Page:The life and opinions of Tristram Shandy (Volume 2).pdf/122

 to pay off some debt at play;—or dirty annuity, the bargain of his lust: Perhaps all this time was engaged at home, talking aloud against petty larceny, and executing vengeance upon some such puny crimes as his fortune and rank of life secured him against all temptation of committing; so that he lives as merrily;" [If he was of our church, tho', quoth Dr. Slop, he could not]—"sleeps as soundly in his bed;—and at last meets death unconcernedly;—perhaps much more so than a much better man."

All this is impossible with us, quoth Dr. Slop, turning to my father,—the case could not happen in our church.—It happens in ours, however, replied my father, but too often.—I own, quoth Dr. Slop (struck a little with my father's