They heard all this very attentively, and I delivered it very faithfully to them from his mouth, as near his own words as I could, only sometimes adding something of my own, to convince them how just it was, and how I was of his mind:  and I always very faithfully distinguished between what I said from myself and what were the clergyman’s words.  They told me it was very true what the gentleman had said, that they were but very indifferent Christians themselves, and that they had never talked to their wives about religion.—­“Lord, Sir,” says Will Atkins, “how should we teach them religion?  Why, we know nothing ourselves; 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