Doubtless there are men who look upon all religious exercises as superstition, and upon prayer and other acts of devotion, as evidences of a weak mind. These say, that reason is a sufficient rule of action, and that God needs not to be supplicated, nor requires our thanks. Of this class of infidels I take Annet to have been one: he who wrote against the miracles, and was some years ago convicted of blasphemy, and sentenced to imprisonment. The wife of Jackson, the bookseller, in Clare court, Drury lane, a man well known by the collectors of old books and pamphlets, once told me, that this man would often call in at their shop, and if he happened to see a bible laying on the counter, would intreat her to take it away, for that he could not bear the sight of it. (Hawkins)

Close this window and go back to the text