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Brackenridge, H. H. (Hugh Henry), 1748-1816 [1793], Modern chivalry: containing the adventures of Captain John Farrago, and Teague O'Regan, his servant. Part I. Volumes 1-3 (John M'Culloch, Philadelphia) [word count] [eaf800].
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BOOK III.

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IT was &longs;omewhat late when the Captain
arrived at an inn this evening. There
was there before him, a young clergyman,
who had been preaching that day in
a neighbouring congregation; but had not
as u&longs;ual, gone home with an elder; but
had come thus far on his way towards another
place, where he was to preach the
next day.

The Captain entering into conver&longs;ation
with the clergyman, &longs;at up pretty late.
The &longs;ubject was what might be expected;
viz. the affairs of religion and the church.
The clergyman was a good young man;
but inclining to fanatici&longs;m, and being righteous
over much: The Captain on the

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other hand, &longs;omewhat &longs;ceptical in his notions
of religion: Hence, a con&longs;iderable
oppo&longs;ition of &longs;entiment between the two.
But at length, drowzine&longs;s &longs;eizing both,
candles were called for, and they went to
bed.

It was about an hour or two after, when
an uproar was heard in a &longs;mall chamber to
the left of the &longs;tair-ca&longs;e which led to the
floor on which they &longs;lept. It was Teague,
who had got to bed to the girl of the
hou&longs;e. For as they would neither let him
go to Congre&longs;s, nor be a philo&longs;opher, he
mu&longs;t be doing &longs;omething. The girl not
being apprized, or not chu&longs;ing his embraces,
made a great outcry and lamentation.
The clergyman, who &longs;lept in an adjoining
chamber, and hearing this, out of
the zeal of his benevolence and humanity,
leaped out of bed in his &longs;hirt, and ran in
to &longs;ee what was the cau&longs;e of the disturbance.
The Captain al&longs;o jumping up, followed
&longs;oon after, and was &longs;carcely in the
chamber before the landlord coming up
with a candle, found them all together.

The maid gave this account of the matter,
viz. That between &longs;leeping and waking
&longs;he felt a man's hand lifting up the
bed-clothes; upon which &longs;he &longs;houted out

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murder. But whether it was any body
there pre&longs;ent, or &longs;ome one el&longs;e, &longs;he could
not tell.

Teague, who&longs;e natural parts were not
bad, and pre&longs;ence of mind con&longs;iderable,
in&longs;tantly took the re&longs;olution to throw the
matter on the clergyman. By &longs;haint Patrick,
&longs;aid he, I was a&longs;lape in my own bed
as &longs;ound as the &longs;hates that were about me,
when I heard the &longs;ound of this young
crature's voice crying out like a &longs;hape in
a pa&longs;ture; and when after I had heard,
a&longs;lape as I was, and come here, I found
this pra&longs;te, who was &longs;o wholy, and praching
all night, upon the top of the bed,
with his arms round this young crature's
neck; and if I had not given him a twitch
by the no&longs;e, and bid him ly over, dear
honey, he would have ravi&longs;hed her virginity,
and murdered her, &longs;ave her &longs;oul,
and the paple of the hou&longs;e not the wi&longs;er
for it.

The clergyman &longs;tared with his mouth
open; for the palpable nature of the falshood,
had &longs;hocked him beyond the power
of &longs;peech.

But the landlady, who in the mean time
was come up, and had heard what Teague
had &longs;aid, was enraged, could &longs;upply &longs;peech

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for them both. Hey, &longs;aid &longs;he, this comes
of your preaching and praying, Mr. Minister.
I have lodged many a gentleman; but
have never had &longs;uch doings here before. It
is a pretty &longs;tory that a mini&longs;ter of the gospel
&longs;hould be the fir&longs;t to bring a &longs;candal
upon the hou&longs;e.

The Captain interrupted her, and told
her there was no harm done. The maid
was not actually ravi&longs;hed; and if there
was no noi&longs;e made about it, all matters
might be &longs;et right.

The clergyman had by this time recovered
him&longs;elf &longs;o much as to have the u&longs;e of
his tongue; and began by prote&longs;ting his innocence,
and that it was no more him that
made the attack upon the maid, than the
angel Gabriel.

The Captain, interrupting him, and
wi&longs;hing to &longs;ave his feelings, began by excusing
or extenuating the offence. It is
no great affair, &longs;aid he, after all that is
&longs;aid or done. The love of women is a
natural &longs;in, and the holie&longs;t men in all ages
have been propen&longs;e to this indulgence.
There was Abraham that got to bed to his
maid Hagar, and had a ba&longs;tard by her,
whom he named I&longs;hmael. Jo&longs;hua, who
took Jericho by the &longs;ound of ram's horns,

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&longs;aved a likely &longs;lut of the name of Rahab,
under a pretence that &longs;he had been civil to
the &longs;pies he had &longs;ent out, but in reality because
he him&longs;elf took a fancy for her. I
need &longs;ay nothing about David, who wrote
the P&longs;alms, and &longs;et them to mu&longs;ic; and
yet in his old days had a girl to &longs;leep with
him. Human nature is human nature &longs;till;
and it is not all the preaching and praying
on earth can extingui&longs;h it.

The clergyman averred his innocence,
and that it was that red-headed gentleman
him&longs;elf, meaning Teague, who was in the
room fir&longs;t, and had been guilty of the outrage.
Teague was beginning to make the
&longs;ign of the cro&longs;s, and to put him&longs;elf into
an attitude of &longs;wearing, when the Captain
thinking it of no con&longs;equence who was the
per&longs;on, put an end to the matter, by ordering
Teague to bed, and him&longs;elf bidding
the company good night.

The clergyman finding no better could
be made of it, took the advice of the landlord,
and retired al&longs;o. The landlady seemed
di&longs;po&longs;ed to hu&longs;h the matter up, and the
maid went to &longs;leep as u&longs;ual.

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IT is not the nature of the female tongue
to be &longs;ilent. The landlady could not
avoid informing her go&longs;&longs;ips, and even &longs;ome
of her gue&longs;ts, of what had happened the
preceding evening in her hou&longs;e. The report,
&longs;o unfavourable to the clergyman,
had therefore got out; and coming to the
ears of the con&longs;i&longs;tory, was the occa&longs;ion of
calling him before them, to an&longs;wer to the
accu&longs;ation. The clergyman much alarmed,
though con&longs;cious of innocence, bethought
him&longs;elf of applying to the Captain,
to extort from his waiting man a
confe&longs;&longs;ion of the truth, and relieve his
character. Accordingly having &longs;et out on
a bay hor&longs;e that he had, he found the
Captain, and addre&longs;&longs;ed him in the following
manner:

Captain, &longs;aid he, the affair of that night
at the tavern, is like to be of &longs;erious consequence
to me. For though I am innocent
as the child unborn, yet the presumption
is again&longs;t me, and I am likely to fall

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under church cen&longs;ure. It may be &longs;port
to you, but it is a matter of moment to
me. Now, as &longs;ure as God is in heaven,
I am innocent; and it mu&longs;t have been the
devil, or that red headed Iri&longs;hman of
yours, that made the di&longs;turbance.

The Captain gave him the comfort of
a&longs;&longs;uring him that he might make him&longs;elf
ea&longs;y; for be the matter as it might, he
would take care that Teague &longs;hould assume
it, and bear the blame. The clergyman
politely thanked him; declaring,
at the &longs;ame time, that he would not forget
him in his prayers, Sunday or Saturday,
while he had an hour to live. The
Captain, not &longs;o much from any mercenary
motive of benefit, by his &longs;piritual
&longs;olicitations, as from a real love of humanity
and ju&longs;tice, had determined to do him
e&longs;&longs;ential &longs;ervice in this affair. Accordingly,
when the clergyman had retired, calling
Teague before him, he began in this
manner: Teague, &longs;aid he, from what I
know of your di&longs;po&longs;ition, I have no more
doubt than I have of my exi&longs;tence, that
it was your&longs;elf who made that uproar with
the girl at the tavern where we lodged;
though I could not but give you credit
for your pre&longs;ence of mind in throwing it

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upon the clergyman. But whether the
matter lies with you or him, is of no
con&longs;equence. You can take it upon you,
and lay up trea&longs;ure in heaven. It will be
doing a good work; and the&longs;e people, you
may be a&longs;&longs;ured, have a con&longs;iderable influence
in the other world. This clergyman
can &longs;peak a good word for you when you
come there, and let you into half the benefit
of all the prayers he has &longs;aid on earth.
It will be no harm to you, for your character
in this re&longs;pect is as bad as it can well
be.

Teague &longs;aid he did not care much; but
thought the prie&longs;t ought to pay a little
&longs;mart money; for it was a thankle&longs;s matter
to do the&longs;e things for nothing. Said
the Captain, the&longs;e people are not the mo&longs;t
plenty of money; but I will advance half
a crown towards the accommodation.
Teague was &longs;atisfied, and ready to acknowledge
whatever was demanded of him.

Accordingly having come before the
pre&longs;bytery on the day appointed for the
trial. Teague made confe&longs;&longs;ion of the truth;
viz. That being in the kitchen with the
girl, and ob&longs;erving her to be a good looking
hu&longs;&longs;y —

But &longs;uppo&longs;e we give the &longs;peech in his

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own dialect. Ma&longs;ter pra&longs;tes, &longs;aid he, I
per&longs;ave you are all pra&longs;tes of the go&longs;ple,
and can prach as a&longs;ily as I can take a chaw
of tobacco. Now the trut of de &longs;tory is
dis; I was &longs;laping in my bed, and I tought
vid my&longs;elf it was a &longs;hame amon&longs;t chri&longs;tian
paple that a young crature &longs;hould &longs;lape by
her&longs;elf, and have no one to take care of
her. So I tought vid my&longs;elf, to go and
&longs;lape vid her. But as &longs;he was a&longs;lape, &longs;he
made exclamation, and dis pra&longs;te that is
here before you, came in to &longs;ave her &longs;houl
from the devil; and as the captain my master,
might take offence, and the devil, I
am &longs;hartain that it was no better per&longs;on,
put it into my head, to lay it on the pra&longs;te
This is the trut ma&longs;ter pra&longs;tes, as I hope
for &longs;halvation in the kingdom of purgatory,
&longs;hentlemen.

On this confe&longs;&longs;ion, the clergyman was
ab&longs;olved, to the great joy of the presbytery,
who con&longs;idered it as a particular providence
that the truth was brought to light.

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IT mu&longs;t appear from the incident at the
public hou&longs;e, with what caution presumptive
te&longs;timony is to be admitted. Our
criminal law admits it, but lays it down
as a rule, that it be admitted with caution.
There is what is called violent presumption;
that is, where &longs;uch circum&longs;tances
exi&longs;t, as u&longs;ually attend the fact. Presumptive
proof of this nature is held &longs;ufficient
to convict. I doubt much, whether reason
or experience approve the doctrine.
Rea&longs;on tells us, that there may be all the
circum&longs;tances that u&longs;ually attend the fact,
and yet without the fact it&longs;elf. Experience
evinces that it has been the ca&longs;e; for
we have heard of per&longs;ons convicted of a
capital offence; and yet with their la&longs;t
breath a&longs;&longs;erting innocence. Nay, in the
ca&longs;e of &longs;ome who have been convicted of
homicide, the per&longs;ons who have been

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supposed to have been murdered, have afterwards
been found alive.

But on ab&longs;tract principles, a conclu&longs;ion
of certainty cannot be drawn from presumptive
proof. Becau&longs;e in ca&longs;es of the
mo&longs;t violent pre&longs;umption, there is &longs;till a
po&longs;&longs;ibility of innocence; and where there
is a po&longs;&longs;ibility, there mu&longs;t be a doubt; and
will you hang man, woman, or child, where
there is a doubt.

In all ca&longs;es there ought to be complete
proof; becau&longs;e the convicted per&longs;on is to
be completely puni&longs;hed; and the jury, previous
to this, mu&longs;t make complete oath of
the guilt.

It is the ground of the doctrine of presumptive
proof, that where you cannot
help &longs;u&longs;pecting, you ought to be po&longs;itive;
whereas the ju&longs;t conclu&longs;ion would be, that
where you cannot help &longs;u&longs;pecting, there
you ought to &longs;u&longs;pect &longs;till, but no more.

It would be a curious que&longs;tion in arithmetic
how many uncertainties make a certainty?
In mathematics, the three angles
of a triangle, are equal to a right angle.
But the&longs;e are all angles, that are put
together; that is, they are things of the
&longs;ame kind, but the greate&longs;t angle, and the
longe&longs;t &longs;ide will never make a triangle,

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because there is no inclu&longs;ion of &longs;pace. There
mu&longs;t be a number of things of the &longs;ame
kind to make an aggregate whole; &longs;o that
ten thou&longs;and po&longs;&longs;ibilities, probabilities, and
violent pre&longs;umptions, can never con&longs;titute
a certainty.

Pre&longs;umptive proof is of the nature of
the &longs;emi plena probatio of the Roman law;
going but half-way towards proof, it can
never amount to proof at all. For, as the
&longs;aying is, a mi&longs;s is as good as a mile. I
would, therefore, recommend to all jurors,
to take care that unle&longs;s the witne&longs;&longs;es &longs;wear
po&longs;itively to the fact, they do not find a
verdict, guilty; becau&longs;e, as the current
cannot ri&longs;e higher than the &longs;ource, &longs;o the
verdict of the juror ought not to be more
ab&longs;olute than the oath of the witne&longs;s. In
all ca&longs;es, therefore, &longs;hort of po&longs;itive testimony,
acquit.

The&longs;e hints may al&longs;o be of &longs;ervice to
young attornies, and weak judges; &longs;o that
hone&longs;t people may not lo&longs;e their lives, or
be rendered infamous, without full proof
of the offence. It is hard enough to suffer
when there is full proof; but to be in
the power of a juror's or a judge's imagination,
comparing and con&longs;truing circumstances,
and weighing po&longs;&longs;ibilities,

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contingencies, and what might have been, or
what might not have been, as the humour,
caprice, wheel, or whim of the brain may
&longs;ugge&longs;t, is incon&longs;i&longs;tent with that fair trial
which, in a free government, ought to be
enjoyed. Was I a judge or juror, no
one would I condemn without po&longs;itive testimony
of the fact. For it would not be
in my power to re&longs;tore that fame or life
which I took away from the innocent.
And if a guilty per&longs;on &longs;hould e&longs;cape, it
was none of my look out; but the business
of Providence to furni&longs;h proof, if it
was intended that man &longs;hould puni&longs;h; and if
proof is not furni&longs;hed, let Providence take
the matter on him&longs;elf, and puni&longs;h the culprit
either in this life or in a future &longs;tate.
Invi&longs;ible things belong to the Omni&longs;cient;
and it would &longs;eem great arrogance in man
to take upon him to decide in ca&longs;es of uncertainty.
I hope, therefore, yet to &longs;ee the
doctrine of pre&longs;umptive proof, in criminal
ca&longs;es, wholly, in courts of ju&longs;tice, discountenanced.
I can declare, that in the
cour&longs;e of my experience at the bar, I have
bad one hung, and &longs;everal others within
an ace of it, who were innocent; and
this on the doctrine of pre&longs;umption and
probability. The one that was hung was

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a tory ca&longs;e, where the popular clamour
was again&longs;t the man; and light presumption
became violent, under &longs;uch a charge.

I &longs;hall &longs;ay no more on this &longs;ubject;
becau&longs;e it &longs;eems to me that I have been affecting
to &longs;peak &longs;en&longs;e, whereas my business
is to &longs;peak non&longs;en&longs;e; this being the
only way to keep out of the reach of criticism;
becau&longs;e critics can &longs;ay no more
than you your&longs;elf allow; &longs;o that a charge
of non&longs;en&longs;e cannot hurt. It is thus that
per&longs;ons who have a long no&longs;e, or disproportion
of &longs;ome other feature, take the
laugh upon them&longs;elves fir&longs;t, and &longs;o e&longs;cape
ridicule. The truth is, I will not give myself
the trouble to write &longs;en&longs;e long. For
I would as &longs;oon plea&longs;e fools as wi&longs;e men;
becau&longs;e the fools are the mo&longs;t numerous,
and every prudent man will go with the
majority. I &longs;hall return to the adventures
of the Captain.

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THE Pre&longs;bytery &longs;at a day or two at
this place, on church affairs, and the
Captain delaying with them, lodged at the
&longs;ame hou&longs;e. Teague, in the mean time,
having an opportunity of ingratiating himself
with the clergymen, by rubing down
their hor&longs;es, and other menial &longs;ervices.
For it is the national character of the aboriginal
Iri&longs;h, to give fair words; and
Teague was not deficient in this addre&longs;s.
What with ma&longs;ter Pra&longs;ting, and giving a
great deal of what is called Blarney, he
in&longs;inuated him&longs;elf into their good graces;
and by affecting, now and then, to be &longs;een
at prayers by him&longs;elf, and to have a sorrowful
countenance, he induced them to
believe that he was in the fir&longs;t &longs;tage of conviction,
and likely to become a pious man.
Having made this progre&longs;s in their good
opinion, he ventured to &longs;ugge&longs;t what was
the ultimate object of his ambition; viz.
the being a candidate for holy orders. The
Pre&longs;bytery, to whom the matter was

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represented by the individuals more particularly
acquainted with him, thought favourably
of the propo&longs;ition. For though his
common attainments might not be great,
yet if the grace of God had wrought upon
him, he might become a valuable man.

The Captain having got a hint of this,
took the fir&longs;t opportunity of addre&longs;&longs;ing the
Pre&longs;bytery. Gentlemen, &longs;aid he, you are
deceived in this ragamuffin. For, notwithstanding
all the preten&longs;ions he may lately
have to religion, you may be well a&longs;&longs;ured
that it is all hypocri&longs;y, and that he has no
more religion than my hor&longs;e.

The Pre&longs;bytery &longs;u&longs;pecting the Captain
to be a carnal man, and regardle&longs;s of the
mini&longs;try, gave little heed to what he &longs;aid,
and &longs;eemed di&longs;po&longs;ed to take Teague upon
trials.

The Captain finding the ca&longs;e to &longs;tand
thus, and that in &longs;pite of all he could do,
he was likely to lo&longs;e his &longs;ervant, took his
u&longs;ual method of addre&longs;&longs;ing the hopes and
fears of Teague him&longs;elf.

Taking him a&longs;ide, he began, with all
po&longs;&longs;ible art, to impre&longs;s &longs;uch fears and apprehensions,
as the nature of the ca&longs;e suggested.
Teague, &longs;aid he, do you know
what you are about? You have got into

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your vagaries once more. You want to
preach, do you? Are you appri&longs;ed of the
difficulty of this work? The fir&longs;t thing you
will have to do, is to take a text; and
when that is done, you have to &longs;plit it into
parts. There are what are called heads;
and the&longs;e you mu&longs;t divide into fir&longs;tlys,
and &longs;econdlys, and thirdlys, and fourthlys,
and &longs;o on, till you come to twentiethlys,
perhaps. Are you furni&longs;hed with a concordance?
or do you know what a concordance
is? Can you find a text to &longs;uit
your purpo&longs;e when you want it? Can you
explain the &longs;criptures; the meaning of
Daniel's ram and the he-goat, or the &longs;even
trumpets in the Revelations? You are
mi&longs;taken if you think your Iri&longs;h will pa&longs;s
for Hebrew.

You think it a great honour to preach
now-a days. It was an honour once; but
the thing is now become &longs;o common, that
it is of little con&longs;equence to preach or not.

But do you know how it will behove
you to conduct your&longs;elf, if you take this office
upon you. You will have to compo&longs;e
the mu&longs;cles of your face to greater seriousness
than your di&longs;po&longs;ition can afford. You
mu&longs;t quit whoring. How will you like
that, Teague. It would look very ill after

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&longs;ermon to be catched in bed with a girl at
a tavern.

But do you know why the&longs;e men are &longs;o
anxious to have you of their me&longs;s? The
truth of the matter is, they carry on a war
with the devil, and they wi&longs;h to recruit you
for the &longs;ervice. Do they give you any
bounty-money. Take my word, there
will be but little of this going. Take my
advice then, and let them &longs;ettle their own
quarrels. It is a &longs;illy thing to be drawn into
a party, when there is but little to be
got by it: Nay, wor&longs;e than little: For it
will be all on the other &longs;ide. Think you
the devil will forget the mi&longs;chief you do
him in this world, and not re&longs;ent it when
he comes acro&longs;s you in a future &longs;tate?
When you are preaching and praying, do
you think he will not hear all that you
throw out again&longs;t him. You may rely
upon it, there will be enough to give him
information; and as a &longs;tory never lo&longs;es in
the telling, it is ten to one they will make
the matter wor&longs;e than it was. Take my
advice, therefore, and make no enemies
while you can help it. Steer through life
as &longs;moothly as po&longs;&longs;ible. Keep a good
tongue in your mouth, and let tho&longs;e who
chu&longs;e to di&longs;pute with Belzebub, di&longs;pute. I

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never knew any good come of broils and
quarrels, e&longs;pecially with low characters.
And, to &longs;ay the truth of it, this Satan,
as they call him, is very little of the gentleman.
Even where he is well di&longs;po&longs;ed,
he will do but little good to one; but a
mo&longs;t dangerous creature where he takes a
di&longs;like. When you go to hell, as, one
day, you mu&longs;t, you can expect but little
quarter, after abu&longs;ing him in this world.
He will make you &longs;queel like a pig; take
you by the throat, and kick you like a
cat. His very &longs;cullions will pi&longs;s upon you,
and give you no better life than a dog among
their feet; while the&longs;e very clergymen,
that put you forward to blackguard
for them, will &longs;tand by laughing in their
&longs;leeves that you could be &longs;uch a fool.

The repre&longs;entation had the de&longs;ired effect
upon Teague, and he thought no
more of the matter.

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THE overtures made by Teague, to be
admitted to the mini&longs;try, and the simplicity
of the eccle&longs;ia&longs;tics in li&longs;tening to his
preten&longs;ions, made a great noi&longs;e through
the neighbourhood; in as much as the
young man laboured under a want of education,
and was not qualified by theological
reading. But I do not &longs;ee, why it &longs;hould
be thought blamable; provided the matter
was not too much hurried and ha&longs;tily
brought forward. For give him a little
time, and he might have been in&longs;tructed to
preach as well as &longs;ome that I my&longs;elf have
heard. E&longs;pecially if at fir&longs;t &longs;etting out,
he had confined him&longs;elf to hi&longs;torical passages
of &longs;cripture; &longs;uch as the hi&longs;tory of
Samp&longs;on, and Gideon, and Barak, and the
like: Only he mu&longs;t have taken care that
in pronouncing Barak, with the brogue
upon his tongue, he did not make it Burke;
for that is a patronimic name of his

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[figure description] Page 080.[end figure description]

country, and he might inadvertently have fallen
into this pronunciation.

I acknowledge, that in the regular
churches, &longs;uch as that of the Presbyterians,
there is &longs;till kept up &longs;ome opinion of
the nece&longs;&longs;ity of literature. But do we not
&longs;ee that with other denominations; &longs;uch
as the Quakers, the Methodi&longs;ts, and Anabaptists,
it is totally di&longs;regarded and thrown
out? Becau&longs;e when human gifts or acquirements
are ab&longs;ent, that which is supernatural
more evidently appears.

Do not Quakers, and Methodi&longs;ts, and
Bapti&longs;ts, preach very well? At any rate,
they do a great deal of good, and that is the
fir&longs;t object of preaching. Whether &longs;uch
&longs;ermoni&longs;ts, avail them&longs;elves mo&longs;t of &longs;en&longs;e or
&longs;ound, I will not &longs;ay; but &longs;o it is they do
good; and that without the aid of any human
learning whatever.

It is very true, that formerly in the infancy
of the church, a knowledge of languages
and &longs;ciences, might be requi&longs;ite.
But the ca&longs;e is quite altered now. The
Scripture has been well explained, and
frequently preached over; every text and
context examined, and pa&longs;&longs;ages illu&longs;trated.
The Hebrew roots, &longs;o to &longs;peak, have been
all dug up; and there is &longs;carcely a new

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etymology to be made. Are there any new
doctrines to di&longs;cover? I &longs;hould think it impossible.
At any rate, I &longs;hould conceive
it unnece&longs;&longs;ary. There are enough in all
con&longs;cience: The inventing more, would
be like bringing timber to a wood, or
coals to Newca&longs;tle.

This being the ca&longs;e, I feel my&longs;elf disposed
to agree with tho&longs;e who reject human
learning in religious matters altogether.
More e&longs;pecially as &longs;cience is really
not the fa&longs;hion at the pre&longs;ent time. For
as has been before &longs;een, even in the very
province of &longs;cience it&longs;elf, it is di&longs;pen&longs;ed
with; that of natural philo&longs;ophy, for instance.
In &longs;tate affairs, ignorance does
very well, and why not in church? I am
for having all things of a piece; ignorant
&longs;tate&longs;men, ignorant philo&longs;ophers, and ignorant
eccle&longs;ia&longs;tics. On this principle,
Teague might have done very well as a
preacher. But the &longs;elfi&longs;hne&longs;s of the Captain
prevailed, and ob&longs;tructed his advancement.

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Brackenridge, H. H. (Hugh Henry), 1748-1816 [1793], Modern chivalry: containing the adventures of Captain John Farrago, and Teague O'Regan, his servant. Part I. Volumes 1-3 (John M'Culloch, Philadelphia) [word count] [eaf800].
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