Page:The life and opinions of Tristram Shandy (Volume 2).pdf/143

 me naked in the world;—or that the other could send me out of it, and enjoy an estate by my death, without dishonour to himself or his art:—In this case, what hold have I of either of them?—Religion, the strongest of all motives, is out of the question:—Interest, the next most powerful motive in the world, is strongly against me:—What have I left to cast into the opposite scale to balance this temptation?—Alas! I have nothing,—nothing but what is lighter than a bubble—I must lie at the mercy of, or some such capricious principle.—Strait security for two of the most valuable blessings!—my property and my life.

"As, therefore, we can have no dependence upon morality without religion;—so, on the other hand, there is