ntly able for the rest;
but by his not prosecuting it, I imagine he has not met with
the deserved success. This may possibly be imputed to its
coming abroad at an improper time. I remember it was first
advertised just when the Memoirs of Sir Charles Grandison
were appearing by piece-meal. This was a very injudicious
step, for who could be supposed to attend to any thing else,
when the lovely Harriet Byron continued in suspence, when
the fate of Lady Clementina was undetermined, when it was
not yet settled, whether she was to marry Grandison, retire
to a Nunnery, or continue crack-brain'd all her lifetime.
After all, I am well-pleased to see Grandison and Harriet
fairly buckled. And I hope soon to hear, that the ceremony
is performed between the Count de Belvedere and Lady
Clementina. I am afraid there could have been no compleat
happiness in the matrimonial union of the English Gentleman
and the Italian Lady. The marriage state may be aptly enough
compared to two fiddles playing in concert: if the one can
sound no higher than Tweedle-dum, and the other no lower
than Tweedle-dee, there never can be any thing but a
perpetual jarring discord and dissonance betwixt them. In
the same manner the difference in religious sentiments would
have been a great allay in the felicity of that illustrious
couple.

I now proceed, Sir, to the principal business of this
address, which is, to enquire how far your writings have
contributed to promote the causes of religion and virtue,
for which, as you say, and I believe, they were chiefly
intended.

It is, no doubt, the indispensable duty of every writer to
promote, as far as lies in his power, in the society, of
which he is a member, the advancement of virtue, especially
the moral and social duties of mutual good-will and
universal benevolence. And as far as the established
religious system of a country has the same tendency, so far
is every man, who writes a popular treatise, let his private
sentiments, with respect to the pretensions it makes to
truth and a divine original, be what they will, obliged to
recommend it to the belief of the people. It is equally his
duty, if not more so, to inculcate on their minds a
reverence and regard for the established religious
corporation, and to avoid saying or doing any thing which
may subject them to ridicule and contempt. It must be owned,
that your conduct in these articles, especially the last,
cannot be sufficiently commended. Your wor