ves; and besides,
Sir," said he, "should we go to talk to them of God, and Jesus Christ,
and heaven and hell, it would be to make them laugh at us, and ask us
what we believe ourselves? and if we should tell them we believe all
the things that we speak of to them, such as of good people going to
heaven, and wicked people to the devil, they would ask us, where we
intended to go ourselves who believe all this, and yet are such wicked
fellows, as we indeed are: why, Sir," said Will, "'tis enough to give
them a surfeit of religion, at that hearing: folks must have some
religion themselves before they pretend to teach other people."--"Will
Atkins," said I to him, "though I am afraid what you say has too much
truth in it, yet can you not tell your wife that she is in the wrong;
that there is a God, and a religion better than her own; that her gods
are idols; that they can neither hear nor speak; that there is a great
Being that made all things, and that can destroy all that he has made;
that he rewards the good, and punishes the bad; that we are to be judged
by him, at last, for all we do here? You are not so ignorant but even
nature itself will teach you that all this is true; and I am satisfied
you know it all to be true, and believe it yourself."

"That's true, Sir," said Atkins; "but with what face can I say any thing
to my wife of all this, when she will tell me immediately it cannot
be true?"

"Not true!" said I; "what do you mean by that?"--"Why, Sir," said he,
"she will tell me it cannot be true: that this God (I shall tell her of)
can be just, or can punish or reward, since I am not punished and sent
to the devil, that have been such a wicked creature as she knows I have
been, even to her, and to every body else; and that I should be suffered
to live, that have been always acting so contrary to what I must tell
her is good, and to what I ought to have done."

"Why truly, Atkins," said I, "I am afraid thou speakest too much truth;"
and with that I let the clergyman know what Atkins had said, for he was
impatient to know. "O!" said the priest, "tell him there is one thing
will make him the best minister in the world to his wife, and that is
repentance; for none teach repentance like true penitents. He wants
nothing but to repent, and then he will be so much the better qualified
to instruct his wife; he will then be able to tell her, that there is
not only a God, and that he is the just rewarder of good and evil; but