cident carryed him off, and delivered her from him before fhe was one and twenty.

At the time I firft faw her at Hali-farm, she was about three and twenty. She was tall, well fhaped, and extremely handsome. Her eyes were large, black as night, and bright as diamonds. Her hair was of the fame color, and curled naturally in the most graceful manner. She has a charming mouth, and when the laughs or fmiles, is beautiful as Lalage.

This lady has a clear understanding, and a found judgment; has read the polite books, and is a delightful fpeaker. She has a large fhare of focial wit, and with equal ftrength and propriety, can exprefs the whole feries of the paffions in comic characters. The plyantnefs of her difpofition can raise and keep up a pleasurable fenfation, and give a fucceffion of Joys to a company. She has what Tertullian fomewhere calls the vis colubrina, and in the moft various reprefentations, can make her action as bewitching as the difcourfe of the ferpent who feduced the first woman. She can fuit her face and person to any attitude, and fo perfectly conform her words to her gefture, that the lifts a character at once into the loudeft laughter. I have feen nothing like her even on the French ftage, in the article of tranfition from pafLion to paffion in comic life. She is, with

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out all peradventure, the finest actress in the world, in comedy.

Some pious people of this lady's acquaintance will not allow her to be a chriftian, because the thinks, religion is no more than a moral conftitution; and believes every thing elfe, rites, ceremonys, and holy orders, to be the schemes of the cunning, and the dreams of the vifionary; that the defpifes all human inventions in religion, and with all her fenfibility and promethean fire, ridicules the high flown ecclefiaftics. She does abhor the monks to be fure moft heartily. She does make free with the high church doctors. She is perfection itself, when the plays Moliere's Tartuff, or Cibber's Nonjuror. She likewife takes off Warburton to the greatest exactness; his very voice, and the mine of his vifage, as he contemplates, and as he predicats; and when he brings him on with a bit of his legation in his mouth, or fome fcraps of his controverfy with Stebbing, or Tilliard, or Sykes, or Jackson, one cannot help screeching again with laughter. You fee all the vanity and felf-fufficiency of this gentleman in her face and manner, when she is dreft as a parfon, and then, like him, fhe dictats his fancys, and pronounces all the world, except himself, crude writers. Gregory Nazianzen, a crude writer; Bayle, a crude writer; Spencer, a crude writer; and a thousand more

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befides them. I really believe, if the Doc tor faw her at this work, he could not forbear laughing. She fets this cynic and his odd arguments, his raillery, fcurrility, and abufive phrases, in fo droll a light, that one must want fentiment, who is not pleasantly moved.

But all this notwithstanding, her Enemys wrong her much in saying she is no chriftian, She reveres the gospel, and very often, in the foft, filent hours of the night, fits up to read the facred volume. She has extracted from it a heavenly religion. She has acquired, by this study of the infpired writers, the best and evenneft temper that ever mortal was bleffed with; a heart the most benevolent; and a rectitude of mind and life that is lovely and glorious. She has the highest and most honourable opinion of Jefus Chrift, and glorifys him continually as the chofen fervant of God almighty; the ambassador of the Deity; fent to promote purity of heart, and rectitude of manners; virtue here, and happynefs hereafter, by his preaching and miracles, his virtue and obedience. Such a religion in the heart must make any one a christian. It is more excellent than the conftitutions of councils, convocations, and fathers. The best christianity is, when our practice is a comment upon the religion of Jefus.

tion of Dr. Schomberg.

The thing that gave Mrs. Schomberg fo A defcripgreat a prejudice against the doctors, was the hard ufage the received from the monk, her hufband. I will give you his picture, and then tell you their story. their story. He was in his figure the very counterpart of Evans the conjurer. He was fhort in ftature, pot-bellyed, humpt behind, bettle-browed, and squinted dreadfully. He was flat nofed, fplay-footed, and had prodigious thick lips. All this however had been no reflexion upon him, if his percipient had been a jewel. Where the mind of a man is wife and honeft, the deformity of the cafe it is lodged in, fignifys little, in my opinion. But where the mind is bad, it renders deformity fhocking.

My school-fellow, Duncan Schomberg, was rancour itself in his temper; cross, dark, obftinate, and for ever contending. He was pofitive, ftingy, and headstrong from his cradle; had a foul the most unrelenting, and was, even while a boy, a zealot for orthodoxy. In the univerfity, he had read all the fathers, and all the School-men. He had the works of Daniel Waterland by heart: and May Sherlock against South flowed from his mouth 1741. like water. Mystery and tradition were, in his opinion, moft facred things; and to excell in formalitys and trifles his labours were endlefs. His zeal for the religion of Athanafius was a furious fanatical fervour. It deG 4

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prived him of all regard to truth, and of every tender fentiment of pity and humanity. With an infernal hatred, he abhorred all who contemned the fymbol. This made him deteft me in college, tho I faved him from drowning, when we were school-boys. In mentioning my name, he never omited the epithet, that atheist (a). In short, pofitive precepts, and no reason, in religion, were with him, as with father Canaye the Jefuit, O heavenly! (b) The fathers were all an

(a) The word atheist is frequently caft by the orthodox men as a term of the greateft reproach on their adverfarys. Hickes calls Tillotfon the graveft atheist that ever writ and it is not long ago fince I heared a gentleman of the university of Oxford mentain, at a club of substantial citizens, that Dr. Hoadley, bifhop of Winchester, was an atheist. An atheift, ore of thofe gentlemen replyed! O Sir, do not say it. I fay it, fays the hot ecclefiaftic, and proceeded, with foam at his mouth, and a demon in his heart, to abuse this great, excellent man. O Jesus, thou brightness of our Father's glory, and godlike friend to the humane race, can fuch priests be the ministers of thy law of love? No, most glorious Redeemer, the vo tarys of reafon and virtue dare not think fo.. These theologers difgrace thy heavenly religion, and are the minifters only of thofe laws they have made themselves; the codex-laws they have ftatuted to undo mankind. They have faggots ready, and if they were permited by the civil power to kindle them, they would foon burn up the little floc. The bishop of Winchester would quickly be committed to the flames for oppofing the ecclefiaftical tyranny of his time.

(b) Evremond's lively account of the conversation between father Canaye and the Marechal d'Hoquincourt, is worth turning to.

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