86 Comments on Sterne. 
and gun,” nor of the ftrong cudvel with which 
Luther terminate1 a theological difpu'e, as I defire 
to avoid Religious Controverfy. But it is impof- 
fib e, on this fubje&, to forget the on e-celebrated 
Dempfter, the laft of the formidable fec& of Hop- 
Tomachi s, who fought every day, at his Sehool 
in Paris, either with fword or fift, in defence of 
his doctrines in omni feibili.f The imprifonment 
of Galileo, and the example of Jordano Bruno, 
burnt alive for afferting the Piural.ty of Worlds, |} 
among other difgraceful inftances, fhew that Laugh- 
ter is the beft crifis of an ardent difputation. 
The -talents for fo delicate an othce as that of 
a literary Cenfor, are too great and numerous to 
be often affembled in one peifon. Rabelais wanted 
decency, Sterne learning, and Voltaire fidelity. 
Lucian alone fupported the charaéler properly, in 
thofe pieces which appear to be jultly afcribed to 
him. As the narrownefs of Paty yet infefts Phi- 
lof>phy, a writer with his qualifications would ftill 
do good fervice in. the Caufe of Truth. For wit 
and good fenfe united, as in him they eminently 
were, can attack noth ng fuccefsfully which ought 
not to be demoliihed. 
An 
¢ Jan. Nic. Erythre. Pinacothie: 
|| - Brucker, Hift. Critic. Philofoph. Tom. v. P. 28, 29. 
The famous Scioppius publifhed a fhocking letter of exuk 
tation on this execution. 
