Farewell, my honoured Lady: May light and truth be your constant guides; may you never lose sight of the pillar of cloud by day and of fire by night; and may the good will of Him who dwelt in the bush, guard you through life, and enrich you to eternity.

"ROBERT WALKER."

"Edinburgh, 20th November 1773."

Letter the Second.

"Tell me, I pray thee, wherein thy great strength lieth, and wherewith thou mightest be bound to afflict thee ?"

"When your Ladyship reads the question that Peter put to his Master, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times?' doth it not readily occur to you, that the honest disciple had, in his own opinion, made as liberal an allowance, and laid as heavy a load upon human patience as it either could or ought to bear? And that he plainly seems to have thought, that the addition of another injury would render the burden quite insupportable? And I cannot help suspecting, that one of these conclusions, after receiving the seventh offence, would have strongly inclined him to seek out some decent way of procuring the eighth, that he might be at liberty to shake off the burden at once. In which case, it is more than probable that a principle of strict justice might have disposed him to lay as much vengeance upon the last provocation, as would recover, with legal interest, the arrear due to his forgiveness from the other seven which had escaped with impunity.

"I cannot deny that a similar suspicion is raised in my mind when the question is put to me, How far may the Christian be conformed to the world? I could

therefore wish, that the person who proposeth it would imitate the blunt honesty of Peter, by subjoining his own opinion, and describe as he can the utmost limit to which, and no farther, the Christian may or ought to go; otherwise I shall be apt to conclude, that instead of desiring to be informed how soon he may stop, (which was the true meaning of Peter's question with respect to forgiveness,) he rather wants to be told, that the boundaries are so undefined, or placed at such a distance, that he need give himself very little concern about the matter.

"I could likewise wish, that the querist would come fully into the light, by assuming some known denomination, whereby his character may be clearly distinguished. This he cannot decline with any colour of reason. The very terms of his own question express an acknowledgment, that a distinction doth exist between real Christians and those who are of the world; and his putting the question not only gives me a right to demand, but obligeth me to insist upon it, that he discover to which class or denomination he belongs. Because though my answer, upon either supposition, would, in substance, be the same, yet the form and manner of it must be varied according to the character of the person who requires it.

"In the mouth of one who styles himself of the world, the question (unless it be dictated by mere curiosity, which I may gratify or not as I find leisure or inclination) must be proposed with an intention to avail himself of my answer, by taxing the Christian to the utmost extent of his liberty, and demanding every kind and degree of compliance with the maxims and manners of the world, that can be squeezed within the boundaries of the farthest line which separates the doubtful from the forbidden ground.

"I do not say that in this case I would refuse to give an answer, even though the querist should avow the use he was to make of it; for I am thoroughly satisfied in my own mind, that the most enlarged and accurate description of the just measures of Christian liberty, instead of inviting his solicitation, would most effectually deter him from every attempt of that kind. But I should certainly he disposed, and judge myself entitled to ask a few preliminary questions, to which honour, as well as courtesy, should oblige him to reply without evasion or circuit.

"The term world is so general and vague, that till some descriptive epithet, such as learned, polite, gay, busy, and the like, be prefixed to it, nobody can know what it means. Hence it comes to pass, that in current style there is an almost endless variety of worlds. Some of them, indeed, of so neutral a complexion, that the most rigid casuist hesitates to determine on which side of the discriminating line they ought to be placed; while the lurid aspect of others approacheth near to the blackness of darkness itself.

"How remote from either of those reputable places* dedicated to the improvement of music and graceful motion, where the noble and gentle youth of both sexes are introduced into the polite world, and gradually formed to appear in it with fashionable propriety-how remote, I say, from these, is that profane, opaque sequestered cell into which no ray of the sun hath access; where (if report may be credited) blasphemy ming, and foul debauch, insult the first day

* The then Concert-Hall and Assembly-Room, Edinburgh.

This alludes to a meeting or club of libertines from the higher classes of society, which, according to general report, was held at Edinburgh. The members met (it was said) about mid-day, on a Saturday, and, having excluded the light of day, remained together in that state till Monday.

of every returning week? and yet, betwixt these distant extremes, the whole intermediate space is crowded with apartments of different colours, forms, and dimensions, each of them contending for the pre-eminent, if not the exclusive title of the world. I should, therefore, begin with asking him to which of these worlds he himself doth at present belong?

“I would next inquire, what security he can give, that the particular world to which he avows his own relation, and whereinto he no doubt means to invite the Christian, shall retain its present state, and make no alteration in its form and position, without asking and obtaining the consent of its new guest?

"This question proceeds upon a supposition, that the world he is connected with, is at least situated within the limits of what I formerly styled the doubtful ground; for, were it confessedly on the wrong side of the line, the conference would be at an end. Nay, it must be further supposed to have a complexion, if not absolutely neutral, yet, at most, nothing worse than ambiguous; and, moreover, to lie so near the verge of the unexceptionably lawful ground, that the Christian may readily pass over to it, if not altogether unobserved, yet without incurring the suspicion of a formed design to proceed any further in that direction.

"It would surely be unhandsome, (to say nothing worse of it), to allure one with flattering promises of additional pleasure, and more agreeable companions, into a place where he expects to find rest, if, soon after his arrival, he may be told by the very person who brought him there, that the company is just about to decamp, so that he must either go along with them, or be left alone. Nay, if when he hath reluctantly attended them to the next stage, he may in a few weeks or days have the intimation renewed to him of another

removal to a place still more distant, where, for any thing he knows, a third summons may await him, which may be repeated again and again, till he be carried as far from the place of his first outset, as the prodigal went by choice from his father's house.

"This is no chimerical supposition: the thing hath often happened; it is common. Even while I am writing, many awful examples occur to my remembrance, of persons, in different stations and seasons of life, who, by steps in appearance short at the beginning, but too rapidly progressive, have soon gone such lengths in conformity to the world, that had any pretended to foretel it at the time when the downward motion commenced, they would have shuddered with abhorrence at the prediction, and been ready to reply in the language of Hazael to the prophet Elisha, Am I a dog, that I should do this thing?'

"Now, it is evident, that no man of ordinary understanding would consent to such loose capricious terms of conformity, were they fairly set before him, as in common honesty they ought to be. So that the meaning of my second question is abundantly plain, and the aim so just and honourable, that I should not need to make any apology for putting it, and demanding a clear and direct answer.

I

"But the third and last question I would ask is of a higher importance than either of the former two. should certainly press him to tell, without disguise or reserve, from what motive he is so solicitous to gain the Christian over to a conformity to the world in any kind or degree whatever.

"It cannot be, that his character as a Christian may acquire dignity and lustre from his connexion with the world, and shine forth to public view with more attractive grace. This pretence would be confuted by the