I replied,
that he would scarcely have spoken at Boston in the manner that I
had just heard him, and that it was easy to perceive that he was
not a New Englander. "I assure you," said he, "I should as little
have thought of speaking so at Charleston, for if I held such
conversation there, I should soon have had to speak to myself."
Had I known less of deists than it has been my fortune to know, I
should perhaps have endeavoured to convince this young man of the
erroneousness of the ideas which he had adopted; but I was aware of
all that he would have urged in reply, and as the believer has no
carnal arguments to address to carnal reason upon this subject, I
thought it best to avoid disputation, which I felt sure would lead
to no profitable result. Faith is the free gift of God, and I do
not believe that ever yet was an infidel converted by means of
after-dinner polemics. This was the last evening of my sojourn in
Gibraltar.
CHAPTER LIV
Again on Board - The Strange Visage - The Hadji - Setting Sail - The
Two Jews - American Vessel - Tangier - Adun Oulem - The Struggle - The
Forbidden Thing.
