...against religion, for I did not much think against it; and this lasted till I went to Oxford, when I took up Law's Serious Call to a Holy Life, expecting...find it a dull book (as such books generally are), but I found Law quite an overmatch for me; and this was the first occasion of my thinking in earnest.'...

...will be but an irksome task.' Johnson, though not a diligent, was a voracious and feverish reader. book, as such books generally are, and perhaps to...this was the first occasion of my thinking in earnest about religion.' The non-juror's strangely impressive blending of masculine common sense, literary...

...against religion, for I did not much tit in I: against it; and this lasted till I went to Oxford, when I took up Law's Serious Call to a Holy Life, expecting...find it a dull book (as such books generally are), but I found Law quite an overmatch for me; and this was the first occasion of my thinking in earnest.'...

...for I did not much think against it ; and this lasted till I went to Oxford, where it would not be suffered. When at Oxford, I took up Law's Serious...religion, after I became capable of rational inquiry." 2 1 William Law (1686 — 1761), a non-juring divine of Emmanuel College, Cambridge. Gibbon, whose...

...Protestants. For example, we have the testimony of no less a person than Dr. Johnson, who said : — When at Oxford, I took up Law's Serious Call to a...religion, after I became capable of rational inquiry. The Wesleys walked from Oxford to Putney on foot, from time to time, in order to see Law, who was then...

...CHRISTIANS, by WILLIAM LAW, A..M. 17:9. FIRST EDITION, &vo, fine copy in old calf , £1 2s •• • When at Oxford, I took up Law's Serious Call to a...dull book (as such books generally are) and perhaps laugh at it. But I found Law quite an over-match for me ; and this was the first occasion of my thinking...

...religion, for I did not much think against it, and this lasted till I went to Oxford, where it would not be suffered. When at Oxford I took up Law's Serious Call...religion after I became capable of rational inquiry.' 1 1 Mrs. Piozzi has given a strange fantastical account of the original of Dr. Johnson's belief in...

...not much think against it; and this lasted till I I went to Oxford, where it would not be sifffered. When at Oxford, I took up Law's ' Serious Call to...books generally are), and perhaps to laugh at it. -ButJL.fJQ.UJld Law quite an overmatcJLfjpr me ; and this was the first occjasioa.of-JBy thinking in...

...for I did not much think against it ; and this lasted till I went to Oxford, where it would not be suffered. When at Oxford, I took up Law's Serious...religion, after I became capable of rational inquiry." l He called the work of Law "the finest piece of hortatory theology in any language,"2 and its power...

...suffered. When at Oxford, I took up Law's 1729] LAW'S SERIOUS CALL 47 Serious Call to a Holy Life,'1 R P P V From this time forward religion was the predominant object of his thoughts ; though, with the just...