XVII

debt at play;⁠⸺⁠or dirty annuity, the bargain of his lust; Perhaps Conscience 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, though, quoth Dr. Slop , he could not]⁠—“sleeps as soundly in his bed;⁠—and at last meets death as 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 frank acknowledgment)⁠—that a man in the Romish church may live as badly;⁠—but then he cannot easily die so.⁠⸺’Tis little matter, replied my father, with an air of indifference,⁠—how a rascal dies.⁠—I mean, answered Dr. Slop , he would be denied the benefits of the last sacraments.⁠—Pray how many have you in all, said my uncle Toby ,⁠⸺⁠for I always forget?⁠⸺⁠Seven, answered Dr. Slop .⁠⸺⁠Humph!⁠—said my uncle Toby ; though not accented as a note of acquiescence,⁠—but as an interjection of that particular species of surprise, when a man in looking into a drawer, finds more of a thing than he expected.⁠⸺⁠Humph! replied my uncle Toby . Dr. Slop , who had an ear, understood my uncle Toby as well as if he had wrote a whole volume against the seven sacraments.⁠⸺⁠Humph! replied Dr. Slop (stating my uncle Toby’s argument over again to him)⁠⸺⁠Why, Sir, are there not seven