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Club. Your argument feems to carry weight, fortified with reason, to those of little brains but to us feniors, who poffefs a full quantum, in measure, weight, and quality, is of no force. You cannot catch old birds with chaff, neither will you frighten us with raw head and bloody bones, or any other such spiritual fnare, or artful contrivance, that imprefs and feduce weaklings and children; but we that have fprung and got quit of your faares, ftand fearlefs free from remorfe or ftings of heart, we were heretofore affailed with, after feafting ourfelves on the good things of the earth, which was and is rivetted innate and clenched in the inner receffes of our hearts, from which glut of pleasure, like the bee, we will never recede until for want of breath we can hold out no longer, when we fhall return each element its proper gift.

Hoft. This membrane, or web, that I now produce, was all the contents contained in a Imall cavity, in the head of a fea toad, or tortoife, the head being all to the cavity fold. This creature weighed one hundred and fifteen pounds, without brains or marrow, the bones being folid as the head, all but the aforefaid cavity.

Club. What you advance reminds us of the furprising latitude travellers affuine and think yourselves entitled to be credited.

Hoft. What I advance is known to feveral that will testify the fame, and yourselves will be pleafed to examine and give teftimony that

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it is nothing but a web confifting of nothing more than fibres.

Club. What you produce resembles tarantula fheath or web, free from brains or other mat

ter or contents.

Hoft. The fingular inftinct of the tortoise, in her care at the time of her depofiting her eggs, to prevent the vigilance of her adverfary (the turtle) from robbing her neft, or making a prize of herfelf, brings her the neareft to man of any other animal. Rabbi Mofes, 'whose character you are no ftranger to, will give the furprifing inftinct and many particulars relating to this animal, and this from his own infpection, in the Weft-Indies, where they are produced.

Club. Rabbi Mofes is a character of diftinguifhed merit, on whofe veracity we are agreed. We would think ourselves happy in making feveral enquiries from fo worthy a character, who, according to report, has been in fearch of truth to all quarters of the world, from his youth, poffeffed of whatever is worthy praife, in fortune, goodness, refined fentiments, and strong understanding; but there arifes a doubt his being of the Jewish perfuafion, who are a people not eafily deluded or drawn from even error, as they are ridiculously fo, moft abfurdly. We will caft in our minds the utility of feeing this good and intelligent man, and if we fuppofe it not hurtful to our light, raifing doubts that there is a God, and fpiritual intelligences, who watch our actions with an eye far more clear and penetrating than the fun at noon-day, and that man is compofed of two fubftances; one

fpiritual, which they call foul; the other earthly, the body. The foul, being the intellectual and fuperior part, is to rule and keep the body in a ftate oppreffive to the fenfes, and oppofite to the pleafures and allurements of this life, to confider this life and pass through it a pilgrim, or man of forrows, expecting pleasure and eternal comforts when death feparates our twofold nature. All blemishes, which they term fio, are to be rigorously accounted for, and punished in the next life, if we were convinced that giv ing him a meeting might not caft fome blemish or fhade our enlightened and bright philofophy, we should be difpofed to fee him to make enquiries.

Hoft. You were all inftructed, when young, in the religion of your forefathers, I fuppofe, chriftians.

Club. We acknowledge your fuppofition, though we are of different countries, and were of different branches of chriftians, to be true; but being men inclined to various powerful paffions, which could not be gratified without remorfe and ftings, we were not difpofed to fuffer, embraced the Enlightened Bleifing, the brains, in a torrent of light, poured on the head of man, in this our enlightened age and northern hemifphere. O my, what a blaze!

Hoft. I will hold you a rump and dozen, as the faying is, that you are twelve, but not one trained Calvinift.

Club. None.

Hoft. Prefbyterians are inftructed to render life comfortable, by laying the old man with

the

the fword of the fpirit, that is, to appeafe the flesh, by giving it the full fway and defire of her wishes, that we obtain liberty of fpirit. This is a faithful faying, "Mortify the works of the flesh, by deftroving the old man. If you live to the flesh, you fhall die; but if you live to the fpirit, you fhall be faved: fo that there is no condemnation to the spiritual chriftian; for, let him do what he will, he finned not for all things are lawful to him by the art and cunning of fpiritualizing all fleshly actions, fo that whilst we enjoy, we live. O my, what fweetness!

Calvinifts, like goats, rut out of measure,
Bleat out in fpirit, a twofold pleafurė ;
But to you half men, you lose all merit,
And half your pleasure, thro' lack of Spirit,
For quitting paftures you were once train'd in,
And difown your fouls, and turn then nothing.

Club. Envy, defpair, prefumption, fchifin, herefy, contention, Pride, railing, infidelity, gluttony, hatred, lechery.

The above heads, if we understood right when we had an idea of God, was oppofite and contrary to the Divinity and forbid under pain pain of eternal punishments. This was the caufe, as we could not refrain to embrace our new philofophy, in order to ftrengthen ourfelves for enjoyment without after-claps or bitings of confcience. We acknowledge your lenient medicine, if any efficacy can be drawn from it, would have much weight to our return

into the chriftian bofom; but, according to fome philofophy, if you should prove to have a foul, you will be in much more danger of reprobation than our new philofophers, we deny him, you acknowledge him and make him an accomplice, partaker aud partner in the very deeds that he detefts and forbids. You cry, it is well done, a twofold pleasure, fpiritual and earthly; in fhort, and to be brief, if impudence has any merit, Calvinism is a child of paradise. O the mifery of an infatuated and conceited, vain pride.

Conceited monsters, of a twofold race,
Enthufiaftic tribe, your wizard's face
Contradict your Lord,, and impede bis grace.

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Hoft. I humbly crave your Enlightened's pardon for my abrupt intrufion on fo high and mighty a fociety, who has it in contemplation to relieve the great world from all impediments which they have been infected with for near fix thousand years, on the heels of which bring in rectitude cloathed fn her natural and firft-born fimplicity, ftate, drefs, condition, and inclination, free from impeachment, fhame, or remorfe. The earth is man's and the fullness thereof, wherefore do we refufe to couple, as if man, and only man, were the captive chained down with more than favage flavery and cruel reftraint, fuperfluity and experience. Extravagance will be exploded, and like our neighbours of every degree, from the favage who wears nothing more than pure nature, to the gentle O

worm

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