tives of Rum, or even of Money;
but the next day he would have his Cruelty Fit on again, and use his men
with ten times more Fierceness and Arbitrary Barbarity. But to this
Bible and a volume of Nautical Tables our Library was confined; and as
he troubled himself very little about the latter, I was set to read to
him sometimes after dinner from the Good Book. But he was ever coarse
and ungovernable, and would have no Righteous Doctrine or Tender
Precepts, but only took delight when I read to him from the Old
Scriptures the stories of the Jews, their bloody wars, and how their
captains and men of war slew their Thousands and their Tens of Thousands
in Battle. And with shame I own that 'twas these Furious Narratives that
I liked also; and with exceeding pleasure read of Joshua his victories,
and Samson his achievements, and Gideon how he battled, and Agag how
they hewed him in pieces. Little cockering books I see now put forth,
with pretty decoying pictures, which little children are bidden to read.
Stories from the Old Testament are dressed up in pretty sugared
language. Oh, you makers of these little books! oh, you fond mothers who
place them so deftly in your children's hands! bethink you whether this
strong meat is fit for Babes. An old man, whose life has been passed in
Storms and Stratagems and Violence, not innocent of blood-spilling, bids
you beware! Let the children read that other Book, its Sweet and Tender
Counsels, its examples of Mercy and Love to all Mankind. But if I had a
child five or six years old, would I let him fill himself with the
horrible chronicles of Lust, and Spoliation, and Hatred, and Murder, and
Revenge? "Why shouldn't I torture the cat?" asks little Tommy. "Didn't
the man in the Good Book tie blazing Torches to the foxes' tails?" And
little Tommy has some show of reason on his side. Let the children grow
up; wait till their stomachs are strong enough to digest this potent
victual. It is hard indeed for one who has been a Protestant alway to
have to confess that when such indiscreet reading is placed in
children's hands, those crafty Romish ecclesiastics speak not altogether
foolishly when they tell us that the mere Word slayeth. But on this
point I am agreed to consult Doctor Dubiety, and to be bound by his
decision.

In so reading to the Skipper every day, I did not forget to exercise
myself in that other art of Writing, and was in time serviceable enough
to be able to keep, in something li