more detestable than all the rest ; ------ and seems to have been taken from some pettifogging Lawyer amongst you : ---- Amongst us a man's conscience could not possibly con- tinue so long blinded ; -- three times in a 3 |
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a year, at least, he must go to confession. Will that restore it to sight, quoth my uncle Toby ? -- Go on, Trim, quoth my father, or Obadiah will have got back before thou hast got to the end of thy sermon ; -- 'tis a very short one, replied Trim. -- I wish it was longer, quoth my uncle Toby, for I like it hugely. -- Trim went on.] ``A fourth man shall want even this ``refuge ; -- shall break through all this ``ceremony of slow chicane ; ---- scorns ``the doubtful workings of secret plots ``and cautious trains to bring about his ``purpose : -- See the bare-faced villain, ``how he cheats, lies, perjures, robs, ``murders. ---- Horrid ! ---- But indeed ``much better was not to be expected, ``in the present case, -- the poor man ``was in the dark ! -- his priest had got ``the |
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``the keeping of his conscience ; -- and ``all he would let him know of it, was, ``That he must believe in the Pope ; -- ``go to Mass ; -- cross himself ; -- tell his ``beads ; ---- be a good Catholick, and ``that this, in all conscience, was enough ``to carry him to heaven. What ; -- if ``he perjures ! -- Why ; -- he had a men- ``tal reservation in it. -- But if he is so ``wicked and abandoned a wretch as ``you represent him ; -- if he robs, -- if ``he stabs, -- will not conscience, on ``every such act, receive a wound itself? ``Aye, -- but the man has carried it to ``confession ; ---- the wound digests there, ``and will do well enough, and in a ``short time be quite healed up by ab- ``solution. O Popery ! what hast thou ``to answer for ? -- when, not content ``with the too many natural and fatal ``ways, thro' which the heart of man is ``every |
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``every day thus treacherous to itself ``above all things ; -- thou hast wilfully ``set open this wide gate of deceit before ``the face of this unwary traveller, too ``apt, God knows, to go astray of him- ``self; and confidently speak peace to ``himself, when there is no peace. ``Of this the common instances which ``I have drawn out of life, are too no- ``torious to require much evidence. If ``any man doubts the reality of them, ``or thinks it impossible for a man to be ``such a bubble to himself, -- I must refer ``him a moment to his own reflections, ``and will then venture to trust my ap- ``peal with his own heart. ``Let him consider in how different ``a degree of detestation,numbers of ``wicked actions stand there, tho' equally ``bad |
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``bad and vicious in their own natures ; ``-- he will soon find that such of them, as ``strong inclination and custom have ``prompted him to commit, are gene- ``rally dress'd out and painted with all ``the false beauties, which a soft and a ``flattering hand can give them ; -- and ``that the others, to which he feels no ``propensity, appear, at once, naked and ``deformed, surrounded with all the ``true circumstances of folly and dis- ``honour. ``When David surprized Saul sleep- ``ing in the cave, and cut off the skirt ``of his robe, -- we read his heart smote ``him for what he had done : -- But in ``the matter of Uriah, where a faithful ``and gallant servant, whom he ought ``to have loved and honoured, fell to ``make way for his lust, -- where con- ``science |
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``science had so much greater reason to ``take the alarm, his heart smote him ``not. A whole year had almost passed ``from the first commission of that crime, ``to the time Nathan was sent to reprove ``him ; and we read not once of the least ``sorrow or compunction of heart which ``he testified, during all that time, for ``what he had done. ``Thus conscience, this once able mo- ``nitor, ---- placed on high as a judge ``within us, and intended by our maker ``as a just and equitable one too, -- by ``an unhappy train of causes and impe- ``diments, takes often such imperfect ``cognizance of what passes, -- does its ``office so negligently, --- sometimes so ``corruptly, -- that it is not to be trusted ``alone ; and therefore we find there is ``a necessity, an absolute necessity of 2 ``joining |
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``joining another principle with it to aid, ``if not govern, its determinations. ``So that if you would form a just ``judgment of what is of infinite impor- ``tance to you not to be misled in, ---- ``namely, in what degree of real merit ``you stand either as an honest man, an ``useful citizen, a faithful subject to your ``King, or a good servant to your God, -- ``call in religion and morality. -- Look, ``-- What is written in the law of God ? ``---- How readest thou ? ---- Consult ``calm reason and the unchangeable ob- ``ligations of justice and truth ; -- what ``say they ? ``Let CONSCIENCE determine the ``matter upon these reports ; -- and then ``if thy heart condemns thee not, which ``is the case the Apostle supposes, -- the VOL. II I ``rule |
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``rule will be infallible, (Here Dr. Slop ``fell asleep) thou wilt have confidence to- ``wards God ; -- that is, have just grounds ``to believe the judgment thou hast past ``upon thyself, is the judgment of God ; ``and nothing else but an anticipation ``of that righteous sentence which will ``be pronounced upon thee hereafter by ``that Being, to whom thou art finally ``to give an account of thy actions. ``Blessed is the man, indeed then, as ``the author of the book of Ecclesiasticus ``expresses it, who is not prick'd with the ``multitude of his sins : Blessed is the man ``whose heart hath not condemn'd him ; ``whether he be rich, or whether he be ``poor, if he have a good heart, (a heart ``thus guided and informed) he shall at ``all times rejoice in a chearful counte- ``nance ; his mind shall tell him more than ``seven |
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``seven watch-men that sit above upon a ``tower on high.'' ------ [A tower has no strength, quoth my uncle Toby, un- less 'tis flank'd.] ``In the darkest doubts ``it shall conduct him safer than a thou- ``sand casuists, and give the state he ``lives in a better security for his beha- ``viour than all the clauses and re- ``strictions put together, which law- ``makers are forced to multiply : ---- ``Forced, I say, as things stand ; hu- ``man laws not being a matter of ori- ``ginal choice, but of pure necessity, ``brought in to fence against the mis- ``chievous effects of those consciences ``which are no law unto themselves ; ``well intending, by the many provi- ``sions made, ---- that in all such cor- ``rupt and misguided cases, where prin- ``ciples and the checks of conscience ``will not make us upright, ------ to I 2 ``supply |
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``supply their force, and, by the ter- ``rors of gaols and halters, oblige us ``to it.'' [I see plainly, said my father, that this sermon has been composed to be preach'd at the Temple, ---- or at some Assize. ---- I like the reasoning, ---- and am sorry that Dr. Slop has fallen asleep before the time of his conviction ; ---- for it is now clear, that the Parson, as I thought at first, never insulted St. Paul in the least ; ---- nor has there been, bro- ther, the least difference between them. ---- A great matter, if they had dif- fered, replied my uncle Toby, -- the best friends in the world may differ some- times. ---- True, -- brother Toby, quoth my father, shaking hands with him, -- we'll fill our pipes, brother, and then Trim shall go on. Well, -- |
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Well, -- what do'st thou think of it ? said my father, speaking to Corporal Trim, as he reach'd his tobacco-box. I think, answered the Corporal, that the seven watch-men upon the tower, who, I suppose, are all centinels there, ---- are more, an' please your Honour, than were necessary ; -- and, to go on at that rate, would harass a regiment all to pieces, which a commanding officer, who loves his men, will never do, if he can help it ; because two centinels, added the Corporal, are as good as twenty. -- I have been a commanding officer myself in the Corps de Garde a hundred times, continued Trim, rising an inch higher in his figure, as he spoke, -- and all the time I had the ho- nour to serve his Majesty King William, in relieving the most considerable posts, I never left more than two in my life. -- I 3 Very |
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Very right, Trim, quoth my uncle Toby ; ---- but you do not consider Trim, that the towers, in Solomon's days, were not such things as our bastions, flank'd and defended by other works ; -- this,Trim, was an invention since Solomon's death ; nor had they horn-works, or ravelins be- fore the curtain, in his time ; -- or such a fossé as we make with a cuvette in the middle of it, and with cover'd-ways and counterscarps pallisadoed along it, to guard against a Coup de main : -- So that the seven men upon the tower were a party, I dare say, from the Corps de Garde, set there, not only to look out, but to defend it. -- They could be no more, an' please your Honour, than a Corporal's Guard. -- My father smiled inwardly, -- but not outwardly ; -- the subject between my uncle Toby and Corporal Trim being rather too serious, considering what had hap- |
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happened, to make a jest of : -- So, put- ting his pipe into his mouth, which he had just lighted, -- he contented himself with ordering Trim to read on. He read on as follows :] ``To have the fear of God before our ``eyes, and, in our mutual dealings with ``each other, to govern our actions by the ``eternal measures of right and wrong : -- ``The first of these will comprehend the ``duties of religion ; -- the second, those ``of morality, which are so inseparably ``connected together, that you cannot ``divide these two tables, even in imagi- ``nation, (tho' the attempt is often made ``in practice) without breaking and mu- ``tually destroying them both. ``I said the attempt is often made, ``and so it is ; ---- there being nothing I 4 ``more |
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``more common than to see a man who ``has no sense at all of religion, -- and in- ``deed has so much honesty as to pre- ``tend to none, who would take it as the ``bitterest affront, should you but hint ``at a suspicion of his moral character, -- ``or imagine he was not conscientiously ``just and scrupulous to the uttermost ``mite. ``When there is some appearance that ``it is so, -- tho' one is unwilling even to ``suspect the appearance of so amiable a ``virtue as moral honesty, yet were we to ``look into the grounds of it, in the pre- ``sent case, I am persuaded we should ``find little reason to envy such a one ``the honour of his motive. ``Let him declaim as pompously as ``he chooses upon the subject, it will ``be |
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``be found to rest upon no better foun- ``dation than either his interest, his pride, ``his ease, or some such little and change- ``able passion as will give us but small ``dependence upon his actions in matters ``of great stress. ``I will illustrate this by an ex- ample. ``I know the banker I deal with, or ``the physician I usually call in,'' [there is no need, cried Dr. Slop, (waking) to call in any physician in this case] ``to be ``neither of them men of much religion : ``I hear them make a jest of it every ``day, and treat all its sanctions with so ``much scorn, as to put the matter past ``doubt. Well; -- notwithstanding this, ``I put my fortune into the hands of the ``one ; -- and, what is dearer still to me, ``I |
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``I trust my life to the honest skill of ``the other. ``Now, let me examine what is my ``reason for this great confidence. ---- ``Why, in the first place, I believe there ``is no probability that either of them ``will employ the power I put into their ``hands to my disadvantage ; -- I con- ``sider that honesty serves the purposes ``of this life : -- I know their success in ``the world depends upon the fairness ``of their characters. ---- In a word, -- I'm ``persuaded that they cannot hurt me, ``without hurting themselves more. ``But put it otherwise, namely, that ``interest lay, for once, on the other side ; ``that a case should happen, wherein the ``one, without stain to his reputation, ``could secrete my fortune, and leave ``me |
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``me naked in the world ; -- or that the ``other could send me out of it, and en- ``joy an estate by my death, without ``dishonour to himself or his art : -- In ``this case, what hold have I of either of ``them ? -- Religion, the strongest of all ``motives, is out of the question : -- In- ``terest, the next most powerful motive ``in the world, is strongly against me : -- ``What have I left to cast into the oppo- ``site scale to balance this temptation ? -- ``Alas ! I have nothing, -- nothing but ``what is lighter than a bubble. -- I must ``lay at the mercy of HONOUR, or some ``such capricious principle. -- Strait secu- ``rity for two of my most valuable bles- ``sings ! -- my property and my life. ``As, therefore, we can have no de- ``pendence upon morality without reli- ``gion ; -- so, on the other hand, there is ``nothing 3 |
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``nothing better to be expected from ``religion without morality ; -- neverthe- ``less, 'tis no prodigy to see a man whose ``real moral character stands very low, ``who yet entertains the highest notion ``of himself, in the light of a religious ``man. ``He shall not only be covetous, re- ``vengeful, implacable, ---- but even ``wanting in points of common ho- ``nesty ; yet, inasmuch as he talks aloud ``against the infidelity of the age, ---- ``is zealous for some points of reli- ``gion, ---- goes twice a day to church, ``---- attends the sacraments, ---- and ``amuses himself with a few instrumental ``parts of religion, ---- shall cheat his ``conscience into a judgment that, for ``this, he is a religious man, and has ``discharged truly his duty to God : 1 ``And |
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``And you will find that such a man, ``thro' force of this delusion, gene- ``rally looks down with spiritual pride ``upon every other man who has less ``affectation of piety, -- tho', perhaps, ``ten times more moral honesty than ``himself. ``This likewise is a sore evil under the ``sun ; and I believe there is no one mi- ``staken principle which, for its time, ``has wrought more serious mischiefs. -- ``For a general proof of this, -- examine ``the history of the Romish Church ;'' -- [Well, what can you make of that, cried Dr. Slop ?] -- ``see what scenes of cru- ``elty, murders, rapines, blood-shed,'' [They may thank their own obstinacy, cried Dr. Slop] ``have all been sanctified ``by a religion not strictly governed by ``morality. ``In |